During our travels we always try to find local newspapers to get a better feeling for the areas in which we stay. Many of them have provided insights into regional norms we would not have known otherwise and, in a few cases, brought us a lot of laughs.
While shopping last week in White Springs we picked up a copy of the Lake City News Advertiser; a free weekly offering classified ads from throughout the greater Suwannee Valley area.
The Suwannee Valley runs approximately from Live Oak, which is 20 miles to our West, to the general area of Lake City located 12 miles to our East. This part of Florida is still very rural, very agricultural and a popular destination for hunters and fishermen. Given the largely undeveloped nature of the local land, we weren't surprised to find a lot of ads offering services for bush-hogging, tree trimming, land clearing, culvert placements and trenching. However, there we some that made us say, "Well, that's something you don't see everywhere".
Here are a few of them:
- For whatever reason, there are numerous ads offering M-16 Bayonets with scabbard for $35 or 10 for $300.
- This is one of the only places where we have seen an ad offering a Male Donkey for $200 or will trade for Jenny or mare.
- Fresh or smoked Mullet can be easily purchased with a 2 lbs. minimum order.
- Many ads are seeking help for a petition drive to stop Columbia County from forcing residents to connect to electrical utilities. The county passed a resolution on the matter earlier this year. It appears there are hundreds of residents who feel they just don't need electricity and, most importantly, find the resolution to be another example of governmental interference on private properties. (So far, they have collected over 3,000 signatures.)
- This is also a good area to find wild hogs; all sizes and willing to make a deal on prices.
- Of the many people offering to haul away scrap-metal of any kind at no charge, the most clever is someone who advertises in bold letters I Buy Rust. This one caught my attention because my immediate thought was that if there's a local market for rust, it would be a quick way to make easy money.
- On the flip side of clever advertising, I had to wonder about the tree service called Hazardous Tree Trimming. I hope they're referring to removing rotted or dead trees endangering buildings and not to the possible mishaps in their work. I'd strongly suggest they rename the company.
- The one that really caught our attention was a very large ad promoting a fundraiser called Undies For Sundaes being held this coming Saturday at a Lutheran church in Lake City. It features a drawing of various types of underwear hanging on a clothesline and promotes a "FREE Ice Cream Sundae for One New Pair of Undies!" The weird thing is that nowhere in the ad does it say what the undies will be used for. I'm hoping it's a charity drive to help needy families, but if it's not that's one strange sect I want to stay away from.
copyright 2009-2010 Lane A Geyer
photos by Deb
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