Telegraph Staff Writer
Florida’s rural counties may be small, but their voices can make a big noise, especially when they’re combined into one.
That’s the idea District 19 Rep. Bobby Payne had in working with others to create Rural Counties Days, an annual event in which rural-county officials gather in the courtyard of the Florida State Capitol.
“We decided the best thing we could do for rural communities is bring them together in Tallahassee for an opportunity to meet their legislators and for an opportunity to have an impact here in Tallahassee,” Payne said at this year’s event, which was held Jan. 26-27.
If this year’s event is any indication, Florida’s rural counties are buying into Payne’s vision. The event grew from three participating counties at its inaugural event in 2019 to nine counties in 2020. After a year’s absence due to COVID-19, the 2022 event consisted of 22 counties: Baker, Bradford, Columbia, Dixie, Gadsden, Gilchrist, Glades, Gulf, Hamilton, Hardee, Hendry, Highlands, Jackson, Levy, Madison, Nassau, Okeechobee, Putnam Suwannee, Union, Wakulla and Walton.
“I’m humbled by the fact that this event has grown so much,” Payne said. “I think your presence shows the need for the opportunity to band together and network together to say that we are rural counties.”
Patricia Evans, the president of Capital City Bank’s Starke and Keystone Heights branches who also serves on the Rural Counties Days planning committee, said, “Everybody has really understood the power that comes from everyone partnering together and having that one voice, one message, one vision represented at one time.”
The event began with a reception the night of Jan. 26, attended by 300 people. Then, on the morning of Jan. 27, each county set up a tent in the Capitol courtyard, offering trinkets, information about their counties or just conversations for anyone who wanted to stop by.
“I love this,” said Bradford County Commissioner Diane Andrews, who was witnessing the event for the first time. “This is an opportunity for the people from the rural counties to mingle with the people who are making the laws and who can help us.”
Union County Commissioner Ryan Perez was at the event for the first time as well.
“We’re smaller communities, but when we come together, it makes our voice heard, and it makes it a lot louder,” Perez said. “Even though we’re small, we’re strong when we’re united.
“It’s really great to see this and be a part of it.”
Several members of Concerned Citizens of Bradford County attended as well. The group’s president, Alica McMillian, said they made the trip to talk to legislators as they seek appropriations to complete the renovation of the R.J.E. gymnasium.
“We’re a small county,” McMillian said. “Ultimately, it seems the big counties get all the attention and everything, but as my mother used to say, ‘The squeaky wheel gets attention.’ Even though we’re small, we’re the squeaky wheel.
“We want to let them know that Bradford County is on the map.”
Andrews found the people she met to be receptive. Several gave her their cards and asked how they could be of help to Bradford County. Some even took photos of her ID and promised to call her.
“That means the world. It means that they’ve heard us,” Andrews said. “I feel really good that we accomplished what we came to do, to let them know that we’re out there and we need their help.”
Perez said, “It’s different whenever you’re in front of the people who are behind making the decisions. Any chance you get to talk to them in person, to grab them and pull them aside and really advocate for your constituents and their concerns here in Tallahassee is great.”
Evans said the event is also a chance for people from the various rural counties to talk to each other, getting advice on what’s worked and not worked in their efforts to get support from legislators.
“There was some really good networking going on,” Evans said of this year’s event.
The event also featured food, with Tallahassee-area Posey’s providing 1,000 free fried-fish dinners and the Bradford County tent giving out 1,200 free strawberry shortcakes. Wakulla County, a first-time participant, also served up raw oysters, with loud applause coming from that tent periodically in response to someone trying an oyster for the first time.
“We make a real impact by having large groups of people and having an event where we serve food,” Payne said. “We in rural communities know to serve food and entertain.
“If you serve food, they will come.”
As it turned out, the Senate that very day passed a bill designating strawberry shortcake as the state’s official dessert.
“Perfect timing,” Evans said. “It was meant to be.”
The strawberry shortcakes, which were made and delivered by Starke’s Downtown Grill, were a big hit, bringing smiles to the faces of so many of the people who stopped by to get the desserts.
“Chris was astounded by how excited everybody was to get the strawberry shortcake,” Evans said of Community State Bank of Starke’s Chris Page, who helped assemble the desserts. “They were truly excited and grateful.”
That wasn’t the only form of strawberry related excitement in the Capitol courtyard. Pam Whittle, the president of the North Florida Regional Chamber of Commerce who’s also on the Rural Counties Days planning committee, donned the chamber’s “Brad Ford Berry” costume, which caused many people to stop in their tracks so they could get a picture taken with the big, smiling berry.
“She was fantastic,” Evans said. “That was so much fun to watch.”
Having a vision, making it a reality
Payne, in addressing the Capitol courtyard crowd on Jan. 27, related how he had the vision of Rural Counties Days approximately four years ago.
“The reason we started it was we realized that rural counties could have a bigger voice in Tallahassee,” Payne said. “We realized you can have a voice and meet your legislators, and that counties and different associations can network together, sharing your opportunities — not to be in competition with each other for appropriations dollars, but to have a bigger voice.
“Thank you for being here and having an impact on Tallahassee today.”
Payne credited the event’s planning committee —Evans, Whittle, Darryl Register (executive director of the Baker County Chamber of Commerce), Jenny Anderson (Florida Institute of Government) and Mike Rycko (Florida Institute of Government) — as “the engine that’s pulled all this together,” but District 5 Sen. Jennifer Bradley took the chance to give kudos to Payne.
“Bobby, you deserve so much credit for this vision to bring all of rural Florida together,” Bradley said. “When we get here as a group, it makes our voice louder inside the building. The entire Capitol sees the strength of rural Florida, and they see how we come together.”
District 21 Rep. Chuck Clemons thanked Payne for his vision, saying the event is responsible for coalescing rural counties “into a force to be reckoned with legislatively.” Clemons said whereas a county like Miami-Dade needs a “Trailways bus” to take all of its representatives and senators to Tallahassee, counties like Dixie and Gilchrist, which are in his district, have one representative and one senator.
“It’s very important that we speak with a united voice. I’m really happy that you’re here today,” Clemons said, adding, “Remember: When you come back next year, bring some friends with you.”
The event increasing from three participating counties to nine from 2019 to 2020 was exciting, of course, but Evans said it was threatening to become too overwhelming for the committee members, most of whom have full-time jobs and wear many hats on top of that.
“We contracted North Florida Economic Development Partnership to help us in organizing the event,” Evans said. “It was the best money we’ve ever spent. We were able to go out and find sponsors.”
Thanks to sponsors of this year’s event, counties had to pay only $750 to participate as opposed to the $1,500 they had to pay in the past.
Besides North Florida Economic Development Partnership, this year’s sponsors were Enterprise Florida, Charter Communications, North Florida Professional Services, Clay Electric Cooperative Inc., Comcast, The Goodman Company, Florida Rural Economic Development Association, Locklear and Associates, Opportunity Florida, Seminole Electric Cooperative Inc., Apalachee Regional Planning Council, Florida Regional Councils Association and CAS Governmental Services, LLC.
With the support of North Florida Economic Development Sponsorship, Evans had more time to take in the event as opposed to staying busy making sure everyone was where they needed to be and “putting out fires.” It was an enjoyable opportunity for someone who was part of the first-ever Rural Counties Days meeting, which consisted solely of Evans, Payne and Joe Pickens, a former Florida representative and current president of St. Johns River State College.
“I was able to stand back and kind of watch and observe,” Evans said, adding, “It just makes me proud that we’ve been able to help (Payne) pull off his vision.”
