2024 Year In Review
By Tami Stevenson
The year 2024 saw some surprising events, from three major hurricanes that devastated Florida and other states to unforeseen election outcomes, both nationally and locally.
All in all, most Americans ended the year with hope for the future as we move into 2025 and beyond.
Here are some of our top highlights from 2024:
1st Quarter
DeSantis suspends campaign - Endorses Trump
In January, Governor Ron DeSantis announced he was suspending his presidential campaign and endorsing former President Donald Trump. He joined a growing list of 2024 candidates that endorsed Trump after they suspended their campaigns.
All Aboard Festival
Suwannee Pine View Kindergarten student Tommy Pierce, of Live Oak, wearing his train bandana and coloring at the library activities booth during the All Aboard Festival. -SVT Archived Photo
The inaugural All Aboard Festival was an overwhelming success.
The event was hosted by Suwannee Festivals, which is a collaboration of the Suwannee River Regional
Library, UF/IFAS Suwannee County Extension, and the
Live Oak Artists Guild.
The 2025 All Aboard Festival is scheduled to take place February 1.
Florida State Guard moves forward
Graduates 205 from February IET Class
On March 2, Governor Ron DeSantis announced that the Florida State Guard (FSG) graduated 205 soldiers from the February Initial Entry Training (IET). Volunteers completed the robust training program earning the title of Florida State Guard Soldier.
Members of the February IET class received instruction and earned industry-recognized certifications in crisis and emergency response operations including CPR/AED, Wildland Firefighting Introduction, and FEMA Incident Management.
Focus areas included team skills training in basic lifesaving; medical evacuation; land navigation; route reconnaissance and clearance; damage assessment; land and maritime search and rescue; wildfire response; and distributed logistics.
Wi-Fi at Coliseum
Rapid Fiber Vice President of Network Operations Chris McKenzie, holding sign with installation crew after installing wifi at the Suwannee County Coliseum on February 28. -Photos by Jon Little
Suwannee Valley Electric Cooperative’s (SVEC) subsidiary, Rapid Fiber Internet, LLC, went to work giving back to the community and equipped the Suwannee County Coliseum with wifi.
2nd Quarter
Total Solar Eclipse
-NASSA PHOTO
North America was all abuzz as many throughout the U.S., Canada and Mexico saw the April 8, 2024 total eclipse sweep across these three nations.
Although Florida was not in the path of totality, Florida still saw a partial eclipse beginning around 1:35 p.m. with the midpoint at approximately 2:55 p.m.
New Fire Chief in Suwannee County
Daniel Miller. -Courtesy Photo
Former EMS chief for Lake County Fire Rescue, Daniel Miller accepted the job in June.
Miller has a 26 year career in fire service in Lake County and was looking for something more rural after retiring from there.
Suwannee County began its search after Fire Chief Eddie Hand announced he would step down after five years, to pursue a job with a private company.
Out of the candidates for the new fire chief, Suwannee County Administrator Greg Scott said they were looking internally as well. Ultimately, Daniel Miller was chosen for the position.
Dixie Grill wins $20,000 for award winning recipe
Chef Rebecca Thomas holding her winning creation - Becca Bites! -Photo: Submitted
General Mills officials, along with the Pillsbury Doughboy, visited Live Oak’s Dixie Grill restaurant to present a megalithic-size check for $20,000 to the Dixie Grill for Chef Rebecca Thomas’ nation-wide award winning biscuit recipe using Pillsbury biscuits, strawberries and cream cheese, aptly called Becca Bites.
The contest from General Mills Foodservice was called The Biskies Recipe Contest. When Thomas saw it and entered the contest, she never dreamed she would actually win first place out of the entire nation.
3rd Quarter
New Florida law bans balloon releases
Photo Courtesy Open Education
The release of balloons is a common and highly symbolic practice that takes place everyday, all across our nation and around the world. But they can wind up in the ocean and are killing
our wildlife.
They have found dead sea turtles and other wildlife wrapped up in balloons.
CS/HB 321 became law on July 1.
New name same fish?
Florida Bass are its own species, says Yale University
-FWC Photo
Genetics studies confirmed what many anglers and biologists have believed for a long time – Florida bass are special! Florida’s most popular freshwater game fish has a new name. The American Fisheries Society established the Florida bass as a separate species from the largemouth bass. This means that in most of Florida (except the western Panhandle) what was known as a largemouth bass is now called a Florida bass.
Hurricane Debby soaks region
Downtown Live Oak flooding. -Photo Suwannee County Sheriff’s Office
After making landfall in Steinhatchee, Florida, as a Category 1 hurricane at 7 a.m. Monday, Aug. 5, 2024, Hurricane Debby, which was downgraded to a tropical storm hours later, crawled through Florida, taking a similar path to Hurricane Idalia just one year before. This storm differed from Idalia, moving at a much slower pace and with less wind intensity, but dumped 10-18 inches of rain in less than 24 hours, causing major flooding.
According to The Weather Channel, Live Oak was one of the worst hit inland areas in North Florida for heavy rainfall totals and flash flooding.
Man falls 45 ft. head-first and lives!
“God spared me!” says Eddie Collier. -SVT Archived Photo
On July 27, while working in Wellborn, with his cousin, Lee Chauncey, of Veteran’s Tree Services, clearing some land, Eddie Collier, of Suwannee County, fell 45 feet, head-first to the ground, during a freak accident where the tree limb he was working on snapped back, hitting the lift bucket he was in, plummeting him some 45 feet to the ground below.
The first saving grace that day, was that Lee Chauncey is a retired paramedic.
“He survived what should have been a fatal fall,” said Chauncey. “I watched him fall 45 feet head-first to the ground.”
Collier was life-flighted to Gainesville and sustained multiple injuries – his back was broken in three places, six broken ribs, a punctured lung that was collapsed, a lacerated liver and spleen and his right forearm was virtually crushed.
Miraculously, he walked out of the hospital on his own ten toes, as he puts it, only 14 days later.
“God worked a miracle!” Collier exclaimed.
School Threats – 3 teens arrested
State Attorney John Durrett - Courtesy Photo
Only four days after the mass shooting at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia on September 4, where four people were killed, social media threats to local schools began surfacing in our North Florida area.
It all began Sunday, September 8, when the Madison County Sheriff’s Office Communications Center received several calls concerning threats of a school shooting in Madison County via social media posts.
That same evening they arrested 13-year-old Chadveon Rashard Cherry, a student at Madison County Central School. Cherry was charged with a 2nd degree felony and faces up to 15 years in prison.
But that was just the beginning.
September 9 and 10, two Fort White students were arrested in Columbia County for making public threats on social media about shooting up a school as well.
17-year-old Christopher Smith Jr. and 14-year-old Mya Jenkins, both Fort White students, were arrested and charged with a 2nd degree felony and face up to 15 years in prison.
Jenkins specifically mentioned FWHS in the post.
“It wasn’t just Columbia (and Madison County) that was affected by this,” said Sheriff Mark Hunter during a press conference with State Attorney John Durrett and Columbia County Superintendent of Schools Lex Carswell, on September 11, at the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office.
Bay County, Escambia, Leon, Jefferson, Hillsborough, and Jeff Davis County in Hazlehurst, Georgia, all reportedly received social media threats as well.
When Smith was arrested, he told authorities he was joking.
“You think it’s a joke? A joke to spread things on social media about how you want to shoot up a school?” State Attorney John Durrett said during the press conference. “You think that’s funny? I’m not laughing,” he added. “Children are murdered in Georgia. You don’t put this up. I’m not laughing.”
Durrett encouraged parents to look at their kids’ phones periodically or at minimum, “…please talk to your kids about these things. If nothing else for their mental health and well being, make sure they’re all right.” Durrett added, “Parents should talk to their kids about what happens to people that do these things. Appreciate the consequence. We will find you, we will trace you.”
Hurricane Helene
Man survived being impaled by falling tree that hit his home in Live Oak during Helene. -SVT Photo
Experts said Hurricane Helene was the largest hurricane to ever hit Florida’s Big Bend area in recorded history. It was the third hurricane to hit this area within 13 months. Debby (Cat 1) was just over a month before, August 5, 2024 and Idalia (Cat 4) was August 30, 2023.
Helene was not only a massive category 4 hurricane, with 140 mph winds, but it was traveling a whopping 23+ mph when it made landfall near Perry, Florida, Thursday evening at 11:10 p.m., September 26, 2024.
By the time Helene reached Suwannee County, it was still wielding 120+ mph winds. Columbia County reported winds of 112+ mph. Nevertheless, it left devastation wherever it went.
Suwannee Valley Electric Coop and Clay Electric reported 99% of their customers were left without power. Trees were down everywhere and power lines left mangled, many businesses, homes and vehicles were destroyed, some from wind but many from falling trees.
It is reported that 20 people in Florida lost their lives, either directly or indirectly from Helene. There were no lives reported lost in the North Florida area during Helene, thankfully, but as the storm made its way up through Georgia, Tennessee, the Carolinas and beyond, the death toll rose to at least 238 and $124 billion in damage have been attributed to Helene.
Then, less than two weeks after Helene, Florida braced itself once again for Hurricane Milton. Milton made landfall on October 9, near Sarasota. It did not affect the Big Bend area.
4th Quarter
Hooked On Heroes reels in lines
Horrific scenes from Steinhatchee emerged after hurricanes devastate the entire gulf coast of Florida.
-Courtesy Photo
After Hurricanes Helene and Milton ravage the gulf coast, businesses and homeowners strive to put their lives and businesses back together, some will never recover. Unfortunately, this is the case for Hooked On Heroes.
Founders Ron and Carolyn Cadle decided it was time to retire the popular non-profit organization as they heavily depended on boat owners donating their time and boats to take veterans fishing. Some boat owners came from Tampa and beyond to be a part of Hooked on Heroes.
“...all these people along the coast lost their homes, they are the majority of boaters that volunteered their time and their boats for these events,” said Ron Cadle. “They’re going to take care of their home and family before they worry about going fishing, as they should.”
As they finished their ninth year and were about to enter their tenth year, Hooked On Heroes has taken more than 3,000 veterans fishing.
Their last fishing event had 197 veterans that attended. The most veterans they had at one event was over 220. The oldest veteran they ever took fishing through Hooked On Heroes was 100 years old. He was a WWII Veteran. Although, they had some that were 96 and 98 years old too, through the years.
Election
President-elect Donald Trump during his speech the morning of November 6, 2024. -Photo Courtesy
The November 5, 2024 election was certainly a surprise. This 2024 presidential election will go down in history as the greatest comeback of any American president in the history of this great nation. Only one other time, 139 years ago, in our nation’s history has a president served two non-consecutive terms, it was Grover Cleveland.
In spite of all the law suits and two attempts on his life, Trump was not deterred, and Americans rallied behind him, standing in election lines for hours to vote, some in the pouring rain for hours, and vote they did.
In Pennsylvania it is reported that even the Amish, who never get involved in politics, drove their horse-drawn carriages to their precincts to vote, all brandishing Trump signs on their carriages.
One commenter said that November 5 was the day America said, “You’re fired!” to the madness of the left agenda. Enough of no borders, enough of men being allowed in women’s bathrooms and sports, enough of our schools brainwashing our children to the point of not knowing whether they are a boy or a girl, enough of the ‘woke’ agenda, enough of being made to feel ashamed of our American heritage. We want our country back!
According to news sources, the next day after the election, Wall Street had record finishes for all three major stock indices. It was the biggest surge for the U.S. dollar since 2020.
Some are wondering if fellow Americans know that Donald Trump, our 45th and 47th president, did not and does not need this job. He is a billionaire. He doesn’t even take a paycheck for his position as president. Only three other American presidents in our nation’s history did the same, our first president, George Washington, our 31st president, Herbert Hoover, and John F. Kennedy, our 35th president.
On January 6, the Electoral College confirmed Donald Trump as president-elect. Trump received 312 electoral votes while Harris received 226.
During Trump’s speech in the early hours of November 6 when the decision was made after there was no path to victory for Harris, Trump said about the attempts on his life, “Many people have told me that God spared my life for a reason, and that reason was to save our country and to restore America to greatness.”
It is also reported that since the election Bible sales are at an all-time high. What does that say about the American people? America’s Christian heritage has roots that go deep. The madness of the left has awakened a sleeping giant.
Locally, the election had some surprises as well, especially for Columbia County. After more than 40 years, Ron Williams, Commissioner for Columbia County District 1, was defeated by Kevin Parnell.
In August, Wallace Kitchings won the vote over Mark Hunter for Columbia County Sheriff. Hunter held that position for 16 years.