Category: Health

Big River Honey

Debbie Roney Smith on

Big River Honey is a harvesting and processing company that specializes in Tupelo honey. Tupelo honey is “extracted from [the] beehives which have been floated to the dense tupelo groves on barges and by spinning honeycomb in stainless steel centrifuge extractors.” Big River Honey The raw honey produced is left unheated and unfiltered and contains some bee pollen and beeswax. This means the honey not only contains all its original nutrients but also carries a “distinctively rich taste”Big River Honey that is highly favored. Big River Honey sells Tupelo honey and skincare; visit their official website HERE to place an order online or learn more about the company and its products.

Exciting news for Jackson County – Big River Honey is coming to Endeavor Property! Unfortunately, the building the company intends to rent needs some work done on the roof before they can officially move in and open. Officials are hopeful that the opening of Big River Honey will help the growth of the property. 

Tallahassee Orthopedic Center

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Tallahassee Orthopedic Clinic (TOC) Spine Center is the only comprehensive, multidisciplinary spine center in North Florida and South Georgia. They offer a comprehensive approach to spine, neck, and back conditions. TOC helps diagnose, treat, and alleviate neck, back, and joint pain by working with fellow providers of family medicine, internal medicine, neurology, physical therapy, chiropractic care, exercise/fitness programs, massage, and pain management to ensure comprehensive, complete care. Please note that they are currently only accepting patients with doctor referrals. Learn more about the practice, its doctors, and the referral process at the TOC website here.

Dentist Day

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Today is National Dentist Day! In honor of this annual celebration of oral health, today’s blog is highlighting a local dentist’s office: Jeremy Lewis, DMD. Located in Marianna, Lewis’ office is a general and family dentistry practice – perfect for the whole family! Open Monday through Thursday, the office offers services ranging from teeth whitening to dental implants. Visit the Jeremy Lewis official website to learn more about their services, view their staff profiles, or schedule an appointment.

Notify County Agencies About Special Needs

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West Florida Electric Cooperative is helping to spread the word about the Special Needs Registry Shelter Program. This is a program designed to provide hurricane or disaster related evacuation assistance for those without other alternatives. However, it is super important that you renew your enrollment in this program annually! The Registry Program allows for emergency responders to prepare for disasters and other emergencies, and for the needs of the community to be accounted for during times of trial. If you or someone you know has a condition greatly affecting eyesight, hearing, spech, walking, breathing, or a mental illness that can impact these senses, please contact your local emergency management agency to register. Learn more about the program at the Florida Health website here. 

Damayan Garden Project

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Damayan is a non-profit located in Tallahassee that works to provide schoolyards, community centers, and low-income housing communities with the necessary materials to establish raised-bed vegetable gardens. The Damayan Garden Project is a volunteer organization that relies heavily on donation-based support from the community. It is run by gardeners, educators, and volunteers who want to help enchance the quality of life in their community by fostering opprotunities for fresh produce, gardening experience, and a healthy relationship with food and community. If you would like to volunteer your time, the organization has numerous opprotunities including new garden installations, weekly garden assistant, social media coordinator, and more! Visit their website for more information. 

Welcome to the New Year: Resolutions

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Welcome to 2022 everyone! The new year has officially begun and you may be feeling the annual societal pressure to create some New Year’s resolutions. However, Dr. Sophie Lazarus, a psychologist at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, believes resolutions should be put to the side. There is nothing inherently bad about setting a New Year’s resolution or using the New Year as an opprotunity to start working on new goals. However, if the drive to commit to resolutions is coming from a place of pressure or obligation, it can create unneeded stress in your life. This is especially true this year as the world continues to try and recover from a global pandemic and a string of worsening climate disasters. Resolutions can be grounding if created with understanding and self-kindness in mind but they can also put pressure on an already strained situation. 

Dr. Lazarus instead advocates for entering the New Year with a general goal of self-improvement; “See if you can be a bit gentler with yourself or give yourself this same kind of grace that you might give to someone that you really love or care about who’s in a similarly challenging situation,” she says. Let go of the idea of perfection, the stress of self-critism, and the belief of having to prove ones worth to others. “So often in these times of stress, we tend to really focus on what’s wrong and what is unknown and what we need to worry about,” she says. “But there are ways that we can kind of try to shift our perspective and even just being more attentive, aware and grateful for the things that are going well or that are stable.”

Lucky New Year’s Food Traditions

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Food is an important part of New Year’s traditions. Listed below are some lucky dishes traditionally eaten around the New Year to bring good fortune in the year to come.

Hoppin’ John: a Southern menu staple originating from the enslaved Africans in the South Carolina Low Country. It is a mix of black-eyed peas, rice, and pork. The black-eyed peas shape to coins, the greens signify money, and the cornbread stands for gold.

King Cake: traditionally eaten on January 6th (i.e. Twelfth Night, Epiphany), the King Cake is a Louisianane favorite. It is a sweet ringed king cake topped with colorful icing and sprinkles; it is baked with a trinket hidden inside. The lucky person who finds the trinket is named “king” or “queen” for the day.

Tamales: bundles of masa stuffed with meat, wrapped in corn husks and steamed. They arrived in Los Angeles and San Antonio in the 1870s. They were sold by steet vendors from Mexico, and have since come to symbolize family as generations historically gather in the kitchen to make the labor-intensive food. 

Toshikoshi Soba: a soup with buckwheat “year-crossing” noodles. Soba is a New Year’s Eve tradition in Japan and is now practiced in the U.S. The long, thin noodles symbolize a long, healthy life, and date back to the 13th or 14th century, “when either a temple or a wealthy lord decided to treat the hungry populace to soba noodles on the last day of the year.”1

Grapes: las doce uvas de la suerta is a Spanish tradition also known as the 12 lucky grapes. The tradition holds that eating 12 grapes at the stroke of midnight—one for each chime of the clock—will bring good luck in the coming year. According to the superstition, failing to finish all 12 in time will mean misfortune in the year to come.

Lentils: an Italian New Year’s Eve feast favorite. Round and shaped like a coin, they’re a symbol of prosperity. Lentils are often served with pork sausage. 

Pork and Sauerkraut: a savorful, slow-cooked favorite for those in Pennsylvania and Ohio. The dish is said to bring good luck and progress; pigs are known to root forward and sauerkraut is made with cabbage, which symbolizes riches, prosperity, and a long life. It is a Germanic tradition that was brought to the U.S. by the Pennsylvania Dutch. 

AAA’s Holiday Season: “Tow To Go”

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If you find yourself consuming too many adult beverages during the upcoming holidays, AAA wants to give you a free tow. The company is working to keep impaired drivers off the road with its ‘Tow To Go’ program. AAA will send a tow truck to an impaired driver and transport them and their vehicle to a safe place within a 10-mile radius for free. The service is available to anyone in Florida, not just members.

However, AAA spokesperson Mark Jenkins said it should be used as a last resort. “Please before you party, make sure that you have your plan in place, identify a designated driver or ride-sharing service. Have all of that planned out before your first drink,” Jenkins said.

The service will be available on Christmas Day (December 25th) and New Year (January 1st). ‘Tow To Go’ starts at 6 p.m. and runs through 6 a.m. the next morning.

To use the service, call (855) 286-9246.

Veterinary Medicine

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Today is the International Day of Veterinary Medicine, an annual occurrence meant to encourage a strong veterinary sector that can protect animal and human health and welfare. To celebrate this event, today’s blog is a community highlight of the local veterinary clinic Critter Care of Blountstown.

Critter Care is a full-service animal hospital that handles both emergency treatment cases as well as pet patients in need of routine medical, surgical, and dental care. Dr. Carla Hubbard, the veterinarian on staff, has years of experience treating serious conditions and offering regular pet wellness care. The atmosphere of the office is friendly and helpful. If you have a beloved animal companion, consider entrusting their healthcare to Critter Care. 

Clean Out Your Fridge

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When was the last time you cleaned out your fridge? Today is National Clean Out Your Fridge Day; it was created to remind everyone of the importance of keeping your refrigerator clean and tidy. Here are 1 reason to tackle the fridge today:

  1. Cleaning it out will help get rid of any bad smells.
  2. You can assess what goes to waste and save on your next grocery trip.
  3. Fridges can last 15years or more if treated well; occasionally wiping down the insides to remove built-up dust and spills is important for longevity. 
  4. The wonderful feeling of taking in a freshly cleaned and organized fridge when you go to get a job-well-done snack!