Currents-July 2022

JULY 2022

Suwannee Valley

CURRENTS

INSIDE:

BOTANICAL BEAUTY Hearthstone Gardens offers peace and tranquility AROUND THE COMMUNITY SVEC’s 2022 scholarship winners

CURRENTS July 2022

Michael S. McWaters Executive V.P./CEO

Suwannee Valley Currents is a monthly newsletter published by Suwannee Valley Electric Cooperative, © 2022. It is distributed without charge to all consumermembers of the cooperative.

The beauty of community

This time of year always reminds me how lucky we are to live in such a beautiful area. Sure, the Florida sunshine can prove to be overpowering for some. But even on the hottest summer days, we have the Suwannee River to cool us off, the shade of a live oak tree to relax under, and the beach is only a short drive away.

I’m proud to be part of a cooperative that works so hard to bring our consumer-members safe, affordable and reliable electric service while also looking out for the natural world around us.

One example is that 9% of the power we deliver to you is generated using renewable resources like solar, hydro and landfill gas. Our wholesale power supplier, Seminole Electric Cooperative, continues to add more solar resources to the mix with the goal of bringing that share up to 13% by 2024.

There are others among us who work hard to enrich the beauty of our community. This month, we’re spotlighting Hearthstone Gardens, a nonprofit botanical garden that has been showcasing Florida-friendly and native plants for the last four years.

The gardens give locals the chance to get outside and explore some of the rare plants our Florida climate has to offer.

But it also serves as a living classroom

where visitors can learn more about flower arranging, attracting wildlife and even growing bonsai trees. I hope you’ll take a few minutes to read about all that Hearthstone Gardens has to offer our community.

You can also find a new installment of our Meet Your Trustee series, featuring our most recent arrival to the board of trustees. Francene Folsom will be representing the consumer-members of District 9, so take a moment to learn more about her and be sure to say hi if you see her out in the community.

Finally, we wouldn’t be doing a very good job of fulfilling our cooperative mission if we didn’t also look after our local youth as diligently as our natural surroundings. This month, we’re excited to share the winners of this year’s scholarships with all of you.

These 15 outstanding students will receive a helping hand with their college tuition. We can’t wait to see what they’ll accomplish, so join us in congratulating them.

It’s just one more way SVEC is working to make this wonderful community of ours an even better place to call home. I hope all of you have the chance to get out and enjoy everything the Suwannee Valley has to offer this month. We’ll be here, ready to power it all. 

WE BELONG TO THOSE WE SERVE Business Office: 800-447-4509 11340 100th St. Live Oak, FL 32060 Lobby Hours: 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m., Monday-Friday Drive-thru Kiosk Open 24 Hours 24/7 Power Outage Reporting 800-752-0025 svec-coop.com facebook.com/sveccoop @SVEC_COOP_FL Instagram.com/sveccoop SVEC is an equal opportunity provider and employer.

On the cover: Hearthstone Gardens is open to the community and features native plants. See story on page 4.

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Suwannee Valley Currents

© Satoshi Kina/d A obe Stock

CEO’S MESSAGE

Suwannee Valley

Protect yourself from

SCAMS

SVEC consumer-members have recently reported calls from scammers impersonating cooperative employees.

REMEMBER, SVEC WILL NEVER: • • • •

Call consumer-members demanding immediate payment to avoid disconnection.

Ask for personal information, like your Social Security number, over the phone.

Ask for payment via a prepaid debit card.

Visit your home unannounced to promote a service or request information.

If you suspect you are dealing with a scammer, hang up the phone or close the door and call SVEC’s Member Service Department at 800-447-4509.

CAPITAL CREDIT UPDATE

Do you have unclaimed capital credits, or are you the legal beneficiary of a member with unclaimed capital credits? Find out at svec-coop.com/my-account/capital-credits/ unclaimed-capital-credits.

Meet your trustee:

FRANCENE FOLSOM Francene Folsom represents District 9, which covers Lafayette County south of the Suwannee River. She lives on a farm west of Mayo.

Q: WHAT DO YOU LIKE MOST ABOUT LIVING IN THE SUWANNEE VALLEY?

Q: WHAT MADE YOU WANT TO SERVE ON THE SVEC BOARD OF TRUSTEES?

The Suwannee Valley is a great place to work and raise a family. Living out in the country is the best place to be.

My grandfather was on the board of trustees when the co-op was first created. I spent many summers traveling with him to electric co-op conventions around the state. My father, Bill Hart, followed in my grandfather’s footsteps and served as a trustee for 33 years. SVEC holds a special place in my heart, and I feel honored to serve the people of District 9.

Q: WHAT LINE OF WORK ARE YOU IN? I retired from the Lafayette County School System in 2020 after teaching several different grade levels for 32 years.

I have also served on the SVEC’s Operation Round Up board.

Q: WHAT DO YOU LIKE TO DO IN YOUR FREE TIME? I enjoy cooking, playing the piano and spending lots of time with my family.

Suwannee Valley Currents

Q: WHAT’S THE MOST IMPORTANT IMPACT SVEC HAS ON ITS COMMUNITY? SVEC is a rural cooperative that supplies electricity to farms and all the people who live out in the country. Operation Round Up is a great resource for our local teachers and students.

July 2022 | 3

a local

sanctuary Hearthstone Gardens offers tranquility to all

Judee Mundy has two passions in life: gardening and teaching.

Mundy, the owner of Hearthstone Gardens, begins each day by developing a plan. With a cup of coffee in hand, she decides what she wants to do that day, before riding through the garden in her golf cart, addressing anything urgent that needs to be done along the way.

“An overview is important so things don’t get out of control,” Mundy says.

With 35 acres to care for, it’s necessary to keep up with daily maintenance that needs to be done at the nonprofit botanical garden. With the help of her group of volunteers, each day brings Mundy a new opportunity to beautify this special space.

says. “I wanted a large piece of property where I could garden myself silly and have it open to the community.”

Mundy’s main gardening influence was her grandfather. “He loved to garden and had a huge yard that was all gardens and grass paths,” she says. “It was amazing. I loved it.”

Mundy was living in Pennsylvania when she realized she needed to bring her vision of owning a huge garden to life. “My late husband couldn’t handle the Pennsylvania winters anymore,” she says, so they decided to relocate to Florida, where the weather was warmer.

The couple found their way to Lake City in 2015 by looking at the map in their hotel room. “We just opened the map and started looking for a good spot to live,” she says. Eventually, they found a home and the perfect property to begin Hearthstone Gardens, which opened in 2018.

LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION

“All my life, I’ve loved to garden,” she

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The location of the garden was very important to Mundy. “I wanted to make it an oasis,” she says. With that in mind, the couple chose a site located between Lake City and Live Oak — land situated so that visitors won’t hear the traffic on Highway 90.

“I almost died when I saw the ground because it wasn’t the rich, black dirt I knew in Pennsylvania. The ground here is very sandy,” she says.

Realizing she needed to learn more about her new environment, Mundy saw

an advertisement for a master gardener class in the newspaper and began attending. “I refined my interest through that program and my own research,” she says.

The property, which is open to the public, features many cypress trees and the land consists largely of wet ground, which is great because most plants native to Florida need the moisture to thrive. The only area Mundy needs to irrigate is the butterfly mound. All those practical measures came into how she selected her property.

A LIVING CLASSROOM

A retired English teacher, Mundy still gets to flex her classroom muscles through hosting workshops at Hearthstone Gardens. The workshops cover subjects like propagating plants, air layering, seeding, pruning and attracting wildlife to a garden.

“I learn more when I teach,” she says.

“If I can teach someone, it gives them power to do it themselves. There’s a giving underneath all of this. Teaching is giving and in giving, you receive. I also see people making friends, so it’s a win-win.”

Sometimes, Mundy brings other instructors in to lead workshops on flower arranging and making grapevine wreaths. Other classes include Orchids 101 and bonsai trees.

Mundy’s mission is to share a concept of design. “I like everything to be curved, I don’t like straight lines,” she says.

Winding pathways through different sections of the gardens lead to rare

Suwannee Valley Currents

Many

ia, grow at , like this garden ts an pl of s ie spec

The Japanese garden is where visitors can enjoy a koi pond.

pitcher plants and Florida-friendly viburnum awabuki, also known as mirror leaf viburnum, which has large, very shiny leaves. Another favorite is farfugium, the tractor seat plant, so named because the large leaf looks like the seat of an old-fashioned tractor.

There is also a greenhouse, and a pavilion is being constructed to be used for events.

One of the unique features of Hearthstone Gardens is the Japanese garden that opened in April. Mundy chose to place the Japanese garden in the most isolated piece of the property so visitors are less distracted by any road noise.

“We did that to inject a little more culture into the space,” Mundy says. “The design consists of winding paths, they go up and down around the live oaks to symbolize the journey of life.”

There’s also a koi pond with a red bridge, surrounded by bamboo.

“Bamboo moves in the wind and makes a nice rustling sound; you feel alone and

Suwannee Valley Currents

it’s very meditative,” she says.

Mundy sees gardens — and Hearthstone Gardens, in particular — as places where people can recharge and appreciate the little things in life.

“It’s important to get people out of the office, out of the concrete, to enjoy the birds, take a breath and wake up,” she says. “It’s not that there aren’t other gardens, but this is different. It’s a beckoning to step away for a minute and breathe.” 

Hearthstone G

ardens.

Come to the

Garden Hearthstone Gardens is open seven days a week, from dawn until dusk. Admission is free.

hearthstonegardens.org 3300 134th Place, Wellborn PHOTOGRAPHY CONTRIBUTED BY CHRISTY TUCKEY

July 2022 | 5

bright ideas

When you save energy, you save money. Check back here each month for new ways to make your home or business more energy efficient.

Pickled Peaches 1 3 2 12 36 18 1-pint

cup water cups sugar cups distilled white vinegar cinnamon sticks, divided whole cloves, divided soft peaches canning jars, set of 6, sterilized

In a large stainless steel stockpot over medium heat, bring 1 cup water, sugar, vinegar, 6 cinnamon sticks and 18 cloves to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Reduce heat to medium low and add the peaches. Gently simmer, without boiling, until the peaches are heated through and a fork pierces the fruit with no resistance, 10 to 15 minutes. Do not drain.

When your home is hot, it may seem like the best solution would be to turn your air conditioning to a low temperature and run it full blast. Doing this may bring the temperature down, but it causes the AC to work harder, meaning you use more energy and will have a higher bill.

Turning on fans in your home will help circulate the cooled air and help maximize your AC’s efforts. The fans will not cool the temperature of the air, but using the fan to circulate air can allow you to run your AC at a higher temperature, which will ultimately help use less energy and save money.  For more ways to save energy, click on the “Energy Efficiency” tab on the SVEC website.

Using a slotted spoon, place the peaches pit-side down into 6 sterilized, 1-pint canning jars, three peaches per jar. Add 1 of the remaining cinnamon sticks and 3 of the remaining cloves to each jar.

Ladle the cooking liquid into the jars, filling each to within 1/2 inch of the rim. Wipe the lip of each jar rim with a clean, wet cloth to remove any syrup or bits of fruit. Then, top each jar with a flat lid and screw on a threaded ring band without tightening completely. Roll jars on their sides to release any air bubbles that might be trapped in the peach cavities.

Turn the jars upright, remove the ring bands and lids, and add more cooking liquid if needed to fill jars to within 1/2 inch of the rim.

Replace the lids and threaded ring bands, tightening completely to seal. Store pickled peaches in the refrigerator for up to eight weeks.

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Suwannee Valley Currents

©GSDesign, soupstock/d A obe Stock

In the

Deep

Underwater adventures in Florida

By Kellilynn Hann, Visit Florida

Florida has more than 65,000 square miles of water and shorelines, so why not dive in and see the world from a different angle?

From freshwater springs to the crystal-clear waters of the Keys, here are some exciting underwater adventures for divers and nondivers.

WALK UNDERWATER

Want to see fish up close but you’re not into open-water snorkeling? Discovery Cove in Orlando has a solution.

With the SeaVenture experience you just slip on a wetsuit and dive helmet, step into the aquarium and walk among schools of fish. A trainer will take you on a tour where you can touch and feed all sorts of marine life.

GO SCALLOPING

Florida’s Gulf Coast between New Port Richie and Port St. Joe is blessed with warm, shallow waters. This means sea grass, which means scallops — and you can catch some for dinner. Legal to harvest from July to September, all you need is snorkel gear, a mesh bag and a saltwater fishing license. If you go with a tour company, they’ll provide all that for you. Try Swift Fish Charters, Bird’s Underwater Dive Center or Homosassa Scalloping Charters.

FOR THE LITTLE ONES

Suwannee Valley Currents

Disney creates magic, so yes, little kids can have an underwater experience without getting wet! At Disney World, go to Under the Sea — Journey of the Little Mermaid, where you’ll ride through a tunnel full of wonderful animation and sculptures. At EPCOT head to The Seas with Nemo & Friends for a similar magical experience.

SWIM WITH ALLIGATORS

You’re under the water. So is a 10-foot alligator, literally inches away. Luckily, “Crocodile Chris” is also in the water with you, and you’re behind a hardly-visible-butstill-there mesh net. The Underwater Alligator Experience in Homestead is the best way to view these amazing creatures up close without putting yourself in danger, so if you love gators (and you’re 18 or older), definitely add this to your bucket list.

FOR CERTIFIED DIVERS

Now you can do more than observe gorgeous coral reefs — you can help protect them. If you’re going to be in Key Largo for at least three weeks, the Coral Reef Foundation offers voluntourism opportunities for divers to join scientists in planting coral, monitoring reef health and removing harmful debris.  July 2022 | 7

Operation Round Up® Report Members like you helped raise more than $50,000 for our schools

SVEC members continue to make Operation Round Up a success! An average monthly donation of 50 cents has made a huge impact in the community. By simply rounding up electric bills to the next dollar, $52,692 has been raised to support local students and teachers this year. 

YEAR TO DATE Funds collected: $52,692 Grants approved: $39,001 LIFE OF PROGRAM Funds collected: $368,206 Grants approved: $351,179

2022 SCHOLARSHIP WINNERS Jordan Beck

Daniela Camarillo

Triston Carter

Jase Daniel

David Esco

Hamilton County High School

Lafayette High School

Hamilton County High School

Donald Ralph Cooke School

Suwannee High School

Dominique Golding

Brentson McCall

Ali McMillan

José Resendíz

Natalie Robinson

Branford High School

Freedom High School

Suwannee High School

Lafayette High School

Suwannee High School

Dominic Rosado

Caroline Simpson

Jenna Tolle

Nathalia Veal

McKenzie Winburn

Holy Cross Christian Academy

Suwannee High School

Hamilton County High School

Branford High School

Lafayette High School

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Suwannee Valley Currents