By Julie McConnell, UF/IFAS Extension Five months ago, we experienced severe cold weather for three days which impacted landscapes across the panhandle. Since prolonged deep freezes are not common in our area we were unable to predict how plants would fare long term. As we progress into spring, it’s a good time to start assessing landscape plants and make decisions about what to keep and what to replace. The plants we have received the most inquiries about at my office are citrus trees. Unfortunately, this category of beloved plants is difficult to protect and suffered dearly. The recommendation up to now has been to be patient and give them time to recover, but when should you stop waiting and what signs should you look for? New Growth Obvious signs to look for are new leaves and stems, but the long-awaited appearance of green may not indicate recovery. Below are some guidelines you can use to interpret spring flushes. Leaves and stems emerging in the canopy are a good sign if it expands fully and hardens off. This is a good sign of recovery because it indicates the trunk and woody branches are still alive. Ensure the tree has adequate water if rainfall is insufficient and if you fertilize do so sparingly. New foliage in the canopy that dies before it fully expands indicates that the wood it was growing from was significantly injured. The failed regrowth is a secondary symptom of the initial freeze damage. Does that mean the... Read More

  By Paul Bonnette For the past forty years, Shipwreck Island Waterpark has been the place to plunge, dunk, slide, swim and float in Panama City Beach. Known for its famous water rides such as the Zoom Flume, Lazy River, the Wave Pool, and many more, Shipwreck Island has three million gallons of water for you to splash around in. This fifteen-acre tropical waterpark has been a must-do attraction for visitors and locals of all ages for decades: on April 29th Shipwreck Island opened the gates for its 40th anniversary season. Although 2023 will be Shipwreck Island’s 40th anniversary season, plans go back even further to the developer, visionary, and builder of Miracle Strip Amusement Park, James Lark. According to General Manager Buddy Wilkes who has been with the family-owned company for decades, Shipwreck Island started with one single ride. “It started in 1976 when James Lark built the Zoom Flume. If you traveled the interstate highway system, you would see family RV campgrounds and they would all have a waterslide.”This gave Lark a crazy idea for an attraction, which would become the Zoom Flume, which, although updated, is still one of the most popular rides at Shipwreck. Over the next several years, even more rides were added including the Rapid River Run and Skull Island pool with Bumper Boats. According to Wilkes, in 1983, these rides would merge into the tropical-themed park we know today, but with a slightly different name: “So we had three water attractions and we... Read More

  By Sean Dietrich I am an imaginary old man. I am every World War II veteran you never knew. I am each faceless GI from the bygone European War. Or any other war for that matter. I am in my 90s and 100s now. Lots of young folks probably don’t even know I exist. In my war, I was one of the hundreds of thousands of infantrymen, airmen, sailors, marines, mess sergeants, seabees, brass hats, engineers, doctors, medics, buck privates and rear-echelon potato-peelers. We hopped islands in the Pacific. We served in the African war theater. We beat the devil, then we came home and became the old fart next door. Wartime was one heck of an era to be young. Let me tell ya. When we went overseas we were still teenagers, smooth skinned, scared spitless, with government haircuts, wearing brand new wedding rings. We hadn’t seen action yet, so we were jittery and lots of us smoked through a week’s rations of Luckies in one day. Then it happened. It was different for everyone, but it happened. Shells landed everywhere. People screamed. And in a moment our fear melted away and we had war jobs to do. It didn’t matter who we were or which posts were ours. Everyone worked in the grand assembly line of battle. When the smoke cleared and the action was over, we had new confidence in ourselves and we were no longer boys. And anyway, we weren’t just boys, we were girls,... Read More

  Humble House Ministries is excited to announce the Grand Opening of their furniture store May 5 at 271 N Star Ave., Panama City, FL 32404. All proceeds from the new furniture store will return directly to Humble House Ministries. The furniture store is currently open to the public Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. “Since opening our doors to this ministry, 5 moms that had a DCF case that stated ‘termination of parental rights’ have been successfully reunited with their children. To help fund these endeavors and more, I am happy to say, we opened our first Humble House Thrift Store: Furniture and More. It has cost over $9,000 to open a new home and a furniture store, and we are in such desperate need for your continued support. Our mission is not just to save women from addiction, but to reunify them with their children who are in foster homes,” says Rachel Duvall, Founder & CEO. We have operated fully on generous donations from people in our community since opening our doors. The furniture store is going to provide monthly income to Humble House Ministries allowing us to continue to reunite children with their families. The post Humble House Thrift Store: Furniture and More Open appeared first on PCB Life | Panama City Beach News, Events and Community Information.   Read More