Share
Magic medicine, strength, horses, loggers and trash hunters were the themes of my favorite stories from 2024. Each of the five I chose to highlight inspires readers in different ways. I hope you enjoy these stories as much as our readers have, and they inspire ideas for features you can share in 2025.
1. Saddle Up: Junior Rodeo Keeps Florida Youth Coming back
By Drew Woolley | Florida Currents
I’ve read a lot of rodeo stories through the years, but this one hit me differently. It doesn’t sugarcoat the challenges or cost of participating, but it balances those by showing readers the rewards.
Drew beautifully captured the family element of junior rodeo. The closing quote is perfect, too.
“For us, it’s not a hobby; it’s a way of life,” Heather says. “It’s a very different way of life and a very demanding one. There’s just nothing else like it in Florida, and that’s why it’s been around for so long.”
2. America’s Strongest Man
By David Herder | Ruralite
There are no shortcuts to success and Lucas Hatton went from novice strongman competitor, finishing 35th in his first competition, to winning America’s Strongest Man competition only three years later. David helps Lucas tell his story as he goes from being a good high school athlete in a small community to college and then a U.S. champion.
3. Meet The Logger’s Daughter
By Chiara Profenna | Ruralite
One woman’s quest to preserve the history of a black logging camp in Northeastern Oregon formed in the early 1920s has resulted in a Public Broadcasting Service documentary on the community Maxville, Oregon.
Gwen Trice didn’t know until later in life that her father and grandfather were sent by train boxcar to the logging camp from Arkansas in 1923. Chiara details Gwen’s journey from discovery to action. Gwen has collected stories of the camp from neighboring residents and preserved the only remaining structure, a log cabin, which she turned into the Maxville Heritage Interpretive Center for visitors.
4. Ripple Effect
By Sara Diamond Patterson | Tennessee Connections
Trash isn’t just ugly, it harms our environment. And a group of volunteers in Tennessee found a way to make a profound difference. The Keep Tennessee River Beautiful group is using preventative measures to keep trash—especially toxic cigarette butts—out of the river and physically removing hundreds of thousands of pounds of trash from the 652-mile river.
But Sara didn’t stop there; she penned a related story about the bottom-dwelling monsters inhabiting the river. It’s a good reminder that one story often leads to another.
5. Magic Medicine
By Drew Woolley | Florida Currents
Grab a box of tissues before reading this one, as Drew weaves a tale of sadness and regret followed quickly by miraculous hope only possible because of the Give the Kids the World Village amusement park.
This story is truly magic, as are the people who make Give the Kids the World work, many who once came as sick children themselves. The village is a place for parents and their children to spend a few days overwhelmed with unconflicted joy. And just maybe, they will find a miracle, too.
Hope you got some ideas from these stories. I’m willing to bet there are similar stories to be found in your service area if you know where to look!