Scenic Walton, a non-profit dedicated to preserving the beauty and enhancing the safety of Walton County, Florida, is urging residents to support its mission by collecting pre-purchased “30A/Scenic Walton Specialty License Plates” and encouraging new purchases. The organization faces the potential discontinuation of this crucial funding source if plate sales and collection numbers do not improve.
Scenic Walton is “Calling All Cars” for Support to the Non-Profit
One of the best things about living in Walton County, Florida, is the beauty of the place we call home. A new resident who moved to Santa Rosa Beach two years ago said, “It is not just the beauty of the sun and sand. It is also our beautiful State Parks and miles and miles of tall pine trees, trails, and a wonderful bay, Freeport, and the County Seat.” From DeFuniak Springs to the North, that invites everyone to a picturesque city ‘with the perfectly round lake,’ and historical homes and cultural districts to the beautiful shores of the Emerald Coast.”
We are Scenic Walton
Taking a moment to realize that Walton County is a place where people love to live, work, play, and serve the community is one of the most significant characteristics of our Walton County DNA. That is precisely the reason “Scenic Walton” was established. The folks of this 501(c)(3) have the critical mission of “scenic conservation,” and their premier objective states that they “believe that all people deserve to live, work, and play in beautiful places. Scenic beauty improves our quality of life. Beauty is good for our minds and bodies, and it is good for business.” The organization also focuses on increasing safety and resiliency to improve the quality of life for those who live in or visit Walton County.
Mid Bay News recently interviewed Leigh Moore, Executive Director of Scenic Walton, who is very hopeful and encouraged about the future of Walton County. Her passion for protecting and maximizing the ‘best’ for Walton County is “showcased by the work of our citizens – those people who are committed to ‘accentuating the positive’ through scenic conservation.” Moore says that by partnering with citizens, business owners, other nonprofits, and local and state government to achieve successful projects like multiple roadway landscaping projects along US 98 and 331 South and the life-saving pedestrian/cyclist underpass at US 98 and CR 30A in Inlet Beach, Scenic Walton is creating a legacy of instigating and participating in infrastructure improvements that are genuinely making Walton County safer and more beautiful than it already is. And they are continuing and even expanding those efforts with a roadway landscaping project on US 331 in Freeport, a linear park project in West DeFuniak Springs, and a critical initiative to get overhead utilities underground in areas where it makes sense to do so throughout the county. This organization is moving mountains and needs increasing support from the community as they scale those efforts.
Over the past year, the Scenic Walton Board has highlighted several significant steps that have contributed to North Walton County. Two notable landmarks that are part of a trend in restoration include the Sunbright Inn in DeFuniak Springs and the CCB Bank Restoration (which received the Scenic Walton Design Excellence Award), both located in downtown DeFuniak. These revitalizations embrace our local heritage and reflect the character-giving that “local, hometown” feeling. These are just two examples of the “welcome home” and a “warm and inviting greeting” given to anyone passing through the county. The organization also acknowledged the quality of new development in the City of Freeport when they presented a Design Excellence Award to the Freeport branch of Eglin Federal Credit Union on US 331.
Supporting the Work of Scenic Walton
One key effort Scenic Walton launched recently is the “limited edition 30A/Scenic Walton Specialty License Plate.”
This plate is one way that Scenic Walton funds its mission in the County. Moore indicated that this project seemed doable at first. Scenic Walton thought that getting folks excited about the County and showcasing the non-profit might be relatively easy—especially since everybody driving needs a license plate. Well, not so fast.
Scenic Walton understood that a pre-sale period was required (by the State) to ensure demand and “buy-in” by residents. 3000 plates had to be sold in advance to actually get the State to make them. The ‘presales’ have been made (as 3000 were sold); however, about only one-half of those pre-purchased tags have been picked up at the Tax Collector’s offices. Leigh Moore said, “Those who have the’ paid vouchers’ (representing the first 3000 purchases) must retrieve the plate in person at the Tax Collector’s Office. If the initial plates are not picked up (a total of 1729 not collected), the number of plates will not be considered purchased and installed on the vehicles – even though they were initially purchased.” Scenic Walton is urging those initial supporters to collect the ‘paid for’ plates.
The State made changes to the specialty plate program over the last several years that have made it much more challenging to keep newer specialty plates in production. One rule the State has recently implemented is for poorer-performing [lowest sales] specialty plates. For the specialty plate that ranks the lowest in sales on December 31st of any given year, and for any plate that has fewer than 3,000 plates on the road, that specialty plate will be discontinued. This is the rule.
So what does that mean for the 30A/Scenic Walton plate? “It means that the plate could be discontinued, and the annual portion of the proceeds from registering cars with Scenic Walton plates will discontinue, and that $25.00 annual support for us will go away with it,” said Moore.
Mid Bay News asked Ms. Moore about the financial benefit the non-profit receives from the sale of each special plate. Moore said that Scenic Walton gets $25.00 per plate each year. This is an excellent source of income for the non-profit and is another way to build awareness of Scenic Walton in our county. One individual who purchased the 30A/Scenic Walton plate said, “It would be sad to see this effort [by Scenic Walton] go to waste. The plate for me has been a topic of discussion, and it is easily seen as a promotion for where I live. It is very recognizable by locals and now by many in the country.”
Promotion and sales are critical next steps to avoid discontinuing the specialty plates. What can we do about it?
First, if you purchased the 30A/Scenic Walton Plate presale voucher a while back, please visit the tax collector’s office and retrieve it as soon as possible. If you didn’t purchase a voucher, you can now easily buy the plate at any Florida tax collector’s office or online by following the instructions below. The plates can be purchased for any registered vehicle, trailer, RV, golf cart, or low-speed vehicle in the state of Florida.
Secondly, Christmas is coming up, and with that comes the opportunity to give an unusual but fun gift that serves as a reminder of the place we love and call home. If you know someone in Walton County who would like this gift but cannot afford it, why not give them a gift that supports Scenic Walton in its work and mission?
To purchase a license plate online today, simply follow these 4 steps:
And as a reminder, if you are reading this and are one of the 1729 individuals (of the first 3000 buyers) who pre-purchased the license plate (and received a paid voucher), please claim your license plate right away.
Pro Communi Bono
St. Francis De Sales, Ora Pro Nobis!
Register or login with Mid Bay News and never get another pop up on our site!
