For several months ‘Real Florida Magazine’ solicited readers and Facebook subscribers to nominate their choices for the best local providers for 2024, in several categories of goods, services and events in the ‘Real Florida’.
The winners are declared ‘People’s Choice- Best of The Real Florida’, with bragging rights and local notoriety, and the results were announced on Friday, January 3, 2025.
‘We were again surprised by the number of submissions’, says Debbie Goulding, President of The Goulding Agency, LLC and operations manager for ‘Real Florida Magazine’. ‘This is the fifth time we have held the competition and our original concept was to simply solicit our readers to submit their “People’s Choice” of local businesses’.
‘In the absence of a local effort to promote local businesses at no cost, we publish articles and pictorials highlighting local business, and have done so for several years’, continues Goulding.
‘Along with a “Help Wanted” feature, these articles are regularly featured on our social media and websites, and we currently enjoy just over 75,000 unique Facebook followers, with over 150,000 social media followers in aggregate’.
Winners in several categories, based on local public response, include:
Air Conditioning/Heating Service: Hasty Heating and Cooling (Chipley)
Attorney/Law Office: Russell Roberts (Marianna)
Automotive Detailing/Car Wash: Speedy Car Wash (Chipley)
Automotive/Repair: Nichols Auto Repair (Chipley)
Bank or Credit Union: Innovations Credit Union (Chipley)
Butcher Shop/Meats: Stone’s Meats (Chipley)
Cable/Internet Provider: Spectrum (Chipley)
Carpet Cleaning/Water Extraction: Carpet Masters (Chipley)
Caterer: Catering By Lisa (Panama City)
Childcare: Kid’s World (Chipley)
Chiropractic Services: Mark Taylor (Chipley)
Clothing/Boutique: Salon Blow (Chipley)
CPA/Accounting Services: J.D. Sasser’s Bookkeeping (Chipley)
Dentist: Jack Taylor, DMD (Chipley)
Event/Children: ArtKidDoo Festival (Chipley)
Event/Festival: Panhandle Watermelon Festival (Chipley)
Event Venue: Live Oak Plantation (Vernon)
Farm/Feed and Seed: Main Street Market (Chipley)
Florist: Kirby Holt/Blossoms (Chipley)
Fraternal Organization: Chipley Kiwanis Club (Chipley)
Furniture Store (New): Chavers-Brock (Chipley)
Furniture Store (Used): Backyard Treasures (Dothan)
Green Grocer/Fresh Fruit & Vegetables: Main Street Market (Chipley)
Grocery Store: Piggly Wiggly (Chipley)
Guns/Firearms: Chipley Gun & Pawn (Chipley)
Gym/Fitness Facility: Chipley Therapy Group (Chipley)
Hair Stylist: Salon Blow (Chipley)
Hardware/Building Supplies: Chipley Hardware (Chipley)
Health Foods: Olive Leaves (Panama City)
Heating & Cooling: Hometown (Chipley)
Hospice: Emerald Coast Hospice (Chipley)
Hospital/Primary Care Clinic: Southeast Alabama Medical Center (Dothan)
Insurance (Car/Home/Life): Rogers Insurance (Chipley)
Jeweler/Jewelry Store: Watson Jewelers (Marianna)
Lawn Care Equipment: Lane’s Outdoors (Chipley)
Lawn Care/Maintenance: Legendary Lawn Maintenance (Chipley)
Massage: Taylor Chiropractic (Chipley)
Music/Performing Band: Dickie Merritt and the Original Bama Jam (Marianna)
Musical Event: Marianna Summer Concert Series (Marianna)
New Car Sales: Panama City Toyota (Panama City)
News Service/Online: Foster Folly News (Chipley)
News Service/Newspaper: News Herald (Panama City)
Nursery/Plants: Maphis Nursery (Chipley)
Orthopedic Surgeon: Hughston Clinic (Dothan)
Parade: Bonifay Rodeo Parade (Bonifay)
Pawn Shop: Chipley Gun & Pawn (Chipley)
Pest Control: Redmon Pest Solutions (Dothan)
Pharmacy/Drug Store: King’s Drugs (Chipley)
Photographer/Photographic Services: Mattox Photography (Graceville)
Physical Therapy/Rehabilitation: Chipley Therapy Group (Chipley)
Plumber/Plumbing Service: High Plumbing (Graceville)
Physician/PA/Medical Clinic: Wendy Corbin P.A. (Chipley)
Radio Station: WOOF-FM (Dothan, AL)
Realtor/Real Estate: Cindy Birge, Elite Realty (Chipley)
Retail Store/General Store: Walmart (Chipley)
Restaurant/Full Service: Javier’s Mexican Grill (Chipley)
Restaurant/Quick Serve: Chick-Fil-A (Marianna)
Shoe Store/Boots: Westerner (Chipley)
Sporting Goods: King’s Outdoors (Chipley)
Technical College/Adult Education: Florida Panhandle Technical
College (Chipley)
Television Station: WTVY-TV (Dothan, AL)
Tires/Alignment: Tommy’s Tires (Chipley)
Used Car Sales: Corbin Auto Sales (Chipley)
Veterinarian/Animal Hospital: Panhandle Veterinary Services (Chipley)
‘Other similar contests break down into many subcategories, but we decided to keep this short and sweet’, Debbie Goulding explains.
‘We are based in Chipley, Florida, in Washington County, so we naturally see a preponderance of nominations for local businesses’, says Goulding, ‘but now in our fifth year of the contest, we see more and more response from Jackson and Holmes County, as well as Panama City and Dothan’.
Congratulations to all who made ‘The Best of The Real Florida’.
