By Suzanne Scheiber
Ormond Beach, Florida
Dear Florida,
I came here on vacation with my family to Volusia County every year when I was growing up. This was our one vacation each year. I always looked forward to coming as a child and loved the beach and large oak trees on the mainland. As soon as I was old enough to move here I did. The idea of living in paradise made me feel like the luckiest person in the world. Ormond Beach was unique and quaint. The drive up the loop was mystical with trees canopying the road that made it a magical forest. Trees have always been my passion, both then and now. I never saw the change that would come, to take the place I love.
Today, I drive up Beach St., known as the Ormond Scenic Loop, and I see development on what used to be wetlands. Brick wall entrances to a 1500 manufactured home community and further up the road, a 200-home housing development. How sad that one of Florida’s most prized possessions was disregarded for development. Much of the forest has been cut to the ground. What’s left of this once treasure needs to be protected.
Often passion is seen as an obscure vision of hindrance. Passion is all that is remaining that will make a difference in saving our natural resources in Volusia County. Conservation has been left out of the equation. Here is our chance to do the right thing. We must purchase the land remaining on the Ormond Scenic Loop to keep it safe from developers and politicians who don’t recognize the value of beauty, nature, and our own quality of life.
