South Walton was once home to a large black bear population. Hunting and development nearly eliminated Florida's largest land mammal. But lately we've seen bears return to the area in large numbers.

Just like it is for SoWal vistors and locals, Fall is an active time of year for Florida black bears as they stock up on calories for the coming winter. Though black bears don’t really need to put on pounds to survive the state’s usually mild winters, they behave as if they do need to – eating about three times as much as usual.

The Souh Walton Tourist Development Council (TDC) has named MC and Stella Davis as its 2012 Van Ness Butler Hospitality Award recipients. This award was first presented to Van Ness Butler Jr. in honor of his visionary leadership and the continuation of his family's legacy in making South Walton a premier tourist destination.

The official results are in for our 2012 "You're So SoWal if..." contest!  We had so much FUNN reading all of the GRAYT entries! This year's submissions ranged from heartwarming to hilarious, emotional to whimsical, and of course some may be a bit controversial.

We're overwhelmed with the participation of so many SoWal beach lovers from near and far, and thank everyone so much for sharing what SoWal means to them, especially our loyal SoWal Forum members.