Rural Perseverance: A Tale of Two Cities

By Alicia Stevens

Prologue - Home

     Situated approximately ten miles from the western banks of the Wekiva River, Sorrento and Mt. Plymouth hold a rare Floridian artifact within their boundaries: their land. Compared to the rest of the burgeoning peninsula, including their surrounding areas, these two towns have relatively little development—residential or industrial.
     However, the 51.2 square miles that constitute Sorrento and Mt. Plymouth may soon be forever altered. The Lake County Government has recently studied the land for growth possibilities, including a golf-course community and a power plant. But the government does not have the final decision. To find out how Sorrento’s and Mt. Plymouth’s citizens feel about this potential change, I must actually travel to the towns, experiencing first hand the land and its people’s sentiments.
     Before beginning my journey, I ask myself what “rural character” means. Is it merely a land’s characteristics? Its population density? Or, does it reach further into the human heart, promoting community among people, the rural land, its resources, and wildlife? I then realize that a community entails interdependence between all of its components. To use Aldo Leopold’s words, community embodies “The Round River.” When the human piece is introduced, it should bring with it a knowledge of and a respect for all of the other pieces within the community. In the case of Sorrento and Mt. Plymouth, these other parts are the Wekiva River, its water resource, its surrounding basin, and its wildlife. To me, then, rural character means a deep love for one’s entire habitat and thus a strong sense of community.
     There are other descriptions of rural character, such as a “comfortable, easy” lifestyle, a “relaxed, unassuming” air, and a “simple, honest” disposition. People living in a rural, isolated environment often know everyone else there, have strong generational ties, and enjoy helping their fellow citizens. Their sweat and blood are bound to the land, to tradition, and to close-knit community. If the people of Sorrento and Mt. Plymouth truly possess this idea of rural character, then to lose their land to development would be tragic. If not, then perhaps growth may serve to provide the land with people who do indeed value community.
     The following chapters will reveal the character of Sorrento, Mt. Plymouth, and their residents. Then, far off in the fields, their collective futures may be seen.

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