The Citrus Stand Collective Is Open
Polk County has always had artists. Poets. Good people with something worth saying. Home cooks who could write a cookbook if anyone ever asked. Photographers who see this place with a keen eye on the beauty found in nature and people.
That’s where the Citrus Tea News comes in. We created the Citrus Stand Collective to showcase the incredible talent all over this county.
Arts & Culture
Arts and Culture is for anyone who makes something. Painters, photographers, sculptors, poets, short fiction writers, musicians, performers, woodworkers, potters, quilters, and anyone else creating things that deserve an audience beyond their living room. Polk County has always had creative people doing remarkable work, and most of it never gets seen outside a small circle of friends and family. That is the gap we are trying to close. If you have a body of work, a single piece you are proud of, or even just an idea you have been sitting on, we want to hear about it. This section exists to put Polk County’s creative community on the map, one artist at a time.
Faith & Family
Faith & Family is for the stories that stay with you. The neighbor who showed up when nobody asked. The family that rebuilt after everything fell apart. The kid who beat the odds and the people who refused to stop believing in them. It’s a devotional that reminds you of your roots and strengthens your faith in God and humanity. If you have a story about hope, resilience, or the kind of human connection that reminds you why community matters, this is exactly where it belongs.
Lifestyle
Lifestyle covers the rest of the good stuff. How you spend a Saturday morning. What grows in your backyard. What wellness looks like in your corner of the county. The food traditions that have been in your family for three generations. The things that make life here worth writing about.
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You don’t need a journalism background or a professional portfolio. You need just a story and a genuine connection to this place we call home.
A poem about Lake Hamilton at sunrise, a reflection on what it means to belong somewhere, a highlight about the volunteers who keep your church’s food pantry running every week, or a short story set right here in Polk County…all of it. That is what we are looking for.
This is the part of The Citrus Tea I love the most because it proves that local news isn’t just the hard, serious stuff. It’s also about community telling its own story in a thousand different ways, where most of them never get written down anywhere. And that’s why we need you, because we can’t do this job alone.
We want to change that. Send us what you’ve got. Reach out at [email protected] and tell us what you want to contribute. We will take it from there.
The stand is open. Come on in! 🍊
