Sweet Sensation

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Oklahoma couple reviving local roadside staple

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  • Scott and Elaine McMillin, owners of The Honey Stand in San Mateo, stand next to the roadside business, which has been a local favorite for years.
    Scott and Elaine McMillin, owners of The Honey Stand in San Mateo, stand next to the roadside business, which has been a local favorite for years.
  •  Elaine McMillin bottles honey on the San Mateo property Wednesday. She and her husband hope to fix up the hives at the property so they can make their honey in-house.
    Elaine McMillin bottles honey on the San Mateo property Wednesday. She and her husband hope to fix up the hives at the property so they can make their honey in-house.
  • The Honey Stand in San Mateo remains unchanged – other than  having new owners – since its inception in 1947.
    The Honey Stand in San Mateo remains unchanged – other than having new owners – since its inception in 1947.
  • Positively Putnam FL
    Positively Putnam FL
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SAN MATEO  – A roadside staple is abuzz with new owners who are working to restore The Honey Stand to its former glory.

Scott and Elaine McMillin bought the honor system stand, 300 E. State Road 100, in November, and although they are not from Florida, they plan to keep the little shack running the same way it has been since 1947.

The couple moved from Oklahoma because they wanted to retire in Florida but also needed something to keep them busy. Buying an old, 10-acre honey farm and a 121-year-old house was just the thing.

“It was a God thing,” Elaine McMillin said. “… We walked on (the property), and Scott and I both love historical houses and remodeling old homes. And we looked at it like, ‘This is a treasure.’ It’s awesome.”

Anyone who traveled State Road 100 toward Bunnell would pass the red and yellow stand. Elaine McMillin said she keeps hearing from honey-lovers who are glad to see people outside again and from people who have been coming to the stand since childhood. 

Currently, the McMillins buy honey from a source two hours away and bottle it from large vats on their property. But they want to bring back the property’s bee farm to harvest the sweet delight right outside their door. 

And they don’t want to stop there. 

Elaine McMillin said she would love to make the property a rest stop for missionaries and ministers to rest, unwind and unplug. 

“We both want to be involved in a mission to help the Christian world,” she said. 

The Biggers family, who were from San Mateo, owned the property and operated the stand for more than 70 years. David Biggers, who ran the stand for his father beginning in 1985, died in 2016.

The new owners plan to only refurbish the stand, keeping the little red money box as it is, but said the roadside shop could sell jams or jellies in the future. 

“It’ll all stay the same  – the honors system that’s been here since 1947 – it will still be the honors system,” Elaine McMillin said. “We’re not going to take that away.”

 

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