One Okeechobee

06/01/2026

Wake up Okeechobee. The whole world is watching.

05/31/2026

⚠️🚨 SCAM WARNING 🚨⚠️
One of our followers recently brought to our attention that Mark and Paulette Bragel are trying to sell the Brown Cow Sweetery to some unsuspecting victim. DO NOT FALL FOR THIS SCAM. THE BROWN COW SWEETERY IS WORTHLESS.
Since we have been told that the Bragels refuse to show their financial records, here are some financial facts regarding the Brown Cow Sweetery and its owners, Mark and Paulette Bragel. All of the following points are actual facts which can be easily verified by simple google searches, but will not be easily understood by simply looking at financial records, especially if those financial records have been manipulated to con a victim into purchasing this failing business.
1. The Brown Cow Sweetery has never in x number of years shown any notable profit.
2. The owners Mark and Paulette Bragel filed chapter 13 bankruptcy to wipe out the debt they had accumulated over the first few years of ownership.
3. Mark and Paulette Bragel then sold the home they lived in together since they divorced their previous spouses. The proceeds from the sale of that home were also sunk into the Brown Cow to Desperately keep it afloat.
4. Mark and Paulette have other income which includes Social Security and a substantial revenue stream from the unlicensed handyman work Mark Bragel spends most of his time doing. All of which is sunk into the Brown Cow Sweetery to make it appear successful.
5. Over the x years that they have owned the Brown Cow the business, the social security and the handyman work hasn’t even been enough to provide simple shelter. For a number of years they lived in the back of the store and when the city found out they bounced from rental to rental exchanging rent payment for repairs they completed for the owners. And now they live in a camper at the KOA that they paid for with COVID relief money.
6. Mark and Paulette Bragel are broke having maxed out their credit cards accumulated countless personal loans for anyone ignorant enough to listen to their bu****it stories and now they want all of you to believe they have a profitable business.

Don’t get scammed the Brown Cow Sweetery isn’t even worth the value of the equipment you’d get on a sidewalk, fire sale, and now the competition has quadrupled making it far less viable then ever before. They don’t even own the building. So what are they even selling? Mark and Paulette Bragel have a history of Scamming people. Don’t be their next victim. If you want to duplicate this business model you can do it for free by getting some Costco chicken salad, some freezer-burnt ice cream, and dip some stale pretzels in melted chocolate. PLEASE SHARE THIS MESSAGE SO OTHERS DONT GET SCAMMED.

05/31/2026

05/30/2026

I've been revisiting my dad's novel, A Land Remembered, to refresh my memory as it moves toward a television series. The following passage at the end of chapter 30 really hit me.

"One night as Zech listened apprehensively to the lonesome cry of a wolf, realizing it was a harmless lone voice and not a pack, he wondered what the future held for old adversaries like wolves and bears and for all the creatures that depended on the land for survival. He remembered that night years ago when he had witnessed the ritual of animals peacefully sharing the life-giving water, some inborn instinct telling them they must share and conserve to survive. Perhaps animals are smarter than men, he thought, taking only what they need to live today, leaving something for tomorrow. Even the hated wolf kills only for food and only for immediate need. Maybe it is man who will eventually perish as he destroys the land and all that it offers, taking the animals down with him.

As he thought of these things and the unknown future, he realized one thing was certain: if the wilderness shrinks, pushing more and more men together, there will be explosions without end. Some will yield, but others won't, and someone will be hurt. It will never be like the animals sharing water."

He wrote this in the early 1980s, and it reads like he was describing 2026.

The animals sharing water is a quietly devastating image. No drama, no sermon — just the observation that wolves and deer drink from the same source because instinct tells them they must. And then this: "Maybe it is man who will eventually perish."

He doesn't say it with anger. He says it with sorrow. That's what makes it land so hard.

He wrote that over forty years ago. It is completely current today.

I felt a great deal of sadness reading this — not just because I miss him, but because he was right and we didn't listen.

If you haven't read A Land Remembered yet, now is the time — before the television series arrives. You really must read the book first, the way it was meant to be told — page by page, word by word.

Get your copy at ALandRemembered.com

You may also want to visit our other site at https://patricksmithonline.com/. ~Patrick D. Smith, Jr. (Rick)

05/30/2026

Congressional District 9 deserves a fighter in Congress, someone aligned with President Trump's vision to put America back on top and fight for our rural communities. I was in Washington this week, talking with folks about the strength of our campaign right out of the starting gate. It was a great trip, but it’s good to be back home in Central Florida, talking with voters and earning their support.

Team Butler, we’re just getting started! 🇺🇸

05/30/2026

Happy Saturday! Who's stopping by?