A standing-room-only crowd turned out in Jackson County Monday evening as Florida Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson addressed growing concerns over two new agricultural interdiction stations under construction for the area, one on U.S. 231 near the Alabama line and another on Highway 2 near the Georgia border.

Construction is underway on a new Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services agricultural inspection station near Campbellton, marking a significant addition to the state’s border protection network in Jackson County.

With the sweeping branches of century-old oak trees creating a shaded canopy and the backdrop of a beautifully restored museum filled with early 1900s furniture and artifacts, families gathered Saturday for a back-to-school bash that was as much about community as it was about supplies.