- Sopchoppy is known for worm gruntin.
- This weekend is the Sopchoppy Worm Gruntin Festival.
- Watch the video to see how they do it and why it means so much to the neighborhood.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
It’s a unique job that people in Sopchoppy still do today and it’s called worm gruntin. I’m Kenzie Krueger in Sopchoppy, and here’s why this activity means so much to this area.
Worm gruntin is a huge part of Sopchoppy history, they do it as a way to get worms for fishing bait. Snap Revell’s family has been doing it for generations and his parents still do it for a living
“They go in the forest almost everyday”
Here’s how it works.
He takes a stick of wood and rubs it on the metal stooping iron to create a vibration sound that causing worms to come up from the ground.
The Worm Gruntin industry started in the 1900s after the railroad came to the area and people would purchase the local worms.
Since the industry has declined and there's less demand, but Snap says it's still a big part of their culture.
"It's kind of a dying trade or art, but we still enjoy going out and harvesting the worms and other things so we encourage people to try it."
Each year Sopchoppy has a Worm Gruntin Festival where hundreds of people come from all over to attend.
Nancy Paul with Discover Sopchoppy says this a great way for people to, “come and see how they used to make their living selling worms, turpentine, honey, lumber and all the things that make this a real center of commerce for the Southwest part of Wakulla County.”
She also says the event benefits local businesses.
Like many people from Sopchoppy who love this festival, Snap wants to preserve this part of history and teach younger people about it.
"I really enjoy watching the kids learn more about the worms and it kind of steers them in a direction for science and things for their future."
Worm Gruntin isn’t the only part of history the City of Sopchoppy will be honoring this weekend,
Just a block up the street, they’re also celebrating the 100th anniversary for Sopchoppy Highschool.
Nancy says people should stop over on their way to the festival
“There’s gonna be food trucks over there, speakers and story boards about the history. It’s just an another part of what makes Sopchoppy special.”
The Worm Gruntin Festival is Saturday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. They’ll be a run in the morning, live music, food and work gruntin of course.
