Communication Builds Our Community
Communication Builds Our Community
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A "City in a Garden" with landscaped streets, a redeveloped Grove Manor featuring a mix of housing types, and a new "town square" were among the ideas presented to Lake Wales citizens Friday evening to cap a week of intensive study by the planning firm of Dover Kohl. Most of the 100 in attendance were excited by the possibilities. The week-long effort, sponsored by Lake Wales Mainstreet and funded by local businesses, included gathering ideas and suggestions from the public,...
The twice-a-month Lake Wales Downtown Farmers' Market has been on a tremendous growth curve for the last year, and a recent Saturday morning found nearly 50 vendors offering a great variety of products to throngs of customers. Fresh food ranging from baked goods, fried cheese, "cotton candy cupcakes," guava pastries, and doughnuts to empanadas, Thai spring rolls, and hot dogs were popular. Those were accompanied by teas and coffees, including the iced variety as well as...
The City of Frostproof will host a two-day barbeque celebration April 12-13, bringing people together for food, music and activities for kids. Fire it Up! Will include a barbeque contest sanctioned by the Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS) and a steak contest and Kids Que sanctioned by the Steak Cookoff Association. According to the KCBS, barbecue is a uniquely American tradition. The Frostproof event at Henderson Field, 71 N. Lake Reedy Blvd. starts at 4 p.m. Friday with...
Rosemary Creem Donadio, 77, of Frostproof passed away Wednesday, April 10, 2019, at her residence. She was born December 21, 1941 in New Haven, Connecticut, to the late Charles and Marion (Crawford) Creem. She has been a resident of the area since 1972, coming from Clinton, Connecticut and was an insurance biller for Florida Hospital. Survivors include her daughters, Sandra Avirett and her husband Joseph of Lake Wales, Vicki Baerhold and her husband Michael of Frostproof, Becky Donadio of Frostproof, son, Keith Donadio and...
Lorine Hamilton Dirckson, 91 of Lake Wales, died April 11 at Winter Haven Hospital. Born in Winter Haven, on Jan. 13, 1928. Visitation will be from 6-8 p.m. Friday, April 19 at Allen Temple A.M.E. Church, 241 C St., Lake Wales. Services will be at 11 a.m. Saturday, April 20 at the church. Epps Memorial Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements....
Isabel M. Maldonado, 79, of Lake Wales, passed away Friday, April 12 at her residence. She was born June 8, 1939 in Utuado, Puerto Rico to the late Ernesto and Andrea Cuevas- Domenech. She has been a resident of the area since December of 2004 coming from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She was a childcare provider and a member of the Holy Spirit Catholic Church. Isabel made shoes, was a seamstress and assembly worker. She was preceded in death by her husband Tomas Maldonado. She is survived by her children Tommie Maldonado and wife...
One St. Petersburg and four Orlando residents were arrested after fleeing from a Lake Wales police officer who was pursuing them as suspects in the reported theft of more than $2,400 in electronics and other merchandise from the Lake Wales WalMart. Shortly after 1 a.m. April 4 Lake Wales Officer Edgar Claros attempted to stop a silver Toyota Highlander that was speeding west on SR 60 near 11th Street. The vehicle matched the description by witnesses at WalMart who reported...
Richele Floyd got the ride of her life this week in the back seat of a U.S. Navy fighter jet, courtesy of the elite Blue Angels. A pilot herself, the Lake Wales native serves as education director for Sun 'n Fun, which is hosting nearly 200,000 aviation enthusiasts April 2-7 during its 45th Annual Fly-In & Expo at Linder Airport in Lakeland. "Best day of my life," Floyd enthused, relating the one-hour experience that included rising straight up into the air, flying upside...
A visit to Lake Wales by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Dr. Jack E. Davis brought rich reward to a group of citizens who attended his talk at Lake Wales Library Thursday. Davis spent time answering their personal questions following his presentation. Among other accolades, Davis was awarded a 2018 Pulitzer Prize for his latest work, entitled "The Gulf: The Making of an American Sea." "I didn't set out to write an academic book. I like to write books that people want to read,"...
Talking with a parent about estate planning is never easy. Here are some conversation starters that can help adult children and their parents plan. In 2020, it is projected that Americans older than 65 now will total 56 million, a number that is expected to climb significantly as Baby Boomers retire over the next two decades. Even with this "graying of America," a recent survey showed that only 42% of adult Americans have any kind of estate planning documents at all,...
Lake Wales Chorale Musical Director Vince Treadway bid a fond farewell after receiving a standing ovation from the packed audience on Sunday, April 7 at Holy Spirit Catholic Church in Lake Wales. Students from the Warner University Chorus and Chorale members were accompanied on piano by Dr. Jonathan Reed, Warner University assistant professor of music, and on organ by Lee Cobb, who serves as organist and choirmaster at St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Ft. Myers. Treadway, who...
Supervisor of Elections Lori Edwards will discuss restoration of felons' voting rights, redistricting and other voting issues at the April 17 meeting of Polk County Tiger Bay. The luncheon buffet opens at 11:45 a.m. and the meeting begins at noon at the Bartow Civic Center, 2250 S. Floral Ave. Florida Amendment 4, also the Voting Rights Restoration for Felons Initiative, is an amendment to the Constitution of Florida passed by ballot initiative on November 6, 2018, as part of...
Noemi Fort, Administrative Assistant in Engineering, was named Employee of the Month for February for Lake Wales Medical Center. Fort was honored for picking up additional responsibilities in the department after some personnel changes. "She does whatever is necessary to help keep the Engineering department running smoothly," a supervisor wrote in nominating her for the award. Lake Wales Medical Center is a 160-bed acute care hospital that has been serving the greater Lake...
The 17th Annual Marilyn Newell Youth Music Festival will be held April 13 and 14 at the Lake Wales Arts Center. Winners will perform one of their concert pieces during a free public concert and awards ceremony at 3 p.m. Sunday, April 14 in Updike Hall at the Lake Wales Arts Center, 1099 SR 60 E. Participants are between ages 11 and 18. They will perform two selections of 8-10 minutes. Singers are encouraged to sing one of their selections in a foreign language. Prizes will be...
Congratulations to "Team Planktons," winners of the third annual Big Kahuna Paddle Challenge on Saturday April 6 at Webber International University. Team members Jennifer Nanek, Richard Moody, Dan Hurst and Webber students, along with Bill Redmon at the helm, were victorious, but gave the winning prize to their competitor, The Vanguard School of Lake Wales. It's the third year for Nanek, Lake Wales city clerk, to compete in the event. "The secret to success is teamwork,...
Many people are aware of Steven Covey's "7 Habit's of Highly Effective People" impact in the business world. But one Lake Wales Charter school has been using it for eight years now as one of the foundations of its educational approach. Recently, Polk Avenue Elementary was honored as a prestigious Leader in Me "Lighthouse School". While thousands of schools across the United States use the program, only a few hundred schools have earned the Lighthouse designation. Leader in Me...
John Gordon Mixon, of Harrisburg, AR, formerly of Lake Wales, departed this life Sunday, April 7, 2019, at the Woodbriar Nursing Home in Harrisburg, at the age of 94. He was born May 9, 1924 in Adel, Georgia, the son of the late Lewis Thomas Mixon and Mittie Frances Lovette Mixon. John moved to Harrisburg in 1985 and married Zuma Nixon Owens on March 10, 1986 and they enjoyed 14 years before her death in 2000. He was a veteran of WWII, having served in the U.S. Army. He was...
On a beautiful Friday afternoon, the Lake Wales High School Future Farmers of America was having a celebration to end FFA Appreciation Week. Students were playing cornhole, listening to some tunes spun by Cory Greenway of the Outta Hand Band, and eating some burgers and hot dogs donated by Weikert Ford. This day was the culmination of an entire week of celebration for FFA. Even though there was fun to be had the next hour was back to work for the students working hard to...
Of the legion of exhibits, aircraft, and fly-in planes of all shapes, sizes and colors on display at the 45th annual Sun 'n Fun International Fly-IN & Expo (www.flysnf.org) continuing in Lakeland through Sunday Apr. 7 one exhibitor stands out from the crowd: Lakes Wales based Aviator Paramotor (www.aviatorppg.com). Local resident and owner Eric Farewell is riding the current wave of popularity and growth that has spiraled his sport into the stratosphere. Through continuing...
While some of the world's finest pilots demonstrated their skills at the 45th Annual Sun 'n Fun Fly-in & Expo in Lakeland a contingent of teenagers gathered nearby rebuilding a wing and tuning up a jet engine. Babson Park's Jackson Gerard and his friends in the Lakeland Aeroclub hosted hundreds of visitors to the Fly-in, including officials from the Federal Aviation Administration who were interested in meeting the next generation of aviators. Sixteen-year-old Gerard is in...
Good food and fun are drawing crowds into the popular Crooked Bass Grill and Tavern, but there's also a fascinating bit of Babson Park history behind the success. Featuring a large and diverse menu and a full bar, the Crooked Bass is already a familiar dinner-time destination for folks in Babson Park and Frostproof, but as its reputation grows, people are making the drive from Lake Wales, Avon Park, Winter Haven, Haines City, and surrounding towns. The project of Tammy and...
The Ramon Theater in Frostproof will hold its spring murder mystery dinner at 6 p.m. Saturday, April 13. Lurking Down the Bunny Trail is the title of the interactive drama, where attendees try to figure out who murdered bunny breeder Barney Benson during his busiest time of year. All of the characters in the play are murder suspects, giving clues to the audience as they work together to try to solve the mystery. Tickets are $40 per person and include a catered dinner and the...
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) and partners celebrated the 25th anniversary of the FWC's Ridge Rangers Program on Saturday, April 6, at Lake Kissimmee State Park. The guests of honor were many of the volunteers, visionaries and agencies that have made this program a success, both past and present. "The Lake Wales Ridge is one of Florida's most highly imperiled ecosystems," said Jeff McGrady, FWC Division of Habitat and Species Conservation...
