Communication Builds Our Community
Communication Builds Our Community
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A chance to win "Mediterranean Elegance", an original acrylic, painted and framed by the late artist Jane Fronappel, is being made available for a limited time by the Lake Wales Branch of the American Association of University Women (AAUW). The shady haven that inspired this award-winning painting is El Retiro, formerly known as the Pinewood Estate, located at Bok Tower Gardens. This bucolic spot has been visited by thousands, yet remains a lovely, peaceful retreat, ripe for...
A civic organization working to re-create a historic landscaping plan in Lake Wales is seeking community help. Lake Wales Heritage is a non-profit group working to re-plant the 1930 landscape plan created by Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. "We need to find some helpies," said Heritage director and volunteer Tish Sheesley, citing the several projects the group is tackling. Alongside the tree-planting effort, the organization is launching an educational program for middle school stude...
John Richard Seymour of Lake Wales, FL died on Tuesday, September 27, 2022 at his residence. He was 73. He was born on May 20, 1949 in Danville, Illinois. He had been a resident of Lake Wales since 1952. Mr. Seymour was retired from Bok Tower Gardens and was a member of the Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd in Lake Wales. He is preceded in death by his father, Charles Seymour; mother, Kay Seymour; and brothers, Mickey Seymour, and Thomas Seymour. He is survived by his...
On a 3-2 vote, Lake Wales city commissioners almost approved a controversial new subdivision plat that creates 907 new building lots on the near south side before a last minute reversal. The project, called Orchard Hills, is proposed sprawl across former citrus groves stretching east of Scenic Highway and north of Passion Play Road. The proposal exceeds the city's minimum requirements for open space, primarily due to the stormwater ponds, but was criticized by residents and a...
Ambitious plans to beautify and recognize the unique features of the Druid Hills neighborhood on the east side of Lake Wales were advanced during a four-hour conference held Saturday at Bok Tower Gardens. Among the ideas discussed at the conference was special recognition of the area as the "Historic Olmsted Druid Hills District," including the installation of boundary and historical markers explaining the importance of the area, which would form a portion of an "Olmsted...
A $500,000 grant to Bok Tower Gardens for "Saving the Olmstedian Landscape Gardens at Mountain Lake Sanctuary – Lake Wales" has been announced by the National Park Service (NPS). The grant is awarded "in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Institute for Museum and Library Services," according to an accompanying press release. "This project will complete the rehabilitation and reinvigoration of the original l...
A popular and long-running community event returns this year, and organizers are offering plenty of advance notice to those wishing to participate. The 15th annual 39-mile Yard Sale will be held on Saturday November 5, 2022. The event runs from 8:00 am until 3:00 pm. and sees thousands of shoppers descend upon the route of State Road 17 between Frostproof and Haines City. With its central location, much of the activity focuses on the Lake Wales area. The Ridge Scenic Highway...
The beloved Sephia B. Royer passed away peacefully on June 1, 2022 while in hospice care in Melbourne. Born Josephine Tampa Brees on November 2, 1938, her father gave her the nickname "Sephia," and the name stuck for her entire life. Sephia was raised in Lake Wales and spent her early years living and playing on the grounds of Casa De Josefina, the massive European-style home built by her grandfather, Irwin A. Yarnell, for his wife (and Sephia's grandmother), Josephine...
An apparent lack of clear policies and procedures caused an hour-long display of citizen disappointment and anger at the Lake Wales City Commission meeting Tuesday night following a decision by Mayor Jack Hilligoss to remove a generic resolution recognizing Pride Month from the meeting agenda. Proclamations are commonly used to recognize the accomplishments of community groups and individuals, or special observances and are normally a public relations tool for the city. The...
A celebration of parks, trees, and all things "Olmsted" will draw families to Lake Wailes Park on Saturday, April 30. The all-day event will include food vendors, bands, games for the kids (and the family), lots of vendors, a beer garden, and plenty of prizes. Part of the nationwide celebration dubbed "Olmsted 200," the festival will include kite-building class and flying contest, a "family feud" styled game with a grand prize of a quad-copter drone, plus races and education...
A Lake Wales tradition for more than 90 years, the annual Easter Sunrise Service will be held this Sunday morning, April 17 at Bok Tower Gardens. The event is free to the public, and gates will open at 6:00 am. Free admission to the service will continue until 8:00 am. The service "quite literally helps the sun get over the horizon on Easter morning," according to Curtis Bok, son of the garden's founder Edward Bok. The Easter Sunrise Service has been an annual tradition since...
Architect Frederick Law Olmsted may be best known for designing New York City's Central Park, but his many creative accomplishments also included the Biltmore Estate in North Carolina, and our own treasure, Bok Tower Gardens. Just before the Great Depression in late 1929, Frederick Law Olmsted and Edward Bok designed a master plan for Lake Wales, with plans to include small parks, plenty of trees, and a lovely place to stroll the downtown area. Nearly a century later, Lake...
Janice Ann Weathersby of Lake Wales, Florida passed away on Saturday April 16, 2022. She was born in Peterborough, Ontario Canada on July 13, 1950, to the late John and Joan Martin. She worked at Bok Tower Gardens and was a talented musician and enjoyed traveling. Janice is preceded in death by her husband Curtis Wayne Weathersby, and her sister Diane Martin. She is survived by her daughter Erin May Weathersby of Hawaii; her son Wayne Weathersby Jr. (Brook) of Lake Wales; her...
Long before Frederick Law Olmsted left his generational "City in a Garden" imprint on Lake Wales -- and a decade before he transformed impoverished scrub into the lush gardens of Bok Tower – the first of his Florida landscapes was the verdant canvass of Mountain Lake. By early in 1915, the famed landscape architect who will be celebrated locally on April 30 – and whose work is the foundation for the city's current "Lake Wales Connected" redevelopment plan for the historic dow...
Volunteers and supporters gathered Saturday morning in Lake Wailes Park to mark the dedication of 34 young Magnolia trees which were planted on Friday, April 8 along Lakeshore Boulevard. The trees were a gift to the citizens of Lake Wales from Lake Wales Heritage, which is actively re-planting the lost trees of the landscape plan for the city, which was designed by famed landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted in 1930. Olmsted played a central role in the development of...
More than 40 young magnolia trees will once again grace the length of Lakeshore Boulevard's western stretch when work is completed this week on the replacement of the missing trees from the historic Olmsted landscape. The original trees, planted more than 90 years ago, were mostly lost to hurricanes over the decades. The project is the work of Lake Wales Heritage, the local group that has dedicated itself to restoring the historic "City in a Garden" streetscapes designed by famed architect Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. at the...
When Edward Bok visited the site of his carillon tower on Jan. 11, 1927, more than two years before its dedication and opening, progress at the site left him with a smile. "He was greatly pleased with the growth that the large live oaks have made. He was equally pleased with the large palms. Mr. Bok hardly thought it possible for the Sanctuary to look so fine during mid-winter," read a report received in the Massachusetts offices of the Olmsted Brothers, the world renowned...
Bok Tower Gardens is participating with gardens across the nation to commemorate the 200th birthday of Frederick Law Olmsted Sr., father of American landscape design. His son, Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. designed Bok Tower Gardens and many of our nation's finest public spaces. As part of this nationwide celebration, the National Association for Olmsted Parks and Olmsted 200 sponsored an international carillon composition competition in 2021, entitled Inspired by Olmsted. An...
When Lake Wales gathers April 30 to celebrate the life, legacy and work of Frederick Olmsted Sr. at "Olmsted Day in the Park," local residents will be paying homage to more than just the famed landscape architect whose influence is still very much alive in the city today. By 1929 when Lake Wales civic leaders hired his son Frederick Olmsted Jr. to create a master plan to enhance the city's "Garden City" concept – developed in England 1898 by Ebenezer Howard – Lake Wales and...
Keep Polk County Beautiful, Inc. invites you to participate in this year's Great American Cleanup Event kicking off March 1st. The Great American Cleanup is a nationwide cleanup initiative led by Keep America Beautiful. This cleanup event has taken place across the country for the past 36 years throughout the months of March, April and May annually. The first 1,500 volunteers, who pre-register will receive a FREE T-Shirt and ticket to Bok Tower Gardens (while supplies are...
Gordon Harold "Pete" Adsit was born in Geneva, PA on February 6, 1932 to William and Catherine Klingensmith Adsit. Pete attended Conneaut Lake High School in PA. He was honorably discharged from the US Army as a telegraph operator. Pete married Mary Spaulding on August 10, 1953. Pete and Mary later moved to Lake Wales, Florida, where Pete began working in a machine shop which he later purchased and added a wrought iron business. He designed and made all the wrought iron...
A "family fun event" this spring will recognize the legendary figure who created the city's original streetscapes, as well as Bok Tower Gardens and Mountain Lake. The all-day event will feature bands, food, games and contests, awards, plus plant and vendor sales. "Olmsted Day in the Park" will be held April 30 in Lake Wailes Park, part of a nationwide celebration in honor of the 200th anniversary of the birth of Frederick Law Olmsted, who designed many of America's most...
The staff and members of the Lake Wales History Museum are inviting the public to join them for a special Holiday Party at the museum on Thursday, December 16. The free event will include food, drinks, holiday selfie station, photos with Santa, holiday trivia, and a hot chocolate bar. The party will also feature the delightful sound of Christmas tunes performed by Bok Tower Gardens Carillonneur Geert D'hollander on the piano. The party starts at 6:00 pm and ends at 8:00 pm....
One of the most significant figures in the long history of Florida's citrus industry, Frank M. Hunt II, passed away Saturday, November 27 at his residence in Lake Wales. He was 93, Born in Lake Wales to a pioneering family in 1928, Hunt progressed through Lake Wales schools before leaving to attend Erskine College in Due West, South Carolina. In 1950 he graduated from the University of Florida in Gainesville with a BS Degree in Business Administration, which he immediately...
Frank M. Hunt, II of Lake Wales passed away Saturday, November 27, 2021 at his residence. He was born April 2, 1928 in Lake Wales to the late Deeley A. and Louise E. Hunt; he was a fifth generation Floridian. Frank attended elementary school and secondary school in Lake Wales and attended Erskine College in Due West, South Carolina. He graduated from the University of Florida in Gainesville with a BS Degree in Business Administration in 1950. Frank was the President of the...
