Communication Builds Our Community
Communication Builds Our Community
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The Polk County History Center kicks off its annual Festival of Wreaths from 5-7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 7 with music and a visit from Santa and his elf, who will pose for selfies with attendees. The wreaths will be on display and up for silent auction until Dec. 12 during regular 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. hours of the history center, located at 100 E. Main St. in Bartow. Various businesses and organizations decorate and donate the wreaths. Opening night will include a performance from...
Dorothy J. "Dot" Johnson, 94, of Frostproof passed away Monday, Nov. 4, 2019 at the Groves Center. She was born January 12, 1925 in Eynon, Pennsylvania to the late Ambrose and Mary (Borse) Bajkowsky. She has been a resident of the area since 1977 coming from Hollywood, Florida. She was a Homemaker and a member of the Holy Spirit Catholic Church. Dot was a member of the Woman's Club, she enjoyed sewing, crafts, make floral arrangements, fishing and traveling. She is preceded...
Sellers and buyers alike have a special opportunity to enjoy the beauty of the Ridge Scenic Highway Scenic corridor Saturday, Nov. 2 while hunting for bargains along the 39-Mile Scenic Highway Yard Sale. The Lake Wales History Museum at 325 S. Scenic Highway is one of seven official locations, hosting 30 booths along with music and food. Tables will line the Scenic Highway from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Other official locations are the Lake of the Hills Community Clubhouse, Krewe of...
McLaughlin Middle & Fine Arts Academy is looking for volunteers to serve on a Community Assessment Team to help the school access local resources to improve student achievement. The public is invited to attend the first team meeting at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 5 at McLaughlin, located at 800 S. 4th St. in Lake Wales. The Florida Department of Education requires its designated "turnaround schools" to form the teams. Community Assessment Teams are comprised of parents, educators, lo...
Terri Lee Buchanan, 54, of Lake Wales passed away Monday, Oct. 28, 2019 at her residence. She was born April 27, 1965 in Lexington, KY to the late Robert C. and Betty R. (Pennington) Smith. She has been a resident of the area for 27 years coming from Richmond, VA. She was a homemaker and member of Truth Tabernacle Church in Lake Wales. She was the church Secretary. She loved animals, doodling, cooking for her family, family times and her grandbabies. She is preceded in death...
Wanda M. Edwards, 68, of Lake Wales passed away Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2019 at Lakeland Hospice House. She was born November 16, 1950 in Lake Wales to the late Harry M. and Josephine (Cox) McCart. She was a lifelong resident of the area and of the Baptist faith. She is preceded in death by her husband Gerald “Buddy” Edwards. She is survived by her daughter Rhonda M. Ducker of Lake Wales, sons Robert Heath Ducker of PA, Joseph M. Ducker of Frostproof, sisters Patricia A. Hawkins (Terry) of Reno, NV, Janet L. Ferguson of Com...
Cidell Joan Bullwinkel, 89, of Lake Wales passed away Thursday, Oct. 17, 2019 at Grace Healthcare. She was born January 23, 1930 in Jeffersonville, OH to the late Clyde and Maude L. (Thompson) Stockwell. She has been a resident of the area since 2002 coming from Ohio. She was a secretary for the American Red Cross and of the Lutheran faith. She was previously an active member and secretary at Zion Lutheran Church in Ohio, loved music and dancing especially the waltz and...
"Harold" was killed by a speeding sports car, and about 100 Murder Mystery dinner guests are going to try to figure out "whodunnit." It's all part of fun evening Oct. 19 at the Historic Ramon Theater in Frostproof during the interactive presentation of "Betting on Death." Tickets are $40, which includes dinner and the murder mystery. They can be purchased online at www.ramontheater.com. The charming Mediterranean style Ramon Theater built in 1925 is located at 15 E. Wall Stree...
20, Woodrow Wilson was the 28th President, prohibition had gone into effect, the United States Congress approves the 19th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, World War I ends, The Florida Keys Hurricane killed 600, and Polly Stephens was born in Sumner, GA on September 18, 1919. Polly recently turned 100 and her family and friends celebrated at a Lake Wales restaurant. 100 years, 10 decades - however you want to slice it - that is a long time. Businesses, as rare as they...
Charles William McCullough, 72, of Frostproof passed away Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2019 at his residence. He was born July 3, 1947 in Brunswick, GA to the late Horace G. and Louise (Kersey) McCullough. He has been a lifelong resident of the area. He was a truck driver. He was a member of the National Guard, Moose Lodge, American Legion, and he loved to fish and spend time with his grandkids. He is preceded in death by his brother, Jackson McCullough. He is survived by his lifelong companion Linda Sanland, daughters Joyce...
Herlinda Mata, 95, of Frostproof passed away Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2019. She was born March 26, 1924 in El Zapotillo Villa Hidalgo, SLP, Mexico. She was a homemaker and of the Catholic faith. She was preceded in death by her husband Anastacio Rodriguez, daughters Leonor Rodriguez, Petra Rodriguez and Cleotilde Rodriguez. She is survived by her daughter Teresa Ramirez of Lake Wales, sons Isidro Rodriguez and Roberto Rodriguez and Amando Rodriguez of Frostproof; Adolfo Rodriguez...
Born Peter Stepanovs in Latvia, he ultimately immigrated to California after surviving through the trials of WWII Germany and by the grace of sponsorship from the Catholic Church; Peter Wayland found his home in South Florida. On September 9, 2019 Peter passed at his residence in Lake Wales. He came here from Miami/Key Largo area in 1983 with his family. He was a retired Department of Agriculture employee and a veteran of Vietnam, serving in the U.S. Army as a paratrooper. He...
When the company was having difficulty finding qualified electricians, their maintenance managers decided to work together to find a solution. Six years later, one of those solutions has been implemented locally and is helping one local teen prepare for his first full-time job at Nucor Steel Florida Inc. in Frostproof, about 20 miles south of Lake Wales. Tommy Massey, maintenance manager at Nucor Steel Florida, said the pool of talent for industrial electricians who could work...
The Triple Canopy Ranch concert venue 20 miles east of Lake Wales will take on new life in 2020 as a resort with over 1,000 sites for manufactured homes and RVs and a full range of resort style amenities. The developers say the Resort at Canopy Oaks should be built out with a grand entrance on CR 630 within a year and ready for its first full season in the fall of 2020. "It's going to be a big, big project – a multiyear deal," said Tristan Farrell, president of the Resort a...
Overcoming significant challenges of language and poverty, the Lake Wales Charter Schools maintained or improved their 2019 school grades released July 11 by the Florida Department of Education. "We are very, very proud of their improvement and success, of the work that's being done," said charter schools Superintendent Jesse Jackson. "What we have done over the years is try to build a system for success. . . create a structure. Personalities come and go, but we're building a...
Jose Adan Medina, 59, of Frostproof passed away Sunday, July 28 at his residence. He was born August 2, 1959 in Ucareo Michoacan, Mexico. He has been a resident of the area for 37 years coming from Texas. He was a machine operator for Boral and was of the Catholic faith. He is preceded in death by his mother Bibiana Pasinclo. Survivors include his wife of 39 years Beatriz Medina, daughters Marivel Medina Ochoa of Minneola, FL, Juanita Medina Garcia of Lake Wales, FL, sons...
Gela Mathews, 103, passed away Friday, July 12 at The Groves Center in Lake Wales. She was born December 26, 1915 in Bronson, Michigan to Fred Smith and Zelta (Wilbur) Smith. She was married to Roy Mathews November 9, 1935. They were together over 60 years till he passed away. Gela had 3 children, Lucille Watkins of Fort Worth, Texas, Dale Mathews of Menden, Michigan and Dwaine “Butch” Mathews of Frostproof; 21 grandchildren, many foster grandchildren, many great grandchildren and many great great grandchildren; sisters, Win...
Hot, hot, hot. That's what experts are calling the Polk County real-estate market, where inventory of existing houses remains low and homebuilders are busy. Various reports rank the local real-estate market in the Top 5 among major metropolitan areas, continuing a trend that started in 2018. Realtor.com places the Lakeland-Winter Haven MSA (Metropolitan Statistical Area, which in this case is Polk County) as the No. 1 hottest market in the country, followed by Grand Rapids, Mi...
Over the past six years, the graduation rate at Lake Wales High School has soared, from just over 70 percent for the 2013-14 school year to over 90 percent last school year. While a vast majority of grads decide to head off to college, there are many who also want to pursue a different path, which was the genesis of the Highlander Guild, a new organization at the school this past year designed to introduce students to potential vocational careers to become plumbers,...
Kathy M. Barber, 78, of Lake Wales passed away Thursday, May 30, 2019 at her residence. She was born June 26, 1940 in Michigan to the late William H. and Sarah J. (Lindsey) Rowston. She has been a resident of the area since 1967 coming from Pontiac, Michigan. She was an administrative assistant for Florida's Natural and of the Presbyterian faith. She loved to make jewelry, sing, play the organ and was an animal lover. She is survived by her daughter Teresa Bruce and husband...
James R. "Jim" Bryan was born April 11,1938 in Sebring to Edith and Earl Bryan. He died May 25, 2019. Brothers E. Kenneth and Bruce Bryan are both deceased. He was raised in several cities in Florida, spending his junior and senior years of high school in Auburndale where he played sports. He graduated in 1956 and received a scholarship to play football at Florida State University. A coach Hugh (Bones) Taylor recruited him to play pro football for the New York Titans. Jim rece...
About 100 business and community leaders, elected officials and educators gathered Thursday morning, May 16, to rally support for continued funding of the Lake Wales J.D. Alexander Center of Polk State College. Rather than include $2.5 million for the Lake Wales campus in its regular budget, the Florida Legislature placed it as a separate line item, making it subject to a potential veto by Gov. Ron DeSantis. Polk State President Angela Garcia Falconetti reminded the crowd that...
Marty Griffin, 66, of Babson Park passed away Wednesday, May 8 at his residence. He was born October 31, 1952 in Adel, GA to the late Carson and Sally F. (Greene) Griffin. He has been a resident of the area for seven years coming from Georgia. He attended elementary and high School in Frostproof. He was employed as a boat loader and was of the Baptist faith. Marty liked wrestling, video games, motorcycling and fishing. He loved the Lord and his Momma, and he would always check on everyone by phone every day. He is survived...
The Lake Wales Area Chamber of Commerce and Economic Development Council at its annual awards gala May 9 presented two local companies with Carl F. Durso Excellence in Business Awards. The small business winner was Capo Security and the larger business award went to Grow Healthy. Durso was a longtime Lake Wales supporter and Chamber executive director. Criteria for the award includes length of time in the community, number of employees, growth or expansion of the business...
Gayle S. Reeder, 75, died April 27 in Lake Wales. She was born December 10, 1943, in Mebane, Alamance County, NC to Roy Clifton Smith, Sr. and Lottie Corene Blackard Smith. She moved with family to Lake Wales, Florida, in 1959. Gayle graduated from Lake Wales High School in 1962, married Dennis Reeder August 3, 1962. Their son William Luke Reeder was born 1970. She was predeceased by her husband, Dennis Reeder, and parents, Roy C. Smith, Sr. and Lottie Corene Blackard Smith...
