Communication Builds Our Community
Communication Builds Our Community
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Wielding spades and smiles, some two dozen volunteers planted 30 young trees along Fourth Street South in Lake Wales Saturday morning, the first of more than 1,000 trees Lake Wales Heritage intends to plant over several years to complete a historic landscape plan. "People don't know much about Olmsted," volunteer Preston Troutman told a group of 15 students from Lake Wales High School. The students, members of the school's Interact Club, had just help complete the first...
Returning to the form that marked the early games of the season, the Lake Wales Highlanders struck early and often against the Hardee Wildcats, running up a score of 21-0 barely halfway through the first quarter in a Friday night contest in Wauchula that was never in doubt. Hardee, a non-conference 5-A foe, came into the game with a 3-2 record. The Highlanders' first two touchdowns came on the strength of their explosive ground game led by running back Marquish Seabon, who...
After more than 90 years, new flowering trees will soon be planted as part of a city-wide landscaping effort. More than two dozen new flowering trees will line several blocks of South 4th Street. The plantings are initial steps of a program that will ultimately involve well over one thousand trees. The original designs for city streetscapes were created by famed landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. shortly after he completed his design of Bok Tower Gardens. Olmsted...
Riding on their 3-1 season record and seeking to repeat as district champs in their new higher classification, the Lake Wales Highlanders football squad will face the Melbourne Eau Gallie Commodores this week. It will be their first district game of the year. Lake Wales enters the game with its powerful ground game intact, with a triple threat of quarterbacks Trent Grotjan and Nick Young and an explosive running back in Marquish Seabon. Corey Harris, Devin Hardy and Carlos...
Edith M. Hart (HUG COLLECTOR). Born March 19, 1920, in Coal Center, PA. Ran on to the Father's House Sept. 16th at home under Hospice Care, following her husband (John Reed Hart) of 62 years. She is survived by a brother Donald O. Nipps (wife Emmy), daughter Harriet B. Browning (husband Howard), son Joseph B. Hart (wife Barbara), granddaughters Suzan Timbs (husband Steve), Tami Allen (husband Edward), Kimberly Hart, Latitia Mauney (husband Henry), Lisa Hart, grandsons Howard...
After several years of operations as a purely city-run facility, the Lake Wales History Museum may soon be under the control of a not-for-profit group once again. The Wednesday City Commission workshop agenda cites a discussion of the transfer, which would include $150,000 in annual funding to aid in running the museum. The group would in turn pay the City $1 a year to lease the facility. "It's going to be a wonderful partnership," said Museum Director Jennifer D'hollander....
The Lake Wales History Museum will celebrate the community's history and heritage through the 45th Annual Pioneer Days Festival on Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 23 & 24. The free community festival held along the shores at Lake Wailes Park features a heritage village that includes dozens of historical demonstrations of pioneer camps and early American trades. Activities are planned from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day. The public is welcome to experience, learn, share and buy...
To celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month the Lake Wales History Museum will offer a special online presentation "Treasures from Aztlan: Hispanic Women's Voices." Dr. Rebecca Dominguez-Karimi will deliver the second presentation in the museum's fall speaker series starting at 6 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 16, Dominguez-Karimi's talk will help people discover a different point of view from Hispanic women. In 2005, Dr. Dominguez-Karimi created an oral history collection titled Treasures...
To celebrate National Historic Preservation Month, the Polk County History Center's May Zoom and Vroom program features the Lake Wales Downtown Historic District as part of Polk's Heritage Trail. The popular lunch and learn series is virtual in 2021 and includes interactive elements designed to get you and your "Quaranteam" out exploring Polk County. The city was established in 1917 and residential and commercial districts which date to this era achieved National Register...
Music, food, vendors, a ceremonial tree planting, informational booths and a mayor's proclamation will all be part of a special family event planned for Friday, April 30, when Lake Wales will become one of hundreds of cities nationwide marking Arbor Day 2021. The event will run from 5-7 that evening. Lake Wales Heritage will join with the Lake Wales Woman's Club, The Family Literacy Academy, and Rotary on the Ridge to sponsor the free Friday evening festival along the city's...
Bright sunshine broke through the dreary morning Saturday, Jan. 23 as friends, family and history buffs gathered to celebrate the opening of the Mimi Hardman Collections and Research Center. Named for the city's most noted historic preservationist, the center is located on South Scenic Highway in the newly restored 1916 Seaboard Airline Freight Station. Known for developing the historic Depot museum, bringing millions of dollars in historic preservation grants to the city and...
The Lake Wales History Museum will dedicate the new Mimi Hardman Collections and Research Center at the restored 1916 Seaboard Airline Freight Station, one of its iconic buildings in the museum's historic corridor, at 10 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 23. After adjusting the fundraising goals due to COVID-19, and approval of matching funds from the City of Lake Wales Community Redevelopment Agency, the project began in July, and is now complete. This newly restored building will now...
It's starting to feel like the Holiday Season! Whatever it may be that gives you that festive feeling – the festive lights being switched on in the city, the first pumpkin pies appearing in the stores or that friend who always seems to put up the tree in the middle of November– for many of us, the festive period is a time to look forward to. However, for some of us, it may not be such a joyous time as we seem to find ourselves at loose ends on that Special Day. Maybe lov...
Lee Alexander "Alex" Wheeler III passed away Tuesday, October 27, 2020 after unexpected complications following surgery. A third generation Lake Walean, Alex was born in Lake Wales on February 4, 1953, and was a graduate of Lake Wales High School and the University of Florida. Alex was a CPA practicing at Bunting Tripp & Ingley, where he specialized in not-for-profit tax law. Alex was an avid scuba diver who loved hiking, camping, and the outdoors in general. His underwater...
The Citizens and Police Community Relations Advisory Board will hold its first public forum at 6 p.m. Monday Oct. 26 at the B Street Center. Due to the COVID-19 virus, attendees must wear masks and have their temperatures checked upon entrance. About 20 seats will be available to accommodate social distancing, so participants may be rotated into the meeting to offer five minute comments. The Lake Wales City Commission re-established the committee in August with the following...
This is the twelfth installment in the Lake Wales Renaissance series. Lake Wales City Commissioner Robin Gibson serves as Deputy Mayor and Chairman of the city's Community Redevelopment Agency. Frederick Law Olmsted Sr. is recognized as the founder of the profession of landscape architecture. In the late 1800s he set a standard of excellence that continues to influence landscape architecture today. His two sons carried on and expanded the legendary work of the Olmsted firm wel...
The newly recreated Citizens and Police Community Relations Advisory Committee held its first meeting Monday, Sept. 21 to organize and get acquainted. The Lake Wales City Commission re-established the committee in August with the following purposes: - Providing a forum for citizens to express their opinions about police procedures and to receive informal information from the police department regarding police procedures. - Providing a forum for citizens and the police...
Al Goldstein didn't realize being a Lake Wales city commissioner would be so time-consuming, but he's eager to sign up for another three years. He was elected without opposition in April 2019 after incumbent Commissioner Tonya Stewart failed to qualify to run for re-election. He has already started campaigning for the District 27, Seat 4 that will be filled in the April 2021 municipal election. "I'm finally understanding the job of a city commissioner," Goldstein said....
Marjorie Jane Chandley of Atlanta, GA, age 91, passed from this life surrounded by loving family on Sunday, March 1, 2020. Marjorie, daughter of Edgar Reason Chandley and Myra Althea Curtis Chandley, was born in Lake Wales, FL on Sept. 17, 1928. She leaves behind to cherish her memory her sons Charles Edward Chowning, Jr. of Dallas, GA, and Christopher Dru Chowning of Atlanta; grandsons Charles Edward Chowning III (Chelsea) and Justin Grady Chowning; great-grandchildren Jacie...
This is the eleventh installment in the Lake Wales Renaissance series. Lake Wales City Commissioner Robin Gibson serves as Deputy Mayor and Chairman of the city's Community Redevelopment Agency. Nations strive for a positive trade balance, where they sell more products than they buy, thereby receiving increased capital and creating a higher standard of living for their citizens. The same holds true for any economic unit. Let's take Lake Wales downtown for example. It's a...
A vision of restored brick streets and sidewalk cafes under the shade of umbrellas and spreading Live Oaks changed many viewers' ideas of the future of downtown Lake Wales Thursday evening. Those images were among many shared during a 90-minute presentation by consultants and engineers hired by the Lake Wales Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) to create the "Lake Wales Connected" plan. The plan is designed to attract crowds, and thus business investment, to the neighborhood...
This is the tenth installment in the Lake Wales Renaissance series. Lake Wales City Commissioner Robin Gibson serves as Deputy Mayor and Chairman of the city's Community Redevelopment Agency. Best Bang for the Buck Trees are the best. Their mere presence improves individual property values. Collectively they improve the town's tax base as a whole. The improved value comes from the purchaser's desire to buy the advantages of appearance and aesthetics. Not only do trees...
Efforts to beautify and green Lake Wales streets got another boost Saturday as community volunteers led by the Lake Wales Woman's Club prepared three street "triangles" along Lakeshore Boulevard for new floral plantings. "I'm totally stoked!" said Bonnie Poller, who is chair of the Environment Committee of the Woman's Club, which is spearheading the project. "Neighbors came out to help." More than a dozen volunteers participated. "This was only Phase one," Poller added....
With regard to the health environment in Polk County, the Lake Wales History Museum has cancelled the Pioneer Days Festival, originally scheduled to take place on October 24 & 25, 2020. The health and safety of our community is first and foremost, and due to the national and local concern regarding coronavirus, hosting a large scale event of this proportion is not possible this year. The Pioneer Days Festival encourages engagement with vendors, historical demonstrators, food...
Lake Wales has long been known as "The Crown Jewel of the Ridge," but that didn't happen by accident. It took the efforts of Edward Bok and Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. While many are familiar with Bok, the name of Olmsted, arguably the more significant historic figure, is an enigma. It was Olmsted who designed Bok's famous gardens, as well as Mountain Lake, and scores of private landscapes there. It was Olmsted who designed the Colony House, and our familiar Town Clock. And it...
