Communication Builds Our Community
Communication Builds Our Community
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Lake Wales will soon have another member of the Wright family heading up a local school. Debra Wright-Hudson has been tapped to serve as principal of McLaughlin Middle School and Fine Arts Academy in Lake Wales effective June 17. Wright-Hudson's father, Dr. Clint Wright was the first superintendent of Lake Wales Charter Schools from 2004 until his death in 2007. Her mother, also named Debra, served as the area's representative on the Polk County School Board. Her sister,...
The Lake Wales NAACP Branch 5109 presented its Servant Leader Award to Bishop Roscoe Williams III. Board member Nicara Daniels announced the award at the Branch's 46th Annual Freedom Fund Banquet Saturday, June 15 at the James P. Austin Center. Williams was born in Sylvester, GA and moved to Florida at a very young age. He graduated with the class of 1974 from Lake Wales High School. He married his high school sweetheart, Annie, and they are the proud parents of four children...
New Bok North Academy Principal Donna Drisdom learned at an early age, from two teachers at Mulberry High School, a philosophy that continues to serve her well even today. "It's looking at the smaller things to understand the larger things is how they would put it," meaning, look deeper than the surface to find the root cause, Drisdom said of the influential instructors, Carolyn Williams and Kathy Langford. "I just kind of took that with me." Drisdom was named to her Lake...
Vincent DePaul Connors of Lake Wales passed away Sunday, June 30, 2019 at Lake Wales Medical Center after a long battle with pneumonia. He was 64. Born in Evanston, Illinois, Vince came to Lake Wales as the infant son of Mary L. and Paul T. Connors. He attended St. Williams' Academy as well as local public schools and graduated from Lake Wales High School in 1973. He enjoyed sports, wildlife, weather, and nature in general. Generous "to a fault," he often gave away favorite...
Lake Wales business leaders gathered at Shoppes on the Ridge Thursday, June 27 for a ribbon cutting to celebrate the opening of a new office of the Heart of Florida Physician Group. The primary caregiver at the office will be Lisa Peto, a family nurse practitioner. Peto provides in-office assessments, diagnosis and treatments of acute and chronic illnesses in patients of all ages, from infant through adult. Services include prevention and management of diabetes, COPD, high...
During the past years of extraordinary physical and mental disabilities, Leroy M. Fulton exuberated kindness and love to the very end. He built a life of family, friends, faith and service. He was the definition of God's servant leading a variety of ministries in all walks of life. Leroy was born November 13, 1931 and passed away peacefully at home surrounded by loved ones June 12, 2019. He was born in Neon, Kentucky to Esther Hermine Baker and William Marcus Fulton. During hi...
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,...
Mary Danyce Bolden, 72, was born December 15, 1946 and passed away Saturday, June 22, 2019. She was a lifelong resident of the area and graduated in 1965 from Lake Wales High School. She was married to her husband Richard for 53 years. Mary worked for several years in the family landscaping business. However, her favorite job was being a homemaker and devoted mother. Mary loved being outdoors and enjoyed fishing, riding horses and cruising down the road on her motorcycle. For many years she played the organ for her church at...
A new partnership between the Lake Wales Charter Schools system and other community stakeholders including Lake Wales Medical Center could truly be life changing for local students. Along with Victory Ridge Academy, the Center for Independent Living in Central Florida, Inc., and Florida Division of Vocational Rehabilitation, the entities are combining to launch Project SEARCH, a nine month immersive internship program for students with disabilities ages 18-22 years old. This...
The Lake Wales Public Library is hosting summer teen programs. Members of the Lake Wales Community will be appearing as guest presenters from 3-4 p.m. June 10-14 for Adulting 101 classes for teens and young adults (ages 15 to 20) covering topics of sewing, car maintenance, personal financial literacy, landing a job, and eating healthy. The Library is featuring a full day summer teen leadership camp from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. July 15-19. The camp will help teens examine their...
The Lake Wales NAACP Branch 5109 recognized Eddye Jean Rivers with its Community Leader Award. NAACP Board Member Nicara Daniels presented the award at the branch's 46th Annual Freedom Fund Banquet June 15 at the James P. Austin Community Center. Rivers was born in Lake Wales, he daughter of the late Edward and Belle Sumlin. She is one of seven children. She graduated from Roosevelt High School in the Class of 1956 and married David Rivers. They have one son, David Rivers Jr....
Mary Neil Hardman Whitmire Chandley, 88, passed peacefully in her sleep on June 9, 2019 at 4 a.m. She was a lifelong resident of Lake Wales, born on January 5, 1931 to Cleo and Neil Hardman, both pioneer residents of Lake Wales. Throughout her life, Mary Neil was always very active in school, church, community service, youth organizations, music and other local projects. She graduated with honors from Lake Wales High School in 1948 and attended Piedmont College in Demorest,...
Maria Tovar just achieved two major milestones: she obtained her high school equivalency diploma (GED) and became the 100th person to accomplish that goal with the help of the Lake Wales Family Literacy Academy. Cleaning houses for a living and taking care of her 5- and 8-year-old children kept her so busy that there were times she thought about quitting. She dropped out of Lake Wales High School her junior year and wasn't sure she would ever be able to earn a GED or go to...
Osubi Craig, a multi-talented higher education administrator, traditional African percussionist and arts advocate, joins the University of Florida College of the Arts as its inaugural director of a new center focused on arts, migration and entrepreneurship. (Before becoming a special assistant to the president of Virginia State University, Craig served as director of arts and cultural affairs for Polk State College in charge of the Lake Wales campus.) The new center, which wil...
Lake Wales Arts Council members and supporters gathered Thursday, June 6 for their annual meeting to celebrate an art-filled year. Executive Director Andrew Allen, who completed his first year in March, thanked partners, spelled out a long list of accomplishments and shared highlights of plans for the coming year. "The Lake Wales Arts Council has seen an incredible amount of success during our 2018-19 season," Allen said. "We have been fortunate enough to maintain our classic...
Alma Louise Carl, 97, of Lake Wales passed away Friday, May 31 at Lake Wales Medical Center. She was born September 24, 1921 in Chambersburg, PA to the late Robert C. and Jennie (Moser) Funk. She has been a resident of Lake Wales since 2004 moving with her husband Mark from Pennsylvania. Alma was a homemaker and member of the First United Methodist Church in Lake Wales. Alma graduated from Chambersburg High School in 1939 where she was known by family and friends for her beaut...
Stephen Cornelius recognizes that the proud tradition of the Lake Wales Marching Highlanders is still embedded deeply in the community. He understands what he faces as the new band director for Lake Wales High School, and says he's ready for the challenge. Reflecting on his new position, Cornelius wrote: "It was Theodore Roosevelt that said 'far better it is to dare mighty things...even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy...
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...
Proud parents, grandparents, neighbors and friends came out with balloons, flowers, smiles and a few tears Friday, May 24 to celebrate the graduation of 351 Lake Wales High School seniors. Legion Field was standing-room-only for the annual celebration, marking the passage of the Class of 2019 into the "real world." Much of the ceremony was traditional. The JROTC color guard marched in and presented the flag for the pledge of allegiance. The band and orchestra played the proces...
As Lake Wales area schools are preparing for summer, we are reminded that not all education takes place in the classroom. Here is a story about students participating in experience training programs. Just like every other student at Lake Wales High School, Ellis Allanson boards a bus and heads to Highlander Hill ready to take on his daily assignments. But unlike most who spend their days in classrooms, the cafeteria and media center, Ellis spends most of his day at Sweet...
James Ros Welborn, 63, of Quincy, Florida, passed away on Monday, May 20 surrounded by family and friends, after a long battle with cancer. Ros was born September 9, 1955, in Lake Wales to Clayton "Poncho" Welborn and Margaret "Peggy" Welborn. He attended Lake Wales High School. Ros was employed by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission in 1983. He worked more than 30 years with the "Game Company" as he loved to call it and retired in 2014. He previously served...
As the Class of 2019 at Lake Wales High School counts down to graduation May 24, school officials are still celebrating the stellar accomplishments of the Class of 2018. Despite a nearly 71 percent poverty rate - students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch - Lake Wales High School graduated more than 92 percent of its seniors in 2018 – the third highest rate of all high schools in Polk County. The State of Florida defines graduation rate as the percentage of s...
Derek Nathaniel Wolford, aged 24, passed away at his home on Friday, May 17 in Lake Wales, Florida. He was born on July 8, 1994 in Winter Haven to Dewey and Wendy Wolford. He was employed by Bald Peak Colony Club in Moultonborough, NH. He attended Lake Wales High School and Job Corp in St. Petersburg, Florida. He was a member of Impact Church in Lake Wales. Derek loved listening to all genres of music, playing drums with his band mates, cooking, and helping his Mimi and Poppaw do odd jobs. His respectful and caring nature...
The Polk County School Board Tuesday May 14 approved enrollment increases for Victory Ridge Academy and Bok Academy North for the 2019-20 school year and to hold the capacity at 1,650 for Lake Wales High School. Bok Academy North got approval to increase enrollment from 200 to 400, so they can roll up their 6th graders and serve grades six and seven for the next school year. Bok North presented a plan to house 200 seventh grade students at First Presbyterian Church in addition to 200 sixth graders at First Baptist Church,...
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...
