Communication Builds Our Community
Communication Builds Our Community
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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...
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...
At 83 years young Lake Wales' own Claudette Braswell garnered a whopping 20 gold, eight silver and a pair of bronze to capture the highest total: 30 individual and team medals in 32 events at the PSG (www.polkseniorgames.org) that ended Mar. 11. Braswell earned the honor of being awarded Outstanding Women Competitor 2019 besting more than 1,000 other female athletes and 127 in the 80-84 age group, which means she will return as Torch Bearer to kick off the Olympics-style...
The environmental lands team at Circle B Bar Reserve is looking for volunteers to help celebrate Gopher Tortoise Day on Wednesday, April 10. The event starts from 8-11 a.m. with a gopher tortoise survey. The public can volunteer to gather data about the tortoise population by participating in a survey crew. Participants will track the tortoises by radio through the uplands, find the burrows and collect information on the numbered tortoises. Volunteers are asked to wear...
Polk County Parks & Recreation invites people to go back in time at their Good Ol' Days Folk Festival on from noon to 4 p.m. Saturday April 13 at the historic Homeland Heritage Park. Admission is free and includes live entertainment by The Rambin' Rose Trio, Lilly Jane Band and local school groups. Activities include a whip cracking contest, Kids Craft Zone, Marketplace with handcrafted goods, corn shucking contest and historic trade demonstrations. Food vendors will be on...
Visit Central Florida is looking for some CATS – not the feline kind, but volunteers to become Certified Ambassadors of Tourism and Sports (CATS). CATS can be anyone – longtime or new resident or even snowbirds. Some are hospitality industry professionals: hotel concierges, restaurant servers, UBER drivers, local attraction employees – anyone who comes in contact with guests. CATS go through training to become experts on Polk County attractions. They are pioneers in hosting th...
A 12-stop walking tour of Lake Wales is included in a free mobile application produced by the Florida Humanities Council. The Florida Stories application can be downloaded at the Apple Store or Google Play. The Lake Wales tour includes stops at the Atlantic Coast Line Depot, the Woman's Club, Lake Wales State Bank, J.T. Rhodes Building, Rhodesbilt Arcade, Post Office, Dixie Walesbilt Hotel, Lake Wales News, Bullard Building, Scenic Theater and Lake Wales City Hall. Each stop...
The Rockin' on the River fundraising event April 5-6 moved to a new location this year on the shores of Lake Pierce at the Florida FFA Leadership Training Center. The event kicks off at 6 p.m. Friday, April 5 with music by The Nathan Baldwin Band and then Darryl Worley hits the stage at 7:30 p.m. Worley will be signing autographs while BURN sets up to start their 10 p.m. performance. Saturday's festivities will start with opening ceremonies at noon with a special guest...
The cattle industry is big business in Polk County, contributing an estimated $1.2 billion to the local economy and creating about 5,859 jobs, according to a March 2019 impact analysis produced by the University of Florida-IFAS. The UF-IFAS study said as of January 2019, Florida had an inventory of 1.68 million cattle and calves, including 914,000 beef cows and 116,000 dairy cows. An estimated 60,600 of them were in Polk County, which has the third largest cattle operation in...
John "Lites" Leenhouts loves all things aviation and his enthusiasm is contagious. He's getting ready for the biggest week of his year April 2-7 when he welcomes about 200,000 people to the 45th annual SUN 'n FUN International Fly-in and Expo. The retired Naval aviator is finishing his eighth year as president and CEO of the Fly-in and the Aerospace Center for Excellence. His office in Hangar A at the Linder International Airport southwest of Lakeland is filled with photos,...
The third annual Virginia Lassiter Leadership Luncheon will be held at 12:30 p.m., Saturday, April 6 at the Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd Parish Hall, 221 South Fourth Street, Lake Wales. The luncheon will be followed by A Conversation with Leaders of the Lake Wales Arts community: Robin Gibson, Jayne Crews-Linton and Marilyn Newell. Founded in 1972 by a small group of citizens, the Lake Wales Arts Council has led Lake Wales' reputation as community rich in arts and cu...
If you enjoy visiting old cemeteries, the Polk County History Center invites you to join them Saturday, April 6 for their last cemetery tour until November. The walking tour of historic Oak Hill Cemetery, where pioneer families and war veterans are interred, starts at the History Center with a short walk of about one mile, which includes historic landmarks along the route to the cemetery. The Polk County History Center is located in the old courthouse at 100 E. Main St. in...
CORRECTION TO PREVIOUS STORY: An earlier story underreported the total projects to SEMCO, citing $1.1 million, but incorrectly stated all projects were awarded without bids. The City did put out requests for proposals on hurricane-related projects, but only one other company bid on one project, the water plant repairs. SEMCO met the stricter FEMA requirements and was awarded the contracts. For the downtown trail project the City received four proposals. One firm retracted...
Enrollment for the summer and fall 2019 semesters at Polk State College will start when students return from spring break. Priority registration will begin April 1 for students who have completed 30 credit hours or more. Students can check their credit-hour status and whether they qualify for priority registration on PASSPORT. Open enrollment will begin for summer April 8, which is also when current students will be able to enroll in classes for fall. Open enrollment for fall...
Keep Polk County Beautiful, Inc. will host free tire recycling eventa from 8 a.m. to noon Saturdays March 30 and April 6. The March 30 pickup will be at Winter Haven Home Depot, 2000 8th St. N.W (Corner of Havendale Blvd.). The April 6 tire pickup will be at the vacant lot northeast of the Keep Polk Count Beautiful office at 45 4th St. S in Eagle Lake. Residents and agricultural land owners may dispose of up to 24 tires per vehicle. No tire businesses, independent or...
Homeowners needing help to repair damage from Hurricane Irma in 2017 have until Friday, March 29 to apply for assistance through the "Rebuild Florida" program. The program will help low-income Floridians in Polk and 13 other counties pay for still uncompleted home repairs. The state Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO) announced the "Rebuild Florida" program in September, with a goal of helping homeowners pay for still uncompleted repairs caused by damage from the storm....
Anyone who has ever said watching golf is boring has never attended a Symetra Tour event. From start to finish everyone present gave their all to make this professional and qualified amateur ladies developmental tour coupled with Florida's Natural's fundraising arm benefit event a resounding success. More than 200 volunteers administered to every need from the Pro-Am to the Junior Clinic Special Events to parking attendants to scorekeepers to standard bearers required...
Polk County Public Schools' TV channel is sporting more than a new look these days. The upgraded channel now features original videos highlighting students and schools. Viewers can still watch broadcasts of School Board meetings, as well as recorded coverage of special events. The channel's new layout also displays various job openings available with the school district, and streams news from our Twitter feed and event calendar. The centerpiece of the revamped channel -...
A report from the public about missing and fallen traffic signs on a county road brought a prompt response from Polk County's traffic engineering department. After damage caused by Hurricane Irma in 2017 went unrepaired for a year and a half, leaving critical warning signs lying on road shoulders or in trees, LakeWalesNews.net reached out to Polk's chief traffic engineer Jay Jarvis. Jarvis oversees a vast road network that includes over 86,000 signs. It was apparently that...
Lake Ashton Veterans Association will be holding a breakfast to raise funds for Homeless Veterans in East Polk County from 8-11 a.m. Saturday, March 23 at the health and fitness center, 6052 Pebble Beach Blvd, Winter Haven. Tickets are $10 each for the meal of pancakes, sausage, biscuits and gravy....
Based upon a Florida TaxWatch independent assessment, Polk State College and others in the Florida College System offer a good return on a student's investment based upon low debt and higher anticipated work-life earnings of their graduates. The Florida TaxWatch, an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit taxpayer research institute and government watchdog, announced at a press conference the results of their independent assessment of the economic impacts of the Florida College...
The Polk County Public Schools surplus book warehouse is a treasure trove filled with hidden gems of knowledge. Every week, people dig through thousands of old textbooks and library books that would otherwise be destined for recycling. Instead, the books find new life as they make their way into the hands of other young learners. Best of all? They're free. "It's like a box of Cracker Jack," said Michael Boire, gesturing to the hundreds of boxes stacked throughout the warehouse...
Parents of students throughout Florida have enrollment options available to them for the 2019-2020 school year through a process called "controlled open enrollment." Polk County parents will be able to seek transfers by applying online between April 1 and April 26. The Florida legislature passed a statute that allows students to request a transfer to another school besides their zoned school, including transfers to public schools in surrounding counties. Parents seeking...
Rotary on the Ridge inducted Destini Lewis as a new member March 18. Lewis is Realtor ® and founder of her own company, Unique Destiny. She was sponsored by the club's newest member, Jonathan White, who supports her in marketing her real estate business, Homeexpo. Rotary on the Ridge is family friendly, and members have enjoyed getting to know White, Lewis and their 3-month-old Lily and 9-year-old Charles-Anthony. The family lives in Bartow. The county's only after hours...
To honor the French language and culture during the internationally recognized La Francophonie month of March, the Polk Museum of Art is hosting a free-of-charge La Francophonie Celebration on Saturday, March 23, from noon to 4 p.m. This French-focused education program sanctioned by the Organisation international de la Francophonie in Paris coincides with the closing of the Museum's three-month long Edgar Degas: The Private Impressionist exhibition. Throughout the afternoon...
