Communication Builds Our Community
Communication Builds Our Community
Sorted by date Results 51 - 75 of 135
The four people vying for two Lake Wales City Commission seats will participate in a candidate forum at 7 p.m. Monday, March 1. Co-sponsored by Rotary on the Ridge and LakeWalesNews.net, the forum will be held at the Ouellette Law Firm meeting room at 151 E. Central Ave. To ensure social distancing, in-person participation will be restricted. The program will be broadcast on Facebook Live at https://www.facebook.com/RotaryontheRidge and a video will be produced by LaVaughn...
More than 50 artists will exhibit in the 2021 Lake Wales Arts Festival on the shores of Lake Wailes lake Feb. 20-21. The event is even more special this year as the festival celebrates its 50th anniversary. "We're one of the first art shows back in the whole country, especially in the state of Florida," said Andrew Allen, executive director of the Lake Wales Arts Council. "The quality of art will also go up dramatically since we're not taking as many artists." The free...
Citizen Support Services is a group of people from our community who volunteer their time, talent, and financial assistance to support and advocate for needs that exist within Lake Wales, where existing service organizations are not well positioned to support or coordinate. Citizens of Lake Wales, in partnership with leadership from several community service organizations, aim to ensure support and equity is provided to citizens in need. During the month of December, members...
Looking for a new fundraiser to help offset COVID-19 losses, the Rotary on the Ridge is now offering "Otter-grams" for special occasions. The regional after-hours service club had to postpone its Treasure Map fundraiser until 2021, so the club came up with a unique gift idea to make up some of the lost revenue. The club has a human-sized otter costume it uses to make presentations of the Josh the Otter water safety program to area kindergartens and day cares. A costumed club...
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...
The Rotary Club of Lake Wales is holding a drive-thru Barbecue fundraiser this Saturday, Oct. 24 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Family Elder Law, 122 E. Tillman Ave. in Lake Wales. Tickets are $12 and proceeds go to support education and student scholarships. The meals, brought to your car, include chicken or pulled pork, baked beans, cole slaw, roll, dessert and a drink. Here is the direct Eventbrite link for tickets: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/rotary-club-of...
Rodney Theodore Krueger, 85, passed away at home surrounded by his family on Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2020. Born on Sept. 1, 1935, in Wayne County, MI to Almer and Marie (Wanemacher) Krueger, Rodney grew up to become a businessman after working alongside his father throughout high school at his business, Anrod Screen, developing and producing filters and screens. Rodney took over the business upon his father's retirement. After a successful career, Rodney retired at the young age of...
Thomas (Tom) Ancil Freeman, 94, of Lake Wales passed away on Thursday, Oct. 1, 2020, at Palm Garden Health and Rehabilitation Center in Winter Haven. He was born in Lawrenceburg, TN on October 19, 1925 and lived a very full and active life. He will always be known for his magnificent artwork of Florida landscapes, nearly 1,000 originals, and his murals throughout Polk County in Lake Wales, Frostproof, and Lake Placid. Those who knew him personally, remember him as a...
Rotary on the Ridge was honored Sept. 22 as the 2019-2020 Club of the Year in Rotary District 6890, which includes 37 clubs in four counties. District Governor Kip Kipnis announced the selection during an awards ceremony online event attended by more than 100 Rotary district leaders from Polk, Highlands, Hardee and Hillsborough counties. 2019-2020 Rotary on the Ridge President Herb Gillis accepted the award remotely, joined by his wife, Megan, who served as club president in...
Lake Wales City Commissioner Curtis Gibson got tired of seeing trash along Burns Avenue when he took his morning walk. So he obtained city support and enlisted sponsors for the first Crown Jewel Cleanup starting at 7 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 26. Rotary on the Ridge will staff a volunteer check-in tent outside Grace Healthcare at the corner of Burns Avenue and U.S. 17/Scenic Highway. Grace is allowing volunteers to park in their lot. Keep Polk County Beautiful is providing trash ba...
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...
Rotary on the Ridge named Mike Baccus as its 2019-2020 Rotarian of the Year. Delayed due to the COVID-19 virus, the presentation was made Sept. 14 as the club began meeting back in person. As his last official act Immediate Past President Herb Gillis presented Baccus with a plaque at an early dinner gathering of members. Then during the club's regular meeting in-person and on the online Zoom platform, 2018-19 Rotarian of the Year Drew Truitt re-presented the award so the rest...
Marking the occasion of his 36th birthday, Lake Wales City Commissioner Curtis Gibson on Sept. 11 announced the start of his re-election campaign. Gibson plans to qualify for the April 2021 ballot, seeking a 3-year term to continue his service as the District 19, Seat 2 commissioner. Before announcing his candidacy in a live online video, Gibson paid tribute to those killed or impacted by the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attack, reading out details of the historic day's events. "N...
Rotary on the Ridge has been recognized with a 2019-2020 Water Safety Advocacy Award by the Joshua Collingsworth Memorial Foundation. The regional after hours service club kicked off its water safety initiative in the spring of 2019 using the foundation's Josh the Baby Otter program materials. The club presented the water safety program to more than 500 children at Chain of Lakes and Spook Hill elementary schools and at day care centers in Dundee and Lake Wales. Planned 2020...
The four candidates for two Polk County School Board seats participated in an online forum that through Facebook has reached more than 6,000 viewers and garnered more than 1,100 comments. Brandon Alvarado with the Lake Wales Arts Council moderated the July 27 forum, sponsored by Rotary on the Ridge, LakeWalesNews.net and BartowNews.net. Incumbent Billy Townsend and challenger William Allen are vying for the District 1 seat, while incumbent Lori Cunningham is being challenged b...
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...
The four candidates for Polk County School Board will be participating in a public forum Monday, July 27, just three weeks before the Aug. 18 election. Brandon Alvarado from the Lake Wales Arts Council will serve as moderator of the forum, which will begin at 7 p.m. Due to concerns about rising COVID-19 numbers the forum will be online via ZOOM. Link is https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86574760915 and password is 604028, or people can dial-in to listen at 646-876-9923. First term...
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....
Zachary Kirkland was in middle school when he started his own non-profit called Silly Sock Saturdays. Now a rising senior at Lake Wales High School, Zachary continues his mission of making hospital stays more pleasant for children by providing them a gift bag with silly socks, toys, games and other items. "Being able to help those in a hard and stressful situation is the reason for creating the nonprofit and getting to hear the feedback and know that what I do invokes a smile...
Rotary on the Ridge held its first "hybrid" meeting Monday, June 22 to install new President Trey Heath and offer thanks to outgoing President Herb Gillis. About 15 members gathered in person, while another 10 used the ZOOM platform to participate online. District 6890 Governor Kip Kipnis was installing officer for Heath, who officially becomes club president July 1. The club postponed its annual celebration and further recognition of Gillis and other members to July 22, in...
A blue-ribbon committee of residents will spend the next few months reviewing the Lake Wales charter – the document that details how the city is governed – with an eye towards putting any suggested changes in front of voters next spring. The five-person group will conduct all its meetings publicly, and ultimately can only suggest changes. Those suggestions are then considered by the current city commission, and then go on the ballot if they give them a thumbs up. The com...
The Lake Wales Breakfast Rotary Club is hosting a Free Community Shred Day Saturday, June 13 to help with post quarantine cleaning. People with material to shred can drive up to the parking lot at the Peterson Myers law office at 100 W. Stuart Ave. in downtown Lake Wales between 9 a.m. and noon. Rotary volunteers, who will wear masks and gloves, will unload the materials so people don't have to leave their cars. Things that can be shredded include: paper, credit cards, paper...
Polk County Rotary Clubs are participating in a Million Meal Challenge being coordinated by Rotary District 6890 through Feeding Tampa Bay. The clubs and district are working to raise $200,000 during the month of May to help people in Polk, Highlands, Hardee and Hillsborough County impacted by the COVID-19 virus. According to Feeding Tampa Bay, the demand for meals has quadrupled due to the global pandemic. Many people who never needed help before, especially seniors...
As a little girl growing up in Lake Wales Cassandra Denmark set her sights on first becoming an attorney and then a judge. That determination resulted in her current successful law practice in Bartow, and 18 years' experience that prepared her for her new role as a circuit judge in January. Denmark was elected without opposition Friday, April 24 when she was the only person to qualify to fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Circuit Judge John Radabaugh. Circuit judge...
