Communication Builds Our Community
Communication Builds Our Community
Grant Will Support Tree Planting and Educational Programs
Nikki Sealey (L), vice president of education for Lake Wales Heritage, looks on as Treasurer Mary Walkup, (R) holds a Dyer Difference grant check. David Dlugokecki, General manager of Dyer Kia and Chevrolet in Lake Wales, presents an accompanying plaque recognizing the work of the Heritage organization to President Robert Connors.
Architect Frederick Law Olmsted may be best known for designing New York City's Central Park, but his many creative accomplishments also included the Biltmore Estate in North Carolina, and our own treasure, Bok Tower Gardens. Just before the Great Depression in late 1929, Frederick Law Olmsted and Edward Bok designed a master plan for Lake Wales, with plans to include small parks, plenty of trees, and a lovely place to stroll the downtown area. Nearly a century later, Lake Wales Heritage, which is an Olmsted Conservancy nonprofit organization, still hopes to see many of the original plans for Lake Wales completed.
On April 30, Olmsted Day in the Park will be held to commemorate what would have been Olmsted's 200th birthday. The group is working to replant some of the thousands of trees included in Olmsted's original plan for Lake Wales to help revitalize the beauty and reclaim the many psychological and environmental benefits they create. Lake Wales is the only city to host Olmsted landscapes and the April Dyer Difference Award hopes to help celebrate Olmsted's genius in the field of design and wisdom in realizing how important nature is to success, commerce, and wellbeing. The April Dyer Difference Award will help fund the replanting of 34 Magnolia Grandiflora trees on Lakeshore Boulevard and help provide shade, ambience, and natural beauty to this community we all love.
Each month, members of the Dyer family and Dyer Kia and Dyer Chevrolet team meet to review the applications which have been submitted and select one non-profit organization to receive that month's recognition and $3,000 award. For the members of the Dyer team, it's all about helping to make a positive difference in the community. For the recipients, it's an acknowledgement of their tireless efforts to do the same and a much-needed financial boost to help further their missions.
If you'd like to nominate a non-profit organization from Polk County for the Dyer Difference Award, please visit http://www.dyerdifference.org.
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