Communication Builds Our Community
Communication Builds Our Community
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Truck drivers and other travelers on U.S. 27 in south Lake Wales will have a new place to eat, get fuel, service, rest and hot showers 24 hours a day as the new Love's Travel Stop opens Thursday, Aug. 29. The store at the intersection of U.S. 27 and Hunt Brothers Road will house a Subway, Godfather's Pizza and Chester's Chicken and employ an estimated 50-60 people. Headquartered in Oklahoma City, Love's has more than 490 stores in 41 states, including 16 others in Florida....
With a combined 60 years experience 1st Quality/Ramsgate Insurance mogul Tom Rumfelt and INC Inc. entrepreneur Drew Truitt have teamed up to open Park Avenue Executive Suites to help businesses, organizations and startups grow and thrive in a relatively new concept: office share or coworking facilities. Rumfelt and Truitt are not without their share of adversity. Tom Rumfelt once employed hundreds of insurance agents in the same two buildings that will be home to new,...
The prospective developers of the historic Seminole Hotel shared conceptual site plans with Lake Wales city officials Tuesday, Aug. 13. South Florida architect Rick Gonzalez produced the drawings in partnership with local developer Ray Brown. Gonzalez has more than 30 years' experience restoring historic buildings and serves as vice chair of the Florida Historical Commission. City Development Services Director Kathy Bangley said she was pleased with the conceptual plans and lo...
Leaders who use data often lead companies that excel, making it one of the most critical pieces of information for those in the top spots of companies around the world. The "Global Leadership Forecast 2018" found that leaders who use data to run their companies are: • Nine times more likely to have closely integrated talent and business strategies. • Seven times more likely to have a strong workforce that includes future leaders. • Two times more likely to have grown aggre...
Joyce Annette Rushing, 73, of Lake Wales, passed away Monday, August 12, 2019 at her residence. She was born March 8, 1946 in Lake Wales to the late Teener and Josie (Warren) Skinner. She has been a lifelong resident of the area. She was a member of the Golfview Church of God. She spent her time loving and playing with grandchildren and loving her brothers and sisters in church. She is preceded in death by her brother James E. Skinner. She is survived by her daughters Valerie...
Living Out Loud Poet's and Writer's Society is hosting a wide open poetry and creative writing SLAM. Interested persons should bring original written material or a selection from a favorite writer to share. The gathering begins at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 22 at Melange Antiques and Art Gallery, 250 E. Park Ave. in historic downtown Lake Wales. Guests are invited to bring preferred beverages or snacks for themselves or to share. For more information, contact Robert Bullock at...
Cornerstone Hospice is looking for volunteers who would like to learn how to help others while helping themselves. Cornerstone volunteers may visit patients at home or in a facility to offer friendly conversation and give family members a break to run errands. Volunteers also can help out in the office, walk patients' dogs or honor fellow veterans in Cornerstone's care. Hours are flexible and volunteers can choose the areas they want to work throughout Polk County, including...
The Defenders of Crooked Lake are sounding a health and safety alarm since recent record rains have resulted in overflows of both raw and treated sewage. "Please use caution in the vicinity of standing water in the Crooked Lake Park area. The discharge of wastewater can result in increased concentrations of coliform bacteria and present a risk to human health," said an alert by Defenders President Jim Tully. Tully said the Babson Park area typically receives eight inches of...
The Lake Wales NAACP Youth Council is holding a breakfast Saturday, Aug. 31 for current and prospective members. NAACP Branch President Wanda Howard said the Lake Wales Youth Council is one of the oldest in the state, and possibly the nation, formed at Roosevelt High School in 1943. Howard said a functioning council needs at least 25 members, but it is open to all interested young people: "The NAACP is very diverse. We include people of all races." The Youth Council members...
Lake Wales Moose Lodge 2391 will be hosting a fundraiser Sunday, Aug. 25 to benefit 12-year-old Ambrey Batson, who is battling a rare form of bone cancer. Ambrey is a 7th grader at Bok Academy North, where her mother Shelley is an assistant principal. The benefit will start at 2 p.m. with activities, auction, raffle, 50-50 drawing and more. A dinner with pulled pork, baked beans and cole slaw starts at 5 p.m. for a requested $10 donation. The Moose Lodge is located at 3601 SR...
The start of any new year brings changes – large and small – not only in the schools and classrooms, but to every aspect of the operation of a charter system, including the transportation department. Some of the smaller changes are already in place, like retooled bus stop schedules. New this year is the concept of "pocket stops", combing what used to previously be multiple stops into one central location. Becoming more efficient with its all routes serving – making sure thous...
Leadership has long been a trait Lake Wales Charter Schools have stressed for their students. Now, a new program is aiming to help more quickly develop future leaders among teachers at the system's seven schools. The idea is to to help identify and train a new group to become assistant principals and beyond. Teachers must have spent at least three years in the classroom to be considered for the new initiative. "The Aspiring Leaders program is a monthly professional...
Sharon Bedsole Swearengin, 59 of Lake Wales passed away Saturday, August 10, 2019 at the Lake Wales Medical Center. She was born December 8, 1959 in Atmore, AL to the late J.B. and Louise (Maddox) Hastings. She was a social worker for the Department of Child Services. She is preceded in death by her husband Teddy L. Swearengin and her brother. She is survived by her sons Christopher and Robert J. Bedsole, both of Lake Wales, Steven, and some grandchildren. Services are pending. Marion Nelson Funeral Home in Lake Wales is in...
Arnold Melvin Stebbins, 88, of Lake Wales passed on to his eternal home Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2019 at Lake Wales Medical Center. He was born June 19, 1931 in Whitesville, NY. He had been a resident of Saddlebag Lake Resort in Lake Wales since the early 1990s after moving from Kenosha, WI. Arnold graduated from Whitesville Central School in New York and had a career in newspapers spanning 40 plus years in numerous locations in New York before settling in Kenosha, WI. He was...
Hazel Tarbell Crofoot of Bradenton passed away on August 3, 2019. Born in Kenmore, NY on April 3, 1931, she was the youngest child of Gordon Homer and Hazel Meyer Tarbell. She was pre-deceased by her husband Frederick Ralph Crofoot ("Fritz") in 2000. After attending Kenmore High School, Hazel graduated from the University of Michigan where she was a member of the Kappa Delta Sorority. On June 13, 1953, she married Fritz in Tonawanda, NY and over the years lived in Michigan, Il...
Linda Elaine Law, 95 of Lake Wales passed Monday, August 19, 2019 at Brandywyne Healthcare in Winter Haven. She was born February 12, 1924 in Caimanera, Cuba to the late George Percival and Lydia (Joseph) Tennant. Early on in life she taught business at Bennett College in Jamaica, then moved to New York and worked at Bellevue Hospital in New York City. She was a Paralegal Assistant for Bristol-Myers for over 20 years, retired from there and became a substitute teacher for Janie Howard Wilson in Lake Wales. After teaching,...
You don't have to be the smartest kid in the school to be part of Polk Avenue Elementary School's "Genius Club." Of course, there are plenty of smart youngsters already there – as PAE's improvement to a "B" grade for the 2018-19 school year showed. And they all get a chance to be part of Polk's "genius club" program which completed its first full-year last year, and will be very much part of the 2019-20 school year plan as well. The idea was actually born near the end of t...
