Communication Builds Our Community
Communication Builds Our Community
Sorted by date Results 26 - 50 of 71
The parade of development proposals that have stirred citizen concerns of runaway changes to Lake Wales continued to be evident at the most recent city commission meeting as details emerged for several more projects. A calculation by LakeWalesNews.Net staff has indicated that more than 12,000 new single-family homes, townhomes, apartments, and mobile homes are included in developments already on the drawing table. At least three other projects have been proposed but remain to...
Persistence and patience paid off for one dedicated Lake Wales man after a request for a sports field for his children ended up benefiting hundreds of area youngsters who participate in the Lake Wales Soccer Club. Fields, a long-time resident of Lake Wales, recognized that area children wishing to participate in the increasingly popular sport had nowhere they could go. A small program at the YMCA was unable to meet the demand, so he began to speak up. "I went everywhere the...
The Lake Wales City Commission will vote Tuesday on a proposal that will allow construction of a new "neighborhood" shopping center at the currently-remote corner of Hunt Brothers Road and South 11th Street. The conceptual development plan for the 13.66 acre site on the northwest corner of the intersection will be considered by the commission at Tuesday's 6:00 pm meeting. The proposal is being submitted by the McKenna Family, owners of the two parcels, and represents the new...
No sooner has work been completed on the railroad that caused the closing of Hunt Brothers Road this week than crews will move south to begin work on the grade crossing at the Golfview Park Road at Bryan Road in Babson Park. Work there will take place on Thursday and Friday. Detour signs will be erected at SR 17 in Babson Park, requiring traffic to bypass the shortcut leading to the east side of Lake Wales. Crews working for Florida Midland Railroad Company, Inc. will require...
A portion of Hunt Brothers Road will be closed on close on Monday and Tuesday, February 14 and 15 for a repair project. The closure will be at the rail crossing west of Lilly Street and near the Hunt Brothers Citrus Growers Cooperative in Lake Wales. The two-day long repair project will be the first of six that will eventually be conducted along nearly nine miles of tracks between Lake Wales and Frostproof by Florida Midland Railroad Company, Inc. The railroad operates trains...
A dangerous and often congested intersection of Scenic Highway and Mountain Lake Road on the near north side of Lake Wales is expected to become a bit safer after the Florida Department of Transportation completes the installation of a traffic signal. Traffic is frequently backed for left turns from northbound Scenic to westbound Mountain Lake, while left turns onto northbound Scenic are even more difficult. Protected left turns are expected to be a feature of the new signal....
The impending 54-hour closure of US 27 is expected to snarl traffic throughout the city for an entire weekend, but Florida Department of Transportation planners are taking steps to try to mitigate the resultant traffic snarls. Among them are extra police officers posted at key intersections and an extensive web of signage to guide drivers on nearly a dozen different routes. Described by some as "Traffic-geddon," the normally smooth flow of traffic around the Lake Wales area...
The ongoing transition of the Lake Wales area from broad tracts of citrus to new housing projects is taking another leap forward as two prominent citrus families have proposed voluntary annexations totaling some 266 acres. The tracts lie immediately north and south of the present city center. Annexation will make the sites eligible for municipal water and sewer services, allowing development at attractive densities. The largest of the new annexation applications covers about...
An unprecedented closing of US 27 will snarl traffic through Lake Wales in mid-January, routing traffic from the busy corridor along several area streets and highways. The Florida Department of Transportation announced the impending closing, which will allow construction crews to raise the heavy beams for the new bridge being constructed to carry SR 60 over the federal highway. The closing will last an entire weekend from Friday night until early Monday morning. During which...
A large tract of vacant land fronting upon Twin Lakes is now primed for development, thanks to a street redesign as part of the SR 60 bridge project. Lake Wales City Commissioners are expected to take final action this Tuesday to close the right-of-way of a portion of Gibson Avenue that has long divided two small parcels belonging to Hunt Brothers' citrus operations. The former course of the avenue slashed through the two parcels as a 45-degree angle. That street has already b...
One of the most significant figures in the long history of Florida's citrus industry, Frank M. Hunt II, passed away Saturday, November 27 at his residence in Lake Wales. He was 93, Born in Lake Wales to a pioneering family in 1928, Hunt progressed through Lake Wales schools before leaving to attend Erskine College in Due West, South Carolina. In 1950 he graduated from the University of Florida in Gainesville with a BS Degree in Business Administration, which he immediately...
Frank M. Hunt, II of Lake Wales passed away Saturday, November 27, 2021 at his residence. He was born April 2, 1928 in Lake Wales to the late Deeley A. and Louise E. Hunt; he was a fifth generation Floridian. Frank attended elementary school and secondary school in Lake Wales and attended Erskine College in Due West, South Carolina. He graduated from the University of Florida in Gainesville with a BS Degree in Business Administration in 1950. Frank was the President of the...
Leota Kroeger, age 92, passed away peacefully at her home in Lake Wales, Florida. She was born August 8, 1929 in Bathe County, Kentucky. Daughter of Earlie and Grace (Bohanan) Hunt. Leota was preceded in death by her parents, loving husband Dale; brothers, Jewell, Tom, Earl, and Robert; half-brother, Clarence; sisters, Clairine, Pauline, Alice, and Juanita; and sons, Mark, Richard, Ronald, and Donald. Leota is survived by her daughter, Lynda; sons, Richard, Jr., and Brian...
A land use change on 24.66 acres of the site from LDR Low-Density Residential, to MDR Medium-Density Residential will allow for the construction of hundreds of townhomes as part of the new Hunt Club new development. The City Commission approved the change as part of a busy agenda Tuesday that featured several other significant development-related items, part of a wave of growth that has arrived during a nearly nationwide housing shortage. The project, planned for a 234-acre...
Alicia Joy Gomez of Lake Wales, Florida passed away on Friday November 5th, 2021, at the age of 69. She was born on June 26th, 1952, in Utica, NY to the late Edwin Folgelman and Wilma Jones and has been a resident of Lake Wales since 1976. She dedicated her career in citrus for Hunt Brothers. Alicia loved her family dearly, was a loving wife, mother and grandmother. She was preceded in death by her son Eric Gomez and her brother Butch Hamm. Alicia is survived by her husband...
The rush to develop housing in Lake Wales shows no sign of abating as new proposals continue to come before the Lake Wales City Commission. Tuesday's agenda saw an approval of an annexation that will pave the way for a 90-acre residential development south of the Eastlake Center, which houses Winn-Dixie and Rural King. The proposed annexation of 62 acres will join them with another 29 already under the same ownership group. If approved for medium density residential...
With hundreds of new homes slated for construction along the booming Buck Moore Road, Lake Wales City Commissioners have unanimously approved hiring an engineering firm to conduct a traffic study to keep things moving along that corridor. "This is a proactive step to anticipate and mitigate any impacts" from the new subdivisions, City Manager James Slaton said in introducing the proposal at a Commission workshop. "We want to do the corridor study now to have it in place when...
Mrs. Johnnie Mae Bryant, 68 of Lake Wales, died at Advent Health Hospital, Lake Wales. Graveside Service: Saturday, October 16, 2021, 12 Noon at Lake Wales Memorial Gardens Cemetery, 581 Hunt Brothers Road, Lake Wales 33898. Mask Required. Visitation: Friday, October 15, 2021 from 6:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. at Epps Chapel. Mask Required....
Zandina Cannon, 68 of Lake Wales, died at Good Shepherd Hospice in Sebring, Florida. Born in Trinidad. Graveside Service: Tuesday, September 28, 2021 at 10:00 a.m. at Lake Wales Memorial Gardens Cemetery, 581 Hunt Brothers Road, Lake Wales. A mask is Required....
Rutha M. Turner, 62 of Lake Wales, Mammoth Grove, died at Lake Wales Advent Health Hospital. Born in Dublin, Georgia. Memorial Service: Sunday, October 3, 2021 at 1:00 p.m. at Cornerstone Church, Mammoth Grove Road, Mammoth Grove, Lake Wales. Mask Required. Visitation: Monday, October 4, 2021 from 7:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. at Epps Chapel. Mask Required. Interment: Tuesday, October, October 5, 2021 at 11:00 a.m. Lake Wales Memorial Gardens Cemetery, 581 Hunt Brothers Road,...
Margie Turner, 68 of Mammoth Grove, Lake Wales, died at Good Shepherd Hospice in Auburndale, Florida. Memorial Service: Sunday, October 3, 2021 at 1:00 P.M. at Corenerstone Church, Mammoth Grove Road, Mammoth Grove, Lake Wales. Mask Required. Visitation: Monday, October 4, 2021 from 7:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. at Epps Chapel. Mask Required. Interment: Tuesday, October 5, 2021 at 11:00 a.m. at Lake Wales Memorial Gardens Cemetery, 581 Hunt Brothers Road, Lake Wales. Mask...
Martha Turner, 83 of Mammoth Grove, Lake Wales, died at Advent Health Hospital in Lake Wales. Memorial Service: Sunday, October 3, 2021 at 1:00 p.m. at Cornerstone Church, Mammoth Grove Road, Mammoth Grove, Lake Wales. Mask Required. Visitation: Monday, October 4, 2021 from 7:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. at Epps Chapel. Interment: Tuesday, October 5, 2021 at 11:00 am. at Lake Wales Memorial Gardens Cemetery, 581 Hunt Brothers Road, Lake Wales....
Vernon Emanuel Gipson, 48 of Lake Wales, died at home. Born in Bartow, Florida. Graveside Services: Saturday, September 18, 2021 at 8:30 a.m. Mask Required. Location: Lake Wales Memorial Gardens Cemetery, 581 Hunt Brothers Road, Lake Wales 33898. Mask Required....
Debra Lynn Mc Fadden, 57, of Lake Wales, died Aug. 18, 2021 at Winter Haven Hospital. She was born Feb. 22, 1964 in Tallahassee, FL. Visitation will be from 6-8 p.m. Friday, Aug. 27 at Epps Memorial Funeral Home Chapel. Graveside services will be at 10 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 28 at Lake Wales Memorial Gardens Cemetery, 581 Hunt Brothers Road....
Garry E. May, 70, of Babson Park passed away Tuesday, July 6, 2021 at his residence. He was born November 29, 1950 in Flint, MI to the late Donald and Ruth May; he moved to Babson Park from Montrose, MI in 2009. Garry was a retired framing carpenter and was a member of High Point Church. He loved to fish and hunt with his bird dogs and go to the coffee shop. He enjoyed watching his granddaughters play softball and was an Alabama football fan. Garry was a man of his word who loved his family and grandchildren dearly. Garry is...
