Communication Builds Our Community
Communication Builds Our Community
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A special event this Tuesday, March 22 will honor three area "Women Who Made History." The event will be hosted by the Lake Wales chapter of the American Association of University Women. "Women Who Made History on the Ridge" will honor Johanna Buscher-Shedler, Kathe Galloway, and Ethel Austin, (posthumously) will be feted for their work. Charlene Bennett, speaking on behalf of the AAUW, invited area residents to "join us in learning about the contributions, challenges, and...
A zany parade featuring colorful floats, marchers and faux royalty will fill the streets of downtown Lake Wales with thousands of revelers this weekend as the traditional Lake Wales Mardi Gras observances reach their climax. The pre-Lenten festivities end at midnight on "fat Tuesday," or Mardi Gras. Private parading clubs, known as "krewes" will vie for recognition as the best in parade as they liberally douse the crowds with thousands of strands of beads and other parade...
Although most Lake Wales residents aren't even aware of it, Lake Wales is famous for thousands as the site of the largest group of landscape designs ever created by the legendary firm of Frederick Law Olmsted. So how did it come to be that the firm responsible for creating New York City's Central Park and for designing the grounds of the U.S. Capitol in Washington D.C. played such a vital role in the planning – and now future – of Lake Wales? Our destiny as a "City in a Gar...
After expressing concerns about the lack of success achieved by the Lake Wales Housing Authority, the Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) changed their tune after a joint meeting with the Smith & Henzy Advisory Group, the consultants for the Housing Authority. A December discussion had led to the CRA had issuing a letter to the Authority on December 16 threatening to withhold the million dollars they had pledged toward the project, recognized as an important part of the Lake...
Word that Polk County residents won't receive pick-up of their recycling is sweeping social media around the Lake Wales area, but the alarm is unfounded. East Polk residents will continue to receive their collections service as normal. The serious collections issues that have plagued a different contractor serving Polk west of US 17 has led the county to call for the one month suspension of recycling collections in order to allow the trucks and crews to try to catch up on the...
When Lake Wales gathers April 30 to celebrate the life, legacy and work of Frederick Olmsted Sr. at "Olmsted Day in the Park," local residents will be paying homage to more than just the famed landscape architect whose influence is still very much alive in the city today. By 1929 when Lake Wales civic leaders hired his son Frederick Olmsted Jr. to create a master plan to enhance the city's "Garden City" concept – developed in England 1898 by Ebenezer Howard – Lake Wales and...
A number of community volunteers and organizations will host a free food giveaway at the B Street Center, which has been approved to be a Food Distribution site in collaboration with Central Florida Health Care. The announcement by Kassandra Noel, Food Distribution Coordinator, provides a handy location for homebound, needy and elderly persons to access a food bank that can help meet critical nutritional needs. Narvell Peterson, Executive Director of the B Street Center, and...
Lake Wales voters will have an opportunity to see and hear most of the candidates seeking to represent them in city government on Monday. A forum sponsored by Rotary on the Ridge and LakeWalesNews.Net will be held at the law offices of Bill Ouelette, 151 East Central Avenue beginning at 7:00 pm. Three of the five remaining candidates will speak and answer questions during the event, which will also be streamed via Facebook. Brandon Alvarado will return as moderator of the annu...
Six candidates have qualified for election to two open seats in the City of Lake Wales government in the April 5 municipal elections. Voters will have an opportunity to choose a new mayor and a District 4 city commissioner. Qualifying opened at noon Monday and closes at the same hour on Friday. Three candidates for mayor of Lake Wales include former Commissioner Curtis Gibson, current Commissioner Jack Hilligoss, and political newcomer Tammy James, a downtown investor and...
A nationally-syndicated and web-streamed radio show aimed at veterans originates in a Lake Wales for most of the year. Local residents Mike and Irene Spotswood record the "Cup of Joe Radio" show, often with Mike's service dog Truman at their feet. Mike, a Marine who did two tours in Vietnam over the course of 19 months, and Irene, a former nurse say their two-hour radio show is "80% music, 20% information." Their mission statement is "The healing power of music." Their show...
The Lake Wales Charter School Board of Trustees is expected to choose a new superintendent of schools Tuesday to run seven local schools and maintain the standard of excellence achieved by former Superintendent Jesse Jackson. Jackson, who built an award-winning program with the help of principals and staff members, resigned in February, leaving the trustees to find a replacement. The fraught selection process continues to generate community concern. A nationwide search for...
A small but vocal group has been a significant influence on the process of selecting a new superintendent for the Lake Wales Charter School system, a simple reading of documents reveals. (See Related Story Here) The Polk County chapter of the Ohio-based County Citizens Defending Freedom has been involved in the process at numerous points and has consistently acted to promote the selection of Andy Oguntola. Two speakers who sought to end the national search in Lake Wales in...
Former City Commissioner Al Goldstein, considered by some to be the favorite in a three-way race to regain his seat, withdrew his filing hours before the City Commission approved the final ballot form in an afternoon meeting Friday. He was one of six candidates who had qualified since noon Monday for the two seats to be decided in the April 5 election. Goldstein was frank and gracious in his comments when reached by telephone, saying that he had no hard feelings, and that he k...
Shaken community confidence in the search for a new superintendent to lead the Lake Wales Charter School system has generated a wave of criticism from educators, community leaders and parents, amid suggestions that the system may see a "mass exodus of quality employees." Following a stunning revelation last week that Lake Wales High School Principal Donna Dunson has retained legal counsel in the face of "harassment," others involved in the school system are questioning the...
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...
Four of the six expected candidates wasted no time in filing their paperwork for city elections after the qualifying period opened at noon Monday. They will each be a candidate for one of two open seats in Lake Wales government. Both the mayor and a city commission position will be on the April 5 ballot. Tammy James, a candidate for mayor, was first to arrive at the office of City Clerk Jennifer Nanek. Her two opponents, Jack Hilligoss and Curtis Gibson, arrived during the...
Editor's Note: We would like to share photos of you with your big catch! f you have tips or photos you care to share, please email them directly to sports@lakewalesnews.net. Here's what's happening this week on area lakes" On Walk-in-the-Water, speck fisherman are limiting out drifting minnows offshore. Bass fishing is slow, but a local tournament took only `2 pounds to win, with a big fish of 5.68 pounds. The Lake Hatchineha "Hour Glass" area is loaded with boats drifting...
An April 30 event at Lake Wailes Park is more than a local celebration, it's part of a much broader celebration of a famous father-son duo who changed the face of North America. April 26, 2022, marks 200 years since the birth of American landscape architect and social reformer Frederick Law Olmsted, who championed the idea of public parks in the United States. Lake Wales Heritage is among more than 120 organizations nationwide have banded together as "Olmsted 200: Parks for...
Lake Wales High School's girls' basketball team advanced in their effort to win a state title at home Thursday night as the top seed Highlanders defeated 8th seed Zephyrhills in the Class 5-A District playoffs by a convincing 66-33 score. The Lake Wales squad is now 19-4 overall this season. The Lady Highlanders will face a stiffer challenge at 7:00 on Tuesday, February 15 as they face the Bishop Moore Hornets, who devastated their first-round opponent Tampa Robinson by a 59-1...
The Lake Wales History Museum is "immediately" launching a nationwide search for a new executive director after Jennifer D'hollander announced that will be leaving the organization on March 5. D'hollander recently led the conversion of the museum from a city owned facility to a non-profit organizational structure within a secure City of Lake Wales-Museum partnership. The board of directors of the museum issued a statement praising her "inspiring leadership," and wishing her...
An effort by the Lake Wales Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) to increase the availability of affordable housing through public/private partnerships is producing significant results. The recently-completed Phase Two of the program's participation with the Keystone Challenge Fund added more housing to the historic Northwest Neighborhood. The City partnered with Keystone to build two additional houses on B Street, complementing the adjacent homes that were developed in the...
The fate of the storied Walesbilt Hotel has been placed in the hands of the courts after the City of Lake Wales and the Community Redevelopment Agency filed a twelve-count lawsuit in Circuit Court. The lawsuit effectively deters any immediate work to rehabilitate the structure, which has been the focus of interest by a team of developers working with current owner Ray Brown. The lawsuit alleges that Brown, through his corporation Dixie Walesbilt LLC, defrauded the City and...
Anglers are starting to limit out at night on Lake Wales-in=the=Water by drifting minnows under lights. Get out there and give it a try. Bass fishing has been slow with the lake being low, but they should be moving up to spawn this week. On Lake Hatchineha, specks can be found in lily pads by marker 10. Try using a jig tipped with Bobby Garland. On Lake Kissimmee, fisherman are finding speckled Perch on deeper grass lines early. As the day goes on try moving inside to the gras...
Lake Wales area residents are being offered a hands-on habitat restoration activity which will see the planting of 5,000 young Long Leaf pines at the Lake Wales Ridge State Forest. The effort is being sponsored by the Florida Fish & Wildlife Division and their Ridge Rangers volunteer program. The purpose is to reintroduce native Long Leaf pines, in an effort to restore native and globally threatened habitats of the Lake Wales Ridge. Mature Longleaf pines provide essential...
Joyce Swallows, age 81, passed away February 2, 2022, at Lakeland Regional Health. She was born on January 18, 1941, in Colquitt County, GA. She was a Sectionizer in the Citrus Industry and then worked in the school lunchroom. She volunteered her time at Floral Avenue Elementary School. She was a member of Community Christian Church in Bartow. She was preceded in death by her brothers Melvin Williams & Jerry Williams and sisters Jacquline Zalys, Gloria Jean Donnell & Darlene...
