Communication Builds Our Community
Communication Builds Our Community
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The Florida Department of Transportation is a few months into work on the reconstruction of the interchange of SR 60 and US 27 in Lake Wales. The current interchange configuration was originally constructed in the mid-1960s, a few years after U..S 27 was built along the ridge in eastern Polk County connecting State Road 60 with Interstate 4. Both roads are important regional highways in Central Florida and have seen their traffic volumes increase by 3,000 to 5,000 vehicles a...
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...
Teachers in Florida were asked to submit their innovative teaching ideas the week of Jan. 11 for an opportunity to win State Farm ® Teacher Assist grants. In less than 2 hours, 200 entry forms were submitted by Florida teachers! State Farm is proud to award $100,000 to teachers across Florida. Forty teachers will each receive a $2,500 grant to implement or support their classroom projects. Visit the State Farm ® Teacher Assist website for a complete list of winners....
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...
Darrell Starling already has an ambitious agenda in place following his recent hiring as the Lake Wales Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) Coordinator. In particular, Starling will work closely with the city[s Northwest neighborhood, one of two areas specifically targeted by the city's ambitious and award-winning "Lake Wales Connected" revitalization plan which also covers the historic downtown business district as well. City leaders expect to break ground on the early...
James Daniel Townson, 75, of Babson Park passed away Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2021 at Advent Health Orlando. He was born November 10, 1945 in Oak Ridge, TN to the late Clarence and Velma Townson. James was an electrician for Florida's Natural for 30 years and was still actively working. He loved to fish, watch sunsets, and ride his motorcycle. He enjoyed going to the beach and was a Pastor. James was preceded in death by his brothers and sisters and a granddaughter, Lea Henderson....
The Lake Wales Public Library invites adults 18 years of age and older to participate in the READ Lake Wales 2021 Challenge. Participants must be a library card holder from the Polk County Library Cooperative. The READ Lake Wales 2021 Challenge requires that adults complete 50 books between January 4, 2021 and December 10, 2021. Print, electronic and audio books are all accepted for entries. Participants may request an official READ Lake Wales 2021 reading log from the Lake...
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...
City residents can thank a local restaurant for helping the Lake Wales Chamber of Commerce find its 2020 Public Servant of the Year. Lake Wales Fire Chief Joe Jenkins – born and raised in the city and now celebrating 30 years with the department – was honored with the award in late December, for not only his service as chief, but as the city's Emergency Operations Director during the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic. Jenkins said he didn't really know what he wanted to do whe...
Thomas Stevens "Tommy" Ricketts, 96, passed away peacefully on Sunday, Jan. 10, 2021. Tom was born Aug. 31, 1924 in Charleston, WV, and eventually moved to Tampa where he graduated from Plant High School. After his freshman year at the University of Florida, he left to serve in the United States Army Signal Corps during World War II. At the conclusion of the war, he returned to the University of Florida completing his degree in Electrical Engineering in 1949. While there he...
(Editor's Note: Lake Wales High School is not included in this report, since it is part of the charter system and not considered a traditional Polk high school. Its graduation rate will be reported separately.) Polk County Public Schools' graduation rate jumped to 86.5 percent last year - a new record high - even as seniors faced unprecedented challenges due to the pandemic. The district's latest graduation rate was a 5.3 percentage point increase from the previous year (81.2...
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...
It's starting to feel like the Holiday Season! Whatever it may be that gives you that festive feeling – the festive lights being switched on in the city, the first pumpkin pies appearing in the stores or that friend who always seems to put up the tree in the middle of November– for many of us, the festive period is a time to look forward to. However, for some of us, it may not be such a joyous time as we seem to find ourselves at loose ends on that Special Day. Maybe lov...
Holiday shoppers looking for a locally grown or handmade gift will revel in the news that the Lake Wales Farmer's Market is once again re-open in the city's historic downtown district. The market returned with almost 40 vendors on Nov. 14, and is expected to host upwards of 50 or more vendors on Saturday, December 12 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. The market operates on the second and fourth Saturday each month, and will be open Dec. 26 as well. Market manager Lynn Greenfield said the...
Ed Palmer officially became the Lake Wales Police Department's community liaison officer on Sept. 14. But if you ask James "Perly" Sermons, it's been Palmer's calling for a lifetime – Sermons' lifetime. The two first met when Palmer served as the School Resource Officer at Hillcrest Elementary when Perly was a student there. As luck might have it – others might call in Divine guidance – Palmer followed Sermons as an SRO when the youngster went to Roosevelt Academy and to La...
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...
It was 1934. Emil Jahna Sr. had recently moved his family and small company from Venice, FL to Lake Wales. The company was Ridge Stone and Tile Co., which produced decorative floor tile and roofing tile as well as other concrete products that had a market at the time. Sand was plentiful in Lake Wales so the company was able to self-supply sand over many years and eventually supplied outside customers with high quality construction sand. Growing up and working around concrete...
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...
Al Goldstein didn't realize being a Lake Wales city commissioner would be so time-consuming, but he's eager to sign up for another three years. He was elected without opposition in April 2019 after incumbent Commissioner Tonya Stewart failed to qualify to run for re-election. He has already started campaigning for the District 27, Seat 4 that will be filled in the April 2021 municipal election. "I'm finally understanding the job of a city commissioner," Goldstein said....
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...
During these trying times when businesses are struggling to reinvent themselves to adhere to both Governor decrees and social norms as well as keeping six feet between employees, owners and managers there is indeed a delicate balance that a tight rope walker would even find unnerving. Restaurant owners and managers have adapted. Good Eats is about getting the word out to the public on who is open and providing curbside and online ordering options as well as working with the...
