Communication Builds Our Community
Communication Builds Our Community
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I have served with several committees that organize the large events in town like Orange Blossom Revue and I am on the Mardi Gras Committee currently. I can understand why the decision to cancel the Christmas parade was made this far out. Large events like this are VERY expensive to put on and take months of planning. The city passed a ban on permits for public events, and until the State and Federal guidelines change, we won't likely see the city change. Protecting the life a...
The recent kerfuffle in Lake Wales over a secular invocation and the subsequent rush by the commission to craft a policy that would exclude future similar invocations is nothing more or less than history repeating itself. One would have hoped that nearly 250 years of hands-on experience with the religious freedom and the equality guaranteed by our constitution would have brought us to a point where offering an invocation in a public meeting would immediately be met with "Cool....
I found out that this job can be incredibly challenging. It is not part-time as some will say. This job is tough, and it is not for everyone. You can be elected today and gone the next time around. Especially, if you are not up to putting in the work to carry out your duty to the people who elected you. There is no one-sided view on ANYTHING - you need to have an open mind and a drive to search for the answers that you need to effectively make the best decision for the people...
Do you have a busy life with many responsibilities? Are you feeling frustrated, tired, and beaten down by the "new normal" of COVID-19, work (or unemployment), kids' eLearning, personal health issues, a relative in ill-heath, talk of hurricanes, rhetoric in the 2020 political season, the media, social media, adolescents, a broken down vehicle, etc, etc, etc? Ponder this advice someone reminded me (a busy person, a recovering legalist, and someone who likes math) of recently....
Trump or Biden? Mask or no mask? Open school or eLearning? Open the economy, or public safety? Work or family? Push through and get it done, or pull back and reflect? Make a splash, or keep a low profile? Prove your point, or stay out of it? Conspiracy theories, or Occam's razor? Grace and mercy, or truth? Ephesians 5:19-21, or Ephesians 5:22-24? Cut the grass, or clean the garage? Has the pandemic and less physical interaction with people caused you to think that everything...
Whether it is the half-anniversary of when the pandemic shutdowns began in full in Lake Wales, the 19th anniversary of September 11th, or listening to the rhetoric with being less than two months from "the most important election in our lifetime," or all of these and much more, life may seem scary and unprecedented these days to some. To the majority of others in the world (and even people in Lake Wales) daily life was extremely challenging before the pandemic, actually...
In 2016, I was compelled by something deep inside me to right a wrong. The wrong, I felt, was how I had been treating other people my entire life. At the time, Lake Wales News, print newspaper, was still in operation and I thought I would write a letter and submit the letter to the editorial department in hopes it would get published. I had never sent a letter to a newspaper before, but I had a heavy heart and I wanted to apologize. I was raised in the same town I live in even...
Polk County residents now have free access to Gale Presents: Udemy, an online learning platform that connects patrons to video-based courses taught by leading experts in business, technology, and more. Users can explore thousands of continuously updated, on-demand video courses. As the employment landscape continues to change, workers are being tasked to learn new technologies and skills to stay competitive. It is essential for libraries to offer services that help adults...
Acknowledging that all God's creatures are important, so the Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd will hold its annual "Blessing of the Animals" at 10 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 3rd in the open field across the street from the Sanctuary at 221 S. 4th St. in Lake Wales. The event, held by Episcopal churches all over, honors St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of animals. The hostesses for this event will be the Daughters of the King. After the Animal Blessing Service, light...
If you drove through Lake Wales neighborhoods this summer, you may have seen them at work - dozens of young people painting, roofing, cleaning – serving their community. Local youth have undergone a lot of changes this year, but it seems nothing can stop them from coming together with caring hearts and working hands for Lake Wales Care Center's annual Stay-At-Home Work Camp (SAHWC). With modest beginnings in 1985, SAHWC started with a handful of individuals completing yard w...
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...
Crystal Higbee gave up a good job as a surgical tech to answer a special calling to become president of Circle of Friends Ministry. Higbee admits like in the story of Jonah and the whale she resisted at first, challenging God to offer clear direction by having retiring ministry founder Mertice Kelly approach her directly about the job. Higbee started part-time in February and stepped out on faith in June to become the ministry's full-time leader. In just a few short months...
Polk Vision welcomed 18 members of Leadership Polk Class XIV on Thursday, Sept. 17 at the Lone Palm Club. As the only countywide leadership development program in Polk County, Leadership Polk is comprised of individuals who have demonstrated a high level of civic engagement in their local community. Started in 2007, the program brings together accomplished leaders from across the county with the goal of developing a diverse network of resourceful, informed and proactive...
The Lake Wales Public Library, with the assistance of lakewalesnews.net, has revived a tradition that existed in our local weekly newspaper for many years, the publication of a sampling of new books available at our library. The list will be updated weekly. The Lake Wales Public Library continues to offer safe door-side pickup of materials during our current hours of operation. Call the library to request that holds are placed on items for pickup at the Lake Wales Public...
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...
COVID-19 did not deter volunteers from the American Association of University Women from delivering nearly 100 framed prints of famous fine art paintings to area schools for public display. This year the selections range from Middle-Ages masters Durer and Brueghel to more modern artists such as Matisse and Dali. Advancing through their K-12 school years, with displays changing annually, students see a wide variety of styles and periods of art through this program. More pieces...
The Lake Wales Public Library, with the assistance of lakewalesnews.net, has revived a tradition that existed in our local weekly newspaper for many years, the publication of a sampling of new books available at our library. The list will be updated weekly. The Lake Wales Public Library continues to offer safe door-side pickup of materials during our current hours of operation. Call the library to request that holds are placed on items for pickup at the Lake Wales Public...
Lake Wales City Commissioner Al Goldstein has been tapped to chair the Florida League of Cities Land Use and Economic Development Committee. FLC President Tony Ortiz, an Orlando city commissioner, appointed Goldstein, who also is currently serving on the league's Federal Action Strike Team, which visits Washington, DC to discuss legislative issues at the national level. Ortiz said Goldstein will be responsible for working with other committee members to discuss the many...
The Polk County Democrats will be holding their annual fundraising gala from 6-9 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 12 as a unique, virtual event. The Celebrate Blue theme reflects ongoing efforts to elect Democrats in the upcoming Nov. 3 election. Keynote speaker will be Nikki Fried, commissioner of the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Special guest speaker will be U.S. Rep. Val Demings from Orlando. Others participating include U.S. Rep. Darren Soto, Florida...
The Lake Ashton Veterans Association is facilitating an initiative by Wreaths Across America to remember "the sacrifice and impact upon our great country" on September 11, 2001 from the terrorist events in New York City, the Pentagon and Pennsylvania. The organization is asking Lake Ashton residents to wave the U.S. flag outside of their homes at 8:46 a.m., 9:37 a.m. and 10:03 a.m. on Friday, Sept. 11 to honor those lost and those first responders who still suffer the after-ef...
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...
The pandemic forced some changes, but First Baptist Church of Lake Wales went forward with a modified Back 2 School Bash on Saturday, Aug. 22. Children's Ministry Director Candice McKeon said each year around this time the church is polishing the final details for the church's Back to School Bash. Normally there are bounce houses, water slides, shaved ice and of course, food. Each year an estimated 50 families attend to celebrate the start of a new school year. Unfortunately,...
The Lake Wales Public Library, with the assistance of lakewalesnews.net, has revived a tradition that existed in our local weekly newspaper for many years, the publication of a sampling of new books available at our library. The list will be updated weekly. The Lake Wales Public Library continues to offer safe door-side pickup of materials during our current hours of operation. Call the library to request that holds are placed on items for pickup at the Lake Wales Public...
The Lake Wales Public Library, with the assistance of lakewalesnews.net, has revived a tradition that existed in our local weekly newspaper for many years, the publication of a sampling of new books available at our library. The list will be updated weekly. The Lake Wales Public Library continues to offer safe door-side pickup of materials during our current hours of operation. Call the library to request that holds are placed on items for pickup at the Lake Wales Public...
