Communication Builds Our Community
Communication Builds Our Community
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Famed University of Florida basketball player, Walter Clayton Jr. is scheduled to attend the ribbon-cutting ceremony at Albert Kirkland Gymnasium in Lake Wales on Friday, April 18 at 5:15 p.m. A small motorcade will begin at the corner of Kissimmee Avenue and 4th Street at 5 p.m. and travel to the gymnasium. Citizens are encouraged to line the streets and follow the motorcade. "It is exciting to see a hometown hero return to the gym he played in for years," Stephanie Lutton,...
A three-day event is expected to draw more than 700 people to Lake Wales on April 25-27th as the city hosts the USA Weightlifting Florida State Championship. The event is sponsored by USA Weightlifting, which promotes the sport nationwide. The event will be held at Lake Wales High School and will feature more than 500 athletes competing in an Olympic-style weightlifting competition. "This event will stimulate our local economy," said City Manager James Slaton. "Tourism...
Riding high on the emotional juice of their first district title in years, the Lake Wales High School Highlanders will host round one of the regional championship tournament Tuesday at Legion Field in Lake Wales. The local squad took the district title with a convincing 6-1 victory over Middleton Thursday evening before hundreds of joyous fans. Middleton had previously knocked off the district's top-seeded team, Lake Region, by a 4-2 score. The Highlanders will next face the S...
The Lake Wales High School Highlanders' soccer squad will host the Class 4-A District 2 Championship game against Middleton Thursday night at Legion Field in Lake Wales, hoping for their first district title since 2017. "It's gonna' be a big game," said Highlanders Varsity Assistant Head Coach Mehki Williams. The Orange and Black earned a first-round bye and second seed in the tournament by virtue of their 9-8-1 record. Middleton, 6-8-1 on the season, climbed up the board by...
The City of Lake Wales is inviting you to learn to explore the underwater world with SCUBA. The entire certification course will be compressed into a single week and include instructions from certified instructors. SCUBA stands for "self-contained underwater breathing apparatus," an invention that has enabled humans to explore what had, throughout history, hidden and unavailable. Now Lake Wales Parks and Recreation is offering area residents a chance to engage in the sport....
Dozens of members of the AdventHealth Heart of Florida and Lake Wales hospitals came together Friday, September 6, to celebrate the start of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers season. Team members donned red Bucs shirts and struck their best Buccaneer poses to cheer the team on as they get ready to open their season on Sunday, September 8, against the Washington Commanders at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa. As the exclusive hospital of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, AdventHealth aims to...
Keeping fit and active is important for thousands of Lake Wales residents, so the City of Lake Wales is now making an extra effort to see that the sports facilities they use are in top shape. J.C. White is now in charge of making the town's many sports fields look their very best. White is Lake Wales' new Athletic Turf Superintendent, which places him in charge of bringing the athletic fields 'up to snuff,' where they deserve to be. With 16 baseball and softball fields and sev...
The Lake Wales Area Chamber of Commerce is inviting golf enthusiasts and local business owners to get involved in their annual outing. The Chamber will host its 2024 Golf Scramble, on Friday, April 26 and feature raffles and a variety of prizes for the "top winners", according to Lori Beyer, Services & Events Coordinator at the Chamber. The tournament take place at the Lake Wales Country Club and offers area golfers an afternoon day of fellowship and some zany fun. The outing...
The 11th annual "18 Aces to Conquer Cancer" golf outing to raise funds for pancreatic cancer research and patient aid will take place on January 8 at the Country Club of Winter Haven, giving area golfers a chance to compete for huge prizes and do a good deed at the same time. The event is sponsored annually by the Mahalak Auto Group. Proceeds will benefit the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute for Pancreatic Cancer Research. The event offers a chance to win a Jeep lease...
Polk State Soccer Head Coach Dee Shivraman and Assistant Coach and Recruiting Director Tawanda Kaseke are taking a community approach as they begin their first year with the Eagles. For the 2023-24 Academic Year, the coaches will host seven different events, some for youngsters and others for adults. The events will be held in collaboration between Polk State's coaches and Winter Haven United Academy, a soccer club with a youth academy and professional development programs....
A new school year means many things: getting used to new schedules, making new friends, and for fans of the defending state championship Lake Wales Highlanders, a new season of football. For players the 2023 football season provides an exciting new opportunity and a fresh start. Players Grady Turner, a defensive lineman and linebacker, wide receiver Carldayle "CJ" Brantley, along with athletic trainer head manager Abagail Ruble spoke with Lake Wales News.net on what they...
The women of the Lake Wales High School softball team were all smiles in Clermont Thursday afternoon after winning the state softball class with 7-2 a victory over Wakulla. The Crawfordville school came into the playoffs with a better overall record, but the Highlanders had played a tougher schedule, and it showed. The Highlanders earned their way to the title game by defeating Lemon Bay by a 5-0 score on Wednesday. The day started well for the Highlanders as shortstop Zamya...
The Lake Wales High School Softball team is angling to bring back a second state championship in a single scholastic year after defeating Lemon Bay (Englewood) 5-0 in a semifinal game played in Clermont. The game was scheduled to start at 11:00 am, but was moved an hour earlier to avoid anticipated heavy rains in the afternoon. The Highlanders will face the winner of the other semifinal game between Key West and Wakulla. The Highlanders are the top seed in the tournament. The...
We know anglers care about big bass, which means they also care about how they handle big bass. Especially in recent years, concerns have been voiced about how anglers handle bass during catch-and-release fishing. This has prompted Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) and University of Florida biologists to develop a research project to examine this important issue. The results showed that none of the three tested handling methods caused any permanent...
A $3000 grant has been awarded to a local athletic league that will allow them to continue to provide participation and support for local athletes wishing to participate in their programs. Nearly every parent knows how costly it can be to have children involved in sports. Between the registration, equipment, cost of transportation, meals, and even the time commitment, the price can become prohibitive. No Limits Volleyball in Polk County helps to bring affordable, Christian-bas...
Increased numbers of boats and anglers are expected on Lake Reedy in Frostproof this Saturday, March 25, as the Frostproof Church of God hosts their 12th Annual Bass Tournament. The tournament will benefit the church's youth department. The tournament will run from first safe light until 2:00 pm. Each boat will be allowed a five-fish limit to submit for the weigh-in upon the conclusion of the tournament. No live bait is allowed in this tournament, which requires artificial...
Lake Wales weightlifters won the Olympics-style county title while placing second to Lakeland in the traditional competition. In the Olympic competition, Lake Wales won with 53 points, while Lakeland was second with 48. Ridge Community (30 points), Lake Gibson (27) and Haines City (28) trailed. Individual lifters who played major roles in the team victory for the Highlanders included Sean Major (219) Trent Grotjan (199), Noah Wise (unlimited), Harrison Thrift (129), and...
A team of skydivers from a dozen nations cooperated to build canopy stacks of a 54 and 65 persons at Lake Wales Airport this week while descending from well above 10,000 feet. The 65-person stack was the largest achieved since the current world record of 100 canopies was set in 2007, also at Lake Wales Airport. The huge canopy stack, measuring almost 300 feet tall, was detected by radar from 200 miles away. This week the "Freeze Your Buns Off Boogie" is offering acrobatic...
The Lake Wales Highlanders won their semi-final football game Friday night and will face the Mainland Buccaneers of Daytona Beach in the state Class 3S Championship game, which will be held in a neutral stadium on December 16. Game time, tentatively set for 11:00 am, has yet to be confirmed by the Florida High School Athletic Association. The Lake Wales Highlanders moved to 14-0 after defeating the Columbia High School Tigers by a score of 37-7 under the lights of Legion...
The Lake Wales Highlanders have completed a perfect 15-0 season with a 32-30 win over Daytona Mainland to win their first state championship. After falling behind early by a 10-0 score, the Highlanders battled back to open a 32-23 lead late, before the Daytona Buccaneers scored to pull within two. The Highlanders defense played a major role in the game with three interceptions, including two by Phillip Davis that ended a Buccaneer drives on the Highlanders' one and two yard...
Lake Wales High School's athletics programs continue to find success, as the men's soccer program advanced to the Polk County Champion's League semi-final game with a 3-1 victory over All Saints Friday. The semi-final game will take place Tuesday night at 8:00 in Lakeland. The win over All Saints came on the strength of goals by Luke Weaver, Carson Pike and, and Martin Aguilar. The Highlanders are now 3-2-1 on the season, their wins coming as LW 6-0 Haines City, and LW 2-0...
UPDATE: GAME TIME CHANGED TO 7:00 BY FSHAA See new story in NEWS section The Lake Wales Highlanders captured the Regional Championship and advanced to the final four in the state Class 3S football playoffs Friday night with an exciting 26-9 victory over the Zephyrhills Bulldogs. The undefeated Highlanders will host the semi-final game next Friday against Columbia, winners over Choctawhatchee Friday night. Carlos Mitchell provided much of the excitement for Highlander fans...
Anglers: Compete in new trophy bass fishing competition, Battle of the Lakes! The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) invites you to participate in the Battle of the Lakes trophy bass fishing competition to determine which lake is crowned the best trophy bass fishery in Florida. The FWC's Florida Trophy Bass Project is pitting two popular fishing destinations against each other: Orange Lake versus Fellsmere Water Management Area (also known as Headwaters)...
UPDATE: Highlanders Advance. See the story here A Friday night Regional Championship game will be the first hosted at Lake Wales' Legion Field in memory, according to long-time area football fans, and the undefeated and top-seeded Highlanders are hoping for a big turnout of support as they take on the number three seed Zephyrhills Bulldogs. When the two squads met earlier this season the Lake Wales Highlanders won the day with a 33-0 score, but such games have a way of...
The Lake Wales Highlanders took another step forward toward their long-denied state football title Friday night as they defeated the Ocala Vanguard Knights 40-0. The Knights had ended the Highlanders' last two title runs, making the victory particularly sweet. The win advances the top-seeded and undefeated Highlanders to the Regional Championship Game, which will take place Friday evening at Legion Field when they host the number three seed Zephyrhills Bulldogs. Game time is s...
