WINDERMERE
Observer Serving Southwest Orange County
Swing into Windermere’s Treebute celebration. 3
YOU. YOUR NEIGHBORS. YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD.
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VOLUME 2, NO. 14
YOUR TOWN FOOD TRUCKS ARE COMIN’ Horizon West welcomes Thedailycity.com’s Food Truck Tour from 5 to 8 p.m. this Thursday, Jan. 19, in three Horizon West neighborhoods. In Independence, 14213 Pleach St.: 900 Degreez Pizza, Cousins Maine Lobster, It’s All Greek to Me and Jamaica Jamaica. In Orchard Hills, 14441 Orchard Hills Blvd.: Chi Phi – A Taste of Two Cities, Jour de Crepe, Little Blue Donut Co. and Tamale Co. In Summerlake, 8016 Pond Apple Drive: SMAC, Over the Top Pita, Up In Smoke BBQ Orlando and Sweet City Gelato.
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THURSDAY, JANUARY 19, 2017
A high-flying thank-you for Windermere Elementary students Students received a video from an Air Force Major thanking them for the letters and goodies they sent last year.
WOHS CLASS OF ’77 TO REUNITE The Class of 1977 at West Orange High School is planning its 40-year reunion and wants to connect with all 295 graduates. Classmates can contact Class President Carla Smith Crow at momofbird@yahoo.com or go to the Facebook page: West Orange High School Class of 1977 Reunion. Details are still being planned, but the event will be Friday, June 2, in downtown Winter Garden and Saturday, June 3, at The Pines in Windermere.
CAMELLIA SALE
Members of the Windermere Garden Club are selling camellias from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 21, at Windermere’s Arbor Day festivities in and around Town Hall, 520 Main St. (386) 986-0704.
ARTS & CULTURE
Local couple teaches British etiquette. 6 PRSRT STD ECRWSS US POSTAGE PAID WINTER GARDEN, FL PERMIT NO. 81
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Postal Customer
Susan Olde’s stepson is a major in the U.S. Air Force and sent a video to the Windermere Elementary School students thanking them for the letters and goodies they sent to his unit last year.
BRITTANY GAINES STAFF WRITER
The assignment was simple: Write a thank-you letter to a soldier serving overseas. But the outcome was greater than anyone expected. It all began last spring as the 2015-16 school year was coming to a close at Windermere Elementary School, and the kindergarten teachers were trying to come up with one more weekly homework
assignment for their students. Having just video-chatted with her Air Force stepson, who was serving in an undisclosed location in the Middle East region, Susan Olde thought it might be nice for the students to write letters to men and women serving overseas, especially with Memorial Day right around the corner. Each student was tasked with writing a letter and bringing in a small snack bag to send Olde’s stepson’s unit.
Windermere to pursue park renovations With a goal of getting more people to use its parks, the town of Windermere has initiated plans to design more aesthetically pleasing parks via additional amenities and enhanced landscaping.
GABBY BAQUERO STAFF WRITER
Windermere town leaders and staff are pursuing plans to improve their parks with the assistance of grants and town funds over a three- to five-year time span. The decision came about after some discussions on how to increase use of their parks. The solution they came up with was to renovate several parks, sparking the town to focus its efforts on adding amenities and improving the walkways and landscaping. They’ve hired a professional company, Innovation Design Group Inc., to create
the landscaping and architectural renderings for each of the parks. “We have about six parks that we’re really focusing on, and the Tree Board and the Parks and Recreation committee were both looking at how to enhance them aesthetically and see how they can get them utilized more and just different ways to attract people to the parks,” said Windermere Town Manager Robert Smith. Once the town’s staff has agreed on the designs and enhancements for each park, they’ll go ahead and create a capital improvement plan SEE PARKS PAGE 4
It’s important to say thank you, said first-grader Ashton Kenner, who participated in the assignment last year. “My dad was a police officer,” Ashton said. “I say, ‘Thank you for your service,’ because my dad taught me that.” Olde said that she never expected the incredible support this assignment received. SEE INSPIRED PAGE 4
2017 TOWN OF WINDERMERE TIME CAPSULE Windermere Mayor Gary Bruhn has been supporting the idea for the town to create a time capsule to be buried in 2017. The idea has been approved by the Historic Preservation Board, and the town will be receiving suggestions for various articles to be included in the 2017 capsule via a poll in the Windermere Observer. The article suggestions for a time capsule must represent the mood and lifestyle of the town in that era. The last time capsule was buried April 30, 1975, and is scheduled to be opened in 2025.