Times& WEST ORANGE
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THURSDAY
JANUARY 22, 2015
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WINTER GARDEN, FLORIDA
OUR TOWN + W.G. to host competition Fourteen young women from throughout Florida will compete in the Distinguished Young Women “Count Our Stars” competition at 7 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 24, at the Garden Theatre, 160 W. Plant St., Winter Garden. Participants in this year’s competition have stayed with West Orange host families while they visited several local organizations, including the Winter Garden Chick-fil-A, Golden Pond Communities, the Winter Garden Heritage Museum and the Winter Garden Art Association.
INSIDE
IN THIS ISSUE
SPORTS
See inside for our new Arts & Culture section. PAGE 11A
West Orange honors the life, work of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. PAGES 8-9A
West Orange bests Apopka for district crown. PAGE 1B
big voice, big stage by Steven Ryzewski | Sports Editor
DP dean John Magrino calls college national title game The longtime West Orange educator was the voice in AT&T Stadium as the Ohio State Buckeyes battled the Oregon Ducks. DR. PHILLIPS — If you listened closely during the College Football Playoff’s National Championship Game on Jan. 12, you might have heard a familiar voice and not even known it.
The public address announcer at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, for the game between the Ohio State Buckeyes and Oregon Ducks was none other than John Magrino — an administrative dean at
Dr. Phillips High School. In addition to his duties as an employee of Orange County Public Schools, Magrino has been working on the side as a professional public address announcer at sporting events
since he took his first paid gig with the Orlando Cubs, a minor league team that used to play at Tinker Field, in the mid1990s.
SEE MAGRINO / PAGE 6A
now open
TEAM GRACIE by Michael Eng | Executive Editor
by Amy Quesinberry Rhode Community Editor
+ AARP opens new location
Builder opens new community
AARP Foundation TaxAide will be providing its tax services at a new West Orange location this year. In addition to the services it provides at the West Oaks Library, 1821 E. Silver Star Road, Ocoee, AARP also will have a staff available at the Jessie Brock Community Center, 310 N. Dillard St., Winter Garden. Services will be available from 8:30 a.m. to noon Wednesdays, Feb. 1 to April 15, at Jessie Brock, and from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Fridays at the West Oaks Library. For more information, visit aarp.org.
+ Miller finishes basic training U.S. Army Pvt. Nicholas B. Miller has graduated from basic combat training at Fort Jackson, Columbia, South Carolina. During the nine weeks of training, the soldier studied the Army mission, history, tradition and core values, physical fitness, and received instruction and practice in basic combat skills, military weapons, chemical warfare and bayonet training, drill and ceremony, marching, rifle marksmanship, armed and unarmed combat, map reading, field tactics, military courtesy, military justice system, basic first aid, foot marches, and field-training exercises. Miller is the son of Michelle Miller, of Winter Garden, and husband of Briana Miller.
Taylor Morrison has started development of a new community in Horizon West.
Photos by Michael Eng
The Stalvey family — parents Tiffany and Ben and children Braxton and Gracie — will be regulars at the new Central Florida Dreamplex in Clermont. Gracie has Rett syndrome, a rare postnatal neurological disorder.
DREAM ON
Following the recent opening of the Central Florida Dreamplex, a physical therapy center unlike any other for children and adults with disabilities, one Winter Garden couple is excited about the possibilities it holds for their daughter, Gracie. CLERMONT — Like any father, Ben Stalvey has big dreams for his baby girl, Gracie, a 4-year-old with one of the brightest smiles you’ll ever see. The dreams have nothing to do with a future career, fame or fortune. They’re purer than that. Ben is dreaming for progress in the skills with which his daughter uses her Tobii, an eye-tracking machine that gives Gracie, who has Rett syndrome, a way to communicate. “My goal for her is that she can navigate those pages to say, ‘Daddy, I love you,’” Ben says. It doesn’t stop there. On Gracie’s 16th birthday, Ben already plans to borrow a buddy’s truck to take her out for a spin. “Oh, she’s gonna drive,” Ben says, with a grin. “I just won’t tell my buddy what we’re doing.” And then, sometime after
I
WO This week’s winner is
There are just three homes there now, but many more are expected to rise from the ground this year as homebuilder and developer Taylor Morrison opens the newest neighborhood in West Orange County’s Horizon West area. The Cove at Hamlin is situated along Hamlin Groves Trail just east of the State Road 429 intersection with New Independence Parkway in south Winter Garden. It is 15 min-
SEE HAMLIN / PAGE 6A
DEVELOPMENT by Zak Kerr | Staff Writer
Windermere takes steps on Rosser The plans include adding 13 units on 10 acres on Conroy Windermere Road.
CENTRAL FLORIDA DREAMPLEX The Central Florida Dreamplex, which held its grand opening Jan. 10, is a center for fitness and recreation designed for families with special needs. The facility blends alternative therapy, adaptive sports and recreation activities, and group fitness
classes for the entire family into one location. It is the brainchild of Amy Gomes, a pediatric physical therapist, and is under the umbrella of the Central Florida Pediatric Therapy Foundation.
SEE DREAMPLEX / 6A
SEE GRACIE / PAGE 6A
Barbara Stanczak. See the photo on PAGE 5B.
Courtesy photo
John Magrino had a great view of the field the pressbox at AT&T Stadium.
WINDERMERE — The Windermere Town Council unanimously approved the first hearing on rezoning of 10 acres at 9501 Conroy Windermere Road as the first step in the potential development of Rosser Reserve on Tuesday, Jan. 13. The developers agreement and preliminary development plan also passed as part of a package vote. The plan currently calls for 13 units, and the 10 acres were rezoned from agriculture to planned unit development.
SEE WINDERMERE / 6A
INDEX Arts & Culture.......................11A Classifieds..............................7B
Community Calendar..............2A Crossword...............................5B
History..................................15A Obituaries.............................15A
Sports.....................................1B Weather..................................5B
Vol. 82, No. 4 , Two sections
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