Times& WEST ORANGE
Observer WEST ORANGE COUNTY’S NEWSPAPER FOR 109 YEARS
THURSDAY
MAY 14, 2015
FREE
WINTER GARDEN, FLORIDA
ARTS
INSIDE
SPORTS
Young shutterbugs showcase work at new exhibition. PAGE 15A
Plant Street Market bustles at grand opening. PAGE 5A
Franco Martins serves as mentor for young runners. PAGE 1B
FAREWELL
FAITHFUL SERVANTS by Amy Quesinberry Rhode | Community Editor
OUR TOWN
by Amy Quesinberry Rhode Community Editor
Director retires from center
+ ONP needs old electronics Do you have old computers or appliances taking up space in your closets or garage? If so, Oakland Nature Preserve is accepting them this weekend at its $Green$ Up event. The event will take place from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, May 16, at the preserve, 747 Machete Trail, Oakland. Bring your recyclable aluminum, steel cans, copper wiring, electronics (except TVs or computer monitors), and appliances (except refrigerators or freezers) to be recycled. Proceeds made from recycling will be donated to the preserve. For more information, email information@oaklandnaturepreserve.org or call (407) 905-0054.
Director Patty Tate is leaving the First United Methodist Church preschool after 23 years.
Tammy Stayton Photography
Ryan and Stacie Rouse are in the process of adopting a third child, 12-year-old Islanda. Their family also includes Piper and Hayden, both 4.
+ Whispering Oak alum invited back
WO This week’s winner is
Andria Hoag.
See the photo on PAGE 7B.
development by Zak Kerr | Staff Writer
Primrose considers new DP location
Winter Garden’s Ryan Rouse and his wife, Stacie, run an orphanage in Haiti, taking care of 51 children and young adults.
R
yan Rouse had every intention of spending many years as a youth pastor. He was content with his position, serving seven years in Clermont and then another seven in Jacksonville. He had led many international youth mission trips and never imagined he would actually move to a third-world country and engage in full-time mission work. The former Winter Garden resident said now he is doing exactly what God wants him to do. In June 2013, he and his wife, Stacie, packed their belongings and their two young children, Hayden and Piper, and settled in the city of Cabaret, Haiti, three miles from the
+ We hear wedding bells!
I
SEE TATE / PAGE 6A
HEARTS FOR HAITI
Whispering Oak Elementary School is hosting a reception for seniors who attended the school. The reception will take place from 3 to 4 p.m. Friday, May 15, at the school, 15300 Stoneybrook West Parkway, Winter Garden. Students will have a chance to visit with teachers, enjoy refreshments and watch a video from the fifthgrade graduation. RSVP to (407) 6567773.
Jean Markle and Billy Adams, son of Estelle and Louie Adams, of Gotha, are pleased to announce their engagement. No date has been set for the wedding.
WINTER GARDEN — When Patty Tate graduated from an all-girls high school in 1968, she and her classmates sang the Prayer of St. Francis: “Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.” Her dream was to be able to serve God every day, and that opportunity came in 1992, when Tate was asked to
DR. PHILLIPS — Representatives of Primrose Schools held an informal meeting with Dr. Phillips residents May 6 at the Crown of Glory Lutheran Church, regarding a nearby site for which they are considering an application to build a school. Officials are interested in building a 12,000-square-foot, one-story Primrose School at 8236 Conroy Windermere Road in Dr. Phillips. A pond is on the west side of that lot, with a larger pond across the
Courtesy photo
SEE HAITI / PAGE 8A Children at the orphanage enjoy free time with Ryan Rouse.
SEE PRIMROSE / PAGE 8A
EDUCATION by Zak Kerr | Staff Writer
Commissioners finalize WOHS relief school plan WEST ORANGE — The Orange County Board of County Commissioners held a final public hearing on the West Orange High relief school May 5, approving a plan for the Beck Property in the West Windermere Rural Settlement with
four new conditions. Those conditions are: prohibition of bleachers at the school’s practice fields, band practices ending by 8 p.m., restrictions on portables and Courtesy
SEE SCHOOL / PAGE 6A Early renderings for the West Orange High relief school show a music center by the main entrance.
INDEX Arts & Culture.......................15A Classifieds..............................9B
Community Calendar..............2A Crossword...............................7B
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History..................................18A Obituaries.............................19A
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Sports.....................................1B Weather..................................7B
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