Times& WEST ORANGE
Observer WEST ORANGE COUNTY’S NEWSPAPER FOR 109 YEARS
THURSDAY
OCTOBER 9, 2014
FREE
WINTER GARDEN, FLORIDA
SPORTS
EXCLUSIVE
West Orange bests Apopka for first time in 15 years. PAGE 1B
Olympia High School, Foundation crown Homecoming royalty. PAGES 10-11A
INSIDE
This project is funded in part by Orange County Government through the Arts & Cultural Affairs Program.
WINTERGARDENMUSICFEST.COM
Get your official guide to the 2014 MusicFest.
SPECIAL SECTION
WINTERGARDENMUSICFEST.COM
by Zak Kerr | Staff Writer OUR TOWN trail of tiers
Winter Garden hosts summit on Central Florida Trail system
STRENGTH WITHIN
by Steven Ryzewski | Sports Editor
Taking inspiration from the trails that reinvigorated Winter Garden, politicians disclosed plans for a trail that would stretch from St. Petersburg to Titusville. + W.G. preps for spooky soiree The Winter Garden Parks and Recreation Department is making preparations for the 2014 Halloweenfest, which will take place from 6 to 8:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 31, on Plant Street, in downtown Winter Garden. The event will feature trick-or-treating throughout the downtown area, children’s activities, a hay ride, stage entertainment and more. It is free and open to the public. The department is still accepting applications for vendors or groups. For more information, visit wintergarden-fl.gov or call the department’s office, (407) 656-4155.
WINTER GARDEN — Officials and advocates from throughout Central Florida gathered Oct. 1, at Winter Garden City Hall to celebrate progress in the Coast to Coast Connector, trail from St. Petersburg to Titusville. “This will be the first regionally connected trail in the state of Florida,” said Dale Allen, president of the
Florida Greenways and Trail Foundation, which initially proposed the connector. “It could be the longest regionally connected trail in the nation.” In total, the Coast to Coast Connector will stretch 275 miles, after filling 66 miles of gaps to link 14 existing trails. One of the smallest gaps is between the West Orange Trail and the Clarco-
na-Ocoee Connector Trail, part of a larger “Orange Gap.” MetroPlan Orlando Smart Growth Planner Mighk Wilson said this Clarcona-Ocoee Connector Gap would require 1.6 miles of trail, extending from the Clarcona-Ocoee Connector Trail to the West Orange Trail along Clarcona-Ocoee Road or North Apopka Vineland Road.
SEE TRAIL / PAGE 6A
BOOKWORMS COZY UP WITH A GOOD BOOK by Amy Quesinberry Rhode | Community Editor
I
WO
SEE NYE / PAGE 8A
TRAFFIC STUDY by Tony Judnich
Ocoee leaders to consider new speed bumps
Above: Yazmine McCoy, left, Leon Carter and Kenyatta Battle all selected books to take home. Top: Orange County Commission Scott Boyd read to the students. Left: Brandi Nunn, 6, enjoyed reading with Armesia Tyler, 8.
This week’s winner is
Freshman Gabby Nye is two years removed from emergency open-heart surgery. ORLANDO — A freshman on the Olympia High School varsity volleyball team, Gabby Nye keeps a low profile of sorts. The team is full of seniors and veteran players, and the Gotha native is trying to soak up as much of the varsity experience as she can. Nye works hard, and, according to head coach Mitch Sadowksy, she takes coaching very well and is improv-
West Orange children showed up wearing their pajamas and carrying a blanket, ready for a few stories followed by milk and cookies. The West Orange Times Reading Reindeer and Just 1 Book sponsored the event Oct. 1, at the Maxey Community Center, in Winter Garden, and dozens of children attended. Orange County Commissioner Scott Boyd was the special guest reader. Sarah Dewitz, of Orlando, read several selections, as did other volunteers. Dewitz, a teenager, organized the non-profit Just 1 Book program and launched a bookmobile to collect and distribute books to low-income families in Central Florida. The Reading Reindeer, in its 17th year, is a literacy program that collects new books to be delivered to children at 15 organizations at Christmastime.
U.S. Army Pvt. Whitney T. Temple graduated from basic combat training at Fort Jackson, in Columbia, South Carolina. During the nine-week training, Temple 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. Temple is the daughter of Robert and stepdaughter of Sharon Bartemus, of Ocoee, and a 2011 graduate of Ocoee High School.
Steven Ryzewski
Gotha native Gabby Nye rehabbed for more than eight months after having emergency open-heart surgery.
Olympia team rallies around teammate
little
+ Ocoee grad completes training
Megan Moore.
See the photo on PAGE 7B.
The other segment of the Orange Gap to fill is a stretch of 2.3 miles, starting north on North Pine Hills Road off Clarcona-Ocoee Road, heading east on Beggs Road to North Orange Blossom Trail (U.S. Route 441) and then running northwest along Route 441 to connect with Pine Hills Trail at the
OCOEE — Speed bumps, aka speed tables made of asphalt, soon could help calm traffic in a couple of city neighborhoods. The Ocoee City Commission recently allocated $56,000 for such devices in fiscal 2015, which began Oct. 1. In the near future, two speed bumps could be placed on Cedar Bluff Lane,
SEE BUMPS / PAGE 8A
INDEX Calendar.................................2A Crossword...............................7B
History..................................16A Obituaries.............................17A
Real Estate.............................6B Schools................................14A
Sports.....................................1B Vol. 81, No. 40 | Three sections Weather..................................7B WOTimes.com