W E ST O RA N G E T I M E S &
H O L I D AY 2 0 1 6
Observer
SEASON THE OBSERVER’S GUIDE TO GOOD TIDINGS
Celebrating 110 years in West Orange
YOU. YOUR NEIGHBORS. YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD.
VOLUME 83, NO. 46
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IN THIS ISSUE
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2016
Lions go platinum For 70 years, the Winter Garden Lions Club has stayed true to its mission of helping in three areas: eyesight, hearing and diabetes. The club will host a celebration Nov. 22. SEE PAGE 12.
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YOUR TOWN FELT-DOTSON ENGAGEMENT
Are you looking for ways to help others this Thanksgiving? Here are just a few West Orange-area organizations that could use a helping hand. SEE PAGE 4.
Steve and Rachel Felt, of Minneola, announce the engagement of their daughter, Rebecca Christine, to Cameron Mitchell Dotson, son of Gregory and Sheri Dotson, of Winter Garden. Rebecca, a graduate of Florida Southern College, is a fifth-grade math and science teacher at Prairie Lake Elementary in Ocoee. Cameron graduated from Anderson University. He works for Universal Studios Orlando. The wedding is planned for March 18, 2017.
ARTS & CULTURE
No. 1 in the nation Winter Garden Farmers Market ranked best in the state and the nation. BRITTANY GAINES STAFF WRITER
Orlando Ballet brings ‘Beauty and the Beast’ to Garden Theatre.
PAGE 9
GOLDEN ANNIVERSARY
WINTER GARDEN The Winter Garden Farmers Market has been declared not only the best in the state — but also the nation. Over the summer, the American Farmland Trust celebrated farmers markets by allowing shoppers from across the country to submit their local market for evaluation. Nearly 7,000 farmer’s markets entered the competition, but the voters ranked Winter Garden’s market as No. 1.
A Nov. 12 celebration marked the achievement. “It was easy to get the vote,” said Dana Brown, of RTP Productions Management, who oversees the market each week. “Almost 75% of the people we asked to vote for us said that they would get their husband, wife, brother, sister, parents to vote. The people who come here wanted to give not just one vote, but 10 or 20.” The competition included several different categories: people’s choice, focus on farmers, healthy food for all, pillar of the community and champion for the environment. The Winter Garden market made a clean sweep of all five categories. SEE MARKET PAGE 4
Brittany Gaines
Aya Hirayama shopped with her friends for anklets.
Rick and Carol Johnson, of the Lake Avalon Rural Settlement, started celebrating their 50th anniversary earlier this summer with a five-week, around-the-country RV trip with their three teenage grandchildren. Their first stop was San Antonio, Texas, where they were married in 1966, and then on to the Grand Canyon, Los Angeles, Monterey, Yosemite, San Francisco, Crater Lake, Yellowstone, Mount Rushmore and more. They continued celebrating Nov. 12, at a family dinner party hosted by their daughters and sons-inlaw, Kimberly and Gregg Walker and Denise and Matt Forschner. Their gift to each other was a new RV.