W E ST O RA N G E T I M E S &
Observer Celebrating 110 years in West Orange
YOU. YOUR NEIGHBORS. YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD.
VOLUME 83, NO. 50
FREE
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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2016
Run fosters Christmas spirit The first Reindeer Run 5K took over Winter Garden Village Saturday, Dec. 10. See page 19.
YOUR TOWN Oakland PD seeks donations
Living history One Winter Garden family traveled to Hawaii to honor the 75th anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor. See page 4.
The Oakland Police Department is conducting its Annual Christmas Toy Drive, and collection boxes are set up in the lobbies of the police station and Oakland Town Hall. New, unwrapped toys will be collected until Dec. 20. Gift cards to toy stores or department stores are welcome, too. For the last four years, the department has been able to purchase hundreds more toys for distribution because of financial donations. Anyone wishing to make such a donation prior to Dec. 15 can make the check out to the Town of Oakland with “Toy Drive” in the memo line. Donations can be dropped off in the lobby of the police station or can be mailed to the Oakland Police Department, P.O. Box 521, Oakland, FL 34760.
Courtesy photo
ARTS & CULTURE
Winter Garden residents Roberto and Daniella Vargas participated in serveral Pearl Harbor events in Hawaii with the Orlando Devil Dogs.
Knox Nursery delivers area’s first medical marijuana Knox Nursery in Winter Garden has become the first medical marijuana dispensary in Central Florida. GABBY BAQUERO STAFF WRITER
Winter Garden dad completes first children’s book.
PAGE 13
Knox Nursery, founded in 1962, turned over a new leaf in May after it obtained a license to grow and sell low-THC marijuana for medical use. The first home deliveries that reached patients on Friday, Dec. 9, were grown and cultivated in
WINTER GARDEN
another temporary facility, but starting in mid-January, the nursery will be using 30,000 square feet of greenhouse space located at 940 Avalon Road for its new crops. The trio leading the nursery’s new venture into the highly regulated business of medical canSEE KNOX PAGE 4
Gabby Baquero
Alex Karol, left, Bruce Knox and Jose Hidalgo are the trio behind Knox Nursery’s evolving role in Florida’s growing medical cannabis industry.