Anytime Fitness in Winter Haven Celebrates Five Years with a Hurricane Party

By Allison Williams

The Anytime Fitness in Winter Haven has a lot to celebrate as their five-year anniversary approaches. On Monday, July 30, they will be celebrating five years in business at the Winter Haven location.

Brian Dyke, Regional Team Leader has been a part of the Winter Haven team since the fitness center opened five years ago.

“We’ve been able to help so many people,” Dyke said. He has watched the fitness center grow as whole over the years. He added, “Ninety percent of small businesses close in the first 5 years.” He is proud of this milestone to make it to the five year mark since not many businesses do.

The official five-year mark is July 30. On this day the fitness center will be hosting a hurricane party. The party will be similar to the frequent open houses they host each month. There will be plenty of fun activities going on throughout the day.

“We will have refreshments, a workout challenge, prizes and all kinds of stuff,” Dyke said. “We will have some other miscellaneous fun activities going on and a sale for people to join and take advantage of.”

Click the event Facebook page below for more information:

https://www.facebook.com/events/1927295307293054/

Those who have been considering joining a local gym can stop by Anytime Fitness at 710 Cypress Gardens Boulevard for more information. The hurricane party will be during staffed hours from 10:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.

“It would be great time to get a jump-start on your health and fitness before the holidays,” Dyke said.

To keep the “five” theme going, staff is offering a special for new members. Join for only $5. Members who refer friends will receive a free month.

Not able to attend the hurricane party? You will have until the end of the week to join Anytime Fitness for the $5 special.

“It’s definitely important for us to continue to help the community with health and fitness goals,” Dyke said. “It is exciting to believe that we’ve been in business for 5 years already. It’s gone by so fast.”

Local Winter Haven High School Student Helps Children in Need with School Supplies

By Allison Williams

Photos provided by Tyler Spence

Tyler Spence, a 16-year-old junior at Winter Haven High School is spending his summer helping those in need.

He started a “Back to School” fundraiser to collect supplies for families in need for the upcoming school year.

His fundraiser started small, with close family members and friends donating school supplies toward the cause. Currently, he has 48 backpacks that are filling up with school supplies to be donated.

His fundraiser is growing. With more donations and supplies coming in, Tyler will be able to double the original amount to 96 backpacks.

He has collected an assortment of school supplies thus far, including pencils, cap erasers, paper, notebooks, folders, scissors, colored pencils and pencil pouches. He is in need of additional supplies, especially notebook paper (wide and college ruled), folders with prongs, pencil pouches and three ring binders.

To donate supplies directly to Tyler’s cause, please contact his mother Sonya Spence at [email protected]

For those who are not able to donate, please consider sharing Tyler’s Facebook page that has updates on how the fundraiser is going:

https://www.facebook.com/tySpence863

This fundraiser is very meaningful to Tyler.

“I want to give the kids what they need for the class,” Tyler said. “I want to help kids and parents who cant afford school supplies. I want them to have everything they need when they start the school year and I want to help as many kids as possible.”

Tyler’s family has been a huge part in the success of collecting and sorting supplies so far. His cousin Selena Benitez, a local middle school student has helped and donated. Tyler’s 4-year-old cousin Kloe has also helped prepare the backpacks and fill them with school supplies.

His aunt Angela Wiggins has donated and helped with the fundraiser/event as well. He also thanks all of those who have donated money and supplies toward the cause.

“By donating you are helping local children and families who simply cannot afford school supplies for the forthcoming school year,” Tyler said.

Tyler has set a date of Saturday, August 4 from 3:15 p.m. – 6:15 p.m. to give away the backpacks to students in need. Details for pickup location of backpacks is still being decided.

Mike’s Auto Repair donated $200 and Sean Davis, the manager of Papa Johns, is providing pizza for the event.

“I honestly can’t wait to hand out the backpacks and school supplies at my event, and all of the time spent will be worth it when we see all of the smiles on the kids’ faces,” Tyler said. “Everybody wants these kids to succeed in school and life in general, but in order for the kids to succeed in school they will need the tools. My goal is to give other kids all of the tools they need to succeed in the upcoming school year.”

For those who are in need of a backpack and school supplies for the upcoming school year, please contact Sonya with the names of the students in need. This will allow Tyler and his family the opportunity to write names on backpacks and better prepare for the donation day. They will be giving away backpacks to pre-school aged children up to 12^th grade students.

Third Annual Stand Up Paddle Boarding Invitational

By Allison Williams

Paddleboard teams from all around Central Florida gathered at Martin Luther King Park on Lake Silver in Winter Haven Saturday for a qualifying invitational. This was the third annual Polk County Stand Up Invitational and was hosted by the Polk County Lake Riders.

Opening ceremonies kicked off at 9:00 a.m. prior to the races. Competitors, friends and family gathered around for the opening ceremonies to prepare for the day’s events.

With Olympic-themed music playing in the background, participants walked around the stage area handing off the torch to their fellow competitors.

After the torch was passed around, the audience recited the Special Olympics motto:

“Let me win, but if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt.”

Let the games begin!

After the opening ceremonies, racers made their way down to Lake Silver to the staging area to prepare for the races.

Water bins were scattered around the area so that all participants and visitors could stay hydrated on this hot summer Saturday.

Volunteers helped run the flow of events. They received timers to time the races and helped with set up and break down of the event as well.

The Polk County Lake Riders team had exciting success at this year’s event. Kami Rickert, owner of Paddleboard Winter Haven and Polk County Lake Riders coach, was thrilled with the turnout of the event and with her team’s performance.

Individual ribbon awards:

• Victoria Fink: second place
• Matthew McDonald: first place
• Lizzy Collazo: first place
• Greg Ortt: first place

The Relay Team of Victoria, Ashlyn and Matthew won first place as well.

Six counties represented this year’s races: Citrus County, Hernando County, Hillsborough County, Pasco County, Pinellas County and Polk County. There were 13 races with 45-50 competitors.

“It was really exciting for all of our coaches who have been with some of these athletes for more than one season to watch their progress,” Rickert said. “To have our athletes and the success they had on Saturday was just overwhelmingly positive because they have worked so hard. You could see on their faces the excitement of doing well and reaching goals. It really could not have been a more perfect day for our team and for the event as a whole.”

 photo provided by Special Olympics Florida – Polk County Stand Up Paddleboarding

Following the standup paddleboard races, lunch was provided to athletes, volunteers and coaches. They were served sandwiches from Publix and salads were offered as an alternative meal. Tanners Lakeside Restaurant and Bar was also at the event serving refreshments and hotdogs.

“Thank you to Tanners Lakeside Restaurant for supporting our event and providing refreshments,” Rickert said. She added, “They really do a lot of local charity stuff.”

To learn more about the Polk County Lake Riders, visit their website:

https://www.paddleboardwinterhaven.com

Phone:

863-845-5307

For those who have an athlete interested in Special Olympics paddle boarding, the season starts in May. Contact Paddleboard Winter Haven for more details and be sure to keep an eye out for information on next year’s SUP event.