HAPPY PARKS & REC. MONTH!
Since 1985, America has celebrated July as Park and Recreation Month. A program of the National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA), the goal is to raise awareness of the essential services that park and recreation professionals provide to communities across the U.S.
Park and recreation agencies across the country are recognizing the month with summer programs, events, contests, commemorations and celebrations. Join The City of Winter Haven as we celebrate Parks & Rec Month!
Bridge Replacement Project to Close
Walk-In-Water Road
in Lake Wales for Three Months
Starting Monday
A $1.63 million Polk County project to replace the Walk-In-Water Road Bridge over Tiger Creek in rural Lake Wales will close Walk-In-Water Road for three months starting Monday. The bridge, built in 1960, is structurally deficient and is being replaced with a new bridge to meet current standards. During construction, traffic will be detoured around the bridge crossing along State Road 60 (Hesperides Road) and County Road 630E. Depending on traveling destination, the detour could be lengthy for some commuters. Existing site conditions prohibit an alternate crossing. Closing Walk-In-Water Road will accelerate construction schedule and save money. Local residents will still have access to their homesites, but will have to use detour to get to the other side of the bridge.
Polk
County regrets the inconvenience created by the closure. Closing Walk-In-Water
Road is the fastest and most cost-effective way to build the new bridge, while
ensuring the safety of workers and motorists alike. Polk County has provided
the bridge contractor with incentives for early completion and penalties for
delays beyond 145 days. Contact Bill Skelton with the Polk County Roads &
Drainage Division at 863-535-2200 for further details.
We know ya’ll love these posts. And here’s an extremely easy identifiable tattooed dude. Yes it’s Walmart, 7450 Cypress Gardens Blvd. (July 3 around 9 p.m.) – yes it’s the self-checkouts. Now that’s out of the way. So, he selects a tire – larger than a bicycle tire, smaller than a truck tire – and places it in his buggy. He then gets some cat treats and heads to the registers. He picks up a Mountain Dew and proceeds to scan the cat treats and the drink, but not the tire. He refuses to show a receipt when asked and leaves. Okee dokee – lets get him identified. The Casey and flames tattoos should be easy. Give Det. Lozado a call if you know who he is. 863-595-1721
Pretty Bold Taking Tools From A Truck Bed in Broad Daylight
We know the video is far away, but maybe someone will know of a male who recently aquired quite a bit of Dewalt tools in a Husky Tool Box (and also drives a black Chrysler 200)
Our victim went to Walmart (7450 Cypress Gardens Blvd) on June 29 around 3:30 p.m. He was inside for about 20 minutes. While inside, the guy seen in the video drives past the truck a couple of times. Then is seen walking past it a few more times. This over the course of about 10 minutes.
He then retrieves a shopping cart and with people walking by, he hops in the bed and takes more than $3,000 worth of tools that were in a 26″ tool kit carrier. The kit was bungied to the bed.
If anyone has any information on this case, please contact Sgt. Hall at 863-291-5736.
Stealing a phone at the community pool? Really? On July 1, 2021, our victim was enjoying some time at the Rowdy Gaines Pool (210 Cypress Gardens Blvd) and had her backpack on a lounge chair. The guy pictured sits on the chair next to the victim’s chair an fiddles around a bit. He actually looks up and sees the camera. Doesn’t stop him… he reaches in and takes her yellow Apple IPhone Eleven. If anyone recognizes him, please contact Sgt. Hall at 863-291-5736.
Attend to information sources as described in the instructions
Issued By
Tampa Bay/Ruskin – FL, US, National Weather Service
Affected Area
Polk County
Description
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED TORNADO WATCH 337 IN EFFECT UNTIL 11 PM EDT THIS EVENING FOR THE FOLLOWING AREAS
IN FLORIDA THIS WATCH INCLUDES 10 COUNTIES
IN CENTRAL FLORIDA
HARDEE POLK
IN SOUTH CENTRAL FLORIDA
DESOTO HIGHLANDS
IN SOUTHWEST FLORIDA
CHARLOTTE LEE
IN WEST CENTRAL FLORIDA
HILLSBOROUGH MANATEE PINELLAS SARASOTA
THIS INCLUDES THE CITIES OF ARCADIA, AVON PARK, BAYSHORE GARDENS, BONITA SPRINGS, BOWLING GREEN, BRADENTON, BRANDON, CAPE CORAL, CLEARWATER, ENGLEWOOD, FORT MYERS, LAKELAND, LARGO, LEHIGH ACRES, NORTH FORT MYERS, NORTH PORT, PALMETTO, PLACID LAKES, PORT CHARLOTTE, PUNTA GORDA, SARASOTA, SEBRING, SOUTH VENICE, ST. PETERSBURG, TAMPA, VENICE, WAUCHULA, WINTER HAVEN, AND ZOLFO SPRINGS.
Not even rain could keep people from celebrating the return of Ribs on the Ridge last Saturday in Haines City. After last year’s event was canceled due to COVID-19, people were willing to ignore a little h20 so that they could enjoy some good old-fashioned barbecue.
Tim Malloy, the leader of the Backyard Bros team, wasn’t the least bit bothered by the occasional drizzle turned downpour. If anything, the rain deterred the otherwise smoldering summer heat.
“We actually like the rain,” Malloy said. “It kept it cool out here. If it were [sun on] the asphalt over there, it would have been 200 degrees.”
Of course, Tim and his team absolutely loved walking awayfrom this year’s event with the trophy and title of grand champion in the professional barbecue division. The Backyard Bros also received awards for pork, ribs, and brisket.
This is the 10th grand champion title they received in the past five years. This year was also the second time they won Ribs on the Ridge, the annual barbecue competition in Haines City.
Malloy recalled six years ago when they first competed in the backyard division. Now they had the privilege of walking away with the top prize in the professional division.
“I made it a point of this being our favorite contest,” he said. “We just love the competition. We have a great time. These are our families out here.”
Backyard Bros won the title of Grand Champion, and the title of Grand Reserve went to Double Barrel Smokers from Lakeland. As for their secret, they owe their success to the tips they received from their mentor, Jim Elser of Sweet Smoke BBQ.
This was their fourth year competing in the contest. Even with the rain that afternoon, they loved being able to participate regardless. Of course, winning cash is always a plus, said team leader Jerry Addison.
“Any time we barbecue is a great time,” he said. “Haines City always does a great job. It is well-organized. Everyone is well-taken care of. The teams come around and take care of us. We are in need of nothing out there.”
This Saturday saw the return of Thunder on the Ridge to Haines City. Last year’s event was canceled due to COVID-19. This year’s event made an epic comeback by being hosted the same weekend as the city’s Fourth of July Celebration, Thunder on the Ridge.
Several dozen vendors set up on the lawn of Lake Eva Park. Barbecue teams from across the county and even the state arrived to compete in the backyard or professional division, in categories including chicken, brisket, pork, and ribs.
Obviously, the event experienced some hiccups due to the inclement weather. But not even the rain could stop attendees from enjoying the return of a city favorite.
“The event has been awesome,” said Lindsasia Johansmeyer, Special Events Supervisor. “We are thankful for all of the vendors for coming out…[and] our teams, they stuck it out through the day, continued to compete, turn in all of our stuff, and then all the vendors stuck around.”
Do you know of someone who all of a sudden is missing a shoe? We found it after he took more than $2,300 worth of merchandise from West Marine.
On July 2, 2021 around 4:45 pm, the guy pictured below was in West Marine (1107 3rd St SW) and started putting merchandise in a carry basket. After wandering around selecting a host of items, he then takes a large cooler off the shelf and proceeds to fill that up as well.
When he found his opportunity, he wheeled the cooler our with his hands full of merchandise. The clerk ran out side to see him tossing the items in the back of a beige/gold 1990-2000 Toyota Camry with tinted windows. He jumps in the passenger seat and lost a shoe in the process.
Anyone who recognizes him is asked to contact Detective Taylor at 863-292-7924.
Culpepper’s Cardiac Foundation Delivers Lunch to Bartow Fire Fighters
by James Coulter
Mike Hancock and Melanie Brown Culpepper had been childhood friends since kindergarten. They knew each other’s family and church family.
The two of them hadn’t seen each other since high school, but they had a welcome reunion on Friday when Melanie delivered lunch to Hancock’s workplace at the Bartow Fire Department on behalf of her non-profit organization, Culpepper’s Cardiac Foundation.
Hancock serves as a firefighter and EMT. As someone who works hard to serve his local community, he always appreciated it when someone from the community shows their support back to them.
“It is very nice,” he said. “It is nice to have a helping hand out, knowing there are organizations out there that are willing to come in and step in and say, ‘Hey, look, we appreciate you!'”
As for the lunch delivered to them by Melanie, he loved being able to see an old childhood friend he hadn’t talked to since high school. He especially appreciated everything her organization has done for fire fighters and other first responders like himself.
“She doesn’t quit,” he said. “She has a big heart. I am glad to say thank you very much, and we love you…and you are blessed girl on your adventure.”
Melanie and her volunteers have been making lunch deliveries to various fire departments through the county every first Friday of the month for her initiative, fittingly named First Friday. Her first delivery was made to the Winter Haven Fire Department. The very next month’s delivery was made to the Haines City Fire Department.
Her First Friday initiative is part of her organization, the Culpepper’s Cardiac Foundation. Her group’s mission is to support local first responders and fire fighters and to raise money to fund defibrillators through the county.
She started the foundation after the untimely death of her fiancée, Michael Culpepper, a local security guard. They were supposed to be married last year, but fate cut their expectations short when he passed away from heart complications. Melanie had called EMT for help, but despite their best efforts, they were unable to resuscitate him.
Melanie wants to show her support and appreciation for her local first responders by raising funds for their needs, raising awareness for heart health, and by donating defibrillators to be placed throughout Winter Haven. She already has one device set up in her shop, Melanie’s Cutting Edge. Another will be placed at Old Man Frank’s, where her late fiancée served as a security guard.
She also shows her appreciation by serving lunch to fire departments in the county every first Friday of the month. She especially loved being able to visit her childhood hometown of Bartow and reunite with a close childhood friend.
“So it was nice to come here and see my hometown and give back to them what they do for us,” she said. “I wanted to personally meet every fire department in Polk County and to personally feed them lunch for the day to let them know how thankful I am and how appreciative of them because they put their lives on the line every day to help save ours.”
The Culpepper’s Cardiac Foundation receives their food for their monthly deliveries from Freedom Tour Church in Lake Wales. Pastor Bobby Williams personally believes that blessing others is a divine blessing in and of itself, which is why he participates.
“Our saying around here is that it is blessed to be a blessing,” Williams said. “So we are blessing the food to bless the people and show them the love of Christ.”
Recently, his church has been renovating the old Sears building in Eagle Ridge Mall. The 150,000 square foot facility will be used as the new home of their church. It is currently being utilized as the distribution center for food donations. They have produced more than $10 million worth of food for the local community since the start of the year, Williams said.
As for the Culpepper’s Cardiac Foundation, Pastor Williams is especially honored to help the local first responders and other rescue personnel who faithfully serve their communities.
“Our first responders, they are always the first ones on call that can help, so anytime we can give back to them, they are always given,” Williams said. “Even though it is their job, we know it is their love and passion, and it is our love and passion to go and help them and help Melanie with her heart and what she wants to do to reach people.”
The Culpepper’s Cardiac Foundation will be hosting a fundraiser at Tanner’s Lakeside on Sun., July 25. The event will feature booths by the Winter Haven Fire Department and Freedom Tour Church. Festivities will include a DJ, bounce house, face painting, water slide, and other fun children’s activities through the day, and an after party later in the evening for adults.
For more information, visit their Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/honoringculpepper/
