Wilfred Smith Resource Center Celebrates Trick Or Treat Party

by James Coulter

Halloween may be weeks away, but it’s never too early to go trick or treating. The Wilfred Smith Resource Center in Winter Haven allowed children to do just that with their annual Trick Or Treat Party on Friday evening.

Hundreds of children and their guardians dressed up in their Halloween best and convened at the Wilfred Smith Resource Center for an evening of fun, games, music, and, of course, free candy.

Children could play party games and win candy prizes, create their own spooky arts and crafts, and even participate within a costume contest to see who was the best dressed. 

Grove Roots Celebrates 2nd Annual Fall Fest

by James Coulter

Fall is in the air. The weather is getting cooler. And Halloween is right around the corner. What better way to help usher in the autumn season than with good friends and beer at Winter Haven’s unofficial backyard?

Grove Roots helped celebrate the start of fall and the coming of Halloween with pumpkins, treats, and live music during its second annual Fall Fest on Saturday evening.

Several dozen pumpkins lined the lawn outside, allowing guests an opportunity to pick their own and decorate it with the help of the Ridge Art Association. Inside, attendees could peruse merchandise, ranging from homemade jams to gourmet goodies, from local vendors.

All the while, anyone wanting a bite to eat could choose from three different food trucks, while those of drinking age could wash down their food with specialty craft beers as always provided by the local downtown brewery, with it debuting three new beers that evening.

This year’s event expanded immensely from last year, with double the pumpkins, two additional food trucks, and three extra indoor vendors. The turnout itself was also much larger with many new faces appearing, explained Morgan Wilson, Marketing Director for Grove Roots.

“We had an awesome turnout,” she said. “We are just trying to usher in the holiday season with friends and family…It has exceeded our expectations…I think everyone is excited about the space we have to offer. It is a friendly, welcoming environment.”

Gourmet Goodies, a local downtown bakery, was one of the many vendors present at the event. Their booth showcased many of their specialty baked goods including Halloween themed cake pops, cookies, and mini pies.

Carissa Hughes, the Owner, always attends the holiday events hosted at Grove Roots, using it not only as an opportunity to share her wares, but also to participate within the community during such a great family-friendly event.

 “I love the diversity of the people,” she said. “Everyone is here with families. We love seeing people bring out their dogs and kids…It is a great opportunity for people to come out here and enjoy Winter Haven’s backyard. It is an incredible turnout with great people and friends. We love being here.”

Also attending that evening was Derek Williams, Owner of Jovita Treats. His business sells homemade gourmet jams created from hand-picked native fruit, with special flavors such as Ghost Apple and Vanilla Blueberry.

Williams has attended and won many competitions, including such events at the Strawberry Festival and the Pasco County Fair. He has been attending the monthly Wednesday Night Markets in Grove Roots.

“So we love coming out here with the ownership,” he said. “We are an hour away, but we love the people, we love coming out. Anytime we come to Winter Haven, we come out here.”

Chamber VP, Ski Team Leader Win 4th Annual Winter Haven Celebrity Lip Sync Battle

by James Coulter

When Amanda Jo Nicholson took to the stage at the Ritz Theater in Winter Haven, her performance on Thursday evening started out sweet as she held a giant lollipop and lip–synced to Shirley Temple’s “Good Ship Lollipop.”

Her appearance quickly turned spicy as she tossed her prop asideand put on a wild hairstyle wig and Iron Maiden T-shirt, belting out lyrics from one of the band’s titular songs.

Aside from being the Vice President of Member Services at the Winter Haven Chamber of Commerce, Nicholson has also been an Iron Maiden fan since the early 1980s. She loves music from that time period and the late 1970s, and her two performances showed.

Her second performance had her don a police officer uniform as her friends dressed up as the remaining Village People, leading the audience in the lyrics and dance to their famous song “Y.M.C.A.”

While initially nervous to perform, Nicholson enjoyed being able to participate that evening. Her participation inevitably paid off, as she won the People’s Choice and Judge’s Second Place for the Fourth Annual Celebrity Lip Sync Battle.

Nicholson was one of six other local figures who participated during that evening’s musical contest, hosted Thursday evening at the Ritz Theater in Downtown Winter Haven. Each contestant had two performances to lip–sync and dance to the songs of their choice.

Each of the participants was judged in two categories: People’s Choice, where the audience voted for their favorite performance, and Judge’s Choice, which was selected by a panel of three judges.

Nicholson won second place in the Judge’s Choice and won first place in the People’s choice. She also received a championship belt for having her performance raise $8,000.

She loved being able to win and participate that evening. Most of all, as someone who has worked closely with the Cypress Junction Montessori School and The Public Education Partnership of Winter Haven, one of the recipients of that evening’s fundraiser, she appreciated being able to do her part to give back.

“I am so proud of the missions they both do,” she said. “I want to make sure that I did the chamber proud, and I am proud to work with the chamber of commerce here in Winter Haven and let nobody down.”

Winning the Judge’s First Place and Audience’s Favorite was Mark Voisard, Leader of the Cypress Gardens Water Ski Team. He was joined by members of his team on stage during their opening performance of “The Greatest Show” from the movie “Greatest Showman.”

Later that evening, Voisard appeared solo in his second act performing “Dude Looks Like A Lady” by Aerosmith. He took to the stage dressed as the cross-dressing Mrs. Doubtfire from the titular movie, rocking out on a broomstick like a guitar before getting into a steamy mishap in the kitchen.

Voisard was inspired to participate that evening by his good friend, Audrey Netlow, while his two songs were suggested to him by his son, Travis. He loved being able to perform that evening, as well as to raise awareness and funds for good community causes.

“It is humbling because everybody is here for a reason, and that reason is to raise money for charity…and that is what it is all about,” he said.

Also participating that evening were:

The Celebrity Lip Sync Battle serves as an annual fundraiser for public education, specifically for both the Cypress Junction Montessori School and The Public Education Partnership of Winter Haven. This year’s event raised more than $32,000.

Karen Winningham, Executive Director of Cypress Junction Montessori School, was pleased by the turnout that evening and by how much the event has evolved since it first started four years ago. Last year, it was hosted at the Chain of Lake Complex, and this year, it was hosted in the much larger venue of the Ritz Theater.

“It is about backing public education,” she said. “I love the community feel, just getting behind the children and dedicating themselves to educating our students…The sky is the limit, it is going to be great next year. It exceeded expectations, it was a great evening with a lot of fun.”