The Polk County Sheriff’s Office is investigating a fatal two-vehicle crash that happened Wednesday afternoon, March 10, 2021, just north of the city of Eagle Lake.
The crash occurred on State Road 540 at the intersection with Old Eagle Lake-Winter Haven Road at about 3:19 PM.
Upon the arrival of deputies and Polk County Fire Rescue, 72-year-old Gary Tapley of Winter Haven was found deceased in the roadway. Mr. Tapley was the operator of a black 2014 Yamaha motorcycle.
The other vehicle involved was a silver 2020 Kia Forte, driven by 58-year-old Saskia Colin of Tampa. Ms. Colin told detectives that she is an Uber driver, and the passenger who was occupying her back seat was a customer.
Both Ms. Colin and her passenger were transported to Winter Haven Hospital where they were treated for minor injuries and released.
According to the preliminary investigation, Mr. Tapley was westbound on SR 540 while Ms. Colin was northbound on Old Eagle Lake-Winter Haven Road. Ms. Colin stopped at the intersection for a stop sign, then proceeded across the eastbound lanes of SR 540 into the median break where she stopped again. She then began crossing the westbound lanes of SR 540, which put her vehicle in the path of Mr. Tapley, who was in the inside lane.
Mr. Tapley’s motorcycle slammed into the rear passenger side door of the Kia, causing him to be ejected from the motorcycle.
Ms. Colin and her passenger were wearing seatbelts, and Mr. Tapley was wearing a helmet.
The westbound lanes of SR 540 remained closed for about three hours during the investigation, which remains ongoing.
Can you identify this pair? On at least four occasions between Feb. 25 and March 10, this pair have skip scanned items at Walmart (355 Cypress Gardens Blvd.) involving more than $4,000 worth of merchandise. On March 10, the pair selected numerous electronic items and can been seen exiting the Garden Center without even attempting to skip scan. They skipped right past the registers! They have been seen entering and exiting a silver or dark gray SUV. If you recognize either of these two, please call Detective Maldonado at 863-401-2256.
Love, War, and History Come Together in “Sister Marguerite and the Captain”
by James Coulter
Sister Marguerite lived a quiet and uneventful life at her convent in the French countryside during the mid-1700s. Her life takes an unexpected turn when she travels to New France (Quebec) and the country is beset by war.
The gallant Captain Antoine Dauphin first enters her life on her overseas voyage but continues through the war. A remarkable turn of events leads her to become a spy for General George Washington, and both she and the Captain must work together to unfurl the evil schemes of a treacherous predator.
“Will they keep their promises to God and country? Will their love conquer all? You’re in suspense until you turn the very last page, in this compelling story of love, war, betrayal, and sin,”the book summary on Amazon reads.
“Sister Margarite and the Captain” is the second historical novel written by Sebring resident Mark Barie. This local author always loved history, but his love became a passion when his wife, an expert genealogist, revealed that one of his ancestors fought in the Civil War.
“My wife came into the living room one day and told me that my great, great grandfather fought in the Civil War,” Barie said. “I found a diary of a man he served with, and that inspired me. I then discovered that I had ancestors in all of the major wars.”
Barie’s ancestors, who first came to the United States on the Mayflower, fought in the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, the War of 1812, the Spanish American War, and the first World War.
These revelations heightened his interest in history and triggered his current trilogy on love and war. Originally from upstate New York, Barie initially collaborated with his wife on several local history books.
“But I am a romantic at heart,” he said. “And I always loved history. Those two things prompted the series on love and war.”
He published his first historical novel, “War Calls, Love Cries,”three years ago. The story combines romance with adventure, detailing the romantic struggles of a young maiden and her love triangle with a soldier and his brother amidst the Civil War.
His debut novel more than exceeded initial expectations. It won national and international recognition. He received a gold medal from the Florida Authors and Publishers Association for Historical Fiction and was designated a Finalist in the prestigious Eric Hoffer book awards.
“It was my first effort at historical fiction,” he said. “I was deeply honored.”
Barie credits his success to meticulous research. “A writer of historical fiction must carefully balance fiction with history, ensuring that the finer details are historically accurate,” said Barie. That attention to detail often requires a detailed review of 40 to 50 history books and countless articles for research.
His most recent novel involves both real and fictional characters. Although his main character, Sister Margarite, was created for the story, real-life nuns did set up a convent in Quebec during that period. Another one of his real-life heroes was French General Louis Joseph de Montcalm, who died in battle and was buried in the crater of a fallen artillery shell.
“Even though it is historical fiction, a good author is obligated to stay true to history,” he said. “That requires a great deal of research. It takes me a year and a half to write a good book.”
“Sister Margarite and the Captain” took 16 months to write. The current COVID-19 crisis afforded the author plenty of free time to finish the story and still accomplish a series of speaking engagements
Currently, he is 47,000 words into writing his third novel. Set during the War of 1812, the story involves a young tomboy who decides to take on a man’s identity and enlist in the navy. She ends up on the “Saratoga”, Commodore McDonough’s flag ship during the Battle of Plattsburgh.
Growing up, Barie loved to read and write. He would read almost anything, and that would inspire him to write almost anything. Both his love of history and writing has now culminated into a passion for historical fiction.
“I love to write,” he said. “I’ve always loved to write. I would read voraciously as a child and all through school and college—initially, because my parents could not afford to fix our black and white television set.”
“Sister Margarite and the Captain” is available on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. For signed copies and Barie’s complimentary newsletter, visit his website at: https://www.markbarie.com
Here’s an exclusive excerpt from Barie’s historical novel:
*****
“Why are you here?” asked Sister Marguerite.
The nun’s head swiveled nervously as she looked about the courtyard. In her mind, everyone stared at the Novitiate and her male visitor. A Captain in the French army no less. It was too scandalous for her to contemplate. In fact, when she first learned about Antoine’s arrival, Sister Marguerite refused to leave her cell, in the convent. Antoine, too, refused to leave, and Mother Superior intervened, once again.
“Go, and tell the Captain, goodbye,” she ordered.
Antoine announced the purpose of his visit.
“I leave in three days. We are off to war,” he said.
Sister Marguerite studied his solemn face. Her anxious look disappeared, replaced with genuine concern that her gallant friend might never return.
“You will not be alone. The Lord is with you, always.” she said.
He motioned to a nearby bench, hewn from rock, and further away from the other visitors. She hesitated.
“Please?” he begged.
They sat on opposite ends, eyes straight ahead. He spoke softly.
“The Lord may be with me but it is you that I think of, day and night, without relief.”
She jerked her head in his direction and jumped to her feet.
“Captain Dauphin. You must not speak to me in this manner. I am married to our Lord and Savior,” she said, retreating several steps away from the still seated Captain.
He rose to his feet and reached for her hands. Her entire body spasmed and she stepped further away.
“Can a man deny his own heart?” he asked.
“I pray that you will be safe, Captain Dauphin. But I do not pray for your return.”
As she walked away, Antoine watched the gray habit float across the stone-covered courtyard and disappear behind two large wooden doors.
The PCSO Traffic Unit investigated a crash on US Hwy 27 in the southbound lanes just south of the Cypress Gardens Blvd. intersection in Winter Haven at 3:00 a.m. on Wednesday, March 10, 2021, that resulted in the deaths of two people inside a car that crashed into a semi tractor-trailer.
Preliminary details are as follows:
A 2019 white International semi-truck owned by McLane Food Service that was hauling a trailer was traveling southbound on Hwy 27 and went through the green light at CGB when, for unknown reasons, a blue 2015 Toyota sedan that was heading eastbound in the right-hand turn lane on CGB drove out onto Hwy 27 and struck the side of the trailer as it was passing through the intersection. As a result, the car became lodged underneath and was dragged several hundred feet before the driver of the semi, 43-year-old Amircal Valles of Haines City, was able to come to a stop. The trailer and the car lodged under it caught on fire. The occupants of the car, tentatively identified by family members as 33-year-old Brandon Leonard White of Winter Haven (driver) and 31-year-old Clarissa Iris Cruz of Lake Wales (passenger) were entrapped in the car and died at the scene. Valles was able to detach the semi from the trailer and move it a short distance away.
The roadway was closed for approximately seven hours during the investigation and cleanup. Deputies are investigating why the Toyota proceeded out onto Hwy 27 against the red light on CGB. Valles was not injured.
The PCSO Traffic Unit is on the scene of a vehicle versus semi on U.S. Hwy 27 South just south of the intersection with Cypress Gardens Blvd in Winter Haven, with two confirmed fatalities in the vehicle.
The southbound lanes of Hwy 27 just south of that intersection are shut down completely until further notice. Please use an alternate route. Drive safely, everyone.
On March 8, 2021, PCSO detectives arrested 38-year-old Christina Siddell of Lake Wales for burglary with assault (F1). Siddell is a school bus attendant and paraprofessional at Alturas Elementary School. According to the affidavit, Siddell met her former boyfriend and his new girlfriend at the Lake Market (4812 Timberlane Road) in unincorporated Lake Wales, to retrieve her dogs from her ex-boyfriend. The victim and witness told deputies that “Siddell pulled into the parking lot at a high rate of speed and exited her vehicle in an aggressive manner. The victim stated Siddell approached the passenger window and banged on it, before snatching the passenger door open. The victim also stated Siddell then yelled at her stating she was going to ‘whoop her ass.'” That’s when, according to the victim and witness, Siddell began pulling her by her legs to drag her out of the truck. The victim was able to kick Siddell off and close the truck door.
“We expect more from our public sector employees – especially those we entrust with our children.” – Grady Judd, Sheriff
Siddell was arrested for burglary with assault because she forced her way into the vehicle and battered the victim. She was transported to the Polk County Jail where she currently has no bond until her first appearance later today.
CenterState Bank Wins People’s Choice For Chili On The Ridge
by James Coulter
As someone of Hispanic heritage, Carmen Rodriguez knows that a little bit of spice goes a long way. So it was only natural that the chili that she and her teammates from CenterState Bank won people’s choice at the annual Chili on the Ridge.
Stacy Stokes, the team leader, undoubtedly credited their success to Carmen’s cooking. They had been participating in the annual chili cookoff in Haines City for three years, and this was the first time Carmen took charge of the cooking.
“Carmen put her special twist on it this year and gave us People’s Choice,” Stacy said. “Everybody liked it…She cooked like she was cooking for her family.”
As to her success, Carmen credits her rich Hispanic heritage. As her upbringing taught her, anything and everything tastes better when you add just the right amount of spice to it.
“I am Hispanic, so we use a lot of spices,” she said. “Anything I found in the pantry, I put it in there.”
Stacy and her team from CenterState have been attending Chili on the Ridge for three years. Despite the current COVID-19 crisis and the rainy weather earlier that day, they enjoyed attending the event and considered the turnout significant.
“I think we have done well,” she said. “We had larger turnouts, the weather was not on our side, and people may have been afraid to come out. I think what we were given, everyone did well.”
CenterState Bank was one of more than a dozen teams that participated in this year’s Chili on the Ridge competition at Lake Eva Park in Haines City on Saturday. Their team won the people’s choice.
Winning first place overall was Amped Up Chili. Steven Tiner, the team leader, credited his success purely to luck, as his chili was created through trial and error.
“I owe my success to lucky recipes,” he said. “Keep throwing stuff in a pot and see if it works.”
For his recipe, his chili was prepared with three different types of meat: brisket, chuck roast, and bottom round roasts. Through various chili powder and seasoning, he was able to cook all three portions of meat together in a savory blend.
He was a Rotary Club member of Haines City for the past five years, and he has participated in their annual chili cookoff for the past four years. He enjoyed being able to compete this year, even despite these uncertain times and even more uncertain weather that morning.
“It is awesome,” he said. “It is all about people coming out to a community event. Everybody is coming out and enjoying themselves and trying to raise money for local scholarships.”
Chili on the Ridge is one of the two signature events hosted by the Rotary Club of Haines City. Both are hosted as fundraisers to raise proceeds for scholarships to local high school students.
Because of the current COVID-19 crisis, their chili competition last year could not be hosted as scheduled. This year, special precautions were taken to ensure public health and safety, with vendors spaced apart and hand sanitizer stations set up throughout the perimeter.
Though there was rain earlier that morning, the clouds in the sky managed to part and let the sun shine through in time for the award ceremony later that afternoon. Overall, the turnout proved decent, and attendees enjoyed the excellent food, music, and company, explained Travis Keyes, Rotary President.
“We had a good number of people come through, [and] everybody has enjoyed themselves,” he said. “We have a lot of community participation, [with] even some people from out of the area from Kissimmee and Winter Haven.”
Circle Of Friends Celebrates 14th Annual Chili Cook-Off
By James Coulter
Most great chili is made from beef. Marty Elrod’s award-winning dish is made from chicken instead. Such an original take on chili allowed him to win the prize for most original chili during the 14th Annual Chili Cook-Off hosted at Circle of Friends Ministry in Lake Wales on Saturday.
While he jokingly quipped that the secret behind his chili was too tight-lipped to share safely, he owes his success to his dish using chicken rather than beef, all prepared with the perfect blend of spices and seasoning, he explained.
“People are more apt to try something that is different than having the same old bland thing every time,” he said.
Elrod has been attending the annual chili contest for many years. He appreciates how the event helps raise proceeds for the Circle of Friends Ministry and its special needs students.
“I like helping,” he said. “I feel like I am doing something. “I wanted to help with the community. And this was a really good organization that helps out children.”
For the 14th consecutive year, Circle of Friends Ministry hosted their annual Chili-Cook Off on Saturday. More than a dozen chili recipes were entered and sampled for a chance to win three divisions: Most Original, Spiciest, and Overall.
Winning the Spiciest category were Lake Wales locals Skylar Smith and Rebecca Wood, and winning the Overall category was Melissa Walsh of the Cabinet Country.
Walsh owns Cabinet Country, with her business right down the road from Circle of Friends. As a close friend of the director, Crystal Higbee, Walsh was more than willing to participate for the sake of helping its special needs students.
“When she reached out about it, I was all too happy to enter,” she said. “I think it was really good, very well organized, and with the number of people that they entered, I think it was great.”
The award for Best Overall chili was $200 in cash, Most Original was $100 Visa gift card, and Spiciest was also a$100.00 Visa gift card.
Aside from the prizes for the chili competition, attendees and contest participants alike could enter a silent auction with baskets jam-packed with high-end products, tickets, and gift certificates donated by local businesses, as well as door prizes conferred every 30 minutes.
“Our special needs students will be performing for the first time to their newly-recorded theme song and introducing our new logo by wearing their new shirts for the performance,” wrote Crystal Higbee via Facebook.
Circle of Friends is a non-profit organization in Lake Wales that provides vocational training to special-needs students, providing them with valuable life and job skills to lead an independent life.
“The turnout is good for the way everyone has been doing with the pandemic,” Crystal said. “For the cause, that is the success for how we serve our special needs students and the community. It exceeded expectations.”
Spring Obsession To Spring Up At Lake Crago Park This Saturday
by James Coulter
Spring is in the air, the time of year to get started planting a garden. While some amateur gardeners are content with run-of-the-mill flowers and vegetables, other people yearn for more “exotic” foliage, plants that you usually can’t find locally.
If you’re looking for a unique spruce to spruce up your home landscape, or a peculiar petunia to plant, or a veritable vegetable to harvest, you can find what you are looking for, or what you may not have known you were looking for, at the upcoming Spring Obsession this Sat., Mar. 13 at Lake Crago Park in Lakeland.
“We have a lot of vendors with a lot of plants and trees you cannot find anywhere else,” explained Kathy McGee. “For me, I enjoy seeing all the unusual plants that you don’t generally see with Home Depot and Lowes or the different nurseries.”
Hosted by the Rotary Club of Lakeland, the annual outdoor garden show showcases a diverse selection of plants and trees, along with birdhouses, jewelry, home decor, and other ornamental items for your outdoor area. Many of these vendors are outside the local area from Orlando and Tampa, so you’ll be sure to find something you otherwise couldn’t obtain locally.
The local children’s museum will also erect a children’s tent to provide fun activities such as arts and crafts to the youngest attendees. Two seminars will also be hosted on agriculture and landscaping topics.
Hamburgers, hot dogs, and other barbecue items will be served by Rotarians, while various door prizes from local businesses will be announced throughout the day to random guests. All proceeds from the event will be used to purchase defibrillators for the local police department to place within their squad cars for emergencies.
Spring Obsession was initially hosted in Munn Park by various Downtown Lakeland vendors. The Rotary Club had since taken the reigns of its operations five years ago, around the same time that McGee came on board.
The outdoor event would be hosted last year as initially scheduled, but it was canceled only a few days prior due to the current COVID-19 crisis. Spring Obsession will be hosted this year at a new venue at Lake Crago Park.
“This year, we decided it was a good year to move it from Munn Park where there is limited parking, and everything is crowded together, to go to the new Lake Crago Park,” McGee explained. “There we can space out more; we have more spacing between all the vendors. We have the same amount of vendors that we had last year.”
The new venue will provide not only more space, but also a lovely landscape to host an event. As the park is brand new, having opened last year, the event will also help promote the area and encourage people to visit it and perhaps even frequent it soon.
Due to the current pandemic, special precautions are being taken to ensure public health and safety. Masks will be required, hand sanitizer will be provided at vendors, and temperature checks will be required for entry to the two seminars.
Furthermore, as the event was canceled last year, additional advertising was implemented this year, with radio ads, print ads in local publications such as The Ledger, and on their own Facebook page.
“It is a beautiful park,” McGee said. “We are trying to make it a really good event so people keep coming back and people can keep coming back each and every year.”
Spring Obsession will be hosted Sat., Mar. 13 8 AM – 3 PM. The event will be hosted at Lake Cargo Park, 525 Lake CragoDr. Lakeland, FL 33805. For more information, visit their website at: https://springobsession.org/
