Lake Wales Man Take Plea Deal For 25 Yrs In Prison After Violently Raping Teen

Lake Wales

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June 18, 2019

Lake Wales Man Take Plea Deal For 25 Yrs In Prison After Violently Raping Teen

Lake Wales, Florida – On June 14, 2019 Edward Burke, of Lake Wales, plead no contest and took a plea agreement for 25 yrs in state prison for Sexual Battery On A 12-18 Year Old & Kidnapping With Intent To Commit Felony. He also took a plea of 15 years for Lewd/Lascivious Molestation.

On June 19, 2017 deputies were called to a home in Lake Wales in regards to an alleged sexual assault that occurred around 1:40 am.

According to the affidavit, Burke allegedly used a knife to the neck of the teenage victim. He allegedly force sexual acts on the victim. Then he tied the victim up and continued to violently assault the victim. The victim is over the age of 12 years old, but under 18.

The victim was taken to Lakeland Regional Health Medical Center and after exam it was confirmed that victim had injuries and tearing of both the vagina and anus, according to the affidavit.

Burke allegedly admitted to hurting the teen in a phone call. When questioned by deputies Burke allegedly advised he didn’t remember everything that happened the night before but was “not going to call [redacted] a liar”. Deputies were able to obtain several pieces of material evidence including a knife allegedly used in the assault.

Burke will serve the 25 yr & 15 yr sentence concurrently in state prison. Details regarding possibility of parole were not available.

Veterans-Based BBQ Team Wins First Place At 2nd Annual Smoke Da N Tow

Bartow

Staff Reporter

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June 18, 2019

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Veterans-Based BBQ Team Wins First Place At 2nd Annual Smoke Da N Tow

by James Coulter

The barbecue team may be named “Mattie B’s Just Ribs”, but as their motto says: “Don’t let the name fool you!” Their team serves up mouth-watering fall-off-the-bone barbecue of all kinds, including pulled pork, chicken, and turkey surprise.

Terry Anderson, the head team chef, attributes the long-smoking process as the secret behind the success of his barbecue. He and his team smoke their meats for a long time over a variety of wood.

Their patience when it comes to smoking proved to be more than a virtue, as Anderson and his team won first place at the second annual Smoke Da N Tow in Bartow on Saturday afternoon.

Anderson had been barbecuing for more than 30 years. He has been cooking all of his life, being raised in the kitchen and learning his cooking skills from his mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother.

After serving for over 29 years in the Air Force, this veteran decided to serve his fellow countrymen by serving them some of the best barbecue around by starting Mattie B’s Just Ribs in 2012.

This year was his very first participating within a barbecue competition. He decided to start out small by attending Bartow’s annual barbecue competition, Smoke Da N Tow. Competing alongside less than a dozen teams that afternoon allowed him to adequately gauge his skills without completely overwhelming himself, he explained.

“I would say that if you want to understand where you are at, this is a great way for someone to gauge their ability and skill because there are some pretty good teams out here,” he said. “I wish there was more, but these guys have competed elsewhere, so it was nice to see where I stood among my peers.”

For the second year, Smoke Da N Tow allowed barbecue teams to show off their cooking skills to the City of Bartow. Less than a dozen teams congregated on the lot across from the Historic L. B. Brown House Museum, but taking a taste of the food that afternoon proved that the event was more about quality rather than quantity.

Anthony Nettles, the owner of J&N BBQ and Wings Catering, started the event last year to serve his community in more ways than one. Not only does it allow the city to enjoy a barbecue competition of its own, but also raise proceeds for local charitable causes.

“All the other surrounding cities have their own barbecue competition, so I wanted to bring one here to Bartow,” he said. “What I like most is the togetherness and everybody coming together and having a real good time.”

Proceeds from the event go to the annual Back To School Bash, which helps provide school supplies to local students. This year’s event will be hosted on August 3 at the Carver Recreation Center in Bartow.

Though the overall event and turnout were small that afternoon, the event continues to grow each and every year. Nettles hopes that this event will continue to grow into quite the community staple, if for no other reason than to continue seeing the smiling faces of people enjoy his barbecue.

“We are continuing going forward,” he said. “We expect to keep growing bigger and bigger, and getting more people involved, and get more communities and officials in so we can make this an official event.”

Sergio Collins, co-owner of Artis Williams Grilling, attended this year’s event alongside his brother. Both of them have been attending since last year, with their team having won first place last year.

Collins has been barbecuing for the past 15 years. His own secret? Adding a touch of love to his cooking, he said. While that “secret ingredient” may not have allowed him to win this year, he hopes to scope out the competition and see how he can improve next year.

“When you love to do it, there is no secret,” he said. “We hope to come back and take down the winners of this year.”

Tech Tuesday: Modernization Of Business Processes Has Created New Cyber Security Threat

Staff Reporter

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June 18, 2019

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Modernization Of Business Processes Has Created New Cyber Security Threat

By Kip Kirchberg

From servers to mobile devices technology has allowed small business to utilize technologies that enables them to be competitive in today’s market. Take a small accounting firm for example. At one point in time accountants relied on paper journals and human checks and balances to ensure accounting records were accurate.

Today accounting firms have programs like Microsoft Great Plains, QuickBooks, and Peachtree accounting that leverage technologies that use computer algorithms to ensure accounting accuracy. Some of these programs are so user friendly that many small business owners leverage the software themselves and simply use accounting firms to validate their information.

Next we can look at a manufacturing facility. My grandfather was a plant manager for a manufacturing facility made transmission gears and parts for the big three auto manufactures. I can remember watching the production employees follow manual procedures that were required as part of the gear making process. None of these process were automated and highly relied upon human interactions. If they did not have the furnace at the right temp or heat treat for the right amount of time parts would fail inspection and be rejected. As you can imagine this the rejection rate was high and costs the company lost revenue.

Step forward to today and the same type of gear and part manufacturing facility relies on automation to complete the manufacturing process. Humans are simply there to monitor the machines and ensure that no errors occur. The machines rely on PLC’s to monitor furnace temps, adjust furnace temps, and complete the manufacturing process to ensure a consistent and reliable heat treat process while increasing over all company profitability. Only possible with automation.

Now I understand the two examples with the accounting firm and gear manufacturing plant appear to be completely different business units. I can agree that yes these two businesses are different. However, both of these businesses have one thing in common. They rely on some type of automation system to conduct business. Without them the business would not exist.

In both cases the business described depend on email, file systems, accounting, CRM, and many other business processes systems that are vital to their very existence. What many businesses take for granted is the simple fact that these very systems need to stay up to date with current Operating Systems and patched with the latest OS and security updates. By not maintaining general pc or server hygiene your organization could fall victim to a cyber-security attack.

Here a few steps you can take to ensure your environment is protected and has a reduced cyber threat footprint. The first and most obvious step should be to make sure all machines are on supported OS’s , patched, and up to date with security practices.

In some cases, we have to recognize that due to some business processes not all machines can be on the latest and greatest OS. Some of these legacy systems have helped run businesses for generations and simply run like a fine tuned machine. However, these same machines are like a sitting duck waiting to be discovered by a cyber-attacker who could take advantage of OS vulnerability’s and launch malicious attacks against your organization. As shown in recent news this could be a devastating hit that affects business for days, weeks, or even months.

If a business is shut down due to a cyber-attack this could affect employees by putting them out of work during the outage, prevent product or services from being provided, and ultimately could result in the business shutting down due to the financial loss caused by the cyber-attack outage.

At the end of the day it is up to each and every one of us to identify unsupported or unpatched systems living in our environment and develop strategies to protect out of date OS’s and unpatched systems from becoming a launching pad for cyber-attacks. Machines that cannot be updated to the latest OS or patched should be placed behind a Next Generation firewall and have no access to the internet.

The end goal for your organization should be to ensure all systems patched and up to date. To be impactful it is recommended that these systems be patched at least quarterly. If you are unable to patch or update a system OS steps should be taken to ensure your digital safety.

As stated earlier we have not only evolved business process and dependencies but we must now evolve as a digitally dependent organizations and make cyber safety a priority.

If you or your organization has questions on how to audit, pen test, or mitigate potential cyber security issues please feel free to contact me for a consultation.

You can reach me at [email protected] or at 863-734-8060

Lakeland’s Fifth Annual Pride In The Park Bigger And Better

Lakeland

Staff Reporter

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June 18, 2019

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Lakeland’s Fifth Annual Pride In The Park Bigger And Better

by James Coulter

Jiwa Farrell has her eyes set on the NE District B seat of the Lakeland City Commission. She hopes to use her position as a “voice for the voiceless” within her community, she told The Ledger.

She plans on serving “the voiceless” through many initiatives, including retaining students who attend school in Lakeland, working closely with the local business community, and providing a helping hand to the homeless population.

To achieve these lofty goals, she wants to help bring together and support the diversity within her community. Only by understanding and empathizing with our fellow citizens, regardless of their race, gender, or identity, can we better come together to make it great, she explained.

For this reason, she attended the fifth annual Pride In The Park in Lakeland on Saturday. The largest LGBTQ+ pride event in Polk County, the annual event brings together members of various gender and sexual identities within Lakeland and the surrounding areas, even as far as Orlando.

This was the first time that Farrell attended the event. As someone with many loved ones of different gender and sexual identities, and as someone working alongside the Rainbow Ridge Caucus that day, she appreciates how an event like this allows people to enjoy themselves, no matter who they are and who they love.

“This is a lovely event, and I love seeing the gathering here,” she said. “I think that the support and outreach here is amazing. I think it is much needed. I think we are bringing diversity to the city of Lakeland, and we are bringing people from Orlando as well. So we are bringing people into our city and our county.”

For the past five years, Pride In The Park has provided a safe, family-friendly space for members of the LGBTQ+ community within Lakeland and Polk County to come together in celebration of their diversity and solidarity.

The event capped off an entire week of LGBTQ events within the county, including official proclamations at city meetings declaring that week LGBT Pride Week, a church service hosted by local LGBT-friendly religious organizations, and a special youth event for the young LGBTQ+ members of the local community.

The Youth Pride Party, hosted earlier this week at Skate World, drew in more than 71 local children. That event, along with other events that week, was coordinated by the Lakeland Youth Alliance, a local peer-based support group for kids ages 13 to 20.

Kerri McCoy, a member of the Lakeland Youth Alliance, and president of PFLAG of Polk County, was also one of the founding members of Pride in the Park when it launched five years ago. During that time, she has seen the local event grow in leaps and bounds, and she hopes it will continue to do so in the near future.

“This is our biggest Pride In The Park yet, so we are really excited that there are so many people out here,” she said. “This event has been an amazing day, nothing but love…We are just going to keep doing this every year and make every year get bigger and bigger. The fact that everybody can come out here and be who they are and love who they love.”

Scott Guira, president of Polk Pride, another local organization that coordinates the annual event, has been with Pride In The Park since its inception nearly half a decade ago. He has also seen the event grow since then.

Last year saw more than 7,000 people attend, and this year certainly saw their numbers exceed that, with more attendees, participants, and vendors, he said.

“We have had a larger turnout and participants than we have ever had, so we definitely have seen a growth in this event year after year,” he said. “This event has been an absolute blast. We have had a great time. There is every walk of life having a great time, definitely showing this community, the LGBT community, is part of the diverse tapestry of people that live in Polk County.”

More than simply a fun time for members of the LGBTQ+ community and their allies, the event also shows the diversity and tolerance of the local community, thus providing a statement that Lakeland and the surrounding area are a “safe place.”

“Polk Pride sends a message to the LGBT community of Polk County and the surrounding areas,” he said. “It shows that Polk County is a great place to grow up, live, work, and play. It is a place where everyone can live a successful life and thrive here in Polk County.”

One Person Killed In Fatal Crash On Old Avon Park Rd. In Frostproof

Frostproof

Staff Reporter

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June 17, 2019

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One Person Killed In Fatal Crash On Old Avon Park Rd. In Frostproof

Polk County Sheriff’s Office Press Release

Around 9:50 a.m. on Monday, June 17, 2019, the PCSO Emergency Communications Center (ECC) received a call in reference to a single-vehicle rollover crash on Old Avon Park Road approximately 1/2 mile North of East Oak Island Road in Frostproof. PCFR arrived on-scene and began CPR on the driver, 40-year-old Jared Thompson of Avon Park, but they were unable to revive him and he was declared deceased.

According to the preliminary investigation so far, it is believed Thompson drove his 2003 gray Ford F-350 flatbed work truck off the west side of the roadway, traveled through a shallow ditch, then a wire fence, and rolled over into an irrigation canal upside down. He appears to have had a medical episode, causing the truck to exit the roadway, and was also incapacitated and unable to get out of the truck’s cab – the cab was partially submerged underwater after the crash. He was not seatbelted, and has a medical history consistent with possible seizures. An autopsy will be conducted to determine his exact cause of death.

CarriEstate Celebrates Grand Opening With Ribbon Cutting

Winter Haven

Staff Reporter

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June 17, 2019

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CarriEstate Celebrates Grand Opening With Ribbon Cutting

by James Coulter

Looking for a new home in Winter Haven? You need a real estate agent who knows the area like the back of their own hand. As a lifelong native, Carrie Cahoon knows every nook and cranny of the city. That makes her the best person to help you find the perfect place just for you.

For the past three years, Cahoon has been working as a real estate agent. She is now using that experience to become a broker and open her own real estate agency, CarriEstate.

Located along Cypress Gardens Road, across the street from Harry’s Old Place on Lake Ned, her new agency allows clients to not only take a glance at potential houses through photographs but also take a virtual tour of them.

Utilizing state-of-the-art technology employed through Snap There Photos, these virtual tours allow clients to walk through as many houses as they want to without ever having to leave the beach bungalow-style office of CarriEstate.

“I feel like we are so digital that people expect this, like this is going to become the standard that everyone will want this,” Cahoon said. “In a world where you can swipe left to right to find someone to date, if you are buying a home, it is a big life-changing event, and you want to be able to check this out. You want to see it. You want more than what angles the agent shows off. You want to be able to walk through the homes and be a part of it. So that is a big part of it.”

Another service offered through her office is staging. While most other real estate offices do not offer staging, requiring potential homeowners to seek out an additional service, Cahoon offers the service as an added feature.

“I offer that as part of my services,” she said. “It is another tier, another price point. It allows people who want to stage their home to do that. So faster and with more money, and if people want to do that, they want to take on the risk.”

Prior to going into the real estate business, Cahoon has taken up every other occupation from bartender to salesperson. Having worked within the community on the ground level, as well as living there most of her life, has allowed her to gain a better knowledge of it. She plans to use this knowledge to help other people find the right place for them to live.

Those looking for a new home should seek out her services. She doesn’t believe in seeking out clients. She prefers for them to seek her out and see whether or not they want to partner with her. That makes her business all the more personable for her.

“I believe it starts off a relationship much stronger than badgering someone into relenting and letting me represent them,” she said. “If someone likes me and wants to work with me, that is where business comes from…Come talk to me, and if you like me, work with me.”

CarriEstate recently opened its new office during a grand opening and ribbon cutting ceremony on Thursday afternoon, hosted by the Greater Winter Haven Chamber of Commerce.

Katie Worthington, President and CEO, commended Cahoon for being yet another small business owner who not only took the risk and opportunity to open a new business, but to open it in their city.

“Owning your own small business is the foundation of everything in our community, and our small business community is what makes Winter Haven strong,” she said. “We appreciate our large businesses, but it is small business that drives our economy, in Winter Haven and around the country.”

Nathaniel Birdsong, Mayor Pro Tem, formally welcomed the new business into the city and wished that they would do well, not only for themselves, but for the local community at large.

“I do believe that you are in the right place in the right time doing the right thing, so from all of us, we welcome you to the City of Winter Haven,” he said.

While most other real estate agencies have opened their businesses downtown, Cahoon decided to open her own in the southeast region near Lake Ned, in the old fruit stand across the street from Harry’s Old Place, which offered the catering for the grand opening.

Cahoon was fortunate enough to have picked up the location for herself. The old building was originally going to be purchased by another buyer, but “divine intervention” allowed her to purchase it instead.

Now that she has the new office with her new broker license, she expects to attract new clients to her establishment, and she hopes to give them an experience as outstanding as experiences for her previous clients.

One previous client, through a Facebook review, mentioned how Cahoon was able to provide an “extremely professional and charismatic” experience from beginning to end, and how she was able to provide them with the best information about their new home by the end of the day.

“Her knowledge of Polk County, the homes and school districts helped us narrow down [our] search and we found a place in no time,” she said. “We used her to buy and sell and it was so smooth! Both my husband and I have enjoyed working with her and we hope to refer her to many people we know.”

CarriEstate is located at 3812 Cypress Gardens Rd (Suite A1), Winter Haven, Fl. For more information, call 863-450-6525, or visit their Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/fruitstandrealestate/

No Suspect Gun Found In Deputy Involved Shooting After 76 Yr Old Mother Threatens To “End It All” By Shooting 47 Yr Old Daughter In Haines City

Haines City

Staff Reporter

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June 16, 2019

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No Suspect Gun Found In Deputy Involved Shooting After 76 Yr Old Mother Threatens To “End It All” By Shooting 47 Yr Old Daughter In Haines City

Polk County Sheriffs Office Press Release

Just before 5:00 p.m. on Saturday, June 15, 2019, the PCSO Emergency Communications Center (ECC) received a 911 call from a man who was driving eastbound down Carl Boozer Road (nearest cross street Powerline Road) when he observed a 2005 Chrysler Town and Country mini-van pulled off to the side of the road on the north shoulder facing west, with two women in the two front seats, fighting and screaming. As he approached the van and slowed, he heard the driver, positively identified as 47-year-old Wendy Schutte of Davenport, scream that the passenger, 76-year-old Linda Wages of Davenport, had a gun and was going to shoot her (Wendy). In fear for his safety, the witness called 911 and fled the area.

PCSO deputies and Haines City PD officers immediately headed to the scene. The first deputy to arrive on-scene, 52-year-old Deputy Christopher Johnston, arrived eastbound on Carl Boozer Road and stopped his patrol car facing the van. He observed the fight occurring in the van. Schutte, who was in the driver’s seat, shouted to Deputy Johnston that the passenger, Wages, had a gun and was trying to shoot her. The deputy ordered them both to show their hands.

Wages then ducked down and came back up and, in fear for the victim’s life and his own, when she reappeared the deputy fired at the suspect, striking her.

The deputy and other responding units immediately rendered aid to the suspect, and she was transported to a nearby hospital. She is being treated for gunshot wounds on the right side of her body, which do not appear to be life-threatening. Surgery was not required. The victim has injuries consistent with being battered and complained of head pain afterwards. An ambulance was summoned to the scene for her. Nobody else was injured.

Wages is Schutte’s mother. Schutte reported that they were enroute to Winn-Dixie in Haines City when she pulled over to compose herself due to being upset about a family dispute that had just occurred inside their shared home.

Schutte told deputies that Wages began to batter her by hitting her on the face, head, and shoulder, pulling her hair, and biting her. Wages then told Schutte that she (Wages) had a gun in her bag and she would shoot Schutte and “end it all” if she “didn’t stop blubbering,” at which time Schutte grabbed the bag and placed it under her left leg near the driver’s door. This bag is what Wages was reaching for during the ongoing struggle, before and after Deputy Johnston arrived.

After the incident, Schutte complained of head pain and was transported to a local hospital by PCFR to be treated for apparent low blood sugar and her other injuries. She was admitted and is still being treated.

The van was towed to our Crime Scene warehouse to be processed. There was no gun found inside the bag or van. The bag belongs to Wages and her daughter believed there was a gun inside based on the suspect’s actions and statements.

Wages has been charged with battery – domestic violence, and aggravated assault – domestic violence, and she will be booked into the Polk County Jail upon her release from the hospital.

Deputy Johnston will be on paid administrative leave per standard protocol. He has been a deputy for two years and is currently assigned to the Northeast District, in patrol. There are three ongoing investigations: An investigation into the battery domestic violence and aggravated assault, by the PCSO Bureau of Criminal Investigations; an internal investigation of the shooting, by the PCSO Administrative Investigations Unit; and a review by the State Attorney’s Office, who was on-scene and will review the PCSO investigations once they are completed.

Body Found Laying In Median On Hwy 92 Shutting Down Westbound Lanes In Lakeland

Lakeland

Staff Reporter

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June 16, 2019

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Body Found Laying In Median On Hwy 92 Shutting Down Westbound Lanes In Lakeland

UPDATE June 18, 2019: to suspicious death of 22-year-old Kara Hanvey of Sebring: an autopsy was conducted today, June 18, 2019, and while the final results are pending toxicology, she did have fatal injuries consistent with being hit by a car.

We are still seeking information about her whereabouts on Saturday evening, June 15th, through Sunday morning, June 16th.

If anyone has information about Kara Hanvey and her whereabouts during that time frame, or if anyone was traveling on US Hwy 92 East (AKA East Memorial Blvd) in Lakeland between 5:30 a.m. and 6:30 a.m. on Sunday, June 16, 2019, and saw anything suspicious, you are urged to contact the PCSO Traffic Unit at 863-297-1100.

Or to remain anonymous, contact Heartland Crime Stoppers – call 1-800-226-TIPS(8477), visit the website www.heartlandcrimestoppers.com and click on “Submit A Tip,” or download the free “P3tips” app on your smartphone or tablet.

UPDATE to suspicious death investigation and possible fatal hit-and-run fatality on US Hwy 92 E in Lakeland:

The victim has been positively identified as 22-year-old Kara Fay Hanvey, a Hispanic female, of Sebring. A photo of her is attached.

Around 6:40 am on Sunday, June 16, 2019, the PCSO ECC received a 911 call reporting an unresponsive female laying on her back in the grass median of US Hwy 92 East (AKA East Memorial Blvd) near Kennedy Auto Sales on Reynolds Road in Lakeland. When first responders arrived on-scene it was apparent the victim was deceased. There were no witnesses located. The PCSO Traffic Unit responded to assume the investigation. The PCSO Homicide Unit and Crime Scene also responded.

There is some minor trauma to the victim’s body and an apparent broken leg, but an autopsy tomorrow will determine her exact cause of death. Her belongings were located nearby, along the westbound shoulder.

PCSO is seeking witnesses who may have been in this area between 5:30 am and 6:30 am, and/or any acquaintances of the victim who have information on her whereabouts or activities on Saturday night and/or Sunday morning. Please call PCSO at 863-298-6200.

Or to remain anonymous, contact Heartland Crime Stoppers – call 1-800-226 TIPS (8477), visit the website www.heartlandcrimestoppers.com and click on “Submit A Tip,” or download the free “P3tips” app on your smartphone or tablet.

Suspect Shot In Deputy Involved Shooting Near Carl Boozer Rd. In Polk County

Polk County

Staff Reporter

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June 15, 2019

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Suspect Shot In Deputy Involved Shooting Near Carl Boozer Rd. In Polk County

Polk County Sheriffs Office Press Release

The Polk County Sheriff’s Office is investigating a deputy-involved shooting in Haines City this evening. No deputies were injured. Preliminary information so far is as follows:

Just before 5:00 p.m. on Saturday, June 15, 2019, the PCSO Emergency Communications Center (ECC) received a 911 call from a man who was driving down Carl Boozer Road (nearest cross street Powerline Road) when he observed a mini-van pulled off to the side of the road with two women in the two front seats, fighting and screaming. He heard the victim, who was in the driver’s seat, scream that the other woman, who was in the passenger seat, was going to shoot her. The witness fled and dialed 911.

PCSO deputies and Haines City PD officers immediately headed to the scene. The first deputy to arrive on-scene observed the fight occurring in the van with the victim screaming for help, and the suspect continually refused to obey his verbal commands to stop and show him her hands. The victim continued to scream that the suspect was going to shoot her. The suspect then ducked down and came back up and, in fear for the victim’s life and his own, when she reappeared the deputy fired at the suspect, striking her more than once.

The deputy and other responding units immediately rendered aid to the suspect, and she was transported to a nearby hospital. She is being treated for gunshot wounds, which do not appear to be life-threatening. The victim has injuries consistent with being battered. Nobody else was injured.

The suspect and the victim are mother and daughter, both adults.

PCSO is finishing up processing the scene, and the van has been towed to our Crime Scene warehouse to be processed. A photo from the scene is attached. We will send out more detailed information on Sunday, June 16, 2019.

The deputy sheriff will be on paid administrative leave per standard protocol. He has been a deputy for two years and is currently assigned to the Northeast District, in patrol. There are three ongoing investigations: An investigation into the battery domestic violence and aggravated assault, by the PCSO Bureau of Criminal Investigations; an internal investigation of the shooting, by the PCSO Administrative Investigations Unit; and a review by the State Attorney’s Office, who was on-scene and will review the PCSO investigations once they are completed.

Summer Fun Days Return To Lake Wales History Museum

Lake Wales

Staff Reporter

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June 14, 2019

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Summer Fun Days Return To Lake Wales History Museum

by James Coulter

Tired of spending Saturday afternoon lounging around the house bored with nothing to do? Looking for something to do with the kids on the weekends this summer? Then come on down to the Lake Wales History Museum for Summer Fun Days.

Every Saturday from now until August 10, The Lake Wales History Museum will be offering free activities for children and their families that will not only give them something fun to do on a weekend afternoon, but also teach them something about history in the process.

The museum kicked off its weekly series last Saturday on June 8 with Florida’s Natural Citrus Day. Attendees could color their own citrus label, sample different citrus fruit, watch a video to learn how citrus juices are made, and even enjoy a sweet, savory sample of orange juice produced from local citrus groves.

This Saturday, June 15, will host Seminole Tribe of Florida Day, with various activities to teach attendees about local Native American tribes and their customs, from creating Native American-style beaded jewelry to sampling traditional Fry Bread.

Other upcoming themed days include Wildlife of Florida Day on June 22, with local wildlife conservation groups showcasing native wild animals, with everything wrapping up on August 10 with a We Love The 80s-themed party.

This will be the second year the museum has hosted special themed days. Last year proved quite experimental, with each day being one of trial and error to see what would draw people to the museum during the off season and what would not, explained Bartholomew DelCamp, Museum Coordinator.

“We didn’t really know what to expect last year,” he said. “Some days were extremely popular; others, not so much. But…we had a total of 500 people show up to the museum. Since the summer is a slow time for us, that was a fantastic attendance, so we could not be more pleased.”

This year the museum is expecting to draw in even more people during their planned themed days. DelCamp expects to see at least 250 more people show up this year, but would be happy if 700 people attended overall during the summer, he said.

“Summer Fun Days is a good way to spend an hour or two at the museum,” he said. “If the kids are bored, they can come here. Everything is free. We have free activities and free food, and it is a nice way to spend with the family.”

Formerly the Lake Wales Museum And Cultural Center, The Lake Wales History Museum recently rebranded itself in order to center its focus as a history museum and to differentiate between other local organizations such as the Lake Wales Art Center.

“That way people will not get us confused as a train station…because we actually have people coming here trying to buy train tickets,” DelCamp said. “So hopefully the name change will make it very clear that this is the history museum, we focus on history, and that is the main goal of the museum.”

Currently, the museum is working on its master plan to redevelop the entire museum site and its three main buildings, with the 1919 Yellow Depot building to receive the initial refurbishment and preservation efforts.

The museum will also be restarting its Florida Humanities Series once again this November, with every month bringing in a guest speaker to discuss various historical topics, be it local, state, or national history.

The Lake Wales History Museum is located at 325 S. Scenic Hwy, Lake Wales, FL 33853. For more information, call 863-676-1759, or visit their Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/Lake-Wales-History-Museum-128131233866221/

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