“At 2:10 p.m. on December 5, 1945, five U.S. Navy Avenger torpedo-bombers comprising Flight 19 take off from the Ft. Lauderdale Naval Air Station in Florida on a routine three-hour training mission. After having completed their objective, Flight 19 was scheduled to take them due east for an additional 67 miles, then turn north for 73 miles, and back to the air station after that, totaling a distance of 120 miles. They never returned.
Photo source history.com
Two hours after the flight began, the leader of the squadron, who had been flying in the area for more than six months, reported that his compass and backup compass had failed and that his position was unknown. The other planes experienced similar instrument malfunctions. Radio facilities on land were contacted to find the location of the lost squadron, but none were successful. After two more hours of confused messages from the fliers, a distorted radio transmission from the squadron leader was heard at 6:20 p.m., apparently calling for his men to prepare to ditch their aircraft simultaneously because of lack of fuel.
By this time, several land radar stations finally determined that Flight 19 was somewhere north of the Bahamas and east of the Florida coast, and at 7:27 p.m. a search and rescue Mariner aircraft took off with a 13-man crew. Three minutes later, the Mariner aircraft radioed to its home base that its mission was underway. The Mariner was never heard from again. Later, there was a report from a tanker cruising off the coast of Florida of a visible explosion seen at 7:50 p.m.
The disappearance of the 14 men of Flight 19 and the 13 men of the Mariner led to one of the largest air and seas searches to that date, and hundreds of ships and aircraft combed thousands of square miles of the Atlantic Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico, and remote locations within the interior of Florida. No trace of the bodies or aircraft was ever found.
Although naval officials maintained that the remains of the six aircraft and 27 men were not found because stormy weather destroyed the evidence, the story of the “Lost Squadron” helped cement the legend of the Bermuda Triangle, an area of the Atlantic Ocean where ships and aircraft are said to disappear without a trace. The Bermuda Triangle is said to stretch from the southern U.S. coast across to Bermuda and down to the Atlantic coast of Cuba and Santo Domingo.”
There’s no magic quite like the holidays through the eyes of a child. The season brings countless special moments and opportunities to make lifelong memories, from enjoying tasty holiday treats to exploring traditions with the family.
Infuse your festive moments with some extra magic this season with these family-friendly tips from the experts at Kinder Chocolate, who aim to spark, share and celebrate simply wonderful moments of togetherness between parents and children.
Decorate Together
Letting your family’s creativity soar is a terrific way to bond and nurture kids’ development. Let them take an active role in bringing festive energy to the household and allow them to make some design decisions, such as stringing lights and choosing the perfect place for ornaments or seasonal decor.
You can also create a personalized wreath for each member of the family to display or decorate custom stockings.
Enjoy Magical Treats
From candy canes to gingerbread houses and beyond, candy and other edible goodies are integral to the holiday season. This year, make treat time extra special with an option like limited-edition Kinder Chocolate bar x The Elf on the Shelf packs. These special packs feature the beloved Scout Elf character in single, share and mini sizes.
Each pack also includes one of eight collectible cards with a special QR code that unlocks “Let’s Story!” – a unique, co-created digital storytelling experience via Ferrero’s free Applaydu app that lets parents and kids build personalized adventures together.
Partake in Holiday Traditions
‘Tis the season for traditions and creating your own makes celebrating together each year even sweeter. You might make trimming the tree a family affair, encouraging kids to try their hand at decorating or involving everyone to helo clean up before a cozy family meal. Many families also make volunteering together an important part of their holiday experience, reinforcing messages about kindness and caring for all ages.
Look at Holiday Lights
Bringing the family together for special holiday experiences doesn’t have to be grand. In fact, a simple road trip through your hometown to tino the most awe-inspiring light displays can bring plenty of fun. You may even find local light shows that synchronize to radio music in your car. Make it an extra exciting tamily outing by bringing along some hot cocoa and treats like Kinder Chocolate for the car ride.
Organize a Family Movie Night
Bring the vibrance of the big screen to your living room with an at-home family movie night. For a special touch, consider investing in a low-cost projector that creates a theater-like experience on any wall in your house. Choose a favorite family-friendly holiday movie (or two), some popcorn and treats then settle in for an entertaining evening together.
Neurodivergent Diversions: Marcy Wu — Clumsy, Clever, and Completely Hyperfocused in Amphibia
by James Coulter
If there’s one cartoon character who reflects me, it’s Marcy Wu from Disney’s Amphibia.
Marcy Wu: Autism Personified
Amphibia is an animated fantasy adventure series about a young girl named Anne Boonchuy, who gets transported to the strange, amphibian-inhabited world of Amphibia with her friends. One of those friends is Marcy Wu, a plucky fantasy-obsessed girl who’s essentially Autism personified.
Marcy’s love of fantasy games and movies, her intense focus on her special interests to a fault, her tendency to interpret life through media tropes, and her clever but socially awkward manner all feel like me—so much so that when my niece got tattoos representing each family member, I asked her to use Marcy for mine because she’s essentially me as a cartoon character.
While never directly stated as having Autism, Marcy displays many autistic traits that make her relatable to people with Autism like me. And what makes her especially relatable is how she exhibits a trait common in Autism and other forms of neurodivergence: hyperfocus.
What is Hyperfocus?
Hyperfocus is an intense, prolonged concentration on a single subject or task, often to a point where a person becomes unaware of their surroundings and other obligations. Essentially, an individual becomes so absorbed in a task that they tune out everything else.
Most people tend to focus on something to the point where they ignore everything else, whether it’s a sports fan so obsessed with watching a game that they don’t hear someone call from another room, or a teenager losing track of time while scrolling through their phone. However, people with Autism are especially prone to this behavior.
Why? Experts believe it stems from a sharper gradient of spatial attention: autistic individuals take in a lot of information at once but concentrate more strongly on the center of their focus while paying less attention to the periphery. This creates a kind of tunnel vision, where their current object of attention dominates,and everything else fades into the background.
As Eva Silvertant writes on Embrace Autism: “In other words, it seems that when autistic people look at anything, they take a lot of information in at once, but with a greater focus on the center. Although the drop-off of attention is sharper in autistic people, perception in general is still enhanced compared with neurotypicals.”
Hyperfocus can prove to be both a blessing and a curse. On one hand, it can help boost productivity and deep engagement in a current area of interest. On the other hand, it can make shifting to different, often less interesting tasks difficult, even to the point of ignoring one’s surroundings, other people, and even basic needs like hunger, fatigue, or the passage of time.
Lost in the Frogs and the Facts
Marcy Wu’s most defining character trait is her adorkable klutziness. She often hyperfocuses on her current obsession that she’s oblivious to others and her surroundings to the point of clumsiness. As Anne tells her: “When you get this into something, you tend to tune everything else out.”
A montage in the show makes this clear. Marcy becomes so absorbed in a video game that she lets frozen yogurt overflow, misses her role in the school play, nearly walks into an open locker and slips on a wet floor, and even wanders into a pen of venomous snakes.
Her fixation follows her to Amphibia, where her awe at the fantasy world leads to a fall down a flight of stairs and a broken leg. At times, her single-mindedness doesn’t just put her at risk, but her friends as well, such as when she obsessively attempts to solve a temple puzzle and unknowingly triggers traps that threaten the group.
My Own Instances as Marcy
One personal episode of hyperfocus worried my mother enough to take me to a neurologist to be diagnosed with Autism. As a child on New Year’s Day, I played with LEGOs the entire dayand didn’t eat or drink anything until dinner.
My family has long noticed how I “zone out” and become oblivious to my surroundings. After I moved back to Virginia, my nephew-in-law called out to me as I walked by his house with headphones on. I didn’t hear him, and he later said I was in my own little world.
Another time, while my niece and her family shopped, I wandered the parking lot listening to music so intently that I didn’t notice I’d walked into a sketchy area where someone was sleeping. My nephew-in-law joked that I could walk through a shootout and only learn about it later on the news.
Like Marcy, I often get so absorbed in my interests that I ignore everything else, even to the point of clumsiness: bumping into things, knocking items over, or tripping. Is it any wonder, then, that I see her as an animated reflection of myself?
In Loving Memory of Peggy Jean Young Williams, 92, of Lake Wales
May 23, 1933 — November 27, 2025
Peggy Jean Young Williams, 92, of Lake Wales, passed away at home on November 27, 2025.
She was well know in the community for riding around in her station wagon selling sherbies and goodies. She will be greatly missed by family, friends, and all who knew her.
Visitation will be held Friday, December 5, 2025, from 5:00 – 7:00 pm, at Allen Temple A.M.E. Church, 241 C Street, Lake Wales, FL 33853.
The funeral will be held Saturday, December 6, 2025, beginning at 2:00 pm, at Allen Temple A.M.E. Church.
HAINES CITY – Sharon Garrett has an entire room in her home dedicated to preserving the land she has lived on for all of her 73 years. Inside, organized stacks of maps, newspaper clippings, letters, binders, and documents tell the decades-long story of her fight against the road she believes threatens not just her property, but her way of life.
Garrett at the gate of her family’s property. Behind her, the land that was formerly acres and acres of groves. – Photo Credit: Anita Todd
The story of the land begins in 1947, when her father, Carl Boozer, purchased the first 100 acres with his military pay after serving as a World War II fighter pilot. Over the decades, she and her brother, Stanley, along with two family businesses, added roughly 200 more acres to the farm. Although Boozer has long since passed, his wife, Mary Lee, still maintains the modest home they shared at the entrance to the property.
Garrett said her father would be heartbroken by the relentless construction that has replaced the native Florida landscape he cherished. And he would surely disapprove of the proposed route of the new Central Polk Parkway East—one that cuts directly through the heart of their family homeplace.
The Central Polk Parkway is a high-speed alternative route planned to ease congestion on U.S. 27 through Haines City and Davenport. The Florida Department of Transportation spent the past year studying various routes and has now settled on the one that will change Garrett and her family’s lives forever.
“Part of my parents’ house was built using the yellow pine milled off the land,”
The land originally came with hundreds of pine trees Boozer cleared upon returning from the war, putting many to good use. “Part of my parents’ house was built using the yellow pine milled off the land,” she said.
For generations, the property at the end of Carl Boozer Road was a sea of citrus trees stretching as far as a child’s eyes could see. As a young girl, Garrett spent her days riding her horse through rows of oranges and grapefruit, tending to flowers, and exploring the three creeks that wind across the property.
Over time, freezes and diseases devastated the groves, stripping the land of the sweet scent of blossoms and the steady rhythm of harvests. Ultimately, citrus greening—Huanglongbing (HLB), an incurable bacterial disease spread by the Asian citrus psyllid—forced the family to close their citrus operations for good.
Despite the loss of the groves, the land remains a sanctuary. A small herd of cows still graze peacefully on the acreage cherished by Sharon, her husband David, and her brother. Beside her home sits a beloved orchid business the couple founded so long ago the year has been forgotten. Inside the greenhouses, they grow thousands of exquisite blooms sold at select shows throughout the region.
Garrett in their greenhouse that houses thousands of orchids. – Photo Credit: Anita Todd
The orchid business is the culmination of Garrett’s lifelong love of flowers. Their 6,000-square-foot greenhouse is the final version of many they built and outgrew over the years.
“One of the things I will miss is my beautiful tree. We scooped it up off the creek bank with a frontend loader and planted after the house was built,”
Down the path stands the oak tree Garrett once climbed as a little girl, hoisted up by a grapevine. Nearby is another oak she and her husband planted after they were married.
“One of the things I will miss is my beautiful tree. We scooped it up off the creek bank with the frontend loader and planted after the house was built,” she remembered. “It is a spreading live oak. Over the years resurrection fern and Florida air plants have grown on the limbs. There is a plank propped on a limb for the cats to run up for safety. My horses and pets are buried out here. My dad’s ashes are spread all across our land.”
Garrett in front of the oak tree she and her husband planted when they were first married. – Photo Credit: Anita Todd
Garrett first learned about the possibility of a road when she read about a meeting for the then- Heartland Parkway, eventually renamed the now-Central Polk Parkway. It was 2006. Since then, she has made it her mission to learn everything there is to know about the project. She attends nearly every Haines City Commission meeting, many Polk County Commission meetings, some Davenport meetings, and any gathering where the road might even be mentioned.
She has saved everything—every scrap of paper that might relate to the fight. She has met with countless officials and has even requested a face-to-face meeting with Governor Ron DeSantis. So far, she hasn’t been able to get on his calendar.
Garrett looks over the years of information she has collected about the road that could possibly dissect her family’s property. – Photo Credit: Anita Todd
She knows the laws, the statutes, the environmental repercussions, the potential cost to wildlife and soil, who supports the project, who opposes it, and every fact in between. She has filed several public records requests and can recite details of the project without looking at a single note.
Yes, it may seem like a lot but, in her words, “It’s my life.”
When she and David married, they moved into a mobile home on the property and David went to work in the family citrus business. They have been married more than 50 years, and he is just as invested in the fight as his wife.
“When we built our house the directions for deliveries was to go to the end of Carl Boozer Road and ask (her parents),” she said. “I’ve lived all my life at the end of the road and my husband most of his life. So, I guess the toll road is the end of the road for us.”
Like many college campuses, Florida State University offers numerous groups where students can get involved and feel more connected. RUF is no different. Every Tuesday night, students gather at Ruge Hall at 7:00 PM to hang out and worship together. RUF has been part of Florida State University since 1988 and has grown into one of the most active and well-known Christian ministries on campus. Its mission is to reach students with the message of Christianity and help them grow in their understanding of biblical teachings within the Reformed tradition.
I had the distinct pleasure of sitting down at Ruge Hall with FSU’s RUF intern, Luke Wilkerson, as we discussed what RUF is and the impact it has on students. For those wondering, RUF stands for Reformed University Fellowship. It is associated with the Reformed heritage church, and its goal is to reach students on college campuses around the country and globe, teaching them about Christianity and its biblical teachings.
As an intern, Wilkerson’s job is both rewarding and demanding. He meets with about ten students each week, sometimes just to check in, and other times to offer mentorship and guidance. In addition to these meetings, he spends 10–15 hours each week handling administrative work, such as fundraising, to keep RUF’s ministry thriving on campus. Alongside his internship, he takes seminary classes online and reads theological books to stay engaged and knowledgeable about topics central to Christianity. Another important aspect of Wilkerson’s role is participating in RUF events, whether it’s leading the large group on Tuesday nights or assisting with other gatherings. He plays a key role in making RUF a meaningful experience for students.
#image_title
What makes RUF stand out, Wilkerson explained, is its strong sense of community. On a large campus like FSU, RUF helps make the university feel smaller and more personal for students seeking connection and faith-based support. When tragedy struck last April during the campus shooting, RUF provided a safe and compassionate space for students to process and heal. As Wilkerson described, “It’s a community that’s not going to crumble at something the world throws at it.”
The heart of RUF’s success lies in its dedicated leadership team. Pastor Kelly Jackson has served as campus minister for eight years, supported by Victoria Wallenstein, who has been involved with FSU’s RUF for nine years. Alongside them are interns Luke Wilkerson and Sarah Diemer, as well as a team of passionate student leaders, including 16 ministry team leaders and 10 outreach team leaders. One of RUF’s central goals is to empower students to take ownership of their faith and leadership so that, in time, they carry their ministry experience into the broader church and community.
#image_title
What makes RUF especially unique is the genuine care it has for the well-being of its interns and staff members. The organization recognizes that ministry can be both spiritually and emotionally demanding, so it prioritizes mental and spiritual health for everyone involved. Each intern and staff member is assigned to a prayer group that meets regularly over Zoom, allowing them to pray for one another and share life together, even across campuses. In addition, RUF requires its interns to attend monthly counseling sessions to ensure they are supported in their personal and spiritual growth.
This emphasis on care and accountability extends beyond staff, it’s reflected in the way RUF impacts students. One powerful example came after Wilkerson preached at a recent large group gathering. Following his message, a new member approached him and said, “I have never heard a message so true.” Moments like this, Wilkerson shared, remind him why RUF exists: to be a shining light for what Christianity is truly about and to reflect the beauty of the gospel.
#image_title
RUF also creates space for students to build friendships and have fun outside of formal worship settings. Events like Volleyball Fridays offer a welcoming introduction for newcomers to connect with others in a relaxed environment. Throughout the year, RUF hosts several retreats and conferences, including Fall Con, Chill Con, and Suco. Of these, Suco is one of the largest gatherings, bringing together RUF chapters from across the country in Panama City, Florida. Over the course of a week, college students attend seminars, worship sessions, and special events that deepen their understanding of Christianity and strengthen their faith.
In every aspect, whether through prayer, fellowship, counseling, or retreats, RUF provides a place where students can find community, growth, and lasting memories that extend far beyond their college years.
Get into the holiday spirit at the Holly Jolly Cocoa Party — a festive event designed for families with young children! Enjoy a cozy celebration filled with holiday-themed activities, warm cocoa, cheerful music and joyful memories. It’s the perfect way to kick off the season with laughter, love and a little holiday magic.
Free Event, pre-registration required Limited to 50 participants
The holiday season kicks off in festive fashion this Friday as the Plant City Christmas Parade returns to downtown at 7:00 p.m. Families, friends, and visitors are invited to line the streets and enjoy one of the community’s most cherished annual traditions.
This year’s parade will feature a modified route for 2025 due to the ongoing sewer replacement project at W. Reynolds Street and Palmer Street. The updated path begins on S. Collins Street at W. Ball Street, travels north on S. Collins to W. Reynolds Street, turns west toward N. Wheeler Street, and then heads south to W. Drane Street.
Road closures in the parade area will begin as early as 3:00 p.m., and the Plant City Police Department will be on-site throughout the evening to manage traffic and ensure public safety.
Organized and managed by Plant City Christmas Parade Inc., the event promises a joyful night of floats, music, lights, and holiday spirit for the entire community.
One Movie Later: Zootopia 2 Was a Pretty Good Sequel
by James Coulter
Nearly ten years ago, Disney released Zootopia, an animated standout of the 2010s and one of my personal favorites. It blended a sharp, funny buddy‑cop story with surprisingly serious themes such as systemic prejudice, scapegoating, and political corruption while remaining family-friendly.
At the time, Zootopia felt unusually prescient, arguing for diversity and warning how opportunistic politicians exploit fear for gain. Now, almost a decade later, Disney has returned to that world of furry socio-political allegory with Zootopia 2. But will it become as un-fur-getable as the original movie? Or will it be yet another run-of-the-mill sequel that will be long fur-gotten?
Set several years after the original film, Zootopia 2 reunites Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde. Nick has graduated from the academy and now works with Judy, but their partnership is strained: Judy wants to leap into danger to solve a case while Nick prefers to keep them both out of danger.
Soon, a case about a smuggled snake—an animal banned from Zootopia after a century-old incident—unfolds into a plot to steal the city founder’s journal. What starts as a routine theft soon hints at a much deeper conspiracy tied to Zootopia’s origins. Are things as they seem? And how deep is this conspiracy?
Disney animated films have a lackluster track record with sequels. Either they’re a re-tread of the original (Moana 2), a chaotic mess (Ralph Breaks the Internet), or a lackluster follow-up (Frozen 2). Zootopia 2, thankfully, bucks this trend. While the sequel doesn’t surpass the original, it stands on its own as a solid follow-up that expands the world and themes audiences loved.
Zootopia 2 continues the franchise’s interest in tackling socio‑political issues. Where the first film focused on systemic prejudice and corruption, this one explores immigration, colonization, and revisionist histories. The film delivers its message clearly without becoming heavy‑handed, keeping the story family‑friendly while remaining relevant to contemporary debates.
The movie’s strongest asset is the development of its main character. Judy and Nick’s push‑and‑pull dynamic from the original movie remains central: Judy’s impulsive idealism clashes with Nick’s cautious pragmatism, creating believable friction and emotional stakes that drive the film.
The sequel brings back familiar faces and adds a colorful supporting cast of crazy characters: an eccentric beaver podcaster, a theatrical horse‑turned‑politician, two zebra officers with an almost bro-amntic relationship, and a rough‑around‑the‑edges iguana who runs a speakeasy. Each new character is given enough screen time to be memorable without overstaying their welcome.
The central conspiracy is intriguing but becomes predictable once the setup is established in the first act. Still, the film compensates with twists, character reveals, and high‑energy action, and the third act delivers a satisfying, extended climax that keeps momentum until the end. Just when one climacticscene reaches its end, you realize there’s still more movie to go.
Another big problem is one that commonly plagues sequels: the incessant need for the sequel to remind you of the original movie. The sequel leans on callbacks to the original, which can feel like nostalgia for nostalgia’s sake. That said, it balances familiar beats with fresh ideas enough to feel like a meaningful continuation rather than a mere retread.
Overall, while not as groundbreaking as the original, Zootopia 2 is a thoughtful, entertaining sequel that deepens the franchise’s themes, strengthens its central relationship, develops old characters while introducing new ones, and offers poignant socio-political commentary through talking animals.
Welcome, World Travelers! Check Out Olaf and Other Next-Generation Robotic Characters Being Created by Disney
by James Coulter
Chances are, you’re familiar with Olaf from Disney’s Frozen. Perhaps you’ve seen him in the hit Disney animated movie. Or maybe you’ve even met him in person as a meet-and-greet character at Disney Parks. Soon, you might be able to meet the loveable snowman as a walking animatronic.
Recently, the beloved snowman from Disney’s Frozen was introduced as a next-generation robotic character at Disneyland Park, accompanied by Bruce Vaughn, President and Chief Creative Officer of Walt Disney Imagineering, and Natacha Rafalski, Présidente of Disneyland Paris.
Created using state-of-the-art technology developed by Disney Imagineering, the robot character has been described as “one of the most expressive and true-to-life characters built.” Not only does he walk and talk like an animated character brought to life, but his iridescent fibers make him look as if her were made from actual snow.
“This debut marks a new chapter in Disney character innovation, one where technology, storytelling, and collaboration come together to bring screen to reality,” Kyle Laughlin, SVP R&D Technology & Engineering, Walt Disney Imagineering. “From the way he moves to the way he looks, every gesture and detail is crafted to reflect the Olaf audiences have seen in the film — alive, curious, and unmistakably himself.”
To make his movements appear life-like, Disney Imagineers worked closely with Disney animators “to ensure every gesture felt true to the character.” The robotic character was programmed using cutting-edge artificial intelligence called “reinforcement learning”, which allows it to learn how to walk and move.
“Deep reinforcement learning helps him acquire these skills in a fraction of the time,” wrote Laughlin. “He [Olaf] can fully articulate his mouth, eyes, and removable carrot nose and arms. Most importantly, Olaf can speak and engage in conversations, creating a truly one-of-a-kind experience.”
Olaf was not the only Disney character to demonstrate this new technology. Several other robotic characters were showcased during a recent episode of “We Call It Imagineering” on the Walt Disney Imagineering YouTube channel.
The episode featured two other “free-roaming animatronic” figures: one being a female-coded mouse-eared character dancing a pirouette, and another being a raccoon-designed character jumping on a table. These characters, while only exhibited with their skeletal frameworks, were speculated by Attractions Magazine as potentially being Minnie Mouse and Guardians of the Galaxy’s Rocket Raccoon, respectively.
The Olaf character is expected to make his debut at the Frozen-themed area at Disney Adventure World (formerly Disney Parks Studios) at Disneyland Paris, scheduled to open on March 29, 2026.
