Each February, the Polk County History Center (PCHC) releases their annual evergreen guide called “Discovering Black History in Polk County.” The guide takes visitors through the exhibits, touching on the Black men and women who made history in Polk County and throughout Central Florida as pioneers and leaders in community, industry, services, military, and the courts. Curator of Education and Visitor Engagement for the History Center, Jayme Jamison, notes the guide has been a staple at the museum for the better part of ten years. It changes annually to reflect temporary exhibits or a narrative change based on direction from the American Association for State and Local History or the American Alliance of Museums. Guests interested in “Discovering Black History in Polk County” can simply checkin at the PCHC rotunda and request a guide during visiting hours. There is no admission charge to explore the museum and meander through Polk County’s past. The History Center is housed in the Old Polk County Courthouse. The site dates back to the late 1800s and the original building to 1908. In the 1990s, the museum opened to the public, providing exhibitions about Polk County’s history. Traveling exhibits from the Smithsonian or Florida Humanities Council often come through the PCHC as they partner with the state humanities council. The history center routinely offers programming for its visitors. Current programming open for visitor participation includes a Genealogy Speaker Series centered around researching family history. The other visitor program is called Zoom and Vroom, a post-pandemic twist on what was formerly a lunch-and-learn series that would feature a topic of discussion and question and answer segment. Now, topics are presented virtually every month with question and answer opportunities, and include a driving map with half to full-day routes of different historic sites related to the topic that families can follow. Coinciding with Black History Month, the Zoom and Vroom theme for February is ‘Go West Polk Countian: Exploring Kathleen, Lakeland, and Mulberry,’ spotlighting historic Black American communities and sites of historical significance. THE GUIDE The comprehensive guide walks guests through the history center’s galleries, providing a narrative to people and points of significance to Black history in Polk County. The back of the guide features a section titled “Explore the Heritage Trail” with the address and information of sites including Florence Villa, Pughsville, and Moorehead Markers, as well as the L.B. Brown House, Lake Wales North Avenue Historic District, and the African American Heritage Museum. Discovery starts on the first floor, west wing, in The Pioneer Exhibit. “Florida was a frontier,” explained Jamison. “If you were brave enough to set up a homestead between the wild animals and what ended up becoming the Seminole Wars, you were rewarded with land. It was called the Armed Occupation Act.” “The Seminole Wars were very influential in the state of Florida. There were three wars fought, and part of what came out of that was the establishment of new communities. Some of the Black communities in Florida were runaway slaves; they were known as ‘Black Seminoles,’” she said. “From that, Florida becomes a state, and Polk County becomes a county right before the Civil War breaks out. What we see is a mix of freedmen, Black Seminoles, all converging in Polk County.” A man of note from that period is Prince Johnson. According to Jamison, Johnson was an enslaved man in Florida during the Civil War. When he was freed after the war, he continued to work with Jacob Summerlin in the cattle industry, eventually acquiring land. “Because he was a land-owning man, he was able to participate in the charter to make Bartow a city,” said Jamison. The charter for the City of Bartow, signed by Prince Johnson, is kept in the upstairs historical library. “It’s phenomenal to see that there were not just Black men voting in the community, but they were participating. They were the community. Prince Johnson is a great example of that,” she said. According to Jamison, another black pioneer is Robert B. Patterson, famous for his work with the Afro-American Life Insurance Company. “While they specialized in helping Black Americans obtain life insurance and mortgages, the company also established American Beach. Located on Amelia Island, American Beach was one of only a few beaches in the Southeast open to Black Americans and would have likely been featured in the Green-Book.” Historic Black communities Moorehead, Florence Villa, and Pughsville, are featured on this leg of the tour. Hanging here are a few shots from The LaFrancine Burton Collection compiled by Lakeland resident and historian LaFrancine Burton. Her entire collection, including over 200 items, can be accessed digitally through the Polk County Historical and Genealogical Library website. According to that website, “It contains a variety of publications, articles, and photographs she has collected over the years. The artifacts within are a tribute to African-American history and experience in Polk County. The former African American community of Moorehead and its residents are the primary subjects of the photographs. The articles vary in topic from current events to historical events and more.” “We don’t have as many artifacts from the Black community that we would like to have to make really robust exhibits,” noted Jamison. If any families in the area have something they would like to donate, contact the museum to explore donation options. The upstairs library also holds books about the different communities like The History of Florence Villa, by Ulysses J. Johnson III, and another on the Moorehead/Lakeland area called The Evolution of African-Americans Lakeland, Florida (1883-2014) by Neriah Roberts, which Jamison called “an anthology of the who’s who of Black history in the area.” The Pioneer Exhibit flows into the Industry Gallery and the next stop on the guide. The dominant industries in Polk County historically were railroad, phosphate, citrus, cattle, and turpentine. Included in the guide is the mention of the work of a prolific Black author on turpentine production in Davenport. “During the Great Depression, the Works Progress Administration had a writers initiative where they sent writers out across the country to capture the American experience. The writer that came to Polk County was Zora Neale Hurston,” she said. “Zora Neale Hurston came to Polk County, to Davenport, and she observed what life was like working in the turpentine mills. From that, she wrote a book called Mules and Men. […] It really became this great collection of American folklore,” said Jamison. After writing for the Works Progress Administration, Neale Hurston wrote a play entitled Polk County. The historical musical ended up in the Library of Congress, where it was “discovered” in the archives in 2002. Schools began picking up the play and performing Zora Neale Hurston’s Polk County. Significant to the citrus industry is renowned citrus horticulturist Dan Laramore. Laramore studied citrus out west and came to Florida as the head horticulturist for the Inmans. Next is the Community Gallery, looking at Polk’s Black athletes, which Jamison described as “a significant source of recognition and pride for the county.” Athletes across many sports are recognized in the gallery. Athletes like Tracy McGrady, Otis Birdsong, Ken Riley, Ray Lewis, Ralph ‘Big Cat’ Johnson, brothers James ‘Big Jim’ and Leander ‘Schoolboy’ Tugerson, Rod Smart, and Alvin Harper. The last of whom was a multi-sport athlete from Frostproof who played for the Dallas Cowboys and is widely recognized for his iconic touchdown celebration where he dunked the football over the goalpost during Super Bowl XXVII in 1993. The Services Gallery focuses on the types of service you would find in the county and municipalities like the schools, fire department, police, doctors, etc. For instance, “Eddie Groover Sr. was the first Black officer hired by the Bartow Police Department in 1963,” said Jamison. A champion for school desegregation was Althea Margaret Daily Mills. Born in Florence Villa, Daily Mills went away to live with family and attended a desegregated high school. She came back to Polk County some ten years following the landmark Brown v. Board of Education case. Realizing her son was slated to attend a segregated high school, Daily Mills contacted an attorney. “She brought about a civil suit and combined with a couple of others in Polk County, they were able to force the Polk County School Board at that time to make all haste to desegregate,” said Jamison. She became the first Black resident in Winter Haven to be a career post office worker, eventually becoming the manager. On December 21, 2020, Congress passed a bill signed by the president to rename the post office in Florence Villa after Daily Mills. The last exhibit to explore before heading upstairs is Women’s Fashion from the early 1900s through 1930s, coordinating with an exhibition on the second floor about the 19th Amendment. Dresses worn by prolific civil rights activists sit before striking photos of women making history. The Polk County History Center worked with the National Portrait Gallery in Washington D.C. to reproduce a series of photographs from the “Votes for Women: A Portrait of Persistence” segment of the “Because of Her Story” exhibition. “This exhibit looks at some women on the national level that influenced civic participation and voting rights,” said Jamison. Women like Fannie Lou Hamer, the American voting rights, women’s rights, and civil rights activist. Also of note are Mary Terrell and Mary Haywood Cooper. Both women pioneered the 19th Amendment, championing that all women deserved a right to participate in their government. Jamison pointed out Mary McLeod Bethune, touching on “The school and education efforts that she made to help promote community leadership” and her influence in the voting rights movement. Open on February 2, the upstairs Military Gallery spans the Seminole Wars through Operation Desert Storm and the War on Terror. Jamison pointed out a photo. “During the Spanish American War, we had encampments of soldiers that came through Lakeland on their way further south in Florida. One of the groups that came through Lakeland was the Buffalo Soldiers – the all-Black U.S. Tenth Cavalry Regiment of the U.S. Army.” Lace Gallemore was a hero during WWI. He served as a cook when a battle broke out. “When things were not looking good, he took up arms and bravely fought to help secure the position of his unit and saved lives,” she said. Guests can admire a collection of memorabilia from Earl ‘Jack’ Thompson, a Winter Haven resident who served and was wounded during Vietnam and awarded a purple heart. Also in the exhibit are photos of a young Claude Woodruff that show a young man of allegedly only 14, taking up arms to serve in the Marine Corps during WWII. The Arts and Culture Gallery displays information on the L.B. Brown House, the literary contributions of Zora Neale Hurston, the artwork of Highwaymen Robert Butler, and the musical contributions of jazz trumpeter Nat Adderley. Guests can walk the original floors and see the judge’s bench of the primary courtroom, built in 1908. “When we’re talking about the country from 1908 through the 1960s, unfortunately, we also have to talk about segregation, and that was the purpose of the balcony,” said Jamison of the balcony overlooking the courtroom, which was used in years past to segregate the audience. Beyond the 1960s, diversity in the courts grew. Timothy Koon was the first Black judge to serve in Polk County, and James B. Sanderlin, the first Black judge to serve on the second district court of appeals for the State of Florida. Community leader Larry R. Jackson (who has a branch of the Lakeland Public Library named after him) was the first Black attorney for the City of Lakeland. Jackson was also the first Black American to run for judge. Karla Foreman Wright was the first Black woman to serve as a judge on the Tenth Judicial Circuit Courts of the Polk County Court. Her photo is joined by Peggy A. Quince, the first Black woman appointed to the Florida Supreme Court, who later became Chief Justice of the Florida Supreme Court. POLK COUNTY HISTORICAL AND GENEALOGICAL LIBRARY Concluding the tour, guests can explore what was once the law library, now the Polk County Historical and Genealogical Library. The library is home to an extensive collection of research books, family bibles, and other tools for tracking down family history, ancestry, even historic properties. “All of this information that we’ve looked at today comes from our collection of historical documents and archives,” explained Jamison. These resources for researching individual or family histories don’t only cover the county but also a sizable collection spanning the United States’ southeastern region. Research and Genealogy Historian Preston Petermeier detailed the next segment in the Genealogy Speaker Series, which will be a deep dive into African American genealogy. “Our program for next month is actually part two, of last August. Annette Burke Lyttle virtually did a presentation for us on the introduction beginning African American research,” he said. “In February is the intermediate level. She’s going to come and do the next step. In the first one, she took us back to tracing African American genealogy back to the Civil War, 1870 Census. From there, she’s going into more of the different records of the Reconstruction Period.” The Polk County History Center and the Historical and Genealogical Library are invaluable resources for discovering and understanding the area’s history. “I try to emphasize that yes, there are people on the national level who did big, important things, but who are the people in your community that had an influence? Whether that’s Dr. Simpson, who was the first Black doctor in Lakeland, or Rosabelle Blake, who Blake Academy is named for, a prolific educator, or Dan Laramore, Ulysses Johnson or some of the people who came out of Florence Villa,” said Jamison. “National heroes are great – local heroes are even better.” For information on the “Discovering Black History in Polk County” guide, local Black heroes, the history center, library, or programming, check out Polk County History Center website and stop in for a visit. Polk County History Center www.polkhistorycenter.org 863-534-4386 100 E. Main St., Bartow

Laura Prazdnicane, 18-years-old, is a senior at All Saints Academy. She transcends academically and socially, earning high marks in her honors classes. She speaks three languages, has a part-time job, is involved in extracurricular clubs, and was crowned homecoming queen this year. “Laura has a heart… there’s something special about her. She’s an old soul,” said Ashley Bell Barnett. A quiet confidence radiates as Laura speaks about the life she’s had – the one that brought her to America from an orphanage in Latvia. “I grew up in Latvia in a town called Jelgava,” she began. Laura was just two when her mother passed away. She and her younger brother lived with their father after their mother’s death. Her father struggled with alcoholism, and at six-years-old, she and her brother went to an orphanage. Two years later, Laura would meet Wesley and Ashley Barnett, changing each other’s lives forever. The Barnetts worked with an organization based out of Texas called Orphan Outreach to go on a mission trip to Latvia. They visited an orphanage on the Russian border and another in Jelgava. In the Jelgava orphanage, the Barnetts met 8-year-old Laura Prazdnicane. Laura remembers meeting Ashley for the first time. “She came on a mission trip to help kids with family issues and to talk about Jesus,” she said. “I met her, and we kind of just got really close. […] I think I saw her for only about two days. I didn’t know much about her, and I didn’t speak good English, so it’s funny that we got attached.” “We did have a connection,” said Ashley. “Laura was so innocent with her little smile, and regardless of not speaking the same language, you could feel the love between us in those days that we served. [...] When we left, my heart just broke. Wesley and I were on a little charter bus to leave the orphanage and I can remember her little handprints were up on the window. She said, ‘Don’t leave, don’t leave.’” “I don’t know if we knew we needed to do more or if God planted a seed in our heart,” Ashley continued. “I feel like her story was already written before we were even involved. She was just a special girl. […] We didn’t find her; she found us.” Laura and the Barnetts stayed in contact, and Laura would come to Winter Haven and stay with them during Christmas and summer breaks. She eventually met her biological aunt, who then became her guardian in Latvia, before being given the opportunity to move to the United States for school. “In Latvia, I went to a boarding school. It was a good place, it was just away from my brother all the time and my grandparents, and it was a really small school,” said Laura, noting the added difficulty of finding a good college to attend there. “They asked me if I would want to come here for school, and I said, ‘Of course!’… I never thought I would have a chance like this to have a good education and family.” Laura has been here for three years now, living with Ashley’s parents, Melony and Robbie Bell. “They are like my family,” she said of the Bells and Barnetts. Much of Laura’s recent life is colored brightly with memories of school, friends, and family, but almost two years ago, her dad passed away. She was in the United States when he died and traveled back to Latvia to attend his funeral. As with every other traumatic circumstance dealt her by life, she continued to stay positive and work hard. “She’s been through so much trauma in her life, but she’s still so compassionate, and so loving, and so caring, and wants to do more for herself than what her circumstance would behold. [...] Instead of being bitter about circumstance, it’s made her better and more understanding and more compassionate. She sees the world through a better lens than I could ever perceive the world,” said Ashley. Last fall, donning a sparkly black dress, Laura Prazdnicane was crowned All Saints Academy’s 2020 Homecoming Queen. “I felt really honored to be crowned homecoming queen. I honestly was not expecting it because this is only my third year at ASA, and I’m a foreigner. Most of the other kids that were running for the king and queen have been here since the pre-k,” she said. “When I lived in Latvia and when I would watch the “American movies,” I always wondered what it’s like to be chosen by the student body. We don’t have homecomings or proms in Latvia. Therefore, I thought that something like that would never happen to me. Girls in the movies usually are popular, but I’m not like them at all.” She described winning the homecoming court with her boyfriend, Kyle Meadows, as an “amazing experience.” Though she is All Saints royalty, Laura doesn’t let the crown get in the way of her activities with Key Club, National Honors Society, as a backstage manager in the theatre program at her school, and her job as the babysitter for three young boys. She plans to start playing tennis this year too. Laura is uninhibited in the pursuits of her interests, be them art or academia. Last year, she and a friend created a sculpture project in their NuVu class. “Our project got chosen for the upcoming park “Bonnet Springs Park” in Lakeland. We got to work with professionals to make the sculpture real. It was an amazing experience, and I’m super excited to see my sculpture in a park,” she said. Bolstered by her accomplishments and exemplary grades, Laura was accepted to Florida Southern College. The high school senior is still exploring her career options. “At first, I wanted to be a doctor because I wanted to help people,” she said. “I want to help people because Ashley has helped me so much, and I want to do the same thing for others. […] Now I feel I want to go into business because I want to be really successful. I want to be the opposite side to my family – I want to do well.” Surrogate sister Ashley Bell Barnett believes Laura is limitless. “Her confidence is definitely one of her brightest qualities, and I think she’s destined to do wonderful things whatever she chooses in life.” Opportunities have undeniably propelled Laura, but it is something innate which navigates her future and her past. Internal forces of courage and unrelenting work ethic – the courage to leave Latvia and move across the world, the courage to pursue things that interest her and excellence in her studies, and the drive to achieve it. Complimenting these traits of strength and resilience are humility, gratitude, and a giving heart. “I’m really thankful for my family that I have now. They show me what it’s like to have a real family, somebody that cares for you,” she said. Laura says her family has helped her beyond measure. “And that’s what I want to do in the future – I want to help people because they’ve shown me what it’s like when somebody helps and cares for you when nobody was. They opened my eyes.” Though loss and trauma lace through the fabric of her life story, Laura uses these threads as motivation to remain thankful for everything. “You never know what’s going to happen tomorrow,” she said. “One day, I was happy, outside, playing with my brother. We were always alone, but it was still fun. The next day, police came and took us. You never know what’s going to happen. But also, now I’m here, and I never knew that would happen,” she smiled.

It is finally the time of year for sugar and spice and everything nice. For Head Baker at Craft + Kitchen, Meg Magliano, it’s time for beer and baking and boozy sweets making. “I’ve always had a passion for baking,” said Magliano. After eight years working in tech support, Lakeland resident Meg Magliano decided to make a career change and indulge that sweet tooth passion. She baked goodies as a side gig for a bit, baking for weddings, showers, and events. “I decided that I wanted to get into the beer industry because that was one of my big passions and then put the two together,” she said of beer and baking. Meg has been baking with brews on and off for about two years, focusing on it seriously for the last year. She joined Craft + Kitchen as their head baker four months ago. “Before Craft + Kitchen, I was the Assistant Brewer at Swan Brewing, and I loved that. I decided to take a chance on myself and take the job that Craft + Kitchen offered me to do baking,” she said. It was a love of reading growing up that initially sparked Meg’s interest in the kitchen. “I liked to read a lot,” she said. “I found a cupcake book. It was about all these different cupcakes that you could make look like Martians or spaghetti and meatballs, and I was obsessed with it.” She began baking fairly young, with boxed cake mixes topped with her own designs. Eventually, Meg ditched the boxed mix and began concocting her own recipes. Now, many of her recipes incorporate a cold one. “It started because I really like beer,” she said. “I worked at a brewery, so I was able to get certain beers that worked very well with it.” The first time Magliano baked with beer, she set up a “taste panel” with her husband and a friend. They sampled three IPA’s looking for “the most citrusy notes.” She used an IPA to make both the batter and buttercream frosting for an orange creamsicle cupcake. She followed up that boozy batch with peanut butter and chocolate cupcakes. She found fun in baking cupcakes with beer and in the diversity of treats like cookies, cakes, and other desserts. “I try to do [desserts] that will challenge myself,” she said. Not that there isn’t a special place for cupcakes in this brewing baker’s heart, but she likes to sprinkle in a variety of desserts, including cookies, brownies, and cheesecake bars. She aims to produce “Things that are easy to sit down and enjoy with a beer and not necessarily have to spend a lot of time on, but they’re easily accessible… and then every once in a while, I’ll throw a cupcake in,” she laughed. What does beer accomplish in baked goods? “It depends on what you’re making,” said Magliano. “The flavor can be impacted, but it can also tenderize things – it can make it a lot fluffier or very delicate.” The head baker’s favorite beers to bake with are Stouts or Porters. “I like chocolate, and I think they go hand in hand,” she said. “The most fun beers to bake with are IPA’s because they can be hit or miss. If you go with too much, it can be bitter, or if you add them in certain situations, it can even have a spicy note to it.” Part of what makes the holidays special are time-honored traditions, often in the kitchen. For Magliano, it’s Brown Sugar Pecan Cookies, which she’s already made this year at Craft + Kitchen. “I do them every year. They taste like fall to me every time because I do them at the very beginning of fall, and then I do them at Thanksgiving. For me, it’s a pretty huge comfort food,” she said. Sweets lovers can stop into Craft + Kitchen for a handcrafted treat by Meg or browse their taps and shelves for at-home craft beer baking ingredients. “We have such an incredible selection at Craft + Kitchen that typically if you can’t find the same brand that you want, we have something super comparable, if not exactly what you’re looking for,” said Magliano. For Stout students, IPA initiates, Porter apprentices, and other beer baking beginners, we asked Magliano to share any helpful tips. “Measure everything,” she said. And remember, “It’s supposed to be super fun, so even if things seem bleak or it doesn’t seem like it’s working out, in the end, you’re baking with beer, and you can always drink it afterward if it doesn’t work out!” Craft + Kitchen 3234 Florida Ave S, Lakeland (863) 455-9555 www.cklakeland.com FB @cklakeland IG @craftandkitchenlakeland

For cocktails: 8 ounces apple cider 4 ounces bourbon 4 tablespoons honey-thyme simple syrup 4 teaspoons lemon juice For the simple syrup: ½ cup sugar ½ cup honey 1 cup water 10 sprigs fresh thyme In a small saucepan, combine syrup ingredients. Heat over mediumhigh heat, stirring occasionally until sugar is dissolved. Take off the heat and let sit for 30 minutes. Strain through a fine sieve to remove any thyme leaves. Store in refrigerator until cooled. To make the cocktail: Fill a cocktail shaker with ice. Add syrup, bourbon & apple cider to shaker and shake until well mixed. Add lemon juice and shake again. Pour over ice and garnish with thyme sprigs and apple slices. Serves 2. Please drink responsibly, 21+ only. Recipe adapted from Camillestyles.com

A place for girls to grow and learn and be themselves, Girls Inc. of Winter Haven is making a difference in the lives of girls within our community. More than an after-school program, it is enrichment and opportunity, art and expression, friendship, and giggles. Even through a pandemic, the Girls Inc. staff, led by Executive Director, Peggy Threlkel, has continued to support girls’ education and personal development. Threlkel joined Girls Inc. of Winter Haven in 2007. The Girls Inc. mission to “Inspire all girls to be Strong, Smart, and Bold” resonated with her. The executive director grew up in Winter Haven, obtaining a graduate degree in psychology. Before her work with Girls Inc., she worked in the mental health division at Winter Haven Hospital for almost 11 years. We spoke with Threlkel about the changes and challenges facing the organization and what the community can do to help. A SPACE FOR GIRLS TO GROW Girls Inc. is an all-girl after school program during the year and an all-day camp during spring break and summer. “What we do is provide vital out of school enrichment and academic activities to help them grow and develop,” said Threlkel. In addition to girls receiving homework help, the organization offers structured programming covering everything from STEM and literacy to life skills like Economic Literacy, Leadership and Community Action, Media Literacy, and more. “We want them to learn something. We want them to get something out of it and be able to take that with them,” said Threlkel. Other classes cover cultural and civic topics like Hispanic Heritage Month, Bullying Prevention, and their initiative called She Votes. “That’s a Girls Inc. program that talks about the voting process. What we did this week was: Who represents me?” said the executive director. Using the Girls Inc. of Winter Haven address, girls learned who represents them, from the mayor to the president. At the end of the course, the girls will participate in a mock election. Riley “Girls Inc. focuses on girl-only activities because girls can grow and develop more positively in an all-girl environment...” said Threlkel. “A lot of times, girls are not as excited in school, academically, because boys tend to get more attention in certain areas.” Those areas being math and science, explained Threlkel. She said some girls walk in and express their dislike for these subjects, but when given a fun project, working with other girls, it gives them the ambition to try. “It gives them the opportunity without feeling like they’re going to be made fun of, or feeling that they’re stupid, or having boys watch them. […] That’s still something that plays a key part in their thought process of how they are perceived and reacted to. So, we give them an environment where they’re free from that distraction.” Even if they miss a question or give a silly answer, “They’re encouraged to try again, and that’s very valuable,” she said. “A lot of our young ladies do come from disadvantaged homes, and they may see only one way of thinking or doing things. We’re able to get them outside of that and help them to try differently. We’ve had parents say, ‘I need her to stay and finish her homework because I can’t do it with her.’ That’s valuable to me. If we can be that or do that for them because they don’t have anybody else who can – that’s a win. […] If we can help them grow into the best ‘them’ they can be, that’s a win.” COVID CHANGES & CHALLENGES In March, when the school board announced that they were shutting down schools for several weeks, Girls Inc. followed suit, notifying parents they would not be open. The date to reopen was pushed back as COVID-19 cases rose. When they shut down, Girls Inc. sent out texts, emails, and made phone calls letting families know that if their child did need help with homework, they could set up individual meetings and help them with their work. Threlkel and her staff pivoted rapidly to host virtual Zoom sessions for the girls. By the second week of April, Girls Inc. of Winter Haven was running four days worth of virtual sessions per week, continuing through the end of the school year. During the summer, the organization typically runs an 8-week summer program. “Waiting for the CDC and other guidance to come out, we pushed back our start,” said Threlkel. They reached out to the families of girls who had been with them throughout the school year to discuss offering a shorter, smaller summer camp. Some parents were not comfortable enough, while others would call every couple of days to ask about the program’s starting date. In the first week of July, Girls Inc. started a 5-week summer program, observing safety and social distance practices. Lyrique & Camaiah Threlkel’s next hurdle came with uncertainty surrounding school reopenings and how Girls Inc. would respond. They decided to open for regular after-school programming. Pre-pandemic numbers saw between 65 and 90 girls a day attending Girls Inc., whereas currently, with social distancing, it is capped at 40. Once things stabilize, the organization has the potential to expand classes in their big room. “We have a waiting list. That’s just dependent on making sure we have the facilitators to open that class up,” she said. The pandemic also affected the Girls Inc. schedule. Girls used to arrive, get checked in, put their things in the homework room, wash hands, have a snack, and either go back to the homework room to finish their schoolwork or go outside for free time if they didn’t have any work to do. At 4:30, everyone would regroup and go into their classes for programming. A stark contrast with minimal contact, now girls go into their assigned classes, eat their snack, and do homework in their classrooms before doing programming. There are fewer girls and limited interaction between them to keep everyone safe. Daily routines at Girls Inc. weren’t the only thing to change significantly. The girls themselves faced struggles with the shutdown. “It really impacted the families. There were families whose parents were still working,” said Threlkel. Some girls were with a different family member each day while their parents worked. “They had difficulty getting their work done,” she said. Threlkel fears last year could prove a setback in the academic careers of some of the girls. “I know there were students who did not grow to their potential last school year,” she said. FUNDING AT THE FOREFRONT Though attendance is down, costs have risen for Girls Inc. “All nonprofits since March have significantly had impacts to their funding because everyone had to cancel their events like we did,” said Threlkel. Now, Girls Inc. has increased needs for each child. Additional supplies were purchased so each girl could have her own set of markers, crayons, pencils, colored pencils, scissors, and glue, to avoid sharing. Even snack time costs have increased with individually packaged foods and juice versus portioning out as done previously. “The United Way was also a significant decrease,” said Threlkel. Girls Inc. is a United Way organization. Due to the pandemic, their funding from The United Way decreased by around 37%. “They can’t allocate what they don’t have,” she said. “We’ve tried very hard to keep things as tight as we can so that we’re not significantly going above where we can be financially. […] It’s caused sleepless nights.” Financial donations are an investment in the future of the community’s strong, smart, bold young women. Donations can be mailed or made directly through their website. Supplies, including paper products, individually wrapped snacks, and cleaning products, are also needed. ANGELS AMONG US A hard hit to their budget this year was the cancellation of the spring fundraiser, the She Knows Where She’s Going Luncheon. Funds from that event lead the organization into summer and carry them through to their other fundraising event in the fall, Angels Among Us. Girls Inc. of Winter Haven is moving forward with Angels Among Us with stringent coronavirus safety measures. The event will be on Tuesday, November 17, from 5:30 pm to 8 pm at Venue 650. Girls Inc. board members have been closely monitoring CDC guidelines to ensure a safe event, according to the Board of Directors President, Mary Beth Hundley. “The event space will hold 650 people. We normally have attendees in the 250 range. That leaves plenty of space to spread out and mingle. We also have the outside space as well that we can take advantage of and give the guests a little fresh air,” she said. Guests will be given their own pen during check-in to use for bidding on silent auction items, hand sanitizer will be plentiful, and guests have the option to wear a mask. This year, Girls Inc. added another sponsor level for supporters to donate, according to Hundley. “We understand that some folks will still not be comfortable getting out to an event but may want to still contribute without purchasing a ticket. This will be very important to the organization, as this is our only fundraiser this year! The Girls need everyone’s support,” she said. Find the event on their Facebook page, which will lead to the RSVP screen to purchase tickets or donate. Girls Inc. is always looking for sponsors and raffle items. Contact them through Facebook. THE ‘GIRLS’ IN GIRLS INC. Girls who attend Girls Inc. are our daughters, sisters, granddaughters, and nieces today. With the guidance, education, and programming offered by Girls Inc., along with their own ambition and girl power, they will be our doctors, congresswomen, lawyers, engineers, entrepreneurs, and world leaders tomorrow. Nine-year-old Riley has been coming to Girls Inc. for three years. “I like that they do a lot of fun activities, and they help us learn,” said the fourth-grader. She enjoys flexing her creativity through drawing, coloring, and making things – like a movie projector she made for a prompt with only a bag of assorted items, merging creativity and engineering. Everything from STEM to literacy, learning about new people, and experiments interest 12-year-old Lyrique. “I like writing essays,” she said. “I like opinion essays and argumentative essays like ‘Should you wear masks and how they can protect you.’ I’m doing that in online school, and I like writing about that.” Camaiah, 8-years-old, says, “I like to do activities. I like to color and draw.” Math and reading are the third-grader’s favorite subjects. She wants to be a teacher when she grows up. “I want to teach all grades except for college,” she said. For the organization’s future, Threlkel said, “I would love for things to go back to normal, but I don’t know what normal is going to look like. [...] I do see us and others being able to go back to some semblance of the way we used to do things. I see us being able to have a separate area where girls can come and do their homework altogether even though they’re from all different schools and going back into different classes.” “I think we can come out of this on the cusp of moving forward and becoming even stronger,” said Girls Inc. of Winter Haven executive director Peggy Threlkel. “It’s just a matter of what it will look like.” Girls Inc. of Winter Haven www.girlsincwinterhaven.org FB @girlsincorporatedofwinterhaven (863) 967-2874 Mailing Address: P.O. Box 7285 Winter Haven, FL 33883-7285 Photos by Amy Sexson

Born and raised in Lakeland, Amy Sharpe had an affinity for performing and acting as she grew up. Every year her family would take a beach vacation, and she would wrangle her sister and cousins into elaborate performances. The same giggles and glee that undoubtedly resulted from those makeshift shows are created now through Sharpe’s company, Dreams Come True Entertainment. Pursuing her passion for performing, Sharpe majored in Theatre at Florida Southern College, graduating in 2008. She went on to work at Disney World as a character attendant and also as a driver for the Jungle Cruise ride. She struggled to find a space for herself within the industry. Following in her parents’ footsteps – both of whom are educators – she went back to school to obtain her teaching certification. Sharpe took an art teacher position in Winter Haven. While researching Halloween projects for her students, she came across character impersonations and realized there was an entire industry for it, beyond Elvis’s rhinestones and blue suede shoes. While still teaching, she started her mobile character entertainment business, Dreams Come True Entertainment. She taught art and ran her business simultaneously for several years. That all changed when the movie Frozen came out. The blizzard of excitement around the film launched a certain Snow Queen and her Ice Princess sister into popularity and the hearts of millions of children. Around this time, Sharpe left teaching to focus on Dreams Come True solely. A surge in princess popularity hit the character entertainment industry. Many people were purchasing cheap costumes and charging to attend a party as a child’s favorite princess. Sharpe said, “Whereas we have professional theme-park level quality costumes, I have an acting background, a background working at Disney World.” With such saturation in character work, Sharpe went back to teaching. “I taught again for a few years, and I ended up realizing that my passion is truly in this,” she said. Last summer, she left teaching and committed to finding an event space. In November of 2019, she opened her Traders Alley event space, Enchanted Fairytale Hollow. The Hollow is now the base for all the magic-making, though Dreams Come True Entertainment still offers their mobile party service. “We still travel anywhere anyone needs magic,” said the owner. KEEPING MAGIC ALIVE “We provide authentic character entertainment for people of all ages. We always want to create unforgettable magical memories. That’s what we were doing with our mobile service, and now that we have our event space, we can do that with more community events, we can expand on that,” said the head magic maker. Dreams Come True presents 60 characters from princes and princesses to fairies, Jedi’s, and superheroes. “Unforgettable Magical Memories” can be made with birthday package appearances from The Ice Princess, The Snow Queen, Tinkerbell, Alice in Wonderland, The Frog Princess, Cinderella, Snow White, Princess Aurora, the Amazing Superhero Team, and many more. Each character is well-researched for authenticity in appearance, personality, and mannerisms. “We want to make sure it’s always the best of the best, and we will go above and beyond to keep the magic alive,” Sharpe said. Dreams Come True parties are more than an appearance by your favorite character; it’s full-on pixie dust, glass slipper, true love’s first kiss, thingamabob magic. A recent fairy festival event involved all eight Neverland fairies at different stations where children could travel to determine their pixie talent. In the end, there was a talent ceremony. “It made everyone feel special in a way while seeing what made them unique as well.” As a fairytale business owner, it was only fair to find out her favorite princess. Growing up, it was Ariel. Sharpe’s mother said it was the first movie she saw in theaters and was scared of the shark. “I do love Ariel because she does what she needs to, to get what she wants, and helps out those who she thinks deserves it whether or not her family agrees with her,” she said. CHARITABLE EFFORTS “Always, my business has been focused on doing charitable work because to me, it’s not about making money, it’s all about making the magic for someone,” said Sharpe. Dreams Come True Entertainment sprinkles the community with enchantment and a little bit of pixie dust through hospital visits for those with special or medical needs. To support their charitable efforts, the entertainment company hosts a Royal Ball twice a year. “Anyone that we’ve come in contact with throughout all of our magic-making that has any sort of special needs – adult or child – or maybe they’ve battled with cancer, or maybe they have something else going on – we give them free tickets to these events every year. Then we also have ticket sales open to the community, so that we can cover the cost of the event and hopefully raise funds to continue doing lots of free stuff for the community.” Due to the ongoing health crisis, their Spring Ball had to be canceled as it involved 19 characters and an entire choreographed show. Wintertime looks to bring the whimsy as Sharpe plans to hold the Christmas Ball. The event promises to be a spellbinding good time for all. There will be different activity stations, including decorating gingerbread men and making reindeer dust, along with refreshments, a sing-along show with the Snow Queen and Ice Princess, a Christmas story read by Belle and the Beast, and pictures with Santa. There will be a raffle to win experiences like attending their community events and a free birthday party. “We want to make it a big community event that brings magic to the community and also helps make magic for our friends with special needs,” said Sharpe. If you aren’t able to make it to the event, consider purchasing a ticket and giving it to a special needs friend, leaving a donation, or sponsoring a specific character or activity. ENCHANTED FAIRYTALE HOLLOW Within the whimsically decorated walls of Enchanted Fairytale Hollow, Sharpe, Ichabod the frog, and all of their fairytale friends create memories with their guests. The downtown Lakeland space is available for rent, including private birthdays and character-themed parties. The dreamy digs are the backdrop for recurring community events like a monthly storytime. For $5, guests can enjoy a story told by a surprise character. “You might see Cinderella; maybe it will be a real live mermaid. That was an opportunity to offer something for all budgets,” said Sharpe. “The storytime is so that some characters who are really neat characters, but people might not be as aware of them or they might not be as popular, they can then get out and then kids can relate to them.” Check out their Facebook pages for a full list of events. Though they are known mostly for their work with children, Sharpe would like to extend the storybook experience to adults who love princes, princesses, and dressing up. She has plans for an adult tea party and makeover event in which grown-ups can connect with their inner fairytale character by being transformed into their favorite mermaid or princess. “I wanted to bring that magic in more ways than one,” she said of their community events. Be on the lookout for even more community offerings, including art classes and adult events. The Dreams Come True owner hopes to one day offer summer and winter camps at Enchanted Fairytale Hollow. As for parties, she said, “We offer anything you can imagine or dream, we’ve probably got something for you. […] We are here to make any dream you may have, a reality.” The experiences Dreams Come True Entertainment provides children is evident in the name itself. Sharpe heard from her friend, the Snow Queen, about a special birthday one little girl had. When the Snow Queen visited her, the birthday girl was over the moon, showing her every toy and item she had related to the film, and kept telling her how much she loved her. “For these kids, it’s their role model, someone they look up to. It’s very special that they are able to talk to her and get warm hugs. [...] It’s inspiring to do that,” she said. “It makes me feel special to be able to make them feel special.” Dreams Come True Entertainment www.dreamscometrueentertainment.com FB @DreamsComeTrueEntertainment Enchanted Fairytale Hollow 214 Traders Alley, Lakeland (863) 225-3784 FB @EnchantedFairytaleHollow Photo by Amy Sexson

“Our mission is to reach all kids, particularly those who need us the most to reach their full potential as productive, caring, responsible citizens,” said Stephen Giordano, President and CEO of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Polk County. Giordano has been a for-profit CEO for the last 20-something years. Head hunters would seek him out to turn around troubled companies across the country. The seven units of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Polk County planned to merge and needed a CEO. After interviewing with board members, he was selected and hired as the President and CEO in January of 2019. Accomplishing their mission on a micro-level, Giordano explained, is in a B, C, or D school with a population of at-risk kids. “That population can’t really afford to keep their kids active during the summer, they can’t afford after school care, so the parents are somewhat limited. One of the terrific things we do is have a place for them to go.” However, the Boys & Girls Club is much more than a place to go. They provide after school programs to help children with academics, health, character, and leadership backed by their staff of volunteers, mentors, teachers, tutors, and unit directors. The program Power Hour, for example, dedicates the first hour of arrival to homework. If a child doesn’t have homework, the staff will find a subject they may struggle with at school and supplement that with real tutors. Triple Play is an activity offering a holistic approach to the mind, body, and soul of each child, according to their website. It is “aimed to improve Club Members’ knowledge of healthy habits; increase the number of hours per day they participate in physical activities; and strengthen their ability to interact positively with others and engage in positive relationships.” After this, the Boys & Girls Club feed kids a healthy meal. “The combination of all of these programs leads to some interesting causal solutions to the community’s problems,” Giordano said. “We have 689,000 people in Polk County. Probably 100k are living at or below the poverty level. That produces probably 55k at-risk kids. [...] These are kids who don’t have great options. Left to their own devices, we know what happens – they get involved with crime, they don’t graduate high school at the same ratio as other kids, and they are not fed [nutritious meals].” “When we show up, crime drops because we are 3 to 7, which is a prime crime time. Crime drops by 25 - 30%, high school graduation improves by 35%, obesity goes down, and nutrition goes up.” An eighth location of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Polk County is set to open in Bartow. Between all of their units, the organization currently serves 2,500 kids within the county. “Our goal, the board has decided this during our strategic initiative, is that over the next five years, we’re going to reach 10,000 kids,” said Giordano. CREATING LEADERS The focus on character and leadership through Keystone Clubs, Torch Club, and Youth of the Month set children on the right path, giving them positive goals for which to strive. “What we find is that the more that we can structure aspirational programs for the kids – like being on the Torch Club or to be a Youth of the Year candidate – the more we can keep them the older they get,” said the president and CEO. The organization has no problem retaining younger children; there’s a waiting list, in fact. But as they grow into their teens, they can drift from the program’s positive impacts. “What we’re really proud of is we get these kids back as volunteers because we’ve involved them,” said Giordano. “Let’s say you’re in the Torch Club, and one day a week, you are going to be a supervisor of the homework room. Now you get a sense of what it’s like to volunteer and help other kids. There’s not a kid that you can find who has gone through that transition who won’t tell you what they’ve learned and what it means to be a mentor. […] I’m most proud of how then we’re able to roll them into their next role with us.” One such former Boys & Girls Club member-turned-volunteer is 20-year-old Cameron Jones. Jones, who has attended the Boys & Girls Club since he was around eight years old, studies Political Science at Polk State College. What interested him in the subject? “It was actually a trip that the Boys & Girls Club took us on. I was in seventh grade, and we were studying Civics. One of our trips was going to the capitol. We went to the governor’s building, and we visited the old courthouse. Right then and there, I thought this was something I wanted to do.” After college, he plans to study law and eventually run for political office. “My goal is to become governor,” said Jones. Jones recollected his experience with the Boys & Girls Club. “My mom is a single parent. Usual daycares were too expensive, or they couldn’t work with her hours because of the time she got off. Coming here, where she didn’t have to pay so much at that time, and she didn’t have to worry about pickup, was something amazing for her.” “I’m the only child, so coming here with other kids and playing with them, it was like a family kind of bond I had – you had your older brothers and sisters in the older groups, and you had the little ones that were like your little siblings. It was always a fun day; it was never boring. We played every day, laughed every day.” In addition to his many older and younger ‘brothers and sisters,’ club staff also influenced him, like Director of Operations, John Lane. Jones said Lane started working there at the same time he began attending. They would always talk to each other about their days, and Lane was always there for him, he said. Going to the Boys & Girls Club set Jones on the right path. He wanted to pay that forward and be the same influence that Lane was to him. “What made me want to volunteer here was because you never forget where you came from, and I always did want to come back to help out, whatever I could do, whether that was helping with homework or talking to kids,” he said. “I want them to know that there are still good people, people do want to help you out, and people do care.” Jones discussed certain stereotypes he feels are placed on the organization and its members. “I know a lot of people in the past gave Boys & Girls Club a bad rap saying only the bad kids go there. They’re not bad kids. They’re just not given the same opportunity as everyone else,” he said. “When they come here, we help them out – we teach them.” Jones comes every day, helping with homework and group activities. As much of an impact as he certainly has on the kids, he said, “I feel like we learn more from them than they do from us.” ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND MEALS Following the school board’s reaction to the pandemic’s initial impacts, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Polk County closed its doors. “We immediately shifted into virtual programming,” said Giordano. Within a week and a half, they had uploaded one hundred videos for the students. “We had Keri White, our Unit Director in one of our Lakeland units, every night in her pajamas would read a bedtime story. It was the most attended virtual learning we had,” he said. Next, they focused on getting connectivity to their kids, as many didn’t have it. The families were given a survey to find out what their needs were. “We hoped that would be virtual learning because that’s what we were gearing up to do, but we weren’t right. What they most needed was food.” Serendipitously, the clubs had just obtained their licensing to serve hot meals in all seven of their locations. It was time to feed their kids. At first, the meals were wrap-and-go. This was in March when many were uncomfortable traveling outside of their homes to pick up meals, even if they needed them. The Boys & Girls Clubs took the initiative and began delivering meals to member communities around the county. “There are kids living in horrific situations who would be waiting with their friends for our little bus to show up for the meals,” said Giordano. Another family said they had been praying the night before as both parents had been laid off. They didn’t have a solution for food, and then the Boys & Girls Club showed up. These were only a few of the heartbreaking stories they encountered during their meal deliveries. This also meant extended hours for the organization. “We are providing summer service, with social distancing, with masks, with temperature checks, and the schools are not ready to open – what do we do?” Giordano remembers thinking. He went to the board with the predicament of needing to stay open without the funds to do so. They asked him how much it would cost to remain open – the answer was $80,000 a week. “They said, ‘We’ll figure it out some way – stay open.’” So, they did. The Boys & Girls Clubs stayed open longer, fed children, had an extended summer, and when schools reopened, they shifted back into their after-school mode. Between the onset of the virus and the time kids returned to school, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Polk County served 100,000 meals. Increased health safety measures mean Giordano had to increase staff by 30% over last year. The Club has lower attendance, lower income, and increased staff. Funding has proved the most crucial need for them. “Food isn’t the problem – there’s plenty of food. It’s the distribution systems that change. It’s getting them the food,” Giordano said. Cooking and delivering food and employing teachers, tutors, and staff requires funding to run. “That is the heart of what we do.” “We’ve got a program that works. The statistics don’t lie. Maybe one of the most important programs that are backed by imperial data is Brain Game,” said Giordano. He explained it as follows. Child A is from an at-risk community, and Child B is middleclass or wealthy. They start kindergarten with parallel cognitive abilities. Through kindergarten and first grade, they tend to stay on equal footing in their education. The difference comes during the summer. Child A doesn’t have the opportunity to go anywhere while Child B reads books, participates in summer activities, and takes trips with their family. As they both move into second grade, the at-risk Child A falls back a little bit. By the time they reach sixth grade, Child A is two years behind Child B because of all of the summer slides they had to endure. “Brain Gain is a system that we have to arrest summer slide,” he said. Their goal is as the children move forward in their education and upward in grade level, they’ve got opportunities equal to their classmates. “That’s hard to do. It takes real programs and real testing and real mentors and real tutors, which takes money,” said Giordano. “So, if you believe in that, and I certainly do, then there is no better way to invest your money because for every dollar invested, the community gets back $17 in real economic value.” That value comes by way of higher graduation levels, less violent crime, increased nutrition, and giving parents the ability to continue working while their child is at the Boys & Girls Club. “There are lots of people who address certain parts of the kid. We get the whole kid from head to heart to legs; we get it all.” Donations can be made directly through their website. Donors can specify, if they so choose, where their funds go across the county’s units. FORE THE KIDS Later this month, on November 16, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Polk County will hold their annual fundraising event, FORE the Kids. This golfing tournament supports the organization’s efforts and gives participants the chance to win prizes, including a trip to Scotland, a new vehicle, and more. As attendees travel to a new hole, they can scan a QR code and see a video of a child introducing themselves, talking about what they love about the Boys & Girls Clubs, and thanking them for attending the fundraiser. Sponsorships and foursomes are still available. Another fundraising event, Guest Bartender Bash, has been postponed, likely to be held sometime in December. Follow their social media for updates on the occasion. A RIPPLE OF HOPE “There’s somebody in your life that you look up to. […] Somebody you looked up to broadened your horizons. And when they did, it was never the same again,” said Giordano. That person, whether a parent, coach, or teacher, created a ripple effect of opportunity. “Without that broadening ripple effect, our kids tend to wind up just as you might imagine them to – not graduating in low-skill, low-paying jobs or in trouble with the law or obese,” he said. The Boys & Girls Clubs of Polk County are creating that ripple, extending opportunities for these children, and broadening their future. “We are dealers in hope,” said Giordano. “We shift the hope trajectory of the community. The community gets better when we do.” www.bgcpolk.org FB @BGCPolk 863-686-1719 Mailing Address: PO Box 763, Lakeland, FL 33802 Photos by Amy Sexson

Imagine if we nurtured the mind of every little girl. What if we watered their spirits and imaginations with the ideals of self-empowerment, creativity, boldness, positivity, education, leadership, passion for her interests, friendship, sisterhood? What kind of global garden of female accomplishment might flourish? They could rule the world. At Girls Inc. of Lakeland, that is just what they are doing, creating the successful women of tomorrow, inspiring all girls to be “Strong, Smart, and Bold.” Leading the charge in Lakeland is President and CEO Kay Fields. Fields is girl power incarnate – a smart woman with intentions to create a reverberating impact on the world. She and a team of like-minded women help to guide the children in their charge through girlhood. Before her work with Girls Inc., Fields worked in the Agricultural and Labor Program’s early childhood development center in Winter Haven, supervising programs in Polk County, Indian River, and Fort Pierce. “I felt led to do something different,” said Fields. She heard there might be an opening for the director position for the Girls Club. She applied and was offered the job. “I think the reason I was drawn to Girls Clubs back then, now Girls Inc., is I lost my mom when I was 12 years old. I used to go home by myself because my father worked, and my older siblings were in school. It wasn’t a great experience to go home alone,” she said. “Being able to have the opportunity to come to an organization like Girls Inc., where we do so many great things, to me, was just in alignment with my life.” When she first started with the Girls Club, their facility was a few streets over from where it is now. “We were in old World War II army barracks that had been renovated too many times,” she said. In 1987, the organization launched a capital campaign to raise a million dollars to build a new facility. They moved into their new building in 1988. For 37 years, Fields has overseen Girls Inc. of Lakeland and has made it her mission to give girls the education, life skills, and opportunities to be comfortably and successfully themselves. Fields sees her role at Girls Inc. as a way to make a difference. “I want to leave the world better than I found it,” she said. STRONG. SMART. BOLD. Girls Inc. is an after-school program during the school year exclusively for girls. They offer all-day programs during spring break and summer camps. The primary focus of the organization is education and life skills. “Anything that you would want your daughter or your granddaughter or your baby sister or just a friend to experience as a girl, we do it here,” said Fields. They offer homework help and tutoring daily for girls reading below their grade level or who are functioning below level in math. The girls take classes in the culinary arts, dance, and life skill-focused courses in leadership and self-sufficiency. Girls participate in science and math activities, take field trips, and have physical fitness days. They even have a garden to teach girls the importance of nutrition. “Every day is different,” she said. “The only thing that is consistent is that we do reading every day for 15 minutes, we do homework help and tutoring every day, but everything else is different because we want the girls to be exposed to as many activities as we can.” Every summer before the pandemic, teenage Girls Inc. members would tour college campuses. “A lot of the girls who are from single-parent homes were exposed to a college through our program, and that changed their way of thinking and they were able to go to college and graduate and now they’re successful.” Fields has witnessed firsthand the tremendous impact that Girls Inc. has had on those coming through the program. Fields turned to the organization for her own daughters after a divorce left her a single mother to her son and two daughters. “It was a struggle for us, and Girls Inc. was very impactful in that there was stability in my daughters’ lives. And because of that, I can see the fruits of our labor at Girls Inc. – because I don’t do this by myself – in that they are both now successful.” Both of Fields’s daughters are occupational therapists, and one has started her own business. Members who have graduated often come back to volunteer. Fields mentioned two young women who graduated high school this year and are now attending Polk State College. Each of them still comes to Girls Inc. to work with the girls, perhaps younger reflections of themselves, for a couple of hours each day. High school seniors who perform well academically and set a good example are given incentives. If they are willing to volunteer some of their time, they can become part-time employees of Girls Inc. during the school year and full-time employees during the summer. Even the daughters of former members now attend Girls Inc. “Now they’re sowing the seed back into their daughters’ lives because they really believe in what we do,” said the Girls Inc. of Lakeland president. COVID CAUSES CUTS It felt as if the world ground to a halt earlier this year. Many businesses felt the economic repercussions of the ongoing health crisis. Non-profits, like Girls Inc., were not spared the financial hardships presented by current times. “The impact was devastating,” said Fields. “One day, we were doing after school programming, and then the next day, we had to shut down because of the governor’s order. […] The girls were sent home to do e-learning, and we were trying to figure out how we could still be relevant in our work because the girls were not coming here.” Girls Inc. of Lakeland sprang into action to keep their girls engaged by hosting virtual activities. Every week, they would perform wellness checks, calling the girls to make sure they were alright. They provided all the resources they could and told them about other resources available to them. Girls Inc. of Lakeland was without their girls for about two and a half months. “We decided as an organization that we wanted to try to provide, on a smaller scale, a summer camp,” said Fields. They opened their doors in mid-June for an 8-week summer camp with a more limited number of girls than they would typically accept. COVID-19 precautions were put in place with no more than ten girls to each age group, restricted outside access to their building, including parents, temperature checks before entering, requiring girls to sanitize their hands when they arrived, and social distancing. “We try to do what the CDC recommends so that we don’t have anyone impacted by the virus, and thank God, we have been able to sustain ourselves, and nobody has gotten sick because of them coming through our doors.” Every year, Girls Inc. hosts events to raise funds and community engagement. When the pandemic hit, they were preparing for their biggest fundraising event of the year in May, the She Knows Where She’s Going Awards Luncheon. This event and others were canceled. Like the 100 Ambassadors Breakfast in which folks come in to learn more about Girls Inc. and become advocates and ambassadors for the organization, and their scheduled November Father Daughter Dance. Fields gave some insight into the organization’s financial restraints amid the pandemic. “We haven’t been able to do any of our events. We had to think outside of the box and think of some creative ways to raise funds. We didn’t have girls coming, so parents were not paying any fees. We’re very blessed to be part of the Paycheck Protection Program, so we got a loan. If we had not done that, we would have had to layoff our staff.” Girls Inc., a United Way organization, suffered another financial blow this year. “United Way was not able to complete their campaign because of the pandemic. We lost about 37% of our funding from the United Way this year,” said Fields. The cancellation of fundraising events, funding cuts, and lower attendance mean Girls Inc. needs community support now more than ever. Fields says Girls Inc. has been blessed with community support through their 25 for 25 campaign they ran following the shutdown. “That was very successful for us. We were able to raise a substantial amount of money,” she said. “Now, we’re in a place where we’ve got to replenish that and keep things going so that we can be here to provide the services that our girls so desperately need.” To uplift our future generation of girls, keep Girls Inc. in mind when making a year-end contribution to an organization. Donations can be mailed or made directly through their website. Contact Girls Inc. to arrange a donation of supplies like cleaning products, hand sanitizer, soap, and the like. Fields encourages the community to stay engaged with Girls Inc. of Lakeland for the many activities planned to celebrate their 50th anniversary next year. Plans continue for annual events in 2021, and the Girls Inc. team is looking into virtual fundraisers if physical events need to be postponed. “We’re still hoping that things will get back to a place of normalcy, but we’re coming up with other ideas in case we do have to do some virtual events to maintain the resources that we need to keep our organization going strong,” Fields said. “Our hope is that we’ll be able to gradually increase our enrollment to where it was before, and we’ll be able to garner support from the community to help us financially and that we will be able to do some things that are creative and different to attract the resources that we need to maintain our program for our girls.” DISTANCE LEARNING PRESENTS E-OPPORTUNITY Girls Inc. launched an e-learning camp this year in response to the pandemic. “We realized there was a need to do something after we finished with summer camp for the fall to meet the needs of the girls whose parents were concerned about them going back to school,” said Fields. Now girls who did not feel comfortable going back to their brick and mortar schools come to Girls Inc., starting their days at 7:30 am and finishing between 3 and 4 pm before transitioning from e-learning to the afterschool program. With many parents continuing to work from home, not in need of Girls Inc.’s services, the organization had to find a way to stay relevant in meeting their girls’ needs. They’ve discovered consistent relevancy through their e-learning program. “Being able to provide that e-learning experience for the girls has really helped us because the girls are here from the beginning of the day to the end of the day, and we’re bringing in revenues from that program along with our afterschool program and trying to add more girls.” “It ties back into our mission – we want our girls to be academically strong. Being able to help them with their online learning is a blessing.” INSPIRING GIRLS LIKE HER Through the everyday challenges of running a non-profit and the unique difficulties presented by a global health crisis, Girls Inc. of Lakeland continues to educate and support girls from kindergarten through high school – inspiring them to be strong, smart, and bold. Girls like 13-year old De’ Havilland. “I’ve been coming to Girls Inc. since my sixth-grade summer,” said the now eighth-grader. De’ Havilland enjoys reading and writing, especially book reports. Girls Inc. gives her an outlet for those interests and so much more. “I enjoy that I can make new friendships and longlasting bonds, and I get to meet different people. Every time I come here, it’s something different, and it’s a new experience,” she said. Jha’Kyra is 12 years old and in the seventh grade. She has been attending Girls Inc. since around second grade. Like De’ Havilland, Jha’Kyra too loves to write. Girls Inc. has been instrumental in her studies as well as her friendships. The e-learning program at Girls Inc. has helped Jha’Kyra, who says that she was struggling with her schoolwork during the last school year, with distanced learning and no hub at which to do it. “Now I’m getting A/B honor roll, and I’m doing a really good job here doing my work,” she said. “It’s fun coming here because I meet new people every day, and I get to have conversations that I don’t have at home because I don’t have siblings at home like I have here. Everybody here is my sister because everyone here is nice and fun to talk to.” Aubrie has been attending Girls Inc. since she was in kindergarten. The 11-year-old sixth-grader is especially interested in math and science. The staff at Girls Inc. encourage her in her academics and help her when she needs it. “I learned how to dance better and how to grow maturely. They help you with a lot of stuff – how to become a woman, how to get your education,” she said. Aubrie aspires to be either a masseuse or a dance teacher when she grows up. “We’re important to the community because these girls are our future. […] I believe that every girl deserves to have a safe and nurturing environment like Girls Inc.,” said Kay Fields. “We’re not a babysitting service – that’s not what we do. We’re developing these girls to one day rule the world. Not just in Polk County but in the United States of America, and it is our responsibility to prepare these girls for that.” Girlsinclakeland.com FB: Girls Inc. of Lakeland, FL and Bartow FL 863-682-3002 Mailing Address: PO Box 1975, Lakeland, FL 33802

You’re invited to the next Catapult Kitchen pop-up! Foodcentric entrepreneurs serve up their culinary concepts as a sales avenue and testing ground for recipes at the walk-up window overlooking Lake Mirror. Pop-up patrons can lounge in patio seating backdropped by the deliciously creative “Cultivate” mural by local artist Maegan Carroll while indulging in food prepared by budding local businesses. Kitchen Director Maggie Leach gave us a tour of their new kitchen and a rundown of what it means to be a culinary creative in the incubator. Leach worked at St. Augustine restaurants Collage, and The Hyppo before coming to Lakeland and working as the business manager for Born & Bread. She joined Catapult as an intern in 2017. Now, the kitchen director, Leach said, “I love to cook, and I love being able to watch these entrepreneurs and to be able to understand how Catapult can support them.” Opened this past June, the spacious digs offer members all the tools and room they need to grow – mixers, a wooden table, all the necessary equipment to prepare a meal, a giant walk-in cooler, and a storage room. Their cookline boasts a large tilt skillet, stockpot burners, four convection ovens, an eight burner range, grill, griddle, and three more standard ovens. A separate allergen-free zone exists with its own set of color-coded equipment, separate hood, oven, stove, and refrigeration to avoid cross-contamination. Members operating in the space reserve a station with two tables and have access to all the kitchen tools and equipment. Catapult has a sustainable hourly model for its members with a monthly minimum of $150 for 15 hours and the opportunity to pay $10 for each additional hour they need. “The whole reason behind that is, so it grows with them as they grow,” said Leach. She explained that as members are in the infancy of their business, the kitchen gives them space to make mistakes and refine their craft while working alongside other entrepreneurs doing the same. The goal is for them to strike out on their own eventually. And many successful Lakeland businesses have done just that – Honeycomb Bread Bakers, Krazy Kombucha, Born & Bread Bakehouse, CounterCulture Lakeland, A Cow Named Moo – to name a few. “That’s how we define success as a kitchen is that we have folks in here who are able to leverage all of these resources that are provided to grow their customer base, to refine their concept, to train their staff, to build their team so that they can eventually move out onto their own with a really, really solid foundation,” said the kitchen director. The ideal timeline for a kitchen member to launch out on their own is between six months and three years. In that time, Maggie said, “Our hope is throughout that time frame you have everything that you need to grow your business.” The heart of Catapult, Leach says, isn’t merely to give members a place to cook, but also “that our members feel that they are genuinely supported by us and that we care about them, and that they have additional resources they can use.” HELPING MEMBERS & HOLIDAY BOXES These additional resources take several forms, from referring their members for catering opportunities, providing educational programs to propel their business, guiding them through the permit process, featuring their products in holiday baskets, and through Kitchen Incubator Pop-ups. Their 2020 holiday boxes, a new format for them this year, support the businesses while providing a special gift of highquality, locally produced products from current and alumni members. “It’s fun to see how they package their products,” said Leach. “We’re so proud of the makers who are in our space, and we want to support them and celebrate them and do whatever we can to get their name and their business in front of more folks.” Sales for the 2020 holiday boxes close on November 16. Reserve yours at catapultlakeland.com/boxes . KITCHEN INCUBATOR POP-UPS Catapult’s Kitchen Incubator Pop-Ups started in late July of this year. “It’s a really cool way for Catapult to invite the community into what we’re doing,” said Leach. Currently, the Catapult Kitchen roster has everything from barbecue, bakers, boba tea, jam, baby food, vegan and vegetarian food, spice blends, dry mixes, and Japanese style waffles to Empanadas and Nicaraguan cuisine. Many of these members participate in frequent pop-ups, with some businesses even joining forces to feed hungry Lakelanders. “The Trifecta,” aka MK Boba, Wafu, and Omusubee pop-up together each month. “It’s always fun to see them collaborate in that way,” said the kitchen director. The service area is bare – hot and cold-holding and a ticket holder to track orders. “It’s basically a blank canvas for them to use however they want,” said Maggie. “This is a super flexible space to do whatever you need to do – everything from boba tea to Jamaican food, barbecue, empanadas. We’re not tied to one industry or one cuisine – it’s so flexible. We love seeing how entrepreneurs utilize the space.” “We always encourage folks attending the pop-ups to follow the businesses to stay up to date on what they’re doing and where they’re at next,” she said. “This is a complimentary sales avenue to what they’re already doing. We don’t want our entrepreneurs to hang their hat on that location, but to find sales opportunities. Like a weekly pickup like Vegetation Plant Food does, or a farmers market or online sales – whatever that looks like and then use this space to add, to meet new customers, to grow what they’re doing.” Leach says the Catapult kitchen team is grateful for the community support surrounding the pop-ups. “That’s one of the best things about Lakeland is that people here love to support local and are interested in it.” VICKY G’S We got a behind the scenes look at empanadas in action during one of Vicky G’s pop-ups. Vicky G’s founder, Gabriella Vigoreaux, grew up in Winter Haven. She attended the University of Miami before moving to New York for culinary school. For eight years, Vigoreaux worked in restaurants and food media, returning to Polk County last spring. She started Vicky G’s, offering handcrafted empanadas and other “funky, fresh twists on traditional Latin food.” Vigoreaux grew up watching the Food Network and described herself as somewhat of a picky eater in high school, observing veganism and vegetarianism. “I felt like living in Winter Haven, the only way to feed myself was if I made the food myself,” she said. This inspired her to cook for others. “When I went to culinary school, I pretty quickly realized I didn’t want to work in a traditional restaurant setting, so I went into recipe development for magazines, which was way more chill, way more my speed. It’s kind of like working in a lab; you’re making the same recipes over and over again and perfecting them,” she said. “What I ultimately want is a brick and mortar location that’s kind of like a modern Latin diner. Something that you would see in Miami but modernizing it in the sense that it’s not just traditional flavors. I like to use a lot of different cuisines from around the world.” Vicky G’s ridiculously good empanadas are a nod to Vigoreaux’s Puerto Rican heritage. She said, “I grew up eating a lot of empanadas. [...] We almost always were using pre-made empanada disks which you buy in the grocery store, and most restaurants will also use. My homemade dough is something I’m really proud of. It took me almost a year to really figure out how to do it. It’s super flakey – you can just tell that it’s handmade.” Vigoreaux says Catapult helped her get her business off the ground. “They have it down to a science where they tell you exactly what you need to do to get this form and this form and this license and this permit. It probably would have taken me five years to figure out myself, but Maggie has it very convenient in a binder that she hands to you. She walks you through it. […] Next week is my one year, and I can’t believe I’m at this point,” said Vigoreaux. CASITA VERDE There to support her culinary comrade and another pop-up window participant was Gio Favilli, the mind and good taste behind Casita Verde. Favilli was born and raised in Central Florida, her family from Nicaragua. A few years ago, she moved to New York to study at the International Culinary Center. After graduating, she worked in restaurants and bakeries in New York and then in food media, writing recipes for VICE’s food department, Munchies. Like many industries, the coronavirus devastated the restaurant industry. Favilli moved back to Lakeland and started Casita Verde amid the pandemic as a pivot in her career. As a first-generation American, Favilli said, “My parents also made sure we knew where we came from. At least twice a year, every summer, every Christmas break, we spent it in Nicaragua with my family over there.” “The food over there is just a whole other experience,” she said. Meals consisted of fresh fruits and vegetables, beef, or chicken from her grandparents’ farm in Masaya, Nicaragua. She would watch her grandparents prepare the meal from start to finish, butchering the animal to peeling the vegetables that came from their land. “The whole house smells of this aroma that I will never be able to recreate because they’re cooking over a real fire.” The Casita Verde owner looks to bring these flavorful traditions to Central Florida. “Growing up, the only Nicaraguan food I would eat was my mom’s, so it’s nice for me to cook this food, get help from my mom, call my grandma, get answers from her while I’m figuring out recipes, and introduce Lakeland to a different kind of cuisine.” Casita Verde translates literally to “little green house.” Favilli was inspired by Frida Kahlo and her abode in Mexico, now a museum, Casa Azul. “It houses all of her art and, there, that’s where she expressed herself not only with food but with art and ideas and writing and poetry, photography. That’s basically what Casita Verde is for me. It’s my platform to express myself through food and art. I don’t express myself well verbally, I usually lean more towards photography and art and food to connect with people, and that’s what Casita Verde is for me,” said Favilli. “It’s a platform not only to show my parents how grateful I am for where I came from and the culture I come from, but it’s also a way for me to be prideful in the craft that I do.” Casita Verde explores traditional Nicaraguan street foods, like vigoron. “It’s boiled yucca, and it’s topped with pickled slaw and fresh chicharron, which is fried pork skin. That’s a very common street food in Masaya. If you’re walking in the market, you’ll get a plate of vigoron.” Other Casita Verde favorites are tres leches, jarred soups, Bunuelos (yucca and cheese fritters topped with fig leaf syrup), and her handmade traditional Nicaraguan tortillas. “I make my own Nicaraguan tortillas by hand. In Nicaragua, there’s no machine, you do every single tortilla by hand, so they’re a little thicker. It’s time-consuming, but they’re really unique.” The next step might be a Casita Verde food truck, with Favilli’s sights set on eventually having a brick and mortar. “My own little Casita Verde, my own little restaurant.” Favilli noted the benefit of starting at Catapult. “If I were to be renting a kitchen anywhere else or my own kitchen, I’d be spending thousands a month. At Catapult, we do have to pay, but it’s a way that’s very manageable, and I feel like I’m not struggling to pay it every month. And even if I was struggling to pay it every month, I know for a fact that Maggie and the team behind Maggie would be there to help me figure it out. […] They’re very helpful. Maggie is like a freaking superhero. I don’t know if she sleeps, I don’t even know if she’s human, but she’s constantly working and making shit happen, and I feel so supported.” See upcoming pop-up vendors and their menu at the calendar on Catapult’s website at catapultlakeland.com/events . Subscribe to their calendar and newsletter to stay in the know on upcoming pop-ups. Support your favorite small culinary businesses by following them online, attending their pop-ups, hiring them to cater events, and spreading the good word about their delicious locally produced food! Catapult Catapultlakeland.com 502 E Main St, Lakeland FB @catapult.lakeland IG @catapultlkld Photos by Amy Sexson

What is it that draws us to the macabre? What makes us peer in from the outside, at a distance, safely removed from events so terrible and tragic, bloody and grim? For the creator, producer, and co-host of the Scarlet True Crime Podcast Sonia Sutton Meza-Leon, it’s all about curiosity, with one question at the forefront – ‘Why?’ Born and raised in Lake Alfred, Sonia went to Auburndale High School, attended Polk Community College to spend time with their theatrical team, and began her career in the entertainment industry around age 18. She moved to Orlando to obtain a communications degree from UCF. Though she has since moved to the Golden State, Sutton Meza-Leon is fond of her hometown, saying, “The people there are lovely. There’s a downhome feel that I really miss, especially being in L.A., it’s a little more fast-paced.” Upon moving to Los Angeles in 1999, she worked in live-action television and film before moving into C.G. animation in 2003. Sutton Meza-Leon is now the Head of Post-Production in the entertainment division for one of the top five toy companies globally, producing popular brands including Barbie and Hot Wheels. TRUE CRIME CURIOSITY An event in her childhood significantly impacted her intrigue with the true crime genre. Around 7 or 8 years old, a friend and classmate at Lake Alfred Elementary School was shot and killed by his father over Super Bowl weekend. “When you’re little, and it’s one of your friends… it’s really impactful,” said Sonia. “It was strange, and I didn’t understand it. I couldn’t understand how a father could do that, how anyone could do that, he was a little boy,” she said. “It was one of those things that stayed with me through my life, and I kept getting more and more interested in ‘Why?’” As her fascination progressed, she began to watch shows like “Unsolved Mysteries,” “Forensic Files,” and the like. She watched films centered around true crime like “In Cold Blood” based on Truman Capote’s novel of the same name. She watched Truman Capote’s one-man stage play “Tru” when it aired on “American Playhouse” on PBS in 1992, in which he talked about his writings, research, and first-hand experience with the perpetrators. “It was interesting to hear him talk about how close he came to them, how he started feeling empathy for them in ways he didn’t understand.” “Unfortunately, there’s just so much of it to talk about,” she said of the genre. Though crime is much more widely publicized now, there was a time when criminals – serial killers specifically – ran rampant. “There was a time from the early 1900’s all the way into the ’70s where serial killers were… it was unbelievable how many of them there were and how they were undetected.” SCARLET ON THE CASE Quite a juxtaposition from her day job’s kid-friendly content, Sonia started a true-crime podcast early this year with co-host Brittney Sherman. The podcast aims to examine crimes, their perpetrators, and the aftermath with opinions from the cohosts. The ‘Why’ is especially important to Sutton Meza-Leon, a psychology major. “What drives people [to commit crimes] and what motivates them is really interesting to me.” For their namesake and mascot, Scarlet, Sutton Meza-Leon said, “We mythicized a character that would be named Scarlet, and it was the embodiment of a strong woman, an investigative woman who could – no matter what period of time – live in a man’s world and be successful and carve that area out for her.” Like the fictional Scarlet, Sutton Meza-Leon and Sherman are strong, investigative women in their own right. Their perspectives and experiences as women in the entertainment industry add a unique element to their podcast style. The co-hosts have several show formats, including deep-dives into the crimes and cases of serial killers from Charles Manson and The Family and the BTK Killer to Ed Kemper and H.H. Holmes. The ladies break from the in-depth morbidity of those episodes with their Top 3s format, which includes shows like “Top 3s: Unsolved Mysteries” and “Top 3s: Movies Adapted from True Crime Novels.” Their distinct perspectives as women in entertainment shine through in the Scarlet TCP Companion Episodes. They watch and discuss episodes, series, or films about a crime and examine the content itself, including the offense, perpetrator, and victims’ portrayal. “It’s an interesting look that I don’t see others doing. We really enjoy content; that’s our business. [...] We break it down like we are working on it. It’s an interesting take that you probably won’t find in other places,” she said. STICKING TO THE FACTS Though the podcast style is conversational, the co-hosts do in-depth research to prepare for each episode, producing fact-based content with their thoughts and opinions sprinkled throughout. “We try to absorb every bit of content out there about the subject matter, including books, documentaries, current series, whether they’re narrative or not. We also talk to individuals who either have been in a similar situation and have had that kind of crime affect them or to the individuals involved,” Sonia said. They spend at least two weeks assessing the events of a case discussing its timeline, evidence, parties involved, proceedings, and early-life factors that could have contributed to what made the perpetrator commit their crimes. Sonia noted the importance of sticking to the facts when talking about true crime out of respect for the crime and victims impacted, making clear that they do not glamourize it in any way. “We’re trying to understand and help others understand why this happens, how it happens, and how someone could do something like this and maybe actually get ahead of it. […] At the end of the day, we all realize that it is a combination of nature and nurture that starts these individuals down the road where they apparently can’t come back from. They become reliant on their addictions, which ultimately are committing crimes, hurting people.” Sutton Meza-Leon will be coming to Winter Haven in the Spring to continue her research for upcoming episodes of the podcast’s “Florida Crimes” series. With one “Florida Man” or another in the headlines almost daily, the Scarlet co-hosts have plenty of madness and mayhem to cover in the Sunshine State. One upcoming episode will cover the Oba Chandler murders, according to Sonia. “I find the Florida crime interesting for a variety of reasons. I feel like there’s a little bit of home there when people talk about locations that I’m familiar with.” The first and second episodes of Scarlet explored the Caylee Anthony case. “It was interesting for me to talk about it. Because if you’re not familiar with the surroundings and how things work there and the environment, it changes the way you look at a crime. That crime still perplexes me on so many levels.” VAMPIRES, AX MURDERS, AND DARK TOURISM Lock your doors, grab some Halloween candy, and settle in for your true-crime fix with the ladies of Scarlet TCP. ‘Tis the season for frights, and what better way to get into the spooky spirit than with Scarlet? Sonia Sutton Meza-Leon even has a few episode suggestions for your Halloween podcast playlist. One such ghoulish romp is titled “Elizabeth (Blood) Bathory.” According to Sutton Meza-Leon, Bathory was a prolific female serial killer whose proclivities to bathe in her victims’ blood fueled rumors of vampirism. Another October must-listen is the two-part episode “Lizzie Borden’s 40 Whacks” about the ax murders of Andrew and Abby Borden in their home. Andrew’s daughter Lizzie was tried and later acquitted of the brutal slayings leaving the case unsolved. “The other episode that I love for Halloween is Dark Tourism,” said Sonia. “That’s where we talk about the nature of dark tourism and people who pay to go on vacations to visit these macabre locations – which we are of course obsessed with as well. The whole idea of dark tourism for us is fascinating.” Scarlet True Crime Podcast www.scarlet.captivate.fm Email: scarletmurderpodcast@gmail.com IG @scarlet.tcp FB @scarlettcp Twitter @scarletpodcast Available on all podcast platforms, including: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pandora, Amazon, Stitcher, iHeart Radio, and more.

Have you eaten at Lakeland’s favorite new restaurant, Curry Mango? This South Lakeland spot offers traditional Indian fare alongside unique American and Indian fusions. You might say their food is like naan other in Polk County. Curry Mango owner, Anthony Mankidiyan, started working towards a degree in Restaurant Management at the age of 17. Three years later, he moved from India to the United States to work in the restaurant industry. He opened small stores and offered catering, but always looked to start something more significant. He worked with California-based partner Salim Mathew to get the Curry Mango concept off the ground with doors opening on December 21, 2019. His passion for food came much earlier in life. Mankidiyan was influenced by his father, a former cook, catering for large events. He can remember being 12 years old, helping his father peel vegetables for large parties, and knew he wanted to be in the industry when he grew up. One thing he remembers making with his father is a traditional Indian dish called Dosa. The rice and lentil crepe is made with mashed potatoes inside along with lentil soup and coconut chutney. “You need to be very skilled to make that,” he said. His father, now 83, lives with Mankidiyan, who is married with three children of his own. Asked how his dad felt about his son following in his culinary footsteps, Mankidiyan said, “He’s proud of me, he’s very proud.” A DIFFERENT CONCEPT “I wanted to introduce Indian food to everyone in Lakeland,” said Mankidiyan. He also sought to brighten up the bore and gloom of many fine-dining establishments with more of an upscale, casual semi-sports bar feel. “I want to do something different – I don’t want to do the same things everybody does,” he said. A unique way in which Mankidiyan is carving a restaurateur path in Lakeland is with his outstanding food. Merging American and Indian flavors, Curry Mango has offerings you can’t get anywhere else. Wing flavors, including tandoori, mango chutney, hot garlic, and tamarind, speak to Mankidiyan’s different ways of approaching cuisine. Do yourself a favor and try the tandoori wings. These generously sized wings are a bright orange, red – a visual hint to the excitement awaiting you. Guests who aren’t quite as spice tolerant can choose milder flavors. “We customize mild food without losing any flavors. We don’t compromise on the authenticity of the flavor, but people can enjoy it,” he said. Mankidiyan said Curry Mango has customers who have worked their way up from mild food to indulging in dishes with more heat. Just as it takes a while to form a habit, he said, your taste buds also have to adjust to a different spice level. The restaurant’s signature dish and namesake, Curry Mango Chicken Curry (which can also be prepared with lamb curry), is the perfect beginner dish for those who aren’t familiar with Indian cuisine. Describing it as light and sweet, Mankidiyan said, “It’s very flavorful. We make it out of fresh mango.” And flavorful it is. There is comforting warmth to the dish, brightened up by the sweetness of mango. Try it with their piping hot buttery garlic naan – it’ll be the best decision you’ll make all day. Many of their dishes, including their naan bread and lamb chops, are cooked in a traditional clay oven. Fried versions of their Americanized Indian flavors are also available. The owner describes the Curry Mango Chicken Tenders as similar to KFC but with Indian spices. Mankidiyan knows his way around a tasty piece of fried chicken. He has two gas stations, out of which he serves fried chicken. Truck drivers who have eaten around the country would tell Mankidiyan that his chicken was the best they’d ever eaten, and some people even asked him to open it as a fried chicken franchise. Now Lakelanders can get those same inspired flavors and then some at Curry Mango. A version of this cultural cuisine blend is the Curry Mango Fried Shrimp. They have the distinctive crunch of American fried shrimp married to the toothsome flavors of India. Wash down your butter chicken, vindaloo, or chicken tikka masala with a special drink or cocktail from the bar. They offer traditional Indian drinks like the nonalcoholic Indian Iced Tea or Mango Lassi made from fresh mango pulp, yogurt, and sugar. Curry Mango’s signature cocktail is an ode to the dreamy skies of the Swan City. Called the Lakeland Sunset, the cocktail is a delicious mix of vodka, triple sec, grenadine, and sour mix. THANKING THE COMMUNITY The quarantine was a challenge for Curry Mango only a few months into business. Lakeland so loved their food that they continued to show up and support the new restaurant. “I have to thank the community,” he said. “They have helped us with this pandemic.” In all that time, he didn’t have to close the restaurant or lay off a single employee. “I was paying them, all four months,” he said. “I let nobody go.” “I appreciate that the community here, the Lakeland community, has helped us,” said Mankidiyan. Curry Mango 6625 South Florida Avenue, Lakeland (863) 940-2275 or (863) 940-2514 mycurrymango.com FB @mycurrymango IG @mycurrymango *Curry Mango was voted the BestOf LKLD 2020 Winner for Best New Restaurant by our readers. Congratulations to them! Photos by Amy Sexson

It’s been just over a year since Chef Chadi Mokbel and his wife Cindy opened their quaint Lebanese restaurant in Winter Haven. Over that year, despite the obstacles facing many businesses in the wake of the coronavirus, the Mediterranean Fresh Grill has amassed a loyal foodie following. Polk County native, Cindy, met Lebanon born Chadi while working at the Hilton on Marco Island. It was her first day and his last. The two hit it off and got married in 2008. Chef Chadi came from working at the InterContinental Phoenicia in Beirut to the United States on an American Hospitality visa, bringing with him a passion for the culinary arts. After they got married, the pair owned a Pennsylvania business for a few years before selling it and moving to Anna Maria Island. There, they started and sold several companies and had six years of jobs between opening their restaurant. Chef Chadi was refining his culinary skills at a Mediterranean restaurant in Cocoa Beach, driving 98 miles each way from work. Meanwhile, Cindy worked for State Farm. “They had me in a cube – I’m not a cube person,” she said. The two began discussing a venture of their own and set a plan into motion. Mediterranean Fresh Grill opened its doors on September 12, 2019. Here, patrons can enjoy the fresh, authentic flavors of Lebanon. The country, which hugs the Mediterranean Sea is relatively small, at just over 4,000 square miles – no larger than the state of Connecticut. Its size is no measure of the huge flavors that come out of this compact country. CULTURE AND SPICES The fifth and youngest of his siblings, Chef Chadi spent much of his time at home helping his mother in the kitchen. “In my country, we buy fresh meat from the butcher and then fresh vegetables, and we create something from scratch,” he said. “This is the kind of food I grew up on.” “He cooks it from memory – there’s nothing written, nothing measured. It’s just what he learned,” said Cindy. In Lebanon, he said, “Every table usually has black olives and fresh tomato on the table no matter what. Any house you go to – tabbouleh – this is the main stuff on Sunday before they start grilling,” he said. His family would have fresh bread every day that they would either make at home or pick up from the local bakery. These Mediterranean staples of fresh vegetables, meat, bread, and seafood were what the chef grew to love and learn to make. These traditions endure in his Winter Haven eatery. “Everything is made fresh,” Cindy said. “That’s something I think our American culture has lost. We’re in this hurry-up fast-food world.” To keep up with this level of quality, the chef regularly pulls 15-hour workdays. “My Momma is a blessing for me. She comes to help me every day,” he said of his mother-inlaw, Evalene, who comes each morning to help with food prep. The draw of made-to-order, fresh cuisine isn’t the only reason to support this one-of-kind restaurant. The Mediterranean Fresh Grill chef prioritizes using ingredients from local small businesses, including meat and vegetables. He never freezes the meat and carves it all himself. Even the creamy hummus made with chickpeas, tahini, lemon, olive oil, and garlic, served with pita bread is made in-house. “He makes [the hummus] fresh every day. He soaks the chickpeas overnight, boils them in the morning, grinds them up, and seasons them,” said Cindy. “Seasoning is really important,” said the chef. He showed off kitchen shelves brimming with a rainbow of herbs and spices. Underscoring the authenticity of his fare, the chef and his wife took a trip to Lebanon, where they went to a place that ground fresh seasonings. They brought these spices back with them to use in their restaurant. “This is, I think, the key to our success – that flavor that nobody could match because they couldn’t find the ingredients to get it done,” he said. The menu offers lunch and dinner, including shawarma, gyros, beef kafta, soups, kabobs, and more, including a selection of Lebanese, California, and French wine. Guests can find dishes to accommodate most diets, including vegan, vegetarian, low-carb, keto, and gluten-free. LOYAL CUSTOMERS “When we first opened, I wanted this place to be relaxing and calm and a place that people want to sit and feel like you had a Lebanese dining experience without flying out of the country,” said Cindy. The first two months were a bit chaotic. Many nights saw every seat filled with people waiting outside the door, turning the house three or four times a night. “His food is so amazing … it grounded a local repeat customer base.” They were open six months to the day when they had to close their dining room due to the pandemic. Like many small businesses, the Mokbels worried about how they would sustain with no one able to dine-in. “Through it all – all of those local customers kept coming. […] There were people who would come in and buy a whole week’s worth of food,” said Cindy. “We’re so blessed to have this many customers,” added Chef Chadi. Perhaps it is the unparalleled experience they extend to diners that have solidified such a customer base. Cindy trains staff to make the dining experience personal for guests and treat them like family or friends who have come to see them for dinner. “Because we are family,” she said. “We want them to feel like family when they come.” Because of their popularity, Mediterranean Fresh Grill tends to fill up quickly for dinner. Cindy recommends making reservations two to three days in advance. THE EXPERIENCE The establishment boasts a casual motif with personal photos lining the walls from the couple’s trips to Lebanon. Pictures of the Cedars of Lebanon, downtown Beirut, and a fishing village lend to the transportive feeling Cindy envisioned for the restaurant. The real magic, however, is thoughtfully curated on each plate coming out of the kitchen. As is essential for a proper Mediterranean Fresh Grill experience, I tried the Tabbouleh. The dish was a refreshing and aromatic mix of parsley, tomato, onion, bulgur, and lemon juice. Next was the Garlic Whip. It’s hard to believe such bold flavors come from so few ingredients – simply garlic cloves, oil, and lemon juice. The sauce is light and decadent, delicious when paired with pita or, according to the chef, with any grilled white meat like chicken, shrimp or fish. The stuffed baby eggplant had a briny flavor married with the earthiness of chopped walnut and olive oil, which contrasted beautifully with fragrant diced garlic and chili. The spicy feta dip had a pleasant heat accompanied by the tang of feta, and the lamb chops cooked masterfully to succulent perfection were a crescendo to the meal. The meal left me feeling satiated but not stuffed. Nothing was lacking or in excess. The spread was a bounty of bright and bold flavors. The chef humbly prefers his place in the kitchen, describing himself as a silent creative. An eyeful and a bellyful of his food is a full introduction to Lebanese cuisine and the silent creative behind it. “He’s the heart of it back there,” said Cindy. “He does everything he does with love.” Mediterranean Fresh Grill 6035 Cypress Gardens Blvd, Winter Haven (833) 633-4745 Mediterraneanfreshgrill.com FB @MediterraneanFreshGrillWinterHaven IG @mediterraneanfresh Photos by Amy Sexson