Growing Macadamia in Central Florida Lake Alfred macadamia farmer and owner of the Florida Macadamia Growers Cooperative, Glenn Reynolds’ first taste of farming was spicy. As a kid, he would grow hot peppers to eat. It wouldn’t be until years later, that a failing citrus grove and parrot food would lead Reynolds to set out on a nearly 15-year journey to crack the secret to growing macadamia nuts in Florida. Reynolds was born in Wilmington, North Carolina. His family moved when he was three, just south of Washington D.C. where he spent 43 years. He moved to Florida for a job opportunity in 2002. When he and his wife bought the Lake Alfred property, about six of its seven and a half acres were citrus. In 2005, when citrus greening hit, Reynolds, an avid researcher, read up on the disease and how it had ravaged other parts of the world from Asia to Brazil – and now it was in Florida. He began to look toward the future of his farm. Reynolds raised and bred parrots for a long time. A common diet staple for larger parrots are macadamia nuts. “I was standing out in the driveway one day and I had a macadamia nut in my hand that I’d bought to feed my parrots and I looked at my wife and said, ‘I wonder if these would grow here.’” Everyone told him no, they wouldn’t grow – especially not in Central Florida. Many farmers have tried and failed to grow the nut. He began looking into the commonality of their failures. He found cases dating back into the mid-50s where people had tried to grow them here with a few successful years and then they would die. “The common thread that I found was everybody was buying macadamia trees that were developed in other parts of the world and trying to grow them here. That was the one thing I said I was not going to do. I started developing my own varieties specifically for Central Florida,” said Reynolds. His research into growing the plant began with the survival of the fittest he said. He bought a thousand fresh nuts to germinate. “They don’t grow true to the parent tree. I basically ended up with somewhere around a thousand different varieties of macadamia nuts,” he said. Some of the trees were lost to freeze, others didn’t survive due to unfavorable soil or weather conditions. Reynolds slowly weeded out varieties unsuitable to grow in the sunshine state and narrowed in on varieties that could thrive. Finding those varieties from seed takes years. “I have some trees out there that are pushing 14 years old that still have never produced a nut,” he said. He found that though some trees grow well and survive freezes, it doesn’t mean they will produce viable nuts. Through his experimentation with the trees he found that though they all seem to start blooming in December, nuts become mature at different times. Most nuts drop to the ground once they have matured, but not all nuts do. Some in his field began dropping as early as the middle of August with others as late as February the following year. This staggered dropping creates an efficiency issue during harvesting. To solve this, Reynolds set out a plot of trees that were seed grown. He took notes and observed. From his driveway going east, he is applying everything he learned with the other plot. He does this by developing his own methods of cloning good trees. He set up the new plot based on when they will drop nuts. Reynolds noted that his macadamia trees had not been fertilized for two years. Once a good portion of his citrus was gone and he pulled up what was left of the grove, he stopped fertilizing to get a baseline. “All of this was getting the same treatment as the citrus, so how do I know what the macadamia’s need?” he said. Presently, Reynolds has about 300 trees in the ground with room for another 400. His best yield was pre-Hurricane Irma. He had about 60 trees producing nuts with only about ten or twelve of them mature. That year he came close to two tons of macadamia nuts. He projected in the future if all 700 trees are planted and when they are mature, he thinks his seven-and-a-half-acre farm could yield 15 tons a year. Not only did Irma obliterate his harvest that year, he said, “I lost what I really thought was ‘the tree.’ I hadn’t cloned it yet so I had no viable tissue.” He hustled to try and keep it alive, even trying to find help with micropropagation, but to no avail – ‘the tree’ was lost. Reynolds says that he learns from his failures. He even keeps a bowl of nuts from that tree in his bedroom as a reminder to never miss an opportunity like that again. Does he want to make money on his macadamias? Certainly, but that’s not the ultimate goal. “I also looked it as not just creating something here for me but trying to create a new agricultural industry in Florida,” said Reynolds. “To me, the important thing is to find trees that grow here. Making money from the beginning can’t be that motivation.” This is the first time Reynolds has opened up to any media about his operation. He felt that after almost 15 years into it, the timing was right, and he wouldn’t be projecting false hope into the agriculture community. “It can be done,” he said. “It will work, it can be sold, there is a market here.” Reynolds gave us a tour of the property. We discussed everything from the trouble with stink bugs to training tree trunks, phytophthora also known as “Root Rot” or “Foot Rot,” to a tree that had split down the middle which Reynolds cleverly ran bolts through. You can even see the scar where the split healed, saving the tree. Everything is a learning process he said. “This is all [information] that I can pass on to other growers.” We admired his perennial peanut ground cover with his sweet rescue pup, Jenny by our side as he explained, “We’re trying to also make our entire property either Florida-friendly plants or Florida native plants.” The environmentally conscious farmer said his property is about 75% solar powered. “We try to be as green as possible,” he continued, “I was one of the first citrus farmers to go to fertigation where you’re fertilizing through the water so you’re not spreading it all over the place and it’s not running off.” “We have to protect our environment,” said Reynolds. “Preserving this piece of property and preserving this lake behind us because it gives us so much peacefulness, it’s worth the extra time and expense.” A multitude of plants fascinate the Lake Alfred farmer. On his property, Reynolds grows olives, bananas, peaches, avocados, mangoes, sugar cane, turmeric, figs, lavender, ginger and an entire neat little jungle of other plants. “I love growing things. It’s all so very interesting to me,” he said. A TOUGH NUT TO CRACK … AND SORT “I’m driven by challenges,” said Reynolds. “To me, it was one of the biggest challenges, particularly when the agricultural community was saying you can’t do it, people have tried to do it here before.” He takes pride not only in his macadamia nuts but, based on industry standards says, “I think Florida can grow far superior macadamia nuts to anywhere in the country.” His trees produce some nuts that are bigger than a half-dollar. Size isn’t the only thing to do with quality, he says. He explained the industry term “crack out,” saying that if you were to take a pound of nuts that had already been dried and cracked out of their shell and then weighed the amount of kernel compared to the whole pound, that number is your “crack out.” The minimum industry standard is about 28% crack out and 35% is considered to be exceptional. “I’ve got some trees out here that are giving me about 50%,” he said. The farmer says he is trying to expedite processing his harvest as well as build a co-op to benefit small farmers who can’t or may not want to shell out (pun intended) the money to buy the equipment to process them. As soon as nuts are harvested, they must be husked, dried, cracked and sorted – each step requiring either time-consuming labor or expensive equipment. His husker/ cracker machine, which he imported from New Zealand, cost almost $5K, an investment many small farmers can’t make. Once the nut is cracked, he’s left with more shell than nut and this is where the labor and time are, in separating the kernels from the shell. Currently, Reynolds uses 5-gallon buckets with different-sized holes in the bottom that he shakes the nuts through. There are electronic sorters available, but he said they are an investment of about a half million dollars. “I’m designing and building a mechanical sorter that I’m hoping will get me 80% there,” he said. The farmer has already built a dryer complete with electronic controls to dry the nuts. With a background in mechanics and fabrication, Reynolds opted to build a sorter himself. If his sorter is a success, he has discussed eventually manufacturing them. Ideally, Reynolds says he would be the one to front the equipment cost to process nuts for smaller operations. He added, “I hope within a couple of years to be selling some of my good varieties of trees.” WHERE TO FIND THEM In addition to his work growing macadamias, Reynolds sells his products online at flmgc.com and the Grove Roots Moonlight Market each month. Because he is a cottage industry operation, anything that has been processed such as his roasted and salted nuts or macadamia nut cookies can be purchased online, but cannot be shipped – they must be hand to hand. Unprocessed nuts are able to be shipped, however. The Grove Roots Moonlight Market is the only local market at which you’ll find his Lake Alfred macadamia nuts. “I love the people at Grove Roots. They’re great people,” he said. A big hit at the market are his macadamia nut cookies, a recipe he’s perfected over ten years. “I can sell 400 cookies in a matter of minutes on the right night,” he said. A new addition to his market offerings will be large bags of shells. He uses them for compost around trees, for mixing with sand to grow seedlings, and even as an aggregate for his driveway. His favorite use for them is in the smoker. “It’s fantastic for smoking meats,” he said. “There is a purpose for every part of the tree.” Florida Macadamia Growers Cooperative Flmgc.com FB @FLMGC

I can’t take credit for that title – that’s all Kaley Aldridge. It’s what she makes with her creative business, Moonebird. It is scary and brave to walk away from the security of a job that doesn’t make you happy to follow your passions – and that’s exactly what the creative mind behind Moonebird did. Twenty-seven-year-old Kaley Aldridge is from St. Augustine originally. After college, she and her husband Russell, a Lakeland native, moved back. That was about five years ago. Though Kaley describes herself as a bit of an introvert, she always seemed to find a job in sales — which she didn’t exactly love. “I’ve always been an artist so I wanted to try to delve into that somehow. For me, jewelry making was something that I did on the side,” said Aldridge. She knew if she was ever going to quit working in sales, there was no time to act, like the present. In January of this year, she made the nerve-wracking decision to quit her job, finding encouragement in her husband and in the fact that Lakeland seemed like a community conducive to small business. “I got tired of working jobs I hated,” she said. “I wanted to do something creative and fun.” She now works part-time at a jewelry design studio downtown and making magic with her small business, Moonebird. The name was inspired in part by her love of birdwatching and by the family name of her Great Great Grandma Mooney who Kaley described as a badass. She too was a female business owner, running a bar in Rome, Georgia during a time when female entrepreneurship wasn’t so supported. Moonebird started off selling prints and jewelry. It evolved into more jewelry and continues to evolve based on Kaley’s interests and what her customers gravitate towards. More recently, Kaley has delved into pottery which she’ll have available for sale at the Holiday Haus Mrkt on Dec. 13 at Haus 820. She doesn’t see many creators in the area making ceramics, so she would like to bring them to the table – quite literally – in the form of pieces that people can be inspired by and find use in. “There’s nothing better than a special mug or a plate that you use every night because you love it,” she said. CREATIVE PROCESS “I’ve always been inspired by nature,” said Aldridge. She half-joked that her aesthetic is suited best to picking something up and rubbing the dirt off of it to use. She enjoys the earthy tones and textures of natural gemstones, shells, pearls, and botanicals. Moonebird jewelry tends to be minimalistic and powerful in style – full of good vibrations that you can’t help but feel that Kaley has put a little piece of herself into each item she creates. She makes brilliant use of natural beauty, including asymmetry in some pieces. Kaley’s creative approach to her art is much like that which inspires her – natural. “The creation process is me sitting with all the beads I have and adding one, subtracting one, until I like the design of it,” she said. Depending on how inspired she feels, a design could take her anywhere from ten seconds to an hour to get just right. To make her Botanical Essence Necklaces, Kaley collects flowers, wildflowers, and roses that have already fallen (she may or may not trespass to pick up a pretty flower or two). She takes them home and dries them out on a window screen for a few weeks until they’ve dried out completely. She makes a “ floral confetti” out of them and casts that in resin to live a second life as a special piece of jewelry for someone. Her crystal statement necklaces or “Warrior Necklaces” she described as power pieces. She uses natural elements like Labradorite, Halite, shell, Quartz, Pyrite, and Natural Moonstone – looking for color palettes that complement each other. INSPIRATION AND SUPPORT It isn’t just nature that inspires Aldridge, it’s the abounding creativity of the people she surrounds herself with. “I have some really creative friends. It’s good to have people that you can sit with, in silence, and create,” she said, naming Chad Loving of Loving Studios and WNDER Co photographer and fellow jewelry maker, Brea Marie. She is also inspired by makers she meets at markets like Lyndsey Venrick of Pin + Needle as well as Evan Neidich of Fox & Crow Paper Co. “Finding a little artistic community that you can exist with and create with is really fun,” she said. And of course, she couldn’t do it without her adorable pups – pit mix, Luna and boxer rescue, Kawaii. Her number one fan throughout her Moonebird journey has been her husband, Russell. Any idea that Kaley thinks might be crazy or out-of-the-box, Russell is there to root her on. “He’s pretty great,” she smiled. “I’ll keep him.” MOONEBIRD ASCENDING Her first year with Moonebird has been a fulfilling one says, Aldridge. “I like the freedom,” she said. “I like the space and freedom to create.” She remembers the first time someone purchased one of her pieces at a market, thinking, “That’s so wild that someone would spend their hard-earned money on something that I made and I love. That was inspiring to me.” That creative momentum and freedom that Moonebird has allowed Aldridge is a big part of the reason she is going back to school in January to study Marine Biology. Aldridge has been interested in the subject since she was young. She said, “You know when you grow up and sometimes forget what you always wanted to do?” Though life had taken her elsewhere, Kaley is course correcting toward her dreams in art and academics. Aside from her academic pursuits, Aldridge is an avid birdwatcher and artist of many mediums. She enjoys painting, poetry, ceramics, jewelry-making, and anything else that intrigues her. You can find her “tiny pieces of tangible magic” on Instagram, Facebook, Etsy and the many markets she attends. Follow Moonebird on social media to find out where she will be next! Moonebird Moonebird.etsy.com FB @shopmoonebird IG @moonebird Photos by Amy Sexson

The Florida Brewery, established in the 70s, is the second oldest brewery still in operation in the state. Primarily a manufacturing facility, the brewery opened its doors to the public a year and a half ago introducing their Beer Garden and Taproom at 202 Gandy Road in Auburndale. The community grew fond of the beer and atmosphere at the Florida Brewery and voiced that they wanted to enjoy them on more than just Friday and Saturday. When the opportunity came up to open an eatery downtown, the brewery partnered with restaurant industry veterans to be sure their cuisine mirrored their “crave-able” beer. Operating partners for Crave & Copper Justin Leo and Matt Oakley both have executive chef backgrounds. Leo has stepped into a front of house role as Director of Operations and Oakley as Executive Chef. The two are in partnership with Leo’s sister and Oakley’s wife, CFO of the Florida Brewery, Stacey Oakley as well as COO of the brewery Julie Williams. THE ATMOSPHERE “The atmosphere is all about community,” said Leo. Stacey Oakley agreed, saying that they want Crave & Copper to be an experience, something they have already created through the Florida Brewery. “When we did the Beer Garden we specifically put no TVs there. We wanted everybody to talk. We wanted a gathering place,” she said. Leo described their décor as rustic, modern-industrial. They wanted to keep the historic elements of the building complemented by modern finishes he said. Railroad imagery and large sliding barn doors, which can be closed to partition the restaurant, fit well within their rustic vibe. Focus is immediately drawn to the large rustic community table as you walk into Crave & Copper. “It creates the opportunity for people to get together and talk,” said Leo. Though the concept centers around pub fare and Florida Brewery beer, the atmosphere is family-friendly. Crave & Copper sits in the former Hudson Hotel, built in the 1920s. The hotel’s rooms were upstairs, now office space, and Crave & Copper is in place of its original restaurant. Stacey Oakley explained that Auburndale was a stop along the railroad back in the day. As a significant part of the town’s history, they wanted to pay homage. “It ties into the brewery because the copper kettle that sits at the beer garden was also brought down by the railroad in the 1970s,” she said. Many of the hotel’s original details have been left intact, but modernized – like the ceiling which was painted copper to suit their color scheme, the rehabbed bar and the exposed brick on one of the walls. Spanning an entire wall of the restaurant just beyond the barn doors is a mural by Central Florida based muralist, Joe Starks. According to Stacey and Julie, Starks worked off a photo of the building from the 1920s. The image peers into a scene straight from Lake Ave. in the roaring 20s, the only detail bringing it back to the present is the ‘Crave & Copper’ sign. Images of Prohibition, their brewery roots, and Auburndale’s iconic water tower make an appearance in the piece as well. Starks finished the entire monochromatic mural with spray paint in just one weekend, finishing it with copper accents. Stacey Oakley said the Hudson Hotel was a gathering space. They would broadcast fights on their radio outside and people would gather around to listen. The hotel’s restaurant would host $1 Thanksgiving dinner nights for the community. “The whole basis for what they did is similar to why we wanted to do this here. It was all focused around having a community destination,” she said. “We wanted something that was going to put Auburndale on the map,” said Executive Chef Matt Oakley. In the same way that Winter Haven and Lakeland have built up their downtown with exceptional dining, shopping, and recreation – the Crave & Copper owners want to see the same thing for downtown Auburndale. Folks shouldn’t have to drive out of town for a good meal and good beer he explained. TO EAT Describing their cuisine as upscale pub fare, Matt Oakley said, “We wanted to keep it traditional bar food, but we wanted to elevate it by using super fresh ingredients, sourcing as much local produce and proteins as possible.” For the proteins on their menu, Craft & Copper is working directly with Buckhead Beef, a mere three-minute walk from the establishment. For fresh produce, C & C is partnering with Farmer Jack in Winter Haven. Oakley said they are working on “fun, funky” flavors for the menu. You can’t have a pub without wings – that would be sacrilege. They have an assortment of flavors like Nashville Hot Honey and Thai Chili Peanut Sauce. We tried Crave & Copper’s delectable wings seasoned with their proprietary Copper Dust. Made with a spice blend from a chef-owned and operated company out of Spokane, Washington, Matt Oakley wanted to highlight the quality of the spices. He created a dry rub using garlic powder, onion powder, chili lime powder, white pepper, kosher salt, and honey granules. They have an assortment of other brilliant bar food like burgers, handhelds, and shareable apps along with seasonal salads and hearty vegetarian options like their grain bowl featuring a substantive variety of brussels and grains. A must-try is their smoked fish dip, ideally served with a frosty glass of Polar Pilsner. Made with locally caught Lane Snapper smoked in-house with pecan wood, Chef Matt says, “It’s a traditional Florida fish dip, but with my twist on it.” There were no frills, it was just plain good – like, really really good. It was served with a homemade hot sauce and crackers. A work of culinary art that Chef Matt brought to the table was his Beer Cheese Burger, which along with the Steak N’ Cheese made with local shaved ribeye, proved to be guest favorites within the first week of opening. The burger is made with a custom beef blend of chuck short rib and ribeye. Chef Matt makes beer cheese using the Florida Brewery Polar Pilsner incorporated into a mix of cream cheese, white cheddar, and chives. He makes a spicy tomato jam and accompanies it with hydroponic leaf bib lettuce. The beercheese-laden succulent burger is topped with “swine candy” – a helping of generously thick-cut candied bacon, all served on a brioche bun. Everything about the burger was remarkable from the first glance to the last bite. You might get messy, but it’s worth it. Matt had a food truck before opening the restaurant and one of his flagship menu items was the beer cheese burger. The burger was so beloved that it is part of the reason for their name. Patrons would come into the brewery and say how much they craved the burger or his chicken sandwich. “It wasn’t just good – people craved it,” said Stacey. “We wanted our beer to be the same – not just good, but crave-able.” The Crave & Copper kitchen is staffed mainly with culinary students from local schools. Matt Oakley reached out to Traviss Technical College to ask if they had any recent culinary graduates or soon to graduate students looking to work. The applications flooded in. The chef says he is glad to have them in his kitchen, remarking, “My goal as a chef is to teach and share my craft. I’m not one of those chefs that like to hold all my secrets in. I’m open with my recipes, I’ll tell anyone what they are. I want people to cook and to learn how to do it right so that we have more chefs and great food in town.” TO DRINK Florida Brewery COO Julie Williams discussed their five-barrel brew system at Crave & Copper. Three fermenters turn yeast into alcohol and one bright beer tank holds finished product ready to be kegged. “This is what we consider our research and development. The big brewery down the street, one batch is 300 barrels,” she said. “This gives us the chance to use a little more creativity on a small batch.” Crave & Copper has twenty rotating beers on tap including a cider. Stacey Oakley said that their beers cater to the traditional lager style and are made intentionally drinkable for Florida – whether you’re boating, fishing or backyard barbequing. They recently added 863 Light, their version of an American Standard Lager, and 863 Ultra, which she described as a more “calorie-conscious American lager” to the menu. Their best-selling beer by far, Beach Me Up, started as a seasonal brew. The crisp grapefruit shandy earned a fixed spot on the menu due to demand. Wine is also available along with a cocktail menu offering six craft cocktails. “We’re focusing on small-batch producers,” said Matt Oakley of their craft cocktail offerings. “We partnered with Florida Cane Distillery in Ybor. We use them exclusively for our liquors.” YES, I’M CRAVING IT “We’re not a brewery that decided to do a restaurant and we’re not a restaurant that decided to be a brewery,” said Stacey Oakley – a sentiment that resonated throughout my experience at the Auburndale restaurant and taproom. “We partnered with people who have a restaurant background. We handle the beer because that’s what we’re good at and they handle the restaurant. It’s been such a perfect pairing because there is a huge focus on both sides,” she said. I live over an hour away from Crave & Copper and have no qualms saying their food and drink menu are worth the drive. Neither the food or the beer is an afterthought. Each dish seemed thoughtful, hitting just the right spot between bar food staple and rave-worthy (or should I say, crave-worthy) cuisine. You HAVE to try this place. Crave & Copper 117 E Lake Ave, Auburndale, FL Craveandcopper.com FB @craveandcopper IG @craveandcopper Hours: Sunday 11AM - 9PM Monday 11AM - 9PM Tuesday - CLOSED Wednesday 11AM - 9PM Thursday 11AM - 9PM Fri. & Sat. 11AM - 11PM

Beauty pageants. Those two words may evoke images of scenes from movies like “Miss Congeniality” and “Dumplin’” or the perceived superficiality of the pageant circuit. Tall, thin, pretty girls lauded for being pretty – right? In reality, it’s so much more than that. It is scholarships, community service, confidence-building, opportunities, and life lessons according to Florida Citrus Queen 1981, now Executive Director of the Miss Florida Citrus pageant, Brenda Eubanks Burnette. Pageants have been so pivotal in her life in fact, they have led her to her current position as the Executive Director of the Florida Citrus Hall of Fame. Born in Miami, Burnette came to Winter Haven when she was in the second grade. She went through school here, graduated from Winter Haven High School and then Polk Community College. She got her start in pageants winning Miss Winter Haven. Through the encouragement and help to find a sponsor of Bob Eastman and Jerry Imber, she went on to compete in the Florida Citrus Queen pageant. “The first year, I didn’t win or place or anything. In fact, I was so nervous because I wasn’t really a pageant girl, I was only in it for the scholarship money. I forgot my sponsor’s name and everything,” she remembered, smiling. Two years later, when Brenda was working for WSIR Radio, Eastman and Imber convinced her to come back and compete in the pageant again. Bill Raley of Dundee Citrus Growers Association agreed to be her sponsor. Brenda Burnette entered the pageant and claimed the crown as the 1981 Florida Citrus Queen. She received a car for a year and a $1,000 wardrobe along with other prizes. She was paid a whopping $25 for every appearance she made. It wasn’t the prizes or the money that left an impact on Brenda, it was the experience and the opportunities that blossomed from it. “It was the networking and the things that you could do that was so exciting – and the fact that you’d be traveling the world,” she said. “It was a huge growing experience.” The beauty queen had never traveled by herself before then. She remembered her first time traveling to New York and taking a taxi. The meter was blinking and the cab driver spoke no English. She paid him $21 for a ride that most certainly didn’t cost that much. She chuckled as she told that story and about the first time she saw snow, in Chicago – wearing high heel sandals. Her job as reigning Florida Citrus Queen took her all across the United States, Canada, and even Japan – twice. During her travels she met Bruce Springsteen by happenstance in a hotel lobby waiting for the rain to stop. It was his birthday, so she gave him a birthday kiss. “I met a lot of people over that year that really helped me in terms of growing as a public relations person and networking,” she said. After her year as Florida Citrus Queen, she took a job with the Winter Haven News Chief, then as a subcontractor for the Department of Citrus for three years, booking herself in media and tv interviews throughout the United States and Canada. She got into real estate for a time. Then, she was asked to interview for the position of Executive Director for the Florida Citrus Showcase. She was hired for the position and was asked to take over the Miss Florida Citrus Pageant. She did, even securing an $18K per year salary for the woman who won. Working a job was nearly impossible as the appearances and time commitment was a full-time job for the queen. She ran the program from 1989 to 1993 before moving full time to South Florida. According to Brunette, The Showcase stopped at some point after that, leaving the Florida Citrus Queen pageant, a program which began in 1924, defunct. BEAUTY – INSIDE AND OUT “Being a queen goes beyond the mascara and hairspray,” said Burnette. During her time as the Florida Citrus Queen, she learned everything from time management, to always be dependable and honest, and how to conduct herself thoughtfully, gracefully, and intelligently in interviews. “It’s a big confidence-builder. It makes you believe in what you can do because of the things that happen to you along the way,” she said. She can remember arriving late in Chicago one evening. She had a television appearance early the next morning and the universe seemed to be working against her. The pipes froze overnight leaving no running water and her scheduled 3 a.m. wake-up call never came. When the field agent knocked on her door to ask if she was up and ready – she panicked and jumped into action. She couldn’t get a shower, had to brush her teeth dry, and do her hair and makeup in the car – but she made it there, ready to fulfill her duties. “You have to learn to roll with the punches and get up and do it,” she said. She learned to catch cat naps whenever she could, like in the car between appearances. She also learned to be herself. Her mom always told her, “You can’t be anything more than you already are, so be the best at that, that you can be.” FLORIDA CITRUS QUEEN 2.0 In 2012, Burnette brought the pageant back to life. The title of Florida Citrus Queen was back with a new name, Miss Florida Citrus, and is now a preliminary pageant for the Miss Florida pageant. “I now run Miss Winter Haven and Miss Florida Citrus pageant because that’s how I got my start,” she said. It is made all the more special for Burnette to see the winner of last year’s pageant, Michaela McLean, go on to take the 2019 Miss Florida crown. McLean is slated to compete in the 2020 Miss America pageant this December. Burnette shared advice she gives the young ladies who compete now as Executive Director of the pageant. “One of the things I always tell the girls is that this is a job. You are competing for a job, so you need to picture yourself as that person and treat it accordingly. Act as if you already have the crown.” “The job description is not that we want somebody who is 5’10”, blonde and thin as a toothpick. We want somebody who puts her own stamp on that job and it doesn’t matter how tall or cute – if you can’t talk to people and be real with people, it doesn’t make any difference,” she said. “Those shoes are your shoes that year – so you make your own footprint.” Beauty pageants are glamorous, sure. But they are so much more than that according to the Miss Florida Citrus Executive Director. “The thing people don’t realize is that Miss America is one of the largest scholarship providers for young women in America,” she said. “These scholarships allow these women to have an education.” The Miss Florida Citrus pageant alone awards $3K in scholarships each year. Many pageants, including Miss America, not only give the ladies who compete, scholarship opportunities, they encourage them to serve others, and the community. Contestants in pageants like Miss America are required to fulfill so many service hours, champion a social initiative, and raise money for a charity. Tune in to NBC on December 19 from 8 pm - 10 pm ET/ PT, to watch Miss Florida, Michaela McLean vie for the 2020 Miss America crown. Burnette will be there to cheer her on! Burnette says she feels fortunate and blessed to have had the opportunities she’s had and to have met the people she’s met. Memories and friendships and glamour aside, Brenda Burnette says being a beauty queen taught her most about, “Making the most of any opportunity that comes your way.” Solid advice from a woman who has done just that.

Florida native, JC Anderson lived the first few years of his life in Norway where his dad is from. His family made the move to Lakeland in the late 80s when he was five, where he lived until moving to Nashville in 2004. Growing up, his goal was to be a doctor. In fact, he had earned a full ride scholarship to college after graduating Bartow High School in 2003. The thing was, he had already been playing music on the side, for fun, and it was getting pretty serious. I met up with JC on a September day after he finished his set at the Wildhorse Saloon in downtown Nashville to talk. JC’s been living in Tennessee for fifteen years, and remembers the day he told his parents he didn’t want to go to college. “I started getting to open for shows like Keith Urban, Brad Paisley, Trace Atkins and a bunch of big artists in Florida. I was playing music on the side, for fun and one day I thought, I can’t go to college now,” he smiled. He told his parents he wasn’t going to school and he wanted to move to Nashville. “I worked that summer at Crispers to save up money for an apartment.” Photo by Annette McNamara After moving to Nashville, he got a production deal within six months, which is unheard of. JC had a fellow Norwegian friend who plays guitar, give JC’s music to a producer friend named Ted Hewitt. “Ted liked what I was doing, asked me to come meet with him and he produced a few songs,” he said. At the same time, he was working at a restaurant in Hermitage, TN, a block from his house. “I was a horrible server, I was awful. I was too clumsy and couldn’t memorize stuff well,” he laughed. He needed to make money and he also happened to meet his future wife, Kristi there. So it wasn’t all bad. When he wasn’t at the restaurant, he was keeping the dream alive. “My producer tells me the next step now, is putting a band together and getting some guys you can go out on the road and start touring with. I lucked into doing shows with really big artists before, but I needed road experience.” At age 19, he came back to Florida and teamed up with his mom, Mary Anne to start auditioning for band mates. Bill Boyce was the first person he heard play. JC told him, “You’re in, I don’t need to look any further!” When Bill asked where the rest of the band was? “I laughed and said, you’re it so far!” The drummer was Jimmy Smith, one of his best friends in Lakeland. “One of the best drummers I’ve ever known,” JC said. “He was out in Hollywood at the time. I called him and he said he’d been waiting for this call for a long time.” Everything was falling into place. They got a great group of guys together and started playing gigs in Lakeland. At that point, JC was ready to move back to Tennessee and he was bringing his band. They got a house in the country where they all hunkered down and started making and recording more music. That’s when his mom told him about a new show coming out called The Next GAC Star. (on the Great American Country Channel.) After a little convincing from her, he sent in his music video. “I had just finished a music video before I came back up here for the first song I’ve ever wrote. A week later I got a phone call from GAC and was told I was the Judges Choice for this week’s show.” After being on the live finale show, they won 2nd runner up. That brought opportunities with record labels which were great, however the country’s recession didn’t help. “They all told me the same thing. We love ya but we can’t do anything right now. If we sign you, we’re going to have to shelf you. I felt like the iron was still hot so I didn’t want that,” he explained. He wanted something now, but it just wasn’t happening. Needing to make a living and you know, pay bills and everything. He had to figure out his next move. That’s where the Wildhorse Saloon comes in. They were having a contest, and long story short, after 800 submissions from hopeful musicians, they narrowed it down to 36 to compete live. JC not only made it to the finale, but he eventually went on to win. That meant he won a year contract with them. After that, it was more recording and more touring. At that point, he had been married to Kristi for two years. They began talking about kids. “I felt like, I don’t know what’s going to happen, I don’t know where my life is going. I’m working hard but we’re at this plateau of not knowing what’s next. I don’t have a manager and I don’t know how the business works in that aspect.” He did whatever it took to make things work and to have a family. “We had our first baby, little Sophia, and I did whatever I had to do to get by at that point. I played shows, I worked in warehouses and then I got a job working in the auto industry. It was supposed to be temporary, something to get by.” However, they wanted him full time, so he took it. “I went in at entry-level working at an auto auction place, then got a full time job but was trying to hustle the whole time, too,” he said. They gave him a promotion after promotion, “I worked my tail off. I was working and working at this job, moving up fast. “One day I came to this realization, what am I doing? I’ve been in this business for four years now, was still playing shows, still taking promotions at work but had even less time to play music. That’s when Clay Ryan, the owner of the dealership and still one of his best friends, told him to quit music because he was wasting all of his time at work. “Clay told me, why don’t you leave here and go out there and do what you came here to do. I called my wife and asked her what she thought about me quitting the corporate job and going back at music full time and giving it everything I’ve got while I still can.” Kristi supported him. “ I told her it’s going to be hard. Money will be tight. I basically had to start over and I had to go bigger and better this time around. I worked hard, toured hard, booked more shows, played every hole in the wall in front of 5 people.” Wherever they could get there foot in the door, and started making a new fan base. He said sometimes it was fun, but mostly they were burned out, it was becoming difficult. They started booking less shows focusing on more quality shows. One night playing a show at Puckett’s in downtown Nashville, Len Besinger saw them play. “He’s from Glacier Entertainment Artist Management.” The company had been sitting dormant since the recession. JC explained that Besinger played his music for a friend at CMT, and was inspired to get back into the industry. They’ve been working together since. They’ve been playing bigger stages, making more money, and playing songs that he wrote. “It’s amazing to have other people like what you’re doing so much that they help you with the next step.” “This is the best year we’ve ever had, we’re on pace to have over 200 shows. I’m not starving to death like I was before,” he laughed. They will be coming out with a new single this fall. “Now with a bigger appreciation of what I’m doing and the gift that I was so lucky for God to give me, it is my responsibility to do it,” he said. “As long as I try hard enough, I will find a way. If I don’t give up, I will find a way.” I asked if he had any advice for budding musicians trying to make it big. “The music business is very deep and dark and heartbreaking. You go out every day and wear your heart on your sleeve. You don’t know where it’s going to go. I’ve had so many big things happen to me, with the show, record companies, I’ve gotten so far, so many times and at the last second everything just doesn’t work out. Over and over again. I’m doing everything I can to be the best and be better than the other guy, but nothing happens. You get bitter, jaded and angry. This is not for the faint of heart,” he said thoughtfully. “I don’t do this for me anymore. I love it and I can’t see myself doing anything else but I don’t do it to be a star. I know what I’m best at. So it’s my responsibility to do that and put my kids through college and to support my family, you know?” After sitting for a bit, he added, “Get out and perform in front of people, not your family and not your friends. Perform for people you don’t know and then see if you want to take it further. “ As for his family, “They’re my motivation to keep trying. I don’t want to let them down.” www.jcandersen.com FB@jcandersonband

Lakeland’s hometown barbeque spot since 1964, Jimbo’s Pit Bar B-Q maintains a lasting legacy of good food and good service, run by good folks. The restaurant was originally started by Jim Neff, owner of the Foxfire Restaurant and Henry Landworth who owned the Holiday Inn just down the road. Peck’s Freez-ette was the eatery’s first moniker. It eventually became Jimbo’s Pit Bar B-Q and Neff hired Harold “Happy” Lehman to run it. “Dad managed it for him for a year and bought it from him in ’65,” remembered Harold’s daughter, Traci Lehman Hughes. Traci started working at Jimbo’s when she was 16 years old, leaving for a time to go to school in Orlando. In 2001, she bought the business and carries on the barbecue legacy that has endured for over half a century. Not much has changed in Jimbo’s since the doors first opened. The warm wood-paneled dining area is lined with antiques (which Harold Lehman collected) and some pig-themed decor brought in by guests. The comfy space is filled with picnic-style bench seating and the large windows allow light to flood in. About half of their business comes from take-out through their drive-thru and walk-up windows. Guests can order there or order online through their website and on bitesquad. com. A 1965 menu is framed, hanging on the wall, yellowed a bit with age. They’ve added a few things and taken a few off, but the bones of Jimbo’s menu remain the same. The current menu offers up barbecue standards like chopped pork, Bar B-Q beef and ham, chicken, Jimbo’s burger, or a fried fish sandwich with all the fixin’s. The star of the show is Jimbo’s Bar B-Q Ribs. By far, their biggest seller, the ribs, like the rest of their barbecue, are meat magic made with love. “We use an oiler pit, which comes out of Texas. We use no gas in cooking our barbeque – it’s all wood,” said Traci. “We put a dry rub on them, then we smoke them for 3 and a half, 4 hours. They come off and we baste them. It’s pretty simple – they’re just really good,” she smiled. Everything but the potato salad is made in-house at Jimbo’s. That includes Bar B-Q beans, coleslaw, mac and cheese and more. But I’d be remiss not to mention the made from scratch, to-die-for apple and cherry pies. In fact, that’s what Traci was about to do as we walked in for the interview – roll out the dough for the day’s pie. Though Harold Lehman passed away in 2018, Jimbo’s remains familyowned and operated. Traci’s daughters work with her at the restaurant. Daughter Olivia also runs Happy’s Place Farm and Chloe attends the University of Florida online. Daughter Molly is currently attending college at UF and picks up a shift or two when she comes home to Lakeland. Traci’s nephew, Tyson Hutto and cousin, Daryl Lehman also work at the restaurant. Jimbo’s offers catering and a holiday special in which you can buy whole pies and smoked turkeys for Thanksgiving and Christmas. They begin taking reservations for that on November 1 – whip your phone out now because they usually book up within the first week. “We haven’t changed much over the last 50 years – it’s kind of crazy, but it works,” said Traci. She learned this concept from her dad, though she’d nudge him to tweak things here or there in the past. “Now that I’m older, I get that. It works – why would I want to mess with it?” That’s only one of the many things Traci learned working with her dad. She also learned, “To value your customers, to be nice, to get out there and help your community and give back where you can.” Jimbo’s customer base is generational. The family says they are thankful for the community that has supported their small business over the years. “We can’t do it without them. We’re so lucky, we have generations who come in. People will come in with their grand-dad and their dad,” said Traci. Though not messing with what works is part of Jimbo’s business model, that doesn’t mean they won’t listen to their customers. They are toying with the idea of giving pulled and chopped chicken a permanent spot on the menu. In other exciting news – they’ll be adding a rib sandwich soon! “It’s going to be on a thicker, Texas toast white bread with ribs. It’s simple but people ask for it all the time,” said Traci. I stopped in for some take-out during a Wednesday lunch-hour rush. The Jimbo’s Bar B-Q Ribs plate was calling my name. The barbeque plates come with two hushpuppies and two sides. I chose mac and cheese and potato salad. For dessert – apple pie! I drove back to the office with full intentions of sharing… I did share, a little. A rib for you, and a rib for you, and the rest for me. “Fall-off-the-bone” is a phrase thrown around a lot when describing barbeque, but I can think of no four words more fitting for the smoky goodness that came in that Jimbo’s takeout box. It went from lunch to a full-on barbeque experience when I tried it with their homemade barbeque sauce (which they keep hot all day). It was equal parts tangy and sweet with just enough spice to make things interesting. The mac and cheese stood out as well. Strings of real cheese were ribboned in (seemingly strategically for max flavor) within the noodles and creamy sauce. And then, there was the apple pie. The warm, gooey, not-too-sweet apple filling was hugged by a flaky crust. The pie is served with a side of cider sauce which adds any sweetness your missing. A fork full of that pie with a dab of cider sauce is probably the most perfect bite of apple pie I’ve ever had (outside of yours, of course, Nanny). The whole lunch was ten out of ten – would recommend. As I finished my lunch, I thought back to what Traci had said earlier, “We haven’t changed much over the last 50 years – it’s kind of crazy, but it works.” Jimbo’s Pit Bar B-Q www.jimbospitbarbeque.com FB: Jimbo’s Pit Bar-B-Q IG @jimbospitbbqlkld Photo by Amy Sexson

Tucked away in a sleepy Bartow neighborhood not far from bustling Highway 17, rests a grand architectural art piece devised by an eccentric inventor in the 1920s. One of Florida’s earliest tourist attractions, the Wonder House is presently home to Krislin Kreis and Drew Davis. After falling in and out of disrepair between owners, Davis and Kreis have breathed new life into the house and in June, opened it for historic tours again. A BRIEF HISTORY Born to a poor family outside of Pittsburgh in 1877, Conrad Schuck grew up with dreams of becoming an entrepreneur. He found success starting a stone rock quarry and as a building contractor. According to Davis, a railroad company claimed eminent domain over Schuck’s land, leading to a legal battle that found its way to the U.S. Supreme Court. He lost the fight and in turn lost everything. The stressful ordeal claimed Schuck’s land and his health. “His doctor said he had a few months to live and if he moved down to the warm tropical Florida climate, which was popular back in the ’20s, he would live an entire year,” said Davis. Thinking the clock was ticking on his last year to live, Schuck moved his wife and nine children to Florida in 1926 and began building his dream house. The tropical weather must have been good to Schuck because he went on to work on the house for another 30 years. Determined to invest his money wisely, Schuck invested in the stock market and Florida land. By 1928, Florida land had busted followed by the onset of the Great Depression in 1929. “He has no money, wants to finish his house and that’s when he opens it up for tours,” said Davis. Tours of Florida’s Wonder House were “wildly successful” according to Davis. He’s read some interviews claiming the house attracted 2000 guests every week. It had garnered such a following that in the late 1930s, The Florida Department of Tourism called Wonder House the number one must-visit attraction in Florida. The Wonder House had made a name for itself as one of Florida’s very first (and few still standing today) attractions, predating the omnipresent mouse by some forty years. It remained popular into the 40s, continuing to gain traction. “That’s when Conrad starts branching out from doing mostly oddities and normal tours of the house into inventions,” said Davis. By the 1950s, his children who had helped with the house moved on, leaving Conrad by himself. By the 1960s, he had gotten too old to maintain the property. Land deeds show that around this time, Schuck gave the entire 14-acre property away to a church for just $1000. According to Kreis, all but the 2-acre main property was subdivided in 1963, creating the surrounding neighborhood. The Wonder House and main lot went to Lucy DuCharme next. DuCharme – a larger than life classy southern lady who often donned large hats, white gloves and drove around in a convertible Cadillac according to Davis – did plenty of entertaining in the house and was rumored to have had Elvis Presley there once. A photo of Elvis playing piano in the home is said to exist, though Davis and Kreis have yet to see it. DuCharme passed away in the house and it remained abandoned until Charles Heiden purchased it. He poured money into fixing up the Wonder House until an ongoing spat with the city forced him out. Davis said, “It got to a boiling point over the barn out back and he ended up packing up everything, tearing everything out of the house and just leaving.” It was again abandoned, during which time it was significantly damaged and left in disrepair. ABOUT THE HOUSE The Wonder House is made of concrete reinforced with steel (from local train tracks) tessellated with tile and glass mosaics. Because Schuck didn’t think he had long to live, he didn’t use blueprints to build the house. In fact, only one floor of blueprints exist. The fourstory home, including two stories underground, is somewhere between 5000 and 12,000 square feet of stunningly interesting invention and design. The house is shaped like a cross with porches on every corner – some of which have been enclosed by various owners. The structure’s shape was part of the air conditioning system. According to Davis, in the center of the cross on every floor sat a fireplace. When lit, the warm air would go upwards, and it would suck air from outside. The two and a half foot thick walls covered in creeping fig vine made for a purported four feet of insolation. The air sucked in from outside was cooled from water running through the walls from hollow concrete columns Schuck designed to gather rainwater. “Pretty much every room in the house, when the fireplace was lit, would have a cross breeze because every room has two porches on either side,” he said. Conrad Schuck was known for his collection of oddities within the house, but the Wonder House is a bit of an oddity in its own right. From beautiful tile mosaics and hand-painted ceiling panels to hidden rooms and clever inventions, the Wonder House is the amalgamation of an eccentric dreamer’s boundless imagination and vision. Some of the home’s notable features include a moat with two bridges spanning it and two pools on the third floor (one of which has since been concreted in by a previous owner) that were used as bathtubs, swimming pools, and then koi ponds. A gigantic concrete pergola looms over the third floor. In times past, it too was draped in fig vine to shade the porch from the punishing Florida sun. One of Conrad’s only original inventions remaining in the house is a 21-square foot rotating kitchen cabinet. Kreis said that there used to be many fascinating inventions sprinkled throughout the house. For various reasons, throughout its history, those have been manipulated. “There used to be a laundry chute system that connected all the bedrooms in the house,” said Kreis. “Because the house has two-foot thick concrete walls when they went to put in air conditioning, the only way to do it was to go through the old laundry chute system.” Interestingly enough, Conrad Schuck and his family never actually occupied the Wonder House. According to Davis, Schuck wanted every detail finished before he moved in – the details, however, were never close enough to completion for his liking. The Wonder House’s popularity and tourist magnetism in its heyday saw many newspapers and tabloids filled with salacious claims about features and things that allegedly happened in the house. Admitted history buffs, Davis and Kreis have poured over hundreds, perhaps thousands of articles about the house. Comfortably familiar with its history, preparing for the tours meant putting on detective hats and sifting through bogus accounts. Many of the stories they thought were surely false, have turned out otherwise. Like that of a sunken tub that tourists could lay in and see the front door through Schuck’s mirror system. It took three layers of flooring to get to the sunken tub, but alas, it was there! Extra escape tunnels, hidden passageways, and secret rooms have been posited and some confirmed. You’ll have to take the tour to find out more about that! ABOUT THE PROPRIETORS Davis and Kreis acquired the house at auction in September of 2015, closing in October. Krislin Kreis moved to the United States from Estonia with her parents in 1993. Growing up on Fort Myers Beach, she always knew she wanted to be an artist. She went to Ringling College of Art and Design for Photography and Digital Imaging. Kreis spent five years in fashion marketing before acquiring the Wonder House in 2015. Following two years as a TV production teacher for Polk County Schools, she now teaches photography at Union Academy in Bartow. Drew Davis, from Virginia originally, attended the University of Virginia studying economics before coming to Florida for law school at Florida State University. He now works as a prosecutor and takes an interest in discovering and restoring the Wonder House with Kreis. The couple share the Wonder House with their sweet pup, Joan of Bark. Despite the condition of the home when they first acquired it, without running water or electricity, Davis moved in and immediately began restoration efforts. Kreis moved in two years later, though she would commute to work on the house in the meantime. The first of the repairs to be done was to dig up the overgrown plants in the moat that were so pervasive you couldn’t see the steps. They also took down the front door and refinished it. The first room to be completed was the dining room. This is Krislin’s favorite room in the house. “It was the first room we finished and the light in there is dreamy,” she said. The way the vibrant stain glass reflects on the table she described as, “just magical.” According to Kreis, anything they do to renovate the house, they approach asking themselves what Conrad Schuck would do. They stay close to his vision but take into account modern conveniences. Keeping to the home’s history and Schuck’s vision, the couple has tried to furnish the fortress in the fashion of a Germanic castle. In honor of Conrad’s pickled snake and oddity collection, they too have an oddity display. “My original plan for it was a ten-year plan,” said Davis of the Wonder House restorations. “We’re four years in, so I guess we’re on track, at about 40% completion.” HOLIDAY TOURS The Wonder House will be open for special family-friendly Holiday tours. Krislin loves to decorate for the holidays, especially Christmas. This year, she’s excited to open the Wonder House in all its winter magic to tour-goers. Davis and Kreis would like to break the tours into a nighttime tour and a regular Saturday Christmas tour. Admission to the special nighttime tour may include complimentary snacks and beverages to add to the merriment. Bathed in sparkling Christmas lights and filled with holiday cheer, “You’ll get to see a different side of the Wonder House,” said Kreis. The Wonder House www.wonderhousebartow.com FB @wonderhousebartow Historic Tours of the Wonder House are available only by booking a reservation online in advance. Photos by Amy Sexson

“I am not free while any woman is unfree, even when her shackles are very different from my own.” —Audre Lorde Inspired by movements like that of Femme Fatale DC, a “By womyn, for womyn” collective supporting women-owned creative entrepreneurs through retail pop-ups in Washington D.C., and in search of connections and opportunities exclusive to women – Ileah Green teamed up with co-founding members Alison Foley-Rothrock, Jessica Rios, Sunny Balliette, and Stephanie Gregg to form the Lakeland Women’s Collective – a space for women to be free. Free from harassment, free from discrimination, free to create, free to start a business, free to be women. Ileah Green grew up in Lakeland and moved away for college, settling in Washington D.C. in the ten years before moving home. In D.C., Green took notice of womenonly spaces popping up around the city like that of Femme Fatale DC. “It was about empowering women to be themselves and to celebrate their uniqueness, and also to grow female relationships,” said Green. When she relocated to Lakeland, Green sought out opportunities to support women in freelancing, creative, artistic, and entrepreneurial endeavors. Her first thought was to check out the women’s business center. The only trouble was finding one. Six months of asking just about everyone she knew where she could find one, it became clear that it simply didn’t exist in Lakeland. Where was the place exclusively investing in women entrepreneurs? Where was the money for women-owned businesses? Where could women come together to connect and share in their badassery? “I started the Women’s Collective out of looking for connections – around business, around being a mom, around being a woman,” said Green. THE BEGINNING OF LWC Green met Sunny Balliette at a LKLD Creative Makers meeting. The two shared their frustrations with and vision for the state of women in Lakeland. The two began meeting to brainstorm ways to create opportunities for women locally. In efforts to bring together interesting, powerful women in the community, they began holding women’s meetings or “focus groups” as Green called them. She looked at these focus groups as a way to gauge whether other women felt similarly about the plights of women in Lakeland and lack of opportunity for them here. She wasn’t alone. Balliette, a creative entrepreneur herself, started the VOLUME Art Collective and began organizing classes at ART/ifact. These classes caught the attention of artist, Jessica Rios. The two connected and Balliette invited Rios to the women’s group meeting. Green met attorney and founder of the Red Tent Initiative, Alison Foley-Rothrock in the summer of 2018 after someone suggested she reach out to the anti-domestic violence organization if she was looking for an impactful way to support women. After meeting Foley-Rothrock, Green started working with her as an advisory board member for Red Tent and as an assistant at Foley-Rothrock’s law firm. Their first event as a collective, a joint effort with the Red Tent Initiative, was a presentation of data from the Institute for Women’s Policy Research called “The Status of Women.” The response to the event was exceedingly positive and the founding members began to think about, “how do we make Lakeland and Polk County a safer and more equitable, more even playing field for women and people of color,” said Green. The growth has continued, as have the events. The second was a Women’s March Meetup at the Poor Porker, and they’ve continued hosting events for activism, art, entrepreneurship, and femaleempowerment. THE MISSION The LWC wanted to get the message across loud and clear to women that they are important, deserve to be treated with respect, and have a job that pays well and doesn’t expose them to harassment. “You have options, but it’s easy to feel like there are no options if you’re in a community that is stifling,” said Green. “I think in a lot of ways, Lakeland can be stifling to women and people of color.” The collective wanted to seek out a co-working environment that was a safe space in which women, femme-identifying, and non-binary artists, makers, and entrepreneurs could exist and work free of harassment and discrimination. After a few potential locations fell through, the group found the Lemon Street space just outside of downtown that would become the Lakeland Women’s Collective. The co-working space is home to brilliant and creative women from lawyers, nail artists, writers, artists and more. Lakeland Women’s Collective is an inclusive, pro-equality, pro-equity, non-denominational, non-partisan, pro-woman, and pro-human rights space. “We want social, economic, and political equality for everybody,” said Jessica Rios. “Glass ceilings are a real thing – and we want to shatter those. […] Anything that is holding women back, we want to get rid of.” Rios said, “Somehow women end up here and we heal each other.” In addition to the healing she has received and given to her sisters at the LWC, Rios finds it inspirational to be surrounded by women doing what they want to do. “Women are coming here and making their dreams come true,” she said. “I love that we can come here and engage in a powerful way and become powerful in business without participating in the toxic masculinity and environments that we find in other workspaces,” said Foley-Rothrock. “We’ve created our own space for each other, for ourselves. This is a safe space where we can be ourselves, but also be doing powerful things and making decisions and making impacts around us – without compromise.” Without compromise is right. Everything they’ve done as a collective has been engineered to give women opportunities without compromising other areas of their life – like motherhood. The LWC’s position is that motherhood and business are not mutually exclusive. A woman can be both an attentive, caring mother and powerful, successful entrepreneur. They even provide a kid’s room at their coworking space. Members are welcome and encouraged to bring their children. Foley-Rothrock said, “That’s one of those systemic things that seems to still be ingrained here in Lakeland and in more conservative communities around the country – that you have to choose either being a mother or being a business owner and a powerful business person.” “How do you make the transition between being a stay at home mother and wanting to work on becoming an entrepreneur? The gap from one to the other where you’re making enough money to leave your child in childcare or make other arrangements is a pretty big leap,” said FoleyRothrock. “That not being recognized and not acknowledged is part of the whole patriarchal system where it’s clear that men, and people who have wealth, and people who have traditional family structures are still very much in charge of making those decisions.” Green said that her goal for the LWC is to ensure that women understand resources are available to them and that, “there are very smart women in this town, who want women to be successful.” “That’s my goal, is to remove as many barriers as possible to women supporting themselves, making names for themselves, having their own businesses, being artists, having their own creative business,” said Green. Some of the many resources the collective provides to women through education. Women like Sylvia Blackmon-Roberts, president and CEO of a management consulting firm out of Lakeland and Financial Professional, Tari Kezele, invest their time with LWC to help women become more informed in matters of business and finance. “I want women to be as armed in terms of information as possible,” said Green. She encourages women in the community to feel empowered to do anything, saying, “Come here, let’s talk about it. We can brainstorm ways to get you moving and if you need connections to people to figure out how to get it going, we’ll find them. And if we don’t know them, we’ll ask somebody who may.” Green said she believes that some in positions of wealth and power in the city have an ingrained idea of scarcity. “They believe that there is not enough. There’s not enough to go around, you can only have one important place, you can only put your money in one place, you can only invest in one organization. Only one, only one, only one. That’s bullshit,” she said. “There is enough. There is enough money, there is enough investment, there is enough opportunity.” Foley-Rothrock agreed with Green, adding, “It creates the ‘us versus them’ and we’re refusing to buy into the idea that in order to lift myself up, in order to get ahead, I have to step on somebody else. No, we can work together, and we can make it happen for ourselves and each other.” The Christian community has a strong presence in Lakeland. The women expressed that they are not at all anti-church and respect the religious beliefs or lack thereof of other people but don’t think women should have to subscribe to a certain church or religion to receive resources like affordable housing and childcare. Foley-Rothrock expressed the importance of building connections and community beyond those traditional power structures, saying, “Resources like affordable childcare and housing – all of those are also concentrated in the Christian community. Ninety percent of the resources for lowincome individuals and homeless individuals and survivors are all attached to religious services – ninety percent,” she said. The community has reacted in a big way to the LWC. Rios expressed that from the overwhelming response of a 350 people turnout to “Pink Moon,” their all-female artist showcase at ART/ifact, to petition signings, and the grand opening of their space – many have shown support or at least taken notice of their movement. She smiled, held up her Rosie the Riveter mug and said, “We can do it!” GIRL POWER In addition to arming women with information, the collective believes it is important to level the playing field. “We are pro-equality and we are pro-equity,” said Green. She explained it through a graphic she’d recently seen. In the graphic, three people of differing heights stand at a fence, unable to see over it. Equality, she explained, is giving them all the same size box to stand on – though they still won’t all be able to see. “Equity is when you give them the appropriate-size box so they can all see over the fence,” said Green. A large part of making Lakeland a more equitable community is an increased minimum wage say the LWC founding members. “We think that minimum wage should be a living wage,” said Green. At the barebones minimum, they believe it should be $15 an hour, but Green says she would like to see it closer to $20. The collective urges people to call the person who represents them on the city commission about the importance of raising the minimum wage to at least $15 an hour. Foley-Rothrock suggested constituents vet candidates running for office about their stance on minimum wage and vote accordingly. An act of empowerment is also, simply listening to one another. “There are a lot of women here who have experienced trauma in their lives and they need someone who will listen to them, who is not going to have a response,” said Green. “Just listen, tell them that they’re awesome and that you’re sad for them that they’re struggling, but that you want the best for them and that you want to help as much as you can, and then shut up and listen.” Women can empower themselves and each other by spending time together, being resources for each other, and brainstorming together said, Jessica Rios. “We’re all doing such different things, and everyone has something different to offer.” SUPPORT WOMEN SUPPORTING WOMEN All women, femme-identifying, and non-binary folks across the county and beyond are welcome to join the Lakeland Women’s Collective. The LWC board members said many of their events are open to everyone and that they are appreciative of their male allies. Check out their website for a full list of paid membership options. “One of the major perks, other than the space, of being a paid member of the Women’s Collective is that we have partnered with a bunch of women-owned businesses locally that offer our members discounts,” said Green. Find events like dance parties, art shows, workshops, candidate forums, and a monthly happy hour at Revival, as well as other classes and resources on their website where you can also donate to their registry. For its founders and members, the Lakeland Women’s Collective has become a space to feel safe, supported, and empowered. Do you hear that, Polk County? That’s the sound of glass shattering. Lakeland Women’s Collective 818 E Lemon St, Lakeland (By appointment only) www.lakelandwomenscollective.com FB @LakelandWomensCollective IG @lakelandwomenscollective Photos by Amy Sexson

The United States was coming out of the Second World War. The troops came home with many physical and psychological wounds. Many had suffered horrendous experiences beyond our present understanding. Yet, life had to go on. Families reunited, rebuilt lives and carried on. I had the honor of talking to Randall Stokes Edwards, a 102-year-old who was a Prisoner of War in Manchuria for over three years. He shared stories with me of his very challenging life. Randall began, “We were in the Philippines on a ship that supplied twenty submarines. We had the spare torpedoes. USS Canopus was a 1918 banana boat that had 600 sailors. There were no sleeping quarters for the enlisted men. I slept behind a big radio transmitter on a cot. I was a radioman first class. When the Japanese came, the ship was bombed and that supposedly put her out of commission. We weren’t really, of course, but we made it look that way. We made it look like it was only good to scuttle.” He continued, “The Japanese attacked the Philippines and so we were ordered to go to a port at the very bottom tip of the Bataan peninsula. We serviced our last submarines there but then the Japanese pinned us down. I went with the 220 Signal Corps with the army. We did anything we could with the material we had. We had no supplies at this time and we ate everything we could find while at Bataan. We ate the last Army mule in March and we were completely surrounded by the Japanese.” “In April, a Japanese general came back to kill all the Americans on Bataan,” Randall added, “We weren’t going anywhere, we were dying anyway. We were starving to death. We had beriberi, malaria and dysentery. We didn’t have much ammunition and the clip I put in my 1898 enfield rifle when I fired it, would travel about twenty feet and we’d see it drop. We would get a whole case of ammo and out of that very little was any good. It was all so corroded. So we didn’t have much to shoot with.” Randall remembers when the Japanese general brought his army back to Bataan, they folded. “The last order I got from the Army was you are on your own. I had a choice, try to go through the jungle and escape or I could join the Navy. Well hell, I didn’t like that jungle thing so I went back to join the Navy. My old ship was nose down and the Navy crew was gone. Me and my friend decided to get to Corregidor. We picked up junk, floated on it, and the tide helped us get there. We found the Marine battalion there. We were bombed daily. We watched and counted 900 guns landing on Corregidor. It was just a mile from us. They were the big guns, 240 millimeter! General Wainwright, commander of the Allied Forces in the Philippines, surrendered to the Japanese in May, 1942.” Randall tells how he was deathly ill and somehow survived and for a time ended up cooking for Japanese engineers while still on the island of Corregidor. “At that time we ate pretty darn good.” Then he was transferred to another prisoner camp where he was put on the burial detail. The grave was a huge trench. “We would take the dog tags off the bodies and slide them in. It was a horrible job.” Randall recalls 1500 Americans and 1500 Japanese were put on a troop ship. “We were in the hold of the ship but half of us would be on deck as there was no room. We got one cup of water and a tiny rations per day.” In transit Randall had many close calls. He was moved with other prisoners many times. “We dodged a submarine attack. We were on deck and saw a big splash about a quarter of a mile away. We screamed torpedo and even more came at us. Now we knew that those American torpedoes would bump into us, but we also knew they wouldn’t explode. What happened was the firing pin, which was supposed to go straight back in, would bend on contact instead and not explode. You could hear a thud when they hit a ship… but they wouldn’t explode! The Navy eventually fixed that!” After many months The prisoners ended up in China. “We were not POWS now, we were slave labor. The Japanese sold us to the MKK corporation to build factories in Manchuria. We got there in November. The camp, well, it was like the way Americans raise hogs in. One cast iron stove was at the end of each building. It was 40 below zero there. I froze my feet, I froze my hands and everybody else did too. I wasn’t unique. We did not have any clothes! And we were dying! That first winter we had a cup of cabbage soup each day. The doctors recommended soy beans in the soup! That’s what we ate until we finally were released, more protein.” When asked about how he could get up every day he said “We had no choice. We knew the Americans were coming. But we also knew we would all be executed if they came. So we did what we could to sabotage. You know how I survived? Every morning when I woke up I would say these little bastards aren’t going to kill me today! “ How Did you finally get released? “That’s pretty interesting. One morning we were all sent out to the parade field.There were no guards! An American said the war is over! You woulda thought you’d hear whoops and yelling. But not a sound. (He choked up here). You could hear a pin drop. After three years thinking we could die any day, we were speechless. After that we bailed out of that camp like you wouldn’t believe! Eventually we were shipped out to hospitals to recover.” Back home, Randall did a five year Electrical Engineering program in three years. He wasted no time in getting back to life. He spent 25 years working for the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee. He later moved to Lakeland to be near his only son, Dr. J. Randall Edwards. Edwards became a National Service Officer for American Ex Prisoners of War Organization and American Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor. He has served many over the years. He has given many speeches to the Service Academies . For now, he is taking it easy as he is legally blind but still can walk without a cane! When referring to the Greatest Generation, I think Randall Edwards stands out . He did what he had to do. He came back, worked hard, made no excuses (though he sure could have), preservered, and has lived a full and rich life.

Ask Lake Wales residents where to go for an extraordinary meal and they’ll likely point you to a quaint, done-up dining space off of Highway 60. L’incontro Italian Restaurant opened on January 14, 2011, bringing old-world, traditional Italian cuisine to The Ridge. We sat with the owner and general manager, Alex Barrera at lunch one afternoon to discuss the secret to their success. The lighting was dim and dreamy, tables were fully set with a carnation resting in a freshly filled vase of chilled water. The wait staff were dressed immaculately and tended to guests in the same fashion. Beyond the ambient main dining area is enclosed outdoor seating for a more private, scenic dining experience. Hungry patrons began filing into the upscale-casual eatery for a mid-afternoon meal. THE FAMILY L’incontro is family owned and operated by Barrera and his uncle, Chef Jose Uzhca. Barrera’s family, including his four uncles, are all culinaryminded. “Our family has been in the food industry for a very long time,” said Barrera. Immigrating from Ecuador in the mid 60s, his four uncles went on to lead accomplished careers within the food space, either working as Italian cuisine chefs or owning restaurants of their own. One of Chef Jose’s brothers established his restaurant in Lake Alfred, Luigi’s, and another retired from a restaurant of the same appellation, Trattoria L’incontro in Astoria, New York. Chef Jose, the youngest of four brothers, began cooking at just 17 years old. His resumé boasts some 25 years of perfecting the craft at restaurants Jardino, Novanta, Vivolo, IL Sogno, La Pergola di Taormina, Cafe Fiorello and the Mandarin Oriental in New York City. Chef Jose has had the opportunity to present dishes to some of the most high-profile people in the world, including the President of France, Oprah Winfrey and more. Barrera himself is no rookie on the culinary scene – always working in one form or another in the restaurant industry. Around 14 years old, Alex began washing dishes in restaurants, eventually working his way up to busboy, runner, server, manager and expediter. His background specializes in Japanese restaurants. He started at the renown Nobu Japanese restaurant as a busser, eventually becoming an expediter. THE FOOD Made to order, using traditional recipes and cooking methods, the dishes on L’incontro’s menu span regions and generations of the old country. “Our menu is a very old menu,” he said. The restaurant pays homage to old-world tradition with dishes from puttanesca to piccata. There is no gimmick, no spin – just Italian cuisine as it was intended, according to Barrera. What is any good Italian eatery without its marinara? As an anchor to many menu items, having the perfect sauce is paramount, and L’incontro has perfected it. “Everybody says it’s in the sauce,” said Barrera. Other popular menu items include mussels and clams served with garlic oil, as well as mozzarella caprese, and their famous spaghetti bolognese. “It’s a little twist on spaghetti meat sauce, we just add a little cream. Some people aren’t aware, but that’s what ‘bolognese’ means – it’s from Bologna in Italy and you add cream. It makes a huge difference,” said Barrera. Even more special is what you won’t find on the menu. Every night, L’incontro presents Chef Recommendations. Lake Wales residents are addicted to the String Bean Salad – a simple dish made with string beans, red onions, homemade mozzarella cubes, tossed in a homemade Italian vinaigrette. Their Chef Recommendation Stuffed Pork Chop Barrera described as a Frenched, bone-in pork chop elevated in flavor by prosciutto, goat cheese, raisins, cranberries, candied apples, wrapped in bacon and finished with a truffle mushroom Marsala sauce. This dish is in such demand that it makes the special menu at least once a week. Fancy a glass of Cabernet Sauvignon with your spaghetti bolognese? The restaurant offers a selection of wine and beer along with the addition of a full bar in January earlier this year. You can enjoy lunch or dinner service at L’incontro seven days a week. Dinner reservations are recommended. Stay tuned to their social media or join their newsletter to be in the loop for special events like wine pairings and live music. Maybe it’s the food or the service that has won over the community, or perhaps the secret sauce is in the name “L’incontro.” A date night, business meeting, or a family gathering are all done best at “The Meeting Place.” L’incontro Italian Restaurant 35 FL-60, Lake Wales (863) 676-7400 Lincontrofl.com FB @LincontroItalianRestaurant Photo by Amy Sexson

Let’s get to the root of it and talk about trees. I’m going to go out on a limb and say we’ve all walked down a tree-lined street at one time or another. If you’re lucky, the trees were mature and have formed a canopy over the street creating a dreamy environment to pass through. Let’s not leaf out the the gorgeous orange groves around us, and the beautiful smell of orange blossoms in the breeze. Trees provide oxygen, shade on a sunny day, a sturdy branch for a child’s swing and you can’t have a super cool treehouse without the tree. I don’t want to bark at you, but I think we could always use more trees. According to Jeff Speck’s 2018 book, Walkable City Rules, 101 Steps to Making Better Places, there is no better use of public funds. He writes: STREET TREES PROTECT SIDEWALKS Like parked cars, mature street trees form a sturdy barrier between moving vehicles and pedestrians. STREET TREES REDUCE CRASHES A study along Orlando’s Colonial Drive compared a segment of roadway with street trees and other vertical objects along it to a segment without. It found that the segment with no trees experienced 45% more injurious crashes and many more fatal crashes: six vs zero. STREET TREES ABSORB STORMWATER A typical mature tree absorbs about the first half inch of each rainfall that hits it. STREET TREES ABSORB UV AND POLLUTANTS In addition to keeping ultraviolet rays from reaching the ground, street trees absorb a tremendous amount of airborne carbon dioxide - ten times more than trees located farther from the roadways. STREET TREES IMPROVE PROPERTY VALUE A study conducted by the Wharton School of Business found that street trees increase home prices by 9%. Such improved valuations translate directly into increased property tax revenue. The City of Portland found that, for this reason, its investment in tree planting and maintenance pays off at a ratio of twelve to one. STREET TREES IMPROVE RETAIL From Nantucket to Beverly Hills, the most desirable Main Street districts in North America are, with few exceptions, characterized by consistently planted street trees. One study found that shops on streets with good tree cover earn 12% more income. Visibility-seeking merchants who fight for tree removal forget that much main-street shopping is experienced-based. With cheaper prices and better convenience on Amazon, providing a great environment is becoming central to retail viability. STREET TREES IMPROVE PUBLIC HEALTH Multiple studies have shown that regular exposure to trees prolongs life, aids mental health, reduces asthma, obesity, stress and heart disease, and basically just makes us happier. WHAT CAN WE DO? We can plant trees at home! Not only will they provide shade in this Florida heat, but if you’re lucky, they can also provide food. (I can’t seem to keep anything alive?) Polk County is in Plant Hardiness Zones 9 and 10. Some of the trees we will have the most luck growing are cedar, crapemyrtle, cypress, magnolia, live oak or pomegranate to name a few. The public can also donate to the Carl J Strang Jr. Urban Tree Canopy Fund. Main Street Winter Haven, Inc. created and manages this fund. I talked with Executive Director Anita Strang about when and why this all began. “Main Street Winter Haven announced the Carl J Strang Jr. Urban Tree Canopy Fund in September of 2018. This fund was created in response to recognizing the benefits of increasing our urban forest. It will be a sustainable amenity that delivers shade, environmental and economic benefits, for generations to come while creating an inviting atmosphere. We plan to work alongside and complement the work the City of Winter Haven is already doing. MSWH believes that there is strength in partnerships when a common goal is in place. Contributions to support this effort are greatly appreciated.” Contributions will support their efforts, and at the same time you can acknowledge a loved one, to commemorate a special event or leaving a lasting gift to the community. Call (863) 295-9422 or go online to www.mainstreetwh.com and search Carl J Strang Jr. Urban Canopy Fund to donate. DID YOU KNOW? While not the tallest tree or the widest or even the oldest, General Sherman is thought to be the largest single stem tree by sheer volume. This giant sequoia in California is believed to be between 2,300 and 2,700 years old, it’s 275-feet tall and has a trunk diameter of 25-feet. Its total volume is estimated at an incredible 1487 meters squared. General Sherman’s largest branches are wider in diameter than most regular tree trunks. The largest of these branches fell down in a winter storm in 2006, and it was recorded as being over 7-feet in diameter and more than 98-feet long. Apollo 14 launched on January 31, 1971. Five days later Alan Shepard and Edgar Mitchell walked on the Moon while Stuart Roosa, a former U.S. Forest Service smoke jumper, orbited above in the command module. Packed in small containers in Roosa’s personal kit were hundreds of tree seeds, part of a joint NASA/USFS project. Upon return to Earth, the seeds were germinated by the Forest Service. Known as the “Moon Trees,” the resulting seedlings were planted throughout the United States (often as part of the nation’s bicentennial in 1976) and the world. They stand as a tribute to astronaut Roosa and the Apollo program.

“I started collecting art when I met Linda,” explained Dr. Alan Rich, whose wife, Linda, then disputed that proclamation, asserting that his collection began much earlier. Dr. Alan and Linda Rich have been admiring and collecting art since they were young. Alan, who more commonly goes by Rico, began his passion for collecting by acquiring maps and sorting through his father’s National Geographic collection. Meanwhile, Linda’s love for collecting began with stamps and coins. She also regularly visited the Mint Museum in Charlotte, North Carolina, which further developed her love for art. Once the two met, their shared appreciation for art and collecting grew and was facilitated by their time as medical volunteers in various African countries. Rico worked as an ophthalmologist, while Linda assisted with her training as an occupational therapist. The two aided underserved communities in need of eye care, offering varying and necessary surgeries to the local people. These medical volunteer trips brought the couple in contact with a world of art very different —both visually and conceptually — from the one we are familiar with in the West. “The art shows an appreciation for the interconnection of life,” said Rico, pointing out the importance that many of these cultures put on unity among all creatures. On their trips, the Riches were fortunate enough to begin collecting this type of work from local artists. All of the pieces in their collection are one-of-a-kind and either came from local markets or were gifts from patients. Each piece is displayed proudly in the Riches’ home, giving any visitor the sense that they have walked into a very personal museum. The natural next step — it would seem — would be for this work to be displayed in an actual museum. Rico and Linda have been involved with the Polk Museum of Art for nearly 30 years. Through their involvement, the couple met Dr. Alex Rich (no relation), the executive director and chief curator at the Museum. When he admired the Riches’ collection firsthand during a social visit with the couple at their home, he broached what he thought was the far-fetched idea of exhibiting their collection at the Polk Museum. To Dr. Rich’s surprise, Linda and Rico were receptive to the idea, despite their modesty about their collection. This was two years ago, and hard work has gone into organizing and curating a show based on their three-decade-built collection since. The resulting exhibition, Spirits: Ritual and Ceremonial African and Oceanic Art from the Dr. Alan and Linda Rich Collection opens this month at the Polk Museum. The Riches’ collection is large, so deciding which pieces should be included in the show was no small task. “I’m not sure exactly how many pieces we have in total,” said Linda. In the end, 110 pieces were chosen to be displayed at the Museum, each coming from one of eight countries, including Papua New Guinea, Kenya, Mali, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, and Mozambique. A show like this hasn’t been done at the Polk Museum of Art before. This is why Dr. Alan and Linda Rich and Dr. Alex Rich believe it’s so important to do. “African art has influenced so much Western art and all that has followed,” Linda said, citing many well-known artists from the early 20th century, including Picasso, Braque, and Brancusi. The Riches hope that having their collection on display will encourage others to learn more about non-Western art and the influence it has had on Western culture. They believe that by gaining a better understanding of these cultures, individuals can appreciate and enjoy them more. Spirits: Ritual and Ceremonial African and Oceanic Art from the Dr. Alan and Linda Rich Collection will be on display at the Polk Museum of Art from October 26 through January 26. 800 E Palmetto St, Lakeland, FL 33801 (863) 688-7743 Polkmuseumofart.org Museum is closed on Mondays