If you’ve ever savored the sashimi at downtown Winter Haven’s Tsunami Sushi or gotten a trim at Haircut Naturally, you probably know Mario Scifo. He’s the one with the big personality – and the skills and ambitions behind it to make waves in the downtown restaurant scene. Mario Scifo was born on the Mediterranean island of Malta. His family came to New York in 1951. Of his five sisters and one brother, one sister stayed in the Big Apple. She had their names engraved in granite on Ellis Island to honor their immigration to the United States. At 19, Scifo joined the United States Navy, where he became a barber. Four years later, fresh out of the Navy, he met up with a friend at a New York bar. His friend suggested he check out California for a week or so. He made it to the Golden Coast. “I stayed there 21 years,” said Scifo. There he became a master barber and cosmetologist. “I started as a barber and became a master barber because I wanted to know how to cut long hair – that’s when I went to beauty school in California.” He owned three salons in California, each called Haircut Naturally, along with his own shampoo company called Scifo with products like Scifoam, Scifoette, and Scifoglaze. In his spare time, the master barber played first division soccer. “I’ve always wanted to be like my dad. He was a professional soccer player… He had a business, so I had a business. He got married, I got married. He was in the Navy, I was in the Navy. He had seven kids, and he beat me on that one,” Scifo said with a smile. “After my own shampoo line, I got into training hairstylists and being an educator for shampoo companies,” he said. Scifo worked with companies including Rusk, Matrix, Wayne Grund, Oster, and Nelson. He kept up on the trends and continued his education – attending Vidal Sassoon Academy in London for hair cuts, Paris for coloring, and Italy for cuts and color. He traveled as an educator as well, doing hair shows at institutes around the country. “What I’m most fond about from my craft is, I became a platform artist, that’s what I always wanted to do – travel all over the country and do hair shows,” he said, describing it as being like “a circus.” He said, “You’re there with Paul Mitchell, Vidal Sassoon, Irvine Rusk – anybody who was anybody was there. It’s almost like going to the Emmys but with hair.” Thirty-one years ago, Scifo moved to Florida, where he’s made a name for himself as a small business owner in the community. Entrepreneurship runs in the family – Scifo’s father owned a local restaurant, Casa Catalina, for many years, and his niece Jessie Skubna owns Jessie’s Lounge and Jensen’s Corner Bar in Winter Haven. Mario opened Haircut Naturally on Highway 27, which he ran for eleven years. In 2003, he opened Tsunami Sushi downtown, along with his fifth Haircut Naturally location. “When I was building it, people thought I was crazy,” he said of the downtown sushi spot. “In California, they’re like gas stations – they’re on every corner.” A sushi lover himself, Scifo didn’t like that he had to drive to Lakeland or Orlando to grab a bite. “I wanted to have something downtown that everybody could enjoy,” he said. Tsunami Sushi was among the first of the current dining options in downtown Winter Haven, burgeoning a renaissance in the food scene lining Central Avenue. “The sushi bar was a nice add-on to what was to come later,” he said. Opening the restaurant was taking a chance for Scifo, who described himself as an entrepreneur. For the restaurant’s grand opening, he invited all of his clients to dine in three waves. They packed the house three times over and he made enough to pay off their debts in the first night. While running the sushi shop and salon, Scifo started a cleaning business – One Cleans All, with the motto, “We don’t cut corners, we clean them.” Juggling the responsibilities of three enterprises, Scifo decided to focus on hair about three or four years into starting Tsunami and sold it to the current owner, Vinh Nguyen. Nguyen took note of Tsunami’s splash downtown and opened two other successful locations on Cypress Gardens Boulevard and in Lakeland. “I did it because I thought it was a good thing – and it was,” Scifo said of opening Tsunami Sushi downtown. Focusing solely on his career as a stylist, Scifo continued at Haircut Naturally until December 23, 2020. At 75 years old, Mario Scifo had been doing hair for 55 years and was ready to retire with his wife, Tammie, also a hairstylist. Beloved by his clients to the end, Scifo’s last day in the salon was completely booked. Asked what he’ll miss most about working in the community, he said, “All my good clients.” When he wasn’t serving up sushi, playing soccer, perfecting a style, creating his line of shampoo, or overseeing a cleaning business, he wore an inventor’s cap. According to Scifo, he made a tool combining scissors with a comb and an adjustable hanging rack for stylists’ hair tools, which he installed in his salon. A few months into his retirement, Scifo is enjoying himself. “Right now, I’m doing all the things I’ve wanted to do around the house.” The retired hairstylist and entrepreneur is staying busy giving his Lake Wales abode a ‘new do,’ if you will, in the form of a new roof, doors, tile, lighting, painting, and the like. A bit of sightseeing is also on Scifo’s retirement to-do list. “I’ve always wanted to travel,” he said. A well-traveled man, Scifo has been all over Europe, South America, Canada, Hawaii and says he wouldn’t mind going to Japan, Abu Dhabi, and spending more time in Europe. He’s planning a trip to Mexico, though it’s been postponed several times due to the pandemic. With decades of success in craft and business under his belt, we asked Mario Scifo the secret to making it all happen. He said, “You’ve got to be at work every day. You have to have dedication, persistence, and you have to have a good skill.”

A world-traveled performer, accomplished educator, and leader promoting community growth and diversity, Dr. Vincent Miller brings his talent from the stage to the board of Theatre Winter Haven. Dr. Miller was born in Winter Haven. “My grandmother’s roots are here, my great grandfather and grandmother’s roots are here, so this is home,” he said of the Chain of Lakes city. While in high school at Lake Region, Miller figured his path would be sports. “My brother was a football player, so I thought I was going to become a football player. I was great at it; I was great at athletics,” he said. But he was also great on the stage. Miller came from a musically inclined family and grew up singing in the church choir. His first performing gig outside of high school productions and the church was with Disney, recording the Candlelight Processional and Massed Choir Program with Louis Gossett, Jr. Signing that contract with Disney gave Miller a different perspective on his future, one that would take him around the world. Miller attended the University of South Florida, studying Vocal Performance under Annetta Monroe. Monroe suggested he audition for a show at Busch Gardens. Miller took her advice and landed the lead role. After that, he started working for the company Choozi Entertainment, which took him from Dubai to Africa and many places in between. Miller has performed on every continent but Antarctica. The arts are a continued passion for the globe-trotting performer, though that passion has found other avenues for expression that don’t always involve a spotlight. Miller’s grandmother babysat many neighborhood kids out of her house. Hers was a home that parents knew they could drop off their children, and they would be fed and well taken care of. A young Vincent Miller took note of the loving environment his grandmother created. At 98 years old, Miller’s grandmother passed away. Many of those who at one time or another were in her care spoke about Miller’s grandmother. “Listening to the youth that she directly impacted, now grown men and women, saying how she was the reason why they were at the point in their life with success in their lives, means a lot,” he said. His grandparents’ love and stewardship of community instilled the same within him. Growing up, Miller would volunteer in summer programs, even earning awards for his service. Stepping into the role of educator was natural for Miller. “Growing up in that environment … and seeing the appreciation that the people have for my grandmother and my grandfather – I think that’s why I’m here today.” His father passed away five years ago while Miller was in South Africa, bringing him back to Florida, where he finished his PhD and entered the education field with Polk County Public Schools. Dr. Miller teaches secondary math at Winter Haven High School and dual enrollment for Southeastern in Winter Haven. Miller leans into his entertainment background for his work in the classroom and the community. “I always say that being artminded… allows me to be able to see the diversity in our world, to be able to communicate with people better. It allows me in my current profession to build relationships with my students because I’m well-rounded and open to all conversations that kids or students or people, in general, may have.” FILLING THE LANE In 2007, Miller started the non-profit organization Filling the Lane with the mission to “Bridge the gaps between education, sports, arts, and community.” According to a press release by Theatre Winter Haven, of which Miller now sits on the board, “Dr. Miller works with at-risk youth to engage them in various activities, such as STEM programs (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) through basketball.” “Filling the Lane is my baby,” said Miller. The organization was born after a summer team under the Police Athletic League (PAL), with whom Miller had been working with through his job at Denison Middle School, lost funding. Students on the defunct summer team were left asking Coach Miller if they’d get to play the next year. “I told them, ‘You come up with a name, and we can do something. We’ll figure it out,’” he said. The kids came up with the name, Filling the Lane. He thought, “How can we tie that to education, and how can we tie that to growth? [...] That was that goal. If I was going to create something or build something, how do we tie this into growth in our community and growth for our youth?” The students came up with their mission to “Bridge the gaps between education, sports, and community.” Miller was insistent on adding the arts into that mission. “The goal is to bridge the gap between students who are in middle school and high school to get them into college,” said Miller. Through the program, economically disadvantaged students travel across the country to play basketball. “Everywhere we go when we play a tournament, whether we’re in Oklahoma, Tennessee, New York, California, we take a tour of the city. We do a history piece of the city, we do a fine dining experience,” said Miller. The goal, he says, is to give his FTL kids experiences they might not otherwise have. The program has gifted Miller memorable moments over the years. One, in particular, stands out in his mind. He took a student to the Florida State University football field. The field was empty, and the boy asked, ‘Coach Miller, do you feel that?’ Miller didn’t understand what the student meant at the moment. “It wasn’t until I got back into the hotel, and I realized he was talking about feeling the experience of the crowd yelling his name when he got on the field.” The realization solidified the unique brand of good that Filling the Lane was doing in the lives of its students. Filling the Lane currently serves about 150 male and female students, providing a sports and education outlet and community outreach opportunities. Last year in response to the pandemic, FTL fed about 3000 healthcare workers at Winter Haven Hospital. They’ve done a Back to School Bash, where they give away shoes and school supplies, volunteered at nursing homes, and have donated clothing, shoes, and other necessities to the Clothes Closet at Miller’s school. “It’s about being able to be big in the community and do what’s right in the community and teach the youth in the program to give back,” Miller said. TEACHER OF THE YEAR Dr. Miller’s work in and out of the classroom earned him recognition in 2020 as Polk County Teacher of the Year. Of the accolade, he said, “It’s a platform. It’s a platform that you can use to spread positive messages, or it’s a platform you use to grow and help people see the benefit of growth and how to grow, especially inside education. [...] Being named Polk County Teacher of the Year was definitely an honor.” Miller takes mentorship from the 2020 Florida Teacher of the Year, Dr. Dre Graham. “His platform to me was so inspiring. I always saw him in the community, always doing something, and that motivated me. I took that and said, ‘You know what, if I’m going to be Polk County Teacher of the Year, I want to be that motivation piece too,’” said Miller. Every chance he gets, Miller awards fellow Polk County teachers for outstanding service in education. He wants to do anything he can to motivate his colleagues to excel inside their classrooms. Now the question is, says Miller, “What’s next?” For the acclaimed performer and community leader, Dr. Vincent Miller, “My ultimate goal is, I want to be president of a major college, and I want my program, FTL, to expand into whatever college I’m working into.” DIVERSITY AT THEATRE WINTER HAVEN Last month, Dr. Vincent Miller was welcomed to Theatre Winter Haven’s Board of Trustees, tasked with chairing the board’s subcommittee on diversity. “Any organization would be lucky to have Dr. Miller on its team. We have been lucky to have him in our Theatre Family since childhood,” said Producing Director of Theatre Winter Haven, Dan Chesnicka. According to a press release from the theatre welcoming him to their board, “For the past five years, Dr. Miller has led Theatre Winter Haven’s efforts to celebrate black voices in the arts and has planned our Black History Month events. In June, Dr. Miller brought the community together in song and spearheaded Theatre Winter Haven’s UNITY Concert, with all the proceeds being donated to six local black charities.” Having lived in countries and cultures worldwide, Dr. Miller emphasizes the value of and need for diversity. “Diversity in our county is much needed,” he said. “When I go to downtown Winter Haven or downtown Lakeland, and I’m one of the only Black Americans in the restaurant, to me, it’s not because the means are not there, there’s a lack of something somewhere – a lack of trust, a lack of knowledge – more so a lack of trust.” Growing up in Winter Haven, Miller was involved in many facets of the community, from church and volunteering to education and the arts. Being so niched into groups of every ethnicity, Dr. Miller felt he could be “that glue to bring everybody together.” It started with Brothers United – a program composed of four brothers at Lake Region High School. The concept became a show at Theatre Winter Haven to raised funds for Moffitt Cancer Center. “Growing up in Theatre Winter Haven, again, I was one of the only Black male performers in the theatre, and most of the audience was white, but when we did this show [Brothers United], there were diverse people in the theatre.” He asked himself, “Why can’t this happen all the time? Why does it take my show to diversify the theatre when we should be diverse all the time?” That show went on annually for some ten years, eventually turning into a show series called Voices. “We started doing a show that was very diverse in African American music and African American history to teach how important that piece is to know about in our community,” said Dr. Miller. He invites performers from all over the world to come to Theatre Winter Haven for a one-day show featuring anything from Motown and Gospel to Black musicals telling a story. He always likes to have a story “of why the African culture is so important, moving from the past and moving to the future and what we brought to the theatre, what Black culture brought to the theatre.” “Dr. Miller is a leader in our community and has been part of the Theatre Winter Haven family for the better part of two decades,” said Chesnicka. “We are equally as proud of his accomplishments as we are excited to welcome him to our leadership team in our quest to serve our WHOLE community – especially those parts of our community that are historically underserved.” “My goals are to do different shows like Voices, to produce different things, and invite people to see the good work we’re doing at Theatre Winter Haven. The goal is to get it exposed and visible, so youth are not scared to come in and say ‘I want to be a part of that.’”

Twenty-nine-year-old An’Drew Kamani Williams, aka Drew Willz, has created an ever-evolving brand centered around graphic art, clothing, coffee, matcha, and more. 16.92 Coffee Matcha Bar is in the business of bringing coffee and matcha drinks to Central Florida through the modernity and magic of social media and local collaboration. The brand took its first breath in 2012 in Williams’ design class. Asked to create a mock brand for an assignment, he thought up 16.92, an homage to his birthday, January 6, 1992. Williams graduated from Keiser University with a degree in graphic design. Along with his music, Drew began doing freelance work around the city, steadily building a collaborating network of vendors and artists. His freelance work entailed album covers, single art, and eventually corporate work – making logos, designing color schemes, and uniforms for businesses. “I feel like I had a brand,” said Williams of the company’s beginnings. POPPING UP ON THE COFFEE SCENE The mother of William’s son, Winston, is Colombian. Her grandparents own a coffee farm in Colombia and would bring coffee to the States. Williams described it more as a decoration, still in its husk. “I got a popcorn popper and started learning how to roast,” he said. “I would bring it around to local shops to see what people thought. I would ask every owner their opinions of it so that I could get better and better. I finally got it where I wanted it to be, and I started selling it.” Working as the Supervisor and Drink Consultant for Sabu Ramen at The Joinery, Williams would bring his AeroPress and pour-overs to make drinks for the staff. He said working with Kristy Scott in the past at 5th & Hall “sparked the idea.” Scott, the Director of Brand Experience at The Joinery, suggested Williams set up 16.92 at the Lakeland food hall. His first thought was to roast and sell his own coffee beans, but he thought it would be a good idea to make the drinks too. In early 2020, he started a coffee bar. “Making coffee beans is really hard. Roasting on a popcorn popper, trying to sell to a mass of people is very difficult,” said Williams. “So, I started working with Ethos Roasters, and now they sponsor me, and we created our own roast together.” Their collaborative roast, Roasted Caramel, is the blend he uses at the 16.92 Coffee Matcha Bar. A PERFECT MATCH-A Matcha naturally fits into the equation as an alternative for customers who don’t drink coffee. He first tasted the beverage in New York in 2019 while working as a latte artist at an upscale barbershop in Manhattan. Williams was captivated by a shop across the street, Cha Cha Matcha. It’s peppy pink and green facade invited Drew inside to what all this Fuschia fuss was about. The shop was beautiful and current, playing modern music with a steady flow of customers filtering in to get their much-needed matcha pick-me-up. He didn’t know what matcha was, had never tried it up to that point, and wasn’t exactly a convert when he did. “I had it – it tasted horrible. It was disgusting,” he said. “It was the worst drink I’d ever had. […] It wasn’t until I came back to Florida and started playing with the recipes that I started trying to figure out how I could make it taste better.” He utilized YouTube and other vendors to become a matcha master at his bar. “The techniques that I learned are from social media, through different baristas,” said Williams. He does a podcast on Instagram called “Brewz at Drewz,” where he makes drinks and interviews fellow baristas and artists from around the world. The 16.92 Coffee Matcha Bar offers refreshers, including macchiatos, classic pour-overs (using his Ethos blend), and matcha drinks. Their drinks are made with alkaline water and organic ingredients, and non-dairy options are available. COFFEE COLLAB In collaboration with another local business, La Sirena’s, Williams uses their homemade Fresca to combine with his matcha for a refreshing blend of complimenting flavors. Community collaboration has proved a valuable part of Williams’ business model. “I’m used to that because of music,” he said. “Everything feels like a big DJ Khaled record. It’s like a bunch of features – that’s how I work.” “I think I’m more of a producer, in a sense. I like to get the best things from everyone and put it together. That’s why I feel like being a bar is the best way for us to showcase different vendors through our taste palette.” The 16.92 Coffee and Matcha Bar premiered at the Buena Market. Williams said he worked with the market’s founder, Stephanie Gregg, to bring his coffee creations to a market setting. “She helped me launch 16.92 in a market,” he said. “While she was handling everything for the market, she assisted me as well with 16.92 in the beginning, and we just started growing with each other and growing with the different vendors,” he said of the Buena Market. Perhaps his most important collaboration is with his team of supporters, including his mom, girlfriend Philli, and son Winston. Williams spoke of his appreciation for the support and influence of his mother. She was an event planner in New York when he was younger, allowing him to meet artists, performers, and personalities like Missy Elliott, P Diddy, and Mike Tyson. “That let me know that that’s obtainable,” he said. BREWS, BITCOIN, AND BIG DREAMS For now, Williams is going with the flow. But you can expect matcha more from 16.92 in the coming months and years. He eventually wants to open a brick and mortar location, with more to follow. Williams’ background is Jamaican, he hails from New York and has attended school in London, saying, “I want to be able to go to all those places and have my work there.” The coffee creative envisions a future in which 16.92 is a cold brew delivery service, accepting modern payment forms like bitcoin. “I want this to be like Apple,” he said. Williams is happy for Polk County to be the backdrop for his brand-building endeavors. His grandmother first moved to Lakeland when he was in elementary school. He and his mom moved down from New York when Williams was a young teen. “This is an amazing place to live and start a business,” he said. “It’s a small town with a lot of people who love the people who come from here.” “I think of Publix, and I look up to that. I see where they started, and I like how they treat their customers. […] To know that that came from here, is like, it’s so possible.” Williams’ advice for others aspiring to create a project, business, or brand of their own? “Whatever is crazy that comes to your mind, just do it.” Get to know Drew and his up-and-coming coffee bar on social media and the many pop-ups and markets he attends, including the Buena Market and Winter Haven Farmers Market. Coffeematchabar.com FB @coffeematchabar IG @16.92__

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

If Brenda Joyce Patterson’s working title is Fine Arts and Adult Programming Librarian, then her working, working title must also include poet, essayist, columnist, author, and host of the PGTV show, Writer’s Den. Patterson has had an essay published among the words of Maya Angelou and Gwendolyn Brooks. She co-authored a book, “Soothsaying” with Suzanne Roth, which earned the 2005 Florida Artists Book Prize and remains in the permanent collection of the Bienes Center for the Literary Arts of The Dianne and Michael Bienes Special Collections and Rare Book Library at the Broward County Main Library/Florida Center for the Book. She’s been a columnist for the Lakeland Ledger and DIY MFA and has had her poetry, flash fiction, and other work published across platforms. Born and raised in Lakeland, Patterson described the swan city growing up as “sleepy and small,” remembering a time of the Five-and-Dime Store and S.H. Kress and Co. After graduating from Lakeland Senior High, she got her associate’s degree in psychology at then Polk Community College, followed by a bachelor’s degree in psychology at USF and a master’s in Library and Information Science. “I thought I was going to be a clinical psychologist when I grew up,” said Patterson. “Then I realized, my heart was a little too not resilient to do that – to take on people’s pain every day.” The Fine Arts Librarian found a way to do psychology, in a way, amid the stacks at the Lakeland Public Library, where she’s worked for 37 years. Though her official title is Fine Arts Librarian, her working title includes Adult Programming Librarian too. A wonderful thing about working at a library, certainly at Lakeland Public Library, she said, is, “You get the opportunity to use the things that you love, and they let you run with it, within the boundaries of your job.” “I have always been a reader. My mother and my older brother read to me when I was a child,” said Patterson of her earliest bookish memories. She began reading on her own even before elementary school. Her interest in writing started when she was in junior high, increasing more seriously throughout high school. She stopped writing for a time and came to work at the library. “To see all the books that came across the desk when people were returning them, that was like nirvana because every reader has their little patch that they tend, like a garden. If you get enough different readers, you expand your garden because you’re seeing what they’re reading, and that’s what happened with me,” she said. Her own mental plot, ready to be tended, Patterson began writing more in earnest in her mid-twenties. When a library patron returned a book of poetry by someone Patterson had not yet heard of, her interests were piqued. She picked up the book, flipped it to the back, and was pleasantly shocked by the author’s photo of a young Nikki Giovanni. “It was a Black woman,” she said. “It’s the thing of seeing someone doing it right in front of you, actively writing, and the fact that they look like you. You can easily project yourself into doing that same thing,” she said. When you ask Brenda Joyce Patterson who she is, the first in a succession of accomplished writing titles is ‘poet.’ She lays her verse against the backdrop of her blog, Pinacasa. Random, stop-everything-and-write, lightning strikes of inspiration were rare when she described her previous writing efforts as less intentional. “Before I started claiming for myself the idea that not only am I interested in writing, but I too can truly do it, not just sometimes do it. The idea that I have to sit and wait for an idea – that made it few and far between.” That commitment to intentionality can be traced back to a series of life-altering health events. “I had a near-death experience six times,” said the poet. A series of spells in which she believed she was passing out, followed by tests that turned up nothing, and more awful bouts ended with an emergency room visit. She described the sensations as feeling ill, the need to lay down, and then “click, the lights would go out.” She would awake to someone, often her husband, in her face trying to wake her up. During her ER visit, attached to a heart monitor and EEG machine, it happened again. She awoke to a technician in her face saying, “She’s back!” After viewing the recording from the monitors, the doctors found that Patterson had flatlined. “They watched my heart stop,” she said. The recording revealed her heart rate slowing steadily before stopping, her brain following suit. Patterson had clinically died without any activity in the heart or electrical activity in the brain. No longer was she going to sit and wait for inspiration to strike – she would reach out and strike it herself. The ordeal had her asking of herself, “You like to call yourself a poet. Are you really writing poetry? Are you really writing, period?” A fire was lit in her belly, and she’s been writing poignant poetry ever since, on topics from writing amid the pandemic to lucid dreaming and even baking. “Sometimes it’s lavender hair, sometimes it’s baking, sometimes it’s somebody got on my last nerve, sometimes it’s just seeing someone walk down the street and thinking, ‘I hope they’re okay…’” From those simple musings, it’s about “letting the mind play,” she said. “I think we as writers do ourselves a disservice if we’re sitting around waiting for inspiration.” “You put some words on the paper, and then you hate them. You fiddle with them, and then you hate them a little less. I don’t know of too many writers that are totally pleased with what they put out. But by the time they put it out, they certainly feel pleased that they have done as much as they could with the product that they have in front of them.” In the blog entry preceding her poem, “When You Say,” Patterson writes, “Stories find their way into my poems. Somewhere in me, I think, is a fiction writer yearning to be free.” She has already had short fiction published and has experimented with mixing fiction into her poetry. “That’s because I don’t feel comfortable writing fiction,” she said. To circumvent her insecurities, Patterson uses an ability she’s confident in, her poetry, to explore fiction writing. A reader of eclectic tastes, Patterson enjoys romance, science fiction, even mystery during the right reading ‘season’ as she describes it. “If the thing that you return to over and over again shows how much you feel about it, then it’s definitely a love for me, and that’s romance.” With the general tone of angst and uncertainty reverberating throughout the world, “I need ahappily ever after. I certainly need a happily for now story, so I read romance,” she said. “The fiction that I write, one day if I become intentional enough, I have a science fiction fantasy/ speculative fiction that is at least a novel, but maybe a series of novels. I don’t know if I’m brave enough to do it – I push myself, but I don’t know if I’m brave enough to do it.” Patterson has a science fiction fantasy/ speculative fiction story within her that deals with sentient spiders. The idea came to her one day while she was brushing her teeth. Now, vivid plot details whisper to her almost like an out of body voice while she’s driving or falling asleep, urging her to write them down. Another plot stitching itself together in her mind is that of an assassins league. Dialogue for the story can be read at her poetry blog in an entry titled, “The Trick Is.” “I’m still trying to convince myself that I have imagination, and that website is showing myself that not only do I have imagination but that I can produce daily if necessary,” she said of her blog, Pinacasa. Much worth the mention in Patterson’s writing career is that of her essay, “The Kindness of Strangers.” Her first time writing an essay for publication landed on the pages of the anthology, “Go Girl!: The Black Woman’s Book of Travel and Adventure,” edited by Elaine Lee. The book is a collection of essays from 52 women, including literary titans like Maya Angelou, Alice Walker, Gwendolyn Brooks, and, of course, Brenda Joyce Patterson. Wanting to travel and looking for travel stories from Black women, Patterson ended up in correspondence with Elaine Lee. When Lee mentioned that she had gotten a book deal, Patterson leaped at the chance to submit for it. “I said, ‘Great! If you need someone to put an essay in, I’d be happy to help you out with that.’” “Certainly, I don’t make a billion dollars writing. I just now make a little money writing,” she said. “Every sort of jump in my writing resume, literally every jump in my writing resume, my little heart is beating like a bird.” In moments when she was nervous or bogged with self-doubt, people around her would say, “Why are you freaking out? You can do this. Are you forgetting what you’ve already done?” Patterson has been a make-it-happen sort of woman all her life, though her insecurities may try and dissuade her at times. “I took it one step at a time, and I would just throw myself out there, and they’d say, ‘You’ve done these things that were difficult before, you can do this, and you can do more.’” “That’s what I would say to any writer, any person, who has something that they want so hard to do. You may not feel like you have the credentials or what have you, but do it anyway. Try – because you might get the opportunity,” she said. This year, Patterson’s goal is to monetize her writing. She is setting her prices and plans to start a Patreon. The esteemed poet and essayist aims for writing to be a career after she retires from the library. She also plans to seek help navigating the process of compiling her poems for a collection, and notes that she also hopes to submit more work. “I have a number of things that I know I need to work on, but I’m afraid. I’m trying my best to push through that fear.” Brenda Joyce Patterson Brendajoycepatterson.com FB @Brenda.Joyce.Patterson IG @brenda.joyce.patterson

Winter Haven yoga teacher Prima Burney is ‘opening the door’ for others to navigate life and healing through her wellness and herbal alchemy business, Open Door Wellness. Using her own life experiences and talents to help her clients, Burney aims to solidify Open Door Wellness as a positive force in the community. Born in Winter Haven, Burney lived in Jacksonville with her grandmother until she passed away. At six years old, she came back to Winter Haven and didn’t venture out again until she was on her own, back to Jacksonville. She graduated from Polk State College and went into the healthcare field with the desire to be a social worker. “I thought that was going to be my life, and then my life decided that I needed more help than I could give other people,” she laughed. She got married and had three children. She returned to Winter Haven in 2007, after her divorce. “I definitely didn’t want to stay, but it’s been this growth and this evolution,” she said. “As Winter Haven has grown, I’ve found myself, I’ve found a home, I’ve found my niche – this place that I’ve gained, this community that I never expected.” Burney’s mother came to Winter Haven from Jacksonville to join a church. As all teenagers do, Burney began to forge a path of her own. “It’s kind of this long journey to find who I was and where I fit in the world. That’s why Winter Haven never felt like home until I found that part of me and connected to who I was. It has been this amazing journey that I don’t think I would trade for much else.” Burney credits her own life journey and “not always feeling like I belonged where I was” for her drive to help others. “I didn’t know who my father was until I was about 16, and when I found that out, that was part of what broke my world apart,” she said. “I wanted to provide support to other teens who had always kind of felt on the outside.” After having her second child two months premature, Burney knew she wanted a change. Cooking had always been a passion, and the door opened to the next transitional stage of her life. She earned a degree from Le Cordon Bleu in Orlando and remained in the culinary field for 15 years. She hasn’t strayed far from the underlying elements of social work, though, saying, “Everything that I’ve done as far as my career, I connect with people. People feel free opening up to me, so I spend a lot of time exploring other people’s lives with them.” FROM THE KITCHEN TO THE YOGA STUDIO Her sister had practiced yoga for years and encouraged Burney to try it. A smile flickered across her face as she remembered, “She tried to show me in my mom’s living room.” “I started going through those transitions in life again where life was going upside-down. I got divorced, became a single mother, and my life just started to come apart.” She had been attending yoga with a friend who encouraged her to find a yoga studio near her, that it would help her settle the troubles she was facing. Inside Out Yoga was running a three-week unlimited special. “I took them up on that offer, and it took all three weeks for my mind to quiet. But when it did, I thought, ‘Okay, there’s something to this.’” She’s kept with the practice ever since, noting it is the one thing that always “brings me back to center no matter what.” Burney completed YTT (Yoga Teacher Training) last year and now works as an instructor at Inside Out Yoga in Winter Haven. “Jody, from day one when I walked in the door, has been this magnetic, mentoring energy in my life. She made me feel comfortable. One of the things, as an African American, it doesn’t always feel pleasant to walk into a space and be the only one, and not have people look like you and not know how you’re going to fit in. Jody, always, always made this space something that was a safe zone for me,” she said of Inside Out yoga teacher, Jody Reece. “It’s been this thing that has its own energy and its own direction, and I’m just going along for the ride,” she said of her yoga journey. Slow Flow is the style of yoga she prefers. “I like to take it and make sure that we’re giving attention to our breath, that we’re focusing on our movements, that we’re focusing on holding the poses so that we have time to get out of our head and into our body,” she said. Burney teaches an early bird class, gentle yoga, and hip hop yoga at the downtown studio. OPEN DOOR WELLNESS In 2019, Burney did shamanism training in Lakeland. Part of that class included Ayurveda. According to John Hopkins Medicine ( hopkinsmedicine.org ), “Ayurveda, a natural system of medicine, originated in India more than 3,000 years ago. The term Ayurveda is derived from the Sanskrit words ayur (life) and veda (science or knowledge). Thus, Ayurveda translates to knowledge of life. Based on the idea that disease is due to an imbalance or stress in a person’s consciousness, Ayurveda encourages certain lifestyle interventions and natural therapies to regain a balance between the body, mind, spirit, and the environment.” “The lightbulb went on,” Burney said. “I was burnt out. I was on my own wellness journey; I was doing yoga, I was taking this shamanism training class.” She remembers thinking, “This is the bridge between my own journey and where I believe I want to go.” Training in Ayurveda, Burney began testing out spice blends with the crew she was training with and got a positive reception. “I started using the tea blends from Ayurveda for myself. In my years of going through culinary, going through my own transitions pretty much wrecked my digestion with stress.” She began using CCF tea, containing cumin, coriander, and fennel, and was encouraged by its transformative effect on her life. “The herbal alchemy was my play on bringing in some of the Ayurveda into Western herbalism,” said Burney. She wanted to be respectful of Ayurveda’s origins while including aspects of Western herbalism. “Herbal alchemy is about bringing in herbs and spices and finding how they fit into a plan for your body and your composition,” she explained. “It’s simply about putting them together in a way that could alchemise any problems or any support that you need in your life – that’s my approach to it. […] That comes into looking at the energetic properties of each herb, each spice, the best way to consume that which may be in a tea, maybe in a spice blend, maybe in a tincture.” Through her business, Open Door Wellness, which started in February of last year, Burney offers certified organic herbal products, yoga, energetic work, and herbal wellness sessions. Patrons of Open Door make an appointment through her website for a one-on-one consultation. “A part of what I do is listen to what you’re saying so we know we’re in the right direction — so tracking what really is at the core and the center of what’s going on. A lot of times, we feel that things are physical, but they are actually emotionally rooted in our bodies and causing these physical issues,” she said. “Some of that is sometimes just sitting down having a fireside chat, sitting one on one, creating some sacred space and just allowing time for you to download and listen to yourself.” Burney debuted her initial line of products at Indigo Moon in Bartow. She followed that by attending a few markets until everything closed in response to the pandemic. During that time, she designed her own website. “Since everything has opened back up, we have become a member of the Winter Haven Farmers Market, which we consider our home. It is where we aim to be every Saturday to get our name out there, have conversations, and be a part of the community, which is the ultimate goal when opening Open Door Wellness – being an influential, positive part of the community.” Open Door Wellness regularly attends the Winter Haven Farmers Market and Buena Markets in Lakeland. Burney’s market offerings include her prepackaged blends available in bags and tins. Custom blends are available upon consultation. The goal for Burney is to one day have a multipurpose wellness brick and mortar. Perhaps sharing a space with other wellness practitioners where customers can receive spiritual and energy work, select their own herbs, and have custom blends on demand. “I would like to grow the herbs that we are using to make our products,” said the herbal alchemist. “One of the things that I asked myself in trying to figure out where I wanted to go was ‘How can I use my creative talents and skills in order to help my community?’ Between the yoga and the herbal alchemy, I feel like that’s what my purpose is.” Open Door Wellness www.opendoorwell.com FB @opendoorapothecary IG @opendoorwellness_wh Photograph by Amy Sexson

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

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

“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

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

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