The roar arrives before the view. At Sebring’s notorious turn seven, a tight and punishing hairpin, the bone-shaking sound of prototype V8 engines can be felt as much as heard. The most advantageous view of turn seven can be had by hotel balcony or elaborate homemade viewing towers constructed on site by campers and die-hard fans. Overlooking the track, spectators are introduced to one of endurance racing’s most famous and unforgiving corners. During the week of Twelve Hours

Generally, people don’t learn independence, independently. In the best of circumstances, the lesson of self-sufficiency is guided by a person/people with good intentions and care. In the case of the local, visually impaired community, Lighthouse is the guide. Lighthouse for the Blind & Low Vision is a non-profit organization that provides services and resources for the population in its title. The mission is for these individuals to be able to maneuver independent living acco

If you’re looking for a restaurant that feels like you’re visiting a dear friend of yours who made you a home-cooked meal, Maria Petit Food Boutique is the perfect spot. With antique wooden furniture painted in neutral and green colors, framed wall baskets with childhood trinkets and plants along the windowsills, it feels both welcoming and comforting from the moment you step in. “You get here, and you don’t feel like you’re eating at a restaurant. You feel at home, as if you

Bringing Hope and a Future to the Homeless of Polk County “But after so many years, I knew what to do with hope. I held it an arm’s length away.” — Laura Taylor Namey, “The Library of Lost Things” Hope is not an abstract concept for Travis Doodles. It is not something he studies from a distance or discusses in theory. Hope is something he encounters face to face— on sidewalks, in parking lots, beneath overpasses, and across folding tables set up for shared meals. In Lakeland,

A Short Story by Jeremy Gardner For a hundred and eight years the Norman Hotel stood sentinel over the town of Barlow, like the gnomon at the center of an enormous, ominous sundial. Old-timers called it “The Bank” or “The Norm,” but to their children (most of them now in their forties and fifties) it had a number of more dismissive nicknames, “The Blight,” “The Thumb,” “The Tomb,” “The Eyesore,” and most derisively: “That Big Pile of Shit on Central.” Their grandparents would

As graduation dreams approach- A Bit of WHHS History Winter Haven’s first official high school opened in 1915. It was a kindergarten through 12th grade facility located on Central Avenue on the site of the current downtown post office. Prior to 1915, Haven School’s educational offering stopped at the eighth grade. By October of 1916, the school fielded a basketball team. There were 15 students in the first graduating class. The first yearbook was published in 1917. The school