An Edition of the Sun VOL. 88 NO. 12 Wednesday, April 4, 2018 www.yoursun.com $1.00 Rotary plants Vietnam Vets Crosswalk Good Friday trees honored Crosswalk Service Lake Wales Rotary Club Lakeland, Winter turns 20. members plan to plant Haven organizers, more than 200 Florida hosted National Pg. 10 Live Oak trees around Vietnam War the city. Veterans Day. Pg. 8 Pg. 12 PHOTO BY CHARLES A. BAKER III Andy Anderson, a former Lake Wales American Legion Memorial Post 71 commander gets ready to lock up for one of the last times last week. Members of the post are looking for a new home. American Legion Post 71 closes WRITTEN BY After outgrowing their 5,000 square area veterans and auxiliary members CHARLES A BAKER III foot space three years ago, then got a good deal. Their landlord offered [email protected] Commander Ira “Andy” Anderson led an them a year rent free, giving them some effort to move into and try to purchase time to come up with a plan on how to LAKE WALES – Members of American more than 100,000 square feet of ware- pay for the new space. They hired a lob- Legion Memorial Post 71/All Veterans house space on Scenic Highway. byist to try and help them establish an Center are seeking help from the public finding a new home. According to Anderson, the Lake Wales LEGION | 5 SATURDAY 4/21 - 4:30 PM - THIS EVENT IS FREE FOR MORE INFO VISIT adno=3565609 :www.facebook.com/slowrollskishow/ Page 2 Wednesday, April 4, 2018 THIS WEEK WELCOME TO YOUR COMMUNITY CALENDAR Want to see your event on this page? Call us at 863-533-4183 or email [email protected]. April 4 Commerce website. 750 Hollingsworth Road, Lakeland. April 21 Big Brothers Big Sisters Orientation Tickets are $50 each and can be pur- 10-11 a.m., Winter Haven Library. & Training, 5:30 p.m. - 7 p.m., 165 April 6 chased via https://one.bidpal.net/ Learn how to Bullet Journal. Bring Avenue A NW. Winter Haven. Call First Friday at Faith Lutheran rc2018/welcome or through www. your own journal, or experiment 863-220-1116. Church, 100 S. 8th St, Haines City. harrisonarts.com. with the basic supplies provided. 863-224-4309. 6 p.m. - Free Supper. 325 Ave. A NW Journal, Doodle, April 4 - April 6 7 p.m. – Bill and Linda Lewis sing. April 9-14 Organize. 291-5880. Cityworks (x)po, 225 Avenue B NW, National Library Week, Food for Winter Haven. Register at http://web. Relay for Life, 5 p.m. - 10 p.m., Fines drive. Bring a food item, or winterhavenchamber.com/events Avenue A NW, Winter Haven. Call multiple food items to pay your 352-431-5125 for more info. fines. Each can or non-perishable April 04 food good is worth $2 towards the 2018 Legislative Wrap-up Chat and Chew, 11:30 a.m.- cost of overdue books. This does not Breakfast, 7:30 a.m. - 9:30 a.m. EST, 1:30 p.m., 325 Ave. A NW, Winter apply to damaged books. Food will Chain of Lakes Complex, Poolside Haven Library. Eat more plants. Dr. be given to the Salvation Army of Room, 210 Cypress Gardens Blvd. Monica Aggarwal, board certified East Polk. Winter Haven. Tickets are $20. cardiologist, author, director-Uni- Register at http://web.winterhaven- versity of Florida Nutrition Progam- April 10 chamber.com/events Cardiology Medical students, Harrison School for the Arts American College of Cardiology Spring Guitar Concert, 7 p.m. 750 Society of the Turtle Jog, 5:15 - 6 Nutrition Committee. Call the li- Hollingsworth Road, Tickets $12 p.m., 377 West Central Ave. Fountain brary to register. adults, $10 students or seniors. at Central Park. April 7 April 11 April 5 Bowl for Kids’ Sake, biggest Beer & Gear. 6-8 p.m. 302 3rd St. Winter Haven Public Education fundraiser of the Big Brothers and SW, Winter Haven, Grove Roots Partnership Healthy Eating Program Sisters, 2-4 p.m., 4318 US Hwy 98 N, Brewing Co. Register at 291-0700. Fundraiser, 5:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m., Lakeland. Call 813-997-3048. 4000 Country Club Road South. April 12 Register in the events section of Red Carpet Gala for Harrison Endeavor Nutwood Social. 6-8 p.m. the Winter Haven Chamber of School of the Arts. 6:30-9:30 p.m., $15 non-members. $10 members. Hoppin’ Hunt a success PHOTOS BY KATHY LEIGH BERKOWITZ Children brought baskets, buckets and sacks to gather eggs, and each hunt These two little girls sported their own version of the Easter Bunny, with adorable was over in a matter of seconds. little ears. Wednesday, April 4, 2018 Page 3 THE EDUCATION CONNECTION PSC Criminal Justice to hold Teach-In WELCOME TO A SERIES ON EDUCATION ... sponsored by the Greater Winter Haven Area Chamber of Commerce and Sun Central Media Group. In this space, you will meet some of the area’s schools and see how you can get involved. Schools need help from their communities to Great weather succeed. And a successful school helps build tomor- row’s workforce. for activity WRITTEN BY WRITTEN BY MADISON FANTOZZI BRIAN ACKLEY POLK STATE COLLEGE SPORTS CORRESPONDENT Polk State College’s Criminal Justice PUMPING IRON – It’s that time, when Teach-In is an annual event in which people who most of think might be a Criminal Justice professionals speak touch crazy – but boy do we respect to students about their professions the heck out of them – swim, bike and experiences. and run their way through east Polk in the annual Ironman 70.3 which starts The event mimics the Great and ends at Lake Eva Park in Haines American Teach-In hosted at ele- City. The biking part takes contestants mentary schools, where members of all the way to Lake Wales and back. the community are invited to speak The swimming and running is con- to students about their careers, trav- fined to areas right around Lake Eva. els, and hobbies. Spectators are encouraged, and yes, you’ll be pretty impressed. And, oh This is the fifth year Polk State’s yeah, there’s like 2,000 of them that Criminal Justice Program has hosted compete, so if you’re in the area, you the day-long event. This year’s teach- won’t miss them. in is titled “Weigh Your Career Options in Criminal Justice” and speakers NO PLACE LIKE HOME – Auburndale, from the fields of investigations, thanks in large part to the spectacu- K-9, courts, corrections, probation, lar facilities at Lake Myrtle Park, will and human trafficking will be pres- PHOTO PROVIDED get another unique event later this ent to give students a taste of what The Polk County Sheriff’s Office will be on hand during the Criminal Justice Teach-In month. It’s the Homeschool World it means to work in each of these day. Here, a handler does a demonstration with his K9 partner as to how to do a Series, teams of home schooled ath- specialized areas within the criminal takedown. letes that will battle it out for baseball justice system. Safety, 1251 Jim Keene Boulevard, an Associate in Science degree, supremacy. The festivities start April Winter Haven. Bachelor of Science degree, as 29 and run through May 5. Teams There will be a local job fair with well as the Kenneth C. Thompson from as far away as Texas and Illinois Criminal Justice employers present Polk State College is a multi-campus Institute of Public Safety. Course will be in our area, as will groups from to recruit participants, as well as dis- institution that was established in are offered in both traditional and Baltimore and Charlotte. cuss how and what they require to 1964. It serves more than 16,000 nontraditional formats to meet the be hired at their agency. students today with Bachelor of needs of working adults. More infor- HOLD THE FRIES – Winter Haven’s Applied Science, Bachelor of Science, mation about Polk State’s Criminal Virginia Miller Park will be the site for The public is invited to attend this Associate in Arts, and Associate in Justice Program is available here. a 5K race this Saturday, April 7 called free event, which will include lunch; Science degree programs, as well as “Running for Ronald.” Who’s Ronald? however, reservations are required a wide range of certificate and work- And the community can help Polk How about Ronald McDonald, since all by emailing criminaljustice@polk. force training options. State by becoming involved with the race proceeds benefit the Ronald edu. The event is scheduled for the Criminal Justice Teach-In and fu- McDonald House in Tampa. Uptown Friday, April 27, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Polk State is a one-stop shop for ture job fairs by offering to present Ultimate Fitness is putting together at the Polk State Center for Public Criminal Justice education, offering or volunteer. the event, which starts at 9 a.m. Page 4 Wednesday, April 4, 2018 WINTER HAVEN NEWS Downtown’s Early Hotels WRITTEN BY of Central Avenue and Sixth Street, BOB GERNERT SW (in the NW corner of what is BENEATH THE CHINABERRY TREE now the Bank of America parking lot). While no photographs clear- Plans underway indicate Winter ly show the building, the oldest Haven may once again have a known Haven photograph circa downtown hotel. We know that his- 1890 shows a building in that lo- torically, downtown has had several cation with a sign stating “Hotel.” places for the weary traveler to rest The Winter Haven Museum is in their head.