Community Bulletin and Business Briefs

Community Bulletin

Albin Polasek Museum & Sculpture Gardens in Winter Park is seeking enthusiastic and extremely appreciated volunteers who would love to work in a beautiful and tranquil setting. Volunteers interested in assisting with reception, gift shop and docent positions are invited to come to the 2010-2011 Season Orientation to be held on Aug. 11. Please call 407-647-6294 for additional information and to RSVP.

The Audubon Park Garden District is sponsoring an organic community garden at 1500 Falcon Drive, the original site of the Audubon Park Elementary School. Volunteers will remove grass, build raised beds, amend the soil and install an irrigation system in anticipation of planting vegetables as well as flowers for the spring. Five plots are left and they are open to Orlando residents and cost $20 per year. For more information, e-mail [email protected].

In honor of the 75th anniversary of the Social Security program, Congresswoman Suzanne Kosmas (FL-24) visited with seniors last week at The Bridge at Orlando assisted living facility to discuss the importance of preserving Social Security benefits and protecting the program from privatization.

In an effort to raise awareness and help fight senior hunger, employees of Firestone Complete Auto Care™ Orlando District recently delivered meals to Seniors First's elderly clients living in Orange County. Thirty-seven managers from the company's district retail stores delivered 125 meals to homebound seniors. To learn more about Seniors First, visit www.seniorsfirstinc.org.

More than 80 Rollins students are completing internships in 23 states along the Atlantic coast, in the Midwest, California and Hawaii. Students are also interning in 10 countries outside the U.S., including Costa Rica, Croatia, England, Spain, Canada, Jamaica, Hungary, South Korea and Venezuela. Here are a few examples Rollins students' internships: Paul Bennett is interning in the production department of "Live with Regis and Kelly" in New York City, N.Y.; Jaci Nora was a field intern for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in Annapolis, Md.; Stephanie Posner interned for the director of international web editing for the Food Network in New York City, N.Y., and Chris Garlock interned as a research analyst for FedVest, a consulting firm connecting small businesses with government contracts. For more information about Rollins, visit our website at www.rollins.edu

The 2010 Notices of Proposed Property Taxes (also known as the TRIM notice) are being mailed to all Orange County property owners this week, said Orange County Property Appraiser Bill Donegan. The purpose of the TRIM is to advise property owners of their proposed property taxes for 2010. Visit ocpafl.org for more information.

When Winter Park Realtor® Scott Hillman finished compiling statistics for the 2010 Mid-Year Hillman Report, the results showed existing home sales were up, inventory was shrinking, and prices were beginning to stabilize in some areas over a comparable period last year. For a copy of The Hillman Report, contact Scott Hillman at 407-644-1234, or visit the company's website, www.fanniehillman.com

Lynx is proposing the following service changes in the area effective Dec. 5:

-Link 313 – VA Clinic (Orange County) – Service will be extended to Winter Park Memorial Hospital along Lakemont Avenue.

-Link 443 – Lee Road Crosstown (Orange County) – Western end of route will now depart the Rosemont SuperStop along North Orange Blossom Trail, west on Clarcona Ocoee Road and south on Powers Drive. It will then resume current routing. Adding additional roundtrips departing Park Promenade on Saturday at 8:30 p.m. and Sunday at 6:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

Lynx will hear from the public on these changes on Tuesday, Aug. 24 from 7- 11 a.m., Saturday, Aug. 28 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. and Thursday, Sept. 2, from 3-7 p.m. at the LYNX Central Station (LCS) Terminal Lobby, 455 N. Garland Ave.

Business Briefs

Cuhaci & Peterson Architects in Baldwin Park have been awarded a contract for interior renovations at the Loop West, a lifestyle center being developed by The Wilder Companies of Boston.

PCE, a leading valuation and investment bank firm headquartered in Winter Park, announces Ashwin Nandkumar and Ryon R. Campbell have joined its valuation team.

University of Phoenix – Florida, which has a campus in Maitland, was recently named one of the "Best Companies to Work For in Florida".

Alvin Butler, senior associate with the Florida Mezzanine Fund, has been appointed treasurer of the Community Coordinated Care for Children, Inc. (4C).

Mattamy Homes has started a third phase with 12 luxury city homes priced from the $240s at City Homes at Baldwin Park.

Clare Kramer has rejoined PSI as a Project Manager in their Orlando operations office.

NAI Realvest recently negotiated a new sublease agreement for the 15,000-square-foot warehouse facility and its 4.26-acre site at 3306 Waterfield Road.

Owens Realty Network, located in Winter Park, recently hired Danny Williams as a broker associate and Justin Kovacsik as a commercial agent. ORN plans to hire 10 more employees by the end of 2010.

The Central Florida office of SIKON Construction, Maitland, announced the company was awarded a $7 million contract for the innovative new 3-story, 84,600-square-foot Publix at Riviera Beach super market.

Fisher & Phillips LLP announced that Orlando attorneys David Kornreich, Jeffrey Mandel, and Benton Wood have been selected by their peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America 2011®

Moore Stephens Lovelace is eager to welcome Ed Harp and Joel Knopp as managers.

Stirling Sotheby's International Realty is one of the largest and most active real estate websites in the world, according to HubSpot's Website Grader. It rated www.StirlingSIR.com at 99.59 compared to the more than 2.5 million corporate websites.