Old Times 09.04.14

One of the only growers who didn’t use pesticides in his groves, Thomas Eugene Heidt used ladybugs, which hopefully would ingest any undesirable larvae found infesting his citrus trees. A 1947 property blueprint shows Heidt’s extensive holdings a few miles west of Windermere, virtually surrounding Lake Speer. A 1953 N.C. Beckett Grove Service tree count lists 5,489 trees belonging to T.E. Heidt, including Hamlin and Valencia oranges, tangerines, and large “pineapples” (another strain of orange, similar to Valencias).

Thomas’ father, Solomon Robert Heidt, born in 1842 in Effingham County, Georgia, served in the Confederate army during the War Between the States until his discharge in 1868 at Charleston, S.C. He came to Central Florida on a cattle drive with Orlando’s Jacob Summerlin and, in 1874, married his second wife, Elizabeth Powell, who was a native of Orlando’s Fort Gatlin neighborhood. Solomon lived in Florida from 1868 until his death in 1919; Elizabeth died in 1932. They are both buried in the tiny Powell Cemetery in south Orlando. The Heidt-Goodwin families donated this and other photos to the Winter Garden Heritage Foundation.

80 YEARS AGO

Winter Garden social life picked up with the formation of the Pinch Penny Dance Club drawing membership from some of the town’s representative young married couples.

Mrs. P.C. Peters acted as temporary chairman. Mrs. J.T. Porter, popular young matron, was elected president and George S. Merchant as secretary-treasurer.

75 YEARS AGO

Winter Garden now has a public library with several hundred volumes of a wide variety of subjects. It is located at First Baptist Church. A regular librarian is in charge and keeps it open each afternoon from 4 to 5 p.m. and each evening from 7:45 to 9:15 p.m.

Classified Ad: Wanted: Old rags. Must be clean, minus buttons, snaps, etc. Wanted to buy: Buttons. Have you some pretty and old-fashioned buttons you would like to sell? Contact West Orange News. Lost: Black leather pocketbook off running board of car. Return to Pounds Motor Co. and receive reward.

 65 YEARS AGO

Curtis Pickens, Ray Fleming and Carroll Dickenson, members of the Lakeview High School Class of 1950, went to Tampa for physical examinations with a view of enlistment in the U.S. Coast Guard. Selby Burch, a junior at Florida Southern College, also made the trip.

One of the only growers who didn’t use pesticides in his groves, Thomas Eugene Heidt used ladybugs, which hopefully would ingest any undesirable larvae found infesting his citrus trees. A 1947 property blueprint shows Heidt’s extensive holdings a few miles west of Windermere, virtually surrounding Lake Speer. A 1953 N.C. Beckett Grove Service tree count lists 5,489 trees belonging to T.E. Heidt, including Hamlin and Valencia oranges, tangerines, and large “pineapples” (another strain of orange, similar to Valencias).

Thomas’ father, Solomon Robert Heidt, born in 1842 in Effingham County, Georgia, served in the Confederate army during the War Between the States until his discharge in 1868 at Charleston, S.C. He came to Central Florida on a cattle drive with Orlando’s Jacob Summerlin and, in 1874, married his second wife, Elizabeth Powell, who was a native of Orlando’s Fort Gatlin neighborhood. Solomon lived in Florida from 1868 until his death in 1919; Elizabeth died in 1932. They are both buried in the tiny Powell Cemetery in south Orlando. The Heidt-Goodwin families donated this and other photos to the Winter Garden Heritage Foundation.

45 YEARS AGO

Meetings are being held regarding the possibility of a West Orange area airport. There have been indications that state and federal funds may be available if the three cities (Winter Garden, Ocoee and Apopka) are ready to go. Among committee members are Ocoee Mayor Hubert Fox, Harold Maguire, Ben Griffin, John Lamb, E.L. Farnsworth and Don Gaylor.

The Magnolia Special Education Center for mentally retarded trainable children is now occupying the facilities of the former Charles R. Drew Junior-Senior High School on Story Road in Winter Garden. The center was formerly housed at the Marks Street Elementary School in Orlando. Margaret Warner is principal.

35 YEARS AGO

Betty Flood, R.N., of Winter Garden, received the Gold Meritorious Service Medallion from the American Heart Association. A nurse at West Orange Hospital, she was recognized by AHA’s board of directors for 10 years of volunteer service.

Nancy Bock, daughter of Jean and Jim Bock of Windermere, gave an organ recital at the First United Methodist Church of Winter Garden. She graduated last year with highest honors from the Hochschule fuer Musik und Darstellunde Kunst in Hamburg, Germany.