This week in West Orange County history

Read about the residents and businesses from West Orange County's past.


  • West Orange Times & Observer
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OLD TIMES

50 years ago

The Penny Saver store, which has been located in the Edgewater Hotel for many years, is moving to its new location on Cypress Street just south of the West Orange Shopping Center.

In support of the West Orange Library, the members of the Winter Garden Rotary Club are giving a book to the library on their individual birthdays.

 

30 years ago

Ocoee citrusman Tom West, who loves to play the harmonica, was invited to entertain Martin Marietta employees at a series of lunchroom rallies for United Way.

Jody Cooper, Chris Cooper and Andy Crabtree, all of Winter Garden, are members of the Auburn University Marching Band.

 

20 years ago

The mice that have plagued northwest Orange County since July are on the move, and their target relocation areas are Ocoee and Winter Garden. The little critters have been spotted in homes in north Ocoee. The infestation is believed to be the result of the Lake Apopka restoration efforts underway.

Because of the removal of the railroad tracks in downtown Winter Garden, the city has more room to decorate for the holidays. A 25-foot Christmas tree will be set up where Boyd Street dead ends into Plant Street. In addition, silhouettes of snowflakes, Santa Claus, candles, reindeer and drummer boys will dance their way through lighted arches at Main Street and at Lakeview Avenue.

Mandatory 10-digit local dialing is being introduced because of growth in the area. All local calls will require that the area code plus the seven-digit telephone number be dialed to complete the call. Local calls between Orlando (407/321) and Clermont (352) also will need to be dialed using 10 digits.

 

THROWBACK THURSDAY

The Winter Garden Times

Oct. 19, 1967

In the 1960s and ’70s, it was common for community newspapers to include small filler ads and little tidbits of information designed to engage the reader and, at the same time, complete the page, much like putting together a puzzle.

The Winter Garden Times, in the Oct. 19, 1967 issue, printed a list of suggestions for a successful lunchbox: orange juice (milk can be bought at school and is a must); pre-sliced cookie tongue, or any other meat, and swiss cheese for a “heavenly”-tasting sandwich; potato chips; an apple; and a handful of carrot sticks. This packed lunch was “bursting with mid-day refreshment, with all the proteins, carbohydrates, fats, minerals and vitamins that a wise mother plans into every meal.”

 

FROM THE WINTER GARDEN HERITAGE FOUNDATION ARCHIVES

The Winter Garden Heritage Foundation’s Lakeview High School collection includes this photograph of five coaches. The reverse notes these names: 3. Ivan Repass, 4. Mack Wood and 5. Paul Davis. The two men at far left have not been identified, and the photograph is marked 1957 with a question mark.

If anyone can help identify or correct any of the information, call (407) 656-3244 or post responses — and recollections of Lakeview sports — on the WGHF’s Facebook page.

 

author

Amy Quesinberry

Community Editor Amy Quesinberry was born at the old West Orange Memorial Hospital and raised in Winter Garden. Aside from earning her journalism degree from the University of Georgia, she hasn’t strayed too far from her hometown and her three-mile bubble. She grew up reading The Winter Garden Times and knew in the eighth grade she wanted to write for her community newspaper. She has been part of the writing and editing team since 1990.

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