Best of Lifestyles 2011

It’s been a long year, full of odd, interesting and touching moments that made this a memorable 2011. Here are our staff’s picks for the best feature stories of the year.

Standing out, blending in

The tale of Sam Hagan may be the most popular story to ever hit wpmobserver.com this year. The affable Winter Park High School sophomore may be the most popular kid in school, balancing a packed social schedule along with classes, band, drama, cycling and swimming. He may seem to stand out already, but for many children with Down syndrome, high school is more of a struggle to blend in. For Sam, that has never been a problem. Visit tinyurl.com/samhagan.

Losing the American Dream

For many homeowners struggling to stave off foreclosure, help has been hard to find in Florida, which was one of the hardest hit by the housing collapse. This story follows single mother Vickie Johnson’s fight to keep her home, as an organization designed to help people like her deals with a bureaucracy that has shut out many of the very homeowners it was intended to help. Visit tinyurl.com/LosingAmericanDream.

American dreamer

Splashing in the pool at the Winter Park YMCA, Elizabeth Dax is your typical American girl, for just a moment. But her foster mother is still struggling to adopt her from her native Namibia and bring her home for good. We brought to light the struggle to give a bright-eyed girl with spina bifida a chance at a better life in a new homeland. Visit tinyurl.com/american-dreamer.

Jacob’s legacy

Jacob Snyder’s smile was not the only memory he left behind. In his honor, friends and family of the Winter Park High School graduate and champion crew rower who lost his battle with cancer gathered to honor him and to collect blood to help others. Visit tinyurl.com/jacobs-legacy-wp.

Giving the gift of sight

Dr. David Auerbach said he had enough good fortune in his lifetime, so he wanted to give back the only way he knew how: giving people their vision back. For some it was degenerative eye diseases that had slowly robbed them of their vision. For others, accidents quickly took it away. In one day, Nov. 15, he performed five surgeries to give patients an early Christmas gift. And he did it all for free. Visit tinyurl.com/free-eye-surgery.

Rain, raccoons and radio

As a circle of powerful storms closes in on two-dozen HAM radio operators huddled under a shelter in the middle of a park, the men wait to spring into action. This is their time to shine. When the power is out and the lines of communication are down, HAM radio operators take to the airwaves to route emergency supplies and keep people connected. We slogged through the storm as they competed in an annual disaster simulation to see who was the great communicator. Visit tinyurl.com/rain-raccoons-and-radio.