This week in West Orange County history: Feb. 9 2023

OLD TIMES

90 years ago

Hoyle Pounds, J.D. Pounds and E.L. Kerlin spent the day in Jacksonville, attending a meeting of Ford dealers.

Mr. and Mrs. R.L. Gulley motored to Orlando Sunday and visited Mr. and Mrs. Norman Gulley, their son and daughter-in-law.

85 years ago

Franklin Cappleman and Carl Hall, joined by Herbert Pounds in Winter Haven, attended the fair in Tampa on Wednesday.

72 years ago

A Lakeview Quarterback Club was formed in the interest of a new football stadium for the high school. The aim was to build an athletic plant that would be a credit to any town in the state.

60 years ago

Jere Sullivan was named local Heart Fund chairman.

Plans were announced for the Railroad Ramble to visit Winter Garden.

45 years ago

The Lakeview Junior High School Valentine Court was elected. Seventh grade: Tami Davis and Melissa Messeguer. Eighth grade: Suzanne Brown and Susan McCutcheon. Ninth grade: Betsy Shaw, Joanna Rosich, Patty Casteel and Cathi Norris.

30 years ago

The city of Ocoee was preparing to cut the ribbon on the largest construction project ever undertaken — the new Clarke Road, dubbed the “Road to Tomorrow,” was built to serve as a major north-south artery in the city. Another project with an even bigger impact on Ocoee’s future was the proposed one-million-square-foot regional mall, accessed by Clarke Road.

Tri-County Transit announced plans to extend its Lynx bus service to the west for folks in Winter Garden and Ocoee.

It was a memorable day for the members of the Southwest Orlando Jewish Congregation when the Ohalei Rivka temple opened to the community on Apopka-Vineland Road.

The last day of operation for West Orange Hospital would be Feb. 28. The 44-year-old facility was being replaced by Health Central, the new medical-mall facility in Ocoee.

20 years ago

Opal West retired from the Country House restaurant after 30 years of serving up breakfast and lunch to diners. She worked there as a waitress under five different ownership chapters, beginning when it was called the Ranch House. The first cup of coffee she served cost 11 cents, and burgers were 35 cents. Opal said after so many years of serving folks, she could meet people on the street and might not know their names but could recall how they liked their eggs cooked.

Winter Garden barber Earl Brigham met Tiger Woods while the golfer was on Plant Street filming a Nike commercial. Part of the filming was done inside the barbershop.

THROWBACK THURSDAY

George Stuart, located on East Robinson Street in Orlando, advertised a sale on its office equipment in The Winter Garden Times in 1973. Nowadays, smart phones have replaced the need for nearly everything featured.

Electronic calculators, which had standard size keyboards but were small enough to fit into a briefcase, were priced at $99.95 It used the latest 1-chip ISI.

The electric adding machine, selling for $59.95, totaled to $9,999,999.99 and included keys for subtraction, automatic credit balance, electric clearance and non-add.

If you needed a locking metal filing cabinet with an 18-inch space-saver depth, they were available in two- and four-drawer for $24.95 or $37.95.

How about a Jetric sharpener? “Imagine a new electric pencil sharpener that does all the work at a price you’d expect to pay for a good manual!” It could be yours for $9.95.

FROM THE WINTER GARDEN HERITAGE FOUNDATION ARCHIVES

Drew High School students Betty Wade, Eugene Kemp and Myrtle Hardwick are seen in a classroom around 1964. Charles R. Drew was a black surgeon and medical researcher who, among other innovations, pioneered the development of large-scale blood banks. The high school for black students in segregated Winter Garden opened in 1957 and served students until the onset of integration in the 1969-70 school year.

The Winter Garden Heritage Museum is featuring many images of Drew students in its current exhibition, “School Bells are Ringing.”