HISTORY: West Orange County of yesteryear for week of July 17, 2025

FROM THE ARCHIVES
The traveling Vietnam War Veterans Wall arrived in Winter Garden in July 2006. It was appropriately displayed at the Veterans of Foreign Wars property on East Plant Street. The wall is a 3/5 scale rendering of the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, D.C., stands 6 feet tall at the center and covers almost 300 feet from end to end. Two black granite walls are inscribed with the names of more than 58,000 service personnel who either died or were reported missing during the conflict. This traveling memorial stands as a reminder of the great sacrifices made during the Vietnam War. It was made for the purpose of helping heal and rekindle friendships and to allow people the opportunity to visit loved ones in their hometown who otherwise might not be able to make the trip to Washington.

THE WAYS WE WERE
85 years ago
Ad of the week: 1931 Chevrolet Sedan. A lot of service in this car for only $98. Williams Chevrolet Co., Winter Garden.

80 years ago
Much excitement in the Fairchild home as they received a long-distance call saying their eldest son, Master Sgt. Joe E. Fairchild, had arrived in the United States after quite a few months overseas.

Word came from China that Elmer Youngblood, son of Mr. and Mrs. Ernest Youngblood, was promoted to first lieutenant. He was serving with the American Air Force and, incidentally, was growing a mustache.

50 years ago
Agnes Hunter, known as Aunt Juke and loved by folks in West Orange, reopened Sonny’s Country Kitchen in the Ocoee Shopping Center. She was out for surgery for breast cancer.

35 years ago
Dr. Phillips High School senior Brandy Davis returned from a trip to West Germany, where she rode the magnetic levitation test vehicle TR-07. She was the winner of a countywide Maglev Educational Company and was accompanied by Phyllis Robitaille, her science teacher; Don Shaw, executive deputy superintendent of Orange County Public Schools; and Jim Taylor, vice president of Maglev Transit Inc.

Among the Lakes Debutante Society entertained its mothers and daughters with a luncheon in the Lindbergh Room at Church Street Station. Guest speaker Christy Stilwell of Star Quality Studio and Universal Studios presented an informative program on etiquette and appearance. Debutantes and mothers in attendance were Missy and Sharon Shearey, Nancy and Pat Roshong, Lisa and Kerry Ott, Stacy and Linda Miller, Jana and Diane Stough, Angie and Joy Vannice, Alysia and Sheila Thompson, Janice and “Fig” Newton, Kim and Barbara Calhoun, Kerry and Mary Griffin, Cindy and Sharon Eickmann, Sharon and Alicia Dillon, Angy and Sue MacLarty, Alicia and Lee Davis, and Laura and Nancy McCrary.

Three local teens died and one was critically injured in a tragic car-bus crash at Lake Buena Vista. Killed were Joseph Bollinger, 19, of Windermere, and Gabe Delneky, 19, of Bay Hill, both Dr. Phillips High School graduates; and David Simon, 16, Orange Tree/Orlando, a DPHS student. Seriously injured was Barbara Rarden, 18, of Sand Lake Hills, a DPHS graduate.

30 years ago
Todd Parrish, once Student Council president at West Orange High School, worked his way up the political ladder, starting with an internship in State Rep. Richard T. Crotty’s office in high school and later acting as Florida campaign executive director for Pete Wilson for President.

THROWBACK THURSDAY
July 17, 1942
The West Orange News frequently ran Florida Public Service Company announcements geared to local and American citizens. A 1942 advertisement titled “Woman’s Opportunity” shared the following:

“What can I do to win the war?” millions of women ask as they sign up for jobs. “How can I pave the way to peace and preserve the Democratic ideal?”

Women have gained much since their pioneering foremothers pushed back the frontier and bred a race of giants. And never has the door of opportunity opened so wide to the patriotic American woman. … Few occupations remain in which her services are not needed. Moreover, as the war makes increasing demands upon the nation’s manpower, willing women fill men’s shoes in the essential industries. This is one inspiring chapter in the all-out crusade to secure our liberty. … Electricity, a magic product of our superior system of free enterprise, makes a substantial contribution to the economic emancipation of the American woman. It provides her with the time and strength to help keep democracy at work through a crisis.