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Polk County Democrat
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The FORT MEADE LEADER
TOUGH WEEK FOR HOOPSTERS Yellow Jackets drop two games to top teams An Edition of the Sun
VOL. 85 NO. 101
YOUR HOMETOWN NEWSPAPERS
HOLIDAY BAND CONCERT
Middle School students celebrate the season
PAGE 18
In Bartow SInce 1930 and Fort Meade SInce 1919
SATURDAY DECEMBER 19, 2015
Working to attract new business
ROSLOW | 13
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I think this year’s Christmas parade proved a point about what has happened with Main Street Bartow in the last year. For the first time there were more than 100 floats (101 to be exact) and to prove how spectacular it was I had to sit down about three-quarters of the way through it from taking pictures because my feet hurt. “We’re going to break 100 this year,” said Main Street Bartow’s Executive Director Laura Simpson just two days before it took place. Then it was at 97. November marked one year since Simpson took the reins of Main Street Bartow. And the program has won a statewide award, increased the number of people coming to Friday Fest and come up with new programs to increase the quality of life in Bartow. Now she has a new plan in the works that aims to increase the economy. In a few weeks, she hopes, a new feature will be on Main Street Bartow’s website — http://mainstreetbartow fl.com/ — that will feature available properties in town. It’s not a classified section as such. It is something that will focus on economic development. Through a partnership with the Community Redevelopment Agency it will be driven to get the smaller retailers and those seeking a place to live one place to get this information. “I get a lot of people calling,” she said looking for information on land and prices. What she
PAGE 10-11
Mosaic donation of $30,000 to go to new band uniforms By CATHY PALMER Correspondent
PHOTO BY STEVE STEINER
The Grinch may be giving the “thumbs-down” to Christmas, but he’s clearly in the minority. But it wasn’t thumbs-down at the Guardian ad Litem Christmas event. “Oh my God, there are toys everywhere,” Louise Pulley said as she entered the room. For more on this story, see Page 16.
Simply powerful
Santa did indeed come early to the Bartow High School band when Mosaic handed over a $30,000 check to the school this week that will pay for new uniforms for next season. Band Director Jon Eckman aired his plea for a corporate sponsor in a Polk County Democrat article that ran in November and lo and behold, Mosaic staffers read it and stepped up to the plate. “We normally give out $1,000 grants,” said Mosaic public information officer Callie Neslund. “And every eight to 10 years, we’ll give a big one. This is our big one.” “The money will pay to outfit the band’s 150 members when
BAND | 12
River Ranch Nativity scene has become a life-changer By JAMES COULTER news@heartland newspapers.Com Along State Road 60 stands a tall manger crafted from dried palmetto leaves. If the structure itself doesn’t catch the attention of passing travelers, then the star shining on top certainly will. As the original star attracted the traveling wise men to the original manger, so too does this star attract countless travelers to this manger outside of Westgate River Ranch and Resort. Inside lays a ceramic replica of the Christ child basking in the warm light of the manger as he is watched by his mother, the Virgin Mary, and his father, Joseph. Animals great and small surround him to pay witness to the miraculous birth of a baby born of a virgin. Behind him grazes the cow, with the donkey and bull by her side. Around him sit sheep and calves and other small animals. Even a raccoon
and a parrot gaze from atop the treetops. For five years, this Nativity scene has been set alongside the road, attracting countless curious visitors and touching their spirits with its sheer divinity.
NATIVITY | 13
PHOTO BY AL PALMER
BHS 11th-grade band member David Rose models one of the uniforms the band will buy with the donation from Mosaic.
Foster teens not overlooked at Christmas By STEVE STEINER
[email protected]
It began approximately eight years ago, said Cindy Webb of Lakeland, who was at the Bartow Guardian ad Litem facility Wednesday, having earlier delivered bundles of Christmas gifts that would be distributed to 42 teens. At the time she was an active
member of the Mid-Florida Chapter of the National Institute of Government Purchasers. “What happened was at the purchasing association I found out that nobody wanted to buy presents for teenagers,” Webb said. She added that did not sit well with her. After all, in
TEENS | 13
Cigar Factory gets thumbs-up from state DEP By STEVE STEINER
[email protected]
PHOTO BY JAMES COULTER
This Nativity scene at River Ranch has proven to be a life-changer for some.
Just in time for Christmas the City of Bartow received a present from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. The cigar factory and the property it is on are now clean. “We received the Site
Rehabilitation Completion from the Florida DEP,” said Linda Allen, grant administrator for the city, who added it was dated Dec. 9. According to Allen, the SRC reaffirmed that all of the issues raised had been remediated. “We’re very content with the finding.”
CIGAR | 12
THE NEWS: Viewpoint 4 | Opinion 5 | Sports 6 | Calendar 8 | Community 14 | Obituaries 16 |
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