This week in West Orange County history: July 21, 2022

OLD TIMES

60 years ago

From Dining with Dottie: Maple Egg Cuplets — 2 Tbsp. maple syrup, 2 Tbsp. melted butter, 8 slices bread, 8 eggs, salt, pepper. Combine syrup and butter. Decrust bread, flatten, spread with syrup and butter. Press into buttered muffin pans Break one egg into each. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake in 400-degree oven for 14 minutes. Serve with additional syrup and bacon. Makes 8 servings.

40 years ago

The Winter Garden Rotary Club installed new officers: Johnny Griffin, treasurer; Ray Spears, vice president; John Terrell, president; Steve Girvin, secretary; and Jon Johnson, Tommy DeLoach, Bob Barber, Jim Watson, Jim Crowe, Jim McNabb and John Langford, directors. Outgoing president was Waymon “Lee” Jones.”

The Marketplace on Sand Lake Road and Dr. Phillips Boulevard was taking shape in Dr. Phillips. The unique community shopping center’s first announced tenant was Gooding’s Supermarket, which would be open 24 hours a day, was to include a bakery, delicatessen, florist and custom meat department. Other tenants were Loomis Drugs, as well as a seafood restaurant, raw bar and fresh fish market.

Albert C. Valdes of Winter Garden, president of Valbro Business Forms Inc., was honored by Rollins College as a 50-year graduate He served this past year on a committee that helped his class set a record for alumni giving.

In Community Notes by Malissia Cruese: The Jeffersons held a family reunion in Barton with approximately 125 attending. Those from Winter Garden were Rachel Jefferson and Ida Jefferson, each with their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. … Mrs. Fannie B. Foster from Newark, New Jersey, was a house guest of her father, Mr. and Mrs. Moses Morgan. … Mrs Lillian Bing, president of the Gospel Choir of St. Paul A.M.E. Church, sponsored an appreciation for 15 Heavenly-letts Gospel Singers. … Mr. Jason Reynolds is on the sick list. … Carlisa Davis celebrated her 7th birthday at Chuck E. Cheese Pizza Time Theatre with her parents, Hosea and Johnie Mae; grandmother, Mrs. Carolyn Anderson; aunt, Ms. Freddie Anderson; cousins, Tracey Brunson, Letitia Morris, Cory Hendrick, Paquita Jackson, Shawn and Sylvester Scott and Aisha Willis.

20 years ago

The West Orange Times won three awards in the Florida Press Association’s Better Weekly Newspaper Awards contest held in Cape Canaveral. Amy Quesinberry, Kathy Aber and Robert Comer walked away with honors. The judges represented the North Carolina Press Association. A total of 2,113 entries were received from 91 newspapers; 61 of those received at least one award.

THROWBACK THURSDAY

July 19, 1973

The El Prado Quality Inn, on Route 50 in Ocoee, was once the top place to dine, stay, swim, hang out and listen to cool music. The Sunday Family Buffet, as advertised in a July 1973 issue of “The Winter Garden Times,” offered meat and vegetable choices, a complete salad bar and discounts for small children. Entertainment that week included Rick Montorono and Company, Hal James and the United Sound, and Clay Daniels and the Nashville Cats. Reservations were necessary.

FROM THE WINTER GARDEN HERITAGE FOUNDATION ARCHIVES

Twenty years ago this week, Plant Street was undergoing a facelift. Thanks to the arrival of the West Orange Trail and hard work by Winter Garden’s citizens, the downtown historic district was attracting new businesses. Shirley’s Trailside Antiques is seen at left in the 1912 Bond Building before its restoration, and the reopened 1927 Edgewater Hotel at right housed the popular Choctaw Willy’s restaurant. At far right is Tony’s Liquors in a building that began its life in 1913 as the Shelby Hotel. At center is the clock tower, shown under construction; it was gifted by the Chicone family and was ready in time for the festivities held the following to celebrate Winter Garden’s 1903 establishment as a city. It was incorporated five years later in 1908.

The Winter Garden Heritage Foundation preserves in its extensive archive thousands of photographs showing Winter Garden’s growth over the past 125 years. Call (407) 656-3244 to make a research appointment and get to know the city.