HISTORY: West Orange County of yesteryear for week of Nov. 14, 2024

OLD TIMES / THE WAYS WE WERE

Excerpts from the newspaper archives:

90 years ago

Local telephone numbers were as follows: Iserman & Co. (Florida Metal Craft), 1; Ned Vick Inc., 696; Highfill Dry Cleaners, 307; Davis Pharmacy, 79; Winter Garden Hardware, 208; and Mask Welding & Repair Shop, 612-Green.

80 years ago

From all reports, canning of food by the women of Winter Garden district was a record breaker the past season. Records at the local ration board office showed that about 20,000 pounds of sugar was used.

Consumer purchases of rationed stoves had to be made with a certificate obtained at local War Price and Rationing Boards.

Mrs. L.F. Roper, chair of the local chapter of the American Red Cross, announced 24 workers prepared 5,400 surgical dressings during the month of October.

70 years ago

Mrs. Arthur O’Brien, leader, and Mrs. Bob Kerr, co-leader, entertained Troop 10 Girl Scouts at the Kerr home with a Halloween party.

After the Roper Co-Operative held its regular annual meeting, members went to the Ropers’ camp on Lake Butler for a chicken supper.

The Winter Garden Garden Club box supper gave Lou Warden the inspiration to write a song especially for the members of the club.

50 years ago

The last Homecoming queen to be crowned at Lakeview High School was Dianne Tiddy, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Dick Tiddy of Bay Hill. Serving on the Homecoming Court with her were Jeanne Pitchford, Lisa Godfrey, Dale Duppenthaler, Diane Duppenthaler and Debbie Woodsby.

Jimmy Spears, a senior at Lakeview High School, was notified he was featured in the Eighth Annual Edition of “Who’s Who Among American High School Students,” the largest student award publication in the nation. He was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Raymond G. Spears of Winter Garden.

45 years ago

It didn’t make the Guinness Book of World Records, but the West Orange YMCA had its own version of the world’s biggest apple-bobbing contest at its Halloween party. Instead of a barrel of water, the competition-size swimming pool was used.

In the Windermere Rotary Club, Don Tyndall completed nine years of perfect attendance.

Ann Elizabeth Tope represented Queens College, Charlotte, North Carolina, at a SALT II conference at Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia. She was the daughter of Robert and Gretchen Tope of Winter Garden.

35 years ago

New mayors were elected in three West Orange County municipalities: Lester Dabbs in Ocoee, Ray Spears in Winter Garden and Jim Kay in Oakland.

THROWBACK THURSDAY

OCTOBER 31, 1974

“Give your family new carpeting for the holidays.” That’s what the Scotty’s Builders Supply store advertised in a 1974 issue of The Winter Garden Times.

Scotty's was a retailer of home improvement and construction products and services located on West Colonial Drive in Ocoee.

Customers could choose from a variety of styles. Highland Bouquet was a brightly patterned textured level loop carpet for $4.99 per square yard. Highland Fling, priced at $8.29 a square yard, was called the ideal carpet for do-it-yourself installers. If you were looking for a deep luxurious shag carpeting, the Captivating option could be yours for $7.99 per square yard.

New on the market was the fancy New Look, a hi-lo cut-and-loop shag priced at $10.49 per square yard.

In what colors do you think these carpets came? We’re imagining golds, browns and oranges.

FROM THE WINTER GARDEN HERITAGE FOUNDATION ARCHIVES

The staff at the Winter Garden Heritage Foundation is having a fascinating time sorting through a batch of photographs donated by the Lau family for the archives. This photograph, taken Jan. 18, 1918, shows an enormous alligator found in Lake Apopka. It measured 11 feet, 8 inches and weighed 600 pounds.

During the first few decades of the 20th century, Lake Apopka became famed as the large-mouth bass capital of the world, drawing thousands of tourists from all over the world. 

The lake’s alligator population thrives, with many specimens of all sizes sunning themselves on the canal banks visible along the Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive — an excursion definitely worth taking. Before making the trip, call the St. John’s River Water Management District at (877) 228-1658 or (407) 659-4800 to make sure the drive is open.