The date was May 10, 1958, when Austin T. Race, Jr. invited 13 year-old Michael Barry to try his hand at “dibbling.”
When several hundred intellectually gifted middle school youngsters return to class at Union Academy Middle Magnet School and its International Baccalaureate curriculum this month, they will be the 122nd class to be educated at a school with one of the most diverse and remarkable histories i…
Detectives and crime analysts at the Polk County Sheriff’s Office have noticed a growing trend in what are referred to as “distraction thefts” or “quick-change scams.”
Ask a veteran of the armed forces for two dates in his or her life, and in my experience they will be able to tell you the date entered on active duty and the date released to civilian life.
The past two columns have shared memories of a small neighborhood off Havendale Boulevard near Lake Jessie. Born in the mid-1950s, the developers named the area Biltmore Shores.
Garage sales have long been the best way for people to sell their unwanted items. Then along came eBay, and people began selling their things that way.
Back in the 1950s — my teenage years — movie theaters were not multiplexes in shopping malls.
It was the mid 1950s and Winter Haven, like so many Florida locations, was experiencing a spurt of growth.
This is a rather depressing statistic to begin with, but it’s very important. In 2018, the Polk County Sheriff’s Office investigated a total of 80 fatal crashes.
It was the mid-1950s and Winter Haven, like so many Florida locations, was experiencing a spurt of growth.
During the month of July 2019, Polk County Animal Control is offering a new promotion — “Sizzling Saturdays” — with free pet adoptions every Saturday in July to help adopt out as many wonderful cats and dogs as we can and see them go to loving homes.
In the wake of June’s back-to-back Democratic presidential debates, the campaign has deteriorated into a “gotcha” contest more appropriate for a kids’ playground.
To our faithful readers: I inadvertently omitted to send this first installment of “Early Polk History.” You have read Parts II and III. Now for Part 1. My apologies.
A recent article in Business Facilities called Florida an “economic super-state,” praising the way our state “excels at getting people, products and services anywhere.”
Polk State College is celebrating a successful 2019 Legislative Session as Governor Ron DeSantis has signed the state budget which includes funding to preserve the Polk State JD Alexander Center — our Lake Wales Campus — and recurring operational support.
Of the languages I studied in my academic career — English and Spanish — I always did best in English, despite all its irregularities.
The year was 1928 and M. F. Hetherington was the retired publisher of the Lakeland Evening Telegram.
The year was 1928 and M. F. Hetherington was the retired publisher of the Lakeland Evening Telegram. It was this year that he published “The History of Polk County” — a 379-page compilation of early Polk history and biographical information of some of the county’s leading citizens.
Back in my elementary and junior high school days (we’re talking about the late 1940s and early 1950s) one of the most vile insults you could hurl without getting your mouth washed out with soap was to call a classmate a Yankee.
Many of us take for granted that, when the new school year rolls around, it’s totally normal for each 5-year-old boy and girl to enroll in kindergarten, then go school shopping with mom or dad to buy new school supplies, backpacks, and clothes.
