The Local: Winter Garden—Nov/Dec 2022

WINTER GARDEN

The GRATITUDE issue

Featuring Jana Shelfer’s radical spin on life, love, and self acceptance

Tis Tise e 2022 Se2022 Seon Seon on

HOLIDAY HAPPENINGS IN DOWNTOWN WINTER GARDENHOLIDAY HAPPENINGS IN DOWNTOWN WINTER GARDEN

November 26

• Shop Small Business Saturday and Downtown Sidewalk Sale, Daylong

December 2

• Light Up Winter Garden, 6-9 pm

December 3

• A Very Merry Farmers Market, 8 am-1 pm

• Winter Garden Christmas Parade, 10 am

• Christmas Golf Cart Parade, 6 pm

• A Merry Winter Garden Light Show, 6-9 pm

December 4

• Horse Drawn Holiday Carriage Tours, 5:30-9:30 pm*

• A Merry Winter Garden Light Show, 6-9 pm

December 5

• Horse Drawn Holiday Carriage Tours, 5:30-9:30 pm*

December 6

• Horse Drawn Holiday Carriage Tours, 5:30-9:30 pm*

December 7

• Horse Drawn Holiday Carriage Tours, 5:30-9:30 pm*

December 8

• Holiday Boutique Stroll Downtown, 5-8 pm

December 9

• A Merry Winter Garden Light Show, 6-9 pm

• Live Holiday Music - Fridays on the Plaza, 7-9 pm

December 10

• A Very Merry Farmers Market (Santa Visit), 8 am-1 pm

• A Merry Winter Garden Light Show, 6-9 pm

December 11

• Horse Drawn Holiday Carriage Tours, 5:30-9:30 pm*

• A Merry Winter Garden Light Show, 6-9 pm

December 12

• Horse Drawn Holiday Carriage Tours, 5:30-9:30 pm*

December 13

• Horse Drawn Holiday Carriage Tours, 5:30-9:30 pm*

December 14

• Horse Drawn Holiday Carriage Tours, 5:30-9:30 pm*

December 16

• A Merry Winter Garden Light Show, 6-9 pm

• Live Holiday Music - Fridays on the Plaza, 7-9 pm

December 17

• A Very Merry Farmers Market (Santa Visit), 8 am-1 pm

• A Merry Winter Garden Light Show, 6-9 pm

December 18

• Horse Drawn Holiday Carriage Tours, 5:30-9:30 pm*

• A Merry Winter Garden Light Show, 6-9 pm

December 19

• Horse Drawn Holiday Carriage Tours, 5:30-9:30 pm*

December 20

• Horse Drawn Holiday Carriage Tours, 5:30-9:30 pm*

December 21

• Horse Drawn Holiday Carriage Tours, 5:30-9:30 pm*

December 23

• A Merry Winter Garden Light Show, 6-9 pm

• Live Holiday Music - Fridays on the Plaza, 7-9 pm

December 24

• A Very Merry Farmers Market, 8 am-1 pm

December 26

• Horse Drawn Holiday Carriage Tours, 5:30-9:30 pm*

December 27

• Horse Drawn Holiday Carriage Tours, 5:30-9:30 pm*

December 28

• Horse Drawn Holiday Carriage Tours, 5:30-9:30 pm*

December 30

• Live Holiday Music – Fridays on the Plaza, 7-9 pm

December 31

• A Very Merry Farmers Market, 8 am-1 pm

Event details at www.CWGDN.com and www.DOWNTOWNWG.com.

*reservation/fee required

Unified

Reaction

FIGHT BACK AGAINST PARKINSON’S

Rocksteady boxing classes give people with Parkinson’s disease hope by improving their quality of life through a non-contact boxing based fitness curriculum.

Additionally, our therapists are certified in LSVT-BIG and LOUD—treatments specially designed to help people with Parkinson’s regain control of their bodies and their lives.

Unified Rehabilitation PLLC

W Colonial Dr., Winter Garden / 407-614-2002 /

Wheels of Fortune

Jana Shelfer shares how radical gratitude saved her life.

ANNE

On the Record with Mayor Rees

John Rees knows his city better than anyone. But how well does his city know him?

82 Rhetoric

AC unit was

But

In the Middle of Everything

Meet social media maven Michelle Meachem—if you haven’t already.

for

the face of adversity, Jana Shelfer stays vibrant with her handmade wheel covers.

FRED LOPEZ

HEATHER ANNE LEE

The Lo’Down

We live

our lives second by second, and sometimes it feels impossible to take a moment to step back and survey what is right in front of us. The goodness. The lessons, even the hard ones. We don’t take the time to see how all the little pieces t together. But maybe we should. Maybe you and I should step back more often to see just how much we’ve been blessed and count it out loud.

In fact, I cannot think of a better activity to pursue during this season—in between shopping for super uous gifts that may be shoved in a closet and forgotten the next day—than saying “thank you.” Which is why I’m writing dozens of thank-you notes, choosing to feel every sweep of the pen, every dot of the i, every cramp of the rapidly developing carpal tunnel. It’s worth all the extra e ort, simply because each person I have encountered this year has impacted me in a remarkable manner that no one could ever replicate.

Jana Shelfer is certainly one of them. Even when we rst met, somehow our souls just knew one another immediately. Michelle Meachem is another. I’ve yet to encounter another person who so e ortlessly embodies the character of an entire community. Mark Schmidt, who took me under his wing at my very rst chamber meeting. Kirsten Harrington, with whom I share a passion for food and hiking. Rich Pooley, for showing me a love I never knew possible. Austin Arthur. Karen Pazik. Jessica Villegas. Mirsha Alexandre. Gus Aref. Laura Senzamici. Jon Barrett. Joe Walsh. Anna Hunt. Jason Cannon. The list goes on.

Now I’m not a gratitude expert, but I have been practicing long enough to know that it multiplies. The more I say “thank you” for the little things, the more I nd things to be thankful for. I know, I know. The concept isn’t radical or new—the idea of “thanksgiving” is the Bible. Nonetheless, gratitude causes explosions in our hearts that ripple outward, enveloping others. Unlike that cashmere sweater or air fryer, gratitude is a gift that grows. That said, this letter is for all of you. It holds my gratitude. My love. A breadcrumb trail of thankfulness to the ones who encouraged and challenged me. A community that believed in me and the mission of this humble, yet heartfelt magazine. I look around at my life, and I see it very clearly: I am better for knowing every one of you. And for that, I am so very grateful.

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Abbott’s Frozen Custard

AntiquiTeas @Plant St Market

Axiom Bank Hamlin

Cariera’s Fresh Italian Foxtail Co ee Co.

Je ’s Bagel Run

Main House Market

Orange County Public Library, Winter Garden Orange Crate Cafe

Pammie’s Sammies

Pearle Vision Ocoee Pico Bistro Polka Dotz

Puppy Dreams

Rita’s Italian Ice Rosallie Le French Cafe

Seacoast Bank

Sweet Dee’s Cupcakery Thai Blossom

The French Cafe Three Birds Cafe

Tres Amigos WG Heritage Museum Wheel Works E-Bikes Winter Garden Pizza Co.

Writer’s Block Bookstore and more!

Heather Anne Lee Editor

emagency.com 407-573-6061

@EMagencyinc

Dr. Kim Dawson

Healthcare entrepreneur and owner of Pearle Vision in Ocoee and Hamlin. Kim has been passionate about health and wellness for over 20 years. She received her doctorate in Health Science at MUSC in South Carolina. Kim has lived in Winter Garden for 10 years and is inspired daily by her two children, Symone and Desiree. In her free time, Kim likes to cook, travel, and read novels.

Ralph Disciullo Branch Manager with Success Mortgage Partners, setting the highest standards in the industry by putting people first. Prior to the mortgage industry Ralph played a key role in the startup of several businesses. Originally from Emerson, NJ, Ralph attended USF in Tampa and now resides in Winter Garden with his wife of 17 years, Sandi, and their two daughters Daniella and Avery.

Becca Lanterman

Owner of Winter Garden Senior Home Care. Becca is a second-generation Winter Garden resident, and her local roots run deep. She is the true embodiment of joy, and has never met a stranger. Becca loves living the “bubble life,” where her golf cart is her primary mode of transportation. She has dedicated her life to tending to the special needs of our local senior adults.

Pam Thomas

Owner of Pammie’s Sammies, a “thoughtfully sourced, tastefully adventurous” restaurant in the heart of downtown. She is a passionate foodie with a degree in Wine, Spirits, and Beverage Management at the International Culinary School in Tampa. Pam is a staple of the Central Florida community, having operated in Universal Orlando, Dr. Phillips, and now Winter Garden.

Mark Schmidt

Mark has been a resident of Central Florida for 34 years. He spent over 30 years in the Radio and Television industry and currently works for Boyer Building Corp. as the New Business Development Manager. Interests include cheering on the Bu alo Bills, golf and enjoying the next great glass of wine. He is married to his wife, Gina, and has a “Morkie” named Finley!

WINTER GARDEN

November/December 2022 Vol. 2 No. 3

ADVERTISING

Jamie Ezra Mark Publisher jamie@emagency.com 352-425-6400

Nicole Spooner Account Executive nicole@mpactorlando.com 407-595-4793

EDITORIAL

Heather Anne Lee Editor heather@emagency.com

Rheya Tanner Art Director

Josh Clark Designer

Wendy Mak Designer

Andrew Ontko Designer

Caleb Jensen Web

Karen Pazik Production Director

Fred Lopez Chief Photographer

Tracey Forrester

Tracey is a community advocate helping individuals, families and small business owners gain access to a ordable legal coverage with LegalShield, as well as help protect against identity theft through IDShield. She has been a resident of Horizon West since 2007 with her beautiful teenage girls, Averie and Bryce. Cofounder of Horizon West Professionals and founding member of the Rotary Club of Horizon West, Tracey believes lasting relationships start with community .

Bryan Fifer

Local agent with State Farm Insurance. Bryan is a Central Florida native, Founding President of the Rotary Club of Horizon West, Horizon West Who’s Who Award Winner, and Team Captain for All-Pro Dad. He is married to his beautiful wife Angie and they have two wonderful children. Bryan is highly invested in making Horizon West the best place to work, live, and play.

Angie Layfield NHA/CDAL

Executive Director at The Blake at Hamlin, a senior living and memory care community in Hamlin Town Center.

Angie has been in the senior housing industry for over 20 years and brings a wealth of knowledge, experience, and insight to our Horizon West seniors and their families. Though originally from Maryland, she has called Horizon West home since 2016.

Angie and her family reside in Village F’s Watermark.

Iliana Ramos

Jones Family, faith, and passion are the three major pillars of Iliana’s life. She and her brothers own Empire Finish Systems, of which she is the active CFO. A retired marathon runner, she has transitioned to the more tranquil pastime of acquiring house plants. When not working, she loves spending time with her amazing husband, Charlie, discovering new food, traveling and quiet evenings on Lake Apopka.

Kirsten Harrington Kirsten is a freelance magazine writer who just returned to Winter Garden after two years of living in China. She loves to travel and explore new places, especially where food is concerned. You can often find her out on the bike trail, in the kitchen with her family, or checking out the local food scene and sharing her finds on Instagram, @ wintergardenfoodie.

Heather Luxemburg Writer

Tarin Scarbrough Writer

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©2022 Em Agency. All rights reserved. Published monthly. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited. Opinions expressed in the articles are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the opinions of Em Agency. Reader submissions have been edited for length or clarity. Advertising of products does not imply endorsement. Em Agency can not be held liable for the business practices of these companies.

Come see my Doc Talk!

They Do?!

Guests show up for what they think is a surprise engagement and find out that the real surprise was for them!

When Jeremiah Bradford asks you to do something, you just do it. If you don’t know him, it may be because a guy his size is a guy you typically don’t want to say no to. But if you do know him, even a little bit, you do it because this gentle giant is about the nicest guy you’ve ever met and you’ll do anything to help him.

So when he asks you to be part of his surprise engagement to his girlfriend of three years, Rebecca Lanterman, you do it. In fact, there is nothing else you would rather do.

Rebecca may be physically small standing next to him, but everyone knows she stands eye-to-eye with Jeremiah when measured by her heart. That they are together just feels… right. Water is wet. The sky is blue. Jeremiah and Rebecca belong together. This is the fundamental truth that prompted more than 100 people to get all dressed up and gather at Pilars Loft one beautiful fall Saturday afternoon.

The conversation among the guests was a mixture

of shared stories about the couple,expressions of just how happy people were to be there, and, of course, excited murmurs about how Rebecca would react.

The buzz of anticipation and excitement lled the room with a wonderful energy that fell to a hush as Jeremiah entered the room.

This was it!

He crossed the room to stand near the windows and

turned toward the crowd with a warm smile.Then he was followed by another pair of people. Then another. Then we began to realize what was really happening.

“I think this is the freakin’ wedding!” escaped the lips of one attendee. Which was perfectly OK because most of us were thinking it. By the time the bride entered, it was to the sound of uproarious applause.

Under the guise of surprising Rebecca, the two had conspired to surprise everyone else. This was no ordinary couple.

And it was no ordinary wedding. Sure, it had the basics: some music, a pastor, the exchanging of vows. But this pastor cracked jokes, and these vows included a recounting of how Jeremiah impossibly contorted his frame to t into Rebecca’s Mini Cooper, how they got together as Rebecca tried to set him up with someone else.

Those vows were followed by enthusiastic applause—something I’m not sure I’ve ever seen at a wedding before.But this gathering wasn’t concerned with decorum.This wasn’t about ceremony. This wedding was about love. And their love for each other lled the room to be shared with all.

When the ceremony was over, we all knew we had witnessed something very special.This was a wedding we would all remember. Time to celebrate!

—Jamie Ezra Mark

“While I was still busy on my mission of connecting you with someone single, you had already decided on someone. I was the last to know that was me.”

— Rebecca Lanterman

Garden Variety

LOCAL HISTORY

You’ve Got Mail

In the era of e-vites, emails, and text messages, the art of letter writing is quickly being lost. In fact, many people don’t know the pleasure of stationery and stamps. But in 1930s Winter Garden, the post o ice was not only a social hub, but letters were the focal point of people’s lives and family connections. As Winter Garden grew, so did the need for a central post o ice. Soon the city would open an o ice in 1933, under Postmaster E.M. Henderson, in the Black Cappleman building on Plant Street, channeling thousands of letters over the next 20 years. Postcards and letters, filled with the love of relatives and the news of the time. The post o ice would soon become a bustling place of senders and receivers, prompting the need for a larger facility. In 1950, a building on the corner of Plant Street and North Lakeview Avenue would become the ideal spot to o icially place the Winter Garden Post O ice. With some minor renovations here and there over the past 70 years, this post o ice still stands at 207 W. Plant Street today.

MARKET WATCH

Art as Indulgence

For Juanita Granados, it is essential to “ nd beauty in anything.” And she does just this, with her beautiful and unique jewelry business, Indulgences Unique Handmade Art Pieces. Whether it is simplistic, such as tiny, dried owers, or as vivid and great as the galaxy, Juanita’s jewelry and art pieces spark joy to those who come across her.

Having grown up in Colombia in an artistic family, Juanita has spent most of her life on the creative side. “In my family, art and crafts were the main reason for gatherings where everyone spent hours creating. So I am a designer who enjoys every

moment I dedicate to creating a wearable design.”

Juanita works meticulously on each piece, her nimble ngers guided by her innate style and inspiration.“We never create two of the same pieces, giving the chance to my followers to have a truly unique handmade art piece to wear as jewelry.”

Juanita and her husband can be seen every Saturday at the Market, beaming to all those who pass, their energy as exuberant as their colorful jewelry.

Whether you choose one for yourself or for a holiday gift (hint, hint), be sure to stop by their booth and admire Juanita’s talent. Tell her The Local sent you.

LEXI

THERE IS ALWAYS GOOD NEWS IN THE GARDEN

Have you heard? Amazon Fresh is the new grocery store coming to Daniels Road Business Park in 2023. While they certainly won’t be serving up Pub Subs, you can pretty much bet there will be a “prime” option. We were also excited to hear about AdventHealth and Rothman Orthopaedic Institute partnering up to bring world-renowned orthopaedic care to Winter Garden at 2200 Fowler Grove Blvd., Suite 320. There’s a ton of gossip swirling about several new businesses coming in 2023, but we’ll share that another time. Because there’s so much better stu to celebrate this time of year and we are here for it. (If this were an Instagram caption, there would clap emojis.)

Starting with the opening of Brunos Oysters at Plant Street Market. You’ll find most of The Local team slurping bivalves and mignonette all season long, while we’re anxiously awaiting the opening of Norikase, which will feature high-quality hand rolls and raw delights like bluefin toro, California uni and Hokkaido scallops. If buckets of beer and football is more your speed, gather around the big screens at the newest location of Miller’s Ale House in Hamlin. And don’t forget to mark your calendars for Flavor Fest of Horizon West, fusing local fare, art, music and f-u-n on 11/12. Which pretty much kicks o a very busy season of spectacular events. The ones we’re most looking forward to already? Thanksgiving at the Market on 11/19. Shop Small Business Saturday on 11/26. Light Up Winter Garden on 12/2. And no holiday would be complete with We Are Winter Garden’s 26 Days of Giveaways!

SHARE YOUR LOCAL GOOD NEWS! Email heather@emagency.com

CHARITABLE SPOTLIGHT

Extra Generous

While many of us look forward to the holidays, this time of year may not be so joyous for those who are struggling to make ends meet. Mountains of gifts paired with phenomenal feasts aren’t a reality — or even a concern — for many of our neighbors who don’t know where they’ll sleep for the night or what they’ll eat for dinner. So we’re wrapping up the year by resharing some of our favorite local charities, and encouraging everyone to help bring real joy and hope to the lives of our underserved neighbors.

West Orange Habitat for Humanity Making decent housing a ordable. westorangehabitat.org

Polkadogz Rescuing, rehabilitating, and re-homing dogs. polkadogz.org

Holiday Gifts Police Athletic League Fostering and encouraging, in the youth community wgpal.org

Addendum 185

Assisting families financially and emotionally through adoption grants. addendum185.org

Shepherd’s Hope

Proving access to free high-qualty healthcare for all. shepherdshope.org

The Nurture Place

Providing accessible, child-focused support for families. thenurtureplace.org

Second Harvest Food Bank Collecting, storing, and distributing food to neighbors in need. feedhopenow.org

The Lift Network

Providing events and family services that elevate life for those impacted by disability. liftdisability.net

Matthew’s Hope Serving the homeless men, women, and children in our community. matthewshopeministries.org

American Legion Post 63 Veterans strengthening community since 1920 legionpost63.org

DOWNLOAD

GARDEN

about bad experiences with the big

have.

Tails to Tell

Hog Wild

Melvin the Long-nosed Potbellied Pig, age 16

I may not look it now, but back in my heyday I was quite the party animal. I snuck out a time or two. I’ve lived all over the country. I’ve had some runins with the cops, and even got arrested once. Good times.

Now that I’m sweet 16, I’d rather be pigging out than sneaking out. But I keep on having fun, and I’m as happy as a pig in… a blanket.

It’s all thanks to my human. She’s cared for me since I was a wiggly piglet, and she’s never stopped loving me. Even when I peed at her wedding.

Does your pet have a tail to tell? in.thelocalwg.com/tell-tails

SPECIAL SECTION

When there are questions, these are the local pros to turn to for the answers.

LOCAL EXPERTS

Florist The Local Expert

Rilla Tomyn

Betty J’s Florist 403 S. Dillard Street Winter Garden 407-656-3526 | 800-771-1379 myorlandoflorist.com

With all the florists out there, how do I pick the best one?

AIndeed, there are hundreds of websites, flower shops, corner flower sellers, grocery stores, and big box stores. They all want a piece of that big, fresh flower pie. So who do you call? The simple answer is—the one that knows how to stand out from the competition, and knows what it takes to earn the community’s business.

Ordering from Betty J’s is not like ordering from a catalog online or over the phone and hoping what you get will look like the picture. Ours is a family-owned-and-run business. Our arrangements are literally created by someone in our family for

We’ve staked our reputations and our futures on creating better flower arrangements than you can find anywhere else.

your family. It’s not just a business transaction to us. It’s not just fulfilling orders.

Flowers are perishable items. So are flower shops. We’ve staked our reputations and our futures on creating better arrangements than you can find anywhere else. That is how important your arrangement is to us. We serve West Orange County, but also have the ability to deliver flowers throughout the state and even nationwide through our network of associated florists.

Our customers know that we pride ourselves on prompt, friendly, professional service focused on exceeding their expectations. Most

don’t just order from the sample pictures; they trust us to create the perfect expression for their occasion.

There’s nothing we love more than a creative challenge, because that’s usually when our best work manifests itself. From dinosaur-themed weddings to sports- or music-themed celebrations of life—even the perfect just-because bouquet—we pour our heart and soul into every arrangement we deliver.

We go the extra mile. It’s why we treat our customers like family. Sounds simple, but that simplicity is what has kept Betty J’s Florist in business for almost half a century!

The Local Expert Restorative Dentistry

Roberto Gil, DMD

Winter Garden Smiles

1317 Winter Garden Vineland Road, Suite 110 Winter Garden 407-614-5955 wintergardensmiles.com

Q

Can I really get a crown in just one day?

ASounds too good to be true, doesn’t it? If you’ve ever had a crown, you know the drill. You’ll need at least two visits to the dentist: One to prep the tooth, then another to seat the new crown. In between those appointments, you wear a glued-on, temporary crown while you wait for your permanent crown to arrive. The wait can be weeks, depending on the lab!

Those days—and those weeks—are over.

So, how can our dentists at Winter Garden Smiles do what others cannot? As a service to our clients—in our pediatric and adult

practices—we made a significant investment in a CEREC system. That stands for Chairside Economical Restoration Esthetic Ceramic. It is basically a mill linked to a highly sophisticated CAD software program that can create a brand-new ceramic crown while you wait! Often, when our patients find out

they can actually watch their own crown being created, they jump at the chance.

How long is a typical same-day appointment? The short answer is one-and-ahalf to two hours. If extra prep time is required, it may take longer. Therefore, you come in with a bad tooth, and leave two hours later with a beautiful new crown.

We know what you’re thinking: “That sounds great, but how much does it cost? How much more does a same-day crown cost than the old-fashioned, wait-afew-weeks kind?”

Glad you asked: Nothing more. They cost the same.

There are no extra markups for a same-day crown.

Another benefit—CEREC crowns always seem to fit better. Probably because we’re right there to make adjustments if needed, while we create them.

Back to that question: Can you really get a crown in one day? Absolutely. With a phenomenal fit, at no increased cost, and within hours, not days. Are you smiling yet?

Call me, Dr. Roberto Gil, DMD, or one of my associates, Dr. Joseph Orlando, DMD, or Dr. Nadia Ramdin, DDS, and put us to the test. Getting patients to smile is what we do.

PROMOTIONAL

Mortgage The Local Expert

Ralph DiSciullo

Beacon Mortgage 160 E Plant Street Winter Garden ralph@mybeaconmortgage.com 407-718-2223

Interest rates are getting scary. How do I keep that interest rate down?

AThe real estate market is making a definite shift toward a buyer’s market and away from a seller’s market. How far it will swing is anyone’s guess, but inventories of homes are certainly going up. Unfortunately for homebuyers, interest rates are doing the exact same thing. Which brings us to our question: How do you keep the interest rate down?

We may have an answer— it’s called a 2-1 Buydown. With a 2-1 Buydown loan, interest rates are lowered by 2% for the first year. They’re lowered by 1% the second year. And on the third year, they resume the original rate.

Let’s plug in some numbers and give you a better idea of how it works:

Say you’re buying a $450,000 house with a 20% down payment for a mortgage loan of $360,000 at an interest rate of 7% and APR of 7.094%. Your monthly principal and interest (P&I) payment would be about $2,395.05.

But, with a 2-1 Buydown, your interest rate would decrease from 7% to 5% for the first year. With the new interest rate, your monthly P&I payment would be $1,932.56.

The following year, your interest rate would be

lowered to one percentage point less than the original rate, from 7% to 6%. The monthly P&I amount you’d be paying would be $2,158.38.

Your payment would then return to the original 7% interest rate from the third year onward.

Bear in mind that this scenario doesn’t factor in taxes and insurance, so your actual

monthly payment would vary. But you can see the di erences between years 1 and 2 versus year 3 and after.

Important note: a 2-1 Buydown is a temporary loan. Unlike the ARM loan nightmares of the past, you are protected. You still get to lock in your mortgage at a fixed interest rate.

Is a 2-1 Buydown right for you? Could you live with today’s rates after two years if your present circumstances don’t improve? Maybe. One thing is for certain; it will definitely shine a glimmer of hope for some homebuyers on the volatility of today’s market.

AA better question would be, “can I really use life insurance?” And the answer to that is a resounding “yes!”

Life insurance is a tool that can serve many purposes. While many see it as strictly a death benefit, payable to your beneficiaries/survivors to protect them from an unexpected and sudden loss of income, the fact is life insurance has many more uses than that. So many, in fact, that we often refer to it as the ‘Swiss army knife’ of financial planning.

For instance, if funded with cash value, life insurance can be used as a form of asset protection and as part of tax

Aref

QDo I really need life insurance?

deferral strategy. It can be used as a way to save toward a future goal like retirement or college.

When used for estate planning, life insurance can protect the integrity of inheritance. It can even be used to fund business buy/ sell agreements, and not to forget legacy planning and income protection.

Life insurance has so many specialized uses it can be hard to catalog them all. It can be combined with important living benefits riders like critical illness and long-term care. Those can help an insured pay for care and receive an indemnity

while coping with a serious, protracted illness.

Clearly, life insurance needs and uses change as we move through life. And your needs can change with you. A younger person just starting out needs life insurance as a bridge between the need to earn an income today while working toward financial independence tomorrow. Furthermore, a wealthy individual who’s already achieved financial freedom needs life insurance to protect and preserve their assets by utilizing it as an estate-planning tool.

So, do you need life insurance? The best way to

answer that is to seek out an insurance professional to help you navigate through all the benefits of this incredibly useful financial tool.

We have only scratched the surface here, but one benefit stands out above the rest: however you use it, when life comes at you, life insurance will be the safety net that will better position you and your family for whatever life has in store for you.

Personal Chef The Local Expert

Chef Paola Santagati

Italia Cuisine Co. 3601 Vineland Road, Suite 1, Orlando chefpaola@italiacuisineco.com 407-375-5338 italiacuisineco.com

How is authentic Italian cuisine different from what most of us are used to?

AHere in the United States, most Americans enjoy what I call Italian-American food. It might have started out as pure Italian, but somewhere along the way it gradually

succumbed to influences from the American palate.

Americans tend to go bigger and bolder, eschewing the delicacy and nuance of flavor. They use more cheese, more meat, and more garlic, with fewer vegetables in their pasta dishes. While delicious and authentically Italian-American, these dishes are not authentic Italian.

When I think of authentic Italian cuisine, my first thoughts always turn to my mother, Nella, and my grandmother, Mara, working in their kitchens. I loved to be close by, listening to them discuss their recipes. I liked seeing the simple,

Qfresh ingredients on the countertop. I can still smell the aroma of olive oil as it fused with the herbs they had just picked from their windowsill gardens.

My mother and grandmother had been cooking authentic Italian food for their families all their lives. They cooked simply, using fresh vegetables, olive oil, salt and pepper, garlic, and herbs— their mainstays were fresh basil and oregano.

And, of course, there was pasta. Authentic Italian food is not smothered in cheese and heavy sauce. Sauces are light, and cheese is often served on the side. Authentic

Italian food is also not heavy with garlic. In fact, in a quest for balance in its dishes, authentic Italian food is made so that no one ingredient stands out or overpowers the rest. Rather, each ingredient is there to support and complement the others. Also, in contrast to mounded spaghetti and meatball dinner plates in Italian-American food, authentic Italian foods are most often served in small portions.

To experience and, more importantly, taste what I am talking about, visit me at ChefPaola.com and I will teach you what it takes to cook authentic Italian cuisine.

The Local Expert Financial Planning

Andy Ortiz

IQ Portfolios 13790 Bridgewater Crossings Blvd., Suite 1080 Windermere 800-558-7969 iqportfolios.com

What is the Economic Cycle and why should I care?

AOur economy is subject to cycles of ebb and flow like the tides of the ocean. When the tide is low, water recedes, and you can go look for shells. When the tide is high, water comes in and if you’re not careful, you’ll get wet.

We refer to those periods in the economy as expansion and contraction. Expansion is when businesses steadily grow their production and profits, unemployment remains low, and the stock market performs well.

Consumers are buying and investing. This is the most desirable state of the economy.

The “tide is in” and everything is humming along nicely.

Then we reach the “peak.” It always happens. (Remember, this is a cycle.) After a while, numbers begin to look inflated beyond what is healthy. The economy starts growing out of control. Companies may have been overly optimistic and, banking on a continuation of the fast-flowing economy, expanded more than they should have. Same with investors; they might become overconfident, aggressively snapping up assets right and left and driving prices up.

Everything, for everyone, starts to cost too much. When that happens, when you can’t expand anymore, there’s only one way to go…

Contraction (think recession) is the next phase of the cycle. The tide has turned. The bulls on the stock market start to pull in their horns and change into bears. Economic activity slows. Unemployment typically spikes. GDP (gross domestic product) growth falls as a result of business cutbacks and slowing. Caution becomes the watchword for the day, and you can almost hear the gears of the big machine grinding down.

If the economy’s high point is a “peak,” in a recession, its low point is a “trough.” Recession spans the time between peak and trough.

The silver lining is, when the contraction phase of the cycle bottoms out, when we reach that trough, the only way ahead is up, and the economy is in for a rebound. Expansion starts up and the cycle continues all over again.

Sounds good on paper. But none of this, neither the ups nor the downs, follows a straight line. It all takes time. None of it is quick, and there are many factors that cause hiccups and fits and starts along the way.

Oftentimes people refer to the economy and “the market” interchangeably. Though they are integrally related, they are quite

buying and selling of stocks are what determine the state of “the market.” In a contraction phase—which, by the way, I believe we are in right now—investors sell their holdings and depress the price of stocks. We end up smack in a bear market. In an expansion, investors go on a buying spree and stock prices rise. We get the opposite, a bull market.

So what does all this mean in the real world?

In broad strokes, in today’s “contraction,” finding

di icult. Individuals may opt for less-than-ideal jobs, waiting for wages to turn upward. Spending may tail o , especially when it comes to decisions on high-ticket items like a new car or home. Consumers tend to be wary of using their savings because they fear they might need them later. Purchasing power erodes as inflation grows and the cost of money (interest rates) skyrockets with no end in sight.

Whew. Living in a recession can be tough, and

in the face of rising costs for everything from food to gas, mortgages to rent, with no corresponding rise in income to combat it all.

But everything is not doom and gloom. If there is anything to take away from today’s small economic lesson it is this: what goes up, must come down again, and vice versa. Remember? The economy is cyclical. After a recession, we will eventually move on to rebound in the next phase of the cycle and a natural recovery should follow.

and take charge. Meet with a financial professional now that you are armed with a new appreciation for the ebb and flow of our economy. Ask pointed questions, learn even more, and see what solutions they might be able to recommend for you and your family. If you do, I am confident that knowing you are taking an active role in harnessing the ups and downs of our economy for your own financial wellbeing will help you sleep much better at night.

The economy moves in cycles that can affect financial markets. Take heart in the fact that no one phase of the cycle will last forever.

The Local Expert Pet Waste Removal

Mike Wright Poop Bandit Winter Garden 407-604-1008 poopbandit.com

AThat is a question we get asked a lot, and it is a great one, because the answer is so important.

Just to be clear about an icky subject, dog poop builds up awfully fast and can quickly get out of control. The average dog creates four pounds of poop per week—or 205 pounds per year! Where indeed does it all go?

Poop Bandit, unlike some poop removal services, carts o all the waste we remove from your yard. We have made special arrangements with the local landfill to o load our dog waste with them. It is the safest, healthiest way to dispose of it.

What do you do with all that poop?

Q

Many people are unaware that a service like ours actually exists. Why would anyone hire somebody to pick up the dog poop in their yard when they can easily do it themselves?

Answers vary but most of them boil down to: Yes, they can do it themselves, but no, they don’t. It takes time, and for a poop-free yard, you really need to be consistent about the cleanup. We get it. It’s not a fun job. It takes time that people never seem to have enough of. The kids complain and it’s always a fight to get it done. They won’t stay on task. It’s a pain.

Some actually think dog poop is good fertilizer for the grass—we’ve heard that one more than once. It is BAD for your grass. It kills it. It’s not good for you or your animals, either. Dog poop attracts insects. It contains dangerous pathogens like E. coli, Salmonella, Giardia, fecal coliform, tapeworms, hookworms, whipworms,

coronavirus, and hundreds of other harmful organisms. Want to eat dinner out on the patio or have a backyard party with friends? Not with the smell of dog poop you don’t. We can fix that.

Prices start at around $16 per week, depending on the size of your yard and the size and number of your dogs. We serve residential and commercial (HOAs) clients! Poop Bandit comes every week, at the same day and time. And if we miss a spot, we’ll come back and give your yard another service for free. So, call us. Fire up the barbecue and invite some friends over for the weekend. We’ve got this.

Primary Care The Local Expert

P. Fabian Garcia, MD

MedHealth Clinical 1327 Winter Garden Vineland Road Suite 130, Winter Garden 321-214-8860 medhealthclinic.com

Are antidepressant drugs my best option for treating depression?

AAbsolutely not. You might think so, with the way anxiety and depression have become such common pathologies in today’s society. But Xanax, Prozac, Zoloft, and

all their serotonin-regulating cousins are only moderately e ective. And they come laden with significant baggage, side e ects like weight gain, sexual dysfunction, insomnia, and even seizures.

Sadly, in 2022 Big Pharma dictates what your doctor should prescribe for nearly all pathologies that exist today, from diabetes to depression. Because of Big Pharma’s stranglehold on American medicine in Washington, DC, prescriptions for Prozac, Celexa, Paxil, Abilify, Buspirone, and Zoloft have skyrocketed. In the process, billions of dollars have been made at the expense of a

Qdepressed, overmedicated American public.

What if I told you there is an answer?

There’s a drug the American public has not been told about. It’s supported by decades of studies proving its absolute safety. It is far more e ective than any antidepressant for treating anxiety and depression. It’s on the WHO’s list of essential medicines.

And what’s more, let me repeat this—IT WORKS.

The drug is ketamine; a common anesthetic used every day in hospitals across the country. A very low dose administered un-

der the tongue (sublingual) for anxiety and depression has been shown to induce remission (that’s complete absence of symptoms) in 80% of patients!

Since Big Pharma can’t make money o ketamine— it’s unpatentable—doctors who have been trained in the American medical system are only gradually becoming unaware of its remarkable benefits.

If you or someone you know su ers from anxiety or depression and the information above has started you thinking, please contact us. We are here to help and we’ll answer all your questions.

The Local Expert Residential Real Estate

Elle Probst

The Property Pros Real Estate, Inc. Horizon West / Winter Garden 407-815-4420 ElleSellsFlorida.com

Should I sell my house now or should I wait?

ADeciding to sell a home is a hard decision to make, especially as home prices rise, buyer demand lessens, and interest rates increase. The answer really depends on your MOTIVATION.

Historically, spring and summer are the best times to sell a house. That being said, there will always be buyers who want to buy, and sellers who want to sell. So, a real estate agent will always tell you to sell. Today, buyer demand remains high due to low inventory. Bidding wars have eased a bit but still exist because of high buyer demand.

But what about those rising interest rates? When

you sell your home, you’ll still need to purchase a home to move into, right? Well, as the saying goes: “Marry the house. Date the interest rate.” You can always refinance later when interest rates drop. If you wait too long, you may lose that house you have your eye on. By the way, current rates are still

Qbelow the overall 40-year average of 8% to 9%.

Tips for selling your home

Make major repairs and de-clutter your home for better appeal inside and outside. Consider investing in home staging if your property will be vacant. This will

help the buyer see how their new home could look!

Find a professional real estate agent who is an expert in the market area you are interested in. He or she will guide you through the entire process from pre-listing to post-closing. A true professional will see you through and be there for you long after closing.

Conclusion

With home shortages and high buyer demand, it is a great time to sell your home…

IF…your motivation is high! Contact me for a free home evaluation if you are in the market to sell (or buy). I am happy to assist!

Catering The Local Expert

Pam Thomas

Pammie’s Sammies 121 S. Boyd St. Winter Garden, FL 34787 407-730-3212 pammiessammies.com

How do I plan for food when hosting a party?

AI say turn that chore over to a professional caterer and relax. Planning a holiday party should never be looked upon as an obligation or a chore. It’s your party as much as it is your guests’. You have a right

Trusting the right caterer can make all the di erence. Tell the caterer what you want, give them a budget and the likes and dislikes of your guests (if you know them), and let them work their magic. Don’t micromanage. It can be as simple as “I’m expecting X number of people and I want to spend $X per person.”

As we tell the guests who visit Pammie’s Sammies in downtown Winter Garden: rest your head, put up your feet, be yourself, close your eyes, breathe deeply, and feed your soul. When it’s your turn to host the next holiday party and you have a good caterer

Qon your side, you can a ord to be that chill. You really can. Your guests will appreciate it almost as much as you will. They won’t feel as strong a need to add their own dish to your party fare. However, if some still want to contribute, by all means let them. People like to feel they’ve helped in some way and that will only add to their own enjoyment of your a air.

If you need the name of a really excellent cater, I happen to know one who specializes in signature sandwiches—traditional, pressed, or wraps. (Sammies travel exceptionally well, by the way.)

Because our creations are crafted from cherished family recipes, everything comes with a heaping helping of love, from our grilled flatbread pizzas, to salads, to fromscratch soups and desserts.

The answer to “how do I plan food for my next holiday party?” is as close as a phone call.

You can rest assured that everything we make is thoughtfully sourced, earth-friendly, and tastefully adventurous. I’ve made it my mission to feed the soul, craft with love, and serve from the heart. In the end, the best thing you can put on your party menu is hospitality.

WINTER GARDEN

Wheels of Fortune

Imagine a car accident taking away your ability to walk. Imagine your dream career requiring you to hide a piece of yourself. Imagine a depression so deep that it confines you to your home, to your bed, for years. Imagine being truly, radically grateful for it all.

HEATHER ANNE LEE FRED LOPEZ

ana Shelfer wants you to know there is nothing wrong with you. How you are today, how you live and express yourself in the world, is exactly where you’re supposed to be. It has a purpose, and as a certi ed life coach and public speaker, her job is to help you discover that purpose. She calls it “Living Lucky,” and together with her husband, Jason, she’s taking that message from TedX stages to bookshops to YouTube

and beyond.However, the con dent, charismatic woman she exudes today was forged in the res of tragedy, in darkness so profound that it almost swallowed her whole. What saved her life? Radical gratitude. Here, she tells it in her own words.

I’m the Lucky One

I’ve always been pretty happy, pretty positive, pretty optimistic. My emotional home has always been gratitude. But that gets tested in life.

I was 15 years old when my world changed forever. In an instant—the time it takes for a seat belt to snap—I went from a vibrant teenager dreaming of teaching gymnastics to sitting in physical therapy re-learning how to function without the use of my legs.

I cried every single night for months. But that wasn’t what changed my life. After back surgery and eight weeks in the hospital, I went to Colorado for rehabilitation and that’s the

rst time I met gratitude face to face.

I was at Craig Hospital in Englewood. It was early on, maybe the second or third day. I was waiting for my physical therapist while sitting in my wheelchair— what I thought was the worst thing that could possibly happen—when a fellow patient asked me to scratch his nose. And when I did that, he said to me, “You have no idea how lucky you are.”

It shocked me. Stunned me, actually. Here I was

“I was 15 years old when my world changed forever. In an instant—the time it takes for a seat belt to snap...”

The last image of Jana before her accident in 1990.

feeling sorry for myself, while here’s this guy, a quadriplegic, paralyzed from the neck down, and he couldn’t even scratch his own nose.

That moment shifted my perspective entirely. I mean, in that situation, I was the lucky one. I am the lucky one. I still have my hands, my brain, my voice. I can draw and sing and wheel my own chair around. Instead of focusing on what I had lost, I started focusing on what I had.

And from that subtle shift, opportunities started to open up for me—opportunities I never would have imagined. I was the rst person in a wheelchair to win the title of Kansas Junior Miss. I won Miss Congeniality at America’s Junior Miss pageant. Former Inside Edition anchor Deborah Norville did a story on me and eventually included me in her book, Back On Track: How to Straighten Out Your Life When it Throws You a Curve

I started playing wheelchair basketball and became a threetime Paralympian Gold Medalist. I started public speaking. All of these things happened after my accident, not before. These were opportunities to reach people, to have an impact, to have a life that I probably wouldn’t have had if as an able-bodied person.

“You have no idea how lucky you are.” Those words changed my life.

The Unspoken Rule

In my 30s, things shifted. I couldn’t really tell you why. I had a fabulous husband, a great house in Windermere, a thriving career and social life… life was good. And yet, something in my soul was saying, “Jana, there’s more. There’s something bigger and better for you.”

And being a sane, high-achieving, type-A personality, I didn’t want to hear it at rst. I kept trying to suppress it. But the more I did, the louder it got.

At Craig Hospital in Englewood, Colorado for rehabilitation in 1990 (shown above), where Jana first experienced radical gratitude. It wasn’t until 2016 that she began the practice in earnest, penning daily gratitude posts in

“Learning how to be thankful for what I have has been one of the most transformative experiences of my life. It sounds simple, I know — almost too simple for it to possibly be effective. But gratitude is something that just keeps getting sweeter, something that enhances the beauty of everything else in

“I still have my hands, I still have my brain, I still have my voice. I can draw and sing and wheel my own chair around. Instead of focusing on what I had lost, I started focusing on what I had”

At America’s Junior Miss Pageant in 1994, where Jana won the Miss Congeniality award.

I guess I ignored that voice, that instinct, long enough that it moved into my body. As if it needed to get my attention, and the only way to do it was to make me sick. I started getting allergies, insomnia, anxiety, panic attacks. My bones started hurting. My bladder stopped working; I had incontinence constantly. I was literally taking six pairs of pants with me to work every day so no one would know. It became such a chore to function.

My body was breaking down from the inside, and I couldn’t gure it out. My immediate thought was, it’s the stress of work. I loved what I was doing—the people I worked with had become my family, and I felt a connection with Orlando listeners. But I didn’t feel like I was being completely authentic, because we never talked about my disability on air. As long as I stuck with the “Jana Banana” character—positive, optimistic, funny—everything

was great. It was this unspoken thing that my chair wasn’t good for the show.

After 12 years at the Philips Phile, I was still part-time, even though the show had great ratings. So, I started standing up for myself, asking for promotions and raises. But when I asked for more, I was denied, denied, denied. The answer was always no, or not at this time. They even told me my salary was o set by living in Florida. That they “paid me in sunshine.” In sunshine!

Long story short, I decided to take a year o for introspection. Hopefully, gure out what was going on with my body.

But things only got worse. My symptoms ared. I gained weight. I felt ashamed and embarrassed. And nothing really landed for me. I was sure that during that sabbatical, I would come to some sort of epiphany, but as each day went on, I became more and more upset with myself for not showing up as my best.

“All of these things happened after my accident, not before. These were opportunities to reach people, to have an impact, to have a life that I probably wouldn’t have had if were an able-bodied person.”

A three-time Paralympian, Jana competed at the 1996 Summer Paralympics as the youngest player on the bronze-medal winning roster. With President Bill Clinton in 1996 (shown right). In 2004, she helped earn the U.S. team a gold medal at the Summer Paralympics in Greece (shown above).

A year after leaving the radio, I was at home, transferring from my wheelchair to the couch — something I had done 20 times a day for years. But this time I fell and broke my leg in three places.That fall put me in bed, completely immobile, alone with my thoughts.

How Can I Be Grateful for That?

“‘You have no idea how lucky you are.’ Those words changed my life.”

was tired, to the point where it didn’t feel like I would ever rejuvenate. I wanted to blame someone. I blamed God a lot. But I also felt like it wasn’t really anybody’s fault, except maybe my own.

Jason was my rock during that time. But I was so down, I even started sabotaging that—like, how could he love me like this? It was a really low point in our marriage, and I’m not proud of it. It was when I really began to worry about him leaving me that I knew something needed to change.

I realized I was going through a transition, much like I did when I was 15. It felt like I needed to look back at my younger self to remember how to get up and keep going. And it was the day I scratched that guy’s nose that kept coming to mind. “You have no idea how lucky you are” played over and over in my head. So, I decided to research luck,

something had to change, or I would die. That’s when I started my gratitude journal.

I decided I would start by making a list of ve things I was grateful for every day.

Don’t let anyone tell you it’s easy. Gratitude journaling, especially in the beginning, is hard. My lens had become so distorted that my mind kept going to these dark emotions and circumstances. But instead of ghting it, I just wrote them down. And then I asked, “How can I be grateful for that?”

One speci c thing that came up was my paralysis. “How can I be grateful that this car accident happened to me?” I had to clean out those old emotions. And there were a lot of them— anger, disappointment, resentment—but also incredible gratitude for the opportunities that came up because of it.

The truth is, I probably wouldn’t have explored some of these talents because I would’ve been … I mean, it’s hard to project

what I would have been.

But it wasn’t until after my accident that I really explored music and art, which I love.

I slowly taught myself how to be grateful for all the things that didn’t go right in my life. I call it “radical gratitude,” and it shifted my perspective entirely. It saved my life.

Radical Gratitude

In psychology, it’s called neuroplasticity: the idea that the way you think

Jana and Jason Shelfer married in 2006 (left). Jason, an avid traveler and health enthusiast, enjoys helping Jana with her artistic endeavors, including music and bespoke wheel covers.

“The first time I discovered gratitude, it was by concentrating on what I have, what I can control, what I can do. The second time, I became grateful for my disability.”

“I call it ‘radical gratitude,’ and it shifted my perspective entirely. It saved my life.”

BESPOKE: Each of Jana’s spoke covers is one-of-a-kind, either custom manufactured or handmade by Jana and Jason. “I played wheelchair basketball for a time, so I had some spoke guards. But spoke guards have big holes in the center. I had never seen full covers like mine before I started making them. And the fact that I can include my art? That’s just amazing. Like gratitude journaling, it’s incredibly personal, but so gratifying. Inspiration comes from so many places—sometimes it’s just a colorful statement about something I’m feeling; other times, it’s simply to bring a smile to someone else’s face. But they are always unique and precious.”

about something, good or bad, creates grooves in your brain. When I started having radical gratitude, it was almost like repaving the road in my mind.

But even though gratitude can manifest miracles, it’s a process, and that’s what I tell my clients; it took ve years to sink into my depression, and it’s taken ve years to pull myself out. There is no overnight x. I know that’s the worst thing to hear when you’re in the middle of it and just want help, but it’s true.

“The way you think about something, good or bad, creates grooves in your brain. When I started having radical gratitude, it was almost like repaving the road in my mind.”

The journey to honoring yourself is one that can feel long and tedious because the work is never nished.

Like watering a plant every day, it takes commitment, but little things over time can get big results. The trick is to start with gratitude, go easy on yourself, and celebrate the small successes along the way. I’ve kept all my journals, and I’m so glad. It’s fun to see how far I’ve come.

The rst time I discovered gratitude, it was by concen-

trating on what I have, what I can control, what I can do.

The second time, I became grateful for my disability.

And when I did that, I realized, you know what? I hated going through that. I thought it was the worst thing ever.

But now, almost 33 years later, I wouldn’t change it. I would not change it.

Because no matter what happens in life, whether we perceive it to be a good thing or a not so good thing, it’s always working in our favor.

Jana and Jason are both personal coaches and keynote speakers; together they host daily “Living Lucky” Facebook Live videos (right) and run a

“Gratitude... I know. It’s such an overused word that even I was annoyed. But I knew something had to change, or I would die.”

of

Managing Expectations

intelligence leads to financial freedom.

WINTER GARDEN

On the Record with Mayor Rees

No one knows Winter Garden better than Mayor John Rees. But how well do we know him?

Winter Garden native John Rees has spent his life working, playing, and serving our community. Yet many new to town never have the pleasure of his acquaintance. A true southern gentleman, always quick with a laugh, who loves a healthy debate but doesn’t su er fools. A man who rises each day with a grateful heart for the city he has helped nourish and cultivate for more than 30 years. A man who knows that community is better when we do it together. We asked John about gratitude, and he imparted the wisdom of a mayor, a grandfather, a local, and a kindhearted human being.

What does gratitude mean to you?

Being grateful and kind. Returning kindness to others.

What are you most grateful for?

The good Lord sending a cute 15-year-old girl into my life back in 1965. Linda and I have had 53 blessed years of marriage.

What mayoral experience are you most grateful to have had? Working closely with thecity manager to ensure the success of our city.

What non-mayoral experience are you most grateful to have had?

Graduating in 1971 from the University of Florida in the gym where I played for the state basketball championship as a senior at Lakeview High School. Also, when Silver Springs Citrus was purchased by Toyota, it opened up a whole new world.

What was your favorite moment of this year? Having our grandkids pull the switch to Light Up Winter Garden.

What are you most proud of yourself this year? Throwing batting practice to our 15-year-old grandson and walking 15,000 steps per day.

What’s the best advice you’ve received recently? To stop walking 15,000 steps per day.

What’s one thing that made you smile recently?

The crazy things pets do. Every day, it makes me smile.

What is one small victory you had this month?

Cleaning three yards after Hurricane Ian and getting a tree o of the roof.

What’s one thing you do really well?

Math.

Name someone in your life (not a relative) you are grateful for.

Pastor DeShay, who married us on Sept. 9, 1969, and baptized my sons and me at First Baptist Church.

What book changed your life for the better?

The Bible.

Who makes you feel loved and why?

My wife, Linda; sons, Johnathan and Justin, and grandkids, Emily, Madison, McKenzie, Morgan, Abigail, and John. The true enjoyment of each others’ company and willingness to do anything for each other.

Name someone who goes unnoticed but deserves recognition.

Nancy Barber and Amanda Booker

Name an extraordinary act of kindness you witnessed recently.

Fred and Sue Crabtree providing nancial assistance for cancer patients.

JOHN REES

For Mayor Rees, happiness is family: His wife, Linda; sons, Johnathan and Justin, and grandkids (shown above), Emily, Madison, McKenzie, Morgan, Abigail, and John.

Name one thing you are grateful to have. My health.

Name something positive in your life that you didn’t have a year ago.

Vehicles for our granddaughters in college.

What person in your past are you most grateful for?

Dr. Albert Gleason. He delivered me as a baby and took care of me until my 60s.

What risk are you most grateful to have taken?

Leaving a secure job to start a 43-year career at Silver Springs Citrus.

Name something in nature that you are grateful for.

The one-legged sandhill crane that I care for.

What challenge are you grateful to have overcome?

Public speaking has become easier.

What’s one thing someone told you about yourself that you never forgot?

As a young boy, my father told me, “It’s better to keep your mouth shut and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt.”

Describe a smell that always makes you smile.

Orange blossoms and a citrus plant feed mill. Describe something weird or unexpected that brings you joy. Hiding and scaring the grandkids as I did with our two sons.

Name five things that make you laugh.

Kids, pets, dumb comedy, conversations with family, and friends

Describe the last time you truly felt at peace. Right now.

List five people you are grateful for and why.

1. John and Marjorie Rees, my parents, for the positive upbringing.

2. Fred and Laura Johnson, my wife’s parents, for lifelong lessons and work ethic.

3. Bill Youngblood for what he taught me in business.

4. Will Wiener of Toyota, a genius who constantly challenged me.

5. Pastor Tim Grosshans for being such a positive in uence and encourager in our lives, and Pastor Reynold Lemp for providing a place for teenagers on Friday nights.

PHOTOS

List 10 things people don’t know about you.

I like quotes like, “It’s amazing what can be accomplished when you don’t care who gets the credit.”

I played the trumpet.

I wore bellbottoms and platform shoes to work.

I once had long, thick, black, wavy hair.

I love creating and analyzing spreadsheets.

I’m very hyper and have an overabundance of energy.

I also do not sleep much.

I loved to water ski.

I have coached Little League baseball, Pop Warner football, YMCA basketball, and soccer.

passionate about animals and nature. More than once, I’ve stopped people from cutting down trees.

List 5 things that make you really happy.

Being born in the USA.

Family activities, and making my beautiful wife happy.

Good debate.

Going to church.

Working outside.

“I’m grateful for... 53 blessed years of marriage with Linda.”

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Local WINTER GARDEN

In the Middle of Everything with Michelle Meachem

The “uno icial mayor” of Winter Garden, Michelle truly feels at home in her community, her body, and her life.

HEATHER ANNE LEE FRED LOPEZ

It’s four o’clock on a calm Monday, and for once, there isn’t an event to attend later in the evening. Not that there isn’t anything to do; in Michelle Meachem’s world, there’s always fun on the horizon.

After this interview, she’s o to check in with her dad who’s currently displaced from the hurricane. Then she’s going to swing by the Cannons’ to hold baby Evelyn and give new parents, Kara and Jason, a brief respite. Her best friend, Tracy Lewis, will be there, and then who knows where the evening will take them. Pilars? Impromptu dance party? Anything goes—but rst, she stops for a sel e.

That’s Michelle in a nutshell: She refuses any invitation to take herself seriously.“People are way more critical of themselves than anybody else ever is going to be. I never used to smile in photos with my mouth open because I have the worst teeth, but you know what? This is the mouth I was given, these are the teeth I have, this is how I was designed. I won’t miss out on my own life because I’m too afraid of what people think of me. No one is perfect, and that’s the point. Life is just too short to let that hold me back.”

At 50 years young, Michelle is the kind of woman whose e ervescence makes

trying on bathing suits, getting a haircut, or even folding laundry into an adventure of epic proportions. The kind of woman who’s never met a stranger, and has yet to make an enemy.

“My story isn’t that special,” she says, de ecting the attention. “I’m probably the least interesting person I know.”

To which we disagree.

Picture Imperfect Michelle is a Presence— capital P—in the community. If there’s an event within a 20-mile radius, she’s there, charming friends and strangers alike into unlikely conversations and photo ops. Sure, it is part of her job as Community Relations with We Are Winter Garden. But as anyone who follows her on social media knows, that role may as well have been crafted especially for her.

“I just love meeting people,” she says. A statement you simply know to be true. There is no carefully crafted persona. Michelle is very much a what-yousee-is-what-you-get kind of girl.

In fact, she outright refuses to be anything else. “I am a member of this community rst,” she says. “I’ve lived here a long time. I deeply, deeply love the people. If you ever ask me to be somebody I’m not

or something that I don’t stand with or agree with, I’ll just leave.”

Boundless con dence. Unshakable conviction. And yet, like so many public personalities, she ghts unexpected battles behind closed doors. “I’ve su ered with anxiety and depression since my daughter was 2. So, more than 25 years, on and o . I’ve lost jobs because of it—or, rather, gave up jobs because I couldn’t cope.”

It seems incomprehensible to an outsider that a woman who thrives on connection could carry such a burden, and yet it has colored her life in a myriad of ways. Take, for example, the time she was a photographer at Walt Disney World Resorts.

“I wasn’t a great photographer, and I had no formal experience, but I loved meeting people and making them smile. I did that job just shy of 10 years. Then my depression and anxiety started setting in. The pressure of getting up at a certain time became overwhelming. I was giving up my shifts almost every day. Finally, my boss calls me in and he’s like, ‘Technically you haven’t done anything wrong, but do you even want to work here anymore?’ The truth is, I did, but I wasn’t mentally up to the task.”

“ I deeply, deeply love the people of Winter Garden… I just feel so lucky to live and work in a space where I can be everything to everybody that I would love to be.”

At its core, her anxiety stems not from work, but from schedule-keeping. “I prefer to wing it, which I know is not realistic for most people who have jobs and families and whatnot. I was even anxious about coming to this interview, and that’s crazy. I know you, I enjoy you, I’m comfortable in this space, but the anxiety … it’s palpable.”

Michelle is many things, but a quitter is not one of them. She has learned to take life as it comes, and is grateful that her job allows for that. “I don’t punch a

clock. I have one morning a week where I have to attend a team meeting, and sometimes even that is a stretch. Thankfully, I get to work with my best friends, literally, and that helps so much.”

Indeed, it was her friend Tracy who recruited her to We Are Winter Garden as part of an expansion of their business team. “Tracy was like, ‘I have the perfect person,’” Michelle says. “I actually said no for a long time, but she persisted, and it’s been a very good t for me.”

One Life to Love

If there’s one thing Michelle wants you to know, it’s that loving your life—your whole life—takes work, but it’s one of the worthiest challenges you will face.

“Anxiety is part of my life, just like bad teeth and big thighs. But I’ve accepted it. In fact, I love it now. It’s who I am. It’s how God made me. Why wouldn’t you celebrate everything you have?”

Fostering a loving relationship with all the quirks and deviations that make Michelle, Michelle, may very well be the reason we are so

Whether she’s trying on bathing suits, making home repairs, attending charity events or simply mugging for the camera, Michelle makes every day an adventure of epic proportions. Follow her on Facebook at @mdmeachem

“ Anxiety is part of my life, just like bad teeth and big thighs. But I’ve accepted it. It’s who I am. Why wouldn’t you celebrate it?”

drawn to her. “Every day, I get to be me. I get up excited to see who I’m going to meet today. I love that people come up to me and say, ‘I know you from Facebook. Thank you for doing what you do!’ I just feel so lucky to live and work in a space where I can be everything to everybody that I would love to be.”

Still, there are days when she struggles, the anxiety making her question her worth.

“I have no tangible results here. I’m not creating anything. I’m just being nice to people and having fun. But my boss, Mark, always says, ‘Without the relationships, we don’t have a business, so don’t ever discount what you bring to the table.’ And that has been such a powerful motivator to me.”

That attitude of gratitude infuses every moment of Michelle’s life, inspiring everyone she meets to do the same. “It’s OK to think that you’re great. There’s nothing wrong with loving yourself. You’re embracing where you are. Own it, and just have fun with it.”

So whether you’re taking a bomb sel e, meeting new friends at a community event, or having a laugh with friends at happy hour, make the most of it.

And take a moment to say hi to Michelle. She’s sure to be there.

“I won’t miss out on my own life because I’m too afraid of what people think of me.”

Make the holidays count.

Just Our Type

For Angie and Noah Layfield, type 1 diabetes is a family a air.

HEATHER LUXEMBURG FRED LOPEZ

Ever hear about mother’s intuition?

Angela Lay eld sure has. In fact, in early 2018 she experienced it rsthand. When she and her son, Noah, who was 9 at the time, attended a mother/son hockey game, Angie quickly realized any mother’s greatest fear— there was something very wrong with her child.

Five, maybe six trips to the bathroom in the span of a few hours, and Angie’s

anxiety ared. Having worked with senior citizens, that symptom looked all too familiar. “Like any frantic mother, I went straight to Dr. Google and searched ‘juvenile diabetes.’ I’ll never forget reading the rst sentence: ‘Juvenile diabetes is an autoimmune disease,’” she says. “Instantly I became more concerned because I also have a history of autoimmune issues. Was this my fault? Did I pass this on to my son?

And then I started reading the symptoms— excessive urination, an insatiable thirst, unexplained weight loss. Clearly Noah had all that, plus he was sweating a lot and was very lethargic.”

Expecting the worst, Angie took Noah to the ER. The diagnosis? Exactly what Angie had suspected: juvenile type 1 diabetes. From that point, the Lay eld family’s life turned upside down.

A New Normal

Angie dove head rst into the into the whirlwind of information and education and treatments. From nger sticks to insulin injections, the Lay elds learned everything they could for the next few years.

Type 1 diabetes is thought to be caused by an autoimmune reaction, meaning the body attacks itself by mistake. This reaction destroys the cells in the pancreas that make insulin, called beta cells. “So, we started the process of learning how to manage the disease through nger sticks and other stu . As well as insulin injections. When you’re a type 1 diabetic, you take insulin to correct blood sugar, but also to cover the carbohydrates that you eat. It’s very cumbersome, especially when you’re 9. You essentially go to school with a big equation.”

Even so, the medical side of the disease was easier to cope with than the emotional side. “I remember being so sad for him,” Angie says. “To be 9 years old and know that you’re going to have this disease for your whole life. And it’s every second of every day. It’s all night when you’re sleeping. There is no break from it, and that’s the hardest part. It’s overwhelming.”

Thankfully, Noah handled it like a trooper, and the next few years brought some stability as they eased into a new normal. And, having learned to manage Noah’s disease, Angienally began sleeping a little better at night.

That is, until the fall of 2019 when her life changed forever—again.

Family Ties

“I just started feeling o ,” Angie says. “I was always hungry, but I was also starting to lose weight, eating so much but still losing weight. And I was tired.”

Symptoms that, once again, felt all too familiar from her experience in senior care. But this time, she thought, there had to be some other explanation. “I was 40, so I thought maybe menopause? Maybe stress from work? Maybe

“I’m not happy it happened, but there’s a sense of relief because now [Noah has] somebody who understands what he’s going through.”

being overweight? I say that, but in the back of my head, I knew. I just didn’t want to face it.”

Nevertheless, Angie got the bloodwork done. Her diagnosis? Type 1 diabetes.

She struggled to come to terms with it at rst. But breaking the news to her son changed her perspective. “I remember telling

Noah, and he smiled. He was so excited,” she says. “You can imagine how lonely it is when you’re the only one dealing with the disease. I’m not happy it happened, but there’s a sense of relief because now [Noah has] somebody who understands what he’s going through.”

Angie talks about the matter optimistically, but

TOOLS OF THE TRADE From insulin pens to pumps to apps, Angie can monitor her own sugar, as well as her son’s, 24 hours a day.

WELLNESS COUNTS

37.3

MILLION

The number of Americans currently living with diabetes (11.3% of the population)

SOURCE: cdc.gov

283K

The estimated number of Americans under age 20 with diagnosed diabetes (around 7.5% of the diabetic population)

SOURCE: cdc.gov

29%

The percentage of Americans age 65 and older with diagnosed or undiagnosed diabetes (15.9 million seniors)

SOURCE: american diabetes assoc.

$327

BILLION

Total cost of diagnosed diabetes in the United States in 2017.

SOURCE: American Diabetes Assoc.

7th

Diabetes was the seventh leading cause of death in the United States in 2019.

SOURCE: American Diabetes Assoc.

the reality of the diagnosis is always on her mind. “We have been very lucky that neither of us has needed hospitalization since diagnosis. But at some point, something will happen; even a simple stomach virus can be signi cantly troublesome.”

She is also very clear about the nancial toll diabetes takes on a family. “Here we are in 2022, and not everyone has access to insulin, let alone the education needed to properly navigate the disease. That’s so frustrating and so scary,” she says. “I’m grateful that, being in the eld, I have the exposure and access to healthcare Noah and I need. I’m also thankful for the tools we have, the medical devices. Even though it is 24 hours a day, all I have to do is glance at my pump and know what needs to be done. Even my phone has apps that help me manage my insulin, as well as Noah’s. It’s crazy how far the advancements have come.”

Strength in Numbers

Instead of allowing diabetes to get the best of them, Angie and her family have turned their story into an opportunity. “We celebrate Noah’s diagnosis day; his ‘dia-versary,’ as we call it. We celebrate it every year with a silly

cake. We did a big pancreas one year.”

The family believes their healthy sense of humor goes a long way in helping them manage the disease. “With type 1, you’re always on. Whether he’s at school taking a big test, or I’m in the middle of a work meeting, we’re always managing what is going on in our bodies,” Angie says. “It’s always there, so we try as much as we can to make light of it. This gives us the opportunity to share with people about what to look for.”

The Lay elds also use the dia-versary celebration as an opportunity to raise money for diabetes research. “It is possible in Noah’s lifetime that there will be a cure. It’s really important that we bring attention to it.”

Their advocacy not only bene ts diabetes research and awareness, but also, Angie hopes, builds Noah’s con dence and acceptance of himself as he is. “My biggest fear as his mom is that he is ashamed of it. This isn’t a disability; it’s a normal part of our lives. It’s a normal part of millions of lives,” she says. “But subliminally, I think that I became a type 1 diabetic so that I could better understand and support him. At 40 years old, that’s weird, but it gives me some peace of mind, feeling like I understand. I don’t understand what it’s like to be 9 or 14 or 25 living with it. But I do know what the stress and burdens feel like. I’m glad he has somebody to walk through it with.”

Know the signs. Save a life.

Type 1 diabetes signs and symptoms can appear relatively suddenly and may include:

• Irritability and other mood changes

• Fatigue and weakness

• Blurred vision

• Increased urination, often at night

• Increased thirst

• Unintended weight loss

• Extreme hunger

• Numbness or tingling in the hands or feet

• Fatigue or exhaustion

• Very dry skin

• Slower healing

• More infections than usual.

Nausea, vomiting, or stomach pains can also occur. Symptoms can develop in just a few weeks or months and can be severe. Type 1 diabetes usually starts when you’re a child, teen, or young adult, but it can happen at any age.

ANGIE SAYS: “Thankfully we had that hockey game. I was able to have two hours of uninterrupted time with Noah. Had I not been there, I might not have known.”

Some symptoms are similar to those of other health conditions. Once the symptoms appear, they can be severe and rapid. Don’t wait, don’t guess.

FAMILY INK The Layfield family commemorates each “dia-versary” in a variety of ways, including getting matching tattoos.

EYES CARE

A local family’s perspective on Pearle Vision

Jessica Villegas recently brought her three young girls (Camille, 5, Molly, 11, and Emma, 14) to Pearle Vision for checkups—and, as it turned out, for glasses. “One of my daughters had begun having headaches. I try to keep up with my kids’ eyesight by getting them checked every couple of years. So, I thought, it’s time. Let’s do this. We’re going to Pearle.”

This was the family’s first visit to Pearle Vision and, according to Jessica, a positive first experience. “It was super easy for the kids. My gosh, Dr. Washington was fantastic; all the kids were comfortable with her. They probably had the best time trying on glasses frames. They got a little silly, picking out frames they would never wear, posing in the mirrors.”

So how on earth did she get her girls to make the big eyewear decision? Well, Pearle Vision sta were there for that, too. “They’d

ask how long the girls might wear their glasses during the day—longer times meant lighter frames. My girls narrowed their choices down to three or four each and we let the experts help them zero in on The One.”

Once her kids were all squared away with new frames, Jessica decided it was her turn for a checkup. “Like Dr. Kim Dawson [owner of Pearle Vision of Ocoee] told me, ‘You never know how bad yours are until you see how good

they can be.’ I ended up with a cute pair of Burberry frames. The whole experience was a fun outing for the day. And I felt good, knowing my girls’ eyes were healthy and they were all seeing the way they should. I have to say, even the price was right.”

INSURANCE TIP

Inspired to give your eyes a check? There’s no better time than now. Your health insurance coverage expires at year’s end, so don’t forget to see to your eye health before the insurance clock resets in January!

Ocoee: 11024 W. Colonial Dr. Winter Garden: 5736 Hamlin Groves Trail 407.565.9290 / pearlevision.com

“It was super easy for the kids. My gosh, Dr. Washington was fantastic; all the kids were comfortable with her.”

—Jessica Villegas

Local WINTER

Breaking Bread

Deck the halls with lavaş and friends.

RHEYA TANNER

FRED LOPEZ

Gluten. Be still, my beating heart, I love gluten so much. I nd it in so many of my guilty pleasure foods—cookies, french fries, candies, lasagna, knocko cereal (see May 2022). But you know this article is about gluten’s greatest work: Bread.

It’s one of those foods you can love in all kinds of unique forms (Ezekiel bread notwithstanding). Bosphorus in Hamlin serves this light, u y kind, lavaş (that’s la-VOSH), with hummus and dips of various avors and textures. As an established bread-liker, I highly recommend it.

But before you grab that bread knife and start

sawing, there’s one important detail: lavaş is hollow. As in, that plump loaf is actually full of steam, and it’ll fall like a sou é as soon as you tear o that rst piece—yes, with your hands. So take that as a word of caution when you give it that rst poke.

Once it pops, though, the inside looks and feels fabulously bready, and tastes warm and soft and comfy in the way that only freshly baked bread can.

Oh, and don’t mistake hollow bread for less bread; there’s enough for four people to tear this thing to shreds without feeling too full afterward.

We con rmed that fact rsthand. It was Jamie, our

publisher, and of course our photographer, Fred, who were with me; our schedules were packed, and that lavaş was the rst food any of us had had that day. Ravenous as we were, though, we were still plucking o the pieces on the bottom when the rest of the food came out.

And the rest of the food was just as tasty and lling. I had four cute little stu ed cabbages, packed with rice, tomatoes, garlic, and ground lamb and topped with a sort of yogurt sauce. Fred and Jamie both ordered the Chicken Adana Kebap,aka grilled chicken skewers dressed up with spicy, savory seasonings and accompanied by a rain-

Eats+Drinks

bow of pickled cabbage, beets, carrots, and red onions with a Turkish vinaigrette drizzle. Two dishes we weren’t expecting to photograph until they came out so beautifully.

I don’t mean to get all meta here, but let me talk about The Local’s food photo shoots for a minute. They’re usually pretty straightforward: We order the food, we receive the food, we photograph the food while it’s fresh—it doesn’t take long, since food can’t accidentally

blink. And then, of course, we sit down to eat the food.

Or, rather, the writer does. Everyone else basically peaces out immediately, either to return some business call or to head to the next shoot on the other side of town that starts in, like, three minutes.

It’s such a little thing, breaking bread together. We often skip it during the busiest times, the times we see each other the least. But it’s during those times, somehow, that it feels like it matters the most.

WINTER

Making Spirits Bright

already lit up your home for the holidays. Why not light up your cocktails?

TARIN SCARBROUGH FRED LOPEZ

Anyone else tired of playing it safe? Social distancing, canceled ights, restaurants and bars with limited seating, holiday parties put on hold… The past two holiday seasons have certainly felt a little boring, am I right? Which is exactly why now is the absolute perfect time to take things up a notch.

And when I say “a notch,” I mean completely over-thetop. Treat your senses to something truly decadent. Ignore the calories and inoculate yourself from the ghosts of Christmas past with three of my favorite embellished cocktails that treat your eye as much as your palate.

Homemade Eggnog

is notoriously one of the most luxurious

of the season. Originating in the 13th century, eggnog contains eggs, milk, and sherry—once expensive commodities combined to toast wealth and prosperity. Over the past millennium, eggnog has transformed in many ways, mainly with the spirit changing to rum, brandy, or my personal favorite, bourbon.

(BATCHED

room temp

(garnish)

Separate eggs. Cover egg whites and store in refrigerator.

In a large bowl, whisk yolks and sugar until thick and smooth, 5-7 mins (it should be lemon yellow in color).

Slowly add bourbon while beating at slow speed. Scrape sides of bowl.

Chill for several hours or overnight.

In a separate bowl, beat egg whites and salt until almost sti .

Whip cream until sti and fold into yolk mixture. Fold in egg whites. Let chill 1 hr to properly set.

Serve and garnish with nutmeg

TARIN’S TIPS

For a thinner eggnog, add a cup of milk to the yolk mixture. For more spice, use one cup of bourbon and one cup of Cognac. If you have a glass moose cup and can pretend to be Uncle Eddie—even better.

Pisco Apple Sour

Eggnogged out? Try bringing Pisco to the party instead. This is a variation on a Flip, a cocktail commonly made with a whole egg and sugar.

Pisco is a Peruvian brandy, but it di ers greatly from other brandies; it’s robust yet sharp with an almost sweet, apple-like nish, so it only made sense to pair it with apple juice (I use Martinelli’s). Unconventional? Sure. But shouldn’t holiday dinners be a mix of classic dishes and Pinterest experiments? This checks both of those boxes.

INGREDIENTS (SINGLE SERVING)

2 oz Pisco

1 oz unfiltered apple juice

1�2 oz simple syrup

1�2 lemon juiced

1 whole egg grated cinnamon (garnish)

INSTRUCTIONS

• In a shaker, add all ingredients. Shake vigorously with ice.

• Strain into glass. Garnish with grated cinnamon.

TARIN’S TIPS

• Try prepping the Pisco by adding 2 cinnamon sticks to the bottle and letting it infuse for 24 hours.

• If preferred, you can skip the egg whites, but know that you’ll lose that special foaming top layer.

White Christmas Mojito

Sure, a mojito is more of a summer drink, but this is Florida; rum and sun are year-round endeavors. This twist includes coconut milk, coconut rum, and ginger beer for some spiciness. We’re probably not getting a real white Christmas, so let this luscious texture give the illusion of snow.

INGREDIENTS (BATCHED FOR A CROWD)

3�4 c lime juice (4-6 limes)

1�2 c fresh mint

1�2 c white rum

1�2 c coconut rum

1 c coconut milk, canned

2-3 cans ginger beer lime zest pomegranate arils

INSTRUCTIONS

• In a pitcher, muddle lime and mint.

• Add rum and coconut milk. Stir until evenly combined.

• Chill until ready to serve.

• Serve in a glass. Top o with ginger beer and gently stir until combined. Garnish with lime zest and pomegrante arils.

TARIN’S TIPS

• Coconut milk naturally separates, so make sure it is well mixed before using. Or, substitute with cream of coconut for a sweeter nish.

16055

Independence Pkwy, Ste.

Cariera’s Fresh Italian

1041 S. Dillard St., Winter Garden / 407-554-3622 carierasfreshitalian.com

If there’s two things most people can agree on, it’s that a hearty plate of pasta is always a good choice, and the best place to get that fix is Cariera’s. Heavy with Italian tradition, Cariera’s features timeless favorites, such as spaghetti and meatballs to chicken Saltembocca, white Cacciatore to Eggplant Parmigiana. There’s even a lite menu featuring Keto versions of your Italian favorites! Whether celebrating a special occasion or simply feeding the family, Cariera’s strives to make every guest feel comfortable enough to laugh out loud, reminisce, and indulge.

HOURS

Mon-Sat 11am-9pm Sun 11am-8pm

CATERING

TRAYS

Garden / 689-946-5100

Welcome to CRISP & GREEN! We are opening our first Winter Garden location this November and are excited to be a part of the community. We provide nutritious and convenient food to fit a busy, wellness-driven lifestyle. While we believe that eating healthy should feel good, we also think it should taste good, too. That’s why every ingredient is prepared in our kitchen from start to finish. We craft every menu item to be full of flavors that are balanced, wholesome and unique, keeping your palate satisfied and your body nourished. Come in today to try our salads, grain bowls, and more.

WG HOURS

Mon-Thur 12pm-8pm Fri 11am-9pm Sat 10:30am-9pm Sun 11am-6pm

EXPERIENCE OUR NEW PASTRIES

David Ramirez Chocolates

WINTER GARDEN 426 West Plant Street / 407-614-8278

ORLANDO 2154 Central Florida Parkway / 407-816-7400 davidramirezchocolates.com

At David Ramirez Chocolates, we place a high value on using the best ingredients available, sourced from across the globe. Our goal is to bring you a superior product, and create an immersive and memorable culinary experience. We approach every creation with a focus on quality and artistry. Our team is trained in the old-world style, while incorporating innovative and pioneering techniques and flavors.

MENU HOURS

WG Sun-Sat 7am-3pm

WIN Sun-Sat 7am-5pm

The French Café

WINTER GARDEN 16412 New Independence Pkwy / 407-500-4050

WINDEMERE 5855 Winter Garden Vineland Rd / 407-500-0306 thefrenchcafe.com

OFF

DELICIOUS CRÊPES

Do you feel like you’ve been transported to a cozy neighborhood café in Paris, sipping a French co ee while the smell of fresh pastries fills the air? You may be surprised to find you’re not in France at all; instead, you’re enjoying a meal at The French Café. Try our one-of-a-kind pastries baked fresh daily by our acclaimed chef. Join us for a relaxing breakfast on the weekend or stop in before that evening movie for a delightful dinner. We can’t wait to say bienvenue to you!

ORDER ONLINE HOURS

Tue-Thu 12PM-9PM Fri-Sat 12PM-10PM

Gochi Japanese Kitchen

14195 W. Colonial Dr., Winter Garden / 407-877-0050 gochijapanesekitchen.com

Since 2007, Gochi Japanese Kitchen has been providing Winter Garden with the highest-quality Japanese favorites. Raw a la carte options like nigiri, sashimi, and rolls, plus uniquely crafted noodles, yakiniku and yakiyasai bbq grill options. Need space for a special event? Ask about our private dining room and catering options!

& HAPPY HOUR SPECIALS

DAILY OPEN-3PM / 3-6PM

The Hangry Bison

250 W Plant St, Winter Garden / 407-347-9099 thehangrybison.com / Reservations Available

The ultimate build-your-own-burger experience has landed in the heart of Winter Garden! The Hangry Bison is known for quality bourbon, craft beer and cocktails, and award-winning bison burgers, but our vast menu of savory appetizers, fresh salads, and hearty handhelds of all kinds has a little something for even the hangriest appetites. Check us out on weekday evenings for discounted selections of drinks and small plates. Your parents did happy hour; we do Hangry Hour!

4–7pm Mon-Thu and 4–6pm Fri.

Naan Stopp Indian Restaurant

5845 Winter Garden Vineland Rd., Windermere / 407-347-5487 naanstopp.com

If you haven’t soaked warm, garlic naan into velvety butter chicken sauce or scooped chana masala with tandoor roti, get ready to be delighted. Fresh, flavorful and well-priced modern Indian cuisine is finally here! This mouthwatering West Orange outpost glimmers with its roster of succulent tandoori, rice dishes, and fragrant curries—a world of vegetarian and non-vegetarian delights, each imbued with vivid seasonings that never lose their spark. You’re sure to be coming back naan-stopp.

Orange Crate Cafe

360 W Plant St, Winter Garden / 407-614-0499 orangecratecafe.com

It isn’t easy to find a menu with something for everyone. But at Orange Crate Cafe, that’s precisely the point. The family-owned, community-focused cafe serves up scratchmade, southern comfort food with a side of Winter Garden nostalgia. Choose from lunchtime staples like fried shrimp po’boys, cranberry-pecan chicken salad, or better-thanmom’s tuna melt. There are diner-style plates of fried catfish, pork chops, country-fried chicken, and chef’s daily specials. Be sure to try the fried green tomatoes, made fresh daily with an addictive housemade ranch, and no matter what, save room for a slice of homemade dessert.

MENU

HOURS

Sun-Wed 11am–10pm Thu-Sat 11am-12am

TRYOURNEW

BISON STRIPLOIN

HOURS Every day 11am-3pm 5pm-10pm

ONE OF 4

ORDER ONLINE HOURS

Tue-Thu 11:30AM-8PM Fri 11:30AM-9PM Sat 12PM-9PM Sun-Mon Closed

DAILY SPECIALS FOR

INFO HOURS

DINNER

Tues-Sat 5PM-9PM

BRUNCH Sat & Sun 11AM-2PM

Market To Table

146 W Plant St, Winter Garden / 407-395-9871 market2table.com / Private Dining Available

JOIN US FOR BRUNCH Weekends 11am–2pm

Nestled in the Heart of Historic Downtown, Market To Table creates Modern American cuisine with classical influences. Chef/Owner Ryan Freelove’s seasonal dinner menu o ers a delightful mix of traditional, yet elevated, dishes, like the Filet Mignon or Braised Short Rib, along with an exciting array of specials. But it’s their new brunch menu that is truly buzzworthy. Come for the humongous Bloody Deluxe, Pork Belly B.L.T., and Steak & Eggs. Stay for the giant Cinnamon Roll and Bread Pudding French Toast. Before you leave, you’ll be making dinner reservations. It’s just that good.

COCKTAILS & SPIRITS

Pilars Martini and Loft

146 W Plant St., Winter Garden / 407-369-8900 pilarsmartini.com

HOURS

Mon-Wed 5PM-12AM

Thu-Fri 5PM-1AM

Sat 11AM-1AM Sun 1PM-9PM

JOIN US FOR THURS 7-10PM FRI+SAT 8-11PM SUN 5-8PM

MUSIC

Pilars brings to life martinis, mixology, music and more. Drop in for our wide selection of beer, wine and spirits, or try one of our specialty mixed cocktails. Pilars is a comfortable blend of ’30s deco décor, surrounded by the arts. Then wander upstairs to enjoy Pilars Loft, equal parts entertainment and inspiration. Because when it comes to putting on a good show on Plant Street, things are looking up.

Pammie’s Sammies

121 S. Boyd St / 407-730-3212 / pammiesammies.com

Feed the Soul. Craft with Love. Serve from the Heart. That’s the record-setting recipe behind Pammie’s Sammies, a fun sandwich space with funk woven into its atmosphere and baked into every dish. Kick your feet up, sing to the music, and talk with your neighbors. With food that is thoughtfully sourced, earth friendly, and tastefully adventurous, our menu is composed of old family recipes alongside new and tasty trends. Each visit delivers something new and di erent on the plate, perfectly paired with great tunes and better conversation among friends.

Poke by Gochi

13770 W. Colonial Dr., Winter Garden / 407-347-5091 pokebygochi.com

Poke (pronounced poh-kay) is the bowl of the moment, and no one does it better than Gochi. This fast casual concept by the owners of Gochi Japanese Kitchen uses all the same, high quality ingredients as its sister location, only in a one-bowl concept. Choose from chef crafted options or customize your own with a variety of colorful sauces, piles of crunchy toppings, and a white rice, brown rice, or lettuce base. Always fresh, always your way.

HOURS

Tue-Thu 11AM-7PM Fri 11AM-8PM Sat 11AM-7PM Sun 11AM-3PM

STK Steakhouse

ORLANDO 1580 Buena Vista Drive / 407-917-7440 stksteakhouse.com/venues/orlando/

STK is “not your daddy’s steakhouse,” o ering a high-energy dining experience combining the superior quality of a traditional steakhouse with a Vibe Dining atmosphere. Delectable cuisine, upscale cocktails, elevated Happy Hour and chic décor along with an in-house DJ, all come together to o er a memorable fine dining experience. The menu features reimagined classic American cuisine for lunch, brunch and dinner — the brand’s beef program focuses on the highest quality craveable steaks while emphasizing transparency and traceable sourcing practices.

ORDER ONLINE HOURS

Mon-Sat 11:30AM-7:30PM

HOURS LUNCH

Mon-Fri 11am-3pm DINNER

Sun-Thu 3pm-10:45pm Fri & Sat 3pm-11:15pm

MIMOSAS

MARYS

WEEKEND BRUNCH

9:30AM-3PM

MENU HOURS

Mon-Fri

Lunch: 11AM-3PM

Dinner: 5PM-9PM

Sat: 11AM-9PM

Sun: 12-8PM

NO.1 BEST THAIRESTAURANT

Thai Blossom

99 W. Plant St. Winter Garden / 407-905-9917 mythaiblossom.com

Fragrant curries and soups, silky noodles, stir fries, and grilled meats, with plenty of options for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free diners, too—Thai Blossom serves some of the most delightful and crave-worthy experiences on Plant Street. Authentic, easy and always cooked to order, it’s the perfect choice for workday lunch, go-to dinner dates, and special celebrations alike. Experience our culinary flavors and your love of Thai will blossom.

Recognized by The Orlando Sentinel and Orlando Magazine for having delicious and A-grade Thai cuisine.

Tres Amigos Grill

HOURS

Mon-Sat 11AM-8PM Sun Closed

1025 S. Dillard St., Winter Garden / 407-614-3975 tresamigosgrill.com

Born in faith, created with love. That’s how John “The Take Home Chef” Kresl built his craveworthy Tres Amigos Salsa brand. And now there’s nothing more satisfying than to pair it with Chef John’s made-fromscratch, Tex-Mex-inspired platters, bowls and tacos. Choose from authentic carnitas, Certified Angus beef skirt steak, wild caught jumbo shrimp, USDA Grade A chicken, or seasoned local vegetables. All served with homemade corn or flour tortillas, pico de gallo, guacamole, black beans and rice. Do yourself a favor and order online—it’s the fastest way to get your fix.

Happy Holiday Season!

Foodie Award Critic’s ChoiceOrlando Sentinel | Orlando Dining Awards- Orlando Magazine

ORLANDO

MULTIPLE YEARS

Rhetoric

Hot Takes

What I gained from losing my cool.

O ctober is kind of a toss-up weather-wise. Some years it’s brisk—chilly even—making for fantastic trick-or-treat weather for everyone who didn’t dress as a sexy potato or whatever. Other years, it stays uncompromisingly hot, and pumpkin spice has to do a lot of heavy lifting to put anyone in an autumn mood.

As you already know, this October was the latter. Woulda been a crazy month to be without air conditioning, wouldn’t it? I mean, could you imagine?

Well now you don’t have to, because I’m here to conrm that it sucks pretty bad.

My system died three days before Ian hit, so I didn’t even bother trying to call anyone for the rst week. Then came the schedule

con icts, the this-is-worsethan-you-thoughts, the SuPpLy ChAiN iSsUeS.

Maybe I’m a little salty. I blame the sweat that now coats my skin and clothing at all times.

But lo and behold, the worst is nally over. Installers from Cloud 9 AC are here setting up a new system (which apparently involves several loud power tools and the use of a blowtorch indoors). All this waiting gives me ample opportunity to re ect.

This issue’s all about gratitude, right? I’m grateful this is gonna be over, for starters. But even during these restless, sticky-hot nights, I can’t say it was all bad.There are things I wouldn’t have tried, things I wouldn’t have come to appreciate, if I was comfortable in my own home and

capable of experiencing joy.

So, from those 23 nights of su ering, here are the good things I learned:

• Floor fans are badass. It has basically kept me alive. I should consider cleaning it.

• Related: if you spray water directly into the fan, it provides full-body cooling for exactly two minutes. They’re beautiful minutes.

• There is one room in your house that’s naturally cooler than the others. It is not a room you can sleep in.

• Cold showers are rad, actually. I’d never taken one before trying it out of desperation. The rst one was amazing; the

second one taught me there is a way to take cold showers wrong.

• It’s OK to need people. My friends and family let me stay with them for a little while, allowing my dog and me to be spared from the hottest nights.

• Hey, if you know your house has no way of cooling down? Don’t use the freaking oven. Idiot.

Addendum: This is post-install Rheya checking in. I can lower the temperature again. I might not be able to stop until icicles start forming. Now I can impart one last lesson: Gratitude is a dish best served cold.

Rheya Tanner muses on life as a local