A Big Move to a Suburb Named for the Man Who Made Frozen Orange Juice Drinkable By David E. Hubler
When he was quizzed by his hosts at dinner why he had “come so far” from New York City to a small college town in the Pacific Northwest, Sy Levin, a man with a past in Bernard Malamud’s novel “A New Life” says, “When the offer came, I was ready to go.” “What’s there to say that hasn’t been said?” Sy adds. “One always hopes that a new place will inspire change – in one’s life.” We had been thinking half-seriously for several months about making the move – to Florida not to the Pacific Northwest. Our primary question was Florida’s East Coast or West Coast? We were far more familiar with the former, having visited the latter only once years earlier. Although we’d been in our Northern Virginia home for 45 years, staying there was not really an option once my editor’s job at an allonline university was abolished. My wife, Becky, planned to continue her career as a professional interior designer once we were settled in our new address, working with new clients as well as with some she was still involved with in the D.C. metro area. Besides, the notion of a new, warmer life sounded so appealing. Like Sy, we were ready to go. To reconnoiter the Sunshine State, Becky put her car on the Auto Train and after an overnight rail trip, she was off on her expedition. A week later, when she boarded the train for her return trip home, she had narrowed the search neither to East nor West Coast, but in a Solomon-like choice she opted for Central Florida with Orlando as its hub. Becky’s second visit a month or so later ended with the purchase of our new home. The endeavor, aided by a real estate agent
friend of our son’s, established us in a bountiful, lakeside suburb of homes, shops and a plethora of ethnic restaurants known simply as Dr. Phillips. Philip Phillips was an early 20th century entrepreneur who owned thousands of acres of citrus trees around Orlando that made him a very wealthy man and a major funding source for many charitable organizations and cultural entities across the middle of the state. At their peak, Phillips’ groves stretched over 18 square miles of aptly named Orange County. As a result, just about everything in the area today, from the elementary school to the high school to the boulevard and the local hospital, as well as many private businesses and amenities bears his name, including the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts. (According to the Florida Citrus Hall of Fame, “From 1929 to 1931, Phillips directed a project designed to improve the taste of orange juice in a can.” He developed a “flash” pasteurization process which greatly enhances the taste of orange juice. Without the aid of TV or social media, “Phillips
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