published: Friday, November 20, 2009

Remember When

Ann Dupee

Correspondent

20 Years Ago - 1989

A smiling winemaker gave his Happy Dollar at South Lake (Breakfast) Kiwanis Club. Lakeridge Winery's General Manager, Keith Mullins, was pictured with two bunches of grapes from the winery's first harvest. Lakeridge is located several miles north of Clermont on U.S. 27.

-- A highlight of the annual July 4th celebration sponsored by the Groveland/Mascotte Chamber of Commerce and Groveland Kiwanis Club is the Miss Groveland Pageant. Winners were Becky Judy, Miss Groveland, sponsored by Brannon's Food Center; Dana Coppage, 1st runner-up, sponsored by Tom and Jerry's and Denise Story, 2nd runner-up, sponsored by Standard Auto Parts. Miss Judy was crowned by 1988 Miss Groveland, Hillary Spooner. Pageant director was Cindy Drawdy.

Julie Eley won the Junior Miss Groveland Pageant; Candi Clark, 1st runner-up; Ryan Spooner, 2nd runner up; Reba Peterson, Miss Congeniality. Jamie Riffle directed the pageant; judges were Linda Watts, Clara Foley and Ed Longhorne.

-- Meet Pam and Mark McLin, new owners of Market Basket, IGA, the fairly new 22,000 square foot grocery story in Emerald Lakes Plaza on SR 50 west. Mark and Pam purchased the business from Bob and Fran Duncan.

-- Miriam Johnson of Clermont was installed to serve another year as President of the Lake County Historical Society. Other board members from South Lake are Joe Austin, District 2 (Groveland) and Richard Stokes, Minneola, member at large.

-- South Lake Realtors hosted 90 members of the Lake County Board of Realtors at the Mission Inn. Clermont's Kathy Parsell of Par 3 Realty was the lucky winner of a color TV given by the Daily Commercial.

-- The Lake Minnehaha home of Ben and Micki Blackburn was the setting of the 1959 Groveland High School Class Reunion. Attending were Raleigh Bridges, Micki Langley Blackburn, Linda Duvall Cooper, Linda Hyatt McCall, Sara Booth Brown, Marilee Kuykendall, Karen Hart Addison, Doris Eubanks Hyatt, Tim Bickford, Jerry Godwin, Jean Patterson Higdon, Jerry Moulton, Barbara Harnage Glover, Marilyn Stanfield, William Lee, Perry Kelly, Floyd Okerlind, Ernie Coppage, Louis Gano, Lowell Rozar, Billy McMurphy, Doc Glass, Wilbur Higdon, Wendell Bridges, Jim Williams and Clyde Drawdy.

-- Football team members of GHS 1958 championship season were Perry Kelly, Floyd Okerlind, Lowell Rozar, Louis Gano, Raleigh Bridges, Doc Glass, Ernie Coppage, Wendell Bridges, Billy McMurphy, Tim Bickford and Jerry Godwin. Cheerleaders were Lynda Gilliard McMurphy, Micki Blackburn, Marilyn Stanfield, Sandy Griggs, Lynda Duvall Cooper, Annette Thomas Shauk and Faye Glass Boswell.

The Class of '59 was happy to see special friends from the classes of '57, '58, '60 and '61, including Bob Hanks, Nita Hendrix, Lynda McMurphy, Faye Boswell, Joyce Amons, Eloise Johns and "Spikey" Johns, Sandy Griggs, Annette Thomas, Dot Wambles Campbell, Marilyn Kimbrough Langley, Floyd Baker, John Darrow, Vernell Lee, Wanda Padgett and Janie and Bill Wilkins.

40 Years Ago - 1969

-- A picture ran of 10-year-old Tim Vander Meer holding a 9-1/2 pound large-mouth bass he caught in Lake Minnehaha. He was riding his bike on Lake Shore Drive when he saw the fish swimming in shallow water. He ran down and grabbed a board but the fish swam away.

Tim stood still and waited and the fish swam back to the shoreline. Tim beat it over the head with the board. It took Tim and his friend, Bradley Craven, to carry it to the home of his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Jay Vander Meer.

-- Coaches for Clermont High School athletics for the 1968/69 school team were Jerry Posey, assistant football, junior high basketball and head track coach; Jack Gaines, assistant football and head baseball coach; Tom Perrin, athletic director and head football coach; Ed Barton, head basketball and assistant football coach and David Black, assistant football and basketball coach and head golf coach.

CHS varsity cheerleaders are Debbie Lucas, co-captain; Charlene Haines, captain; Jamie Anderson, Gail Creech, Sharon Haines, Carmon Schoolcraft, Nancy Bowen and Karen Lucas.

Officers and members of the Highlander Booster Club met to view and consider plans for a visitor's stand to be built this year. Attending were Claude Teachout, Gene Cantwell, Dallas Adams, Ralph Dykehouse, Charlie Johns, Oakley Seaver, Bob Ainsworth, Bill Boyd, Tom Perin, Bill Plummer, Tom Vinson and Albert Johnson.

CHS lunchroom manager Mrs. Kitty McCain invites students, teachers and visitors to come and have lunch in the lunchroom before passing judgment on the food. Only people buying plate lunches may take advantage of extra food. Luncheon price is 50 cents for adults and 40 cents for students.

-- An aerial picture taken by Florida Power employee Don Thomas of Clermont showed current development at Walt Disney World. Work being done is grading and building canals and waterways on the 27,400-acre site. Twenty miles of the 40-mile canal system are either completed or under construction. There is a 25-acre experimental station where Disney gardeners test scores of trees and plants for adaptability to Florida's soil and climate.

-- Mrs. Louise Cunningham of Clermont has purchased the Hilltop Book Nook at 779 Montrose St. from Gerald Egan.