[DRAFT for Holly to replace or approve] Florida finally turned the thermostat down, Veterans Day gave this porch a quiet minute of gratitude, and one photo of Mike Lee has kept 20,000 neighbors busy all week trying to explain that face. Some weeks the news is big. This week it has a caption contest and a cold front. 🌅 HOLLY’S 7 AM PICKIf I could only line up early for one sale this weekend, it is the Virginia Antique Furniture and Collectibles Estate Sale, Friday through Sunday, 3502 Saddlebrook Way, Lakeland. An entire house of 18th and 19th century Virginia furniture, pottery, lamps and paintings, the kind of estate you walk through slowly because the good pieces are hiding in plain sight. 🗺️ PORCH EXCLUSIVE: THE FULL MAP55 yard, estate, and community sales across Polk County this weekend. The other headliner: Citrus Woods Estates in Lakeland, 30 plus homes selling at once Friday and Saturday 8 AM to 2 PM, 1610 Reynolds Rd, with maps at the entrance. Saturday tops out at 66 degrees with no rain, and Friday and Saturday nights drop to 48, so dress warm for the early rounds. Email subscribers see it first, the group post goes live Friday morning. → See the sales + plan your route 🏛️ STATE OF THE CITY: YOU ASKED, HE ANSWEREDYou sent the questions. Mayor Brian Yates answered neighbors right in our group thread, then gave Around Winter Haven Neighbors a shout out during the State of the City address at the Ritz on November 5. All 12 posts in our You Asked the Mayor series are now live in the group and collected in a group guide with that same name. The short version: growth is slowing from about 6 newcomers a day to about 3.5 to 4, about $187 million of next year’s $377 million budget is infrastructure, mostly water and sewer, two water treatment plants are under construction, and Fire Station 5 opens late December or early January on Haven Hills Blvd. Honest note: a few asks are still open, including Overlook Road potholes, Therapeutic Recreation for special needs adults, and a Parks and Rec callback we are still chasing. We are not dropping those. → Read You Asked the Mayor in the group guide 📅 THIS WEEKENDFri 5:30 to 8:30 PM: Wine, Chocolate and Cheese, 10th Annual, Downtown Winter Haven Historic District, an evening stroll with all three food groups covered. Details Sat 8 to 11 AM: Winter Haven Chain Reaction Lakes Clean Up, 1649 S Lake Shipp Dr, gloves on, lake loved, done before lunch. Details Sat 9 AM to 4 PM: Bartow Chalk Walk, Ft. Blount Park in Bartow, watch sidewalks turn into art all day. Details Sun 10 AM to 2 PM: Paradise Market at Camp Margaritaville Auburndale, a Sunday market with a vacation accent. Details
The full weekend lineup lives on the community calendar. 👏 THE HIGHLIGHT REELThread of the Week: The Face. Mike Lee held still for one photo, and thirteen neighbors have been explaining that face ever since. The Caption This Championship thread is still collecting entries, two tickets are on the table, and the comments, as Wally keeps saying, are forever. That takes the award this week, because nobody in this group can resist a face that cannot keep a secret. → Enter Caption This in the pinned post 🏆 THE PEOPLE HAVE SPOKENMonday’s poll asked for the best bakery Around Winter Haven, and Gourmet Goodies Bake Shop takes the crown at 33 percent, in a real fight: Sugar & Slice and member added Noisette’s Bakeshop tied right behind at 29 percent each. The official crowning lands Monday morning on the Page, right before the Best BBQ fight begins. 🏆 MOST RECOMMENDED THIS WEEKThe crown goes to The Pest Cartel, a Lakeland based pest control and lawn care company run by owner Darryl Turner, serving Winter Haven and Polk County. Neighbors point to the purple truck, the fast callbacks, honest pricing with no upsell, and an owner who explains exactly what he found before he treats it. Mon to Fri 8 AM to 4 PM, (863) 225-2803, pestcartel.com. The Pest Cartel holds the title all week. 🎤️ THE PORCHOn The Front Porch Podcast with Holly and Wally this week, one face does all the work. The Caption This Championship is on, two tickets are on the table, a Veterans Day tribute lands, and the leaders so far include a fiancee who cannot win and a line about lemonade and beer. The episode leaves us with the only question that matters: what is your caption for Mike? 🎧 Listen to the latest episode on the website. (Email can’t play audio, so it links out.) 💬 THE PORCH QUESTIONGourmet Goodies just took Best Bakery, so settle the follow up: what is the ONE thing there that nobody should walk out without? The exact item. Bonus points if it is the one you would drive across town for. Hit reply: best answers make next week’s issue, with your name in lights. 🦊 WALLY’S CORNER[DRAFT for Holly] Wally has studied Mike Lee’s face for a full day and announced he could make that face on purpose.
He tried in the kitchen. He cannot. Nobody can. That is the whole championship.
His official caption entry is still, in his words, in development, which means Lynette is winning. ✨ FIND OF THE WEEKThat lightning shot up top is Rub Bagby’s: one bolt standing over Lake Dexter at dusk, purple sky, black water, a bright crack of Florida showing off. You do not plan a shot like that. You are just lucky and ready. Photo by Rub Bagby. Member photos open this letter most weeks, reply with yours and you might lead the next one. See you out there, neighbors. I will be the one in a jacket at 7 AM, coffee in hand, pretending 48 degrees is a personal insult.
Holly P.S. Know about a sale I missed? Hit reply, reader tips are how this gets better every week. 💖 Know a neighbor who’d love the Porch? Forward this email, that’s how we grow. |
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