Okeechobee The Magazine Nov/Dec 2015

Marine Comes Home to

Finish Mission

Raulerson Hospital offers 24/7 emergency care for

adults — and kids too. We’re here for your emergencies:

big or small. We always have an ER physician on-site

and we’re equipped with Okeechobee’s only MRI and

CT scanner.

We’re also 1 of 147 hospitals nationwide to be recognized

by The Joint Commission as a Top Performer on Key

Quality Measures, including Heart Attack, Heart Failure,

Pneumonia and Surgical Care, for four years in a row!

Some of our surgical services include total joint

replacements, as well as minimally invasive procedures

for a faster recovery.

OUR ER TREATS KIDS TOO!

TRUST US TO HAVE WHAT YOU NEED IN AN EMERGENCY.

YOU know where to go.

WE take care of the rest.

The Treasure Coast Healthcare System brings together hospitals — Lawnwood Regional Medical Center & Heart Institute, Raulerson Hospital and St. Lucie Medical Center — and physician practices to offer quality healthcare to our community.

Call Consult-A-Nurse® at 763.9228 to: Speak to a registered nurse Find a physician Register for a hospital class or event Learn more about our services

RaulersonHospital.com

We Accept and Bill Most Major Insurance,Medicaid, Medicare &

BlueCross Blue Shield Healthy Kids

(863) 763-3937

606 North Parrott Ave Okeechobee 863-763-3937 Visit : www.biglakeeyecare.com

Dr. Charles W. BartelsBoard Certi�ed Optometric Physician

As the year comes to a close and the season of giving is in the air, we dedicate this issue to those who give more than anyone else, the brave men and women

of our armed forces, veterans, active duty members and those who have made the ultimate sacrifice, because without them we would not be celebrating these holidays in peace and freedom with our families and friends.

1st Lt. Robert “Bobby” Keefe Jr. and Staff Sgt. Patricia “ Trish” Yount both served our nation overseas and then returned to Okeechobee to continue that service — giving back to their

community and helping their fellow veterans in any way they can.

Service and leadership start early in life. JROTC member Diana Ordoñez is a perfect example, as she came to the United States and overcame many struggles to achieve the American Dream and now excels in the JROTC program. Special to Okeechobee The Magazine, Judge Jerry Bryant, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran, shares with us his love for our country and respect of our flag.

Along with our many service men and women, there are several organizations that endlessly devote their time and efforts to helping those in need of a little assistance. An organization that is constantly growing and trying to give back is the Treasure Coast Food Bank. Many Okeechobee residents would go hungry without the efforts of the Treasure Coast Food Bank and its partnership with our local citizens and organizations. Learn about their programs and how by working together we can help relieve hunger in our community.

So as we move into the new year, Okeechobee The Magazine salutes and honors all of our veterans and active soldiers, and we look forward to sharing many more of their stories and yours, because after all it is Okeechobee The Magazine — your magazine.

May peace and joy surround your hearts and homes. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all.

PublisherSusan Giddings

Creative DirectorLorraine Vogel

Graphic DesignerValerie Wegener

EditorChris Felker

Writers Rachel Buxton

Raye DeusingerJann Seal

Cover/Feature PhotographerSandra Pearce

PhotographersGary Burks

Jane Kaufman

ContributorsJudge Jerry Bryant Maureen Burroughs

Rick ChartierCharles Murphy

Betty Chandler Williamson

Account ExecutivesDonna GaiserTrish Grygo

Office ManagerPatti Berglund

Okeechobee The Magazine, is published bi-monthly in Okeechobee, Florida. Copyright 2015, all rights reserved by OTM Publications, Inc. Contents may not be reproduced in any form with-out the written consent of the publisher. The publisher reserves the right to refuse advertising. The publisher accepts no respon-sibility for advertisement errors beyond the cost of the space occu-pied by the error within the advertisement itself. The publisher accepts no responsibility for submitted materials. All submitted materials subject to editing.

OTM Publications, Inc.DBA Okeechobee The Magazine

316 N.W. Fifth StreetOkeechobee, FL 34972Phone: (863) 467-0054

www.OkeechobeeTheMagazine.comPresident

Susan GiddingsFounder

Maureen Budjinski

Volume 9, Number 5│November/December 2015

Susan Giddings

Publisher’s Note

4 | November/December 2015 OKEECHOBEE THE MAGAZINE

Better Care...for a Better Community

Heartland Discount PharmacyFull Service Retail Pharmacy

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We should be proud and thankful for those who serve, for it’s our freedom that they preserve.We live in the land of the free, home of the brave, where we can proudly watch our beautiful flag wave.For our people who have bravely fought to defend our land, we salute you for your values and for taking a stand.None of us would have the freedoms that we do, if not for the ones that defend our red, white and blue. – By Patti Berglund

SurgiCARES Financing

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Operated by United Surgical Partners, a division of Tenet Healthcare.

64


Cover photo by Sandra Pearce.

Departments:Looking Back .................................42By Betty Chandler Williamson

Okeechobee Youth: ........................94 Diana OrdoñezBy Raye Deusinger

Behind the Business:Custom Window Treatments ........104OK Corral Gun Club .....................108In The Kitchen With:Joy Jarriel .....................................114By Rachel Buxton

Community Events: Adam Bryant Minimal Regatta ..16B.R.A.T. Rodeo ...............................20Labor Day Parade & Festival .........24CASTLE Memory Field Ceremony ..38Achieving Excellence Luncheon ....60Heritage Festival.............................76Pregnancy Center Gala ..................78Bowl for Kids' Sake ........................82Business of the Year Luncheon .....86Boots & Pearls Gala .......................90

Columns:OHS Sports: Nathanael Bean ......112My Country. My Flag. ...................116Tech Support ................................118

Around Okeechobee ...................120Advertiser Index ..........................122

Like Us on Facebook. Look for the video and camera icons, then visit www.OkeechobeeTheMagazine.com to view videos and additional photos!

16 50

November/December 2015nside this issueI

94

26

Features:Marine Comes Home to Finish Mission.................................26By Rachel Buxton

VFW Post CommanderTrish Yount ......................................50By Raye Deusinger

Treasure Coast Food Bank ............64By Jann Seal

We LOVE to CARE!

From Our Family to Yours

Have a Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year

Becky, Linda Faye, Faye, Jennifer, and Sandy

Okeechobee Health Care FacilityRehab Care • Long Term Care • Memory Care

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HAVE A HAPPY HOLIDAY AND A JOYOUS NEW YEAR!

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Okeechobee the Magazine December 2016.indd 1 11/9/2015 4:57:05 PM

www.OkeechobeeTheMagazine.com November/December 2015 | 1716 | November/December 2015 OKEECHOBEE THE MAGAZINE

Community Event Photos by Jane Kaufman, Susan Giddings and Sandra PearceCommunity Event

For additional photos visit www.okeechobeethemagazine.com.

James Albertin, returning champion in the hot dog-eating contest, 19 and older division.

ADAM Bryant Regatta

Contestants Delight CrowdsThe fifth annual Adam Bryant Minimal Regatta took place Saturday, Oct. 3, at C. Scott Driver Park. The main event, an array of homemade boats paddled mightily by captains of all ages, was received with delight from the crowds on the shoreline. Contestants rowed for a chance at winning their division’s race, with the victors receiving plaques for their achievement. Proceeds from the yearly regatta provide scholarships to firefighter and EMT school in memory of Adam Bryant.

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Wishing you a Joyful Christmas Season!

www.OkeechobeeTheMagazine.com November/December 2015 | 21

Miss Okeechobee County Fair Jacie Harvey and Miss Okeechobee Cattlemen’s Sweetheart Payton Byrd with B.R.A.T. Club members Matt Buxton, Teresa Bishop, Tony Bishop and Frank DeCarlo.


Community Event Photos by Jane Kaufman

From left, Emma Miners, Tiffany McGee, Tracy McGee and Aubrie Miners.

Maryah and Mia Beaty.

Carson Watford and Chuter Carter.

Participants line up for prayer at the start of the event.

Miss Rodeo Okeechobee Tihler Browning and Miss Teen Rodeo Okeechobee Caitlyn Albers.

Saddle Bronc competition.

Team Roping competition.


Not even a drenching summer storm could keep the people of Okeechobee from enjoying the holiday weekend festivities when the B.R.A.T. Club of Okeechobee hosted their premiere Labor Day Ranch Rodeo. From the youngest of horseback riders in attendance to the most seasoned of ranch hands, the event, which was Saturday, Sept. 5, at the Agri-Civic Center, delighted the crowds with displays of ranch life.

B.R.A.T. Throws a Rodeo, and the Whole Town Comes Out

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It’s time for Syfrett EP CUBESTM! Fall is here with winter on it’s heels! As our grass and pas-tures in S. Central Florida have lost their nutritive value, our cattle need supplements. Syfrett EP Cubestm will provide your animals with the necessary protein and energy to maintain body and breed back conditioning. So protect your investment and drive into The Feederytm. Syfrett EP Cubestm are available in 50 lb bags or bulk. Simply bring your own container [any size], drive up and be well taken care of by Jose and Arturo. If you don’t have a container or need more, we carry barrels w/lids [up to 300 lbs], sacks [up to 100 lbs], or super sacks [up to 2000 lbs]. We invite you to experience superior nutrition, unsurpassed support and competitive pricing 6 days a week!

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Okeechobee Storm Cheer Squad.


Photos by Jane Kaufman and Susan GiddingsCommunity Event


With Okeechobee Main Street’s Labor Day Fes-tival creating a hubbub of excitement in Flagler Park, which was brimming with snacks, craft and activity booths, and performers, hundreds of families lined the sun-brightened streets of the city Monday, Sept. 7, for the annual B.R.A.T. Club Labor Day Parade. Local beauty queens, decked out in their finest parade attire, filled the traditional route along with perfor-mances by competitive cheer teams, and middle and high school marching bands.

Okeechobee Main Street and B.R.A.T. Club Host Labor Day Festivities Liam Hinton.

Mz Centennial – Jim Clark.

Junior Miss Florida Seminole Skyla Osceola.

Magi Cable and Jeanne Enfinger.

Toddler Miss Firecracker Queen, Emalee Hunter.

Sandy Perry rides with the Sheriff’s Mounted Posse. Nico Martinez and LaCarvis Kelly. Emily Campbell and Destiny Spicer.

Elijah, Kalynn and Kelly Galletto.

From left: Kelly Owens, Raye Deusinger, Sherriff Paul May and Delores May.

Dillon and Daniel Nutter.

Ashley Smith and Angelica Salmeron.


1st Lt. Robert M. Keefe Jr. returned to Okeechobee after an IED severely injured him in Afghanistan and found his high school sweetheart

— as well as a new mission, one of service — awaiting him.

By Rachel Buxton Photos by Sandra Pearce

Small-town boy falls in love with girl, loses girl, goes off to war, finds girl again and lives happily ever after. Sounds just like the plot of a Nicholas Sparks book. But for Robert “Bobby” Keefe Jr. this plot is reality, and it didn’t exactly happen that easily or quickly. Not to mention, he still has many chapters to add to his book called life.

Bobby’s beginning chapters started off like those of so many others from Okeechobee. Born and raised here, grad-uated from Okeechobee High School and fell in love fast with his high school sweetheart. But that’s where the simi-larities end. His love story is unlike any other, as well as the rest of his young 37 years.

“God takes you to where you are sup-posed to be,” Bobby said.

And God has definitely done just that to Bobby, starting with his high school job. If it wasn’t for him spending his afternoons and evenings working in the produce section at the old U-Save, Bobby may never have gotten to know his now wife, Bianca.

“I always stared at her from produce,” Bobby said, smiling. “She was a cashier there, and I used to buy bubble gum just to talk to her.”

After several failed attempts at asking her out, Bianca finally said yes. The two enjoyed a whirlwind romance, falling in love very quickly. Bobby had just gradu-ated high school, while Bianca still had another year to go.

After summer ended, Bobby kissed Bianca goodbye and headed to Macon,

Ga., to attend Mercer University. The transition proved to be difficult, however.

“It was exactly 450 miles from my dorm room to Bianca’s doorstep,” he said.

His heart couldn’t take the distance, so during spring break Bobby packed up all his things and never returned. He and Bianca had big plans to get married and start a family after she graduated; unfor-tunately, it didn’t work out as planned. Bobby and Bianca ended up parting ways but not because of lack of feelings.

“I hurt for a while,” Bobby said. “I was so in love with Bianca, so in love.”

The next several years, Bobby tried to make some sort of meaning out of life. He went back to school and, when that didn’t work out, moved to Massachusetts

Marine Comes Home

Finish MissionOOO TO OOO

‘He's an outstanding Marine and a true leader.’– Howard Golin, director of Wounded Warriors of South Florida


for a job his uncle had for him. But even then he felt like something was missing.

“I had a great job but I still had a void,” he said. “There was still something I wanted.”

Then one day, Bobby made a move that would change his life forever.

“I sat at my computer, typed in Marines, filled out the contact form, and a recruiter called me that night,” Bobby recalled.

Having kept in touch, Bianca begged Bobby to reconsider, but he knew this was what he wanted. He needed a purpose, and the Marines gave that to him. And on Feb. 26, 2001, Bobby joined the U.S. Marine Corps, heading to Parris Island for basic training.

Over the next several years, Bobby made a life and career of being a Marine. He completed several Military Occupation-al Specialty training courses and even extended his training to become a re-

connaissance marine. It was during his RECON training that 9/11 happened.

“We were told, ‘Your lives have just changed forever,’” he said. “I knew I needed to train as hard as I could, to be as proficient as I could for what might come after training.”

Bobby wasn’t afraid of going to war. In fact, he believed it was something he needed to do to fulfill his military duty. His father, Robert Keefe Sr., is a Vietnam

veteran, and Bobby always had the utmost respect for his father and what he had done and sacrificed for his country. But after 9/11, Bobby wasn’t sent to war; he was assigned to the 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion in Okinawa, Japan.

Before heading off to Japan for almost seven years, Bobby made a trip back home to Okeechobee, where he ran into Bianca. It was as if no time had passed. The two were still very much in love.

“I owe a big thanks to her mother,” Bobby said. “She always kept me fresh in Bianca’s mind.”

It was on Christmas night that Bobby asked Bianca to go to Japan with him. Bianca spent the evening making her decision and awaiting Bobby’s return the next morning to tell him yes. Bobby, however, overslept — sending mixed signals to Bianca. Before they had a chance to speak, Bianca was on a plane to New York to visit a friend. That would be the last time they would see each other for nine years, but little did they know how the next nine years of each of their lives would in fact mirror the other’s, keeping them very much connected.

Emails were sent occasionally. They discovered that they both had gotten married and even had children born within days of

‘I wanted to do 20 years. I wanted to retire in the Marines.’– Bobby Keefe Jr.


each other. While in Japan, Bobby earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology and made the decision to become an officer.

“I wanted to do 20 years,” he said. “I wanted to retire in the Marines.”

Bobby recalled saying to the parents. “That was my personal mission.”

Bobby kept that promise, with all his men returning home safely. However, Bobby’s safe return almost didn’t happen. While in Afghanistan, he survived five separate Improvised Explosive Device explosions.

The first four, he suffered various degrees of concussions, but the fifth and final one had his name on it.

“December 16, 2010 was my lucky day,” he said. “I remember the blast, I remember hitting my head on the roof of the truck. It squashed my spine like an accordion and crunched my neck.”

Bobby had been taking part in a two-day offload in one of the most dangerous areas. The convoy consisted of almost 180 trucks. Bobby was in vehicle 63, meaning 62 other vehicles had previously driven over that same exact spot where the IED went off.

Bobby was flown to a hospital where he recovered. At the time, his major injuries were overlooked so he was released back to his unit. Unable to participate in any more missions due to pain, Bobby used his downtime to connect with friends back home, including Bianca. It was then that they found out just how connected they still were.

Bianca shared with Bobby how on the day of his accident she awoke abruptly from a dream about him. She was in excruciating pain. Immediately she knew her dream was real.

Bobby returned to the States Feb. 6, 2011, where the extent of his injuries was discovered. He had suffered a T12/L1 vertebrae compression fracture, deeming him unfit for military duty. He was pre-sented with the Purple Heart and the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal for his service, and on Nov. 29, 2012, 1st Lt. Robert M. Keefe Jr. was

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Little Help From My Friends

After returning home from Japan, Bobby completed The Basic School and became a logistics officer assigned to Combat Logistics Battalion 2. CLB2 had orders to deploy to Afghanistan. Bobby was heading to combat.

In Afghanistan, Bobby served as a platoon commander. Prior to deployment, Bobby made a promise to the parents of the young men in his platoon.

“I’m going to bring your kids home alive,”

Bianca, Zane, Ricky, Leah, Bobby and Rocky.

‘I owe a big thanks to her mother. She always kept me fresh in Bianca’s mind.’

– Bobby Keefe Jr.


medically discharged.

Prior to his discharge, Bobby and Bianca had reunited after comforting each other as they both went through difficult di-vorces. Bobby saw Bianca for the first time in nine years in November 2011.

“I went by her house to see her,” he said. “She said ‘Don’t go, kiss me.’ I had to oblige, and that one kiss brought me back.”

Following that kiss they have been to-gether ever since. On June 23, 2012, Bobby proposed to Bianca. He planned a special evening with fireworks to be set off when he got down on one knee, only they failed to go off. Disappointed, Bobby began walking until Bianca stopped him and pulled him in close for a kiss.

“As soon as our lips touched, the fire-works went off,” Bobby recalled.

Today they are a blended family with three children, Zane and Leah, 11, and Ricky, 5.

Another connection Bobby and Bianca discovered after marriage is that they both had a similar desire to open a wellness center. With Bianca being a massage ther-apist and Bobby having studied psychol-ogy, they instantly knew they had to do it. They started learning everything they could about starting a business. They worked with John Gurney, who was the business assistance committee chairman for the Chamber of Commerce at the time.

“I was instantly drawn to Bobby and Bianca because of their outgoing de-meanor, obvious love for one another and a strong desire to create a business they could both share,” Gurney said. “Bobby’s drive to succeed in the business was evident, but he also wanted to do good things for the community … ”

Together, they developed a business

Bobby, R. Lee Ermy, also known as “Gunny”, Bianca, Leah and Ricky after the Designing Spaces Military Makeover.

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plan, and it eventually evolved into The Lounge at Sacred Sanctuary, a wellness center that offers massages, life coaching and alternative health options, such as Reiki. They opened their doors Oct. 15, 2014, and haven’t looked back.

Bobby, unfortunately, didn’t get to retire in the Marines as he had wanted; however, he continues to serve in other ways. He has worked for the Depart-ment of Veterans Affairs, helping other veterans receive their benefits, and he is also a Veteran to Veteran volunteer at the Hospice of Okeechobee, where he visits with other local veterans.

“He's always positive thinking, wanting to help other veterans and his commu-nity,” said Howard Golin, executive di-rector of Wounded Warriors of South Florida. “He's an outstanding Marine and a true leader.”

And that’s exactly why, when Golin was asked by the producers of the TV show Designing Spaces for the name of a disabled veteran deserving of a home makeover, he recommended Bobby.

“He never asked for help unless he was desperate; too proud,” said Golin.

In March, R. Lee Ermy, better known as the “Gunny”, hosted the four-part TV series Designing Spaces of Hope — Military Makeover, where several Okeechobee businesses and individuals

‘Bobby’s drive to succeed in the business

was evident, but he also wanted to do

good things for the community …’

– John Gurney, local chamber member who assisted Keefe in

establishing The Lounge at Sacred Sanctuary

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came out to help renovate Bobby and Bianca’s house, giving them a chance to be on the much-deserved receiving end.

“I was very humbled,”

“I didn’t really feel like I deserved this.”

– Bobby Keefe Jr.

Today, Bobby only continues to reinforce just why he did deserve that home make-over. His most recent venture has been starting The Warrior Center, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the support and advocacy of our local warriors: veterans, law enforcement, firefighters and first responders. The Warrior Center offers a safe, non-judgmental place for those public safety workers to go and talk and find resources to help them with anything they may be going through.

“I can’t leave these fellow warriors out; they need resources, too,” Bobby said about including first responders. “I wanted to put something together where I can share something I have.”

Bobby is excited to see what will come of The Warrior Center. In the meantime, he will continue his Nicholas Sparks romance with Bianca and will continue being a Marine, maybe not a Marine who’s able to fight but a Marine who’s watching out for his fellow man and community.

Designing Spaces Military Makeover – Backyard renovation in progress.

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excluding HI. Visit www.suzukicycles.com/offers to see which select models qualify for customer cash. Offer effective from a participating authorized Suzuki dealer between 9/1/15 and 11/30/15.

DEALER INFO * As low as 0% APR financing for 60 months on select new and unregistered model is available through Synchrony Financial. Program minimum amount financed is $5,000 and up to 10% minimum down payment required. Not all buyers will

qualify. Approval, and any rates and terms provided, are based on credit worthiness. Other financing offers are available. $16.67 per $1,000 financed monthly payments required over a 60 month term at a 0% rate. Financing promotions void where prohibited. See your local Suzuki dealer for details. Visit www.suzukicycles.com/offers to see which select models qualify for 0% APR for 60 months. Offer effective from a participating authorized Suzuki dealer between 9/1/15 and 11/30/15.

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38 | November/December 2015 OKEECHOBEE THE MAGAZINE38 | November/December 2015 OKEECHOBEE THE MAGAZINE

Community Event Photos by Susan Giddings

Memory Field sponsors, staff and board members (from left): Greg Thogersen, Jon Geitner, Justin Domer, Dowling Watford, Tina Clemons, J.D. Mixon, Justin Morgan, Stanley Silver, Malissa Morgan, Kelly Owens, Bob Owens and Theresa Garbarino-May. Sponsors not pictured: Florida Community Health Centers; State Sen. Denise Grimsley; Hoskins, Turco & Lloyd; Jill Holcomb; Larson Dairy; OK Corral Gun Club; Platinum Performance Group; and Mike and Sharon Wallace.

Justin Domer, Sharon Vinson and Michelle Ritter stand before the flags they placed.

From left: Foundation Board President Greg Thogersen, sponsor Jon Geitner (Seacoast Bank), board member Dowling Watford and Governing Board President Stanley Silver.

SAVE THE DATESAVE THE DATE

Clays for CASTLE

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Preventing Child Abuse and Neglect Through Education and Awareness

To learn about our programs or to make a donation visit www.castletc.org or call 863.467.7771

High Hopes Families FirstSafe FamiliesPostive Parenting Strengthening Families

1835 HIGHWAY 441 SE OKEECHOBEECASTLE sincerely thanks Greg Thorgersen for sponsoring the cost of this ad

Greg ThogersenFoundation President

Kelly OwensCommunity Relations

Dowling WatfordGoverning Board

The OHS JROTC Color Guard.

Castle’s Solemn Flag Ceremony

Honors Children’s Memories

On Tuesday, Sept. 8, Castle held its annual Memory Field Ceremony at City Hall Park to pay tribute to the 129 children who died this past year from child abuse. Castle’s mission is to prevent child abuse and neglect through education and awareness. Castle will host a clay shoot fundraiser on May 14 at the OK Corral Gun Club. For more information about Castle contact Kelly Owens at [email protected].


42 | November/December 2015 OKEECHOBEE THE MAGAZINE www.OkeechobeeTheMagazine.com November/December 2015 | 43www.OkeechobeeTheMagazine.com November/December 2015 | 4342 | November/December 2015 OKEECHOBEE THE MAGAZINE

Looking Back Fourth in a series

A great variety of women blazed trails into

leadership positions in Okeechobee County, paths that contemporary

women are following to this day.

ofFirst Ladies Okeechobee

By Betty Chandler Williamson

Shirley Hamilton BrennanBorn in 1955 in the state of New York, Shirley Hamilton Brennan was the first female county judge of Okeechobee. She received a degree in criminal justice from Florida Atlantic University in 1977 and graduated from the Nova Law School in 1980. She was elected Okeechobee County judge in 1995 and served until 2006. Judge Brennan and her husband, Dr. Patrick Brennan, an optometrist, have four children, Kelly, Kevin, Christine and J.P. Jr. Judge Brennan is retired and resides in the Carolinas; she enjoys being with her children and grandchildren as much as possible.

Shirley Hamilton Brennan

Constance (Connie) Finger Walker Born in 1918 in Williston, Fla., Constance (Connie) Finger Walker was the first female commercial subjects instructor at OHS and the earliest woman pilot I have discovered, with close ties to Okeechobee. Her parents were Mr. and Mrs. Grover Cleveland Finger, and she had two brothers and one sister. Constance was born in 1918 as World War I was about to end. She attended school here in the seventh, eighth and ninth grades and became a member of the First Baptist Church in 1933. Her family later moved to Collier County, and she and her siblings went to school in Fort Myers. Connie attended Lenoir Rhyne College in Hickory, N.C. on a working scholarship and received her degree in secondary education and business adminis-tration in 1940. During her senior year our government was preparing for World War II and a program was offered called Civilian Pilot Training. The students who successfully completed the course got four hours college credit. She received a scholarship to this class and became the only girl with 19 boys. Her pilot's license

was received with her college diploma. She did her practice teaching at her alma mater and was offered a teaching position there but chose to return to Florida. Since there was not an opening in the Collier County School system, she accepted the job of teaching commercial subjects in Okeechobee. Miss Finger renewed her former friendships, especially one with Enoch Walker, who had been her “feller” in the lower grades. Due to her pilot’s training, she was called into the Woman’s Air Force where she ferried planes from factory to training fields in early 1943. She became a civilian at Christmas 1943, and she and Enoch married in 1944. Connie became a Navy wife and was able to be with him as he had duty in Staten Island, N.Y., and then New London, Conn., and on to Key West on Christmas Day 1946. They had two daughters who were born there, Rita Ann and Sue Ellen. I was fortunate to meet this lady late in her life; she was joyous, active and still driving. Other known female commercial teachers of OHS have been the following; Mary Raiford Bass and Mary Lena Watford, both graduates of OHS, and Nellie Wilkins in 1950-51.

Betty Evans Bast Born in 1933 in Fort Lauderdale, Betty Evans Bast was the first female bailiff in Okeechobee, also in the 19th Judicial Circuit. She joined the Okeechobee County Sheriff's Department in 1984. Upon retirement in 2013, she had the distinction of serving the longest of any full-time female bailiff in Florida. Bast, as a member of the local genealogy society, completed Book I of the marriage licenses that have been issued in the county, beginning with 1917 through 1927. Book II goes from 1927 until 1937, and these records were copied by Betty Chandler Williamson. Hopefully, other marriage licenses will be recorded for the public at another time. Bast is now retired and a widow to husband Weston “Butch” Bast. The couple had three sons, Michael, Terry and Timothy. They also have six grandchildren and six great grandchildren.

Betty Evans Bast

Constance (Connie) F inger Walker

Marie Yvette Janiewski Born in 1949 to Andrew V. and Yvette Mercier Janiewski in Oneida, N.Y., Marie Yvette Janiewski is the first female to attend Okeechobee High School and become a lawyer and an appellate judge. Her family moved to Okeechobee shortly before she entered the first grade. Marie attended OHS and was able to skip the 12th grade and go directly to Indian River Community College due to early admis-sion/dual enrollment. She transferred to Florida State University where she received her bachelor’s degree in 1969 and her master's in social work in 1972. Marie received her Jurist Doctor degree from the Florida State Law School in 1976. Immediately she went to work for the Jacksonville Area Legal Aid. In 1980 she had the opportunity to move to Los Angeles to work at a “think tank” for legal services attorneys, the National Senior Citizens Law Center. She has two sisters, Delores, who is an associate professor of U.S. history at Victoria of Wellington, New Zealand. Her youngest sister, Margaret (Magi) Cable, a retired schoolteacher of the Okeechobee County School District, currently is an adjunct lab instructor at Indian River State College, located at the Dixon Hendry Campus. Residing in Davis, Calif., Marie is married to Bob Bockwinkel and has a daughter, Julia, who is in her second year of teaching French at Elk Grove High School in Elk Grove, Calif. A list of some of her other accomplishments: member of the California State Bar and retired member of the Florida State Bar; directing attorney, Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles, 1982-84; general counsel, Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles, 1984-January 1990; attorney, Dependency Court Legal Services in Sacramento, June 1990-January 1992; appointed administrative law judge I for the Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board, Jan. 27, 1992, until 2010, when she was appointed to the Appellate Operations Court for the State of California. Marie retired in December 2014.

Marie Y vette Janiewski

44 | November/December 2015 OKEECHOBEE THE MAGAZINE www.OkeechobeeTheMagazine.com November/December 2015 | 4544 | November/December 2015 OKEECHOBEE THE MAGAZINE www.OkeechobeeTheMagazine.com November/December 2015 | 45

Sharon Sills Ming Covey Born in 1964, Sharon Sills Ming Covey is the first known female stockbroker to graduate from Okeechobee High School. She's a fourth-generation Okeechobee native, daughter of Henry and Sondra Belk Sills and sister to one brother, Glen. She graduated from OHS in 1982 and immediately began working in the banking field. She was married to John Alan Ming, and the couple had one daughter, Alexandria. Throughout her banking career, Sharon obtained many certifications from America Investments in Banking (AIB) before moving on to the exciting world of financial planning services. She has been brokering for 21 years. The first five were with Bank of America. She then began managing the local Edward Jones Investments office and has been with that firm for 16 years. Her business has evolved over this time, as she does more long-term financial planning for her clients than daily stock trading. She says that a very satisfying job is when you know you've really helped someone achieve his or her financial goals; it makes all the stress of the work worthwhile. She has served her hometown in different capacities over the years and believes it is important to give back to a community that has provided her with such a unique opportunity. She is

proud to come from such a wonderful place and shares her story of Okeechobee wherever she travels. Sharon is married to Jim Covey, an attorney with offices in Vero Beach, Stuart and Okeechobee. He specializes in estate planning.

About the AuthorBetty Chandler Williamson is a fifth-generation Floridian; her roots go back to the mid-1800s. Her husband of more than 60 years, Frank “Sonny” Williamson Jr., is also a fifth-generation Floridian. Her hobbies are genealogy and local history. She has been president of the Okeechobee Historical Society for over two decades. Williamson is the coauthor (with Twila Valentine, now deceased) of Strolling Down Country Roads. She was responsible for compiling the first 75 years of the membership of the First Baptist Church of Okeechobee, where she taught Sunday school for 39 years and served as director of the Girls Auxiliary Mission Club for many years. She was also the church historian for a period of time. Williamson wishes to thank the following people for assisting her with the articles she submits:~ Sonny, who encourages his wife to write.~ Heather Williamson Rucks, a granddaughter, who assists with emailing the material to Okeechobee The Magazine.~ A writing club she belongs to, The Okeechobee Writers League (OWL), led by published author Jan Fehrman.~ Sonny Elliott for re-producing the photographs.

Special acknowledgements to Sonny Williamson, Heather Williamson Rucks, Sonny Elliott, Kathy Larson, Wes Williamson, Karen Williamson Cook, Christine Brennan Bishop, Magi Janiewski Cable and Alvina Domer Robertson.

Robbie LaRae Stocker Chartier Born in 1966 in Seattle, Wash. (King County), to parents Marcia Clara Thomas Stocker and Craig Noble Stocker, Robbie LaRae Stocker Chartier has two brothers, Daniel Even and Joseph Charles Stocker. She received a bachelor’s degree from the University of South Florida College of Business Administration in accounting in 1996. She received her master's in public administration in 2002 from Florida Gulf Coast University. She worked in Charlotte County, Fla., from 1990 to 1998 as a budget management analyst. Robbie began her employment with Okeechobee County in 1998 as a deputy county

administrator. She was appointed county administrator for two interim terms. On Nov. 10, 2011, she was appointed Okeechobee County administrator and continues to serve in that capacity. She is married to Rick Chartier and has two stepchildren. Robbie LaRae Stocker Chartier

K atrina Elsken

Shirley Peeples Born in 1956 in Tampa, Shirley Peeples is among the first females to attend Okeechobee High School and become a pharmacist. This outstanding young lady was born to Floridians Roderick and Marie Peeples and has one brother, Gary. She graduated from the University of Florida College of Pharmacy, where she graduated with high honors. Shirley is of the Baptist faith and married Jim McCarty, a Baptist minister. The couple have six children. Female OHS graduates who have become pharmacists are Jamie Demeter Beauregard, Kim Mucharino, Trish Synder, Sandra Navarrete and Kami Jo Gillis Sanchez. If I have omitted anyone, it was not intentional.

Shirley Peeples

Kathy Ningard ScottBorn in 1955, Kathy Ningard Scott is the first female Okeechobee County Airport and Industrial Park manager. She was born in Cleveland, Ohio, to George and Sophie Ningard. She grew up in Olmsted Falls, a small rural town outside Cleveland. After her college education in business administration with a concentration in commercial art and marketing, she moved to Jupiter and opened an advertising/art studio. In 1993, Ms. Scott moved her residence and business to Okeechobee. She operated ProART for 10 years until she was hired by Okeechobee County as the tourist development coordinator in 2004. In 2010, she was asked to step in as the interim airport and industrial park manager. In 2013, she formally became the airport manager. Recent restructuring of the county departments has placed the airport and tourist management within the Economic Development Division, where Kathy will fill a full-time airport and industrial park

management position and supervise the Tourist Development Council coordinator position. Along with her commercial and advertising art background, Kathy is also a passionate and talented artist. Her artistic ability has afforded Okeechobee County recognition at the Florida State Fair. She has painted several murals in Okeechobee. Kathy, married to the late Henry Fulton “Hank” Scott, has three stepchildren: Henry Thomas “Coot” (Elizabeth) Scott, Jonathan Scott and Kelley (William) Underwood.

Kathy Ningard Scott

Katrina Elsken Born in 1957 in Little Rock, Ark., to parents Gregory John and Catherine Elsken, Katrina Elsken is the first female in Okeechobee to become an editor of a seven-day daily newspaper. Katrina graduated in 1979 from the University of Arkansas with a bachelor’s degree in journalism. She moved to Okeechobee in 1986 and became the editor of the Okeechobee News. At the time, the News was a twice-weekly newspaper. Two years later, it became a thrice weekly and in 1992, it became a seven-day daily newspaper. The paper continued as a daily until 2009, when it was cut back to thrice weekly in response to the decline in advertising due to the recession. In 1999, the title of executive editor for Independent News Media Florida was added. She was assisting with all of the papers in the INM Florida group in LaBelle, Immokalee, Clewiston, Moore Haven, Belle Glade and Frostproof. In 2013, the title of assistant publisher of the Okeechobee News was added. In 2014, she became the publisher of the Okeechobee News. Her spouse is M.W. Muros, and the couple have two children, Rachel and Michael. Katrina has received many awards, which include the Clara Barton Award for outstanding Journalism (1983), the Florida Press Association's first place for In-Depth News Reporting (1992), the Florida Press Association's first place in Community Service (1992) and the Jim Miller Writing Awards from Independent News Media (1990, 1992, 1995 and 1999). She also received the Independent News Media Excellence Awards (2001 and 2012). Katrina is also an adult leader of the Okeechobee 4-H Perfect Photography Club. The Okeechobee News, of which she is the publisher/editor, is celebrating its centennial this year. An Okeechobee High School female, Tonya Harden Young, served as an editor of The Okeechobee Times newspaper in 2008 at the age of twenty four. She graduated from OHS in 2002, and is a published author. Her parents are Roy and Colleen Thomas.

Sharon Sills Ming Covey

Jennifer Davis Laskey

Jennifer Davis Laskey Born in 1972 to Dr. and Mrs. Roger (Dollie Mitchell) Davis of Okeechobee, Jennifer Davis Laskey is the first known OHS female graduate to become a dentist. She has one sibling, Rod Davis, a chiropractor. Dr. Laskey is married to Doug Laskey, and the couple have a son and a daughter. In 1990, she graduated from Okeechobee High School and received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Central Florida and her Doctor of Medicine in Dentistry from the University of Alabama in 1998. She began practicing with her father in 1999. They are owners of Family Dentistry in Okeechobee. Her interests are her family and friends.


Community Event Photos by Gary Burks

Racing to Save Lives, the Okeechobee Blood Roundup pre-drive, was conducted Sept. 12 at Gilbert Chevrolet, Gilbert Ford and Okeechobee Dodge. Blood donors Martin Magryta and Vanesa Huerta each won a ticket package and hotel ac-commodations for the final Nascar race in Homestead. Four hundred and nine units of blood were donated … which is enough to save 147 lives.

Two Donors Win Nascar Tickets at OKEE 600

PRE-BLOOD DRIVE

Gilbert Chevrolet, from left: Agnes Burke, Joan Shults, Eddie Cruz and Pat Shinn.

Nascar ticket winners (center) Martin Magryta and Vanesa Huerta receive their prizes from Raye Deusinger and Billy Dean of WOKC.

Valencia Melendez preps Joan Roden for a donation.

Okeechobee Dodge, back row: Manager Jeff Stewart and Rick Eckert. Front: Kelly Corwin, Julie Easton, Roxsanna Reichert, Linda Hazellief, Raye Deusinger, Ron Kinney and Russ Colwell.

Gilbert Ford: Marie Kirchhoff, Nathan Liscomb and Lonnie Kirsch.



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True patriot and mother of three, Army vet Staff Sgt. Patricia Yount served in Somalia and now works to help fellow veterans in all ways she can.

Hard-charging VFW POST COMMANDER Traveled Long, Challenging Road

By Raye Deusinger Photos by Sandra Pearce


pinch when that industry was feeling the negative effects of expanding technology.Yount soon went to work for American Airlines, becoming a flight operations agent who handled airplane arrivals from the point when a plane was 30 minutes out until it landed. Then she was pro-moted to lead agent, coordinating all phases of travel.

The high-paced action, with little free time, took a toll on Trish’s family. She returned to Okeechobee and enrolled in what was then Indian River Commu-nity College, while also thinking about joining the military. Her grandfather had served in the Air Force in the 1950s and, in long talks with him, a desire for military service began to take hold in her.

Trish’s husband, who was going into the paramedic program, was OK with her joining the Army. She said: “I had

always had a low sense of self-esteem, but decided I would give it everything I had. I was 28 years old and really nervous. The day before I left, I saw my dad who said: ‘They’ll eat you alive. You’ll never make it.’ It gave me the incentive to succeed because I felt that I was doing something greater than for myself; it was more for others. Serving my country was part of my being a U.S. citizen.”

Trish and her husband came to realize they were better off going their separate ways and got a divorce. She lived with Jonathan and her daughter, Hannah, now 12, on base, saying, “The Army taught me to believe in myself, even above the limits of what I expected.”

Enlisted for four years, after basic train-ing in Georgia, she went to Quarter-

master School in Virginia, where she learned about handling supplies. Her children went to live with their father. Confidence grew when she was sent to AIT — Advanced Individual Training. Trish explained: “There are two ways to get to the ground when you are in the air. You can parachute, which you learn to do in Airborne School, or rappel out of a helicopter, which you learn to do in Air Assault School. I flunked out of Airborne and soon found myself learning to rappel from the skies over Fort Campbell, Ky.”

Two years of her training prepared her for the next leg of her journey when, in 2001, she spent 30 days in California for desert training, after which she was sent to Djibouti, Somalia, where the U.S. was building a camp. A look at the map reveals Djibouti, in Africa, is directly south of Kuwait. Here they were attached to a Marine engineering unit building barracks and buildings in preparation for the push into Iraq.

It seemed a world away from all she knew. Arriving at 6 a.m. to 106 degrees, her unit of about 135 found a very dry desert landscape, a tent to live in and supplies arriving only once a month. No matter how much water she drank, she and others faced dehydration. They were at least a half hour from any civilization. She was sick for the first two weeks as her body had to adapt to the foreign environment. This was her life for the next 10 months.

As an E4 (specialist), Trish acted as base quartermaster. She worked in the office, did payroll and finance, ordered and maintained supplies, and did radio duty as well as guard duty. She said: “Just because you have a day job, work doesn’t end there. Whatever happens, whatever your job, you’re a soldier first. Everyone becomes cross-trained to serve as cook, fuelers, armory maintenance and even water supply drivers.”

While in Africa, Trish stayed in touch with Rodney Yount, a man she had met

‘The Army taught me to believe in myself, even above the limits of what I expected.’– Trish Yount, of joining the military at age 28

Some people chart their destiny from childhood. Some are born with a calling. Others follow a path laid out for them. Today, meet Patricia “Trish” Yount, who at 43 is living an enviable career she not only did not envision, but which “never crossed my mind.”

Trish is the commander of Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 9528 in Buckhead Ridge, one of only seven women in Florida to hold that position. She is the only woman to have served as command-er of District 11, which encompasses posts from Vero Beach to Hobe Sound and from the east coast to Sebring.

Born in Georgia, she met her first husband at college in Tampa. They moved to Okeechobee, where son Jona-than, now 17, was born. She worked at a travel agency for a few years and, like so many others, began to feel the economic


and dated during training stateside. She learned he was in Kuwait with the infan-try. His became the first unit to enter Baghdad, an action for which supplies ran through her base in Djibouti.

After a year overseas, she returned to Fort Stewart, Ga., and resumed care of her children. She and Rodney stayed in touch. He got emergency leave when he was notified that his mother was dying. Trish said, “He was in Baghdad for a year seeing horrific things, got home for a few weeks and then experienced his mother’s death.” They continued to see each other on the post.

Rodney left the service and after she got out in 2005, she moved to Okeechobee so her children could maintain a relation-ship with their father. Her relationship with Rodney grew with his frequent visits from Georgia.

She took some time off when she got pregnant and settled into civilian life. Later, Trish found a job and went to school at night. “Something inside me compelled me to want to help people, so I took classes,” she said, including

CNA — to become a certified nurse assistant — and phlebotomy, certify-ing a technician who draws blood. This led to her earning her associate’s degree from IRCC, and she hopes to one day complete her bachelor’s degree. Not long

Hannah, Trish, Hailey, Rodney and Jonathan.

‘Trish has the fine art of knowing when to lead and when to just observe.’– Kathy Crosswhite, a coworker of Yount’s at the VFW

Corny Salas, Jeff Silvers, Trish Yount and Scott Bass, superintendent of Glades County Schools.


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after, Rodney moved to Okeechobee. Being veterans, they visited service-re-lated clubs in the area.

“Everywhere we went, friendly people welcomed us,” Trish said. When they got to the VFW in Buckhead Ridge, they found a home. She had her second daughter, Hailey, in Okeechobee while Rodney was in school. “Many VFW members came to the hospital; they became my family,” she said. She joined VFW Post 9528 in 2009 and married Rodney the following year.

He served as post commander in 2013-14, during which Trish served as quarter-master. “Thinking I might like to become commander, I tried to learn everything about the organization,” Trish said. “I read the complete bylaws, as well as the national charter. If I ran, I wanted to do it well.” She did run, unopposed, and was elected commander this year.

Joan Roden, a friend and fellow worker at the VFW, said: “Trish is one of the most compassionate people I know. She is dedicated to supporting our vets in every possible way. The words she lives by are ‘belief in, honesty with and integrity to yourself and anything you

undertake.’ So committed, I have even seen her inconvenience her own family to help a vet in need.”

She not only supports the national or-ganization by raising money for the Na-tional Home for Children, the Veterans Retirement Home and the program to transport vets to the VA Hospital, but also local causes such as raising money for iPads for veterans’ use at the VA Hos-pital. “We are a nonprofit organization and must show what we do with monies collected,” Trish explained.

Locally they keep a sick-call list to be sure that someone unable to come to the Friday evening dinners can have that dinner brought to them. Each November they have a free Thanksgiving dinner for vets. They also maintain a supply of walkers, crutches and other health aids for the use of anyone who asks.

To belong to the VFW, one must have served overseas, and Trish is especially proud of having some World War II vets in membership. In June, Trish’s post gave a welcome home dinner for Vietnam vets, many of whom commented that it was the first time they were ever acknowledged. She is eager to expand

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post membership by enrolling more female members.

She also goes out into the community as a speaker, recently addressing youth at Yearling Middle School to urge them always to seek to better themselves. She told them to set goals of what they want to be and do, but always retain the desire to go above and beyond the list, saying, “We might not be perfect, but we can always be better.” She speaks before women’s groups about women’s perspective of the military and gives talks about the American flag and Indepen-dence Day.

But even dedicated people like Trish need some “getaway.” Her parents have 23 acres in Georgia with no phone, no TV and very little cellular phone cover-age. “Our whole family goes up there to unplug.” she said. “The kids love it, and it is reminiscent of the way I grew up.”

Kathy Crosswhite, a fellow worker at the VFW, said: “Trish has the fine art of knowing when to lead and when to just observe. She is meticulous and organized and sets the bar high for herself. Many very big events have gone on under her direction; Trish has put in the extra work to make sure they are successful and high-class, accomplishing it within financial boundaries. But the best quality of all is she fought for the United States of America. If for no other reason, that speaks volumes. She is a true patriot.”


Community Event Photos by Susan Giddings

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# 1943 – From left: Speakers Betty Saffioti, Katrina Cook, Julie Sharpe, Kim VanWormer and Josh Van-Wormer.

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The Okeechobee Educational Foundation hosted its Achieving Excellence lun-cheon on Wednesday, Sept. 30, at the First United Methodist Church fellowship hall. The foundation manages the majority of the scholarships given by the community to the graduating seniors of Okeechobee High School, along with all

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From left, back row: board members Russ Brown, Debbie Clements, Ken Kenworthy, Sharon Vinson, Denise Whitehead, Kelly Owens and Tabitha Trent. Front: Mary Hurley and Linda Syfrett.

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Thanks to the TCFB, local distribution partners and teams of volunteers in Okeechobee, a semi-trailer truck laden with food arrives monthly to help feed 7,000 of our residents.

The largest hunger relief agency in our area, the TCFB has been in operation since 1988, with 25 percent of its food donations marked for Okeechobee’s families. The accolades are self-deflected from the TCFB and aimed at the 30 local partner agencies with which they’ve

had long-term relationships. Judy Cruz, CEO of the TCFB, praises the selfless volunteers who are mission-driven to care for their neighbors because it is “the right thing to do.”

Cruz also lauds Florida’s farmers for their generosity throughout the state. “The farmers are giving men and women, but our problem is that, at this time, we cannot process all the food they have for us. They give us the food. We secure the transportation and work as quickly as we can to turn it around while it’s fresh. But much has to be turned down or thrown away.”

Plans for a processing plant, the largest facility of its kind to be built in the United States, are underway, and by next summer a full production kitchen will be in operation in Fort Pierce. “We’ll be able to prepare frozen and refrigerated food for distribution and won’t have to turn anything down,” remarked Cruz. She was proud to note that 97 percent of all money raised by the TCFB goes to their outreach feeding programs.

“Food miles” was an important consid-eration that drove the TCFB to con-struct the processing plant. Brian Sell, the preparedness planner for our local Department of Health, backed up the need by explaining that farmer-growers who want to donate are currently sending their harvest out of state to be processed before bringing it back into Florida for distribution. With the plant in opera-tion, the farm-grown cabbage, lettuce, potatoes, corn and other perishables will travel less, be processed when it’s fresher, and be delivered to Okeechobee to be used at a family’s discretion — instead of being thrown away.

Add to the treasure trove all the produce, meat and non-perishables that local re-tailers donate, and funds donated by corporate sponsors; these all will help the TCFB continue to grow and do the work it does as the agency rolls into its new plant.

The economic growth that local small farmers are experiencing is linked to the amount of food they raise and donate to

the TCFB. From the fields to the TCFB to the schools to the kids — the chain is flourishing, and it’s one of the jobs of Krista Garofalo, chief programs officer with the TCFB, to link the people of Okeechobee with the services the food bank provides.

“We do this by really getting to know the people and the organizations working to help those in need,” stated Garofo-lo. “Only by understanding the efforts already in place can we work toward filling the gap in those services. We help people not just survive by providing short-term solutions, but help them build up a foundation of self-sufficiency so they can thrive in the long term.” It’s a testament to these community-centric goals that the TCFB just received the Organization of the Year Award from the Florida Community Healthy Action Information Network.

The Mobile Pantry

A monthly Mobile Pantry is the TCFB’s strategic food distribution operation for Okeechobee residents. Timed to coor-dinate with end-of-the-month financial restraints, the food distributed through

ith a name like “Treasure Coast Food Bank,” it’s not unreasonable to envision a large treasure chest bursting with ripe melons, richly yellowed ears of corn, plump, ripe tomatoes and a bounty of colorful, juicy and healthy fruits and vegetables. But the name belies the truth, for the Treasure Coast is rife with hungry people — over 100,000 men, women and children of all ages go hungry every day in the four-county demographic that con-stitutes the Treasure Coast. Okeechobee is one of them.

Wv

Treasure Coast Food Bank

Helps Feed Okeechobee’s HungryBy Jann Seal Photos By Sandra Pearce

55

‘Treasure Coast Food Bank vastly improves the quality of life for many of Okeechobee’s citizens.’ – Tara Minton, executive director Economic Council of Okeechobee


the Mobile Pantry sustains families untilchecks or funds become available to them. The Mobile Pantry and all the other programs and outgrowths that receive food from the TCFB are unified in their objectives — to feed and nourish Okeechobee’s citizens.

Sell outlined three pressing problems within our community: obesity, eco-nomic need and food issues. That was his mind-set when he first met with the TCFB and proposed involving Okee-chobee’s Health Department.

Sell distributes 500 vouchers to com-munity organizations every month for access to the Mobile Pantry, and from there, the vouchers trickle down through community partners until they reach the hands of those in need.

Staci Sharpe of Sharpe Nursing Services, LLC, is just one of the provider-partners contracted through the Healthy Start Coalition. “We review our clients and de-termine who the most needy are. They’re

the ones who get the 30 vouchers our service receives,” explained Sharpe. This pass into the Mobile Pantry allows a family to receive meat, vegetables, canned goods, frozen food, bread and desserts — all without getting out of the car.

Vouchers are not distributed based on income; instead, need is the determi-nant, and Healthy Start/Sharpe Nursing Services, knows where, within the com-munity, the need is. Echoing the mission statement of Healthy Start that addresses

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the needs of moms, babies and families, Sharpe and her staff work diligently to distribute the vouchers so that no one is missed.

Other partners are also recipients of the vouchers, and Sell makes sure every one of the 500 is distributed. The partners record the names, addresses, contact numbers and other pertinent informa-tion of everyone using the Mobile Pantry, to be accessed the following month to determine the state of their need.

The Mobile Food Pantry is just one of the food distribution centers through which the TCFB works. Dowling Watford, an Okeechobee city councilman and a monthly food distribution volunteer, marvels at the assortment and variety of foods the TCFB trucks bring in. “They bring in a huge selection of items and it’s such a help for Okeechobee families. These groceries and essential items are a vital supplement in their lives, and helps sustain the family during difficult times.”

‘They bring in a huge selection of items, and it’s such a help for Okeechobee families. These groceries and essential items are a vital supplement in their lives, and helps sustain the family during difficult times.’– Dowling Watford, City Councilman

Okeechobee volunteers.

5

Teen Pantry kick-off.


Becky Fleeger, director of the Okee-chobee Presbyterian Church Food Pantry, another local distribution center for the TCFB, summed up the value of the giving back to the community by stating that 3,763 families, representing 15,704 individuals, participated in the Church’s outreach. “We are thankful to be able to stand in the gap for those who are in need,” remarked Fleeger.

The Mobile Pantry will soon be moving to the fairgrounds in order to accommo-date the large number of people getting in line at 5 o’clock in the morning, awaiting the 8:30 opening of the pantry. Watford continued: “The need for food supple-mentation is so great in Okeechobee that it’s caused a traffic issue at the Health Department. So we’re moving to the Agricultural Center to accommodate everyone!”

Judy Cruz, Krista Garafalo, Brian Sell, Shannon Coty, Dillie Nerios and Jason Warren.5

Treasure Coast Food Bank CEO Judy Cruz with Becky Fleeger, director of the Okeechobee Presbyterian Church Food Pantry.

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However, receiving food on a monthly basis has to be supplemented for many families. As a result, more outlets have been initiated that recognize the whole person and fulfill niche needs.

The School Pantry Program

Available in our schools, through this program students can choose pantry items to bring home for their families. These items supplement the food dis-tributed monthly through the Mobile Pantry. Preparing balanced meals for an entire family is encouraged as it builds a sense of unity within the home.

The Teen Pantry

Understanding the changing needs of pre-teens and teenagers, the TCFB and its partners stock the Teen Pantry with nutritious “grab and go” snacks plus other non-food items. It’s those non-food items, such as hygiene products, beauty incentives and grooming items boys and girls need including razors, after shave, mousse and gel, to help the kids feel like they fit in and belong.

The Backpack Program

Backpacks filled with almost four days’ worth of child-friendly food are also dis-tributed by the TCFB partners at two locations in Okeechobee. All backpack items must be purchased by the TCFB due to governmental regulations, and this is where financing for its donations is put to use. Pop-top cans, non-perish-able food and products that children can easily access and use are included in the backpacks, which serve to maintain the children and their families on weekends and during the holidays.

Those backpacks that the children lug home are the lifeline that many fami-lies use to feed themselves. Without the TCFB, it’s unthinkable how many Okeechobee residents would go hungry.

“People remember us more during the holidays, but the need is greatest during the summer, when the free and reduced-price lunch program is closed, and that’s when the TCFB steps in to fill the gap,” explained Cruz, the Food Bank’s CEO.

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School nutritionists are vital to the food planning in Okeechobee’s 10 schools, and they work closely with the organizations receiving food from the TCFB. Tasty, “teen-centric” foods, energy foods and items that children will eat are priorities when determining the products collected and given away through Okeechobee’s auxiliary programs.

Tara Minton, executive director of the Economic Council of Okeechobee, stressed the importance of the partner-ship between the TCFB and Okeechobee: “The TCFB has joined in partnership with many of our citizens and numerous organizations, such as the County Health Department and the Okeechobee School District, to raise awareness and increase the dialogue of hunger and food inse-curity faced by many of our residents.

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Shannon Coty, Brian Sell and Dillie Nerios.


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They vastly improve the quality of life for many of Okeechobee’s citizens who need it most.”

Many local agencies provide “feet on the ground” for the TCFB, always with ears and eyes open to discover families in need.

Another “downline” agency working with the TCFB is the Health and Wellness Program, a dual-purpose agency that links medical benefits and WIC and SNAP ACCESS assistance to needy families.

Health navigators locate families in need through churches, referrals, the police de-partment, social service agencies, word-of-mouth, fliers and social media — any way they can find to connect with people in the community who need help, they’ll use. If they haven’t found you yet, they will! As Garofalo strongly stated: “We are always striving to make sure we under-stand the services being provided and the

unmet needs of the community.”

Remembering the fresh vegetables she ate from her parents’ garden in the “Garden State” of New Jersey, Cruz and the TCFB want to get as close to those mouth-watering memories as possible with the new processing plant. The ad-ditional 30 million pounds of produce the farmers donate will have an extended life, and through the TCFB’s extensive distribution channels, thousands of Okeechobee residents will go to sleep with full tummies.

But that won’t happen if you don’t get involved! The face of hunger has changed. Look around. If you see five people, at least one of them will be hungry. But you won’t know it, and they won’t tell you. Help them. Volunteer. Give. Donate food to the local Okeechobee Pantry. Get involved. Only by working together can we relieve hunger in our community. Go to www.stophunger.org and under Partner Agencies is a list of Okeechobee locations that need your help.

Jason Warren delivers food to the Okeechobee Presbyterian Church Food Pantry.

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Community Event Photos by Jane Kaufman and Susan Giddings

On Saturday, Oct. 10, the City of Okeechobee continued its yearlong Centennial Celebration with a Heritage Day Festival at the Okeechobee Freshman Campus, organized by the City’s Centennial Committee. The day was filled with many fun and educational events, displays, demonstrations, music and food. Some of the highlights of the day included the Hall of History filled with historic displays, the Okeechobee Community Theatre pre-senting “Spirits of Okeechobee” and the Okeechobee High School Band performing “Postcards from Okeechobee.” The next centennial event will be the Centennial Frolic cele-brating 100 years of Music & Dance on Dec. 11. For more information, visit www.facebook.com/OkeechobeeCenten-nial, https://Twitter.com/okeechobee100, http://instagram.com/okeechobee100 and www.cityofokeechobee.com.

Ginny Bryant, Laurie Garner, Kenny Feightner, David Womble and Al Cole perform in the “Spirits of Okeechobee.”

Heritage committee members, from left: Jeanne Enfinger, John Williams and Magi Cable.

Betty Williamson (center) speaks about the mural at the Freshman Campus as husband Frank “Sonny” Williamson and Zelda Mixon look on.

The OHS band performs “Postcards from Okeechobee.”

Layton Voss strikes a pose.

Inside the Hall of History

Davey Raulerson and his world-famous swamp cabbage.

ContinuesCity of Okeechobee’s

Centennial Celebrations

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With determination set on helping expectant mothers in our community, The Pregnancy Center of Okeechobee hosted its annual Gala on Friday, Oct. 16, at the Recreation Out-reach Center. The event brought together both those wishing to help the center’s work and those who have been helped by its gen-erosity and care. After dinner, the crowd was captivated by keynote speaker Lysa TerKeurst’s talk on the importance of pregnancy centers in the lives of so many women, herself included. For more information about thePregnancy Center, call (863) 467-8748 or visit www.okeepregcenter.com.


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103 SW Park St. • Okeechobee • 863.357.3357Mon-Thurs: 7am-7pm • Fri: 7am-8pm • Sat: 8am - 8pm • Sun: 11am - 4pm

FREEWifi


WM employee Matt Durno paddles the homemade boat at the Adam Bryant Minimal Regatta in Okeechobee.

WM Supports the “Loving Our Heroes Care Packages” CampaignWM employs 1,971 veterans in Florida.

October is Energy

Action Month Recycling just one aluminum

can saveenough energy

to power a TV for three hours.

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Happy Holidaysfrom the Nguyen & Le families



North Elementary School Team. Kailey McGaughei and Amber Cook.

Dustin Raulerson laces up his bowling shoes.

Bowl for Kids'Sake

Raises Nearly $3KVolunteers for Big Brothers Big Sisters conducted the fourth annual Bowl for Kids’ Sake on Saturday, Oct. 17, at Chobee Play. Proceeds from the event will help support BBBS programs for the children of Okeechobee County. For more information, call (863) 824-2227 or visit www.bbbs.org.

Aliyah Olivarez, Brittany Runyon, Noah Olivarez, Lupe Olivarez and Lindsey Sausedo.

From left: Gay Carlton, Pat O’Connor, Sharon Vinson and Kristy Crawford.


SAND • FILL • SHELL • ROCKDemolitionCulvertsDriveways

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From left: Maggie Condgon, Tammi Kelly, Team Captain Morgan Buxton, Dayton Buxton, Jessica Cason and Bailie Shirley.


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Contact Alexis Ariail904-386-9828

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Karen D. Todd, MD, FACS Board Certified Ophthalmologist - Glaucoma Fellowship Trained

Glaucoma, Cataract Surgery, General OphthalmologyEyelid Surgery, Aesthetics / BOTOX

Can an Eye Exam be Life Changing?Meet Dr. Todd, Glaucoma & Cataract Ophthalmologist. She has a way of solving medical mysteries with a dilated eye exam. Tirelessly uncovering evidence of heart disease, stroke - even brain tumors to find answers for elusive symptoms like blurry vision or headaches. When things don’t look right, make the call for comprehensive eye care & see how life can change.

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Community Event Photos by Gary Burks

Chamber Recognizes

2O15Top Businesses of

The Chamber of Commerce of Okeechobee County hosted its second Business of the Year awards and year in review luncheon at the Williamson Center at Indian River State College on Wednesday, Oct. 21. The chamber recapped its accomplishments for the past year and presented Business of the Year awards to WOKC/Glades Media, Gilbert Family of Companies, Golden Corral, Okeechobee Main Street and Martha’s House. For more information about the Chamber of Commerce, call (863) 467-6246 or email [email protected].

Gross Sales $1 Million or Less winner – WOKC/Glades Media. From left: Wayne Cunningham, Merrilee Berglund, Taylor Marie, Billy Dean and Ken Keller.

Non-Profit Business Winner (tie) – Martha’s House. Tammi Kelly, Executive Director Jonathan Bean, Shirlean Graham and President Gayle Molyneaux.

Non-Profit Business Winner (tie) – Okeechobee Main Street. President Maureen Burroughs and Angie Griffin.

Gross Sales $1 Million or More Winner – Gilbert Family of Companies. From left: Dawn Hoover, Christa Luna, Bert Culbreth, Marie Culbreth, Gil Culbreth and J.D. MIxon.

National Corporate Business Winner – Golden Corral. Chamber President Terry Burroughs, Charlie Hukriede and Chamber Executive Director Erin Moore.


WILLIAMSON CATTLECOMPANY PRESENTS

Some of the boys in the picture are:Tim Curvin, Jeff Coker, Harry Pearce

and Wes Williamson

WSubmitted by

Betty Chandler illiamson

Photos of the Past

FIRST BAPTIST CHURCHOF OKEECHOBEE

1915-2015

In 1965 the First Baptist Church ofOkeechobee celebrated its 50th Anniversary.Below is a photograph of one of the activities

held during the week of celebration.Other activities were: Previous ministers

of the Church preached on differentnights and of course, a large Sunday

dinner on the grounds. The First BaptistChurch celebrated its Centennial

May 3, 2015 with many past and presentmembers attending. A good day

was had by all.

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Peace Lutheran SchoolWe accept VPK and Step Up for Students • Serving Children ages 2-K • Small Class Sizes • Growing with Jesus

Save the Date for Our Annual GalaCome Sail Away

February 20, 2016 at the KOA

750 NW 23rd Street • Okeechobee, FL 34972 • [email protected] • FMI visit www.peacelutheranschool-okeechobee.org

NATIONALLY ACCREDITED

Office: 863-763-7566


Community Event Photos by Sandra Pearce

500 Come to Show Off

Boots and Pearls, Aid Hospice

Hospice of Okeechobee staged its 10th annual Boots and Pearls Gala at the KOA Convention Center on Friday, Oct. 23. Over 500 people attended this signature event, which featured live and silent auctions along with great music and dancing. For more information, visit www.hospiceofokeechobee.org.

Bert and Chrissy Culbreth, Marie and Gil Culbreth and Christa and Mark Luna.

Betty and Sonny Williamson.

Clayton Williams, Red Larson and Jack Wolff.

Fran Syfrett and Dot Bulger.

George and Mary Beth Cooper.

Megan and Seth Louthan, Paige Sherman, Robert and Leslie Stokes, Justina and Newt Mattson.

Nicki Smith, Sam Durrance and Pam Rucks.

Peyton Byrd, Jacie Harvey, Taylor Pearce and Shayla Pendrey.Back from left: Danielle Shockley and Jon Geitner. Seated: Trisha Lara, Teresa Lara, Melissa Syples and Scott Syples.

Elvie Posey 863.634.4309

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Gayle MolyneauxIndependent Beauty Consultantwww.marykay.com/gaylemolyneaux561-801-1336

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SHARON WALLACE PROPERTY APPRAISER

VOTE

for

Assuring Fair and Equitable Appraisal Policies

• Bachelors Degree in Information Technology (IT).• GISP (Geographic Information Systems Professional) Certified.• 26 Years of Public Service.• By utilizing GIS in it’s full capacity, I will enhance the performance of staff by accessing past, current, and future rights and interests in real property and linking this data to the Computer Assisted Mass Appraisal (CAMA) system. This will improve the quality of valuations and ensure fair and equitable appraisals for all.

I am asking for your support and vote.Together, we can make a positive difference in our community.

Paid by Sharon Wallace, NPA for Property Appraiser

Property Rights Advocate

PRINCIPLED + QUALIFIED + EXPERIENCED

94 | November/December 2015 OKEECHOBEE THE MAGAZINE94 | November/December 2015 OKEECHOBEE THE MAGAZINE

there are many stories about overcoming adversity, but few equal that of Diana Ordoñez, who, at only nine, left her home, her culture, her extended family behind and with her parents, stepped into a new country, a new language, a new life. Today, at 17, she is creating success.

Diana is a member of the JROTC Honor Guard, the Color Guard and the Exhibition Rifle Drill Team. She is part of the JROTC Raiders, one of the after-school teams that compete with other schools in three-mile runs, obstacle courses, sand bag carries and other tests of strength, endurance and first aid.

As a freshman, she was commander for a drill squad, for which she had to memorize 52 marching commands and lead her squad in execution of those commands, while marching. She is a cross-country runner, taking ninth place in a field of 150 runners. While just a sophomore, she earned her promotion to Okeechobee High School’s varsity soccer team. In this, her junior year, she will be in a JROTC staff position, where she must engage in decision-making for the battalion outcome.

Her teacher, Sgt. 1st Class Valparisia Gibson, said: “Diana has had to endure many struggles. She came into the classroom late in the year, but has excelled in every way since she has been in the JROTC program.”

Just eight years ago, Diana spoke not a word of English. She

By Raye Deusinger Photos by Sandra Pearce

entered the United States with her family and came by bus to Okeechobee to live first with friends and then in a trailer where there was no furniture. This young woman was determined to live and achieve the American Dream. Diana said, “I now realize that my life, like so many others’, is full of struggles, but those struggles should neither stop us or keep us from achieving our dreams.”

For many years, her father, speaking only broken English, worked in the U.S. while trying to process papers to get the family here. In 2007, after her father got a permanent job in Okeechobee, Diana, her mother, brothers Jesús and José and little sister Monica finally left their home in Guanajuato, Mexico, and entered the U.S. The very day they arrived, one-year-old José walked for the first time. Diana said, “It was the best sign we could have gotten. We weren’t afraid because, for the first time in my life, we were going to be a family, all together.“After we arrived, we stayed with friends until we got that trailer and then a home. My mom worked for a while, but then my brother got sick and she had to devote all her time to him,” Diana said. “I had no clue how to speak English and had to assimilate to a new culture by myself. I was only nine.”

After receiving their vaccinations, the older three children were enrolled in school, Diana in fourth grade. A month later, she was transferred to a class with a Spanish-speaking teacher and began picking up the language. “Computer games helped me

okeechobeeYouth

ñdiana ordonez

‘Struggles should neither stop us or

keep us from achieving our

dreams.’– Diana Ordoñez


learn the language,” she said. “School was different than in Mexico because here, unlike Mexico, the teachers were friendly and committed, with a plan for each day. I learned something new every day, then would go home and tell my parents so they could learn. I crave knowledge.”

Diana entered JROTC in 2013 because she felt it would give her the skills train-ing to accomplish a goal she had since she was six: to become a police officer and eventually a state trooper because they project a “family feeling.”

She says she learned the language more quickly than her family because she didn’t care what it sounded like. She said she wasn’t embarrassed because if she used the wrong word or pronounced some-thing wrong, people would correct her and she would learn. While her older brother still has a heavy accent, she has almost no accent and says, “Having no shame is sometimes a good thing.” She learned her new language in just a year because “I knew if I didn’t learn the language, I’d never succeed.” Very intelligent, with a GPA of 3.35, she is in Advanced Placement and academic honors classes.

To continue to improve, she belongs to a local soccer club, which is an or-ganization to help teens get active and play travel soccer. She is also in AVID, Advancement Via Individual Determi-


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‘Diana is a determined and

caring young lady who gives everything

for the team.’– Coaches Lori Harper-Kyle

and Robert Kyle


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nation, which helps make college access and success available to all students by developing a mindset of college skills and determination.

Lady Brahman coaches Lori Harper-Kyle and Robert Kyle said: “Diana is a de-termined and caring young lady who

gives everything for the team. She has never missed a practice and is at every meeting. Her character showed brightly when she tied for top goal scorer and was one behind for leading for assists. But the reason she was one behind was because she worked for the team by helping the winner.”


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From left: Diana, Monica, Jesus, mother Maria, Jose and dad Sacramento.Toni Bennett Doyle, Owner

123 SW PARK STREET | OKEECHOBEE, FL863.357.8664 | M-F 10-6 | SAT. 9-3

Notary Public Services Available

We support Cancer Awareness by donating 50% of the proceeds of all our Cancer Awareness jewelry to Heroes For Hope

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She has helped her whole family in learning English. “My little brother, José, never learned Spanish, so we all speak English around the house because it helps my mom. The aim of the whole family is to become U.S. citizens.”

Diana looks forward to college where she can study law enforcement. “I want to do well at school and make my family proud. In other countries, there isn’t fairness in the law, and I want to help change the stereotype of police officers by being one

who will always help.”

It was her father who chose to name her Diana, because he loved Diana, the late Princess of Wales. Now, in her new country, she almost feels like royalty. Today, they are becoming a true Amer-ican family.

‘Diana has had to endure many struggles… but has excelled in every way since she has been in

the JROTC program.’– Sgt. 1st Class Valparisia Gibson

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Log on to OkeechobeeTheMagazine.com and click on the “Behind the Business” tab to learn more about Custom Window Treatments and Blinds.

BEHIND THE BUSINESS By Jann Seal

One-on-One Custom Decor

Okeechobee, and it wasn’t long before a few weeks in the winter turned into year-round. But it took a family tragedy to propel her south.

Val lost her 31-year-old son and only child in an automobile accident. If you’ve ever been through such a tragedy, you know that your guts are ripped out and you think you’ll never recover. And you don’t, fully. But life moves you on in mys-terious ways. “My son was an outdoors-man who loved life. It took me many years to come back into the world of the living, and I did. But it changed me. Moving to Okeechobee full-time helped considerably, and after five years of living

The arched shutter above the intricately valanced draperies fluttered open and closed while the adjacent fabric shades covering the thin window panes whirred up and down on their own. Marvels abound in Val Douglas’s home, including blinds sandwiched between glass panes, operated by a simple lever, and sumptu-ous fabric draping down her walls and covering the massive windows.

“My house is my showroom,” enthused Val, the diminutive doyenne of draperies for all of Okeechobee. She met her first sewing machine at the age of 14, when she learned to sew in home economics class. Graduation found her working for two companies in her Alabama hometown, but after the businesses shut down she looked for more stable work. “I was always good with numbers, so I ended up as a credit and office manager.” Her job stability left her secure but always searching to fulfill the creative side of her personality.

“I saw an ad for a woman who needed a seamstress. I knew I could do it, and it gave me great experience. When I left, people started calling me directly, and that’s how my business started.”

Her Custom Window Treatments and Blinds grew quickly, and Val soon had 11 employees working day and night shifts. Kinder Care, nursing homes through-out the state and residential clients filed orders with her company, keeping the machines whirring and Val quite busy. Winters found her and her husband in

between Okeechobee and Alabama, we moved here permanently.

“We’d always lived near the water, and when my husband decided to build our home, I realized that I was merely ex-changing one body of water for another.” Her home, in Buckhead Ridge, overlooks the canal and is surrounded by greenery, a shimmering pool and wide open spaces. “This was my change of lifestyle, and I wasn’t going to work. I was healing, building a new home and focusing on our little lives behind the closed doors. But after five months I was going crazy!”

A storefront in Okeechobee, across from the KOA facility, was her start. It was just after hurricanes pummeled the area and winter birds needed new window treatments for their homes. Across the street they wandered, and while no one in their little town north of Birmingham, Ala., wanted verticals, everyone here did. A business not only was born, it boomed!

“Word of mouth was my greatest pub-licity, and I think I’ve advertised in Okeechobee The Magazine for all but the very first issue. Joining Main Street and putting my name in the phone book also were milestones and, after 10 years, the phone is still ringing.

Val left her storefront when the building was sold and felt comfortable enough in the demand for her services to move the business home. A two-car garage was fitted with air conditioning, shelves went up, cutting tables went down and sewing

machines dotted the vast space. “I hadn’t realized that after establishing myself, I didn’t really need the storefront. Referrals were the mainstay of my business, and I didn’t lose any customers. In fact, my business increased and I didn’t have a large overhead to pay out. It was the right thing to do at the right time.”

The sewing machines are humming year-round in Val’s garage, and she brings in help as needed. “Summers are as busy as winters,” she said, laughing. I’m extreme-ly busy!” The only big change is that Val no longer climbs the ladders and does the installations herself. “A hip replacement two years ago squashed that for me. Now I have installers who man the ladders!”

She sources fabrics throughout the United States, but it’s Val herself who measures, designs and fabricates the

window treatments for her clients. She’s always ready to advise her customers on the latest trends in fabrics and technology. The once-popular verticals have been replaced by two-inch faux wood blinds, shutters and window treatments, indicat-ing ease of upkeep as being primary in the minds of Okeechobee residents. Blame it on the lifestyle and climate!

“Every time I think about stopping, people say: ‘You can’t! Who would I trust?’” I guess I’ve built myself a life I can’t remove myself from. Working, staying busy — they keep my mind oc-cupied,” she mused, looking around her vast living room. “And I think it’s time to change out my own draperies!”

CUSTOM

WINDOW TREATMENTS AND BLINDS

Owner Val Douglas.

Custom Window Treatments and BlindsCall (863) 357-6555 or visit

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2015-2016

LIVEComedy

DramaMusic

The

OkeechobeeCommunity Theatre

SEASON 37

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Presented by arrangement with Samuel French, Inc.

by Sam Bobrick

GETTING SARA MARRIED- Sara Hastings, an unmarried lawyer in her mid-thirties, is much too busy to get involved in any romance. Her Aunt Martha has decided to take matters into her own hands to find her a husband. Aunt Martha’s methods, however, are quite unorthodox, much to Sara’s dismay, but to our funnybone’s delight!

Mar. 4, 5, 11 & 12, 2016

Material is in the Public Domain

MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET- A genial gentleman who claims his name is Kris Kringle is hired as Macy’s department store Santa. When he’s declared insane and put on trial, everyone involved must p e r s o n a l l y a n s w e r t h e question: Do you believe in Santa Claus?

Dec. 4 & 5, 2015

Presented by arrangement with Samuel French, Inc.

by James Valcq & Fred Alley

THE SPITFIRE GRILL–Into a town with no future comes a girl with a past. She finds work and ultimately a new home in the community’s only eatery. The grill, and even the town, will never be the same. It’s a musical with an abundance of warmth, spirit and goodwill. Engaging!

Nov. 6, 7, 13 & 14, 2015

“Spitfire Miracles!”

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14

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It’s a Season of

Our 37th Year!

LIVE Theatre!LIVE Theatre!LIVE Theatre!LIVE Theatre!

SW 2nd Ave. at 7th Street • Okeechobee 863.763.1307

okeechobeecommunitytheatre.com FIND US ON

SW 2nd Ave. at 7th Street • Okeechobee

okeechobeecommunitytheatre.com

SW 2nd Ave. at 7th Street • Okeechobee

The

March 4, 5, 11 & 128pm, plus a 2pm Matinee on the 12th

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whose creations include Bison Sloppy Joes, Steak Tip Baguettes and his twisted version of the classic Caesar Salad, all of which are available for private functions, Sunday Brunch, daily in the High Noon Café and at the popular Friday Night Steak and Clays sundown suppers.

Having been featured on NBC’s Today Show, the OK Corral Gun Club wel-comes individual guests, private parties, events, business groups, clubs and organi-zations. On-site trainers help the novices while those who are experienced make their own way around the challenging courses. By January, 12 Colorado mining cabins sporting 24 rooms and a general store will be available for those wishing to spend longer periods of time at the OK Corral Gun Club.


OK CORRAL

GUN CLUB

OK Corral Gun Club9449 N.E. 48th St. in Okeechobee. For information call (863) 357-2226, or visit www.okcorralgunclub.com.

Log on to OkeechobeeTheMagazine.com and click on the “Behind the Business” tab to learn more about OK Corral Gun Club.

BEHIND THE BUSINESS By Jann Seal

High Noon at the OK Corral Gun Club

of the group’s need of a new shooting location. His original plan was to turn 40 acres of land into a members-only shooting club, but the entrepreneur in him wasn’t content to think small.

By 2011, the beginnings of the OK Corral Gun Club were under construction. Smitten with the area, Charles also saw a pool of employees ready to work and a favorable economic climate, resulting in his 2012 opening of Charles’s Industries composite factory in Okeechobee. The Charles footprint in Okeechobee was expanding.

The little shooting club that could is now an open-to-the-public compound

OK— so what does a man do when he finds that perfect piece of property — one where he can build his retirement home and live out his days surrounded by rugged beauty, vast grasslands, trees, shrubs and wildlife? Land that’s in the middle of nowhere, but the man’s wife wants no part of it? Well, if you’re busi-nessman Joseph Charles, you find a way to make it work by building a business on the land and a home nearby. That’s how the OK Corral Gun Club grew from a man’s passion to hunt and shoot into a thriving business.

Fast-forward a few years, and the massive dining room of the OK Corral Gun club offers a sight line filled with the beauty of Okeechobee’s topography. Trees stretching to the sky, green fields and pastures, well-maintained split-rail fencing, flowers, ponds, rocking chairs and the cracking sound of rifle shot pierc-

ing the breeze. In just four years, Joseph has turned his 350 acres of scrub into a lush entertainment venue for those of all ages.

In life, as in business, one thing leads to another, and the wise man examines all the opportunities that come his way. In the case of Charles, his River Forest Yacht-ing Centers in Stuart and LaBelle often found him driving across the center of Florida, through Okeechobee. A member of the Single Action Shooting Society, he’d participated in event shoots with the Okeechobee Marshals and learned

hosting sporting clay events, a rifle and pistol range, archery station and enter-tainment centers, as well as a Crystal Ball-room and the High Noon Café. Event space totals 9,000 square feet, making it ideal for weddings, fundraisers, holiday parties and corporate gatherings — with “sport” added to the mix.

Channing Boyd, the general manager of the OK Corral Gun Club, and his wife, a fifth-generation Floridian, appreciate life in the heartland of Florida, the agricul-tural bent of the area and the Southern hospitality feel of the facility. “We offer a safe, family environment to beginners as well as the 75 percent of our guests who are experienced shooters,” said Boyd, an avid marksman.

Attention to detail in the facility’s layout, designed by Charles, are also evident in the interior elements of all the buildings on site, which include St. Louis brick facing, Amish farm reclaimed wood flooring, antique guns, dairy lamps and animal trophies. Yet, technology reigns front and center.

A tour of the Gun Club revealed two championship sporting clay courses, a wobble deck, a covered stand for five plus a competition course. Solar panels at each station charge the trap machines and the remote controllers. A National Rifle Association-certified pistol and rifle range is covered, while the Competition Park includes tactical ranges, both used for law enforcement and SWAT training. All of the gun facilities are overseen by

The OK Corral Gun Club team: Michael Amaral, Trent Boatner, Michelle Ritter, Channing Boyd, Allison Hathaway and Scott Schnelle.

an in-house range director and a shotgun sports director.

Just past the Tesla and electric car charging station, the smell of freshly hewn wood and a towering rock fire-place dominate the 3,700-square-foot Ranch House, an ideal location for small business functions, social and formal events. The charm is in the environment, complete with a summer kitchen and comfortable rocking chairs from which to observe all the action. Oversized leather chairs dot the interior, and catering is available for private events.

The fun of the shooting courses is topped off by the joy of dining in either the Ranch House or the 175- to 250-seat Event Center, where the kitchens are helmed by Executive Chef Michael Amaral. Formerly of New York City’s Waldorf Astoria Hotel and the Four Seasons Hotel, Amaral is a hands-on chef


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support because it was a really good reward for four years of hard work. I’m just glad we won the races that day,” he added.

He said he’d like to continue swimming in college and said he might interest some smaller schools, adding that he’ll seek to pursue a career in the mechanical or engineering field.

Bean said his advice to younger swimmers is to always enjoy the sport and being in the pool. “I would tell them to do everything they can in practice and not to slack off. You must work as hard as you can in this sport,” he added.

Bean said he has a lot of people to thank for his success and that, without their support, he wouldn’t have been able to set school records.

“I thank all the other swimmers and the coaches for helping me during my career. The coaches have been there for us and took a lot of time out of their lives to help us. I also thank the parents who pitched in for getting us here to the pool before we could drive. It took a lot of commitment all the way around,” he added.

Bean’s parents are Jonathan and Stacie Bean of Okeechobee.

from Okeechobee’s ONLY Hometown Radio Stations from Okeechobee’s ONLY Hometown Radio StationsHappy Holidays

863.467.1570FAX 888.875.1570

By Charles M. Murphy, WOKC’s Voice of the Brahmans

Star OHS SwimmerSets His Pace for

Records, State Finals

Nathanael Bean will leave Okeechobee High School this spring with many of the school records for swimming in his back pocket.

His remarkable career includes records in various events, such as the 500 freestyle, 200 individual medley, several relays and the 100 backstroke. Bean is a four-year letter winner for the Brahmans.

Bean began to swim after his family moved back to Florida from West Virginia. His older sister started to swim, and he decided he wanted to give it a try.

“When I started out I really liked the sport, and I still love it. I think the team has done their best to achieve their goals,” he noted.

Bean decided that the short high school season wasn’t enough time in the pool for him last year. He joined the Indian River State College club team along with teammates Michael Muros and Aubrie Reister. He said that extra time in the pool really helped him stay in shape and make a run at more school records.

Bean was hopeful of breaking the school’s 100 freestyle record by the end of the season. He also hoped to represent Okeechobee in the state finals.

“Swimming is a big part of my life. I know it’ll be tough to make state, but I will do my best. I think state was within my reach this year,” he explained.

Bean said he really enjoyed the senior day meet at the sports complex in October. Okeechobee defeated St. Lucie West Centennial that afternoon. “I appreciate all the community’s

Coach Stephen Neafsey with Nathanael Bean.

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When Joy got older, she decided to do more with her passion for baking, so she opted to learn how to decorate.

“I took Wilton classes at Michaels,” she said. “But the majority of my knowledge of cake really just comes from lots and lots of practice.”

Today, Joy gets lots of practice because she runs her own business, Joy’s Place in Okeechobee. She is a custom cake designer who bakes and personally dec-orates cakes for all occasions.

“I love to see the look on my clients’ faces when they see their personalized design,” she said.

Joy may be busy with her business but she still cherishes her time in the kitchen with her mom and has even started to bring the next generation into the kitchen.

“I love baking in general because it spans all generations and brings my family to-gether in the kitchen,” she said. “I am teaching my nieces how to make my grandmother's pound cake and I will pass the lemon cookie making onto them soon.”

For more information or to see Joy’s port-folio, visit www.cakesofjoy.com. She can be reached at (863) 697-8681.

Lemony Christmas Cookies Ingredients 1 egg 1 8 oz. Cool Whip

Directions 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 2. Beat egg well, by hand (preferably with a fork). 3. Fold in Cool Whip. 4. Gently mix in cake mix. 5. Drop batter by spoonful into powdered sugar; roll into balls. Place on greased cookie sheet and bake 9-10 minutes (for a more “cake” consistency, bake 10-12 minutes).6. Remove cookies from oven and immediately place cookies on a rack to cool. Enjoy!

Fondant “Poinsettia” ToppersTools Fondant (red and green)Small flower cutter (preferably a daisy)Ball tool (or the round end of your paintbrush)Edible pearlsRolling pinKnifeTweezersPaintbrushClear vanilla extract

Please visit www.OkeechobeeTheMagazine.com for a step-by-step video.

The holidays are a time for love, laughter and overeating. Thanks to the many festive gatherings that take place with lots of desserts offered, it isn’t a difficult challenge to accomplish.

“The best type of dessert is one that is shared,” said Joy Jarriel.

And as a baker, Joy knows a thing or two about desserts. She is probably best known for her elaborately decorated pound cakes, a family recipe that she refuses to give up but is oh-so-popular.

Joy got her baking start in the kitchen with her mom making lemon Christmas cookies. “It was easy, delicious and great when you need a quick dessert for a lot of people,” Joy said about her family’s lemon cookies. “We have a big church Christmas party at our home every year, and we make all the goodies.”

Joy Jarriel

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As many people do, I have a favorite college athletic team and proudly show the team

colors often. They are displayed in my clothes, my vehicle, my office, even on my cellphone screen. And I fly a green-and-orange flag to identify with my team while tailgating at the games. It is obvious that I am a Miami Hurricanes fan. My team; my colors. But although I am an enthusiastic fan, this is only a leisurely or recreational passion; not nearly as serious as more important things in my life.

Aside from my God and my family, one of my most serious passions is my love of my country, the United States of America. The symbol of my country, our flag, is more precious to me, more revered, and more meaningful than any logo or sports team symbol. My country. My flag. From my earliest recollection of my school days, respect for our flag was instilled in me through its presence in every classroom and atop the flagpole in the school yard, and our daily reciting of the Pledge of Allegiance. Our teachers had little patience for disrespect toward the flag. After all, we were still riding the surge of patriotism that began after Pearl Harbor and continued to rise even after victory in Europe. We were barely 10 years after the end of World War II and not yet 15 years beyond the Japanese

attack in 1941. We and our allies had won a clear victory over the Nazi regime and the Japanese Empire. Patriotism, love of country, was quite popular. And every school student was taught the protocol for showing our national pride and was expected to practice it. There was a sense of pride and of security, being a citizen of a powerful, free nation that responded to attacks and threats with a vengeance. Then came the decline in patriotism. As our nation became more involved in the conflict in Indochina, seeking to stop the spread of communism, we again deployed our military to fight on foreign soil. The Vietnam War, though, was different. No one had attacked us. We were there to help a virtually unknown country fend off an advancing enemy

whose ideals were contrary to the liberty and freedoms we Americans desired for the whole world. There was no immediate threat to our security. As the number of American casualties rose, our confidence in our nation decreased.

According to polls taken in the late 1960s and early ’70s, one-third of our citizens were opposed to the war. With the deep social and political divisions, civil unrest and protests against the war became com-monplace. American flags were burned in protest of the war — an act I could never condone. So, despite the feelings of a growing number of Americans and as thousands of young men my age did, in 1969 I enlisted in the Marine Corps. The Marine Corps taught me even greater respect for our flag and admiration for the brave men and women who served

under various designs of that flag over the centuries.

From the Bennington Flag of the Rev-olutionary War, so famously shown in the “Spirit of ’76” painting, to Major Armistead’s 30- by 42-foot flag over Fort McHenry during the War of 1812, which inspired Frances Scott Key to pen our national anthem, to the 48-starred banner planted atop Mount Suribachi on Iwo Jima by five Marines and a Navy corpsman in 1945, to the six American flags planted by our astronauts on the surface of the moon, for generations this piece of cloth has symbolized the foresight and wisdom of our Founding Fathers, the bravery and strength of our military, the ingenuity and industry of our people, and our steadfast belief in

equality and freedom for all mankind.

Unfortunately, respect for the flag of our country has continued to deteriorate. Many schoolchildren refuse to stand and recite the Pledge of Allegiance, and our laws prohibit us from requiring it. Other than military veterans and their families, few people stand as Old Glory passes in parades. Many continue to carry on conversations and stir about during the national anthem at sporting events. This growing disrespectful group is made up of the direct beneficiaries of the historical events which are intrinsic in the flag of our nation. Without it and the valor with which it has been flown, our lives would be far different.

I love my country. But my feelings about our nation pale when compared to those of the brave men who signed the Dec-

Jerry Bryant, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran, is a judge in the Okeechobee County Court. An OHS graduate, Judge Bryant received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Central Florida and his law degree from the Stetson University College of Law.

My Country. My Flag. By Jerry Bryant, County Court Judge

laration of Independence, kindling the fire of freedom this country has fueled for two and a half centuries. They put their names to that document, bravely declaring freedom from the British monarch’s control by saying, “…for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Prov-idence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.” These patriots laid it all on the line for our cause. And shortly thereafter, the Stars and Stripes was adopted. As William Tyler Page wrote in “The Amer-ican’s Creed,” adopted by the House of Representatives in 1918,

“I believe in the United States of America … established upon those principles of freedom, equality, justice, and humanity for which American patriots sacrificed their lives and fortunes. I therefore believe it is my duty to my country to love it, to support its Constitution, to obey its laws, to respect its flag, and to defend it against all enemies.”

The least I can do is love my country and respect the symbol of this union these patriots created and fought for so long ago. My country. My flag.

A

Private Bryant, August 1969


“Are we safe online?”

The answer, of course, is yes; however, there are some caveats that a wise online surfer should heed. We are all aware of so-called “viruses” and the potential damage they may cause to our computer. A virus is a program that, if contracted on your device, may cause all sorts of headaches for you by slowing down per-formance, inhibiting your Internet con-nection, bombarding you with popups, hijacking webpages and encrypting your files, just to name a few. Virus is the global term for so many different types of bad programs, including, but not limited to, adware, malware, Trojans, worms, redirectors, hijackers and ransomware.

“So who created these headaches?” you ask. Computer programmers, hackers and/or geeks who have nothing better to do with their time than to sit in dark, little rooms with headsets on, drink lots of coffee, eat Cheetos and think of ways to make our lives miserable. Some say they enjoy the challenge, some have a vendetta against Microsoft, most are bored as they have no life, and a select few have criminal intent.

“How do I know if I have a virus?” Here are some things to watch for on your computer. Is it operating unusu-ally slowly or locking up? Now, if your computer is 10 years old, let’s be realistic; but if it is relatively new, this could be

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a sign. Are you sending erro-neous emails to everyone in your contact list and are they

sending you texts to stop? This may be another signal that you may have an issue. Are you getting tons of popups on the Internet or random, unwanted advertisements? This is a sure, obvious sign that you have a problem. Other symptoms may include your homepage continually changing, files mysteriously disappearing or, one the latest epidemics, your files being held captive for money (hence “ransomware”).

“So how did I get this virus?” Perhaps you attempted to open an email from Uncle Fred to see how he is doing, until you finally realized you don’t have an Uncle Fred! I always advise people to never open an email unless you are absolutely sure of the sender or expecting a specific email. Stay on well-known websites; beware of obscure sites that offer a great price on a specific product that appears too good to be true; as you know, it probably is. Do not click on ads; as tempting as it may be, resist the temptation. And it goes without saying: Do not stick any foreign objects (such as discs or flash drives) in your computer unless you are sure of their origin. I know some of this seems basic, but you’d be surprised.

Lastly, get a good antivirus program in-stalled on your computer. There are many out there, although sadly, some viruses can still get past the best of them. But, if you follow these simple guidelines, you should be fine.

Happy surfing!


Around Okeechobee Brought to You By: When only the best will do. Around Okeechobee Brought to You By: When only the best will do.

Chamber Ribbon-Cutting Main Street Mixers

Raulerson Marker DedicationThe Okeechobee Historical Society dedicated the Peter and Loui-siana Chandler Raulerson Historic Marker during a ceremony at the Evergreen Cemetery on Saturday, Oct. 3. The marker project was inspired by Zelda Mixon, great-granddaughter of Peter and Louisiana. Members of the Historical Society, the Raulerson family, city and county officials and community members attended the dedication.

O'Reilly Auto PartsThe Surgery Center of Okeechobee

Artist ReceptionOkeechobee Main Street’s Art and Culture Committee threw an artist’s reception for David Joiner on Sept. 23 at the Historical Okeechobee County Courthouse. Joiner, an Okeechobee artist, specializes in graphite drawing and acrylic painting. His artistic philosophy consists of rendering his subjects as accurately as possible, within a perfect setting. The artist’s reception was sponsored by the Lounge at Sacred Sanctuary. Photo Courtesy of

Okeechobee Main Street

InkwellOn Tuesday, Sept. 15, Erik Clay from Inkwell Tattoos & Piercings presented a check for $846 to Okeechobee High School to help purchase art supplies for the students to use. From January to August each year, Inkwell sets aside a dollar for every tattoo or piercing they do and places it on a wall in their shop. Then in September, they donate the money to the Okeechobee public school system. A new Wall of Dollars begins in January. Community members are encouraged to stop in, pin a dollar on the wall and help raise money for art education.

Kiwanis InstallationOn Saturday, Oct. 10, the Kiwanis Club of Okeechobee celebrated the installation of new officers — including its first female leader — at its Roaring ’20s-themed dinner at the Okeechobee KOA. This year’s ceremony was distinctive in that Courtney Moyett was installed as the first woman president in the Okeechobee club’s 44-year history by District 16 Lt. Gov. Jim Vensel. To learn more about the Kiwanis, visit www. Kiwanis.org.

The new board members are, from left: Lonnie Kirsch, Candace Pope, Teresa Bishop, Sherri Enfinger, Heather Hancock, Maureen Burroughs, Courtney Moyett, Ken Keller, Gary Scherrer, Jonathan Bean, District Lt. Gov. Jim Vensel, Michael Hazellief and Terry Burroughs.

First Responders Honored On Sept. 11, VFW (Big Lake) Post 10539 had its annual First Responders Luncheon. This year, eight local first responders were selected by their peers from the Okeechobee Police Department, the city Fire Department, the Okeechobee County Sheriff’s Department and the county Fire Department to receive special appreciation awards. Over 70 first responders, family members, VFW members and public officials attended the event.Pictured are the recipients along with city and county officials.

Members of the Okeechobee Historical Society and Raulerson relatives.

Women’s Health Luncheon

The 2015 Women’s Health Lunch-eon, hosted by Raulerson Hospital, took place Wednesday, Oct. 14, at the Williamson Conference Center at Indian River State College.

Guest speakers and the Raulerson Hospital administrative team, from left: Dr. James Bradfield, Chief Nursing Officer Brian Melear, Marketing and Public Relations Director Jenny Pung and Dr. Carlos Alejo.

Chris Joles and Erik Clay in front of the Wall of Dollars.

From left: Lauren Meyers, assistant principal; Sherry Wise, assistant principal; Erik Clay; Stephen Neafsey, art instructor; and Dylan Tedders, principal.

ECO Legislative Luncheon

The 2015 Okeechobee Legisla-tive Luncheon, co-hosted by theEconomic Council of Okeecho-bee and the Okeechobee Area Agri-Council, took place Friday,Oct. 16, at the Indian River StateCollege Williamson Conference Center.

Photo

Cou

rtesy

of E

CO

From left: State Sen. Denise Grimsley (R-District 21); ECO Executive Director Tara Minton; and State Rep. Cary Pigman (R-District 55).

Brown Cow Sweetery Seacoast Bank

From left: Mark Bragel, Bianca Keefe, Bobby Keefe, Paulette Bragel, David Joyner, Maureen Burroughs, Bridgette Waldau and Sharie Turgeon.


Harbor Community Bank .................. 69Heartland Discount Pharmacy ............ 5Highland Pest Control ...................... 89Hoskins, Turco Lloyd & Lloyd ............. 98

ICS Computers................................. 111 Inkwell Tattoos .............................. 111

Jacky White Concrete, Inc. ................ 91Jeanette’s Interiors......................... 107

Katie A. Edwards, P.A. ....................... 92

Lake Okeechobee Digestive Disease .. 81 Lakeside Grill .................................... 71Law Office of Gerald Lefebvre......... 103Linda's Style & Trends ....................... 93Los Cocos Mexican Restaurant ........ 117

M & M Auto Brokers ......................... 75Mary Kay .......................................... 93Mickey Bandi .................................... 85Mims Veterinary............................... 41Mixon Real Estate Group .................. 55Mohawk Construction, Inc ................ 83Morgan's Furniture ........................... 57Murray Insurance Services ................ 67

New Vision Eye Center ..................... 29Northlake Veterinary Hospital .......... 83

OK Corral Gun Club ........................... 37Okeechobee Christian Academy ....... 72Okeechobee Community Theatre.... 107Okeechobee Dental Care .................. 19Okeechobee Family Health & Safety Expo ................................... 21Okeechobee Health Care Facility ...... 10 Okeechobee Medical Reserve Corp .... 71

Peace Lutheran School ..................... 89Peace Lutheran School Event ........... 33Penrod Construction ....................... 115Pier II Resort ..................................... 58Platinum Performance Builders ..........87Plaza 300 .............................................85Porcelain Esthetics ........................... 67Pritchards and Associates ................. 98Pueblo Viejo VI Restaurant ............... 32

Quail Creek Plantation ....................... 9Quality Air Conditioning ............72, 110

2nd Street Pizza ............................... 9914K Gold Store ............................... 101

A & G Pools ....................................... 74A Child’s World ................................. 34Abney Building & Consulting, Inc. .... 41Advanced Water Technologies .......... 99Alexis' Studio 13 Dance Academy ..... 85American Drilling Services .............. 117Anderson Realty ............................... 23ARS Powersports ............. 35, 49, 56, 74 Badcock Furniture ............................ 49Bass Electric ................................... 118Beautiful Mess Boutique .................. 99Berger Clinic ................................... 111Berger Real Estate ............................ 91Big Lake Eye Care ............................... 3Bonnie Kanars, Florida Blue ............. 15Brown Cow Sweetery ....................... 79Buxton & Bass Funeral Home ........... 70

Carpenter Insurance ......................... 89CASTLE Fun Shoot ............................ 39CenterState Bank ............................. 61Clear Title & Legal Services ............... 57Crossroads Restaurant ...................... 21Custom Sights and Sounds .........84, 91Custom Window Treatments.......... 113

D4 Powersports ................................ 93Doctors Clinic Family Health Center .. 81Dolly Hand Cultural Arts Center ........ 31Domer’s............................................ 34

Echols Plumbing & A/C ..................... 70Edward Jones Investments ............. 111Entegra Roof Tile .............................. 47Enviro – Tech Systems, Inc ................ 48Everglades Pediatric Dentistry.......... 73

Family Health and Wellness ............. 12Farm Bureau/David Diehl ................. 69Florida Blue ...................................... 79Florida Equipment and Restoration .. 48Florida Eye Institute ......................... 84Florida Outdoors RV ....................... 106Florida Public Utilities ...................... 18

Gilbert Chevrolet, Gilbert Ford ....... 123Glades AC ......................................... 49Goodwill Industries ........................ 117

Rabon's Country Feed....................... 75 Raulerson Hospital .................. 2, 62-63Raulerson Hospital .............. Back CoverRite Tire by Izzy ................................ 33Roxsanna Reichert/Okeechobee Dodge ......................... 79Royal Consulting .............................. 48Royal's Furniture ............................ 110Rustic Now Furniture & Emporium .. 102

Sandra Pearce Photography ........... 106Schuler, Halvorson, Weisser, Zoeller & Overbeck ............................. 88 Seacoast National Bank .................... 14Sharon Wallace................................. 93Simply Saigon Vietnamese Cuisine ... 80Skull Hill Steel .................................. 97Sneider Law ..................................... 84Sprint Communications ...................... 7St. Lucie Battery & Tire ..................... 35Staffords Salon ................................. 91State Farm Insurance ..................... 101Sunrise Theatre ................................ 40Surgery Center of Okeechobee ........... 6Syfrett Feed ...................................... 22

TCMA Urgent Care ............................ 56Teez 2 Pleez ................................... 106Tenniswood Dental Associates ......... 13The Hope Chest .............................. 101The Lounge at Sacred Sanctuary .... 118Tin Fish ............................................. 58Tire Zone .......................................... 80Todd Everett Flooring ..................... 103Toni’s Chic Boutique ....................... 101Travis Asbery/Gilbert Ford ................ 71Treasure Coast Food Bank ................. 59Trinidad Garcia, M.D ....................... 106

Ultimate Shine ............................... 113

Visiting Nurse Association ................ 36

Waste Management ........................ 80Water's Edge .................................. 101Wemmer Family Orthodontics ....... 117Williamson Cattle Company ............. 89 WOKC 100.9 FM ............................. 113Women's Health Specialists ............ 107Worley Construction ...................... 119

Y0-Kee Frozen Yogurt ..................... 107

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www.Gilbert-Ford.com

(863) 763-21213175 U.S. Hwy 441 SouthOkeechobee, FL 34974

Serving the Okeechobee Area and Santafor over 90 Years!

Over500NEW and Pre-OwnedVehicles to Choose From!

www.GilbertChevrolet.com

(863) 763-31543550 U.S. Highway 441 South


Merry Christmas!

“When we first came to Okeechobee from West Palm, we were a little bit worried how we were going to advertise our business. But as

soon as I saw the stack of glossy magazines sitting on a table, I knew it was going to be just fine. Okeechobee The Magazine is definitely meant to be saved and not to be thrown away.

— Paulette Bragel, Brown Cow Sweetery

If surgery is in your future, trust Raulerson Hospital’s surgical team for smaller incisions, fewer scars, less pain — and a faster recovery so you can be there.

Best yet: The finest care is here for you. The Joint Commission has recognized Raulerson Hospital as a Top Performer on Key Quality Measures, including Surgical Care. We are also proud to be 1 of only 147 hospitals in America to achieve this recognition for four consecutive years.

Whether it’s general surgery, orthopedics or something in between, Raulerson Hospital has minimally invasive options to keep you from missing out.

So when it comes to life’s most wonderful moments, stay in the picture. Trust your care to the Surgical Team at Raulerson Hospital.

To learn more about our surgical services, including minimally invasive procedures, visit RaulersonHospital.com or call 763.9228.

I DON’T WANT TO MISS OUT ON .

With minimally invasive surgery, you don’t have to.

Okeechobee The Magazine Nov/Dec 2015

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