Freeline Media Orlando

Water Ski Museum hopes to ride the wave when Orlando gets Soaked.

May 18th, 2012

Michael Freeman

The Water Ski Museum in Polk County is looking forward to the upcoming Soaked water ski competition in downtown Orlando this fall. (Photo by Dave Raith).

POLK CITY – Tucked away off a country road in Polk County, Carole Lowe says her office off the beaten path nevertheless is a very popular spot with people who love to water ski. That includes athletes from around the world, she added.
”Right on this lake, we’ll have the teen trials for the next International Water Ski Championship tournament in 2013,’’ said Lowe, the director of the American Water Ski Education Foundation and the Water Ski Museum in Polk City.
Lowe is also excited that a neighboring county will be hosting a major water ski event in September, one that she believes will put a fresh spotlight on this popular sport – and on the museum itself, considering the leading role it plays in hosting so many water ski competitors year round.
”As far as the museum is concerned, I’m sure it will draw people here,’’ Lowe said.

Legoland Florida alters the tourist landscape in Polk County.

May 18th, 2012

Michael Freeman

Legoland Florida, which opened in Winter Haven last October, has dramatically changed Polk County's tourism industry. (Photo by Dave Raith).

WINTER HAVEN – Legoland Florida may have opened last October, Shannon Serventi said, but that doesn’t mean the theme park in Winter Haven is set in stone and can’t offer anything new or exciting.
In fact, she said, the theme park has a lot of special activities planned this year.
‘’This year has definitely been a busy year for us, and will continue to be,’’ said Serventi, the hospitality and sales representative at the theme park. ‘’We had our Lego Friends Weekend in February that was geared to girls, and we also hosted the Winter Haven Hospital Foundation Citrus Class 5k run, and I’m happy to say we had 700 people participate.’’
Later this year, she added, the theme park will host its first every Independence Day celebration, and ‘’We will celebrate it with a big, huge fireworks display,’’ Serventi said.

Social networking for businesses: a concept that works, one industry says.

May 17th, 2012

Michael Freeman

Jackie Ewing uses Facebook and other social media sites to promote her business, Ewing Enterprises.

WINTER HAVEN – For a lot of people across the globe, their morning starts by logging onto their home computer and checking their Facebook page.
More and more often these days, Jackie Ewing said, a lot of business owners are doing the same thing – the smart ones, anyway.
”Some are hesitating because it seems like such a huge task,’’ she said. But other business owners, she added, find that customers don’t mind connecting through a social media site – and some even like it quite a bit.
”They use it to communicate with their customers, their friends and family, to connect with them, engage with them,’’ Ewing said. ‘’You don’t go to a cocktail party to sell to people, you go to socialize with them. Social media works exactly the same way. It just happens online.’’

Law enforcement makes protection of Central Florida tourists a top priority.

May 17th, 2012

Michael Freeman

Lt. Mike Fisher of the Osceola County Sheriff's Office and Jennie Burton, Polk County's crime prevention administrator, address members of the vacation home industry. (Photo by Dave Raith).

WINTER HAVEN – Tourists flock to this region to enjoy the theme parks and other attractions here, but they also expect that in a tourism Mecca like Central Florida, they can expect to feel safe during their stay.
If not, cautioned An Flamand, then anyone who works in the tourism and hospitality industry has a lot to be worried about.
”As we all know, with the tourists being here, crime actually goes up a little,’’ said Flamand, who runs a property management firm that oversees several vacation homes, called USA Vacation Homes in Davenport.
For one thing, she said, a lot of the tourists appear to be easy targets for scam artists, including those pretending to sell reduced price tickets to the theme parks.
”We have a problem with those cheap ticket sales on (U.S.) 192 and (U.S.) 27,’’ Flamand said.
Another problem for the vacation home industry, she said, is that when these fully furnished houses, rented on a short term basis to tourists, are not booked, thieves see it as a good opportunity to break in and steal whatever furniture they can take.

Now a 21-year-old adult, Fringe kicks off two weeks of eclectic theater.

May 17th, 2012

Michael Freeman

George Wallace kicks of the 21st Annual Orlando International Fringe Theatre Festival. (Photo by Dave Raith).

ORLANDO — There was a long ribbon lying in front of Lauris Vidal, the singer and songwriter who entertained the crowd inside one of the theaters at the Lowndes Shakespeare Theatre.
”I’m living here in Orlando to play music,” Vidal told the audience as they continued mingling into the theater, just a few minutes past 6 p.m. on Wednesday. “It’s cool to play with y’all. I’m going to play one more song, then we’re going to cut ribbons. Then we’ll have a dance-a-thon. That’s what happens when you cut ribbons.”
A few moments later, Michael Marinacchio addressed the audience, and let them know there was someone quite special in the audience. Bernie O’Brien, he noted, was a 63 year old man from Boston who had decided, just five years ago, to write an original one-man play and submit it to a theater festival.