The quaint city of Winter Park FL is no doubt a great destination to spend the holidays in. With the fast green scenery mixed with modern innovations, it has that small town feel, without the lack of big city features. For the yuletide season, it played host to the first leg of the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra’s annual Holiday Pops concerts a few years back.

Happening all over Central Florida, the first of the three-concert series was held at Winter Park FL’s Central Park – a perfect choice for such a musical event.

Over the years, the Orlando Philharmonic’s annual Holiday Pops Concerts have become a regular attraction in the Central Florida area. The celebrated orchestra specializes in a wide variety of holiday classics, with vocalists belting out familiar tunes that entice the crowd to sing along with them. Each year, the concerts attract more and more people, ranging from couples looking for a romantic time, or families who want to spend that special time together as one. Whoever you are or whatever you do, you’re more than welcome to the join in on the musical festivities!

For the Winter Park FL stop, the concert took place outdoors, so everyone got to bring a blanket along, and others even brought some snacks to compliment the performance.

For those who somehow missed the first stop, they were more than happy to head down to Winter Haven’s Polk Community College for the second leg and Winter Springs’ Central Winds Park for the third.

Don’t miss out on this wonderful opportunity to have a memorable holiday season on Winter Park FL by checking out the Orchestra’s holiday event calendar!

The second Kids Fore Kids Golf Tournament, which was held a few months ago on September 12, 2009, was without a doubt a smashing success. Playing host to the event was the Winter Park Country Club in Winter Park FL. The city boasts of a rich history and fast green scenery anyone will surely love. With the combination of that small town feel and up to date facilities, Winter Park Florida is a perfect golfing destination.

And speaking of golf, Winter Park Country Club’s history includes play from the likes of Hogan, Snead, Sarazen and Hagen. Of course, this isn’t to say that those who took part of the games had a tough time with the course.

With over 33 players in participation, ranging from ages 4 to 14, everyone had fun in the in the 9-hole “best ball” scramble as they played in teams of 4. Special congratulations go to tour tournament founder Gavin Fitzgerald, age 9, as well as all the other kids who participated.

The children were cheered on by family and friends in Winter Park FL, including Gavin’s parents and tournament organizers Sondra and Cody Fitzgerald; PGA golf professional, WPCC Head Pro and co-organizer Brendon Elliott; and PGA Tour player Bart Bryant.

Family and friends, including Gavin’s parents, Sondra and Cody Fitzgerald were not left out as they cheered on their kids. Special guests who graced the event were PGA golf professional, WPCC Head Pro and co-organizer Brendon Elliott and PGA Tour player Bart Bryant. In addition, Florida State Senator Gary Siplin was also present to support the tournament and his son who also joined the games.

Thanks to the very successful event, the Kids Fore Kids Foundation has raised over $10,000, all going to children’s like the Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children and the Winnie Palmer Hospital for Women and Babies making the folks at Winter Park FL even more proud.

Central Park residents can now look forward to a season of pure skating bliss and pleasure. The city of Winter Park FL is gearing up for “Winter in the Park”, starting Friday, November 20, 2009 until Sunday, January 3, 2010. It’s a freezing treat for locals like me and travelers alike. This is the first time that the city will have its own ice skating rink in Central Park West Meadow in the downtown area.

For only $10 per skater, one can already glide, spin, turn and enjoy time with friends and family the whole day. This fee already includes skate rental so there’s no need to bring those bulky skates along. The more the merrier as those gliding in groups of 10 can take advantage of group discounts and rates.

Private parties or exclusive rentals of the ice skating rink are available from Monday through Thursday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. as well, perfect for those who are looking for other options when it comes to celebrating the Holidays in Winter Park FL. For regular ice skaters, the rink is available from Mondays through Thursdays from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. During the weekends, people can skate all they want from 10 a.m. to 10.p.m. On Sundays, they can start gliding at noon until 6 p.m.

“Winter in the Park” will feature something special every night. Special frosty nights include date night for lovers, snow angels can glide gracefully during the local schools’ night and our very own “Politicians on Ice”. These nights are really what locals should look forward to and we can even invite relatives from neighboring cities and states. Great additions to the chilling Holiday experience in Winter Park FL are Holiday music, Santa appearances for the kids to enjoy, carolers and games.

To get to know more of “Winter in the Park, interested parties can call 407-599-3203 or browse through www.cityofwinterpark.org.

Don’t miss this chance to take home $100, $50, and $25 Dexter’s gift card by simply putting on your best Halloween Costume this coming Saturday at Dexter’s Winter Park FL.

Our very own Winter Park FL Fire-Rescue Department Chief, James White, and the rest of the boys in his department brings one home from the recently concluded 2009 Fire Rescue International (FRI) Conference and Exposition held at Dallas, TX with none other than the “Garry Briese IAFC Safety Performance Award” which was cosponsored by Salamander Technologies.

The award is one of 4 awards given by the Safety, Health and Survival Section Awards Program and it is presented only to the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) member to commemorate the individual’s achievement and commitment in the health and safety fields.

What could our beloved Winter Park FL Fire-Rescue department have done again this time to deserve such a prestigious award? Nothing much really. They just somehow manage to design, develop and then implement a safer patient compartment for the country’s ambulances used by firefighters. Dubbed the Ambulance Safety Initiative (ASI), the compartment features a vast improvement in the restraint systems in ambulances that the paramedics and patients use. Overall, thanks to the ASI, paramedics can now safely treat patients thanks to the innovative design of the device.

Just to put things into the right perspective on how difficult it could be to win this award, the IAFC is composed of more than 1.2 million able and witty fire chiefs and emergency responders in the country. And we all thought our guys at the Winter Park FL Fire department had more than enough to take care of, they still managed to squeeze in some valuable time to come up with something totally worthy of everyone’s praise. Oh well, must be just another day at the office for Chief White and his crew.