Catching a Major-League Career In Travel

Written by Michael Harris; Photos by Anthony Rao

Somewhere, somehow, a sign would always pop up in Bob Stinson’s life shortly before his next career move.

And in Bob Stinson’s career he moved quite a bit, going from Miami to Los Angeles to St. Louis to Houston to Montreal to Kansas City and ending in Seattle. In short, Bob Stinson travelled and moved quite a bit because of a Major League Baseball career spanning 11 years from 1969 to 1980. Read Full Entry

Mount Dora Arts Festival “A Celebration of Every Form of Art”

Written by Blair Townley

“I had no idea this festival was this big,” exclaims one woman, an obvious newcomer to one of the most recognized art festivals in Florida.

And why not? Unbeknownst to the woman, the festival draws an estimated 300,000 art enthusiasts and festival attendees throughout the course of the weekend in February each year. Read Full Entry

Bruce Heggie

Mount Dora High Tight End/Defensive End Bruce Heggie signed with the University of Notre Dame on Signing Day, Feb. 3. Read Full Entry

The Real Wolverine

Leesburg’s Brad Dunn is known around the world for his nickname and his strength

Story by Michael Harris

Brad Dunn loads a round sphere in the back of his Cooper mini; passerbys might look at the bulky object as though it were Styrofoam the way Dunn lifts it.

It hits the deck of his hatchback with a thud. The car sinks a few inches downward as it takes on the concrete stone.

“Aw, it’s just 205 pounds,” he says to the car.

The mass of 205 pounds with no handle to latch on to may be impossible to some, but in Brad Dunn’s world it’s the weight of a tennis ball.

Not even the Cooper can handle the weight.

“It rolls around back there and it put a dent inside of it.”

Brad is a behemoth in size, strength and heart. As an American Strongman Corporation competitor, Brad is one of the strongest men in the world and competes everywhere from Orlando to Finland. Read Full Entry

Bonnie Oliver a Closer Look

Seven is the magic number in Clermont resident Bonnie Oliver’s world. The number doesn’t represent how many kids she has nor does it represent how many weeks she plans to hit her goal in our Fit For A Change contest.

Seven represents how many degrees she has.

“Two Bachelor’s in management and marketing from University of Central Florida, two from Rollins College in anthropology and international affairs, an MBA from the University of North Florida, a masters in economics from UCF and a doctorate in international business from Argosy University in Sarasota,” Dr. Bonnie says. “It was challenging but I love to learn and I was fortunate to be in the right place in the right time and I took advantage of the opportunity.”

Along with her collection of degrees, Bonnie is a professor at Valencia Community College in economics and teaches a class during the spring in African-American history. She started college when she was 18 years of age and received her doctorate five years ago in 2005.

“It just kind of happened,” Dr. Bonnie says. “It wasn’t anything that I had planned; I just took classes that were of interest for me.”

But Dr. Bonnie admits she did spend plenty of time studying and virtually no time exercising.

“When I went off to college I was always bigger than other girls, but when I spoke to a nutritionist and people who work in the field they said I was at my right weight at 180 pounds, which is the correct weight. But then when I went away to school, I worked my way through school. I worked full-time, part-time while taking a lot of classes. One time I was taking five classes AND working full-time and part-time. The weight kind of piled on,” she says.

“My goal now is to concentrate on my body and I know it takes a while – it’s a process.”

The initial weigh-in

Age: 43

Height: 5-5

Weight: 259.1

Percent Body Fat: 50.2

Lean Body Mass: 129.0

A Brush with the Heiress Gone Bad

Written By: Michael Harris

When Diana Bowles decided to go on a recon mission to competing banks as part of a marketing assignment for Bank of America in 1974, she didn’t figure to be at the epicenter of a bank robbery.

Working at a bank for most of her life and currently the Vice President at Citizen’s First Bank in Leesburg, Diana, like any bank employee, knows that a bank robbery is a distinct and very real possibility. Read Full Entry

Organization Founder Returns From Haiti

Story by Michael Harris

Awakened by a frantic friend in post-haste mode, Aaron Jackson’s mind was hazy and cloudy, yet, there was urgency to get out of his Le Plaza hotel room on Wednesday morning.

When he exited his room, he described his surroundings as if he were in a bowl of “Jell-o.” He waves his hand in front of his face as if he were caught in a dream sequence one would see on a television show or in a movie. Read Full Entry

Achieving Happiness Through Painting

Connie B. Kelley: Achieving Happiness Through Painting

Written by Blair Townley; Photos by Anthony Rao

The inspiration to paint can come at any time in a person’s life, something artist Connie B. Kelley can attest to experiencing 20 years ago. She began building her painting repertoire at 45 and has continued exploring her talent for the past two decades. Read Full Entry

A Place for the Locals

Written by Blair Townley

The quest continues!

I’m still on my personal mission to find where young, working professionals in Lake County go to meet and mingle during the week and on weekends.

Recently I’ve seen and heard about the local favorite in Eustis, Olivia’s Coffeehouse, and thought I would give it try to see who I might find there.

I attended their Friday night “Open Jam Night,” arriving about a half hour after the “jam” kicked off at 7 p.m. Pictures on Olivia’s web site of previous jam nights seemed to show a decent crowd of people of all ages having fun and enjoying the music. Read Full Entry

the 2010 Cover Girl

Congratulations to Lindsey Cipris of Leesburg who was crowned the 2010 Cover Girl winner at the Best of the Best celebration in December. Congratulations also to the amazing runner-ups; Kimberlee Davan, Sierra Ford, Chelsea Smith and Maria Sorbera.

Winner Lindsey Cipris is a born and raised native of Leesburg and sees that the 2010 Cover Girl should also be someone who characterizes Lake County. “I think [the cover girl] is someone who represents Lake County with great leadership qualities and is interesting as every cover girl has always had an interesting story,” she says Lindsey plans to become a dental hygienist and hopes to attend Valencia Community College’s dental hygiene degree program after finishing classes at Lake-Sumter Community College this spring. Outside of class, she is also the smiling face that greets you at the Northgate Animal Clinic in Leesburg where she works as the receptionist. Read Full Entry