According to a recent article in the Orlando Business Journal, Firehouse subs is growing rapidly, and is “working on a location in the Lake Nona area that will likely open in 2012.”

With the recently opened WineHouse at Lake Nona, we’re seeing more and more establishments coming to the area to suport the growth from Medical City.

Read the entire article here: Firehouse Subs moves into bigger digs

Source: Orlando Sentinel

The University of Central Florida’s $69.5 million College of Medicine at Lake Nona in southeast Orlando is seeking silver certification from the United States Green Building Council.

The four-story, 175,000-square-foot facility reduced its potential environmental impacts in several categories: a 64 percent reduction in water use for irrigation, a 48 percent reduction in indoor-water use, a 21 percent reduction in energy use, non-ozone-depleting refrigerants, reflective roofing to reduce cooling costs, and the lowest power-using flat-screen monitors currently available in North America

Orlando already has 13 gold-level buildings and one silver.

Altamonte Springs-based specialty contractor Randall Mechanical Inc. completed $8 million of specialty heating, ventilation, air conditioning and plumbing work at the project.

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Patrick and Ryan at Spirit Farm Summer Camp in Harmony

Harmony, Fla. (August 11, 2010) – Two brothers, whose dad was deployed in late July to Afghanistan, are enjoying a fun summer because of the generosity of a local investment firm. Winter Park based Gardnyr Michael Capital, Inc. funded scholarships so the boys could attend the Spirit Farm Summer Day Camp run by the Harmony Institute in Osceola County.

“Gardnyr Michael Capital is pleased to have had the ability to fund scholarships for these kids,” said Jim Pietkiewicz, EVP of Gardnyr Michael Capital, Inc. “The Harmony Institute programs have always been something our firm has supported and this is a terrific opportunity to support both the Institute and our military families. It’s an honor and privilege to be a part of this.”

The scholarship recipients, Ryan and Patrick are enjoying their camp experience at Spirit Farm where they are participating in daily activities such as horseback riding, painting and crafts, archery and lassoing, bull riding, animal tracking and hiking and much more. “We are extremely thankful to the Harmony Institute and Gardnyr Michael Capital for making this opportunity available to our boys,” said mom Margaret. “It really helped take their mind off their Dad’s departure and came at the perfect time.” Shannon, who is in the US Army was deployed for 400 days and left for Afghanistan the same week the boys started camp.

The Harmony Institute two-week Summer Day camp was designed to provide children with a unique outdoor experience that focuses on Florida’s rich heritage. In addition to horseback riding, archery, roping and bull riding, campers garden, learn to care for farm animals, practice sports, and relax in “Red’s Saloon” and the authentic Indian tipis. Computers and video games are not available, as the goal is to expose children to the natural world, helping them to develop an appreciation for Osceola County history and heritage while developing environmental awareness, cultivating a respect for diversity; enhancing teamwork skills; increasing physical activity; learning healthy habits; deepening an interest in science, the arts, and language; and, of course, doing all this while having fun!

For information regarding camp and other program opportunities at Spirit Farm, including a tour, please contact Penny Young-Carrasquillo, program manager at 407-957-0207 or pyoung@harmonyinstitute.org. Visit the Harmony Institute website at www.harmonyinstitute.org for more information.

About The Harmony Institute
The Harmony Institute is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to promote the health and education benefits of living within natural environments. For more information, visit www.harmonyinstitute.org.

HUCKLEBERRY FIELDS

• Type: Single Family Residential for Sale
• Parking/Garage: 2
• Bedrooms: 3
• Baths: 2
• Square Feet: 1294.00
• Year Built: 1986
• Kitchen: Kitchen
• Roof: Shingle
• Foundation: Slab Foundation

Short Sale -Homeowner Association dues include your family membership to the YMCA. Enjoy sunsets at the Green Dock on 600 acre Lake Nona, picnic tables, and floating dock for kayaking & fishing. This community is surrounded by 500 acres of water and green spaces, and walking paths. Easy access to major highways. Four ramps to 417 Greenway within 1.5 to 5 miles, and 528 Beachline. Minutes to “Medical City” and zoned for state of the art Lake Nona Middle and Lake Nona High School.

MORNINGSIDE AT LAKE NONA

• Type: Single Family Residential for Sale
• Parking/Garage: 1
• Bedrooms: 3
• Baths: 2.50
• Square Feet: 1392.00
• Year Built: 2006
• Kitchen: Kitchen
• Construction: Stucco, Wood Frame, Block
• Style: Traditional
• Dining Room
• Family Room

Josh Sullivan and Matt Mendez have good reason to be looking forward to their senior season at Lake Nona High.

Lake Nona’s first year of existence was last season. This year was the first time the players were able to go through spring practices, and the familiarity they have with one another will be quite different than in 2009, when the Lions went 1-9.

“We’re very excited because no one really knew each other or knew the plays or anything,” Mendez said. “Now that all of us are coming back, we already know the plays and we are just getting right to it [snaps his fingers, snap snap snap] … it’s coming back quick.”

It’s possible he might hear some different kind of finger snaps during the season. Mendez and Sullivan do have the luxury of catching balls from the No. 2 quarterback in Central Florida.

But when Michigan commitment Kevin Sousa lets it loose, those passes are coming hard and tight. Sousa has a rifle arm and loves to drill the ball into the receivers hands.

Sometimes, that can hurt.

“It actually feels good,” Mendez said. Reasoning that if you catch it, you’re open, “so you just go.”

“At first it was difficult,” Sullivan said. “But you just have to adapt to it.”

Sullivan had a breakout season a year ago, leading the area in receiving with 53 catches, which also added up to a Central Florida-leading 903 yards. He also had six touchdowns.

“Catching 53 balls last year was like a blessing to me because as a sophomore at University, I didn’t catch no balls … none,” Sullivan said.

“So when I came up with 53 last year, it was like, ‘Whoa.’ I didn’t know I had this much talent. “Now I want to see if I can catch more than 60 balls, and just get better.”

The players might even find themselves open more often as teams have to stay honest with the addition of transfer running back Jarius Pace.

“We didn’t have a running game last year,” Sullivan said. “Now with Jarius Pace we have like an equalized offense … teams are going to have to check us now.”

Mendez (6-3, 210), along with Sousa, is at the Top Gun camp in Virginia this week and will also be going to camps at Delaware, Richmond and Towson State. Mendez had 32 catches for 560 yards and six touchdowns last season.

Neither Mendez nor Sullivan have scholarship offers to date, but they are hopeful given Sousa’s status as a top prospect.

Sullivan has been in contact with UCF coaches and something could come out of that, but given Sousa’s commitment to Michigan, it will be interesting to see if college scouts back off Lake Nona games this season.

Lake Nona residents are upset over a possible airport expansion.

Orlando International Airport wants to build on a wetlands area near the neighborhood, but residents are concerned about the environmental impact.

Hundreds of residents attended a public hearing Wednesday.

They are worried about the airport cutting down wetlands.

It’s an area they said is not only near their homes, but home to wildlife.

“When we drive down the road, we see open pasture, deer, eagles flying,” said resident Bob Wallace.

Wallace is afraid what he loves about his neighborhood will soon be gone.

The airport is in the final stages of getting a permit to expand.

OIA, which owns the land next to Lake Nona, has asked to build up two acres of wetlands, an area home to several endangered species.

“There is a lot of scrutiny,” said Carol Ann Wehle. “We dot our I’s and cross our T’s.”

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It’s not every day that medical students are given the opportunity to demonstrate their artistic and empathetic sides.
But once that opportunity appeared in the form of a contest, UCF’s Shawna Bellew seized it and won.
According to the American Medical Association’s website, Bellew and 33 medical students from around the country participated in the first AMA Humanities Initiative.

The medical-themed art contest encourages future doctors to identify with patients. This year’s theme urged its participants to express empathy through poetry and art.

Submissions were due by June 1 and were displayed and judged during the AMA-MSS Annual Meeting on June 10. Bellew’s winning still-life painting, “The Standardized Patient,” depicts the different parts of an artist’s mannequin tied together with rope.

Bellew attributed the inspiration for her work to her first art professor. “It was actually an assignment for my first painting class at UCF,” she said. “So, I have to give a lot of credit to my professor, Carla Poindexter, who created this still-life in the art studio. The assignment was to use the still-life to make a surrealist type painting in the style of De Chirico.”

Following those instructions, Bellew attempted and managed to create a “surreal environment” by depicting the body parts as a “foreboding architectural structure, like the looming towers in a De Chirico.”

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Across the pond: Ian Poulter is enjoying life in Florida Photo: REUTERS

Ian Poulter, Justin Rose and Ross Fisher all live on the same gated estate in Orlando. But Poulter, extolling the virtues of his transatlantic lifestyle in the very Home Counties setting of Woburn, would not have it any other way.

“It’s European,” he says of the exclusive Lake Nona suburb he is happy to call home. “All the street names are English: Covent Garden Drive, Sloane Street. It’s just a very relaxed, social environment to live in.”

In reality, his inauthentic surroundings are about as European as the Everglades or the Florida flamingos, but Poulter bristles at the suggestion he has become Americanized.

“I just feel like an Englishman living in America,” he counters. “I still have my English home comforts – I like my PG Tips, my bacon butties, the odd curry – but it’s the ease of living over there that I enjoy. To pop down to the shops and buy some steak for a barbecue takes me 10 minutes. Time is money.”

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To learn how you can assist with the development of the Outdoor Learning Center and the work of the Harmony Institute, please call 407-957-0207. All donors will be permanently acknowledged on a sign at The Outdoor Learning Center for helping to launch an innovative and vital learning atmosphere for our children.
Further information about the Harmony Institute and its programs can be found at the Institute website at www.harmonyinstitute.org and the organization’s Facebook page at www.facebook/TheHarmonyInstitute.com.
The Harmony Institute’s Spirit Farm is located behind Harmony High School, and boasts large vegetable gardens, miniature horses and donkeys, goats, sheep, pigs, and chickens. Spirit Farm is also home to Touchdown, the longhorn mascot of Harmony High School, and Victory, the shorthorn mascot of the Harmony Community School.
The Harmony institute is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization whose mission is to promote human health and well-being through the interaction of people, animals and the environment.