News & Bizness Briefs - 06/21/12

Heart of Florida United Way’s 20th annual Chef’s Gala was held at Epcot World ShowPlace and featured food and wine prepared by 24 top Central Florida chefs. More than 1,000 guests attended the event, which raised a record-breaking $219,175 for local nonprofit programs that HFUW supports. Since its inception, Chef’s Gala has raised more than $2 million and grown to become one of Central Florida’s premier food and wine fundraisers.
For more information, call 407-835-0900 or visit www.hfuw.org on the Web.

The First Amendment guarantees free speech, assembly and the ability to exercise one’s religion. However, someone recently destroyed one local church’s expression of its parishioners’ beliefs.

For six years, Holy Family Catholic Church on Apopka-Vineland Road in Orlando has maintained an anti-abortion display on its property. This year, vandals have struck on multiple occasions, destroying banners and removing crosses set outside the church.

“It felt angry and harsh and very hurtful,” said Nancy Harnish, an Orange Bay resident and member of Holy Family’s Respect Life Ministry.

The vandalism began March 11, one week after parishioners installed three banners and 400 crosses on the church’s property. The vandals slashed one banner and removed two others, as well as 100 of the polyvinyl chloride, or PVC, crosses.

“It was very upsetting for us,” said Harnish, who found the crosses and banners in a dumpster behind a local supermarket.

The church replaced the damaged banner at a cost of $270 and reinstalled it and the crosses. On March 23, vandals took down one banner and left it crumpled in the road. Over the next two days, one large banner explaining the cross display and two smaller banners were destroyed. Parishioners removed the crosses, but left up a banner that stated “God Is Pro-Life.”

On May 6, that banner was vandalized, with someone crossing out the word “Pro” and letter “F,” changing the sign to read “God Is Lie.” The church then decided to remove the banners to avoid further vandalism.

“This is a message of love, not hatred or intolerance,” Harnish said. “It’s vandalism on our property.”

The church’s Respect Life Ministry has raised $29,327.51 to help provide food, clothing, diapers and other items for pregnant women in need, as well as their babies. More than 5,800 parishioners support the ministry.

The church has filed written reports with the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, which considers the cases criminal mischief. Public Information Officer Jeff Williamson said the sheriff’s office has not seen a great increase in this type of crime in the region.

“I feel, and others do, too, that we as Americans and Catholics have every right to have what we had on our property,” Harnish said. “We feel it’s an attack against our expression of our beliefs.”

Whether one agrees with Holy Family parishioners’ beliefs or not, they have the right to express their beliefs without the fear of retaliation, as that is the American way.

Mark J. Sigman, M.D., joined the staff at The Medical Concierge, a physician house-call service. Sigman earned his Doctor of Medicine at the Medical College of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia and completed his residency at St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children in Philadelphia. As an EastCoast Medical Network physician, he is pediatric- and adult-trained and board-certified in pediatric medicine.

For more information, call 407-648-5252 or visit
www.themedicalconcierge.com on the Web.

Pirate’s Cove Adventure Golf hosted the sixth annual Putting for Patriots fundraiser last month at 33 Pirate’s Cove, Pirate’s Island and Jungle Golf miniature golf courses throughout the U.S. Proceeds from the event co-benefited Hope For The Warriors, Homes For Our Troops, and Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors. Since its inception, the fundraiser has raised more than $95,000.

For more information, call 407-352-7378 or visit www.piratescove.com on the Web.

Royal Mulch & Nursery opened a new location at 6210 Old Winter Garden Road in Orlando. Its main facility, which is located at 2204 Hempel Ave. in Gotha, offers shrubs, trees, plants, mulch, sod and more. Royal Mulch also designs and installs landscaping and provides delivery. Royal Brick Pavers boasts the area’s largest outdoor display of brick pavers and is a preferred installer of Oldcastle Coastal products.

For more information, call 407-296-3042 or visit www.royalmulchandnursery.com on the Web.

Ambassadors from the West Orange Chamber of Commerce presented a We Noticed award to Yordan Cafe in Ocoee. The restaurant was recognized for its recent renovations.

For more information, call 407-656-1304 or visit
www.wochamber.com on the Web.

The 2012 slate of officers for the Central Florida Zoo & Botanical Gardens includes Rob Panepinto, president; Andrew Asher, vice president; Jorge Borrelli, secretary; and Alan Singer, treasurer. Outgoing President
George Smith presided over the elections. The zoo is located at 3755 N.W. Highway 17-92 in Sanford, and operating hours are daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

For more information, call 407-323-4450 or visit www.centralfloridazoo.org on the Web.

NL Acting Studio opened in its new location at 100 Plant St. in Winter Garden. Instructor Natalia Denny offers one-on-one instruction for children and teenagers, and caters to actors in Central Florida who are seeking private instruction. Classes for children, teens and adults are available, including on-camera technique, auditioning for commercials, film and TV, scene study and more.

For more information, call 407-506-2906 or visit www.nataliadenny.com/nlactingstudio on the Web.

John “Lucky” Meisenheimer, M.D., a Southwest resident, author and owner of The Meisenheimer Clinic, won the 2012 International Book Award in the Fiction: Science Fiction category for his book, The Immune. Thousands of entries were submitted for this year’s awards. Meisenheimer was presented with the award earlier this month at BookExpo America in New York. The Immune is also a finalist for ForeWord Reviews’ Book of the Year Awards.

For more information, call 407-353-3797 or visit www.theimmune.com on the Web.

ProCamps Worldwide launched its 2012 youth instructional sports camp season with three sold-out camps in Houston, Phoenix and New Orleans, featuring NFL players Arian Foster, Larry Fitzgerald and Jimmy Graham. The camps featured seven hours of instruction with NFL stars, along with supporting instruction from top area football coaches. The Dwight Howard Basketball ProCamp will be held later this summer at the University of Central Florida.

For more information, call 888-389-2267 or visit www.dwighthowardcamp.com on the Web.

Mathnasium, located at 13848 Tilden Road in Winter Garden, is registering students in second through 12th grade for one-hour game sessions in June and July that are free for members and nonmembers. The sessions are offered Tuesday and Thursday from 2-3 p.m. and 3-4 p.m. The games are devoted to logic, geometry and number sense. Mathnasium students can bring a friend for a reward. Young children must be accompanied by an adult, and seating is limited.

For more information, call 321-236-2842.

The Ivy Insiders Summer SAT Prep Program is taught by Ivy League undergraduate students who offer group courses with 18 hours of training, six exams and score-report consultations for $599. Program participants should see an average improvement of 250 points. Private tutoring options are also available and vary in price.

For more information, email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , or visit www.revolutionprep.com/ivy/nisha_d on the Web.

Officials at AV Homes, formerly Avatar Holdings, announced home sale prices for its communities, including Solivita, an active adult community that offers homes priced from the $130s. Its lifestyle-oriented communities Bella Pointe and Bellalago offer homes that begin in the high $140s and $200s, respectively.

For more information, visit www.solivita.com or
www.josephcarlhomes.com on the Web.

Matthew Hodge, owner of County Line Ornamental & Tree in Winter Garden, brings his son, Walker, to work for the day.

For more information about County Line, call 407-654-4644 or visit www.countylineot.com on the Web.

The Jewish Community Center of Southwest Orlando at the Jack & Lee Rosen Campus, located at 11184 S. Apopka-Vineland Road in Orlando, is offering a special rate of $49 for college students to work out and use the facility through Sept. 1. Students can access JCC’s state-of-the-art fitness facility, group exercise classes, pickup basketball in the gymnasium, cycling, arts classes and more. For more information, call 407-387-5330 or visit www.orlandojcc.org on the Web.

Southwest Aquatics, located at 205 Windermere Road in Winter Garden, held its first swim meet of 2012. The event included a silent auction, which raised almost $1,800 for The Gift of Swimming — enough for five underprivileged children to receive swimming lessons. For more information, call 407-905-0999 or visit
www.southwestaquatics.com on the Web.

Huntington Learning Center locations in the Orlando area launched their Reading Adventure summer program. Participating students select books from Huntington’s carefully selected book lists, which offer a variety of high-interest choices by grade level and reading ability. Students receive a reading passport to record each book they read and write a journal entry about it. At the end of the summer, Huntington locations will host parties to celebrate each student’s reading achievements and award a trophy to each participant.

For more information, call 407-522-4477 or visit www.huntingtonhelps.com on the Web.

A brand-new wine experience
Czerwinskiis Specialty Wine and Cheese, located in Suite 100 at 8014 Via Dellagio Way in Orlando, combines knowledge and a wide array of international and domestic wines and specialty cheeses from around the world. The family-owned and -operated wine and cheese shop brings a brand-new experience to the Dr. Phillips area. Lining the walls are international wines arranged by country and region, and the center of the store holds domestic bottles arranged by grape variety. The wine racks were custom-designed in Napa Valley specifically for the store, and vintage barrel tops from Napa and Bordeaux are used as décor. The Vintner Room is a private, intimate space perfect for small corporate meetings and gatherings of friends. The room has audio and video capabilities, and several area restaurants provide catering services. The temperature-controlled room includes individual wine lockers that are available with membership in the Patrons’ Club. Also included with membership are discounts, home delivery and more. The store also hosts wine education classes for everyone from those who simply enjoy wine to connoisseurs. For more information, call 407-903-0737.

The finest in foot surgery
Richard M. Cowin, D.P.M., a leading pioneer in the field of minimally invasive (one-stitch) and laser foot surgery, announced the opening of the Laser Foot Surgery Institute LLC in Suite 106 at 7932 W. Sand Lake Road in Orlando. The institute utilizes the latest technologies to treat common foot problems, including bunions, hammer toes, heel pain, and ingrown and fungal toenails. All procedures are performed in the modern offices.

For more information, call 407-722-8750.

Aveda comes to Windermere
Salon Dulay Aveda, located in Windermere in the Lakeside Village Center at the corner of Reams Road and County Road 535, is the area’s new Aveda concept salon. All of Salon Dulay Aveda’s color specialists are Aveda-certified and use exclusively 96 percent naturally derived Aveda color with coconut and jojoba oils for conditioning, and red- and green-tea antioxidants for fresh-looking color. Salon Dulay Aveda’s haircutting specialists are former educators with numerous years of design experience. The shampoo service is incredibly relaxing and includes a hand massage with every service. All shampoo beds have a headrest in the bowl to leave no pressure on one’s neck.

For more information, call 407-876-0015 or visit www.salondulay.com on the Web.