Groveland celebrated 99 historic years of success with a big Founders Day event. This ‘City with Natural Charm’ two-day event was held at the Puryear Building and all-around Lake David at the Groveland Festival Park. The celebration included plenty of live entertainment, food trucks, face painting, a kid’s zone and craft vendors.

Event organizer Mike Walker is the Groveland Director of Parks and Recreation. Walker shares, “About 3,000 people attended our Founder’s Day celebration, with over 40 vendors. They had plenty of waterfront and lake activities including a barefoot skiing competition and a remote-control speed boat race. Andy Hansen did a great job organizing all of our water sports events on Lake David.”

Walker adds, “We were fortunate to have Community Redevelopment Agency funding. We really need to credit the important teamwork and positive endless support from our Mayor Evelyn Wilson, our City Manager Mike Hein, our City Council, Recreational Advisory Committee and our Centennial Committee.  Our committees ensured the park was ready with new sidewalks, plants, shrubs, flags, signs, and plenty of safety measures.

Celebrating Groveland History: Preserving the past for the future, the Groveland History Museum was open for tours to visit their numerous exhibits. To learn about Groveland’s rich history and to revisit old memories, this is a must. You will learn about Groveland’s diverse origins in the turpentine, lumber, citrus, and perfume industries. Under the direction of Mary Helen Meyers, this small, yet important museum proudly showcases the founders, the heroes, sporting legends, Civil War, World War II, and every time period through today. The Groveland Historical Museum is operated by the Groveland Historical Society. It is connected to the Puryear Building located at 243 South Lake Avenue. This museum is free and open to the public. For more information, call: 352-429-0771, 352-429-2945 and visit: www.GrovelandHistory.org.

 Live Entertainment: The South Lake High School Screaming Eagles Band performed. On Friday, they had a huge Farmer’s Market.  The Groveland Band Shell offered endless entertainment on Saturday from the Patrick Gibson, Yesterdayze, Johnny Rodgers, Maiden Cane, Soul to Earth, Latin Wave and a Frankie Valli Tribute by the Let’s Hang On band.

Kid’s Zone: Be Free Lake was a co-sponsor of the Founder’s Day Kid’s Zone. They had a tent set up at the entrance of the Kid’s Zone working to collaborate with the Groveland community focus on youth alcohol and substance abuse as well as violence prevention. They work to help maximize local area resources by providing opportunities for health and wellness in order for children and families to be self-sufficient, productive contributors in Lake County. This area had climb wall, a bounce house and plenty of special fun activities for young children and teens. It was held adjacent to their community skate park and where their new Splash Park is now being built. For more information, visit: www.befreelake.org.

Kroger’s Delivery was the primary sponsor of Groveland Founder’s Day, handing out bountiful bags of free groceries to every attendee while promoting their new local area delivery services. Kroger plans to offer free, safe and no-contact deliveries on orders placed during their trial period. You can opt-in at Kroger.com/floridafriends: www.kroger.com/i/ways-to-shop/delivery

Groveland Mayor Evelyn Wilson noted, “Here in Groveland, we are a team. Mike Walker and the city management team did an awesome job. We are all really very proud of how really terrific the entire Founder’s Day Weekend went for us. Besides current and new residents, many old-timers and city elders were kind enough to stop by to complement the event, noting that their parents would have been very pleased and proud to take part in such a successful and historic event.”

City of Groveland Events: The City of Groveland Parks and Recreation Department’s event goals are to give the community free fun events to attend. These events are designed to strengthen the community spirit as well as to promote local businesses and organizations. The long-term goal is to create events that will create traditions in this charming city for years to come. They provide recurring seasonal events such as Second Friday Farmers Market and Wacky Water Wednesdays during the summer months. They also plan to do this by providing specialty monthly events such as the upcoming 4th of July Celebration and end-of-year Christmas Parade.

Groveland — A City with Natural Charm!  Wilson proudly shares, “As Florida’s second-fastest-growing city, we are becoming a big mark on the Florida map and we are rapidly growing. For more information, visit Groveland City Hall at 156 South Lake Avenue, Groveland. Phone: 352-429-2141, Visit Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/CityofGroveland/ and the Groveland City website at https://www.groveland-fl.gov/

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The Great Groveland Barefoot Laps Challenge, an all-new take on the classic barefoot lap endurance contest, has been added to the Groveland Founders Weekend Celebration. Residents will watch up. to 40 waterskiers circle Lake David at 42 mph on their bare feet to see who can do the most laps around the lake. The twist is that after the second full lap, the boat decreases speed by 2 mph and continues to decrease speed by 2 mph on every second lap until the skier falls.

Awards will be given for the skiers who go the longest distance. There will also be crowd-pleasing awards for the wildest costume and for the best start. Some skiers may start backward, on their stomach, some may step out of skis, some may even just fly out of the boat barefoot skiing at 42 miles an hour. There will also be an award for the slowest speed of the day. Event planners are hoping to set an unofficial record here.

The Groveland Founders Celebration will include remote control (RC) powerboat racing and an RC sailboat regatta during the two-day festival. All this will occur on Lake David in front of the newly opened splash pad and south section of the park. The Boardwalk over the lake and fishing pier will certainly be popular viewing sites as well. Local RC boating clubs and RC powerboat enthusiast Tyler Szelengiewicz will be on hand to kick start the activities at this inaugural celebration.

Towed water sports announcer Danny “Dano the Mano” Amir and Jayne Levy of Touch of the North Events are coordinating and organizing the festivities. Danny shared, “I got a phone call from locals Andy Hansen and Tom Weber, legends in the towed water sports industry.” He continued, “they mentioned that there may be an opportunity, put something out in Groveland in conjunction with their 99th anniversary.” Local watersports advocate Andy Hansen added, “I have always recognized Lake David in Groveland as a jewel. The lake has been a major part of Groveland’s identity.”

Once the group visited the Lake David site, they realized it was just perfect and the new, fun concept for the contests took shape. Generally, barefoot skiing is a high-speed endurance type of event. “The rules are pretty straightforward and even for everybody,” Danny stated. “It is inviting to waterskiers, wakeboarders, knee boarders, and barefoot skiers of all ages and all abilities. The 11-year-old kid who weighs 70 pounds is going to have the advantage.”

The events have drawn competitors from across the country. One is 13 years old Braeden Berner, Andy’s grand-nephew who provided this background. “He is a member of the National Show Ski Champion Team and the Wonder Lake Water Ski Show Team and can hardly wait to compete in the first Great Groveland Barefoot Laps Competition.” Danny provided these thoughts for the future, “we like to look back to why we started doing watersports. It was for fun.

Moving into the future we want skiers, wakeboarders, and barefoot skiers-whether amateurs or pros-come together and shake off the cobwebs at the Great Groveland Barefoot Laps Challenge. This event is going to be the first watersports event of the year. It’s going to be a spring break starter for local watersports.”

To Learn more about Founders Day Weekend Events, visit FOUNDERS WEEKEND

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About Touch of the North Events

Touch of the North Events (TOTN Events) is devoted to growing towed water sports by bringing the community together through grassroots competitions as well as contests that challenge the norm and encourage genuine stoke. Questions and partnership opportunities should be directed to jayne@totnevents.com

The post The Great Groveland Barefoot Laps Challenge Coming This Weekend To The Groveland Founders Day Event (March 11-13) appeared first on South Lake Tablet.