Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Community Services History topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Mayor proclaims March 2025 Red Cross Month; Mid-Florida chapter donates historical records to Lake Wales History Museum
Summary
Mayor Jack Hilligoss proclaimed March 2025 Red Cross Month in Lake Wales. Tina Sweetman, executive director of the Mid-Florida chapter, presented three historic volumes documenting the local Red Cross presence to the Lake Wales History Museum, which accepted the donation.
Mayor Jack Hilligoss read a proclamation naming March 2025 as Red Cross Month in the City of Lake Wales and invited representatives from the Mid-Florida chapter of the American Red Cross to the dais.
Tina Sweetman, executive director of the Mid-Florida chapter, described the chapter’s coverage of six counties with Polk County as the largest and highlighted disaster-response work, including partnerships with the Lake Wales Fire Department. Sweetman said the Red Cross responds most frequently to residential fires and that volunteers provide immediate assistance to affected families.
As part of the visit, the Mid-Florida chapter donated three historical books from the local chapter’s archives to the Lake Wales History Museum. Sweetman described the materials as containing roll calls, publicity measures and records that trace local Red Cross activity back to the 1930s; the large volume in the donation includes records from the 1940s and materials the chapter describes as beginning in 1934.
A Lake Wales History Museum representative accepted the donation on the museum’s behalf and thanked the Red Cross and the commission for entrusting the records to the museum’s care. The museum said it will preserve and make the materials available to the public.
The commission recognized the organization’s long record of service and its local partnership with city emergency services.
