It’s time again to give thanks all the things we love about this place we call home. Readers submitted hundreds of suggestions for this year’s list of “101 Things to Love about Central Florida.” Some are old favorites. Others hidden gems. A few are new and generating buzz.
3 months ago Share For the last three decades, local musicians have come together to celebrate fellowship and music as a part of The Ocoee Parking Lot Bluegrass Jam in Ocoee.
Sitting out in the sea of black asphalt, a dozen men form a circle for their weekly ritual.
It’s Friday night in Ocoee, and just as they have done for 30 years, these men armed with banjos, guitars, mandolins, a slide guitar and an upright bass perform their sorcery and uphold their old-timey music traditions.
Among them, placed atop a metal folding chair, sits Jack Lewis, 80, who peeks down at his right hand as he plucks away at the strings on his old banjo. The ball cap on his head shields his eyes from the harsh light from the parking lot lights above, and his brown sports coat keeps him warm on a somewhat chilly Florida night.