SEPTEMBER ISSUE: News for Mount Dora, Tavares & Eustis

-  Drum roll, please!  Record voting this year selected the winners of the Best of Mount Dora, the annual Mount Dora Buzz' readers' choice awards. Categories cover everything from dining, art, real estate, music, shopping and much more.  Some results were surprising, while others were a bit more predictable. See if your favorites won here.

-  Well, this is exciting.  As we reported in May, Mount Dora is playing host to this year's Central Florida Film Festival.  The festival runs September 7 through 9 and features the screening of 62 films at Epic Theatres.  Read more
 
- Anyone anxiously awaiting the new Wawa in Mount Dora will have to wait  a little longer. The corporation's construction schedule for the new location on US 441 and Morningside put the opening a long way out.  Read more

- Both downtown Eustis and Mount Dora will be hosting new art walks this season featuring local artists.  The first event kicks off later this month and the next one follows in October.  Read more

-  The City of Eustis is always finding ways to set itself apart and give residents something new to do.  This fall is no exception. The city is planning a real ice-skating rink downtown during November and December.  Well done!  Read more

​- Eustis' much-talked about project, Lake Eustis Club, at Sharp's Mobile Home Park is now a dead deal. However,  the developers can still buy property elsewhere in the city to build it.  Meanwhile, the mobile home park property is still for sale.  Read more

-  It's created endless childhood memories for residents and visitors alike.  This month the nostalgic wooden play fort in Mount Dora's Gilbert Park is expected to be demolished to make room for a modern $263,000 pirate ship playground which the city deems much safer than the deteriorating wood structure.  Read more and see illustrations

- As people enter Mount Dora from 5th Avenue, it's hard to miss the charming, newly renovated historic purple house.  The house and the two colorful homes behind it have an interesting story.  Read more

-  Mount Dora Buzz needs your help.  In an effort to give residents more information about local candidates, we will be providing a digital candidate forum with all Mount Dora City Council candidates participating. Local un-decided voters are encouraged to send us their questions on city-related issues here.   We'll use them to create the most relevant and balanced questions. The forum will be published later in September, so watch our Facebook page.

-  Mount Dora reported in August that Florida Hosptial Waterman will have new name come January.  The change is a branding effort to help the large healthcare network have more continuity and recognition.  Read more

-  If you want to know what's happening at Mount Dora City Hall and our schools, head to the Mount Dora Buzz "Government" page here for updates.  

Copyright Mount Dora Buzz 2018
Scroll down for all the restaurant and store news.

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- Look for a new restaurant to be opening soon in Mount Dora. Downtown will soon have Jamaican and Caribbean cuisine added to its big roster of ethnic dining options. Read more
 
-  Be sure to check out the winners in the different dining categories of the Best of Mount Dora awards.  You may find some restaurants you need to try and favorites you need to re-visit!  Read more

​-  There's a new mural in town!  The Olive Branch Mediterranean Bar & Grille in downtown Mount Dora recently gave its exterior a fresh coat of paint and added a mural near its main doors and stage area.  Read more

-  Watch for a new "grab-n'-go" option for lunch in downtown Mount Dora's Renaissance Building.  "The Market" at The Loft will open next to the café to offer parfaits, wraps, hummus and other items to go.  Downstairs the cafe will open "Fresh", a smoothie, kombucha and coffee bar in the small, former space of the Breezeway Cafe.

Copyright Mount Dora Buzz 2018

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-  Got bread?  Eustis does!  European Breads, the small baked-goods retailer in Mount Dora, recently opened another space in Eustis.  The little store is adjacent to 1884 Restaurant on Magnolia in downtown Eustis.  While both outlets are not bakeries, they do sell a variety of fresh baked goods. Read more

-  Watch for Love Home Harmony, the downtown Mount Dora home decor and design boutique, to move into much bigger digs soon.  In the coming months it will take the place of Patrick's Fine Art on Donnelly Street under One Flight Up.

- One local teen is making changes.  She is kicking off her campaign "Bag-free Mount Dora" that encourages local businesses to use paper bags instead of plastic. Watch for her decals in store windows this month.  Read more

-  It's on the move!  Littles by Matamo Design will be closing its 5th Avenue location in downtown Mount Dora, but don't fret.  It will just move its inventory next door into the original store on the corner of 5th and Donnelly.  Whew!

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There's no shortage of good deeds and warm fuzzies our local residents bestow on others.
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- Huge shout-out goes to all our local Student Resource Officers (SROs) that go above and beyond to protect kids at Lake County Schools.  In previous years, these police officers were only in middle and high schools, but this year Lake County Schools added SROs in local elementary schools, too.  Read more

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