gloriouscoast's Blog

i love whatching the fox network and all of it's people there. however........ i think that todays issues about clermont where not representing clermont in it's true nature.did you know clermont first had pinetrees as its main source of income. then tomatoe plants. the orange tree came about when mr  howey,of howey in the hills plannted acres of trees all  over lake county.some call clermont the rolloing hills. this is true. the sand mine out hwy 50 west almost destroyed that part of clermont, minneola.today all we see is rolling hills of houses, that once had nothing but orange treees.i went  up in the citrus tower before there was an elavator.  my dad took me up the stairs before it was finished.you couldn't even see all  of  the  eighteen chain of lakes back then.we use to take the boat out of lake minneola all the way to silver springs.i believe there is alot of  history  in clermont that people are missing out on. all  of the lakes .in the chain of lakes are named after indians. my family has lived on three of them. lake wynona, lake louise, "not louisa" lol and lake minneola.i myself now 60 years  old remember when all we had was clay roads. my mom. now 90 years old still has the famous citrus pie recepiet in her head. she never did give out all of the ingredients to the new owners, i think, becuse  there pies looked like flat cheesecake lol. my moms pies where  eight or nine inches in height. some people thought they where merang. but not! she once did a show for gary more in winter haven fl. my dad would  load up 300 to 400 pies in his station wagon per day and drive them down to the show. maryjune matz made every single pie and shells all by herself.even peeled and corded all of the fresh fruit. there where three pies. orange, grapefruit, and key lime pies.mr pierce a promenant fruit broker had the persian lime up on the hill around lake minneola which is now covered with concdo's  and homes.we had to pic the limes and i don't think we paid alot if anything  for them.progress is good.so they say. but is it? lets not forget the pioneering folks that help this great community grow and prosper. lets not forget the past with new things like biger is better.the surrounding lakes will stay the same. there is only so much waterfront left. lets not destroy that with big business and industry that will surely destroy it's beatuy. just thought you would like a little history on this beatiful town.imagine. all the hills you see now.including lakeridge winery where covered with huge orange trees. i use to rabbbit hunt on that ridge.just a thought for the day. and wanted to share this with you all.please don't let the heritage and the past of  what once was dissappear. thanks for reading this, best regards. raymond e. matz