The women of Casselberry, Fla., had an unlikely inspiration to run for
local office: strip clubs. "We'd become known as a red-light district," says vice mayor Colleen Hufford. "All
the other cities in our area were flourishing, and we were seeing ours deteriorate." Hufford, with several other women,
started holding meetings for community members to discuss the situation. They formed a political action committee and ran
candidates for the city commission in 2006. Today, three commissioners are members of the group, and they've brought in a
female city manager, city attorney and city clerk. The women have spearheaded an aggressive revitalization project, rezoning
to oust adult entertainment, landscaping the town's main thoroughfares and wooing new businesses. "We've turned the city
around," says city commissioner Sandra Solomon [the writer's aunt]. Charlene Glancy, another founding member of the political
action committee, is running for mayor against the male incumbent and two male challengers. If she wins the Aug. 26 race,
Casselberry's government will be almost 90% female.
Charlene is now serving
as Casselberry's Mayor.
Today, what people called
Hibbard’s kingdom is more than he ever imagined it would be. Casselberry grew into a true city in every respect. It
has seen its share of and new development. Casselberry Investment Properties, Ltd. (CIP), the successor to Casselberry Gardens,
sold the ferneries for a commercial development. Later, Hibbard’s favorite piece of land, where the post office and
Belgian Azalea Gardens were located, and where he planned a bank and shopping center, was sold to the City of Casselberry.
The city’s leaders expect to develop it into a mixed-use complex that would be the centerpiece of the city. Hibbard
would be proud.
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The ever-increasing cost of gasoline
adds to the reasons why people want to live in Casselberry. Whether they are driving Highway 436 between Orlando International
Airport and Interstate 4 - or Highway 17-92 from Orlando to Sanford - Casselberry’s major intersection is a hub
of traffic flow in Central Florida.
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Once people
wander off those highways, however, the other Casselberry emerges, a quiet yet beguiling world. There are numerous city parks
where they can enjoy a simple walk or a fast game of racquetball. With twenty-seven lakes and ponds, anglers and water
skiers delight in their own type of thrills. Tree-lined streets and a golf course that meanders through the central part of
the city make a mere drive through the city’s residential core a pleasant experience. Residents can get to almost any
type of business and avoid the highways by driving the city’s interior streets.
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The City of Casselberry is home to over 25,000 residents. Couples who moved here
to raise their young children here have stayed on long after they become grandparents. Their offspring find affordable
homes nearby. Some people don’t want to move away because it is a city of neighborhoods, not just subdivisions.
John lives at Brightwater, while Lilian lives in the small house Martha’s sister Elizabeth built in 1953. As much
as the residents enjoy Casselberry, those who live outside and are searching for a new hometown can still find properties
of all prices on small parcels and spacious lakefront lots.
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Although Greater Construction built thousands of homes during its time in the city, it moved on to build other
communities. Lester Mandell and the Greater group sold their construction business after forty successful years. However,
under the name of Greater Properties, they continue to own the commercial property they built in Casselberry.
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Other developers of all types and sizes followed through
the years. Currently, the most exciting transformation is that of the old Azalea Driving Park. Stanley Kupiszewski, whose
parents purchased the property in the Fifties from Hibbard, maintained his ownership until recently, when he sold off a portion
of it for a new development. The project changed in ownership until its renaissance as Legacy Park. Finally, the racetrack
that always seemed a step or two short of its seeing its potential fulfilled is alive with hundreds of new residents filling
up its homes, condominiums, and apartments. Plans are on the board for construction of the new private Geneva School. Casselberry
Investment Properties and Len and Jane own land nearby.
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After more than eighty years, Fern Park still exists, in part, because its post office exists only one mile away
from that of Casselberry. By the serving the unincorporated community, the name of Gordon Barnett’s subdivision extends
from Casselberry south along Highway 17-92 to the Orange County line. The near shoot-outs at the ever-changing edge of town
over annexation have cooled, although Casselberry’s governing body is always there to invite and welcome existing businesses
that want to annex into the city. Altamonte Springs maintains a possessive eye on the unincorporated area to the east of Casselberry,
and Longwood does likewise to the north. Nevertheless, Casselberry has extended its boundaries southeast along Highway 436,
a distance of four miles to the Orange County line. Overall, the city contains eight square miles.
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The city has had dark years, when it returned to bickering councils and poor leadership,
professional and nonprofessional. At times, lax code enforcement allowed some properties deteriorate while their neighbors
showed pride of ownership. Buildings on small commercial lots became inefficient and attracted marginal and undesirable businesses,
such as adult entertainment establishments. Nevertheless, the city continues to roll through those parts of its life cycle
and enjoys a prosperous future.
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Casselberry
remained real estate tax-free for thirty-five years, until the citizens voted to approve their first tax in 1976. Watching
over its value for future generations, the city has a Commission/City Manager form of government, backed by the efforts of
many citizens, business and community leaders, professional staff, and dedicated volunteers. They make it a warm and exciting
place to live, work and raise a family.
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And although the diversity of residents who live in the
city today may not be like the crazy characters of Hibbard's years, they will welcome you, saying, “Casselberry
is my kind of town. Make it yours!”
