SO U T H W E ST O RA N G E
Holiday Gift Guide
Observer Windermere, Horizon West, Dr. Phillips
2025
YOU. YOUR NEIGHBORS. YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD.
VOLUME 11, NO. 7
FREE • THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2025
Your one-stop holiday shop! See inside our Holiday Gift Guide — your hyperlocal wish book for the season. IN THIS ISSUE.
WHAT’S INSIDE
SHIPPING DEADLINES / Page GIFT IDEAS / Starts on Page 8 /
5 / Make sure your gifts arrive on
Perfect presents for everyone on
SHARE THE LOVE / Page 10 / Giving HOLIDAY HOOPLA / Pages 26-29
time
your list
back is a great way to celebrate
/ Fill your calendar with Christmas
SAFETY TIPS / Page 33 / Use these
cheer
tips to ensure a happy holiday season
OrangeObserver.com
PROTON PARTY!
Foundation Academy experiments with Science Night. PAGE 13A.
YOUR TOWN
KROGER, GET COOKING PARTNER FOR THANKSGIVING Kroger Deliver and Get Cooking, an Orlando-based nonprofit, donated meal kits with a Thanksgiving turkey Tuesday, Nov. 18, to dozens of Orange County Public Schools families. On top of receiving a Thanksgiving turkey, families received ingredients and instructions on how to use turkey leftovers to create a nutritious and tasty meal that will be demonstrated during a live Zoom call Get Cooking will host Saturday, Nov. 22. “We founded Get Cooking on the principle of teaching families with limited resources how to cook a healthy dinner for $20 or less,” Get Cooking CEO Stacie Archer said. “We’re also teaching families how they can stretch their budgets and maximize their resources. Often, families throw away leftover food and ingredients because they are not sure how to repurpose them, so we are excited to use this holiday to empower families to be creative with their leftovers.” Get Cooking works with OCPS to identify families facing food insecurity. Four OCPS schools that participate in the Get Cooking program each month are Ocoee Elementary, OCPS ACE Elementary, and Evans and Jones high schools. To date, the program has delivered more than 1,600 meal kits and hosted 26 cooking classes to empower food insecure students and their families. Kroger Delivery provides fresh, healthy ingredients for each of the 80 meal kits distributed monthly to participating families.
TO THE POINTE Israel Zavaleta Escobedo Photography
Orlando Ballet School dancers will make its community debut as fun circus animals for the Rosen JCC’s Arts at the J.
The Orlando Ballet School dancers will open at the inaugural performance of the Arts at the J — a new initiative of the Rosen JCC. STORY ON PAGE 4A.
Windermere to secure $2M as it waits for state, federal funds The money will be used to pay for reimbursable costs for town projects. SEE PAGE 5A.
WIN OR GO HOME West Orange and Dr. Phillips get big wins to stay alive in the 2025 playoffs. PAGE 9A.