Fruitland Park – Analog Artist Digital World

By Thomas Thorspecken

I drove to Fruitland Park in Lake County Florida for the Soap Box Derby Kart Race. I found a small shady spot behind a sign for the Connection Point Church.

Fathers and sons were instructed to gather spare parts from around the yard to assemble their karts. No kit karts were allowed. The derby karts had to be designed based on a Little Rascals division design.

About a dozen karts were arranged in an assembly area for spectators to view before the racing began. Each kart had to pass an official inspection. Each karts closed floor had to have a minimum clearance of three inches from the ground. There could be no motors and the drivers head could not be enclosed in the kart design. Karts had to have working brakes. Fox Trot Hill empties out onto 48

The young jockey wore the most advanced protective equipment, including, but not limited to, Eye goggles, knee pads, elbow pads and motorcycle helmets.

A DJ played music under the Fruitland Park tent. Then everyone was instructed to rise for the Star Spangled Banner. I took my hat off and place it over my heart.

Dads, pushed the karts up to the starting line with the drivers at the steering wheel. Karts took turns being gently pushed down Fox Trot Hill. They roared down the hill at the pace of an average quick walk. A yellow ATV was used to tow the karts back up the hill. They probably moved faster being towed than they did at full speed down the hill. Each driver had three attempts to improve their time going down the hill. There were three trophies at the final assembly area.

Clayton Watts won 1st place and $250 at the Fruitland Park Soap Box Derby Race! Weston Johnson finished 2nd and earned $175 and Tyler Watts finished 3rd earning $125.

By Thomas Thorspecken

Mystic Ice Cream (1217 Miller Road, Fruitland Park FL) has a Karaoke night every Tuesday and Friday from 5:30pm to 8:30pm. I went to this event with Stella P. Arbelaeéz Tascón, who I first met about 30 years ago at Disney Feature Animation. She was an effects artist at Disney, having graduated from the internship the year before me, and she is just as devoted to sketching from life as I am. Stella went to the Fashion Institute of Technology, an art school in NYC about the same time as I was attending the School of Visual Arts, also in NYC.

This karaoke event is very well attended, so much so, that I thought we might have to use ours art stools. However, we were invited to sit at a big round table with a lovely group of new friends. I suspect many of the folks at this Karaoke night were from The Villages which is a huge retirement, active lifestyle, community north of where my studio is now in Lake County. I also suspect many of the singers were plants, because there was some amazing talent in the crowd, from classic era romantic crooners to country singers.

One song I absolutely had to sing along with was Frank Sinatra’s New York New York. Stella joined in as well. she claims to be tome deaf, but she actually carried this tune magnificently. I just recently came back from looking at homes in New York State and I am committing to making that move north although I am not sure exactly where I will land.

There was a third artist in the crowd who seemed to do close up portraits of singers. So this particular evening had three different artists documenting the stellar evening of songs. People must have signed up to sing before hand because the music maestro would call people up in quick succession. I have sung. karaoke before, but I remained as a back up singer for this evening. One of the proprietors was delighted to find two urban sketchers sketching away. She took a photo of Stella and I holding up our sketches. Amazingly, the singer that I sketched much earlier in the evening was up on the stage again when she took the photo, making it look like the sketch had happened in an instant.

Of course Stella and I also had some delicious ice cream. I ordered a peanut flavored chocolate ice cream mix that was to die for. When I sketch, I tend to hyper focus, and I forgot about the ice cream, so it became a tasty soup before the sketch was complete. This was a perfect event for me to humm and sing along with each song. I tend to hum along during musicals and I have to try and stifle that urge so as not to distract the professional actors on stage.

Mystic Ice Cream has four locations with one about to open in Mount Dora Florida. If they offer Karaoke in Mount Dora, I know the place will be packed. The other locations are… 6770 US Highway 44 Summerland FL, 38 East Magnolia Avenue Eustice FL, and 314 West Main Street Leesburg Fl,.