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Reynolds Combines Cosmopolitan And Rural Florida

Kathy Waters/Highlands Today

Anne Reynolds has a studio behind her house in Lake Placid, which is where she paints, writes and entertains guests. "It is a sanctuary actually," she said with a chuckle. "There is no phone or television. It is my place to get away."

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Linda Downing

Published: July 6, 2008

LAKE PLACID — Anne Reynolds, a white-haired lady in her 60s, speaks softly when asked about the younger version of her painted on a downtown Lake Placid mural.

"That's me, 1966, when shortly after arriving as Charles Reynolds' bride, I was elected the first president of the Lake Placid Arts and Crafts Fair."

Reynolds' home, a two-storied, New Orleans style red brick with black, wrought iron balconies, perches on a high bluff, Bear Point, offering a panoramic view of what used to be Lake Childs, now Lake Placid. The 12-acre property boasts heavily mossed, native-Florida trees and foliage.

A golf cart ride downhill leads to a rectangular, green building, once a garage, now a lab. David Butler, archaeologist and professor at Rollins College, comes here, often bringing students, and studies findings from the Blueberry site — more about that later. The samples are sealed in labeled, plastic bags and piled around the musty, somewhat mystical room.

Reynolds drives north, pointing out the macadamia grove. Leigh Anne Taylor, the Reynolds' daughter, lives here with her family on the one-acre property deeded to her by her parents.

Following the lakeshore south reveals a fishhook-shaped alcove where Reynolds' banyan-like, Cuban laurel tree stands guard. As the golf cart chokes in the sand, she ignores a nearby alligator and points out a purple bougainvillea blooming over the tops of trees hugging the fishing hole.

The front of the Reynolds' replica Cracker cabin faces the lake. Out back is the cove. Visiting archaeologists and other guests sometimes stay here. Anne Reynolds' art, artifacts, and other interests fill the rooms, making a unique setting for an interview.

A Dreamer

A self-described "loner," Reynolds credits her husband with teaching her to be more outgoing. "I'm a dreamer. He's a doer. It would not have done to marry another dreamer. He has always supported me in everything I've wanted to do." Here she mentions once spending four weeks on an archaeological dig in Caesarea, Israel.

Born in High Point, N.C., her mother an R.N. and her father a renowned surgeon and history lover, Reynolds lived for five years in Philadelphia, Pa., and then moved to Biloxi, Miss. She came to Florida Southern College her junior year, earned a bachelor's degree in sociology, and married. While her husband busied himself with Reynolds Fruit Company, she taught a term at Lake Placid High School. "I didn't get an education to sit at home."

Two sons, Greg and Rob, arrived. Life filled with them, along with civic and church responsibilities. The bus tragedy of Feb. 16, 1976, took 7-year-old Rob's life and hit the local, state, and national news. Greg Reynolds now lives in Orlando and works in commercial real estate.

Not dwelling on what happened more than 30 years ago, Anne Reynolds said simply: "Good came out of it."

She believes we are here to "make a difference." With three other couples, the Reynolds founded a non-denominational Christian school called Interlake Academy. She taught there for 14 years, under contract for $1 a year. "I paid to teach," she said, "because I believed in what we stood for: discipline, prayer and caring, raising leaders armed for success." The work continues today as Lake Placid Christian School.

Archaeology Interests

Reynolds' archaeology interest began in 1974. Exploring the lakeshore, she found pottery and arrowheads, took them to the University of Florida, and learned the lake had been the site of two Indian villages dating 2,000 to 5,000 B.C. With other archaeological buffs, she later started Kissimmee Valley Archaeological and Historical Conservancy, a chapter of the Florida Anthropological Society.

No wonder Reynolds believes in serendipity. In 1988 she and her husband purchased property out on Highway 29. Three years later, an archaeological survey revealed a 60-acre, ancient Indian village, and the Blueberry Site was established. Here Reynolds made her greatest archaeological discovery, an unusual ceramic effigy head, which she wrote about in "The Florida Anthropologist" magazine.

"Pros used to intimidate me," she said. "Then someone told me, 'You've been at Blueberry longer than anyone else and you can interpret your findings and the pros must prove you wrong.' It was a turning point."

Reynolds is a board member of the Florida Heartland Heritage Foundation, which is preserving property adjoining Blueberry, working toward the vision of the Florida Outdoor Drama. In addition, she is vice chairman of the Highlands County Historic Preservation Commission, specifically designated their "archaeology person."

Beginning her third term on the Board of Trustees for South Florida Community College, Reynolds travels for the school four to five times a year, lobbying and attending workshops. She helped set up the Museum of Florida Art and Culture at SFCC, where many of her artifacts are on permanent loan.

Reynolds' paintings are stacked all over, in the red brick house and the cabin. She recently returned from a trip to Italy, where she traveled with a small group of professional women painters. Asked about interesting people who have influenced her life's journey, among several, she named Abed Abu Sbeigh, a young Arab who just happened to come along when she needed a guide through Hezekiah's Tunnel in Jerusalem. She looked him up each time she went to Israel and once had Turkish coffee in his home.

Asked if there is anything else she hopes to do, Reynolds said, "I always hoped to write one, good book." She smiled. "Maybe, probably not."

Linda Downing is a columnist and a correspondent for Highlands Today.

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