A Whole New Juneteenth

SEBRING - On Lemon Street, where drug dealers have ruled and crime has been present for decades, there are now faux red brick sidewalks, new blacktop, white concrete curbs, street lamps and palm trees.

The ninth Juneteenth celebration, said Robert Saffold, turned out to be the best because Washington Heights has been restored.

"There have been quite a bit of improvements since 2007," Saffold told a crowd gathered under a tent Saturday, which was put up last night by a group of Washington Heights citizens.

"We've made a lot of changes. And we're trying to do it without having to riot," he laughed.

And more changes are coming. Passersby were surveyed about what they would do differently, if they had the power. Their suggestions will be discussed at a future meeting of the Sebring Community Redevelopment Agency.

Under the tent was U.S. Rep. Tim Mahoney, who recognized the new women in today's society: Susan Benton, who is running the sheriff's office, and Barbara Stewart, one of five commissioners running Highlands County, and a mother holding her child.

Times have changed, he remarked, since Martin Luther King noted that laws could be made to grant equality and freedom, but they didn't make people free and equal.

"This is not a project that happened over a few years," said Benton. She thanked men like Saffold, "who didn't let crime take over. They deserve your applause."

"This is not an end, but a beginning," promised Stewart. "Expect future improvements."