The winner of the first-ever Mason G. Smoak Friend of Agriculture Award was Smoak himself, the Lake Placid cattleman and citrus grower who died in a June 20, 2008 plane crash. His wife, Tracee, accepted. ...more

November 16, 2009

In the timeless tragedy of the June 20 plane crash in Placid Lakes, Highlands County lost two influential, admired, and much-loved members of our community; Mason Smoak from Lake Placid and Dave Maehr, professor from the University of Kentucky, and visiting scientist at Archbold Biological Station. ...more

June 29, 2008

On June 20, there was an airplane crash at Placid Lakes Airport involving Mason Smoak and his passenger David Maehr. In December 1941, Pilot officer John G. Magee, Jr., a 19-year-old American serving with the Royal Canadian Air Force in England, was killed when his Spitfire collided with another aircraft inside a cloud. Several months before his death, he composed his immortal sonnet, "High Flight," a copy of which he fortunately mailed to his parents in the United States. This is the poem quoted in President Ronald Reagan's speech after the Challenger disaster. Here is John Gillespie Magee Jr.'s sonnet in hopes that it will be of some small comfort to the Smoak family and the entire community during this time of grief. ...more

June 23, 2008