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Commission celebrates America 250, examines code enforcement settlement process
The Apopka Chief Newsletter: America 250 Edition
Sarah Merly
July 03, 2026
Welcome to The Apopka Chief weekly newsletter!
From left to right: publisher J.C. Derrick, media advisor Patsy Whitely-Beckett, reporter Teresa Sargeant, copy editor Nancy Thomas, legal clerk Lesbia Toruño, editorial assistant and reporter Sarah Merly and sports reporter Vinnie Cammarano
Happy Independence Day Eve! We are so excited to celebrate America’s special birthday tomorrow—below are some of our favorite patriotic movies and songs. Here’s to the next 250 years!
Vinnie Cammarano, Sports Reporter: “Free Bird” by Lynyrd Skynyrd
J.C. Derrick, Publisher: The Patriot (2000)
Christina Geiger, Publication Coordinator: Independence Day (1996)
Debrah Hayden, Administrative Assistant: “America the Beautiful” and The Green Berets (1968)
Sarah Merly, Editorial Assistant & Reporter: “Golden Dream” from EPCOT’s American Adventure (“My Shot” from Hamilton is an honorable mention) and Saving Private Ryan (1998)
Natalie Mitchell, Membership Coordinator: Independence Day (1996)
Dana O’Connor, Photographer: The Green Berets (1968) and “God Bless the U.S.A.” by Home Free and Lee Greenwood
Josh Peterson, Editor: “Born in the U.S.A” by Bruce Springsteen and Black Hawk Down (2001)
Teresa Sargeant, Reporter: Hamilton (2020)
Nancy Thomas, Copy Editor: Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) and Saving Private Ryan (1998)
Lesbia Toruño, Legal Clerk: The Sandlot (1993) and “God Bless the U.S.A.”
Jackie Trefcer, Business Development: The Patriot (2000)
Patsy Whitely-Beckett, Media Advisor: The Six Triple Eight (2024)
~Sarah Merly, Editorial Assistant & Reporter
Front Page
Apopka Historical Society helped kick off the city’s America 250 celebration Wednesday at City Hall. | Photo by Dana O’Connor
Other Front Page News:
Local Sports
Time to Train Foundation team and camp participants assemble for a group photo at The Well Activity Center in Apopka. | Courtesy of Sarlen Studios
Lifestyle
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“The New Colossus” by Emma Lazarus
This patriotic poem is inscribed on a plaque inside the Statue of Liberty’s pedestal.
Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she
With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-most to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”