The Lakeport Community Association will hold the annual Sour Orange Festival on Jan. 15, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
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The Lakeport Community Association will hold the annual Sour Orange Festival on Jan. 15, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Lakeport Community Center, 1239 Red Barn Road.
The festival will include a dog show, rib cook-off, a pie eating contest, restored tractor show, Sour Orange bakeoff, CPR training and a fire extinguisher class.
Entertainment will be by the Hired Guns Band.
Barbecue dinners will include pulled pork, French fries, beverage and sour orange pie.
Gate entry is $2 per person. Children age 12 and under will be admitted free.
About sour oranges:
About Lakeport:
Located in northern Glades County along the northwestern shore of Lake Okeechobee, Lakeport was founded in 1913 and originally known as the Lakeport Colony. A dock was constructed on Lake Okeechobee at Lakeport and freight and mail was received while produce, fish, fur, and skins were shipped out. When the railroad reached the City of Okeechobee in the early 1900s, thereby allowing shipping of items to northern states, Lakeport came to be named the “Fish Capital” of Florida.
The fish in the lake in the early days consisted of catfish, gar, shad, blue gills and crappie or speckled perch (speck), as they are known here, and bass. Due to large scale seine netting in the early years of pioneer settlement around the lake, bass is the predominant species left. Because of this, Lake Okeechobee is known as the “Bass Capital” of the world and is celebrated by fishermen. Duck hunters also flock to the lake to take advantage of the fine hunting available on the water.
In Lakeport, the lake is accessible from Harney Pond park, which boasts boat ramps, picnic tables, restrooms and a boardwalk that offers a breathtaking view of Lake Okeechobee.