The Orlando Sentinel from Orlando, Florida • K2

SE A SUNDAY, APRIL 28, 2002 K2 Orlando Sentinel ClnxTPmnrQ rmcrwnnrl mpptincr a flicrht nf nrv? HJPtKflnHfNta ill.uk M.iiel. t.onswood. Florida. at Longwood, where a delegation of ladies served cigars and punch," the Herald reported. "Mayor J.

E. Walker officially welcomed the visitors and expressed regret at the short length of time that they were permitted to remain in Longwood, adding that he and his commission deemed it a honor to entertain such a distinguished following." The governors then drove onto Orlando. Bistline concludes, "Yes, I am sure my father's story must have referred to this motorcade, and as much as I would like to be able to say that, yes, Longwood enjoyed the stay of the gubernatorial party or even the convention, I think the version from the Sanford Herald on Nov. 19, 1924 is the correct version of the Longwood Hotel's participation in the 1924 gubernatorial conference." Jim Robison can be reached at jrobisonorlandosentinel.com or CENTRAL FLORIDA SOCIETY FOR HISTORICAL PRESERVATION So much for local legend. A postcard dated Nov.

17, 1924, shows cars parked in front of the 'Orange and Black Hotel' in Longwood where legend has it that governors from 24 states met for a conference. formation in the Society's new Longwood picture book Arcadia, 2001, pages 58 and 59 Bistline also remembered his father, John Bistline telling a story about when he and other Longwood officials barricaded a road and set up a detour sign to route a motorcade down Church Avenue, which runs along the north side of the old hotel. "He apparently was one of those who had been delegated to barricade the road," Bistline writes. "His story was about the motorcycle cop who was leading the motorcade who hopped off his cycle and, with much arm waving and bluster, tried to make them remove the blockage, while the motorcade simply followed the signs and went up to in front of the hotel and how the cop had seen that he had been outmaneuvered by the motorcade and jumped back on his motorcycle to race back to the front again! The officer's actions were always worth a chuckle from my father. Could this event be related to the governor's visit?" Bistline turned for help to Karen Jacobs, museum specialist at the Museum of Seminole County History.

Together, they read through several years of the former Sanford Herald. The 1924 governors conference was front-page news that November. "As recorded in the paper, the conference convened in The county's surviving hote! from its pioneer era, the landmark Village Inn is the focal point of the city's historical district that includes homes and businesses built during the late 1800s and early 1900s. Longwood's founder, Edward Seminole's lZhmi- DACT grated ww3 1 from Massa- JIM ROBISON chusetts and named the city after a fashionable Boston suburb, was a real estate and railroad investor who came to the area in 1873. The 103-year-old hotel built by Henck became a winter resort for Northern business tycoons and notables, including presidents and governors.

Seminole's Past, Sept. 15, 1988. Andy Warhol still owes Longwood 10 minutes of fame. But the city sure knew how to make the most of its five minutes. The postcard photograph on this page shows dozens of early 1900s cars parked in front of the hotel and includes the text, "Orange and Black Hotel, Longwood, Florida.

The Governors from twenty States being entertained here during their tour of the State by the Longwood Chamber of Com merce, November 17th, 1924." Similar accounts of the governors meeting or staying at the Longwood landmark have become part of the legend of the old hotel. John Bistline traces his family to some of the first settlers of Longwood. The retired scientist and past president of the Central Florida Society for Historical Preservation has long been troubled by newspaper and history-book references to the hotel and the governors conference. "No account of the history of the Longwood Hotel, a a the Orange and Black, The Wal-tham, St. George and now the Village Inn, is complete without a story about the Florida meeting of the Governors Conference," Bistline wrote in a letter.

"The stories are all a little different, both as to the date and what took place. But all have them staying at the hotel, some for just overnight and other for the full conference. "In retrospect it seems a bit of a flight of fancy that the governors would pick a hotel in an out-of-the-way place like Longwood to hold a conference, but I never questioned it until recently, when I had occasion to do a little boning up on the history of the Longwood hotel and was disturbed by the lack of continuity between numerous newspaper articles and information put out by the hotel as well as the conflicting in Jacksonville on Nov. 17 and ran through the afternoon of the 18th when they started a tour of southern Florida on the afternoon of the 18th by boarding the Clyde line boat, Osceola, in Jacksonville for an over-night trip to Sanford," Bistline writes. "Arriving in Sanford at 10:30 on the 19th, they were met by the best closed cars that Seminole could produce for a trip around Sanford and on to the Orange County line south of Altamonte where they were met by a contingent of cars from Orange County to continue their tour of south Florida.

Bistline quotes the Nov. 19 edition of the Sanford Herald, "Twenty-one of the cities most select closed cars were lined up at the Clyde dock when the Osceola landed the distinguished guests on Sanford soil, and within five minutes after the gang plank had been lowered, the cars were loaded and the motorcade had started, headed by a scout car from the Chamber of Commerce and two motorcycle policemen." The motorcade followed a route through Sanford's finest neighborhoods as well as the celery and other farms. After a 90-minute tour, the governors were guests at the Mayfair Country Club for a brief stop for "light refreshments." "Following a ten-minute rest, the party repaired to the waiting motor cars and drove to the Orlando county line, pausing for a five-minute stop CORRECTIONS The name of a Winter Springs High School baseball player was incorrect in the Seminole County baseball leaders published in the Seminole edition April 18. After 60 at-bats, Joe Lindner was batting .350. Only 1 megaplex theater likely to open in Altamonte Springs Finding site for worship marks end of journey THEATER FROM Kl ROMANIA FROM Kl DENNNIS WALLORLANDO SENTINEL Interested observer.

The Altamonte Cinema 8 in the Renaissance Center, which is sandwiched between the proposed town center and the Altamonte Mall, has more than a passing interest in the outcome of the race to build a movie megaplex. Central to the plans are promises by the city to build a parking garage that would support both the town center and the existing Embassy Suites hotel. the winner." Competition heated up in late March when Altamonte Springs Investments LLC, led by Atlanta developer Michael B. Vlass, purchased the 14V2-acre North Lake Plaza shopping center just west of the mall and said it would buy another 9V2 acres of vacant land the city owns across Cranes Roost Boulevard. The group's focus is to create a downtown entertainment and retail center on the southeast shore of Cranes Roost Lake.

The venture, called Altamonte Town Center, is to open by July 2003, Vlass said. Other than the land purchase and a road realignment, details of the project are sketchy, and no tenants, including a movie-theater operator, have been announced. But central to the plans are promises by the city to build a parking garage that would support both the town center and the existing Embassy Suites hotel. On Monday, Altamonte Mall resurrected longtime plans to build a megaplex on an outparcel west of the Dil-liard's department store, in an area that now contains parking and the old General Cinema Twin theater, which is now occupied by a church. Mall owner General Growth Properties of Chicago said it would team with AMC Entertainment Inc.

to build a state-of-the-art theater and expects to complete the project by the end of the third quarter in 2003. Penland said the city is excited about the possibility of any megaplex coming to Altamonte Springs. "It's something we've needed for a long time. For about seven years, we've courted the idea of a city downtown center with a megaplex theater. From the city's standpoint, we would be delighted to anchor a new town center with a megaplex.

But we won't be disappointed to the point of tears if the mall wins the race for the theater instead." Both groups say they have preliminary paperwork for their respective projects submitted to the city. Pen-land said that, as of Wednesday, neither group had turned in site plans or engineered drawings. "We've just seen renderings," Pen-land said. "But I can tell you this: There won't be two, just one. I just don't think that anyone would build two megaplex theaters out there." Vlass agreed with Penland that only one of the theaters would materialize.

"We will continue with our project and, I believe, the end result will be that ours gets built," he said. "We're certainly not discouraged by the news of competition because there is a tremendous demand for a megaplex in the area." Vlass said his project would move forward because it would anchor the city's planned downtown. "We're creating a downtown center here," he said, "a lifestyle center, really, where some friends and found a job at a nursing home in Ohio, where she says many Romanians reside, while taking care of her daughter, Valentina, and husband, Valentin. Soon after she gave birth to her youngest son, Richard, in 1984, the family decided to move to Orlando, where her husband, who worked in construction, could find work all year to help support the growing family. In the Florida sunshine, Jolta embraced her new suburban life wholeheartedly.

She made more friends and adjusted to Florida's climate but never felt completely at home until recently. After meeting a few Romanian families scattered around town, she decided to take it upon herself to bring Eastern Europeans together to create a community of their own. They scanned the phone books for possible Romanian common names. Once they found more people, Jolta dipped into her own pocket and hosted parties at her home with the hope of strengthening ties in the community. A few years ago, with the collaboration of others, she talked St.

Petka's Serbian Orthodox Church into allowing the Romanian people to use the church for Romanian Orthodox services when the church is not being used for its Serbian services. Now that they have a place to worship, Jolta said, her life is finally complete. She said she has found a lifestyle that mirrors a good one in Romania, and she and her family no longer feel alone. "I love it here," Jolta said. "We are friends, and we can help one other." Daniela Pop, 36, who immigrated to Orlando from Romania in 1994, agrees.

Although she lived in South Africa and briefly in Pittsburgh before settling in Longwood, she said she never made much effort to become involved in the Romanian-American community because most Romanians have endured a tough life, which has slowly distorted the notion of being with each other. Most immigrants blame the Iron Curtain for their past, she said. Still, they don't make an effort to re- unite with each other outside the country's borders. Pop saw things differently, though. After having spent several years away from the political and religious persecution etched into the communist way of life, she grew homesick.

When Pop learned about the Romanian commu- nity and the church in Longwood, she decided to give it a chance. "It's the best thing I've ever done," Pop said. "The church has become a central point of reference for us. It's a STEPHEN M. DOWELLORLANDO SENTINEL Part of the ceremony.

Bread, wine and a traditional pie called 'coliva' rest on a table during a Romanian service. place where we can carry our traditions, religion and culture. It's a place we can bring our children together and let them play." More than 100 refugee families attended last year's Easter and Christmas services, Pop said. Even more showed up for last year's New Year's Eve party, which was at the church. Because more and more homes are springing up in the Romanian community, the Eastern European community has asked the Episcopate of the Romanian Greek Orthodox Church in Grass Lake, several times for a permanent priest.

After a string of priests visited the church from all corners of the state to officiate at occasional services, the diocese sent the Rev. Daniel Ghica permanently. The spiritual leader is expected to lead several hundred Orthodox Christian worshippers in a candlelight procession Saturday to celebrate Easter at midnight. A service also is planned the following day at noon. Others are finding out about the services and the arrival of the priest.

As attendance at regular services grows, the community hopes to build its own church. Victor Viorel Borcea, 60, who won a lottery to come to the United States, said he never would have imagined he would find the same sort of closeness he once had in his native Sibiu. Serving as the president of the seven-member church committee, he hopes to strengthen the community's spiritual and moral values. Borcea has been working hard to bring the community together. So far, he has put together a monthly newsletter that concentrates on religion and the activities in the community.

He has also helped plan several parties, weddings, funerals and birth celebrations. In addition, the community has formed a social club that meets every Sunday after church and a women's organization called Reuniunea Doam-nelorthatis spearheaded by Jolta. "After all we have gone through, who would have thought we'd find each other again in a different country and be able to eat, drink, dance and have a good time with a smile on our faces? I have met many people here who have come from the same region as me," Borcea said. "Finally, I feel right at home." Now, the two proposed megaplex-es would compete for viewers with the old Interstate 6 theater, at the southeastern corner of Interstate 4 and State Road 436, and the Altamonte Cinema 8 in the Renaissance Center, which is sandwiched between the Vlass project and the mall. Sunstar Theaters LLC of South Florida reopened the six-screen multiplex about two weeks ago, and the Altamonte 8 was reopened last summer by Entertainment Film Works Inc.

of Atlanta. Mark Clement, president of Sun-star, said that, for now, it will be business as usual for his theater. "These theaters one or two are three to four years down the road the way I see it," said Clement, whose theater shows first-run films. "I'm not making any determination at this point about what we will do if one or both come to town. I'm just going to wait and see what happens." Stephen Pritzker, advertising director for Entertainment Film Works, said he finds it "absurd that two theaters would consider building almost next door to each other.

"It costs about a million dollars a screen these days to build a megaplex," he said "and no one would make any money if there were two." Pritzker said Altamonte 8 would remain as a first-run theater, but if a megaplex is built, that could change. Entertainment Film Works' parent company, Restaurant Entertainment Group of Atlanta, operates older-style multiplex theaters with dining in the lobby. Altamonte 8 could proceed in that direction, "or we could show art films or move toward becoming a discount house or buck house offering $2 movies," Pritzker said. Penland said the final decision on the megaplex theaters rests with the city's planning council. people will live, work and play.

"Previous developers couldn't close on the property. We did, and we are moving forward." Kristen Moore, vice president of marketing for General Growth Properties, said Altamonte Mall also wants to play a key role in the city's dream to create a town center. "It is natural that we want to add an entertainment element," she said. "We've been a part of Altamonte Springs for more than 25 years, and we want to be a part of downtown Altamonte." Although the Vlass project predicts an earlier opening, the mall may have the edge for now because it has an announced theater operator. Rick King, spokesman for AMC Entertainment, said the company is committed to the mall project.

"We expect to begin construction very soon," he said. "It will be unusual for two modern megaplex operations to compete against each other, but that's the nature of business. "We are confident that the area is a superior location for our theater and the mall is the best place for a megaplex theater." Less than a year ago, there were no movie theaters in the area of Altamonte Mall, a result of a shakeout in the theater business.