Escapees January-February 2024

Another Squeeze Please

By EVANNE SCHMARDER #654099 The Joy of Citrus

If you were a child of the ’70s, like me, and had the incredible luck to visit Kissimmee, Florida, the hometown of Disney World, you’d probably recall encountering the iconic Florida Citrus Commission mascot, Orange Bird. After a long, tiresome drive, my parents would steer our car into the town’s visitor center. While the grown ups gathered travel brochures, the highlight for me was the small, yet exhilarating, pleasure of sip ping on a complimentary cup of ice-cold orange juice. To this day, I treasure that memory, along with the tiny Orange Bird charm that, somehow, I managed to persuade my folks I couldn’t live without.

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ESCAPEES Magazine January/February 2024