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Honoring Hy Lake
Junior Achievement of Central Florida celebrated its 50th anniversary in conjunction with the 34th annual Mid-Florida Business Hall of Fame affair. The event recognizes those who made extraordinary contributions to Central Florida and this year posthumously honored Hy Lake, a builder, attorney and supporter of the Jewish Community Center. His wife, Harriett Lake, accepted the award on his behalf.
Lake lived in Central Florida for five decades and is remembered as an astute businessman, philanthropist and champion of civil rights. One of his most notable accomplishments was Sky Lake. When he founded it, it was the first and only integrated neighborhood in Orlando. Home to more than 5,500 people, it is still one of the area’s most diverse neighborhoods.
Inducting Lake into the Hall of Fame was Trevon Cleveland, an 11th-grader at Oak Ridge High School. Trevon described Lake’s motto as, “shut up, stop whining and get a life.” Born into poverty in Chicago, Trevon said, Lake sold shoelaces and shopping bags when he was 6 years old. He served in World War II, then studied law. Known for fighting bigotry and discrimination, Trevon said, “he broke the barriers that no one was willing to cross … and dared anyone to challenge him.”
For more information about Junior Achievement of Central Florida and its annual Hall of Fame event, visit JACentralFL.org.
|Harriett Lake accepts the JA Hall of Fame award from Trevon Cleveland of Oak Ridge High School on behalf of her husband, Hy Lake (photo courtesy Costa Devault)|
|Hy Lake (photo courtesy Costa Devault)|
