HAVE VISITORS? December is a traditional time for residents to host family and friends. Remember, when you see a visiting grandchild, they are guests of your neighbors so please extend every courtesy possible. Residents: please be tolerant of extra activity at the pool and other amenities. Those hosting family should remind them to be considerate of residents in this 55 and older community. Guests must be accompanied by an adult 21 and older if under the age of 18. Anyone using amenities at the Clubhouse or HFC should have a Lake Ashton Resident Amenity Access Card or Facilities Guest Pass. All guests can be registered at either Activities Desk during business hours. Residents can call security (number on page 3) to register their guests after hours. Renters must have a copy of their fully executed rental agreement. Visit the Clubhouse Office to get your resident amenity access card (which also serves as your Resident Photo ID Card) made during the published hours for distribution or by appointment. Bring a driver's license with your Lake Ashton address on it, or the warranty deed for your home. RESIDENT SPOTLIGHT By Marianne Zak Retired locomotive engineer, Wendie Anderson, from Back Nine Drive, has lived in Lake Ashton since 2019. Her story begins studying the art of dance at her mother's dance studio in Depew, NY. When her mother died of breast cancer at 38, Wendie was 13. She moved to Orlando, FL at 16. With her father's backing, she opened Regent Dance Studio in 1968 until 1976. With over 500 students in 8 years, they performed at nursing homes, hospitals and recitals. With an open heart, she taught blind and disabled girls the art of dance. A pigtailed tomboy, Wendie worked alongside her father rebuilding gasoline engines and studied diesel engines "on my own”. Her nickname was Greasy because she "didn't care if she got dirty". Her interest in engines took her on her journey as a l o c omo t i v e engineer. Hired in 1977 by the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad (CSX), she began her career as a switchman and a trainman. She threw switches and coupled and uncoupled cars to build trains and delivered cars to industries. Wendie then transferred to engine service, hostling engines with fuel and sand. Wendie went to engineer training for six months learning to operate a train. As an engineer, she hauled up to 200 cars at a time. Many folks would point and say, "That's a woman running that train". Indeed, she was the first female in engine service on the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad. Wendie was nicknamed Broken Rail because she was very observant of track conditions. Through her persistence, she was responsible for the installation of hand brakes on all CSX locomotives. An advocate for railroading, Wendie said, "I wrote editorials galore" in defense of trains. When a newspaper headline states that a train hit a vehicle, she points out that the headline is misleading. One editorial headline was "Americans Should Appreciate the Nation's Backbone". Dancer, teacher and locomotive engineer, Wendie drove her last train pulling 149 cars in 2009. Now retired, she recently was invited to speak at the Central Florida Railroad Museum. You can meet Wendie at Monday morning coffee or the Singles Club. Just look for her beautiful braids. We n d i e i s pictured here as a child, third from left in the front row. Her mother was also pictured in the row behind her with the arrow pointing at her.
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