Best of Orlando 2017 – People & Media
Our readers voted online for their top picks in dozens of categories, from sweet shops to car dealers, bloggers to wedding venues. We carried our snazzy "Best of Orl" sign to various winning spots for photos, then had a "blast" coloring it for the cover.
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Best of Food & Drink |
The Morning Persons
The morning duo of Amy Kaufeldt and Bob Frier have shared the 7-10 a.m. anchor desk for Fox 35's Good Day Orlando since last October. Kaufeldt arrived in Orlando in 2003 after holding assignment editor and anchoring jobs in Ohio, Montana, Tennessee and Oklahoma. She had anchored the morning spot with two of Frier’s predecessors. Frier had anchored for a time with Kaufeldt in 2009 when he first joined the station, after working for eight years at WKMG-Channel 6. Both are well known for their work with local charity groups and fundraisers. And the chemistry that viewers see is real, Kaufeldt says. "We are friends both on and off the news set,” she says. “We also have a special relationship with our viewers. We spend a lot of time interacting with them on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram throughout the morning.” Says Frier, “There’s just an honest camaraderie because we both truly like and respect each other. There’s nothing forced on our show; it’s really what you see is what you get.”
—Loraine O’Connell
TELEVISION NEWSTEAM
1 Amy Kaufeldt and Bob Frier
Fox 35
fox35orlando.com
2 Jim Payne and Meredith McDonough
WESH-Channel 2
wesh.com
3 Greg Warmoth and Martha Sugalski
WFTV-Channel 9
wftv.com
ATHLETE
1 Kaká
Orlando City Soccer Club
orlandocitysc.com
2 Julien Williams
Mixed Martial Arts
facebook.com/julien.williams
3 Aaron Gordon
Orlando Magic
orlandomagic.com
Michael Andrew (EMILY JOURDAN)
LOCALBAND OR SINGER
1 Michael Andrew
michaelandrew.com
2 The Trees of Life
thetreesof.life
3 Paulo Clayton
pauloclayton.com
TELEVISION SPORTSCASTER
1 David Pingalore (left in June)
WKMG-Local 6
clickorlando.com
2 Pat Clarke
WESH-Channel 2
wesh.com
3 Adam Shadoff
Fox 35
fox35orlando.com
MUSIC RADIO STATION
1 XL 106.7 FM
xl1067.com
2 Z88.3 FM
zradio.org
3 K92.3 FM
k923orlando.com
LOCAL RADIO SHOW
1 Johnny’s House
XL 106.7 FM
xl1067.iheart.com
2 The Philips Phile
Real Radio 104.1 FM
realradio.iheart.com
3 A Corporate Time With Tom and Dan
Real Radio 104.1 FM
acorporatetime.com
TV WEATHER FORECASTER
1 Tom Terry
WFTV-Channel 9
wftv.com
2 Amy Sweezey
WESH-Channel 2
wesh.com
3 Tom Sorrells
WKMG-Local 6
clickorlando.com
PASTOR
1 David Uth
Senior Pastor at First Baptist Church of Orlando
firstorlando.com
2 Byron Bledsoe
Senior Pastor at C3 Church
Avalon Park
c3church.cc
3 Joel Hunter
Senior Pastor at Northland, A Church Distributed
Longwood
northlandchurch.net
BLOGGER
1 Christina Thomas
Go Epicurista
goepicurista.com
2 Matthew Weller
The Vinyl Warhol
thevinylwarhol.com
3 Brendan O’Connor
Bungalower
bungalower.com
Central Florida Community Arts (ROBERTO GONZALEZ)
PERFORMING ARTS GROUP
1 Central Florida
Community Arts
College Park
cfcarts.com
2 Orlando Ballet
Ivanhoe Village
orlandoballet.org
3 Orlando Shakespeare Theater
Loch Haven Park
orlandoshakes.org
LOCAL ARTIST
1 Donna Dowless
heartartist.com
2 Christopher M.W. Johnson
rawartists.org/christopher
3 Jeff Sonksen
jeffsonksen.com
LOCAL AUTHOR
1 Robert James
nextthebook.com
2 Teege Braune
burrowpress.com/teege-braune
3 Bob Kealing
amazon.com
(search Bob Kealing)
COMMUNITY LEADER
1 Buddy Dyer
Orlando Mayor
cityoforlando.net
2 Joshua Vickery
Executive Director, Central Florida Community Arts
cfcarts.com
3 Patty Sheehan
Orlando City Commissioner
cityoforlando.net
