GEORGE SHARES HIS MEMORIES THIS WE CONTINUE OUR SERIES OF REPORTS WITH THE LOCAL MARKING
THE 2 100TH ANNIVERSARY OF
JACKSONVILLE BY HEARING FROM A
LONGTIME RESIDENT OF OUR CITY.
HE IS A FAMILIAR FACE TO THOSE
OF YOU WHO’VE BEEN WATCHING
CHANNEL 4 FOR MANY YEARS. WE
TALK ABOUT GEORGE WINNER. LANG
GEORGE MOVED HERE IN 1941.
LAST NIGHT DURING THE NEWS AT
5, GEORGE SHARED HIS MEMORIES
OF THE ONLY HURRICANE TO HIT
NORTHEAST FLORIDA WAS IN 1964.
GEORGE WAS THE ONLY BEAT OR
ALLAH. JUST A FORECAST OF
HURRICANE DORA WOULD COME
ASHORE IN OUR AREA. ALL THE
OTHER WEATHER EXPERTS SAID IT
WOULD MISS US, BUT IT WAS A
DIRECT HIT. NOW THIS MORNING,
GEORGE SHARES HIS MEMORIES OF
WHAT DOWNTOWN JACKSONVILLE AND
OTHER PARTS OF OUR AREA USED
TO LOOK LIKE WHEN HE WAS JUST
A BOY MORE THAN 80 YEARS AGO.
A NICKEL $0.5 WENT A LONG WAY
IN THE 1940’S, IT BOUGHT A
YOUNG GEORGE WINNER LING A BUS
RIDE FROM THE WEST SIDE TO
DOWNTOWN JACKSONVILLE. THE IT
PLACE TO VISIT ME AND MY
BROTHER WOULD GO.
>>JENNIFER WAUGH: AND WE WALK
INTO FOR AND I WOULD RUN UP
THE STAIRS. NAVY ON THE
ELEVATOR WE WOULD NEED IT. THE
5TH FLOOR. FOR OPENED IN 1948.
AT THE CORNER OF ADAMS AND
HOGAN STREET KNOWN AS
JACKSONVILLE’S, NEWEST, FINEST
AND MOST BEAUTIFUL DEPARTMENT
STORE. GEORGE AND HIS BROTHER
WERE INTERESTED IN THE BOY
SCOUT GEAR THAT IT SOLD. THIS
IS WITH THE BUILDING. LOOKS
LIKE NOW IT’S MOSTLY OFFICE
SPACE DEPARTMENT STORES WERE A
BIG DRAW FOR DOWNTOWN VISITORS
IN THE 1940’S, ONE IN
PARTICULAR CAPTIVATED YOUNG
VISITORS WINS AT THE CORNER OF
LAURA AND MONROE STREETS.
>> AND THE FIRST STORE IN
JACKSONVILLE HAD ESCALATORS.
INSTALL THEM THAT SAME TIME I
GRADUATED.
>> FROM HIGH SCHOOL SAID THE
REMEMBER, WE WENT ON THE
ESCALATOR FOR THE FIRST TIME.
I LIKE, YEAH, I WENT THERE.
MAKE OWENS IS NOW THE SAINT
JAMES BUILDING WHERE CITY HALL
IS LOCATED. AND THE FORESIGHT
STREET. WE ALL KNOW TODAY WAS
MUCH DIFFERENT 80 YEARS AGO.
>> THERE’S SO MANY THEATERS
THERE TO BACK GUYS. THEY’RE
ABOUT 10 ON FORSYTH. 3. I
WOUND UP GETTING MY FIRST JOB
THAT ONE OF THE THEATERS RIGHT
NEXT TO THE BARNETT BANK.
>> WHAT DID YOU DO?
>> I WAS AN USHER THERE FOR A
COUPLE YEARS. WAS IN HIGH
SCHOOL OR WORK IN THE
EVENINGS.
>>JENNIFER WAUGH: WELL, A
TEENAGE WINTER LING HAD NO
IDEA AT THE TIME WHAT HE WOULD
LATER PURSUE AS A CAREER.
PERHAPS IT WAS THE WINDOW
DISPLAY AT A HISTORIC BUILDING
DOWNTOWN IN THE 40’S THAT
SPARKED HIS FUTURE ENDEAVORS.
>> NOW WE DIDN’T HAVE A TV
BACK THEN. AND I GOT THE NEWS
AT 500 BARNETT BANK AND THEN
THE WINDOW. THEY HAD TO BE
YOUR THAT AP. NEWS PHOTOGRAPHS
AND I’VE AGREED WITH THE NEWS.
WAS THERE. AND THAT YOU KNOW,
TIME IS ON THE NEWS. AS DURING
THAT WHEN THEY RAN THE
CARTOONS AND NEWSREELS IN THE
>>JENNIFER WAUGH: 20 YEARS
LATER, ANYONE WATCHING THE
NEWS WOULD SEE METEOROLOGIST
GEORGE WINNER LING. AND THE
BARNETT NATIONAL BANK BUILDING
STILL STANDS AT THE CORNER OF
LAURA AND HOGAN STREET. BUT
IT’S NOW THE CHASE BUILDING
DATES TO GIVE YOU SOME
REFERENCE. ONE OTHER THING
REALLY KIND OF MADE ME GIGGLE
DURING MY INTERVIEW WITH
GEORGE. I ASKED HIM ABOUT HIS
MEMORIES OF GOING TO THE BEACH
AND THE BOARDWALK. JUST WHAT
IT LOOKED LIKE BACK THEN YOU
CAN TAKE THE BUS. HE SAID FOR
$0.50 TO GO TO JACKSONVILLE
BEACH AND HE SAYS HE WAS
REALLY EXCITED ABOUT RI. THINK
THIS COASTER IN JAX PAIGE. IT
WAS WOULD, AS YOU CAN SEE AND
HAD THIS BIG DROP DORT SAID HE
WENT ON IT JUST HAS BEEN NEVER
WENT ON IT. I DON’T LIKE THAT
EITHER. AND THERE’S JUST
SOMETHING ABOUT THIS THAT
MAKES ME A LITTLE
UNCOMFORTABLE ABOUT SAFETY.
I’M JUST SAYING.
>> I YOU WEAR A HELMET. HAHA.
CNBC POUNDS EITHER. I’M I WISH
I WISH WE HAD OVER OR I WISH
WE HAD A BOARDWALK LIKE THAT
BUT, YOU KNOW, REMEMBER BEACH,
BUT WERE YOU? I’D BEEN HERE.
BUT BEACH BOULEVARD I THINK
WAS ONLY 2 LANES BACK. YEAH.
JUST BOULEVARD WAS ONLY 2
LANES AS WELL. YOU KNOW,
LOOKING YOUR HE LOOKS GREAT NO
MATTER WHERE YOU GO, YOU KNOW,
SOMEONE IS GOING TO ASK AT
SOME POINT. HOW’S HE DOING OF
HEALTH IS GOOD. HE AND HIS
WIFE AND IT GREAT. YOU KNOW,
HE IN VIRGINIA BEEN MARRIED
FOR YEARS AND YEARS AND IS
LIVE IN THE SAME HOUSE THAT
THEY HAVE LIVED. AND I I
REMEMBER WHEN I WENT AND
INTERVIEWED THEM MANY YEARS
AGO FOR THEIR 50TH WEDDING
ANNIVERSARY, SAME HOUSE. THEY
LIVE.
>>LENA PRINGLE: THEIR DAUGHTER
LIVES RIGHT BEHIND THEM. SHE’S
THERE ALL OF THE TIME. THEY
JUST TO CREATE GEORGE WATCHES
THE NEWS. YOU KNOW, EVERY DAY
HE CALLED MORNING EARLY THIS
MORNING. SO HE’S DOING
FANTASTIC. LOT OF PEOPLE ASK
ABOUT HIS GARDEN. YES, YOU
KNOW, MOBILITY IS A LITTLE
MORE OF A CHALLENGE FOR ME. HE
IS AFTER ALL 90 SO HE DOESN’T
GET OUT IN THE BACKYARD THAT
MUCH WITH THE GARDEN. BUT WHEN
I TALKED TO HIM YESTERDAY, HE
JUST FINISHED TRIMMING SOME
SOME SOME SO HE IS DOING
GREAT. HE’S HAD AND HIS