• Ernie Mander starts outreach program to wash clothes for the homeless every Tuesday morning at Nice Day Coin Laundry. He also starts a bike program, giving away new and used bikes to those who had no form of transportation.
• The Seminole State – University of Central Florida Partnership Center opens at Seminole State’s Sanford/Lake Mary campus. The completion of the center marks the final step for an $83 million makeover of the college.
• Seminole County and Central Florida experience record peaks in electricity use after temperatures dip below freezing.
• Sanford Housing Authority comes under fire after residents complain of faulty heating systems and lack of maintenance. The heating problems prompt Renaldi Air Conditioning to fix heating systems in Redding Gardens at no cost.
• An earthquake in Haiti prompts the evacuation of thousands of Haitians to Sanford’s Orlando Sanford International Airport, which has runways long enough to handle the landing of large military cargo planes.
• Sanford Police Department takes 1st place for its antique car and motorcycle in the Oviedo Optimist – Law Enforcement Car Show.
• Low temperatures trigger a large fish kill on Lake Monroe.
• SHA then executive director Angel Tua releases an agency plan that will have the organization out of almost a $1 million of debt by June.
February:
• Tru-Valu Drugs in Sanford celebrates its 30-year anniversary.
• Allegiant Air moves 10 popular flights from Orlando Sanford International Airport to Orlando International Airport.
• Sanford police officer Jason Bowen is released from the force after questionable comments directed towards other officers are discovered on his computer.
• Sanford’s UCF Incubator gets the go-ahead to nearly double its size after local, small businesses steadily apply to be a part of the program.
• Chrysler Corp. tells Lake Mary High School that it must forfeit its logo because of its resemblance to the Dodge Ram symbol. School officials say it will cost thousands of dollars to replace equipment and uniforms.
• The Crappie Masters Fishing Tournament returns to Sanford’s lakefront for its annual event. The group also puts on the Kids Fishing Rodeo on Lake Carolla, where kids can fish for prizes.
• Commissioners consider a limit or buffer zone for downtown bars, but ultimately pass over the idea.
• Snowstorms in the northeast halt Auto Train service in Sanford for several days as trees and debris are removed from the railways.
• Celery Soup finds a home when it opens a small office in the back of the Historic Sanford Welcome Center on 1st Street.
• Sanford’s first homicide of the year occurs when Dennis Williams, 37, is shot in front of his home in Goldsboro while he holds his infant son. Police try several times to gather information, but a suspect is never identified or caught.
• Sanford police investigator Steven Lynch shoots and kills Nicholas Scott, 23, in the parking lot of Winn-Dixie at 15th Street and French Avenue. Investigators were trying to arrest Scott for an outstanding warrant when he attempted to run them over with his car, resulting in Lynch firing a deadly shot at Scott.
• Alive After 5 organizers worry the event may be in trouble after the state Division of Hotels and Restaurants said the group was operating the event without the proper licenses. It was determined later that the group was doing nothing wrong, and could continue to put on the event.
• City commissioners give final approval to make red-light cameras legal within the city.
• Sanford resident Vienna Girardi makes it to the final round of the ABC show “The Bachelor.” Despite rumors surrounding the contestant, Girardi receives the final rose from bachelor Jake Palveka, declaring her winner of the show.
March
• The Central Florida Zoo & Botanical Gardens announces the death of one of its Asian elephants, Mary, at age 63.
• The Orlando Sanford International Airport applies to the federal government for $600,000 in reimbursements for services after the earthquake in Haiti. Thousands of evacuees were brought to the airport after the quake.
• The City of Sanford opens a community garden in the 18th Street Park where residents can purchase a plot to grow their own vegetables.
• The Foundation for Seminole County Public Schools opens a store for teachers, A Gift for Teaching, on Airport Boulevard. The store allows teachers to show for free for school supplies for the classroom.
• Florida’s Workforce for Innovation announces increasing unemployment in the state and Central Florida. Seminole County’s unemployment rate increases to 11.6 percent.
• Celery Soup puts on its annual Masquerade Ball to help raise money for the community play.
• Home & Garden Television visits future city commissioner Mark McCarty’s home in the Sanford’s Mayfair neighborhood to tape several informational commercials to air on the network.
• City commissioners approve a 70-foot tall video sign, the tallest sign in the city, for David Maus Toyota after Maus offers to share half of the video time with the city.
• Commissioner Jack Bridges, District 4, dies March 23 after a battle with cancer.
• Citywide census efforts increase to make sure residents are counted in the dicentennial population check.
• Sanford’s Farmers Market begins accepting EBT (food stamps) as well as debit cards and cash at the market held each Saturday in Magnolia Square.
• Seminole County officials break ground on the Yankee Lake Water Treatment Facility that will eventually draw 5.5 million gallons a day from the St. Johns River.
• Chrysler Corp. announces it will allow Lake Mary High School to continue to use the Dodge Ram logo as part of a new partnership with the school.
• The City of Sanford announces it will hold a special election for the late Commissioner Bridges seat in District 4.
April
• The Sanford/ Seminole County YouthBuild organization asks the community to help it locate a new, larger facility to house the program that allows troubled teens to earn a diploma and construction certifications.
• A Sanford man is shot in the leg with a rifle after being approached at the Xtreem Kleen Car Wash on French Avenue. The man survives his injuries and a suspect was never named in the crime.
• Sanford officials name Jazz musician Larry Coryell as “Sanford’s Ambassador of Jazz” during his performance in Magnolia Square for the city’s monthly event, Jazzed in Sanford.
• Commissioners declare April 15, 2010, Jack Bridges Appreciation Day. Residents are encouraged to “cuss and discuss” local politics. Bridges often used the phrase when speaking with friends in town about Sanford.
• Sanford’s Gardens Around the Park tour returns for its second year.
• The Colonial Room, a longstanding restaurant in downtown Sanford, serves its last dinnertime meal. The restaurant remains open for breakfast and lunch.
• The Greater Sanford Regional Chamber of Commerce holds a celebration for its 90th Anniversary.
• Efes Turkish Restaurant opens on Marina Island in place of Limoncello’s.
• Several Sanford Middle School students are charged with drug possession during a drug bust at the school. Most notably, a 13-year-old is charged with cocaine possession.
• Reynolds’ Right Hands, an organization at Crooms Academy of Information Technology, starts a new program to raise awareness about texting on cell phones while driving. The group was started after Crooms teacher Christy Reynolds died in a car accident where a cell phone distraction was thought to be the cause.
May
• Theophylus Williams, 29, of Sanford, is shot twice outside of his apartment at Seminole Gardens. Police said the shooting occurred after Williams got in an argument with Earl Pritchard III, 20.
• Carl Collins, Patty Mahany and Rich Santos qualify as candidates for the special election in District 4 following the death of commissioner Bridges.
• A film crew sets up in little fish HUGE pond to shoot the movie “Dead by Friday.” Scenes were also shot in some of Sanford’s alleyways.
• Sanford Deputy City Manager Kristi Aday resigns for a position in at the City of Altamonte Springs. As a cost-saving effort, interim city manager Tom George decides not to refill the position.
• A report released by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development calls the SHA “financially insolvent” and its housing units “extremely poor.” Executive director Tua claims the findings are inaccurate.
• After years of trying to develop a new city logo, commissioners look at a new proposal with five logos for different parts of the city. Ultimately, commissioners decide to stick with the same logo the city was already using.
• Lake Mary High School reveals a new logo for the school created by Global Village Concerns. GVC also helps create a website that raises money for the school through the purchase of T-shirts and accessories.
• Vincent Robinson, 3, is killed after being hit by a truck on Seminole Boulevard in front of Fort Mellon Park. The accident results in more signage and signals for the busy crosswalk, as well as the removal of the hotdog stand that often parks there.
• District 4 commission candidate Carl Collins discovers he cannot run because he lives 275 feet outside of the district. Collins, who made the discovery, was refunded his qualifying fees after the confusion.
• The City of Sanford holds its annual Memorial Day Parade. Thousands show up for the event, which is one of a few in Central Florida.
June
• Sanford police officer Brandon Worrall is shot after responding to a suspicious-person call at Cedar Creek Apartments. The suspect in the shooting, 16-year-old Henry Baker, is identified, caught, and charged less than a week after the shooting occurs.
• Patty Mahany is elected as the new commissioner for District 4 in a special election.
• City commissioners begin budget discussions to figure out how to fix a $4 million shortfall in the city’s budget.
• Seminole High School student Ikeem Ruffin, 17, is shot and killed at the Seminole Garden apartments while walking home from his job at McDonald’s. Police arrest 18-year-old Tarance Moore and charge him for the crime.
• David Maus breaks ground on the newest dealership in Sanford, David Maus Chrysler. The new dealership is expected to open sometime next year and on Rinehart Road.
• Officer Worrall returns to duty after being shot nearly a month before. Around the same time, a judge declares that Henry Baker, 16, who is charged in the shooting, will be tried as an adult.
• Former Seminole County attorney, judge and state senator Douglas Stenstrom dies at 88 after a battle with cancer.
Click here to read the second half (July to December) of the special feature, "2010: A Year in Review," printed Wednesday, Dec. 29.