Page 261 - lake-city-florida-a-sesquicentennial-tribute-(h-morris-williams-kevin-mccarthy)-2009

Lake City, Florida: A Sesquicentennial Tribute (2009) H. Morris Williams, Dr. Kevin M. McCarthy

Chapter Nineteen: 1990 - 1999

The parts of the city near I-75 and I-10 have also changed,
as more motels and restaurants were added to accommodate the
increasing numbers of tourists on their way to and from central Florida’s
attractions. Lake City’s 19th-century claim of being the “Gateway to
Florida” was being revived.

The women’s softball team at the local community college
had eight national titles, three of them in the 1990s: 1990, 1992, and
1993, all women’s slow-pitch softball.

General Bob and Coach Nick

Two great southern gentlemen, Bob and Nick, met in the middle
of the Memorial Stadium football field in 1992. One was the late
General Robert “Bob”
Harkness, Jr. (CHS 1920), a
great man in so many ways and
the namesake of the local Robert
Harkness National Guard Armory.
The other was the late Nick
Hyder, the storied Valdosta High
School (VHS) football coach
who played a major role in
establishing VHS as the winningest
high school program in America.
Those two first met at the pre-
game coin toss in 1992 when

Lake City and Valdosta renewed
their football rivalry with a game
in Lake City, and they became
instant friends.
Nick Hyder

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