Multimedia multimedia/photo_galleries PHOTOS: A look back at 2023 Beacon Staff - December 27, 2023 0 1 of 43 BEACON PHOTO/MARSHA MCLAUGHLIN Dot Brown on the way to her 95th birthday celebration at Cafe DaVinci BEACON PHOTO/MARSHA MCLAUGHLIN Manatee Fest BEACON FILE PHOTO The Putnam Hotel before it was demolished this year, after the latest in a string of owners judged it to be not salvageable and unsafe. BEACON PHOTO/AL EVERSON BEACON PHOTO/MARSHA MCLAUGHLIN STILL RUNNING STRONG — Despite initial plans to sunset the popular 5K race, ME STRONG is still going strong, and the 2023 race in February saw more than 5,000 racers run in DeLand to raise money for cancer patients. BEACON PHOTO/MARSHA MCLAUGHLIN Wells Fargo fire BEACON PHOTO/MARSHA MCLAUGHLIN BIKE WEEK BARKS — Another year of Bike Week was a success in DeLand if this dog’s expression is anything to go by. BEACON PHOTO/MARSHA MCLAUGHLIN ELECTION INCOMING — 2024 is an election year, and this photo from March shows one vendor selling merchandise to locals who support President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign. BEACON PHOTO Construction materials behind the Orange City Marketplace near the intersection of Saxon Boulevard and Enterprise Road in Orange City catch fire March 30, releasing toxic smoke into the air. Fire crews rushed to put out the blaze. The cause has yet to be determined. PHOTO COURTESY ORANGE CITY A NEW PLACE TO PLAY — Colin’s Dream Skate Park, named for Colin Anderson, a local 12-year-old boy who was hit and killed by a truck while skating in 2013, officially opens in May. Fundraising for the park began several years ago, and Anderson’s mother, Casandra Sprague, raised almost $80,000 toward the project. BEACON PHOTO/NOAH HERTZ END OF AN ERA — After serving for almost 150 years as the Glenwood area’s post office, the small post office north of DeLand announced it would be closing. While the post office was an institution, Postmaster Wilma Allen, pictured here, told The Beacon that operating an independent post office had gotten more challenging over the years, and with just one employee, the 80-year-old postmaster had to hang up her hat. Allen announced the closure in June, and the post office shut its doors in July. BEACON PHOTO/MARSHA MCLAUGHLIN Fourth of July fireworks at Valentine Park in Orange City BEACON PHOTO/ELI WITEK FAMILY — Felicia Smith, whose cousin’s son, Jayvion Barthel, was killed by law enforcement officers during a traffic stop in DeLand, addresses a horde of TV cameras after a joint press conference presented by the DeLand Police Department and Volusia Sheriff’s Office concluded Aug. 25. BEACON PHOTO/ELI WITEK READERS REVOLT — Discussions over whether certain books should sit on library shelves in Volusia County public schools were front and center in 2023. Images like this one, where protesters held signs opposing book bans outside of the Volusia County Schools Administrative Complex, were common. BEACON PHOTO/MARSHA MCLAUGHLIN No Halloween celebration would be complete without cute kids like Coast Jemison, pictured here dressed as a squid. BEACON PHOTO/MARSHA MCLAUGHLIN BIG CHANGES IN DELAND — The foundation of DeLand Commons, a 180-unit apartment complex planned for Downtown DeLand, looms large along South Woodland Boulevard. Construction began in 2023. BEACON PHOTO/MARSHA MCLAUGHLIN Toy giveaway at the Dr. Joyce M. Cusack Resource Center in DeLand