ORLANDO, Fla. \u2014 If you\u2019ve ever driven through downtown Orlando and wondered about the history behind some of the city\u2019s oldest buildings, one local group is working to make sure that those stories are not forgotten.<\/p>\n
Orlando Remembered is a nonprofit organization dedicated to celebrating the city\u2019s history through free tours, community gatherings and shared memories.<\/p>\n
At the heart of that mission is Marianne Lyon, who now leads the group her father helped start years ago.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are the only organization that gets people excited about their memories,\u201d Lyon said.<\/p>\n
On a recent tour, the group visited the historic Cathedral Church of St. Luke in downtown Orlando, learning about its roots dating back to the early 1920s.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo in the early 1920s, they wanted to build a wonderful church, befitting of a cathedral,\u201d one guide shared with the group.<\/p>\n
For Lyon, preserving Orlando\u2019s history is about more than old buildings. It\u2019s about connecting generations.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt helps to share with a younger generation,\u201d Lyon said. \u201cYou don\u2019t have to be 80 or 90 years old to have history in Orlando. As a matter of fact, yesterday is already history.\u201d<\/p>\n
The volunteers with Orlando Remembered focus much of their work on downtown Orlando, highlighting some of the city\u2019s oldest landmarks and helping breathe new life into the stories behind them.<\/p>\n
Mark Line, who also volunteers with the organization, said Lyon has been instrumental in keeping the group\u2019s mission moving forward.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s carrying on the tradition of her family, and she\u2019s doing a great job,\u201d Line said. \u201cShe\u2019s kind of the energy behind who we are, and we\u2019re grateful for her,\u201d Mark Line said.<\/p>\n
Through walking tours, storytelling and community events, Orlando Remembered brings people together to reflect on the past and preserve it for future generations.<\/p>\n
For Lyon, the reward is seeing people connect.<\/p>\n
\u201cI receive a lot of joy in hearing people talk and seeing them laugh or give a hug,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s more than just exchanging stories. It\u2019s the connection they make with each other and being nostalgic, sentimental.\u201d<\/p>\n
For her dedication to preserving Orlando\u2019s history and bringing the community together, Marianne Lyon is this week\u2019s Everyday Hero.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ORLANDO, Fla. \u2014 If you\u2019ve ever driven through downtown Orlando and wondered about the history behind some of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":446537,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[2297,274,28293,2296,54687,2204,115,139,141,140,278,2032,835],"class_list":["post-446536","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-orlando","tag-app-everyday-heroes","tag-app-top-stories","tag-curtis-mccloud","tag-everyday-hero","tag-everyday-heroes","tag-instagram-n13","tag-news","tag-orlando","tag-orlando-headlines","tag-orlando-news","tag-top-stories","tag-trending-topics","tag-vod"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/446536","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=446536"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/446536\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/446537"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=446536"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=446536"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=446536"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}