Queenie and her two suitors
Lake Eola Park; orlando.gov/swanathon
If you ever needed a cautionary tale about matchmaking, this is it. The story goes like this: One of Lake Eola's mated pair of black-necked swans died five years ago, and Orlando resident Shawn Pennington thought that his widow, Queenie, seemed lonely. So he and City Commissioner Patty Sheehan worked together to find her a new mate. They bought two male black-necked swans, so Queenie could have her choice of new boyfriend – but then one of her suitors died in July, leaving Queenie and Big Boy, the remaining male swan, in an awkward set-up situation. Then, in a plot twist worthy of a reality show (The Birdchelorette?), a necropsy revealed that the dead swan was actually female. We're still waiting to see if Queenie and Big Boy end up billing and cooing after all.
Local Color: Best of Orlando 2019: The best in local media, radio shows, Instagram feeds, activists and more
Photo illustration by Adam McCabe
Local Color
1. Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer
2. State Rep. Anna Eskamani, District 47
3. Orlando City Commissioner Patty Sheehan, District 4
1. Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida, feedhopenow.org
2. Pet Alliance of Greater Orlando, petallianceorlando.org
3. Pet Rescue by Judy, petrescuebyjudy.com
1. Zebra Coalition, zebrayouth.org
2. League of Women Voters of Orange County, lwvoc.org
3. Equality Florida, eqfl.org
1. "Johnny's House" – WXXL 106.7-FM
2. "Monsters in the Morning" – WTKS 104.1-FM
3. "The Jim Colbert Show" – WTKS 104.1-FM
1. Martha Sugalski, WFTV
2. Jorge Estevez, WFTV
3. Amy Kaufeldt, WOFL
1. "A Mediocre Time With Tom and Dan," tomanddan.com
2. "Full Frontal Nerdity Show," twitter.com/FFNShow
3. "Scotch and Good Conversation," scotchandgoodconversation.com
