LA LA LAND: FUN FOR KIDS AND PARENTS
When kids want to play and parents want to get away, La La Land provides a relaxing experience for parents while opening up a world of fun to kids. Now open in the Pointe at Wellington Green, La La Land is a playground and café that caters to parents and kids under age six. Parents can enjoy a latte or cappuccino while their children explore an indoor wonderland of activities and experiences.

RANDY PFEIFFER, MOVIE EXECUTIVE
In his younger days, longtime Wellington resident Randy Pfeiffer played guitar in rock bands and even cut a record. However, those artistic endeavors gave way to a career in finance. Most Wellington residents identify Pfeiffer with Pfeiffer Financial Services or his long association with the Wellington Rotary Club. Still, once an artist, always an artist. He’s now transitioning into the movie industry, and his first feature film has begun to pick up awards.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT TASK FORCE
A task force created by one of the area’s key business organizations, steered by a panel of stakeholders in cooperation with local governments, seeks to map an economic future for the region that will create commerce and maintain the unique character of Wellington and its surrounding communities.

SUSAN RUSSELL SCULPTS YOUNG MINDS FOR THREE DECADES
Susan Russell has been caring for Wellington’s youngest residents. The passage of time has done nothing to dim her resolve to provide a nurturing and inspiring environment. Her two preschool/daycare facilities in Wellington paved the way for the many that have followed. That is why she is our eighth nominee for the Entrepreneur of the Year Award.

MY FIRST WINTER EQUESTRIAN FESTIVAL
This year, rider Leah DeMartini was able to remain in Wellington for the duration of the Winter Equestrian Festival. It was an experience that paid off in many ways, inside and outside the show ring.

WELLINGTON STUDENTS THINK PINK
When a handful of Wellington students wanted to do something to fight breast cancer, they could have staged a single fundraiser, or perhaps join an event sponsored by another organization. Instead, they decided to start their own club. That group — thinkPINKkids Wellington — has since expanded to several area schools from its inception at Wellington High School.

ELBRIDGE GALE KIDS TAKE TO THE STAGE
After-school programs have come a long way since the days of homework help and craft projects. Students at Elbridge Gale Elementary School recently put on a fully staged production of Disney’s Aladdin Jr. It was part of a program that has become a major draw for the school, located on Royal Fern Drive in Wellington.

S.F. SCIENCE MUSEUM GOES PRESCHOOL
A new set of classes for children at the South Florida Science Museum is proving Wellington resident Theresa Kewley’s axiom that no one is too young to learn science. The classes, organized and taught by Kewley, make up the first early-learning program at the South Florida Science Museum, designed for ages 18 months to 4 years.

WELLINGTON STAR: YOUTUBE SENSATION RICKY FICARELLI
For Ricky Ficarelli, it all started in May 2010 when he began drumming to popular songs and posting his videos on YouTube. This earned him a spot in YouTube’s first DigiTour, a 27-city series of shows this spring that started in Los Angeles and wrapped up in Fort Lauderdale. This month’s Wellington Star, Ficarelli is now back in L.A., trying to figure out what’s next in his exciting adventure.

GERMANY’S LOSS IS WELLINGTON’S GAIN
Since 1993, German immigrant Frank Suess has been furnishing patients and businesses throughout the United States with medical supplies to treat, monitor and manage diabetes through his three Wellington-based companies. For this, and his dedication to the community, Suess is Wellington The Magazine’s seventh Entrepreneur of the Year Award nominee.