If you’ve been to Kathryn’s Christian Books in downtown Lake Wales, you already know something about Kelly Geniott. She’s known for her beautiful lettering and management skills. At the Lake Wales Recreation Center, she’s known for her cycling and teaching skills. Her communication skills will be put to good use right away.
The City of Lake Wales recently introduced Geniott as the newest member of their Communications and Engagement Department.
“The City is working on a lot of important initiatives,” says Geniott. “I am here to help communicate the progress.”
According to a recent social media post by the City, Kelly will be overseeing at least four major communications campaigns. In one, she’s working with Lake Wales Main Street to bring attention to downtown businesses through a video series called “Hot Spot to Shop,” hosted by Ronni Wood and Ken Suarez. She will also be working to get the word out about the multimillion-dollar improvements at the airport, along with promoting the City in a Garden initiative and the Lake Wales History Museum. Other responsibilities include writing feature articles, facilitating social media and hosting various news segments on video.
In addition, Kelly is developing new graphics you’ll see around town, like one with a citrus theme that will show up on a water tower near you very soon.
There’s an underlying theme planned for each new project that comes her way: “Making sure that we are connecting to our heritage with a forward-thinking vision,” Kelly explained.
Each campaign will incorporate the vision set forth by the city’s greatest, such as internationally acclaimed landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr., who laid out the plans for Lake Wales to become a City in a Garden, and Edward Bok, who developed Mountain Lake Estates and donated the property for Bok Tower Gardens.
When asked why it is important for the community to have someone in this role at the City, Geniott quickly responded, saying, “I love the origin of things, the history of things; there’s a new team here at the city and everybody’s making sure that we are staying strong to our heritage.”
Kelly is well prepared to take on the challenge. For more than two decades, she has raised her family here and been an integral part of the community.
As a lifelong athlete, she enjoys running, participating in local races such as the Lake Wales Care Center’s “Run Like You Care 10K.” You’ll also find her at the Lake Wales Recreation Center where she teaches Les Mills RPM, a group-cycling class.
Kelly earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Design from what is now known as Jefferson University and studied further at Moore College of Art, both located in Philadelphia.
Eric Marshall, Communications and Engagement Director for the City of Lake Wales, says they have been working towards building up his department to focus on segments of community projects and city services. Ken Suarez, an independent contractor, reports on local human interest stories and more using social media, and Marshall is building their team up to include Geniott.
“We saw it time to introduce a female reporter, which Kelly is going to help to fill that role,” says Marshall. “Since she’s so connected with the community, and has years of experience working with the community, we find her to be the perfect fit for this role.”
