LAKELAND (Jan. 9, 2012) – A colorful new exhibition of citrus industry memorabilia which opened Friday kicked off the 50th anniversary year of the Florida Citrus Hall of Fame.

The exhibition at Arts on the Park, 115 N. Kentucky Ave., features a wide range of historic tools and artifacts from the industry’s past, including a collection of the imaginative labels that distinguished the ends of wooden citrus crates. Also included in the exhibition are items from groves, packinghouses, vintage advertisements and Citrus Queen memorabilia, along with videos of citrus commercials from the Anita Bryant era.

The exhibition was coordinated by LuAnn Mims, archivist for the State of Florida Citrus Archives at Florida Southern College, and assembled with the help of Florida Southern students in the Florida Citrus Hall of Fame Fellowship program. The exhibition was made possible through the support of the Florida Citrus Hall of Fame, Florida Southern College, HESCO, MacroPlastics and Noble Juices, and will remain on display through Feb. 18.

In 2008, the Florida Citrus Hall of Fame created a partnership with Florida Southern College (FSC), in Lakeland, to house the Hall of Fame Archives and to help catalog, preserve and digitize citrus memorabilia and artifacts for inclusion in the State of Florida Citrus Archives. The Florida Citrus Hall of Fame Display and Citrus Archives Center is located within the McKay Archives Building at FSC.

The Florida Citrus Hall of Fame was created in 1962 to honor distinguished leaders who have made significant contributions to the Florida citrus industry. In a half-century, the Hall of Fame has grown from 17 to 167 members.