By Stuart J. Faber

During my freshman year at the University of Wisconsin, I met a student from Orlando, Fla. Her name was Nina.  My attention was drawn to her because I had never met anyone named Nina.  Wisconsin, a melting pot for immigrants from Scandinavia and Germany was populated with girls named Mary, Nancy, Susan, or Joyce.  I do recall one girl named Nora but not a single Nina.

Nina hailed from a town with which neither my fellow students nor I were familiar.  Actually, none of us in the early 1950s had ever heard of Orlando, Fla. Nina soon became a target of warm and friendly teasing-“Nina from Orlando.”  

Once populated by Creek and other Native American tribes, this city of modest origin is now one of the largest growing metrotrapolitan areas in America. It boasts more than 62 million visitors each year – the country’s record. The two million square foot convention center is the country’s second largest – exceeded only by Chicago. Disney World, of course, is a world-renowned destination. Orlando International Airport, once a grass strip, then an Army Air Force base, now receives daily flights from as far away as Dubai.