plant city observer 08.30.12

FREE • thuRsday, auGust 30, 2012

IN FOCUSPlant City YMCApresents its annualleadership award.PAGE 11

PLANT CITYObserveryou. youR nEiGhboRs. youR nEiGhboRhood.

+ Library conjuresup Harry Potter party

Attention witches and wiz-ards: Get your Nimbus Two Thousand ready!

Bruton Memorial Library will throw a Harry Potter-inspired party at 3 p.m. Sept. 1, at the library, 302 W. McLendon St.

Attendees should dress as their favorite Harry Potter characters, and activities will include trivia games, themed snacks and more.

For information, call Children’s Library Kate Chang at (813) 757-9215.

News Briefs .........6 Cops Corner .........7 Crossword ......... 15 Sports ............... 13INDEX Vol. 1, No. 9 | One section

PlantCityObserver.com

OUR TOWN

SPECIAL SECTIONaRE you REady FoR somE Football?

The Observer presents our2012 FOOTBALL PREviEW GUidE

+ Hospital plansannual fundraiser

Tickets are on sale now for South Florida Baptist Hospital Foundation’s annual diamonds & denim Gala, which will be from 7 to 10 p.m. Sept. 27, at the Florida Strawberry Festival Expo Building, 2301 Oak Ave. Plant City.

The gala is the foundation’s largest fundraiser of the year, and event coordinators expect more than 500 attendees this year. Since its inception in 1997, diamonds & denim has raised more than $750,000 for the hospital.

Guests enjoy live music, dancing, open seating and a catered dinner with six food stations. Attendees also can enter for a chance to win a diamond ring donated by area jewelers and participate in a

50/50 raffle and silent auction.

Tickets are $50

per person; advance reserva-

tions required by Sept. 14. To purchase tickets or

donate an auction item, call the foundation, (813) 757-8478.

Damage along Silvermoon Drive in Walden Lake caused city officials to close part of the road to traffic last week, forcing several residents to park down the block from their homes.

Resident Phalen Redmond first noticed soggy and cracked asphalt along the road. She called the city to investigate and then left to run an errand. By the time she returned, the road

to her home was blocked.“All I got was a notice on the

door,” Redmond said. “I didn’t even have time to move my other car out of the driveway. I parked a block down and had all these groceries and didn’t know what to do.”

Because of structural con-cerns stemming from the wash

out of the storm drain, the road was blocked off Aug. 23, said City Manager Greg Horwedel. The problems were not related directly to Tropical Storm Isaac, but rather may be effects of the rain from Tropical Storm Debby in June.

damage forces road closureExcess water caused the asphalt to crack on a stretch of Silvermoon Drive in Walden Lake.

traffic by amber Jurgensen | Staff Writer

Loitering squatters outside a de-pressed house. Dirty drugs and money exchanged in rough hands. Liquor to lips. Smoky rooms. Cheap women.

All snapshots inside of author Mills Cooper’s head. Scenes from the tough neighborhoods of Plant City. Witnessed pictures from his past.

Cooper sat in his car, depressed. He had just been laid off from his con-

struction job in 2008. His marriage had crumbled into dust. Instead of heading to the safety and security of his parents’ house or to one of his many friends, Cooper isolated himself. He chose to live out of his car.

Shiny guns. “I wanted to distance myself,” Cooper

says. Crying mothers.

“And get myself together.”Poker faces.“I had a lot of time to reflect.”All of them floated in his imagination. “So I just picked up the pen and

wrote.”While homeless, Cooper began writ-

ing what would become his first novel, “Generation Curse.” The book navigates the depths of gambling, drug addiction, obesity and prostitution — and how they run through family bloodlines.

POWER OF THE PEN

Mills Cooper penned his first novel while he was homeless. Now, he’s making a film based on the book.

Amber Jurgenesn“i’m energetic and not boring — and that’s how i want my writing to be,” says author and filmmaker mills Cooper.

STORY TiME by amber Jurgensen | Staff Writer

SEE CLOSURE / PAGE 4

SEE FILM / PAGE 4

SEE INSIDE

Plant city observerTHURSDAY, AUGUST 30, 20122 PlantCityObserver.com

prices in this ad are effectivethrough September 10, 2012

SCRATCH TO WIN!

GIANT LABOR DAY SALE!GIANT LABOR DAY SALE!R

special financing available the Badcock credit card program is offered by Wells Fargo Financial

National Bank. see store for complete details

24 months

5%-50%

OFFon any one item

Tuesday, Aug. 28 - Sept. 4 2012

DON’T SCRATCH YET!

Scratch this card at the time of the sale to see what your discount will be.

Good luck from Badcock Home Furniture &more!

Offer good Aug. 28th through Sept. 4th 2012

at participating Badcock stores. Excludes

iComfort, Tempur-Pedic, electronics &

appliances.

50% Discount .................

.......... (P50)

25% Discount .................

.......... (P25)

20% Discount .................

.......... (P20)

15% Discount .................

.......... (P15)

10% Discount .................

.......... (P10)

5% Discount .................

............ (P05)

GIANT LABOR DAY SALE!

GIANT LABOR DAY SALE!

armand collection5 pc includes: queen bed (headboard, footboard & rails) dresser & mirror reg. $1799.90

$1498also available in king-size $1999.90 $1698

bed $79995

884795/96

SAVEOVER$300

truffle collection7 pc includes: 91” sofa, 69” loveseat, 3 pc table group & 2 table lamps (shown) reg. $1287.80

$998also available chair 100744 $229.95 $198chaise rocker recliner 100745 $299.95 $268

sofa $39995

884784

SAVEOVER$289

Come into your local Badcock store for your chance to

get an EXTRA 5% - 50% OFF

one item!excludes iComfort, TempurPedic,

appliances, electronics, computers & tablets

LIMITED TIME ONLYgood Aug. 28th - Sept. 4th

Chaise Rocker Recliner111689

reg. $399.95$258

SAVEOVER$141

703 South EversPlant City, FL 33563 • 813-754-3547

Coleman Davis, Owner

branson collection5 pc includes: counter table 54 x 42 x 54 & 4 counter chairs plus 2 FREE counter chairs reg. $649.95

$498

884443

2 FREE counter chairs with this dinetteSAVEOVER$151

50”

37”32”SAVEup to$301

32” LED HDTV $298 113149 save $251.95

37” LED HDTV $398 113150 save $251.95

50” PLASMA HDTV $698 111989 save $301.95

600Hz

while supplies last

while supplies last

George Foremangrill112931

$4995 save $80

SAVE OVER

regularretail

60% OFF

gift card

register to win a$5000visit badcock.com to register

for complete details AND a money saving coupon!

Register between Aug. 28 thru Sept. 10, 2012

8961

2

PlantCityObserver.com 3 Plant city observerTHURSDAY, AUGUST 30, 2012

When Plant City High School alum Jonathan Holmes walked into a group home for teen-age boys, he knew what he was getting into — tem-per tantrums, picky choosers and emotions that can change in matter of seconds.

Holmes, now a social-work major at Benedict College, in South Caroli-na, was the new summer intern at Youth Villages, in Memphis, and he was charged with mentoring eight boys who had emotional and be-havior dysfunctions.

The 25-year-old set out with the goal to empower the youth.

“There were lots of different personalities,” Holmes said. “At

13 and 14, you’re trying to decide what you are, who you are.”

Every day the group followed a schedule that included activities such as group discussions on decision-making, teaching life skills such as food eti-quette and dressing for success, leisure time and field trips. Holmes’ fa-vorite exercise to do with the boys was a group discussion during which

the boys would be given cer-tain scenarios and would have to make a decision. Everyone could discuss why one decision was more socially acceptable than the other. Holmes also counseled and offered advice.

“The greatest challenge for me

was having to read their psycho-social on why they are in the home and not judge them based off their diagnosis,” Holmes said. “Building a repertoire with the youth where they trust you and you trust them was also a chal-lenge.”

As an intern, Holmes could not befriend the boys, but he did make one lasting impression on a particular teen. One 15-year-old had trouble socializing with other boys during leisure time. Holmes played baseball for a year at Bene-dict College in South Carolina and before that, at Plant City. When the boy learned Holmes played baseball, they bonded instantly.

“His whole attitude just changed,” Holmes said. “His whole being changed. Just tak-ing the time to throw the ball changed him.”

The boy’s behavior continued to improve, and he should be able

to leave the group home in Octo-ber. Until then, the boy asked if Holmes could be put on his list of approved phone calls he could make.

When Holmes first started col-lege, he wanted to study criminal justice. But he was inspired by his mother, Priscilla, to make a big-ger impact by switching to social work.

“She was a giver,” Holmes says. “She never really expected any-thing in return. That’s how I was raised. Don’t complain; just give.”

His mother was a former Plant City Police Department dispatch-er and a secretary at the city. But her dream was to start a day care, which she did.

After Holmes graduates in De-cember, he plans to apply with Youth Villages for a job in social work.

Youth Villages is a nonprof-it group that helps more than 20,000 children and families in 11 states and Washington, D.C., through programs such as foster care and adoption, transitional living services, and mentoring and crisis services.

Contact Amber Jurgensen at [email protected].

Plant city alum completesinternship at youth villages

On any given day, you can find science teacher Penny Reeves blowing up pumpkins in an ex-periment, showing her students a bubbling chemical reaction and mentoring her robotics team to victory. For all her hard work, the Marshall Middle School vet-eran has won the 2012 Exemplary Science Teacher Award of Excel-lence.

The award was presented to her during a faculty meeting before school started this year. It was a complete surprise to the teacher, who has been at Marshall for 15 years. Before she was a teacher, Reeves worked in pharmaceutical sales and brought that experience to teaching.

“Selling is sort of like teaching,”

Reeves said. “When you’re selling something, you have to hook the customer. And that’s what you have to do with the students.”

Reeves always has enjoyed sci-ence and math, but she didn’t initially want to be a teacher. She earned her bachelor’s degree in biology and later went on to earn a master’s degree in education.

“I thought it would be some-thing I’d be good at,” Reeves said of the profession.

At Marshall, Reeves teaches chemistry and physics classes. She engages her students through a variety of science experiments using the inquiry technique, which allows students to choose different options when doing their experiments rather than fol-

low the directions on a sheet of paper.

“It’s a better way to teach the students, and they learn better instead of just giving them the answers,” Reeves said.

Reeves may have one of the most interesting trophies in Plant City, which sits atop a shelf be-hind her desk. It’s the color of gold, but it’s made out of LEGO blocks. A bright green dragon, also made of LEGOs, sits on top, representing Marshall’s mascot. Reeves’ robotics team won the In-spiration award at the state com-petition for Florida’s First LEGO League last year.

“Just seeing the kids being chal-lenged mentally and seeing them think, seeing how they come

up with the solution and seeing how smart they are is my favorite part,” Reeves said about robotics competitions. “I wouldn’t think of some of those solutions.”

At competitions, Reeves stands alongside her students, cheering them on in their three different challenges, which include tasks robotics, problem-solving and more.

In Reeves’ office, a competition LEGO table sits with different ob-stacles. A robot resembling Wall-E from the Disney Pixar film wheels around from obstacle to obstacle. This is where she trains and prac-tices her team, called Future In-novative Robotics Engineers.

“It’s a lot of fun,” Reeves said. “We’ve done extremely well for being so new at it.”


City commissioners approved on Monday an ordinance that makes changes to the Plant City code regarding the sale and out-door consumption of alcoholic beverages.

The ordinance broadens the area on which alcohol may be sold and consumed at Plant City Stadium and the Randy L. Lar-son Four Plex. Under the exist-ing code, which was approved in 1987 when the Cincinnati Reds moved to Plant City, alcohol was allowed within the stadium it-self. The approved ordinance al-lows for alcohol to be sold and consumed on the grounds but outside the stadium as well, a change that will benefit events such as the annual Pig Jam, City Manager Greg Horwedel said.

Furthermore, under the exist-ing code, the city prohibits out-door consumption of alcoholic beverages within 500 feet of a business that sells alcohol. The approved ordinance adds and exception for temporary events, such as St. Patrick’s Day or Cinco de Mayo celebrations, lasting no longer than 72 hours.

City weathers stormHorwedel said Plant City fared

well following rain related to Tropical Storm Isaac.

On Aug. 23, crews cleaned ditches throughout the city in anticipation for Isaac’s ar-rival. Throughout the weekend, Horwedel said he observed no structural damage, only minor flooding and only one downed tree near Oaklawn Cemetery on Wheeler Street.

Furthermore, while many municipalities kept their offices closed Monday, Plant City opted to open as planned.

“We kept our operations opened; we picked up garbage (as usual),” Horwedel said. “And I think we made the right deci-sion.”

Contact Michael Eng at [email protected].

CommissionOKs changeto alcoholordinanceThe changes relaxes some rules regarding the sale and consumption of alcoholic beverages at Plant City Stadium and the Larson Four Plex.

CHEERS by Michael eng | Managing Editor

IN OTHER NEWS• The commission recog-

nized Plant City police officer Mark Mathis as the Plant City Police Department’s Employee of the Month for August. While conducting a traffic stop, Mathis identified the individual responsible for several residential burglaries in the Walden Lake and Trapnell Ridge area. More than $7,000 in stolen property was recov-ered, as well as more than $1,000 in drugs.

• Commissioners will dis-cuss a rezoning request on a property at 1109 W. Grant Street from R-1A (Single-Family) to R-2 (Multi-Family) at their Sept. 10 meeting.

• Mayor Mike sparkman presented proclamations recognizing Plant City Little League’s 10-11 and 11-12 All-Star teams.

Jonathan Homes, 25, will graduate from Benedict College in December.

changing lives by amber Jurgensen | Staff Writer

Holmes

Marshall teacher wins Prism AwardPenny Reeves is the teacher behind the school’s successful robotics team, Future Innovative Robotics Engineers.

education by amber Jurgensen | Staff Writer

Amber JurgensenPenny reeves’ favorite area of science is chemistry. “I had a fantastic chemistry professor in college,” she said.


• Contest is open from August 17 – September 5, 2012• You must bring in one or more photos printed in

8x10 or 8-1/2 x 11 size, and attach an entry form to

each photo submitted.

• The 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners will be

determined by Popular Vote, so tell your family and

friends to come in and cast a ballot for your photos!

Be a Blue Ribbon winner!

• The Contest Winners will be announced at the Plant City Photo Archives & History Center, 106 South Evers Street, at 5pm, Friday, September 7th.

• Pick up your entry forms, and sculptures map at the Photo Archives, the Greater Plant City Chamber of Commerce, and the Train Depot or online www.plantcityphotoarchives.org.

Call 813.754.1578 for information or email [email protected]

Sponsored by Hopewell Funeral Home and Memorial Gardens

Photo Contest

The Plant City Sculptures Exhibit

Plant City Photo Archives & History Center Presents

This contest focuses on Fun and CreaTiviTy! Bring in your photo of you or your friends with one of the sculptures in this exhibit and be included in The Sculptures Photo Exhibit

8960

6

8590

0

CITYPROPERTIESCOMPANY

MANAGEMENT • SALES • RENTALS

Your Hometown Property Management Company

40 years in Plant CityPhilip Balliet - Manager

(813) 752-5262Post Office Box 1118 • Plant City, FL 33584

8964

6

Patrick’sPatriotstwirling

corPsDirectors:

Barbara Patrick & lynann Hudson(813) 626-4554

[email protected]

Plant city recreation - PlanteenEvery thursday - starting august 30th

competition group & solo classesstarting aug. 28th - call for details

registration will be held throughout sept.

comE twirl witH worlD &national cHamPions!!!!

9001

8

“I started to think about the community I grew up around and the problems that existed,” Cooper says. “Every kind of fami-ly struggles with different things.”

Four years later, Cooper — through his production com-pany, Christian-based Kingdom Films — is making a movie based on “Generation Curse.”

So far the crew has shot scenes at South Florida Baptist Hospital, Shiloh Baptist Church and vari-ous homes. They currently are still scouting a location for an of-fice scene.

THE PROCESS“Generation Curse” follows a

mother who has turned to pros-titution after her husband died. She has to learn how to take care of herself and family. Her young daughter watches her mother’s every move. And so the curses of the mother begin trickling down to her daughter.

Cooper based the characters on people he has met in the past.

“I took a little bit from here and there and put it all together,” Cooper says.

While homeless for three months, Cooper was the first and last person at the library, writing

his book. On the day Cooper fin-ished, his father came to talk to him and convinced him to move back home. He took a job at First Choice BBQ as a cook and pulled his life back together.

Paycheck by paycheck, Cooper saved up money to hire an edi-tor and get the book published through A & A Publishing, in Tampa. Once the book released, Cooper sold more than 5,000 copies out of the trunk of his for-mer home.

Although “Generation Curse” has dark themes, Cooper uses the tale to share his Christian faith — which he credits for helping him out of homelessness.

“I was struggling trying to do things my ways, so I asked the Lord what he would want me to do,” Cooper says. “Before I start-ed writing, I recommitted my life to God and asked for a pure heart.”

THE FILM ADAPTATIONCooper scouted for actors by

watching other independent films. For the past month, Coo-per and his film crew of one have been shooting scenes around Plant City on a Nikon D7300.

“When we’re shooting, it’s kind of awkward,” Cooper says. “We don’t have all the lingo and train-

ing as those who went to college for it do. But people believe in us.”

Like all Hollywood movies, things don’t always go as expect-ed. During one scene, several ac-tors were supposed to have dia-logue, but only one showed up. Cooper had to rewrite the scene on the spot, and the actor had to improvise. But Cooper, who has wanted to get into filmmaking since he was 9 years old, is look-ing forward to seeing the final product.

“It’s satisfying, because you knew all the trouble you went through to shoot a scene,” Coo-per says.

Shooting is scheduled to be fin-ished in September. He wants to host a premiere at a local church and hopes to sell 100,000 copies by marketing them locally and branching out to Hillsborough County stores such as Walmart, Target and Best Buy. Cooper also wants to put a downloadable ver-sion on Amazon.

“I want to be known as a re-ality type of writer and film-maker,” Cooper says. “I want people to think of drama and energetic writing when they hear my name.”


After the rain showers from Isaac pass, city officials will in-spect the problem area, which is a small section on Silvermoon Drive in front of house numbers 4118 and 4117.

The roadblock isolates four homes in a cul-de-sac. Those residents now are parking along the street. At times, as many 16 cars can be lined up on both sides of the road, Redmond said.

“There’s only so many spots for parking,” said Terry Red-mond, Phalen’s husband. “The road is really narrow, and people are parking on both sides of the

road, blocking in each other.”Many of the neighborhood

kids gather in the cul-de-sac to play, which concerns mother and teacher Denise Rodriguez.

“There’s kids non-stop,” Ro-driguez said. “We all have kids. It’s a big safety issue.”

Horwedel said he plans to have his crews examine the road as soon as possible.

“I realize it’s an inconve-nience for folks,” he said.

However, with rain in the forecast every day this week, residents are wondering how they will make it to their front doors dry.

“I think we should be patient, but if it exceeds a month, they should give us a solution,” resi-dent Richard Hollon said. “I was wondering if maybe they could put in some steel plates.”

Redmond and Hollon both wish communication between the city and residents was bet-ter.

“Sometimes, communication is a secret, but if they could give us some updates — whether that is a phone call or paper — that would help the situation,” Hollon said.


FilM/PaGe 1

Amber Jurgensen

Barricades currently block car traffic to one cul-de-sac in Walden Lake.

closUre/PaGe 1


9018

0

neiGHbors

Pleasant Grove Assembly of God Youth Pastor George Flores remembers the exact moment when he fell in love with music. He was about 7 years old at the time; his older brother, Juan, was 9.

“My brother and I shared a room, and we were watching Woodstock on TV,” he says. “We saw some of the musi-cians in a mud fight, and we looked at each other and said, ‘We should be playing music.’”

Soon, Flores fashioned a makeshift kit from shoebox-es, and his brother stapled rubber bands to a long ruler for a guitar. Flores also be-friended the drummer at his home church.

“After church, he’d give me little pointers here and there,” he says.

After the family moved to Florida from Staten Island, N.Y., Flores’ grandfather died and left a little money to each family member. Know-ing how badly Flores wanted a drum set, his mother took that money to the music store and came home with his first set, a red Sound Source beginner kit.

It wasn’t long until Flores’ knack for drum restoration began to present itself. He fell in love with more profession-al drums that featured wood-grain finishes, and with the

help of a few tools and some patience, he removed the red wrap and exposed the wood underneath — much to his mother’s dismay.

“Oh, she was not happy,” Flores says, laughing.

Over the years, Flores continued honing his craft as a drum restorer. In addition to refinishing or rewrapping drum shells, he’s also taken drums and cut them to dif-ferent sizes. He added a piece of a different drum to the bass drum of that original Sound Source kit to increase its depth by a few inches. And once, he even painted a drum set with chalkboard paint so a drummer could write the set list right on his instrument.

“I’m self-taught,” he says of his knack for restoration. “Growing up, we didn’t have a lot of money, so if I wanted something, I had to find a way to make it.

“My ultimate goal, though, is that I never want anyone to see one of my kits and say, ‘That’s cool — what you did,’” Flores says. “I want them to say, ‘Where did you get those?’ I don’t want them to look homemade.”

Flores’ most-famous res-toration project is a vintage 1970s Slingerland drum set he received for free from friend Dan Hendrix.

“When I got it, it was in rough shape,” Flores remem-bers.

Flores took the drums, one by one, and breathed new life into them. He completed some essential sanding work, repaired nicks and gouges in the shells and finished it all with a blue, sparkle wrap. The work was so impres-sive that DRUM! magazine featured the drum set as its Kit of the Month last October.

“Those guys were really funny,” Flores says. “They called me and said, ‘You did this?!?’”

As a musician, Flores has played a wide variety of styles, including rock, hard rock, jazz, punk and salsa.

“Basically, anything that would let me play with people,” he says.

These days, he spends his time outside of work with his family — wife, Chaunte, and

2-year-old son, Kendal — and serving the community through Pleasant Grove As-sembly of God, where he still plays drums.

“I just love how music brings people together,” Flores says. “I’m sure I’ll end up doing this (drum restora-tion) for the rest of my life. It’s just always been fun to take something and make it better.”

— Michael Eng

GeorGe Flores The youth pastor at Pleasant Grove Assembly of God also is an accomplished drummer — and drum restorer.


t takes more than luckto become Plant City’soldest and largesthometown financial

institution...

...It also takes hard work and a steadfast commitment to

the people of Plant City who make this such a great place to

live, work and play.

We’ve had over 58 years to perfect our hometown

approach to financial services. Visit us and see how easy and

friendly hometown banking can be.

“Banking on a First Name Basis”

PLANT CITY – Main Office, 102 W. Baker Street, 752-6193 • WALDEN WOODS – 2400 Jim Redman Parkway, 754-1844

Also offices in: BRANDON, RIVERVIEW and ZEPHYRHILLS

I89

621

9:30am - 4:15pm Doors open at 8:30am

Tickets $25 (Tickets purchased by Sept. 9th include lunch.)

Tickets may be purchased in the Church Office or at www.fbcpc.com

September 15, 2012 LIVE FROM READING, PA

Join us for this life-changing weekend at…

503 N Palmer Street For more information or tickets call 813-752-4104

Music by

Travis Cottrell

8984

1

NEW

SBRIEFS + Driver charged

for bicyclist fatalityThe Plant City woman who struck

and killed a bicyclist while driving April 17, on Dormany Road, was not impaired, Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office detectives concluded.

According to Sheriff’s Office reports, after a blood test and other screen-ings, detectives determined Patricia ann Hancock was not impaired when the crash occurred.

At about 11:44 a.m. April 17, Hancock was driving her 2005 Lincoln Town Car south on Dormany Road, when she struck ivan Miller, 78, of Plant City, who was riding a bicycle.

Hancock made a U-turn and returned to her home. She returned to the scene with family members.

Hancock was charged with leaving the scene of a crash involving death. She turned herself in at Falkenburg Road Jail and was released after post-ing $15,000 bail.

+ Dover man arrested for phony 911 calls

Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office deputies arrested a Dover man for calling 911 multiple times to request a female deputy respond to his home for sexual gratification.

According to Sheriff’s Office reports, between 10:15 a.m. Aug. 22, and 7:39 a.m. Aug. 24, Joshua basso, 32, of the 2400 block of Dover Road North, called Hillsborough County Communications dispatchers seven times.

Basso admitted to making the phone calls. He was taken into cus-tody without incident.

+ Plant City churchoffers disaster training

The Florida Conference of the

United Methodist Church will present Community Arise!, a full-day train-ing opportunity in disaster recovery ministry, Sept. 8, at Wesley Center at First United Methodist Church, 303 N. Evers St.

The training is free; donations will be accepted to cover the cost of lunch.

Pre-register online at flumc2.org/pages/detail/1376.

+ Archives planssculpture tour

The Plant City Photo Archives & History Center and Hopewell Funeral Home and Memorial Gardens will host a private reception and tour of the J. Seward Johnson. “Man on the Street” sculptures from 6 to 8 p.m. Aug. 30, in Historic Downtown Plant City.

Tickets for archives members are $10 per person; $20 for non-mem-bers.

For tickets, call (813) 754-1578.

Meetings &agendas Plant city commission — 7:30 p.m., second and fourth Mondays, 302 W. Reynolds St., Plant City

Hillsborough county commission — 9 a.m., first and third Wednesdays, Second floor of County Center, 601 E. Kennedy Blvd., Tampa

Hillsborough county school board — 3 p.m., second and fourth Tuesdays, 901 E. Kennedy Blvd., Tampa

Walden lake community association — 6 p.m., third Mondays, 3035 Griffin Blvd., Walden Lake


Local Union 123 Training Dept., 3601 McIntosh Road | Dover | Florida 33527

813.659.2450 | www.LU123.com

Achievements of orgAnized

LAbor89

669

•Endchildlabor•Establishthelegalrightofworkerstoformunions &collectivelybargainforwages,benefitsandworkingconditions•Establishthe8hourworkdayandpaidovertime•Winworkers’compbenefitsforworkersinjuredonthejob•Secureunemploymentinsuranceforworkerswholosetheirjobs•Secureaguaranteedminimumwage•Improveworkplacesafetyandreduceonthejobfatalities•Winpensionsforworkers•Winhealthcareinsuranceforworkers•Winpaidsickleave,vacations,andholidaysasstandard benefitsformostworkers•Wintherightforpublicsectorworkerstocollectivelybargain•WinpassageoftheCivilRightActsandTitleVIIwhichoutlawsjob discriminationbasedonrace,color,religion,sexornationalorigin•WinpassageoftheOccupationalSafetyandHealthAct•WinpassageoftheFamilyMedicalLeaveAct

Finding the right insurance package for private and

charter schools is just as important as finding the

right teachers, books, and curricula. Our program is

tailored to make sure that the education of students

continues to be the focus even if the unexpected

happens; we’re proud to protect the future!

Serving the states of: Florida • Georgia • North Carolina • South Carolina • Virginia

CommerCial markets: • Cyber Liability • Churches • Day Cares • Charter/Private Schools • Pregnancy Centers • Religious Institutions • Non-Profit

Organizations

• Commercial Package

• Commercial Property

• Commercial Flood

• General Liability • Directors &

Officers Liability • Employment

Practices Liability • Special Events • Student Medical • Missions Trip

Coverage • Cyber Liability &

Data Breach • Workers

Compensation • Business Auto • Umbrella • Group Benefits • Life Insurance

1-800-871-9514www.mystrongtower.com

R. Earl Burkett, CIC, President2004 W. Thonotosassa Rd. * Suite 102

Plant City, FL 33563Hablamos Espanos

We are Committed to serving Your specialized insurance needs.

8962

8

ProduCts offered:

Quality Custom Framing for Everyone

Under new ownership

Michael Kidde, Owner

813.752.7460 | [email protected] M-F 9:30 - 6:00 | Sat. by Appointment

1514 s. Alexander street | suite 104 | plant City, Florida 33563

Who DoEs Your FraMing?Fine Art • Photos • DiPlomAs • shADow Boxes

8967

2

The following information was gathered from incident and arrest reports obtained from the Plant CIty Police Department.

AUG. 18BIG HAUL

340 block of Park spring circle. Burglary. Unknown suspects entered the victim’s ve-hicle by breaking the window. Once inside, the suspects stole a stereo and amplifier valued at $70. The suspects then climbed onto the balcony of the victim’s second-story apartment and cut the screen allow-ing entry to the apartment. Once inside, they took a took 50-inch flat-panel TV, val-ued at $500, a 19-inch flat-panel TV, valued at $200, a DVD player, valued at $70, and miscellaneous tools, valued at $300.

ROAD RAGE500 block of east calhoun street. Shoot-

ing. The victim got into a verbal confronta-tion with a suspect, who was driving a tan Mitsubishi Galant. The victim threw a brick at the suspect’s vehicle. The suspect pulled out a gun and shot at the victim. The vic-tim suffered a grazing bullet wound to his chin, which did not require any medical attention. This investigation is ongoing.

AUG. 19HOW DID THAT GET THERE?

intersection of north Franklin and West cherry streets. Possession of Marijuana. An officer conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle for speeding. Upon making contact with the driver and sole occupant, the officer could smell the distinct odor of marijua-na inside the vehicle. The officer had the occupant exit the vehicle and then con-ducted a search. The search revealed 10.8 grams of marijuana packaged in a plastic baggie in the suspect’s purse.

AUG. 19... BUT, WHY WERE HIS PANTS DOWN?!?

300 block of north Wilder road. Possession of Methamphetamine/Paraphernalia. Officers responded to the mobile home park in refer-ence to a suspicious vehicle on a vacant lot. The officers approached the vehicle and saw the vehicle was occupied by an individual. The man was sitting in the driver’s seat with his pants around his ankles. The of-ficer had the occupant get dressed and exit the car. When the occupant exited the car, the officer could see a black case on the seat next to where the suspect had been sitting. The of-ficer obtained consent to search and found the case to contain 2.6 grams of crystal methamphetamine. The officer also located a glass pipe, six plastic straws, numerous baggies and a large digital scale.

COpS CORNERPLANT CITY

See more Cops Corner listings online.www.PlantCityObserver.com


Facebook — and more specifi-cally, people’s reactions on the social-media site — will never cease to amaze me.

Take, for instance, the photo above. This was one of the first frames I snapped at Durant High School’s preseason football game Aug. 24. In actuality, I was just taking some test shots for light-ing, when the national anthem began to play. I happened to like the way the sun was shining through the flag, so I fired off a few frames.

Later that night, after shoot-ing photos of both the Durant and Strawberry Crest games, I emptied my memory card and came across this shot. Of course,

it didn’t fit the original assign-ment — high school football — so I decided to post it on our Facebook page.

Since we began pub-lishing in July 3, we’ve tried to maintain an active presence on Facebook. In the weeks before our first edition, the site was the only way we could get news out to the commu-nity. And since then, we’ve used it to promote our print and website con-tent as well as engage our audience with questions and other tidbits.

Our Facebook fans are active as well, and we’ve been fortunate to have regular feedback on just about everything we post. How-ever, in less than one day, this

photo, this one-off, nearly ac-cidental shot, broke all our Face-book records. As of press time, more than 80 clicked the “Like” button — which then posted a link on each fan’s respective Facebook page and increased the potential for more eyes. To date, nearly 1,000 people have viewed the photo. Although that’s not much in the grand scheme of social media, for our little paper, it’s an accomplishment.

By comparison, both our blurb about the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s hurri-cane-supply list and our break-ing news story about the miss-ing PTA money at Springhead Elementary each only received just one “Like” apiece. Earlier this week, though, we posted a photo of Mayor Mike Sparkman with

his two granddaughters on his birthday. That garnered nearly 70 “Likes” all on its own.

The moral of the story: What flies in print doesn’t necessarily sprout wings on Facebook.

Which is why our staff spent an entire day a few weeks ago in social-media training with two industry gurus. We’ve been pleased with our presence on Facebook so far, but we’re still in the learning phase regarding what our fans want to see — and what generates traffic. It’s an interesting sociological study, actually, and one that reveals the morals and values of our city. Facebook is a venue through which to celebrate and discuss. It’s a place to show our patrio-tism and honor our heroes. It’s a place to promote our local merchants and foster our city’s business-to-business network And it’s a platform on which we will feature exclusive content and host direct conversation between our editorial staff and our fans.

If you haven’t yet “Liked” us, please do so at facebook.com/PlantCityObserver. And, for those of you who prefer a quicker so-cial-media network, we also host two Twitter feeds — @PlantOb-server and @PlantCitySports — on which we will feature breaking news, sports scores and more.

As always, you can find all our content online on our site, PlantCityObserver.com.

Facebook photo yields surprising feedback

observed | online presence

MICHAELENG

On July 4, a new community newspaper was born in Plant City. Dedicated to sinking deep, local roots here, we opened with a high level of com-munity excitement and interest.

Since then, we have published nine weekly edi-tions, and the emotional support from the commu-nity has only gotten stron-ger. Ninety-nine percent of opinions expressed to me and our staff have been positive. Exclamations like these have been common:

“I love your paper!”“All your stories are local!”“The quality of your publica-

tion is obvious!” Thank you. Thank you. Thank

you. When our energy or spirits have flagged after a 12- or 14-hour day, your positive comments have helped us move forward.

Maybe those positive com-ments and the energy your Observer staff has gained from them is the way it’s supposed to be — between a community and its newspaper. Maybe after 90 days of operation and nine

weeks of publication, we’ve learned that.

But we’ve learned a lot more than that, and that’s what I want to tell you about. This is intended to be a 60-day report to the community, a collection of the strategies we’ve fol-lowed and how they have affected our develop-ment.

We started with a full staff of eight. We printed 15,000 papers from the outset. This number was

important, because we wanted to have the largest circulation of any of the weekly newspapers being distributed in Plant City.

Our first week, we distrib-uted those papers to about 5,100 homes, and 7,800 more copies were placed strategically through-out the city. We distributed by hand at the city’s July 4 celebra-tion.

Beginning with our second week, we began to integrate the 2,000 papers we handed out at the fireworks into our circulation plan. And in the past eight weeks, our distribution has grown to

6,500 in homes and 8,500 in boxes and businesses.

We think how we grew that circulation will be interesting to our readers and advertisers. We selected the first neighborhoods to which we delivered with the outstanding assistance of the Gibbs Real Estate firm.

As we began to sell advertising, we quickly learned how linked advertising and circulation are. Some of our first advertisers asked us to add neighborhoods to our circulation where their customers lived, and we did so.

When we began to sell ads for our first special edition, a planned eight-page high school football preview in your newspaper today, we found that our 15,000 weekly circulation helped us sell out the section in less than two days. We kept selling ads and ended up with a 12-page special.

Having added 1,400 homes to our residential routes based on our advertisers’ requests, we then began keeping track of the num-ber of vacant homes by neighbor-hood. With these numbers, we reevaluated our distribution for maximum coverage.

On our commercial routes, we kept track of the number of newspapers in each box and office that were left at the end of the week. We also noted loca-tions from which all the papers had been taken. Then, we added or subtracted to the number to be left at each location. We also moved boxes and added loca-tions as the weeks went by.

Each week, the numbers in our circulation plan went up or down. But each week, we saw the amount of fluctuation in the numbers steadily declined. Our plan has gotten tighter and tight-er, as we distributed our 15,000 newspapers more efficiently.

We like where our circula-tion plan is now, as we continue to learn how to integrate our advertising and circulation. We know we will continue to tweak the distribution on the com-mercial routes. As vacant homes become occupied, we know we will be adding newspapers to the residential routes.

All these changes, of course, point toward one of our first tests as a community newspa-per — our upcoming outside audit of our circulation. After that audit this fall, we look forward to presenting to our readers and advertisers our outside verifica-tion of the validity of our circula-tion figures.

FELIXHAYNES

PUBLISHER’S NOTE

“If we are to build a better world, we must remember that the guiding

principle is this — a policy of freedom for the individual is the only truly

progressive policy.” Friedrich Hayek

“Road to Serfdom,” 1944

ObserverPLANT CITY

Publisher / Felix Haynes, [email protected]

Managing Editor / Michael Eng, [email protected]

Assistant Managing Editor / Jess Eng, [email protected]

Staff Writers / Amber Jurgensen, [email protected]; Matt Mauney, [email protected] Advertising Executives / Veronica Prostko, [email protected]; Ronda Kyler, [email protected]

Advertising Coordinator / Linda Lancaster, [email protected]

Accounting Manager / Petra Kirkland, [email protected]

Advertising-Production Operations Manager / Kathy Payne, [email protected]

Advertising-Production Coordinator / Brooke Schultheis, [email protected]

Advertising Graphic Designers / Monica DiMattei, [email protected]; Marjorie Holloway, [email protected]; Luis Trujillo, [email protected]; Chris Stolz, [email protected]

President / Felix HaynesDirectors / Nate Kilton, Ed Verner,

Matt Walsh110 E. Reynolds St., Suite 100A

Plant City, Fla. 813-704-6850

www.PlantCityObserver.com

The Plant CityObserver LLC

Locally OwnedPublisher of the Plant City Observer and

PlantCityObserver.com

©Copyright Plant City Observer LLC 2012 All Rights Reserved

to aDvertiseCall veronica Prostko or ronda Kyler at 704-6850.

senD Us yoUr neWsWe want to hear from

you. Let us know about your community events, celebrations and family member achievements. To contact us, send your information via: Email: Michael Eng, [email protected]

Mail: The Plant City Observer, 110 E. Reynolds St., Suite 100-A, Plant City, FL 33563

contact UsThe Plant City Observer is published once weekly,

on Thursdays. It provides free home delivery to several neighborhoods in Plant City. The Plant City Observer also can be found in many commercial locations throughout Plant City and at our office, 110 E. Reynolds St., Suite 100-A.

If you wish to discontinue home delivery or if you wish to suspend home delivery temporarily, call linda lancaster at 704-6850.

KEEP IN TOUCHOur print edition is just one of the vehicles by which we deliver our news. Make sure you keep in touch with us through one of the following methods:

Website: PlantCityObserver.comFacebooK: facebook.com/PlantCityObservertWitter: @PlantObserver; @PlantCitySports

Report to the Plant City community — Building a new community newspaper


CHOICE MEATSPRODUCEGROCERIES

FARM FRESH PRODUCE

SMOKERSmoked Ribs (Slab) �� $15.99 eachSmoked Pork Butt �� $16.99 eachSmoked Picnic �� $14.99 eachSmoked Chicken (Whole) ��$5.99 eachSmoked Leg Quarters ��$1.29 each

Fresh Fryer

LEG QUARTERS$.67 lb. 40 lb. box $23.99

Smoked

NECK BoNES$1.49 lb.

Heavy Western Beef Whole

NEw YoRK STRip(Cut Free) $4.99 lb.

Honeycomb

TRipE10 lb. box $19.99

Bar S

FRANKS12 oz. Package $1.09

Lean Deli Ham �� $1.99 lb�Deli Roast Beef �� $5.99 lb�Farmland Chopped Ham �� $2.99 lb�Old Fashioned Liver Cheese �� $3.49 lb�

COLD DELI

GROCERy

Heavy Western Beef Whole

SiRLoiN TipCut Free $3.69 lb.

WALKER PLAZA • 617 N� Maryland Ave�, Plant City • (813) 752-1548Mon�– Sat� 7am – 9pm Sun� 7am – 8pm • www.FeltonsMarket.com • Prices Valid August 29 - September 4, 2012

8960

0

Fresh FrozenTiLApiA

2 lb. bag $6.99

FELToN’SGiFT CARDSAVAiLABLE

We have available for you all year roundParadise Candied Fruit * Dixie Lilly Flour

Meal-Grits * Dry BeansHoover Flour * Carvel Ice Cream Cakes

Fresh Lean Boneless

poRK CHopSBUY oNE, GET oNE FREE

Family Pak

Fresh Lean Whole

BoNELESS poRK LoiN $2.59 lb.(Cut Free)

Uncle John’s

SMoKED SAUSAGE $29.99(Hot or Mild) 10 lb. Box

Fresh Boneless Skinless

CHiCKEN BREAST$1.99 lb.

Fresh Lean Assorted

poRK CHopS (Family Pack) $1.49 lb.

Fresh Lean Meaty Country Style

SpARE RiBS$1.69 lb.

Fresh Lean

BoSToN BUTT(Bone-In) $1.59 lb.

Fresh Lean

GRoUND BEEF(Any Size Package) $1.79

Fresh Lean

poRK piCNiC(Cut Free) $1.18 lb.

Fresh Whole Beef

SHoRT LoiN(Cut Free) $3.98 lb.

FOR THE BEST QUALITy WITH THE BEST PRICES!View Our Weekly Ad On Our Website

www.feltonsmarket.com

Large Sweet Seedless Watermelons ��$3.99 eachRed Seedless Grapes 3 lb� Box ��$2.99 eachSweet Peppers 1 lb� Pack ��$1.69 eachRussett potatoes 10 lb� Bag �� $2.49Fresh Bananas ��.49¢ lb�Collard Greens bunch �� $2.99California Lettuce A Head �� $1.19Carrots 2 lb� Bag �� $1.29Vine Ripe Tomatoes ��.99¢ lb�

ACT II Popcorn 8�25 oz� �� 10 for $10.00Hunt’s Ketchup 24 oz� �� 10 for $10.00Kraft Dressing 16 oz� ��2 for $5.00Starkist Tuna (Water or Oil) 5 oz� �� 10 for $10.00Domino Sugar 4 lb. Bag ��2 for $5.00Bush Baked Beans 28 oz. ��2 for $4.00Banquet Meals 8 oz� �� 10 for $10.00Kraft Shredded Cheese 8 oz� ��2 for $5.00Essential Mayonaise 30 oz� ��2 for $5.00American Spice - Mojo Gallon �� $2.99A-1 Steak Sauce 10 oz� ��2 for $7.00Flavorite Sweet Relish & Salad Cubes 16 oz� ��4 for $5.00

FreshLean IBP

porkSpare Ribs($1.65 lb. Box Weight)$1.69 lb.

FreshLean Beef

T-BoneSteaks$3.98 lb.

FreshLean BeefporterhouseSteaks$4.48 lb.


8964

2

8961

0

Auto ratesjust got lower.

Stop by a State Farm® agent’s office, or call one of us today to find out how much you can save.

Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.®

CONTACT AN AGENT TODAY.

State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance CompanyState Farm Indemnity Company

Bloomington, IL1001011.1

statefarm.com®

Courtney Paat Ins Agcy IncCourtney Paat, Agent1805 James Redman Pkwy, Suite 101Plant City, FL 33563Bus: 813-754-1725 Fax: 813-707-9476www.paatinsurance.com

Tony Lee, Agent1702 S Alexander Street, Suite 1

Plant City, FL 33563Bus: 813-752-7202 Fax: 813-752-8228

www.tonyleeagent.com

CROSS_ANS_083012

This week’sCryptogram answers

This week’s Crossword answers

2012

1. Too many newscasters always start with “good evening” but then promptly proceed to tell you how bad everything is.

2. Here’s an amusing thought for dieters: brain cells come and brain cells go, but fat cells live forever.

STORE AROUND THE CORNER

Ericca Hope Garrison sits in her studio clicking through photos on her website. Her desk is a mixture between modern and rustic, with a sturdy glass tabletop supported by utilitar-ian hardwood legs. The walls are covered in posters and art cre-ated by Garrison.

The Durant High alum has just launched her first clothing line, Ego Girl Outfitters. Watch out, Guy Harvey. The line is for women and depicts different types of fish on clothing arti-cles much like Harvey’s famous T-shirts. But Garrison has put whimsical and feminine touch-es on her fish designs.

“It’s supposed to be a lifestyle,” Garrison says. “It’s about feeling comfortable about yourself while doing what you love to do.”

Garrison first got the idea for Ego Girl Outfitters while at a scuba-diving tour-nament with friends two years ago. She couldn’t find any gear that fit her. An avid angler, Garrison was tired of wearing the

boys’ T-shirts on the boat. So, she began toying with fish designs.

Today, the line is available lo-cally at Sister’s & Company and Parksdale Farm Market, as well as Garrison’s website, EgoGirl.com.

Garrison makes starting a line look easy. But she has had her struggles. Just five years ago, the single mother had an associate’s degree in commercial art and de-sign but couldn’t afford to buy a house. Garrison went on to get her bachelor’s degree in business management, a master’s degree in graphic design and is studying further to get a master’s degree in fine arts from the Savannah Col-lege of Art and Design.

“I wanted to be an inspiration to her,” Garrison says about her daughter, Launa. “I wanted to show her that you don’t have to settle, that you can follow your dreams.

“It’s about empowerment,” Garrison says. “When clothes fit right and they’re fashionable, girls feel good.”

— Amber Jurgensen

Amber Jurgensen

In addition to starting her own clothing line, ericca Hope Garrison is also a member of the Coastal Conservation Association, to which she donates her design skills. “Even though I struggled for so long on my own it’s good to do good. If you give back, you’ll get it back.”

Ego Girl OutfittersBASICSeGo Girl outfittersWebsite: EgoGirl.comeMail: [email protected] city retailers: Parkesdale Farm Market, 3702 W. Baker St.; Sister’s & Company, 104 E. Reynolds St.


RENOWNED LEADERS. GENUINE RELATIONSHIPS. VAST EXPERIENCE.

CHARLES WHITE [40 YRS] . GAIL CALHOUN [28 YRS] . FRED JOHNSON [32 YRS] DAVID SULLIVAN [32 YRS] . RICK LOTT [32 YRS] . DAN RAULERSON [27 YRS] . JOHN PRAHL [42 YRS]

With over 230 years of diversified business experience and leadership, Platinum

Bank’s Plant City Advisory Board members are anchors in the local business

community and have experienced the advantages and challenges in the local

economy. The knowledge and understanding that has been gained through these

experiences is what makes Platinum Bank your established business partner. As

key leaders in the local community, they have a vested interest in ensuring the local

economy succeeds.

LOCAL OWNERS, LOCAL DECISIONS

PLANT CITY: 1804 JAMES L REDMAN PARKWAY | 813.659.1234 OFFICES IN BRANDON, TAMPA, WINTER HAVEN,

DOWNTOWN LAKELAND AND SOUTH LAKELAND

24 HOUR DRIVE-UP ATM WWW.PLATINUMBANK.COM

8975

0

While having tea with her family, Mia cook, 7, was happy to see Strawberry Queen chelsea bowden.

TRADITIONS by amber Jurgensen | Staff Writer

Strawberry Queen sweetens tea time

ruby Jean redman and Pam bowden enjoyed the affair.

It was a dainty day as pretty pageant girls en-joyed Tea with the Queen Aug. 25, at Camellia Rose Tea Room and Boutique.

Members of the 2012

Strawberry Court mem-bers sat at a table with the Strawberry Queen, Chelsea Bowden, and sipped fine teas and munched on tasty treats.

David Miller received the Plant City Family YMCA’s Strong Leader Award dur-ing its the Y’s annual ban-quet Aug. 28, at the John R. Trinkle Center.

Guests gathered for a cocktail hour and dinner to celebrate the retired CF Industries executive. Miller, a cancer survivor, has been involved with the Rotary

Club of Plant City and the United Food Bank of Plant City.

He also helped raise $1.2 million to build the YMCA building.

“I’m proud as I can be that Dave is being hon-ored,” Mayor Mike Spark-man said. “He’s a go-to man to getting things done in Plant City.”

YMCA honors Dave Millerleadership by amber Jurgensen | Staff Writer

David Miller and Janet sears

Hank and sandee sytsma, and Dub and Pec McGinnes

Marsha Passmore and susan collins chris sparkman and Dennis brownlee

leigh scott and aimee solomonJim and linda chancey


8964

4

Better Services, Better Prices.

Proud To Be A Funeral Home.You owe it to yourself, to call us

before you make a mistake that could cost your family hundreds or thousands of dollars, on a cremation or a funeral.

www.haughtfuneralhome.com

FAmily owned And oPerATed

david w. wolf OwnerTimothy J. Haught Founder

we Honor All exiSTing Pre-need FunerAl ArrAngemenTS

What other meal can sustain you for a week?

Sometimes in life we need spiritual nourishment more than physical nourishment. Come join us for the weekly celebration of Holy Eucharist with thoughtful

preaching, a beautiful church, rich worship, and a warm community.

St Peter’s Episcopal Church302 N Carey Street, Plant City 813 752-5061

On Baker Street, 1/2 mile west of Wheeler Street (SR 39), at the corner of Carey Street

Sundays 8:00 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. and Wednesdays 12:10 p.m.Childcare and Children’s Chapel available at the 10:30 service

Holy Eucharist

8989

989

627

Don’t give up thousands of dollars in retirement benefits

to which you are entitled.

Demystify Social Security with our FREE Information Package.

If you are 57 years of age or older, let us show you how to maximize your

Social Security benefits today.

Call for a FREE, no obligation information package.

813.719.9289

Corey BakerCorey Baker, 31, died Aug. 18. His greatest comforts in life were spend-

ing time with his son and playing his guitar. He is survived by his son, Jayden; his sis-

ter, Crystal; and parents, Kelly and Kam Baker.

Condolences may be made at wellsme-morial.com.

Charles W. BinnionCharles W. Binnion, 77, of

Plant City, died Aug. 18.Born March 28, 1935, in

Tennessee, he was the son of the late James Binnion and the late Edna Walton Bin-nion.

Survivors include one daughter, Jasmine Binnion; brothers, Eugene Binnion, James Binnion and Richard Binnion; and sisters, Elizabeth Alford, Helen Hackney, Nita Da-vis, Ruth Long, Irene King, Josephine Mc-Cain and Shirley Ross.

A funeral service was held Aug. 22, at Haught Funeral Home Chapel

Online condolences may be made at haughtfuneralhome.com.

Dalton Sylvester BlantonDalton Sylvester Blanton Jr., 85, of

Thonotosassa, died Aug. 20.Born March 9, 1927, in Plant City, he was

the son of the late Dalton Blanton and the late Eugenia Cameron Blanton. He was the husband of Fay Hancock Blanton.

Dalton was in the U.S. Navy during World War II and served at Pearl Harbor. He worked for Gulf Tampa Dry Dock as a fore-man until he retired and received numer-ous problem-solving awards. He designed and built glass-bottom boats for Wakulla Springs.

He loved to play lead guitar and banjo, enjoyed fishing and motorcycles and even had a pet squirrel he loved to feed.

Survivors include sons, Robert, Rodney,

Danny and Jimmy Blanton; daughters, Sha-ron E. Tournade and Sheila A. Watson; 17 grandchildren; and 14 great-grandchildren.

Online condolences may be made at haughtfuneralhome.com.

Barbara A. Varnadoe CaccamisiBarbara A. Varnadoe Cac-

camisi, 66, of Plant City, died Aug. 18, at Sun City Center Hospice.

She was born Feb. 16, 1946, to the late H.E. (Shorty) and Inez Varnadoe in Plant City. She was a life-time resident of Plant City and graduated from Plant City Senior High School in 1964. She served on the Reunion Committee for the Class of 1964.

Mrs. Caccamisi was a devoted member of St. Clement Catholic Church in Plant City. She served as a eucharistic minister, project coordinator of St. Clement “Make Your Own” Strawberry Shortcake Project, was awarded the Diocese of St. Petersburg St. Jude the Apostle Award in 2002, and or-ganized and participated in “Strawberry Strollers” Relay for Life team benefiting the American Cancer Society. In June, Mrs. Caccamisi hosted a brunch for Relay for Life.

She is survived by her husband, Gino; daughter and son-in-law, Tammi and Tracy Higgins, of Plant City; brother and sister-in-law, Gene and Nan Varnadoe, of Farber, Va.; and brother and sister-in-law, Glen and Jan-ice Varnadoe, of Lakeland; grandchildren, Thomas D. Pollock and Gina M. Caccamisi, both of Lakeland; Christopher J. Caccamisi, of Orlando, and Benjamin J. DeLiguori, of Plant City; nieces, April L. Boyett, of Temple Terrace, Heather H. Komorous, of Las Vegas, Nev., and Janay J. Walker, of Indian Trail, N.C.; and nephew, Troy D. Varnadoe, of Sea-board, N.C.

Expressions of condolence may be made at hopewellfuneral.com.

OBSERVEROBITUARIES

Unless you’ve been living un-der a rock, you know it’s football season. If you haven’t already, be sure to check out our extensive football preview guide, “Under Construction,” in this edition.

But there are many other hap-penings coming up that are not related to the pigskin.

Here’s the top five story lines to look out for this fall not related to football (in no particular order).

NEW FACES AT PCHSWe published a story about the

new head coaches at Plant City earlier this summer, but with

the fall sports season around the corner, we’ll be getting our first look at what these new faces.

Fall sports teams at PCHS that will feature new coaches in-cludes volleyball (Jessie Thor-ton), swimming

(Elizabeth Rheaume and Gerold Yoder) and cross country (Luke Beevor).

BAILEY BOWDENBailey Bowden enters her

junior season with the Plant City swim team after placing eighth at the Class 3A state meet in the 500 freestyle with a time of 5:02.97. Bowden also has promise in the 200 freestyle.

DURANT VOLLEYBALLBrittany Wilson enters her

second year at the helm of the

Y O U T H | H I G H S C H O O L | G O L F | S E N I O R S | C O M M U N I T Y | T E N N I S

SportsATHLETE OF

THE WEEKMeet one of the

teachers for the YMCA’sBody Pump class. 14

MATTMAUNEY

THURSDAY, AUGUST 30, 2012PLANTCITYObserver.COm

Don’t be fooled by the Plant City High School cheerleading squad this year.

The girls you see on the side-lines of football games on Friday nights aren’t just about chants, cheers and pompons.

That’s because that same squad is also the competition cheer team, and they’re looking to do just that — compete.

“I decided this year to make my varsity sideline team my compe-tition team,” said new head coach Karen Snapp, who has been coaching cheerleading since 1991. “This way, they are practic-

ing the whole year together.”Snapp has coached at several

different levels throughout her career. She took time off before taking a teaching position at Plant City last year and got involved as an assistant with the Raiders.

When Snapp knew she would be taking over as the head coach for the 2012-13 season, she told last year’s squad about her plans.

“A lot of other schools do it where they pick the varsity and (junior varsity), and then they pick the competition squad later from those two teams,” Snapp said. “I just thought that if they

practice together from the begin-ning that they’ll be more used to each other rather than throwing a new team together in October.”

Snapp is placing an emphasis on tumbling, a talent that hasn’t been a large focus of past PCHS competition cheer squads. In the competitions, squads are able to compete as either a tumbling or a non-tumbling team. Last sea-son was the first time the Raiders competed in the tumbling divi-sion.

With the new focus, making the team proved more challenging this year. According to Snapp, 63 girls tried out, and only 32 made the squads — including two freshmen on the varsity team.

“I like to think that I treat it like Matt Mauney

The Plant City High cheer squad is putting on stronger focus on com-petitions this year, with an emphasis on tumbling and stunting.

Raiders cheerleaders tumble into seasonPlant City High School’s cheerleading program is taking a more competitive focus under new coach Karen Snapp.

upping the competition by matt mauney | Staff Writer

Five things of note forfall season

SHOW ME THE MAUNEY

As with all Hillsborough County schools, Strawberry Crest and Plant City will open

the 2012 season on a special night, kicking off Saturday be-cause of the Republican Na-tional Convention.

New Strawberry Crest head coach John Kelly and his Char-gers team are coming off a

special night in their preseason

game last week against Free-dom. The Chargers were up 22-0 in the first half before clos-ing out a 29-0 win in Dover.

Sure, it was just a preseason game, but for a team coming off 1-9 season (excluding the forfeit win against Armwood), it was a step in the right direction.

“We definitely made great strides over the summer, and

that’s what I’ve been telling the kids — that I wanted to see pro-gression and improvement,” Kelly said. “We started off good with our preseason game, but when it comes down to it, it’s a preseason game, and right now, everyone is still 0-0, and I just want to continue to see

After a shutout win over Freedom in their preseason game, Strawberry Crest hosts cross-town rival Plant City Saturday.

GAME OF THE WEEK

Plant City at Strawberry CreSt | 7:30 P.m., SePt. 1

something to Prove

Strawberry Crest’s offense put up big numbers in the Chargers’ preseason

game last week.

Photo by Michael Eng

Plant City’s Landon Galloway is a key piece in the Raiders offense.

see CHeer / PAGe 15

see GAme / PAGe 15 see GAme / PAGe 15


8606

8

SKSedita Kilton Life &

Wealth Management, LLC Sedita Kilton & Company,

Certified Public Accountants, P.L.

813-752-4197 x24 Office: 813-732-3113 Cell: www.seditakilton.com

Nate KiltonCPA/PFS, CFP®, MBA, REALTOR®

Securities offered through 1st Global Capital Corp., Member FINRA/SIPC. Investment advisory services offered through 1st Global Advisors, Inc.

What determines Whether yOur hOpes and dreams beCOme a reality? With the right professionals behind you, doors open to new opportunities.

KICK

8921

8

8WEEKSFOR ONLY

$99813-752-9800

602 S. Collins St., Plant City FL 33563www.PlantCityKarate.com

Start the School Year with a

AND A FREE UNIFORM

8963

9

8992

1

Olin S. Wright Lodge No. 79Presents

The First Ever “Annual”Womanless Wedding

A Comedy For All Ages

Donation $10DATE: Saturday September 8, 2012

TIME: Ceremony Begins at 6:30pm

PLACE: Olin S. Wright Lodge, No. 79 304 Acacia Street Plant City, FL

Reception & Free Dinner

Public WelcomeAll Ages Coventry Assisted Living

“We’ve Moved to Our New Location”Nikki & Fred Pozeznik

“We believe everyone should be cared for with Love & Dignity”

415 North Wilder Road ~ Plant City, FL 33563

863.815.6000 • www.Coventry-Online.com

• Medicare Diversions• Veteran’s Benefits• Long-Term Insurance

• Private Pay• Personal Assistance with

ADL’s & Medications

• Home Health Care, Physical Therapy & More!

Call For Availability & Room Rates

LIC#AL12181

9041

2

ATHleTe of THe week by Matt Mauney | Staff writer

What is your background with fitness and instruction?

I have been in fitness for 12 years. I started out as a member (of the YMCA) 12 years ago and loved it. I loved the empow-erment and the confidence it gave me. I started getting certified to teach various fit-ness classes so I could give back the same empowerment and strength that was given to me.

Other than teach classes, what else do you do here at the YMCA?

I am a certified personal trainer here, as well as a wellness attendant.

Exactly what is

the Body Pump program?

Body Pump is a 60-minute endur-ance- and strength-based program. It is designed from be-ginner to advanced. We will work with every muscle group in segments, starting with the larger muscles, working our way down to the smaller muscles and then into a cool down.

How long have you been involved with the pro-gram?

I have been affiliated

with Body Pump as long as I have been affiliated with fitness — first as a member, and then (I) instructed it for some time and will be instructing it again here.

What do you like about the class?I love that it’s for all levels. It’s for every-

body, regardless of age, physical ability or how long you’ve been working out. You don’t have to be an expert in fitness to be

able to take this class.

Explain your regular workout routine.

It’s an equal balance between cardio and weight training.

I like doing spin classes for my endurance, lift weights

several times a week for strength, and then, of

course, I teach sev-eral fitness classes

regularly. I also follow a pretty

good nutri-tion plan,

because that’s a major part of

a healthy goal.

Outside of fit-ness, what are your

hobbies?I love crafting and love to

go hiking on the trails. I have a family, too, that keeps me pretty busy.

Victoria DunnLongtime fitness enthusiast and Plant City resident Victoria Dunn is thrilled about the

new Les Mills Body Pump program at the Plant City Family YMCA. The long-running workout program made its first run at the Plant City YMCA Aug. 24, and attracted more than 100 participants over five 30-minute sample sessions. Dunn was one of the instruc-tors for the program, along with Heather Dykstra, Laura Feleciano and Amy Glover.


8963

8

Ph (813) 737-4600 | Cell (813) 764-5535 | www.Bpowerfulpromos.com

You Think It. We Ink It!

PromosP werful

Plant City Owned & Operated

Pens Mugs shirts Bags hatsawards Pins etC...

You only have one chance to make a first impression

– make yours count.

897

72

Hauling & Lawn Care

CommerCial & residentialfree estimates

Rick kyleR (813) 376 - 0302

•Full Lawn Service•Landscape Design & Install• Trimming of Trees, Palms,

Bushes & Hedges•Mulching•Irrigation Repair•Pressure Washing

O B S E RV E R C RO S S WO R D

Edited by Timothy E. Parker

CRYPTOGRAMS

1. J A A Q B T S T K G M H B M J K P M B R G B S M M J B P J G Z J W “ F A A C

K I K T Z T F ” U E J J W K T D P A Q D J R S D P A H K K C J A J K R R S A E W A G

U B C K I K P S J W Z T F Z M .

2. G P C P ’ Z D I D O S Z Y I B N G J S B G N V J C Q Y P N P C Z : K C D Y I U P X X Z

U J O P D I Q K C D Y I U P X X Z B J , K S N V D N U P X X Z X Y R P V J C P R P C .

ACROSS 1 Tried again in court 8 Rouse to anger 12 “Friends” co-star

Matt 19 Leave in the lurch 20 Cleansing agent 21 Swimmer’s malady 22 Michael Jordan’s

alma mater 24 Stubborn ___

(comparison) 25 Many a low-budget

film 26 Victim of Brutus 27 Power program for

F.D.R. 28 Start of a simple

musical refrain 31 “How Dry I Am”

punctuation? 32 Ben player on

“Bonanza” 35 Having three

unequal sides, as a triangle

38 Hoover, for one 40 Pueblo resident 43 Guns the engine 45 Option 47 Belgrade citizen 48 Pistol, in B movies 49 Buck’s “The ___

Earth” 50 Like a stuntman’s

deeds 52 Dr. of hip-hop 53 Subduing spray 54 Money dispenser,

briefly 55 Packaging strings 57 “A rose by any ___

name ...” 59 Place for pins and

needles 60 “___ there, done

that” 61 Highlight of an

opera 62 Irish hooch 64 Watering holes

66 Corn Belt’s locale 69 Overweight, plus 70 Dense volcanic

rock 71 In a bit, in poems 72 Hisses’ partners 73 “Lord of the Rings”

creatures 74 Sensibility’s partner 76 Fete 79 Beam often mixed

with Coke 82 London apartment 83 Country lodging 84 Rejects disdainfully 86 Arrange in a

cabinet 87 Beau Brummel 88 Per ___ (daily

allowance) 90 Honorable 93 Smelter inputs 95 Old Icelandic

collection 96 Scrap 97 Most debonair 98 Oceans, poetically 100 Last word from a

director 102 One subject to a

dictator? 103 Hanging display 104 Revolted 107 Barely detectable

amount 111 Souchong-sipping

site 115 Like llamas 118 High-school math

subject 119 “The ___ near”

(doomsayer’s sign) 120 Yet to be delivered 121 Flirtatious glance 122 Actress Charlotte et

al. 123 Formidable rivals

dOwn 1 Sari buyer 2 Dark, in poetry 3 High on the Mohs

scale 4 Privileged 5 Staunch supporter 6 “Arabian Nights”

bird 7 Kind of evidence

gathered in “CSI” 8 Part, to an actor 9 Guys from Dublin 10 The Pineapple

Island 11 Eastern Orthodox

bishops 12 Grassy tract 13 Where the Beatles

hail from 14 “Great

performance!” 15 Hedy the

Hollywood legend 16 Beginning for

“puncture” 17 Stanley Cup org. 18 Homophone of

“sea” 20 ___ constrictor 23 Elvis’ record label 29 Raggedy ___

(classic doll) 30 Escort through the

door 33 Makes null and

void 34 One who avoids a

hurricane 35 It’s a long story 36 Circulatory

blockage 37 Tiny source of

energy 38 ___ Straits (“Sultans

of Swing” group) 39 “We Try Harder”

rental company 41 Outmoded 42 Trim the excess 44 Draft holder 46 Shade from the

sun? 51 Injure with a horn 53 Apportions (with

“out”) 55 Tattle (on) 56 Oscar-winning

musical 58 “___ the season to

be jolly”

60 A great time or great noise

61 Bristly appendage 63 Instrument an

orchestra tunes to 64 Would-be dictator 65 Fugitive 66 Like some

spacecraft 67 Endings for “plug”

or “shoo” 68 Stag’s mates 70 Showbiz headline

word 72 Most despicable 75 Children’s author

Bagnold 76 Remorseful soul 77 It may come before

“while” 78 Economy meas. 79 Be in harmony

(with) 80 Troubles in society 81 Racing competition 85 Stick out like a sore

thumb 86 First choice 89 Apple picker? 91 Prompt 92 Childish fit 94 Burned a bit 99 Exploratory craft 101 “Once ___ time ...” 102 Sargasso or Aral 105 He had a lush life in

Mayberry 106 Librarian’s

utterances 108 Serves superbly 109 “If I Didn’t ___” (Ink

Spots) 110 “Dukes of Hazzard”

deputy sheriff 111 Word before “you’re

it” 112 Letter with a right

angle 113 Khan’s title 114 Cary’s “I’m No

Angel” costar 116 60 sec. 117 Compass abbr.

COUnTRY TOUR by Paul Jenn

2

CROSSWORD_083012

any other sport — basketball, football or whatever,” she said. “I pick the team based on skill level and not age. If you had a 7-foot-5 freshman coming in to play basketball, would you not put him on varsity? So, if I have a freshman who meets my re-quirements, they’re going to be on varsity.”

Snapp said she is pleased with this year’s squad so far.

“There’s some stuff that they’re doing now that they weren’t do-ing at the end of last year, so they’re way ahead,” Snapp said. “They’re really talented and are a nice group of girls.”

The squad is anchored by se-niors Ali Grimmel, Sara Brum-mer and Shay Wright, who have all been on the varsity squad

since they were freshmen. “Our theme this year is, ‘How

do we want to be remembered?’ and we’re just putting in more ef-fort this year,” Brummer said.

Grimmel agreed.“We’ve all worked hard to get

to our senior year, and this year, we feel like we’re going to win, because we have a lot more tal-ent then we ever have had,” she said.

For Wright, the competition side is more fun because it fea-tures more complex routines.

Snapp hopes those routines can be crisp and aims to con-tinue to work the team hard has they prepare for the winter com-petition season.

“Hopefully, the bar has been raised,” she said.

Contact Matt Mauney at [email protected].

improvement each and every week.”

The Chargers dominated on all three phases last Friday, capital-izing on mistakes by the Patriots.

The SCHS defense compiled five sacks on the night and didn’t allow Freedom to pass the 50-yard-line until the fourth quarter, long strides from the 40 plus points allowed in one half against Durant in the Chargers’ spring game.

The Plant City defense also had a strong showing in its preseason game against Hillsborough. The Raiders also tallied five sacks as a team, including two from defen-sive end John Broome.

Plant City limited Hillsbor-ough, an annual powerhouse,

to just eight points in the first half but came up short 15-7 at game’s end, with the Raiders only touchdown coming on a 2-yard run by Landon Galloway in the second half after long kickoff re-turn by Tavares Chase. The PCHS offense had several opportuni-ties to score but kept coming up short, including an interception throw by Rayquan Johnson in the endzone on the Raiders’ final drive. Johnson replaced Nick Ro-driguez, who started the game at quarterback for Plant City.

The key for Plant City head coach Wayne Ward entering the preseason game was to avoid injuries. Unfortunately, several players were banged up against Hillsborough and had to be helped off the field.

The most serious injury the

Raiders are facing is junior run-ning back/defensive back Jyquis Thomas. Thomas is recovering from a collapse lung, and accord-ing to Ward, he is doing better and has returned home from the hospital.

Kelly knows it will take a com-pledte team effort to come out on top against Plant City, which routed the Chargers 69-6 last sea-son. But he said a good showing or a win would be a great thing for his program moving forward. Plant CIty was one of the schools that split to form Strawberry Crest back in 2009.

“It’s kind of a natural rivalry for us ... so it’s going to be an exciting game for us and our kids will be up for it,” Kelly said.

Contact Matt Mauney at [email protected].

Durant High volleyball team. The Lady Cougars are hoping to make a run into November this year after finishing second at the Class 8A District 7 tournament last fall.

CHARGERS RUNNERSThe Strawberry Crest cross

country program is still young, but there are several runners who could have big seasons.

The boys team will be led by Scott Bartlett and Spencer Mathis, who each saw personal best times of just over 17 minutes last year in the Hillsborough County Cross Country Championships.

GIRL GOLFERSThe Plant City girls golf team

is coming off a breakout year in which it won both a district and region title in the same year for the first time. The team has gone undefeated in the regular season the last two years and has had strong finishes at the state tour-nament, finishing fifth last year after placing eighth in 2010.

The team will prepare for the season after losing its most suc-cessful group of players — Belin-da George (North Florida), Shelby Johnson (Florida) and Kelsey Jensen (Seminole State).

OTHER AREA ACTIONDurant at FreeDom

last week: Jamarlon Hamilton picked up right where he left off last year, scoring four touchdowns for Durant in the Cougars’ 34-17 preseason win over Bloomingdale. The senior running back rushed for over 70 yards and had a 48-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter. Quarterback trey vanDeGrift, a transfer from Strawberry Crest, had a solid game in his debut as the Cougars starter.

last meeting: Durant rolled to a 36-0 win in last season’s opener against Freedom.

Game/PaGe 13mauney/PaGe 13

cHeer/PaGe 13


8960

8

plant city observer 08.30.12

Documents

city officials

focusplant city ymcapresents

city manager greg horwedel

walden lake

harry potterinspired

plant cityobserveryou

bruton memorial library

tropical storm isaac