FREE • THURSDAY, APRIL 4, 2013 EXCLUSIVE PLANT CITY YOU. YOUR NEIGHBORS. YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD. Observer launches I Love Plant City Photo Contest. PAGE 13 Classifieds ......... 14 Crossword .......... 13 Obituaries ............. 8 Sports................... 9 Vol. 1, No. 39 | One section PlantCityObserver.com OUR TOWN INDEX education by Amber Jurgensen | Associate Editor + Win a weekend island getaway! The Plant City Observer, Keel and Curley Winery, Anna Maria Island Resorts and Costco Wholesale have part- nered for the first Tampa Bay Blueberry Festival Blueberry Recipe Contest. All you have to do is submit your favorite blueberry recipe, along with a short paragraph about why it is your favorite. Five finalists will present their dishes at the festival, April 27 to 28, at Keel and Curley Winery, where a panel of celebrity judges will choose a grand-prize winner. First place will receive a weekend getaway at an Anna Maria Island Resorts des- tination; second place will receive a case of Keel and Curley Blueberry Wine and an Exclusive Tour; third place will receive a $100 prize pack, courtesy of Costco Wholesale. Deadline to enter is 11:59 p.m. Sunday, April 21. To enter, visit our site, PlantCityObserver.com, and click on the Blueberry Recipe Contest ad. You may also email your entries directly to General Manager Michael Eng, meng@ plantcityobserver.com. Good luck! + Wish Farms to host charity U-pick event Wish Farms will open its farm to the public for an annual charity strawberry U-pick from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. April 6 and 7, at the com- pany’s Duette strawberry farm 37381 S.R. 62, Duette. All proceeds will benefit Redlands Christian Migrant Association. Attendees will be able to pick their own berries for $5 per flat, which includes the donation and crate costs. In addition, food banks that sup- ply their own containers will be allowed to pick for free. RCMA provides child care and early education for chil- dren of migrant farm workers and rural, low-income families throughout Florida. SPORTS VSI Tampa Bay opens first season. PAGE 9 O bserver Bright Beginnings Daycare to close FROM PAGEANTS TO PATROL by Matt Mauney | Associate Editor MacKenzie Clark says her work as a Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office deputy requires many of the skills she honed as a pageant contestant. More than 100 children attend the Plant City Church of God school. It will close June 7. It seemed like the end of a typi- cal day, when Courtney Single- tary picked up her 2-year-old son March 26, from Bright Beginnings Daycare at Plant City Church of God. But when she saw teachers crying, she knew something was wrong. Singletary was left with one puzzling clue, a letter sent home with her son. The daycare was closing April 5, just 10 days later. The letter offered little explana- tion. Signed by the church’s board of directors, the letter stated, “The daycare ministry does not fit in with the long-range vision of Plant City Church of God.” “It was closing without notice or explanation,” Singletary said. “As a parent, it makes me think, ‘Is something wrong? Do I need to be worried?’” Like Singletary, mother Su- zanne Calder was confused by the explanation. Her 6-year-old son had been a student at the school since he was 3 months old. The family loved the daycare. “The children should be the vi- sion of the church,” Calder said. Seeking answers, Calder orga- nized a group of parents to meet at the church the next day. Word of the parents’ outrage already had reached the church and its lead pastor, Robert Herrin. Using social media, parents voiced their Amber Jurgensen Many parents chose the preschool because of its curriculum. It already was a gloomy day. Thick clouds hung low in the sky, and the storm-slick streets were ripe for accidents. Then, the call came over Hills- borough County Sheriff’s Office Dep. MacKenzie Clark’s radio: 18-month-old drowning victim. Clark was the first to arrive on-scene. Immediately, her training kicked in, and she began to administer CPR. But it was too late. Clark admits many of the calls over her radio seem to run together, but this one sticks out just a little more. That day, that gray day, helped shape her out- look on her career in law en- forcement. It was worlds apart from her life just four years earlier, when she was crowned Miss Central Florida, or in 2007, when she represented her hometown of Plant City as a member of the Florida Straw- berry Festival Queen’s Court. But for Clark, the two paths have more in common than one may think. “It’s a way for me to mentor,” Clark says of both law enforce- ment and pageants. “Whether it’s pageants or now wearing a badge, it’s a way to impact peo- ple’s lives. You meet so many people through both. You may only have a few minutes with someone, so you’re first impres- sion really is everything.” ‘A WHOLE NEW WORLD’ Clark didn’t grow up dream- Former Miss Central Florida and Florida Strawberry Festival Queen’s Court member MacKenzie Clark is a proud member of the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office. & the BEAT Beauty MacKenzie Clark was crowned Miss Central Florida in 2008. SEE CLARK / PAGE 4 SEE CLOSING / PAGE 4 SPOTLIGHT J. Myrle Henry wins Heritage Award. PAGE 3
Transcript
FREE • thuRsday, aPRIL 4, 2013
exclusive
PLANT CITY
you. youR nEIghboRs. youR nEIghboRhood.
Observer launchesi love Plant cityPhoto contest.PAGe 13
The Plant City Observer, Keel and curley Winery, Anna Maria island Resorts and costco Wholesale have part-nered for the first Tampa Bay Blueberry Festival Blueberry Recipe contest.
All you have to do is submit your favorite blueberry recipe, along with a short paragraph about why it is your favorite. Five finalists will present their dishes at the festival, April 27 to 28, at Keel and curley Winery, where a panel of celebrity judges will choose a grand-prize winner.
First place will receive a weekend getaway at an Anna Maria island Resorts des-tination; second place will receive a case of Keel and curley Blueberry Wine and an exclusive Tour; third place will receive a $100 prize pack, courtesy of costco Wholesale.
Deadline to enter is 11:59 p.m. sunday, April 21.
To enter, visit our site, PlantcityObserver.com, and click on the Blueberry Recipe contest ad. You may also email your entries directly to General Manager Michael Eng, [email protected].
Good luck!
+ Wish Farms to hostcharity U-pick event
Wish Farms will open its farm to the public for an annual charity strawberry u-pick from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. April 6 and 7, at the com-pany’s Duette strawberry farm 37381 s.R. 62, Duette.
All proceeds will benefit Redlands christian Migrant Association.
Attendees will be able to pick their own berries for $5 per flat, which includes the donation and crate costs. in addition, food banks that sup-ply their own containers will be allowed to pick for free.
RcMA provides child care and early education for chil-dren of migrant farm workers and rural, low-income families throughout Florida.
sPORTsvsi TampaBay opensfirst season.PAGe 9
Observerbright beginnings daycareto close
FROM PAGeANTs TO PATROl by Matt Mauney | Associate editor
MacKenzie Clark says her work as a Hillsborough county sheriff’s Office deputy requires many of the skills she honed as a pageant contestant.
More than 100 children attend the Plant city church of God school. it will close June 7.
It seemed like the end of a typi-cal day, when Courtney Single-tary picked up her 2-year-old son March 26, from Bright Beginnings Daycare at Plant City Church of God.
But when she saw teachers crying, she knew something was wrong.
Singletary was left with one puzzling clue, a letter sent home with her son. The daycare was closing April 5, just 10 days later.
The letter offered little explana-tion. Signed by the church’s board of directors, the letter stated, “The daycare ministry does not fit in with the long-range vision of Plant City Church of God.”
“It was closing without notice or explanation,” Singletary said. “As a parent, it makes me think, ‘Is something wrong? Do I need to be worried?’”
Like Singletary, mother Su-zanne Calder was confused by the explanation. Her 6-year-old son had been a student at the school since he was 3 months old. The family loved the daycare.
“The children should be the vi-sion of the church,” Calder said.
Seeking answers, Calder orga-nized a group of parents to meet at the church the next day. Word of the parents’ outrage already had reached the church and its lead pastor, Robert Herrin. Using social media, parents voiced their
Amber Jurgensen
Many parents chose the preschool because of its curriculum.
It already was a gloomy day. Thick clouds hung low in the sky, and the storm-slick streets were ripe for accidents.
Then, the call came over Hills-borough County Sheriff’s Office Dep. MacKenzie Clark’s radio: 18-month-old drowning victim.
Clark was the first to arrive on-scene. Immediately, her
training kicked in, and she
began to administer CPR.But it was too late. Clark admits many of the
calls over her radio seem to run together, but this one sticks out just a little more. That day, that gray day, helped shape her out-look on her career in law en-forcement. It was worlds apart from her life just four years earlier, when she was crowned Miss Central Florida, or in 2007, when she represented her hometown of Plant City as a member of the Florida Straw-berry Festival Queen’s Court. But for Clark, the two paths have more in common than one may think.
“It’s a way for me to mentor,”
Clark says of both law enforce-ment and pageants. “Whether it’s pageants or now wearing a badge, it’s a way to impact peo-ple’s lives. You meet so many people through both. You may only have a few minutes with someone, so you’re first impres-sion really is everything.”
‘A WHOLE NEW WORLD’
Clark didn’t grow up dream-
Former Miss Central Florida and Florida Strawberry Festival Queen’s Court member MacKenzie Clark is a proud member of the
Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office.
&the BeatBeauty
MacKenzie Clark was crowned Miss central Florida in 2008.
SEE CLARK / PAGE 4
SEE CLOSING / PAGE 4
sPOTliGHTJ. Myrle Henrywins Heritage Award.PAGe 3
Plant city observerTHURSDAY, APRIL 4, 20132 PlantCityObserver.com
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PlantCityObserver.com 3 Plant city observerTHURSDAY, APRIL 4, 2013
South Florida Baptist Hospital has undergone many renovations within the past year, as part of a plan to revamp and modernize the hospital.
Now, a newly-renovated medi-cal/surgical unit has been added to the list of completed improve-ments.
The unit, 2-South, which open April 1, will treat patients who will undergo major invasive surgeries and are required to spend at least one night in the hospital.
The entire unit has been reno-vated, reconfiguring 18 semi-pri-vate rooms to become 16 com-pletely private rooms. Each room contains a family area, private bath and shower, 42-inch televi-sion and a digital white board. Tile floors, warm, wooden head-
boards, and softer lights give the rooms a more hotel-like feel.
Each room also will feature te-lemetry technology, so patients won’t have to leave the unit to go to the main telemetry center in 2-East.
The $3.8 million unit was designed by architect Curtiss Haynes.
“It’s functional, as well as at-tractive,” Jim LeHeup, manager of facilities, said.
Before, there were only two community showers in the unit, and each room housed two pa-tients.
Along with the rooms, the nurs-es’ station was given a new look, with enclosed walls to diminish noise. There are several alcoves and visitor lounges to accommo-
date family and friends. “Most hospitals build an ad-
dition,” Steve Nierman, hospital COO, said. “But, we took an exist-ing space that’s 60 years old and had to transform it.”
The obstetrics unit, known as 3-South, also has undergone ren-ovations. New flooring and a new ceiling have been installed, along with a refurbished nurses’ station and lobby enhanced with wood and glass, similar to the surgical unit.
And it’s not just the inside that is receiving a face lift. The sur-rounding outside grounds of the hospital has undergone changes as well. A new 119-space parking lot located at the corner of West Reynolds Street and Plant Avenue opened in late February.
Hospital officials will continue renovations this year. In June, the hospital will break ground on a $5.7 million expansion to build two new operating rooms. The
Plant City golfers will lace up their shoes this weekend to help put shoes on local children in need at the Plant City Junior Woman’s Club’s first Charity Golf Tournament.
The tournament will take place April 6, at Walden Lake Golf and Country Club. Registration will take place at 7 a.m., followed by a shotgun start at 8 a.m. All pro-ceeds from the event will ben-efit the Plant City Shoe Project, which provides shoes, socks and other school supplies to more than 550 students at local ele-mentary schools each year.
“We wanted to do something that we haven’t done before,” said PCJWC member Tyger Ji-menez, one of the event organiz-ers. “We knew there was a large group of people who play golf in Plant City with Walden Lake be-ing here, so we decided to have a golf tournament.”
The club is known for its char-ity events, including the Baby Parade at the Florida Strawberry Festival and the annual Little Miss Plant City Contest, which was held March 23, at Plant City High School.
“We thought having a golf tournament would be a new way to bring in money for our shoe project,” said member and event organizer Kendelle Jimenez, Tyger’s sister-in-law.
The tournament will feature a visit from the Tampa Bay Light-ning cheerleaders, thanks in large part to PCJWC member and fellow cheerleader Crystal Ro-mano. Chili’s and Johnson’s Bar-beque will offer food at the event, and a post-tournament party will be held at O’Brien’s Irish Pub.
Kendelle said funds have lim-ited PCJWC in years past to be able to provide about 40 pairs of shoes per elementary school.
“We hope, with this t o u r n a -
ment, we can raise more money to buy more shoes,” she said.
Each year, participating schools make a list of their stu-dents in need. Shoes then are purchased from Payless Shoe-Source, and the club, along with corporate donators, go to the schools and deliver the new kicks.
James Hardie Industries has been a supporter of the project, recently adopting a school and providing the needed shoes for those students, including sizing the feet of the children.
“They find it very rewarding,” Tyger said.
Kendelle agrees. “I’ve participated in the shoe
project for the past four years, and all the juniors seem to really enjoy it,” she said. “A lot of these kids receiving shoes have never had new shoes before. Many have only had hand-me-downs. It’s almost shocking to see their reactions in person. Some even want to keep the new boxes, because they are so happy, and they will run around in their new
shoes.”Contact Matt
Mauney at m m a u n e y @p l a n t c i t y o b -server.com.
south Florida completes 2-south renovationsThe newly-renovated medical/surgical unit opened April 1.
health matters by amber Jurgensen | Associate Editor
Junior Woman’s Club to hold first tourney Proceeds will benefit the Plant City Shoe Project, which provides shoes and socks to area elementary school students in need.
TOURNAMENTWHen: April 6; registration at 7 a.m. and a shotgun start at 8 a.m. WHere: Walden Lake Golf and Country Club; 2001 Country Club DrivereGistration: Day-of reg-istration is available. cost: $75 for individual players or $300 for a stan-dard foursome. inForMation: Kendelle Jimenez, (813) 997-3359 or Tyger Jimenez, (813) 507-8127
upcoming by Matt Mauney | Associate Editor
Amber Jurgensen
The nurses’ station at 2-South also received upgrades as part of the most recent renovation.
Picture-perfect Party
The Plant City Photo Archives and History Center hosted its 2013 Heritage Award Soiree March 28.
The award recipient was J. Myrle Henry, who has received dis-tinguished awards such as the 2001 Outstand-ing Citizen of the Year and the 2007 Attwood Award for Civic Leader-ship. Henry has been affiliated with local
historical organiza-tions for many years and served as direc-tor and president of the East Hillsborough Historical Society. He is the founder of the Florida Opry and of the Strawberry Classic Car Show.
In his honor, guests dined, sipped cham-pagne and enjoyed music.
tammy Johnson, anne Haywood, bob edwards and Fred Johnson
ed and amanda verner
Mac and cookie smith
Heritage Award recipient J. Myrle Henry, right, and his wife, tommie
edwena Haney and Marsha Passmore
RECOGNITION by amber Jurgensen | Associate Editor
Plant city observerTHURSDAY, APRIL 4, 20134 PlantCityObserver.com
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PLANT CITY – Main Office, 102 W. Baker Street, 752-6193 • WALDEN WOODS – 2400 Jim Redman Parkway, 754-1844Also offices in: BRANDON, RIVERVIEW and ZEPHYRHILLS
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confusion on Facebook and flooded the church office with phone calls and emails.
Herrin didn’t return many of the calls, according to parents. He also didn’t return multiple phone calls and emails from the Plant City Observer staff seeking comment.
The next day, the church is-sued a second letter that stated the school would remain open until June 7, the end of the school year.
“Pastor Herrin and the board of directors never intended to offend or cause undue incon-venience to any of you,” the later stated. “We hope that this decision will accommodate you and provide you full time to find new arrangements for your chil-dren.”
The closing will displace 108 students and 22 teachers. Ac-cording to church member Cheryl Johnston, about 20 fami-lies already have left the school in search of another option. Many of the schools in the area already have waiting lists.
The day after the first letter was issued, Calder took a day off work to find her son a new school, before other parents filled any open slots. She was lucky to get him enrolled in Kindercare at Walden Lake.
“I’m sorry, but I don’t know how you think a week and a half is enough time to find a new daycare,” Calder said.
Singletary still hasn’t found a new school for her son.
“I have no idea what I am go-ing to do,” she said.
Kim Shouse, director of Plant City’s First Baptist Church Learning Center, said her two openings were filled the day
the first letter was released. The school currently is considering options to expand to accommo-date more students in the future, she said.
During the parents meeting last Wednesday, parents were able to speak to church faculty, who parents said were not open about why the daycare was clos-ing. Herrin made an appearance during the last 15 minutes of the meeting.
“The pastor was very apolo-getic and remorseful about the way the letter went out,” Calder said.
He shared that out of the 108 attending children, only eight students were members of the church.
“My opinion is that they feel the daycare is in the way of the church,” Calder said.
Calder said Herrin felt his fac-ulty and resources were more focused on the daycare rather than the church even though the majority of students weren’t members. Calder and other par-ents expressed that they were never approached about be-coming members.
“I wish we had more informa-tion about the real reasons why,” Calder said.
Bright Beginnings was a pop-ular option for parents because it utilized the A Beka curricu-lum, which integrates education into play.
“The play really enhances the learning ability,” Singletary, an educator at Durant, said. “Edu-cation is what is going to help my kids make it through life.
“This is not just a daycare,” she said. “I’m not looking for a baby-sitter. It’s a quality preschool.”
ing of a being a pageant girl. There were no “little miss” pag-
eants or junior royalty competi-tions.
In high school, she was athletic, playing soccer and golf at Kath-leen High School, in Lakeland, where she attended, after spend-ing her childhood in Plant City.
When she was 20, while taking classes at Hillsborough Commu-nity College in Plant City, Clark decided to sign up for the Florida Strawberry Festival pageant, an annual tradition in Plant City that kicks off festival season. It was her last opportunity to do so: Age 20 is the cut off.
“Because my family’s from Plant City, I really wanted to do it and be a part of it,” Clark says. “I knew a lot of people with the Flor-ida Strawberry Festival, and my family has been intertwined with it for so many years. It was just something that I figured I would give a shot and see where it led.”
After earning a spot on the 2007 court and upholding the respon-sibilities that came with it, Clark competed and won Miss Central Florida a year later. That victory gave her extra scholarship money to use for school and qualified her for the Miss Florida Pageant, a preliminary competition for the Miss America Pageant.
“I didn’t really know what to expect from pageants, and it definitely is a whole new world,” she says. “It was a great experi-ence. Knowing that I wanted to do broadcast journalism, it helped with the public-speaking aspects.
“For me, it wasn’t about being a winner or showing what I’ve got over someone else,” Clark says. “It had a lot to do with the camara-derie and the teamwork and the
opportunities that it could pres-ent to you. You have to look at it as a way to develop you as a person.”
‘I DON’T SEE MYSELF AS MY IMAGE’
Years before pageant participa-tion, Clark harbored dreams of serving in the military. But with an academic scholarship, she chose to hold off to pursue a de-gree in broadcast journalism at the University of South Florida.
After four years in school, Clark had a decision to make: pursue a career in TV or follow her desire for public service.
“Trying to think of some way to stay local and still serve in some capacity and help others, law en-forcement piqued my interest,” she says.
It was something she never considered before, but the more she learned about it, the more she saw there were many similarities to what was drawing her to the military.
“I know it sounds funny, but I was to be a reporter with a jour-nalism background in college, and here I am doing that in law enforcement,” she says. “I’m still getting the whole story. The dif-ference is that I take it a step fur-ther, making something happen with whatever information I ob-tain.”
Clark, who joined the Sheriff’s Office in 2011, has enjoyed the teamwork and camaraderie as-pects of law enforcement.
“We all have different ways in how we look at law enforcement, depending on different encoun-ters you have with them,” she says. “I’ve seen how much of an aspect we really play in people’s lives and the role that we play. The variety of things that I’ve en-countered, I think that if you don’t grow as a person in any career,
you definitely grow in this career.” And although pageant life is in
her past, Clark often fields ques-tions and comments about her appearance — even when on duty and in full uniform.
“I go to get something to eat, and people are like, ‘You’re too pretty to be a cop,’” she says. “It happens all the time, but I don’t see myself like that. I don’t see myself as my image. I see myself as the job that I do and that I per-form and I just want to do well at what I’m required to do and go above and beyond as available.”
‘THE BEST DEPUTY I CAN BE’To this day, Clark doesn’t talk
about work with her father, Rob-ert.
“I think he always thought that I would have a desk job, and it wasn’t until I was deputized that I think he realized that I would be on patrol, in a car, and by myself,” she says. “I know he just worries about me, so I try not to talk about my work when I’m around him.”
Many of her friends, including ones she made through the pag-eant circuit, were surprised and confused by Clark’s career choice.
“Some of them can’t believe it,” she says. “My interest in the mili-tary and later law enforcement wasn’t something that I really publicized.”
Other areas of law enforce-ment, including the public in-formation sector, has piqued her interest and could be options in the future, because it relates to her degree.
But for now, Clark is enjoying serving on the front lines.
“I just want to become the best deputy I can be and grow from there,” she says.
NOTICE OF SALEIn accordance with the provisions of State law, there being due and unpaid charges for which the undersigned is entitled to satisfy an owner and/or manager’s lein of the goods herinafter described and stored at: Uncle Bob’s Self Storage located at: 1005 S. Alexander St., Plant City, FL 33563. 813-759-9526. And, due notice having been given, to the owner of said property and all parties known to claim an interest therein, and the time specified in such notice for payment of such having expired, the goods will be sold at
public auction at the above stated location(s) to the highest bidder or otherwise disposed of onWednesday, April 24, 2013 @ 9:00 A.M.Sheila Aguillard - Hsld gds, Furn, TV/Stereo EquipKendall Boyd - Hsld gdsJeff Simmons - Hsld gds, Furn, Boxes, Sprtng gds,TV/Stereo Equip, Off Furn, Accting rcrds
4/4 & 4/11/13
For one night every year, about 2,000 people call the football field at Plant City High School home. Busi-nesses, churches and other organizations erect more than 70 booths, and perfor-mances and other activities transform the field into a miniature city for Plant City’s Relay for Life.
It’s a huge undertaking, but one that PCHS has assumed for the past 15 years.
“We get so pumped up,” cosmetology teacher Laurel Ritenbaugh said.
Hosting the event takes months of plan-ning. Much of the work falls on Traci Dur-rance, assistant principal for administra-tion, and the Relay for Life logistics team.
“Traci makes sure we get everything we need and takes care of all those details — from making sure the sprinklers won’t go off to making sure the lights turn off dur-ing the candlelight vigil,” Relay chair Linda Herman said.
On the morning of the Relay, members from the logistics team go out to the field and paint lines on the field for the booths. ROTC members help the logistics team pre-pare for the long — but fun — night ahead.
Carpentry students have made toilet pa-per-roll holders and a throne for the cosme-tology’s fairy princess booth. Best Buddies and English as a Second Language students sell delicious treats, such as homemade ta-cos during the event. And the FFA Depart-ment brings their trucks to help load and unload equipment for the Relay tents.
“Everyone pitches in,” Ritenbaugh said. In addition to its duties as host, PCHS
also is one of the local Relay’s largest fundrais-ing organizations. The school participates all year, through activities such as sock hops, flower grams, kickball tournaments, T-shirt and bake sales. And before the Relay, the school
hallways turn into a sea of pink, with stu-dents and faculty rocking their cancer gear.
The school was inspired to be a part of Relay after losing two teachers and an ad-ministrator.
“Everyone knows Plant City High School and associates it with Relay for Life,” Her-man said.
Ritenbaugh wanted to do something with the cosmetology department when one of her students, Megan Carpenter, died from cancer at 17. At the Relay, the cosmetology department runs a makeup and nail booth, where young girls can get a “fairy princess” makeover. At the end of their makeover, Florida Strawberry Festival Queen Kelsey Fry will declare them a fairy princess.
“We try to teach the students, at the end of the day, you’re judged by the person you are, not your GPA,” Ritenbaugh said. “We want them to learn this life lesson.”
At the end of the event, each participat-ing group is responsible for cleaning up its area. But again, the event coordinators and the students join together to clean up any remaining messes.
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It’s a million-dollar question — one Xiomara Meeks fields every year: What’s the last day Parkesdale Farm Market will be selling strawberry shortcakes?
Although the exact date is un-known, Parkesdale usually stops serving them when its shipment of strawberries stops, around mid- to late-April. Meeks tries to let people know when the last day will be on the company’s Facebook page.
But this year, Meeks has or-ganized an event to celebrate the closing of strawberry sea-son. She has invited three food trucks from the Tampa Bay area to come to the market April 7.
Rollin’ Zoinks will offer an as-sortment of chicken, pork, scal-lops and steak served with sau-téed vegetables, such as onions, mushrooms, peppers and green beans.
Maggie on the Move dishes out Mediterranean fusion, with classic greek ingredients, such as hummus, pita, tzatziki and olives.
Renny’s Oki Doki offers Asian-inspired cuisine. Born in Iwaku-ni, Japan, Renny Braga always wanted to open his own restaurant. He started his food truck with favorites, such as pork spring rolls, stir fried soba noodles and teriyaki.
Meeks noticed that food trucks have been a
big trend in the industry in re-cent years. So, she set out to find some local trucks for her event. She had a list of 10 trucks, but three made the final cut.
“These three trucks come highly recommended,” Meeks said. “I saw pictures of their food they post online or on social me-dia, and it looks really impres-sive.”
Meeks can’t wait to try food from all three businesses. She’s particularly excited about the Japanese noodles, seared scal-lop wrap and anything Mediter-ranean.
With the trucks rolling in from as far away as St. Petersburg, Meeks hopes they will draw their foodie following to Parkesdale.
“We’re hoping to bring out a big turnout, so we can do this every year,” Meeks said. “Not only is it promoting Parkesdale, (but also) it’s promoting Plant City. If people come out for the
event, they can also explore the town.”
Besides the tourism aspect, the main reason for the event is to give shortcake-lovers a chance to devour one last dish before they go out of season.
Parkesdale serves the cakes from January until April. On its busiest day of shortcake sales, Parkesdale sold 3,000. On any given day, a line can be seen stretched around the side of the market, resembling a wait for an amusement-park ride.
Robbery suspects could be in jail right now for stealing four dirt bikes, two goggles and two quarts of oil, thanks to Plant City Motors-ports’ $1,500 night-vision security system.
Unfortunately, the shop, which opened just last month, did not yet have the system installed.
“Whoever broke in just took a 50-50 chance (of) knowing that we were a new business if we had our security setup or not,” partner Chad McKee said.
According to Plant City Police Department reports, a friend of the shop’s owners called March 23, to report a green 250 Kawasaki dirt bike outside of the building, 203 E. Baker St.
Upon arriving at the shop, McKee discovered the burglars smashed a large window on the
west side of the busi-ness and the bike
behind the shop.
Inside, he discovered goggles, oil and three other bikes — a red Honda 125, a blue Yamaha 250 and a green Honda CR 500 — also were stolen.
After police arrived, the 500 CR was found abandoned in a wood-ed area off Damon Street, west of Michigan Avenue.
All stolen inventory was part of a shipment from California.
One piece of inventory the thieves left behind was more valu-able than the stolen bikes — a 1978 Bob Hannah vintage YZ250 Yamaha.
“I was really surprised they didn’t take that,” McKee said.
The shop plans to install its se-curity system within a few weeks. Owners also will install bars on the showroom windows to pre-vent burglars from being able to remove bikes from the shop. Em-ployees are taking care to lock ev-ery single door and are securing the bikes in a room with a rein-forced door.
“What can you do?” McKee said. “Stuff like this happens. That’s why you have insurance.”
Burglars strike new motorsports shopThe thieves stole about $5,000 in bikes and equipment.
HOW TO HELPIf you have any information
regarding this case, call the Plant City Police Department, (813) 757-9200.
CRIME by amber Jurgensen | Associate Editor
FOOD TRUCK EVENTWHen: 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. April 7WHere: Parkesdale Farm Market, 3702 W. Baker St. PHone: (813) 752-0502
Unique cuisine to roll into P.C.FOOD ON WHEELS by amber Jurgensen | Associate Editor
Parkesdale Farm Market invited several food trucks to Plant City as part of an event to bid adieu to the strawberry season.
PlantCityObserver.com 7 Plant city observerTHURSDAY, APRIL 4, 2013
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Old Seminole Heights15th Annual Home TourExperience the History of Old Seminole Heights
Sunday, April 7th, 201311:30am - 5pm
Tickets $15 in advance, $20 day of tour
Advance Tickets available online at:www.oldseminoleheights.org
Or may be purchased at:Cleanse Apothecary - 5127 N. Florida
3 Coins Diner - Broad and Nebraska Ave.Health Mutt - Hanna and Central Ave.
A portion of the proceeds to benefit:
“Come Make A Home In Our Heart”
Seminole Heights Garden Center, 5800 N. Central Ave, Tampa, FL 33604in the heart of Old Seminole Heights
Made possible in part by the following sponsors:
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From Trinity United Methodist Church’s Frontline Youth Group’s annual Cross Walk on Good Fri-day to the Plant City Recreation and Parks Department’s annual City-Wide Easter Egg Hunt March 30, Plant City residents enjoyed meaningful, faith-filled fun to cel-ebrate the season.
Frontline’s walk featured mem-bers of the youth group carrying a large wooden cross, while others held signs that said, “Trinity Unit-ed Methodist Youth,” and “Jesus’ Blood Shed for You.”
“Our goal is to impact this city and remind people of the story of the cross,” said Frontline Youth Alliance Pastor Stetson Glass. “We don’t necessarily want to get people to our church, but we want to impact them to remember what Good Friday and Easter are about.”
At the annual egg hunt, hun-dreds of happy hunters hit the fields at Otis M. Andrews Sports Complex. Parents and children enjoyed train rides, bounce hous-es and getting photographed with the Easter Bunny.
Plant City celebrates Easter
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faith by Matt Mauney | Associate Editor
Kiara reifschneider and austin Hoyt acted silly before their hunt.
Zeyda ortiz, 7, scooped up 18 eggs and scored a coupon for a free taco.
Kids enjoyed riding this Thomas the Tank Engine train.
Frontline Youth Alliance at Trinity United Methodist Church completes the Cross Walk every year.
ethan cook carried the cross for the first leg.
Plant city observerTHURSDAY, APRIL 4, 20138 PlantCityObserver.com
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WelcomeHome
William ‘Blackie’ Fred BlackmonWilliam “Blackie” Fred Blackmon, 80, of
Plant City, died March 31, 2013.Born May 19, 1932, in Rock Mills, Ala.,
he was the son of the late Ezra Blackmon and the late Eva Hendley Blackmon. He was preceded in death by his wife, Juanita Mason Blackmon.
Mr. Blackmon was a motorcycle me-chanic, who raced motorcycles for 20 years in North Carolina and Florida. He was a big NASCAR fan and loved to fish.
Survivors include sons, Curtis Black-mon (Fleita) and Kenny Blackmon (An-drea); daughter, Eva Sue Blackmon; brothers, Olen Burl, Arnold, Almon Hollis, Curtis Wayne and Phillip Blackmon; sis-ter, Lucille Bolling; grandchildren, Logan Michael, Brandon James and Beth Nicole Blackmon.
He was preceded in death by his son, William Fred Blackmon Jr.
A funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. April 6, at Haught Funeral Home Chapel, 708 W. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
Online condolences may be made at haughtfuneralhome.com.
Edith Nell ErvinEdith Nell Ervin, 67, of Plant City, died
March 25, 2013, at her home. She was born March 12, 1946, to the late
Gaston Powell and late Una Vae Taylor. She is survived by her son, Johnny
Ervin; grandchildren, Latasha, Johnny, Haley and Alexis; great-grandchildren, Thomas and Kaylynn; and lots of nieces and nephews.
She was preceded in death by brother, Richard Powell.
A memorial service will be held 3 p.m. April 5, 2013, at Haught Funeral Home, 708 W. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
Online condolences may be made at haughtfuneralhome.com.
Faye Booth GormanFaye Booth Gorman, 75, of Plant City,
died March 29, 2013.She was born Dec. 4, 1937, in Plant
City, to the late Jay and Vera Booth. She was the wife of James “Dan” Gorman for 43 years.
Mrs. Gorman was a 1955 graduate of the Plant City High School and a member of Shiloh Baptist Church.
Survivors include her son, Buddy Gor-man; daughters, Lynna Clendening (Jer-ry) and Leigh Ann Osborne (John); sis-ters, Frieda Causey and Pat Dorsey (Ed); grandchildren, John Daniel, Danielle Goff (Jonathon), Hannah and Haley Clenden-ing; and great-grandchildren, Alleigh, Easton and Mason.
She was preceded in death by her brother, Robert M. Booth.
A Celebration of Life will be at 6:30 p.m. April 4, 2013, at Shiloh Baptist Church, 1104 Cason St. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Florida Bap-tist Children’s Home or Stepping Stone Farms.
Online condolences may be made to haughtfuneralhome.com.
John Robert Sapp Jr.John Robert Sapp Jr., 23, of Dover, died
March 25, 2013.Born Aug. 23, 1989, in
Tampa, he was the son of John Sapp and Patricia Johnson Sapp.
He attended Turkey Creek Church of God. He was known for writing sto-ries, singing, dancing and playing video games.
Surviving include brother, Joshua Sapp; maternal grandparents, Billy and Doris Johnson; paternal grandmother, Shirley Sapp; and uncles, aunts and cousins.
Online condolences may be made at haughtfuneralhome.com.
The 2013 legislative session is under way, and we are hard at work represent-ing District 58, in Tallahassee.
I wanted to take a moment to tell you about one of the important issues we are working on this session, which deals with the theft of utility services.
Over the years, theft of electric-ity has become more of an issue for utility services and their cus-tomers, and Florida’s laws haven’t kept up with the times. Currently, the criminal penalty for stealing utility services is a misdemeanor, as prescribed in Ch. 812.14 of the Florida Statutes, regardless of the dollar value of the electricity stolen.
Tampa Electric Company alone reports more than $4 million in electricity has been stolen over the past few years in the Tampa area, and the Florida Public Service Commission esti-mates more than $1 billion in electricity is stolen every year in our state.
Most of the cases involving prosecu-tion for theft of utility services are related to grow houses, because of the volume of electricity that has been stolen. In the case of grow houses, utility theft is often a sophisticated operation and can involve stealing more than $40,000 dollars in electricity each month.
Unfortunately, the existing criminal penalties and minimum civil penalties have not been successful in deterring these thefts. Under the current law, sus-pects face just a misdemeanor charge for this massive theft.
We are changing the law to more closely match the penalties faced for theft of other commodities. If you steal $10,000
in electricity, you could be charged with a felony, just the same as if you had stolen $10,000 in jewelry. This change hopefully would be a deterrent for many criminals, and also it would enable law enforce-ment, the companies involved and utility customers to be placed in a better posi-
tion, too, to seek restitution for the utilities stolen. By doing so, the cost of the theft does not have to be passed along to customers in the form of higher electric rates. In the case of electric coopera-tives, this is especially important, because each customer is a mem-ber and owner of the business, as well, and members are especially vulnerable to rate changes.
I am proud to say that House Bill 191, Theft of Utility Services,
has favorably passed the Criminal Justice Subcommittee, the Justice Appropria-tions Subcommittee and the Judiciary Committee, and is ready for a final vote of the floor of the Florida House of Repre-sentatives. We look forward to passing this bill into law soon and helping to bring an end to the utility theft free ride that has lasted too long at the expense of law-abiding Floridians.
If you would like to find out more information about this bill, or any others being sponsored, you can visit myflorida-house.gov and click on the “Bills” tab.
Thank you for allowing me to repre-sent you in Tallahassee, and please let us know if you ever are planning to visit the Florida State Capitol during the Legisla-tive session. We would love for you to come by our office for a visit!
State Rep. Dan Raulerson represents District 58.
New law would stiffen utility-theft punishments
TALLAHASSEE REPORT
REP. DANRAULERSON
OBSERVEROBITUARIES
As I’ve written before, after accepting this job, I thor-oughly researched Plant City and its sports scene.
Being the sports historian I like to claim to be, I found out about Plant City Stadium and how it was the former spring training home to the Cincinnati Reds. Even though the Reds left town when I was 10, long before I had heard of Plant City or had aspirations of being a sports writer, I was disappointed I wouldn’t have the chance to cover a professional sports team in the Winter Strawberry Capital of the World.
All that changed last week when the city agreed to pur-sue a short-term lease with VisionPro Sports Institute Inc. The soccer organization plans to lease the stadium at least through August for its four United Soccer League franchises, including a USL Pro squad.
That’s right: Professional sports is coming back to Plant City.
When I heard the news, my mind began racing. Of course, I Googled the organi-zation and the USL to learn as much as I could. I then began pondering all of great stories and features that could come out of this news.
I was also a little bit thank-ful, as this will keep me busy this summer — generally a slow sports time — between
our coverage of Plant City’s
talented Little
League All-Star teams. Then, I began pondering
what kind of effect having a pro sports team again would have on this city and how people here would receive the VSI teams.
There’s no denying that soccer has a large pres-ence in Plant City. The Plant
City Recreation and Parks Department/Optimist Club Youth Soccer program has a long and successful history, and the Plant City Lancers club or-ganization has seen tremendous growth and success in the last few years.
All six high school soccer programs
(boys and girls) have seen re-cent success and are steadily growing.
Although the current lease is short-term, there is a possibility of VSI making a long-term home in Plant City, which will open up possibili-ties for other initiatives of the organization, which hopes to add an international residen-tial training academy, with three feeder satellite acad-emies in the Tampa Bay area. Just think about the ramifica-tions of Plant City becoming a part of those plans. Having a world-class soccer acad-emy in our own backyard could mean a boost — both economically and from an athletic standpoint.
With the rate youth-soccer participation is growing in the area, that likely would increase participation num-bers and begin to rival the popularity of baseball and football in the area.
Also, with the Hispanic population comprising nearly 30% of the city’s de-mographics, there is a culture
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 WEEKMargo Butlerreaches new heights. 11
THURSDAY, ApRIL 4, 2013PLANTCITYObserver.COm
MATTMAUNEY
SHOW ME THE MAUNEY
kicking off by matt mauney | Associate Editor
SEE MAUNEY / PAGE 12
pro soccer a good fit for plant City
It has been 15 years since a pro-fessional sports team called Plant City home, but with the recent agreement between VisionPro Sports Institute Inc. and city com-missioners, that soon will change.
VisionPro’s United Soccer League pro squad, VSI Tampa Bay
FC, will play its inaugural season at Plant City Stadium, the former spring training home of the Cin-cinnati Reds baseball.
After Plant City commission-ers agreed March 25 to pursue a short-term lease agreement for the stadium with VisionPro,
work began to convert the stadi-um from a softball field to a soc-cer complex. VSI Tampa Bay FC, which will carry the nickname Flames, will hold its USL home opener when they host the Roch-
vsI Tampa bay brings pro soccer to Plant CityOne of the four United Soccer League franchises under Visionpro, the VSI Tampa Bay pro squad, will hold its home opener April 13.
Courtesy photo
VSI Tampa Bay FC took on phoenix March 30, in the season opener, at Sun Devil Soccer Stadium in Arizona.
With competition of college football recruiting at an all-time high, there is no such thing as too much exposure.
And with recruiting hotbeds existing in heavily populated met-ropolitan areas, athletes in more rural areas such as Plant City often are overlooked.
Gerold Dickens and Hasani Jackson have been doing every-thing they can to prevent that from happening.
“Coach Dickens and I grew up in this area and have seen how things can be with kids getting swept up under the rug and under the radar,” said Jackson, a former player at the University of Tennes-see. “We’re just trying to get these kids out of here and get them ex-posed as much as possible.”
The two former Plant City High standouts developed what would become Next Level Sports Recruit-ing in 2007, when they ran the re-
cruiting department at PCHS as assistant coaches for the program, helping players get noticed by col-lege recruiters.
In the last two years, Next Level has grown to a successful three-phase exposure operation, with a camp division (Team Next Level), a 7-on-7 team comprising Plant City-area athletes (Elite Squad) and 7-on-7 U, a statewide high school 7-on-7 tournament series. Dickens and Jackson are state di-rectors for 7-on-7 U, which will hold a tournament for Central Florida high schools in Plant City and send the winner to compete for a national championship in July, in Washington, D.C.
“We aim to get the kids maxi-mum exposure,” said Dickens, a former head coach at Strawberry Crest and a former standout line-backer at the University of Florida. “We use the connections that we have to get the kids involved with the camps,” Dickens said.
Each phase gives a platform
mAxImum exPOsure
Matt Mauney
Coaches Gerold Dickens, left, and Hasani Jackson, right, have helped local standouts, such as plant City’s montel mcbride, center, get exposed to colleges.
Next Level Sports helps make dreams of playing in college come true for local football standouts.
scout’s honor by matt mauney | Associate Editor
SEE VSI / PAGE 12
SEE NEXT LEVEL / PAGE 12
Plant city observerTHURSDAY, APRIL 4, 201310 PlantCityObserver.com
Roseate Spoonbill
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We’ve worked with regulators to develop the largest scrub jay
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Join in Mosaic’s promise at www.mosaicco.com/promise.
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The Hillsborough Community College softball team split a se-ries with South Florida State College March 28, at the Randy Lar-son Four-Plex, in Plant City.
The Hawks, based out of the main HCC campus in Tampa, are playing home games in Plant City through April.
HCC took the first game with SFSC 3-1, despite SFSC loading the bases twice. SFSC took the second game of the double-header 7-6.
HCC is having a suc-cessful season with a 32-17 record and a 6-2 conference record. The Hawks will host Polk State College April 4, at the Randy Larson Four-Plex. Game 1 be-gins at 5 p.m.
HCC softball holding home games in P.C.
SPoTLIgHT by Matt Mauney | Associate Editor
Head coach ray seymour gave his team advice after their game 1 win.
Left: South Florida State College has cam-puses in Highlands, DeSoto and Hardee counties.
HCC is having a great season at the JUCo level.
HCC was disciplined on the base path in game 1.
Sophomore pitcher laura Downs was excellent on the mound in the first game.
Plant city observerTHURSDAY, APRIL 4, 2013 PlantCityObserver.com 11
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My name is Capt. John Baty, and I am owner and founder of Forever Hooked Charters.
Each month, I’ll be offering you tips to help you become a better fisher-man. I’ll also update you on what is biting in Tampa Bay and other areas.
This month the topic is the bronze beauty — the redfish. Pound-for-pound, the redfish is the fighting-est fish in the ocean. Redfish are pretty easy to find but can be hard to get to eat, at times. At other times, they eat the bottom out of the boat.
Tips on catching redfish are simple. First, you have to be quiet when you are within 50 to 75 yards of a school. Turn off your trolling motor or do not slam any hatch lids. Make your cast as long as possible and land it as quiet as possible.
For bait, I use shrimp on a 1/4-ounce jighead in the winter. Crusta-ceans are the most abundant food source in the winter. Cut ladyfish and cut pinfish also work well in the winter, because of the scent they give off. In the summer, use live greenbacks (scaled sardines) and menhaden. We use greenbacks as live chum and get the fish started, then feed them a hooked sardine to finish them off. It can be a lot of fun when you get a big school of
redfish in a feeding frenzy. For you guys who would rather throw
artificial, there are numerous baits that will catch redfish. The gold spoon is
probably one of the best baits to use. You can cover a lot of water and redfish love gold spoons. Top-water plugs, such as Rapala Skitter-walks, are my favorite. They make a lot of commotion in the water, and the reds love it. You also can use numerous plastics on a jighead or under a popping cork. The popping cork attracts both redfish and trout, and it is good for novice fisherman, because it is easy to learn to use. It can be used with artificial or live baits of your choice.
The redfish bite is going to get better in the weeks to come. Look for the big schools to move in and begin to really turn on the bite. Hope this helps in your hunt for redfish, and if you have any questions at any time, don’t hesitate to contact me.
Capt. John Baty is owner and founder of Forever Hooked Charters. For more infor-mation, visit foreverhookedcharters.com.
Catching the elusive redfishgone fISHIn’
MARgo BUTLeRATHLeTe of THe week by Matt Mauney | Associate editor
Durant High School senior Margo Butler tried pole-vaulting when she was a sopho-more, looking for something fun and different to do. with a natural talent for the unique track-and-field event, Butler has found success, including recently taking first place at western Conference, with a personal best vault of 8-3. with few trainers in the area, Butler takes vaulting lessons two hours away in Melbourne.
What got you into pole vaulting?I ran track and my brother did
pole-vaulting when he was in high school and was pretty good at it. I was just running track, and my best friend and I both did it that first year together. I just tried it, and it just kind of stuck.
What do you like about it?I like to be different, and it’s
unique, because not many people did it. I ended up being pretty good at it.
How have you done in previ-ous seasons?
Last year I got fifth at regionals and just missed making state.
Is it safe to say you hope to qualify this year?
Yes, but it’s going to be tough. State is actually on my birthday this year. Honestly, I haven’t been practicing that much, because I work all the time, but I go to Pole Vault City, in Melbourne, and train there with coach Bobby (Haeck).
On what areas have you been working?
Just running fast-er and improving my technique. Also trying to graduate
to higher poles, so I can go higher.
How did you get involved with Pole Vault City?
My dad started talking with a parent at one of the meets, and her daughter had gone there and gotten two feet higher than her normal vaults. So, we looked it up and went over there. It’s really good, and it helps me, because a lot of girls that
go there have 11, 12 or 13 feet easily, so it kind of pushes me to go higher.
When you first took up vaulting, what did you think about it?
I obviously wasn’t very good at first, but I
used to do gymnas-tics, so it kind of resembles that. You just have to have the right technique.
Outside of sports, what keeps
you busy?I work all the time
at You Say When Yo-gurt Shoppe.
Would you like to vault in college?
If I can get my heights up, I would love to do it in college, even if it’s a small col-lege.
JoHnBATY
Plant city observerTHURSDAY, APRIL 4, 201312 PlantCityObserver.com
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present that likely would take well to a pro soccer franchise. There is also potential for VSI Tampa Bay FC to pull sig-nificant numbers from both Tampa and Lakeland, with Plant City’s central location to those heavily populated areas.
Being a huge baseball fan, I would be lying if I said the dream of having an MLB team call Plant City its home during March didn’t still exist. With the city currently seeking a long-term tenant or an outright buyer for the sta-dium, I suppose that dream is still alive.
But in the meantime, it will be exciting to have a profes-sional sports team call Plant City home, and this time, I will be here to witness it.
ester Rhinos April 13, at the sta-dium.
That timeline gives VisionPro less than three weeks from the lease agreement approval to get the stadium ready to host a pro-fessional soccer match.
“Things are going great, and some major things are going into motion this week,” said Direc-tor of Soccer Clay Roberts, a for-mer Plant City High School soc-cer player and alumnus. “We’re excited about making a home in Plant City and are looking to build a long-term relationship there.”
The existing clay area at the stadium is being replaced with appropriate sod and irrigation. The outfield fencing also is be-ing reconfigured, and bleachers will be added to the outfield, as well as temporary visiting-team
locker-room facilities. “We would love to have a huge
fan base,” Roberts said. “There is no doubt that Plant City is identi-fied as a soccer community in the Tampa Bay area with recreation, youth and club numbers at an all-time high. Soccer is expanding in Tampa Bay, with 70-plus youth clubs. Having our teams play in a place like Plant City was attractive to us.”
The talented Tampa Bay FC ros-ter comprises former MLS players and rising stars. Players hail from as close as Brandon and St. Pe-tersburg, to as far away as Brazil, Jamaica, Haiti, Trinidad and To-bago, and Ukraine.
“Our team is very diverse in cul-ture,” Roberts said. “That’s some-thing that I think will attract a di-verse group of fans from all over.”
The Flames dropped their sea-son opener to Phoenix March 30,
before picking up their first win Tuesday, against the Los Angeles Blues.
They will wrap up their season-opening, three-game road trip Sunday, at Portland, before mak-ing their debut in Plant City the following week.
The VSI Tampa Bay FC USL Pro team, along with its PDL League (under 23), the Super 20s (under 20) and the W-League (women) will call Plant City home through August, with an option to extend through September. The short-term lease will not affect the city’s current process of finding a per-manent tenant or new owner for Plant City Stadium. Roberts said VisionPro is interested in submit-ting a bid to become a long-term tenant of the stadium.
“We do plan to put in a bid for the land available in Plant City,” Roberts said about the stadium.
for different athletes and posi-tion players. Skill players, such as quarterbacks, defensive backs and wide receivers, are shown off in 7-on-7 games and tourna-ments, while the bigger athletes, such as offensive and defensive linemen, showcase their skills in combines and camps, along with some of the skill position players.
In January, five members of Team Next Level were invited to participate in an NFL-style com-bine at the Under Armour All-American Football Combine, at Tropicana Field, in St. Petersburg. Those players included Plant City’s Montel McBride and Jyquis Thomas, Durant’s Dontriel Perry and Cody Martin, and Alex Car-swell, from Strawberry Crest.
BEST OF THE BESTThe list of talented prospects
under Next Level is long, but no two athletes have stood out more than Plant City High’s McBride and Sedrick King.
McBride, a 6-4, 305-pound of-fensive and defensive lineman, has been reeling in offers this off-season. The junior currently has six offers, including Florida State, Kentucky and South Florida.
“Montel has been our big head-liner,” Dickens said. “When it comes to the camps, we make our contacts, and once we make our contacts, it’s up to the prospect to get involved.”
McBride hasn’t just been in-volved. He’s shined, especially on the offensive side of the ball.
The 2014 prospect took the Top Offensive Lineman Award at the Valdosta MVP Camp, in February,
in Valdosta, Ga., and made MVP at the Orlando Nike Camp, qualify-ing him for the prestigious Nike Training Camp in Oregon.
“Hopefully, I have a chance to go to the open in Oregon and see how things go,” McBride said.
The camp will feature some of the best prospects in the nation, competition McBride already has faced in regional camps.
“I’ve taken away a lot from the camps,” McBride said. “I don’t go in thinking that I’m better than everyone, but I believe that I can compete with them.”
Going into the summer before his senior year, McBride wants to keep his college and position op-tions open. Schools have been looking at him as both an offen-sive and defensive lineman.
“There is no getting used to get-ting a college scholarship offer,”
he said. “When I hear them actu-ally say the words, ‘We’re offering you,’ that’s when my emotions take over.”
King, McBride’s PCHS team-mate, also has been steadily racking up offers. So far, the 2014 defensive lineman has received offers from Rutgers, Central Flori-da, Memphis, South Florida, Lou-isville and West Virginia.
“I’m just appreciative of every-thing Next Level has done for me,” King said. “You never expect the offers to come in or get used to it. It’s just really exciting.”
HAND IN HANDNext Level Sports operates as an
aide to area high schools, with the athletes’ best interests at heart.
“We work with the high school programs and not against them,” Dickens said. “We’re not in com-
petition or anything like that. We do this for the kids and will work with the high school programs and support whatever they’re do-ing.”
That starts with keeping the players on track with their high school programs, including par-ticipation in spring and summer conditioning.
“Here, we enforce whatever they’ve been saying to them,” Dickens said. “We tell them that their programs come first, and ours actually comes second. We make sure they do everything right and are on good terms with their programs, and then, they are allowed to come out here and use some of the connections and net-working that we have to help get their name out there.”
RocHeSTeR RHInoS AT TAmPA BAY FcWHen: 7:30 p.m. April 13 WHere: Plant city Stadium; 1900 S. Park Road ticKets: General admission tickets are $12, and mid-field premium seats are $15. Season-ticket packages are also available by calling (813) 615-2182.coveraGe: Pick up a copy of the Plant City Observer and visit Plantcityobserver.com all season long for game recaps, player profiles and features on the VSI Pro team and other affiliates calling Plant city home this season.
vsi/PaGe 9MaUney/PaGe 9
neXt level /PaGe 9
PlantCityObserver.com 13 Plant city observerTHURSDAY, APRIL 4, 2013
O B S E RV E R C RO S S WO R DEdited by Timothy E. Parker
CRYPTOGRAMS
1. X B X G Z V Y W T B W Y W M X I Y G M O W B V Q Y T X L W T B . U W F X L W B V
B U W B X I Z W I Q B O V B F V T S Q P W M K U W T U W K X P B V Z M U W
U X M B V S V Z Z V K P Q G B .
2. P V F P T H Z E Q W A B V R U P N Z K W Q N V F B W Z T O B V X Q U V F R X Z E V
V F Z V P V S Q R N T Q V O K Z W R Z T Q V F R U E Q W A B V R U X Q U Z K K
P V N S B W O W P N V Z H R N .
ACROSS 1 Oscar nominee
Bening 8 Fix, at the vet’s
office 12 Ankle covering 18 Disparaged
publicly 19 Like a clock that
has hands 21 Accumulate 22 Brilliant idea 24 Get ready for
performers 42 Turkish bigwigs 43 Stealthy stealer 45 Something to
shake or lend 46 “Classical” opening 47 Curtain call 48 Alveoli site 49 About half of table
salt, chemically 52 Shield for Zeus or
Athena 55 Impertinent talk 56 Like some
waistbands 57 Arrests 60 “The ___ Professor” 62 Literary bear 64 Japanese soup
choice 65 “Messenger”
compound 66 They take slow,
leisurely routes
70 Mint 71 “American Beauty”
novelist Ferber 73 “Daniel Boone”
star Parker 74 External 75 Watchful attention 77 Account checker 79 Small municipality 81 Winona of “Edward
Scissorhands” 83 Driftwood and
such 84 Flowerless
decorative plant 85 Methane or ethane,
e.g. 89 Mouth piece? 90 Toothpaste holder 91 Groups of
customers 95 Unwritten exams 97 12th Hebrew
month 98 “Dennis the
Menace” cartoonist Ketcham
99 Rims 100 Having many irons
in the fire 101 Treadbare 102 Aces, e.g. 104 It can follow “you” 105 Attendance fig.,
often 106 Parched 107 “Santa ___” 108 Rosemary’s creator 111 Treasure keepers 113 Bare-knuckle, as
politics 119 In this place, in
legalese 120 Confirmation
phrase 121 Melodic musical
passages 122 College application
pieces 123 His and ___ 124 Braying beasts
dOwn 1 Product pitches 2 Take-home pay 3 Big ATM
manufacturer 4 Love archer 5 “Kon-___”
(Heyerdahl book) 6 Promgoers, usually 7 Former name for
Tokyo 8 Air Jordan, e.g. 9 Velvety-petaled
flower 10 Landed 11 “Embraceable ___” 12 Looked at with
open mouth 13 Grassland unit 14 Winter hazard 15 Sport with guns 16 Moon of Jupiter 17 Negligent 19 Docket 20 Guitarist’s skimpy
purchase? 23 Attract the lifeguard 28 Original cross word 30 Watch part 31 ___ Bator, Mongolia 32 University
recruiting org. 34 Humorous fellow 35 Send a message by
wire 36 Discrimination
against senior citizens
38 “Das Boot” setting 39 Compulsion by
threat 41 Consequently 42 Tutor in “The King
and I” 44 Avg., size-wise 48 Establish, as rules 49 Withdrawn apple
spray 50 Japanese
immigrant’s child 51 Grouchy facial
expression 53 “The ___ Sanctum” 54 Soap and water
results 55 Pigs’ place 56 Sort of board 57 Toasting candidate
58 Excessive 59 Some graffiti
removers 61 Flavor savorer 63 Say it’s so 67 Sci-fi sightings 68 Hosiery mishap 69 Lean and lovely 72 Conveying little
weight 76 Rankled 78 Helpful hints 80 City on the Oka
River, near Moscow 82 “The Lost Symbol”
author Brown 84 Blacksmith’s
hammers 86 Aquatic organism 87 “... ___ the twain
shall meet” 88 “To be,” to Brutus 90 Go superfast 91 Mexican restaurant
chain 92 Rancher’s rope 93 Hero of “Cold
Mountain” 94 Barely achieve
(with “out”) 95 West African tree
with large leaves 96 Runs the football 101 Outshines 102 Carpenter’s boring
tool 103 “Glycerine” opener 106 Reprieve from the
governor 107 Auto maintenance
operation 109 Completely botch 110 How not to run 112 Poseidon’s domain 114 “Wonderful!” 115 Palindromic
relative 116 Acronym for mad
cow disease 117 “The Thin Man”
co-star 118 Suffix with “host”
or “lion”
LInKEd UP by Monnie wayne
3
CROSSWORD_040413
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Need someone that speaks fluent insurance?I’m your agent for that.Tony Lee CLU, Agent1702 S Alexander StreetPlant City, FL 33563
813-752-7202www.tonyleeagent.com
Communitystarts withneighbors who care. That’s what our town is made of.
1201196 State Farm, Bloomington, IL
Get to a better State®.
Tony Lee CLU, Agent1702 S Alexander Street
Plant City, FL 33563Bus: 813-752-7202
www.tonyleeagent.com State Farm® has a longheritage of helping out in thecommunity. That’s why I’mproud to supportEvent/Charity.
SAM
PLE
sunrise sunsetThurs., April 4 7:16 a.m. 7:48 p.m.Fri., April 5 7:15 a.m. 7:48 p.m.Sat., April 6 7:13 a.m. 7:49 p.m.Sun., April 7 7:12 a.m. 7:49 p.m.Mon., April 8 7:11 a.m. 7:50 p.m.Tues., April 9 7:10 a.m. 7:50 p.m.Wed., April 10 7:09 a.m. 7:51 p.m.
MOON PHASES
PlANt City WEAtHEr HigH lowThurs., April 4 86 70Fri., April 5 79 55Sat., April 6 81 61Sun., April 7 81 61Mon., April 8 86 61Tues., April 9 82 70Wed., April 10 86 70
tEMPErAturES
rAiNWED.
March 270.00
THURS.March 28
0.00
FRI.March 29
0.00
SAT.March 30
0.00
SUN.March 31
0.58
MON.April 10.00
TUES.April 20.00
April 10
April 18
SuNriSE/SuNSEt tiMES
BluEBErry MArKEt PriCESSHiPPiNG POiNt: CENtrAl AND NOrtH FlOriDA
IPCtammy Piergallini took this silhouetted shot of the Skywheel, at this year’s Florida Strawberry Festival.The Plant City Observer,
State Farm Insurance agent Tony Lee and The Corner Store have partnered to launch the new I Love Plant City Photo Contest. Weekly winners will have their photo featured in the Plant City Observer and receive a $10 gift certifi-cate to The Corner Store! Submit your photos, with a caption, via email to Managing Editor Michael Eng, [email protected]; subject line: I Love Plant City.
April 25
May 2Courtesy of the united States
Department of Agriculture
3.91(2012: 1.34)
APRILtO DAtE
(2012: 0.28)0.00
YEARtO DAtE
(InCHES)
HOUSE CLASSIFIEDS
LP # 108051
NATALIE SWEET, LLC., REALTOR. The SweetTeam, Keller Williams Realty. Cell: 813-758-9586E-mail: [email protected] See ad in the ServiceDirectory.
MINUTEMAN PRESSTHE FIRST AND LAST STOP IN PRINTING.
www.plantcity.minutemanpress.comSee our ad in the Service Directory
WALDEN LAKE ART & FRAME. PreservingMemories & Bringing Your Art To Life. MichaelKidde, Owner, waldenlakeartandframe.comSee our ad in the Service Directory.
Professional Services
HOUSEMASTERHome Inspections Done Right Since 1979.
Robert & Michelle Southard866-931-2350
E-mail: [email protected] www.east-tampa.housemaster.com See our ad in the Service Directory
RAIL TOWN Building Services. CommercialCleaning. Chuck Sullivan, 813-390-1851,www.railtownbuildingservices.com See our ad in the Service Directory.
SEPTIC PROSSeptic Tank and Grease
Trap PumpingSeptic System Maintenance and Installation
GREEN EAGLE, INC. Landscape and LawnMaintenance. Plant/Tree Installation and Removal,Mulch Sod Removal and Installation, Mowing, FillDirt & Cleanups. Call 813-967-6879. See our ad inthe Service directory.
Landscaping & Lawn Service
PAR INTERIORS - FULL SERVICE DESIGN.Patricia Rogers, Owner/ Decorator. 813-754-1567www.parinteriors.com See ad in the ServiceDirectory
Interior Design
Thursday, April 4, 2013
JEN KEN Kiln and porcelain doll mold. $200.00.Call 813-767-1503.
ADVERTISE YOUR MERCHANDISEwith the total value of all items $200 or less in
this section for FREE! Limit 1 ad per month,15 words or less. Price must be included next to
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