Plant City Times&

Observer

INDEX

Lisveth Trejo was readingat a second-grade level whenshe walked into Theresa Rice’sdouble-intensive eighth-gradereading classroom at TomlinMiddle School. But it turnedout to be one of the most trans-formative years of Trejo’s life,

both academically and person-ally.

So when Trejo found outabout Barnes and Noble’s “MyFavorite Teacher” essay con-test, choosing a subject to writeabout was easy for her.

Her essay was so moving

that she was given the topscore among 65 entrants fromHillsborough County, and shewill have the opportunity toadvance in the contest at theregional and national levels.

OUR TOWN

YOU. YOUR NEIGHBORS. YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD.A PARTNERSHIP WITH

This week’s winner isDan Middlebrooks

See his photo onPAGE 15.

Calendar.......................9 Crossword...................15 Obituaries...................14 Sports...........................5 Weather......................15

FREE • FRIDAY, APRIL 17, 2015

+ Archives readyfor intern programThe Plant City Photo

Archives and HistoryCenter’s intern program isopen for applications forthe 2015 summer and fallterms.The program is designed

to provide students theopportunity to learn muse-um, archives and historycenter skills in a real-lifesetting.The intern program was

initiated in 2010 and hasprovided high school-levelstudents, college under-graduate students andgraduate students learningopportunities in institu-tion operations, historicalresearch, library proce-dures, historical researchand writing, and archivingtechniques.The program is struc-

tured to be flexible inscheduling, and eachintern will be monitoredby both a mentor and bythe organization’s execu-tive director. Programsof work are set out inadvance and interns areprovided with formats fordaily journal entries andchecklists. After the com-pletion of the schedule,the intern is presentedwith an evaluation and afinal report.Applications may be

submitted for the 2015summer term until July 3and up until August 14for the fall term.Interested students

can obtain additionalinformation and anapplication form by visit-ing the Photo Archivesoffice or by emailing theexecutive director at gil@plantcityphotoarchives.org. The office is openfor business Mondaysfrom 10 a.m. until 4p.m. at 106 S. Evers St.in downtown Plant City.The office telephonenumber is (813) 754-1578 and the website isPlantCityPhotoArchives.org.

RELAYFORLIFEParticipantsrocked out the2015 event.PAGE 10

SCHOOLSPIRITNewwork of artdonated byformer students.PAGE 3

Vol.2,No.29 | Twosections

REVVED TO GOMemorial rideto be held formotocross dad.PAGE 5

SEE ESSAY / PAGE 4

For the first time, residentsof Plant City have an oppor-tunity to learn how to becomemore eco-friendly and cele-brate the natural resources theworld has to offer.

The Plant City CommonsCommunity Garden is host-ing Earth Day Fest, which isexpected to become an annualevent.

“We always do (an event) inthe fall for Food Day, and wedecided that we needed anadditional fundraiser,” KarenElizabeth, community gar-den director, said. “Earth Dayseemed like a good fit.”

Throughout the day therewill be free, half-hour work-shops on a variety of topics tohelp attendees make their livesa little more eco-friendly.

Your Green Comfort Zonewill be led by Cecilia Yocum,a licensed psychologist withmore than 35 years as a mentalhealth professional. The work-shop will be an interactive ex-perience, where participantswill be asked to consider whatextra steps they would be will-ing to take in order to be more

arl Grooms, president ofFancy Farms, says thereare only two things a grow-er can know for sure abouteach strawberry season:There’s a start, and there’san end.

Every season is unique be-cause of factors such as weath-

er, expenses, and supply anddemand. And within any givenyear, different growers aroundPlant City can have varying lev-els of success.

Fortunately for Grooms, Fan-cy Farms was relatively success-ful this season.

“In comparison to the past

four years, this would be con-sidered a better year,” he said.

Kenneth Parker, executivedirector of the Florida Straw-berry Growers Association,said the biggest challenge thisyear was weather-related —

At the Walden Lake Com-munity Association’s annualmeeting Thursday, April 9,residents voted for Jan Grif-fin, Dan Orrico and Dave Sol-lenberger to fill the three openpositions on the board of di-rectors.

Griffin was reelected. Orricoand Sollenberger will take the

places of Jim Chancey, whoresigned last fall, and BruceRodwell, who had served onthe board for 20 years.

Sollenberger was the citymanager for Plant City from2002 to 2010, and again as aninterim city manager for sixmonths in 2014. During thesetimes, he led the master plan-

ning for development in thenortheast region of the city,streamlined the developmentreview process and focused onneighborhood revitalizationefforts.

Sollenberger has lived inWalden Lake for 12 years. Heran for the board of directorsin last year’s WLCA election,

but he withdrew because hewas serving as city manager atthe time and wanted to avoidany appearance of a conflict ofinterest.

“I think that Walden Lakehas a lot to offer,” Sollenbergersaid. “I think it’s a very nicecommunity.”

He said he does not think itis a good idea to move forwardwith the proposed rezoning of

NewWaldenLake leaders electedwlca by Catherine Sinclair |StaffWriter

Dan Orrico and Dave Sollenberger will now serve onthe board of directors, and Jan Griffin was reelected.

VOTES PERCANDIDATEJoshua Hall: 67Blake Meinecke: 73Robert Rogers: 76Robert Farkas: 167Daniel Pinero: 260Lynn Buehler: 289Jan Griffin: 293Dave Sollenberger: 330Dan Orrico: 356

BYE-BYE, BERRIESThe 2015 strawberry season has come to a close in Plant City, but itwas a unique year impacted by weather and new varieties of fruit.

Communitygarden hostsfirst EarthDay festival

Carl Grooms savored the final berries of the season last week.

eco eventby Catherine Sinclair |StaffWriter

Garden membersexpect the festivalto become anannual event.

AGRICULTURE by Catherine Sinclair |StaffWriter

Student wins contest for essayabout Tomlin Middle teacher

WRITTENUP by Catherine Sinclair |StaffWriter

Catherine Sinclair

Theresa Rice was Lisveth Trejo’s eighth-grade reading teacher,tutor and mentor.

Lisveth Trejo’s essay about her former reading teacher, Theresa Rice, scoredhighest in the local Barnes and Noble ‘My Favorite Teacher’ contest.

C

Catherine Sinclair

SEE BERRIES / PAGE 4SEE EARTH DAY / PAGE 4

SEE WLCA / PAGE 4

Courtesy of theThe Plant City Photo

Archives and History Center

OUR TOWN / PAGE 4

Queena Vuong, known forsurviving a brutal attack at theBloomingdale Library, wasfilled with nerves as she waitedin line to meet one of her idols.

Her sister, Anna, said Quee-na didn’t know what to expectfrom the star. But really,she had no reason toworry. After all, it wasjust one princess meet-ing another.

“The first thing Cin-derella said when weintroduced them, shetouched her wheelchairand said, ‘I love yourcarriage,’ “ Anna said.“Queena just lit up like:This is awesome. Shewas just so excited.”

Nearly seven years afterQueena was assaulted and leftto die April 24, 2008 — two daysafter her 18th birthday — shecontinues to serve as a beaconof courage for the communityand a symbol of hope as shemoves toward recovery.

Her family will celebrate herbirthday with a pair of fund-raisers Saturday, April 18, in-cluding one at Keel and CurleyWinery in Plant City.

Queena can now kick a soc-cer ball on command with ei-ther foot.

She watches movies, listensto audio books one or twohours a night and loves OneDirection and Bruno Mars.When she heard Luke Bryan,

another favorite, singing dur-ing a recent visit to SeaWorld,she stuck her arms straight outand her feet snapped out of thestraps on her wheelchair.

Country girl shake it for me.She’s still not talking — yet —

but her therapists anddoctors are impressedwith her recent prog-ress.

“I would say the firstfive years were veryslow but steady,” Annasaid last week. “Butwithin the last year,year and a half, herprogress has taken off.”

Talking and eating“are major milestones,

and I think we’ll get there even-tually, but the small steps arereally huge, too.”

Just as the therapists marvelover her progress, we shouldmarvel over the family’s brav-ery.

The trip to Disney in Feb-ruary, a gift from the Valrico-based nonprofit Operation Lo-tus, represented a rare familyvacation. And an extra specialone for Anna.

Operation Lotus founderMelanie Brockmeier livedacross the street from theBloomingdale Library whenQueena was attacked. Thenonprofit, which often aims tohelp people who experiencedloss, jumped at the chance tohelp Queena with a special trip.

They talked about a thera-peutic swim with dolphins, buteverybody involved decided itbest to give Queena somethingfun: three days, two nights atDisney with Brockmeier han-dling all the arrangements,including reservations, acces-sible room, hospital bed and aDisney VIP photo pass.

Brockmeier and Lotus boardmember Melanie Morrison,executive director of the South-Shore Chamber of Commerce,presented the gift to the familyjust before Christmas.

“Meeting them changed mylife,” Brockmeier said. “Thesmile and excitement on Quee-

na’s face as I told her what shewas getting was pure joy.

“Meeting her mother andsister was profound. Theywere the true definitions ofhero, selfless heroes devotedto Queena. It was simply amaz-ing.”

At Disney, Queena spentthe day at the Magic Kingdommeeting her favorite charac-ters, including Cinderella, Ra-punzel, and Mickey and Min-nie Mouse.

But Anna also got a specialmoment. With fireworks re-flecting off the Seven Seas La-goon and the family lookingon from the Polynesian, Anna’s

boyfriend, Jonathan Donato,proposed.

She said yes, affirming thather own emotional health can’tbe neglected. But Anna saysher mother finds it more diffi-cult to focus on herself.

“She always says you’re notin my shoes so you don’t com-pletely understand,” Anna ex-plained. “She hasn’t been on avacation by herself. She hasn’tgone on a date. She doesn’t havetime and she doesn’t quite havethe motivation yet. She’s just sohopeful, and she’s devoted ev-erything she can to Queena.”

The trip presented just onemore magnanimous gesturefrom the community that em-braced Queena even before hername was known.

“When the story first cameout everyone was saying it’sjust like it happened to myown family, like Queena is myown daughter, my own sister,”Anna explained. “That’s howit’s been for the last seven years.She’s implanted herself in theirhearts.”

But as much as she has re-ceived, she has given back.People who follow her Face-book page and website write tothe family that her example hasinspired them to bravely facetheir own demons, be it sexualassault, cancer or some otherchallenge.

“She’s a little ambassador,”Anna says. “Sometimes we

wonder, ‘Why did this happen?’It doesn’t make any sense.

“But we try to forget aboutthe ‘why’ and look at the goodwe are doing and the progresswe’ve made. It’s been a tough,emotional journey but it’s beenamazing at the same time.”

Some days are tougher thanothers. They endured the trialof her assailant, Kendrick Mor-ris, and saw him sent to prison.Since then, meeting the fi-nancial demands of Queena’shealth care has been omnipres-ent.

Still, they remain hopeful.“I wouldn’t be surprised if in

the next couple of years, some-thing big happens,” Anna said.“All it takes is one small con-nection in the brain.”

Thankfully, Queena has al-ready made one big connec-tion with the community.

That’s all I’m saying.

MY VIEW

Queena still serving as a beacon of courage

EARNESTHOOPER

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!The community is

invited to Queena’s birth-day party fundraiserSaturday, April 18, at Keel& Curley Winery, 5210 W.Thonotosassa Road, to helpcelebrate her 25th birthdayand the seventh anniversa-ry of her survival. The eventincludes live music, food,live and silent auctions,raffles and T-shirt sales. Anoptional winery tour andtasting will be offered at3 p.m. for $10 with 100percent of those proceedsbenefitting Queena.

Courtesy photoOne of Queena’s idols is Cinderella.

Plant City Fire Rescuehas received a grant for$20,462.52, which will beused on technological up-grades that will enhance datacollection capabilities.

The grant came from fed-eral funding appropriated bythe Florida Department ofHealth and the Florida De-partment of Transportation.Plant City Fire Rescue will usethe funds to purchase six newPanasonic laptop computers,one for each of the fire de-partment’s response units.

“These computers will al-low PCFR personnel to com-plete both fire and medicalresponse reports in a moretimely fashion, collect patient

signatures to improve billingprocesses and install updatedversions of the software beingutilized, without fear of over-whelming the capabilities ofthe hardware,” City ManagerMike Herr wrote in his reportMonday, April 13.

PCFR was awarded a simi-lar grant in 2008. The de-partment’s oldest computerswere purchased that year,and the newest computerswere purchased in 2011.

“As you can imagine, thehardware is well worn andfairly outdated at this point,”Jim Wilson, EMS chief, said.“Our current hardware reallyhas a difficult time keepingup with the demands we con-

stantly place on (it).”The new laptops will have

much more memory andfaster processors than PCFR’scurrent computers.

Wilson expects the newlaptops to arrive at the de-partment and be ready to usein about a month. PCFR willbe working with the city’s ITdepartment to purchase thecomputers and install soft-ware.

“Because the new comput-ers will have so much morecapability, we will be expand-ing their use for pre-fire plan-ning, mapping and otheroperational uses that we sim-ply cannot do with the oldertechnology,” Wilson said.

The Tampa Bay BlueberryFestival may not be the onlyblueberry festival in Florida,but it’s one that hasn’t lost sightof its roots.

Held at Keel and CurleyWinery for eight years, thisBlueberry Festival is all aboutrecognizing the hard workblueberry farmers put in, yearin and year out, to producefresh products. Its centerpiecehas always been the blueberryU-pick on the winery grounds,held all day during the threedays of the festival.

This year, things are lookingvery good for the U-pick.

“Looks like we’re going tobe peaking five to seven daysbefore the festival,” Ryan Keel,vice president of the winery,said. “We’re just going to letthem ripen all the way through,so that we should have a goodcrop to support the three-dayfestival.”

Every day of the festival,from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., guestscan go out in the blueberryfields and pick to their hearts’content. Golf cart transporta-tion will be available.

For those who aren’t interest-ed in the U-pick, there’s plentymore to do. Over 100 vendorswill feature their goods on thewinery grounds, and there willbe plenty of food. The winery’stasting room will be open, andguests will be able to try someof the latest and greatest TwoHenrys Brewing Companyconcoctions both indoors andoutdoors.

For the young ones, the Kids

Zone and bounce house willbe a popular area to play in.There also will be plenty oflive music on each day of thefestival, featuring bands suchas Faces South, Just Friends,Skip Frye, Mark Barrios andLuBeck.

As always, guests will be ableto see the official BlueberryQueen and Court presentationon-site.

The Blueberry Festival staffwants to show everyone a goodtime, no matter their ages orinterests.

“I think, more than anything,we just try to encourage every-body to still bring their kidsout and let them run aroundthe blueberry farm,” Keel says.“That’s what it’s all about.”

Contact Justin Kline atjkline@plantcityobserver.com.

Craft beer enthusiasts andwine snobs alike will haveplenty of offerings to tasteat the Tampa Bay BlueberryFestival. The Plant City Times& Observer linked up withKeel and Curley and TwoHenrys Brewing Companyto find the beers and winesthat readers should definitelyhave on their “to-drink” lists.

WINES

SangriaA traditional red sangria

made of a blend of cabernetand merlot grapes, as wellas several other fruits. Thearoma is strong, but the tasteis light and sweet.

StrawberryThis white wine is

Keel and Curley’ssecond-best seller.The blend is 80%Riesling grape withsome Plant Citystrawberries added in.The grape aroma isstrong, but the straw-berry comes throughin the taste.

PeachA white wine, containing

80% chardonnay grapesand peaches grown on theKeel and Curley farms. Thepeaches are especially pres-ent in the aroma, and thewine itself is sweet.

Wild BerryKeel and Curley’s top-

selling wine is a Pinot noirwith blueberries, blackber-ries, raspberries and straw-berries all blended together.No one berry dominates thearoma, and this semi-sweet wine goes downsmoothly.

Sweet BlueberryThe only wine

made with 100%blueberries, allgrown on the Keeland Curley farms.This smooth redwine is, somehow,even sweeter thanthe name suggests.

BEERS

Fletcher’sDrool(Americanwheat ale,5.7%)Named after the Keel fami-

ly’s original Mastiff, this ale ismuch better than actual dogdrool. Treated with mandarinoranges and tangerines, thisale has a pleasant aroma andis light enough to be a greatsummer beer.

Strawberry Ginger(Saison, 5.1%)Saisons are growing in

popularity in the craft beercommunity, and Two Henrys’offering has enough straw-berry in it to appease PlantCity. The berry takes over thearoma, first taste and after-taste, while the ginger showsup somewhere in the middle.Good for anyone that enjoysfruity beers.

Belleview BiltmoreBlueberry Vanilla Wheat(American wheat ale, 5.3%)One of Two Henrys’ flag-

ship brews, this ale is a must-try for the Blueberry Festival.The vanilla and blueberriesbalance well in the mix andare present throughout thetaste. A summer beer thattastes like a fall beer.

Roasted JalapenoBlueberry Porter(Brown porter, 5.5%)This porter debuted at

Biertoberfest 2014 and isworth a try for anyone feelingadventurous. The jalapeñoaroma and flavor are verymuch present throughout thebrew, but there’s just enoughblueberry in the mix to cancelout some of the heat. Greatfor those winter months whenFlorida gets cold.

Runaway Locomotive(Black IPA, 7.3%)It’s an IPA without some of

the bite of traditional brews,adding in darker malts forboth color and taste. A hoppy,sweet-smelling beer that goesdown smooth and could con-vert some drinkers that don’tnormally enjoy IPAs.

A new work of art at Tom-lin Middle School inspiresstudents to be the best Tigersthey can be. The new muralin the cafeteria is thanks to agroup of alumni from PlantCity High School who want-ed to give back to the cam-pus they used to call home.

In 2013, Lynda Rogers Full-er, a 1960 graduate of PlantCity High School, organizeda reunion for alumni whograduated between 1956 and1972. The event was highly at-tended, and there was moneyleftover, even after all of theexpenses had been paid. Full-er got the idea to donate theextra sum to Tomlin MiddleSchool, which was previouslyPlant City High School, thecampus where most of thesealumni had attended.

The Planters donated$1,000 to Tomlin and letPrincipal Susan Sullivan de-

cide how to use the funds.Sullivan approached Ric

Edgemon, who teaches art atTomlin, and asked him to usethe donation to paint a largemural of a tiger in Tomlin’scafeteria. There was an ex-isting mural in the cafeteria,completed in 2004, but Sul-livan wanted to continue im-proving the room’s aesthetic.

Edgemon, who is currentlyin his fifth year of teachingat Tomlin, spent two weeksduring the summer of 2014painting the new mural. Heused digital software to cre-ate a montage of the tiger,text and foliage, and thenprojected his image onto thewall and sketched it out.

The mural is high up on thewall, but Edgemon’s mobilescaffold came to the rescue.

“It works just right. I’m ableto get high enough to get thetop without having to stretch

too far,” Edgemon said.Edgemon had previously

painted six larger murals anda few smaller ones in Tom-lin’s media center, featuringscenes that correspond withfantasy, natural science andother genres of the library’scollection. Painting on wallspresents its own challenges,compared with Edgemon’s

usual artistic media.“It’s much more difficult to

work on a surface that is notsmooth,” he said.

The Plant City Planters willbe hosting an open house foranyone in the communitywho wishes to see the mural,whether or not he or she hasa connection to the alumnigroup.

Pat Ballard is organizingthe open house. Though shewas a Turkey Creek Gobbler,her husband was a Planter,and she is known for herevent planning skills, par-ticularly when it comes toreunions and similar gather-ings.

“People can come and goas they want to,” Ballard said.“We’d love to have a lot ofpeople show up to see it.”

Contact Catherine Sinclairat csinclair@plantcityobserv-er.com.

Blueberry Festgears up for itseighth year

QUICK PICKS

The Tampa Bay Blueberry Festivalbegins Friday, April 24, and runsthrough Sunday, April 26.

feeling blue-berry by Justin Kline |StaffWriter

Fire department receives tech grantThe updated computer equipment will allow Plant City FireRescue to complete reports more efficiently and consistently.

Plant City High School Plantershost open house for new mural

Catherine SinclairArt teacher Ric Edgemon spent last summer painting a new mural in the cafeteria at Tomlin Middle School.

Alumni of Plant City High made a donation to Tomlin Middle School, where PCHS was oncelocated, for a mural in the cafeteria. The community is invited to view the artwork April 24.

IF YOU GOMURAL OPEN HOUSEWhen: 6 to 7:30 p.m.Friday, April 24Where: Tomlin MiddleSchool cafeteria, 501 N.Woodrow Wilson St.Details: Everyone is invit-ed, whether or not theyare Plant City Planters.There will be lightrefreshments.

BLACKANDORANGE by Catherine Sinclair |StaffWriter

IN OTHER NEWS• A contract has been

approved for the first phaseof the South Frontage Roadutilities extension project,which will run from WilderRoad to Son Keen Roadin order to provide potablewater and fire service tothe new Lakehouse LuxuryApartments. This phase willcost $894,255.• City manager Mike

Herr has been in contactwith the MetropolitanPlanning Organization inregards to transportationissues in Plant City. Herr’sfirst priority in this realmis streetscaping and lanereconfiguration on SouthCollins Street, followedby expanding a section ofWest Sam Allen Road tofour lanes.• Commissioners

approved a resolution togrant two easement deedsto Tampa Electric so thatpower can be providedto Ellis-Methvin Park forfield and trail lighting, anirrigation system, and therestrooms.

Commissioner Mike Sparkmanpresented the Future of theRegion Award, awarded by theTampa Bay Regional PlanningCouncil, to board membersof the Robert W. WillafordRailroad Museum for secondplace in the culture and recre-ation category.

Catherine Sinclair

governance by Catherine Sinclair |StaffWriter

IF YOU GO2015 TAMPA BAYBLUEBERRY FESTIVALWhen: Friday, April 24(10 a.m. to 8 p.m.),Saturday, April 25 (8 a.m.to 6 p.m.), Sunday, April26 (10 a.m. to 6 p.m.).U-Pick will be held everyday from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.Where: Keel and CurleyWinery, 5202 W.Thonotosassa Rd.Cost: Admission is free;parking is $5 per vehicle.For more information,visit TampaBayBlueberryFestival.com.

earth-conscious.“She’ll have some questions

... for instance, where you areright now in being more green— maybe recycling, things ofthat nature — and then she’sgoing to put out some chal-lenges,” Elizabeth said.

The next workshop, SimpleSolar, will be a basic introduc-tion to household solar power.Attendees will learn about ov-ens, lamps, battery chargersand other items that run onfree energy from the sun. Theseitems will not be for sale atEarth Day Fest, but there willbe plenty of information avail-able about how to find and pur-chase them.

Community gardener andmaster beekeeper Nancy Hamwill lead a workshop called BEEHappy. She will discuss ways tohelp backyard bees with foodand appropriate plants.

The last workshop will bean introduction to Time Bank-ing, led by Marie Nelson of the

Tampa Time Bank.In the concept of time bank-

ing, people subscribe to thetime bank and offer their skillsto other subscribers. Whenevera subscriber serves another, heor she earns an equal amountof time in the bank, to be re-deemed by a subscriber withanother skill.

“It’s a time exchange and it’sall done evenly,” Elizabeth said.“Whether you’re a plumber ora yard worker, your time is allequal. Being earth-friendly alsomeans helping each other out,as well.”

In addition to the workshops,there will be a marketplace ofmore than 27 vendors, offer-ing everything from decorativegourds, to homemade fudge, tofarm-fresh produce.

Representatives from South-west Florida Water Manage-ment District will be present atEarth Day Fest. At their booth,visitors can pick up free yardwork tools, efficient showerheads and other items for waterconservation.The adjacent areawill have activities for children,such as coloring books and ameet-and-greet with SWFW-MD’s mascot, Officer Snook.

Earth Day Fest is a fundraiserfor the Plant City CommonsCommunity Garden. One ofthe garden’s goals is to installsome rainwater harvestingequipment.

“We want to do several waysof harvesting water ... so peoplecan come by and say, ‘Well, Icould do this at my house witha rain barrel,’” Elizabeth said.“It’s pretty simple to do, and it’sjust nice to be able to walk upand see something like that.”

The garden also hopes toeventually add a butterfly gar-den and a youth entrepreneur-ship program, through which

young people can grow pro-duce and sell it at local mar-kets. There would be an oppor-tunity for scouts to earn badgesthrough this program.

But it is equally important tothe gardeners that Earth DayFest is a fun way to teach mem-bers of the community aboutenvironmental issues and waysto live a more sustainable life-style.

“We can move away fromsome of the big agricultural is-sues like pesticides and landuse ... and people have that op-portunity to understand thatit’s easy to do, especially whenyou have folks like us to showyou how to do it,” Elizabethsaid.

Contact Catherine Sinclairat csinclair@plantcityobserver.com.

Spanish was Trejo’s first lan-guage. She struggled in schoolfrom an early age becauseshe had not be prepared for afast-pace classroom environ-ment in a language she had notlearned at home.

Trejo’s siblings were high-achievers, but Trejo seemed tobe left behind. Her parents’ ex-pectations for her fell. After shegot her first referral in fourthgrade, she stopped putting inthe effort to succeed.

“As a result, I was left withno confidence when it cameto learning, and this developedinto a strong urge to rebel,”Trejo wrote in her essay. “Thiscontinued all the way through-out most of middle school, andthen one teacher motivated meenough to change all of this.”

On Trejo’s first day of eighthgrade, Rice told a personalstory about a difficult fam-ily background that resonatedwith Trejo.

“I didn’t even learn how toread until I was 21, when I

started junior college, so I canrelate a lot to the kids cominginto the classroom,” Rice said.

Throughout the year, Ricetutored Trejo before and afterschool. But Rice’s guidanceextended far past Trejo’s text-books.

“I was able to come to hernot only when things got hardschool-wise, but also with per-sonal issues,” Trejo wrote. “Myclassmates and I even beganto call her Mama Rice, becauseshe had become a mother fig-ure to us.”

By the end of the school year,Trejo had advanced from a lev-el-one FCAT reading score tolevel four. And this year, Trejofelt confident enough in herabilities to enter a national es-say contest.

The top five contest entrantsin the Tampa Bay area readtheir essays at Barnes and No-ble in Brandon Saturday, April11. It was the first time Rice hadheard Trejo’s entire piece.

“Teaching lower-level aca-demic kids, to see them havean academic award is amaz-

ing,” Rice said. “It shows youthat what you do really mat-ters.”

Trejo is now finishing herfreshman year at Plant CityHigh School, and she will bestarting dual enrollment atHillsborough Community Col-lege in the fall. She hopes starta career in criminology.

“I hope to one day comeback to (Rice’s) classroom andtell her I’ve accomplished allmy goals,” Trejo said. “Thanksto her, I’m not afraid to try.”

Contact Catherine Sinclairat csinclair@plantcityobserver.com.

The Lakes golf course, becausethere is no written guaranteethat the profits would be rein-vested into Walden Lake.

“I like to trust people, buton the other hand, if I’m go-ing to trust somebody, I wantto have a firm guarantee thatI’m going to get from themwhat they said they were goingto give me,” Sollenberger said.“I know a lot of people believethe pitch that has been made.Maybe it’s true, and maybe it’snot — I don’t know. But there’sa big trust factor, and I just

can’t go on trust.”While he was interim city

manager, Sollenberger urgedthe city to publicly post alldocumentation related to thegolf course, so that any rumorsor false information wouldsubside. These documents cannow be viewed at PlantCity-Gov.com/index.aspx?nid=956.

Orrico is a retired U.S. ArmyColonel who specialized in or-ganizational transformation,strategic planning, medicaloperations and staff develop-ment throughout his 30-yearmilitary career. He has livedin Walden Lake for more than

10 years, and he earned morevotes in the election than anyother candidate.

“If you want to make change,oftentimes the best way tomake change is from within anorganization,” Orrico said. “Iappreciate the fact that manyof the members of the associa-tion felt that I had the quali-fications and the leadershipqualities that were necessaryto move the community for-ward, and I hope to be able todo that with pride and distinc-tion, honesty and integrity.”

Orrico also is against the golfcourse rezoning.

“I think it will destroy theway of life that we’ve all be-come accustomed to here inWalden Lake,” Orrico said. “Itwill increase the traffic, it willcause pressure here on ourschools, it will add additionalwear and tear to our road sys-tem that is already deteriorat-ing ... and it will destroy ourecosystem.”

The newly elected directors’first board meeting will be at 7p.m. Monday, April 20, in theclubhouse meeting room.

Contact Catherine Sinclairat csinclair@plantcityobserver.com.

ESSAY / PAGE 1

WLCA / PAGE 1

EARTH DAY / PAGE 1

IF YOU GOEARTH DAY FESTWhen: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.Saturday, April 25Where: Plant CityCommons CommunityGarden, 309 N. Carey St.,Plant CityAdmission: FreeWorkshops: Your GreenComfort Zone (11:30),Simple Solar (12:30), BEEHappy (1:30) and TimeBanking (2:30)Sponsorships: ContactKaren Elizabeth at 12cir-cle8@gmail.com or (813)435-8111.

PRIZESLisveth Trejo and

Theresa Rice receivedBarnes and Noble giftcards and certificates. Thefive regional essay winnerswill each receive $500 giftcards. The national win-ner’s teacher will receive$5,000, as well as $5,000for his or her school.

Catherine Sinclair

The Plant City Commons Community Garden is located justacross the street from St. Peter’s Episcopal Church.

+ Students advancein speech contestEight local students competed

in the Optimist Club’s OptimistOratorical Contest in March, andtwo advanced to a higher level.The students first competed

March 16 at the Plant CityRecreation & Parks Departmentadministrative office. Each stu-dent presented a five-minutespeech in front of an audience ofmore than 50 people, includingfriends, family and club mem-bers. The theme was “How MyOptimism Will Help Me Press OnTo ‘Greater Achievements of theFuture.’”Members of Plant City

Toastmasters Club judged thespeeches in poise, content, deliv-ery and effectiveness.The students were:

GIRLSEmma Poole (first), TomlinAstrid Manzano (second), PCHSKynewyn Saunders (third), DHSEsmeralda Barrera Nandi (honor-able mention), SCHSKatherine Ruppert (honorable

mention), TomlinAvery Surrency (honorable men-tion), Tomlin

BOYSGresham Stephens (first), PCHSArie Fry (second), PCHS

Poole and Stephens advancedto the zone level of competitionMarch 31 in Mulberry. Theycompeted against top finishersfrom Lakeland and Winter Haven.Both won their categories.They will now advance to the

Southwest Regional Contest atthe John Germain Tampa PublicLibrary Auditorium at 2 p.m.May 2 where they will competeagainst the winners from otherTampa Bay area Zone competi-tions. As part of the North FloridaDistrict 3rd Quarter Conference,Regional Contest winnersadvance to the North FloridaDistrict Finals May 16 in CapeCanaveral where a $2,500 col-lege scholarship will be awardedto the top male and top femaleparticipant.

but not on a local level.“Our biggest hurdle was

the Northeast receiving suchheavy snow and ice, that itaffected our ability to deliverstrawberries,” Parker said.“They weren’t really con-cerned about getting straw-berries as much as they wereconcerned about shovelingout the ice and snow.”

Plant City growers whocapitalized on their berriesearly in the season, before theheavy winter weather, tendedto have more success thisyear than those whose plantsdidn’t produce until later.

Locally, it was a mild sea-son. Grooms said he had to“crank up the irrigation” justonce to protect the crops.

In recent years, some grow-ers have not been able tobring in as much money asthey have needed. As a result,the acreage of berries aroundPlant City declined this yearby 1,000 acres. It was the firsttime in the last 50 years that

this happened.“It looks as though there’ll

be another decline this com-ing season, maybe not as ex-tensive of that,” Grooms said.

He said the rate of acreagedecline largely depends onthe availability of steady andreliable laborers.

The variety that seemed todominate the Florida marketthis season was Radiance.It is a large, sweet berry thatfruits early and is easy to pickoff of the bush. A downside,however, is that it is highly

susceptible to the pathogenPhytophthora, which stuntsgrowth and causes bitter fruit.

But a new variety was intro-duced this year that Groomsand Parker expect to becomedominant next year and pos-sibly beyond: 127, also knownas “Sweet Sensation.” It wasdeveloped and patented bythe University of Florida.

“Our consumers want avariety that tastes good witha little bit better shelf life,and certainly 127 fills both ofthose needs very well,” Parkersaid.

At the end of the strawberryseason, berry plants are killedwith an herbicide so they areeasier to remove from fields.Many of Plant City’s growershave killed this year’s plants.Some growers grow veg-etables through the summer,but others don’t return to thefields until next strawberryseason.

“I think the ... desire forpeople to eat strawberries hasnever been higher,” Parkersaid.

BERRIES / PAGE 1WATCH OUTFOR 127The 127 or “Sweet

Sensation” berry isthe first variety everto be patented andtrademarked. Industryexperts expect it to begindominating the marketin coming years becauseits fruit is big and extrasweet, and has a com-paratively long shelf life.

OUR TOWNCONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

One of the lastthings you want tohear about is someonegetting diagnosed withcancer. It’s one heck ofa battle to fight.

I was told last weekthat Plant City Highsenior Russell Kempwas recently diag-nosed with it, and thathis football coachesand teammates were organiz-

ing a fundraiser for himthat Thursday. I’m toldit went very well — oneof the busiest nights thatthat Beef ‘O’ Brady’s hasever had. Hearing aboutthat success made mefeel good about livingand working in thiscommunity.

That was the easypart. The hardest part

of the road lies just ahead. But

cancer is something that canbe beaten. Russell, I’m sureyou know that, and are alreadyplanning for it.

Put up a fight like localsoftball player Taylor Goethals,who’s battled cancer twice andhas always kept her head up. Imet her at last year’s car washfundraiser, as she was just be-ginning her second go-roundwith cancer. I was shockedat how upbeat she was. The

nature of the event probablyhelped her out there, but Inever picked up any vibes ofweakness from talking to her— just confidence.

That’s impressive for anyonedealing with cancer, and evenmore so for someone who hadrecently found out that it cameroaring back into her body.With that in mind, it’s no won-der that so many people in theWinter Strawberry Capital of

the World have been eager tosupport her in her latest fight.

One of my best friends fromFlorida Gulf Coast University,Dan, was diagnosed with braincancer last year, right after hegraduated and got a job on theEast Coast. He’s probably themost stubborn person I know,for better or worse, and hemade it clear right off the bat

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

SportsDo you have a good sports

scoop for us? Email JustinKline at jkline@plantcityob-server.com, or Tweet us at @PCTOSports.

FOOTBALL

+ Bennett to behonored at galaThe Jeans and Jacket

Gala has announced thatlongtime Plant City Dolphinspresident Buddy Bennetthas posthumously won itsMike Storter Award.“The youth Buddy influ-

enced and touched duringhis lifetime is too many tocount and his legacy con-tinues,” the gala posted toFacebook April 8. “What (a)privilege it is for many tohave known and been a partof this man’s life.”The Jeans and Jacket

Gala will be held beginningat 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, May5, at Kathleen’s Garden,5701 Pless Road. All pro-ceeds from the event willbenefit the Youth Alliance.For tickets and more

information, call (813)719-0245 or email peggy@theyouthalliance.com.Thompson named Gibbs

High head coachPlant City High assistant

coach John Thompson willlead the St. Petersburg-Gibbs High football programnext season, the schoolconfirms.After two years on

the Plant City sideline,Thompson will become theGladiators’ fifth head coachin eight seasons. He is alsoin the process of becominga full-time teacher at theschool.

+ SCHS Chargersholding fundraiserThe Strawberry Crest

High football team is get-ting started on one of itsearly offseason goals: raisingsome money any way it can.The program is asking

friends and families for sup-port.“Running a top-notch pro-

gram takes a lot of time andenergy from coaches, playersand families, but none ofit is possible without com-munity support,” John Kelly,head coach, said in an emailrelease. “Your donationensures that our athletes willcontinue to have the besttools and equipment avail-able to help them perform atthe highest level.”The team hopes to raise

$6,000 by Friday, May 8,through its Hudl page, ow.ly/Lzxst.

TRACK & FIELD

+ PCHS sends12 to regionalsA strong performance at

the district championshipshelped the Plant City Hightrack and field team send12 to next week’s regionalsmeet.Both teams recorded top-

three finishes in the districttournament, with the LadyRaiders placing second andthe boys taking third.Individual Results:Tychina Bush — first

place, discus and shot putKenkari Greene — second

place, discusJackson Hardee — sec-

ond place, pole vault (tied)Wesley Weaver — third

place, triple jumpHannah Stowe — fourth

place, 800 openRegionals will be held

at Wharton High School,20150 Bruce B. DownsBlvd., Tampa, Wednesday,April 22. The start time hasyet to be determined.

SIDELINES

ATHLETEOFTHEWEEK

Jarrett Joyner is a juniorpitchingmachine for

PlantCityHigh.7SPONSORED BY COURTNEY PAAT | STATE FARM

motocross by Justin Kline |StaffWriter

Just entering the Stromsnesfamily home it’s hard to miss allthe reminders of Lane Strom-snes’ presence. Visible past thedining room table loaded withevent flyers and tickets, pastthe trophy rack underneaththe stairs, is the homemadedirt course he used to ridewith his son, Ryne, and friends.His bike’s old number, 23, hasmoved from the Yamaha ontoRyne’s Suzuki, tucked away in

the garage until it’s time to rideagain.

Stromsnes died in Decemberof a heart attack.

Anyone who knew LaneStromsnes knew how much heloved motocross, so what bet-ter way to remember the manthan taking the ride of a life-time?

To help his family cover hiskids’ school costs, friends ofthe Stromsnes family created

the Lane Stromsnes Ride ofa Lifetime to remember theirfriend. Sabrina Stromsnes al-ways knew that people likedher late husband, but didn’texpect anything of this magni-tude to happen.

“I very much appreciate it,”she says.

THE LONG ROADLane and Sabrina met at age

19 and 17, respectively, while

working at a Thriftway grocerystore in Brandon. He was a bagboy, she was a cashier. It wasn’tlong before they began their28-year marriage, and Sabrinaentered nursing school whileLane took up welding, a careerthat didn’t last too long. Heeventually chose to go throughnursing school, too.

The Stromsneses moved to

TOURNEYTIME by Justin Kline |StaffWriter

SEE KLINE / PAGE 7

PLANTCITYOBSERVER.COM FRIDAY, APRIL 17, 2015

Baseball and softball — Flor-ida’s king and queen of springsports — are going into playoffmode. As it’s time for the dis-trict tournaments, this is thechance for fans of all three areateams to catch their favoritehigh schoolers in postseasonaction.

So, what is there to knowabout these boys and girls?

SOFTBALLThe softball tournament has

already begun at Durant High,

and local fans likely won’t wantto miss the championshipgame at 7 p.m. Friday, April 17.

The top two seeds in the dis-trict, Plant City and StrawberryCrest, have enjoyed success-ful seasons while dealing withnew challenges.

The Lady Raiders (14-11; 8-2district), under first-time headcoach Ashley Bullion, haven’tshown a great deal of regres-sion from last year’s districtrunner-up squad. They weren’table to match the 17-6 regular-

season record from 2014, butonly lost one more districtgame than that team. And itsnot-so-secret weapon, sopho-more Edmilly Molina, has hada monster season at the plate:a .493 batting average with 30RBI, 26 runs, six triples, fourdoubles and two homers, pluseight stolen bases. She leadsthe team in each of these cat-egories.

The Lady Chargers (15-7; 8-2district) got off to an unusuallyshaky start, losing six of their

first seven games. Since then,they’ve won 13 out of 14 con-tests. Strawberry Crest doesn’thave another Mia Fung orCacey Simmons-level star onthe roster, so it’s safe to say thisresurgence has been a totalteam effort. Eight of the 11 bat-ters with at least 20 at-bats are

hitting over .300, and the onlyones with double-digit RBItotals are juniors Kaylan Kelly(13) and Rebecca Roberts (11).Junior Scottie Todd leads allarea pitchers with a 1.66 ERAand 90 strikeouts.

Baseball, softball districttournaments underwayIt’s time for playoff baseball and softball. What should PlantCity-area fans know about their teams for the district tournaments?

PCHS players look on during a preseason tourney. File photo

WHAT’S ON KLINE’S MIND?

SEE DISTRICTS / PAGE 7

Justin Kline.Sabrina and Ryne Stromsnes kept Lane’s old motocross number for Ryne’s bike.

JUSTINKLINE

Keep chopping, Russell Kemp

SEE RIDE / PAGE 7

Rideof aLifetimeLane Stromsnes loved few things more than hitting the dirt track on hisYamaha dirt bike. So, to honor his memory, his family is hosting one more ride.

Lane Stromsnes was an avidmotocross rider and a nurse.

General Manager/Executive Editor / Michael Eng, meng@PlantCityObserver.comGeneral Manager/Advertising / Stacey Hudson, shudson@tampabay.comManaging Editor / Amber Jurgensen, ajurgensen@PlantCityObserver.comAssistant Managing Editor / Jess Eng, jeng@PlantCityObserver.comStaff Writers / Justin Kline, jkline@PlantCityObserver.com; Catherine Sinclair,csinclair@PlantCityObserver.comAdvertising Executive / Veronica Prostko, vprostko@PlantCityObserver.com;Circulation/Office Manager / Linda Lancaster, llancaster@PlantCityObserver.com

110 E. Reynolds St., Suite 100-APlant City, FL 33563(813) 704-6850www.PlantCityObserver.com

Plant CityTimes & ObserverLocally Owned by Ed Verner,Nate Kilton and Felix HaynesThe Plant City Times & Observer is published byPlant City Media LLC, a joint-venture of the TampaBay Times and Plant City Observer LLC.

Plant City Times&

ObserverTO ADVERTISECall Veronica Prostko,(813) 716-0007, orJoanna Verga, (813) 451-6489.

SEND USYOUR NEWSWe want to hear from you. Letus know about your events,celebrations and achievements.

To contact us, send your information via:Email: Amber Jurgensen, ajurgensen@PlantCityObserver.com.

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

CONTACT USThe Plant City Times &Observer is publishedonce weekly, on Fridays.

It provides free home delivery toseveral neighborhoods in Plant City.The Plant City Times & Observer alsocan be found in many commerciallocations throughout Plant City and atour office, 110 E. Reynolds St., Suite100-A.

If you wish to discontinue homedelivery or if you wish to suspendhome delivery temporarily, call LindaLancaster at 704-6850.

“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

THISWEEK’S CROSSWORDANSWERS

THISWEEK’S CRYPTOQUIZ ANSWERS1) Stock Ticker 2) Light Bulb 3) Phonography 4) MotionPicture Camera 5) Menlo Park. Thomas Alva Edison

FYSA State Cup comes to Plant CityThe Florida Youth Soccer

Association State Cup is un-der way, and the tournamentcame to Plant City for some ofits 32 games.

The Otis M. Andrews SportsComplex hosted games Sat-urday, April 11, and Sunday,April 12. Winners from eachage bracket will advance tothis weekend’s round of 16games in Brandon.

fútbol by Justin Kline |StaffWriter

Left: An Orlando City playerlooks for a good matchup dur-ing a throw-in.

The U18 Braden River Rage Elite girls, wearing burgundy, facedOrlando City Sunday.

Florida Rush used some strong defense late in Sunday’s gameto preserve a 3-2 win over Florida Fire.

The Lady Cougars (7-17;5-5 district), last year’s under-dog success story, have had adown year since winning thechampionship. The team did

manage to split its series withPlant City, but couldn’t over-come matchups with Straw-berry Crest or East Bay. Therehave been a few bright spots,most notably with a pair ofjunior sluggers: Madison Far-rell and Selena Bezares. Theyhave been two of the area’sbest players this season. Farrellleads the team with a .500 aver-age, 23 runs and nine doubles,and also has 25 RBI. Bezaresleads the team with 26 RBI,and has a .392 average with 17runs and seven doubles. Bothplayers have hit five home runsand one triple.

BASEBALLBaseball action begins at 4

p.m. Tuesday, April 21, at Bran-don High School. On April 24,one or more of the Plant City-area teams may be competingfor the district crown.

Durant (15-6; 10-0 district)has been its usual, dominantself in 2015. Perhaps the mostfrightening stat about this Cou-gars team is that, even thoughit took several losses in March,it hasn’t allowed a run in a dis-trict game since Feb. 27, a 13-2win at Strawberry Crest. Theyscored 26 runs over those sixgames. The offense may not beas potent as last year’s senior-heavy attack, but solid pitch-ing has kept Durant on top ofthings in most games. Sopho-more Jonah Scolaro (1.40 ERA,63 K, 8 ER) and senior BryceGainer (1.79 ERA, 51 K, 10 ER)anchor a deep rotation withtwo sub-1.00 ERA relievers inDrew Bradley (0.58) and ZachBarfield (0.91).

Strawberry Crest (15-8; 6-4district) has the second-high-

est winning percentage of alldistrict teams, but its 6-4 dis-trict record has the team inthird place in the standings.This team’s production is righton par with last year’s squad,save for two big stats: the num-ber of stolen bases is downfrom 67 to 36, and the teamERA has gotten down from 2.12to 1.79. Much has been writ-ten about staff ace Mark Mo-clair, one of the best pitchersin Hillsborough County, butfreshman Damien Torres hasalso been throwing well. Thereliever has a 1.12 ERA with 19strikeouts, and the Chargershave allowed just seven totalruns whenever he’s been outthere.

Plant City (10-10; 4-6 dis-trict) didn’t look so hot in thebeginning of the season. Butwhatever they’ve been do-ing lately has been working,as the team’s won seven of itslast 10 games and three of thelast four by no less than fourruns. The team couldn’t havepicked a better time to tightenup and play good baseball.Senior Connor Slagill, possi-bly the best batter in the area,leads the team with a .343 av-erage, 20 RBI and five doubles.Sawyer Dawson, who missed alarge part of his junior season,has been able to stay healthyand produce with a .333 aver-age, 17 RBI and three doubles.Staff “co-aces” Ryan Boyd andBilly McKay both have ERAsunder 1.60, and McKay has es-tablished himself as one of thetop relievers in the area withhis 58 strikeouts over a team-leading 13 appearances.

Contact Justin Kline atjkline@PlantCityObserver.com.

THE OTHER GUYSHere’s the scoop on the

other teams in the baseballtournament:

Brandon (14-6; 7-3 dis-trict) would be top dog ifnot for Durant, and boastsa solid group of hitters ledby senior Drayden Williams.But the real star of the showis junior ace Antonio Velez,who has earned every bit ofhis reputation as a strikeoutmachine. He has 95 thisseason and will almost cer-tainly eclipse 100 duringthe tournament. The Eaglesswept Strawberry Crest, butsplit with Plant City andwere swept by Durant.

Tampa Bay Tech (4-15;2-8 district) swept East Bayin district play, but wereswept by every other team.The Titans have no problemhitting for average. They’rebatting .427 as a team, buthave issues leaving runnersstranded on base. None ofthe pitchers have an ERAbelow 2.95 or more than 12strikeouts.

East Bay (3-17; 1-9district) picked up its lonedistrict win of the seasonagainst Plant City, a 7-5 winMarch 19. No individual sta-tistics are available for theIndians.

DISTRICTS / PAGE 5

Plant City in 1991, which iswhen Lane took a sudden in-terest in motocross.

“It was just something he’dnever done as a kid and, as hegot older, he was like, ‘I wantto go back to my childhood’ —that sort of thing,” Sabrina says.

Lane took a brief hiatus whilein nursing school, but got backinto it. He loved to ride 125ccbikes — especially his No. 23Yamaha — and inspired his sonto get into the sport. It had beensix or seven years, by Sabrina’sestimation, since Lane lastcompeted in a race, but he stillkept in touch with the friendsthe family made at Dade CityRaceway’s dirt track and wher-ever else he rode. There wereseveral broken bones and otherminor injuries, but Lane neverroughed himself up beyond re-pair while riding the dirt bike.

He did have high blood pres-sure, and heart disease in hisfamily history. But no one ex-pected Lane to collapse froma heart attack Dec. 7, 2014, andnot come back home.

“When you have a suddendeath like that, you can notprepare for it,” Sabrina says.“Unbelievably emotional.We’re both nurses. We’ve beenin the E.R. forever. We had beendoing home health for six orseven months. As nurses, we’re

bad patients. ‘That’s not me.That doesn’t happen’ — thatsort of thing.”

The turnout for the funeralwas bigger than expected. TheStromsneses had to switch toa bigger church to accommo-date everyone. Sabrina took amonth off of work, and TampaBay Emergency Physicianscovered her mortgage for fourmonths. Seffner ChristianAcademy gave Ryne time off,as did USF for daughter, Em-ily.

Then, because the kids stillhad school costs to cover, thePlant City community steppedup — namely, longtime familyfriend Margaret Boswell, whoorganized the Ride of a Life-time event.

“I haven’t needed or wantedfor, really, anything.,” Sabrinasaid. “And this burden, just toget it off my plate, is a big thing.

As a community, Margaret waslike, ‘We got this for you. We gotthis.’”

HIT THE DIRTThe Lane Stromsnes Ride

of a Lifetime is one-part dirtbike ride, one-part silent auc-tion. Because he loved racing atDade City Raceway, the venuehas agreed to host the event.

Some of the items that will beavailable in the silent auctioninclude artwork, sports memo-rabilia and tickets, motorcycleaccessories, theme park tick-ets and vacation trips. As faras the sports memorabilia isconcerned, fellow motocrossenthusiasts should know thatworld-famous riders Ricky Car-michael and James “Bubba”Stewart have donated some oftheir own items to be sold inthe silent auction. There willalso be a 125cc Peace Moto pitbike available. Chief sponsorsof the event include Keel andCurley Winery and Gilliam’sPower Sports.

The Stromsneses couldn’t bemore grateful to see Boswell,the Plant City community andso many others reach out tolend a hand in their time ofneed.

“Just the camaraderie, thegiving from everyone to help usget through this is wonderful,”Sabrina says. “I couldn’t havedone it without everybody.”

JARRETT JOYNERATHLETE OF THE WEEK SPONSORED BY COURTNEY PAAT | STATE FARM

During a slow start to the 2015 season, Plant City High baseball coach MikeFryrear insisted that things would get better once his guys found their rhythm. Theboys have won seven of their last 10 games, thanks in part to great pitching fromjunior Jarrett Joyner who got the win in Plant City’s March 31 win over Brandon —its first in five years.

You were on the moundfor the win over Brandon. Iknow that the last win, fiveyears ago, was a little beforeyour time, so what was thatwin like for you?

It was a good experience.I just had to go in thereand throw strikes, and dowhat I had to do to getthose outs.

What was working foryou on the mound in thatgame?

My two-seam fastball. Ijust broke it inside and gota lot of ground balls.

You went up against An-tonio Velez, one of the bestpitchers in the county, andcame out on top. How didyou feel about that?

Pretty good, pretty good.

You guys are on a rollright now — totally differ-ent from the beginning ofthe year, when everyonewas slumping. What areyou looking forward to,with the district tourna-ment coming up and youall playing well?

We’ve just got to go inthere, bust our butts andwin.

How long have you beenplaying baseball?

Let’s see, 10 or 11 years.

Where did you get yourstart?

Plant City Little League. Iplayed tee-ball.

Do you play any otherpositions?

I’m just a pitcher. I usedto play first base, back onthe little fields, but now I’mjust a pitcher.

Do you play any othersports?

No, just baseball.

Is there a sport you’ve

never tried before, butalways wanted to?

Golf. I really like golf, butI’m not really that good.

How are you doing inschool?

Pretty good, so far. Mygrades are pretty decent.

What’s your favoritesubject?

History. I like learningabout the Civil War.

What’s the bestbaseball movie of alltime?

“The Sandlot.”

Who’s your MLBteam?

The Chicago Cubs.I just liked thename when Iwas a littlekid, so Istuck withit.

Kindof gutsyto stickwith theCubs, of allteams, for solong.

Oh yeah.But theyshould pickit up thisseason.

Who’s yourfavoriteathlete of alltime?

HankAaron. That’swhere I gotmy numberfrom. Oneof my oldcoaches isactually,somewherein the line,related tohim. Myfavor-

ite pitcher of all time isDavid Price.

Is that who you try toemulate on the mound?

I actually got my leg kickfrom Alex Cobb, sort oflike that, but I have pitchesthat are more like DavidPrice’s.

If you could be either richor famous, what would itbe?

Rich, because Icould become fa-

mous with all of mymoney.

If you could playfor any pro team,

who would it be?Probably the New

York Yankees,just be-

cause I’dproba-bly geta lot ofmoneyfromthat,and

I’d havea lot

of coolstuff.

If youcould meetanyoneyou’ve al-ways lookedup to, whowould it be?

AdamSandler orWill Ferrell.I just wantto cracksome jokes,

just hangout and havea little chillday. It wouldbe fun.

that he wasn’t going to let it gethim down.

We were talking about NBAbasketball one day when,out of the blue, he said, “Bythe way, I found out that Ihave brain cancer.” He was socandid when talking about itthat I didn’t even get fearful forhim right away. It took a fewminutes for me to register howmuch more serious it was thanhe made it sound.

Dan went through severalrounds of chemotherapy inMiami, which were hard on hisentire body. But he was able

to make it out to Fort Myers inJanuary for a mutual friend’swedding.

“My dialysis lady says I’m al-lowed to drink liquor now,” hetriumphantly announced to aroom full of fellow fraternitymen.

He wrapped up initial che-mo a few weeks ago and has toget either radiation treatmentor a stem cell transplant some-time soon.

We all believed Dan wouldcome out on top of this fightbecause he never doubtedhimself — not even once. I gotthe same feeling about Taylor’sself-confidence when I met

her and, as a football player,I’m sure you’ll be similarlyready to meet whatever chal-lenges you’ll have to face.

I believe coach Greg Meyer’sfavorite saying, the one I’ve al-ways heard the Raiders’ defen-sive players say, is somethingalong the lines of, “If that treedoesn’t come down on the firstswing, just keep chopping.”This is a big tree for anyonebut, as long as you’re willingto use that ax, you can bring itdown.

Keep chopping, Russell.We’re all in your corner.

Contact Justin Kline atjkline@plantcityobserver.com.

RIDE / PAGE 5

KLINE / PAGE 5

IF YOU GOWhere: Dade City Raceway,36850 State Road 52,Dade CityWhen: 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.Sunday, April 26Cost: $10.For more information,including sponsorshipdetails, contact MargaretBoswell at (813) 817-4488.

REAL ESTATE | PLANT CITY LIFE | OBITUARIES | GAMES | FAITH

NeighborhoodPLANTCITYOBSERVER.COM FRIDAY, APRIL 17, 2015

Super-Powered RelayStaying up all night with

blistered feet, Plant City relay-ers walked to beat cancer April10 and 11. The annual Relayfor Life event was held at the

Plant City High School sta-dium, bringing out more than70 teams and 800 participants.The superhero-themed fund-raiser had relayers dressed as

their favorite crime fightersand included food, a princessmakeover booth, Mr. RelayPageant, a performance byCliff Brown, of Clemons Road,

games and the Luminaria cer-emony. In the morning, a 5Kwas held to raise more moneyfor the American Cancer Soci-ety.

Ava Raab was this year’s honorary survivor.

The event was for all ages.

The Mr. Relay pageant wasbrought back by populardemand this year. Trinity Lester, Shelby Baerwalde, Joshua Baerwalde, Logan Self and Madison Manley

Walkers had a good time around the track.

The Strawberry Queen and Court led the first lap.

CANCERSUCKS by Amber Jurgensen |ManagingEditor

COMMUNITYCALENDARFRIDAY, APRIL 17Acoustic Happy Hour — musictakes place from 5:30 to8:30 p.m. Friday, April 10, atO’Brien’s Irish Pub and FamilyRestaurant, 1701 S. AlexanderSt. (813) 764-8818.Christian Contemporary Music— takes place from 6:33 to8:13 p.m. Friday, April 17, atKrazy Kup, 101 E. J. ArdenMays Blvd. (813) 752-1220.Fish Fry — takes place from 11a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday, April 17,at the Olin S. Wright MasonicLodge #79, 304 Acacia Driveat Reynolds Street. Enjoy friedfish, fixings, iced tea and des-sert for a $10 donation. Therewill also be a child ID programfor children to receive an IDcard and CD with the child’spicture, fingerprints and othercritical information if the childwere to be reported missing.

This is free. (813) 752-8061.Health and Fitness Challenge— takes place from 9 a.m. to 5p.m. Friday, April 17, at MikeSansone Park, 1702 N. ParkRoad. Teams will compete in atrike race, football challenge,tug-of-war and more.Los Dos Live! — takes placefrom 6 to 10 p.m. Saturday,April 17, at Keel and CurleyWinery, 5210 ThonotosassaRoad. (813) 752-9100.NWFT Heritage Banquet —takes place beginning at 6 p.m.Friday, April 17, at Plant City’sHillsborough Community Collegecampus, 1206 N. Park Road.Contact Nick Ciccarello at (813)967-3858.Ride of a Lifetime Fundraiser— takes place from 9 a.m. to 3p.m. Friday, April 17, at DadeCity Raceway, 36850 StateRoad 52, Dade City. There will

be motorcycle practice, a silentauction and food. Money raisedwill go to the family of LaneStromsnes. He died suddenlyin December. Margaret, (813)817-4488.

SATURDAY, APRIL 18Little Miss Plant City — takesplace beginning at 6 p.m.Saturday, April 18, at Plant CityHigh School, 1 Raider Place.$10.Music Lifts Our Heart — takesplace Saturday, April 18, atEastside Baptist Church, 1318E. Calhoun St. Plant CityCommunity Chorale’s secondconcert of the season exploreshuman emotion through music.Tickets are $10 in advance, $12at the door. (813) 757-0212 orPCCChorale.org.Pregnancy Care Center Walkfor Life — takes place begin-ning at 9 a.m. Saturday, April18, starting at City Hall 302W. Reynolds St. The walk leadsadvocates around downtown toraise awareness for their cause.Skip Frye Blues Live! — takesplace from 6 to 10 p.m.Saturday, April 18, at Keeland Curley Winery, 5210Thonotosassa Road. (813) 752-9100.Young Adult Nite — takesplace from 7:33 to 10:33 p.m.Saturday, April 18, at KrazyKup, 101 E. J. Arden Mays

Blvd. Enjoy live music fromlocal artists. (813) 752-1220.

TUESDAY, APRIL 21The Recovery for Life — takesplace from 6:30 to 8 p.m.Tuesday, April 21, at the LorenaJaeb Rainbow House, 504N. Palm Drive. It is a 12-stepBible-based program to helpfree individuals from all formsof addiction. Debbie Ray, (813)763-1562.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 22Cristi Massey Live! — takes placefrom 6 to 10 p.m. Wednesday,April 22, at Keel and CurleyWinery, 5210 Thonotosassa Road.(813) 752-9100.

New Member Reception —takes place from 3:30 to 5 p.m.Wednesday, April 22, at theGreater Plant City Chamber ofCommerce, 106 N. Evers St.Open Mic Night — takes placebeginning at 8 p.m. Wednesday,April 22, at O’Brien’s Irish Puband Family Restaurant, 1701 S.Alexander St. (813) 764-8818.Plant City Local Harvest FarmersMarket — takes place from 4 to8 p.m. Wednesday, April 22, atMcCall Park, 100 N. Collins St.PCLocalHarvestFarmer sMarket.com.

THURSDAY, APRIL 23Cornhole Tournament —takes place from 6 to 9 p.m.

Thursday, April 23, at Keeland Curley Winery, 5210Thonotosassa Road. (813) 752-9100.

FRIDAY, APRIL 24Blueberry Festival — takesplace from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.Friday, April 24, 8 a.m. to 6p.m. Saturday, April 25, and10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday,April 26, at Keel and CurleyWinery, 5210 ThonotosassaRoad. Enjoy a U-pick, livemusic, more than 100 food andraft vendors and a kids area.Free admission. (813) 752-9100.Fancy Flea — takes place from9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday, April24, and Saturday, April 25, atthe Florida Strawberry FestivalFairgrounds, 289 Ritter St.Admission is $5. Free parking.(863) 712-3278.Your Passport to Fashion inGrand Paree — takes placefrom 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at PlantCity’s First Baptist Church,503 N. Palmer St. Tickets are$20. The fashion show ben-efits the GFWC Woman’s ClubFlorida President’s Project,which is Canine Companionsfor Independence with specialemphasis on the WoundedWarriors Initiative and SouthEastern Guide Dogs. For moreinformation or to purchase tick-ets call Karen at (813) 481-0419.

To publicize your event in our Community Calendar, pleasesend by mail: 110 E. Reynolds St., Suite 100-A, Plant City, FL33563; or by email: ajurgensen@plantcityobserver.com. Photosare welcome. Deadline is noon Thursday.

BEST BETAquafina Pitch, Hit & Run — takesplace at from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.Saturday, April 18, at MikeSansone Park, 1702 N. ParkRoad. Hosted by Plant CityLittle League, this freeevent is for competitors infour age groups: 7 to 8; 9to 10; 11 to 12; 13 to 14 (ageis determined as of July 17, 2015). Boys and girls competeseparately. Skill tests include pitching at a target, hittingoff a tee for distance and accuracy, and running for speed.Points will be awarded and the top finishers in each agegroup will advance to the Sectional competition and possiblybeyond. Contact PHR Coordinator Danny Coton at dcoton@trinkle-law.com or (813) 763-8829

CUTESTCRITTER

Courtney Key has pedigreed rabbit babies from her rabbitry, all very sweet andlovable. “They just have faces that you possibly can’t say no to and ready to stealanyone’s heart in no time,” Key said.

Turkey Creek Animal Hospital and Animal Wellness Center have partnered to pres-ent a weekly Cutest Critter Contest. Entering is simple: Just submit a high-resolutionphoto (200 dpi or better) and a sentence or two about why your pet is the cutest. In-clude your name and contact information. Winners will be showcased in the Plant CityTimes & Observer and will receive a free bag of dental chews to be picked up at TurkeyCreek Animal Hospital and Animal Wellness Center.

Submit your entries to Managing Editor Amber Jurgensen at ajurgensen@plantci-tyobserver.com; subject line: Cutest Critter Contest. Good luck!

How did All In One PetParlor first get its start?

I started out working at AllIn One Pet Parlor as a batherand blow dryer. I was a hair-dresser of 15 years. I wantedto work a part-time job. Leslieand Scott Hammock took meunder their care and taughtme everything I know. Afterthree years I was trained ongrooming, too. I asked themif they ever wanted to sell thebusiness to give me first dibs,and they did. I’ve built it upquite a bit.

What kind of services canAll In One Pet Parlor offerthe community?

We offer baths, hair cuts,color that’s safe for dogs forspecial occasions. We also dojust nails if you don’t need thebath. We are boarding now,and we take great pride in thecare and play they need at noextra charge. We also offer ashot clinic once a month foranyone wanting to have theirdog or cat vaccinated.

Why is All In One Pet Par-lor located at its site?

We have just moved to adown town space after 15years across from the postoffice. We all love our newlocation and the other busi-nesses have been very wel-coming. I feel like my clientshave a chance to see more ofthe shops around town, thatthey might have not seen. Ihope I’m close enough thatthe other businesses can usemy services.

What is All In One PetParlor’s motto or mission,and why?

I would like everyone toknow we are a family shopand take pride in our workand try to keep prices rea-sonable so they can affordto care for their four-leggedchildren.

Can you describe yourcustomers?

We always want to treatour clients the way we wouldwant to be treated. Most ofmy clients, after seeing thema few times, we think of themand their pets as family. Weare very thankful to all ourextended family. We couldn’tbe where we are today with-out all of you.

How many employees doyou have?

All of the staff at All In Onelove all animals. Our bather,Nate, is caught frequentlysinging to the dogs while he’sbathing them. Hilary is ourdryer, and she’s sweet andtakes pride drying them theright way. She is also a hair-dresser and in training to be a

groomer and is a fast learner.Our joke is, “We went to thedogs.” My son and daughter,Joey and Roxanne, have beenworking here since 2001.Brandy also works with us;she’s like our family too. Shewas also a hairdresser. I amvery proud of everyone whoworks at our shop and hopeto continue to grow for manyyears to come. I hope to handit over to my kids one day, butnot anytime soon. I love whatI do.

Are you on social media?Fa c e b o o k . c o m / A l l I -

nOnePetParlor

More information:We are taking new clients,

so drop in and check us out.We do all grooming in ourfront room so you can seewhat we’re doing. Call us at(813) 719-9760 for an ap-pointment for grooming andbaths. Nails are done from11 a.m. to 2 p.m., Mondaythrough Saturday. Just walkin and we’ll take care of you.

ALL IN ONEPET PARLOR

Q&A WITH SANDY ELLIOTTDid you know that every $100 spent at a local, independently-owned store generates

$45 of secondary local spending, compared to $14 for a big-box chain? This was firsttested in 2003 by the Institute for Local Self Reliance and is nearly identical to later resultsacross multiple Civic Economic studies.

The Plant City Times & Observer agrees with buying local. With the Greater Plant CityChamber of Commerce, we’ve launched the Buy Local campaign, encouraging residentsto shop local. This week’s Buy Local spotlight is All In One Pet Parlor. We caught up withowner Sandy Elliot to get all the info on this successful business.

Gloria BollGloria Boll, 72, of Valrico,

died April 11, 2015.She is survived by her hus-

band of 44 years, Harry; chil-dren, Harry Boll Jr. (Vicki),Cindy Morrison (Danny),Sandra Thorn and DavidBoll (Pam); grandchildren,Dalton, Ryan, Brett, Natalie,Jamie, Rikki, Cynthia, Faith,Autumn and Gilbert; andbrother, Elwood Wolf. Shewas preceded in death by herdaughter, Bonnie Blackman-Victory.

A celebration of life washeld April 15, at HopewellFuneral Home. Intermentat Hopewell Memorial Gar-dens. Online condolencesmay be made at Hopewell-Funeral.com.

Roxie Purnell(Marie) Connelly

Salisbury-Roxie Purnell(Marie) Connelly, 75, diedSunday, March 29, 2015 ather son’s home in Plant City.

Born in Bishopville, Mary-land, she was the daughterof the late Elisha and Linda(Waples) Purnell. She was alifelong learner and educa-tor for the Worcester CountyPublic School System for 34years. She was a dedicatedmember of St. Paul A.M.E.Zion Church in Salisbury,Maryland. Her partnershipwith the Maryland FoodBank helped to ensure thatmeals were provided to thehungry.

She is survived by herhusband of 51 years, LewisM. Connelly; son, PatrickM. (Marie) Connelly Sr.;grandsons, Mark C. (Tif-fany), Quentin, Andre andPatrick M. (P.J.) Connelly Jr.;great-granddaughters, Trin-ity, Taylor and Camryn Con-nelly; brother, Rev. Dr. Ben-nie Purnell; sisters, CatherineArmstrong (Edward), EstellaParker (Kenneth), Linda Pur-nell Cook and Wanda Tucker;brothers-in-law, James Con-nelly, Rev. Thomas ConnellyJr., Rev. David Connelly (Dor-othy) and Ulysses Connelly(Rosalyn); sisters-in-law,Dorothy Smith, Tommisena,Jackie, Louise and YvonnieConnelly, Debra Snow (Ray)and Beverly Edwards (Har-rie); one god-sister; three-goddaughters; and a host ofnieces and nephews.

A funeral service was heldApril 11, 2015, at New Di-mensions Ministries in Salis-bury. Interment at Sprin-ghill Memory Gardens inHebron, Maryland. Funeralarrangements are entrustedto Postell’s Mortuary in Or-lando, and Jolley MemorialChapel in Salisbury.

Ida Webb DuckworthIda Webb Duckworth, 83,

of Plant City, died April 11,2015.

She is survived by herdaughters, Ruby Brady (Neal)and JoeAnn Grace (Dennis);grandchildren, Joe Madden

(Mandy), John Niblett (Cim-meron) and Travis Grace(Amber); great-grandchil-dren, Heather, Justin, Katie,Hunter, Jeremiah, Albanyand Grace; and siblings, Jim,Sara, Kermit, Roy, Marvinand Irene. She was precededin death by her siblings, Tomand Frances; and grandchild,Tia Grace.

A celebration of life washeld April 16, at HopewellFuneral Home. Interment atMt. Enon Cemetery. Onlinecondolences may be made atHopewellFuneral.com.

Lynda Ruth Rogers FullerLynda Ruth Rogers Fuller,

72, of Plant City, died April 7,2015.

Mrs. Fuller was a gradu-ate of Plant City Senior HighSchool. She enjoyed orga-nizing many activities, in-cluding picnics, dinners andreunions for the class of ‘60,as well as the monthly classbreakfast. Mrs. Fuller caredfor others on a daily basisthroughout her career innursing. Arts and crafts wereher hobby, and she lovedmaking flower arrangementsand decorating for Christ-mas. Mrs. Fuller was a proudancestor of a HillsboroughCounty pioneer family, andalong with several cous-ins, co-authored the book“Pioneers of Hopewell.” Shewas a member of HopewellBaptist Church since child-hood. She loved the PlantCity community and volun-teered for many organiza-tions. She loved attendingchurch, taking family trips toFernandina Beach, travelingand attending senior aerobicclasses. In her spare time, shecontinued the family’s cattlebusiness. Mrs. Fuller was abeautiful person who will bemissed by all who knew her.

She is survived by daugh-ter, Kathie Jean Fuller (JeffTraicoff); sons, James, Sam-uel Russell, Timothy Russell(Penny), and Charles Ray-mond (LeighAnn); grand-children, Brooke, Jeremy andAlex Fuller, and Brad andDaniel Cassels; and manyother relatives and friendstoo numerous to mention.She was predeceased by herhusband of 51 years, SamuelA. Fuller; her parents, Mil-dred Frierson Rogers andRussell Rogers; and grand-son, Brett Russell Fuller.

A celebration of life washeld April 11, at HopewellBaptist Church. Intermentat Old Hopewell Cemetery.Memorial contributions maybe made to Hopewell ChurchOld Cemetery, Inc., P.O. Box5472, Plant City, Florida,33563. Online condolencesmay be made at Hopewell-Funeral.com.

Ralph O’Neal HendricksRalph O’Neal Hendricks,

80, died April 9, 2015, at hishome.

Mr. Hendricks was born in

Boaz, Alabama, and movedto Plant City in 1957. Hemarried Martha Wilkersonin 1958. He wasa Marine Corpsveteran and acaptain with the Plant CityFire Department. In his sparetime, he loved gardening.

Surviving family membersinclude sons, CW Eden-field (Lisa), Ralph O’NealHendricks Jr., Jay Hendricks(Nancy) and Gordon WayneHendricks (Leslie); daughter,Gail Hart (David); brothers,Byron, Bennie and Rayburn;12 grandchildren; and 16great-grandchildren. Mr. He-dricks was predeceased byhis wife of 53 years, MarthaHendricks; his parents; anda brother.

A funeral service was heldApril 13, at Wells Memorial,followed by burial and mili-tary honors at Shiloh Cem-etery. Online condolencesmay be made at WellsMemo-rial.com.

TJ Kimbrough JrTJ Kimbrough Jr., 28, died

April 7, 2015, in Tampa.Mr. Kimbrough’s passion

in life was cars, but his mainlove was his daughter.

He is survived by daugh-ter, Schuyler Alma Kim-brough; mother, PennyMendoza (George); dad,David Rhew; father, TroyKimbrough; brother, KevinKimbrough; sisters, JennyForeman, Angelina Men-doza and Tiffany Fuller;grandparents, Linda By-num, James I. Rhew, RayRice and Laura Rice; and hisgirlfriend, Starr Haley.

A celebration of life tookplace April 11, at Wells Me-morial Funeral Home. On-line condolences may bemade at WellsMemorial.com.

Genevieve Stinson“Jenny” Leitner

Genevieve Stinson “Jenny”Leitner, 89, of Plant City, diedApril 7, 2015.

She was born in SouthCarolina in 1925, and movedto Plant City in 1944. She wasa longtime member of FirstBaptist Church of Plant Cityand the Plant City Woman’sClub, and an active volunteerwith the Florida StrawberryFestival.

She is survived by her son,John P. “Chipper” LeitnerIII (Fern); daughters, San-dra Smith (Mike) and KarenAnair (Pete); siblings, BettyDicks (Carl) and Barbara Sera(Ralph); and seven grand-children and 12 great-grand-children. She was precededin death by her husband of56 years, Pete Leitner; andsiblings, Inez Wills, J.D.,Ralph and Billy Stinson.

A celebration of life washeld April 9, at First BaptistChurch. Interment at Memo-rial Park. Online condolencesmay be made at Hopewell-Funeral.com.

OBITUARIESOBSERVER

SUNRISE SUNSETFriday, April 17 7:02 a.m. 7:54 p.m.Saturday, April 18 7:01 a.m. 7:55 p.m.Sunday, April 19 7:00 a.m. 7:55 p.m.Monday, April 20 6:59 a.m. 7:56 p.m.Tuesday, April 21 6:58 a.m. 7:56 p.m.Wednesday, April 22 6:57 a.m. 7:57 p.m.Thursday, April 23 6:56 a.m. 7:57 p.m.

MOONPHASES

PLANT CITYWEATHER

HIGH LOWFriday, April 17 89 68Saturday, April 18 90 69Sunday, April 19 90 72Monday, April 20 85 70Tuesday, April 21 87 67Wednesday, April 22 84 67Thursday, April 23 88 67

TEMPERATURES

RAIN

April 25

SUNRISE/SUNSET TIMES

May 3

May 11

(INCHES)

April 18

Dan Middlebrooks took this picture on Easter morning at his church,Hopewell Baptist Church.

The Plant City Times & Observer and Grimes Hardware have partnered to hostthe I Love Plant City Photo Contest. Winners will have their photo featuredand receive a $15 gift certificate to Grimes Hardware’s Strawberry Town Cafe!To enter, email your photo, along with a caption, to Editor Amber Jurgensen,ajurgensen@plantcityobserver.com; subject line: I Love Plant City. Winners canpick up their prize at Grimes Hardware.

THURS.April 90.00

FRI.April 100.00

SAT.April 110.00

SUN.April 120.66

MON.April 131.26

TUES.April 140.00

WED.April 150.00

8.20(2014: 6.42)

APRILTO DATE1.92

YEARTO DATE

(2014: 1.89)

BLUEBERRIES

$14 TO $16

Courtesy of theUnited States

Department ofAgriculture

SHIPPING POINT: Orlando

CROSSWORD MAKING REPAIRS by Emerson Hall

ACROSS1 Rock concert need4 Beauty pageant wear9 Flavorful14 Baby salamanders18 Lounge on a train20 Waste away21 Universally accepted principle22 Noisy groundbreaker24 Having attractive gams25 Lord’s worker26 Conclusion starter27 One of TV’s Ewings28 Athena’s blood29 “Desire Under the ___”30 Calypso offshoot32 Bon ___34 Bringing up the rear36 Wine cask37 Faucet38 Contender to your title39 In an affable way41 In-flight info, for short42 Short and thick, as fingers44 By word of mouth45 Not far away48 School safety exercises50 Astronomical event53 “___ do you think you are?”55 Dangerous time for Caesar56 Hooter58 Type of wrench59 Modest61 Like good ghost stories65 A direction67 Santa ___, Calif.68 Rarer than rare69 On the roof of71 Slippery and frigid72 Add to a poker pot73 “That’s ___ my problem”74 In the manner of75 Sort76 Track events78 Cling80 False move82 Pull the plug on84 Caboose position86 “Made in the ___”87 Tested, as a drug89 Square-shooting94 From the beginning95 Faunas’ kin96 Is crabby?99 Colt or Glock101 First ones are special103 Lennon’s bride104 Lousy egg?106 Mont Blanc, e.g.107 Kermit, for one108 Persian, e.g.109 Automobile sticker fig.110 Melee memento111 Buddhist sacred spot113 Team’s pronoun115 Hemingway’s sobriquet117 Florida metropolis118 Felt a longing119 State issuances

123 Mike holder124 ‘70s Renault125 Most powerful126 Author Roald127 Utopian places128 Far East weight units129 Catch on

DOWN1 Small Java program2 Some envelope types3 Replace in the schedule4 Heavy reading5 Temporary shelter, taxwise6 Be decisive7 Indian yogurt dish8 Part of a gateway9 Like some resorts10 Branch11 Ceremonial splendor12 In a perfect way13 Skin-related14 Business VIP15 Parts of the Air Force16 Dress up17 Suburb of Atlanta19 Nuts on wheels

21 Came to rest23 Certain bones30 Temperance31 Vandalized, as a car33 Work the garden35 In ___ (working in harmony)38 J. Edgar Hoover’s org.39 Prickly, Scottish shrub40 ___-ran43 Some conspiracy subjects46 Flying high47 Afflict49 Become more intense50 Brio51 Mexican Mrs.52 Related maternally53 Ahab or his ship54 Fruit drink brand57 Otter’s kin59 Construct carefully60 Squeal62 Backboard attachment63 Rocks, in a bar64 Hurricane core66 More than famished70 Newspaper pg.77 Bit of hair

79 Naval base?81 Bert Bobbsey’s twin83 Airhead85 “Belling the Cat” author88 Decorative pitcher90 Dark film genre91 Touring actors92 Shelter for an airplane93 Tokyo, formerly95 Calculated97 Surrounds with a cover98 Type of cat99 Panted100 Last syllable102 “Yankee ___ Dandy”105 “Valse ___” (Sibelius work)107 Lose color or brightness109 Mediterranean island country110 See 60-Down112 Lemon zest source114 Side dish with scampi116 Hushed “Hey, you!”117 Department store department120 Moving vehicle?121 Fury122 Gen. subordinate

8 5 2 9 1

7 2 5 4 8

6 5 1

5 3 7 2 8

9 2 3

5 4 2 9 7

3 9 8 1 5

SUDOKUSolve the puzzle by placing the numbers 1 through9 in each row, column and box.

CRYPTOQUIZEach of the following cryptograms is a clue tothe identity of a prolific inventor. Using thehints U=O and F=T, decipher the clues to namethe inventor.

1. R F U V G F E V G Q Z

2. Y E B P F O I Y O

3. S P U T U B Z K S P

4. C U F E U T S E V F I Z Q V KC Q Z K

5. C Q T Y U S K Z G

This inventor helped advance the field of masscommunication:

©2015 Universal Uclick