02.21.13 Plant City Observer

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PLANT CITYObserveryou. youR nEighBoRs. youR nEighBoRhood.

Fast foursomeleads Chargerstrack squad.PAGE 12

Cops Corner ..........3 Crossword .......... 15 Obituaries .......... 11 Sports ................ 12Vol. 1, No. 33 | One section

PlantCityObserver.com

+ Critters captivatePlant City Chamber

Members of the animal kingdom joined the Plant City Chamber of Commerce Feb. 13, during its Contact Breakfast.

Lowry Park Zoo Executive Director Craig Pugh served as the featured speaker. Chamber members enjoyed meeting several of the zoo’s residents, including agnes, a two-toed sloth; ivan, a Eurasian eagle owl; Magoo, a hyacinth macaw; and sharpita, a prehensile-tailed porcupine.

This month’s breakfast was sponsored by Poppell Insurance Inc.

OUR TOWN

INDEX

Durant High School senior Jose Perez has moved 57 times to dif-ferent cities, following the grow-ing seasons and helping his family of migrant workers in the fields. During his sophomore year of high school, his family finally set-tled in Plant City. But despite all his travels, Perez has been able to succeed academically in school.

His most recent success was be-ing named a National Hispanic Scholar. Perez learned of the title this past summer and thought it was “just another thing.” But dur-ing the first pep rally of the school year, he was called up on stage at honored as a scholar. Now, ev-ery time colleges send him let-ters, they congratulate him on his award.

“I realized it really is a big deal,” Perez said.

Only 32 students earned the title in Hillsborough County. Two students at Strawberry Crest High School, Daniel De Brigard and Christopher Mamuscia, also earned the honor.

The title is part of the National Hispanic Recognition Program which identifies outstanding Hispanic/Latino high school stu-dents. Each year, the NHRP hon-ors about 5,000 students from more than 250,000 hispanic ju-niors who take the PSAT/NMSQT.

Scholars must have at least a 3.0 grade-point average and score a qualifying score on the PSAT/NMSQT during their junior year of high school.

De Brigard said his IB classes and AP classes prepared him well for the test.

“I was in the process of applying to different schools when I found out that I was a scholar, so I used it in a lot of my applications,” De Brigard said.

De Brigard applied locally to the University of Florida and the University of South Florida and

EDUCATIONby amber Jurgensen | Associate Editor

three area seniors earnprestigiousscholarshipsThirty-two Hillsborough County students recently were named National Hispanic Scholars. Three are from Plant City.

SEE SCHOLARS / PAGE 2

+ Photo Archiveshires new assistant

Plant City Photo Archives and History Center Executive Director gil gott announced the appointment of dawn C. Zaversnik to the position of administrative assistant to the executive director.

Zaversnik is a graduate of the University of Florida with a degree in journalism and com-munications. She has worked with Publix Super Markets and Summit Consulting, in Lakeland.

+ Classifieds are coming soon!

One of the requests we receive most frequently is for a Classifieds section in the Plant City Observer.

Well, we heard you, and we are thrilled to announce our Classifieds and Service Directory sections are coming in the next few weeks.

Soon, you’ll be able to advertise your business, yard, sale, real-estate listing and home goods for sale in our newspaper.

Stay tuned!

For Jacob and Misty Kesler, the National Guard was a compromise.

“He wanted to go into the (U.S.) Army, and I didn’t want him to leave, so we de-cided the National Guard would be the best option,” Misty says. “That way, he was still in but home at the same time.”

Plant City natives, high school sweet-hearts and 2008 graduates of Plant City High School, Jacob and Misty married in November 2012, three years after Jacob joined the Guard and was stationed with the Charlie Battery, in Plant City. He recent-ly was transferred to Lake Wales after the Charlie unit dissolved.

This Saturday, Jacob and about 120 of his

SEE DEPLOYMENT / PAGE 2

HOMETOWN HEROESHometown Heroes is a recurring feature in the Plant City Observer in which we profile veterans from

Plant City. If you have a loved one currently serving or who has served in the past, please contact Managing Editor Michael Eng by email at [email protected] or by phone at (813) 704-6850.

Courtesy photo

Plant City is the headquarters for the 3rd Battalion, 116th Field Artillery. A subordinate firing artil-lery, Charlie (shown above), has been dispersed to other subordinate units.

hometown heroes by Matt Mauney | Associate Editor

A LONG WAY FROM HOME

Florida Army National Guardsmen from the 3rd Battalion, 116th Field Artillery will be departing Saturday, from Plant City,

to begin training for a nine-month deployment to Qatar.

INSIDESuperheroes slosh throughmud run.PAGE 15

IN FOCUSDaddies take daughters to ‘Wonderland.’PAGE 5

Dave Parkinson, Lowry Park Zoo docent

Jacob and Misty Kesler have been together since high school. When Jacob leaves for Qatar, it will be the beginning of the couple’s longest time apart.

Plant city observerTHURSDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 20132 PlantCityObserver.com

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to other colleges, including New York University and the University of Chicago. He plans to major in a science or biological field.

Like most teenagers, De Brigard likes to play sports and read mys-tery and sci-fi books. His father is Hispanic and grew up speaking Spanish with his family for the first 10 years of his life.

Mamuscia has been accepted to the University of South Flori-da, but he also has applied to the Rochester Institute of Technology and Champlain College, among others. He plans to get a degree in computer science.

Mamuscia first got into tech-nology when his uncle gave him a Playstation. He began playing video games and then branched out to computers. He also likes to play music on the piano, guitar, harmonica and violin.

“I like Chopin and Beethoven,” Mamuscia said. “They’re my fa-vorite dudes.”

Mamuscia’s mother is from Puerto Rico, and he visits the is-land every summer.

Perez has applied to many Ivy League schools, including Yale and Harvard. He hopes to be ac-cepted to Harvard but is not sure what he wants to study. He will be the first in his family to go to col-lege.

“My parents always instilled the importance of education in me,” Perez said. “It’s been one of my greatest blessings. I always want-ed to go to college, because I want to give back to my parents who have given me so much, and be-cause I want to change this world. I don’t plan on leaving this world like it is.”

Contact Amber Jurgensen at [email protected].

fellow guardsmen of the Florida Army National Guard’s 3rd Bat-talion, 116th Field Artillery will leave their Plant City headquar-ters for a nine-month deploy-ment to Qatar, as part of Opera-tion Enduring Freedom.

The guardsmen will depart precisely at 6:30 a.m. Feb. 23, from the Plant City Armory, 4004 Airport Road. Their departure will come just two days after the battalion’s departure ceremony at 4 p.m. Feb. 21, at the Highlands County Fair Association Conven-tion Center, 781 Magnolia Ave., Sebring.

Capt. Kyle J. Richardson hopes Plant City residents will line the streets to see them off.

“We hope there is a big crowd in Sebring for the send-off cer-emony, and we would love it if the community here in Plant City would line the streets in support before the unit departs Saturday,” he says.

For newlyweds Jacob and Misty, the deployment was some-thing they always knew would be a possibility.

“We just accepted it,” Jacob says. “We knew that if it hap-pened, we would be OK.

“It had been rumored for a while,” he says of the deploy-ment. “Around nine months ago, it became pretty certain where we would be going, but we didn’t really know officially until about six months ago.”

There are about 170 guards-men stationed in Plant City, 16 full-time. According to Richard-son, about 120 soldiers from the unit will be deployed, while 50 to 60 will stay.

Three subordinate units throughout Central Florida in-clude Alpha Battery (Arcadia),

Bravo Battery (Avon Park) and 3116 Forward Support Company (Lake Wales). The battalion’s total strength is 475 soldiers.

Before crossing the ocean, the guardsmen will head to the mo-bilization site in Camp Shelby, Miss. After training for about 40 days, the battalion will depart for Qatar, a sovereign Arab state, lo-cated on the Arabian Peninsula off the border of Saudi Arabia.

Qatar has been a strong ally to the U.S. military since 1992. The non-traditional military mission of the 3rd Battalion, 116th Field Artillery is to serve as military po-lice in an unspecified location.

“When I enlisted in 2009, Iraq was still going on, so I could have gone anywhere,” Jacob says. “I’m pretty lucky to be going where I’m going. A lot of people have it a lot worse than us.”

COPING WITH SEPARATIONIncluding the training in Mis-

sissippi, Jacob and Misty will be apart for nearly a year. It will be the longest stretch the couple has spent apart.

“My family is here, so I have a support system,” Misty said.

Misty added that, given the cir-

cumstances, it was good timing. She recently graduated with a sales and marketing degree from the University of South Florida and began working for Mayfair Games, located in the Historic District of Plant City.

Mayfair Games, which makes and publishes strategy board and card games for distribu-tors, will be donating a pallet of games with the 3rd Battalion, 116th Field Artillery. Misty plans to work extra and take some pos-sible travel opportunities with her job while Jacob is away.

Misty said knowing Jacob could be going overseas for many months helped with adjusting.

“Knowing that helped me get used to the idea, since it was a gradual information flow,” she says. “I was worried and scared at first that I was going to be without him for a whole year, but I was also excited for him, because, otherwise, he wouldn’t get to travel halfway across the world.”

Misty said knowing some of the wives and girlfriends of the other soldiers will make the ad-justment easier. One of the wives, Deann Morasco, started the 3-116 FA BN Family Readiness Group page on Facebook.

“She sends out support num-bers and gives us the resources we need,” Misty says. “There was a Christmas party, and she was there and just explained that there was resources if we need them. That was reassuring.”

The couple said they plan to stay in constant contact, utiliz-ing video chat services such as Skype. They will be able to keep in contact much more often than when Jacob was in basic training for four months after enlisting.

When the tour is over, Jacob and Misty plan to take another

big step in their marriage. “We hope to get a house when

he gets back,” Misty said.

EXPECTATIONS ABROADJacob’s role in the Guard has

been fire direction with multi-launch-rocket systems. The 3rd Battalion, 116th Field Artillery recently switched from a tradi-tional MLRS to high-mobility ar-tillery rocket systems that allows for more efficiency, Richardson said.

“It has given us the opportuni-ty to have a smaller — but mean-er — force,” he says.

Other than basic training and other trainings for the upcoming mission, Jacob has been serving with the Guard once a month, in addition to working at his civilian job of working for a call center. He plans to make the most out of his deployment.

“I’m looking at it as a time for self-improvement; I’ll have my job over there and nothing else,” he says, noting that Misty will be handling the daily civilian rou-tine of managing finances and paying bills. “I want to make my-self a better self and lose a lot of weight. That’s my plan.”

He’ll also have the benefit of going over with several friends, including Justin Brown and Pe-dro Vega, both PCHS graduates.

Jacob said he expects Qatar’s relentless heat to be a difficult — but nothing compared to the challenges other soldiers face in other locations.

“It’s not going to be as stress-ful as a deployment to Iraq or Afghanistan,” he says. “They’ll be eight-hour shifts, so we’ll have a lot of down time. Filling that time will be the hardest part.”

Contact Matt Mauney at [email protected].

SHOW OF SUPPORTThe National Guard is ask-ing for Plant City residents to line the streets as the battalion departs.WHen: 6:30 a.m. Feb. 23WHere: The unit will depart from Plant City Armory, 4004 Airport Road. From there, they will travel to Turkey Creek Road to U.S. 92. They will head west to Branch Forbes Road and, finally, to Interstate 4.

DePloyMent/PaGe 1 scHolars/PaGe 1

PlantCityObserver.com 3 Plant city observerTHURSDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2013

The Walden Lake Community Association will not pursue the idea of a request-for-proposal policy that would outline ser-vices and procedures for main-tenance-related issues in the deed-restricted community.

Board member Steve Swan-tek brought up the idea of the RFP policy, saying it would be a useful tool for board members to have when discussing future maintenance issues.

Other board members also said it would serve as a concrete organizational tool in the event that Tom Daramus, the on-site manager of the community who handles day-to-day mainte-nance issues and complaints as well as the bidding process and selection, no longer could per-form his job.

Those against the idea argued it would micromanage the bid-ding process, which already seems to work well. Opponents also said they would have to cre-ate another board to draft and oversee the policy. The extra work would be a waste of man-power and resources.

“This would tie Tom’s hands,” treasurer Karen Olson said. “Plus, Tom knows what he’s do-ing. We trust him.”


WLCA denies new RFP policyThe policy would have given board members the ability to handle maintenance issues and bidding processes.

govERnAncE by amber Jurgensen | Associate Editor

In oTHER nEWS• The WLcA is in the pro-

cess of obtaining a quote for an electric gate for the entrance to the lake park parking lot. The gate would prevent non-residents from going to the park and using the lot. The park is only for Walden Lake residents.

Daramus said that many days the parking lot is full with non-resident cars. Residents call the office to complain. If in violation, cars are subject to towing.

The gate would have a keycard or password access, preventing nonresidents from parking in the lot. once the quote is secured, the WLcA can discuss the matter fur-ther.

• The annual meeting, including elections, will take place at 7 p.m. April 11. Ballots will be sent out 30 days prior to the meet-ing. Board members up for renewal include Marcus alexich, robert Hunter and ray Page. If you are interest-ed in running for the board, contact the office, (813) 754-8999.

• The community garage sale will take place from 8 a.m. to noon April 6. Residents can set up a sale in their driveways as long as they secure a proper city permit.

Residents will be able to enjoy another city park by summer-time.

Brewer Park, located off Grant Street, is currently under con-struction. It is named after the late Dr. Hal Brewer, an active member of the community who died last November.

Excavation of the pond in the center of the park has been com-pleted, and the contractor has ordered the gate valves needed to control the pond elevation. It will take about three weeks until those valves arrive. The pond will be a fully functioning stormwater management sys-tem. City Engineer Brett Gocka said the city is looking at a con-verting several other locations into parks with the same water management system design.

Eventually, the city hopes to link all 18 of its parks.

“The idea is to create and environment where people

can move from one park to the other, connected by sidewalks,” Gocka said.

Brewer Park will have a one-half-mile trail around the pond. The last section of the concrete trail around the pond was fin-ished last week.

A Florida Department of En-vironmental Protection grant funded the $207,000 trail. Under the grant stipulations, the city had to finish the trail and the ramp to the roadway crossing at Grant Street by Feb. 28.

The rest of the park is funded by $185,000 of city funds.

This month, bench pads, ga-zebos pads and bike paths will be installed. A monument sign also will be placed in the park, but there is no scheduled date for installation.

“Just like our other parks, we would like to put our sign there,” City Manager Greg Horwedel said. “But it’s something we

don’t want to do until our new branding is in place.”

The city wants to rebrand it-self with a new logo, colors and motto. It is working on a packet to present to bidders. Horwedel said the Brewer Park sign may be

the first with the new logo and colors.

The city is also awaiting a pro-posal for the crosswalk flashers.


Work continues on brewer Park The new park, named after the late Dr. Hal Brewer, will feature an innovative stormwater management system, one-half-mile trail and more.

update by amber Jurgensen | Associate Editor

Amber Jurgensen

When complete, the park will feature a one-half-mile trail. Eventually, all of Plant city’s parks will be connected.

The Hillsborough County Board of County Commis-sioners allowed some of Plant City’s sweetness into its chambers Feb. 20, as the commission proclaimed Feb. 28 to March 10 as Florida Strawberry Festival Days.

Commissioner Al Hig-ginbotham led the procla-mation, which recognized the City of Plant City, the Florida Strawberry Festival, the 2013 Florida Strawberry Festival Queen and Court,

the Plant City Commis-sion, the Greater Plant City Chamber of Commerce, the Florida Strawberry Growers Association and the Hillsborough County Farm Bureau.

Festival directors Paul Davis and Ron Gainey, Mayor Mike Sparkman and members of the 2013 court attended the event. Straw-berry Queen Kelsey Fry was unable to attend, but First Maid Ericka Lott spoke in her place.

“We’re honored to be able to attend,” Lott said. “Just to be able to receive the proclamation is a great honor.”

Higginbotham caught up with the group after the proclamation.

“I’m proud to see these young ambassadors,” Hig-ginbotham said. “Along with the honor comes great responsibility, and people aren’t just looking at them, they are looking up at them.”

county commission honors Florida Strawberry Festival

From left: Florida Strawberry Festival directors Paul Davis and ron Gainey, Maddy Keene, ericka lott, commissioner al Higginbotham, Madison astin, Jamee townsend and Mayor Mike sparkman.

recognition by amber Jurgensen | Associate Editor

commissioner al Higginbotham led the proclamation.

ericka lott spoke in Queen Kelsey Fry’s place, because Fry was unable to attend.


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Scallywags can shape their booties while hunting for booty at an upcoming pirate-themed race March 2, at Varn Ranch.

The Pirate Booty Hunt, a 3.5-mile race, gives runners a chance to find one of 200 treasure chests hidden along the trail. Each box has an undisclosed amount of money inside, ranging from $10 to $1,000.

“Right now, adventure racing is very hot — like mud runs,” Eric Peer, race series president for Erro Events, said. “But this is not just a run, not just an obstacle course.”

Erro Events is coordinating the run. Erro also put on the Beach Beast Race, in which thousands participated. The goal for Pirate Booty Hunt is 700 to 1,000 partici-pants.

“It’s a great twist on the adven-ture racing that everyone seems to like,” Robert Handy, executive director of Erro Events, said.

The run will benefit Project L.I.N.K., a Tampa-based char-ity that helps keep students from struggling families with school.

“I hope that it will raise aware-ness,” Tina Young, executive di-rector of Project L.I.N.K., said. “We’ve been in the community for more than 20 years, and it sur-prises me that people don’t know about us.”

Young is part of the Ye Mys-

tic Krewe of the Nautilus, a Gas-parilla group. Peer was friends with a board member of L.I.N.K., who was also part of the Krewe. Through the member, he met Young and pitched the idea of a race. Young loved it.

“It’s going to be a family thing,” Young said. “It’s not competitive. With this idea, you don’t have to be the winner; everyone is a winner. You can walk and have a chance to win the ultimate prize.”

Young and Peer thought it would be a good idea to tie the race into Tampa’s Gasparilla and hold it at the end of all the festivi-ties.

“The pirate idea just goes hand-in-hand with the scaven-ger hunt,” Peer said. “It’s trans-ferrable. You could take this idea anywhere, to Central Park even.”

“It’s really genius to have it af-ter Gasparilla,” Handy said. “A lot of people still have their c o s t u m e s and want to keep cel-ebrating.”

E v e r y -one has a chance to find one trea-sure chest. The chest

must be sealed at the time you cross the finish line. To keep the amount inside, participants must cross the finish line in one hour. More than $3,000 is up for grabs in two heats.

Everyone gets a fin-ishers medal and

a T-shirt. There will be live mu-sic, food and a free children’s fun heat. Project L.I.N.K. will have a booth offering services and in-formation.

Contact Amber Jurgensen at ajur-gensen@plantci-

tyobserver.com.

Arrrrr mateys! Pirate-themed race will benefit Project L.I.N.K.The Pirate Booty Hunt will give every contestant a chance to find treasure.

wAlking THE plAnk by amber Jurgensen | Associate Editor

iF YOU gOPiraTe BooTy HunT raceWHen: March 2. Two heats at 8:45 a.m. and 9:45 a.m.; kids ages 7 to 11 at 10:45 a.m.WHere: Varn Farms, 5501 Varn Road, plant CityreGistration: $50 from Feb. 16 to March 1; and $60 the day of the race beneFiciary: project l.i.n.k., a Tampa-based charity that helps keep students from strug-gling families with schoolWebsite: piratebootyhunt.com

+ Detectives searchingfor stolen u-Hail trucks

Detectives from both Hillsborough and polk County sheriff’s offices are investigating a series of thefts of U-Haul trucks.

According to sheriff’s office reports, 10 U-Haul trucks have been stolen since Dec. 6, 2012, from the plant City area. Each truck is a 26-foot box truck model from 2006 to 2010.

The plant City locations are:• 5:30 p.m. Dec. 6: Jigg’s

Junction Auto Repair/U-Haul, 4516 Coronet Road, plant City

• 8:20 a.m. Dec. 7: Jigg’s Junction Auto Repair/U-Haul, 4516 Coronet Road, plant City

• 10 p.m. Jan. 8: S & J Chevron/U-Haul, 930 U.S. 92 w., Seffner

• 7 a.m. Jan. 9: S & J Chevron/U-Haul, 930 U.S. 92 w., Seffner

• 5:30 p.m. Jan. 9: Jigg’s Junction Auto Repair/U-Haul, 4516 Coronet Road, plant City

• 8:30 a.m. Jan. 10: Jigg’s Junction Auto Repair/U-Haul, 4516 Coronet Road, plant City

• 11 a.m. Jan. 17: p & n Food Mart/U-Haul, 14739 Sydney Road, Dover

• 9 p.m. Jan. 17: p & n Food Mart/U-Haul, 14739 Sydney Road, Dover

• 9 p.m. Feb. 12: AJ’s Food n Beverages/U-Haul, 9806 Harney Road, Thonotosassa

• 7:30 a.m. Feb. 13: AJ’s Food n Beverages/U-Haul, 9806 Harney Road, Thonotosassa

Anyone with any information should call the Sheriff’s Office, (813) 247-8200.

REAlTORS SERVE Up SOUp SHOwDOwnlunchtime heated up during For the love of Soup!, a soup cook-

off event, Feb. 13, at keller williams Realty’s plant City office.The competition featured a variety of soups for patrons to enjoy.

The first-place winner was tres Hall’s chicken tortilla soup, followed by nick Ganey’s white chili and finally natalie sweet’s pasta e fagioli. For more information about keller williams Realty in plant City, call (813) 503-0999.

NEWSBRIEFS


aaron livingston enjoyed the dance with his daughters, emma, 8, and shelby, 6.

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mAgicAl mEmoRiES by Matt Mauney | Associate Editor

brooklyn Zajac, 7, and her dad, ian, attended the event for the first time.

Jacki Manna and Jo Jo bean entertained guests with their ventriloquism act.

It was a dress-to-impress night for Plant City fathers and their daughters at the fourth annual Daddy-Daughter Dance, held Feb. 16, at the HCC John R. Trinkle Center.

The event, organized by the Plant City Recre-ation and Parks Department, brought 275 attend-ees to a magical night that featured a “Mad Hatter Tea Party” theme from the Disney favorite, “Alice in Wonderland.”

“We have a different theme every year, and my wife (Jennifer) came up with this theme,” organizer Jason Hargrove says. “I just thought it was a great idea.”

The event is for dads, grandfathers, uncles or guardians to enjoy a special night out with their daughters, granddaughters or nieces, ages 3 and up. Adult daddy-daughter couples also were wel-comed.

An entertainment segment, including appear-ances from characters from “Alice in Wonderland” and children’s entertainer Jacki Manna preceded a meal of finger foods and the dance.

Daddy-Daughter Dance whiskslittle ladies into a ‘Wonderland’

This was the second Daddy-Daughter Dance for amber Diehl, 8, and her dad, bryan.

Kaylin Duncan, 8, and her dad,

tim. it was their first time,

but they said they will be

back next year.

Jaida, 6, and Paitlyn, 3, enjoyed the dance with their dad, nate Davis, and Uncle aaron.

Gabriella schoch, 11, came as Alice, while her dad, Jason, looked dapper, as well.


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Plant City resident Cindy Ryan saddled up Feb. 16, to join more than 120 Flori-da residents for the 26th annual Florida Cracker Trail.

The ride, designed to keep history alive by educating through demonstrations of the Old Florida Cracker Pioneer ways, is a 110-mile cross-state tour that spans five counties.

Riders departed from East Manatee County this week and will complete the trail Feb. 23, at Fort Pierce.

The ride’s dedication to history attract-ed Ryan.

“I’m interested in it from a cultural preservation aspect,” Ryan said. “I hope we never lose the ability to raise our own cattle and grow our own crops.”

The trail has been on her bucket list since 2000, when the trail became a Com-munity Millennium Trail. Millennium Trails is a partnership including the White House Millennium Council, the Depart-ment of Transportation, Rails-To-Trails Conservancy, the National Endowment for the Arts.

“I realized I really did want to go when it became a Millennium Trail because that is no small feat by the Florida Cracker Trail Association,” she said.

Now 13 years later, Ryan is finally going to ride the trail for the first time. She never had the time before, commuting for her job between Florida and California.

But Ryan has been competing in a va-riety of equestrian sports since she was a child and particularly loves long-distance riding. She is a frequent distance rider with the American Endurance Ride Con-ference and participates in a number of 50-mile rides during the winter.

She originally picked a veteran horse to ride with her on the Florida Cracker Trail, but she thought he may be too quick. In-stead, she opt-ed for

Billie, a 5-year-old Welsh Arabian cross-breed.

“It is an unusual horse to take on a ride like this, but she has great big feet and a great attitude,” Ryan said. “She’ll do well in a crowd.”

Ryan had been preparing Billie for the ride, getting her accustomed to being tied for multiple days. Ryan had also prepared herself, packing clothes for a variety of weather conditions, food and ensuring sure her trailer’s quarters are equipped for the trip.

“It’d be nice to have a rolling Hampton Inn, because I don’t camp well,” Ryan said, laughing.

Still, her trailer has more amenities than a tent. The riders will ride halfway to their daily checkpoint and break for lunch. Af-ter lunch, they are bused to their trailers and then drive their trailers to the check-point end. They are bused back to their horses at the lunch stop and continue the second half of the ride.

But, Ryan said there is only so much planning a rider can do for a ride such as this.

“No matter how well you plan, you al-ways run into the unexpected,” Ryan said.

Ryan blogs each night from camp and has been wearing a Go Pro camera mounted to her head to document some of the rural roads. One-half of the ride is on well-traveled roads, while the rest whisk riders back in time.

“I’m just really pas-sionate about the past, about the heritage of farming and cattle and the expertise of all the farming families that

have been around for so long,” Ryan said.

The ride is lim-ited to members

of the FCTA. This year’s trail boss is Jennifer Osterling.

Contact Amber Jurgensen at ajur-

[email protected].

Hungry guests dined on one-of-a-kind entrées straight from celebrity chef Whitney Miller’s cookbook during For the Love of Food Feb. 15, at the HCC John R. Trinkle Center.

Miller, America’s first Mas-terChef, even made an ap-pearance and did a cooking demonstration after the meal. Items on the menu included buttermilk chicken and straw-berry cupcakes.

The event benefited the United Food Bank of Plant City. Last year, the dinner raised about $53,000. The food bank served 477 people last month and remains a charity staple in the Plant City community.

Celebrity chef dishes out food,fun at United Food Bank bash

what’s cooking? by amber Jurgensen | Associate Editor

Celebrity chef Whitney Miller spoke and did a cooking demonstration at the dinner.

leslie, cameron and susie Poppell

The 2013 Florida Strawberry Festival Queen and Court made an appearance.Whitney Miller thought these

strawberry cupcakes would be a perfect fit for Plant City.

Diane sparkman and stephanie shuff Mike and Julie arndt and Paul Granville

Plant City rider braves Florida Cracker TrailFor Cindy Ryan, the cross-state ride has been on her bucket list for more than 10 years.

giDDY UP by amber Jurgensen | Associate Editor

ONLiNE FRONTiERFor more information, visit cracker-

trail.org.Make sure to check out cindy

ryan’s blog about her first trail expe-rience at rideforwardnow.blogspot.com.


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In May 2011, Chaplain Daniel Middlebrooks was driving to his hometown of Plant City to visit his parents on Memorial Day week-end.

The seven-and-one-half hour drive from Fort Jackson, S.C., gave him plenty of time for self-reflec-tion and brought closure to an im-portant chapter in his life.

“It was very clear that as I drove home, God impressed upon me that he was closing this chapter of the military down to begin an-other chapter at home, where I can really start pouring into min-istering to my community,” he said. “I always kind of knew that I would come back; I just didn’t know when.”

Middlebrooks was in line to be-come a lieutenant colonel with the U.S. Army in 2012, after serv-ing active duty from 1987 to 1991 and later returning in 1997. Mid-dlebrooks contacted the Chief of Chaplains’ office that he was considering retiring and that he needed to be taken off the list.

“They said that we’re not go-ing to argue with God, but we are going to argue with you,” he said, with a smile.

They told Middlebrooks he had the opportunity to take care of chaplains in the Pentagon, but he said that isn’t where he felt he needed to be.

“I went from being in the Penta-gon to being in Plant City, and I’d

much rather be here in my home-town,” he said. “That was just a neat confirmation for me.”

Middlebrooks returned to Plant City last December to begin the transition to retirement. He of-ficially retired from the military Feb. 1.

“This city has changed a lot since I was last here, but the heart of Plant City hasn’t changed,” he said.

MAKING A DIFFERENCEMiddlebrooks didn’t want to

return home without using what he had learned while he was away.

So, he is launching Comprehen-sive Chaplaincy Care and Coun-seling, a non-profit ministry busi-ness that focuses on working with companies and helping their em-ployees and their families.

Middlebrooks decided to make the business a non-profit; he only accepts donations for his services.

“It’s not about making millions ... it is about impacting millions,” he said. “We have to start with a few for a few to become many.”

Still in the early stages, Middle-brooks is doing this by giving local businesses access to training and/or consulting. He is also available

to work for the businesses as their chaplain — either on a part-time or full-time basis.

He also helps out churches, in-cluding serving as the interim pas-tor at Hopewell Baptist Church.

Middlebrooks relates his les-sons to three areas: resiliency, readiness and relationships.

“I realized if I could take care of soldiers and their families in those three areas, then it allowed them to have a strong enough founda-tion to withstand anything that happened to them in life,” he said.

SOUL SQUEEZERMiddlebrooks knows the effects

of war all too well.“War can either make you bet-

ter or make you bitter,” he said. “You’re the one that has to choose that.”

During his time in the military, Middlebrooks has been deployed to Iraq, Egypt, Israel, Kosovo and Macedonia. In Iraq, he served as a chaplain at the Tent Combat Sup-port Hospital in Bagdad.

“We saw death and trauma al-most every day,” he said of his experience there. “It taught me as I taught my staff there at the hos-pital to live life to the fullest — but live it in such a way that we realize how precious it is to us and how precious it is to others.”

Through that experience, Mid-dlebrooks became what he calls a “soul squeezer.”

“All of us, in a sense, is a sponge, absorbing everything around us,” he said. “If we don’t learn to squeeze out a lot of that stuff at certain times, like a sponge that is so saturated, it becomes unus-able. And after time, it becomes very sour.”

Middlebrooks learned every-one needs someone to come and squeeze the soul a little bit to keep it fresh and ensure the hard and disturbing things in life don’t per-meate us.

One of Middlebrooks’ greatest honors during his service came recently, when he was presented with the Legion of Merit, becom-ing the first major chaplain to re-ceive that honor.

After 25 years away from his hometown, Middlebrooks is hap-py to be home. This year, his two daughters, Erica and Allison, will experience the Florida Strawberry Festival for the first time. He and his wife of 24 years, Arienne, are looking forward to creating those memories with their family.

“We’re just so happy to be home,” he said.


CompREHEnSivE CHAplAinCY CARE AnD ConSUlTing WHo: Daniel middlebrooks, president/CEoWHat: non-profit chap-lain service and consulting for local businesses, their employees and their families. contact: (813) 767-2082 or email [email protected]: comprehen-sivechaplaincycare.webs.com

Trading the Pentagon for Plant CityAfter retiring from the U.S. Army, Chaplain Daniel Middlebrooks has returned home to provide chaplaincy services to local businesses and residents in Plant City.

WElComE HomE by Matt Mauney | Associate Editor

matt mauney

Chaplain Daniel Middlebrooks says he’s missed the constant train sounds that let him know he’s home.

8 PlantCityObserver.com Plant city observer

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2013

Residents of Whispering Woods got a little taste of Cajun culture Feb. 16, dur-ing Pardi Gras, a community

event featuring food, fun and friends. The Plant City neigh-borhood, located off East Alexander Street, hosts com-

munity events every quarter. The Pardi Gras event featured authentic dishes such as gumbo and jambalaya.

Whispering Woods adds N’Awlins spice to Plant City

Sizzlin’ SoiREE by Matt Mauney | Associate Editor

Joselyn Diaz, 3, loved all the food — espe-cially the chocolate-covered strawberries.

Clockwise from above:

Dave, Missy and Kaylee thurston and Mackenzie, Kennedy, shane and amy steele

brent Meyers, DR Horton Sales Director Paula Meyers and builder Kevin Dindial

Milly and edgar Molina with their nephew, J.J. Gonzalez

Students from the Leos Clubs at Durant and Strawberry Crest high schools were busy clowning around Feb. 16, in preparation for the upcoming Florida Straw-berry Festival parades.

The students, under the lead-ership of Plant City Lions Club Tail Twister David Vick, a retired clown, are learning the art of clowning. They will participate in both the Civitan Club Youth Parade and the Grand Parade and will offer balloon creations and plenty of laughs along the parade routes.

CLOWNING aroUnD

Strawberry Crest’s Genesis cedeño put on clown makeup for the first time.

in focus by Michael eng | Managing Editor

Durant’s ricardo reyes is excited to be participating in this year’s parades.

lions Club Tail Twister David vick is a retired clown.

For first-timers, it took about an hour to apply their makeup. Eventually, they’ll be able to do it in 15 minutes.

Below: The Durant leos Club partici-pated in last year’s parades.

nicole Perez helped fellow Durant leo betsy Posadas with her makeup.

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

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

progressive policy.” Friedrich Hayek

“Road to Serfdom,” 1944

ObserverPLANT CITY

Founding Publisher / Felix Haynes

General Manager and Managing Editor / Michael Eng, [email protected]

Assistant Managing Editor / Jess Eng, [email protected]

Associate Editors / (Community) Amber Jurgensen, [email protected]; (Sports) Matt Mauney, [email protected] Advertising Executive / Veronica Prostko, [email protected]

Advertising Coordinator / Linda Lancaster, [email protected]

Accounting Manager / Petra Kirkland, [email protected]

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

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

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

President / Felix HaynesDirectors / Nate Kilton, Ed Verner,

Matt Walsh110 E. Reynolds St., Suite 100A

Plant City, Fla. 813-704-6850

www.PlantCityObserver.com

The Plant CityObserver LLC

Locally OwnedPublisher of the Plant City Observer and

PlantCityObserver.com

©Copyright Plant City Observer LLC 2012 All Rights Reserved

to aDvertiseCall veronica Prostko at 704-6850.

senD Us yoUr neWsWe want to hear from

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

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

contact UsThe Plant City observer is published once weekly,

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

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


CROSS_ANS_022113

This week’s Cryptogram answers

This week’s Crossword answers

2013

1. Two plates were discussing the upcoming meal. One told the other, “Lunch is on me!”

2. One day, two cows who were good friends stood calmly in line for milking. One joked with the other— isn’t this deja moo?

The following information was gathered from incident and arrest reports obtained from the Plant City Police De-partment.

FEB. 7QUICK GETAWAY

1900 block of James l. redman Parkway. Stolen Ve-hicle. A green 2001 Chevrolet Tahoe SUV was stolen from the parking lot of the store. The victim turned off the SUV, put the keys on the center console and went inside to buy lottery tickets. An unknown male, about 20 to 25 years old, with reddish hair, got in the SUV and drove off. A search was conducted, but the SUV was not located.

SCHOOLYARD FIGHT1200 block of West Grant street. Simple Battery/Af-

fray. Officers responded to this school in reference to two students fighting. The students were separated and suspended. No medical attention was required.

TRIPLE THREAT2100 block of James l. redman Parkway. Shoplifting/

Warrant Arrest/Drug Possession. Officers responded in reference to detained shoplifters. The store’s loss-prevention officers stated the two suspects concealed $745 worth of clothing and exited the business. An FCIC/NCIC check revealed one of the suspects had three Hillsborough County warrants for violation of probation — aggravated battery on a pregnant fe-male, and the other had a warrant for failing to pay child support. A search incident to arrest revealed one suspects had 3.8 grams of marijuana and drug paraphernalia in his front right pocket.

CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW?2600 block of James l. redman Parkway. Shoplift-

ing. Officers responded in reference to a detained shoplifter. Loss-prevention officers stated the suspect removed a Samsung cell phone, worth $120, from packaging and concealed it on his person. Smith then exited the business without rendering payment.

COPS PLANT CITY

CORNER

FEB. 10CANINE CONUNDRUM

4330 block of barret avenue. Noise Ordinance Violation. A request for prosecution was issued to the victim, who complained of ex-cessive loud and con-tinuous noise from a barking dog at a neigh-boring residence.

4200 block of thack-ery Way. Noise Ordinance Violation. A request for pros-ecution was issued to the victim, who complained a neighbor blows an extreme-ly loud air horn when any neighborhood dog barks.

Visit our website to read more Cops Corner reports.www.PlantCityObserver.com

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PLANT CITYObserverYou. Your Neighbors. Your Neighborhood.

You Read It HeRe FIRST!at the Plant City observer, our award-winning editorial staff is committed to delivering the most comprehensive, timely news source in Plant City.

2013 Florida Strawberry Festival Queen and Court

Simmons Career Center renames access road Leslie Morris Lane

Plant City Motorsports rumbles into Plant City

dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Cultural arts Festival

dean’s Ride at the Plant City Family YMCa

tampa Hillsborough edC appoints Jake austin as Plant City project manager

Highland Packaging Solutions begins move to Plant City

Springhead Pta officer arrested for stealing $25,000 from the Pta account

Plant City 10-11 Little League all-Stars win tournament of State Champions

Local athletes qualify for tampa Bay Bucs NFL Punt, Pass and Kick competition

durant football completes perfect season, preps for playoffs

Former PCHS and Bama softball standout Kendall dawson begins coaching career

tampa Bay Sentinels hold charity flag football game in Plant City after tampa Bay Storm backs out

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Members of the Marine Corps League Post 148 lined the entry-way to Wells Memorial Funeral and Event Center, holding their heads tall and their flags proudly.

The league, along with dozens of others, came to pay their re-spects to a man they thought was a homeless veteran Feb. 15.

Charles D. Rhinehart served in the U.S. Marines from 1952 to 1954, but he was not homeless.

During the service, a friend of Rhinehart’s, Eric Bielke, politely raised his hand to note Rhinehart paid rent and lived in a “humble abode” in Tampa.

“I don’t want people to think he’s homeless,” Bielke said. “I know he wouldn’t want people to think that. I feel like he’s here with me now.”

Rhinehart, 78, died Jan. 12. He was born May 4, 1934, in Buffalo, N.Y.

Part of the Dignity Me-morial Homeless Veterans Burial Program, Wells Memorial provided the full military honors service. He was buried after the service at the Florida Na-tional Cem-etery. The Hill-sborough County medical examiners

office is responsible for contact-ing the family of the deceased. If family members cannot be reached, the office refers veterans to programs such Dignity’s.

The Dignity Memorial Home-less Veterans Burial Program is available in 35 cities across the United States and has provided services for more than 1,000 homeless veterans since the pro-gram’s inception in 2000.

A burial such as the one given to Rhinehart costs about $10,000.

Wells Manager Verna McKelvin has organized four homeless vet-eran services since she has worked at Wells Memorial. Along with the Marine Corps League, members of the patriot guard and other vet-erans attended the service.

“It’s family,” McKelvin said. “To them, it’s family. And to us here, we’ve made them family.”

The Rev. Jim Brady, of the East Thonotosassa Baptist Church, led the service.

“Today there is no spouse to comfort,”

Brady said. “There are no grandchildren to

share memories. It seems that Charles

has no family here, but I would beg to differ.”

Rhinehart may not have had any

family present, but four friends at-tended to see him laid to rest, and Bielke said Rhinehart told him he had two children in New York.

“He told me he left and never looked back,” Bielke said.

Bielke met Rhinehart in Tampa more than two years ago, after Rhinehart moved from Key West.

“He looked like this salty, old guy,” Bielke said.

Rhinehart spent years living on and off Bielke’s couch, until he fi-nally ended up in a trailer around 50th Street, calling it home for the past three years. Nicknamed Wild Turkey for his love of the whiskey, Rhinehart liked to watch football, NASCAR and have cookouts.

Short and weighing barely more than 100 pounds, Rhinehart was proud he was a Marine.

“He’s a sweet, old guy and a beautiful person,” Bielke said.

Rhinehart had housing, but as many as 62,619 veterans are homeless on any given night, ac-cording to the Department of Housing and Urban Develop-ment. Homeless veterans are predominantly male, and the majority are single and can suffer from mental illness, alcohol and/or substance abuse. About 13% of the adult homeless population are veterans.


Friends of Scouting honored Floyd Hall as its 2013 Distin-guished Citizen Feb. 7, at the HCC John R. Trinkle Center.

Active in Plant City for 10 years, Friends of Scouting is an organization that promotes the benefits of scouting to young men and women.

Col. Matt Molineux, com-

mander of the 6th Air Mobil-ity Wing at MacDill Air Force Base, was the featured speak-er.

The dinner is a major fund-raiser for the Gulf Ridge Coun-cil of the Boy Scouts of Amer-ica and enables programs and services to be offered in troops throughout its reach.

Friends of Scouting hosts annual awards dinner

Wells Memorial Funeral andEvent Center honors veteranOriginally thought to be homeless, Charles D. Rhinehart livedin Tampa, but no family could be reached following his death.

tribute by amber Jurgensen | Associate Editor

Scouts lined up for the opening ceremony.

SCOUTS HOnOR by amber Jurgensen | Associate Editor

Scouts marched in to the sound bagpipes.

carl Duggan and Jonathan lane chatted before the dinner.


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Doris Louise AlonsoDoris Louise Alonso, 80, died Feb. 17.Born Nov. 30, 1932, to the late Harold P.

and Louise Ballentine Hargraves, she was the wife of the late Dr. Fernando Alonso.

Mrs. Alonso was a member of The Wa-hoo Baptist Church, attended Shiloh Bap-tist Church, after serving as a devoted pas-tor’s wife for many years. After the death of her husband, she went on to work and re-tire from Publix Super Markets, where she was a cake decorator. Her main passion in life was her family.

Survivors include sons, Randall (Debo-rah) Alonso and Paul (Gwen) Alonso; daughters, Nancy (Mark) Willis, and Diana (Tim) Stotler; brothers, Harold Hargraves and Louis Hargraves; and sisters, Ruth Padgett and Carol Thornhill.

A funeral service will be at 10:30 a.m. Feb. 21, at Shiloh Baptist Church, 1104 Cason St., Plant City. Contributions may be made to The Wahoo Baptist Church Building Fund, 4517 C.R. 319, Bushnell, FL 33513.

Online condolences may be made at haughtfuneralhome.com.

Karen Marie BorrelliKaren Marie Borrelli, 51, of Plant City

and formerly of Lowell, Mass., died Feb. 17. Born Sept. 4, 1961, she was the daughter

of Paul Lord and Theresa Vezina Lord. Mrs. Borrelli had been a patient care

technician with Tampa General Hospital.Survivors include sons, Derek Paul Lord,

Tyler Richard Borrelli and Dylan Kevin Borrelli; brother, Keith D. Lord; and sister, Kimberley Lord Curtis.

She was predeceased by brother, Kevin Paul Lord.


JoNell DykesJoNell Dykes, 81, died Feb. 17, at home. She was born on June 27, 1930, to Phillip

and Myra (Howard) Smith in Newborn, Ga. She married Terry Dykes.

Mrs. Dykes worked as an account book-keeper at Ernst & Young Accounting and was a member of Knights Baptist Church, where she sang in the choir.

She is survived by her husband of 48 years, Terry Dykes; one son, Terry M. Dykes; three daughters, Billie Strickland,

Peggy Reed and Betty Kofmehl; one sister, Doris Hawthorn; nine grand-children; and 33 great-grandchildren.

Visitation for Mrs. Dykes will be from 6 to 8 p.m. Feb. 21, at Wells Me-morial & Event Center, 1903 W. Reynolds St. Funeral will be at 11 a.m. Feb. 22.

Condolences may be made to the family at wellsmemorial.com.

Inez Estelle Jones

Inez Estelle Jones, 85, of Plant City, died Feb. 12, at Palm Terrace of Lakeland.

Born April 22, 1927, in Ducktown, Tenn., she was the daughter of the late Arnold Tarpley and the late Edith Curtis Tarpley. She was the wife of the late Homer Jones.

Survivors include a son, Marvin Jones (Linda); daughter, Carol Hawkins; broth-ers, Kenneth and David Tarpley; sister, Hazel Beshears; grandchildren, Chad Hawkins, Kristopher and Jonathan Jones; and great-grandchildren, Shawn Hawkins and John Foy.

She was predeceased by brother, Warren Tarpley; and sister, Marlene Hall.


Vonelle “Nan” Miles RobinsonVonelle “Nan” Miles Robinson, 89, of

Plant City, died Feb. 10. She was born in Jacksonville Beach but

grew up in Plant City. Her father owned Smith Brothers Grocery Store and was the founder of WPLA radio station. She was a member of the Plant City’s Woman’s Club, Daughter’s of the American Revolution and Church of Christ.

Vonelle’s sister-in-law, Marion Miles Morgan, was a severe diabetic and eventu-ally died of complications of diabetes. Mrs. Morgan had two children, Michael Miles and Kathy Sue Miles Douglass (Chuck).

When Mrs. Morgan realized she was not going to live to raise them, she allowed Mrs. Robinson and her first husband, J. Al-bert Miles, to adopt them.

Mrs. Morgan is survived by her son, Dr. John Robert Miles (Audrey); nine grand-children, Cassie Miles, Mallory Miles, Da-vid Miles, Sheila Dial, Jill Douglass, Jon-

Paul Douglass, Melissa Rubio, Autumn Miles and Bobby Miles; several great-grandchildren; and best friend, Sarah Co-peland.

She was preceded in death by her hus-bands, J. Albert Miles and Bob Robinson; and her son, David Richard Miles.

Condolences may be made to the family at hopewellfuneral.com.

Lee Charles WeberLee Charles Weber, 81, of Plant City, died

Feb. 16.Mr. Weber was born on Sept. 17, 1931, in

Cincinnati, Ohio, to Charles and Ruth We-ber.

Mr. Weber graduated in 1949, from Wyo-ming High School and obtained his bach-elor’s degree from the University of Cincin-nati College of Pharmacy in 1953. He then entered the United States Coast Guard and served until 1955, at Cape May, N.J..

Mr. Weber served on the Wyoming City Council and was elected mayor in 1979, serving until 1983. He spent most of his retirement years in Cape May, N.J., and moved in 2005, to Lakeland.

Survivors include his sister, Jean Schmitt and brother-in-law Stanley; nephews, Ste-ven and David Schmitt; niece, Sally Keene; three grand-nieces, Dr. Holly Schmitt, Bonnie Melson and Sara Collins; and three great-great-nephews, Luke Melson, Grant Melson and Thor Collins.

A private service will be held in Cincin-nati this summer. Inurnment will be at Oakhill Cemetery in the family plot. Me-morial contributions may be made to the Presbyterian Church of Wyoming, 225 Wy-oming Ave., Wyoming, OH 45215, or Life-Path Hospice, 3010 W. Azeele St., Tampa, FL 33609.

Condolences may be made to the family at wellsmemorial.com.

J.W. “Hosea” WilliamsJ.W. “Hosea” Williams, 69 of Plant City,

died Feb. 10. Survivors include his wife, Sherrell;

children, Vincent, Shawn, Kenneth, Le-ander, Kunpesa, J.W., Anthony, Ameia, Sher-nell, Sherlonda and Sh-antelle; parents, John and Willie Mae; and oth-er relatives.

Viewing will be from 9 to 11 a.m. Feb. 23, at St. Mary’s Independent Community Church, 907 E. Laurel St., Plant City, with service fol-lowing at 11 a.m.

Condolences may be made to the fam-ily at wilson-funeralhome.com.

William Dempsey Wilson IIWilliam Dempsey Wilson II died Feb.

10. He was 70.Mr. Wilson built a successful business,

W.D. Miscellaneous Fabrication, and he also earned his pilot’s li-cense.

His most recent ac-complishment was building his wife, Jac-queline Elaine, a beauti-ful cabin in North Caro-lina.

He is survived by his wife, Jacqueline Elaine; children, Dempsey ( Jane), Robin (Don), Paige ( Jon), Christopher (Tiffany) and Carolyn Ann; brother RayDale (Donna); sister Gayle (David); grandchildren, Nelson, Mabry, Brittany, Jordan, John-ny, Jade, Caleb, Jessie, Allie and Ha-leigh; great-grandchild, Hayden; many nieces and nephews; and hundreds of friends.

Services were held Feb. 16. The family requests that, in lieu of

flowers, please make a donation in Mr. Wilson’s name to: “Tampa Bay Tres Dias,” 10908 McMullen Loop, Riverview, FL 33569.

OBSERVEROBITUARIES

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Cookie cutter funerals?

Not from us. Our goal is to provide individual attention—not meet our numbers.

We realize that at a time like this, a family is better served with a service that reflects

the attributes and wishes that make people unique.

David & Cynthia Wolf,OWNERS, HAUGHT FUNERAL HOME

Tim & Jo Haught FOUNDERS

708 W. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd.Plant City, FL 33563 | 813-717-9300

We’ve all heard the stereo-types.

Some popular ones in-clude the derogatory phrases “meatheads” and “dumb jocks.”

Athletes across the globe defy these misconceptions every day, and Plant City area athletes certainly are doing their part of squashing these stereotypes.

The more I cover local high school sports teams, the more I take note of the academic successes of the athletes.

It’s some-thing coaches are quick to point out — and rightly so.

After all, the word “student” comes first in student-athlete, and it’s something that college coaches certainly consider, much more than some may think.

The three Plant City-area high schools have built a strong academic tradition, and some of those school’s best students also shine on the court or playing field.

This is prominent at Strawberry Crest, a school that identifies with academic success with its International Baccalaureate program. Many of the athletes at SCHS, especially the seniors, came to the school because of academics. After interview-ing numerous athletes at the school, their loaded class schedules full of IB, Advanced Placement and honor classes generally come up.

Take soccer player Mazeed Aro-Lambo. He led the Char-gers in practically every of-fensive category this season, and despite having several offers to play in college, he will be attending prestigious Northwestern University outside Chicago on a full aca-demic scholarship. He does hope to walk-on to the team there, once again balancing a rigorous academic schedule with a team sport.

One of the more inter-esting examples of an entire team unit suc-ceeding academically is

Durant football’s 2012 offensive line. The

kids may be big and

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 WEEKSlugger Sergio

Garcia leadsPlant City. 15

THURSDAY, FEbRUARY 21, 2013PLANTCITYObserver.COm

SHOW ME THE MAUNEY

MATTMAUNEY

The true meaning of student athletes

For the eighth consecutive year, college club baseball and softball teams from across the country will call Plant City home for a week throughout March.

The National Club Baseball Association, in partnership with the Tampa Bay Sports Commission and the Plant City Recreation and Parks De-partment, will bring about 56 college club teams to Mike E. Sansone Park for exhibition spring training games, begin-ning March 2.

The event has grown tre-mendously since 2006, when the Tampa Bay Sports Com-mission entered into a partnership with the NCBA, which was looking for a venue in the Tampa area. Plant City was chosen because of the facili-ties at Mike E. Sansone, a for-mer spring training venue for the Texas Rangers MLB fran-chise in the 1970s.

“These teams come down here on their spring breaks, so in addition to playing, they also want to go to a location

that’s close to fun things to do,” said Savannah Harp, di-rector of spring training op-erations. “Plant City has great facilities and is close enough to the beach, Disney and other attractions.”

Teams generally stay for an entire week, Saturday to Saturday, and will compete in a number of games against other club teams in ex-hibit ion p l a y .

These games don’t count against con-

ference records and don’t affect postsea-son implications, making the event a great opportunity for teams to fine-tune their skills.

“Many teams com-ing down are from up n o r t h , where they can’t play right

now because of the weather,” Harp said. “This allows them to prep for conference play and is a good way to get some of the younger and more inex-perienced players some play-ing time.”

Harp also said the event is a great bonding experience for players and coaches.

“You have to think that these teams will be together

for long bus or plane trips, staying together in a ho-

tel and spending their free time on their

spring breaks to-gether,” she said. “The coaches love it because it builds team

camaraderie.”

warming up by matt mauney | Associate Editor

Courtesy photos

The National Club baseball Association has brought collegiate club teams to Plant City for eight years, including elite schools such as Virginia Tech and Pittsburgh (above).

TrAININg grOuNdsA record 60 collegiate club baseball and softball teams will invade Plant City for a four-week spring training season.

PAGE 14

Seniors Yasmine Gardiner and Brittany Barber remem-ber what it was like.

“When we started off, we were kind of the joke of the school,” Gardiner said of the the inaugural Strawberry Crest girls track team in 2009.

Both young and raw talents as freshmen, the duo flew be-low everyone’s radar that year. When current juniors Sequoya Williams and Ambria Keys joined the team in 2010, some-thing special began forming.

But again, few took notice. “There were a lot of people

who didn’t know anything about us, but as soon as we race, we get their attention,” Williams said. “We shocked a whole bunch of people, and now, we hear teams warning each other about us — that we’re coming for them.”

That warning has been heard loud and clear — and for good reason.

The foursome has been a force in Hillsborough County as a 4x100 team. They enter this season — their last to-gether — as back-to-back dis-trict and county champions. They also won regionals in 2011, before finishing third at region last year after the pro-gram moved up from 2A to 3A.

“We ended up clicking to-gether right off the bat,” Bar-ber said of her relay team-mates. “We’ve learned from one another and have been able to adapt to one another’s speed. We’ve made a name for ourselves, and now, we have county titles, district titles, a region title, and we’re a mul-tiple state qualifier. So, for the past two, going on three years, (it) has been a good experi-ence.”

In high school track, few relay teams get to stay in tact for three years. This group is hoping its past experiences together will benefit them in reaching their ultimate goal — a state championship — after finishing 12th last year.

Strawberry Crest is the only school in that top 12 to return all four runners.

“One thing we’ve learned is to trust each other, and even if

Humble beginnings fuel CrestfoursomeStrawberry Crest’s 4x100 team is cementing the building blocks for the Chargers girls track program.

PRECEDENT by matt mauney | Associate Editor

FOURSOME / PAGE 15 MAUNEY / PAGE 14


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Runners got down and dirty during the Hog Wild Mud Run 3 Feb. 16, in Dover.

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Runners slosh through mud runHog wilD by amber Jurgensen | Associate Editor

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In addition to NCBA spring training, four members of the National Club Soft-ball Association — Wyoming, Rutgers, UCF and Baylor — also will be playing in a spring showcase March 21 to 24, at Sansone Park.

“We are very pleased to have the col-lege players in town for their workouts, coming in from a wide variety of states,” Plant City Recreation and Parks Director Jack Holland said.

“The NCBA/NCSA and their staff have been great to work with, and we appreci-ate their selection of our facilities for the annual spring training.”

According to Jason Aughey, the sales and events manager for the Tampa Bay Sports Commission, the club spring training is an economic asset to Greater Plant City, as well as the Tampa Bay area at large.

CLUB VS. NCAAThe NCBA and NCSA are divisions of

the National Federation of Collegiate Club Sport Leagues, a compilation of governing bodies which oversee colle-giate club athletics.

Club sports are separate from sports under the NCAA or NAIA. Seasons usu-ally consist of fewer games, and teams comprise non-scholarship athletes.

CollClubSports holds tournaments and national championships for all four of its leagues, including Division I and Division II classifications for baseball.

Although the teams competing in March won’t be the ones playing in the College World Series this summer, there still will be plenty of talent on display. Several club teams participating in this year’s spring training include annual contenders for national championships, including Virginia Tech, Penn State, Ohio State Division I and Wisconsin-Madison. The University of Pittsburgh, a partici-pant in last year’s NCBA Division I World Series tournament, has held its spring training in Plant City for many years, ac-cording to Harp.

ONGOING NEGOTIATIONSThis will mark the second in the two-

year agreement between the NCBA and the Tampa Bay Sports Commission to bring the spring training showcase to Plant City.

According to Harp, the organization would love to reach a new agreement to remain in Plant City, but a lack of base-ball fields is an issue. Sansone Park fea-tures two full-sized baseball fields and an auxiliary practice field, in addition to two NCAA regulation softball fields and four batting tunnels.

“We want NCBA/NCSA to stay, but as Savannah stated, we are limited with the number of adult-size baseball fields we have,” Holland said.

One option would be the conversion of Plant City Stadium and the Randy Lar-son Four-Plex from a softball facility to

baseball. Plant City Stadium originally was built as the spring training home for the Cincinnati Reds in the 1980s, before later being converted to softball after the team left town.

The conversion was an essential part in bringing the International Softball Federation headquarters to Plant City. The ISF uses the facility to host national and international tournaments.

The city is currently looking at two options to supplement the cost of daily operations and expenses of the stadium and four-plex: An outside management company to step in to take over day-to-day operations and expenses of the Sta-dium/Four-Plex facility, or an outright sale of the facility.

The closing date for proposals is April 1. According to Holland, the request for qualifications process helps rank pro-posals to determine the best outcome for the city. The outcome of the responses received from the RFQ will likely deter-mine whether a new deal can be reached with the NCBA, Holland said.

“We love Plant City and hope we can stay there,” Harp said. “It’s pretty much like our second home, because we’re there for the whole month of March.”


menacing on the field, but they also are sharp in the classroom, with a cumulative weighted GPA of 5.5. Senior center Alex Wood leads that group and likely will at-tend an Ivy League school this fall.

Also in football, the group at Plant City cannot be overlooked. The Raiders had a strong year when it comes to college recruiting. Six of the 10 seniors have com-mitted to play at the next level, which means they all have financial help in some capacity to get a college education. Perhaps even more impressive is that the other four seniors also will attend college, according to PCHS assistant coach Greg Meyer.

In high school sports, especially football, coaches often preach academic success to their players, but it is some-times more of a formality than a goal of the coaches. But that mentality isn’t seen here in Plant City. After spending substantial time at games, practices and weight-room sessions, you can tell these coaches value education.

Sports are a great way to teach young people life lessons, and for many, it may

be the only avenue to college. But aca-demics still play an essential part in the process.

There has been a trend in college sports that shows how athletes are being held to a higher academic standard than ever be-fore. Coaches aren’t only satisfied by how well a high school kid can catch a football or dunk a basketball. They want to find athletes who will benefit their programs by being able to stay in those programs by meeting and exceeding academic standards set for them.

There’s no point to heavily recruit a running back if you don’t have faith he will be dedicated to his studies enough to stay in school once he gets to college.

This is why there has been an increase in the amount of signings of local athletes in recent years. Coaches want players who are just as committed in the class-room as they are when wearing a uni-form.

If this trend of high academic success continues with area athletes, expect more recruiting to follow.

The best part of all of this? If the sport doesn’t work out, there is viable backup plan.

IF YOU GO2013 ncba sPring trainingWHen: March 2 to 28WHere: Mike E. Sansone Park, Fields 7, 8 and 9 and the Martin Luther King Jr. Recreation Center field scHeDUle: Teams usually stay and compete for a week during their college spring break. Schedules can be found by visiting springtrain-ing.clubbaseball.org/schedules.asp. cost: All games are free for spectators.ParticiPating teaMs: Penn State, Ohio State, Michigan State, Virginia Tech, Kentucky, Colorado and many more

2013 ncsa sPring sHoWcaseWHen: March 21 to 24WHere: Mike E. Sansone Park, Fields 5 and 6scHeDUle: springtrain-ing.clubbaseball.org/Copy_of_sched-ules.asp cost: All games are free for spectators.ParticiPating teaMs: Wyoming, Rutgers, UCF and Baylor

MaUney / 12

training / 12

Plant city observerTHURSDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2013 PlantCityObserver.com 15

you don’t run a good leg, just know that the person behind you has your back,” Keys said.

For Gardiner, that trust has been an es-sential part in the relay team’s success.

“We had that click, so it showed us that we belonged together and that we are sis-ters who have grown together,” she said.

Head coach Ryan Guarisco, who has been with the program since it began in 2009, said Barber and Gardiner have be-come the faces of the program.

“When anyone talks about Strawberry Crest, they bring up Brittany and Yas-mine,” he said. “They started their own Facebook page, and every kid on the team

is following them. They’ve kind of taken everyone under their wings and have re-ally helped to get a lot of girls that were in other sports to come out.”

Guarisco said those multi-sport ath-letes, including freshman volleyball and basketball standout Terra Brooks, have been key in filling holes in other spots on the team.

“We’re starting to become a more well-

rounded team this year, because (the 4x100 relay team) is going out there and seeking athletic girls on campus,” he said.

Although the 4x100 is their best event, the Lady Chargers are a young — but tal-ented group — as a team. Strawberry Crest went undefeated in small dual meets last season and picked up win at the Jack Rice Invitational, at East Bay.

“That was a big one for our program,” Guarisco said.

The Lady Chargers finished as district runner-up in 2012, but Guarisco believes this may be his best team yet, after the re-cruiting efforts of current members helped to fill holes that hurt them last year, includ-ing distance runners and field events.

As for the 4x100 team, in addition to aiming for a state title, they hope to make strides with individual events. Gardiner and Barber finished first and second, respec-tively, in the 100- and 200-meter dash at the district meet last year. Gardiner also does the triple jump, but says the 200 is her favorite event.

“That’s my baby,” she said. “I adore the 200.”

Barber finished third at last year’s dis-trict meet in the high jump. Both seniors hope to earn Division I track scholarships.

Keys owns the school record for the triple jump with a 34.4. She jumped a 34 flat at the season opening tri-meet against Durant and East Bay Tuesday.

Williams has qualified for state in the long jump, with a personal best of 16-4. She hopes she can up that to 18 or even 20 feet this year.


CROSSWORD_022113

O B S E RV E R C RO S S WO R DEdited by Timothy E. Parker

CRYPTOGRAMS

1. L K R V D W L S A K S E S M U A T C A A U I Z L Q S C V T R F U I Z F S W D . R I S

L R D M L Q S R L Q S E , “ D C I T Q U A R I F S ! ”

2. H B P X U Z , K C H E H C J C V H C P Q P D H H X W Q S P B X J J K H H X E U F R F Z

S B F S B P W H Q R S F T S B D . H B P I H T P X C S K V K V P H K V P Q — S J B ’ K

K V S J X P I U R H H ?

ACROSS 1 Where old Greeks

gathered 6 Piece in a place

setting 11 Bronzes 19 Fifth of the seven

canonical hours 20 Baton-passing race 21 Bach piece 22 Not the easiest

person to rattle 24 Dawdling types 25 Fifth Greek letter 26 Pizza serving 28 Depilatory brand 29 Literary bear 30 Lacking guidance 32 Baby’s favorite art

movement? 35 Celestial body 38 Slow, in music 40 “Anytown, ___” 43 “Yer out!” shouter 45 Fraternity letter 46 Ace’s hiding spot? 48 “The Lord giveth,

and the Lord ___ away”

51 Honest prez 52 ___ mater 54 Body-bending

discipline 55 Populates again, as

the Earth 57 Company that

once offered mail-order catalogs

59 “The ___ Professor”

62 Letters on a tire 63 PC shortcut 64 Chief Japanese

island 66 Normand of early

comedies 68 Bad way to operate

your business 70 Criminal, in police

slang 71 After-school

workers? 74 The first Mr.

Shirley Temple 75 Besmirch 78 Keep the

magazines coming 79 Emulate Columbo 82 Bermuda

surrounder 83 Airport posting

(abbr.) 86 Palms yielding

starch 88 Certain style, as of

furnishings 89 Monopoly card 91 Opposite of a

squeaker 93 Horse-drawn

carriage 94 Wood-shaping tool 95 Type of auto

collision 97 They need bottle

openers? 99 “Am ___ believe ...” 100 Tell a tall tale 101 Attendance fig.,

often 102 Changes one’s

story? 104 Act as a substitute 106 Decked out 109 Personnel person 111 Buckwheat’s

“Sure!” 112 Not yet final, as a

decree 115 “And there it is!” 117 Free from

confinement 121 Sugar in hard

crystals 125 Celebration

noisemaker 127 Collection of

excerpts from a literary work

128 “___ bad moon rising ...”

129 Fertilizer from bats 130 Norm’s last name

on “Cheers” 131 Pandemonium 132 Barbecue rods

dOwn 1 Get in on the deal 2 Icky or sticky stuff 3 Tedious task 4 Government in

power 5 Masonry stones 6 Swedish currency 7 “Classical” opening 8 Varieties or types 9 Opposite of

success 10 Checking out

visually 11 Baby’s first word,

perhaps 12 Land of Blarney

and Killarney 13 British art gallery

name 14 One of “The

Avengers” 15 Bloodline 16 Due follower 17 Make public 18 “Terrible twos”

chorus 23 Attractive 24 Director Spike 27 Coagulate 31 “The ___ of

Hazzard” 33 Intel product 34 Orange-yellow

shades 35 Squirrel away 36 Prefix meaning

“ancient” 37 Contortionist 38 Bean 39 2009 James

Cameron blockbuster

41 Old photo tint 42 Partook of 44 Cancun coins 47 Many, many

moons 49 Artist Jean 50 Paid tribute to 53 Weapons cache 56 Chefs aim to please

them

58 Devotion sites 60 Lake Tahoe lift 61 Some survey

responses 65 Brown truck co. 67 Olin of film 69 Son of 51-Across 72 Rue 73 Reacts to a matinee

idol, perhaps 75 Register figure 76 Having a low pH 77 Follows the advice

of 80 Raccoon relative 81 Check the fit of 84 Pearly whites 85 Ruckus 87 ___ generis (of its

own kind) 90 Subside, with

“down” 92 Perfume sampler 96 Rex Stout’s sleuth

Wolfe 97 Kind of charm 98 Detention sites 103 Godlike 105 Aid for peeper-

washing 107 Thing you don’t

want to twist 108 Kitchen gizmo 110 Wall-climbing

plant 111 Killer whales 113 Black Hawk’s group 114 “... and ___ the fire” 116 Geometric

calculation 118 Electronics

company 119 Dispatched 120 Love deity 121 Poetic music genre 122 ___ for the books 123 Whiskered pet 124 “Blues Brother”

Aykroyd 126 Abbr. in help-

wanted ads

SnACK wELL by Oscar Lunford

3

SERGIO GARCIAATHlETE OF THE wEEk by Matt Mauney | Associate Editor

Plant City senior Sergio Garcia has been a bright spot in the lineup for Plant City base-ball in this early stage of the 2013 season. The second baseman is hitting .650, with a triple and two doubles going into Tuesday night’s game with Hillsborough. He has played all four years on varsity for the Raiders. According to new PCHS head coach Mike Fryrear, Garcia is a team leader and hopes to have a breakout senior season.

How long have you been playing baseball?

I started when I was 5, so about 13 years.

What got you interested in playing?My older brothers played.

Have you always played infield?No, I’ve bounced around a lot, but

I’ve been playing second this season.

Is there a position you prefer?Second base. I just feel like I’m in

command.

What has made you so successful at the plate this season?

I’ve been staying back with the ball and letting it travel. I’ve tried to be more patient.

What have you worked the most on over the offseason?

I’ve been working on my agility and footwork. I’ve also been working on having quick hands.

Being here for all four years, how have you seen this program progress?

Coach Fryrear really cares about us and pushes us through school and with baseball.

What are some personal goals for you this year?

I want to hopefully get looked at by some colleges and hopefully go

to school and play baseball.

Is there anybody that you look up to when it comes to baseball?

I’d probably say my mom, because she always works hard for everything and supports me and my family.

Do you have a favorite Major League team?

The (Tampa Bay) Rays

What about a favorite player?

Ben Zobrist, because he can play any posi-tion.

FoUrsoMe / 12

Matt Mauney

ambria Keys, yasmine Gardiner, sequoya Williams and brittany barber are hoping to make their last season together a memorable one.

16 PlantCityObserver.com Plant city observer

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2013

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02.21.13 Plant City Observer

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