Plant City Obsever 09.06.12

Cops Corner .........6 Crossword ......... 15 Obituaries ......... 14 Sports ............... 11INDEX Vol. 1, No. 10 | One section

PlantCityObserver.com

FREE • thuRsday, sEPtEMBER 6, 2012

newSIN fOcusArchives hosts final farewell for sculptures.PAGe 5

PLANT CITYObserveryou. youR nEighBoRs. youR nEighBoRhood.

+ Improvement League helps out

The Improvement League of Plant City, in partnership with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Bright House networks, recently donated backpacks to students in the Head Start program at Lincoln IB School in Plant City.

The Improvement League adopted and sponsored the program three years ago. The backpacks were obtained by the league after submitting a grant for school supplies ear-lier this year.

+ Planteen tohost Bible study

The Plant City Community Ladies Bible Study began its third year this week.

The group meets from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. wednesdays, at Planteen Recreation Center, 301 Dort St., Plant City.

The group is led by Martha sue skinner, and the new study’s theme is “Building a Life that Matters,” based on the book of Acts.

women of all ages are invit-ed. For more information, call (813) 752-4938.

+ Warm up those vocal cords!

The Shiloh Baptist Associational Senior Adults will perform an Old Time Sing-a-Long concert at 6 p.m. Sept. 14, at eastside Baptist

Church, 1318 e. Calhoun St.

The group will be singing the old songs including,

gospel, patriotic, comedy and more. The

Celebration Singers also will provide special music.

Guests also can enjoy a Southern-inspired dinner, including fried chicken, green beans, creamed potatoes, rolls, coffee, tea and apple cobbler.

Tickets are $5 per person and available at eastside office.

For more information, call hazel smith, (813)752-8631.

OUR TOwn

sPOrtsDurant, Plant Cityhit links at walden Lake golf course.PAGE 15

sEE stINGrAY / PAGE 4

Plant City Mayor Mike Spark-man is getting out of the car busi-ness.

On Aug. 30, Sparkman closed the sale of his Bartow Chevrolet dealership to Stingray Chevrolet owner Steve Hurley for the acqui-sition of Sparkman’s Chevy deal-ership in Bartow.

The Bartow location will take the name Stingray Chevrolet of Bartow and will be run by Hur-ley’s son, Matt.

The purchase price has not been disclosed at this time.

Sparkman purchased the Bar-tow dealership Sept. 22, 2008, but decided earlier this year to move forward to sell the dealership.

“I’ve been in business all my life, and in business, we learn that timing is of the essence and is es-sential to be successful,” Spark-man said. “We feel like we got into it at the worst possible time back in 2008, and the situation has not changed that much. It’s extremely difficult for small dealerships to make a profit in this type of eco-nomic atmosphere.”

Hurley opened Stingray Chev-rolet in December 2008 and has guided it to become the largest Chevy dealership in Tampa Bay.

Sparkman contacted Hurley several months ago about his interest in buying the Bartow location. Hurley said the acqui-sition allows for an expansion into the Polk County market, and by taking on the Stingray name, the dealership will gain more exposure given marketing resources.

“It allows us to use the Stingray name to get the word out, and it will allow us to really market Stingray Bartow,” Steve Hurley said. “We have opportunities now that we didn’t have before by having another dealership in the marketplace.”

Sparkman said his previous business relationship with Hurley helped the deal run smoothly.

“He’s been very active in the

sparkmansells Bartowdealershipto stingraySteve Hurley’s son, Matt, will run the new Bartow location for Stingray.

sold! By Matt Mauney | Staff writer

A RivAlRy Renewed

Fans for both Strawberry Crest and Plant City high schools showed their school spirit during the season-open-ing rivalry game between the

two local teams Sept. 1, at Strawberry Crest High School.

From the bands and cheer-leaders to the face paint and school colors, fans from both

schools appeared ready for an-other year on the gridiron.

The Chargers bested their crosstown rivals 21-7. For more coverage, see Sports, 11.

SPOTLIGHT By Matt Mauney | Staff writer

Christian hoyle and austin Brunner cheered hard for the Raiders.

The Strawberry Crest dance team showed off their best moves.

Plant City juniors danielle Rodriguez, Madison harrington and Jana Watkins

Drum majors Elizabeth ninan and Josh Cockream led the Strawberry Crest marching band.

giselle gutierrez, 8, cheered for the Chargers.

Kierstan thomas, alyssa galloway, Celest Weaver, Julia strickland and savannah nichols came out to show support for their teams.

sEE Our tOWN / PAGE 4

Area Republicans celebrate city’snew Victory Office.PAGe 3

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703 South EversPlant City, FL 33563

813-754-3547Coleman Davis, Owner

R

prices in this ad are effective through September 10, 2012

GIANT LABOR DAY SALE!GIANT LABOR DAY SALE!R

MAKE LIFE EASIER... upgrade your old appliances!

3.5 cu. ft.• 3 temp. settings• 3 water levels $499.95 $429.95

884562/111589/111590

6.5 cu. ft.• 3 temp. settings• wrinkle guard$499.95 $429.95

$798 reg. $999.90


884812/112070/1120713.7 cu. ft.• 12 wash cycles• dual action agitator$599.95 $499.95

$948 reg. $1199.90


6.0 cu. ft.• 6 dry cycles• 4 heat selections$599.95 $499.95

18.2 cu. ft.• glass shelves18.2 with icemaker$759.95 $699.9547949/103983 stainless steel 113196 $699.95

OPTIONS

47945/97935

$59995 reg. $659.95

SAVE $60

50”

37”32”SAVEup to$301

32” LED HDTV $298 113149 save $251.95

37” LED HDTV $398 113150 save $251.95

50” PLASMA HDTV $698 111989 save $301.95

while supplies last

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SCRATCHTO WIN!

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OFFon any one item

Tuesday, Aug. 28 - Sept. 4 2012

DON’T SCRATCH YET!

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

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

at participating Badcock stores. Excludes

iComfort, Tempur-Pedic, electronics &

appliances.

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

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PlantCityObserver.com 3 Plant city observerTHURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2012

This weekend, Plant City High School senior Mor-gan Moody will de-part for a weeklong tour of Washington, D.C. Moody was se-lected by U.S. Rep. Dennis Ross to rep-resent Plant City High School in the nation’s capital.

A m a z i n g l y , the tour will be Moody’s second brush with nation-al politics since school began. Last week, Moody and 16 of her Plant City classmates par-ticipated in The Washington Center’s Campaign 2012 Academic Seminar Series, which took place during the Re-publican National Convention Aug. 28, at Hillsborough Com-munity College’s Ybor City cam-pus.

During the series, the Plant City students joined others from throughout the county to hear a panel discussion featur-ing former congressmen Phillip English (R-Pa.), Lawrence Smith (D-Fla.) and Peter Torkildsen (R-Mass.). The students also heard from journalists Josh Kraush-aar, executive editor of National Journal Hotline; David Light-man, McClatchy Newspapers Congress and Election 2012 cor-respondent; and Ellen Ratner, Talk Radio News Service White House correspondent, regard-ing politics and the media. And Lucas Boyce, director of commu-nity relations, multicultural in-sights, cause marketing and gov-ernment affairs for the Orlando Magic, delivered an inspirational address about leadership and overcoming obstacles.

Plant City High College and Career Counselor Sherrie Muel-ler, who organized her school’s representatives, said the seminar offered a unique perspective of government to some of her cam-pus’ student leaders.

“We really chose the movers and shakers (to go),” Mueller said. “It was such a neat thing for the kids — and really well organized.”

Seniors Stephanie Taylor and

William Hanks — both Republicans — said the seminar helped reinforce their own political beliefs.

“The panel had one Democrat, and it was interesting to hear that side, too,” Taylor said. “It gave us in-sight into the oppos-ing viewpoint. (But ul-timately), it reinforced my own beliefs.”

Hanks said he be-lieves the economy is the most significant issue in this year’s presidential election. And although he has a steady job at Publix, he said he knows who-

ever wins the election in Novem-ber will have a significant impact on his life when he graduates col-lege in four years.

“We need to get this economy turned around,” he said. “It’ll just make it easier, career-wise.”

Taylor agreed.“The more the economy is

boosted, the better everything will be,” said Taylor, who plans to attend the University of Florida to become an orthodontist. “When people have more money, they can spend it on things (such as) braces.”

Moody said her favorite part of the seminar was the panel of con-gressmen.

“It was so interesting to hear their viewpoints and how their experience in Congress was dif-ferent than what it is today,” she said.

Moody said she is excited to learn even more about national politics during her trip to Wash-ington.

“We’ll get to tour the FBI, the Li-brary of Commerce, the Supreme Court,” she said. “I think it’s really going to open my eyes.”

Without the use of school bus-es, Mueller had to coordinate drivers to ferry the students into Tampa. Parents Cathy Adams, Laura Brummer and Stacy Rodri-guez, and grandmother Ola Jean Hardee all volunteered to make the experience possible for the students.

Contact Michael Eng at [email protected].

PARTICIPATING STUDENTSTaylor AdamsSara BrummerMolly CoovertCierra Craft Leann FarkasLindsey FarkasKelsey Fry Casey HamiltonWilliam HanksJackson HardeeMaddy KeeneRobby KnoxMorgan MoodyNicholas RodriguezKatelyn SykesStephanie TaylorSarah Winter

FUTURE LEADERS by Michael eng | Managing Editor

Courtesy photo

Front row, from left: sara brummer, taylor adams, Maddy Keene, Molly coovert, Morgan Moody, Katelyn sykes, stephanie taylor, leann Farkas, cierra craft and sarah Winter. Back row, from left: Jackson Hardee, casey Hamilton, nicholas rodriguez, William Hanks, robby Knox, Kelsey Fry and lindsey Farkas.

Plant City High standouts participate in RNC seminarSeventeen students learned about government, media and more at The Washington Center’s Campaign 2012 Academic Seminar Series.

The Plant City Republican Victory Office celebrated its grand opening Sept 4.

The Victory Office, located on 600 W. Martin Luther King Jr. St., is an annex of Dan Raulerson’s office.

U.S. Rep. Dennis Ross was the keynote speaker and had the honor of cutting the ribbon. Hillsborough County Commis-sioner Al Higginbothamn intro-duced Ross. Florida state Rep. Rich Glorioso and Hillsborough

County Republican Party Chair-man Art Wood were also in at-tendance.

“We’re very excited,” coordi-nator Judy Wise said. “There is no more important state than Florida and no more important area than the I-4 corridor.”

The Republican National Committee has opened more than 20 victory offices through-out Florida this summer, in-cluding one in neighboring Lakeland.

The victory offices will help promote Mitt Romney in his campaign for president.

celebration by amber Jurgensen | Staff Writer

andy taylor, Higginbotham’s aide, Hillsborough County Commissioner al Higginbotham and his wife, Devon

Judy and Florida state Rep. rich Glorioso enjoyed the event with tina Pike, left.

U.S. Rep. Dennis ross cut the ribbon for the new Victory Office and also delivered the keynote address.

republican Party opens victory office

The Victory Office grand opening attracted several key Republicans, including U.S. Rep. Dennis ross, Florida state Rep. rich Glorioso and Hillsborough County Commissioner al Higginbotham.

larry Wood and Don rogers

norma Jeerings and Mary Jo Futch The Rev. clarence Pajiras and sharon Pajiras

Plant city observerTHURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2012

+ Need somecomputer help?

The Bruton Memorial Library resumed its computer classes for adults this week.

Classes are held from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesdays, at the library, 302 W. McLendon St., Plant City.

“I wanted to keep the computer classes consistent with what they have been in the past while also adding what I thought would be useful and interesting to the public like

learning about using eReaders,” said Kerri arbuthnot, the new computer services librar-ian. These free computer classes are hands-on training that will consist of a wide variety of topics, beginning with the basics aspects of using a computer and ending in December with using eReaders. Other classes will include learning Microsoft Word, Excel, and Power Point. The courses are designed for students with little or no previous knowledge of the computer.

No pre-registration is required; however, students are encouraged to come in one hour early the day of the class to ensure a spot.

For more information, call (813) 757-9215.

4 PlantCityObserver.com

Julie Banks and Emily Brushwood of Playtime Learning Aademy with Steve Lane, Vice President and E.J. McCargar, President

Two teachers, a vision, and the backing of the Tampa Bay Economic Development Corporation (TEDCO): that’s how

Playtime Learning Academy began. A decade later, it’s grown by 500% through the dedication of it’s staff and the continued

support of TEDCO. We are proud to be a small business in Tampa and we are proud to be a TEDCO success story.

TEDCOTampa Bay Economic Development CorporationEmpowering Small Business for Success

[email protected] [email protected] 2907 W. Bay to Bay Blvd. Suite 302, Tampa, FL 33629

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community, and with my association with the city and with the Florida Strawberry Festival, we’ve got a real special friendship going and have a lot of respect for each other,” Sparkman said. “That’s the reason I went to him with this, because we have like feelings and like community involvement and I feel that he can take Bartow and be just as involved with the community there as he is here in Plant City.”

Sparkman also said with the Stingray name, the Bartow location can thrive, even under economic uncertainty.

“Stingray is a big company and is very well known and established in the indus-try,” he said. “This is an industry that we re-ally didn’t have any knowledge about, and it was just difficult for a start-up business in this industry and, at this time, to be suc-cessful.”

Hurley said the new acquisition can see success, noting that when he took over the dealership off Park Road, many people didn’t think that it would be a success.

“We were told that you couldn’t sell Cor-vettes in Plant City, and Matt was in charge of Corvette sales and took us to No. 2 in the nation last year,” Hurley said. “We have to find what our focus is and find that niche market.”

Bartow is known for truck buyers, and

the dealership fared well in truck sales under Sparkman’s ownership, run by his son, Chris, chief operating officer of Spark-man Chevrolet LLC. The Bartow location ranked No. 2 in market performance in the state, which is based on the sales-to-popu-lation-size ratio.

Matt Hurley also noted with another Stingray in the region, crossover business could occur, bringing some business from the smaller Bartow location to the much larger Plant City dealership.

“I’m thinking that I may do a little better in trucks, and my dad do better in Corvette sales,” Matt Hurley said. “He (Steve Hurley) has 1,000 new Chevrolets on the ground, and I, of course, have much less than that, so, of course, if we have a customer (who) needs a car in Plant City, we can bring it over and sell it. The same goes to him, so that’s a huge advantage for us.”

Sparkman also owns a Chevy dealership in Zephyrhills. He currently is in the pro-cess of trying to sell that dealership and is hoping make progress in the next 30 to 60 days.

According to Steve Hurley, he has no in-terest at this time in the Zephyrhills loca-tion.

“I think we have our hands full at the moment,” he said.

Contact Matt Mauney at [email protected].

stinGray/PaGe 1

OUR TOWNCONTINUED FROM 1


ou can’t getany closer tohome thanSunshine State.

We are Plant City’s oldest and largest hometown financial

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I wanted to tell you how much I appreciate the improvement in the cost of Homeowners Insurance. The reduction of $1,400 per year was a great relief considering all of the cost increases that families are faced with today! I feel like I have much better coverage and saving money helps to make it even better. I was just surprised by the savings considering I have not researched Homeowners Insurance in 10 years. Thank you for taking care of my insurance needs. You now have a very happy customer for a long time. –Roy Peterson

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An intimate group gath-ered for wine and hors d’oeuvres Aug. 30, at the Plant City Photo Archives and History Center, before

setting off to tour the eight “Man on the Street” sculp-tures by J. Seward Johnson located in McCall Park.

The sculptures were on

display for three months and were obtained through a loan from the the Sculp-tures Foundation. The dis-play ended Sept. 4.

Plant City Photo Archiveshosts last sculpture soiree

in focUS by amber Jurgensen | Staff Writer

Marsha Passmore and Plant city Photo Archives and History center Executive Director Gil Gott enjoyed spending time with friend Dodie White.

cassandra and George banning loved looking at betty Jones’ hat display before the tour. clayton Jenkins chatted with friends.


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All A Bloom FloristAmeriCare Ambulance Service, Inc. Anytime FitnessApplebee’s Neighborhood Grill & BarArchive Properties, Inc.The ArtistryBPowerful PromosBealls Department StoreBlack’s Insurance & Financial ServicesBloodNet USABrandon Regional HospitalBright House Networks Brown’s Floral ShopBruton Memorial LibraryBusch GardensCaring Concepts, Inc.Central Florida Massage — Judy FulmerCF Industries, Inc.Chili’s #1034Charles ClossheyChris Welbon Karate ClubsComprehensive Physician Services, Inc.Renee Corzine — Keller Williams RealtyCreative Flower Designs by GlennD.H. Horton at Whispering WoodsDental Associates of Plant City, P.A.Dinosaur World, Inc.Dukes Chiropractic Health Clinic, P.A.

Edward Jones — Jeff DoveFairfield Inn & Suites by MarriottFinest NailsFirst Florida Insurance AgencyFirst Presbyterian ChurchFlorida Strawberry Festival Fred’s Southern KitchenGreater Plant City Chamber of Commerce Haught Funeral Home, Inc.Helicon Foundation RepairHillsborough Community College — Plant CityHillsborough Title, Inc.Hopewell Funeral Home & Memorial GardensIn The Field — Hillsborough’s Agricultural MagazineJ&G JewelersJarrett-Scott FordKaleidoscope Kids Learning Center, LLCKiwanis Club of Plant CityMango Family CleanersMario Camacho FoodsMinuteman PressNYR Organic — Beth TancredoO’Brien’s Irish Pub & Grill of Plant CityOasis Auto BashPanera BreadPlant City Courier/Tampa TribunePlant City Mortgage Corp.Plant City Observer

Plant City Photo Archives & History CenterPlant City Tire & Auto Service, Inc.Platinum BankPoppell Insurance, Inc.Premiere Cinema CorperationPublix Super MarketsRailroad & Industrial Federal Credit UnionSanta Sweets, Inc.Sedita Kilton Life & Wealth Management, LLCSouth Florida Baptist Hospital Southwest Florida Water Management DistrictState Farm Insurance — Courtney PaatState Farm Insurance — Tony LeeSuncoast Community Health Center PediatricsSuncoast Schools Federal Credit Union Sunshine State Federal SavingsNatalie Sweet — Keller Williams RealtySweetbay SupermarketTampa Bay Times Toufayan Bakery of Plant City, Inc.VALICValrico State Bank — Center State BankVideo Conversions of FloridaWalden Lake Car Wash & Service CenterWells Memorial & Event CenterPlant City Family YMCA

S P O N S O R S

Presentation of colors by:

Strawberry Crest High School Army JROTC Color GuardNew Teacher coffee commiTTee: Anne Haywood (chairman),

Daphne Blanton, David Brown, Sue Burt, Gina Becker, Maribel Lorenzo, Melody Murphy, Amy Nizamoff, Mary Ann Paris,Don Phillips, Dorinda Roundtree, Clark Smith, Marion Smith, & Andrea Whitel

Special thanks to our volunteers!

Thanks To allThe 2012 New Teacher Coffee Sponsors!!!!

All A Bloom Florist AmeriCare Ambulance Service, Inc.

Anytime Fitness Applebee’s Neighborhood Grill & Bar

Archive Properties, Inc. The Artistry

BPowerful Promos Bealls Department Store

Black’s Insurance & Financial Services BloodNet USA

Brandon Regional Hospital Bright House Networks

Brown’s Floral Shop Bruton Memorial Library

Busch Gardens Caring Concepts, Inc.

Central Florida Massage - Judy Fulmer CF Industries, Inc.

Chili’s #1034 Charles Closshey

Chris Welbon Karate Clubs Comprehensive Physician Services, Inc. Renee Corzine - Keller Williams Realty

Creative Flower Designs by Glenn D. R. Horton at Whispering Woods

Dental Associates of Plant City, P.A. Dinosaur World, Inc.

Dukes Chiropractic Health Clinic, P.A. Edward Jones - Jeff Dove

Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott Finest Nails

First Florida Insurance Agency First Presbyterian Church

Florida Strawberry Festival® Fred’s Southern Kitchen

Greater Plant City Chamber of Commerce Haught Funeral Home, Inc. Helicon Foundation Repair

Hillsborough Community College - Plant City Hillsborough Title, Inc.

Hopewell Funeral Home & Memorial Gardens In The Field - Hillsborough’s Agriculture Magazine

J & G Jewelers Jarrett-Scott Ford

Kaleidoscope Kids Learning Center, LLC Kiwanis Club of Plant City

Mango Family Cleaners Mario Camacho Foods

Minuteman Press NYR Organic - Beth Tancredo

O’Brien’s Irish Pub & Grill of Plant City Oasis Auto Bath

Panera Bread Plant City Animal Hospital

Plant City Courier / Tampa Tribune Plant City Mortgage Corp.

Plant City Observer Plant City Photo Archives & History Center

Plant City Tire & Auto Service, Inc. Platinum Bank

Poppell Insurance, Inc. Premiere Cinema Corporation

Publix Super Markets Railroad & Industrial Federal Credit Union

Santa Sweets, Inc. Sedita Kilton Life & Wealth Management, LLC

South Florida Baptist Hospital Southwest Florida Water Management District

State Farm Insurance - Courtney Paat State Farm Insurance - Tony Lee

Suncoast Community Health Centers Pediatrics Suncoast Schools Federal Credit Union

Sunshine State Federal Savings Natalie Sweet - Keller Williams Realty

Sweetbay Supermarket Tampa Bay Times

Toufayan Bakery of Plant City, Inc. VALIC

Valrico State Bank - Center State Bank Video Conversions of Florida

Walden Lake Car Wash & Service Center Wells Memorial & Event Center

Plant City Family YMCA. .

Presentation of Colors by: Strawberry Crest High School Army JROTC Color Guard

New Teacher Coffee Committee:

Anne Haywood (chairman), Daphne Blanton, David Brown, Sue Burt, Gina Becker,

Maribel Lorenzo, Melody Murphy, Amy Nizamoff, Mary Ann Paris, Don Phillips, Dorinda Roundtree,

Clark Smith, Marion Smith, & Andrea White. Special thanks to our volunteers!

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CITYPROPERTIESCOMPANY

MANAGEMENT • SALES • RENTALS

Your Hometown Property Management Company

40 years in Plant CityPhilip Balliet - Manager

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

AUG. 25 BOLD MOVE

2900 block of Juniper lake Place. Stolen Vehicle. Unknown suspect(s) stole the vic-tim’s 2007 red Cadillac Escalade Aug. 23. The victim’s keys and wallet were inside the vehicle. The suspect(s) used the credit card several times on Park Road. OnStar tracked the vehicle to 1028 Walnut St., Lake-land, where Lakeland Police re-covered the abandoned vehicle. No arrests have been made.

SHOOTING3000 block of West reynolds street.

Shooting with Injuries. An unknown sus-pect shot the victim twice in the back with an unknown caliber handgun. The suspect is described as a 16- to 18-year-old His-panic male with a mohawk-style haircut, black clothing and a black back pack. The suspect was last seen riding a blue bike away from scene.

AUG. 26 IT’S HIS OWN FAULT

1400 block of south collins street. Traf-fic Crash with Injuries. A driver lost control of vehicle while driving northbound on Collins Street. As he approached the inter-section of Grant Street, he looked down at his cell phone and lost control, rolled his truck and knocked down a power pole on the east side of Collins Street. The driver sustained minor injuries and was trans-ported to South Florida Baptist Hospital. TECO responded to scene and repaired the damaged pole.

MAYBE HE’S JUST BORROWING IT1900 block of industrial Park Drive. Bur-

glary. An unknown suspect damaged the lock on the gate and entered the com-pound. Once inside, the suspect stole a trailer and a zero-turn mower, valued at $5,910.

PAIN AT THE PUMP1100 block of east baker street. Rob-

bery/Waiver. The gas station clerk said an unknown female entered and requested $9 worth of gas. She handed the clerk several dollar bills and then exited the store. Upon counting the money, the clerk found only $7, which she credited to the gas pumps. When the male suspect, who was with the female, reached $7 gas max, he entered the store and demanded to know why $9 was not credited. The clerk showed him the cash the female provided, at which time

he snatched it and left the location. Moments later,

the female, who was with the suspect, re-entered, apol-

ogized for the suspect’s behavior and returned the money to the cashier.

FOUND FIREARM2600 James l. redman Parkway. Found

Firearm. The complainant contacted the Plant City Police Department in reference to a gun he found in a drainage ditch. Offi-cers located a black Cobra .380, which was reported as stolen out of Tampa.

NOT TOO BRIGHT2600 James l. redman Parkway. Re-

tail Theft. The suspect was recorded via security stealing $37.88 worth of vehicle headlights from the store. The suspect was arrested and released on his own recogni-zance with a court date.

AUG. 27 JUST TOO EASY

2700 block of Horseshoe Drive. Vehicle Burglary. Unknown suspect(s) stole a Toshiba laptop, Hi Point 9-mm handgun and a 35-mm camera from an unlocked 2001 Honda Accord.

GAMER GRIEF1900 block of sammonds road. Resi-

dential Burglary. The victim stated she returned home to find a window located on the east side of her home open. Her Playstation 3, the controller and a “Call of Duty” game were missing.

AUG. 28 FAMILY BUSINESS

2600 block of James l. redman Parkway. Shoplifting/Petit Theft. A mother and her son were arrested for shoplifting. The two were released on their own recognizance and issued a court date.

AUG. 26SUNNY-SIDE SPLAT

1000 block of Pinedale street. Criminal Mischief.

The victim reported a bro-ken window as a result of thrown eggs. The win-dow is valued at $100.

COPS CORNERPLANT CITY

VERO BEACH. Grayson and creighton long took their favorite community newspaper with them on a recent vacation to Vero Beach. The brothers traveled with their mother, carolyn everidge, grandmother, Helen everidge, and aunt, linda thomas.

IT’S READ EVERYWHERE!

If you’re going on vacation, remember to grab a copy of the Plant City Observer to take with you. Snap a photo of you with the paper at your des-tination of choice and email it to Managing Editor Michael eng, [email protected]. Make sure you include your full name and where the photo was taken.

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


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What is the first thing you think about when you hear “Plant City?

That’s right! You think, “The arts.”

OK, so maybe you don’t. I suppose it is more likely that strawberries and trains top that list, and for good reason, too. But why don’t the arts deserve at least an equal level?

Did you know that both Plant City and Durant high schools have mu-sic programs that have earned awards? Or that we have a community theater? How about a commu-nity choir? Even a youth chorus! Furthermore, Plant City does not only have performing-arts groups, we also have art galleries, the Plant City Photo Archives and History Center, museums and more.

Most importantly, these or-ganizations and groups do not

just exist, but most of them are growing and thriving. As execu-tive and artistic director of the Plant City Community Choir, I’ve seen the growth first-hand.

Four years ago, when we started, we barely had 15 singers. Our audience was small, and our do-nors didn’t exist. We had no central location from which to organize and run our operations, and we were dependent on whatever church allowed us to rehearse weekly in its building.

Today, we are a mul-tifaceted organization

with a strong donor base, large audiences and performance experience in several different venues in Plant City and Bran-don. We’ve even performed at Walt Disney World!

I always tell the Plant City Community Choir singers that what they do is special, because it is quite possibly the most nat-

ural and genuine expression of art. For an instrumentalist and most artists, they are dependent on a man-made object they can then manipulate into beautiful sights and sounds. For a singer, the body is the instrument. It is intimate and personal. We put ourselves out there in front of audiences, who could hate us, and we cannot blame our bows or the quality of our paint. I be-lieve the audience knows this or can sense it. This is the reason I feel the choir has succeeded in the economic crisis. Our singers are not professional, classically trained vocal performers; they are nurses, secretaries, teachers, contractors, bankers, spouses and parents. That gives our audience, and Plant City, some-thing to which they can relate.

And this is just one of dozens of community group in our city — formed, organized and man-aged by Plant City residents.

The interest in the arts is in Plant City. If it weren’t, we

wouldn’t have such amazing groups. So many of our commu-nity members want to act in the community theater or sing in the community choir. But every person in Plant City needs to ex-perience the art we create. What better way to reach them than through the Plant City Observer?

My hope is that Plant City and “the arts” become synonymous, just like Plant City and “straw-berries.” If you aren’t in an arts organization yet, stop putting it off! Audition for a theater produc-tion, attend an art exhibit, join the choir or visit the museums. At the very least, you will make new friends and enjoy a new hobby.

This column will explore the arts community in Plant City. If you are part of an arts group (visual or performing) or have a suggestion for this column, please contact me at [email protected].

Joseph Mendolia is executive and artistic director of the Plant City Community Choir.

JOSEPHMENDOLIA

ARTISTIC EYE

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

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

progressive policy.” Friedrich Hayek

“Road to Serfdom,” 1944

ObserverPLANT CITY

Publisher / Felix Haynes, [email protected]

Managing Editor / Michael Eng, [email protected]

Assistant Managing Editor / Jess Eng, [email protected]

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

Advertising Coordinator / Linda Lancaster, [email protected]

Accounting Manager / Petra Kirkland, [email protected]

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

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

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

President / Felix HaynesDirectors / Nate Kilton, Ed Verner,

Matt Walsh110 E. Reynolds St., Suite 100A

Plant City, Fla. 813-704-6850

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The Plant CityObserver LLC

Locally OwnedPublisher of the Plant City Observer and

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©Copyright Plant City Observer LLC 2012 All Rights Reserved

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

senD Us yoUr neWsWe want to hear from

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

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

contact UsThe Plant City Observer is published once weekly,

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

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

Plant City boasts many art offerings

It was the first time Plant City High School students Holly Tur-cich and Sarah Winter had ever been in a movie, but it wasn’t the first time the duo walked the streets of this particular movie set.

That’s because the indepen-dent film they are in, “Chu and Blossom,” was shot on location in Plant City.

“Chu and Blossom” is a comedy about a Korean exchange student who finds himself an oddball in a small U.S. town. A quirky perfor-mance artist befriends him.

The producers loved the histor-ical feel of Plant City’s downtown for the film.

“It had the locations we were looking for,” Producer Caroline Connor says, describing Plant City as “quaint.”

Turcich, 16, and Winter, 17, heard about the chance to be ex-tras in the film from their director at Plant City Entertainment. The young actresses are in the library scene, which was shot Aug. 27, at the Bruton Memorial Library, and a street scene shot Sept. 2, down-town.

“It wasn’t anything I expected it to be,” Turcich says. “I expected

people to be rude and just sit us in the corner.”

The extras said they waited around for more than seven hours during three days of filming, wait-ing to see if they would be used in the film. They were surprised by the way movie-making differs from live performances, which they prefer. Still, movie-making holds a thrill for them.

“It’s neat to see everything that goes into it,” Winter says. “In person, (the actors) are so much more talented than how they’ll be in the final movie.”

Other extras from Tampa, St. Peterburg, Valrico, Lakeland and Mulberry filled the halls of the usually quiet Arcade of Shops on Reynolds Street Sept. 2. Suite 10, which is normally vacant, was buzzing with producers, actors and crew members mapping out logistics, organizing scenes and operating dollies, cameras and lighting equipment.

Hailey Sager, a University of Central Florida student and cast-ing intern, was busy checking in all the extras and making sure they were fed and ready for shoot-ing.

The night before the crew came

to Plant City, they shot video in Ybor City.

“Being in Ybor City at night filming was scary,” Sager says. “But this is such a beautiful town. It’s different from where we’ve been filming, and it has the look they wanted for the film. It’s inter-esting being on location than in a studio.”

In addition to the library, three movie scenes were also shot at the intersection of Reynolds and Collins streets, at the bright red phone booth in front of The Whistle Stop Cafe and at the 1914 building.

Location scout Shellee Wells first contact Michael Karr, assis-tant to the city manager, about shooting in Plant City. Karr was excited about the prospect.

“It’s great,” Karr says. “It’s fun to see people who are interested in your town.”

When Karr and City Attorney Kenneth Buchman stopped by the Bruton Memorial Library on the first day of shooting, they had no idea they, too, would end up being extras as part of an audi-ence in the 1914 building audito-rium. Buchman even had a line, but he won’t share it because he

doesn’t want to jinx its appear-ance in the final cut.

“It was a lot of fun,” Buchman says. “I got to meet a lot of mem-bers of the cast and crew. Every-one spoke very highly of Plant City.”

“It’s fun just to go out and watch,” Karr says. “You see the final product on the screen, but when you’re on set, you see all that went into it.”

Outside of Plant City, video shooting has taken place in Lake-land, Tampa and St. Petersburg.

“Chu and Blossom” stars Mela-nie Lynskey (“Up in the Air” and “Ever After: A Cinderella Story”), Alan Cumming (“X2” and “Gold-enEye”), Annie Potts (“Designing Women,” “Toy Story” and “Toy Story 2”). It is scheduled for a 2013 release.

Contact Amber Jurgensen at [email protected].

Photos by Amber Jurgensen

The crew used the phone booth in front of the Whistle Stop Cafe in one of its scenes.

Plant city blossoms into actionMOvIE MAgIC by amber Jurgensen | Staff Writer

Holly turcich and sarah Winter had fun watching everything that goes on behind the scenes, but they both like live performances better. “The thrill of the crowd is what gets me,” Turcich says. “And you just have one take,” Winter says.

A California film crew used several locations throughout Plant City as the set for “Chu and Blossom,” a new film to be released in 2013. EXTRA!

What’s your favorite thing about acting?

“I like bring-ing out a dif-ferent emo-tional side because you can find out what you can bring out of yourself.”— Bailey Coats, 14, St Petersburg

“You can go into a differ-ent character and be some-one you’re not.”— Kayla David, 10, Tampa

“You get to be in another story.”— Chloe Tomlinson, 9, Mulberry


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+ Lee Williamsturns the big 6-0

lee Williams, presi-dent of Felton’s Meat and Produce, celebrated his 60th birthday Aug. 18 in style — surrounded by beautiful women with a model-train birthday cake prepared by Tania Sumner, of Exclusively Yours Cakes.

CONGRATULATIONS ARE IN ORDERVATIONS

Clockwise from top left: casey Jones, Gail lyons, terrie cameron, tammy Gould, Jennifer West, carole Wright, sherry taylor, tara smith, lee Williams, Kerrie Gafford and Jodi stevens.

From left: Jason Kinderman, amanda Kinderman (granddaughter, whom David and emma raised as their own), David and emma Miller, and John Meng Jr. (David’s grandson).

+ Miller celebrateswith family

When David Miller received the Plant City Family YMCA Strong Leader Award Aug. 28, the com-munity honored him for his longtime con-tributions to Plant City.

In turn, Miller honored his family, whom he credits for their continued love and support.

+ Smiths celebrate60 years of marriage

Mac and cookie smith celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary June 23, at the Columbia Restaurant in Ybor City.

Their daughters, Debbie, Kathy and Marion, plus their families, host-ed the intimate family celebration.

Congratulations!

Magic and mystery meet at Plant City Potter party

Are you in the Gryffindor House? Maybe you’re more of a Slytherin? Whatever the case, children from throughout Plant City met for a Harry Potter-themed bash Sept. 1, at the Bru-ton Memorial Library.

Guests dressed in wizard robes, carried magical wands and had owls perched on their shoulders.

The library screened a Harry Potter movie and had a contest, while the kids decorated wands and dined on curious foods.

ExPELLIARMUS! by amber Jurgensen | Staff Writer

toni Keene and Jessica Girod represented the Gryffindor House well.

ethan Pues was dressed head to toe in magical garb.

Jace cribbs looked perfectly preppy and ‘Potter-ish.’


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Helen l. CovertHelen L. Covert, 87, of Plant City, died

Aug. 23.Born Friday, Dec. 26, 1924, in Saint Pe-

tersburg, she was the daughter of the late Albert Fleming and Marie Anderson Flem-ing. She was the beloved wife of the late Robert “R.J.” Covert.

She was a member of Shiloh Baptist Church, a loving mother and grandmother. She enjoyed raising her family and singing in the choir.

Survivors include sons, Roger W. (Tara) Covert and Brad E. (Ellie) Covert; daugh-ter, Vickie Wetherington; sister, Jacqueline Lahikainen; and grandchildren, Courtney, Caleb, Christian and Kayla Covert, and Ta-nah Tyoe.

Online condolences may be made at haughtfuneralhome.com.

Daniel Steven oliverDaniel Steven Oliver, 19, of Dover, died

Sept. 2, 2012.Survivors include his parents, Felicia

(John) Kimmel and Jeffery L. Oliver; grand-parents, Phil and Lynda Dunn, Ruth Oliver, and Brenda and Dave Labuhn; and broth-ers, Ryan Oliver, Jeremy Oliver and Hayden Kimmel.

A funeral service was held at Brandon Christian Church.

The family will receive friends from 10 to 11 a.m., Sept. 6, at Brandon Christian Church, 910 Bryan Road, Brandon.


narCiSo riveraNarciso Rivera, 82, died

Aug. 17, in Puerto Rico.Born Oct. 28, 1929, he

was the husband of the late Mercedes Rivera and a member of St. Clement Catholic Church.

Survivors include sons,

Joe and Jerry Silva; four grandchildren, three great-grandchildren; and many niec-es and nephews.


inez Goette YoHoInez Goette Yoho, 90, of Plant City,

died Aug. 28.She was born Sadie Inez Goette, the

daughter of John Wesley Goette and Sadie Frances Butler.

Mrs. Yoho attended the Florida State Hospital School of Nursing Educa-tion in Chattahoochee, earning her nursing de-gree and registered nurse license in 1943. During World War II, she served in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps. She served as a first lieutenant at the Army Service Forces Re-gional Hospital, Camp Blanding. While stationed there, she met and married her lifelong husband of over 60 years, Donald R. Yoho, who predeceased her in 2005. After the war, they lived in Plant City and Tampa.

In addition to her husband and parents, Mrs. Yoho was predeceased by her broth-er, “Buck” Goette; and sister, Rose Fox.

Survivors include her sisters, Frances McKenzie, Betty Berry (Bill) and Doro-thy Reed; children, Susan Lipford, Byron (Monty) Yoho, and Donald Robert (Rob) Yoho Jr. (Laurie); grandchildren, Stephe-nie Hill (Bob), Jeremy Lipford and Henry Yoho; and great-grandchildren, Bobby and Maddie Inez Hill.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contribu-tions may be made to LifePath Hospice, 12973 Telecom Parkway, Suite 100, Tem-ple Terrace, FL 33637; the Plant City Photo Archives and History Center, 106 S. Evers St., Plant City, FL 33563; or the United Food Bank of Plant City, 702 E. Alsobrook St., Suite H, Plant City, FL 33563.

OBSERVEROBITUARIES

Everything happens for a reason.

That was the message new Strawberry Crest head football coach John Kelly sent to his team after the Chargers’ sea-son opener against crosstown rival Plant City.

But the statement wasn’t in reference to the Chargers’ 21-7 win, which will go down as one of the signature wins of the season for Kelly and one of the biggest in the history

of the Straw-berry Crest program. Rather, it was in reference to the possible outcomes of a scary moment that occurred with seven seconds to play in the game.

On what would be the final play of the game, senior linebacker Andrew Zuluaga was injured on a hit and lay unconscious on the field for nearly 20 minutes. Paramedics on the scene tended to Zuluaga, and he was eventually carried off on a stretcher and taken to the hospital.

It was determined later that he suffered a broken nose and a concussion. According to Kelly, Zuluaga was released from the hospital Sunday morning and walked out on his own power. Fortunately, a CT scan revealed no swelling or bleeding.

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 WEEKStrawberry Crest

wideout impressive in season opener. 14

MATTMAUNEY

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2012PLANTCITYObserver.COm

fine start by matt mauney | Staff Writer

SHOW ME THE MAUNEY

DOVER — The Strawberry Crest High volleyball team kicked off the 2012 season with a win Tuesday, defeating rival Plant City 3-1 (25-23, 25-19, 22-25, 25-15).

The match was a good mea-suring tool for both teams to see where they stand at this early juncture in the season.

The Lady Chargers came out shaky in the first game, with Plant City getting out to a 8-2 lead, but they would battled back, thanks to on-point pass-

ing and limited mistakes. “We got our nerves out of the

way in that first game, and after that, it was game time,” said se-nior libero Jamee Townsend.

SCHS narrowly took the first game 25-23, but the Lady Char-gers carried that momentum to Game 2, jumping out to a 5-0 lead, before Plant City got some timely kills to tie things up at 14. SCHS got things together and took Game 2 25-19.

Athletic trainers needed at schools

Lady Chargers open season with win Plant City shows promise in third game, but Strawberry Crest holds on for a win.

GAME OF THE WEEK

ALONSO AT DURANT | 7:30 P.M., SePT. 7

Michael EngPaxton sims (11) and the rest of the Cougars offense put on an impressive show in the season opener.

Everything has been run-ning to plan so far for the Du-rant Cougars.

But, according to head coach Mike Gottman, the big-gest challenge thus far hap-pens Friday.

Durant will host Alonso at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 7, at the Ron Frost Athletic Complex. The Cougars have been rolling so far this season, scoring 91 combined points in their pre-season game with Blooming-

dale and their season opener last week against Freedom. The ground game has been the focal point of the Durant of-fense, led by senior Jamarlon Hamilton.

The 5-foot-9, 215-pound running back has had his way with defenses thus far, including five rushing scores last week against Freedom in the first half alone. Hamilton racked up 130 yards despite being benched in the second

half with the Cougars up big. Durant went on to win the game 57-7.

Durant’s defense also looked strong against Freedom, al-lowing just one score to the Patriots, which came in the second quarter with the Cou-gars up 37-0.

The special teams unit has also been a bright spot for the Cougars so far. Two of Durant’s touchdowns last week resulted off of special teams plays.

“We ran a fake punt in for six and had two kickoff returns that we got turnovers on,” Gottman said.

Alonso beat the Cougars last year in Tampa 26-5 and, ac-cording to Gottman, his team must be ready to “get after it.”

“This is the biggest game so far this year,” he said.

Offensively, Alonso is fairly balanced, mixing in runs with

THe FIrsT TesTAfter rolling in their preseason and season openers, Durant hosts Alonso in a 2011 rematch that saw the Ravens take a 26-5 win.

Strawberry Crest’s morgan Drapeza sent a ball over the attempted block from Plant City’s emily Fry and michelle Daubach.

Photos by Matt Mauney

shelby Waldron had a nice night serving the ball against Plant City. see vOLLeYbALL / PAGe 12

see GAme / PAGe 12 see mAUNeY / PAGe 15

by matt mauney | Staff Writer


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CROSS_ANS_090612

This week’sCryptogram answers

This week’s Crossword answers

2012

1. A guy asked his best friend about the difference between ignorance and apathy. The friend replied: “I don’t know and I couldn’t care less.”

2. A petty thief was in court. He complained of kleptomania. He told the judge and jury he had always taken something for it.

passes. Defensively, they get after the ball and are a solid and physical defense. The Ravens nearly came away with a win last week in a 24-21 loss to Gaither, put-ting together a last-second drive at the end, when quarterback Brandon Hawkins found Derius Davis on a 45-yard pass, down to the Gaither 20.

Although Davis went out of bounds after the catch, the officials said time had expired, putting a stop to a possible game-tying field-goal attempt or a shot for the win.

“They gave Gaither everything they wanted,” Gottman said. “This should be

a pretty good football game.” In addition to Hawkins and Davis, the

Ravens have another weapon in running back Ish Witter, who ran for nearly 100 yards last week, including two scores.

Gottman said the key to a win will be to keep playing as close to error-free foot-ball as possible. The Cougars have done a good job so far winning the turnover battle and capitalizing on mistakes by the opposition.

“We just have to keep doing what we’re doing and not commit a bunch of mistakes,” he said. “That’s how you lose games.”


The third game became the best of the night. Tied 4-4 early on, Plant City went on a 7-2 run to go ahead 11-6, forcing Strawberry Crest coach Morgan Miltner to take a timeout.

That proved to be a smart decision. The Lady Chargers battled back to tie the game up at 11 before taking a 12-11 lead. Plant City then went on another run, this time 7-1 to take a decisive 19-13 advantage.

With their opponent at game point with a 24-17 lead, the Lady Chargers saw life but fell short 25-22. The win was a positive for new PCHS head coach Jes-sica Thorton, who was happy to see her young team persevere down two games in a match.

“We’re young, but we’re experienced young players,” Thorton said. “They know what it takes to win, and they’re absolute-ly willing to do what it takes to win. Fight-ing back and winning Game 3 after losing the first two is really important.”

The Lady Chargers jumped out to an early lead in the fourth game and never looked back, winning it, 23-15, and taking the match.

For Miltner, passing was the key to the

game and confirmed her pre-season ex-pectations.

“Our passing, especially out of serve-receive, was on point the entire time,” she said. “That’s what we do. We’re a passing team, and, without fail, whether we’re up or we’re down, our passing is on it.”

Miltner also noted her team is starting two freshmen this year — Alex Calesci-betta and Terra Brooks — and said their development and composure throughout the season will be key.

“To see how they play when we’re up and when we’re down is really important,” she said. “I think we’re off to a good start. We’re young, but we have a lot of poten-tial.”

According to Thorton, the game came down to errors.

“It came down to who made the least amount of errors, and Strawberry Crest played a tight game and made very few errors,” Thorton said. “I think we’re evenly matched, and it shows with the scores. I don’t know if we ran out of gas or if the errors just caught up to us, but we have some toughness to work on, but I think this is a great place for us to start.”


STRAWBERRY CREST AT BLOOMINGDALE

last week: The Chargers are com-ing off one of their most notable wins in program history after defeating Plant City 21-7 in Dover in the season opener last week. The Chargers’ offense was led by running back Chris Perez and highlighted by receiver Karel Hamilton, who brought down some big catches, including the only two offensive scores for SCHS.

The Chargers got on the board first after Alex Carswell recovered a fumble and returned it 47 yards for a score. The SCHS defense put together some key stops against the Raiders, especially with the passing game.

Bloomingdale is coming off an open-ing loss to Chamberlain, 27-13, but the Bulls showed some promise, especially on special teams. Bloomingdale had a blocked punt for a score to go along with a 92-yard kickoff return by Alex Ragland.

last meeting: Strawberry Crest was dominated 40-6 last season by the Bulls, but the Chargers are coming off a win over Plant City, a team that beat them 69-6 last season.

FREEDOM AT PLANT CITYlast week: Plant City is looking for

answers after a 21-7 loss at Strawberry Crest. The Raiders are trying to find their identity after losing 22 seniors to gradu-ation.

Head coach Wayne Ward found his go-to guy for the offense in freshman Ervin Micheal. The running back rushed for a game-high 186 yards last week against Strawberry Crest and scored the Raiders’ only points of the game on a 13-yard run in the third quarter.

Quarterback Nick Rodriguez was benched in the second half for Rayquan Johnson. Johnson also struggled, failing to connect on his first seven passes. The junior finished 1-of-8 for 21 yards but did have six rushes for 46 yards.

Freedom has only managed one score in its preseason game and sea-son opener combined. The Patriots are coming off a 57-7 dismantling at the hands of Durant. D.J. Grant, the backup quarterback, scored the Patriots only touchdown of the game on a 9-yard run

in the second quarter. last meeting: Plant

City breezed by Freedom 29-7 last season in

Tampa.

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ATHlETE of THE wEEk by Matt Mauney | Staff writer

What are your thoughts on the last two weeks?

Last week against Freedom, I was just happy for everybody and didn’t really have to do anything and could just let my team go out and perform. In the game against Plant City, I really just had three catches, but the coaches just gave me a chance with the play calls to go up and go get it.

What have been working on this offseason?

Everything has just been repeti-tion. Doing your routes over and over again until you perfect them and make them crisp. They can always get better. When you have reps with routes, you have someone throwing to you, so your hands come along with it.

Talk about the

season so far. How do you see the sea-son shaping up?

I see it shaping up pretty well. The offense still needs to click on some parts to get things together, but our defense is looking great.

There’s been a lot of

adversity and turnover when it comes to coaching changes here. Because this is a new school, there hasn’t been some-thing that we have to follow up on. We never got used to a coach, because it’s not like we had one for 10 years like other schools. We always change routines, so we’ve been able to change easily, because

we’ve never gotten used to just one thing.

What stands out about the current staff and the team? Coach (John) Kelly has was coached

here before, so it’s not like he’s brand new. Everyone was happy to have

him back.

I’m sure the injury to Andrew Zuluaga Satur-

day was tough for you and your team. What was going through your head when it happened?

Zulu and I are really close, and I

knew something was wrong when I saw the way

coach Newman was reacting. That’s when it kind of hit me. To find out he was alright was a sigh of relief, but I stayed at the hospital until he came out that night, so it’s just good to have him here.

Karel Hamilton Strawberry Crest senior wide receiver Karel Hamilton defines what it means to be an un-

selfish player. After having just one catch in the Chargers’ preseason game with Freedom, the standout didn’t complain. The following week, he made a statement on the field, with three big catches against Plant City, all while being double-teamed. Hamilton finished with 185 total yards between receptions, runs and punt returns. He also reeled in the only two offensive touchdowns in the Chargers’ 21-7 win over Plant City.


Zuluaga had a follow-up with his primary care physician Tuesday and will be back with the team as soon as he is cleared, Kelly said.

The game was called after the injury. Zuluaga’s injury puts the spotlight on

a glaring problem. Hillsborough County has been under scrutiny in the past for the lack of full-time athletic trainers. About two-thirds of high schools nationally have no certified athletic trainers on staff. That ratio is far worse in Hillsborough County, where only a few of the 27 public high schools — as little as two, according to Kelly — have full-time trainers.

And although two paramedics and an ambulance typically are stationed at every football game, the lack of athletic trainers slows response times dramatically. The paramedics took as long as a minute to get to Zuluaga after they were alerted of the injury.

“Every high school needs to have an ath-letic trainer at every game,” a shaken Kelly said after the game Saturday. “The school district says (it doesn’t) have the money to support trainers, but things like this shows why it’s absolutely necessary.”

Fortunately, Zuluaga’s injury didn’t end up as serious as it could have been, but others around the state and the country are not so lucky.

For Kelly, he hopes this incident will spark a change and spur the district to find a way to provide trainers at every game.

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CRYPTOGRAMS

1. L Z V U L J G I N M Q J F I J S C P Q I Y N L F R V S S M I N Q C C I P I Y E I F I S O I I Y

Q Z Y R P L Y E I L Y N L A L S M U . S M I C P Q I Y N P I A B Q I N : “ Q N R Y ’ S

G Y R O L Y N Q E R V B N Y ’ S E L P I B I J J . ”

2. J Y A Q Q M Q S D A G E J O D K R V P W Q . S A R V C Y U J D K A N V G

Z U A Y Q V C J K D J . S A Q V U N Q S A H P N B A J K N H P W N S A S J N

J U E J M O Q J Z A K O V C A Q S D K B G V W D Q .

ACROSS 1 Successor to Arafat 6 Plane staff 10 Small salamanders 14 Old-time

anesthetic 19 Pizza serving 20 Prefix with

“dynamic” or “space”

21 Tuftlike mass 22 Native from New

Zealand 23 Marching cadence 26 Attacked by a bee 27 “By all means!” 28 “Touching”

Olympic event? 29 Saddle attachment 31 Floating on the

Aegean, e.g. 32 Kidney-related 34 A leader no matter

how you look at it 35 Point the finger at 37 Pond surface,

perhaps 41 Event resulting in

great loss 44 One-legged camera

stand 47 Religious leader of

a Muslim state (var.)

49 Luxury hotel amenity

50 Provocative 52 “___ we having fun

yet?” 53 Falsehood 56 Thread’s partner 60 Guillotined

Antoinette 62 Shutterbug’s lab 64 Loan guarantor 65 What “exo-” means 66 Emulate Buffy 67 “Indiana Jones and

the Temple of ___” 69 Actor Gerard or

baseballer Hodges

70 Diamond-shaped pattern

71 Item in the dairy case

75 Unstressed vowel sounds

79 Hither’s partner 80 Calligraphers’

supplies 81 Margarita feature 85 Whisperer of sweet

nothings 86 Soviet leader

Brezhnev 89 Member of the

weasel family 91 Afro-Cuban dance 92 Mayo or jam, e.g. 93 TV’s Carrington

saga 94 Zoo swinger 95 Neither mini nor

maxi 97 California’s Santa

___ winds 100 Sandwich cookies 101 Sounded like a

Siamese 103 Tote bags 109 Wild talk 110 Choice beef cut 112 Word on a society

page 113 Kick out of a flat 115 Latte seller 117 Making an

individual effort 120 Case for tweezers,

scissors and such 121 ___ in victory 124 Sheeplike 126 Object formally 129 Chops up 130 Repo man’s

document 131 “To Sir With Love”

songstress 132 Type size 133 States firmly 134 Not a good sound

for a balloonist

135 Scented Hawaiian souvenirs

136 Aftershock, for one

dOwn 1 Like a fireplace

floor 2 Moper’s hue 3 Computer units 4 Perform in a movie 5 Rat residence 6 Chain of connected

ideas 7 Prepares leftovers 8 “To ___ is human

...” 9 Trials and

tribulations 10 Protest dummy 11 Regional plant

groups 12 Sightseeing trip 13 Clean using elbow

grease 14 Miami couple? 15 Japanese mat 16 Residential bash 17 Sea eagle 18 Capital in the

Baltics 24 Oil cartel since

1960 25 List catchall 30 Promote, in a way 33 Napkin’s place 36 Hungry person’s

question? 37 Desert Storm

missiles 38 Panama or Suez 39 UHF component 40 Obscure (var.) 42 Some soda

containers 43 Cheese-topped

tuna sandwich 45 Projecting window

design 46 Last name in riding

lawnmowers 48 Chinchilla coat 51 Susan of “L.A. Law” 54 Rowdydows 55 Owl’s call 57 Saint whose feast

day is December 25

58 Idle of comedy 59 City of India 61 Month before Sept. 63 Bon ___ (witty

saying) 68 Title once held by

Clint Eastwood 70 Test, as ore 71 Coating for

popcorn or apples 72 “Here today, ___

tomorrow” 73 Pennsylvania has

three 74 Just got by (with

“out”) 75 “Skedaddle!” 76 Two-door auto 77 Oxymoronic place

to work 78 “Oh, what a tangled

___ we weave” 81 Fab Four name 82 “Victory ___” (1954

film) 83 Allow to be known 84 Romantic

rendezvous 86 Trip-taker’s aid,

perhaps 87 Big-budget film 88 Time of reckoning 90 Lennon’s bride 96 “Et tu” day 98 Scottish “no” 99 Air sacs in the lungs 102 Frankfurter 104 Battery terminals 105 Holds the title of

monarch 106 Russo of Hollywood 107 Acid-base indicator 108 Porgy 111 Trucker’s expenses 114 Ceramic squares 115 Musical postscript 116 Tel ___, Israel 118 Lane of the Daily

Planet 119 Nerve 121 Henry ___ (oft-

married king)122 Tiny six-footers123 Thorny part of a rose125 Curvy letter127 Actor’s prompt128 Draft pick?

HAnG YOUR HAT by Paul Jenn

2

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Plant City High hosted the golf teams from Durant High School Sept. 4, at Walden Lake Golf and Country Club.

The PCHS girls’ team beat Durant 193 to 202, with Kel-lyanne Hurst leading the way, shooting a 38. Freshman Ken-dall Johnson had a nice debut for the Lady Raiders, teaming up with Hurst in the first group and finishing with a 44. New-comer Kaylee McIntosh, a vir-tual school student, finished with a 50, while junior Kaitlyn Miller rounded out the scor-ing for Plant City with a 50.

The Lady Raiders are coming off winning the district and region, with a fifth-place finish at state, but the team lost three starters to graduation.

The Plant City boys’ team tied Durant at 179. Jordan Geneive shot a team low 41 for the Raiders.

Plant City, Durant tee off new season

Swing of THingS by Matt Mauney | Staff writer

freshman Kendall Johnson had a solid day in her debut with the team, shooting a 44.

logan Meriwether watched his shot approach the green on hole 3.

Above: Plant City’s bailey youngblood recovered nicely from this sand trap.

Left: Plant City’s Kellyanne Hurst had a good day, shooting a 38 to lead the Lady Raiders.

MaUney/PaGe 11


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Plant City Obsever 09.06.12

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