02.13.15 PCTO

Plant City Times&

ObserverOUR TOWN

INDEX

YOU. YOUR NEIGHBORS. YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD.

Vol.2,No.29 | Onesection

A PARTNERSHIP WITH

This week’s winner isHeather St OngeSee his photo on

PAGE 19.Calendar.......................2 Crossword...................19 Obituaries...................15 Sports.........................16 Weather......................19

FREE • FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2015

+ Arts Counciltakes over exhibitThe Arts Council of Plant

City has become the primarysponsor for the future “Manon the Street” sculpturesexhibit that will visit PlantCity. Previous exhibits of theinternationally acclaimedartist J. Seward Johnson, in2012 and 2014, were underthe primary sponsorship ofthe Photo Archives & HistoryCenter.The exhibit, which

included eight to 10 of thelife-size bronze sculptures,were obtained from TheSculptures Foundation ofSanta Monica and wereplaced around the downtownarea this summer.The Arts Council has

sponsored visual and per-forming arts in the PlantCity area for over 35 yearsand looks forward to bring-ing more of the excitingsculptures to the historicdowntown area in the yearsto come. The Photo Archiveswill continue to partner withthe Arts Council in the pro-motion of the sculptures.

+ Call to artistsThe East Hillsborough

Art Guild is making a call toartists for the open exhibitat the Florida StrawberryFestival Fine Art Show. Entryday is from 12 to 6 p.m.Friday, Feb. 20.There is over $4,000 in

cash prizes. Best in showreceives $300. Divisionsinclude four youth divisionsand 10 adult divisions, fourof those being professional.For an application or

to see rule changes visitEHAGFineArts.com orcontact Debra Bryant [email protected].

+ Club donates toWheelchairs 4 KidsThe Plant City Optimist

Club secured a $500 dona-tion to Wheelchairs 4 Kids tohelp a local 3-year-old withcerebral palsy.

Angelina was diagnosedwith cerebral palsy as a1-year-old. She can’t walkand has low muscle tone.Wheelchairs 4 Kids gaveher a special seating devicecalled Tumble Forms 2Corner Chair and a TumbleForms 2 positioning wedge.The equipment will help herto have home therapy andincrease her ability to playwith friends and family.

WINNINGSCHSCheerTeammakeshistory.PAGE 16

ONTAPEChase Lottvideos outdooradventures.PAGE 16

SPOTLIGHTDubMcGinnes isthe2015Citizenof the Year.PAGE 3

Two successful students andloyal leaders have been chosenas the grand marshals of thisyear’s Civitan Club Youth Pa-rade at the Florida StrawberryFestival, and their credentialsare nothing short of impres-sive.

The grand marshals will beJackson Hardee, a senior atPlant City High School, andKevin O’Hare, a senior at Du-

rant High School.“They’re just outstanding,”

Pat Pogue, president of thePlant City Civitan Club, said.“The community selectedthem for several reasons —their leadership abilities andscholastic achievements.”

Hardee has a GPA of 5.3, andhas received numerous honorsfor academic success, as wellas community service.

As president of Junior Civi-tans at PCHS, Hardee has es-tablished a monthly event atwhich the club gives food tothe homeless. He also initiatedthe club as a member of theWounded Warriors project, towhich the club gives a monthlydonation and looks for otherways to help veterans.

Under Hardee’s leadership,the PCHS Junior Civitans havetheir biggest membership everthis year, with about 40 stu-dents in the club, as well asabout 100 Civinettes.

Civitan Club selects grand marshalsThe students who will be honoredin the 42nd annual youth parade areJackson Hardee and Kevin O’Hare.

Catherine Sinclair

Kevin O’Hare and Jackson Hardee were honored at the CivitanClub meeting last week.

Plane enthusiasts, preparefor takeoff. Train buffs, take tothe tracks. And car lovers, startyour engines. Because Planes,Trains and Automobiles, aGreater Plant City Chamber ofCommerce event, is returningSaturday, Feb. 21.

Though this is the event’sfifth year, the abundance ofthings to see and do will beanything but stale.

“We’re always bringing innew planes, different displayseach year,” Marion Smith,president of the chamber, said.

One of the biggest highlightseach year is the opportunityfor young people to take realflights. There will be 14 pilotson site, and the first 150 kidsand teens (ages 8 to 17) to signup before 1 p.m. can test ridetheir planes for free.

But if your child misses thecut off for flights, don’t worry.He or she can still check outthe computer flight simulators,or any of the other displays andIt was a nearly 2,000 mile

journey that brought Yo-lisma Machado and AaronVasquez together. Thetwo met on a mission tripin Mexico. Ironically, un-known to either Machadoand Vasquez, they were

both from Plant City.But the journey didn’t

end there. It stretched foranother six years of missedopportunities and chanceencounters to finally end inhappily ever after.

This is one love story of

destiny our readers will notsoon forget. Congratula-tions to the winners of our2015 Valentine’s Day LoveStory contest.

FIRST IMPRESSIONSDuring the summer of

2005, Machado was justglad to have survived her-freshman year of highschool at Plant City. Look-ing for “the one” was hardlyon her mind.

With her church and oth-er central Florida churches,Machado went on a two-week mission trip to Mex-ico. The group traveled to

Destiny, Dolphins & DevotionCatherine SinclairYolisma Machado and Aaron Vasquez were married at Hollis Garden in Lakeland in 2011.

Chambertakes flightin annualeventPlanes, Trains andAutomobiles providessomething for enthu-siasts of all ages.

IF YOU GOWhen: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.Saturday, Feb. 21Where: Plant City Airport,4007 Airport Road, PlantCityCost: Free admission; $5parkingInformation: PlantCity.org, Facebook.com/PlanesTrainsAutos, or call(813) 754-3707.

This Valentine’s Day, Yolisma Machado and Aaron Vasquez willcelebrate their fated romance and the family they have built together.

SEE PLANES / PAGE 4

The future of the Plant CitySocial Dance Club was in perilafter its longtime venue, Star-dust Dance Center, shut downearlier this year. But the clubhas found a new home.

Last Friday, a committee

within the club voted to movethe dances to the NationalGuard Armory on AirportRoad in Plant City, which hasa multipurpose room that isoften rented out for receptionsand other events.

The club hosted weeklydances at Stardust since 1999.It had to stop when Stardustclosed after its neighbor, BeallsOutlet, wanted to expand intoits space. Executives for theanchor store in the shopping

center where Stardust waslocated threatened to leavethe center unless they couldtake over Stardust’s space. Theproperty manager agreed.The owners of Stardust had tomove out.

Ken Miller, president of theclub, refused to let the obsta-

Dance club moves and shakes to armoryThe Plant City Social Dance Club met at Stardust Dance Centerfor years, but was forced to move after Stardust closed last month.

debut by Catherine Sinclair |StaffWriter

Editor’s note: We asked for your love stories for the 2015 Valentine’s Day Love Storycontest, and we received some beautiful submissions. But Yolisma Machado andAaron Vasquez’s story of destiny captured our hearts this holiday.

LOVE STORY / PAGE 4

SEE DANCE / PAGE 4

SEE PARADE / PAGE 4

FLIGHTOFFANCYby Catherine Sinclair |StaffWriter

BEMINE by Catherine Sinclair |StaffWriter

teen leaders by Catherine Sinclair |StaffWriter

COMMUNITYCALENDARFRIDAY, FEB. 13Acoustic Happy Hour — livemusic takes place from 5:30 to8:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 13, atO’Brien’s Irish Pub and FamilyRestaurant, 1701 S. AlexanderSt. (813) 764-8818.Christian Contemporary Music— takes place from 6:33 to8:13 p.m. Friday, Feb. 13, atKrazy Kup, 101 E. J. ArdenMays Blvd. (813) 752-1220.Heritage Banquet — takesplace beginning at 6 p.m.Friday, Feb. 13, at the John R.Trinkle Center, 1206 N. ParkRoad. The keynote speakerwill be Michael Clayton, aformer Tampa Bay Bucaneer.Tickets are $30 and must bepurchased in advanced at theGreater Plant City Chamberof Commerce, 106 N. EversSt., or Pocket Change BeautySupply, 1408 E. Baker St.Live Music — takes place from9 p.m. to 1 a.m. Friday, Feb.13, at O’Brien’s Irish Pub andFamily Restaurant, 1701 S.Alexander St. (813) 764-8818.Uncork your Friday! — livemusic takes place from 6 to10 p.m. Friday, Feb. 13, atKeel and Curley Winery, 5210Thonotosassa Road. (813) 752-9100.

SATURDAY, FEB. 14Black Heritage Parade — takesplace beginning at 1 p.m.

Saturday, Feb. 14, going downDr. Martin Luther King Jr.Boulevard and ending at theDr. MLK Recreation Center,1601 E. Dr. Martin LutherKing Jr. Boulevard.The Dartts —gospel concerttakes placebegining at 7p.m. Saturday,Feb. 14, atFirst Church ofGod, 601 N. Gordon St.Strawberry shortcake andice cream will be served. (813)752-6438.Florida Opry presents “Countryto Pop” — show takes placebeginning at 6 p.m. Saturday,Feb. 14, at the 1914 PCHSCommunity Center, 605 N.Collins St. A tribute show toPatsy Cline will be in the audi-torium. Adults are $12; stu-dents, $5. TheFloridaOpry.org.March of Dimes 5K and FamilyFestival — takes place begin-ning at 8:30 a.m. Saturday,Feb. 14, at Durant HighSchool, 4748 Cougar Path.Durant FBLA will be hostingthe event to benefit prema-ture babies. Food, games andactivities will be availablelater in the morning. For moreinformation contact DawnelleStafford at [email protected] Weapons PermitClass — takes place from

10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.Saturday, Feb. 14, at UncleMike’s Smokehouse, 106E. State Road 60, and ACEHardware, 10419 County Road39 Lithia. Call Mark to sign upat (813) 310-1056.Valentine’s Date Night — takesplace Saturday, Feb. 14, atTop Shelf Sports Bar and Grill,110 E. Reynolds Street. Drinkspecials at 10 p.m., deejayand door prizes.Youth Summit — takesplace from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.Saturday, Feb. 14, at the Dr.MLK Recreation Center, 1601E. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.Boulevard.Uncork Your Weekend! — livemusic takes place from 6 to10 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 14, atKeel and Curley Winery, 5210Thonotosassa Road. (813)752-9100.

Young AdultNite — takesplace from 7:33to 10:33 p.m.

Saturday, Feb. 14,at Krazy Kup, 101 E.

J. Arden Mays Blvd. Enjoy livemusic from local artists. (813)752-1220.

SUNDAY, FEB. 15Beginning English for Speakersof Other Languages — takesplace from 2 to 4 p.m.Sunday, Feb. 15, at BrutonMemorial Library, 302 W.McClendon Street. The classsize is limited to 10 adult stu-dents. The class is free, buteach student must purchasehis or her workbook, whichis $5. Students must regis-ter through the HillsboroughLiteracy Council by calling(813) 273-3650, Mondaythrough Friday between 8:30a.m. and 5:30 p.m.Divorce Care: The Road toHealing/Finding Help —

takes place from 4 to 6 p.m.Sunday, Feb. 15, at Plant CityChurch of God, 2103 MudLake Road. This is the sec-ond program in the 12-weekcourse.Florida Stories: TheRoosevelts & Other Notablesof the Spanish-American War— performance takes placefrom 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday,Feb. 15, at the 1914 PlantCity High School CommunityCenter, 605 N. Collins St.Join Edith and TheodoreRoosevelt as they recounttheir time in Tampa duringthe Spanish-American war intwo 30-miniute performances.Heather Brown, (813) 258-7304.Gospel Concert — takes placebeginning at 4 p.m. Sunday,Feb. 15, at Mt. Olive BaptistChurch, 604 W. Ball St. Ayouth and adult choir will belead by Lawrence Ingram.Contact Capathia Sampson at

(813) 728-4675 if you wouldlike to be a part of the com-munity choir.

MONDAY, FEB. 16Breaking the Chains ofAddiction — takes placebeginning at 7 p.m. Monday,Feb. 16, at Holy ProtectionChurch, 3820 Moores LakeRoad, Dover. (813) 766-8828.

TUESDAY, FEB. 17GriefShare — takes placebeginning at 6:30 p.m.Tuesday, Feb. 17, at HopeLutheran Baptist Church,2001 N. Park Road. EachGriefShare session includes avideo seminar and group dis-cussion to help cope with thedeath of a loved one. (813)752-4622.The Recovery for Life — takesplace from 6:30 to 8 p.m.Tuesday, Feb. 17, at theLorena Jaeb Rainbow House,504 N. Palm Drive. It is a12-step Bible-based programto help free individuals fromall forms of addiction. DebbieRay, (813) 763-1562.

WEDNESDAY, FEB. 28Open Mic Night — takesplace beginning at 8 p.m.Wednesday, Feb. 18, atO’Brien’s Irish Pub and FamilyRestaurant, 1701 S. AlexanderSt. (813) 764-8818.

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

BEST BETPolice Unity Tour Poker Run — takes place beginning at8:30 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 14, at Church on the Rock,301 Alsobrook St. Hosted by Army of Heaven MotorcycleMinistry, the ride will benefit a local team of police officers

going to the Police Unity Tour. The money they raisebenefits the tour’s Fallen Officers Memorial fund.The first card is $15. To add a rider, it costs $5.Contact Bo Henry at (813) 210-3614.

At their meeting Monday,Feb. 9, city commissionersvoted to approve a number ofrezoning ordinances through-out the city, which could makeway for further developmentand economic opportunities.

A legislative public hear-ing on an ordinance to revisethe zoning of the airport in-dustrial district and expandthe list of permitted uses washeld. The additional uses are:business park facilities, busi-nesses requiring outdoor stor-age, non-on-site service busi-nesses and industrial-relatedsupport.

Phillip Scearce, director ofplanning and zoning, said theamendment would stream-line the process for new de-velopments.

Commissioners also ap-proved two sites to be rezonedas M-1A (Light Industrial Dis-trict). These are four parcelstotaling 35 acres on the westside of South County LineRoad, just south of FancyFarms Roads; and anotherfour parcels totaling 71 acresat the same intersection andcorner.

Though the commissioners

approved these ordinancesunanimously, during the timefor public comment, CorleneFinley expressed her disap-proval.

“Plant City is like a cancerthat spreads its developmen-tal tentacles far and wide,”Finley said to the commis-sioners. “Plant City is a stress-ful town, and you made it so.”

Another ordinance ap-proved the Hitchcock Cor-ners Planned DevelopmentDistrict, to be used for indoorrecreational facilities.

Hitchcock Corners com-prises two warehouse-stylebuildings along HitchcockStreet south of East AlabamaStreet. These buildings cannow serve purposes such asgymnastics studios, cheer fa-cilities, bounce houses andother recreational businesses.

“I think this opens up anopportunity, especially someof our warehouses that are va-cant,” Mayor Rick Lott said.

A gymnastics and cheerfacility located in the southbuilding will be allowed tocontinue there.

MidtownThe commission voted

Monday to approve an ordi-nance amending a section ofthe city code regarding saleof alcoholic beverages withinthe Midtown District.

As Midtown is currentlyzoned, bars, liquor stores andbottle clubs are not allowed.But the amendment will al-low grocery stores and conve-nience stores to sell beer andwine for off-site consump-tion. It also allows restaurantsto sell any beverages, regard-less of alcoholic content.

“(Alcohol) is not what madePlant City great,” resident BillHoeft said. “That is not whatwill keep Plant City great.”

Commissioner Bill Dodsonsaid the goal of the amend-ment is to keep Midtown con-sistent with its surroundingareas.

IN OTHER NEWS• There will be a public

hearing Monday, Feb. 23, ona proposed ordinance thatwould permit film productionwithin the city limits.• County employees will

host four public workshopsthis spring at HCC PlantCity regarding specifictransportation concerns.For more information, visitGoHillsborough.org.• The Florida Department

of Transportation awardedthe City of Plant City for itstraffic safety efforts in 2014,and the Florida Departmentof Environmental Protectionpresented an award to thePlant City Water System forexcellent operations.

For more than a month,members of the Plant City Ki-wanis Club and other localcivic clubs had kept the 2015Citizen of the Year’s identity asecret, but they revealed at aWednesday, Feb. 11 ceremonythat they had voted to honorW.D. “Dub” McGinnes.

“The Lord has blessed mein so many ways,” McGinnessaid. “He’s blessed me with anincredible family, and I justwant to thank all of them forthe support.”

McGinnes was born andraised in Plant City. He gradu-ated from Plant City HighSchool in 1965 and earned adegree in business adminis-tration from the Universityof Florida in 1970. Both of hisdaughters also graduated fromPCHS and UF.

McGinnes graduated fromUF with honors as a secondlieutenant, and served in ac-tive duty. He then returned to

Plant City to take up the familybusiness.

McGinnes’ father, D.W. Mc-Ginnes Sr., founded SunshineBank. McGinnes is now thedirector of Sunshine Bank andSunshine Bancorp Inc.

Also following his father’slegacy, McGinnes is currentchairman of the South Flori-da Baptist Hospital Board ofTrustees, and a member of theSouth Florida Baptist Foun-dation Board. McGinnes Sr.,

with a group of other commu-nity members, was involved instarting the hospital.

“That’s where their interestand where their hearts were, aswell as the church,” McGinnes’sister, Mary Jane Hoffman,said. “He did follow granddad-dy’s footsteps in a lot of ways.”

In fact, McGinnes Sr. washonored as the fifth Citizen ofthe Year, in 1964.

McGinnes’ dedication to thecommunity is also evident inthe number of organizations inwhich he had served.

It was appropriate that theaward ceremony was held atthe Florida Strawberry FestivalGrounds, because McGinnes isa Strawberry Festival Redcoat.He is a deacon and Sundayschool teacher at First BaptistChurch. In the past, McGinneshas served as an officer in thePlant City Lions Club, presi-dent of the Plant City HighSchool Athletic Booster Club,a director for the United Wayand a leader for numerous oth-er organizations and boards.

“Here are a few words thathave been used to describeour recipient,” Michael Cam-eron, last year’s winner, said.“Patient, discerning, a goodlistener, wise, slow to anger... humble, eloquent, a lovinghusband and a wonderful fa-ther.”

Contact Catherine Sinclairat [email protected].

Educator Hasani Jackson isplanning to run as a new candi-date for city commission in thisApril’s election, and his mis-sion is to give Plant City a newvision, direction and sense ofcommunity.

“My goal is to uplift the oldergenerations, while rejuvenatingthe younger generations,” Jack-son said.

Jackson, 37, will be one of theyoungest candidates to everrun. He is a teacher at SimmonsCareer Center, and he wants torepresent students concernswhile in office to ensure thatnone of the city’s youth are ig-nored.

Mary Mathis, also an edu-cator, is the only city commis-sioner whose term will expirethis year. Jackson said he is notfocusing on running againstMathis, but simply for thechanges he wishes to see in thecommunity.

For the YouthWhen Jackson was a child,

he looked up to Sadye GibbsMartin, the first black personto serve as a city commissionerand mayor. He adored her forher involvement in the com-munity and her attention toyoung people.

“I was in awe to see this blacklady just everywhere, and thatmotivated me as a young kid topursue that kind of position aswell,” Jackson said.

Since 2004, Jackson has dedi-cated himself to the youth ofPlant City. His care for studentsextends far beyond the class-room.

Jackson once personallyhelped a student get out of agang so he could focus on hisschoolwork and future career.Years later, Jackson ran into theformer student around town.The student thanked him againfor his prior guidance, and of-fered to repay Jackson howeverhe could.

“I said, ‘Take care of yourkid, get an education.’ I shookhis hand and I told him I lovedhim,” Jackson said.

In 2014, Jackson made sureno obstacle would stand inthe way of a student taking theGED, paying for the student’sbus ticket to Jacksonville so hecould take it one last time. Thestudent passed.

As a commissioner, Jacksonsaid he would focus primarilyon the youth of Plant City, justas he has done throughout hiscareer, regardless of their eco-nomic status or history.

“They all need somebody tohelp build their future,” Jack-son said. “If they have the op-portunity to see someone likemyself in the position of citycommission, it will give them arole model to look up to.”

Some of Jackson’s specificgoals are to attract more youngpeople to Plant City, update

technology at local recreationcenters so that children canlearn about computers, in-volve more church leaders incommunity-building projectsand clean up certain areas toimprove Plant City’s visual aes-thetic.

Family ManJackson was born and raised

in Plant City. Now, he and hiswife, Amii, are raising four chil-dren of their own.

“I have an interracial fam-ily,” Jackson said. “There’s a lotof interracial families here inPlant City. That’s where the newvision comes in, the new direc-tion. Family is a must.”

From his father, Jacksonlearned to be concerned withpolitics and strive to be a lightin the community. From hismother, he learned the impor-tance of having a strong com-forter.

Hasani and Amii Jackson

were married in 2011. Amiicoaches Plant City Dolphinscheerleading.

The Jacksons attend MountOlive Baptist Church. Hasanialso participates in a men’sgroup at New City Church.

City Commissioner MaryThomas Mathis has an-nounced her plans to run forre-election to the Plant Citycommission this year. Shealso hopes the commission-ers will select her as mayorafter current mayor Rick Lott’sterm has expired.

“Because of my provencommitment, such as exem-plary attendance at commis-sion meet-ings, I wantto continueto serve thepeople ofPlant City,and I wouldappreciateyour sup-port, andmore im-portantly, your vote,” Mathissaid.

Mathis prides herself andher fellow commissioners ona number of projects she hasspearheaded since she be-came a commissioner in 2000.One of these projects was therevamp and flood manage-ment in Samuel W. CooperPark. Residents can now walkaround the pond or go fishing,and community events are of-ten held at the park.

“It’s a beautiful addition tothe community,” Mathis said.“There was a time when I grewup that people could ride theirboats down Laura (Street) ...because of the flooding.”

Mathis served as mayorof Plant City from June 2013to May 2014. The theme sheestablished for her term was“Year of the Youth,” whichsprung from her 37 years asan educator and seven years

as assistant principal at Mar-shall Middle School.

During her year as mayor,Mathis made it a priority tocelebrate the youth of PlantCity. She invited local stu-dents who had excelled in ac-ademics and athletics to citycommission meetings, whereshe presented proclamationsto them.

“That was a way of bridgingthe schools and the city com-mission together,” she said.

Also while Mathis servedas mayor, she dedicated thepond at Brewer Park andworked with the HillsboroughCounty Economic Develop-ment Corporation to attractnew businesses to Plant City.Dart Container Corporationestablished its headquartersin town during her term andcity employees received sal-ary raises.

With her fellow commis-sioners, she has been involvedin the processes of hiringthree city managers, a policechief and a fire chief.

In addition to the citizensand employees of Plant City,Mathis thanks her husband,Tony Mathis, and parents forbeing her biggest supporters.“They were very supportiveof my campaigns and thingsof that nature, and my edu-cation,” Mathis said. “Withthem, there was no questionabout me going to college.”

Mathis’ 2015 campaign is inhonor of her mother, EmmaThomas, and in memory ofher father, Willy Thomas, shesaid. Emma was an educator,and Willy owned a cateringbusiness. They were marriedfor 64 years.

P.C. Commissionapproves rezoningsand amendments

McGinnesnamedCitizen of theYearThe Citizen of the Year voting committeeselected Dub McGinnes as the 2015 honoree.

high honors by Catherine Sinclair |StaffWriterELECTIONS by Catherine Sinclair |StaffWriter

Mathis announcesrun for re-electionMary Mathis hopes to be re-electedto city commission and chosen for hersecond term as mayor of Plant City.

CAMPAIGNTRAIL by Catherine Sinclair |StaffWriter

governance by Catherine Sinclair |StaffWriter

Mathis

BIOHASANI JACKSONAge: 37Occupation: Teacher,Simmons Career CenterEducation: Bachelor’s insociology from Universityof South Florida; currentlyworking on master’s ineducation leadershipFamily: Wife, Amii; fourchildrenCommunity involvement:Member of Mount OliveBaptist Church, volun-teer for Next Level SportsAcademe

Teacher plans to run for commission seat

Catherine Sinclair

Hasani Jackson’s goal is to make surethe voices of young people are heard.

Hasani Jacksonwill be run-ning in the CityCommissionelection thisApril.

Dub McGinnes’ grandchildren and other family members were there to congratulate him.

Photos by Catherine Sinclair

David Wolf presented the award to Dub McGinnes.

“I’ve learned to be moreresponsible (through JuniorCivitans), and get the club asa whole to do things,” Hard-ee said. “It’s helped me to bemore organized.”

In the realm of athletics,Hardee is an accomplishedpole vaulter. He takes lessonsin Orlando and won the titlein the Western Conferencelast year.

With a 4.0 GPA, KevinO’Hare also strives for excel-lence in his school work, butsome of his biggest interestsare advocacy and political in-volvement.

As the southeast regionaldirector of the Campaign fora Presidential Youth Council,O’Hare works with federalgovernment officials to ad-vise the executive branch onyouth-related issues. He isalso a board member of theCitizens Advisory Committeeto the Hillsborough Metropol-itan Planning Organization.

O’Hare is a state officerfor Florida Future BusinessLeaders of America and holds

numerous other leadershippositions at his school andthroughout HillsboroughCounty.

“In my 27 years of educa-tion, I’ve never seen a youngman who has the enthusiasmand leadership and dedica-tion that Kevin does,” FranciDupre, O’Hare’s college andcareer counselor at DHS,said.

O’Hare said he is lookingforward to being part of theYouth Parade because of itslong history and tradition.

“I wholeheartedly recog-nize the impact that the fes-tival has every year,” O’Haresaid.

At the Civitan Club meet-ing Thursday, Feb. 5, Poguehonored Hardee and O’Hare,“Over the years, you see alot of these parade marshalscome back,” Paul Davis, fes-tival manager said. “It abso-lutely is heartwarming.”

Don’t miss Hardee, O’Harein the 2015 Civitan Youth Pa-rade, Saturday, Feb. 28.


PARADE / PAGE 1

activities.“The kids love flying. That’s

their thing. But ... there’s plen-ty of things to do,” Smith said.

There will be static displaysof planes, and a number ofcar clubs will be showing theirvehicles. Guests can vote fortheir favorite car.

For those interested intrains, the H.B. Plant RailroadHistorical Society will havea model train display set up.Representatives from CSX willhave information about rail-road safety, and Largo Central

Railroad will have a display.Even animal lovers will find

something of interest. Secu-rity officials from the TampaInternational Airport will bethere, along with their hard-working security dogs, to giveK-9 unit demonstrations at 11a.m., 12:30 p.m. and 2 p.m.

The event helps out localBoy Scouts by providing op-portunities for them to earntwo badges.

For more information, visitPlantCity.org.


different cities but was basedin Santa Fe.

Little did she know shewould be running into anoth-er adventurer from Plant City.

Vasquez, an upcomingsophomore at Durant HighSchool, had traveled sepa-rately with his grandparents toSanta Fe for the same reason,at the same time.

Every night, all of the youthwho were serving in Santa Fewould hang out. When Mach-ado and Vasquez met and re-alized they were both fromPlant City, a bond began toform. But it wasn’t love at firstsight.

“He was fun to talk to, buthe wasn’t my type,” Machadosaid.

“I didn’t know it was going toturn into anything,” Vasquezadded.

Still, Machado wanted tokeep in touch with Vasquezwhen they got back to PlantCity. She wrote down herphone number for him. Butmonths passed, and he nevercalled. Disappointed, she as-sumed he had just moved on.

But she was wrong.“She gave me her phone

number, but I had put it in mypocket in my pants, and mygrandma had washed them ...I forgot to take it out, so I lostit,” Vasquez said.

Vasquez had not forgottenabout her, either. Before so-cial media was widely used,the best way to find someonewas to track him or her downin person. So, Vasquez went toMachado’s church one morn-ing, hoping they’d be able toreconnect.

At first he couldn’t find her.But he managed to after sometime, only to discover she hada boyfriend.

He thought he had missedhis chance.

REUNITED AND REKINDLEDIn 2008, the summer after

Machado had graduated fromPlant City High School andVasquez had graduated fromDurant High School, a mutualfriend unknowingly helpedthem reconnect.

Machado was walking thetrack at Bryan ElementarySchool with Vasquez’s cousin,whom she had met throughanother friend, and she didnot know that he had also in-vited Vasquez to the track thatday. When Vasquez showedup, he and Machado recog-nized each other immediately,though they had been apartfor three years.

“A couple days later, I textedher, and we started meetingup every day, almost,” Vasquezsaid.

They once stayed up allnight talking on the phone,until Vasquez had to go towork in the morning.

“He didn’t even sleep be-cause we had so much to talkabout,” Machado said.

Machado soon enrolledat Hillsborough Commu-nity College and encouragedVasquez to do the same. Theyoften enjoyed lunch togetherbetween classes.

After two years of dating,Vasquez had a deeper com-mitment in mind.

“It started getting more se-rious,” he said. “It got to thepoint where I was like, whatam I waiting for? ... I justknew.”

POPPING THE QUESTIONVasquez knew that Macha-

do had wanted to swim withdolphins, and he decided he’dbe the one to make it hap-pen. But dolphins weren’t theonly dream that came true forMachado that day.

Vasquez invited her to aday of adventure at Discov-ery Cove in Orlando. Whenthe couple got in the water,along with a family of tour-ists, Machado thought it wasstrange that a woman wasfilming their every move.

But she thought the groupof tourists had probably paidextra to catch their experienceon film.

Machado and Vasquezwere split from the rest of thegroup, but the camera was stillpointed at them. An employeetold Machado to throw a cer-tain toy to one of the dolphins.

As if on cue, another dol-phin swam over to Machado,nudged her, and gave her abuoy. The question “Will youmarry me?” was written onthe buoy. Of course, Machadoknew the message was fromVasquez, and she said “yes.”

“The people that were re-cording started cheering,” shesaid.

Machado and Vasquez weremarried at Hollis Garden inLakeland, Aug. 20, 2011.

TOGETHER FOREVERMachado and Vasquez build

their marriage on God, com-munication and trust.

“That’s what we’ve alwayshad since the beginning,”Machado said. “We had totrust each other.”

Vasquez works a night shiftat Gordon Food Services.Though he comes home earlyin the morning, he sometimesarrives bearing flowers for hiswife. Machado said she appre-ciates how hard he works, andhow he is a wonderful fatherto their twin daughters, bornin 2013.

Vasquez said he appreciatesMachado’s dedication to theirdaughters as well and how shestays home to care for them.

“I know that’s a lot of work,”he said. “I think it’s more thanwhat I do.”

Machado and Vasquez’sfamily and love are continuingto grow. They are expecting athird child this summer.


cle keep the club from danc-ing. For a few weeks, the club’sevents were held at the PlantCity Woman’s Club, but theroom could not accommo-date as many dancers as hadbeen attending at Stardust.

So Miller formed the com-mittee of club members tosearch for a new venue. TheNational Guard Armory was aperfect fit.

The space is 5,775 squarefeet; larger than the dancefloor at Stardust.

“We’re excited about com-ing here. It’s going to give usroom to dance, room to grow,”Miller said. “We could havesome huge crowds in here

over time.”Miller likes how the floor

at the armory is slick andsmooth, but it could never re-place the floating wood floorat Stardust, he said.


AWARDSThe couple is receiv-

ing a $50 gift card fromO’Brien’s Irish Pub &Family Restaurant andtickets for two from theLakeland Center to seeRhythm of the Dance.Thank you to O’Brien’sand the Lakeland Centerfor the generous donation,and thank you to our read-ers for sharing your stories.Happy Valentine’s Dayfrom the Plant City Times& Observer.

LOVE STORY / PAGE 1

IF YOU GOFIRST DANCEWhen: 7 to 10 p.m.Friday, Feb. 20Where: Florida NationalGuard Armory, 4004Airport Road, Plant CityContact: Ken Miller,(863) 409-7714

Catherine Sinclair

Members of the dance club volunteered to join the commit-tee that searched for the new venue. They chose the Armorybecause of its spacious dancing area.

DANCE / PAGE 1

PLANES / PAGE 1

General Manager/Executive Editor / Michael Eng, [email protected] Manager/Advertising / Stacey Hudson, [email protected] Editor / Amber Jurgensen, [email protected] Managing Editor / Jess Eng, [email protected] Writers / Justin Kline, [email protected]; Catherine Sinclair,[email protected] Executives / Veronica Prostko, [email protected];Joanna Verga, [email protected]/Office Manager / Linda Lancaster, [email protected]

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

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

Plant City Times&

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

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

To contact us, send your information via:Email: Amber Jurgensen, [email protected].

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

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

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

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

“If we are to build a better world, we must remember that the guiding principle is this — a policy of freedom for the individual is the only truly progressive policy.” — Friedrich Hayek, “Road to Serfdom,” 1944

+ We needto wake upDear Editor:

Well, finally, a media sourcethat is trying to make a differ-ence. This makes me like thePlant City Observer even more.It is the job of the presidentand our elected officials toprotect us and our country.We need to insist on it now!Thanks for this much-needededitorial. I pray people wakeup before we have no freedom!

Carol BridgesLakeland

+ Inappropriatefor childrenDear Editor:

While I agree with yourviews, this editorial was hid-den inside the paper with littleor no warning. Your paper isdropped off to local elemen-tary schools weekly.

My 10-year-old son foundhimself reading an article inthe back seat of the car andlooking at pictures that myadult brain struggles to makesense of. He was horrified. It

opened up the door for somereal conversations aboutacceptance, witnessing andchoosing God even when itseems hopeless. (My 5-year-old’s take on it: “You have tochoose Jesus even when badguys don’t.” My 10-year-old’sview: “We live in a big world,and there are bad guys. We justhave to remember to plant aseed.”) While I feel they wereable to talk this out, I wasn’tplanning to share this kind of

information yet.I ask that you continue to

stand firm in your beliefs, butplease don’t deliver issues suchas this to elementary schools.

Patty BaxterPlant City

+ Aggressivelyeliminate themDear Editor:

Thank you. Thank you.Thank you!

Finally, someone had thenerve and clear view of theEVIL in our world that is like acancer that no one is treating.

To say that this EVIL isconfined to a few Muslimsand that Islam is the religionof peace is pure baloney. Youhave only to study Muslimaggression in history and thetrue life of Muhammed to seewhat we’re facing.

Compare the lives of Jesusand Muhammed.

How can we get seriousabout this threat to the entirecivilized world and let knownterrorist camps operate in thiscountry? We must call themwhat they are and aggressivelyeliminate them. Period.

Just a patriot …Phil Stewart

Bradenton

+ Editorialbelongs in trashDear Editor:

I object to your statementthat the president refusesto identify radical Islamicextremists and that his re-sponse is “feckless.”

Are you saying he shouldhave already committedground troops in the fightagainst ISIS?

We just got out of two dif-ferent wars!

I want to remind you thereis a presidential election nextyear, and you are welcome torun for president. I have al-ways enjoyed the Observer upuntil last week’s editorial.

We already have BillO’Reilly and Sean Hannitystirring up fear on Fox Newsevery night, and now we haveyou trying to defame ourpresident.

I object to your article. Itbelongs in the Tampa BayTimes or St. Louis Post-Dis-patch, not a neighborhoodnewspaper.

If you continue to haveoffending opinions like this,I’ll remove the paper frommy driveway and deposit itdirectly in the trash can.

Jerry SignaigoLakewood Ranch

+ You said it like it isDear Editor:

Bravo for taking such astand against the Islamic ter-rorists.

Your “Never Again?” edito-rial is a must-read for every-one, and I mean everyone.

We are at war. Make nomistake about it, and youtook it upon yourself insteadof writing about local newsto warn our country that wemust take action now.

There is no one: “No othernation with the might, theingenuity or the ability to

muster the will, courage andcommitment to do what-ever is necessary to end theslaughtering of innocents, todestroy this mortal enemy ofWestern values and civiliza-tiion.” Because, as you said,“If not we, then who will stopthem?”

What a courageous personto say it like it is.

Gloria MaxExecutive Director,

Jewish Federation of Volusia& Flagler Counties Inc.

Ormond Beach

OMG readers respondObserver Media Group CEO Matt Walsh asked last week on this page: ‘Never again?’ It wasreferring to the Holocaust and implied that Islamic terrorists’ atrocities resembled those of theNazis. We said it was time for the U.S. to act forcefully. OMG readers responded — forcefully.

HONESTYAPPRECIATEDDear Editor:

I just wanted to thankthe editor for writing the“Never Again?” article. Ithought it was not onlyinformative and moving,but so courageous of thepaper to tell it like it reallyis for Christians and othervictims of terrorist acts inthe Middle East.

I showed it to my highschoolers and they wereleft speechless by thephotographs, as it all be-came very real for them.I also gave the article toour high school Bibleteacher who was plan-ning on discussing it withher class.

So appreciate your hon-esty in reporting this.

Mary Ellen MurrayFoundation Academy,

Winter Garden

CONTACT YOUR REPRESENTATIVEDear Editor:

Bravo to you for your editorial regarding terrorism. Ihope it helps bring people to their senses.

It’s refreshing to see someone call it like it is and putforth a call to action by the people.

It is frightening that our president continues to releaseterrorists and defend them while innocent people are be-ing crucified, beheaded and burned.

Perhaps you could craft a template letter that peoplecould print, sign and send to our representatives.

Amber SukaLakewood Ranch

Ms. Suka: Send the editorial page to Congress. Or email yourrepresentative a link to it: yourobserver.com/news/longboat-key/Opinion/0204201538528/Our-View-Never-again. — Ed.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

A country home in northPlant City topped the real es-tate sales in January.

The home at 1330 HamsFarm Road sold Jan. 23, for$312,000 (REO/bank owned).Built in 2005, it has three bed-rooms, three baths and 3,037square feet of living area onone acre. The price per squarefoot is $102.73.

Alexander WoodsTownhomes

The home at 107 AlexanderWoods Drive sold Jan. 9, for$105,000. Built in 2013, it hastwo bedrooms, two and onehalf baths and 1,466 squarefeet of living area. The price persquare foot is $71.62.

The home at 113 AlexanderWoods Drive sold Jan. 13, for$113,000. Built in 2014, it hastwo bedrooms, one bath and1,789 square feet of living area.The price per square foot is$63.16.

The home at 173 AlexanderWoods Drive sold Jan. 27, for$113,000. Built in 2014, it hasthree bedrooms, two bathsand 1,764 square feet of livingarea. The price per square footis $64.06.

The home at 223 AlexanderWoods Drive sold Jan. 9, for$110,000. Built in 2013, it hasthree bedrooms, two bathsand 1,764 square feet of livingarea. The price per square footis $62.36.

Alice Winter GardensThe home at 4604 Bird Road

sold Jan. 20, for $172,000. Builtin 1976, it has three bedrooms,one and one half baths and1,978 square feet of living areaon one acre. The price persquare foot is $86.96.

Grove ManorThe home at 5017 Miley

Road sold Jan. 28, for $256,000.Built in 1966, it has three bed-rooms, two and one half bathsand 2,488 square feet of livingarea on one acre. The price persquare foot is $102.89.

Highland Country EstatesThe home at 3615 Pioneer

Country Trail sold Jan. 23, for$55,000 (REO/bank owned).Built in 2007, it has one bed-room, one bath and 768 squarefeet of living area on one acre.The price per square foot is$71.61.

Hillsboro ParkThe home at 1701 N. Lime St.

sold Jan. 30, for $52,500 (REO/bank owned). Built in 1991, ithas three bedrooms, two bathsand 1,078 square feet of livingarea on one acre. The price persquare foot is $48.70.

HillsboroughThe home at 2312 Clemons

Road sold Jan. 12, for $46,000(short sale). Built in 1962, ithas two bedrooms, one bath

and 1,016 square feet of livingarea on one acre. The price persquare foot is $31.59.

The home at 201 E. HunterRoad sold Jan. 5, for $179,000.Built in 1950, it has two bed-rooms, one bath and 820square feet of living area onone acre. The price per squarefoot is $218.29.

The home at 4304 E. KnightsGriffin Road sold Jan. 29, for

JANUARY SNAPSHOTMinimum: $29,000Maximum: $312,000Median: $125,000Average: $135,974

Country home topsJanuary real estate sales

REALESTATETRANSACTIONS by Amber Jurgensen |ManagingEditor

REAL ESTATE / PAGE 8

THISWEEK’S CROSSWORDANSWERS

THISWEEK’S CRYPTOQUIZ ANSWERS1) Grace 2) Precision 3) Top Hat 4) Swing Time 5) GingerRogers. Fred Astaire

$138,299 (REO/bank owned).Built in 1958, it has three bed-rooms, two baths and 1,332square feet of living area onone acre. The price per squarefoot is $103.83.

The home at 2702 MedullaRoad sold Jan. 16, for $158,000.Built in 1969, it has three bed-rooms, two baths and 1,823square feet of living area onone acre. The price per squarefoot is $86.67.

The home at 808 Pearl MaryCircle sold Jan. 15, for $59,000(short sale). Built in 1958, ithas three bedrooms, one bathand 1,158 square feet of livingarea on one acre. The price persquare foot is $50.59.

The home at 5206 VaughnRoad sold Jan. 26, for $229,900.Built in 1993, it has four bed-rooms, two baths and 2,211square feet of living area onone acre. The price per squarefoot is $103.98.

Jenson HeightsThe home at 4409 Airport

Road sold Jan. 23, for $70,314(REO/bank owned). Built in2005, it has three bedrooms,two baths and 1,459 square feetof living area on one acre. Theprice per square foot is $48.19.

Kentwood ParkThe home at 2302 Maki Road

sold Jan. 14, for $40,500 (REO/bank owned). Built in 1987, ithas two bedrooms, one bathand 920 square feet of livingarea. The price per square footis $44.02.

LambertThe home at 2905 Jap Tucker

Road sold Jan. 9, for $109,000.Built in 1980, it has two bed-rooms, two baths and 1,428square feet of living area onone acre. The price per squarefoot is $76.33.

Magnolia GreenThe home at 3841 Crys-

tal Dew St. sold Jan. 30, for$168,990. Built in 2014, it hasthree bedrooms, two bathsand 1,672 square feet of livingarea on one acre. The price persquare foot is $101.07.

Morrell ParkThe home at 501 E. Langford

Circle sold Jan. 9, for $58,000(REO/bank owned). Built in1956, it has three bedrooms,one bath and 975 square feetof living area on one acre. Theprice per square foot is $59.49.

Oak Park HeightsThe home at 1102 W. Garden

St. sold Jan. 26, for $66,000.Built in 1966, it has two bed-rooms, one bath and 952square feet of living area onone acre. The price per squarefoot is $69.33.

Orange HeightsThe home at 1504 N. Burton

St. sold Jan. 14, for $50,000.Built in 1949, it has two bed-rooms, one bath and 1,016square feet of living area onone acre. The price per squarefoot is $54.23.

Park PlaceThe home at 1202 Laven-

der Jewel Court sold Jan. 5,for $225,772. Built in 2014, ithas four bedrooms, two bathsand 1,790 square feet of livingarea on one acre. The price persquare foot is $126.13.

PreserveThe home at 2203 Preser-

vation Drive sold Jan. 23, for$140,101 (REO/bank owned).Built in 1993, it has three bed-rooms, two and one half bathsand 2,083 square feet of livingarea on one acre. The price persquare foot is $67.26.

Reynolds RidgeThe home at 4413 Reyn-

olds Ridge Court sold Jan. 6,for $155,000. Built in 2006, ithas four bedrooms, two bathsand 1,556 square feet of livingarea on one acre. The price persquare foot is $99.61.

Seminole LakeThe home at 3310 N. Lake

Drive sold Jan. 6, for $115,000(short sale). Built in 1988, it hasthree bedrooms, two and onehalf baths and 1,701 squarefeet of living area on one acre.The price per square foot is$67.61.

Sugar CreekThe home at 3806 Sugar

Creek Court sold Jan. 23, for$112,300 (REO/bank owned).Built in 1999, it has three bed-

rooms, two baths and 1,124square feet of living area onone acre. The price per squarefoot is $91.75

The home at 3813 SugarCreek Court sold Jan. 26, for$119,000. Built in 1992, it hasthree bedrooms, two bathsand 1607 square feet of livingarea on one acre. The price persquare foot is $74.05.

Sunny AcresThe home at 702 Sunset Road

sold Jan. 7, for $113,112 (REO/bank owned). Built in 1986, ithas three bedrooms, two bathsand 1,624 square feet of livingarea on one acre. The price persquare foot is $69.65.

Tomlinson AcresThe home at 5112 Five Acre

Road sold Jan. 23, for $285,000.Built in 1976, it has four bed-rooms, two and one half bathsand 2,380 square feet of livingarea on two acres. The priceper square foot is $119.75.

Trapnell RidgeThe home at 3403 Berry

Blossom Lane sold Jan. 30, for$135,000. Built in 2007, it hasthree bedrooms, two and onehalf baths and 1,764 square feetof living area on one acre. Theprice per square foot is $76.53.

Walden LakeThe home at 1756 Brook-

stone Way sold Jan. 9, for$235,000. Built in 2001, it hasthree bedrooms, two bathsand 2,055 square feet of livingarea on one acre. The price persquare foot is $114.36.

The home at 2891 HammockDrive sold Jan. 20, for $252,000.Built in 1986, it has four bed-rooms, two and one half bathsand 2,347 square feet of livingarea on one acre. The price persquare foot is $107.37.

The home at 4119 KiplingAve. sold Jan. 23, for $206,900.Built in 1989, it has four bed-rooms, two baths and 2,340square feet of living area onone acre. The price per squarefoot is $88.42.

The home at 2902 Pine ClubDrive sold Jan. 23, for $209,000.Built in 1988, it has four bed-rooms, two baths and 2,374square feet of living area onone acre. The price per squarefoot is $88.04.

The home at 106 Seville

Court S. sold Jan. 30, for$115,000. Built in 1994, it hasthree bedrooms, two bathsand 1,813 square feet of livingarea on one acre. The price persquare foot is $72.74.

Walden ReserveThe home at 3506 Regner

Drive sold Jan. 2, for $255,240.Built in 2014, it has four bed-rooms, two and one half bathsand 3,087 square feet of livingarea on one acre. The price persquare foot is $82.68.

Walden WoodsThe home at 766 Ashentree

Drive sold Jan. 30, for $129,990.Built in 2014, it has two bed-rooms, two baths and 1,201square feet of living area. Theprice per square foot is $108.23.

The home at 1866 Green-wood Valley Drive sold Jan.13, for $136,000. Built in 2013,it has two bedrooms, twoand one half baths and 1,521square feet of living area. Theprice per square foot is $89.41.

Washington ParkThe home at 1002 N. Knights

St. sold Jan. 8, for $125,000.Built in 1963, it has four bed-rooms, two baths and 1,616square feet of living area onone acre. The price per squarefoot is $77.35.

Wilder ParkThe home at 2907 Wilder

Creek Circle sold Jan. 9, for$133,000 (REO/bank owned).Built in 1994, it has three bed-rooms, two baths and 1,345square feet of living area onone acre. The price per squarefoot is $98.88.

WillisThe home at 2656 Charlie

Taylor Road sold Jan. 30, for$135,000 (REO/bank owned).Built in 2006, it has four bed-rooms, three baths and 2,467square feet of living area onone acre. The price per squarefoot is $69.11.

Windmill PointThe home at 4332 Wind-

mill Point Drive sold Jan. 7, for$170,500 (REO/bank owned).Built in 1930, it has two bed-rooms, one bath and 1,016square feet of living area onone acre. The price per squarefoot is $29.43.

REAL ESTATE / PAGE 7

2015 Florida Strawberry Festival

QUEEN’S COURT

PLANT CITY TIMES & OBSERVER

CONGRATULATIONS FROM YOUR SPONSORS

SAMANTHA MEI SUNParents: Jim and Shari SunSchool: Junior at Plant City High SchoolExtracurriculars: Civinettes Club Officer,Youth Alive member, varsity tennis team,National Honor Society, Math Bowl team,Hugh O’Brien Youth Leadership Awardrecipient, Plant City High School TennisMVP Award, second place OptimistClub Speech Contest, first place PTSAReflections Art Contest, art displayed atDali Museum, Community Choice AwardLifelink Art CompetitionHobbies: Piano, art, reading, youth sum-mer mission trips, Relay for Life and vol-unteering with CivinettesFuture plans: To attend a four-year univer-sity to pursue a degree in medical scienc-es with plans of attending medical school

DEANNA RODRIGUEZParents: Tony and StaceyRodgriguezSchool: Junior at Plant CityHigh School; dual enrolled atHillsborough Community CollegeExtracurriculars: National HonorSociety, Civinettes, vice presidentof Future Business Leaders ofAmerica, junior captain of varsitysoccer, captain for Relay for Lifeand Team ToMorrow, 2015 PlantCity High School Calendar Girl MissMayHobbies: Traveling with her family,photography, going to the beach andplaying travel soccerFuture plans: To attend a four-yearuniversity and pursue a degree inthe medical field

PAYTON RAYE ASTINParents: Sam and Buffy AstinSchool: Senior at Durant HighSchoolExtracurriculars: Student Governmentpresident, captain of the varsitycheerleading team, FFA, Leo Club,student representative for PTSA,Durant’s Miss Cougar Body BuildingChampion, Durant Calendar Girl MissJanuary and Homecoming QueenHobbies: Working out, working withorganizations that help give back tothe community and being a constantsupport to her peers and studentbodyFuture plans: To attend FloridaSouthern College to earn a master’sdegree in business and then helptake over Astin Farms

EMILY BENOITParents: Michael and Jennifer BenoitSchool: Senior at Newsome HighSchoolExtracurriculars: President ofNewsome FFA, vice president ofHillsborough FFA Federation, FloridaJunior Cattlemen’s Association,National Gold FFA Meats EvaluationTeam, Florida Junior BeefAmbassadorHobbies: Raising and showing anguscattle at local fairs and the FloridaStrawberry Festival, horseback rid-ing, spending time with family andfriendsFuture plans: To attend theUniversity of Florida to study veteri-nary medicine with a minor in meatscience

KELLEN ALYSSE MORRISParents: Melinda and Trey MorrisSchool: Senior at Plant City HighSchool; freshman at HillsboroughCommunity CollegeExtracurriculars: Varsity flag foot-ball, Civinettes, Science Club,yearbook staff, National HonorSociety, 1290 Club, OctoberSenior of the MonthHobbies: Singing in the praiseband at church, painting, makingjewelry, doodling and shoppingFuture plans: To complete anassociate’s degree at HillsboroughCommunity College and transferto the University of Florida tostudy architectural engineering

Buddy Boy BennettBuddy Boy Bennett, 56,

died Feb. 10, 2015.Mr. Bennett was best

known for his dedicationto the Plant City Dolphinsfootball and cheerleading or-ganization. He had been in-volved with PCD for 30 yearsand had been the presidentfor 20 of those years. He wasa volunteer for the FloridaStrawberry Festival, an activemember of Midway BaptistChurch and enjoyed play-ing golf and traveling. Bud-dy’s main joy in life was hisgrandchildren.

Survivors include hiswife of 36 years, Pam Ben-nett; daughters, Ericka(Ryan) Bennett Winslowand Kimberly (Jesse) Mor-gan Drawdy; grandchildren,Colten, Wyatt, and KyndellDrawdy, and Liam Winslow;brother, Don Bennett; andsisters, Pauline Pishner, JeanHalstead and Patty Jean Bar-nett. He was preceded indeath by his mother, HazelBennett; father-in-law, GeneChapman; and grandmoth-er, Susie Martin.

Visitation with family andfriends will be from 5 to 8p.m. Friday, Feb. 13, with fu-neral services at 11 a.m. Sat-urday, Feb. 14, both at FirstBaptist Church of Plant City.Burial will follow at HopewellCemetery. Everyone is askedto wear their jerseys or Dol-phin colors. In lieu of flow-ers, donations may be madeto Plant City Dolphins, P.O.Box 993, Plant City, Florida,33563 in Buddy’s honor. On-line condolences may bemade at WellsMemorial.com.

ConsolacionCortez De Bernal

Consolacion Cortez DeBernal, 68, of Plant City, diedFeb. 4, 2015.

Born July 17, 1946, in Dr.Arroyo, Mexico, she was thedaughter of the late SantosCortez and the late MariaMoncada Cortez. Survivingare sons, Carlos M. Bernal,Heraclio Bernal, Idalia Ber-nal, Edmundo Bernal andHomero Bernal; daughter,Esmeralda Bernal, of PlantCity; brothers, Abdios Cor-tez, Olegario Cortez, SilverioCortez and Raymundo Cor-tez; sisters, Anjelica Ramosand Maria Cortez; 18 grand-children; and three great-grandchildren.

A funeral service was heldMonday, Feb. 9, at St. Clem-ent Catholic Church. Onlinecondolences may be made tothe family at HaughtFuneral-Home.com.

Wynell Lee BridgesWynell Lee Bridges, of Flo-

ral City, and formerly PlantCity, died Feb. 7, 2015.

She was a founding mem-ber of Springhead Pentecos-tal Church of God. She wasa God-fearing woman who

loved her family.She is survived by her chil-

dren, Richard Bridges, Ron-ald Bridges, Terry Bridges,Jerry Bridges, Larry Bridgesand Cindy Venning; siblings,Anne Chancey, Judy McLe-roy, Peggy Close and TinaTarlton; and many grand-children, great-grandchil-dren, great-great-grandchil-dren, family and friends. Shewas preceded in death by herhusband, Herman Bridges;and daughter, Cathy Voyles.

A celebration of life, of-ficiated by Reverend’s GeneSloan and Carl Stiles, will beheld at 3 p.m. Friday, Feb. 13,at Springhead PentecostalChurch of God, where fam-ily will receive friends begin-ning at 2 p.m. Interment tofollow at Springhead Cem-etery. In lieu of flowers, me-morial contributions may bemade to the family. Onlinecondolences may be madeat HopewellFuneral.com.

Lonie Ray BrooksLonie Ray Brooks, 78, of

Plant City, died Feb. 2, 2015.He retired from the U.S. Air

Force and theCity of Lakeland.He is survived byhis daughters,Tracy, Tina, Kim, Voncileand Chelsea; brothers, Willieand Jerry; and many grand-children, nieces, nephews,family and friends. He waspreceded in death by hiswife, Jean; daughter, Jeania;grandson, Christopher; par-ents, Will and Alice; and sib-lings, Bobbie and Voncile.

A celebration of life washeld Feb. 9, at HopewellFuneral Home. Online con-dolences may be madeat HopewellFuneral.com.

Ashley ChanceyAshley Chancey, 88, of Val-

rico, died Feb. 3, 2015.He attended Countryside

Baptist Church in Dover. Heis survived by his wife, Leo-la L. Chancey; sons, Ralph(Linda) Chancey and Jimmy(Carol) Chancey; sisters,Daisy Cagnina and RubyHamm; seven grandchil-dren; eight great-grandchil-dren; and numerous familyand friends.

A celebration of life washeld Feb. 7, at Hopewell Fu-neral Home. In lieu of flow-ers, memorial contributionsmay be made to the MikeAlstott Family Foundation,c/o RHMG Inc., 3310 W. Cy-prus Street, Suite 206, Tam-pa, Florida, 33607. Onlinecondolences may be madeat HopewellFuneral.com.

Charles Augusta“Charlie” Davidson

Charles Augusta “Charlie”Davidson, 81, ofApollo Beach,died Feb. 6, 2015.

He was born inHackensack, New Jersey. Hewas a member of Providence

Baptist Church. He was aveteran of the U.S. Air Force,and he was a retired leaseoperator truck driver for CTLTransportation.

He is survived by his wifeof 60 years, Sonja B. David-son; children, Charles R.Davidson of Lithia, Sonja(Kevin) B. Burnham, of St.Augustine, Eleanor “Chris”(Robert) Gonzalez, of Lith-ia and Theresa Davidson,of Valrico; siblings, Henry(Sherry) Davidson, of Homa-sassa; Martha Sloan, of NewJersey; and 18 grandchildrenand 10 great-grandchildren.He was preceded in death byhis daughter-in-law, TammieBrown Davidson; and sister,Vera Wright.

A celebration of life washeld Thursday, Feb. 12, atHopewell Funeral Home.In lieu of flowers, memorialcontributions may be madeto a cancer charity of yourchoice. Online condolencesmay be made at Hopewell-Funeral.com.

Truman E. Kahler Jr.Truman E. Kahler Jr., 78,

died Feb. 4, 2015, with hisloving family byhis side.

He was born inLeck Kill, Penn-sylvania. He retired from theU.S. Air Force following 20years of service. Mr. Kahlerwas involved in the missileprogram and early comput-erization. He proudly servedat the Pentagon, Vietnam,Thailand, Greenland andmany years at SAC Head-quarters in Bellevue, Nebras-ka. Following his Air Forcecareer, Mr. Kahler graduatedfrom Creighton University.He was a classroom teacherat the elementary level inBellevue before moving toPlant City, where he taughtgifted students at Knights,Forest Hills and Walden LakeElementary Schools. Afterretiring from teaching in1995, he and his wife, Diana,traveled across the countryin their RV for the last 20years.

He is survived by his wifeof 25 years, Diana F. Kahler;children, Perry (Vicki) E.Kahler, Wayne D. Kahler andValerie C. Busciglio; and be-loved granddaughter, Em-erson A. Busciglio. He waspredeceased by son, Lee T.Kahler; first wife, MarleneKahler; parents, TrumanE. Kahler and Jaffela Jones;brother, Lee T. Kahler; andsisters, Lorena Crabbe, BettyBridges and Barbara Seitz.

A celebration of life tookplace Sunday, Feb. 8, atBlount and Curry FuneralHome Carrollwood Chapel,Tampa. In lieu of flowers,donations can be made toSt. Jude Children’s ResearchHospital StJude.org. Onlinecondolences may be madeat BlountCurryCarrollwood.com.

OBITUARIESOBSERVER

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

SportsDo you have a good

sports scoop for us?Contact Justin Kline [email protected].

FOOTBALL

+ Longtime PCDpresident dies

Buddy Bennett, presi-dent of the Plant CityDolphins football and

cheerlead-ing organi-zation, diedTuesday,Feb. 10.Bennett,

who workedtirelesslywith the

Dolphins for 20 years,was diagnosed with coloncancer in 2013.Anyone who wishes to

talk about Bennett foran upcoming tribute cancontact Sports reporterJustin Kline via email byMonday, Feb. 16.

+ Ward resigns fromPCHS varsity teamPlant City High School

head coach Wayne Wardhas stepped down fromhis position for personalreasons, the school con-firmed Tuesday, Feb. 10.Ward wished the play-

ers and coaches well in aFacebook post.“Having had the abil-

ity to positively helpchange the lives of somany young men throughthe game of football hasbeen such a tremendousblessing and (an) oppor-tunity I do not take forgranted,” Ward wrote. “Ihave taken this programas far as I could take itand I look forward to thenext chapter of my life.”Athletic director Traci

Durrance has not yethired Ward’s replace-ment, as of press time,though it is likely thatthe school could chooseto promote from withinthe current coachingstaff.

MARTIAL ARTS

+ Robertson defeatsVorce by decisionPlant City-based mixed

martial arts fighter KristiVorce had her secondconsecutive title fightSaturday, Feb. 7, butdid not leave with a newstrap.

Gillian Robertson wonthe rematch by splitdecision, after survivinga third-round barrage ofVorce’s flying fists, andkept her strawweight title.Vorce’s next fight is

scheduled March 7 atRival Fight League, inLakeland.

BASEBALL

+ Baseball leaguereturnsPlant City Little League

is bringing back Seniorand Big League Baseballfor boys age 15-18.Anyone who wishes to

play must be registeredby Saturday, March 7.Contact Jeffrey Jacobsenfor registration informa-tion at (813) 468-9362or email [email protected].

SIDELINES

ATHLETEOFTHEWEEKKaseyLocke ispegged toplaya key role. 18

SPONSORED BY COURTNEY PAAT | STATE FARM

PLANTCITYOBSERVER.COM FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2015

If Chase Lott can strap a GoPro camera onto anything to get a shot, he will.

Boxing legend MuhammadAli once said, “A true championcan adapt to anything.”

That’s what Strawberry Cresthead coach Loveny Rivas toldher cheerleaders this season,and it looks like the words ofwisdom paid off better thanexpected. In a 2014-15 seasonriddled with injuries and afew other bumps in the road,Strawberry Crest became thefirst team in HillsboroughCounty history to win the dis-trict, regional and state com-petitions.

“It’s the first state title inschool history,” Rivas says. “Ev-eryone is super excited.”

The team was able to do itdespite facing a number of ob-stacles throughout the season.Rivas had to use all of her alter-nates and pulled girls up fromthe junior varsity squad. Butall of that made the win muchmore impressive.

ROAD TO SUCCESSThe program is no stranger

to fielding a competitive team,as the Lady Chargers have had

success even before Rivas wasaround. They were the run-ners-up in the 2011 FHSAAstate competition, just beforeshe arrived on campus, andlast won regionals in 2012. Forthe last two years, Crest’s bestfinish in the postseason wasrunner-up at regionals.

But this year was different.Rivas had what she feels washer most talented squad yet infront of her, and expectationswere high.

Crest makes history with state championship

ost fishermen haveat least a few talltales up their sleeves.But Plant City HighSchool junior ChaseLott catches all of his

outdoor adventures on video.He found his calling last

summer at Captiva Island justnorth of Sanibel in the Gulf ofMexico. But he didn’t get theidea to start shooting videowhile wrangling in a trophy fishcaught during a day trip out onthe water. Instead, the PlantCity High junior’s story beginsin the evening, during his sis-ter’s birthday dinner at a littleseafood shack.

Toying around with hismother’s GoPro camera, theidea hooked him. He’d alwaysliked being outdoors and en-joyed shooting things, so whynot combine the two?

And so, Chase-N-Tail wasborn.

ANGLER’S EYEAlthough Lott, an avid fish-

erman, originally startedChase-N-Tail out on the water,

he knew that he wanted to gobeyond that. He has other in-terests and a habit of lookingfor the most creative shots pos-sible. Therefore, “Tail” in hisvideography name is meant tobe ambiguous.

“Gator, deer, fish, everything— it applies to everything,”Lott says.

To capture more shots, hegot his boating and hunting li-censes.

Using a GoPro and some ba-sic film editing computer soft-ware, Lott began to hone hiscraft when he wasn’t at footballpractice. It helped that oneof his favorite classes at PlantCity High is TV production,taught by one of his coaches,Greg Meyer. The class gave himsome background knowledgeto build upon.

Lott currently has eight vid-eos up on his YouTube page,but his work on Instagramhas also benefitted his cause.Although he’s not a huge fanof using social media, Lott

hooked on a camera by Justin Kline |StaffWriter

Thrill of the Chase

Strawberry Crest’s cheerleading team overcame a season’sworth of setbacks to win the school’s first-ever statechampionship and make Hillsborough County record books.

cheerleading by Justin Kline |StaffWriter

Plant City High School junior Chase Lott is combining his love of the outdoorswith his love of videography to make his mark on the entertainment industry.

SEE FOR YOURSELF: Watch Chase Lott’s videos on YouTube by searching forthe name of his channel, “Chase N Tail,” or by using the link, YouTube.com/user/MrZeno34. Follow him on Instagram and Twitter at @chase_ntail.

M

Courtesy photo

Injuries and departures didn’t stop the Strawberry Crest girls thisseason.

SEE CHASE / PAGE 17

SEE CREST / PAGE 17

Photos by Chase Lott

Bennet

One of my favorite questionsto ask for our Athlete of theWeek feature is, “What videogames are you playing?”

Why? Well, more often thannot, this is the non-sports question thatkids normally open upto first, and I’ve gottensome very good an-swers from some of themore competitive ones.This even includespublicly calling outteammates, which I’msure led to some action-packed contests.

I also enjoy asking becauseI’ve been a gamer for about aslong as I can remember, andI always like to know whatpeople are playing in case it in-spires me to pick up somethingnew for myself. I usually go fora big, open-world game thatI can sink a ton of hours into,but playing great sports gamesover the years really helped mebecome passionate about real-life sports and want to pursuea career where I could followthem.

If the scripts were flippedand someone were to ask mewhat video games I love toplay, I’d probably give a dif-ferent answer depending onthe day or time. I still rock thePlayStation 2 and NintendoGamecube from time to time,because there were some awe-some games that came outbefore NBA 2K blew up andtook over everything.

I do love NBA 2K15, whichI own for PlayStation 3. Formy money, there’s never beena better, more realistic sportssimulation than the NBA 2Kseries has been since 2K11.The Clippers are my team inthat game, because Chris Pauland Jamal Crawford are twoof my favorite NBA players ofall time, but I used to enjoysurprising people with theUtah Jazz before anyone knewhow lethal Gordon Hayward isin those games.

But it was the NBA Streetseries that really made me lovebasketball games, and I still fireit up on the PS2 every so often.It’s totally unrealistic, but it’s

one of the best arcade-style games around, andthere’s never a dull mo-ment in multiplayer. I

I know there are a lotof serious Madden play-ers out there who arereading this, but I don’tthink it’s better thanthe now-defunct NCAAFootball series. The col-lege games, especially

in the last few years, have beenbetter on virtually every level,namely where the controlschemes are concerned. Andyes, I have created a team formy football-free alma mater,Florida Gulf Coast University.

The Show is currently theonly MLB game out there, butthere used to be more options.In my last summer semesterof college, when I lived on apull-out couch and interned ata newspaper, my roommatesand I played a lot of exhibitiongames in the Bigs 2 wheneverwe had a decision to settle. Saywhat you want about the Showbeing great, and realistic, butI’ll take the cartoonishly hugeplayers, dropping Big Blasts onpeople and using Koji Uehara’sgyroball all day. Go O’s.

Last, but certainly not least,there used to be a series calledNHL Hitz (which was exactlylike NFL Blitz). Hitz 2003, witha young Chris Pronger on thecover, is my favorite sportsgame of all time and the onlyGamecube game I ownedthat I couldn’t make myselfget rid of. It’s completelyridiculous, 3-on-3 hockey withbone-crushing hits, a detailedfighting system and one ofthe most underrated one-twopunches in hockey history onthe Mighty Ducks, Adam Oatesand Paul Kariya. Just make sureyou master the art of the one-timer if you want to win.

WHAT’S ON KLINE’S MIND?

JUSTINKLINE

Picking up the ‘sticks?’Try these sports titles

has managed to pick up afew sponsors through hisInstagram clips, mostly bywearing the companies’ ap-parel or using their products.Another local sponsor, GaryPike, has also invested inLott’s work.

MIXING IT UPSince Lott started Chase-N-

Tail, he’s bolstered his arsenalto include just about every-thing a one-man film crewcould want. With two GoPros,a GPS-programmed droneand other equipment, Lott hasaround $2,000 worth of gear toshoot footage with.

And he’s upgraded fromthat basic computer softwareto higher-quality apps on hisphone, which link up directlywith his GoPros. He picked

up that knowledge from MikeGoodwine, a Plant City-basedfisherman who also shoots hisown videos and gained somenotoriety on Instagram asBlackneck Adventures.

What makes Lott stand outfrom the many other fishing-geared handles on social me-dia is that he doesn’t want tojust stick to fishing. He wantsto capture everything he’s in-terested in: fishing, hunting,watersports, snowboardingand anything else that can bedone outdoors.

And one day, he hopes to getfamous enough for his ownbig-time outdoor sports show.

“The whole idea is to bemore unique than anythingout there,” Lott says. “I seeSportFishing TV, they talk andthey catch fish, but nothingthat makes me go, ‘I want togo do that.’”

His favorite videographytrips so far have not been fish-ing adventures. Lott enjoyedshooting his family’s Christ-mas snowboarding trip toMount Crested Butte, Colora-do. He also liked a gator hunt-ing trip in Kissimmee withTeam Goin’ Low, which he didon a Friday night, after playingin a football game. He wasn’ttoo tired to nab a 10-footer onthe side.

“We hunted all the waythrough the night and, atabout 4 a.m., we found thisgator and started hunting himdown,” Lott says. “We got himaround, I don’t know whattime, but it was early. Hard tostay up.”

Lott’s dream videographytrip would include hog hunt-ing from inside a helicopter.He’d also like to try his handat shooting a paintball video

soon, for which he wouldbust out the drone for someaerial shots. He’s already plan-ning on new shoots and newequipment, but the fact thathe’s gotten this far is still hardfor him to believe.

“To be honest, I never ex-pected it to be this big after ayear,” Lott says.

With one year of high schoolleft, Lott has already made uphis mind for the future: Hewants to go to college locally,perhaps at the Universityof South Florida, and studymarketing in order to makeChase-N-Tail get as big as itcan. And, if everything goes asplanned, Lott feels that there’smuch to be excited about forthe future.

“Every day, I’m getting bet-ter,” he says. “Every video Imake, I keep getting betterand better.”

Plant City High Schoolhosted its second annual Pre-season Classic baseball tour-nament the weekend of Feb. 6,but it was another Plant City-area team that stole the show.

Strawberry Crest was theonly team to win both of itsgames, although the Char-gers and Raiders did not meetup. Visiting teams WiregrassRanch and Trinity ChristianAcademy each picked up awin over the Raiders and lostto Crest by one run.

On Friday night, FloridaStrawberry Festival direc-tor emeritus Al Berry threwout the first pitch before theRaiders’ game against TrinityChristian and also presentedhead coach Mike Fryrear witha hat that Berry had receivedfrom former Cincinnati Redsowner Marge Schott.

Strawberry Crest kicked thetournament off Friday after-noon with a walk-off, 4-3 winover Wiregrass Ranch. Afterblowing a 3-1 lead in the top ofthe seventh inning, the Char-gers sent Jeff Murray up tothe plate with two outs. Mur-ray singled, sending pitcher

Mark Moclair up to bat, andthen stole second base to setthe batter up for the game-winning RBI single. The nextmorning, Crest picked up a3-2 victory over the Conquer-ors, who had just pitched wellagainst Plant City.

After Berry’s first pitch Fri-day night, the Raiders fell,2-1, to Trinity Christian andits three top pitchers — allwho can throw at over 90miles per hour. The next after-noon, Plant City let the Bulls

be the home team and lost,6-3. Some bright spots werethe Raiders’ top three pitch-ers — Ryan Boyd, Billy McKayand Ben Carson — not givingup any earned runs over theweekend, and first basemanCam Knight batting 5-for-8 inhis first spring game since get-ting injured in 2014.

Both Crest and Plant Cityhave home games at 7 p.m.Friday, Feb. 13, with the Char-gers hosting Riverview and theRaiders hosting Plant.

CHASE / PAGE 16

Crest, PlantCity compete inpreseasonbaseball by Justin Kline |StaffWriter

Wiregrass Ranch tried to give Strawberry Crest some trouble on the basepaths.

Al Berry threw the first pitchbefore Plant City’s gameagainst Trinity Christian.

“That was our goal as ateam, to be the first ones in theschool to hang a state bannerin the gym,” she says.

Although the second-yearhead coach was anticipatingtalent, she wasn’t expectingthe injuries that followed thestart of the season. The inju-ries happened more often thananyone would have liked andled to some constant rostershuffling that complicated theteam’s plans.

“There was a point whereour full team wasn’t a fullteam,” Rivas says. “My team of

20 went down to 18, and therewere times when we competedand we didn’t have a full teamon the floor.”

That meant that Crestcouldn’t do its full routine— at least, not until region-als — and the team ended upgoing through the regular sea-son without winning a singlecompetition. There were threesecond-place finishes, and athird-place finish in the com-petition that Crest hosted.

In addition to the injuries,one girl quit the team and an-other was dismissed from theprogram.

In practice, the weight of

the season had gotten to thecheerleaders. Rivas had to givethe squad a pep talk to help ev-eryone focus, lest another un-wanted setback happen.

“I was telling the kids, ‘Youhave the skill, you just haveto control your mind,’” Rivassays. “‘You guys are the mosttalented group that I’ve had.Just relax, and execute.’ Thatwas something that the teamreally took in.”

WINNING STREAKOnce the athletes got fo-

cused on the task at hand, ev-erything started to trend up-ward.

When regionals rolledaround, two of Crest’s injuredcheerleaders were able tocome back in time to rejoin theteam. That meant it could fi-nally work on practicing its fullroutine. According to Rivas, noone knew the routine until thatpoint.

With a full team of 20 readyto go, Crest managed to winthe competition.

If not for winning the statecompetition, perhaps Crest’smost impressive feat came inthe Western Conference com-petition. The team dominated,winning by 38 points. For thosewho don’t follow cheerleadingtoo closely, that’s a huge blow-out win.

That just left the state com-petition.

“We went into states justwanting to do our very best,”Rivas says. “I tell my kids,‘Don’t worry about the otherteams, just focus on what youcan do.’”

The team focused in oncemore and won the whole thingJan. 30.

That made Crest the onlyteam in Hillsborough history

to take a triple win, as well asthe only team in school historyto go through all three post-season tournaments without asingle point deducted from itsroutine.

The team was also the onlyone in the county to qualifyfor the UCA National Cheer-leading Championships in Or-lando, held last Saturday at theESPN Wide World of Sports. Infact, both the varsity and ju-nior varsity squads made thecut, and both recorded top-10 finishes. The varsity teamplaced seventh out of 24, andjunior varsity finished sixth outof 21.

“Our goal is to be top threein the nation,” Rivas says. “It’sonly our second year enteringthe tournament.”

That goal’s a work in prog-ress. But, the team can resteasy this offseason, knowingthat it wrote itself a Cinderellastory and came out on top.

“It’s quite amazing that theteam was able to do whatthey did,” Rivas says. “Nobodythought we could do it.”

Contact Justin Kline [email protected].

KASEY LOCKEATHLETE OF THE WEEK SPONSORED BY COURTNEY PAAT | STATE FARM

Strawberry Crest’s softball team is getting over the loss of several important seniors, andjunior shortstop Kasey Locke has been tabbed to play one of the key roles in the team’syouth movement. “Kasey had a really good preseason, and a really good game againstBloomingdale,” head coach Mindy Miltner says. “She’s a powerful, strong, big girl, andshe’s doing a great job at shortstop for us.”

Your regular season just startedup,and you were in the openingday starting role for the first time.How are things looking?

I feel that the team has morecohesion, when you start. Itmakes it nicer — the team hasbonded.

The team lost a lot of seniors,soa lot of you younger girls have tocome together and fill those shoes.How’s the chemistry on the teamnow?

I think it’s really good. Us beingall new, we’re still getting to knoweach other. But, it’s coming along.We have some seniors this yearwho have really stepped up, help-ing the team bond.

You took over last year whenTrystan Reibsome went downwith an injury,meaning you gotto play full-time the rest of theseason.What was that experiencelike for you?

It was a little bit nerve-racking.I knew I had big shoes to fill, and Ididn’t want to let anyone down.

Coming out of the preseason,what approach have you taken tostarting this regular season?

Just really focusing on helpingout each other as a team, and notthinking about ourselves.

Besides softball,what else doyou like to do for fun?

I’m involved in FFA, and that’spretty much it.

What other sports do you play?I just play softball, and that’s it.

I started when I was 8.

What’s your favorite thingabout playing softball?

Just the girls, you know, they’realways there for you. It’s nice tohave that family.

What’s your favorite pro team?The USA Women’s National

Team. They’re a good softballteam. They really have high stan-dards. They’re all really good.

If you could have any su-perpower,what would it be?

Super speed. I would useit to run faster in softball.

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

I’d probably be rich.When you’re rich,you don’t have ev-erybody on you.You can supportpeople, and sup-port your familyand stuff.

What’s thecoolest thingyou’ve everdone on a soft-ball field?

I hit a grand slamthis past summerwith my travel team,in Alabama. I playedwith a travel team inTallahassee. It wasthe ninth inning, andwe had been tied fora while. We finally goteveryone on base, andI hit a grand slam. Wewon the tournament.It was a walk-off grandslam.

What brought youto play shortstop andthird base your wholecareer,as opposed toother positions?

I just enjoy thequickness of the gamethere. It’s fun.

CREST / PAGE 16THE SQUAD

VARSITYQuinn Hyde, KaitlynnKubecka, Amber Farmer,Michael Gleason, DevonteLowe, Jaime Zamarripa,Halee Dixon, GeorgiaFoster, Kelsey Howard,Taylor Fales, Kayla Watts,Carmen Watts, ShaquiraCruz, Shauntelle Cruz,Tarra Love, BrookeConyers, Savannah Reagan,Julia Strickland, DakotaMcNamee, Alyssa Archer

JUNIOR VARSITYMya Turner, McKenzieTalavera, ChelseaNewman, CameronCornett, Alexis Powell,Maddisyn Taylor, TamaraWilliams, Alyssa Byrd,Destiny Cox, SavannahHimmelin, Bree Sparks

COACHES:Loveny Rivas, ChelseaMartin, Anthony Medina

SUNRISE SUNSETFriday, Feb. 13 7:08 a.m. 6:17 p.m.Saturday, Feb. 14 7:07 a.m. 6:18 p.m.Sunday, Feb. 15 7:07 a.m. 6:19 p.m.Monday, Feb. 16 7:06 a.m. 6:19 p.m.Tuesday, Feb. 17 7:05 a.m. 6:20 p.m.Wednesday, Feb. 18 7:04 a.m. 6:21 p.m.Thursday, Feb. 19 7:03 a.m. 6:23 p.m.

MOONPHASES

PLANT CITYWEATHER

HIGH LOWFriday, Feb. 13 59 35Saturday, Feb. 14 65 44Sunday, Feb. 15 63 37Monday, Feb. 16 63 46Tuesday, Feb. 17 77 54Wednesday, Feb. 18 68 44Thursday, Feb. 19 63 48

TEMPERATURES

RAIN

Feb. 25

SUNRISE/SUNSET TIMES

March 5

March 13

(INCHES)

Feb. 18

Heather St Onge took this photo of weather in action at Mike SansonePark.

The Plant City Times & Observer and Grimes Hardware have partnered to host the ILove Plant City Photo Contest. Winners will have their photo featured and receive a$15 gift certificate to Grimes Hardware’s Strawberry Town Cafe! To enter, email yourphoto, along with a caption, to Editor Amber Jurgensen, [email protected]; subject line: I Love Plant City. Winners can pick up their prize at GrimesHardware.

THURS.Feb. 51.56

FRI.Feb. 60.01

SAT.Feb. 70.00

SUN.Feb. 80.00

MON.Feb. 90.58

TUES.Feb. 100.50

WED.Feb. 110.00

4.43(2014: 0.00)

FEB.TO DATE2.65

YEARTO DATE

(2014: 0.00)

STRAWBERRIES

$9.90-11.90Courtesy of the

United StatesDepartment of

Agriculture

SHIPPING POINT: Orlando

CROSSWORD SUNDAY POTPOURRI by Carl Cranby

Across1 On ___ with (equal to)5 Like a tack10 Coarse file14 Indian state19 Not false20 Shire of “Rocky”21 51, famously22 Asian wild dog23 Sondheim’s Sweeney24 “Are you calling me ___?”25 Dawn, poetically26 Bob and Elizabeth27 It’s free31 The puck stops here?32 Present-day Persia33 Blanc, for one34 Frolic, as a child35 “Do as ___, not ...”36 Data transmission speedmeasure37 Suit-tag letters40 Shopping binge43 “There’s more than one way toskin ___”44 Former German chancellor45 What one earns46 Grand ___ (vintage)47 Like some churches52 Participate in a 10K53 Takes in a book54 Sunrise direction55 Cancels56 “Corn” or “cycle” prefix57 “Gotcha!”58 Grandma59 Whopper60 Certain applied science69 “8,” sometimes (Abbr.)70 At the center of71 Word on a dipstick72 Classic introduction?73 Cultured gem76 Camera part77 Abstain from80 Coffee dispenser81 It issues securities85 “If ___ told you once ...”86 Casual Friday casualties87 As many as88 Mosque VIP89 Playful aquatic animal91 Billboard displays92 African plains grazers93 Bakery appliance94 Peepers or spheres96 Court order97 Accessible to everyone98 Conspiratorial groups101 Movie-watching machine ofold108 Farewell109 Grizzly, for one110 Zola or Griffith111 Just a smidge112 Uses a needle and thread113 Toy building-block brand114 Lack of laxness

115 Assist in the weight room116 Old hat117 Adam’s garden118 Data and such119 Brownish shades

down1 Bering Sea island2 Fork tine3 Part of a sound system4 Bureaucracy problem5 Arrowhead and Yankee6 WWII admiral nicknamed Bull7 Came down to earth8 Org. combating music piracy9 They take sides10 Chef Gordon11 Mac’s attachment?12 Bygone peasant13 Tropics headgear14 Either 2 in “2 + 2”15 Definitely not tall16 Unaccompanied performances17 Baldwin of TV and film18 Clifflike, flat-topped elevation28 Talk show name29 Bard’s inspiration30 Lose feathers, in London

35 Topped a cake36 Small oriental tree37 Hindu noble38 Archaic exclamation39 Some hair products40 Rugby formation41 Wrinkled fruit42 Mystical43 Holly Hunter in “The Piano”44 Wild ass of Asia45 He goes a-courting48 Arboreal ape49 Soda brand50 Intend51 Like a Cub’s walls?57 Does some trucking58 Flanders on TV59 Deceived61 Hounds’ prey62 Editor’s inserts63 Type of acid64 Grocery shopper’s helper65 People of northeastern India66 Alaska native67 Signal carrier in the body68 One lacking hope73 Bread for a gyro

74 “National Velvet” authorBagnold75 St. crossers76 Subject to blame77 Agitators78 Yemen neighbor79 Speed, to a DJ82 Greek knee-length garment83 Catlike creature84 Roughneck, in London90 Like old autocratic Russia92 Pennsylvania state bird93 Group of genes94 Leopard look-alike95 500 cars96 Lawn intrusions97 River in Missouri99 Parkinson’s drug100 ___ Hall University101 Seductress in silent films102 “What’s the big ___?”103 Cacophonies104 Thing to plant105 Put out106 Gulf of ___ (arm of theBaltic)107 Charlie Brown exclamation

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

CRYPTOQUIZEach of the following cryptograms is a clue tothe identity of a renowned dancer. Using thehints J=I and L=R, decipher the clues to namethe dancer.

1. P L E B Y

2. W L Y B J H J V F

3. Q V W D E Q

4. H N J F P Q J R Y

5. P J F P Y L L V P Y L H

This dancer nicknamed their partner“Feathers”:

©2015 Universal Uclick

02.13.15 PCTO

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