R PROCESSOR OFFERS AFFORDABLE MERCHANT PROCESSING SERVICES

By Makenzie Atkins

By Lily Belcher

and receive a $50 gift card or attend a fourweek program that meets for an hour once a week and receive up to $125 in gift cards. For the four-week program, participants will receive a $50 gift card for the first session and a $25 gift card for each of the next three sessions they attend.

The nine-county gift-card incentive was made possible with a $2.7 million grant from the Florida Department of Health. The Area Health Education Center in the USF College of Medicine received the grant to support the incentive program. Livingston and her team hope to see a 35 percent increase in the number of participants in their programs following the gift card incentive.

Tobacco Free Florida o f ers free programs to support those on their journey to quitting tobacco. While the incentive program is only available for a limited time and while supplies last, people can seek free resources and support groups through the organization.

For more information on Tobacco Free Florida or on how to quit smoking, visit https://tobaccofreeflorida.com/.

When starting a new business, there are many puzzle pieces that need to be put together in order to create something successful. While some decisions might be difcult, choosing the right system for your merchant processing is now easier than ever.

Using Rich Rohde’s merchant processing service, R Processor Inc., gives you access to many diferent opportunities. Rohde ofers point of sales, mobile payments, electronic gift cards and EMV terminals. When you use R Processor, the company will also handle the purchase adjustments and chargebacks, interact with a fulfillment company, and give you real-time reporting of your credit card sales.

relationship with its clients and strives to give clients the best.

Rohde’s merchant processing services can ofer competitive benefits to choosing its service over others. While many companies may be able to ofer similar services, R Processor takes it one step further. Not only do you gain an easyto-use system when choosing to go with R Processors’ services, but you are also gaining a friend who is ready to help you succeed.

R Processor works hard to continue to connect with its customers in a way other companies do not. Rohde, as the owner of R Processor, takes pride in building a relationship with people like himself, businessmen and women.

Rohde has been in the industry for over 34 years and has seen what systems are needed to smoothly run a business. This is just one reason why R Processor is an easy choice when looking for merchant processing systems.

“We are a veteran-owned Florida corporation providing handson personal care,” said Rohde.

“Because the business is individually owned, we can eliminate any long-term contracts and guarantee rates for lengthy periods.”

Rhode’s merchant processing currently services many businesses in the community, including Idlewild Baptist Church and The Green Boutique.

Merchant processing is the system in which payment is received by a company from its customers. It is important to have a system which you can rely on to get the job done and keep customer information safe. Rohde wants to help business owners to aford a system that can be trusted, and he is passionate about helping entrepreneurs like him.

For more information, contact Rohde at 813-405-5210, email rich@richrohde. com or visit https://richrohde.com/.

The Village Players will present The Not So True Story of Cinderella! over three weekends in February and March. The February dates and times are Friday, February 24 and Saturday, February 25 at 8 p.m. There will be a matinee on Sunday, February 26 at 3 p.m. The March dates and times are Friday, March 3 and Saturday, March 4 at 8 p.m.

All shows will be held at the historic James McCabe Theater, located at 506 N. 5th St. in Valrico. Tickets can be purchased by calling the box ofce at 813-480-3147 or by visiting www.thevillageplayersvalrico. com.

The Not So True Story of Cinderella! was written by and directed by Domin Pazo. Gail Pierce, a producer with the Village Players, said, “Pazo, the artistic director of the Village Players, is quite a playwright. This is his second play in two years.” Pierce added, “His style is lighthearted but with an underlying message.”

The plot of The Not So True Story of Cinderella! is a retelling of the famous fairy tale,

By Kathy L. Collins

Cinderella, but with some adult themes, new characters and some crazy side stories. The Not So True Story of Cinderella!makes you see this classic in a diferent light.

Pazo said of The Not So True Story of Cinderella!, “Years ago, I was at the Magic Kingdom Park. During the parade, these two guys were dressed up as the stepsisters and were so funny. They were the inspiration for writing this play.”

Pazo added, “I am so lucky to have this great bunch of actors and crew that do the most stupid things I can ask for. If you just need to laugh and get away from life, come see this show.”

Pierce said, “The Not So True Story of Cinderella! takes a closer look at life’s messages, such as things are not always what they seem and life is not always as planned. These are just to name a few which were weaved into Pazo’s usual style of humor.”

For more information of this play and about the Village Players, please visit www. thevillageplayersvalrico.com.

Kennedie Clinton was crowned queen of the 88th Florida Strawberry Festival at the annual pageant on January 21.

Clinton was selected from a field of 24 contestants. Jaida Davis was chosen first maid along with court members Addison Raburn, Fe Ramirez and Kaleigh Salmon.

“I’m so excited. This is such an amazing opportunity to represent my community,” said Clinton. “I’m so honored. I’m so blessed. Words can’t describe how I’m feeling right now. I’m on cloud nine.”

Clinton is the daughter of Michael and Michelle Engle. She is currently a junior at Durant High School. Clinton serves as a member of National Honor Society, National Arts Honor Society, National English Honor Society and the Durant Theatre Company. She plans to pursue a career in law or physics to become either a criminal defense attorney or astrophysicist.

The Florida Strawberry Festival Queen’s Competition is organized by the Plant City Lions Club and is composed of five facets of competition: a personal interview, on-stage speaking, casual wear, evening wear and an impromptu question.

“Tonight was a very exciting night,” said Florida Strawberry Festival President Elect Kyle Robinson. “The judges did an outstanding job of selecting a group of sweet, intelligent and well-spoken young ladies. The previous queen and court held a high standard, but I’m confident this court will be up to the challenge and make us proud.”

Throughout the year, the queen and court make over 80 appearances as they represent the Florida Strawberry Festival and the Plant City community. They can be seen at festival events throughout the grounds and at community events throughout the year.

The Florida Strawberry Festival also crowned the winners of its annual Junior Royalty pageant earlier this month at the Grimes Family Agricultural Center on the festival grounds.

One hundred and twenty registered contestants from 5-15 years old competed in four categories according to their ages: baroness, duchess, princess and queen, respectively. From the top five finalists in each category, a first maid and a winner were chosen.

Madelynn Marie Hardwick was selected as Junior Royalty Queen, Giselle Elena McDowell was chosen as Junior Royalty Princess, Olivia Pilar McDowell was chosen as Junior Royalty Duchess and Aubrey Sweeney was chosen as Junior Royalty Baroness.

“Once again, we have an outstanding group of girls to represent our festival,” said Florida Strawberry Festival President Paul Davis.

“We couldn’t be more proud of our girls, our families and this community. We are truly blessed.”

The Junior Royalty winners will represent the Florida Strawberry Festival throughout the year, making appearances at events and in the annual Plant City Christmas Parade and Grand Parade during the festival.