FUN FRIDAYS

from Osprey Observer Brandon/Winthrop September 2021

THE FLORIDA STRAWBERRY FESTIVAL IS #1 FOR FUN

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Te Florida Strawberry Festival, which will take place in Plant City in March 2022, released the theme for its 87th annual event last month, and it will be ‘#1 for FUN!’

One of area’s most beloved events recently announced its plans for 2022 and an exciting theme to go with it. The Florida Strawberry Festival, which will take place in Plant City in March 2022, released the theme for its 87th annual event last month, and it will be ‘#1 for FUN!’

“Our festival and the City of Plant City hold the strawberry in high regard,” said President Paul Davis. “We’re #1 for wholesome family fun and excitement.”

A new theme is created for each year’s festival to ofer patrons a glimpse of the experience they will have at the 11-day event. It also unifies vendors, FFA chapters, organizations, corporate partners and exhibitors who create parade floats and displays throughout the event, said Davis.

The festival’s strawberry character featured in each year’s theme artwork is an iconic part of the event’s branding and advertising eforts. In this theme’s artwork, he wears a festival cap, waves a foam finger and holds a plate of strawberries.

“We feel like this is a theme other fairs and festivals, in our profession, can relate to,” said Davis. “Like most fairs and festivals, the Florida Strawberry Festival represents a piece of Americana, a time in American history when events like ours brought communities together to celebrate the harvest, and that’s #1 in our book.”

The Florida Strawberry Festival is an 11-day community event celebrating the strawberry harvest of Eastern Hillsborough County. Each year, nearly 500,000 visitors enjoy the festival’s headline entertainment, youth livestock shows, exhibits of commerce and, of course, its strawberry shortcakes. The 2022 Florida Strawberry Festival takes place March 3-13, 2022 in Plant City and will be ‘#1 for FUN!’

For more information, visit www.flstrawberryfestival.com, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter (#berryfest22).

TAMPA DOWNTOWN HOSTS FUN FOURTH FRIDAYS

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Fourth Friday along the Tampa Riverwalk is back. The arts and cultural crawl, which features live music at Fourth Friday along the Tampa Riverwalk is back. The arts and cultural crawl, which features live music at multiple locations, resumed last month and will take place again on Friday, September 24; Friday, October 22; and Friday, November 26.

“Fourth Friday is a perfect outdoor family event showcasing some of the area’s best musicians and artists at some of our most popular cultural attractions,” said Tampa Downtown Partnership President and CEO Lynda Remund. “Residents and downtown businesses have been asking when Fourth Friday would be returning, and we are excited to say the wait is now over.”

Occurring on the fourth Friday of every month, Fourth Friday runs from 5:30-7:30 p.m., except at the Henry B. Plant Museum, where activities run from 5-7 p.m.

Organized by the Tampa Downtown Partnership and sponsored by TECO, Fourth Friday ofers free musical performances and other activities at various arts and cultural venues along the Tampa Riverwalk. Locations include Sparkman Wharf, the Sail Plaza, Henry B. Plant Museum, the Florida Museum of Photographic Arts (FMOPA), and the Straz Center. During the event, visitors can learn more about the program and the Tampa Downtown Partnership at the organization’s ‘In-

formation Hub’ at Curtis Hixon Park. Fourth Friday also includes food and drink specials from participating downtown venues. As a ‘Sip & Stroll’ event, alcoholic consumption is allowed along the Riverwalk in specially approved vendor cups when purchased at one of eight authorized Tampa Riverwalk venues. “Not only are there diferent entertainers at each of our event locations each month, Fourth Friday along the Tampa Riverwalk but our Information is back. Hub in Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park features local artists, who not only perform on-site (whether its painting, dancing or playing music), but also have the opportunity to sell their work to the public,” said Caroline Keesler, digital marketing coordinator with the Tampa Downtown Partnership. “In addition, as an incentive to visit all of the participating locations, if an attendee finishes their passport by getting a hole punch at each location and returns it to us at the Hub, they are entered in a rafe for a downtown staycation. We encourage attendees to complete the passport multiple times, as each completed passport turned in to us is a chance to win the rafe. We are going to pull the first winner in January.” For more information, visit www.fourthfridaytpa.com. You can also follow Fourth Friday on Twitter @FourthFridayTPA or Facebook @TampasDowntown for continuous updates.

HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY 4-H YOUTH DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM OFFERS HANDS-ON LEARNING

By Tatiana Ortiz

Students striving to enhance their life skills to help them become more productive members of society can join the Hillsborough County 4-H Youth Development program. The youth development program of Florida Cooperative Extension is part of the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences.

This program is geared toward students ages 5 to 18. It promotes life skills, civic participation and educational activities. The Hillsborough County 4-H hosts a club program which covers a wide array of topics, such as photography, livestock, gardening and dog training.

Brandi Yancy, 4-H Youth Development agent at Hillsborough County, stated what makes this program stand out: “I grew up in the 4-H program and loved that it was very much a family-oriented activity for me.”

The Hillsborough County 4-H also ofers two after-school programs, such as one on aeronautics, engineering and robotics. The second after-school program educates students on water resources, water conservation along with steps to protect for future use. A 4-H club consists of a group of five or more students led by one or more adult volunteer leaders.

“We are always looking for adult volunteers to either join a club or become project leaders,” Yancy said. The Extension Service became established in 1914 by Congress. It aims to provide a way Someone holding a centipede during the Hillsborough for disseminating

County 4-H Youth Development program’s open and implementing house at the Florida State Fairgrounds in Tampa. research-based information from land-grant universities. The University of Florida, located in Gainesville, is one of Florida’s land-grant universities. 4-H can be found in all of the counties in Florida as well as in every state and internationally. In addition, 4-H has partnered with Tufts University in Massachusetts for more than 10 years to study the efectiveness of its youth development programs. The 4-H Study of Positive Youth Development conducted by Tufts University discovered that 4-H’ers are four times more likely to give back to their communities, two times more likely to make healthier choices and much more. For more information, visit http://sfyl. ifas.ufl.edu/hillsborough/4-h-youth-development/. For upcoming events, visit http:// sfyl.ifas.ufl.edu/events/?location=hillsborough. If you’re interested in joining or becoming a volunteer, contact 744-5519 ext. 54116 or ext. 54132.

SKYLAB CENTER OPENS IN LAKELAND

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Closing the STEM achievement gap is now closer than ever due to an unprecedented and significant milestone recently achieved at the Aerospace Center for Excellence (ACE) in the ACE Florida Air Museum in Lakeland: The opening of a new SkyLab Innovation Center.

This extraordinary achievement is part of ACE’s steadfast commitment to provide curriculum-centric and standards-based K-12 STEM learning with cutting-edge aviation and Aerospace STEM hands-on educational opportunities. The Aerospace Center for Excellence and its main signature building initiative is nationally recognized as a ‘solutions pioneer’ in the worldwide need for a greater STEM-prepared workforce. Furthermore, ACE possesses a particular passion for serving the critical necessity for pilots and aircraft technicians which are required to support the growing aviation and aerospace industry.

“With the opening of the SkyLab Innovation Center,” pronounced John ‘Lites’ Leenhouts, ACE president and CEO, “we’re trying, right here, right now, with no waiting and no excuses, to re-engage the youth of today in STEM learning opportunities so that they

are excited by the sciences and not to be afraid of them. With the opening of the SkyLab Innovation Center and the STEM aerospace education programming ofered on the ACE campus, students can reconnect to STEM aerospace education with a love of learning and quickly realize that the aerospace industry has a plethora of opportunities well beyond just flying Te Aerospace Center for Excellence (ACE) in the ACE Florida and fixing.”

Air Museum in Lakeland recently opened a new SkyLab The center, which opened to Innovation Center. last month, marks the world’s first-ever purposely built, hands-on aerospace learning facility which will engage, educate and accelerate young women and men into successful careers. The ACE education campus blueprint has expanded significantly in the 47-year history of the organization, maturing into a clear and purposeful mission to engage, educate and accelerate the next generation of aerospace professionals. In fact, ACE is the only blueprint for STEM aerospace education of its kind in the United States. Innovative and inventive, ACE is changing the very fabric of STEM aerospace education in America. ACE and its STEM aerospace education offerings are so well regarded that other aviation and aerospace museum and science discovery centers are beginning to contact ACE for support in starting their own STEM aerospace education opportunities. The ACE SkyLab and ACE Florida Air Museum hours are currently Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. and Sunday, 12 Noon-4 p.m. For more information, visit https://aceedu.org/. The museum is located at 4175 Medulla Rd. in Lakeland on the Lakeland Linder International Airport.

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HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY PROPERTY OWNERS TO RECEIVE TRIM NOTICE

The ofce of Hillsborough County Property Appraiser (HCPA) Bob Henriquez is currently mailing the 2021 Notice of Proposed Property Taxes, also known as the ‘Truth in Millage’ (TRIM) notice, to all property owners in the county. The TRIM notice is mailed each August and includes important information about individual properties, such as the property’s assessed value as of January 1, 2021; exemptions, if any, applied to the property; the proposed taxes calculated using the taxing authorities’ proposed millage rates; and the dates, times and venues of budget hearings for each of the various taxing authorities.

The TRIM notice is not a bill. Rather, it is an estimate of ad valorem taxes based on the proposed tax rates, a property’s value and exemptions. The Hillsborough County Property Appraiser (HCPA) does not set the tax rate, issue the bill or collect taxes. It only determines a property’s market value to be used by the taxing authorities for taxation purposes.

“I encourage all property owners to carefully review their TRIM notice to make sure they are receiving all the benefits they are entitled to by law,” Henriquez said. “If you need any help understanding your notice, please do not hesitate to contact my ofce.”

To help answer questions about the notices, Henriquez’s staf is available by telephone at 272-6100 from Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. until 5 p.m., excluding holidays. Assistance is also available online via the HCPA’s website, www.hcpafl.org, where property owners can use the new ‘live chat’ feature to have their questions answered by a representative from the property appraiser’s ofce. During these same hours, the HCPA also has three of its ofces open for limited walk-in service utilizing current Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines. These locations include the first-floor lobby of the County Center in downtown Tampa (601 E. Kennedy Blvd.), the Plant City ofce (307 N. Michigan Ave., 2nd Floor) and the Southshore Regional Service Center in Ruskin (410 30th St. SE.).

TRIM notices can also be reviewed on the HCPA website by visiting www.hcpafl.org and performing a property search. Once the property’s ‘parcel result’ page is located online, click on the ‘TRIM’ PDF icon at the top of the page to view the Notice of Proposed Taxes.

To help property owners understand the information found on TRIM notices, the HCPA has created an online explanation page found at www.hcpafl.org/property-info/truth-in-millage.

If a property owner disagrees with the value set by the HCPA or believes they should have qualified for an exemption but do not see it listed, they are encouraged to contact the HCPA at 272-6100 for an informal review. If the owner is not satisfied with the outcome or would prefer not to discuss the matter with the HCPA, they can file a formal petition with the county’s Value Adjustment Board (VAB). A formal petition form must be received by the VAB by Friday, September 17. Petition forms are available online at: https://hcvab.hillsclerk.com/axiaweb2021/.

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STORMWATER PONDS SERVE IMPORTANT FUNCTION FOR RUNOFF

By Brad Stager

Waterfront living in Florida may conjure up images of beachside condominiums or estates, but it can also mean residing in a single-family home with a stormwater pond view.

Stormwater ponds are one of the most common features of the local area, and while a nicely designed waterscape can be pleasing to look at, they serve practical functions that help keep developed areas habitable.

This is done by providing a way to manage excess amounts of rainwater and avoid flooding of roads and neighborhoods.

The ponds are especially important because development typically involves replacing large areas of porous soil that would normally allow for absorption of rain into the ground.

The loss of other terrain features such as vegetation, creeks and natural ponds also afects what happens on the ground when the clouds open up and unleash great volumes of rainwater.

Besides managing the flow of excess water, the ponds also provide a way to filter pollutants such as pesticides and petroleum products from the rainfall runof

before it is discharged to the natural environment. According to Paula Staples, public education program coordinator with University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Extension Hillsborough County, the man-made water bodies don’t take care Stormwater ponds are a common feature in residential and of themselves. commercial districts. “Just as your yard needs a scheduled maintenance plan, so do the ponds in your community,” she wrote in an email, adding that what residents do to their own property has an efect on the aquatic health of neighborhood ponds. “Preventing the chemicals applied to your yard from washing away will help keep community ponds healthier.” The Southwest Florida Water Management District (SWFWMD) regulates stormwater ponds in Hillsborough County, but responsibility for maintaining them generally rests with entities such as property owners or community associations. Assistance with issues like water quality or bank erosion is available commercially, but there are also resources such as workshops through UF/IFAS and SWFWMD as well as other organizations and agencies. Hillsborough County even has an AdoptA-Pond program to assist with stormwater pond upkeep, though it has some restrictions. You can learn more about stormwater ponds by visiting the SWFWMD website at swfwmd.state.fl.us.

Girls With Confidence, the popular local organization dedicated to helping girls build self-esteem, leadership and positive relationships, is so excited to announce its counterpart, Boys With Confidence. Nancy Lemon, founder and CEO, is overjoyed to start a wonderful program for young men: “The response has been phenomenal. I think we’re filling up more of the boys’ program than the girls’ at the moment. We need to teach young men to respect young women, respect each other and to have strong character. Working alongside with both boys and girls has always been the long-term goal.”

Lemon is excited to welcome Greg Rusch as the program director, whose extensive experience with youth comes from his years spent as a youth pastor at Grace Community Church and the Young Life program in the Lithia/Valrico area. “I believe a lot of the sign-ups are people who know and trust him,” Lemon added. She knows he has the energy and strength of character to be an excellent role model for youth.

With his input, Boys With Confidence developed a curriculum that covers many topics important to boys and young men. In elementary school, it covers being brave, trying new things, developing manners and social skills, forming positive friendships, managing emotions and stress as well as learning from mistakes without worrying about perfectionism. It builds on these topics in middle and high school courses and adds building confidence and self-love, venturing down the road of social media, developing overall leadership skills and understanding diferent personalities.

A typical seminar will meet weekly for four weeks. Lemon explained, “When I decided to start Boys With Confidence, I asked, what is going to be diferent from the girls’ program? Boys don’t necessarily want to do crafts, but they enjoy using their hands in other ways. We’re going to follow the same format of doing a group discussion and doing games/activities, but with the boys, we’re going to do more experiments and build things. The topics mirror what the girls are going through.” For example, for an upcoming elementary seminar, they will make fuzzy ball shooters with pom-poms, balloons and cups. It will also have the boys race to chisel LEGO figures from blocks of ice. Lemon smiled as she explained how this ties into a lesson: “Sometimes, emotions with young men can do one of two things: they may keep them all pent up and not talk about it and we don’t know what’s going on, or they can be the opposite. They share all their emotions at a level of anger or frustration. These activities will help show how we can manage through that frustration whether it’s inside or outside. We want them to manage those emotions properly and talk about their feelings.”

Additionally, boys will have the opportunity to work with animals at the petting farm on-site. Boys With Confidence participants can help with the seven goats, 13 chickens and two bunnies. Working with the animals teaches responsibility and proper channeling of emotions.

Much like Girls With Confidence, those in Boys With Confidence will meet by age

and grade level. The first series begins this September with Confident Boys designed for elementary students. Guys With Character for older students will come next. Middle school will include grades five through eight and begin in November or December, with the high school program rolling out in the next school year. It also plans to have Boys Night Out, where there will be one-time meetups with food stations, fun activities and games, and Boys Giving Girls With Confdence, the popular local organization dedicated to helping girls build self-esteem, leadership and positive relationships, is so excited to announce its counterpart, Boys With Confdence. Back, where young men can come together to volunteer in the community. Girls With Confidence still ofers its proven programs for girls as well as Confident Moms and Ladies Night Out coming up on Thursday, October 21. At this event for moms, it will hold a fundraiser where all the money from the registrations go to its nonprofit, Confidence & Leadership Foundation, which allows Lemon to give children scholarships and work on special projects. Currently, the boys will meet in the same building as Girls With Confidence, but Lemon is already thinking about adding a separate building for the young men. Post-pandemic, she hopes to again be able to ofer both programs at local schools. For more information, a full schedule of classes, registration and pricing, call 5712002 or visit www.girlswithconfidence. com. The Girls With Confidence Center is are located conveniently at 10540 Browning Rd. in Lithia.