Plant City Times &
Observer YOU. YOUR NEIGHBORS. YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD.
FRIDAY, JANUARY 22, 2016
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RETIRED
GAME ON
CIVIL RIGHTS
Dentist had a practice in P.C. for 60 years.
Intense flag football tourney makes winners.
Martin Luther King Jr. festival a success.
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OUR TOWN
HIT THE BOOKS by Emily Topper | Staff Writer
Ann Scott to visit local school
The Florida governor’s wife will be taking part of a literacy event Jan. 25 at Strawberry Crest High School. + Couples have anniversaries Two couples in the same family are sharing an anniversary Friday, Jan. 22. Timothy and Chandra Stewart are celebrating their year anniversary. Herman and Leslie Stewart are celebrating their 51st anniversary. Congratulations to both couples.
Strawberry Crest High School has been selected as one of the kickoff schools for the eighth annual Celebrate Literacy Week, Florida! event, and one special visitor is coming to inspire a love of reading and writing: Ann Scott, Florida Governor Rick Scott’s wife.
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SEE SCOTT / PAGE 5 Ann Scott
Swamp BLUES
To better reach and minister to the greater Plant City area, the Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Plant City has announced a new name: GracePoint Plant City. “After an exhaustive process of gathering member feedback and working through a structured naming process with an outside firm, the leadership unanimously agreed to the new name that we believe communicates the hope of the Gospel and the church’s uniqueness as a truthstanding Gospel church focused on the grace of Jesus Christ,” Reverend Scott Lawry, senior pastor, said. The church desired a name that is more welcoming and expresses the themes of life, grace, reformation and living, Lawry said. GracePoint Plant City is located at 1107 Griffin Road. In addition to its Sunday morning 9:30 a.m. service, followed by Bible study classes for all ages, Life Groups meet several nights of the week at members’ homes. To find out more, go to GracePointPC. org, or call (813) 7599383.
Guitar slinger Damon Fowler will be performing at Duke’s Brewhouse for the bar’s first anniversary.
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t was at Sunday family barbecues where music notes first drifted into Damon Fowler’s ears and heart. Since getting his first guitar as a preteen, Fowler has built his empire from strumming around Tampa Bay-area bars to jamming alongside the likes of Grammy Awardwinning producer Rick Derringer, Gregg Allman and B.B. King. Now, he’s taking his talent to the Winter Strawberry Capital of the World. The Brandon native will be performing at Duke’s Brewhouse Saturday, Jan. 23. “I’m looking forward to seeing a lot of old friends,” Fowler said. “Every time
+ RSVP to Citizen of the Year
OUR TOWN / PAGE 5
both literacy and history. Close to 1,000 students will be in attendance at the ceremony. “The theme of this contest is ‘Literacy Changes Our World,’” Strawberry Crest High School Principal David Brown said. “We’re trying to tie it in with civics.”
SLIDE by Amber Jurgensen | Managing Editor
+ Church renamed
The 57th annual awards luncheon for Outstanding Citizen of the Year will be Wednesday, Feb. 17. Organizers need interested guests to RSVP by Friday, Feb. 5. The buffet, provided by Simply Southern Caterers, will begin at 11:30 a.m. at the Florida Strawberry Festival Expo Hall, 2301 W. Oak Ave. The cost is $25. No one knows the identity of the 2016 recipient, who was chosen by a variety of service clubs in the Plant City community. The recipient doesn’t know either, until they are announced at the luncheon. “I always enjoy the anticipating watching the person that wins — their surprise — because they have no
Ann Scott will arrive in the Winter Strawberry Capital of the World at 10 a.m. Monday, Jan. 25. Students from Bailey Elementary, Cork Elementary and Tomlin Middle schools will join her. Students will perform skits and cheers centered around
The skits will center around the reading of the preamble, Washington Crossing the Delaware, the 13th Amendment, immigration in the 1800s and readings of World War II letters. The skits will be followed by speakers Ann Scott, Hillsborough County Public Schools Superintendent Jeff Eakins, Florida Teacher of the Year Di-
I go to Duke’s it feels like home. “I hope there’s going to be free beer,” he added.
ROOTS
Fowler grew up at his grandparents’ house, where they ran the family business, Fowler Septic Tank. His aunts and uncles worked for the business, and every Sunday they threw a barbecue. It was at those barbecues where Fowler listened to his uncles play guitar. “Some people throw ball,” Fowler said. “We played guitar.” An only child who suf-
SEE FOWLER / PAGE 5
Courtesy photo
PLANT CITY CONNECTION Damon Fowler and Duke’s Brewhouse owner Chuck Jamieson first met at the Green Iguana in Ybor City. Jamieson was managing the bar, and Fowler was playing at it every Wednesday night. The connection has Fowler making a stop in Plant City while he tours. “He’s a really talented musician,” Jamieson said. “He drums up a little something different each time.”
Fowler has played at Duke’s Brewhouse a couple of times before, but the Jan. 23 show will be to celebrate Duke Brewhouse’s first anniversary in business. The restaurant and bar has 31 beers on tap, including a selection of about 15 craft beers. “He’s almost outgrown us,” Jamieson said. “This might be one of the last times he plays for us.”
YOU’VE GOT MAIL by Emily Topper | Staff Writer
Postal box could return to Walden Lake The postal box was removed because of constant vandalism. At its first meeting of 2016 on Monday, Jan. 18, the Walden Lake Community Association discussed the possibility of re-obtaining a mail drop-off box for the Walden Lake community. Years ago, the community had a mail drop-off box near the guard houses on Timberlane Drive for the nearly 2,400
homes in Walden Lake. The box was removed about eight years ago after it was continuously vandalized. “It was a big convenience to the Walden Lake residents to be able to drop off mail there,” WLCA President Bob Hunter said. Jack Wolff, a former director for the WLCA, has been work-
ing to have the drop-off box reinstated in the community. He has submitted papers requesting the box for processing, but has faced challenges because different post officers have been transferring in and out of the position frequently. “I’m thinking I will be able to do something to process this is in the near future,” Wolff
said. “Once we get the paperwork rolling along ... I don’t think there will be a problem.” Currently, there are two boxes at the closed downtown post office on Reynolds Street in Historic Downtown. The building closed in 2013 after deterioration was discovered in the basement. If one of the mail drop-off boxes from the
SEE BOX / PAGE 5
INDEX Calendar........................2
Emily Topper
Out of the two boxes at the closed post office on Reynolds Street, one may be moved to Walden Lake.
Vol. 3, No. 24 | One section Crossword....................15
Obituaries....................11
Sports..........................12
Weather.......................15
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