PLANT CITY TIMES &
Observer
Students celebrate National Signing Day.
SEE PAGE 12
YOU. YOUR NEIGHBORS. YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD.
VOLUME 4, NO. 31
FREE
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FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2017
Pleasant Grove celebrates a new sanctuary The three-year project was recently completed with the help of local donations. SEE PAGE 5. YOUR TOWN
Courtesy photo
Keith Smith has joined the team as a shareholder.
Plant City EDC Vice Chair to join GrayRobinson, P.A. GrayRobinson, P.A., announced Thursday, Feb. 2, that attorney Keith Smith has joined the firm as a shareholder in the company’s Lakeland office. Smith, a graduate of Widener University School of Law, has previously worked as a senior attorney, as vice president for Citigroup Inc. and as a partner with Trinkle, Redman, Coton, Davis and Smith P.A. His legal practice focuses on matters involving corporate, estate planning and real estate law. He serves as the outside general counsel for Withlacoochee River Electric Cooperative Inc., one of the largest rural electric cooperatives in the nation. In addition to his work as an attorney, Smith also serves as the vice chair of the Plant City Economic Development Corp. “Keith has tremendous experience not only in his practice area, but also brings valuable experience as a lawyer for a multinational financial institution,” Mayanne Downs, GrayRobinson’s president and managing director, said. “We are so very pleased Keith is joining the firm in our Lakeland office and know he’ll help us serve our clients well.” GrayRobinson P.A. was founded in 1970 and has over 300 attorneys and consultants across 13 offices.
The Hillsborough County Metropolitan Planning Organization is working with the City of Plant City to determine a potential walk/bike plan for the community. DANIEL FIGUEROA IV STAFF WRITER
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ttempting to walk around Plant City on Alexander Street, residents may notice one glaring problem: they won’t get very far. At least not on foot. Much of the same could be said if they tried to take a bicycle out. This, many Plant City residents agree, is not an isolated problem. “I live in north Plant City, where there are no sidewalks or lighting or anything,” Jillian Wilder said. “I have to travel somewhere else to feel safe.” Wilder, 29, is a manager at the John R. Trinkle Center at the Hillsborough Community College campus in town. She moved to Plant City a year ago from Winter Garden, and said she would like to see similar development in Plant City to what she saw in her old home. Winter Garden, Wilder said, has a strongly connected bike and pedestrian system. The desire for a better connected system brought her to Bruton Memorial Library Thursday, Feb. 2, to learn
about the joint Walk/Bike Plan presented by the City of Plant City and the Hillsborough County Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO). SEE SIDEWALK PAGE 5
Photos by Daniel Figueroa IV and C.J. Major.
It is possible to cross Alexander Street at Mendonsa Road from the west to east side of the street, but there is no connecting sidewalk.
Random acts of art Finding art throughout town? Residents of all ages have come together to grow the arts culture in Plant City. EMILY TOPPER MANAGING EDITOR
Lately, residents have been finding pops of color throughout Plant City – usually in the most unexpected places. It began with rocks. On Facebook, art aficionados Luci Hoover and Megan Stephens created the page ‘Plant City ROCKS.’ Now with over
Sign ups to be held for Little Miss Plant City
2,500 members, the group holds sessions on the first Tuesday of every month at Uncle Mike’s Smokehouse in Plant City to paint rocks. Special painting events are also held throughout the month for kids and families. Once completed, the artists hide them throughout the Winter Strawberry Capital of the World. The sessions are led by Hoover and Stephens, as well as fellow painters Becca Dickerson and Karen Major. “It’s become a group effort at this point,” Hoover said. “I work in Lakeland, but I grew up in Plant City. A couple popped up in Lakeland and I thought, ‘We need to have our town Emily Topper
SEE ART PAGE 8
Eric Barber and Rebecca Nipper Galvin both participate in Free Art Friday.
Registration will be held for the 2017 Little Miss Plant City competition from 9 to 11 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 25, at Tease Hair Studio, 1705 James L. Redman Parkway, Unit E. The registration cost is $50, cash only. The pageant is open to girls between the ages of 8 and 10. Applications and rules for the pageant can be found online at GFWCPantCityJuniors.com. Those with questions about registration or the event can contact the GFWC Plant City Junior Woman’s Club, PlantCityLMPC@gmail.com.