Plant City Times &
Observer YOU. YOUR NEIGHBORS. YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD.
A PARTNERSHIP WITH
IN FOCUS SPORTS
FAITH
FBC Midway goes back to basics at VBS.
MLK avenges 2012 California-based kickball loss in second company dreams Plant City challenge. big in Plant City. PAGE 7 PAGE 11
PAGE 10
OUR TOWN + My, my! Look how we’ve grown! Welcome to the first edition of the Plant City Times & Observer, a joint venture of the Observer Media Group and the Tampa Bay Times. You’ll notice some key differences from the Plant City Observer you have enjoyed since we launched in July 2012. Now printed on broadsheet paper, each page is larger, giving us the space to run larger photos, longer stories and additional content. The size also allows us to give our advertising partners more dynamic marketing solutions. As you flip through this edition, you’ll notice several new features. We’ve added pages specifically devoted to Faith and Real Estate content. Furthermore, we’ve added a weekly Critter Corner, Community Calendar and Club Hubbub, a new feature in which we will feature Plant City’s civic clubs. We hope you enjoy this first edition, and as always, we invite you to let us know about anything you’d like to see in your community newspaper. Thank you for your continued support!
TY
R
LOW 73 75 75 73 75 75 75
OON
ASES
g. 14
g. 21
g. 28
ug. 6
+ Chamber to host teacher coffee The Greater Plant City Chamber of Commerce will host its 2013 New Teacher Coffee from 7 to 9 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 15, at Florida Strawberry Festival Expo Hall, 303 Lemon St., Plant City. The purpose of the breakfast is to warmly welcome all new Area Six teachers, from 25 local schools, to the Plant City community. The chamber is seeking event sponsors for this year’s event. Businesses can donate a goodie bag item as promotion and to show appreciation for the new teachers. For more, call the chamber, (813) 754-3707.
I PC
This week’s winner is
Barbara Markland See her photo on PAGE 14.
FREE • THURSDAY, AUGUST 1, 2013
truck stop
HOMETOWN HERO by Michael Eng | Editor
A WORLD AWAY
by Amber Jurgensen | Associate Editor
Land’s rolls into Plant City Land’s Used Trucks and Equipment has served customers from as far away as South America, Africa and Russia.
Courtesy of Stephanie Humphrey Photography
U.S. Army Sgt. Thomas Adair, with his wife, Lauren, and daughter, Autumn. The Adairs had this portrait taken in February, right before Thomas left for his deployment in Southeast Asia.
Plant City native U.S. Army Sgt. Thomas Adair is five months into a 12-month deployment to an undisclosed location in Southeast Asia. His wife, Lauren, and daughter, Autumn, are patiently awaiting his return home. She’s not even 2 years old yet, but already, Autumn Adair knows the distinct sound of an incoming call on Skype. When she hears the ring, she toddles excitedly over to the computer. For Autumn, Skype only means one thing: Daddy is calling. Plant City native U.S. Army Sgt. Thomas Adair, Autumn’s father, is five months into a yearlong deployment to an undisclosed location in Southeast Asia. There, he serves as an early-warning system team leader and works with the Patriot Missile System to provide air and missile defense for a critical asset in the CENTCOM Area of Responsibility. It is his and his team’s mission to defend against any type of missile attacks and allow U.S. Air Force and Coalition forces freedom to maneuver. Courtesy photo
SEE ADAIR / PAGE 4
U.S. Army Sgt. Thomas Adair met U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel.
HOMETOWN HEROES EDITOR’S NOTE: Hometown Heroes is a recurring feature in the Plant City Times & Observer in which we profile veterans from Plant City. If you have a loved one currently serving or who has served in the past, please contact Editor Michael Eng by email at meng@plantcityobserver.com or by phone at (813) 704-6850.
After more than two decades at its current location off State Road 60, Land’s Used Trucks and Equipment is moving to a new home. Later this month, the business will pull into a new driveway, moving their operations to the old Lott-Mather dealership site, 2900 James L. Redman Parkway, Plant City. “It’s time for a different thing,” owner Richard Land said. “It’s time for a move.” Land said he has had been eyeing the property for years. So, when the opportunity to lease the property came up, he took it. The new location will allow the business to be closer to the heart of Plant City and give the business more room to display the inventory. The location also will give the business space to house a new shop, where Land’s son, also named Richard, builds the trucks. “We could probably stay (at the current location) forever, but we don’t want to stay in the dark,” Land said. Land’s Used Trucks and Equipment has traveled a long, successful road in its 22-year history. Land started the business in the back yard of his Valrico home. Land’s grandfather had worked harvesting oranges. Land then learned the trucking business from him. “He just bought one and sold it, then bought two and sold it and it just grew from there,” Richard said. The business moved in 1995, to its current location. Land’s Used Trucks and Equipment can build any type of truck including flatbeds, box trucks, dump trucks and utility trucks. There are about 100 trucks in inventory on the property at a given time. Land’s brother, David, works at the business as a salesman. In its history, the
SEE LAND’S / PAGE 4
adopted cause by Amber Jurgensen | Associate Editor
Mission group travels to Guatemala
Barbara Markland shared this breathtaking photo of the sun rising over a about 250 orphans and 40 senior citPlant City strawberry field. Markland calls it “Strawberry Sunrise.” The missionaries left Plant City July 22, to help izens. The 120-acre site also will be The Plant City Times & Observer, State Farm Insurance agent Tony Lee build an orphanage in the Central American country. home to a school, church, clinic and and The Corner Store have partnered to host the I Love Plant City Photo mission house. In the rolling hills of Guatemala, man said of the hard labor. This year, Bateman along with his Contest. Winners will have their photo featured and receive a $10 gift cerPlant City resident Rick Bateman Bateman and members of the wife, Lesley, have spearheaded a sectificate to The Corner Store! To enter, email your photo, with a caption, to and a group of missionaries chipped First Baptist of Lake Placid were part ond trip to Guatemala. They teamed Managing Editor Michael Eng, meng@plantcityobserver.com; subject line: I their way through hard, packed clay. of a Little Lambs International trip up with First Baptist of Lake Placid Love Plant City. They meticulously poured about 30 to Jalapa last year. again. But the Batemans have manyards of concrete and lugged more than 40 trips of dirt to the site of a future orphanage. “This is not a cush mission,” Bate-
Paul Somero founded Little Lambs specifically to build an orphanage for some of Guatemala’s 370,000 orphans. The orphanage will house
aged to recruit 11 Plant City residents, as well.
SEE GUATEMALA / PAGE 4
INDEX Calendar........................2
Courtesy photo
Volunteers from Evangelical Presbyterian Church made more than 100 dresses for the orphans.
Vol. 1, No. 1 | One section Crossword....................14
Obituaries......................9
Opinion.........................6
Sports..........................11
PlantCityObserver.com