Plant City Times &
Observer YOU. YOUR NEIGHBORS. YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD.
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2015
OUR TOWN
FREE
SPOTLIGHT
REUNION
SPORTS
Dancers prepare for competition.
Turkey Creek Gobblers reconnect.
Markese Hargrove keeps tradition alive.
PAGE 9
PAGES 7
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MARKET NEWS by Emily Topper | Staff Writer
Farm Fresh
SILENT RAIL by Emily Topper | Staff Writer
City looking to establish quiet zones The trend throughout the U.S. is to only require locomotives to sound horns as they approach and leave a crossing.
+ Family celebrates new Eagle Scout The family of Jonathan Lane would like to congratulate him on becoming an Eagle Scout. They held a ceremony in his honor Saturday, Sept. 26, at First United Methodist Church’s Wesley Center. Jonathan became an Eagle Scout Jan. 8. He is the son of Mark and Debbie Lane.
One of Historic Downtown Plant City’s trademarks is the sound of the locomotives that thunder through its many railroad crossings. But the Plant City Commission is looking into halting the noise — at least some of it. Commissioners are investigating funding options from the Florida Department of Transportation to
assist with establishing quiet zones, as part of the commission’s 2016 legislative priorities. Quiet zones are a section of a railway in which locomotives do not sound their horns. Locomotives would sound the horn as they approach the quiet zone and
SEE QUIET / PAGE 4
BLOWING UP by Justin Kline | Sports Editor
P.C. man enjoys fame from viral music video
+ Deaconess celebrates 10 years
+ CareFest leaders recognized Sonny’s BBQ of Plant City catered a feast for about 250 CareFest volunteers Saturday, Sept. 26, to honor event leaders Karen Collins and Norman Blanton. Collins and Blanton were selected as recipients of Sonny’s Random Acts of BBQ program, which is an unexpected recognition of those who give back to others and their communities. Collins and Blanton helped to organize CareFest, a volunteer initiative that aims to help local organizations and community members in need. The feast was held at the 1914 Plant City High School Community Building.
I PC
Bishop Bullwinkle’s “Hell 2 Da Naw Naw” has garnered 3.5 million views on YouTube. The local artist is now touring the country.
Emily Topper
Georgea Snyder is the new market manager for Tampa’s Downtown Market. She hopes to bring local farmers and vendors with local goods to the weekly market.
Georgea Snyder is looking for farms with local produce to join Tampa’s Downtown Market.
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The focus of our market is local farms and producers who are using local ingredients. The goal of the market is to support these local farms and encourage more smaller, sustainable farms to keep doing what they’re doing.
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Hope Lutheran Church deaconess Lynne Senkarik celebrated 10 years in ministry at a service Sunday, Sept. 27. Senkarik, a retired nurse, is also a graduate of the deaconess program of Valporaiso University in Indiana. She currently serves at Hope Lutheran, where she leads Hope’s Stephen Ministry and GriefShare ministry programs.
— Georgea Snyder
This week’s winner is
Jocelyn Harmeyer See her photo on PAGE 15.
F
rom fruit stands to festivals, Plant City has some of the best local, fresh produce that vendors have to offer. Culinary Institute of America graduate and Tampa native Georgea Snyder knows that. The 26-year-old personal chef recently moved back to Tampa from New York City and has landed a new gig: market manager of Tampa’s Downtown Market. Snyder is looking for farms and vendors in Plant City that grow local produce to join the market, which kicks off this week and will run through May. “The focus of our market is local farms and producers who are using local ingredients,” Snyder said. “The goal of the market is to support these local farms and encourage more smaller, sustainable farms to keep doing what they’re doing.” Snyder is familiar with the farms of Plant City: Her uncle has a medium-sized farm in the Winter Strawberry Capital of the World. She hopes that people will be willing to make the drive to Tampa to participate.
In his own words, recording artist Bishop Bullwinkle is all about keeping it real. His mantra is the inspiration for much of the music he creates. Born Bernard Thomas, the leader of the “First Church of Nothin’ But da Truth” has been making music for decades, but a song he recorded several years ago recently
SEE BULLWINKLE / PAGE 4
RETIREMENT by Emily Topper | Staff Writer
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
GMOs: Genetically modified organisms. The genetic material in an organism, such as a vegetable, has been artificially changed. Organic: In relation to produce and other crops, organic means to cultivate without using sprays or changing the genetic material of the crop.
BACK TO BASICS
After Snyder graduated from the Culinary Institute of America in 2010, she worked for two years as the market manager for multiple farmers markets in New York. At one point, she was running three markets at once. The markets gave vendors and farms an opportunity to sell their goods without a middle man, a practice Snyder hopes to continue with Tampa’s Downtown Market. Still, Tampa’s Downtown Market will have a twist on the organic, GMO-free mar-
SEE MARKET / PAGE 4
Emily Topper
Linda Hill has worked 10 hours per day, six days per week for the last decade. She has worked for the city of Plant City for a total of 25 years.
Plant City’s assistant finance director retires Linda Hill has worked as the assistant finance director for 25 years. Most people who work at City Hall can tell when Assistant Finance Director Linda Hill is hard at work — and they don’t even have to go inside her office. Six days each week, Hill’s 2002 yellow Volkswagen Beetle can be found
INDEX Calendar........................2
went viral on YouTube. “Hell 2 Da Naw Naw,” which was recorded in 2013, was uploaded to YouTube July 22. Since then, it’s been viewed more than 3.5 million times. The newfound fame hasn’t changed Bishop Bullwinkle. “Ain’t nothing changed,”
in the building’s parking lot. It’s a bright splash of color among a sea of city vehicles. But Hill’s yellow bug won’t be seen in the parking lot much longer. On Oct. 2, just a few days after the end of the city’s fiscal year, Hill will retire. She has worked as the assistant finance director for 25 years and has a routine
SEE HILL / PAGE 4 Vol. 3, No. 9 | One section
Crossword....................15
Obituaries....................11
Sports..........................12
Weather.......................15
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