Plant City Observer
y Observer
YO UR HOMETOW N. YO UR NEWSPAP ER .
VOLUME 6, NO. 66
YOUR HOMETOWN. YOUR NEWSPAPER FREE
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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2019
. YO UR NEWS PAP ERCOMMUNITY . UPDATED ON
SAM ALLEN ROAD CONSTRUCTION BREANNE WILLIAMS STAFF WRITER
Last week, FDOT held an open house in Plant City to review the progress of the long-awaited Sam Allen Road Construction Project.
Local residents popped into the Bruton Memorial Library on Oct. 3 to take part in an open house for the Sam Allen Road Construction Project that has been underway for approximately one year. At the open house, Florida Department of Transportation team members from every branch of the project were on site to answer questions and walk people through the timeline of the project.
Sam Allen Road is being widened and reconstructed from west of SR 39A (Paul Buchman Highway) to east of Park Road. The improvements will change the road from the existing two lanes to a four-lane divided roadway with a raised median, sidewalks, bicycle lanes, offsite ponds and underground drainage. The open house ran from 4 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. and had a steady stream of attendees. John McShaffrey, community outreach manager, said they never know how many people will turn out but, with this particular project, they expected to see at least a decent attendance. CONTINUED ON PAGE 6
‘OH, WHAT A FEELIN’!’ The 1969 Pinecrest High School Pilots, Florida Class C state champions, will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the historic season Friday night. JUSTIN KLINE SPORTS/ASSOCIATE EDITOR
What a “feelin’” it was for the 1969 Pinecrest High School Pilots to win the school’s first — and only — state football championship 50 years ago. The high school may not exist anymore, but the Pilots’ historic Class C victory is far from being forgotten. Anyone at Durant High School for the Cougars’ game against Lakeland this Friday will see for themselves when the Pilots, their coaches and cheerleaders come out to celebrate the season’s golden anniversary. Many of the Pilots still live in the area and keep in close contact, often trading memories of their high school playing days. Donnie Johnson, who played fullback and middle linebacker, even has a scrapbook featuring newspaper clippings and other photos from that season, plus written game scores and more notes. He and teammate Richard Swilley, an offensive tackle, run Swilley Johnson Electric Inc. together from their Keysville Road office, just a minute or two down the road from Durant and not far from the original Pinecrest area. They recently got together with linebacker and running back Rob Sumner to talk about the season before the big day tomorrow. That season started with high hopes thanks to a talented team and chemistry the men say was more like a brotherhood than what most teams had then and have now. In Sumner’s case, that was literally true: getting to play on the same championship team as his older brother, Cliston, was a thrill for him. The Pilots spent much of their free time together, whether that involved working out in Pinecrest, fishing with head coach Blaine Turner and assistant coach Garrett Cagiano or going to camp in New Hampshire.
Courtesy photos
Every senior on the team and some of the underclassmen had their own nicknames thanks to Cagiano. The Pilots were so close, in fact, that everyone in the program (besides the cheerleaders) shaved their heads before the season after a bet Turner made “snowballed”
into a team affair. Their shiny domes grace one of the pages of Johnson’s scrapbook. CONTINUED ON PAGE 11