Plant City Times &
Observer YOU. YOUR NEIGHBORS. YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD.
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2015
IN FOCUS
INSIDE
Antioch Days honors area’s heritage.
+ Turkey drive needs donations The United Food Bank of Plant City’s third annual Turkey Drive started Sunday, Nov. 1, and will continue through the day before Thanksgiving, Wednesday, Nov. 25. Turkeys are needed to complete the Thanksgiving meal boxes, which will be distributed to those in need during the Thanksgiving holiday. Turkeys can be dropped off from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday to Friday, with extended hours until 6:30 p.m. on Tuesdays at the United Food Bank of Plant City, 702 E. Alsobrook, Suite H. The UFB served more than 450 complete Thanksgiving meals to families in need in 2014. The demand on its pantry has tremendously increased and the UFB expects even more families to be in need this year. All meals help families in Eastern Hillsborough County and Plant City. For more information on the third annual Turkey Drive, or to donate or volunteer, contact the UFB at (813) 764-0625.
SPORTS
Durant High School celebrates 2015 Homecoming.
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OUR TOWN
FREE
PCHS runner shows true sportsmanship. PAGE 12
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GOVERNANCE by Emily Topper | Staff Writer
MONEY MATTERS
The City Commission approved the rezoning of the eastern half of the former Red Rose Inn & Suites to be used as a drug and alcohol rehabilitation center.
Plant City EDC hosts first meeting
RED ROSE REZONED At the City Commission meeting Monday, Nov. 9, commissioners unanimously approved the rezoning of the eastern half of 2011 N. Wheeler St., formerly the Red Rose Inn & Suites. Following the zoning changing from Neighborhood Business District to the Planned Development District, the eastern half of the facility will be used as a drug and rehabilitation center by
Florida Rehabilitation and Recovery Services. The western half of the property will be used as administrative offices, and as a motel for clients’ family members. The City of Plant City’s Planning and Zoning Board first approved the rezoning plans for the center at a Thursday, Oct. 8, meeting. Before making the decision, the board consulted with law-enforcement officers and
evaluated the impacts on infrastructure and the environment. The center was found to be compatible with the existing nearby areas. “Every community needs and organization like this in their community,” Mayor Rick Lott said. “This is a good example of what we want to see here in Plant City.” Located just off Interstate 4 and minutes away from Plant City’s Historic Downtown
shops and restaurants, the former inn first closed years ago when the owners, Batista and Evelyn Madonia, faced financial difficulties. Since then, no buyer has shown interest in bringing the inn back to what it was in its prime: a 270-room motel that was host to the finest events Plant City had to offer. But the new plans for the
SEE RED ROSE / PAGE 4
FOOD FIGHT by Justin Kline | Sports Editor
The Plant City Family YMCA Turkey Trot 5K will be held on Thanksgiving.
+ Sign up for Turkey Trot The Plant City Family YMCA will be holding its annual Turkey Trot 5K Thanksgiving morning. The race starts at 7 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 26, at the Plan City Family YMCA, 1507 YMCA Place. There also will be group exercise classes after the awards ceremony. Children ages 13 and older can run without an adult. Register in advance at active.com. For more information, call (813) 575-6677.
Business owners, city leaders learned of membership opportunities and ongoing projects. Local city leaders and business owners have joined forces to associate Plant City growth with more than strawberries. On Monday, Nov. 9, Plant City’s Economic Development Corp. hosted its first meeting at Highland Packaging Solutions. The EDC formed in June and passed its bylaws in September. To date, the organization has nine members on its executive committee, nine general members and 32 board members. Business leaders from Plant City who are partnered with the EDC attended the Nov. 9 meeting, and spoke about upcoming and ongoing projects in the community. “There’s a lot of support behind this initiative,” said Plant City EDC President Jake Austin. “We have to have something that this community owns. The public sector is the yin to this private yang.” Both business owners and EDC leaders are focused on creating sustainable growth in Plant City that brings in jobs, businesses and families, and allows existing businesses to expand.
PROJECTS, DEVELOPMENT Justin Kline
The Hardwood BBQ team gives a big group hug to Michelle Friend Dearhart, center.
Sizzle, Spice and Everything Nice Michelle Friend Dearhart is battling lymphoma, and Plant City’s own Hardwood BBQ competition team is helping her fund her fight through its Pig Jam sales.
+ Student places at FFA competition Taryn Storter, an eighth-grader at Tomlin Middle School, competed in the Agriscience Fair and won fourth place in the nation. She won her category at the State FFA convention over the summer and was chosen as a Top 15 project over all other state winners by the national selection team. Taryn was the only middle-schooler that was picked to compete in her category at the national level.
by Emily Topper | Staff Writer
DONATE NOW Readers who don’t want to wait until Pig Jam to help Michelle Friend Dearhart pay for treatment can visit her GoFundMe page, gofundme. com/8z7q6phgc. To sponsor the team, contact Layla Drawdy at hardwood bbq@tampabay. rr.com.
T
he Hardwood BBQ team members are no strangers to lending a helping hand to those in need. Just last month, the team held a fundraiser event for a teen named Nathan Dodds, who was diagnosed with brain cancer. The event, held Oct. 3 at Uncle Mike’s Smokehouse Grill, was a success. And it wasn’t long after that event that Hardwood BBQ team member Layla Drawdy found another cause to fight for: her friend, Michelle Friend Dearhart, had
then made her battle with lymphoma known. “As soon as we left that event, I was checking Facebook and I found Michelle’s GoFundMe,” Drawdy says. “I’ve known her my entire life. She’s a dear friend of both sides of the family and biological aunt of one of our team members.” So, with Pig Jam on the horizon, it only made sense for the team to plan to take advantage of their festival spot.
ONGOING STRUGGLES
Dearhart is currently fighting diffuse large B-cell
lymphoma, a form of cancer that appears in lymph nodes and can travel through the bloodstream. She currently is undergoing chemotherapy treatments, for which costs can pile up. This has rendered Dearhart unable to work, and the fact that she must also raise two teenage sons only adds to the pile. The GoFundMe page, as of Nov. 10, had raised $1,970 of its $10,000 goal over three months. That part stuck out to
SEE BENEFIT / PAGE 7
INDEX Calendar........................2
Aaron Davis, a Plant City native and the CEO of Florida Agency Network, was the first to announce upcoming development projects in the city. Hillsborough Title, part of Florida Agency Network, is the largest title company in the state. Davis said the company will be building a 12,000-squarefoot building in Plant City. The building will have a green campus style and will include a walking track and outdoor eating areas. The project, which is a $5 million investment, will immediately bring 50 jobs to Plant City, and 100 jobs over the next five to 10 years. Davis’ company isn’t the only one that sees Plant City as an untapped resource of growth and development. Jeff Lucas, of Central Florida Development, announced that a 100,000-square-foot building will be completed in February at the Central Florida Commerce Center. South Florida Baptist Hospital President Karen Kerr also shared updates on the hospital’s ongoing projects, including the 13,000-squarefoot critical-care center that is expected to be completed in
SEE EDC / PAGE 7 Vol. 3, No. 15 | One section
Crossword....................15
Obituaries....................11
Sports..........................12
Weather.......................15
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