PLANT CITY TIMES &
Observer
Meet the Superbowl Champions. SEE PAGE 12
YOU. YOUR NEIGHBORS. YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD.
VOLUME 4, NO. 20
FREE
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FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2016
Downtown gets a makeover Business owners are moving in and making improvements in the Winter Strawberry Capital of the World. SEE PAGE 3
YOUR TOWN
Plant City Entertainment presents awards Prior to a production of “The Game’s Afoot or Holmes for the Holidays,” Plant City Entertainment Inc. presented two awards Friday, Nov. 18, to theater patrons. The Plant City Times & Observer was honored with the organization’s Friend of the Theatre Award. The award is presented annually to a local business, organization or individual who has made a difference in Plant City’s community theatre by supporting the group’s endeavors. The Times & Observer staff was presented with a plaque from Plant City Entertainment president Dodie White. “The Plant City Times & Observer has been a true friend of Plant City’s community theatre by covering our shows for many years,” White said. In addition, White and the organization’s board of managers recognized Lou Baird with the 2016 Hall of Fame Award. Baird will be inducted into Plant City Entertainment’s Hall of Fame and will join a long list of inductees. The Hall of Fame tradition began in 1985 with the honoring of the late Barbara Kent. Baird has been involved with Plant City Entertainment for many years. She has served on the board of managers, has worked backstage, onstage and in the concessions area and has acquired program advertisers. “That’s just a portion of the love that Lou has shown to Plant City Entertainment,” White said.
Christmas Lane opens to the public in its 33rd year Friday, Nov. 25.
L
ane Wetherington was walking in a winter won-
Christmas displays were quickly popping up:
derland — almost.
Toy shops.
It was Friday, Nov. 18. Inside the Charlie
Gingerbread houses.
Grimes Family Agricultural Center on the Florida
Nativity scenes.
Strawberry Festival fairgrounds, Wetherington un-
Wetherington and his team have been working
packed trailers and dug through boxes upon boxes of
since the start of the month to prepare for the 33rd
Christmas decorations.
annual Christmas Lane, which will open to the pub-
A 35-foot Christmas tree adorned with ornaments stood tall in the middle of the venue. Around it,
lic Friday, Nov. 25, and run through Christmas Day, Sunday, Dec. 25.
SEE SEASON PAGE 4
Shop Small,
St. Peter’s assembles Thanksgiving baskets
Buy Local Downtown vendors will be selling art, home goods and more as part of Small Business Saturday.
EMILY TOPPER MANAGING EDITOR
On Saturday, Nov. 26, holiday shoppers can find unique gifts and support local vendors as part of Small Business Saturday in Historic Downtown Plant City. Small Business Saturday is a national initiative that began in November of 2010 as a way to promote the shop small, buy local movement. Annually, the event takes place the day after Black Friday. In Plant City, artists Rebecca Nipper and Charlie Galvin will be hosting a sale at the Art Lounge Gallery. The gallery, comprised of a co-op of artists, features paintings, photography, jewelry and leather works made by local artisans. While shoppers hunt for the best SEE LOCAL PAGE 4
Emily Topper
Rebecca Nipper and Charlie Galvin will sell their leather works and paintings at discounted prices Saturday, Nov. 26, as part of Small Business Saturday.
Members of St. Peter’s Episcopal Church gathered together to assemble Thanksgiving baskets for those in need. The project started in 2004 under the direction of Marion Galtiff. Over the last 12 years, the church has donated 306 baskets full of canned goods, turkeys, pasta, rice, sugar, flour and handmade quilts. Five baskets are donated to four area schools, where school guidance counselors distribute the baskets to families in need. Schools that benefit include Cork, Springhead, Trapnell and Walden Lake elementary schools. Individuals that helped assemble baskets this year included Dick Grant, Evelyn Grant, Jane Bender, Marion Gatliff, Cindy Davidson, Sandy Black, Chris Black, Dorothy Kemp and Jim Black.