PLANT CITY TIMES &
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YOU. YOUR NEIGHBORS. YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD. VOLUME 5, NO. 23
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FRIDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2017
Art guild goes live at holiday show East Hillsborough Art Guild added live demonstrations to this year’s show. DANIEL FIGUEROA IV STAFF WRITER
First, there was only canvas. Next, there were white-capped waves crashing against a rocky shore as birds flew overhead, silhouetted by the burning orange of a setting sun. Patrons and fellow artists at the East Hillsborough Art Guild’s Annual Christmas Show and Sale watched as the Bob Ross-inspired wet-on-wet technique brought the beach scene to life. For the first time in the annual show’s history, art was not just sold, but created during the event. “I’ve been a painter all my life,” Jyl Barber Anderson said. “The cool thing about this is I get to show people what painting is all about.” Live art was a welcome addition to the event, Guild President Loretta Burns said. Burns has been president
of the Guild since May. Having artists create during the event, she said, came about during the planning process when members wanted to bring new life to the annual sale. “We kind of brainstormed collectively to come up with some new ideas to make things a little more exciting and have a little more going on at the show,” Burns said. “It went well. We had a good turnout, we made a little fundraiser money and our individual artists sold as well, which is always good.” Many artists at the show echoed a similar sentiment: Seeing art come to life creates a better appreciation for the finished product and understanding of the work that goes into it. “If you don’t understand what goes into it, you’re less likely to spend money,” artist Ruth Bolles said. “If you can see what’s going on, it
encourages more questions and more back and forth between the artists and the shoppers.” Bringing live demonstrations to the show, Burns said, was also part of the guild’s desire to engage the Plant City community in a more direct way. Plant City, Burns said, has a vibrant, but often silent arts community. Burns hopes her organization, and those like the recently formed MAKE Plant City, can change that. “There is an art presence that has been silent or ignored or under appreciated in a lot of ways,” Burns said. “We want to get people excited about something they may not have realized was right under their nose the entire time.” The Guild puts on an art show during the Florida Strawberry Festival open to artists statewide, but the Christmas show is for locals only. Many of the artists creating during the show also teach classes at the SEE ART PAGE 3
Daniel Figueroa IV
Jyl Barber Anderson, a certified Bob Ross instructor, paints a beach scene during the art guild’s annual Christmas Show and Sale.
YOUR TOWN
‘BERRY’
CHRISTMAS Ring in the holiday season by staying up-to-date on what’s happening in Plant City and throughout the rest of Tampa Bay. The Observer Holiday Guide includes a destination guide, holiday calendar, shipping dates, festive stories and more. INSIDE PAGES 4 -11
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Christmas Lane has partnered with The Plant City Times and Observer and Publix Supermarkets Inc. to help two families in need during the holiday season.
Christmas Lane Contest Winners Congratulations to the Laura and Mac Simpson family and Tina Frerichs and her family, the winners of the 2017 Christmas Lane Contest. Christmas Lane partnered with The Plant City Times and Observer and Publix Supermarkets Inc. to help two families in need during the holiday season. The Observer received several nominations and selected the two families to receive a $100 Publix gift card, VIP tickets to Christmas Lane, a professional photo with Santa Claus and Christmas Lane concession stand tickets.
Plant City planners ‘clean house’ The City Commission recently approved planning department efforts to rezone land annexed into the city, some more than a decade ago. DANIEL FIGUEROA IV STAFF WRITER
Breanne Williams
Multiple parcels of land were recently rezoned from county to city designations, years after being annexed into the city.
Clutching tight the dustpans of progress, Plant City planners recently succeeded in cleaning up lingering zoning issues on 11 parcels of land bookending some of the city’s east and west boundaries. To the east, there were four parcels of land along Karen Drive annexed into the city between 2006 and 2010. Across the city, in its northwest reaches, were seven parcels on Boot Bay, Whitehorse and Bonnie roads annexed during 2005 and 2006. Though some of the parcels joined the
city more than a decade ago, the land use and zoning designations retained Hillsborough County designations. “Once you get annexed into the city you’re in the city limits but not automatically rezoned,” City Planner Mara Latorre said. “First you get annexed, but it is up to the property owner to initiate the process to rezone.” Similar to love and marriage, first comes land use, then comes rezoning, then comes Mara with city-bound land that must comply with local zoning codes. In planning, a land use category is SEE REZONE PAGE 3
Breanne Williams
This will be the second location for Fazoli’s in Florida. The first location is in Sarasota.
Fazoli’s coming to Plant City Plant City will soon be home to Fazoli’s, a casual restaurant chain for baked pastas, subs, pizza and other Italian style food. The restaurant is in the process of being built at 238 W. Alexander St. and is set to open on Jan. 16.