PLANT CITY TIMES &
Observer
Seniors, Wounded Warriors play ball.
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YOU. YOUR NEIGHBORS. YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD. VOLUME 5, NO. 31
FREE
Leap of faith On the cusp of its second birthday, City Pointe Church, the epitome of an underdog, will soon be taking over one of the largest church buildings in Plant City. BREANNE WILLIAMS STAFF WRITER
When the sun begins to rise each Sunday morning members of City Pointe Church can be found lugging boxes into whichever building around town has been designated their home for the day. The nomadic congregation has spent approximately 730 days wandering through locations like the
YOUR TOWN
Plant City Family YMCA and the Trinkle Center. The church will be celebrating its second birthday this Sunday, and it will soon unpack its luggage in one of the largest church buildings in town. Scott McIntosh, pastor of City Pointe Church, is taking his new congregation to his childhood spiritual roots. He has signed a two-year lease with First Baptist Church of Plant City to take over their facilities
on Palmer Street and, on Easter, his congregation will open the doors to the sanctuary for the first time in a celebration of the big move. “We have a philosophy of ‘go big or go home,’” McIntosh said. McIntosh said a spiritual revolution is coming and his church is excited to be a part of it. The new facilities will allow his congregation to do more and offer a more diverse set of services than they were able to when the entirety of their belongings could be packed up into a truck. City Pointe was born two years ago in a living room with $3,000 worth SEE CITY POINTE PAGE 6
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FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2018
Justin Kline
Pastor Brian Stowe of First Baptist Church of Plant City and Pastor Scott McIntosh of City Pointe Church said they are both looking forward to the partnership.
Vikings invade The Florida Viking Festival, a historical reenactment group, has been using the Medard Park as its staging ground since last summer. SEE PAGE 4
File Photo
Strawberry Youth Parade applications open The 2018 Strawberry Youth Parade is now accepting participant applications. There will be awards for the best club or group float, best church florat, best marching unit and the best band entry. The awards program for winners will be at the Stingray Entertainment Tent at the Strawberry Festival at 12:30 p.m. March 3. Caroline Brummer, a member of the 2017 Florida Strawberry Festival Queen’s court, was chosen as the 2018 Strawberry Youth Parade Grand Marshal. The parade starts at 11 a.m. at the State Farmers Market and will move north on Alexander Street to Reynolds Street. Then it will turn on Sammonds Road and end at the Florida Strawberry Festival Grounds. For more information contact Pat Pogue at ppogue1559@aol. com or Tray Towles at 813-7544680.
Plant City named as top train watching location Trains Magazine named Plant City as one of “America’s Top Train Watching Locations.” The Robert W. Willaford Railroad Museum features a covered, twostory train-watching platform. From there, onlookers can view the at-grade diamond crossing of the former CSX Seaboard Air Line Yeoman Subdivision and the ex-Atlantic Coast Line Lakeland Subdivision. Everything from chemicals to orange juice makes its way across the steel tracks and the occasional Amtrak train will be found toting passengers to and from Tampa. The train-watching platform has a radio scanner, which indicates to viewers when a train is approaching.
Daniel Figueroa IV
Members of the Florida Viking Festival practice spear and shield techniques during a Viking Fitness and Training event, held Saturdays at Edward Medard Park.
Schools raise graduation bar Plant City is the only area in the Hillsborough district to have graduation rates at high schools above 90%. BREANNE WILLIAMS STAFF WRITER
Thanks to a variety of programs in place at local high schools, Plant City students are one step closer to graduation than many of their peers. The annual graduation rates for the state of Florida, released by the Florida Department of Education, showed Hillsborough County public schools increased its graduation rates to 82.9%, an all-time record for the district. All three high schools in Plant City — Durant, Plant City High
and Strawberry Crest — have graduation rates above 90% and it is the only area in the district to do so. “Our high schools continue to show great successes. These three schools are now all above a 90% graduation rate. Our teachers, administrators, school staff and district employees never lost sight of our goal of putting students first. Now these students have more opportunities for better jobs with higher wages, which creates a positive economic impact on our community,” said Superintendent SEE SCHOOL PAGE 3
Courtesy of Jeannette Teeden
A group of seniors at Durant enjoyed a breakfast provided by Principal Pamela Bowden before they took the October School Day SAT.