n Now Ope
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August 2019 Volume 17, Issue 8 Ph: 657-2418 C E L E B R A T I N G
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Y E A R S
O F
P U B L I S H I N G
Go Retro And Try The Drive-In For Some Great Family Entertainment
By Nur Suleiman
in January 1950. During the day from Thursday-Sunday Fun Lan is a Flea Market and Swap Shop. However, starting at 8:30 p.m., you can catch a movie. More than 71 years ago, Silver Moon Drive-In at 4100 New Tampa Hwy. in Lakeland opened on April 14, 1948 and is the only surviving Drive-In movie theatre in Polk County. The prices are $2 for ages 4-9 and $6 for ages 10 and up and $2 for ages 4-9. The gates open around 8:30 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and around 7:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. Each screen shows a double feature. Silver Moon also offers a Flea Market during the daylight hours. www.silvermoondrivein.com. One common theme amongst the Drive-Ins is swap shops or flea markets that make use of the property during daylight hours. Swap shops are when vendors come out and sell or swap their goods. President of Sun South Drive-In Theatres Chip Sawyer said, “A lot of theatres started to use the land as a creative way to gain revenue and use the land during the day”. Some tips for going to the Drive-In would be to get there early because there is no assigned seating and spots can fill up fast. Also bring cash because some Drive-In Movie theatres do not take credit cards.
C O M M U N I T Y
N E W S
SWAMP Mountain Bike Club Donates Rescue Litter To HCFR Station 22
By Brad Stager
Outdoor it has one overadventure is as size wheel, an close as traveling improvement down one of the over models that many nature and use two or no wilderness trails wheels, accordlocated throughout ing to Ann the Tampa Bay Braden, a drivarea. er/engineer with But when HCFR Station an injury 22. occurs to a “As little as The SWAMP Mountain Bike Club promotes wilderness biking biker, hiker or two people can throughout the Tampa Bay area. horseback rider carry a patient Photo courtesy of SWAMP miles from the out of a remote Mountain Bike Club. paved trailhead area and not parking lot, getting them out for medical have them bounce around as much,” she care can be a serious problem for everysaid. one involved, including emergency This is just one of the ways that responders like those at HCFR Station 22 SWAMP Mountain Bike Club promotes in Wimauma, who were only 10 minutes safe biking. The group, a registered away when they responded last spring to 501(c)(3) organization, maintains four a call for an injured bicyclist at the Balmtrails in the Tampa Bay area, including Boyette Scrub Preserve. A special rescue more than 23 miles of a single track and litter was needed to bring the rider out of 15 miles of a multipurpose double track at the wilderness overgrowing the site of a the Balm-Boyette Scrub Preserve at closed phosphate mine that has become 15102 CR 672 in Wimauma, about two a popular trail biking venue. miles east of Balm Boyette Rd. Terrain that is fun to ride a mountain You can learn more about SWAMP bike on is treacherous for evacuating Mountain Bike Club at injured riders, so the EMT responders put swampmtbclub.com. a call out for the nearest of two special, one-wheel litters Hillsborough County has. That piece of equipment was 30 InThis minutes away at HCFR Station 9 on Issue Falkenburg Rd. in Brandon. From that experience, which affected 9/11 HEROES RUN .............................PG 3 one of their own riders, the board of directors of the SWAMP Mountain Bike Club HOA MINI‐GRANTS ............................PG 7 decided to buy one of the $1,600 litters LOCAL STUDENT AT JrNYLC..............PG 11 for the county, to be maintained at Station 22, located near many of South MEET STATE SENATORS ...................PG 12 Hillsborough County’s recreational trails, NEW FLORIDA LAWS........................PG 17 serving a rapidly growing population. “There’s a lot of hiking, biking and ridEYE ON BUSINESS....................PGS 25‐26 ing horses and people getting hurt, so we ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT...............PG 38 thought it would be a good thing to keep one here,” said the club’s vice president, CHALKLINES....................................PG 40 Mike Lamarca. The model bought by the club, a READ MORE LOCAL NEWS ONLINE Traverse Mule II Litter Wheel, makes it www.ospreyobserver.com easier to navigate rough terrain because
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Take a trip down memory lane and bring your family to support three local Drive In businesses that have survived the era of technology. In the past there were hundreds of driveins in Florida, but now there are only about seven. In Hillsborough County two still exist; The Ruskin Family Drive-In and The Fun-Lan DriveIn. Not too far away in Lakeland, you can also visit the Silver Moon Drive-In. The Ruskin Family Drive In, located at 5011 US-41, opened on April 16, 1953 and is celebrating 67 years in business. The movies are displayed on a 2,000 ft. screen. Sticking to its roots, the Ruskin Family Drive In only accepts cash. The prices are $6 per adult (aged 9 & up), $1 for children ages 5-8, and under 5 is free. The box office opens at 6:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and 8 p.m. on Sunday through Thursday. Visit www.ruskinfamilydrivein.com. In Tampa, the Fun Lan Drive-In is located at 2302 E. Hillsborough Ave. in Tampa and has been showing movies for just under 70 years having opened
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Photo courtesy of George Norwood
Flagship Sailing, located at The Marinas at Little Harbor in Ruskin, offers both experienced and beginner-level sailing courses. For more information on Flagship Sailing and the classes offered, visit FlagshipSailing.com. To read full article, see page 22.
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