Plant City Times &
Observer YOU. YOUR NEIGHBORS. YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD.
A PARTNERSHIP WITH
EXCLUSIVE
INSIDE
PlantCityRaidersreclaim JamesL.RedmanCup intoughtangowithDurant.
Dynamic duo anchors Crest’s receiving corps.
PAGE 6
PAGES 7 AND 13
PAGE 11
Plant City laces up for annual Good Cookie 5K.
OUR TOWN
+ Found: One four-legged friend
Plant City resident Marian Reinhardt found this little guy Monday, Sept. 16, on South Frontage Road near Park Boulevard. He’s a Papillon, about 18 months old and weighs about 16 pounds. He had a frayed narrow teal colored rope around his neck. He is not neutered. If he belongs to you, please call Reinhardt, (813) 763-0008.
FREE • THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2013
SPORTS
education
FLUGTAG PHENOM by Justin Kline | Staff Writer
Falling with Style
by Amber Jurgensen | Associate Editor
The “Flugtag Flying Dead” featured three Plant City natives.
The middle school hosted a seminar less than a month after a 12-year-old girl in Lakeland committed suicide.
+ Church preps for pumpkin patch
First United Methodist Church will host its annual pumpkin patch daily beginning Thursday, Oct. 10, at the church, 303 N. Evers St. The patch will be open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. The patch is a fundraiser for the church’s Youth Ministry, allowing students to participate in a variety of trips and retreats. Any preschool wishing to bring classes to the patch should call to schedule a time. For more information, call Youth Director Philip Brooks, (813) 754-3519.
+ African choir to perform Sunday
The African Children’s Choir, featuring children from ages 7 to 11, will perform at 10:15 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 29, at Plant City Church of God, 2103 Mud Lake Road, Plant City. The choir performs to raise money to assist vulnerable children in Africa. For more information, call the church, (813) 752-4591, or visit africanchildrenschoir.com.
, 3&
This week’s winner is
Jenifer Fiddelke See her photo on PAGE 14.
Tomlin tackles online bullying
The “Flugtag Flying Dead” posted the second-longest flight in the nation. The team won the Miami competition.
Courtesy photos
Three Plant City natives soared far beyond their competition at Red Bull’s National Flugtag Day Sept. 21, in Miami. It could be said the fourth generation of the Humphrey family has flown the highest. Or, rather, the farthest. That’s because Plant City natives Kevin and Keith Humphrey, both 43, are three-time Red Bull Flugtag competition winners. The twins assembled a crew — including Plant City native David West and friends Kevin Riley and Chris Elmore — in 2008, for the energy drink company’s first American event, in Tampa. They crushed the competition and haven’t looked back since. Three years later, the crew won the event when it returned to Tampa. And
last weekend, they brought home an unprecedented third championship Sept. 21, when Red Bull Flugtag soared into Miami, to celebrate National Flugtag Day, which featured simultaneous competitions in Miami, Long Beach, Dallas, Chicago and Washington, D.C.. Some of the Miami event’s judges were rather notable: Miami native and ESPN personality Dan LeBatard, wakeboarding star Parks Bonifay and prominent disc jockey, DJ Irie. Re-dubbed the “Flugtag Flying Dead” to match their theme, the Humphreys and their crew flew 120 feet — breaking the 109-foot mark
they set in 2008. Their flight more than doubled their closest competitors, who came in at 57 feet. About 94,000 people witnessed the flight. “We actually had the second-farthest flight in the nation,” Kevin Humphrey said. “There was a team out in California that flew 258 feet. There were some crosswinds down in Miami. Nothing we could do about that.”
FAMILY MATTERS
Kevin Humphrey, who owns Horace Mann insurance agencies in Valrico and Bartow, is also a lieutenant
WHAT IS FLUGTAG?
Red Bull Flugtag is an event in which competitors attempt to fly homemade, size- and weightlimited, human-powered flying machines. The flying machines are usually launched off a pier about 30 feet high into the water. Most competitors enter for the entertainment value, and the flying machines rarely fly at all. For more, visit redbull flugtagusa.com.
FLUGTAG / PAGE 4
Source: Wikipedia
There were pages and pages of a heated Facebook conversation that Tomlin Middle School Principal Susan Sullivan had to sort through. The messages were between two male students. One student had accused eighth-grader Tyler Woosley of beating him up. The student had gotten into a fight, but it wasn’t with Tyler. In fact, the two boys were friends, before Tyler started receiving the taunting messages. “He cussed me out over Facebook,” Tyler said. “I couldn’t believe one of my friends would say that about me.” When Tyler’s mother found the messages, she contacted the school. The other student’s mother also was informed. She had no idea the conversation was taking place. “We want parents to be involved,” Sullivan said. “That’s our message. Communicate and talk with your child.” That message is part of a Frameworks of Tampa Bay program that seeks to foster positive youth development by teaching students about bullying. For nine days, students attended a workshop class. On Sept. 23, parents and students were invited to a seminar at the school. Rita Peters, of the State Attorney’s Office, spoke about how to recognize bullying, how to avoid it, and how to heal from it. “I learned how to handle it more,” eighth-grader Noor Pal said. “Don’t be a bystander. A lot of people are watching, too. They might be scared to get involved, but you have to.”
SEE BULLY / PAGE 5
CHOO-CHOO! by Michael Eng | Editor
Plant City approves plans for new railroad museum
Resident railroad expert, Robert Willaford, donated more than $200,000 of train memorabilia — including a caboose and locomotive — to the city. For decades, Robert Willaford has been known affectionately as Plant City’s resident railroad expert. After nearly 43 years working as a locomotive engineer for CSX Corporation, Willaford
has amassed an impressive collection of train memorabilia, including a full locomotive and caboose, which he displays on his property off Joe McIntosh Road. Now, Willaford’s collection
will get a new home. Willaford has donated 28 railroad items, with a value totaling $212,500, to Plant City. In exchange, Plant City will
SEE MUSEUM / PAGE 4
File photo
Felice and Robert Willaford used the caboose to host an annual Easter celebration at their home.
INDEX Calendar.......................2
Vol.1,No.9 | Onesection Crossword...................13
Obituaries.....................9
Opinion ........................6
Sports.........................11
3ODQW&LW\2EVHUYHU FRP