PLANT CITY TIMES &
Observer
Tri-Star Basketball Competition.
SEE PAGE 16
YOU. YOUR NEIGHBORS. YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD. VOLUME 5, NO. 30
FREE
•
FRIDAY, JANUARY 26, 2018
Commission votes in McDaniel as city manager Plant City’s current assistant city manager will now take over the top administrative post. SEE PAGE 12.
YOUR TOWN
Introducing your 2018 Strawberry Festival
Queen and Court
The new royals are fired up and ready to serve their community and the festival they all hold so dear. SEE PAGES 3-9 Courtesy of Elizabeth McIntosh.
City unites for Carefest Carefest, an annual event comprised of volunteers that gather together to improve their city, was held Saturday, Jan. 20. Over 200 volunteers assembled to tackle community service projects throughout Plant City. One project was held at Wilson Elementary School. City Pointe Church assisted in landscaping work and prayed over the campus. Both young children and adults gave their time to better their community.
Tartan takeover First Presbyterian Church is hosting its 20th annual Kirkin O’the Tartans at 10:45 a.m. Jan. 28 The event will celebrate the church’s Scottish heritage and feature the St. Andrews Pipes and Drums of Tampa Bay. The church, located at 404 West Reynolds St., will have a concert on the lawn and a luncheon after the service. Nursery is provided and all are invited to attend. The event is based on the national Kirkin’ service, which has been held annually since 1954. In 1941 Rev. Peter Marshall, a Scottish born pastor of New York Avenue Presbyterian Church in Washington D.C. introduced the Kirkin O’the Tartan service to his congregation. It honors the time under English rule in the 1700s when wearing a tartan was illegal. Scottish citizens hid tartans in their pockets and, at a secret moment during worship the minister would bless those in attendance while the Scots held the tartan in their pocket. Now the service is held in churches across the world and is celebrated by the displaying of tartans and the sound of bagpipes.
Photo Courtesy of Deanna Hurley Photography
From Left to Right: First Maid Dallas Nicole Baker, Queen Ally Elizabeth Burt and Court Members: Baylee Samantha Astin, Selena Sue Berrios and Zoe Bell Rasmussen
Plant City’s new paw-fect event The inaugural Bark in the Park event will flood downtown Plant City with scores of paw-fect pups Friday evening and feature a highly-anticipated wiener dog race. BREANNE WILLIAMS STAFF WRITER
During tonight’s January food truck rally, dozens of athletic dachshunds will gather at the starting line in hopes of becoming the very first victor of the esteemed wiener dog race. With the inaugural Bark in the Park event, Jane Waters, executive director of Historic Plant City Main Street, said she hopes to soon make the downtown area “fur-baby friendly.” The event will feature pet-themed vendors including a pet photo station and paw painting where pets will have their paws painted with dogsafe paint and placed upon a canvas by the East Hillsborough Art Guild of
Plant City. Walden Lake Animal Clinic will also be on site offering reduced rates for micro-chipping and minivaccines. “Anything that is fur-friendly tends to be very successful,” Waters said. “Of course we want to get people downtown. When we say people it’s also their babies, their furry babies.” The event had been planned prior to Waters taking the helm at Main Street, however, she plans to ensure Bark in the Park becomes an annual celebration. Originally, Main Street was planning on hosting the event all day on a Saturday in 2017. As things
came up, that date was shifted and it was paired with the monthly food truck rally in downtown. As the event flourishes, Waters said she hopes to one day be able to make it an annual stand alone event, a highly-anticipated gathering of pups of all sizes. For now, she intends to use the current time slot as a kick-off for Main Street’s new vision for the food truck rallies. Soon, each of the monthly rallies that draw hundreds each month to historic downtown Plant City will SEE BARK PAGE 13