bserver O
PLANT CITY
You. Your neighbors. Your neighborhood.
SHOW OF FAITH SPORTS
art attack
Plant City’s Betty Jones celebrates exhibit opening.
Plant City’s First Baptist Church hosts Cowboy Church. PAGE 10
PAGE 7
OUR TOWN
+ Resident shares Observer namesake
FREE • thursday, AUGUST 2, 2012
Turkey Creek Trojans to honor their first coach. PAGE 13
SILVER SCREEN
close to home
By Amber Jurgensen | Staff Writer
Sweet Surprise
By Amber Jurgensen | Staff Writer
Partnership will boost baby births at hospital South Florida Baptist Hospital has entered into a partnership with Suncoast Community Health Center.
Lifelong Plant City resident Nancy McLean stopped by the Plant City Observer office July 30 bearing one special gift: a copy of the old Plant City Observer, circa July 1982. Although our newspaper is not connected with the original in any other way than its name, we had an absolute blast taking a trip down memory lane with McLean. She says she didn’t quite know why she saved the newspaper, but we’re so glad she did.
+ Bucs cheerleader visits Plant City The Plant City Family YMCA hosted a cheer/dance mini clinic July 24. The clinic was led by Tampa Bay Buccaneer cheerleader and squad co-captain Karen Bittinger, who taught the group of young girls several cheers and dance routines. The clinic was an outreach program for the Buccaneers to promote their Junior Clinic. This August, the Bucs will host the 15th annual Junior Cheer/Dance Clinic and game-day performance.
+ Police promotes officer to sergeant Plant City Police Department officer Barry Maurer was promoted to sergeant July 21. Maurer has been with the department since January 2005 and has served within the department’s Uniformed Patrol Division, Investigative Services Division and, most recently, as the department’s training coordinator and crime prevention officer.
Photos by Amber Jurgensen
Pete Mychalcewycz, left, and Bill Dunkle, right, filmed part of a scene at Neumeister’s Candy Shoppe, with the assistance of employee and building owner Julie Young and Taylor Nicholas, daughter of Neumeister’s owner Glenn Nicholas. Top: Taylor Nicholas pulled the taffy apart to prepare it for filming.
Academy Award-winning director Cynthia Wade shot a scene at Neumeister’s Candy Shoppe for a short film that will be released in October. Friday began as a normal day at Neumeister’s Candy Shoppe for employee and building owner Julie Young. She made sure the temperature was a solid 70 degrees, attended to customers and managed the store. Then, she got an interesting call. Academy Award-winning director Cynthia Wade was in town from New York City to film a documentary about a Plant City resident with a rare liver disease. In one interview, the resident said the effects of the disease on the ability to talk was like pulling taffy apart.
The film crew asked if Neumeister’s made taffy so they could illustrate the subject’s point. Young immediately called owner Glenn Nicholas. “Right when Julie called me, I came over and tried to figure out how to do what they were asking,” Nicholas said. Although he doesn’t make taffy, Nicholas makes many things at Neumeister’s from scratch, such as chocolate turtles and caramel. He began experimenting with taffy, treating it the same way he does caramel. He figured out a way
to melt the taffy mixture and then knead it to the right consistency. Once Nicholas, his daughter, Taylor, and Young got a good feel for the taffy, Wade visited the candy shop. “They brought props, bubble wrap, camera equipment — you name it,” Nicholas said. The film crew and Wade got their hands dirty playing with the taffy to figure out how it stretched. The film crew also was inspired by all the different plastic chocolate molds
SEE FILM / PAGE 4
INDEX News Briefs..........5
Thanks to a new partnership between Plant City Family Care and South Florida Baptist Hospital, as many as 400 more births annually may take place at the Plant City hospital. That increase would double the current number of births at South Florida Baptist. Plant City Family Care is one of seven clinics operated by Suncoast Community Health Center. For years, Plant City Family Care contracted a group of midwives based in Tampa to provide prenatal care to its patients. “The previous contractor did a fantastic job, but all the babies were being born at Tampa General,” Brad Herremans, Suncoast Community Health Center CEO, said. Last year, 415 women with Plant City zip codes delivered at Tampa General Hospital, because the midwives referred patients there. Steve Nierman, COO at South Florida Baptist Hospital, ap-
SEE HOSPITAL / PAGE 4
Amber Jurgensen
South Florida Baptist Hospital expects to double its number of baby deliveries.
Vol. 1, No. 5 | One section
Cops Corner..........6
Crossword.......... 15
Sports................ 13
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