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Plant City’s karate kids learn ancient Far East art form.
FREE • thursday, AUGUST 9, 2012
back to school SPORTS From school supplies to bus rides, Plant City is ready for the new year.
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help is always here
OUR TOWN
Plant City rallies behind its Little League All-Stars.
By Amber Jurgensen | Staff Writer
By Amber Jurgensen | Staff Writer
Fluoride to be added to Plant City water supply
+ Celebrating a new bundle of joy? If so, the Plant City Observer would like to celebrate with you! We welcome your birth announcements for publication. Please send your baby’s name, parents’ and siblings’ names, birth date, birth weight and length, and hospital to Managing Editor Michael Eng, meng@plantcityobserver.com. You may also include a photo.
The city obtained a grant to install new equipment that will pump fluoride into the water. The project will be finished by January.
+ Church offers support group Plant City’s First Baptist Church is now offering a Christian cancer support group. Sharing Our Burdens meets at 4:30 p.m. the fourth Sunday of each month, at Plant City’s First Baptist Church, Room 136, 503 N. Palmer St. For more, call Diane Mabry, 365-0554.
Photos by Amber Jurgensen
Mother Blair Preti loves spending time with her children, Payton, Ryleigh, Everett and Chayce. However, it wasn’t long ago that the Preti family found itself in a financial struggle. They turned to Pregnancy Care Center of Plant City for help.
FAMILY FIRST + Lions Club presents donation The Plant City Lions Club presented a $1,000 check to the Pregnancy Care Center of Plant City at the club’s meeting Aug. 7. Executive Director Darlene Davis said the center will use the donation to purchase window treatments at the facility, 304 N. Collins St.
+ TOPSoccer now open for registration The Brandon TOPSoccer Program, which is open to Plant City residents, will host registration from 6 to 8 p.m., Aug. 10-11, 17-18, 24-25, and Sept. 7, and 9 a.m. to noon Sept. 8, at J.C. Handly Park, 3104 S. Kings Ave., Brandon. The program is designed for children ages 5 and up with special needs to learn, play and enjoy soccer. For more, call Ken Muzyk at (813) 657-5271.
from the tap
Already a mother of three, Blair Preti learned she was pregnant just months after her husband was laid off. The parents didn’t know where to turn — until they discovered Pregnancy Care Center of Plant City.
One look at the Preti family’s cozy apartment says a lot about the family. Family pictures hang above a sofa that has colorful children’s books spread across the cushions. A baby boy coos as he crawls around, following his older sisters wherever they go. Some toys have been abandoned on the floor, including a beaded homemade bracelet, a rattle. JJ, a Beta fish, watches the family from a spot on the counter. The family just had a play date and a pool outing. Hair still wet, three sisters sit obediently on the couch next to their mother, Blair. She sits each girl in front of her to comb out the tangles and make the girls more presentable. When she’s finished, Blair picks up 9-month-old son, Everett. The girls — Chayce, 8, Payton, 6, and
SEE CENTER / PAGE 6
RENOVATIONS
The Pregnancy Care Center of Plant City is nearing completion of its 2,614-squarefoot building at 304 N. Collins St. “Before, we were a bland little building,” Executive
Director Darlene Davis said. “Now, we have an interior decorator that is going to do a modern flair that will appeal to younger people.” The renovations also will
SEE RENOVATION / PAGE 6
INDEX Crossword.......... 15
For the first time, Plant City will have fluoride added to the municipal water supply, thanks to a $386,000 grant from the state, which includes a supplemental grant from the Hillsborough County Health Department. “We’ve debated about it a couple times before, but the cost was prohibitive,” Mayor Mike Sparkman said. The pro-ject has gone through the engineering stage and has received permits from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. Bidding will begin after the city posts a notice in the next few months. The project includes installing a small pump, which will meter the fluoride distributed into the water. The project is expected to be finished by January. According to the FDLE, 76.7% of people served by community water systems receive optimally fluoridated water, reaching 69.5% of Florida’s population. Fluoride is used to prevent tooth decay and cavities in children. “Water fluoridation has (more than) 50 years of proven, evidence-based research to reduce decay by 40% to 60%,” said Kim Herremans, a dental consultant with the Florida Department of Health. Herremans and her husband, Bradley Herremans, CEO of Suncoast Community Health Center, were involved from the beginning to advocate for the project. “Tooth decay is a big problem in this community,” Bradley Herremans said.
SEE WATER / PAGE 6 Vol. 1, No. 6 | One section
Neighborhood.... 10
Obituaries.......... 12
Sports................ 13
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