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you. youR nEIghboRs. youR nEIghboRhood.

see inside for this week’s photocontest winner.PAGe 13

classifieds ........14 crossword .........13 Obituaries ...........8 sports .................9Vol. 1, No. 43 | One section

PlantCityObserver.com

OuR TOWN

INDEX

+ Reminder: SixthBlueberry Festival!

The sixth Annual Tampa Bay Blueberry Festival will take place from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. April 27, and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. April 28, at Keel & curley Winery, 5202 W. Thonotosassa Road.

Make sure you stop by the Plant City Observer booth to get your exclusive blueberry-flavored lip balm. The final-ists in our Blueberry Recipe contest also will present their dishes to our panel of celebrity judges at 4:30 p.m. April 27.

For complete Blueberry Festival coverage, visit PlantcityObserver.com.

NeWscoyote sightingsconcern Plantcity residents. PAGe 7

ObserverPlant city rejects lone proposalfor stadiumPlant city Manager Greg Horwedel said the proposal the city received from Big league Dreams lacked too much information.

sQuARe ONe by Michael Eng | Managing editor

Despite Mayor Mike Spark-man’s wishes, the Plant City Commission rejected April 22, the only proposal it received for a longtime use for Plant City Sta-dium.

City Manager Greg Horwe-del said the proposal from Big League Dreams Inc. lacked key information, specifically re-garding the potential costs and benefits of the proposal to Plant

City. Citing an exemption un-der Florida’s open-government

laws, Horwedel declined to detail Big League Dreams’ proposal.

“Based upon our cursory review, we feel there is not suf-

ficient information to make a good value judgment,” Horwe-del said. “Our recommendation is that this proposal be rejected and a new request be put on the street.”

Sparkman, speaking to Horwe-del and the rest of the city com-mission, said he opposed the idea of restarting the process.

“I’m disappointed that, at this stage, we’re starting over,” he said. “I’d rather see us not go out again (for proposals). I’m con-fused, and I’m disappointed by it.

“At this stage, if I were this per-son (Big League Dreams), I could walk away from it, and we, as the city, would be the losers,” Spark-man said.

2013 RelAy FOR liFe by amber Jurgensen | Associate editor

sPORTsDurant alum KelseyHorton a finalist forsenior clAss Award.PAGe 9

+ Flight winnertakes to the skies

Plant City Observer founder and co-owner Ed Verner took one resident on the ride of his life in his biplane.

Jeff henning won the ride during the raffle the Plant City Observer hosted at its booth during the recent Planes, Trains and Automobiles event.

Henning enjoyed a variety of stunts during his ride.

“All the stunts were a dream come true,” he said. “i can check those off my list and brag about them to my friends. Truly some of the greatest fun i have ever had.”

+ Chamber to hold community expo

More than 50 businesses will gather at the Florida strawberry expo Hall, 351 N. Woodrow Wilson street, for the Greater Plant city chamber of commerce’s Plant city community expo.

The event is meant for busi-ness members to network with potential customers.

For more, call 754-3707.

Hundreds of Plant City philanthro-pists proved “Curing Cancer is Sweet” at the annual Relay for Life April 19 to 20, at Plant City High School.

So far, the event has raised $230,000 for the American Cancer Society. Do-nations are still flowing in, and orga-nizers hope the final tally is $275,000.

The candy-themed event lured walk-ers off the track and into team tents to taste cupcakes, candy and other good-ies. Children played games, such as musical chairs, and even got their nails

and face painted at Plant City High School’s cosmetology fairy princess booth.

The Florida Strawberry Festival Queen and her court led the Survivors Lap.

In the morning, walk-ers were tired — but not tired enough to hear songs from a 13 school children’s choir and release bal-loons into the air in honor of Relay’s 100th birthday. For more photos, visit PlantCityObserver.com.

courtey of vsi

Plant city stadium is the tempo-rary home of vsi Tampa Bay.

SEE STADIUM / PAGE 4

strawberry Queen Kelsey Fry turned Kaitryn Edgemon into a fairy princess at Plant city High’s cosmetology booth.

Right: teresa armbruster held south Florida Baptist Hospital’s pendant high.

Plant city High school cosmetology students turned the home side of the track pink while cheering for survivors.

After 18 hours of relay, these walkers took a rest.

MORE PHOTOS ON PAGE 4

SWEET SUCCESS

Plant city observerTHURSDAY, APRIL 25, 20132 PlantCityObserver.com

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The Walden Lake Communi-ty Associate met with city offi-cials Monday to work out a plan to alleviate traffic coming out of Walden Lake’s front entrance during rush hour.

Originally, the WLCA heard from city officials that a left hand turn lane was to be add-ed, knocking out the center median to the main gate.

With its landscaped median, green shrubbery and brick monicker signs, the Walden Lake front entrance makes a certain type of statement about the deed-restricted commu-nity.

“We really feel like it’s our

front door,” Bette Guarino of the WLCA said. “It’s the most peaceful way to come in, and it won’t be Walden Lake without it.”

Now, Plant City Engineer Brett Gocka is working on a new design in order to keep the median intact.

“(The WLCA) likes their land-scaping and the aesthetic feel,” Gocka said. “I think we can ac-commodate it.”

The original plan was esti-mated to cost about $36,000. Other designs are being drawn up that will add extra landscap-ing. The cost will be slightly higher.

“It’s going to be a little bit big-ger of a project now, and it’s go-ing to be a little nicer project,” Gocka said.

The city previously tried to alleviate traffic at the intersec-tion after a complaint about the timing of the light.

The city adjusted the timing as much as it could.

“Still, there is some backup being experienced,” Gocka said.

The city wants to fix the prob-lem before the Alexander Street extension is finished. After the extension is completed, Alex-ander will become a state-op-

erated street, overseen by the Florida Department of Trans-portation. With the overturn, it will be harder to make changes to intersections on Alexander, such as Timberlane Drive.

Designs should be submitted to the city commission for dis-cussion in about 60 to 90 days.

Contact Amber Jurgensen at ajurgensen@plantcityobserver.com.

A mission to help feed needy pets could be extinct without new donations. Meals on Wheels has been working for the past four years to bring small bags of food for pets along with their owners’ hot meals.

But the donations have run dangerously low. Project origina-tors, Nancy Driscoll and Rebecca Burns, have been digging into their pockets the past two months to make sure that their clients pets can eat, too.

“The whole goal of it is so that people will not have to give up their pets,” Driscoll says.

Driscoll, Burns and Marian Riter have worked for Meals on Wheels for years. They enjoy pass-ing out food to people in need on their route. But many of their hungry clients also have hun-gry pets.

One day, Driscoll read in a newspaper that a Meals on Wheels office in Polk County had started deliver-ing pet food to clients along with regular hot meals. She thought it was a great idea.

So the animal lovers started to solicit for dona-tions for pet food

along with the help of their friend Nita McMaster.

They deliver about a 4 pounds of dog food or 3 pounds of cat food to those in need. There are at least 15 pets on the Plant City routes.

“It’s not expected to be all the food for the pet for the month,” Driscoll said. “It’s just like the hot meals, it’s meant to be a supple-ment.”

The Meals on Wheels team can identify with the pet owners. Driscoll had a dog for 16 years. But when it died, she had a “broken heart” and couldn’t “go through that grief again” with another pet. Burns has two rescued shitzus. Rit-er has a “beautiful calico” cat. Nita

“has always had cats.” “Some call in and say they appreciate it,” Driscoll said. “I feel it’s a wonder-

ful thing. We all feel it’s a great thing and want to keep it going.”

To donate, take pet food to the Meals on Wheels office, 203 N. Thomas St., Plant City. Cash and check dona-tions are also accepted

as long as they are designated for pet food.

Contact Amber Jurgensen at ajur-

gensen@plantci-tyobserver.com.

WLCA, city considerchanges to Timberlane

In oTHeR newS:• Construction on The Hammocks golf cart path will begin Thursday. Since last year, residents have been lobbying to get one put in at this location because of the dangerous intersec-tion at the front entrance of The Hammocks on Timberlane Drive.

• The annual garage sale was a success, with more than 100 homes participat-ing. “There were cars every-where,” bette Guarino said.

• Marlene Merrin presented a monthly report of viola-tions for the 16 neighbor-hoods she does enforce-ments for. The violations were:yard: 50care and appearance of home: 28Mold/paint/mailboxes: 27boats/trailers: 10care and appearance of fence: 7trash cans: 6vehicles: 4Pets: 5bouncy House: 1

During morning rush hour, traffic backs up on the left-turn lane from Timberlane Drive onto Alexander Street.

eLeCTIonS:The annual elections were

held at this month’s wCLA meeting.

• Jan Griffin, president• Marcus alexich, vice

president• Jim chancey, secretaryA treasurer was not elect-

ed at this time. The position will go up for election the following meeting.

Griffin has been a board member since 1994 and president since 2004.

TRAFFIC by amber Jurgensen | Associate editor

Meals on wheels needs pet food donationsEmployees have been dipping into their pockets to keep pet food available for those in need.

a caring paw by amber Jurgensen | Associate editor

PlantCityObserver.com 3 Plant city observerTHURSDAY, APRIL 25, 2013

A new plan to create a train-viewing platform next to the Plant City Union Depot is gain-ing steam.

Members of the community, downtown merchants, Plant City and the Greater Plant City Chamber of Commerce met April 17, to discuss the details.

The platform will be situated on the south side of the depot about 3 feet off the ground, so viewers will be in line with the sill of the box car. An additional platform will give railroad en-thusiasts an overhead view, sitting 14 feet above the track in a tower. The project is esti-mated to take no longer than six months to complete.

Project coordinators already have secured a $25,000 grant from CSX for the construction. They have applied for another grant but will not know its sta-tus until the end of the year. The anticipated cost for the project is no more than $200,000.

“No city monies will be used,” Mayor Mike Sparkman said.

David Miller has been ap-pointed chair of the capital campaign.

“We have to expand the vi-sion and scope to make this project a commemoration of railroad heritage,” Miller said. “Plant City wouldn’t be here without the railroad.”

To honor the heritage, orga-nizers also discussed adding a collection of memorabilia around the platform.

Organizers hope the plat-form not only will provide a safe viewing area for hob-byists but also bring people to Plant City. About 25 trains come through the town every day.

“Downtown merchants will not believe what will happen when we get this,” Lizz Har-mon, of Harmon Tampa Public Relations, said.

Harmon along with her hus-band, “railfan” Danny Harmon, were brought in to help gener-ate buzz about the platform.

The organizers have looked at the “Folkston Funnel” view-ing platform in Georgia as a model. Folkston has about 60 trains daily.

Contact Amber Jurgensen at ajurgensen@plantcityobserver.com.

Students who trickle into Nel-son Elementary’s multipurpose room can’t help but giggle and point at a map of Florida. Cover-ing a 10-foot-by-15-foot space on the wall, the map isn’t made up of topographical features or high-ways. Instead, it’s a collage of stu-dent self-portraits shaped into the Sunshine State’s form.

The map is part of a school-wide lesson on Juan Ponce de Leon, a Spanish conquistador who discovered and named Flori-da. This year is the 500th Anniver-sary of the day he stepped onto the shores of St. Augustine.

“Kids really get a kick out of it,” fourth-grade teacher Terry Sen-hauser said. “They like to go into the lunchroom and find each oth-er’s faces.”

Nearly 500 students made a construction-paper self portrait. There were so many faces that another massive picture had to be constructed, a sign that reads “500.”

With stacks of faces, Senhauser, three Parent-Teacher Association parents and seven students laid out the map and glued the faces down. The assembly took about 25 glue sticks and two hours.

On April 3, rainy weather redi-rected the hanging of posters to the multipurpose room. The deci-sion has allowed the students to enjoy the project longer.

“We wanted to drive the point home of Ponce de Leon discover-ing Florida but also that it’s ‘your Florida,’” Senhauser said.

The point was grasped as Sen-

hauser asked his class who makes up Florida.

“We do!” the students respond-ed in unison.

Senhauser teaches mostly math and science but has a special pas-sion for teaching social studies. In fact, it was Senhauser’s idea to make the map of Florida.

“The map serves as a talking point to lead into Ponce de Leon and Florida history,” Senhauser said.

“I’m proud of Mr. Senhauser,” student Preston Williams said. “He’s the reason we did this. His face looks the best.”

Preston, 10, loved the art aspect of the project as much as the his-tory.

“I thought my face was going to turn out weird, because I can’t

draw,” Williams said. “I’m just glad that Ponce de Leon discov-ered Florida, so I could live here.”

Williams’s favorite thing about Florida is the beach. He enjoys venturing beyond the sea wall at Siesta Key to look for shells.

Like Williams, classmate Iza-bella Benas’s favorite thing about Florida is the beach, particularly Anna Maria Island.

“I think the project was really cool,” Benas said. “I never knew about Ponce de Leon, but I knew there was someone looking for the Fountain of Youth. He never found it.”

Although Ponce de Leon never found the fountain, the memory of his Floridian discovery lives on in schools such as Nelson.

Contact Amber Jurgensen at ajurgensen@plantcityobserver.com.

Two sisters share the same memories of their beloved church, Hopewell Baptist. They have at-tended the church for decades, Martha Durrance since she was 5, and Lila Woods since she was 13.

“In the old church, there were two doors,” Durrance said. “The women would come in and sit on one side, and the men would come in and sit on the other side.”

“The children would sit in the middle,” Woods added.

Hopewell will celebrate its 143rd anniversary during a special service May 5. A luncheon will be hosted to honor the occasion fol-lowing the service.

With informal beginnings, the church started in 1870. Founders gathered in an 8-foot-by-12-foot log schoolhouse, located on the homestead of John Robert Mc-Donald. According to the church’s recorded minutes, Florida Baptist Associate, Elder L. J. Simmons, and J. N. Tatum organized the gath-erings. Other founding families

included the Wells, Evers, Mooneys and Weeks families.

A decade later, the church had grown. Sunday school, or-ganized by Elder T.J. Sparkman, was held in tents behind the sanctuary. The tents covered stalls that held nearly 100 goats. On Sunday mornings, the stalls were swept clean for Sunday School.

Later, the church was moved to Grange Hall, near Old Hopewell Road. The property is part of Bob McDonald’s land.

The third location was a one-room building 300 yards south of J.G. McDonald’s home.

But, it wasn’t until 1897, when William Glenn McDonald gave the church two acres of land — one for a cemetery and one for a church — that the church found its pres-ent location. For a mere $854.92,

the building was completed. The first service was held in January 1902.

Electric lights came to the new church in 1913 — at a cost of $29.52.

The building was remodeled in 1955, for $25,000.

Six rooms, a baptistry, steeple and stained-glass windows were added. Before the baptistry was added, members were baptized in “The Pit,” a fishing hole.

Durrance remembers having dinner at the church as a child.

“There was a big table in the front yard that we would all eat at,” Durrance said. “There was no air conditioning inside the church. People would bring their picnic and food. They would either sit at the table or stand and eat.”

Air conditioning finally was added to the church in 1964, after

J.G. McDonald gave the church additional land for a recreation hall. The building had a complete kitchen, restrooms and central heat and air at a cost of $10,000.

Now the congregation worships in a new building, which was fin-ished May 7, 2006. In 1992, the church purchased seven acres of land adjoining the church proper-ty. It was on this property that the congregation built the new facility.

“My favorite thing about the church is the sweet, sweet spirit in Hopewell,” Durrance said. “The love between the members — it’s been really special to me.”

Linwood and Kathy Jones feel the same about the church. They come all the way from Lakeland, passing closer churches on their way to worship.

“We’ve only been coming here for six or seven years,” Linwood said. “Our hearts are overwhelmed with the love and acceptance that is here.”

Contact Amber Jurgensen at ajurgensen@plantcityobserver.com.

HoPeweLL BAPTIST CHURCH AnnIveRSARYWHen: 10 a.m. May 5WHere: Hopewell Baptist Church, 6001 S. C.R. 39, Plant CityinFo: (813) 737-3053

Hopewell to celebrate 143 yearshappy anniversary by amber Jurgensen | Associate editor

Courtesy rendering

Advocates believe the platform will attract more tourists.

With a longstanding history, the church still thrives today.

LooK oUT by amber Jurgensen | Associate editor

P.C. secures$25,000 for train platformThe plans are in the preliminary stages, but organizers already have many of the details on track.

nelson students chart their courseThe map was part of a school-wide lesson on Juan Ponce de Leon.

nelson elementary School’s terry senhauser’s fourth-grade class is proud of their masterpiece. Amber Jurgensen

history lesson by amber Jurgensen | Associate editor

Plant city observerTHURSDAY, APRIL 25, 20134 PlantCityObserver.com

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Although City Commissioner Rick Lott expressed similar disappointment, ulti-mately he supported the decision to reject the bid.

“I’m very disappointed,” he said. “I was hoping for this to be resolved, but obvi-ously, we’re not quite there yet.”

California-based Big League Dreams builds replicas of famous baseball stadi-ums, such as Boston’s Fenway Park, New York’s Yankee Stadium and Chicago’s Wrig-ley Field. The stadiums are designed to ac-commodate a variety of sports, including youth baseball, youth fast-pitch softball and adult slow-pitch baseball. Currently, the company operates parks in California, Nevada, Arizona and Texas.

Big League Dreams’ interest in bring-ing its replica stadiums to Plant City dates back several years. The city approved in October 2011, a 30-year license agreement with the company. Before that approval, city staff spent 18 months reviewing Big League Dreams’ operations in other states.

Under the agreement, Plant City would pay Big League Dreams a $450,000 licens-ing fee to ensure the company did not build a similar location within a 40-mile-by-30-mile oval around Plant City Stadium.

Big League Dreams officials did not re-turn repeated inquiries seeking comment.

Horwedel said the new request for pro-posals will launch the first week in May. The city will keep the request open for two to four weeks and then reevaluate any pro-posals it receives.

Depending on the details submitted by the applicants, it is possible that the delay caused by this week’s rejection won’t affect the timing of welcoming a new owner or tenant.

“It is possible that we can take 30 days or more off the back end,” Horwedel said.

The city began soliciting for proposals for Plant City Stadium earlier this year. The stadium has not had a tenant since the Cincinnati Reds moved its spring training program following the 1997 season. The

stadium costs the city about $387,000 an-nually.

None of these negotiations affect the short-term lease agreement the city has with VSI Tampa Bay, which is hosting four soccer teams at the stadium through August, with the possibility of extending through September.

VSI Director of Soccer Clay Roberts said his organization was working on a propos-al but missed the 2 p.m. April 1 deadline.

“We did submit a proposal to the city; however, we were working to a 5 p.m. deadline, not realizing it was a 2 p.m. dead-line,” he said. “Our mistake.”

Roberts said VSI will submit its plan when the request for bids is reopened next month.

“We are grateful that the opportunity is still there and plan on submitting again once it is released,” he said.

Contact Michael Eng at meng@plantci-tyobserver.com.

IN OTHER NEWS• The city ordered the condemnation

of the two structures at 1207 E. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.

• Commissioners authorized the pur-chase of a Caterpillar 305E CR Mini Hydraulic Excavator from Ring Power Corporation, for $56,819.

• The commission approved a con-tract with Tecta America West Florida LLC to install a new membrane on the roof of the Plant City Police Department. Total cost is $225,097.

• The city will change the hours of the McCall Park restrooms to accom-modate public use. Beginning May 20, the restrooms will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily. The extended hours will cost the city an extra $6,756 in janito-rial services, $4,808 in consumables, and a one-time capital expenditure of $2,500 to install hand dryers, automat-ic light-switch sensors, lockable toilet-paper dispensers, signage and more.

staDiUM / 1

Clockwise from above:

A 13-school children’s choir ended capped off the Relay.

Survivors were given a carnation before the first lap.

Even this little boy showed his support by wearing a breast cancer T-shirt.

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

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Queena, the woman formerly known as the Bloomingdale Library attack survivor, celebrated her 23rd birthday April 20, at Keel & Curley Winery.

The celebration included a special prayer vigil led by Plant City’s Chaplain Ret. Maj. Daniel Middlebrooks. Then, Queena surprised everyone by standing and dancing with Christopher Tolisano, an athletic trainer with whom Queena has been working for about a year. For more photos, visit PlantCityObserver.com.

Queena enjoyed an afternoon with good friends.

Queena celebrates in style at Keel & Curley Winery

joyful occasion by Michael eng | Managing Editor

Michael Eng

Plant city observerTHURSDAY, APRIL 25, 20136 PlantCityObserver.com

The Florida Strawberry Festival has built a reputation for being a family-friendly event since it began in 1930.

New President Jim Jeffries plans to keep that tradition running strong.

“We always try to make decisions that our community supports,” he said. “Main-taining a family atmosphere is my hope and the hope of the board.”

Jeffries recently was named the new president of the Florida Strawberry Festival, taking over for Ron Gainey, who completed his two-year term this spring.

Jeffries became an as-sociate director with the Florida Strawberry Festival in 1994, and has served on the board of directors since 2004, but his involvement with the festival dates back much further.

AGRICULTURE EDUCATORA teacher of agribusi-

ness since 1969, Jeffries was involved with the fes-tival on the youth agricul-ture side since the early 1970s and later served on various committees for livestock shows. His career in education included 10-year stints at East Bay High School and Plant City High School.

“Agriculture has always been a big part of the festival, and I was very involved with that part of it,” Jeffries said.

In 1989, Jeffries became the supervisor of agribusiness and natural resources edu-cation with Hillsborough County Public Schools, a position Pam Walden holds to-day.

While there, Jeffries served as a chair-man for the FFA exhibits at the festival.

“My position worked closely with the district FFA, so I had close contact with the schools and the teachers,” he said. “Even though I was out of teaching at that time, I kind of considered myself a teacher.”

Jeffries retired from the supervisor posi-tion in 2008, but remained as a member of the board of directors with the festival.

FOLLOWING FOOTSTEPSJeffries hopes to follow in the footsteps

of past festival presidents such as Gainey and current Plant City Mayor Mike Spark-man, who have been instrumental in facil-ity additions to the festival grounds.

The Madonia Agricultural Show Cen-ter has become a state-of-the-art, multi-purpose facility that is home to the annual

steer and swine show competitions at the festival.

“It’s not the largest facility around, but in my opinion, it is the best facility for youth to use to exhibit animals,” Jeffries said of the Madonia Center.

Although Jeffries doesn’t foresee any ma-jor changes to the format of the festival in the next two years, he said plans for major

construction could begin, including a larger, perma-nent home for Neighbor-hood Village, an expo for homemade and hand-crafted items created by members of the commu-nity. Neighborhood Vil-lage, which recently cel-ebrated its third year, has been held at the Milton E. Hull Building.

“We see a need for a facility for the Neighbor-hood Village, probably near our main office,” he said. “It’s an important ex-hibit for us, because it is such a community event. It’s a large exhibit that de-serves more space, but ob-viously, a lot depends on

finances available.”

GROUP EFFORTAlthough the Florida Strawberry Festival

brings in people from all over the state, the country and even the world, Jeffries knows that it is a Plant City event and something in which the community takes pride.

For an event of its magnitude — bring-ing in nearly 200,000 people during the final weekend this year — Jeffries noted none of it would be possible without the many volunteers, most of whom are local.

“We simply couldn’t do it without them,” he said. “They are what makes this thing what it is, and we are so very appreciative of that.”

The big-name entertainment the festival brings in is one of the reasons the festival has grown to what it is today. Jeffries rec-ognized all of the people involved for con-tinuing to bring in top-notch entertain-ment, including Blake Shelton and Alan Jackson this year, all while maintaining a family atmosphere.

“It’s a huge part of the festival and is a tough task to get around 22 acts that peo-ple can relate and connect with,” he said. “We certainly hope to continue that tradi-tion.”

Contact Matt Mauney at mmauney@plantcityobserver.com.

Jeffries hopes to follow path of past festival presidentsAfter decades of being involved with the agricultural side of the festival, Jim Jeffries takes over for Ron Gainey as president of the Florida Strawberry Festival.

NEW LEADER by Matt Mauney | Associate Editor

Courtesy photo

Jim Jeffries has served on the board of directors with the Florida Strawberry Festival since 2004.

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PlantCityObserver.com 7 Plant city observerTHURSDAY, APRIL 25, 2013

Two years ago, a coyote killed Plant City resident Amanda Rodriguez’s box terrier chihuahua mix. She found it in the field around her house, the contents of its body eaten.

For a long time after the incident, she and her husband, Frank, didn’t see the coyote.

But now — what she thinks is the same coyote — has re-turned. Not only is it stalking the woods around her field on South Frontage Road, the coyote is bold enough to come all the way up to the house.

“It paces on the side of the house,” Rodriguez said.Rodriguez’s main concern lies with her four children.

Three daughters live with her. One is 11 and big enough to scare the coyote off. But two are just babies — 3 and 1.

“I can’t leave my kids outside to play by the house alone with their older sister,” Rodriguez said.

A neighbor shares her concern. She came to the Rodri-guez’s looking for her cat several weeks ago. Within days of the neighbor’s visit, the coyote was spotted for the first time.

Rodriguez called Hillsborough County Animal Services to see what they could do about the creature.

“They said there was nothing they could do,” Rodriguez said. “They told me I could shoot it. But I have kids. I can’t just go hunt down and kill this thing.”

TRAP OR COEXISTBecause animal services does not aid in the relocation of

nuisance animals, Rodriguez’s neighbor hired a trapper. Rodriguez said she has only seen them come out twice.

One time, it began to rain, and the trapper left immedi-ately.

The professional left traps at the border between Rodri-guez’s field and woods. The traps caught a raccoon and two armadillos that sat for days, attracting vultures and possibly the infamous coyote.

The trapper cost about $300. A quote from Allstar Animal Removal, the first Google hit when searching “Plant City trappers,” lands between $389 and $489.

The quote depends on surrounding area, whether it’s wooded or in an urban setting and other factors. Allstar trappers comes for two weeks, every other day.

The Hillsborough County government website has a list of Hillsborough County trappers. Four are listed for animal trapping, only two of which will trap coyotes.

One of these trappers is Trey Larson, who has been hunt-ing and trapping coyotes since he was 13. Within the past four years, he has taken up the hobby more. Larson will trap for free in most cases.

He said there are three ways to trap a coyote. One more humane method uses Havahart traps. The trap

consists of a cage, with a box inside. In the box, trappers can put live or dead bait such as rabbits or even pieces of raw chicken. When the coyote steps into the cage, it hits a ped-dle that closes the cage door.

In northern states, the foothold trap is used. Trappers cover the trap with foliage and surround it with bait. When the coyote steps on it, the trap clamps around it’s foot. The trap is illegal Florida.

The third way is to buy a predator call, which can be

found at any sporting goods store. By setting a decoy up near a predator call, trappers can camouflage themselves and wait until a coyote comes to the call, thinking there is a wounded animal. Then, the trapper turns hunter by shoot-ing the coyote.

“This is the most effective way to lure the coyote,” Larson said. “Traps can take days.”

On private property with the permission of the owner, coyotes can be hunted year-round.

“Their population is exploding,” Larson said. “They are everywhere. Even places you wouldn’t expect, (such as) neighborhoods.”

HOW TO HANDLE Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission

Wildlife Assistant Biologist Angeline Scotten said she isn’t aware of any specific studies of the coyote population, but they have spread, since being introduced in the 1960s, in the Panhandle.

Scotten works out of the Hillsborough County Office and covers 12 counties from Hernando to Lee. Of the 12 coun-ties she oversees, there are only two from which she has not received calls regarding coyotes.

“There is a lot of myth that if you see a coyote during the day, they must be diseased,” Scotten said. “We know that they’ll be out 24/7. Especially right now. They have pups; so they are working overtime to feed their pups.”

Other calls are nuisance-based, such as coyotes bother-ing livestock or eating pet food off the front porch.

So what should you do if you see one?

“We encourage people to scare them away,” Scotten said. “Coyotes are timid. They are generally easy to scare.”

Scotten advises uses pots and pans, an air horn or even just standing ground and yelling at the coyote. Make sure to cause noise until the coyote is no longer in sight — or else they become accustomed to just turning their back to the noise and returning later.

“You want to make them feel unwanted and uncomfort-able,” Scotten said.

If the coyotes are becoming braver and no longer seem bothered by the of noise, then call a trapper, she advises.

To help deter coyotes, feed pets indoors, secure livestock feed and trash and remove bird feeders.

Contact Amber Jurgensen at ajurgensen@plantcityobserv-er.com.

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Coyotes sighted in Plant CitySince the 1960s, coyotes have been on the move throughout Florida.

animal alert by amber Jurgensen | Associate Editor

istock.com

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s angeline scotten: “It’s important for residents to know that coyotes are here to stay. They are part of the environment now. We have learned to coexist with bears, panthers and other animals. The same has to be done with coyotes.”

contact UsThe Plant City Observer is published once weekly, on Thursdays. It provides free home delivery to several neighborhoods in Plant City. The Plant City Observer also

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I have observed that many traditional gardeners over-emphasize the impor-tance of fertilizers and chemical pest control when establishing their seasonal garden beds.

This ritual of fortifying the bed with manufactured agents to feed and protect the young plants is common wisdom that has been promoted and passed around for quite some time. The gardener inspects her garden beds and sets about pulling out the unplanned wild greens (aka weeds), disposes of them (usually in the garbage pail), turns and tills the soil to loos-en the ground and bring in some oxygen, then adds her nitrogen-phosphorous-potassium mixture from a polypropylene bag. Her bed is now ready to be planted.

In permaculture gardening, the primary foundation of a strong vibrant garden is the soil itself. My preferred method of permaculture growing is using raised beds and creating most of my soil by myself. You may ask how do I go about creating soil? A great way to get started is to first define where your bed(s) will be located. If you like, you can dig the area out (6 to 12 inches deep) and place the soil to the side (you can skip this if you have ample good compost). Then, cover this area with several sheets of newspaper or a layer of cardboard. Layer, or sheet mulch, on top of the paper. An example may be to start with a layer of animal manure, followed by piling on some twigs, brush or tree branches. Next, add leaves or wood chips, then a layer of grass clippings or green leaves. Finally, another layer of manure or leaves (chopped will break down more quickly) and kitchen scraps (egg shells, etc.) topped off with compost. Finally, put back the soil you dug out to start with onto the top of the bed and cover with

an inch or two of mulch (leaves, straw, wood chips). Try using the organic matter available on your land as much as pos-sible, and don’t be limited by the material list I mentioned. When building this bed,

water each layer just to make sure that everything inside the mound is moist.

Your new bed will be 12-plus inches in height. You can have fun with this and be creative. I have built one nearly 5 feet tall, using large branches and timber. Your garden bed now has a mixture of elements, a mound of natural or-ganic matter that will break down over the growing season. This natural process produces humus inside the bed that, throughout a

year or so, becomes a natural sponge to hold water and other nutrients.

The construction of this bed also will have a substantial quantity of air pockets from the mounding of coarse materials, tree limbs, etc. It creates air space for the plant roots and all the aerobic microor-ganisms that populate the bed. It leaves room for varieties of insects, as well.

You also can amend the new bed with fish emulsion and some rock dust. Every growing season (three here in Plant City), top the bed off with a couple of inches of compost from your ongoing compost pile (an absolute must). Plant right into the added compost. You now have created your own growing medium and begun making your own soil.

You’re in this for the long run. Be pa-tient. Grand plant results may be immedi-ate, but it could take a couple of seasons of building the soil to get there.

Bob Abbenzeller is a certified permac-ulture designer and volunteer at the Plant City Commons Community Garden. For more, email to pcpermaculture@gmail.com or call (813) 489-5520.

Soil key to garden healthPeRmAcULTURe LIvIng

BOBABBenzeLLeR

Lillian Gertrude GrahamLillian Gertrude Graham, 100, died April

16, 2013.She is survived by a daughter, Linda

Bradbury, of Inverness; two grandsons, Rick Diamond, of Inverness, and Tony (Cindy) Diamond, of Floral City; one granddaughter, Cheryl Bar-wick, of Waycross, Ga.; niece, Faye (Chuck) Hall, of Plant City; six great-grandchildren; 15 great-great grandchildren; and numer-ous nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her hus-band, Charlie Graham; grandson, Keith Diamond; brother, Paul Leath; sister-in-law, Myrtle; and niece, Joyce Bradbury.

The family would like to thank hospice, and especially Jose, and the staff at Heri-tage Oak Assisted Living Facility.

Condolences may be made at wellsme-morial.com.

Hurmon HowardHurmon Howard, 77, of Plant City, died

April 17, 2013, after a long battle with Par-kinson’s disease.

He is survived by his wife, Telatha How-ard; daughters, Lori Howard and Jeannine Wansley (Keith); grandchildren,Victoria Wansley, and Tyler Wansley, who attends college in Burlington, Vt.; brother, Ron Howard (Brenda); and many other family members and friends.

The family is grateful to Dr. Baskin for his excellent care, compassion and com-fort he gave and the kindness and spiritual support he showed Telatha; and to Com-munity Care Center, for its excellent care.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Michael J. Fox Foundation, mi-chaeljfox.org, or LifePath Hospice, 12470 Telecom Drive, Suite 300, Temple Terrace, FL 33637.

Condolences may be made at hopewell-funeral.com.

Agustin JimenezAgustin Jimenez, 85, of Plant City, died

April 13, 2013. He was born in Puerto Rico, to the late

Graciana Colon-Vargas and Juan Jimenez-Colon.

Survivors include his wife of 62 years, Alejandrina Ji-menez (Diaz-Gonzales); children, Judy Jimenez, Vil-ma Evelyn Evans (Wayne), Elizabeth “Isa” Medina (Eli), Agustin Jimenez Jr. (Teresa), Jose Luis Ji-menez, Norberto Jimenez (Magdalena), Lillian E. Deliz (Dickson), Maira I. Chillura (Salvatore); 11 grandchildren; one great-grandchild; and sibling, Generosa Rios.

He was preceded in death by grandson, Manuel Vera, III (“Lito”); and siblings, Ana Rosa Mercado (“Rosita”), Jose Jimenez (“Pepe”), Jorge Luis Jimenez, Evarista Perez (“Eva”), Lydia Ester Jimenez and Gil-berto Jimenez.

Larry LongLarry Long, 72, of Plant City, died April 9,

2013, at his home.Born Jan. 11, 1941, in Saginaw, Mich., he

was the son of the late Noah Long and the late Edna Wenger Long. He was the hus-band of the late Bonnie Shoemaker Long.

Mr. Long was a veteran of the U.S. Army and will be interred at Florida National Cemetery, in Bushnell.

Survivors include his sons, Joel Long (Samantha) and Christopher Long; daugh-ter, Ponja Hemphill (Rich); brothers, Don Long (Anna Mae) and Chuck Long (Pat); sisters, Norma Rich-mond, Joyce Green, Shirley Yancer and Evelyn Perry; 12 grandchildren; and one great-grandchild.

He was preceded in death by his broth-ers, Lamar, Bob and Ken Long; and sister, Eleanor Mann.

OBSERVEROBITUARIES

Collapses and letdowns hap-pen all the time in sports.

Whether its brackets busting when No. 2 seeds fall to 15 seeds in the NCAA basketball tourna-

ment or the New England Patriots having their perfect season shattered in the Super Bowl by the New York Giants, upsets can be just as popular as teams winning championships.

However, when upsets happen in high school sports, they carry dif-ferent emotions. After all, the teams being upset are 14- to

Y O U T H | H I G H S C H O O L | G O L F | S E N I O R S | C O M M U N I T Y | T E N N I S

SportsATHLETE OF

THE WEEKSammy Tyler anchors Lady Chargers. 11

MATTMAUNEY

SHOW ME THE MAUNEY

Title well deserved for Crest

the right way by Matt Mauney | Associate Editor

Kelsey Horton has long mas-tered the art of balancing aca-demics and sports, all while staying involved in her com-munity.

It was something she did during her time as a two-sport athlete at Durant High School and something she has contin-ued to do through her senior season as an outfielder for the University of Florida softball team.

Because of her efforts, Hor-ton is one of 10 finalists for softball for the 2013 Senior CLASS Award, a national com-petition managed by Premier Sports Management that hon-ors the attributes of NCAA Di-vision I senior student-athletes who excel in four areas: com-munity, classroom, character and competition. An acro-nym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School, the Senior CLASS Award is designed exclusively for college seniors in their final year of eligibility.

“I’m very honored and happy to be a finalist for this award,” Horton said. “There have been a couple other girls here at UF that have gone to the finalist stage, so to be in the same cat-egory as them is a great honor.”

Candidates are selected in 10 NCAA sports by coaches, na-tional media and fans. Horton was one of 30 candidates for softball, before the field was narrowed to 10 finalists.

The Senior CLASS Award winner will be announced dur-ing the 2013 Women’s College World Series May 30 through June 5, in Oklahoma City. Fans can vote for their favorites on seniorclassaward.com or the award Facebook page through May 13.

TEAM LEADERA 2009 graduate of Durant,

Horton was a part of three district championships and helped to lead her team to the Class 6A state championship game in 2008, when she earned all-state honors as a junior.

“I haven’t had the chance to come back and see any games because it’s during our season. But I know they won state last year and that was really excit-ing to hear,” she said.

Current Durant head soft-ball coach Matt Carter, who coached that 2008 runner-up team, said she was a great player and an even better person.

“She was a social kid and had good morals

and a good personality,” Carter said. “We enjoyed having her and we’re proud of what she’s doing.”

With the Florida Gators, Horton made the 2010 SEC All-Freshman Team and the All-SEC and NFCA All-Southeast Region Second Team in 2012.

As a senior, she has started in right field for the majority of the season and is batting .298 with 29 RBIs. Her eight home runs this season rank best on the team. The Gators are hav-ing a great year with a 45-5 record and are 14-4 in confer-ence play.

“This team is different from any other team I’ve been on at Florida,” Horton said. “The team chemistry is great, and it’s a fun group of girls to be around.”

With just a month left in her playing career, Horton said she is trying to “make the most of it.” She started playing slow pitch when she was just 5 years old.

“It’s crazy to think that it’s almost over, but I’m just trying to take it all in,” she said. “I just want to have a good rest of the season and finish out strong. I always knew that softball had to end at some point, and I’m just excited to begin the next chapter in my life.”

OFF-THE-FIELD SUCCESS

That next chapter will be pharmacy school at Au-burn Univer-sity.

“I fell in

love with Auburn, the campus and the program there,” she said. “I will always be a Gator fan, though.”

Horton’s accolades off the diamond are as impressive as her success on the field. A nu-tritional science major current-ly holding a 3.75 GPA, she has made the SEC Academic Honor Roll in 2010, 2011 and 2012, and was a Capital One Academic All-District 3 in 2011 and an All-American in 2012. She was also a NFCA All-America Scholar-Athlete in 2012.

At Durant, Horton was an All-Academic Athlete in volleyball and softball for three years.

“Academics have always been very important to me since high school, and I’ve just tried to work hard these last four years in the classroom,” she said.

Furthermore, Horton has remained active in com-

munity service. She volunteers with the March of Dimes and helps with the Friends of Jac-lyn Foundation, an organiza-tion dedicated to improving the quality of life for children with pediatric brain tumors. The Ga-tors softball team has adopted one of the children this season as part of the Jaclyn’s Guardian Angels campaign.

“The kids get to come to our games and feel like they’re a part of the team,” Horton said. “It’s a great experience.”

Horton was a 2011-12 SAAC

Softball Representative, the 2012-13 UF SAAC Vice Presi-dent and a member of the 2012 SEC Community Service Team.

As a member of the Goodwill Gators, Horton does various

public out-reach efforts in Gainesville, including vis-

iting elementary schools.

Horton said she doesn’t know much about the Senior CLASS Award. The Ga-tors softball team has a “no so-cial media” policy, so she hasn’t been active in campaigning efforts, but said it would be an honor to win.

“All my teammates on the team have been really support-ive and remind me about it,” she said. “I have played against some of the finalists and know that there are some great ath-letes I’m going up against. So that’s humbling.”

Contact Matt Mauney at mmauney@plantcityobserver.com.

The Four Cs Former Durant standout and current University of Florida softball player

Kelsey Horton is a finalist for the prestigious Senior CLASS Award.

VOTETo vote for

Kelsey, visit seniorclassaward.

com/athletes/kelsey_horton. Voting ends

May 13.

Photo by Jim Burgess, UF Communications

Kelsey horton is hitting .298 with 29 RBI for the Florida Gators this season. She has a 3.75 GPA and has been accepted into the pharmacy program at Auburn University.

Coaches discuss changes to districts

RIVALRIES REdRAWN by Matt Mauney | Associate Editor

Plant City’s three high schools will make up half of the new Class 7A district 7 in basketball and volleyball for the 2013-14 and 2014-15 school years.

Rivalries will be heightened for at least the next two years for area basketball and volleyball teams, after the Florida High School Ath-letic Association released the final state series assignments for the sports earlier this month.

Beginning next year, Plant City, Durant and Strawberry Crest will join Brandon, East Bay and Tampa Bay Tech in the new Class 7A Dis-trict 7 for girls and boys basketball and girls volleyball.

This will mark the first time all three Plant City area schools will compete in the same district in those sports. Earlier this year, the

SEE MAUNEY / PAGE 12

THURSdAY, APRIL 25, 2013PLANTCITYobserver.CoM

SEE DISTRICTS / PAGE 12

Plant city observerTHURSDAY, APRIL 25, 201310 PlantCityObserver.com

FHSAA announced all three foot-ball teams will compete in the same district for the first time, be-ginning this fall.

Other sports are likely to follow the trend in the coming weeks, in-cluding new state assignments for baseball and softball.

The FHSAA releases new state series assignments ever two years, based on student population and geography. After preliminary as-signments are released, schools have the opportunity to submit appeals to the FHSAA. The final assignments for basketball and volleyball were released April 12. Class 7A comprises schools with fall 2012 student populations of 1,878 to 2,254 for basketball and 1,878 to 2,248 for volleyball.

“I am looking forward to the new district for a couple reasons,” said Plant City High volleyball coach Jessica Thornton, who guided her team to the region quarterfinals in her first season at PCHS. “I played in an area where, every year, we competed against the same con-ference with schools that were lo-cal to ours. It built strong compe-tition and tradition for our sports programs. I believe, for our Plant City schools, this is going to put an extra emphasis on what is at stake when we match up.”

Plant City will lose district champ Riverview from its district but will welcome Strawberry Crest — the 6A-11 runner-up — and Durant, a program trying to rees-tablish itself as a perennial power in volleyball under head coach Brittany Wilson. The Lady Cou-gars fell in the 8A-7 semifinals to Wharton last season but picked up 3-0 wins over Plant City and Strawberry Crest in the regular season.

“All three of us Plant City area

coaches are highly competitive, so this will help bring some more attention out this way for exciting volleyball,” Thornton said. “Each school has some different excite-ment going on that will be inter-esting to see against each other.”

In girls basketball, Strawberry Crest becomes a favorite, on pa-per, to win the new 7A-7 next sea-son. Plant City, Brandon, East Bay and Durant all finished under .500 last year, while the Lady Chargers fell to 6A-11 champion Sickles in the tournament title game before later falling to them in the region semifinals, ending their 20-8 sea-son. Like Strawberry Crest, Sickles also will move up to 7A, but will compete in District 8.

Tampa Bay Tech looks to be Strawberry Crest’s biggest threat in the new district. The Lady Ti-tans went 17-10 overall last season and won the 7A-8 tournament be-fore losing in the region quarterfi-nals to Bartow.

“I feel like this probably should have been the district all along,” said SCHS head coach Latosha Lewis. “A lot of these teams in this district are rebuilding, but we’ve

already done our rebuilding. We feel confident that we can make a run at a district championship and make a playoff run.”

For area boys basketball teams, Strawberry Crest is also coming off the best season of the three programs. The Chargers went 18-2 last season but fell to Sickles in the district semifinals.

Trent Tice and his Durant team are looking forward to having the new district comprising Eastern Hillsborough County teams. Du-rant and Plant City have built a nice rivalry over the years, includ-ing a battle for the Ron Frost rival-ry trophy, and should benefit from being in the same district.

“I love the new district; it will be a much shorter travel schedule and it will emphasize local rival-ries,” Tice said.

Durant defeated Plant City twice last season, once in a pre-season classic and again in an out-of-district game late in the season. Durant currently has possession of the Ron Frost Trophy.

Contact Matt Mauney at mmauney@plantcityobserver.com.

18-year-old kids, not athletes on full-scholarships or pro-fessional players with multi-million-dollar contracts.

The Strawberry Crest softball team avoided an upset in the Class 6A-11 tournament last week, holding off Leto 3-0. It was a Leto team that upset the top-seeded Lady Chargers a year ago in the district tourna-ment.

Older and more focused, Strawberry Crest, again the No. 1 seed, was determined not to let that happen again. Thanks to 12 strikeouts in a one-hit performance by pitcher Sammy Tyler, SCHS got the Leto monkey off of its back and charged into the district championship, where it beat tournament host Sickles 3-0 after another strong perfor-mance from Tyler.

Although the result was what the Lady Chargers wanted, the numbers were a far cry from the performances earlier in the season, where they outscored district opponents 119-1 in 10 games.

It could have been postsea-son nerves, but I think it’s safe to say that SCHS wasn’t over-looking anyone after the way it went out last season.

For the Lady Chargers, it didn’t matter by how much they won. Now that they are district champions, they can turn their focus to regionals and some less familiar oppo-nents.

That starts Thursday against Palmetto, the District 12 runner-up.

SCHS has only lost two games this season, in one-run games against Chamberlain

(9-8) and Bartow (6-5), last year’s Class 7A state champion and runner-up, respectively.

With that kind of résumé, even after low-scoring wins in the district tournament, the Lady Chargers shouldn’t be afraid of anyone. If Tyler (1.09 ERA) keeps pitching the way she has, SCHS will be tough to beat, much less if they start swinging the bats the way they did leading up to the district tournament. SCHS currently has four players — Mia Fung, Cacey Simmons, Trystan Reib-some and Aly Masessa — bat-ting over .400 with at least 50 at bats.

Upsets can happen at all lev-els, especially with young high school players, but something special seems to be building at the Dover school located off of Interstate 4.

You don’t have to look far to find equal success in other area programs. The Durant softball team repeated as Class 8A-7 champions last week and open regionals against East Lake Thursday, at home.

No strangers to winning, the defending Class 8A state champions have been on a roll since dropping their first two district games of the season.

Plant City fell short of win-ning the Class 7A-8 champion-ship last week, losing 3-2 to East Bay, but the Lady Raiders began the regional stage this week as they faced Bartow Wednesday night.

It is a great sign that all three area high school softball teams are finding success and should make for interesting years to come if the new reclassifica-tion finds them in the same district and classification next year.

Districts / 9

File photo

Plant City and Durant high schools will continue their rivalry in bas-ketball next year.

MaUney / 9

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PLANT CITY – Main Office, 102 W. Baker Street, 752-6193 • WALDEN WOODS – 2400 Jim Redman Parkway, 754-1844Also offices in: BRANDON, RIVERVIEW and ZEPHYRHILLS

We are herefor you and your family.

We are Plant City’s oldest and largest hometown financialinstitution. We’ve been helping our neighbors since 1954.We make all decisions locally and offer all the modern bankingservices you expect.

If you like the idea of doing business close to home, visit usand see how easy and friendly hometown banking can be.“Banking on a First Name Basis”

South Florida Baptist Hospital teamed up with

the Plant City Kiwanis Club and the Greater Plant City Chamber of Commerce for the 19th Children’s Classic Golf Tournament April 19, at Walden Lake Golf and Country Club.

The best-ball tour-nament took place

on the Lake and Hills courses at Walden Lake and also

included a put-ting and chip-ping contest.

Also, for the first year, par-ticipants entered to win a golf cart.

According to tournament chair Jodi Stevens, 200 golfers signed up this year. Money raised from the tournament will be split among the three organizations, but all will benefit local youth in some way.

“It all goes back to the kids,” Stevens said.

Fred’s Kitchen provided a lunch for golfers, and the hos-pital sponsored a steak dinner by poolside after the tourna-ment.

Annual Children’s Classic tees off for 19th year

for the kids by Matt Mauney | Associate Editor

Margaret and bruce rodwell and chris sorah Matt Mauney

SAMMY TYLERATHLETE of THE wEEk by Matt Mauney | Associate Editor

Sammy Tyler has found a home with the Strawberry Crest softball team. The junior transferred to SCHS, after spending two years at Armwood and has become the ace of the Lady Chargers pitching staff. Tyler helped guide her new team to the Class 6A-11 championship last week. She struck out 20 batters in the two district tournament games, after coming off a injury.

Have you always been a pitcher?

Yes, I always said I was going to be a pitcher. I like being the center of attention and being able to know where everything is going and

control it.

What was the tran-sition like coming

from Armwood?Coming here

was much easier than being over at Armwood. I gel much bet-

ter with these girls and feel comfortable

with them. I know they believe in me on the mound. I just feel more welcomed here.

On what aspects of your pitching have you been working?

I’ve been working on my rise ball and my changeup. I got

hurt just three weeks ago, and I’m just starting

to get back to being myself.

Have you ever had to deal with something like that?

It was a pulled quad. I’ve been hurt before but never anything like that. The thing

going through my head was that I just needed to get better to get back with my team. It’s getting much easier to throw now.

Tell us about your experience in the two district tournament games.

I mean, I was hurting, but I knew I just had to get through those games, and with as solid as my defense is, I did.

After SCHS got upset by Leto last year when you were at Arm-wood, what was it like being on this team and playing them this year?

I knew they were nervous, but I knew they were ready. And I was ready. I almost threw a perfect game.

Have you ever thrown a perfect game?

Not in high school. I’ve thrown no-hitters, though. My last per-fect game was over the summer, in a travel ball tournament, in Tennessee.

You’re committed to St. Leo University. How did that come about?

It was the summer before my sophomore year when I commit-ted. The campus was amazing, and coach Conway is just a great coach. I felt comfortable with him.

Plant city observerTHURSDAY, APRIL 25, 201312 PlantCityObserver.com

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It took two days to do it, but the Durant Lady Cougars are district champions.

Durant defeated Wharton 5-0, in the Class 8A District 7 championship. A rain delay and power outage put a damper on things April 18. After a short rain delay, the two left-field light posts went out, followed by another downpour, eventually postponing the game until April 19, with Durant leading 4-0 in the bottom of the third.

“We had a delay at state last year, but it was nothing like this, where we had to come back the next day,” said head coach Matt Carter. “This situation was OK, be-cause we were able to come back and kind of start over, where a normal rain delay can throw you off.”

It certainly helped that Durant put four runs on the scoreboard Thursday before the game was postponed.

“It was weird, because we started the game in the bot-tom of the third with two outs,” said pitcher Paige Da-vis, who threw both days. “It was a little off-setting, hon-estly, but I just tried to keep the mentality that we were continuing a game and not starting a new one.”

Davis got her team on the board first with an RBI sin-gle, before Shannon Bell belted a solo home run over the left-field wall in the second.

“That was a blast,” Carter said of Bell’s homer. “She’s been battling an injury, so that was good to see out of her.”

Madi Taylor had an RBI single in the second inning af-ter a short rain delay and another run scored on a throw-ing error to give the Lady Cougars the 4-0 lead.

On Friday, Payton Lewis knocked in Bell on an RBI double in the fourth to give her team some extra cushion.

Durant will now host East Lake High School April 25, in the region quarterfinals.

Durant softball claims district championship

DELAYED VICTORY by Matt Mauney | Associate Editor

Durant High School’s softball team repeated as district champs April 19.

shannon bell hit a solo homer April 18.

Photos by Matt Mauney

Durant’s defense and pitching were too much for Wharton.

PlantCityObserver.com 13 Plant city observerTHURSDAY, APRIL 25, 2013

O B S E RV E R C RO S S WO R DEdited by Timothy E. Parker

CRYPTOGRAMS

1. H X G U R D U T Y D E L J U G E M VA S C D I X L O A ’ U V G I L C U L M V D H L

D T H L Y D J G O S Y I L U L H H V L E L C H : “ R D U X G U ” .

2. K Y F E R P V C K U V J K A T P M AVA Q V Z I W N V J T D K P L F Z H F D W N V T Z

L T P P I . W N V L T J V H V Y P K Z V H Q F P H P M : “ D F R F T D W T D C E V I I T D C

L N F C V W I L N K W . A M L T P P T I K H V K H C T U V K L K M ! ”

ACROSS 1 “So what else ___?” 6 Bobsled type 12 Booze abuser 15 Planning to vote

“no” 19 Blood partner? 20 Lumberjacks 21 “Sands of ___ Jima” 22 “Pants on fire” fellow 23 Pardon, and then

some 26 ___ of Capri 27 Pay-stub letters 28 Second-longest

human bone 29 “What’s ___ for me?” 30 Million-millennia

period 31 Big test 32 Decide beforehand 37 Better, as cuts of

meat 41 B&B patron 42 Regret bitterly 43 Table condiments 45 Daniel or Noah 49 “You’re in ___ of

trouble!” 50 Vertical stair piece 51 Hardly a dream date 52 Participate in a

401(k) 53 Costa del ___ 54 “And ___ There Were

None” 56 Greeting from

Popeye 58 Student 59 ___ Croft (movie role

for Angelina Jolie) 61 Grinding tooth 63 Llama cousin 64 “Spare” item at a

barbecue 67 Girl’s make-up? 71 Home to future ham 72 Different from 74 Judo gyms 75 Challenge to a

gunslinger 77 Animal pelts

78 Founder and queen of Carthage

79 Fail to win 81 “Put ___ Happy

Face” 84 Dispatched 85 Flower holder 86 Clothing size

indicator 89 Blue Light Special

store 91 Chemical-free, say 93 No-frills dressing 96 Kind of artist 97 Singing parts 98 Assumed identities 99 Euro’s German

predecessor 103 “Beat it, kitty!” 104 Country motel 105 Large stringed

instrument 106 Admirer of Beauty 107 “What did I tell

you?” 110 Horn or Hatteras 112 In many places 117 Frequent occupant

of Mayberry’s jail 118 Likable prez? 119 Like John Tesh’s

music 120 “Return of the Jedi”

characters 121 Outdoor

accommodation 122 Formalwear,

informally 123 Borden’s cow, and

others 124 Bar for birds

dOwn 1 Far from certain 2 Keycard receiver 3 Unlikely candidate

for prom king 4 Perry Mason’s

creator’s monogram 5 Wave with a foaming

crest 6 Shakespeare’s

nickname 7 “___ to please!”

(store sign) 8 Jimmy Buffett’s “God

Don’t ___ Car” 9 Club ___ (resort

chain) 10 “Walk me!” in

Pekingese? 11 Kennedy Center

musical grp. 12 One who talks with

his hands 13 “You ___ to yourself” 14 Walked unsteadily 15 Self-proclaimed

“greatest” of boxing 16 Second generation

Japanese 17 Condor’s claw 18 Ryan who played

Granny 24 Reindeer teamed

with Prancer 25 Bill attachment 32 Boston ___

Orchestra 33 Mountaineering

need 34 Colombian

gemstones 35 Massage 36 Make untidy 37 1860s insignia 38 Cries of derision 39 Butter replacement 40 “I knew ___ along!” 41 Bridle attachment 44 “Fix” or “game”

beginning 45 “Carlito’s ___” (1993) 46 Southwest party

snacks 47 Kick out of the

apartment 48 Team racing event 51 NYSE listing 54 “T” on a test 55 Witchlike character 57 Is composed of 58 “Not guilty,” e.g. 60 Inquires 61 Tin-glazed pottery 62 Inspiration for

Lennon’s “Woman” 63 A little of a large lot? 64 Brosnan’s co-star in

“The Thomas Crown Affair”

65 Part of a printing press

66 Gaudy jewelry, in slang

68 Way into a mine 69 “The Twilight Zone”

creator Serling 70 Teens may fake

them 73 Still together 76 Word on a bathroom

door 78 Bespectacled dwarf 79 Camera part 80 “... at the ___ ball

game!” 82 Former Hungarian

premier Imre 83 “My Name Is ___”

(Saroyan novel) 85 Swing the bat for

someone 87 Withdrawn apple

spray 88 Pitcher’s miscue 89 More problematic 90 ___-80 (classic Radio

Shack computer) 92 Unwelcome

answers, usually 93 Pizzazz 94 Clears out 95 How Pompeii was

buried 97 Acme 99 Plant type with a

pair of seed leaves 100 Maternally related 101 Remove, as a

boutonniere 102 Japanese poem with

17 syllables 103 Marsh plant 106 ___ B’rith

(international Jewish organization)

107 “Flee, fly!” 108 Stereotyped mouse-

spotting cries 109 Beginning for

“while” 111 Attendance fig.,

often 113 180 deg. from WSW 114 Family mem. 115 “How cute!”

exclamations 116 “Chapter ___” (Neil

Simon play)

MAKInG COnnECTIOnS by Jill Pepper

3

CROSSWORD_042513

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Need someone that speaks fluent insurance?I’m your agent for that.Tony Lee CLU, Agent1702 S Alexander StreetPlant City, FL 33563

813-752-7202www.tonyleeagent.com

Communitystarts withneighbors who care. That’s what our town is made of.

1201196 State Farm, Bloomington, IL

Get to a better State®.

Tony Lee CLU, Agent1702 S Alexander Street

Plant City, FL 33563Bus: 813-752-7202

www.tonyleeagent.com State Farm® has a longheritage of helping out in thecommunity. That’s why I’mproud to supportEvent/Charity.

SAM

PLE

sunrise sunsetThurs., April 25 6:54 a.m. 7:59 p.m.Fri., April 26 6:53 a.m. 8 p.m.Sat., April 27 6:52 a.m. 8 p.m.Sun., April 28 6:51 a.m. 8:01 p.m.Mon., April 29 6:50 a.m. 8:01 p.m.Tues., April 30 6:50 a.m. 8:02 p.m.Wed., May 1 6:49 a.m. 8:03 p.m.

MOON PHASES

PlANt City WEAtHEr HigH lowThurs., April 25 88 63Fri., April 26 88 64Sat., April 27 86 64Sun., April 28 88 66Mon., April 29 88 66Tues., April 30 90 66Wed., May 1 90 66

tEMPErAturES

rAiNWED.

April 170.00

THURS.April 180.22

FRI.April 190.16

SAT.April 200.00

SUN.April 210.10

MON.April 220.09

TUES.April 230.00

April 18

SuNriSE/SuNSEt tiMES

BluEBErry MArKEt PriCESSHiPPiNG POiNt: CENtrAl AND NOrtH FlOriDA

FLATS LOW HIGH12 4.4-ounce cups $17 $17.5012 6-ounce cups $20 $22

IPC

Dee Dee wheeler submitted this beautiful shot she took in a Plant City orange grove. The Plant City Observer, State Farm Insurance agent Tony Lee and

The Corner Store have partnered to launch the new I Love Plant City Photo Contest. Weekly winners will have their photo featured in the Plant City Observer and receive a $10 gift certificate to The Corner Store! Submit your photos, with a caption, via email to Managing Editor Michael Eng, meng@plantcityobserver.com; subject line: I Love Plant City.

April 25

May 2

Courtesy of the united States Department of Agriculture

5.86(2012: 2.34)

APRILtO DAtE

(2012: 1.28)2.65

YEARtO DAtE

(InCHES)

Items Under $200 For Sale

ADVERTISE YOUR MERCHANDISEwith the total value of all items $200 or less in

this section for FREE! Limit 1 ad per month,15 words or less. Price must be included next to

each item. No commercial advertising or garage sale advertising

Ad runs 2 consecutive weeks.Call

Toll Free: 1-877-308-5642Email ad to:

classified@yourobserver.com(Please include your name and address)

Or mail to:The Observer Group

P.O. Box 3169Sarasota, Fl 34230

RECLINER, LIGHT brown, $30. Blue rockerrecliner, $15. Bar stools (2), $40. 813-707-4673.

Help WantedMASSAGE THERAPIST position available at out-patient physical therapy clinic in Plant City. Pleasefax resume to: 813-759-8254.

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Professional ServicesNATALIE SWEET, LLC., REALTOR. The SweetTeam, Keller Williams Realty. Cell: 813-758-9586E-mail: nsweet@kw.com See ad in the ServiceDirectory.

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HOUSE CLASSIFIEDS

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Landscaping & Lawn ServiceGREEN EAGLE, INC. Landscape and LawnMaintenance. Plant/Tree Installation and Removal,Mulch Sod Removal and Installation, Mowing, FillDirt & Cleanups. Call 813-967-6879. See our ad inthe Service directory.

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CROSBY CONSTRUCTION SERVICES, INC.David Crosby, dcrosby520@yahoo.com

813-679-0096. See my ad in the Service directory

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ONSITE ACCOUNTING, INC.Lizzette Sarria, CFE Certified Fraud Examiner.

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CROSSWORD_ANS_042513

This week’s Crossword answers

This week’s Cryptogram answers 1. This was framed simply on a chevy’s license

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PlantCityObserver.com 15 Plant city observerTHURSDAY, APRIL 25, 2013

THE PLANT CITY OBSERVER Thursday, April 25, 2013 www.yourobserver.com Classifieds 15A

ACCOUNTING, INC.

www.on-siteaccounting.net

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FLOORINSTALLATIONSERVICE, INC.

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Plant city observerTHURSDAY, APRIL 25, 201316 PlantCityObserver.com

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