By Matt Mauney | Associate Editor There once was a time when I was a runner. I’d wake up early and put in a few miles, shower, and then head off to high school. After classes were done, I’d practice again for three to five hours. I ran track as a middle distance runner in […]
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PAST AND PRESENCE: We remember Raiford ‘Shorty’ Brown
By Gil Gott | Plant City Photo Archives & History Center It was a year ago in July that we lost Raiford “Shorty” Brown, a pharmacist whom everyone seemed to know. He was active in community affairs — fundraising with the Plant City Lions Club and president of the Plant City Rotary Club.
Continue ReadingOBSERVED: Helping hands uplift our community
By Michael Eng | Managing Editor As my wife and I sat down for lunch at The Corner Store earlier this week, we saw the perfect example of why we have fallen so in love with Plant City. A younger female was just about to leave to walk home in the middle of one of […]
Continue ReadingPAJAMA MAMA: The Pajama Mama Hall of Fame
By Emilie Plants | Columnist I come from a long line of Pajama Mamas. My mom was one. Her mom was one. Her mom’s mom was one. You get my drift. Since I took the reins and joined the “pajamahood” in 2006, I quickly learned that being a Pajama Mama is a 24-hour-per-day, seven-day-per-week job […]
Continue ReadingMY VIEW: We will never forget
Editor’s note: Plant City resident Joseph Castagno wrote this column just six weeks after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. On the 11th anniversary of 9/11, we felt it appropriate to publish this piece. Although it has only been a little more than six weeks since, Sept. 11, 2001, time plays on my emotions. Some days, […]
Continue ReadingOBSERVED: Reflections on a day that changed the world
Editor’s note: Managing Editor Michael Eng originally wrote this piece one year ago, on the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. In 2001, he was working as a staff writer for the East County Observer in Lakewood Ranch, Fla., and was with President George W. Bush that morning at Emma Booker Elementary School in Sarasota.
Continue ReadingMY VIEW: Hopes, dreams and transitions
I am up early for a Saturday, sipping a cup of fresh made coffee and thinking back over it all. I dropped my daughter off at college yesterday and marked a bittersweet milestone. Yes, I know, quite the overused word in my opinion, and honestly, it’s lost the significance it once had. A milestone should […]
Continue ReadingSHOW ME THE MAUNEY: Athletic trainers needed at schools
By Matt Mauney | Staff Writer Everything happens for a reason. That was the message new Strawberry Crest head football coach John Kelly sent to his team after the Chargers’ season opener against crosstown rival Plant City. But the statement wasn’t in reference to the Chargers’ 21-7 win, which will go down as one of […]
Continue ReadingARTISTIC EYE: Plant City boasts many art offerings
What is the first thing you think about when you hear “Plant City?” That’s right! You think, “The arts.” OK, so maybe you don’t. I suppose it is more likely that strawberries and trains top that list, and for good reason, too. But why don’t the arts deserve at least an equal level?
Continue ReadingOBSERVED: Facebook photo yields surprising feedback
Facebook — and more specifically, people’s reactions on the social-media site — will never cease to amaze me. Take, for instance, the photo above. This was one of the first frames I snapped at Durant High School’s preseason football game Aug. 24. In actuality, I was just taking some test shots for lighting, when the national […]
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