Members at the Civitan Club of Plant City’s meeting last week were buzzing with excitement because of one special guest: Mayor Mike Sparkman.
Sparkman had called Civitan President Pat Pogue and asked her if he could attend the meeting, but he wouldn’t say why he wanted to come.
Pogue decided to make an event out of the occasion. She prepared a speech to thank everyone who helped out with the Florida Strawberry Festival’s Youth Parade and invited high school Civitan Club members to the meeting.
“I wanted the young people to have an opportunity to share and talk with each other and have a chance to listen to the mayor,” Pogue said.
Busy putting everyone else first, Pogue had no idea that Sparkman’s appearance was all about her.
Pogue was grand marshal of the Florida Strawberry Festival Grand Parade and has been responsible for putting together the Civitan Youth Parade for years.
To thank her for her hard work, Sparkman presented her with a framed picture collage of her as grand marshal. The pictures were taken by Police Chief Steve Singletary.
“This is a special lady,” Sparkman said. “She’s been so involved with Civitan, the parade and this community.”
“I was so stunned,” Pogue said after the presentation. “I couldn’t believe it. He pulled one over me.”
IN OTHER NEWS
Although the main reason Mayor Mike Sparkman came to the meeting was to recognize Pogue, he also briefed the club on the Florida Strawberry Festival and new things happening in the city.
• Florida Strawberry Festival. Sparkman reported that there were two record breaking days on the last weekend of the festival. On March 9, more than 88,000 tickets were scanned. The following day, over 99,000 tickets were scanned. Altogether, about 526,000 people visited the festival this year.
• Railroad Viewing Platform. To draw more tourists to Plant City’s historic downtown, the city wants to put in a railroad viewing platform south of the Train Depot. The city already has secured a $25,000 grant from CSX. It is applying for another grant of $50,000. The whole project is estimated to cost $175,000.
“We’re not going to use city money,” Sparkman said.
