Plant City Youth Compete in State Hoop Shoot
Three outstanding young people represented Plant City Elks Lodge 1727 at the State Hoop Shoot competition in Umatilla, FL. Left to right are Jalen Gaddis, Benjamin Beverly, George Domedion, District Hoop Shoot Director, and Baylor Mueller.
Jalen took first place in the 12- and 13-year-old boys division, making 22 of 25 baskets. Benjamin was also a first-place winner, making 23 of 25 baskets in the 8 and 9-year-old boys division. Baylor took second place in the 10- and 11-year-old girls division, losing in a tiebreaker, making 18 baskets of 25.
The next step for Jalen and Benjamin is the regional competition in Valdosta, GA on March 14, where they will compete against winners from Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina.
Plants Needed for the 2026 Florida Strawberry Festival Horticulture Show
Plant City’s Garden Club will be accepting entries for the 2026 Florida Strawberry Festival
Horticulture Show on Tuesday, February 24, 9:00 a.m. -5:00 p.m. The drop-off location is in the Neighborhood Village Building, on the south side of the Administrative Building; go to Gate 4, off BerryFest Place.
It is free to Hillsborough amateur growers to enter the adult and youth divisions. To enter the competition, the plants must be in your possession for three months prior to the opening day of the Strawberry Festival. The exception is for multiple plants made into dish gardens, fairy gardens, and terrariums, and these must be in your possession for at least six weeks.
A complete list of rules and regulations for the horticulture show entries is on the 2026 festival’s website; visit flstrawberryfestival.com, click Info, Contests, and Neighborhood Village Contests. The last two links are the rules and regulations and the registration form. Please bring the completed registration form with your entries.
Hillsborough County Again Extends Emergency Ban on Open Burning
Hillsborough County extended an emergency burn ban on all outdoor open burning in all areas of the county for the fifth consecutive week.
The overall dry conditions continue to increase the danger of wildfires in Hillsborough County, with drought conditions expected to remain high to very high in February. Since the beginning of January, 630 forest and brush fires throughout the state have burned over 15,780 acres.
The only exceptions to the emergency burn ban are a constantly attended barbecue grill for outdoor cooking, certain agricultural enterprises in eastern and southern Hillsborough County that can dispose of agricultural plastic through controlled burns and burning that has been specifically allowed by the Florida Forest Service.
Under the executive order:
A local state of emergency is declared. All outdoor open burning is prohibited. The order bans fireworks, sparklers, and fire pits. Outdoor grilling is allowed, as long as the flames are contained within a grill, and the fire is constantly attended.
By law, the order can be in effect for no more than seven days. If conditions persist, the order can be extended.
Hillsborough County to Hold Prescribed Fire Fest Saturday
Wildfires can be dangerous, destructive, and costly. Prescribed fire, though, can be a valuable tool for improving the ecosystem and keeping small fires from turning into large ones.
On Saturday, Feb. 21, Hillsborough County will host the Prescribed Fire Fest to introduce residents to a land management tactic that’s been in use for centuries. Prescribed Fire Fest will include interactive workshops, educational displays, and food trucks. Kids can compete in a variety of games to test their wildland firefighting skills and can even earn their own Junior Wildland Firefighter helmet. The event will be held from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at Edward Medard Conservation Park, 6140 Turkey Creek Rd. The festival is free, but the park has an entry fee of $2 per vehicle.
The use of prescribed fire is a time-tested way to apply a natural process under favorable weather conditions, thus ensuring ecosystem health and reducing the risk of wildfire. It is a land management tool used to restore and maintain fire-dependent ecosystems, enhance forest health, improve wildlife habitat, and reduce the chances of dangerous, uncontrolled wildfire by decreasing hazardous fuels.
Fire promotes healthy ecosystems by clearing out competing vegetation, cycling nutrients into the soil, stimulating growth and seed production of fire-dependent plants, and providing food for wildlife. One of the greatest benefits of prescribed fire is that it reduces underbrush, branches, pine needles, leaves, and dead plant debris that build up on the forest floor over time. Reducing these “fuels’’ every few years helps reduce the intensity, heat, and destructive force of a wildfire if one occurs.
To help manage the biological integrity of more than 67,000 acres of environmentally sensitive areas, Hillsborough County Conservation & Environmental Land Management conducts dozens of prescribed fires each year on County conservation lands.
