TINSEL TIDINGS
On December 13, the Plant City Police Department put on the Tinsel Tidings Christmas Toy Event at the Plant City Stadium. There the littlest community members got to take pictures with Santa, select toys, and win bicycles during hourly raffles. Vendors offered free food and crafts, and Plant City Fire Rescue came on the scene to let kids sit in a fire engine.
CHRISTMAS PARADE WINNERS
These entries won in their categories.
• Best Marching Unit – Plant City High School Marching Band
• Best Church or Religious Unit – First Baptist Church, Dover
• Best Business Unit – Duke’s Brewhouse / 1916 Irish Pub
• Best Overall Unit – Wade’s Tree Service
BURN BAN LIFTED
Hillsborough County today decided not to extend the countywide burn ban for the incorporated and unincorporated areas of the county. Due to the recent rainfall, an outdoor burn no longer poses a risk to the health, safety, and welfare of County residents. The current ban expired on December 15 at midnight. County officials will continue to monitor the conditions and update residents as needed.
RAILROAD CROSSINGS CLOSURES ARE COMING
CSX Transportation has recently announced a track maintenance project that impacts Hillsborough County, set to begin on Monday, January 12. This project will include the installation of new railroad ties along parts of the CSX Lakeland subdivision, which runs through Plant City. This is a three-week project that will end approximately January 30.
Railroad crossings will be closed anywhere from two to five days, depending on the type of maintenance they are set to receive. Crossings will not be closed for the entire duration of the project. The estimated closure time frames are the best approximation CSX can provide at this time. Dates are highly subject to change with or without notice. A Google map showing the crossings can be found at https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit?mid=1ttrHiJ6CBPOfE9kencyIJTqE2kfqIIE&usp=sharing
JINGLE JANGLE
On December 12, hundreds of people came out to the Historic Plant City Main Street Jingle Jangle Market at McCall Park in downtown. Kids and adults enjoyed free ice skating, snow, hot chocolate, food trucks, and local vendors. This community happening was sponsored by the Plant City Rotary Club.
QUILT GUILD MAKES PILLOW CASES FOR SOLARIS RESIDENTS AND STAFF
This season, the Berry Patch Quilt Guild reached out to Solaris Healthcare Plant City to donate pillow cases made by guild members. “We are a quilt guild, but they have 180 residents at Solaris,” Michaele Daramus, who founded the guild 25 years ago, said. “We didn’t have time to make quilts in six weeks, so we decided to make pillow cases. We thought how nice the place would look if every bed had something Christmassy in it—in this case, a pillow case.”
The guild presented the quilts to two Solaris staff on December 10 at the First Presbyterian Church. “The pillow cases are going to go to our 180 residents, and the excess will go to the staff there,” Ashley Parker, the Administrator at Solaris, said. “This will add to their holiday enjoyment. A lot of them have family that are very involved and can come and spend time with them during the holidays, but we do have a few that we’re their family. So, it will be nice to add to their holiday enjoyment and give them a little something extra to decorate their rooms and get them ready for the holidays.”
“We as a quilting group enjoy doing things for others and donating for other people, and this is one of our very special projects that we made,” Barbara Goodwill said.
Several of the Solaris residents have been parishioners at the First Presbyterian Church. “A lot of ladies in this group know a lot of the residents at Solaris,” Parker said. “It is a great circle of love, for sure.”
“This will bring a lot of joy to a lot of residents, who, unfortunately, can’t be home for the holidays,” Jennie Weaver, the Solaris Community Liaison for Plant City, said. “This will brighten their days for sure.”
The guild currently has 25 regular members, and they meet weekly at the First Presbyterian Church on Wednesdays from 9:30 a.m. to noon. “It is a good time to sit and chat,” Daramus said. “Sewing is kind of a lonely thing you do at home. This way we all get together and keep up with who is feeling good, whose husband is sick, just whatever is going on in our lives.”
