Sonny’s BBQ donating food, hosts contest
Sonny’s BBQ might have the highest-priced rack of ribs in America at $1,968. But these gold-speckled ribs aren’t for sale, they’re for getting your attention.
The barbecue chain made the ribs to raise awareness for its latest charity venture, seeking to donate 100,000 meals to hungry children this summer as a way to celebrate its 50th anniversary — the “golden year,” hence the golden ribs. For the donations, the chain partnered with Feeding Children Everywhere to deliver meals in Florida and all other states where Sonny’s has restaurants. Follow @SonnysBBQ on Twitter and like or retweet the pinned tweet to donate meals. The chain is donating 20 meals for every retweet and 10 for every like, up to 100,000.
From now until July 31, you can visit SonnysGoodAsGold.com to win a “stay-cation” in Orlando where your dinner, hotel and activity tickets are paid for and you also receive gift cards and a one-on-one pitmaster class with Sonny’s head pitmaster Bryan Mroczka.
Aquamelon juice expands in Florida
Aquamelon, an all-natural watermelon drink produced in Dover and created by a University of South Florida alumnus, is popping up all over Florida now.
The company recently announced its products are being stocked at Lucky’s Markets across the state. Lucky’s is an organic supermarket chain based in Colorado and opened its most recent Florida store in St. Petersburg last month. Aquamelon can also be found in Earth Fare, Nutrition Smart, Earth’s Origins, Ward’s, Nature’s Food Patch, Locale Market and Armature Works.
The juice is made with Fresh from Florida watermelons and is marketed as a healthier alternative to orange and coconut juice. Founder Dez Williams originally partnered with Wish Farms to start the business before moving to a 55,000 square foot facility in Dover.
PCPD investigating area cell phone burglaries
A string of cell phone store burglaries has Plant City detectives on the lookout.
Plant City Police Department believes one group of three suspects is responsible for three area burglaries involving the Metro PCS stores at 1707 James L. Redman Parkway and 1713 W. Baker St., as well as the Sprint store at 2136 James L. Redman Parkway. A reward of up to $3,000 is being offered for information on the suspects.
The first burglary occurred at 12:30 a.m. June 21 at the James L. Redman Parkway Metro PCS store, where the suspects stole cell phones and headsets valued at $5,000. The other two stores were burglarized on June 25. Suspects stole $1,200 in accessories from the Sprint store at 2:54 a.m. and stole headphones valued at $400 from the Baker Street Metro PCS store at 3:30 a.m. In all three burglaries, suspects were able to enter the building by smashing through the stores' front windows and were in and out within one minute.
Anyone with information who wants to be eligible for the cash reward is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-873-TIPS (8477), report anonymously online at www.crimestopperstb.com, or send a mobile tip using the P3 Tips Mobile application. Crime Stoppers must be contacted first in order to be eligible for the reward.
See photos of the suspects online at plantcityobserver.com.