As the thick heat of a traditional Florida summer encased the town, the community came up with fun and refreshing ways to stay active.
Rise Plant City hosted its third annual Dodgeball tournament on June 1 at the Plant City Family YMCA. Teams came out ready to hold their own. Some came in costumes, most came with elaborate names like the Daj Mabal and Jaws and Jeanies. First Response Heating and Cooling, LLC took home first place during the tournament. The Blue Ballers from Blue Thumb Computer Repair won best team costume, Backbone Construction and Roofing had best team name with Daj Mabal and the Dixie Sticks from Dixie Maintenance won the sportsmanship award.
The iconic company out of Nashville, The Peach Truck, drove to town in June with countless crates of freshly picked Georgia peaches. Though the company was scheduled to begin selling the crates outside of Tractor Supply at 2 p.m. the line was around the side of the building as more and more cars drove in to get their sweet fruit. Each box was 25 pounds and many customers walked away with cartfuls of the Georgia gem.
The Greater Plant City Chamber of Commerce held its annual bowling tournament to the Favorite Decade theme. Teams came dressed in their best garb from the 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s and competed for the variety of trophies awarded each year. The winner of the competition was South Florida Baptist Hospital. The Florida Strawberry Growers Association won the costume contest.
Plant City had an animal filled summer in 2019. In June the Plant City’s Kiwanis Club created a new event called “Coolest Dog” where members of the community were able to vote on their favorite pup in town. The money raised from the contest went toward helping fund the variety of services the organization provides for the community. The Coolest Dog of 2019 was awarded to Bonsai, who received 520 votes. Second place went to T. Oliver Wagglesworth, who received 447 votes. Third place was Angel, who received 150 votes. They were awarded a cash prize, a Coolest Dog bandana and the top dog also won an engraved Coolest Dog bowl and a photo shoot.
In another furry-firsts the Florida Strawberry Festival grounds was home to the New Vision Cat Club’s Strawberries and Sunshine event. The cat show had kittens, premiere cats, championship cats and house cats all mingling, competing and wowing the crowd. You could even walk away with cat-themed merchandise to fuel your obsession.
