In July, the county was at odds over how to handle the pandemic. The mask mandate remained, but it was rumored the Emergency Policy Group would hand over response of the pandemic to the county commissioners. This led to much confusion and debate over who exactly was best outfitted to properly tackle this unprecedented virus.
While everyone waited to see which restrictions would stay and which were about to be thrown out with the bathwater, progress around the community continued to move forward — albeit at a slow pace.
One of Plant City’s most drama-filled structures in town — the Walden Lake Clubhouse — was finally demolished. City Pointe Church was one of the few local churches or organizations to celebrate July 4th. It hosted an outdoor Fourth of July event full of food, games and fireworks.
High school football teams started to ease back into offseason training via extremely adapted workout programs. A second location of Starbucks officially opened in Plant City. Teachers made GoFundMe accounts or public Amazon wishlists in an attempt to purchase all of the new sanitization materials they would need to keep their classrooms safe when schools opened again.
Wizards flew into town in droves on July 31 in honor of Harry Potter’s birthday. It was one of the largest Main Street events to ever grace downtown Plant City. The new #WeArePlantCity Instagram account and hashtag began picking up steam as members of the community amplified their voices and opened the door to a unique and hyperlocal conversation about race.
Unity in the Community donated a total of $64,000 to various school-related causes during the month of July. The Plant City Photo Archives added the Dr. Scotty and Hsiu Huang History Center. Plant City was named one of Business Insider’s top 25 American suburbs for fast-growing home values. Three Plant City-area students were named state FFA officers.
There was also a big discovery made at the Plant City Commons Community Garden: a small trickle on its grounds is actually a headwater of the Tampa Bay Watershed, so a special dedication ceremony was held in July to mark the start of the water’s journey into Tampa Bay.