The Forbes Road Produce Stand has been a part of the Plant City community for more than 30 years. Its colorful road signs can be seen by motorist traveling on I-4 and many of them would stop by to pick up some delicious, local produce. “It has been a Plant City institution for more than 30 years,” said employee Beki Bullard. “When I retired from Publix my best friend was the manager of the produce stand and she asked me if I wanted to come and work a couple of days a week at the stand with her, so I started working at the stand in 2004.” Sadly, the property that housed the beloved produce stand has been sold and the stand will be closing on Oct. 26.
Lamar Porter was the owner of the produce stand and you could say selling produce was in his blood. Porter used to sell strawberries when he was a little boy with his family. As a teenager he joined the Navy and served our country. Years later, he started the produce stand. “The thing we all loved about working at the stand and with Lamar was that we were all like one big family,” Bullard said. “You got to know your customers by name and you knew their families as well. That is what I’m going to miss the most about working at the produce stand.”
Bullard promised Porter that she would stay working for him until the very end and she kept per promise. “I’m going to finally retire now too,” Bullard said. “I have my family and grandkids I want to enjoy and spend time with them.”
The staff at the produce stand broke the news to the Plant City community via a recent Facebook post that said, “We have always valued your business and the friendships that were forged at Forbes Road Produce. We will miss all of our customers and we will always hold a special place in our hearts for our regular customers who we saw on a daily and weekly basis. We enjoyed watching your children grow and your families change. We hope that when you think of us that you smile and that we made a positive impact in our community. We are so proud of all the agricultural students we connected with as high school students who went on to make lasting contributions in agriculture or whose agriculture project helped them achieve their dreams. You, our dear valued customers made it possible for us to provide and raise our families and for that we will be forever grateful to you. We hope our paths cross somewhere else in the future, but for now we will just say Thank you and God bless!”