Plant City now has a monthly series to add to its culture scene thanks to the Photo Archives and History Center’s new program “Tuesdays at the Archives.”
The event kicked off Tuesday night with a book signing featuring over six local authors with novels ranging from a history of the Strawberry Festival to an in-depth look at the communities of the Kathleen area.
Gilbet Gott, the executive director of the Plant City Photo Archives and History Center, said the archives has wanted to offer an event for some time that will feature varied programs and offer cultural experiences for the community.
“I can’t think of a better place to hold these types of events,” Gott said. “The Archives is the heart and soul of Plant City, it is the history of the community. We have the opportunity, the space, a great location and great people working with us.”
Some of the planned events for upcoming months include a showing of “The Pilgrims,” a documentary about the first Thanksgiving, a wine tasting, concerts, art and “all that jazz,” lectures and speeches.
“People have been popping in and out as they head home from work,” Gott said. “The interesting thing is seeing these authors, who are so involved in their own historical research, they end up finding out new things about each other and the things they’re looking into.”
Dodie White and her sister Marsha Passmore are on the advisory board for the Archives and History Center, and dropped
in to visit with the authors.
“To know that we have such talented local authors is incredible and I wanted to support them,” White said. “The talent that we have just right here in this room just really speaks a lot for Plant City and shows what we’re about. We’re a big family.”
Passmore said she knew most of the authors present and was blown away by the level of talent that calls Plant City home. As an avid supporter of the arts, she said she had already read at least half of the books on display and was looking forward to reading the others.
Passmore said one author in particular, Lauren McNair, holds a special place in her and White’s hearts. McNair co-wrote with Gott a coffee-table book of the history of the Festival after being asked by its president, Paul Davis, to create a lasting memoir of the event’s long and flourishing past.
“We’ve known Lauren since she was born,” White said. “We grew up with her mom and we were telling her earlier that our mom, before she passed away in May, got to see the book and when she saw that Lauren was one of the authors she said, ‘That’s my girl.’ So it means so much.”
McNair said having parents who owned a local business allowed her to see first hand how important it is to support your community. Her parents owned Southside Farm Supply for 35 years and she grew up watching the community love and support her family.
“At our business we got to build so many lifelong relationships with people in the community that we would not have had if it weren’t for our business,” McNair said. “To me it’s just all about the relationship of our community and making that stronger.”
Bringing the community together is a major goal of the new programing. Gott said he hopes “Tuesdays at the Archives” will act as a community rallying point and is looking forward to providing educational and unique experiences with the town he loves.