Few Plant Citians can tell a story about life in town like Tom Chase. An audience got to see him do just that on Feb. 17 at the 1914 Plant City High School Community Center.
Chase, a Fort Myers-based lawyer and longtime poet, came back to town for the East Hillsborough Historical Society-sponsored Tom Chase Night of Comedy to make Plant City laugh. Shelby Bender, the group’s president, said the idea for the comedy show came when she and Chase were talking about similar shows he puts on in Fort Myers, where he is currently based. John Dicks and Steve Smith joined in because the three men are lifelong friends and college fraternity brothers, and therefore were the perfect people to introduce Chase to the crowd.
There were bits like Chase’s “Dorgan and Dorgan” spoof of well-known Florida lawyer John Morgan’s advertising campaigns, complete with a convincing impression of Morgan’s accent, and one called “Things My Mama Said” that had the audience rolling.
Chase had help from two of his closest friends, former Plant City mayor John Dicks and Steve Smith, during parts of the show. One notable example came when the trio portrayed WPLA broadcasters Al Berry and Ercel Smith and a rotating cast of callers. Citing “true stories,” the group did re-enactments of calls made to the station’s “This & That” show for everything from a Sunday school teacher upset about grammatical errors in graffiti to a woman looking to give away a Chevrolet Corvette to get back at her husband.
There were also moments of nostalgia when Chase — “Plant City’s poet laureate,” Dicks told the audience — recited poems he had written about living in town, spending time with his family and friends and growing up.
“When we get together, there’s always a refreshing wind,” Chase said in one poem. “Tonight is wonderful, but I can’t wait ’til we get together again.”
Musical performances by Este Elizabeth, Joy Burt Lingenfelter and Dana Burt Duke before and during the show also kept the crowd’s spirits up.
Proceeds raised from the event will help with the EHHS’s efforts to further restore the 1914 PCHS building and help fund the group’s programs.