Ruff Riders At Grace Manor
Teddy bears aren’t just for kids, as the residents of Grace Manor can attest. Members of the Rough Riders visited the assisted living facility to distribute dozens of teddy bears that brought smiles to residents’ faces. The Rough Riders pay homage to the 1st U.S. Volunteer Cavalry Regiment, formed for the purpose of creating and perpetuating a living memorial to the unique accomplishment of President Theodore Roosevelt and the members of the 1st Volunteer Cavalry Regiment, known as “The Rough Riders.” To learn how you can support the Rough Riders through the donation of new, unused teddy bears or to request a Teddy Bear Run call (813) 248-1898 or email the request to office@tamparoughriders.org
Wheelchairs 4 Kids
Members of Turkey Creek Masonic Lodge No. 248 presented 13-year-old Katelyn with her first power wheelchair, the Air Hawk, one of the lightest and most compact power chairs on the market. Katelyn has spina bifida and uses arm crutches but she has had more than 30 surgeries and needed a power chair to help her keep up with her peers.
April is Water Conservation Month
The Southwest Florida Management District’s Governing Board declared April, historically one of the driest months of the year, Water Conservation Month at its March meeting. Lower your monthly water bill and do you part of save hundreds of gallons of water by:
* Only running your washing machine and dishwasher when they are full.
* Use the shortest washing cycle for lightly soiled loads; normal and permanent-press wash cycles use more water.
* Thaw frozen food in the refrigerator or microwave, not under running water.
* Scrape, don’t rinse, your dishes before loading the dishwasher.
* Install high-efficiency shower heads, faucets and toilets.
* Check your home’s irrigation system for leaks.
* Turn off your irrigation system and only water as needed.
* Don’t leave sprinklers unattended. Use a kitchen timer to remind yourself to turn sprinklers off.
* Use a hose with a shut-off nozzle when washing the car.
* Consider installing a rain barrel with a drip irrigation system for watering your landscaping. Rainwater is free and better for your plants because it doesn’t contain hard minerals.
* Use your water meter to check for leaks. Turn off all faucets and water-using appliances and make sure no one uses water during the testing period. Wait for the hot water and ice cube makers to refill and for regeneration of water softeners. Go to your water meter and record the current reading. Wait 30 minutes, using no water during this period. Read the meter again. If the reading has changed, you have a leak.
For more information about water conservation, visit www.watermaters.org/conservation.
A Plant City April Fool’s Day Trick Goes Viral
When Plant City Warrior 9U baseball player Eli Littrell walked up to the plate for his first at-bat during a tournament on April 1, he was expecting to hear his name called out by a male announcer followed by his walk-up song “Not Today Satan.” Instead, he heard his mom announce his name and the song from the movie Sing, “Oh, My Gosh”, a remake of the Sir-Mix-a-Lot hit “Baby Got Back.” His bat hit the plate and he busted up laughing. “He was the first batter so all the other players knew what was coming,” said mom Becca Littrell.
As each batter walked up to the plate, songs like “My Milkshake”, “Pretty Girls Walk”, “I Feel Like a Woman” and “Don’t You Wish Your Girlfriend Was Hot Like Me” blared over the loudspeaker, much to the chagrin of the players.
The music worked magic, though. “The funny thing is that every single player got a hit and made it on base except for one player who got hit by a ball but still got on base,” said Littrell. “I joked that maybe we should do this more often.”
While the sound of bats hitting balls was magical, what happened after the game was equally as astounding. One of the parents, Jacob Duncan, posted the video to TikTok. By the following morning, it had a million views. On Monday, Sports Center and ESPN contacted them for permission to post the video on their Instagram page. As of Wednesday, it had more than eight million views.
Seward Johnson’s Sculptures say goodbye
Abraham Lincoln tipped his hat to the City of Plant City as he rode through the streets of Plant City to the Train Depot, where he and the other Seward Johnson sculptures that’ve graced our city streets for four months will return to New Jersey. “The Arts Council is always so excited when we know the sculptures are arriving and the day they leave, it’s as if the party is over,” said Arts Council President Marsha Passmore.
Have no fear, Plant City residents. “They’ll be back before you know it to be enjoyed,” said Passmore.