Observed

I didn’t make it 30 minutes before I checked my phone for the time. I — along with many of my Plant City Lions Club brothers and sisters — had devoted Sunday to washing cars as a fundraiser for Taylor Goethals, a 15-year-old girl battling cancer for the second time.  Fellow Lion Frank Cummings had volunteered […]

For at least a few weeks, I had our kids convinced I could hear everything. It all started after I overheard our son, Lyric, say something a teeny bit rotten from behind his closed bedroom door. Lyric! I scolded in my best Scary-Dad voice. Don’t say things like that! Confused, Lyric opened his door. Daddy, […]

I have been to my share of daddy-daughter dances — as a photographer. Most were awkward affairs, with the girls twirling in the middle of the dance floor, while their dads propped themselves up against the wall or sat in chairs across the room. Even before we had kids, I told my wife: “When we […]

There are journalists who long for stories like this. They seek them out, yearn for them, like some sort of junkie dying for the next fix. And when Plant City Police Chief Steven Singletary was suspended last week without much of an explanation from city officials, those journalists swooped into our quiet town. They knocked […]

In the past few months, I’ve had some deep, late-night discussions with a good friend. We’ve talked everything from politics and religion to relationships and parenting. As the year steam-rolled into the holiday season, I began thinking about my 2013. I always think of the annual calendar as a mountain climb, and here I am, […]

An instant stream of memories rushed back to me when I got the phone call in August. Plant City’s Noon Rotary Club wanted to know if I would compete in Dancing with the Locals this year. I was ecstatic. But also horrified. All I could think about was one of my only previous dance experiences. […]

My induction into the Daybreak Rotary Club had followed dignified protocol — mostly. President-elect Jim Chancey introduced me first. Then, District Governor George Robertson-Burnett had ceremoniously read the induction speech. A shiny pin was placed on my lapel. I was almost officially part of Rotary. But first, I had one more task. President George Banning […]

Our son, Lyric, clings to my wife’s pant leg as we enter the classroom. There are a few other children already working away on their first kindergarten assignment. It’s an easy one — just a coloring page. After about a minute, we convince Lyric to sit down in his assigned seat. It’s his first desk on […]

Haught Funeral Home’s David Wolf came into my office earlier this year with a crazy idea. He wanted to do an adult spelling bee, as a fundraiser for the Kiwanis Club of Plant City. And he was going door-to-door, searching for competitors. He stroked my ego, saying I’d be a tough competitor. He fanned the […]