Proclamations for area youth
During Monday night’s city commission meeting, proclamations were issued for both Mary-Catherine Stephens and the 2020 Junior Royalty court.
Stephens, a Plant City High School student, is the Grand Marshal of the upcoming Strawberry Youth Parade. She has a weighted GPA of 5.2, more than 100 hours of community service, is a member of the varsity tennis team and is heavily involved in several clubs and organizations within PCHS.
The 2020 Junior Royalty court members are Queen Gracie Ashlyn Garner, Princess Madelynn Marie Hardwick, Duchess Sutton Kaye Duncan and Baroness Olivia Pilar McDowell. They, like their older counterparts in the Florida Strawberry Festival Queen’s Court, will represent Plant City at various parades and events during the year.
Camp Invention dates announced
Nationally-recognized STEM program Camp Invention will be back in Plant City this summer, the National Inventors Hall of Fame announced Tuesday morning.
The camp is an NIHF program in a partnership with the United Stated Patent and Trademark Office that makes learning the core STEM values — science, technology, engineering and mathematics — as fun as possible for kids in grades K-6. The curriculums are designed by NIHF inductees and will now include a flight lab with gliders, rockets, heliballs and hand copters, a Design Thinking Project that challenges kids to design their own inventions from sketch to sales pitch, a Rescue Squad event to teach energy conservation and how to be more environmentally-friendly and a sports-focused Camp Invention Champions program. Also, every camper will get to bring home their very own robot.
This year’s camp in Plant City will be held from June 8-12 at the Arthur Boring Civic Center at the Florida Strawberry Festival grounds. Visit invent.org/camp to register and get more information.
Get ready for Florida Bike Month
The City of Plant City is promoting Florida Bike Month in March with a handful of upcoming events scheduled for the morning of March 14.
The annual Bike with the Mayor event will return for its fourth year. The ride, featuring Mayor Rick Lott, follows a 3.5-mile course starting and ending at the HCC Trinkle Center, 1206 N. Park Road. This free event is open to riders of all ages, though those under 16 are required to wear a helmet. The first 50 riders will get t-shirts. This event is BYOB — bring your own bike — and assembles at 6:30 a.m. for a 7:30 a.m. start.
Bike with the Mayor is coordinated by the Plant City Recreation and Parks Department.
The other event is the eighth annual Dean’s Ride, sponsored by the Plant City Family YMCA. That will start at 7:30 a.m. March 14 at the parking lot of the Trinkle Center at Hillsborough Community College’s Plant City campus, 1206 N. Park Road. This year, riders have four paths to choose from at distances to 19, 39, 46 and 62 miles.
Register online at caamevents.com/event/deans-ride/. You only have to pay $45 if you register by March 1. Check-in and ride registration on-site begins at 6:30 a.m. March 14 and the staggered starts begin at 7:30 a.m. Contact Jerilyn Rumbarger at 813-401-1477 or visit the Plant City Family YMCA, 1507 YMCA Place, for more information.
Voting precinct location changed
The voting location for Precinct 753 in Plant City has moved for the upcoming presidential primary, which will be held March 17.
The new location is the Olin S. Wright Masonic Lodge at 304 Acacia Drive, right in the middle of the merger of Reynolds Street and Thonotosassa Road east of Alexander Street.
Early voting for the presidential primary will take place at the Bruton Memorial Library from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. March 2-15.