The one thing Sandee Sytsma knew when she was a child was that she wasn’t going to marry a farmer when she grew up.
Sytsma is part of the Parke family, known for the agriculture empire it has expanded since her parents, Roy and Helen Parke, moved to Plant City in 1957. Roy was nicknamed the “Strawberry King” of Hillsborough County until his death in 2008, and Sytsma and her siblings grew up working in the fields.
Sytsma didn’t enjoy it.
“Given a choice between cleaning the house and working in the field, I’d rather clean the house,” Sytsma says.
A self-described “prissy” girl, Sytsma liked climate control, the latest fashions and the idea of working as an airline stewardess. The family used to joke she was adopted.
“(Mom) used to say, ‘No, we weren’t going to go out and buy more kids,’” she says.
Sytsma didn’t follow in her family’s footsteps. They have continued to run the fields and Parkesdale Farm Market. She keeps her hands off the operations. But she didn’t give up on strawberries entirely. She is entrenched in the Florida Strawberry Festival as vice president and a past Strawberry Court coordinator.
And she was right about who she would marry. He wasn’t a farmer. He was a football coach.
PUTTING DOWN ROOTS
Hank Sytsma was new to town, while Sytsma was dreaming of leaving it.
After a career day at Turkey Creek High School, she knew she wanted to be a stewardess. She picked United Airlines because of the uniforms, not the pay.
For her graduation present, she asked for luggage. Her sisters wanted watches.
“I couldn’t wait to see the world, to know everybody in it,” Sytsma says.
While she waited to attend school she worked for Tampa Electric. It was on her drive to and from work that she noticed a new car rolling past her everyday — a Jaguar Roadster.
“And Plant City did not have one of those,” Sytsma says.
The driver was Hank, a football coach at Plant City High School.
“He had good legs and a great car,” Sytsma says. “We all had a crush on him.”
They began to wave to each other as they drove past.
One day, she attended a football practice. He spent the rest of the night paging through the phone book for her number.
“When he called me, I thought it was a joke, because I liked to play jokes,” Sytsma says.
But the right car pulled up on their first date. Eighteen months later, she got an engagement ring for her birthday.
Sandee Systma had lived in two houses her whole life. Hank had immigrated from Holland and moved 17 times.
“He said, ‘I don’t care where we live, but I don’t want to move much,’” Sytsma says.
They put down their roots in Plant City.
FAMILY TRADITION
Systma has always been involved with the Strawberry Festival.
“We used to put a bunch of kids in the back of Dad’s truck because he could park in the gate,” Sytsma says.
She’s seen it grow from three days to 11, from wrestling as the Friday night entertainment to the biggest stars in country music.
Roy Parke had a vision for festival entertainment. He pushed the board for a larger budget to attract bigger acts. Maybe Sytsma got her penchant for glitz and glamour from her father.
“It went far beyond what he thought,” Sytsma says.
Sytsma got involved as an associate director of the Florida Strawberry Festival 25 years ago, following the path her father had taken. She picked the committees of most interest to her: fashion show, strawberry ball, public relations.
For 13 years, she served 65 court members at the Strawberry Court coordinator. Although she thought she would be teaching the court, she also learned a thing or two.
“I thought it was just another committee,” Sytsma says. “But it was life changing.”
Sytsma stepped down as coordinator last year to serve in her role as vice president of the festival board. She will be president in 2018 and has some ideas to renovate the Arthur Boring Civic Center into an upscale event center, complete with a chandelier.
She also plans to use her father’s gavel when she is president. She might be more similar to her family than they thought.
About Sandee
Who is your hero?
My mother. She’s an amazing, hardworking, thoughtful, tender-hearted, strong-willed wife, mother and friend.
Use three words to describe yourself.
Fulfilled, passionate and fun.
Are you an early bird or a night owl?
Night. I don’t like to get up before 8 a.m. It’s my quiet time. During the festival I have to be up at 4 a.m., so I can do that too.
What is the weirdest food you’ve tried?
Not being a foodie, probably alligator.
What message would you put in a fortune cookie?
Don’t take yourself too seriously. You’re not as big of a deal as you think you are. None of us are.
Tips for success?
• Be true to yourself.
• Keep your priorities straight: God, family and country.
• Enjoy what you’re doing. Make it fun.
— Amber Jurgensen