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2008 Was An Eventful Year For Plant City

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By DAVE NICHOLSON

dnicholson@tampatrib.com

Published: December 31, 2008

PLANT CITY - The death of "the Strawberry King," visits by presidential candidates, a shooting that temporarily paralyzed the city and a veteran politician's return to office were among the top stories of 2008.

The year also saw the reopening of Plant City's only movie theater, city budget woes that led to the demise of bus service and a focus on parade safety.

As the year draws to a close the Plant City Courier & Tribune looks at some of the biggest events during the last 12 months.

They include:

•Plant City became part of the battleground for Florida in the presidential campaign. Democratic nominee Barack Obama and Republican nominee John McCain visited Plant City's Parkesdale Farm Market.

Obama's Aug. 1 visit was a closely held secret until his arrival. He surprised tourists who were there when his entourage rolled into the parking lot for a short stay. McCain, on the other hand, was greeted by many supporters when he visited Oct. 23.

The market, a short distance from the Florida Strawberry Festival grounds, long has attracted political candidates. Former Gov. Jeb Bush and both Bush presidents were among those whose campaign trails to higher office included stops at Parkesdale.

Reportedly every major political candidate who had stopped at Parkesdale's had won office. McCain's loss to Obama ended the streak, but the luck held for the president-elect.

•Deaths during the year included the June 5 passing of Roy Parke, patriarch of a strawberry empire that included Parkesdale Farm Market. Parke, who died of a heart attack at 87, was known as "the Strawberry King" for his role in promoting the industry.

Before he had a stroke about six years ago, Parke arguably was the area's best-known grower. He served for years on the strawberry festival board and became the unofficial voice of the industry. He was the farmer sought most often by television news crews covering wintertime freezes.

He developed knacks for growing berries and for showmanship, and was among the first farmers to try innovations such as using overhead water sprinklers for freeze protection

•On Dec. 5, a shootout between officers and a slaying suspect resulted in a manhunt that forced authorities to shut down many streets, lock down schools and postpone the annual Plant City Christmas Parade. The suspect, Fransisco Rangel, 25, was wanted in a Dec. 4 shooting that killed one man and wounded another.

When detectives tracked down Rangel the next day, he reportedly fired an AK-47 assault rifle at officers who were pursuing him, the Hillsborough sheriff's office said. The gunfire disabled two detectives' vehicles and killed 58-year-old Candelario Lagunes, a passenger in a passing car, authorities said.

Rangel was arrested about 3:40 p.m. that day after a six-hour manhunt through Plant City streets that involved nearly 400 members of local, state and federal law enforcement agencies. The manhunt didn't end in time to salvage the Christmas parade, which was scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. The parade was rescheduled for Dec. 19.

Rangel was charged with one count each of first-degree murder and second-degree murder. He also faces five counts of attempted first-degree murder of a law enforcement officer, one count of attempted murder and other charges. He was being held without bail in Orient Road Jail.

•The year saw the political comeback of Mike Sparkman, who became a commissioner in 1989 and served almost continuously until 2005, when he didn't seek re-election. Sparkman, who served as mayor for a record six terms, defeated businessman Dean Snyder in the April 8 election to reclaim the same seat he left.

Sparkman said he wanted to return to the commission because he missed community service.

The incumbent for the seat, Robert Brown, made headlines in 2007, when he apologized to his then-wife, Wendy, for having an affair. He made no mention of the infidelity when he announced in January he wouldn't seek re-election.

The Browns later divorced, and he remarried shortly before his Oct. 12 death at age 49 following a bout with cancer.

•For the first time in 13 years, the Florida Strawberry Festival's top leadership changed. Patsy Brooks, who started as a festival secretary in 1975 and rose through the ranks to general manager in 1995, retired June 2. Brooks, known as the "lady in red" for her many red outfits, never commented on her departure.

The festival association board later hired Paul Davis, a Hillsborough County sheriff's major. Davis, a 32-year law enforcement veteran, started his new post as general manager Dec. 1.

Davis called his new job a "dream come true."

•The face of downtown changed the morning of Feb. 8, when a longtime mural was razed. The mural was about all that was left standing from a 2005 arson fire that destroyed nearly a block along Collins Street.

The mural came down shortly before Curtis Devane bought the land where John Briggs' painting was located. Devane, who owns a restaurant across the street, made the property and an adjacent lot a parking lot.

The city in November agreed to buy both lots, totaling about a half-acre, from Devane for $475,000. Devane will donate back to the city $50,000 to use for landscaping the property, city Commissioner Mike Sparkman has said. The landscaping, which could include planters and vines on trellises, would help screen the rear of buildings exposed when the fire destroyed several buildings fronting Collins. The city eventually wants to resell the land to a developer.

•When Lake Walden Cinema 8 closed in March 2007, the city was without a movie theater for the first time in decades. For months the screens were dark, but Texas-based Premiere Cinemas stepped in this year.

The rechristened Premiere Cinema 8 opened in June with digital sound, stadium seating and other enhancements.

Premiere Cinema CEO Gary Moore decided the 16-year-old theater was worth reopening after a visit. A sneak peek grand opening on June 26 played to a mostly packed house.

The eight-screen theater at 220 W. Alexander St., an anchor in the Lake Walden Square shopping center, was opened in 1992 by Floyd Theatres. In 1995, it was acquired by Carmike Cinemas, which did not publicly explain why it closed the Plant City theater.

The city has had at least one theater, and sometimes several, for most of its history.

•Property tax reform, resulting in lower taxes, led to sometimes painful budget cuts. Perhaps none was more visible than the demise of the city's bus service. City Manager David Sollenberger announced the end of Plant City Transit, with an accompanying annual savings of about $182,000.

The city began offering public transit in 2001 with the help of federal grants. But the grants ran out, and the city struggled to pay for its bus service, which also suffered from spotty ridership.

Riders protested, but the buses made their final run June 27. The city sold its three 14-passenger minibuses.

•Parade safety was an issue as the city dealt with the aftermath of the death of Jordan "Booka" Hays, who was run over by a church float while the 9-year-old Inverness boy helped distribute candy at the 2007 Plant City Christmas Parade. The city formed a parade safety committee that made recommendations, including banning of the distribution of beads and candy.

Regardless, Christmas parade organizers this year continued allowing distribution of goodies but required they be handed out rather than tossed. City commissioners have said they might revisit parade safety, but it doesn't seem likely they will try to enforce a ban on handouts.

•Spectators may have thought they were seeing double at the Feb. 2 Florida Strawberry Festival's queen pageant. First, Lauren Danielle Smith was named Miss Congeniality. A few minutes later, her identical twin, Kristen Elise Smith, was crowned queen.

They joined an elite group. They were the first twins to compete in the same pageant since the early 1960s, when Carolyn and Linda Duyck were selected as dual first maids.

Kristen Smith called her crowning a "blessing from God." Lauren Danielle Smith said the two always had been close, and the two have competed in pageants before.

In July, organizers of the Florida Strawberry Festival pageant announced two major changes starting in 2009: increased academic requirements and elimination of the swimsuit competition. Swimwear will be replaced by casual wear in the Jan. 17 pageant to crown a replacement for Kristen Smith.

Pageant officials received complaints that some contestants were wearing swimwear that was too revealing, even though they were limited to one-piece suits. But the complaints didn't factor into the decision to replace swimwear with a casual wear competition, a pageant official said.

Reporter Dave Nicholson can be reached at dnicholson@tampa trib.com.

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