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Black Heritage Festival Kicks Off

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By GEORGE H. NEWMAN, The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 6, 2008

PLANT CITY - The 2008 Black Heritage Festival this week will highlight Black History Month in the area.

The festival includes an awards ceremony, entertainment and a parade featuring the family of a fallen solider as grand marshals.

The celebration opens with a banquet at 6 p.m. Friday at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Recreation Center, 1601 E. Dr. Martin L. King Jr. Blvd. Tickets to the dinner are $20.

The banquet will include guest speakers and an annual awards ceremony.

"This year we are honoring the first black nurse to work at South Florida Baptist Hospital," said Sharon Moody, an organizer and spokeswoman for the event.

The nurse, Jessie Browder, worked at the hospital during the 1950s and 1960s, Moody said. She still lives in the area.

Also to be honored is Ted Taylor, the first black lawyer in the city. Taylor is a graduate of Florida A&M University and received his law degree from the University of Florida.

Taylor remembers being interviewed by a local reporter in 1982 when he opened his practice.

"I told the reporter I was in Plant City to represent all the people," Taylor said. "That is part of my heritage. Today I represent a wide cross section of clients of all races and backgrounds. When I think about heritage I think about the positive forces that we all bring to a community. That is what our heritage in Plant City is all about."

Another honoree is Mildred Dawson, a retired educator who worked at Simmons Elementary School in Plant City.

Dawson received a bachelor's degree at Benedict College, a master's degree at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, and an educationalist specialist degree at the University of South Florida.

Dawson lives in Plant City and remains active in her church.

On Saturday, a number of vendors with food and wares will set up behind the recreation center starting at 9 a.m. At 1 p.m. the parade participants will stage at Dr. Martin L. King Jr. Boulevard and Wheeler Street. The parade will go east on the boulevard to the recreation center.

The grand marshals of the parade will be members of the Cory Clark family. Clark, an Army sergeant who grew up in Plant City, was killed by a suicide bomber in Afghanistan in August.

Bands from Middleton High School, the Marching Bobcats, a St. Petersburg youth group, and Campbell Middle School in Daytona Beach will participate in the parade. They will also compete in a battle of the bands at the recreation center after the parade.

Other entertainment at the recreation center includes gospel singers, hip-hop stars and more, Moody said. The festival goes to 10 p.m.

For information, call Moody at (813) 453-7134.

Festival, banquet and parade sponsors include Amerigroup, Plant City, Des'Aimes Social Club and South Florida Baptist Hospital.

Reporter George H. Newman can be reached at (813) 865-4451 or gnewman@tampatrib.com.

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