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Florida Strawberry Festival Ready To Crown New Queen

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 12, 2009

PLANT CITY - Kristen Smith's reign as Florida Strawberry Festival queen is drawing to a close.

She will crown the 2009 queen at a pageant Saturday.

Thirty-two young women - including Smith's twin sister Lauren - are scheduled to compete for the title in a pageant that starts at 6 p.m. at the Tomlin Middle School auditorium, 501 N. Woodrow Wilson St.

The pageant will have a couple of changes - one subtle, the other very apparent. This is the first competition since the pageant sponsor, the Plant City Lions Club, raised academic standards and abolished the swimsuit competition in favor of casual wear.

The pageant is for Plant City area women who are between 16 and 20 years old.

Tickets, $10 each, go on sale at 6 p.m. Friday at Tomlin. Any unsold tickets will be available for purchase at the pageant, which typically packs the auditorium's 1,100 seats.

Dave Nicholson

Chairwomen Take Politics To Tiger Bay Club

TAMPA - Find out what's ahead on the Hillsborough County political scene when the Tiger Bay Club of Tampa hosts the new chairwomen of the Democratic and Republican parties at its luncheon Friday.

The event, open to the public, will be at Maestro's at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, 100 N. MacInnes Place. Registration is at 11:30 a.m. and lunch is at noon.

Democrat Patricia Kemp and Republican Deborah Cox-Roush will talk about their parties. The meeting will include the election of club officers.

Tickets are $25 for members and $30 for guests. Registration is needed by Tuesday; call (813) 741-0004 or e-mail tigerbay@tampabay.rr.com.

Lenora Lake

South Shore Longhorns Ready For Season Two

RUSKIN - Having completed their inaugural season last month, the South Shore Jr. Longhorns have their eyes on the future.

The first football practice of the second season may not be until Aug. 1, but the Longhorns will host a returning player picnic Jan. 17 from noon to 5 p.m. at E.G. Simmons Park, 2401 19th Ave. N.W., Ruskin. Returning players may also register for the upcoming season at the picnic. The Longhorns serve Apollo Beach, Ruskin, Wimauma and surrounding communities. They practice at the Ruskin Recreation Center and play games at Lennard High School.

Open registration events for new players will be from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Jan. 31 and Feb. 7 at the Ruskin Recreation Center, 901 6th St. S.E.

For information, call (813) 641-2561.

John Ceballos

Evening Rotary Has Provisional Event

NEW TAMPA - Organizers of New Tampa's third Rotary Club will hold the group's first provisional meeting Thursday at the Hunter's Green Golf & Country Club.

The New Tampa Evening Rotary Club meeting will begin at 6:15 p.m. at 18101 Longwater Run Drive, said Said Iravani, a Rotarian and a founding member of the new group.

Iravani of Heritage Isles, in partnership with Jim Mutascio of Tampa Palms and Doug Andrews of Lutz, is organizing the club.

The group aims to attract people with workday schedules that make it difficult to attend the current morning and midday Rotary Club meetings in New Tampa. The evening club will meet weekly on Thursdays at 6:15.

Kenneth Knight

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