Registration Feb. 5 for Little Miss Plant City

Parents who want to enter their daughters in the Little Miss Plant City contest need to circle Feb. 5 on their calendars.

Registration for the contest will be from 8 to 11 a.m. that day at the Plant City Woman's Club, 1110 N. Wheeler St. The fee is $50. Contestants must be 8 to 10 years old as of Feb. 1 and live in the Plant City area.

The contest is at 6 p.m. March 26 at Plant City High School auditorium. The theme is "Follow the Yellow Brick Road." The contest, founded in 1969, is sponsored by the Plant City Junior Woman's Club. It is not a beauty pageant and contestants are judged on such factors as speaking, grooming and personality. A queen, first maid and three court members are selected by judges.

The reigning queen is Reagan Brown. Her court members include first maid Jade'a Broome, Sarah Ardrey, Kendall Gaudens and Emmy Shouse.

Focus on King James Bible anniversary

Speakers will focus on the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible, first published in 1611, at the 23rd annual Florida Regional Grace Conference.

The conference will be Jan. 21 to 23 at the Red Rose Inn and Suites, 2011 N. Wheeler St.

Pastor Richard Jordon of Shorewood Bible Church and Grace School of the Bible, Chicago, will be the primary speaker.

Meetings will begin at 7 p.m. Jan. 21 and there will be classes for children and teens.

For information, call Ron Thomson at (813) 973-8989 or Duane Findley at (813) 716-5031.

Church seminar includes emotional healing

Plant City Christian Center and the Women in Ministry Network of Florida will host a Healing Emotional Wounds Seminar for Women Jan. 28 and 29. Discussion topics will include letting go of guilt and shame, healing in relationships, and communication.

The seminar opens at 7 p.m. Jan. 28 with a message by Ayakao Watkins, pastor of Kingdom Bible Christian Church, Tampa. Jan. 29 sessions begin at 9 a.m. with Katurah Jenkins-Hall, a licensed clinical psychologist; Deborah A. Austin, director of communication and outreach for REACHUP; Delayna Elliott, a relationship expert; and the Rev. Gewanda Johnson, executive pastor of congregation care, First United Methodist Church of Auburndale. Musical guests for the seminar will include Tonja Johnson, Mildred Reio and Ingram Legacy.

All sessions will be held at Plant City Christian Center, 1214 W. Reynolds St., Suite 2. This is a free seminar but seating is limited and pre-registration is required by Monday.

For information, contact Pauline Rivers, the host minister, at (813) 759-0260 or at ffocpc@aol.com.

Hope Lutheran supports food bank

Members of Hope Lutheran Church recently presented a check for $450 to United Food Bank and Services of Plant City. The check, in addition to more than 1,300 canned goods the congregation collected in a November food drive, was presented through Thrivent Financial for Lutherans.

Hope's senior pastor, the Rev. Dean Pfeffer, also a member of the food bank board of directors, said the congregation supports the food bank through its monthly tithe and ongoing support of the children's nutrition program and volunteer efforts.

Executive Director Kelliegh Klein, in receiving the check on behalf of the food bank, thanked the church members for their participation and shared sobering statistics on the growing demand to help the needy.

Herbal garden

The Plant City Garden Club will meet at 9:45 a.m. Monday at the Walden Lake Community Association Office, 3035 Griffin Road.

The guest speaker will be Willow LaMonte, owner of Willow Herbal Delight Gardens, Valrico. The public is welcome. For information, call (813) 323-0908.

Dust off those dancing shoes

Hit the dance floor for such dances as foxtrot, waltz and tango at a dance party from 7 to 11 p.m. Jan. 22 at the Stardust Dance Center, 1405 S. Collins St.

The event, sponsored by Donna Garzone, includes a dance lesson, food and music by Mike Johnston.

The cost is $10 and singles and couples are welcome. For information, call Garzone at (813) 340-9433.

Learn to grow vegetables

Master Gardener Phil Channel will present a program on vegetable gardening from 7 to 8 p.m. Monday at Bruton Memorial Library, 302 W. McLendon St.

The free program is sponsored by the Master Gardener Division of the Hillsborough County Extension Service. Members of the audience are encouraged to bring a plant for an exchange.

For information, call technical services librarian Susan Miles at (813) 757-9215.

Ex-commissioner now association president

Former County Commissioner James D. "Big Jim" Selvey of Keller Williams Realty, whose district included Plant City, was recently installed as 2011 president of the Greater Tampa Association of Realtors.

Nancy Wingate of McGrath Poppell and Co., Plant City, was installed as director of the association, which will celebrate its 100th anniversary on March 18.

City programs focus on environment

The city will present environmental education classes in January and February.

Environmental Education Coordinator Shawna Everidge, of the Water Resource Management Division, said the free classes will be in a city building at 705 N. Alexander St.

At 6:30 p.m. Jan. 13, Sharon Spires from green industry compliance services will talk about plastic bags and the less obvious uses for surplus bags. Participants are asked to bring one bag to the class.

At 6:30 p.m. Feb., 1, Willow LaMonte, owner of Willow Herbal Delight Gardens in Valrico, will lead a presentation on frugal family gardening. Participants should bring viable seeds to swap.

Ford dealer to award 2 scholarships

Jarrett Scott Ford of Plant City will award two scholarships to area National FFA Organization members, dealership general manager and vice president Jim Scott said.

The program is part of Ford Motor Co.'s ongoing commitment to the National FFA, formerly known as the Future Farmers of America, to award $1,000 scholarships to hundreds of its members. Ford has supported this high school program since the first F-Series truck was introduced in 1948 and has awarded almost $6.1 million in scholarships.

Jarrett Scott Ford is sponsoring the Built Ford Tough collegiate program for Plant City High School and Durant High. FFA members must submit an online scholarship application at www.ffa.org and take the required signature page to the dealership, 2000 E. Baker St., for an endorsement and official code.