Dancing With The Locals October 27, 2023 The Rotary Club of Plant City held the 16th annual Dancing With the Locals fundraiser on Friday October 27th. This event and our Wild Game Cookout in the spring are our club’s 2 main fundraisers that support all our charitable efforts during the year. In the 2023 fiscal year our club was able to donate over $190,000 to local groups in addition to supporting Rotary International’s efforts as well as our local and international service projects.
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2021 Installation and Awards Banquet2021 Installation and Awards Banquet The Plant City Rotary Club recently held its Awards and Installation banquet at the Cleveland Heights country club. It was a night of fun and fellowship. It provided an opportunity to recognize members for an outstanding year as well as to install the officers and directors for the 2019-2020 Rotary year. |
2019 World Affairs Seminar Participant visits club Taryn Storter and President Doug Watson Our club’s participant in the 2019 World Affairs Seminar at Auburn University was Taryn Storter. She recently attended our club and spoke about her experience’s there. Here are her comments:
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Community Service Project June 2019On Friday and Saturday June 14th and 15th our club was able to help a Plant City resident whose house needed some repairs. Thanks to some hard work by many of our club members and their family members we were able to repair windows, siding, steps, part of a ceiling and add a porch rail. The outside of the house was pressure washed and painted. The house also received a new metal roof. The roof work and repairs would not have been possible without the help of 2 of our member’s businesses. Special thanks goes out to Shawn Jemison – Solution Source and Clayton Jenkins - T. Clayton Jenkins Construction.
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Alivin Futch Alvin C. Futch August 26, 1931 - April 16, 2019 Long time Plant City Rotarian Alvin Futch passed away on April 16th, 2019. Alvin joined our club in December 1957 and has been an important part of our club since then. Alvin has influenced many members of our club and received a Lifetime Achievement Award for our club in 2001. Alvin's obituary can be viewed here. In Lieu of flowers, please donate to the Alvin Futch Scholarship Fund Inc., c/o Harmon and Peaslee CPA, 303 Warnell St., Plant City, FL 33563
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2019 Wild Game Cookout
The Plant City Rotary Club held its 45th annual Wild Game Cookout on Friday April 5th. This is one of our club's major fund raisers for the year. (The other is the Dancing With The Locals event.) Residents from Plant City and surrounding areas turned out for an evening of good food, fellowship and music.
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2018 Community Appreciation Day Rotary Community Appreciation Day Our club held its 3rd Annual Community Appreciation Day on Saturday August 4th at the Plant City Randy Larson Softball 4-Plex. This event brings together our community, 1st responders from local law enforcement and fire rescue departments and various community organizations in a day of interaction and fun. There were displays provided by first responders from many units of the Hillsborough County Sherriff’s Dept. and the Plant City Police Department. Plant City Fire Rescue Department had a display and provided a live demonstration of vehicle extrication techniques disassembling a vehicle provided by Brewington’s Towing. |
2018 World Affairs Participant Visits Club President Jodi Stevens and World Affairs Participant Anna Futch Our club’s participant in the 2018 World Affairs Seminar at Auburn University was Anna Grace Futch. She recently attended our club and spoke about her experience’s there. Here are her comments: This summer was one for the books… about five years ago, my older sister who is now a Plant City High School alumnus; competed amongst her peers to win the scholarship to go to Auburn for their World Affairs Seminar. She was overjoyed when she found out that she had won the scholarship to Auburn that summer. I vividly remember the smile on her face when we picked her up at the end of the week at Auburn. A dream was implanted in me to do the world affairs seminar one day. A couple months ago, Plant City’s Noon Rotary club held their annual interview at Plant High School; to send this year's students to the world affairs seminar at Auburn University, and a student to attend S4TL at Florida Southern University. My childhood dream came true when I found out in the following day after; that I won the scholarship to Auburn. |
2018 S4TL Participant Visits Club President Jodi Stevens and S4TL Participant Delaney Flowers At a recent meeting, our club's representative at S4TL, Delaney Flowers, visited our club. She spoke to the club about her experiences there. Here are her comments: |
2018 Installation and Awards Banquet2018 Award and Installation Banquet The Plant City Rotary Club recently held its Awards and Installation banquet at the Lone Palm Country Club. It was a night of fun and fellowship. It provided an opportunity to recognize members for an outstanding year as well as to install the officers and directors for the 2017-2018 Rotary year. After a social hour, the night started with a greeting from President Brett Mueller and the traditional invocation, pledge and song.  |
2018 Plant City Rotary Wild Game Cookout2018 Plant City Rotary Wild Game Cookout  The Plant City Rotary Club held its 44th annual Wild Game Cookout on Friday April 6th. This is one of our club's major fund raisers for the year. (The other is the Dancing With The Locals event.) Residents from Plant City and surrounding areas turned out for an evening of good food, fellowship and music.
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Community Appreciation Day 8-5-2017 Plant City Rotary Community Appreciation Day. Our club held it's 2nd annual Community Appreciation Day on Saturday August 5th at the Randy Larson Softball Complex on Park Road in Plant City. This free family event was well attended. Participants enjoyed free food, drinks, bounce houses, rock climbing walls and a dunk tank. The first 500 kids were able to pick up bags of back to school supplies. There were demonstrations by the Plant City Police Department, the Plant City Fire Department and the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Department. Many other groups also participated. Thanks to all the club members, community members and organizations that made this event a big success. For more photos from the event visit the Community Appreciation Event photo album page.
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The Loss of David Miller Plant City resident and long time Plant City Rotarian David Miller passed away on February 5th. David joined our club in1982 and served as President in the 1989-90 year. David was a Paul Harris Fellow and was very active in our club for many years. David was very dedicated to serving Plant City and was active on many boards. His service helped many organizations increase the quality of life of many. He was a friend to all who knew him and he will be greatly missed. A Celebration of Life will be held on Saturday, February 18 at 3:00 P.M. at First Presbyterian Church of Plant City, 404 W. Reynolds Street, Plant City, where the family will receive friends beginning at 2:00 P.M. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the United Food Bank of Plant City at http://ufbpc.org/donations/. Expressions of condolence at may be posted at www.HopewellFuneral.com . David's obituary may be viewed online by following this link.
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Dancing With The Locals 2016Dancing With The Locals 2016 This year's edition of the Plant City Rotary Club's Dancing With the Locals was held November 11th at the Trinkle Center on H.C.C.'s Plant City Campus. The fundraiser, now in it's 9th year, raises money for the Plant City Rotary Foundation. The P.C. Rotary Foundation is the non-profit arm of the Plant City Rotary Club. Funds raised at this event and our other fundraisers go back into our community to support many worthwhile causes. The event provides a fun evening for local residents. They are able to enjoy good food and drink and an entertaining competition between couples from the local area, all while giving back to the community. Opening remarks were made by Club President Charles Harris. Next, since this night was all about giving back to local charities, President Charles presented a check for $5000 to Mary Heysek. director of the United Food Bank of Plant City.  The Hostess and Emcee for the event were Mark Cook and Casey Phillips. Mark is a Hillsborough County native with experience in radio and print and is currently editor in chief of the Pewter Report where he covers the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on a daily basis. Casey, originally from Southlake Texas, has a history of experience in sports broadcasting and is currently the team insider for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.  Mark Cook and Casey Phillips Judges for this year's event included Edwena Haney of Hopewell Funeral Home, Paul Davis of the Florida Strawberry Festival and Kelly Davis, a hair and makeup stylist who is also a nationally registered talent and pageant judge. The fourth judge was selected that night by auction. Audience members were invited to bid on the right to be the fourth judge for the event. The winning bid was offered by Darry Dykstra of Dykstra Construciton. Darry and his wife Heather, were the winning couple in the 2015 Dancing With The Locals competition. |
World Polio Day 2016 |
S4TL 2016S4TL is a leadership training program for high school students. It is organized annually by Rotarian senior staff from Districts 6890, 6950 and 6960 in mid-Florida. This award-winning program is capable of transforming the lives of these young leaders. Each Rotary club in the three districts may sponsor a delegate to the sessions
One unique feature of S4TL is the "rap sessions" where the leaders of tomorrow are divided into groups of 16-18 delegates. They meet with Rotarians to discuss topics of interest to them. No holds are barred, and both groups learn from one another.
Our club is proud to sponsor a local high school to attend this program each year. This year's participant was Shelby Baerwalde. Shelby recently attended our club meeting to talk to us regarding her experience.
These are her comments:
S4TL 2016
.jpg) S4TL Participant Kiera Davis and Plant City Rotary Club President Charles Harris
S4TL is a leadership training program for high school students. It is organized annually by Rotarian senior staff from Districts 6890, 6950 and 6960 in mid-Florida. This award-winning program is capable of transforming the lives of these young leaders. Each Rotary club in the three districts may sponsor a delegate to the sessions
One unique feature of S4TL is the "rap sessions" where the leaders of tomorrow are divided into groups of 16-18 delegates. They meet with Rotarians to discuss topics of interest to them. No holds are barred, and both groups learn from one another.
Our club is proud to sponsor a local high school to attend this program each year. This year's participant was Kiera Davis. Kiera recently attended our club meeting to talk to us regarding her experience. These are her comments:
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Installation and Awards Banquet June 23, 20162016-17 Award and Installation Banquet
The Plant City Rotary Club recently held its Awards and Installation banquet. It was a night of fun and fellowship. It provided an opportunity to recognize members for an outstanding year as well as to install the officers and directors for the 2016-2017 Rotary year. After a social hour and a great dinner at the Lone Palm Country Club, the program began with presentation of some light hearted awards by outgoing president Jeremy Burris. Next awards for perfect attendance were handed out.
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2016 Wild Game Cookout2016 Plant City Rotary Wild Game Cookout
 The Plant City Rotary Club held its 42nd annual Wild Game Cookout on Friday April 1st. This is one of our club's major fund raisers for the year. (The other is the Dancing With The Locals event.) Residents from Plant City and surrounding areas turned out for an evening of good food, fellowship and bluegrass music.
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Dancing With The Locals 2015
Dancing With The Locals 2015
What do a dental hygienist, a logistics specialist, a Sous Chef, a radiology technician, 2 sheriff’s deputies, a builder, a personal trainer, a realtor, a leadership coach, a CFO, a sales manager, 2 hair stylists, a dentist, a dance instructor, a college student, an I.T. manager, a disabilities staff assistant and a student services manager have in common? They are 20 individuals that have taken time out of their busy schedules to train and participate as dancers in the 2015 edition of Plant City Rotary’s “Dancing With The Locals (DWTL)” fundraiser. The efforts of these individuals, along with the work and dedication of many Rotarians and others helped to make this year’s “DWTL” a huge success. It was a night where Rotary’s motto of “Service Above Self” was exhibited by all those involved. It is through the efforts of all the participants and the generosity of all who attended, that funds raised are able to support a large number of local and international charitable causes.
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Community Service Project 9-26-15 Community Service Project – Sept. 26th 2015
Our club gave back to the Plant City community by participating in Care Fest on Saturday September 26th. CareFest® was an outgrowth of the Supper Bowl XXXV as a sanctioned event. This compassion festival, done the week prior to the Super Bowl had over 1,400 volunteers serve approximately 12,000 attendees. The object of this week was to do all the good we can by all the means we can. This event has been continued annually as a way for groups and individuals to give back to there local communities back helping needy individuals with basic maintenance and repairs.
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S4TL 2015 Shelby Baerwalde - S4TL Participant
S4TL is a leadership training program for high school students. It is organized annually by Rotarian senior staff from Districts 6890, 6950 and 6960 in mid-Florida. This award-winning program is capable of transforming the lives of these young leaders. Each Rotary club in the three districts may sponsor a delegate to the sessions
One unique feature of S4TL is the "rap sessions" where the leaders of tomorrow are divided into groups of 16-18 delegates. They meet with Rotarians to discuss topics of interest to them. No holds are barred, and both groups learn from one another.
Our club is proud to sponsor a local high school to attend this program each year. This year's participant was Shelby Baerwalde. Shelby recently attended our club meeting to talk to us regarding her experience.
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Rotary At The Rays 2015   Our club recently had it's annual Rotary at the Rays outing. On Tuesday evening July 28th we boarded a bus to be delivered to the Trop without the hassles of fighting traffic and looking for parking. The members and guests that attended enjoyed the seating and amenities of the Left Field Terrace Suite. In addition to great fellowship along with good food and drink, we were treated to a 10-2 victory over the Detroit Tigers. If you didn't make it to this event you missed out on a great night. For more photos visit the Rotary at The Rays photo album.
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2015 Installation Banquet PhotosThe photos for the 2015 installation banquet are available for viewing on the following photo album page.
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Plant City Rotary 2015 Installation and Awards Banquet Outgoing President- Brian Griffin / Incoming President-Jeremy Burris
On Thursday June 25th our club held its annual Installation Banquet. Outgoing President Brian Griffin welcomed everyone and the meeting began in traditional Plant City Rotary fashion with a prayer, the Pledge of Allegiance and singing of God Bless America. After happy bucks, dinner was served.
Following dinner, President Brian introduced the head table and then remarks were made by Assistant District Governor Rob Evans.
 Following AG Evans remarks we moved into the awards portion of the evening. As usual a large number of our members were presented perfect attendance pins. Plaques were presented to the chairmen of our 2 biggest fundraisers: Dancing With The Locals- Marcus Caswell and Brett Mueller,
  and Wild Game Cookout- James Surrency and Brian Griffin.
 Plaques were also presented to the outgoing officers. Two special recognition awards were also presented. Rotarian Jodi Stevens was presented a Service Award in recognition of outstanding service and dedication to our club this year
 and Rotarian Tim Kip was presented the Rotarian of The Year award for exemplary service to our club this past year.
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41st Annual Wild Game Cookout
The 41st Annual Wild Game Cookout was held on Friday, April 10th, 2015. This is our club's largest fund raiser each year. There was an abundance of good food, good music and lots of socializing to be enjoyed by all the attendees. There were also lots of door prizes and auction items to be had. Much hard work goes into this event each year but it's a labor of love as the money raised at this event helps our club fund a large number of projects in our local community. We are very thankful that the local area gives us such good support at this event because without this support our ability to continue the charitable work we do would be seriously impacted. If you missed the event this year you missed out on a great night of giving back. We hope to see you next year!
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Final AEDs DeliveredAt our Feb. 16th meeting, Past President Aaron Davis and President Brian Griffin presented the final AEDs to Plant City Police Chief Ed Duncan. This was the completion of a project started under Aaron Davis’s Presidency. Thanks to donations from the community and funds raised by our club, we have been able to purchase and donate a total of 47 units to the Plant City PD. They now have enough devices to provide one for every patrol and supervisor vehicle. Police chief Ed Duncan was very appreciative and said this project has and will continue to save lives. Thanks to all who played a role in this project that allowed us to give back to our community.
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Paul Harris FellowsPaul Harris Presentations The last 2 weeks have seen the addition of 4 Paul Harris Fellows to our club. Paul Harris was the founder of Rotary. To be recognized as a Paul Harris Fellow, a Rotarian donates $1,000 or more to the Annual Fund, PolioPlus, or an approved Foundation grant. To recognize someone else as a Paul Harris Fellow, you can give that amount in their name. An individual is recognized as a Multiple Paul Harris Fellow with each additional gift of $1,000. |
World Affairs Seminar 2014
Each year, Auburn University holds a World Affairs Youth Seminar for rising 10th through 12th graders. It is conducted by faculty, staff, and students from the College of Education and members of the Persistent Issues in History Network and uses the Model United Nations (MUN) forum to examine global issues in a "real world" context. Participants assume the role of country delegates and strive to accurately represent the viewpoints of their assigned country in daily MUN General Assembly sessions. |
S4TL 2014
Our club's S4TL representative Megan Shulmister, third from the left, with other S4TL students
S4TL is a leadership training program for high school students. It is organized annually by Rotarian senior staff from Districts 6890, 6950 and 6960 in mid-Florida. This award-winning program is capable of transforming the lives of these young leaders. Each Rotary club in the three districts may sponsor a delegate to the sessions One unique feature of S4TL is the "rap sessions" where the leaders of tomorrow are divided into groups of 16-18 delegates. They meet with Rotarians to discuss topics of interest to them. No holds are barred, and both groups learn from one another. |
Plant City Rotary Installation and Awards Banquet
On June 26th our club held its annual Installation and Awards Banquet. Outgoing President Aaron Davis welcomed everyone, and the meeting began in traditional Plant City Rotary Club tradition with a prayer, the Pledge of Allegiance and God Bless America. After happy bucks, President Aaron introduced the people at the head table. Outgoing District Governor George Robertson-Burnett addressed the group regarding his year as District Governor and complemented the many accomplishments of our club. He gave special recognition to President Aaron for spearheading our club’s ongoing AED Project. There are plans for this to be a district wide project in the future. After Governor George concluded his remarks, dinner was served. |
S4TL 2013
Club President Aaron Davis and S4TL Participant Madison Keene S4TL is a leadership training program for high school students. It is organized annually by Rotarian senior staff from Districts 6890, 6950 and 6960 in mid-Florida. This award-winning program is capable of transforming the lives of these young leaders.
Each Rotary club in the three districts may sponsor a delegate to the sessions. A total of 160 delegates were registered to attend this year.
One unique feature of S4TL is the "rap sessions" where the leaders of tomorrow are divided into groups of 16-18 delegates. They meet with Rotarians to discuss topics of interest to them. No holds are barred, and both groups learn from one another. |
Word Affairs Seminar 2013
Club President Aaron Davis and World Affairs Seminar Participant Kellyanne Hurst Each year, Auburn University holds a World Affairs Youth Seminar for rising 10th through 12th graders. It is conducted by faculty, staff, and students from the College of Education and members of the Persistent Issues in History Network and uses the Model United Nations (MUN) forum to examine global issues in a "real world" context. Participants assume the role of country delegates and strive to accurately represent the viewpoints of their assigned country in daily MUN General Assembly sessions. |
New Meeting LocationEffective Monday June 3rd, our club will be meeting in a new location. We will be meeting in the Trinkle Center located on the Plant City campus of the Hillsborough Community College.
Trinkle Center H.C.C. - Plant City
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2013 Rotary Speech ContestRecently our club held its annual high school speech contest. The contest is open to high school students from public or private schools and those being home schooled. The contestants this year were Emmalise Hunter, Casey Hamilton and Chase Lott from Plant City High School; and Kylie Nelson and Chris Clemente from Durant. |
Dancing With The Locals 2012Dancing With The Locals – 2012 On Friday, November 9th the Plant City Rotary club held the 5th annual Dancing With the Locals fundraiser. The event was held at the Trinkle Center on the H.C.C. Plant City campus. This fundraiser has local individuals competing in a 1 evening dance competition to raise money for charity. The couples receive dance instruction over the weeks leading up to the event. This year’s couples included: Heather Coats and Alan Figga
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P.C.H.S. Interact Officers 2012-13 Brittany Nesbitt, Austin Bolin, Hanna Cowart, Sarah Winter, Rachel Rodriguez Recently the officers of the Plant City High School Interact club visited our club for our weekly meeting. |
Auburn University World Affairs Seminar 2012
Each year our club goes through an evaluation of local students interested in participating in the Auburn University World Affairs Youth Seminar. Our club selects and sponsors one student to participate in the World Affairs Seminar. This year our representative was Molly Coovert.
 Rotarian Tod Pukas and Molly Coovert |
S4TL- Seminar For Tomorrow's Leaders 2012
S4TL or Seminar for Tomorrow’s Leaders is a powerful leadership training program for high school students. It is held each summer at Florida Southern College in Lakeland. It is organized and conducted by Rotarians from Districts 6890, 6950 and 6960. Each club in these districts may sponsor a delegate to the sessions.
This year's S4TL was held from 6-19th to 6-25th and 160 students were registered to attend. Each year our club conducts interviews of Plant City High School students and selects an individual to attend. This year our club sponsored Taylor Adams  Rotarian Tod Pukas and Taylor Adams |
Installation and Awards Banquet 2012
Our club held this year’s installation and awards banquet Thursday, June 21st at the Lone Palm country club in Lakeland, FL.
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2011 Dancing With the Locals
The 2011 Edition of Plant City Rotary’s “Dancing With the Locals” was held Friday November 11th at the Red Rose Ballroom. Dancing With the Locals is a fundraiser that has become one of Plant’s City’s premier fundraising events. This event, currently in its fourth year, features local “celebrities”, Rotarians and community members in a dance competition much like TV’s Dancing with the Stars.
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Plant City Noon Rotary presented 2011 Special Business of the Year Award Chamber Chairman Lee Williams and Rotary Club President Keith Smith The Plant City Chamber of Commerce recently held its Business of The Year Award’s banquet. The Business of the Year awards are presented by the Economic Development Council to recognize businesses in several categories: Growing Business, Small Business, Mid-Size Business, and Large Business. After businesses are nominated three finalists are selected based on multiple criteria. Each of the finalists is interviewed for a video about their business and then judges individually score each business to determine the year’s winner. The Chamber also presents a Special Business award each year. |
Local Girl's Soccer Team One of State's Best
Mid Florida Alliance Hurricane According to a recent article in the Tampa Tribune / Courier, the Florida Alliance Hurricane girl's soccer club sponsored by our Rotary Club, was recently named one of the best in the state in their age division. |
Hali Talkington Reflects On S4TL Hali TalkingtonHali Talkington was our club's representative to S4TL at Forida Southern. Recently Hali attended our meeting to tell us about her experiences there. I asked Hali to share her thoughts about her participation in the program. The following information was provided by Hali in response to my request.
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P.C.H.S. Students Recognized at August 15th Meeting |
S4TL- Seminar for Tomorrow's Leaders
What is S4TL? What is its purpose? Who attends?
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The Passing of Shorty Brown
It is with much sadness that we announce the passing of Shorty Brown, beloved, long time member of our club. Shorty always had a smile and kind word for all those he met. His support of our club and his friendship will be missed. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family. Information regarding visitation and celebration of life service are listed in the included obituary. |
ClubRunner Mobile Ap Now Available
ClubRunner now has a Mobile Ap that will allow you to access your club info on your Iphone. (aps for Droid coming soon) For more info go to http://web.clubrunner.ca/Mobile
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Seminars For Tomorrow's Leaders
S4TL or Seminar for Tomorrow's Leaders is a powerful leadership training program for high school students. It is held each summer at Florida Southern College in Lakeland. It is organized and conducted by Rotarians from Districts 6890, 6950 and 6960.
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2012 Speech Contest
The club round of the annual speech contest was held Monday February 21st at our regular meeting. It was held jointly by our club and the Plant City Daybreak Rotary club. The contest was organized and emceed by Rotarian Amity Kokochek. Area high school students from Plant City High School and Simons Career Center competed for cash prizes and the right to represent the 2 clubs in the next round of the speech contest. This year’s contestants included Jasmin Gomez, Rosa Puente, Casey Hamilton, Kaila Thomas and Tricia Beck.
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2010 International Service Project
On March 25 and 26, 2010 our club helped sponsor a dental mission to Cebu Philippines. Dr. Dennis Digamon, a local Plant City dentist and member of our club, travelled to the Philippines to hold a 2 day mission to provide dental services and education to the needy of Cebu. He was accompanied and assisted by his wife Dolores and daughter Angela. |
Dancing With The Locals II
The 2nd annual "Dancing With The Locals" fundraiser was held Friday Nov. 6th at the Red Rose Ballroom in Plant City.
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Installation and Awards Banquet- 2009
The Installation of 2009-2010 officers of the Plant City Rotary Club was held June 29th, 2009 at the Red Rose Inn Ballroom.
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What is Rotary?
Are you familar with Rotary? Do you wonder what Rotary is all about? Check out the video "This is Rotary" that Rotary International has posted on YouTube. This is Rotary Whether you are a Rotarian, a prespective Rotarian or just someone who wants to know more about Rotary, this video should be helpful.
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Rotary Continues Fight Against Polio
Since 1985, Rotary club members have helped immunize over two billion children against polio. Visit
www.rotary.org/endpolio
to learn more about joining us to help end polio. |
