CALENDAR


 NOVEMBER 18,2004 THE COURIER 3



First Flat Shows Off Promising New Variety


THURSDAY
 Traffic calming on
 Joe King Road
 Hillsborough County
will hold a public meeting
Nov. 18 at 6:30 p.m. at
Bealsville Park, 5009 Nes-
mith Road, to discuss traf-
fic problems along Joe
King Road from Nesmith
Road to Branchwood
Road.
 A solution could be the
 installation of speed
 humps. A recommenda-
 tion to the county com-
 mission will be based on
 this meeting.
 Call: Steve Valdez, 272-
5275.

 Bowl for a Cure
 Marshall Middle School
will hold its "Bowling for a
Cure" fundraiser Nov. 18
from 5 to 9 p.m. at Plant
City Family Bowl, 2250
U.S. 92 EastL
 Tickets are $7 and
includes three games and
shoe rental. Proceeds go
to the annual Relay for
Life cancer fundraiser.
 Call: 754-3725.

FRIDAY
Dinner honors late Boys
 & Girls Club director
 The West Plant City
Boys & Girls Club, 901 S.
Waller St,.. will host a
Thanksgiving dinner to
honor the club's former
director, the late John
Griffin, on Nov. 19 at 3:30
p.m.
 Barbara Griffin Dixon
and the Griffin family will
sponsor the dinner.
 Call: Sharon Moody,
707-8490 after I p.m.,
Monday through Friday.

 Chili dinner
 Trinity United Method-
ist Church, 402 W. English
St., will host a chili dinner
on Nov. 19 from 4.30 to 7
p.m.
 Baked potatoes will be
 See CALENDAR, Page 16


NEW BERRY BLOSSOMS
 EARLIER IN SEASON
 By TONY MARRERO
 tmarrero@mediageneral.com
 Having the first flat of straw-
berries of the season makes
for good press, but Brock
Farms co-owner Chris Brock
didn't want to have it just for
the sake of being first.
 The farm, after all, has a
reputation to protect.
 "You want the first flat to
look good and not be just any
garbage that you can scrounge
up," Brock said. "We focus on
quality, not quantity."
 This year, he didn't have to
worry, he said. Brock Farms
took first flat honors Nov. 12
and did it with berries Brock
described as "beautiful" and
"really juicy."
 That the first batch of ber-
ries are of such quality is not
just good news for Brock
Farms, but for the industry as
a whole, and for two reasons,
said Ila Crocker, spokes-
woman for the Florida Straw-
berry Growers Association.
 First, it's encouraging that
the flat came so soon after
such a wild hurricane season
that left many growers scram-
bling to repair land and stay
on schedule.
 "We figured we'd be put off
several weeks, but now that
we're seeing signs of harvest,
it's a very positive sign,"
Crocker said.
 Brock's success could also.
be the sign of more far-reach-


 Photo courtesy Florida Strawberry Growers Association
Chris Brock, co-owner of Brock Farms, shows off the first flat of
season, comprised of a new, earlier-producing variety called the
Winter Dawn.


ing, beneficial effects for the
industry. The first flat, which
is 12 pints, was made up
entirely of a new variety of
berry, tentatively called
"Winter Dawn."
 The variety is the product of
years of research at the Gulf
Coast Research and Education
Center in Dover. Much of the
center's research has focused
on coming up with varieties
that blossom sooner in Flori-
da's berry season, which typi-
cally runs from Thanksgiving
to Easter.
 Researchers ; hope that
Winter Dawn will produce
good berries from early:


November through the end of
February, said Craig Chandler,
professor of horticulture at the
center.
 "That's the time when it's
most profitable to growers,"
Chandler said.
 To be successful, such vari-
eties need to blossom in the.
typically warmer weather of
Florida's November and still ,
be hearty in the coldest part of
the season.
 So far, Winter Dawn looks
promising and the fact that it
made up the first flat of the
year and looked good doing it
adds to the variety's credibil-
ity.


 Chandler and his colleagues
 picked the variety in 1998 out
 of some 10,000 seedlings.
 Since then, the variety has
 been put to real-world tests
 through a cooperative bet-
 ween the center and growers
 such as Brock and his co-
 owner Gary Guynn, who this
 year have about 14 acres of
 Winter Dawn of their 70 acres
 of berries.
 Another advantage to
 Winter Dawn is that it pro-
 duces larger berries from a
 smaller plant, which makes
 harvesting quicker and easier
 and the berry itself more aes-
 thetically pleasing to the
 consumer, Chandler said.
 The fruit, however, is not as
 firm or flavorful as the Festival
 variety, which has become a
 grower favorite for its consis-
 tent quality and heartiness.
 "I don't see (Winter Dawn)
 replacing the Festival, but it
 fills an important niche,"
 Chandler said.
 Chandler said that because
 Winter Dawn produces early,
 growers could get a good yield
 from it, and then pull the
 plants :to free up the land so
 they can get started on a vege-
 table crop.
 Brock Farms packs and
 ships its own berries. It
:donated the first flat to the
FSGA's Strawberry )am. On
Tuesday morning, Brock
Farms'had packed 48 flats and
expected to get about $30 per
flat, which is normal for this
time of year, Brock said.


LirniRimes To Headline Strawberry Festival


 CLINT BLACK, MICHAEL W.
 SMITH ARE NEW TO EVENT
 ByTONYMARRERO
 tmarrero@mediageneral.com
 Grammy winning vocalist Leann Rimes
will headline a lineup of country acts to
Jam in the Florida Strawberry Festival's
70th year.
 The festival announced this week the
lineup of 12 acts slated to perform on the


 Chrysler Sound Stage March
 r 'V 3-13. Many will be familiar
 to Plant City audiences.
 Festival general manager
 Patsy Brooks said the bill is
 fit to prove this year's
 theme, "Seventy Years of
Rimes Fun and Still Jammin'."
 "I think it's a great lineup,
and from what we've heard so far the
people think it's a good lineup, too,"
Brooks said.
 Rimes, contemporary Christian artist


Michael W. Smith and country singer
Clint Black are new to the festival this
year. Others, including the Oak Ridge
Boys, who will open the event, the Charlie
Daniels Band and Wayne Newton have
been to Plant City's celebration of the
strawberry before.
 Here's the schedule:
 March 3, The Oak Ridge Boys, 4 and 7:
30 p.m.
 March 4, Charlie Daniels Band, 4 and


See RIMES, Page 18


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