The Plant City Optimist Club has been encouraging local youths through its annual Oratorical Contest for more than 40 years. Ten students competed in the Feb. 16 competition at the Plant City Recreation and Parks Department administrative office. ...more

March 4, 2009

It's that time again. Through March 22, Girl Scouts will be peddling your favorite cookie predilections, including perennials such as Thin Mints, Samoas and Do-Si-Dos. Proceeds support nearly 30,000 Girl Scouts in the community. ...more

February 18, 2009

The manager of the Shops at Wiregrass mall said late Friday that officials will buy 600 boxes of Girl Scout cookies for use in promotions at the recently opened shopping venue. ...more

January 31, 2009

The manager of the Shops at Wiregrass mall said late today officials will buy 600 boxes of Girl Scout cookies for use in promotions at the recently opened shopping venue. The decision came after mall officials said local scout troops would have to pay up to $500 for a weekend-long sales table at the mall's high-traffic Center Court – a price scout leaders said was beyond their ability to pay. ...more

January 30, 2009

The number of items pulled in the nation's latest peanut butter recall may be leading some of you to look twice, even three times, at what you buy. ...more

January 29, 2009

Girl Scouts of Gulfcoast of Florida Inc. announces that neither licensed baker affiliated with Girl Scout Cookies, ABC Interbake and Little Brownie Bakers, source their peanut butter from the supplier involved in the current peanut butter warning. ...more

January 26, 2009

It's cookie time in Highlands County, courtesy of the area Girl Scouts. ...more

January 10, 2009

Back in early September, Heather Adkins of Tampa asked readers for help in finding a brown sugar icing her grandmother used to make as a topping for chocolate cake. ...more

November 2, 2008

Brooks, Mehra Hailed For Work Benefiting Children About 300 guests attended the seventh annual Champion for Children awards ceremony and dinner Oct. 2 at the Renaissance Hotel at International Plaza in Tampa. The dinner, the signature event for Voices for Children of Hillsborough County Inc., the fundraising branch of Guardian Ad Litem, honored Tampa Bay Buccaneer Derrick Brooks as the 2008 Champion for Children for his work with youths, including The Brooks Bunch, Derrick Brooks Charities and Brooks-DeBartolo Collegiate High School in North Tampa. Tampa psychiatrist Rahul Mehra was presented with the Guardian Angel Award for volunteering for Guardian Ad Litem, the nonprofit agency that assigns volunteers to represent children who need help during legal proceedings. The evening, called "Old Havana Nights," raised more than $43,000 and featured an outdoor cocktail reception with cigar bar, a chance drawing for a collection of 60 bottles of wine donated by board members, a silent auction, dinner and dancing. The emcee was former Buccaneers offensive lineman Ian Beckles, a host on WDAE, 620 AM. ...more

October 13, 2008

CARE PACKAGES Boy, the people you meet on vacation. I took a few days off last week when my friend Drew Meyerowich came into town. He and his family lived a few doors down from our house before they moved to Hawaii about three years ago so he could take command of the U.S. Army's 2nd battalion, 27th infantry regiment. ...more

June 11, 2008