The New Tampa Dance Theatre: Nearly Two Decades Of Dance & Life Lessons

By Bonnie Mason | September 14

New Tampa Dance Theater
New Tampa Dance Theater Performance

Dance has gained popularity in recent years with television shows like “Dancing with the Stars” and “So You Think You Can Dance?” attracting millions of viewers of all ages.

Dyane Elkins IronWing, the artistic director and owner of the New Tampa Dance Theatre (NTDT) on Cross Creek Blvd., also has made her mark through dance. Dyane and her staff of highly trained and experienced dance instructors have been teaching dance — and life-lessons — to New Tampa and Tampa Bay-area residents for the past 19 years.Continue reading

New Tampa’s Oldest Rotary Club Isn’t Resting On Its Laurels

An editorial by Gary Nager
An editorial by Gary Nager

By Gary Nager | September 14

Although there are currently three Rotary Clubs in New Tampa and two in Wesley Chapel — and despite all of the promoting of those clubs that we do in the New Tampa & Wesley Chapel Neighborhood News — there are still some people who don’t know what Rotary is or what it does.

All Rotary Clubs are under the umbrella of Rotary International, the oldest and still the largest service organization in the world, established in 1905 which today has 34,000 clubs and more than 1.2 million members worldwide. Although other organizations and individuals have helped, since 1979, Rotary International has been and continues to be the lead organization in the eradication of polio from the world. And, to date, there is no polio in 97-98 percent of the world, with only Afghanistan, Nigeria and Pakistan still “polio-endemic,” according to the World Health Organization.

Continue reading

HCSD Launches School Lunch App

By Matt Wiley | September 14

The School Lunch app shows students a picture of what’s for lunch and provides the nutritional info.
The School Lunch app shows students a picture of what’s for lunch and provides the nutritional info.

The days of wondering what the lunch lady will be serving in the cafeteria on any given day are over for New Tampa students, as the Hillsborough County School District (HCSD) has launched a smartphone application that literally puts the menu into the hands (and pockets) of students.

According to HCSD, the app is called School Lunch by Nutrislice, which provides the menus of hundreds of schools nationwide (including schools in Wesley Chapel, too) by day and week. The app includes pictures of menu items, as well as nutrition information.Continue reading

Schenecker Trial Postponed Until April 2014

By Matt Wiley | September 11

The trial for Julie Schenecker, 52, the woman accused of murdering her teenage children in the family’s Tampa Palms home, has been postponed from October 2013 to April 2014, court records indicate.

Schenecker’s case, which was originally scheduled to begin on October 7 of this year, has been postponed until April 28, 2014. The case was postponed during a hearing on August 16, in which Hillsborough Circuit Judge Emmett Battles granted a motion from Schenecker’s lawyers for a continuance, to which the state did not object.

Continue reading

New Tampa YMCA Donates School Supplies To Students In Need

By Matt Wiley | September 10

YMCA Donations, collected throughout the month of August, were distributed to children in need at Tampa Palms Elementary.
YMCA Donations, collected throughout the month of August, were distributed to children in need at Tampa Palms Elementary.

Heading back to school after summer vacation can be tough for students. Who wants to start doing homework again after so many days off? For many students, however, homework isn’t among their biggest concerns. For families in need, heading back to school can be much more difficult, as a simple thing like school supplies can be tough to fit into the family budget.

To help ease the transition into a new school year, the New Tampa Family YMCA, located on Compton Dr. in Tampa Palms, decided to hold its second annual school supply drive to benefit the students of families that may have had a hard time purchasing necessary supplies for classes.Continue reading