I love a good surprise as much as the next guy, but I was absolutely stunned by the turn of events when I attended the Greater Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce (WCCC) annual meeting, which was held Dec. 6 at Pasco Hernando State College (PHSC)’s Porter Campus at Wiregrass Ranch, and which was the program for the Chamber’s monthly business breakfast.
Outgoing Board chair Tracy Clouser of Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel thanked this year’s deserving “Volunteer of the Year” and Ambassador Troy Stevenson of Wesley Chapel Nissan, who not only actively participates in every Chamber and Wesley Chapel Rotary Club event, but also supports the community with his awesome Acme Outdoor Movies truck.
But then, between the introduction of the Chamber’s ambassadors (below) and new Board chair Jennifer Cofini of the Parks Auto Group and her Board of Directors for the 2017 Fiscal Year, Clouser made an announcement I truly was not expecting — that WCNT-tv, the five-month-old partnership between yours truly and outgoing WCCC Ambassador/new Board member Craig Miller of Full Throttle Intermedia, had won the 2016 Chairman’s Award.
Clouser, the marketing director at Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel (FHWC), has spent quite a bit of money on behalf of our in-the-process-of-being-expanded, state-of-the-art hospital in these pages, and she bought into the project created by myself, Craig and WCCC president and CEO Hope Allen by agreeing for FHWC to be the Studio Sponsor of WCNT-tv for the first 16 episodes of the show, 13 of which have already aired since our launch on June 23.
In other words, I should be giving Tracy and Hope an award, not the other way around. The cheers from the crowd of more than 100 people when the surprise announcement was made was proof positive that we’re doing something right with the show, but neither Craig nor I had any idea or we would’ve prepared speeches, instead of the dumfounded looks and silly muttering we mustered.
Wiregrass Ranch high grad Du Dang is overcome with emotion after winning the Capcom Cup in Anaheim, CA, earlier this month. The championships were televised on ESPN 2.
Du Dang says he wasn’t the most popular or well-known kid when he lived in Wesley Chapel and went to Wiregrass Ranch High (WRH). But right now, he might just be the most famous graduate of WRH’s 2014 class.
The 20-year-old professional video gamer, who now lives in Tampa and is better known by his gamer tag “NuckleDu,” has won the 2016 Street Fighter V Capcom Cup championship.
In the world of professional video gaming, that’s a big deal. Dang flew out to Anaheim, CA, for the big tournament, and came home $230,000 richer after winning every best-of-5 match by either a 3-1 or 3-0 score. His purse was the largest in the history of fighting games, and his winning performance on Dec. 3 was televised live by ESPN 2.
Not bad for a kid who just five years ago was a reluctant player getting beat on a routine basis by his uncle. Today, he’s one of the top eSports players in the world.
“I was never really a gamer,’’ Dang said. “I hated the concept of fighting games. It was just up-down-left-right. But, I was playing my uncle and he kept beating me, so I started practicing and finally beat him.”
Du Dang
The son of Vietnamese parents, it was expected that Dang would study hard in school and become a doctor or an engineer, he says. His older brother and sister are both nursing students.
“I just wanted to keep getting good and kept playing,’’ Dang says. “It’s hard to convince your mom at age 17 to let you fly to a tournament.”
So hard, in fact, that Dang didn’t tell her he was flying to a tournament in Chicago. When he returned with prize money to help pay the bills, she changed her mind.
Dang has lived in tough places in Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi and Jacksonville, FL, and he grew up poor. That is changing now, and he wants to be careful with his newfound wealth.
“The win took away a lot of problems,’’ he says.
He also says that he wanted to invest his Capcom Cup winnings, but not before splurging on an SUV, which would help him get his dogs around town.
The Canada Cup won by Du Dang.
Onyx (a mastiff), Tieu Bach (a chihuahua) and Tofu (a pit bull) are Dang’s escape from the world of eSports. “They are family,’’ he says.
He has to be away from them more than he likes, due to the travel required to stay at the top of his game.
Playing mainly the Mike and Guile characters in Street Fighter V, Dang has no plans for letting up in what is left of the year. He has delivered a diagonal jump heavy kick to 2016, winning almost everything in sight during his breakout year.
After winning roughly $11,500 in prize money from 2012-15, according to esportsearnings.com, Dang has now pocketed more than a quarter of a million dollars in 2016 alone, thanks largely, but not only, to his big Capcom Cup haul.
He was the first American to win a big tournament like that in more than two years, he says. The tournament featured players from Japan, China, Singapore, France, Brazil, the United Kingdom and the U.S., as well as other countries.
That win was his third straight in a big tournament this year, and eighth overall, including a Canada Cup win in October that netted him another $6,900. All told, he has won 13 championships.
It’s definitely not as easy as he has been making it look, he says.
“There are definitely a lot of obstacles,’’ Dang says. “I missed my niece’s first steps. I have missed a lot of birthdays. You have to be willing to make sacrifices, and you have to have a strong head. I thought about quitting many times.”
The eSports genre – which is comprised of quickly growing competitive gaming leagues and tournaments – isentering the mainstream at a dizzying pace. In 2016, eSports are expected to become a $500-million business, and tournaments and championships are now being broadcast live on channels like ESPN. Your kids are as likely to watch their favorite players compete on Twitch.tv as you were to watch your favorite baseball players growing up.
Dang plays for a team called Team Liquid, which is sponsored by a number of companies, and was recently bought out by the NBA’s Golden State Warriors. Dang has met all of the Warriors players, and Golden State has been joined by other NBA teams, like the Orlando Magic and Washington Wizards, in investing in video gaming teams in an effort to reach younger audiences.
“It’s pretty amazing how it has grown,’’ Dang says. “It’s very overwhelming to play video games for a living. It’s pretty awesome.”
Dang hopes to grow along with the eSports industry. He continues to hone his craft on the Street Fighter platform (played on the Sony PlayStation 4), and is looking to continue his winning ways into 2017.
“I didn’t know until last year when I started winning everything that this is what I would be doing,’’ Dang says. “That’s when I started seeing real money. And this year, it’s just blown up.”
The doctors of Generations OB/GYN are (l.-r., front row) Dr. Gem Ashby, Dr. Richard Dillon, Dr. Brian McNulty & Dr. Delaura Patel; and (back row, l.-r.) Dr. Kristen Segall, Dr. Tiffany Patrick and Dr. Vicar Qureshi.
Delaura Patel, M.D., may be the newest doctor at the obstetrics and gynecology practice of Generations OB/GYN, a division of Women’s Care Florida, but she says she’s already been present for the birth of 600 babies, including many she has personally delivered since joining the practice in September.
She now sees patients at all three Generations OB/GYN locations, including Wesley Chapel (at the Cypress Ridge Professional Center located off S.R. 56), Carrollwood and on Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. south of New Tampa, near the University of South Florida (USF).
Dr. Patel is a Tampa Bay-area native who went to medical school at USF, completing a seven-year combined B.S./M.D. (Bachelor of Science and Doctor of Medicine) degree program, graduating in 2012. She then completed an OB/GYN residency at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, working at hospitals in New Orleans, where she completed the program this past summer.
Generations OB/GYN is one of many Women’s Care Florida offices that are located throughout the Tampa Bay area and the state of Florida. Generations OB/GYN traces its roots to 1995, when Richard Dillon, M.D., and Brian McNulty, M.D., joined together after about 10 years of each doctor practicing on his own, in an office near their current BBD location. Soon after, Dr. Vicar Qureshi, M.D., joined the office. Over the years, more doctors have joined the growing practice to better serve patients, including Kristen Segall, M.D., Gem Ashby M.D., and Tiffany Patrick, M.D. With Dr. Patel, that brings the total number of doctors in the practice to seven.
“It’s great because we rotate so that there are always two doctors at each of our three offices, plus one doctor at the hospital for any pregnant moms who are in labor,” says Dr. Patel. She says this is unique because many doctors don’t arrive at the hospital until a patient is ready to deliver her baby, but that timing can be unpredictable.
“With us, the doctor who is working in the office doesn’t also have to see patients at the hospital, so your appointment is not going to be rescheduled because a baby is being born,” she says. “It also means that the doctor at the hospital is not trying to rush back to the office to do a pap smear.”
This arrangement isn’t new. Dr. Patel says Generations OB/GYN has always done it that way, but that when she joined the practice, it allowed the other offices to be more fully staffed on more days of the week.
“All seven doctors go to all three locations,” she explains, “so you can see whatever doctor you want at whatever location is most convenient for you.”
All of the practice’s doctors are Board-certified by the American Board of Obstetrics & Gynecology, except Dr. Patel, who is Board-eligible, meaning she has passed the written portion of the certification but must practice for several years before receiving her certification. Dr. Patel also is a Junior Fellow of the American College of Obstetrics & Gynecology (ACOG), while the other doctors are all ACOG Fellows.
Services Available
Dr. Patel says that most women visit Generations OB/GYN for well-woman exams, contraception, STD testing, urinary issues, menstrual issues and pelvic pain.
The doctors serve these women, plus provide extensive gynecological and obstetric services, including infertility evaluations, counseling and treatment; prenatal and preconception care and services, in-office three-dimensional (3D) and 4D ultrasounds, plus all aspects of labor and delivery; as well as general women’s health care, such as cancer testing and screening, sterilization, hormone therapy and more.
Many surgical procedures are available, including tubal sterilization, a permanent birth control method that does not require incisions or a local anesthetic. The practice also offers an alternative to the traditional hysterectomy called an endometrial ablation, which helps to treat painful menstrual cycles and requires no incisions, along with less than 48 hours of recovery time for most women.
Other minimally invasive alternatives to hysterectomy also are available, which Dr. Patel says are called hysteroscopic myomectomy, and laparoscopic and robotic surgeries.
“These are really fantastic options,” says Dr. Patel. “The techniques have really expanded in recent years. While it’s still a major surgery on the inside, on the outside there’s really not much evidence of it. Women have less pain and less need for pain management, and much faster recovery, making for a much better experience than with a traditional hysterectomy.”
Generations OB/GYN also offers a weight-loss program and aesthetic services, such as Botox.
“Our weight-loss clinic was established as an adjunct to our other services,” explains Dr. Patel. “We refer patients from all of our offices to the Wesley Chapel office, where we have the weight-loss program.”
Dr. Patel says obesity and smoking are the biggest health issues in this country. As doctors who already have relationships with women who say they want to lose weight and are struggling to do so, they decided to bring a program into the Wesley Chapel office to be able to meet the needs of those women without having to refer them to outside sources.
“Patients can choose to use medications or do the program without appetite suppressants,” says Dr. Patel, who explains that the program also includes counseling on healthy diet and exercise.
Dr. Patel’s Perspective
Dr. Patel says she first became interested in the OB/GYN field in high school, when she had the opportunity to shadow several physicians in the operating room. She got to see several procedures, including a hysterectomy, and said it was so different than her concept of what “work” would be.
“This isn’t work,” she remembers thinking. “This is helping people.”
She says it’s important to her to help women who are facing health issues, including problems like fibroids and abnormal bleeding.
“Your period should not take over your life,” she says. “It is truly satisfying to be able to help someone who has been having problems that interfere with their ability to work and enjoy life.”
Dr. Patel adds that she feels that all the doctors at Generations OB/GYN practice in a similar way. “We build relationships with each of our patients as an individual,” she says. “For complex situations, we lean on each other and work together to decide what’s best for the individual patient.”
She says this is essential because, “When you’re talking about pregnancy, there are a lot of things that can happen that aren’t by the book,” says Dr. Patel. “I believe our approach leads to better outcomes for moms and babies.”
Dr. Patel also says that working at Generations OB/GYN is, “like a dream come true. Here, we grow with the field. We follow all of the latest guidelines to ensure that we’re doing what’s best, according to evidence-based medicine. So, we are willing to change and say to our patients, ‘We used to do this, but now we do this.’”
For more info, see the ad on pg. 12, visit GenerationsOBG.com, or call the office of your choice. The practice has locations at 26823 Tanic Dr. in Wesley Chapel (929-7377); 13601 BBD, a mile south of Tampa Palms (972-9300); and at 3321 W. Bearss Ave. in Carrollwood (269-2528).
The Connected City, located at the north end of Wesley Chapel, still has a few hurdles to jump through before it brings thousands of new homes and businesses to the area in purple.
The Connected City project, approved last month by the Pasco County Development Review Committee (DRC), which was comprised of four county administrators and representatives from the Pasco School District’s Economic Development Council (EDC), is now looking towards getting the same support from the Board of County Commissioners (BCC), which will have the ultimate say.
At the first of two scheduled BCC workshops, on Dec. 6, at the Dade City Courthouse, attorney Joel Tew, who is representing the Metro Development Group, and Ernie Monaco, the county’s assistant planning and development administrator, took turns explaining the benefits of the Connected City in an effort to persuade the commissioners to eventually vote for it.
“Let’s capture the opportunity at hand,’’ Monaco pleaded.
That opportunity is to build a Connected City, essentially a new city in eastern Pasco County, even though it won’t have city limits. The project is part of a 10-year pilot program created by a new statute (SB 1216). Adopted in 2015, it allows for an expedited planning and approval process for creating city-connected corridors. For the length of the pilot program, there will be no state oversight, although there will be two-year reviews.
The Connected City — a 7,800-acre area running north from Overpass Rd. in Wesley Chapel to S.R. 52 in San Antonio, and west from I-75 to Curley Rd. — is touted by developers and planners as being the first-ever gigabit community built from the ground up. A first-of-its-kind high-tech community, developers say the Connected City will promote major job creation, alternative transportation along integrated roadways, two first-in-the-country, man-made crystal lagoons and a detailed 50-year plan.
Metro has taken the lead in the project.
“The county has zero risk,’’ Tew said. “The risk of failure is truly on the private partner.” Metro owns 35 percent of the property within the Connected City area and has been the primary developer in the process. It is looking to build communities at Epperson Ranch South, EpcoRanch North, Ashley Groves and Mirada (formerly Cannon Ranch).
One of the sticking points in the process revolves around Metro receiving transportation mobility fee credits from the county for building the primary roads in exchange for setting aside 72 acres of site-ready employment centers with necessary infrastructure in place and government permits in hand.
Tew argued that Metro deserves the credits. While many areas of the country that have tried similar projects have had to rely on a big company coming in, like Google, to foot the bill, or money from a local governmental entity, Metro has assumed all of the financial responsibility for the project so far.
“We decided to put our money where our mouth is,’’ Tew said. “The hope is that one day we can use ‘paper’ credits, and not have to wallpaper the office with them.”
Tew said that the Villages of Pasadena Hills, the county’s largest development land-wise (22,000 acres) which is located immediately west of the Connected City site, received similar credits for building roads and had to do a lot less.
“We don’t get credit for the roadways if we don’t do about 6-8 more things that are very specific, very onerous,’’ Tew said, citing the requirement that Metro provide 7.2 million sq.-ft. of employment-use property, meaning commercial/residential uses.
Tew estimates there could be another $318-million investment in infrastructure improvements by Metro, including roadways to accommodate the employment uses.
“It’s simple math,’’ he said. “For the county (giving) $92-million worth of credits, the county is getting (almost a) 4-to-1 return on infrastructure provided, when compared with the credits given.”
“With all respect,” Tew added, “we are going to get credit for building those additional roads that you are requiring us to build for these employment uses. The deal has to make economic sense.”
The additional credits, however, could leave Pasco with a $43-million shortfall for its other road projects.
That concerned new BCC chairman MIke Moore, since three of the road projects suggested for potential postponement are in his district.
“There are going to be impacts of giving credits,’’ Monaco said. “That’s the reality here.” But, he added, another reality is the thousands of jobs that the Connected City will attract to the area, as well as the millions of additional tax dollars from new residents. A University of Florida Bureau of Business & Economic Research study says Pasco County could have 250,000 new residents by 2040.
Monaco says that the Connected City’s liberal home occupation development code, surcharges being imposed to fund start-ups and having service-ready business sites ready will attract companies to the area.
Tew said he already has met with various school officials about building new schools in the Connected City, including a high school with a special high-tech program. He said in order to attract the best businesses, the area needs the best schools for workers to send their kids to, “Or else we’re dead in the water.”
Pat Gassaway of Heidt Design said that if you include the five-mile radius around the Connected City, the development plans could consist of 12 new schools — six elementary, three combined K-8 schools and three additional high schools. He said a surcharge of $579 per unit would be imposed to fund that part of the project.
There are two more hearings scheduled for Tuesday, January 17 & Tuesday, January 24. The official vote is expected to take place sometime in March of 2017.
Monaco said that if the Connected City fails, land reserved to produce a state-of-the-art community that provides jobs and additional lustre to the county — and the growing Wesley Chapel area — will instead become just another series of typical developments.
“We want a premier county,’’ Monaco said. “This is what has motivated us to work really hard on this deal.”
“We have an amazing comprehensive plan,’’ Monaco added. “There are measurements every two years. There is land development code (in the Connected City plan) other counties will copy, I am sure of it. This has never been done before.”
Ask to see the business card of one of the 30 employees who work for John Loyless at his eponymous funeral home, and you might notice something. No one has a title under their name — not even Loyless himself.
That underscores a key point about Loyless and the funeral home business he started with one employee back in 1987.
“Whether you’re directing traffic in the parking lot, or directing the funeral inside, it’s all important,” Loyless says.
Since 1994, Loyless Funeral Homes has offered Tampa Bay residents compassionate guidance during some of the most difficult times of their lives (before that, Loyless served clients only through his Florida Mortuary & Crematorium in Seminole Heights).
With a full-service funeral home and crematorium in Land O’Lakes and an Arrangement Center in the Pebble Creek Collection shopping center (behind Kobe Steak House) off Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. in New Tampa, Loyless offers clients a place close to home where they can take the necessary steps: transporting and preparing their loved one, burying or cremating them, and gathering people to honor their life in a proper ceremony.
In an industry now dominated by large corporations, Loyless remains one of the few family-owned businesses that offers value and quality. When customers come to Loyless Funeral Homes, the employees who meet with them not only get to design a unique funeral, but also serve as guides and counselors, helping families sift through their memories amidst their grief and find the perfect way to memorialize the life of their departed loved one.
“It’s a critical moment in a lot of people’s lives,” says Loyless.
Loyless grew up in Brandon and first became interested in this field when, as a student at USF, he got a part time job at a friend’s father’s funeral home. Realizing that the profession dovetailed with his inclination to help people, he left USF and studied mortuary sciences at Miami Dade Community College, graduating with his Associate in Science (A.S.) degree in Mortuary Science in 1985.
He then interned for a year with a local funeral home company before he established his business first as the Florida Mortuary & Crematorium brand in 1987 in Seminole Heights. He opened Loyless Funeral Homes in Land O’ Lakes in 1994, and the Arrangement Center in Pebble Creek followed three years ago.
“It’s convenient for families who live here in New Tampa and Wesley Chapel,” Loyless explains. Although you can do the same things at the Land O’ Lakes facility, the Arrangement Center provides a neighborhood place on BBD. where grieving families can sit down with staff members to discuss everything from flowers, readings and music to officiants and ways to memorialize loved ones. A large-screen television in a tastefully muted conference room serves as a virtual showroom for families to view catalogs and samples of caskets and urns, and examples of ways to memorialize loved ones hang on the walls.
So Many Options
Loyless employees can help direct bereaved families through a plethora of options. For the burial, families can choose from immediate, graveside services, visitations or memorial services, which can be organized at several venues from Loyless Funeral Homes itself to local churches to family homes. Those who choose cremation also can have graveside services at interment or choose to scatter ashes or keep them.
Many also opt to memorialize loved ones through a video tribute, online memory wall or keepsake stationery. For veterans, Loyless Funeral Homes can arrange everything from a riderless horse and military band to memorial plots.
The company also helps growing numbers of people preplan and prepay for their own funerals, something Loyless says comes as a relief to the family left behind, as they no longer have to guess at what music their loved one might have wanted played, for example, as well as other details.
One big change Loyless says he has seen in recent years is the increasing number of ways in which people choose to retain a small part of their loved ones.People are not only turning to cremation in greater numbers than before, they also are thinking beyond the traditional urn. Some opt for smaller repositories, so each sibling can share part of their parent, for example, while others want jewelry — called memory glass — that they can wear that can contain a portion of the ashes. Another popular item is a “thumbie,” jewelry that features an imprint of a departed loved one’s thumb.
Another change is the increase in number of non-religious funerals over the past 5-10 years, Loyless says. “We serve more people today that are unchurched, who say, ‘We want a celebration of life without a religious service.’” All the directors on Loyless’ staff are trained in officiating services for people who do not want clergy present. For those who do, Loyless also can make those arrangements.
Because the Tampa Bay area is one that so many people move into from so many other places, Loyless and his funeral directors also have served at enough funerals to learn about the nuances of the different cultures they serve. Families are often pleasantly surprised to learn that Loyless funeral directors have a working knowledge of faraway religious customs and traditions, as well as a willingness to listen and learn more.
“When you’re in a metro area with such diverse cultures, it’s important to be open and respectful,” says Loyless. “We listen.”
Loyless himself is a New Tampa local, having lived in Hunter’s Green since the early ’90s with his wife, Starr (who also is the company’s bookkeeper). Their daughters attended Hunter’s Green Elementary, Louis Benito Middle School and Paul R. Wharton High. Today, the older daughter, Brittni, 28, is studying mortuary science while her sister, Alexia, 25, attends medical school. The family’s deep roots in the community and their involvement serves as a calling card for area residents, and Loyless doesn’t take that responsibility lightly.
“When a family calls us, one of the most important things is that we want them to feel confident that they made the right choice,” says Loyless, who adds that one way he can ensure that is by hiring the right people to serve his clients’ needs.
“We have wonderful, long-term people who have been with us a long time,” says Loyless. “You can get two people with the same resume but you can see when you work with them if they are passionate about people and about those we serve. We can teach people how to do the job, but we can’t teach people to care. I’m always looking for that personality — that person who cares about other people first and foremost.”
Loyless Funeral Home is located at 5310 Land O’ Lakes Blvd., and the New Tampa Arrangement Center is at 19651 BBD Blvd., Suite E-2. For more information and pricing, visit LoylessFuneralHomes.com, call 996-6610 (Land O’Lakes) or the New Tampa Arrangement Center at 991-7500.
I love a good surprise as much as the next guy, but I was absolutely stunned by the turn of events when I attended the Greater Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce (WCCC) annual meeting, which was held Dec. 6 at Pasco Hernando State College (PHSC)’s Porter Campus at Wiregrass Ranch, and which was the program for the Chamber’s monthly business breakfast.
Clouser, the marketing director at Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel (FHWC), has spent quite a bit of money on behalf of our in-the-process-of-being-expanded, state-of-the-art hospital in these pages, and she bought into the project created by myself, Craig and WCCC president and CEO Hope Allen by agreeing for FHWC to be the Studio Sponsor of WCNT-tv for the first 16 episodes of the show, 13 of which have already aired since our launch on June 23.
