Austin Channels (left), a Boy Scout with Troop 180, built this sign for Freedom High in Tampa Palms as his Eagle project. Austin (with Freedom principal Kevin Stephenson) will graduate from the school next May.
To achieve the rank of Eagle Scout, the highest rank for scouts with the Boy Scouts of America (BSA), Austin Channels had to lead a project that would help his community.
As a student at Freedom High in Tampa Palms, who will start his senior year this fall, Austin wanted to do something to impact his school for good.
“In previous years, there was a football sign that was up with the football schedule,” Austin explains. “Every year, they had to make a new sign and print it just for the new football schedule.”
So Austin — with the help of his mom, Kim — came up with the idea for an interchangeable sign that could make announcements for all the sports and other important school-related info.
Austin got approval from the school and led a team of fellow scouts and family members to conceptualize, design, build and implement the sign, plus add lighting and landscaping. He had to do his own fund raising to purchase materials, and says he met his goal of about $800 by selling T-shirts.
He worked to pick the perfect spot for the sign, where it could be seen by cars both entering and leaving the school.
Now, Austin’s sign will be maintained by the school, with student assistants changing the words on it as needed.
A final phase of the project will be to add clear plexiglass and a lock, so that no one can switch the letters around without the school’s authorization.
Austin is glad to be able to use his Eagle project as a platform to do something significant at his high school.
“It was cool to give back,” Austin says. “After being there for years with everyone teaching you, it’s good to give back to the school a little bit.”
Austin’s Eagle project is the culmination of his many years in Scouts, starting with Cub Scouts, when he was in third grade at Tampa Palms Elementary.
To achieve the Eagle rank, he’ll need to complete a Board of Review, which he expects to do soon. Once he earns the Eagle rank, his family will host a celebration this fall.
“It’s not as easy as other people made it look,” says Austin, who explains he’s seen many older scouts complete their Eagle projects, “because you’re leading everyone, you’re not just doing the project.”
Austin is a member of Troop 180, which meets at Compton Park in Tampa Palms. He says the best thing about his Boy Scout experience has been some of the incredible trips he’s had the opportunity to take, such as a 50-mile backpacking trip through the mountains of Wyoming, including Yellowstone Park.
He says his journey to earn the Eagle rank is just another part of his Scouting experience, and he looks forward to finishing out the year with his troop before he completes the program when he graduates high school.
“It’s like mountain climbing,” Austin says, “You climb one, but then there’s another one a little bit taller that you can climb.”
His dad, Steve, who is a teacher at Freedom, says Austin’s scouting experience has taught him skills and helped him to be more self-reliant than many kids his age.
“Austin has little side businesses repairing cell phones and doing car repairs that has taught him to appreciate money,” says Steve. “He bought his own car with his own money, after saving for several years. Not many teenagers do that.”
Steve says his son has spent a lot of his time this summer doing yard work for elderly neighbors, including one he drives to various appointments and whenever she needs a ride somewhere.
“It’s been a delight to follow his journey,” says Steve, “and yes, I’m really proud of him.”
Classical ballet, modern, jazz, tap, and even hip-hop classes are offered at the New Tampa Dance Theatre, where future dance pros and recreational dancers all receive outstanding training.
It may be housed in a quiet building on a busy suburban street, but the New Tampa Dance Theatre (NTDT) offers dancers a world-class, professional experience that is unmatched in the Tampa Bay area, whether you or your child like to dance for fun or dream of a career on stage one day.
Located on Cross Creek Blvd. (across from Heritage Isles) in New Tampa, the 7,500-square-foot NTDT is the largest professional dance training facility in the New Tampa/Wesley Chapel area. Owner and artistic director Dyane Elkins IronWing is in her 24th season of creating dance memories and futures for her New Tampa- and Wesley Chapel-area students, many of whom have gone on to study dance in college and/or dance professionally.
“As always, I’m so proud of our students,” says Elkins IronWing. “Our dancers become excellent college students, with their impressive time-management skills, perseverance and creative thinking.”
Elkins IronWing herself says she started dancing at age 5, later trained in New York City, and performed with the Ballet Metropolitan in Columbus, Ohio.
She moved to Tampa in 1995 to be near family and friends and immediately opened NTDT in the Pebble Creek Collection on Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. In 2002, she purchased the property on Cross Creek Blvd., designed her spacious new studio herself, and moved the school to the new building in January 2006.
With the bigger location, Elkins IronWing was off and running, offering smaller class sizes and larger, more varied schedules.
She says she also has a larger pool of students today, with the ongoing explosive growth in Wesley Chapel.
“Our name might say New Tampa; however, our location is much closer to Wesley Chapel than one might assume,” says Elkins IronWing. “We are extremely convenient to all of the current growth (there). Wesley Chapel families are shocked to discover just how close we are and excited because of how quickly they can drive to our school.”
All Ages & Experience Levels
Elkins IronWing caters to both the recreational dance lover as well as the devoted pre-professional, and every level in between.
NTDT’s leveled curriculum offers multiple art forms for students to explore. Through personalized attention and professional expertise, the NTDT faculty provides a positive educational experience based on the studio’s core principles of respect, responsibility and teamwork.
Teen/Adult classes include four eight-week sessions (from Sept.-May) of classical ballet, tap and Zumba.
Children ages 3-4 can participate in the Early Childhood Program, ages 5-8 can take part in the Children’s Program, and ages 9-18 can participate in NTDT’s Youth Program.
In addition to classical ballet, the studio offers full programs in creative movement, modern, jazz, tap and hip-hop.
Each program has its own directors and specific syllabuses guiding students in a structured manner through their studies.
Dyane’s husband, Troy IronWing, is NTDT’s director of tap, while she will instruct ballet, jazz and creative movement classes this season. Both have continued to tour internationally, now for 14 years, with the Rhythm Extreme performance troupe.
In addition, NTDT ballet director Cristy Garcia Tanner started her dance training at age 3 in her native Puerto Rico, and at age 13, she was invited to join the Ballet Concierto Company in San Juan, PR.
Modern dance director Carla Armstrong, who joined the NTDT faculty in 2005, graduated from the prestigious Juilliard School in New York City with a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) degree in Dance.
Jazz director Kristine Morgan has been dancing professionally since age 19, and she earned her BFA degree in Dance from Point Park University in Pittsburgh, PA, and also currently is the director of entertainment at Busch Gardens.
Hip-hop Director Dreama Davidson, who also has been with the school since 2005, has 19 years of professional performances and choreography to her credit, including participating in the “Katonga” show at Busch Gardens.
The facilities at NTDT are as top notch as the instructors, and include maple flooring for the tap classes, 20-25-ft.-tall mirrored walls, student locker rooms and a large studio space that can accommodate up to 200 people. Sprung floors provide shock absorption to protect the dancers’ joints, and an on-site physical therapist ensures the health of the dancers. NTDT also features a café offering light meals, snacks, coffee and other drinks.
The Training You Need
NTDT has developed a reputation for creating strong, professional dancers with alumni who have moved on to highly respected companies, Broadway productions and the Walt Disney Company.
Because NTDT students learn to be proficient in multiple art forms, these students have an edge in the competitive world of dance and many of them have been accepted into prestigious summer intensive programs, including the School of American Ballet and American Ballet Theater in New York City, The Harid Conservatory in Boca Raton, the Joffrey Ballet in Chicago and the Boston Ballet.
However, Elkins IronWing also is diligent about providing the same quality of instruction to the roughly 60 percent of the students who are enrolled in NTDT’s popular recreational programs, who have no professional dance ambitions.
“If a student doesn’t choose to pursue a career in dance after high school, they can still reach a level of artistry to be accepted into many college dance programs,” says Elkins IronWing. “Believing in yourself, respecting the process of working toward a goal, and having a well-rounded dance education give our students the tools and confidence to continue discovering new passions throughout their lifetimes.”
Great Productions, Too!
All students get to perform in the “Spring Production” and — through the studio’s nonprofit partner, the Dance Theatre of Tampa (DTT) — in the winter production of “The Nutcracker,” as well as the “Summer Concert Series,” held in June at USF.
DTT provides more than 300 free tickets to NTDT’s corporate sponsors, local community supporters, alumni members and students. A small costume rental fee for productions is the only cost over the tuition that parents have to pay at any time — there is never a requirement to buy advertising or pay performance fees.
New Tampa residents Dan and Lisa Sirois relocated here from Port St. Lucie in 2016 and enrolled their daughter at NTDT.
“With Cassidy dancing since she was 3, choosing the correct school was important,” Lisa says. “Right away, we knew we made the right decision. We appreciate the fact that Dyane faithfully believes in running the school with a policy that all students are treated fairly, with no favoritism. Absolutely no bullying is allowed. And, above all, Dyane strives to help guide each student to become respectful, decent human beings as well as great dancers.”
Transferring at 11 years old, Lisa says Cassidy was originally placed in the Youth Program Level 3 and has made true, long-lasting friendships at NTDT. “Her dance technique and confidence have improved tremendously because of all the extremely caring and knowledgeable dance teachers,” Lisa says. “She loves NTDT!”
Every holiday season, Dyane says local residents look forward to the community’s largest and longest-running interpretation of Tchaikovsky’s classic ballet, “The Nutcracker,” now in its 19th season. This year, it will be held Friday-Sunday, December 14-16, at USF Tampa’s College of the Arts Theater 1.
You can catch free sneak peeks of NTDT’s “The Nutcracker” at the Shops at Wiregrass mall on Saturday, November 24, Friday, November 30, Saturday, December 1 and Friday-Saturday, Dec. 7-9.
NTDT’s much-awaited Sugar Plum Fairy Tea fundraiser is now in its 14th season and will be held Sunday, December 2, at USF’s Gibbons Alumni Center. This popular event features a light lunch, desserts (including a chocolate fountain), giveaways, a sneak preview of “The Nutcracker,” and an opportunity to dance with Clara (the lead role of the young girl who receives the beloved Nutcracker as a Christmas gift) and her “party friends.”
Each year, a portion of the proceeds from the Tea is donated to the Ronald McDonald House Charities in South Tampa. Tickets for both the Tea and “The Nutcracker” go on sale on Monday, October 1.
“It’s all about the children at NTDT, always has been and always will be,” Dyane says. “We are a company that enables children to succeed. The key is setting high expectations all while having fun and building self-confidence. With the amazing season ahead of us, we would like to thank all of our trusting and loyal families over the years and the organizations that continually support our vision. Without their recognition and time, NTDT wouldn’t be the magical place it has become!”
The New Tampa Dance Theatre offers year-round free trial classes for prospective dancers of all ages. To tour the facility or to rent it for a meeting, party or function, visit NTDT at 10701 Cross Creek Blvd. For more information and to check out the exciting lineup of fall classes, visit NewTampaDanceTheatre.com or call (813) 994-NTDT (6838).
You can now add Ruby Tuesday to the list of New Tampa restaurants that have closed in recent years, as it joins Casa Ramos and Las Palmas this year alone. (Photo: John C. Cotey)
Longtime New Tampa fixture Ruby Tuesday abruptly closed its doors in late July, which was a surprise to many local residents.
The restaurant, which boasted “Simple Fresh American Dining” and had arguably the best (only?) salad bar around, was located on the corner of Highwoods Preserve Pkwy. and Bruce B. Downs Blvd., in front of the popular AMC Highwoods 20 movie theater.
While it didn’t lack for passing traffic, it apparently was lacking in paying customers, joining more than 100 Ruby Tuesdays across the country that have been shuttered over the last year.
Based in Maryville, TN, the dining chain was purchased by NRD Capital last year, and named Ray Blanchette as CEO in January in an effort to turn the company around.
Visitors on July 22 were greeted by a printed sheet of paper taped to the inside of the front door, saying “This Location Has Closed,” and directing people to the Ruby Tuesday in Valrico.
The manager at the Valrico restaurant confirmed that the New Tampa location was closed for good, but declined to answer any other questions. Messages left at Ruby Tuesday’s corporate offices were not returned.
Ruby Tuesday joins a growing list of shuttered restaurants in New Tampa in the past two years.
This year alone, Tampa Palms Mexican restaurant Casa Ramos and Pebble Creek’s Las Palmas Spanish Café have closed their doors, joining others like Dairy Queen and Vuelo’s Mexican Grill on BBD, as well as Beef O’Brady’s on Cross Creek Blvd.
The Dairy Queen location has a new tenant that has yet to open, but is expected to
be a Jamaican restaurant, and the old Vuelo’s site (which was formerly a Romano’s Macaroni Grill) may have a new restaurant group interested in bringing something new to the area, but the others remain vacant.
And, speaking of places that have closed recently in New Tampa, the H.H. Gregg appliance and electronics store located in the Market Square plaza on Commerce Palms Dr. in Tampa Palms closed last year, and last month, the Staples store in the same plaza shut down.
“We are now at 100-percent occupancy,” Tampa Premium Outlets (TPO) general manager Stacey Nance told me at the July 20 ribbon cutting event for the new Kate Spade store (photo) in TPO. “How many malls can say that?”
In addition to Kate Spade (see below), Nance says the remaining three slots at the outlet mall also are all now taken — True Religion Designer Jeans & Clothing, Salt Life and the Man Cave Store, which has been a hit at other Simon malls with billiards tables, Harley Davidson gear, Mr. Beer and more.
But, there’s no doubt that a lot of people — dozens were on hand during or shortly after the store’s ribbon cutting to check out the deals — are excited about the high-end handbags, wallets, clothing and accessories at Kate Spade, the store chain that the late designer Kate Brosnahan and her husband Andy Spade (the brother of actor/comedian David Spade) created as Kate Spade New York in 1993, combining her first name and his surname. The couple had sold all of their interest in the brand to Nieman Marcus by 2006, which then sold it to Liz Claiborne that same year.
Of course, Kate was found dead in her apartment on June 5 of this year, by her own hand, leaving a note for her daughter Frances.
“We signed this lease in December,” Nance, an admitted fan of the brand, said. “And we’re really excited that Kate Spade is open.”
Get Ready For The Hyatt Place!
“We know there’s not enough hotel rooms in Wesley Chapel right now,” says Karen Martin, the director of sales for the new 132-room Hyatt Place hotel on the north side of S.R. 56, next to Bahama Breeze, which had its “soft” opening on July 31. “But, it’s about to get a lot more fun out here.”
Martin says that although the six-story hotel just opened, “My phone’s been ringing off the hook for weeks, especially with people booking rooms for tournaments at the hockey rink (Florida Hospital Center Ice, located just east of I-75 on S.R. 56, while the Hyatt Place is just west of the interstate).
Although Martin says the new Hyatt Place doesn’t have full Hyatt resort amenities, it does have a Gallery restaurant and bar, a separate breakfast area, an outdoor swimming pool, nice fitness and business centers and meeting spaces with built-in audio/visual features.
The adjacent Sierra Conference Center has a really nice ballroom that Martin says can seat about 350 people with tables in a banquet setup and can be subdivided into three smaller ballrooms, which can each seat at least 250 people each in a theatre-style seating set-up. Martin says she also loves the conference center’s adjacent break-out and outdoor seating areas.
“But, to really get a feel for whether or not we should be hosting your event,” she says, “you should come out and take a tour. We’re all really excited to be open.”
She adds that the hotel hopes to host an upcoming “Final Friday” networking event for the North Tampa Bay Chamber of Commerce and is planning “a big Grand Opening event sometime in November.”
The Hyatt Place Wesley Chapel is located at 26000 Sierra Center Blvd. For more information, call (813) 803-5600 or visit HyattPlace.com.
We’ll have updates about the Hilton Garden Inn & Residence Inn hotels coming soon to S.R. 56 in our next issue.
Here & There, This & That…
• I can’t even tell you how excited my taste buds are now that Taste of New Tampa & Wesley Chapel favorite Nothing Bundt Cakes has opened across from Noble Crust in the Shops at Wiregrass mall. Whether you love red velvet or dark chocolate cake with extra creamy white icing, or the decadent white chocolate raspberry bundt cake, Nothing Bundt Cakes will have you salivating for more.
Check out a free sample when you visit and please tell the staff that you read all about them in the New Tampa Neighborhood News!
• I also was sad to hear, despite owner Ramses Garcia’s best efforts to negotiate a new lease with his landlord, that Las Palmas Spanish Café, the Latin/Cuban favorite located behind Kobe Steakhouse in the Pebble Creek Collection on Bruce B. Downs Blvd. (a mile south of County Line Rd.), had closed.
Garcia had been talking to me for several months about how hard it had been for the businesses in the plaza to stay afloat, with the Bruce B. Downs widening construction still ongoing in front of the plaza, but he was still hoping to work things out less than two weeks before he announced the closing on Facebook. Will Garcia reopen in another location? We’ll keep you posted!
• Meanwhile, congratulations go out to my friends Travis and Fiona Monday, the owners of Fit 4 Life Personal Training & Physical Therapy Studio (17419 Bridge Hill Ct. in Tampa Palms), who celebrated the studio’s 22nd year in business with another great Martini Party, catered by the nearby Stonewood Grill & Tavern, on July 20.
Hillsborough County commisioner candidates Ken Hagan, Victor Crist and Ray Chiaramonte are among those hoping to advance beyond Tuesday’s primaries to the Nov. 6 election.
Two county commissioners with long-time ties to New Tampa — former resident Ken Hagan and current Tampa Palms resident Victor Crist — will be hoping to win their Primary Elections on Tuesday, August 28, in their efforts to effectively swap seats in the general election on Nov. 6.
Both have been term-limited out of their current positions.
Comm. Hagan, who is currently the District 5 commissioner, a countywide seat, is running in District 2, which represents all of New Tampa, as well as Lutz, Temple Terrace and Thonotosassa. Hagan held the Dist. 2 seat from 2002-10.
Comm. Crist, currently the Dist. 2 commissioner, is running for Hagan’s Dist. 5 seat.
Hagan, 50, has been one of the highest-profile commissioners in recent months, due to his role as the county’s lead negotiator in luring the Rays to Tampa to play in a proposed $892-million stadium in Ybor City.
For his primary race against first-time office seeker Chris Paradies, Hagan had raised a staggering $484,374 at our press time. Paradies, a Keystone resident who has been critical of Hagan’s position as a political lifer who attempts to avoid term limits by jumping seats in order to stay in office, had raised $27,523.
Ken Hagan
Hagan, who has often been viewed as a pro-development commissioner, has been active in seeking New Tampa’s support in his current campaign. He has co-hosted two local town hall meetings with Dist. 7 Tampa City Council member Luis Viera and has been active in trying to get new parks built or expanded in K-Bar Ranch and Branchton Park off Morris Bridge Rd.
Hagan also proposed adding $250,000 to the county budget last year to speed up a potential connection of Kinnan St. to Mansfield Blvd. in Meadow Pointe.
In June, FloridaPolitics.com named Hagan the ninth most powerful politician in Tampa Bay.
Democrat Angela Birdsong, like Hagan, a Carrollwood resident, has raised $21,674, and she awaits the winner of Hagan vs. Paradies. Birdsong has recently picked up her efforts in New Tampa, as she seeks to expand her profile.
Crist, 61, is running against Angel S. Urbina Capo in countywide Dist. 5.
A longtime local fixture, Crist has been a strong proponent of a New Tampa Cultural Center, which is expected to finally come to fruition — by 2020. He championed, as did Hagan when he served in Dist. 2, the idea of a New Tampa “town center,” which is now under development at the Hunter’s Lake project across from Hunter’s Green.
Comm. Crist had raised $121,300 at our press time, while Capo, a 47-year-old cybersecurity consultant, was at $6,768.
Crist talks to a group at Hunter’s Green Country Club last year about plans for a New Tampa Cultural Center.
Crist’s profile, connections and list of accomplishments in government dwarf Capo’s, and he is favored to win the primary. In Nov. 6, the winner will face Joe Kotvas, who is not affiliated with any party, and whoever emerges from the Democratic primary between Mariella Smith and Elvis Piggott.
Smith, a fourth-generation Tampa native currently living in Ruskin, is a 64-year-old small business owner and has been a longtime citizen advocate and community leader who could present a formidable challenge to Crist should she defeat Piggott, a 30-year-old church pastor who had been out-raised $73,978 to $20,315.
A crowded field is seeking the District 7 seat, which also is countywide.
Four Democrats – Ray Chiaramonte, Mark Nash, Kimberly Overman and Sky White — are running. All have either governmental or activist experience.
Nash has held the edge in fund-raising, pulling in $82,768, but Chiaramonte wasn’t far behind at $74,876, followed by Overman ($54,410) and White ($9,718.22).
Chiaramonte, who stopped in at the Neighborhood News office to talk county politics with editor Gary Nager, has been the executive director of the county’s Planning Commission, Metropolitan Planning Organization and most recently, the Tampa Bay Area Regional Transportation Authority (TBARTA, from which he elected not to renew his contract last year).
He says that as a lifelong Hillsborough resident and regional transportation specialist, he is the candidate in the best position to help focus on the transportation issues throughout our area. Look for more of Gary’s interview with Chiaramonte in these pages if he wins the primary.
Republican Aakash Patel, however, has raised more than all of them combined. With a $381,594 war chest (that tops half a million dollars when you include money raised by his political committee, Elevate Tampa), Patel also has some big-time endorsements from Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, State House Speaker Richard Corcoran, former Speaker Will Weatherford and Congressman Gus Bilirakis.
His opponent on August 28, attorney Todd Marks, had raised $138,866.
School Board primary elections also will be held, though not for New Tampa’s District 3 seat, currently held by Cindy Stuart. However, a countywide seat in District 6 (to replace April Griffin) is up for grabs, and a field of six candidates will contend for the spot on Primary Day.
