Month: April 2021

Wildcats Put Last Season In Rearview Mirror

When it comes to all of the 18 baseball teams coach Scott Hoffman has had at Wharton High, last year’s version had the potential to be one of the best.

The Wildcats started out 8-1, with every win but one by four runs or more, outscoring their opponents 73-19. It was a great start.

But then, Covid took hold, and the season, as well as the Wildcats’ hopes for a State championship, faded away.

“When you look back, we thought last year might have been our year,” Hoffman says.

However, thanks to this year’s team, the coach hasn’t had to do much lamenting. The Wildcats picked up right where they left off in 2020 and are 20-4 this season following a 6-2 win over Alonso to send them to the Class 7A, District 7 district championship game this Friday at 7 p.m. against Sickles.

The Wildcats, who win or lose in the 7A-7 final have already clinched a spot in the regional baseball playoffs, will see if they have a deep playoff run in them. They returned most of the starters from last year’s team, the pitching has been better than expected and three of their four losses — including a 6-5 loss to nationally-ranked Jesuit — have only been by a single run.

Hoffman says his squad still hasn’t put together the perfect game — although it does have two no-hitters — and thinks the 2021 Wildcats may be due. He has high hopes for this postseason.

“When we’re trying to think of the teams (we’ve had) that have gone on and done something in the postseason, I’d say we’re right about there (with them),” he says.

Pitching has been a major key. Junior starters Ryan Fry and Evan Chrest are a combined 13-2 with an ERA under 2.00, while senior Jackson Perkins is 5-0 with a 0.89 ERA.

Last month, Fry, a University of Miami commitment, threw what is believed to be the first seven-inning no-hitter in Wharton history, which also happened to be the second of back-to-back 15-strikeout games for the hard-throwing righty. Fry threw a complete game 3-hitter with nine strikeouts against Alonso in the district semifinal.

“Pitching has been the key,” says Hoffman, joking that every Wharton team he thinks will pitch well ends up hitting well, and vice versa. This year is no different, as he thought the hitting would be the team’s primary strength.

And, it hasn’t been bad. Hoffman said one hole to fill this year was developing a swing guy who could play multiple positions, and that turned out to be junior David Limbach, a backup catcher who showed more athleticism than Hoffman originally thought he had. In his utility role, Limbach has played in both the infield and outfield and is fourth on the team with a .343 batting average and tied for third-best with 20 RBI.

*Dylan McDonald leads the Wildcats in a handful of offensive categories and thinks this team could be a State championship contender.*

That puts him right behind Wharton’s formidable 1-2 punch at the top of the lineup — senior centerfielder and Saint Leo University signee Dylan McDonald and senior shortstop Zach Ehrhard, who is bound for Oklahoma State.

McDonald, who bats leadoff, leads the team with a .410 average, 10 doubles, three home runs, 33 hits and 22 RBI, while Ehrhard is hitting .440 with 12 doubles, three homers and a team-high 24 steals. Ehrhard has gotten hot at the right time the past two weeks, going 10-for-18 with two homers, three doubles and eight RBI.

“I feel like we are definitely a pretty good 1-2 combo,” McDonald says. “When I get on, I know the 2-3-4 guys tend to get me in. And, when we start out quick, we seem to do pretty well.”

In fact, the Wildcats are 15-1 when they score first, with the only loss coming to Jesuit.

The Wildcats also have flexed their muscles this season, with seven different players combining to blast a school record 17 home runs in 24 games.

In the previous five seasons combined, Wharton hit 16 homers in 111 games.

Although the Wildcats have hit well in spurts, Hoffman is still looking for that stretch of offensive consistency — they are averaging nearly nine runs a game during their current 5-game win streak — that will elevate the team to a true playoff contender. If that happens, last year could become even more of a distant memory.

“We had a really good team last year, but is this team better?,” asks McDonald. “I think we kind of flip-flop on that every day. We could have won State last year, can we win State this year? We have a lot of chemistry this year, so it’s possible. Either way, these have been two of the best years Wharton has ever had.”

baseball wharton high school

The Ever-Changing Face Of Our Neighborhood News Online Videos

Gary Nager

When I first started what was then called WCNT-TV (Wesley Chapel New Tampa Television) with a partner in 2016, my intent was to create something of a hyperlocal TV news station that would one day become a 24-hour “channel” featuring news and informational content solely about New Tampa and Wesley Chapel.

A couple of years later, not only had I taken over complete control of our online content from that former partner, we began focusing on short news and informational videos about the people, businesses and restaurants in our communities. That same year, as I was re-branding our online video content as NeighborhoodNewsOnline.net, with the help of a former producer, I applied for — and was stunned to receive — one of only 86 grants worldwide (and one of only 23 in the U.S.) from Google to expand that video content, as part of the online giant’s attempt to combat the growing proliferation of “fake news” online.

I was told by Google that even though our Neighborhood News print editions were only about two tiny (but growing) markets, a big reason we received a grant was because we had been in the business of providing real news to and for the residents and businesses of these two small submarkets of the Tampa Bay area for 26 years.

And, that grant money from Google did help us expand our online presence from an average of one video release every two weeks to more than two releases each week of 2019.

Unfortunately, Google didn’t see fit to provide us with another grant for 2020 in order to keep that momentum going the following year, which then ended up also being the year that Covid-19 changed everybody’s business.

Thanks to a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan, however, I was able to retain and continue paying all of our employees, including videographer/video producer Charmaine George, but with most people not venturing out of their homes, and working mainly from home from March through much of the summer last year, it was harder for us to continue putting out the same amount of content and even harder to create and release content that people wanted to watch, despite having so much less to do outside.

Even so, we were still able to put out more than two video releases per week, with 74 total releases for 2020, which were viewed nearly 200,000 times, with a Facebook (search “Neighborhood News”) reach of more than 300,000, bringing our overall viewership to close to 2 million through our first five years.

Our ten most-viewed videos of 2020 (all of which were viewed more than 5,000 times each, reaching an average of 12,000+ people each on Facebook) were primarily about new business and restaurant openings, especially Aldi, the Wiregrass Ranch Sports Campus of Pasco County (which had three of our top-10), The Grove, Aussie Grill, Main Event and Pasta di Guy.

Our pace for new video releases has slowed somewhat in 2021, and fewer of you have been watching them, although we also have been encouraged by the fact that our most-watched video ever was our exclusive sneak peek of the all-new Grove Theater (photo) in January, which has, to date, been viewed by more than 32,000 people with a Facebook reach of more than 53,000. We also have had decent viewership of videos about New Tampa’s new Fresh Kitchen and others.

To that end, our plan is to greatly expand our focus on dining and new business opening videos for the rest of 2021. So, if you or someone you know has a new business or one opening soon in either of our distribution areas, please email me at ads@ntneighborhoodnews.com.

Thanks for watching!

Wharton’s Warren Among District’s Budget Casualties

This is not how Jas Warren, Wharton High’s theatre teacher and director, expected the curtain to close on his long career.

Warren, who has been at the school since it opened in 1997 and helped lead the theatre department to dozens of awards and State competition appearances, is one of many teachers caught in the crosshairs after budget cuts were announced last week by Hillsborough County Superintendent of Schools Addison Davis in an effort to chop down a $100-million deficit.

The cuts mean that more than 1,200 positions in the country’s seventh-largest school district are being eliminated.

In New Tampa, Warren was far from the only teacher to be affected, but was one of the most senior among teachers who found their positions eliminated as the District continues to struggle with finances. Wharton’s theatre program has been one of the District’s best for many years.

“I guess I’m kind of a little bit sad, a little bit angry and kind of surprised,” says Warren. “I’ve done nothing but exemplary work for 31 years. I thought that meant something. I’ve been at Wharton for 24 straight years; I stood here when it was nothing but a dirt floor, and we’ve had award-winning theater productions, won at the District level and went on to the State level where we have received superior ratings. But, I guess that doesn’t seem to matter much.”

It does matter to parent Kelly Miller, whose daughter went through Warren’s program and whose son also attends the school. Miller says she was disappointed to see the program lose its founder.

“The school is known for its award- winning theater programs,” Miller says. “I’m very shocked at this. Without him, the program will collapse.”

Warren, like many of those who have seen their positions eliminated in the most recent round of cuts, was moved into the teacher’s pool — where he could land another job, although there will be few theatre positions available — because there were fewer students to teach these days.

A Hall of Fame inductee for the international Educational Theatre Association, Warren says he has been told he was being let go because he didn’t have enough students — although he still has about 50 kids in his program now, which is down from 110-120 pre-Covid.

He says he has been overwhelmed with the level of support and outrage from former students and parents, and will keep on fighting “until there is nothing to fight for.”

The theatre program will go on at Wharton, under the direction of a new teacher who also teaches other classes. The same goes for the band program at Benito Middle school, where 10-year veteran Staisy Kibart was told she no longer would run the program (but would be guaranteed a job somewhere else in the District) and it would be taken over, presumably, by another teacher.

Kibart says that when cuts were made last fall, she was told something was coming down. This time, she says she was caught off guard. “We were told something could happen in the fall when cuts were coming in October, but that conversation was never had this time around,” Kibart says. “I was pulled in Wednesday afternoon (April 14) and the bomb was dropped. They said we have to let a music teacher go, and it’s you.”

Benito will have a net loss of 8.08 positions, while Liberty Middle School will lose 6.88. Turner-Bartels K-8 School, however, is losing 16 positions, including five positions in grades 1-4, three Exceptional Student Education (ESE) positions and a music teacher, believed to be chorus.

At the high schools, Wharton actually gained some key positions (including two in reading) and will suffer a net loss of only 3.48 positions, while Freedom High will lose 12.32 positions.

However, Freedom principal Kevin Stephenson says those numbers don’t equal teachers. When vacancies that will go unfilled are unaccounted for, he “only” expects to lose 5-6 teachers.

Stephenson says the cuts will hurt everyone, but are needed.

“It’s something our District really needs to do to get into alignment financially,” he says. “There are challenges, but we have those every year. You have to make payroll, and that means doing things that are really tough.”

The cuts come after dozens of meetings between Davis, the School Board and principals and assistant principals this year.

District 3 School Board member Jessica Vaughn, a Tampa Palms resident, says the cuts are hard on so many but she feels Davis and his staff tried to be as thoughtful as they could, by including school administrators in the process.

But, in order to avoid a state takeover of the District for not meeting certain thresholds in the county reserves, as well as payroll, Vaughn said the action had to be taken.

“I don’t see any way around the cuts to avoid the State taking us over,” she says. “We have to stay out of receivership. I don’t trust the intentions of the State when it comes to doing what’s best for the District.”

Instead of directing her ire at Davis, Vaughn pointed a finger at the State legislature, which she says has continued to vote against providing more money for education and has instead focused on charter school expansion.

Necessary or not, “I think that these cuts drastically, drastically hurt our School District, and that we will feel it for a long time to come.”

hillsborough county schools wharton high school

Double Branch: Finally Cooking!

The kitchen at Double Branch Artisanal Ales (DBAA), the first business to sign a lease at the new Village at The Grove development, is finally open.

Travis Glenn and his wife Tammi (photo) are renting the space from DBAA co-owner Ryan Clarke and will manage the food side of the micro-brewery, which is called “Omnivorous.” Travis has been a general manager of various restaurants in his 30 years in and out of the business, including eight years at the Dark Horse Brewing Company in Marshall, MI.

Travis has been with DBAA since the day it opened, working as a bartender, but when the original kitchen manager backed out, he applied to take over.

That’s good news for the pub, which has weathered Covid-19, and the lack of a kitchen, from the day it opened. Travis says you could just see the money floating out the door as patrons stopped by for a beer on their way to dinner somewhere else. “It’s been a huge loss,” he says. “People pop their heads in and ask if we have food. I feel like I’ve turned away 30-35 people a day. It happens all the time.”

The menu at Omnivorous features wings, burgers and “good, honest, straightforward bar-type food” with some personal touches, like amazing Brussels sprouts. Everything is made from scratch, his brisket is smoked in-house, the burgers are smash-style and one of Travis’s goals is to have the best chicken wings in the area, with some unique sauces.

One of his fryers is dedicated to only vegan and gluten-free options, like French fries and those delicious Brussels sprouts.

DBAA has other plans as well. There’s a new brewer, Robert Hunt, who used to work at Tampa Beer Works, in charge of the beers. Ryan says they will continue to produce the wide variety of pilsener, IPA, Hazy and Sour beverages, including a soon-to-be released Grove Gold Florida pilsener, named after Grove developer Mark Gold.

Ryan also had added video and board games to the selection of entertainment, and is already hosting events like yoga, where an hour of Sunday yoga is followed by a beer. The first yoga class was held last month, drawing 23 people. And, while Omnivorous isn’t currently open on Sundays, adding brunch on the weekends also is being considered.

Ryan also would like to put together a Father’s Day beer festival.

“The (Covid) delays have definitely created challenges,” Ryan says. “We’re still very excited about the things coming to The Grove, like the container park, and the new apartments across the street, and looking forward to what this can be.”

For more information about Double Branch Artisanal Ales (5956 Wesley Grove Blvd.), call (813) 492-8800 or visit DBAA.com. — JCC

DBAA food

Blue Heron Senior Living To Host Open House Apr. 28!

Whether you’re a senior citizen considering assisted living yourself or you need memory care for an aging parent, I hope you’ll take advantage of the opportunity to check out the Blue Heron Senior Living & Memory Care getting ready to open off Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. south of S.R. 54 in Wesley Chapel, which will be the first in our area that also will provide on-site skilled nursing and rehabilitation services in either of our distribution areas.

Blue Heron, which is being developed by TLC Management, is hosting an incredible Open House celebration on Wednesday, April 28, 1 p.m.-3 p.m., so if you or someone you love is considering moving to an assisted living facility, you should definitely visit that event (or call the number at the end of this story to arrange a tour if you can’t make it that day).

The Open House event will include a variety of foods prepared by Blue Heron’s in-house chef, refreshments, live music and tours of this beautiful new addition to the Wesley Chapel community.

Blue Heron’s community relations director Sarah Dymond and executive director Kimberly Lehigh took the Neighborhood News on a recent sneak preview tour of the 159,000-sq.-ft. facility and we definitely came away impressed.

The place, which is visible from I-75, looks huge from the outside (see drone photo), but actually is laid out so that it still feels cozy, comfortable and homey.

The entrance lobby is warm and inviting, with comfortable seating and a gas-fired fireplace where residents and visitors can sit and enjoy each other’s company. Directly behind the lobby is the equally attractive main dining area, while to your right is an open kitchen area called The Bistro, where residents can enjoy grab-and-go snacks, coffee drinks and other beverages (there’s even wine on tap) and watch TV as they enjoy their snacks and beverages.

Behind the main dining room is a beautiful outdoor patio, complete with a gas grill, a putting green and plenty of umbrella-covered seating, all overlooking a sizable pond. The outdoor area also will feature live music events for residents.

The first floor also features a great workout facility/wellness center, as well as an art studio/gallery, spa/salon and a life enrichment center.

The separate and secure Memory Care area, which has its own lobby, its own dining room and 22 studio apartments featuring a front-porch-cottage theme, also is on the first floor.

The upper floors are home to Blue Heron’s 73 one- and two-bedroom assisted living apartments, all of which are beautifully designed, with their own kitchens, washer and dryers and easy-access showers.

And, perhaps best of all, Blue Heron is a true rental community, with no buy-in required. “Our residents are free from long-term financial commitments,” Sarah says, “and have the flexibility to manage their own assets and investments.”

Skilled Nursing & Rehab, Too

As mentioned earlier, Blue Heron is the only assisted living facility in either of our distribution areas that also offers both short-term rehabilitation services and skilled nursing care on-site.

For residents who require 24-hour nursing care, Blue Heron has private suites in its health & rehabilitation center, where each resident will enjoy consistent care delivered by a dedicated team of professional, licensed specialists.

Offering short-term rehab in Florida’s newest state-of-the-art therapy center, Blue Heron’s health and rehabilitation blends the comforts of a luxury hotel with advanced therapies and facilities in a unique “Return to Home” program that includes private suites, advanced therapy equipment, physical, occupational and speech therapies, virtual reality workouts and neighborhood amenities.

“There’s really nothing like us in this community,” Lehigh says. “Our leadership team is super-excited. I believe we’ve hired the best of the best.”

For more information about the Apr. 28 Open House at Blue Heron Senior Living (5085 Eagleston Blvd.) or to arrange a private tour, call (813) 454-0513 or visit SeniorLivingatBlueHeron.com.

assisted living facility Blue Heron