Excel Music Adds Two Exciting New Programs To Better Serve You! 

Excel Music piano & guitar teacher Regnarene Brown (left) will teach the Royal Conservatory of Music program at Excel, which is located in the Cory Lake Professional Center on Cross Creek Blvd. (Photos by Charmaine George) 

Located in the Cory Lake Professional Center on Cross Creek Blvd., Excel Music has been teaching children and adults private lessons in voice, piano, guitar, drums, strings, clarinet, recorder, flute, saxophone, and other musical instruments for 17 years. 

Serving the communities of Wesley Chapel, New Tampa, Excel Music co-founders John and Sheri Thrasher cannot contain their delight when they talk about two exciting new programs — one that is available immediately and the other beginning next month (January 2024). 

Royal Conservatory-trained and certified teacher Regnarene Brown has joined the faculty of 14 music teachers to instruct Royal Conservatory Piano. 

“This is a method intended for more serious students,” Regnarene says. “There’s an adjudication process. They prepare and perform pieces for judges before they can move on to the next level. It’s for a student who might be interested in a career or pursuing music at a more serious level.” 

John adds, “Typically, we start kids in piano at 5, but an adult can start Royal Conservatory if they want to.” 

As excited as he is about the Royal Conservatory, John is equally thrilled about Excel’s other new program. 

“We are officially starting a Keyboard Band Piano Jam class in January,” he says. “This class is for 7-10 year olds, typically beginners, but intermediate students would also enjoy it. From Day One, they’re learning pop songs, and each child gets their own part to play. There are four levels. It’s like gamified learning, like a karate class where once they master a level, they move up to the next level.” 

The Keyboard Band students will learn the same skills taught in private lessons, but instead, will work with 4-5 other students in a small group setting. They will work on music reading, as well as chords, melodies and improvisation. 

“Playing with other people, you feel inspired to try a little harder,” John says. “Even if your part is simple, it’s important. It matters. Quite often, kids worry that playing the piano will be too hard, and that at-home practice will feel more like homework, not something they’ll enjoy. This program is designed to eliminate that concern by establishing some quick wins for the students, so much so that after just a few lessons, each student will have the basic skills needed to play their favorite song. Every three to four months, they will perform at a concert — not a recital, but a concert— and/or they’ll do a professional YouTube music video. I have never been as excited for a class.” 

John hopes to schedule the first Keyboard Band concert and video in Apr. 2024. 

Post-Pandemic Changes 

During the pandemic, Excel Music brought lessons online only, but since reopening to in-person lessons, has continued to offer students the convenience of virtual classes. 

“We still have a fairly large number of students participating virtually,” he says. “It’s been a great fit. We’ve had students who have moved out of the state or even the country continue their private lessons with us. Many families return to their native countries during the summertime, and the students can continue their music lessons while away. That’s been a real benefit to kids during the three-month ‘summer slump,’ when many kids tend to slip backward (at school). Learning music is no different, so this has really helped.” 

He adds, “Our focus is on education first. Many places that give lessons, particularly on multiple instruments and voice, are often retail facilities that also offer lessons. We’ve turned that model around. We do have some retail, but only in support of the individual lessons. These are accessories that students need to succeed and do well in their music lessons.” 

Dreva Pauley (left) will work with kids in Excel Music’s new Keyboard Band Piano Jam program, which begins next month. 

With each class or curriculum designed for that particular student, regardless of the student’s skill level or style of music they like, everything can be accommodated in a private lesson, whether in person or online. 

At Excel Music, all teachers are either university-trained (many with Master of Music degrees) or have a decade of study and performing experience. The Thrashers take pride in hiring not only the most qualified teachers but also some of the nicest. 

“I want people who are there because they love to teach and have a real passion,” ays John. “People who get a thrill when they see the student’s eyes light up with understanding when they cross that threshold, and the look on their face says, ‘Oh, I got it. It’s an incredibly exciting moment — the thrill of sharing a student’s ‘a-ha’ moment.” 

Student Sam Z says, “I like that my teacher encourages me to learn more and more music, and he gets me music that I want to learn.” 

Upcoming to Excel Music is the ability to text the music school, do online enrollment, and have 24/7 access to information about lessons and answers to questions parents raise. 

“Over the years, we’ve improved at providing not only a quality music education but also a fantastic experience for our students,” John says. “We’ve developed many systems that have streamlined and made the way we teach music more effective, as well as how we’ve used technology to improve our service and continue to use newer technologies.” 

When not running their music school, John and Sheri, who live in Wesley Chapel, are lovers of the performing arts, traveling and pampering their two pet cats. 

Excel Music is located at 10353 Cross Creek Blvd., Suite I. It is open Mon.- Thur., 2 p.m.-9 p.m., 2 p.m.-7 p.m. on Fri., and 10 a.m.-3 p.m. on Sat. It is closed on Sunday. For more info, call (813) 991-1177, or visit newtampamusicschool.com. 

Looking Back At The Five Top Wesley Chapel News Stories Of 2023! 

(Above) BayCare Hospital Wesley Chapel held its official ribbon-cutting on Bruce B. Downs Blvd. in Feb. 2023, while (below) Orlando Health Wiregrass Ranch Hospital broke ground on Wesley Chapel’s largest hospital earlier this year. 
1. Hospitals In The News — 

Although its actual ten-year anniversary was in 2022, a number of things caused AdventHealth Wesley Chapel to postpone its 10-year celebration until Feb. 2023, which would, on its own, be pretty big news for Wesley Chapel. 

However, Feb. 2023 also saw the opening of Wesley Chapel’s second hospital — the 86-bed BayCare Hospital Wesley Chapel, less than two miles north of AdventHealth, which also brought the community out in force to check out the new hospital’s advanced technology. 

But wait, that’s not all! Later in 2023, Orlando Health broke ground on its own Wesley Chapel location on S.R. 56 at Wiregrass Ranch Bvd. With its 300 beds, the multi-story Orlando Health Wiregrass Ranch Hospital will be Wesley Chapel’s largest. 

At our press time, the site work for the new hospital was well under way, although vertical construction had not yet begun. We also did not yet have an estimated opening date, but it’s unlikely the new hospital will be completed and opened before 2025. 

And finally, John’s Hopkins All Children’s Hospital announced its plans to build a 356,000-sq.-ft. pediatric hospital at the Wildcat-Bailes site on Overpass Rd. (at McKendree Rd.) near I-75 in the “Connected City” project, although an exact number of beds had not yet been announced, nor was the deal finalized at our press time. 

2. Overpass Rd. Exit Off I-75 Opens —

In the entire 30+ years the Neighborhood News has been in business, Wesley Chapel originally only had one exit off of I-75 — Exit #279 at S.R. 54 — and received its second exit, Exit #275, at the new S.R. 56 about a decade ago. 

The new Exit 282 off of I-75 at Overpass Rd. opened in Jan 2023. 

Since then, there has been no exit off I-75 between S.R. 54’s Exit 279 and Exit 285 at S.R. 54 in the San Antonio/Dade City area. 

That remained true until Jan. of this year, when the new Exit 282 off I-75 opened at the new Overpass Rd. extension (see photo right), which finally connected Overpass from Old Pasco Rd. all the way to Epperson, Curley Rd. and even beyond, through the Watergrass community. Overpass Rd. will one day connect to Handcart Rd. in Zephyrhills. 

The new exit has done a pretty good job of helping to reduce rush-hour traffic at the S.R. 54 exit and is definitely stimulating new growth in and around the area — growth that not all local residents are thrilled about. 

Among the new development swirling around the new exit is the previously mentioned Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital, as well as a possible multi-family or mixed-use development at the corner of Overpass, I-75 and Old Pasco Rd.

We’ll keep you posted. 

3. Saddlebrook Redevelopment Plan Approved —

Saddlebrook Resort and the community that sprouted up around it became the first large-scale development in Wesley Chapel when owner and former Pendant Publishing founder Tom Dempsey developed it in the early 1980s. 

More than 40 years later, Dempsey’s resort and the surrounding community had lost a lot of their lustre and the resort, in particular, had fallen into disarray. 

A rendering of Mast Capital’s redevelopment plan for Saddlebrook Resort, which was approved by Pasco County in July of this year. 

After multiple previous attempts to purchase and improve the 480-acre resort and surrounding community fell through, Mast Capital finally succeeded in not only purchasing the resort, but getting its $15-million redevelopment/rezoning plans approved by the Pasco County Board of County Commissioners, after making a number of concessions in order to come to an agreement with many existing Saddlebrook residents. 

One of the big sticking points was that Mast planned to convert the two 18-hole, Arnold Palmer-designed championship golf courses into 27 holes of golf. 

Another important aspect of Mast’s plan was a significant amount of new development, including multi-family units, along S.R. 54 both east and west of the community’s main entrance on Saddlebrook Way at 54. 

The redevelopment of Saddlebrook should begin in earnest in 2024. 

4. Wiregrass Ranch Blvd. Opens —

Normally, interior roadways primarily serving only one community would probably not qualify as one of the biggest news stories of the year, especially in an area still growing as quickly as is Wesley Chapel. 

Wiregrass Ranch. Blvd. has been open from S.R. 56 all the way to S.R. 54 since August of 2023. 

However, in the case of Wiregrass Ranch. Blvd., because the roadway itself had been paved for what seemed like more than a year and had people who were living in the Estancia and other Wiregrass Ranch subdivisions using the roadway illegally to go from S.R. 56 and Chancey Rd. to the Walmart on S.R. 54. for many months — moving and then replacing the barricades located next to Walmart — the official opening of the entire nearly four-mile length of Wiregrass Ranch Blvd. in Aug. 2023 certainly was big news. 

Next up in Wiregrass Ranch is the eastward extension of Chancey Rd. (which runs east-west through the center of Wiregrass Ranch) all the way to Meadow Pointe Blvd. 

5a. Downtown Avalon Park Begins Leasing —
The site plan for the new Downtown Avalon Park Wesley Chapel.

More than just another commercial or multi-family development, the long-awaited Downtown Avalon Park Wesley Chapel is the first in our area to combine both. Only a few of the retail tenants on the ground floor of the first “neotraditional” building in the downtown area have been announced since the Aug. 17 Open House that unveiled the construction of that new building — including Prime Barbershop, Rita’s Italian Ice, Rudraksh Indian Cuisine and ISI Elite Training. All of these businesses are expected to begin opening sometime in the first quarter of 2024. 

5b. Wesley Chapel’s Contract Postal Unit Closes & Opens In New Location —

A lot of locals (us included) were sad when long-time Wesley Chapel Contract Postal Unit (CPU) contractor Kelly Rossi retired and closed her location on Boyette Rd. at the end of Jan. 


The NTBC ribbon cutting for the relocated Wesley Chapel Contract Postal Unit.

Then, we were even sadder to see how long it took new contractors Jevon and Cindy Williams to reopen the Wesley Chapel CPU in its new location in the Freedom Plaza on S.R. 54 in September. 

Hopefully, Jevon and Cindy are now recuperating from the CPU’s holiday rush. 

We also considered for the top-5…The opening of Cooper’s Hawk, the takeover by Pasco County of the Wiregrass Ranch Sports Campus from RADDSports and the one-year anniversary of the KRATE Container Park. — GN 

Sausage King Replaces TJ’s Hot Dogs In The KRATEs 

Congrats go out to Christos Paradisis and Colleen Gallagher, who recently opened the new Sausage King in the former location of TJ’s Hot Dogs at the KRATE Container Park. 

Although we also enjoyed TJ’s, Sausage King not only has a greater variety of tasty options, Chris also grills his hot dogs, sweet and hot Italian sausages and Polska kielbasas, and Sausage King is already attracting new fans. 

I can vouch for the foot-long hot dog with spicy brown mustard and sauerkraut (left photo), as well as the sweet Italian sausage sandwich with grilled onions and peppers. I also enjoyed the crispy fried mozzarella sticks with house-made marinara dipping sauce. 

Chris, who moved to this area from his native Greece, says the marinara is his “mama’s own recipe.” Colleen, who is from Philadelphia, says their goal for Sausage King is to remind folks of the flavors they love from back home in the Northeast. For more info, search “Sausage King” on Facebook. 

 

Yuengling Draft Haus & Kitchen — You Love The Beer, Now Try The Food! 

The “Holiday Bird” plate. (Photos by Charmaine George).

Although I’m pretty sure that even most of you non-beer drinkers have at least heard of Yuengling beer, you may or may not realize that Yuengling is the oldest brewery in America. It was established in 1829, when David G. Yuengling arrived from Wuerttemberg, Germany, to settle in the sleepy, coal-mining town of Pottsville, PA. 

And, even though a fire completely destroyed Dick’s original brewery on Centre. St., the newer brewery built on Mahantongo St. in Pottsville in 1831 is still the site of the oldest brewery in the U.S. 

With demand for its beers growing, the Yuengling family, led by David’s great-great grandson Dick Yuengling, Jr. (who first took over ownership of the brewery in 1985) purchased the former Stroh’s brewery on N. 30th St. (south of Fowler Ave.) in 1999. 

For most of the time that Yuengling has owned the brewery in Tampa, there was only a small tasting room to sample the different beers the brewery brewed and sold. 

Yuengling Draft Haus & Kitchen Executive Chef Sean Eckman (left) and VP of Hospitality Brent Wertz.

VP of hospitality Brent Wertz, says that changed in 2020, when the Yuengling family became part of Tampa Innovation, a group that includes most of the major businesses in North Tampa (including USF, Busch Gardens, the Moffitt Cancer Center and AdventHealth Tampa) and was seeking to modernize this area. That was the year the Yuengling family began working on opening what is now called the Yuengling Draft Haus & Kitchen, a 42,000-sq.-ft. building with a 1.5-acre outdoor patio area. 

The Draft Haus, which opened under Wertz’s leadership in June of this year, offers unique chef-created food and 11 of the 12 Yuengling brews available to go with the beer-inspired menu. The Draft Haus also is home to the First Brew coffee bar and Mayday Ice Cream concession stand, as well as a 100 (or so)-seat private banquet hall and the coming-soon Brewhouse Bistro, located on the outdoor patio, which will feature its own menu to be compatible with the patio’s cornhole and other outdoor games and entertainment. 

Bring On The Food! 

Wertz, who has spent his entire 30-year career in the food and beverage departments of 4- and 5-star resorts (most recently with Hershey Park in Hershey, PA), says that the menu created by the Draft Haus & Kitchen’s executive chef Sean Eckman (whose previous experience also is mainly at top-level resorts, including The Inn on Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC) is not only designed to pair with beer, but many of the food recipes also include different Yuengling beers. 

Our editor’s favorite potato-crusted Gulf snapper at the Yuengling Draft Haus on N. 30th St. in Tampa. (Photo by: Gary Nager).

For example, my favorite item at the Draft Haus is the potato-crusted Gulf snapper, which sits on a bed of mac & beer cheese, served with white BBQ slaw and mayo-ketchup tartar sauce, and is made to pair with the Yuengling Traditional Lager or Golden Pilsner. 

“We change the menu every couple of months,” Wertz says, “right now, we have a few holiday-themed menu items.” 

My favorite among those new items is the “Holiday Bird,” a crispy buttermilk fried chicken breast atop a giant scoop of skin-on redskin mashed potatoes and “Grandma-style” brown gravy, It’s served with two crispy waffles that are made from tasty stuffing and topped with a zesty cranberry relish. 

“We actually pour the stuffing into a waffle maker,” Wertz says. “It’s perfect for those who like the crisp edges of stuffing from the oven.” 

The new “Colors of Christmas” salad.

I also really enjoyed the “Colors of Christmas” salad — with mixed greens, goat cheese, pomegranate, orange sections, wassail vinaigrette and topped with crispy onions — and the “Tampa Style Pulled Pork” sandwich, which features shredded mojo-roasted pork shoulder on a toasted brioche bun, topped with beer cheese and white BBQ slaw and crispy onions. 

And, although I don’t love mushrooms, photographer Charmaine George said she loved the new “Fungi Burger,” which features two smash burger-style patties on a garlic butter croissant, with truffle hop aioli, marinated ‘shrooms and fontina and gruyere cheeses. I can vouch for the other burgers, as the “YDH&K Cheeseburger,” with American cheese, pork jam, house-made 1000 Island dressing, dill pickles and lettuce, tomato & onion on a Kaiser bun, is another of my favorite Draft Haus items. 

The “Tampa Style Pulled Pork” sandwich.

Wertz says, “We also feature traditional food items most beer drinkers love — like ‘Mrs. T’s’ Pierogies (served with beer cheese), ‘DIY Deviled Eggs’ (made with beer mustard) and ‘Black & Tan Chili Cheese Fries’ — and items like YDH&K ‘Signature Lobster Bisque,’ a grilled turkey paillard club sandwich and smoked Angus short ribs.” 

The holiday dessert manu includes a super-unique “Gingerbread Whoopie Pie Cake,” made with an eggnog ganache. 

We complemented our meal with a “Try ‘Em All Flight,” with 6-oz. samples of all ten brews currently available at the Draft Haus — the Traditional and Light Lagers, Golden Pilsner, Flight (light), Bongo (mango) Fizz, Lord Chesterfield Ale, Dark-Brewed Porter, Yuengling Premium, Hershey’s Chocolate Porter and my favorite — the Black & Tan. Charmaine raved about the Bongo Fizz Mango Mojito “Hop-Tail,” with muddled lime, clapped mint, cane syrup and mango purĂ©e. And, while Wertz says there is no plan to add hard alcohol, there are a few canned wines available. 

The “Gingerbread Whoopie Pie Cake.

After lunch, I picked up a tasty vanilla lattĂ© at First Brew and a six pack of Black & Tan at the retail store (every Yuengling beer is for sale there), which also has lots of Yuengling-branded clothing and gift items. We’ll go back to check out the outdoor patio when the Brewhouse Bistro opens next month. 

The Yuengling Draft Haus & Kitchen (11109 N. 30th St.) is closed Tues.-Wed., but is open 4 p.m.-10 p.m. on Mon. & Thur., 11 a.m.-11 p.m. on Fri. & Sat. & 11 a.m.-10 p.m. on Sun. For more info, call (813) 488-6444, visit Yuengling.com. 

The Draft Haus’ huge retail store.
The private 100-seat banquet room at the Draft Haus is available for your private parties beginning in January., as it is booked through Dec.
The variety of “Hop-Tails” at the Draft Haus. (Photo by: Yuengling Draft Haus)

Freedom High To Be Home To Hillsborough’s First Business Academy 

(l.-r.) Freedom High Business Academy director Brian Nanns, business teacher Natalie Lozada, marketing teacher Derrick McCoy, accounting teacher Stacey Polhill and Freedom assistant principal of curriculum Matthew Smith . (Photos by Charmaine George) 

From charter schools and private schools to public school magnet programs, there are plenty of options for high school students in New Tampa to find a customized high school curriculum that will prepare them for the next step in their lives that isn’t always the closest school to where they live. 

But now, Freedom High in Tampa Palms is hoping to attract more New Tampa students to choose their local public school with a brand new attractor program that will be the first Business Academy in the Hillsborough County School District. 

Students who finish all of the classes in the Business Academy will graduate with a certification that recognizes them as a program completer. Along the way, each class they take will earn them either an industry certification or college credit. 

Courses in the Academy include a series of classes in accounting, marketing, business principles and entrepreneurship, many that are either Advanced Placement (AP) or Cambridge Advanced International Certificate of Education (AICE), which can result in students earning college credit if they pass an exam. 

Freedom’s assistant principal of curriculum Matthew Smith says one reason this program is poised for success is because it actually pays for itself, rather than requiring money to operate. 

That’s because the Florida Department of Education (FDoE) provides a stipend to schools that prepare students to do jobs that are needed in the workforce. So, when students earn industry certifications or college credits, that state-provided stipend goes back to the school, where it is used to enhance those programs. 

“We applied for a state grant to expand into this area because there’s a big shortage in accounting in Florida,” Smith says. “We are planning to transform our regular classrooms into high-tech accounting labs.” 

He says this will include seating where students work together collaboratively and have technology to project to the walls, for example, and that the room will likely feature a live stock market ticker. 

“This could be a game-changer for Freedom,” Smith says. “We’re hoping to retain neighborhood kids so they don’t have to get on a magnet bus and go somewhere else in Hillsborough County for a different program.” 

Smith explains that the Business Academy will be overarching and encompass the school’s Digital Academy, which has been in place for several years and prepares students for careers in game design, web development or related fields. 

“Our Digital Academy labs are already well equipped,” he explains, “with more than $200,000 per year in funding from industry certifications that our students receive.” 

This allows the labs to be continually updated with the latest technology. 

“We are adding AI next year, too,” he says, referring to teaching students about artificial intelligence. 

The Hillsborough County School District’s Chief of Innovation and Strategic Planning Marcos Murillo says these and other career and technical education classes have set the foundation for the Business Academy to be built on, and that it will be unique in the District. While other schools offer entry-level classes in subjects such as accounting and marketing, the Business Academy will be more comprehensive. 

The Business Academy also will encompass the school’s existing Digital Academy

“Freedom will offer more classes in that area than any other school in the District,” Murillo says. “The higher level classes won’t available anywhere else and will allow students to have a more robust transcript to apply for college.” 

Murillo’s job is to innovate at every school throughout the county but, he says, “Freedom is dear to my heart. My daughter graduated from there and my son is there now.” 

Instructors for Freedom’s Business Academy are already in place and are training for new courses that will be offered for the 2024-25 school year. 

For example, Stacey Polhill has worked as an accountant in the private industry and at the school district and has decades of real-world accounting experience. 

“She currently teaches math and accounting honors,” explains Smith, “but next year, she will teach additional accounting classes, such as managerial accounting honors or AICE accounting.” 

Not all classes will be available next year, but classes will be added as the program grows and students in the program need them. 

Other teachers include Brian Nanns, who is the chair of the school’s Career Technical Education Department. He currently serves as director of the Digital Academy, teaching classes such as AP Computer Science Principles, and will be director of the Business Academy, too. 

Social studies teacher Eric Galante has a business degree and is now working to get certified to teach AP and AICE business principles and global business classes. 

Derrick McCoy currently teaches marketing and television production and will expand the marketing classes that will be made available to students. 

Natalie Lozado will teach business ownership and entrepreneurship, which Smith says will teach students how to fully develop a new business, execute their plans, and compete in the marketplace. 

To participate in the Business Academy, all students — even if they currently attend Freedom — must apply through Hillsborough County’s “school choice and magnet application” available online at HillsboroughSchools.org/choice. 

In addition to the Business Academy, Smith says many students use the choice application to join the Digital Academy, which does not carry the “attractor” designation, or to participate in the school’s popular veterinary science program, where students can graduate high school as a Certified Veterinary Assistant. 

Freedom will appear on the application as an option during the next choice/magnet application period, which is typically in Feb. 

Smith says that if it happens that there is space available in the program, it may be possible for current Freedom students to take some of the classes in the Business Academy. However, seats are reserved for those who are chosen for the attractor program and commit to completing the entire track. 

“I can’t wait to build out the program,” Smith says.