Annual Bike Ride Helps ‘Small, But Mighty’ Noon Rotary Club Raise $3,000!

“Small, but Mighty.” I’m almost positive my friend and former Rotary Club of New Tampa Noon president Valerie Casey first coined that phrase about the Rotary Club to which both Val and I belong.

Our club, which meets every Wednesday at noon for lunch at Mulligans Irish Pub at the Pebble Creek Golf Club, has never had as many as 30 members and currently has around 20, but somehow, thanks to the often-tremendous efforts by our small “family” of club members, we’re still able to accomplish a lot.
Although we also have partnered with other Rotary Clubs — including the New Tampa “Breakfast” Rotary (which meets at Tampa Palms Golf & Country Club for breakfast on Fridays at 7 a.m.; see story on the facing page) — the fund raisers and projects our club is able to put on with just a little effort have been pretty incredible.

Case in Point: Our annual “Cycling for Vets” Bike Ride through Flatwoods Park, which has raised thousands for U.S. Military veterans organizations and our local first responders (police, fire and emergency folks).

This year, with a committee of three — local dentists Dr. Steven Dau and Dr. Greg Stepanski and commercial real estate agent Scott Hileman — doing most of the leg work and just a few other club volunteers, this year’s ride on April 13 (I missed it for another kind of ride; see page 3) attracted a record (for us) number of 80 registered riders (some of those definitely found out about the ride from the Taste of New Tampa & Wesley Chapel less than a month earlier). The 2018 ride raised $3,000, with portions of that amount to benefit the Fisher House residence for families who have family members who are active duty and military veterans being treated at the Tampa Veterans Administration Hospital on Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. and for Support the Troops, a Wesley Chapel-based nonprofit that mails out hundreds of “care packages” every week to active military stationed overseas.

Dr. Dau, who basically celebrated the birth of his first child with his wife Monika a couple of months before he started planning this event, was quick to share the credit on May 9, when our club donated $1,000 of those proceeds to Fisher House Tampa director Paula Welenc (above left, with Dr. Dau, right, and Noon Rotary president Belvai “Vinnie” Kudva).

Our committee did a great job,” said Dr. Dau. “As always, it was a true team effort.”

The club also thanks the event’s sponsors — Dau Orthodontics-Dr. Steven Dau; Children’s Dentistry-Dr. Greg Stepanski; Gentle Care Dentistry-Dr. Tom Frankfurth; AllState Insurance-Gary Lefebvre; State Farm Insurance-Joyce Coleman; Suncoast, Tax & Accounting-Angie Garrett; Kiran Indian Grocery, AAA-Novelette Johnson; Stifel Financial-Mike Wallace; Goal Commercial-Scott Hileman; The Bantner Firm-Adam Bantner; Minerva Indian Restaurant, Thai Lanna & Sushi, Little Greek New Tampa, Peabody’s Billiards & Games, Tabla Indian Restaurant ,The Gift Box Boutique, Oliver’s Cycle Sports, Neighborhood News & WCNT-tv.

New Tampa Brewfest?
Fresh off that outstanding bike ride, the New Tampa Noon Rotary Club will host its first-ever “New Tampa Brewfest” on Saturday, November 10, 4 p.m.-8 p.m. (the time may be subject to change) at the Venetian Events Center at St. Mark the Evangelist Catholic Church on Cross Creek Blvd.
The Brewfest will be another great event featuring craft beers, a variety of food trucks and entertainment. Look for details in these pages and future episodes of WCNT-tv.