Check Out The Revamped New Tampa Flagship Of Bay Breeze Car Wash!

General manager Terrance Ramoutar (left) and assistant manager José Ortiz  greet you at the Bay Breeze Car Wash & Lube flagship location off BBD Blvd. just north of I-75 in New Tampa.

In a day full of appointments and deadlines, basic vehicle maintenance can oftentimes fall into the ”I’ll do it later” box.

At the 14-year-old flagship location of Bay Breeze Car Wash & Lube, located off Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd., just north of I-75 (in North Palms Village), you can move that maintenance out of deferment and into the checked box.

Whether it’s an express or full-service car wash, Bay Breeze Car Wash & Lube is going to get you in and out on the hop.

“The quality of the job a customer gets and the in and out time getting it done is something that sets us apart from other car washes,” VP of operations Scott Barone says.

Bay Breeze Car Wash is still expanding, too. The company plans to open a new Express Wash location in Wesley Chapel on SR 54 and Vandine Rd. by the end of this year.

Just how fast is Bay Breeze Car Wash & Lube?

If it’s an oil change, Barone says most customers are in and out in 15 minutes once work begins on their car. Coming soon to the New Tampa flagship location, customers will be able to remain inside their vehicle when purchasing Express Car Washes, a new feature that will allow Express Wash customers to get in and out even quicker, as the location now has a much-improved Express Wash lane.

Express Wash lanes are offered at all seven Bay Breeze locations across the Tampa Bay area, including at the company’s other  New Tampa location off BBD, in the Trout Creek area of New Tampa, just a little south of Wesley Chapel.

The Express Wash aims at getting customers in and out in less than three minutes. Now, there even are payment methods in place so that the customer never has to leave his or her vehicle. “We keep the express in express and this applies to both oil changes and washes,” Barone says. “You’re not getting in and out in 15 minutes (for an oil change) if you go to the dealership.”

For vehicle maintenance, Bay Breeze Car Wash & Lube can do more than just oil changes, too.

Most standard vehicle maintenance services are available, including: windshield wipers, air filter, transmission/coolant/engine flush, light bulb replacement and fuel injection. Check out BayBreezeCarWash.com for a full list of available services.

Bay Breeze Car Wash & Lube uses Mobil 1 oil and in the month of June and July is offering a free car wash (valued at $20) with the purchase of a full synthetic oil change.

Upgrading & Expanding

The Express Wash area (photo, right) at the flagship location has reopened with a new Express Wash menu, complete with a dedicated lane and easier-to-negotiate new exit from the facility.

And, while the revamped Express Wash lane will not have a free vacuum area included with each wash, the flagship location’s renovation will include a towel dry for each Express Wash purchased, something Barone says is not offered at other Bay Breeze locations.

Along with the physical renovations, Bay Breeze Car Wash & Lube also is offering new membership options, ranging from as little as $20 per month to $50 per month. They hope to have a new Unlimited Full Service Membership available within the coming months as well. The $50 Ultimate Package includes a tire shine, application of a nano-polymer sealant and a triple foam polish. Both memberships include unlimited Express Washes.

Express Washes are done using the same spinning rollers that you remember as a kid; however, instead of the coarse bristled brushes, Bay Breeze uses 2nd Generation Envirosoft brushes, which are made from foam.

“It’s closed-cell foam technology where no particles get trapped,” Barone says. “It’s the best material on the market for the surface of your vehicle.”

Home-Grown Talent

New Tampa general manager Terrance Ramoutar and assistant manager José Ortiz have both come up through the ranks at Bay Breeze Car Wash & Lube.

Most Bay Breeze locations have between six and 10 employees. The flagship station in New Tampa, however, has 60.

“We call this location (New Tampa) ‘Bay Breeze University’ because it’s where we identify talent,” Barone says. “Most (of our) management staff passes through this store at some point.”

Ramoutar has 15 years of experience in the industry and ran the car wash at the New Tampa location prior to Bay Breeze taking it over in 2004.

Ortiz worked in detailing at Stadium Toyota prior to coming over to Bay Breeze 17 months ago, and helped open the location on BBD in the Trout Creek area.

“José stood out,” Barone says. “We look for people with a hunger and desire to grow and from the beginning, José demonstrated that he was responsible, motivated and dedicated, and he rose to become a manager.”

Ortiz says he learned a lot about the company and managing it at the Trout Creek location.

“Multi-tasking, workload, employee relations, accommodating customers, the experience put me in touch with some of the problems you come in contact with at express locations,” Ortiz said. “When I transitioned over to full service, you’re dealing with many more employees and you have to learn to schedule weeks ahead and forecast things.”

Ramoutar was a greeter at the previous car wash and when the transition to Bay Breeze happened, he was elevated to supervisor and, eventually, to general manager.

“It takes a lot of worry away, knowing these guys, knowing their history, how they work,” Barone says. “Having them in key roles is important. Otherwise, it just doesn’t work.”

Barone himself has worked his way up, too. He was the GM of the Brandon location (2007-13) and has been Bay Breeze corporate’s VP of operations for the last five years.

All three have the same sentiments about working in a family atmosphere.

“In my experience, a family-owned company with a family atmosphere treats employees and customers the same way,” Ramoutar says. “It feels like a family here. That’s why we have people that have been coming to us for 15 years.”

Bay Breeze Car Wash & Lube also has gift cards available.

The flagship New Tampa location of Bay Breeze Car Wash & Lube is located at 17501 N. Palms Village Pl. (next to Steak & Shake) and is open Monday-Saturday, 8 a.m.-5:30 p.m., and 10 a.m.-4 p.m. on Sunday. For more info, call (813) 615-1333.

The Trout Creek location is at 20306 Trout Creek Dr. and its car wash services are available seven days a week, 8 a.m.-7 p.m. Lube services are available at this location Monday-Saturday, 8 a.m.-6 p.m., and 10 a.m.-4 p.m. on Sunday. For more info, call (813) 973-0033 or visit BayBreezeCarWash.com. 

Freedom’s Softball & Tennis & Wharton’s Baseball & Track Teams Spring Forward

Wharton Baseball (Photo: Gigante Productions)

The spring sports season ended last month, and, of all the spring teams at New Tampa’s two high schools, the Wharton baseball team proved to be the last team standing, falling in the Regional semifinals.

They weren’t the only team to put up a strong postseason, however, as Wharton’s softball, track & field and girls tennis teams all made it past Districts, as did the softball and both tennis teams at Freedom.

Here’s a recap of some of the highlights:

WHARTON BASEBALL: The Wildcats made yet another Regional playoff run in 2018, after finishing as the runner-up in the Class 8A, District 4 tournament. Wharton set down crosstown rival Freedom 4-0 in the District semifinals, but fell to the Strawberry Crest Chargers in the final.

After an 8-1 win over Ocala Forest in the Region quarterfinals, Wharton got another shot at the Chargers, but dropped a 3-2 decision to finish the season at 17-9.

The Wildcats’ three-man pitching rotation was a strength all season. Duncan Pastore, a senior, and junior Brian Baughman each won six games — Pastore had three shutouts — and junior Zach Allen was 4-2. The trio combined for 127 strikeouts in 117 innings.

Pastore also led the Wildcats with a .431 average and 17 RBI, while Baughman batted .398 and led the team in hits. Senior Leo Alfonzo batted .397 and tied for the team lead with 17 RBI.

“Starting pitching, as well as talented freshmen and sophomores, have been key to our success this year,” coach Scott Hoffman said. “Brian Baughman was a stud down the stretch.”

The Wharton baseball team even earned the District’s Team GPA Award with a team Grade Point Average of 3.505.
Freedom’s baseball team finished 6-16, dropping its last eight games. Senior Hunter Kniskern hit .333 with five doubles to lead the Patriots.
FREEDOM SOFTBALL: After a slow start,. the Patriots went 13-1 down the stretch to finish 19-6.

The only loss in that streak was to arch-rival Wharton, but the Patriots got revenge when it mattered most, beating the Wildcats 13-0 to win the District 8A-4 title.

“That was the first District title for softball in Freedom’s history, so it was a great accomplishment for those 11 girls,” Patriots head coach Autum Hernandez said. “The girls were motivated before the game, they wanted to prove that they hadn’t played their best against Wharton the two previous times we played them.”

Freedom advanced to the Regional semifinals by beating Ocala Forest 6-2 in the first round of the State Class 8A playoffs, before a 7-0 loss to East Ridge ended the Pats’ season.

Sophomore Ellis Erickson led Freedom with 34 hits and a .442 batting average. She was one of a number of underclassmen — sophomore Shaniyah Pope had 25 RBI, while freshman Lilly Kiester led the team with 26 runs and junior Abigail Vandeberg hit .361 — to shine for the Patriots, who have a bright future, according to Hernandez.

The team only had two seniors, with Kristina Calixto driving in a team-best 27 runs while going 8-2 in the pitching circle, and Dallas O’Clair batting .333.

The future also looks promising for Wharton, as underclassmen led the team in average, runs and doubles (freshman Tieley Vaughn), hits and RBI (junior Jordyn Gendron) and triples (junior Asia Thomas).

Sophomore Jillian Long was the winning pitcher in 13 of Wharton’s 15 wins.

The same East Ridge team that ended Freedom’s season did the same to Wharton in the first round at Regionals.

FREEDOM TENNIS: The Patriots broke through for a historic season in 2018, taking two boys and two girls to the Class 3A State tournament in Orlando under fourth-year head coach Rich Simard.

“We’ve been pretty consistent the last four years, both boys and girls,” Simard said. “We’ve been either District champs or runners-up over that time.”

The Freedom boys won a third straight District title in 2018. At the District 3A-9 tournament, Patriots sophomore Hakim Zerki took the title at No. 1 singles, and then teamed up at No. 1 doubles with senior Jared Klay for another title. The wins qualified both players for States.
The Zerki-Klay doubles team made the Round of 16 at the State tournament, the highest climb for a boys doubles team under Simard. Things look even more promising for the future, as Zerki’s younger brother, Malik, will be a Freedom freshman next year.

On the girls side, sophomore Julianna Gibson won her second straight District singles title at No. 1, and then teamed up with sophomore Zoe Ruszin to win at No. 1 doubles. That helped the Patriots team to a second-place team finish at Districts, but Gibson and Ruskin qualified for States as individuals.

“The girls are going to be even stronger next year,” Simard said. “Gibson was very close to breaking through deep into the State tournament, and next year is going to be a good shot for her.”

WHARTON TRACK: The Wildcats took 13 athletes from the boys and girls teams to the Class 4A State meet at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville on April 16.

Senior AJ Hampton was the top finisher for Wharton, running the 400 meters in 48.09 seconds to take fourth place. The time was just off his personal and school record of 47.53, set a week earlier at Regionals.

Hampton capped his high school career with three medals at States. Next year, he will attend Northwestern University in Evanston, IL, on a football scholarship. Northwestern, however, does not have a men’s track program.

“AJ willingly did the most painful event in track, knowing that if he qualified for States, it would be his last race,” Wharton boys coach Kyle LoJacono said. “Having AJ as kind of the captain of the sprints and Frankie (.) as captain of distance was huge this year.”

Godbold, a four-year runner and two-year captain for the ‘Cats, surprised even Coach LoJacono with his chance entry in the 800 meters.

Godbold, more of a traditional long distance runner that LoJacono threw into the 800m halfway through the season, was only seeded eighth at the District meet. However, he finished second in 2 minutes, 3 seconds. He cut his time even further at Regionals, with a 1:57.97, the fastest time for a male 800m runner for Wharton in the last decade.

“Just getting to states for Frankie was incredible, it made me so proud,” LoJacono said.

Teammate Nehemiah Rivers, a junior, became the first male Wildcat distance runner to win the 1600m at Regionals. He also became the first Wildcat to qualify for the State meet in both the 1600m and 3200m races in the same season.

Rivers placed 12th in the 3200 at the Class 4A State finals with a time of 9:44.44, and he was 22nd in the 1600m finals, running a 4:36.70.
Both times were markedly slower than Rivers’ breakout performances at Regionals, where he set personal and school records in the 1600 (4:25.39) and 3200 (9:25.77).

While winning the 1600 at Regionals, Rivers ran a sterling 59-second final lap.

Sports: Spring Football A Mixed Bag For Wesley Chapel Squads

Spring football wrapped up for the area’s high schools two weeks ago, bringing an official end to the 2017-18 sports season for Wiregrass Ranch, Wesley Chapel and first-year Cypress Creek Middle High.

Here’s how the teams fared:

Wiregrass Ranch (WRH)

The Bulls were the only area team to come out with a win in their spring game, as rising senior Grant Sessums threw for three touchdowns and rising junior Dylan Ridolph had a sack and a fumble recovery in a 36-17 victory over Tampa Catholic.

3 Things About Their Spring
Big Boys Come Up Big: Head coach Mark Kantor is excited about how his offensive line is developing. He sees them as being an essential element if his Bulls are going to advance to the playoffs for the third-straight year.

That starting group — Josh Hood (G), Daniel Thompson (G), Barit Dhungana (C), Robert Gibb (T), and Connor Lenczden (T) — had a great spring.

Photo courtesy of PascoCountyFB.com.

“The offensive line played fantastic on Friday (against TC),” Kantor said. “They are young, but we’re excited to see how they are going to develop over the summer.”

Lenczden is a towering figure, standing 6’-5” tall and weighing in at 285 pounds. Gibb, a rising junior tackle on the opposite side, isn’t a huge guy (220 pounds) but stands 6’-2”, making for a couple of good-sized bookends.

 

Sessums Ready For Primetime: He will be entering his senior season with 21 games and nearly 250 passes thrown under his belt. Last year, he threw for 1,483 yards and eight touchdowns, and after throwing for three touchdowns against a very good Tampa Catholic team, the thinking is this will be a marquee year for S
essums.

“Sessums is a seasoned veteran now,” Kantor said. “We’re excited for him and for what is surrounding him.”

New Names, Not No-Names: Kantor is pretty excited what’s surrounding Sessums, and his enthusiasm isn’t lessened at all by all the talent lost from last year’s roster, like Penn State signee Jordan Miner.

Cypress Creek transfer Keith Walker has explosive speed and versatility, rising junior wide receiver/defensive back Julian Gonzalez played sparingly as a sophomore but scored on a long touchdown reception in the spring game and ran down a Tampa Catholic wide receiver on what looked like a sure touchdown. In the backfield, running backs Mason Buie and Jamar Hicks throw a nice 1-2 punch.

“We’re fortunate to have a lot of multi-dimensional kids,” Kantor said. “We can put them in different places, and it gives us an advantage.”
The Bulls host Clearwater Central Catholic on Aug. 17 in their preseason classic.

Wesley Chapel (WCH)

The Wildcats, coming off a two-year revival, were unimpressive in their spring game loss to visiting Mitchell High. After falling behind 9-0 at the half, they still could not quite muster a scoring drive in the second half before falling 15-0.

3 Things About Their Spring
Making The Grade: The Wildcats lost starting running backs Dexter Leverett and Malik Melvin to graduation, and didn’t have anyone to play running back in the spring. Head coach Tony Egan and company are hoping that rising senior Kris Chandler breaks through to meet grade eligibility requirements for the fall.

Chandler came to the Wildcats as a freshman transfer from New Tampa’s Wharton High. He impressed coaches in practice his sophomore and junior years, but could not get his grades up to speed before this spring.

“He’s probably going to be a two-way starter for us,” Egan said. “He’s a strong, fast, heck of a running back and he might be our best player on defense.”

Rising sophomore Zion Flavien will most likely be the starting quarterback for the Wildcats this fall. Flavien started every game on JV last season, and is 6’-2”, 225. He is eligible, but his parents have held him out of spring football so he can focus on his academics. Tyler Wittish, who played quarterback in the spring game, and Cornez McCrary also are options.

All In The Family: Wittish will make an impact. His older brother Austen, led the county in tackles last season. Tyler has gone through an interesting transition. He was a chunky 230 lbs. as a sophomore offensive lineman. In 2017, his junior year, he slimmed down to 190 and played receiver and quarterback.

This season, he’s back up around 230, but a muscular 230. He benches 300 and squats 450. Egan likes him at defensive end and tight end, but with Wittish’s cross-training, he’s able to play virtually any position.

Blockade: This is the biggest question mark for the Wildcats for the 2018 season. Three of the Wildcats’ guards quit or were kicked off the team leading up to the spring game. In fact, WCH only dressed five offensive lineman for that game. Egan said that his team actually ran a play in the second half with just four on the O-line.

“It ended up being one of our biggest gains of the night,” Egan said. “One of our five guys got injured and the refs should have flagged it, but somehow, we were able to get (the play) off.”

The Wildcats will have rising seniors Seth Petty and Joey DiMarco, but Egan would prefer to use them both full time at defensive tackle.
The Wildcats travel to Land O’ Lakes on August 17 for their pre season classic.

Cypress Creek (CCMH)

The Coyotes were beaten 48-7 by Zephyrhills Christian Academy (ZCA) in their spring game. However, they were missing one of their best all-around players in Jalen Warren, who had a cast for a broken finger removed the day after the spring game. The Coyotes fared much better in the second half against ZCA after falling behind 40-0 in the first, getting two explosive plays from wide receivers Devin Santana and Tim Ford-Brown.

3 Things About Their Spring
QB, Or Not QB: Jalen’s brother, rising junior Jelani Warren, took most of the snaps at QB last season, but head coach Mike Johnson is open to moving him to another skill position to take advantage of his speed and athleticism.

The taller frame of rising senior Trevor Maxwell would make a good substitute at QB. Maxwell played sparingly under center last season, but played the entire second half of the spring game.

“Maxwell only had two weeks of spring practice while playing baseball, but he picked things up quickly,” Thompson said. “With Jelani, it’s two different dynamics at QB. It will be a fun competition over the summer during the 7-on-7 games.”

Black Magic: Rising senior Devin Santana might just be the biggest threat on the offensive side of the football for the Coyotes. He led the team with 10 catches and 134 yards last season, and has the size, speed and hands every coach dreams of at the high school level. Santana had a sparkling play in the spring game against ZCA, scooping up a ball thrown at his feet on a five-yard slant and then turning it upfield for an 80-yard touchdown. If the Coyotes can figure out a way to get the ball in his hands, look out.

You Got Players: When Johnson started the program a year ago, he had a grand total of three players. Obviously, this past spring game was the program’s first, as 36 players dressed against ZCA.

“I’m extremely proud,” Johnson said. “We had 20 days to get the guys ready (for ZCA) and we showed flashes of what we can accomplish.” The Coyotes are still in search of an opponent for the preseason.

American Wood Flooring Offers The Newest Products & All-Inclusive Pricing

Decorating trends change over the years and American Wood Flooring, located next to Marshall’s in the Super Target-anchored Northwoods Plaza, is always adapting to those changes. For example, formica cabinets and linoleum floors are pretty much things of the past. CEO Andy Dunning’s showroom reflects those changing trends and more.

“We’re always bringing in more samples and getting with manufacturers to fit the new demand for the most current styles,” he says.

The family business has been around for 25 years and started out exclusively in wood flooring, based out of anothr small storefront in New Port Richey. A little less than 12 years ago, Dunning opened the shop in Wesley Chapel. The showroom floor, crowded with sample displays, reflects how quickly trends have changed and how American Wood Flooring has changed along with them.

“When we started out, it was mainly wood flooring,” Dunning said. “Then, we had customers that wanted their whole house done, so we expanded into carpet. When we had customers who also wanted their bathrooms re-done, we expanded into tile, too.”

American Wood Flooring can cover the entire house — with wood, laminate, tile and carpet.

“We want to be your one-stop shop,” Dunning says.

“We just had carpeting installed on the second floor of our home,” says customer Jacqueline DeRoze. “They did such a superb job that we just ordered flooring for the entire main level.”

Everything-Included Pricing

Dunning says that customers sometimes get sticker shock when they look at American Wood Flooring’s prices per square foot when compared with other installers. But, that’s because every square-foot price at American Wood Flooring is all-inclusive — which means sub-floor preparation, underlayment, removal and disposal of old carpeting and padding, transition pieces, material and install of quarter-round trim. Even things like moving furniture in and out of the room are included in the price per square foot.

What’s more, American Wood Flooring offers a Lifetime Warranty on the installation, and that is offered through the store, not the installer. That means that if American Wood Flooring no longer uses a particular installer, the warranty is still valid, regardless of who did the installation. The only additional costs a customer might incur outside of the square foot quote is if old tile flooring needs to be torn out or if the project includes covering a staircase.

“It happens all the time when the customer is holding a quote from a big box store or competitor that’s for something like $2.99 a square foot,” Dunning said. “But, once they nickel and dime you to death, it often ends up that our quote is less than theirs and I stand behind what I sell.”

So, What Are The Latest Trends?

Color scheme-wise, Dunning says that grey- and white-wash tones are the newest trends. For laminate flooring, LVP, or Luxury Vinyl Plank, is the latest craze.

LVP is a hybrid of laminate and vinyl flooring that’s completely waterproof. Most laminate flooring is water-resistant but water can still seep into the cracks where the pieces fit together and saturate the fiber board, causing swelling and warping. LVP panels have a vinyl veneer that protects both the panels and the joints from water intrusion. The sub layer of the LVP is actually made from Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC), a thermoplastic known for its rigidness.

A layer of cork separates the top layer of PVC from the bottom layer.

Flex Core Naturals is one of the five different brands of LVP flooring that American Wood Flooring has available.
“We brought it (LVP) into the store about 16 months ago and we were installing three to five floors a month with it,” Dunning said. “Now we’re putting in 12 to 15 LVP floors a month.”

LVP falls in the middle price range with regard to the different types of flooring, coming in between $5.99 and $7.99 per square foot. As a comparison, Dunning says some hardwood flooring can go as high as $17 or even $18 per square foot.

He adds that another benefit to LVP flooring compared with other types of laminate is the sound. Dunning says an air pocket exists between laminate flooring and the subfloor. This can make that knocking sound when walking on it with shoes, especially hard-soled shoes. LVP flooring lays flush with the subfloor, so it is quieter.

Another growing trend in flooring is the demand for American-made product.

“When we started in Wesley Chapel in 2008, about 40 percent of the product we sold was made domestically,” Dunning said. “This year, I would say that 75 percent of our product is made here in the U.S.”

Dunning says he enjoys this trend.

“Typically, the domestically-made products are better quality,” Dunning said. “Most are made from American lumber anyway. It puts Americans back to work and brings jobs back to the United States.”

Another bonus to ordering through American Wood Flooring is that there is no sales tax if American Wood Flooring also does the installation.

“The State of Florida considers flooring a permanent home improvement and customers can save the sales tax if we do the install,” Dunning says.

“American Wood Flooring installed all of the hardwood flooring in my house,” says another satisfied customer, Janet Noblett. “They did such a fabulous job. Andy is very professional, dependable and extremely knowledgeable. I have recommended him to many of my family and friends and they have all been so pleased.”

Right now, American Wood Flooring is offering a promotion for waterproof flooring for just $5.99 per square foot. The store also has a $3.99-per-square-foot laminate flooring special, as well as a $1.99- per-square-foot carpeting special.

American Wood Flooring also offers a refer-a-friend incentive. Customers who refer a friend receive $50 gift cards to restaurants like Bonefish Grill, Outback Steakhouse and Carrabba’s Italian Grill.

The American Wood Flooring showroom in Wesley Chapel is located at 1285 BBD Blvd. and is open Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m., 10 a.m.-5 p.m. on Saturday, and 11 a.m.-4 p.m. on Sunday. For more info, visit AmericanWoodFlooringFla.com, or call (813) 991-7999.

New Tampa’s Rotary Clubs Join Forces To Beautify Fire Station No. 20!

Tampa Fire Department Station No. 20 in Tampa Palms needing a little sprucing up and it just so happened that a platoon of community-minded residents was looking to do some sprucing.

On Earth Day (April 20), the two came together with single goal in mind — to help beautify the first fire station built in New Tampa.
“Our Rotary International President Ian Riseley wanted to plant 1.2-million trees all over the world to call attention to environmental issues,” Rotary Club of New Tampa (which meets Friday mornings at Tampa Palms Golf & Country Club) president Karen Frashier said. “There are 1.2-million Rotarians worldwide and Earth Day was the deadline. We added 18 to that total today.”

It was a collaborative effort. Rotary Club of New Tampa Noon (which meets Wednesdays for lunch at Pebble Creek Golf Club) president Belvai “Vinnie” Kudva came up with the idea after District 7 Tampa City Councilman Luis Viera approached him during a recent Rotary Club meeting.
“(Luis) Viera came to our club to talk about this project, doing something for Station 20,” Kudva said. “(Neighborhood News publisher) Gary Nager guided us, but we all wanted to both do something good for the community and also celebrate Earth Day.”

The original idea to improve Fire Station 20 by the Rotarians was to paint it. Built in 1988, the station is in need of a fresh coat of paint. That undertaking proved too cumbersome for the strict rules regarding which entities are allowed to make improvements to the physical building at a City of Tampa fire station.

“Like everything else in New Tampa, there are deed restrictions for improvements like painting,” Fire Station 20 Captain Stephen Suarez said. “There are also complications about which contractors the City can allow to make improvements like that. We found a project for the Rotarians that would beautify the station and when they suggested crepe myrtles, it was a natural fit.”

Kudva contracted with Cypress Creek Landscape Supply in Tampa to purchase and deliver the different color crepe myrtle trees.
To his surprise, when the crew showed up on Sunday to plant them, the holes had already been dug, with the trees already placed in them. All the crew had to do was water them and fill in the topsoil.

Rotarians, along with Capt. Suarez, Viera and his son Luis, set to work straightening the trees, filling the holes and building berms around the base of the trees to trap water so that it does not run off. It was a worthy project that more than a dozen volunteers took part in.

“We decided it was a good thing to do to serve the community, especially with it being Earth Day,” Noon Rotary Club member Scott Hileman said. “We want to show an example that we are all one community and we help each other out.”

Hileman brought along his children Ella (16), Drew (14) and David (11) and they all grabbed shovels so that the project was completed less than 30 minutes into the planting.

“It’s our way of saying ‘thank you’ to the men and women who work here,” Viera said. “They help us, they leave their families to help ours. It’s just a small way to show them we appreciate the work that they do.”