Nibbles and Bytes: Woof!

Pet Paradise Is A Great Reason To Get A Dog!

I’m currently between dogs in my life, but after attending both the VIP pre-opening and the Grand Opening and Greater Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce (WCCC) ribbon cutting of the new Pet Paradise Wesley Chapel, located off S.R. 56 behind the Gate gas station, I’m almost tempted to go out and get me a new puppy, just so I can watch him or her play at the coolest pet resort ever.

For those who wonder if their dog or cat will be comfortable at a “resort” with indoor-outdoor “condos,” a dog bone-shaped pool, 24-7 video monitoring and lots of other dogs (and yes, cats, too), all I can tell you is that, while I’ve never owned a cat, I’ve yet to see a dog unhappy, sitting off by itself or not engaging in the seemingly-all-day, all-out play sessions with other dogs of all breeds and sizes at this amazing new boarding and doggie daycare facility. I mean, I haven’t seen even one snarl or “warning snap,” even from multiple “alpha” dogs.

When I’ve had dogs, boarding them did sometimes make me a little anxious, but Pet Paradise WC manager Zandra Straple, who has a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) degree in Animal Science from the University of Florida in Gainesville, and her awesome staff definitely have a winner on their hands here in “The Chap.”

And more great news, my friends at Seven Oaks Pet Hospital, located less than a half-mile from Pet Paradise on 56, provide on-call veterinarian services for the resort.

Don’t forget to mention to Zandra and assistant manager Brianna Bermudez that you read about Pet Paradise in the Wesley Chapel Neighborhood News! Pet Paradise is located at 2270 Cypress Ridge Blvd.

For more info, visit PetParadiseResort.com or call (813) 778-0337.

The Drs. Ambay Open Their Transformations Center!

Congratulations to Dr. Aparna Ambay of 360 Dermatology and her husband, Dr. Raj Ambay of Ambay Plastic Surgery, on the opening on Oct. 19 of their amazing, new Transformation Aesthetics & Surgery Center (located a 1/4-mile north on Cypress Ridge Blvd. in Wesley Chapel from Pet Paradise).

The state-of-the-art, free-standing building offers not only the dermatology and skin care services of 360 Dermatology, but also the cosmetic plastic surgery of Ambay Plastic Surgery. Best of all, Dr. Raj can perform his plastic surgery magic and Dr. Aparna (both have been named among “America’s Top Doctors” by Castle Connolly Medical Ltd.) can do skin cancer surgeries in the Transformations Aesthetics Center’s on-site surgery center.

The opening and WCCC ribbon cutting on Oct. 19 attracted hundreds of locals, including several other local health care professionals, as well as WCCC members and many of the current and former patients of these Top Docs.

Dr. Raj, who has served as a Lt. Colonel in the U.S. Army and Special Operations (Green Beret) in both Afghanistan and Iraq, also is trained in trauma surgery, oral surgery and dentistry. During the Grand Opening event, you could see the joy on his face and hear it in his voice as he called the ribbon-cutting at this unique medical and aesthetic facility, “the fulfillment of a long-time dream.”

For info about the Transformations Center (2441 Oak Myrtle Ln.), visit TampaBayTransformations.com, call (813) 563-1144 or see the ad on pg. 15.

True Inspiration!

A $2.8-million dollar women’s health center, called “Inspiration Place,” opened in the Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel Wellness Plaza on Oct. 23, offering comprehensive care for women at every stage of life.

The next day, FHWC hosted a VIP event attended by hundreds of locals at Inspiration Place. The hospital’s president & CEO Denyse Bales-Chubb (photo below) was excited to unveil this unique, 12,000-sq.-ft. center created, she said, “To do something truly special for the women of Wesley Chapel.”

Services available for women at the beautiful new Inspiration Place include gynecology, obstetrics and prenatal care, along with primary medical care and wellness services and more.

Inspiration Place also includes a spa, for services such as massages and skin care treatments. There’s even a coffee bar.

All I can tell you is that I heard lots of “oohs” and “aahs” during the VIP event tours of Inspiration Place, and quite a few women who were booking appointments.

Appointments can be booked now at FHInspirationPlace.org. — GN

Taste of New Tampa Sets Date For 2018!

Even though the 2017 Taste of New Tampa at Florida Hospital Center Ice earlier this year didn’t raise the most money ever for a Taste, it was a hugely successful event that attracted around 2,000 people to Florida Hospital Center Ice (FHCI).

The way I see it, the 2017 Taste, sponsored by the Rotary Club of New Tampa (which meets Fridays at 7 a.m. at Tampa Palms Golf & Country Club) was an amazing event that fell short of its nonprofit-organization-benefiting fund-raising goals because of two main reasons — 1) not enough sponsorships and 2) people’s concerns about the event being held indoors, especially in a venue that we all assumed would feel a whole lot colder than it did on that fun Saturday in March (photo).

Well, considering that I have attended and/or been part of the committee putting on 20 of the first 21 Tastes, I can tell you that FHCI is by far the best venue we’ve ever had for the event — a fact that I believe most of this year’s attendees would agree with — even though there are quite a few things we learned we could do better next time.

The first organizational meeting for the 2018 Taste will be held later this month and New Tampa Rotary president and Taste event chair Karen Frashier says that once the Taste 2018 committee chairs have met, we will be looking for additional volunteers. We’re not interested in people hoping to pad their “community resumes,” but folks who are willing to roll up their sleeves and actually work to help make the 2018 Taste — which will be held on Sunday, March 25, noon-5 p.m., at FHCI — even bigger and better than this year’s event.

“(FHCI’s) Gordie Zimmerman and George Mitchell have been amazing to work with,” Frashier says. “And, they were really happy with the quality of the sponsors, the food and beverage providers and the people who attended. We’re all looking forward to next year!”

To that end, the Rotary Club already is pre-selling Taste tickets at a 20-percent discount through Feb. 1 at TasteofNewTampa.org!

And of course, look for Taste 2018 updates in just about every issue of New Tampa & Wesley Chapel Neighborhood News, at NTNeighborhoodNews.com, on the “Neighborhood News” page on Facebook and on WCNT-tv’s YouTube channel!

Speaking Of WCNT-tv…

By the time you read this, WCNT-TV (Wesley Chapel & New Tampa Television) will likely have surpassed my first two goals.

I created WCNT-tv with a partner back in June of 2016 and in the 17 months since then, I have produced and “aired” about 100 segments, including more than 30 WCNT-tv “News Desks” with yours truly and Susanna Martinez as the co-hosts, and two dozen Greater Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce (WCCC) Featured Business segments with host Mollyana Ward, who also has hosted our first four “Today’s Fashion Focus” segments featuring Sarah Rasheid of the Tampa Premium Outlets (TPO).

WCNT-tv also has featured exclusive interview segments, slide videos featuring everything from Pasco County animal shelter dogs to Zammy the Sheepadoodle visiting Tampa’s  Shriners Hospital for Children, and from the Wesley Chapel Jazz Festival to the “Symphony in Lights” at the Shops at Wiregrass.

My initial goal for WCNT-tv was to have the show reach one million people on Facebook and a combined viewership of 500,000 on YouTube and Facebook.

And yes, at our press time for this issue, we have inched ever closer to both of those numbers, as all WCNT-tv segments combined to date have now reached 983,000+ people on Facebook and have been viewed nearly 470,,000 times on YouTube and Facebook (combined), including nearly 340,000 views on Facebook and nearly 130,000 views on YouTube.

I promised to throw another WCNT-tv party — this time for the general public — when we reached those milestones, so look for that announcement very soon.

And, just in time (we hope) for businesses looking to increase their exposure among the residents of New Tampa and Wesley Chapel, our new 2018 Media Kit, which gives you discounts for advertising in the Neighborhood News, on WCNT-tv and on NTNeighborhoodNews.com, is now available on our website, social media and by calling our advertising sales rep, Tom Damico, at (813) 910-2575.

And, Finally…

My page 3 editorial last issue had the desired effect — it’s gotten people talking about what I believe is the much-needed connection of Kinnan St. in New Tampa to Mansfield Blvd. in Wesley Chapel.

Some in Meadow Pointe II have told me I have no right to be voicing my opinion because I don’t live there, but most (including a few Meadow Pointe residents) have told me to keep fighting the good fight on this topic.

I’ll give you three guesses as to which option I’m going to choose.

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving.

Despite Winds, The 2017 WC Fall Festival Was The Biggest Ever!

Anyone who thinks the number 13 is unlucky obviously did not attend the 13th annual Wesley Chapel Fall Festival at The Grove at Wesley Chapel shopping center the weekend of Oct. 28-29.

In its second year since taking the event over from the Greater Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce (WCC), Pinellas County-based event organizer Simply Events reports that there were at least 1,000 more cars that visited the Fall Fest this year than last year, when the two-day crowd was estimated at 10,000 people.

“Since there’s no admission fee, the only way to judge the attendance is by the number of cars that showed up, because we have our security people counting those cars,” says Sonya Bradley of Simply Events. “But, Saturday this year was definitely the biggest crowd we’ve seen so far.”

Unfortunately, with the winds gusting to 30-40 miles per hour early Sunday morning, many of the 110 vendors and crafters who were on hand on Sat. shut their booths down on Sun.

“We know our attendees were not happy with Sunday,” Bradley said. “We lost 18 tents & 25 total vendors before we opened on Sunday because of high winds. The Pumpkin Pageant set the right tone for Sunday, but the winds really hurt us.”

The pet costume parade and the Trunk or Treat events kept big crowds on site all day Sat.

“Our Chamber group ran out of 500 pieces of candy in less than an hour,” beamed proud WCCC CEO Hope Allen after the event. “In fact, all of the vehicles that gave out candy for Trunk or Treat pretty much ran out of candy, too. We will definitely partner again next year with Simply Events. What a great job they did!”

For more pics and a recap of the contest winners and sponsors at this year’s Fall Fest — which already is scheduled for the same pre-Halloween weekend (Oct. 26-27) next year — visit SimplyEventsFL.com. — GN

Culver’s Is So Delicious, You Probably Shouldn’t Call It ‘Fast Food!’

OK, SO WHEN YOU read the headline above, did you think to yourself, “Culver’s? I thought Gary doesn’t like fast food?”

And of course, you’d be correct. I’m not a chain restaurant guy, much less someone who eats any kind of fast food more than once a month (or less), so how is it that I’m about to rave about Culver’s, the 500+-unit, Wisconsin-based chain that has an extremely popular location right here off S.R. 56?

Because Culver’s really shouldn’t be called “fast food,” other than the fact that this growing chain, which has 45 locations in Florida, does usually deliver your food to your car or their comfortable indoor seating area within 5-7 minutes or so.

In fact, Culver’s of Wesley Chapel franchise owners Ann and Marty Roeske don’t refer to their second Culver’s (they also purchased one of the first 100 or so units of the chain in 2000 in Wautoma, WI, near where they lived,; that location is now operated by their children) as fast food at all.

The famous cheese curds at Culver’s.

“It’s cooked-to-order food that is served quickly,” says Marty. “The company is always finding new ways to cook the food faster, but will never sacrifice the quality that the families who love us have come to expect.”

Ann adds, “If a family from Wisconsin comes here to visit, if their sandwiches or cheese curds or frozen custard don’t taste exactly the same to them as they do where they’re from, we’re not doing our jobs.”

That’s why Craig and Lea Culver — who opened the first Culver’s in Sauk City, WI, in 1984 (along with their parents, George & Ruth) — insist that all Culver’s franchise owners have to be on-site, hands-on owner-operators who also must be properly trained to ensure that the quality that has made Culver’s famous in 22 states (and growing), especially throughout the Midwest and Rocky Mountain regions, as well as the Southeast, Texas and Arizona, always stays consistent.

More Than Just Burgers!

When I first heard Culver’s was opening in our area (the location on Nebraska Ave. at Bearss Ave. opened a year or so before the Wesley Chapel restaurant), I couldn’t figure out why so many Midwest transplants were so excited about it.

I was thinking, “OK, so it’s another burger place,” even though I’ll admit that I’m always excited about anyplace that serves authentic frozen custard — which is like your favorite ice cream, only creamier…sort of a delicious cross between soft-serve and “hard pack.”

But, while Culver’s “Butter Burgers” (no, they don’t make the burger with butter, it’s the bun that’s buttered, according to Marty) are delicious  — they’re certainly better and fresher (Ann says Culver’s 100-percent Midwestern beef is never frozen) than most fast food burgers — I’ve really enjoyed getting to know Culver’s other sandwiches and menu items.

My favorite, for sure, is the beef pot roast sandwich, which seems to be the only “brisket” served in this area that isn’t barbecued/smoked. This premium chuck roast is as tender as my mom’s brisket, slow-braised in a classic blend of herbs and spices and is served in those juices on Culver’s signature bun (which absorbs them nicely). You can enjoy this tasty “sammy” with Culver’s horseradish or BBQ sauce, although it honestly doesn’t need any sauce at all.

I also really enjoyed trying Culver’s North Atlantic Cod fish sandwich and the chicken noodle soup (both shown in the photo, right), as well as the crispy chicken sandwich and tenders. I’ve never tried Culver’s grilled chicken sandwich, but I liked the flavor of the grilled chicken on the Garden Fresco salad and the sesame ginger dressing.  I’m not the biggest chili lover, but “George’s Chili” is thick with meat and very tasty.

And of course, Culver’s recently added Wisconsin cheddar cheese dipping sauce and also is famous for its crispy, crinkle-cut fries. Plus, if you mention Culver’s crisp-outside, creamy-inside fried cheese curds to any former “Cheesehead,” they immediately start writing love sonnets set to music about them. Seriously.

All that having been said, the main reason I keep going back to Culver’s isn’t because of those items or the fact it’s a mile from where I live, it’s because of the frozen custard, a dessert I have enjoyed since the first time I visited the Boardwalk in Atlantic City in my teens. Every time I see Culver’s post a new flavor on their board on S.R. 56 mentioning Reese’s, Snickers, marshmallow or, say, the Oreo cheesecake custard on the previous page, I find myself detouring for a cup or cone, usually a cup and usually with Culver’s deep, delicious real hot fudge.

Just another fast food place? I think not!

Culver’s of Wesley Chapel is located at 2303 Sun Vista Dr., Lutz. For more info, including a great gift card special, see the ad on pg. 40, call (813) 949-1414 or visit Culvers.com. And, please tell Ann, Marty and their always-friendly, happy and courteous staff that the Wesley Chapel Neighborhood News sent you!

Will You Be At This Year’s ‘Wiregrass Wobble’ 5K?

The Rotary Club of New Tampa, FITNiche at the Shops at Wiregrass and Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel are excited to present the fifth annual Wiregrass Wobble Turkey Trot 5K (and 1-mile fun run), starting at the Shops at Wiregrass on Thanksgiving morning — Thursday, November 23, 7:30 a.m.

This year’s Wiregrass Wobble is presented by the Pioneer Medical Foundation.

With the help of the event’s sponsors and more than 7,000 participants total, more than $110,000 has been raised and distributed to local charities since the inaugural Wobble in 2013.

This year’s event will again feature:

• Race number bibs w/integrated timing chips

• 2017 tech shirt for all runners.

• ‘Ornamedal’ medals for all 5K finishers.

• School team competitions.

• Corporate & Friends & Family competitions

• 1st, 2nd & 3rd place awards for all 5K age groups.

• 1-mile Fun Run with finisher medals.

New in 2016 were our Friends & Family and Corporate Cup team competitions.  Both are based on most participants with the winners being awarded a cup-style trophy. See the team pages for more information and start recruiting your friends, family, and co-workers.

Wiregrass Ranch High won last year’s boys fastest time for the second year ($350) while Wharton High won the girls fastest time, also for the second year ($350).  The Lutz Elementary Lizards had the most participants ($350). The new Corporate Cup team competition (most participants) was won by Advanced Telecom Systems.  The Friends and Family Cup team competition (most participants) was won by Moms/She Runs this Town.

And, stick around for an expanded post-race celebration with the help of The Brass Tap at The Shops at Wiregrass again this year.

All proceeds from the Wiregrass Wobble Turkey Trot events go to local charities, including FITNiche Foundation, Feeding America Tampa Bay, the Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel Foundation and the Rotary Club of New Tampa Foundation, which provides funds for 25 local charities.

For info or to register to participate in the event visit WiregrassWobbleTurkeyTrot.com. To sign up to volunteer for the event, visit signupgenius.com/go/10c054cafae22a7f94-volunteers1 or call Jennifer Cofini at (813) 907-7800.