Homes For Our Troops Celebrates Two More Homes Under Construction In Our Area

(Above, l.-r.) Gen. Tom Landwermeyer & Cpls. Eddie Ward and Roberto Cruz-Arocho. 

Even though their homes are being built in San Antonio (near St. Leo University), the Neighborhood News was proud to again be on hand for the introduction ceremony for the next two recipients of mortgage-free homes provided by Homes For Our Troops (HFOT) — retired Army Cpls. Eddie Ward and Roberto Cruz-Arocho, both of whom were seriously combat-wounded (Ward in Afghanistan and Cruz-Arocho in Iraq). 

Cpl. Ward and his father Elijah Petty. (seated) 

On hand for HFOT — a top-rated military nonprofit organization that has provided more than 420 of these specially-adapted homes for U.S. military vets injured since 9/11 — was the organization’s president & CEO, retired Army Brigadier General Tom Landwermeyer, who again reiterated that HFOT receives no government funding and that nearly 90 cents of every dollar raised by the nonprofit directly benefits the wounded veterans. 

The custom-designed homes — which will each include as many as 40 special adaptations for these two wounded vets — are being built by Elizabeth Evans Custom Homes, which previously also provided two HFOT homes in Wesley Chapel. 

Cpl. Ward and Cpl. Cruz-Arocho both expressed their appreciation for HFOT and for the 100 or so local people in attendance. For more info about HFOT, visit HFOTUSA.org. — GN 


Elizabeth Evans (holding dog) of Elizabeth Evans Custom Homes.

(l.-r.) Cpl. Cruz-Arocho & his daughters Layza & Adriana & the retired corporal’s mom. 

Gronk Co-Founded Greenlane Salads & Wraps Has Opened On S.R. 54!

If you haven’t yet tried the new Greenlane Salads and Wraps drive-through location at 24801 S.R. 54 in Lutz (next to Los Chapos Tacos and the now-closed Fazoli’s), photographer Charmaine George, Jannah and I all urge you to go ahead and give it a shot. 

We all agree that co-founders Chris Kern (above) and former New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Bucs tight end Rob Gronkowski are onto something with this growing local mini-chain that is now up to five locations. 

We all have our own favorites — Jannah loves The Gronk wrap above left (she’s also now had it as a salad bowl), with roasted broccoli (which Jannah calls “amazing”), roasted sweet potatoes, crispy bacon, green onions and cheddar Jack cheese on a bed of romaine lettuce with Greenlane Goddess dressing. Charmaine’s fave is the Tuscan Sun salad bowl (right), with pepperoncini, crispy chickpeas, marinated mozzarella, salami, grape tomatoes and Italian vinaigrette on a bed of romaine. She liked it with the grilled steak shown below, but says she definitely will try it with the grilled chicken next time. 

I already have three favorites — the caprese salad (bottom left), with nut-free basil pesto mozzarella, Florida ripe cherry tomatoes and house-made balsamic vinaigrette; the ginger sesame crunch wrap (below) and the Cobb wrap. You can order any of these as a wrap or a salad and everything is customizable to your exact specifications. There also are smoothies and slushies on the menu. In our eyes and tastebuds, Greenlane is a winner! For more info or to order, visit GoGreenlane.com. — GN, photos by Charmaine George

Mango and Strawberry Frozen Drink

The Beautiful, New Wesley Chapel Seven Oaks Library Is Finally Open!

Photos by Charmaine George

The Pasco County Libraries’ newest addition — the Wesley Chapel (WC) Library at Seven Oaks — is finally open (after nearly two full years of construction) and pretty much everyone we spoke with since the library opened on Feb. 23 has been thrilled with the cozy new 14,000-sq.-ft. (with a 13,000-sq.-ft. interior; the other 1,000 sq. ft. is a covered outdoor “reading porch”), $11-million library. 

“It’s a little smaller than I expected,” said one young mom, “but this children’s reading area (photo, above and below left picture) is amazing!” 

Although branch manager Julie Shepherd (at right in right photo) couldn’t tell me on opening day exactly how large that children’s area is, but, by my estimate, it is somewhere in the neighborhood of 5,000-sq.- ft. If accurate, that would mean it takes up more than a third of the library’s inside space, with shelves full of cool kids books and interesting spaces for parents to read to their kids. 

But, the library’s overall size is a little small, especially when compared with the Land O’Lakes Library (18,000+ sq. ft.) or the New Tampa Regional Library (25,000-sq. ft.). 

“But, I think it’s a wonderful space,” said Roz Fenton (below right photo), the president of the countywide Friends of the Library, who was on hand for the opening. “Did you see the art on the entrance walls? That was all done by Pasco County Library staff members. Fabulous, right?” 

In addition to books, magazines and the “Library of Things” — a collection of non-traditional, check-outable items, including adaptive toys, Wi-Fi hotspots, ukuleles, bird-watching kits and board games designed for enrichment and exploration — the library also features public computers, printers, collaborative spaces, a gallery wall in the lobby, an outdoor event lawn and a multi-purpose room for makerspace and other activities. 

Pasco Library Friends president Roz Fenton 

There’s also a sizable meeting room, and a number of study rooms, including a specially-designed teen study room. Drive-up services also are available at this location, which has its entrance on Mystic Oak Blvd., next to Seven Oaks Elementary. 

There’s no doubt that the opening day was a soft opening, attended by only a few dozen people — many of whom (including Jannah and yours truly) were signing up for library cards — and that all of the new library’s programming wasn’t yet in place. 

Here are the activities scheduled for the rest of March & April at the WC Library: 

Thursday, March 19, 4 p.m. — Wesley Chapel Book Club: The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green 

Every Tuesday, 10:30 a.m. — Preschool Story Time 

Every Friday, 10:30 a.m. — Toddler Story Time 

Monday, March 23, 4 p.m. — Teen Advisory Board & Volunteer Info Session 

Wednesday, March 25, 6 p.m. — Adult Volunteer Info Session 

Wednesday, April 15, 4:30 p.m. — Adult Literacy New Tutor Training 

Thursday, April 16, 4 p.m. — Wesley Chapel Book Club: The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley 

Wednesdays, April 22 & 29, 6 p.m. — English Conversation Corner 

Wednesday, April 29, 5 p.m. — Adult Volunteer Orientation 

What About Those ‘Makerspaces?’ 

“We’re going to be hosting our ‘Mobile Makerspace’ at the Wesley Chapel branch,” Shepherd told me the day the WC Library opened. “The idea is to bring the best of all of our other makerspaces to Wesley Chapel and offer a variety of different services.” 

Among those makerspaces, each of which will be making appearances at the WC Library in the future, are the following: 

‱ “The Loft” studio arts, painting, photo digitalization and arts & crafts, from the Centennial Park Library 

‱ “The Ingenuity Lab” STEAM area, with KEVA planks & LEGOÂź bricks, from the Hugh Embry Library 

‱ “Studio H” multimedia studio for record demos & podcasts and to practice instruments, from the Hudson Library 

Part of the Pasco Library staff Art Show 

‱ “The Foundry” complete wood shop, plus fabric arts & crafts center, from the Land O’Lakes Library 

‱ “Discovery Gardens” community garden, butterfly garden & gardening demonstrations, from the New River Library 

‱ “Regency Fresh” full test kitchen with cooking demonstrations and the chance to try new recipes, from the Regency Park Library 

‱ “Clayworks” ceramics studio, from the Starkey Ranch Theatre Library Cultural Center 

Shepherd also said that the large lawn outside of the library will be able to host a variety of cultural events, including concerts, movie nights and more. “And, we definitely will have a great relationship with the [Seven Oaks] elementary school next door,” Shepherd said. “The children’s reading area will be open anytime the library is and we will be able to host story times and even kids’ performances in that room.” 

The Wesley Chapel Library at Seven Oaks is located at 27531 Mystic Oak Blvd. It is open Mon. & Wed. 10 a.m.-8 p.m., 10 a.m.- 6 p.m. on Tues. & Thur. & 10 a.m.-5 p.m. on Fri. & Sat. It is closed on Sun. For more info, visit PascoLibraries.org. 

The Neighborhood News Is Looking To Pay More Writers!

Whether you or someone you know is 16, 36 or 76 but has always loved to write — and would like to get paid for those efforts — I hope you’ll read and respond to this editorial. 

As I have periodically throughout my 32 years of owning and being the editor of the Neighborhood News, I am looking once again for additional freelance writers to help me continue to provide more news and information about the New Tampa and explosively-still-growing Wesley Chapel areas than any other local medium — whether print, broadcast or online. 

Even if you’ve never had anything published before, send me your resumĂ© and something you’ve written — on any topic — both of which you have checked carefully for spelling and grammatical errors, to my attention (see ad, above) at Ads@NTNeighborhoodNews.com. 

If you are sending a clip, please don’t send me three or four. All I need is ONE piece of 300 to no more than 1,000 words that indicates your ability to write in English (not text-speak), tell a story with full sentences and, if possible, one that uses a few quotes that shows that you know how to use them (and quotation marks) properly. 

Please also note that if you’re going to send me a link to a web page or social media site, that the first thing I see needs to be your strongest work because I probably won’t get to the second item on the site/page if the first thing I see doesn’t grab my attention. 

So, whether you have a journalism or English background or not, or any professional writing experience or not, all I am looking for are people who are interested in being part of the Neighborhood News family who are willing to learn. 

In other words, if you think you already know everything there is to know about writing, this probably isn’t the right freelance opportunity for you. That’s why I’m fine working with young people — as long as they’re willing to work, follow directions and can submit stories on deadline. Just please be prepared for a lot of edits and comments about each piece from me. 

If you’re interested in writing news stories, I’m particularly interested in people who are willing to do actual research for those stories, not just regurgitate what they find on Chat GPT or any other Artificial Intelligence app. 

All successful applicants also should be prepared to have to write the Business Feature stories that appear towards the center of each issue, even if you tell me you’re more interested in news, sports, features, human interest or online stories. 

You’ll still get to write those, too, but our advertisers tell us that the Business Features provide them with the best response they receive from any local media, so I do still need them. 

So, send me something and let’s go from there. Good luck — and no phone calls, please! 

Tampa City Ballet Hosts An Amazing ‘Inside The Studio’ Wine & Cheese Social!

I’m so glad our photographer Charmaine George was able to be on hand for the “Inside the Studio” wine & cheese event at the Tampa City Ballet (TCB) studio at 15365 Amberly Dr., in the Shoppes at Amberly plaza in Tampa Palms. The event was hosted by TCB founder and artistic director Paula Nuñez (right in photo) and Board member Marguerite Pinard (left in same photo) and featured demonstration dances by TCB’s super-talented professional dancers, as well as a vocal performance by Coloratura Soprano Daniela Mass, (below left), plus wine, cheese and many TCB supporters and joyous attendees.

Up next for TCB is “Dance Now,” Tampa Bay’s (FREE) Dance Festival, with hundreds of dancers from Bay-area dance troupes of all genres. It will be held at Tampa’s Water Works Park (next to Ulele Restaurant) on Sunday, March 15, 4 p.m. For more info, see the ad below or visit TampaCityBallet.org. — GN