The round, cherry-cheeked giver of gifts (if youâve been nice, that is) will arrive at the annual tree-lighting celebration at The Shops at Wiregrass, marking the official start of its popular Symphony in Lights display in the center of the mall.
The dancing light show, set to music featuring the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, is expected to premiere at 5 p.m., and there will be shows nightly from 6 p.m.-9 p.m. through December 31.
This will be the 11th year of the lights display.
After the trees and lights are unveiled, Santa will waste no time taking his toy requests from the kiddies, starting tomorrow â Saturday, November 16, 7 p.m.-9:30 p.m.
You can even get your pet a photo with Santa on Monday nights from 4 p.m.-7 p.m. between November 18-December 2.
For more information about Santaâs schedule (and his break schedule; it gets hot in that suit!) please visit TheShopsAtWiregrass.com.
Parrot Fest At The Lagoon!
However, if youâre not quite ready for the holiday season or prepared to put away your summer clothes to prep for winter, you might want to take an opportunity to check out the Epperson Lagoon (31885 Overpass Rd.) free of charge.
The lagoon is transitioning from water events to those held on land, as it plays host to its first-ever âParrot Fest.â
The event will be held tomorrow (Sat., Nov. 16), 5 p.m.-10 p.m., and will feature the Caribbean Chillers (right photo), a popular Jimmy Buffett tribute band.
Bring your own blankets and chairs and get ready to chill out to some classic Buffett tunes.
There will be multiple food trucks on site â you might even be able to get a cheeseburger in, well, paradise â as well as drink specials at the tiki bar.
Although tickets are free to attend the event, Epperson is asking everyone to register online at EventBrite.com. Just go to the site and search for âCaribbean Chillers.â
For more information about the free Parrot Fest, visit LagoonInformation.com or call (813) 527-0775.
This is the view from the end of Kinnan St., which runs north from Cross Creek Blvd. Mansfield Blvd. in Meadow Pointe is on the other side of the barrier, about 40 feet away. (Photo: John C. Cotey)
Hillsborough County Commissioner Ken Hagan, who has tried to get Kinnan St. in New Tampa connected with Mansfield Blvd. in Meadow Pointe II â the infamous Kinnan-Mansfield connection â for more than a decade, may finally get his wish.
Well, partially, anyway.
While Pasco County is firmly committed to not connecting the two roads to general traffic, it has expressed a willingness to connect them for fire rescue and other emergency vehicles. With no other options remaining, Hagan â who represents New Tampa as part of Hillsboroughâs District 2 âthinks itâs time to make a deal.
At a Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) meeting last month, Hagan introduced a motion to direct the county staff to meet with their Pasco counterparts to forge an interlocal agreement authorizing the Kinnan-Mansfield connection, for public safety purposes, to finally become a real thing.
The two sides were expected to meet last week.
Ken Hagan
âI basically introduced the item because I have been trying to make this connection for well over a decade now and, unfortunately, Pasco has steadfastly refused,â Hagan says. âWhile they have not completely seen the light, this is certainly a step in the right direction.â
If a deal is struck, the roads will be connected, and an entry-and-exit bar will be installed to keep vehicular traffic out. The two counties also will be connected at Kinnan-Mansfield by pathways for pedestrians and bicyclists.
Residents of Meadow Pointe II have fought the connection because they say it would add too much traffic to Mansfield Blvd., which is home to community entrances and area schools.
Proponents of connecting the roads have argued that it would be good for local businesses and residents and would help ease traffic in the area, while also benefiting fire rescue and emergency medical services, as the two counties have a mutual aid agreement.
Currently, roughly 30 feet of overgrown grass and bushes â and a good deal of junk that has been dumped in the area â is all that separates the two roads, which were never connected when Kinnan St. was completed in 2007.
Since then, the counties have bickered on numerous occasions over whether or not the roads should be connected.
In 2015, then-District 7 Tampa City Council member Lisa Montelione re-ignited the debate after K-Bar Ranch resident Otto Schloeter severely burned his arm and did not receive medical attention for 45 minutes, after his call was bounced between the two counties before a crew was finally dispatched. Because the roads werenât connected, Montelione argued, it took emergency medical services twice as long as it should have to reach Schloeter.
Luis Viera, who replaced Montelione on the City Council, picked up the fight, but also to no avail.
Pasco County commissioned an engineering firm to study potential connections between the K-Bar Ranch area and Pasco County.
In June, Pascoâs Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) voted unanimously to recommend connections to K-Bar Ranch Pkwy. in New Tampaâs K-Bar Ranch community at Meadow Pointe and Wyndfields Blvds., while also recommending the first responders connection at Kinnan-Mansfield.
Pasco Countyâs commissioners have yet to vote on it.
âIs it what we wanted in full? No,â says Viera, who has been busy holding meetings hoping to resolve the impasse. âBut, does it address our public safety concerns? Yes.â
Viera says he had conversations recently with residents of K-Bar Ranch, which is building 400 more homes but still only has one way, Kinnan St., to exit K-Bar to the west.
âThey seem supportive,â Viera says.
Hagan said it is his understanding that Pasco will vote for the public safety connection.
Hagan secured $250,000 from the county in September of 2017 for what he hoped would be a connection open to everyone.
That money is still available to build the public safety connection.
When it comes to grabbing breakfast off busy Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. in New Tampa, there is no shortage of places to grab a pastry, donut, breakfast sandwich or a cup of coffee.
But, if you want a couple of eggs over easy, a strip of fresh bacon, a slice of warm toast and coffee in a ceramic mug, youâre pretty much out of luck.
However, the good news is that your luck is about to change.
The Brunchery, a popular Valrico restaurant locally owned for 30 years by Kevyn Farley and known for its stuffed French toast, grilled muffins and six kinds of eggs Benedict, is planning to open in the old Boston Market space on BBD the first week in December, if not sooner.
New owner Stanley Athan is enthusiastic about his latest venture. He grew up in Washington state, in a family that has spent more than 50 years in the restaurant business.
Stanley Athan
Athanâs first job was washing the dishes in one of his fatherâs restaurants at age 14, so he could earn enough money to buy a car when he turned 16. He is the youngest of three brothers, all of whom now own restaurants â Stanley owns Voulaâs Good Eats, named after his mother, in Mountlake Terrace, WA.
When he started looking for new a new business to buy, however, a number of factors pointed him towards Florida. He spent eight months searching for a pizza place or a diner â anything but a chain eatery.
âFloridians are sick of chains,â he says. âThey go because they donât have other choices.â
When one of his old high school friends mentioned that the restaurant he lived down the street from, The Brunchery, was for sale, Athan quickly hopped on a plane.
âWhen I first walked in, it was exactly what I was looking for,â Athan says.
On his second visit, they got his order wrong. He ordered stuffed waffles, and instead was brought stuffed strawberry French toast. He said it was so good, however, he left a $10 tip.
The Brunchery wasnât âbroke,â so Athan didnât have much to fix. The restaurant uses the same recipes that Farley used, continues to buy their products âbread, fruit, etc. â from the same vendors, and perhaps most important, serves the same coffee.
Athan merely added some social media muscle to the operation, and sales have been up since he took over in December of 2018.
Now, he is looking to duplicate the rooster-themed, country feel of his prized mom nâ pop at his 2,300-sq.-ft. space in Valrico to his new 3,100-sq.-ft. space in New Tampa, which will have seating for 100.
He is fully aware that a place to have breakfast in New Tampa is high on the wish list of many area residents.
The Brunchery is best known for its breakfast items â made-from-scratch Belgian waffles and French toast (for the special this week, they were stuffed with blackberries), homemade homefries, steak and eggs and breakfast scrambles â but it also has a lunch selection that includes burgers and sandwiches.
Athan said one of the best compliments he has gotten since taking over the restaurant came from one of his customers who is from New York, and said The Bruncheryâs Reuben sandwich was the best heâs had since moving to Florida.
With chef and general manager Al Marku, Athan hopes to build the same loyal customer base in New Tampa that he has built in Valrico.
âWe know what customers want and like,â Athan says. âWe will be bringing that to New Tampa.â
Did you know Floridaâs Burmese python problem is spreading north? Former Cory Lakes Isles resident and Wharton High grad Kevin Reich is helping to make sure that doesnât happen.
Kevin Reich caught and bagged this nearly-18-foot Burmese python back in July.
Kevin Reich was driving through the Grand Cypress National Preserve in Ochopee, FL, one evening back in late July, and was about to give up and head home when the tail of a Burmese python caught his eye.
âJust by the tail, I knew it was going to be a big one,â Kevin says.
So, he did exactly the opposite of what you might expect â but something perfectly normal for him â he parked his car on the side of the road, hopped out and walked up to the snake.
Armed only with his bare hands, Kevin grabbed the tail and dragged the python out, the two dancing a slithery dance, as he deftly avoided attempts by the python, which are non-venomous constricting snakes, to wrap itself around him.
After 15 minutes, the snake was tuckered out. Kevin grabbed it by the neck and victoriously bagged it.
He was right about the size, too: it checked in at a goosebump-inducing 17-feet, 9 inches long, and weighed in at 83 pounds, 12 ounces.
At the time, it was the second-longest ever caught by a member of the Python Action Team.
âI knew it was going to be a challenge and a bit of a battle,â Kevin says. âBig snakes donât come along much. It was a very big, very strong animal. When it started to lose its steam, I just went in for its head and got a hold of it. I could tell it was still very strong. It was trying to turn its jaw around to bite me. The hardest thing sometimes is getting them in the bag.â
While Kevinâs full-time job is in the U.S. Coast Guard, he finds plenty of time to do his part to help the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) try to tame the ever-growing population of Burmese pythons in the Florida Everglades and surrounding areas. The FWC created the Python Action Team in 2017, to combat the invasive species, and has captured nearly 1,000 pythons since.
Still, Kevin says that in certain areas, where racoons, rabbits and opossums should be bountiful, there too often is nothing, due to the spread of the Burmese python.
He says he knows what animals do and donât belong in a certain area. Growing up in Cory Lake Isles, he says he was your typical Florida outdoor boy, exploring his nature-rich community.
âThere isnât one little portion of those lakes or islands that I donât know,â he says. âI fished on that lake every day. Itâs where I learned a lot about the outdoors in Florida.â
Kevin joined the Coast Guard in 2016, after graduating from Wharton in 2012.
He was stationed in Miami, which was a perfect fit, in part because it allowed him to explore the Everglades. It was while doing so with a buddy that he caught his first Burmese python â a freshly hatched 2-footer.
By the way, his second catch was a 15-and-a-half foot python.
He became a certified volunteer Burmese python hunter, before the FWC and Southwest Water Management District began programs that contracted people to help rid the area of pythons.
âItâs awesome,â Kevin says. âYou get paid to go out in these places in the Everglades and explore and help remove these snakes.â
Python Action Team members make just $8.46 an hour, plus $50 for each snake measuring 4 feet, and $25 for each additional foot beyond that. So, a 17-foot Burmese python would net the hunter $375.
Thatâs a nice bonus for something Kevin confesses he would do for free just to help. He says that 95 percent of contractors do not euthanize pythons on site. Instead, they bag them and hand them over to the FWC for research, as the wildlife commission tries to figure out a way to more effectively remove the snakes.
Since he began trapping pythons, Kevin says he has captured well over 100 of them. He has been bitten numerous times, and has been sprayed with the snakeâs musk, which he says leaves one the foulest odors he has ever smelled. He says he keeps Lysol disinfectant wipes in his equipment bag to wipe off his arms anytime he gets tagged.
The longest python ever caught in Florida was 18-feet, 8-inches (in 2013), and the longest ones caught by the Python Action Team are 18â-4â (in September) and 18â (last December).
âMost of the folks that know me are not at all surprised that I do this,â Kevin says. âItâs definitely a challenge and something I enjoy. I know what animals do and donât belong, and some of these places just donât have any small mammals or birds left. These snakes are everywhere. Iâm doing my part to help and preserve the area.â
Williamsburg resident Francesca Caravella is 93 years old, but that doesnât stop her from playing tennis 3-4 days a week and whipping up on the youngâns.
Three times a week, and sometimes more, Francesca Caravella slings her tennis bag over her shoulder and trudges across the grass from her home just a few hundred yards away in search of competition.
She arrives at the court each morning, and effortlessly reaches down like a gymnast stretching for a routine to remove little plastic bags from her shoes, her protection against the morning dew.
Here at Williamsburg, one of Wesley Chapelâs oldest communities where she has lived since 1983, Francesca is tennis royalty. The 93-year-old left-handed racquet-wielding spitfire also is something of a freak of nature.
âYou wouldnât know sheâs that old, the way she plays,â says Glenn Dimiccio, who maintains the courts at Williamsburg and also is one of the communityâs top players.
Dimiccio is warming her up on this day, and it is brutally hot and humid. And yet, Francesca is moving side-to-side, hitting backhands and forehands undaunted.
She had her left meniscus surgically repaired a few years ago, ending her singles career, and her right knee is bone-on-bone and can get quite sore, but Francesca is remarkably agile for someone her age. She still cracks a steady forehand and will liberally mix in high lobs to keep her opponents off the net.
âYou gotta do what you gotta do,â she is fond of saying.
In matches, Francesca lets her partners do the work at the net. She was once smacked so hard in the face by an overhead, âI had to spend thousands of dollars on new dentures.â
Francesca definitely knows the game of tennis. She is picky about her racquets and tennis gear and she watches the game closely on the Tennis Channel.
Her friends at Williamsburg have asked her why she doesnât get an official USTA ranking. The USTA holds national events in all age groups, including 90+, and her teammates and opponents are almost certain she is one of the best 90-year-olds in the country.
âI donât want to travel far to play people,â she says. âBeing number one is just not that big a deal for me.â
The daughter of immigrants who hailed from Messina, Sicily, Francesca grew up in Brooklyn, NY, where she says exercise was always a way of life.
She played handball in junior high and stickball in the streets. She says she joined a gym at 16 years old, and after meeting her husband Sal at age 18, learned to ballroom dance. After she had children, she would exercise along with Jack LaLanne on television.
It wasnât until she moved to Florida in 1985 that she picked up a tennis racquet.
âNobody ever gave me a lesson,â Francesca says. âNot one. I picked up things by watching players on television. I remember watching (Bjorn) Borg, (Andre) Agassi and (Pete) Sampras. I learned the basics by watching them.â
After tennis, Francesca heads back home to shower, and then itâs off to the New Tampa YMCA for some cardio and yoga. When her workout is over, she will spend many afternoons on her Ÿ-acre lot, tending to her gardens.
Francesca takes her tennis seriously. She keeps a journal and a log of every potential player. She plans matches at least two weeks in advance. And, if you donât show up to play when scheduled, you will learn something else about Francesca.
âShe is feisty,â Dimiccio says.
The two became fast friends, after DiMiccio moved to Williamsburg long after Francesca had already established herself as the Queen of the Courts in the tight-knit community.
Dimiccio had just started playing tennis again after putting away his racquet decades ago, and he says âshe was kicking my butt.â
The two are now inseparable mixed doubles partners. Dimiccio is more advanced, with a high 4.0 USTA rating, while Francesca is more of a 3.0. He serves as her unofficial coach and protector, and they make an ideal pair.
âI promised her Iâll play with her every Friday as long as sheâs around,â DiMiccio says, then jokingly adding, âbut now it looks like she just might bury me.â
Special thanks to Wes Henagan for his help on this story.
