John Driskell Hopkins, the co-founder of the Zac Brown Band, was in our area with the band last weekend for two shows (Nov 3-4) at the MidFlorida Amphitheater.
Between those two concerts, Hopkins (who is suffering from a slow-progressing form of ALS), and his own four-piece band made a stop at TrebleMakers Dueling Piano Bar in The Grove for a show to benefit his “Hop On A Cure” nonprofit foundation.
The show — which included some of Hop’s original compositions, as well as the Zac Brown hit “Toes” (Hopkins has a writing credit on that song), plus popular songs by Billy Joel and Tom Petty — raised just shy of $20,000 for Hop On A Cure.
In addition to the music, the highlights of the afternoon were the buffet meal included with each show ticket donated by TrebleMakers owners Jamie & Joe Hess and Lee Bevan, and the live auctioning off of two Taylor guitars signed by the entire Zac Brown band.
John Driskell Hopkins, who has earned fame as a guitarist and vocalist with the Zac Brown Band, was diagnosed with ALS in Dec. 2021. Since Mar. 2022, he has been raising money for his own “Hop On A Cure” nonprofit to help find a cure for the dreaded disease. Hopkins and his trio will play a fund raising show at Treble Makers Dueling Piano Bar & Restaurant on Nov. 4. (Photo: Dave Kotinski, Getty)
Now that Halloween is ending, if you’re looking for something fun to do that also will help support a great cause, you should get your tickets now to the “Hop On A Cure” fund raiser to find a cure for ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), also known as “Lou Gehrig’s Disease,” that will be held this Saturday, November 4, beginning at 1:30 p.m., at Treble Makers Dueling Piano Restaurant & Bar at The Grove.
John Driskell Hopkins, affectionately know as “Hop” by his bandmates in the Zac Brown Band and his other friends (including Treble Makers owner Jamie Hess), was diagnosed with ALS in December of 2021 and started his “Hop On A Cure” 501(c)(3) nonprofit in March of 2022 to raise money to help find a cure for this dreaded nervous system disease, which currently has no cure.
I recently had the pleasure of chatting with Jamie and Hop and although he admits that his guitar playing, speech and ability to walk have definitely slowed since being diagnosed, he feels fortunate that his ALS is a slow-moving version of the illness.
“I have a friend who was diagnosed in his 20s who lived almost 30 years with it, but other people die within just a couple of years,” says Hopkins. “It affects everyone a little differently.”
Although his Wikipedia.com profile calls Hopkins the bass player in the Zac Brown Band, he says he only played bass on the first three albums. He was the band’s co-founder with Brown and its deep harmony voice for the last 18 years. He also has writing credits on some of the band’s top hits.
Hopkins will be bringing his John Driskell Hopkins Trio — which includes drummer Mike Rizzi, who also is a close friend of Jamie’s from high school — to play some of the band’s original compositions, rock and country covers and some Zac Brown favorites, like (maybe) “Toes,” on which he earned a writing credit.
“Hop On A Cure raised over $1 million our first year,” Hopkins says. “Our goal is to raise $2 million in our second full year.”
Hopkins, who got his start in Tallahassee in the early ‘90s, still plays guitar, sings and tours with the Zac Brown Band (which is famous for hits like “Chicken Fried” and its four platinum albums), as well as with his trio, and says he plans to keep playing and touring for as long as he can. “My strength and agility aren’t what they once were,” Hop told me. “But I plan to keep working at this until we find a cure for ALS.”
Hopkins was one of more than 20,000 people in the U.S. living with ALS, which usually afflicts people ages 40-70.
Tickets for the fund-raising event at Treble Makers on Nov. 4 cost $40 per person and include a buffet meal, Angels & Outlaws Live (2 p.m.-3:30 p.m.), and Hop and his trio (4 p.m.-5 p.m.).
“We’re only going to sell 300 tickets and every dollar raised will be donated to Hop On A Cure,” Hess says. “Hop is a great guy and I just want to help him find a cure.”
Although there are other ways to determine the boundaries of an unincorporated community, the Neighborhood News has always considered the boundaries of Wesley Chapel to be the communities within zip codes 33543, 33544 & 33545 only.
One of the debates that has raged for at least ten years in our area has been over the boundaries of the community we love — Wesley Chapel.
According to us, and how we direct-mail this publication, Wesley Chapel has, for nearly 30 years now, included only the communities within zip codes 33543, 33544 & 33545. The mail delivery of all three of those zip codes is still handled by the Zephyrhills Post Office, even though most of Wesley Chapel is 20-30 minutes (or more) from it. Our version of Wesley Chapel now includes more than 33,000 homes, apartments and businesses and, according to the Post Office, a little more than 90,000 people.
However, our editorial researcher and current Realtor (with Florida Executive Realty in Tampa Palms) Joel Provenzano, who previously was a transportation engineer with the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT), says that the zip code map on this page isn’t the only way to determine the boundaries of Wesley Chapel.
In fact, Joel was put smack-dab in the middle of this controversy ten years ago when, as part of his job with FDOT, he was responsible for placing a road sign that said simply “Wesley Chapel” on the east side of Wesley Chapel Blvd., a little bit north of S.R. 56.
The problem was that since the zip code of the land upon which the sign sat was in Lutz’s 33559 zip code (as is everything west of I-75 on both sides of S.R. 56, including the Tampa Premium Outlets, see map), our friends from Lutz basically insisted that FDOT remove the sign — which today no longer sits at that location.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, all of the Pasco areas in orange on the map above are considered to be part of Wesley Chapel, even though everything in orange located west of I-75 is in Lutz’s 33559 postal zip code. (Neighborhood News map by Valerie Wegener)
However, Joel says that although the zip code in that area says Lutz, the U.S. Census Bureau’s list of Census Designated Places (CDPs) includes portions of both Lutz and Land O’Lakes within its Wesley Chapel boundaries (see map, left). Interestingly enough, there also are portions within zip codes 33543, 33544 & 33545, which is what I always have called “Wesley Chapel proper,” that aren’t included in the Census Bureau’s Wesley Chapel CDP. In fact, according to the 2020 U.S. Census, the population within the boundaries of the Wesley Chapel CDP was only about 60,000 people, because of the communities that are and are not included in the CDP boundaries.
So, depending upon whose boundaries you use, one person’s Wesley Chapel is another person’s Lutz and vice-versa.
Although the name “Wesley Chapel” seemed relatively new to those of us whose families haven’t lived in this area since before “The Chap” became one of the fastest-growing communities in the U.S., according to the super-interesting book Images of America: Wesley Chapel by historian Madonna Jervis Wise, the name “Wesley Chapel” actually dates back to before the Civil War and much of the land that today is known as Wesley Chapel was at one time owned by a land trust headed by none other than the financier John D. Rockefeller.
Although it became more commonly known as “Wesley,” as shown on the map below from 1917, Wesley Chapel was a small community located due west of Zephyrhills and east of the adjacent town of Godwin. It extended south basically to the Pasco/Hillsborough county line, where it met up with the community of Branchton, or what we more commonly refer to as New Tampa today.
Historic map of Wesley Chapel & Godwin (Source: History of Pasco County: Wesley Chapel, Fivay.org, Aug 2020)
In fact, according to a map in Wise’s book, most of the area west of what is now called Old Pasco Rd. likely wasn’t considered part of the original town of Wesley Chapel as, dating back to the 1840s, the property owned by four families — the Boyett(e), Gillett(e), Godwin and Kersey families (see marker signs below) — only encompassed the area between Old Pasco Rd. to the west, the county line to the south (when all of what is now Pasco County was considered to be part of Hernando County), “Over Pass Rd.” to the north and Handcart Rd. to the east were included in the homesteads of those families.
But, in the mid-1900s, several other ranch/farming families ended up buying up most of the land the Rockefeller-Weyerhauser Trust owned, including 15,000 acres purchased by James Barney Porter, the father of James H “Wiregrass” Porter, in 1937.
But, it wasn’t until former publishing magnate Tom Dempsey purchased (around 1979) a few hundred acres on the south side of S.R. 54 (which was, at the time, nothing more than a two-lane country road that connected New Port Richey on the west side to Zephyrhills on the east side) to develop into Saddlebrook Resort (which opened in 1981) that anyone other than those ranching old timers really used the name Wesley or Wesley Chapel at all.
The only other part of Wesley Chapel already developed before Saddlebrook was Williamsburg, a small community with still fewer than 300 single-family homes that was originally intended (in the 1970s) to be a retirement community to be called “Levittown Florida,” after developer Abraham Leviitt, (and his sons), who developed the original (and much larger) Levittown on Long Island, NY.
The two-sided marker sign near what is now the First Baptist Church of Wesley Chapel (formerly Double Branch Church) on S.R. 54 tells part of the story of Wesley Chapel’s history.
Fast forward almost two decades later, as other portions of the former ranch lands in Wesley Chapel began developing (beginning with Meadow Pointe in the early 1990s), the name Wesley Chapel still didn’t really catch on. In fact, the first shopping center built in Meadow Pointe was called “The Shoppes at New Tampa,” as the developers tried to capitalize on the more-developed and better-known community located south of the county line. The shopping center’s name was changed to “The Shoppes at New Tampa of Wesley Chapel,” as people who lived in the newly burgeoning community north of the county line resented being referred to as “New Tampa.”
Is it Lutz Or Wesley Chapel?
But, the reason there’s even a story to tell here is primarily because the developers and the businesses located within those developments had different goals than the people who already lived in those areas.
The greatest example of this had to do with the long-awaited construction of the Cypress Creek Town Center, which is located west of I-75. To that end, the mall and all of the businesses that have popped up around it have Lutz zip codes, even though those businesses often referred to themselves (and still do) as being located in Wesley Chapel. This problem was definitely exacerbated by the fact that not only did many of the people who lived in the more rural Lutz not want their community to become part of the sprawl they saw happening in Wesley Chapel, there also were two chambers of commerce serving that area — the Greater Wesley Chapel Chamber (which was renamed and rebranded as the North Tampa Bay Chamber, or NTBC, in 2018) and the Central Pasco Chamber (which was renamed the Greater Pasco Chamber, or CPCC).
The Central Pasco Chamber fought along side the long-term residents of Lutz to not only prevent anything located in a Lutz zip code from being considered part of Wesley Chapel, they also resented that what had long been referred to as “Old C.R. 54” being renamed Wesley Chapel Blvd., and that the sign saying “Wesley Chapel” had been placed on property with a Lutz zip code.
But, according to both our editorial researcher Joel Provenzano, who worked for the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) at that time, and Hope Kennedy — who was the president and CEO of the former Wesley Chapel Chamber who now holds the same titles with the NTBC — neither of them had anything to do with the sign being placed at that location.
“FDOT put the sign where it was on Wesley Chapel Blvd. because the U.S. Census Bureau said that everything east of Old 54/Wesley Chapel Blvd., was part of the Wesley Chapel Census Designated Place (or CDP),” Joel says. “In fact, the Census Bureau never recognized that the community of Lutz, which was historically only part of Hillsborough County, as even extending north of the Pasco County line. The Pasco portions of Lutz are part of the Central Pasco CCD, or Census County Division.”
In other words, just as the people who lived in Wesley Chapel didn’t want to be part of New Tampa, the people of the Pasco-based portions of Lutz did not want to be thought of as Wesley Chapel, no matter what the Census Bureau, the county or the State of Florida thought about it.
In fact, Hope says she remembers when the Central Pasco Chamber tried to not only get the name “Wesley Chapel Blvd.” removed from the roadway that currently provides some of the zip code boundaries between Lutz, Wesley Chapel and Land O’Lakes, but also from the Wesley Chapel Blvd. extension that one day will extend to the Pasco-Hillsborough county line (as we reported in the Feb. 12, 2016 edition of the Wesley Chapel Neighborhood News), with new developments already planned in that area (that we plan to update you about in a future issue).
The Central Pasco Chamber and Lutz community also fought against a plan for Wesley Chapel to incorporate as its own city that never gained enough traction to be brought before the Pasco Board of County Commissioners (BCC). Hope says that part of the reason that idea failed was because neither side could get the county to come to an agreement as to what areas the boundaries of the “City of Wesley Chapel” should include.
Hope also says that she was told that the Census Bureau tries to use “natural” boundaries whenever possible to create census tracts, but even that methodology failed when it came to establishing the Wesley Chapel CDP.
Although it is not shown on the map above, Cypress Creek runs from south of where I-75 meets the Pasco-Hillsborough county line, to the north and slightly to the west of Wesley Chapel Blvd. But, if Cypress Creek was used to establish the Wesley Chapel CDP boundaries, Lexington Oaks and The Grove, which have Wesley Chapel zip codes, would be included within its boundaries, instead of in the Central Pasco CCD (see map).
Speaking of not being included, also not within the boundaries of the Wesley Chapel CDR are Chapel Crossings and New River Township/Avalon Park Wesley Chapel. At our press time, we had no idea why these Wesley Chapel communities are not included in the Wesley Chapel CDP.
We also were surprised that other communities located north of S.R. 54 and east of Curley Rd., especially Watergrass, are considered by the Census Bureau to be part of the Pasadena Hills CDP. I always thought of Pasadena Hills as being more of a Zephyrhills-area development, with most of the CDP located east of Handcart Rd./Eiland Blvd., and had no idea that Watergrass was considered part of it, even though Watergrass does extend all the way east to Handcart.
The exclusion of these large-scale developments from the Wesley Chapel CDP boundaries explains why the Census Bureau believes there are so many fewer residents — 60,000 compared with our zip code count of just over 90,000 in 33543, 33544 & 33545.
What it unfortunately doesn’t clarify is where the boundaries of Wesley Chapel really are or should be. So, I admit that this article has been something of an exercise in futility, even though it definitely has been an extremely interesting one — at least to yours truly.
Whether you or your child likes to dance for fun or dreams of a career on stage one day, the New Tampa Dance Theatre (NTDT) offers dancers a world-class, professional experience that is unmatched in the Tampa Bay area.
Located on Cross Creek Blvd. (across from Heritage Isles) in New Tampa, the 7,500-sq.-ft. NTDT is the largest professional dance training facility in the New Tampa/Wesley Chapel area. Owner and artistic director Dyane Elkins IronWing is in her 29th season of creating dance memories and futures for her students, many of whom have gone on to study dance in college and/or dance professionally.
“As always, I’m very proud of our students,” says Elkins IronWing. “Our dancers become excellent college students, with their impressive time-management skills, perseverance and creative thinking. Each season, our hearts burst with excitement creating with our beautiful students again. We plan to continue giving back to our community with the ‘Pay It Forward’ program by offering all new students $25 per month tuition for every class!”
Follow In My Footsteps?
Elkins IronWing says she started dancing at age 5, later trained in New York City and performed with Ballet Metropolitan in Columbus, OH.
She moved to Tampa in 1995 and immediately opened NTDT in the Pebble Creek Collection. In 2002, she purchased the current NTDT property on Cross Creek Blvd, and moved her school to the new building in January 2006.
With the bigger location, Elkins IronWing was off and running, offering smaller class sizes and larger, more varied schedules.
She says NTDT also has a larger pool of students today, with the ongoing explosive growth in Wesley Chapel, as well as in New Tampa.
“Our name might say New Tampa,” she says, “but our location is much closer to Wesley Chapel than one might assume. We are extremely convenient to all the current growth (there). Wesley Chapel families are shocked to discover just how close we are and excited how quickly they can drive to our facility.”
Not Just For Future Pros!
NTDT caters to both the recreational dance lover (even adults, photo left) as well as the devoted pre-professional — and every level in between. The studio’s leveled curriculum offers multiple art forms for students to explore. Through personalized attention and professional expertise, NTDT’s professional faculty strives to provide a positive educational experience.
Children ages 3-4 can participate in the studio’s Early Childhood Program, ages 5-8 can take part in the Children’s Program and ages 9-18 are invited to join NTDT’s Youth Program.
In addition to classical ballet, NTDT offers full programs in creative movement, modern, jazz, tap and hip-hop.
Each program has its own directors and specific syllabuses guiding students in a structured manner through their studies.
The facilities at NTDT are as top notch as the instructors, and include maple flooring for the tap classes, 20-25-ft.-tall mirrored walls, student locker rooms and a large studio space that can accommodate up to 200 people.
Sprung floors provide shock absorption to protect the dancers’ joints and an on-site physical therapist ensures the health of the dancers. NTDT also features a café for a break, meal, or homework.
World-Class Credentials
NTDT has developed a reputation for creating strong, professional dancers with alumni who have moved on to highly respected dance companies, Broadway productions, national tours, and Walt Disney Company.
Because NTDT students learn to be proficient in multiple art forms, these students have an edge in the competitive world of dance and many of them have been accepted into prestigious summer intensive programs, including the School of American Ballet and American Ballet Theater in New York City, The Harid Conservatory in Boca Raton, the Joffrey Ballet in Chicago and the Boston Ballet.
“Reflecting on 28 years in our community, it’s beyond words the gratitude and love for the amazing people who have been a part of our dance programs and family,” says Elkins IronWing.
One local former student certainly agrees with that assessment.
“I credit all of my success as a professional dancer to the foundational training I received at NTDT from ages 6-18,” says Victoria DeRenzo, who today is a professional dancer and choreographer who has toured internationally in 28 countries on four continents, most notably with the renowned Pilobolus Dance Theatre in Washington Depot, CT.
“I loved every second of my experience growing up there,” DeRenzo adds, “but I had no idea how spoiled I was until I graduated. Not many people receive a top-notch dance education in multiple artforms during their lifetimes, let alone at the age of 6.”
If a student doesn’t choose to pursue a career in dance after high school, they can still reach a level of artistry to be accepted into many college dance programs, says Elkins IronWing.
“Believing in yourself, respecting the process of working towards a goal, and having a well-rounded dance education give our students the tools and confidence to continue discovering new passions throughout their lifetimes,” she says.
Participating In Productions
All students have the opportunity to perform in NTDT’s “Spring Production” and — through the studio’s nonprofit partner, the Dance Theatre of Tampa (DTT) — in the winter production of “The Nutcracker,” as well as the “Summer Concert Series,” held in June at the University of South Florida’s Tampa campus.
DTT provides more than 300 free tickets to NTDT’s corporate sponsors, local community supporters, alumni members and students.
New Tampa residents Brian and Trisha Mangan enrolled their daughters Mattie and Mikayla at any early age with NTDT.
“New Tampa Dance Theatre holds a special place in our hearts, as our daughters’ second home since the age of three, guiding them into their teenage years,” Trisha says. “What began as tentative steps has blossomed into a journey of incredible growth, thanks to the dedicated and caring instructors. NTDT has not only shaped them into skilled dancers, but into confident and determined young women embodying the values of hard work and perseverance, attributes that extend far beyond the studio.”
Every holiday season, Elkins IronWing says local residents look forward to the community’s largest and longest-running interpretation of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s classic ballet, “The Nutcracker,” now in its 24th DTT season. This year, it will be held Friday-Sunday, December 15-17, at the USF Tampa College of Arts Theater 1.
Prior to the performances at USF, DTT also will perform “The Nutcracker Suite” Saturday & Sunday, December 2-3, at 6, 7 & 8 p.m., at The Shops at Wiregrass.
“It’s all about the children at NTDT, always has been and always will be,” Elkins IronWing says. “We are a company that enables children to succeed. The key is setting high expectations, all while having fun and building self-confidence. With the new season ahead of us, we would like to thank all of our trusting and loyal families over the years and organizations that continually support our vision. Without their recognition and time, NTDT wouldn’t be the magical place it has become!”
The New Tampa Dance Theatre offers year-round free trial classes for prospective dancers of all ages. To tour the facility or to rent it for a meeting, party or function, visit NTDT at 10701 Cross Creek Blvd. For more information and to check out the exciting lineup of Fall 2023 classes, visit NewTampaDanceTheatre.com, call (813) 994-NTDT (6838). You also can follow NTDT on Facebook and Instagram at “New Tampa Dance Theatre.”
When the new library opens, sometime in 2025, it will have access from both Mystic Oak Blvd. (bottom road) and Seven Oaks Elementary. (Renderings provided by Pasco County)
It’s not happening right away, but by sometime in 2025, Wesley Chapel will be home to two Pasco County public libraries.
The recently remodeled and completely revamped New River Library reopened on S.R. 54 — to rave reviews — last year.
But, wait until you get a look at the new 14,000-sq.-ft. Wesley Chapel Seven Oaks Library, which is now under permitting review and should begin building next to Seven Oaks Elementary by early 2024.
According to Pasco County public information officer Sarah Andeara, the county is in the process of evaluating and selecting a contractor for the award of the $10-million contract later this year.
“The groundbreaking of the Wesley Chapel Seven Oaks Library is expected in early 2024 and the project will take approximately 16 months to complete,” Andeara says. “The architecture firm of Fleischman Garcia Maslowski has provided the building’s design and the $10 million budgeted by the county is expected to cover the design, construction, furniture, equipment and collection materials.”
In addition to books, audiobooks, and DVDs, the new library will feature public computers, printers, a separate children’s area, collaborative spaces, a gallery wall in the lobby, an outdoor reading porch, a multi-purpose room for “makerspace” and other activities, a meeting room, and study rooms. Drive-up services also will be available at this location.
The Wesley Chapel Seven Oaks Library’s design has been provided by Fleischman Garcia Maslowski Architects.
The Wesley Chapel Seven Oaks library’s unique multipurpose makerspace room, with a designated outdoor mobile makerspace area, will provide all kinds of activities from Pasco’s other library makerspaces to the Wesley Chapel community. Some examples of these activities include woodworking, music and multimedia recording, ceramics and pottery, cooking, gardening, and more.
After receiving input from the local community, it was decided that the best use of the new library’s makerspace space would be to go with a multipurpose room option.
The intent for the multipurpose room is for it to serve as a “launch pad” for a mobile makerspace — which is expected to be a mobile van outfitted with a wide variety of different classic makerspace activities, such as woodworking activities, gardening, cooking, musical instruments, and recording options, as well as STEM activities.
For more information about the Wesley Chapel Seven Oaks Library, visit PascoLibraries.org.
