That’s how Wesley Chapel’s Jon Kramer described the KRATE at the Grove’s Grand Opening on June 4, while sitting in the shade holding a beer as his wife Faith sipped on a sangria. Their dogs, Marley, a 5-year-old Golden Doodle, and Maverick, a 6-year-old Labradoodle, also enjoyed the shade.
Developer Mark Gold promised KRATE would be cool. And on June 4, that’s what he delivered.Thousands — maybe 8,000 or so, according to one estimate, but no matter your guess, the number was many more than expected — swept up and down the rows of converted shipping containers. Some sat and listened to music, children got their faces painted and frolicked on the playground, and slowly but surely the large crowd completely drained many of the 18 open restaurants of their tasty contents. leaving the owners and their employees with no time to catch their breath.
Miguel Calvo, who owns Chamo Bites, lives five minutes from the KRATE at the Grove, and had to run home four times to get more food to restock his container. At the end of the day, he was moved, maybe even a little shaken, by the outpouring of support. He called it “life-changing” and showed off an arm full of goosebumps.
It was the kind of festive event that Chappies have been yearning for.
“This is the best thing to ever happen to this place,” said Jon, who has lived just a few footsteps away from The Grove for 22 years. He has watched what was once nothing but a strip mall sprout from the ground, then wither and nearly die, until Gold showed up and promised to save it.
When Gold and Co. crossed the finish line at the Grand Opening, Jon and Faith were there to celebrate with them.Twice, in fact. The Kramers came in the morning, and then returned again in the evening.
And, get this — in between, they drove to downtown Tampa to have a drink at Sparkman Wharf, the trendy, smaller container park that opened along Channelside Dr. in 2018.
And, while Wesley Chapel may still not be quite as hip as downtown Tampa, it’s clear to Jon that Sparkman Wharf is now officially Tampa Bay’s “other” container park.
“KRATE blows it away,” he says. “They have a few bars and food and nothing else. Here, there is that and local artisans and local shops. It’s just better.”
That will be music to Gold’s ears. On numerous occasions, due to the delays and hurdles, the developer has referred to the nearly three-year KRATE project as “Mission Impossible.” But, he never doubted that once it was completed, it would be a big hit.
KRATE tenants celebrate a successful night at the Friends & Family event June 1. (Photo: John C. Cotey)
The KRATE Container Park at The Grove has opened in bits and pieces over the past few months, but this Saturday, June 4, the park will finally celebrate its Grand Opening.
More than 70 percent of the 94 repurposed shipping containers will be “officially” open for business — although many have been open for months — and the celebration will be marked by live music at a new bandshell, family events and plenty of food and shopping.
The Grand Opening celebration on the 4th is scheduled from 10 a.m.-2 p.m., with nighttime entertainment from 6 p.m.-9 p.m.
A Friends & Family event was held June 1, drawing a sizable crowd that included social media influencers with a total following of roughly four million.
“Opening KRATE was mission impossible,” Grove developer Mark Gold of Mishorim-Gold Properties says. “We did not expect a pandemic, supply chain shortages, and a backlog in permitting. But, we did it and everything we promised we would do has become reality. We are proud of the sense of community we have built here at the Grove at Wesley Chapel and our KRATE park and look forward to providing even more opportunities to bring together friends, families, and neighbors.”
KRATE is just one part, but perhaps the crown jewel, of The Grove’s transformation, which began when Mishorim-Gold Properties, a partnership between Gold and Mishorim Real Estate, bought the 200+ acres for $62.7 million in 2019. Gold has since poured more than $100 million into renovations, including $20 million or so for a container park he promised would be one-of-a-kind.
KRATE faced a number of obstacles to opening, primarily due to Covid-19 and permitting snags. But little by little, the containers were transformed inside and outside — thanks in large part to artist Whitney Holbourn, whose hand-painted, business-themed murals adorn the exterior of each shop — into an attractive, outdoor shopping park featuring 70% restaurants and 30% retail businesses.
Nickole Davis, who opened All Good Things Gifts in February, says she is excited to see KRATE take another step toward reality. Davis sells a variety of personalized items, like her popular Wesley Chapel-branded home decorations, and says local consumers will be pleased by the variety of different kinds of shops in the KRATE, which include a children’s boutique, a Budget Blinds showroom and a huge variety of different cuisines from around the world, including Puerto Rican, French, Hawaiian, Mediterranean, Venezuelan and Japanese influences and so many more.
“The park is still in its infancy and there’s a lot of room for growth, so I think as more people know that it’s open, it can become something special,” says Davis, who added that her business has been hitting sales goals and doing very well since opening.
She is not alone. Some of the restaurants, like the Bacon Boss HQ, TJ’s Hot Dogs and Mojo Grill Latin Fusion, have been regularly selling out and running out of inventory, a sign that the public is eager for the KRATE.
Portions of the parking area between the various KRATEs have opened, including by the Bacon Boss HQ (nearest the stage at the north end of the park) and other interior parking areas around the other KRATEs, but that parking will be closed for the Grand Opening event on June 4, due to the amount of foot traffic expected in the area.
There will be plenty of KRATE parking in the lot in front of the big box stores at The Grove, including World Market and Dick’s Sporting Goods. Gold also promises that a separate KRATE parking lot is coming to the south end of the container park (north of the Outback Steak House) that should be done “soon.”
Also Coming Soon…
In addition to KRATE, Gold continues to fill the rest of The Grove property. New businesses slated to open in the near future include: Woodie’s Wash Shack, Five Below, Bealls Outlet/Home Centric, Starbucks, a national rental car chain, a national grocery store and a miniature golf course.
“We are the ultimate shopping and entertainment destination, not just for Wesley Chapel, but for the region and around the world,” Gold says.
Which KRATEs Are Already Open & Which Ones Are Still To Come?
Please note that we will have full reviews of each of the following open & planned eateries in future issues. But, where else but the KRATE Container Park can you find all of these cuisine types?: • Tasty Ramen • El Prince Mediterranean • Shake-A-Salad • The Fryroom • La Creacion Express • Mojo Grill Latin Fusion • Provisions Coffee & Kitchen • The Bacon Boss HQ • TJ’s Hot Dogs • Tacos El Patron • Chamo Bites Venezuelan Cuisine • Subzero Nitrogen Ice Cream • Blush Wine Room • Urban Sweets • Palani’s Hawai’i Noodles • Brew Bar • Yummy Tablas • Rhythm Pon Jamaican Grill
OPEN KRATE RETAIL SHOPS: • The Rebellious Hippie • Maeberry Co. • Katie Beth’s Boutique • Pasco EDC’s Smart Start • All Good Things Gifts • We Rock Rocks • Gadgets Emergency Room • Tonella’s Flower Shop • Budget Blinds • Center Ed
RESTAURANTS STILL TO COME: • Boba Mac’s Tea & Eats • Falafel Factory • Pisco Peruvian Chinese • Ato Japanese • 365 Café • Bakery X • Bebo’s Cheesesteaks • Sugar Pop! • Flipn’ Fries • Higher Flour • Café Zorba
KRATE RETAILERS STILL TO COME: • Insane Vape & Smoke Shop • The Toy Jungle • Grove Cigars • 2 Extreme Tattoos • Valiart Jewelry Designs • Life Essentials Refillery
Bruhat Soma isn’t exactly sure what “pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis” means (it’s a synonym for the disease known as silicosis), but the 45-letter word, the longest in the English language, gives him no trouble when it comes to spelling it, or pronouncing it for that matter.
That shouldn’t come as any surprise, considering that Bruhat, a 5th grader at Turner Bartels K-8 School, is something of a world-class word speller.
This week, the 10-year-old whiz kid will compete at the prestigious Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C.
Bruhat (who will be wearing No. 38 at the competition) will be one of 234 kids vying for the title. The Bee begins May 31; the Semifinals (June 1) and Finals (June 2) will be hosted by former “Roots” and “Star Trek: The Next Generation” star LeVar Burton will air on the Ion TV network at 8 p.m. each night.
Bruhat will be one of the youngest competitors, but not the youngest — that honor will go to Matthew G. Yi, a 7-year-old 4th grader from New Orleans. But, Bruhat is already battle-tested.
Last year, he finished second at the Regional qualifier, stumbling on the word “caryatid” (a sculpted female figure serving as an architectural support taking the place of a column), which he incorrectly spelled “carotid.”
Ever since, he has had just one goal:
Being the champ.
“I just like competitions. I really want to get that trophy,” Bruhat says, his eyes widening and a large grin filling his face. “It’s so big!”
The winner also receives $50,000.
Bruhat has only been competing in spelling bees for three years. His dad, Srinivas Soma, signed him up when he was in the second grade for a spelling and math bee put on by the North South Foundation (aka North South), which organizes educational contests like spelling, math and geography bees, as well as others.
(l.-r.) Turner-Bartels principal LaMarr Buggs and gifted teacher Laurie Gonzalez, with Scripps National Spelling Bee contestant Bruhat Soma and his father Srinivas. (Photo: Charmaine George)
Although he didn’t have time to prepare, Bruhat finished first in the math bee, and sheepishly says he was eighth in spelling.
“There was no pressure,” dad Srinivas says. “He liked it. He started to show interest in it.”
Srinivas says Bruhat now has even more interest in reading and spelling, devouring everything in sight. He will read just about any piece of paper or book he can get his hands on, and works at least an hour a day on his spelling online at SpellPundit.com.
“I like unusual words,” Bruhat says. “If I see a word with an unusual spelling, I try to find out more information about it.”
Like “cwm” (pronounced “koom”), an ancient Celtic instrument similar to a violin. And yes, cwm is in the Official Scrabble Players Dictionary.
“I like eccentric words like that,” Bruhat says.
For his end-of-the-year gifted class project at Turner Bartels, Bruhat created his own alphabet (with uppercase and lowercase letters) and wrote a poem about soccer in his new language.
“He excels in mathematics, but his real love is words,” says his gifted class teacher Laurie Gonzalez,
His classmates, and the entire school, will be pulling hard for Bruhat.
“He is an amazing kid,” Gonzalez says. “He is gentle, kind and wicked smart. The other kids are very supportive of his achievements and they are kind of in awe of his level of intelligence.”
His buddy, Tejas Gattu, is sure to be watching as well.
“He (Tejas) always, like, tells me, ‘Wow, you’re the champion,’” Bruhat says. “One time, at a North South Regional, he said out loud so everyone could hear, ‘Bruhat, are you the state spelling bee champion?’ I was like, I already told you. I think he’s excited, he thinks it’s a big deal. He’s my best friend.”
Srinivas, who is originally from Nalgonda is southern India, says the cheering section at home — his mother Jyothi and sisters Reshma (6) and Laasya (8) — and in the Live Oak Preserve community are ready to root for Bruhat.
“There will be a lot of people cheering for him,” Srinivas says.
Bruhat will need the good vibes in what is sure to be a pressure-packed week.
While he hopes to see the White House, the Washington Monument and as many other memorials as he has time for, the Spelling Bee competition will be fierce. Since there were eight co-champions in 2019, the Scripps organizers have made the event more difficult. It now includes definitions in some rounds and, yes, the words are even tougher.
“I watched the 2019 spelling bee and I knew all the words, or like 98 percent of them,” Bruhat says. “In 2021, it was more like 50 percent.”
But, he is ready. He will be trying to become the second New Tampa student to win the national bee, joining Benito Middle’s Nupur Lala, who won the title on her second try in 1999 as a 14-year-old by spelling “logorrhea.”
“I’m very excited to compete, but when the competition day comes closer, I’ll probably feel kind of nervous,” Bruhat says. “For now, I’m excited. My goal is to become the Scripps Spelling Bee national champion. I have prepared for that.”
The pressure for many high school valedictorians can be stifling. While mostly grateful for finishing at the top of their respective classes, the journey is usually one that provides them with a sense of relief when they graduate.
But, Freedom High Class of 2022 valedictorian Pascale Carvalho says that, for her, there never was any pressure. She loved the journey. And, she has made putting in a ton of hours to earn her Associate of Arts (A.A.) degree from Hillsborough Community College and compiling an 8.5 high school grade point average actually sound, well, fun.
“I was never aiming for a certain spot,” Pascale says. “It was never motivation to do better in school. It was just a perk.”
From the very start of high school, which officially ends with graduation Thursday morning at 8 a.m. at the Florida State Fairgrounds, Pascale made sure to take classes she would enjoy, not just classes that would beef up her GPA.
Her freshman year, she took music theory because despite already playing the guitar (jazz fusion and rock) and cello — and cymbals in the high school band — she wanted to learn how to read music, too. And now, she writes her own music as well.
“It was an irreplaceable experience,” she says.
As a sophomore, Pascale took a heavy load of dual enrollment classes, because one of her major goals was to earn her A.A. degree prior to actually starting college. Her junior year, she took Japanese at the University of South Florida, because she had an interest in that culture and language.
Her senior year, Pascale took a pair of 4000-level health science classes at USF, another strong area of interest for her. She wasn’t sure what she wanted to do in college prior to her senior year, but her wide range of interests and classes has helped clarify that vision.
While undecided on which college she will attend, she is mulling over acceptance letters from the University of Southern California at Los Angeles, for its outstanding music composition programs, or Brown University in Providence, RI, or Washington University in St. Louis, for health sciences.
“My goal was just to give myself the best possible education I could, and provide myself with the best college opportunities, and that’s what I did,” she says.
The groundwork for a successful high school experience was laid by her family. Her parents Chantal and Daniel stressed education — Pascale laughs at the math books and essays Chantal assigned during the summer — and older brother Antoine, a Freedom grad, is at Boston University, while older sister Dominique recently graduated from USF after studying biological health science.
“They definitely emphasized being good at what you do,” Pascale says. “If you do anything, try to be the best at it.”
Pascale also strove to be her best, but was never consumed with her academic standing. “Being No. 1 is just one of those hoops you go through,” she says. “Once you reach it, (you should) look back, and see if your experience equates to that number. Because it should.”
Pascale’s high school experience also included athletics. While she couldn’t compete her sophomore and junior years due to an undiagnosed neurological problem, she still managed to play two seasons of soccer and, as a senior, was on the swimming and cross country teams.
While she ponders college, Pascale spends her spare time with friends, watching anime and playing her guitar.
But if you ask her to play a tune, don’t expect a rendition of “Sweet Home Alabama.” She didn’t take music theory and Japanese for nothing.
“Well, I like a lot of Japanese music,” she says, laughing, “so it’s probably going to be a random Japanese heavy metal song that nobody’s ever heard.”
When Sonya Patel walks across the stage as Wharton High’s Class of 2022 valedictorian during the school’s graduation ceremony on May 25, she will do so with its highest-ever GPA — 9.40.
Sonya didn’t set out to break any records. In fact, being valedictorian wasn’t even her goal.
“But,” she says, “I did want to push myself to do my very best.”
She wanted to learn as much as she could and take advantage of every opportunity placed in front of her. Her incredible work ethic led her to set that new high mark for future Wharton students to aspire to beat.
Sonya spent all of her school years in New Tampa, starting at Pride Elementary and going to Benito Middle School before attending Wharton.
When she graduates, she’ll stay close to home. She plans to attend the University of South Florida in Tampa and major in biomedical sciences on her way to a career as a doctor.
“I plan to apply to medical school in the future,” Sonya says. “I currently have fields that interest me but I’m keeping an open mind about what I actually want to do in the medical field.”
When she started high school, Sonya wasn’t sure she wanted to be a doctor. She signed up for dual enrollment (DE) classes at Hillsborough Community College that sounded interesting, and the more classes she took in the medical field, the more she became sure she wanted to one day help people in that way.
While those dual enrollment classes helped her solidify her future plans, along with a lot of Advanced Placement (AP) classes, they also helped her earn that sky-high GPA.
“I counted at least 15 science classes that she’s taken, and it blew me away,” says Christi Atkinson, who is Sonya’s Marine Science teacher this year. “She takes on so many activities and is capable of managing her time and getting everything done. It’s amazing.”
Knowing it’s a long journey through med school and residency, Sonya’s AP and DE classes will help her get her undergraduate requirements out of the way, and because she’s a high school student, the classes have been free.
“It seemed a great way to work on my future goals,” she says, earning credits toward her undergraduate degree while learning about what she calls “cool subjects.”
While she’s worked hard in school, she enjoys spending her free time painting, doing henna body art and cooking. She says her most fun class has been orchestra, where she plays the cello.
Her orchestra teacher, Elise Prather, says, “She has been a dream student. She is respectful, kind, communicates effectively, is a great team player, gives 110% on everything, and is very helpful to me and other students.”
While Sonya was accepted to several schools, she decided USF was the most convenient and least expensive choice.
“And it has great opportunities, so I’m not missing out,” she says.
When she graduates from high school, Sonya will have earned 62 credit hours from Hillsborough Community College, plus many hours from her AP classes, which will help her fulfill her college general education credits. She hopes to finish her Bachelor of Science degree at USF within two years.
She says she loves volunteering, especially at the local Bay Chapel food pantry, because she appreciates that her community has a local food pantry to help those who need some help.
In addition to her difficult academics, orchestra and volunteering, she also serves as co-president of Wharton’s Mu Alpha Theta National Math Honor Society club, secretary of the Science National Honor Society and orchestra clubs, and is a member of the school’s National Beta Club and National Honor Society.
“She’s just a really good kid,” Atkinson says. “She’s someone you can rely on and depend on.”
And while Sonya and her peers dealt with a lot of adversity due to Covid-19, Atkinson adds, “she adapted very well and rose above the challenges.”
That’s what Sonya intends to do in the future, too. She’ll keep setting goals, working hard, making practical decisions, and taking the next step forward.
As she moves from one chapter of her life to the next, she says, “I’m looking forward to new experiences, whatever they may be.”
