American Idol auditions are Aug. 12, but you need to sign up Aug. 5.
Those who have always yearned for the chance to be on American Idol, circle Saturday, August 5 on your calendars.
On that day, sign-ups will open at ABCActionNews.com/Idol, with the first 400 registrants given the chance to audition — by performing a short a capella song before a panel of local celebrity judges — at Wesley Chapel’s Florida Hospital Ice Center on Saturday, August 12.
The winner of “Tampa Bay Idol” will receive a “Front of the Line” ticket to audition for American Idol producers during their bus tour stop in Orlando on Thursday, August 17.
“Pasco County has so much talent and I couldn’t be happier Tampa Bay Idol is holding their next tryout (here),” said Pasco County District 2 commissioner Mike Moore, who represents much of Wesley Chapel. “The ice arena where this will be held is a wonderful facility and we look forward to seeing the talent and the arena featured for the Tampa Bay Idol.”
To audition, local singers must meet all eligibility requirements and download the official rules & local registration which can only be found at ABCActionNews.com/Idol.
City officials say the New Tampa Recreation Center should be back to full speed following repairs to a roof leak that caused damage to the pit and TumbleTrak area.
On June 23, a portion of the ceiling fell through, closing a portion of the recreational side of the gym for repairs.
The damage interfered with summer camps and regular City of Tampa classes, forcing parents who have children in the NTRC’s popular gymnastics program to drive their kids to the Wayne C. Papy Center in Seminole Heights for two weeks.
“I apologize for the inconvenience this may cause, but this is the best solution for all of the children in our program. If you need help with transportation, talk with some of the other parents to possibly set up a carpool,” read a text sent to parents following the issues with the roof.
The area of the roof that was leaking was repaired the same day, according to Ocea Lattimore, director of the city’s Logistics & Asset Management Department.
A couple of screws had started to back out of the metal roof at a joint in the metal panel, Lattimore wrote in an email to the Neighborhood News. That repair cost $300, and Lattimore says that the other areas in the roof with the same detail were inspected as well.
The insulation, however, must be repaired. The vendor that was scheduled by the city to do the repairs said the 5’ wide insulation was a special order with a two-and-a-half week wait time. Lattimore’s department was researching other vendors for the insulation in hopes of speeding up the process.
Tampa District 7 City Councilman Luis Viera, who represents much of New Tampa, says he was informed of the leak the day after it was discovered.
“If something happens out here, I want to know about it,’’ says Viera, a Hunter’s Green resident who offered to do what he could to nudge along the process. “I’ve always worked in the private sector. Things run a little bit slower in the public sector.”
This is the second significant repair done at the New Tampa Recreation Center in the last two months. In May, the turf under the outside playground equipment split at the seams, closing that area for a month.
The turf was replaced under warranty at cost of $16,500.
The rec center has been a point of contention for many New Tampa residents. It has been planned for expansion for five years, but twice has had the money earmarked for the project diverted to another project elsewhere in the city.
Last year, the City Council voted to provide funds for the Cuscaden Park pool in Ybor City instead of the $1.5-million, 14,000-sq.ft. NTRC expansion.
At a recent town hall meeting hosted by Viera at the rec center, local attorney Tracy Falkowitz drew loud applause when she complained to Mayor Bob Buckhorn’s chief of staff Dennis Rogero that the NTRC has been getting shortchanged by the city.
The recent inconveniences caused by the playground being closed and local parents having to drive to Seminole Heights for dance lessons is likely to raise more eyebrows.
“I can say that the way I looked at it, it’s symbolic of the rec center and the need for more attention to the New Tampa area,’’ Viera says. “It needs more attention.”
The City Council should receive Buckhorn’s fiscal year 2017-18 budget on Thursday, July 20. Prior to the need for these playground and roof repairs, however, the new budget was not expected to include any additional money for the NTRC expansion.
For more info, visit TampaGov.net and search “parks-and-recreation.”
Dave Andreychuk #25 of the Tampa Bay Lightning skates with the Stanley Cup after defeating the Calgary Flames in game seven of the NHL Stanley Cup Finals on June 7, 2004 at the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa, Florida. The Lightning won the Stanley cup by defeating the Flames 2-1. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
For more than a decade, a familiar face around New Tampa and one of the community’s leaders, long-time area resident Dave Andreychuk, has been greeted by many a local, eager to say hello, to thank him for the Stanley Cup he helped the Tampa Bay Lightning win in 2004, and, of course, to tell him he should be in the National Hockey League (NHL) Hall of Fame.
But now…finally…those same fans have a chance to say this: “It’s about darn time!”
Andreychuk received what many feel was a long-overdue call on June 26, telling him his wait was over. The former Lightning captain is an NHL Hall of Famer.
“It’s a great feeling,’’ Andreychuk says. “I’m happy the call finally came.”
Andreychuk, who moved into Arbor Greene in 1999 after signing with the Lightning, before his family moved to their current home in Hunter’s Green, said he was on his way to the airport when his cell phone rang around 2 p.m.
He looked down and saw a Toronto number. “Can it be?,” Andreychuck thought.
Unsure if it was the media calling to ask him his thoughts on not being selected again, or someone from the NHL, he answered to discover it was Lanny MacDonald, fellow Hall of Famer and currently the chairman of the Hockey Hall of Fame, with good news.
“It was really a surprise,’’ Andreychuk said. “I had no idea. I immediately pulled over to collect my thoughts. It really was very exciting.”
A native of Hamilton, Ontario, Andreychuk says he knew his day would eventually come. He has been eligible since 2009, and he thought each of the last two years might have been his day. This year, he says he hadn’t been giving it nearly as much thought.
He only hoped that he would make it into the Hall while his parents, Roz and Julian, were still around to celebrate it with him.
“That’s really what I wanted,’’ he said. “So, that it happened now, and they can celebrate it with me, is the best thing.”
Andreychuk will be officially inducted on Monday, November 13, in Toronto.
His inclusion into the Hall of Fame comes after a 23-year career that began when he was drafted in the first round by Buffalo in 1982 and made meaningful contributions in Toronto, New Jersey, Boston and Colorado before coming to Tampa Bay.
Andreychuk is the NHL’s all-time leader for career power-play goals with 273 (Brett Hull is second all-time, with 265), and is the 14th-leading all-time scorer with 640 goals. His 1,639 games are seventh all-time, and his 1,338 points tie him with Denis Savard for 29th on the all-time scoring list.
But Andreychuk’s greatest moment was captaining the Lightning Stanley Cup team in 2004. Outside of Amalie Arena, there is a bronze statue of him holding the Cup over his head.
He said he remembers taking the Cup home to Hunter’s Green the night the Lightning clinched their first championship, to party with his teammates, and then bringing it to the clubhouse a few days later to share it with the Hunter’s Green and New Tampa community.
“The support I’ve always gotten up here has been great,’’ Andreychuk said.
Andreychuk is currently the Lightning’s VP of Corporate & Community Affairs, and continues to be active in the community as a hockey ambassador. In fact, the Captain (as many in New Tampa still call him) was on hand as a dignitary for the opening of Florida Hospital Center Ice.
Tampa Bay Curling Club president Bernie Skerkowski guides his stone.
It is Saturday night in Wesley Chapel, a typical summer night where a 90º+ day has given way to a torrential downpour. But, inside chilly Florida Hospital Center Ice (FHCI), the atmosphere couldn’t be a more perfect for the Tampa Bay Curling Club (TBCC).
A cart with plastic pitchers of beer is hoisted onto a rink — where stones and brooms and a collection of mismatched locals with rubber bands on their shoes (to keep from slipping) — men and women, ranging in ages from 15 to 70, are ready for their favorite night of the week.
Annie Gargasz gets busy sweeping.
In a cacophony of stones clacking together and teammates cheering each other on, club president Bernie Skerkowski’s voice seems to boomerang off the boards.
“No……no……Yes! Sweeeeeep! Sweeeeeep!”
Skerkowski teaches the sport and runs the curling program at FHCI, but he also is on a team — Curl Jam — in the inaugural season of curling that is now less than halfway through its first season in the Tampa Bay area. He is exhorting his teammates to brush the ice, which is covered with tiny droplets of water that harden into little pebbles of ice, and smooth it out so the 42-pound stone that he has just slid towards the “house,” or target, can pick up some steam and trajectory.
“Sweeeeeeeeeeeep!”
Although the sport of curling is definitely in its infancy at Florida Hospital Center Ice, more than 60 people already are participating in the first-ever curling league in the Tampa Bay area, including curling vet Scott Gargasz (squatting) of Advanced Hands.
When the stone finds its mark inside the house, he flashes a smile towards his teammates, and is greeted with two thumbs up.
This happens on all five sheets (or rows) of ice on one of the three NHL-sized rinks every Saturday night at FHCI, over and over, by an enthusiastic group excited about being curling pioneers in Wesley Chapel. The “Spirit of Curling,” a common phrase used in the game by players to describe the sportsmanship, camaraderie and etiquette that is supposed to define the sport, is on display.
“We can’t wait for Saturday nights,’’ said DJ Bonoan, a computer engineer who formed a team, House of Chapel, with his friends Noah Bethel, Orlando Rosales and Billy Still.
Bonoan and his teammates have so embraced curling’s arrival, he is documenting their first season on a blog called TheHadjiChronicles.com, where he posts a video series he shoots and edits called “STONED.”
“We’re always thinking about it,’’ Bonoan says. “I’m at work, looking at better strategies for playing, looking for game plans, trying to figure out better ways to get the stone down the ice. Man, we love it!”
Bonoan has even downloaded a curling game app for his cell phone.
Skerkowski isn’t surprised that Bonoan and others have quickly developed an obsession with curling.
He and FHCI general manager Kevin Wolter had talked about hosting a curling league long before the doors were even open at the facility, with both feeling it would be a big hit in the community.
When they were able to convince developers to build room for five sheets of curling ice (one sheet for each game being played), they knew they could make it work. “I am still a little surprised,’’ Skerkowski says. “It’s more people than I expected. When we had our informational meeting, I thought we’d get 30-40 people out, but we had 100.”
Big Numbers, Big Fun!
The TBCC (visit TampaBayCurlingClub.com) currently has 63 members, and 80 percent of them had no curling experience when they signed up. The league, which has 10 teams, is co-ed, although, if interest increases, Skerkowski is open to a women’s-only league in the future.
Liz Mitchell was just “along for the ride” until she got curling fever herself.
The league already utilizes five sheets every Saturday. The Orlando Curling Club, which has been around for a few years, usually only has access to three or four, according to Skerkowski.
“They can’t believe how many we’ve got,’’ says Skerkowski.
The league has recently been accepted into the Grand National Curling Club (GNCC), a 150-year-old organization that has more than 4,700 members, or roughly a quarter of all curlers in the U.S., according to its website. Skerkowski says getting in the GNCC was a coup for a club so young.
“Even they (GNCC) were surprised by how many members we have,’’ he said.
The current TBCC league, which was about to complete (at our press time) the fourth week of a 10-week season, is just the tip of the, well…iceberg.
By the start of the next season, an influx of snowbirds returning to Florida and word of mouth is expected to increase the number of local curling participants. The 2018 Winter Olympics will be held in February in PyeongChang, South Korea, which will give the sport another boost, with the TBCC expecting to see an influx of new members as a result.
Wolter says there could also be plans for a Sunday morning league, which are very popular up north, as well as bonspiels, or weekend tournaments.
“It has been very successful so far, so we can definitely see this expanding into a number of different things,’’ he says.
Curling reminds many of shuffleboard, a popular game with the older set in Florida, although it is more commonly referred to as “chess on ice” and dates back to the 1500s.
Each game is played on a rectangular sheet of ice which is roughly 150 feet long and 16 feet wide. At FHCI, the five sheets of ice are laid down side. The ice is “pebbled,” a process where small droplets of water are frozen across the surface. Without pebbling, Skerkowski says, the stone would barely move. With it, the stone is able to glide more effectively and spin, or curl…hence the name.
While players take turns “throwing,” or pushing, the stone, their teammates play the role of sweepers, using a broom to brush the ice to the front and side of the stone. The brushing reduces friction underneath the stone and allows its path, speed and spin to be manipulated.
Teams alternate shots and are aiming for the house, the area that looks like a target, as they try to score points for being closest to the center. Each team throws eight stones to complete an “end” (or inning, like in baseball). Although the number varies, a typical match consists of eight ends.
“When we were first got here, I was thinking, ‘How hard could this be?,’’’ says Bonoan, who is no stranger to working out. “But, I’ll tell you this, it’s a lot more challenging than it looks on TV. I was actually sore after the first Learn To Curl class.”
Although curling is huge in Canada — where national finals are televised — and in the northern U.S. (it has even been featured in an episode of “The Simpsons”), the only time most Americans ever see the sport is during the Winter Olympics.
The game enjoyed a spike in popularity when it returned as an Olympic sport in 1998, after its exclusion from the Olympic programs since 1924. In 2010, it was prominently featured during Olympic TV coverage, creating another boost of popularity. “People laugh at it, but when it is on during the Olympics, everybody watches it,” Skerkowski says.
Catching The Fever…
New Tampa resident Raquel Aluisy, who convinced best friend Janice Tuffy to join her and started researching the sport before it even started at FHCI (only to find the closest clubs were in Orlando or Fort Myers), says “I remember curling during the Olympics, watching it at 3 a.m. when I was little, and thought it looked so cool and fun,’’ Aluisy says. “A couple of months later, they announced it at Center Ice and I called Janice and said ‘WE’RE DOING IT!’”
Raquel and Janice met Chris Ansey and Dave Hobbs at one of the Learn To Curl classes in May, and decided to form a team, Kuch’s Kurlers, for the league.
“Everybody was just so friendly and nice,’’ she says. “We all learned together, fell together and got back up together.”
Raquel tried to recruit others, “but all my friends at work think I’m crazy.”
Saturday night may not ideal for many, but Raquel has no problem making her way to Wesley Chapel for league matches. At least, so far. A Tampa Bay Lightning season ticketholder, she expects a few of the hockey games to conflict with her curling career. “That will be a tough choice,” she says, laughing.
Mike Meyers of Dade City watched curling during the last Olympics, and when he read that an ice rink was being built nearby, he told his wife if they ever started curling, he was going to play.
One of the first few curlers to sign up at FHCI, Meyers and his son Chris, who is 15, play on Get Your SHEET Together. On a recent Saturday night, Chris found the bulls eye a few times, although the team fell short against License to Curl.
“He’s not a big sports kid at all, but he has picked it right up,’’ Mike said.
Their teammates, Danny Winters and his fiancé Liz Mitchell of Wesley Chapel, signed up together. Danny says he was debating trying the sport out after stumbling across a curling demo one day at FHCI, when his 8-year-old son Avery nudged the guy at the sign-up table and said ‘My dad wants to try it out.’”
That guy happened to be Skerkowski, who closed the deal with Winters.
“I was along for the ride,’’ said Mitchell, who admits she has also developed a fondness for the sport.
It’s not cheap to curl, a fact that nearly scared off Mitchell and others.
To join the Tampa Bay Curling Club, the annual dues are $75 (which covers insurance) and to register a team is $250 (or what amounts to $25 a match). That comes out to $250 per player, though Skerkowski says a team of eight that alternates the weeks they play cuts that in half.
Ice time is not cheap. In fact, the league started a three-week hiatus after the games June 24 because other scheduled events need the rink. And creating the particular curling sheets is time consuming. “We’ve made it as cheap as possible,’’ he says. “Nobody is making any money off this.”
While the club provides some brooms, most members have gone online to buy their own, which start at around $50 for a fiberglass version if you shop around. There are specially-made curling shoes, which is another cost for the serious player, there are slider slippers to share and you can get by with rubberbands to keep from slipping.
You do not, however, need the most expensive piece of equipment, the stone. The FHCI is leasing 16 of the granite stones for the league, for a cost of $6,000 a year, but will eventually own them.
Some teams have also decided to buy matching uniforms for the games.
“It’s been worth every penny,’’ says Bonoan. “I can’t wait to see what other stuff they have planned.”
For more information about upcoming Learn To Curl Classes, current league standings and future leagues, visit TampaBayCurlingClub.com or contact president Bernie Skerkowski at (813) 758-2279.
(l.-r.) Zezura, son Jordyn, daughter Aryanna and Patrick Ruddell have made their Mini Doughnut Factory in South Tampa one of Tampa Bay’s hottest spots, and hope to bring one to Wesley Chapel one day. (Photo courtesy of Lindsey Meyer)
Wesley Chapel resident Patrick Ruddell doesn’t wait for many things, and he knows what he wants.
So, when he found himself tossing and turning in bed one night three years ago mulling his next move, he got up and opened his laptop at 3 a.m. and emailed three of the top donut shops in Tampa with one simple question:
“Do you want to sell? I want to buy.”
“That’s all I sent,’’ Patrick says. “Three emails with the exact same phrase.”
In 12 hours, he had a response, and just two hours after that, he had a Non-Disclosure Agreement. Three days later, he was at Perks Donut Bar in South Tampa.
“I loved it,’’ he says. “It was perfect.”
And with that, Patrick and his wife Zezura were on their way to becoming the King and Queen of Doughnuts in the Tampa Bay area.
Mini Doughnuts, to be exact.
The Wesley Chapel couple, easily recognizable around the area for his distinguished beard and her wide smile, have created a succulent sensation with their Mini Doughnut Factory, which opened in November 2015 on S. Dale Mabry Hwy. in South Tampa and became a social media wonder on Instagram and Facebook, thanks to a smart and aggressive strategy and a fresh twist on a pretty standard product.
The Mini Doughnut Factory makes its popular, double-bite-sized donuts to order in a small, 1,200-sq.ft. space in a nondescript strip center with bad parking and, almost always, a crowd out the door.
The cake portion of their donuts are tasty, but not too sweet. That is saved for the variety of interesting and unique toppings ranging from sweet to savory — from your basic chocolate and vanilla to eye- and taste-bud-catchers like the Sweet Pig (maple icing and bacon), LeLe Coco (lemon icing and toasted coconut) and the Homer Simpson (strawberry icing with rainbow sprinkles). Customers know to keep their eyes open for new flavors, like the Guava minis for Gasparilla and the Fireball buttercream icing and Hot Tamales for Father’s Day.
Initially, Ruddell was worried that regular customers of Perks would turn their noses up at the newer, smaller doughnuts. “Why are you doing mini donuts?,” people told him. “That’s stupid.”
He actually considered offering regular-sized donuts initially, before easing into the miniature version. But, that was hardly the Ruddells’ style.
“We decided, that’s it, we’re opening as mini doughnuts from Day 1,” Zezura says. “You’re either going to love it or hate it. And, people loved it from Day 1.”
By January, the lines were long and seemingly unending. “I went out the door, took a selfie and was like, oh my God, what did we do here?,” Patrick says. “In less than three months, how did this happen?”
“We cried,” Zezura says. “We literally cried.”
It is more than just the doughnuts, says business partner and friend Lee Kearney, a broker for Spin Real Estate in Seminole Heights. It’s the experience, as customers can watch their doughnuts being dipped, rolled and packed up, as well as the interaction with employees, including Patrick and Zezura.
Always Giving Back, Too
The Ruddells say they feel deeply connected and thankful to their community and customers. They have spearheaded a number of charitable projects around Tampa Bay and are not only regulars at events to help the less fortunate, but among the first to reach into their own pockets.
“They are a big hit because they have integrated themselves into the community,’’ Kearney says. “They promote good things in the community. That, and it’s a great product, by great people. That’s what makes it special.”
Success was nothing new for the Ruddells. Patrick had a great run in real estate years before, flipping more than 700 houses between 2005 to 2008, before themarket crashed and took almost everything he owned with it.
“We lost everything, literally everything,” Zezura says. “We were living in Seven Oaks, had what we thought was our forever home. Great money, great house, nice cars, the whole shebang. We lost everything down to where we had to sell jewelry to pay bills.”
“We short sold that house,” Patrick says, adding, “We lost $170,000 selling that house.’’
The Ruddells struggled that first year after the economy crashed, but slowly worked their way back, emboldened by a never-say-die entrepreneurial spirit. The family moved to Fort Lauderdale sometime in 2010, and began to rebuild as Patrick worked on some web ventures.
He flipped some web domains, including ScienceFiction.com (the country’s top sci-fi website, he says, with four million visitors a month) in 2012. They moved back to Wesley Chapel and used that money to get back into real estate.
But this time, they paid more attention to being diversified. Their next move, they decided, would be to find something that was recession-proof.
Driving around Wesley Chapel and New Tampa, Patrick says he felt like he was passing a Dunkin’ Donuts at every turn. One of his hobbies, he says, is walking into a business and analyzing it. How much would it cost? Could he make it better?
“Obviously, if there are five Dunkin’ Donuts within a few square miles of where we are, doughnuts are doing well,’’ Patrick said. And he had no doubt he could make better doughnuts, specifically smaller ones that are made-to-order and always fresh, in a variety of designs and toppings.
The Power Of Love…& Great Doughnuts
Success has taken the Ruddells on a roller coaster ride neither ever imagined.
“Success is more stressful than failure,’’ Patrick says.
Zezura says they worked 100 hours a week for six straight months, creating a major imbalance between work and family, including their two children, son Jordyn and daughter Aryanna. Even a 20-year relationship couldn’t withstand some of the pressures they were now facing.
They separated and even filed for divorce at one point. However, what initially tore them apart brought them back together, stronger than before.
“We decided last year that we needed to turn the corner and fix this,’’ Zezura says.
It came down to being unable to live without each other.
“I’m the one that will run through the wall, but this is the most supportive woman ever,’’ Patrick says.“Success or failure, she is always there, saying, ‘We are going to do it, we are going to make it.’”
“I’m not afraid of failure, really,’’ Zezura says.
“Because we’ve been there,’’ Patrick adds. “If you’ve made it once, you can make it again.”
And yes, they have made it, again. After breaking even the first month, Patrick and Zezura were pulling in six-figure profits at the Mini Doughnut Factory by the sixth month, far exceeding their goals and expectations.
They will open a second store in St. Petersburg later this summer. Another is planned for Orlando.
However, what’s the one place they would like to build a Mini Doughnut Factory more than any other?
At home, here in Wesley Chapel.
“We want it more than anything,’’ Patrick says.
They live in Wesley Chapel, and send their kids to schools here. Patrick coaches basketball at the Wesley Chapel District Park on Boyette Rd. — a pretty good hoopster himself, the 5-foot-10 donut maven says he once harbored NBA dreams —and the couple are regulars at Wesley Chapel eateries like their favorite, First Watch, where they say they can be found a handful of times a week.
The one thing they’d like to do most in Wesley Chapel, though, is work. Two months ago, they were on the verge of a deal to open a store on S.R. 56. What they thought was a done deal, however, wasn’t, as they say the leasing company reneged on an agreement.
It was devastating. So, they have had to move on. But, every once in a while, a customer from Wesley Chapel will venture into their store, and ask why they can’t have one here.
Patrick says he hasn’t given up yet.
“It hits me hard in the heart,’’ he says. “I wanna be everywhere where people want us to be.”
For more info, visit MiniDoughnutFactory.com, or search MiniDoughnutFactory on Facebook and Instagram. Just don’t do it on an empty stomach.
