Ford’s Garage, which mixes the vibe of old school service stations with burgers and craft beers, is one step closer to becoming one of Wesley Chapel’s new neighborhood hot spots.
Eric J. Hendra of Hendra and Associates, a consulting engineering and surveying firm in Tampa, officially submitted a preliminary site plan application for Ford’s Garage of Wesley Chapel in March to Donna Huber, Pasco County’s Senior Development Review Technician.
The restaurant will be located adjacent to the Pollo Tropical on the Northeast corner of S.R. 56 and Grand Cypress Drive (east of Wesley Chapel Blvd.) directly across from the Tampa Premium Outlets.
It will be owner Marc Brown’s fifth Ford’s Garage location. Brown, of South Tampa, started the chain in Fort Myers in 2012, later added locations in Estero and Cape Coral and recently opened a location in Brandon.
The project, wrote Hendra in the preliminary site plan application, will be a “local restaurant with nostalgic vehicles highlighting the Ford’s Car manufacturer products.” Brown and his ownership group has a licensing deal with Ford Motor Co., so car enthusiasts will enjoy the attention to detail if previous locations are any indication.
The Ford’s Garage menu generally focuses on a vast selection of burgers, chicken, steak and salads, and a variety of popular macaroni and cheese variations according to many reviews on Yelp!. It also boasts more than 150 different types of craft beers in bottle and on tap.
There will be 7,211-sq.ft. of indoor seating, and a 1,192-sq.ft. patio area, according to the proposed site plan. The restaurant will include “static mounted Ford Vehicles for icons located within terminal islands along with a antique non-working fuel dispenser.”
On a Saturday night last month, they got ready like anyone else would for their prom. Tuxedos were buttoned, hair was styled, nails were painted. For some in attendance, it wasn’t their first prom – but it was just as special.
St James United Methodist Church hosted its seventh annual “Red Carpet Affair” under balloons, lights and the sounds of laughter. Nearly 280 special needs adults, ranging from age 16 to 52, attended the Red Carpet Affair with their caregivers for a night of fun, food and dancing. For some, it was also a night of hope.
“Many of us graduate high school and move on to new social structures,” said Carlene Barbeau, who started volunteering with the Red Carpet Affair in 2012 because of the joy it gave her brother Matt. “But, in the special needs community, graduating high school often leads to a lack of a social world.”
Carlene says St. James hosts the Red Carpet Affair to remind our friends that they are special, beautiful in their own unique ways, and can still have a whole lot of fun in life. “Plus, the volunteers have a blast, too,” she says.
Posing for prom pictures are (l-r) Eric Thompson, Lindsay Danner, Tristan Snapp and MacKanzie Conour.
Since January, a team of ten volunteers met multiple times to make the plans to make the Red Carpet Affair a night to remember. Their goal: to make their special needs friends feel like the celebrities they know them to be.
That evening, a “Diva Room” gave women a place to have their hair styled by professional stylists, and makeup done by makeup artists. They were offered shrimp and chocolate-covered strawberries while they were given a manicure. The church’s sanctuary was transformed with light walls, balloon sculptures and floral arrangements. Live Fusion Entertainment blasted some of the most popular songs on the radio and lights spun and flashed.
As the guests arrived, they were greeted by cheers as each walked into the event on the red carpet. Two professional photographers captured smiles in portraits the guests took home as souvenirs of their evening. But, that was all only part of the magic.
Chrissy Hoerner walks down the red carpet on prom night.
Liz McCafferty, director of communications at St. James, says, “The true beauty of the night was in the spirit of community.”
She explains that a community of 120 volunteers, ages 12 to 91, gathered together to cut carrots, dance, hug and create a community for those who are sometimes forgotten. “That community is rooted in love,” Liz says. “Love for our differences and love that we all enjoy a great conga line. And a great conga line it was!”
If you would like to be part of next year’s Red Carpet Affair, or are interested in events tailored for those with special needs, please contact Sally DePalma at specialconnections@stjamestampa.org.
—Submitted to the Neighborhood News by St. James UMC
Maya Patel, a senior at Freedom High in Tampa Palms, has already graduated.
From college.
When she graduates again, as Freedom’s Class of 2016 valedictorian on Wednesday, June 8, 9 a.m., at the Florida State Fairgrounds Expo Hall, it will just be the icing on the cake.
Maya is one of many exceptional students in the New Tampa area, but the Tampa Palms resident makes a strong case for being at the top of that list.
She is graduating with an 8.6 weighted grade-point-average, believed to be the highest ever at Freedom.
And, she already has an Associate of Arts (A.A.) degree with highest honors in Business Management from Hillsborough Community College. She also was president of five clubs at Freedom.
She even started a nonprofit organization with her best friend, Milan Shah (see below), dedicated to donating used books across the globe.
While she will attend the University of Tampa in the fall, declining opportunities to attend, among others, the prestigious University of Cambridge — the second-oldest university in the English-speaking world — and Kings College of London, England.
And, get this – Maya says she still found time to have some fun in high school. “Of course, of course,’’ she says, laughing. “High school is not just about academics; it’s also about fun. I have done Indian dance (called Bhangra) since I was five, and I did typical high school things like movies and the mall. I always made time for fun.”
And sleep, she says. Maya says that despite her many responsibilities, she always got 7-8 hours of sleep a night, even after she added a part-time job at Taco Bell to her already busy schedule.
She says it’s pretty simple, really — use a calendar, make lists and just follow them.
Cheryl Bernales, Maya’s Latin teacher and World Language Department head at Freedom, as well as an American Government honors teacher, thinks the secret might be more about math than lists.
“I don’t know how she does it, but she does seem to have found a few extra hours in a day,’’ Bernales says.
The only child of V.C. and Nila Patel, pharmacists with the Suncoast Community Health Center in Palm River, Maya says she never set out to be the class valedictorian. She did, however, want to be in the top 10 percent.
But, once she started taking dual enrollment and AP classes, “I realized my level of rigor was pretty competitive.”
Her initial goal, laid out with intricate planning, was to graduate with her A.A. degree from HCC, which she did on May 6. Then, she added Class Valedictorian to her to-do list.
Her sophomore and junior years were the toughest, she says, as the classes and assignments could pile up at times, causing a few brief moments of self-doubt.
“I felt at those times that I needed to keep going on,’’ Maya said. “Such a big thing like valedictorian doesn’t come easily. So, I would get a snack and a drink, and get back at it.”
Maya had no idea who else was close to valedictorian status. When she found out her closest competitor was good friend Junie Kim, who had gone to school with Maya at both Chiles Elementary and Liberty Middle School, she was thrilled.
“Had it been anyone else, I would have also been happy for them, but it was even sweeter that it was a friend,” Maya says.
Maya credits her parents for being “pillars of support” in her academic quests. She says they never pressured her, and only encouraged her to reach the goals that she had set for herself.
Those goals now include becoming the first dentist in her family. At the University of Tampa, which she chose in part because of its “positive vibe” and proximity to her Tampa Palms home, she will study biochemistry and work towards a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree, while trying to get into a top dental school.
She also will continue to help run MSMPC (her registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit), which stands for Milan Shah Maya Patel Collaboration, in the fall of 2014.
The two fell in love with reading at a young age, and over a discussion about what to do with their old books, hatched a plan to donate them, as well as others they would collect.
The MSMPC has donated more than 4,000 books in less than two years to places ranging from local community centers to Zambia, India, Mexico and the Dominican Republic. The organization also has partnered with Books For Africa to donate more than 2,000 books.
Maya admits it all sounds like a lot for an 18-year-old to juggle. But, she loves it.
“I don’t understand where she gets all this time,’’ Bernales says, “but she’s always positive, always high energy and never comes to school like it’s a burden or a task. She goes all out and does her absolute best job on everything, and does it with a smile on her face.”
If you want to contribute books to Maya’s nonprofit, please visit MSMPC.weebly.com.
WCNT-TV, a new multimedia project from Neighborhood News and Full Throttle Intermedia, in conjunction with the Greater Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce, will debut next month from the Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel Studios.
The bi-weekly show will feature news and events in and around New Tampa and Wesley Chapel, a feature on a WCCC member business and editor Gary Nager’s Neighborhood Dining News. Look for more updates soon.
TAMPA, FL – DECEMBER 20: Head Athletic Trainer Tom Mulligan tends to Brian Boyle #11 of the Tampa Bay Lightning after a hit to the head during the first period against the Ottawa Senators at the Amalie Arena on December 20, 2015 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Scott Audette/NHLI via Getty Images)
Tom Mulligan has the training and experience to help cure a lot of things.
But, when it comes to Tampa Bay Lightning fever — which is running rampant in the area these days — the team’s head trainer and Arbor Greene resident can only suggest one solution:
Watch more Lightning hockey.
“This is great,’’ Tom says. “I’m not playing, but the next best thing is to be a part of it and help contribute, and I love just watching the excitement of people in the area. Last year, the run we had was fantastic. To do it again would be great.”
Tom, his wife Kellie and children Tyler, 13, Zachary, 10, and Abby, 8, have been fixtures in New Tampa since 2002, when they moved into an apartment at Richmond Place before finding their first of two homes in Arbor Greene.
Kellie is an occupational therapist at Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel, and the Mulligan kids all currently attend or have attended Richard F. Pride Elementary and Louis Benito Middle schools.
“For my kids, they get to go to the rink and talk with the players, and Tyler even got to help at rookie camp,’’ Kellie says. “He was literally filling bags of ice, but still, he was there.”
The Mulligans are among the holdovers from a time when roughly 75 percent of the Tampa Bay Lightning team lived in New Tampa. Although retired former stars (and local media personalities) like 2004 Stanley Cup-winning captain Dave Andreychuk and Chris Dingman still live here, the current crop of players tends to settle elsewhere. But, Tom said the Mulligans love the area and the schools too much to follow suit. There may not be any hockey wives for Kellie to lean on, but they say there is a bustling community in Arbor Greene that rallies together.
“Tom travels so much that I wouldn’t be able to do what I do without our friends and our community, even if it’s just friends helping meet my kids at the bus if I’m running late from work,” says Kellie.
Tom Mulligan (center, top) poses with his wife Kellie and his kids (from left) Tyler, 13, Zachary, 10 and Abby, 8. Photo: Courtesy of the Mulligan family.
The Arbor Greene community might be Tom’s biggest fans. While many would most likely gather for Lightning playoff games anyway, a good many do so knowing their neighbor is a part of this year’s championship-contending team.
“One of the cool things from last year my wife and I talked about was a few families in the neighborhood getting together and renting a 15-foot blow up projection TV,’’ Tom says. “Everyone was so into it and excited. My wife sent me a few pictures when they did it and I shared them with the team. That was pretty cool.”
At our press time, the Lightning had advanced all the way to the NHL’s Eastern Conference finals, where a best-of-7 series against the Pittsburgh Penguins is all that stands between the team and a second straight appearance in the Stanley Cup finals.
Tom, a Quinnipiac College (now University) in Hamden, CT, graduate with a B.S. in Physical Therapy and a minor in Biology, has played a big role in helping the team get here, helping all of those injured Lightning players get healthy and ready. Heck, even the most fervent Bolts fan might make the case that Tom holds the key to the team’s Stanley Cup chances, considering the questions the New Bedford, MA, native has been asked this postseason.
“Is Steven Stamkos going to make it back from a blood clot in time?”
“Is Anton Stralman ready to return from his broken leg?”
“How are the ‘upper body’ injuries that have been keeping JT Brown and Erik Condra sidelined coming along? Oh, and by the way, just between us….what exactly are those upper body injuries?”
The return of each of the aforementioned players would certainly bolster Tampa Bay’s championship hopes, and Tom, the longtime Lightning trainer, would love to see it happen.
But, he’s not saying.
“You get the questions, but the people that we are close to and friends that we have in the area and in the neighborhood, they understand that I can’t talk much about that,’’ Tom says. “You hear the questions. I wish I could give them the answers.”
This year’s Lightning team has already surpassed the expectations that were tempered when the injuries piled up near the end of the regular season. Tom and his staff are working hard to get the Lightning’s key players back on the ice.
“I mean, a lot of the credit goes to the whole training staff and it’s led by Tom and they are the best around,’’ says Stralman, a defenseman who broke his left leg on March 25 before finally returning for the Pittsburgh series. “It’s a long season and they keep our bodies in the best condition they can be. This time of the year, everyone is hurting but the training staff keeps us close to 100 percent. We all owe a lot to the trainers here.”
Tom, a former varsity defenseman in high school back in New Bedford, landed the job as the Lightning’s trainer by chance. In the summer of 2002, when Tom was the head trainer of the Providence Bruins (Boston’s American Hockey League affiliate), he happened to call an old friend who told him that the Lightning trainer at the time was taking a job with the Florida Panthers.
Tom decided to apply and ended up getting the Lightning job.
A Dream Come True
It didn’t take long for him to experience the goal of anybody working in hockey — being part of Tampa Bay’s Stanley Cup-winning celebration in 2004.
“That was my second year with the team when we won the Cup, and everything just happened so fast,’’ Tom said. “Hopefully you think you’ll get another chance, then 12 years go by and you start to wonder if it will ever happen again.”
In the grand tradition of the Stanley Cup, each member of the organization gets to spend a day with the most famous trophy in sports. Tom took the Cup over to his parents’ house in New Bedford for a small celebration. A picture with Tyler, who was then 16 months old, actually sitting in the Cup made the cover of the local newspaper.
“I wasn’t necessarily the coolest (kid on the block), but the Cup was,’’ Tom says.
Since the Lightning’s only Cup win, Tom has traveled to Halifax, Nova Scotia, and Helsinki, Finland, as a trainer for the USA’s World Championship teams in 2008 and 2012, and was a trainer on the USA team which lost in the Bronze medal game (to Finland) at the 2014 Sochi Olympics.
However, he’d love another Cup so his kids could enjoy it, even though it extends his time away from his family.
“With playoffs, it can be so unpredictable that it’s hard,’’ Kellie said. “And for Tom, even on off days, he’s going in for treatments. The cool thing is, it’s so exciting to be part of the playoffs. As a family, we get to share in that and the kids are part of it. It makes all the sacrifices worth it.”
Her initial goal, laid out with intricate planning, was to graduate with her A.A. degree from HCC, which she did on May 6. Then, she added Class Valedictorian to her to-do list.
