Congratulations to my friends Jamie, Paul and their son James Bartell, who will be hosting their fourth annual Pasta Dinner to raise money for the Sean Bartell Memorial Foundation. Sean โ Paul and Jamieโs younger son โ passed away in 2014 from a rare disease called toxic epidermal necrolysis.
The Sean Bartell Foundation Pasta Dinner will be held on Saturday, April 28, 4:30 p.m.-7 p.m., at Trinity Church of Wesley Chapel (33425 S.R. 54). All of the food โ lasagna, meatballs, salad and bread โ will again be donated by my (and the Bartellsโ) friends Carl and Jessica Meyers of Little Italyโs Family Restaurant. There also will be a cake to commemorate what would have been Seanโs 20th birthday.
The tax deductible donation for dinner will be $15 for adults, $8 for children 6-12 and free for those age 5 and under. To-go boxes will be available.
In the past three years, the Foundation has awarded 17 $1,000 Scholarship Grants to local Seniors at Wesley Chapel, Wiregrass Ranch and Zephyrhills high schools and 30 $100 Teacher Grants to teachers at many local schools, for a total of $20,000. โWe plan to grant between 3-5 $1,000 grants to local seniors coming up in May, with more Teacher Grants to come in August,โ Paul says.
Purchase โWill Callโ Tickets at SeanBartell.org by clicking on โPayPal Donateโ (please note the # of tickets), by visiting the Foundationโs Facebook page, or email spbfoundation@hotmail.com.
(L.-r.) Wharton High principal Brad Woods talks to a few parents at Heritage Elementary as Area 3 leadership coach Kristin Tonelli & athletic director Eddie Henderson look on.
In response to community concerns about violence and increased law enforcement at Wharton High earlier this year, school administration and district officials held a series of five meetings โ at Turner Bartels K-8 school, Hunterโs Green (HGE) and Heritage elementary schools and Van Buren and Benito middle schools โ between April 4 and April 11.
Designed to be smaller, more intimate gatherings where parents could ask questions freely, the meetings were attended by what could hardly be called โcrowdโ โ in fact, a fraction of the hundreds of parents who showed up back in February for a larger meeting held on campus at Wharton were at the five meetings combined.
The meetings were led by principal Brad Woods, who, in a strange twist, announced his resignation from Wharton after 10 years at the school the morning after the final meeting at Benito.
In addition to Woods, the schoolโs six assistant principals and district staff โ including Area 3 superintendent Dr. Anna Brown, who oversees Wharton and all of the New Tampa-area Hillsborough County public schools, and former HGE principal Kristin Tonelli, who is now the Area 3 leadership coach โ attended all five. New Tampa-area Hillsborough District 3 School Board member Cindy Stuart attended all but one.
At the New Tampa-area meetings, attendance varied.
Administrators outnumbered parents 7-4 at the Heritage meeting, by far the least attended. The meetings at Hunterโs Green and Benito had about 30 parents each; roughly 20 were at Turner Bartels.
Some parents in attendance did express concern about the low turnout.
โIโd love to see more parents here,โ said Jennifer Brooks, a Wharton parent.
But, administrators say their goal was to connect with the parents who did show up, no matter how many there were.
โIt didnโt matter if the turnout was large or small,โ Tonelli said after the last meeting. โWe knew the community had questions and we wanted to provide answers.โ
Woods stressed at each meeting that school officials had heard from parents on issues like better communication and student support, and improving school pride, which could include things like beautification.
A request has been made to have Wharton painted, but the cost could be $225,000 and the School Board would have to approve funding for that project. A campus clean-up and beautification day will be held on Saturday, April 28.
Parents and community members are invited to attend, although details on time and exactly what improvements will be made were not available at our press time.
Woods explained at the first meeting that new soap dispensers were being ordered that could not be as easily removed from the walls. Apparently, some students would empty the dispensers so that it was difficult to keep them filled. At the last meeting at Benito, Woods announced that the new dispensers had been installed.
He also addressed the issue of the smell of marijuana coming from the 100 Hall bathrooms at two of the meetings. Woods reported that a teacher reported the smell to the office earlier last week, and when no one was found in the restroom at the time, administrators reviewed security video and searched students seen going into or coming out of the bathroom during that time.
One student who was found with marijuana was suspended and arrested.
While administrators insist problems at the school stem from both local students who attend Wharton from New Tampaโs 33647 zip code and those who are bused in from outside of it, Woods reported that one parent has met with School Board member Cindy Stuart to propose new boundaries for Wharton, beginning a long process that could potentially end in rezoning at some point in the future.
Parents seemed to be reassured that the violence that was prevalent on campus a few months ago had calmed down. So, questions turned to issues of safety.
โWe have your prized possessions here,โ Woods said, adding that at Wharton, the perimeter of the school is being examined, and changes have been made to keep the students safer, such as opening and closing gates as needed, rather than leaving a gate open all day.
โItโs comforting to hear theyโre managing the fighting situation and bringing it down to a normal level,โ said Dale Miller, whose two children attend Wharton.
Following the final meeting at Benito on April 11, Brooks echoed the sentiments of several parents who attended the meeting. โI think theyโre moving in the right direction,โ she says. โI donโt expect everything to be fixed overnight, but I want to be kept in the loop.โ
She says her 10th-grade daughter loves Wharton and she has no hesitations about her eighth-grade daughter attending the school next year.
โMy two questions for any school are always, will you be safe, and will you be challenged?,โ said Brooks. โThe answer at Wharton is yes (to both).โ
Brooksโ friend Christine Bonatakis has a daughter in eighth grade who will attend Wharton next year. โWe have lots of friends and neighbors who attend Wharton and theyโre happy,โ Bonatakis said. โI feel very comfortable with my decision.โ
As new homes and apartments continue to pop up in New Tampa, the City of Tampa is delivering on its promise to keep new residents safe.
Tampa Fire Rescue (TFR) Station No. 23 is on its way.
Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn and TFR Chief Thomas Forward were among those on hand on April 9 as ground was broken on the new station, albeit ceremoniously, as the building located in the Grand Hampton area at Trout Creek Dr. and County Line Rd. has already begun to take form.
It is expected to be completed by the end of this year.
โThis is one of the things I like to do,โ said Mayor Buckhorn at the groundbreaking ceremony, โto prepare for the next generation in our community, the next chapter in Tampa history, the next chapter in New Tampa. Weโre happy to make this investment. Itโs a great day for New Tampa.โ
Buckhorn, who has presided over five fire stations being built or rehabilitated since becoming mayor in 2011, praised District 7 Tampa City Councilman Luis Viera for his diligence in getting the $1.4 million (of 2018 Community Investment Tax proceeds) earmarked for the stationโs completion.
Viera says it was past time to build New Tampaโs fourth fire station, and first since 2012, considering the continued growth of new homes and apartments in the area. For example, the Tampa City Council authorized nearly 800 new homes roughly 18 months ago for K-Bar Ranch (although most of the calls from that area will be handled by Station 22 near Morris Bridge Rd. (see below).
Not only is Fire Station No. 23 located right down County Line Rd. from Grand Hamptonโs 900 or so homes, as well as another 480 apartment units at Colonial Grand at Hampton Preserve, it also will help take some of the pressure off the existing Stations No. 21 and 22, both of which are located on Cross Creek Blvd.
โIt just gets down to the basic idea that as you have expanding communities like weโve had in New Tampa, you have to build basic local government responses for the needs of those local families,โ Viera says. โWeโve been building more and more neighborhoods out here, but not building local government responses for the people moving in.โ
Back in 2008, Tampa originally bought the 2.2 acres of land for Station 23 for $1.2 million, but the recession put plans to actually build it on hold.
The fire station is part of the cityโs $120.3-million Capital Improvement Program (CIP), which is addressing many of the recession-induced deferred infrastructure projects. Another fire station, No. 24, is planned for the K-Bar Ranch area, but it hasnโt received funding yet.
Fire Station 23 will house nearly 40 firefighters, an engine company, a truck company and a rescue unit.
โThe rescue car is one of the most important things for this area because the majority of our calls are not fire calls, they are medical calls,โ said TFR public information officer Jason Penny. โThe brand new unit will do wonders for the people of this area.โ
While the Tampa Fire Rescue Training Division is located in Palmetto Beach, Penny said the new station also will have a separate building that will serve as a training area for potential firefighters. It will be the only fire station that has a standalone detached classroom/meeting area.
โThis gives the whole district an area where they can train,โ Penny said.
Also, Station 23 will be home to a new District Fire Chief, who will coordinate responses between all four of New Tampaโs fire stations (including Station No. 20 in Tampa Palms (see Community Calendar on pg. 18).
With more homes and apartments coming, Chief Forward said the timing of a new fire station couldnโt be any better.
โFire Station 23 will definitely enhance the response in this (area),โ Penny said. โWe have been looking at runs and looking at the response packages, and we could not ask for this station to come in and provideโฆ.service at a better time. By putting this in place…we absolutely ensure that the (New Tampa) area will realize that exact same level of emergency response as the rest of our greater Tampa area.โ
There was the announcement in 2014 that the first Metro Development Group Metro Lagoon by Crystal Lagoons, the first-ever of its kind in the U.S., was coming to Wesley Chapel.
Then, there was a groundbreaking in 2016, followed by an event announcing the spigots to fill the lagoon had been opened in 2017, which gave way to a ceremony as it was filled with 16 million gallons of water later that year, and then, finally, a ribbon cutting to kick off 2018.
Next up: Saturday’s Grand Opening.
Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps (photo), considered by most to be not only the greatest swimmer but also the greatest Olympic athlete of all time, will be on hand for the grand opening on Saturday, April 28.
The grand opening will feature a daylong tropical-themed celebration, highlighted by planned water ski shows, flyboarding performances, a live Caribbean band performing on Gasparilla Island and even mermaids in the lagoon.ย
There will also be a be a live band and DJ on the main stage, food trucks, drinks, dancing and more.
Free parking and free admission provided to guests. ย The event is already at capacity, but you can sign up for the waitlist, and future events, at LagoonEvent.com.
Phelps will help kick the party off. He was announced last year as a global ambassador for Crystal Lagoons, the company which has built 300 lagoons across the world (with a dozen or more also in the works) since it was founded in 2007 by Chilean real estate developer and biochemist Fernando Fischmann.
Gasparilla Island.
While previous events have featured the lagoon in various states of development, the Grand Opening is expected to show the lagoon in all its grandeur โ a 7.5 acre paradise maintained by ultra-sonic technology that uses sensors to monitor the quality of the crystal-clear water and 100 times fewer chemicals than a traditional swimming pool, surrounded by man-made beaches, private cabanas, swim-up bars, a tidal pool, restaurant and entertainment plaza.
The Crystal Lagoons are expected to become the hottest amenities driving home sales at new developments across the U.S.
In Wesley Chapel, home sales at Metro Developmentโs Epperson community, located on Curley Rd. less than three miles north of S.R. 54), have been booming, in large part due to the lagoon. At Mirada, another Metro development in northeastern Wesley Chapel, work is beginning on a second, even larger lagoon. Both developments are part of the Connected City project, which links northern Wesley Chapel to San Antonio.
The lagoon will be exclusive to theย 2,000 homeowners in Epperson, who will pay for the maintenance of it. But until the community is mostly filled, there will be opportunities for the general public to use it.
For more information about Epperson, visit Epperson.Metroplaces.com. For information about Crystal Lagoons, visit Crystal-Lagoons.comโ JCC
In some ways, Parker James is a typical high school senior โ visiting colleges, awaiting acceptance letters and hoping for great scholarship offers, while spending his days at school and playing sports.
Parkerโs sport of choice these days is golf, and he works hard at it โ training every day after classes at Saddlebrook Preparatory School inside Saddlebrook Resort Tampa off S.R. 54 in Wesley Chapel.
Parker (pictured with his golf coach, Nick Dunn) also is getting ready to do something most teenagers donโt โ he will host a golf tournament to raise awareness for a health condition he suffers from, Crohnโs disease.
โCrohnโs has shaped my fighter mentality,โ says Parker, explaining that fighting his disease has prepared him for the mental challenges of golf. โIn golf, you can go out on the course and lose every day. You can always do better, and you have to overcome that.โ
He says heโs always loved playing sports, and as a child played baseball, basketball, football, soccer, lacrosse, golf, tennis, even skateboarding and wakeboarding.
His diagnosis at 10 years old with Crohnโs disease changed things for Parker. Crohnโs is a chronic inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) characterized by inflammation of the digestive tract.
Since then, an ankle injury and a new diagnosis โ this time of rheumatoid arthritis โfurther limited his ability to play most of the sports he loves.
But, Parker found a way to keep his athletic dreams alive, by playing sports that are less strenuous on his joints, especially golf.
And now, he wants to raise awareness about the many people who suffer from Crohnโs, especially those who, like him, are diagnosed as kids.
โI want to inspire other young people to never feel defeated by their illnesses,โ Parker says. โDonโt let it hold you back in any shape or form.โ
The golf tournament Parker is organizing will be held on Saturday, April 14, at Saddlebrook Resort. All proceeds will benefit the Crohnโs & Colitis Foundation.
Players can register a foursome, or sign up to play in a group with an academy student.
To learn more about sponsoring the tournament, to donate or sign up to play, visit GolfForeGuts.com.
Congratulations to my friends Jamie, Paul and their son James Bartell, who will be hosting their fourth annual Pasta Dinner to raise money for the Sean Bartell Memorial Foundation. Sean โ Paul and Jamieโs younger son โ passed away in 2014 from a rare disease called toxic epidermal necrolysis.
