When Patrick Abad, the managing partner and VP of the Lexus of Wesley Chapel dealership scheduled to open later this year, regaled the June 21 audience at the Greater Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce (WCCC)âs Economic Development Briefing with updates about the areaâs next luxury car dealership, he drew oohs and ahhs from the crowd.
And, he did a lot of that without even mentioning the cars.
Thanks to a local family median income in the $80,000 range, an influx of new homes on the horizon and rapid business growth, Wesley Chapel has become a hot destination for luxury car dealers. Lexus of Wesley Chapel, being built just south and west of Wesley Chapel Toyota at 5300 Eagleston Blvd. (south of State Road 54 between Bruce B. Downs Blvd. and I-75), will be joining what is growing into a booming luxury car market that already includes Mercedes-Benz of Wesley Chapel, which opened in 2015, and Audi Wesley Chapel, which will open a little later this year than Lexus.
(L.-r.) Randy Newbold of Williams Automotive Group, Steve Domonkos of the Shops at Wiregrass, Eric Johnson of Williams Auto, Jennifer Tussing of the Wesley Chapel Chamber and Patrick Abad, the managing partner and VP of Lexus of Wesley Chapel.
Abad wowed the WCCC audience with details of what will be a state-of-the-art facility that he expects will revolutionize the local car-buying experience.
âWe have visited over 40 Lexus dealerships in the last 18 months, and we took the best from each one,ââ Abad said. âWhen we sat down with the architect, we said we want all of these things.â
Those things include simple, but expensive touches like the $2 million being spent on a double car wash. âLexus said we didnât have to build a car wash,â Abad says, âso we didnât…we built two.â
A pavilion, equipped with a grill, refrigerator and televisions and able to host small corporate events, will link the Lexus dealership to the adjacent Wesley Chapel Toyota dealership. Inside, a cafe featuring fresh sandwiches and a smoothie machine, massage chairs, a business center and even a âquietâ room for those working while they wait for their cars is being incorporated into the dealership.
Abad is part of the Williams Automotive Group of Wesley Chapel, which also operates Wesley Chapel Toyota and Wesley Chapel Honda on Wesley Chapel Blvd. (or C.R. 54), the Wesley Chapel Used Superstore on S.R. 54 and Tampa Honda on N. Florida Ave.
Williams Automotive, run by brothers John and David Williams, has been chasing a Lexus dealership â there are only 236 in the country, Abad says â for years. They even did their own market study, which showed a need for a Lexus dealership in Wesley Chapel, and as one of about 500 applicants, presented it yearly in the hopes of being awarded one. Once chosen, the process included five thorough on-site interviews at Toyota.
âTwo grueling years,ââ Abad said, adding that it was the first time in 12 years a new dealer had been brought into the Lexus family. He said that the success of Wesley Chapel Toyota, chosen as the WCCC Large Business of the Year in 2015, played a big role.
The new dealership is being built on eight acres of land, and though the standard Lexus dealership is roughly 20,000-sq.-ft., the Wesley Chapel location will be 64,000-sq.-ft.
âItâs bigger because we know whatâs going to happen in this market,ââ Abad said. âAnd, weâll be ready.â
High-tech customer care, though, will be a centerpiece. âTechnology like you will not see in any other store,ââ Abad said.
When Lexus owners pull in, radio-frequency identification (RFID) will alert their customer service rep inside. An electronic tire reader will tell you if you need new tires before you even take a seat inside. WiFi in the poles in the parking lot will allow employees to better address customer needs via their tablets.
As for sales, gone are the days of what Abad called the â27 steps of the sale process.â With smarter shoppers these days due to computers and the internet, Abad said sales reps do not have to drag customers through all 27 steps.
âCustomers are all at different spots in the process,ââ he says. âIf they come in and know the price they want to pay, what their car is worth, what they want to buy, canât we just skip steps 1-22 and go right to 23?â
In fact, due to tablet technology, Abad said in some cases it might be feasible to skip right to 27, and sign the paperwork for your car on a tablet in your own driveway.
Lexus will hire 100 people, and Abad said they are looking more to the customer service and hospitality industries. He also said he has received 1,200 applications from all over the country â even one from a director of concierge at a Ritz-Carlton Hotel in California.
Lexus will hit the ground running. Abad is handling a promotion called the Founding 100, which will provide various perks for the first 100 customers to buy a Lexus at the Wesley Chapel location. It includes upgrades like a lifetime warranty, lifetime oil changes and car washes, as well as other VIP services.
The promotion already has been a hit. Six months before Lexus is set to open, 95 cars already have been pre-sold. âThe average Lexus store sells about 100 monthly,ââ Abad said. âWeâre doing 100 the first week.â Or more. Abad added that Lexus of Wesley Chapel they may widen the promotion for additional customers.
âI think this is going to be great for the community,ââ he says. âI think you are going to be proud of what we do.â
For more information, check out Lexus of Wesley Chapelâs website at Lexus OfWesleyChapel.com.
Tampa Bay Curling Club president Bernie Skerkowski guides his stone.
It is Saturday night in Wesley Chapel, a typical summer night where a 90Âș+ day has given way to a torrential downpour. But, inside chilly Florida Hospital Center Ice (FHCI), the atmosphere couldnât be a more perfect for the Tampa Bay Curling Club (TBCC).
A cart with plastic pitchers of beer is hoisted onto a rink â where stones and brooms and a collection of mismatched locals with rubber bands on their shoes (to keep from slipping) â 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 Skerkowskiâs voice seems to boomerang off the boards.
âNoâŠâŠnoâŠâŠYes! Sweeeeeep! Sweeeeeep!â
Skerkowski teaches the sport and runs the curling program at FHCI, but he also is on a team â Curl Jam â 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 âhouse,â or target, can pick up some steam and trajectory.
âSweeeeeeeeeeeep!â
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 âSpirit of Curling,â 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.
âWe canât wait for Saturday nights,ââ 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 curlingâs arrival, he is documenting their first season on a blog called TheHadjiChronicles.com, where he posts a video series he shoots and edits called âSTONED.â
âWeâre always thinking about it,ââ Bonoan says. âIâm 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!â
Bonoan has even downloaded a curling game app for his cell phone.
Skerkowski isnât 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. âI am still a little surprised,ââ Skerkowski says. âItâs more people than I expected. When we had our informational meeting, I thought weâd get 30-40 people out, but we had 100.â
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 womenâs-only league in the future.
Liz Mitchell was just âalong for the rideâ 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.
âThey canât believe how many weâve got,ââ 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.
âEven they (GNCC) were surprised by how many members we have,ââ 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.
âIt has been very successful so far, so we can definitely see this expanding into a number of different things,ââ he says.
Curling reminds many of shuffleboard, a popular game with the older set in Florida, although it is more commonly referred to as âchess on iceâ 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 âpebbled,â 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 âthrowing,â 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 âendâ (or inning, like in baseball). Although the number varies, a typical match consists of eight ends.
âWhen we were first got here, I was thinking, âHow hard could this be?,âââ says Bonoan, who is no stranger to working out. âBut, Iâll tell you this, itâs a lot more challenging than it looks on TV. I was actually sore after the first Learn To Curl class.â
Although curling is huge in Canada â where national finals are televised â and in the northern U.S. (it has even been featured in an episode of âThe Simpsonsâ), 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. âPeople laugh at it, but when it is on during the Olympics, everybody watches it,â 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 âI remember curling during the Olympics, watching it at 3 a.m. when I was little, and thought it looked so cool and fun,ââ Aluisy says. âA couple of months later, they announced it at Center Ice and I called Janice and said âWEâRE DOING IT!ââ
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, Kuchâs Kurlers, for the league.
âEverybody was just so friendly and nice,ââ she says. âWe all learned together, fell together and got back up together.â
Raquel tried to recruit others, âbut all my friends at work think Iâm crazy.â
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. âThat will be a tough choice,â 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.
âHeâs not a big sports kid at all, but he has picked it right up,ââ Mike said.
That guy happened to be Skerkowski, who closed the deal with Winters.
âI was along for the ride,ââ said Mitchell, who admits she has also developed a fondness for the sport.
Itâs 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. âWeâve made it as cheap as possible,ââ he says. âNobody is making any money off this.â
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.
âItâs been worth every penny,ââ says Bonoan. âI canât wait to see what other stuff they have planned.â
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.
(Above left): Paula Stano and her son, Jordan Viches, by Melissa Korta Photography.
When single mom Paula Stanoâs only son, Jordan Viches, went into the Marines straight out of Wiregrass Ranch High in 2013, the only way she could communicate with him was via old-fashioned letter writing.
Jordan told his mom that receiving the letters âfelt like Christmas,â but that some of his friends never got any letters at all. So, Paula started writing letters to Marines other than her son as well.
That became the beginning of a journey that has led her to where she is now, as the founder and president of the STANO Foundation, a 501(3)c non-profit organization that sends care packages to members of the military who are deployed and stationed both in the U.S. and abroad.
As her sonâs military career continued and she became aware of needs of his fellow Marines, she began soliciting donations from friends and acquaintances. Jordan was stationed abroad in Japan, but some of his friends were deployed to countries such as Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan, so she started sending them packages.
âThey would ask for things like two-ply toilet paper or black crew socks,â she says, âor a certain kind of cracker or chips or candy they couldnât get where they were stationed.â
So, as her efforts grew, she created the STANO Foundation (which is her last name developed into an acronym: Supporting Troops Area-wide, Nationally and Overseas), and her efforts continue to be supported by the community and continue to reach more members of the military in more areas.
âWe send out packages every month now,â she explains. âWe reach out to the community and ask if they have loved ones stationed in the United States or overseas, and then we send them packages.â
STANO Foundation volunteers mug for the camera.
Paula says that, twice a year, the foundation sends out an especially large number of packages. First and foremost, prior to Christmas, about 600 boxes are mailed. In late June and early July, roughly halfway through the year and just before the time we celebrate Independence Day, the STANO foundation sends out another 300 boxes.
âWe make sure each person gets an individual box,â she says. âWe ask them about the things they miss the most, their favorite snacks and allergies, and then we try to accommodate each personâs individual needs.â
While her efforts grew from simple letter writing into an official nonprofit serving hundreds of troops, the operation is still based out of her Wesley Chapel townhouse. At our press time, she was getting ready for her big July shipment.
âYou should see my living room right now,â she says. âItâs amazing.â
It takes an incredible effort, a lot of donations of supplies, and additional donations to pay for the shipping.
âShipping is our largest expense,â Paula says. âIt will cost $6,000 to ship the boxes in July,â which means her cost is closer to $12,000 at Christmas time.
Paula is thrilled that Tech Data, based in Clearwater, has partnered with her to pay for shipping the July boxes and also to collect many of the items that need to be donated.
Sheâs reaching out to the community to solicit the additional donated items and to provide the funding for boxes that are shipped throughout the rest of the year.
A supply list can be found on the STANO Foundation website at STANO.org. Some of the most wanted items include sunflower seeds, beef jerky, protein powder, travel-sized shampoo, conditioner, body wash, toothpaste and deodorant, to name just a few.
âItems can be dropped off at Ideal Massage (in the Summergate Professional Park) in Wesley Chapel (behind Samâs Club) or people can contact me and any of our Board members will do a pick-up of items that you would like to donate.â
Anyone who would like to sign up a loved one in the military to receive a package from the STANO Foundation also can do so via the same website.
Jordan is still an active duty Marine, currently stationed in Moscow.
âHeâs loving it, and Iâm hoping to go see him in September,â she says, adding that Jordan is one of the foundationâs Board members, helping the foundation to know who needs what and help make sure the packages meet the needs of those who receive them.
âThereâs no way I could do this by myself,â she says. âIt really does take a village.â
For more information, visit STANO.org or find the foundationâs Facebook page by searching âSTANO Foundation.â
Two of the most highly-anticipated new restaurants in Wesley Chapel — Irish 31 and Noble Crust — have finally announced their grand openings.
Irish 31 Pub House & Eatery will officially open its fifth Tampa Bay location when the doors swing open at the new Shops at Wiregrass location on Thursday, July 6.
The festivities at the 2,734-sq.-ft. location are scheduled to begin at 11 a.m.. The Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce will be on hand for the official ribbon-cutting at 4 p.m.
Founded by former USF football player Jay Mize (who wore No. 31 as a Bull), Irish 31’s other locations are in Hyde Park Village, Westshore Plaza and Westchase, as well as a space on the Chase Club level in Amalie Arena in downtown Tampa.
Meanwhile, Noble Crust is expected to open its doors in mid-July, following a special VIP event on Saturday, July 15, to benefit the Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel Foundation.
The 166-seat restaurant (with 56 outdoor seats on the patio) will feature its popular brand of seasonal Italian fare with Southern soul.
“This is a flourishing area, and we’re looking forward to growing our success in this community,” said co-founder TJ Thielbar.
Although I had never encountered a sheepadoodle until January of this year, when New Tampa resident Todd Pitner brought his sweet, then-year-old, 100-lb. sheepadoodle named Zammy into our office for a story in our January 13 issue â after a photo of Zammy, taken at the Shops at Wiregrass mall, went viral (more than a million hits) on Reddit.
And, my life hasnât been the same since.
Although I currently live in an apartment, if I ever do move into a house, Iâm going to buy a sheepadoodle (old English sheepdog and standard poodle) because I have never seen a better disposition on an animal of any size or breed, much less on a giant stuffed animal come to life.
Since that first story, Zammy has appeared on WCNT-tv, replacing yours truly on set with my co-anchor Susanna Martinez, and I promised Todd that if he ever wanted us to do a follow-up, all we needed was someplace to go where I could see â and chronicle â Zammyâs instant rapport with literally everyone he meets.
So, when Todd asked me and WCNT-tv production assistant Gavin Olsen (who starred as the voice of Zammy in that WCNT-tv segment) to tag along and watch this gentle giant work his magic with the children in the Shriners Hospital on the Tampa campus of USF, we were both thrilled to tag along.
And of course, Zammy didnât disappoint. Whether the kids were wheelchair bound or walking, teenagers or toddlers, or even Shriners Hospital staff, Zammy gave everyone a few happy minutes of his time and I didnât see one kid, parent or hospital staffer leave him without a smile on their faces.
I thank Shriners Hospital Tampaâs public relations manager Lisa Buie for not only letting us accompany Zammy on his mission of goodwill, but also for getting everyone in these pictures to sign a release so we could show them.
Look for more Zammy exploits in future issues â and on future episodes of WCNT-tv.
The Shriners Hospitals for Children-Tampa is a 60-bed nonprofit specialty care facility that has served 60,000 patients since it was established in 1985.
âItâs bigger because we know whatâs going to happen in this market,ââ Abad said. âAnd, weâll be ready.â
