New Tampa All-Abilities Playground Wins Prestigious Award!

City of Tampa Natural Resources Division superintendent Brad Suder (right) accepts the Karen Jacobs Award on behalf of the city at the 33rd annual Americans with Disabilities Act awards celebration hosted by the Hillsborough County Alliance for Persons with Disabilties on Aug. 4. (Photo provided by the City of Tampa).

Congratulations to the City of Tampa and to everyone involved in the creation of the All-Abilities Playground at the New Tampa Recreation Center in Tampa Palms, which was named the winner of the 2023 Karen Jacobs Outstanding Accessible Place award by the Hillsborough County Alliance for Persons with Disabilities earlier this month.

The award, named for Karen Jacobs, a University of South Florida grad, paraplegic wheelchair athlete and advocate for the disabled who passed away in 1996 after a battle with colon cancer, also was won by the city in 2022 for the expansion of Freedom Playground in MacFarlane Park in West Tampa.This year’s Karen Jacobs Award was accepted by Brad Suder, the superintendent of Planning & Design in Tampa’s Natural Resources Division, who played an integral role in the creation of the All-Abilities Playground. 

Dist. 7 Tampa City Councilman Luis Viera, who proposed the creation of the All-Abilities park in his district (which includes all of New Tampa), applauded the award.

“I was thrilled to see our All-Abilities Playground win this meaningful award,” Viera said. “This park stands as a moral statement that people with disabilities are a part of our Tampa community and family. For me, being the youngest brother of a man with an intellectual disability, this issue is very personal.”

Councilman Viera said that growing up with older brother Juan and watching his parents struggle to give Juan as “normal” a life as possible was a big influence in his life.

(l.-r.) State Sen. Jay Collins, State Rep. Fentrice Driskell & Tampa City Councilman Luis Viera at the Grand Opening of Tampa’s All-Abilities Park in Tampa Palms on Dec. 21, 2022. (Photo by Charmaine George).

“I just knew that I wanted to help other families living with similar situations,” Viera said. “I am very proud that the members of the City Council and Mayor (Jane) Castor agreed to fund and build this park.”

Raquel Pancho, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) coordinator for the City of Tampa, was one of the people who nominated the All-Abilities Park for this year’s Karen Jacobs Award:

“I am thrilled to nominate The New Tampa All-Abilities Playground for the Outstanding Accessible Places Award. (The park) is a state-of-the-art,10,000+-sq.-ft. playground that is designed for children with a wide range of physical, cognitive, sensory, and neuro-diverse abilities. It fosters wonderful opportunities for children with and without disabilities to seamlessly and effortlessly engage with each other.”

Pancho’s nomination also noted that, “The All-Abilities playground also includes a sensory area geared towards children with autism, as well as an interactive art installation called “Wild Florida Parade,” which has tactile components so individuals who are blind or low vision can also enjoy the art component.”

Sherisha Hills, Director of Tampa Parks & Recreation, said, “This playground has truly set a new standard for inclusivity and accessibility that we continue to strive towards throughout our entire Tampa Parks system.”

AdventHealth Care Pavilion New Tampa Continues To Grow 

As soon as you step into the AdventHealth Care Pavilion New Tampa on Bruce B. Downs Blvd., just south of Cross Creek Blvd. in front of Hunter’s Green, you are greeted at the “Welcome Center” reception area by smiling faces who help make both walk-in patients and those with appointments feel welcome. (Photos on these pages provided by AdventHealth Care Pavilion)

When the AdventHealth Care Pavilion New Tampa opened back in 2021, it was poised to serve the community as a modern, convenient way to meet the area’s primary healthcare needs.

Two years later, the Care Pavilion,  located on Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd., just south of Cross Creek Blvd. in front of Hunter’s Green, has delivered on its promise to provide a reimagined experience to make going to the doctor easier.

“AdventHealth Care Pavilion New Tampa is committed to meeting the growing healthcare needs of the community,” says Victor Odoh, the market director for Advent Health Care Pavilion New Tampa. “With a comprehensive range of services under one roof, including primary and specialty care, pediatrics, imaging, an on-site lab and more, our purpose is to provide convenient and accessible healthcare to those we serve.”

The 50,000-sq.-ft. building is home to primary care physicians and providers, on-site labs and imaging, and an expanding list of specialties. Patients sign in one time at the concierge Welcome Center and don’t need to go anywhere else. An in-house pharmacy means patients can even leave with their prescriptions already in hand.

With its Care Pavilions, AdventHealth has reduced or eliminated altogether many of the frustrations that are typical of a visit to the doctor’s office — such as having to schedule way in advance, dealing with crowded waiting rooms with long waits to see the doctor, and having to fill out pages and pages of forms.

The New Tampa Care Pavilion is open for early morning appointments, evening hours, and even all day (8 a.m.-5 p.m.) on Saturday, for flexibility and convenience.

“(Local) families need access to high-quality medical care,” says Odoh. “Advent Health strives to make health care easier and more convenient for our patients, reducing the need for additional trips elsewhere. That is why the AdventHealth Care Pavilion New Tampa offers same-day appointment availability, weekend hours and convenient registration, along with in-house labs, imaging, and an in-house pharmacy.”

AdventHealth is adding advanced practitioners and physicians to the location, to be sure they can accommodate the number of people who visit.

In addition to its primary care services and various subspecialties, including cardiology, dermatology and pediatrics, the on-site Imaging Center offers services such as Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRIs), computed tomography (CT scans), dual X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA scans), X-rays, Ultrasound imaging and 3D Mammography, with a separate women’s suite to provide a private, comfortable area for women to receive breast care.

Odoh explains that the Hunter’s Green location offers a short-bore MRI unit (photo left) for enhanced patient comfort. 

“Depending on the exam,” he says, “we can scan head first or feet first to allow positioning closer to the entrance of the machine. We provide headphones with music of (the patient’s) choice, positioning supports, sheets and blankets to provide a relaxing environment during the exam. The imaging technicians always aim to make patients as comfortable as possible.”

And, while the Care Pavilion is not an urgent care center, it is structured in such a way that patients can receive all of the care — and convenience — they would receive at an urgent care facility.

“We’ve added additional primary care physicians within the Care Pavilion over the last year to care for our growing community,” says Odoh. “We are also excited to share that the New Tampa Imaging Center now performs daily pediatric and adult scoliosis studies on an outpatient basis. Scoliosis studies are a series of X-rays used to (properly) identify curvatures of the spine. Appointments are not necessary, and walk-ins are welcome.”

Appointments are available for patients who prefer them, but if you don’t have an appointment, you can still walk right in and expect to be seen in a reasonable amount of time. You may not get to see your favorite doctor — whose schedule might be already filled for the day — but there will be someone available to see you in a timely manner.

Another perk of the AdventHealth Care Pavilion is that patients won’t be asked to fill out forms over and over again. Online registration and communication through a patient portal and app mean communication with the office and its services are available at your fingertips.

Entering The ‘Kids Zone’

For parents, another inconvenience of going to the doctor themselves can be having to bring their children along and keep them entertained. But, the AdventHealth Care Pavilion has a solution for that, too.

“For families with young children, the Care Pavilion has a ‘Kids Club’ — (with) complimentary care for children ages three months to 12 years — so parents can enjoy stress-free appointments,” explains Odoh. 

Parents who are being treated or seen at the Care Pavilion can have their kids watched at the facility’s on-site, secure “Kids Club.”

The Kids Club can host up to eight children at a time, while their parents are seeing a doctor in the building.

Odoh emphasizes that the Care Pavilion does not charge any fee for the Kids Club, which follows strict safety measures, such as procedures for registering and releasing children, and doors are kept locked for security.

The Care Pavilion still has room to grow, and AdventHealth is committed to delivering convenient and accessible care to meet the community’s healthcare needs. 

A recent Google review gives the facility five out of five stars.

“We have been with AdventHealth for three years, (and) at the Pavilion since it opened,” says Colleen Scherer in her review. “They are always helpful and accommodating, but today was above and beyond. We have multiple family moves coming up soon, as well as a child going off to college. With everything happening simultaneously, I had questions to clarify what was needed to complete paperwork for the college. I went in person to ask my questions and the staff jumped into action not only to answer my questions but get everything needed done TODAY, which was completely unexpected… Everyone was so kind and helpful!”

Odoh summarizes the bottom line for the facility, “We want (people) to know that AdventHealth Care Pavilion is dedicated to providing high-quality healthcare and supporting the well-being of our patients.”

The AdventHealth Care Pavilion New Tampa (8702 Hunters Lake Dr.) is open Mon.-Fri., 7 a.m.-7 p.m., and 8 a.m.-5 p.m. on Sat. For more info, call (813) 467-4700 or visit AdventHealthCarePavilion.com.

Former Mayoral Candidate Hosts ‘Belinda’s Justice’ Radio/TV Show

Congratulations to New Tampa resident and former write-in candidate for Tampa Mayor Dr. Belinda Gail Quarterman Noah (photo), who recently started “Belinda’s Justice,” a new TV and radio show airing live on Channel 189 on Spectrum cable systems and on WTMP-AM (1150) and WTMP-FM (92.9 & 102.1) every Saturday morning at 10 a.m. The shows also are available online at Spectrum.net. 

“It’s like ‘Judge Judy,’ but live,” Dr. Noah says. “Each 30-minute show, I hear the facts and evidence of each case and render a ruling and provide commentary on the case law affecting that case. The participants agree to abide by my ruling, rather than go to court. I’m really enjoying it so far.” 

Although I don’t have Spectrum, Dr. Noah sent me the first episode — a “custody” dispute over a divorcing couple’s pet chihuahua — and although Dr. Noah’s show doesn’t yet offer multiple camera views or post-decision interviews like most syndicated court TV shows, I did find the long-time local attorney’s ability to put forth case law regarding the case of Smith vs. Smith to be interesting. 

I wish Dr. Noah, who also ran for the U.S. Senate in 2006, lots of luck with her latest endeavor. “Break a leg,” Belinda! 

For more info about “Belinda’s Justice,” visit Facebook.com/698763118/posts/pfbid0xUe6rqm7VzcRAgdZnKcTE1RFZR3KT35SgNCcKzTMJFWQ5WtwGve4B9sQnA8pwBRcl/?mibextid=gkx3sN. — GN 

What’s Next For Pebble Creek?

Although I never considered Pebble Creek to be its own suburb — to me, New Tampa is a Tampa suburb; Pebble Creek is a subdivision within that suburb (more on this below) — semantics aside, this community of 1,300 or so single- and multifamily residential units has been in the news quite a bit lately.

First, owner Bill Place and his Ace Golf’s attempt to rezone the shuttered Pebble Creek golf course into 251 homes was voted down 5-2 by the Hillsborough County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) on July 17.

Some were surprised that Commission Chair and District 2 Commissioner Ken Hagan, who has long been considered to be pro-development, was the commissioner who proposed turning down the rezoning. 

Hagan said that although there was some duplication of resident feedback received, he and the six other commissioners received more than 1,300 emails and letters about the proposed rezoning, “and more than 80% of those were telling us to not allow it. Candidly, I do not recall another rezoning request that generated so much feedback. We’ve got like three binders full of resident emails and correspondence.”

Even though some of the residents who filled the commission chamber on July 17 and another 60+ in an overflow room supported the rezoning — because proposed developer GL Homes would clean up what can only be called the blighted former golf course and help increase the value of the existing homes — and also spoke at the July 17 meeting, Hagan said it was clear that the vast majority of Pebble Creek residents did not support the rezoning plan.

And, while the Save Pebble Creek group, organized and led by long-time Pebble Creek resident Leslie Green, cheered the commissioners’ rejection of the proposed rezoning, Hagan said that Place only has a few options going forward. 

“He can come up with another developer with a different plan that might be more acceptable to the residents,” Comm. Hagan said after the July 17 meeting. “We’ve also discussed the possibility of the county purchasing the golf club to convert it to a county-owned course, but he (Place) would have to come down in price a lot for us to be interested.”

Meanwhile, Green, who is still the defendant in a suit brought by Place and Ace Golf (that hasn’t yet seen a judge’s decision rendered) that she defamed the golf course owner, said that what happens next isn’t her primary concern. “Let’s see what he comes back with,” Green said. “Maybe he’s waiting for new commissioners to be elected (in 2024) who might vote differently.”

Two weeks after the BOCC vote, Niche.com named Pebble Creek as the second “Best Suburb to Live In” the Tampa area, 3rd “Best for Families” and #9 “Best to Buy a House,” according to Niche.com’s analysis of reviews and a number of statistics.

Grace Church Celebrates 101-Year-Old Former Buffalo Soldier 

Members of the Tampa & Orlando chapters of the Buffalo Soldiers motorcycle club surround 101-year-old World War II veteran & Buffalo Soldier Roy Caldwood (in blue) at Grace Episcopal Church in Tampa Palms on Aug. 13. Joining them were (front, l.-r.) Euri Jones, District 7 Tampa City Councilman Luis Viera & Roy’s daughter Diane Royer. (All photos by Charmaine George).

When 101-year-old Grand Hampton resident Roy Caldwood was a member of the Buffalo Soldiers, also known then as the U.S. Army’s 92nd Infantry Division, they were the only all-African-American division permitted to be combat troops in World War II (WWII). The Buffalo Soldiers helped liberate Italy near the end of the war. 

Today, the Buffalo Soldiers motorcycle club still honors the memory of that famous combat division. In most cases, the Buffalo Soldiers are honoring the memory of those American soldiers, but in the case of Roy Caldwood, the Tampa Chapter of the motorcycle group was on hand to honor one of the few surviving WWII Buffalo Soldiers at Grace Episcopal Church in Tampa Palms on Aug. 13. 

Tampa City Councilman Luis Viera, Roy & Roy’s daughter Diane Royer.

The event, which was organized by the motorcycle club and Grace member Euri Jones, Caldwood’s daughter (and Grace member) Diane Royer and City of Tampa District 7 Councilman Luis Viera (who says he first saw Roy at the city’s Juneteenth celebration on June 19), was an amazing day for Caldwood, who looks nowhere near his centenarian age. Those of us in attendance were told that Caldwood, who says he actually can still do ”somewhere between 30-40 push-ups” at once, might have been willing to do 20 push-ups at the event, which started outside of Grace in nearly 100Âș heat before moving indoors for a ceremony led by Viera and Grace Priest Father Benjamin Twinaamani. Roy and Diane later agreed that no pushups would be performed on this day. 

The plaque presented to Roy by the Buffalo Soldiers. 

Caldwood, already a recipient of the Bronze Star Medal — which is awarded to members of the U.S. Armed Forces for “either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious achievement or meritorious service in a combat zone” — was honored by the Buffalo Soldiers and Troopers Motorcycle Club Tampa Chapter at the Grace event with a plaque thanking him, “for your dedication to duty and service to this great nation as Buffalo Soldiers in WWII.” 

The Orlando chapter of the Buffalo Soldiers and Troopers also were invited on stage to join the Tampa club during the special ceremony. 

But clearly, this day was all about a man who has achieved much more than just a long life. Viera called him a “bonafide American hero in WWII. When the Axis powers were threatening democracy and freedom all over the world, young men of 18 and 19, like Roy Caldwood, raised their hands and volunteered to fight for our great country.” 

Viera also noted that even though heroes like Roy Caldwood were celebrated overseas for liberating Europe, because the Buffalo Soldiers were Black, they didn’t find the same respect and admiration when they returned home. 

“But, men like Roy Caldwood,” Viera said, “nor only fought overseas, they came home to America to fight for that same dignity and respect here at home.” 

Viera then thanked the Buffalo Soldiers for not only honoring Roy, but also for all of the good the group does in the community. 

World War II Buffalo Soldier Roy Caldwood displays the plaque he received from the Tampa & Orlando chapters of the Buffalo Soldiers Motorcycle Club.

“I don’t really know if this honor is deserved,” Roy said after being introduced by Viera. “I just did what came naturally. I just wanted to do my best to help.” 

He said that his division chased the Germans for four months in Italy and was told, “They will kill us all. But instead, after those four months, they all came down and surrendered peacefully.” 

Roy then said that even though he didn’t think he deserved to be so honored, he would accept it and thanked everyone in attendance for making it happen. 

Viera then took the microphone back from Roy and noted that heroic people in the military and first responders in our cities, counties and states often say the same thing, “We’re not heroes, we’re just doing our jobs. But Roy, you truly are a hero.” 

Viera then introduced the Buffalo Soldiers and their member “Duba-D,” who said that the group was so appreciative of being able to honor Roy because, “His story is our history. People who are heroes are so often also humble. They find it difficult to accept accolades for what they’ve done.” 

Councilman Viera waves a flag to members of the Buffalo Soldiers Motorcycle Club.

But, Duba-D also added, “A lot of people think that the Buffalo Soldiers today are just a motorcycle club, but we’re actually much more than that. What we do is represent the original Buffalo Soldiers.” 

He added that it was back in 1866 when the first African-Americans were permitted to serve in the U.S. Armed Forces. “And, those became the first Buffalo Soldiers,” he said, “who fought in some of the first foreign wars. Wherever they went, the Buffalo Soldiers were given the worst equipment, the worst training, the worst leadership, but they persevered and found a way to prepare. That type of grit is special.” 

He also noted that Roy’s unit was the only unit of African-American soldiers to serve in Europe, “and they were responsible for the liberation of Italy. The country he went to go fight received him and his unit better than the country he left and then returned home to after.” 

Grace Episcopal Church’s Father Benjamin Twinaamani says a blessing for Roy and those in attendance at the event

Duba-D also mentioned that Roy is a published author who was a New York City Dept. of Corrections Assistant Deputy Warden at Rikers Island when he was taken hostage (and became a hostage negotiator) during one of the prison’s infamous riots. The book is called Making the Right Moves: Rikers Island & NYC Corrections. 

Following the plaque presentation, Roy thanked Euri Jones and Councilman Viera. He said that “Euri brought the matches but Councilman Viera started the fire.” 

Roy also noted that he had received an Honor Flight on Apr. 25 and that he, “shook hundreds of hands that day, but I paid the price for it. The next day, I couldn’t lift any weights or do any push-ups. Shaking two or three hands is no big deal, but 200-300?” 

Roy had no shortage of amazing stories to tell about his life prior to the event at Grace.

And finally, this true American hero again thanked everyone for coming, but added, “You have built me a pedestal so high that I would need a helicopter to get me up on it.” 

Roy also recalled when he first met Viera a couple of months ago. “I was getting out of the barber’s chair and there’s this guy on both knees saying how honored he was to finally meet me. I told him, ‘Get up. This isn’t church,’ but all he wanted to know was how he could get in touch with me. I told him that I would be happy to sit down with him, not just to talk, but to listen to him tell me about what the problems are in this city. I like to listen and then I like to come up with answers. I want to help you help us,” he told Viera, “and get me down off this pedestal you’ve put me on. Thank you all again!” 

Viera closed the event by quoting former President Barack Obama: “There is a lot that’s right about America and it can help cure what is wrong with America.” He then turned to Roy and said, “And this man’s life is all about what’s right about America.” 

The councilman then asked all of the other military veterans in attendance to rise, raise their hands and receive a round of applause. “These are the people, like Roy, who told Uncle Sam that they are willing to do whatever it takes, up to giving their lives, to protect this great country.”