Turnout for Special Operations Warrior Foundation a thriller

hamptoweenThe New Tampa community of Grand Hampton recently held its second annual community 5K road race and children’s one-mile fun run, raising $6,050 for the Special Operations Warrior Foundation.

The theme of the event this year, held on Oct. 17, was the “Grand Hamptoween Monster Dash” and “‘Lil Monster Dash,” featuring a twilight run through the streets of Grand Hampton. Children and adults also competed in monster costume contests, sponsored by Cartwright Realty.

A haunted house, bounce houses, DJ dance party, face painting, popcorn, pizza and food catered by OTB Delights Café provided hours of fun and entertainment to hundreds of Grand Hampton residents and Tampa Bay-area runners. Florida Race Management provided the 5K race course and timing, as all runners had chipped bibs this year.

A “flash mob” of monster dancers set the tone for the race, performing a routine to Michael Jackson’s “Thriller.”

Twelve other area corporations and businesses combined as donors for this year’s race, and many were present at the race site.

Walgreens at Country Line Road and Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. was a second-year sponsor and also provided flu shots on-site. Other second-year sponsors were the Melrose Management Partnership, Two Men & A Truck, The Breakfast Nook of Lutz, Valley Crest, Bright House Networks, Dr. Lisa LaPresti of Sea of Smiles Children’s Dentistry and ICI Homes.

First-year sponsors included AAA, Donna “K” Kempinksi of Keller Williams, Ierna’s Heating & Cooling and Dr. Bill Scheu’s New Tampa Chiropractic & Injury Center.

The Tampa-based Special Operations Warrior Foundation (SOWF) provides full scholarships and grants as well as counseling to the surviving children of special operations personnel who die in operational or training missions. Immediate financial assistance also is provided to severely wounded special operations personnel and their families.

As the main community event for the fall season, this year’s Grand Hamptoween 5K race more than doubled the charitable donation to SOWF over last year’s race and provided lots of family and athletic fun for all.— Special to the Neighborhood News

 

Caetano running for school board post

CaetanoWEBAfter filing last year to regain his old Tampa City Council District 7 seat, New Tampa’s Joseph Caetano ended up not running, saying he had a change of heart.

Now, he says, he is following his heart.

Caetano is one of five candidates who have (so far) filed to replace Carol Kurdell in the District 7 seat on the Hillsborough County School Board in 2016, returning to what he says are his roots.

Caetano says he was a school board member in Woburn, MA, from 1981-85, and he plans on taking some of the things he championed then and using them to build his platform now for the District School Board election, which will be held during the Primary Election on August 30, 2016.

(Note-Unless one of the five Dist. 7 candidates garners at least 50-percent of the vote on Aug. 30, the two candidates with the most votes will advance to a runoff during the General Election on November 8, 2016.)

Specifically, Caetano, 82, says he will run on vocational education, which he says was the backbone of the school district he served up north.

“I know vocational education is a dirty word (to some people),’’ he says. “But it’s a very good system.”

Some other concerns Caetano said he hopes to tackle: the financial woes of the Hillsborough school district, graduation rates that he says remain far too low and increasing the pay for the District’s bus drivers.

This won’t be the first time Caetano has run for the Hillsborough School Board. In 1996, he was unsuccessful in a deep field of nine for a countywide that included winner Sharon Danaher, although Caetano says he received 20,450 votes.

“I know they (the voters) are going to end up loving my message when I come out again,’’ he said.

“They” had better love him, because Caetano already faces four other candidates for the District 7 seat — a little less than a year before the Aug. 30 Primary Election.

If he ends up following through this time on his filing, this will be Caetano’s first campaign since he served on the Tampa City Council from 2007-11. He was unseated in March 2011 by current District 7 Council member Lisa Montelione, finishing third of four candidates and attracting 19 percent on the vote.

Caetano, a longtime Tampa Palms resident now living in Grand Hampton, owned the Bostonian Hair Studio in the City Plaza at Tampa Palms shopping center for more than two decades (and a second salon in the New Tampa Center plaza for several years), before filing for bankruptcy in 2008 and closing both of those salons. He later opened and closed two salons in Wesley Chapel and helped his daughter, Jacquie, open the Urban Renewal Hair & More salon in the Pebble Creek Collection a couple of years ago.

The always-colorful Caetano promises that his age won’t hold him back. He said he works out at a gym every day and is in top shape.

“I think I can make a difference; I’m a hard worker,’’ Caetano said. “I’m going to win the election, I’ll tell you that now. I’ll work my (butt) off. And I’m running from here down to Apollo Beach. I’ll be knocking on doors and advertising.”

Caetano said he plans on forming a committee in the coming months to plan his campaign and begin his fund-raising efforts in earnest.

For more information, email Joseph Caetano at caetanobim@aol.com.

First Pasco County all-star game will feature 10 from Wesley Chapel

Wiregrass Ranch RB/DB Brandon Mosley is one of 10 players from Wiregrass and Wesley Chapel High named to the first all-star game. (photo: John C. Cotey)
Wiregrass Ranch RB/DB Brandon Mosley is one of 10 players from Wiregrass and Wesley Chapel High named to the first all-star game. (photo: John C. Cotey)

Wiregrass Ranch and Wesley Chapel didn’t come close to making the football playoffs this season, but a handful of players from each team will get one more high school football game their senior season.

The rosters were announced for the 2015 Pasco County East-West Classic, the first-ever all-star game for the county, and the Bulls and Wildcats are well-represented, by players and coaches as Wiregrass Ranch head coach Mark Kantor will be in charge of the East.

Making the team from Wesley Chapel were wide receiver Brian Mena, offensive and defensive linemen Naim Smith and Tristan Pauwels, kicker Chase Oknefski and linebacker Mike Mosley.

The Bulls representatives will be wide receiver Taylor Bleistein, offensive and defensive linemen Tyler Ichimura and Marque Davis, running back and defensive back Brandon Mosley and linebacker Ty DeCarire.

 

The game, organized by the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, is scheduled for Dec. 10 at 7 p.m. at Sunlake High School (3023 Sunlake Blvd., Land O’Lakes). Tickets are $10 and can be purchased at any of the high schools or at participating Beef O’Brady’s.

 

Two-county police chase starts in Tampa Palms, ends in St. Petersburg

Teamwork between the Tampa and St. Petersburg police departments, and the Pinellas County Sheriff’s office, continued to yield results as a stolen car chase that started in New Tampa resulted in the arrest of seven in St. Petersburg Monday morning.

The TPD, SPPD and  PCSO have been working more closely together since forming a regional Auto Theft Task Force on Aug. 14, designed to attack the growing number of auto thefts with cooperation beyond each county’s borders.

According to TPD, at approximately 3:39 a.m., Nov. 2, Sgt. O. Rosa was at Tampa Palms Blvd. and Bruce B. Downs Blvd. when he discovered the car ahead of him at a traffic light had been reported stolen.

Rosa initiated a pursuit, which was then joined by other officers until they were able to pull back and let a Tampa police helicopter take over, tracking the stolen car all the way to 15th Avenue S. and 7th Street S. in St. Petersburg.

Several of the suspects in the car jumped out and ran into the house, which was quickly surrounded by Tampa and St. Petersburg police officers.

Seven people were detained and transported to the St. Pete Police Department for interviews.

There were no injuries or crashes reported in the pursuit.

 

 

Tampa Premium Outlets launches (w/ photo gallery)

Ribboncut2For those who have been anxiously awaiting the opening of the Tampa Premium Outlets (TPO) for many years now, Wesley Chapel resident Lisa Bastone may have summed it up best.

“It’s about time,” she said.

Bastone was one of hundreds who showed up at the TPO (located at 2398 Grand Cypress Dr., at the interchange of I-75 and S.R. 56) hours before it officially opened at 10 a.m. on Thursday morning, just to look around and bask in the shiny newness of the upscale outlet mall before the big weekend crowds arrive.

“It’s an event, you can’t miss things like this,” Bastone said. “This is going to make this area explode.”

The 441,000-square-foot mall, already home to more than 100 retailers, kicked off its opening with the Distinguished Men of Brass band,  local dignitaries and fireworks as Stephen Yalof, chief executive officer of Simon Premium Outlets, Danielle DeVita, senior vice president of development for Simon and Pasco County Commissioner Ted Schrader all simultaneously cut the ribbon to officially open the mall to shoppers.

The mall is rolling out with grand opening festivities all weekend.

Here is the schedule:

Main Stage Entertainment
Lagoon Court
Friday, October 30, 1 – 9 p.m.
1 & 4:45 p.m.    Caribbean Crew
2:15 p.m., 6 & 8:30 p.m.    DJ Rekka
3:30 p.m. & 7:15 p.m.    Nalisio & The Fellas

Saturday, October 31, Noon – 6:30 p.m.
Noon & 3:30 p.m.    City Sound Quartet
1:15 & 4:45 p.m.    Marlon Boone
2:15 & 5:45 p.m.    C’Nergy

Grand Opening Fireworks
Lagoon Court near Main Entrance
Friday, 9 p.m.
Celebrate the Grand Opening of Tampa Premium Outlets with a spectacular Fireworks Show!

Strolling Entertainment
Thursday – Saturday, Noon – 6 p.m.
Enjoy entertainment while you shop including stilt walkers, face painters, a magician and more.

Visit The VIP Shopper Club
Coral Court by Saks Fifth Avenue OFF 5TH
Thursday – Sunday, Noon – 5 p.m.
VIP Shopper Club Members have exclusive access to the VIP Shopper Club lounge during the Grand Opening Weekend. Enjoy photos with your friends, chair massages, beauty touch-ups, and more. Not a member? Join for free outside the lounge or by visiting premiumoutlets.com/vip.

Meet Bethenny Frankel
VIP Shopper Club Lounge
Saturday, 1 – 4 p.m.
1 p.m.    Fashion Essentials for the Perfect Wardrobe
1:30 & 4 p.m.    Autograph Session with Bethenny*
3:30 p.m.    Essential Accessories to Elevate Your Outfit

*Bethenny will mingle with fans as time and space permits in the VIP Shopper Club Lounge. Autographs only please.

Halloween Happenings
Haunted Pirate Ship
Minnow Court near Forever 21
Friday & Saturday, Noon – 8 p.m.
Fit for a pirate, dead or alive! This Haunted Ship will transport guests to a haunted world of hidden treasures and shipwrecked sails.

Halloween Crafts
Friday & Saturday, Noon – 6 p.m.
Fun for the kids with interactive craft stations.

 Headless Ghosts
Friday & Saturday, Throughout the Day
These spooky ghosts will make you lose your mind when they lose their heads! Watch as these interactive ghosts entertain the audience and drop their heads before your eyes.

Grand Opening Prize-An-Hour Giveaways
Near Main Stage
Register every hour at the registration table near the Main Stage from 11 a.m. – 4:55 p.m. Thursday, October 29 and Friday, October 30th for a chance to win a fabulous prize package. Must be present to win. Drawings will take place at the Main Stage at the top of each hour. Winner will have 30 minutes to claim their prize. See entry form for complete rules and regulations.

Shoppers are encouraged to visit the Tampa Premium Outlets website by visiting www.premiumoutlets.com/tampa
and social media platforms including Facebook at @tampapremiumoutlets and Twitter at @TampaPO.  Share your favorite moments using hashtag #TampaPremiumOutlets.