Category: NEWS CHOICES

Summer Fun Will Include New Safety Measures

On June 1, roughly 20 kids showed up at a camp at Heritage Isles in New Tampa.

Two weeks later, a similarly-sized group was scheduled to begin camp at the Seven Oaks Community Club in Wesley Chapel.

PROtential Sports owner Nyree Bland could finally breathe again.

“I am grateful to be opened again. It’s good to be back,” says Bland who, along with her husband (and former Minnesota Vikings wide receiver) Tony, has been running sports camps locally for 17 years.

For a while, Bland was unsure if she would be able to host camps again in 2020. PROtential after-school camps were canceled when school was (back in March), and summer activities were in doubt right up until Gov. Ron DeSantis ended all restrictions on youth activities for the state on May 22.

“The data is pretty clear that, for whatever reason, kids don’t seem to get infected at the same rates that some other adults get infected,” DeSantis said when making the announcement.

Summer camps and sports leagues are ready to go. There will be strict new CDC guidelines to follow, such as cleaning and social distancing protocols.

How that works out, however, remains to be seen, as anyone who has ever coached a large group of 9-year-olds can attest.

Keith Wiley, the Pasco County director of Parks, Recreation and Natural Resources, says his department is working closely with the 30 or so co-sponsored groups they partner with to determine the best and safest way forward.

Although DeSantis specifically said the state would not “be instituting a lot of rules” and would “trust parents to be able to make decisions in conjunction with physicians,” Wiley says that all groups hosting youth sports leagues in Pasco County will be required to supply a safe play plan to the county that strictly adheres to CDC guidelines.

Although parks and fields are open for walk-up play by the general public, co-sponsored leagues can only return once those plans have been approved by the county.

According to the CDC, the “lowest risk” of Covid-19 spreading is during skill-building drills and conditioning, with team-based practices considered a “higher risk.”

Full competition between teams from the same local geographic area is considered “even more risk,” while full competition between teams from different geographic areas is considered the “highest risk.”

Equipment like bats, balls, pads and helmets will also require disinfecting they had probably not received in previous years. Counselors and coaches should wear masks, according to the CDC.

Requiring groups to ponder the new normal and submit a plan was a no-brainer.

“Until you start to think it through and visualize what practices or games will look like, it’s difficult,” Wiley says. “We didn’t want groups running out there and figuring it out on the fly.”

Considering that the public’s feelings on masks isn’t unanimous, Wiley is hoping the community can come together to follow the rules for the sake of the 5,000 or so children that typically participate in youth sports across Pasco County. Keeping parents from hovering at practices and games will be a challenge as well.

“It’s going to be extremely difficult to police and enforce,” Wiley says. “So far, however, we’ve had a few conversations with our 30 co-sponsored groups, and they have all been positive. We haven’t had to twist any arms.”

As for the popular county-sponsored summer camps at 11 locations, Wiley said they will be limited to 25 percent of typical capacity.

He says the county did a survey and 60 percent of the parents of previous participants said they had every intention of returning. The remaining 40 percent were a “mixed bag.”

Wiley notes that the Pasco camps usually fill up within three minutes of registration opening.

“My guess is there are going to be a lot of folks waiting to rush right in,” Wiley says, “and a percentage of families that plan on taking it slow.”

The Wesley Chapel Athletic Association (WCAA), which says it serves more than 3,500 area families, has made no official announcement yet about upcoming registrations.

The WCAA’s Board of Directors met on May 28 to discuss how to best implement its summer athletic programs, and what has to be done to make soccer, basketball and baseball safe for everyone.

Baseball, for example, had just begun its spring Babe Ruth League (which also includes Cal Ripken baseball) when Covid-19 hit. Spring ball would have ended in mid-May, with All-Star Districts and State play running during the summer.

All-stars, however, has been canceled for 2020, so Chad Erker, the director of WCAA Baseball, says the organization may resume the spring league to fill the calendar and get kids back on the fields.

“We’re working on it,” he says. “I think, first and foremost, we’d have to see who is willing to return, who can return, who wants to return. And, who feels safe in returning.”

That will be the same predicament facing every camp and every sports league trying to return to action over the next few months. Erker says entire rosters of teams may need to be shuffled so games can be scheduled. Many camps will have to run at a smaller capacity, due to the CDC guidelines, so the demand may still be there, but the numbers won’t.

Meanwhile, Bland says PROtential’s camps usually have 100-plus participants at each location, but will be limited to 25 percent of their usual capacity.

She has canceled the field trips that are usually a part of the PROtential Sports summer camp experience. Counselors will be taking temperatures daily. The groups will be kept smaller than usual, since some of the activities are held indoors.

“The parents we have talked to that are coming are super excited,” Bland says. “Some aren’t ready. I think it is about 50-50. So, we’ll be a lot smaller. But, it’s the new normal, and I’m embracing it.”

camps wesley chapel district park

Mahana Fresh Offers Fresh And Delicious Meals In A Bowl!

Yes, the poké bowl phenomenon is in full swing in the Tampa Bay area and New Tampa’s newest entry into the market is a small Tampa Bay area-based chain that has taken our area by storm.

Mahana Fresh, located in the plaza next to Glory Days Grill on Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. just north of the I-75 exit (one exit south of S.R. 56), had been busy and its popularity was growing from the day that it opened until that day in March when restaurants across the state were shut down to dine-in service across Florida.

Even so, local franchisee Ryan Mortti, who has been part of the restaurant scene in New Tampa and Wesley Chapel for a dozen years, even though he’s only 26 (do the math), says that while business at Mahana Fresh definitely tailed off when all restaurants were only allowed to do takeout and delivery for eight weeks, “We were actually positioned pretty well to stay open and retain our staff during that time.”

Ryan, who started working at the McDonald’s on BBD in front of the Publix-anchored New Tampa Center shopping plaza at age 14 (he later became the general manager at both that location and at the busiest of all local McDonald’s on S.R. 56, in front of the Tampa Premium Outlets), says that he had been open just long enough for people to understand that Mahana Fresh’s system already had minimal client contact, “so we also retained a lot of our customers during the shutdown.”

How It Works…

At Mahana Fresh, which displays all of its offerings in large bowls and tubs behind a glass counter (photo above), you start by choosing a bowl size (Big Mahana, Mahana or Lil Mahana) and your base — basmati rice blend, cauliflower rice, coconut rice, “Forbidden” rice (we can’t give away why it’s called that), spinach salad, the popular sweet potato noodles and my favorite, the kale crunch salad. “People love the sweet potato noodles,” Mortti says, “but you can even combine bases. I never have the exact same bowl twice.”

If you’ve yet to try Mahana Fresh on BBD at I-75, you owe it to yourself to try an ahi tuna or other bowl!

I really love the veggies at Mahana Fresh, especially the garlicky cilantro green beans, sesame ginger broccoli and the honey sriracha Brussels sprouts, although Jannah’s favorites are the cubed, roasted sweet potatoes and Ryan says the #1 seller is probably the Buffalo-style cauliflower.

And, the available proteins you can choose from (or combine) include my favorite grilled steak and spicy ahi tuna (which both set you back $1.50 extra for each per bowl, but they’re worth it), roasted tofu and three kinds of chicken — BBQ, semi-spicy Key West and Jannah’s favorite teriyaki.

Our editor recommends trying all of the sauces and “add-ons” at Mahana Fresh.

It’s hard for us to not get multiple sauces (we always order them on the side), because they’re all great. My favorite is probably the semi-spicy citrus ginger, while Jannah’s is probably the cilantro vinaigrette. I also love the creamy wasabi.

Then, there also are add-ons, which do come with a nominal extra charge — from roasted almonds and feta or parmesan cheese for 50 cents per bowl extra each or avocado and my favorite Mediterranean-style tomatoes for $1.50 per item each. The tomatoes are marinated in a Greek- or Italian-style dressing and add a burst of flavor to an already tasty bowl.

And, even though some items cost extra, the starting prices for the three bowl sizes are only $6.99, $8.29 or $9.99 and quite honestly, with all you get, even the Lil Mahana is a legitimate meal, especially with any of the add-ons.

Changing Course

So, how did Mortti go from being a McDonald’s manager to the owner of a poké bowl place?

“McDonald’s was great for and to me,” he says, “and, as I was accumulating enough money to consider opening my own place, I talked to a friend of mine who had just purchased the right to open a Mahana Fresh franchise in Brandon and this location actually opened before his did.”

He adds that, “I also felt that more and more people are trying to eat healthier these days and once I tried the original Mahana Fresh (located in Bradenton), I knew this was the right concept at the right time.”

Mortti also notes that the fact he also is a general contractor (who owns his own Elite Construction Services) who was allowed by Mahana Fresh’s corporate entity to build out his own space was another reason he took the shot with the new concept.

“I’ve seen what does and doesn’t work at other restaurants and knew how I wanted to build out the kitchen and the interior space. I’ve really been happy with the way everything turned out, too.”

Pour Your Own Beer?

Yes, pour your own beer.

“I really love the way we sell beer here,” Mortii says.

The way it works is that if you want to enjoy any of the up to eight beers on tap (from Mich Ultra to Shocktop to microbrews like Brew Bus “You’re My Boy Blue” and Coppertail Free Dive) when you pay for your meal, you are given a card that you then use at Mahana Fresh’s “Pour Your Own” station, put your card and glass in the proper spot and you’ve got a great compliment to any delicious bowl.

Speaking of delicious, the gluten-free chocolate chip and snickerdoodle cookies at Mahana Fresh are excellent; although I’ve yet to try the zucchini brownie.

Mahana Fresh New Tampa is located at 17512 Doña Michelle Dr.. It is open 11 a.m.-9 p.m. every day. The phone number is (727) 238-9967. For more information, visit MahanaFresh.com and search for the New Tampa location. You also can use the code “mahana20” to receive 20% off your online order.

bowls Tuna

Gentle Hands Ob/Gyn: Care For Women, By Women

Dr. Gem Ashby (left) and Dr. Kristen Witkowski (right) and the all-female staff at Gentle Hands Ob/Gyn in Wesley Chapel provide quality, compassionate care for women of all ages. (Photos: Charmaine George)

As the second anniversary of her office’s grand opening approaches, Gentle Hands Ob/Gyn owner and obstetrician Gem Ashby, M.D., is happy to be watching her practice grow.

“We see pregnant patients and non-pregnant patients,” Dr. Ashby says. “We love our jobs very much.”

Gentle Hands is located about a mile east of I-75, just north of the intersection of S.R. 56 and Cypress Ridge Blvd. in Wesley Chapel.

Gentle Hands offers “the full gamut” of obstetrics and gynecological care, including caring for patients with both low-risk and high-risk pregnancies, plus issues such as contraception, abnormal bleeding, management of abnormal pap smears, pelvic pain, painful intercourse, bladder pain and menopausal symptoms.

In addition, the physicians of Gentle Hands perform surgeries, including in-office procedures, plus robotic and laparoscopic surgeries, which are minimally invasive and allow women to have hysterectomies with shorter recovery times. They are affiliated with and deliver babies at AdventHealth Wesley Chapel.

From 2009-17, Dr. Ashby spent eight years with a corporate practice in Wesley Chapel. While she loved her work, she found herself frustrated with the restrictions of the corporate environment and decided to start her own practice.

“I think the biggest difference at Gentle Hands is that, as physicians, we get to practice medicine how we feel is appropriate without a corporation breathing down our necks,” she says. “We can take more time (with our patients) if we need more time.”

She says her biggest complaint about the corporate environment was being compelled to see a certain number of patients each day. She is happy that to share that Gentle Hands Ob/Gyn takes a different, more patient-centered, approach.

“You get to know the patients better, because the patient is not just a number,” she says, “but a person that you know and that your staff knows.”

Dr. Ashby says there was a lot of thought put into the name of her practice.

“‘Gentle Hands’ conjures up everything I want the practice to be,” she says. “Hands are holding and caring, gentle and inviting. We put the hands in the logo to personify that, and added the flower to represent us as women. There was a lot of thought behind it.”

Covid Crisis Safety

Dr. Ashby and her staff also have employed a gentle touch when it comes to the Covid-19 crisis, implementing a number of safety measures for her patients and employees.

“During the height of the crisis, we limited patients in the office to emergency patients and obstetrical patients,” Dr. Ashby says. “Now that the state has lifted the ban, we are slowly seeing patients again, and keeping social distance. The patients wear masks in the office, and everyone in the office wears masks all the time.”

Dr. Ashby was born and raised in Barbados and moved to the U.S. when she was 19. She completed her Bachelor of Science degree in Biology at Bloomfield College in Bloomfield, NJ. She then earned her Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) degree from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey in Newark.

She completed her residency training at the Florida State University program in Pensacola from 2005-09. She is Board-certified in Obstetrics and Gynecology and is a Fellow of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

New Doctor, More Care

Gentle Hands Ob/Gyn expanded last August when Kristen Witkowski, M.D., joined the practice.

Dr. Witkowski also is Board-certified in Obstetrics and Gynecology and a Fellow of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. She graduated from Loyola University of Chicago with a B.S. degree in Biology, then earned her M.D. degree at the University of Illinois at Chicago before completing her residency at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center, also in Chicago.

Dr. Ashby says she was pleased to welcome Dr. Witkowski to the office, allowing the two physicians to care for pregnant patients, which was almost impossible when Dr. Ashby was the sole practitioner.

“You hardly ever find solo Ob/Gyn practices anymore, because it leaves you very fatigued,” explains Dr. Ashby. “There’s always a possibility that you will have someone in labor.”

While all Ob/Gyn practices are for women, Dr. Ashby says Gentle Hands is set apart because it is both owned by a woman and run by women. And, all nine staff members are women.

“We have every type of woman on our staff,” Dr. Ashby explains. “They are diverse age-wise — both older and younger — and of almost every ethnicity. It helps us to remember what each type of woman wants, so it makes us better and caring. For example, if someone is older, she might not want to use a cell phone, whereas a younger woman might not want to fill out pages and pages of paperwork.”

Dr. Ashby says that the Gentle Hands office is modern — allowing women to use technology to sign in on their cell phones, check their labs online, and other practices that make the office convenient. But, she draws the line at allowing technology to interfere with her relationship with the patients. She says she and Dr. Witkowski, along with their staff, won’t be using computers or a tablet or phone when they’re in the examination room with you.

“I find doctors are on two extremes,” says Dr. Ashby. “They’re either so old fashioned that everything is on paper, or so ‘teched out’ that the patient feels like no one’s paying attention to them. I feel that we have just the right balance.”

Judy Ravenna says she has been a patient of Dr. Ashby’s for about 10 years, following the doctor to her new practice when she opened it in 2018.

“She is the epitome of a really caring, knowledgeable physician,” says Judy. “She makes sure you feel comfortable and takes time to answer all your questions before she leaves the room.”

Judy says she has referred many friends and neighbors to Dr. Ashby, and they have all had the same wonderful experience.

“In today’s world, it seems like no one has time for you,” Judy says, “but she takes the time.”

In addition to caring for the women of Wesley Chapel and New Tampa, Dr. Ashby does volunteer work at the Judeo-Christian Clinic on N. MacDill Ave. in Tampa, a faith-based clinic for medically needy patients. She also speaks to community groups and at churches and high schools on women’s health topics.

Gentle Hands Ob/Gyn is located at 2391 Oak Myrtle Ln. in Wesley Chapel. To make an appointment, call (813) 803-2219. For more information, visit GentleHandsObGyn.com.

Gentle Hands OB/GYN

Despite Short Notice, Pasco Schools Respond In A Big Way

In early March, as they do every year, Pasco County schools started putting together plans to feed students who wouldn’t be in school during the 2019-20 spring break.

Little did they know, however, that shortly after they started preparing, the decision to keep students home from school due to Covid-19 fears would come down on April 13…and then be extended…and then, finally, extended right through to the end of the academic year.

“It just came out of the blue,” says Betsy Kuhn, the school district’s assistant superintendent for support services. “We had to pull inventory (to feed students) from all over the county. It was crazy.”

What started as seven sites distributing bags of food to students soon grew to 28 sites and some additional bus stop pick-up sites.

Instead of a few thousand meals for the week of spring break, the ongoing pandemic resulted in more than 1 million meals being handed out to students across Pasco County over two-plus months — by food service employees, school administrators, teachers and volunteers.

The official total heading into the summer: 1,095,537 meals served.

“I definitely could not have imagined we’d get to that number,” says Kuhn. “Every week I would write down the numbers, and then last week I started looking at it and thought, ‘Gosh, that has to be close to a million meals.”

In Wesley Chapel, meals were handed out at Quail Hollow (QHE) and New River elementary schools. At New River, more than 10,000 meals were served on May 19 (which included additional meals for the following week, when there were no pick-ups because of Memorial Day weekend), bringing the total served at that location to 70,942.

That last week, nearly 10,000 meals were served at Quail Hollow — which wasn’t a site the first two weeks — to bring its total to 58,942 meals served.

Kara Smucker, the principal at QHE, lauded the effort by the Pasco School District on such short notice.

“This is a big task, and there has been so much guidance and support,” she said. “I appreciate all the hard work for all the kids in Pasco County.”

In addition to food pick-ups, the District also organized food drives and distributed fresh produce donated by local farmers at impromptu Farm Fresh Pop-Ups.

Some of the food distributed at a Farm Fresh Pop-Up earlier this month at Wesley Chapel High.

At its first pop-up on May 6, more than 30,000 ears of corn were handed out in two hours at Pasco High in Dade City and at Pine View and Chasco middle schools in Land O’Lakes and Port Richey, respectively..

The next week, at pop-ups at sites across the county, including one on May 14 at Cypress Creek High off Old Pasco Rd., hundreds of 10-pound boxes of a medley of vegetables were distributed and exhausted within an hour.

The most recent Farm Fresh Pop-ups were held at Pasco, Fivay (in Hudson) and Wesley Chapel high schools. More than 1,500 boxes of fresh fruit and vegetables were distributed, including all 540 available at Wesley Chapel.

“No matter what we got, people responded,” says Pasco County Schools spokesperson Steve Hegarty.

Food drives, at the Wesley Chapel Sam’s Club and at the Target in Trinity, produced 500 boxes of nonperishable items to go with donated turkey breasts.

Kuhn estimates that food distribution during the summer, which started last week, will be higher than usual. But after distributing more than 1-million meals and countless boxes of nonperishable foods and produce, the School District is ready for the challenge.

“It’s a good feeling to have done what we’ve done,” Kuhn says. “We have a lot to be proud of. And the people have been very very appreciative. Just really grateful. It’s been great.”

Pasco’s schools were just among the many local organizations and groups distributing food during these economically frightening times. Pasco County Commission chairman Mike Moore and District 38 State Rep. Randy Maggard hosted a drive-through food distribution site in the JC Penney parking lot at the Shops at Wiregrass May 20, with Farm Share — which distributes produce and meat donated by the state’s farmers — providing nearly 35,000 pounds of food to more than 700 cars.

The food included chicken, rice, milk, cereal, granola bars, canned foods and fresh fruits and vegetables.

“It was pretty incredible,” Moore said. “It was very humbling to see the need out there, and it was nice to be able to help.”

lunch pasco schools

Sickened By The George Floyd Situation; Grateful For PPP

I would be lying if I said I understood how people of color in this country feel every day about being black or brown in America.

So while, like most white Americans, I personally don’t care if the person who was killed by a police officer kneeling on his neck was black, brown, green or any color, religion or orientation, I completely understand the outrage being felt again by so many of us who witnessed what amounted to a public execution by Minneapolis Police Office Derek Chauvin of George Floyd, whose only crime was, apparently, passing a counterfeit $20 bill at a store.

Yes, I believe all four cops (the others let him be killed) shown in a video thankfully released the day after Floyd was killed should go to jail for murder. But no, I don’t understand why Floyd was targeted by these cops to receive this particular abuse of their power, especially in light of something that happened to Jannah and me only a year ago.

When we got married in March of 2019, some of our attendees gave us gifts of cash, including a few people who each gave us a $100 bill as a gift.

However, when we tried to pay a tab at a local bar with one of those $100 bills, we were informed that the bill was counterfeit. But, rather than have us arrested — at least in part because the bar owner knew us from previous visits and said it was obvious we didn’t know the bill was no good — all he did was ask us to use an alternate method of payment. I then took the bill to my bank, which told me that all they could do was take the bill out of circulation, which meant that we lost that $100 gift. Oh well.

One thing neither of us lost, however, was our life. No one handcuffed us or held us down to our pleas of “I can’t breathe.” Today, we can’t help but wonder if we were black and strangers to the bar owner, if we’d still be alive.

It’s horrifying to me that black, brown, Asian and LGBTQ people are targeted for this type of behavior so often. Something has to change. And yes, I understand why peaceful protests can and should be part of that solution.

Unfortunately, looting and setting fire to stores (photo) owned by people who literally had nothing to do with that situation should never be the target of those protests. But, they unfortunately too often are — as seen around the country once again in the aftermath of Floyd’s murder.

Yes, I am a firm believer that this country needs to change. I just think some people make change harder to accomplish by taking advantage of these situations in the name of “justice.”

These are very scary times, indeed.

Changes Abound

I realize that this is now the second Wesley Chapel issue in a row that doesn’t look or feel exactly like your usual Wesley Chapel Neighborhood News, but I know the content — especially managing editor John Cotey’s continuing coverage of local Covid-19 news — is still the same quality you’ve grown accustomed to reading.

But, now that we were finally able to receive some funding through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and my long-time bank — SunTrust (now Truist) — we are able to continue to pay our staff, our office rent and our health insurance costs with the PPP funding while the local economy (hopefully) continues to recover.

The fact that this issue is already four pages larger than the previous two Wesley Chapel issues is one indication that things are turning back around — we’re certainly happy to have almost all of our dentists back in the fold — and the number of new businesses calling and emailing us for advertising information is another.

And, I know that our next issue, thanks again to the Times, will at least be printed on a brighter white newsprint while I continue our search for a web printer who can either print on glossy stock or at least a much heavier white paper, so our look can once again be the higher standard that we have, up until now, been able to maintain since 2005. I am hopeful that it won’t take too long to get back to normal…not just for this publication, but for everyone.

Since the first New Tampa and Wesley Chapel issues in 15 years printed on newsprint came out in May, we have received overwhelming support from our readers and advertisers alike — with a few notable exceptions. We’ve even had a few folks tell us they actually prefer the newsprint, “because it feels more like a newspaper this way.”

Unfortunately for us, we have marketed ourselves as a glossy news magazine, not a newspaper, but I do appreciate that not everyone is hating this new look, which may have to stick around for a while. I have promised our advertisers (including the few that pulled out since our first newsprint issues hit in each market) that as soon as we are able to return to glossy (or at least, a much heavier white paper) stock, I will let each of them know.

PPP