As indicated on pageย 8 of our current issue (in a story that will be be posted tomorrow), the New Tampa Regional Library (NTRL) on Cross Creek Blvd. is celebrating its 25th anniversary as one of the true jewels of the New Tampa community. The library officially opened to the public on May 4, 1997.
And, Iโm more than proud to say, only one publication has covered every story about NTRL since not only the beginning, but also since the plans for the library were first announced more than two years earlier.
Plus, even though I didnโt write all of the stories about the NTRL myself throughout the years, I have been the proud owner and editor of that publication and have been the person responsible for editing every word of every one of those stories.
Our first story about the library was a small news item (to the left), from our June 1994 issue โ almost three years before the library opened โ about a 5K โFun Runโ whose $800 in proceeds would benefit the Friends of the Library, even though the library itself would not be approved by the Hillsborough County Library System and the County Commission until more than a year later.
We also were the first news medium to announce that the bidding process to build the 25,000-sq.-ft. regional library on 3.6 acres of land donated by Markbrough Florida (the developer of Hunterโs Green) in Aug. 1995, when the expected completion date for the NTRL was announced as the fall of 1996.
In fact, we published no fewer than a dozen articles about the library between that first 5K Fun Run news item and the actual ribbon cutting and opening of the library to the public in May of 1997 (see below).
Unfortunately, we have no electronic records of those early years (I believe the first electronic versions of our issues werenโt kept until about 2002, but even those were saved on hard drives that are no longer compatible with any computer program still in use today), so the pictures of the news stories shown on this page are actual iPhone camera pics of the print issues where those stories appeared.
If anyone knows someone interested in creating electronic archives (and a directory) of all of our issues since April of 1994 on our behalf, itโs a service I would gladly pay for, so I can avoid having to take fuzzy pics of our issues for future historic pieces.
Please email me at ads@NTNeighborhoodNews.com if you or someone you know would be interested in providing this service.
After 14 years as principal at Benito Middle School and 38 years in education,ย John Sanders is ready to retire.
For more than three decades, John Sanders has worked as an educator, starting as a teacher and then becoming one of New Tampaโs most beloved and respected principals. His career was almost everything he loved โ helping guide students and teachers alike to set high expectations and meet them, while building relationships to make his school the pride of the community.
However, there are other things Sanders loves, as well. Like spending time with his son Jackson, fishing, playing bridge, tending to his yard and reading.
So, after a 38-year career, including the last 14 as the principal at Benito Middle School, Sanders, 60, is packing up his office and picking up his fishing pole.
โWhen am I going to enjoy those things?โ he asks. โIโm not guaranteed tomorrow, so maybe now I can do some of the things I always thought I might enjoy.โ
When the bell rings at the end of the last day of school this year, it will mark the end of an era at Benito. For the students who currently attend the school, and most of their older siblings, heโs the only principal theyโve ever known. Many from his staff, faculty, and even the PTSA say theyโre not sure theyโre ready to let him go.
They credit Sanders with sustaining a culture that has helped Benito maintain a straight โAโ school grade going all the way back to 2002, while some other schools in the area have struggled, such as feeder school Hunterโs Green Elementary and Wharton High, where Benito students are zoned to attend.
But, the reason the school is so successful โ with high test scores and low disciplinary problems compared with other schools throughout the District โgoes much deeper than its letter grade.
His staff says itโs because of his unique style as a principal. He says itโs because of the people who surround him.
โWe have a great student body and a great community, followed up by a fabulous faculty that is, for the most part, stable and successful. They get the best out of the kids,โ Sanders says. โYou put those together and it just works.โ
While he never moved to New Tampa, he brought his only son, Jackson, to spend his middle school years at Benito. He says he tried to treat every child the way he would treat his own.
When his wife, Rhonda, passed away in 2016, Sanders was surrounded by the faculty and staff, who showed up in force at her memorial service, which he says was planned in part by volunteers from the schoolโs PTSA.
While he can hardly imagine stepping away from his Benito family, he says he thinks now is the time to move on to the next chapter.
But, he says itโs going to be hard, especially leaving the people who have become his family, like the group he brought with him when he was named principal at Benito. In the first 11 years since the school opened in 1997, it had four principals. Sanders has been there longer than those four combined.
He began his career as a math teacher at Plant High in 1983, then taught at Turkey Creek Middle School, where he was promoted to assistant principal. He then went to Young Middle School as an assistant principal before being named principal at Benito in 2008.
Language arts teacher Chris Ellis was hired by Sanders 24 years ago at Young. After 11 years together there, when Sanders moved to Benito, Ellis was one of many who followed and one of several who still teaches at Benito all these years later.
โHe has had a very profound effect on my life,โ Ellis says.
Ellis drove 24 miles each way to get to Benito, so, three years ago, he took a position teaching at a school closer to his home, only to return.
โI knew the minute I had walked out the door of Benito that I had made a terrible mistake,โ Ellis says. His new school was welcoming, but he missed Sanders and his hands-off management style.
Like Ellis, math teacher Kelly Broadbelt โ who has been honored multiple times as the schoolโs Teacher of the Year, including this year โ also was hired by Sanders at Young.
She says Sanders, as a former math teacher himself, has influenced her tremendously, and that he still pops into her classroom occasionally to give the students a mini-lesson, which they love.
โFor sure, he has made me who I am as a teacher,โ she says. โIโve never taught without him, and because he was a math teacher he could be very influential in my classroom, because he knows exactly what Iโm doing and how to fix it.โ
Both Ellis and Broadbelt have been under Sandersโ guidance their entire careers. They say that while theyโre trying to be optimistic, theyโre also nervous about the big transition they expect when he leaves.
โThe reason so many people love working for John is that many times in education, they treat the teachers like kids,โ Ellis says. โBut, he treats you like an adult, and allows you the autonomy to go above and beyond.โ
Sanders says that itโs always been important to him to remember what itโs like to be a teacher.
โI have tried to create a family environment and I think we have it,โ he says. โIโve tried to see the good in my teachers and not focus on the imperfections too much, except when sometimes you have to do that as the boss.โ
Principal John Sanders has left his mark after 14 years at Benito Middle School. (Photos: Charmaine George)
Sanders half-jokes that the school is successful in spite of him, saying, โall I had to do is let the teachers teach and let the families come here.โ
Sharon Hineline was PTSA president at Benito when her kids attended and says she was convinced by Sanders to work at the school โ first in the front office and now as his secretary.
โSharon has single-handedly convinced dozens of families who were on the fence about going somewhere else to come here,โ Sanders says.
Creating A Unique Atmosphere
Meanwhile, Hineline says that she does so because of the atmosphere Sanders has created. โIf you come to Benito and say you need something, heโs going to help you,โ she says. โHe has created a culture where itโs a partnership and the staff is empowered to resolve problems.โ
Sanders is quick to return phone calls from parents who are upset about something they heard happened at the school, or to direct a teacher to call a parent to resolve a misunderstanding. He has a unique touch that helps calm down heated emotions, whether heโs talking with parents or students.
Hineline says Sanders recently had two girls in his office who hated each other so much that they had gotten into a physical fight. He spent time talking with each individually, then brought them together to discuss their choices, and they not only resolved their issues but are now the best of friends. One of the two went from failing all of her classes to passing them. The care Sanders demonstrated changed the girlsโ trajectory at the school.
That same calm demeanor has talked many families out of leaving the school, instead resolving a problem that was accommodated by switching a class or another relatively simple solution, recognizing that at many schools, those resolutions are not always offered because they are more difficult on staff or teachers.
Sanders says has always focused on keeping what he calls โgreat familiesโ connected to his school.
โThatโs the mindset that I think a good administrator has to have,โ he says. โYou make their kids happy, you make them happy, and everyone wins. If I send you out the door unhappy, Iโm asking for trouble. People are looking at alternatives.โ
While he knows what itโs like to turn a school around โโYoung was an F school when he arrived, and went up to an A โ Sanders says Benito never needed that. It was a great school when he arrived. But, he has navigated some significant challenges, such as the population of students receiving free and reduced lunch โ an indicator of socioeconomic factors that statistically align with school success โ going from 22 percent to 62 percent.
He says Benito makes sure the kids know the expectations and the rules, and the entire staff โgets out and enforces it.โ
Broadbelt, Ellis, and Hineline are just a few of the many who have bought into his philosophy.
โHeโs just a good person, a good educator, and a good boss,โ Broadbelt says. โHeโs willing to do anything to help us.โ
While Sanders deflects the praise, he says the community, the staff, and the students will continue to be family to him.
โThis is my life and my world, and Iโm sure Iโm going to miss being the principal at Benito.โ
Anne Oliver was riding her electric bike to her dentistโs office for an 8 a.m. appointment when she decided to cross S.R. 54 during a lapse in the traffic.
With plenty of time, she proceeded across the road.
โI looked and there were no cars, just one truck,โ Anne says.
Anne thought she could drive right up on the median, and assumed it had an angled curb, which many do. Unfortunately, this median had a steep curb, which Anne remembers looking down and not seeing until the last second.
It was the last thing she remembers before a violent crash.
Fortunately for her, Pete Veloz was driving that truck.
Veloz, who owns Paver World of Wesley Chapel a little east on S.R. 54 and is known as โPaver Pete,โ was cruising along in his Ford F-350 work truck when he saw a woman crossing the road on her bike. He could tell she was heading to the median, but then everything happened in slow motion, he says.
โShe went flying through the air, she went one way and her bike went the other way,โ Pete says. โShe landed face first on the grass. If that was a concrete median, it could have been really bad.โ
The bike landed in the lane closest to the median. Pete swerved around it, looked in his driverโs sideview mirror, and saw Anne laying motionless, her leg sprawled out into the road. He thought she might have broken her neck, or even worse.
Anne, left, and her husband John.
โYou know how sometimes someone will wreck their bike, but the adrenaline is going and they pop back up and keep going?,โ Pete says. โShe was knocked out.โ
He backed up his truck, jumped out and dragged her all the way onto the median. He helped take off her helmet. He pulled the bike off the road. Cars were driving by, but Peteโs truck was serving as a caution and slowing them down.
Pete called 9-1-1. A woman from the Brookside Professional Park across the street ran over and called 9-1-1 as well. The police were there in moments, Pete says. Anne came to, moaning in pain, but was discombobulated and didnโt remember anything from the accident.
โI remember Peteโs voice and him trying to help me,โ Anne says. โIt was sunny. My face was bleeding, so he got me a rag. I still have never even seen his face.โ
Anneโs husband, John, was driving back from Riverview when he got a call from the woman who had also come over to help. He doesnโt remember her name, just that she was calling from a New York area code.
โYour wifeโs been in an accident,โ she told him, โbut sheโs okay and wants to talk to you.โ
Anne tried to explain what happened, but was still struggling to sort things out. She doesnโt remember talking to John. She was loaded into an ambulance, and the woman with the New York area code called John back to tell him his wife was being transported to St. Josephโs hospital.
John, a nurse, knew that wasnโt great because there were a number of closer options (like AdventHealth Wesley Chapel) but that St. Josephโs has the nearest trauma center.
As he headed in that direction, Pete called him with more details, and offered to take the bike so it wasnโt impounded.
Anne was in the hospital for nearly two weeks. The crash had been fierce. She fractured her nasal cavity, her face was scraped and bloody, she suffered tissue damage on her right hand and wrist, and worst of all, she suffered a tibia plateau fracture, which is a break of the larger lower leg bone below the knee that breaks into the knee joint itself.
Anne had Open Reduction and Internal Fixation, or ORIF, which is used to repair broken bones with hardware. In Anneโs case, it was synthetic putty, brackets and screws.
Because it is such a vital load-bearing area, it will take months for her leg to heal. Anne says she is facing three months of a non-weight-bearing existence.
But, she is alive.
If Pete wasnโt driving that truck, sheโs not sure she would be.
โI am very grateful that things were not worse,โ Anne says. โIt could have been a lot worse. With all the cars that drive by, anything could have happened.โ
Anne and John actually bought their electric bikes because John suffers from multiple sclerosis and cannot walk, so the bike offers pedaling assistance. The Seven Oaks residents typically ride their bikes around the nature trails where they live.
On the day of her dentist appointment, Anne had to take Johnโs heavier bike because hers was having its brakes fixed.
A Growing Trend
Electric bikes generally donโt have great suspension or shocks, and Anne thinks that โ as well as the weight of the bike โ contributed to the forceful accident, as the tires did not absorb the contact with the curb.
Anne and John say the doctors and nurses at St. Josephโs said they were just one of many they had seen come in following an accident on an electric bike.
According to a CBS News report, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission determined that injuries from electric scooters, bikes, hoverboards and other โmirco-mobilityโ products are up 70 percent the past four years, with 200,000 ER visits and at least 71 deaths from 2017-20.โ
But, Anne and John say they hope to go back to riding their bikes โ albeit in less crowded areas โ when she heals.
As Anne fills in the blanks, she finds the possibilities of what could have happened to be terrifying. Thatโs why she wants everyone to know about Pete.
โThatโs nice,โ says Pete, โbut Iโm just glad sheโs alright. It was pretty scary.โ
Years ago, Pete says his youngest daughter was in a car accident, and no one stopped to help her.
โThat really broke my heart,โ he says.
So when he saw Anne collide with the curb and was laying there motionless, it was never even a decision.
โThatโs what you do, right?,โ Pete says. โThatโs the type of guy I am. You see someone in need, you stop to help. Thatโs how it should be.โ
The first Lotte Plaza Market in Rockville, MD. The upcoming location at the old Sweetbay Supermarket will look similar.
Lotte Plaza Market has filed plans with the City of Tampa to renovate the former Sweetbay Supermarket off Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd., next to the Home Depot, as it prepares to open what will be New Tampaโs largest Asian marketplace.
The renovation project on the 49,432-sq.ft. building, roughly 11,000 square feet of which will be storage and cooler space, will transform the inside of the former grocery store into a marketplace that sells Korean, Chinese, Japanese and Vietnamese food items and ingredients, a wide selection of meats and fresh fish and seafood and a huge variety of fruits and vegetables not found at American grocery stores.
The Lotte Plaza Market also will include at least three restaurants in its food court, as well as a bakery and a tea stand.
The renovations will cost roughly $4.5 million, according to the plans. The owners of the small Maryland-based ethnic grocery store chain focusing on Asian groceries and goods purchased the old Sweetbay Market for $7 million in January of 2021.
The Sweetbay building closed in 2013 and has been unoccupied since. KNK Tampa, Ltd. bought it in 2001 and leased it to Kash nโ Karry for a 20-year term beginning in November of that year. Kash nโ Karry operated under the lease until June 14, 2006, when its Belgian parent company Delhaize America, Inc., converted it into a Sweetbay. But, despite its rebranding, Sweetbay never gained the popularity of nearby Publix or Walmart stores.
In October of 2013, Jacksonville-based Bi-Lo Holdings bought 72 Sweetbay stores, plus the leases to 10 other underperforming Sweetbay locations that had already been closed. One of those leases belonged to the New Tampa location, which had six years remaining on it, but Bi-Lo Holdings declined to do anything with the property other than pay the rent until the deal expired in 2020.
Founded in 1976, Lotte Plaza Market is considered to be one of the premier Asian and international groceries in Maryland and Virginia, where it has 12 locations. The mini-chain also has one location in New Jersey, and opened the only other Florida location in Orlando on W. Colonial Dr. in February 2019.
Lotte Plaza Market is hoping to open 50 new locations by 2030. โ JCC
Tucked away in Angus Valley, one of the few remaining places in Wesley Chapel that business and residential development havenโt touched, Jeff Hajari gets back to nature.
On this day, he is tending to his bees, all eight hives of them. It doesnโt take a lot of work, really, now that he has been doing this for two years, but he works to keep his hive small and strong.
In his kitchen, his countertops are filled with 16 oz. mason jars of the sweet elixir his troops have produced, roughly 400 pounds in all during his most recent harvest.
A large wedge of beeswax sits nearby on the floor, below a counter of vials filled with propolis (โbee glueโ), a byproduct of the hive used by people with diabetes to heal wounds, combat allergies and even soothe toothaches.
โBees are amazing,โ Hajari says. โThere are so many benefits to everything they produce.โ
Which is part of the reason why Hajari is so fascinated by them. Truth is, we couldnโt live without bees, as they, along with butterflies, pollinate approximately 75 percent of the worldโs flowering plants and 35 percent of the worldโs food crops, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Hajari, 59, was born in Kerman, Iran, and came to the US in 1987 to start a new life. He settled in New York and began a career as a home improvement contractor, but then relocated to Florida and eventually bought a home in Angus Valley.
With an affinity for nature and being self-sustaining, Hajari started with chickens and goats in his backyard, and while his attempts to make goatโs milk failed, he did successfully manage to make some soap.
But, he really wanted his own honey. Because he returns to Iran every year to help take care of his mother, barnyard animals required too much care. So, three years ago, he bought his first beehive from a woman in Dade City for $250. He transferred the hive in his truck, and says that setting it up was, well, a bit painful.
โI got stung like crazy,โ Jeff says. โProbably 20-25 times. But, it was okay.โ
Hajari continued to add more hives โ at one point he had 12-15. But, they were weaker hives, and he has found by limiting the hives to eight or so, he has a stronger, healthier group able to resist attackers like ants and other pests. Two years ago, he designed a new entrance for the beehive to fight against varroa mites, who were capable of wiping out an entire colony.
Hajari says he learned how to keep bees like you would learn about anything โ the internet and trial and error. He watched documentaries and YouTube videos, read articles and purchased a beekeeping suit. Handy with wood working, he constructed frames for the bees to expand their honeycombs. He has made mistakes, losing bees and entire hives. โLike anything, there is a science to it,โ he says.
Every few months, his kitchen becomes a laboratory, where he extracts the honey from the combs and bottles it.
โIt takes two days to get it all done and jarred and ready,โ Jeff says. โItโs a labor of love. As long as I have enough for my coffee and tea, and my friends.โ
He says that the taste each time is different, and that it all depends on what flowers were pollinated. One of his recent batches was particularly dark and bitter.
โI donโt know why, but my honey looks almost like coffee,โ he says. โIโve been to stores but I have never seen anything that looks that dark. Itโs extremely dark. But, I read where the darker the better, as it has more antioxidants and antibodies. So Iโm like, โOkay, Iโm good with it.โโ
He sells his honey and propolis on Facebook marketplace, which you can find by searching โLocal Honey Wesley Chapel.โ
Hajari will even come remove a colony of bees from your yard, if need be.
โItโs a hobby, and itโs fun,โ he says.
But, thereโs always something new to learn, and Hajari has now added mushroom hunting โ โNot the crazy ones, the edible onesโ โ to his nature quest. He joined a group that goes hunting in places like Ocala National Forest, the Croom Wildlife Management Area in Brooksville and even Hillsborough River State Park. One trip yielded a basket of Chanterelle mushrooms, which he cooked up. โIโm addicted to them, they were so good,โ Jeff said.
Because he has so many trees and logs in his backyard, he ordered a mushroom growing kit and is hoping to produce Shitaki, Golden Oyster and Lionโs Mane mushrooms in his own backyard. He said it takes a year.
And,before he left for Iran recently, he planted a banana tree, avocados, blueberries and blackberries.
โI just like to be self sufficient,โ he says, โespecially when it comes to nutrition. I want everything organic, and I like to produce it myself.โ Whatโs next for Jeff? Heโs not sure, but he seems to be just beginning. โI always like to try something new,โ he says.
