Whenever you have the best weather of the year for your outdoor event, you’re bound to be successful. So yes, when the American Cancer Society (ACS) decided to host its annual “Making Strides Against Breast Cancer of Pasco” walk on October 22, some people who might not have been planning to take a 2-3-mile walk that day at the Shops at Wiregrass mall may have decided to go ahead and take that morning constitutional in the crisp, sub-70-degree sunshine and crowds of happy people wearing pink.
In other words, although the ACS website MakingStridesWalk.org/PascoFL’s “official” online statistics say there were 1,136 registered participants on 126 teams that raised more than $125,000 (not including sponsorship money, which hadn’t been totaled up at our press time) taking a stroll from the mall to Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel, ACS of the South Nature Coast of Florida (serving Pasco, Hernando & Citrus counties) senior market manager Robyn Liska says the actual number of people on hand that day was closer to 5,000.
Photo: Ashley Wilson
Of those 126 teams, the three that raised the most money for the event (although donations are still being accepted that will be added to the totals) were the “Clerks for a Cause” team, whose 32 members raised nearly $19,000; the “KBR Pirates in Pink,” who had the largest team at the event, with 65 members, that raised almost $13,000; and the “Jazzercise Bosom Buddies, which had 34 members (some of whom did a performance during the event) who raised nearly $10,000.
The top individual fund raisers at this year’s Strides of Pasco were Diane Ricca of the “RMCBP Volunteers” team, who raised nearly $3,700; Jean White of the “KBR Pirates in Pink,” with $3,500; and Diane Gonyea and Kathy Ritz of the “Walmart’s Ride for a Cause” team, who raised $3,056.50 each.
Just like the fight against breast cancer itself, the numbers for the event may not have been finalized at our press time, but a great time was had by all. For more info about ACS, visit Cancer.org.— GN
The Wharton High girls team won the team competition last year.
It’s time to dust off your running shoes and consider building up a nice little calorie (and maybe oxygen) deficit that might just let you indulge in an extra piece of pumpkin pie later in the day, as a pair of Thankgiving Day 5K (3.1-mile) races — both of which will be held on Thursday, November 24 — are right around the corner.
The fourth annual “Wiregrass Wobble” 5K is scheduled for Thanksgiving Day at the Shops at Wiregrass mall, with 5K runners heading out at 7:30 a.m. and the 1-mile Fun/Run/Walk (which might earn you half an extra piece of pie) will be held at 8:15 a.m.
The event has raised more than $75,000 since the inaugural run in 2013, with proceeds this year supporting the Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel Foundation, FITNiche Foundation and the Rotary Club of New Tampa’s selected charities.
The Brass Tap will host post-race awards and festivities, 8:15 a.m.-10 a.m. and Pioneer Medical Group is the presenting sponsor.
The pre-registration donation is $30, and can be done online at WiregrassWobbleTurkeyTrot.com. If you register the day of the race, the suggested donation is $35. The event also will feature the School Team Competition (won by the Wiregrass Ranch High boys and Wharton High girls last year) and a Corporate Team event.
Looking to be part of an even bigger crowd of runners? The Tampa Metropolitan Area YMCA’s “Goody Goody Turkey Gobble” 5K and 1-Mile Fun Run/Walk will also be held Thanksgiving morning, starting at 7 a.m. Goody Goody, the title sponsor, is providing free breakfast to all participants in the race, which begins and ends at Amalie Arena in downtown Tampa. The race route takes runners across the Platt St. Bridge and along scenic Bayshore Blvd. Strollers and dogs are welcome.
The YMCA says 100 percent of the proceeds raised will support the Livestrong at the YMCA program for cancer survivors and their families. Registration is $35 for the 5K, and $15 for the 1-mile. Prices go up on theday of the race. To register, visit RunSignUp.com. — John C. Cotey
(L.-r.): Tampa City Council candidates Cyril Spiro & Jim Davison & State Rep. Shawn Harrison & other local candidates & their families have spent even more time together holding signs in front of the New Tampa Regional Library on Cross Creek Blvd. since early voting began Oct. 24.
Avis Harrison says she had no idea what she was getting into when she decided to run for the Tampa City Council District 7 seat, which represents New Tampa.
On a Thursday morning in front of the New Tampa Regional Library on Cross Creek Blvd., where she has stood and waved to visitors every day since early voting began on Oct. 24, Harrison was nursing a sore throat and was exhausted from previous days holding signs asking for votes.
“It’s hard, but it has also been rewarding,’’ Harrison says. “I have met so many nice people. They have been very open, very receptive to this campaign. But, it’s also been hard, and (campaigning) can really wear on you.”
Harrison, an Arbor Greene resident for the past 17 years, is one of six candidates running for District 7 seat, along with Hunter’s Green residents Luis Viera and Dr. Jim Davison, Cory Lakes Isles’ Dr. Cyril Spiro, Tampa Palms resident Gene Siudut and former Tampa police officer Orlando Gudes, the only non-New Tampa resident who lives in the Copeland Park area south of Busch Blvd.
With the presidential election seemingly sucking the air out of everything else politically, it is more difficult than ever to stand out. In this election, there haven’t been television commercials or debates, and because it is a special election to replace Lisa Montelione — who resigned the Dist. 7 seat midway through her four-year term to run against incumbent Shawn (no relation to Avis) Harrison for the Florida House Dist. 63 seat, the whole city council election process has been compressed into six months.
So, how does this group of virtual unknowns get noticed by enough people in a six-person race without the benefit of time and mass media to win?
Lots of shoe leather.
“Hard work,’’ Viera says. “The harder you work, the luckier you get.’’
Viera adds that endorsements, money and optimism help as well, but at the end of the day the key might be being seen — every candidate has published an op-ed and advertised in this publication, which reaches every home in the 33647 zip code.
Like the other candidates, Viera spent last week waving to passersby at the busy library or voting stations in Temple Terrace and North Tampa. Despite a sizable advantage in money raised and endorsements over his opponents, Viera has found there is no replacement for old-fashioned pavement pounding. A regular day in the final weeks of his campaign would include dropping his son off at school, waving at voters for two hours, getting in a few hours of work at his law firm then walking neighborhoods and making phone calls for another 4-5 hours.
All of the candidates have attended various forums, hoping to discuss policy and ideas. But, the forums aren’t always well attended and the questions many times have little to do with their actual district.
“If you add them all up, I’d be surprised if there were 100 voters from our district at all of them,’’ Davison says. “You just try to make a good impression on the ones that are there, and hopefully they tell some friends who are district voters.”
Because the City Council race is non-partisan, candidates can’t even rely on picking up votes from people who vote their party line. So, sign placement, eye-catching mailers, ads in this publication –— anything that helps with name recognition — becomes a vital tool.
Davison, a 6-foot-3 emergency room physician with a simple, white sign with red letters on a 3-foot-stick who is not shy about walking long distances, has been a fixture on Cross Creek Blvd. During his campaign, Davison has walked down Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd., from the corner of County Line Rd. all the way to Hunter’s Green, roughly four miles.
“It’s a lot of time, and a lot of sweat,” says Davison, whose also gets lots of help from his wife Diane (treasurer), daughter Ashley (media and digital) and daughter Allie, who despite living in Charlotte, NC still makes calls on her dad’s behalf. “Without a lot of help from my family, I couldn’t have a campaign,” he admits.
All of the candidates lean heavily on their families. Some are more fortunate than others. Harrison, widowed in 2014, has a son in the military, a daughter at Florida State University in Tallahassee and another who is a flight attendant. Most of the time, “It’s just me,’’ she says, and a solid group of friends to help her out.
For Harrison, she hopes that group grows a little larger with each wave and smile. “It’s been fun, the people have been great, and I’ve gotten so many invites for Thanksgiving and Christmas,’’ Harrison says. “So, that’s good.”
West Meadows mom Laura Sun Engelberger lost her son to drug use earlier this year.
Although we never met until about a month ago, Laura Sun Engelberger and I have a lot in common. We’ve both raised our families here in New Tampa, we’re both divorced and we both were blessed with two amazing sons.
But, the reason Laura and I met at her home in West Meadows a few weeks ago isn’t a happy one. Laura’s older son, Brandon Sun, tragically passed away a few months ago, five months before his 17th birthday. Laura still doesn’t know exactly what transpired the day he died, but she waited to talk about what happened until after she got back the autopsy and toxicology report ten weeks after he passed (on June 22), which said her son died from an “accidental drowning,” even though she already knew he also took two “tabs” of LSD that night.
“And, unfortunately, I have since learned that this wasn’t the first time Brandon took LSD,” she said. “It’s a nightmare that I never thought I would go through with either of my kids, but certainly not this sweet, wonderful honor student with everything to live for.”
Laura says she knows teenagers can be sullen and moody, especially when the family is going through a divorce, and she admits that Brandon’s personality had started to change when she and her now-ex-husband first separated two years ago. “Brandon definitely seemed angry,” she says, but she added that during the weeks before he passed away, Brandon had seemed more like his old self, “and his grades (he was at Freedom High in Tampa Palms) never suffered.”
Brandon
Laura admits that, especially when she was raising Brandon and his brother Austin herself during the separation period, “I was and I guess I still am that over-protective mom. I wouldn’t let Brandon have a car unless he had a job, I made him sign a contract to have a cell phone in eighth grade and I thought I always made sure I knew where he was and who he was with.”
She also admits that she had concerns about some of Brandon’s friends, but is quick to say she doesn’t blame the four boys who were with him the night he passed away.
“I’ve told the other boys I forgive them,” Laura says. “Now, I’m just hoping that by telling our story, maybe another family might not have to go through what we have.”
So, What Actually Happened?
Laura told me that Brandon and four of his friends had driven to the rest area located near the north end (in St. Petersburg) of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge that night to drop acid together.
“Five boys left together, supposedly to go to one of the other boys’ houses, on a Monday night, but only four came home,” she told me through tears. “They left the campground without him around 10:30 the next morning and didn’t tell anyone what happened until I started calling and texting his friends looking for him at 3:45.”
The problem, she said, was that the boys all said the same thing — while being interviewed by the police later on Tuesday — that they all took the LSD together that night, but they honestly didn’t know and couldn’t remember if Brandon went walking off by himself or what happened to him at all.
“But, they were so afraid of getting in trouble themselves that they decided to leave and not say anything,” she recalls. “If they would’ve called 9-1-1 as soon as they realized they couldn’t find him, maybe my son would still be alive today. I don’t know. All I know is that his body was literally “caught” by a high school kid near the (North Skyway Fishing) Pier while he was fishing two days later.”
That’s the lesson Laura hopes other parentswill tell their teenagers after reading this story.
“There is a ‘Good Samaritan 911’ law here in Florida (see page 39) that would have protected those children from any possible prosecution if they would have called the police,” she said. “But, young people are so afraid of ‘getting in trouble’ that they will do everything they can to avoid talking to the police or even their parents, especially when they’ve been taking drugs.”
As Laura spoke, the case reminded me all too much of a similar one about a decade ago, when former Wharton High student Sara Rinaldi, whose mother used to work for me, died several hours after her eyes rolled back in her head following a night of partying due to an apparently lethal mix of drugs because her friends were too afraid to call an ambulance.
Laura says that her son did not jump off the Skyway Bridge, as his body showed no signs of that kind of trauma. I also was surprised to learn that neither she nor her ex-husband had to identify their son’s body in person.
“Brandon’s body was identified from a photograph, not in person,” she says. “There was an official autopsy and toxicology report that we didn’t get until ten weeks later.”
She adds, “Some people have asked me how I could not have identified him, didn’t I need that closure? The closure is that my son is gone. Knowing exactly how he died isn’t going to change that.”
She cautioned, however, that if you’re the parent of a teenager, don’t just assume you know if your child is doing drugs or not.
“Every high school in this area has kids who are doing drugs and they usually get them from other kids at school,” she says. “Don’t think you’re not going to be touched by this just because you come from a ‘good family.’ We were that good family, but it still happened to us. Of course, everyone has been through some sort of tragedy. Mine is no better or worse than anyone else’s. Grief is all the same.”
So, then why is Laura sharing her story now? “I guess I’m hoping that other parents will tell their kids that when faced with a choice that can change someone’s life, they should do the right thing and not be more afraid of getting in trouble,” she says. “If you know something, you have to snitch, you have to tell. Would you rather have a friend be angry with you or have to live with a decision you made for the rest of your life?”
Laura adds that parents also should put GPS trackers in their kids’ phones and in their cars, “because, based on what I’ve now seen in my son’s phone, none of these kids are going where they say they’re going.”
And, speaking of Brandon’s phone, she says that it’s obvious that kids are “doing their research” about the different types of drugs — what they can expect if they take them and even where to buy them.
“There’s pictures of not only Brandon, but other kids — some of whom I don’t even know — taking drugs in pictures on his phone,” she says. “When I saw the messages about buying and selling and taking drugs and all of these pictures, I literally threw up.”
And, the other thing she wants to stress is that Brandon and his friends — some of whom go to Wharton, Wiregrass Ranch, Sunlake and Steinbrenner — are not what anyone would consider to be “druggies.”
“These are all smart kids who do great in school, from good families,” she says. “I hope people who read this story will take it to heart and start finding out what’s really going on with their children.”
As I was leaving Laura’s home, her friend Jen, who was with her the day she found out Brandon had passed, told me, “Brandon was the one who was supposed to make it big out of all these kids. Smart, talented and loved. No one could believe this happened to him.”
Laura also says she appreciates the amazing outpouring of support she has received from the community — at the candlelight vigil at Freedom a couple of days after Brandon died, at his memorial service on June 28 (both of which had as many as 500 people in attendance) and in the months since then. “It makes you feel good, as a mother, to hear so many people say so many wonderful things about your child. I just wish it wasn’t for this reason.”
SB 278: Preventing Deaths from Drug-related Overdoses
(Known) as the “911 Good Samaritan Act; (the statute provides) that a person acting in good faith who seeks medical assistance for an individual experiencing a drug-related overdose may not be charged, prosecuted, or penalized for specified offenses in certain circumstances; providing that a person who experiences a drug-related overdose and needs medical assistance may not be charged, prosecuted, or penalized for specified offenses in certain circumstances; providing that the protections from prosecution for specified offenses are not grounds for suppression of evidence in other prosecutions; amending mitigating circumstances under which a departure from the lowest permissible criminal sentence is reasonably justified to include circumstances in which a defendant was making a good faith effort to obtain or provide medical assistance for an individual experiencing a drug-related overdose, etc.
A rolling wall of dirt that obscures some businesses and discourages drivers from pulling in, say local business owners.
BBD ‘Segment A’ Construction Wearing Down Businesses, As Well As Drivers
Traffic is jammed, as a section of Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. just north of Bearss Ave. resembles a dusty obstacle course with barriers and tall mounds of rock and dirt everywhere. Despite a steady flow of cars, it’s a slow Friday afternoon amidst the cuts of beef and fish at the Land & Sea Market in the Oak Ramble Plaza shopping center.
Carlos Otero has managed Land & Sea for 16 years, and says that in the last few months, business has fallen as the road outside his shop remains under construction. He’s not alone, as neighboring business owners in the area have expressed frustration at the pace of the widening of BBD Segment A – from Bearss Ave. to Palm Springs Blvd. in Tampa Palms – from a divided four- and six-lane road to a divided eight-lane road.
Carlos Otero manages Land & Sea Market in the Oak Ramble Shopping Center, and is worried about the effects on BBD construction in the coming months, which are usually busy.
“The workers are not fast,’’ says Otero, who estimates his business is down 50 percent the past two months. “You come in every day, and it is the same. It doesn’t seem like there is any progress. And, people who come in, they say the same thing.”
Acropolis Greek Taverna general manager Tarek Armoush agrees.
“It’s definitely frustrating,’’ says Armoush, who helped open the New Tampa Acropolis location in the same Oak Ramble Plaza in 2007. “The biggest frustration is that I don’t feel like they have put the construction in (high gear). I see days where there is one worker out there, maybe two. It just seems they could speed this up.”
Segment A, which spans 3.5 miles and has a pricetag of about $60-million, is the third of a four-segment project that will ultimately, finally transform New Tampa’s congested main artery from four and six lanes into eight, all the way from Bearss Ave. to County Line Rd.
Segment A construction includes a 5-6 ft. sidewalk on the west wide of BBD, and a 10-ft.-wide multi-use path on the east side. Also, the southbound side of the small bridge that crosses over Cypress Creek (between the Landmark at Grayson Park apartments and Amberly Dr. in Tampa Palms) has been widened, and a new four-lane bridge on the northbound side of BBD has been constructed.
Hillsborough’s Public Works Dept.’s project manager David Vogel says that while he understands your frustration, the perception that work is not being conducted as quickly as possible is wrong. Much of the work is done underground, he says — with utilities, electrical and water — and is not visible to the everyday passerby.
“There’s actually a lot going on,’’ he says, adding that Segment A — which was delayed from a spring 2017 finish to an August 2017 finish because of an elevation issue in one of the critical areas of construction — is smoothly moving forward.
That doesn’t mean the effects aren’t being felt, however. Businesses have about another year of construction in that area to look forward to, and Otero and others wonder how they will weather another year of roadwork.
Even successful businesses like Acropolis, Land & Sea and Mr. Dunderbak’s, also located in the Oak Ramble center, have seen changes in their bottom lines.
“We were down last month,’’ according to Mr. Dunderbak’s owner J.B. Ellis, “and we haven’t been down…ever.”
That’s significant for a business that has been at its current location since 2009, when it moved from the University Mall on Fowler Ave. The percentage loss may have been miniscule compared to what Mr. Dunderbak’s brings in yearly, but Ellis is concerned about a possible trend. A one-month loss is one thing, but multiply that by 11 or 12 months and it would leave a much bigger mark.
“The first half, I thought they did a great job,’’ Ellis says. “I watched them build that bridge in no time. I was thoroughly impressed. But, it doesn’t feel like much is being done these days.”
Ellis says there are still roads in and out of the Oak Ramble center, but they have changed to accommodate construction. You can’t turn left out of Oak Ramble, and if you turn right, it’s a one-mile drive up to Amberly Dr. before you can make a U-turn. Ellis says the entire area is one big car accident waiting to happen.
Changing travel patterns, the plethora of construction equipment and barriers and the congestion caused by it all is a deterrent to many customers who might otherwise stop. Currently, there is a winding 10-foot mound of rocks and dirt roadside obscuring Acropolis (see photo below) and other businesses up and down BBD from drivers. “Another year of this? Seriously?,’’ asks Ellis.
Rose O’Berry owns A Special Rose Florist n the other side of Bruce B. Downs Blvd. Like Carlos Otero, she says walk-in business is down 50 percent as construction makes it a hassle for customers to access their businesses.
Across from BBD, Chevron gas station manager Danny Piguave said the construction has had a “lot of effect” on business.
Chevron was a Shell station before a massive overhaul that included new pumps and a redesigned store. However, for the last year, the gas station’s entrance has been a dirt road with barricades and sometimes feels like ground zero for all the construction, Piguave says.
“Somedays, it looks like there’s no way in,’’ he adds. And, summer rains often reduced the entrance to a muddy patch. “Who wants to drive over that?”
When the gas station was upgraded, Aguave said the expectation was that there would be an 18-20 percent increase in business. But, that number isn’t being close to being realized at the moment.
“It’s another year of this I’m worried about,’’ he says.
Rose O’Berry, whose A Special Rose florist shop is attached to the Chevron, says her walk-in business is down 50 percent. She does most of her sales through the internet these days. “We have to, there’s no choice,’’ she says.
O’Berry also says that customers are complaining, as getting out and then back into traffic is a chore many are just unwilling to endure. “I just sat in traffic for half-an-hour just leaving Tampa Palms,’’ one recently told her.
“It feels like they just keep digging right in front of us, like they have dug up the same area three times’’ O’Berry says. “It’s been like this almost a year now.”
Vogel says he doesn’t recall if that’s the case, but doesn’t doubt O’Berry. “That may be true,’’ he says. “You do utilities, then you do drainage work, then you have to dig back in for another utility. The underground work always looks like there’s no progress being made.” But, there is. While Vogel sympathizes with local businesses and drivers, he says there is no way to widen a road without creating a disturbance.
“We do everything we can to mitigate the effects, but can’t we eliminate them,’’ he says. “All we can ask is that they be patient, it will get better. Eventually, it will be easier for people to access their businesses.”
Like the other candidates, Viera spent last week waving to passersby at the busy library or voting stations in Temple Terrace and North Tampa. Despite a sizable advantage in money raised and endorsements over his opponents, Viera has found there is no replacement for old-fashioned pavement pounding. A regular day in the final weeks of his campaign would include dropping his son off at school, waving at voters for two hours, getting in a few hours of work at his law firm then walking neighborhoods and making phone calls for another 4-5 hours.
Hillsborough’s Public Works Dept.’s project manager David Vogel says that while he understands your frustration, the perception that work is not being conducted as quickly as possible is wrong. Much of the work is done underground, he says — with utilities, electrical and water — and is not visible to the everyday passerby.