So, as it turns out, you literally can get anything at a Walmart Supercenter.
Even a drive-in movie.
On August 18 and 19, the Walmart on S.R. 54 in Wesley Chapel converted a large portion of its parking lot into a drive-in movie theater, which was part of a nationwide pop-up drive-in movie event touring the country and visiting 160 Walmart locations.
At this free event, Walmart stationed two large digital screens and cleared out a big section of its parking lot. Anyone was welcome to go online and register to see a showing of âSpy Kidsâ on Tuesday evening and âSelenaââ on Wednesday evening.
Both showings were sold out, with about 70 cars lined up with families and couples
who received goody bags full of snacks and water at check-in.
âWe love this,â said Wesley Chapel resident Janet Perez, who, with her son, enjoyed some drive-thru Taco Bell while watching âSpy Kids.â It didnât even matter that the movie was a hit 20 years ago.
âYou donât know how much weâve missed movies!,â Perez said. âPlus, this is both of our first time at a drive-in, so itâs been great. It was great of Walmart to do this.â
Families with little kids huddled in the front seat(s) of the cars to watch the movie and snack on popcorn, as the audio for the film could be heard by tuning the radio to 92.1 FM. Many of the cars enjoyed the experience with the windows down, as the Florida evening sky turned orange with the sunset.
In the end, it was a fun event that even new Wesley Chapel residents enjoyed.
âThis was definitely great, especially for families who donât have a lot going on, or are low on money because of the virus,â said new Wesley Chapel resident Tiffany Hardy, who said she recently moved here with her family from Leesburg.
Tiffany watched the movie with her husband, Jason, in the driverâs seat and her son, Talon, on her lap (photo, right).
âItâs nice to be able to get out of the house and do something a little different, too,â she said.
If youâre looking for delicious, homemade pastas and sauces, Wesley Chapel has a legitimately authentic new eatery called Pasta di Guy that features a unique, affordable menu created by owner/Chef Guy Carmeli, who is originally from Israel, but was classically trained at the London location of the renowned Le Cordon Bleu cooking school.
My favorite sauces so far are the vodka, creamy pesto and aglio e olio (garlic & oil), but I still have to try the marinara and beef bolognese (the latter costs extra). I also enjoyed adding chicken, bacon, Italian sausage, broccoli and cauliflower to the different pastas and sauces, but please note that all of the items mentioned do cost extra over the $9.99 base price. But, you know what? Itâs worth it!
We also enjoyed the fried zucchini sticks appetizer and people were raving on Day One about the fried ravioli appetizer and photographer/videographer Charmaine George said her zucchini noodles were definitely spot-on. Â
 For more info, stop in (closed Mon.) or visit PastadiGuy.com or call (813) 388-6676 and tell Guy and Emily (photo above) I sent you!
Visit The Exerscience Center!
Congratulations to my friend Dr. Lauren Leiva, DPT, on the recent opening of her new The Exerscience Center (24706 S.R. 54, in Lutz, less than two miles from the Tampa premium Outlets).
Not only is Lauren a Doctor of Physical Therapy, sheâs also a personal trainer, nutritional counselor and yoga instructor who works with people of all ages â including athletes who are looking to recover faster from an injury or surgery, neurological patients looking to restore lost function, and busy people who want a more effective, and sustainable approach to fitness.
In the photo on this page, Dr. Leiva is performing what she calls a âmaster resetâ on a client, which she says will provide a âholistic rehabilitation experience.â She uses lots of the latest technology, including the Neubie machine from NeuFit (photo), a patented electrical stimulation device to help re-educate your neuromuscular systems, coupled with manual therapy and functional training.
Dr. Leiva says her patients are healing up to 4x faster than with traditional therapy. She adds that neurological signals can shut down muscles and prevent movement for too long, leaving that area of the body more vulnerable.
At The Exerscience Center, youâll be able to identify exactly where those neurological barriers are present and break through them on the way to more efficient and effective recovery. But, donât just take it from me. Thereâs so much more Dr. Leiva can tell you about all of the unique services she offers. For more information, visit TheExerscienceCenter.com, call (813) 464-0313 or see the ad on pg. 8! â GN
Sprouts Gets Top Grade!
For those who went absolutely bonkers over the opening of the Aldi supermarket on S.R. 56, I invite you to check out a truly outstanding, truly âgreenâ new grocery store â Sprouts Farmers Market, located in the new Village at Hunterâs Lake plaza on Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. at Hunterâs Green Dr., which opened last month.Â
Not only does Sprouts have a far superior selection (and quality) of produce (as indicated by the Farmers Market in its name), it also features delicious prepared foods, a beautiful meat and fresh seafood department, crusty breads, a huge variety of the healthiest snacks and so much more.
In addition to produce â not all of which is more expensive than at other grocery stores (hereâs a hint â look for the amazing sales!), here are some of my Sprouts favorites to date:
1) Fresh Fish – Iâve already had still-swimming mahi-mahi for only $5.99 per lb. (a truly unheard-of price), and even though the fresh grouper was $22.99 per lb., thatâs still $5 per lb. less than Publix!
2) Meats â Grass-fed filet mignon for $16.99 per lb. or the slightly fattier âregularâ filet for only $14.99 per lb. âNuff said!
3) Prepared Foods â Amazing tuna salad, savory garlic roasted red potatoes, chicken florentine and parmigiana and better pot stickers than most restaurants, plus different-each-day selections. Yum!
Sprouts (8620 Hunters Village Rd.) is open every day, 7 a.m.-10 p.m. For info, call (813) 683-8072 or visit Sprouts.com!
In the meantime, several of the other businesses in the Village at Hunterâs Lake plaza have already opened, including Grain & Berry, The Coder School of New Tampa and Via Italia.Â
Among the stores that are under construction but not yet open in that main part of the plaza are the Banfield Pet Hospital and Touch Nail Spa. According to owner Timmy Pham, this second location of Touch Nail Spa (the other is on S.R. 56 in Wesley Chapel; see ad on pg. 28 of this issue) is expected to open in the Village at Hunterâs Lake sometime between mid-September and early October.
Meanwhile, in the separate outparcel building with frontage on BBD, Starbucks and Dental Care at Hunterâs Green are open; and, in another outparcel set further in off BBD, FitNiche (relocated from the Shops at Wiregrass), YogaSix and The UPS Store are open, with Pure Beauty Salon & Spa coming soon.
Tampaâs Nick Ryan lunges to try and stop a shot at the Goalies Inc. Performance Camp at AdventHealth Center Ice on Aug. 6. (Photos: Mike Camunas)
Nothing was going to stop these goalies from stopping pucks.
Despite the fact it had to be pushed back due to Covid-19, more than 40 youth ice hockey goalies recently were able to get in a training campâs worth of goaltending work in two days (Aug. 5-6) at the Goalies, Inc., Performance Camp at AdventHealth Center Ice (AHCI) in Wesley Chapel.
Originally scheduled for March, Bernie Desrosiers, the executive director of Sunbelt Hockey Scouting and a long-time New Tampa-area hockey coach, says the camp was sold out well before the coronavirus shut down youth sports programs.
âWeâll have it again next year,â Desrosiers said. âThis has been a great turnout and, so far, all the feedback weâve gotten has been that everyone was happy to finally be able to come to this camp. âItâs been a great two days.â
Desrosiers added that of the 42 young goalies who participated, only one had to be sent home sick â not Covid-19 related â and that there were no injuries sustained. âPretty remarkable, Iâd say,â Desrosiers said.
Head instructor Jim Stanaway provides instruction to some of the 42 goalies in attendance.
Led by Goalies, Inc. head instructor Jim Stanaway, boys and girls, teenagers and âtweensâ went through various drills to hone their goaltending skills in the hopes of being the next Andrei Vasilevskiy (the Tampa Bay Lightning goalie) or Madeline Rooney (the starting goalie for the Olympic gold medal-winning 2018 USA womenâs hockey team). The young goalies worked on glove and stick saves, rebound shots, skating backwards, diving for pucks and even how to hug the pipes to block shots.
Stanaway also preached a lot, not only about teamwork, sportsmanship and respect for the game, but also for the goaliesâ fans (their families).
As he watched netminders of all sizes and ages scramble to grab pucks, the goalie instructor of nearly two decades was impressed by his first trip to the Tampa Bay area and its local talent.
âWith an NHL team, and them doing very well, itâs nice to see (the high interest in hockey in a southern city or state),â he said. âA lot of these southern NHL teams invest in their communities a lot, but the enthusiasm (here) is quite amazing.â
For more info about Goalies, Inc., camps, visit GoaliesInc.com.
For the last few issues, Iâve been writing in this space about how Iâve personally felt about the state of race relations in this country. And now, I feel fortunate that I have found a way to do something about it â and several dozen of my readers in New Tampa and Wesley Chapel have agreed to see if we can do that something together.
And, even though I still have no idea what I hope this group can accomplish, I do know that the readers who have responded that theyâre interested in participating are of all different racial, socioeconomic and religious backgrounds.
Itâs the kind of group I hope to someday have a chance to meet with in person to have a beverage and/or a meal, or even a large-scale gathering in an open auditorium. But for now, it will begin with a Zoom meeting that originally had been scheduled for August 10 but has been postponed until a weeknight between August 19-August 26 that will be open to anyone who genuinely wants to be part of something that I hope will be helpful in some way.
In my August 4 editorial in Wesley Chapel Issue #16-20, I said that because it will be a Zoom meeting, I plan to moderate the discussion that evening and I have asked someone I have a huge amount of respect for to co-moderate it with me â District 63 State Representative Fentrice Driskell â who has already re-won reelection to her seat because of having no opponent and who represents the New Tampa area in the Florida House of Representatives.Â
Rep. Driskell is originally from Tampa Bay and moved back home after law school to find meaningful ways to involve herself in the community. So, as my co-moderator, she is someone who is familiar with our local context. Rep. Driskell believes that, in order to address racism, and ultimately, to heal its wounds, our community must be willing to have tough, honest and sometimes uncomfortable conversations about race. She also is in conversation with multiple stakeholders around these issues to develop policy solutions to tackle institutional racism at the legislative level.
Rep. Driskell also is working with other elected officials and community leaders on a project in conjunction with the Equal Justice Initiative that will lead to more community conversations about race. Through the project, local officials will erect a marker that will honor and memorialize the lives lost to racial lynchings in Hillsborough County during the Jim Crow era. The goal of that project is both to educate our community about its past with respect to racially motivated violence and also to spark dialogue about how our shared past is relevant to the structural racism that we see today. She believes that this kind of dialogue, rooted in the factual truth of our common past, will help us develop solutions to build a future that is more fair, inclusive and expansive in opportunity for us all.
After mentioning Rep. Driskell in my Aug. 4 editorial, I also mentioned, in the last paragraph of that editorial, that, âAs the moderator of the Zoom meeting, one thing I wonât be interested in discussing is the defunding of law enforcement, which has become a popular rallying cry in the wake of (George) Floydâs death. I also will do everything I can to not allow finger-pointing or for the meeting to become about Red vs. Blue.
âAs someone who grew up in New York and saw police officers running towards people who had just been shot as I tried to go in the opposite direction â away from the danger â no one can convince me that 1) most cops arenât good public servants & 2) to improve law enforcementâs protection of us will mean additional training that will cost more money, not less.â
Once Rep. Driskell saw my editorial, however, she called me to discuss it and shared her sentiment that in order for the meeting to be as inclusive as possible, it would be important for us to welcome the perspectives of all participants. She also shared that, as an elected official, it is her job and duty to listen and to consider the opinions of all of her constituents.
I really felt badly when Rep. Driskell brought this to my attention and, after we spoke about it, I better understood why I received some negative emails because of that paragraph.
So, while we may have differing viewpoints on some issues, Rep. Driskell and I agree that we have a responsibility to not exclude anyoneâs ideas that would be productive to the discussion.
In addition, even though I didnât want to postpone the meeting, in light of how Rep. Driskell felt about my editorial â which I didnât share with her prior to publishing it in that Aug. 4 issue â in the current scope of the discussion, I agreed it was the right thing to do.
I knew it wasnât easy for her to have to call me about it, but even though all of the opinions expressed in all 600+ of my page 3 editorials I have published in the 26 years I have owned and been the editor of the Neighborhood News have always been mine alone, once I was introducing Rep. Driskell as my co-moderator, I should have at least run the column by her, which might have prevented us from having to postpone it.
Please send me an email at ads@ntneighborhoodnews.com to join this open dialogue with this diverse group of your neighbors in New Tampa and Wesley Chapel. Once the revised Zoom meeting date and time are set, I will again email everyone who signed up with a link to the meeting.
Dr. Sam Jureyda and Radiance Orthodontics in Tampa Palms have more than 100 reviews on Google, and all of them are 5 stars. The staff invites you to Google âRadiance Orthodonticsâ to see what patients have to say about the practice. (Photos courtesy of Eric Bunch)
Tampa Palms resident Kellie Lightbourne says sheâs a very particular person, especially when it comes to her family and their teeth.
Youâd expect that from a former Mrs. USA and veteran television personality.
So, when it was time for Kellie to choose an orthodontist for her 12-year-old twins, she went to several offices for consultations.
She says it was when she met Sam Jureyda, D.M.D. (Doctor of Medical Dentistry), of Radiance Orthodontics, located in the Tampa Palms Professional Center, that she knew she had found exactly what she was seeking for her family.
âDr. J is amazing,â she says. âHe sat with my kids, talked with them, interacted with them and made them feel welcome.â
Thatâs a big deal for Kellieâs son, Niko, who has special needs. Kellie feared he wouldnât cooperate with an orthodontist working inside his mouth.
âOnce Niko decides heâs not doing something, thereâs no way heâs going to do it,â Kellie says. âI thought orthodontic treatment would be a nightmare, but now heâll do it for Dr. J because he likes him so much. Now, I have no fear.â
Nikoâs twin sister, Landyn, immediately liked him, too. âDr. J was so different than all the other orthodontists because he actually talked to us,â Landyn says. âIt wasnât boring. He actually made it sort of fun and interactive. He made us feel very comfortable and heâs very funny.â
Dr. Jureyda has spent more than 25 years practicing orthodontics. Before moving into private practice in 2006 â and subsequently opening Radiance Orthodontics in 2016 â he taught graduate-level students at the University of Buffalo, NY.
As a former educator, he believes his own practice is improved by education, as he strives to give his patients access to modern options that lead to the best possible outcomes. He knows each patient has a unique set of needs and is sure to treat each individual with a personalized and completely customized treatment plan.
His goal is not just to treat the patient, but also to involve the patient in the process â even the youngest among them â so they are invested in their care and have a positive experience at Radiance Orthodontics.
âWe believe in building a relationship with each patient,â Dr. Jureyda explains, âeducating, supporting and encouraging them. We look forward to your visits as time spent with a friend, and we genuinely hope you will feel the same.â
Radiance Orthodontics offers traditional metal braces, along with clear braces, and also offers treatment with InvisalignTM, which uses invisible, removable, comfortable aligners to straighten teeth. The method is constantly improving and is now so effective, it often works more quickly than traditional braces.
Adapting To Keep You Safe
Like all orthodontic practices, Radiance Orthodontics was required to shut down for several weeks during the Covid-19 pandemic.
During that time, Dr. Jureyda and his staff continued to answer phone calls, text messages and emails to help their patients.
âDr. Jâ provides quality orthodontic care and your health and safety are his top priorities. Photo provided by Radiance Orthodontics.
When the office reopened, the same stringent cleaning protocols that have always been practiced were followed, and enhanced procedures have been added, such as temperature checks and health screening questions.
âWe have temporarily closed our waiting room and now ask our patients to wait in their cars,â says Dr. Jureyda. âSimply call or text us when you arrive, and weâll let you know to come in as soon as your room is ready. Weâre being extremely cautious at this time, to protect all of our patients and staff.â
âConsultations Are Free?â
Justine (who asked that we only use her first name) is a University of South Florida medical student who recently began treatment at Radiance Orthodontics.
In January of 2019, Justine signed up with a company that promised to close a gap between her front teeth by sending her aligners in the mail. While her first choice would have been to go to an orthodontist in person, she didnât think she could afford it.
âI donât have dental insurance and I thought braces would cost $6,000 to $8,000,â she said. âI didnât know consultations are free.â
Justine says the next 12 months with the mail-order company couldnât have been further from her expectations. The aligners did not move her teeth, which caused them to not fit properly as she tried to continue her treatment. When she had questions â such as if the painful sores she was developing were normal â she had no medical professional to ask. She says the companyâs customer service department replied in form letters that were sometimes not even relevant to her question.
When the aligners didnât fit anymore, the company offered to send her modified aligners. She did her own impressions at home, and sent them in. She didnât receive the new aligners for eight weeks. At that time, they no longer fit her teeth and she had to start over. After the third modification, with still no progress happening to fix the gap between her front teeth, she gave up. She decided she needed to see an orthodontist in person, and scheduled an appointment with Radiance Orthodontics.
She says she wishes she would have done it much sooner.
As she discovered, consultations at Radiance Orthodontics are completely free and are always no-obligation.
âThe cost is much less than I thought it would be,â Justine says. âAnd itâs worth it. Iâm a young adult without a lot of experience. I didnât know there were discounts for paying in full, or that the pricing would be built around monthly payments and a payment plan.â
She says the experience is already vastly different than with the âdo-it-yourselfâ aligners, including attachments being placed on her teeth to hold the InvisalignTM aligners in place.
âDr. J was listening,â Justine says. âIt was such a stark difference than when I had no one to turn to.â
Serving The Community, Too!
One hallmark of Radiance Orthodontics is that Dr. Jureyda remains committed to being a partner at almost all of New Tampaâs public schools. As a business partner at our two high schools, three middle schools, and seven elementary schools, Dr. Jureyda actively supports the PTAs and students in our community.
âWe truly miss being able to be out in the community and attending events at our local schools,â he says. âWe consider it a privilege to support our local students and educators.â
To ensure that Radiance Orthodontics is accessible to everyone, especially during these uncertain times, Dr. Jureyda makes accommodations in both scheduling and payment plans. Some evening and Saturday appointments are available, and Radiance Orthodontics also works with patients to determine orthodontic benefits through dental insurance and provide affordable payment options.
âMy reputation relies solely on how I treat each and every patient,â says Dr. Jureyda. âI take that very seriously.â
To read reviews about the practice, Google âRadiance Orthodontics,â where youâll see that every review is a five-star rating. In addition to more than 100 ratings on Google, the reviews for Radiance Orthodontics on Facebook, Yelp! and Healthgrades are also exclusively five stars.
Radiance Orthodontics is located at 17427 Bridge Hill Ct., Suite A, in the Tampa Palms Professional Center. For more information, please visit MyRadianceBraces.com, search âRadiance Orthodonticsâ on Facebook, or see the ad on page 21. To schedule your free consultation, call or text Radiance Orthodontics at (813)-972-1100.
