FROM THE FIRST TIME I tried the true New York-style pizza at my friend Willie Lopez’s La Prima Pizza (it was called by another name at that time), I felt it was the closest thing to the pizza places I grew up with in Long Island and Manhattan, NY.
Since then, in addition to a few first-place finishes in our annual Reader Dining Survey & Contest, La Prima has been named my Favorite Pizza Place in New Tampa & Wesley Chapel all 16 years it has been in business. It also has been one of my favorite restaurants in Wesley Chapel and one of my favorite Italian restaurants in either of our distribution areas.
It therefore isn’t easy for me to say — or even think — that Willie would even consider selling his place, but the former executive at Salomon Bros. and his wife Lucretia say they are tired and want to be able to retire, so Willie can concentrate on his thriving baseball memorabilia business. The lifelong New York Mets fan has adopted the Tampa Bay Rays as his American League team and he has had Rays season tickets for as long as I’ve known him.
Here’s The Skinny
Established in 2003, La Prima Pizza has been family owned and operated and a staple in the Wesley Chapel and New Tampa communities for the past 16 years.
Willie and Lucretia also say they are prepared to provide an “opportunity of a lifetime” to any individual/family dreaming of owning and operating their own business. This turn-key establishment offers a huge existing customer base and tremendous future growth opportunities for the appropriate fit.
La Prima Pizza only uses the best ingredients on the market. The pizza dough is made fresh daily and offerings include chicken and veal entrées (like the tender veal parmigiana in the photo above right; I order it with extra sauce) made eight different quality ways, as well as many seafood dishes. There’s also homemade lasagna and dozens of other menu items — and all sauces are made from scratch, including Alfredo, vodka, pink and red or white clam sauce. Appetizers include great calamari, fresh mozzarella and tomato and Buffalo wings, amongst many other choices.
And, just because there are really so many very good pizza places in our area, I felt I owed it to myself and my staff to order the amazing meat lovers pizza (left) before writing this story. Senior video producer Gavin Olsen also raved about his pepperoni calzone and sales/office assistant Janet Levins loved her cheesesteak.
In other words, if you’re not going to buy La Prima Pizza (1211 BBD Blvd., next to Super Target), you should stop in, call (813) 907-2878 or visit ThatsGoodPizza.com and place an order today. But, Willie says if you are interested, you should call him at the restaurant — whether or not you have any prior restaurant experience. Willie says he will help in the transition of the business and transfer all of his knowledge to any qualified party. But, do it soon so Willie and Lucretia can retire and I can continue to enjoy the pizza I love!
Congratulations to the Cypress Creek Middle/High girls soccer team, which won the Sunshine Athletic Conference East Championship.
The Cypress Creek girls soccer team played its inaugural season last year, and like you might imagine any first-year program with a first-time coach working with a roster of freshmen and sophomores would, struggled and won only three matches.
While that first season may have created modest expectations for this year, the Coyotes blew those to smithereens this past season, which they put a stamp on with a regular-season ending win over a 16-4 Wiregrass Ranch squad.
That win gave the Coyotes the county’s Sunshine Athletic Conference East championship. It is the first title, and sports trophy, for the second-year school.
“We just kept winning and the stakes kept getting higher,” says Coyotes coach Jennifer Richardson. “We were hoping to have something to put in the trophy case.”
Right now, the trophy case at Cypress Creek has a picture of the team and a ball in it. Thanks to goals from juniors Abby Murphy and Sophia Mitchell, who combined on a corner kick with two minutes left to beat the Bulls 2-1, that is about to change.
“Becoming conference champions wasn’t an expectation for us in the beginning of the season,” said Mitchell, who scored nine goals this season. “I honestly would have been happy with just a winning record. We started out our season with an 8-1 win over Gulf, and both Emily Dominguez and I had hat tricks in the game. There couldn’t have been a better season opener. After that, we just kept on winning.”
Sophia Mitchell battles for a loose ball during a game this season.
The Cypress Creek girls were 7-0 in conference games — including a 3-2 win over Wesley Chapel and the 2-1 title clincher over Wiregrass Ranch — and 13-4 overall.
It was a 3-2 win in December, over county powerhouse Land O’Lakes, which had advanced to the state final four the previous three seasons, that convinced the young Coyotes something special might be in store for this season.
“That was a tough, physical game,” Richardson said. “After that, we realized that we could really accomplish something this season.”
While expectations were low to start the season, they grew quickly, as the wins piled up and Regan Bourne (team-high 13 goals), Mitchell (9) and Dominguez (9) began to rack up goals.
The team’s success in Pasco County, however, couldn’t be duplicated elsewhere, due to the misfortune of being placed in a brutal district, Class 2A District 9, with the likes of Berkeley Prep, Academy of the Holy Names and Clearwater Central Catholic. The Coyotes lost to all three during the season by a combined 15-1 score, but took Berkeley Prep the distance in the district playoffs, falling 1-0.
Of the 17 players on the varsity roster, only three are seniors and only senior Katelyn Leavines was a starter. The Coyotes are hoping to jump out of 2A-9 and into 3A-7 with Wesley Chapel and Pasco, or even 3A-8 with Land O’Lakes and Sunlake.
“I’m hoping they re-do the numbers and move us out of the classification,” Richardson said. “We’re sitting at around 1,100 students now for high school, and we’d like a chance to be more competitive in 3A.”
An FHSAA meeting in March will determine re-alignments for winter sports teams. Currently, the parameters for student population in 2A are 432-1,199 students. Class 3A’s range is 1,200-1,720.
“I can’t wait to see what next season will look like,” Bourne said.
Running a textile business in Baroda, India (500 kilometers south of Bombay), Dinesh Patel never considered a career in early childhood education. He loved children, their smiles and their laughter. But, aside from the joys of raising his own children, the possibility hadn’t crossed his mind.
He moved to the U.S. in 1987, by way of Fort Pierce, FL, and got into the retail business, running a convenience store and later a motel. Then, a close family friend invited him out to Houston to look at a franchise he’d just obtained — The Goddard School.
The rest, as they say, is history, as he now owns The Goddard School of Wesley Chapel, located on Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. across the street from the AdventHealth Wesley Chapel hospital.
Patel says his business experience and his love of kids made him a natural fit for a Goddard School, which uses a dual management system, incorporating both a business manager and an education manager at each school.
Also to Patel’s liking was the school’s track record — The Goddard School is a 30-year old national franchise with 500 schools in 37 states (and in Washington, D.C.).
“(Goddard) gives you knowledge and all directors have to go through the training,” Patel says. “Goddard (corporate) even assigns someone to your school for support.”
The Goddard School of Wesley Chapel opened in May of 2017. Patel brought on his second education director, Christie Lemar, in August of 2018.
Lemar was the Director of Youth Development at Brandon Sports & Aquatic Center’s child care center, where she ran a Voluntary Pre-Kindergarten (VPK) and after school programs, which consisted of roughly 180 children. The skill set lined up perfectly with the direction Patel was already taking the school.
The Goddard School of Wesley Chapel added VPK classes in 2018, and recently acquired a small bus in order to expand into after-school care.
“This spring, we hope to have three VPK classes,” Patel says. “VPK is important to prepare a child for kindergarten. It helps make for a soft transition. They go (into kindergarten) with computer time, sight words and math (knowledge) already.”
VPK is a free program for any family in Florida. All parents need to do is fill out an application with the Department of State’s Office of Early Learning. Patel also has applications at the school.
“The classes are for three hours, Monday through Friday, and the state pays tuition for anyone,” Patel says. “Normally, middle class people don’t qualify for any benefit, so this is a great opportunity.”
The Goddard School of Wesley Chapel offers three different times for VPK classes to accommodate parents’ schedules. There’s also a wraparound program that offers hours beyond the VPK time.
There are even full-day options, that go from 6:30 a.m.-6:30 p.m. The school also is open during many public school holidays.
Patel says the summer camps, which were offered for the first time by The Goddard School of Wesley Chapel in 2018, will be expanded in 2019.
The Education Side
“I believed in the quality of the instruction and I saw the activities that were planned,” says homeroom mom Faye Adams. “I saw how well organized they were. They had fun things for the kids to do. It’s not just child care; you know that they’re learning.”
Adams’ son Christian, who is 5, took VPK at The Goddard School last fall. Even as a third-grade teacher with more than a decade of experience and teacher ambassador & spokesperson for the Foundation for Excellence in Education, Adams was impressed with what Christian got out of his experience at Goddard.
Now, Adams is the local Goddard School’s education specialist.
“I help teachers with their lesson planning, and help make sure they are hitting their standards,” Faye says. “There are seven domains, including science, math, motor skills, art, music and movement and our task is to find engaging activities, books and resources that will help target those skills and meet state standards.”
There are 14 teachers at The Goddard School of Wesley Chapel, and every lead teacher must have a Child Development Associate (CDA) credential, and oversight from the The Goddard School’s Quality Assurance program can be rigorous. The program stays in contact with the school on a weekly basis, assisting in every aspect, from the building to staffing to curriculum.
Goddard representatives also stop by to ensure corporate standards are being met and to offer hands-on assistance.
“At any level, if we have a problem or need guidance, they (Goddard) can always help us get through it,” Patel says.
Additionally, there are bi-annual assessments from the state for the VPK program. Three months ago, Patel joined the Accredited Professional Preschool Learning Environment (APPLE) program, a national early learning program accreditation. In Florida, APPLE is accepted as one of Florida’s Gold Seal Quality Programs.
“APPLE has monthly training for teachers, helps with restructuring classrooms and also strengthens academics,” Patel says.
Having Fun With It
Enrichment programs specific to Goddard include Spanish, sign language, yoga and B.A.S.E. (Balance, Agility, Strength and Endurance) for Fitness, which is specifically designed for preschool children with those four curricular goals, all of which address physical fitness.
Lemar and the teachers come up with fun ways to teach the programs.
“You wouldn’t even know we’re working on it,” Lemar says. “For instance, in our 12-to-18-month-old class, we use the word, ‘agua’ instead of ‘water.’ We use signs for, ‘more food’ or ‘I’ve had enough.’ This works particularly well for those who are non-verbal.”
It works well for those in between verbal and non-verbal, as well, she adds.
“Four months into the program and I’ve already noticed the progression,” Goddard Wesley Chapel mom Brittany Williams says. “She (daughter Savannah) was pretty much non-verbal when she got here. Now she knows all her colors and numbers.”
The FLEX Program, a Goddard standard, stands for Fun Learning EXperience. In the program, teachers are given the freedom to create their own lesson plans.
“They can create fun activities to achieve those goals,” Patel said.
Extras…
The Goddard School of Wesley Chapel also uses the Tadpole app, an application parents can download to their computer or smartphone that shows lesson plans, snapshots of what their child did during the day, even on down to what they ate for lunch.
“The parent can still ask how the child’s day was but now they can actually look at the report,” Patel says.
For additional costs, Mr. Tommy’s Mobile Music Bus comes to the school every Tuesday.
Soccer Shots, a soccer program that is, according to its website, consistently recognized by Entrepreneur magazine as the top Children’s Fitness Franchise in the U.S., also comes in once per week.
And, this past December, the school hosted its first Angel Tree Program, providing gifts for nearly 20 needy children.
The Goddard School of Wesley Chapel is located at 2539 Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. The school’s hours are Mon.-Fri., 6:30 a.m.-6 p.m. and prospective parents are welcome any time during business hours to schedule a tour of the school. For more information, call (813) 603-6100, or visit http://www.goddardschool.com/Tampa/Wesley-Chapel-Bruce-B-Downs-Boulevard-Fl. Or, see the ad on pg. 28.
Tampa City Council member Luis Viera has worked hard during his time in office to raise the political engagement of the New Tampa area he represents in District 7.
So, it was only natural that with more than a candidate forums scheduled throughout the City of Tampa for mayoral candidates, Viera would work on getting one held here.
Ed Turanchik
On Tuesday, February 19, at 7 p.m., The Venetian Event Center at St. Mark the Evangelist Church on Cross Creek Blvd. will host a forum that, as of our deadline, had commitments from mayoral candidates Ed Turanchik, Mike Suarez, Harry Cohen, Judge Dick Greco, Jr., and Topher Morrison.
Former Tampa Police chief Jane Castor, the leader in most early polls, had a prior commitment but will send a representative.
Topher Morrison
Sponsored by the New Tampa Council (NTC) and the New Tampa morning and noon Rotary Clubs, the forum will be moderated by Neighborhood News editor Gary Nager and NTC member and K-Bar Ranch resident Craig Margelowsky.
The candidates are all running for the mayoral seat being vacated by Bob Buckhorn because of term limits.
Talking Kinnan-Mansfield
February will be a busy month in New Tampa, as Viera also has scheduled what he is calling a community meeting on Tuesday, February 26, at 6:30 p.m., at the New Tampa Regional Library. Viera hopes that New Tampa residents interested in the long-debated potential connection between Kinnan St. in New Tampa and Meadow Pointe’s Mansfield Blvd. will attend.
Viera met in January with Pasco County Commissioner Mike Moore, who represents the Meadow Pointe area. Moore told Viera he was opposed to the connection but would seek compromises whenever possible.
Those compromises likely center around connecting Kinnan and Mansfield so at least first responders and emergency vehicles could use it, as well as bikes and pedestrians. — JCC
The Pebble Creek Golf Club has been a part of the landscape in New Tampa for more than 50 years, but it appears that the golf course will be sold and replaced with more residential units. (Photo: John C. Cotey)
The rumored sale of the Pebble Creek Golf Club (PCGC) is, to use golfing vernacular, like a perfect approach to the green that stops a few inches short of the cup.
Now, interested developers are deciding whether or not they want to tap the ball into the cup.
Bill Place, the owner of PCGC since 2005, has confirmed that a purchaser for his 149-acre property has been identified, but says that there has been no sale yet.
“Completely wrong,” Place says of the rumors that the club had been sold.
But, it now appears the sale of New Tampa’s first golf course (it opened in 1967) may be just a matter of time.
The interested party, who offered the highest price among what Place says were eight interested developers, is currently going through a 90-day inspection process to help evaluate whether or not it wants to finalize its purchase.
That included meeting with Pebble Creek residents last week, as well as studying zoning issues and exactly how many units — whether apartments, condos or homes — can be built on the property.
“As I understand it, the company we chose has done this in a lot of places and works with the community,” Place says. “It’s not a company that comes in and just blasts away.”
Even if the sale is finalized, Place says that the rezoning process and securing government approval and permits likely will be an 18- to 24-month process.
“It’s safe to say we won’t be going away before then,” says Place, who along with wife Su Lee, owns the company, Ace Golf, that owns PCGC and three other Tampa Bay-area golf courses.
Place did not identify the potential buyers, or how much the offer was on the property.
As For The Community…
Mike Jacobson, the president of the Pebble Creek Homeowners Association, says he has been fielding questions about the potential sale since the rumors began swirling late last year.
“I put something on our web page that basically says Bill Place told me he has multiple bids and is actively planning on selling it,” he says. “Right now, we don’t know who the company is.”
Jacobson says not a single resident he has talked to is happy about the impending sale. He expected residents to make their voices heard when the rezoning comes before the Hillsborough County Commission.
“There’s so many great lakes on that property, there’s no way we’re going to allow those to go away,” Jacobson said. “The other thing I’m concerned about is lacking the infrastructure to handle more homes. Nobody is really looking at this as a positive.”
According to Place, the property already has underlying zoning permitting 600 new units, but he adds that, “there is no way they are going to put that many units on it.”
In September, the PCGC property was listed on the website of land brokers Cushman & Wakefield. The listing boosted the property by heralding its 12 existing lakes, homes in Pebble Creek that are selling “in the mid-$200,000s to upper-$300,000s,” an average household income within a three-mile radius of $106,179 and the 3,189,266 square feet of retail within a three-mile radius of the semi-private golf course.
The detailed listing, which Place denied ever approving, included a marketing flyer, water and sewage map, a zoning site plan, Pebble Creek’s declaration of covenants and restrictions (dated Sept. 2, 1986) and a unit count calculation that said 840 apartment and townhome units were potentially feasible to replace the golf course.
That’s about when Jacobson began hearing from residents, and he called Place for an explanation.
“What he told me was that someone reached out to him about selling it,” Jacobson says. “But, if bids come in and offers come in, he said, ‘I’m going to take it.’ I guess the company took that as an initiative to (list).”
Place has acknowledged that business has not been good at the golf course, which was designed by Bill Amick and offers 6,436 yards of play from the blue tees. He said revenues at the club were down in 2018 by a third, and profits were down by 50 percent.
The construction on Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. certainly didn’t help, but many golf courses in general are in an economic slump.
Pebble Creek Golf Club owner Bill Place says that Mulligans Irish Pub inside the golf course’s recently renovated clubhouse is the club’s only money-maker.
Place also said that although Pebble Creek boasts more than 1,000 homes, there are only 20 Pebble Creek homeowners who currently are members of the golf club. Place says the club has tried various specials to lure new members, with cheaper membership dues, to no avail.
Mulligans Irish Pub, the clubhouse restaurant and bar, continues to be successful, however. “Sad to say, but Mulligans is really the only area where we make money,” Place says.
For now, he is letting the transaction unfold as the golf course remains open for business as usual.
“We’re prepared for it to go either way,” Place says of the possible sale. “If it happens, it happens. If it doesn’t, we’ll continue to operate as long as it’s feasible. Unfortunately, that’s why we’re here in the first place (because it may not be feasible).”
