Category: Wesley Chapel

Interstate 75 at Overpass Road has reopened

All lanes at Overpass Road and southbound Interstate 75 (south of S.R. 5.2. at the 282 milepost) have been reopened this morning after a truck clipped the overpass Monday night and caused it and all northbound lanes to be closed last night.

According to the Florida Highway Patrol, Aubrey Reed, 60, of Brownwood, Texas, was towing a crane in his 2014 Peterbilt truck when he struck Overpass Road in Pasco County Monday evening, shortly after 5 p.m.

The damage was described as “severe” as inspectors were called out to assess. Around 9 p.m., Overpass Road was reopened as well as the inside northbound lane of I-75. The outside lane remained closed overnight.

Reed, who was not injured, was ticketed for an over-height load in his 2014 Peterbilt Truck, according to FHP.

Sophia Presents Pasco Sheriff Nocco With $3.2K For K-9s!

Wesley Chapel resident Sophia Contino (who was featured in our last issue) presented Pasco Sheriff Chris Nocco with a check for $3,200 to help fund Kevlar vests for Nocco’s K-9 deputies.

Sophia who lives in Meadow Pointe and attends Sand Pine Elementary, is an 8-year-old who wants to save canine lives by providing the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office (PCSO)’s K-9 officers with bulletproof vests.

Sofia came up with the idea of having a lemonade stand to raise the money.

“The reason I am raising money is, I love dogs and I love people,” Sophia said in our previous story.

Sophia, whose father Jason works for Wesley Chapel Nissan, where Nocco held a fund raiser for his re-election campaign, has now raised nearly $6,000 in just a few months by selling lemonade at the dealership and other locations.

‘Sophia’s money will only be used for the K-9 unit, not my campaign,’ Nocco said. ‘I want to make that very clear.’— GN

Sting Operation In Wesley Chapel Proves Successful

Speaking of Nocco, his department continues to work hard towards stopping human trafficking.

January was National Human Trafficking Awareness Month, and the PCSO ended the month by staging a two-day sting operation in Wesley Chapel that resulted in 20 arrests for prostitution and drug possession.

PCSO used the Econo Lodge on S.R. 54 just west of I-75 as a staging ground for its sting operation, operating out of a handful of rooms to make a series of arrests. The Econo Lodge gave permission for PCSO to use its location.

“The big issue for us was human trafficking, that’s what they were looking for,’’ said PCSO spokesman Eddie Daniels. “It’s an important, serious issue.”

While the sting operation did not find any evidence of human or sex trafficking, it has been a point of emphasis for Nocco’s department.

Florida is third in the nation annually in cases of human trafficking (behind California and Texas), and nearby Hillsborough County is second to Orange County (Orlando area) in the state.

According to a recent Neighborhood News story about trafficking as well as the PCSO website, there are roughly 300,000 cases of child sex trafficking reported every year, and it is estimated between 500,000 and 2 million people are trafficked annually worldwide, with an estimated 15-18,000 being trafficked into the U.S. each year.

The proliferation of social media and websites have helped lead to more trafficking, so the Sheriff’s Office used ads on a website to lure many of those arrested Jan. 29-31 to the Wesley Chapel motel.

Among the 20 people arrested, two had Wesley Chapel addresses. The others were from as far away as Nova Scotia, Canada, and Ocala and Spring Hill, FL.—JCC

Andrew Krance, Master Of Fine Arts, Can Create A Masterpiece For You

By Gary Nager

I’ll freely admit that I don’t know nearly as much about art as I do about food, wine or single-malt Scotch (go figure!). But, as someone who was born and raised in and near New York City, I was definitely exposed to a lot of art and I have found that whether it’s surrealist, impressionist or cubist, I just know what I like when I see it.

“And that is the thing about art,” says Wesley Chapel resident and Master of Fine Arts (MFA) Andrew Krance. “It’s such a personal thing. You don’t always know why you like or don’t like a piece of art, you just know if you do or not.”

But, if you’re moving into a new home or redecorating an older one and you want something really cool to tie together that huge new living room or you just like the idea of purchasing original art directly from the artist rather than buying a signed and numbered print, lithograph or giclet, I believe that if you visit Andrew’s home studio in the Villages of Wesley Chapel and see just how much original art he has displayed in a wide variety of genres and styles, you might end up becoming a customer of his.

A Little Background…

Andrew’s father, Casimir Krance, who also was a renowned concert pianist, had inherited a munitions factory in France before World War II. When the Germans invaded France, the native of Poland moved his family to New York City but they eventually ended up in Wisconsin, where Andrew earned his MFA degree from the University of Wisconsin in Madison.

An accomplished musician himself, Andrew’s artistic bent helped him find his way back to the Big Apple, where he lived with an aunt on Manhattan’s posh Upper East Side, near Gracie Mansion, the residence that is home to New York City’s mayor.

It was while working for Dorothy Maynor, the opera star who founded the Harlem School for the Arts (which provides college curricula in performing and visual arts in Upper Manhattan), that Andrew met Barbara Johnson of the Johnson & Johnson family, one of the world’s foremost collectors of fine art, and where he began dabbling in a wide variety of artistic genres.

“She had Van Goghs, Rembrandts and a 40-foot Monet in her home,” Andrew recalls. “Her collection today is worth in the billions of dollars.” Johnson took the young artist under her wing, as she had many others, and introduced him to everyone from the governors (at the time) of Texas and Arizona to Leo Castelli, whom the actor Dennis Hopper called “the godfather of the contemporary art world.”

The Castelli Gallery was one of the most famous in the world and helped launch or further the careers of everyone from Robert Rauschenberg and Jasper Johns to Roy Lichtenstein and Andy Warhol.

And, for a while, a young Andrew Krance. Andrew says the artists under Castelli’s “wing” would have drinks together at a place called Magoo’s off Canal St.

But, “Andrieu,” as his late, Israeli wife Eti (Esther) used to call him, ultimately went into the pet food and pet products business and later moved to Key Largo, FL, where he and his wife opened a lingerie store. They spent 20 years together on the east coast of Florida before moving to Wesley Chapel together a few years ago. She passed away three months after learning she had cancer.

“I did throw myself more into my art after Eti passed,” he admits.

Today, Andrew continues to go through different “periods” with his art, although he mainly uses acrylic paints and a more “pop art” style these days. “The paint just dries so much faster (than oil) and the colors and textures are amazing,” he says.

So, his work ranges from emulating everyone from Picasso to Warhol to Jackson Pollack and some of his favorite pieces are his own “takes” on famous people, like the late music stars Stevie Ray Vaughn and Bob Marley and even Warhol himself.

Corporate Work & More

Today, Andrew says that he can create virtually anything in acrylics and he really enjoys being commissioned to create something unique.

“I can fill those huge walls in a large corporate office or an upscale home,” he says. “Give me an idea and a style and I’ll come up with something great, in less time than you might think.”

But, even if you’re not sure you want to buy anything, one thing I certainly would suggest is to make an appointment with Andrew to check out the art that’s already in his home. There’s more paintings on Andrew’s walls than at some art galleries I’ve been to and I have included some of my favorites (and his) on these page. So, sit down, enjoy a cup of coffee or a good Scotch with him and talk about art.

The artist has become friends with one of his neighbors, Joe Lawler, and Andrew says, “Joe has bought five pieces from me, but not because we’re friends, but because he likes what I do.”

Joe says, “You can just see the talent Andrew has. I love his art that looks like Picasso so much, I bought my favorite.”

You also can check out most of Andrew’s art at KranceContemporaryPaintings.com (which he says is being revamped a bit as we’re going to press) or call 994-0008 for more info.

New Tampa Rotary To Re-Launch ‘The Taste Of New Tampa’ In 2017!

An editorial by Gary Nager

It’s official! The Greater Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce (WCCC) has agreed to allow the Rotary Club of New Tampa — which meets Friday mornings for breakfast at Tampa Palms Golf & Country Club and which celebrated its 20th anniversary last month — to “take over” and resurrect the Taste of New Tampa, which was last held in Primrose Park in Tampa Palms in 2014.

The WCCC took over the right to put on the Taste in Feb. 2015, when the New Tampa Chamber of Commerce agreed to be absorbed by the Wesley Chapel Chamber.

Less than a year later, with the WCCC already having divested itself of its other major event — the Wesley Chapel Fall Festival (by turning it over to an event company) — WCCC CEO Hope Allen was happy to meet with New Tampa Rotary media honcho Karen Frashier earlier this month to discuss the possibility of the Rotary Club taking over what had been (for 20 years) the premier single-day event held in (and around) New Tampa.

I am proud to say that I helped facilitate and sat in on that meeting, where the two reached an agreement in principal that Frashier brought back to current New Tampa Rotary president Lesley Zajac, president-elect Brice Wolford and the rest of the club’s Board. The vote was unanimous, but while the agreement and trademark transfer still have to be finalized — “dotting all of the ‘i’s and crossing all of the ‘t’s,” as Zajac called it — the good news is that there will again be a Taste of New Tampa.

“Our Board members were very excited to move ahead with this opportunity to revive a very popular community event for our area,” Zajac said following the vote.

OK, So…When?

Zajac’s term as New Tampa Rotary president ends on July 1 of this year, when Wolford assumes the reins of the club. Sometime between now and then, after the agreement has been finalized, Wolford says it makes sense for the Rotary to host an initial meeting — that we will promote in these pages — to find out who is interested (in addition to yours truly) in being involved in what promises to be a six-to-eight-month plan to revive the event sometime in March (and no later than early April) 2017, at a site also to be determined.

That means the planning stage won’t start in earnest until Wolford takes over the presidency and the long-time New Tampa Rotarian says he’s excited to add a new spring-time event to pair with the club’s annual “Wiregrass Wobble Turkey Trot 5K,” the major annual fall event the club has hosted the last three years.

The Taste also will replace the New Tampa Rotary PigFest, which the New Tampa “Breakfast” Club ran for eight years, with the last one being held in 2012, as the Rotary Club’s major springtime event.

“We really appreciate the trust the Wesley Chapel Chamber has shown in us by allowing us to be the organization that revives the Taste,” Wolford said. “We see it as a tremendous complement to our fund-raising efforts for this community.”

I already promised the Rotary Board that I would be happy to once again help with attracting restaurants — which was my primary function for most of the 20 previous Tastes, although I also was the event chair or co-chair several times and a two-term president of the now-defunct New Tampa Community Council, which created the event in 1994. The Council ultimately became the New Tampa Chamber, which then put on the last few Tastes.

The bottom line? Considering the amazing work the New Tampa Rotary Club has done in not only the New Tampa community but also regionally and even internationally, I know the event I used to call “my baby” is once again destined for greatness.

Arbor Greene Couple Fights To Help The Injured Stay In Step

Romulo “Romy” Camargo rolls past Derrik Amarral, who is working hard with physical therapists to bring legs that were damaged in a car accident back to life.

“Come on, Derrik,’’ Romy encourages Amarral. “Let’s go!”

Across the room, 69-year-old Vietnam War veteran William Stevens is lifting a weighted bar, screaming loudly as his personal trainers urge him on.

Meanwhile, Gabriella (“Gaby”) Camargo, Romy’s wife, smiles as she looks out from her office.

At the Stay in Step Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) Recovery Center in Tampa, a 5,000-sq.-ft. haven for paraplegics, quadriplegics and those who have suffered traumatic brain injuries, it is not uncommon to see Romy trying to fire up those fighting through a workout.

Conveniently located in the University Center Drive Business Park off N. 30th St. (near both the University of South Florida and the James A. Haley Veteran’s Hospital), Romy and Gaby are reaching beyond just service to wounded war veterans. So Amarral, a civilian who drives from Spring Hill, works side-by-side with Stevens, a military vet. “It’s very important people know that this is for military and civilians,” Gaby says.

Romy — who is serving as the 2016 Gasparilla Parade of Pirates Grand Marshall this weekend — and Gaby have devoted their lives to helping wounded warriors, many who battle daily to remain viable and healthy despite having lost the use of their legs, their arms and, in many cases, both.

On Valentine’s Day (Sunday, February 14), 5:30 p.m.-9 p.m., All American Music Productions is hosting the “Valentines For Veterans” benefit dinner at the Stone Chef Events facility in Ybor City. All proceeds go to support Romy and Gaby’s Stay in Step Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.

“We can’t do what we do without the support of the community,’’ Gaby says.

Continuing To Serve…

While on a humanitarian mission in Afghanistan in 2008, Chief Warrant Officer 3 Romy Camargo and his fellow soldiers in the Green Beret 7th Special Forces Group were ambushed in Zabul Province by Taliban fighters.

As they scrambled to dodge a hailstorm of rocket-propelled grenades and machine-gun fire, a bullet smashed into the back of Romy’s neck.

Bullets continued to fly as an emergency tracheotomy was performed on Romy, saving his life. The soldiers managed to repel the attack and get to safety, and Romy was flown to Germany and then to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Washington, D.C. It was on Gaby’s birthday — September 19, 2008 — when he arrived at Walter Reed.

Romy was hooked up to countless wires and machines, a ventilator so he could breathe, and he was lucky to be alive. The bullet had shattered his C3 vertebrae. He was paralyzed from the shoulders down. Doctors said he would never breathe on his own, but Romy is always proud to say he proved them wrong.

Doctors also told him he would never walk again. Romy told Gaby the doctors were wrong on that claim as well, as he continues to strive towards his goal of one day getting out of his wheelchair forever.

Thus began the toughest mission of the Green Beret’s life.

He spent 18 months at Walter Reed before he could leave. Shortly thereafter, he petitioned the Surgeon General of the U.S. Army for permission to try an aggressive treatment to help him recover. In May of 2011 in Lisbon, Portugal, he became the first active duty service member to receive Olfactory Mucosa Autografts, where stem cells from the base of his nose were used to stimulate the recovery of his injured spine.

Romy couldn’t distinguish temperatures and tell if the weather was hot or cold before the surgery, but he could after the treatment. It was a big moment. Since that surgery four-plus years ago, he says he has had no setbacks and he has seen great improvement. The surgery, however, required intensive rehabilitation. For two-and-a-half years, Romy drove to Longwood, FL, to work out at Project Walk Orlando. He says the twice-a-week commute sometimes felt as gruelling as the workouts, taking as long as 4-5 hours round trip, but it was worth it.

”It was a great place, it was awesome,’’ Romy says. “And it made me stronger.”

Gaby, however, had an idea to start their own facility, to do the same great work here in the Tampa Bay area. They began raising money. As they approached the grand opening date of the Stay In Step SCI Recovery Center in June of 2015, Toyota contributed $300,000 to give the Camargos the $1.2 million total they needed to launch.

The center currently services roughly 20-30 clients with its action-based therapy and family- and team-oriented treatment, and the Camargos hope to have 50 patients and even more someday.

But, they also understand the trouble some have in paying for treatment, and that everyone does not have the support and connections they had. One of Gaby’s goals this year is to begin a supplemental program, to help pay for an hour or two of time for clients who can’t afford to pay.

The money they hope to raise at the Valentines for Veterans event will go towards that cause, and they also recently received a $300,000 donation from the U.S. Special Forces Charitable Foundation.

“This is such important work,” Gaby says, “that we want to take off some of the financial burden.”

Because of the seriousness of many of the injuries they see, Romy and Gaby know how important it is for their patients to remain as active as possible despite their physical limitations. The long-term process, they say, is as much mental as it is physical. While Romy, who retired from the service after 20 years in October, doesn’t promise anyone they will ever walk again, he does promise to make them feel better and stronger, which will improve their quality of life.

“It’s attitude,’’ he says. “Never give up. These guys are happy to be here. They come and work out and they want to come more. That’s why we’re so thankful for the donations we receive, so they can help with the financial burden. This is a family issue for most of them.”

To that end, the Stay in Step facility doesn’t just boast top-of-the-line equipment — like the $115,000 RT600 that provides electrical stimulation to patients working out in the standing position, or the $30,000 RT300 that does the same for those in a sitting position — it also has a playroom stocked with books, art supplies and video games for children. For adults, there is a home-like waiting area, designed like a living room with comfortable furniture, computers with internet connections and warm surroundings.

“Everything is state of the art,’’ Romy says, proudly.

That includes the people who work there, he says. The employees include lead trainer Steven Hill, the Special Forces medic who performed the emergency tracheotomy that saved Romy’s life, and certified trainers who are invested and passionate, Romy says. The center’s medical advisor is Dr. John Merritt, MD, one of Romy’s doctors at Walter Reed and the retired chief of the Spinal Cord Injury Center at the Haley’s Veteran’s Hospital.

Romy, who directs his hi-tech motorized wheelchair (equipped with an iPad and iPhone that he operates with a mouth stick) that operates on sensors he can trigger via his headrest, couldn’t be happier to give back. He takes the greatest pleasure in seeing the same fight he has in those trying to recover, — and pushing them even further.

Having circled the facility to give a tour, Romy looks back at Amarral and Stevens, whose progress continues to be marked by decibels as he achieves a personal best in the weight he is hoisting. Romy motions his head towards them, offering more words of encouragement to both of them.

Amarral looks over and smiles.

“These guys are awesome,’’ he says, loudly. “This place is awesome.”

The Stay in Step Spinal Cord Injury Recovery Center is located at 10500 University Center Dr., Suite 130, in Tampa. Visit StayInStep.org for more info. For about the “Valentines For Veterans” gala, visit AllAmericanMusicEvents.com.