Nondenominational Christian Bible Study Classes Available Now At St. James UMC

On Thursday mornings in New Tampa, dozens of women gather together to laugh, read the Bible and share life with each other.
Some are young women.

Others are moms, who may bring their young children to attend their own classes in a nearby room. Still others are grandmothers and even great-grandmothers.

Whether they’re young or old, married or single, parents or not, and whatever their religious preference, all women are invited to join the Tampa Northeast/New Tampa Community Bible Study (CBS) class, says the group’s teaching director, Karis Tiberia.

“We’re there to study the Bible together,” Karis explains. “One of the things I think is special is that we focus on the essentials of the Christian faith, not on denominational distinctions. Whether they attend church or not, everyone is welcome.”

While the focus is on studying the Bible, that’s not all that’s happening in the group.
“We encourage each other, love each other, challenge and take care of each other through all of the ups and downs of life,” Karis says.

The Tampa Northeast/New Tampa CBS class is part of an international organization called Community Bible Study. The group that meets in New Tampa has just completed its third year, with about 75 women registered, and will begin its fourth year this fall.

It meets most Thursday mornings, from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m., at St. James United Methodist Church, 16202 Bruce B. Downs Blvd. While St. James provides meeting space for the group, it is completely independent and supported by other churches, too, such as Grace Episcopal Church, where the group’s Leaders Council meets each week to prepare.

Moms who have children who are in third grade and younger can bring the kids along. Carmellia Loyd is the children/youth director. She says children will be cared for in a loving, fun and safe environment, and all teachers are trained and background checked.

“It’s not childcare,” Carmellia says. “From the time they’re two and older, they’re in programming, learning Bible stories, songs, simple verses, and how to have a relationship with God.”

The group’s leadership team is made up of 15 women, including Karis and Carmellia. When women join CBS, they’re placed into a smaller discussion group, called a “core group.” New this year, one core group will be meeting in the evening to accommodate more women’s schedules.

The first class will be held Thursday, September 6. An Open House will be held on Thursday, August 30, 10 a.m.-11:30 a.m., for people to drop by, find out more about CBS, meet the leaders, pick up a study book and/or register. The group will meet most weeks, except for holidays, and will end on May 9, 2019.

The group will be studying the Book of Matthew. Registration is $35 and children’s registration is $10.
Participants complete a 10-15 minute lesson in their CBS study book each day, then gather for the weekly class, where they sing worship songs, break into discussion groups, and then come back together for a large group teaching, led by Karis.

“Some people gain knowledge by answering questions, others by sharing in discussion, and some by hearing the teaching,” Karis says. “CBS covers all of those ways.”

Carmellia says she has been involved in CBS, which has several groups in the Tampa Bay area, for 18 years.

“The thing I like about it is it is straight Bible study,” says Carmellia. “They ask you questions, you look at the answers in the Bible and discuss it in your small group. It doesn’t matter if someone has known Jesus for six weeks or has been a saint for 60 years — everybody has something to contribute.”

Carla Rybolt is the group’s coordinator, handling logistics, including member registration. She has participated in the New Tampa group since its inception.

“Being in God’s word keeps me closer to God at all times,” Carla adds. “I was in the midst of a terrible storm when I started with CBS and the class led me through a gamut of learning how to completely trust God and let go of all of my anxieties. Through everything that I’ve learned, I’ve been surrounded by amazing women who hold me up.”

Karis agrees. “It’s made a difference as I go through life to have women who I know will be there for me. Aside from the Bible study and how we grow in our faith, I am also personally encouraged by my participation both in the class and as a leader.”

All three women say they love the diversity of the women who attend the group.

“The number one thing I liked about CBS from the beginning is that it’s biblically-based and everybody is welcome. Whether you’re Atheist or Jewish, no one is ever turned away,” says Carla. “Jesus tells us to love one another, and that’s the way it is at CBS.”

Carmellia adds, “It’s for anybody, whether you want to find out what the Bible is all about or have studied it for years. It’s a great place to feel comfortable and not judged.”

Registration is open now. For more information, visit the group’s website at TampaNortheast.CBSclass.org or email Carla Rybolt at CBS.Tampa.Northeast@gmail.com.

Tennis Event At Hunter’s Green On June 23 To Benefit Victim Of Lyme Disease

For years, whatever it was that was ailing Courtney Krysa befuddled doctors.

Fatigue and horrible joint pain had transformed her life into a difficult struggle. Even when she was able to play soccer for Freedom High, Courtney would sometimes pass out. She developed a heart arrhythmia, several neurological deficits and debilitating arthritis.

That finally led to a definitive diagnosis — Courtney had Advanced Neurological Lyme disease, likely the result of a tick bite she was treated for in 2008.

Although she wasn’t diagnosed with Lyme disease at the time of the bite — never developing the bulls-eye rash that is often the first symptom of the disease — she has suffered with the consequences and a series of setbacks ever since.

While there is no actual cure for the disease, and very few effective treatments, after years of searching, Katie Krysa thinks…hopes…she has found the answer.

But mostly, for the first time in a while, Katie says she has found hope.

On Saturday, June 23, at noon, at the Hunter’s Green Country Club Sports Club, friends of Katie will host “A Twist of Lyme” tennis social to raise money for Courtney’s continued treatment.

Katie, a Tampa Palms resident who plays league tennis with teams based out of West Meadows, is not surprised the New Tampa tennis community is stepping forward to help cover the costs of Courtney’s treatments. Katie says she already has exhausted her bank account by spending $20,000 for six weeks of the treatment; another 18-24 weeks is likely needed.

“I’ve relied on many of my tennis friends during this entire process,” she says. “They have been so great.”
A minimum $30 donation is requested to be part of the social, which also will have silent auctions and raffles.

The first 50 people to sign up will receive a tennis towel, and everyone who plays gets lunch, two margaritas and an afternoon of tennis and music, provided by D.J. Robby Rob.
Once a vibrant, energetic teenager, her mother says Lyme disease has ravaged Courtney’s body, penetrating her nervous system and damaging her kidneys. Courtney missed most of her senior year at Freedom, and couldn’t attend graduation ceremonies.

Katie says she has spent over $100,000 visiting clinics in Cleveland and Nashville, as well as visiting dozens of specialists, with every potential solution, most of them not covered by insurance, leading to a dead end.

Ready to give up, Katie says she discovered David Minkoff, M.D., an alternative medicine specialist, at the LifeWorks Wellness Center in Clearwater.

LifeWorks specializes in treating chronic illnesses, and Katie says she has been encouraged by the early results.

Courtney, who has spent much of the past few years bed-ridden and in a wheelchair, can today walk 25 feet without assistance, and has displayed cognitive improvements.

“I didn’t know where to go anymore before I found this treatment,” Katie says. “I didn’t have a lot of hope. I just thought I was going to have to watch her slowly get worse.”

After years of disappointment, Katie is optimistic her last hope can help restore to Courtney some of the quality of life she once enjoyed.

To read more about Courtney’s story and register for the A Twist of Lyme tennis social, visit HopeRisingInc.org. The HGCC Sports Club is located at 18050 Hunter’s Oak Ct.

HART To Improve Bus Service in New Tampa

New Tampa’s current one-stop Route 51LX is getting a makeover, with more stops, making it easier for local residents to get to nearby malls, downtown & Tampa Intl. Airport!

New Tampa residents without vehicles and/or in need of access to public transportation have always lived with a dearth of options. But, that is about to change.

Starting Sunday, July 1, a long-overdue, all-day, hourly bus route is being launched by the Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority (HART) that will transform public transportation between S.R. 56 in Wesley Chapel near the Shops at Wiregrass and the University of South Florida area.

The new route, called Route 275 Limited Express (275LX), will replace the existing and limited Route 51LX. It is funded at $1.2-million annually through fiscal year 2019 by an Urban Corridor grant from the Florida Department of Transportation.

The new route will run from Wesley Chapel through New Tampa, the University area and downtown, all the way to Tampa International Airport (TIA). Additional stops in New Tampa will make the service more accessible for more people who need to use public transportation.

Ruthie Reyes-Burckard, the chief operating officer at HART, says it will now be possible to take a bus from a number of new stops in New Tampa all the way to TIA in less than two hours, for the price of a $2 ticket. And yes, the HART buses are equipped with WiFi.
“That’s a pretty good deal,” she says.

More important is that the new route will offer a slew of brand new stops at New Tampa locations, as opposed to the one (in front of the Lowe’s at the corner of Bruce B. Downs {BBD} Blvd. and Commerce Palms Dr.) that exists now.

The new route promises to be a dramatic improvement for those who currently use public transportation, with the hope, Reyes-Burckard says, that the added convenience will encourage more use.

Interim HART CEO Jeff Seward (left) and Tampa International Airport CEO Joseph Lopano at HART’s TIA Rental Car Facility stop. (Photo Courtesy of HART)

The soon-to-launch Route 275LX will merge with Route 51LX to provide hourly service beginning at 5:30 a.m., with 13 stops between the Pasco County Public Transportation (PCPT) Park-N-Ride (at Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel in Wiregrass Ranch) and the University area, with 28 total stops to TIA. Service will be available until 10 p.m.

New Tampa will have stops at BBD and Hunter’s Lake Dr., Hunter’s Green Dr., Richmond Place Dr., Highwoods Preserve Pkwy., Commerce Palms Blvd./Lowe’s, Palm Springs Blvd., Tampa Palms Blvd., Amberly Dr. and Lake Forest Dr.

From there, the 275LX will head south, turn west on Fowler to I-275, to the Marion Transit Center in downtown Tampa, to stops on Westshore Blvd. and Spruce St. before arriving at the TIA rental car facility.

A route to TIA was a big selling point for Tampa residents who participated in surveys and email questionnaires distributed by HART, which also held 10 public outreach sessions, four on-board sessions and an open house at the New Tampa Regional Library on Cross Creek Blvd. in March.
HART proposed three route options.

One proposal was a seven-day, 6 a.m.-10 p.m. route running from Wiregrass Ranch to the Marion Transit Center, without an airport stop. A second proposal presented a route running from Wiregrass Ranch to the airport during the week, but only going as far as the University area on weekends.
At a public hearing March 28, a majority of the 105 attendees said they preferred the third option, Wiregrass Ranch to TIA, or 275LX route. It was approved at the May 7 HART Board of Directors meeting.

“We’ve heard many requests for more routes for years,” says Reyes-Burckard. “The (current) options for a few trips in the morning and afternoon doesn’t work for people who might have emergencies, or work an alternate schedule. This will provide them with much more flexibility.”

The current 51LX route available to New Tampa bus riders is extremely limited. Riders can only catch buses heading south from the Park-N-Ride location at Lowe’s, but only at 6:05 a.m. and 6:42 a.m. Riders needing to go north to the Park-N-Ride lot next to Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel (off BBD in Wiregrass Ranch) have no morning options. In the evening, buses leave the Lowe’s stop at 5:29 p.m. and at 6:02 p.m. to return to their original starting point, with no stops in between and no return service to New Tampa.

The current route was one of HART’s underperforming lines. It was established in 2005, but since 2014 has seen declining ridership. It was projected to serve fewer than 10,000 passengers for all of 2018 and the most recent data shows that Route 51LX has had 500 fewer passengers compared to last year at this time.

Ridership has been stymied by a number of issues, including the difficulty getting there for many New Tampa residents, especially those north of the I-75 intersection. But, with additional stops, as well as easier access to the Shops at Wiregrass (and even the Tampa Premium Outlets, via the Pasco County Public Transportation (PCPT) Route 54 connector), the hope for HART is that a more robust route will successful.

Reyes-Burckard, who has been with HART for nearly 17 years after spending 10 years with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) in New York City, said the new Route 275LX is part of HART’s revamped strategy to make their system into more of a grid that offers more frequency and more connectivity.

She adds that at least some of the impetus for the new route is the New Tampa and Wesley Chapel area’s recent and additional development still to come.

“The development in that area is what is really spawning the need to include this (route with more stops and all-day buses) in our service,” Reyes-Burckard says. “This is not only an opportunity to serve the community going downtown. It also will serve businesses in that (BBD) corridor.”

Kalarickal Resigns As Chairman Of The Board Of North Tampa Bay Chamber

Local dentist Dr. Zack Kalarickal has officially resigned his position as Chairman of the Board (and the Board itself) of the North Tampa Bay Chamber of Commerce (NTBC) only six months into his one-year term, citing family concerns.

Immediate past president Jennifer Cofini of the Parks Auto Group, who read the Chamber’s official statement to more than 100 NTBC members at this morning’s Monthly Business Breakfast at PHSC’s Porter Campus at Wiregrass Ranch, has stepped in to serve the remainder of Dr. Kalarickal’s term.

Look for more details in the June 15 & June 29 editions of the Neighborhood News.’

Editorial: Evolution Of WCNT-tv And Kayaking Editor

I hope you’re continuing to enjoy watching our WCNT-tv — Wesley Chapel & New Tampa Television— segments on YouTube and Facebook. It at least appears that quite a few of your enjoy watching and sharing the segments, whether they’re “News Desks” with yours truly and my co-host Susanna Martinez or senior video editor Gavin Olsen’s outstanding slide videos, which continue to grow in popularity.

So, while we haven’t quite yet reached a million total views on Facebook and YouTube, we are approaching 700,000 total views and a total Facebook reach of more than 1.2 million people in a little less than two years (WCNT-tv debuted in June of 2016).

In fact, Gavin’s slide video a few weeks ago, about the “green” grocery store known as Earth Fare breaking ground at the corner of S.R. 56 and Wesley Chapel Blvd./S.R. 54, has been our most-viewed segment of 2018 to date, with a reach of nearly 30,000 people on Facebook, nearly 17,000 views and 1,100+ engagements (likes, comments and shares).

The most recent slide video Gavin put together for us (which also includes quite a bit of beautiful drone video footage shot by our friend Sergio Venegas of Eagle Fly Media) that was released on May 24 was about everything happening on S.R. 56 near and across from the Tampa Premium Outlets and had already reached nearly 6,000 people, with hundreds of engagements, as we went to press with this issue — only two hours after we released it!

The most recent WCNT-tv News Desk segment provides even more info about everything happening in and around the Tampa Premium Outlets. It was expected to be released shortly after Memorial Day, so I hope you’ll keep an eye out for it and let me know what you think.

The new News Desk segment also will include full captioning, so more people can watch it without having to have the volume on. Gavin and I believe that having the captioning of every episode will be a factor in finally getting us over the one million total views on YouTube and Facebook I’ve been hoping for since the show started.

Over the next couple of weeks, I also hope you’ll look for the return of WCNT-tv business correspondent Mollyana Ward, who held a North Tampa Bay Chamber of Commerce Ribbon Cutting, after the Chamber’s own ribbon cutting at its new office, for Lagoon Realty, the local real estate company in Epperson, where the first Crystal Lagoons® amenity in the U.S. recently held its own Grand Opening celebration.

Also, over the next month or two, you’ll also see WCNT-tv segments updating the S.R. 54 and S.R. 56 areas near Wiregrass Ranch, and hopefully, an update from the new Bahama Breeze Island Grill opening this summer.

I also want to thank our webcast partner, the North Tampa Bay Chamber and CEO Hope Allen for continuing to support the show and this publication (see ad on pg. 12), even though it’s been a little while since Mollyana has gotten to host a Chamber Featured Business segment.

Please call (813) 910-2575 for email ads@WCNT-tv.com for information about promoting your business on our show.

Gary Won An Award? For Kayaking?

Although I was happy with how I fared in the first race I ever finished in my Neighborhood News/WCNT-tv “Banana Boat” surfski single kayak on April 14, I was even happier when I finished my second race on May 19 — The Florida Cup off Madeira Beach.

The planned 3-mile “open” race was reduced to 2.2 miles because of the inclement weather that was expected but never arrived that day, and I was thrilled to finish the race in 27:47 (less than 14 minutes per mile), which had me in 31st of 48 finishers in every type of paddling craft.

But, I was even more excited to have been the third 50+ male on a surfski single to finish the race, more than 5 minutes ahead of the fourth-place finisher.

Even so, Susanna makes fun of me again on the S.R. 56 WCNT-tv segment, but only because I scripted it that way. Check it out!