So, Here’s A Little Back-To-School Reminiscing & The Latest News About WCNT-tv!

My sons, Jared and Jake, are now 28- and 25-year-old grown men, respectively, but I can still clearly remember the excitement they both felt every year when they went back to school, even through high school.

They’d be armed with new notebooks, pencils and calculators, some new clothes and would look forward to making new friends and catching up with old ones as they returned from whatever summertime activities or family vacations they had enjoyed.

And, although they both grew up in and went to public schools in nearby New Tampa, both of them always had friends who lived and went to school in Wesley Chapel, often through the many sports they both played. “The Chap” didn’t have nearly as many organized sports programs as New Tampa at that time, so the kids who lived in Meadow Pointe and even Lexington Oaks often had to cross the county line to play competitive soccer or baseball.

And, even though it wasn’t that long ago, there’s no doubt in my mind that it was a simpler time, especially in light of the truly frightening craziness going on throughout the world today, even though both of them were old enough then to still remember 9-11.

And yes, I’m proud to say that Jared, Jake and I are all products of public schools, although I grew up in Long Island, NY, and they spent their formative years here in Florida.

Today, Jared, who graduated, as I did, from the University of Florida in Gainesville, is the vice president of business development for the Orlando office of USA Solar, Inc., a solar energy installation company, while he is getting close to rolling out a new cell phone app that he has worked on for almost two years now.

Jake, who graduated cum laude  from that other big state school in Tallahassee, is now a sales rep for Medtronic, a global leader in medical technology, services and solutions, sitting in on operations with doctors in Milwaukee, WI. 

In other words, both are doing great and proof positive that school is what you make of it, whether public, private or home-schooled. If your kids have been coming home since school started here in Pasco County on August 14 excited about their teachers, their friends and their school and you remain involved in the education process with them, it doesn’t matter how overcrowded their school might be. Both of my boys attended Hunter’s Green Elementary when it was at about twice its capacity of 900 students — bigger than many high schools today, including the new Cypress Creek Middle High on Old Pasco Rd. — and there’s no doubt in my mind that they both loved it there.

I’ll be honest that I’m glad that there was no Facebook, social media or smartphones when my kids were young, but seeing so many families I know and love posting their back-to-school pics recently got me feeling pretty nostalgic for those fun, albeit trying, days gone by.

I definitely don’t miss the long car lines, the homework help I often had to provide or the multiple trips to the emergency room with them, but my experience was definitely a positive one, so I hope it’ll be the same for you.

And, for those of you, like me, who no longer have young’ns, please remember that school is back in session, so put down those cell phones while driving, sit back, relax and enjoy all of the new restaurants now open and still to come in our area.

The Latest News About WCNT-tv!

Now just a couple of months into its second year as the only YouTube- and Facebook-based video webcast for New Tampa and Wesley Chapel, I’m proud to say that WCNT-tv — Wesley Chapel and New Tampa Television — is fast approaching a total reach of one million people and 500,000 total views between Facebook and YouTube.

We have changed the format of the “show” quite a bit, with more and shorter news, dining, Greater Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce (WCCC) Featured Business and entertainment segments that always seem to get people talking.

And, that is the primary reason I co-founded the show nearly 15 months ago. With my degree, training and background in broadcasting, I simply could no longer allow this publication to be the only way I could reach out to the people in the communities I have served for the last 23-1/2 years.

During our most recent news segments, we’ve updated our map of the State Road 56 area near the Tampa Premium Outlets, previewed U.S. Congressman Gus Bilirakis and Pasco Commissioner Mike Moore’s transportation meeting on Aug. 21 (which we will recap in our next issue), and told you about not only Noble Crust and Irish 31 here in Wesley Chapel, but also the new Fat Rabbit Pub and Precinct Pizza in New Tampa.

If you’ve been reading this publication for any period of time, you know how much I love telling you about the new places to eat in our distribution areas and I’m not going to lie about how proud I am when the WCNT-tv “Neighborhood Dining News” segments get so many reactions like “Let’s Go!” anytime I’m the first to tell you about a new eatery.

My WCNT-tv co-anchor Susanna Martinez, WCCC Featured Business host Mollyana Ward, production assistant/video editor Gavin Olsen, cameraman Eric Cupps and I will have multiple new news, dining and business items to share with you on the show before the next issue of this publication reaches your mailbox, so please, subscribe to our Neighborhood News Facebook page and remember to View, Like & Share every episode of WCNT-tv!

Deacon Blues Band Concert Raises $1,700 For Juvenile Diabetes Research

Another day, another benefit concert, another $1,700 raised for yet another great cause for my friend and long-time New Tampa resident Bernie Desrosiers and his friends in the Deacon Blues Band.

The incredibly talented group of doctors and businessmen by day continue to rock the house every time they show up to raise money by night.

The band’s most recent show, held July 21 in The Palms Lounge at Peabody’s Billiards & Games (in the Shoppes of Amberly plaza in Tampa Palms), was attended by about 100 people and raised $1,700, which will be donated to help band member and baritone saxophonist Dr. Kelly O’Keefe’s participation in the upcoming “El Tour de Tucson” Ride to Cure Diabetes for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) in November of this year. El Tour is one of the largest “century” (100-mile) rides in the U.S., with more than 9,000 cyclists, 2,000 volunteers and 27,000 spectators and the stated goal of the JDRF is to “Create a World Without Diabetes.”

Desrosiers, the Deacon Blues’ goofy-hatted (“I’ve got more than 200, Gary,” he says in his Rhode Island/New England accent) keyboard player whose daughter Nicole (see below and photo, right) is a Type 1 diabetic, invited yours truly to come up on stage to sing “Brown Eyed Girl” with the band at the end of the show. Truth be told, I was a member of the group for a couple of gigs, so I had practiced the song with them multiple times, but I truly felt honored to be on stage again with these guys.

The show itself featured everything from the smooth finger-picking guitar stylings of Michael Marth to front man (and longtime New Tampa music teacher and church music director) Todd LeBlanc’s outstanding vocals and the “Blues Brothers”-styled two-saxophone horn section.

Stealing the show, despite all those earlier accolades, was Bernie and his wife (and backing vocalist) Anne’s daughter Nicole, who absolutely brought the house down with her spectacular voice. Nicole, a professional performer at Busch Gardens, belted out some Aretha and some Whitney and left the crowd wanting more.

To book the Deacon Blues Band or for more information, visit TheDeaconBlues.com or call (813) 361-2808. — GN

‘Neighborhood Notebook’ Chalkboard At Wiregrass Mall Enlighten Planners

Think you have great ideas about hoe to improve life in Pasco County? It looks like you may have to go online to add your suggestions to Pasco County’s “Neighborhood Notebook.”

The Pasco County Planning and Development Department would like feedback regarding what residents want to see develop in the community.

They’ve taken a novel approach.

The county’s first ‘Neighborhood Notebook’ debuted at the Shops at Wiregrass, located at 28211 Paseo Drive in Wesley Chapel, on June 30, eliciting ideas from passers-by.

Members of the Pasco County Long Rangers built what amounts to an enormous chalkboard where residents can share their ideas with county officials.

One side of the board that was left blank asked what residents would like to see, and the other side of the board asked how they can make it happen. Buckets of chalk attached to the boards allow residents to fill in the blanks.

County officials came by several times a week to photograph the board, take notes in a log and clear it off for new suggestions. The board was initially supposed to leave The Shops at Wiregrass on July 17, but officials extended it until July 20 while they took additional comments and looked for a suitable location in the North Pointe area, near S.R. 54 and the Suncoast Pkwy.

Matt Armstrong of Pasco County planning and development said that during the three weeks it was up at the Shops at Wiregrass, the chalkboard notebook garnered between 150 and 200 comments.

The Neighborhood Notebook is part of the county’s Gateway Crossings Market Area Plan, otherwise known as the South Market Area that covers all of Wesley Chapel and much of southern Pasco County, from U.S. 301 all the way to Little Rd. in the Trinity area. The area also covers the north-south corridors of I-75 and the Suncoast Pkwy.

“We’re here, to hear you,” Pasco’s director of planning & development Kris Hughes said. “We want public engagement from multi-media sources in high-traffic parts of the South Market areas.”

Hughes and his staff come from a diverse background and drew on their experiences to dream up the Neighborhood Notebook.

“The physical board was taken from a staffer’s experience in Mississippi,” Hughes said. “We bring a lot of experience to the project and borrow from the experience we’ve all had.”

If you missed the physical message board when it was at the mall, residents can visit WalkBikePlay.com/copy-of-virtual-notebook. Hughes said  the online notebook also is getting lots of comments, as is the physical notebook. Residents are encouraged to connect with the “Walk. Bike. Work. Play” initiative via social media.

“We’re getting good suggestions and we’re working with them,” Hughes said. “Information from the Notebook is used to inform the preparation of the market area plan. The Notebook comments will help us focus on specific areas of interest or concern.”

While the online notebook hasn’t done quite as well as the physical board at the Shops at Wiregrass, the comments online have tended to be longer and more descriptive.

Early comments on the physical Notebook at Wiregrass included better public transportation options, more recycling programs and more nature trails.

One resident who advocated for transit options noted that residents could help by voting for transit-friendly candidates and referendums. Another advocating for clean streets said that people could help “Make it Happen” by cleaning up their own street and sidewalk.

Naturally, a chalkboard in the middle of a mall inviting comments is going to have some strange requests. Under things people would like to see, some chalk-toting shoppers included world peace, a million dollars, Justin Bieber, a real live red fox and a dog president.

All suggestions feed into the County’s Comprehensive Plan and associated goals, objectives and policies that will guide Pasco’s future growth.

The Neighborhood Notebook was originally planned to move to the Tampa Premium Outlets near S.R. 56 and I-75, but concerns about teenage vandalism, and governmental red tape, has been holding up that move..

Instead, Hughes said that the physical portion of the project may evolve into postage-paid comment cards.

Wesley Chapel robbery suspect sought

The Pasco County Sheriff’s Office (PCSO) says it is looking for a man who broke into a home Wednesday afternoon, battered the resident and made off with firearms.

According to the PCSO, an armed man broke into a home on Magnolia Boulevard (in Kings Landing just south of Wesley Chapel Blvd.) in Wesley Chapel around 1 p.m. on Wednesday. He battered the elderly resident, who has non-life threatening injuries.

The suspect, according to the PCSO, is described as a black male with medium height and medium build, wearing shorts and a polo shirt, and carrying a black backpack.

The suspect is considered armed and dangerous, deputies say.

The PCSO has supplied a composite of the alleged suspect in this case.

If you have any information on this case, the PCSO asks that you call 1-800-706-2488.

 

 

 

 

Rotary Club Hosts Casino Night Fund Raiser At WC Nissan Tonight!

Do you have any fun or exciting plans for this evening? Do you enjoy playing the slots or table games at a casino?

The Rotary Club of Wesley Chapel presents a very special fund-raising Casino Night tonight — Friday, August 25, 7 p.m.-10 p.m. — at Wesley Chapel Nissan (28519 SR 54). Pasco’s clerk & comptroller, the Hon. Dr. Paula O’Neil, will emcee this event to raise money for the Mahler family — Rob, Jordan, Camden and 17-month-old Clayton, who was diagnosed with Stage 3 rhabdomyosarcoma after a July 4th visit to the emergency for a growth in his nose that was obstructing his airway.

Clayton is receiving 42 weeks of chemotherapy, followed by radiation, after 95 percent of the mass was removed. The Mahlers’ medical bills are piling up and Dr. O’Neil, a breast cancer survivor herself, talked to her friend and Wesley Chapel (WC) Nissan public relations rep Troy Stevenson about doing something to help.

And, since Stevenson, WC Nissan owner Jay Rosario and GM Joey Falcon previously had hosted a successful Casino Night a couple of years ago, he floated the idea to WC Rotary president-elect Chris Casella and just like that, it transformed into a reality to help not only the Mahlers, but also the Rotary club’s own high school scholarship program.

There’s a $20 per person donation “buy-in” to enjoy the Casino Night, which gets you $20 in chips, free water and soda, plus free food provided by Latin Twist CafĂ© on Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd., and the opportunity to bid on great silent auction items (a TV, Outback Bowl and Tampa Bay Lightning tickets and memorabilia — donated by the Williams Auto Group, which owns WC Toyota and WC Honda).

There will be a cash bar, with fine wines by Time for Wine and Rosario’s own Boricua beer, a VIP room catered by the WC Chick-fil-A, as well as great entertainment by WC Rotary member John Jay the DJ and live musical performers.

The WC Rotary’s Casino Night is sponsored by Lakeside Heating, Cooling & Plumbing, Mosquito Hunters, Cash for Gold WC, Stevenson’s own Acme on the Go & WC Nissan.

The WC Rotary also will be giving away 3,000 free American flags at the Shops at Wiregrass and Tampa Premium Outlets malls on Monday, September 11. The club also will provide breakfast for the Pasco Sheriff’s Office’s Dist. 2 office in Dade City, as well as for Pasco Fire Rescue Station No. 13 off Old Pasco Rd. and No. 26 in Meadow Pointe on 9/11. For more info about the WC Rotary Club, visit WCRotary.com.