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 Café 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.

American Idol Hopefuls Fill Center Ice With Tunes

Wesley Chapel resident and New Tampa teacher Brittany Collins earned a ticket to the “American Idol” auditions in Orlando with 45 seconds of Adele’s “Fire To The Rain” at the “Tampa Bay Idol” auditions at FHCI! (Photo: ABC Action News)

The first time Brittany Collins tried out for FOX-TV’s “American Idol,” it ended with her in tears and a long, sad drive home from Atlanta. She had been waiting for a second chance for more than a decade.

She never imagined that chance would come at an ice rink right around the corner from where she lived in Wesley Chapel.

On Aug. 12, Collins, 28, lined up with at least 400 other starry-eyed hopefuls waiting for her chance to shine at “Tampa Bay Idol,” an audition for the new incarnation of “American Idol,” which is now going to air on ABC-TV. The local tryout was hosted by Channel 28-WFTS-TV’s “ABC Action News” at Florida Hospital Center Ice, right here in the “Chap.”

The tryouts were an all-day affair – capped by a night-time concert on one of the complex’s five rinks by the lucky ticket winners — as those who had registered online for the 400 available slots rolled in and out of two audition rooms hoping to impress local celebrity judges.

Those who got the thumbs-up were awarded a “front-of-the-line” certificate to the tryouts in Orlando, as ”American Idol” is being re-booted by ABC in an effort to regain its former glory as one of television’s hottest shows.

Once a juggernaut that produced stars like Carrie Underwood, Adam Lambert, Kelly Clarkson and Jennifer Hudson — but no one significant in its final years — producers are hoping hosts Katy Perry and Lionel Richie can re-stoke that interest.

After belting through 45 seconds of Adele’s “Fire To The Rain,” Collins had her ticket to the front of the line for the Aug. 17 audition at the Disney Springs Resort in Orlando, where…we hear…that one Wesley Chapel resident and two “Tampa Bay Idol” contestants just may have made it to the next round of auditions. But, that’s all we can say at this time.

“I had nerves,’’ Collins said. “At this point in my life, I want it more than ever. But I am so happy with where I am in my life. If I don’t get through, I’m okay.”

Collins, a third-grade teacher at Heritage Elementary in New Tampa,  joked that she didn’t feel that way when she was 16. “American Idol” was hot, and she and her friend Adam Jahr drove to Atlanta to chase a dream she has had since she started singing and dancing at age 3. More than 20,000 people were there, “just long lines and lines of people,’’ she says, and she was terrified.

She remembers that her voice shook as she sang Carrie Underwood’s “We’re Young And Beautiful.” The judges declined to move her on. Someone from the show came over to clip the wristhand she had been given.

“They just cut your wristband and sent you in the other direction,’’ Collins said somewhat somberly. “Very severe.”

By comparison, Collins said, the Wesley Chapel auditions, were a dream. They let her mom Teresa in the room with her as she sang. “They were set up so nicely,’’ Collins said.

Caloi Koelndorfer

Caloi Koelndorfer, a 16-year-old junior at Wiregrass Ranch High, couldn’t wipe the smile off her face as she showed off her winning ticket.

Standing in the hallway with her mother Christy, she waited for some of her friends to make their way into the judges’ room.

“It was awesome,’’ Caloi said. “I just let it go and tried to have fun.”

Caloi sang “How Can it Be” by contemporary Christian music singing star Lauren Daigle. One of the judges was Jeremy Risotto, a Brandon resident who finished in the top 13 in Season 11 of “Idol.” Oh, and Risotto was one of Caloi’s favorites.

“I love him,’’ Caloi said. “I saw him at a church choir event, and he was my favorite in Season 11.”

Caloi said she started out shaky, but hit her notes when it counted. She has been singing in the chorus since her fifth-grade year at Sand Pine Elementary, and for the outgoing teenager, trying out for Tampa Bay Idol was a no-brainer.

“She sings everywhere and anywhere,’’ Christy said, laughing.

Caloi then broke out into song for those still waiting for their chance, as someone recorded her on their cell phone. The line of people applauded. Risotto left the room for a quick break and when he returned he popped his head back out and nodded towards Caloi.

“She’s excellent,’’ he said.

We saw that Collins didn’t made it out of Orlando. She wrote on her Facebook page that it was “TOUGH” and even with her pass, she was one of the last 100 auditions of the day, waiting behind people who did not have a pass. She waited in line in the sun for four hours, and still thought she “crushed her song.”

But she wasn’t picked, and was back in the classroom Monday, sharing her experience with the kids. “At least I tried, gave it my best, didn’t pass out from the heat and didn’t mess my song up with nerves,’” she wrote on Facebook.

According to WFTS-ABC Action News director of multimedia marketing Dennis Elsbury, if a contestant made it out of Orlando — and roughly 40 made it to Orlando from the Wesley Chapel audition — they would not be allowed to tell anyone.

‘Keys With Eeeze’ Inventor Has A Wesley Chapel Connection

When you bring your car to the dealership or an independent auto service center for service, from an oil change to a new transmission, have you ever worried about putting your costly key “fob” in the service center’s after-hours “dropbox?”

I sure have. When one of my electronic keys broke a few years back, leaving me with only one, I remember bringing my car for service at my dealership shortly after it had closed and was left wondering, “What happens if they somehow lose my one remaining key? And, how much will it cost me to replace it?”

Well, thanks to the brother of a friend of mine, worrying about leaving today’s expensive, computerized car keys will soon be a thing of the past, because of a new smartphone app and key drop terminal called “Keys with Eeeze.”

That’s the good news. The even better news is that Keys with Eeeze will one day do more for auto service centers and even rental car companies than just make it more convenient to leave your keys. With everyone in our technologically-driven world begging for speed and convenience, Keys with Eeeze will allow you to step up to a machine that looks very similar to a bank ATM, and with a few touch-screen commands, secure your valuable keys, order whatever services you need, and every time your key or your car moves — from the parking area outside the service center to onto the lift to completion, etc. — you’ll receive a Facebook Instant Message (IM).

In other words, even if it’s not after hours, Keys with Eeeze will allow you to check your car in, order the services you need and pick up your car without ever having to talk to a service writer. How’s that for convenience?

The Wesley Chapel Connection

Keys with Eeeze was invented by a Dillsburg, PA, software developer named Tony Santo. If that name sounds a little familiar to you, you may know Tony’s brother Ken — the former owner of Skinny’s Sports Bar and Santo’s Pizza & Pasta on S.R, 54.

But, Ken is more than just Tony’s brother. Ken and his friend (and former owner of the Silver Ring Café, which also was located in the same Pinebrook at The Grove plaza as Santo’s and Skinny’s) Tim Booth are Tony’s point men to roll out Keys with Eeeze here in Florida. The invention is so new that Ken, Tim and Tony are revamping their existing marketing materials for Keys with Eeeze in order to better capture the attention and imagination of Wesley Chapel’s growing list of auto dealerships, chain and local independent service centers and those rental car companies.

And, Keys with Eeeze is already operational and exceeding expectations back in Dillsburg, where HC Automotive became the first auto repair shop in the world to employ Santo’s incredible, new technology.

Santo says the idea for his invention came to him as he was dropping off his car for service and looking down at the paper envelope he had to fill out by hand, drop his key into and deposit in the box at the dealership’s door. He wondered why anyone, in today’s technologically advanced age, would still be using a system that hasn’t changed much since the 1950s?

According to hard numbers given to Santo by HC Automotive owner Jon Gustafson, who only rolled out the new system at the end of April, the software is more than paying for itself. In fact, although Santo originally estimated that it could take up to a year for a service center to generate enough additional income using Keys with Eeeze to pay for the cost of the software and kiosk, Gustafson’s two-lift service shop generated enough income to justify the expense in less than 120 days!

“We knew we had something special when Tony first told me about Keys with Eeeze,” says his proud brother. “We just didn’t know it would make such a difference so quickly.”

Tony adds, “(Gustafson) says it has revolutionized his business. He tells me that when he first rolled out the kiosk and software at HC Auto, only 10 or 15 percent of the service center’s customers were using it. Just a few months later, 49 percent of his customers are using it and he’s seen a 30-percent increase in revenue, all of which, he says, is directly attributable to Keys with Eeeze.”

Santo’s invention combines an automated software system you can download to your smartphone that will allow you manage your service appointment — from dropping off the key into the kiosk to picking it up after hours. The new technology also allows your key to be coded to your phone and be delivered back to you at the kiosk any time of the day or night.

“Our Keys with Eeeze system puts you in the driver’s seat by giving you the ability to do business on your own time constraints, not the service shop’s,” Santo says. The software alone gives you carte blanche to pick a service date, order various items from a menu, communicate the issues you may be having with your vehicle electronically — concise, legible and in print — and receive instant feedback, updates and digital reports about your vehicle’s condition, all in Facebook Instant Messages to your phone.”

He adds that if necessary, customers also can receive uploaded photos and recall notices about their vehicles, receive an electronic message when their vehicle is ready for pickup and even access easy payment options, “so you can literally bypass the service desk most of the time and only talk to a service rep if there is a problem with your car that needs to be addressed.”

HC Auto has the prototype kiosk for Santo’s system, which only allowed 12 keys to be stored in the kiosk at once, but the newer model shown on the previous page allows up to 30 cars at once to be entered into the system.

“That will be perfect for these dealerships here in Wesley Chapel, some of which have ten or more lifts,” says Ken. “I can’t imagine that a more efficient system than this one for keeping track of all those keys and service orders is going to be invented anytime soon.”

Tony has a patent pending on his invention and is in the process of rolling it out to dealerships and service centers nationwide. Ken and Tim only recently began handling all of Florida for him and say that even though they are still working on the re-tooled Keys with Eeeze website and marketing materials, they’ve already had some great interest.

“Keys with Eeeze is perfect for anyone with a busy lifestyle and millennials are eating it up,” Tony says. “I’m confident that I’ve hit on the right idea at the right time. And, why are there three “eeeze” in Keys With Eeeze? Eeeze of checking in, Eeeze of doing business, Eeeze of checking out!” 

For details, pricing and leasing information, please contact Ken Santo at (813) 727-5794 or visit KeysWithEeeze.com

Hailey’s Voice of Hope Looks To Shine A Light

For Lisa Acierno, coping with the loss of her daughter is still a daily struggle.

“I’m trying every day to get through the day,” she says.

Hailey, who was a 17-year-old student at Wharton High, went missing from her Arbor Greene home on March 28.

A Facebook page was launched, called “Find Hailey Acierno,” and hundreds of people joined. They shared encouragement, ideas and tips. They offered love and support to Hailey’s family in a time of uncertainty.

They also shared information about when searches for Hailey were being organized. Many even showed up to comb Flatwoods Park to look for her.

On April 7, Lisa’s worst fears came true. After those volunteers, law enforcement and other agencies had spent days searching, Hailey’s body was found.

The Facebook group’s name was changed to “In Memory of Hailey Acierno,” and those same members again offered encouragement, support and love.

They also asked, “What can we do?”

The number of people joining the page, reaching out to the family and offering to help continued to grow.

The family of Hailey Acierno has launched a nonprofit foundation, Hailey’s Voice of Hope, online at HaileysVoice.com, where you can support awareness and services for those who struggle with mental health by purchasing items (pictured) or volunteering your time.

In her grief, Lisa began to dream of honoring Hailey by making a difference for those people who struggle with mental illness, as her daughter did.

“Let’s get rid of the stigma,” Lisa says. “During the search for Hailey, we were afraid of people’s opinions if we said what medications she was on, but that’s got to quit. People who are mentally ill didn’t do anything to choose this any more than someone with cancer or diabetes chooses those illnesses. They don’t want it.”

Lisa decided to start a foundation. She, her husband Chris, and adult sons Ryan and Josh make up the foundation’s board. They’ve applied for 501c3 status to be recognized as a registered nonprofit organization.

They reached out to the Facebook group to name the foundation, and they have changed the name once more. It’s now “Hailey’s Voice of Hope.”

Right now, Lisa says she doesn’t know exactly what her foundation intends to accomplish. She knows she wants to do something to act on the hundreds of offers of help that people continue to give her.

Lisa says changes are needed. For example, she says mental health services in our area aren’t available the way they should be.

“A perfect example was two years ago, when Hailey was being discharged from a residential program because insurance said she no longer needed to be there,” Lisa says. “They would pay for a partial outpatient program, but there isn’t one in Hillsborough County. She was basically kicked out of a residential facility and sent to something that didn’t exist.”

Volunteer Meeting Successful

Lisa organized a volunteer meeting, asking the supporters from her Facebook page — and the rest of the community — to show up for a town-hall type gathering on Saturday, August 12, at the Arbor Greene clubhouse off Cross Creek Blvd., giving everyone (even those who aren’t Arbor Greene residents) an opportunity to discuss how to raise money for the foundation, and what people can do to support needed mental health services in our community. 

She’s thinking of starting a letter-writing campaign to the Florida legislature. With 3,500 members on the Facebook page, maybe one of those volunteers could craft a letter. If Lisa posts a request to the Hailey’s Voice of Hope Facebook page, she hopes that maybe 500 or 1,000 people would copy that letter and send it, and get some attention for the cause.

Or, maybe the foundation could organize something she calls “Hailey’s Ride,” to help families get their children to available services, which is sometimes impossible for working parents who would need to take hours off from work to leave, pick up their kids, take them where they need to go, drop them off back at home or school, and go back to work.

Lisa is thinking even bigger, too.

“My ultimate dream is ‘Hailey’s House,’” Lisa says. “Somewhere kids could go after school, not to focus on their problems, but how to help them — maybe through art or music therapy — so they are learning coping skills.”

While she knows it’s a really big goal and that it ultimately might not happen, she’s not afraid to dream it.

“I keep saying that MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) was one started by one mad mother, the Susan G. Komen Foundation was started by one mad sister, and I’m a mad mom right now,” Lisa says. “It’s going to take a village to make this happen. It shouldn’t take something like this to get everyone’s attention. Hailey’s story was front page news because she was missing for so long, but there are so many families who are going through this who don’t get that kind of attention.”

She says that every day she wonders what more she could have done to help her daughter.

“Right now, we have a lot of support and so many people offering to volunteer,” Lisa says. “I just can’t sit back and do nothing.”

For more information about the foundation and its efforts, join the Facebook group, “Hailey’s Voice of Hope” or visit HaileysVoice.com.

Rotary Casino Night!

Although I am now a member of the New Tampa Noon Rotary Club, the Wesley Chapel (Noon) Rotary Club that I previously belonged to (and which now meets Wednesdays at noon at Lexington Oaks Golf Club) contacted me (on deadline, of course. lol) to try to help the club promote its upcoming Casino Night fund raiser, which will be held on Friday, August 25, 7 p.m.-10 p.m., at Wesley Chapel Nissan (8519 S.R. 54).

The event is for such an amazing cause, I couldn’t let it go by without a mention here. All proceeds from the Casino Night will be donated to benefit the family of 16-month-old Clayton Mahler, who has been diagnosed with an unidentified Stage 3 pediatric cancer. Clayton’s father, Rob Mahler, is a former Hudson High football coach and eleven local high school teams (including Wiregrass Ranch High) will participate in a preseason jamboree on Thursday, August 12, at Springstead High, with all proceeds also benefiting the Mahler family.

If you enjoy a little gambling for great prizes, a $20 donation gets you $20 in chips and there will be free food, a cash bar, and a silent auction and of course, the spirit of Rotary.

For more information about the Rotary Casino Night, visit WCRotary.com or visit one of the club’s Wednesday meetings. For more about the “Preseason Clash for Clayton,” visit SpringsteadAthletics.com.