Congrats to our friends Kent and Cindy Ross (the left photo is Cindy with “Santa Paul”) of RP&G Printing. The Rosses hosted their annual “Build-A-Bear for a Cause” event on Nov. 26 at the Build-A-Bear store in The Shops at Wiregrass. Their annual campaign ended with 167 bears built for children in need at Quail Hollow, Chester Taylor, Seven Oaks, Veterans, Double Branch and Wiregrass Ranch elementaries, as more than 60 people attended and 17 others made donations to this worthy cause.
Kent and Cindy are amazing people who love giving back to their community!
For all your printing needs, visit rpandg.com or call (813) 949-5700 and please tell Kent, Cindy & their staff that we sent you! — GN
Congratulations to the owners of the new Tous les Jours bakery franchise at 27209 S.R. 56 — in the former location of Capital Tacos.
Like the Tous les Jours inside the Lotte Plaza Market in New Tampa, the Wesley Chapel location offers a large selection of freshly baked croissants, pastries, donuts, breads and more — in both sweet and savory varieties — as well as cakes, coffee drinks, teas, smoothies, lemonades and much more.
Photographer Charmaine George and I visited the new Tous les Jours and the first thing we both noticed is how much nicer and more spacious the new location is than the one in the Lott Plaza Market food court. There are several tables, as well as couches, for enjoying your purchases inside the shop, which in no way still resembles Capital Tacos.
As for the baked goods, among the sweet options we sampled are an almond croissant, a large Mont Blanc pastry (which is like a huge, crispy outside-flaky inside cinnamon roll), a strawberry croissant filled not only with super-fresh strawberries, but also whipped cream and a mini caramel apple pie. The savory items we’ve tried include a ham-&-cheese croissant, spinach and feta pastry (which is both sweet and savory), a croque monsieur sandwich (a French-style ham and cheese sandwich) and a sausage onion pastry, which is like a hot dog surrounded by a pastry with onions, cheese and ketchup. There also are several different kinds of milk breads, full bread loaves stuffed with whipped cream and so many more. We haven’t tried any of the cakes yet, but give us time!
As for beverages, I’ve enjoyed both the vanilla latte and caramel macchiato and Charmaine and I agreed that the fresh, thick, hand-spun mango smoothie was delicious. There also is a huge selection of hot and iced teas available and more!
Tous les Jours is a French-inspired, Korean-owned chain of bakeries with 1,700 locations around the world, including more than 100 (and growing) in the U.S. The Wesley Chapel Tous les Jours is open every day from 9 a.m.-6 p.m. For more information, call (813) 388-5612 or visit tljus.com.
These renderings of the planned Peak Surf Park on the north side of S.R. 56 near U.S. Hwy. 301, in the Zephyrhills portion of the massive Two Rivers development, show (below left) the entrance to the park, with the central wave device or “plunger” visible behind it and (above) a surfer riding the curl. (Photos and Renderings provided by Tony Miller)
Even though he grew up in Tampa, Peak Surf Park developer and businessman Tony Miller says he and his friends spent a lot of time driving to Florida’s east coast to catch whatever waves were available.
“Sometimes, we did a lot more paddling than surfing,” Tony says, “which was kind of disappointing after driving all that way.”
But today, at age 57, the still-surfing former owner of SPARK, a marketing and advertising agency in Tampa that had Visit Florida and Visit Tampa Bay as two of its largest clients, says his plan is that, “anyone who wants to surf, whether they just want to learn how or are already experts, to be able to do so, with waves that will always be perfect for them. That’s why I’m bringing Peak Surf Park to Pasco County,” which of course, also is known as “Florida’s Sports Coast.”
Tony says he has been studying all of the different “surf lagoon” technologies available and chose Australia-based Surf Lakes, which he says, “has the highest-capacity surf lagoons, with 200 surfers per hour.” He adds that some of Surf Lakes’ competitors can only accommodate nine surfers per hour.
“This technology sends out a wave in each direction,” he says. “Because it’s a full 360º lagoon, with a central wave device (CWD) or ‘plunger’ in the middle, it sends a pulse out and it’s like dropping a rock in a pond — it ripples out in concentric waves. The bottom shapes the waves and we shape the bottom so you have a north wave, south wave, east wave and west wave and each one of those can be a beginner, intermediate, advanced or expert wave — and that’s our game plan, to have those different skill sets, so all levels can have a wave that they can ride at the same time. It’s 30 seconds of the machine pumping up and down and creating the waves. and then the lagoon settles for a minute, when it gets kind of calm again.”
But, speaking of lagoons, Tony says Peak Surf Park will be nothing like the Crystal Lagoons® at Epperson and Mirada, which are basically just huge swimming pools.
“This is a much more active, fun place to be,” he says. “Yes, we will also have about a half-mile of pristine beach area, great food and beverage options and live music for those who will never even think about getting in the surf lagoon to still have a great day, but this is truly an action-adventure park.”
He adds that his experience working with Visit Florida and Visit Tampa Bay has taught him a lot about “customer experience” and he knows that Peak Surf Park will provide a unique experience with something for everyone.
“We believe thousands of people will come to Pasco County from all over for the chance to surf hours away from the nearest ocean — without sharks, jellyfish or bad surf conditions. There are maybe 60,000 surfers currently in Florida, but we believe we will create thousands more from the millions of people living in West Central Florida (which is his protected territory with Surf Lakes), as well as from the millions more visiting this area. I can’t wait for it to open.”
Securing The Land
(above) Peak Surf Park developer Tony Miller today (below left) and in his teens, posing with the first surfboard he ever owned.
Tony says that the hardest part, at least so far, of bringing Peak Surf Park to our area was the large amount of land he needed.
“I was looking for at least 30 acres for almost two years,” he says, “and I was talking to the developers at Two Rivers for more than a year before things got serious. Yes, they have 6,000 acres, but they also have eight home builders and every type of commercial, condo and apartment developer all wanting some of it, so I wasn’t too high on their priority list. I personally drove to at least 87 potential sites all over the area and checked out at least 100 more online before coming to an agreement for this property.”
That search began after Tony commissioned an economic impact study by Hotel & Leisure Advisors in 2022, which indicated that Peak would generate more than $1.3 billion in annual business output and 700 jobs per year, with tax revenue for the county he chose to be in nearly $150 million over ten years. He eventually was able to secure the 35 acres in Two Rivers, so the process of creating the park could begin. Tony also has launched a crowd-funding campaign that accredited investors can take advantage of to fund pre-construction and plans to launch a secondary campaign for retail investors.
He says that although there currently aren’t any surf lagoons anywhere in Florida, he knows a few will be coming online soon and notes that there are four different surf park technologies out there.
“There will be a bunch more lagoons coming to the U.S. over the next two years,” he says. “The entire surf park industry is in its infancy (no more than 5-6 years old), but, a lot more of these surf parks will be going public with announcements. I went public with my announcement earlier than most will. Because I haven’t been a developer, I do things a little bit differently than most developers — and I believe that’s a good thing. I think I’m getting a lot more positive than I am negative out of it, but most developers are pretty close to the vest when it comes to their projects. They don’t really announce anything until they’re ready to break ground.”
He likens surf parks today to where the skiing industry was in the 1930s, “when a few adventurous people would actually climb mountains to ski down them. The advent of chair lifts then opened up access to everyone, and the industry just boomed — to the point where, today, there are 462 ski areas in the U.S. But, you can really only ski at any of them for six months a year, at most, whenever there’s snow on the mountain. With all that being said, this type of surfing is way easier on your body because you’re popping up & riding for 15 seconds at a time. It’s not like bouncing down a mountain. And, here in Florida, you will pretty much be able to surf at Peak all year ‘round.”
What About The Water?
Tony is definitely prepared to answer most of the questions about where the millions of gallons of water for Peak Surf Park will come from.
“The initial fill will likely be municipal water,” he says, “but from there, we will do a lot to capture rain water to minimize any additional water needs we might have. Sustainability and conservation have always been a big component of the surf world and certainly people going to surf parks are going to be very conscientious about that.”
A rendering of the planned deck overlooking the Peak Surf Park lagoon and “plunger.”
He adds, “We looked at various solutions where we can actually take stormwater that’s just held in retention areas and I’ve talked to Swiftmud (the Southwest Florida Water Management District) about being able to take some of that water to flow it through our multi-million-dollar water filtration system to use as a replenishment source. They said that although they wouldn’t normally do that, after they reviewed our proposal, they said, ‘Yes, this is something we would consider permitting.’ I don’t have a specific answer yet in terms of ongoing water but there is going to be a lot of effort to control how much water we will need after that initial fill.”
He adds, “I would tell people this — our surf lagoon is projected to use the same amount of water to fill it and, on an annual basis, if we re-filled it every year, as about three holes of golf.”
Tony also says that, “People see a big lagoon and say, ‘Look at all that wasted water,’ but what they don’t think about is that an 18-hole golf course (and there will be one on the Hillsborough side of Two Rivers) uses about 4-5 times the amount of water, which gets sprinkled over fertilized dirt and runs into the water system, which is far worse environmentally. But, when you see a large lagoon it’s so much more obvious how much water there is, so it’s an education process that these lagoons are much more water-conscious and sustainable.”
Tony says he plans to open Peak by the end of 2027. He believes it will take about a year for him to receive all of the entitlements he needs to break ground and 18-24 months for construction, with about six months built in for unforeseen delays.
For more info, visit PeakSurfPark.com, or connect with Peak on Facebook & Instagram.
Considering that long-established eateries like Red Lobster and TGI Fridays have shuttered many of their stores, it wasn’t a big shock that Bloomin’ Brands — which also is the parent company of Outback, Carrabba’s and Bonefish — made the decision to shutter most of its U.S. locations of Aussie Grill.
Among the stores that already are permanently closed is the Lutz/Wesley Chapel location on the north side of S.R. 56, across from the Tampa Premium Outlets, which closed its doors earlier this month. We had no news at our press time as to what might replace Aussie Grill, but we’ll keep you posted.
Portillo’s Is Coming…But Where?
Meanwhile, Portillo’s — the Chicago-based hot dog and Italian beef chain — originally announced on Dec. 5 that it was opening “later this year” and even gave the address of the new Portillo’s as 26000 S.R. 56 and said that it would be a 6,250-sq.-ft. restaurant. That announcement was later changed to what is shown below, but the spark had been lit, as many midwesterners rejoiced, many locals who had tried but weren’t overjoyed shrugged their shoulders and everyone else tried to figure out how Portillo’s could open a huge sit-down restaurant in just a few weeks time, in a location that already has a huge (actually closer to 8,000 sq. ft.) sit-down restaurant — as that address is where the Rock & Brews on the south side of S.R. 56, in front of the outlet mall, currently sits and is still open (and is still advertising in our pages).
As soon as I saw the original announcement, I headed to the nearest Portillo’s location — on E. Fowler Ave. in Tampa — to ask what the management of that location knew about the new store, but I was referred to corporate, which has not yet responded to my very detailed email, even though the revised press release at Portillos.com shown left deleted the planned address and timeframe in the original (Note-26000 S.R. 56 is still listed as the Lutz address when you click on the “Locations” button on the site).
Of course, I also took the time to sample my first Portillo’s Italian beef sandwich, with added mozzarella cheese and extra Italian gravy/au jus on the side, and I’ll admit it was pretty tasty. Good crinkle cut fries, too.
Our contact at Rock & Brews didn’t get back to us with an answer as to whether or not that location was closing, but we’ll keep you posted. — GN
Jamie and “Santa Paul” Bartell. After 30 years of playing Santa Claus, Paul has written a book — Santa: An Angel Dad — where he tells the story of his years portraying St. Nick, Sean’s passing at the age of 16 and the creation of the Sean Bartell Memorial Foundation, which has provided cash scholarship grants to graduating seniors from high schools in Wesley Chapel & Zephyrhills the last nine years. (All of the photos in this story are from Paul Bartell’s Facebook page)
I first met long-time Wesley Chapel resident Paul Bartell about a dozen years ago, when he was the volunteer event chair for the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life. My wife Jannah, who I had only met the previous year at the same event, was the Cancer Society’s staff community representative running the show at that Relay.
It was a hot day and Paul had been there the entire day, his face beet red from working in the sun. And, even though I didn’t know he also had been dressing up as Santa Claus for kids and events throughout the Tampa Bay area for many years, I remember that I definitely thought he looked a little like Ol’ St. Nick himself.
I also didn’t know back then that Paul and his wife Jamie had two sons — James and Sean — or that Sean would pass away (at age 16) only a couple of years after I met Paul, from a rare skin and blood disorder known as Stevens-Johnson Syndrome (or SJS).
Sean Bartell
With his ruddy complexion and pleasant demeanor, Paul was seemingly born to portray Santa. In fact, he has been playing the jolly man for 30 years, the last 22 in and around the Wesley Chapel area. He clearly delights in the role and has continued to make dozens of appearances as St. Nick each year, even in the difficult years since Sean passed away.
In fact, Paul says, it was Christmas Day in 2014 when Sean, who was then covered in the blisters and lesions associated with SJS (which starts with flu-like symptoms and is usually caused by a severe adverse reaction to certain medications and needs to be treated immediately at an emergency room when the symptoms first manifest) was no longer the promising young man who was fifth in his graduating class at Wesley Chapel High (WCH). “He was in so much pain and there was nothing Jamie and I could do to help him,” Paul recalls. “It was such a terrible, helpless feeling.”
And, although SJS is only fatal in about 7.5% of cases, Sean lost his battle on New Year’s Eve that same year. But, his devastated parents could only think of how much Sean loved school and how much they wanted to something positive to come out of their family’s tragedy.
Enter: The Foundation
“There’s no doubt that education was always Sean’s focus,” Paul says. “He was planning to study biology at Vanderbilt University.” According to the website for the Sean Bartell Memorial Foundation (SeanBartell.org), which the Bartells started in 2015, the family’s church, Atonement Lutheran on S.R. 54, came to them wanting to start a scholarship in Sean’s name, which is how the idea got started.
That first year (2015), the Foundation gave its first $1,000 scholarship/grant to then-WCH senior Meghan Sanchez. Today, the Foundation has awarded $74,000 to students and more than $10,000 more to teachers at Wesley Chapel, Wiregrass Ranch, Cypress Creek and Zephyrhills high schools (and this year, Kirkland Ranch Academy of Innovation will be added to that list), to assist them with furthering their respective educations.
Each year, based on the amount of money the Foundation is able to raise, a gala has been held at Atonement Lutheran where the scholarships have been awarded. The Foundation has hosted events like a Quarter Auction and Charity Bingo nights to help raise additional funds, but Paul says he still always wanted to do more.
Paul, Jamie & James Bartell, with Cypress Creek High principal Carin Hetzler-Nettles (next to Paul) at the 2024 Sean Bartell Memorial Foundation gala.
“I have had so many experiences as Santa, why not write a book?,” he says. “I’m not really a big TV watcher and I like to read. I had read probably half a dozen books about being Santa and I said to myself, ‘Why can’t I write a book? I’ve been doing it long enough and I’ve got a story to tell.’ And I figured I would donate any proceeds from the book sales to the Foundation.”
Paul says that it took him four or five months to write the book. “Because I’m Santa all through November and December every year, January and February are my ‘down’ times when I’m basically a couch potato.” He adds that he wrote the entire book on his iPhone.
“I just looked back at all of the pictures in my phone that people had sent me and that became my timeline to tell the story,” he says. “I basically went backwards on the timeline and I wrote down what I remembered about each picture.”
He then tweaked it a few times and added pictures at the end of the book and he was ready to publish. He uploaded the pages to Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) platform and, “It was easy,” he says. “You don’t even have to buy any copies. You pick your own sales price, between $10 and $200. So, we picked $19.98, because that was the year Sean was born. I ordered a few author’s copies and it went live on Amazon on July 1 of this year.” The book is available in both hardcover and Kindle versions and the Foundation retains 60% of the proceeds after the initial per-book charge of $8.06.
Paul also says that the full story of what happened to Sean is one of the book’s chapters.
And, in the meantime, “Santa Paul” is in the middle of his busy season. After making 123 appearances as Santa last year, he had been through about two dozen of his 128 scheduled appearances this year, which includes the Rotary Club of Wesley Chapel’s “Breakfast with Santa” at Bubba’s 33 on Saturday, December 14.
And yes, Paul still also works full-time in the sales department of a company that sells pumps for vacuums used in manufacturing and laboratories. He also wanted to make sure I mentioned how hard Jamie, his wife of 36 years, has always worked behind the scenes for the Foundation and how much he appreciates all of her efforts.
Unfortunately, this year’s Charity Bingo event for the Foundation was postponed due to Hurricane Milton. It has been rescheduled for Saturday, January 25, but without a location because Atonement Lutheran was badly damaged by the storm.
If you or someone you know has a location that could host that event, visit SeanBartell.org. To order your copy of Santa: An Angel Dad, visit Amazon.com.
