A lot of local businesses offer âChristmas in Julyâ events, but very few that Iâve been to can match the free âJingle Mingleâ event hosted by the Hyatt Place Tampa-Wesley Chapel hotel (located at 26000 Sierra Center Blvd., just north and west of the S.R. 56 exit off I-75, Lutz) on July 31.
Sure, lots of places have had Santa Claus himself (bottom photo) on hand and available for free pictures at their events, and some may even have had some free food available, but the Hyatt Place management saw this as an opportunity to introduce the local community to the beautiful ballroom and delicious catering available at the hotel â in case you or someone you know wants to host a holiday event there.
Among the tasty treats served at the Jingle Mingle were small, plated samples of holiday-inspired dishes â like grilled orange salmon on a bed of tasty rice with fresh asparagus (top), oven-roasted chicken with house-made cranberry sauce and an addictive sweet potato mash and braised short ribs with red wine sauce, accompanied by a baby carrot medley and mashed potatoes. And, all of them were actually as appealing to the palette as they were to the eyes.
But of course, for yours truly, the highlight was the full-on sâmores station (above left), complete with graham crackers, Hersheyâs chocolate bars and your choice of mini or huge marshmallows, plus skewers and âhot flamesâ to toast those marshmallows. Absolutely decadent!Â
Each adult attendee also received a ticket for a free holiday-themed cocktail (e.g., a âWhite Christmas Margarita,â âTipsy Reindeerâ and more), plus vendors like Florida Ave. Brewing Co. and Thirsty Buffalo gave away free beer samples. And, PopStroke, Main Event and Metro Lagoons were on hand, and there was a free photo booth, other desserts and more.
The event also helped remind attendees that the hotel also will again host a full-on Thanksgiving buffet and this year, a New Yearâs Eve gala that hotel director of sales Lorna Petchey promises will not be cancelled this time.
For more information about the Hyatt Place, call (813) 803-5600, visit Hyatt.com or email Lorna.Petchey@Hyatt.com to book your own holiday party ASAP. â GN
I have been a fan of lead guitarist Mike Campbell of Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers since I first saw the group live when I was a student at the University of Florida back in 1981, when Fleetwood Mac vocalist Stevie Nicks joined the Heartbreakers on stage to sing “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around” and four or five Fleetwood Mac/Stevie Nicks songs during the encores.
After the tragic passing of Petty in 2017, Campbell spent two years (2018-19) as the replacement for Lindsey Buckingham in Fleetwood Mac, but then started his own band, The Dirty Knobs, in 2020. The new band â currently comprised of Campbell on lead guitar and most of the lead vocals, recent Eagles touring guitarist Chris Holt on guitar, keyboards and vocals, Lance Morrison on bass and former Heartbreakers drummer Steve Ferrone â has put out three albums to date, “with a fourth one in the can,” according to Campbell last night.
The group’s next-to-last stop on their current tour (the Dirty Knobs play in Jacksonville tonight) was at Ruth Eckerd Hall last night and they put on a show much more laden with solo Petty and Heartbreakers tunes than most of the Dirty Knobs’ previous dates â eleven in all, in fact. Although it was amazing for this 45-year Petty fan to hear so many of those old favorites, I actually would personally have been happier to hear Campbell & Co. play more of the Dirty Knobs’ own catalog.
Considering that Campbell rarely, if ever, even had a mic to sing to on stage when he was with the Heartbreakers, I absolutely love the guy’s voice and his music, as always, is solid rock with many of these songs having that Petty-esque country twang. And, although Mike is credited as a co-writer on dozens of Petty’s classic tunes, my understanding was that Mike would usually write or co-write the music, but Tom handled the majority of the lyrics. So, it’s pretty startling to hear so many songs that Campbell has written and sings himself.
Among my favorites at last night’s show were the hard-rockin’ but melodic “Dare to Dream” and the country-infused rocker “Wicked Mind,” the super-fun “F–k That Guy,” plus “Irish Girl,” “Shake These Blues,” and “Angel of Mercy,” all of which are from the three Dirty Knobs albums. There were at least 7-8 more of those songs that I wish they played â including the almost Rolling Stones-ish title track, the funky rocker “Sugar” and the sweet “Anna Lee” from the first Dirty Knobs album, “Wreckless Abandon.”
Others they didn’t play that I love are the great lyrics and catchy beat of “Dirty Job,” the beautiful duet with Margo Price called “State of Mind” (which sounds like it could be Petty and Stevie Nicks together again), “It Is Written” and “Electric Gypsy” from the second album, “External Combustion,” and “Hands Are Tied,” “Innocent Man” (a completely different song than Billy Joel’s “An Innocent Man”), “Hell or High Water” and “The Greatest” from the newest album, “Vagabonds, Virgins & Misfits.”
If you like Campbell’s “minimalist” guitar from the Petty days, many of these songs are equally as addictive â at least in one editor’s opinion.
But yes, it also was awesome to hear Campbell’s guitar riffs and belted-out, Petty-like vocals on all of the Petty and/or Heartbreakers tunes, especially on “Love Is A Long Road,” “A Woman In Love (It’s Not Me),” “Don’t Fade On Me,” “You Got Lucky,” “You Wreck Me,” “Runnin’ Down A Dream” and my favorite Heartbreakers song of the evening, “The Best Of Everything” (in duet with super-talented opening act Shannon McNally, a Grammy-nominated Long Islander from Jones Beach).
Overall, it was an wonderful show and most of the not-quite-sold-out crowd of over 2,000 people seemed to love it as much as Jannah and I did.
Whether you were at the concert or not, if you’re a fan of the Heartbreakers, you have to read Campbell’s recently released book, Heartbreaker: A Memoir â which I was surprised to not see on sale at Ruth Eckerd. It’s an incredible read, ghost-written by Ari Surdoval, and it tells all of the stories of how Campbell came from less than nothing in Jacksonville, to getting a scholarship to the University of Florida, where he met Petty (who wasn’t a student but grew up in Gainesville), who convinced Mike to drop out of U-F, to meeting the other members of the band then-called Mudcrutch, to heading out to Los Angeles and finding stardom with Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers â and everything that came since then. I’m sure it must include Campbell’s thoughts on Tom passing away in 2017 â although I haven’t finished reading the book yet. Even so, it’s honestly already one of the best non-fiction memoirs I’ve ever read.
I don’t know what’s next for Mike Campbell & The Dirty Knobs or when they will return to our area, but all I can say â after literally eight of them last night â is “Encore!”
As Iâve written multiple times previously, North Tampa Bay Chamber (NTBC) president & CEO Hope Kennedy and I didnât know each other at all when she moved here from Pensacola nearly 14 years ago to take over the reins at what was then called the Greater Wesley Chapel Chamber (which later became the NTBC under her leadership).
But since then, Jannah and I have both been proud to say that we have considered Hope to be among our closest friends. As the publisher and editor of this publication the entire time sheâs had her job, I couldnât help but interact with Hope on a regular basis and what I have always found her to be is a consummate professional who took over a floundering organization and transformed it into a true regional powerhouse. In addition to her Chamber duties, Hope has served on the Boards of Directors of local hospitals and business organizations and has been asked to speak on behalf of her Chamber and the North Tampa Bay community at the openings of too many development projects to mention them all here.
But, as a few short weeks ago, Hope now has national credentials to go along with the ever-growing influence she has earned locally.Â
At the 2025 Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives (ACCE) conference in Philadelphia from July 22-25, Hope was proud to be given the title of CCE â or Certified Chamber Executive â which fewer than 3% of the leaders of the 7,500+ Chambers of Commerce in the U.S. have earned.
âCCE isnât an honorary title or an award,â Hope says. âTo earn the CCE credentials, you have to go through an extensive application process and everything about your Chamber is put under a microscope â from financials to accomplishments. You have to have held your position for at least seven years and you have to be sponsored by another CCE in order to even be considered (Hope was mentored by Tampa Bay Chamber president & CEO Bob Rohrlack). Itâs a pretty big deal for both me and our Chamber.â
Hope also had to submit multiple essays, including one about a major project sheâs proud of and she wrote about helping what is now called the Greater Pasco Chamber (GPCC) â which previously had been a competitor of the NTBC â recover from nearly going out of business. Hopeâs NTBC Board allowed her to also take over the GPCC leadership on an interim basis, in order to right what otherwise likely would have been a sinking ship â even though there were some GPCC Board members at the time who didnât want Hope to be the one helping them.
Today, the NTBC and GPCC work hand-in-hand and Hope deserves much of the credit for keeping that one-time rival afloat.
She was one of 26 new CCEs named at the 2025 National ACCE Conference â the largest-ever group to receive those credentials at the same time â but that doesnât diminish in any way her accomplishment. âEarning the CCE designation means that Iâve reached the absolute top of my profession,â Hope says. âIt was a lot of hard work, to get here, but it was definitely well worth it!âÂ
So, What About WC Incorporation?
If you remember, back in March, we reported that Hope and her NTBC Board had decided to lead a group of local business owners who wanted to look into the possibility of Wesley Chapel incorporating as its own city, with the goal of ensuring that the residents and businesses located in the area had their own local government overseeing future development and other decisions and to find out if the idea was even economically or logistically feasible.
Through its nonprofit Foundation, the Chamber began asking for donations from individuals and businesses to fund two $75,000 studies â the first to determine the economic impact of the area known as Wesley Chapel and the other, if the results of the first study warranted moving forward, an incorporation feasibility study.
However, the possible start of the first study was put on hold when Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis proposed ending property taxes, which would have made incorporation a lot more difficult to achieve. But, the State Legislature rejected the governorâs idea when its session ended in June.
âThat at least revived the idea of exploring Wesley Chapel incorporation,â Hope says. âWe have restarted our fund-raising efforts, so anyone who wants to make a tax-deductible donation for the study (or if you have questions about it) should call the Chamber office at (813) 994-8534.â
âWe hadnât actually started collecting any money before,â Hope says. âBut, we did have commitments for about a third of the amount needed for the first study.â
Based on the speed with which the construction is progressing, the opening of the Wesley Chapel Walmartâs gas station should only be a few months away.Â
Walmart Fuel Under ConstructionÂ
The massive banner on the construction fence couldnât be any less subtle â âCOMING SOON, YOUR NEW WALMART FUEL STATIONâ (photo).
The underutilized northeast portion of the Wesley Chapel Walmartâs parking lot (directly behind Chase Bank) on S.R. 54 (east of Bruce B. Downs Blvd., or BBD) is being transformed into the next useful feature of the popular store.
Final site plan revisions for the gas station addition were submitted to the county back in January of 2024, but nothing transpired for almost a year and a half, so it was unclear when, or even if, the station would ever come to fruition.
That question has been answered, as the construction is now happening at breakneck speed. Walmart hadnât even fenced the area off just a few months ago, but now, the massive fuel tanks are getting ready to be buried, the stationâs canopy is about half done, and the convenience store is pretty much finished. At this pace, it appears that the new gas station, with 18 fueling positions (making it the largest such station in Wesley Chapel), will be done in a few months.
In addition to the gas pumps, the station will feature a very tiny and interesting 440-sq.-ft. convenience store. From what we can tell from the building plan and this photo, the tiny store will have two exterior restrooms to the rear of the building, with roll-up doors on the side of the building that will protect what appears to be display doors that will open outward which will likely contain drinks and snacks. Itâs unclear, however, if you will even be able to go inside the store to make your purchases or if everything will be done from the outside. Weâve never seen anything quite like it before. Itâs certainly nothing like the full convenience store at the New Tampa Walmart on BBD.
In addition to these features, the plan also proposes to add a new right turn lane into the Walmartâs northern driveway on southbound Wiregrass Ranch Blvd., which should hopefully reduce conflicts for motorists who only want to access the new gas station.
Samâs Club Expansion Not Happening?
Considering that the two stores are run by the same company, is the Samâs Club on S.R. 56 getting its desperately needed fuel expansion next? Unfortunately, it seems that itâs not likely to be happening anytime soon, as the plans for that expansion were withdrawn from the county by the developer in January of this year.
We had previously reported â back in the summer of 2023 â that Samâs Club representatives had met with the county to expand the storeâs existing gas station from 12 fueling positions to 16, which would include adding two more fueling lanes and a redesign to make things run smoother, as the existing location and design of the station causes backups on the access roadway (which sometimes extend out onto S.R. 56) in front of the main Samâs Club parking lot.
Engineering plans were submitted the following year, and the county gave comments, but it appears that the plan is off the table for now.
It had been a while since I had been to the twice-monthly Fresh Market at Wiregrass, but I decided to visit again when I saw the announcement that the not-yet-open OddFellows Ice Cream was going to be on hand at the July 19 Fresh Market, serving samples of ice cream that I had never heard of before. What do you expect from a true ice cream lover? Well, OddFellows â which currently has four locations in New York City, where brand founder and co-owner Mohan Kumar lives, plus one in Pittsburgh, one in Woodlands, TX, four in South Korea and one in Tampaâs Hyde Park Village â definitely offers a unique and creamy twist on traditional ice cream.Â
There are nine âClassicâ flavors (like cookies & cream and the option I canât wait to try, peanut butter sâmores), plus âLimited Timeâ flavors, like vanilla blackberry blondie, matcha strawberry, banoffee pie, miso peanut butter brownie and the Brooklyn blackout and mango sticky rice flavors Charmaine and I sampled that day â and they both had delightfully different tastes. Thereâs also vegan options for those of you who insist.
OddFellowsâ Ian Heim (at right in photo above) didnât know exactly when the shop will open in Wiregrass, but he said itâs expected to be by the end of this month. Keep checking our âNeighborhood Newsâ Facebook page for updates. When it opens in Wiregrass, OddFellows will be located at 2001 Piazza Ave., Suite 125, next to The Living Room. For more info, visit OddFellowsIceCream.com
