At the Clark Elementary Multicultural Fair on Sept. 27, many of the 35 languages spoken by the school’s students and their parents were well-represented. (All photos by Charmaine George)
While organizing a Multicultural Fair at the school with her staff and PTA members, Clark Elementary (located in West Meadows) principal Dr. Delilah Rabeiro says they soon realized that 35 different languages were being spoken at the school.
PTA secretary Meghan Shirey, who helped organize the fair on Sept. 27, says that the goal was to have as many of the different cultures at the school as possible represented at the event.
At least nine different countries — including China, Brazil, The Philippines, Italy, Vietnam. Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, Poland, Puerto Rico and a large contingent from India provided authentic food from their countries. There also were performances by some of the students, including traditional dances and songs.
After the performances, all of the students lined up to walk the stage for a fashion show that showed off traditional outfits from their culture. All of the kids and parents seemed really excited to show off their food and clothing to each other and many asked questions about the other attendees’ food and cultural traditions.
Over the past nearly 30 years, the Neighborhood News has faced more challenges than I even care to remember — including new competition, the growth of online communities, paper shortages, Covid-19 and many more.
When you’ve been doing what I have done for as long as I have, there also are likely to be at least a few health-related issues, but I’m appreciative I’ve been fortunate enough to not have to deal with any long-term complications.
A few weeks before the Covid pandemic shut everything down, I had the second of two cataract surgeries at the St. Luke’s Eye Center in Tarpon Springs. On my follow-up appointment with my optometrist, David Scamard , O.D., of Excellence in Eye Care, a few months later, Dr. Dave asked me if I was having any “floaters” in either of my surgically-repaired eyes and I emphatically and happily told him “No.”
That response continued to be true until less than four weeks before this issue was supposed to go to press, when I finally understood what he meant by “floaters.” I visited Dr. Dave at the Costco south of S.R. 56, where he took digital photos of my eyes and said he saw the likely source of my floaters. He told me to come back a few days later for a full eye exam.
It was at that appointment, at about 11 a.m., with my vision in my left eye suddenly blurry, that he determined that I had a detached retina. He immediately set up an appointment for 2-1/2 hours later with retinal specialist Alfred White, M.D., of Retina Vitreous Associates of Florida, which has an office on the north side of S.R. 56 in Wesley Chapel.
Dr. White, who combines a great bedside manner with being super matter-of-factly about what I was about to go through, confirmed the detached retina and scheduled me for emergency reattachment surgery the next day. I had two questions about this — could I hold off the surgery for a week or two so Jannah and I could go to North Carolina to visit her daughter and her family and see a concert we had been planning to attend for more than six months, and of course, how would I get the Oct 3 Wesley Chapel issue done if I had to keep my head in a face-down position in a massage chair donut hole for 45 minutes of every hour after surgery for at least the next 5-7 days?
Dr. White told me that if I didn’t have the surgery, my detached retina could get worse and make the recovery from the surgery more difficult. And, whether I had it or not, the pressure in that eye could get so bad that the plane we planned to fly in to NC could have had to have made an emergency landing on my behalf.
So of course, I had the surgery the next day. And, while keeping my head down for that many hours and that many days — and having to sleep face-down until my follow-up appointment a week later — was anything but easy, Jannah did everything for me to make sure I got through these difficulties by driving and doing most everything else for me during my recovery.
For the few minutes each hour that I wasn’t looking down, I was at my computer working to finish that Oct 3 issue, which went to press just three days after our usual deadline — and arrived in mailboxes just two days after its planned Oct. 3 cover date. I was so thankful it wasn’t any more delayed than that.
I also am sorry that we don’t have quite as many news stories in this New Tampa issue as we usually do. I was so far behind with the Wesley Chapel issue that I couldn’t get as many stories researched and done for this Oct. 17 issue.
Even so, I appreciate the efforts of not only Drs. White and Scamard, but also of our editorial research specialist Joel Provenzano, who helped me get as much info as possible for the story on pages 12-14 of this issue about the two different approaches to determining the boundaries of Wesley Chapel; to our amazing primary graphic designer Valerie Wegeman, for getting the maps for that story and all of our ads done; and especially, to Jannah for doing pretty much everything else that I normally do to complete an issue and for making sure both editions are chock full of ads so I had less space to fill than usual.
I also am equally appreciative for all of you — our amazing readers — who continue to give me a reason to do what I have done for nearly three decades.
As to what caused my retinal detachment, Dr. White said that people who have been extremely nearsighted for most of their lives — as I was until I had my cataract surgeries in 2020 — are more prone to this problem because being nearsighted constantly stretches your retinas as you age. Other possible causes are actually having had cataract surgeries (but that would normally have happened sooner), being diabetic (which I’m not), injuries to the eye (which I haven’t had) and, as often as not, bad luck.
So, while getting a detached retina may just have been bad luck, I am going to recover my eyesight, which actually makes me feel pretty lucky.
We are giving you another chance to win a FREE dining prize of $100, $60 or $35! One entry per person, per question. Please name your Favorite Bar in New Tampa OR Wesley Chapel! Mail your entry to “2023 Neighborhood News Dining Contest” at 2604 Cypress Ridge Blvd., Suite 102D, Wesley Chapel 33544. Or, enter by clicking HERE or email the entry form to Ads@NTNeighborhoodNews.com. Even if you already answered any previous questions, you can still enter again by clicking HERE!
We’re just looking for your favorite place to enjoy a few cocktails, beer or wine, whether your favorite Bar or Tavern also serves food or not.
Each time you answer a different Dining Survey question, you’ll receive an additional chance to win one of our FREE dining prizes — to the restaurant of your choice located anywhere in the Tampa Bay area! You all love free dining, right?
Note — Please don’t forget that we include restaurants (and bars) located in Lutz (either on Wesley Chapel Blvd., S.R. 56 or S.R. 54, within two miles of I-75) as Wesley Chapel eateries; and those located in the Palms Connection Plaza on E. Bearss Ave. and the Oak Ramble Plaza on BBD Blvd. (both are located in zip code 33613) as acceptable places to vote for in New Tampa.
Please also be sure to completely fill out the entry forms, whether from our print publications, on our website or by email, because we have had a few people — out of more than 1,200 total entries so far — try to enter with just their first name only, and two others who took the time to send us an entry without naming any restaurants.
Despite those issues, it definitely appears (as we expected) that more of you like this year’s format — with individual questions for you to answer in each issue — than in the recent past, when we asked you to answer a full page of questions across multiple issues all at once.
Remember, whether you enter by mail, email or on our website, there is never any purchase necessary to enter and win, but we do need your first AND last name, the community you live in, your daytime telephone number and a valid email address to be eligible to win any of our FREE dining prizes — and please enter all of your Survey entries by no later than November 1 to be eligible to win prizes! All winners will be announced in our December issues!
If you haven’t yet answered ALL of this year’s previous Survey questions, they are all available again by clicking on their titles below.
Erik Ravenna (left) & Pat Ciaccio are the owners of Johnny C’s Italian Eatery on Cross Creek Blvd. (Photos by Charmaine George)
Even though there are other pretty great options for Italian food in New Tampa, if you like feeling like family as you enjoy traditional comfort food “Italiano,” you need to visit my friends Pat Ciaccio and Erik Ravenna at Johnny C’s Italian Eatery, located in the small plaza on Cross Creek Blvd. at Morris Bridge Rd.
Jannah and I — and photographer Charmaine George — have visited Johnny C’s often since it opened in May of this year and there’s no doubt that the restaurant named for Pat’s father Johnny (a long-time restaurateur himself) is more of a sit-down restaurant than Precinct Pizza, the previous eatery in the same space.
Pat and Erik, who also worked together at Saddlebrook Resort, are long-time friends who both were looking for a new challenge — at least, that’s how Pat tells it.
“Actually, the only reason I’m here doing this is because of Pat,” Erik counters. “I wasn’t really looking to run a kitchen, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t enjoying myself.”
Fried calamari
Former Saddlebrook owner Tom Dempsey and Erik’s brother Seth also helped open Johnny C’s, which has a large selection of seafood options, in addition to the usual calamari, linguine with clams, wings, NY-style pizzas, lasagna and other baked pastas, favorites like fettuccine Alfredo, chicken piccata and marsala and starters like bruschetta and fried mozzarella wedges.
“I saw that New Tampa didn’t have places with a lot of seafood pasta options,” Ravenna says. “We have a mussels posillipo appetizer, plus Frutti di Mare (which translates to “fruits of the seas”) pasta, shrimp scampi, fra diavalo, parmigiana and marinara.”
Ya gotta try the “Yea Babe!” pizza.
Erik also dusts Johnny C’s pizza crusts with garlic and named one of his favorites — the “Yea, Babe!” — after his father-in-law, Grandpa Bill’s favorite saying. The Yea Babe! features pink vodka sauce (instead of traditional red pizza sauce), Italian sausage and mozzarella. The other specialty pizzas on the menu are all named for the five boroughs of New York City, as well as SoHo, but you can get any of the 18 pizza toppings on the menu — from anchovies to sundried tomatoes — on any of the three sizes of pizza and in the calzones. You can even get your pizza made with a gluten-free cauliflower crust.
“We have an open kitchen, and a dining room that might be a little louder than what you’re used to,” Erik says, “because we want you to enjoy our food the way Italian families do.”
You can’t go wrong with a Johnny C’s Italian grinder. Momma’s lasagne
We already have quite a few favorites. The Momma’s lasagna is spot-on, the hand-breaded, fresh mozzarella wedges are delicious (“We weren’t going to do frozen string cheese sticks like a lot of places do,” Erik says), the calamari is made with Mike’s hot honey and parmigiana cheese in the batter and served with banana peppers, the tasty Johnny C’s Italian grinder features capicola, salami, ham, provolone, tomato, onion, banana peppers and roasted red peppers, plus creamy Italian dressing (“The way my dad would make it at home,” Pat says) and there also are hot grinders like meatball and chicken parm. I also love Erik’s linguine vongolé (with fresh clams). You also can’t go wrong with the penne vodka, chicken or eggplant parmigiana, baked penne or spaghettini & meatballs.
We honestly have only ever tried the house and Caesar salads (both very good), but there’s also a blue cheese wedge, antipasto and caprese salads and you can add chicken or shrimp to the salads for $4 more.
Finish off your meal with delicious cannolis.
Save room for dessert, too. From delicious cannolis to the tartufo gelato bomb with hot fudge and whipped cream, there’s no better way to top off a great meal, and Johnny C’s recently added beer and wine, too. And yes, there’s also a kids menu, with all items just $6.95.
And, Johnny C’s has daily specials, like “Manic Monday” (free mozzarella wedges with purchase of a large pizza); “Take-Out Tuesday” (15% off all take-out orders); also on Tuesday, one kid 10 & under eats free with each adult entrée purchased); “Wednesday is a Pastability,” when you get a second pasta entrée 1/2-off with the purchase of a pasta entrée, and “Thursday Night Out,” when you can buy one entrée and get the second 1/2-off.
Johnny C’s Italian Eatery (10970 Cross Creek Blvd.) is open 11:30 a.m.-9 p.m. every day. For info, call (813) 278-8020, visit JohnnyCsItalianEatery.com. Catering also is a specialty and your Booster Club can hold its Spirit Days at the restaurant. Call during business hours for details.
Mozzarella wedges Johnny C’s linguine vongolé If you like mussels, try the mussels posillipo appetizer.
The City of Tampa’s Fiscal 2024 budget includes $75,000 in funding for the New Tampa Players’ Penguin Project, whose production of “Beauty & the Beast” was the first performance at the New Tampa Performing Arts Center. (Photo credit: Angie Schneider)
The City of Tampa’s Fiscal 2024 budget passed unanimously on October 3 and, according to District 7 City Council member Luis Viera (whose district includes all of New Tampa), a number of New Tampa projects were included in the budget allocations.
1. K-Bar Ranch City Park — “I was able to put the plans for the city park in K-Bar Ranch in the Community Investment Tax (CIT) for future consideration,” Viera says. “This puts us in the dugout so to speak, and ready to bat when the time comes. That’s a big change and major movement forward for us there. This is the K-Bar Ranch Park I have been talking about with my constituents for a really long time. My idea was to move it into potential projects with plans ready to go in concrete.”
2. Penguin Project Funding — “I was able to get $75,000 for the New Tampa Players (NTP) theatre troupe, for their Penguin Project, for an adult version arts program for people with intellectual disabilities,” Viera says. “Presently, when persons with intellectual disabilities in the Penguin Project (an effort by NTP to give persons with ID a first-class theatre opportunity — like ‘Aladdin,’ ‘Beauty & the Beast (photo), etc. — “age out” (at age 18), they are done with the program. This funding will allow NTP to create another program for adults. It’s wonderful. This project is spearheaded by NTP president Nora Paine, who is an amazing disability advocate who also is a Heritage Isles resident.”
3. Street Repaving — “We were able to get about $7 million in new funding for repaving,” Viera says. “This will create opportunities for streets like New Tampa Blvd. in West Meadows, which desperately needs to be resurfaced, and 30th St. (Bruce B. Downs Blvd. south of Fowler Ave.). Nothing is set in stone yet regarding which planned repaving projects will get what, but it moves us faster forward for New Tampa Blvd. for consideration. I believe the Tampa Palms Blvd. repaving is just about done.”
4. Fire Station & Public Safety Funding — “I also was able to secure $1.5 million in design funding for Tampa Fire Rescue (TFR) Station No. 25, which will be on Fowler Ave,” Viera says. “This will allow for better response times for the areas around Fowler Ave., but it also will allow Station No. 20 on Bruce B. Downs Blvd. (serving the Tampa Palms area) to better serve areas north of Fowler, especially zip code 33647. The design of the new station will take about a year, and then, we will get construction funding. I have a motion coming in a month or so to look at government bonds for our new fire stations. So, while this budget item is not directly funding for New Tampa, it will allow areas in North Tampa south of Tampa Palms to be taken care of by this new forthcoming station, so that Station No. 20 can better focus on the areas to the north of Tampa Palms. So, it is a piece of the puzzle.”
He adds, however, “As for direct fire station funding for New Tampa, we got money for a new rescue vehicle for TFR Station No. 22 on Cross Creek Blvd. (a little west of Morris Bridge Rd.) to help with response times for the K-Bar Ranch area. This is big news for that area.”
And finally, Viera says, “The budget also allocated $50,000 to fund the city’s Public Safety Master Plan I have been pushing for three years. This means that we will have a citywide assessment of emergency response times and needs for both fire and police — which, of course, acutely affects New Tampa when it comes to fire safety.”
