Wesley Chapel continues to attract new and popular concepts. (Photo: PopStroke Facebook)
PopStroke Entertainment, a mini-golf and restaurant concept owned by golfing legend Tiger Woods and entrepreneur Greg Bartoli, is coming to Wesley Chapel’s Cypress Creek Town Center on S.R. 56.
According to the PopStroke Entertainment website, and first reported by the Tampa Bay Business Journal, Wesley Chapel is just part of a major PopStroke Entertainment expansion that will also include seven new locations in across three states. In Florida, new locations also include Sarasota, Orlando and Delray Beach.
Its two current locations are located in Port St. Lucie and Fort Myers.
(Photo: PopStroke Facebook)
And these aren’t your daddy’s putt-putt golf courses. There are no windmills to hit around, just specially designed holes meant to mimic real putting on a real course. Woods and TGR Design, his award-winning design team, will be building two 18-hole putting courses — at the Fort Myers PopStroke, for example, one course is called the Cub and is more for beginners, while and the other more challenging course is called Tiger.
The courses have synthetic turfs, incorporate fairways into the design, and the primary obstacles — replacing windmills and ramps — will be the same bunkers and rough you face on a real golf course. The undulation changes will bring the course to life.
“I am very excited about our expansion plans,” Woods said in the statement on PopStroke.com. “Putting is a universal part of golf that can be enjoyed by people of all ages and skill levels. It has been rewarding to see the broad and diverse group of guests enjoying their experience at PopStroke, and I look forward to seeing players make those long putts in locations throughout the South and Southwest. Each new location will have a different course design and layout giving players unique putting challenges as they travel across the country.”
PopStroke was founded in 2018, and uses technology to enhance the putt putt experience. A customized app will track scores on a digital scoreboard, as well as allowing customers to order food and drinks to be delivered directly to you on the course. There will be an outdoor dining area with a full menu, a variety of craft beer and wine, ice cream, outdoor games and a playground.
The Port St. Lucie location also has three golf simulators, allowing you to play more than 200 courses worldwide.
A mini-golf course is also under construction at The Grove Entertainment Complex, next to the movie theater. It is expected to be completed this year.
When Covid-19 first hit in March of 2020, the mad scramble was on at area schools. Administrators and teachers were harried as they looked for solutions and the Hillsborough County School Board struggled to fund solutions.
That’s when New Tampa’s Sarah Combs decided the indecision was unhealthy for her soon-to-be 3rd grader, and started exploring her options.
Right before school was set to begin this past fall, she discovered Family of Christ (FoC) Christian School, located off Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. in Tampa Palms. It was during a visit that she says she found the school environment to be warm and welcoming, not cold and confused. She liked the idea of instilling the value of the Bible and saying the pledge of allegiance, “all the things that are missing in schools today.”
Combs says it was an easy decision.
“I think it’s the best-kept secret in New Tampa,” she says.
Combs shares the same view as many of the parents at Family of Christ, which has a monument sign showing its entrance on BBD, just south of Tampa Fire Rescue Station No. 20.
“It really is a family here,” said Catherine Walton, the school’s operations director and business manager. “We’ve had almost all of the same teachers for 17 years, and they are happy. The students are happy. I think we do a really good job here.”
Family of Christ Christian School in Tampa Palms continues to grow, and will add four more classrooms next fall and a gymnasium after that. (Photos: John C. Cotey)
The roots of the Family of Christ (FoC) Christian School were planted in 1999, when Family of Christ Lutheran Church started a popular Pre-K and kindergarten class, which would later become the church’s Child Development Center (CDC). Proceeding gradually by adding one class per year, Family of Christ grew into New Tampa’s only K-8 Christian school, offering core academic subjects like math, science and language, as well as art, music and technology courses as well.
Principal Jennifer Snow says the school isn’t overly focused on test scores, like most public schools are, but in challenging students in a wide range of subjects.
It is more important, says Snow, to nurture students, to have parents involved in the education of their kids and provide an environment that is conducive to learning.
FoC parent Joyce Hapscher says she, “just had a feeling when we walked in the place that we were meant to be here” when she visited the school for the first time.
She says the curriculum has been challenging for her 4th and 6th grade daughters. Hapscher notes that she did check out other middle schools when her daughter was old enough.
“We toured some middle schools to do a comparison and, in the end, saw that the things our daughters had been learning were more advanced than what they would get at a different school,” Hapscher says. “We decided to stay put.”
FoC is fully accredited by the National Lutheran Schools Association (NLSA) and by the district of the Lutheran Church — Missouri Synod. The school was recently accredited, a process it undertakes every five years.
The school also complies with and, according to its website, “exceeds the Florida Sunshine State Standards as well as the Hillsborough County Benchmarks for each grade level.” All teachers hold and maintain a Professional Educator’s Certificate.
It’s important to note that despite its Lutheran Christian roots, students of all religious denominations are welcome at FoC.
Snow, who became principal in 2005, says the school now has 175 students — many of whom started out in pre-K and have stayed through middle school — but continues to have to turn many families away due to a lack of space.
But, FoC is addressing its growth. By the start of the new school year, there will be four new learning modules added behind the school, making room for 100 more students, primarily fifth and sixth graders, as the school tries to create more classroom space in the post-Covid world.
“We don’t want to have to turn anyone away,” says Walton, who adds that half the money has already been raised for the new modules.
Walton also says the school will soon begin a fund-raising campaign to build a gymnasium in the next few years, which will serve as home for FoC’s athletic teams, provide space for recitals and other performances and host the school’s annual “Night of Knights” fund raiser. Right now, FoC has to rent space for its athletic teams from the nearby New Tampa Family YMCA for its basketball and volleyball teams, which was difficult during Covid, due to the Y’s limited access.
After the gymnasium, there are plans to add 11 more classrooms and, well down the road, there are even visions of eventually building a high school on the campus, which currently is shared by the CDC, the school and the church.
“I always said no to the idea of a high school,” Snow says, “but after seeing what Covid did and seeing the number of families that would like so much more, deep down in my heart there’s a possibility. It’s a long-range goal. This is the place it can happen.”
Safety measures like the shields above have helped Family of Christ navigate the Covid-19 pandemic seamlessly, says principal Jennifer Snow. (Photo: John C. Cotey)
While Covid hurt the CDC, dropping its enrollment from more than 100 to around a dozen students, the school retained all of its students and teachers. Snow and another teacher drew up an emergency guide, and the principal says everyone simply followed the rules.
The school purchased plastic shields to put between desks, but paid a little more so they would be “framed.” Now, when the younger students look at each other from their desks, it’s like looking through a window and doesn’t scream “germ protection” like plain floppy plastic sheets.
The school also invested in air scrubbers for its AC system.
While Covid may hopefully be getting behind us, Walton says the school will continue with its Covid regimen until an all-clear is issued by the experts.
Not only has FoC returned 99 percent of the teachers and students it had before Covid, it also held its annual Night of Knights fund raiser virtually, and raised more than $100,000.
That is a testament, Snow says, to the strength of the families and the community at her school.
“Everybody was buying in,” she says. “I think the parents see what we do for the kids, the nurturing and making them our No. 1 priority. In return, they have been supportive, kind and loyal. We love our families.”
Dealing With Growth
With the school year winding down, FoC is preparing for its popular summer camps. Last year, Covid led to extremely restrictive camps, but Walton hopes they are able to return closer to normal this summer.
There are three summer camps offered — one for students entering 1st and 2nd grade, another for students entering 3rd, 4th and 5th grades, and a camp for students entering 6th, 7th and 8th grade.
They all begin Monday, June 7, and run five days a week from 7 a.m.-6 p.m. for eight weeks through July 30 (at a cost of $195 a week), and feature cooking and movie days and field trips to places like Urban Air Adventures, Main Event and Lettuce Lake Park.
There also is a Vacation Bible School June 21-June 2, from 9 a.m.-noon each day.
You can learn more about the camps and Family of Christ Christian School by calling (813) 558-9343 to register or to arrange a tour of the school and its campus, located at 16190 BBD Blvd. For more information, visit FOC-Knights.com.
Jonathan (left) and Transito Leiva have made honesty and quality workmanship the cornerstones of Leiva’s Jewelry since it opened in the New Tampa Center plaza in 2012. (Photos: Charmaine George)
There are a number of jewelry stores where Pebble Creek resident Larry Savage can bring in a watch to be repaired, or to buy a nice bracelet or ring for his girlfriend.
However, he says, there really is only one place he trusts for those things — Leiva’s Jewelry.
Located a few doors down from the Publix in the New Tampa Center plaza at the corner of Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. and New Tampa Blvd., Jonathan Leiva and his father Transito have run Leiva’s Jewelry since 2012, and have developed a large base of loyal customers who enjoy the Leivas’ friendly and honest approach.
“I’ve always been a champion of him and his business,” says Savage, who refers to Jonathan as Johnny. “Ever since I started going there, I feel like I am talked to in a straight manner and with honesty. That’s a big deal to me.”
Transito, who goes mostly by just “Leiva,” has been a master jeweler for more than 40 years, often bringing Jonathan along to work and showing him the ropes.
“That’s when I fell in love with the business,” Jonathan says.
At Leiva’s Jewelry, a wide selection of jewelry is offered, as well as a number of services for those who already own pieces, like repairing expensive watches or custom designs of family heirlooms.
Custom jewelry is a big part of Leiva’s Jewelry’s business. Jonathan and Transito can help design something for you or, if you have a design in mind, they can make it a reality. They use computer-aided design (CAD) to help create 2D or 3D models that allows customers to view their jewelry designs before they are created.
“If you have an idea to design something, we can do it,” Jonathan says.
Because jewelry, especially heirloom pieces, have such sentimental value, some customers like to have them converted into something more current or meaningful that they can wear. A gemstone in an outdated piece of jewelry also can be re-featured in a newer, more modern-looking ring, or converted into a pendant to be worn around the neck, as an example.
Even old engagement and wedding rings can be transformed into shiny new pieces, altered and refurbished for a new look or simply resized.
“Jewelry is usually very sentimental, so whether you’re getting it repaired or making something different from it, it’s important it’s done right,” Jonathan says. “Everyone has that special necklace or special ring.”
Don’t Forget Mom!
And, if they don’t, Mother’s Day is the perfect time to pick up something special for those looking for a gift for their wife or mom. Next to Christmas, Jonathan says Mother’s Day is the biggest holiday for jewelry buying. And, while most jewelry stores seem to have one price range — expensive! — Leiva’s Jewelry offers both pricey and more affordable options, and everything in between.
Jonathan showed some of his favorite pieces as Mother’s Day suggestions, including a custom opal and diamond pendant (top middle) and a sapphire and diamond ring (bottom left).
Each piece is set in 14 karat gold.
The Leivas just about do it all. They can check the stones on any ring to make sure they are still secure, adjust a watch, clean jewelry and they will even buy any gold and silver you might be looking to get rid of, offering cash.
Being family-owned and a small business, Leiva’s Jewelry thrives on trust. Not only do customers want honest prices and recommendations, but when they are dropping off thousands of dollars worth of items to be repaired or something special and irreplaceable, they want peace of mind. It’s not a responsibility Jonathan takes lightly.
He says the ability to deliver on that trust is why his customer base continues to grow and Leiva’s customers keep coming back. Sometimes, something as simple as changing a battery in a watch for half the price of other places can be enough to earn a customer for life. Watch repairs — new batteries, replacing links, etc. — are a big part of what the Leivas do and are often the gateway to new lifelong Leiva’s customers.
“We have a pretty loyal following,” Jonathan says. “We have people that have been coming here for a while. Sometimes, they just stop by to say hi.”
Savage is one of those regulars. He has a horror story for practically every watch repair he has taken elsewhere, including one time when he says his 1966 Rolex GMT was mined for parts by a jeweler who was supposed to be doing a repair, and another time he got the run-around on repairing the bracelet on a different watch that was still under warranty.
Since discovering Leiva’s Jewelry, Savage says he has left those annoyances behind. Not only does he get his watches repaired there, but it is now where he makes all of his jewelry purchases.
“The repairs I have done there are always done quickly and with excellent quality,” Savage says. “It’s the honesty and integrity that I care most about. When I walk in, I know I’m going to be dealt with in a respectful manner. I’m tired of the way the bigger chains do things.”
Leiva’s Jewelry is located at 19020 Bruce B. Downs Blvd. in the New Tampa Center. You can reach them at (813) 972-0417 or online at LeivasJewelry.com.
Zach Karikas, a Freedom High grad, receives his award from New Tampa YMCA sports and teen program director Eamonn O’Sullivan. (Photo provided by the YMCA)
For the past five years, Zach Karikas has been a fixture at the New Tampa Family YMCA in Tampa Palms. If there was a youth league basketball game going on, Karikas was almost definitely there. Prior to the Coronavirus outbreak, he was a volunteer coach for four different teams in the league, which included the 7-8, 9-10, 11-12 and 13-15 age groups.
When the gym at the New Tampa Y opened again for limited 3-on-3 leagues in the fall, Karikas continued coaching. The 5-on-5 leagues finally started up again in January.
Karikas, 28, was recognized for his dedication when he was awarded the 2021 New Tampa Family YMCA Volunteer of the Year award. He received the honor from Sports Director Eamonn O’Sullivan in a virtual ceremony held in late March.
“I didn’t even know the Y did a Volunteer of the Year,’’ said a surprised Karikas, who adds that he has always loved basketball, even if he wasn’t particularly good at it.
A 2011 graduate of Freedom High, also in Tampa Palms, he said he tried out for the basketball team all four years and was cut every year.
He went off to Marshall University in West Virginia to pursue a degree in athletic training. When that didn’t work out, Karikas left Marshall in 2013 to return to Wesley Chapel. A few years later, he wanted to apply for a college scholarship and one requirement was community service hours. That’s when he started volunteer coaching at the YMCA despite not having any kids of his own.
Zach Karikas
At first, he coached just one team. But, that quickly became four teams.
“I just fell in love with it,’’ he says.
He currently is enrolled at Pasco-Hernando State College and his full-time job right now is installing shower doors. Ultimately, Karikas says he would like to earn a degree in sports management and coach basketball at either the high school or middle school level. It’s a passion he discovered five years ago at the New Tampa Family YMCA.
“I caught the coaching bug,’’ Karikas says. “I really enjoy coaching the youth, both on and off the court, showing them that you don’t have to be Lebron James to succeed on or off the court. It’s not always going to be sunshine and rainbows — there are ups and downs. You just have to keep going with whatever you want to do. Being a positive role model is a good feeling. Right when I walk into that gym I’ve got like five kids coming up to me and saying ‘Hey, coach Zach.’ I love the ability to give back to the younger generation.’’
For more information about the New Tampa Family YMCA, located at 16221 Compton Dr., call (813) 866-9622 or visit TampaYMCA.org.
As expected, the Pasco County Board of County Commissioners (BCC) voted unanimously to put a temporary moratorium on new applications and approvals for multifamily dwellings at Tuesday’s BCC meeting in Dade City.
The 180-day moratorium was approved by a 5-0 vote, following a reading of 50 emails submitted by residents that were unanimously in favor of the pause.
Commissioner Mike Moore, who represents District 2, which includes most of Wesley Chapel, spearheaded the moratorium. He claims that the moratorium area, which is between S.R. 52 to the north and S.R. 54 to the south, as well as U.S. 41 to the west and Bruce B. Downs Blvd. to the east, is oversaturated with apartments. Moore says the argument against more multi-family entitlements is centered on developers attempting to rezone property to build more apartments and townhomes, as opposed to using the property for its original commercial purposes.
Opponents of the moratorium, like Eric Garduno of the Bay Area Apartment Association, argued multi-family residences play a vital role with providing affordable housing in a market where the median home price is rising.
According to Realtor.com, the median list price of homes in Wesley Chapel is currently $320,000; according to Zillow.com, it’s $288,000.
However, the residents who emailed the county — mostly from Seven Oaks, where a proposed apartment complex on Eagleston Blvd. was the impetus for the moratorium — cited concerns about schools, traffic, road safety and the ability of the current infrastructure to handle additional people.
The county intends to collect data over the course of the 180 days, and will decide if there is indeed oversaturation, as Moore claims, and what should be done about it.
Garduno says he is confident the data will show there is a high demand for multi-family dwellings.
Moore, however, believes otherwise.
“We do need to analyze and look very closely at the impacts multifamily can have in the area when it comes to economic development, when it comes to public safety, traffic, schools, infrastructure,” Moore says. “This gives us the time to do it…we can really, really dig in and see what impact these are going to really have.”
