It’s Kind Of Awesome To Live In ‘Champa’ Bay These Days!

Tom Brady hoists the Lombardi Trophy after leading Tampa Bay to a Super Bowl victory.

When I first moved back to Florida in 1993, the Tampa Bay Lightning had just completed their first season in the National Hockey League — at the Expo Hall at the Florida State Fairgrounds in unincorporated Hillsborough County.

And, one of the reasons I moved to Florida from Westchester County, NY, was because Tampa Bay was rumored to be getting not just an expansion baseball franchise, but my beloved San Francisco Giants were supposed to be leaving Candlestick Park to come to our area and I wanted to publish a Giants magazine.

Gary Nager, Editorial

Well, as the saying goes, the best laid plans of mice and Giants often go astray, and the Giants never moved here, but the Nagers still did. Five years later, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays were finally born as a Major League Baseball expansion franchise.

And, when I moved here in 1993, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were simply awful.

After going 0-14 in their first year (1976), the Bucs made the playoffs for the first time in 1979, and two more times in 1981 and ‘82, but then went 15 years before their next postseason game, under second-year coach Tony Dungy. Their record during that span was a dismal 100-223, which means they won less than a third of their all-time games from their inception through my third year of owning the Neighborhood News. Even so, you’d never know it if you talked to any fan who was from any part of the Bay area. 

The Bucs’ fans were almost cult-like, despite their creamsicle-colored uniforms, long before Dungy became the coach. I remember being threatened by a bar owner in New Port Richey for suggesting that he turn his largest-screen TV off a Bucs preseason game. He told me, “We’re all Bucs fans here, son. If you don’t like it, I invite you and your family to leave.”

But oh, how the Tampa Bay area’s sports franchises have risen. In perhaps the hardest year for sports ever, as virtually everyone in the country now knows, the Tampa Bay Lightning won the 2020 Stanley Cup (the team’s second), the Tampa Bay Rays made it to the World Series for the second time and the Tampa Bay Bucs capped their 2020 season with a dominating 31-9 win over the defending champion Kansas City Chiefs the day before we went to press with this issue — the team’s second time hoisting the Vince Lombardi trophy (photo).

It historically hasn’t been an easy time rooting for the local major sports franchises, especially, this Covid-crazy year, but how rewarding has it been? 

Who would have thought that the Bolts would come back from the previous season’s devastating sweep at the hands of the Columbus Blue Jackets in the first round of the 2019 playoffs? Who would have thought that the Rays, with one of MLB’s lowest payrolls, would beat out the Red Sox, Yankees and defending American League champion Astros to advance to the World Series? And, who would have thought that the Bucs would go from being a 7-5 playoff pretender with a questionable defense and a finally-old-looking 43-year-old QB to reel off eight consecutive wins, including decisive victories over Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints, Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers and the seemingly unbeatable Pat Mahomes and the Chiefs? Out of nowhere, we won eight consecutive games with a top-level defense and Tom Brady looking like, well, the Brady who had won six Super Bowls with the Patriots.

Wow. If not for The Weekend’s worst-ever halftime performance and Covid forcing most local fans to stay away from the first-ever Super Bowl played and won by a team in its own stadium, Brady, head coach Bruce Arians, offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich and defensive coordinator Todd Bowles finished off an almost perfect game to give the GOAT his seventh win and fifth Super Bowl MVP award. 

Congrats to the health care heroes who got to attend the game for free. I salute you and your efforts to keep as many of us as possible alive during this plague even more than I salute the Bucs, the Bolts, the Rays and even MLS’s Tampa Bay Rowdies for providing the best-possible distractions during this most difficult year. Way to go, Champa Bay!

It’s Easy To Look Forward With Our 2020 Vision!

The year 2019 has been extremely eventful for Wesley Chapel (and for yours truly) and the forecast for 2020 is (drumroll, please)…for much more of the same for the fastest-growing designated area in Florida.

So yes, a lot of new businesses and restaurants opened between S.R. 54 and S.R. 56 in Wesley Chapel in 2019, but there’s so much more to come.

For example, while our area got its first green grocer — Earth Fare — this year, we will have a new (and perhaps even more anticipated) Aldi opening next year.

Although news about new openings along S.R. 56 dominated 2019, with the long-dormant The Grove shopping center just north of S.R. 54 being sold to aggressive new owner Mark Gold in the last quarter of 2019, you can be sure that the 2020 news coming out of our area won’t only be about 56. There are new businesses — and plenty of mom-and-pop-owned restaurants — coming to The Grove, many of which we can’t announce yet, but we plan to continue to be the primary source of news and information about everything coming to this suddenly revitalized commercial area.

On the other hand, S.R. 56, which was extended all the way to U.S. Hwy. 301 this year, isn’t going to get any less busy anytime soon, on both sides of I-75. 

Although newbies like Walk-On’s Bistreaux & Bar and Bubba’s 33 (opening just after you receive this issue) have joined an already-crowded-with-restaurants area around the Tampa Premium Outlets in 2019, next year will bring The Main Event bowling & entertainment center, Rock n’ Brews and hopefully, Saltgrass Steakhouse.

Further east on (and just north of) 56, the Wiregrass Ranch Sports Campus of Pasco County is expected to open sometime next summer, and the county’s private partner, RADDSports, will bring not only thousands of hotel room nights with the indoor sports complex’s basketball, volleyball and cheerleading events on the weekends, but also will offer lots of great local leagues and events during the week, too. And, although the adjacent Marriott-branded Residence Inn may not open until 2021, it will be home to Wesley Chapel’s first rooftop bar.

Speaking of drinking, those who fancy craft beers will soon have two places to call home — as Florida Ave. Brewing will open what they believe will be Florida’s largest microbrewery at the former Sports + Field location on S.R. 56 and Double Branch Artisanal Ales will open at The Grove. Both local breweries made a big splash with local residents at the second annual New Tampa BrewFest (see pages 35-37) held Nov. 16.

And, while the first Crystal Lagoon by Metro Lagoons actually opened in Epperson in late 2018, it will soon be joined by an even larger (15-acres vs. 7.5 acres) Metro Lagoon at Mirada just a few miles to the north either by the end of this month or the beginning of January. And, based on a recent published report in the Tampa Bay Times, the first neighborhood commercial development may begin in Epperson as early as next year, too.

And, quite honestly, that is just a taste of what you can expect to see in Wesley Chapel next year. And of course, you know where you’ll get most of the news first about what’s happening in our area — and in adjacent New Tampa — the Neighborhood News print editions and NeighborhoodNewsOnline.net!

On A Personal Note…

The year 2019 also has been very special for yours truly. It started in January, when we were one of only 23 U.S. media companies to receive a grant from the Google News Initiative. I then celebrated 25 years of Neighborhood News in February (although our well-attended party was in April), Jannah and I got married in March, Jannah became the director of marketing for RADDSports over the summer and now, we have two new grandbabies who surely will make 2020 even more special for us.

Jannah’s daughter Lauren gave birth to Rosalie (Rosie) Carolyn Cione on Nov. 7 and she and her fiancé Albert Cione have been doing an amazing job with their 6-lb., 3-oz. (at birth) little bundle (above left). Then, on Dec. 2, my younger son Jake and his wife Meghan brought the equally precious 7-lb., 13-oz. Jackson (Jax) John Nager into the world. 

So heck yes, Rosie & Jax’s “Grampa G” and “Grammy J” are kind of excited about 2020!  

If Someone Tells You Print Is Dead, Tell Them About The Neighborhood News!

Almost every day when I go to North Tampa Bay Chamber ribbon-cutting and other local events, I have at least one local business owner tell me that they don’t do any print advertising at all — and that Facebook, Instagram and other online advertising outlets are the only places they spend their money these days.

And then, inevitably, there’s always at least one person, who may or may not think that they’re being funny, who will tell me, “Haven’t you heard? Print is dead!”

When my blood finishes boiling, I usually explain that I’ve been the owner and editor of the Neighborhood News in New Tampa and Wesley Chapel for 25 years and that people who live in our communities — whether they got here before I took over an 11-month-old monthly in 1994 or they just got here last year — tell me constantly that the Neighborhood News is the only local publication of any kind that they read cover-to-cover. I’m not dissing any other publication, I’m just repeating what I hear literally every day. 

But, before you say, “Yeah, right!,” and turn the page to see another great python pic or read about the upcoming second annual New Tampa Brew Fest (see pages 40-43), consider something as simple as our annual Reader Dining Survey & Contest, which appears for the last time for 2019 on page 35 of this issue.

Last year, when there were many more spaces to fill in than in this year’s revised, much simpler survey, we received fewer than 300 entries — not bad as local magazine contests go, but far fewer than our record 1,200+ Dining Survey Contest entries received either three or four years ago.

This year, that number actually may surpass 1,500 entries before this year’s November 11 entry deadline.

Yes, this year’s contest is easier to enter and yes, we’ve had quite a few people who have entered to date fill out the survey on our NeighborhoodNewsOnline.net website. However, we also believe that the vast majority of the people who go to the website to fill out the survey still read about the contest in our print editions first and then go online to fill out the survey to save themselves the extra effort (and cost) of having to put the survey in an envelope, writing the address info on the envelope, paying for and using a stamp and dropping it in the mailbox. So exhausting!

But, even if some of those entries came from people who only read about it online, how do you explain the 600+ people who already have taken the time to open one of our recent issues and do just that? And, I can assure you, with stories by managing editor John C. Cotey like the Burmese python hunter from Cory Lake Isles, The Brunchery coming to Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd., the latest on the Kinnan-Mansfield flap and getting to be the first local media of any kind to break the story about the new owner of The Grove at Wesley Chapel shopping center, to name just a few — I know that the vast majority of our print readers still have not entered that contest at all.

Yes, we have worked hard to make the Neighborhood News a true multimedia experience, but the next time someone tells you that print is dead, make sure you tell them to take a look at the kind of information the Neighborhood News print editions provide for you about your community every four weeks — and that all it takes for you to keep up with what’s happening in your community is actually open it when you take it out of your mailbox.   

Neighborhood News Online Update     

I can’t believe that as this issue is reaching your mailbox, the calendar has turned to November, which means that we are nearing the end of the year in which we became one of only 23 U.S. media companies to receive 2019 funding from the Google News Initiative. 

A lot has happened in New Tampa and Wesley Chapel over these past ten months, and we have done our best to keep up with the incredible amount of important hyperlocal news coming out of both of our distribution areas. 

In fact, although we are still a little behind on our goal of reaching five new video releases every week, we are now right at three videos per week, up from only one every other week through the end of 2018.

But of course, it’s not just about the quantity of videos we release — it’s about the quality. In fact, since we became the first local news provider to break the story — in video first, then in print in our October 18 Wesley Chapel issue — about Mark Gold, the new owner of The Grove, the video has surpassed 10,500 views on Facebook and the Facebook post of John’s print story may have set a record for us, with a reach of nearly 80,000 people and 7,800+ total engagements!

I also have been thrilled that most of the nearly 21 videos we have released in the seven weeks since September have totalled nearly 80,000 views and an average of 4,300 views per video.

In fact, with a reach of nearly 700,000, and 400,000 views through Oct 25, we have an outside chance of breaking a video reach of one million people and 500,000 video views for 2019, especially if we can inch closer to our goal of five video releases per week.

And, we almost certainly will have an even bigger reach for our print stories that get posted on Facebook with a click-through to our website, NeighborhoodNewsOnline.net!

So no, not only is print not dead when you’re talking about the Neighborhood News, we also are the only local media outlet offering you and your business in or serving New Tampa and/or Wesley Chapel a truly multimedia advertising opportunity. Get yours today! 

Call (813) 910-2575 today to find out how to get started!  

Editorial: Evolution Of WCNT-tv And Kayaking Editor

I hope you’re continuing to enjoy watching our WCNT-tv — Wesley Chapel & New Tampa Television— segments on YouTube and Facebook. It at least appears that quite a few of your enjoy watching and sharing the segments, whether they’re “News Desks” with yours truly and my co-host Susanna Martinez or senior video editor Gavin Olsen’s outstanding slide videos, which continue to grow in popularity.

So, while we haven’t quite yet reached a million total views on Facebook and YouTube, we are approaching 700,000 total views and a total Facebook reach of more than 1.2 million people in a little less than two years (WCNT-tv debuted in June of 2016).

In fact, Gavin’s slide video a few weeks ago, about the “green” grocery store known as Earth Fare breaking ground at the corner of S.R. 56 and Wesley Chapel Blvd./S.R. 54, has been our most-viewed segment of 2018 to date, with a reach of nearly 30,000 people on Facebook, nearly 17,000 views and 1,100+ engagements (likes, comments and shares).

The most recent slide video Gavin put together for us (which also includes quite a bit of beautiful drone video footage shot by our friend Sergio Venegas of Eagle Fly Media) that was released on May 24 was about everything happening on S.R. 56 near and across from the Tampa Premium Outlets and had already reached nearly 6,000 people, with hundreds of engagements, as we went to press with this issue — only two hours after we released it!

The most recent WCNT-tv News Desk segment provides even more info about everything happening in and around the Tampa Premium Outlets. It was expected to be released shortly after Memorial Day, so I hope you’ll keep an eye out for it and let me know what you think.

The new News Desk segment also will include full captioning, so more people can watch it without having to have the volume on. Gavin and I believe that having the captioning of every episode will be a factor in finally getting us over the one million total views on YouTube and Facebook I’ve been hoping for since the show started.

Over the next couple of weeks, I also hope you’ll look for the return of WCNT-tv business correspondent Mollyana Ward, who held a North Tampa Bay Chamber of Commerce Ribbon Cutting, after the Chamber’s own ribbon cutting at its new office, for Lagoon Realty, the local real estate company in Epperson, where the first Crystal Lagoons® amenity in the U.S. recently held its own Grand Opening celebration.

Also, over the next month or two, you’ll also see WCNT-tv segments updating the S.R. 54 and S.R. 56 areas near Wiregrass Ranch, and hopefully, an update from the new Bahama Breeze Island Grill opening this summer.

I also want to thank our webcast partner, the North Tampa Bay Chamber and CEO Hope Allen for continuing to support the show and this publication (see ad on pg. 12), even though it’s been a little while since Mollyana has gotten to host a Chamber Featured Business segment.

Please call (813) 910-2575 for email ads@WCNT-tv.com for information about promoting your business on our show.

Gary Won An Award? For Kayaking?

Although I was happy with how I fared in the first race I ever finished in my Neighborhood News/WCNT-tv “Banana Boat” surfski single kayak on April 14, I was even happier when I finished my second race on May 19 — The Florida Cup off Madeira Beach.

The planned 3-mile “open” race was reduced to 2.2 miles because of the inclement weather that was expected but never arrived that day, and I was thrilled to finish the race in 27:47 (less than 14 minutes per mile), which had me in 31st of 48 finishers in every type of paddling craft.

But, I was even more excited to have been the third 50+ male on a surfski single to finish the race, more than 5 minutes ahead of the fourth-place finisher.

Even so, Susanna makes fun of me again on the S.R. 56 WCNT-tv segment, but only because I scripted it that way. Check it out!

The Continuing Saga Of Our Own Wild Bill; Plus, A Kayaking Editor Update

Wild Bill Peterseim & Derrell Newell

A little more than three months ago, in our January 12 issue, I told you a little bit about the story of my friend, local karaoke legend Wild Bill Peterseim. The article gave a lot of information about a 70-something man who not only does a pretty good Elvis impersonation while doing pushups during the musical interludes of his (and other people’s) karaoke songs at O’Brien’s Irish Pub in the Wesley Chapel Village Market, but also of his  long business career and of him saving a man’s life at the Lexington Oaks clubhouse pool.

Lexington Oaks is the community where Bill lived with Linda, his beloved wife of 46 years, who passed away last year from an extremely rare form of melanoma and where the couple lived in the aftermath of Bill falling victim to a trusted business associate’s Ponzi scheme. Believe me, the above is the Reader’s Digest version of the story.

Since then, Bill has had the home in Lexington Oaks taken away from him by the bank in the aftermath of the Ponzi scheme (another really long, hard-to-explain story) and it was possible he would have to move to Winter Haven to live with one of his two daughters and her family.

Shortly after my article came out, Derrell Newell, another O’Brien’s karaoke regular who actually is a professional Elvis impersonator, informed Wild Bill that he was planning to perform a benefit concert at O’Brien’s to (at the time) try to keep Bill in his home.

That benefit was held in February and, more than 60 songs later — including about a dozen duets by Bill and Derrell — a total of $700 was raised, all of which was donated to help Wild Bill pay some bills.

About $160 of that total came from Bill’s new friend, local photographer and DJ Chuck Amstone, who read about the benefit in the Neighborhood News and contacted me to get involved in the fundraiser, even though he had only met Wild Bill once or twice before (Bill does have that effect on people).

Chuck brought his photo booth to the benefit and raised his money by asking people for donations for Bill when they took pictures in the booth during the show.

I give major props to both the charismatic Costco employee who prefers to be called “Elvis D” and to Chuck for stepping up big time for a friend.

Around the same time, Wild Bill’s financial picture became a little bit brighter when yours truly hired him as an office assistant. Even though I knew that Bill was overqualified for the job I hired him to do — organize my shambles of an office and the storage area next to our conference room — I also knew that this vibrant guy who is back to doing pushups on stage after a little bit of a health scare of his own would sink his teeth into it and do a spectacular job. And, he has exceeded my expectations. My only regret is not taking before-and-after pictures because no one who has spent any time at our “palatial” office would believe how organized the place is now.

So, the saga of Wild Bill continues. Come meet Bill, Derrell my fiancé Jannah and all of the other karaoke regulars at O’Brien’s on almost any Wednesday night. Gary Carmichael of Heart & Soul Karaoke is back and he has the greatest song list in creation, so whether you end up singing or not, I know you’ll feel like another member of our karaoke family.

If you’re looking to hire a Vegas-quality Elvis impersonator for your next event, Wild Bill and I both urge you to contact Derrell at (617) 909-0168. And, for all of your DJ/photography needs, call or text Chuck at (727) 215-4487.

This Guy…Is Still Kayaking?

So, if you haven’t watched the recent episode of WCNT-tv, where Susanna Martinez and I tell you how I did in the Sharkbite Challenge & Paddlefest off Honeymoon Island on April 14, I hope you’ll access our Neighborhood News Facebook page and watch it.

Here’s why: Two years ago, when I first entered this four-mile (more on that below) race, I did so in a kayak I borrowed from a friend and it just so happened that the Gulf of Mexico was extremely angry following a big storm that day. It was so bad that the organizers rescheduled the Saturday races for Sunday, where the winds were still 25-30 knots and the seas were 3-5 feet. I ended up flipping the kayak and swimming it to shore.

This time around, I went to check out Honeymoon Island a few days before the Challenge, and it was like deja vu. Even though I now have my own 18-foot-long surfski single kayak (I call it the “Neighborhood News/WCNT-tv Banana Boat”), the winds were whipping up to about 25 knots and I just couldn’t stay in the boat. Oh…and I recorded it all on a GoPro-style camera and showed a smidgen of it during the WCNT video. Pretty funny stuff.

Undaunted, I still returned to Honeymoon on the 14th and, with only 10-15 mph winds and much calmer seas, I finished the 3.5-mile (they did shorten the course because of the wind) Open Division race 61st of 92 finishers, in 58:14. It may not be the feel-good story of the year, but it did make me feel pretty good about myself, despite the fact that others in my age group beat me by more than 20 minutes.