Upcoming Events: St. Paddy’s Day At O’Brien’s, Jack Wilkins At NTPAC & More!

Friday-Sunday, March 15-17 — Three-Day St. Patrick’s Day Parking Lot Celebration at O’Brien’s Irish Pub.

O’Brien’s (5429 Wesley Chapel Village Market) will again be hosting the largest St. Patrick’s Day celebration in the New Tampa/ Wesley Chapel area with an indoor-outdoor party every day of St. Paddy’s Day weekend.

Tonight, MoonShine Abby will be performing from 8 p.m.-midnight. According to their website, MoonShine Abby is “the best blend of mature artistry, vigorous technique, and honed skill all wrapped up into a high-energy, party-style band.”

What’s a St. Pat’s Day party without bagpipes? You can come out to here pipers on Saturday and Sunday. On Sat., 25-year- old Gemma Briggs plays the pipes from 6:30 p.m.-7:30 p.m. Gemma says she is, “passionate about providing high-quality bagpipe music, professionalism and an unforgettable touch to any occasion.”

Gemma (photo right) will be followed at 8 p.m. on Sat. night by the Ryan Marchand Band.

Ryan’s website says he uses “live-looping (to create) sonic landscapes with layered beat- box percussion, vocal harmonies, and a bevy of guitar effects to cover the frequency and timbre spectrum. He draws inspirations from studio al- bums from Pink Floyd, The Beatles and more.”

Then, the main event at O’Brien’s will be held on Sun., St. Paddy’s Day itself.

From 4 p.m.-7 p.m., “The Irishman” Capt. Kirk, will play all of your favorite Irish tunes. Inside, from 7 p.m.-midnight, DJ SAF will spin dance music inside, but outside, the City of Mt. Dora pipe band will play your St. Pat’s favorites from 7:30 p.m.-8 p.m. Then, the Daniel Sprouse Band will play your favorite rock and country hits from 8 p.m.-midnight outside.

Please note that no coupons will be accepted all weekend at O’Brien’s and there will be a $10 cover charge on Sun. only.

For more info, call (813) 973-09988 or visit ObriensWesleyChapel.com.

Holy Week Services & Events

Although all local churches will hold Easter services on Sunday, March 31, both Grace Episcopal Church in Tampa Palms and St. Mark the Evangelist Catholic Church on Cross Creek Blvd. have services and events throughout Holy Week, with St. Mark’s Vigil Mass for Palm Sunday (see ad below) being held on Saturday, March 23, and Palm Sunday services at both Grace (see ad below) and St. Mark being held on Sunday, March 24.

Monday, March 25, 7p.m.—Monthly meeting of the New Tampa Democratic Club.

The New Tampa Democrats are gearing up for the up- coming 2024 Presidential and local election season. For more information, see the ad below.

Wednesday, March 27, 7 p.m.-8 p.m. — Wesley Chapel Elks Lodge organizational Meeting & Membership Drive —

If you’re looking to become part of a service organization that focuses its efforts on helping children and military veterans, the Elks have nearly 1,800 chapters and about 750,000 total members across the U.S. and are hop- ing to build a new Elks Lodge in the Wesley Chapel/New Tampa area. This meeting will be held at the Lexington Oaks Community Center (26304 Lexington Oaks Blvd., Wesley Chapel) and light refreshments will be served.

For more information, call Nancy El-lardat (732) 598-7883 or email src4para-dise@yahoo.com.

Thursday, April 4, 8 p.m.— The Tampa Jazz Club’s USF New Tampa Jazz Series presents a Jack Wilkins CD Release Concert.

An All-Star cast will join USF Professor of Jazz Studies (and Grammy Award nominee) Jack Wilkins (photo) on the New Tampa Performing Arts Center (8550 Hunters Village Rd.) stage, as he releases his most recent CD and will be joined by an All-Star cast, including Danny Gottlieb, Steve Allee and James Suggs. Tickets cost $25 for adults, $20 for Tampa Jazz Club members  for students and $5 for USF students.

Saturday, April 27, 6 p.m. — The Academy of Odissi Dance 25th Anniversary Gala. 
The Academy of Odissi Dance will host & perform at its 25th Anniversary Gala on Apr. 27. 

The Academy of Odissi Dance (located on Cross Creek Blvd. in New Tampa), a classical Indian dance troupe, is celebrating its 25th anniversary in the Tampa Bay area with an amazing Anniversary Gala and performance, which will be held at the Sacred Heart Knanaya Catholic Community Center (2620 Washington St., Valrico 33594). 

Gopa Rautray founded the Academy of Odissi Dance in 1999, and, with her daughter Ambika, has been working hard to propagate Indian culture through a range of dance forms. The Academy’s teams have performed on a variety of stages, locally and nationally. They perform fusion routines, blending styles such as ballet, jazz, hip-hop, folk and Indian classical dance, blending, enriching and sharing their art with a variety of audiences. 

For Gala tickets (which include dinner) & more information, call Gopa at (813) 992-5234 or Ambika at (813) 992- 5235 or see the ad below. 

Wesley Chapel Elks Lodge Taking Shape 

Although the Wesley Chapel and New Tampa areas have multiple Rotary Clubs, there has never been an Elks Lodge in our area. The closest Elks Lodge to Wesley Chapel is Lodge #2731 on Wire Rd. in Zephyrhills. 

But, a steering committee is trying to determine if there is enough demand for an Elks Lodge to be built right here in the W.C. 

On Oct. 4, an initial meeting of the Benevolent & Protective Order of the Elks was held at the Seven Oaks Community Clubhouse and a little more than 20 people attended. 

Among those in attendance were two past presidents of the Florida State Elks Association — Rudy Masi (left in photo) and Frank Malatesta (right). 

Masi told the Neighborhood News that there needs to be a minimum of 125 people who sign up that they’re interested in becoming Elks — a national service organization with more than 1,750 chapters, 2,100 lodges and 750,000 total members across the U.S. (90 in Florida) — in order to charter an Elks Club. 

“After that, we have to find a place to build a lodge,” Malatesta said. 

Malatesta and Masi said that the Elks primarily focus on service projects to benefit children and veterans and that here in Florida, the State Elks Assn. has two major projects — the Florida Elks Youth Camp, located in Umatilla, and the Florida Elks Therapy Services, a group of about 30 occupational and physical therapists who travel the state providing free rehabilitative services for children. 

And, although the camp, which hosts 360 campers per week for seven weeks each summer, isn’t free to attend, “No child who can’t afford to attend is ever turned away,” Malatesta said. “It’s an amazing facility.” 

In addition, Masi says that the Elks’ motto is “As long as there are veterans, the Elks will never forget them.” He said that after World War I, the Elks created the first veterans hospitals in the U.S. and today, every Elks Lodge has representatives at every VA hospital. These reps help veterans get the benefits they need and deserve. 

The Elks will hold a second membership drive and meeting, also at the Seven Oaks Community Clubhouse (2910 Sports Core Cir.) on Tuesday, January 30, at 7 p.m. 

“After that meeting, if the people who attend want to move forward, we will hold another membership drive and a picnic to try to get us closer to 125 people,” Masi said. “We also already have a Realtor® looking for locations in and near Wesley Chapel to build a lodge.” For information about the Jan. 30 meeting, see the ad above.