Tampa Premium Outlets launches (w/ photo gallery)

Ribboncut2For those who have been anxiously awaiting the opening of the Tampa Premium Outlets (TPO) for many years now, Wesley Chapel resident Lisa Bastone may have summed it up best.

“It’s about time,” she said.

Bastone was one of hundreds who showed up at the TPO (located at 2398 Grand Cypress Dr., at the interchange of I-75 and S.R. 56) hours before it officially opened at 10 a.m. on Thursday morning, just to look around and bask in the shiny newness of the upscale outlet mall before the big weekend crowds arrive.

“It’s an event, you can’t miss things like this,” Bastone said. “This is going to make this area explode.”

The 441,000-square-foot mall, already home to more than 100 retailers, kicked off its opening with the Distinguished Men of Brass band,  local dignitaries and fireworks as Stephen Yalof, chief executive officer of Simon Premium Outlets, Danielle DeVita, senior vice president of development for Simon and Pasco County Commissioner Ted Schrader all simultaneously cut the ribbon to officially open the mall to shoppers.

The mall is rolling out with grand opening festivities all weekend.

Here is the schedule:

Main Stage Entertainment
Lagoon Court
Friday, October 30, 1 – 9 p.m.
1 & 4:45 p.m.    Caribbean Crew
2:15 p.m., 6 & 8:30 p.m.    DJ Rekka
3:30 p.m. & 7:15 p.m.    Nalisio & The Fellas

Saturday, October 31, Noon – 6:30 p.m.
Noon & 3:30 p.m.    City Sound Quartet
1:15 & 4:45 p.m.    Marlon Boone
2:15 & 5:45 p.m.    C’Nergy

Grand Opening Fireworks
Lagoon Court near Main Entrance
Friday, 9 p.m.
Celebrate the Grand Opening of Tampa Premium Outlets with a spectacular Fireworks Show!

Strolling Entertainment
Thursday – Saturday, Noon – 6 p.m.
Enjoy entertainment while you shop including stilt walkers, face painters, a magician and more.

Visit The VIP Shopper Club
Coral Court by Saks Fifth Avenue OFF 5TH
Thursday – Sunday, Noon – 5 p.m.
VIP Shopper Club Members have exclusive access to the VIP Shopper Club lounge during the Grand Opening Weekend. Enjoy photos with your friends, chair massages, beauty touch-ups, and more. Not a member? Join for free outside the lounge or by visiting premiumoutlets.com/vip.

Meet Bethenny Frankel
VIP Shopper Club Lounge
Saturday, 1 – 4 p.m.
1 p.m.    Fashion Essentials for the Perfect Wardrobe
1:30 & 4 p.m.    Autograph Session with Bethenny*
3:30 p.m.    Essential Accessories to Elevate Your Outfit

*Bethenny will mingle with fans as time and space permits in the VIP Shopper Club Lounge. Autographs only please.

Halloween Happenings
Haunted Pirate Ship
Minnow Court near Forever 21
Friday & Saturday, Noon – 8 p.m.
Fit for a pirate, dead or alive! This Haunted Ship will transport guests to a haunted world of hidden treasures and shipwrecked sails.

Halloween Crafts
Friday & Saturday, Noon – 6 p.m.
Fun for the kids with interactive craft stations.

 Headless Ghosts
Friday & Saturday, Throughout the Day
These spooky ghosts will make you lose your mind when they lose their heads! Watch as these interactive ghosts entertain the audience and drop their heads before your eyes.

Grand Opening Prize-An-Hour Giveaways
Near Main Stage
Register every hour at the registration table near the Main Stage from 11 a.m. – 4:55 p.m. Thursday, October 29 and Friday, October 30th for a chance to win a fabulous prize package. Must be present to win. Drawings will take place at the Main Stage at the top of each hour. Winner will have 30 minutes to claim their prize. See entry form for complete rules and regulations.

Shoppers are encouraged to visit the Tampa Premium Outlets website by visiting www.premiumoutlets.com/tampa
and social media platforms including Facebook at @tampapremiumoutlets and Twitter at @TampaPO.  Share your favorite moments using hashtag #TampaPremiumOutlets.

 

 

'Martial Arts For Life' takes aim at trafficking

MartialWEB1By GARY NAGER

It seems you never really know what effect an event is going to have on you until you actually attend it.

A case in point — I was really only going to the “80s Flashback Bingo” event, sponsored by CORE Spine & Rehabilitation Center, LLC, to support Wesley Chapel Noon Rotary Club president-elect (and CORE owner) and chiropractor Pablo Rivera, DC, and his wife Christine in their efforts to help the “Martial Arts for Life’ Foundation, the 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization started by Sensei Ernesto Fuentes of the Keiko Shin Karate dojo at 3753 Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. here in Wesley Chapel.

The thing I didn’t know until I went to the fun event, which was attended by more than 50 people and raised nearly $2,000 for the Foundation, was the effect Fuentes and his cause would have on me.

MartialWEB2The Riveras have had their children trained in karate by Fuentes, who said that he moved his family from his native Venezuela a few years ago because his daughter was targeted by human traffickers and he was told by law enforcement officials that the only way “to prevent her from being taken was to take her out of the country.”

Fuentes and his family escaped to Miami but ultimately settled in Wesley Chapel. During the ‘80s-themed event, he made an obviously emotional presentation about human trafficking — including mentioning that Florida has the third highest number of children being trafficked in the U.S. and that the Tampa Bay area is unfortunately the leading location for trafficking in the Sunshine State, where the average age of the victims is only 12.

“Trafficking is a huge business,” said Fuentes, who also recently added training the children at the Everyday Blessings foster home in Thonotosassa, which specializes in caring for siblings at their location. “It is up to us to do something about it.”

For info about Keiko Shin Karate, call 994-9253. For CORE Spine & Rehabilitation (5900 Argerian Dr., Suite 101), call 373-5317 or visit Facebook.com/CoreSpine. — GN

Wesley Chapel man killed in crash

fhp-150x1501Robert Michael Rudman, 33, of Wesley Chapel was killed early Friday morning  when his 2006 Honda Civic collided head-on with a semitrailer truck on SR-50 (Cortezx Blvd.) west of Richloam Clay Sink Road in Hernando County.

Rudman was traveling westbound shortly after midnight when, for unknown reasons, he crossed into the wrong lane and into the path of 50-year-old Jose Antonio Moux Rivera of Orlando. The two vehicles collided into each other, proving fatal for Rudman who died at the scene of the crash. Rivera suffered serious injuries and was transported to Dade City Hospital..

 

Better days ahead for Wiregrass Ranch football team

AlquonneBrownWEB
Alquonne Brown hands off to fellow sophomore Jacob Hill at a recent Wiregrass Ranch football practice.

One starting running back went down for the season with an injury during the summer, while the other scored three touchdowns against Wesley Chapel and got hurt the next week. Then, the quarterback, two offensive lineman, two defensive ends, one wide receiver, and a linebacker soon were hobbling off as well.

By the time the third week of the season was over for the District 7A-8 Wiregrass Ranch High (WRH) football team, head coach Mark Kantor’s depth chart was seemingly held together by scotch tape and glue and a batch of young sophomores who were called on to mature quickly.

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