Pokemon GO is taking over The Shops at Wiregrass mall, new restaurants are nearing completion of S.R. 56, we stop by and talk with PROtential Sports and Gary shares some of his favorite places to get a good meal in the Seminole Heights area.
If you are having trouble wrapping your head around why anyone would camp out in a parking lot on back-to-back nights for a free chicken sandwich, order of waffle fries and a medium drink weekly, Robert Hutto understands.
If you think itโs all about the chicken (although he says itโs really not), Hutto gets it.
And if you think Hutto is a little crazy for sleeping in an asphalt parking space off S.R. 56 and then hanging out there all day in 93-degree heat โ for a few sandwiches โ he doesnโt blame you.
Crazy?
โThey are not too far from the truth,โโ Hutto says.
Hutto and Barbra Spesak, Brandon residents, were the first two people in line at the Grand Opening of the newest Chick-fil-A in our area, this one in front of the Tampa Premium Outlets off S.R. 56. Hutto arrived June 28 at 8 p.m.; he saved a spot under his 10โx10โ tent for Spesak, who arrived after work at 11:30 p.m.
Decked out in complimentary red and white Chick-fil-A t-shirts and paper hats, they were the first two in line and the first two through the door on Thursday morning, June 30. As cameras from two local television stations rolled โ as well as our own WCNT-tv cameras recording footage for our second episode (see pages 44-45 and 51), Hutto and Spesak met the local Chick-fil-A franchise owner Britt Young, shook his hand and received their chicken โdebitโ card โ stocked with 52 No. 1 combos โ before being ushered out another door and back into the parking lot.
For those doing the math at home, it was 34 hours of waiting for about 30 seconds of picking up the reward.
โBut, itโs about the experience,โโ Hutto said.
The experience is called the First 100, a Chick-fil-A tradition started 12 years ago to celebrate the grand openings of their wildly popular fast food chicken restaurants. Chick-fil-A has given away more than $27-million in free food since beginning the First 100.
For Hutto, it was the third time he had been one of the first 100. He also waited overnight at the Chick-fil-A openings on Waters Ave. in Citrus Park, as well as for the Bruce B. Downs Blvd. location in New Tampa.
โIโve made some friends at these things,โโ Hutto said. โThey have a live deejay playing music. They feed you breakfast, lunch and dinner, so thatโs not bad. Itโs a good time.โ
Both Hutto and Spesak admit that they probably wonโt eat every No. 1 meal on their cards themselves.
โIt really isnโt about the sandwich,โโ Hutto said. โWhen we are out and we see someone who needs a sandwich, like a homeless person or something like that, weโll go hit the drive-thru and use the card for them. Weโll also use it for friends and family.โ
Hutto, who transports RVs all over the country for a living, says he also sometimes uses his free meals as a pit stop when heโs on the road.
He said of all the First 100 events he has attended, this one might have been the toughest. It was blistering hot, the heat made even worse by his setup on black asphalt, and it rained three times. During one heavy downpour the last day, more than a dozen revelers seeking free chicken abandoned their posts, and the first 12 alternates were selected.
Nothing, however, was deterring Spesak, a certified nursing assistant. It was her first overnighter at Chick-fil-A.
โIt was fun,โโ she said. โEverybody thought I was crazy, the people at work thought I was crazy, for taking days off to go camp out at a Chick-fil-A.โ
And, she may have caught the fever. Asked if they had plans to do this again, Spesak said she is already scouting out the next opening.
โI hear they might be opening one soon on Dale Mabry,โโ she said, smiling.
Wesley Chapel resident Colin Eke grew up playing soccer. He says that in Ipswich, England, where he was born and raised, โfootballโ was more than a game, it was a passion.
The older Eke got, however, the harder the game got. Factor in injuries to his hips, knees and Achilles tendon, and Eke turned to refereeing games. But now, heโs turning to a whole new game โ โwalking football,โ or as itโs called here, soccer. He jokes that this way, โYou can play soccer on Sunday afternoon, and when you go to work on Monday, youโre not on crutches.โโ
Eke, who is 60, is trying to start what he believes will be Floridaโs first-ever over-50 Walking Football League right here in Wesley Chapel and New Tampa. He held a clinic last week at the Benito Middle School soccer fields on Cross Creek Blvd. in New Tampa, and is hoping to attract enough players for a 4-team league.
Eke says the concept is no joke โ walking football is one of the fastest growing sports in England. He says that everyone should check out YouTube to see how the sport is played. โItโs quicker than you think,โ he says.
There is an official organization in England that holds regional and national tournaments โ Walking Football United โ and the United States Adult Soccer Association will include the game in its Adult Soccer Fest in Denver, CO, July 13-17.
โA good friend in England told me about it,โโ he said. โMost people over the age of 50 canโt run anymore, theyโve chosen to hang their boots up or not play anymore, whether itโs weight, injuries or theyโre not fit enough. This game just involves a new mindset.โ
Eke is trying to persuade people to that new mindset, hoping to have enough teams for his planned league by sometime later this month โ after the COPA America tournament has ended and the Euro Cup is nearing its finale.
โIโve had some people say ,โYou must be kidding,โโ Eke says. โI just tell them, after five minutes in (of regular soccer), if youโre over 50, youโre either walking anyway, laying on the ground exhausted or wanting to come off for water.โ
In walking football, as you might imagine, no running is allowed. You can power walk, but are not permitted to jog, lest you end up being sentenced to two minutes in the โsin bin,โ equivalent to hockeyโs penalty box.
The game is still quicker than you might imagine (again, check out the YouTube videos if you donโt believe it) and the players need to possess good footwork and solid ball striking skills. Instead of 11-on-11, walking football features 6-on-6 play.
The game is open to men and women. The goals and field are smaller, no one is allowed in the penalty area in front of the net, and there is no offsides, no slide tackling and no over-the-head throw-ins.
โThe goal is to let people who love the game to keep playing,โโ Eke says. โItโs still great physical fitness, itโs a great social game and thereโs (much less) chance of injury.โโ
Eke has run the New Adult Premier Soccer League (APSL) along with partner Miguel Herrera since 2012. Roughly 200 players from the Wesley Chapel, New Tampa and Dade City areas have competed at places like Benito Middle School on Cross Creek Blvd. in New Tampa, the Wesley Chapel District Park on Boyette Rd., and the New Tampa Community Park in Tampa Palms during menโs and co-ed leagues on Wednesday and Friday nights and Sunday afternoons.
Eke hopes the addition of walking football is as successful as the rest of his leagues have been. โThe whole point is to get players who are older to be healthy and active,โโ he says. โItโs like a stroll on a Sunday afternoon, so why not kick a ball at the same time?โ
For more information about Ekeโs walking soccer league and how to sign up, check out NewAPSL.com or email him at Colin@NewAPSL.com or Miguel@NewAPSL.com.
For additional information about the sport of walking soccer, check out WalkingFootballUnited.co.uk.
Check out the Premiere Episode of WCNT-tv Now at WCNeighborhoodNews.com!
If you somehow havenโt already seen the first-ever episode of WCNT-tv, I suggest visiting our website โ WCNeighborhoodNews.com โ right now, even before you read this article. The photos on this page and on page 3 are from the incredible Premiere Party we hosted at our Neighborhood News offices on S.R. 54 in Wesley Chapel on June 23 for the first-ever webcast dedicated to the residents and businesses in the New Tampa/Wesley Chapel area and thereโs no doubt the premiere episode of our bi-weekly webcast has already captured the attention โ and the imagination โ of a pretty impressive list of major business owners and representatives who were on hand at the Premiere Party.
Among the people already talking about WCNT-tv โ which has its own Youtube channel, but also can be accessed from the front page of our website, our Facebook page and/or by clicking on the โWCNT-tvโ tab on the front page of WesleyChapelChamber.comย โ included ourย Premiere Party attendees Gordie Zimmerman of ZMitch, LLC, the developers of Florida Hospital Center Ice, our first video news feature; Tampa Premium Outlets GM Stacey Nance; marketing director Tracy Clouser of Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel, which is
the studio sponsor of WCNT-tvโs news segment; WCCC CEO Hope Allen and membership coordinator Jennifer Reightler; Pasco County commissioner Mike Moore; New Tampaโs State Rep. Shawn Harrison; Peter Gambacorta of the Private Chef of Tampa, which provided some of the food for the event (as did Littleโs Italyโs Family Restaurant);ย and Troy Stevenson of Wesley Chapel Nissan and his Acme On the Go Movies (which provided the amazing 17โx9โ screen) technician Harry Wilkins, as well as many WCCC business owners & New Tampa & Wesley Chapel Rotary Club members.
Also special thanks to our first chamber-featured business sponsor, VIP Pest Control, and restaurant sponsor, OTB Cafรฉ.ย
Special thanks also goes out to John Fisher of The Polar Pod,ย which provided 50ยบ comfort on a hot and humid night for all of our attendees, to my WCNT-tv co-anchor Susanna Martinez; Mike McDonald, who provided the entertainment; WCCC Featured Business host Jill Reilly (who also is my Neighborhood News billing manager), my WCNT-tv sales & production assistant Lauren McDonald, as well as asst. editor John Cotey (who took these great pictures at the event) and my entire staff at Neighborhood News, which have allowed me the freedom to pursue a dream; cameraman Brad Hall and especially, my partner and WCNT-tv executive producer Craig Miller of Full Throttle Intermedia.
Look for new episodes of WCNT-tv every two weeks and more to come!
Thursday night at the offices of the Neighborhood News, the first episode of WCNT-tv was shown to a select crowd of more than 100ย at theย launch party. ย Now it’s your turn.
The new YouTube-based video news show is a partnership betweenย Full Throttle Intermediaย and theย New Tampa & Wesley Chapel Neighborhood News, and also is the exclusive webcast partner of the Greater Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce. The program will come to you from theย Florida Hospital Wesley Chapelย Studio, and will be released bi-monthly, featuring local news, businesses and restaurants.
Enjoy!