By Gary Nager
Wow, congratulations to event co-chairs Jeanine McLeod and Dr. Pablo Rivera and my entire Wesley Chapel Rotary Club (which meets Wed. at noon at Stage Left on S.R. 54 in Lutz) for hosting an incredibly successful fourth annual Freedom Festival, held again on July 3 at the Shops at Wiregrass mall.
With a crowd estimated to be larger than last year’s record 50,000 attendees and with the rain holding off the entire afternoon and evening, new club president Erin Meyer says she expects the total raised to be more than $25,000 for the club’s selected charitable causes.
“Jeanine, Pablo their amazing committee, our entire club and the Wesley Chapel community all deserve credit for this awesome event!,” Meyer said.
As for the festivities themselves, about 70 kids competed for the titles of Little Miss and Little Mr. Firecracker, which had two very young winners — Madelyn Moodie & Emmitt Jones, respectively. Age group winners included Linley Bruce & Thomas Murtha (ages 3-24 months old); Mikaila DeLucco & William Pickering (2-4 years); Eva Covey & Noah Zabel (5-8 years). The pageant was sponsored by the Withlacoochee River Electric Cooperative (WREC).
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The “Best Overall” winners in the annual Bike Decorating Contest, sponsored by Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel, were Kyle Crawford (for ages 3-5), Katelyn Garmas (ages 6-8) and Cloe Varga (ages 9-11).
The Club also thanks Ierna’s Heating & Cooling, which sponsored the always-fun Watermelon Eating Contest and LOL Transport & Moving, which sponsored the evening’s awesome fireworks display.
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