Volume 30 Issue 13 June 28, 2022
New Tampa Business Owners Find
Opportunity At The KRATEs! With rents sky-high & limited space available here, New Tampa entrepreneurs are finding success & happiness at the new container park in Wesley Chapel. See story, pages 14-15!
(Left-right) Felicia & Nimesh Desai of The Blush Wine Room, Luis Ledezma of Mojo Grill Latin Fusion, Brooke Wahlquist of Higher Flour Bakery & Sheila Haque of Life Essentials Refillery are among the current & former New Tampa residents who are finding success at the KRATE Container Park at The Grove. (Photos by Charmaine George)
CLEAR SAILING!
K-Bar Ranch residents can now use the Meadow Pointe Blvd. connector. See page 4
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BIG SCREEN AWAITS LOCALS “Grand Hampton” YouTube series headed to the big screen in October. See pages 8-9
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REHAB YOUR FURNITURE! The pros at Furniture Medic can bring your old furniture back to life. See pages 26-27
NIBBLES & BITES
Photos & updates from new restaurants in New Tampa. See pages 36-37.
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My Father’s Day Weekend Was Definitely A Dream Come True! By GARY NAGER Editorial
Twenty years after having both of my knees arthroscoped, and after too many years of trying to deal with being bone-on-bone in both knees (and walking with an obvious limp), I finally decided to get my knees replaced. Yes, I was motivated for myself, as I wanted to improve my quality of life, but my true motivation was that I wanted to be able to dance at my 30-year-old son Jake’s wedding to Meghan Hathaway, which just happened to finally take place on the Saturday night of Father’s Day weekend. I say “finally” because Jake and Meghan had to twice put off their wedding celebration with their family and friends, due to concerns about Covid-19, even though they were married at a courthouse more than three years ago. While they were waiting for their first party in 2020, they became pregnant with my now 2-1/2-year-old grandson Jackson (Jax) The renewal of their wedding vows and reception, which were held in Miami, will forever be among the highlights of my life. Perhaps best of all, for me, was that I did accomplish my goal — only nine weeks after having my right knee replaced and 17 weeks after receiving a new left knee, I did indeed get to dance at Meghan and Jake’s big event. I was one of somewhere between 150-200 people — more than 50 of which were members of Meghan’s huge family from Boston — who were able to participate in this magical celebration of their love. Among the other highlights of the weekend was getting to spend some grandpa time with the adorable Jax — who looks almost exactly like Jake did at the same age (some people even said he looks like me, which made my heart melt). Jannah and I also were able to spend a lot of quality time over the course of the weekend with more than a half-dozen of Jake’s closest friends from Wharton High, some of whom I didn’t recognize at first because I hadn’t seen them at all since their high school days more than a decade ago. It also reminded me of how precious this life is, as neither my own father nor mother — Jack and Marilyn Nager — were able to attend the wedding, due to health concerns, although my sister Bonnie was able to make her way down from her home outside of Philadelphia to share this most joyous event. I can’t imagine a more perfect Father’s Day gift or a better weekend. I finally got to witness the celebration with this most beautiful (inside and out) couple and my older son Jared absolutely killed it with his Best Man speech at the wedding — “I never thought I had a problem making friends until I found out that Jake had more than eight groomsmen. To me, it seemed like kind of an excessive number, but it did make me question my own popularity.” J-Man made me so proud and he even gave me credit for helping him become a better writer. I also got to join in the fun, as I made a toast of my own to the happy couple at their rehearsal dinner. If there’s ever been a happier father on Father’s Day, I’d like to meet him. Congratulations to Jake, Meghan and Jax, to Meg’s mom and dad, Janice and Kevin Hathaway and this happy couple’s entire family. Neighborhood News
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(Left-right) Jake & Meghan Nager; Jax Nager; Jared, Jake & their Dad; Jack & Bonnie Nager running the NYC Marathon together (circa 1985).
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Publisher & Editor /Ad Sales Gary Nager Managing Editor / Photographer John C. Cotey Correspondents Celeste McLaughlin Isabella Douglas • Rodney Page Lead Video Producer/Multimedia Specialist Charmaine George Graphic Designers Morgan Conlin Valerie Wegener Billing Assistant Jannah Nager Nothing that appears in New Tampa Neighborhood News may be reproduced, whether wholly or in part, without permission. Opinions expressed by New Tampa Neighborhood News writers are their own and do not necessarily reflect the publisher’s opinion. The deadline for outside editorial submissions and advertisements for Volume 30, Issue 15, of New Tampa Neighborhood News is Friday, July 15, 2022. New Tampa Neighborhood News will consider previously non-published outside editorial submissions if they are double spaced, typed and less than 500 words. New Tampa Neighborhood News reserves the right to edit and/or reject all outside editorial submissions and makes no guarantees regarding publication dates. New Tampa Neighborhood News will not return unsolicited editorial materials. New Tampa Neighborhood News reserves the right to edit &/or reject any advertising. New Tampa Neighborhood News is not responsible for errors in advertising beyond the actual cost of the advertising space itself, nor for the validity of any claims made by its advertisers. © 2022 JM2 Communications, Inc. For Advertising Information Call 813-910-2575 • Volume 30, Issue 13 • June 28, 2022 • NeighborhoodNewsOnline.net
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Meadow Pointe Blvd. Now Connected To New Tampa By JOHN C. COTEY John@NTNeighborhoodNews.com Practically since it first began construction, there was always one big problem with the west side of K-Bar Ranch: Just one way in, and one way out. Now, there are two ways. Just before Memorial Day, the Meadow Pointe III Connector, which connects the north-south running Meadow Pointe Blvd. in Wesley Chapel to the east-west running K-Bar Ranch Pkwy. in New Tampa, officially opened to traffic. That’s a big deal for many K-Bar Ranch residents, who have argued for years that the lack of egress in their community was dangerous. “This was absolutely important,” said Cindy Gustavel, a K-Bar Ranch resident since 2015. “I think some people saw this as a way to get to malls and restaurants, but most of us just saw it as a way to make living here safer.” District 7 City Council member Luis Viera recently took a spin on the new road, and gave it a thumbs-up. “I’m glad to see it connected,” Viera said. “The residents have been clamoring for this for a long time. It’s about time.” Those in K-Bar, New Tampa’s fastestgrowing community, as well as others
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The road from K-Bar Ranch through Meadow Pointe III all the way to S.R. 56 is now open, although some of the old signs like the one above hadn’t been removed at our press time. (Photo: John C. Cotey)
living in surrounding communities like Heritage Isles and Cross Creek, can now bypass Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. if they so choose when heading north to Wesley Chapel by taking Meadow Pointe Blvd. all the way to S.R. 56, only about three miles west of the Shops at Wiregrass.
It’s less than a four-minute drive to S.R. 56 from the MP Blvd. and K-Bar Ranch Pkwy. intersection. Before the connection was made, residents of the western portion of K-Bar Ranch who wanted or needed to head north would have to drive to Kinnan St.
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(via K-Bar Ranch Parkway or through heavily populated neighborhoods around Bassett Creek Dr.) before heading south to Cross Creek Blvd., then west to BBD, then north towards Wesley Chapel. Meadow Pointe Blvd. is the first of what were supposed to be four public connections to be made from New Tampa to Wesley Chapel. The first was at Kinnan St. and Mansfield Blvd., but a decade-long fight over that connection was won by Pasco County and the residents of Meadow Pointe II, who argued that the roads there couldn’t handle more traffic and additional cars would be a safety hazard. The Meadow Pointe residents foiled that effort — the roads were ultimately connected, but only emergency and fire rescue vehicles are permitted to access the gate at the county line -— but that battle resulted in a roadways study that suggested Meadow Pointe Blvd. was a better option to connect to New Tampa, due to the fact that it could be widened from its current twolane configuration to four lanes if needed, whereas Mansfield Blvd. could not. While not everyone in Meadow Pointe III is thrilled with what they see, as more traffic is being routed through their neighborhoods, including right past their community’s clubhouse, there was
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little furor raised over the connection — especially when compared with the long battle over whether or not to connect Kinnan St. in New Tampa to Mansfield Blvd. in Meadow Pointe II. “These connection points were made long before any homes were even built in this area, so this isn’t new,” says Michael Hall, the chairman of the Meadow Pointe III Community Development District (CDD). Hall also is a Hillsborough County civil engineer. “For me, being an engineer, we’re not going to fight something that’s already been planned,” Hall says. “But, Pasco County could have done a better job logistically opening it with all the development that’s going on.” Hall admits, however, that he believes the connections benefit Hillsborough County more than Pasco County, with traffic to the shopping and eating destinations outweighing any heading-towork traffic from Pasco to Hillsborough. Hall said that it’s too early to tell how the additional traffic will affect Meadow Pointe III. But, with more homes being built in the Meadow Pointe area, as well as nearly 1,000 more still set to be constructed in K-Bar Ranch, he says the Meadow Pointe III CDD will be keeping a close eye on the future. “It’s a constant stream of construction,” he says. While Meadow Pointe II residents may have avoided what they feared would be a wave of non-resident traffic through their community, it’s also less than a four minute drive from K-Bar Ranch Pkwy. to Beardsley Dr. and then over to Mansfield Blvd. New Tampa residents looking to go shopping at, for example, Super Target or any businesses in that area, are likely to use
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the new connection to access Mansfield Blvd. for a quicker trip. With no end to all the construction in sight, traffic is not going to decrease. K-Bar Ranch residents at a recent meeting (before the connection was completed) with city officials expressed pleasure in having MP Blvd. available, but they wondered if it was enough. That led back to a number of residents asking the city to revisit the Kinnan-Mansfield connection, to give the community another point of egress. While future construction will produce two additional routes in and out of K-Bar Ranch, those are both at least 2-3 years away. Residents argued that the roads need to be completed in the community before more homes should be built, not the other way around, to avoid these kinds of mistakes in the future. City of Tampa chief traffic management engineer and head of the Smart Mobility Division Vik Bhide didn’t disagree. “This entire area was part of one giant planned community (mistake),” he said. “Decisions that, again hindsight is 20-20, were made in the 1990s when we were a different town…that impact us to this day. And, it’s not just here, it’s in downtown, it’s in South Tampa. But times have just changed really rapidly and these are not reversible, unfortunately.” So, while a new connection is something to be happy about, many K-Bar Ranch residents still strongly believe Kinnan-Mansfield should still be opened to traffic as well. “There’s a huge appetite for that,” says Gustavel, who serves on her neighborhood’s HOA board as well as the K-Bar Ranch CDD. “I don’t think that will ever go away.”
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Covid-19 Sidelines New Tampa’s National Spelling Bee Hopeful By JOHN C. COTEY
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Bruhat Soma said he was ready to win this year’s prestigious Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C. The Turner Bartels K-8 School sixth grader had studied and competed and honed his skills. But, Covid-19 had other plans. Soma, who was featured on the cover of the May 31 New Tampa Neighborhood News, never got a chance to take on 233 other kids for the title, as a positive Covid test right before the first day of competition knocked him out of the event, along with a few other hopefuls. Srinivas Soma, his father, said Bruhat
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was devastated to learn he would not be able to compete after traveling all the way to Washington, D.C., especially after showing absolutely no signs he had the infection. Srinivas suspects his son may have caught Covid during travel. The family flew out of the Orlando airport, which was swamped due to the Memorial Day weekend holiday. Bruhat was back to studying his words after the family returned to their Live Oak Preserve home. His dad said he planned to take a little break, and then would probably return to some competitions in the coming months. Bruhat was second at last year’s Regional
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qualifier, missing out on a chance for the national event, but finished atop this year’s Regional to earn his spot. He was hoping to become New Tampa’s second national spelling bee champion, joining Benito Middle School’s Nupur Lala, who won the title on her second try in 1999 as a 14-yearold by spelling “logorrhea.” Only 10-years-old, Bruhat was already one of the youngest competitors, so expect to see the New Tampa spelling ace make another trip to our nationa’s capital in the future. “I hope so,” Srinivas said.
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‘Grand Hampton’ Series Headed To The Big Screen By JOHN C. COTEY John@NTNeighborhoodNews.com
Here’s something that Grand Hampton resident and multimedia artist Antony Capers never imagined happening when he started shooting his campy, convoluted and creepy YouTube-based horror series during the pandemic — “Grand Hampton: The Movie Series” is headed for the big screen. What began as a 45-second video clip of Capers’ son Merric and became an online series with two seasons and 27 episodes filmed exclusively in the Grand Hampton community with local residents mostly during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, is now going to have its Season 3 premiere — an hour-long movie — shown at the iconic Tampa Theater in downtown Tampa in October. Part of that premiere also will be shot at the Tampa Theater on Friday, July 1, 1 p.m.-5 p.m. “I’m really excited, it’s going to be cool,” Capers says. “Anyone in the New Tampa community can come on down that day and be a set extra. We need the theater to look filled.” Capers, a freelance designer who owns his own production company, Reelistic Tales, continues to be humbled
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Filmmaker Antony Capers (with hat) and some of the cast members of his “Grand Hampton: The Movie Series” at a recent table read. Interested actors can attend an open casting call at the historic Tampa Theater on Friday, July 1. (Photos by Charmaine George)
by the rection to his horror series, which is about a community filled with people in the witness protection program, whose children are disappearing as part of an organ harvesting plot run by an evil doctor and assisted by strange alien creatures. The show has more than 250 subscribers and 15,000 views on YouTube. While it has allowed Capers to build strong friendships
in the Grand Hampton community, his primary goal when he started the series, it also could pull open some curtains for the 46-year-old filmmaker. The first curtains to open will be those at the Tampa Theater. Last year, Capers attended a horror movie viewing of “The Conjuring 3,” starring Tampa’s Patrick Wilson, at the old movie house
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in downtown Tampa as part of a “Film Tampa Bay Presents” series showcasing the work of local writers, directors, actors and crew who are from the Tampa area. During the Question-&-Answer session after the movie, Jill Witecki, the Tampa Theater’s marketing director, says there was a lot of discussion about the Tampa Theater’s mission to celebrate area films and filmmakers, and it struck a chord with the New Tampa filmmaker. The next day, Capers and Annette Simmons-Brown, who plays the evil Dr. Annette, harvester of children’s lungs, in the series, emailed Witecki about the Grand Hampton project. “It was fascinating to us,” Witecki says. “Not only because he was a local filmmaker, but because it was really something different. It was a great example of some of the creativity that came to light during the pandemic.” Witecki says Tampa Theater officials and Capers had a number of conversations about working together. One idea was to have Capers speak to the theater’s summer campers. “The film camp program is learning how to do exactly what he did, which is take what’s around you, take the people and the locations, and turn it into a movie,” Witecki says.
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Capers and “Grand Hampton: The Movie Series” star Annette Simmons-Brown are hoping something bigger comes out of an hour-long episode to be premiered at the historic Tampa Theater in October.
The other idea was to fit “Grand Hampton: The Movie” into the theater’s October horror series, “The Nightmare on Franklin St.,” where classic horror movies have been shown the last two weeks of the month for the past nine years. “It seemed to be a good fit,” she says. Not only did Capers jump at the chance, but he also talked the theater into letting him film part of the premiere inside the Tampa Theater on July 1. Capers and Simmons have written the script for the Season 3 premiere together. They wrote a small part for Witecki, as well. And, Tampa City Council member Luis Viera, who attended the Season 2 premier at the Grand Hampton clubhouse and helped give the show some of its initial publicity, also has a small role. While Season 2 had to end abruptly due to the opportunity with the Tampa Theater, Capers says it is giving him a chance to revamp the series. Instead of it focusing on one family — him and Merric — each episode will be a 45-minute tale about a different family, which Capers compares to the way the old “Tales of the Crypt” series was filmed. Season 3 begins with the parents of Grand Hampton going on a date night
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to the Tampa Theater, and while they are gone….well, you’ll just have to watch. “A lot of action takes place back home during date night,” Capers says. “The new way of doing ‘Grand Hampton’ is pretty cool, if it works. It’s still ‘Grand Hampton,’ still the same characters, no paid actors, still 100-percent community involvement. It’s just revamped.” The opportunity at Tampa Theater has Capers dreaming big. He says a showing at an iconic theater will put new eyes on his series, which is a thrill. And, he’d love to get into the Sundance Film Festival, get on Netflix or even just get the chance to pitch the idea to a streaming service. “That’s what I’m hoping for,” he says. And, for Capers, Simmons and other Grand Hampton cast members, the chance to be seen on the big screen and then answer questions from the audience about what it’s like making a series and a movie will be the thrill of a lifetime. “Branching out at an iconic location like Tampa Theater is going to be great,” Capers says. “I can’t wait.” To view all episodes of the series, visit YouTube.com and search “Grand Hampton: The Movie”.
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The New Tampa Performing Arts Center is coming along nicely at the Village of Hunter’s Lake and is tenatively scehduled for a ribbon cutting in September of this year. (Photo: Charmaine George)
NTPAC Ribbon Cutting Just One Upcoming County Event By JOHN C. COTEY John@NTNeighborhoodNews.com The decades-in-the-making New Tampa Peforming Arts Center (NTPAC) should be ready to open this fall, says Hillsborough County Commissioner Ken Hagan. Hagan, who represents New Tampa in District 2, said a ribbon cutting is tenatively scheduled for September 22 or 23. “Nothing is set in stone yet,” Hagan says. “But that’s what county staff is looking at right now.” The 20,000-sq.-ft. NTPAC, which can be expanded later to 30,000 sq. ft., will have a 343-seat theater with retractable seating, a stage, a catwalk and an orchestra pit. There will be four multipurpose rooms and parking for 215 vehicles. The facility, located behind the Village at Hunter’s Lake shopping plaza, across from the entrance to the Hunter’s Green community, is expected to be used for community performances and arts training of all kinds. No one has been selected to run the facility yet, a responsibility the county may end up assuming. It had originally chosen The Florida Cultural Group, formerly known as The Manatee Players, Inc., but some of the commissioners objected and said they preferred a local group be hired to manage the NTPAC. A new company was expected to be chosen to run the programs at the PAC by March but nothing has yet been announced. But, the NTPAC ribbon cutting isn’t the only thing the county has planned for September in our area — Hagan says he also expects the new Branchton Regional Park to break ground that month. The park, which will be located on 10
Morris Bridge Rd. just south of Cross Creek Blvd., will have pickleball and basketball courts, a splash pad and a Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO) substation in its first phase, to name a few of the amenties. “County staff is finalizing plans and getting the final permits,” Hagan says. And, prior to the NTPAC and Branchton events, Hagan said there will be a public meeting held in August so local residents can weigh in on a proposed public recreation center, which would be the first such county-run facility in New Tampa. The recreation center will be located at Cross Creek Park, adjacent to Pride Elementary just off Kinnan st. The facility will include indoor basketball, volleyball and pickleball courts and be available for other sports, and there will be community meeting space as well. The basketball courts and playground already at the park will be upgraded, and a splash pad also would be part of the improvements. Hagan says he has secured $1.5 million for the project, and is looking at the rest of the funding to come from the American Recovery Plan Act (ARPA) federal funding. Hillsborough County has received $285 million from the federal program. The recreation center’s proposed location, near Pride Elementary, could be an issue for many K-Bar residents without major road improvements in that area. At various townhalls and meetings with city officials, residents have expressed safety concerns about school traffic in that area, due to the unusual configuration of the road leading past the school and into K-Bar Ranch, which has created logjams for years.
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Local 2022 Campaign Season Kicking Off With Town Halls By JOHN C. COTEY
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Fentrice Driskell, the new Democratic party leader of the Florida House, will headline a pair of townhalls in New Tampa over the next two weeks. The first town hall will be at the New Tampa Regional Library on Thursday, June 30, at 6 p.m., followed by a town hall at Tampa Palms’ Compton Park on Wednesday, July 6, also at 6 p.m. Rep. Driskell will be joined by District 7 Tampa City Council member Luis Viera and State Sen. Janet Cruz, who is seeking reelection in Senate District 14, a district that recently has been redrawn and now includes New Tampa. Sen. Cruz, a Democrat, is running against Republican Jay Collins, who dropped his bid for Congress last week to challenge Cruz and picked up a quick endorsement from Gov. Ron DeSantis. That effectively forced Hunter’s Green resident and fellow Republican Shawn Harrison, who had filed to run against Cruz in April, from the race, Like Cruz, Driskell is running in a redrawn district, although it still includes New Tampa and USF. Instead of House
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State Rep. Fentrice Driskell says she expects property insurance to be a hot topic at her New Tampa town halls. District 63, the seat she won in 2018 and 2020, Driskell is now looking to secure House District 67. She will be opposed by Democrat Dawn Douglas, who filed to run in May, and Republican Lisette Bonano, who filed last year. Bonano, an Army veteran, is a New Tampa resident.
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New Tampa Business Owners Find Success At Krate By JOHN C. COTEY
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For entrepreneurs, finding a place to start a new business in New Tampa can be tricky. Space can be limited. Prices are high. New development is scarce. At the new KRATE at The Grove container park in Wesley Chapel, however, the plan was to lure those entrepreneurs in with a flashy concept — a park filled with converted shipping containers with bright murals painted on the side — and a less expensive entry point, with some container rents beginning at roughly $1,500 a month. After a wildly successful opening day, the container park continues to boom for many of its owners, including a group of current and former New Tampa residents. Here are a few of them:
Nimesh & Felicia Desai Blush Wine Room
The Blush Wine Room has been an idea the Desais have been planning for the last five years, but finding the perfect location had been a major chore. The 14-year Live Oak Preserve residents scoured Bruce B. Downs Blvd. in the hopes of finding a launching pad for their hip and trendy concept. It was a call from from Bernadette Blauvelt, the owner of B Creative Painting Studio at The Village at Grove in Wesley
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(L.-r): Felicia Desai of the Blush Wine Room, Brooke Wahlquist of Higher Flour Bakery and Luis Ledezma of Mojo Grill Latin Fusion are all current or former New Tampa residents with something else in common — they recently opened new businesses at the KRATE at The Grive container park in Wesley Chapel. (All photos by Charmaine George) packed, as the bar’s offering of wine, wine Chris and Brooke, who are engaged Chapel, that turned their attention to the tastings, wine-based cocktails (many served and live in Richmond Place, came up container park. in pouches for those walking around), and with a concept that combined his passion “She said ‘You have to come take a a menu that includes homemade meatballs, for holistic medicine (Delta 8 THC, in look,’” Felicia says. truffle fries, cheese boards and a variety of this case) and her baking skills to make So they did. Although they had chips and dips are in high demand. delicious gourmet edibles. considered trying to get in a space at the However, their efforts to find a “It’s been crazy,” says Felicia, “But we The Village at Hunter’s Lake town center, landlord willing to rent out space for their love it. I have no complaints.” the day after meeting with developer Mark Higher Flour store stalled, due to the stigma Gold in late 2019, they signed a lease. Chris Ferraro & Brooke still associated with CBD, even though it’s The timing couldn’t have been better. Wahlquist, Higher Flour legal in 30 states, including Florida. Covid-19 ended up wiping out her small The tenant list at the KRATEs is filled “We were actually denied from 12 business, two cafés in office buildings. with entrepreneurs who had been looking other locations,” Chris says. “I had pretty But now, nearly three years later, the for a decent entry point into a physical much given up all hope of opening this Blush Wine Room is one of the KRATEs’ location to sell their dreams. awesome idea that we had.” hottest spots. The weekends are non-stop
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The container is almost never empty and the weekends are a madhouse. “When you work hard and put your concept out there and deliver good flavors, people will come back,” Luis said. This is “definitely” something Luis says he could not have pulled off in New Tampa. While living in Live oak Preserve for 10 years, he saw enough small restaurants turn over to discourage him. “It would be much harder to Sheila Haque was inspired to open her Life Essentials Refillery become known without spendstore because of her goal of leaving the world a better, cleaner ing much more money,” he says. place for her daughters (l.-r.) Lilly, Ayva and Kayla. “I wouldn’t take that risk in an The very last place on his list was expensive brick-and-mortar. This KRATE at the Grove which, at the time, is perfect.” was only a concept. Chris says his initial inquiry was rejected, but he pleaded for Sheila & Osman Haque a meeting with Gold, who liked the idea Life Essentials Refillery once Chris explained to him that it wasn’t Sheila’s career in the zero-waste and going to be a smoke shop. better living business started on a boat, Since opening on June 4, Chris says where she and her three daughters noticed Higher Flour has been “killing it.” The trash floating in the water. That inspired success has already inspired him to consider her to start EmbraceLessWasteUSA. adding more locations. com, a website devoted to zero-waste, The store sells five different flavors of American-made products. cookies, from the traditional chocolate chip Haque, who lives in Cory Lake Isles, to Ube, which is a purple yam popular in completed the Pasco Economic Development Filipino deserts. Each cookie has 25 mg of Council (EDC) business incubator program, Delta 8 THC, roughly the same as you’d and although she could use the EDC conget in a gummy, although everyone’s miletainer on occasion to sell her products, she age varies, Chris says. wanted her own store. “Thank God for Mark Gold,” says She put herself on the waiting list at Chris, whose previous business, LitFit, the KRATEs while pursuing other opporspecialized in online sales of pashminas tunities. After passing on a few overpriced, and was successful until Covid-19 hit. He high-rent options, Sheila says Life Esadded that Gold’s green light “changed sentials Refillery was ready to commit to a the entire course of my family’s history.” Trinity location. Luckily, KRATE called and said there Luis & Olimar Ledezma, was an opening. “We were getting buildMojo Grill Latin Infusion: out pricing (in Trinity),” Sheila says. While Luis was the longtime general manager she may be paying more per square foot at the Wendy’s on BBD, and then managed at the smaller KRATE, she says, “the foot the Inside The Box Café at Armature Works traffic is worth it.” from 2018-20 until they raised the rent and At Life Essentials Refillery, the forced him to look elsewhere. Haques sell eco-friendly, healthy and Luis says at that moment, Olimar, a locally-sourced items. In fact, Sheila says senior manager for a car insurance comeverything in the store is sourced from pany, “challenged me” to start something. small American businesses. With his management skills, her talent as a Items like spices, herbs, teas and chef (learned from culinary classes she took coffee are popular, as well as less toxic in Spain) and their experiences eating difversions of things like detergent, soap and ferent cuisines while traveling around the sunblock. But, because they also have a full world, it was time to take the plunge and kitchen, they are also able to sell food. You “stop working for somebody else.” can bring in your own container and fill it So after reading about the container concept in the Neighborhood News in 2019, with pasta, beans and candies, and there’s a gluten-free section to choose from as well. Luis wasted little time signing up for the And if you want to make your own chance to run his own business. nutbutter, Sheila can help you do that, too. “It was a no-brainer deal,” he said. “The interest so far is better than I “The KRATE was a great concept.” expected,” Sheila says. “We’ve met people Olimar designed the menu at Mojo that come from Sarasota and Gainesville Grill. The result has been dishes like the because there’s nothing like this close by.” Argentinian-inspired Chimichurri steak, the All of these KRATE businesses Uruguayan-inspired Choripan sandwich, have their own websites and social meCuban-inspired nachos and a variety of other dia presences, as well as their own open tasty Latin dishes. Drinks, too — Olimar hours, but for a complete listing of makes a killer homemade sangria. and more information about all of the Like almost every restaurant container KRATE businesses, visit KrateatTheat KRATE, business has been hopping. Grove.com. Neighborhood News
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First-Time Women Business Owners Shine At KRATE By JOHN C. COTEY
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Yummy Tablas
As a little girl in Costa Rica, Heidi Esquivel would make salads for her parents because it was all that was in the house. She would pour her heart and soul into each bowl of lettuce, tomatoes and cucumbers, often cutting up red peppers to make them look fancy and shaping other simple vegetables to look like beautiful flowers. “I wanted to make my mom and dad proud,” Heidi says. “It was my way of saying ‘I love you,’ with food.” It took years for Heidi’s artistic skills to manifest themselves as a caterer specializing in elaborate and gorgeous charcuterie and cheese boards, but today, as the owner of Yummy Tablas at the KRATE at the Grove Container Park in Wesley Chapel, she has found her calling. Although she started her business online during the pandemic, and grew a large following thanks to Instagram — “my best friend” she calls the social media app — she now has fulfilled a dream by owning a store of her own. “To see the people come through the door, to see the faces, the reaction, it’s just wonderful,” Heidi says, pointing to a couple sitting outside, enjoying a glass of what she calls “the best wine at the KRATEs” on the outdoor patio. “It’s her birthday, so he brought her here for a little glass of wine. She is so happy. Those moments make me so happy.” Developer Mark Gold says he didn’t start the KRATE just to fulfill his own personal dreams — he did it in part to help make the dreams of others more accessible. When he announced his project in October 2019, offering converted shipping containers as business opportunities with monthly rents starting at around $1,500, he instantly received a flurry of emails and phone calls from small business owners. Or, in the case of Heidi, prospective first-time folks who couldn’t otherwise afford to rent a space for a business of their own. In fact, roughly 30 percent of the nearly 50 businesses that make up KRATE
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at the Grove are run by first-timers. “I saw the price and the whole thing looked so cute, and I thought, ‘Oh my God, I can afford that!,’” Heidi says. “I came here right away and fell in love with the whole project. And now, I’m here.” Before that, Heidi had struggled for years waiting for her opportunity, cleaning homes and working in construction. When she went out with husband Ronnie, a physician she married five years ago, and people asked what she did, she was mortified. “It was so sad, it was embarrassing,” Heidi says. “I just didn’t want to continue saying that. I wanted to be somebody…I was almost 40 and I needed to find my passion.” While entertaining friends and family, Heidi always presented her food with flair. Her guests always raved about her displays, and Ronnie also encouraged her to start her business online. Her concept of “grazing boards,” where friends and family could gather around while nibbling on meats, crackers, cheeses, fresh fruit and honey and jam, struck a chord with people during the pandemic, when people were stuck at home. “My friends were right,” she says. “It just took off.” But, when she read the first story about the KRATEs in the Neighborhood
(Clockwise from top left) Heidi Esquivel of Yummy Tablas invites you to try her charcuterie boards & chill with her selection of fine wines. Try Tracy Dimillo’s amazing homemade cupcakes and other sweet treats at Urban Sweets. Monica Russo had an online-only business before opening her MaeBerry Co. at the KRATE Container Park. (Photos by Charmaine George & John C. Cotey)
News, she knew a “little shop” is what she really wanted. “Mark Gold was excited about it, and I’m so excited about it, too,” Heidi says. “To have people come and have some cheese and a glass of wine, share memories, laugh, tell stories, spend time with family….that’s what I’m really excited about.”
Urban Sweets
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Heidi’s path is similar to Tracy
DiMillo’s, who had built a large local following — in two different states — with her decadent desserts. She, too, was entertaining a friend when it was suggested in October 2019 that she open her own place. “She asked me if I had read about this guy who just bought The Grove and was going to do containers,” Tracy says. “She sent me the link to the story, I read it on a Sunday, emailed them on Monday and was in their offices talking to them on Friday.”
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On Dec. 6, 2019, Tracy and her husband John signed a lease for Urban Sweets, a KRATE container specializing in cupcakes and layered desserts. It was a long journey for Tracy, a stay-at-home mom of three (now grown) children looking for an outlet. It started in 1999 with a cake decorating class at Jo-Ann’s Fabrics in Brandon, but soon, Tracy was teaching the classes. A Tampa Palms resident at the time, she sold her desserts locally and online as Creative Cakes. When John, a salesman for a major alcohol distributor, was transferred to Fairfield, CT, she jumped on the justtaking-off cake pops craze with The Pop Shop, making and selling the treats out of a commercial kitchen. The Dimillos moved back to Florida in 2015, with Tracy unsure what to do next. She baked for neighbors and parties and thought often of opening her own shop. She even had business cards made for Urban Sweets in 2018, “just to put it out into the universe and keep my dream moving forward.” The Dimillos were fans of Sparkman Wharf, a smaller container park on Channelside Dr. in downtown Tampa that opened in late 2018. While strolling around the container park that year, she fell in love: “I told John I see myself in a container at Sparkman.” A year later, however, Gold rolled into town. Like Heidi, Tracy also read the article in the Neighborhood News and was gobsmacked. “If you have a dream, let’s make it happen,” Gold said at the time. “This is your mom-and-pop opportunity, your dream….I want to help people come to us. Let me help you.” Those words hit Tracy like one of her cookie butter cake parfaits hitting your taste buds. “I read it and I could swear he was talking to me,” Tracy said. “He said things like he was appealing to new business owners, appealing to smaller business owners….after wanting to open a store for 15 years, I just thought, this is it. I felt like it was a lightning bolt.” In fact, that’s the exact phrase — “lightning bolt” — she used in her email to Gold to describe her interest. She didn’t even have her sugary concoctions thought
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out yet. But, she had a name, that box of business cards and she was ready. “I just knew, after 23 years, I felt like I knew what people liked.” Urban Sweets opened in late May to positive reviews. With a few thousand people to please for the KRATES’ opening day on June 4 (see page 18), Tracy was eager for her official debut as a business owner. “It’s a dream come true,” Tracy says. “I know that sounds super cheesy, but that’s how I feel.”
MaeBerry Co.
Monica Russo has shared a similar dream for just as long, imagining herself as a clothing buyer since she was a little girl. For years, Monica envisioned being a children’s clothing buyer for a big department store like Nordstrom or Dillard’s (and she actually worked at both for a time). Pregnant and bed-ridden during Covid-19, Russo decided to become a buyer…for herself. In 2021, she started a website, MaeBerry Co., that sold children’s clothing and accessories. Later that year, a friend told her about the KRATE at The Grove, and thought she should go all the way and open her own shop. So, she contacted the KRATE’s management, was put on a waiting list, and after twice declining because she wasn’t sure she was ready, she took the keys to her KRATE in January. “I knew when they asked a third time, I had to do it,” Monica says. “I just went with what my heart was telling me.” The decision has been the right one. With help from dad George Leach (who assisted getting the business going and also chips in with babysitting), husband George Rocek and daughter Alyssa (who is 17 and works in the shop) business definitely has been bustling. Monica says business at MaeBerry Co. has been so good, in fact, she wishes she had chosen a larger container. Her eco-friendly infant and children’s clothing, many made with soft, breathable and chemical-free bamboo, and by high-end companies like Posh Peanut and Itzy Ritzy, have been popular among shoppers. “This is what I’ve always wanted to do,” Monica says. “So far it’s been everything I have dreamed of.”
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A LOOK BACK AT THE KRATE GRAND OPENING! By JOHN C. COTEY
john@NTNeighborhoodNews.com Photos: Charmaine George
“It’s a home run.” That’s how Wesley Chapel’s Jon Kramer described the KRATE at the Grove’s Grand Opening on June 4, while sitting in the shade holding a beer as his wife Faith sipped on a sangria. Their dogs, Marley, a 5-year-old Golden Doodle, and Maverick, a 6-year-old Labradoodle, also enjoyed the shade. Developer Mark Gold promised KRATE would be cool. And on June 4, that’s what he delivered. Thousands — maybe 8,000 or so, according to one estimate, but no matter your guess, the number was many more than expected — swept up and down the rows of converted shipping containers. Some sat and listened to music, children got their faces painted and frolicked on the playground, and slowly but surely the large crowd completely drained many of the 18 open restaurants of their tasty contents. There was no chance for the tenants, many of them first-time business owners, to catch their breath. You can’t close your doors to replenish your supplies when there are lines of people streaming in and out of your KRATE. Miguel Calvo, who owns Chamo Bites, lives five minutes from his KRATE at the Grove, and had to run home four times to get more food to restock his container. At the end of the day, he was moved, maybe even a little shaken, by the outpouring of support. He called it “life-changing” and showed off an arm full of goosebumps. It was the kind of festive event that Chappies have been yearning for. “This is the best thing to ever happen to this area,” said Jon, who has lived just a few footsteps away from The Grove for 22 years. He has watched what was once nothing but a strip mall sprout from the ground, then wither and nearly die, until Gold showed up and promised to save it. When Gold and Co. crossed the finish line at the Grand Opening, Jon and Faith were there to celebrate with them. Twice, in fact. The Kramers came in the morning, and then returned again in the evening. And, get this — in between, they drove to downtown Tampa to have a drink at Sparkman Wharf, the trendy, smaller container park that opened along Channelside Dr. in 2018. 18
And, while Wesley Chapel may still not be quite as hip as downtown Tampa, it’s clear to Jon that Sparkman Wharf is now officially Tampa Bay’s “other” container park. “KRATE blows it away,” he says. “They (Sparkman Wharf) have a few bars and food and nothing else. Here, there is that and local artisans and local shops. It’s just better.” That will be music to Gold’s ears. On numerous occasions, due to the delays and hurdles, the developer has referred to the nearly three-year KRATE project as “Mission Impossible.” But, he never doubted that once it was completed, it would be a big hit. A home run, even.
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Spinner Law In Wesley Chapel: Even Better Than The Big Firms By CELESTE McLAUGHLIN Correspondent When it comes to recovering from an accident or any kind of personal injury, it can take a lot to restore a person back to wholeness. Big firms advertise their big resources, but personal injury attorney Charlie Spinner says not to be deceived by their slick advertising. He and his team of experienced attorneys at the Spinner Law Firm will fight just as hard, but you get the benefit of working with a small firm that feels like family, right in nearby Wesley Chapel. And, while the firm has a comfortable, familiar feel, it has three experienced attorneys who work together to ensure that clients get top-notch representation that can go up against any insurance company, person or organization that has caused your injury. Charles Spinner, Esq., originally established his firm in New Tampa in 2003. Spinner Law’s main office is now located in the Cypress Glen Professional Park off S.R. 56, just east of I-75. Spinner graduated from the University of Dayton in Ohio, and then received his Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree from the University of Toledo College of Law, in Toledo, OH, in 1996. He worked for several years as a civil trial
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(l.-r.) Attorneys Charlie Spinner, Patrick Barnes and Anissa Morris offer top-notch personal injury representation at Spinner Law Firm in Wesley Chapel. (Photo courtesy of Charlie Spinner)
and insurance defense attorney before opening his own private practice. Attorney Anissa Morris joined the firm in 2011, and fellow attorney Patrick Barnes joined in 2020. Both bring years of experience and complementary skill sets to Spinner Law. Morris is a certified Circuit-Civil Mediator, as well as a Family Law Mediator. Mediators are neutral parties
who facilitate conversations to mediate between the parties in a lawsuit instead of going to a jury trial. While she doesn’t currently work as a mediator, Morris gained an incredible amount of experience through her training and required observations, where she went behind closed doors to see both sides of mediations as they were happening. “It gives you a much better
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understanding of the process, so we are better able to prepare our clients to go into mediation,” she explains. Her undergraduate degree is in public relations and communication arts from Xavier University in Cincinnati and she earned her J.D. degree at Salmon P. Chase College of Law at Northern Kentucky University in Highland Heights. More than a decade ago, Morris opened a private practice after being a stay-at-home mom and raising her children in New Tampa. She started out renting space from Charlie and helping with his family law cases, which was her area of specialty at the time. The two had a great synergy and Morris found that she wasn’t enjoying the family law cases, so she joined Charlie’s team, working on personal injury cases instead. “When you hire Spinner, you’re hiring a small family firm, so you talk to an attorney the very first day,” Morris explains. “You have access to us any time you want to. At a bigger firm, you might only talk to a case manager.” Barnes grew up in Florida and came home to be near his family when his kids were born. Like Morris, he started out working for himself, but met Spinner and found that the two worked well together, so he, too, joined the firm.
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Barnes went to Florida State University in Tallahassee and earned a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology in 2009. He then received his J.D. degree from Florida Coastal University in Jacksonville in 2012. He practiced in Denver before moving back to Florida. Many years ago, Barnes realized that he and others in his field were deeply affected by all the trauma their clients have dealt with, and started researching how trauma affects both clients and the professionals in the field of law who help them. “We deal with traumatic material constantly and represent those who have been traumatized,” Barnes says, “so I’m doing my best to shed light on it and bring it to the forefront.” He says he never talked about being “trauma-informed” during his undergrad or graduate schooling, but that conversations with his dad, who is a licensed mental health counselor, led him to understand the idea and want to bring it to his profession. Now, he has written articles on the topic and spoken about it at bar associations and other organizations. He’ll be speaking at a national conference in St. Louis later this year. While trauma-informed practice is fairly new to the law world, it’s well established in the medical field and other areas. “It is all about changing the way you
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practice to be more supportive of your traumatized client,” Barnes says, “to be sure not to re-traumatize them, and to become aware of how you as a lawyer and your staff as a support team can becoming secondarily traumatized by dealing with (these) issues all the time.” He says being trauma-informed can help a legal team see a “difficult client” very differently. If you have a client who has memory issues, or is easily agitated or is hyper-vigilant, those can be protective defense mechanisms. Instead of viewing the client as “just” a difficult person, when you realize that they’ve been traumatized, it makes you more patient and more empathetic, and not take the behavior personally. Barnes says he likes working for Spinner Law because it’s a “good mix” of high-level legal expertise and an approachable feel. “You don’t lose any of the firepower because we’re smaller, but you’re gaining more communication and knowing who you’re going to work with,” he says. “If you’re experiencing trauma, to feel safe, you need to know who’s going to answer the phone and who’s going to help you. That’s huge.” Candy Sandford has experienced that kind of trauma, being involved in two different life-changing car accidents in the last decade. The first time, she was rear ended on Bruce B. Downs Blvd. At
the time, she went to a chiropractor who recommended Spinner Law. “Charlie and his staff were more than just a lawyer,” Sandford says. “They became like family and friends. They worked so well with us to make things easier during a very difficult time.” She says she balked when Charlie suggested going to trial, but she eventually agreed, and is glad she did. “When Charlie is in the courtroom, he’s incredibly focused and professional,” she says. “But, he also has a really fun, friendly, comforting side to him.” Sandford says Spinner called her personally one morning to say his wife was giving birth to their fifth child and Morris would be in the courtroom with her instead of him. “Anissa came and handled everything that day,” Sandford says. “It was so smooth. She’s amazing, too. I can’t even find enough words to explain how happy I am with them.” Then, two years ago, Sandford was hit by a Frito-Lay truck, and immediately went back to Spinner. Again, she says,
the entire staff was helpful during a difficult time. And this time, he was able to negotiate a favorable outcome for her without having to go to trial. “It took him a lot of work to accomplish what he did,” Sandford says. “Charlie was willing to take a lot of the burden off of me. He loves representing his clients and doing his best for them.” She says she’s also impressed with the generosity of how they support the community, from the ways they see Spinner Law donating both time and money to local charities, to the firm’s generous response when they asked for support for the Knights of Columbus, of which her husband is a member. “It’s more than marketing,” Sandford says. “It’s genuine.” Spinner Law Firm offers a comprehensive consultation for all legal matters at no charge. The firm is located at 2418 Cypress Glen Dr. in Wesley Chapel. For more information, call (813) 991-5099, visit SpinnerLawFirm. com, or see the ad on page 29.
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Excellence In Eye Care At Costco Adds A Second Eye Doctor By CELESTE McLAUGHLIN Correspondent
As life gets back to a more normal routine as the Covid-19 pandemic finally fades, independent Doctor of Optometry David Scamard, O.D., is pleased that his Excellence In Eye Care is growing. More and more patients are discovering and appreciating both his office’s convenience and, well, excellence. Five years ago, Dr. Scamard moved his Excellence In Eye Care, LLC, to inside the Costco next to the Tampa Premium Outlets on S.R. 56. Prior to that, his office was located a couple of miles west off of S.R. 54 in Lutz. Now, J. Carson Woolwine, O.D. — a 2016 graduate of Nova Southeastern University College of Optometry — has joined Dr. Scamard at the practice. The addition of Dr. Woolwine has led to expanded availability for appointments. Excellence in Eye Care is now open six days a week, where it previously was open only five. A second exam room also was outfitted, so that two patients can be seen simultaneously. Both exam rooms offer top-of-the-line equipment with state-ofthe-art technology. Offering the latest technology has always been important to Dr. Scamard.
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He and Dr. Woolwine use a high-tech retinal imager to view the internal structures of the eyes. They also use a digital refractor, which is faster, more accurate and more efficient than the old-style refracting devices. Many patients also like the digital refractor because they don’t usually have to have their eyes dilated. All of the equipment is electronic and controlled by a computer. It ties in with the practice’s electronic The addition of Dr. J. Carson Woolwine (left) to the practice of Dr. David Scamard (right) at Excellence in Eye Care at Costco medical records, too, means more hours and appointments for customers looking for for a streamlined and great optometry service. (Photo: Charmaine George) convenient patient ate degree at the University of South experience. Florida in Tampa and received his Costco shoppers have gotten used to O.D. degree from Nova Southeastern seeing Dr. Scamard over the last five years, University in Fort Lauderdale. but many of his patients have known him The combination of his decades of much longer. He opened his first private experience and commitment to keeping practice on Bruce B. Downs Blvd. in New his practice on the cutting edge of eye care Tampa in 2002 and has taken care of technology has allowed Dr. Scamard to patients in New Tampa, Wesley Chapel, help some patients when others couldn’t. Lutz and Land O’Lakes ever since. Mike Roth says he was born with an Dr. Scamard earned his undergradu-
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incurable virus in his right eye, but for most of the 29 years of his life, it didn’t really bother him. That all changed last year when he started having trouble with his left eye. He went to his ophthalmologist, who couldn’t figure out the problem and sent him to a specialist. The specialist then sent him to another specialist, who sent him to an eye institute in Miami. Fortunately for Mike, he happened to be playing ultimate Frisbee with a teammate whose wife worked for Dr. Scamard. She told the doctor about Mike’s frustrating issue, and Dr. Scamard offered to take a look. Although Mike did also see the specialist in Miami, he visited Dr. Scamard, too, and both doctors came to the same conclusion. “It turns out the virus had switched eyes and began to attack the optic nerve in the other eye,” Mike explains. Eventually, his retina detached, causing blindness, and he had to have surgery to repair it. The surgeon suggested he be fitted for contacts, which was basically a lifelong dream come true for Mike. “I’ve worn glasses every day since I was five years old and no one would fit me for contacts because they weren’t sure how the virus would react,” says
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Mike. But, Dr. Scamard said he was a good candidate for contacts and was willing to help him. “That was something I was crazy excited for.” Mike had his surgery a little over a year ago and has now been wearing contact lenses without any problems for eight months. “My experience (with Excellence in Eye Care) has been nothing short of incredible,” Mike says, explaining that Dr. Scamard found answers for him when many other doctors gave up. He also truly cared about Mike’s situation and his well-being. “Dr. Scamard has personally reached out to me a couple of times just to see how things are going.” Scamard explains that he is able to help people like Mike — and many others — because he and Dr. Woolwine offer the latest innovations in contact lenses. “There’s even a contact now that helps prevent bacterial growth, which makes it healthier for the eye,” Dr. Scamard explains. “There has been a constant improvement in the technology and materials we have to work with.” The entire process from eye exam to putting the glasses on your face or contacts in your eyes can be completed right there in Costco. You don’t need to be a Costco member to visit Excellence in Eyecare and have an exam, but you do need a membership to purchase your glasses and contact lenses from the wholesale giant’s
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extensive eyewear department, located right next to the office.
Get Those Eyes Examined!
Excellence In Eye Care currently is seeing many patients who have missed their annual eye exams due to the pandemic. Dr. Scamard encourages everyone who hasn’t had their eyes checked lately to make an appointment. “The health of your eyes is very important,” he says, “and we, of course, practice all the guidelines for protection to make sure our patients are safe and we’re safe, too.” So, whether you’re in need of an annual eye exam or your first exam in a long time, Dr. Scamard and Dr. Woolwine invite you to visit their convenient location for top-notch care. “We always strive to make all of our patients happy and make the experience as pleasant as possible,” says Dr. Scamard. “We make sure their eyes are healthy and that they can see their best.” Excellence In Eye Care is located inside the Costco at 2225 Grand Cypress Dr., Lutz, on the south side of S.R. 56. The office is open Mon., Wed., and Fri., 10 a.m.–5 p.m., Tues. and Thur., 1 p.m.–7 p.m., and Sat. from 10 a.m.–2 p.m. For more information, call (813) 279-7038, visit ExcellenceInEyeCare.net, or see the ad on page 3 of this issue.
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Furniture Medic Can Make Kitchen Cabinets Look Like New By JOHN C. COTEY
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Furniture Medic by JFC Restorations owner Joe Rakocy says he can fix basically anything, but when it comes to wood, he is a specialist. At his Furniture Medic franchise based in Wesley Chapel, Rakocy and his team have tackled a number of big projects but repairing and restoring is the No. 1 goal. “We basically work on anything that’s wood,” Rakocy says. “We repair, restore, we build, we install, and we do a lot of furniture repairs, antique work and a lot of cabinet work.” Furniture Medic is part of a 30-yearold national franchise based out of Memphis, TN, with locations in 42 states including nine in Florida, and is part of the Service Master Group, which specializes in franchising home service businesses like Merry Maids, Two Men & a Truck and others. Furniture Medic’s specialty is, essentially, reviving your furniture. Not only does Rakocy’s franchise, which he has owned since 2014, focus on home services, it also does commercial work. He says they have spruced up the desks at the Mayor’s office in Orlando, refinished the furniture in the State
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Furniture Medic can give your home an entire new look just by upgrading and refurbishing your existing kitchen cabinets, as owner Joe Rakocy and his team did above, or even restore a variety of different cabinet doors, like you see on the next page. (Photos courtesy of Joe Rakocy)
Attorney’s office and even gone in and fixed up the chairs in Rakocy’s cardiologist’s office. Bob Wilson, a Land O’Lakes resident, says he has used Furniture Medic by JFC Restorations a number of times to fix up older Ethan Allen mahogany furniture he has in his home. Joe and his team fixed up some dog scratches, a table top damaged by an overflowing candle and about 15-17 pieces in all. One piece they took back to
Roakocy’s shop because it needed to be sanded and color-matched. “They did a beautiful job on every piece in the house,” Wilson says. Residential cabinet work, however, is an area of emphasis these days for Rakocy’s Furniture Medic. While technicians Frank and Chuck will still take the nick out of a piece of furniture or make an older, worn piece look new, cabinets have emerged as a high-priority area of expertise, due to growing demand.
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A Different Approach?
While Furniture Medic can come in and install a whole new set of kitchen cabinets for you, they specialize in what can be a much more affordable option – refreshing your look. In fact, Rakocy says sometimes people will call for a second opinion of getting a whole new kitchen, only to find they can save a lot of money with Furniture Medic by taking a different approach. Joe’s team can come in and tackle
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any gouges or other imperfections in your cabinets, give them a new face, repaint them and have them looking like new again. “We can basically come in and clean and repair and fill nicks and gouges and stuff like that,” Rakocy says. “We can bring your cabinets back to looking pretty close to new for a small fraction of what it would cost you to put in new cabinets.” It can be as simple a job as fixing some drawers and/or drawer gliders to revitalizing doors that are falling apart. If the cabinet boxes are still good, it can just be a matter or replacing the doors. But, if more work is needed, Rakocy says his crew can custom-build new boxes as well. “Nowadays it’s actually probably quicker for us to custom-build it than to order them,” he says, referring to supply chain issues that can make ordering the right cabinets a 10-week to 6-month wait for the customer. But, Rakocy says that if the cabinet boxes are still in good shape, which is many times the case, Furniture Medic can do wonders with the doors. From refacing the doors or completely changing the wood to giving you an entirely new color — with high-quality, water-based paint and a hard surface topcoat for durability — “we can completely refresh your kitchen.” Furniture Medic even offers a yearly program where Rakocy’s team will come out and clean and refresh your cabinets. “You’d be extremely impressed with what we can do,” he says. Furniture Medic can do the same with your kitchen or furniture set as well. Another fix the team at Furniture Medic can provide in your kitchen is replacing the box under your sink, a problem area for some. If the shelves, walls or floor have been damaged by a leak, Rakocy says Furniture Medic’s disaster restoration can be a lifesaver. In the case of the sink, the box can be pulled out and replaced without touching the rest of the kitchen, making it an easier repair that doesn’t involve gutting the entire kitchen. Neighborhood News
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Almost all repairs are done onsite, so Furniture Medic doesn’t require a large office – unless you count Rakocy’s 1,000-sq.-ft. shop on his property in Wesley Chapel where he works on other projects like preparing to build a small office addition at his daughter’s home — and those savings are passed on to his customers.
Still More Expertise
While Furniture Medic doesn’t repair upholstery or re-upholster furniture made of fabric, it does repair everything else involving your furniture, like leather repairs (mending holes and rips, as well as restoration) and structural repairs like motor mechanisms. Rakocy even has built and installed a barn door in a home at the request of a customer. Rakocy says recliner work is very popular these days, and he sometimes jokes that the business should be called “Recliner Medic” due to all the repairs his team does on the popular chairs. Furniture that has been chewed or scratched by a pet also is a common repair. The Furniture Medic can fix bed posts or chair legs and do a color match to make them look like new (although deep scratches and gouges that go across the grain may not be repairable.) Even chairs and tables that have stains, watermarks or are just showing their age can be buffed and beautified by Furniture Medic, and antiques and heirlooms can get spruced up with just a little TLC. “It’s pretty amazing what we can do,” he says. And, if you call the company and send them a photo, Rakocy and his techs can tell you whether they can fix your problem or not, roughly how much it would cost and whether or not it’s even worth the effort, like with cheaper wood or even faux wood. Furniture Medic by JFC Restorations is open Monday-Friday, from 7 a.m.-6 p.m. For more information, visit the Furniture Medic franchise website at FurnitureMedic.com, call locally at (813) 982-4192, or see their ad on pg. 32 of this issue. For Advertising Information Call 813-910-2575 • Volume 30, Issue 13 • June 28, 2022 • NeighborhoodNewsOnline.net
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‘DON’T LOSE HOPE!’
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STORY by ISABELLA DOUGLAS | PHOTOS by CHARMAINE GEORGE
aley Scott breathes in the cool, crisp air of the rink as she glides on the ice at AdventHealth Center Ice in her white skates. Gearing up, she makes three rotations in the air — a perfect triple loop. Her excitement to be back at the rink outweighs the muscle and lung aches, reminders of her two years off the ice due to complications of long Covid-19. The 16-year-old Wesley Chapel resident has been skating since she was five years old; however in November 2020, she was forced to stop when Covid prevented her from walking, talking and skating. The virus, which usually leaves the body in two weeks, persisted for Haley for over two years. Doctors told Haley she may never be able
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to skate again. However, six specialists later, she is back on the ice and ready to perfect her form. “It was definitely a hard journey coming back,” Haley says. “Trying to get used to jumping again, spinning again… just even being on the ice.” Scott is a 2015-19 Sunshine State Games gold medal-winning ice skater. She was awarded the 2016 Betty Stark Award for the highest combined score in the Juvenile Girls Free Skate and Short Program and the 2017 Dorothy Dodson Award winner as the top skater in the two programs for the Intermediate Ladies divisions. Midway through the pandemic, Haley began suffering from the usual dizzy spells and headaches associated with Covid-19.
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Haley Scott still has Olympic aspirations, but the Wesley Chapel figure skater is taking it one leap... er, step...at a time as she recovers from a two-year-long battle with Covid-19.
She felt fine two weeks later. But, the third week, her speech slurred and she could barely stand. “I was definitely a whole different person than I used to be,” she says. Her mother, Julie Scott, took her to the emergency room but got turned away due to her daughter’s Covid-19 test coming back negative. Julie took Haley to cardiology, neurology, immunology and hematology appointments before scouring the internet for some cures. After ten months in pain, Haley was recommended to IncellDx, a research group in California. “They were just a godsend to us,” Julie says of IncelDx. “They listened. Many doctors will turn you away with no answers and that’s it. But, they listened and at least tried things.” In December 2021, Haley started to see results. She could walk again, talk again, and in January, she actually began to skate again. The 16-year-old also is completing her high school credits through Florida Virtual School, while also taking college-level classes at Pasco-Hernando State College. “I feel thankful,” Julie says. “I’m very proud of her and I just want her to enjoy the journey, wherever it may take her.” Before her battle with long Covid, Haley was practicing at the rink 4-5 hours a day. In January, her mission to get back on the ice started slowly, with
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just 30 minutes of free skating. But now, she has worked her way back to practicing with her coach, Silvia Fontana, five days a week. Haley has trained under her coach for four years. When Silvia learned of the news of Haley having long Covid, she was devastated. Everything needed to become a professional ice skater was taken away by the illness, she says. “At one point I just wanted her to have a regular life and just to be happy again,” Silvia says. “For us as coaches, the skating and athleticism are important. But, we care about them as people first. So, that was the main concern for me.” Silvia says Haley is one in a million. Even through the hardships, her coach has seen Haley fight back and excel. And, she still believes that Haley can represent the U.S. in the Winter Olympics in four or eight years. “I want her to always remember where she came from,” Silvia says. “When you get to the higher level, it gets more stressful and she needs to know the strength and resilience she had during that really difficult time.” Haley is training for the qualifying season in July. For athletes struggling with long Covid, Haley says, “it’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon.” “Don’t lose hope,” she says. “You just have to stay positive and remind yourself who you are.”
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Cooper’s Hawk Is Coming & Maybe A Brazilian Steakhouse, Too? By JOHN C. COTEY
john@NTNeighborhoodNews.com
The popular Cooper’s Hawk Winery & Restaurant is coming to Wesley Chapel! While no official announcement has been made, the Neighborhood News has learned that plans are in place for Cooper’s Hawk to be built at the northwest corner of S.R. 56 and Lajuana Blvd. (the road that leads to the Wiregrass Ranch Sports Campus of Pasco County). The new restaurant will be constructed just east of the existing Culver’s restaurant. We’ve also learned that a second upscale restaurant also is planned for that area, but that will happen sometime after Cooper’s Hawk. With Wiregrass Ranch Blvd. nearing completion from S.R. 56 north to S.R. 54, look for the Wiregrass Ranch area to be busy in the coming months with a host of new developments. Cooper’s Hawk, which offers a wide selection of wine and wine-related gifts, is highly-rated by those leaving reviews online. It is known for its modern décor, a menu specializing in contemporary American dishes infused with flavors from around the world and made in a scratch kitchen, and, of course, its huge variety of red, white, rosé and sparkling wines. The growing, upscale chain has its own wine club with 350,000 members strong, and a popular Napa Valley-style
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Cooper’s Hawk is known for great food and great wine paired together by experts. According to its website, since it was founded in 2005 in Illinois by CEO Tim McEnery as that state’s first winery/restaurant, Cooper’s Hawk has received over 500 wine awards from various local, national, and inter national wine competitions. In 2021, it was named by USA Today as the top winery restauThe Cooper’s Hawk in Tampa is a popular destination for lovers of fine rant in the U.S. in a food paired perfectly with the right wines. reader survey. There currently are wine tasting room that is the highlight of 45 Cooper’s Hawk locations in 10 states, the trip to the restaurant for many. Highincluding more than a dozen in Florida. end decanters, wine accessories, deluxe chocolates and other gifts are for sale in its The nearest, and the only other Tampaarea Cooper’s Hawk, is located on Boy artisan market, too. Scout Blvd. near the International Plaza in Cooper’s Hawk makes its own wines the Westshore Business District. — roughly 60 different kinds — and the menu offers suggestions which are intended to pair with whatever seasonal dish you Rodizio, Too? Another restaurant possibly headorder, whether it be the prime churrasco ing in this direction is Rodizio Grill, grilled steak, bourbon lacquered BBQ a Brazilian steakhouse with five Florida pork chops or pistachio-crusted grouper.
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locations, including Orlando and Sarasota. Representatives of Rodizio Grill are scheduled for a pre-app meeting with Pasco County planners on July 5. According to a concept site plan filed with the county, the restaurant would be located off S.R. 56 on Sun Vista Dr., in front of the At Home store (and just south and across the road from Costco). According to its website, Rodizio Grill was the first authentic Brazilian Steakhouse or Churrascaria in the U.S. established in 1995 by Ivan Utrera. The menu features rotisserie grilled beef, poultry and pork meats (photo above), glazed pineapple, a gourmet salad bar and authentic Brazilian side dishes.
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So Far, These Are My Favorite Dishes At KRATE Restaurants So, how many of the restaurants at the KRATE Container Park at The Grove have you tried so far? I have tried all of them, although I definitely haven’t tried every dish at every KRATE eatery yet, so below is a list — in alphabetical order by the name of the KRATE — of my favorite dishes so far at the now-18 open restaurants and bars at the KRATEs. I plan to keep on sampling everything I can at these mom-and-pop eateries, and I will list my favorite KRATE desserts next issue, so stay tuned! — GN
Bacon Boss HQ — Although I have them put the BBQ mayo on the side, my favorite menu item at the Bacon Boss is the Bugsy Siegel Burger, which features a grilled-to-perfection burger topped with two slices of American cheese, crispy bacon, lettuce & tomato. So good. Blush Wine Room — Despite its billing as a wine bar, this is definitely one of my favorite KRATE restaurants. I already love the bruschetta, beef & pork meatballs with spicy marinara and the chicken with vodka sauce flatbread (photo, right). The wines (including wine flights) also are great, but my favorite drink is the strawberry frosé — perfect on a hot day. Chamo Bites Venezuelan Cuisine — I’ve always been a fan of arepas, and Chamo Bites tops them with a great variety of meats and cheeses, but I’m absolutely addicted to the Cachapa (a sweet corn pancake; photo, top far right) filled with queso de mano, or “hand cheese,” which is like mozzarella only better. El Prince Mediterranean — The meat shawarma sandwich, which is delicious, marinated sliced ribeye beef roasted with Middle eastern spices in a pressed pita-style wrap, topped with onions and tahini sauce (that I had them put on the side) is still my favorite at El Prince, although the diced El Prince salad is also a delicious option. La Creacion Express — You don’t have to be a fan of Puerto Rican cuisine to enjoy La Creacion, although I haven’t yet tried the more hard-core items like octopus or alcapurria (green bananas & taro root) empanadas, I love the tripleta sandwich (with steak, ham and pork). Mojo Grill Latin Fusion — The menu really is a mix of so many Latin favorites you really can’t go wrong, but my favorites so far are the steak chimichurri sandwich (thinly sliced skirt steak, caramelized onions, melted cheese and house-made chimichurri sauce on a toasted baguette) and the build-your-own bowl with grilled chicken, cilantro rice, black beans and Cuban slaw. Palani’s Hawai’i Noodles House of Saimin — To date, the only dish I’ve tried is the saimin noodles in a savory clear broth garnished with barbecued char sui pork, kamaboko and crisp green onions, but it definitely makes my list of KRATE favorites. I suggest paying $4
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for additional Chinese-style char sui pork. So good. Rhythm Pon Jamaican Cuisine — I’ve only gotten to try it once since it opened two weeks ago, but the authemtic Jamaican jerk chicken is legit. Shake-A-Salad — Since it was one of the first KRATE restaurants to open, I’ve tried more than one option of all three parts of the menu — the salads (my favorite is The Cobb), the wrap sandwiches (the Chicken Caesar is my fave) and the signature rice bowls (I absolutely love the Asian Marinated Chicken Rice Bowl). Tacos El Patron — Already a family favorite, we love the savory pastor quesadilla filled with marinated pork, the huge carnitas burrito (filled with pork chunks, rice, beans and cheese) and the asada (steak) taco salad. Tasty Ramen — Although I’m not as much into the variety of ramen bowls as I am the appetizers, I definitely love the pan-fried gyoza dumplings and crispy spring roll. TJ’s Hot Dogs — Although TJ’s has a great variety of topping for its gourmet hot dogs, I only really have one favorite type — a kosher-style hot dog with brown mustard and sauerkraut (lower right) and TJ’s satisfies that craving for me. I plan to try some of the other options...eventually.
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New Restaurants Add More International Flavors To New Tampa For everyone (including yours truly) who has been waiting for more mom-&pop-owned restaurants in our area, a few newcomers have debuted over the past 30 days and all are worth checking out.
Hungry Crab Juicy Seafood
Correction From Last Issue In our last New Tampa issue, we told you about the new Fire Up Halal Grill in the Cross Creek Center plaza. Unfortunately, I made a mistake in that story, as I said Halal Grill has beer, which it does not have, sell or serve. I apologize for the error and any inconvenience I caused. — GN
NY-Style Pizzeria To Replace Windy City! Shortly after this issue hits your mailbox, a new NY-style pizzeria is expected to open to replace Windy City Pizza (formerly Full Circle Pizza) in the Pebble Creek Collection, with a new name we can’t announce yet, but with some familiar faces running it. Stay tuned to our social media for further updates! — GN
Hana Sushi Won’t
We had been telling you for a few months that the former location of Aroy Thai on Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. was going to become the second location of Hana Sushi, which has an existing location in Sarasota. Daniel Earles of SRE Real Estate, the agent for the strip plaza that also is home to Tire Choice and MedExpress Urgent Care, just south of County Line Rd., says that because of a partnership issue, Hana Sushi has pulled out of the 2,067-sq.-ft. location and notes that “it’s pretty much built out for a restaurant, so it would be almost a turnkey location for another restaurant owner.” For leasing and more information, call (813) 424-2500. — GN
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Although I’m (sadly) allergic to more than half of the items on its menu, the second location of Hungry Crab Juicy Seafood Restaurant & Bar has opened in the former location of Kobe Japanese Steakhouse (and several other eateries) at 19601 BBD Blvd. at the front of the Pebble Creek Collection. Thankfully, I was able to try at least one of Hungry Crab’s make-your-own seafood boils — with 1/2-lb. of snow crab legs and 1/2-lb. of small clams (two types of shellfish that I don’t get allergic reactions to) in garlic butter (top right photo, by Charmaine George). The seafood boils come with red potatoes and corn on the cob with your choice of flavor (I chose garlic butter only) and they all arrive at your table still tied up in a boil-in bag. There also are fried starters like calamari and crab cakes and fried baskets, none of which I could try because all of the fried options are made in the same fryers). There’s also Hungry Crab festival options which are huge platters of everything from blue and dungeness crabs to lobster tail, green and black mussels and more. For more info, call (813) 388-2862 or visit “Hungry-Crab-Juicy-SeafoodBar-Tampa-FL” on Facebook.
Tessa’s Sweet Kafe
Although we told you it was supposed to be open as our May 31 issue hit mailboxes, it was another week or more before we could sample the delicious, homemade Korean food, desserts and boba teas at Tessa’s Sweet Kafe, now open in the former location of Gu Wei Noodle House (and Sukhothai before that) at 18101 Highwoods Preserve Pkwy., Suite 100, across the street from the AMC 20 Movie Theater. Tessa’s is owned and operated by Jennifer and Rory Kempink and features Jennifer’s takes on authentic Korean fare like kimbaps (Korean-style cooked sushi with beef bulgogi, pork katsu and other fillings), fried rice with your choice of beef, chicken, shrimp, egg or veggie, dumplings, coconut milk (which was awesome, by the way) and black tiger milk
boba teas, strawberry and several other flavors of Korean bingsoo desserts and what may now be my favorite bone-in fried chicken in our area (middle photo, also by Charmaine George). Although you also can get boneless or bone-in fried chicken with your choice of sauces already on the chicken, try the bone-in “Gary’s Way,” with the sauce on the side. The chicken is so crispy and crunchy outside, but moist and tender inside, that I will need a “fix” of it pretty much every week. I do love the sweet & spicy sauce (and the Korean radish salad that comes with it), but can easily eat this huge portion of chicken with no sauce at all. For more information, call (813) 898-0277 or order online through UberEats or Postmates.
Oishi Express Sushi & Hibachi Grill
Another newcomer is the very tasty Oishi Express Sushi & Hibachi Grill, which opened last month in the space previous occupied by Luv Fresh (and Petra Mediterranean Express before that) at 17503 Preserve Walk Ln., Suite B, in the New Tampa Commons plaza. Although they don’t put on the show by making your hibachi steak, chicken (photo, right), shrimp, salmon or veggies tableside, everything is freshly made to order and delicious, using quality ingredients. Jannah and I also have enjoyed Oishi’s California roll, but be sure to try the thick-sliced red snapper sashimi — it’s excellent. Looking forward to trying more sushi, appetizers (I’ve only sampled the tasty gyoza dumplings so far) and even the chicken katsu. For info, call (813) 8661300 or order online through UberEats or Postmates.— GN
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Don Julio’s Opens 2nd Location In Tampa Palms! We want to apologize to our readers and to the Rodriguez-Nambo family because this item was supposed to run in our May New Tampa issue, but somehow got left out. Don Julio’s, which has had a successful original 1,100-sq.-ft. location in the Palms Connection plaza on E. Bearss Ave for the last few years, hosted a ribboncutting event at its second location last month in City Plaza at Tampa Palms. The new location is more than 5,000-sq.ft. and has been home to a number of other restaurants, most recently Vallarta’s Restaurante Mexicano. “We took a risk,” owner Julio Rodriguez said at the ribbon cutting. “This place was available for like three years due to the pandemic when no one wanted to risk investing in new restaurants.” Don Julio was Julio’s dad who passed away 35 years ago. All of the recipes at Don Julio’s are from Julio’s mom Esther, who sold tacos, tamales and empanadas out of her garage in West Tampa 30+ years ago. “She had lines of people waiting for her food,” Julio says. “It’s how she put us (Julio and sisters Elsi and Maria Rodriguez) through USF.” For more info, visit DonJuliosMexican.com or call (813) 898-2860. — JCC
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New Tampa & Wesley Chapel HOME IMPROVEMENT
CUSTOM INT. WINDOW COVERINGS! Cust. fabrication of all types of window coverings — plantation & hurricane shutters, vert. blinds, roller, cellular, woven wood & Roman shades, cellular vert., panel tracks, retract. awnings, motorization experts, alum., wood & faux wood blinds & more! FREE installation on orders over $250! Call Henry @ 813-948-6363, email TampaBlindsbyDesign@ gmail.com or visit TampaBlindsbyDesign.com. AMBLER ENTERPRISES Home Improvement. Call James at 813-385-6402. 30 Years of exp. Specialist in Kitchens & Bathrooms. Referrals upon request. All interior work: Drywall, Texture Paining, Doors, etc. Use us once & you won’t need to look elsewhere. Google us to see pictures: Wesley Chapel Ambler Enterprises. See our display ad at the bottom of this page! WESLEYCHAPELPRESSUREWASHING.COM Soft pressure ext. house cleaning, screen enclosures, pool decks, driveways, sidewalks, fences, roofs, paver sealing & deck staining. We clean everything. No job too big/small. Exp. the difference when you hire a pressure cleaning pro. Licensed & insured. Owner operated. Call for a free estimate 813-433-6015. RAYMOND PAINTING. Ext. & Int. Svcs. Ext: Painting, pressure washing, clean & seal pavers, stucco, roofing, leaks & wood rot repair. Int: Painting, plastering, ceiling & wall repairs & tiles. Licensed & Bonded. References available. Free estimates. Your Neighborhood Arbor Greene Resident! We work 7 days. Call 813-994-5124. DRY WALL SPECIALIST. Not a handyman. Affordable, Quality Work repairing water damage, ceilings & walls, re-texturing, popcorn removal, room addt’ns, cracks, holes, plaster & stucco repair. 26 years exp. WC resident. State Certified. Call Ron for a free estimate: 813-784-5999.
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Classifieds HOME IMPROVEMENT (Cont.)
TJ’s PRESSURE WASHING LLC. Houses, Fences, Driveways, Lanais & Screened Enclosures. Most resdt’l 2-car driveways & vinyl fences start at $85. House washing starts at $160 /1-story home, $209/2-story home. Need an instant quote? Text me a picture of the job you need done. Call Tj at 727-808-7775.
MISCELLANEOUS CAT SITTER POSITION: Kitten Sittin’ seeks Cat Sitter for the New Tampa area. The purrfect PT job for a retiree or career changer who enjoys caring for cats, Daily visits last 30-45 mins. Duties: feeding, cleaning litter boxes, giving meds, providing chin scratches & head bonks. Work major holidays. Must live in/near New Tampa. Call Pat O’Shea at 813-846-6717 or email pat@kittensittin.biz. AUTOS WANTED! Autos/trucks/small campers/small boats wanted! We pay top dollar! Any condition, Free Removal 24/7. For info, call (813) 461-0062.
ELITE RIDES. Private rides in a sanitized 2020 Tesla, plus concierge services. Airport, schools, medical appointments, shopping, etc. Courteous, reliable professional. New Tampa to Tampa Int’l Airport - $40 (one way). Driver vaccinated w/two shots. Cory Lake resident. Call/text 813.765.2037.
COMPUTER & BUSINESS SERVICES DO YOU HATE YOUR COMPUTER?!? WE CAN HELP YOU! Troubleshooting, Installation, Networking & Virus Removal. WE COME TO YOU! Residences & Businesses, more than 25-Years Experience. Contact Jeffrey Blank at 813-973-4507, visit WSICA.COM or email Wsica@wsica.com.
PROF’L TECH SUPPORT in your home or small biz. A+ Cert. computer tech w/20 years exp. Maint. & Repairs, Upgrades & Tutoring. More affordable than chains! Friendly, personal svc. Tech jargon explained. Remote assist. & refs. avail. Call (813) 957-8342.
CLEANING SERVICES
A-to-Z CLEANING & ORGANIZING. Home & Ofc Cleaning & Organizing Svcs! We use our own supplies. Affordable & Reliable. Family-Owned & Operated. WC resident. Weekly & Bi-Weekly / Deep Cleaning/ Move-In / Move-Out. Serving WC & NT. Call today for a FREE No-Obligation Quote: 813462-1270. Local references supplied upon request. MARY’S CLEANING SERVICES. We provide flexible domestic & office cleaning. “Jesus is the Lord.” Give us a call at 352-206-8809 for a free estimate or email marynovociclo@gmail.com. PATY CLEANING SERVICE. Comm’l or resid’l cleaning service. We have our own supplies & 6 years of exp.Free estimates. Call 813 943 6054 or email patycleaningservice@hotmail.com.
B CLEANING SERVICES: Over 18 years exp.! Comm’l & Resid’l; Weekly, bi-weekly, monthly; New house & post-construction clean-up; Window cleaning; Move-in & move-out cleanings; Pressure washing; FREE estimates.; Refs. avail. Call 813-531-0154 or e-mail: bcleanings@ hotmail.com.
___ LAWN, & LANDSCAPING_____ ALL DIMENSIONS LANDSCAPE & EXTERIORS, LLC. Complete resid’l & comm’l landscape, hardscape & softscape. Mulch & decorative stone. Patios, decks, retaining walls, property maintenance & lawn care. Sod & lawn install’n, artificial turf, fencing, railings, soft & hard pressure washing, painting. We do anything exterior. Call (724) 541-2535 or (813) 485-6661 for a 25% discount on labor & materials. JASMINE LANDSCAPING, INC. Complete lawn maint, including Tree, palm & hedge trimming, planting, mulching, stones, sod replacement. Gutter cleaning, leaf removal & more. Cited by your HOA? Ask about our HOA Compliance Special, our Fall/ Spring Special & FREE estimate! Lic’d & insured. Accepting new resid’l & comm’l accounts. Visa, MC, PayPal, Zelle, AmEx. Call or text 813-420-4465.
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All Neighborhood News Classified Ads appear in both New Tampa & Wesley Chapel Neighborhood News! Here are our Classified ad rates: 7 issues — $120 13 issues — $200 26 issues (1 year) — $300! To order yours, visit neighborhoodnewsonline.net/Classified Listings ___
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FITZPATRICK’s TREE SERVICE, INC. 27-yrs of Prof. Service. Licensed & Insured. Free Estimates. Tree Trimming & Tree Removal. Stump Grinding. Dead-Wood Removal. Affordable Rates. 24-Hour Emergency Storm Service. Free Mulch. Call 813495-9541 or 813-788-TREE.
POOL SERVICES
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ALLSTARPOOLSOFTAMPABAY.COM. Pool cleanups & acid washing of old pool finishes. Marcite, quartz & pebble finishes from $3K. We offer cool decking, Eurocrete & paver decking options. Paver, river rock sealing, leak detection & in-ground vinyl liner replacements avail. Quality salt & ozone generators, pumps, motors & filters. Serving NT & WC since 1990. Call/text 813-244-7077 or visit AllStarPoolsofTampaBay.com. TRANQUILITY POOL SERVICE. New Tampa owned & operated. Great Pricing w/outstanding customer service! LICENSED, BONDED & INSURED. See why we are New Tampa and Wesley Chapel’s #1 Choice!! Call or Text Chris today @ 813-8575400 or visit TranquilityPoolService.com. New customers get ONE MONTH FREE!
NEIGHBORHOOD POOLS. Wesley Chapel owned & operated since 1999. Weekly service. No long term contracts. Mention this AD for one-month Free service. Call 813-907-7322 for details or text Joe at 813-758-7608.
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