Two Sections, 36 Pages of Community News 24
Valrico
See Full Article On Places To Eat & Drink On Page 15 C E L E B R A T I N G
July 2018 Volume 15, Issue 7 Ph: 657-2418 1 6
Y E A R S
O F
P U B L I S H I N G
P O S I T I V E
C O M M U N I T Y
N E W S
Nam Knights Donate To Local Kids Learn Water Safety At The Charities, Plans For K9 Memorial World’s Largest Swimming Lesson By Kate Quesada
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FishHawk Ranch. “Our members are some of the most solid men I have ever known.” According to Harr, the group is evenly made up of police officers, both active and retired, and military veterans and active duty service members. All members ride Harley-Davidson Motor Company or custom-built motorcycles with an engine displacement of 750cc or Valrico chapter of the Nam Knights of America recently above. presented $4,000 to the Special Operations Warrior “While we don’t actively Foundation using money collected at their annual pig recruit, as most of our memroast fundraiser. bers find out about us A group of local veterans and law through word of mouth, we are always enforcement officers recently made a big open to finding more people who share impact on some of their own. The Valrico our passion for helping others and enjoy chapter of the Nam Knights of America the love of riding motorcycles,” said Harr. donated $4,000 to the Hillsborough In addition to regular scheduled rides County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO) Memorial and social events, the group’s main goal Foundation and $4,000 to the Special is to help police officers and their family Operations Warrior Foundation last members and other veterans in need of month thanks to money raised at the assistance. They serve lunch to a HCSO group’s annual fundraiser. district office every quarter and recently The Nam Knights of America is a held a fundraiser to benefit a Sheriff’s motorcycle club that has 70 chapters deputy with cancer. Every year, the group throughout the country, 14 in Florida. The holds its biggest fundraiser, a pig roast, in group’s missions are to honor the memoApril and uses the finds raised to support ry of American Veterans and Police local law enforcement and veteran chariOfficers who have lost their lives in the ties. line of duty, to assist veterans and police The group’s next goal is to build a K9 officers in their time of need and to promemorial at the HCSO headquarters. mote community awareness through Plans for the memorial are in the beginsponsorships and participation in various ning stages, but Harr encourages anyone fundraising events. who is interested in donating, helping with “We are a group of like-minded peolabor or materials or becoming a corpople who want to give back to the commurate sponsor to contact him. nity while creating a bond with others,” For more information on the group, said Westside Chapter President Todd visit www.namknightswestside.com or Harr, who served in the United States email Harr at swirl@namknightswestArmy for 25 years and now lives in side.com.
Florida is the lightning capital of the United States. And Central Florida -- from Tampa to Titusville -- has the added distinction of being called "Lightning Alley." Because of the frequency of electrical storms, our state leads the nation in fatalities and injuries caused by lightning. See the full ‘Lightning Safety’ article on page 10.
By Sammie Green
WLSL was their new favorite event. For more information on the World’s Largest Swimming lesson, visit worldslargestswimminglesson.org. For more information about BSAC swim lessons, visit mybsac.org or call 689-0908. The kids practiced kicking drills to start off the swim lesson.
Last month, hundreds of aquatic centers around the world participated in the World’s Largest Swimming Lesson to raise awareness for water safety among children. Summer is one of the worst times of year for drowning accidents, so it is the best time to teach kids how to swim. As a sixth-year participant of World’s Largest Swimming Lesson, Brandon Sports and Aquatic Center hosted over 100 kids aged 4 to 14 to educate them about the importance of water safety. Hosted by BSAC’s aquatic director, Theresa Hickie, there was swimming, a DJ, snow cones and prizes to make the event fun and informative for the kids. BSAC’s swim instructors and coaches taught the children how to swim. Different water drills, such as kicking and rhythmic breathing, were taught in the 30minute lesson. “It is just so rewarding knowing that these kids are going to be able to help themselves if they were to get into any type of situation,” Hickie said. “They are going to know how to float and they are going to know how to turn themselves over and swim back to the side of the pool.” Many participants were involved in BSAC’s summer camps and were excited to take part in this event. Participants Deyana Marie Flannigan and Alyssa Russell both said swimming was their favorite thing to do at BSAC and the
Participants Deyana Marie Flannigan and Alyssa Russell enjoyed being in the pool on the hot summer day while learning about water safety.
In This Issue TEACHER LUNCHEON.........................PG 3 KITE CAMP .........................................PG 4 HOA HOT TOPICS ...............................PG 6 THREE WAYS TO VOTE .....................PG 12 POLITICAL FORUM ...........................PG 13 SENIOR PROM PROPSAL ..................PG 16 EYE ON BUSINESS .....................PGS 25‐26 ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT................PG 33 SPORTS CONNECTION......................PG 34
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