Riverview/Apollo Beach
7
September 2021
Volume 19,
Issue 9
SEE ARTICLE ON PAGE 26
Ph: 657-2418
CELEBRATING 19 YEARS OF PUBLISHING P OSITIVE COMMUNIT Y NEWS
COMMUNITY COMES TOGETHER TO
SUPPORT SIMMONS BOYS & GIRLS CLUB By Libby Hopkins
The Simmons Boys & Girls Club of Riverview staff and Senior Program Specialist Samori Hayden, along with the Riverview community, are the perfect combination that makes the club awesome for all of its children.
B o y s & Girls Clubs of Tampa Bay has been a strong thread in the fabric of the Tampa Bay community for more than 90 years. In 1926, the Tampa Rotary Club established the first club, the West Tampa Boys Club. After successfully financing and operating the club for almost 20 years, the Rotarians recognized a need for expansion and thus began the growth of an organization dedicated to serving young men and women in our community. “The Riverview community fully supports the Simmons Boys & Girls Club,” Hargrove said. “Without the help of the Riverview community and my assistant, Samori Hayden, we would not have been able to provide our kids with backpacks for school.” Hargrove is extremely proud of Hayden. “This fall, Samori will be a member of the USF marching band, the Herd of Thunder,” Hargrove said. “He balances his school and band schedule all while working at the Riverview Boys & Girls Club as a senior program specialist, where he has been working since 2020. He enjoys mentoring and participating in activities with the members of the club.” The Simmons Boys and Girls Club is located at 6809 Krycul Ave. in Riverview.
Osprey Observer 2109 Lithia Pinecrest Rd. Valrico, FL 33596
Staff Report west of Egmont Key. Powered by four 250-horsepower Yamaha outboard engines, FB 29 has a top speed of 49 mph. With twin hulls and a draft of just 28 inches, the craft can navigate shallow waters and pull up to beaches and islands with a bow that drops forward, landing craft-style, to load incapacitated patients in medical need. Hillsborough County formally broke ground on Fire Station 29 in The station also includes Apollo Beach last month, replacing a much smaller, outdated fire the latest in architectural station down the street. safety measures, such as Work is underway on a new fire station laundry and showers between the apparatus to serve the growing communities in Apollo bays and the main part of the station so that Beach. Hillsborough County formally broke firefighters can decontaminate before enterground on Fire Station 29 in Apollo Beach ing the station’s living quarters. Eliminating last month, replacing a much smaller, outcarcinogens is critically important in keepdated fire station down the street. ing firefighters healthy from cancer-causing The station will be located at 6720 N. U.S. 41 in Apollo Beach and will help serve the smoke common in modern fires. To learn more, visit www.hillsboroughfast-growing communities of Apollo Beach, county.org. MiraBay, Waterset and Adamsville. According to the county’s Chris Wilkerson, the new location provides the crews with quick access to U.S. 41 to help improve response times. “The new, 10,000-square-foot station will have three drive-through apparatus bays for a fire engine, an ALS rescue truck and a tanker truck capable of delivering 3,000 gallons of water directly to a fire scene,” said Wilkerson. “The station also will be home to a battalion chief’s vehicle and 21 or more firefighters/paramedics working three 24hour shifts.” Station 29 also is the home of Hillsborough’s Marine Rescue Crew. Hillsborough County Fire Rescue’s 38-foot Fire Boat 29 (FB 29) responds to nautical emergencies and can spray up to 3,500 gallons of seawater a minute from deck guns, put out fuel fires with foam retardant and is docked nearby at Lands End Marina. Launched in 2018, FB 29 responds to boat fires, medical calls and other nautical emergencies, providing critical protection in a waterfront community with a major port and thousands of recreational boaters. Working closely with the U.S. Coast Guard and other agencies, the craft and its crew cover a 42-mile shipping channel and surrounding waters from Port Tampa Bay to
IN THIS ISSUE: CONCERTS FOR A CAUSE ..................PG 3 MOTORING TAMPA BAY ................... PG 5 EYE ON BUSINESS.............................PG 25 FOOTBALL PREVIEW.............. PGS 36-39
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When Delicia Hargrove became the new club director of the Sandy & George Simmons Family Riverview Boys & Girls Club, she didn’t realize how supportive the Riverview community is when it comes to supporting their local businesses and organizations. “I came from Plant City and I truly didn’t know much about the Riverview community,” Hargrove said. “When it came to needing help for the Boys & Girls Club, all I had to do was ask and the Riverview community was there to help.” Hargrove wanted to have a backpack drive to help the children who are a part of her club. “I told the Riverview Chamber of Commerce I wanted to have a backpack drive and they made it happen,” Hargrove said. “They got Coca-Cola, Herzing University and Hess Orthodontics to donate backpacks. We were able to give out the backpacks and school supplies the week before school started.” Boys & Girls Clubs of Tampa Bay serves more than 22,000 youth in Hillsborough and Pasco Counties annually at its 22 clubs in the area. The staff diligently work with students who fall into the learning gap due to the disparity in academic performance creating an opportunity gap which is dependent on race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status and other factors that contribute to academic limitations.
HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY BREAKS GROUND ON APOLLO BEACH FIRE STATION 29
Now Hiring Sales Associates and Assistant Managers Football Preview Pages 36-39. See the Varsity Football Touchdown Review by our own sports editor, Nick Nahas, as he gives a preview of the East Bay, Lennard, Sumner and Riverview High School Varsity Football teams with schedules and player listings! Friday Night Lights is BACK!!
