Volume 24 Issue 1
Inside: Our Editor Reveals His Favorite Local Eateries!
January 1, 2016
See Neighborhood Magazine!
Named The 2014 ‘Small Business Of The Year’ By The Wesley Chapel Chamber Of Commerce! The Direct-Mail News Magazines Serving New Tampa & Wesley Chapel Since 1993! For the complete list of the neighborhoods that receive this publication by direct mail in New Tampa (zip code 33647), see page 54!
Rotary Club Of New Tampa Celebrates Its 20th Anniversary! By John C. Cotey
Brad Page had achieved most of his business goals at the young age of 28, and after doing so he began to wonder: What now? An ad in the paper led him to a new club that was just starting up in the New Tampa area, one that promised great things, like community involvement and helping others. Twenty years later, Page and the Rotary Club of New Tampa (RCNT), which meets Friday mornings at 7 a.m. at Tampa Palms Golf and Country Club (TPGCC), are still going strong. “It has been above and beyond what I expected,’’ Page said. On Nov. 27, the Rotary Club of New Tampa celebrated it’s 20th year with an appropriate theme -- 1995 TV shows and movies. Members showed up dressed like Woody in “Toy Story”, and others came dressed as their favorite characters from the hits of the year the RCNT was chartered, like “ER”, “GoldenEye” and “Batman.” The winner of the costume contest was Jerry McGinty, who came dressed as a patient from “ER.” Special guests at the party, which was held in the evening rather than the club’s usual meeting time, included Rotary District 6890 Governor Tom Wagner and his wife Vicki of the Rotary Club of Temple Terrace, which was one of the club’s original spon-
Current New Tampa Rotary president Lesley Zajac (with mic), with club members (l.-r.) Joyce and Gary Gunter and Jerry McGinty, at the club’s 20th anniversary celebration at Tampa Palms Golf & Country Club on Nov. 27. Photo provided by Full Throttle Intermedia.
soring clubs )along with the Rotary Club of Ybor City). The entertainment was provided by club member Bob Thompson. The party was as much a celebration of the timelessness of the club as it was a reflection of the contributions it has made over the years. “It is a lot of people who do a lot of great things, and we will be continuing that into another year,’’ said 2015-2016 Club President Lesley S. Zajac. “We have 66 members, and we have been as high as 90.”
The club hadn’t even been chartered yet when it received a special award from the Salvation Army for the money it raised ringing bells for the Salvation Army at the Publix in Tampa Palms. It’s first major service project involved planting trees in the median of BBD, and included raising $20,000 which was matched with fund from the City of Tampa. A road sign and plaque were erected afterwards crediting the RCNT for its efforts. Since then, the club has raised $27,000
to build a local dog park in Tampa Palms (which was matched ….the City of Tampa), bought a cow for a women’s group in Zimbabwe, bought computers for an orphanage in Costa Rica and given money to the ROTC program at nearby Freedom High. Zajac said the RCNT hopes to officially adopt the dog park this year. The club also raised $100,000 and helped build a wheelchair accessible playground at Rotary Camp Florida in Brandon, a camp for special needs children and adults. The playground was inspired by one built in Costa Rica by 18 New Tampa Rotarians (and USF Rotary Club members) 18 months earlier. Page, who has gotten his two teenage children involved in Rotary Club activities as well, is moved when he thinks of all the great work the club has done in two decades. There are currently two Rotary Clubs in New Tampa, the New Tampa Noon Rotary and the 20-year-old RCNT “breakfast club.” A third New Tampa Rotary Club, which met in the evening, recently folded. There are also two clubs serving Wesley Chapel, the Wesley Chapel Noon and the Wesley Chapel Sunrise Rotary clubs. But the RCNT holds a special place as the oldest and, in some cases, the inspiration for the others. In June of 1995, District Governor and Tampa Palms resident Dr. William N. Leonard was commisioned to survey the New Tampa area as a potential location for a new Rotary International Club. See “Rotary’ on page 16.
Tampa Palms Resident Wins U.S. National Chess Championship!
By John C. Cotey day, Wednesday and Thursday, maybe you’ll have a chance.” Tampa Palms resident Truman Hoang Truman, as it turned out, had more didn’t study like he normally does before than a chance. He also had a little bit of luck, a big chess tournament. He put it off for and a few fortunate breaks in his favor. The a week, and then another. He was busy at end result? school and busy with friends. Truman Hoang is now the 9th Grade By the time he got around to prepar- U.S. National Champion, besting a field that ing for the U.S. National Scholastic K-12 included 88 of the best freshman players in Chess Championships at the Disney Coro- the country. nado Resort in Orlando, the event was just “It’s ironic that I won,’’ said Truman, a few days away. a 14-year-old freshman at Middleton High “This is your last chance,’’ his father, in Tampa, a school he chose because of his TrongAn, told him. “If you practice Tues- interest in studying bio-medicine. “We were
Also Inside This Issue!
Local News, Business & Education Updates
Neighborhood Magazine
One Kind Gesture Makes A Family’s Night, Elected Officials Tell Us What To Expect In 2016, Local Hoopsters Battle To A Draw & Lots Of Local Business Features!
Keep Your Resolutions With Lola, Stage Left Beefs Up Its Menu, Gary Picks His Favorites of 2015 & More Neighborhood Nibbles & Business Bytes!
Pages 3-38
Pages 39-56
expecting it to be a lesson that not working hard has (repercussions). I didn’t think I would do well.” Instead, the lesson was: win the matches you’re supposed to, steal a few you shouldn’t and hang tough in even the most dire circumstances. Truman won five of his total seven matches and had draws in the other two. His six points tied him with two other players, Runya Xu of Pennsylvania and Albert Lu of California, but Truman’s opponents scored more combined points than the player Xu and Lu beat to give him the tiebreaker advantage. “A Christmas miracle,’’ Truman joked. Truman, a former Tampa Palms Elementary student and currently the vicepresident of Middleton’s freshman class, entered the tournament with a U.S. Chess Federation rating of 2176 (a rating of 2200 is considered Master status). In his first match, he beat a player ranked at 1400, and in the second round, defeated an opponent with an 1800 rating. See ‘Chess’ on page 17.
Tampa Palms resident Truman Hoang is the new 9th Grade U.S. National Chess Champion.