Volume 19 Issue 20
Inside: We Check Out The WC Chamber Banquet! See page 25!
September 24, 2011
The Direct-Mail News Magazines Serving Wesley Chapel & New Tampa Since 1993! THE INDEPENDENT COMMUNITY NEWS MAGAZINES DIRECTLY MAILED TO: WESLEY CHAPEL: Aberdeen • Belle Chase • Brookside • Chapel Pines • Country Walk • Lexington Oaks • Meadow Pointe • New River • Northwood • Pinewalk • Pine Ridge • Saddlebrook • Saddleridge Estates • Saddlewood • Seven Oaks • Lakes at Northwood • The Villages of Wesley Chapel • Wesley Pointe • Westbrook Estates • Williamsburg NEW TAMPA: Arbor Greene • Cory Lake Isles • Cross Creek • Grand Hampton • Heritage Isles • Hunter’s Green • Hunter’s Key • K-Bar Ranch • Lake Forest • Live Oak Preserve • Pebble Creek • Richmond Place • Tampa Palms • West Meadows
S.R. 54 Widening Expected To Be Completed By December! By Gary Nager It can never be soon enough for anyone who live or works near S.R./C.R. 54 from west of I-75 to just east of Curley Rd., but the good news from the Pasco County Project Management-Design department is that the widening of S.R./C.R. 54 is expected to be completed and open to the public by the first week in December. “Yes, we’re expecting to give everyone an early Christmas present by having that project done on or around December 7,” said John J. Chiarelli, P.E., from Pasco Project Management. At least 50 interested area residents and business people attended the fifth and final public information meeting on the S.R. 54 project, which was held at Atonement Lutheran Church on S.R. 54 on September 8. “Despite some recent bad weather, we are proud to say this project will be completed ahead of schedule.” Chiarelli, county engineering serv-
ices director James Widman and Pasco’s construction engineering manager Robert Shepherd were all on hand at the meeting to not only announce the expected completion date, but also to thank contractor Pepper Contracting Services and design consultant Reynolds, Smith & Hills and take questions from the audience regarding this and other road projects in and around Wesley Chapel. “This is the only remaining active project we have in the Wesley Chapel area,” Chiarelli said, “although the Florida Department of Transportation is also widening I-75 in this area...We also are working on the design and right of way acquisition for the project known as the Zephyrhills Bypass,” which is a project that runs parallel to S.R. 54 that will provide another eastwest access to Handcart Rd. (Morris Bridge Rd.) north of S.R. 54. Widman said that the Bypass project had to be put off because his department’s budget was slashed from
about $110 million to $25 million per year because of the economy. “We were negotiating the final contract with the developer (of New River Township; the Bypass runs through the New River Development of Regional Impact) to have them do the project themselves,” Widman said. “That is a high-priority project for us.”
A Little Pat On The Back
Among those on hand at the meeting was District 2 Pasco County commissioner Pat Mulieri, who took the opportunity to tout Wesley Chapel, which is located entirely within her district, as Pasco’s current and future economic engine — and to thank everyone who has worked on the S.R. 54 project. “When citizens and government work together, good things happen,” Mulieri told the crowd. “We listened (to your concerns about the project) and we responded to the public!” Mulieri noted that although the businesses along S.R. 54 and Bruce B.
John J. Chiarelli, P.E., from Pasco County’s Project Management department, said that the S.R. 54 widening should be finished by the first week in December. Downs Blvd. have taken a beating during the construction, “This area, with the new hospital (Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel), PHCC (a planned campus of Pasco-Hernando Community College), The Grove, the Shops at Wiregrass, has such synergy that it will be the catalyst for great things.” See “54 Widening” on page 23.
Wesley Chapel’s First Synagogue Opens In Time For High Holy Days
NEIGHBORHOOD MAGAZINE!
Popular Coach At Wiregrass Ranch High Passes Away, GrillSmith Hosts Event For Slain Siblings, Checking Out The New Bella MedSpa & Much More!
An ‘Evening Of Elegance’ At The WC Chamber Banquet, Our ‘Neighborhood Nibbles,’ Your First Chance To Enter Our 2011 Dining Sur vey & Contest & More!
See pages 3-24!
See pages 25-32!
ECRWSS
NEWS, BUSINESS, SPORTS & EDUCATION UPDATES
Cir. in the Seven Oaks Professional Park (which is conveniently located off of S.R. 56). Chabad at Wiregrass (formerly Chabad at County Line) is the first synagogue to open in eastern Pasco County; Rabbi Yarmush says that he chose the location because of its easy accessibility to not only Wesley Chapel and New Tampa but to Land O’ Lakes as well. He says anyone with an interest in Judaism is welcome to the services, regardless of background, affiliation (Orthodox, Conservative, Reformed, etc.) or financial means. See “Synagogue” on page 22.
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Also Inside This Issue!
community as a stand against terrorism. “September 11 is a day about uniting and coming together and showing strength,” says Rabbi Yarmush. “It’s about doing more to rebuild.” The first day at the new Chabad sanctuary was a great success. According to Yarmush, the attendance at the ceremony was about 130 people, a healthy increase from the 35 people Yarmush hosted for services at his home in 2008. After the ribbon cutting, the Rabbi and his congregants celebrated the opening of the synagogue by serving wine, cheese and decadent chocolate desserts. “We wanted to keep it sweet for such a sweet occasion,” said Yarmush. The Chabad at Wiregrass recently acquired the brand-new, 2,750-sq-ft office building at 2124 Ashley Oaks
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After years of meeting in hotel conference rooms, and composing services in the living rooms of each other’s homes, the Jewish community in Wesley Chapel now has a synagogue to call its own and it is open just in time for the upcoming High Holy Days. The Chabad Jewish Centre at
Wiregrass opened its doors to the public on September 11, when the community came out to see the ribbon cutting for the newly opened synagogue and to join Rabbi Mendi Yarmush for a service in the new sanctuary. Rabbi Yarmush says that choosing 9/11 as the first day for services was not an accident; Chabad at Wiregrass’ leadership chose the date to unite the
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For Advertising Information Call 813-910-2575 • Volume 19, Issue 20 • September 24, 2011 • www.WCNeighborhoodNews.com
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