Riverview/Apollo Beach
6 C E L E B R A T I N G
June 2020 Volume 18, Issue 6 Ph: 657-2418 1 8
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
Silver Ring Café Leads By Example To Provide Meals To Essential Workers & Foster Kids
Lennard Holds Drive-Thru Graduation For 25 Migrant Students, Donor Gives Laptops
Office and Moffitt, The Silver Ring to mention a few. If Café has been a the café got a call staple in the about needing Riverview area for food, Dana and more than 26 years her staff did their and recently it has very best to deliver been working to food to fill the make an even bigneed. ger difference in “My brother, the community. Attorney David Dana Neville Neville, and a and her mother, friend of his, Dr. Rosemarie Neville, Kevin Lee, bought are co-owners of 100 lunches for the shop and, like Silver Ring Café in Riverview delivered most business own- food to those in the community who were Pinellas Park P.D.,” fighting the COVID-19 pandemic. Dana said. “I had a ers, the COVID-19 friend collect donations, we discounted pandemic affected their livelihood. “Our business was affected early on,” prices and we sent 75 bagged lunches to A Kid’s Place in Valrico. I am a huge Dana said. “Local businesses, Ring believer in shopping small and local. My Power, Boyette Animal Hospital and boyfriend of 11 years is also selfTampa Bay Water ordered large orders employed and we strive to support small from us in an attempt to keep us businesses.” alive. We talked about adjusting our Dana feels helping others is in her hours and then decided we could make a difference in the community; people need blood. “My maternal grandparents were to eat.” extremely involved in the betterment of Dana, her family and friends all their community and always giving pulled together to help each other out in back,” she said. “My grandmother on these difficult times. my dad’s side volunteered at a nursing “I had a few customers and friends home for years and was always reach out to me personally wanting to involved in her church. We were the support us by supporting front liners,” family that always had room at the dinDana said. “We ran with that. This was a ner table for one more during the holiway to keep my employees working and days.” feed the people. We discounted our To learn more about Silver Ring prices and we started accepting donaCafé in Riverview, visit its Facebook tions from family and friends first. We page at www.facebook.com/Silverwere posting all of our deliveries to our Ring-Riverview-145326312171334/ or Facebook page, then customers began contact Dana at 677-1487. The café is making donations.” The Silver Ring Café Riverview deliv- located at 7419 US Hwy. 301 in Riverview. The café’s hours of operaered food to Tampa General Hospital, Temple Terrace Fire Stations No. 1 and 2, tion are Monday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. and is closed on Sundays. Hillsborough County Medical Examiners
High school Commerce to hold graduation cerea ‘drive-thru’ gradumonies normally ation for these 25 take place all over students in place of the country this the Migrant time of the year, Graduate Banquet. but there was The last stop nothing normal was a surprise. about the graduaAccording to Davis, tion for 25 seniors “Students were at Lennard High handed gifts, School recently. including a laptop. Many of these Students celebrate their special graduation It was thanks to an day at Lennard High School. students are the (anonymous) first in their families to graduate from high neighbor’s donation of thousands of dolschool. They are part of the transient lars. She said she had four vacations migrant community who normally attend planned between January and July, and multiple schools during the year. they all got cancelled and she thought, Those students who manage to ‘You know what? I need to put this money graduate have overcome obstacles to good use.” deserving of special recognitions. “I’m just so in shock by everything Alejandra Chavez said, “Many peothat has happened. I’m very thankful for ple told my parents, ‘Oh, your daughter’s all the teachers that have supported us not going to be able to do something throughout all these years,” said Marisol because you came from a place where Neri-Baxcajay. Her twin sister, Rosal, you didn’t receive anything.’ The moment added, “It means everything because we I told my parents that I’m going to graduweren’t able to have the annual Migrant ate because I had all my requirements, Banquet. I didn’t even think this was posthey cried.” sible.” One special recognition tradition These graduates have proven that all began 12 years ago. Olga Perez, a certithings are possible…if you believe. fied Spanish teacher and the school district’s migrant advocate at Lennard High School, turned to the SouthShore In This Chamber of Commerce executive direcIssue tor, Melanie Davis, to help coordinate an event to honor the migrant graduates. LENNARD SCHOLARSHIP WINNERS ....PG 3 That began the yearly Migrant Graduate Banquet. TIKI DOCKS...........................................PG 4 In past years, Davis and her staff NEW WATERING RULES.......................PG 5 have supplied a photographer to take cap and gown photos of the graduates. COUNTY COVID SURVEY......................PG 7 Donated shirts, ties and dresses were ABSOLUTE WELLNESS .......................PG 10 collected and seniors enjoyed a ‘shopping day’ at the Lennard library to select their EYE ON BUSINESS.....................PGS 2526 own graduation outfits. COMMUNITY ARTS. .........................PG 28 COVID-19 turned graduation traditions and ceremonies upside down this SPORTS.............................................PG 38 year, but the celebration was still firstclass. Davis collaborated with sponsors READ MORE LOCAL NEWS ONLINE the Lightning Foundation, the Community www.ospreyobserver.com Foundation of Tampa Bay, Enterprising Latinas and the SouthShore Chamber of
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813-607-2900 | 602 Bahia Del Sol Drive, Ruskin | Sun - Thurs: 11am - 10pm | Fri & Sat: 11am - 11pm Many of the 580 graduates from East Bay High School, 600 seniors from Lennard High School and 382 members of Spoto High School’s Class of 2020 celebrated finishing the school year last month with a car parade attended by students, teachers and school staff. See Full Coverage on Page 16.