Good morning, East of Tampa family.
Ten of our schools play tonight at 7:30. The forecast carries a 60 to 80 percent chance of afternoon storms all three days, and the pumpkin patches opened anyway. Get your outside stuff done before 2.
We are starting with dessert this week.
PattiCakes Custom Cakes | The official bakery of East of Tampa
PattiCakes Custom Cakes is the Official Bakery Partner of East of Tampa. It is a Brandon kitchen turning out custom cakes, cake pops, cookies and full dessert tables for the whole Tampa Bay area.
Photo: PattiCakes Custom Cakes
53 reviews on her Facebook page, and 100 percent of them recommend her. WFLA’s Daytime show had her on in July for Christmas ice cream cone cake pops. The one people keep asking about right now is the mystery dumpling: a chocolate shell around a big cake pop, and you do not know the color or the flavor until you bite into it. You can see what she has been making on the PattiCakes Facebook page.
She does logo cookies for local businesses too. Send her your logo and she will show you what it looks like.
October is birthdays, homecoming and Halloween, and the holidays are right behind it. Whatever the date is, ask. She will tell you straight if she can make it work.
Request your cake here, or call (352) 942-3455.
⛈️ Friday: 90, 60%. Heat index near 102 and storms after 4. Bring a poncho to the game.
🌧️ Saturday: 90, 80%. The wettest day of the three. Anything outside goes in the morning.
🌦️ Sunday: 91, 60%. Mostly sunny until about 2, then the usual.
St. Andrew’s Pumpkin Patch, Brandon. Friday 4 to 7:30, Saturday and Sunday 9:30 to 7:30, every day through Oct. 31. Free to walk through, and it is the photo every family on the east side takes at least once. 3315 S. Bryan Rd., with parking off both Bryan and Bloomingdale.
Photo: St. Andrew’s United Methodist Church
Frogtoberfest 9.0, Valrico. Saturday from 11:30 a.m. at Bullfrog Creek Brewing, 3632 Lithia Pinecrest Rd. Free to get in. Their Oktoberfest is on its ninth year, and the taproom is indoors when the storms roll through.
Fall Fright Fest, Ruskin. Saturday 5 to 9 p.m. at Camp Bayou Nature Preserve, at the end of 24th St. SE. $5 a person. Night hikes at 7, 7:30 and 8, a critter hike for kids at 6:30, s’mores and Florida folklore. The hikes need advance registration, and anyone under 18 comes with an adult.
Photo: Hillsborough County
Drive My Car: A Beatles Tribute, Sun City Center. Friday at 7 p.m. at the United Methodist Church of Sun City Center, 1971 Haverford Ave. $20 online. Full costume Fab Four, with a photo meet and greet afterward. If you are not doing football tonight, this is the other plan.
North Moon Avenue closes Monday through late December. Starting Oct. 5, North Moon Ave. in Brandon shuts down between Victoria St. and Brandon Blvd. for South Hillsborough Pipeline trench work. Crews work Monday through Saturday, 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Detour on Knights, Victoria, Parsons and Brandon Blvd. Both sidewalks close, so Brandon High walkers are routed down Sadie, Kings and Victoria. Full detour map here.
Game of the week: Tampa Bay Tech at Lennard, 7:30. Tech is 6-0 and has allowed 44 points in six games. Lennard is 5-1 on a five-game win streak, and the only loss was 17-7 to Armwood. It is the only game tonight between two winning teams from our side of the county, and Lennard is at home.
The rest of Friday night, week seven. All at 7:30.
Spoto at Durant
East Bay at Strawberry Crest
Riverview at Steinbrenner
Brandon at Leto
Newsome at Alonso
Plant City at Gaither
Sumner at Jefferson
Armwood and Bloomingdale are off this week.
Three days of storms is a good excuse to sit inside somewhere with a real menu. Here is where to go.
Donovan’s Meatery, Riverview. The sit-down pick. Veteran owned and operated, at 11206 Sullivan St. The 6 oz. filet is $52 and the frenched lamb chops are $58. Open until 10 Friday and Saturday, and it books on OpenTable. On a rainy Saturday, a reservation is the move.
Turkish Kitchen, Brandon. 119 W. Bloomingdale Ave. The mixed grill for two is $48.95, the lamb shish is $25.95, and wine by the glass is $9.95. Book a table through their site. Something different from the same three places you always end up at.
Keel Farms, Plant City. Tonight is the first Friday of the month, which means Sangria Night, 5 to 10 p.m. Live music, dancing, no cover and no reservations, so it is first come for a table. 5202 Thonotosassa Rd. The kitchen runs until 10.
One day a week until March. The county’s one-day-a-week watering limit now runs through March 31, 2027, private wells included. The region is 15 inches short on rain. Your day is the last digit of your address: 0-1 Monday, 2-3 Tuesday, 4-5 Wednesday, 6-7 Thursday, 8-9 Friday. Water between 8 p.m. and 4 a.m. The county has the details.
Runway for a Reason, RSVP by Monday. Women of Hope at New Hope Church is putting on a fashion show and lunch for ECHO, the Brandon food and emergency aid nonprofit. Saturday, Oct. 10 at 11:30 a.m. in the social hall at 121 N. Knights Ave. in Brandon, as reported by the Osprey Observer. RSVP here by Oct. 5.
Coffee with a Cop, Plant City. Wednesday, Oct. 7, 7 to 10 a.m. at Stingray Chevrolet, 2002 N. Frontage Rd. Bring a question, get a coffee. Details from the city.
Monster Mash is three weeks out. Plant City’s free Halloween night is Friday, Oct. 23, 6 to 10, and Saturday, Oct. 24, 7 to 10, at Plant City Stadium. Trunk-or-treat, scare zones, a DJ and food trucks. Parking is $5, cash. Details from the city.
The businesses that keep this free.
Prestige Pressure Washing & Detail. Ben and Carrie Smith run it out of Brandon, and Ben is a Marine Corps veteran. House washing, concrete and exterior cleaning, fully licensed and insured. Veterans get 20 percent off and seniors 15. Call (813) 438-6315 for a free quote.
Tabatha Pugh, The Local Team at Keller Williams Realty Smart. Tabatha is a broker associate who works Plant City and the east side. If you are buying in Plant City or anywhere east of 301, start with her. (813) 476-8457.
The #1 Meat Guy. High-quality meat delivered to your door. Shawn McCranie’s Premium Family Meat Box is $220: 24 steak burgers, 24 chicken breasts and 10 pounds of Duroc pork tenderloin. Fill out the order form on his site to get in touch.
MVP Orthodontics. Dr. Mayuri Patel trained at Tufts and did her orthodontic residency at Washington Hospital Center in D.C. Braces and Invisalign for kids and adults at 11573 U.S. 301 S. in Riverview. MVP was our family’s orthodontist long before they advertised here. The first exam is free. (813) 640-0220.
Photo: MVP Orthodontics
Fix It Today Plumbing. Leaks, drains, water heaters, sewer lines and repiping, with flat-rate pricing and financing. Same-day service across Brandon, Riverview, Valrico and Plant City. (813) 743-7793.
Madison Patron, Foundation Realty Group. Madison works the same east-side neighborhoods we cover. It is a buyer’s market right now, and she will show you what is out there. Call her cell, 813-955-9092.
Stoner’s Pizza Joint, Bloomingdale. Allison Hardy’s store at 3428 Lithia Pinecrest Rd. in Valrico. Pizza, wings and calzones, and tonight is a football night with 80 percent rain on deck tomorrow. Order ahead or call (813) 436-0016.
Environmental Protective Solutions. Founded in Lithia in 2005, so 21 years this year. Adam Key and his crew handle mold, water damage, leak detection and the repair work afterward. Three straight days of storms is exactly when a slow leak shows up. Free inspection at (813) 438-5937.
Photo: Environmental Protective Solutions
Brandon Crossroads Bowl and The Alley at SouthShore. The Boje family has run bowling centers since 1959 and built BCB on Crater Lane in 1990. 40 lanes, an arcade and billiards, and Midnight Cosmic Friday and Saturday from midnight to 2:30 a.m., $15 with free shoes. If you are in South County, The
Alley at SouthShore at 10221 Big Bend Rd. in Riverview is the same family, with Team Trivia every Wednesday at 7. A rainy weekend is a bowling weekend. Tell them East of Tampa sent you: BCB (813) 621-2363, The Alley (813) 672-8353.
Photo: The Alley at SouthShore
Team Plumstead. Veteran-owned real estate with Red Sash Realty, based in FishHawk. If you are buying on the east side, Team Plumstead will walk you through what is on the market this month. (813) 495-2136.
Know about something happening out here that we missed? A fundraiser, a grand opening, a neighbor doing something worth knowing about. Send it in here.
See you Tuesday.
John
The East of Tampa Guy
This is guy needs to save our season sunday…no pressure
