Good morning, East of Tampa family.
Two of our schools are 5-1, and neither of them is the one people were talking about in August. Lennard has won five straight and now sits alone atop its district. Armwood has shut out three of its last four opponents. The whole board is below.
The other thing to know: the dry stretch is over. Rain chances sit at 60 to 70 percent from Wednesday straight through Sunday, and Thursday and Friday are the wettest days on the board. If you have outside work, today is the day to do it.
Two businesses in this newsletter cover a kid’s mouth from the first tooth to the last bracket. Little Fins Pediatric Dentistry in FishHawk, and MVP Orthodontics on US 301 in Riverview. Two separate practices, two different owners. They just happen to cover the same ground in order, and most families out here end up needing both.
Little Fins is the one you meet first.
Dr. AJ built a pediatric practice for the kid who is scared of the chair. The room is a reef, floor to ceiling, and the shark on the wall does more work than anything a dentist could say to calm a six-year-old down. They are the FishHawk and Lithia kids dentist, they see children from the first tooth on, and they are accepting new patients. (813) 454-0821.
Photo: Little Fins Pediatric Dentistry
MVP Orthodontics is usually the one you meet second.
Dr. Mayuri Patel was our family orthodontist before she was an advertiser. She has been straightening Plumstead teeth on 301 since well before East of Tampa existed.
Photo: MVP Orthodontics
Dr. Patel trained at Tufts, did a general practice residency at LIJ Medical Center in New York and her orthodontic residency at Washington Hospital Center in Washington, D.C. She founded the practice and still runs it. Early orthodontic care for young kids, braces for kids and adults, Invisalign and retainers. Every age, not just middle schoolers.
Photo: MVP Orthodontics
And the exam is free. No referral, no obligation. You either find out your kid needs something, or you find out you are three years early and you stop wondering about it. (813) 640-0220, or book at mvporthodontics.com.
The dentist is the one who notices. The orthodontist is the one who fixes it. Almost every parent meets the second one because the first one said something.
☀️ Tuesday. High 89, low 71, 20% rain. Isolated storms after 2 p.m. and done by dinner. The best day of the week by a wide margin.
🌦️ Wednesday. High 87, low 72, 60%. Showers likely after 2 p.m. The pickup line and the 5 o’clock practice window are the wet spots. Rain gear in the car.
⛈️ Thursday. High 89, low 74, 70%. The wettest day on the board. Showers from 2 p.m. and scattered stuff hanging around until 2 a.m. Move anything outdoors to the morning.
⛈️ Friday. High 90, low 74, 70%. Dry morning, wet from 2 p.m., tapering after 8. Friday night football is an umbrella night, not a washout.
🌧️ Saturday. High 90, low 74, 60%. The one night this week rain is likely after dark too. Morning is your dry window for youth games and yard work.
🌧️ Sunday. High 90, 60%. More of the same. Plan indoors and be pleasantly surprised.
No heat advisory, and nothing in the tropics is pointed at Florida. West central Florida has been running abnormally dry to extreme drought all month, so this is the first real break in a while. Source: National Weather Service Tampa Bay.
Wine Down at Society Wine Bar. Wednesday, 5 to 7 p.m. Free to walk in, you pay your own tab. 238 Harbor Village Ln., Apollo Beach. The Greater SouthShore Chamber’s last-Wednesday networking hour, and it is the least formal one on the calendar. No registration.
Book discussion: First Lie Wins. Thursday, 2 to 3 p.m. Free, no registration. Bloomingdale Regional Public Library, 1906 Bloomingdale Ave., Valrico. Ashley Elston’s thriller about a woman whose entire identity is an assignment from an employer she has never met. Recommended for adults.
Cover: Pamela Dorman Books
Center Stage Comedy: Carmen and Friends. Friday, 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. $25 to $30. Firehouse Cultural Center, 101 1st Ave. NE, Ruskin. Stand-up on the main stage.
Glass fusing: pumpkins. Saturday, 2 to 3:30 p.m. $40 to $50. Check the address on this one: it is at the FCC Annex, 305 US Hwy. 41, Ruskin, not the main Firehouse building on 1st Avenue.
Razzmatazz Magic Show. Saturday, 2 to 3 p.m. Free. Riverview Public Library, 9951 Balm Riverview Rd. Ventriloquism and magic, aimed at kids. Tickets go out at the service desk 30 minutes before on a first-come basis, so be there by 1:30 if you want a seat.
Brandon Boulevard, nights, through Thursday. SR 60 between Buckingham Place and Lithia Pinecrest Road is down a lane from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. for repaving. Leave ten extra minutes after dark or drop south to Bloomingdale.
US 301 south, nights, through Friday. From the Manatee County line up to Sun City Center Boulevard, nightly lane closures 7 p.m. to 6:30 a.m. After dark, I-75 is the faster way home.
US 301 at Ayersworth Glen Boulevard, days, through Friday. Signal installation, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., right at the Ayersworth entrance. Expect a flagger and a queue at school pickup.
Coming Monday: North Moon Avenue closes in Brandon. Between Victoria Street and Brandon Boulevard, fully closed to cars and pedestrians, 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday, through late December. The detour is Knights to Victoria to Parsons. Local access stays open off Morgan Street. Details at the South Hillsborough Pipeline alerts page.
The Bucs are 0-3 and I would rather not talk about it. The Gators are 4-0, just hung 52 on the number four team in the country, and I would very much like to talk about that. Saturdays and Sundays are living completely different lives in my house right now.
Last week’s finals:
Durant 57, Riverview 28
Armwood 56, Plant 0
East Bay 45, Freedom 0
Spoto 44, Leto 23
Lennard 19, Plant City 14
Tampa Bay Tech 41, Bloomingdale 0
Manatee 30, Sumner 27
Steinbrenner 45, Strawberry Crest 21
Lake Wales 66, Brandon 0
Newsome was off.
Where it stands. Lennard and Armwood are both 5-1 and they are the two best teams in the footprint right now. Lennard has beaten Newsome, East Bay and Plant City in three consecutive weeks and leads its district at 2-0, which is not where anyone had the Longhorns six weeks ago. Armwood’s only loss all year is to an out-of-state national program, and it has posted three shutouts in its last four. Bloomingdale had won four in a row before Tampa Bay Tech handed it a 41-0 night; the bye comes at a decent time.
Friday’s board:
Spoto at Durant
East Bay at Strawberry Crest
Newsome at Alonso
Riverview at Steinbrenner
Tampa Bay Tech at Lennard
Sumner at Jefferson
Brandon at Leto
Plant City at Gaither
Spoto at Durant is the only all-local game on the board, and Durant is coming off the highest-scoring night any of our teams has had this season. One honest caveat on times: MaxPreps has all of these at 7:30, but no second source has published Friday’s kickoffs yet, so check with your school before you leave the house.
Got a score, a photo, or a kid worth writing up? Send it in. Half of what runs here came from a parent.
JF Kicks Restaurant & Patio Bar, 3345 Lithia Pinecrest Rd., Valrico.
It is Tuesday, and at Kicks that means three tacos for $6, hard or soft shell, chicken or beef, with $5 margaritas alongside. Dine in only. That is a standing weekly special they publish themselves, not a one-week promotion, so it will be there next Tuesday too.
Image: JF Kicks Restaurant & Patio Bar
If tacos are not it, the rest of the menu is a straight American bar-and-grill list and the prices are fair for what arrives. The Kicks Jam Burger is $15.95. The grouper sandwich and the Cubano are both $16.95. Bang bang shrimp $13.95, a dozen wings $16.95, a 12-ounce ribeye $28.95, bourbon glazed salmon $24.95. Every kids item is $8.94.
Photo: JF Kicks Restaurant & Patio Bar
The detail that makes it a weeknight place rather than an occasion: the patio is dog friendly and they publish an actual pooch menu, $5.95 to $13.95. They have been in that spot since 2007. Open 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and until 1 a.m. Friday and Saturday, with a late-night menu after the kitchen winds down. 813-643-7777.
Sixteen free FAFSA help nights are opening across the district. Hillsborough County Public Schools is running 16 financial aid nights for high school seniors and their families, with staff from Hillsborough College, USF and the University of Tampa on hand. You get help actually filling the form out, time with financial aid people, and a look at aid you may not know you qualify for. Each session is a two-hour open window, so you can walk in whenever it suits you. The first is Wednesday, Oct. 7 at Spoto High in Riverview, and the rest of the schedule is posted at hillsboroughschools.org/FAFSA. If you have a senior in the house, this is the highest-value free thing on this week’s list and it is not close.
Align Right Realty Riverview is now Elevated Realty. The Balm Riverview Road brokerage led by broker-owner Lisa Tackus has rebranded, new name and the tagline “Raising the Standard.” Same office at 11962 Balm Riverview Rd., same 85-plus agents. 813-563-5995.
Fred Astaire Dance Studios has a new Brandon space. After nearly 16 years in Brandon, the studio moved within the same East Brandon Boulevard plaza and marked the new room with an open house. They teach more than 18 ballroom styles, waltz through salsa, plus wedding-dance prep for couples who have six weeks and a first dance to survive. 1072 E. Brandon Blvd., 813-438-5963. Reported by the Osprey Observer.
Tabatha Pugh, The Local Team at KW Smart. Plant City homes for sale. It is a buyer’s market out here right now, and Tabatha works Plant City every single day rather than driving over for a showing. 813-476-8457.
PattiCakes Custom Cakes. Custom cakes out of Brandon. The fall and holiday calendar fills up earlier than people expect, so if you have a birthday or a party in the next two months, call now. (352) 942-3455.
Photo: PattiCakes Custom Cakes
Glaros Law. Family law and personal injury. Steven J. Glaros is a certified family mediator and a member of The Florida Bar in good standing, with more than 30 years of combined experience behind the firm. The first consultation is free, in person or virtual. 813-854-1234.
Photo: Steven J. Glaros & Associates
Maid Pure Cleaning. Home cleaning across Brandon, Riverview, Valrico, FishHawk and Lithia. Recurring, deep clean, or move in and move out. Come home to clean, without lifting a finger. The quote is free. (813) 670-2004.
Photo: Maid Pure Cleaning
Magnolia Soap & Bath. The Lithia store. Handmade soap, bath and body, and the place half of FishHawk ends up when it needs a teacher gift or a hostess gift that is not a candle. 813-986-7835.
Photo: Magnolia Soap & Bath
Harbor Trust Accounting. CPA, tax and bookkeeping, run by Kenneth Sjoberg. Fourth quarter is when it stops being early to think about your return and starts being late. The tax review is free. 813-642-4647.
Got a score, a photo, a new business, a road that has been torn up for a month, or a kid who did something worth telling 5,000 neighbors about? Send it to us. Reply to this email and it lands in the right inbox. This newsletter runs on what you tell us, and the best items every week come from somebody who just hit reply.
-John the East of Tampa Guy
The Bucs are 0-3. The Gators just put 52 on the No. 4 team in the country. If you have been unusually cheerful on Saturday and unusually quiet on Sunday, we see you. We are you.
