Good evening, East of Tampa family.
Nine of our schools play tonight and every one of them kicks at 7:30. Storms were due in after 5, so the first quarter is the part to watch, not the fourth.
Two of those games are worth the drive. More on that below, along with free groceries in Plant City tomorrow, the creators of Harley Quinn signing in Riverview, and a sidewalk closure on FishHawk Blvd that is going to catch somebody walking to the sports complex.
Little Fins Pediatric Dentistry | The office right behind Dunkin'
Dr. Austin Smith goes by Dr. AJ. He grew up in Iowa, trained at Marquette in the top 5 percent of his class, spent two years in pediatric training at Children's Hospital Colorado, and he is a Diplomate of the American Board of Pediatric Dentistry. He lives local with his wife and kids, which is the part that matters when your kid is the one in the chair.
The office is at 16637 FishHawk Blvd, Suite 105, right behind Dunkin'. Ocean murals, a projector on the ceiling in the waiting room, a TV in every room, and parents are welcome to come back into the room instead of sitting out front wondering. They are sitting on a 5.0 across 46 Google reviews, which is not a number you hold by accident with a waiting room full of four-year-olds.
Here is the reason to call this week and not in January. The CDC estimates more than 3 million teeth get knocked out at youth sporting events every year, and Little Fins makes custom mouthguards. Nine of our schools played tonight, every youth league in the county is mid-season, and the boil-and-bite in the bottom of the bag is not the same thing.
They also handle dental emergencies, and they run a membership plan for families without insurance. They are not in network with TRICARE but they take the out-of-network benefit and discount it for military families, which is worth a phone call if you are at MacDill.
Book at littlefinsdental.com or call (813) 454-0821. Open Monday through Thursday 7:30 to 4:30, and Friday mornings until noon.
Photo: Little Fins Pediatric Dentistry
⛅ Friday: 92, 30%. Take the ponchos to the game and expect the tarp to come out at least once.
⛈ Saturday: 90, 70%. Morning is yours. Anything after 2 is a coin flip you will lose.
⛈ Sunday: 89, 90%. Plan indoors and stop pretending otherwise.
The creators of Harley Quinn are coming to the Riverview library. Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti, the DC Comics team behind the character, are at Riverview Public Library tomorrow from 1:30 to 3. Free, no ticket, comic-themed activities and free books while they last. 9951 Balm Riverview Rd. This is a genuine get for a branch library and it will fill up.
Free groceries and free health screenings in Plant City, tomorrow morning. The county's Healthy Living Program is at the Plant City Community Resource Center from 9 to noon, 307 N. Michigan Ave. Groceries go out from 9 to 10:30, so that is the window. Screenings, vaccinations and kids' entertainment run the full three hours. Free.
The Strawberry Classic Cruise-In takes over downtown Plant City, Saturday 3 to 6. Classic cars line the historic main streets. Free to walk it. It is the third Saturday every month and this is the third Saturday.
Pickleball Palooza, Saturday from 8 a.m. The third annual, at the Plant City Tennis Center, 120 N. Wilder St. It benefits the Friends of the Plant City Police Department Foundation. Call (813) 616-1221 to get in.
A comedy and rock show in Ruskin, Sunday night. Jack Willhite at the Firehouse Cultural Center, 101 1st Ave. NE. Doors at 6, show at 6:30, $25. It benefits C.A.R.E., the Critter Adoption and Rescue Effort. They added this one after the matinee sold out, so it will go too.
Game of the week: Sumner at Armwood. Two 3-1 teams, and Armwood just put 51 on Spoto without giving up a point. Sumner beat Durant 27-14 the same night. This is the one somebody would actually drive to. 7:30 at Armwood.
The other one worth your time is Lennard at East Bay, also 3-1 against 3-1. Lennard is the team that beat Newsome 28-7 last time out.
The rest of Friday night, week five. Everything kicks at 7:30.
Bloomingdale at Brandon
Morgan at Riverview
Steinbrenner at Spoto
Strawberry Crest at Blake
Plant City at Wiregrass Ranch
Jefferson at Newsome
Plant at Durant
Last week, for anyone catching up: Bloomingdale 53, Leto 3. Armwood 51, Spoto 0. Plant City 37, Riverview 7. Strawberry Crest 35, King 18. Lennard 28, Newsome 7. Sumner 27, Durant 14. Hillsborough 20, East Bay 17.
East of Tampa Local Sports builds the graphics for these games. Final scores, matchups, player of the game, all of it, with a local business on every card. $250 a month for six posts, $500 for twelve. Reply to this email if you want the slot at your school.
Photo: East of Tampa Local Sports
N. Knights Ave. and N. Moon Ave. are closed at Victoria Street in Brandon, and they have been since Monday. Brandon High traffic is detoured to Limona Rd., Meade St. and N. Kings Ave. If you are walking it, go south to W. Sadie St., north on N. Kings, then west on Victoria.
The other one is closer to home for a lot of you. The north sidewalk on FishHawk Blvd is closed between FishHawk Ridge Dr. and the FishHawk Sports Complex. Use the south side. Both are South Hillsborough Pipeline work and neither has an end date posted.
Presented by WeWed.
The reservation is the easy part. Sitter booked, table booked, and forty minutes in you are both on your phones because neither of you knows what to talk about that is not the kids or the calendar.
Yolonda Young runs WeWed out of the east side. Most people call her Coach Lovey. Twenty years of prevention and wellness work, and her whole thing is working on the pattern before it turns into a crisis.
She put together a free one-page guide for our readers. Five questions, ten minutes, run it before you walk out the door. Grab The 10-Minute Check-In here.
Photo: WeWed
Where to go this weekend.
Propagation Whiskey Bar & Kitchen, 103 N. Palmer St. in downtown Plant City, is the one to book. Brandon Snyder runs it and Rocco Taliani is the executive chef and a partner. Get the pork and dumplings, $24, roasted pork belly over potato gnocchi with carrot and parmesan cream. Open until 11 Friday and Saturday, and they take reservations on OpenTable or at (813) 726-4714. Note the kitchen takes a break from 3 to 4.
Photo: Propagation Whiskey Bar & Kitchen
La Septima Cafe, 702 W. Lumsden Rd. in Brandon, has been doing Cuban since 1995 and the Fernandez family still signs their own story. They close at 8, so this is an early dinner, not a late one.
Circles Waterfront Restaurant sits on the water at Lands End Marina, 1212 Apollo Beach Blvd. Order the classic hot and spicy grouper. Open until 10 Friday and Saturday. They do not take reservations, so go early or go late.
Photo: Circles Waterfront Restaurant
Free health screenings are coming to Sun City Center on the 26th. Sun City Center United Methodist Church, 1971 Haverford Ave., 10 to 2. Blood pressure, glucose, A1C and BMI, flu shots from BayCare, Moffitt's mobile screening unit, hearing checks from Sertoma and resources from the Alzheimer's Association. Walk-ins, no cost. 813-634-2539. Details here.
Fitness Forge is open at 13456 Boyette Rd. in Riverview. Brett Daven and Taylor Green run it as semiprivate personal training, so small groups rather than a floor full of machines. They cut the ribbon with the Valrico FishHawk Chamber. More here.
School of Rock is coming to Valrico, but it is not open yet. The location at 3244 Lithia Pinecrest Rd., Suite 104 is listed as coming soon on the company's own site, with hours already posted and a phone at (813) 397-8828. Music lessons and group rehearsals for ages 4 and up. Call before you drive over.
The Greater SouthShore Chamber has a new home at 226 W. College Ave. in Ruskin. They cut the rope on it earlier this month.
The businesses that keep this free.
Environmental Protective Solutions has been doing mold and mycotoxin removal since Adam Key founded it in Lithia on May 5, 2005, so 21 years this year. Adam is a certified mold remediator. They handle the water damage, the leak detection, the crawl space work and the repairs afterward, with a one-year warranty on the remediation and a 24/7 emergency line. Brandon office at 2708 Broadway Center Blvd. (813) 438-5937.
Photo: Environmental Protective Solutions
Tabatha Pugh is a licensed Florida broker associate with The Local Team at Keller Williams Realty Smart, working out of Plant City. Nine years in, and she still answers her own phone. 813-476-8457.
PattiCakes Custom Cakes is Patti's shop and it is the one to call before the holidays get here, because the good weekends go first. Custom cakes, cake bites, and the seasonal trays. Message her on Facebook.
Photo: PattiCakes Custom Cakes
Glaros Law is Steve Glaros in Brandon, 350 E. Robertson St. Family law, personal injury and estate planning, and he is a Florida Supreme Court certified family mediator. He is also the 2026 Honorary Mayor of East Hillsborough, after raising $121,746 for High 5, the Impact Program and Raining Cats and Dogs. Free consultations on the personal injury side. (813) 854-1234.
Photo: Glaros Law
The #1 Meat Guy is Shawn McCranie. The Premium Family Meat Box is $220 and it is 24 steak burgers at 12 pounds, 24 all natural chicken breasts at 9 pounds individually packaged, and a 10 pound box of Duroc pork tenderloins. That is a full freezer. Fill out the order form below to get in touch with The #1 Meat Guy.
Photo: The #1 Meat Guy
Madison Patron sells real estate with Foundation Realty Group on the same east side streets the rest of us drive every day. Her cell is 813-955-9092 and she picks up.
Prestige Pressure Washing & Detail is Ben and Carrie Smith out of Brandon. Ben is a Marine Corps veteran. House washing, concrete and exterior cleaning, fully licensed and insured, and they take 20 percent off for veterans and 15 percent for seniors. (813) 438-6315.
Stoner's Pizza Joint is Allison Hardy's, at 3428 Lithia Pinecrest Rd. in Bloomingdale. Pick 2 for $6.99 each is the move on a Friday when nobody wants to cook after a game. (813) 436-0016.
Photo: Stoner's Pizza Joint
Fix It Today Plumbing is the same people as EPS, which is the point: the crew that stops the leak is the crew that dries the house out. Leaks, drains, water heaters, sewer lines, repiping and filtration, flat-rate pricing with financing. (813) 743-7793.
Team Plumstead is John and Danielle Plumstead with Red Sash Realty, working FishHawk, Lithia, Valrico and Riverview. (813) 495-2136.
Brandon Crossroads Bowl has been on Crater Lane since Bill Boje and his son Jeff built it in 1990. Forty lanes, 40,000 square feet, a pub and grill, an arcade and billiards. Midnight Cosmic runs Friday and Saturday from midnight to 2:30 for $15 with free shoes. 609 Crater Ln. (813) 621-2363.
If you are down in South County, The Alley at SouthShore is the same family and the same answer. 42,000 square feet at 10221 Big Bend Road in Riverview, with an arcade, a grill and a sports bar, and Team Trivia every Wednesday at 7. Between the two houses that is 82 lanes with the air conditioning on, and both of them are big supporters of local businesses around here, which is something you notice when you run one. (813) 672-8353.
Photo: The Alley at SouthShore
Maid Pure Cleaning is Dionne Cona, a former teacher and a mother of four, serving Brandon, Riverview and Valrico. More than 250 local customers, bonded and insured, with a 24-hour satisfaction callback. She also partners with Cleaning for a Reason. (813) 670-2004.
Photo: Maid Pure Cleaning
Got an event, a score, a grand opening or a kid worth bragging about? Send it over and we will run it.
See you Tuesday.
John
The East of Tampa Guy
Excited to learn about all things Hillsborough County as I start the Leadership Brandon experience hosted by the Brandon Riverview Chamber of Commerce. more to follow…
