Good morning, East of Tampa family.
It is Friday, October 9. Ten local teams play tonight, storms are in the forecast all three days, about 60 percent tonight and closer to 75 on Saturday and Sunday. So this one is built around plans that work rain or shine.
Meet the Patti in PattiCakes
Patti Burnett bakes custom cakes, cookies and cake pops out of Brandon. Before the business, she was an elementary school teacher. She is a USF grad and a mom of five.
Photo: PattiCakes Custom Cakes
PattiCakes Custom Cakes started the way a lot of the best local businesses do. She baked for family and close friends, they shared it, and their friends started asking. Her own line for it: “Where your dessert is my masterpiece.”
You may have eaten her work without knowing it. Her logo cookies go out to local businesses and offices, and her mystery dumplings are a chocolate shell around an oversized cake pop, where the color and flavor stay a surprise until you bite in.
Photo: PattiCakes Custom Cakes
Right now: Halloween kits. PattiCakes has DIY decorating kits on preorder, cookies or cupcakes with Halloween frosting and sprinkles in the box. Six-packs are $20, twelve-packs $35. Message PattiCakes on Facebook to order and pick your pickup day.
Photo: PattiCakes Custom Cakes
PattiCakes is the Official Bakery Partner of East of Tampa, and we picked her for the same reason her customers keep coming back. Birthday, shower, wedding or office event coming up? Call (352) 942-3455, see her gallery, or send the details through our PattiCakes page.
⛈️ Friday. High 89, 60% rain. Storms build this afternoon and the odds hold near 60 into kickoff.
🌦️ Saturday. High 89, 73%. Isolated storms. Do the outdoor stuff early.
🌦️ Sunday. High 89, 74%. Scattered storms. Pumpkin patch before lunch.
PARTNER SPOTLIGHT
The first exam for braces or Invisalign is free.
MVP Orthodontics in Riverview: Dr. Mayuri Patel earned her dental degree at Tufts and did her orthodontic residency at Washington Hospital Center in D.C. The first exam for braces or Invisalign is free. 11573 U.S. Highway 301 S. (813) 640-0220.
Photo: MVP Orthodontics
Keel Farms Harvest Days, Plant City. Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Free admission, $10 parking, $5 for an all-day hayride wristband. Corn maze, pumpkin patch and pumpkin painting, a pumpkin pie eating contest, vendors and food trucks. Dogs welcome, no tickets needed. 5202 Thonotosassa Rd. Details.
Photo: Keel Farms
Lazydays Fall Festival, Vendor Market and Car Show, Seffner. Saturday, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Free and open to the public. 6210 County Road 579. Details.
Brandon Sunday Market, "Cancer Sucks!" benefit. Sunday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., with the Angel Foundation. Free admission. La Viva Plaza, 788 W. Lumsden Rd., Brandon. Details.
Ronele Drive in Brandon is closed to through traffic for about two months. The South Hillsborough Pipeline work has moved onto it, and El Greco Drive at Ronele is shut for roughly a week from Oct. 5. Detour by S. Kings Avenue or John Moore Road. Moon Avenue between Victoria Street and Brandon Boulevard stays closed through late December. Detours.
Map: South Hillsborough Pipeline
Game of the week: Armwood at Tampa Bay Tech, 7:30. Tampa Bay Tech is 7-0 after beating Lennard 40-7 last week. Armwood is 5-1 and comes in off a bye. This one is always a big game, and this year both teams are playing great football. Get there early, and bring the poncho.
Also worth the drive: Plant City at Newsome, Durant at Lennard, and Spoto at Bloomingdale. Send us your finals and your best photo from the stands and we will run them Tuesday.
Dump the standing water, and bring in the old tires. Hillsborough County is fighting dengue with daytime aerial mosquito treatments this week and is asking everyone to empty anything that holds water. Old tires are the worst offender. Each household can drop off up to 12 tires a year for free at Alderman's Ford, 9402 County Road 39 in Plant City, or Hillsborough Heights, 6209 County Road 579 in Seffner. How it works.
Photo: Hillsborough County
REAL ESTATE CORNER
Madison Patron of Foundation Realty Group is the Bloomingdale agent, and the Bulls are home tonight against Spoto. If you live in the Bloomingdale, Valrico or Brandon zones and have wondered what your house would sell for this fall, Madison will put together a free home value report: what sold near you, for how much, and how fast. No obligation. Call (813) 955-9092.
Brandon Crossroads Bowl and The Alley at South Shore are the rain plan. Late-night cosmic bowling runs Friday and Saturday at both, $15 a person with shoes. Sunday Funday at Crossroads is three hours of unlimited bowling for $6.99, 9 a.m. to noon. Crossroads (813) 621-2363, The Alley (813) 672-8353.
Photo: The Alley at South Shore
The #1 Meat Guy of Tampa Bay delivers the butcher counter to your door, Monday through Friday across Tampa Bay. The Premium Family Meat Box is 27 pounds for $225: 12 pounds of steak burgers, 9 pounds of chicken breasts and 6 pounds of Duroc pork tenderloins. Better quality, better value, delivered right to your door. Order at thenumber1meatguy.com.
Photo: The #1 Meat Guy of Tampa Bay
Stoner's Pizza Joint, Bloomingdale. Friday is pizza night, and the store at 3428 Lithia Pinecrest Rd. in Valrico is right on the way home from the game. Join Stoner's Rewards and your first pizza is free. Order ahead: 813-436-0016.
Got a score, a photo or a new business? Reply to this email. If you are in the stands tonight, send us your best picture. We run the good ones.
-John the East of Tampa Guy
Ten games, one poncho forecast. If your kid plays in a lightning delay tonight, you are officially a Florida sports parent.
