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  • Wiener Dog Derby to be featured at Tampa Riverwalk this weekend

    Wiener Dog Derby to be featured at Tampa Riverwalk this weekend

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    TAMPA, Fla. — You haven’t seen anything until you’ve seen wiener dogs racing in slow motion, or in any speed, really — the Dachshund breed appeal is widespread.

    What You Need To Know

    • The Florida Wiener Dog Derby will be happening at the Tampa Riverwalk on Saturday

    • The event also serves as an opportunity to rescue and adopt the dogs, as well as to get educated about the breed

    • Stephanie Boyle, president of Skyway Dachshund Rescue, says her group group advocates for breed education

    The Florida Wiener Dog Derby is taking place Saturday at the Tampa Riverwalk, where hundreds will be gathering to share their love for Dachshunds. The event also serves as an opportunity to rescue and adopt the dogs, as well as getting educated about the breed.

    Stephanie Boyle is the president of Skyway Dachshund Rescue and has participated in the derby for the past five years with about 200 other dogs in different categories. Boyle prepares for the weekend’s events with one of the wiener dog racers named “Gage.”

    Gage has the got the eye of the tiger, the wagging tongue of a fighter and the need for VIP treatment.

    “I think he likes being carried around,” Boyle said. “I have a couple that won’t let their pictures get taken. Some of them are super-duper competitive and you really have to watch where you walk.”

    Boyle said she chose wiener dog rescue because people misunderstand their strong personalities.

    “They are very belligerent. They can be very stubborn, and you really have to know the breed. We love their stubbornness and the way they are,” she said. 

    Boyle’s group advocates breed education for maximum wiener dog happiness.

    “We are all super-passionate about getting the dogs into the right homes where they are understood and letting them be family members and have wonderful lives,” she said. 

    Wonderful lives, one slo-mo scene at a time. 

    For additional information about the Florida Wiener Dog Derby, visit the Tampa Riverwalk website. 

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    Virginia Johnson

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  • World Tai Chi Day celebration about relieving stress, achieving balance

    World Tai Chi Day celebration about relieving stress, achieving balance

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    SARASOTA, Fla. — As we prepare to enter Asian American and Pacific Islanders Awareness Month, there is a free Tai Chi demonstration at the city recreation center in Bradenton.


    We met Brian Nell at Cypress Pillar Healing Arts.

    “This is a fantastic little healing center in Sarasota,” he said. “And we are in our indoor movement space.”

    The space is devoted to bringing the ancient Chinese martial art Tai Chi to masses.

    The World Tai Chi Day celebration at G.T. Bray Recreation Center in Bradenton is part of their mission.

    Nell starts with a meditation to get bodies aligned and minds in tune.

    He says it’s how to combat stress.

    “But now we must honestly look at ourselves, find where we hid it and teach ourselves to relax,” Nell said.

    “So I actually was introduced to Tai Chi when I was 17 years-old at a seminar,” he said. “And as a 17-year-old practicing jiujitsu, that’s the last thing you want is to move slow, but it planted a seed.”

    After a serious back injury, Nell turned to Tai Chi.

    “And as a direct result was able to overcome those injuries and realized this was something I wanted to pass on,” he said.

    “Balance is a big one, especially as we get older. This becomes a depreciable skill,” Nell said. “So the more that we train the body, the better off we are in the long run.”

    World Tai Chi demonstrations are happening Saturday from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. The event is free.

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    Virginia Johnson

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  • Come to Jeep Beach 2023 for fun, and ticket to win one helps community

    Come to Jeep Beach 2023 for fun, and ticket to win one helps community

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    DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Jeep Beach 2023, the world’s largest Jeep event, wraps up its 20th year this weekend in Daytona Beach.

    What You Need To Know

    • Sunday is the last day for Jeep Beach 2023 in Daytona Beach

    • The event features obstacle courses, vendors, concerts, food and activities for kids

    • A Jeep Beach parade will be held right on Daytona Beach on Sunday

    • As part of the event, tickets can be purchased to win a drawing for a new Jeep

    The event is dedicated to all things Jeep, with obstacles courses to cruise through, concerts, vendors selling industry merchandise, all kinds of food and drink, activities to keep children busy and a Jeep Beach parade Sunday on Daytona Beach.

    Jeep Beach 2023 activities will continue through Sunday in Daytona Beach. (Spectrum News/Joh Ficurilli)

    Everett Flaitz, an electrician and Jeep enthusiast who last year won the iconic event’s drawing for a new Wrangler, calls Port Orange home after moving to Volusia County five years ago from Ohio.

    “We love the warm weather, the beaches and — uh, uh — we don’t have to worry about shoveling snow,” Flaitz said as he cruised in his Wrangler, Jeep’s most popular model.

    Flaitz bought a ticket, didn’t think anything of it, and then he heard the words, “You are the winner!”

    “I’ve never won anything in my life — so it’s incredible we won this,” said Flaitz, who had purchased another Jeep for his wife just before they won in 2022.

    Now they have two Jeeps.

    It’s not just “a” car to get from Point “A” to Point “B,” he said.

    “You can just use them on the beach, go off-roading or just drive ‘em around as your everyday vehicle,” Flaitz said.

    So, how exactly did he enter to win? He bought a $50 ticket.

    What’s most rewarding to Flaitz is knowing the proceeds from the drawing stay local.

    “That $50 you spend to win the Jeep, it goes to charity,” he said as he drove his yellow Jeep on the powdery sands of Daytona Beach.

    Jeep Beach organizers’ goal this year is to give away $1 million to charities in Volusia and Flagler counties. The funds raised go to programs, not overhead costs, they said.

    It’s not too late to get in on this year’s drawing on Saturday. The $50 ticket for a shot at this event’s Jeep can be purchased online.

    The 2023 Jeep being given away this year is a flamboyant red called “punk’n,” and it comes with special Jeep Beach badging that pays homage to Daytona International Speedway and the 20th anniversary of Jeep Beach.

    It also comes with a trailer from tinycampers.com that is fully equipped, with features such as a kitchen, a TV and creature comforts inside. Its roof extends to an A-frame, so you can put the children on top and mom and dad on the bottom during off-road adventures.

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    Ybeth Bruzual

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  • Mainsail Art Festival offers marquis event at St. Pete’s Vinoy Park

    Mainsail Art Festival offers marquis event at St. Pete’s Vinoy Park

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    GULFPORT, Fla. — Picture it.

    What You Need To Know

    • The Mainsail Art Festival is coming up at Vinoy Park, St. Pete

    • Saturday, April 22 hours: 9 a.m. – 6 p.m.

    • Sunday, April 23 hours: 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.

    • Saturday, May 20, 1 p.m. – 4 p.m. Dawn Waters Open House at DRV Gallery, Gulfport 

    St. Petersburg, Florida.

    1976.

    The city threw its first Mainsail Art Show to mark the country’s bi-centennial celebrations.

    And that show continues nearly 50 years later — one of the biggest festivals of its kind in the country. More than 100,00 people are expected.

    This weekend Vinoy Park will once again be packed with creators and their works.

    That includes Fiber artist Dawn Waters.

    We caught up with her in her Gulfport studio, and she showed us her first ever felt art.

    It was her dog Chico.

    And she even added a few wisps of felt around one of Chico’s eyes to show how felting is done.

    She placed it and poked it until the felt blended into the lower rim of one of Chico’s eyelids.

    “It’s like tattooing but with wool,” Waters explained. “You just keep poking until the face you want emerges.”

    A former advertising and communications executive, Dawn Waters has been a fiber artist for about six years.

    Waters is working toward this weekend’s 48th Mainsail Art Festival at Vinoy Park in St. Petersburg.

    It’s where more than 100,000 visitors will stroll the aisles of creators and their many works.

    “That is a huge deal, a huge art show,” Waters said.

    Art shows are how she meets her potential audience.

    That’s why getting accepted to show into Mainsail is so clutch for Waters.

    “My work when you see a picture of it, it doesn’t really convey the conventional and tactile nature of it,” Waters explained.

    When people realize there is no paint in these portraits, they come closer to understand. Their reactions let Waters know she’s created something they connect to too.

    “They always want to touch it,” she says, of curious adults.

    But she asks please to touch with your eyeballs.

    Waters is having an open house at her studio in DRV Gallery at 5401 Gulfport Boulevard.

    The date is Saturday, May 20, from 1 p.m. until 4 p.m.

    Spectrum Bay News 9 is one of the Mainsail Art Festival sponsors.

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    Virginia Johnson

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  • Passion for horror drives independent movie scene

    Passion for horror drives independent movie scene

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    RUSKIN, Fla. — Indie Horror movie lovers rejoice!

    The time has come for the Tampa Bay Scream Horror Convention, April 14-15 in Tampa.

    What You Need To Know

    • Tampa Bay Scream Horror Convention is coming up soon

    • It will be at the Holiday Inn Westshore Airport Location

    • Friday, April 14, 5 p.m. – 10 p.m.

    • Saturday, April 15, 12 p.m. – 5 p.m. 

    It’s courtesy of organizer Sean Donohue, describing the Indie horror scene for fans.

    “They can expect to see their favorite cult horror film stars. They can buy movies, posters T-shirts, they can take pictures,” said Donohue.

    One of the actors making an appearance is Tampa’s very own Joel Wynkoop.

    We caught up with him at a shoot location somewhere in the Ruskin woods. Wynkoop is making a feature length film of his 20-minute doomsday time travel apocalypse short “187 Times.”

    He says making movies is like a force of will.

    “Nothing is stopping anybody. People go, like, ‘It costs a lot of money to make a movie.’ Just throw some money together and make a move. It’s not that tough,” said Wynkoop.

    Wynkoop gets a lot of things done, thanks to tight connections — like producer actor director Sean Donohue and fellow filmmaker and wife Cathy Wynkoop.

    “She’s an executive producer. She’s also my associate producer, my script supervisor, and she’s always with me,” says Joel Wynkoop of his wife. 

    He’s maintained his movie making furor for decades by creating his own opportunities.

    “Well, way back when I really started, my agent wasn’t getting me a lot of work, so I was, like, ‘You know what you have to make lemonade out of lemons. I’ll start making my own movies and I’ll do what I want. I’ll star myself. I’ll get my own actors. I’ll do the casting.’”

    And he did.

    He does.

    And “187 Times” comes out later in 2023.

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    Virginia Johnson

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  • Sugar sand in Clearwater perfect medium for sculpting, finding love

    Sugar sand in Clearwater perfect medium for sculpting, finding love

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    CLEARWATER, Fla. —Susanne Ruseler is bending sand to her artistic will.

    She’s spraying a mound of it down with water.

    “Otherwise, the sand is all fluffy really and it doesn’t stick together,” she explained.

    Then she can pack it — pound it into shape with a trowel.

    Now it’s ready to sculpt for the Pier 60 Sugar Sand Festival on Clearwater Beach.

    Ruseler is working on her part of the “A Blast from the Past” theme.

    “This part of the sculpture is about the moon landing,” Ruseler explained.

    She is just standing behind a pretty good huge, rounded mound, with a cylinder of sand a couple of feet high sticking out of it.

    Ruseler is from the Netherlands — a biologist turned sand sculptor.

    And astronaut Neil Armstrong — is somewhere in that packed cylinder of sand.

    “So it’s gonna be a little figure I haven’t carved that yet. You can’t see it,” said Ruseler.

    She’s got some reference photos, but she’s got to interpret them for the medium.

    She can extend an arm too far without support, so hands need to be at the astronaut’s side.

    “I have to figure it out a little bit and I want to do the footstep,” said Ruseler, referring to an iconic photo of a footstep left on the moon from an astronaut’s boot.

    It was her first steps — turning her hobby in her profession — that changed her path in life.

    “I meet my colleagues all over the world,” Ruseler said. “It’s really nice. You see, it’s like a little family. You travel around, you meet in Japan or in Italy.”

    Or in love.

    Her partner and husband is fellow sculptor Canadian David Ducharme.

    “We live in our luggage,” Ducharme said, laughing, working on sand flowers.

    These traveling artists tackle joint projects and solo trips — coordinating their schedules, committed to their art — and each other.

    “Any conventional relationship is pretty challenging ‘cause there’s a lot of time away,” said Ducharme.

    “We work together quite a lot. It goes generally very well,” Ruseler said, laughing, shaveling said. “It’s really nice to travel together and to work together, yeah.”

    It’s one time building a relationship on a foundation of sand works.

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    Virginia Johnson

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  • St. Pete Tall Ships Festival offers a rare look into working history

    St. Pete Tall Ships Festival offers a rare look into working history

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    TAMPA BAY, Fla. — Alisha Bloodworth is a mast captain on the tall ship Elissa, one of seven tall ships coming together for the St. Petersburg Tall Ships Festival.

    What You Need To Know

    • The St. Pete Tall Ships Festival will host a total of seven tall ships

    • The event is taking place in the Port of St. Pete through April 2

    • The festival features boats tours, cruises and yoga

    • One ship, the 1877 Elissa, is 110 feet tall and 205 feet long

    Bloodworth directs crew members to carry out sailing commands — the mast captains are in red and the crew she directs wears blue.

    “It’s a lot of responsibility — a little stress,” she said. “You get more and more used to it.”

    “Right — I mean she’s been sailing for so long,” she added about her ship, the 1877 Elissa. “It holds up to a lot right — a lot of stress — a lot of tension.”

    Since 1877, the Scottish-built ship has survived, and has been refurbished and cared for by a crew out of Galveston, Texas.

    The ship is just over 100 feet high and 200 feet long, Bloodworth said.

    On the ship, the cacophony of ropes on the three-mast ship are somehow wrangled into place and sometimes, through sheer human strength.

    “We handle all of the lines here,” said Bloodworth, explaining on a ship like the Elissa, a rope is called a line.

    While at sea, the crews have to work together to set the ship to sail, Bloodworth said.

    “It’s a lot about team work right? You don’t set 19 sails on a 145-year-old tall ship by yourself,” she said.

    Every time the ship changes directions, a carefully choreographed dance begins, Bloodworth explained — people repeating orders, pulling lines in unison, unfurling and furling sails.

    “We like to make sure people get to experience that — see us all working together as a team,” she said.

    And it’s not just the visitors aboard the Elissa — Bloodworth said there’s also a near constant trailing flotilla sailing along with the Elissa.

    Bloodworth said the attention makes sense, as the three-mast ship is one of the oldest sailing vessels in the world.

    “It’s just incredible to see the support to see all the tall ships parading around, and really kind of celebrating the preservation of the tall ship history and the culture that goes along with it,” she said.

    A chemical engineer by training, Bloodworth said the camaraderie aboard the Elissa is what keeps her coming back.

    “These people have really kind of become my family,” she said of her fellow crew mates. “Honestly, I showed up eight years ago never having sailed anything before — not even a small boat — and they taught me everything, and I just keep showing up.”

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    Virginia Johnson

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  • City Pipe bands, visitors to open Highland Games in Dunedin

    City Pipe bands, visitors to open Highland Games in Dunedin

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    DUNEDIN, Fla. — The city of Dunedin is embracing some its first settlers’ roots — more than usual this weekend!

    What You Need To Know

    • The 55th Highland Games are taking place at Highlander Park, Dunedin

    • 8 a.m. opening ceremonies

    • Pipers, Dancers, Athletes and Clan Village 

    • 5:15 p.m. closing ceremonies

    Their 55th Highland Games celebrates the city’s Celtic roots — add that to the street names and city pipe bands.

    Festivities kick off Friday evening with a parade and party…all before Saturday’s main event.

    “We’re gonna shut down the street on Broadway and have our games kick-off party on the street,” said Eric MacNeill, head of the Highland Games.

    “We’ll have live music and vendors, of course some beverages, until 10 o’clock that night. So, it’s a pretty great way to start the weekend.”

    Iain Donaldson has a tough gig — tuning bagpipes.

    At a recent rehearsal, we got a look at how Donaldson runs the city’s pipe bands in Dunedin.

    And each instrument is a handful.

    “The bagpipe is almost constantly going out of tune because it’s so sensitive to heat or temperature and moisture,” said Donaldson.

    Donaldson’s leading the bagpipes for the Dunedin Highland Games, the band started in 1964.

    And he’s passing on the tradition to this latest generation of Dunedin pipers in Pinellas County, including his son Graham too.

    Graham has also devoted decades to the bagpipe.

    “You are constantly blowing into the instrument to make the noise come out,” Donaldson explained. “And when you take a breath, you have to squeeze with your other arm, and it has to maintain the same tone and pitch of the instrument throughout the time you are playing it. So, it’s quite an active instrument. There are no breaks really.”

    But Graham, like dad Iain, is a Donaldson devoted to this Dunedin tradition.

    “Well it’s rewarding if we can get it all together,” said Iain Donaldson. “The trick is to make 10 bagpipes sound like one.”

    The sound of the Scotland Highlands here in Dunedin continues.

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    Virginia Johnson

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  • Cool down at Gatorland’s Central Florida splash park

    Cool down at Gatorland’s Central Florida splash park

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    ORLANDO, Fla. — As the temps heat up, one Central Florida splash park is advertising itself as the place to cool down.

    “A splash park in Central Florida? I don’t know how you go to a theme park without a place to cool off,” said Gatorland President and CEO Mark McHugh.

    He showed Spectrum News new water features, like a massive dumping barrel.

    Elsewhere at Gator Gully Splash, he pointed out coconut palm sprayers, frogs that flood and well-placed Adirondack chairs to let the adults lean back.

    “Get a cold beverage from our Gator Gully general store and let the kids run off that energy off,” McHugh said.

    The 110-acre park started as a roadside attraction and is about stirring up memories of old Florida while showering guests with new experiences.

    Now through the end of March, Florida residents get half-off a single day admission ticket to Gatorland. The splash park is included in the price of admission.

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    Julie Gargotta

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  • Busch Gardens Food and Wine Festival offers tour of world cuisines

    Busch Gardens Food and Wine Festival offers tour of world cuisines

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    TAMPA, Fla. — Busch Gardens is offering a culinary trip around the world without ever leaving the Tampa Bay area.

    What You Need To Know

    • Busch Gardens Food and Wine Festival is currently running weekends through May 21

    • Executive Chef Matt Maslowski explains the global food and wine pairings chosen for the festival 

    •  Concerts are also part of the event, with acts like 38 Special and Elvis Crespo 

    It’s the Busch Garden’s Food and Wine Festival, which will run on weekends through May 21.

    The festival will include concerts and a view of the park’s Serengeti and the newly opened “Screaming Swing” the Serengeti Flyer.

    Executive Chef Matt Maslowski says kitchens have a lot in common with theme parks.

    “Lot of moving parts like a roller coaster,” he said, laughing. “You build a strong team to make sure everything runs smooth. But it’s just that trying to take things out of the natural theme park atmosphere when it comes down to food and take it to another level.”

    From baklava in Greece to tuna poke in Hawaii, food from around the world is there to try, plus the drink pairing that makes what Maslowski calls “an orchestra in your mouth.”

    Concerts Coming Up:

    • Sunday, March 25:  Rodney Atkins
    • Sunday, March 26: Flo Rida
    • Saturday, April 1: Jeremy Camp
    • Sunday, April: +Live+
    • Sunday, April 9: The Fab Four
    • Saturday, April 15: 38 Special
    • Sunday, April 16: Mitchell Tenpenny
    • Saturday, April 22: Air Supply
    • Sunday, April 23: Gabby Barrett
    • Saturday, April 29: Hoobastank
    • Sunday, April 30: Walk The Moon
    • Friday, May 5: The Como La Flor Band
    • Saturday, May 6: Celia Vive
    • Sunday, May 7: El Gran Combo
    • Saturday, May 13: Toño Rosario
    • Sunday, May 14: Grupo Niche
    • Saturday, May 20: Elvis Crespo
    • Sunday, May 21: Luisito Ayala y la Puerto Rican Power

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    Virginia Johnson

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  • Art Garage Sale welcomes all creators

    Art Garage Sale welcomes all creators

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    TAMPA, Fla. — Art lovers celebrate! Trashy Treasures Art Garage Sale is upon the Tampa Bay area, in Dunedin.

    What You Need To Know

    • Dunedin Fine Art Center’s Trashy Treasures Weekend

    • Sat.: 6 p.m. – 8 p.m., admission $10, Free hot dog and drink 

    • Saturday night dress code is your version of a Trashy Treasure

    It’s time for Trashy Treasures, the one night, one day art garage sale at the Dunedin Fine Art Center. Saturday night, there’s a party selling donated art mostly through a live auction. And then on Sunday, it’s art plus everything used to make it.

    It’s one of the biggest fundraisers of the year for the DFAC.

    “So if you are a student of art, if you are an artist you don’t want to miss being here on Sunday because that is art, brushes, canvases and paints, fabric, galore,” said Catherine Bergmann, the Center’s Curatorial Director.

    Adrian Smith is an artist and teacher in addition to being the Gallery Shop Manager at DFAC. Like the other members of the DFAC, Smith is filled with gratitude.

    “It’s so fun for me as an artist to be in here and look at all the supplies and see what we have and see what people have been so gracious to donate to us,” said Smith.

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    Virginia Johnson

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  • SeaWorld goes all green for St. Patrick’s Day

    SeaWorld goes all green for St. Patrick’s Day

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    ORLANDO, Fla. — For the second year in a row, SeaWorld Orlando is going green all weekend long for St. Patrick’s Day.

    What You Need To Know

    • SeaWorld celebrates St. Patrick’s Day all weekend during the Seven Seas Food Festival

    • The park has added Irish themed food and festivities this weekend

    • The celebrations runs through Sunday

    • The Seven Seas Fest ends in May

    “It was absolutely something that we saw that no one else was really doing so we added it to our festival to once again keep that Seven Seas Festival fresh, and every weekend you come back there is something new to experience,” said Kyle Smith, Manager of Creative Show Operations at Sea World.

    The celebration is a feast for the senses with some fresh bites from the Irish market, like Irish Coddle and the Shamrock Sour, which is made with Jameson Irish Whiskey. 

    “It is amazing you’ve got to come and taste it,” said Smith.  

    Once your belly is full, you’ll be ready to do your own jig, watching performers who will transport you to the Emerald Isle.

    “We’ve added entertainment with traditional Irish dancing we have some schools coming in that are local to the Orlando area and showcasing their talents for all of our guests coming into the park,” said Smith. “We also have some added stilt walkers, some traditional Irish musicians roaming the parks well to add in to the fun.”

    Like the saying goes, everyone is Irish on St. Patrick’s Day and SeaWorld hopes these festivities will help bring people together.

    “Festivals like St. Patrick’s Day, Mardi Gras, Cinco de Mayo, it is something for people to bond over whether it is food and drinking, whether it is dancing, the festivals and the season just brings people more joy,” said Smith. 

    All this makes for a party you don’t want to miss.

    “Grab an Irish dish or an Irish cocktail and green beer and come on out,” said Smith.

    If you can’t celebrate today, don’t worry, the celebration runs through Sunday. After that, SeaWorld will add a special Cinco De Mayo party to close out the Seven Seas Food Festival in May.


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    Nicole Griffin

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  • Awakening into the Sun offers a decade of peace in St. Pete

    Awakening into the Sun offers a decade of peace in St. Pete

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    ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Fred Johnson tells a story every time he touches an instrument.

    What You Need To Know

    • 10th Anniversary Awakening Festival

    • Saturday, March 11th, 10 a.m. – 7 p.m  & Sunday March 12th, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.

    • North Straub Park, St. Petersburg

    • Artist Village, performers, indie market, yoga 

    His music is a language. The message is for healing through art.

    “We go to a different space in our being when we create. We create from a space and an energy of possibility, right?” said Johnson. “‘I’m imagining and discovering. So that’s a whole other opportunity that can be powerful and meaningful.”

    Johnson will take the stage on Saturday at the Awakening Festival. He creates west African beats on a Box drum.

    Slaves used boxes for percussion when stripped of their possessions. So, for Johnson, the drum itself is a symbol of resilience and continuity.

    “So you can’t take the tradition away,” explained Johnson, demonstrating the same beat from the box drum on his body. Johnson uses these unstoppable beats to change people’s perspective.

    “Good for your soul. They say the longest distance traveled is between the head and the heart,” said Johnson. “And if we look at the world today, it feels like a lot of people are way up here, and we’ve forgotten about our hearts. And the beauty of the rhythm of the drum is that it brings vou right into the heart.”

    For our weary hearts, Johnson offers his healing beats.

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    Virginia Johnson

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  • Tampa fabricator makes magic at childhood zoo

    Tampa fabricator makes magic at childhood zoo

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    TAMPA, Fla. — Chris Pino is responsible for the shrink machine at Zoo Tampa’s Bugtopia, currently open until April 30.

    What You Need To Know

    • Bugtopia at ZooTampa through April 30th

    • 13 Anamatronic super-sized insects

    • Chris Pino, owner of Wood Valley Group, made everything else

    • Shrink machines allow little ones to experience insect life

    It’s the only way to get small enough to see these insects up close.

    “We have an unshrinking machine as well,” Pino said, smiling.

    Pino is the owner of Wood Valley Group in Tampa, and he can fabricate pretty much whatever you could imagine, size-changing machines included.

    So when the 13 massive insects of Bugtopia came to life at Zoo Tampa, Pino and his crew went to work — from making a super-sized soup can to a huge shoe.

    Children will literally be walking through these giant facades into little learning centers.

    Pino has created these and other fanciful objects to further immerse children into a bug’s world.

    It’s his form of magic.

    “I love it. That’s the best part about my job, to see the reaction of all the guests,” said Pino.

    And Pino isn’t handling these pieces for just any zoo. This is the zoo of his childhood.

    It’s where he first experienced what would become his career — making kids believe in magic a little longer.

    “It’s awesome. I loved doing these events because I loved them as a kid, and now I get to produce them,” said Pino.

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    Virginia Johnson

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  • Sample local honey, sip some mead: Lola-Bee-Looza in Terra Ceia

    Sample local honey, sip some mead: Lola-Bee-Looza in Terra Ceia

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    TERRA CEIA, Fla. — Each frame of a bee box hosts a tableau of events unfolding simultaneously.

    What You Need To Know

    • Noble Nectar Apiaries removes bees and re-homes them

    • The inaugural Lolla-Bee-Looza Festival will be held Saturday

    • The festival will help raise funds for donation-based removals, as well as outreach for the next generation of potential pollinator protectors

    • More On the Town with Virginia Johnson

    Each is a little civilization and Matt Davis is checking on them. 

    “They are a big part of making sure our ecosystem thrives,” said Davis.

    These wild honeybees are his rescue animals.

    He and his wife’s company Noble Nectar Apiaries removes bees and re-homes them. It’s an alternative to exterminating infestations. One of their new bee home spaces is under a massive oak tree behind a horse and a stable on Terra Ceia.

    It’s going to be the site of their first ever Lolla-Bee-Looza. The festival all about our bee friends.

    Matt Davis of Noble Nectar Apiaries showing frames of bees from a bee box. (Virginia Johnson/Spectrum Bay News 9)

    But before Davis gets close-up, he needs to suit up. Then smoke up with a bee smoker.

    It’s a stainless-steel container with a little air pump. Davis lights up pine needles and closes up the smoker, pumps the bellow and smoke shoots out of a top nozzle.

    Smoke is a pheromone blocker for bees.

    “Basically, what it does is it kind of interferes with their ability to talk to each other,” said Davis.

    It also stirs the bee’s appetites for honey. “Which helps them not be so grumpy,” Davis said, smiling.

    It’s important the bees be “calm-ish” so Davis can check the hives.

    “Make sure we had a queen that’s actively laying in eggs. We look for pollen and nectar, and we also look for signs of mite infestations and just the overall health of the bees,” he said.

    Even more important to Davis: helping people remove bees even with financial difficulties with their new non-profit organization “The Bee Musketeers.”

    “So it’s a win-win for everyone,” said Allison Davis. “The person who needs it gets it done and the beekeeper still gets paid, and then we started to working alongside some of the people in the city to get the houses repaired afterward.”

    The festival will help raise funds for donation-based removals, as well as outreach for the next generation of potential pollinator protectors.

    “It feels good to help young people to live alongside bees and other pollinators, and not consider them a danger or a pest,” said Davis. “It’s important for our food and for the ecosystem in general.”

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    Virginia Johnson

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  • Wide-range of topics discussed at NYSABPRHAL Conference – Medical Marijuana Program Connection

    Wide-range of topics discussed at NYSABPRHAL Conference – Medical Marijuana Program Connection

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    This weekend, the New York State Association of Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic, & Asian legislators celebrated their 52nd annual conference.

    “As one of the important things we do during our weekend, we have workshops called issue forums where we discuss a wide range of topics, including mental health, housing, nursing, union issues and community renewal,” NYSABPRHAL’s Executive Director Charlene Gayle said.

    The theme of this year’s conference was “Fight the Power,” and workshops addressed a wide range of issues, including health care inequities, housing insecurity and criminal justice reform.

    Recreational marijuana was one topic at the forefront, and how minority communities deserve to have equality when it comes to usage and retail licenses.

    “We need to understand what it means to have it in our community,” Yasmin Hurston Cornelius, treasurer of the New York CannaBusiness Chamber of Commerce, said. “It is important to understand our rights and the importance of hiring the right people to make your business succeed. Legislators and community organizers discussed climate change and environmental justice, as well as how to ensure that a more sustainable future can be achieved.”

    Public officials, legislators, community organizers, advocates and constituents filled the hallways and meeting rooms of Empire Plaza to have discussions regarding the latter. Health care disparities that came to light during the COVID-19 pandemic, sparked various panel…

    Original Author Link click here to read complete story..

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  • Honey & Arts Festival to debut in Lealman as community grows

    Honey & Arts Festival to debut in Lealman as community grows

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    LEALMAN, Fla. — Hopes of community redevelopment is bringing new festivals to St. Petersburg.

    The Pinellas County Housing Authority is working with engagement committees and a long list of sponsors to bring the first Lealman Honey and Arts Festival to the Tampa Bay area.

    What You Need To Know

    • The Lealman Honey and Arts Festival is set for Saturday, Feb. 18

    • Dozens of local sponsors are supporting the event

    • A visiting artisan shares his story

    “I’m very excited,” said Kym Solitaire, a St. Petersburg resident. “As a retired schoolteacher of Pinellas County, this area represents schools I’ve taught at. It’s a historically underserved area. This is a deserving acknowledgment of the community, the hard-working parents and great students that live here.”

    Raymond H. Neri Community Park will be hosting the inaugural festival on Saturday, Feb. 18. There will be several events such as local honey and beekeepers selling their wares, craft vendors, food trucks and chainsaw art. Local radio personality Monika from 102.5 The Bone will be broadcasting live. Local bands The Black Honkeys, La Lucha and Pink Streets will also be in attendance delivering live performances. 

    “Coming together to celebrate the rich history of Lealman has been a dream of mine,” said Pinellas County Commissioner Charlie Justice. “The Honey and Arts Festival represents the dedication of many in the community working together to transform Lealman into a vibrant destination, a place where people can live, work and play.” 

    People from all over the nation are coming to support the festival, like chainsaw art cultivator, Alex Bieniecki. He traveled from New Hampshire to perform at the festival on Saturday.

    “I’ve been a tattoo artist for 22 years,” said Bieniecki. “Right out of high school, I was doing that so artistically. That was my training in the art world, all the different things they liked to do rounded me out as an artist.”

    Bieniecki said he’s been a woodsman for over a decade.

    “Normally, I work with white pine,” he said. “It’s light compared to other species of wood. This stuff has more sap in it, more than any I’ve worked with before.”

    Bieniecki was carving an image of a woman with Florida sand pine Wednesday.

    “I drove up to West Palm Beach for this wood. I cut the tree down from their yard for this,” said Bieniecki. “Some of these pieces take more than 40 hours to complete. I started this on Monday of last week and I worked on it every day until Thursday. 10-hour days, 10 hours of sanding,” said Bieniecki.

    What was once a hobby for Bieniecki, turned into a stream of income.

    “People love wood carvings. My whole world opened up to people I would have never tattooed. I have a lot of fun doing them because it’s like drawing and painting and carving. It’s two-dimensional but also three-dimensional and you get to paint it, so I really enjoy,” he said.

    For more on Lealman’s Honey and Arts Festival, view its Facebook page.

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    Ashonti Ford

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  • Collard greens in gumbo wins festival competition

    Collard greens in gumbo wins festival competition

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    ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — “So this is where is begins—in the garden,” said Chef Ja’Vin LeCount.

    What You Need To Know

    • The 6th Annual Tampa Bay Collard Green Festival is Saturday, Feb. 18 at 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.

    • It will be at the Carther G. Woodson African American Museum and surrounding streets

    • It’s located at 2240 9th Ave. S., St. Petersburg

    You see, gumbo in the style Chef Ja’Vin LeCount speaks of requires collards.

    LeCount is in the garden at Daystar Life Center in St. Petersburg, gathering his leafy greens.

    LeCount’s addition of collard greens in his Cajun dish helped to crown him a top chef for the 2023 Tampa Bay Collard Green Festival.

    “This is something I love to do,” he said as he began chopping his collards into ribbons.

    “For a thicker ribbon you would want to go for maybe like a thicker texture,” LeCount explained. “For a thinner ribbon, you may want to cook your greens a bit faster.”

    The festival isn’t just for young chefs like LeCount.

    It’s for the greater St. Pete community, too.

    “Our mission is to promote healthier living in our communities through foods we love to grow and eat,” said festival co-found Boyzel Hosey, “through agricultural sciences, the culinary experience, fitness, nutrition and family fun.”

    For LeCount, this honor reinforces something he’s enjoyed his whole life — creating smiles through his culinary creativity.

    “I’ve got a lot of good reactions from these collard greens,” said LeCount. “And really a lot of people told me I need to share this with the world, so I want to share this with as many people as I can at the event.”

    Lecount, who turned 17 this month, has been cooking as long as he can remember, and has spent the last seven months as a chef.

    The Prince Private Academy student would like to thank his family, Junior Chefs of America and the American Culinary Federation.

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    Virginia Johnson

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  • Beers for Barres: Local Breweries to support party for ballet

    Beers for Barres: Local Breweries to support party for ballet

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    TAMPA, Fla. — If you’d like to learn to fly in ballet, then you start from the ground — getting on your rehearsal soft shoes.

    Brandon Ballet’s Courtney Moody is getting ready for rehearsal on the studio floor before heading to the barre.

    “We do lots of different stretches, lots of things to get warm, get moving,” she said.

    If the stretches look easy for Moody, it’s because she’s been a ballerina for about two decades and helps teach it now, too. 

    “I’m so grateful to have that opportunity to continue doing this as a career,” said Moody.

    In addition to excerpts from Swan Lake, they have something brand new to offer.

    “This is a new ballet called the Iron Flower,” said Brent Townend, the Ballet’s Assistant Artistic Director. “We are premiering a 15-minute excerpt.”

    As an artist, Moody says she is moved by the story of the dance.

    “It’s very important to me to have that is somewhat near my hometown where I can continue to dance and share this art form with others,” said Moody. 

    Breweries taking part in Beers for Barres:
    -Three Bulls Tavern & Brewery
    -Bullfrog Creek Brewing Company
    -Magnanimous Brewing Company
    -3 Daughters Brewing Company
    -Woven Water Brewing Company

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    Virginia Johnson

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  • 4-H student learns about fat, feed and hair sheen raising steer

    4-H student learns about fat, feed and hair sheen raising steer

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    PALMETTO, Fla. — Maverick the steer likes a clean coat and the cool off that comes with a wash down.

    What You Need To Know

    • Manatee County Fair Jan. 12-22

    • Steer Sale Jan. 14, 1 p.m.

    • 4-H students spend months raising animals for fair competitions; it’s their Super Bowl

    • Manatee County 4-H’er Mason Huttinger shampoos and blow-dries his steet Maverick every day

    Every day after school, 16-year-old Mason Huttinger is in his grandparents’ Palmetto field taking care of him.

    “I work with him, I spend my time with him. Like talking to him. Saying his name,” said Huttinger, a Manatee County Home Grown Heritage 4-H Club member.

    Huttinger got Maverick last summer, with the goal of growing the best-tasting beef and the shiniest hide in Manatee County by the week of the county fair.

    Every day since June of 2022, he’s washed and cared for this animal. Maverick has nearly doubled in size for the big show and beef auction.

    “I think it’s good it’s going to someone who will eat it and not waste it,” said Huttinger. “And it’s good for me – helping someone else.”

    That’s right. Maverick is a walking steak and a throw rug.

    After his shampoo and rinse, it’s blow-out time. It can take 45-minutes to dry Maverick.

    Huttinger says it’s part of the care he needs.

    “He doesn’t get sick and he feels much better,” said Huttinger.

    Plus Maverick gets a special hair conditioner — more product than Huttinger uses on his own hair.

    And more brushing.

    “I brush him up to keep the hair growing up,” explained Huttinger.

    Darkness falls as Huttinger finishes caring for Maverick, and Huttinger guides Maverick to his pen.

    “I’m ready to put him in his stance and feed him, and he goes to bed,” said Huttinger.

    The stance is the pose for fair judging.

    Maverick’s reward: a barley-based supper with a big side helping of hay. He eats 23 pounds of it a day.

    Huttinger hopes his investment will win Maverick “Overall Supreme Beef Breeding Champion.”

    But Maverick’s already given him a bigger prize — his ideals as a future farmer.

    “He’s going to a family that will love him and feed their kids.”

    Happy steer equals a good meal.

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    Virginia Johnson

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