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Tag: Community news

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

    Wiener Dog Derby to be featured at Tampa Riverwalk this weekend

    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. 

    Virginia Johnson

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  • Chasco Fiesta nine days of New Port Richey good times

    Chasco Fiesta nine days of New Port Richey good times

    PASCO COUNTY, Fla. — Nine days of celebrating the rich heritage of native Americans and New Port Richey kick off Friday with the Chasco Fiesta.

    The longtime yearly celebration features a week-plus of food, fun, and entertainment with many events including a street parade, boat parade, Native American Pow Wow and a different genre of music every night.

    Among the event presenters is Otter Oliver, who represents the Cree and Dakota Tribes. Oliver is from White Bear, in Canada’s Saskatchewan Province, about two and a half hours north of Montana.

    What You Need To Know

    •  Chasco Fiestal, Sims Park, New Port Richey

    •  March 24th – April 1st

    •  Monday, March 27th: Native American Day with evening Performances on the Main Stage

    • Events include concerts, a car show, a boat parade, a street parade — event proceeds go to charity

    Oliver creates the Native American arts and education programming for the Chasco Fiesta in New Port Richey.

    The Chasco Festival starts Friday and runs for a week-plus at Sims Park in New Port Richey.

    His life’s work is to be a cultural bridge. He travels frequently for outreach and education. The festival’s name was inspired by legends of the Florida’s indigenous people and their Spanish captives.

    But Oliver gets to show people something real—like singing and performing with dancers Dustin and Creed Big Mountain.

    It’s a chance to educate and break stereotypes through positive, authentic cultural exchange.

    “Having Native people here to represent that,” said Oliver, “it’s an honor for us to do that.”

     

    Virginia Johnson

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  • Art Garage Sale welcomes all creators

    Art Garage Sale welcomes all creators

    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.

    Virginia Johnson

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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

    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.

    Virginia Johnson

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  • Tampa fabricator makes magic at childhood zoo

    Tampa fabricator makes magic at childhood zoo

    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.

    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

    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.”

    Virginia Johnson

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  • Performer talks about bringing the Carnival fun to Busch Gardens

    Performer talks about bringing the Carnival fun to Busch Gardens

    TAMPA, Fla. — Mardi Gras marks the end of Carnival season, but not at Busch Gardens.

    What You Need To Know

    • Mardi Gras at Busch Gardens continues weekends through March 5

    • Several parades will be held each day, with beignets and other New Orleans-style offerings

    • Performers like Devin Collins bring the joie de vivre

    From the expert glitter application on his face to the green Chucks on his feet, Devin Collins is the walking embodiment of Mardi Gras ensconced in purple, green and gold — the holiday colors.

    “Basically, anything you that you throw at any of our performers, we learn it, we master it, we throw it in the show,” said Collins.

    Devin Collins started here with stilt walking in 2008, so the intricate Mardi Gras stage make-up is no big deal.

    It’s prepping and performing with his friends that puts Collins at ease, especially in the moments before they go live in the park.

    “There’s so much love and passion here within our Busch Gardens family, so we really like to just show that to our guests,” Collins said.

    Couple the performers with New Orleans jazz, and the crowds get wise quick. It’s parade time.

    “The vibe? they’re ready to party!” Collins said about the crowds, over the cacophony of music and clapping.

    The best part comes last — throwing the beads.

    “We have fun, the kids love this,” said Collins. “We get to bring a smile to everybody’s faces.”

    Happy Mardi Gras, Devin Collins.

    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

    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..

    MMP News Author

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

    Honey & Arts Festival to debut in Lealman as community grows

    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.

    Ashonti Ford

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  • Tampa Bay first Black Curator of History joins the exhibit

    Tampa Bay first Black Curator of History joins the exhibit

    TAMPA BAY, Fla — Fred Hearns isn’t just the first Curator of Black History in Tampa. He’s the first Curator there to end up in an upcoming exhibition.

    What You Need To Know

    • February 15: Talk on historically Black neighborhoods in Tampa

    • February 24: Reception and sneak peek at summer exhibition

    • February 25: Talk on Roger’s Park Golf Course

    Hearns is working on the summer exhibition– “Travails and Triumphs,” about people of African descent in the Tampa Bay area.

    One of the donated pieces in the exhibition is a 1960s yearbook for Middleton High School—where Hearns went to school himself. He pointed out his picture in the marching band—he played clarinet—and his individual school picture as a sophomore.

    “We focus on the black high schools,” said Hearns, “Segregation from kindergarten all the way through high school. That’s the Tampa I grew up with in the 1960s.”

    A curator at the History Center now for nearly two years, it was nearly two months before Hearns realized his own history in his office hallway.

    “These are the blueprints for the colored high school in Hillsborough County, 1935,” said Hearns, reading off the titles on the framed piece of history. Again–it’s Middleton High School A high school which burned down three times by 1968.

    Their newer campus– built in 2002 –sits three blocks from the original site on North 22nd Street in Tampa. The former high school is now home to another. Hearns leads us from downtown Tampa to the campus for a look.

    “This is a wonderful dream come true because the Alumni Association fought for 10 long years to get Middleton High School rebuilt,” Hearns explained, walking under the shade of oak trees in the school’s courtyard.

    For his part in the fight for the school—Hearns’ name is on it. “The ‘Fred Hearns Pavilion’ that’s right outside the cafeteria,” said Hearns, walking by it. “The alumni, the community paid me this honor. I’m still humbled by it.”

    And now his work bringing the Tampa Bay community together continues–fitting for the retired head of the Community Affairs for the City of Tampa. Different career, same goal.

    “It’s history. American history made by black people, and everybody needs to know more of it,” said Hearns.

    Virginia Johnson

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  • Once a school bus, Krewe of Zingaro float now a dream and beer carrier

    Once a school bus, Krewe of Zingaro float now a dream and beer carrier

    TAMPA, Fla. — Preparations got underway for a Krewe about to join in on the biggest pirate party in Tampa Bay.

    What You Need To Know

    • There are more than pirates in Gasparilla: there are Rough Riders, Fire Fighters and Gypsies

    • The Krewe of Zingaro celebrated their 25th anniversary

    • The Krewe is 50 to 60 gypsies strong, doing charitable work throughout the year
    • Most of the Krewe walk alongside their float — an old school bus painted purple and fitted with bathrooms and keg coolers

    The Gasparilla Parade of Pirates kicks off on Saturday, Jan. 28.

    “We are putting some beads on the float,” said James Raulerson, a gypsy with the Krewe of Zingaro.

    The Tampa Bay native knows these plastic trinkets will be vied for like real, precious jewels.

    “Everybody wants beads,” said Raulerson, smiling. He and his Krewe are ready.

    They ride on a mostly purple float. They call her ‘Barney.’

    “It’s our gypsy wagon, an old school bus,” Raulerson said.

    Restrooms are a must for a float crawling down the 4.5 mile parade route and so is room to throw beads, though most of his crew walks.

    And of course, there’s a cabinet to store adult beverages.

    “And here,” Raulerson said, pointing to a cooler sitting just below three taps, “We have a keg, which is nice.”

    With the float loaded, Raulerson checks for safety and design.

    Raulerson noted any ripping fringe or missing lights. The float will get all its superficial design repairs once it’s off the highway and into the staging area. The Krewe will be closer to the end of the parade in spot #111.

    The floats, dignitaries, community leaders, dancers, bands and community organizations will be stretched down Bayshore Boulevard starting at Bay-to-Bay Boulevard, lined up stretching toward Gandy Boulevard.

    Raulerson devotes time and energy to the group’s charities throughout the year, and Gasparilla is a chance to not only celebrate, but also bring a lot of cheering joy for a tiny, inexpensive souvenir.

    “You’re giving beads to people, but they’re so happy. It’s great you’re bringing happiness to people. You never know,” Raulerson said about the people they’re throwing beads to. “That person might be having a horrible week at work or something, and they come out to Gasparilla and get to have fun. It might just change your whole attitude. So that’s the fun part.”

    The Krewe is about 50 to 60 gypsies strong. 

    Virginia Johnson

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  • New Documentary by Vruir Tadevosian Shows Impact of War on Armenian Children

    New Documentary by Vruir Tadevosian Shows Impact of War on Armenian Children

    Private Screening on Monday, Dec. 19 at 7 pm in Glendale

    Press Release
    –

    Dec 16, 2022 15:14 EST


    GLENDALE, Calif., December 16, 2022 (Newswire.com)
    –
    As 120,000 Armenians in the enclave of Artsakh remain cut off from the world this weekend, 270 children are not able to return to their homes because of the blockade of the only one corridor connecting Artsakh with Armenia. A new documentary film shares the continuing struggles and the stories of the children traumatized by the recent 44-day war over Nagorno Karabakh and the surrounding territories.

    A private screening of “The Tales of the Blue Sky” will take place on Monday, Dec. 19, at the Veranda in Glendale. Documentarian Vruir Tadevosian, a Southern California broadcaster, is available for interviews about the current humanitarian crisis and has film clips available for broadcast. 

    “Blue skies, which are synonymous with peace, have become a thing of yearning for young children living in the borderline villages of Artsakh,” says Tadevosian. “My film tells the stories of the children who never had a choice and were forced to witness war, loss, injuries and chaos.” 

    Tadevosian lived through the first war in the region in the 1990s when Armenia and Artsakh voted to separate from the crumbling Soviet Union. 

    “Having lived the first five years of my life in underground bomb shelters, I felt a calling to bring to light the horrific tragedies that children experience in silence,” says Tadevosian.

    Azerbaijani activists are now blocking the only road connecting Nagorno-Karabakh to the Republic of Armenia. Azerbaijan has also cut off gas to Artsakh as part of its aggressive campaign to retake centuries-old Armenian territories it claims as its own.

    “The Tales of the Blue Sky” takes its viewer into the world of children ripped apart and traumatized by war. This moving documentary addresses the challenge they face and shares their stories of survival and triumph. Those who have seen the film say it evokes a range of emotions including tears and laughter. This documentary also tells about the horrifying tragedy that children go through in conflict zones around the world.

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    Source: Vruir Tadevosian, documentarian

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