13 Things To Know This Week

Looking for news to pass along, to talk about at the office, to mark on your calendars as prospects for things to do and support in your Greater Brandon community? Sales, and special offerings, not to miss? Here's a list to get you started. (As always, feel free to add your additions in the comment box below.)

______________

• The Florida Academy of Performing Arts (FAOPA), in residence at the in Brandon, is staging "Legally Blonde" at the Barn Theatre at Winthrop, May 24-27. For show times and ticket prices, visit FAOPA online. The Barn Theatre at Winthrop is at 11349 Bloomingdale Ave.

• Avante Salon & Day Spa is offering 15 percent off all services and retail products through June. The salon is in the Main Street Shops at 953 East Brandon Blvd., across from the Brandon Motor Lodge.

• The deadline to nominate an employee, client, friend – or yourself! – for the 2013 class of Leadership Brandon is July 6. Email nominations or questions to Crystal Colegrove at ccolegrove@brandonchamber.com. Call: 813-689-1221. Not sure what Leadership Brandon is? Read the on the group, which includes a list of this year’s class as well as links to the alumni from previous classes.

• This week’s Greater Brandon Chamber of Commerce ribbon-cuttings is May 23 at in Brandon, at 207 South Parsons Ave., at 1 p.m.

• Julie's Walk-In Consignment Boutique, at 720 West Robinson St., is having a sale on Brighton, with 10 percent off any Brighton item in the shop, including purses, shoes, jewelry and more. The upscale boutique notes on a Facebook post that many shoes are new in their boxes, priced "way below retail," before the 10 percent discount.  

• Free weekend valet parking is available at the shopping mall, sponsored by Ed Morse Cadillac in Brandon. The parking is at the Restaurant Courtyard, available staring at 4 p.m. Fridays, 10 a.m. Saturdays and 11 a.m. Sundays.

• Every Thursday, from 4 to 10 p.m., is family night at in Brandon, at 701 West Lumsden Road. Kids eat free from the kids menu, $2 off Irish favorites, $5 appetizers from 7 p.m. and, May 31, live Irish music by Wayne Gladney.

______________

Posted May 17:

• has posted a plea for parents to persuade their teens to wear sunscreen and to avoid tanning beds, noting that "more patients under 20 are now being seen for skin cancer than eer before." The post includes a link to a TBO.com article, Skin Cancer Concerns Target Teenagers.

• With Father's Day and graduations in sight, Smokey Bones Bar & Fire Grill in Brandon is offering $10 in "Bones Bucks" with the purchase of a $50 gift card.

• The Green Iguana Bar & Grill is promoting its "Ba Da Bing" gourmet burger, a "half-pounder on ciabatta with Tuscan mayonnaise mounded with peppers, onions, tomato, provolone, arulgula and sweet fennel sausage, finished with balsamic syrup."

• The 2012 Spring/Summer Dining Dollars Discount Cards, co-sponsored by and FOCUS Magazine have arrived, and will be available at the Greater Brandon Chamber of Commerce's annual Brandon Business Expo & Taste of Brandon, May 17, at the Florida State Fairgrounds.

• Christian Business Connections is branching out to Riverview, with a kick-off social scheduled for 5:30 p.m. May 21 at C1 Bank (formerly known as Community Bank). The bank is just south of the Gibsonton/Boyette light on the west side of U.S. 301, at the entrance to Lowes. The address is 10109 U.S. 301. The networking group is open to business professionals and focuses on business growth from a Christian perspective. For more information, email tom.reagin@brownstoneinsuranceservices.com.

• The deadline to apply for a mini-grant to attend the Florida PTA's Leadership Conference and Convention, July 13-15 at the Innisbrook Resort in Palm Harbor, is May 25. The grants are for "several deserving Hillsborough County PTAs/PTSAs to have up to three of their 2012-13 officers" attend the conference. The grant covers the cost of registration only. The application, along with additional rules, is posted online.