Friday, April 20, 2012
The Plant City Relay For Life runs April 20-21, poised to add dramatically to the total funds raised to date in Southeastern Hillsborough County, at Armwood, Bloomingdale, Brandon, Lennard, Newsome and Riverview high schools.
The American Cancer Society's 2012 Relay For Life season in Southeastern Hillsborough County wraps up this weekend with the area's historically largest event, at Plant City High School, poised to raise the totals significantly. Opening ceremonies for the Plant City Relay For Life kick off today, April 20, at 6 p.m., with the Survivor Lap commencing 30 minutes later. Plant City is the last of this year's seven Relays For Life in Southeastern Hillsborough County. Collectively, the six Relays For Life to date have collected $633,654, according to preliminary figures obtained from the American Cancer Society unit office on Oakfield Drive in Brandon. Preliminary numbers are expected to rise as Relay For Life teams have through the summer to …
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Outdoor Impressions will be featured in May for a second time on "Yard Crashsers," a reality TV program on the Do It Yourself (DIY) Network. The Greater Brandon business in Valrico is owned by Jason Smith, a graduate of Bloomingdale High School.
While other kids stressed about homework and prom dates, Jason Smith was worried about keeping up with his growing clientele base. At the age of 16, Smith created Jason's Total Lawn Care, his own landscaping business that started as a teenager cutting grass and grew into a full-fledged company with more than 100 clients. "It was a great experience for me," said the Bloomingdale High School graduate, now 28. "It just grew and eventually my company even started doing work for the school. My senior year, I'd be inside taking economics and outside there would be two of my employees working on the grounds. It taught me a lot, and I was lucky to do it that young, because living with my parents and being in business, I learned a lot about being…
Monday, March 26, 2012
Eighteen-year-old Alexis Vazquez has her heart set on a career in photography.
From the first moment Alexis Vazquez picked up a camera at age 14, she knew she was hooked for life. "My aunt was visiting and brought a Canon SLR with her," said Vazquez, a Valrico resident and a senior at Bloomingdale High School. "I started taking random pictures with it, and fell in love. Before I knew it, I was researching cameras, looking up photographers and learning everything I could about photography." Her parents purchased her a pink Samsung point-and-shoot, and Vazquez spent her spare time teaching herself photography. Then her grandfather bought her a Nikon D60 camera and, at age 16, Vazquez launched her own photography business, Alexis Marie Photography. Now 18, Vazquez has her own website and Facebook page, and is happily …
Thursday, September 1, 2011
The Bulls dropped their preseason opener 15-0 on Friday night.
Just as Hurricane Irene set her eyes upon the eastern seaboard Friday night, a new football season filled with hope and high expectations was brewing in Bloomingdale. Under a cool, breezy sky, the Bulls varsity team dropped its preseason home opener Friday, a 15-0 loss to a physical Durant team. After a disappointing 2010 season (2-8, fourth place in Class 5A-District 6), coach John Booth and the Bulls coaching staff prepared this offseason for a new district alignment in Class 8A-District 6, which includes Wharton, Alonso and perennial powerhouse Plant. Friday night’s preseason game was a test to measure the hard work and preparation of a long offseason, and from the opening kickoff, Bloomingdale looked like a team on a mission. …
Monday, March 7, 2011
We'll update you weekly on what has become the major local fundraiser of the year in terms of people participating and money raised: the American Cancer Society's grassroots Relay For Life.
The American Cancer Society's Relay For Life season is underway and proceeds raised so far from the six events in Eastern Hillsborough County have collectively raised just shy of $200,000. That’s good news to people like Mary Coram, a breast cancer survivor and breast care educator at Total Imaging on Parsons Avenue in Brandon. (Related Coverage: Passion Reigns at Greater Brandon Chamber of Commerce Health Fair at Campo Family YMCA.) “There are a lot of people who don’t know how to do a breast exam and a lot of them don’t get the mammograms,” Coram said at the Greater Brandon Chamber of Commerce Health Fair held on March 5 at the Campo Family YMCA in Valrico. “Over the past three years we’ve seen more cases of women being diagnosed with …
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Enrolled at both Hillsborough Community College and the University of South Florida, for band, Tracy Mare, an employee at the Brandon Sports & Aquatic Center, learns well from her high school band teacher, tennis coach and mom.
Tracy Maré is a whiz at moving forward with her goals to become a high school band teacher and tennis club owner, with a passion for making other people feel special. “That’s what I have planned so we’ll see how well it goes,” said Maré, a student co-enrolled at Hillsborough Community College and the University of South Florida, who works after school at the Brandon Sports & Aquatic Center. Brandon Patch caught up with Maré on March 5, where she talked about her studies and her job and the influences that have affected her life from birth to age 19. Maré was attending a band auction at Bloomingdale High School, where she graduated from in 2010. (For related coverage, see the Bloomingdale Patch article, “Bloomingdale Band Hosts 21st Annual …
Monday, February 28, 2011
We'll update you weekly on what has become the major local fundraiser of the year in terms of people participating and money raised: the American Cancer Society's grassroots Relay For Life.
The American Cancer Society's Relay For Life season is underway and Mary Kraack couldn’t be more thankful. “I’m a breast cancer survivor,” she said, Feb. 27, at the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party fundraiser hosted by the Rotary Club of Brandon South at Cross Creek Ranch in Dover. “The Relay is such an incredible support system that has been created. I count anybody who attends any Relay For Life as my friend." Kraack has lots of friends. Collectively, as of Feb. 28, the six sites in Eastern Hillsborough County had reported 259 teams, 3,165 participants and $169,538.73 raised. (See chart below.) That means that over the past week, the effort has grown by 6 teams, 101 participants and $17,467.65 Start dates for the overnight relay run from March 25…
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
We'll update you weekly on what has become the major local fundraiser of the year in terms of people participating and money raised: the American Cancer Society's grassroots Relay For Life.
The American Cancer Society's Relay For Life season gets underway with organizers and participants working hard to put together teams, themes and fundraising efforts for their respective events. Collectively, as of Feb. 22, the six sites in Eastern Hillsborough County had reported 253 teams, 3,064 participants and $152,071.08 raised. (See chart below.) That means that over the past week, the effort has grown by 10 teams, 193 participants and $24,239.95. Start dates for the overnight relay run from March 25 through April 8. Periodically at Brandon Patch we will give updates on the efforts underway for relay events at Bloomingdale, Brandon, Newsome (FishHawk), Plant City and Riverview high schools and Burnett Middle School (Seffner/Dover). …
Saturday, January 22, 2011
The annual State of Florida Veterans of Foreign Wars JROTC exhibition has been staged at Brandon High School for years.
Sgt. Major Oscar Cunningham has 30 years of military experience, yet as a JROTC instructor he said his job is to guide the cadets to lead each other. He was at Brandon High School on Jan. 22 to observe his JROTC cadets do just that in a statewide exhibition run by the State Department of Veterans of Foreign Wars. "Junior ROTC is about developing leadership," said Cunningham, who works at Hillsborough High School. "We find a lot of hidden talent. A lot of students don't realize their leadership potential until they join the ROTC program. They're put in positions of leadership, where they have to command people in their own age group and in large numbers. That's when they realize, 'I can really do this!' " Garrett Norms and Austin Gary are …
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Chrissy Mullen
11:23 am on Sunday, April 28, 2013
I am moving to Valrico from Chicago where I've lived all my life. I love Yard Crashers, but since I lost my house and am living in assisted living, which sucks, I can't watch. It hurts too much. It would be comparable to asking a woman who just had a miscarriage to go look for baby clothes. I can't wait to get down there and have a yard again for my dog and I. I am disabled and can't work on a … more ›