By Jean Hayes, Times Staff Writer
Friday, November 26, 2010
Thomas Vanater, left, owner of Nabers Fine Jewelers in Zephyrhills, recently presented Tonya Zboravan-Halvonsrod with an 18-karat rose gold leaf ring worth more than $10,000. Zboravan-Halvonsrod of Plant City won the ring through the Simon G October Facebook Sweepstakes. Nabers Fine Jewelers is a Simon G authorized dealer.
Briefly
The Zephyrhills Chamber of Commerce will sponsor the 2010 Holiday Lighting Contest. Residents, businesses and recreational vehicle park clubhouses are invited to enter.
Entries must be submitted by noon Dec. 8. Judging will be held between 6 and 9 p.m. Dec. 11 to 15.
The chamber will recognize the winners at 9 a.m. Dec. 20 in the chamber's office, 38550 Fifth Ave., Zephyrhills. Entries are limited to the Zephyrhills area (Morris Bridge Road on west, Kossick and Otis Allen on north, Forest Lakes Estates on east, and Chancey Road on south) only. Winners of the past two years are eligible for honorable mention only.
For information, call (813) 782-1913.
• • •
Looking forward to the holiday season, the West Pasco Chamber of Commerce invites chamber members to begin their Christmas Card Lane displays.
The annual display around Orange Lake provides chamber businesses with an opportunity to promote their businesses while taking part in one of the community's favorite exhibits.
Christmas Card Lane is a focal point during downtown's Holiday Festival & Parade. The cards go up in early December and remain around the lake until after the new year.
Cards are available for $100 each. All are individually lighted and each includes a sponsor nameplate.
For card reservation information, call Beth at the chamber office at (727) 842-7651.
• • •
Home Instead Senior Care, 7716 Massachusetts Ave., New Port Richey, is organizing its third annual "Be a Santa to a Senior" program to bring holiday cheer to isolated seniors in west Pasco.
Local nonprofits will identify needy, isolated seniors and provide those names to Home Instead Senior Care.
Home Instead Senior Care will place Christmas wreaths and trees in local businesses beginning this week. They will feature ornaments with the first names of the seniors and their respective gift requests.
Customers can pick an ornament, buy items on the list, and then return them unwrapped to the store, with the senior ornament attached. Home Instead volunteers will collect, wrap and distribute the gifts to the seniors.
The program is open to area businesses. For a complete list of participating businesses or for information on sponsoring a tree or wreath at your business, call the Home Instead office at (727) 845-5819.
• • •
Vendors are needed for a Senior Home, Health & Wealth Business Expo to be held from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Feb. 24 at West Winds Assisted Living facility, 37411 Eiland Blvd., Zephyrhills.
The event, open to all Pasco seniors age 55 and up, will feature 50 business vendors displaying information such as home improvement ideas and services such as air conditioning, heating, plumbing and electrical. Also represented will be golf carts, trees, shrubs and plants from a local nursery and more.
Health services featured will include representation from local hospitals and walk-in clinics as well as free health screenings for blood pressure, eyes, hearing, gait and balance along with local physicians and health care specialists.
Representatives from banks, savings and loans, financial planners, insurance agencies and more will also attend. Door prizes will be awarded every 12 minutes.
Admission and parking will be free. For vendor space and cost information, call Ann Yurgensen at (484) 363-0776.
Who's news
Julia Rettig is the new commercial development leader at RAB Foundation Repair LLC, a geotechnical contractor at 13206 Byrd Drive, Odessa.
Before accepting the position, Rettig was president of Tampa Bay Development LLC. She has more than 20 years of commercial, industrial and office development experience.
Rettig is well-known in the Tampa Bay development community for high-profile industrial and office projects with Carter, Duke and ProLogis before starting Tampa Bay Development in 2003.
For information, call (813) 926-2300.
• • •
The West Pasco Chamber of Commerce announces that Linda Hawkins, Bonnie Howard, Sean Kline and Ginny Pierce are vying for the bragging rights to Governor of West Pasco, a post with no pay.
For a dollar a vote, chamber members can vote for their favorite. The new governor will be named at the Business Development Week Chamber Awards Banquet on Feb. 17. The deadline to vote is Feb. 4.
All proceeds will benefit the winner's favorite charity and the West Pasco Chamber of Commerce. Linda Hawkins of H&R Block is raising funds for Healthy Start Coalition of Pasco County. Bonnie Howard of Minuteman Press is raising funds for SPCA Suncoast. Sean Kline of the Center for Independence/New Freedom Transportation is raising funds for the Center for Independence. Ginny Pierce of ABCO Graphics & Printing is raising funds for PACE Center for Girls.
For information, call Joe Alpine at the chamber at (727) 842-7651.
• • •
Margie Pagano has joined the retail market team for Mercantile Bank and accepted the position of vice president and branch manager of the Port Richey branch at 9550-1 U.S. 19.
Pagano has more than 30 years of financial and retail banking experience and has held multiple banking and financial management positions. She is the chairman of the West Pasco Chamber of Commerce board for 2010-11, Leadership Pasco 2010 graduate and volunteers her time with the Rotary Club, American Red Cross, Boys and Girls Club and Junior Achievement in the Pasco Community.
Events
The Shops at Wiregrass will have its Symphony in Lights shows nightly on the hour from 6 to 9 p.m. through Dec. 31 at 28211 Paseo Drive, Wesley Chapel.
The Symphony in Lights is a holiday light show with more than 250,000 LEDs choreographed to the music of the Trans-Siberian Orchestra.
Volunteers will be selling blinking star pins on Fridays and Saturdays through Dec. 24 as part of the Light Up the Night program to support a different local charity each week.
Photos with Santa will be available from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday and from noon to 6 p.m. Sunday in the kids play area at center court. Pet photos with Santa will be available from 4 to 8 p.m. Mondays until Dec. 20, with a portion of the proceeds to benefit local animal charities.
A synthetic ice rink will also be back on Piazza Avenue by the restaurants with skating for a nominal fee, which includes skate rental, from noon to 9 p.m. through Jan. 2.
The Shops at Wiregrass is an outdoor lifestyle center with more than 100 shops and restaurants. For information, call (813) 994-4010.
• • •
The Trinity Positive Business Network group will meet at 8:30 a.m. Monday at Panera Bread, 3234 Little Road in the Mitchell Ranch Plaza, Trinity.
The program, Dress for Success, will be presented by Tom Kearns, business coach and owner of the Kearns Group.
The network group meets every Monday. For information, call Ashok Visuvasam at (813) 333-1622.
• • •
The West Pasco Chamber of Commerce's Hudson Networking Group will have its business card and brochure exchange from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesday at the IHOP restaurant at 12426 U.S. 19, Hudson.
The event is sponsored by A+ Tax & Accounting Service. The cost is $10 per person.
For information or to RSVP, call the chamber at (727) 842-7651 by Monday.
• • •
The Heart Link Network, a networking group for women business owners and professionals, has formed an East Pasco Chapter. The group's first meeting will be at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the home of the group's coordinator.
The cost is $20 and includes a light dinner. For information and directions, contact Cheryl Hinton at (813) 504-5788.
• • •
The Pasco Hernando NPI Networking Group will meet at 11:45 a.m. Tuesday at Boulevard Beef & Ale, 6236 Grand Blvd., New Port Richey. Call Rob Marlowe at (727) 847-2424.
• • •
The BNI Revenue Source, a referral-based networking group, will meet from 7:30 to 9 a.m. Wednesday at Heritage Springs Country Club, 11345 Robert Trent Jones Parkway, Trinity.
Visitors are welcome. The cost of the meeting, which includes breakfast, is $10. Call David Randall at (727) 842-7744.
• • •
The Free Networking International group will meet from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesday at Cantina Laredo restaurant, 2000 Piazza Ave., Building 4, Suite 170, Wesley Chapel (at the Shops at Wiregrass).
The group's corporate sponsor is the Theater Doctor, and its host is Cantina Laredo. The group's director is Martine Duncan, co-owner of the Theater Doctor.
There is no fee to join this networking group. The meeting is structured using the FNI format. Attendees can order lunch off the menu at their own cost. Call Duncan at (813) 929-6816.
• • •
The West Pasco Chamber of Commerce will have its 11th annual River Lights Boat Parade beginning at 6:30 p.m. Dec. 4.
For registration forms and information, contact Craig Carmichael at (727) 919-4338 or visit riverlightsboatparade.com.
• • •
Florida Estates Winery, 25241 State Road 52, near Land O'Lakes, will host a wine festival and ninth birthday celebration from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Dec. 4.
The event includes birthday cake and prizes, as well as sauces, arts and crafts, jewelry, music and an opportunity to sample the winery's offerings. Meet the winemaker and participate in an educational tasting. Pets are welcome.
For information, call (813) 996-2113.
• • •
Calusa Business & Professional Women will have its annual Holiday Bazaar at 11:30 a.m. Dec. 17 at Seven Springs Golf & Country Club, 3535 Trophy Blvd., New Port Richey.
Table rentals are free for members and $15 for nonmembers. The cost of lunch (optional) is $12.95 per person.
BPW/Calusa is an alliance of local business, professional and retired men and women dedicated to improving the professional, personal and economic outlook for the business community and the community at large.
For information on the event, call Joanne Grassi at (727) 856-9595.
If you have business announcements you would like to share with our readers, mail the details to Jean Hayes, Business Digest, Pasco Times, 11321 U.S. 19, Port Richey, FL 34668. You may also e-mail items to jhayes@sptimes.com or fax them to (727) 869-6233. Items may be edited for length and clarity. Photos are published as space permits; they will not be returned.