Good morning, East of Tampa family.
Newsome and Bloomingdale are both 2-0, both won last week by shutout, and Friday night they play each other in Valrico. That is the game on this side of the county. The four day weekend around it is going to be wet, so the short version is do your outdoor thing before 2 p.m. and you will be fine.
Let's get into it.
The #1 Meat Man | The last cookout weekend of the summer, and the forecast is not helping.
Labor Day weekend is the one everybody grills. It is also four straight days with a 60 to 80 percent rain chance and storms rolling in after 2 p.m. every single afternoon. So the plan is to cook early, cook a lot, and not be the guy standing over a grill in a downpour at 4:30.
Shawn McCranie runs The #1 Meat Man. The Premium Family Meat Box is $220 and it is 24 steak burgers at 12 pounds, 24 all natural chicken breasts at 9 pounds and individually packaged, and a 10 pound box of Duroc pork tenderloins. That is a freezer stocked for the month, not a weekend.
I buy from Shawn myself, which is the only reason he keeps showing up in this slot. Fill out the order form to get in touch with The #1 Meat Man.
Photo: The #1 Meat Man
Four days, four chances to get caught out. The pattern does not change: mornings are workable and every afternoon turns.
⛅ Friday: 92, 60%. Heat index up to 106, which is the number to actually plan around. Scattered storms early, then showers likely after 2 p.m. Kickoff at 7:30 should be past the worst of it.
⛅ Saturday: 92, 80%. The wettest day of the four. Anything outdoors happens in the morning or it does not happen.
⛅ Sunday: 92, 70%. Same shape as Friday. Mostly sunny to start, then it turns after 2 p.m.
⛅ Labor Day Monday: 91, 80%. Storms mainly after 2 p.m. Cook lunch, not dinner.
No heat advisory is in effect as of this morning. Friday's forecast heat index of 106 is close enough to the line that one could be issued that morning, so check before you spend the day outside. (Source: National Weather Service Tampa Bay)
Newsome at Bloomingdale, Friday, 7:30 p.m. This is the game of the week and it is not close. Both teams are 2-0. Newsome beat Freedom 55-0 last Friday and Bloomingdale beat Middleton 41-0 the same night, so neither one has given up a point in a week. Bloomingdale hosts. Get there early, because the lot at Bloomingdale fills for a game like this.
The rest of Friday night, week three.
Armwood at Plant City, 7:30. The best matchup on paper anywhere in the county.
Gaither at Sumner, 7:30, at Stingray Stadium.
Durant at Kathleen, 7:30, in Lakeland.
Riverview at Alonso, 7:30, in Tampa.
East Bay at Gibbs, 7:30, in St. Petersburg.
Lennard at St. Petersburg Catholic, 7:00.
Spoto at Lake Gibson in Lakeland. Sources disagree on the kickoff time, so call the school if you are making the drive.
Strawberry Crest and Brandon are both off this week.
The Tampa Bay Rodeo runs Friday and Saturday at the Hillsborough County Fairgrounds in Dover, 215 Sydney Washer Road. Gates at 4:30, live music at 5:45, rodeo at 7:30. Bull riding, barrel racing, food and a full grandstand. General admission starts at $25 and reserved seats are available. This is the rodeo's first Labor Day weekend run, and it is 15 minutes from Brandon or Plant City. Details and tickets are at tamparodeo.com.
Photo: Tampa Bay Rodeo
Give blood at Bruton Memorial Library on Friday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The OneBlood bus is parked at the library at 302 McLendon Street in Plant City. Walk-ins are welcome, no appointment needed, and donors get four movie tickets. An hour of a long weekend for four movie tickets is a fair trade. Here are the details.
The Tampa Museum of Art has a free exhibition sitting in the Riverview library all weekend. "Made in Florida" is a traveling poster show of paintings, prints and photography by artists with Florida ties. Free, no ticket, no trip downtown. Riverview Public Library, 9951 Balm Riverview Road, open Friday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Note the library is closed Labor Day Monday.
Adult coloring at Bloomingdale Regional on Saturday, 3 to 5 p.m., Room 211, 1906 Bloomingdale Avenue in Valrico. Free, supplies provided, no registration, adults only. It is a Saturday afternoon with an 80 percent rain chance, so an indoor thing you can just show up to is worth knowing about. Details here.
East of Tampa Local Sports covers high school football and volleyball across the county with game cards, final scores, Athlete of the Week and school calendar posts. Some of them run 10,000 to 50,000 impressions. One school, football and volleyball plus school calendar and admin posts, is $250 a month for six posts or $500 a month for twelve, three month minimum. If your business wants a local kid's name in front of the whole county with your logo under it, start here.
Photo: East of Tampa Local Sports
SR 60, Brandon Boulevard, nightly closures next week. Lane closures between Buckingham Place and Lithia Pinecrest Road run Tuesday September 8 through Thursday September 10, 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. It is part of the $3.7 million repaving and median project on that stretch, which runs through the fall. Driveways, sidewalks and side streets stay open. The project page is here.
Nothing is scheduled on it Friday through Monday, so the long weekend itself is clear. Worth knowing that county recreation centers, sports complexes, athletic fields and staffed splash pads are all closed Labor Day Monday, and so are the libraries. Conservation parks stay open.
Presented by WeWed.
Meet Yolonda Young. Around here she is Coach Lovey.
Twenty years of prevention and wellness work, a research background in Marriage and Family Studies, and one clear position: most couples wait until the damage is done to ask for help. She is not a therapist and she tells you that first. Sessions run on Zoom, and in person when she is available. Couples sessions are $150.
Start with her free guide and see if the way she thinks fits how you think. The 10-Minute Check-In is here.
Photo: WeWed
Where to go this weekend.
Tutto Tavola is the sit-down one. Italian, in Winthrop Town Centre at 6264 Winthrop Town Centre Avenue in Riverview. Dinner Tuesday through Sunday, 4 to 9. The lamb shank is $32, the tagliata di manzo is $28, and the Lasagna Nonna Tina is $18. They take reservations, which on a holiday weekend is the whole ballgame. 813-986-6488.
Photo: Tutto Tavola
Crazy Cafe is the late one. Sushi and hibachi at 3883 US-301 in Riverview, open until 10:30 Friday and Saturday. Hibachi filet mignon is $26.95, the dragon roll is $13.95, and six krab rangoon are $6.95. Kitchen open past 10 on a Friday is the answer to a 7:30 kickoff. Walk in or call (813) 898-2839.
The Fish House in Ruskin is the one with a clock on it. 1902 West Shell Point Road, family owned since 2002, and open Thursday, Friday and Saturday only, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., last orders at 7:45. The fresh red grouper dinner is $16.50 or $24.25 depending on size, the basa is $15.20, and the house made croquie is $4.75. Three days a week means this weekend or wait.
Smokin' Oak Wood-Fired Pizza opened in FishHawk. It is at 5607 Circa FishHawk Boulevard in Lithia, and the draw is a self-pour tap wall alongside the pizza. Open Sunday through Thursday 11 to 9, Friday and Saturday 11 to 10. Phone is (813) 776-6546. Their page is here.
Photo: Smokin' Oak Wood-Fired Pizza
Campbell's Dairyland in Brandon has been sold. The Dairy Joy family bought it and announced it on their own page. Campbell's has been family owned on South Parsons Avenue for 41 years. Dairy Joy runs shops in South Tampa, Seminole and Jacksonville plus Rodeo Whip in DeLand, and they say the plan is to keep what people already love about the place rather than change it. No word yet on the name.
The new middle school off Balm Riverview has a name. The school board named it for Kenneth R. Otero on September 1. Otero worked for the district from 1975 to 2013, starting as a teacher at Plant High and finishing as Deputy Superintendent, and he was principal at Sligh and Tampa Bay Tech in between. The school is a $72 million build for 1,600 students and it opens in August 2027, pairing with Aquilla J. Morgan High next door. The district's announcement is here.
Photo: Hillsborough County Public Schools
Winthrop is running its first Restaurant Week September 17 through 27, with special menus at eight restaurants in the town centre and weekly giveaways. Two weeks out, worth putting on the calendar now.
The county's Patriot Day ceremony is September 11 at 10:30 a.m., and this one is the 25th anniversary. Outdoor amphitheater at Veterans Memorial Park, free and open to anyone. Color guard, rifle salute, taps, and an escort of the 135 pound steel beam from the Twin Towers that lives at the park. JROTC cadets from county high schools lead parts of it, and afterward there are demonstrations from the Sheriff's drone team, MacDill's military working dogs and the Coast Guard. Details are here.
The businesses that keep this free.
Environmental Protective Solutions was founded in Lithia in 2005, so 21 years this year. Adam Key is a certified mold remediator and the work is mold and mycotoxin removal, water damage, leak detection and crawl space encapsulation, plus the repairs afterward. Four straight days of rain is the week a roof leak announces itself. One year warranty on remediation, 24/7 emergency line, (813) 438-5937.
Photo: Environmental Protective Solutions
Tabatha Pugh is a licensed Florida broker associate with Keller Williams Realty Smart, working out of Plant City. She has been licensed since 2017 and she knows the east side of the county better than the search portals do. 813-476-8457.
Glaros Law is Steve Glaros at 350 East Robertson Street in Brandon, and he is the 2026 Honorary Mayor of East Hillsborough after raising $121,746 for High 5, the Impact Program and Raining Cats and Dogs. Family law, personal injury and estate planning. Personal injury consults are free. (813) 854-1234.
Photo: Glaros Law
Stoner's Pizza Joint is Allison Hardy at 3428 Lithia Pinecrest Road in Bloomingdale. Pizza, wings and calzones, and the Pick 2 is $6.99 each. A rainy Saturday with the kids home is exactly what that deal is for. (813) 436-0016.
Photo: Stoner's Pizza Joint
Madison Patron sells residential real estate with Foundation Realty Group, working the same east side streets this newsletter covers. Cell is 813-955-9092 and the office is 813-729-6000.
Maid Pure Cleaning is Dionne Cona, a former teacher and a mother of four, serving Brandon, Riverview and Valrico. More than 250 local customers, bonded and insured, and a 24 hour satisfaction callback. They also partner with Cleaning for a Reason. If you have people coming over this weekend, that call is today. (813) 670-2004.
Photo: Maid Pure Cleaning
Fix It Today Plumbing is the same family as Environmental Protective Solutions, which is a useful pairing: the people who stop the leak are the people who dry the house out afterward. Leaks, drains, water heaters, sewer lines, repiping and water filtration, flat rate pricing with financing available. (813) 743-7793.
Team Plumstead is John and Danielle with Red Sash Realty, working residential real estate across FishHawk, Lithia, Valrico, Brandon and Riverview. (813) 495-2136.
Brandon Crossroads Bowl has 40 lanes across 40,000 square feet at 609 Crater Lane and has been open since 1990. Bowlapalooza runs Monday through Friday 3 to 5 p.m. at $6.99 plus tax with free shoes, and the Sunday morning session from 9 to noon is the same price. (813) 621-2363. Their sister house The Alley at SouthShore is 42,000 square feet at 10221 Big Bend Road in Riverview, with an arcade, a grill and a sports bar, and Team Trivia every Wednesday at 7 p.m. (813) 672-8353. Four days of afternoon storms is a good week to know where 82 lanes are.
Photo: The Alley at SouthShore
Journeys by Jess is Jess, a certified family travel advisor and a registered Florida Seller of Travel, planning cruises, all inclusives, Disney and group travel out of Riverview. Labor Day is when people start booking the winter trip. [email protected].
Photo: Journeys by Jess
Running something the rest of us should know about? A fundraiser, a grand opening, a tournament, a church festival, a garage sale with actual good stuff. Send it in here and we will get it in front of 5,000 of your neighbors.
See you Tuesday.
John
The East of Tampa Guy
FOOTBALL SEASON IS BACK!!!!!
