Get ready for the Outback Bowl on 1 Jan featuring Wisconsin and Tennessee by watching the TECO Energy Parade and Band Blast in Ybor City on 31 Dec starting at 5:30pm. The parade will feature a pep rally with both schools’ marching bands and cheerleaders. The parade will have floats and 20 marching bands and will run along Seventh Avenue.
Enjoy New Year’s Eve at Channelside from 8pm to 2am on 31 Dec. There will be live entertainment in the center courtyard and a Spectacular Fireworks Display and a Ball Drop at Midnight. Get there early to get a good parking spot. Channelside is only 15 minutes from MacDill AFB.
Celebrate the New Year, Monday December 31st, with your children at Lowry Park Zoo at Noon Year’s Eve from 9:30am to 1pm. There will be games, arts and crafts, live entertainment, educational displays and a juice toast at noon. It is a short drive from MacDill AFB. Get your discount tickets at the ITT in the MacDill Exchange Mall.
This Saturday and Sunday at the St. Pete Times Forum is the Lighting College Hockey Classic. On Sat at 5pm Notre Dame plays University of Massachusetts and at 8pm Rensselaer Polytech plays Colorado College. On Sun at 5pm is the Consolation Round and at 8pm is the Championship Finals. There are vouchers for free tickets at the Five Guys Famous Hamburgers and Fries restaurant on Kennedy just east of Dale Mabry Blvd in Tampa.
Check out the 15th Annual New Year’s Eve Celebration of the Arts, First Night, at multiple venues in Downtown St. Petersburg from 4:00 p.m. to Midnight. This is a family-oriented festival with music stages, entertainment, drama, dance, games, art, fireworks and more. Cost is $10 for adults, $5 for children 6-12 which allows admission to all 25 stages of performances and activities. St Pete is just on the other side of the bay from MacDill AFB and is about a 20 min drive.
Support the veterans of Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom by playing in the 1st Annual Wounded Warrior Golf Tournament at MacDill AFB on 9 Jan at the Bay Palms Golf Complex. Shotgun start is 12:30pm. All proceeds from the tournament will be used to purchase iBOT Mobility Systems (hi-speed wheelchairs) for severely injured veterans in the Tampa area. The entry fee is $80 and includes green fees and cart, goody bag, range balls, raffle prizes, dinner and awards ceremony and special adult beverage holes. Registrations must be received no later than 31 Dec. Registration form is attached: wounded-warriors.pdf
Diner’s Reef is open for dinner for Military ID cardholders and Military Retiree’s plus one guest. There will be a wide selection of traditional Christmas items from shrimp cocktail, ham, turkey, roast rib of beef to mashed potatoes to pumpkin pies! Dinner is served from 10:30am to 6pm. For more information, call 828-2412.
Come watch the 1946 classic family film, It’s a Wonderful Life, at the Tampa Theatre today at 3pm. It’s an enduring story about family, love, values and the real meaning of Christmas starring Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed. The Tampa Theatre is a beautiful place to watch this movie. Cost is $8. The Tampa Theatre is located in Downtown Tampa.
For your last minute Christmas shopping and to find a good price on gifts, the MacDill AFB Exchange is open this Sat and Sun from 7am to 7pm. If you really need to find something at the last minute, then the Exchange is open on Christmas Eve from 6am to 5pm. You usually come out ahead of in town prices because at least you know that you won’t have to pay a sales tax! You’ll probably find the parking lot a lot less congested than your local mall parking lot!
Want to do something inexpensive and fun during Christmas vacation? Check out the MacDill Lanes! From Monday to Friday from 11am-5pm, kids bowl for 50 cents per game and adults pay $1 per game. This offer is valid from 24 Dec to 8 Jan. There is a $1 charge to rent bowling shoes. MacDill Lanes is open Mon 11am-5pm, Tue- Thu 11am-8pm, Fri 11am-midnight, Sat 1pm-midnight and Sun 1pm-8pm.
