MacDill Happenings

Checkout all that Carrollwood has to offer by stopping by the Carrollwood Cultural Center Open House this Saturday from 9am to 12:0pm. Students and their parents can see the Center’s premium Camps programs: Fine Arts and Strings Camps for Elementary students and a Band Camp for Middle School students. Students and parents will participate and rotate through the offered curriculum: Theater, Dance, Pottery, Painting, Printmaking, Strings and Band. Summer camps run from 16-27 Jun. All instructors will be available throughout the morning. Carrollwood is a unincorporated planned community in northwest Hillsborough County. The Cultural Center is about 16 miles and a 20-30min drive from MacDill AFB, depending on the time of day. It was one of the first planned communities within the State of Florida and the first in Hillsborough County. It remains one of the most popular places to live within suburban Tampa because of its close proximity to the city compared to new developments. Carrollwood boundaries include Lake Magdalene to the north, Tampa to the east, Egypt Lake to the south, and Citrus Park to the west. The Hillsborough Area Rapid Transit (HART) has an express bus route (Route 26X-Carrollwood Express) from the Carrollwood area to Downtown Tampa, a great way to save money as gas prices rise!

To see what Pinellas County has to offer, check out the 2008 Taste of Pinellas this weekend. This event is a fund raiser for All Children’s Hospital in St. Pete. It runs from Friday to Sunday at Vinoy Park in St. Petersburg. Vinoy Park is beautiful park along the St. Pete waterfront. Friday the event runs from 5pm to 10pm, Saturday noon to 10pm and Sunday noon to 7pm. Admission is free! Over 40 restaurants are offering a taste of delicious treats for a small price. Try out the food and listen to great free music! Music from a variety of bands will play during most the event. On Friday, the headliner is Rick Springfield who starts playing at 8:30pm. The Saturday headliner is blues guitar player Jonny Lang who plays at 8:30pm. The Sunday headliner is Eddie Money who starts playing at 5:30pm. There will plenty of family activities. You can find plenty of parking in the downtown area and a shuttle service will be running throughout the day.

Check out the movies at MacDill AFB this Friday and Saturday.  Admission is only $3.25!  On Friday at 7pm, watch “Street Kings” starring Keanu Reeves and Oscar winner Forest Whitaker.  This movie is rated R for strong violence and pervasive language with a run time of 108 min. Tom Ludlow sets out on a quest to discover the killers of his former partner, Detective Terrance Washington. Captain Wander’s, Ludlow’s supervisor. Ludlow teams up with a young Robbery Homicide Detective to track Washington’s killers through the diverse communities of Los Angeles. Their determination pays off when the two detectives track down Washington’s murderers and confront them in an attempt to bring them to justice. On Saturday at 3pm, watch “Prom Night” starring Brittany Snow and Johnathon Schaech. This movie is rated PG-13 for violence, terror, sexual material, underage drinking and language with a run time of 88 min. Donna’s senior prom is supposed to be the best night of her life. Surrounded by her best friends, she should be safe from the horrors of her past. But when the night turns from magic to murder there is only one man who could be responsible, the man she thought was gone forever. Now, Donna and her friends must find a way to escape the sadistic rampage of an obsessed killer. At 7pm, watch “The Ruins” starring Jonathan Tucker and Jena Malone. This movie is rated R for strong violence, gruesome images, language, sexuality and nudity and has a run time of 91 min. A group of friends who become entangled in a brutal struggle for survival after visiting a remote archaeological dig in the Mexican jungle where they discover something deadly living among the ruins.

If you work on MacDill AFB and live in Brandon, Valrico, Riverview, Fishhawk Ranch or even in the South Bay area, then this is a perfect time to start taking the HART Express bus to work!  MacDill AFB will even give you free monthly passes to take the bus!  You’ll save money and get to relax going and coming back from work.  HART has the Route 24X that comes from Fishhawk Ranch and Riverview. This line will gets you to MacDill AFB as early as 6:40am and the last bus leaves the base at 5:15pm. The Route 25X leaves from the Brandon/Valrico area with the earliest arrival at MacDill AFB at 6:30am and the last bus leaves the base at 5:25pm.  Even if you have to drive to a pickup point out in town, you are still going to save plenty of money by taking the bus.  A lot of people keep a bike on base in case there is need to get around the base. 

Get ready for hurricane season! Hurricane season runs from 1 Jun to the end of November. MOSI is hosting a Hillsborough County sponsored Hurricane Expo to ensure residents understand the importance of knowing their evacuation zone and making an effective plan in the event of a hurricane on 31 May from 10am to 4pm. This event is free and if you want to go explore MOSI further you will receive a discounted admission of $8. The Expo will be a family-friendly, multi-cultural event featuring vendors, live entertainment, educational seminars, and giveaways. This is a one-stop-shop to get you prepared for hurricane season. Talk to local and national emergency managers, meet with emergency management representatives with the City, County and other storm safety organizations, and get your official hurricane guide and other hurricane preparedness information to help get you, your family and your pets ready for a possible storm evacuation. Parking is free and MOSI is located on Fowler Ave between I-275 and I-75.

On Monday Memorial Day, the Lowry Park Zoo and the Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI) are offering discounts to military personnel. At Lowry Park Zoo any active duty, activated, retired or drilling reservist, or National Guardsman is entitled to free admission. An military ID card must be shown. 3 direct dependents of the military member are also eligible for free admission. Dependents may take advantage of the offer without their service member, though an adult must accompany minor dependents. This is a great deal! Normal admission price to the Zoo is $18.95 for adults and $14.50 for children ages 3-11. Enjoy the natural outdoor exhibits for the more than 2000 animals. The Zoo also has rides, show and hands-on interactive exhibits. The rides cost an additional $18. Lowry Park Zoo is about a 30 minute drive north of MacDill AFB with free parking. MOSI is offering active and retired military personnel with valid identification free admission with the purchase of one MOSI admission of equal or lesser value. MOSI will have hands-on and interactive displays honoring America’s military personnel. Normal admission for adults at MOSI is $20.95 and $16.95 for children 2-12 years of age. Parking is free at MOSI. Also during May, Florida residents receive $5 off the cost of admission. MOSI is about a 30 min drive from MacDill AFB.

This weekend The Florida Aquarium and the Plant Museum are offering free admission in recognition of Memorial Day. At the Aquarium admission is free active duty, activated, retired or drilling reservist, or National Guardsman, plus one guest. Additional family members (up to four people) get half-off regular admission. The Aquarium is located in the Channelside district of Tampa with parking for $5 for all day. On Memorial Day, the Plant Museum is offering admission for all active or retired military personnel and their families. Event honors Memorial Day and the 110th anniversary of the Spanish-American War (1898). The Plant Museum is located in downtown Tampa along the scenic Hillsborough River and is historic hotel converted into a museum and is on the grounds of the University of Tampa.

This year the Tampa Bay Rays have started out hot! Believe it or not, the Rays are in second place in the American League East! With great pitching, defense, timely hitting and self-confidence, the Rays have proven themselves to be a team to be reckoned with in the Eastern Division. On Saturday, come support the hometeam as they play the Baltimore Orioles. Game time is 6:10pm at the Tropicana Stadium. The “Trop” is located in St. Petersburg with the distinctive dome recogniziable from MacDill AFB and easily accessible from I-275. All summer long, the Rays are having a Saturday Concert series on select Saturdays. After the game, stay and listen to the Commodores as they play their classic hits and new songs. You get two events for the price of a baseball ticket. You can buy tickets online, at the stadium or get them early and get a discount at the MacDill AFB ITT office at the MacDill AFB exchange.

On Friday 23 May get your Memorial Day Weekend started out right and close to home and watch the Florida Orchestra at TBPAC at 8pm as they perform patriotic tunes and great march tunes from the March King, Phillip Sousa! The program also includes a 100th-anniversary salute to American composer Leroy Anderson, known for such hits as Blue Tango Waltz, The Typewriter, Bugler’s Holiday and Syncopated Clock. Joining the orchestra is tenor and former New York City policeman Daniel Rodriguez and pianist Nelson Kole, who will perform Anderson’s Piano Concerto. Tickets are priced from $26 to $54 and can be bought online. The Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center is located in Downtown Tampa along the Hillsborough River and easily accessible from I-275.

For a great bargain this weekend, check out the MacDill AFB Theater for some of the latest movies! Admission is only $3.25 per person. The concession stand also is a great bargain with a medium popcorn and soft drink special that only cost $6. This Friday at 7pm, “21″ starring Kevin Spacey is playing. It is rated PG-13 for violence, sexual content and nudity and has a run time of 122 minutes. The true story of the very brightest young minds in the country - and how they took Vegas for millions. Ben Campbell is a shy, brilliant M.I.T. student who — needing to pay school tuition — finds the answers in the cards. He is recruited to join a group of the school’s most gifted students that heads to Vegas every weekend armed with fake identities and the know-how to turn the odds at blackjack in their favor. With unorthodox math professor and stats genius Micky Rosa leading the way, they’ve cracked the code. On Saturday at 3pm,“Nim’s Island” starring Jodie Foster is playing. It is rated PG for action adventure and brief language and has a run time of 95 minutes. Anything can happen on Nim’s Land, a magical place ruled by a young girl’s imagination. It is an existence that mirrors that of her favorite literary character, Alex Rover – the world’s greatest adventurer. But Alexandra, the author of the Rover books, leads a reclusive life in the big city. When Nim’s father goes missing from their island, a twist of fate brings her together with Alexandra. Now they must draw courage from their fictional hero, Alex Rover, and find strength in one another to conquer Nim’s island. Also on Saturday at 7pm, “Stop Loss” starring Ryan Phillippe is playing. It is rated R for graphic violence and langauge and has a run time of 113 minutes. Decorated Iraq war hero Sgt. Brandon King makes a celebrated return to his small Texas hometown following his tour of duty. Brandon tries to resume the life he left behind with the help and support of his family and his best friend, Steve Shriver, who served with him in Iraq. Alongside their war-time buddies, Brandon and Steve try to make peace with civilian life. Then, against Brandon’s will, the Army orders him back to duty in Iraq. This upends Brandon’s entire world. The conflict into which he is thrown tests everything he believes in: the bond of family, the loyalty of friendship, the limits of love, and the value of honor.