MacDill Happenings

Check out Arthur’s World touring exhibition based on Emmy Award-winning PBS children’s television series and popular books by Marc Brown at Great Explorations The Children’s Museum in downtown St. Petersburg.  Kids can engage in role-playing and reading activities in various Arthur settings.  The exhibit includes Mr. Ratburn’s Classroom, the Elwood City Library, The Read Family Kitchen and The Backyard Sleepover. Fun, Arthur-related activities are designed to reinforce the messages behind the Arthur book character and television series: that being smart and into books is cool; and that kids’ face, and can resolve, real-life dilemmas. Admission is $9 for ages 1 and older, and $8 for seniors.  Hours on Mon-Sat are 10am to 4:30pm and on Sun from noon to 4:30pm.

On Monday 11 Aug, Homeschool families get free self-guided tours of more than 450 hands-on exhibits at Tampa’s Museum of Science and Industry, including Disasterville, The Amazing You, Kids in Charge! The Children’s Science Center, and the Saunders Planetarium. Also, preview the museum’s homeschool education programs for 2008-2009 school year.  Find out how MOSI can help in providing a well rounded education to your children.  Admission to “Dinosaurs! The Exhibition” and the IMAX Dome Theatre is offered at a discounted rate. Parking is always free at MOSI.

This Sunday is the Tampa Bay Comic Book Convention at the Doubletree Hotel at 4500 W. Cypress in Tampa from 10am to 4pm.  Check out the 85 tables of Comics, Videos, Toys, Action Figures, Anime, Star Wars, Artwork, and Trading Cards. Guests include Amanda Stevens, host of Sci-Fit TV, and dozens of other artists.  Parking is free at the hotel.  If hotel parking gets too crowded there will be parking across the street at Jefferson High School.  Admission is $5 for 13 and over.  12 and under get in free!  Don’t forget to sign for the convention giveaways for great prizes and cash!

If you thinking of spending the night in Orlando area during a visit to Disney World, Universal Studios, Seaworld or any of the other many attractions in the Orlando and need a place to stay at, then stop by the MacDill AFB IT&T office to get a special rate at some of the Disney World hotels.  Available most nights from 3 Aug – 27 Sept 2008 with rates starting at $64.00 per night plus tax for select Walt Disney World Value Resorts in a standard room. You can also call 813-828-1860 to book your room.  Don’t forget to get your military discount tickets when you stop by the MacDill AFB IT&T office.  You can also get military discount tickets at the Shades of Green hotel at Walt Disney World. Shades of Green is a US Army MWR hotel that also has reasonable room prices.  Another option is the luxury Gaylord Palms Resort and Spa, located one mile from Walt Disney World.  They are offering $100 discounts on rooms so that you only pay $99 a night! 

If you’re looking for an inexpensive outing this weekend, then go no further than the MacDill AFB movie theater this Friday and Saturday.  Tickets for adults are $4 and $2 for ages 5-10.  On Friday at 7pm, “The Incredible Hulk” starring Edward Norton is playing. It is rated PG-13 for intense action violence, frightening sci-fi images, and brief suggestive content with a runtime of 128 minutes. Scientist Bruce Banner desperately hunts for a cure to the gamma radiation that poisoned his cells and unleashes the unbridled force of rage within him. Cut off from a life he knew and the woman he loves, Betty Ross, Banner struggles to avoid the obsessive pursuit of his nemesis, General Thunderbolt Ross, and the military machinery that seeks to capture him and brutally exploit his power. As all three grapple with the secrets that led to The Hulk’s creation, they are confronted with a monstrous new adversary known as The Abomination, whose destructive strength exceeds even The Hulk’s own.  On Saturday at 7pm, “The Love Guru“ starring Mike Myers and Jessica Alba is playing. This movie is rated PG-13 for crude/sexual content throughout, language, comic violence and drug references. Runtime for this movie is 88 minutes. Pitka is an American who was left at the gates of an ashram in India as a child and raised by gurus. He moves back to the U.S. to seek fame and fortune in the world of self-help and spirituality. His unorthodox methods are put to the test when he must settle a rift between Toronto Maple Leafs star hockey player Darren Roanoke and his estranged wife. After the split, Roanoke’s wife starts dating L.A. Kings star Jacques Grande out of revenge, sending her husband into a major professional skid – to the horror of the teams’ owner Jane Bullard and Coach Cherkov (Verne Troyer). Pitka must return the couple to marital nirvana and get Roanoke back on his game so the team can break the 40-year-old “Bullard Curse” and win the Stanley Cup.

Ansel Adams and the American West exhibit will be on display at the St. Petersburg’s Museum of Fine Arts. The Museum of Fine Arts in St. Petersburg, Florida was founded by Margaret Acheson Stuart (1896-1980) and reflects her vision of providing outstanding examples of world art in an inviting, elegant setting. The Museum opened to the public in 1965. The purpose of the Museum is to increase and diffuse knowledge and appreciation of art, to collect and preserve objects of artistic interest and merit, to protect works of art, to provide facilities for research, and to offer instruction and opportunities for aesthetic enjoyment of art. The Museum of Fine Arts has the only comprehensive art collection, extending from antiquity to the present, on the Florida west coast.  Museum hours are Tuesday through Saturday – 10 am to 5 pm, and Sunday – 1 pm to 5 pm. The museum is closed on Mondays. The museum is located along the St Pete waterfront near the Pier. Admission is: Adults-$12, Seniors, 65 & older-$10, College Students with current ID-$6, Youth (age 7 to 18)-$6 and Children six and younger are free.

The Outdoor Recreation department of MacDill AFB has scheduled a deep sea fishing trip on Sunday 10 Aug from 5:30am to 6pm. The cost is $75 per person which includes transportation from MacDill AFB Marina to New Port Richey, fishing rods, license, tackle, and bait . If you want to go on this outing, then register and pay at the FamCamp Office (on the way to the base beach) by noon on 6 Aug. Fishermen will meet at the Marina Activity Room at 5:15am and depart at 5:30am sharp. Fishing will be on the “Miss Virginia”. The boat has an enclosed cabin with seats and tables. Breakfast and lunch are available at a reasonable cost, as well as, beer, soda, and snacks. If you prefer to fish with live bait, it must be purchased that morning before departure. You may bring a small cooler (no larger than 48 quarts). Glass containers are not allowed.

Draft schedules were sent to Hillsborough County Public high school students last week.  If you need to make a change to your student schedule, then the best way to do is to check the school’s web site to see if they are scheduling a day before school starts to make adjustments to schedules.  Remember the first day of school will be 18 Aug for Hillsborough County Public Schools.  If you are new to Hillsborough County, then the Hillsborough County Public School’s web site will provide useful information including what school your children will attend, when you can enroll them, how to enroll and what you need to bring with you when you enroll them.  Some school websites will have suggested school supplies, so that you can buy them now before stores run out of them.  There is also a summer reading list that your children still have time to complete. 

The All About Kids Back to School Bash continues today at the Tampa Convention Center in downtown Tampa.  Hours today are noon to 4pm. Radio Disney and Nickelodeon will be there to provide entertainment. There are appearances by Dora the Explorer, SpongeBob SquarePants and others.  Enjoy a character parade at the start of each day, craft activities,  batting with the Tampa Bay Rays, a bicycle rodeo, a Baby Wonder Zone for babies and toddlers up to age 2 and expectant parents and a Treat Street Snack Zone where you can free sample of treats for lunch for the new school year.  Admission is $9 for adults, but you can get a $1 off coupon at Publix or by clicking this link and printing out a coupon.  Children ages 12 and younger get in free, but there is a limit of 3 children per paying adult.  Each paying adult will receive a backpack at the Tampa Bay Baby Booth.

The Bay Palms Golf Complex at MacDill AFB is offering the Partake special again during August.  This a great inexpensive way to get everyone out of the office to enjoy an afternoon together!  The cost for 9 holes and a cart is only $5!  If you want to play18 holes, it is only an additional $5!  If you need rental clubs, then they are free!   Commands throughout the base are eligible on certain days.  Playing time is from 12pm to 6:30pm.  CENTCOM personnel and components can play on 4 Aug.  JCSE personnel can play on 11 Aug.  SOCOM personnel and components can play on 18 Aug.  Wing personnel can play on 25 Aug.