MacDill Happenings

The Bay Palms Golf Complex at MacDill AFB is hosting a “Tweens and Teens Golf Camp” this summer. There are two separate sessions. The first session runs from 13-16 June and the second session runs 27-30 June. The camp runs from 10am to 4pm each day. The cost is $175 which includes instruction, and daily lunch. This camp is geared towards children ages 7 to 15 years old. Golf does not have to an expensive game if you golf on base. The Monday through Friday rates are 7am to 11am: E1 to E4 $17; E5 to O3 $23; O4 and up $26; guests $30, from 11am to 2:30pm: E1 to E4 $12; E5 to O3 $16; O4 and up $18; guests $22, after 2:30pm: E1 to E4 $10; E5 to O3 $14; O4 and up $15; guests $18. On weekends, the posted rates are good until 11am when a discount goes into effect. The Bay Palms Golf Complex was named ‘Best Golf Program in the Air Force’ for 2002. There are two 18-hole, par 72 courses. The challenging South Course runs along the bay. The North Course offers a prefect opportunity to work on your game. The complex has a lighted practice putting green, a 24-hour-a-day lighted driving range where a bucket of balls is only $1, a practice chipping green and sand trap areas. The clubhouse has an excellent pro shop with a great friendly staff ready to help you. The snack bar serves a great variety of food and has an especially nice breakfast menu! Call the ProShop at 840-6904 to register for camp.

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The Florida Aquarium will be hosting the Easter Bunny today! The Easter Bunny pulls on his bathing suit and dives in for a swim at the coral reef at 11 am and 3:30 pm. Children can get their picture taken with him from 10 am-2 pm. Children receive $5 off of their admission by printing this coupon. The Florida Aquarium is among the top aquariums in the world with more than 20,000 aquatic plants and animals from Florida and around the world. Come out and pet the stingrays. The Aquarium is located in the Channelside district of Tampa with parking for $5 for all day at the Aquarium parking lot. There is also a hourly parking structure across the street from the Aquarium and is closer to the Channelside Bay complex. After an evening at the Aquarium, take the children to a dinner at Channelside. There is a large variety of restaurants from casual eateries to fine dining. If you’re looking for pizza, sandwiches, steak, Thai, Spanish food or something in between, Channelside has it. Or if you’re just interested in dessert, then you can find some delicious ice cream at Channelside! Normal Aquarium ticket prices for adults is $19.95, $16.95 for seniors, and $14.95 for ages 3-12. Or plan ahead and buy discount tickets at the MacDill AFB ITT office at the BX Mall.

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If you’re looking for an Easter Egg Hunt, then look no further than MacDill AFB! Come out to MacDill on Saturday 23 April to participate in a classic Easter Egg Hunt! The kids will love it. Parents, make sure take along a camera to take pictures of all the fun. The hunt starts at 10am. The location for the hunt is the Adult Softball Field Complex located near Short Fitness Center. Parking is available near the softball field or on the parking lot behind the Fitness Center. Besides the egg hunt, there will be prizes awarded to those children finding the Prize Eggs in each age group and a clown to entertain the children. An Easter egg hunt would not be complete without the Easter Bunny! So remember the camera! Make sure that you bring a basket for each child who participates in the hunt. And since this is Florida, make sure you bring sunscreen and bug spray! The hunt is open to children ages 1 to 11. Parents have to be military personnel assigned to MacDill AFB or DOD employees from MacDill or retirees. To get ready for the hunt or if you work up an appetite after the hunt, then stop by the Golf Course Snack Bar for a tasty and affordable meal. The snack bar is open daily from 6:30 am to 2pm. My favorite breakfast special is the Hole in One. Besides the normal food that you would expect for lunch, the snack bar has some wonderful salads!

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The Voluntary Prekindergarten Program (VKP), a State of Florida program that started in 2005, provides all 4-year-olds in Florida the opportunity to quality prekindergarten programs. VKP is designed to prepare children for kindergarten and develop the skills they need to become good readers and successful students. VKP includes standards for literacy skills, strict accountability, appropriate cirricula, substantial instruction periods, manageable class sizes, and qualified instructors. Parents have the option of enrolling children in school-year program that consists of 540 instructional hours or a summer program that consists of 300 instructional hours. The MacDill Child Development Center #2 will be conducting a 2011 summer VKP program that has 24 slots available. The program is first-come, first-serve based on the date of the application. So if you moving to MacDill this summer or are currently stationed at MacDill, this is a great opportunity to take advantage of. The tentative dates are 13 June to 12 August from 8:30am to 4:30pm. The cost is $15 per week. Age eligibility for VKP is for a child born between 2 Sep 2005 to 1 Sep 2006 and has not previously participated in a VKP program. The child must be a dependent of a military member or civilian attached to MacDill AFB. A child can only participate in VKP once. A child who is eligible to enter kindergarten cannot participate in VKP. If you have any questions about eligibility, you can call (813) 740-4713. To sign up, call (813) 828-5750. If you don’t want to use the MacDill, then there are many other locations that provide VKP. Although MacDill will charge a small weekly fee, the actual program is free!

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On Tuesday 15 February, the Chick-fil-A at theWestfield Brandon Mall will offer a Kids Eat Free” special from 5pm to 8pm. To receive the free kids meal, the purchase of a regular value meal is required. The Chick-fil-A is located in the Food Court on the east side of the mall. Another meal special going on all day is offered by Cinnabon on Tuesday only. Cinnabon is offering a buy one get one free cinnabon! The Mall has some great eating establishments: California Pizza Kitchen, The Cheesecake Factory, GrillSmith, Panera Bread, Ruby Tuesday or Siniqual. Or the food court at the Mall has some delicious offerings from Five Guys to Italian to Chinese and everything in between. The Westfield Mall in Brandon is one of the largest malls in the Tampa area. Anchor stores at the Mall include Dillard’s, Macy’s, JC Penny’s, and Sears. With stores offering everything from shoes to sports to sunglasses and everything in between, the Westfield Mall is also a destination place for dining out from something quick to eat in the food court to a sit down restaurant in the restaurant courtyard. The Mall is open on Mondays to Friday from 10:30am to 8:30pm, Saturdays 10am to 9pm and Sundays from 11am to 6pm. The town of Brandon is a pretty popular location for people who work at MacDill AFB. Brandon is about a 30 minute drive from MacDill AFB. The LeRoy Selmon Expressway runs from Brandon to Tampa and can cut 10 to 15 minutes off your commute during rush hour.

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On Saturday 23 January, the Gasparilla season starts with the Children’s Gasparilla Extravaganza on Bayshore Blvd. The event starts at 11am and concludes at 7:30pm. At 11am, vendors and children’s activities will open along Bayshore Blvd., from Bay to Bay to Watrous/Orleans Avenues. From 11am to 2pm, there will be a Bicycle Safety Rodeo located along Bayshore, between Albany & Gunby (near Rome Ave.). The Bicycle Rodeo is free to everyone interested in learning how to bicycle safely with traffic. Children will be fitted with a free, brand new bicycle helmet they can keep (while supplies last), and then use one of the Rodeo’s bicycles to ride through a fun course which teaches skills that may one day save their lives. From 1:30pm to 2:30pm,the Gasparilla Preschooler’s Stroll will beginning at Bay to Bay Blvd. and end at Howard. Children five and under have their own chance to strut their stuff along beautiful Bayshore Boulevard. This new Gasparilla tradition gives the youngest pirates a chance to show their best pirate attire and specially decorated wagons, bicycles and strollers. At 3pm, the Gasparilla Air Invasion will features a precision parachute jump from the United States Special Operations Command Jump Team. From the 3:30pm to 6pm, the Children’s Gasprilla Parade takes place from Bay to Bay and Bayshore, proceeds north along Bayshore, and ends at Watrous/Orleans Avenues & Bayshore. To end the event, the Piratechnic Extravaganza runs from 7pm to 7:30pm with the largest “Piratechnic” display of the year re-creating the imaginary sea battle between the pirates of Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla and the City of Tampa. Admission is free, but reserved seating can be purchased for $16.  Parking is not easy, because this is a huge event.  Plan to get there early to find parking. Expect tens of thousands of people to attend this event. Bring food, water and money. No large coolers or glass containers are allowed, but small, soft-sided coolers or lunch bags can do the job. There will be portable ATMs along the route, but most have steep charges. Use the shuttles that will operate two continuous routes from the South Regional Garage at Florida Avenue and Channelside Drive and at the Fort Brooke Garage at Franklin and Whiting streets. Cost: $5 for adults. Kids ride free. Or, you can hop on board the TECO Line Streetcar ($5 for an unlimited pass) in Ybor City and ride it into downtown Tampa. Park your car at the Centro Ybor Parking Garage or the Palm Avenue Garage. It’s $1 for the first three hours; $4 for over three hours. f you get there early, it’s less crowded on the water side of Bayshore Boulevard because later in the day you can no longer cross the street. But keep in mind that bathroom access may be limited there. Find your loo before you drop anchor. Portable bathrooms will be in place throughout the event site, but lines tend to get long, so plan accordingly. Pack some hand sanitizer.

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The Patel Conservatory at the Straz Performing Arts Center is hosting a free youth ballet master class for intermediate dancers. This class is for intermediate ballet dancers in grades 6 through 12. At the north end of the the world-class David A. Straz Jr. Center for the Performing Arts in Tampa, Florida, the Patel Conservatory’s three-story, 45,000 square-foot facility offers more than 100 classes in dance, theater, and music. During the school year, the Patel Conservatory holds courses weekly, after school and on weekends in a beautiful, 45,000-square-foot facility attached to the Straz Performing Arts Center. The Conservatory’s instructors are highly skilled artists and many are working professionals in the area of their expertise. There are studios and classrooms for dance, media arts, theater, on-camera acting and private lessons in all disciplines, plus a piano lab, a recording studio, a scene shop, a costume shop, a library and a “black box” theater. SPAC is in downtown Tampa along the beautiful eastern bank of the Hillsborough River. It is easily accessible from I-275 or the Crosstown or a 15 minute drive from MacDill AFB. Parking is available in nearby lots or on the street on the north side of SPAC. Pre-registration is required. The Patel Conservatory can be reached at 222-1263.

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After spending all that money for Christmas, the kids probably still need something to do. Oakfield Lanes is a prefect place for reasonably priced entertainment. Oakfield Lanes is having $1 a game bowling on Monday.  The special runs from 9am to noon, but make sure you get there early.  Oakfield Lanes offer 32 lanes of air conditioning bowling.  During the special, shoe rental is only $2. One neat thing about Oakfield Lanes is the pond at the back.  From the deck, you can see some very large fish and a lot of turtles just enjoying the water!  Brandon is about a 30 minute drive from MacDill AFB. The LeRoy Selmon Expressway runs from Brandon to Tampa and can cut 10 to 15 minutes off your commute during rush hour. Make sure you buy a SunPass transponder it’ll save you .25 cents at each toll booth. Also, instead of waiting to pay at the toll booth with a SunPass transponder, you can go through the automated pay lane and save yourself some time. Brandon has all the amenities that anyone would need. The Westfield Shoppingtown is one of the largest malls in the Tampa area. It not only a shopping destination but also a great place for dinner with the Cheesecake Factory, California Pizza Kitchen and Ruby Tuesdays along with a host of other restaurants.

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The MacDill AFB Youth Center will host a CircusFit Seminar on 15 December from 3pm to 4pm. Just in time to make sure the kids stay fit during the holiday season! Put on by Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey performers, the Circus Fit Seminars are 45 minutes demonstrations of fun fitness basics that offer children an awe inspiring and action packed road to health and fitness. The seminars are geared toward children ages 4-12. The seminars are broken into two parts: an introduction with demonstrations and then practical interaction. Children will be broken down into small groups and will have the opportunity to try different fitness skills like juggling, stretching, balance acts and group games. Each child will receive a CircusFit completion gift certificate, clown nose and a discount coupon for the circus. The Ringling Bros, and Barum & Bailey Circus will be at the St. Pete Times Forum from 5 to 9 January. The Youth Center offers a diversified youth sports program that includes basketball, baseball, and soccer leagues along with a cheerleading program. Teens have their own area where they can come to interact with their peers, get homework and career assistance, or play video games. Special events are conducted periodically for both the pre-teens and teens. There is a Teen Room with a full-size pool table and the Youth Center also has a basketball court and game room. Call the Youth Center at 828-7956 for more information.

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Today starting at noon, Hire A Pony will be hosting a Fall Festival. This event celebrates the arrival of Fall with activities primarily for children including hayrides, pony rides, petting zoo, face painting, balloons, pumpkin patch, train rides, a maze, games, bonfire, marshmallow roasting, hot dogs and drinks. Cost is $10 for children, and $6 for adults. Pumpkin purchase is not included with the cost of admission. Hire a Pony is located in Tampa, near Oldsmar. The farm offers an ideal country setting to provide people of all ages in the Tampa Bay Area, the opportunity to experience life on a farm. The experienced staff members will answer questions about farm animals and horses, as you can enjoy petting, feeding, and grooming our variety of animals. The farm staff takes pride in the care of unique animals and offer interactive hands on opportunities that will build memories to last a lifetime. Some of animals include: pygmy goats, potbelly pigs, bunnies, miniature horses, rams, and African tortoise, just to name a few of the farm animals. Although not offered during the festival, the farm offers trail rides with beautiful views of old Tampa Bay. Enjoy partial wooded trails that lead to the top of Tampa Bay and take you through parts of the bay. Trained and skilled trail guides provide the opportunity for riders from beginning, intermediate, and advanced experience to enjoy a safe ride in the wilderness. Trail rides are offered to ages 7 and up!

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