Brandon FAQ's

1. How far is Brandon from Tampa?
2. How big is the city of Brandon?
3. When people speak of Brandon, are they actually referring to other areas?
4. So what other towns are in or near the Brandon area?
5. Is there a hospital in Brandon?
6. Is there a mall in Brandon?
7. Is there a movie theater in Brandon?

*** Do you have a question not listed here? If you have a question, chances are some one else does too, so please leave a comment or send an email to have it included. This is an ongoing work in progress! Thanks for your input.

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How far is Brandon from Tampa?

Brandon is approximately 9 miles (around a 15 minute drive) from downtown Tampa.

How big is the city of Brandon?

The city Brandon is approximately 30 square miles.

When people speak of Brandon, are they actually referring to other areas?

Some times people will refer to Brandon and the surround areas as Brandon. Sort of how people will often refer to Tampa and its smaller communities.

So what other towns are in or near the Brandon area?

On this site, when we refer to the Brandon area, we are generally including Brandon, Seffner, Lithia, Valrico, Bloomingdale, Mango, Riverview and Dover. (See the U.S. Census map below.)

Is there a hospital in Brandon?

Yes. Brandon Regional Hospital is located on Oakfield Drive, south of S.R. 60 (Brandon Blvd.)

Is there a mall in Brandon?

Yes. Westfield Brandon Shopping Centre is located at the southeast corner of I-75 and S.R. 60 (Brandon Blvd.).

Is there a movie theater in Brandon?

Yes. AMC Regency 20 is located in Brandon on the northeast corner of I-75 and S.R. 60 (Brandon Blvd.).

Where to see Christmas Lights in Brandon, Florida

• Barrington Oaks, located on Lumsden Road just east of Parsons. The gates are open nightly from 6-11 pm. Tip: The lines are longer a couple days before Christmas so try to go before then.



• Christmas Lane, located at 2091 Wooten Rd. in Dover. Open from 6-10 pm nightly through December 28th. Santa makes his appearance each night from 7-9 pm except Christmas eve, he will only be available then from 6-7 pm. I guess he has a few things to do that night. Directions: From S.R. 60 go north on Dover Rd., then make a right on Wooten Rd, which is about 3 miles north.



• Brandon Forest, located off of Parsons Avenue between Windhorst Road and Wheeler Road. Directions: From S.R. 60, go north on Parsons, once you pass the stop light at Windhorst Road, make a right on Forest Circle.



• Wexford Green, located off of Valrico Road between Durant Avenue and Lumsden Road. Directions: From S.R. 60, go south on Valrico Rd., pass Lumsden Road and make a right on Wexford Green Dr.

Christmas 2008 - Events in Brandon, Florida area

• Kings Avenue Baptist Church is presenting its "Walk Through Bethlehem", December 11 - 14. This is something to see, highly recommended, and it's free to boot! For more scedule and more info visit http://www.kingsavenue.org/.


• "Santa's Holiday Revue" at Center Place, Friday, December 19th, 11:45 am and 7 pm. Visit http://www.centerplace.com/ for more information.


• Skate with Santa at the Ice Sports Forum, December 13-14 and 20-24, 1 pm - 3 pm all days. Visit http://www.theicesportsforum.com/ for more details.

Fall 2008 events in Brandon, Florida area

Rock, Rib and Ride Festival this weekend

Check out this link for more info on this event which takes place this weekend, October 16th - 19th, 2008 at the Florida State Fairgrounds. Net proceeds will benefit the Greater Brandon Community Foundation.

*Free student admission day is Oct. 17th. (Most students are also out of school that day.)

http://rockribandridefestival.com/


Hillsborough County Fair

The Hillsborough County Fair will run November 5-9th, 2008, just east of Brandon at the intersection of S.R. 60 and Sydney-Washer Road.

For more information visit www.hillsboroughcountyfair.com

What's in Regency Square

Regency Square is located just off of I-75 and Highway 60 (Brandon Blvd). Here is a list of establishments located in that area:

Entertainment:

1. AMC Theaters

Dining:

1. Carvel Ice Cream
2. Ho Ho Chinese Restaurant
3. Maxwell Street Grill
4. Miko’s Sweets & Goodies
5. Moe's Southwest Grill
6. Olive Garden
7. Park Deli & Cafe
8. Quiznos
9. Red Lobster
10. Robeks
11. Wings Gone Wild
12. Wise Guyz Pizza

Retail:

1. Beall's Outlet
2. Best Buy
3. Dollar Tree
4. Dots
5. Dress Barn
6. Family Christian Stores
7. HobbyTown USA
8. Jared
9. Justice
10. Kirkland’s Home
11. Lenscrafters
12. Marshalls
13. Mattress Firm
14. Michaels
15. PETCO
16. S&K Famous Brands
17. Sally Beauty Supply
18. Shoe Carnival
19. Spun Gold
20. Staples
21. The Avenue
22. T.J. Maxx
23. Urban Depot

Services/Other:

1. Alltel
2. Dental Health Group of Regency
3. Eastern Financial Federal Credit Union
4. Fantastic Sams
5. Jenny Craig
6. Lendmark Financial
7. Nail Country
8. Orthodontic Center of America
9. Pak Mail
10. Select Physical Therapy
11. Verizon Wireless

Youth Football Reminders - Fun and safety first

In the Brandon (and surrounding) areas we have a lot of youth football organizations. Many of our kids will be participating in these activities. So now that it’s that time again let’s take a moment to talk about some things we should keep in mind as the season gets underway.

1. Water. Make sure your players get plenty of it before, during and after extended periods outdoors, especially on hot days. Support your league’s concessions stand, but when funds are tight or no concessions are available, remember to pack a cooler and bring water and sports drinks from home.
2. Here in Florida, it is pretty common to hear of incidents of heat exhaustion and heat stroke around this time of year. And in tackle football, the players are so padded down to protect from injury that they get pretty hot underneath all of that equipment. Encourage your kids to take a break when necessary, and to let a coach know if they feel faint, dizzy or overheated.
3. Most teams assign one or two parents to bring snacks and drinks to each game. If you are in such a league, when it’s your turn for snack duty, try including a healthier snack. Avoid the sugary, sticky fruit snacks, try pretzels or Cheez-Its instead. Also keep in mind, many kids have allergies especially to peanut butter, so stick with the safer choices.
4. Parents and coaches, remember this is supposed to be FUN. I’ve noticed that some adults are way too competitive and take this way too seriously. This is not the Super Bowl and neither the kids nor the coaches are being paid. Some times I think the kids would have more fun if the parents would go home and just let them play. I remember hearing a word from the wise mouth of a babe. This was during the Little League World series. One of the young players who was being interviewed was asked how he thought his mom was handling the pressure of him playing in the big game, and the kid responded “Well, my mom gets all nervous because she doesn’t realize, this is just like a regular game!”. Now that’s keeping it in perspective!
5. And especially for the people on the sidelines, let the coaches do their jobs. It must be tough for a kid to try to listen to the coaches, parents and fans at the same time. People in the stands have to remember that the coaches have been with these kids for the weeks leading up to game time. Most coaches really enjoy coaching (else they probably wouldn’t be doing it) and have worked really hard on bringing out the best in the team as a whole. Any one who has anything more to contribute should try coaching or spending their time in the trenches with the kids and coaches, on the practice field.

It’s been said that one of the best ways to encourage positive self image and team work in kids is to get them involved in team sports. Let’s do what we can to keep all of our kids healthy, safe, happy and having fun while they are out there on the field. If we are successful at that, the positive self image and team work skills will be like icing on the cake.

**Disclaimer: The writer is not a doctor or health care professional. This is for informational purposes only and should not be viewed as definitive health care recommendations. Be sure to discuss any health concerns with your physician.

Youth Football and Cheerleading in Brandon and surrounding areas

• Brandon Broncos
• Brandon Bears
• Brandon Cowboys
• Brandon Lions
• Brandon Steelers
• Brandon Valrico Rams
• East Bay Bucs
• Fishhawk Wolfpack
• Pinecrest Pilots
• South Shore Jr. Longhorns
• Winston Park Warriors

** Know of any not listed here? Send us a comment so we can include it.

A little history

In the spirit of the 4th of July and a sense of community, I thought I would put together a list of interesting historical facts about Brandon and surrounding areas.

Did you know:

• The town Brandon was named after John Brandon, who donated much of the land in the area to the community.


• Stowers Funeral Home, located on Brandon Boulevard, used to be the home of James and Joanna Brandon (James was the son of John Brandon).


• New Hope Church was the first church and school in Brandon.


• John Brandon's second wife Victoria, opened the first post office in Brandon in her home, after John's death.


• McLane Middle School used to serve as the community's central school, (previously named Brandon Grade School, for students in grades 1 through 12).


• When the first Brandon census was taken in 1922, the population was 100.


• Brandon High School was the second high school established in Hillsborough County.


• Some of the now defunct retail stores in the area include Zayre, Service Merchandise, McCrory's and TG&Y.


• The Bloomingdale High School mascot "BULL" stands for "Bloomingdale's Unique Love of Learning".

To read more about the history of Brandon, visit Wikipedia.

Do you know of more interesting or little known facts about Brandon, Valrico, Seffner, Lithia, Riverview or other nearby communities? Please leave a comment so we can add it to this list!

Brandon gas prices - 7/2/2008

Some prices in the area as of 7/2/2008

Location	Price
7-eleven - Kings south of Lumsden	4.05
Chevron - Lumsden and Lithia Pinecrest	4.09
Mobil - Lumsden and Kings	4.05
Shell - Lumsden and Lithia Pinecrest	4.05

AMC Summer Movie Camp at Regency 20

What: $1 movies
When: June 25th thru August 6, 2008, Wednesdays at 10:00a.m.
Where: AMC Regency 20 Theater

Movie Schedule**

June 25:	Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium
July 2:	The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep
July 9:	Alvin & The Chipmunks
July 16:	Shrek The Third
July 23:	Bee Movie
July 30:	Surf's Up
August 6:	TMNT

** Schedules and titles subject to change

For more info, visit AMC Summer Movie Camp.

4th of July 2008 Events

• 5th Annual Brandon Blast Fireworks show - July 4th, 2008 at 9pm at the Westfield Brandon Shopping Center. The fireworks can also be seen from nearby surrounding areas.
• The 50th Annual 4th of July Parade in Brandon, Friday, July 4th at 10a.m. The parade route winds east on Lumsden Road, north on Parsons Avenue and west on Robertson Street. For information, contact Laura Purse at (813) 661-4350 or Brandon.parade@yahoo.com.
• A Fourth of July celebration at 1 p.m. July 4 at American Legion Post 148, 7240 U.S. 301 S., will feature a pig roast, live entertainment and drawings. The cost for the celebration is $6 per person and guests are asked to donate items for deployed troops. For information, call (813) 677-6529.
• Info on more local events can be found at baynews9.com.

How to calculate MPG (miles per gallon)

To figure your MPG if you don't already know, you can easily figure this out using these steps:

1. When your fuel gauge gets down to 1/4 tank, fill it up and record the number of gallons it took to fill the tank and the reading from the odometer at the time of fill up.


2. When the tank is at 1/4 again note the odometer reading again. Subtract this odometer reading from the first reading (from step 1) to get the number of miles travelled.


3. Divide the number miles calculated in step 2 by the number of gallons from step 1 to give the MPG.

You should follow these steps a few times and take an average to get a better estimate of the MPG.

Figuring gas cost per mile

Anyone who hasn't done it yet really should take the time to figure out your gas mileage, including miles per gallon (MPG) and cost per mile (I'll call it CPM).

To do this, simply take the cost of a gallon of gas and divide it by your MPG. (If you don't know your MPG for your vehicle here are the steps.)

For example, my vehicle gets 21 MPG. I recently purchased regular unleaded gas for $4.02/gallon. So my current CPM is about 19 cents per mile.

Knowing your CPM can really help you to put the gas costs into better perspective and associate a real price to all those trips you make.

I have a long commute to work (68 miles round trip). So for my commute to work I’m spending $13 a day in gas. Plus the tolls on the Leroy Selmon Express, another $4 a day. All together my daily commute is costing me $17 a day, not including vehicle maintenance costs. That's a hefty sum of money and it deserves further thought to determine whether or not it is really worth it or if there are alternatives that should be explored.

Brandon gas prices - 6/24/2008

Some prices in the area as of 6/24/2008

Location	Price
7-eleven - Kings south of Lumsden	3.99
Citgo - Bell Shoals south of Bloomingdale	3.96
Hess - Lumsden and Providence	3.95
Mobil - Lumsden and Kings	4.05
Mobil - Bloomingdale and Kings	3.99
Mobil - Bloomingdale and Bell Shoals	3.99