LUTZ, Fla — Back-to-school events are popular closer and closer to the school year, but as summer winds down, local businesses like 8 Paws Approved get more opportunities to grow their name.
"It serves your local folks, your local people right here. Not everybody can have a brick-and-mortar," says Stacey Moser, the founder of 8 Paws Approved.
The Back-to-School Jamboree, organized by Community Markets & Events, brought over 20 local businesses together for one event ahead of the new school year in Pasco County.
The goal: to bring the community together, build excitement for the school year, and support local businesses.
"We came out here specifically to Azora at Cypress Ranch around the Skybrooke K-8 school, which is a brand new school in Pasco County, just to bring the community out and playing together and getting to know each other and the businesses in the community," says Cheryl Taylor, the owner of Community Markets & Events.
And at the end of the day, the hundreds of people who come through make a big difference.
"You can be in a store, you can kind of try to, you know, go bigger and scale, but I actually love getting in front of the people. I love talking to people about what I do," says Moser, " So being able to come out here at the markets and do this, you know, when I can, and whether it's on the weekends for special events and that sort of thing. You really connect with the community."
"He just never showed up"
What started as a project to make a bathroom more accessible for 80-year-old Sharon Shomaker turned into a family paying for a job without seeing any work and discovering the plumber they hired had no business taking the job.
