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Chasco Fiesta To Add Events For '09

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By Carl  Orth | The Suncoast News

Published: March 11, 2009

NEW PORT RICHEY - Pasco County's biggest community event, Chasco Fiesta, is just around the corner.

The 2009 edition will run March 19-29, with many events in the Sims Park area of downtown New Port Richey.

More than 30 nonprofit groups rely heavily on the annual festival to raise funds for community projects, Wendy Brenner, Chasco Fiesta executive director, emphasizes.

With the need greater than ever because of the recession, a Stock the Shelves food drive will collect donations of canned goods during the entire run of the fiesta in conjunction with United Way of Pasco.

"Thirty-six percent of the people accessing food pantries today are doing it for the first time," Carol Spicer, resource development director for the United Way of Pasco County, said in a press release. "The United Way 2-1-1 Helpline has seen a 40 percent increase in calls from individuals" seeking help.

Chasco visitors will be able to drop off canned goods at the food collection tent next to the Information booth at Sims Park.

Pinewood Derby

New Chasco events this year include a Boy Scouts of America Pinewood Derby on Saturday, March 28.

"As I recall from my days as a den mother," Brenner said, "the boys make their cars and race them on a miniature track." The derby will take place 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the parking lot of the former First Baptist Church parking lot on Circle Boulevard.

Wine and Art Festival

The first Chasco Fiesta Wine and Art Festival will take place 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, March 28, around Orange Lake.

Rotary Club of Keystone Sunrise is staging the new event with applications being accepted for exhibitor booths displaying ceramics, fibers, glass, graphics, jewelry, metal, mixed media, oil/acrylic, photography, sculpture, watercolors and woods.

This year the Art Festival is a nonjuried event.

A wine vendor will provide free tastings and sell wine by the glass.

For more information contact Ginny Pierce, the event chair, at 727-433-4073 or ginnypierce@mac.com. Entry applications are posted online at the Chasco Fiesta and Keystone Rotary sites.

"As long as we continue to have dedicated volunteers who are willing to perform all the tasks necessary to put on this event," Brenner concluded, "then we will raise the funds necessary to perpetuate our Legacy of Giving."

A complete Chasco Fiesta schedule is online at www.chascofiesta.com.

Carl Orth can be reached at 727-815-1068 or corth@suncoastnews.com.

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