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Local
This Is It! Charity Islamic Festival Is Sunday
DR. HUSAIN NAGAMIA
With only a few days to go... This is it! This is what the com- munity is waiting on. Every- thing has been set in place so that those in attendance can now sit down and enjoy the benefits of a very successful af- ternoon.
There will be gifts galore! Toys for the kids! Bicycles with helmets and lights! New tennis shoes and clothing for the fam- ily! Savory food!...all bigger and better than before!
Several of the community’s elected officials have agreed to be present. Mayor Bob Buckhorn has only missed one year out of seventeen. He is a committed supporter of the Annual Charity Festival, along with school board members, City Council and the County Commissioners.
This event brings together people from diverse walks of life. There will be people from different religions, economic backgrounds, and various eth- nicities coming together for the sake of charity.
“There will always be the fortunate and the less fortunate in society. If the fortunate
HAKIM AQUIL
MAYOR BOB BUCKHORN ...Only missed 1 festival in 17 years
gives charity, there will be less of the less fortunate people. And hopefully, one day the less fortunate will become the for- tunate and return the favor by again helping the less fortu- nate. This is it!,” states Hakim Aquil, who along with Dr. Husain Nagamia and others plan this annual event.
The event is the 18th Annual Charity Festival which will be held on Sunday, April 26, 2015 (11 a. m. – 5 p. m.). This year’s festival is being held at Mac- Farlane Park, 1700 MacDill Ave.
Selection Of Airport Concession Winners In Hands Of Aviation Authority Board
Officials at Tampa Interna- tional Airport have completed the ranking of possible restau- rants for the airport as part of their renovation project.
With more than $1.3 billion in earnings over the next 10 years at stake, the ranking of those who submitted bids for the contracts has been re- leased.
The top rank spots were granted to:
Bethesda-Maryland based Host International Incorporated
Lansdowne, Virginia- based SSP America Incor- porated
TPA Hospitality Part- ners, LLC (backed by Jeff Vinik)
HBF Tampa Partners
TPA Hospitality Part- ners LLC (2)
Host International In- corporated 92)
African American owned companies seeing a spot were:
(Food and Beverage)
Bay Coffee and Tea Company, LLC
Estes Join Ventures, LLC
Green clay Concession- aires, LLC
PhaseNext Hospitality
Superior Hospitality Group, LLC
Tinsley-Bridgeman, LLC
(Retail) Corliss-Stone-Littles
LLC
Estes Join Ventures
LLC
Newburns Manage-
ment Group, LLC Transglobal Conces-
sions, LLC
There were six different concession packages available, and the top three in each pack- age were:
Package One: Host In- ternational, SSP America, and TPA Hospitality Part- ners.
Package Two: SSP America, TPA Hospitality Partners, and HBF Tampa.
Package Three: TPA Hospitality Partners, Host International and HBF Tampa.
Package Four: HBF Tampa, Tinsley-Bridge- man and TPA Hospitality Partners.
Package Five: TPA Hos- pitality Partners, HBF Tampa, and Host Interna- tional.
Package Six: Host In- ternational, MCE-TPA, and SSP America.
Only one African American company, Tinsley-Bridgeman, was ranked among the top three in the six packages being
GEORGE TINSLEY
.....his company, Tinsley-Bridgeman LLC, is ranked second among
bidders for concession contract at TIA.
offered.
Tampa International Air-
port CEO Joe Lopano cannot comment at this time because the process is ongoing.
TIA Spokesperson Janet Zink said the process is going great.
“It’s been a lengthy process and a lot of effort has gone into making sure it was fair. We event looked at how other air- ports handled the process as a guide.
“The committee has made its recommendations, and now it’s up to the Board who will be making their decisions in June. Overall, I think we have a solid
process and thousands of hours were spent to make sure the process was fair for every- one.”
Hillsborough County Avia- tion Authority Board Chair- man, Robert Watkins, said he can’t comment right now because the process hasn’t been completed, but he did say he thinks it’s going as good as expected.
“We wanted to make sure we had a fair process for every- one. It will be coming before the Board soon, and it’s diffi- cult for me to comment right now, because there are a lot of discussions still going on.”
FRIDAY, APRIL 24, 2015 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY PAGE 7-A