All aboard, neighbor!
Wrote up Chung Shing for this issue.

Went to grab a wonton soup to make sure I wasn't lying to you.

Closed Tuesdays.

The one day this thing lands.

So read it today, go tomorrow. Let's go.

Three issues in a row we printed "still says fall."

Now there's a day on the calendar, so that complaint is retired.

Here's the part to read twice: a ribbon cutting is not an opening.

Manatee Memorial's own page still says "expected to open Fall 2026" and does not give a day when you can walk in with a sick kid.

We'll print that day when they do.

Inside, once it opens: nine private rooms, a lab, CT, X-ray, and ultrasound, open 24 hours with a doctor on site, all ages.

And the line their own website puts in bold, which we'll repeat every time this building comes up: it is not an urgent care, and you're billed at hospital emergency-room rates.

Stitches on a Saturday, go here; strep test on a Saturday, this is the expensive door.

The hospital asked for RSVPs by September 11, and that date is gone.

Our take: show up anyway, it's a public ribbon cutting on a public highway, but don't be shocked if the tour line is for the people who RSVP'd.

The hospital's number is (941) 746-5111 if you want to ask first.

Facility page: Manatee ER at Harrison Ranch · Event details: Pulse of Manatee, Sept 10

The banners honor the fallen, veterans, and active duty, and the family has to own the rights to the photo.

It's first come, first vetted, first served, and there's a cap each year, so the November batch will fill.

Banners can stay up for two years, and the ones still in good shape go home to the family afterward.

Last week this section was about the Fort Hamer Bridge taking 108 years.

This week it's about who gets to be on the poles on the way there, which feels about right.

Our take: if you've got a dad or a grandfather who served, this is a Saturday-morning kitchen-table task, not a someday task.

Details: Parrish Civic Association · Veterans Day Parade, Nov 11

We've spent two weeks saying the county hadn't posted what it decided about Ivy Run, Villages of Amazon South, and Crosswind Point.

We opened the county's own agenda system this morning, and here's the actual answer.

So the big Parrish fight everybody was bracing for got pushed, twice.

November 19 is the next date on the calendar for Ivy Run, and it's a Thursday land-use meeting, 9 a.m., 1112 Manatee Ave W in Bradenton.

Amazon South has no date at all, which means it comes back whenever the applicant and the county say so, with a fresh legal ad.

Our take: a continuance isn't a win or a loss, it's a delay, and the people who show up on November 19 will be the ones who set their alarm for it now.

Agenda with the continuances: September 3 Land Use Meeting

Emily Schappert and Kendall Bacon, from the TV Production program at PCHS, won Spectrum's NextGen Storm Team challenge with a hurricane-prep PSA idea called "I've Got Us Covered."

Spectrum's creative team is producing it as an actual public-service campaign, not a classroom project.

That's two teenagers on Erie Rd writing the storm ad the rest of us will watch next June.

Story: Pulse of Manatee, Sept 10

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Parrish proper is quiet this week: the Civic Association has nothing public until a business lunch on the 25th, and the ER ribbon cutting is up top.

So we're reaching to Palmetto and Lakewood Ranch.

Ask a Master Gardener runs the third Saturday of the month at the Palmetto Branch Library, 923 6th St W, Palmetto, about 20 minutes from the 301 light.

Free, no appointment, and you can bring the sad hibiscus in a bag.

The Central Library in Bradenton does it the same day if you're already across the river.

With the summer fertilizer ban ending September 30, this is the weekend to ask what to put down and what not to.

Details: Discover Bradenton September calendar

The school district and the county libraries are running a Family Literacy Movie Night from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Lakewood Ranch Branch Library, 16410 Rangeland Pkwy, about 30 minutes over the Fort Hamer Bridge.

Free, snacks provided, and the movie is Rudy.

If your kid has never seen it, this is the cheapest way to fix that.

The catch: you have to register ahead of time, and the sign-up is a QR code on the district's flyer, not a web link.

The flyer is in the story below; scan it from your screen.

There's a second night Thursday the 24th on Anna Maria Island with Meet the Robinsons, but that's 50 minutes each way on a school night.

Details and flyer: Family Literacy Movie Nights

905 Rye Wilderness Trl, Parrish. (941) 748-4501.

About 15 minutes: Rye Rd south past Waterline, keep going until the pavement runs out of subdivisions.

Open sunrise to sunset every day, and free.

It's 530 acres on the Manatee River just below the Lake Manatee dam, with trails through sand pine scrub, oak scrub, and hammock, a playground, restrooms, grills, and a canoe launch down the steps from the main lot.

Now the reason it's in this week's issue: tent camping opens October 2.

Friday and Saturday nights only, October through April, first come first served, $20 a night per site plus tax, six people max, dogs on a leash.

Cash or check only, no cards, and you register at the ranger station between 3 and 7 p.m.

No trailers, no generators, checkout at 2.

Our take: this is the closest real campout to Parrish, and the first cool weekend in October it fills by 4 p.m., so go the first weekend or go in November.

The nature center is free but by reservation, (941) 742-5923 ext. 6042.

Details and rules: Rye Preserve

Parrish still has no branch, so the two that count are Rocky Bluff, 6750 US-301 N in Ellenton (about 10 minutes), and Braden River, 4915 53rd Ave E in Bradenton (about 25).

Rocky Bluff: Family Story Time is Tuesdays at 10:15, Baby Story Time is Thursdays at 10:15, and 40 Carrots Partners in Play is Fridays at 12:30.

They shut the story time doors at 10:20, so 10:21 is the parking lot.

One to book now: Scat, Tracks, and Animal ID, Saturday, September 26, 11 a.m. to noon, with Emily from the county's Natural Resources department, animal skulls and a mystery-animal hunt, ages 7 to 14.

Free, but you have to register, and there were 18 seats left Tuesday morning.

Register: Scat, Tracks, and Animal ID · Both calendars: Manatee Library events

8951 US-301 N, Parrish. (941) 776-5588.

Monday 11 to 9, Wednesday through Saturday 11 to 9, Sunday noon to 9.

Closed Tuesday.

Which is today, so read this now and go tomorrow.

It's the Chinese-American place on 301 across from Creekside Commons, about five minutes from the Moccasin Wallow light, and the menu is the big one: around 200 items, New York style, General Tso's and lo mein and egg foo young and the pu pu platter.

The number to know is $10.05.

That's the lunch special, 16 choices, and it's the cheapest hot sit-down lunch on 301 that isn't a drive-through.

Combination platters are $13.75, an egg roll is $3.40, wonton soup is $6.

The wonton soup is what their own regulars keep bringing up, along with "the family recognizes me every visit," so start there.

Pickup only, no delivery, and you can order ahead online.

Our take: a lunch special and a wonton soup is $16 and feeds a dad and a first-grader, and there is no version of that at Creekside Commons.

Now the honest part: we haven't run the whole menu yet.

If you've got a Chung Shing order you'd fight for, reply to this email and tell us what it is, and we'll print the best ones next week, first names only.

Menu and hours: chungshingparrish.com · Order ahead: online ordering

Manatee County Cat Town, 216 6th Ave E, Bradenton. (941) 742-5824.

Open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., seven days a week.

About 25 minutes from Parrish: 301 south over the river, then into the east side of downtown Bradenton.

Here's what nobody tells you when you move here: Manatee County Animal Welfare isn't one building anymore.

The dogs are split between the old Palmetto shelter on 25th St W and the Bishop campus on 21st Ave W in Bradenton, which got a big kennel expansion in December.

The cats have their own place.

Cat Town is a small adoption center run by the county, with a volunteer crew that keeps its own Facebook page, and it's set up so you can sit down in the room and let a cat decide about you.

It handles cat and kitten adoptions and pet licensing, which is the $20 county license every Manatee cat and dog is supposed to have.

Why it matters right now: the county said in December that the Bishop campus is now the main hub and that it's working to "transition operations away from the aging, legacy Palmetto Shelter."

The same release said Cat Town "will continue to operate as normal."

So if you're a Parrish family looking for a cat, the Palmetto building you drove past for years is the wrong stop.

Go to 6th Ave E.

Cat adoption fees run $25 at the county, kittens $50, and if you're 55 or older and take home a cat that's 7 or older, it's $10.

Veterans, active military, and first responders adopt free with ID.

Every fee includes the spay or neuter, first shots, deworming, and a microchip, which the county figures at about $400 of vet work.

Our take: a Saturday at Cat Town with a kid is a better hour than the pet store aisle, even if you leave empty-handed, and you probably won't.

Location page: Manatee County Cat Town · Fees: Adopt a Pet · The December shelter announcement: Bishop expansion

Male domestic shorthair, brown tabby and white, 14 years old, about 15 pounds, neutered. ID A138856.

He's at Cat Town, 216 6th Ave E, Bradenton, the place we just told you about.

He came in August 28, so he's been there two and a half weeks.

Fourteen is a senior cat, and a senior cat in a shelter is the one who gets walked past.

What you get with a 14-year-old: a cat who already knows the litter box, doesn't climb the curtains, and wants a sunny window and a lap on a schedule.

What you don't get: kitten nonsense at 3 a.m.

The fee is $25, and if you're 55 or older it's $10 under the county's Seniors for Seniors deal.

Veterans and first responders, free with ID.

Cat Town is open 10 to 4 every day; (941) 742-5933 or [email protected] for questions.

See him: Jimmy on 24Petconnect

If the ER, the charter school, and Moccasin Wallow all hit their September dates, it'll be the first month since we started this thing that Parrish finished on schedule.

Until next week — stay gritty, stay healthy, and keep Parrish strong. — Greg.