Onward | Finding Shelter From the Storm - What's What New Port Richey

Copy of Copy of Community (940 x 788 px) — A Drum circle breaks out in advance of Dead Set Florida's tribute concert to Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead. Photo | Michele Miller (March 2026)

April 1, 2026

By Michele Miller
What’s What New Port Richey

I began hunkering down well before the cheapie gas station hit $4.15 a gallon – well, really closer to $4.16 when you consider the 99 cents tacked on.

Those golden senior years might not be all that golden, it turns out, which is something you might be prepared for when you’ve been dancing to life’s uneven rhythm for over 67 years now. Yep, what goes around comes around, good rolls into bad and back again as we weather fierce storms and even keels and these “uncertain” times, as some like to put it mildly.

That the boat’s taking on water again is an uneasy, familiar feeling, an uprising of dread that comes from within because you just know the bottom is going to fall out. Right after Christmas, when you’re a kid and your dad, a Union Carpenter in Local 33, gets laid off, just like clockwork, and starts stocking up on cans of Veg-All and stewed tomatoes and Snow’s Clam Chowder.

It was a seasonal thing – something my father never seemed to get used to. Couldn’t shake the panic, even though union benefits would carry us through and there was a job in the offing, whether it be Rowes Warf in Boston or the Nuke Plant in Seabrook or the condos out in Squantum, where his older brother was the Super. All of it was determined by the break of winter’s harsh weather.

Spring always came, and with it, the work.

So now I’m on the other end of the spectrum, living on a fixed income as things keep getting more expensive, and making it a point not to look at the 401 (k) that is meant to subsidize us.

It means cutting back for sure. Shopping at three places for the best prices. Stocking up on things you actually will eat. Forgoing the growing list of “unneccessities.” Searching for the good deals and the freebies. Delegating funds carefully. Pointedly spending on things that provide enrichment and sustainability within the local community.

Ferriting some of that out in advance – particularly local events – is a core part of the mission of the What’s What New Port Richey website – “To connect people to the community they live in.” Help readers find ways to engage with and without a ticket.

And so is taking stock of what has already transpired. An online record of sorts, as to how the wider community has offered some harbor and escape from the ongoing storm, just by the function of its people.

For us, that meant attending two free concerts in the park – Kelsea Martinez, an emerging independent artist with a lilting voice from Orlando, who performed original songs. Dead Set, Florida’s tribute to Grateful Dead member Bob Weir, complete with a Drum Circle prelude in Sims Park, engaged community members of all ages.

We set up a vendor table at Cindy’s Pets Strawberry Festival, an altruistic organization that provides pet food for low-income seniors, and New Port Richey Main Street’s Artisan Chalk Fest, where some 15 artists took their art to the streets.

And I spent a few very worthwhile hours on a Sunday afternoon absorbing the talent of aspiring filmmakers making movies in the local community at the NPR Library’s New Port Richey Film Festival, a timely event held just before this year’s Academy Awards ceremony.

Tori Ladd, Adult Programming Specialist for the NPR Public filmmaker, Larry Feeney (Pharmboy), during the NPR Film Fest held on March 15, 2026. Photo | Michele Miller

Like clockwork, New Port Richey’s annual signature event, the Chasco Fiesta, rolled around, and while there was an entrance fee for most concert nights, we were able to take in a free performance on the history of the Pitlachascotee River and the city, by the West Pasco Historical Society, and the Native American Night that featured Grammy Award Winning artist Bill Miller and some talented dancers sharing their culture.

Add to that the traditional street parade and the annual car show that drew a ton of people downtown on a Sunday morning.

Those free events were well worth the ticket and made it easier to partake in other paid offerings. Stopping for an ice cream or a glass of Sangria. Ponying up the $5 fee during Chasco to see Blues Master’s Night with the Julie Black Band and Sean Chambers band, too. Something that’s become a tradition. Something I look forward to coming around once again after 35+ years living in the New Port Richey community.

Now onward.

Michele Miller is the editor, owner, writer, and photographer of the “What’s What New Port Richey” website, which she created in the spring of 2000. Prior to that, she worked for 24 years as a journalist for the Tampa Bay Times/St Petersburg Times. Originally from Massachusetts, she has lived in the New Port Richey area for over 35 years. Read more of her Onward Essays here.