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Heritage Isles' National Night Out

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By LAURA KINSLER

The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 13, 2008

HERITAGE ISLES - Tampa Police Chief Stephen Hogue and his department brought an amphibious tank, a police horse and two canine units to Heritage Isles' third annual National Night Out on Aug. 5, but they had a hard time upstaging the balloon man.

As the night progressed, Mike Weil's balloon figures grew more intricate. There was a Snow White, Tigger, Goofy, the Pink Panther, Spider-Man and a Ninja Turtle - to name a few.

"He's fantastic, isn't he?" neighborhood watch leader Barbara Adams said. "One of our residents pays for him to come every year."

At one point, the line was 30 deep. At the end, Tara Nagabhyru waited so her daughter could get a Mickey Mouse balloon. She was prepared to stick it out to the end. "Do we have a choice?" she asked. "He's really exceptional."

Police dog Bosco and his partner, officer Jason Tkach, won lots of fans in the New Tampa golf course community. The dog is all business when it comes to chasing criminals or detecting narcotics, but at the end of the day all he wants to do is fetch his green tennis ball.

"He'll make you throw the ball till your arm falls off," Tkach said. "That's his paycheck, right there."

Reporter Laura Kinsler can be reached at (813) 865-4844 or lkinsler@tampatrib.com.

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