Downtown New Port Richey gets exposure on morning telecast

Friday's morning rush hour was noticeably more congested than usual in the vicinity of Railroad Square - not with cars but with people gathered at the corner of Grand Boulevard and Nebraska Avenue.

With dozens of residents milling about, local business owners showing off their wares, live music and several restaurants setting up outdoor tables with coffee, muffins or free samples of some of their menu items, it looked less like 8 a.m. on a workday and more like 8 p.m. at a street festival.

The turnout was a demonstration of civic pride and a chance to show the rest of the Suncoast what their town has to offer as WTVT's "FOX 13 Good Day Tampa Bay" paid a visit to and New Port Richey in the spotlight of its "FOX on Your Block" feature. The visit also gave locals a chance to have family and friends see them on television.

Hosts Russell Rhodes, Charley Belcher and Dave Osterberg did several live short segments during the show's 7 - 9 a.m. broadcast. They talked to Mayor Scott McPherson and to various downtown business owners.

Greater New Port Richey Main Street and the West Pasco Chamber sent out word to members ahead of time about the segment so they could come out and make the most of the chance to promote the city.

"FOX on Your Block" is a weekly feature on the morning program. Osterberg, whose duties on the show include the weather reports, said this was something of a homecoming for the feature.

About three years ago, New Port Richey was the community used to launch the feature, then called "Hometown Fridays."