THE SHRINERS ARE COMING! THE SHRINERS ARE COMING!

Police and other officials in Tampa are working to calm the fears of residents that things will be allright when the Cigar City hosts it's biggest convention ever beginning next week as the Shriners hold their week long Imperial Council Session.

Many people remember the traffic nightmare that occured in March when a motivitional seminar held at the St. Pete Times Forum brought 20,000 people to downtown Tampa. Officials say this will be different for several reasons.

They say that only a fraction of the people expected to visit for the convention will actually attend the business meetings and events at the Tampa Convention Center. Thousands more will be attending a variety of events to be held throughout Hillsborough County, which should relieve the pressure on traffic in the midtown area. Also, the Shriners will be coming from across the country and beyond, with many of them using public transportation to get to the other venues. Back in March, many of those attending the motivitional seminar were from the local area.

The Tampa Tribune has more information on what to expect regarding the event, which is expected to last through July 5.

BTW: The Shriners International is actually headquartered in Tampa on Rocky Point Drive, so in effect the gathering is also a homecoming.