Local author Dennis Trittin recently published What I Wish I Knew at 18: Life Lessons for the Road Ahead as a comprehensive preparation guide to a successful launch into adulthood. It is filled with practical, before-the fact wisdom based on the qualities and methods of honorable leaders. Written in a conversational style, the book serves as a life coach for young adults and as a leader’s guide for those who mentor them along the way (parents, relatives, educators, faith leaders, mentors, and coaches).

Its 109 success pointers span deeper subjects such as life perspective, character, relationships, communication, adversity, and spiritual life along with the key, real-world decisions young people will face (e.g, college academics, career, marriage, and finances). It has thusly been described as a “Cliff Notes to a successful life” and the ultimate parent guide.

The book is packed with illustrations, instruction, and reflective questions that empower readers to maximize their potential and positively impact the world. Although written as a conversation with teens and young adults, What I Wish I Knew at 18 is also a resource for the following:

• Parents, relatives and caregivers

• Educators—as a Life Skills course book, a resource for faculty, counselors, and coaches, a gift for parent’s of incoming freshmen, a graduation gift for students, and a college freshmen seminar resource/gift

• Faith leaders—as a resource for ministries involving teens, young adults, and parenting

• Service organizations—as a mentor guide

• Corporations—for direct use as well as a gift for clients and employees who are raising families

Dennis Trittin is a successful investment manager, educator, mentor, and author who is committed to helping young people reach their full potential. Now retired from a 30-year business career, he devotes his life to promoting life management skills and financial literacy.

Dennis is the founder, President, and CEO of LifeSmart Publishing, LLC. He and his wife Jeanne are the parents of two children and reside in Gig Harbor, Washington. Contact Information/Purchase Availability Dennis can be reached at dtrittin@dennistrittin.com and by phone at (920) 319- 3169. LifeSmart Publishing is located at 12913 50th Ave Ct NW, Gig Harbor, WA 98332.

The book can be purchased from many Forza Coffee stores or on his website.

<iframe src=”http://player.vimeo.com/video/19721315″ width=”400″ height=”225″ frameborder=”0″></iframe><p><a href=”http://vimeo.com/19721315″>”What I Wish I Knew at 18″ by Dennis Trittin</a> from <a href=”http://vimeo.com/trinitimedia”>NathanAune</a> on <a href=”http://vimeo.com”>Vimeo</a>.</p>

Every year, West Pierce Firefighters and Lakewood Police Officers battle it out on the court for charity. The Lakewood Police Department and West Pierce Fire & Rescue play in a charity basketball game to raise money for those in need. The proceeds of the game benefit the Life Safety Charity Fund and the Lakewood Officers’ Make a Difference Fund.

The 7th Annual Helmets vs. Shields game is scheduled for:

Saturday, April 16, 2011 at 6:00 p.m. at Pierce College

Tickets are just $5 at the door and children under 5 are free. A silent auction and raffle will be held as well. T-shirts are $15 each and will be available at the game in adult and youth sizes.

Forza Coffee Company is excited to introduce gluten-free, allergy friendly, vegan products in many of its stores starting February 1st 2011

Forza Coffee has teamed with Granny Lala’s Baking Company of Tacoma, Washington to cater to customers with dietary restrictions. Products to be carried in the coffee shops include carrot cake, mini muffins, double chocolate brownies, a selection of cookies, and Granny Lala’s popular chocolate quinoa “Katie Cake” with chocolate ganache.

“We understand a number of people have dietary restrictions and cannot consume certain foods found in popular coffeehouse food selections,” Brad Carpenter, Founder and CEO of Forza says. “Secondly, much of what is available is less than delicious.”

The gluten-free, allergy friendly, vegan products are prepared locally in Tacoma in “Granny’s makery”, Lara Weihs (a.k.a Granny Lala) says, referring to what her granddaughter, Brooklynn, calls the bakery, “its where Granny makes stuff.” The “makery” is in a dedicated gluten free facility, meaning common allergens are not allowed in the facility to protect against cross-contamination.

The Forza logo, a Roman coin, includes the phrase “Forza di Vita” which translates to, “The strength of life”. In Italy, the local espresso shops define their communities. Forza strives to establish itself as a strong partner within the community. With this in mind, Granny Lala will be hosting nutrition seminars at select Forza stores to help participants learn about food intolerances, dietary restrictions and recipe substitutions.

“We know this is a very serious, life-threatening, case for some people. We want to partner with someone who is equally committed to providing top quality products.” Carpenter added. To guard against cross-contamination, the products - which are free of gluten, dairy, egg, nut, soy, and corn – are individually packaged for display at Forza stores.  Most of the ingredients are organic and Granny Lala’s products are free of refined sugar, artificial colors & flavors and preservatives.

Gluten and allergen-free products are available at these Forza Coffee stores:

• Forza at 12th and Union – 1202 South Union, Tacoma, WA 98495
• Forza at 27th – 2700 Bridgeport Way W. Suite G, University Place, WA 98466
• Forza at Cirque – 4828 Bridgeport Way, University Place, WA
• Forza at Dupont – 1520 Wilmington Dr Suite 100 Dupont, WA 98327
• Forza at Gig Harbor – 5275 Olympic Drive NW Gig Harbor, WA 98335
• Forza at Pearl – 2209 N Pearl St., Tacoma, WA 98406
• Forza at Puyallup / Pioneer Park – 210 West Pioneer, Puyallup, WA 98374
• Forza at Silverdale – 9995 Silverdale Way NW, Suite 111, Silverdale, WA 98383

About Forza Coffee Company
There are more than 23 Forza stores in the Pacific Northwest area and one in Colorado. The company plans to expand into other metropolitan markets and other states in 2011. Forza has been selected as Best Coffee for the last two years by South Sound Magazine, Best Coffee House by Crown In Town, and Best Coffee by Channel 7 in Denver, Colorado.

Forza Coffee Company was founded by Brad Carpenter in 2005 and is headquartered in Federal Way, Washington. The company operates through company-owned and franchised retail stores. For more information, visit www.ForzaCoffeeCompany.com

Forza holds frequent franchise information seminars at its stores. If you are interested in receiving information on how to open a Forza franchise, please go to www.ForzaFranchise.com and register.

Be sure to find Forza Coffee on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ForzaCoffee and Granny Lala at www.facebook.com/GrannyLalasInc

Our friend and Olympic Medalist, J.R. Celski, has been nominated for the Seattle P.I.’s Sports Star of the Year along, with others in 3 categories.

J.R. grew up in Federal Way, skating at Pattison’s West skating rink. At age three he followed his older brothers as an inline skater, and by age eight won his first national championship. Before he moved from inline skating to short track ice at age 13, he amassed four inline national championships and two national records. Starting at age 14, he skated on the ice under a renowned coach who took him to the World Junior Championships a mere 18 months later where he earned his first bronze medal, one of the youngest ever in the world to medal at world junior level.

By age 18, he was rated second in the senior world of short track speedskating by winning the silver medal at the 2009 World Championships in Vienna, Austria. At the U.S. Olympic Trials in September 2009, J.R. suffered a near fatal injury by cutting his left leg with his right skate blade, exactly five months to the day before his first event in the Olympics. Through a recovery described as a miracle, and with great determination, J.R. bounced back to earn two medals in the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, B.C. He followed that performance up with three more medals at the World Championships held in Bulgaria in March 2010.

Vote for J.R. here: http://www.seattlesports.org/site484.php Voting is open once per person, every 24 hours. Please share this link with your friends and family to help our friend, J.R!

Thank you!

Team Forza

Love Coffee? Looking at buying a place of your own? Get your questions answered.

What’s Brewin’ With South Sound Real Estate?

It’s obvious that with todays’ real estate market there are deals to be had with homes that cost half of what they did just a few years ago.

The problem is that most people just don’t know how to start or where to turn.

Gary Hawkinson, Mortgage Loan Professional

Forza Coffee Company and TheREsource.tv have joined together to provide a solution to those coffee lovers looking to branch out and find a place of their own.

Join us, during this 1 hour long community gathering to get to the bottom of your tough questions & concerns. All the while showing you what to expect during the home buying process and providing you with solid real estate guidance.

Co-Host of TheREsource.tv, a leading real estate industry broadcast, Gary Hawkinson & Local Expert Realtors Don & Suzie Karstedt of Millenium Real Estate are here to answer YOUR questions about the current home buying environment and how to make your money go the furthest.

We want you to know this is not a sales pitch event, no products will be offered for sale. This is simply a community outreach to help those looking for expert guidance.

We look forward to seeing you there.

>> Register Here For Free <<

Date and Time: Saturday, December 11, 2010 from 9:00 AM – 11:00 AM (PT)

Location: Forza Coffee
2700 Bridgeport Way W.
Suite G
University Place, WA 98466

What’s new at Forza Coffee Company? Come by our Pearl Street and 27th Street stores on 12/8 and see for yourself!

Have you ever found yourself needing to print a document, image, directions, or an important contract? We know it can be a pain to leave and go find a place to print – so we are happy to introduce printing services at our Pearl Street and 27th Street stores!

Further, as A Gift To The People, for the month of December, we are giving it away for free!

That’s right – stop into our Pearl Street or 27th Street Forza locations and print for free print securely from your smartphone, iPad, laptop, from anywhere!

What about other stores? If you frequent another Forza and would like to see a printer there, just let the employees know.

Tacoma, Wash., December 9, 2010 – Forza Coffee Company today announced that it will offer mobile printing capabilities to its customers at its Tacoma, Wash., store, located at 2209 North Pearl Street. Customers using laptops, tablets or smartphones (such as a BlackBerry® smartphone, Apple® iPhone® and iPad®, DROID or any Internet-enabled device) will now be able to print at Forza using Ricoh HotSpot technology without the need for a device-specific driver or special software.

Ricoh recently surveyed consumers on their attitudes toward mobile printing, and of those that own a laptop, tablet or smartphone and go to a local coffee shop to do work, a third of survey respondents said they would be likely to consider printing documents at a coffee shop. In addition, a third of overall respondents felt that it would be valuable for their local coffee shop to provide them with printing capabilities.*

“At Forza, we are continually looking for new ways to enhance our customers’ experience,” said Shaun Nestor, communication director for Forza. “We believe offering mobile printing to our customers, many of whom already spend time in our stores doing work on their laptops, tablets or smartphones, is a beneficial service and a natural extension to our menu.”

Forza Coffee Company is offering free printing to all customers between December 8th and January 8th. To use Ricoh HotSpot at Forza, customers simply have to email the document, with or without an attachment, to the printer at ForzaPearl@printspots.com or upload the document to www.printeron.net/Forza/Pearl. Customers will then receive a secure release code to enter at the printer to release their prints.

“Ricoh HotSpot offers customers fast and convenient printing options, all in a secure environment,” said Matt Sakauchi, vice president of the Office Printing Business Group, Ricoh US. “As mobile devices continue to gain popularity, coffee shops, like Forza, are increasingly popular places for people to do work. Installing Ricoh HotSpot technology provides an added, desired service to these customers.”

Mobile printing solutions for Ricoh HotSpot are powered by PrinterOn®. Ricoh Americas Corporation is a leading provider of digital office equipment and advanced document management solutions and services. Further information on Ricoh HotSpot along with other Ricoh document management products and solutions can be found at www.ricoh-usa.com.

*These results are based on a national probability sample of 1,011 telephone interviews among adults 18 years and older living in private households in the continental United States, conducted from November 11-14, 2010. The survey was conducted by CARAVAN®, an omnibus service of Infogroup | ORC for Ricoh Americas Corporation.

The 20th Annual, Classical Glass Corvette Club 5-Star Classic is going on near our DuPont, WA store this weekend, Aug 13, 14, and 15th.

They have a fun-packed weekend planned and invite all Corvettes and lovers to join them. Don’t forget to stop by Forza in DuPont and say hi to the crew!

Check out their website: www.classicalglasscorvetteclub.com

Retired art teacher, Maurie Conner, has combined his love of photography, flowers, and technology into a budding business. Conner’s work, which is currently showcased at our Forza cafe inside Top Food in Puyallup, is made up entirely of photos taken from his iPhone. “The iPhone camera is remarkably adaptable, easy to use and, considering it’s attached to a cell phone, it is capable of amazing images that are vibrantly colorful, with great resolution.” He says.

The best camera is the one you have with you
-Chase Jarvis, photographer

Conner now operates iPhoneFotos and is currently finishing up a series based on roses and peonies.

Linda Stockton, owner of the Forza inside Top Food, says customers prompted the shop to display artwork, “A group of gals that meet at our shop to discuss their ongoing art projects. They take a class together and spend many hours throughout the year working on their paintings together.”

An employee of Stockton suggested the rotation, which they have done seven or eight times now with various local artists.

Stockton says they are planning a live art show this summer where artists can showcase their work while meeting the public.

Columbine United Church hosted a group of 6 adults and 22 high school students from Colorado for two full days. They accomplished an amazing amount of work and had fun doing it. Among the projects they worked on are digging trench and installing pipe for the rainwater diversion/irrigation system, clearing weeds, laying hundreds of coffee bags and covering them with wood chips along the entire G St. frontage and grading a slope for our new kid’s garden. On day 2 we divided the group and took a crew to the Gallucci Leaning Garden site where they tore into the weeds and placed another 100+ coffee bags along S. 14th.

Hello Forza,

You recently donated a large number of coffee bags to us so we thought you might enjoy seeing how we put them to use. We had a great bunch of young people in our gardens for 2 days of hard work and fun. Thank you very much for supporting our community garden programs.

- Don High

Thick coffee bean bags donated by Forza Coffee Roasters are place under and around the fence to stop weed growth