The Laker/Lutz News

Serving Pasco since 1981/Serving Lutz since 1964

B.C. Manion

Festival may slither back to life

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The San Antonio Rotary Club is considering four organizations that are interested in taking over the annual San Antonio Rattlesnake Festival & Run.

The club announced earlier this month that the 50th festival, held in October, would be its last.

Children enjoy riding around in a barrel train during a previous San Antonio Rattlesnake Festival. (File)

“We pulled out all the stops for the 50th annual festival to honor and celebrate this longstanding community fundraiser,” Betty Burke said, in the announcement.

“The sad fact is that it’s just too large of a project for our small club and the declining pool of community volunteers,” Burke added.

Since then, however, the club has heard from four organizations, and it will be discussing their offers to take over the event at its meeting Feb. 21.

Some of the organizations are for-profit organizations and some are not, Burke said, declining to identify them before the club meets.

Burke had a mixed reaction when organizations came forward expressing an interest in taking over the festival.

“On the one hand, we kind of felt that the 50th (festival) was a good one to finish it with,” she said.

On the other hand, after news broke that the club would no longer organize the festival, most people were sad to see it go, she said.

There’s a possibility the festival could move, depending on which organization is selected to take it over, she said. Or, the new organizers would need to work with the City of San Antonio, if the festival stays at the park.

Burke said she’ll present the information to the club, and they’ll discuss which organization would seem to match up with the festival’s original purpose.

Burke recapped the event’s history, when she announced it would be ending.

The festival originally was conceived a half-century ago, by founders Eddie Herrmann and Willy Post, as a rattlesnake roundup — to replace the San Antonio Junior Chamber of Commerce’s Fun Day, which was being discontinued, according to Burke’s recap.

The Jaycees presented the first Rattlesnake Roundup on Nov. 4, 1967, in City Park in San Antonio. Its aim was to entertain and give funds back to the local community.

That event continued for nearly a decade, with few changes, until the Jaycees gave up their chapter.

The gopher tortoise races, as seen during last year’s San Antonio Rattlesnake Festival & Run, use wooden mechanical tortoises, instead of live ones.
(File)

That prompted Herrmann and other members of the community to form the Rattlesnake and Gopher Enthusiasts (R.A.G.E.) group to carry on the tradition, Burke adds. That group incorporated as a nonprofit in 1996.

In 2013, R.A.G.E. announced it could no longer manage the event due to a lack of new volunteers to help.

That’s when the San Antonio, Dade City Sunrise, Wesley Chapel, Wesley Chapel Sunrise, Zephyrhills, and Zephyrhills Daybreak Rotary clubs stepped in and assumed leadership for the festival, under the banner of East Pasco Rotary Charities, the recap added.

“The East Side Rotaries did an outstanding job with the festival in 2013,” San Antonio Rotary president Winnie Burke, said in the club’s announcement.

“In the face of losing the festival entirely that year, it was heartwarming to see

our larger community pull together to keep the tradition alive,” Winnie Burke added.

When that group stepped down, saying they wouldn’t manage the festival in 2014, the San Antonio club took over as the sole organizers.

The celebration marking the event’s half-century mark was a two-day event, featuring a 5-mile and 1-mile run, a family bike ride, musical entertainment, a snake show, a cowboy show, crocodile demonstrations, mechanical gopher tortoise races, food booths, children’s rides and a pumpkin patch.

Now, it appears that a new chapter is about to be written for the San Antonio Rattlesnake Festival & Run.

Published February 22, 2017

Crowd gives Bilirakis an earful

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A crowd — that sometimes became raucous — turned out to a listening session held by U.S. Rep. Gus Bilirakis on the issue of health care reform.

Bilirakis billed the session as an opportunity to receive feedback and ideas from constituents on the future direction of the nation’s health care system, including the repeal and replacement of the Affordable Care Act.

Many people brought signs to help communicate their views on the health care issue.
(B.C. Manion)

People filled every seat of the Pasco County Commission’s chambers at the West Pasco Government Center in New Port Richey during the Feb. 11 session.

They stood in the back of the chamber, and along both walls, and the overflow spilled into government center’s lobby and down a hallway corridor.

The crowd was made up of men and women, of all ages and ethnicities. Some came in wheelchairs. Some used walkers or canes.

Some carried signs proclaiming such messages such as: “Repair, not repeal.” “The ACA is pro life” and “Health Care is a Human Right.”

Television reports on the event aired on local and national networks, and excerpts of speakers streamed on social media.

The vast majority of speakers protested repealing and replacing the ACA.

Speakers told Bilirakis that repealing the ACA will cause chaos.

Some told Bilirakis that keeping the ACA, for them, or their loved ones, is truly a matter of life or death.

The crowd jeered in reaction to comments by Bill Akins, secretary of the executive committee of the Republican Party of Pasco County, who said: “There is a provision in there (the ACA) that anyone over the age of 74 has to go before what is effectively a death panel.”

As the crowd booed and shouted “no,” Akins insisted he was right. “The provision is in there.”

As speakers took their turn at the microphone, some folks in the lobby occasionally chanted, “Medicare for all. Medicare for all.”

In response, one man counter-chanted: “Make someone else pay. Make someone else pay.”

One speaker told Bilirakis that the ACA had not really worked because it was too expensive, and another said he preferred keeping the government out of his back pocket.

But, most of the speakers, including Ivana Sheppard, a member of Action Together Tampa Bay, want to see Obamacare improved — not repealed and replaced.

“Your job as a congressman is to fix it,” Sheppard told Bilirakis.

Insurance companies and pharmaceutical companies should not be involved in reform efforts, she added. “Take their seat from the table. The insurance companies, the pharmaceutical companies should not be at the table,” she said.

“We are actively searching for (U.S. Sen.) Marco Rubio,” Sheppard added.

Beverly Ledbetter, active in Pasco County Democratic politics, reminded Bilirakis: “Affordable health care is more than being able to go to the doctor. It’s peace of mind. It’s the ability to know that you can be treated when you have an illness.

“I taught at Pasco High School, and I would have students who would come in that would be very upset. When I talked to them, I found out that mom had Stage IV breast cancer, or dad had lung cancer … They had to balance between paying their mortgage or getting health care.

“In East Pasco County, we have a 33 percent poverty level. Having access to affordable health care is important. We need a commitment that these people are not going to be left behind. We need a commitment that you’re going to listen and you’re going to act on our behalf.

“We ask that you not make America sick again,” Ledbetter said.

Other speakers told Bilirakis that repealing the ACA will cause people with pre-existing conditions to lose their access to health care. They said medicines will be too expensive, and they said without subsidies, people won’t be able to afford insurance.

Two doctors told Bilirakis that the ACA has resulted in people getting medical treatment sooner, before their conditions worsened.

In response to comments about Medicare, Bilirakis assured the crowd that Medicare will stay the same.

“Medicare will not be affected. Medicare is the greatest program in the history of the United States, and we’re going to keep it,” Bilirakis said.

He also said he knows that health care reforms are needed.

“Premiums are very, very high. We have to fix that,” said.

He said that increased competition between pharmaceutical companies will reduce prescription drug prices.

As speakers continued to share their opinions and experiences, Bilirakis told them: “We are taking notes, and I know this is being recorded. So, I’m going to take all of these stories with me to Washington.”

Published February 15, 2017

Drug store work left lasting impressions

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Tom Touchton was only about 6 years old when he began working at Touchton Drug Store, in the heart of Dade City.

He went to work there because his brother, Charlie, who is 3 ½ years older, already was working there.

“I figured if he could work there, I could work there,” said Tom, who decades later would become a prime mover in the creation of the Tampa Bay History Center in downtown Tampa.

Charlie and Tom Touchton will share the experiences they had while working at Touchton Drug Store at a talk on Feb. 18 at 2 p.m., at the Pioneer Florida Museum & Village in Dade City.
(B.C. Manion)

When he started at the store, Tom was just tall enough to wash dishes.

“At some point, I was promoted to be permitted to clean tables. And then, at another point, I was promoted to be permitted to make sodas and sundaes,” he said.

Later on, he was given the privilege of making tuna salad, chicken salad and ham salad sandwiches, he said.

“Charlie had done all of these things before because he was older, and I was always trying to measure up to my older brother,” Tom said.

His brother, Charlie, has fond recollections of working in the store.

Both men will share their experiences, and what they gleaned from them, on Feb. 18 at 2 p.m., as part of a series of talks being offered by The Pioneer Florida Museum & Village. The talks coincide with the museum hosting a traveling Smithsonian Institution Exhibit called “The Way We Worked.”

Touchton Drug Store was a busy place, Charlie recalled.

Touchton Drug Store operated in the heart of Dade City, serving customers and providing valuable life lessons for Charlie and Tom Touchton, who worked there when they young.
(Courtesy of Madonna Wise)

At first, Charlie said, “I worked behind the soda fountain, and I washed dishes and I made cokes, and I made sundaes and I made sodas.

Coca-Colas were by far the most popular drink, he said.

“It was automatic, if it was Coca-Cola. You turned a handle. It fed the syrup. It fed the carbonated beverage,” he said. “If it was anything else, you had to squirt the syrup.”

People could buy cherry Cokes and lime Cokes, even ammonia Cokes, which were said to relieve headaches.

Charlie said he was taught early on not to mix ammonia with grape juice because that would create a poison.

Selling cosmetics was fun
“Not until I was about 12 or 13, did I really get on to the sundries and goods side,” Charlie added, noting he especially enjoyed selling cosmetics.

“It was a great place to flirt,” he explained. Revlon lipstick, at that time, sold for $2 a tube.

Both men credit their work at the drug store for teaching them important, lifelong lessons.

It taught them how to relate to people from all walks of life, and about the importance of customer service.

“The same things I learned in the drug store became relevant, whether you’re selling a product or you’re selling an idea,” Charlie said.

“In a small town, the customer is always right because your livelihood depended on those customers,” Tom said. “If they didn’t have a good experience at Touchton Drug Store, then they would go up the street to another drug store.”

He recalled a customer, named Mr. Ways, who refused to pay a newly instituted state sales tax.

“I went to my grandfather and said, ‘What do I do? Mr. Ways is going to leave if I charge him sales tax.’ My grandfather pulled two pennies out of his pocket and gave them to me, ‘You just ring up 52 cents, you take 50 cents from Mr. Ways and here’s the other two cents.’”

The store was learning how to deal with the new tax, and keeping that customer was important, Tom said.

Building relationships, in any kind of transactional business, is essential, said Charlie, noting that his drug store experiences came in handy when he worked for IBM.

Developing sales skills
At the drug store, Charlie learned about the art of subtle marketing and about the concept of upselling.

It was customary to keep items on the counter, such as toothbrushes and Whitman’s candy, within easy reach of customers, Charlie said. The idea was to give them a chance to see and touch items, he said.

Suggestive selling was a way to move products.

“When somebody was there to get something, (Charlie would say) ‘By the way, do you need a toothbrush?’

“If the person said, ‘As a matter of fact, I do,’” Charlie said, “you’d get out another one and say, ‘You’d better get two.’”

Or, he’d ask a customer: “Do you think you’d want a box of Whitman candy today?”

At that time, the candy was $2 a box, he said.

Customers could buy a Hershey bar or a single-scoop ice cream cone for a nickel, decades ago. Comic books were a dime. A pack of cigarettes went for 20 cents, Charlie said.

People would come to the drug store for prescriptions and nonprescription medicines. They’d pick up bandages, shoe polish, cosmetics and other personal needs items.

Tom said the strong work ethic he has subscribed to his entire life began when he was just 6, working in the drug store.

“I am 78 years old. If I have to work at night, or I need to come in here on Saturday to get things done because of other things that I did during the week, then you just do. There is no 9 to 5. “You stay up as late as you have to, to get it done, or you get to work as early as you have to, or you work on the weekends because it has to be done.

“You work when you need to, to get the job done,” Tom said.

Charlie said the lessons he learned at the drug store, about being trustworthy and having integrity, have stuck with him for life, too.

The Way We Worked lecture series
What: The Pioneer Florida Museum & Village, in conjunction with the Florida Humanities Council, is presenting a series of lectures, in conjunction with the museum’s display of the Smithsonian Institution’s traveling exhibit, “The Way We Worked.”
Where: Pioneer Florida Museum & Village, 15602 Pioneer Museum Road, Dade City
Cost: Admission to the museum is $8 for adults; $6 for seniors; $4 for students, 6 through 18; and free for age 5 and younger.
Details: The speaker schedule is as follows:

  • Imani Asukile, “The Odell Mickens Story,” Feb. 16, 6 p.m.
  • Tom & Charlie Touchton, “Touchton Drug Store,” Feb. 18, 2 p.m.
  • Madonna Wise, “Women and Work,” March 2, 6 p.m.
  • Dr. Steven Noll, “The Way We Worked, FL,” March 4, 2 p.m.
  • Nancy Massey Perkins, “Hometown Barber,” March 7, 2 p.m.
  • Scott Black, “All the Live Long Day (Railroad),” March 9, 6 p.m.

“The Way We Worked” exhibit will be at the museum through March 18. The museum’s regular hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Info: PioneerFloridaMuseum.org

Revised February 27, 2017

 

 

These kids want to help out

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None of these kids are old enough to go out and get a job.

They also have trouble finding places where they can volunteer.

So, they formed the “Helping Hands Club” to do something about that.

Twelve-year-old Caileigh Brown, a sixth-grader at Rushe Middle School, came up with the idea.

Members of the Helping Hands Club pose near the lake behind Heather Shisler’s home. Back row: Caileigh Brown, Kaylee Roy, Gavin Brown and Ella Neuffer. Front row: Isabella Steady and Alexis Hopper.
(B.C. Manion)

Other members of the club are 11-year-old Isabella Steady, a sixth-grader at Rushe; 11-year-old Alexis Hopper, a sixth-grader at Rushe; 13-year-old Kaylee Roy, an eighth-grader at Rushe; 10-year-old Ella Neuffer, a fifth-grader at Oakstead Elementary; and, 9-year-old Gavin Brown, Caileigh’s little brother, a fourth-grader at Oakstead.

The group formed shortly before the holidays.

The club meets on weekends at Heather Shisler’s home in Land O’ Lakes. Shisler is Gavin and Caileigh’s mom.

The meetings generally last about 90 minutes.

Early on, the kids focused on figuring out things they’d like to do.

So far, they helped at Sunrise of Pasco Inc., a domestic violence shelter, and at Zaksee’s Bird Sanctuary.

They sorted out a storage closet at the domestic violence shelter, and they helped do some cleaning and planted seeds at the bird sanctuary.

Club members said they’ve tried to get involved before, but have had trouble gaining momentum.

“In fourth and fifth grade, we would try to make these volunteer groups to help people. None of them were ever successful,” Steady said.

“A lot of the things that we actually wanted to do, we’re too young. You have to be 16,” Brown said.

Neuffer said she enjoys being in the club. “I love helping out people,” she said.

Brown’s little brother, Gavin, is first to admit he was drafted into the club. But, he said, he enjoys being part of it.

Shisler lets the club meet at her house, helps the kids with setting up volunteer opportunities and transporting them.

The group’s goal is to complete at least one — but hopefully more — volunteer activities each month.

The opportunities need to be within the general area, and need to be tasks that can be completed within a day or less.

The idea is to make a difference, the kids say.

“It’s a good thing to do in your free time, instead of watching TV,” Roy said.

The kids know there are a number of chores they can perform.

In some cases, they may be able to do chores for pay, such as babysitting or dog walking, in which case the money they earn would go for a charitable cause, they said.

Glenda Steady, who is Isabella’s mom, is grateful for Shisler’s willingness to open her home for club meetings, to help set volunteer appointments and to transport the kids.

She thinks the kids will benefit immensely. “They want to do something for others. I think it is awesome.”

Justin Hopper, who is Alexis’s dad, is also glad his daughter is involved.

He believes belonging to the club will help teach the kids about the satisfaction that comes from being of service to others. “It will serve them well the rest of their lives,” he said.

He also said their desire to help is sincere.

“There’s a lot of stuff they’re willing to do,” he said. “There’s really no lack of heart in this group.”

The kids hope their club will set a good example for other kids, and might inspire others to start their own clubs.

Anyone who is interested in getting involved, or who needs the Helping Hands Club’s help should contact Shisler at .

Published February 15, 2017

Her career touched many lives

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Officially, Betsy Crisp’s last day of work was Feb. 3.

But, based on her track record, it seems unlikely that the Land O’ Lakes woman will merely kick back and relax.

Betsy Crisp and her friends, colleagues and family members celebrated her retirement with a buffet of finger foods and a beautifully decorated cake. The celebration was at the Land O’ Lakes Community Center, on Land O’ Lakes Boulevard.
(B.C. Manion)

Crisp retired after 29 years as the food and consumer sciences extension agent for the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences – Pasco Cooperative Extension.

She is the woman who crisscrossed Pasco County preaching the gospel of good nutrition. She helped people to navigate through bureaucratic systems. She used elbow grease when a job needed to be done.

Crisp helped nurses learn how to balance the demands of their work and daily home life.

She taught classes on cooking with herbs and spices.

She provided pointers for stretching a food dollar.

She helped launch Pasco County’s first residential recycling program, and was on the ground floor 20 years ago establishing the Suncoast Harvest Food Bank, which is now part of Feeding Tampa Bay.

Over the years, Crisp’s work drew attention.

She was named the southern region’s Continued Excellence Award winner in 2013 for her many accomplishments on the job.

Colleagues, friends and family members dropped by to celebrate with Betsy Crisp, as she leaves a career spanning nearly 30 years as food and consumer sciences extension agent for Pasco Cooperative Extension. Crisp, center, laughs with her friends, as her brother, K.C. Nayfield (right), listens.

The licensed dietitian was honored for the nearly 150 programs she presented each year in the areas of food, nutrition, health and safety.

Her Family Nutrition Program also secured grant funding to support several program assistants and many volunteers, helping more than 136,000 people improve their eating habits.

That award was among numerous honors she picked up over the years.

She deserved the recognition because her work got results, said friends and colleagues who attended her retirement reception at the Land O’ Lakes Community Center on Land O’ Lakes Boulevard.

“Betsy has always gone above and beyond. She set high standards for herself and carried a very full workload,” said Mary Chernesky, former director of the Hillsborough County Cooperative Extension Office.

A proposal Crisp co-wrote in 2007 for the USDA SnapEd Family Nutrition Program received funding for $160,000 a year, and the funding has since escalated to almost $400,000 a year, said Chernesky, who is now retired.

“Betsy has helped people, counseled them, shared her knowledge, made a difference in people’s lives in the county and state,” Chernesky added.

Crisp paid attention to what her peers were doing, and when she recognized a program of excellence, she nominated it for an award.

“Many extension agents across the state have received recognition and awards, over the years … because when Betsy found programs that were good enough to be considered for nomination, she did it. Sometimes we didn’t even know it had been sent in,” Chernesky said.

Kurt Conover, who spoke at Crisp’s party, said he met Betsy about 30 years ago.

That’s when Crisp suggested that Land O’ Lakes get involved in the Coastal and Waterway Cleanup, Conover said.

He said Crisp told him: “Land O’ Lakes should get involved in that. We’ve got lots of lakes here.”

So, the pair became co-captains, and they organized the largest volunteer effort of any site in Pasco County, Conover said.

Conover said he handled the easy part: Getting donations of supplies and food for the cleanup crews.

Crisp took care of the logistics. She made sure that cleanup teams weren’t duplicating efforts.

Besides cleaning up the community, the annual effort has encouraged community involvement, Conover said.

It has had a generational impact, too, he said.

“There were children who came to this event that grew up to be adults, and they had their children there, participating,” Conover said.

He also noted that Crisp’s husband, Paul, and the couple’s children, Megan and Michael, were always there to pitch in.

Besides delivering at the professional level, Crisp is known for her personal touch, friends and colleagues said.

She remembers birthdays.

She asks about sick relatives.

She celebrates her colleagues’ joys and helps them shoulder their sorrows.

Crisp said her achievements came because of the people she was able to work with throughout her career.

At her reception, she made it a point to go around the room calling out people by name and publicly thanking them for their help. She had a kind word for practically everyone — if not everyone — in the room.

Crisp said she loved every minute of her career — except when she had to cut her staff because of budget reductions.

“I cried,” she said.

But, Crisp managed to keep her emotions in check at her retirement party.

One colleague, however, could not.

Her voice broke, as she bid farewell to Crisp — her trusted mentor and friend, someone she knows she will dearly miss.

Published February 15, 2017

Ranch Days offered many ways to have fun

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Ranch Days offered a weekend of entertainment at the Little Everglades Ranch.

Wayne Waxing performs in the band Hymn for Her, at Ranch Days at Little Everglades Ranch.
(RIchard K. Riley)

There were tethered hot air balloon rides, tours of the ranch, a high-wire act, a snake show, live music, a petting zoo and other ways to have fun.

People could grab a bite to eat, and sit back and relax, or they could be more adventurous.

They could watch a chainsaw artist turn a piece of wood into a work of art, they could learn about birds of prey, and they could stick around to see a hot air balloon glow.

Over the years, people have visited the 2,100-acre ranch, owned by Bob and Sharon Blanchard, for all sorts of events, including Savage Races, Steeplechase Races, equine events, track meets and other activities.

This was first time that tours were offered of the property, at 17951 Hamilton Road in Dade City.

Published February 15, 2017

Tino Wallenda performed on the high-wire for four shows during the weekend. He reported that most of his family that were in the Sarasota Circus accident last week are in good shape, but some are still hospitalized.
A Hot Air Balloon Ride Co. of Orlando (yellow/blue balloon) and American Balloons of Wesley Chapel (red/white/blue balloon) provided tethered balloon views from the Ranch Day site on the Little Everglades Ranch.

 

‘Ranch Days’ debuts this weekend

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Little Everglades Ranch is rolling out the welcome mat this weekend for a new event called “Ranch Days.”

Slated for Feb. 11, from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Feb. 12, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., the event features live music, tethered hot air balloon rides, hiking tours, tram tours, a balloon glow and exhibitions, including high-wiring walking, indigenous snakes and birds of prey.

Visitors will have a chance to get a close up look at the beauty of Little Everglades Ranch during a two-day event that’s debuting this year. It offers fun activities and a chance to tour portions of the 2,100-acre ranch.
(Courtesy of Kevin Campbell)

“The property is just such a stunner, we think it makes a great backdrop for an event like this,” said Kevin Campbell, facility event manager.

Over the years, people have visited the 2,100-acre ranch, owned by Bob and Sharon Blanchard, for all sorts of events, Campbell said. Little Everglades Ranch is at 17951 Hamilton Road in Dade City.

Visitors have come for Savage Races, Steeplechase Races, equine events, track meets and other activities.

“People always ask us if we do tours,” Campbell said. With “Ranch Days,” the ranch finally will.

“The Boys Scouts are leading a mile-and-a-tenth hiking tour,” Campbell said. There also will be tram tours and rides available in the LARC, an aluminum-hulled amphibious cargo vehicle.

Tino Wallenda, of the famed Wallenda family, will do the high-wire act. The indigenous snake show features Jim Mendenhall, of Rattlesnake Festival fame, and the birds of prey will be shown by Lady Kitty.

Live music — with styles ranging from country to bluegrass to jazz and others — will be offered on two stages, throughout both days

Andie and Kevin Campbell, are shown here at the Little Everglades Ranch events office, with their pal, Moo. They look relaxed, but are actually very busy preparing for ‘Ranch Days’ which will take place Feb. 11 and Feb. 12.

“All of the entertainment is free,” Campbell said. There also will be a free balloon glow at dusk on Feb. 11.

American Balloon Company will offer tethered balloon rides for a fee, and LARC rides also will be available for a fee, Campbell said.

Those attending the event will be able to purchase food, with offerings ranging from barbecue to Mexican, from Cuban to Cajun, to typical fair foods, as well as snacks and drinks.

No coolers, outside food or beverages, or pets are allowed.

Campbell said organizers are hoping for an attendance of around 5,000 people, but can handle a much larger crowd.

Organizers hope “Ranch Days” becomes an annual event, but will see how it goes this year before making future plans, Campbell said.

Besides the rides and tours, there’s also plenty for kids to do, as well as a wide array of artisans and crafters, too, including a world-renown chainsaw artist, Campbell said.

Admission is free, but parking is $10 for cars, and $25 for buses and RVs.

For more information, visit RanchDays.com.

Published February 8, 2017

Middle/high school offers new possibilities

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Principal Carin Hetzler-Nettles sees countless possibilities for students who will be taught at Cypress Creek Middle/High School, now under construction off State Road 52.

Students aren’t the only ones who will have new opportunities, Hetzler-Nettles said. She believes the experience will be invigorating for her faculty and staff, too.

The school is slated to begin operation in the fall, beginning with students in grade six through 11, and adding a senior class the following year.

Carin Hetzler-Nettles, former principal at Wesley Chapel High, will lead Cypress Creek Middle/High School. She has experience at both the middle and high school levels.
(B.C. Manion)

Attendance boundaries for the school were adopted on Jan. 17 by the Pasco County School Board, but the boundaries are being challenged.

The Pasco County School Board and Superintendent Kurt Browning were scheduled to meet in a closed session with school board attorneys to discuss pending litigation regarding those boundaries. That meeting was set for the morning of Feb. 7, or as soon thereafter as possible.

Meanwhile, construction continues at Cypress Creek Middle/High School.

The physical setup keeps middle school and high school students in separate areas, Hetzler-Nettles said. There will be separate physical education classes, with separate locker rooms for the age levels and genders.

There’s also a screen in the gym that will descend, to separate middle school and high school physical education classes.

Students will ride the bus together, but there will be rules, Hetzler-Nettles said.

“Middle school students will sit in the front. High school students can sit in the last 10 rows,” she said.

That practice is already being used on buses carrying middle school and high school students to other district schools, she said.

Cypress Creek Middle/High will have a high school band and a middle school band, as well as a high school orchestra and middle school orchestra.

“There might be some performances together. That will be the beauty of that school,” Nettles said.

“There is going to be a lot of awesome possibilities in terms of student mentoring,” Hetzler-Nettles said. “I can easily see ninth-graders mentoring in sixth-grader classes.

“Collaboration amongst the teachers is going to be amazing,” she added.

The school is planning to have academies in Criminal Justice, Entrepreneurship, and Engineering and Robotics.

There also will be opportunities for middle school students who have advanced skills to take academic courses at the high school level, Hetzler-Nettles said.

The principal said she has heard some concerns regarding the impact that the lack of a senior class could have on athletic programs.

She thinks it will serve as an advantage for some underclassmen.

“Your juniors will be your leaders. That’s definitely going to offer up some opportunities,” Hetzler-Nettles said.

The principal is looking forward to being able to give tours of the new school.

“The campus is just beautiful,” she said.

She also noted the quest to secure funding for a performing arts center on the campus.

“It’s a collaborative effort between Pasco County School Board and PHSC (Pasco-Hernando State College),” Hetzler-Nettles said.

The middle/high school will open with offerings in dance, theater, orchestra, band and chorus, she said.

“I think those programs will just explode, with the building of that performing arts center,” Nettles said. “PHSC is going to have classes there. It’s going to give our kids an opportunity for dual enrollment within the area of fine arts. That’s exciting.

“It’s going to be a community theater, maybe even renting it out for events,” Hetzler-Nettles said.

The principal began her teaching career as a middle school teacher at River Ridge. She has been at the helm of Wesley Chapel High School for several years.

She’s looking forward to working with both middle and high school students.

“I know that parents are worried about that combination of middle school and high schoolers, but I really see it as such a benefit,” Hetzler-Nettles said.

“Kids are kids. They’re awesome. They’re fun. I’m excited to translate what we do here at Wesley Chapel High School down into a middle school arena,” she said.

She also wants to alleviate worries that parents may have.

“I’m available for questions at any time. If they have concerns, they certainly can reach out to me,” Hetzler-Nettles said.

She can be reached at .

Published February 8, 2017

Foundation considers its future path

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The Heritage Park Foundation is figuring out its future.

The foundation, which formed decades ago, has essentially met its major goals of bringing improvements to the park — including a stage, which is now under construction.

Dirt flew during the groundbreaking ceremony last year for construction of a stage at the Land O’ Lakes Community Park. The stage is expected to be completed in coming months, and is envisioned as a venue for concerts, plays and other activities at the park.
(File)

So, the group met on Feb. 1 to discuss whether the foundation should continue to exist, or should disband.

Sandy Graves, a prime mover in the quest to get a stage for the park, told board members that if the foundation dissolves, it would be difficult to attain a nonprofit status (501c3) for another organization.

By having the nonprofit status, however, money can be raised that can be spent at the Land O’ Lakes park, she explained.

Kurt Conover, who has been involved since the inception of the foundation, agreed that establishing another 501c3 would be difficult.

Over the years, the vision for what should happen on the park land has changed, Conover said.

But, the idea has always been to foster a greater sense of community, Graves said.

The stage will help make that happen, Conover said.

“It will be a whole different atmosphere, once you have the stage,” he said.

The stage project was made possible through a partnership of the foundation, community businesses, Pasco County, Pasco County Schools and a $250,000 grant from the state.

Construction must be completed by this summer to comply with terms of the state grant, said Brian Taylor, the county’s Parks and Recreation manager.

The completion of the stage follows other significant upgrades to the park, which has resulted in making it a popular place among athletes.

In the future, the foundation may serve as a conduit to help raise money for additional improvements at the park, but it is not clear how that will work yet.

One idea would be for a fee to be imposed to those using the stage, with those fees going to the foundation. The foundation, in turn, could contribute that money for improvements at the park.

Taylor said he needed to do more research on the issue.

Discussion on the issue will continue at the board’s next meeting, expected to be held next month.

Published February 8, 2017

Lutz gardener cultivates generosity

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Eighty-five-year-old Elaine Pittman’s love affair with gardening began 7 1/2 decades ago.

“My father gave me my first piece of a garden on Long Island when I was about 9 years old.

Eighty-five-year-old Elaine Pittman has never sought attention for the contributions she makes to Christian Social Services, from proceeds derived from her plant sales. She likes to help that group because it feeds the hungry.
(B.C. Manion)

“Every spring, I would go to all of the neighbors around the block and ask for the little seedlings that they didn’t want. I had snow-on-the-mountain and bachelor buttons, and you name it,” said Pittman, who lives in Lutz.

She can barely remember a time since then when she wasn’t getting her hands dirty.

Deliberately.

Throughout her life, she spent spare time digging in soil and coaxing beauty from the earth.

Now, gardening is part of her daily life.

And, in Florida, she can do it year-round.

Behind her house, she has a potting shed, where she has stacks of pots, a sink and potting soil — in an assembly line of sorts.

“I do have a sink full of water here. Certain plants require clean pots. I just soak them (pots) in bleach and detergent here,” she said.

She takes plants that others discard, or pass along to her, and she divides them into smaller plants, which she then tends in her backyard.

She’s nurturing all sorts of plants, including begonias, amaryllis, coonties, crotons, kalanchoe, maple leaf hibiscus and crown of thorns.

She was in her shed, one recent day, putting her skills to work.

Maple leaf hibiscus ‘looks like velvet,’ Elaine Pittman says. ‘This one tends to get a little leggy, so you have to cut it back a lot,’ she adds.

She picked up a leather-leaf fern – a scraggily looking thing, but Pittman saw its potential.

“I always tell people I’m one of these idiots, something breaks, I can’t throw it away. I have to put it in dirt,” Pittman said.

After eyeballing the leather-leaf fern, she decides it will make three or four smaller plants.

She prepares a pot for the first cutting.

“I use coffee filters in the bottom of the pot. It keeps the dirt from washing out,” Pittman explains. She picks up the filters at The Dollar Tree to keep down her costs.

When a pot has a tiny hole, she uses a clump of dryer lint to keep in the dirt.

Then, she takes the first cutting from the leather-leaf fern. She holds it over the pot and begins adding potting mix. She holds the cutting in the center of the pot until she’s added enough soil in the pot to support it.

Next, she adds a “teensy” bit of systemic insecticide, then more soil, and then a small amount of fertilizer.

“I don’t believe in using as much fertilizer as they tell you. They want to make money,” Pittman said. Plus, she notes, too much fertilizer isn’t good for the environment.

Elaine Pittman tends to begonias with red, white and pink blooms in her backyard. These are some of her red begonias.

At her age, Pittman said, she’s not able to make her own potting mix.

“I can’t do my own hard work because the body is too old,” she said. And, she added, “Arthur is not a good friend,” Pittman said, referring to her arthritis.

So, she enlists help.

“I have some young friends that are strong,” she said, and they make her potting mix for her.

And, while she can’t move as fast as she used to — she still manages to grow and sell hundreds of plants every year.

Her prices generally range from $2 to $6, with a few exceptions. “The most I’ve ever charged for one of my plants was $15,” Pittman said.

She sells most of her plants at a booth at the GFWC Lutz-Land O’ Lakes Woman’s Club yard sale and at two flea markets held at the Old Lutz School each year. The club’s yard sale is scheduled for March 3 and March 4, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., on both days, at the Old Lutz School, 18819 U.S. 41 N., in Lutz.

Proceeds go to the woman’s club, which, in turn, donates the money to Christian Social Services, which operates a thrift store and food pantry in a building that looks like a red barn, at 5514 Land O’ Lakes Blvd.

In recent years, Pittman has sold $1,000 in plants a year to provide donations. She said she likes to help Christian Social Services because they feed people who are hungry.

Pittman provides the labor, and the space to cultivate the plants, but she said the work she does relies on the generosity of others.

“People give me plants all of the time when they redo their yards. They’ll bring me the extras. “When my daughter cuts her hibiscus, she brings me the cuttings,” she said.

It’s also not uncommon for her to find plants, pots and other supplies left — anonymously — in front of her garage.

She takes those offerings and puts them to good use.

Pittman has never sought attention for her efforts to create beauty, and to help the poor.

But, it’s a project that seems to align nicely, with a quotation by an unknown author that the Lutz woman finds inspiring: “If there is any hope for the world, it can only be found in personal kindness.”

Published February 8, 2017