The Laker/Lutz News

Serving Pasco since 1981/Serving Lutz since 1964

Mike Camunas

Sprinter signs to run track

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(Courtesy of BeBe Roberts)

Annalyse Rogers, a sprinter for Wesley Chapel High, signed to run track for Southeastern University, a private Christian liberal arts university in Lakeland. The Fire compete in the Sun Conference. Rogers was a Sunshine Athletic Conference selection in the 2022 spring season, nabbing the award in the 100m and the 4×100 relay.

This posse offers security, showmanship

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There’s just one requirement to join Pasco Sheriff’s Mounted Posse.

Pasco Sheriff’s Mounted Posse works on formation, during a training exercise at Diamond B Ranch in Dade City. The posse is a volunteer group that helps the Pasco Sheriff’s Office (PSO) with security, as well as entertainment, during various events throughout the county. The unit also engages in community relations, crime prevention, search and rescue, and fundraising for PSO Charities. (Mike Camunas)

Volunteers need to have a little giddyup.

Well, actually there is more to it than that.

Posse volunteers provide security, as well as entertainment, during various events throughout Pasco County. They also engage in community relations, crime prevention, search and rescue, and even fundraising.

“It is a really expensive hobby,” said Deputy Cliff Williams, the sworn officer who works with the volunteer group.

“But a lot of volunteers come out and it is needed — as the (Pasco) Sheriff’s Office is always looking for volunteers,” he added. “We do public events, fairs, festivals — and we get a better sight advantage from up higher. These volunteers, they work hard, and we have a great group of people.”

Indeed, volunteers for the posse must meet certain criteria. They must pass a background check, must own a horse, must be able to transport the horse, and, of course, must know how to ride and to tack.

Jeff Alston and his horse, Jack, work together for the Pasco Sheriff’s Mounted Posse, helping at events and other functions all over the county.

Beyond that, being part of the posse requires training.

Once they have all of that, they’re ready to saddle up — using their own equipment —  for an upcoming festival or fair.

“A lot of work — safety is a huge thing, so there’s a lot of training and tactics to prepare ourselves for — lots of behind the scenes stuff, too,” said Dani McGinity, a Dade City resident who has been president of the posse since 2019. “There’s care for the horse, hay, the trailer — you put a lot of money into that — the fuel, feeding them, cleaning them. … You have to enjoy doing this, and if our volunteers are putting in that much effort to be here, it has to be fun and rewarding in some way.

Pasco Sheriff’s Mounted Posse president Dani McGinity walks with her Clydesdale horse, Teagan, at Diamond B Ranch in Dade City, during a Pasco Sheriff’s Mounted Posse training.

“And it is! It is absolutely fun — not just the attention we get, but the fun part is, for example, during COVID, with everything shut down, we went to an assisted living facility. When those people saw us walking around with our horses, the smiles on their faces, the cheering, that makes it fun,” she said.

Williams agreed: “These horses bring a lot of joy to people’s lives who might not get it elsewhere.

“(My) favorite part is kids, or even adults, who get to see the horse — maybe for the first time.  I think having police officers (at events) in uniform can be intimidating, but having us there with horses makes it easier to approach, ask questions, pet the horse and really get to enjoy us volunteering at an event.”

McGinity added: “We’re one of the biggest attractions wherever we go because it’s always, ‘Hey, there’s a horse!’ and we definitely can’t say we don’t like that!”

So, besides a horse, equipment and riding skills, what else does it take to join this posse? Well, it basically comes down to the love of volunteering.

And the love of a horse, of course.

“(This is) something I had been wanting to do for a very long time,” the newest member of the posse, Dani Judge, said. “I have some really good friends in the posse and it combines my favorite things: volunteering and horses.

Deputy Cliff Williams and fellow horse deputy, Walker, are sworn officers in the Pasco Sheriff’s Mounted Posse. They lead the volunteers during training exercises and events around the county.

“Being a horse lover and being able to give back to the community, it doesn’t get any better than that,” she said.

 

Pasco Sheriff’s Mounted Posse
Info: Anyone with a horse, transportation for it and the desire to do plenty of volunteer work can join the Mounted Posse. However, there are several requirements, which can be viewed in the brochure, at PascoSheriffCharities.org, by clicking on “Pasco Posse.”
To apply for the Mounted Posse, visit PascoSheriffCharities.org/events/apply.
To schedule the Mounted Posse for an event, visit PascoSheriff.com/schedule-pso/.

Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Mounted Posse
There also is a Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Mounted Posse, which works many events in Lutz, New Tampa, Carrollwood and beyond.
Info: Visit Facebook.com/Hillsborough-County-Sheriffs-Mounted-Posse-190756680934944, or email .

Published August 03, 2022

Zephyrhills airport taking off with improvements

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Zephyrhills Municipal Airport just keeps clearing projects to land.

This is leading it to become larger and more improved with each completion.

In early July, the airport finished a $5.9-million, 1,200-foot runway expansion that will allow the city to welcome larger planes, including private jets. By bringing the length of the main runaway to 6,200 feet, City of Zephyrhills Airport Manager Nathan Coleman says this expansion could lead to an industrial corridor boom around the airport, likening it to the same thing that happened to Lakeland’s airport and industrial corridor.

The Zephyrhills Municipal Airport, which the city has run since 1947, has spent more than $32 million in capital improvement projects since 2011, including the most recent: a $5.9-million runway expansion that brought the current length to 6,200 feet and which now can accommodate larger planes. (Mike Camunas)

“The city and the planners really set their sights on trying to do something similar to what Lakeland did and, hopefully, that will bring in jobs, that that market can flourish here in Zephyrhills,” Coleman said. “If we can get in businesses of that type, then the hope is they can come here, thanks to the extension.”

The runway extension now allows for larger planes to take off and land, and this includes ones such as Gulfstreams, which are a very popular brand for corporate jets. Coleman says that is a clientele the airport hopes to gain, and it’s not just in the industrial corridor. The city is taking into account all attractions and destinations that would call for a longer runway, such as the Sarah Vande Berg Tennis and Wellness Center.

“We hope tennis attracts jets, maybe if it’s a tennis player who has a private jet,” Coleman said. “We hope those (tennis) facilities bring in a player, where they can fly right in and out. That’s another example.”

These examples are set to come, as the runaway expansion project was slightly different than how most airport improvements are planned. Generally, something of this magnitude and price arise because of a need or demand, however, in this case, it’s “a little of putting the cart before the horse,” according to Zephyrhills City Manager Billy Poe.

“In a perfect world, it probably would have been a little different,” Poe added. “We built (the expansion), so it’s something we’ll promote and also create the reason for the jets to come to Zephyrhills. What’s the reason? Let’s figure out how to attract those types of travelers because we’ve got things like tennis, Saddlebrook (Resort) nearby — we just have to give them a reason for corporate business to come to Zephyrhills and Dade City.”

The airport, which the city has run since 1947, is not done improving. Since 2011 and in the eight years Coleman has been manager, the airport has pumped in $32 million into projects, improvements and additions. He adds there are still five ongoing projects, as well.

In addition, the state just gave the city $12 million in allocations as part of the 2022-2023 Florida state budget, signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis on June 2. Of that, $6.6 million is going to more airport additions.

Those funds will be used to design and construct a new Fixed Based Operator (FBO) Terminal Building, Taxiway F and two new box hangars. Future development of the airport and the adjacent Industrial Park is expected to attract new corporate and recreational aircraft operations, including increased jet traffic. When this happens, new jobs are expected from the increased capacity for aviation businesses, including pilot lessons, new hangar construction, mechanical businesses and corporate relocations, and from maintenance, repair and overhaul businesses.

This project is slated to start within the next month or so, plus there will need to finish up the $3.6-million project that will create a parking area to accommodate the new runway extension.

“We’re positioned to be an airport ready to take on the next big wave of progressive air nautical users,” Coleman said.

As of now, the airport, which sees about 45,000 to 50,000 operations yearly, mostly is general aviation and flight training. Several of these operations are tallied by SkyDive City, when it takes up divers on a daily basis.

Now, as Zephyrhills looks to the future and how it plans to keep building the largest municipality in Pasco County, it will continue to take its airport, and potential arrivals and departures, seriously.

“The real question we have to ask,” Coleman said, “is ‘Why are planes coming to the airport?’ And, look, it’s not because of runways or parking or terminals or anything at the airport, really. It’s about the destination, and now we have to make Zephyrhills a destination that warrants an airport of our size.”

Published August 03, 2022

Camping for code

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You might call it coding chaos.

At least that’s how it felt at times, when 15 middle schoolers convened at Saint Leo University for a week of coding camp.

From left: Jackson Bryant, Liev Vapner, Gerardo Velez Ruiz and Eric Joseph race the Lego robots they built during Saint Leo University’s School of Computing, Artificial Intelligence, Robotics and Data Science (CARDS) coed robotics camp held on campus in July. (Mike Camunas)

Officially, they were attending the university’s School of Computing, Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, and Data Science (CARDS), a coed robotics camp.

The session, which ran July 18 through July 22, is geared toward youths who are interested in learning about robotics and programming.

Dr. Monika Kiss, interim chair of the Mathematics Department in CARDS, led the camp, which featured campers working in pairs and using Lego Education SPIKE Prime sets.

Campers built “robots” of varying size, shapes and colors and then, after learning the proper coding, programmed them to race, run mazes, and even do a little battle royale.

Dr. Monika Kiss, interim chair of the Mathematics Department in the School of CARD at Saint Leo University, works with Matthew Longshore to help him write code during the coed robotics camp held in July.

All in all, it was one crazy-fun camp.

“I love the craziness — I love the creativity (the kids) have with what they build and design,” Kiss said. “This is not an opportunity they usually have on their middle school campuses, so, hopefully, they get a taste of what they can do, whether with engineering science or coding math, or all of the above.

“They’re trying to come up with something new and innovative, and they’re trying to come up with something to impress their parents, especially after spending a whole week at camp on it. I love it!”

Kiss uses the camp to work with younger kids and to give back to the community. Once the camp starts, the kids learn the basics and use their critical thinking skills to “think outside the box,” and to focus on different types of problem-solving.

Austin Taylor handles his robot during Saint Leo University’s coed robotics camp.

It involves teamwork, as they and their partner determine what they want to make the robot do, then set out to make it happen.

Several campers said they were there to learn coding.

Dezirae Gardner, an 11-year-old Wesley Chapel resident heading into sixth grade at Weightman Middle, said she’s been interested in coding for a long time and jumped at the chance to attend the camp.

“Robotics has a lot to do with math, and I’m pretty good at math,” Gardner said.

“I wanted to learn coding so I could do the math to program robots. I plan to either go into aero (aeronautics) or astronautics once in college.”

Dezirae Gardner, of Wesley Chapel, directs her Lego robot she helped build with a teammate during a coed robotics camp offered by Saint Leo University in July.

Gardner and her partner, Rosalyn Fletcher, built a robot that could navigate a color-coded maze.

“We programmed it to turn whenever it saw the color blue and speed up whenever it sees the color red,” she said.

Twelve-year-old Gerardo Velez Ruiz, of Tampa, also was there to learn to code, but he enjoyed every aspect of the camp.

“I was able to make new friends, stepped up my coding, and the teachers are very nice and the food is awesome! The materials are extremely advanced and new, too, so it has been a great camp,” he said.

He also said he hoped the camp would help him learn the coding system, Python, which is a high-level, interpreted, general-purpose programming language — and easily one of the most popular.

“I like coding myself, but I’m no expert,” Velez Ruiz said. “This was a good place to start.”

Reanna Collins, a second-grade teacher at West Zephyrhills Elementary, assisted Kiss at the camp. Collin has been helping at the camp since 2018.

“I think it’s great for teaching critical thinking,” Collins said. “They learn how to work together and that it takes patience. It’s definitely a different type of camp than something outdoors or more traditional.”

The camp, held in a fourth-floor lab on the university’s campus, encourages campers to explore possibilities.

“They come in, excited and almost take over (the camp),” Kiss said. “They’ll ask, ‘Can I try this? Can I try that?’ Well, yes! That’s the whole point! Go! Try. Experiment. … There’s no instruction book that can teach them exactly what to do, and they learn through trial and error, which is just like any other robotics programming. It’s not a classroom where you’re graded, it’s much more hands-on and innovative and experimental, and it’s clear kids who attend a camp like this, that’s how they thrive and grow and learn.”

Published August 03, 2022

This kid is revved up and ready to go

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Just like that, the training wheels came off.

It took no time at all for Elijah Sumner to be riding a pint-sized dirt bike.

By himself.

Elijah Sumner, 10, of Zephyrhills, races around the track at Dade City Motocross during a recent practice session. Sumner won the 65CC championship in 2021. (Mike Camunas)

That led to racing around the track at Dade City Motocross.

And, eventually, that led to winning the 65CC Championship for 7- to 9-year-olds in 2021.

“I couldn’t believe it (that I had won) because we had been working toward it ever since I was 6 or 7 (years old), and then I finally won it and all the emotions broke loose,” the 10-year-old said. “I was just so happy. It was a lot of work.”

The work paid off for the soon-to-be fifth-grader at Chester Taylor Elementary. The championship earned him a 4 ½-foot trophy, a $500 helmet, various other prizes, and a poster of him on the track, riding in his championship run.

Elijah Sumner catches some air, at Dade City Motocross.

“I like to compete with my friends, just trying to win, plus just being on the track,” Sumner added. “I remember being out here when I was little (at age 4) and it was fun, and it’s where I learned the competitiveness.”

Competitiveness comes with the territory in motocross. So does the drive. Because as Andy Sumner, Elijah’s dad, remembers it, he couldn’t hold back his son from motocross racing.

“Back in 2015, when he was still somewhat of a baby, one of my good friends, his son, was racing,” Andy said. “So, I’d just put him on a little dirt bike, and I’d get on and ride it with him. Then I bought a dirt bike and put training wheels on it, and at about 4 ½, he was riding by himself.

Elijah Sumner preps with his dad, Andy, before making rounds on the track at Dade City Motocross.

“It’s all about the love of racing, with me and my son,” Andy added. “Just that father-and-son bond, just having fun out here racing. He’s got his friends out here, too, ones he’s been riding with for years and growing up together at this track since he was 4 or 5 years old.

Elijah Sumner

“Motocross is a moto-family all the way.”

Elijah’s performance has earned him a handful of sponsorships, because, as Andy puts it, “They say you got to spend $2 million to make a million in this sport.”

Local businesses — such as Dad’s Powder Coating in Zephyrhills, Sunrise Eatery in Zephyrhills, Bullfrog Performances in Zephyrhills and Southern Savage Photography — are taking notice of the young dirt biker and supporting him in his fun endeavor.

“He loves it and has fun with it — that’s the biggest thing,” Andy said. “We’re lucky to have those sponsors and he’s earned it. He cried when he won the championship — was just full of emotion getting his biggest win to date.”

So Elijah is now onto the next challenge, or class, that is. He moves up to the 85CC class, which runs for ages 10 to 15, and features a larger bike and bigger motor.

Elijah knows it’ll be hard work, but hopes another championship will come in no time at all.

“That’s the goal,” said a sweaty, out-of-breath Elijah, as he pulled off his helmet after practice laps at Dade City Motocross. “I’m going to try to win my age group on the 85(CC) now. It’s time for a bigger bike and a harder class — and more of a challenge.”

Dade City Motocross
Where: 36722 State Road 52, Dade City
When: Practices are Thursdays and Saturdays, with races held Saturday nights.
Info: Visit DadeCityMx.com, call 813-781-9569, or email .

Published August 03, 2022

Lutz baseball teams advances to World Series

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(Courtesy of Tim Daley)

Lutz Baseball 18U Hellcats won the Babe Ruth League Southeastern Region tournament, going a perfect 5-0 in play, to advance to the World Series. The Hellcats won the regional championship on July 24 in Williamsburg, Virginia. The team secured a bid to the Babe Ruth League World Series to be played Aug. 4 through Aug. 14 in Ephrata, Washington. The team consists of Justin Deak, Miller Grade, J.J. Bareto, Nate Green, Owen Buggy, Ethan Humphries, Tyler Daley, Ben Geraghty, Jaden Shearer, Jimmy Curtis, Logan Dombroski, Tyler Katz, coach Russ Humphries and manager Tim Daley.

Local softball standout spends off time coaching youth players

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Former Land O’ Lakes softball standout, Callie Turner, worked with Lutz Softball All-Star players, including 10-year-old Addy Torres, left, and 9-year-old Teagan. (Courtesy of Amanda Torres)

Callie Turner, a former Land O’ Lakes High softball player and current pitcher for the University of Arkansas, recently spent time with Lutz Softball players, coaching them in drills and spending time mentoring young players.

Turner worked with the Lutz Softball 8U All-Star Team, which won the district and advanced to the state tournament where the team placed sixth. On July 12, Turner spent time with the players at Oscar Cooler Park in Lutz.

Turner, who graduated from Land O’ Lakes High in 2019, batted .459 with 19 RBI and four homers as a senior in becoming the Class 6A Player and Pitcher of the Year. She just transferred from Tennessee, where she was 18-10 with a 2.50 ERA with 103 strikeouts for the Vols.

Baseball team honored

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The Academy at the Lakes baseball team was one of nearly 700 college and high school programs that received the 2021-2022 American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) Academic Excellence award. The awards are bestowed to teams coached by ABCA members that post a GPA of 3.0 or above for the current academic year. The Wildcats, who went 10-15 this past spring, maintained a 3.7 GPA in the past school year.

Answering the call, on the same line

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Some fathers and sons play catch together — this pair caught a call.

It happened on July 11.

Pasco County Fire Rescue Station 26, located at the front of the Meadow Pointe subdivision, responded to a structure fire in the Wesley Chapel area.

Tampa Fire Rescue Station 23, just across Bruce B. Downs Boulevard in Hillsborough County, arrived to provide mutual aid.

Tampa Fire Rescue veteran Daniel Herrero, left, and his son, Pasco County Fire Rescue’s Dalton Herrero, battled a blaze together on July 11, even working on the same hose for the first time professionally as firefighters. (Courtesy of Dalton Herrero)

Pasco firefighter Dalton Herrero, from Station 26, responded to what could be described as a straight-forward fire call.

But it also came with a surprise.

It turns out that longtime Tampa Fire Rescue Capt. Daniel Herrero, who happens to be Dalton’s father, was among those dispatched to help out.

They fought the fire together, even working the same hose that doused the flames.

“We don’t call mutual aid very often, so it was a little luck of the draw,” said Dalton, who has been a firefighter for two years.

“Obviously, we’re not in the same department, but departments won’t do that: put family members — fathers and sons, brothers, even cousins — on the same battalion just in case, especially on a structure fire where something bad could happen.

“But, luckily, nothing did and it turned out to be a really awesome moment for both of us.”

Captain Herrero has been a firefighter for 38 years.

Even when his son became a firefighter, working with him was something that didn’t cross his mind because of the department policy. In fact, Daniel wasn’t sure Dalton would become a firefighter until after returning from college in Tallahassee.

“I never pushed him, but he did (become a firefighter) and I’ve always been there for him, so it’s such an honor,” Daniel said.

Dalton Herrero, left, and his father, Daniel, work a hose to put out a fire in Wesley Chapel on July 11.

“He’s a good, smart kid, and I think he’ll do a good job with it, and if he puts his mind to it, he’ll be great.”

Dalton said he absolutely became a firefighter because of his father, and because of the traditional schedule — 24 hours on, 48 hours off — that firefighters work.

“I love that 24/48 schedule — now and growing up with my dad as a firefighter. Sure, he’d be gone a day, but then he was there most of the time because of the schedule and (we) got to spend a lot of time together.

“That was always great as a kid.”

And, it was great to work a fire together, too, he said.

“When we were both on the scene, and we finally realized we were both there, there was a lot of finger pointing and like, ‘Heyyyyyy,’” he said, with a laugh.

“And then it was pretty obvious they were setting it up to get us together on the line,” he said.

Daniel definitely saw it coming, too.

“With mutual aid, we usually just stand back and wait until (the other department) needs or requests help,” the elder Herrero said. “There were other guys there that had been there long enough, but then they said Dalton needed backup on the line, and I knew they meant me.

“I had been set up!”

Set up for a call that neither of the men, who live in Land O’ Lakes, will ever forget.

“Holding the hose and fighting the fire together,” Dalton said, “I’ll always cherish that awesome moment.”

“(It was) such a great moment,” Daniel agreed. “I couldn’t be more proud.”

Published July 27, 2022

Finding literary inspiration in history, family

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All J.C. Kato needed was for someone to ask the question.

And, as it turns out, that person was her daughter.

Kato, who goes by J.C., had ruminated on and tinkered with a manuscript for years, but eventually she tucked it away.

That story, which became the book, “Finding Moon Rabbit,” is a fictionalized account that traces the story of Kato’s husband’s family and their time incarcerated in Japanese internment camps during World War II.

J.C. Kato, left, and her daughter, Jennifer Kato, or JC2, worked together to write ‘Finding Moon Rabbit,’ a fictional account of a Japanese-American family held in an internment camp at Heart Mountain in Wyoming, and deeply inspired by the Kato family’s ancestors, specifically the family of J.C.’s husband, Denny, who is JC2’s father. (Mike Camunas)

This year marks the 80th anniversary incarceration of people of Japanese descent. More than 120,000 people were taken by bus or train to 15 assembly centers of temporary lodging and then, eventually, Relocation Camps.

It was a story she knew by heart and one she felt needed to be told, but J.C. could never get it right on paper.

“I’d been nurturing this manuscript for a while,” said J.C., who lives in Lutz. “It was kind of born out of my husband’s family; 13 members were incarcerated, but they never talked about it. Once I had kids, I wanted them to have some idea of what happened, and through the years, I’d take it out, work on it, put it back.

“Then, the instances of violence against Asian Americans kept happening more frequently. That’s when my daughter said, ‘Mom, where’s your manuscript?’”

Her daughter, Jennifer Kato, who became co-author on the book, was referring to the horrific surge in violence against people of any Asian descent.

The violence has stemmed from a belief by some that Asians were somehow to blame for COVID-19, which is documented to have originated in China.

Jennifer, who experienced some of that hostility through non-violent incidents, couldn’t help but see the parallels between the modern-day discrimination and the treatment of Asian Americans during WWII.

“These past several years, especially during COVID, was just this mass increase in hatred toward Asian Americans. It seemed very familiar to what we had heard happened years ago during World War II. It just blew my mind that what happened more than 70 years ago — we’re still talking about,” said Jennifer, who goes by the pen name, JC2.

“It was scary during COVID and seeing that happening to Asian Americans,” said JC2

The book is historical fiction, but it is deeply inspired by the Kato family’s ancestors, specifically J.C.’s husband and JC2’s father, Denny.

The story traces the life of a Japanese-American family held in an internment camp at Heart Mountain in Wyoming. It is told from the point of view of the family’s youngest daughter, Koko. Her story begins when she arrives at Heart Mountain, which according to the ‘Heart Mountain Sentinel,’ was Aug. 12, 1942.

“Since the first evacuee set foot in Wyoming’s newest and now third largest city back on the morning of Aug. 12, a great change has come over the community of Heart Mountain,” wrote the publication in January 1943.

As a Yonsei, or fourth-generation Japanese American, JC2 felt passionately about sharing this close-to-the-heart message.

“I feel Koko’s story is about renewing hope, and I think any kid, no matter their race, will connect to Koko,” she said.

J.C. is a Hakujin, or Japanese for a white person. For her, this is a story she not only married into, but also has experienced in her family — seeing the change in attitude all three of her Japanese-American children are facing.

Over time, not only did she learn more from Denny, but took the time to immerse herself in the rich Japanese history, including the dark times of World War II.

It’s why she and Denny made the pilgrimage to Heart Mountain: to understand what those terrible times in internment camps were like.

“I chose Heart Mountain because my husband’s family weren’t at that camp, to be respectful,” she said. “I didn’t want my family to think I was writing about them, and I’m not. It is a fictional story, but one that has everything someone like Koko would’ve faced, and that was important to tell that story.”

The book was released in late June.

The mother-daughter team debuted “Finding Moon Rabbit” at the Children’s Book Fair at Oxford Exchange in downtown Tampa on June 4, and sold every copy. Even though the book is geared toward the young adult audience, the authors feel anyone can relate to the main character and the story.

“One librarian said she would suggest it to kids, as young as third-graders,” J.C. said. “It’s about Girl Scouts, too, because (Koko) wants to be a Girl Scout, but she doesn’t follow the rules very well. Any kid, or reader who used to be a kid, can relate to that.”

“(The) favorite question of children is ‘Why?’” JC2 added, “and that’s what she (Koko) asks the whole book: ‘Why? Why do I have to follow these rules?’ That’s going to speak to a lot of people.”

The JCs said it was a passion project to finish the manuscript and publish the book.

“It was very important to me, in my mind, to refresh everyone on what happened to my family and what is happening again,” JC2 said. “It was a way to connect to them and to understand, even now in modern day, what they went through.”

J.C. agrees with her daughter, whom she credits for propelling the project forward.

“The book definitely would not have been published, let alone finished or taken back out, if Jennifer hadn’t come forward,” J.C. said. “When she contributed, it made all the difference. When we were editing and taking out passages, she would go, ‘Why?! Why did this happen?!’ Just like Koko. She brought along a lot of the angst that I don’t have because this story, the message, the telling of what happened and is happening, is closer to her heart.

“She brought Koko’s heart to the book.”

Finding Moon Rabbit
Tagline: A war. A camp. A girl. A letter.
Authors: J.C. Kato and JC2 (Jennifer Kato)
Cost: Hardcover $19.99; Paperback $14.99
Details: This fictional account is based on the story of one Japanese American family held in an internment camp at Heart Mountain in Wyoming, as told from the point of view of the family’s youngest daughter, Koko.
To purchase Finding Moon Rabbit, visit FindingMoonRabbit.com. The book also is available on Amazon.

Published July 27, 2022