Special to The Laker/Lutz News

 

Rain puts a damper on other area festivities

By B.C. Manion

 

While other area events battled downpours, it didn’t rain on the parade at the Fourth of July celebration in Lutz.

The festivities, marking the 100th birthday of the community north of Tampa, were steeped in tradition.

People lined up along the parade route, with children and adults clamoring for beads, candy and other loot tossed to the crowd by those riding on floats or walking in the parade.

Lutz resident Barbara Hall got there early to stake out a spot near the community center.

She came with her daughter and son-in-law, Jamie and Kyle Alderman, and their children, Kate and Kyle II. The kids brought along some friends, Sydney and Cole Van Pelt.

The children planted themselves in chairs at the edge of the parade route.

“I wouldn’t miss it,” said Jamie Alderman, also of Lutz. “It’s a nice family atmosphere for the kids. We get the same spot every year.”

Before the parade began, 8-year-old Jake Gemmill was up on an antique tractor, pretending to drive the hulking machine.

The boy’s family, also of Lutz, come to the festivities each year, said Jake’s mom, Jen Gemmill. “It’s a nice community event. It just feels like it’s a great way to start the Fourth.”

This year’s parade featured 66 units, with a large number of military vehicles and antique fire trucks. Scout troops, churches and area businesses also made a strong showing.

It was one of those parades where people on the sidelines called out to family and friends who were riding on floats or walking down the route – and they answered back.

 

Quite often, people in the parade would break ranks to go give someone in the crowd a hug.

The parade had a little bit of everything.

Members of Vida Community Church sang “Happy Birthday” to Lutz, as their float made its way down the road.

Belly dancers shimmied and martial arts kids kicked or chopped to break boards, as they made their way down the route.

The GFWC Lutz-Land O’ Lakes Woman’s Club’s had a huge birthday cake on its float, to honor the community’s centennial.

Kids and adults riding on floats got a kick out of spraying high-powered squirt guns at the crowd. Spectators seemed to enjoy it, too.

When the parade wrapped up, the next order of business was to announce this year’s winner of the honorary Lutz Guv’na’s race.

Four candidates vied for the title.

Suzin Carr and Karin D’Amico were aiming to make history by becoming the first guv’na to ever win twice. They faced other contenders Susan Gulash and Lauren Leahey to win a race that is literally all about money. Whoever raises the most, wins.

The four women raised a total of $12,596, with Carr winning the race by raising $8,159.

“I got the sash back,” a jubilant Carr proclaimed. “This is an honor.”

She thanked her husband Jim, her son Chandler and the rest of her supporters, especially the business community.

“More than 90 businesses donated to my campaign,” Carr said.

After Carr was sworn in, organizers moved on to the annual cake and pie auction.

Bob Moore conducted the auction, seeking the highest bidders for 35 cakes and three pies.

Mark Carnes of Lutz entertained the crowd by getting into bidding wars on several of the desserts. He drove up the prices and wound up buying quite a few cakes.

“This man is going to have one heckuva sugar buzz,” Moore said, after Carnes came out on top of yet another bidding war.

The auction raised $850, with Tracy Gaschler’s five-pound apple pie fetching $85, the highest price of the day.

Phyllis Hoedt, chairwoman of Lutz’s Fourth of July festivities, was delighted by this year’s event. “I think it was a great day. I think everybody had a good time,” she said.

While spectators in Lutz escaped downpours, Mother Nature was not as kind to other area celebrations.

Rain was blowing sideways during a portion of the festivities at The Parks Ford of Wesley Chapel Freedom Festival at The Shops at Wiregrass on the evening of July 3.

Rain put a damper on many of the planned festivities at Sparklebration, a 4th of July Festival and Fireworks Celebration at the Pasco County Fairgrounds in Dade City.

“We fought rain all day long,” said Dicky Brown, vice president of the Pasco Fair Association, which stages Sparklebration. “We had two or three major, half-inch rains.”

Organizers had a tremendous entertainment lineup, but many acts couldn’t perform because the stages were outdoors, Brown said.

“It’s a one-day event, and you put your heart and soul into it,” Brown said. But he added: “What can you do? You can’t control Mother Nature.”

Despite the disappointing weather, some entertainment was staged indoors, the petting zoo was under a tent, various contests went on as scheduled and people displayed a good attitude, Brown said.

The 22-minute fireworks show, which began at 9:10 p.m. drew rave reviews from spectators, Brown said.  This year, the fireworks were set off electronically, which produced a better result.

“That’s the way to go,” Brown said.

There were intermittent downpours at Family Night on the 4th at Exciting Idlewild Baptist Church in Lutz.

About 35 singers from the church’s Worship Choir had prepared special patriotic selections for the event, but were unable to perform because the rain posed problems for their equipment, said Linda Devore, administrative assistant to Pastor Ron Upton.

On the plus side, the church’s Worship Orchestra and the event’s guest artist, Steve Amerson, did perform.

The event also featured dozens of food trucks, several giant inflatables for the kids and plenty of room for people to sit on the lawn or pitch tents, to listen to music and take in the fireworks show.

The wet weather didn’t seem to bother young children, who ran in the rain and splashed in puddles, Devore said. The kids also were able to use the inflatables for quite a while.

Some spectators came and left because of the rain.

“People with tents managed to tough it out,” Devore said.

Others arrived later, closer to the time the fireworks were set to go off.

“The fireworks finally did happen a little after 9,” Devore said.

“I think it was a success after all. The Lord just gives us a spirit of joy, no matter what,” Devore said.

Rain was blowing sideways during a portion of the festivities at The Parks Ford of Wesley Chapel Freedom Festival at The Shops at Wiregrass on the evening of July 3.

Despite the rain, people appeared to be determined to have a good time.

Children chowed down during the watermelon-eating contest and youngsters came dolled up in red, white and blue attire for the Little Miss and Mr. Firecracker contest.

Some kids in the pageant showed composure beyond their years while others held tight to their mommies.

The Freedom Festival concluded with a fireworks display that had such a flurry of fireworks at one point that many people in the crowd thought the show was over, until a few seconds later when the true finale began.

Officials from The Shops At Wiregrass estimated about 10,000 people turned out for the four-hour Freedom Festival.

 

Float winners at the Lutz Fourth of July centennial celebration

East-West Animal Hospital: Antique vehicles

Bicycle Entry: Lutz Elementary

Commercial: Ierna’s

Family: Joe Bamford

Most comical: Janice Rosier

Most Patriotic: GFWC Lutz-Land O’ Lakes Woman’s Club

Neighborhood entry: Lutz Citizens Coalition

Walking unit: Suzin Carr

Judge’s choice: Vida Community Church

Grand Marshal’s Award: GFWC Lutz-Land O’ Lakes Woman’s Club

Youth Entry: Tierra Del Sol Community Girl Scouts

 

 

 

Cake-decorating contest winners

Adult winners:

–Best Decorated: Olivia Mead

–Most Patriotic: Katelyn Payne

–Best Tasting: Gloria Russell

–Men’s Only: Ron Gaschler

–Best Pie: Tracy Gaschler

–Judge’s Favorite: Wilma Lewis

Children winners

–Best Decorated: Sarah Robison

–Children’s Most Patriotic: Maddox Foreman

Judge’s Favorite: Sarah Robison

Guv’na’s favorite

–Olivia Mead

 

 

Wesley Chapel chamber seeks executive director

The Greater Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce is seeking a new executive director.

The chamber’s search committee is seeking a candidate that has these key characteristics: Demonstrated leadership, strategic vision, ability to implement plans, relationship building and management. Previous chamber of commerce experience is preferred.

Resumes can be submitted until July 12.

The search committee hopes to complete the process by Aug. 1.

Applicants should submit their resumes by .

 

 

East Pasco Networking Group meeting

The East Pasco Networking Group has announced this slate of upcoming speakers:

–July 23: Hope Allen, marketing director and interim executive director of the Greater Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce

–Aug. 13: Jennifer Samuel-Choice, professional storyteller, speaker coach

–Aug. 27: Brian Corley, supervisor of elections in Pasco County

–Sept. 10: Randy Stovall, provost dean of the East Campus of Pasco-Hernando Community College

–Sept. 24: Faith Knight, chief operations officer of Apollo Group

–Oct. 8: Danny Burgess, mayor Zephyrhills

The East Pasco Networking Group meets at the Village Inn Pancake House, 5214 Gall Blvd. Networking starts at 8 a.m. and the meeting starts at 8:30 a.m..

 

Zephyrhills Chamber events

The Greater Zephyrhills Chamber of Commerce will have its quarterly member connections meetings from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. on July 10, at 38550 Fifth Ave., in Zephyrhills. The guest speakers will be ana Segovia of the Pasco-Hernando Workforce Board. Ballots for the board of directors election are due by 4 p.m. the same day.

The chamber is also recruiting committee for the fourth annual Pigz in Z’Hills BBQ & Blues planning committee, the 2013 banquet committee and the Ambassadors committee.

Email Pat: or Vonnie:

 

Pasco Economic Development Council wins marketing award

The Florida Economic Development Council has presented a 2013 Marketing Award for Interactive E-Media to the Pasco Economic Development Council, Inc.

The award recognizes the Pasco EDC’s initiative to create a “web-based TV channel.”

This is the third award captured by the Pasco EDC’s marketing program during the past 18 months and the fifth state or national award received during the past three years.

Pasco EDC Marketing Coordinator Summer Martin and her co-host Krista Hakes, Pasco EDC Economic Development Manager, worked with Robert Singerman of Turbo Communications to launch PascoCounty.tv during the Republican National Convention (RNC). The “webTV crew” recruited people from around Pasco County and the region to be “on-the-street” reporters to tell positive stories of Pasco County and Tampa Bay related to economic development.

 

 

Visit Tampa Bay Convention Sales Update

Visit Tampa Bay ended the third quarter of its fiscal year with eight major meetings and conventions booked, securing more than 61,000 room nights and $28.5 billion in economic impact, according to a news release from Visit Tampa Bay.

The meetings and convention bookings include:

–IBM Smarter Commerce Summit, a three-day event that will be held at the Tampa Convention Center in May 2014 bringing nearly 3,500 attendees from diverse business backgrounds.

–Siemens Medical Solutions’ Innovations 2014 for Healthcare IT Conference in August 2014.

–Jehovah’s Witnesses Watchtower Weekends bringing nearly 5,000 visitors on five weekends throughout June and July 2014.

–National Baptist Convention USA, Inc.’s National Baptist Congress of Christian Education, a week-long congress for June 2016 with more than 25,000 attendees.

–The 2017 Annual Meeting for the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education, a national alliance of educator preparation programs representing 800 public and private colleges and universities nationwide.

–International Association for Food Protection’s Annual Meeting for July 2017, an organization of 3,600 food safety professionals.

–Electrical Apparatus Service Association’s Annual Conference for June 2017, an international trade organization of more than 1,900 electromechanical sales and service firms.

–BICSI’s 2017 Winter Conference & Exhibition, a Tampa-based international association supporting the information technology systems industry, for January 2017.

Besides those bookings, the Visit Tampa Bay convention sales team booked an additional 124 meetings during the third quarter representing more than 52,000 room nights.

 

Christmas in July in Dade City

A number of shops and restaurants will be participating in a Christmas in July celebration on July 13 in Dade City. The day will feature a number of special activities, sales and chance drawings.

Activities will include such things as a Santa cake decorating demonstration, a pet photographer, special treats at various shops, making and decorating holiday wreaths and various specials at local shops.

 

Recent East Pasco ribbon cuttings

A number of ribbon cuttings have been held at businesses in Dade City recently. They include ceremonies at:

–Treasured Friends, 12329 US 301, Dade City

–Rafael’s Furniture and New Mattresses, 7813 Gall Boulevard, Zephyrhills

–Imagine Solutions Group, 14726 Bellamy Brothers Blvd.,  Dade City

–Wilson’s Tractor & Supply Company, 12410 US 301 Dade City

 

Website offers information on health coverage

A new national website aims to give small business owners help in navigating the healthcare market, as the Affordable Care Act takes full effect on Jan. 1.

In October, open enrollment begins for state health insurance marketplaces. The bulk of the law’s provisions, including the individual healthcare mandate, take effect in January.

To see if the website provides useful information, visit www.healthcoverageguide.org.

 

Dade City chamber breakfast

The Greater Dade City Chamber of Commerce is having a chamber breakfast at 7 a.m. on July 16 at the Pasco Regional Medical Center, 13100 Fort King Road in Dade City.

The guest speaker will be Shauna McKinnon, chief executive officer of Pasco Regional Medical Center.

The cost for breakfast is $5. Call the chamber to rsvp: (352) 567-2769.

 

Dade City chamber mixer

The Greater Dade City Chamber of Commerce is having a mixer from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. on July 25 at Wilson’s Tractor & Supply, 12410 US 301. Please rsvp to the chamber at (352) 567-3769.

 

 

By B.C. Manion

 

Mike Olson, Pasco County’s tax collector since 1981, died on June 26, three days after suffering a massive stroke.

Gov. Rick Scott will name a successor to fill Olson’s post until 2014 when voters choose a successor to complete his unexpired term. They will vote again in 2016 to fill the seat for a four-year term.

John Tupps of Scott’s press office said last week that a timetable had not been set for naming Olson’s successor.

 

Olson served as the county’s tax collector since 1981 — holding the office longer than any other tax collector in Florida. He was also the sole Democrat to hold a county office in Pasco, and he assumed that office after a six-year stint on the Pasco County Commission.

Attorney Clyde Hobby, a longtime friend of Olson, described him as a meticulous man who cared deeply about public service.

During Olson’s tenure on the county commission, the county introduced zoning laws and began providing water, sewer, fire and rescue services, Hobby said.

As tax collector, Olson was ahead of the curve in adopting efficient standards for his office, Hobby added.

“He implemented computer services before most tax collectors in the state knew what a computer was,” Hobby said.

He began selling driver’s licenses long before the state began requiring tax collectors to do so, Hobby said. And, in the days before he died, he told Hobby that Supervisor of Elections Brian Corley had informed him that 65 percent of the new voters in Pasco County came through the tax collector’s office.

Olson took customer service seriously and routinely read all of the hundreds of comment cards that came into his office. On more than one occasion, he disciplined employees based on information he developed after first learning about an incident through a comment card, Hobby said.

Shortly before his death, Olson was actively seeking new locations in Central Pasco and East Pasco to improve services for customers.

Pasco County Commissioner Pat Mulieri said, via email, that she knew Olson since about 1990.

“He was all about tending to residents’ needs,” Mulieri said, noting she or her assistant called him frequently, and he was always helpful.

One of the biggest issues came up when identification requirements changed for driver’s licenses, Mulieri said. She recalled an instance when a 92-year-old veteran had a problem because his first name didn’t match on his documents. One call to Olson resolved the problem, the county commissioner said.

Olson came from a family with deep roots in service to others, Hobby said. His grandfather was a school board member and his late mother, Mitttye P. Locke, was a longtime principal who has an elementary school named for her in New Port Richey.

 

By Marie Abramov

Laker correspondent

 

Cassidy McDaniel’s pale blue-green eyes lit up merrily when she first found out she would embark on an adventure of poise, elegance, natural beauty and talent.

Loving the spotlight, performing and being in front of the camera, the bubbly 9-year-old from Lutz has become a finalist in the National American Miss Florida Pageant in Orlando later this month. This is McDaniel’s first pageant, and she couldn’t wait to start all the preparations, including her talent portion.

To Esther Dean’s “Let it Grow,” McDaniel began her two-minute dance routine, a combination of ballet and jazz. She moves fluidly from a cartwheel, to a number of different standing and sitting turns, to a few pointed kicks and splits to show her grace and flexibility. The up-tempo song sets a fast pace for the rather complex routine McDaniel’s dance instructor, Kathleen Dunas, choreographed for her.

McDaniel has been one of Dunas’ pupils at Contempo School of Dance in Lutz.

“She’s a hard worker,” Dunas said. “At the beginning of the year, she got added into my jazz class and her flexibility – she really needed to work on. I can tell throughout the year that she would go home and practice on what I would tell her every single week – I’d tell her to point her foot or put her head down. I can tell she has a very good work ethic.”

Unlike dance and a host of other interests like acting and soccer, McDaniel got involved with the National American Miss serendipitously.

Cassidy’s father, Richard McDaniel, said she never would’ve thought to compete if an anonymous source didn’t recommend her to the pageant organization. A subsequent call from pageant officials led to McDaniel’s participation.

“Someone submitted my name, and I was just like ‘I want to do it,’ ” McDaniel said. “My mom was like ‘Are you sure?’ and I was like ‘I want to do it.’ ”

McDaniel’s eager spirit convinced her parents to bring her to pageant open call auditions. Out of about 200 kids in the junior preteen seven to nine age group, McDaniel was one of three or four who were chosen as finalists to compete in the Orlando state pageant.

“She had four interviews,” her father said. “They can’t wear makeup. She just went down there and dressed casually.”

The judges asked Cassidy questions about the color of her room, favorite animals, her hobbies and interests and her hopes for the future.

Now as a state finalist, McDaniel is actively practicing her ballet and jazz routine for the talent competition and taking special classes to learn how to enunciate and walk with confidant elegance.

The pageant is divided into four distinct categories. The first is formalwear, where McDaniel will don her deep pink multi-layered gown and strut across a grand stage escorted by her father.

Cassidy will then make a personal introduction in front of the judging panel and a live audience, speaking clearly and loudly into a microphone about where she lives, her penchant for stuffed panda bears, her love of dance and her aspiration to become a jazz dance instructor one day. After that, she will showcase her personality and conversational skills by answering interview questions posed by the judges.

Each of these categories is worth 30 percent, and the last 10 percent of the overall score is attributed to community service. Cassidy is also active in her local church, where she participates in car washes to help raise money for the poor, acts in plays and goes to a special Sunday mass with other children and attends Sunday school.

If Cassidy wins the state pageant in Orlando for her age group, she will advance to nationals in August in San Diego. The state prize includes $1,000 in cash, a trip to Disneyland for two and a modeling scholarship. The national prize awards $5,000 in cash, extensive travel and major event opportunities as National American Miss for the year, a digital camera and a meeting with a Hollywood acting coach.

Apart from her stage interests, she loves to play soccer and is part of a couple of local teams in Lutz where she plays mostly defense. She usually has one practice and one game per week.

Her favorite color is purple, which is also the color of the curtains and walls in her room. She has a massive collection of stuffed panda bears, elephants, frogs and dogs on her bed and another large set of dolls on the other side of her room. Posters of Justin Bieber, Nickelodeon’s Big Time Rush and photographs of Cassidy in various dance poses adorn her walls.

 

 

By B.C. Manion

The idea of extending SR 56 to create a new connection between Zephyrhills and Wesley Chapel may become a reality sooner than once thought possible, if a deal between the state and property owners along the proposed extension can be worked out, said Will Weatherford, speaker of the Florida House of Representatives.

“There are some developers who want to build out (SR) 56 all of the way to (US) 301,” Weatherford said, during a public forum at Zephyrhills City Hall.

“It’s a really big deal. It creates a totally new corridor to the city (of Zephyrhills),” Weatherford said.

“The developers would pay for the construction of the road and the state would pay the developers back,” Weatherford said.

“I don’t want you leaving here thinking it’s a done deal,” Weatherford told city officials, business leaders and residents. But if the state roads department, the city and the developers can work together, that could propel the project forward, Weatherford said.

“From an economic development standpoint, it’s a big deal,” added Weatherford, a Republican from Wesley Chapel.

“(SR) 56 is huge,” agreed Danny Burgess, the mayor of Zephyrhills. “This is a chance to revitalize Zephyrhills.”

Vonnie Mikkelsen, executive director of the Greater Zephyrhills Chamber of Commerce, said she is cautiously optimistic about the potential for extending SR 56 within the near future.

“Obviously, they were careful to say that it’s not a done deal,” Mikkelsen said.

Weatherford was at the forum, along with Paul J. Steinman, secretary of district seven for the Florida Department of Transportation. Steinman gave the crowd an update on a variety of area road projects.

Besides giving the update, Steinman told city leaders: “I’m all about partnerships.”

As the city and state work together on projects, it is critical that the city let the state know what it is trying to accomplish, so state planners can take that into consideration when designing projects.

For instance, if the city wants decorative street pavers on a portion of a state project, the city needs to let the state know. State planners can incorporate those desires into the plan and the city can cover the additional costs, he said.

But those agreements need to be worked out early, Steinman said. But it’s too late to change the plans, when the backhoe shows up at the project site, he said.

City officials also discussed two other issues at the forum.

City Airport Manager Mike Handrahan talked about the need to widen Runway 422, the airport’s main runway. The city wants to widen it from a current width of 75 feet to a new width of 100 feet.

He said the city needs the wider runway to be competitive with other airports that already have 100-foot-wide runways. He also noted that companies insuring private jets often require the 100-foot-wide runways for planes carrying CEOs.

The city is involved in airport improvement projects because it wants it to be ready to handle more traffic, as other general aviation airports that are closer to Tampa become more congested.

Handrahan said the city is about $450,000 short of the money it needs.

Weatherford made it clear that he’s in the city’s corner on the issue.

The speaker of the House noted that state transportation department has a large budget and should be able to find some additional funding for the city’s airport.

“You’re just talking about a measly $400,000,” Weatherford said.

Handrahan said the city is willing to delay other necessary projects, if funding can be found for this one.

Within the next 10 years or so, Handrahan has estimated that the airport’s traffic will increase from its current rate of about 50,000 landings and takeoffs a year now up to a volume ranging from 80,000 to 100,000.

The airport was designated by the Federal Aviation Authority as one of 467 airports in the country which has a regional impact, Handrahan said.

“Our airport would be a huge asset for corporate jets,” Burgess said. It may prove particularly useful to corporate jets carrying executives enroute to Raymond James, when the financial services giant opens its campus in Wesley Chapel.

On another issue, City Manager Jim Drumm told the audience about the plan to build a water pipeline stretching about four miles, between Zephyrhills and Dade City.

“It’s been a dream for a number of years,” Drumm said.

The new line will provide an emergency backup, if either city loses its water supply.

It’s also a plus for the sake of economic development, Drumm said.

“The interconnect provides us with the ability to purchase water,” he said.

The $1.9 million project involves running 19,360 feet of 12-inch pipe, beneath the road between the two cities. Drumm anticipates the project to be completed in fiscal year 2014.

Burgess said all of the projects discussed during the session are important.

“The future of our community is going to be based on the infrastructure to support it,” Burgess said.

Vonnie Mikkelsen, executive director of the Greater Zephyrhills Chamber of Commerce, said she is cautiously optimistic about the potential for extending SR 56. “Obviously, they were careful to say that it’s not a done deal.”