Special to The Laker/Lutz News

 

 

By B.C. Manion

 

The Pasco County Commission expects to select a new county administrator by the end of May to replace the retiring John Gallagher.

The details haven’t been worked out completely, but commissioners indicated at their April 10 meeting they’d like to narrow the field of candidates to eight before selecting finalists to interview.

Bob Murray & Associates, of Tallahassee, is conducting the national search for Gallagher’s replacement.

When they sought proposals from search firms, the board made it clear it wants a robust effort to come up with candidates, not a rehashed list used in similar searches.

The board called for “a far-reaching recruitment that will capture a fresh list of the best candidates from throughout the country, including high performers in other jurisdictions that may not be actively seeking new employment.”

Commissioners have asked for backgrounds on the top eight candidates, which they will narrow down to finalists for interviews. They also plan to arrange a county tour and host a social so candidates can mingle with the public.

They have set tentative dates of May 14 to shortlist the candidates, May 23 and May 24 for interviews and a social and May 28 for naming a new administrator.

Gallagher, who had planned to retire in April, has agreed to stay on until June 1.

 

After two decades of service, the pastor takes his leave

 

By B.C. Manion

When the Rev. Gilbert Kuehn arrived at Holy Trinity Lutheran nearly 20 years ago, there was just a small church with 13 parking spots on a grassy plot on Leonard Road in Lutz.

The pastor, however, could picture the potential.

He knew the area was destined to grow and he sensed “the need that they had matched my gift package,” he said.

Coming to the area was not a difficult choice, Kuehn said.

“I lived in Buffalo for 13 years,” Kuehn said. “When they interviewed me, it was February. I had shoveled my driveway, and I had scraped off the ice from my windshield. … We got off the plane — my wife and I — and the sun was shining and there were palm trees. That’s obviously an attraction.”

Throughout his life as a minister, which began in the late 1960s, Kuehn has remained committed to “proclaiming a changeless Christ for a changing world.”

As popular culture changes, the church must make an effort to stay tuned into the people it serves, doing whatever required to reach them, Kuehn said.

For instance, when Kuehn was beginning his ministry he used skills he had developed during high school as a door-to-door Fuller Brush salesman.

The techniques he developed came in handy when he went door-to-door in massive subdivisions, inviting people to come to his church.

Churches today must develop a social media presence using technology to reach out to their flocks, Kuehn said.

It’s important, too, for a church to have a sense of direction that is obvious to the congregation, Kuehn said.

The Bible says that, “Without a vision, the people perish,” Kuehn said.

So, during his tenure, Holy Trinity Lutheran has always had a plan it was working to complete, he said. When it finished one five-year plan, it would begin working on the next.

Throughout the years, it created the Little Lambs Preschool, expanded the church building three times, added a classroom building, built an activities center and commercial kitchen, expanded its parking area and brought in a building for its youth program.

Little Lambs began with six children. Now, it serves more than 100 a week.

The activities center has provided a venue for community outreach, Kuehn said. When people go there for Central Pasco Chamber of Commerce gatherings to cast their ballot on Election Day or to attend an event, they become aware of the church, which is not in a high-traffic area.

The church has grown under Kuehn’s leadership.

When he arrived, the average Sunday attendance was about 80 people. At its peak, it was at about 240. Now, it’s around 210.

Some of the slip in attendance may be related to people moving out of the area during the housing market collapse, Kuehn said.

During the course of his ministry, the 70-year-old Kuehn said societal changes have had an impact on churches.

When he was growing up, for instance, the church often was at the center of people’s lives. Now, people’s energies are scattered. For many, church is just one item on a long list of demands.

People in the past also had a tendency to stick to the same denomination when they moved to a new locale. Not so anymore, Kuehn said.

“Churches, today, are much like grocery stores. People visit all of them, and they pick the one they like,” he said.

Kuehn said his decision to devote his life to the ministry was influenced by the Rev. Carl Knorr, who was his pastor and mentor while he was growing up in Milwaukee, Wis.

When Knorr suggested the possibility of life in the ministry, Kuehn said he gave it some thought and decided it “was a call of God, so to speak.”

Throughout his career, Kuehn said the most important aspects of his spiritual work have remained the same.

“Your ministry is to share the gospel, sharing the message of Jesus to people,” he said.

But the challenge goes beyond merely attracting people to church on Sundays, he said. It involves helping people to understand the urgency of using their gifts to serve the Lord in their daily lives.

Kuehn conducted his final worship service on April 14, which was followed by a retirement celebration at the church.

In an interview a few days before that event, Kuehn said it was time to turn the reins over to a new leader who will bring fresh ideas to the church.

The pastor said he’s ready to retire. He’s looking forward to spending more time with his wife Jean, their children and grandchildren. The Land O’ Lakes couple has been married for 45 years. Their son Andrew and his wife Mary Ellen live in Buffalo. Their daughter Jennifer Spohn and her husband David have two children and live in Raleigh, N.C.

Kuehn said he looks forward to seeing his children and grandchildren more often, but has no intention to move back north: “I buried my snow shovel, and there’s no resurrection.”

 

Steinbrenner senior drawn to very different pastimes

 

By Kyle LoJacono

 

Jessica Brewer is a paradox.

The senior spends at least 12 hours each week building her speed and perfecting her form in the long jump, triple jump and 4×100-meter relay, the events she competes in with the Steinbrenner track and field team.

“I love the track meets because I don’t have to think about what I look like, and it’s really just relaxed,” Brewer said. “I like being able to just not wear makeup and go run.”

The mindset is completely opposite from the way Brewer spends much of the rest of her time — modeling.

“I’m such a girly girl,” Brewer said. “I love my makeup, my clothes, my shoes, everything.”

She goes in for photo shoots for Bealls that appear in the company’s print advertising a few times each month, sometimes for an hour and sometimes for the entire day.

Brewer said she enjoys both track and modeling for what they offer on their own, but also because they are very different and require completely opposing mindsets.

“I like having the opposite feel of track and modeling,” Brewer said. “For track, you have to be very determined, and modeling is very fun and relaxed.

“For track, I do have to get myself mentally ready to compete,” Brewer continued. “Running and jumping, you have to think about all the little things that they tell you at practice and put them into your event. … Modeling, that’s like my safe haven where I can just relax and let loose. A lot of people are stressed out when they do it, but it’s just very relaxing to me.”

Brewer began modeling at age 5 after her mother Lynn had professional photos taken of her. She began working with Bealls when she turned 7.

“That was my first job,” Brewer said. “I was the size 10 model, and now I’m the junior model and getting into the misses.”

Brewer took to track much later.

Her first sport was gymnastics, which she picked up when she was 3 or 4 years old. She won vault and all-around Level 5 state championships at age 11.

Brewer continued with gymnastics for 11 years, but gave up the sport when she entered high school.

“I was going through some mental blocks on the balance beams,” Brewer said. “I was going through a big growth spurt, and I was having some problems on the uneven bars. I just thought I should try cheerleading because I still loved tumbling.”

The 5-foot-7 Brewer was on the first Warriors cheerleading team when the school opened in 2009 and helped the squad finish as the Class 2A medium division state runner-up in 2012 and place third in 2A larger division in February.

Brewer was also on the inaugural Steinbrenner track team.

“My mom (Lynn) was always a runner,” Brewer said. “She would run half marathons all the time, and I was never really into it. She just told me I should try it.”

Warriors track coach Ladd Baldwin said Brewer’s enthusiasm and ability helped the squad grow into one that has claimed district championships the last two years while finishing as a regional runner-up last season.

“Sometimes you have to work to get kids involved with track and give them a little bit of time to adapt and commit to it,” Baldwin said. “Jessica has committed to it since the beginning. She’s shown a lot of excitement. Even when she’s doing cheerleading she’ll come by and say like, ‘Two more weeks until track.’ She’s excited for the track, which makes it nice for me as a coach. … I feel there’s always this positive energy with her.”

Brewer tried several events, including the hurdles, 400, 800 and even the pole vault before finding her way to the jumps and 4×100 full-time as a junior. She said the long and triple felt very familiar from her days as a gymnast.

“The vault was my best event, and I think that’s why I’ve gone to the long and triple jump because of the runway,” Brewer said. “I just felt really comfortable on the runway, and I liked the actual jumping because it’s different from just running.”

Brewer won a district championship in the long jump last year and reached the 3A state meet.

A right Achilles tendon injury suffered in the Charles Johnson Invitational early this year has limited her jumping this year, but Brewer said she doesn’t plan on letting that stop her as the season’s final meets approach.

“It’s something that I’ve had to baby, and now I just have to get over it and give it my all because it’s my senior year,” Brewer said.

She plans to attend the University of Florida as a predental major. She has no immediate plans to compete with the Gators in track or cheerleading, but Brewer said she doesn’t want to give either of the two, or modeling, up while in college.

Brewer and the Warriors will compete at the Class 3A-District 8 meet at Gaither April 17, followed by regionals at Leto April 24 and states at the University of North Florida May 3.

—Follow Kyle LoJacono on Twitter: @Kyle_Laker