Special to The Laker/Lutz News

 

 

By Zack Peterson

The Laker/Lutz News Correspondent

 

At first, it was a low rumble, like the first shakes of an earthquake.

The tables vibrated. Chairs shook. About 60 people’s hands beat as one, rising and falling on their drums like waves breaking on the seashore during Chabad at Wiregrass’s Last Night of Hanukkah celebration at The Barking Lot off 30th Street in Lutz.

Only the blazing bonfire stood still, and only Jana Broder’s voice rang above its crackle.

“It’s time for wind,” Broder said. “Just rub your drum.”

And then, 60 people rubbed their drums while wind blew through the clearing.

“Good. Let’s make it drizzle,” Broder continued.

The group tapped their drums with their fingertips, and drizzle fell in the clearing.

“Get ready to hit your drums hard,” Broder bellowed. “That drizzle turns into a hard rain.”

The night was silent. The sky was clear. Stars hung wreathlike above the tall trees.

On Broder’s mark, the drum circle burst with the intensity of a detonation, each member rejoicing with some newfound fervor.

Broder, a longtime drummer who the Wesley Chapel-based congregation hired for the evening, swayed as she circled the fire. She smiled at everyone she made eye contact with. And when she howled, she lifted her head to the stars.

“I want to see people dancing!” Broder said.

One by one, children peeled themselves from their seats, moved their drums aside and ran around the fire, laughing, shouting and chasing each other.

The moment was set, and nothing could break it — not a catastrophe, not a miracle.

But eventually, the song came to a close, and Broder counted down the ending.

“Seven, six, five, four, three, two, one.”

Everyone stopped together, and all was quiet again.

Broder scanned the crowd.

“Doesn’t it feel good to hit something?” Broder said.

The circle laughed.

“Look, as we were drumming, all these stars came out,” Broder said while gazing up and marveled. There wasn’t a cloud on the skyline. Then she spoke again.

“Wow. This is one of those nights we won’t soon forget,” Broder said.

Performing a special Havdalah ceremony, lighting the eighth candle of the 13 menorahs that families brought and playing in the drum circle — which is a new addition for Chabad — created an unforgettable ambiance, said Rabbi Mendy Yarmush.

Yarmush, 29, said his favorite part of the occasion was lighting the menorahs.

“I really enjoyed the 13 menorahs,” Mendy said. “It provided a warm, wonderful atmosphere.”

On Dec. 15, the last night of Hanukkah, which is commonly referred to as the celebration of light, meant something different to everyone.

Noah Greene, a 36-year-old Chabad member, brought his daughter, Jaelyn Greene, 10, and her good friend, Joslynn Gonzalez, 10, to the festivities.

“I like that the community came out tonight,” Noah said.

But Noah said he especially enjoyed how the community became one during the drum circle.

“You close your eyes and do your thing,” Noah said. “Eventually, you’d be in tune with everyone else.”

Nissi Yarmush, the rabbi’s son, touched on what the night truly meant.

The 5-year-old laughed as he drummed and said he loved the bonfire the most. When the drumming ended, he stared into the burning mound’s underbelly at the ashes and flickering coals. Then he looked away and spoke excitedly.

“It’s lighting the whole world up!”

 

 

By B.C. Manion

 

As Pat Serio unwraps her Christmas decorations each year, she’s also unpacking memories of the people who have touched her life and the places she’s been.

The Lutz woman’s abiding affection for the season is on abundant display in the home she shares with her husband, Joe.

Her enthusiasm for the Christmas season began when she was quite young.

“I think I got it from my dad,” Serio said. “When we were kids, no one had artificial trees,” said the woman who grew up in Buffalo, N.Y.

She and her dad, Albert Bohn, would go out together to find the perfect tree.

“He would invariably choose a 15-foot tree for our 8-foot ceiling. We’d go through the whole process of my dad cutting the tree down to the proper height and my mom having fits about having sawdust in the house,” said the member of the Lutz-Land O’ Lakes Woman’s Club.

Once the tree was ready, she and her dad would make it sparkle.

“I would overdo with whatever I had,” Serio said.

Through the years, she amassed a huge collection of Christmas decorations to bring the season’s spirit to life in her home.

She picked them up during her travels, bought them locally, inherited them from relatives and received them as gifts from family and friends.

She has 30 Rubbermaid bins full of items, and decorations in other storage spaces, too.

“My husband thinks I’ve reached ‘hoarder’ status as far as Christmas goes,” Serio said with a laugh.

She does have decorations everywhere.

They’re on tabletops, windowsills, ledges, bookcases, counters, the refrigerator and the tree.

A visit to her home provides a distinct feeling of being in the presence of angels, which greet visitors from a ledge in her foyer, hang from a chandelier and on tables and countertops along with the tree.

They’re made of Italian marble, sculpted metal, crystal, porcelain, paper mache and other materials.

And, that’s just one of her collections.

She also has Santas, carolers, nutcrackers, gift-shaped cookie jars and Pinocchios.

She has roughly 20 Nativity scenes. Her favorite, which claims a place of honor on the dining room table, replicates the one on display at the Vatican in Rome.

“The figures are all dressed in Neapolitan costumes — very baroque and flamboyant as you can see. Look at all of the hand gestures,” Serio said. She collected the 18 figures over time, purchasing each one as it became available from the maker, Franklin Mint.

Another Nativity set of a much more humble design is also on display in the family’s conservatory at the other end of the house.

Arranging her massive collection is a gargantuan task, which takes more than two weeks to complete, Serio said.

“Each year my displays change. Things find themselves in different places,” Serio said said.

Expensive and delicate pieces share space with family heirlooms and handmade ornaments.

The tree is so loaded that Serio takes a break every couple of hours as she hangs her ornaments.

She finds herself pausing to reminisce about the people who gave them to her, or the places she picked them up.

Under the tree, there’s a Christmas stocking for Bailey, the family’s beloved beagle who died a few years back, but was a joy to them for 16 years.

Some of Serio’s ornaments are so fragile and valuable that she simply sets them out for show instead of hanging them on the tree. She doesn’t want to risk breakage.

She has expensive decorations, such Waterford crystal and Hummel figurines, but the ones that she treasures the most are the handmade ornaments from her daughter and grandchildren.

There’s a tin foil heart in a prominent spot on the tree this year. Her 12-year-old grandson, Jack Tucker, made that for Serio when he was in preschool.

There’s also a spray-painted wreath proudly displayed on the refrigerator door. Serio’s daughter, Lynn Tucker, made it for her mom, when she was a little girl.

Serio also treasures the decorations in her collection that came from her granddaughter, Paige; her husband, her son-in-law, John Tucker; and relatives and friends who have passed on.

Decorations around her home provide a glimpse into Serio’s international interests.

“I was an exchange student in Ecuador when I was young, and I was badly bitten by the travel bug,” Serio explained.

She and Joe have visited dozens of countries, beginning when they lived in Germany because Joe was stationed as an officer in the U.S.

That is where Serio began her angel collection, picking up a pair in Garmisch, Germany about 45 years ago. The angels came from the Black Forest, where the art of woodcarving is revered.

She’s also picked up souvenirs for her holiday display from Ecuador, Panama, Colombia, Germany, France, Switzerland, Austria, Netherlands, Lichtenstein, Monaco, Spain, England, Mexico, Hawaii, Russia, Sweden, Finland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Italy, the Czech Republic, Greece, Turkey, Cambodia, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, China and Japan.

Serio enjoys the search for additions for her collection: “I like to hunt out things in the antique shops.”

The items she picks up are smaller these days, partly because she lacks the room to display them and partly because of recent airline baggage weight limits.

Serio’s display is so massive, it is obvious it takes considerable time and energy to put it up.

“It’s exhausting,” Serio said, acknowledging she sometimes wonders why she makes the effort each year.

“But then I remind myself that I have these wonderful family memories,” Serio added. “This is what I hope that my grandkids remember about me, and about us.”

 

Campus on schedule to open in 2014

 

By B.C. Manion

 

Despite some weather delays, construction is on schedule for the Porter Campus at Wiregrass Ranch to open in time for classes in January 2014, according to Lucy Miller of Pasco-Hernando Community College (PHCC).

The $45.9 million project is beginning to take shape at Mansfield Boulevard next to Wiregrass Ranch High.

Campus plans include six buildings, with the tallest being a 122-foot-tall classroom. The six buildings have 141,528 square feet of space inside.

The campus will also include 633 parking spaces, with an additional 14 spots designated for motorcycles.

Miller said classes are expected to begin at the campus in spring 2014, barring unforeseen circumstances.

The college also plans to offer two bachelor degree programs at the Porter campus —Bachelor of Science in Nursing and Bachelor of Applied Science. The college expects to offer those programs by the fall of 2014, pending approval by the Florida Department of Education and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.

Students who are now taking lower division PHCC courses, and those working toward an Associate in Science or Associate in Arts degree, will be able to apply the credits toward the bachelor level programs.

The campus is situated in an area that’s expected to attract major new employers and substantial residential growth in coming years.

Campus construction is under way directly across the road from a site that Raymond James, an international financial services company, has under contract with the Porter family. The Porters donated the land for the new satellite campus.

The college anticipates opening the Porter Campus at Wiregrass Ranch with about 1,200 students, approximately the same enrollment as it had at its Spring Hill Campus when it opened in August 2010.

The college expects to have 30 to 35 employees at the new campus, which includes administrators, staff and full-time faculty members. The college also expects to employ additional part-time staff and adjunct professors.

Campus on schedule to open in 2014

 

By B.C. Manion

 

Despite some weather delays, construction is on schedule for the Porter Campus at Wiregrass Ranch to open in time for classes in January 2014, according to Lucy Miller of Pasco-Hernando Community College (PHCC).

The $45.9 million project is beginning to take shape at Mansfield Boulevard next to Wiregrass Ranch High.

Campus plans include six buildings, with the tallest being a 122-foot-tall classroom. The six buildings have 141,528 square feet of space inside.

The campus will also include 633 parking spaces, with an additional 14 spots designated for motorcycles.

Miller said classes are expected to begin at the campus in spring 2014, barring unforeseen circumstances.

The college also plans to offer two bachelor degree programs at the Porter campus —Bachelor of Science in Nursing and Bachelor of Applied Science. The college expects to offer those programs by the fall of 2014, pending approval by the Florida Department of Education and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.

Students who are now taking lower division PHCC courses, and those working toward an Associate in Science or Associate in Arts degree, will be able to apply the credits toward the bachelor level programs.

The campus is situated in an area that’s expected to attract major new employers and substantial residential growth in coming years.

Campus construction is under way directly across the road from a site that Raymond James, an international financial services company, has under contract with the Porter family. The Porters donated the land for the new satellite campus.

The college anticipates opening the Porter Campus at Wiregrass Ranch with about 1,200 students, approximately the same enrollment as it had at its Spring Hill Campus when it opened in August 2010.

The college expects to have 30 to 35 employees at the new campus, which includes administrators, staff and full-time faculty members. The college also expects to employ additional part-time staff and adjunct professors.

 

 

By Don Trello

The Laker/Lutz News Correspondent

 

There are winners and losers in and out of sports and Gaither High boys soccer coach Eric Sims is definitely the former on both fronts.

Sims, who is also executive director of the Tampa Bay United Youth Soccer Club (TBU), has compiled an impressive list of accomplishments on and off the soccer field, dating back to his days at Jesuit where he was a top student-athlete in soccer, football and baseball.

“I was a catcher/outfielder in baseball and wide receiver in football,” recalled Sims, who scored the winning touchdown for Jesuit in the 1995 state championship football game. “Scoring that touchdown has to be a major highlight as a player.

“The turning point for me in soccer was when I was a freshman at Jesuit and went to tryouts,” Sims continued. “There wasn’t a goalie, so I tried out and made the varsity as a starter.”

Sims, 35, accepted a scholarship offer from the University of Tampa (UT) in 1995 after graduating from Jesuit and became a four-year starter for the Spartans as a goalkeeper and as a baseball outfielder.

He was named to the All-Sunshine State Conference team two times each in soccer and baseball before graduating in 2000 from UT.

“I had a tryout with the old Tampa Bay Devil Rays, and could have played independent league baseball, but I decided to play minor A league soccer,” said Sims, who was named to UT’s Hall of Fame this year. “I was playing when I got a job offer from HC United Soccer Club, and I took it.”

University of Tampa men’s soccer coach Adrian Bush was instrumental in bringing Sims into the local youth soccer community at HC United.

“HC United was looking for an administrator, and I convinced Eric to apply for the job,” Bush said. “I knew he was the right guy. They hired him and he was hesitant to take it, but he gave it everything he had, and from then on everything just took off.”

Sims was named head coach at Gaither in 2001 after Bush left the position and recommended him for the job.

Sims also became executive director for TBU, which formed two years ago after HC United and RSL Florida in South Tampa merged. The club has about 2,000 players on teams at the recreational and competitive levels in all age groups.

“Eric’s work ethic is a big character trait and why he is so successful,” Bush said. “He’s open to learning and wants to give back. He’s very open to being the best he can be, and that’s a big part of why he is at where he is today.?… He is a helluva athlete and great ambassador of the game. We are very close in a lot of the things we do, and I have a lot of respect for him.”

Gaither’s record is 206-55-23 since Sims, 35, took over as coach. The Cowboys have won five district titles, made 10 playoff appearances and advanced to state final four three times under his direction.

“Winning tradition is part of the reason we’ve had success,” Sims said. “Excellence is expected and that breeds success. Kids have changed down through the years. You have to be a little more understanding and have rules.?… You have to find ways to make the kids want to compete every day. I hate the feeling of losing much more than the exhilaration of winning. You have to teach that to the kids.”

Sims feels one of his best motivational tools is a game called Dynasty played toward the end of each practice. A player draft happens and teams compete against each other with Sims and the assistant coaches participating on the field as players.

“It’s good to get out there and play with them,” said Sims. “I’m a player, not a coach, when I’m on the field. They can kick me if they are not getting enough playing time. It adds to the competitiveness of our team.”

Gaither senior forward Tyler Helm is representative of the positive feelings the Cowboys have for Sims and his coaching style.

“Coach Sims is the best around,” Helm said. “His vision on the field is professional. He sees our options. He treats us like fellow players. The best thing about Dynasty is it teaches us to be physical.”

Sims’ dedication to coaching soccer extends past the high school level.

He is an assistant men’s coach at UT and head coach of TBU’s U18 boys team.

“I have a very understanding wife; she played soccer in high school, and her father is a coach in New York,” said Sims, who has a 4-year-old son. “I’ve had really good assistant coaches. The amount of time they put in is all volunteer.”

 

 

By Andy Warrener

The Laker/Lutz News Correspondent

 

About 30 former Land O’ Lakes girls soccer players returned to the Central Pasco County pitch for Alumni Night Dec. 14.

It is the first time that Gators 26-year coach Vicky King has had Alumni Night. The only coach in program history said she also wanted to do something to remember winning a state championship 10 years ago.

“This program is like a big family,” King said. “It’s good for the kids on this year’s team to see those alumni; it’s good for the program.”

Junior midfielder Brooke Silvest said having the former players in attendance gave them more motivation to defeat Boca Raton Christian, which Land O’ Lakes (12-4-2) dispatched 5-0.

“We definitely wanted to impress them, show them we’re still good,” Silvest said.

The alumni were announced individually and brought out to the field. The current Gators lined up and slapped hi-fives with them during the halftime ceremony.

“This brings back great memories,” said Wendy Schramm, formerly Norton, when she played forward and graduated in 1994. “It’s a lot of fun.”

Class of 1993 midfielder Stacey Hudson, formerly Fisher, added, “I’ve enjoyed seeing everyone I haven’t seen in a while.”

Seeing the current squad brought back different memories for class of 1992 forward/midfielder Lisa Savage, formerly Lang, who teaches at Pine View Elementary and was a junior varsity coach for Land O’ Lakes for three years.

“All of these girls playing now, I’ve had them in school at some point,” Savage said.
Having so many current and former Gators together made it impossible for those on hand not to compare the past with the present.

“It’s nice to see all the girls, and that we’re all still looking good,” said class of 1993 midfielder Nicole Angel. “I think we’re the best looking class still.”

Class of 1993 midfielder Pamela Byrne was in attendance to celebrate. She was the first Land O’ Lakes girls soccer player to receive a college soccer scholarship and played for the University of Mobile before settling in Orlando.

As for the game, Silvest rose to the occasion by scoring twice on her own while dominating the middle of the field. The Blazers only crossed midfield with possession six times.

“(Silvest) is a dominant player on the field,” King said. “She can basically play anywhere on the field.”

–Editor Kyle LoJacono contributed to this report

 

 

By B.C. Manion

 

Catholics often come home for Christmas, and at St. Peter the Apostle Catholic Church that will take on special meaning this year as the parish moves into a home of its own.

If all goes according to plan, the parish will receive its certificate of occupancy in time to have its first masses during the weekend of Dec. 23, with a special blessing of the building by the Most Rev. Robert Lynch, bishop of the Diocese of St. Petersburg.

Then, on Dec. 24 and Dec. 25, the parish will have its first Christmas Eve and Christmas services at the recently completed Parish Life Center, 12747 Interlaken Drive in Trinity.

The parish, which was formed in January 2008, was carved out of the boundaries of St. Thomas Aquinas in New Port Richey and Our Lady of the Rosary in Land O’ Lakes.

It has grown from 200 families in the beginning to more than 500, and the Rev. Dennis Hughes, pastor of the church, expects that growth to continue.

More families are moving into the area, spurred in part by the opening of the Medical Center of Trinity, Hughes said.

The housing market is on the rebound, too, Hughes said.

“There’s something like 30 or 40 homes under construction in the subdivision right here,” Hughes said, indicating the subdivision next to the church.

The $2.3 million Parish Life Center is roughly 15,000 square feet, including a main hall, a chapel, offices and a kitchen.

The 8,000-square-foot main hall has ample space to seat 650 worshippers.

In addition to masses, Hughes expects the parish center to be used as a meeting place for various ministries of the church. It’s also likely that the center will offer some religious classes, including a potential afterschool program, he said.

Hughes doesn’t expect the church to add a school, especially because Odessa Elementary is just down the street.

Eventually, the parish plans to build a church on the same site, but that won’t happen until the parish center is paid off and membership has grown substantially.

The new parish center is the third place St. Peter the Apostle has conducted worship services at, Hughes said.

Initially, it met in a chapel at Trinity Memorial Gardens. Then, it moved to a storefront at Trinity Village shopping center between a Cold Stone Creamery and a Five Guys restaurant.

St. Peter the Apostle parish is one of four new parishes the Diocese of St. Petersburg was planning before the economic collapse.

The diocese was also looking to add parishes in Wesley Chapel, Spring Hill and Brandon, Hughes said. But the recession caused the diocese to put those plans on hold.

To be sure that Saint Peter the Apostle has been able to move into its new home in time for the Dec. 23, Dec. 24 and Dec. 25 services, call (727) 264-8968.

For more information about the parish, visit www.sptatrinity.org.

 

Blessing of the parish center

St. Peter the Apostle Parish Life Center will open for services beginning Dec. 23, with the Most Rev. Robert N. Lynch, bishop of the Diocese of St. Petersburg, blessing the center at the 11 a.m. mass. Other masses on Dec. 23 will be at 7:30 a.m. and 9 a.m.

 

Christmas services

Christmas Eve masses will be offered on Dec. 24 at 4 p.m., 5:30 p.m. and midnight.

Christmas masses will be on Dec. 25 at 9 a.m. and 11 a.m.

 

Company needed room to grow

 

By B.C. Manion

 

Brett and Brad Savage have had a fascination for technology since they began playing games on computers as young boys.

They remain engrossed by the cyber world, but they’ve taken their involvement to a whole new level.

The brothers are two of the four officers in DigitalBrainz, a family-owned business that has set up shop in Lutz. The other two officers in the company are their parents, Dale and Mary Kay.

The company has been a virtual operation since around 2005, but has since attracted more business than the family can handle on its own. So, the company is branching out and expects to hire three additional staff members in 2013.

As their business grows, they decided it was time to set up a location where they could meet with clients and work more closely with the staff they intend to hire, Brad said.

Each of the family members plays a vital role in the company, said Brad, who focuses on the business development aspect of DigitalBrainz.

Brett devotes most of his energy to the technical side of the business, keeping abreast of the latest developments, tools and software that may be useful for issues their customers encounter.

Dale devotes much of his time to handling out-of-town accounts, while Mary Kay provides the glue that holds the operation together, Brad said.

“We made the jump (to Lutz) in August,” Brad said, noting they chose the location at 17892 N. US 41 because the office offers ample space for current operations, plus room to grow.

Beyond the normal features of a professional workplace — such as offices, a conference room, a kitchen and restrooms — this one has a highly secure space where clients’ equipment can be safely kept overnight.

That’s important, especially because the company must be certain that their clients’ data is not vulnerable to theft, Brad said, noting many of their customers are in medical and legal fields where privacy is essential.

In general, security is a huge concern in the information technology business, Brad said. “We take it very seriously.”

When the company was founded, it initially did consulting in other places, Brad said.

“Nothing was really local,” Brad said. “Most of our contracts were out in Texas.”

But as Brad and his brother began starting families, they wanted to cut down on time spent on the road.

Initially, Brad said, the company followed a model that many information technology (IT) support companies use.

That model relies on clients calling when a problem arises, and the IT specialists come in and fix the problem, Brad said. He uses the analogy of waiting like firefighters for a call to come in, then rushing to resolve it.

If the company had continued to follow that model, it probably would have failed, Brad said.

Now, the bulk of its work is proactive in nature, Brad said.

DigitalBrainz offers a service for a flat rate, based on the number of devices the company is monitoring. They make repairs remotely, if necessary, but there’s an additional charge if they have to make the repair on-site.

The proactive approach aims to allow clients to operate their businesses without down time caused by technical difficulties, Brad said.

For instance, if a client has 25 computers and two servers, DigitalBrainz is monitoring all of those devices 24 hours a day.

“So, when there’s a hardware failure or a software failure or a virus, we’re actually monitoring for those and are notified,” Brad said. “The majority of the time we go in and fix issues, and the client doesn’t know it.”

In one case, a dental client’s system developed a problem on a Saturday, Brad said. His company’s monitoring system spotted the problem and DigitalBrainz fixed it during the weekend, thus helping the dentist avoid any down time in his practice.

While clients may not realize that DigitalBrainz has fixed problems, the data is recorded by the company when problems have occurred, Brad said

“The tools that we use to monitor the devices, it logs exactly everything that is going on with the server, for example. It gives us the heartbeat and the pulse of that device,” Brad said.

Another way companies will realize the services that DigitalBrainz provides is through their reduced need to call for IT services, Brad said.

A company with a staff of 25 is accustomed to calling for technical services on a weekly, if not daily, basis, Brad said.

“When we are taking over things proactively, they don’t have to call as much,” Brad said.

DigitalBrainz offers a broad array of services, including risk management, desktop support, server configuration, software and hardware management and computer networking.

The company’s marketing strategy is based on referrals, Brad said. It also provides a wide range of services, tailored specifically to the client’s needs.

For instance, a smaller client may simply want a server monitored, rather than the company’s entire infrastructure, Brad said.

DigitalBrainz primarily serves the Tampa Bay market, but it also is capable of helping customers in other locales, Brad said. Dale also travels to handle clients out-of-state, and the company aspires to continue branching out.

“We’re hoping to close this week on a contract in Chicago, where we are actually going to monitor a company that has 40 desktops and seven servers. We’re going to be their monitoring and management company,” Brad said.

So far, the family has managed to keep their home and work lives separate, Dale said.

“At work, we’re focused,” Dale said. “We have a lot to do, so we have to focus.”

They try to refrain from talking about work at family gatherings at their homes in Wesley Chapel, Dade City and Brooksville. Their spouses help them with that, Dale said, laughing.

For more information about DigitalBrainz, call (813) 406-0999 or visit digitalbrainz.com.