Special to The Laker/Lutz News

By Kyle LoJacono

Gaither High hosted the Special Olympics games for Hillsborough County’s northern schools on Feb. 17, bringing out hundreds of athletes ready to show what they can do.

The event is known as Stampede Day, which had 20 schools participating this year. Events included the tennis and softball throws, races and the shot put to name a few.

One of the athletes competing for the first time at Gaither was Steinbrenner student Rebecca Plumb, who did the 100- and 200-meter dashes.

“We practiced a lot,” said Plumb, pointing to herself and Steinbrenner teacher and Special Olympics volunteer Floyd Graham. She then added, “I can go fast and do my hardest. That’s the best part.”

Warriors teammate Erin Visoky did the tennis-ball throw and 25-meter run.

“I love everything here,” Visoky said. “I love the tennis-ball throw, the runs, hanging out with my friends and seeing all the fans in the stands.”

Visoky has competed at the event for the last four years going back to when she attended Gaither. She enjoyed the opportunity to get back to her first high school.

“That’s great because I get to come back and see all my old friends and teachers,” Visoky said.

Alex Lange was representing Wharton High at the event, competing in the shot put.

“I’ve done (Stampede Day) four times and I really look forward to supporting my friends from my school,” Lange said. He then added, “I’ve only done the shot put one time before, and it’s actually really easy to learn. You have to put a lot of effort into it though.”

Two of the volunteers at the games were Gaither seniors Kayla and Katie Zambito.

The twin sisters have helped at the games the last four years. The Zambitos are co-president of the Cowboys’ Best Buddies club, which pairs special education students with volunteers. Kayla’s buddies with Luisa Valdez and Katie is paired with Rachel Guevarez.

“I really like being able to help them do a race if they want or support them in whatever they want to do,” Kayla said. She then added, “We both started volunteering with a special needs program that does baseball for kids. Then we started volunteering with Best Buddies and volunteering at Special Olympics.”

Katie added, “Being out here and seeing them run and jump and just have fun is really rewarding. It’s awesome to see big smiles on all of their faces.”

Hillsborough athletes next compete in the area games at the University of South Florida on March 10 for all spring events.

 

By Kyle LoJacono

Wesley Chapel High hosted the Pasco County East Special Olympics games for the third straight year on Feb. 16, bringing out hundreds of athletes ready to show what they can do.

“It’s one of the highlights of the year,” said Valerie Lundin, co-coordinator of the games. “Everyone from the athletes to the volunteers to the fans look forward to it.”

Special Olympics athletes from the Pasco schools east of the Suncoast Parkway get together to compete in events like soccer, tennis, bocce ball and track and field at the event.

The participating schools marched in a parade around the Wesley Chapel track as part of the opening ceremonies, followed by several athletes running portions of the loop with the Special Olympics torch.

One of the many volunteers at the games was Wesley Chapel High freshman Jade Torres, who was giving back at the event for the first time this year.

“It’s nice to see the athletes just get to enjoy the day and run and play just like everyone else,” Torres said. “It’s just so adorable to see them happy and working hard to win. Seeing them winning is the best part.”

Torres played on the Wesley Chapel girls soccer team this year. Her coach, Michelle Clark, teaches an exceptional student education (ESE) physical education class and suggested Torres volunteer.

“She told me it would be a lot of fun and it is,” Torres said. “Getting to do it here at our school makes it even better. I get to time them and give them high fives when they finish. You can see their accomplishments and hear their family and friends cheering them on.”

Hillsborough County also had Special Olympics for the northern schools at Gaither High on Feb. 17, known as Stampede Day.

One of the Wharton High athletes at the event was Alex Lange, who competed in shot put.

“I’ve done (Stampede Day) four times and I really look forward to supporting my friends from my school,” Lange said. He then added, “I’ve only done the shot put one time before, and it’s actually really easy to learn. You have to put a lot of effort into it though.”

Hillsborough athletes next compete in the area games at the University of South Florida on March 10 for all spring events.

Advancing Pasco athletes in track and field, soccer skills, bocce and tennis go to Pinellas County on March 10 for areas. The soccer area tournament is at the Land O’ Lakes Recreation Complex, 3032 Collier Parkway, on March 24.

Yep, with giant glow-in-the-dark balls

By B.C. Manion

Mike Beach had never heard of Softgolf until his mom took him and his girlfriend out to play a round at Plantation Palms Golf Club in Land O’ Lakes.

The game – sort of like miniature golf on steroids — involves hitting a lightweight, softball-sized golf ball around a nine-hole course.

Oh, and it’s played at night using fluorescent balls, with lighted flags at each oversized hole.

“The concept of glow-in-the-dark is neat,” said Beach, 25, of Wesley Chapel. “It’s so much fun.”

Kathleen Dumas, Beach’s girlfriend, had never played golf before she tried Softgolf. She had a blast. Terri Beach said she had such a good time on her first round with her husband and son that she decided to return with her son and his girlfriend. The Lutz woman plans to encourage others to try it.

“I’m going to be talking it up,” she said.

Mark Clare, who lives near the fairway, plays traditional golf but enjoys Softgolf, too.

“It’s easy, yet it is not as easy as it appears to be,” Clare said. “It’s a different kind of challenge.

“It doesn’t take talent, just the desire to get out and have a good time and try something new,” Clare said. “My wife was able to enjoy herself a great deal. The couple that we had with us can’t wait to have their children out here.”

The Softgolf course is open 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday at the club, 23253 Plantation Palms Blvd., weather permitting. The course closes in the event of rain or temperatures below 55 degrees.

The game is priced inexpensively to provide affordable family fun, said Ray Baldorossi Jr., CEO of Softgolf. It costs $8.50 for children 12 and under; $10.75 for adults; and $31.50 for a family of four.

The origin of the game dates back decades.

Baldorossi said he was fooling around in his backyard in the mid-1970s when he thwacked a 4-inch inflatable basketball with a golf club. His dad – Ray Baldorossi Sr. —  happened to be watching when his son sent the inflatable ball soaring.

It turns out, that in addition to his day job as an aeronautical engineer, the senior Baldorossi enjoyed tinkering. The day after he saw the inflatable ball go soaring, the inventor went to work to develop a new brand of golf.

He started experimenting with different kinds of balls and clubs, Baldorossi said. Five years later, his dad and his mother, Blanche, had five patents.

The game his dad invented used a giant golf ball and was played under the lights on a course in Delran, N.J. That business closed in the late 1980s, and Baldorossi’s father passed away four years later.

But Baldorossi didn’t want his father’s invention to die as well.

It turns out the younger Baldorossi likes to tinker, too, and he’s been refining the game.

He came up with the idea of glow-in-the-dark balls. He makes them by hand, using a machine to shape the balls out of foam. Then he drills dimples into them and gives them several coats of paint. He bathes the balls in a sunning booth to give them a special glow.

Baldorossi has found a new, more durable, lightweight material he plans to begin using soon. Then he will be able to make a ball in 5 minutes versus more than an hour.

The Softgolf enthusiast, who has wanted to revive the game for years, got his chance when he met Steve McDonald, one of the owners of Plantation Palms golf course.

“When Ray brought this to me, it was a natural fit for me. I just fell in love with it,” said McDonald, a member of the PGA. “He came out and showed me what his game was all about, and I was very intrigued by the passion, his idea, and really wanted to see a man live out his dream.

“We provided the facility for Ray to test it out,” McDonald said.

The game is good for the golf course, too, McDonald said.

“We can generate revenue while our golf course is sleeping,” McDonald said.

The game is geared for nearly anybody, Baldorossi said.

There are right- and left-handed clubs, of different colors and sizes. Players who have tried the game have been as young as 3 and as old as their 80s. He recommends children be at least 5 years old before hitting the course. It takes 45 minutes to an hour to complete nine holes.

Right now, Plantation Palms is the only place in the world to play Softgolf.

Of course, Baldorossi hopes that will change. He’s in talks with seven locations now, and he envisions franchises popping up all over the place. And, there’s already a greater Tampa championship tournament scheduled for March 11.

In Baldorossi’s eyes, Softgolf has the potential to be really, really big.

No matter what, Baldorossi said his greatest reward is to see family and friends out on the course, having a good time.

For more information, visit www.softgolf.net.

By B.C. Manion

The owners of an organic gardening shop in Odessa weren’t always into organic food.

They eased into the world of foods grown without chemicals.

They began by gradually changing their diet about eight years ago – stocking up on fresh fruits and veggies at farmer’s markets, said Melissa Kanaris.

As their interest intensified, Melissa and her husband, Pete, decided to help others grow their own food.

They opened GreenDreams, an organic gardening shop in Odessa, last year. Its primary market area includes Odessa, Wesley Chapel, Lutz, Land O’ Lakes and North Tampa, as well as communities in West Pasco and North Pinellas counties.

The organic gardening business is a division of Clean Cut Lawn & Landscape Inc., a landscaping company that Pete Kanaris has been operating for 12 years.0

Melissa Kanaris extols the virtues of homegrown foods on GreenDreams’ website.

“The flavor surpasses anything you’ve bought recently from the store,” she writes. “The vitamin and nutritional content is far superior. Every day that a vegetable is off the vine, it loses a significant portion of its nutritional value.”

She also writes about the intangible rewards of gardening.

“There is a sense of satisfaction watching this natural wonder that you’ve helped to create, grow. Every day you see changes in the garden: Plants grow, flowers bloom, fruit forms on the vine and vegetables seem to grow right before your eyes.”

She notes other benefits, as well.

“It is a wonderful learning experience for kids. It teaches them self-sufficiency, responsibility and work ethic. Donating surplus veggies to neighbors or your local food pantry helps them understand the importance of tithing and community.”

There’s an emotional component, too.

“It lifts your spirits. It is really hard to be in a melancholy mood while you are touching and smelling the gifts of Mother Earth,” observes Kanaris, whose family has been gardening for generations.

GreenDreams, at 14510 Black Lake Road, has a small retail room stocked with gardening books, heirloom seeds, organic fertilizer and a botanical-based pest control.

Out back, there’s a nursery, where assorted trees and plants are available for purchase and various gardening techniques are on display. There are plants growing in roof gutters, recycled milk crates and vertical garden towers.

The company also has a small classroom, where Eric Stewart, a GreenDreams employee, teaches classes three days a week. The classes are typically around $15, but there are also four free classes each month.

Stewart is a huge proponent of helping others to become more self-sufficient. He’s heavily involved in the organic gardening community and has a website, www.codegreencommunity.org, which features a wide range of information on gardening topics.

At GreenDreams, Stewart teaches an organic vegetable gardening class, offers instruction on pickling and canning foods and teaches Introduction to Permaculture. Permaculture  emphasizes using science, ecology and perennial plants to provide a sustainable source of food.

“It’s all about self-sufficiency. I think that’s definitely the basis of this business – teaching people how to take care of themselves,” Kanaris said.

“We work with edible perennials, a lot of things grow very well in Florida without a lot of care,” Kanaris said. “It isn’t just traditional garden plots and fruit trees.”

Both Stewart and Kanaris are enthusiastic about the maringa tree, which comes from northern India.

“They can get as tall as 40 feet,” Kanaris said. “These leaves are full of nutrition,” she said, while grasping a branch of the tree. “They have four times the vitamin C of oranges.”

Stewart calls it the anti-aging tree.

“It’s high in polyphenols, which are antioxidants,” Stewart said. “The more you eat, the younger you look and the more vibrant you feel.”

The company also sells blueberries and assorted trees, including olive, apple, nectarine, peach, macadamia nut and neem trees.

Vegetables are not grown at the Odessa site, but the company will get vegetable plants started for their customers.

“We make little soil blocks,” Kanaris said. “Then they can plant those in their gardens.” A tray of seedlings, with 50 plants goes for $40.

Beyond selling gardening supplies and providing classes, the company offers consultation services that include soil testing, sunlight and drainage assessments, pruning instructions, mulching and composting and advice on vegetable gardens, perennial vegetables, fruit and medicinal trees, edible bushes and vines, native and pollinator plants and the incorporation of livestock, such as chickens, ducks, rabbits or goats. They also can discuss such issues as drought tolerance and rain harvesting.

Consultations typically take a couple of hours and cost $130.

The company also offers installation of various kinds of gardening systems, including raised beds, vertical gardens, greenhouses and drip irrigation. The cost varies, based on the specific job.

“We’ve done a couple of jobs where the basic installation was two 4-by-4 raised beds and two stackable towers and you do that for $950. That’s with soil, without plants and with mulch around the base,” Kanaris said.

In their own yard, in New Port Richey, Kanaris and her husband replaced existing plant beds of variegated viburnum with heads of broccoli, heads of cabbage, turnips and lettuces.

“It doesn’t have to be in a traditional rectangular garden plot. We’ve even tucked it in along our fence lines,” Kanaris said.

Stewart thinks an increasing number of people are interested in growing their own food not only to be healthy, but to save money, too.

“We feel like it’s going to be more and more attractive,” Stewart said. “The cost of food has been skyrocketing.”

 

 

For more information about GreenDream’s services, classes and hours, call (727) 462-5326, email or visit www.greendreamsfl.com

 

Daily decisions must consider long-term impacts, J.D. Porter says

By B.C. Manion

 

 

As J.D. Porter drove his hulking white truck along the edges of Wiregrass Ranch, he spoke with the perspective of someone whose family has deep roots in Wesley Chapel and has the power to influence the community’s future.

The Porter family settled in Wesley Chapel long before growth arrived.

They bought land from the Rockefeller Land Trust for Wiregrass Ranch in 1941, using proceeds from the sale of the land now occupied by Zephyrhills Municipal Airport.

The Porters were forced to sell that Zephyrhills land at the beginning of World War II, to make way for an Army Air Force training station.

During a recent tour of the family’s property, the 32-year-old Porter reminisced about his family’s history on Wiregrass Ranch, talked about the area’s current development and shared the family’s vision for the future.

He recalled how his grandparents, James and Martha Porter, initially lived in an old moonshiner’s house they had carted from the woods to a site on SR 54. “For the first two years, they didn’t have electricity.”

Back in those days, about a half-dozen cars went down SR 54 every day, and his grandmother could tell who was coming by the sound the car, Porter said.

Porter recalled happy boyhood memories of fishing with his mom, taking his dogs out for runs and camping under the stars at night.

“We’d get up in the morning and there would be deer all throughout, underneath these oak trees,” he said. “Florida – for all of its development and all of the growth – was the wild, wild west longer than the wild, wild west was.”

A fair number of critters still make their home on the family’s ranch. A lone coyote was seen loping through an orange grove on a recent afternoon. And sightings of hogs, deer, turkey and other wild animals are common, Porter said.

The family’s deep connection with the land and community affects its decision-making, he said.

“To get the end result that I think everybody – not only Wesley Chapel or Pasco County, but I think the entire region – wants, there are certain things that you have to do, and there are certain choices you have to make,” Porter said.

Instead of trying to max out the sales price on every land transaction, the family takes the long view.

Over the years, the family has sold off sizable chunks of land, including the sites now occupied by Saddlebrook Resort, Meadow Pointe subdivision and The Shops at Wiregrass.

The Porters also owned the land where the 80-bed Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel, is now under construction on Bruce B. Downs Boulevard, north of SR 56.

“The house where I grew up was right where the hospital is now,” Porter said.

The family donated 60 acres for the Porter Campus at Wiregrass, a new satellite for Pasco-Hernando Community College, under construction on SR 56 and Mansfield Drive.

And just across the street from there, the Porters are under contract on a land deal with Raymond James, an international financial services company. If that deal goes through, it could ultimately bring thousands of jobs to Pasco County.

The Porters also owned the land now occupied by Wiregrass Ranch High and John Long Middle and has contracts with Pasco County Schools for four elementary school sites, if the district needs them.

When making its decisions, the family considers the big picture and long-term consequences, Porter said.

For instance, instead of donating a low-profile property for the community college, the family chose a spot in a prime location. They did that to provide easy access to the college and its staff for Wiregrass Ranch High and for office workers at future area companies, Porter said.

“You want to make sure that all of the parts work together. Unless somebody is there, is shepherding to make sure that all of this does, in fact, work together and interrelates – it’s not going to,” he said.

Although the Raymond James deal isn’t closed, Porter is confident that it will. He also expects other companies to be drawn to the area’s road network, its reliable utility grid, its ample housing supply and its proximity to Interstate 75.

One day, he envisions thousands of acres of the family’s cattle and citrus operations to be transformed into a new town center for Wesley Chapel, on land stretching between SR 56 and SR 54. He can easily picture that land occupied by scores of office buildings, boutiques, restaurants and government services.

The entire area will have internal roads so people can get around, from Raymond James to the mall and other places without having to go out on SR 56 or Bruce B. Downs Boulevard, Porter said.

While that vision may take years – or even decades – to be realized, the hospital is already building a road on its property that will connect to the mall, making it easy for people to get back and forth, Porter said. That’s precisely the kind of connectivity his family is promoting, he said.

Construction also is under way on about 60 acres of ponds and lakes on land just east of the hospital. Those lakes will be used to provide fishing, boating and scenic views for people using the hospital and mall, and there will be trails leading to the area from the Raymond James site, Porter said.

That recreational area is next to the proposed sports complex, the Fields at Wiregrass, which will feature multi-use football, soccer, lacrosse and field hockey fields.

The Porters are engaged in talks with the county regarding about $12 million that could be spent on the sports complex, which would seek to draw teams and visitors for tournaments. Over time, as revenues come in, Porter envisions expanding the development to include Major League Baseball regulation-sized fields.

The area’s overall development activity has attracted international attention, Porter said, noting he’s met with visitors from Palestine, Israel, Bosnia and Kosovo to talk with them about what Wiregrass Ranch is trying to create.

Porter said his family has deals in the works with companies that are interested in moving into the area, but he’s not at liberty to discuss them.

“I’ve got four nondisclosures signed. If we landed one of them, it would be a homerun,” Porter said.

 

By B.C. Manion

 

So far, only a few jobs have been posted for openings at the new Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel, under construction on Bruce B. Downs Boulevard, but the medical care facility is gearing up to begin posting more positions this month.

The hospital, part of the Florida Hospital Tampa Bay Division of the Adventist Health System, expects to begin posting jobs on its Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel website during February.

“Right now, we’re just getting our infrastructure set up,” said Joyce Nelson, assistant vice president of human resources and wellness for the hospital.

Hospital officials want to get an electronic application system in place to enable a smooth process for both the hospital and applicants, Nelson said.

“We want to make it easy,” Nelson said.

Hospital officials know there is a high volume of interest, Nelson said. In addition to posting openings online, the hospital also will be having job fairs. Those interested in employment opportunities can stay abreast of the latest news by checking www.fhwesleychapel.com

 

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While the hospital prepares to hire a work force, progress continues on the project’s construction.

The three-story hospital will open with 80 beds. It has been designed to accommodate up to six stories, with a total of about 300 beds, as the community grows and healthcare needs expand.

The hospital is designed with the patient in mind, hospital officials have said. Its front door, for instance, is less than 50 feet away from an MRI scanner.

It also is designed so that future expansion will never be needed in front of the building, keeping the front entrance from being pushed to the middle of the campus, a problem hospitals sometimes encounter when they expand.

The idea is to keep things as simple as possible for people who are healing and those visiting them, hospital officials have said.

 

 

Keegan Tanner’s big impact on Wesley Chapel sports

By Kyle LoJacono

The best high school athletes spend years developing leadership skills needed to guide one team on and off the field. Wesley Chapel High’s Keegan Tanner does it for two.

The 5-foot-11, 160-pound Tanner has been a major factor, both with his play and leadership, on the Wildcats’ football and baseball teams the last four years. The big difference between the baseball diamond and the football gridiron is what draws the senior to both.

“I’ve done both since I can remember, and I like them both a lot,” Tanner said. He then added, “Football has the intensity of hitting and scoring touchdowns in front of all the fans on Friday nights. With baseball it’s more relaxing. They’re both different, so I like having two sports that are so different.”

The mentality is different, but Tanner said what it takes to guide a team doesn’t change regardless of the sport or season.

“Basically being a leader takes the same kind of things no matter what the sport is, or even outside of sports,” Tanner said. “Make sure everyone is focused and make sure you’re doing the right things too. With football it’s a little harder because there are a lot more guys, but it’s pretty much the same thing.”

Junior Hunter Robinson has seen Tanner’s leadership style on both teams.

“He’s always consistent no matter what’s going on around him,” said Robinson, a pitcher and defensive end. “He’s just a great all-around athlete. When I was a freshman coming in playing football with him I had no idea he was such a good third baseman. He puts everything he’s got onto the field. He’s just got the right mindset, and it’s good to see how to do things as a younger player.”

Tanner played all over the field in football last year, seeing time at quarterback, wide receiver, cornerback and punt returner.

“He did whatever we asked without complaining once,” said Wesley Chapel football coach Ben Alford. “Whatever we asked him to do he did because he’s athletic enough, and because he wants to do what’s best for the team.”

The versatile Tanner, who has signed to play football at Stetson University, went 26-of-56 passing for 488 yards and five touchdowns to two interceptions while adding 322 yards on 52 rushes. He also hauled in 13 catches for 205 yards and three more TDs, in addition to recording 19 tackles and 176 yards returning punts.

Alford said Tanner’s work in the classroom, which has earned him a 4.02 weighted grade point average, also sets the right tone for the rest of the players.

“The coaches can talk about how important grades are, but when they see a kid like Keegan go out and get all A’s and be at the top of his class it really makes them pay attention,” Alford said. “When he signed to go to Stetson my wife made a comment that she hopes our two boys grow up to be like Keegan. His parents have done a great job raising him.”

He has played multiple positions in football, but when the season turns to spring Tanner finds his home at third base. He hit .333 with 27 runs scored, 20 RBI and 10 steals last season.

“We tried to play him a little at shortstop his sophomore year, and he wasn’t comfortable there, so we moved him to just third and he’s the real deal there,” said Wildcats baseball coach Chuck Yingling. “He’s very talented and a good example.”

Tanner’s leadership will be needed this baseball season, as the Wildcats lost eight seniors and two other players who transferred from last year’s squad. Wesley Chapel has only five seniors, three who started most of the 2011 campaign.

“We all have to step up, not just any one of us,” Tanner said. “We know the younger guys are looking up to us, and we all have to really be a good role model because there are a lot less seniors than a year ago. If they look at us and we’re messing around then they’re going to think it’s OK. It’s not OK.”

The Wildcats open up their baseball season at Pasco on Tuesday, Feb. 14 at 7 p.m. They play their first home game against Ridgewood on Friday, Feb. 17 at 7 p.m.

–All stats as recorded to Maxpreps.com by coaches.