Special to The Laker/Lutz News

Erik Thomas keeps up family tradition

By Kyle LoJacono

Wesley Chapel High junior Erik Thomas learned from a young age his passion is basketball, and it’s a good thing considering the family he was born into.

The 6-foot-4, 205-pound forward is younger brother of Sthefany Thomas, who scored a Pasco County girls record 2,563 points while playing at Wesley Chapel. He is also the son of James Thomas, who played forward for two seasons for the Atlanta Hawks.

“Basketball means the world to my family,” Erik said. “My dad played in the NBA and later in Europe and Argentina, and then my sister was a superstar here. Basketball is basically in my blood. As soon as I came into this life I’ve loved basketball.”

Erik can even attribute being born to basketball. James moved to Argentina in order to continue playing professionally. It was in the South American country where he met his wife and Erik’s mother, Fabiana.

“She played basketball and she went to a basketball class that he was teaching,” Erik said. “That’s how they met.”

Erik said his first memory with basketball was at age 3 when he participated in one of his dad’s classes. The family moved to Wesley Chapel when he was 6, where his passion for the game only grew.

“I was always the tallest kid in my class, so I played down low when I was young,” Erik said. “Then in middle school I played point guard.”

It was when Erik was in middle school that Sthefany started to shine on the Wildcats court. The Clemson University graduate plays shooting guard, and Erik said he tried to model his game after the way she played on the perimeter.

“I was at every one of her games,” Erik said. “Everything she did I looked up to her.”

Then Erik started growing to the point where playing guard was basically out of the question.

“I hit my growth spurt in eighth grade,” Erik said. “I actually grew really fast and when it first happened it was really hard to run up and down the court. When I got to Wesley Chapel High School coach (Doug) Greseth got me in shape to play down low, and he also got me bigger and stronger.”

His newly found height forced him to incorporate more of his father’s style of power play in the post into his own game.

Greseth said his ability to play inside and outside makes him a matchup problem for any defender.

“The sky is the limit for him,” Greseth said. He then added, “The one good thing about him is most people think because he’s big, he doesn’t have good hands. He has really good hands. He can catch the ball and pass the ball. He’s got all the tools that a lot of big guys just don’t have. We give him a little bit of freedom on the perimeter, but he’s really hard to handle on the inside.”

Last season Erik put up 15.2 points per game while adding 220 rebounds, 75 assists, 52 steals and 21 blocks.

“He’s a big factor for us,” said senior guard Julian Vann. “He helps us down in the post and gets us on the scoreboard. Hopefully we can feed him the ball more this year and let him show off his size and strength.”

Erik’s efforts made him the All-Laker/All-Lutz News Boys Basketball Player of the Year last season, but he is not satisfied with his game.

“Right now my strength is getting to the basket and drawing contact fouls,” Erik said. “The thing I’m working on getting better at is driving with my left hand and shooting with defense on me. I’ve been spending a lot of time with those two during the offseason.”

Erik said he would like to play basketball at a Division I college, and if a career in the NBA happens it “would be a dream come true.”

Erik and the Wildcats play at Fivay on Tuesday, Dec. 13 at 7:30 p.m.

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

Taylor Dec learns about life from cheering, coaching

By Kyle LoJacono

Seven years ago Taylor Dec made a seemingly minor decision that has since made her into the person she is today.

It was in fifth grade that Taylor first became a cheerleader. She started with the Lutz Chiefs program, progressed to a competitive club called the Florida Wildcats in middle school and moved on to cheering at Gaither High.

“I think it’s really shaped me as a person,” Taylor said of cheering. “It’s given me a lot more confidence than I would have if I did any other sport. … It teaches you how to work hard and take what other people say, like their constructive criticism, to make you better.”

Taylor feels so strongly about cheering that she started coaching the Chiefs midgets team, for girls ages 11-13, last year as a way to teach kids about the activity she loves so much.

“I really enjoyed coaching and coming up with the routines,” Taylor said. “I volunteered to do it and I felt like I could give really good advice to the younger girls.”

Taylor put in about 16 hours per week between Gaither’s squad and coaching, amazing considering she was not too thrilled with the idea of signing up for cheerleading seven years ago.

“At first I didn’t really want to cheer,” Taylor said. “My friends had to talk me into it because they were cheering for Lutz. Then I just fell in love with it. It’s so fast paced and you can always improve.”

Taylor’s mother, Lori, said she has seen a great deal of growth in her daughter since she started cheering.

“The biggest thing I’ve seen in her develop is her leadership skills,” Lori said. “Being able to take directions and help whatever team she is on get to their goals. That’s not to say she’s had a leadership role on every team she’s been on, but her leadership in life has emerged.

“As a parent you hope your child can find something that they love so much that they want to do whether they aren’t feeling good or tired or whatever,” Lori continued. “You want them to find something they can be that passionate about and for Taylor it was cheerleading.”

Lori coached with her daughter, but Taylor led all the practices and choreographed the performances.

“It was really very touching,” said Lori of watching Taylor coach. “My husband has always been a coach and I’ve been in some support position, but watching her turn into a coach was really heartwarming. … I’ve seen her develop so much patience from coaching through mentoring these girls. It’s been a great experience and all the girls really love her. That’s been really rewarding to me.”

It was also rewarding for all of Taylor’s pupils, including Alex Zayas who started cheering last year for the Chiefs.

“She always kept us together,” said Zayas, a seventh-grader at Martinez Middle. “She was one of those good coaches who never made any of us cry or anything. She was really determined to make us better. Most of the girls had never cheered before, but by the end of the year we were all a lot better.”

The Chiefs were unable to win a competition during Taylor’s first year coaching in 2010, but the squad claimed championships in all three of the events it participated in this season. The first was the Best of the Bay, where Lutz was recognized for having the best choreography.

The Chiefs followed that up with titles at the Gulf Coast Cheer Classic and the Tampa Bay Youth Football League’s cheer offs.

“It was so exciting to see them win three events,” Taylor said. “I was so proud of them because they’ve worked really hard all year. … This year’s group of girls was so motivated and talented. I just hope they continue cheering because they’re really good at it.”

Zayas said she plans to continue cheering at least in part because of what Taylor taught her the last two years.

“She was always there for us,” Zayas said. “We always liked going to practice because of her.”

Taylor said this is her final year as a coach and cheerleader. She could not pick out one favorite memory from her time cheering because there have been so many highlights.

“I’ve loved competing in all the events for club cheering,” Taylor said. “I love competing. For high school I’ve loved cheering at all the games. They’ve all been fun. For coaching it was just seeing them get better each practice and seeing them win this year.”

By Kyle LoJacono

Pasco County commissioners figured why build one park when they could have two.

The board submitted two unanimous 5-0 votes to fund the construction of a pair of new county parks — one in Wesley Chapel near The Shops at Wiregrass and the other in Aripeka in Pasco’s northwest corner.

“Two 5-0 votes,” said chairwoman Ann Hildebrand. “Who saw that coming?”

Hildebrand’s sentiments refer to the on-again, off-again scenarios the county has had during the last three years as it tried to build a large sports complex.

The original plans were to fund such a facility in Odessa near Starkey Park, which would have been run by Sportsplex USA. The California-based company agreed to operate the complex, but backed out of the deal earlier this year.

The commissioners had been looking for a new place to spend $11 million earmarked for generating tourism within Pasco. The original plan was to spend the entire pot developing the Wesley Chapel complex, which will be called Fields at Wiregrass.

However, Commissioner Jack Mariano, whose District 5 includes Aripeka, became an outspoken supporter of building a wakeboarding park with part of the money available.

“It’s better to have two parks bring people to Pasco than just one,” Mariano said.

The new plan is to spend $2.5 million at the Aripeka park and put the remaining $8.5 million into the Wesley Chapel site. The west coast facility would cater to extreme sports enthusiasts, while the east Pasco complex will have multiple fields to draw in large sports tournaments as well as families.

The wakeboarding park will use a fixed cable system to pull people around a lake and through obstacles like ramps and rails.

Commissioner Ted Schrader had been against the Aripeka site, but changed his tune after hearing a presentation from its designers in late November.

“I’m intrigued enough to see if we can make it happen,” Schrader said. “I’m convinced there are probably people who would be happy to come out there and spend their money.”

Hildebrand said there is one lingering question with the extreme park that has yet to be answered.

“I’d like to know how much liability we have if someone gets hurt,” Hildebrand said. “I like the idea, but I still have a lot of unanswered questions.”

Mariano said there wouldn’t be any more liability than if someone got hurt at one of the more conventional facilities like the Land O’ Lakes Recreation Complex or the future Fields at Wiregrass.

The decision by the commissioners does put some question into how the future Wesley Chapel sports complex will look. The Porter family, the owners of the original Wiregrass Ranch, submitted a proposal to build a 160-acre, $25-million facility just north of The Shops at Wiregrass along Bruce B. Downs Boulevard.

The project called for 12 multiuse fields for football, soccer, lacrosse and other sports activities to support large regional and national tournaments. It also includes three MLB-regulation sized baseball fields and another three for Little League games.

Other amenities would have included fishing areas, hiking trails and a dock to launch canoes and kayaks, but all plans were based on the idea that the county would kick in $11 million.

Wiregrass developer J.D. Porter, the son of the ranch’s original owner Don, said he was pleased with the vote even if it did not give Fields at Wiregrass exactly what he was asking for.

“This allows us the flexibility to come up with a business plan that makes sense,” Porter said.

Porter said his family envisions a complex similar to Disney’s Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, which hosts more than 40 youth sports events annually.

While the county will pay for part of the construction, the Porters would handle the operating costs and any additional money needed to build the complex. Plans call for some level of public access, but other areas will be operated as a private business.

Porter’s plan included requiring teams competing in events at the complex to stay at hotels within Pasco, which would generate additional tax revenue for the county. He added it would take two years to build the complex, which could be ready to host tournaments by spring break in 2014.

 

 

Veterans Elementary children get up close with nature

 

By B.C. Manion

 

Veterans Elementary is a school where “Caterpillar Crossing” signs are used to prevent the creeping crawlers from being crushed by kids and adults.

It’s also a place where children can get a firsthand look at the life cycle of butterflies – watching how they transform from a caterpillar to a chrysalis to a creature with wings.

“You should have seen it when the caterpillars were out,” said Lorilie Jani, who takes care of the school’s butterfly garden. “At the end of October, we saw our caterpillars starting to show up, and by the first week in November we were on caterpillar patrol, as they were everywhere,” said Jani, who is the school’s plant manager.

The school’s morning news programs alerted everyone on campus to keep an eye out for the caterpillars to keep from crushing them, Jani said.

The children were excited about saving the caterpillars. They would tell Jani: “There’s two over there. There’s one here. Oh, that one got squished.”

The garden’s caretaker also began cutting branches of milkweed that were loaded with caterpillars and putting them in a butterfly hatchery that she built.

Jani had so many caterpillars it was hard to keep them fed.

She pointed to stalks in the garden: “This is what’s left of our milkweed. Look how they demolished it,” said Jani, who appreciates the kindness of teachers who brought in milkweed from home to replenish her supply.

 

The butterfly hatchery also served as protection for the caterpillars from predators. The lid of the wooden box is covered with green, pod-like chrysalides awaiting their transformation into butterflies.

Deana Wolkov, a teaching intern, said it’s great to have a classroom next door to the butterfly garden.

The kindergartners she teaches “are very interested to see what’s happening,” she said. The class has been learning about butterflies and having the 12- by-300 foot garden next door provides an excellent resource for teaching, she said.

“For them to actually see it and seeing the transformation makes a big difference in their learning,” she said. “There’s nothing like seeing it.”

Jani gets tremendous satisfaction from helping children learn and by helping to bring a bit of beauty to the school campus.

She said she and helpers – including children and adults – created the garden from seeds. The butterfly garden came about after devastating freezes took out the native plants that were planted on campus when the school opened in 2008.

Jani credits Deb Hamilton, Bob Stalnaker and Bill Wampler, three master gardener volunteers, for being enormously helpful in creating the butterfly garden.

The master gardeners made podcasts to teach the youngsters about planting the seeds and also pitched in with the planting.

Each classroom was given 22 starter cups and seeds, Jani said.

Plants in the garden include purple coneflowers, flax, Johnny-jump-ups, salvia, cosmos, morning glory, snow in summer, foxglove, maiden pink, salvia, tropical milkweed, Shasta daily and cardinal pipevine. All of the plants were grown from seed.

At its peak, the garden was beautiful, Jani said.

“It brought more butterflies than ever,” Jani said.

All of the seeds and supplies used for the garden were paid for from funds raised through recycling newspaper and cardboard.

While pleased with the garden’s progress, Jani has already set her sights on making some improvements next year.

For one thing, she plans to change the location of the greenhouse next year – to keep it out of the path of soccer balls.

She’s also planning to build a bigger butterfly hatchery.

 

By B.C. Manion

Santa may arrive by sleigh in most places, but he’ll be coming by pickup truck to

Traditions on the Green in Land O’ Lakes.

This is the fourth year for the holiday event, which is intended to provide Land O’ Lakes residents and people from other nearby communities an opportunity to gather and have a good time – without having to spend a lot of money, said Sandy Graves, president of the Heritage Park Foundation.

The event is scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 10, from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. at the Land O’ Lakes Community Center, 5401 Land O’ Lakes Blvd.

When organizers launched the event, the idea was to have events at the community center to help revive it as a community focal point, Graves said.

Land O’ Lakes residents paid for the construction of the community center duing the 1960s, and the Heritage Park Foundation is working to raise money to eventually provide historic markers in the park and a xxx.

Traditions on the Green includes a free pancake “Breakfast with Santa” beginning at 9 a.m.,

There also will be a Kid’s Christmas Corner from 9 a.m. until noon, with free face-painting, ornament-making, letters to Santa, puppet shows, a bounce house, greeting card coloring, crafts and games.

Vendors also will be selling items at the Land O’ Lakes Saturday Market, said Pam St. Mary, who oversees the market.

Musical entertainment will be provided by students from Land O’ Lakes High, Pine View Middle and Land O’ Lakes High.

“Everybody can bring a lawn chair and enjoy,” St. Mary said.

The event is sponsored by Heritage Park Foundation, The Land O’ Lakes Saturday Market, The Rotary Club of Land O’ Lakes, the Women of the Land O’ Lakes Moose Lodge, Candlewood Community Church and Keystone Community Church.

Vendors are still welcome. Booths are $15 each. For more information, call (813) 731-5168.

 

Spectators walk through the Artmazon at Rushe Middle School.

By B.C. Manion

Kendra Gagnon painted her face and created a cat costume to get into the spirit for “Explore the Artmazon,” a student art show at Rushe Middle School.

She’s only 12, but she has already developed a keen interest in art.

“I love it,” said the seventh-grader, while showing off one of her works on display at the show. “Ms. Mo is great. She is just awesome. She’s really calm.

“She lets us do really awesome projects. She lets us be creative.

“The art show is great. It shows everybody’s creativity. It gives everyone a chance to show off their work. Some of the stuff in the art show is just phenomenal.”

Shannon Gagnon, who is Kendra’s mom, is pleased that her daughter has an opportunity to showcase her work.

“I’m her mom, so I’m biased. I think she’s definitely talented. Being in the program has given her more of an open mind to new concepts,” Shannon Gagnon said.

“It’s been a wonderful creative outlet for her,” she said, and she expects her daughter will continue developing her artistic interest for years to come.

She thinks her daughter’s interest is inborn.

“She’s been drawing since she was 3,” Shannon Gagnon said.

The seventh-grader had a painting and some digital prints on display at the show – which featured hundreds of student works — displayed on tables, stands, walls and even the railing of a staircase. There was digital photography, 3-D creations, paintings and drawings.

Some art club members wore rainforest-themed costumes or beaks with feathers, to celebrate the show’s theme. Principal David Salerno even got into the act, donning a beak with feathers to demonstrate his support.

Art teacher Jilda Morera, who is called Ms. Mo by her students, said having these kinds of shows provides an important forum where students can share their work with the community.

“It’s important for us to be able to show how creative our students are,” the teacher said, and it allows the community to demonstrate their support.

Besides being a showcase for the students, the event was also a fundraiser. The teacher wants to buy some digital cameras to help her students more fully explore their talents.

The rainforest theme was in keeping with an enormous tree that the art teacher painted in the school’s atrium. It stretches three stories high.

She estimated that she spent about 30 hours on a cherry picker, working on the tree.

Principal Salerno commissioned the painting to enliven a space that gets heavy traffic each school day.

Salerno said the school art show creates a great opportunity for students to share their work.

Pasco County School Board Chairwoman Joanne Hurley and her husband, John, were among those attending the show.

“It just shows the enthusiasm of this teacher. She is marvelous. We would like to clone her,” Hurley said.

The school board chairwoman was also pleased to see a good turnout at the art show.

“You always see a lot of people at football games or athletic events, but it’s so heartwarming to see the crowd that has turned out tonight to see this wonderful art.”

Her husband, John, was impressed by the quality of the students’ work.

“These kids are really talented,” he said.

While being pleased to see her daughter’s work on display, Shannon Gagnon said she is also glad that the school district supports the arts – and allows students to pursue the creative side of their nature.

“I definitely think it’s an important part of a school’s curriculum. It gives them (students) a place to express themselves in a healthy manner. They need an outlet that’s safe.  It’s part of a child’s development, I think.”

It’s important for students to have a place to express themselves at school because they don’t always get the support they need at home, she added.

“Some kids’ families don’t understand how important creativity is – if they have that knack for it and they love it, they need encouragement.”

 

By B.C. Manion

In a community that treasures its traditions, Lutz is gearing up for its 15^th annual Christmas House at the Old Lutz School.

The school and its grounds are decked out in seasonal lights, giant plywood holiday cards, inflatables, super-sized candy canes, a Nativity scene, wreaths and other décor.

The goal is to spread good cheer throughout the holidays, said Phyllis Hoedt, who co-chairs the Citizens for the Old Lutz School, which maintains the historic schoolhouse at 18819 N. US 41.

Celebrations planned for this year include old-fashioned carols, a “Breakfast with Santa,” and tours of the school, which has been transformed into a Christmas House.

Everyone is welcome to tour the Christmas House at no charge, but donations are welcome and they are used to support the upkeep of the school, which was built in 1927 and deemed a historic landmark in 1996.

Donations of nonperishable food items and toys also are being accepted to benefit needy families.

The house opens for tours on Tuesday, Dec. 6, from 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. and will be open on numerous nights throughout the season.

Inside the house, visitors will be able to see decorated trees, including one that’s dressed up with with butterflies.

Train aficionados will have a chance to see some miniature sets and nutcracker lovers can enjoy a large collection of the painted wooden figures.

The Santa breakfast is scheduled for 8:30 to 11 a.m. on Saturday. There will be a $3.50 charge for breakfast, and children also will be able to do four crafts, Hoedt said.

“We try to keep it real reasonable,” she said. In addition to breakfast, there’s a Santa store where folks can do some holiday shopping.

The annual celebration started small, but has evolved over the years to become a popular attraction, Hoedt said.

Friends and neighbors often run into each other as they tour the house or enjoy the music, she said. In many ways, each night feels like a mini-reunion, she added.

“It puts you in the Christmas spirit, to come and talk and visit,” Hoedt said.

Many of the displays at the school are too large to show off in an individual’s home, so their owners set them up at the school to share with the community, she said.

Terri Burgess, a volunteer helping to set up the Christmas House, said she pitches in because she respects the annual efforts made on the project by Hoedt and volunteer Bill Westcott, commander of the North Tampa/Lutz Cadet Squadron of the Civil Air Patrol.

“It’s the heart that they have that goes into it,” said Burgess, a second-grade teacher at Lutz Elementary.

Lili Fox, a volunteer with the Civil Air Patrol, has spent roughly 20 hours helping to put up the holiday displays. She’s pounded in stakes, strung lights and helped touch up the giant Christmas cards.

“Just seeing the faces of the kids when they come in from the elementary school – just seeing their faces light up, it makes it all worthwhile,” Fox said.

Westcott, who has been pitching in for more than a decade, gets a sense of satisfaction from being involved. “I love it,” he said.

The Christmas House will be open for tours from 6:30 to 9 p.m. on Dec. 6, Dec. 8, Dec. 10, Dec. 11, Dec. 15, Dec. 17, Dec. 20, Dec. 22, Dec. 26 and Dec. 27.

Various groups will be providing musical entertainment on evenings throughout the season.

Here’s the lineup for the evening musical performances:

–Tuesday, Dec. 6: Stan Bozek

–Thursday, Dec. 8: Harvester United Methodist Church

–Saturday, Dec. 10: Friendship Singers

–Sunday, Dec. 11: Christina Hundley

–Thursday, Dec. 15: Lutz Elementary

–Saturday, Dec. 17: Cornerstone Presbyterian Church

–Sunday, Dec. 18: CrossPointe Church

–Tuesday, Dec. 20: Cross County Country Music

–Thursday, Dec. 22: Tierra del Sol Girl Scouts

If you enjoy playing music, singing alone or with a group of friends, you are invited to contact William Westcott to see if time slots remain. He can be reached at (813) 930-9454 or (813) 601-0874 or by e-mail at .