Special to The Laker/Lutz News

By Kyle LoJacono

The last few years the Gaither football team hasn’t had much to hang its 10-gallon hat on.

The Cowboys won just eight games from 2008-10, a three-year stretch that saw the program lose 23 contest including 10 straight. However, the current Gaither squad has a new level of confidence in its ability to win every time it takes the field.

With its 38-30 victory against Durant on Nov. 18 in the Class 7A regional quarterfinals, the Cowboys improved their record to 8-3, the most wins in a season since the program posted 10 in 2000. It also marked the first time Gaither has taken a postseason contest since 2007.

After defeating Durant, Cowboys senior cornerback Tyler McCollum said it was like the last few years of torment flashed before his eyes.

“It feels like my whole mind is just rushing with all the work we’ve had to put in the last four years to get here,” McCollum said.

Gaither junior athlete Shug Oyegunle added, “I can’t even explain it in words right now. We’ve come so far and worked so hard for this day.”

Oyegunle’s first year as a Cowboy was 2009 when the squad went 1-9 and we outscored 335-66. He said the players had been doing the things they needed to win the last few seasons, but the lack of Ws had sucked a lot of the faith out of them.

“Now we know we can win,” Oyegunle said. “It was more the belief that was can win that changed for us. We’ve worked hard at practice every day. There isn’t a day in practice we don’t give 110 percent. So we knew we were doing the right things, but once the wins started coming we started to believe and now we’re 8-3 and still playing.”

First-year Gaither coach Jason Stokes agreed with Oyegunle, saying the reputation of players from the area was less than complimentary in past years.

“You know they used to say those Northdale and Lutz boys are soft, but not no more,” Stokes said. “These kids are finding a way and learning how to win.”

Stokes has been a big part of creating that belief in the players. He brought a more balanced offense to the Cowboys and started calling the plays after Week 2.

“We got a new offense and we changed the defense a little bit and then everything just started clicking,” McCollum said. “We found some new players and everything just clicked. … Coach Stokes has really been a big part in everything coming together this year.”

For complete coverage of Gaither’s playoff win against Durant, see page 17.

By Eugenio Torrens

Senior running back Jerome Samuels said Sunlake’s bus ride to Ocala Vanguard was the quietest of his life.

He said generally when they are that subdued during a trip to an away game they usually try and pump themselves up for the upcoming 48-minute battle.

“Soon as we got out here, we did the talking,” Samuels said.

And the Seahawks made quite a statement with their 22-21 victory against the Knights to win the Class 6A regional quarterfinals contest.

For Sunlake, a fifth-year program, the playoffs are new. Even making it to the postseason was a feat in it of itself after a 1-9 season three years ago.

“Every year we’ve progressed and progressed,” said senior center Nate McCoole. “This win really epitomizes how far we’ve come.”

For a team making its first trip to the playoffs, playing against a team on the road with playoff history might have been too daunting.

Not for this squad.

“We knew we was going to fight and we was not going to lay down on nobody,” said junior Eddie Burgos, who had a touchdown reception in the win. “We didn’t care how big they were.”

“It means a lot,” Samuels added. “We had a lot of doubters, people saying Pasco schools can’t play out here. We came out here and proved a lot of people wrong.”

But don’t expect the Seahawks to bask too long in the joy of making program firsts.

“We weren’t satisfied with just making it,” said senior quarterback Cameron Stoltz. “We’re going to make history, we want to make big history.”

For complete coverage of Sunlake’s playoff win against Vanguard, see page 17.

Pasco rolls out free medical help

By Kyle LoJacono

Ariana Tompkins spends a lot of her time at intersections.

Sometimes at SR 54 and US 41 in Land O’ Lakes; sometimes where the state road crosses Gunn Highway in Odessa or connects with SR 56 in Wesley Chapel. Sometimes she heads south along US 41 into Hillsborough County.

She can sometimes sell bottled water on those street corners, but more often she can only ask passers by for any money they can spare.

Tompkins, 32, is one of the estimated 4,000 homeless people in Pasco County. She lost her home about six months ago after she was laid off from her job and couldn’t afford her bills.

“It’s really heartbreaking,” Tompkins said. “A few years ago I had a good job and a modest home I could afford. Then I lost my job and now I’m just trying to get through each day.”

Tompkins is not married and has no children, but she does have to worry about her own health. She said the last time she went to a dentist was more than a year ago and cannot remember how long it has been since she visited a doctor.

“I couldn’t afford to get medical care right now no matter what happened to me,” Tompkins said.

Pasco recently took a step toward helping people like Tompkins. The county commissioners approved spending $25,000 of donated money from the United Way and Florida Hospital Tampa Bay Division to buy a large van and fill it with medical supplies to treat the homeless in the area. Public money was not used.

Commissioner Pat Mulieri, who is on the county’s homeless advisory board, said the van will make six to eight trips each month to various homeless shelters across the county. It will be able to treat basic problems like cuts, colds and head lice.

“They’re not doing brain surgery,” Mulieri said. “We have to do it right, but start small.”

Mulieri said the goal is to stop minor health problems before they become major ones that are more costly to treat.

Dr. David Johnson, director of Pasco’s health department, will oversee the treatment given from the bus and will provide a nurse to give the medical care.

Mulieri said she is now looking for ways to raise money to keep the van going indefinitely. She said she plans to talk with area hospitals to ask if they will help provide supplies. She added those donations would actually save the hospitals money by keeping the homeless out of their emergency rooms by treating problems early.

While the care provided will be very basic, Tompkins said such help will be greatly appreciated.

“It would let me get cuts cleaned or anything else,” Tompkins said. She then added, “Plus it lets me know that people care and don’t want me to just die on the streets.”

Lutz Arts and Crafts Festival offers ‘something for everyone’

By Kyle LoJacono

The second most-attended festival in Hillsborough County makes its return to Lake Park in Lutz on Dec. 3-4, marking the ceremonial start to the holiday season.

The 51st annual Lutz Arts and Crafts Festival, which moved to Lake Park off Dale Mabry Highway 32 years ago, brings out 20,000-30,000 visitors each year, according to event co-chairwomen Phyllis Hoedt.

“That makes it second in Hillsborough to the Gasparilla Art Festival,” Hoedt said. “It’s also one of the largest in all of Florida, and we have vendors from all across the state, and even out of state, who sell their wares.”

Jack Beverland is one of the 250 vendors who will set up shop at the two-day event. The San Antonio resident sells artwork at various shows across central Florida, but never misses the Lutz festival.

“It’s probably the best attended one I do all year,” said Beverland, who first came to the event in 2009. “The weather is usually good, and people come from all over to see what’s for sale.”

Beverland said his specialty is making glow-in-the-dark artwork.

Hoedt said there will be many different kinds of artists at the festival, along with holiday gifts, clothes, jewelry and crafts.

“Just about anything you could want,” said Hoedt. “It’s a great place to do your Christmas or holiday shopping for everyone on your list because there’s something for everyone. If you need something for someone you’ll likely find it, and the great thing is the artists there are the people who made it.”

There is also festival-style food like funnel cakes and kettle corn, along with a variety for more hearty offerings like barbecue and grilled favorites.

Wilma Stewart, of New Tampa, first learned about the festival about seven years ago when she moved from Atlanta.

“I was in Lutz and I saw a really big sign about this craft show,” Stewart said. “I love crafts and festivals, so I was in. … I was expecting a couple of booths and some food, but the first time I saw row after row I was really amazed something like this exists right here. It looks more like something from a big city like Chicago or New York City.”

The event, which is organized by the Lutz-Land O’ Lakes Woman’s Club, is always the first weekend in December.

“The festival started at the Old Lutz School on (US) 41 and later moved to the train depot across the street,” said Shirley Simmons, event co-chairwoman. “It moved to Lake Park to make room for more booths and people.”

Hoedt said the mission of the festival includes three goals.

“One is to have a festival that is open to the public for their enjoyment,” Hoedt said. “Two is to allow artists to show, be judged and sell their works. Three, and most important to our club, is to make money that is given right back to the community.”

Hoedt said money raised by selling booths spaces is reinvested back into the community by giving grants to local Boy and Girl Scout troops, the Civil Air Patrol, youth scholarships, the Lutz volunteer fire department and the Lutz Branch Library, among other places.

Anyone interested in buying a booth space should call Hoedt at (813) 949-1937 or Simmons at (813) 949-7060.

Admission is free for the festival itself, but parking is $2 per vehicle. That money does not go to anyone involved with the event, but rather to the Hillsborough parks department for use of the site.

Lutz Arts and Crafts Festival

• Where: Lake Park off Dale Mabry Highway
• When: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Dec. 3, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Dec. 4
• Parking: $2 per vehicle
• Admission: free

Lutz skier won’t let injuries keep him off the water

 

The day began with a festive feel.

Family members had traveled from Iowa to attend Maddie Atherton’s First Holy Communion celebration at St. Paul Catholic Church in Carrollwood.

But first, they planned to spend part of the day before out on the water.

“It was May 9, 2009,” recalled Mike Atherton of Lutz, who is Maddie’s father,

“We went out in my father-in-law’s boat. We left Apollo Beach mid-morning and went out to Beer Can Island,” he said.

There were 14 family members on the boat. They anchored it and were enjoying themselves. Three were out in the water. Some had just finished lunch. Five kids – ages 2 to 7 – were down in the cabin.

“Next thing you know, the boat exploded,” Atherton said. “There were six of us sitting up above the engine compartment. We were all injured.”

Most of them sustained serious injuries.

Atherton’s father-in-law lost a leg up to the hip and broke his arm.

His mother-in-law had bleeding of the brain, a broken left arm and broken heel bones. She got saltwater in her lungs, too, but was revived.

His wife broke her back and her right heel, and also had injuries to her legs.

His nephew broke both ankles and both wrists and suffered a lacerated liver and spleen.

As for Atherton, he sustained a chipped scapula, a chipped vertebrae and a broken right femur. He also damaged both legs and his left arm. He wound up losing both of his legs and his left arm.

Still, he takes the optimistic view.

“Nobody died. Everyone is doing very well,” he said.

Atherton spent two months in the hospital, followed by intense rehabilitation work.

Beyond learning to master the demands of daily life, Atherton has been working toward a bigger goal. He wants to get back into performing some of the water skiing skills that he took for granted before the accident.

“If I put my mind to it — I may have to figure out a different way to do it — but I can do everything I want to do,” Atherton said.

His passion for water skiing began early. He got his first taste of gliding over the water when he was just 7.

“It’s definitely been a huge part of my life,” he said. “I joined a team when I was 9. It’s always been a family thing. My brother did it. My mom skied. My dad skied. That’s how I met my wife.”

He moved to Florida in 2002 and has been active with the Tampa Bay Water Ski Show Team since 2003.

The first time he was back on the water was on June 14, 2010. He attended a clinic put on by UCanSki2, a water skiing group for people with disabilities.

“It was kind of great to get back on the horse and get going on again.

“I really felt like I was getting my life back. I wasn’t stuck to a wheelchair.”

By December of 2010, he was skiing on water prosthetics. He calls them his “water legs.”

“They’re just designed a little differently,” said Atherton, who has served as the show director for the Tampa Bay Water Ski Show Team during its 2011 season.

The team has more than 100 members from Pasco, Pinellas and Hillsborough counties, including the communities of Lutz, Land O’ Lakes, Odessa and Wesley Chapel.

Its last show of the year will be over the Thanksgiving weekend in Oldsmar, at 130 Burbank Road.

The free show, which is open to the public, will begin about 4 p.m. on Nov. 26 and will last about 45 minutes.

As show director, Atherton comes up with the acts and which skiers will do them. He also comes up with the theme for the team’s tournament show.

In addition to skiers, there are many others who support the team.

“They drive the boats. They work the concession stands. They make the costumes,” Atherton said.

It’s a community of people who enjoy the water, who appreciate the challenges of mastering techniques and who recognize talent when they see it.

Atherton loves the variety that water skiing offers.

“You can slalom. You can barefoot. You can jump. You can trick ski. You can do so many different things with the show, the pyramids, the doubles, the trios  … Everyone finds their own little niche.”

The ski show team has a record of success, winning the title of southern regional champion for nine years in a row.

Atherton sets his personal aims high: “My next goal is to do a pyramid,” he said.

He believes it will happen.

“The only limitations you put on yourself are your own,” Atherton said.

 

/glance box

Water ski show

What: The Tampa Bay Water Ski Show Team will have a holiday theme for its final performance of the year.

Where: Tower Lake at 130 Burbank Road, Oldsmar

When: 4 p.m. Nov. 26

How much: Parking and attendance are free. Concessions are available for purchase.

More information: Directions are available by visiting the team’s website at www.tampabaywaterski.com or by calling (813) 917-8354.