Special to The Laker/Lutz News

By Eugenio Torrens

M.J. Price was getting ready to go on a morning bike ride with a girlfriend on Sept. 11, 2001. While her friend was making a protein shake, Price cocked her head to see what was on TV.

“It was like a Lifetime movie,” she said.

She couldn’t believe the image of the plumes of smoke billowing from the World Trade Center.

To this day, she can’t remember if she went on that bike ride.

Price is the creator and organizer of the 9/11 memorial event Zephyr Park hosted. She said there has been an event every single year starting in 2002.

“The event is about memorializing those who passed away and those who protect our freedom,” said Price, who started the afternoon dressed as the Statue of Liberty.

Over the last decade, Price has helped organize more than 120 free community events in Zephyrhills.

This one was no different. Price said the first few memorial events following the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks were more serious. This year she designed it for a more family friendly atmosphere with outdoor games, music and indoor expos.

“If you don’t improve the quality of your community, then no one will,” Price said.

The event also featured speeches from Rep. Rich Nugent, R-Brooksville, and Rep. Will Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel.

­­Doc Riley, a Vietnam War veteran and current member of the Shriners, had his custom 1998 Honda Valkyrie motorcycle on display at the event. Originally named The Red Dragon because “dragon” was one of the conceptual names tossed around when the bike was making its debut, the motorcycle is full of custom-made parts, including a gattling-gun exhaust and Cadillac taillights and turn signals.

“It’s truly one of a kind,” he said.

Riley, who had 15 flags on display including flags from various military branches and two U.S. flags specifically for the 9/11 event, said the attacks 10 years ago had a “great significance.”

A former GTE and Verizon employee, he was working at a cell tower in the middle of a cow pasture when he heard on the radio the World Trade Center had been struck. He feels people have become too consumed with their personal lives to fully appreciate their neighbors.

“Every year since then, it’s been downgraded,” he said. “People think we’re secure, it could happen today.”

Also at the event was the Pasco Sheriff’s Mounted Posse — police officers and volunteers on horseback.

Kim Alexander had recently graduated from high school when the attacks happened. Now she is 29 and is a member of the mounted posse, along with Jake, her 7-year-old Percheron draft horse.

“It’s pretty meaningful,” Alexander said about the picnic. “I didn’t know what to expect. I just wanted to show my support.”

John Bushell, who was a police officer in Tampa for 30 years and has been with the mounted posse for eight years, said he was with current Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi eating breakfast at a Village Inn when they heard about the attacks.

“It doesn’t seem like it was 10 years ago,” he said.

Congressman Nugent, who according to Price was an “unexpected guest,” said as much as the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks needed to be remembered, recognition also needed to be heaped on first responders, including the firefighters.

“They ran into a burning building as people were running out,” Nugent said. “It is a thankless job.”

Weatherford, who spoke shortly after Nugent, called first responders his heroes. He also praised citizens like Todd Beamer aboard United Airlines flight 93, which crashed near Shanksville, Penn.

“It seems like Sept. 11, 2001 is still fresh in our minds,” Weatherford said. He noted how it could be hard to remember what you ate for breakfast, or what you did last week. But he said it’s crystal clear what you were doing when you heard about the attacks.

“You can’t change what happened. You can’t change that our lives will never be the same since that day.”

And he acknowledged that while the country may have its differences over different economic policies or party lines, there are things people don’t argue over because they don’t have to.

“We’re arguing over how we’re going to spend money. We’re not arguing over free speech,” he said.

 

Land O’ Lakes Recycling celebrates two decades of operation

By B.C. Manion

 

Cindy Glenn and Greg Conaty were into “being green” long before “being green” became the cool thing to do.

The siblings were the first and only employees of Land O’ Lakes Recycling when it got its start two decades ago.

The pair had begun their business in 1988 as a transportation service for other recyclers but after three years of doing that decided to branch out as an independent recycling company.

They came into that line of work naturally.

“Our father (Norman Conaty), back in the 1970s, was the director of sanitation for the city of Tampa. He decided to stop throwing things away and to start recycling. So, he started a recycling corporation in Tampa,” Glenn said.

“Greg was a helper and as soon as Greg was old enough to drive, Greg started driving for him,” Glenn recalled.

She said her younger brother began developing his knowledge of recycling when he was just a teenager.

“I started when I was 15, working with my dad,” Greg Conaty said.

“I worked there until ’88, then my dad sold his business to a big international business company,” he said.

The siblings decided to go into business together and bought about 3 acres at 5710 Land O’ Lakes Blvd.

“We bought this property because we decided we didn’t want to work for a big company,” Conaty said.

When they began, Glenn said, Conaty drove the truck and she ran the office and the yard.

They built the business gradually.

“I would drive one truck until we would get enough of a route that we could hire a driver. And then, we got another truck. And then, we got another truck,” Conaty said. “We had to go out in areas where nobody else would go. We built from there.”

Over the years, they’ve grown from a company of two employees to one with 32 full-time workers. They also have one part-time employee and some additional temporary workers during the company’s busy seasons.

They handle all sorts of recyclables, with their market stretching across the entire state of Florida for large commercial accounts. They also handle smaller commercial accounts and have a fundraising program for churches, schools and civic groups.

Evidence of their handiwork abounds.

The company, which now occupies 5 acres, has mountains of newspapers, huge bales of cardboard, giant bins of metal parts and containers and humongous piles of plastic bottles at its site.

It also has industrial-sized scales, which trucks roll over to get weighed before their recyclables are removed and then roll over again to find out the weight of their haul.

The sounds of heavy machinery are everywhere on the site, as trucks roll in and out and workers are busy processing and sorting recyclables.

“About 80 percent of our business is paper — newspaper, office paper and cardboard,” Glenn said. “We work with quite a few of the large box stores and we have the contracts for their bales. We also handle all sorts of metal and plastic.”

They’re also scouting for new business, too.

While most people drive to the front of a store, she likes to cruise behind stores to see whether they can become potential customers.

“Not a whole lot of people go behind stores. I do, to check out what they’re doing,” Glenn said. “Who needs a container? Who needs their bales picked up?”

The company’s trucks are flatbeds with forklifts.

The drivers go to the stores to pick up big bales of cardboard and bring them back to their site, where they are combined into 2,000-pound bales before being sold.

The recycling company pays for the large cardboard bales, but the real value comes from the money that companies avoid in disposal charges, Glenn said.

The going rate for recyclable items varies, Glenn said.

“Recyclable material is a commodity and it goes up and down just like cattle goes up and down – probably more frequently than cattle goes up and down,” Glenn said.

Besides handling cardboard recycling, the company accepts all sorts of other paper recycling, Conaty said.

“We do a lot of commercial paper. We also do a lot for civic organizations, churches, schools and that sort of thing. If they want to do a fundraising program, we put a container out at their stop and then we come and pick it up once a week, however often they need to have it picked up and then we pay them for it,” he said.

Most of the community groups average about $100 or so a month from their collection sites, but some earn much more.

“We do have some that are like gangbusters that are close to $1,000 a month,” Glenn said.

There are also commercial customers, such as McDonald’s in Pasco County, CVS and Walgreens that recycle paper waste to avoid sending it to the landfill.

The company also handles commingled recyclables, which means the items all come in one container and must be sorted out, Conaty said.

The company also accepts seven different grades of plastic, Conaty said.

It also has a full-blown metals operation that handles aluminum cans, copper, aluminum, steel and other kinds of scrap metals that people lug to the site.

“We get 50 to 60 customers a day,” Glenn said.

The owners estimate that 5 percent of their business comes from people lugging or carting in recyclables to sell.

About 15 percent of the business comes from small commercial accounts and fundraising groups and about 80 percent comes from large accounts.

In addition to purchasing recyclables, the company also has a drop-off station where people can dispose of unwanted newspapers, magazines, aluminum cans, glass or plastics.

The bins, which are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, get good use, Glenn said. “It’s convenient for the community, and they use it.”

Like many operations, the recycling business also has slow and busy seasons.

The summer is typically the slowest time of year, but when school begins in the fall, the recycling business picks up, and it remains busy through the holidays until April or so, Conaty said.

The company also enjoys a boost during the winter months when the winter residents head south to escape the cold, Glenn said.

“We deal with a lot of the retirement parks over in Zephyrhills and over on the west side. So, we’ll have that season, also,” she said.

Glenn said the family owned business is firmly planted in Land O’ Lakes.

“We’re part of this community. We work here. We live here. Our children go to the schools here,” Glenn said.

The brother-sister team shares a passion for what recycling can do to preserve trees, conserve water and reduce transportation costs.

“We firmly believe in what we’re doing – that we’re doing the right thing in recycling and saving the environment. We really believe it’s the right thing to do,” Conaty said.

The effects that recycling can have are amazing, Glenn said.

“We work with the Land O’ Lakes-Lutz Woman’s Club. I spoke with them recently, and I got all of their numbers together and I showed them that in the past year, they had recycled enough paper to save 200 acres of trees.

“It really does make a difference,” Glenn said.

 

/Glance box

Land O’ Lakes Recycling, 5710 Land O’ Lakes Blvd., Land O’ Lakes (On US 41, 3.5 miles north of SR 54)

Materials accepted: Paper, all grades; aluminum cans; copper; brass; steel; and old appliances.

The company handles commercial accounts, offers a fundraising program for churches, civic clubs and schools and purchases recyclable items on site.

Hours of operation: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday; 8 a.m. to noon on Saturday.

For more information call (813) 996-5530, visit www.lolrecycling.com or email .

 

Experts worry some will miss deadline

By B.C. Manion

 

An earlier deadline for enrolling in Medicare plans could result in people missing out, experts say.

This year’s Medicare annual enrollment dates are from Oct. 15 through Dec. 7. That means the enrollment period is beginning a full month earlier than it did last year and ending three weeks earlier.

Volunteers who help people navigate the bureaucratic maze of Medicare say they’re concerned that people who are not paying attention will try to enroll too late.

That’s why they’re putting an emphasis on outreach programs – to get the word out and to provide assistance, said Randy Caldwell of Land O’ Lakes, who volunteers for the Serving Health Insurance Needs for the Elderly (SHINE) program.

“People just don’t understand the bureaucracy. It can be intimidating and confusing,” Caldwell said. “The need is so great,” he said, and they don’t always realize that help is available.

That’s where SHINE volunteers come in.

“We’re available. We have outreach programs with churches, social organizations,” Caldwell said. They also can provide one-on-one assistance.

SHINE volunteers realize it can be difficult and confusing to enroll in Medicare plans, to keep up with changes and to compare plans that are available, said Jan Rauer of Lutz, a volunteer who trains SHINE volunteers.

When helping people navigate the system, SHINE volunteers focus on helping people find plans that are suitable for their needs by presenting various options and explaining the differences.

The idea is to present information, not to advocate particular plans, Caldwell said.

To prepare for the enrollment period, individuals should ask themselves:

–Have your health needs changed?

–Are your drugs covered by the plan you are considering?

–Does your doctor accept the plan you are considering?

–Does your plan fit your budget? Be sure to compare all costs, including premiums, copays, deductibles and coinsurance.

Those who are approaching age 65 should also be aware that enrollment in Medicare is not automatic, Rauer said. There is a seven-month period for initial enrollment into Medicare, she said. That includes the three months before an individual turns 65, the month of the individual’s birthday and the three months following it.

Additional information, individual appointments and requests for public speakers can be made by contacting the local Area on Aging office at (800) 963-5337.

By Kyle LoJacono

 

The two-year long project to add a bridge between New Tampa and Commerce Park boulevards has begun, giving drivers hope of less congested roadways in the future.

The $14 million project is connecting both streets, which currently dead end on opposite sides of I-75 in New Tampa. The job will add a bridge to allow drivers to pass over the interstate, allowing residents of Tampa Palms and the surrounding neighborhoods to reach either Freedom High school without using Bruce B. Downs Boulevard.

The project is funded by the Tampa City Council and is being performed by Prince Contracting. Jim Hudock, contract administrator for the city council, said the job has been in the works for several years.

“The city council has wanted to build this bridge for years to take people off Bruce B. Downs, which is heavily congested,” Hudock said. “It will also save New Tampa residents time if they are getting around the area.”

Hudock said there had been fighting for years by the several neighborhood groups that opposed the bridge because “they believed it would make the roadways more dangerous with the increase in traffic.”

Tampa Palms attorney Warren Dixon even sued the city to stop the project, but he no longer opposes it. He dropped the suit after getting assurances safety measures, like low speed limits, will be followed. Such limits have not yet been finalized.

The new roadway will be two-lanes wide and about 0.7 miles long. It is being built with enough space to allow it to expand to four lanes. The project also includes adding bike lanes and sidewalks.

The project is expected to be completed in the summer of 2013, nearly a year after the current Hillsborough County widening project of Bruce B. Downs is finished. That fact also helped reduce concerns by the community, as people traveling through New Tampa will not be able to use the bridge as a way to avoid construction.

For more information on the project, visit www.tampagov.net/dept_transportation.

By Kyle LoJacono

When 43-year Lutz resident Scott Peterson stepped out onto his patio on Aug. 28 to start his grill, he never expected he would have company.

Perched a few feet from him was a red-shouldered hawk that got inside the screened-in patio after a storm blew the door open earlier in the day.

“It was about 5 p.m., and I was literally going outside to fire up the grill when I heard a bit of a clutter over on the other side of the patio,” Scott said. “We have a plant stand with herbs and it was sitting right on top, probably 20 feet from me.”

Scott and his wife Lori see hawks and other birds of prey circling their house on a regular basis, but none had ever managed to get inside their patio before.

“When Scott said there was a hawk in the patio, I didn’t believe him,” Lori said. “That’s not what you’re expecting to hear after your husband goes outside to start the grill.”

Scott estimates the bird was 14-16 inches tall with a 2.5-foot wingspan.

“I’ve seen them bigger, so I don’t think it was fully grown, but its talons were very impressive,” Scott said. “I can’t say for sure if I’ve seen that particular one before, but we see them all the time.”

What started next was an attempt to free the confused creature.

“I suspected he was kind of baffled by the screen from trying to fly through it before I went outside,” Scott said. “When I got out there he was taking five to rest. He let me get within about five feet of him. Then he took off and kept hitting the screen cage. Then he tried to go talons first into it and shredded the screen like a box cutter.”

The Petersons gave the animal space. After about 20 minutes it settled down enough for them to try another attempt.

“My wife got gloves and a big beach towel to cradle him,” Scott said. “The bird let my wife come right up to it. It’s almost like it knew she was trying to help. It just let her pick it up. She cradled it very gently and got it out of the screen and it took off.”

Lori wasn’t afraid the animal might attack her.

“It was very calm,” Lori said. “I don’t know if it was just very tired, but I think it knew I wasn’t going to hurt it.”

The red-shouldered hawk flew to a branch before eventually taking off for good.

“It gave me goosebumps,” Scott said. “My first thought was good it’s not hurt, but then I just watched because it was just so majestic. It was just a gorgeous bird. I haven’t seen it since, so maybe it’s a little scared of the screen.”

By Kyle LoJacono

 

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is revising nutritional labels to help people more easily make decisions about what they eat.

FDA Deputy Commissioner Michael Taylor said the new labeling system will not only change the information presented to be more useful for consumers, but it will also create more realistic serving sizes. The FDA’s new labeling system will also put a bigger emphasis on calories, while reducing the prominence of the daily percent value numbers for elements like carbohydrates, fats and sodium.

Taylor said the department has been working with doctors, nutritionists and every-day people since 2003 to find the best way to present information about food. The goal is to help stem the tide of obesity in this country.

“There’s no question obesity is a central public health concern that the nutrition facts panel can play a role in,” Taylor said. “It’s obviously not a magic wand, but it can be an informative tool.”

Taylor said the new labeling system could be put in place as early as the year’s end, but more likely will be unveiled sometime in the first half of 2012. Emily Mark, one of three dietitians with Pasco County School’s Food and Nutrition Services Department, said the changes will help children make better choices as well.

“I think the best change would be the serving size,” Mark said. “Some of the time serving sizes of food are nowhere near the amount the average person eats.”

Two popular sweet treats that will see their serving sizes change are soda and ice cream. Currently, the serving size for ice cream is a half cup, while 20-ounce soda bottles contain 2.5 servings of the carbonated drink.

“I’d say that most people drink those soda bottles by themselves and people who eat ice cream have a lot more than a half cup of ice cream,” Mark said. “The problem is they look at the label and see the number of calories and assume that’s how many calories they’ve eaten. It gets people into trouble.”

Taylor said other servings for food commonly eaten in one sitting by a single person, such as a can of soup, will also be altered.

The current food labels were designed about 20 years ago as a way to give a glance at what nutritional information is in food. Taylor said they were not meant to help people manage their weight, but the FDA has learned that is exactly what many people use them for.

Taylor said the new labels will allow people to better determine if food is healthy for them based on their own health situation.

For more information on the FDA’s food labeling system, visit www.fda.gov.

 

 

 

 

By B.C. Manion

If this year’s event mirrors those of the past, somewhere between 2,000 and 3,000 people will gather at Starkey Ranch in Odessa to celebrate Native American culture this coming weekend.

They’ll be gathering for the sixth annual American Indian Pow Wow, presented by Spirit People Intertribal Family Inc.

The event will feature dancing, singing, flute playing and items available for purchase from about two dozen vendors, including art work, bead work, leather crafts, jewelry and dream catchers.

Hot dogs, hamburgers, pulled pork, Indian tacos, ice cream and other foods also will be available for purchase.

The event gives Native Americans a chance to gather with old friends and meet new ones, while others join in to get a glimpse into the Native American way of life.

The idea is to have an event where people can come together and have a good time, said Sue Langlais, treasurer of Spirit People Intertribal Family Inc.

The three-day event includes a ceremonial grand entrance, which is a procession that is led by flag bearers followed by military veterans. They march to the dance circle, where the Native American equivalent to the national anthem will be performed, Langlais said.

After that, the dancers will enter the circle for a performance, she said.

The pow wow provides a venue to help carry on Native American traditions, while sharing them with the broader community, she said.

In addition to the grand entrance, there also will be stories about the Native American way of life, a drawing for a kayak and some good old-fashioned Indian trading.

The way the trading works is, you bring an item you no longer want to the “trade blanket,” Langlais said.

“Say you have a coffee or a tea kettle you no longer want,” she said. You bring the item and put it in the center of the blanket, then people around the blanket offer an item they want to trade for it.

The person trading the item walks around the blanket, looking at items being offered for trade. Once they select an item, the traders shake hands and the deal is concluded.

Often, the people trading items will tell a story about it. “Sometimes they’ll tell wild stories about their items,” she said. It doesn’t have to be true – the idea is to just have fun, she said.

Some people bring items to trade and others just enjoy watching, Langlais said.

Those attending the pow wow are encouraged to bring a lawn chair or blankets to sit on because seating is limited, Langlais said.

She also recommends they wear a big-brimmed hat to keep off the sun.

“You have to make your own shade,” she said.

 

At a Glance

When: 10 a.m.-10 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 16, with a grand entrance at 7 p.m.; 10 a.m.-10 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 17, with grand entrances at 1 p.m. and 7 p.m.; and from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 18, with a grand entrance at 1 p.m.

Where: Starkey Ranch in Odessa, at the corner of Gunn Highway and SR 54. The Pow Wow entrance is across SR 54 from the flea market. (13139 Gladstone Drive, Odessa, 33556)

Cost: $3 per person, with children under 12 free. Parking is free.

By B.C. Manion

While beautifully maintained landscapes can help create a good impression in any neighborhood, keeping up those appearances can prove costly.

That’s why the Pasco Alliance of Community Associations (PACA) recently invited Chris Dewey of the Pasco County Extension Service and Paul Woods of OLM Inc., to its meeting to discuss the issue of what to consider when hiring a landscape management company.

Woods is the Florida regional consultant for OLM, a company that has worked for communities and property managers since 1988 to help homeowner associations and property managers to prepare landscape management contracts, to ensure that the contracts specify what it needed for particular properties and to assist in administering such contracts.

Dewey coordinates the Florida-Friendly Landscaping Program in Pasco County and advises homeowners, homeowner associations and businesses on Florida yard and landscaping standards and goals.

“Landscapes are capital investments,” Woods said during PACA’s meeting on Thursday, Sept. 8 at the Land O’ Lakes Community Center.

The idea is to protect that investment, while keeping the financial interests of the homeowner associations in mind, Woods added.

“The things that happen, happen by contract,” Dewey noted.

So, it is critical that contracts spell out specific standards, he said. “Be detailed.”

Avoid phrases such as “as needed” or “as determined,” Woods advised. That language is too loose.

The contract should spell out such things as the height at which the grass must be maintained, Dewey said. He’s seen instances when the grass has been scalped, which damages its health.

The contract should contain the appropriate standards and should address such things as fertilization, mowing and pesticide use, Dewey said.

“One size does not fit all,” he noted. “I’m always available to help the HOA (homeowners’ association) board to develop the specifications for a good lawn maintenance contract.”

It’s a good idea to look for companies that can handle all aspects of the landscaping service, Woods added. They should be able to do the landscape maintenance work, handle irrigation and do pest control, he said.

If you divide the duties up among different contractors there’s too much opportunity for blame shifting, Dewey said. He calls that the “circular firing squad” effect.

Once you have a contract that specifies what must be done, it’s also important to verify that it is being carried out properly, Woods said.

“There is no substitute for verifying that people are doing what they’re supposed to be doing,” he said. The keys to effective inspections are frequency and detail.

There are published materials that can assist community associations in their planning. Two guides that may be helpful are: “The Florida-Friendly Landscaping Guide to Plant Selection & Landscape Design,” produced by the University of Florida IFAS (Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences) and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection; and, “The Community Landscape, An Environmental Approach: Florida-Friendly Landscaping Guidelines for Community Associations,” produced by the University of Florida IFAS.