Special to The Laker/Lutz News

By Zack Peterson

Tucked among the numerous storefronts at The Shops at Wiregrass lies Sim City Golf, a business dedicated to providing a unique indoor golf experience to golfers of all ages and skill levels with the Golf Blaster 3D simulator.

Sim City Golf has offered this technology to golfers since June 1, helping golf enthusiasts enjoy their game sans the sweltering summer heat.

Originally, Sim City Golf was jump-started from the partnership of Tim Polce, Fred Bender and their overseas partner, Jan Burger.

Both PGA pros and golf enthusiasts, Polce and Bender found that the simulated Golf Blaster 3D experience was extremely popular.

“We have a learning center at the Pasadena Hills Golf Resort in Zephyrhills,” Polce explained. “And my partner (Bender) and I have another Golf Blaster 3D machine at that facility.

“It’s very popular up there so we decided to expand and bring it down here.”

The technology itself relies on sensors. According to Polce, the simulator is coated with sensors from the tee pad to the ceiling and even on the floor.

“It’s extremely accurate,” Polce said. “It’s definitely more than just a video game.”

Each of the four Golf Blasters at Sim City Golf contains a multitude of options. Golfers can enjoy a digital round of golf at one of 60 world famous courses, practice on a high-tech driving range that gives in-depth analysis of each shot, play a round of putt-putt golf or even challenge friends to a game of target golf or “breaking windows.”

“It’s a good alternative,” Polce said. “You’re going to hit all the same shots that you would outside but without sweating.”

Prior to the Golf Blasters success, Polce and Bender had been looking for adequate simulator technology for the past couple years.

According to Polce, the Golf Blaster was “the best ball measuring system of all the simulators.”

But Sim City Golf offers more than just an alternative to golfing in extreme heat; it also offers its customers beer, wine, weekend tournaments and even lessons given on the simulator. Alongside fitted clubs and opportunities for golfers of all handicaps, Sim City Golf strives to provide its customers with a complementary experience.

“We like to stay up late and provide all this so that people have something to do,” Polce said.

For those interested in booking a tee time at Sim City Golf, they are available up to three days in advance and can be reached at (813) 973-2222.

“You know you’ve got something good when even the good golfers like it,” Polce said. “We want to get people interested in this.”

Sim City Golf

The Shops at Wiregrass

29329 Paseo Drive, Suite #1130

Wesley Chapel

• Monday through Saturday 10 a.m. – 9 p.m.
• Sunday 12 p.m. – 6 p.m.
• www.simcitygolf.com
• Simulators can be rented out at a flat rate starting at $30-40 per hour for any size party

Additional location

The Pasadena Hills Golf Resort also features “The Golf Blaster 3D simulator”

7031 Whitney Ashton Lane, Zephyrhills

(813) 857-5430

 

 

Company delivers organic items to your door

By B.C. Manion

Tampa Bay Organics operates on a simple premise.

People want to eat healthy, but they don’t have time to track down the good fruits and vegetables that they need.

So this Lutz-based company will do that job for them and will deliver the fresh fruits and veggies wherever the customer wants them – their front door, back porch, business, even their neighbor’s house.

It’s a customer-driven business, said Jessica Papesh, the marketing director of the company, located on the west side of US 41, just south of SR 54.

The company makes deliveries once a week in a market area that stretches from Clearwater to Plant City, Ruskin to Shady Hills.

The service area will continue to expand as the service grows, Papesh said.

Customers choose how often they want deliveries and decide whether they want a small, medium or large box of produce. They also select whether they want all veggies, all fruit, or a combination. The prices are $29.50 for a small box; $38 for a medium box; and $47.50 for a large box.

They can indicate if there’s a fruit or vegetable that they never want, and they can make up to three substitutions for items in every delivery, Papesh said.

“These days, people want exactly what they want, and I don’t blame them,” said Al Tizer, one of the company’s owners.

The company guarantees the quality of its produce.

“You don’t get charged until the day after your delivery, so we can make sure everything makes it to you safe and sound,” Papesh said.

Tizer said he’s not aware of any other business in the Tampa Bay region that provides a home delivery service for organic produce.

The service provides a convenient source of fresh organics.

“The fact that it’s brought to your doorstep, it just can’t be beat,” Papesh said.

“People want to save time. When you’re busy and you want to lead a healthy lifestyle, it’s difficult. It’s hard to find the time to eat healthy. Especially, if you have a family, you want to keep healthy food in the house. You won’t find the variety of food that we have in a grocery store.

“You’d find yourself going to many stores and spending countless hours and still not being able to find what we have,” Papesh said.

“We just want to make it very, very easy for people,” Tizer said.

Besides having access to a variety of organic fruits and vegetables, patrons can rest assured that they’re getting genuine organics, Papesh said.

“We’re strictly organic. All of the farms and distributors that we use are 100 percent certified USDA (U.S. Department of Agriculture) organic. So, our customers know that everything they’re getting is organic, and that comes with the labels on each of the individual items,” she said.

“We try to buy local as much as possible,” Papesh said.

During the local growing season, the company will buy as much local produce as possible, Papesh said. At other times, they buy from distributors of organic produce.

“Our menu varies on a weekly basis,” Papesh said.

Last week’s small fruit and veggie combo box, for instance, include oranges, a cucumber, a mango, spinach, carrots, apples, corn and grapes.

“We take suggestions from our customers and we try to keep a good variety in the boxes. “We’ve got some staple items, like apples, bananas, we’ll do every week. We’ll always do a leafy green.

“We try to do like one item that you may not necessarily buy all of the time at the grocery store. Keep it fresh for the customer. If we ever do something that you may not have heard of, or you’ve never bought, then we’ll put something in our email that goes out, like try this recipe, or cook it like this, store it like this,” Papesh said.

The idea is to keep customers informed and to do the legwork for them, she said.

The company makes its deliveries on Tuesdays, at the moment. As it grows, it plans to increase its deliveries.

“We ask that everyone leave a cooler out and some ice packs, just to keep it as fresh and crisp as possible. We do put an ice pack in with the delivery.”

The company also has a website that is very easy to use, Papesh said. It was developed by Tizer’s business partner, Wayne Pierson, who lives in California.

For more information about Tampa Bay Organics, visit www.tampabayorganics.com, call (813) 949-1112 or email

 

By Zack Peterson

While Eric Rapp laid in a pool of his own blood, he knew this was a sign from God that his life needed a change. A major one.

Eight years ago, Rapp was a firefighter/paramedic, fresh out of the Army Rangers and ready for whatever life could throw at him. Then one evening, while out with his wife and friends at a bar, he walked out to his car to put his phone away when Rapp said a gang of a dozen-plus men approached him, looking to take his money.

Rapp managed to successfully fend them off, in part, he said, due to his Army Ranger training. Out of fear, he quickly attempted to escape with his wife before anything else could happen.

However, the cops showed up, saw the knocked-out gang members and assumed the worst.

Rapp said they hauled him out of his car, and when they found him still standing, assumed he was a threat.

“I got thwacked right in the back with one of their flashlights and had three shattered vertebrae disks,” Rapp said. “When they (the police) cut me out of my car, I was out of it because I got hit in the head during the fight. I had no idea what was going on and assumed the fight was starting up again.”

He was charged with multiple felonies, including battery on law enforcement.

“That moment,” he said, “changed my life considerably.”

Ultimately, the battery charges were dropped. Court records show Rapp was sentenced to probation on lesser charges; Rapp said he completed an anger management class.

Change

That moment made Rapp re-evaluate his life and everything he had come to know. Wanting to make a new beginning, Rapp opened The Program of Land O’ Lakes at the Impact Sports Academy with the goal of providing the community with a sports center and an after-school care environment. The Program provides 12-18 year olds with a safe environment after school that Rapp believes they can’t find elsewhere.

“It’s so dangerous out there these days,” Rapp said. “There’s kids getting tangled up in the wrong thing one time and it kills them.

“It leaves kids to fend for themselves after the bell rings at 2, and we want to be here for those kids who are too old for after-school programs.”

His idea came to life on July 16 with the grand opening of The Program.

Struggle

But getting there was no small feat.

After the major conflict, what came next was the most challenging. Eight long years passed by, with Rapp struggling each day to overcome the damage done to his back.

But soon, he found it affected too much of his everyday life.  He couldn’t pick up a stretcher. Couldn’t do his job. Couldn’t do anything. Rapp had to quit his job. Beyond that, his commitment floundered in other areas of his life too.

His involvement as the assistant wrestling coach at Pasco High also decreased as his injury worsened.

“As I grew worse and worse, I just couldn’t handle it,” Rapp said.

Forced to work odd construction jobs here and there, Rapp continued his struggle as he tried to provide for his family.

Recovery

It wasn’t till May that Rapp finally had reconstructive surgery done.

After visiting surgeon Dr. Anthony Moreno, Rapp discovered that treatment was available and do-able. The surgery was performed in May, Rapp said, without any complications.

Recovery brought its own series of challenges.

Lying in bed late one night, Rapp woke up suddenly in pitch darkness to discover he was covered in blood. It coated the side of his body, and bubbled in one massive pool between his legs.

According to Rapp, his catheter came unattached and wasn’t fixed, causing blood to flow back out of his vein freely.

Rapp believes that had he not woken up so late at night, he wouldn’t have made it to where he is today.

“I can tell you what it’s like being in a room full of machine gun fire and know that you’re not supposed to have these memories and live. But I knew that this was the closest I was to ever truly dying,” Rapp said.

“It was a sign from God that I made it,” Rapp said. “It made me realize I need to be thinking, ‘I have one shot on this merry-go-round of life, how can I do something great for my community?’”

That’s when Rapp emerged, after eight years of strenuous turmoil, a new man and ready to make a change.

New Beginning

Luckily for Rapp, the change came to him.

“My neighbor came to my door one day while I was resting and asked if I was interested in working with wrestling again and kids.”

From there, The Program pieced itself together.

Rapp went and spoke to local churches asking for volunteers for his new project to help watch the kids and assist them with minor homework-related problems. He bought a bus. He went out spreading the word and hiring instructors for the various classes he hopes to have.

Officially, The Program is a non profit organization, and it offers indoor batting cages, softball, wrestling, martial arts, gymnastics, cheerleading and group fitness.

For the after-school care, Rapp also contracted Knowledge Points learning program for those children who need further assistance or tutoring.

“We made it,” Rapp said. “Our expectations for this are way up high and we’re not quite there yet, but we’ve had a great response and everyone’s ecstatic.

“We’re just going to keep getting better and provide for the community in every way possible.”

The Program can be reached at (813) 909-8815 and is located right off Land O’ Lakes Boulevard on Carson Drive.

 

County give park workers authority to issue tickets

By Kyle LoJacono

 

Pasco Parks and Recreation Department workers and police officers have at least one thing in common. Both can now write tickets to enforce user fees for the county’s 11 regional parks.

County commissioners voted 4-1 on July 26 to give park workers the authority to write tickets to those not complying with the $2 fee to park at the regional sites.

The lone no vote came from Commissioner Jack Mariano, who represents much of the county’s park-intensive Gulf coast. Mariano has opposed the fee since it began last year and was less than pleased with giving authority to write tickets to parks workers.

“I hear from citizens and business owners around the parks on the water and they all hate the fees,” Mariano said. “It’s hurting business and driving people away from the parks.”

While the fees may not be popular, parks director Rick Buckman said they are the only way to prevent closing recreation facilities, either for several days a week or permanently.

“We’ve lost more than 30 percent of our budget during the last three years and we’re losing another $470,000 next year,” Buckman said. “We needed to find a way to come up with more funds for the department and user fees was the best way to do that.”

Commissioner Pat Mulieri said the fees are the best way to preserve services for the public.

“We had several public meetings last year to hear what the public wanted us to do,” Mulieri said. “Most people said they didn’t want parks closed. They didn’t want us to raise taxes on everyone, so it was determined the best thing to do was charge those who use the parks the most.”

The flaw in the system was parks workers had no authority to enforce the fees. The plan was for the department to raise $691,000 this year, but it has collected only 20 percent of that goal.

“All we could do was call the police like anyone else,” Buckman said. “That isn’t the best use of their time to come out and write tickets for parking violators at the parks.”

Buckman said he doesn’t want to see workers writing tickets left and right either.

“Hopefully people will understand there are consequences and just pay the $2 to park,” Buckman said. “It’s the best thing for the parks they enjoy and it’s cheaper than a ticket.”

Mariano suggested using part of the $1.1 million given to the county by Sheriff Chris Nocco, which was left over from this current fiscal year, to plug the shortfall. That money is currently pegged to help with balancing the 2011-12 budget.

“We just have to make the decision that we’re going to fund the parks the way we built them,” Mariano said. He then added, “I’m not comfortable with putting money into reserves when we’re cutting the parks.”

Mariano also made an attempt to convince other commissioners to increase taxes to pay for parks while eliminating the user fees.

Commissioner Henry Wilson expressed concern of adding another responsibility on parks workers already stretched to their limits by layoffs and other cuts.

“I’m concerned that our staff is already overworked,” Wilson said. “Is it going to take away from their day job? Are they OK with this?”

Buckman did say several parks workers are somewhat uneasy with writing tickets.

“But they understand it has to be done,” Buckman said.

For more information on Pasco parks, visit portal.pascocountyfl.net.

 

Pasco parks with entry fees

• Withlacoochee River Park, 12449 Withlacoochee Blvd., Dade City
• Suncoast Trail, stretches from Lutz into Hernando though central Pasco
• Jay B. Starkey Wilderness Park, 10500 Wilderness Park Blvd., Odessa
• Crews Lake Wilderness Park, 16739 Crews Lake Drive, Spring Hill
• Anclote River Park, 1119 Baillies Bluff Road, Holiday
• Anclote Gulf Park, 2305 Baillies Bluff Road, Holiday
• Key Vista Park, 2700 Baillies Bluff Road, Holiday
• Moon Lake Park, 8985 Lake Drive, New Port Richey
• Robert K. Rees Memorial Park, 4835 Green Key Road, New Port Richey
• Eagle Point Park, 4499 Strauber Memorial Highway, New Port Richey
• Robert J. Strickland Memorial Park, 6345 Clark St., Hudson

 

 

School enters 20^th year on solid financial footing

By B.C. Manion

Academy at the Lakes, a private, independent school in Land O’ Lakes, is ushering in its 20^th year on the heels of a successful refinancing and with an eye for future expansion.

The school’s previous lender – the Bank of America – filed a foreclosure action in March, but dropped it in April, allowing refinancing talks to continue, according to the school.

The academy subsequently paid off its loan to the bank on July 8 and entered into replacement financing with two other entities, said Mark Heller, the academy’s headmaster. Heller would not disclose the terms of the financing. He also would not identify the lenders, citing respect for their wish to remain anonymous.

But, Heller said, the replacement loan was a good deal. The bank was happy and the school and lenders are happy, too, he said.

“The real benefit is that our total amount of what we owe is drastically reduced,” Heller said. And, if things play out right, the school could be in a posture to acquire land for an expansion that would enable it meet its needs for 100 years, Heller said.

“This is a situation that could absolutely transform the footprint and the presence of the school,” Heller said. He said it is too early to discuss particulars.

As the school gears up for the coming year, it is expecting its enrollment to exceed 400 students, its highest enrollment to date.

That’s a far cry from the school’s initial enrollment of 32 when it opened its doors in 1992.

Over the years, the school’s enrollment and physical presence have grown. It now has campuses on both sides of Collier Parkway, just north of SR 54.

The campus for the lower division is on the east side of Collier Parkway and the campus for the middle and upper divisions is on the west.

The middle and upper campus includes a lake, Spanish moss-draped trees, a converted Georgian mansion and outbuildings designed to match the architectural elements of the main house.

“We believe in the power of architecture,” Heller said, noting the environment has an effect on students.

“They’re not going to school in a plain box. They learn appreciation for design and aesthetic elements,” the headmaster said.

The attention to detail in the school’s architecture is just one example of the conscious decisions that school leaders make in setting a tone for learning and creating an atmosphere that engages students.

This is a school where all high school students must take a foreign language, where high school students are expected to conduct scientific research that goes beyond the bounds of typical high school experiences. One hundred percent of the graduates go on to college, with most accepted by their “first choice” college, school leaders say.

The school’s middle division, for grades five through eight, is broken into subdivisions – one for fifth- and sixth-graders and the other for seventh- and eighth-graders.

“If your middle school is sixth through eighth, the gulf between the sixth-grader and the eighth-grader is enormous. It doesn’t serve the sixth-graders or the eighth-graders well.”

In addition to encouraging curiosity and creativity, Academy at the Lakes emphasizes the importance of social skills.

“We have a Day of Manners multiple times a year, where we teach kids appropriate social behavior,” Heller said. “We think that’s a very important asset for them, for their future.”

Knowing how to dress appropriately is important, too, he said.

The school, which serves pre-kindergarten through 12^th grade, requires uniforms through eighth-grade and has a dress code for high schoolers.

“We try to teach girls that more skin equals less power,” Heller said. “When girls err in the dress code, it’s either too tight or too short or too revealing.
“When boys make mistakes in dress code, it’s usually that it’s just too sloppy.

“We try to teach the boys to be neat. We try to teach the girls not to succumb to being too revealing in their clothes because you actually lose power when you’re too revealing.”

The school’s enrollment includes students from Odessa, Lutz, New Tampa, Land O’ Lakes, Wesley Chapel and other nearby communities. The base rate for tuition ranges from $8,925 for Pre-K3 to $17,840 for high school. Financial aid is available.

The nondenominational school’s student body is diverse.

“You cannot go to school at Academy at the Lakes and fail to have friends who are a different race, a different religion, a different ethnic background than you,” he said.

“We are a very worldly school in Land O’ Lakes.”

And, while it’s anticipating its highest enrollment ever, the school is tiny as compared to the community’s public schools.

The academy’s relatively small size works to the student’s advantage, Heller said.

“When you are in a really big situation, the chance of anonymity is much greater. There is nothing worse than anonymity for teenagers. That’s when bad things happen.

“Part of the recipe at a small private school is that every student – because we’re small – is that much more important to the functioning of the community,” Heller said. “Kids thrive when they’re important.”

For more information about Academy at the Lakes, call (813) 948-7600 or visit www.academyatthelakes.org.

 

By Zack Peterson

Victoria Leggett and her mother, Karla Leggett, first heard of the Power of 9 campaign while watching Access Hollywood one afternoon back in April.

And within an afternoon, together they created a video that would make Victoria stand out amongst the thousands of other videos sent in to the www.gotmilk.com website.

“The Power of 9 campaign is nine regular teenage girls whose videos were selected. We promote milk and healthy lifestyles to other teenage girls and explain how it’s really important when it comes to keeping us fit,” Victoria said.

Initially, the Power of 9 campaign was jump-started by singer/dancer/actress Julianne Hough, who was picked as the “Got Milk?” celebrity moustache winner this spring.

“It was her idea to start this campaign,” Victoria said.

Applicants who were interested in participating in the campaign first had to submit a video that highlighted their interests, personalities and life stories and how milk had a significant role in helping achieve their success.

Then, Hough picked 27 semifinalists and, finally, it was up to America to go online and vote for the top nine.

“We found out she was one of the nine on Good Friday,” Karla said.

In the large pool of videos, Victoria believes hers stood out due to the fact that she discussed her hearing disability.

“She was born with it, but it was at 18 months that I first noticed she had it,” Karla said.

From there, Victoria was diagnosed with a 25 percent hearing loss and put into speech therapy so that she could learn to speak and carry out conversation despite her disability.

As an incoming freshman at Steinbrenner High, Victoria doesn’t think her disability will affect her in a negative way since she’s learned to combat its effects.

Therefore, for her video, she “mostly wanted to inspire other girls and teenagers.”

“It doesn’t matter if you have a disability; you can still do anything,” she said. “I wanted to base my video on that.”

The video features Victoria dancing, an activity she has enjoyed since she was 2.

Once selected, Victoria was flown to New York City in May with eight other contestants for a 12-hour photo shoot. She was informed that all the winners would be featured on blogs and on the Seventeen magazine website — plus ads in a variety of other publications (including the back page of this week’s Lutz News).

“It’s a great honor to be a part of this,” Victoria said. “After the Power of 9 I’ve grown more confident. And this is only my first step. I know I can achieve what I want to do.”

Learn more about the campaign at www.facebook.com/bodybymilk

 

School district expects to serve many displaced students

By Kyle LoJacono

The Hillsborough Commission has eliminated the after-school program at the county’s parks, forcing parents and guardians of more than 1,800 kids to find alternative care.

The move, approved July 27, will save the county $7.5 million and will help plug the $50 million hole in Hillsborough’s budget for next year. Commissioners Les Miller, Ken Hagan and Victor Crist, who represents District 2 including Lutz and Odessa, voted against the cut.

Participation in the program, such as one at Nye Park in Lutz, has decreased in the last few years. The numbers topped out two years ago when 6,000 kids were enrolled. While participation has dropped, the cost has remained about the same because of insurances rates and salaries.

“The reason we’re sitting here is the business model doesn’t work, and hasn’t worked for years,” said Commissioner Mark Sharpe. “We maintained it because we had the resources and people were comfortable with the ways we were doing things.”

While the participation has dropped by more than one third in the parks’ program, enrollment in the Hillsborough County Public Schools version, called HOST, has jumped from 4,000 to 8,000 in those same two years.

District spokeswoman Linda Cobbe said HOST could add most of the 1,800 children to the school’s program without too much difficulty.

Parks department director Mark Thornton added the cost for a week of after-school care is the same at the school and park programs.

“It is also the same for a week at the YMCA,” Thornton said. “It’s $48, so it shouldn’t be too difficult to find a good place for kids to go after school.”

The three commissioners that opposed the move stated they do not believe it would be as easy to find quality after-school care as Thornton makes it out.

“We should be talking about high-quality recreation and I think we have reduced it to the issue of money,” Miller said. He added the need to make sure the kids have healthy place to play and do homework after school.

Gwen Luney, assistant school superintendent for student services and federal programs, told commissioners HOST has a healthy snack program to make sure the kids are eating right. They also offer help with homework and get “physical exercise every day.

“They aren’t just sitting in a school cafeteria for hours after school waiting for their parents to pick them up,” Luney continued.

While the after-school program is being eliminated, 11 regional parks will continue to be staffed. Workers will be shifted away from 31 other locations, leaving them without permanent employees as a cost-cutting measure.

“That can serve as after-school programs for many of the kids,” Hagan said. “Those workers will be doing much of what they did with the old program. They will just be concentrated at 11 parks.”

Not all the workers will have a job under the new system, as 64 full-time and a yet to be determined number of part-time employees will lose their positions because the program was cut.

For more information on Hillsborough parks, visit www.hillsboroughcounty.org/parks.

HOST Program

Hillsborough County Public Schools offers HOST after-school programs at all public schools in the Lutz area. Visit http://host.mysdhc.org for more information.

 

By B.C. Manion

You don’t have to be heading back to school to take advantage of this week’s sales tax holiday – anybody purchasing apparel or school supplies can benefit, as long as the items they purchase qualify for an exemption.

Often referred to as a “back-to-school” tax holiday, the state’s sales tax holiday allows consumers to purchase items of apparel priced at $75 or less, sales tax-free. The same goes for school supplies which are priced individually at $15 or less, according to the state’s Department of Revenue website.

This year’s sales tax holiday begins at 12:01 a.m. Friday, Aug. 12 and runs through 11:59 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 14.

The sales tax holiday is not restricted to shoppers of a certain age and does not require any proof that someone is heading back to school, said Renee Watters, of the Florida Department of Revenue.

The tax holiday creates a bit of a buzz among retailers who sell back-to-school merchandise, said John Fleming, director of communications for the Florida Retail Federation.

“It’s sparked a lot of competitiveness,” Fleming said.

It also has ripple effects, as nearby businesses such as restaurants often jump on the bandwagon – offering discounts to attract customers who are enjoying the state’s tax holiday.

“A lot of consumers perceive the holiday as something fun,” Fleming said.

The tax break acts as a stimulus, increasing foot traffic at retailers selling exempt items, Fleming said.

The most common questions that consumers have involve what items qualify for exemption and whether there is a limit regarding how many exemptions they can get, Fleming said.

According to the state’s website, exempt items include clothing, wallets or bags, including handbags, backpacks, fanny packs and diaper bags. Items such as briefcases, suitcases and other garment bags are not tax-exempt.

School supplies are defined as pens, pencils, erasers, crayons, notebooks, notebook filler paper, legal pads, binders, lunchboxes, construction paper, markers, folders, poster board, composition books, poster paper, scissors, cellophane tape, glue, paste, rulers, computer disks, protractors, compasses and calculators.

The tax break applies to each exempt item, no matter how many items are sold on the same invoice to a customer.

Books, however, are not exempt from sales tax. Clothing and school supplies sold at a theme park, entertainment complex, public lodging establishment or airport are not exempt, either — so expect to shell out sales tax on that Mickey Mouse pencil from the Magic Kingdom.

The law also specifies that items normally sold as a unit cannot be split apart and sold separately. For instance, a pair of shoes that goes for $80 cannot be sold as two separate shoes at $40 each.

When clothing items are advertised as “buy one, get one” the retailer cannot sell each item at half-price in order to qualify for the exemption. However, if the merchant were offering a 50 percent discount, the qualifying items that sell for $75 or less would qualify.