Special to The Laker/Lutz News

Club helps speakers build confidence

By Zack Peterson

The timer light just turned bright green. Micah Richeson has been talking for a minute now about the number five.

Yes, anything and everything related to the number five is open to Micah’s oral assessment.

Another 30 seconds later, the timer light flashes yellow, signifying to the audience that Micah has 30 minutes left to finish his speech.

Micah exhales with relief, wraps up his final sentiments and flashes a brief smile of accomplishment before receiving a round of applause.

His speech ranges everywhere from the number of years he lived in Gainesville (five), to the number of organs the body has (five) and finally to the number of toes and fingers human beings possess on each hand and foot (also five).

Though seemingly arbitrary, here at the Wesley Chapel Speaks Toastmasters Club, Micah has been encouraged to take a leap of faith, take the stand and speak about whatever topic he draws for one to two minutes during what’s known as the Table Topic portion of the meeting.

Here at the Wesley Chapel Speaks Toastmasters Club, it’s not about proficiency at first; it’s about building confidence.

Although the club has a specific schedule they keep to for each meeting, during the Table Topic portion, members draw from a basket of potential speech topics, dwell upon the topic for a couple seconds and then approach their fellow members with a spontaneous speech about what they selected.

Though not officially members yet, Micah and his wife, Mitze (who had to talk about the number 13), wanted to experience what the club had to offer. The couple moved to the New Tampa/Wesley Chapel area about two years ago when they heard about the club.

“We wanted to get a feel for what this was like,” Micah said. “I do some speaking on the side and she’s (Mitze) been interested in her speaking skills. Being new to this community still, we hope it’ll be a good way to connect with more people.”

And connection is what the club strives to teach, particularly when it comes to connecting individuals with speaking skills they never knew they had.

“I was once terrified of speaking,” said David West, president of the Wesley Chapel Speaks Toastmasters Club. “My legs would shake and everything.”

West originally became interested with public speaking at the age of 15 when he delivered his first sermon. By the time he was 19, he began preaching full time and has moved throughout Dade City, Trilby and now, preaches at The Church of Wesley Chapel.

“I like starting things,” said West, and that’s why, a little over a year and a half ago, West helped found the club with intention of getting his fellow community members more comfortable with public speaking.

The Wesley Chapel Speaks Toastmasters Club meets on the first and third Monday evenings at the Hyundai of Wesley Chapel (27000 Wesley Chapel Boulevard), and then on the second and fourth Monday mornings at the St. Petersburg Times’ Wesley Chapel office on 26240 Golden Maple Loop.

“We want to get you comfortable with speaking,” West said. “And I think a key part to that is thinking, ‘It’s not about me, it’s about the message I’ve got to give.’”

That’s why West starts out newcomers to the club with their first public speech known as the “Ice-breakers,” which has members delivering a speech about themselves.

“When you’re asked to speak, you’re asked to speak because you’re an expert on the topic,” West said. “No one’s more of an expert on you than you are.”

Currently, between the two meeting sessions, the club has about 15 members, but West is confident that by September the club will be home to 35-40 members.

According to West, when the club first launched, “it did in six months what most clubs couldn’t do in a year.”

“We received all kinds of awards, distinctions and had great numbers,” West said. However, the next year, West stepped down from his position as president.

Though the club “dwindled” the following year, West took the initiative to reassume his former position and build the club back up to its former numbers.

Presently, West has spoken to 40-50 people who are interested in becoming members.

“I think it’s mostly the economy that keeps the Toastmasters numbers low,” West said. “People don’t have as much time for personal development; they’re just trying to get by.

“But this could be just the thing you need. If you want a good job, communication skills are critical. Now’s a great time to join; there’s always room for you.”

Members are required to pay a fee of $50 twice a year, but all of the proceeds go back to whatever supplies the club may need.

“Anything we put in all goes back to the members,” West explained.

But according to West, the greatest experience he takes out of working with Toastmasters is seeing the individual change.

“In six months, you won’t even recognize yourself,” West said. “There’ll be that much visible improvement.”

Group to celebrate its 20^th anniversary

By B.C. Manion

When Pasco County residents hop into their cars to make a trip, chances are good they aren’t traveling east or west, but instead are heading north or south.

Because of those travel patterns, there’s a good likelihood that people living and working on the east side of the county are out of touch with the issues affecting the west side, and vice versa.

Since its inception, Leadership Pasco has tried to develop leaders who take a broad view of the county – and consider it as a whole, not two distinct parts, said Cynthia Armstrong, who served on the group’s founding board.

“Leadership Pasco has done an excellent, excellent job of bringing people from both sides of the county together,” Armstrong said.

The organization is marking its 20^th anniversary with a celebration on Thursday, Aug. 11, at the Seven Springs Golf & Country Club in New Port Richey.

Armstrong, now a member of the Pasco County School Board, said Leadership Pasco has good reason to celebrate.

“I’m very proud of how it has evolved,” Armstrong said. “I think it has done exactly – and more – of what we originally envisioned,” said the woman who was serving on the board of the West Pasco Chamber of Commerce when Leadership Pasco was born.

Since the beginning, the organization has been devoted to helping develop leadership in Pasco County. It also has aimed to give its members a deeper understanding of the county’s physical makeup, its social issues, its strengths, weaknesses and potential.

At first glance, its members may seem to have little in common: They are bankers or lawyers, educators or marketing experts. Some work in agriculture, others in industry. Some do charitable work.

Having a diverse membership is deliberate, said Kurt Conover, marketing director for the Regional Medical Center Bayonet Point.

The idea is to bring people together from different walks of life so they can learn from each other, he said.

Therefore, each class of Leadership Pasco is made up of members who bring knowledge to the table about distinct community issues and who have diverse professional perspectives.

During the course of two decades more than 600 people have completed the training offered through Leadership Pasco.

Each Leadership Pasco class devotes the better part of a year to educational activities and learning sessions designed to help them develop a deeper understanding of Pasco County.

Class members begin their education by taking two daylong bus tours, devoting a day to each side of the county.

On the east side, for instance, they get a better sense of what’s happening on the agricultural scene. And, on the west side, they gain a better grasp about some of the urban challenges facing the county.

Harold Sample, who has been conducting the bus tour for about 18 years, said he tells each new class of Leadership Pasco that he will buy anyone on the bus a lunch if they don’t learn something new about the county during the bus tours.

So far, he hasn’t had to buy a single lunch, said Sample, now with Workforce Housing Ventures Inc.

Besides the bus tour, the organization has monthly programs, emphasizing different themes each month. Those topics include criminal justice; business and industry; government and the media; infrastructure and growth management; healthcare; education; and leadership in action.

On issues of criminal justice, for instance, they may tour the jail, learn about weapons and hear from the sheriff, attorneys and judges, Conover said.

In the healthcare arena, they cover the continuum of healthcare issues – from birth to death, he said. They’ll also tour healthcare facilities and will hear from nonprofit groups that provide healthcare on the community level.

Class members also take part in an overnight activity, where they live in a simulated society of haves, have-nots and people in between.

“I was in the have-not (group). You couldn’t go anywhere. You couldn’t do anything,” Conover said.

The experience helps participants develop a greater appreciation regarding the impacts that economic status can have on people’s choices, opportunities and experiences, Conover said.

Besides having a chance to increase their knowledge, each leadership class also identifies and completes a community service project.

The Leadership Pasco Class of 2011 raised funds for a K-9 shelter and shower for the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office. The previous year’s class raised money for two portable showers for homeless people.

Prospective Leadership Pasco members fill out an application, which is reviewed by a selection committee.

The program has a $700 fee, but there are partial and full scholarships available, Conover said.

 

What: 20^th Anniversary Celebration

Where: Seven Springs Golf & Country Club, 3535 Trophy Boulevard

New Port Richey

When: Thursday, Aug. 11, 5:30-7:30 p.m.

Enjoy Hors d’oeuvres, wine, beer and mingling with 20 years of Leadership Pasco graduates

Ticket prices are $35 for the general public and $50 for members, which includes access to the group’s database of 600-plus members, or $75, which includes access to the database and a nice shirt that commemorates the 20^th anniversary.

For more information, contact Glenn Hanff at (727) 457-6375.

By B.C. Manion

She isn’t sure where her path in life will take her, but Erica Boehm, a young woman from Wesley Chapel, will be spending the next year of her life working as a missionary.

Boehm will soon travel to St. Paul, Minn., to spend five weeks in preparation for her role in Net Ministries.

Net Ministries is an international Catholic youth ministry that provides training in youth evangelization and leads more than 1,000 retreats annually.

The organization’s acronym stands for National Evangelization Teams. The organization began in 1981, as an outreach from a retreat program of the St. Paul Catholic Youth Center, in St. Paul, Minn.

The center’s first team traveled around Minnesota, conducting youth retreats.

Since then, the program has evolved to include teams in the United States and other countries that fan out to lead retreats, do community service work and share the gospel.

After completing five weeks of intense training, Boehm will join one of the teams. She is one of 120 young men and women selected to take part in the ministry program this year.

She said she’s not sure what her assignment will be. She could join a team that travels around the country. Boehm may be assigned to work at a specific parish. Or, she could be assigned to work out of the headquarters in St. Paul.

“Wherever I end up, that’s where God wants me,” Boehm said.

Although she grew up Catholic, Boehm said her true spiritual awakening didn’t occur until she was in high school and she began helping with her youth group at St. Mark the Evangelist Church in New Tampa.

Attending a four-day conference in Atlanta was a turning point in her life.

“It was just so beautiful. Since then, every day is a new experience,” Boehm said.

Each missionary must raise $4,200 to support his or her work, said Boehm, who is raising her money by giving talks, through word of mouth and by sending out letters asking people to support her financially and through prayer.

She also will seek financial support from those attending masses at her church during the weekend of Aug. 20-21. She’ll be talking about her upcoming work during each of the weekend’s masses.

Boehm has belonged to the church for six years and has been active as a peer minister in the youth group.

Boehm is excited about spending the better part of a year in her life sharing her faith with others.

She isn’t sure where her faith journey will take her, but she knows she wants to continue working in youth ministry.

“I wait for God to direct me where I’m going. This year, it’s going to be a lot of discerning,” Boehm said.

To find out more about NET Ministries, follow the organization on Twitter or Facebook, call (651) 450-6833 or visit www.netusa.org

To find out more about Boehm’s upcoming ministry you can contact her at .

 

Seeking missionary support

What: Erica Boehm will be discussing her upcoming ministry and seeking financial support for it.

Where: St. Mark the Evangelist Catholic Church, 9724 Cross Creek Boulevard, in New Tampa.

When: During the 5 p.m. mass on Saturday, Aug. 20 and during the 8:30 a.m., 10:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. masses on Sunday, Aug. 21.

 

 

WHAT’S IN A NAME

By Kyle LoJacono

This week will look into how Lutz got its name.

LUTZ was first settled as a Catholic mission in the late 1880s by Luxembourg priest Francis Stemper.

Stemper bought many acres of land in the area west of Lake Bruing, now Lake Stemper, to start the mission. Those who settled in the Stemper colony were primarily from Luxembourg.

The heart of the Stemper colony was located along present day US 41 south across from the First Baptist Church of Lutz.

The first structure Stemper built was the church, which doubled as the school, on the northwest end of the former Lake Bruing. Houses sprang up around the church. The first cemetery was on what is now Cypress Cove Road off Sunset Lane.

The Stemper post office was established on Nov. 17, 1893 with the namesake priest as the postmaster. The post office was ordered closed in February 1899, but reopened on April 13, 1899.

In 1907, the Tampa Northern Railroad was built. It ran from Tampa, through Stemper and further north.

The old wood-burning train engines required frequent stops to take on more wood, which were called wood rack stops. The stop just north of Stemper was named Lutz, after early Tampa Northern engineer William Lutz. William was a young engineer from West Virginia; his brother Charles ran a sawmill in what is now Odessa.

Charles built a tram track in 1909 to carry his lumber 10 miles east, connecting his sawmill to the Tampa Northern line at brother William’s Lutz station.

The Gulf Coast Railroad, which ran east-west toward Tarpon Springs, opened soon after the Tampa Northern line. The two tracks crossed at the Lutz station. The wood stop and two rail lines helped put the fledgling town on the map, but with the name North Tampa.

The joining of the railroads at the Lutz station prompted the stop to be renamed Lutz Junction. The replica of the old Lutz train depot now stands at U.S, 41 on the north side of W. Lutz Lake Fern Road. The original station was on the south side of Lutz Lake Fern.

During that time, North Tampa residents got their mail from the Stemper post office, located about three miles south. Early in 1912, they petitioned the U.S. government for their own post office, but were turned down.

Instead of asking for another post office, North Tampa residents signed a petition to have the Stemper location moved to North Tampa.

On Jan. 27, 1913, the U.S. Post Office granted the petition. However, the department feared North Tampa Post Office would be confused with the Tampa site.

The department chose to name it the Lutz Post Office after the Lutz Junction train depot. The town has been known as Lutz ever since.

For additional information on how Lutz got its name, visit www.fivay.org.

*The Laker and the Lutz News series on how historic places were named will continue throughout the summer. Information is provided by interviews with Pasco County historian Jeff Miller of Fivay.org and the West Pasco Historical Society. See how Wiregrass and Zephyrhills got their names next week, which will be the final edition of What’s in a Name.

 

 

By Zack Peterson

Monique Montoute has always been known for trying as many sports as possible. As a freshman at Academy at the Lakes, Montoute alone was involved in cross-country, played on the softball team and was part of the first all girls soccer team.

“I’m one of those people who tried everything,” Montoute said. “In middle school, I tried every sport.”

But since age 2, Montoute has been involved in karate, and her passion and dedication for the sport has led her to achievements that she will forever be remembered for.

Just last summer, Montoute was inducted into the Martial Arts Hall of Fame for the Caribbean at the age of 15 as an assistant instructor. As of now, she is the youngest female American to do so.

“It’s a very big honor,” Montoute said. “I couldn’t believe it when my name was called because I was so shocked.”

For Montoute, it all started when someone from her dojo, Purple Dragon’s Florida Academy of Don Jitsu Ryu, nominated her to the position.

According to Montoute, they admired her leadership, and Montoute greeted the news with jubilation and appreciation.

“For the first year I was really happy,” Montoute said. “People would come up to me and say, ‘Congrats Monique, you deserve this.’

I always do my best to encourage everyone to be their best,” she said.

However, the sudden success did little to sway Montoute from her precise work ethic.

In her environment, she lives, breathes and dreams karate.

Everybody in the Montoute family is involved in Don Jitsu Ryu karate, and the morals, ethics and codes that comprise it helps set the tone the Montoute family operates under.

Although one might find the discipline challenging, Montoute finds it to be a positive aspect of the family’s dynamic.

“It helps us be better people,” Montoute said. “We’re always going to have little conflicts and fights here and there; no one’s perfect. But we have a lot of discipline and carry ourselves well.

“Having a martial arts background separates you from everybody else in a good way.”

Montoute’s parents have been practicing Don Jitsu Ryu since they were teenagers in Trinidad, and with Montoute’s father being the owner of the Purple Dragon dojo in Florida, Montoute and her younger brother, Pierre, were born into the practice as well.

Though time consuming, being surrounded by karate her entire life has allowed Montoute to excel in Don Jitsu Ryu at a rapid pace.

Montoute received her black belt at age 11, and has since been continuing her training in the hopes of testing soon for her second-degree black belt.

With her high level of skill, Montoute also plays a large role at the Purple Dragon dojo.

“I have to check with them first, but I can quickly take over a class normally taught by a third or fourth-degree black belt if they’re unavailable,” Montoute said. “I think it’d be real cool if one day I could move up to that level and own my own dojo when I’m older.”

But for now, Montoute continues to embrace her passion for Don Jitsu Ryu that has taken her all this way.

“I just hope I can keep up my standards, keep up the training, keep up the good work,” Montoute said. “But for now, I’m not training specifically to become an instructor (in the Martial Arts Hall of Fame), I’m just being myself.”

Future likely to have private firms running facilities

By Kyle LoJacono

Though Pasco County has $11.4 million to build new recreation facilities, there’s no money in the budget to operate any new facilities.

“We barely have the budget to maintain what we have,” said county parks director Rick Buckman. “We’ve lost 30 percent of our budget since 2007 and we’re expecting more cuts this year.”

In total, the department’s budget has been cut $1.8 million from 2007-10 and Buckman said the projected reductions this year is $470,000, down another 5.8 percent. They are already planning to close the last two public pools, which would save $289,000 a year in operating costs.

Despite the budget concerns, the Pasco Commission is looking to the private sector for ways to use the money allocated for new facilities without closing existing sites.

The plan is to donate county land and pay for much of the initial building cost, and then turn the operation over to private companies who would pay to run the sites.

“We haven’t set anything in stone for the proposed sites, but it seems like the best option,” said Commissioner Ted Schrader.

The idea is not completely new, as the commission worked out a deal with Sportsplex USA to manage a regional park at Starkey Park in Odessa. The county offered $12 million to build the site, but demanded assurance from Sportsplex that the site would remain open regardless of the finances.

“We can’t give away millions of taxpayer dollars without a guarantee the money won’t go to waste,” Schrader said. “I’d say that’s something we should always ask for.”

Sportsplex walked away from the deal earlier this year. A similar proposal to build the proposed Pasco National Tennis Center in Saddlebrook Resort in 2009 fell through as well because of Pasco wanting protection for the money given.

Now the county can use additional money from sales tax and impact fees, up to a total of $21 million, to sweeten any deal to operate such facilities. However, Pasco has yet to come up with a way to make such proposals palatable for private companies.

“We’re kind of to the point where we have to decide, where do we want to move forward?” said Michele Baker, assistant county administrator.

Commissioner Pat Mulieri added, “We just have to be realistic. There isn’t money to be able to run these facilities, but we need to think of how to better Pasco County.”

Pasco commissioners talked about four potential sites to build new facilities at a recent board meeting, which include large regional parks in Wesley Chapel near Wiregrass Ranch High and Starkey Park. They also include smaller locations in Trinity and Hudson.

The board discussed creating a 160-acre park in Wesley Chapel. Pasco would own 40 acres with the Porter family controlling the remaining 120 with some level of public access.

J.D. Porter, whose family owns much of the Wiregrass Ranch land, has described the future site as similar to Disney’s ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando. He envisions a tournament destination for many different sports, which could help boost Pasco’s economy.

“We have the Dick’s Lacrosse Tournament each winter and that brings so many people from all over the country,” Mulieri said. “Our hotels, restaurants and stores are packed. It’s a major shot in the arm each year.”

In Odessa, the board still wants to build an 80-acre park in Starkey Ranch. The facility would likely include baseball and soccer fields, a skate park, a bicycle track and a cable park on a lake for water skiing.

Much like in Wesley Chapel, the county would like to own part of the land, which would be paid for by fees imposed on the privately operated portion.

Former county commissioner Michael Cox, a representative for the Starkey family, said the public park would “provide the foot traffic and exposure” for the private section. Cox was the main supporter of the Sportsplex project when on the board.

Building the four proposed parks would take a near miracle, according to Commissioner Jack Mariano.

“I don’t think we could build all four,” Mariano said. “It is good to have these things in front of us, so we can have more discussions. We can’t move forward without these kinds of talks.”

County Administrator John Gallagher said the commissioners want at least a five-year commitment from a private company before any park would be built. Without a compromise, any deal could suffer the same fate as Sportsplex and the tennis center have the last few years.

Proposed park sites

Regional park in Wesley Chapel near Wiregrass Ranch High

Regional park Starkey Park in Odessa

Small local park in Trinity

Cable park on the Gulf coast in Hudson