Special to The Laker/Lutz News

By B.C. Manion

David West resigned his post as executive director of the Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce on Friday.

West said he left the job because he plans to launch a new church called the Wesley Chapel Church of Christ that will begin meeting on Jan. 23. The congregation will meet at Lil Campers Academy at 30126 SR 56 near Curley Road.
“I had a great experience at the chamber,” West said, noting it increased membership by 200 during his year at the helm.
However, he added, that he and the chamber mutually decided “that it was better if I were going to the church that I probably shouldn’t do the chamber.”
West said he expects the church to begin with about 35 to 40 members and will likely grow quickly to around 50 to 60.
In addition to his role at the chamber, he also was at the Dade City Church of Christ for 15 years before he resigned from that post on Jan. 1, West said.
Laura Miller, president of the Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce said the chamber appreciates the great work that West did. “He’s a great guy. There are no bad feelings.”
The demands of the chamber and launching a new church would be too much for anyone, Miller said. She said she has put a team together to work on selecting a new executive director, but said the chamber is operating smoothly and will take its time in choosing West’s replacement.
Before becoming the chamber’s executive director, West was on the board of directors at the Dade City, Wesley Chapel and Zephyrhills chambers of commerce.
His work in the ministry began when he was quite young. He said he delivered his first sermon when he was 19.
He received his bachelor’s degree in Biblical Studies at Florida College in Temple Terrace. His previous jobs include working for the Pasco News, The Tampa Tribune and as a contract employee for the Pasco County health department.
Those wishing to find out more about the new church should go to Church of Christ at Wesley Chapel on facebook, West said.

By B.C. Manion

The Pasco County School Board is set to take action on school boundary changes aimed at relieving overcrowded conditions at Wiregrass Ranch High and John Long Middle schools.
School board chairwoman Joanne Hurley said she understands that parents care deeply about which schools their children attend, often even choosing where they live based on which schools serve their neighborhood.
However, Hurley said, the school district cannot guarantee that boundaries won’t change because they must be able to respond to an area’s population growth or decline.
Moving boundaries in one direction may please some parents, but may displease others, she said. The board’s final vote will likely leave some parents “intensely satisfied” while leavings others “intensely displeased.”
The proposed boundaries, recommended by a committee of district staff and administrators, school principals and parents, received unanimous first-round approval by the school board on Dec. 21. The school board is set to take its second and final vote at its 6 p.m. meeting on Jan. 18.
Besides relieving overcrowded conditions, the shifts seek to better balance out enrollments, said Chris Williams, director of planning for Pasco County Schools.
In essence, the proposed boundary changes would:
–    Shift students in New River, Ashley Pines and an area near Morris Bridge Road from Wiregrass Ranch High to Wesley Chapel High
–    Reassign students from New River and Ashley Pines from John Long Middle School into Weightman Middle School
–    Shift students living in neighborhoods west of Morris Bridge Road into Stewart Middle School
–    Assign students attending Cox Elementary in Dade City to Pasco Middle and Pasco High schools, instead of Weightman Middle and Wesley Chapel High.
Wiregrass Ranch High, at 2909 Mansfield Blvd., has 2,132 students, representing 127 percent of the school’s permanent capacity. It has 18 portable classrooms.
John Long Middle, at 2025 Mansfield Blvd., has an enrollment of 1,784 students, which represents 134 percent of the school’s permanent capacity. It has 23 portable classrooms.
The proposal to assign Cox Elementary students to Pasco Middle and Pasco High would keep those students much closer to home for their middle and high school years.
The students have been bused out of their community to Wesley Chapel for the past decade to help diversify Weightman Middle and Wesley Chapel High.
The committee said that busing is no longer needed because the demographics in Wesley Chapel have changed.
In proposing the new boundaries, the committee considered such things as impacts to the district’s transportation and special education services, as well as the socioeconomic makeup of the schools, Williams said.
It also attempted to avoid splitting neighborhoods and considered such things as school feeder patterns and future growth, Williams said.
“We try to be as objective as possible,” Williams said. “We don’t want to shift too many kids. We try to disrupt as few as possible.”
The proposed boundary changes do not affect Zephyrhills High or Centennial Middle.
The boundary changes will not affect incoming seniors at Wiregrass Ranch High.
It will, however, affect all school choice students who attend a school affected by a boundary change, Williams said.
All of those students will have to reapply for the choice assignment, Hurley said. Even incoming seniors at Wiregrass will have to reapply for a choice assignment, she said.
The district has less flexibility in choice assignments because of the state’s class size limits, Hurley said.

By Kyle LoJacono

When Pasco County started the widening of SR 54 in Wesley Chapel it was promised to pave the way for a more connected region, but a pair of glitches have arisen near Boyette Road.

Since the traffic pattern changed last December, the 10 or more semi trucks that come by the Wesley Chapel Business Center each week cannot leave without turning across both lanes of traffic and the blocked off portion to the south. Support The Troops Inc., which sends supplies to U.S. troops serving abroad, is located in that complex.
“It’s a big mess,” said Bob Williams, Support The Troops founder. “The trucks just can’t make that turn. If you’ve got a truck worth more than $100,000, you’re not going to risk it getting damaged to drop off donations to us. I’ve already seen problems with donations because of the turning.”
Williams shares the building with two companies owned by his sons.
Pasco chief engineer James Widman said the county has already increased the turning radius out of the center from 35 to 50 feet.
“Trucks should be able to turn in that amount of space,” Widman said.
Williams’ complaint with the project does not end with the turning radius. He also claims the county promised him a wall would be built between SR 54 and the center to protect it if someone hits the building. Currently, only five feet and a small guardrail separate the structure from the thousands of vehicles that drive by every day.
“We’ve just stopped using our corner office near the road because we know it’s just a matter of time before someone crashes into us, especially when the other lanes open and more people drive though,” Williams said. “It’s sad that you reach an agreement in good faith with someone and they back out.”
Williams said it was a verbal agreement. Widman said no promise was ever made. He said he met with Williams, who lives in Lutz, and agreed to present the idea of building a dividing wall to the county lawyer. In the end he says it was decided they would help Williams build the barrier, but would not pay for it.
“We compensated Mr. Williams when we bought the land to do the project,” Widman said. “The amount we gave him was not only for the land, but also to account for anything, such as a wall, that he would need to build.”
The amount Williams received was unavailable from the county, which paid $74.2 million total to acquire right-of-way for the project.
Widman, who emphasized he believes Williams is a good man, said such a dividing wall would cost $40,000 to $60,000.
“They’ll eventually do something, but Pasco County likes to wait until two or three people get killed before they do anything,” Williams said. “Everybody is incensed by this. You can’t even get to the post office without nearly getting into an accident.”
Williams has created a temporary solution to the problem, placing a steel overseas shipping container filled with 100,000 pounds of anything he could find next to his building on his property.
“It will prevent anyone from driving through our building and hopefully will get the county to move a little faster,” Williams said.
The Wesley Chapel Post Office is on Boyette just west of the business center. Problems there began when the intersection of Boyette and SR 54 lost its traffic signal when the lanes shifted.
Megan Hill nearly got into an accident turning onto Boyette to mail a Christmas package. She lives east of the post office and the new configuration of SR 54 made it difficult for her to see when to turn.
“You’re right up against the buildings and then the turn is just past them,” Hill said. “I hit the brakes to turn right and the person behind me had to go into the other lane of traffic to not hit me. I’ve lived here for 10 years, but I almost missed that turn I’ve made about 100 times.”
Widman said he has suggested putting signs up to alert drivers the turn for the post office is near.
“The other problem is we have the wrong street name on the new traffic signal,” Widman said. “That new road that comes through east of Boyette is called Vandine Road. For some reason the Boyette sign was put on top of the new light.”
That new road comes south where Boyette begins its S-curve. It is named after a family that owned the land the county bought to build the street. Widman said it is designed to take traffic off Boyette, which is why it received the signal that Boyette lost.
“We had to remove the light because the distance was too close to have two as part of the access management plan for the road,” Widman said. “It has to meet state requirements. Traffic on Boyette should taper off as people get used to using Vandine Road instead. We understand change is difficult and we aren’t perfect. We’ll do what we can to put the right signage out for drivers.”
Widman added the project to widen SR 54 to six lanes from I-75 to Curley Road is well ahead of schedule and he thinks it should be done before next March as was originally planned.

By B.C. Manion

It’s hard to predict what kinds of cars will show up at the Al and Ida Silver Memorial Classic Car Show.
Car lovers are “liable to see anything there,” said Larry Broga, a car enthusiast with years of experience in the car world, who has been tapped to judge the entries.

“There could be as many as 100 or as few as 20,” Broga said. “It’s what is called an open show,” he said, meaning it could attract everything from antiques to exotics, from hot rods to street rods to customs.
The event will be from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 15 at the Land O’ Lakes Community Center, 5401 Land O’ Lakes Blvd.
Weather permitting, the “show ‘n shine” classic car competition could be a big draw, Broga said. (A rain date has been set for Jan. 22).
On the one hand, it’s a new event, so it’s hard to guess how much enthusiasm it will generate. On the other hand, there’s no other car show that day so it could pull in lots of enthusiasts who want to show off their beauties.
Broga said he will judge the cars by evaluating how much effort it took to get them into tip-top shape.
The car lover said he thinks classic cars have an appeal because they can stir feelings of nostalgia, reminding people of earlier times in their lives, or prompting them to think about simpler times in the past.
“There’s a lot of money and a lot of time put into these vehicles,” he said. “And a lot of pride. It’s a whole lifestyle. Some of those paint jobs are in the $10,000 range.”
Organizers of the car show wanted to stage an event to raise money for the Heritage Park Foundation, while at the same time honoring the late Al and Ida Silver, who owned A-OK Trophies and were founding members in the foundation and icons of the Land O’ Lakes community.
One of the reasons they wanted a car show is that they knew that Al Silver was a big car buff, said Sandy Graves, president of the Heritage Park Foundation.
The couple was widely known throughout the community, said Lonnie Piper, their daughter, who now runs the trophy shop with her husband, Bobby Buckle.
Al Silver championed the quest to have a light put in at Land O’ Lakes Boulevard and Lake Padgett Road because there were so many accidents, Piper said. He also pushed to have Christmas lights on electric poles, even though the family is Jewish, she added.
The family trophy business began in their Long Island home 49 years ago. It started in the basement, spread to the garage and then spilled into the family room.
“When it got to the dining room, that’s when my mother said, “That’s it!” Piper said. Instead of letting it take over the dining room, Ida Silver demanded that they open up a shop.
They had two locations on Long Island when they decided to move south to Florida.
They operated at different spots in Tampa before settling into a pink house on US 41 in Land O’ Lakes.
The house was knocked down by the widening of US 41, and the highway was renamed Land O’ Lakes Boulevard. The trophy shop — which sells trophies, plaques, pen sets, ribbons and other items — operates at 3724 Land O’ Lakes Blvd., in a building constructed farther back from the road.
Piper is pleased that the benefit that will raise money in her parents’ memory will provide a nice time for event-goers while raising money to help pay for amenities for the community to enjoy.
The fundraiser’s proceeds eventually will be used to help pay for a Heritage Walk around the park and an amphitheater, Graves said.
It costs $15 to register a car for the event, which can be paid on the day of the show.
Cars will be lined up on a multipurpose field, where spectators can check them out and the contestants can be judged.
Registration is from 9 a.m. to noon. Twenty trophies and a best of show will be announced at a 2:30 p.m. ceremony. The first 50 cars to register will get a free goody bag.
The event will also feature a DJ playing music from the 50s, 60s and 70s and will include various vendors. Some will sell fresh produce. Others will offer pizza, hot dogs or barbecue.
Other vendors will sell jewelry, wickless candles, leather work, soaps, boutique clothing, beadwork, blankets and photography. A personal chef and someone from a company that does signs on car windows will be on hand, too.
Vendors are still welcome to participate, said Pam St. Mary, of Land O’ Lakes Saturday Market, who is organizing the event.
Graves said her organization envisions a day when people will be able to attend concerts and outdoors movies at the park, and will be able walk around a trail, stopping periodically to read markers that tell visitors about the community’s history and about area families.
“We’re hoping that people will come out to see the cars and have a good time,” St. Mary said.
For more information go to LOLSaturdaymkt or call Pam St. Mary at (813) 731-5168.

If you go
Al and Ida Silver Memorial Classic Car Show
Land O’ Lakes Community Center, 5401 Land O’ Lakes Blvd.
9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 15 (Jan. 22 is rain date)
Classic cars, DJ, food booths and various vendors

By B.C. Manion

When buildings go up too quickly, problems can result.
That’s happened quite a bit in recent years, as construction was sped up to save money, said Lou Theberge, a division manager for Southern Independent Testing Agency Inc., in Lutz.

When a project is pushed too quickly in the quest to control expenses, testing of the building’s systems sometimes gets short shrift — and costly problems develop later, Theberge said.
That’s one of the reasons why the Lutz company, which has operated in Florida for 30 years, decided to branch out and add “building commissioning” to its list of services.
Put simply, building commissioning is a systematic approach to verify that a building’s support systems have been installed properly and are performing according to the approved construction documents.
The process also ensures that the building’s installed equipment meets the owner’s intended operational, maintenance and energy efficiency needs.
The effectiveness of commissioning in reducing energy use has been documented by a number of organizations, including the U.S. Green Building Council.
The Lutz company decided to branch out to offer the service because company leaders recognized the growing demand for the service and they wanted to generate more work to ensure they would not need to lay off any employees during this economic downturn, said Brian Kaupp, company vice president.
His dad, Chuck Kaupp, brought the company to Florida from Buffalo, N.Y., in 1980.
The company, which began with Chuck and his father, has a long history of testing, balancing and adjusting heating, air-conditioning and ventilation systems.
It officially launched its commissioning division in October, Brian Kaupp said.
The service can help companies save money through more efficient operations and it can help them maintain a more comfortable atmosphere for their employees and customers, Chuck Kaupp said.
It boils down to making sure the systems work properly, Theberge said. It’s like testing out a dishwasher, he said. You want to make sure each cycle performs the way it is supposed to work.
“Most of the time the new buildings are under warranty for a year,” Chuck Kaupp said. So, it is in everyone’s best interest to try to avoid costly errors in the way systems are installed or operated, he said.
“You try to get in at the design phase,” Theberge said.
The idea is to reduce or eliminate the change orders required in a project, Chuck Kaupp said. “There are a lot of savings that can found with scientific testing,” he said.
Building commissioning is intended to be an objective analysis of systems to make sure they are functioning properly, Chuck Kaupp said.
“Buildings are leaky,” Brian Kaupp said. Conditioned air — whether heated or cooled — can escape through window openings, around doors and even building soffits.
“We can tell the owner the leakage rate and the energy loss,” he said.
Technicians can detect leakage by using a giant fan to suck the air out of a room and then blow smoke into the building from the outside to see where it goes.
“Smoke drifts to wherever the leakage is occurring,” Brian Kaupp explained.
Crews also can use thermal energy cameras to detect temperature differences in a room.
In some cases, both approaches are used, Brian Kaupp said.
An increasing number of building owners are seeing the value of commissioning, Chuck Kaupp said. They recognize that a system that doesn’t work properly costs them money and can reduce comfort, he said. As a result, more owners are calling for commissioning services at an earlier stage to try to prevent potential problems and reduce possible costs.
Southern Independent Testing Agency, Inc., is located at 138 A Whitaker Road in Lutz.
The company’s primary market is the southeast United States, Brian Kaupp said. At present, they are doing commissioning work at some schools in Hillsborough and Osceola counties, at a medical center in Louisiana and at a hospital in Orlando.
Chuck Kaupp mused that a lot of people at the stage he is at in his career would be winding down toward retirement.
Instead, he’s enthused about the possibilities of the family-owned company’s new division.
In this tough economic time, Chuck Kaupp said, “people who have ingenuity and guts are the people who make things happen.”
If you would like more information about the company and its services go to www.sita-tab.com or call (813) 949-1999.

By Tammy Sue Struble

Zephyrhills is working on putting its best face forward, and landscape enhancements such as new palm trees along US 301 are just the beginning.

In meetings and workshops during the past year, the City of Zephyrhills is getting closer to more revitalization projects in conjunction with Pasco County and the Florida Department of Transportation.
In the last of the public input workshops regarding the Community Redevelopment Plan, consultants from Kimley-Horn and Associates Inc. of Sarasota spoke with members of the community at the noon Zephyrhills Rotary meeting on Thursday, January 6. Then, Kimley-Horn representatives packed up and moved over to City Hall for a 3 p.m. workshop.
At the Rotary meeting, Martin “Marty” Black with Kimley-Horn reiterated information from past workshops yet solicited new ideas and solutions to problem areas from city residents and other members of the surrounding community.
Black suggested in the improvement plan — expected to span the next 10 years — that Zephyrhills include ideas that create noticeable gateway entrances into the city from several directions. Gateways that would be eye-catching improvements that identify one’s arrival into the city.
Something like that could help attract more attention for a city renowned for its bottled water and other businesses, including the strongest Village Inn and Golden Corral restaurants in the state. Yet, with 80,000 full-time and seasonal residents (58–60,000 without the seasonal) within a five-mile radius, people are still going elsewhere like Wesley Chapel, Tampa and Lakeland for office and retail services.
Kimley-Horn officials said Zephyrhills needs to better market itself as a viable place to receive those services.
“Just start the discussions,” Black urged at the Rotary meeting, “None of these solutions are perfect answers.”
Five areas have been identified for possible improvements with this Community Redevelopment Area (CRA) plan. The current CRA boundary is a hub at the intersection of US 301, Fifth Avenue and SR 54 and extending out from the hub in each direction approximately five to six blocks.
Four other areas earmarked for CRA improvements are Hercules Park area extending north from the hub area, Shepard Park area extending south from the hub, Zephyr Park area extending west from the hub, and the Historic area extending mostly east from the hub.
“Look at vacant areas that can be of better use,” Black continued. “Maybe new facades without tearing down existing buildings.” Other ideas were discussed with the Rotary group: like, improvements in the Zephyr Plaza (ABC Pizza) area, revitalizing the theatre on Fifth Avenue, possible outdoor dining, and changing the look of the Tires Plus area at 301 and Fifth Avenue.
Any improvements in the proposed plans do not include residential areas and are restricted to the downtown corridor, not the whole city.
In another question-and-answer session at City Hall where about 50 community members gathered, Marty Black summarized the CRA plan and mission again. Roughly three-fourths of the group were tennis players concerned with the improvement or possible status of the tennis courts at Zephyr Park off SR 54. Consensus in the crowd was that there were not enough courts in the city; there needs to be about two times as many more courts with some possibly being at another location.
Information was gathered about the current courts’ conditions, which are deemed poor because of, noise and dirt from SR 54 traffic, damage caused by vandalism, the courts being too close to each other and bad design of the parking lot.
All solutions, ideas and recommendations presented by the members of the public were gathered and written down by Kelley Klepper, one of the consultants from Sarasota. Suggestions from the community were better lighting for the courts, resurfacing with clay or rebuilding and a possible set of tennis courts near the south end of Hercules Park on city owned Tyson property, where trees would not have to be removed.
Zephyrhills High School tennis player, Stephen Belles, was at the workshop. He explained that it would be helpful to have more tennis courts at the Tyson property as it would be within walking distance from the high school. Currently, if the girls tennis team is playing on the school’s tennis courts, the boys have to travel to the Zephyr Park courts to practice.
“All ages play tennis at the Zephyr Park location.” We need to “get more tennis courts for Zephyrhills; right now there are not enough courts, only five,” Belles explained.
It was also suggested that the city consider adding additional activities such as basketball, another skateboard park, a running field, a place for cyclists, baseball, softball, another dog park, a BMX bike park and a snack bar.
Discussion and banter continued on each subject. Black from Kimley-Horn explained how Zephyrhills was in a better position for redevelopment than many other cities as they set aside funds for such purposes and do not take out loans. When the city has enough money for a project, they work on it. Other financial factors to consider were that certain community redevelopment funds cannot be spent without a plan in place; and, income the city receives from real estate taxes is projected to decline over the next two years.
Klepper from Urban Resource Group, a division of Kimley-Horn, explained that they (the consultants and the city) were about 60 days out from wrapping up planning.

By B.C Manion

There is something about the rhythmic tick-tock of a clock or the ancient sound of a grandfather’s chimes that has nearly universal appeal.

Those sounds are especially thrilling, however, to those who spend their days repairing clocks that don’t work.
Chris Denherder has sold and repaired clocks for decades and now is passing his knowledge and a few tricks of the trade to his grandson, Andrew Dirkse.
The men work at Timeframe, Inc.  which shares space with custom picture framing shop operated by Denherder’s wife, Judy.
The Denherders opened their shop 3 ½ years ago, at 4843 Allen Road in Zephyrhills. They began the business a year after moving into the area to retire. The couple, who lived in Buchanan, Mich., had been snowbirders since 1989.
They found a place on a golf course to retire, but couldn’t quite settle into retirement.
“We were here for a year doing nothing,” Denherder said. Then his wife told him she missed the framing business and wanted to get back into it. She promised him a small corner so he could fix clocks.
Fast-forward to this summer — that’s when the couple’s grandson, who had been building log homes in Bozeman, Mont, came for a visit.
He went back home, quit his job and signed up for some intensive clock repair classes.
Then, he moved back to join his grandfather’s business and he’s thrilled with his decision.
Both men get a kick out of figuring out why a clock is running too slow, running too fast or has stopped completely.
They enjoy figuring out why the chimes chime too often or at the wrong time or don’t chime at all.
“We repair clocks, anything from cuckoos to Grandfathers,” Dirkse said.  “We don’t do watches, just clocks,” said Andrew Dirkse.
The business draws its customers primarily from Zephyrhills, Dade City and areas to the north.
Dirkse said he has always enjoyed tinkering with things. When he was a kid he took apart radios and vacuum cleaners, he said.
Now, when he and Denherder repair clocks — at the shop or during house calls, he enjoys trying to figure out what’s wrong and how to fix it.
Each job is a little different, taking various amounts of time to complete.
“When you’re out working in the field, there’s a million different kinds of clocks,” Denherder said.
Dirkes said took intensive training in Ft. Lauderdale and Cincinnati to gain technical skills needed to attack all sorts of problems. But he also has the benefit of working alongside his grandfather who has built up a vast store of knowledge through decades of experience.
Some clock repairs can be made quickly and simply. Others require a fair bit of sleuthing to figure out exactly what’s wrong and then to find or make a part to repair it.
Sometimes it would be much cheaper just to buy a new clock. But many people want to hold onto old clocks for nostalgic or sentimental reasons. They may be a family heirloom or were given to them to mark a special occasion.
Sometimes they simply got a good deal and want a showpiece for their homes.
Other times they simply like the way the clock ticks or the chimes sound.
Unlike some repair services, a clock repair always takes time to verify, Dirkse said.
Once the repair has been made, the shop holds onto the clock to let it run for about a week to make sure that it’s working properly, he said. They want to make sure that when the customer gets it home they don’t need to bring it back.
The shop repairs clocks that wind up and clocks that work with weights. Recently it had a clock dating back to 1804.
If you’re going to get an antique clock, it’s a good idea to learn how to wind it properly, Dirkse said. It’s important to develop a feel for your clock. If it is a spring-driven clock, it’s possible to wind it too tightly and break the spring.
It’s also important to know how to set the beat.
“A clock has to tick-tock evenly in order to stay running. It’s not a fixed thing.”
“If you’re going to buy an antique clock, you really should know how to put it in beat,” he said.
Clock maintenance is critical, too.
“It’s a working machine. It needs to be lubricated,” Denherder said, recalling he went to one job and asked the owner when the clock had last been service. The owner replied: “I think it was in the ’90s.”
Doing routine maintenance helps avoid expensive repairs, Dirkse said.
The two men love talking about clocks and are glad to pass along what they know. They do not offer appraisals, but have roughly a dozen catalogs containing all kinds of clocks. The clock repair industry is declining, as fewer people enter the trade and others die or retire, Denherder said.
“Right after Andrew came to work here in September, the only other fellow I knew (who did clock repairs) passed away. I’ve been getting Dade City calls like crazy.”
As for Dirkse, he sees himself sticking with it.
“I think it’s pretty cool,” he said. “I like the history of it, I suppose.”
For more information about the shop’s services and hours call (813) 788-7400.

One Lutz family brings home annual quilt

By Kyle LoJacono

More than 2,500 people from 38 Florida towns, 14 states and four countries saw the 14th annual Christmas House at the Old Lutz School, but only one family could win the big prize.
Lutz resident Ann Parker won the raffle for the fifth annual Christmas quilt, a surprise she was not expecting.

“I just entered to help support the function,” Parker said. “It’s the first time we’ve come to see the house and it’s something special we’ll do in the future. It’s a good thing that everyone should see.”
Parker brought her two sons Charlie, 4, and Harry, 3, to see the house after hearing about how nice the display inside was.
While the majority of people who came to the house were from Lutz and Land O’ Lakes, according to signatures in the guest book, many also came from Odessa, Wesley Chapel, Zephyrhills, San Antonio, New Tampa and many other towns in Pasco and Hillsborough counties. Visitors also came from places like California, Canada, Denmark, Finland and Columbia.
The exact number of participants was not available as many people bought more than one ticket, but $290 was raised in the raffle. That money is going to the Citizens of the Old Lutz School to help maintain the nearly 85-year-old building.
“We need to replace two windows that were busted recently when some people broke in,” said Phyllis Hoedt, member of the citizens group. “It’s an old building and needs work to keep it for future generations.”
The quilt is made each year by Betsie Everett, who is currently working on the one for 2011.