The Laker/Lutz News

Serving Pasco since 1981/Serving Lutz since 1964

Special to The Laker/Lutz News

Warriors advance to title game

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By Kyle LoJacono

Zephyrhills Christian Academy had failed to get past the semifinals of the six-man football league the last three seasons, but the squad broke through with a 52-50 overtime win against Clearwater Academy International Nov. 5.

Warriors running back Josh Roberts had 306 rushing yards and four touchdowns in the state semifinal win.

The Warriors (12-0) scored on a 53-yard touchdown run by junior running back Josh Roberts with 29 seconds remaining in regulation to send the game to overtime. Roberts scored again on a 15-yard run on Zephyrhills Christian’s first position of overtime to take a 52-44 lead.

Clearwater (11-2) answered with a touchdown on its first drive of overtime, but eighth-grader Mikey Smith broke through and blocked a game-tying extra point attempt and ended the game. Kicks after touchdowns in six-man football count for two points.

Mikey, who is also the team’s quarterback, had one word to describe the feeling when he blocked the attempt.

“Hallelujah,” Mikey said. He then added, “It’s amazing to help the seniors get to the championship game in their last year. I didn’t want the season to end for them.”

The Knights had converted every extra point kick before the last one.

The game was the closest for the Warriors all year. They had beaten their opponents by a combined 532-66 including a 72-27 win against Elfers Christian in the quarterfinals. Clearwater Academy was last year’s state champion and offered more of a test.

“Most of our games have been easy for us, so to come out here and face a team like this was very hard,” Roberts said. “We actually got scored on and got down a little bit, but we fought back.”

The Warriors led by 10 in the third quarter and it looked like they might run away with the game when junior Jacob Ferrington got an interception. The Knights forced a turnover on downs on the ensuing drive and then scored to get within two points. They took the lead later on another touchdown, forcing Roberts to make the big play near the end of regulation.

“It was hard, but we just didn’t quit,” Roberts said. “We were up for most of the game and they just kept coming back and we had to fight back ourselves to get this game … When I was running for that touchdown I was just thinking Lord help me please. Just let me get through and score.”

Roberts has been one of the biggest contributors for the Warriors all year. He not only had the last two touchdowns for Zephyrhills Christian, but also completed a pass to senior Joel Mobley on a two-point conversion in overtime that was the winning margin.

“I’ve never played in a game this tough before,” Mobley said. “Never in my life have I played a game this intense and this close.”

Roberts finished with 306 rushing yards on 29 carries and four touchdowns. Mobley chipped in another four scores and 60 yards rushing. On defense, junior linebacker Dale Smith Jr. had a pair of sacks.

Warriors coach Mike Smith also gave credit to senior Sean White for helping on the offensive line.

“I have to give it up for Sean White,” Mike said. “He hadn’t played offensive line all year. He did in past years and he’s the one who had the block that sprung Josh for that touchdown to send us to overtime. He stood out to me this night.”

The Warriors will play for the program’s first state title Nov. 12 against undefeated Lakeside Christian High.

Pasco pummels Sunlake 49-10 to win district

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By Tammy Sue Struble and Kristopher Struble
Special to The Laker
Sunlake High headed into the final district game 7-1 and poised to wreak havoc on the standings. A win for the Seahawks Nov. 5 would have twisted Pasco, Land O’ Lakes and Sunlake into a three-way tie and forced a district playoff.
Pasco had other things on its mind: preserving a perfect season and claiming a district title without a pesky and unpredictable playoff.
Advantage, experience.
The Pirates rolled 49-10 to claim their fourth consecutive district title. Sunlake saw its playoff dreams dashed by an aggressive Pasco defense that kept the offense out of the end zone all night.
Sunlake’s only touchdown came on the opening kickoff, when Jamal Jones ran 85 yards for a touchdown. The Pirates offense sputtered in their first two possessions due to two dropped passes and an offensive holding penalty; however, their defense stepped up and followed their game plan perfectly.
Their game plan, according to Pirates coach Tom McHugh was twofold. “One, stop Jackson and two, run our offense.”
The Pasco Pirates needed to contain Sunlake senior quarterback Jacob Jackson, who came into the game averaging 248 yards of offense per game and more than100 on the ground, in check. On their first two drives they did just that – forcing two quick punts. Late in the first quarter Pasco running back David Emmanuel needed only three attempts to bust a 41-yard touchdown and the game was right back to even 7-7.
The Seahawks reared back and started to move the ball; they accumulated three first downs before the Pirates stopped them and converted a 40-yard field goal to take a 10-7 lead.
Then, Pasco found the offense that propelled them to a 9-0 record for the season.
Pasco quarterback Jacob Guy avoids pressure from the Sunlake defense.

After a Pasco interception and a few more defensive stops, the Pirates manufactured another quick scoring drive capped off by a 30-yard touchdown pass from Jacob Guy to Janarion Grant to take a 14-10 lead into halftime.

The Pirates carried their momentum from the first half into the second and wasted no time driving 74 yards scoring equally balanced with runs and passes. A Jackson interception then led Pasco to another quick score and the Seahawks found themselves in a 28-10 hole.
The Pirates scored on their next two possessions to take a 42-10 lead into the fourth quarter, then tacked on one more touchdown on a 64-yard pass from wide receiver Trey Dudley-Giles to Grant.
Land O’ Lakes claimed the runner-up spot in the district by defeating Mitchell High the same night.

Wesley Chapel seniors and coach go out on top

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Boys golfers finish in states for the first time

By Kyle LoJacono

Wesley Chapel High opened its doors in 1999 and in that time only one boys’ golf team has ever reached the state tournament — the 2010 squad.

The Wildcats got to the Class 1A state tournament after claiming the first regional championship in program history. They shot a two-day 651, coming in 15th place in states.

Seen is coach Alan Black (center left) with his golf team at states, including Jacob Fleck, Matt Wynne, Johnathan Amerman, Brandon Mumaw and Noah Fleck.

“The kids didn’t do as well as they wanted on the first day,” said Wesley Chapel coach Alan Black. “It was a soggy course and really long, but no excuses. They dealt with the pressure of going to state and still did ok.”

Black has been the only coach in program history, but this is his last season running the show. He spent two years at Pasco High coaching, 10 at Land O’ Lakes High and then moved to Wesley Chapel.

This is Black’s first time taking a team to states in his 23 years coaching. Two of his former Wesley Chapel players reached the tournament individually, including Cameron Knight who won the 2004 2A state title.

“To me it was meant to be because we have four seniors on the team,” Black said. “We’re all going out at the same time. It’ll let another coach come in and start fresh next year. Really this last year was more than I could ask for.”

Wildcats athletic director Steve Mumaw said it will be very difficult to find someone to replace Black.

“What I’m really proud of with this team is I had ones with more talented golfers, but this team was full of great athletes,” Black said. “Some of them play baseball too and they have the competitive nature that makes them better.”

No. 2 golfer Brandon Mumaw, a senior, is a starting pitcher on the baseball team and No. 3 golfer Matt Wynne, also a senior, pitched primarily out of the bullpen last season. Black said while baseball takes some of their athletic attention, it also allows them to take a break from golf and recharge.

“The kids were disappointed with where they finished because they were 15 out of 16 teams in states, but I told them they can’t think of it like that,” Black said. “They were the 15th best Class 1A team in the state and that’s pretty impressive. We were the top team from Pasco County and we beat our big rival Saddlebrook Prep and that was nice too.”

No. 1 golfer and senior Jacob Fleck shot an 8-over 152 during the two days to come in 40th place. He also won the individual regional championship as well as the Sunshine Athletic Conference title this season.

Brandon shot a 156, Wynne shot a 171, freshman Noah Fleck shot a 172 and senior Johnathan Amerman shot a 184. Only the top four scores count toward the team’s total.

“We shot right around our average and you can’t ask for much more than that,” Black said. “The kids wanted to go out there and shoot way under their average, but that doesn’t normally happen. They overachieved a little in regional and they should be very proud of what they did. I know I was honored to be able to coach in states.”

Black’s time coaching the game is complete and the longtime Wildcats leader leaves with no regrets.

“Coaching this team was an absolute joy,” Black said. “It was great to get them all to states in my last season and with so many seasons. It was a dream.”

Warriors take 11th in school’s first team state appearance

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By Kyle LoJacono
The Steinbrenner High girls golf team set lofty goals before this season and the squad managed to deliver the first state tournament appearance in school history.
“This has been a very rewarding team to coach,” said coach Mark Mann. “They all said they wanted to get to states as a team before the season. Of course they wanted to win it, but you have to get there first to win it. They battled the whole two days in states and it was amazing to see them fight as hard as they did. “
The Warriors shot a two-day total of 717 in the Class 1A state tournament Nov. 2-3, good enough for 11th place out of 16. They were the only team from Hillsborough or Pasco counties to reach the event.
Steinbrenner girls golf coach Mark Mann and the Warriors are the first team at the school to reach a state tournament.

“It was really special, especially for the younger players,” Mann said. “The freshman haven’t played that much golf before in a short time. They played 36 holes over two days plus a practice round. They might have gotten a little tired and it was probably a little overwhelming to go up to the first tee in front of all those people and have their name announced. The scores weren’t terrible and they really worked for them.”

Senior Alex Milan led the way for the Warriors with a 7-over 151 during the two days, good enough to tie her for 16th place. Milan has competed individually in the state tournament the last two years, finishing in ninth place in 2008 while attending Sickles High and eighth last year at Steinbrenner.
“It obviously wasn’t the finish I was looking for in my last year,” said Milan, who will sign Nov. 12 to play at Florida State University. “Every time I go out there I’m going for the win … It was really special to get to states with my team this year. It’s my last season and it was great to be able to experience states with my team.”
Milan also won the individual 1A-14 district crown, her fourth title. Mann has coached Milan since she played at Sickles and knows it will be tough to replace her next year.
“Having her leadership is like having a second coach,” Mann said. “If I’m with another group in practice or something, she always helps the other girls. They all try to be like her. It’s really rare to have a kid with those qualities and be as good as she is.”
Junior Michelle Stein shot 181 in the tournament, followed by junior Sara Bair’s 185, freshman Brooke Deal’s 200 and Andi Milan’s 222. Only the top four scores count toward the team’s total.
“It was my first time in states and it was really a lot of fun,” Bair said. “Now that we all have experience with it I think we can get back and do better next year.”
Jan Chanpalangsri from St. Andrew’s High in Boca Raton won the individual state championship with a 7-under 137 and Windermere Prep High won the team title with a 589.
The Warriors may have come up a little short of Steinbrenner’s first state championship, but they had many other accomplishments in the school’s second year. They took home the first district championship in program history and followed that up as the runner-up in the 1A-5 regional tournament.
“I’ve seen a lot of positives in the program,” said Steinbrenner athletic director Eddie Henderson. “The kids are really excited about the program and I think that will get more kids to come out and join the team and participate in all of our athletic programs.”
Mann agrees with Henderson.
“The interest in the team is very high because of what they accomplished this year,” Mann said. “Alex is a great player and losing her will be tough, but we have a couple of strong freshmen who will be joining the team next year and that will give us a very level team. They’ll be competing against each other every week for those spots in tournaments. They’ll continue to build the tradition we’ve started.”

Steinbrenner defeats Palmetto in four games

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Warriors victory spurred from last year’s early exit

By Kyle LoJacono

With Steinbrenner High leading two games to one and the score 24-19 in the fourth against Palmetto High, many of the Warriors thought back to last year’s Class 4A, Region 3 quarterfinal match.

Last season the Warriors (18-9) were defeated by Lakewood High in five games after giving up a similar lead, but managed to seal the win this year in four — 25-22, 25-16, 21-25, 25-21 against Palmetto Nov. 2.

Natalia Ortiz (left) and Erin McMurtry celebrate after the Warriors victory against Palmetto as Erin’s father Allen McMurtry looks on.

“The score was 24-19 and the intensity was exactly like it was last year except it was 24-17 in the fourth game then,” said junior libero Cary Anne Bame. “The fact that our team pulled through, communicated and came back and won that game is awesome. The feeling is incredible and I know we can go far.”

Steinbrenner coach Staci Elias said the team looked much different this year in that fourth game.

“I think they were remembering last year,” Elias said. “It was a lot like game four last year, but they pushed through. I made the comment to my assistant coaches that you could see the difference in the eyes of the seniors. They didn’t have that scared look in that game four. They had that look like let’s do it. Let’s finish this.”

One of those seniors is co-captain and outside hitter Natalia Ortiz, who had seven kills in the match.

“I just wanted to give it my all because I’m a senior,” Ortiz said. “I didn’t want this to be my last match, so I went as hard as I could to kill every ball.

“Last year it was almost the same scenario and we got kind of caught up, but this year we pushed through,” Ortiz continued. “We wanted to finish and we showed everyone that we can do it.”

Erin McMurtry was another senior who was setting up Ortiz’s kills all night. She became the Warriors setter in the summer

Natalia Ortiz

after last season’s starter Sam Drane left the program.

“I’ve got to give credit to my seniors, especially my senior setter Erin,” Elias said. “She got into a little slump there in game three and pulled herself out of it. This is a kid who hasn’t set since she was in middle school and took on that role this season. The things she’s doing as a setter, we couldn’t have imagined her having this much growth.”

McMurtry said she felt very awkward setting in the summer, but she has learned the position quickly.

“I’m so much more comfortable setting now,” McMurtry said. “From the first time I started setting this summer to now I’m so much more comfortable with it.”

McMurtry had 32 assists in the regional match while adding three aces.

Steinbrenner had a pretty even frontline attack thanks in part to McMurtry’s setting, with junior outside hitter Miranda Powell leading the way with 10 kills. Senior middle hitter Megan Moyer had seven and freshman outside hitter Rachel Mathison added six.

Mathison, who did not join the varsity squad until near the end of the season, had the match-winning kill.

“It felt so good,” Mathison said. “I was just thinking, please come to me. I just hit it and bam it fell in and oh my goodness what a feeling.”

Bame contributed a team-high 16 digs in the win. Powell had a team-leading five aces, while senior Katie Dickerson added three.

“It was a total team effort and I think that has a lot to do with how we are together,” McMurtry said. “I think we’re even tighter this year. We were tight last year, but we’re even tighter now. We’re all good friends away from volleyball and we all get each other.”

Steinbrenner travels to play Braden River High in Bradenton Nov. 9 at 7 p.m.

Freedom’s season ends in Venice

Freedom High’s volleyball season came to an end Nov. 3 when the Patriots were defeated at Venice High 25-7, 25-6, 25-12 in the 5A-3 regional quarterfinals. Freedom was having one of the best seasons in program history and finished with a 13-9 record and only one district loss in the regular season. The Patriots will lose five seniors from the team.

-All stats as recorded to Maxpreps.com by coaches.

Warriors claim school’s seventh district crown

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By Kyle LoJacono

Entering the Class 2A, District 5 tournament Steinbrenner High boys cross country coach Bobby McConnell thought the squad could finish in the top three.

No. 1 runner Lauren Garris (right) with fellow Warrior Evyn Moon finished third and fourth in districts respectively.

The Warriors did that, but exceeded McConnell’s expectations by winning the school’s seventh district championship and the program’s first. It is also the first district crown for one of Steinbrenner’s boys teams.

Steinbrenner entered the event Nov. 4 ranked as the eighth 2A team in the state, but also in the district are No. 2 Berkeley Prep and No. 6 Jesuit High.

Steinbrenner won the close contest with 40 points, besting Berkeley’s 48 and Jesuit’s 54. The Warriors were led by senior Alex Newby’s time of 16 minutes and 32 seconds, good enough for third place individually. Teammates Daniel and Matt Sarver, who are twins, finished with times of 16:47 and 16:48 respectively, putting them in seventh and eighth place.

The Warriors girls team finished second on their side with 48 points, just 10 behind the Academy of the Holy Names. Lauren Garris finished in third place with a time of 20:20, followed by teammate Evyn Moon’s 20:38.

“I’m so proud of how all the athletic programs have done in just our first year and a half,” said Steinbrenner athletic director Eddie Henderson. “I’ve seen all the teams work hard and the coaches work hard to build the Steinbrenner name in all athletics. The district championships are just a testament to what they’ve been doing in practice each and every day.”

Bulls and Gators top boys cross country districts

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Wiregrass Ranch girls also tops at tournament

By Kyle LoJacono

Wiregrass Ranch and Land O’ Lakes high schools boys cross country teams were at the top of Class 3A, District 3 all season and nothing changed in the league tournament Nov. 4.

The Bulls came in first with 33 points, while the Gators finished with 87. Sunlake High came in fifth with 153 points.

The Gators boys cross country team with the district runner-up trophy.

“I was happy to finish better than Nature Coast,” said 17-year Land O’ Lakes coach Kris Keppel. “We lost our No. 5 runner a couple of weeks ago and Chris Dotson, one of our seniors, stepped up and did what he needed to help us finish second.”

Freshman Tyler Stahl tore a muscle in his thigh Oct. 15 and is out for the rest of the season. Dotson, a senior, has filled in at that slot for the Gators. He finished in 38th place with a time of 18 minutes, 26 seconds, a new personal best.

Wiregrass Ranch senior Josh Reilly took the individual title with a time of 16:16. Fellow Bulls runner Ryan Pulsifer took second with 16:23.

Gators senior runner Hendrix Lafontant came in third with a 16:29, besting his personal best time by 23 seconds. His teammate Jake Morken also cracked the 17 minute mark with a time of 16:59, his fastest of the season.

The top eight teams in the tournament advance to the 3A-2 regional tournament at Starkey Park Nov. 13.

“I expect us and Wiregrass to finish in the top two again,” Keppel said. “It’s a course we know and if we run up to our potential we should be right there again.”

The Wiregrass Ranch girls also took the district title with 37 points, besting Gulf High’s 104. It is the third straight district crown for the Bulls.

Wiregrass Ranch runner Nikita Shah was the fastest on the squad with a time of 18:56, good enough for third place individually.

The lady Gators finished in 10th place with 203 points. They were led by Alea Basulto, who finished in 24th place with a time of 21:50.

Keppel also coaches the girls team and said he thought they had a chance to finish in the top 8 and advance, but knew they would need some of them to finish with season-best times.

Pasco should have wider SR 54 sooner than expected

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Project already half finished

By Kyle LoJacono

The thousands of people who make the daily trip through the project zone to widen SR 54 will likely see an end to the construction sooner than anticipated.

The widening project of SR 54 from I-75 to Curley Road is months ahead of schedule. (Photo by Glenn Gefers of www.Photosby3g.com)

The job is making the highway six lanes from I-75 to Curley Road in Wesley Chapel, a stretch of about 3.2 miles. The project was scheduled to take 21 months from when it started March 29, but is on pace to take a little more than half that long.
“Right now we’re 50 percent finished in 28 percent of the time,” said Robert Shepherd, Pasco chief project manager. “Really, I think we’re further along than that because most of the utility work is far along.”
Both Withlacoochee River Electric and TECO have moved their unities, while Bright House and Verizon lines are at least 90 percent. Pasco-operated waterlines are 80 percent moved, which is as much as can be completed until the traffic pattern shifts in December.
“Pepper Contracting (Services Inc.) has been able to work around the utility work, so they’ve gotten more done in less time,” said James Widman, Pasco chief engineer.
Pasco commission chairwoman Pat Mulieri said Pepper deserves a lot of credit for the fast pace.
“They’ve put their full workforce into the job,” Mulieri said. “That has been the real key. Not all companies do that.”
Kurt Keith, Pepper’s project manager for the job, said about 90 people are working on the construction each day.
Ron Garraffa, Pepper’s construction manager, gave more of the credit to the county’s proactive approach.
“They delivered everything we needed from the start,” Garraffa said. “Everything was worked out with the utility companies, the right-of-way (land) was bought and finished up front.
“A lot of time right-of-way or utilities lag behind and we can’t go fully into the job and that’s like playing football on a field that’s only 50-yards long,” Garraffa said. “Here we had basically all 100 yards to work on from the start.”
Pepper, based in Clearwater, was founded in 1994 and is owned by Terry Cradick and Doug Ebbers. The company is also completing the widening of W. Lutz-Lake Fern Road in Lutz near Steinbrenner High.
“SR 54 is the largest project in terms of financial at $28 million,” Cradick, Pepper’s president. “The length is also one of the largest we’ve done.”
The project is the most expensive in Pasco history at $105.2 million, according to Shepherd. Only $28 million is for the construction, about 27 percent of the price tag, with another $74.2 million from right-of-way land purchase and $3 million for planning and design.
“That is a large percentage for a project,” Mulieri said. “The businesses were right up next to the road and we needed to buyout some of them to do the project. We’ve learned from that and now we have a row-acquisition policy so development has to be far enough away from roads for future widening.”
Terry Wright of Land O’ Lakes, who works in Wesley Chapel east of the project, is pleased to hear the project is ahead of schedule.
“The construction slows things down and the speed limit is only 35 (mph) through there when it was higher before,” Wright said.
The project has done more than slow traffic on SR 54. It has also forced the temporary closing of roads connecting with the highway. Boyette Road was closed to through traffic from June 19 to Aug. 15 and Curley is closed until Nov. 5, both to work on the intersection with SR 54.
While there is some temporary pain from the project, Wright sees the positives.
“I’m happy they’re doing the project because the road really needs to be wider and it’s good news that it will be done sooner,” Wright said.
Wright’s comments fit in line with what Pepper’s employees have been hearing.
“In the beginning, like with most projects, you hear a lot of concerned people,” Garraffa said. “As we get the information to them they’ve been very receptive and I haven’t really heard anything directly negative about the job we’ve been doing.”
Mulieri said of the project, “I haven’t heard much negative either and most people knew the widening was needed. We needed the infrastructure to move people and bring goods and services to the area and it’s already helping to bring more jobs. T. Rowe Price is bringing 1,600 jobs to the area and they told me it was because of the building of needed roads like (SR) 54. We’re really bringing opportunities home.”
Shepherd said the contract with Pepper says the road will be completed by March 2012. While he said there is not a new opening date, he added Pepper is working so ahead of schedule it is making it almost impossible for them to fail.
“For us, this is a very exciting job,” Cradick said. “Just seeing all the cars that drive on the road lets you know how important it is to the area. It’s going to help the people and the businesses and that’s important to us.”
The connection with the road is even bigger for Garraffa because his parents live in east Pasco and he drives on SR 54 to visit them.
“We’re in the construction business because we like building things,” Garraffa said. “When you step back and see what the job is doing for an area like Pasco County, that makes it really hit home with what we’re doing.”

Road construction meeting Nov. 4
Pasco County government will have its quarterly road project meeting from 5:30-7:30 p.m. Nov. 4 at Atonement Lutheran Church of Wesley Chapel, 29617 SR 54. There will be people available to answer questions about all current and some future road projects in east and central Pasco.

LOL Swamp Fest returns for year two

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Annual event brings community together

By Kyle LoJacono

Last year a combined 15,000 people went to the inaugural year of the LOL Swamp Fest and the new annual tradition is back Friday-Sunday (Nov. 5-7) at the Land O’ Lakes Community Center.

Zachary Poole of Land O’ Lakes rides around a carousel in a pink whale at Swamp Fest. (File photo, www.OurtownFLA.com)

The three-day event actually had two versions in 2009, one in the spring at Land O’ Lakes High and another the first weekend of November at the center, 5401 Land O’ Lakes Blvd. The birth of the festival coincided with the end of the Land O’ Lakes Flapjack Festival, which had been at the center each autumn.
Mike Connor, president of the Land O’ Lakes High Athletic Booster Club, said the organization wanted to continue with a fall festival that could help the Gators’ various programs.
“We had been the sponsor of the midway rides at the Flapjack Festival,” Conner said. “When that moved we all thought this community needed a festival like this, so we decided to bring it back.”
Conner said about 5,000 attended the spring version last year with another 10,000 coming last fall. He is expecting at least that many to come out again this year.
The Swamp Fest will have many traditional fall festival elements from midway rides, games, vendors, carnival food and bands such as James Taylor and The Silver Eagle Band. Conner said there is also a pageant for boys and girls of all ages Nov. 6 and also a free breakfast that remembers the now defunct event.
“Saturday morning (Nov. 6) there will be free pancakes provided by Beef ‘O’ Brady’s from 8-10,” Conner said. “There is also a car show. Really there is something for everyone. It’s free to park and get in.”
Things like food and midway games are how the event raises money for the booster club. Conner’s three children graduated from Land O’ Lakes High and participated in athletics, as did Darlene Harris’ two.
“I’ve stayed as a member of the athletic booster club because I enjoy volunteering for this worthwhile group,” said Harris, who is the club’s secretary and vendor booth committee chairwoman. “We help the athletic teams with purchases of safety equipment, give out college scholarships ($6,000 in 2010) to athletes and with other help.”
Conner said the club handles $250,000 in fundraising for the school’s programs each year.
“That all comes from fundraising from the community,” Conner said. “It eases the burden of the school district to buy new equipment. We also pay for the participation fees for kids that can’t afford it themselves.”
Rich Batchelor is an assistant principal at Land O’ Lakes High and is managing the athletic department while athletic director Karen Coss is on maternity leave. He is very appreciative of what the event means for the school.
“The money from the Swamp Fest helps quite a few groups here,” Batchelor said. “It also helps our clubs and organizations because they get a part of the money by helping at the event. The money will help the athletics by buying new uniforms, equipment, pays for banquets and helps offset travel cost. The booster club is a wonderful group that does a lot for the school.”
Conner, Harris and Batchelor each said the real key to the festival’s success is what it does for the area.
“The Swamp Fest brings our community together for some fun family entertainment,” Harris said. “I love seeing the kids and their parents enjoying the food, watching local kids dancing on stage, local bands playing and of course the fantastic fall weather. I hope you can come to the Swamp Fest and have some fun with us.”

LOL Swamp Festival
Where: Land O’ Lakes Community Center, 5401 Land O’ Lakes Blvd.
When: Friday, Nov. 5-Sunday, Nov. 7
Website: www.LOLswampfest.com

Budget concerns cut Pasco Fire Rescue staff

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By Kyle LoJacono

Four Pasco County fire engines are now staffed with only two firefighters, down from the old standard of three.
“In Pasco, we normally have three on all engines and were building toward four before the financial crisis hit,” said county fire chief Duncan Hitchcock, a 33-year veteran in his third year as chief.

All Hillsborough Fire Rescue engines have at least three personnel on board. (Photo courtesy of Hillsborough Fire Rescue)

One of the affected engines is at station No. 32, at 38223 Centennial Road off US 301 in east Pasco. It serves mainly Zephyrhills and Dade City. Two of the engines serve various parts of the county as needed. The fourth is in New Port Richey.
Property taxes for fire rescue service increased by 23 cents per $1,000 of taxable value, but that was not enough to prevent the reduced staffing.
Pasco commission chairwoman Pat Mulieri said there were few public concerns about the increase in taxes to pay for fire rescue services, which is likely because of how important it is to people like Land O’ Lakes resident Connie Whiteside.
“What’s more important than protecting your house from a fire?” Whiteside said. “I’d have been fine if they raised (taxes) more to bring in more firefighters.”
Kenneth Browning, who lives in Meadow Pointe, has similar feelings and also fears for the firefighters: “If I’m at work and something starts a fire I want to know the fire stations can put it out. And what if something happens to one or both of the firefighters? I figure the more people the more safe it is for them.”
Of the nearly 2,000 people surveyed in Pasco this year, 65 percent said fire rescue is their top priority in maintaining the current standard of service. Mulieri said that shows how important fire rescue is to county residents, which is why the commission decided to increase taxes for it.
The increase in taxes helped add 14 new personnel who recently joined the force and another 15 who are expected to finish training and orientation in January. The reason the new staff cannot prevent the two-person engines is there is no longer the budget for as much overtime as before. If only a few personnel call in sick, there would not be enough money to fill in.

“The National Fire Protection Association’s (NFPA) recommendations are to have four on each engine and our director of fire rescue Anthony Lopinto had been working for years to get us to those standards,” Hitchcock said.
The NFPA’s recommendations are not rules, but more like industry best practice guidelines. Hillsborough County also cannot afford to staff all of its 45 engines with four personnel, according to Hillsborough Fire Rescue spokesman Raymond Yeakley.
“All of our engines always have three and some have four,” Yeakly said. “We’d like to have as many people working the fires as we can to get them out fast and keep the firefighters safe. We’d like to follow the NFPA standards.”
Yeakley said when an active fire is reported, more than one engine always reports to the scene in Hillsborough. He said usually about 15 people are at such an emergency.
Hillsborough has 42 stations, three of which are based in Lutz including No. 34 at 6415 Van Dyke Road, No. 40 at 16304 N. Nebraska Ave and No. 24, also known as the volunteer fire station, at 129 W. Lutz-Lake Fern Road. There are also stations near Lutz in Northdale and by University Community Hospital.
Hitchcock said there may be a possibility of increasing the four engines back to three personnel in Pasco after the 15 new staff start next year. He added it is too early to tell if that would free up enough overtime money.
“We work hard to maintain our skill level and knowledge of what to do in a rescue situation,” Hitchcock said. “We all have to do 14 hours of in-house training each month to stay at that high level. The people of Pasco can rest assured knowing we are doing everything to keep them safe.”