Special to The Laker/Lutz News

Daniel Bond doesn’t show his 30 years of hunting rust

By Kyle LoJacono

It had been 30 years since Daniel Bond was on a hunting trip, but it seems the Pasco Lutz resident has a natural gift for it.
He was one of nine veterans invited to the 11th annual Billy Ray Parnell Purple Heart Memorial Hunt at Legends Ranch in Michigan Aug. 30 to Sept. 3. All nine were wounded while serving in the military and received Purple Heart awards.
“It was unbelievable,” Bond said. “The most amazing thing is how much different veterans are treated now as opposed to when I served in Vietnam. We didn’t get parades or anything like that when we got home, so it was very humbling to have this kind of treatment and to see how much public opinion has changed.”

Bond, 62, was the only one from Florida on the trip. Six of the nine were Vietnam War veterans, while one apiece was from World War II, the Korean War and the war in Iraq.
In his youth, Bond hunted regularly where he grew up in Michigan, but his injuries combined with the cold of the Midwest state forced him to give it up. Even though he had three decades of rust to kick off, he did so quickly and got a 9-point whitetail buck that weighed 180 pounds.
“The amazing thing is the last day we took a picture with all the guys and the seven deer we got,” Bond said. “It was great to hear all the stories from the guys of how they got their bucks.”
All the deer will be stuffed and mounted for free for the veterans. Bond said he will get his sometime next year.
Skipper Bettis, the ranch’s owner, said he started the event because he had a friend named Billy Ray Parnell who signed up with him for military service. Bettis was not allowed to serve because of a bad knee. Parnell went to Vietnam in 1970 and was killed in action.
“I do the event each year to honor my old friend and to give back to our heroes,” Bettis said. “It’s a small thing I can do to give them a good time and thank them for everything they’ve done.”
Bond served in the military for two years starting when he was drafted in May 1968. At the time he was a 21-year-old college student entering his sophomore year. Bond said people needed to take 12 credit hours to be considered full-time students and avoid the draft.

“I was taking 14 hours and dropped one class, which took me to 11,” Bond said. “I remember thinking at first what if I get drafted, but then figured they wouldn’t draft me and I’d just take 12 hours again the next semester. I was wrong.”
He received his draft notice three weeks later. Instead of going to the Army, he enlisted in the Marine Corps. He said while it was not his original plan, he was still very proud to serve his country.
He was injured Nov. 1, 1968 when he was shot three times by an AK-47. The first shot hit him just above the left knee. He was down for about an hour in a swamp before being shot again, which grazed his back. He was hit the last time an hour and a half later in his side near his hip. The last bullet traveled up into his chest near his arm.
He was taken to a hospital in Chicago, which he stayed at for more than two years. He had to stay for so long because a lot of infection had set in during his two and a half hours in the swamp. The wound to his knee still gives him problems and he uses a cane to get around.
Bond said his family has a long history of military service dating back to the Civil War. His father, Kenneth, was a pilot in World War II and his son, Garrett, is a commissioned officer in the Marines.
Bond retired from a job as long-haul truck driver about two years ago. He lives with his wife Rosa.
For more information on the ranch or the hunting tournament, visit www.legendsranch.com.

By Kyle LoJacono

Thousands of people walked in Making Strides Against Breast Cancer in Dade City last year and organizers are hoping for even more participants as the event comes to The Shops at Wiregrass.
The eighth edition is breaking from the traditional location at Little Everglades Ranch in Dade City for the more central location in Wesley Chapel. Organizers from the American Cancer Society’s (ACS) Pasco Unit wanted to give people the chance to participate in the only such event in the county.

“A lot of people know about the Relay For Life walks we do in the spring, but Strides is something we do each October especially to raise money and awareness for breast cancer,” said Stephanie Watts, ACS’ Pasco unit community representative. “Money raised at the relays goes to fund research, advocacy and services for all forms of cancer. Strides is just for breast cancer.”
The event is a 5K (5 kilometers or 3.1 miles) noncompetive walk around the mall that starts at 9 a.m. Registration is at 8 a.m. Pink ribbons will be all over the mall for the event.
“I really believe in the event because it raises money to fight the disease, but also gets women thinking about and getting screenings,” Watts said. “My cousin (Christine Watts) was diagnosed with breast cancer at 35 years old and my aunt (Camell Moore) was at 32. It’s not just for women 40 and older.”
Pasco County Clerk of the Circuit Court and Comptroller Paula O’Neil has participated in the event as a walker the last six years and has taken on the role as event chairwoman for 2010. O’Neil has never had the disease, but her mother was taken by it.
“It’s just so beautiful to see people come together for the event,” O’Neil said. “I agreed to chair the event because of my mother and we’ve lost several employees at the clerk’s office to breast cancer. We also have several survivors who work here, so I’m reminded of how common the fight is every day. It’s personal to the clerk’s office.”
It is so personal to O’Neil and her Strides team, Clerks for a Cure, they have challenged other parts of Pasco’s government to raise money for the event. The challenge is called the pink government challenge.

O’Neil said the government team that brings in the most money in the challenge will receive a trophy at the walk. Other government groups participating include the Pasco Sheriff’s Office, Department of Engineering and Will Weatherford and his staff.
Last year the event drew 1,500-2,000 participants and raised $148,000. Watts said administrative costs are no more than 5 percent.
As of Oct. 6, Clerks for a Cure, which has 65 members, had raised $5,765, the third most by a county team. That is a large number, but one team is on the national Strides leader board.
Jazzercise Bosom Buddies has already brought in $23,075, the fifth most in the country for a group. Kris Dail is the Jazzercise team leader and her team will be leading a stretching and warm-up session to get walkers prepared for the event.
Much of the team’s money came from a fishing tournament called Reeling for Racks. Dail said the jazzercise studio in Dade City wanted to be a part of the event because many on the team know people who have had the disease.
“It’s a small way for us to show our support,” Dail said. “We do a lot of fundraising throughout the year from the fishing tournament and bake sales. We were determined to get as much as we could to fight the disease.”
The Pasco event also features the fifth leading individual, Linda Davenport, who has raised $18,595. Those interested in donating to any team or individual can do so at makingstrides.acsevents.org/pasco, where interested walkers can also register for the event.
For more information on the event, call Watts at (800) 940-1969 ext. 5612 or e-mail her at .
“You can see how much it means to the survivors and those still fighting it,” O’Neil said. “The really special thing is the money stays in Pasco County, so when people pitch in it helps their backyard.”

By B.C. Manion

On a recent morning at the Early Childhood Campus of Carrollwood Day School, a group of youngsters were planting peas, carrots, lettuce, Zucchini, eggplant and other vegetable seeds in earth boxes on a patio.

When 5-year-old Abby Garavuso popped out of the classroom door onto the patio, she shrieked.  The kindergartner could not believe how much a plant had shot up since she’d last seen it. She was beside herself with joy.
The plant was growing from a seed the children had planted as part of an experiment, said Betty Campbell, lead teacher at the campus.
Besides planting the vegetable seeds, the children will tend to the plants, draw pictures of the vegetables, dissect them and taste them.
The youngsters are engaged in the International Baccalaureate approach to education, which differs from the approach to learning used in traditional schools.
“I think the primary difference is that students discover information. We don’t teach facts. We want thinkers. We look for more than one right answer,” Campbell said.
“It doesn’t matter what you teach, it’s the concepts you are teaching: “What are things like? How are they connected to other things? What is your responsibility? All of those bigger concepts,” Campbell said.
“Whatever we teach here can be picked up and taken anywhere in the world,’’ Campbell said. The lessons are also developmentally appropriate, she said.
Carrollwood Day School’s Early Childhood Campus at 12606 Casey Road begins accepting children at the age of 2. The youngsters don’t become part of the IB program until age 3.
The school also has its Bearss Avenue campus at 1515 W. Bearss Ave., where it educates students in grades one through 12.
It is not unusual to have IB at the high school level, but it is not common to offer that form of education to young children.
Carrollwood Day School is the first school in Florida to be authorized by the International Baccalaureate Organization to offer all three IB programs, from preschool through grade 12. It also is the sixth school in the nation approved to do so.

On a recent day at the Bearss Avenue campus, students were engaged in all sorts of learning activities.
Two fifth-graders sat in a hallway working as a team to research the potential health risks posed by artificial sweeteners. Youngsters in a first-grade classroom sang Zippity Do Dah as they put away some poetry and got ready for another lesson. Sixth-graders researched connections between ancient Egypt and the present day.
The walls in the school’s corridor are chock full of examples of hands-on work. On one wall, there are maps the children have drawn. On another, students answer a series of open-ended questions.
One question asks what they want to be when they grow up. One child wants to be a football player.  Another, an astronaut. A third, a musketeer.
Another question asks about their pets. One child writes: “I wish I had a rabbit.”
While some people may think the IB approach is meant only for highly intelligent students, Carrollwood Day School takes a more universal view.
“It’s for everybody to learn how to think,” said Ellen Nafe, principal at the Early Childhood Campus.  “It’s not skill and drill, not workbook. (It’s) What would you do if? How can you find out?”
“My view of the IB is that it is really for any student that is willing to work hard and wants a good college prep education,” said Ryan Kelly, CDS’ high school principal.

Students at Carrollwood Day School said they enjoy going to school there.
“This is a great place that has a lot of activities and it’s very fun,” said 12-year-old Jakob Vidal, who has attended the school for two years.
His classmate, Sarah Katherine Massey, is in her first year at the school. She thinks the smaller classes and better technology give students better opportunities for learning. She said the teachers are helpful too.
The 12-year-old said attending CDS has changed her attitude about school. “I’m really happy, “Yeah, let’s go to school’. Before I was like, “Do I have to go to school, really?”
For more information about Carrollwood Day School go to www.carrollwooddayschool.org.

By Kyle LoJacono

When people think of hospital volunteers they tend to envision older women in pink outfits, but in reality people of all ages and genders can benefit from giving their time.
“We have students as young as 14 to our oldest volunteer who is 96,” said Susan Bennett, Florida Hospital Zephyrhills volunteer coordinator. “We interview the volunteers to find out where they would be most happy and be of most help here. That way they can have a good time while giving back to the community.”

The influx of winter residents in east Pasco County makes the need for volunteers greater at the hospital. Currently its volunteer group, Florida Hospital Zephyrhills Auxiliary, has 275 members, but 82 are on leave. To be a volunteer, people need to be at least 14 years old and commit to one four-hour shift weekly for 25 weeks.
“We have four main groups of people who volunteer,” Bennett said. “High school kids usually do it for volunteer hours, while college students are looking for job experience.
“Then you have people just looking for employment and use the volunteering as a foot in the door and let me tell you, I’ve seen that work,” Bennett continued. “More than one person has gotten a job from volunteering here. Then you have the older population looking to stay active and social.”
One volunteer is 15-year-old Jenette Norris, who is home schooled. Older sisters Jessica and Jaimie also volunteered at the hospital.
“I wanted to get some volunteer hours and I heard it was a good place to do that from my sisters,” Norris said. “I like doing it because I know it really helps the other people here get more done.”
On the other end of the age spectrum is Auxiliary president Wilma Eshenour, 82. She has recorded more than 1,400 hours volunteering, a hobby she shares with husband John. Eshenour said she started just to help people and will do so as long as she can.

Volunteers like Norris help in the hospital’s 60 departments doing tasks like answering phones, filing documents, opening mail, helping in the cafeteria and working in the Auxiliary Gift Shop.
“If we didn’t have this kind of help, we couldn’t get half the things done we do now,” Bennett said. “It allows our nurses, doctors and other staff more time with the patients.”
Those working in the gift shop help in another way. All the money from items bought at the store are currently going to fulfill the Auxiliary’s $50,000 commitment to the hospital’s new Compressive Breast Institute. Money from the shop also bought the new shuttle used to take patients to and from their vehicles in the parking lot.
While the hospital has many volunteers now, Bennett said the turnover is usually high, making the need for new helpers a constant. For more information on becoming an Auxiliary volunteer, call (813) 779-6256. Applications can be found at the hospital, 7050 Gall Blvd. in Zephyrhills or by visiting www.fhzeph.org/Careers/Volunteer.aspx.

Wesley Chapel kid assists Land O’ Lakes team

By Kyle LoJacono

Like many boys, Jacob Rush loves football, but being born with cerebral palsy makes it impossible to play the game.
Jacob, 11, has not let his condition prevent him from being a part of South Pasco Predators mitey mite team. He leads the stretching and agility drills to start practices and helps as an assistant coach.

“It makes me feel like I’m part of the team,” said Jacob, of Wesley Chapel. “I get to call out the drill and blow the whistle during warm-ups and help my dad coach the offense and defense in practice and games.”
Jacob’s father, Michael, is an assistant on the team, which is part of the national Pop Warner football program and plays its home games at the Land O’ Lakes Recreation Complex on Collier Parkway. Players are ages 7-9. His other son, 9-year-old Caleb, plays on the team, which has started the season 3-1.
“I get the most joy out of him being able to be in sports,” Michael said. “I was very nervous that parents or the kids might not have wanted him on the sidelines and helping in practice, but everyone just feels good that he can help out. He gets to be part of the team.
“The other thing is the players get to see a kid like Jacob,” Michael continued. “I’ve been a teacher for 23 years, so I know how kids can be when they see someone a little different. It helps the awareness of kids to see that Jacob isn’t disabled, just a little different.”
Michael is a math teacher at Wharton High.
Jacob’s condition stems from a blood vessel rupturing, which caused the right side of his body to be less developed than his left, according to his pediatrician Dr. Patrick Yee.
“Cerebral palsy isn’t one illness, but a collection of conditions caused by damage to the brain and nervous system that cause problems with things like learning, hearing, movement, sight and other things,” Yee said. “The symptoms vary from very mild to very severe.”

Yee said it is not hereditary and added there is no way of knowing if the rupture happened before, during or shortly after Jacob was born.
Michael said no one else in his family has the disease. He and Jacob’s mother, Tammy, discovered Jacob’s condition very early, which has helped them control the symptoms.
“Jacob was born premature and had to be in intensive care for 28 days,” Michael said. “They did a brain scan and Dr. Yee said he saw a dark cloud that he wasn’t sure what it was. I can still remember that day he told us, but in a way we were very lucky to find out early.”
Jacob had to have an operation so he could walk more normally three years ago. Jacob does not have major problems with gross motor skills like walking, but has more trouble with fine motor skills that need more dexterity like picking something up with his right hand. He is left handed, but writing offers its own challenges.
For him to write traditionally he needs someone else to hold the paper still because it moves from the pressure of the pen or pencil and he cannot hold it in place with his right hand. Michael said he also loves computers, which is good because he uses them to write most of his schoolwork.
Despite being so young, Jacob has learned all the rules of football so well that he also acts as referee during practice, blowing his whistle to stop plays when he sees a penalty.
“I really want to be a football referee when I grow up, but I could also do something with computers,” Jacob said. “I love football and it’s great to get a chance to be a part of the team. Everyone is nice to me and I get to be with my brother and dad.”