Special to The Laker/Lutz News

Volunteers working to provide for military personnel overseas are already ramping up for the holidays

By B.C. Manion

While most people are thinking about whether they’ll barbecue chicken or ribs for Labor Day, efforts are already revving up to bring a bit of holiday cheer to the nation’s troops.
The goal is to collect 140,000 bags filled with snacks or toiletry items, said Bob Williams, of Support The Troops, Inc., a 501(c)3 charitable group based in Wesley Chapel.

This year, organizers are even more ambitious than they were last year when the effort resulted in sending 135,000 individual goody bags to 19 bases and two ships in forward deployed areas, Williams said. The bags were delivered by chaplains to service men and women on Christmas Eve, Williams said.
Karin King, founder of Treats for Troops, put the holiday drive for goody bags this way: “We’ve made our list and checked it twice.”
“If there are 5,000 guys on their ship, we want them to have 5,000 bags. If there are 2,000 guys on the base, we want them to have 2,000,” Williams said. “It’s a big morale boost.”
Williams and King are united in their efforts to recruit help from Sunday school classes, civic organizations, businesses or any other group that can help them provide a bag of goodies or toiletries for each service man or woman.
The bags can contain just about anything, King said. “Anything you go to the store for, they don’t have it either,” she said.
The snack bags can have items such as candy, gum, pretzels, chips, cracker, popcorn and cookies.
The toiletry bags can have body lotions, deodorant, sunscreen, lip balm, eye wash, body wash, shampoo, toothpaste, toothbrushes, mouth wash, hand sanitizers, baby wipes, soaps and more.
The items should be packed in one-gallon Ziploc bags.
Tampons can be particularly useful to soldiers in combat, King said. If a soldier is wounded, the tampon can be inserted into a wound. Tampons come wrapped individually, in sanitary packaging. A tampon absorbs blood, expands and can be easily removed, she explained.
Either toiletry bags or snack bags are welcome, but toiletry items and snack items should not be mixed together in the same bag, King said.
The rush is on to collect the filled goody bags, she added. “We need to have these bags by Halloween,” she said, in order to have them reach the troops in time for the holidays.
While Williams and King focus on gearing up the goody bag effort, members of Lutz Patriots also are preparing to make two large shipments of care packages before the end of the year. One shipment will be sent later this month. The other will be sent in November.

Bruce Hockensmith of the Lutz Patriots, said his group is always looking for donations for the 50-pound to 60-pound care packages they send to troops about four times a year.
The group is planning a packing party at the Support The Troops warehouse on Sept. 18, he said. The other shipment will be sent in time for the holidays, Hockensmith said.
The Lutz Patriots seeks to specifically send care packages to service men and women with ties to the Land O’ Lakes and Lutz areas, Hockensmith said. He encourages people in the local community to let his group know about their friends and family in the military overseas by e-mailing the group at
Like Williams and King, his group can use assistance.
“We’re always looking for donations,” Hockensmith said, noting his grassroots group has no outside source of funding. “Our soldiers really look forward to that mail call.”
In addition to the holiday goody bags, Williams and King also are involved in year-round efforts to send care packages to troops overseas.
Williams operates a warehouse, where he collects donations from companies, organizations and individuals used to fill 69-pound boxes that are routinely sent to U.S. military units in Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait, Qatar and Kyrgyzstan. Hundreds of volunteers pack the boxes.
Donations pay for the $40.25 postage charge for each box, but getting those donations is the biggest challenge, Williams said. Shelves in the warehouse are full of items that could be sent immediately to help the troops, but the organization doesn’t have enough money to cover the shipping costs, he said.
King, who started out by herself just baking a few dozen cookies, now has about a dozen women helping with the cause. The cookies they make are packed into Williams’ care packages.
King’s husband, Jim King, also is involved. He runs Operation Pocket Change, an organization that collects spare change from patrons at sporting events to help cover the cost of postage for shipping the military care packages.
All of the various efforts are important, King said, but the push is on now to get those goody bags filled and packed, to ensure delivery in time for Christmas.
“It just lets them know that people care,” Williams said.

Reach B.C. Manion at .

How To Help

For more information on how you can help, please contact:

Support The Troops, Inc. at (800) 367-3591 or (813) 991-9400
Treats for Troops and Operation Pocket Change at 813-746-1517
Lutz Patriots at ">

Roads, parks and public safety top improvements list

By Kyle LoJacono

The new fiscal year for Pasco County begins Oct. 1 and the list of capital improvements for the year is dominated by projects to improve transportation, parks and public safety.
The total price tag for the county’s 2010-11 capital improvements, which was recently released as part of the 2011-15 capital improvement plan, is $400 million, while the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) will pump in another $65.3 million for roads during that time. County commissioners hope these projects will help change Pasco.
“With the development of our strategic plan and our business plan, we are hoping to transform Pasco from a bedroom community to a place where residents can live, work and play,” said county commission chairwoman Pat Mulieri. “Pasco is definitely positioning its self to bring opportunities home as our slogan says.”
Mulieri represents Pasco District 2, which covers Land O’ Lakes, most of Wesley Chapel, Grower’s Corner and Shady Hills.
The county projects from next year will be paid for by a combination of impact fees, Penny for Pasco funds, gas taxes and money from the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
TRANSPORTATION
The big ticket road project in east Pasco next year is the $14.8 million to finish the widening of SR 54 from I-75 to Curley Road in Wesley Chapel. This is not a new project, but rather what was part of the $28 million contract signed last year.
The continuation east of that highway’s widening will also start next year at a cost of $650,000 from FDOT, impact fees and Penny for Pasco money. The money will go to design the widening of SR 54 the nine miles from Curley to Morris Bridge Road in Zephyrhills and also for right-of-way acquisition of land. The actual widening will happen in later years.
This SR 54 project seems to be already helping the economy of Pasco.
“When I asked T. Rowe Price, who is bringing 1,600 jobs to the area, why they chose Pasco they mentioned the building of needed infrastructure,” Mulieri said. “As important as (SR 54) is to bring jobs and businesses to Pasco, widening of 54 will most importantly relieve the stress for present Pasco residents who commute out of the county each day.”
Another road that will connect Zephyrhills and Wesley Chapel is the future Zephyrhills Bypass.
The project will start where SR 54 turns south at Curley. It will build a four-lane highway through the planned New River Town Center and Harrison-Bennett commercial development in Wesley Chapel and two lanes through the more rural areas to the east. The job also includes building a bridge and will connect with Handcart Road in Zephyrhills.
The total cost of the Bypass is $17.3 million from gas taxes and impact fees, with $2.4 million already spent, $2.6 million to be spent next year and $12.3 million to finish the job in 2014.
Improvements to the intersection of SR 52 and Prospect Road in San Antonio will be done to make the area safer and improve traffic flow. The project will cost $2.9 million from Penny for Pasco money.
A $650,000 study from impact fees will also be conducted this year in part to see if Overpass Road in Wesley Chapel should be widened from I-75 to the east.
Like Mulieri, John Hagen, Pasco’s president of economic development, said he also sees the advantage to the county from road projects.

“We’ve been pushing for easier ways to connect Zephyrhills, Dade City, Wesley Chapel and the rest of east Pasco with areas to the west,” Hagen said. “They have some great things in east Pasco, like the Shops at Wiregrass and any way we can reduce the travel time to drive across the county will help business.”
In addition to those projects, the county will spend $5.4 million from gas taxes to resurface roads throughout the county.
PARKS AND ENVIRONMENT
The John S. Burks Memorial Park in Dade City will be expanded to meet increased demand from the community at a cost of $2.2 million from parks and recreation impact fees and a grant from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.
There will be two new soccer/football fields while concession, restroom and storage buildings will be constructed. New parking spaces will also be added.
“Its expansion will let more people in east Pasco enjoy the park,” said Pasco Parks and Recreation Department director Rick Buckman. “The main thing is there will be more room for the soccer program there. By the end of the year the fields are mainly dirt, so more fields will improve the playing surface.”
In addition, $23 million will be spent to improve the Boyette Road reclaimed water reservoir in Wesley Chapel. Castoff water is collect and treated at such facilities and used for nonconsumption uses throughout the county.
PUBLIC SAFETY
The third most expensive portion of capital improvements plan is public safety. Many new fire rescue, emergency medical service and law enforcement vehicles will be added or to replace older units across the county.
Flooding has also been an issue in Zephyrhills and a $1.2 million project will help reduce the potential for such a disaster around Lake Zephyr. A variety of flood control measures and also water quality projects will be paid for by the county and the Southwest Florida Water Management District.
GOVERNMENT
Improvements will also be made to the election process in the county next year. The Pasco Supervisor of Elections will have a new data center in Dade City after the completion of the $12.4 million project. The new center will be better able to process the votes from the increasing population in Pasco.
The entire Pasco capital improvement plan for 2011-15 can be viewed at portal.pascocountyfl.net in the county budget tab.

Reach Kyle LoJacono at .

By Kyle LoJacono

The Shops at Wiregrass, Wiregrass Ranch High and the future Pasco-Hernando Community College’s (PHCC) Wiregrass Campus all got their names from a ranch owned by the Porter family.
Don Porter said his father, uncle and grandfather — James, Bob, J.B. Porter, respectively — bought 14,000 acres of land in 1941.

“Originally we had a smaller piece of land where the Zephyrhills (Municipal) Airport is,” Don said. “When World War II happened, the government bought the land for the Air Force training base. They used that to buy the land.”
Don said the family first came to Zephyrhills in 1937.
The Porters first moved onto the land in 1946. At that time, Don said the area was known as Gatorville, which was what they used to mail things.
The original home Don grew up in with his brothers, Tom and Bill, was on the south side of SR 54 across from where Heritage Ford is today. The original land went south to the area between 30th Street in Lutz to Bruce B. Downs in New Tampa, up to their homestead and to the east into where New River is today.
The family raised cattle on the land, which is where the ranch part comes from. Wiregrass is a kind of bunchgrass that grows in the area, according to Mimi Williams, plant materials specialist with the Natural Resource Conservation Service.
Williams said the grass grows about 20-30 inches long. It is native to Florida and has virtual no use to people except as a food source for grazing animals like cows. However it is not the most nutritious food for livestock. It is a favorite food for gopher tortoises and quail.
Don said his father would burn the wiregrass on a regular basis to try and keep it in check as much as possible and also to encourage younger and tenderer growth that is easier for the cattle to eat.
Don and his family called the area Gatorville for years. It was not until 1950 when a family friend, Ed Madill, sent the Porters a postcard while on vacation in Mexico. Don said Madill did not have the Porter’s address, so he sent it to Wiregrass Porter, Gatorville, FL USA. The name stuck.
While Don was growing up, there was only a one-room schoolhouse. He said everyone just called it “the schoolhouse,” which was located south of SR 54 across from Boyette Road. Don remembered about 13 students who shared the school.
Don, who was born in Plant City, married his late wife Lajuana and built a house for their new family on the ranch in 1970. The couple have two children, J.D. and Quinn.
“I grew up in a house right by where the new Wesley Chapel (Medical Center) will be,” J.D. said. “Back then when we wanted to go for pizza we had to drive south on Bruce B. Downs to Fletcher Avenue. There weren’t lights all the way down and there was an ABC’s pizza there.”
J.D. was born in 1979 and went to Quail Hollow Elementary, Weightman Middle and finished up high school at Zephyrhills High.
The family started selling large parts of the original ranch in 1972, with Saddlebrook Resort as the first buyer. The next year the land of Meadow Pointe was sold to a developer.
Don said the family now owns about 5,000 acres and still raises cattle and orange trees on the property. He said he envisioned an area with schools, shopping centers, recreation, neighborhoods, businesses and a hospital decades ago. That vision is coming true.
The Shops at Wiregrass opened in 2008 and has more than 100 businesses. Saddlebrook has become known across the nation for its tennis and golf programs and large developments like Meadow Pointe, New River Township and Seven Oaks have built up.
The educational center of the area has grown around Mansfield Boulevard where Dr. John Long Middle and Wiregrass Ranch High currently sit.
John Petrashek, Pasco County director of construction services and code compliance, said the family sold the land to the county’s school district around 2004. Both Petrashek and Don said the Porter family worked with the Pasco school board to come up with the high school’s name.
“Other names were proposed, but Wiregrass Ranch made the most sense,” Petrashek said.
In 2012, the education in the area will progress further when construction begins on PHCC’s Wiregrass Campus. It will be located just north of Wiregrass Ranch High on Mansfield and is scheduled to open in 2013.
Within the next few weeks the Wesley Chapel Medical Center, a full-service hospital, will also break ground on the east side of Bruce B. Downs north of SR 56. The facility will take 18 months to build.
Wiregrass Ranch has progressed far from the Gatorville of Don’s youth, but it is the same place he knows and loves.
“I’ve grown up here and I can’t imagine living anywhere else,” Don said. “There’s been a lot of progress and that’s needed. I’m glad I’ve been able to see the area build up into what it is today.”
-To reach Kyle LoJacono e-mail him at .

By Joe Potter

Enjoying a beer with that Buccaneers pre-game show just moved a step closer to reality in Zephyrhills.
City Council members have agreed to a second reading and public hearing of a proposed ordinance that would allow beer and other alcoholic beverages to be sold starting at 11 a.m. Sundays.
Zephyrhills is the only city in Pasco County that doesn’t allow beer and alcohol to be sold before 1 p.m. on Sundays. Elsewhere in Pasco County, alcohol sales begin at 11 a.m., with San Antonio cranking up sales three hours earlier.
During the Aug. 23 meeting, council members Ken Compton, Tim Urban and Jodi Wilkeson voted in favor of earlier sales hours. Council president Lance Smith and councilman Manny Funes opposed the measure.

Wilkeson said she supported the proposed ordinance because it would make it more equitable for businesses in Zephyrhills to have the opportunity to sell alcoholic beverages earlier on Sunday. “It seems silly to put our business owners at a disadvantage. I am for it,” Wilkeson said.
“Regardless of what I personally believe, we need to level the playing field when it comes to economic activity in our community. I would support this ordinance,” councilman Tim Urban said.
Councilman Manny Funes, a retired law enforcement officer and administrator, said he was opposed to earlier alcohol sales on Sunday. “I think it all comes down to money. If it’s about money, why don’t we start at 7 a.m. on Sunday? We’re all hypocrites to some degree,” Funes said. He continued that selling alcohol earlier on Sunday would send a signal that Zephyrhills is not a friendly city that treasures hometown values.
Smith, the swing vote last year when a similar measure failed, maintained his resistance to selling alcoholic beverages earlier on Sundays, citing personal reasons. Smith said he was not being hypocritical, adding, “I understand that people are going to use alcohol.”
The Sept. 13 hearing begins at 6 p.m. Approval there would be the final step to making this law within the city limits.

By B.C. Manion

As a young man, Chuck Kaupp served in the National Guard helping to restore civil order when it became necessary.
Now, as a citizen patrol volunteer for the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, he helps handle a variety of duties so deputies can focus their efforts on law enforcement issues.

Kaupp would like to volunteer in his own community, but he needs others to join him in order for the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office to set up a Volunteer Citizen Patrol in Lutz.
The Sheriff’s Office has established such volunteer patrols in Westchase, Town ‘N Country, Apollo Beach, Bloomingdale, Brandon and Fishhawk Ranch, said Deputy Lorraine Jordan, who coordinates the program.
But it needs at least a dozen volunteers who are willing to go through the training and willing to volunteer at least 12 hours a month to handle the duties.
Even though he doesn’t get paid, Kaupp loves the job.
“I call it the neighborhood watch on steroids,” said Kaupp, whose company, Southern Independent Testing Agency, tests and balances air-conditioning systems, primarily for schools and hospitals.
“Neighborhood watches are limited to their neighborhoods,” Kaupp said. These patrols work in larger areas.
The work does not involve confronting criminals and volunteer patrol members do not carry guns, Jordan said.
They work in pairs and they use a patrol car that is labeled Hillsborough County Citizen Patrol and is fitted with amber lights.
The car also is equipped with a radio system and volunteer patrol members carry radios that are tied in to the Sheriff’s Office.
The volunteers handle many duties that otherwise would require deputies. Those assignments include directing traffic at an accident scene, around a flooded street or through an intersection with a malfunctioning signal.
“A normal accident takes us about an hour,” Kaupp said. “That relieves at least one or two patrol cars.”
The volunteers also handle vacation checks requested by residents, and they patrol neighborhoods – keeping an eye out for anything suspicious, Kaupp said.
Other duties can include helping motorists who have disabled vehicles and helping to search for missing children or elderly people who have wandered off, Kaupp said.
The volunteers receive about 40 hours of training in crime prevention, first aid, traffic control and community policing.
If Lutz gets a patrol, the volunteers would likely cover an area between Florida Avenue and US 41 and North Dale Mabry Highway or possibly the Veterans Expressway, between County Line Road and Bearss Avenue, or Fletcher Avenue, Kaupp said.
If a catastrophe strikes, the volunteers might be called to help in other areas, Kaupp added.
The volunteer patrols serve a vital function, Jordan said. “They are the eyes and ears of the Sheriff’s Office.”
The experience is gratifying, Kaupp said. It’s a bit eye opening, too, he said, noting that the volunteers have a chance to ride along with deputies and to see what they encounter.
“I’m more street-wise than I have ever been,” he said. “You learn a lot of trends.”
The volunteers offer an invaluable perspective, Jordan said.
“Who better knows the community than the people who live there?” Jordan said.
She believes the volunteers are motivated out of a genuine concern for their communities.
She’s grateful, too.
“Deputies can’t be everywhere,” Jordan said.

Reach B.C. Manion at .

Volunteer Requirements

Must be 19 or older
Must have a valid driver’s license
Must pass a screening process
Must complete training course
Must attend monthly meetings
Must be willing to volunteer at least 12 hours a month

Anyone who would like to learn more should contact Lorraine Jordan at (813) 247-8223 or e-mail her at .

By Kyle LoJacono

Some 235,000 voters in Hillsborough and Pasco counties cast their ballots last week in primary elections, setting up November contests and, in some cases, deciding the winners.
Turnout was low on both sides of County Line Road, with 27 percent in Hillsborough and less than 19 percent in Pasco, where Supervisor of Elections Brian Corley was expecting 20-25 percent. Bad weather was a major reason for low poll traffic.
“A colleague of mine said to me, in this county, weather unfortunately affects the outcome,” Corley said. “In other countries people will dodge bullets to vote, while here people won’t dodge raindrops. Still, thousands of people went out and did their civic duty.”
The unofficial number of early votes set a record for Pasco during a midterm primary with 10,338. That is a 64 percent increase from the 6,638 who voted early in 2006. In addition, 10,022 absentee ballots were cast and 33,767 voted on election day.
In Hillsborough, the early voting turnout was 24,161, a bit short of the 2006 record of 25,326.
Beyond the big-ticket races for governor and U.S. Senate, here is a look at some of the local races down the ballot.

STATE SENATE DISTRICT 12
One of the more bitter races this primary election was between Republicans Jim Norman and Kevin Ambler. Norman, 56, won the battle with 56 percent of the vote.

Norman and Ambler were both running for the state Senate for the first time. Norman is in his 18th year on the Hillsborough County Commission. Ambler is completing his fourth term in the state House.
District 12 covers Land O’ Lakes, Lutz, Odessa, Northdale, New Tampa, North Tampa, Dade City, St. Leo, San Antonio, Wesley Chapel and Grower’s Corner. No Democrats applied to run in the November midterm, so Norman will face two write-in candidates, Derek Crabb and Kimberly Renspie.

FLORIDA’S FIFTH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT
Hernando County Sheriff Richard Nugent, 59, was tapped as the Republican candidate for Florida’s fifth Congressional District. He received 68 percent of the vote in his race against Jason Sager, who earned 32 percent.
Democrat Jim Piccillo will appose Nugent in the midterm.
The fifth district covers all of central and east Pasco and much of Hernando, Citrus, Lake, Levy, Marion, Sumter and Polk counties. It is the largest in Florida and the seventh largest in the country, according to the U.S. House of Representatives website.
Nugent said he planned on retiring after his term as sheriff was completed, but decided to run after the district’s current representative, Ginny Brown-Waite, asked him to five months ago. Brown-Waite previously said she is not running because of health concerns. She did not make the announcement until minutes before the deadline to apply for the election.

FLORIDA’S NINTH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT
Anita de Palma took 59 percent of the vote and will represent Democrats in the race for Florida’s Ninth Congressional District in November. She will face incumbent Republican Gus Bilirakis. The ninth district covers all of Hillsborough Lutz, Hillsborough Odessa, New Tampa, Keystone and portions of north Pinellas, west Pasco and eastern Hillsborough counties.

STATE HOUSE DISTRICT 60
The only area race that included both parties was for state House District 60, which covers all of northwest Hillsborough.
Russ Patterson took 72 percent of the vote against Christopher Cano to represent the Democrats. Shawn Harrison, who took 59 percent of the vote in the race against Trey Stroud, will represent Republicans.

STATE HOUSE DISTRICT 61
The Republican nomination for State House District 61 was decided early, with Will Weatherford taking 80 percent of the vote against Kevin Wright. The district covers all Land O’ Lakes, Pasco Lutz, Wesley Chapel, Zephyrhills, Dade City, San Antonio, New Tampa and much of Odessa.
“I was honored to receive 80 percent of the vote,” Weatherford said. “Hopefully it means the community believes in the same things I do. What I’m most concerned with right now is getting the economy back on track in the area.”
Weatherford will face off against political newcomer and Wesley Chapel resident Elena McCullough, a Democrat, in the general election. Weatherford, 30, is in line to become the youngest speaker of the state House since 1957. He would also be the first speaker from Pasco since 1893.
“I’ve always believed there are two kinds of people who get into politics,” Weatherford said. “People who want to be something and people who want to do things. I want to do things, mainly creating jobs and making a more economical viable place for people to live.”
Weatherford has run successful in the district the last two terms, which are two years long.

HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY COMMISSION
Three newcomers and one incumbent were picked by their parties for the November election for the Hillsborough County Commission.
Victor Crist will represent District 2 for Republicans. He received 65 percent of the vote to defeat Linda Pearson. District 2 covers most of north Hillsborough, including Lutz, Odessa and New Tampa. Crist will face Steven Morris, who is not affiliated with a party, in November.
Also winning their primaries for the commission are:
(Bullets)
Sandra Murman, county District 1, Republican
Les Miller, county District 3, Democrat
Mark Sharpe, county District 7, Republican incumbent

PASCO COUNTY COMMISSION
Current commission chairwoman Pat Mulieri won the Republican nomination for the Pasco District 2 seat in a tight race against Ken Littlefield. The district covers Land O’ Lakes, most of Wesley Chapel, Grower’s Corner and Shady Hills.
Mulieri, who was first elected to the commission in 1994, took 52 percent of the vote.
“My first thought was a win is a win,” Mulieri said about the close victory. “Only 30,000 Republicans voted out of 100,000 registered.”
Mulieri will be opposed in November’s midterm by Clay Colson, of Land O’ Lakes, who is a registered Democrat but will run without a party affiliation. Commissioners serve for four years.
While the vote was tight, Mulieri feels confident she will be able to garner enough support to win in November.
“I will continue to ask for republican support,” Mulieri said. “The primary fell during an extremely busy time. My emphasis had to be on the budget cycle and moving Pasco into the future. I did not have the time to visit the many Republican clubs, but hopefully I will be able to reach out more to these clubs in the future.”
Mulieri said her plans are to continue to make Pasco a place people can live, work and play. She said the best way to do that is encourage job growth and economic development.
Also in an election period full of negative ads, Mulieri said she decided against that method.
“Someone commented ‘I received eight flyers and yours was the only one that was all positive,’” Mulieri said. “It was suggested that I should do a negative piece against my opponent. My response was a loud and clear no … I would rather lose then go negative.”

HILLSBOROUGH SCHOOL BOARD
Candy Olson will not have to win a runoff election in November because such a large number of voters selected her. She took more than 50 percent of the vote, which gives her the District 2 seat on the board.
Both Districts 4 and 6 will have runoff elections between Richard Bartels and Stacy White and between April Griffin and Sally Harris, respectively. School board candidates run without part affiliation.

PASCO SCHOOL BOARD
No school board candidate received more than 50 percent of the vote in the three seats up for election, so the top two vote getters in each district will face each other in a runoff election in November. Mike Ryan and Cynthia Armstrong topped District 3, Alison Crumbley and Karen King led for District 4 and Steve Luikart and Mark Swartsel were the top two for District 5.
School board members represent specific areas, but make decisions for the entire county.

RECAP
Corley said things went about as smoothly as possible during the primary.
“I wish we had a higher turnout,” Corley said. “I always tell people they can’t complain if they don’t vote, but a lot of people still voted and we didn’t have any major issues. Overall the process went very well.”
The midterm election is Nov. 2, with early voting available during the two weeks prior.

Reach Kyle LoJacono at .

By B.C. Manion

Michele Northrup stands in her kitchen, dicing jalapeno peppers and cloves of garlic, and mixing them into a sauce that is simmering in a pan on her stove.

She’s experimenting on a new recipe for her gourmet hot sauce business called Intensity Academy.
The company’s name pays homage to the fact that Northrup was inspired to begin her business while in the garden at Learning Gate Community School, where she works in Lutz.
The vegetable of the week that week was carrots and everyone was encouraged to come up with a new way to serve carrots, Northrup said. She concocted a gourmet hot sauce, combining the sweetness of carrots and the heat of peppers.
The sauce was such a hit, Northrup decided to try her hand at creating a gourmet sauce company.
Since then, her sauce line has evolved into tea-infused marinades, ketchups, dipping sauces and hot sauces. She uses organic teas as additives in her sauces.
Besides concocting the sauces, she designs the labels on her bottles and does all of her marketing. The sauces are made and bottled at a bottling plant in Clearwater.
Northrup’s company has not gone unnoticed.
She has won a slew of national and local awards. Her Chai Thai Teriyaki sauce received the Golden Chili award at the 2010 Chili Pepper Magazine competition in Fort Worth and her Chai Chipotle Chup was voted the No. 1 ketchup in the nation in the 2010 Scovie Awards Fire Foods magazine competition.
Most recently, she won the manufacturing category in the Tampa Bay Business Journal’s 2010 Business Woman of the Year competition. Winners in various categories were announced at a black-tie gala on Aug. 20.
She was delighted and surprised.
“I didn’t really think I was going to win. Some of these companies that I was up against were really big,” said Northrup, whose work force consists mostly of her three sons, her husband and her father-in-law.
Northrup’s sauces are sold at about 90 stores across the nation, including all of the Whole Foods stores in Florida, some Walgreens locations in Hillsborough and Pasco counties and numerous independent shops.
She also sells her sauces online, promotes them vigorously through Facebook and Twitter, and markets them at the Zephyrhills Celtic Festival, San Antonio Rattlesnake Festival, the Kumquat Festival in Dade City, and at festivals and street markets in Lutz, Land O’Lakes, Tampa and St. Petersburg.
The sauces do have a following, said husband Tom Was.
“We have people who live in Ft. Myers, who have a cabin in Georgia,” Was said. “So, every time when they’re going to Georgia or coming back, they’ll call and say, “Hey, can you meet us at Bearss (Avenue) and (Interstate) 275? We’ll meet them at the Perkins.”
Northrup also makes deliveries. She’ll put out the word that she’ll be out on the road and people will send her requests.
One customer will say: “Oh, if you’re going to be near the Old Lutz Schoolhouse, can you meet me there?” Northrup said, or, she’ll meet people at Land O’ Lakes High School, or other community spots.
Northrup is widely known in Lutz, as the former Guv’na, who still holds the record for raising the most money by a candidate seeking the honorary post.
The annual Guv’na race is a friendly competition pitting candidates in a contest to raise money, while promoting community fun. The winner of the competition is based entirely on who raises the most cash, and over the years, thousands of dollars have been raised to support a wide range of community groups and causes.
For more information about the sauce company, go to www.intensityacademy.com

Reach B.C. Manion at .

By B.C. Manion

It’s a sight that isn’t seen too much these days.
A new two-story building is nearing completion at 15380 N. Florida Ave.

When completed, the 12,586-square-foot structure will boast cast stone around its base. It also has a two-story arch-shaped glass entry – creating a distinctive entrance.
When the building is done, natural light will stream into a second-story area that will be used for employee breaks, said Glenn Smith, project superintendent for ABI Construction Services, general contractor on the project.
The stucco over block structure will house Jaffe Tilchin Wealth Management, a company that handles fee-based portfolio management, risk management, financial planning and insurance services.
The story of the new building dates back to 2006, said Lou Tilchin, who at that time wanted a larger office for his wealth management company. The company then was operating out of a 4,000-square-foot office, off of Fletcher Avenue in Carrollwood.
When he started planning for a new space, Tilchin was considering an office of 7,000 square feet to 8,000 square feet.
But that was before the merger talks began with Jaffe, which ultimately increased the company’s space needs, Tilchin said.
At one point, a design of 13,000 square feet to 14,000 square feet was being considered, Tilchin said. But issues cropped up with the county over trees and the cost per square foot was getting ridiculously high, Tilchin said.
So they started over, Tilchin said.
In the interim, the recession has caused construction costs to drop, he said.
Work at the site began in May, Smith said, noting the project is ahead of schedule because subcontractors have been readily available.
The wealth management firm has 35 employees and currently operates at 3924 Premiere North off of Linebaugh Avenue. It expects to move to its Florida Avenue location sometime in November, Tilchin said.

Reach B.C. Manion at .

By Molly McGowan

Mark Vesh has a catchy last name that lends itself well to a catering company title like “Catered by Vesh,” and looks smart on embellished business cards. And now, Vesh has his own restaurant.

Though he has been catering since he worked at Amelia Island Plantation near Jacksonville five years ago, Vesh recently took over the grill at The Groves Golf and Country Club in Land O’ Lakes.
Catered by Vesh at The Groves sports a menu that is sure to satisfy the resident or visitor craving either classic country club cuisine or something a little more adventurous. For example, some of the local favorites are the crab cake sandwich and the Angus burger, to which Vesh has managed to add some flair. The “Vesh Burger” ditches regular American cheese for House Boursin cheese instead. There’s also the chicken cordon bleu, and a Happy Hour that lasts from 4-7 p.m. on weekdays, and from 2-5 p.m. on Saturdays.
Since the fare preferred by local clientele is more casual than that of his catering jobs, it’s clear that Vesh has become a multifaceted chef – a result of apprenticing with chefs from all over the world.
In his culinary adventures, Vesh has worked at The Ritz Carlton Resorts, the Greenbrier Country Club and Saddlebrook Golf and Tennis Resort in Wesley Chapel, gleaning multiple techniques from the multiple chefs with whom he worked.
Vesh says that doing so introduced him to various preparation styles and different cuisine specialties, which helped him to grow as a chef.
And while he enjoys his new position at The Groves, Vesh appreciates the diversity of his catering business. With a staff of 12, Catered by Vesh delivers everything from seven-course wine dinners to casual corporate picnics. Vesh says there is frequent demand for seafood preparations by his catering business, and one of his creative “stations” – where food is prepared in front of guests – offers sushi. Also popular are carving and action stations, though Vesh’s favorite is the pasta station.
“You can really customize each order,” he said, listing pesto, vodka and alfredo sauces as just a few of the elements of a tailored pasta station plate.
Vesh says that as far as his catering business is concerned, he wants to work on booking larger events. “I want to focus on weddings, social catering,” he said, indicating that he already had a few corporate contracts lined up.
Vesh says he is also planning to launch a school lunch catering service to area private schools.
Between catering gigs, though, Vesh wants to bring more people into his restaurant at The Groves. Though the current clientele mostly consists of the country club’s residents, the restaurant is open to the public.
“People seem to think that because there’s a guard at the gate [of The Groves], we’re not open,” Vesh says, and that is not the case.
To draw in more customers and to entertain his regulars, Vesh has theme nights on Tuesdays such as New Orleans Night, with a menu including jambalaya, red beans and rice, fried okra and tilapia in a Cajun wine sauce.
For an inexpensive buffet accompanied by singing, Karaoke Nights at the restaurant are on Thursdays, and Sunday brunch is only $10. Another new feature coming soon to the restaurant is the ability to do package sales, allowing customers to take home the open wine bottles that they ordered with dinner. Vesh hopes that this, accompanied by the already-established full bar services, will draw more people into the restaurant. Once that’s done, he can rely on the food he serves to keep his customers coming back for more.
For more information, or to make a reservation at Catered by Vesh at The Groves, call (813) 996-1838. A full menu is available at www.thegrovesgolfandcountryclub.com/HOA/dining.html.