Special to The Laker/Lutz News

Officials expect record midterm turnout

By Kyle LoJacono

Three generations of Zephyrhills women made early voting at New River Branch Library a family affair.
Mildred Camper, Yvonne Funes and Kasey Kent were drawn to the ease and convenience of casting their ballots days before the primary deadline.

“I was off (from work) today, so we all decided to come together,” said Funes, who is Kent’s mother and Camper’s daughter. “It’s just very convenient. It’s much easier than having to wait until election day for me because I have to get up for work at 5:30 (a.m.) and don’t come home until late a lot of the time. This lets me make sure I get to vote in case something comes up at the last minute.
“I think it’s very important to vote,” Funes continued. “My husband is a politician so there’s no excuse for me not voting, but I think people should make their voices heard,” said the wife of Zephyrhills City Councilman Manny Funes.
The women are three of the 4,378 voters who have cast early ballots as of As of Aug. 16 at 9 a.m.
At the Land O’ Lakes Branch Library, early voting was happening for the first time. Previously central Pasco County votes went to the county’s Land O’ Lakes office.
Pat Hunter and her husband James, of Land O’ Lakes, also went to the polls together. The two said they have done early voting each year since it began in 2004.
“It’s so convenient to come when you want,” James said. “I think it should be open for 30 days so more people can vote early … It gives more people the chance to voice our opinions.”
Pat said early voting gives people more options: “What if we have to go out of town or have some kind of an emergency on voting day? Then we wouldn’t be able to vote. We make sure we get here in plenty of time just in case.”
While thousands of people are choosing to vote early, many still prefer observing the tradition of voting on the day of an election.
“I always vote the day of,” said Wesley Chapel resident Carolyn Lakoff. “I just believe in doing it the old-fashioned way, I guess.”
Instead of voting, Lakoff was at the New River Library in Zephyrhills to check out a book.
All Florida counties are required to offer multiple early voting locations. This year Pasco offered early voting from Aug. 9-21 except on Sunday Aug. 15. All Pasco sites are open from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday-Friday and 9 a.m.-5 p.m. on Saturdays.
Pasco residents can go to any of the seven county locations to vote. They only need to bring photo and signature identification, such as a driver’s license.
Brian Corley, Pasco supervisor of elections, said the county is on pace to have more people participate in early voting than ever before for a midterm. In the 2006 midterm, 5,500 votes were cast. The record was 70,000 votes in the 2008 presidential election. Corley attributes the increase to more people hearing about the ease of the process.
“It comes down to one word — convenience,” Corley said. “Right now, people can vote three ways, by absentee ballots, the day of and early voting. Early voting gives people the convenience of choosing when they want to vote. There are weekends and night hours, so it gives even very busy people the chance to vote.”
New this year, county residents can check the wait time at any of the early voting locations by visiting www.pascovotes.com. People can also check unofficial voter turnouts, which are updated hourly.
People can also view a sample ballot and request an absentee ballot on the same website. The deadline to request an absentee ballot is always at 5 p.m. six days before an election, which is Aug. 18 for the primary.
The date for the primary election is Aug. 24. On that date people will have to go to their specific voting precinct.
“The process has gotten a lot easier and smoother for voters,” Corley said. “I hope people get out and vote with one of the three options. We try and make it as easy as possible for people to exercise that right as a citizen.”

Pasco early voting sites
East Pasco Government Center, 14236 Sixth St. in Dade City
New River Branch Library, 34043 SR 54 in Zephyrhills
Village Market of Wesley Chapel, 5325 Village Market in Wesley Chapel
Land O’ Lakes Branch Library, 2818 Collier Parkway in Land O’ Lakes
South Holiday Branch Library, 4649 Mile Stretch Drive in Holiday
West Pasco Government Center, 7530 Little Road in New Port Richey
Hudson Regional Library, 8012 Library Road in Hudson

By B.C. Manion

Voter turnout is notoriously low for primary elections during non-presidential years, but the stakes are enormous for political office-seekers.
When votes are tallied Tuesday, some candidates will win a spot on the ballot for November’s general election, others will dismantle campaign teams and pick up yard signs and some will secure a seat in office.
Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections Earl Lennard said he doesn’t make predictions regarding the percentage of voter turnout, but is “preparing for a good primary” in terms of numbers.
Meanwhile, next door in Pasco County, Supervisor of Elections Brian Corley is predicting a turnout of 24 percent to 25 percent. That’s up from the 20 percent that normally turns out for a primary midterm election, he said.
Early results in Pasco show that Republicans are turning out in larger numbers than Democrats, Corley said. He suspects that may be due to the heated campaign between Bill McCollum and Rick Scott to be the party’s nominee for governor.
Political analyst Susan MacManus said “the turnout is a big question mark.”
The hot political races may prompt voters to go to the polls to express their desires, or the bitter campaigning may turn them off, said MacManus said, a political science professor at the University of South Florida.
“The negativity has reached a crescendo and it is about to burst,” MacManus said.
Registered Republicans and Democrats in Pasco have a lot of decisions to make: They’ll decide who they want on the November ballot for U.S. Senate, for seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, for governor, attorney general, state senate, state house and county commission.
But voters affiliated with political parties aren’t the only ones who have a stake in the primary, MacManus said.
“A huge number (of people) have no clue that you can vote in the judicial races and in the school board races, even if you’re not a registered Democrat or Republican,” MacManus said.
Even if they turn out, many voters fail to exercise their full voting rights, Corley said.
Some voters cast ballots in high-profile races and then ignore the rest of the contests in a phenomenon known as “ballot drop off,” Corley said.
He questions that logic.
“Who has greater impact on our day-to-day lives than the school board that has a billion-dollar budget and is the largest employer?” Corley asked.
One race that will be interesting to watch is the State Senate District 12 race, pitting State Rep. Kevin Ambler against Hillsborough County Commissioner Jim Norman, MacManus said.
She noted that both Republicans have courted Pasco County voters more heavily than Hillsborough candidates have done in the past.
“These candidates have really figured out that they need the votes of Pasco County,” she said.

By Joe Potter

Friends of a rural Zephyrhills family whose house burned down July 31 have organized a charity golf tournament to help them.
The golf tournament for Vanessa and Robert Dobbins of 33420 Camerton Road will be held Aug. 22 at the Triple S Golf Ranch, 17751 US 301, Dade City.
Vanessa Dobbins, who is disabled, said she has regained her faith in humanity because of the way people have been reaching out to help her and her husband, who is retired.

Some people whom she said she knew could not afford to do so have walked up and pressed $20 bills into the palm of her hand.
The most help of all is anticipated to come from the golf tournament Stephanie Smith and some of her friends have organized.
“She’s my angel,” Vanessa Dobbins said of Smith.
Smith and Dobbins and several other area women are members of a group called the Women of Light. The group gets together each Thursday and helps other women in the community by providing food, clothing and companionship on an as-needed basis. The Women of Light can help people regardless of whether they have a religious affiliation or not, Vanessa Dobbins said.
The Dobbins family “are a caring and loving family. They would give you the last shirt off their back if you needed it. Now they need our help,” Smith said.
At least 10 teams are needed for the charity golf tournament. The format will be a four-man scramble. People may sign up now by contacting Smith via email at . The cost is $40 per person or $160 per team. There will be a 50/50 drawing. Registration at the course is at 9 a.m. on Aug. 22 with tee time set for 10 a.m.
The tournament will feature mulligans, a putting contest, first and second place, longest drive and closest to the pin. A 50/50 drawing will also be held. Organizers are seeking hole sponsors.
Persons wishing to help with cash, food gift cards and clothes may contact Smith at (813) 714-9338. Also, drop donations may be dropped off at Gala Spiritual Doorways, 26300 Wesley Chapel Blvd., Lutz. Stephanie Lee is the contact person at that business and she may be reached at (813) 943-3666.
Also, an account for the Dobbins’ benefit has been set up at CenterState Bank. Contact Deborah Worthing at (352) 521-0715 for more information.
Vanessa Dobbins said their home was only insured for 75 percent of its value. They had difficulty getting insurance because they have cattle on their property, Vanessa Dobbins said.
“The insurance companies consider us a liability because of the cattle,” she explained.
The couple was staying in an old honey house that Robert Dobbins used to use to house 700 colonies of bees. He was in the process of refurbishing the honey house to make it into a second residence so family members would have a place to stay when they visited. Their plans now are to finish renovating the old honey house and use it as their residence.
For some reason, he and his wife were awake and talking to each other at 4 a.m. on July 31, Robert Bobbins said. They noticed the air conditioner was not working in the honey house in which they were staying.
They both also noticed it appeared brighter outside than it should have at 4 a.m. They looked outside and saw their home, — less than 50 feet away — was on fire.
Fire trucks could not access their property from their pine tree lined driveway so the trucks had to come in from an adjacent location and set up behind the Dobbins’ home.
The firefighters did the best they could to put out the fire, Vanessa Dobbins said. It did rekindle a couple of times afterwards and firefighters returned each time to put it out, Vanessa Dobbins said.
The home that burned was like a duplex. It had a kitchen with appliances and a restroom on each side of the house. Each side also had its own entrance, Robert Dobbins said.
A pet parakeet perished in the fire. Vanessa Dobbins said she was thankful she and her husband and their other pets, including dogs and cats, escaped injury.

By Joe Potter

Zephyrhills City Council members have agreed to take another look at offering earlier alcohol sales on Sunday, but did so informally and set no specific timetable.
At their meeting last week, council members acknowledged a request from members of the Zephyrhills Chamber of Commerce who want the city to change laws that, they say, put them at a disadvantage to businesses outside of the city limits.
Zephyrhills is the only city in Pasco County that doesn’t allow beer and alcohol to be sold before 1 p.m. on Sunday. Unincorporated Pasco County and other municipalities allow Sunday beer and alcohol sales to begin at 11 a.m. San Antonio allows such sales even earlier —at 8 a.m.
The council readdressed the proposal Aug. 9 after hearing from the chamber and local business owners including Mike Mira, co-owner of Maine-ly New England Restaurant.
Mira said being required to wait until 1 p.m. on Sunday to sell alcoholic beverages places his business at a disadvantage to restaurants and stores a few blocks away that are outside the city limits.
“We should be able to serve a full menu at 11 a.m. when we open on Sundays,” said Mira, a former president of the Zephyrhills Chamber of Commerce’s board.
He wants his and other Zephyrhills businesses selling alcoholic beverages to be “on a level playing field” with businesses in Pasco County, Mira continued.
A similar measure died last year because it lacked support from the city council. Two councilmen were for it, two were against it and then-president Jodi Wilkeson would have cast a tie-breaking vote. Wilkeson was already on record saying she was opposed to the earlier sales. When councilman Ken Compton moved for council to act on the ordinance, his motion died for lack of a second.
Lance Smith, who was then the council’s vice president, initially supported the proposal when it first came up last year. However, Smith reversed his previous support for the measure when it came before the council last September. He cited outcry of opposition from some area churches and he remains opposed to allowing the sale of alcoholic beverages any earlier on Sundays.
Councilman Manny Funes said he would like to see the proposal come back before city council.
The council agreed without a formal vote to bring the proposal back before the council.
In a related matter, city council members tabled for the second time this year the second reading of an ordinance that would limit where people could possess open containers of beer or alcohol on public and nonpublic property within the city limits.
The first reading of the ordinance was held April 12 at which time it passed unanimously. When the ordinance was brought up for a second reading on April 26, the council decided to table it so City Attorney Joe Poblick could make revisions to the ordinance.
When the ordinance came up again Aug. 9, council members again agreed to table it to give Poblick more time to revise it.
Some of the city’s goals regarding the open container ordinance are to give Zephyrhills Police Department officers the authority to issue citations for not complying with it and to focus on restricting open containers primarily in the downtown business district and all city parks.
Funes and Councilman Tim Urban expressed reservations about having the ordinance cover residential areas.
Poblick said he would revise the ordinance to have it refer to specific geographical locations within the city limits, primarily the downtown business district and city parks.
Currently, open containers are banned only at Zephyr Park and at City Hall.
Council plans to readdress the open container law when it meets again at 6 p.m. Monday, Aug. 23.

By Kyle LoJacono

For just one season sisters Kayli and Meghan Keough played basketball together through the highs and lows as student-athletes at Land O’ Lakes High.

That single season was the 2007-08 school year, when the Gators went 25-4 and reached the second round of the playoffs. Kayli was a senior and Meghan a freshman. The two never thought they would have another opportunity to play together once Kayli left to play at Florida State University (FSU), but they will be reunited this year at the University of Central Florida (UCF).
“I loved playing with her that one year,” Meghan said. “It was easy for us to play together because we know exactly what the other is going to do. I thought it was only a one-time thing, but I guess we got lucky.”
Kayli decided to transfer from FSU to UCF for this school year after playing two seasons with the Seminoles. She will have to sit out one season because of NCAA transfer rules, but she will be eligible to play two more years with the Golden Knights in Orlando. She has already left for her new school.
Kayli said she wanted a little more playing time and she liked the fit and coaches at UCF. Also, Meghan had verbally committed to the school and will sign with them in October. The appeal of playing with her sister was a key reason for switching to the school.
“I consider her my best friend,” Kayli said of Meghan. “As kids we bickered a lot, but that changed when we were in high school together. Now we are best friends and love being around each other.”
The two grew up in Land O’ Lakes. Their father, Mike, was also an athlete with the Gators. He was part of the second graduating class at Land O’ Lakes and received a scholarship to play quarterback at Tennessee Tech University. He was also a volunteer football coach with the Gators for 12 years.
“Athletics has been very important in our lives and we really enjoy watching the two of them play,” said their mother Lisa. “It’s really exciting to watch their games. It was a longer drive to Tallahassee than it will be to Orlando, so we’ll be able to get to many more of their games.”
The two first started playing basketball a little later than most Division I athletes. Kayli picked it up around age 13 while playing at Pine View Middle, while Meghan began at 10.
“I started playing because my sister played,” Meghan said. “I’d see her playing in the backyard and I’d want to come out and play too. Now I can’t imagine not playing.”
Kayli plays both forward and on the wing. She is 6-foot-1 and her ability to play inside and out has made her difficult for opponents to match up against. At Land O’ Lakes she averaged a team-high 18.9 points per game, 104 blocks, 89 steals and 240 rebounds as a senior while adding 50 assists.
Meghan is a point and shooting guard. The 5-foot-7 perimeter player says she most enjoys driving to the basket and kicking the ball out to a teammate ready to sink an open shot. She played her first two seasons at Land O’ Lakes, but transferred to Tampa Catholic High for her junior season because she felt the academic reputation would help her get into a better college.
In that first season Meghan played mostly point guard and guided the Crusaders to a Class 3A championship, the first state title in the program’s history.
“She did a great job handling the ball and stepping into a roster that had four returning players,” said Tampa Catholic coach Nancy Kroll. “As the point guard she runs the offense and she made it look easy to step right in and do just that.”
Meghan averaged 12 points per game, 110 assists, 96 steals and 79 rebounds last season.
Kroll said Meghan is very coachable and is a great student as well.
“I don’t have to ever worry about her grades,” Kroll said. “She’ll get straight As every time.”
While basketball is a large part of their lives, the two actually started out as swimmers on the Land O’ Lakes Lightning swim team. They then started playing volleyball and Kayli received scholarship offers to play middle blocker in college.
Kayli is double-majoring in sociology and psychology and plans to eventually attend law school. Meghan is still undecided what kind of career she will pursue. Professions are still many years off and the two are just looking forward to playing together again next year.
“When we lost in the playoffs my senior year we were both so sad because we thought that was it,” Kayli said. “Now that it is really possible for us to play together again it doesn’t seem real. This time we’ll have two years together and it’ll be some of the best years I’ve had playing.”
-All stats as recorded to Maxpreps.com by coaches as of Aug. 16.

Construction company thrives, two others step aside

By Kyle LoJacono

It is nearly impossible to drive through Pasco or north Hillsborough counties and not see signs for Ripa & Associates.
The company is currently working on about 10 construction projects, some for the counties and some for private developers.

“We’re proud to be a great presence in Pasco County and north Hillsborough County,” said Chris Laface, Ripa’s executive vice president. “The area has been very good to us and we’re honored to be given the chance to develop the area.”
Some of the larger projects the company is working include:

Collier Parkway extension, Land O’ Lakes
Concord Station Community, Land O’ Lakes
Road work in Dupree Lakes, Land O’ Lakes
Road work in Stonebriar Community, Lutz
Bruce B. Downs Boulevard widening, Wesley Chapel
CR 54 extension for the Cypress Creek Town Center, Wesley Chapel
The Medical Center of Trinity, Trinity

The most expensive contract completed by Ripa was $20 million to build roads and put in utilities at The Grove at Wesley Chapel. Echo Development hired Ripa to do that project, which was finished about two years ago.
The company also built Sunlake Boulevard extension in Land O’ Lakes and the extension of SR 56 to Meadow Pointe Boulevard and the development in Terra Belle community, both in Wesley Chapel. It also did roadwork and utility installation for the new Odessa Elementary School, Anclote High and Fivay high schools in Pasco.
In Hillsborough, Ripa completed the road widening and improvements to Van Dyke Road in Lutz in front of St. Joseph’s Hospital-North.
Laface said the number of recent projects was not uncommon five years ago when the economy was booming, but the current workload is higher than it had been for several months.
Pasco Chief Project Manager Robert Shepherd said the county does not play favorites when awarding contracts because public money is being used.
“Generally the county awards contracts to whichever company is the lowest bidder,” Shepherd said. “Ripa has been awarded quite a few projects. They’ve done a good job getting projects done on time or earlier and without much trouble at all.”
Ripa was founded in 1998 by Frank Ripa and is based in Tampa. The company has more than 200 employees and does earthwork, utility/infrastructure work and roadway construction in Pasco, Hillsborough, Pinellas, Hernando and other central Florida counties.
Ripa has even handled projects it did not win the bid for after other companies failed to complete work. Ripa picked up work on the SR 56 and Collier extension after another company filed for bankruptcy and lost insurance coverages according to Pasco Chief Engineer James Widman.

Ripa put the final touches on the SR 56 extension, which opened July 31. Laface said the Collier extension is much further from completion as it was less than half finished when Ripa picked up the project about a month ago. Its project in Dupree Lakes, funded by Beazer Homes, will eventually connect the neighborhood to Collier.
Shepherd said Ripa was selected by the company that insured and bonded the original contracts with the first company. He said the bonding company is required to pay any additional cost above the contract, so no new county money is needed for those projects.
The contract for Collier was for $4.3 million and for Sunlake $1.5 million. The original contract for the SR 56 project was $60 million and was shared by three developments — Wiregrass Ranch, Wesley Chapel Lakes and Seven Oaks, according to Shepherd.
“They most have been able to do it for less money,” Shepherd said. “Otherwise the bonding company wouldn’t have picked them as it is money out of their pocket if it’s more expensive.”
Laface said the company has been keeping its bids as competitive as possible during the down economy to keep their workers and equipment moving. He said that will keep their name in the market and will benefit the company once the economy turns around.

Seven years after initial plans, studio breaks ground on new home

By B.C. Manion

Susan Sisk, owner of The Dance and Gymnastics Academy of Tampa, has a simple philosophy she expects her dancers and gymnasts to live by. They may stumble. They may fall. They may have trouble learning new skills. But, they should never utter those dreaded words: “I can’t.” “When you are hanging on those bars and that (gymnastics) coach is telling you to flip your feet over, it seems impossible. You may think, “I am never going to. Never. It’s too hard. It’s hurting my hands. It’s hurting my shoulders.”

“And, then in six weeks when your feet go over the bar, it’s not just about your feet going over the bar – you know what you’ve learned? That when something is hard, don’t just run around, or be scared, or cry. Face it. Take a deep breath. You can do it.” The same goes for dancers: “Don’t tell me, ‘I can’t pirouette.’  You don’t know what you’re going to be able to do next week, or next year or in five years. “We’re teaching life lessons here. I’m not just teaching dance and gymnastics.” The dance instructor, who has taught young charges for nearly a quarter-of-a-century in Land O’ Lakes, had to follow a little of her own advice regarding perseverance — during her quest to create larger quarters for her program. She recognized seven years ago that the academy had outgrown its home at 2632 Land O’Lakes Blvd., and she began searching for a new location. At the time, commercial land was simply too expensive, so she tried, unsuccessfully, to rezone two parcels. She spent time, money, and countless hours of frustration, pursuing those false starts. In the end, however, those failures turned out to be blessings in disguise, she said. Just 4½ years ago, before the recession hit, the project’s budget would have only covered an 8,000-square-foot building. The tough economy, however, caused land values and construction costs to drop, allowing her to build a new 12,000-square-foot center instead. A groundbreaking for the center, at SR 54 and Livingston Ave., was Aug. 7. The $1.8 million project is expected to take seven to nine months to complete. The academy now has 300 to 350 students, ranging from toddlers to adults. The vast majority of its dancers and gymnasts are school-age students. Programs include separate gymnastics classes for boys and girls and dance classes, as well as Mommy and Me and adult programs. At the new center, Sisk will be able to offer more classes at opportune times, enabling her, and co-owner Jill M. Bosack, to meet the demand.

“Kids out here get out of school at 4 (p.m.). I can only offer so many classes from 4 (p.m.) to 8 (p.m.),” Sisk said. “We constantly have waiting lists. I constantly am turning away students who have specific needs that I can’t meet.” The new center will allow her to accommodate around 700 students, she said. She will be able to increase the number of gymnastics classes she offers, from three at a time to six. Those classes are maintained at a ratio of six students per instructor. The dance studio is moving into a larger space, too, from its current 30-by-30-foot space to one that that is 40 by 50. But Sisk is not increasing the number of dance classes she offers because she teaches them all herself, She enjoys guiding students as they develop their skills.  When the new center opens, it will mark the end of constant accommodations to work around limitations at the current space, Sisk said.  “My older gymnasts – currently, to vault over the vault table – they have to run through the doorway (from the lobby), because you need 60 feet to vault,” she said. At the new center, there will ample room inside the gym to get the job done. Parents who come to watch their children’s classes will also be able to get much better views of their children’s progress. Glass windows will flank both sides of a large lobby, with the gym on one side and the dance studio on the other. A parent can sit in the lobby, work on a laptop and periodically check on the progress of his or her children – whether the kids are in gymnastics, in dance, or both, Sisk said. Knowing that their parents are watching is important to young athletes, said Sisk, recalling how much it mattered to her when she knew her mother was watching. “I know when she walked into that room, I was trying a little harder. I was trying to show off for her. I was trying to get that pirouette that the week before I kept stumbling on,” said Sisk, who fell in love with dancing when she was just 4. After class, she’d ask her mom: “Did you see that?” And they would talk about it all of the way home. “That makes a big difference in your training,” said Sisk, who estimates she has taught more than 1,000 dancers over the course of her career. Another advantage the new center offers is the ability to host competitions, Sisk said. That will make life easier for the academy’s families who have been carting their kids to competitions all over the place for years.  When she envisions the new center, she sees it as a vastly improved version of the current center with all of the space issues resolved. The academy’s overall mission, however, will remain the same. “My dream for this building is the same as it has always been,” Sisk said. Whether students are at her academy for six months, or 15 years, she wants them to walk out of the school’s doors with something that can help them for the rest of their lives.

About the new center

What: The Dance and Gymnastics Academy of Tampa
Where: 23633 Venezia Drive (off the northwest corner of SR 54 and Livingston Avenue)
How large: 12,000 square feet
When: Slated to open in seven months to nine months
Capacity: 700
Parking: 50 paved spaces, with overflow parking on the grass

This Lutz shop helps gardeners grow

By B.C. Manion

Motorists buzzing down US 41 are likely to notice the bright teal blue lean-to, which houses Annie’s Garden Shed. It’s the kind of building that sort of just shouts for attention. But its bold color is only an over-the-top introduction to a subtler visual feast that awaits anyone who takes time to stop at the garden shop, at 100 Fourth Ave., NW, just off US 41 in Lutz. The shop originally opened in November 2007, on the other side of the highway, just about a mile to the south. But owner Patti Schaefer decided to relocate – opening at her new spot on Dec. 1 — in an effort to gain a more solid foothold.

“I needed a more permanent home — or something I could see as a more permanent home,” Schaefer said, explaining she wasn’t sure of the owner’s long-term plans for the land she had leased for her original location. The shop has moved, but it hasn’t changed its focus: “We’re trying to turn people into gardeners.” The idea is to find out enough about a customer’s personal situation – in terms of their yards light exposure and their watering habits, to help them choose plants that will thrive after they take them home. The shop gets its name from Schaefer’s grandmother, whom the Lutz woman characterized as being a source of inspiration — “more in life, than in the garden.” Schaefer fondly describes her grandmother as being fun, a risk taker and a crazy gardener. “It wasn’t unusual to see a rose bush next to an avocado plant that she stuck in the ground.” When it comes to taking risks, Schaefer, it seems, inherited a strain of that trait from her grandmother. She began planning her business well before the recession began, but the shop opened just as the economy slumped. Managing a new business through a recession has been scary, Schaefer said. There were times when it was truly touch and go. “When I was planning this move, I was very frightened about whether I was going to make it or not,” she said. “There was a period of time there, I was crying every day.’’ Even now, it’s a challenge. “There has been no easy money. We still work very hard for every single dollar,” said Schaefer, who has two employees, Karyn Ademek and Helen Cantrell. From the beginning, though, she has tried to position her shop as an alternative to garden centers at major retail centers. “I have to really make myself the complete opposite of the big box stores,” Schaefer said.  “There’s no competing with them on their terms. “We’re really all about service. We carry stuff out to people’s cars. We’ll talk about plants until their (customers’) eyes glaze over.” The shop offers a wide selection of plants, pots and garden décor – with items ranging from plaques with inspiring quotations for gardeners to metal sculptures of garden art.

Herb gardeners can choose oregano, chives, lavendula, tarragon, pineapple sage, thyme and different varieties of basil for $2.49 each. Other plant choices include antherium for $9.99, blue daze for $1.99, allamanda for $4.50, cat whiskers for $4.25, emerald lace for $1.99, Joseph’s coat for $1.99 and Platycodon for $1.99. The shop also offers container classes every Saturday, at 9:30 a.m., ranging in price from $18 to $38 per class, depending on the type of container used. The classes attract as many as two dozen gardeners at a time, and has been a crucial part of the business’ ability to weather the tough economic times. Her regular patrons have helped immensely, too. Experts continue to express doubts about the economy, but Schaefer is sensing some glimmers of hope. “The recession is easing up,” she said. “The fear has lifted.” She is proceeding on that basis, with long-range plans to create an inspiration garden – where she hopes people will want to meet for special gatherings. To learn more about Annie’s Garden Shed call (813) 949-2600 or go to www.AnniesGardenShed.com.