Special to The Laker/Lutz News

New holiday tradition in Lutz supports local businesses

By Kyle LoJacono

Staff Writer

LUTZ — Every annual tradition has to start somewhere, and the Lutz Shop and Stroll will begin this year.

“I was trying to think of a way to support our Lutz businesses while celebrating the holiday season,” said Lutz Guv’na Suzin Carr. “So I went and talked with a past Guv’na, Michele Northrup, and in seven minutes or less we put together the idea. It came together that quickly. We went to a number of the businesses that are anchors, and they were all extremely excited with the opportunity.”

The Shop and Stroll will take place on Dec. 12 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Eight anchor stations will be set up along US 41 just north of Lutz-Lake Fern Road to the apex of N. Florida and N. Nebraska avenues. The stations include: Felicitous; The Old Lutz Schoolhouse; Susan’s Mane Tamers; Castle Furniture; Great Gardens and Gifts; Nancy’s Good and Fast Food; Patio Ways; and Careme’s Market. Each station will have several local businesses — more than 55 in all — that will offer samples of their products and services. Nonprofit groups, such as the Boy Scouts, will also be located at each station.

“We chose to do it along (US) 41 because at one point that was the heart of Lutz and we wanted it to be manageable in its first year,” Carr said. “Doing it this way allows us to include as many businesses as we can and incorporate the Old Lutz Schoolhouse and the Santa program. Families will already be out having a great day and hopefully take a few extra moments to stop and shop at our local shops.”

Breakfast with Santa has taken place on the second Saturday of December for the last 13 years. This year, the breakfast is scheduled from 9 a.m. to noon at the Old Lutz Schoolhouse, which will be decorated for Christmas beginning that night. The Lutz Women’s Club and North Tampa-Lutz Civil Air Patrol Squadron put on the breakfast, which raises money for the schoolhouse. The breakfast costs $2 for children and includes food and holiday crafts.

“We won’t be selling things to support us,” said Phyllis Hoedt, one of the directors of the Women’s Club. “We bring in a couple hundred dollars each year for the schoolhouse and help get families into the Christmas spirit. We’ve been doing the breakfast for over 10 years now and we’re happy to make it a part of the Shop and Stroll this year.”

Candy and cookie drives bring in thousands of treats for the troops

Kyle LoJacono

Staff Writer

LAND O’ LAKES  — While most people spent Thanksgiving consumed with family and food, Karin King was baking cookies.

They are not for herself or her family. They are for the tens of thousands of U.S. troops overseas.

“I can only imagine what it must be like for our troops to be in a different country away from their family,” King said.

King, who started the Treats for Troops program in Land O’ Lakes three years ago, usually bakes 1,200 cookies each week to send to the troops, but wanted to do something special for Christmas. She set a goal of sending 18,000 cookies to the troops by Dec. 10, which would fill 250 boxes.

“I wanted to set the deadline of Dec. 10 so I make sure they reach the troops by Christmas,” King said. “Funds are depleted at the moment, and we could use all the help we can get to buy the supplies to get the cookies baked. We owe our freedom to our troops. This is the least we can do for them.”

King has shipped a total of 415 dozen cookies as of Dec. 3. Ricardo Montero, of Wesley Chapel, has been helping her bake.

“I saw the article in The Laker and wanted to help the soldiers,” Montero said. “Where I’m from, very few people have nice things, but here in America everyone does. I want to help the soldiers who let us have such freedoms until they all come home.”

Montero moved to Florida 20 years ago from Mexico City and has a commercial oven that can bake 600 cookies in an hour. King now has help baking cookies, but she still needs baking supplies to use the oven to its full capacity.

The cookies are baked longer to make them harder so they ship easier. King then packs them with other treats such as candy, pretzels, popcorn and hot chocolate. She then sends the boxes through Bob Williams and Support Our Troops in Wesley Chapel.

King was collecting leftover Halloween candy to send to the troops during November.

“We collected 8,100 (pounds),” King said. “We’ve had people send donations from all over the state and the country. As soon as The Laker article of Oct. 27 went online, I was able to attach it to e-mails I received. Both articles that appeared in The Laker so far really gave my organization credibility.”

King received candy donations from Zephyrhills, Dade City, Wesley Chapel, Land O’ Lakes, Odessa and Lutz to name a few local areas.

The October article was titled “Local Woman Devoted to Baking Cookies for U.S. Troops” and can be viewed on www.lakerlutznews.com in the archive.

King is still collecting cookies, as well as baking supplies, toiletries and feminine hygiene products. For the exact type of baking supplies needed or to make other donations, call King at (813) 746-1517 or e-mail her at .

King will also be starting a drive to collect letters and cards from the community to boost troop morale. King will begin the letter drive in earnest after the start of the new year and wants to “saturate” military bases with them by Valentine’s Day.

King is surrounded by sweet treats daily, but she is not tempted to eat them for two reasons. The treats are for the troops, and she has type II diabetes. She was diagnosed with the disease in January 2006 but has kept the sweet stuff in her life by indirect means.

“I want to keep sending treats and supplies for as long as our troops are over there,” King said. “It is just something small to let them know people are thinking of them.”

King receives letters and e-mails from troops thanking her for the treats and supplies. One such letter came from Matt Kaslik of the Navy, who wrote:

“I wanted to thank you for the wonderful, thoughtful and respectful care package you sent to our team! The note was very heartfelt and sincere and we want to return the ‘thank you’ to you and your friends who made these wonderful baked goods while sharing your love and devotion.”

“I would like to extend heartfelt thanks to the community for really stepping up to the plate this season, but please remember that after the holidays the loneliness will hit our troops the hardest,” King said. “It’s then that we will need everyone’s help the most to help them keep their chin up. Let’s not forget our troops after the holidays. They won’t stop fighting for our freedom after the holidays.”

For more information on Treats for Troops

To help Treats for Troops

• Call: (813) 746-1517
• E-mail: or
• Needed items: baking supplies, help with baking, letters and cards to the troops, coffee, instant beverages (Kool-Aid, lemonade), tea, pretzels, popcorn, hot chocolate, toiletries (body wash, shampoo, body lotion, sunscreen) and feminine hygiene products.
• Web site: www.treatsfortroops.info

County groups give during the holidays

By Steve Lee

Sports Editor

LAND O’ LAKES — The inaugural Christmas Open House hosted by the Suncoast Harvest Food Bank and Clara’s Closet went over so well that it has become an annual event.

Liz Fields, the food bank’s executive director, said more than $1,000 was raised last year. She expects that amount to increase at this year’s open house.

Christmas trees, ornaments and various holiday items will be sold Dec. 11 and 12, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The food bank is located at 5829 Ehren Cutoff in Land O’ Lakes.

Thrift store manager Chuck Capo said more money is needed to offset this year’s higher demand for food, clothing and furniture.

“It is a challenge,” Capo said. “There’s an increasing need for us, because people are unemployed and have had wage cuts.”

For the unemployed or families in financial crisis, holiday dinners are sometimes unaffordable. That’s where the food bank helps.

“This time of year is extremely difficult for people,” Fields said. “They kind of feel if they don’t have a turkey dinner they’ve lost all their dignity.”

Capo noted that while people have been grateful for the holiday dinners, clothing is needed year-round and appreciated just as much.

“We just go through a phenomenal amount of clothing,” Capo said. “The (need for) clothing is just ongoing.”

Fields said she sees the gratitude in those helped by the food bank who give back when they’re financial situations improve.

“Some come back when they’re in better shape and volunteer for us,” she said.

The food bank, founded by Clara Lawhead in 1991 at the former site of the Warren Fruit Packing Company in Land O’ Lakes, serves Pasco, Hernando, Citrus and Sumter counties through 160 community- and faith-based agencies.

With an inventory of about 300,000 pounds of high-quality, nutritious food products maintained, the facility dispersed 3.8 million pounds of food and personal/household care products in 2008.

“Those numbers will probably increase by 25 to 30 percent this year,” Fields said.

Suncoast Harvest does not have the market cornered when it comes to helping needy families, especially during the holidays. Count eight east Pasco Rotary Clubs among the givers.

Eight Rotary Clubs (two each in Dade City, Zephyrhills and Wesley Chapel; along with San Antonio and Land O’ Lakes groups) united to make enough food bags to feed 400 families. Each club will distribute 50 bags in their area just before Christmas.

Neukom Groves is Zephyrhills tradition

Generation after generation call city home

By Kyle LoJacono

Staff Writer

ZEPHYRHILLS — When Zephyrhills was still new, the Neukom family was growing citrus.

“We’ve been here for generations,” said George Neukom III. “Our grove is a family-owned business. I’ve lived in Zephyrhills all my life and wouldn’t live anywhere else.”

Neukom, 43, is the sixth Neukom generation to live in Zephyrhills. According to Neukom’s mother, Ann Brooke-Neukom, the mother’s side of the family came in 1910, before the city was even called Zephyrhills. It was Abbott then, and Christian Leatherman moved his family there from Indiana.

Neukom’s father’s side came in 1914. At that time, Charles and Lorena Neukom brought their son, George, family patriarch.

The first Neukom grove was planted in 1921. The current grove started shipping its own citrus in 2001.

“We get the fruit picked and shipped as fast as we can,” Neukom said. “It’s just better when it’s fresh off the tree. We don’t have to go through a middleman to get it shipped, so it’s much fresher.”

Neukom said his grove is the only one in Zephyrhills that grows, picks and ships its own citrus, although the Zephyrhills Chamber of Commerce could not confirm or deny that statement.

“I’m pretty sure it’s just us in the area,” Neukom said. “There used to be more groves that did that, but I don’t think any are left.”

One of the reasons Neukom Groves is one of the last groves in the area is there were two big freezes in the 1980s that drove out many of the farmers. The largest freeze was in 1989.

Today, the grove ships several types of fresh citrus, which include: naval oranges; tangerines; and red grapefruits. The grove also squeezes its own orange juice, which it sells in the community in gallon jugs.

“We ship our fresh fruit all over the country, but our juice stays in the area,” Neukom said.

The grove is busiest around Christmas, especially between Dec. 6 and 18, Neukom said.

“If you want to get a box of fruit for Christmas, you should order it by Dec. 15,” Neukom said. “Even that is cutting it real close though.”

Neukom guarantees all orders placed by Dec. 9 will be delivered by Christmas.

It seems citrus fruit is in the blood of Neukom family members. His sister, Tamara, married Ron Oakley, who owns a grove near I-75, west of Dade City.

“I guess you could say citrus is just a part of our family,” Neukom said. “It’s not the easiest business because you have to be constantly working. The work never stops during the spring and summer, and then you have to work like crazy to get the fruit picked and shipped in the fall. Then you still have to care for the trees in the winter, so it is a constant job.”

To order fruit from Neukom Groves, call (813) 782-5596 or visit www.ishipfruit.com.

More questions than answers when dealing with Lyme disease

By Kyle LoJacono

Staff Writer

LAND O’ LAKES — Lyme disease is not the most exotic sounding illness, but when it comes to diagnosis and treatment it is as elusive as Atlantis.

“The real problem it’s hardly ever properly diagnosed,” said retired professor Carol Fisch. “It is misdiagnosed as fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, lupus, Parkinson’s, Lou Gehrig’s Disease, mononucleosis, autism and many other diseases. Basically anything but what it is. I went five years before being properly diagnosed.”

Fisch was a professor at Michigan State before retiring in 1994 after contracting the disease from a tick. She now lives in Sarasota where she is still trying to treat her illness while informing others of Lyme disease.

Several bacteria and possibly viruses cause doctors to misdiagnose the disease, Fisch said.

“It is like we are modern day lepers,” said Dolores Claesson, who lives in Land O’ Lakes and learned she had Lyme disease this year. “No one in Florida knows how to treat it, and most won’t even admit it exists in here.”

Claesson’s daughter, Sofia, started displaying symptoms of the disease in October 2008 but was not diagnosed until three months later. Claesson learned shortly after she had it, too.

“Doctors said (Sofia) had mono, some said it was ‘girl hormone problems’ and one even said she was just faking it,” Claesson said. “Then, I get it too. Even Ginger Snaps, our golden retriever, got the disease, so you can’t tell me it isn’t in Florida.”

Sofia, 16, was going to Land O’ Lakes High for the International Baccalaureate program but had to miss a year of school. She transferred to Carrollwood Day School this year.

History, Symptoms And Causes

The disease was first discovered in Old Lyme, Conn., in 1975. It is a bacterial infection that causes numerous problems, such as a red rash shaped like a bull’s eye, severe mental confusion, high fever, swollen joints and glands, loss of energy, insomnia and other conditions.

While ticks and deer are thought to be the main carriers, fleas, mites, mosquitoes, birds and lizards have also been found to carry the disease. Deer, birds and lizards do not usually bite people, but they can carry Lyme disease to new places and then be bitten by ticks, which spread it to people.

Mysterious source in Florida

As of Nov. 19, there have been eight new cases of Lyme disease in Pasco County and 10 in Hillsborough County this year, according to the Pasco County Health Department. Only 88 cases were confirmed during 2008 in Florida, but many more could have been unreported.

On top of that, most doctors don’t believe anyone can contract the disease while in Florida.

“It’s a big political mess,” Fisch said. “People are getting it each year, but no one is admitting it is coming from sources in Florida. Some say people catch it in other states and bring it here. Others say maybe it came from ticks inside mulch from out of state. It seems impossible that so many get the disease each year while out of Florida.”

Claesson said on her diagnosis, “Everyone said you couldn’t have gotten it here. I still haven’t found someone in Florida that can treat our disease properly.”

Claesson said she knows more than 500 people in the Tampa Bay area that have the disease. Of those, eight live in Land O’ Lakes, two in Wesley Chapel and one in New Tampa.

“So many people are suffering needlessly from misdiagnosis,” Fisch said. “We need to have doctors educate themselves about this disease so they can help. We need people to research and study the disease so we can find a real cure.”

Treatment

The present treatment is three weeks of a drug called Doxycycline, but somef doctors prescribe longer treatments of other antibiotics.

“Unfortunately those treatments work very rarely,” said Fisch. “Sometimes they work, sometimes they help for a while and most of the time they do almost nothing. However, the earlier it is detected and treated, the better the outcome. But it needs to be diagnosed correctly.”

While it seems unlikely there will be a cure discovered soon, acceptance may be a step in the right direction, according to Claesson.

“I’d like everyone to finally admit we have Lyme disease in our ticks,” she said. “People come down here to go to the beach or to Disney World and could catch it. Then they go home and doctors tell them they couldn’t have gotten it here. It just baffles me to think we live in the 21st century and we still are as clueless about this disease as we are.”

Festival of Lights fills void left by Dade City Christmas Parade cancellation

By Kyle LoJacono

Staff Writer

ZEPHYRHILLS — The Dade City Christmas Parade has been an annual tradition for 26 years — but not this year.

“Our president (Joey Wubbena) looked at weather reports and decided it was in the best interest of the city to cancel the parade,” said Nita Beckwith, executive director of the Dade City Chamber of Commerce.

The parade was scheduled for Dec. 4, but was canceled at 11 a.m. the day before with no makeup date.

However, Dade City’s loss was Zephyrhills gain. Many of the floats entered in the Dade City parade moved to the Dec. 5 Christmas parade in Zephyrhills, which was part of the Festival of Lights presented by Main Street Zephyrhills.

“Our goal is to not turn anyone away,” said Brenda Welcher, Main Street’s executive director. “We can’t promise people anything, but we try to find space in the parade if we can. Our mission is to bring people to our historic downtown area, so we wanted as many people to attend as possible.”

Welcher noted that registration for the Zephyrhills parade officially ended Nov. 25, but the organization obviously overlooked that deadline to accommodate entries in the canceled Dade City parade. She said four entries from Dade City entered the Zephyrhills parade.

“The impact on Zephyrhills is great,” Welcher continued. “It allows people to get into the holiday spirit, enjoy our city and help the economy of the area.”

While parade participants could simply move to the neighboring city’s parade, restaurant owners in Dade City were not so lucky.

“All the restaurants do special things for the parade and it’s just too bad the parade was canceled,” said Melanie Yates, owner of Garden Café in Dade City.

“I’m sure the chamber did what they thought was right, but I wish they had waited a little longer to cancel. The parade really helps business each year. We do about three times the business of a normal day during the parade,” she said.

Yates, of Dade City, is a member of the chamber and stressed she was not being critical of canceling the parade. She said she only thought it was canceled too early and should have had a backup date.

“We are right along the parade’s route, and we had people schedule reservations for a long time,” Yates said. “Now those people are all mad at us. It’s too bad that in this economy an event that brings so many people to our city was canceled.”

Beckwith said 5,000 to 7,000 people come to watch the Dade City parade each year.

Yates said the café had planned to have special booths with “to-go” items so people could get food while watching the parade. The café also planned to have extra staff to handle the increased number of customers.

“We had to think of the safety of the people involved,” Beckwith said. “We needed the time to let everyone know it would be canceled due to dangerous weather, so we made the decision early in the day…Moving the parade wasn’t an option because we couldn’t close the streets for another night.”

Beckwith said she did not think future parades would have backup dates, but said the chamber’s council would discuss the issue before next year.

“I really hope they have a backup date next year,” Yates said. “Otherwise people might not show up in large numbers like they have in the past. It’s a great tradition and we need to make sure it happens each year.”

Otis is a six year-old Jack Russell terrier who retrieves The Laker every week. He loves to read Randall Grantham’s column and of course check out the other pets in the “pet of the week.” Otis likes to learn new things like how to bring in the mail without tearing it up and how to play hide and seek. He is quite particular about other dogs and generally does not like them. Otis lives with his sister Jackie and dad and mom, Gary and Shari LaVigne, in Land O’ Lakes.

Bria is a 12-week old Chiness Shar Pei puppy. She is incredibly smart and loves to play with everyone: person and dog alike. She has become a local celebrity in the neighborhood. Bria walks to and from our son’s school everyday and must stop at every person who passes to say “Hi.” She is potty-trained, knows sit and heel, and has a great personality. We can’t wait to see how much we can train her to do. We have been blessed by having her. Bria’s proud parents are Angie and Tony Lokotnicki of Wesley Chapel.