Land O' Lakes News

Estabrook’s knack for collaboration receives honor

October 9, 2014 By B.C. Manion

As an educator, Dave Estabrook was known for his ability to look at issues from various vantage points and collaborate with others to solve problems and help people thrive.

On Oct. 2, his contributions to education and to the Land O’ Lakes community were honored at a ceremony to dedicate the first phase of the David R. Estabrook Center for Collaboration at Charles S. Rushe Middle School on Mentmore Boulevard in Land O’ Lakes.

Dave Estabrook, an educator for 35 years, is honored for his many contributions to Pasco County Schools and the Land O’ Lakes community. (Courtesy of Pasco County Schools)

Rushe principal David Salerno, who followed in Estabrook’s footsteps at two points in his career, described Estabrook’s leadership style.

“Immediately, I observed a leader who made it his mission to seek input from many stakeholders — as many stakeholders as possible — when making decisions,” he said. “Not only that, he specifically sought out people that he thought may have a different point of view. He believed in the importance of considering all aspects of problems before recommending a solution.”

Estabrook hired Salerno to be an assistant principal at Pine View Middle School after Estabrook moved up to become the school’s principal. Salerno would later follow Estabrook as principal of Rushe.

“I learned from him that the best way to effectively collaborate, to bring about a meaningful change, is to build strong relationships centered on both communications and trust,” Salerno said.

The ceremony to honor Estabrook was carried over the school’s closed-circuit television. Superintendent Kurt Browning, Assistant Superintendent Ray Gadd and Chief Financial Officer Olga Swinson were there. So was school board member Joanne Hurley.

Estabrook’s wife Lori, his daughter and son-in-law Mallory and Chris Mullis, and Lori’s daughter and son Amy Harris and Geoff Hartwig, were there, too.

The ceremony marked the dedication of the David R. Estabrook Center for Collaboration.

“This is quite an honor,” Estabrook said. “It was quite an honor to be the first principal of Rushe Middle School, too. It was truly significant serving in a school that was named after someone who was just an outstanding leader — Chuck Rushe — and a friend of mine, as well.”

Opening and managing a school presents many kinds of challenges, Estabrook noted.

“We worked through them and worked collaboratively, and made this a great school. And it continues to be a great school under Principal Salerno’s leadership,” he said. “Collaboration, to me, is not exclusive to just adults. It should be incorporated into the teaching and learning process.”

Salerno said it is fitting that Rushe’s media center be renamed in Estabrook’s honor because the retired educator was a master at collaboration.

In keeping with his desire to help others to grow and thrive, Estabrook and his family donated $19,000 to help create the center for collaboration that now bears his name. The Pasco Education Foundation matched that gift.

Helping students collaborate with each other is precisely what the new center aims to do, Salerno said.

“About a year ago, we decided we wanted to do something with collaboration and technology,” he said. “We received input from teachers, students and parents, and the overwhelming consensus is that we wanted to make sure that we increased technology and made sure that we have students collaborate.”

Many people remember the old school library, Salerno said.

“In those school libraries, it often was forbidden to utter a sound,” he said. “You were hushed and sent to the principal’s office. You found yourself sent back to class.

“Fast-forward to today, where our goal is to see places like this, and it’s alive with learning.”

The goal is for students to lead study groups, Salerno said, and use technology to help them research real-world issues. The center now has collaboration stations that are equipped for students to work together to tackle a variety of challenges.

They can go to websites and use different apps to develop various skills. For instance, there’s a Crime and Puzzle app that aims to help them learn to make inferences, to form a hypothesis, and to analyze evidence.

Other learning opportunities focus on improving vocabulary and grammar skills, and becoming skillful of supporting each other’s efforts. They also are given opportunities to develop their research skills through challenges that go beyond reading from a single source.

The center is just in its first phase, Salerno said. He expects to add more equipment later, as funding allows.

He envisions a place where students want to visit, not just during class, but before and after school.

He pictures it as being a place that welcomes students to gather — kind of like having a Starbucks or a Barnes & Noble on campus — but without the snacks and coffee.

Published October 8, 2014

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Sunlake volleyball collecting wins, gaining fans

October 9, 2014 By Michael Murillo

When Deann Newton took over as coach of the Sunlake High School volleyball team, the Seahawks had never had much success with the program. So if you wanted to see them play, you could sit pretty much anywhere you wanted.

Sunlake volleyball coach Deann Newton huddles with her team during a match at Land O’ Lakes High School Oct. 2. The Seahawks won the match to remain undefeated in district play. (Michael Murillo/Staff Photo)

“I think we maybe had five kids in the stands,” Newton said of her first games coaching. “And some of them might have been siblings.”

Now in her second year, good seats are harder to find. She estimates between 50 and 75 students go to their games, and they even had a strong turnout for a recent road contest against Land O’ Lakes High School.

The sudden interest in girls volleyball at Sunlake isn’t a coincidence. Newton has turned around a program that spent its first seven seasons in what seemed like a continuous losing streak. Their best record during that span was a 6-18 season, with multiple years where they won just one or two games. They even had a winless season.

But things changed in 2013. Under Newton, the Seahawks went 16-10, winning more games in one season than in all previous years combined. But a 5-2 record in Class 5A-District 8 wasn’t good enough for the postseason, so Sunlake had to be satisfied with a great turnaround and a bright future.

This year the team picked up where it left off, marching out to a 14-4 record so far, including a perfect 6-0 district mark. And while having four losses is no reason to be ashamed, it should be noted that all of those defeats came in tournament play, which Newton scheduled so they could get experience playing a variety of teams. The team is 11-0 outside of their tournaments.

The difference in the Seahawks before Newton came aboard and now comes down to how they approach the game from a mental standpoint.

“The attitude was like, ‘We’ll kind of try to win,’” she said of the team she inherited. “You have to go in with the (proper) mindset. It’s a very mental game.”

Now the Seahawks expect to win and focus on playing up to their capabilities.

But there were more than mental changes. The team started improving their conditioning and began working out together back in May to prepare for the upcoming season. It was a new schedule for the team, but the additional work was necessary to show that they were serious about improving on last year’s record, and becoming a stronger, fitter and more dangerous squad.

It was clear from the beginning that Newton was bringing something different to the team, said Gianna Basulto, a junior who has been on the team for three seasons.

“Before it wasn’t as serious,” she said. “But when Coach Newton showed up, it was like game on. This is how we’re going to do it.

“She was very straight-forward, and I love that about her because that’s the type of coach that I and the whole team need.”

The earlier conditioning has not only made the team more effective in long rallies, Basulto explained, but also helped the team develop important chemistry before the season even began.

That chemistry will be important as the season progresses toward the last few games of the regular season. While Newton said the team is taking things one game at a time, they haven’t forgotten their goals. They want to make the playoffs for the first time in school history, and they want to keep winning when they get there.

In order to keep getting better, Newton sets different goals for the team when they play, in addition to simply winning the match. They’ve been working on blocking and defense, for example, because the coach considers them areas where improvement is needed and will be required as they face stronger competition.

A strong mental attitude also will be required, and there’s plenty of confidence that didn’t exist a couple of years ago. As a result, if the team continues to improve, the school’s first postseason appearance could become a reality.

“I think we can go to (the district tournament) and I think we can win,” Basulto said. “Our coach is really pushing us, and we’re pushing ourselves.”

Newton, while still focused on fixing areas of weakness and getting better as a team, shares that optimism.

“Our goal is to get out of district with the one or two seed, preferably the one seed,” she said, which would qualify Sunlake for a first-ever trip to the regional tournament. “I think when we get to that point, I think good things are going to happen.”

Published October 8, 2014

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Big turnout reveals heavy interest in Pasco’s first magnet school

October 2, 2014 By B.C. Manion

More than 200 parents and children turned out to a community meeting to find out more about Pasco County Schools’ plan to open the district’s first magnet school in Land O’ Lakes.

Sanders Memorial Elementary School, scheduled to open next school year, will be known as a STEAM school, which stands for science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics.

Construction workers are busy getting the new Sanders Memorial Elementary School built in time for the 2015-16 school year. (Fred Bellett/Photo)

Unlike other district schools, this one won’t have an attendance boundary, Superintendent Kurt Browning said.

Applications for the school will be accepted for students throughout the county, but the district is considering whether to give preferential admission to students living within one mile of the school — students now attending Connerton or Oakstead elementary schools — and those who have siblings that have been accepted. Both Connerton and Oakstead are overcrowded and need relief, Browning explained, so the district may use Sanders to help address that issue.

While Sanders will open next year, the district has not yet decided how it will handle transportation to the school, Browning said. It may continue to send buses through neighborhoods to pick up students in the morning and drop them off in the afternoon. Or, it may establish a hub system, where parents take children to a location where district buses pick up and drop off children.

The district hopes to have the principal for Sanders named by November and to have the teaching staff selected by February or March, Browning said.

Sanders will be different from other schools in many respects. For one thing, the school’s design includes large spaces next to classrooms. They are intended to encourage collaboration between students, between teachers and students, and between classrooms.

Even the school’s furniture will accommodate a greater degree of teamwork. The chairs and desks will move easily to accommodate clusters of learners tackling various tasks.

Sanders also will feature the latest in technology. And, every student will be equipped with an electronic device.

The district hasn’t decided yet whether all of the students will have the same kind of device, or if kindergarten through second-graders will have iPads, and third- through fifth-graders will have laptops.

“We know that this generation of children already has advanced ability in the use of technology,” said Dave Scanga, executive director of the Central Region of Pasco County Schools.

Sanders will infuse technology into every aspect of learning. The school also will give students more opportunities to do environmental observations, as the school takes advantage of a wetlands area to help nurture a deeper understanding of nature.

It’s not clear yet whether Sanders will open with a fifth-grade program, Browning said. The district plans to survey parents of fourth-graders to see if there’s enough interest to open the school with fifth grade, or to wait a year for that grade.

The superintendent said he understands that parents may be reluctant to move their child to Sanders during their final year of elementary school, so the district wants to find out what parents think before making that decision.

Like other public schools, Sanders will have children from diverse economic, ethnic and racial backgrounds. It also will have students with varying degrees of ability.

Sanders will adhere to Florida’s educational standards, Browning said. It also will offer a fee-based childcare program, before and after school.

Sanders is Pasco’s first magnet school, Browning said, but it won’t be its last.

“Parents want choices about the way their kids are educated,” the superintendent said. Schools like Sanders give parents another option.

The district also understands that children who attend Sanders for elementary school will need to transition into a middle school program that meets their needs, and work is under way to address that issue, Browning said.

Sanders will have a capacity of 762 students, and the school district will accept applications throughout December.

The school district funded the redesign of Sanders in 2008, but the project was put on hold because the housing market crashed.

When completed, Sanders — located at 5126 School Road — will be almost entirely new. Just three of the former school’s buildings remain on site. The rest were demolished.

Besides being the district’s first magnet, Sanders also will benefit from an agreement between the school board and Pasco County government officials. The arrangement aims at providing more recreational opportunities for schoolchildren and the community at large, while also broadening learning opportunities and providing a venue to accommodate community gatherings.

The Pasco County Commission has approved spending $2.4 million to improve the Land O’ Lakes Community Center at 5401 U.S. 41. That center is adjacent to the Sanders property. The improvements include the construction of a restroom, concession area and meeting room, a picnic shelter, sports fields, a basketball court, parking, and a trail.

Sandy Graves, president of the Heritage Park Foundation, is pleased with the county’s funding, but said work continues to raise about $200,000 needed to build a stage on the park property, next to the community center, that could be used for large community events.

Graves hopes a major sponsor will step forward to make a sizable donation, which could be matched through community fundraising efforts.

Graves has pushed this project for years, and is confident that eventually the vision will become a reality.

“It will be built,” Graves said.

Published October 1, 2014

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Newland wants Bexley Ranch to be next FishHawk

September 25, 2014 By Michael Hinman

People have driven by construction work on State Road 54 east of the Suncoast Parkway and wondered what might be happening there.

A lot of those details were unveiled last week when Newland Communities vice president Tom Panaseny presented some of the first details of the recently resurrected Bexley Ranch project that will include about 1,700 homes over the next five years.

Construction already has begun on the retail portion of Bexley Ranch, part of a massive new community moving forward on State Road 54 just off the Suncoast Parkway. (Michael Hinman/Staff Photo) — Construction already has begun on the retail portion of Bexley Ranch, part of a massive new community moving forward on State Road 54 just off the Suncoast Parkway.
(Michael Hinman/Staff Photo)

The massive development, which will stretch north past Tower Road, was put on hold several years ago after the housing market crashed and new home construction came to a halt. But with the market on the rebound, and people still looking to move to Pasco County, Panaseny said this was as good a time as any to get started.

“We’ve got our plans in review at Pasco County right now, and we think we’ll break ground in March or April next year,” he told a small crowd that gathered at the Residence Inn at NorthPoint across the street from the project. “We haven’t even announced any of the builders yet. But the builders really almost come in last, once we develop the community and figure out what type of homes that we want to build. Then we’ll match up the builders to the type of home.”

Homes will start close to $200,000, and run as high as $400,000, Panaseny said. While most of the development will be single-family houses, the front part of the development close to State Road 54 will include townhouses, attached villas, commercial and retail, and even a new hotel.

The retail portion is where most of the land is being cleared right now, Panaseny said. That will likely be up and running by the time that work crews start prepping the land behind it for residential development.

“We are talking to several retailers right now to come in there, one of which has never been in Pasco before,” Panaseny said. Past that on Bexley Boulevard will be about 5 acres devoted to office, as well as a business class hotel.

“The hotel here does very well,” Panaseny said, about the Residence Inn. “Hopefully, there is room for another one.”

This will be Newland’s first project in Pasco County. It has had a lot of success with other high-profile projects in Hillsborough County, most notably with FishHawk Ranch near Brandon, as well as MiraBay and Waterset in Apollo Beach. FishHawk Ranch has more than 5,000 homes, and is near completion after more than a decade of development work.

While the initial plans bring about a third of that volume of development to Bexley Ranch, the longer-term goal is to be just as big as the project expands east toward Sunlake Boulevard. Initial plans also include an elementary school, and Newland’s contribution to the construction of Tower Road to Sunlake Boulevard.

The project also will include a network of trails that would provide miles of both paved and dirt pathways for residents. The idea is to eventually connect with the Suncoast Trail, possibly by going underneath the highway.

The trails, Panaseny said, would show off the nearly 1,000 acres of conservation land the Bexley Ranch project already has set aside. And in a sales pitch to some of the potential buyers in the audience, the developer said views of those pockets of nature won’t be limited to the highest bidders.

“I look at things like wetlands, and you’ll see developers who will try to price those views so that only an individual home can look at a wetland,” Panaseny said. “You won’t see a lot of that with us. We try to make that public space, because we don’t just want to have individuals look at that, we want the community to be looking at that.”

The entire project, once all the phases are completed, could go as high as 6,000 homes, Panaseny said. However, that all depends on how Pasco County does in the future when it comes to attracting new residents.

“You’re talking about 20 years-plus, and that’s really hard to even speculate on that right now,” he said. “We have to start with what we know, and what we know right now is that there are 1,700 acres there that will keep everybody busy for four or five years.”

Published September 24, 2014

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Cancer journey chronicled through ceramic busts

September 25, 2014 By B.C. Manion

People facing a life-threatening disease have different ways of coping.

Some join prayer groups. Others keep journals. Some write blogs.

Land O’ Lakes resident Jan Tucker decided she wanted to keep a physical record of what her breasts looked like before she began cancer treatment.

These three ceramic busts, created by artist Paul Phillips, chronicle Jan Tucker’s journey through cancer. The bust on the left shows Tucker’s upper torso before she began cancer treatment. The one in the middle shows her at her lowest point in the battle. The bust on the right shows her upper torso after breast reconstruction. (B.C. Manion/Staff Photo) — These three ceramic busts, created by artist Paul Phillips, chronicle Jan Tucker’s journey through cancer. The bust on the left shows Tucker’s upper torso before she began cancer treatment. The one in the middle shows her at her lowest point in the battle. The bust on the right shows her upper torso after breast reconstruction.
(B.C. Manion/Staff Photo)

She knew that her brother, Paul Phillips — who does ceramics and other kinds of art — could make the ceramic bust because he’d done body castings for women who were pregnant.

She also knew that her brother might feel strange about applying the material to make the mold to her body, so she asked him to teach her husband Ben how to do the first layer, to avoid potential embarrassment.

Tucker initially just wanted a physical reminder of what she looked like before she was diagnosed with invasive ductile carcinoma — an aggressive, fast-growing cancer.

Being a private person, she didn’t expect others to see it. But those plans changed, and now three ceramic busts — chronicling her journey through cancer — will be on display at an art exhibit and sale to help raise money for the American Cancer Society and the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute.

One bust shows her upper torso before treatment began. The second records her at her lowest point in her cancer battle. The third shows her torso after reconstructive surgery.

The story of Tucker’s fight for her life began like many other stories about breast cancer: She found a lump in her right breast during a routine monthly self-exam.

Ironically, it appeared at a time in her life when she’d never felt healthier. She was 46, and she and Ben routinely worked out.

When she found the lump, Tucker made an appointment with her doctor to check it out as part of an annual exam. That exam, as well as a mammogram, showed it was a cyst, which didn’t surprise Tucker because she’d had cysts before.

So, Tucker went about her daily life, working as an online business professor and developing online courses.

As time went on, though, the lump grew. It was right at her bra line and was becoming uncomfortable. She also felt two smaller lumps.

Still, she had no plans to go back to the doctor before her annual check.

“My husband kept nagging me,” Tucker said. “‘You need to go get this checked.’”

But she didn’t until he hurt his foot, and now it was Tucker urging him to see a doctor. They made a deal: He would go for his foot, if she went for her breast.

On the return visit, the doctor said the lump was larger, but was still a cyst. But after Tucker told the doctor it was bothering her, the doctor referred her to a breast surgeon to get the lump drained.

The breast surgeon – Dr. Kimberly Apple – wanted an ultrasound. That led to additional diagnostics, a core biopsy, and a needle biopsy on six cancer tumors.

The doctor told Tucker she would call her with the results, either way. That call came on a Friday morning, April 26, 2013.

“When I picked up the phone, I hear her say, ‘I’m sorry.’ I hear her voice crack,” Tucker said. Then she starts with the doctor jargon.”

She heard the doctor talking, but couldn’t process what she was saying.

“Everything kind of stops in your world,” Tucker said. “It was so surreal.”

The doctor asked Tucker if she had any questions. Tucker had one: “Is it treatable?”

Yes, but it would require extensive treatment.

Tucker’s cancer was so advanced that she had to undergo chemotherapy before surgery. That’s when she decided to have her brother do the ceramic bust.

“I called him and I said, ‘I want to remember how I am today,’” she said.

A week later, she was undergoing chemotherapy.

“It’s awful. There’s no way to sugarcoat it,” Tucker said, noting she went through five rounds of chemo in six months.

Next, she had a nipple-sparing bilateral mastectomy.

She planned to do reconstruction, but lost so much blood she had to have a transfusion, which led to an infection.

“I was down to 95 pounds,” Tucker said. “I’m bald at this point. I have no eyebrows, no eyelashes. My skin is sagging, and I was extremely depressed. I was in a really, really dark place.

“I called Paul and said, ‘I want to do another casting.’

“He’s like, ‘Really?’”

She said she wanted to remember this stage of the battle, too. That casting was done on Feb. 26.

When she got over the infection, she pursued reconstruction again. After that was done, Tucker did another body casting to show her upper torso after reconstruction. That casting was done on Aug. 16.

“It just kind of brought the whole thing together,” Tucker said.

She still had no intention of making the ceramic busts public. But that changed after her brother, who had exhibited some of his art works at Alchemy Art Lounge in Tarpon Springs, told the owner about the castings he’d done for his sister.

“The owner got real quiet and said, ‘My mother has breast cancer,’” Tucker said.

Then the owner suggested having a Pink Party in October, and to donate the proceeds to the American Cancer Society and Moffitt. Tucker agreed to have her ceramic busts on display because they help convey the stages she has been through.

“There really is no better way to illustrate the story than that,” said Tucker, who is now 48.

She and her husband have two sons, Van — who just graduated from the University of South Florida with a degree in chemical engineering — and Adam, a sophomore at USF, who is pursuing the same degree.

Tucker said she never would have chosen to walk the path, yet she knows it has yielded new insights.

“I am a different person today because of this,” Tucker said. “I am much more focused on what’s important in life, and it’s not chasing a promotion.”

If you go …
WHAT: Alchemy Art Lounge and Hard Bodies Yo present a Pink Party, featuring an art show and sale, a silent auction and a chance drawing for prizes.
WHERE: 25 Dodecanese Blvd., Tarpon Springs
WHEN: Oct. 9, 7 p.m. to 10 p.m.
DETAILS: Proceeds will benefit cancer charities
INFO: Paul Phillips at (386) 334-5943

Published September 24, 2014

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Internship takes local student to Amazon jungle

September 25, 2014 By Michael Hinman

Those first nights in the Amazon rainforest were tough ones for Kenny Quayle. Especially when he was trying to get a few hours of sleep.

“There are strange sounds that come from the jungle, and some of them were from animals I never wanted to come face-to-face with,” he said. “There were thousands of bugs everywhere at night, and you could hear each and every one of them.”

Kenny Quayle, a junior at Academy at the Lakes, spent part of his summer as an intern in Peru, working in the Amazon. The trip included adventures, like this fishing trip on the Tahuayo River. (Courtesy of Kenny Quayle)

Quayle spent a month in Peru living on the edge of the Amazon. He was there working on a conservation team that was part of Amazonia Expeditions, an adventure company led by local biologist Paul Beaver, and his wife Dolly.

But Quayle is no scientist. He wasn’t even an adventure tourist. He’s a 16-year-old who just started his junior year at Academy at the Lakes.

The Beavers offer the internship to one student each year, creating an opportunity of a lifetime. Quayle had such a desire to make the trip that he applied his freshman year, but lost out to an older student. That changed his sophomore year when he made it in, and found himself on a plane to South America that summer.

“You write a small essay on what you want to do with the knowledge you gain from going there, and what you expect to draw from the experiences,” Quayle said. And that part was easy for him, since his goal is to eventually become a journalist, working for publications like those owned by National Geographic.

And while he was among tourists and researchers, this wasn’t a trip to Disney World. There was no air-conditioning, no hot showers, and bugs were the size of softballs. The average temperature is 81 degrees, but the humidity is so high, it puts Florida to shame.

“The locals there, they don’t sweat,” Quayle said. “If you sweat, you just get hotter, because of all the humidity. You learn to sit in places with a good breeze, and you learn to survive on cold showers.”

Quayle woke up at 6 a.m. daily and hiked for a few hours. He primarily cleaned out camera traps that are used to capture wildlife on film in its native habitat for researchers. He brought protein bars with him to keep his energy up, because breakfast wasn’t served until he returned to camp.

“I actually dropped 15 pounds while I was there,” Quayle said. “We would eat well, but it was a lot of plantains and a lot of rice, as well as some fresh vegetables.”

Usually, afternoons were spent working with tourists who would visit the Tahuayo Lodge and the Tahuayo River Amazon Research Center, located about 30 miles south of Iquitos, Peru’s fifth-largest city, in the Loreto Region.

The forests, as nearly anyone would imagine, were dangerous. Quayle almost had a fatal run-in with a fer-de-lance, a highly poisonous snake that can disguise itself well to look like a rock.

“It does swim, and it likes to hunt near the water,” Quayle said. “We were on the shore, and lucky the person I was with noticed it, because I almost walked into it.”

But not all of Quayle’s encounters with the wildlife had happy endings. He was stung by a tarantula hawk — a spider wasp that is so aggressive that it hunts tarantulas. Its sting is considered to be the second most painful in the world, second only to the bullet ant.

“You would have these flying roaches all over the place, and so you’re constantly swatting them away,” Quayle said. “We were out spear fishing, and a bug landed on my back. I swatted it, and didn’t realize it was a tarantula hawk.”

Back home, Quayle is on the Academy at the Lakes football team, and spends time playing the cello. His parents are Kevin and Kathy Quayle, who own All Season Air Conditioning & Heating in Tampa.

Before going to Peru, Quayle was only out of the country three other times, and two of those were cruises. But that might change now that he’s had a taste of the world outside of North America, and has made new friends around the globe.

“I am very interested in traveling, and I’ve always loved traveling,” he said. “My parents, not so much.”

With two more years left to his high school career, Quayle’s not even looking to wait until he’s in college to try to head out again. He’s already applying for a chance to take care of a baby orangutan in Borneo for two months next summer. And he’s getting ready for a trip to England and France with his European studies class.

“There is so much worldly knowledge out there that I want to collect, before I have to sit down and really take in all that scholarly knowledge from college,” Quayle said. “There is just so much to see, and so little time to do it in.”

Want to read more about Kenny Quayle’s adventures in the Amazon rainforest? Check out his blog, which is still under development, at TheAdventuresOfKenny.com.

Published September 24, 2014

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Neighbors, power company fight over trees near electrical line

September 18, 2014 By Michael Hinman

Debbie Lane Goodman was a kid in 1986 when her family planted an oak tree sapling near where 20 Mile Level Road and Black Jack Lane meet.

Back then, there was no Land O’ Lakes Recreation Complex to the west, or even a Plantation Palms community to the north. Just two years before, the 10 acres of land Goodman’s father owned was filled with orange groves, the primary source of income for her family.

Neighbors Debbie Lane Goodman and Eddie Midili survey tree trimming work Duke Energy has performed along a line route that crosses 20 Mile Level Road in Land O’ Lakes. The oak tree behind them is slated to come down next, which has riled up Goodman, Midili and other neighbors. (Michael Hinman/Staff Photo) — Neighbors Debbie Lane Goodman and Eddie Midili survey tree trimming work Duke Energy has performed along a line route that crosses 20 Mile Level Road in Land O’ Lakes. The oak tree behind them is slated to come down next, which has riled up Goodman, Midili and other neighbors.
(Michael Hinman/Staff Photo)

But a rare snowstorm in 1984 killed those trees, and emptied the land. The state helped by donating some pine trees to plant on the property, but the oak tree would become a symbol of perseverance for the family.

Today, Goodman uses the former orange grove land to provide horse-riding lessons, and keep various ranch-style animals. The oak tree is still there, now towering over the rest of the tree line, providing a majestic feel to property that was once part of a 19th century stagecoach route to Tampa.

But if Duke Energy gets its way — and it almost certainly will — that tree will become a part of history.

“They’ve destroyed my land, and now they’re going to take my trees down,” Goodman said. “They just came out four years ago and shaved the trees, and told us that’s all they were going to do. They said they didn’t need to cut any trees, and that it’s not even on their line. But then they came back and said we’re going to cut them all down.”

The property damage, Goodman said, came from heavy trucks that were used to replace the poles along the edge of her property from wood to steel last month. Duke did not fix divots its trucks created in the ground, although the utility did bring in a load of dirt so that Goodman could fix the land herself.

The tree is one of more than 30 Goodman said she believes is going to come down along Black Jack Lane. She is not sure, because Duke never reached out to her directly about the tree removal, and all of her information has come from the tree-cutting crew itself.

“I asked my dad, I asked my neighbors, and none of them have received anything,” Goodman said. “The only thing we have is the tree people, and they are at the bottom of the chain. They don’t really know anything. And how do we know that these guys aren’t just doing this because they want more jobs?”

Duke, which bought Progress Energy in 2011, says it works to keep open lines of communication with residents and businesses that might be affected by the tree work along power lines. While the trees and even lines might be on other people’s property, each line path has an easement that typically grants the utility 50 feet on either side of the pole.

“Generally, when we’re doing this type of work, we will put a letter out to each homeowner, each resident, that is adjacent to the easement,” Duke spokesman Sterling Ivey said. “We generally have staff walking the neighborhoods and knocking on doors, leaving door hangers. We try to do a lot of it proactively.”

Yet, Goodman and neighbor Eddie Midili said they’ve received no such communication. In fact, the only time Midili said someone from Duke contacted him was when a representative of the company knocked on his door and gave him paperwork from 1959 she said showed where the easement was.

“She said, ‘We’re claiming the land back,’” Midili said.

Trees came down last week at the neighboring Land O’ Lakes Recreation Complex, leaving stumps in a parking area near an athletic field that once supported cabbage palms and oaks.

Brian Taylor, Pasco County’s parks and recreation manager, said he received a letter from Ashley McDonald, a vegetation management specialist with Duke Energy, which described exactly which trees had to be removed. Those trees, Taylor said, would cost the county a little more than $1,700 to replace.

Duke cuts and trims trees as a way to protect lines, not just from branches growing into lines, but also to try and prevent power line issues during major storms where winds could blow vegetation into the lines. It’s not required to remove stumps, but will make mulch available to interested homeowners who would like to recycle those trees, according to the utility’s website.

Duke also does not replace trees it removes, leaving those costs the responsibility of the affected property owners.

“We try to take the trees down as low as we possibly can,” Ivey said. “If a customer has concerns about some stumps that might have been left, and especially if they have some animals or horses in the area, I would encourage them to call our customer service center to see what help there might be.”

The line clearing project started in May, and stretches from Tarpon Springs to Zephyrhills, Ivey said.

Goodman and her neighbors have tried to talk Duke out of removing the trees, but know they won’t be successful. So now they’re having to figure out what life will be like on their property with the lights from the recreation complex streaming in, and what will now be an unobstructed view of the overgrown 12th green at the currently closed Plantation Palms Golf Club.

“When they did all this before a few years ago, I gave up some trees, and Debbie gave up some trees,” Midili said. “We didn’t like it, but whatever we had to do, we would do. But now, they want to go overboard on it, and it’s just not necessary. They need to come out and see what kind of damage they’re doing.”

Anyone with questions or concerns for Duke, Ivey said, is urged to call the company’s customer service line at (800) 700-8744.

Published September 17, 2014

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The new Holy Name Monastery: A place for spiritual growth, refreshment

September 18, 2014 By B.C. Manion

When the Benedictine Sisters of Florida arrived in East Pasco from Elk County, Pennsylvania, in 1889, they lived in a three-story hotel in San Antonio.

This week, they’re hosting an open house at their new quarters, marking another major milestone in their 125-year history in Pasco County.

Holy Name Monastery, the home of the Benedictine Sisters of Florida for 125 years, has moved into new quarters. The new structure is much smaller and more modern than the sisters’ previous home, which is just across State Road 52. (B.C. Manion/Staff Photo) — Holy Name Monastery, the home of the Benedictine Sisters of Florida for 125 years, has moved into new quarters. The new structure is much smaller and more modern than the sisters’ previous home, which is just across State Road 52.
(B.C. Manion/Staff Photo)

The new Holy Name Monastery replaces the sisters’ former quarters, which were in a 100,000-square-foot structure across State Road 52.

Saint Leo University purchased that building in October 2012, along with some additional acreage from the sisters. The purchase helped cover the cost of the new 28,000-square-foot monastery. The sisters also conducted a capital campaign for $500,000.

Like any new home, there are advantages and disadvantages.

The sisters have less space. However, the old multi-story structure where they had lived since 1960 had become too large for them and too expensive to operate and maintain.

Sister Mary Romana Gomez is delighted with the sisters’ new home.

“I just thank God for a dream come true,” she said.

“I’m just in awe,” added Sister Margaret Mary Roberts.

“It’s what we wanted,” Sister Jean Abbott agreed.

Visitors arriving at the monastery, at 12138 Wichers Road, will be greeted in a small lobby, which is flanked by stained glass windows representing Saint Benedict and his sister, Saint Scholastica.

The chapel is large and in a place of prominence, signifying its important role in the monastery. Furnishings for the chapel were moved there from the former monastery’s chapel.

Other features of the new monastery include a dining room and kitchen, as well as two small kitchens, where light meals and snacks can be prepared.

There’s also a multipurpose room adjoining the chapel. It has a wall that can be moved to create a larger chapel space when that is needed. Or, the room can be used to provide additional dining space.

The monastery also has an archives room, a library, an exercise room and a laundry room. There’s a television room, too, equipped with a wide-screen television, a gift to the sisters from the Tampa Bay Rays.

The living quarters are housed in a separate building, connected by a corridor that incorporates additional storage space.

There are 20 bedrooms, including four guest rooms.

It is easy to see that this is a place devoted to worship and spiritual growth. There’s an outdoor statue representing the Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus, which stands near the front of the building.

At the end of one corridor, there’s a statue representing the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

In the dining hall, there’s a sign that says, “Give us this day, our daily bread” — an excerpt from the “Our Father,” a prayer recited in Catholic masses. There’s also a painting of the Last Supper, which represents when Jesus instituted the sacrament of the Eucharist, a fundamental part of the Catholic faith.

With just four guest rooms, the new monastery cannot accommodate overnight retreats. Still, Sister Mary David Hydro, who helps plan retreats, said she thinks the opportunity for hosting such gatherings may be even greater now.

Many people who are unable to attend overnight retreats may be able to break away for a day of reflection, she said.

The need for retreats is there, she said. “People are hungry for spiritual life.”

Providing spiritual replenishment is just one role the sisters have played through the years. They lead lives of prayer and accept prayer requests from the community.

They also have been instrumental in schools and on organization boards including Sunrise Spouse Abuse Shelter, Saint Leo University Haitian Mission Project, Florida Association for the Education of Young Children, Catholic Charities, Coalition for the Homeless, Hospice, Habitat for Humanity, and DayStar Hope Thrift Store and Food Pantry.

Each year they provide a Thanksgiving meal to feed more than 200 people. They’ll do the same this year, but will need to adjust their logistics, said Sister Mary Clare Neuhofer, the monastery’s immediate past prioress.

While a move to a new place requires adjustments, there are plenty of pluses, the sisters said.

For one thing, the views are fantastic. The monastery’s back porch sits at the top of a grassy hill.

Clusters of wildflower add bits of color, and the hills slope down to stands of trees below. There’s a wide expanse of sky above, and off in the distance, is a view of the steeple for Saint Leo Abbey church.

There is beauty and serenity at this place, on a hill.

As they were sharing their first meal together in their new dwelling place, the sisters saw a double rainbow arch across the sky. They took that as a sign of God’s blessing on their new home.

Published September 17, 2014

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Outlet mall not ready to spring up quite yet

September 11, 2014 By Michael Hinman

Site work has begun on the Cypress Creek Town Center site near the intersection of State Road 56 and Wesley Chapel Boulevard. It’s just not for the proposed outlet mall in that area.

Instead, dirt has begun to move across the street from the planned 482,000-square-foot mall, where some outparcel retail stores will eventually be built, said Dawn Sutton with Pasco County’s Planning and Development department.

Some activity on a site where some individual retail stores may be located in the future had some residents thinking the proposed outlet mall work was finally beginning. However, that project — across State Road 56 near Wesley Chapel Boulevard — is wrapping up site plan approvals now. (Michael Hinman/Staff Photo) — Some activity on a site where some individual retail stores may be located in the future had some residents thinking the proposed outlet mall work was finally beginning. However, that project — across State Road 56 near Wesley Chapel Boulevard — is wrapping up site plan approvals now.
(Michael Hinman/Staff Photo)

“There are no site plans for that part of the property just yet,” Sutton said. “Right now, it looks like they are just trying to make it site-ready. It’s not a pad, but more of a central system to get ready for some eventual work there.”

The outlet mall itself, tentatively called Cypress Creek Town Center Premium Outlets Mall, is still going through site plan review, Sutton said. One of the developers involved with Simon Property Group submitted paperwork to the county Sept. 4, all part of the standard back-and-forth between a developer and the county.

If both sides can square away any lingering issues, Simon could start moving its own dirt on the site in 30 days. That means actual construction, once building permits are issued, could get underway before the end of the year.

The mall will almost certainly not hit its originally announced completion date of the end of 2014. In fact, whether the outlet mall will hit the Summer 2015 timeframe county administrator Michele Baker suggested earlier this year is still yet to be seen. Simon did not return an email last week seeking comment.

The entire process for Simon is a little déjà vu, Sutton said.

“The 50 acres that is being planned for the mall sits differently than it did before,” she said. “They have a different layout, and the location is adjusted.”

Simon had originally planned a 1.2 million-square-foot project with 600,000 square feet of retail, and 120,000 square feet of office by 2011. Expanded plans included 350 hotel rooms, 230 apartments, and a 2,582-seat movie theater.

Yet, the east indigo snake and the economy got in the way. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers delayed final environmental approval for years, with one herpetologist telling officials that the land is necessary to help the snake avoid major roadways.

The Army Corps cleared the way for the mall last November.

“We are very excited to be moving forward on this project, and are commencing meetings with the county to determine approvals and a schedule,” Danielle DeVita, senior vice president for development and acquisition at Simon, said in a statement last year.

Simon still needs to finalize its site layout, which would require approval by Pasco County commissioners. However, Sutton doesn’t anticipate their being any additional controversy with the site.

Some of the land work on the mall site had already been done back in 2007, said Carol Clarke, assistant planning and development administrator for the county.

“There was earth working done there, which was part of what they were initially going to do,” Clarke said. “They have this new plan, but it looks like they are endeavoring to use as much of the existing infrastructure there as they can.”

Simon is joined on the project by JG Cypress Creek LLC and Tampa Premium Outlets LLC, and is expected to be built in seven phases, according to plans submitted last April. The overall project will consist of nine buildings, and nearly 2,400 parking spaces. The complete project is expected to offer 1.1 million square feet of commercial space.

Published September 10, 2014

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Blowing up: Jonathan Fudge’s business vision takes shape

September 11, 2014 By Michael Murillo

As a balloon artist, Jonathan Fudge has to be able to field all kinds of requests like dogs, swords and hearts. And recently, a fire alarm.

“I said, ‘Tell me what’s important about a fire alarm to you,’” recalled Fudge. And after hearing what elements clients wanted to see — a round shape, place for batteries, test button — he got to work immediately.

With around 20 years experience, Jonathan Fudge isn’t afraid to tackle any balloon project.

“I made it happen for him,” he said. “That’s my job.”

Fudge, who attended Land O’ Lakes High School and lives in Lutz, has been creating balloon art for most of his life.

“I used to be the best, youngest balloon artist in the world. But then I got older,” he said with a laugh.

Now 28, Fudge started making shapes 20 years ago, and has been working events since he was 16. It’s taken him to places like Belgium, China and Japan. He’s also turned his love of entertaining into a larger, thriving business.

His company, YTE Events, boasts a stable of more than 130 performers who entertain at parties, celebrations, school programs, and corporate and charity events.

One upcoming charity on YTE’s schedule is the Cheval Cares 5k & Family Fun Day, Sept. 20. Now in its third year, the event — at the Cheval Athletic Club in Lutz — benefits the Pediatric Cancer Foundation.

YTE — which stands for Your Total Entertainment — participates in a number of charitable events that benefit groups like Metropolitan Ministries and Suncoast Hospice. For Fudge, it’s just part of helping others in the community, his entertainers, and the people who enjoy them.

“I got my start through charity,” he said. “Someone taught me for free. But I’m not the only one who’s been touched by that.

“When I can give my entertainers an outlet to do something they love, and to share what they love with other people, that skips over all kinds of boundaries.”

Even non-charitable events allow his performers to get the satisfaction that comes with entertaining others with their special skills and abilities.

Fudge’s stable of performers includes superheroes and princesses (some might bear a resemblance to famous names, but aren’t specifically representing characters who would cost a lot of money to license) as well as mermaids, magicians, ninjas, jugglers and face-painters. He works out of his home, matching the right entertainment to specific events, as well as performing balloon art himself.

The company handles around 50 different events each month, he said.

Fudge himself heads out to his own gigs making balloon shapes. The art form has changed a lot over the past few years, he said. In the past, one could get away with making basic shapes using just one balloon. But people expect more definition and complexity today, and that means staying on top of trends, learning new styles and being creative on the fly.

Fudge has fielded unusual requests like lawnmowers and vacuum cleaners, and participated in creating a dress made out of balloons.

Running his business isn’t easy, either. In addition to the 20 to 25 hours he spends doing balloon art, he can invest as much as 80 hours a week keeping things running smoothly, and making sure the right entertainment is placed with the right event.

Finding high-caliber talent is a challenge as well. It’s one thing to run across someone with a nice costume and the right look, but entertaining at an event takes more than that. And Fudge doesn’t let just anybody join the team. He’s very picky, and is looking for performers who have a natural ability to interact with people in an entertaining and positive way.

“What’s really more important, and what I can’t teach, is personality,” he said. “They have to be good with kids, they have to be charismatic, they have to be fun, they have to be high energy.

“And someone who really loves what they do. If they’re in love with the character they’re trying to portray, then they’re going to portray them in a much more realistic and believable way.”

Fudge’s team is filled with performers quick on their feet, and who are willing to do a bit of acting to really adopt the image they’re displaying at the event.

The end result is a strong group of handpicked performers who share passion for their craft and appreciate the opportunity to share it with the public. And beyond the costumes, balloons and other props, Fudge considers that passion to be his company’s biggest asset.

“There are other agencies in the area and elsewhere,” he said. “But I think what sets our agency apart is the fact that everyone in my company loves what they do.”

For more information about YTE Events, visit YTEEvents.com.

Published September 10, 2014

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