The Laker/Lutz News

Serving Pasco since 1981/Serving Lutz since 1964

Local News

Woman unleashes creativity through soaps

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Step in Melissa Brown’s workshop, and you’ll see a woman focused on creating handmade soaps at her home business in Lutz.

Brown launched her business —Nautilus Soap Company LLC — more than a year ago, and hopes one day to open her own storefront. Besides making scented and unscented soaps, she also makes bath bombs and shampoo bars.

Melissa Brown uses a cutting device to create 11 bars of soap from a single mold.
(B.C. Manion)

She sells her products at local markets, such as the Lutz Arts & Crafts Fair, the weekly market in Indian Shores, the downtown Dunedin and other events. She offers wholesale pricing and handles custom orders.

Brown is a member of the Central Pasco Chamber of Commerce and was one of the vendors at the chamber’s Land O’ Lakes Music Fest in March.

When Brown ventured into soap-making, she was beginning at Ground Zero.

So, she has spent a fair amount of time researching how to make soap, source suppliers and find out which markets work for her, and which ones don’t.

She’s chatted with other soap-makers to glean pointers — to help her avoid potential mistakes.

And, she’s done a fair amount of experimentation, too, learning through trial and error.

Melissa Brown’s Nautilus Soap Company LLC creates soaps of many colors and fragrances.

She began soap-making after trying her hand with candles and discovering that she didn’t find that engaging enough to suit her.

“I actually started making soap last January, really more of a hobby than anything. It just continually progressed,” Brown said.

“This is my absolute passion. It’s what I live, eat, breathe, and sleep every single day. I’ve never been this way about anything before,” she said.

She sells all sorts of soap. There’s Almond Milk & Honey, Bare Naked Soap, Bay Rum & Bergamot, Bed of Roses, Chill Out, Mother Nature, and Orange Blossom, just to name a few.

One recent day, Brown was experimenting with a batch of pink grapefruit soap.

While soap-making is an ancient art, Brown uses sophisticated equipment.

Melissa Brown stands in front of her Lutz home, where her soap company is based.

She uses a computer software program to formulate her recipes.

As she mixed the sample batch, she explained her process.

“What I have in here is my oil blend. I use an oil blend of five different oils. I use canola, castor, coconut, rice bran oil and olive oil.

“What is in this pitcher right here, is my lye and water mixture. It’s a specific strength that I use, and it has been formulated by my program, chemistry-wise, to make sure that it activates all of the molecules of the oils that I have in here. It’s a very specific ratio,” she said.

The lye mixture is critical, she said.

“If you do not have this, you will not get soap. You will just get oil,” she added.

Pink grapefruit essential oil, Australian pink clay and melted cocoa butter were the other ingredients she used, for this batch of soap.

These bars of soap are on the curing rack. They’ll cure for six weeks before being sold.

The clay is good for the skin, but also provides some color for the soap.

“Once I mix the oils and the lye together, after that is when I add the cocoa butter, because the cocoa will be free floating molecules within the soap, so it will more moisturizing,” Brown said.

“I give it a little stir, and then I go with the stick blender,” she said.

She’s careful while mixing the ingredients, because she doesn’t want the soap to harden too quickly. She also adds the color gradually to make sure she gets the shade she desires.

Her sample batch makes 11 bars.

After pouring the mixture into the mold, it rests overnight.

These pink creations add fizz to a luxurious bathing experience.

“Once I cut it,” she said, “it goes on these drying racks, it cures for six weeks.”

Sometimes, the soap doesn’t come out like she expects.

But, some creations she views as “mistakes” turn out to be quite popular with customers, Brown said.

In addition to learning the ins and outs of soap-making, Brown has broadened her knowledge on many other fronts, including figuring out out how much to charge for her soap, how to market it, and about taxes and other business requirements.

“I learn as I go,” Brown said.

Her husband, Doug, helped her to price her goods.

Nautilus Soap Company LLC, based in Lutz, offers can custom make orders.

“We looked at basically everything that was out there. We looked at markets. We looked at soap companies online. We looked and actually broke it by how much they were charging by ounce of soap. And, that’s how we kind of came up with it, so we were in line.

“I didn’t want to be too high, because then people are turned off by the price; but, I didn’t want to be too low, because then it would seem like it was a cheap product,” Brown said.

Brown said most of her working life has been devoted to medical work, in one form or another.

She didn’t’ feel able to unleash her creativity.

She decided to give soap-making a try and discovered a new source of joy.

The feeling reminded her of advice she’d heard during a talk, many years ago, by Debbi Fields, the founder of Mrs. Fields Cookies.

“She (Fields) said, ‘Do what you love, and love what you do.’ I never ever forgot that. And, that’s when it came to me, ‘You know what? I love this, and I want to do this.’

“It just blossomed from there,” Brown said.

Upcoming markets/fairs/festivals
You can buy handmade soaps produced by Nautilus Soap Company LLC, based in Lutz, either through the company’s website, or at these upcoming markets:

  • Indian Shores Sunday Market, on May 14 and May 21, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., Indian Shores Town Hall Municipal Center, 19304 Gulf Blvd., Indian Shores.
  • Clearwater Mall Weekly Market, May 16, May 23 and May 30, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., southeast corner of U.S. 19 and Gulf-To-Bay Boulevard, in front of Target.
  • Downtown Dunedin Weekly Market, May 12, May 19 and May 26, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., at Pioneer Park, Main Street and Douglas Avenue.
  • Armed Forces Day, May 20, noon to 8 p.m., at Frankie’s Patriot BBQ, U.S. 19 and Ulmerton Road in Clearwater.

For more information, call (813) 438-3507, or visit NautilusSoap.com.

Published May 10, 2017

Homestead exemption could increase

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A property tax savings could be on its way to Florida homeowners, if a statewide referendum in 2018 boosts homestead exemptions to a total of $75,000.

But, what could be tax relief to homeowners could pose financial challenges for local governments.

State Sen. Tom Lee

If approved, homeowners can add another $25,000 to the existing standard of $50,000 (approved by voters in 2008) for homestead exemption on a primary residence. The added bonus would take effect on Jan. 1, 2019.

Statewide estimates suggest that property tax collections could drop between $654 million and $700 million annually.

Locally, Pasco County could lose as much as $13 million, according to Pasco County Property Appraiser Gary Joiner.

About 100,000 of the county’s more than 260,000 parcels have a homestead exemption. Of those, about 60,000 would qualify for the increased exemption, he said.

“I don’t think that there is any doubt it’s going to pass,” Joiner said. “It’s going to be tough for the county and the commissioners to decide what they are going to have to do.”

The impact of lost revenues would be felt starting in 2019.

To close financial holes in budgets, other revenue sources could be sought, including sales taxes, increased millage rates and user fees. Or, governments may have to reduce staff or cut services.

Homeowners currently can receive a standard homestead exemption on the first $25,000 of assessed value of their primary residence. Another $25,000 can be deducted from assessed value between $50,000 and $75,000.

Speaker of the House Richard Corcoran

The proposed exemption increases the exemption on all taxes, other than school district taxes, by another $25,000 on assessed value greater than $100,000 and up to $125,000.

As an example, a house valued at $100,000 would be taxed as if it were worth $25,000. A $200,000 house would be taxed at an assessed value of $125,000.

State Rep. Richard Corcoran of Land O’ Lakes, who is the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and State Sen. Tom Lee of Brandon, pushed for the referendum and the larger exemption.

In a news release, Corcoran described the vote as a “big win for all Floridians” and “one of, if not the largest, tax cut in the history of Florida at $645 million.”

It allows families to pay bills and make payments on cars, health care and day care, according to Corcoran’s statement.

State Rep. Amber Mariano, State Rep. Danny Burgess and State Sen. Wilton Simpson voted for the referendum.

State Sen. Jack Latvala, of Clearwater, was the only member of the Tampa Bay delegation to vote no.

Published May 10, 2017

Committee recommends higher impact fees

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A committee appointed by the Pasco County Commission to suggest ways to boost funding for Pasco County school construction has recommended a hike in school impact fees.

The committee stopped short of initially suggesting the full amount recommended by a consultant hired by Pasco County Schools.

However, the committee said the full amount of the increase should be approved, if the Pasco County School Board votes to put at least a quarter-cent sales tax increase on the 2018 ballot so voters can decide the issue.

Members of the School Infrastructure Funding Advisory Committee discuss various options to boost funding for school construction. They vote to recommend an increase in school impact fees, and to suggest the school board seek an increase in the sales tax. Their recommendations will be considered by Pasco County Commission, which has jurisdiction over impact fees.
(B.C. Manion)

In other words, the recommendation calls for raising the impact fee for a single-family detached house to $7,175 immediately, then up to $9,028, when the school board approves putting the sales tax increase on the 2018 ballot. If the sales tax is approved by voters, the impact fee would drop to $8,101. Impact fee rates would be increased by varying amounts for other types of new residential construction.

Jennifer Motsinger, the committee members who made the motion, noted that the higher fee is not tied to voters approving the higher sales tax.

“It’s not tied to success. It’s only tied to it getting to referendum. It gives us the teeth that we need, in order to move forward,” said Motsinger, who called for that approach during an April 26 meeting of the infrastructure funding committee.

The committee approved Motsinger’s motion 7-3 during the meeting at Rasmussen College in Land O’ Lakes.

Stewart Gibbons, the committee’s chairman, said using this approach provides a greater incentive for the school board to seek the sales tax as an additional source of revenue.

Scott Sheridan, another committee member, said the committee needs to make it “emphatically clear” that other sources of revenue, besides impact fees, are needed to address the school district’s funding problem.

Ray Gadd, deputy superintendent of Pasco County Schools, agreed with committee members that the impact fee increase is not the total solution.

“The impact fee will not be a panacea. It will not solve all of our problems,” Gadd said.

Parents in the audience said the funding shortage must be solved.

“We are leaving our schools in a position, in Pasco County, of doing damage control. We are in a financial crisis. Our public schools are suffering,” said Heide Janshon, who lives in the Seven Springs area. “Please, as a parent, I am begging you to raise the impact fees,” she said.

“In all honesty, the impact fees are the source of revenue that we have that must be raised, in order to keep up with the building,” Janshon said. “Seven Springs Middle School, the capacity is 1,400, somewhere in that vicinity. We will, by the middle of next school year, have 1,800 students. Mitchell High School, is going to be in excess of probably 2,400.”

Claudine Judge, of Seven Oaks, said “nothing is keeping up with the development. The roads aren’t keeping up. The schools aren’t keeping up.

“This area, in the last four years, it’s insane the amount of housing that’s going in.

“We were part of a very nasty school board rezoning process, that was not the fault of the school board, but the school board bore the brunt of it,” Judge said.

Denise Nicholas, of Florida PTA, told committee members: “Ten-period days, overcrowding of schools, brand-new schools opening overcrowded — it’s not good for our kids. We need to fully fund our schools. Pasco County is in an absolute financial crisis. We need these impact fees. Please vote to increase them.”

The committee’s recommendation was scheduled to be discussed in a May 2 workshop of the Pasco County Commission in New Port Richey — after The Laker/Lutz News went to press.

The County Commission — not the school board — has jurisdiction over school impact fees.

If the Pasco County Commission agrees with the committee’s recommendation, it will go the county’s Development Review Committee for a recommendation and then come back to the County Commission for two public hearings before the new impact fees can be adopted.

Published May 3, 2017

Wesley Chapel team ready to take on the world

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They’re just in elementary school, but these children are already learning about the trade-offs in life.

They’re also getting a firsthand experience regarding the importance of preparation, and they’re finding out that even the smallest of details can alter the outcome in a competition.

These seven children are members of Wesley Chapel Elementary School’s “Catch Us If You Can” team, and they’ll be competing at Michigan State University May 23 to May 28, at the Odyssey of the Mind World Finals.

Members of the ‘Catch Us If You Can’ team from Wesley Chapel Elementary School are, from left, Jake Piller, Sam Cappelluti, Isabell Barrios, Mina Melaika, Rowan Heyman, Jason Sherman and Justin Acosta. They’ll be competing at the Odyssey of the Mind World Finals at Michigan State University in May.
(B.C. Manion)

The team is made up of Jake Piller, Sam Cappelluti, Isabell Barrios, Mina Melaika, Rowan Heyman, Jason Sherman and Justin Acosta — who are coached by Veronica Acosta and Janet Heyman. The coaches have children on the team and teach at Wesley Chapel Elementary.

Naturally, the kids and their coaches are excited.

“I still have to pinch myself,” said coach Veronica Acosta.

Some of the team members have been working together for three years, which has its advantages.

“They can finish each other’s sentences,” said coach Janet Heyman, noting that familiarity between team members lends itself to excellent collaboration on solving problems.

The team has also learned from victory and from defeat, coach Acosta said. “They know what it means to lose, and they’ve learned how it feels to win.”

Even though they’re elementary school students, some team members take a big-picture view on competing at Worlds.

“It doesn’t really matter if you win or lose. Just the experience — just going to Worlds — is a huge deal,” said team member Rowan Heyman.

Team member Isabell Barrios said she’s glad she decided to get involved in Odyssey of the Mind and thinks others should check it out. “Life is just trying new things. It can lead you to what you’d like to do in the future.”

Three of the team members, who are fifth-graders, will be missing their graduation ceremony, in order to compete at Worlds. They think it’s a trade-off worth making. Besides getting to travel out-of-state, they’ll be meeting kids from all over the word, testing their skills in a big arena and getting a chance to trade pins, they said.

Justin Acosta said Odyssey offers lasting value.

“While you’re doing it, you’re getting experience towards life, problems you need to solve every day,” he said.

They know that the competition will be challenging, but they’re looking forward to it.

“I think it’s really exciting, especially for me, because I’ve never been out of the state before,” said Sam Cappelluti, 10. “It’s really exciting to go to a different place with all of your friends.”

The fourth- and fifth-graders already have demonstrated that they’re contenders.

They won first place at the Gulf Coast Regional competition, and wowed the judges so much that they won the “Ranatra Fusca Award” for their exceptional creativity.

They also won first place at the state tournament at the University of Central Florida on April 8.

Odyssey of the Mind is a competition that encourages students to use creative approaches to solving problems. The program emphasizes the importance of science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics.

In Odyssey of the Mind, teams come up with their own ideas, engineer technical features, make costumes and props, and present their interpretation of the answer to a highly complex problem.

More than 825 teams from around the world are expected to compete in the 38th Odyssey of the Mind World Finals. The teams represent nearly every state in the United States and approximately 20 other countries.

It takes a lot of work, said 10-year-old Mina Melaika. The team meets every day, “adding small details” and re-reading the problem “to be sure that we’re getting everything right,” the fourth-grader said.

Ten-year-old Jason Sherman is excited about the competition, but he has another agenda, too.

“When I get up there, I want to try making a lot of friends,” he said.

Published May 3, 2017

Pilot program to get tough on code violators

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The Pasco County Commission has approved a pilot program to more aggressively pursue the worst of the county’s code violators through the courts.

In coming months, the county attorney’s office hopes to increase the number of lawsuits filed against individuals and property owners who seem to skirt the current system of citations and fines. In cases where judges issue injunctions, repeat violations could produce contempt of court orders and jail time.

Marc Bellas is organizational performance management administrator for Pasco County.
(File)

Legal action will be taken on a case-by-case basis in partnership with county department heads and staff members who single out their worst violators. Those cases will be reviewed by the county attorney’s office and prioritized for legal action, based on specific criteria.

Factors the attorney’s office will consider include repeat offenses, danger to health and public safety, and violations of “high impact” to the community.

Marc Bellas, the county’s organizational performance management administrator, and Kristi Sims, senior assistant county attorney, presented the pilot program to county commissioners on April 25 in New Port Richey.

“Generally, enforcement is reactive,” said Bellas. “Complaints come in, and we respond. This happens day after day after day,” he said.

The current process strains the county’s manpower, and Bellas added, “The system of warnings and letters are not always a deterrent.”

Code enforcement generally operates with a cycle of investigate, issue a warning and wait for compliance. Most of the time, it works. But, some violators comply only temporarily. The case is closed, and then, months later the violation is repeated.

The pilot program aims to be a tougher, more proactive approach, Bellas said.

Departments that will work with county attorneys include the sheriff’s office, fire inspection, customer service, building inspection, stormwater management and environmental lands.

Sims described the program as “a more sophisticated, creative enforcement” approach. The volume of citations can be overwhelming, she said. “I felt like I was mowing the same weeds, over and over, instead of extracting a weed.”

At this time, no additional funds are being sought. In the future, though, the county will assess the program’s success and determine if funds need to be included in annual budgets to cover legal expenses related to investigations and filing lawsuits.

County commissioners unanimously voted for the program, but did have concerns.

Pasco County Commission Chairman Mike Moore asked that code enforcement continue to focus on major corridors, including U.S. 19, U.S. 41 and U.S. 301.

Commissioners approved a plan more than a year ago to increase code enforcement efforts along those corridors to end blight, and clean up vacant commercial properties.

Several sweeps in those areas have been conducted in the past year.

“We want to stay on task,” Moore said.

Sims said those corridors, and abandoned properties, will have a high priority.

Bellas said he is not aware of any other county in the state that has adopted a similar, proactive enforcement program.

“We’ll set the example for it,” he said.

Revised May 3, 2017

Raising awareness about child abuse

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Learning to recognize the signs of child abuse is a critical first step in knowing when to report suspected abuse.

Pasco-Hernando State College and Pasco Kids First Inc., hosted a child abuse awareness seminar on April 20 for about 30 people. The seminar was free and open to the community, students, faculty and staff.

Pasco-Hernando State College and Pasco Kids First., hosted a child abuse awareness seminar at the college. Among those attending were students, faculty and seminar presenters.
(Courtesy of Pasco-Hernando State College)

The “Stop the Abuse” seminar was part of the Summer 2017 Community Awareness Series. The next seminar will be on skin cancer awareness on May 24 from 11 a.m. to noon at PHSC’s Porter Campus at Wiregrass Ranch, at 2727 Mansfield Blvd, in Building B, Room 203.

Staff members from Pasco Kids First child protection team and trauma therapy team discussed tools and resources to help victims of child abuse and how to recognize when child abuse is happening.

There’s no doubt that child abuse is an issue in Florida. A hotline to report suspected child abuse gets thousands of calls every year in the state.

Many of those attending the seminar are nursing students at the college.

“You’ll be faced with a lot of different scenarios,” said Natalie Epo, associate dean for academic affairs and retention services at the Porter Campus.

Data shows that children from birth to age 5 are at the highest risk of death from child abuse. Across the country, five children die every day from child abuse.

Telltale signs of abuse can be as obvious as a pattern of cigarette burns, or less so, such as bruising that is less noticeable and harder to categorize as abuse.

“If you see bruises on a child under age 5, those are the most concerning,” said Jon Wisenbaker, program manager for Pasco Kids First child protection team.

Pasco Kids First’s child protection and trauma teams work with the protection investigators at the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office. They do assessments on physical abuse, sexual abuse, neglect and high-risk cases. Referrals are made by child protective investigators or law enforcement, but can’t be made directly by the general public.

Not every reported injury is due to child abuse, however.

“Kids do get accidental injuries all the time,” Wisenbaker said.  “That’s where we come into the picture to make that decision.”

The location and pattern of bruises can be telling, said Julie Nadkarni, pediatric nurse practitioner with Pasco Kids First’s child protection team.

Bruising, especially pattern bruising, on the inner thigh, upper arms, buttocks and sides of the face, ears and neck can be signs of abuse, Nadkarni said.

Bruises behind a child’s ear generally aren’t seen.

“When they fall, their ears don’t typically hit the ground,” she added.

Nadkarni showed slides of children with clear signs of abuse, including ligature marks, cigarette burns and scalded feet.

Bite marks, particularly by adults, are often associated with sexual abuse, she said.

Pasco Kids First also sees children suffering from neglect and malnutrition.

The mission of Pasco Kids First, however, is to keep families together, if possible.

“The goal is always to strengthen the family because overall that is where a child is going to do the best,” Nadkarni said.

Studies support that view, said Wisenbaker.

When children are removed, they are more likely to live with a relative or family friend than in a foster home, he said.

Helping victims and their families deal with abuse, and recover from trauma, is part of the mission at Pasco Kids.

Miranda Hager, trauma therapist with Pasco Kids First, counseled more than 280 clients last year. About 80 percent were victims of sexual abuse; 10 percent physical abuse; and 10 percent other types of trauma.

Children who have been abused can react to abuse by becoming aggressive or withdrawn. They make have difficulty sleeping, problems at school, increasing stomachaches and headaches and lack motivation.

Lexy, a survivor of child sex abuse, is one of Hager’s clients. She spoke at the seminar about her yearlong experience of abuse at age 15 by an older male friend of the family.

What happened over many months was a pattern of grooming, typical of sex offenders, Hager said.

Children are targeted over many months as the sexual predator tries to create a special friendship, giving them gifts and being available to them. “It’s a slow process of pulling the child away from friends and family,” Hager said.

For information, visit PascoKidsFirst.org.

To report suspected child abuse, neglect or abandonment, call the Florida Abuse Hotline at 1-(800)-962-2873, or fax to (800) 914-0004.

Revised May 5, 2017

Students vie in entrepreneurial competition

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Timothy Hernandez noticed a problem, and he set about to solve it.

Not too long ago, the 17-year-old Zephyrhills High School senior was undergoing safety training as a YMCA pool lifeguard.

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) masks kept falling off during tutorials.

“It was a real inconvenience,” he said.

Timothy Hernandez, center, won first place and $2,500 in Pasco’s Young Entrepreneur Finals. His business concept is CPRGo, a mask with an automatic seal, via suction cup features. Also pictured: Kelly Castro, youth coordinator for the Pasco Hernando Workforce Board, and Stacey Capogrosso, executive director of the Pasco Education Foundation. 
(Courtesy of Pasco County Schools)

Strap-based CPR masks didn’t fare much better, said Hernandez, who currently works at the East Pasco YMCA and the New Tampa YMCA.

His solution: CPRGo, a mask with an automatic seal, via suction cup features.

“It makes CPR a simple and more efficient process,” Hernandez said. “It also ensures the victim is getting a sufficient amount of air. “

In short, “Saving lives has never been so easy.”

For the concept — yet to be prototyped and patented — Hernandez won first place and $2,500 in Pasco’s Young Entrepreneur Finals, held April 25 at the Land O’ Lakes High School Culinary Arts.

The inaugural competition showcased seven students from Pasco County Schools’ business and entrepreneurship principles program.

It gave contestants an opportunity to present their unique business idea in a traditional slideshow format to a live audience and panel of judges — startup experts representing Pasco County and the Tampa Bay region.

Hannah White, a Pasco High School senior, earned second place and $1,000 for Organized Design, which refers to planners that can be customized entirely.

Jackson Rossi, a senior at Mitchell High School, received third place and $500 for Brij, an app for social media marketing.

Other finalists were Justin Hall and Katelyn Ortiz, of Sunlake High; Taylor Townsend, of River Ridge High; and, Alex Violini, of Ridgewood High; each were winners at school-level competitions, held April 3 through April 10.

Those attending the competition included representatives from Pasco County Schools, CareerSource Pasco/Hernando, the Pasco Education Foundation, the Pasco Economic Development Council, the USF Stavros Center, and Pasco SCORE. The name SCORE is based on an acronym for Service Corps of Retired Executives.

Loosely based off ABC’s hit TV show “Shark Tank,” each student had 10 minutes to present his or her startup.

Judges then lobbed critiques, criticisms and suggestions, for all the audience to hear.

The finalists later were evaluated on a 10-point scale on 10 factors, including professionalism, the viability of their enterprise, and their ability to back it with research on startup costs, revenue, distribution, customer base, competitors and the business and/or social impact of their venture.

Hernandez received high marks for his revenue and cost projections model, and his ability to identify a target market — lifeguards and other emergency responders.

For the judges, choosing just three winners wasn’t easy.

“The kids that did this — great job,” said Steven Hickman, president/CEO of First National Bank of Pasco. “I’m just thrilled to see the quality and the poise.”

Fellow judge Mike Lewis, chairman of SCORE Chapter 439, was likewise impressed with each presentation, praising students’ thought process, concepts and business plans.

“They are absolutely to be commended,” he said.

About 200 Pasco County high school students participated in the entrepreneurship curriculum during the 2016-2017 school year, said Terry Aunchman, director of career and technical education for Pasco County.

That figure, along with the Young Entrepreneurs event, is expected to grow, as the program will be introduced in five more high schools next school year — Cypress Creek, Gulf, Fivay, Land O’ Lakes and Wiregrass Ranch.

“The competition is going to be amped up just a little bit,” Aunchman said. “We built so much excitement around this that the other schools are like, ‘We want to get in on the action.’”

Aunchman also plans to introduce the program to several middle and elementary schools in the district, hoping to “get kids engaged, thinking outside of the box and solving problems.”

Meanwhile, Hernandez — like other finalists — appears to have a bright future ahead of him.

He plans to attend Saint Leo University this fall, majoring in criminal justice.

His minor? Business.

Published May 3, 2017

Finding a quiet place to reflect, amidst life’s hectic pace

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When the Benedictine Sisters of Florida moved into their new Holy Name Monastery, at 12138 Wichers Road, they knew that the building would eventually need expansion.

After all, they were leaving a 100,000-square-foot building and moving into a 28,000-square-foot structure.

They knew they would need more room for retreats, and their original plans called for that.

An event was held April 30 to celebrate the opening of the new guest and retreat wing at Holy Name Monastery, which is the home of the Benedictine Sisters of Florida, in St. Leo.
(Courtesy of Richard K. Riley)

They just didn’t expect it to happen so soon, said Faith Pridmore, director of mission advancement for the Benedictine Sisters of Florida.

On April 30, not even three years after the sisters moved into their new quarters, an open house was held for the monastery’s new 10-room expansion.

Each of the rooms has two single beds, a desk, some chairs and a private bathroom. There’s also a separate room where laundry can be done and food can be refrigerated.

There’s a reception area, too, where a few people can gather for meetings.

That room is dedicated to Daniel and Florence Picciano, who are John Picciano’s parents. Picciano, who was at the open house, is the CEO of Ogelthorpe Inc. He donated $1 million for the expansion.

Kathy and Gary Kuta were there, too. Their mother, Sylvia Kuta has passed away, but made it known to them that she wanted to donate an artwork depicting St. Peter’s Square that she purchased during a visit to Rome.

The monastery’s expansion opens out onto a sidewalk that leads to a statue of Mary, the mother of Jesus, which is encircled by a rose garden.

People come to the monastery for all sorts of reasons.

Recently, there was a group of 15 people who came there to learn about aquaponics, she said.  They are missionaries who do work in Haiti and other places.

Individuals also come.

“The reasons vary greatly,” Pridmore said.

“Some people come just overnight, to have a break from their hectic lives,” she said. “Some want it to be a quiet retreat. Some want it to be a directed retreat.”

People can choose whether they want to eat meals with others, or not, she said. A night without meals is $30; with meals, it’s $75.

Sometimes, people come because they need a place to sort things out, she said.

Those making a retreat at Holy Name Monastery may want to spend a few minutes in an area featuring a statue of Mary, surrounded by roses.
(B.C. Manion)

Recently, a young woman, who was at a loss after her father’s sudden death, decided to spend time at the monastery.

When she left, Pridmore said, the young woman said: “I feel so much better. I was doubting my faith.”

Some choose to join in chapel prayer. Some don’t. It’s entirely up to the guest, Pridmore said.

Some are facing a personal turning point. Others are trying to sort through feelings. Some just want to step away from the hectic pace of life, she said.

Sometimes, the only thing the monastery knows going in is that the person would like to spend a couple of days there.

“As they’re here, and they’re going to prayer and they’re feeling a peacefulness, it kind of really helps them gear down,” Pridmore said.

“We have some who do come and are very, very private. Most people will go to chapel prayer, but that’s not required,” she added.

There’s no pressure to reveal anything.

“They’re going to share, what they’re going to share. So, you just want to kind of be there,” Pridmore said. “The Benedictines have a great saying: ‘Listen with the ear of your heart.’”

Visitors tend to open up, if they sense “that you are interested in what’s going on with their lives,” she said.

Sometimes, people are there to do soul-searching.

“They’re really looking, within themselves … looking for answers,” Pridmore said.

She said one woman told her: “I just needed to find a place to get away, to think and reflect on my life and where I’m going from here.”

“It’s so wonderful to hear, when they are leaving: ‘This is exactly what I needed. I feel so much better.’,” Pridmore said.

For additional information about the monastery, call (352) 588-8320.

Published May 3, 2017

‘Welcome to Lutz’ sign goes missing

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Jay Muffly, who serves on the Lutz Civic Association, is trying to unravel a mystery, and he’s hoping someone from the public can help.

He’s trying to figure out what happened to the “Welcome to Lutz” sign that, until recently, greeted motorists as they entered the community near County Line Road.

This is what the ‘Welcome to Lutz’ sign looked like before it went missing, which is believed to have happened sometime between April 22 and April 23.
(Courtesy of Jay Muffly)

“My daughter says she thinks it was there, Saturday (on April 22). She thinks. She’s not 100 percent sure,” Muffly said.

It has been missing since at least April 23 at 1:30 p.m., he added.

“I sent a message to the president of the (GFWC Land O’ Lakes) Woman’s Club, to see if she would ask her people,” he said.

Muffly has a number of theories about what might have happened.

“There are so many variables,” he said.

“One of the poles has some rot in it. Those screws may not have been holding. Maybe it had blown, or maybe it was cockeyed,” he said.

So, he put in an inquiry to the Hillsborough County Public Works Department to see if the crew that maintains the right-of-way moved it.

Muffly things the crew may have reasoned: “Well, this is falling apart, we better take it, or something.

Or, he said, “A trailer truck could have gone by there at a high rate of speed and maybe blown it off.”

The sign that is missing was “at County Line Road, where the turn lane starts to go to Target, just before the first oak tree,” Muffly said. It was installed by the Lutz Civic Association.

He estimates it will cost about $2,500 to replace it.

He’s made a report to the community resource deputy, who said he’d look around, and ask others to look and listen around.

At this point, Muffly said he has no clue where it could be.

“It’d be nice if someone did know,” he said.

Anyone who knows of the whereabouts of the sign is welcome to call Muffly at (813) 949-2224.

Published May 3, 2017

Enjoying a spot of tea, and scones, for Mother’s Day

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Worldwide, tea is a far more popular beverage than coffee, according to the Pew Research Center.

Americans, however, tend to drink three times as much coffee as they drink tea.

Of all the tea varieties of tea we consume, black tea is the favorite by a wide margin — 80 percent to be exact.

Scones and tea can be a delicious way to celebrate Mother’s Day. Here are some round coconut scones.
(Betsy Crisp)

And, when it comes to hot tea versus cold, cold wins by a whopping 80 percent.

Personally, I may start my day with a good “cup of joe” — but after just one cup, I switch to hot tea during the chilly days of winter.

As a Florida native, I must admit that I do tend to follow that coffee with some good old Southern Iced Tea, especially during the hot summer months.

But, the popularity of tea is undeniable.

Tea has been around for ages and has been the center of attention on many occasions. It had a headline role in the protest against taxation that led to the Boston Tea Party in 1723.

It has become part of many celebratory parties.

In 1840, Anna, the Duchess of Bedford, is credited with creating the English tradition of the afternoon tea, with hot tea and sweet breads, precisely at 4 p.m., to “ward off that sickly feeling.”

Later, High Teas became popular with more substantial offerings at 6 p.m., when the working class came home from work.

Mother’s Day is a time that we traditionally honor our “mums.”  We celebrate how much we love them and thank them for all they do for us throughout the year by presenting them with cards, flowers, cakes, chocolates, flowers and family meals.

Scones can be round or shaped like triangles. They also can be sweet or savory. No matter how you prepare them, they can be a delicious treat.

This year, why not honor them in the English tradition of an afternoon tea (or even breakfast in bed) with some special scones?

The scone is actually a Scottish single-serving quick bread.

Originally, the recipe was made in a triangular shape with oats and baked on a griddle.

Today, the recipe has changed to be more of flour-based dough made with cold butter and baking powder that is baked in an oven. They can be made sweet (with fruit) or savory. They come in many different shapes, such as triangles, rounds, squares and diamonds. When round, they somewhat resemble our good old American baking powder biscuit, but we tend to serve ours as a bread with breakfast.

I can honestly say that before I started working with Extension in 1988, I had never had the pleasure of eating a scone. A co-worker and traveling companion to national meetings really loved them and shared that joy with me. To this day, I am more tempted to splurge with a scone than a donut!

If you would like to try your hand at making scones, here’s a basic recipe, including some possible variations, that may come in handy for a Mother’s Day tea.

Betsy Crisp is a Professor Emeritus, UF/IFAS Extension – Family & Consumer Sciences

Simply Delicious Scones
Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 Tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup very cold butter, cut into ½-inch cubes
1 cup whipping cream, divided

Instructions:

  • Preheat oven to 450° F.
  • Stir together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
  • Cut butter into flour mixture with a pastry blender until crumbs are pea-size, and place in freezer for 5 minutes to chill.
  • Add ¾ cup plus 2 Tablespoons cream, and stir until dry ingredients are moistened (don’t over mix).

Note: At this point, you could select add-ins from the lists below.

  • Turn dough out onto a sheet of waxed paper or parchment. Gently pat or press dough into a somewhat crumbly, 7-inch round shape.
  • Cut the round dough into 8 triangle wedges, place on a lightly-greased baking sheet and separate 2-inches apart.
  • Brush tops with the remaining 2 Tablespoons of cream until just moistened.
  • Bake at 450°F., for 13 to 15 minutes or until golden.

Sweet Variations:
Apricot-Ginger: Stir in ¼ cup finely chopped dried apricots and 2 Tablespoons finely chopped crystalized ginger with the cream.

Brown Sugar-Pecan: Substitute brown sugar for the granulated sugar. Stir in ½ cup chopped and toasted pecans with the cream.

Chocolate Chip-Cherry: Stir in 2 ounces mini-chocolate chips and ¼ dried cherries, chopped with the cream.

Cranberry-Walnut: Stir in ¼ cup dried cranberries and ¼ cup coarsely chopped pecans with the cream.

Savory:
Bacon-Cheddar-Onion: Omit the granulated sugar. Stir in ¼ cup real (not artificial) cooked bacon bits/pieces, ¾ cup (3 ounces) shredded sharp cheddar cheese, 2 teaspoons dried/instant onion flakes, and ½ teaspoon freshly-ground black pepper with the cream.

Ham-Swiss: Stir-in ¼ finely chopped baked ham, ¾ cup (3 ounces) shredded Swiss cheese, and ¼ teaspoon dried mustard with the cream.

Published May 3, 2017