The Laker/Lutz News

Serving Pasco since 1981/Serving Lutz since 1964

Local News

It’s beauty by design at Bella Home Market

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Bella Home Market — a new shop situated in Lutz — owes a lot to mother and daughter relationships.

Jennifer Wagner, owner of Bella Home Market, and her daughter, Sophia Wagner, the store’s assistant manager, are partners in a new Lutz store.
(Kathy Steele/Staff Photo)

Growing up in Wisconsin, Jennifer Wagner soaked up her mother’s do-it-yourself approach to interior design. She took on home remodeling projects and did them with style.

“I got my taste and flair from her,” said Wagner.

Now, she and her daughter, Sophia Wagner, are putting their talents together at Bella Home Market, a shop that brims with

eye-catching home décor and artwork for any room in the house.

Bella’s vibe is eclectic, from vintage chic to brand new.

The shop is a treasure trove for gifts, candles, soaps and scents, and also is a dealer for the Dixie Belle Chalk Paint brand.

The shop opened in June at Tropical Village Plaza, 1532 Land O’ Lakes Blvd., next to The Breakfast Nook.

Jennifer Wagner opened the shop after years of encouragement from her friends to take the plunge into retail.

Bella Home Market has gifts as well as paintings, sculptures and other home accessories.
(Courtesy of Jennifer Wagner)

She has a background in homebuilding, but also experience in staging homes — for family and friends — to make them more appealing to potential buyers.

“They told me ‘you have a knack for this’,” she said.

Her friend and founder of the Dixie Belle Paint Company, Suzanne Fulford, alerted Wagner to the vacant storefront at Tropical Village. The paint company is across the way at 1641 Land O’ Lakes Blvd.

She immediately liked the “small town feel” of the plaza, with shops clustered around a courtyard.

“It was perfect,” Jennifer Wagner said. “I love this center.”

She brought her daughter, Sophia, into the venture as assistant manager.

Sophia Wagner is a sophomore at the University of South Florida, working toward a mass communications degree. Future plans might include film school or news broadcasting.

A table display at Bella Home Market is filled with eye catching colorful treasures for home decorating and gifts.
(Courtesy of Jennifer Wagner)

She took off a semester to help her mother open the store, but will be a full-time student again next year.

But, in her spare time, she will still be working at Bella Home Market.

One goal for the new year is to increase painting classes – featuring Dixie Belle Chalk Paint. Crafting enthusiasts can learn techniques to give furniture or other items a shabby chic look.

Bringing in new items to the shop is a year-round adventure.

Mother and daughter go on buying trips to Dallas, Atlanta and North Carolina, with an eye for one-of-a-kind items.

Tables, shelves and wall space are filled with mirrors, candle holders, railroad lanterns, jumbo-size Edison light bulbs, delicate metal butterflies, and replicas of farm tractors made from nuts, screws and bolts.

Among their finds also are paintings and sculptures by fair trade artists in places such as Haiti. But, national artists, including metal and 3-D vision sculptor Travis Burford, and local artist, Jessica Marcus, are represented, too.

“You support the community,” said Jennifer Wagner. But, she has another wish for the new year.

“I want to find more local artists.”

Holiday hours for the store in December are Monday through Friday, from 8:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. The shop is open on Saturday and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

To find out more, visit BellaHomeMarket.com.

Published December 14, 2016

Commissioners study up on medical marijuana

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A 22-year-old patient with debilitating seizures proved to Dr. Ron Aung-Din that medical marijuana is a useful, plant-based treatment for a wide array of illnesses.

The active ingredients in the marijuana plant – known as cannabinoids – significantly reduced his patient’s seizures.

“That was the beginning of my era of enlightenment,” said Aung-Din, a neurologist in Sarasota.

Aung-Din was among a panel of experts to share his experiences with medical marijuana with Pasco County commissioners during a two-hour workshop on Dec. 6 in Dade City.

Other speakers were Megan Stone, owner of The High Road Design Studio in Arizona; Chris Dunn, owner of Global Operations for Covered 6; Mark Janotti, an architect who designs dispensaries; Kim Rivers, chief executive officer of Trulieve, which was the first to open a Florida dispensary; and Ben Atkins, operations manager of Trulieve.

Stone, Dunn and Rivers participated via phone calls.

County commissioners are grappling with how to implement local regulations on medical marijuana.

Voters statewide overwhelmingly approved a Nov. 8 referendum to expand an existing medical marijuana program. Currently, a low-level form of medical marijuana, known as Charlotte’s web, is available to some patients with seizure disorders or late-stage cancer.

Within six months, the Florida Department of Health is expected to issue regulations that will allow treatment for more illnesses, and also allow more potent strains.

County commissioners were scheduled to have public hearings, and final votes, on three ordinances related to medical marijuana on Dec. 13, before The Laker/Lutz News’ press deadline.

They would restrict dispensaries to industrially zoned districts; set operating regulations for dispensaries; and, extend by one year an existing moratorium on the cultivation, production and dispensing of cannabis, the product used to make medical marijuana.

The current moratorium expires Dec. 31.

The workshop was part of ongoing efforts by commissioners to be schooled on all aspects of the medical marijuana industry.

There is a lot of misinformation about the subject, Aung-Din said.

Until 1937 when marijuana became illegal, the neurologist said, “Cannabis was very much part of traditional American medicine.”

The difference now, he said, is that “people are not getting their needs met (with traditional medicine).”

Stone offered commissioners insight into how dispensaries are operated. Her company has designed dispensaries including The Healing Center in San Diego and Minerva Canna Group in Albuquerque.

The Healing Center is a small storefront inside a medical building. Minerva Canna Group is one of several retail shops.

Their designs are upscale, sophisticated and professional.

“People are just dispensing medicine,” Stone said. “There is none of the drug culture element. We are serving all demographics. The shelves are not lined with joints.”

Stone said employees at these dispensaries typically would earn $13, $14 or $15 an hour.

That seemed like a high wage to Pasco County Commissioner Mike Moore.

“They are not going to pay $15 an hour for those jobs in Florida,” he said.

Dunn gave commissioners perspective on security at dispensaries. He is a former undercover narcotics officer.

“The cash is always an issue,” he said.

Because marijuana is illegal under federal law, most banks don’t want to run afoul of federal regulations and won’t open accounts or make loans to people working in the marijuana industry.

That means most dispensaries operate with cash-only, which raises concerns for some about robberies and increased crime.

But, Dunn said, “The biggest problem is mainly internal theft.”

Nine out of 10 times, theft comes from inside the business, he added.

Trulieve was the first company to open dispensaries in Florida with one each in Tallahassee and Clearwater. The first medical marijuana delivery went to a resident of Hudson.

Rivers said she anticipated Trulieve would open five additional locations in the next months. Medical marijuana is available in capsules, tinctures (in liquid form), oral syringes and two types of vaporizers.

A topical specifically for skin cancer patients might be added in the future, she said.

Pasco County Commissioner Kathryn Starkey had concerns about people illegally obtaining identification cards to receive medical marijuana. She recounted stories from two people who visited California who said they were approached by strangers selling medical marijuana cards.

Atkins said Florida law makes it unlikely that could happen. The program is strictly regulated through the state’s electronic registry. Besides the doctor, only the dispensary and police officers can access the registry, he said.

Dosages expire after 45 days. Currently there are about 200 doctors who have qualified to approve medical marijuana, Atkins said.

“We don’t see that growing very much,” he added.

However, county commissioners expressed concerns about how to limit the number of dispensaries in Pasco.

“I’d hate to see these just everywhere,” said Pasco County Commissioner Ron Oakley.

Published December 14, 2016

Mock battle presents live history lesson

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Nearly 200 re-enactors from all over Florida take part in the mock battle that’s held every year.

With about 1,500 spectators watching from a hillside, the re-enacted battle  takes place a few hundred feet from the actual battleground inside the Dade Battle Historic State Park in Sumter County.

Frank Laumer stands outside his hand-built home in Hernando County. He lives about 15 miles from the Dade Battlefield Historic State Park in Sumter County, where he first took his family for a picnic in 1962. Laumer has written three books about the history of Dade’s Massacre. The library in his home also serves as the headquarters for the Seminole Wars Foundation.
(Doug Sanders/Photos)

The real battle, that took place 181 years ago, started the Second Seminole War.

That war would last seven years, cost $40 million in historic dollars, and claim the lives of 1,500 U.S. soldiers.

Two months after what would come to be known as “Dade’s Massacre,” Gen. Edmund Gaines and 1,100 of his men would be the first U.S. soldiers to find the site that was still scattered with the remains of dead bodies, with buzzards circling overhead.

An eyewitness account by Seminole leader Halpatter Tustenuggee (Alligator, as the white man called him) later described how it all began:

“Micanopy fired the first rifle, the signal agreed upon, when every Indian arose and fired, which laid upon the ground, dead, more than half the white men.”

Dade’s Massacre is often overshadowed by other battles of the 19th century, including the fall of the Alamo in 1836 and Custer’s Last Stand in 1876, but it has been the subject of three books by local historian Frank Laumer.

Francis Langhorne Dade was born in King George County, Virginia.

He enlisted in the Army in 1813, and was elevated to major in 1828.

On the morning of Dec. 23, 1835, Laumer says Major Dade departed from Fort Brooke (currently the site of the Tampa Convention Center in downtown Tampa) to lead his men through 100 miles of wilderness and open territory.

Reconstructed log breastworks stand where Major Dade’s men fought a losing battle with Seminole Indian warriors on a cold December afternoon. The artillery blasts from Dade’s cannon had halted the fighting in the morning, giving soldiers enough time to build the original fortifications in 1835. Archaeologists have found piles of flattened rifle balls at the site that is now part of the 80-acre Dade Battlefield State Park in Bushnell.

As an officer of the 4th Infantry, he was to reinforce the troops at Fort King (present-day Ocala), who were being threatened by the Seminole Indian Chief Osceola.

They would have to cross four rivers and slowly pull a 6-pounder cannon with a team of horses.

After five days on the rugged Fort King Road, Dade told his men, “Have a good heart,” based on historical records of the massacre.

Laumer is certain that Dade felt the most dangerous part of their journey was behind them once they had reached present-day Bushnell.

Dade had told his men: “As soon as we arrive at Fort King, you’ll have three days to rest and keep Christmas gaily.”

But, Seminole scouts in the scrub forest had followed the long column of 108 men under the command of Dade.

As Laumer points out, Dade was an easy target while riding in front of his men.

While crouching at the edge of the piney woods, Seminole Chief Micanopy had plenty of time to aim his rifle at the chest of Major Dade.

Dade was 42 when he became the first casualty in Dade’s Massacre.

His heart was pierced by a bullet fired by Chief Micanopy.

Laumer writes: “Francis Dade, broad shoulders erect, slumped gently in his saddle like a bag of grain cut in the middle.”

The Seminoles clearly had the element of surprise, Laumer writes. Only a few of Dade’s men managed to get their flintlock muskets from beneath their heavy winter coats in order to return fire.

“The cannon was discharged several times, but the men who loaded it were shot down as soon as the smoke cleared away…,” Alligator later reported.

Dade’s soldiers, dressed in blue wool uniforms, found themselves fighting against a fierce band of 180 Seminole warriors camouflaged in brown shirts or tunics, with winter leggings for warmth.

By the end of the day, just three U.S. soldiers remained alive.

Major Dade and his command would have travelled this section of the old Fort King Road — that is about 20 feet wide. It is still maintained at the Dade Battlefield State Park in Sumter County.

News of the massacre was reported in the Daily National Intelligencer up north in Washington D.C.

A report in the Jan. 27, 1836 edition noted “…three soldiers, horribly mangled, came into camp, and brought the melancholy tidings that Major Dade, and every officer and man, except themselves, were murdered and terribly mangled.”

President Andrew Jackson called for volunteers from Florida, Georgia, Alabama and South Carolina. He also ordered Gen. Winfield Scott to assume command of all U.S. forces in the area.

The Seminoles fighters who had won a major victory that day, left the battlefield after carrying off weapons from the soldiers they had killed.

After spending more than half of his life researching and writing about Dade’s Massacre, Laumer will narrate the annual re-enactment on Jan. 7.

It’s a familiar role for him, as he’s carried it out for more than 30 years.

Although the first Seminole War had been fought to remove Indian tribes west of the Mississippi River, there was always growing political pressure to send more troops to fight in Florida.

Laumer points out the frustration on the part of Southern plantation owners who were tired of their slaves escaping to Florida and granted refuge by the Seminole Indians.

He also explains that the outcome of Dade’s Massacre helped the white man to settle and develop Florida.

With more than 30,000 soldiers fighting in the longest and costliest Indian conflict in American history, many stayed in Florida after the Second Seminole War to raise their families on free land –so long as they were prepared to defend themselves from further Indian attacks.

A total of 1,317 land grants, with approximately 210,720 acres, were registered between 1842 and 1843.

While the massacre has largely faded from public memory, Dade is the namesake for several places. They include Miami-Dade County, Dade County, Georgia; Dade County, Missouri; Dadeville, Alabama; and, of course, Dade City, Florida.

There also is a decommissioned fort in Egmont Key State Park in Hillsborough County that is named after Dade.

Doug Sanders has a penchant for unearthing interesting stories about local history. His sleuthing skills have been developed through his experiences in newspaper and government work. If you have an idea for a future history column, contact Doug at .

Stitching together a life’s big moments

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Perhaps it was how she was brought up, or maybe it’s just in her genes, but Sherry Lee Steiert never was interested in being a poster child for polio.

Never mind that she’d have made a good one. Struck when she was just 7 years old and paralyzed for a time from the waist down, Steiert survived to create a life that was exceptionally normal — a marriage, four lively children, a career or three — despite having to get along on uncooperative Mutt & Jeff legs that she herself calls “the shriveled one,” with the brace and the boot, and “the heavy one.”

And dance? Oh, yes, she danced. “I did my share,” she says, triumphantly. More on that in a moment.

Betty Burke, left, and her friend, Sherry Lee Steiert, show off the quilt that Steiert made that will help raise money to battle polio. (Tom Jackson/Photo)
Betty Burke, left, and her friend, Sherry Lee Steiert, show off the quilt that Steiert made that will help raise money to battle polio.
(Tom Jackson/Photo)

Life turns on moments. A handful of fateful seconds here. A chance encounter there. Early on, Steiert’s life pivoted on at least a couple.

There was that Saturday morning in 1949. She was 7, hurrying down one of the side streets by Rodney B. Cox Elementary on her way to a dance recital in which her friend, Suzanne Williams (of the downtown Dade City department store family), was performing, when she was sideswiped by a boy on a bicycle.

He struck her, and she went down. Within a day or so, she ached powerfully in her lower joints, and a fever came on. Then, “My leg just gave way,” she says. Soon she was at Tampa General Hospital being treated for polio.

The collision and the onset of the disease are most likely pure coincidence, she concedes; polio was not transmitted by random acts of two-wheeler mayhem. But, it stands as one of those incalculable before-and-after episodes.

Steiert also remembers a brother enduring a bout of fever and aches only a week or so earlier, then bouncing back like nothing happened. Suppose the boy on the bike missed her. Did the crash somehow weaken her at a crucial passage?

That’s how it was with polio in the fear-soaked days before Jonas Salk’s miraculous vaccine stopped it cold in 1955. Some got fevers and aches, and were back playing in a week. Others got fevers and aches, and wound up in massive iron lungs.

“That’s what I remember from being in the hospital,” Steiert says. “The boy in the iron lung. That made an impression on me. No matter how bad it was for me, I was lucky. There were others worse off.”

Doctors recommended exercise, which is how the family moved from its San Antonio acreage to Sarasota, so Sherry could attend a school with a pool.

“I became a duck,” she says. “Third and fourth grade, swimming is what I did.”

Eventually, they returned to the family’s ranch land east of town, where Lake Jovita — the golf course and gated community — sprawls now. Then, it was 1,800 acres of citrus and wildlife, and more than enough to keep the second family of a locally legendary frontiersman busy. Alas, William E. Lee died when they were young, leaving not much money and absolutely no time for feeling sorry for themselves.

Which is how 14-year-old Sherry Lee found herself zipped into a gown of her mother’s design and stitching, on the elbow of her younger brother, practically shoved through the door of the Dade City Garden Club hall for a soirée remembered as the “sub-deb ball of 1956.”

She didn’t want to be there; she especially didn’t want her brother for a date. But, never leaving the house means missing the moments on which life changes, and if she’d stayed home, she’d have missed this one:

Phil Williams, Suzanne’s brother, future proprietor of Williams Lunch on Limoges, striding across the floor and asking her to dance.

“He was so good looking!” Steiert says.

“I remember it well,” Williams says. “Suzanne was Sherry’s champion. I’m sure she encouraged me. But, I probably would have done it anyway. It was the right thing to do.”

Today, the episode decorates Steiert’s memory like a flower pressed in a book: delicate and precious, a reminder of a moment that was full of life and beauty.

On a recent morning on the porch of Betty Burke’s antiques shop, these two events stood out from a lifetime when sometimes just getting out of bed was a major accomplishment.

Add a marriage — to a lumber mill worker and house builder, long since deceased — the rearing of four children, careers with Saint Leo University and the University of Florida/Pasco County Extension Office (where, self-taught, she designed the web page), and you have plenty of life for someone with two good legs.

There’s more. Not a closing chapter, by any means, but, deep into her story, a plot twist. Sherry Lee Steiert has become a quilter. She does it to fill up her days, she says, and they go to family and friends. As gifts. You simply can’t buy one.

But, you could win one. As Steiert says, she never has been one much for the cause of eradicating polio. “I contracted it so early, it’s part of who I am,” she says. Maybe she simply doesn’t want to be reminded that her timing was bad.

Still, her friend Betty is a Rotarian, and persistent, and Rotary International is bent on stamping out polio where it still lurks in the world. Bad stuff travels in this modern world, she notes, and if an infected someone from a Third World country comes in contact with one of the thousands of American children unvaccinated on their parents’ say-so, what then?

Like Rotarians everywhere, then, the San Antonio chapter is raising money for the cause. And next week, at the club’s Dec. 13 meeting, two of Sherry Lee Steiert’s quilts will be raffled off. See them at RotarySanAntonioFL.org, ask a club member, or call (352) 588-4444 to obtain tickets.

Maybe this, too, will be a moment: a simple act of selflessness that changes everything. Buying a ticket wouldn’t just affirm this late-coming poster child’s decision to join the fray. In the words of Phil Williams, it would be the right thing to do.

 Tom Jackson, a resident of New Tampa, is interested in your ideas. To reach him, email .

Published December 7, 2016

 

If you enjoy pottery, this tour is for you

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People who are drawn to pottery are naturally attracted to the Tampa Tour De Clay, said Kim Wellman, of Wellman & Welsch Pottery in Lutz.

This tour offers so much more than the chance to add some unique pottery pieces to your collection, said Wellman, whose studio is one of four stops on the tour.

It also offers provides a closer look at what goes into the creation of ceramic art.

Adrienne Welsch peers into the center shelf of the large kiln where the work of her father, Harry Welsch, cools after being fired the evening before. (Fred Bellet/Photos)
Adrienne Welsch peers into the center shelf of the large kiln where the work of her father, Harry Welsch, cools after being fired the evening before.
(Fred Bellet/Photos)

Tour-goers can talk to nationally known ceramic artists, can see demonstrations, and can get a better idea of the techniques and processes used.

Taking the tour tends to deepen participants’ appreciation of pottery, said Wellman, who has been creating ceramic pieces since the mid-1970s.

“There’s all this stuff going on behind the scenes that you didn’t know was going on. When they realize how much is involved, then you begin to appreciate it more,” she said.

This year’s Tampa Tour De Clay features 24 nationally acclaimed ceramic artists.

Other highlights include pottery demonstrations, kiln openings, charity chance drawings, refreshments, and the opportunity to meet the artists and purchase handmade works.

“This tour is modeled after several artists’ tours around the country,” said Harry Welsch, who is Wellman’s husband.

Harry Welsch begins to form the clay, after it has been flattened with a press.
Harry Welsch begins to form the clay, after it has been flattened with a press.

“The four stops are what’s convenient for people to get to in one day,” Welsch said. “If they follow the schedule and spend a couple of hours at each, it just seems to be a good number.”

Wellman added: “We each have a few guest artists. So we tend to bring in people who are different from anything that you might have seen before.”

The kiln openings are one of the tour’s high points.

Each studio is planning a kiln opening on Dec. 10. The first will be at 9 a.m., at Pottery Boys Studio, 30 Bogie Lane in Largo. The next will be at noon, at Hidden Lake Pottery, 16705 Hutchison Road in Odessa. The third will be at the Wellman & Welsch Studio, at 17202 Whirley Road in Lutz, at 2 p.m. And, the last will be at San Antonio Pottery, at 11903 Curley St., in San Antonio, at 4 p.m.

As the kiln is emptied, Wellman said, those taking the tour will get a chance to hold a piece of warm pottery, and to learn more about the pieces.

Kiln openings are the time when ceramic artists get to see the results of their handiwork.

“You pull them out — and there are these beautiful colors,” Wellman said.

It can be a time of delightful surprises — or not.

Beautiful ceramic works fashioned by Harry Welsch and Kim Wellman have their start in a block of clay.
Beautiful ceramic works fashioned by Harry Welsch and Kim Wellman have their start in a block of clay.

Sometimes there are imperfections that need to be addressed before a piece can be sold. Other times, the flaws can’t be fixed.

“The way you stack a kiln matters,” said Welsch, who has a background in physics and chemistry, as well as a master’s in fine art. “It can affect the way the work comes out.

“In this kiln, it’s about a 16-hour cycle, from cold start, room temperature, to about 2,400 degrees,” Welsch said, describing the kiln at his studio.

“We control the amount of fuel and the amount of air. We prefer most of the time to have the atmosphere neutral, or not too much oxygen, not too much fuel.

“If you take out some of the oxygen, you get an incomplete burn. What happens is that the flame gets so hot, you’ve got to get oxygen somewhere. And, it comes out of the chemicals in the glaze,” he said.

“You can look in there and see it (the fire), kind of dancing around the work,” he said.

The shelves inside the kiln can be adjusted, and the number of pieces placed inside the kiln varies, Welsch said.

Generally, it takes about two weeks of work to fill the kiln for a firing, he said.

But, numerous steps precede the final firing.

“To make this body of the mug, without the handle, it’s less than a minute. And then, to make the handle, is less than a minute,” Welsch said. “The actual making of this thing is probably less than 5 minutes.”

But, then it has to air dry, then go into an electric kiln, at around 1,600 degrees Fahrenheit. Then the piece is glazed before it is fired in the hotter kiln, at about 2,400 degrees Fahrenheit, he said.

The couple’s involvement with pottery began when Wellman enrolled in a pottery class.

Welsch recounted: “It’s all her fault. She thought she might want to try it out. She was way too good.

“There are few people who are naturals. They sit down at that wheel and they center,” he said.

“She did.

“What was happening is that she was making work way faster than the lady that ran the class could fire it.

“I built our first wheel and kiln before I knew how to make pots. That’s what husbands do,” he said.

Wellman added: “This is what I was supposed to be doing. Every day, I want to come out to the studio. I still do, after 40 years.”

They began making pottery in Bradenton in 1975 and moved their studio to Lutz in 1991.

Their daughter, Adrienne Welsch, is also involved.

She grew up around pottery making.

She said she does prep work, creates some pieces and helps organize the work flow in the studio.

By doing that, she said, she saves her parents time, so they can focus on pieces that require a greater degree of mastery.

The arrangement seems to suit the trio just fine.

Tour De Clay
A self-guided tour of four local pottery studios, featuring 24 nationally known artists.
When: Dec. 10 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Dec. 11 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
What: The tour’s highlights include kiln openings, pottery demonstrations, entertainment, charity chance drawings, refreshments, the opportunity to meet the artists and to purchase unique handmade works.
How much: The tour is free. Those visiting all four pottery studios will have a free chance to win prizes.
Where: The tour stops are:

  • Pottery Boys Studio, 30 Bogle Lane, Palm Harbor, 34683 (Kiln opening Dec. 10, 9 a.m.)
  • Hidden Lake Pottery, 16705 Hutchinson Road, Odessa, 33556 (Kiln opening, Dec. 10, noon)
  • Wellman & Welsch Pottery, 17202 Whirley Road, Lutz, 33558 (Kiln opening, Dec. 10, 2 p.m.)
  • San Antonio Pottery, 11903 Curley St., San Antonio, 33576 (Kiln opening, Dec. 10, 4 p.m.) Please note: The San Antonio Pottery will be open until 8 p.m. on Dec. 10.

For more information: Visit TampaTourDeClay.com.

Published December 7, 2016

Pasco drops idea of animal abuse registry

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By Kathy Steele

Pasco County commissioners are poised to approve a new ordinance meant to make it harder for people to adopt or buy animals if they have been convicted of animal abuse.
But, if approved, the new regulations won’t be as tough as an early draft of the ordinance that would have created an animal abuser registry.
County commissioners got a preview of the weakened ordinance on Nov. 29 at the commissioners’ meeting in Dade City.
Commissioners are expected to vote on the matter at a public hearing on Jan. 10 at 1:30 p.m., also in Dade City.
“This provides an additional way we can protect and keep animals out of the hands of people convicted of certain animal violations,” said Kristi Sims, an assistant county attorney.
If approved, the ordinance would take effect March 1.
It would ban anyone from knowingly “transferring” an animal to an animal abuser.
Pasco County Clerk of Court and Comptroller Paula O’Neill has offered to post a link to her website, with local conviction data, as a resource to the public.
Individuals, retailers or organizations that sell or adopt animals must document that they checked the link to confirm that a potential owner isn’t a convicted animal abuser. Records would be maintained for five years and would be subject to examination upon request.
County staff members told commissioners there would be problems in creating a local registry in part because information on statewide animal abuse convictions isn’t publicly available. Also, they said clerical and IT capabilities to handle a registry aren’t available.
While some jurisdictions, including Hillsborough County, have approved registries, Pasco County staff members determined that the best option would be a statewide registry. However, in 2012, a bill in the Florida legislature to create such a registry failed.
Pasco County Commissioner Mike Moore said a sponsor for a new registry bill is being sought for the upcoming legislative session.
“I think this is still a good solution,” he said of the website link. “Ultimately we’d like to use a statewide database. We need to be involved in the process. I’m comfortable with this.”

Revised on Dec. 9, 2016 to correct previous version.

New rules ahead for dispensing medical marijuana

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Voters statewide overwhelmingly said they want more people with debilitating illnesses to receive the benefits of medical marijuana.

But, approval of the constitutional amendment in the Nov. 8 general election is only a first step in expanding an existing, but limited, medical marijuana program.

State lawmakers and health department officials will have a say in what comes next.

TitleIn the interim, Pasco County commissioners are considering local zoning rules to restrict dispensaries to industrially zoned areas of the county. They also are considering a one-year extension on a moratorium that bans the cultivation, processing and dispensing of cannabis, which is used to produce medical marijuana.

The current moratorium expires on Dec. 31.

“This moratorium is to keep things from popping up outside of what you’re already proposing, until the legislature acts next year,” said Kristi Sims, an assistant county attorney.

According to the newly approved constitutional amendment, the Florida Department of Health has six months to issue guidelines for expanding the state’s current program.

However, lawmakers during the 2017 legislative session could put their imprint on the process as well.

Currently, a low level form of medical marijuana, known as Charlotte’s web, is legal in Florida for patients with certain seizure disorders. Terminally ill patients can qualify for stronger potencies of medical marijuana.

Based on state law, to date, only six dispensaries are licensed to distribute medical marijuana.

New state rules would allow more illnesses to be treated with medical marijuana, and more potent forms of medical marijuana as well. The number of dispensaries also is expected to grow.

On Nov. 29, Pasco County commissioners reviewed a proposed ordinance establishing rules of operation for dispensaries. In addition to locations within industrial zones, dispensaries would be at least 1,000 feet from establishments such as schools, day care centers, churches, pharmacies and drug treatment facilities. They could be no closer than 500 feet from a residence. And, a one-mile distance would be required between each dispensary.

Public hearings, and votes by county commissioners, on the moratorium and zoning regulations will be on Dec. 13 at 1:30 p.m., at the historic Pasco County Courthouse, at 37918 Meridian Ave., in Dade City.

Published December 7, 2016

Fantasy comes alive at Zephyrhills art shop

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Sarah Hamilton has always been intrigued by the fantasy subculture.

From Harry Potter novels to Jim Henson-directed films (i.e. The Dark Crystal, Labyrinth), Hamilton acknowledges she’s “obsessed” with fairytales and magical creatures.

“I love dragons,” she said. “Really, creatures have been my inspiration.”

The Harry Potter series has been, too.

Sarah Hamilton is the owner of the Mad Dragon Studio, 5226 Eighth St., in Zephyrhills. (Kevin Weiss/Staff Photo)
Sarah Hamilton is the owner of the Mad Dragon Studio, 5226 Eighth St., in Zephyrhills.
(Kevin Weiss/Staff Photo)

“I definitely am a huge fan. I’ve read all the books, watched all the movies.”

In October, the Lutz resident opened the wizard-themed Mad Dragon Studio, 5226 Eighth St., in Zephyrhills.

The shop, located in the heart of the city’s downtown, offers handcrafted wizardry wands along with feather quills, and cosplay props and costumes.

Other vintage products like homemade bath bombs, wizard uniform aprons and non-alcoholic butterscotch beer are also featured throughout the mythical studio.

“It’s kind of the place to come if you want something different,” Hamilton explained. “I always want you to walk-in and feel like it’s magical in here.”

A former first-grade teacher, Hamilton said she’s had artistic leanings since she was a youth.

Sarah Hamilton uses a mix of polymer clay to craft each wand by hand. They range in price from $5 to $125. (Photos courtesy of Sarah Hamilton)
Sarah Hamilton uses a mix of polymer clay to craft each wand by hand. They range in price from $5 to $125.
(Photos courtesy of Sarah Hamilton)

“I’ve been making creatures since I was a little girl,” Hamilton said, “but, I had no idea I’d be doing this.”

In fact, her business started by happenstance.

About five years ago, Hamilton wanted to purchase small wands as party favors for her son’s wizard-themed birthday. But, when she discovered the price tag of a single wand was a minimum of $35, she opted to just make them herself.

“I just started messing around. I started sculpting with polymer clay, and I moved up to (larger) wands,” she explained.

Hamilton later sold handcrafted wands on Etsy, an online marketplace offering handmade and vintage goods.

“It just kind of kept evolving,” Hamilton said, “and then I thought it’d be fun to have my own actual brick-and-mortar (store).”

The wands, which also feature a wooden core, typically take Hamilton “a few hours to make.”

The wizard-themed shop offers handcrafted wizardry wands along with feather quills, and cosplay props and costumes.
The wizard-themed shop offers handcrafted wizardry wands along with feather quills, and cosplay props and costumes.

She, too, offers customized wands — one of which was recently used in a wedding proposal. As the story goes, Hamilton molded an engagement ring into a wand handle that could separate and reattach.

“That (wand) one was the hardest,” Hamilton said, “because it was like, ‘How am I going to get a ring on and off?’”

Though Hamilton’s wands are among the shop’s most prominent items, it’s her unicorn horn headbands that are the highest selling.

The popularity of the headbands exploded when they were featured on Buzzfeed in 2015.

“You don’t know what people are going to like until you put it out there,” said Hamilton.

She added the store’s most frequent customers are adult cosplayers and larpers (live-action role players).

“It’s people who, like me, have just really been obsessed with that (medieval) kind of world. That’s been an interesting thing to notice,” Hamilton said.

In her spare time, the local artist organizes ‘Fab Lab’ craft classes, where she teaches attendees how to make sugar scrubs, glitter wine glasses and other unique products.

“I’m all about people getting their hands into something creative and just trying it. That’s certainly how I got into it,” Hamilton said.

For more information, visit MadDragonStudio.com.

Published December 7, 2016

Service of remembrance offers comfort

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The holidays are often filled with pressures, and can be especially difficult for those who have recently lost a loved one.

It also can be a tough time for people who have lost a family member or friend — even if it happened quite some time ago and they’re still grieving that death.

To provide some help, Hodges Family Funeral Homes and Chapel Hill Gardens are extending an invitation to those who would like to attend a holiday service of remembrance.

The service will be on Dec. 8 at 7 p.m., in the Chapel Mausoleum, at Chapel Hill Gardens, 11531 U.S. 301 in Dade City.

“This is our fifth year (offering the remembrance service) at Chapel Hill,” said Keith Williams, general manager for Chapel Hill Gardens and Hodges Family Funeral Home.

“Most of these families — this is their first year without their loved one. Their first Christmas, without their loved one. We want them to know that they’re not alone.

“There are other families that are going through that. We’re here for them.

“What the service consists of is some holiday music, some readings that we find are very encouraging.

“We’ve got a couple of people who come every year,” Williams said.

The service is open to anyone who would like a place to go and reflect about their loved one, and to be with others who also have suffered a loss.

“We know that it’s a difficult time,” he said. The service is intended to deliver the message: “You’re loved. We’re here for you.”

The service will last around an hour. There also will be some light refreshments afterward, and people are welcome to mix and mingle, Williams said.

While the service will acknowledge the reason for the Christmas season, it is open to people from all denominations.

“We don’t preach the gospel,” Williams said.

It’s a service that offers a place for anyone who just needs to come and be with likeminded people for the moment, he said.

No RSVP is required, but one would be appreciated and can be made by calling (352) 567-5571.

It often is difficult to know what to say to someone who is grieving. Grief.com offers these suggestions to help navigate conversations that sometimes lead to unintentionally hurting someone we love.

The Best Things to Say to Someone in Grief

  1. I am so sorry for your loss.
    2. I wish I had the right words, just know I care.
    3. I don’t know how you feel, but I am here to help in anyway I can.
    4. You and your loved one will be in my thoughts and prayers.
    5. My favorite memory of your loved one is…
    6. I am always just a phone call away.
    7. Give a hug instead of saying something.
    8. We all need help at times like this; I am here for you.
    9. I am usually up early or late, if you need anything.
    10. Say nothing, just be with the person.

The Worst Things to Say to Someone in Grief

  1. At least she lived a long life, many people die young.
    2. He is in a better place.
    3. She brought this on herself.
    4. There is a reason for everything.
    5. Aren’t you over him yet? He has been dead for awhile now.
    6. You can have another child still.
    7. She was such a good person, God wanted her to be with him.
    8. I know how you feel.
    9. She did what she came here to do, and it was her time to go.
    10. Be strong.

Published December 7, 2016

New arts and crafts show venue is a hit

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With a new venue in place, the 37th annual GFWC Lutz Arts & Crafts Show promised to be “bigger and better than ever.”

It delivered.

Cindy Bishop, of Tampa, browses one of the many vendor booths at the 37th annual Lutz Arts & Crafts Show, as decorative, hand-painted gourd birdhouses loom above. The festival was held at a new location, Keystone Prep High School in Odessa. (Fred Bellet/Photos)
Cindy Bishop, of Tampa, browses one of the many vendor booths at the 37th annual Lutz Arts & Crafts Show, as decorative, hand-painted gourd birdhouses loom above. The festival was held at a new location, Keystone Prep High School in Odessa.
(Fred Bellet/Photos)

The show — held for the first time at Keystone Preparatory High School in Odessa — drew rave reviews from attendees and vendors alike.

On Dec. 3 and Dec. 4, thousands of visitors swung by the 60-acre site, at 18105 Gunn Highway.

Once there, show-goers talked up the new venue’s amenities, including its additional space, U-shaped food booth layout and ample parking.

The comfortable weekend weather didn’t hurt, either.

The show, one of the largest annual events in Hillsborough County, typically draws 30,000 to 40,000 people.

It featured more than 350 vendors, about 50 more than two years ago.

“It’s huge,” said Cindy Bishop, of Tampa. “It’s much larger, I think, than it was up there (at Lake Park).”

Zoe Deimling, 4, of Odessa, just can't stop looking at the art on her face after having it painted at the Lutz Arts & Crafts Show. Deimling was along with her grandmother, Denise Alliston of Odessa, and her great-grandmother, Susan Corcoran of Lutz.
Zoe Deimling, 4, of Odessa, just can’t stop looking at the art on her face after having it painted at the Lutz Arts & Crafts Show. Deimling was along with her grandmother, Denise Alliston of Odessa, and her great-grandmother, Susan Corcoran of Lutz.

Last year’s arts and crafts show was cancelled due to a sinkhole at Lake Park in Lutz, forcing the GFWC Lutz-Land O’ Lakes Woman’s Club to find a permanent location.

The club, in turn, signed a five-year contract with Keystone Prep to have the festival on the school’s property.

Denise Alliston, an Odessa resident and first-time attendee, was delighted to discover the event relocated to Keystone Prep long-term.

“I love it,” Alliston said. “I’m glad that they put it out here; there’s a lot of room.”

Some longtime arts and crafts show attendees — like Zephyrhills resident Doreen Coursey — were just ecstatic to finally see the arts and crafts festival return after its absence in 2015.

“We missed it last year — it was a bummer,” Coursey said.

The festival’s revamped digs, though, quickly put a smile on her face.

“It’s very nice,” she said.

Victor Brown, of Valrico, navigates his way through the woodworking and hand-painted lawn art ornaments, crafted by his father, Vick Brown. Brown's work was among the many colorful displays along the festival route of booths and tents.
Victor Brown, of Valrico, navigates his way through the woodworking and hand-painted lawn art ornaments, crafted by his father, Vick Brown. Brown’s work was among the many colorful displays along the festival route of booths and tents.

One man, Lutz native Tom Benson, admittedly didn’t want to see the popular arts show leave the place he was born and raised.

“I’m homegrown…so I have a little bit of a favor to the park,” said Benson. “It’s sad that sinkhole erupted.”

Compared to Lake Park, Benson said the Odessa venue has less shade, but acknowledged “there’s a lot more parking.”

For most, the two-day arts and crafts show provides a boost for holiday shoppers looking for gifts.

There’s a lot to choose from, with vendors typically offering such items as paintings, photography, jewelry, woodcarving, ceramics, pottery, stained glass, quilts and more.

Tampa resident Glenda Melching took advantage of that opportunity by purchasing Christmas ornaments for each of her 11 grandkids.

“We always buy (ornaments) for presents,” Melching said. “We get them every year.”

As if she did not have enough to carry, Mita Garga (right), of Lutz, holds her daughter Nena's lemonade as the two get ready to snack on a funnel cake while at the Lutz Arts & Crafts Show.
As if she did not have enough to carry, Mita Garga (right), of Lutz, holds her daughter Nena’s lemonade as the two get ready to snack on a funnel cake while at the Lutz Arts & Crafts Show.

Besides arts and crafts booths, the U-shaped food court, too, was an instant hit.

Situated at the festival’s entrance were a vast array of grub offerings — Italian fare, BBQ, comprehensive breakfasts and homemade treats.

“This is nicer that you have a little more,” said Suzanne Hatfield, an Orlando resident and regular attendee. “Last time, it was just one (food) line.”

She noted, however, the food court “could use more tables” in the future.

Vendors, meanwhile, were delighted by the constant foot traffic over the course of the two-day occasion.

“Look at all the people here — it’s a good show,” said Bob Platt, who was promoting a line of Orlando-based Honey Bee Skin Healing Cream.

Vick Brown, a first-year vendor who creates and sells wooden yard designs, likewise was amazed by the festival’s magnitude.

“It’s great,” said Brown, 45, of Valrico. “A lot of people are out, and everybody’s friendly.”

He added: “It’s a little different from the other crafts shows we’ve been attending —we didn’t have this traffic flow.”

The show even drew out-of-state vendors, like Tony Kassebaum, a Nevada-based goldsmith who produces and sells exotic handmade jewelry.

For Kassebaum, the festival is an annual stop on his cross-country art show circuit that leads him throughout Florida and Michigan.

“I’ve always enjoyed the show,” Kassebaum said. “Many of my customers are repeats. People have seen my stuff at the (Bay Area) Renaissance Fairs or at other shows.”

The arts and crafts show is the largest yearly fundraiser for the GFWC Lutz-Land O’ Lakes Woman’s Club, which gives provides college scholarships and donations to local charities. Figures are not yet readily available.

Published December 7, 2016