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I have always looked forward to Christmas.

Except for one year.

My sister Anne Marie was very ill, and I just couldn’t feel the joy of the season.

So, instead of going to get a freshly cut tree from a lot and decorating it with my friends, Bob and Heather, I decided not to put up a tree.

When I told Heather that I was skipping our annual tradition, she invited me to come to their place and help them to decorate their tree. As I put ornaments on their tree’s branches, I knew the decorations evoked memories of happy events, important places, and special moments for my friends.

And, I thought to myself: I have a fine collection of ornaments, too.

So, on my way home, I bought myself an artificial tree from Walgreens. It wasn’t very tall or full, but putting my ornaments on its branches — and remembering special times with family and friends — restored my Christmas spirit.

That was Anne Marie’s last Christmas.

Her legacy lives on, though, through the lives of her children and grandchildren, and in the happy memories of her that I carry around in my heart.

I especially feel her presence each year, as I hang ornaments that she gave to me on my smallish Walgreens tree — celebrating Christmas and all that it means during Anne Marie’s favorite season.

B.C. Manion is community editor of The Laker/Lutz News, joining the paper in 2010. She writes news and features, takes photographs and edits the work of her colleagues.

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It didn’t matter if the tree wasn’t always real. Or that we weren’t wealthy.

What mattered was that we spent the holiday celebrating the birth of Christ in the company of family and friends — Polish style.

My parents saw that our Polish heritage played a huge part in celebrating Christmas when I was growing up. There are so many memorable traditions, a few of which I try to carry on today.

Christmas Eve, or “Wigilia,” was our most important holiday tradition. We’d eat delicious pierogi and break bread. The bread, or Christmas wafer called oplatek, was imprinted with a holy picture. We offered our oplatek to family and friends to ask for their forgiveness, or to extend a wish for happiness.

Also on Christmas Eve, I or one of my three sisters would add hay to our crèche in preparation for the Christ child. We’d then dress in our Sunday best, pile in the car and attend midnight Mass at St. Mary’s Catholic Church. Even though we didn’t understand the language of our parents — no matter how hard they tried to teach us — just listening to the Polish Christmas carols gave me more reasons to love the season.

And even though I can barely stay awake for a midnight Mass today, to this day, hearing Polish carols transports me back to my childhood.

My parents always did their best to make sure we had wonderful presents to open. But while the presents nestled under the tree brought sparkles to our eyes, it was the manger that took center stage in our home.

Baby Jesus was not added to the crèche until Christmas morning, and the scene would remain center stage until the three kings arrived Jan. 6.

For us, that one solitary life changed the world. Nothing meant more than honoring the birth of Christ with the breaking of oplatek and a Christmas toast among family and friends.

The faith my parents instilled is a constant with me today. My crèche for baby Jesus always has a prominent place in my home. My parents still mail me oplatek so I can break bread with my family and friends.

I may sing Christmas carols in English, but the English does not diminish the feelings brought on by the beautiful Polish verses.

I am so very grateful to my incredible parents for honoring our heritage over the years, teaching us that no matter what you believe, we should treat each other with love, dignity and respect.

Mary Rathman is the editorial assistant at The Laker/Lutz News, joining the paper in 2002. In addition to proofing stories, advertisements and pages, she compiles the What’s Happening, Health and Chalk Talk columns.

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Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, I dreamed that I was a princess.

I was 10 years old, and pink and purple were the colors that shimmered and shined for me.

I wanted a bedroom fit for a princess. I wanted pink walls and a full-sized white canopy bed with layers of purple ruffles, white nightstands with small lamps that were fitting, and a white fur rug to place my princess feet upon. This was a Christmas wish.

As the gifts started going under the tree, I would try to figure out which part of my princess room could fit into the box. The day arrived when a very large, but flat, gift appeared. Could it be my princess bed?

My parents asked me if I really thought a big canopy princess bed could fit into such a box. How could it? I knew they were right: No way a bed could fit into that box.

Why should Christmas come to our home when my one and only wish was not coming true?

Christmas morning came anyway. The house was full of soft and glowing lights from the tree and decorations, hot chocolate was in our cups, and beautiful Christmas music was playing throughout the house. Everything was beautiful, and we were all happy and dancing around, enjoying our Christmas Day.

I told my mom that it didn’t matter too much that I would not have a princess room, and that I still liked Christmas Day.

She smiled and winked at me. She told me that I have been a princess since the day I was born, and I didn’t need some silly bed to prove it.

We gathered around the tree, and I was instructed to open the first and largest gift. I opened an end and peeked inside. There was a picture of the most beautiful canopy bed I had ever seen. It was not just white, but trimmed in gold. I was so overwhelmed, I cried.

There was no way that a bed was inside. My parents had convinced me it could not be. The box was opened, and piece-by-piece, it came out to make my complete full-sized princess bed.

Not only that, I had a matching dresser, two bedside stands, white shimmering lamps, and layers upon layers of purple bedding, canopy and curtains.

Within a week, my beautiful pink and purple princess room was complete, right down to the white fur rug. I still remember the way it looked.

But the best present I received that Christmas was not that, it was the memory of those words my mother spoke.

– Carolyn Bennett

Carolyn Bennett joined The Laker/Lutz News in 2004. She is responsible for processing advertising copy for production, and ensures ads are scheduled and running correctly in the paper. She also is the paper’s customer service representative and sales assistant.

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Some of my favorite memories of Christmas are the parties that my mom’s company threw every year for children of struggling families.

My brothers and my sister and I were always eager for the annual event, which included lunch, a movie with popcorn, and a present from Santa. We would get dressed up for Christmas, and would be excited, never knowing what present we would receive.

We lived in Flint, Michigan, the hub of the automobile industry. My mom worked at General Motors and was bringing up four children on her own. She couldn’t afford big Christmas presents, and while we never went hungry, we sure ate a lot of hamburger casserole meals.

We loved mom’s company party. We hardly ever got to go to a movie, and if we did, we never got popcorn. Plus, the gifts were always things we enjoyed.

Those holiday parties made a real difference in my life, and to this day, they have inspired me to want to bring cheer to children who otherwise might not receive Christmas presents.

For years, my family and I have taken angels from our church’s tree to provide presents for one girl and one boy. It’s been our tradition for my two children to go with me to shop for these presents, because we wanted to be sure to select the perfect gifts.

I also wanted to teach my children to be aware that there are others who are less fortunate, and the importance of sharing with them. I want the children who receive presents from our family to have the same happy feelings that my mom’s company party gave to me.

– Terri Williamson

Terri Williamson is a senior account manager. She joined The Laker/Lutz News in 2003, and she establishes, maintains and strengthens relationships with local businesses and helps them with their marketing efforts.

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I have many wonderful Christmas memories, but two in particular stand out.

The first was when I was in college. My family had moved to Florida from Ohio a few years earlier, and when we went back to visit for the holidays, our family had grown too large for all of us to stay at my grandparents’ house.

My parents had this great idea and rented two cabins at Mohican State Park. They drove up early, and since we were only staying there a few days, my mom brought just a handful of small Christmas decorations to make the cabin look a little festive before the rest of the family arrived.

They didn’t have room to bring a tree, so my mom jokingly said that if we saw a tree lying in the road to bring it with us.

My sister, brother and I were driving up to the cabin, and sure enough, there was a beautiful blue spruce tree on the side of the road.

My mom couldn’t believe it.

We put the tree up and hung a few ornaments on its branches. It was such a simple tree, but it meant so much to all of us to have it for our Christmas celebration.

It was a cold winter that year, and the blanket of fresh snow on the ground outside the cabins was absolutely gorgeous.

I will never forget how beautiful it was for our family to be in those cabins in the middle of the woods, as if we had the whole place to ourselves.

There were no stores or restaurants nearby, just our family spending time together creating wonderful memories.

My other favorite Christmas memory is from when my daughter was little. My husband had this terrific idea of having a hayride from our house in Wesley Chapel.

It was a great way to bring lots of family and friends together the week before Christmas to just have some fun.

After we decorated the trailer with garland, the kids had an awesome time breaking the bales apart and spreading hay everywhere. Sometimes it seemed like there was more hay on our driveway than on the trailer, but it was great to see them have so much fun.

We wore Santa hats, rang our jingle bells, and sang Christmas carols while we rode the streets of our neighborhood.

Each year it got bigger, and we even had to add another trailer so everyone could ride. After the hayride, we had a big cookout, and to make it even more special, Santa arrived and handed out gifts to all the children.

It was such a huge success that we had it for several years.

It was a fantastic way to spread holiday cheer. It was intended for the children, but I am pretty sure that the adults had just as much fun.

I know I did.

– Mary Eberhard

Mary Eberhard joined The Laker/Lutz News in 2003. She is the accounting manager and handles invoicing, accounts payable and accounts receivable.

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Anyone remember Christmas Eve 1989 here in Tampa Bay?

My husband Gary and I were married for only two years, and it was the first year in our new home in Lutz.

It was crazy cold that year. As people switched on their electric heaters, plugged in their Christmas lights, and turned on their electric stoves, the resulting power shortage caused rolling blackouts.

The house would be full of light and warmth for about an hour, and then poof — everything was dark. There was no way to know how long we would be without light.

Typically the power would be out for an hour or two, but sometimes it would be out for three.

We were forced to sit and relax by candlelight, and we found ourselves engaged in pleasant conversation. We had no idea when we would receive the glorious gift of electrical power again.

When the power went back on, we would jump up and do as many tasks as we could that required electricity. I ran the vacuum, cranked up the heat, used multiple burners on the stove, and heated the big oven and the toaster oven at the same time.

We didn’t know how much time we had before cold darkness would return. Just as abruptly as lights went on, they’d go out again, and we’d be back in the darkness, fumbling around in a search for lighters, candles and flashlights.

While in the throes of it, it felt like the rolling blackouts during the holidays were a curse. Looking back, however, it’s easy to see that the loss of power was not a burden, but a gift.

It was a blessing to spend those interludes between our frantic bursts of activity savoring the company of each other.

– Suzanne Beauchaine

Suzanne Beauchaine is an account manager with The Laker/Lutz News, joining the paper in 2013. She seeks to listen to customers to ensure their advertising meets their marketing needs.

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New Maaco coming to Land O’ Lakes
Come January, yet another shop will open where Land O’ Lakes residents can get car work done.

New franchise owner Kristen Andreani is opening her first Maaco location at 4107 Land O’ Lakes Blvd., according to company spokeswoman Betsy McDonald.

Maaco, founded in 1972, has more than 450 franchises across North America through its Charlotte, North Carolina-based Maaco Franchising LLC.

It would become Pasco’s second Maaco location, joining one on U.S. 19 in New Port Richey. The only other close Maaco location is at East Fowler Avenue in Tampa.

New retail planned for U.S. 41
Property along Land O’ Lakes Boulevard that has been vacant for more than 30 years may soon get a tenant.

Robert Sharp has requested a meeting with Pasco County building officials to discuss a 5,100-square-foot retail building for 3714 Land O’ Lakes Boulevard. That’s property located just north of Copperstone Executive Suites, across the street from the RaceTrac gas station.

Sharp didn’t share details on what he had planned for that space, but did ask for drive aisles.

The land is a little more than a half-acre, and was sold to the Fay B. Norton Family Trust in 2005 for $375,000. Late last year, the estate of Brendan Norton transferred the land to three members of the Norton family through an executor’s deed. That estate picked up the land through a trustee’s deed in 2012.

The land itself is on the market, listed through Bales Properties Inc., for $199,000.

Buffalo Wild Wings on its way
Land is getting pretty expensive along State Road 56, which is exactly what the owner of the Buffalo Wild Wings chain found out late last month.

AMC Wesley Chapel Real Estate Inc., a company affiliated with Buffalo Wild Wings owner Diversified Restaurant Holdings Inc., purchased a little more than 2.5 acres of land along State Road 56 just east of Cypress Ridge Boulevard for $2.3 million. That’s a price just north of $903,000 an acre.

The developer has plans to put the land to good use, however. AMC is seeking final approval to build a 6,400-square-foot restaurant on the site, with an 800-foot patio, with direct access to State Road 56. Buffalo Wild Wings got initial approval from the Pasco County Planning Commission earlier this month, and will seek to get the same from the full Pasco County Commission in January.

This would become the second Buffalo Wild Wings in Pasco County after the State Road 54 location in New Port Richey. Other locations are in Ybor City and Tampa’s Westchase area, according to the restaurant’s website.

Developers have not said when construction will begin, or when the restaurant would open.

Orthodontist looks to build at Wesley Chapel hospital
Developers are looking to build a three-story office building just in front of Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel on land connected to a local orthodontist.

Armando Cabre, of Cabre Engineering LLC, is set to meet with county officials behind closed doors next week to discuss plans to build a 16,000-square-foot medical office building on 1.8 acres of land just north of State Road 56 along Bruce B. Downs Boulevard.

Cabre doesn’t mention who is interested in developing the land, but it’s owned by Lismark Holdings LLC, a company connected to New Tampa orthodontist Mark Farina, the owner of Farina Orthodontics located on Amberly Drive, as well as a second location in South Tampa.

Lismark, according to county property records, purchased the land in November 2013 for $1.28 million.

The vacant land currently is zoned for commercial, and is part of a larger sector of land the Porter family — who control the Wiregrass Ranch development — have designated for primarily medical uses to help complement the Wesley Chapel hospital.

No other details were shared about the facility, except that some of the project would be set aside to construct a drive-thru ATM somewhere in the future.

It’s not clear if Farina plans to use space in the office himself, or if he’s building to attract other medical professionals. He did not return an email request for comment last week.

It’s likely too early to talk a construction start date just yet, since meeting with county officials typically is a preliminary step in the development process.

In-home nutrition business opens
Living Path Nutrition has opened in Wesley Chapel, providing in-home nutrition consultations for individuals, families and groups. Services there include individual and group nutrition coaching, pantry makeovers, and clean-eating parties.

A registered and licensed dietitian and nutritionist provides the service.

For information, call Kim Chism at (813) 344-6534, or visit LivingPathNutrition.com.

West Winds now Rosecastle of Zephyrhills
Just two months after picking up a new owner, West Winds Assisted Living Facility in Zephyrhills is no more.

The 75-bed for-profit facility is now called Rosecastle of Zephyrhills, according to a posting on the facility’s Facebook page.

Rosecastle, located at 37411 Eiland Blvd., was sold Oct. 1 to Sabra Health Care Holdings III, which lists its address in Irvine, California, according to Pasco County property records. West Winds Prime LLC was the seller, and managed the property through carious companies since West Winds opened in 2008.

Sabra is a real estate investment trust that acquires senior citizen housing, memory care and skilled nursing facilities around the country. It purchased West Winds for $10.2 million, adding it to six skilled nursing facilities and three senior housing facilities Sabra purchased through the first half of 2014 for $141.5 million, according to filings at the time with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

It remains Pasco’s third-largest real estate transaction. Topping that list was the $36.1 million sale of the Arlington at Northwood apartment complex in Wesley Chapel, followed by the $16 million sale of more than 330 acres of land in Wiregrass Ranch to make way for a proposed 550-home subdivision.

Volunteer tax preparers needed
United Way of Pasco County is looking for help this coming tax season with volunteer tax preparers.

Last year, more than 8,000 county residents used United Way’s tax preparation service, and received more than $8 million in total refunds.

Those interested in being a tax preparer does not require experience, and comes with comprehensive training.

For more information, visit UnitedWayPasco.org.