The Laker/Lutz News

Serving Pasco since 1981/Serving Lutz since 1964

Local News

County may try anonymous code enforcement complaints

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Tired of seeing a neighbor’s car up on concrete blocks? Worried that snakes are finding a paradise in a home’s overgrown yard on your street?

Code violations are not just something that makes a neighborhood ugly, but can make it unsafe as well. Old swimming pools, like this one, create a hazard that could injure people, especially children. (Courtesy of Joaquin Servia)
Code violations are not just something that makes a neighborhood ugly, but can make it unsafe as well. Old swimming pools, like this one, create a hazard that could injure people, especially children.
(Courtesy of Joaquin Servia)

Making a complaint to Pasco County’s Customer Service Department requires a name, address and telephone number. But it might not be that way for long.

Pasco County Commissioners are exploring the idea of allowing the option to report code violations and other problems anonymously. It would help encourage neighbors to keep Pasco looking good without the fear of retaliation. But not everyone on the commission is on board.

“I am very concerned with going anonymous,” Commissioner Henry Wilson said during a workshop last week in Dade City. “I think it would be a huge burden to the (code enforcement) officers, but I will defer to them. If they think it’s the better option to do that, then I would be willing to look into it.”

Joaquin Servia, Pasco’s code enforcement manager, said moving to a system where someone didn’t have to give their name when filing a complaint could require more money and manpower than his department currently has.

“There is a real chance that just accepting pure anonymous complaints is going to increase the number of frivolous complaints we get,” Servia said. “It could just turn into spite, a neighbor-on-neighbor-type of dispute that gets elevated to where now you can use government to club your neighbor over the head.”

However, many people don’t complain about problems they see in their neighborhoods, because the fear of reprisal is just too great, Commissioner Kathryn Starkey said.

“When they call in to complain, their cars get keyed and they get trash thrown in their yards,” she said. “Seems to me that we can do a mixture of these two (named complaints and anonymous), where we could take down the number and information of the person making the complaint, but not give it out.”

Except the county would not be able to do that, Servia said. Even a code enforcement complaint is public record, and government would have to comply with public records laws in releasing that information to anyone who asks for it, even the neighbor that’s being reported.

“Then I would rather do anonymous,” Starkey said. “If we have more work, then it’s because we have a lot of need.”

While official complaints do require names and contact information, there are ways to get around that, Commissioner Jack Mariano said. One of those ways is to reach out directly to the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office, and many times they will forward complaints without including the name of the person making the complaint.

Doing that, however, would require the person know how to step past the requirements, which many likely would not.

Patrick Phillips, a code enforcement field supervisor, told commissioners that any jump in workload would be difficult for his people to absorb.

“With the resources we have available to us now, we would not be able to do it,” he said. “Complaints that come in through homeowners associations and citizen calls, a good portion of the time, the complaint is not valid. Is that a waste of resource? Yeah.

“So if we were to take anonymous complaints across the board, we are going to take a look at a spike in that,” Phillips added.

Mariano loves the sweeps code enforcement conducts from time to time, because not only will it take care of a problem neighborhood, but it also causes surrounding neighborhoods to shape up because they are concerned they’ll be targeted next.

Yet, sweeps hitting property after property in a specific area require a lot of manpower, which pulls them away from everywhere else.

“We have to draw about 50 percent of our resources to do that,” Phillips said. “That’s 50 percent of our county that is not being covered. So what we gain ground here, we’re losing ground over there.”

Commissioner Pat Mulieri, who wasn’t at the workshop, will likely be the swing vote on any decision with code enforcement. The commission itself was split with Starkey and Mariano leaning toward allowing anonymous complaints, and Wilson and Ted Schrader against it.

The commission did not set a timetable on when it would be addressed again.

Published May 21, 2014

Bok Tower Gardens: A place of tranquility and beauty

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Long before Interstate 4 sliced through a swath of Florida, and Disney theme parks put Kissimmee on the map, there was an attraction in Lake Wales that beckoned to visitors to partake of its beauty.

Bok Tower Gardens, deemed one of America’s finest gardens, offers visitors the chance to step away from the world’s cares and savor the handiwork of nature.

The 205-foot Singing Tower is the architectural centerpiece of Bok Tower Gardens. Those who enjoy fine craftsmanship will find plenty to appreciate, and those who enjoy carillon music can enjoy two half-hour concerts daily. (B.C. Manion/Staff Photo)
The 205-foot Singing Tower is the architectural centerpiece of Bok Tower Gardens. Those who enjoy fine craftsmanship will find plenty to appreciate, and those who enjoy carillon music can enjoy two half-hour concerts daily.
(B.C. Manion/Staff Photo)

The National Historic Landmark is worth a visit for people who enjoy music, architecture, history, wildlife, plants and flowers.

This is a place that offers a feeling of serenity, as you walk along the mulched paths that meander through spacious grounds of oaks, palms, azaleas, irises and camellias.

The garden was a gift to the American people from Edward W. Bok, a Dutch immigrant who became editor of The Ladies Home Journal and won a Pulitzer Prize for his autobiography.

“He wanted to make a place where people could just relax and get away from the grind of the world,” said David Price, president of Bok Tower Gardens. “Bok wanted a quiet place where people could come and sit and enjoy the sounds of birds and kind of find themselves.”

An estimated 75,000 people attended the formal dedication on Feb. 1, 1929, where President Calvin Coolidge delivered an address. The National Broadcasting Company, which would later become known as NBC, provided national coverage through a hookup with a Gainesville radio station.

Before Bok decided to transform the spot into a place of beauty, not everyone was sold on his vision.

“There were a lot of naysayers who said you couldn’t plant on a sand hill and it would be hard to keep things alive,” Price said.

But Bok commissioned famed landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted Jr., to design the garden. After Olmsted’s work was well on its way, Bok revealed his plans for a carillon tower, inspired by the carillon towers of his childhood in the Netherlands.

He hired Milton B. Medary of Philadelphia to design the 205-foot tower that became the architectural centerpiece of the garden.

Constructed of pink and gray marble and tan coquina stone, the tower houses 60 bells, ranging in weight from 16 pounds to 12 tons. A carillonneur plays the bells by striking wooden keys that tug on a wire that activates the clapper of the corresponding bells.

“The tower complements the serenity of the garden,” Price said. “It’s a neo-gothic style. It has almost sort of a spiritual quality.”

Nearly 150,000 visitors drop by Bok Tower Gardens each year, with about 60 percent of those guests traveling more than 50 miles to get there, Price said.

Some visitors sign a guest book in a small building called Window by the Pond, where they can sit to gaze through a picture window to observe wildlife. The visitors come from diverse places, but seem to share a common appreciation of the Lake Wales gem.

“Came here for an hour, will spend the day here,” jotted a visitor from California.

“Best day in Florida,” scribbled a New Yorker.

“Beautiful, tranquil, spiritual,” wrote a visitor from Rhode Island.

“Peaceful, lovely and a real treat to visit,” opined a New Mexico guest.

Attendance fluctuates throughout the year, with January through April drawing the biggest crowds.

No matter when visitors drop in, though, there’s plenty to see.

“We plan for year-round color and interest,” Price said.

The camellias, for instance, bloom in fall and winter, while azaleas blossom in spring. A table outside the visitor center displays a collection of vases holding cuttings to let guests know what’s in bloom.

There’s an interesting display inside the visitor center detailing Bok’s life, there’s a film that tells the attraction’s story, and there are numerous displays about the garden, area wildlife and the carillon.

Pinewood Estate, a 20-room Mediterranean-style mansion, also is open for self-guided tours for an additional charge.

From its beginning, Bok Tower Gardens has sought to be someplace special. Besides bringing in Olmsted and Medary, Bok also hired Lee Lawrie of New York, Samuel Yellin of Philadelphia, and J.H. Dulles-Allen of the Enfield Pottery and Tile Works in Pennsylvania to work on the project.

Lawrie designed sculptures to be executed in marble. Yellin made wrought-iron pieces for the tower’s interior and bridge. He also created a series of panels on the tower’s massive brass door, recounting the biblical story of creation.

Dulles-Allen did the tile work on eight grilles enclosing the bell chamber.

While enjoying its rich history, Bok Tower Gardens is mindful of a need to remain relevant during changing times, Price said. Along those lines, it has completed a 20-year master plan, and will begin work on the first phase this summer. Initial changes will include additional gardens, work to restore a sand hill and new surfacing on key paths to make it easier to get around.

Some things, however, will not change.

When Bok Tower Gardens opened, Price said,  “peace and tranquility was our theme.”

Some things, it seems, never go out style.

If you go
WHERE: Bok Tower Gardens, 1151 Tower Blvd., in Lake Wales
WHEN: 365 days a year from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Daily carillon concerts are presented at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.
COST: Admission to the garden is $12 for adults and $3 for children. Combo tickets, which include self-guided tours of Pinewood Estate, is $18 for adults and $8 for children
INFO: BokTowerGardens.org

Published  May 21, 2014

Winners and losers from tough Tallahassee session

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Amphibians like frogs and toads can create thousands of tadpoles each season, but only a few actually survive to become adults just like their parents.

That could be the perfect way to describe how lawmaking works in Tallahassee. Hundreds of bills are introduced during each session of the Florida Legislature, but very few survive.

State Rep. James Grant, R-Tampa, had three of his eight bills pass both chambers this past session, including one that would allow county tax collector offices to accept concealed weapon permit and renewal applications. (Courtesy of Mark Foley)
State Rep. James Grant, R-Tampa, had three of his eight bills pass both chambers this past session, including one that would allow county tax collector offices to accept concealed weapon permit and renewal applications.
(Courtesy of Mark Foley)

And it was especially true with local lawmakers who successfully introduced 30 bills that would eventually, in some form, pass both the House and the Senate. But the bill graveyard this term was more than double.

Yet, House Speaker Will Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel, was happy with the results he achieved with his Senate counterpart, Don Gaetz, R-Destin.

“Among the priorities that were passed are stronger laws to make Florida the worst place for violent criminals, the Florida G.I. Bill to provide our veterans with the opportunity to receive in-state tuition, and expansion of school choice, significant welfare reform, and measures to improve governance and Florida’s (information technology) infrastructure,” Weatherford said in an email to The Laker/Lutz News.

But what the speaker was not able to push through was pension reform.

“That means we will continue to spend more than $500 million per year to shore up our state’s pension system for the foreseeable future,” Weatherford said.

Six House members and three senators serve the residents in central to east Pasco County, as well as northern Hillsborough County. Those elected officials range from the likes of Weatherford and Land O’ Lakes Republican Richard Corcoran based right here at home, to people like Sen. Tom Lee, R-Brandon, and Rep. Dan Raulerson, R-Plant City.

Combined, they introduced 90 bills, with just a third of them making it past the required votes to either head to Gov. Rick Scott, or be adopted without needing his approval. But no one was immune to watching bills die, and every lawmaker had favorites they were sorry to see go.

“We were hopeful in passing legislation that allowed our local governments a cheaper, easier way to provide better water and wastewater programs,” state Sen. John Legg, R-Lutz, said. “Hopefully next year we can find a way to provide lower-cost utilities for the consumer.”

“The biggest goal we did not achieve was the expansion of Medicaid,” state Rep. Janet Cruz, D-Tampa, said. “I still cannot believe that we came home from Tallahassee without even addressing this issue.”

Corcoran, who is expected to become House Speaker in the coming years, also felt health care was a missed opportunity.

“Our attempts to improve the quality of treatment, improve access to care, and lower health care costs simply did not go far enough,” he said. “Consumers must be put in control of their health care dollars, not all these corporations who only care about the bottom line.”

At the same time, there was still success to be celebrated, especially when it came to local collaboration. Like Corcoran and Sen. Wilton Simpson, R-Trilby, in passing what Corcoran says is “one of the best pro-consumer water bills in years.”

“This will give customers of private water companies a more equitable seat at the table to address the poor water quality provided to them,” Corcoran said. “Now, customers will have the ability to petition the Public Service Commission and have the opportunity to force the utility to improve the quality of water in their community.”

That’s S.B. 272, also known as the “Consumer Water Protection Act,” that came about because of water problems in a New Port Richey subdivision.

The bill “was filed to help my constituents in Summertree who have water quality issues, but the bill will help all of Florida’s consumers if they have issues or problems (with) water quality or service from the utility servicing their area,” Simpson said.

The session is over, with Scott now contemplating which measures to sign, which to allow to become law without his signature, and which to veto. Lawmakers are set to do it all again after the next cycle, which will include some familiar faces, and some new ones as well.

No matter what, lawmakers provide a common refrain: we must learn how to work together better.

“I will work with my colleagues to build a consensus, and work hard on that legislation (that did not pass) next session,” Simpson said.

“I plan to continue to work with our local governments and partners in the House and Senate on utilities legislation to provide lower-cost utilities for our consumers,” Legg said.

But sometimes, achieving goals also means knowing who your enemies are. And Corcoran has his picked out.

“The key is to never back down to the special interest,” he said, “and fight them wherever and whenever you can.”

The Living …
Some of the bills that made it past the Legislature include:

H.B. 1191/S.B. 450 – Telephone Solicitation
Don’t let the name on this bill mislead you. While it’s designed to make it harder for telemarketers to reach people unsolicited, this bill — which is on its way to the governor — would actually block unsolicited text messages as well for people who add their cell numbers to the “Do Not Call” registry.

The bill was introduced on the House side by state Rep. Janet Cruz, D-Tampa, although it was the identical Senate bill that would get the attention instead.

Of the six bills Cruz introduced during the recent session, this was the only one to make it out of a subcommittee.

H.B. 523 – Licensure to Carry a Concealed Weapon or Firearm
This bill was the creation of state Rep. James Grant, R-Tampa, which would authorize county tax collector offices to accept applications and renewals for concealed weapons and other firearms permits.

But anyone who takes advantage of the change would have to pay additional “convenience” fees, which the tax collector’s office will get to keep.

The bill faced some opposition in the House, where it did pass 94-22. But it was a clean sweep through the Senate, where no one voted against it.

H.B. 203/S.B. 260 – Unaccompanied Homeless Youth
Hospitals and doctors typically cannot treat minors without receiving the consent of a parent or guardian. But that can be difficult to obtain for young people who are homeless and away from their family.

This bill, from state Rep. Dan Raulerson, R-Plant City, would help the nearly 7,000 homeless youth that are believed to be living in Florida seek medical care when they need it. It provides them the right to give consent for the care, with the exception of abortions, which still require parental notification.

The Senate took up the identical S.B. 260 instead, which passed both chambers unanimously.

… The Dead
Some of the bills that didn’t make it past the Legislature include:

H.B. 701 – Daylight Savings Time
Introduced by state Rep. Mark Danish, D-Tampa, this bill was a simple one: make daylight saving time the standard time year-round in Florida.

The Laker/Lutz News first wrote about this bill in January, which sparked some interest not just in the state, but nationally as well.

Where it didn’t spark interest was the Florida House, where it became stuck in a subcommittee in March, and would eventually die there.

S.B. 566 – Florida Bright Futures Scholarship Program
This bill from state Sen. Tom Lee, R-Brandon, would have allowed students in the Florida Bright Futures scholarship program to, among other things, have a wider choice of volunteer service work areas to choose from beyond social areas, including civic or professional interests. It also would’ve prohibited those students from earning money or academic credit for doing the work required to take advantage of the program.

The Senate actually liked Lee’s proposal, and passed it 36-1 on April 24. But the House never took it up, and without its approval, this idea — at least for this session — has gone dark.

S.B. 958 – Fee Waivers for Purple Heart Recipients
They served their country, and were injured in the process. And Florida has rewarded those returning Purple Heart soldiers with various benefits, including free tuition at state colleges and universities, and discounts for other government services.

State Sen. Wilton Simpson, R-Trilby, however, wanted to give Purple Heart recipients and their families free lifetime membership to Florida state parks.

It’s actually not clear how many Purple Heart recipients live among the 1.5 million veterans in Florida, but more than 12,000 Purple Heart license plates are currently in circulation, according to a Senate analysis.

Simpson originally wanted to give Purple Heart soldiers free access to toll roads as well, but that idea was the first to go.

The rest of the bill followed after it stalled in the Transportation Committee in April, and senators never picked it back up.

Published May 21, 2014

Technology helps people hear the word of God

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At some point in life, most people know how it feels to be out of the loop.

They’re sitting at a table in a restaurant, but they’re too far away to hear what is causing the laughter erupting at the other end of the table.

St. Timothy Catholic Church’s architectural design is acoustically challenging because of its high ceilings, hard surfaces and glass. A hearing loop has been installed to enable people with hearing difficulties to be full participants in the liturgy. (Courtesy of St. Timothy Catholic Church)
St. Timothy Catholic Church’s architectural design is acoustically challenging because of its high ceilings, hard surfaces and glass. A hearing loop has been installed to enable people with hearing difficulties to be full participants in the liturgy.
(Courtesy of St. Timothy Catholic Church)

They’re at the edge of a crowd and can’t hear what the speaker is saying.

Someone is singing on stage, but they can’t make out the words.

Imagine if that was an everyday experience.

That’s the kind of social isolation that people with hearing difficulties often face. Even with hearing aids, it can be difficult for them to hear in acoustically challenging places, such as a restaurant, a concert hall or a church.

But technology is available to help change that scenario in places where sound systems are used. And recently, St. Timothy Catholic Church installed a hearing loop to help parishioners who have hearing difficulties become full participants in the liturgy.

Charlie and Judith Reese of JC Audiology contributed the system components, which cost about $8,000. The Reeses are parishioners, and Judith is an audiologist with an office at 1541 Dale Mabry Highway, Suite 201, in Lutz.

Keith Thal and his friend, James Weeks, volunteered their time and expertise to install and fine-tune the system. They both are professionals in the electronics field and knowledgeable in the science of sound, Judith said.

Chase White, the director of music at St. Timothy, also played a key role.

“St. Timothy is the first and only Catholic church in Hillsborough (County) that has this technology,” Charlie said. “I doubt that there are more than three other churches of any denomination in Hillsborough that has this.”

A hearing loop, for lack of a better description, is an antenna that is based around the perimeter of a room or a building, Judith said. The antenna is linked to the sound system, and a person with a hearing aid that has an active telecoil — or T-coil — can pick up the signal.

“The person puts their hearing aid in the reception mode, and whoever is speaking on the microphone, it comes right into their ears,” she said. “Also, it’s appropriately set for them because it goes through their hearing aid, so it compensates for their problem areas for hearing.”

Hearing aids cannot be retrofitted to include a T-coil, but many hearing aids have them already, and their wearers simply are unaware of that fact, Judith said.

Those purchasing new hearing aids may want to ask about the T-coil, she added, so they can be activated in large spaces that are acoustically challenging.

“The audiologist would set it at the level that’s going to work best for that person,” she said. “They may have a knob or a switch or button on that device, to turn it on to the hearing loop channel, as it were.”

The technology has been around for decades.

“I think it’s about half of the hearing aids that are fit that have telecoils in them,” Judith said

It’s not a cost issue, she said. People just need to know to ask about it when they get their hearing aids.

“The hearing loop technology is just one more tool in our box to help people who have hearing impairments to live, full active lives,” Judith said.

At St. Timothy, there are two hearing loops. One goes around the chapel, on a ledge. The other, in the main sanctuary, was put in the conduit holding other sound system wiring.

“St. Timothy, in particular, is a very acoustically challenging structure because of the architecture,” Judith said. “It’s kind of a basilica style with a big high-rounded ceiling, all hard surfaces, terrazzo tile, hard walls, lots of windows and metal. Even for people who have good hearing, it can be tough.”

“There’s no carpet, no anything to absorb the sound,” Charlie said. “It’s all glass, marble and metal. So, that makes everything bounce off.”

Hearing loss, in some ways, is worse than other disabilities that are visible, because it takes people away from society, Judith said.

“You can’t engage,” she said.

And, at church — where people come for spiritual refreshment and guidance — they can feel left out.

“It’s very frustrating,” Judith said. They’ll say, “Everybody else is laughing at what the pastor said, but I didn’t hear it. They sang this beautiful song, but I couldn’t hear the words. Everybody else is crying.”

In large spaces, such as church, it can be especially difficult to hear because of background noises, the Reeses said.

“The music overwhelms the talking, or the people talking behind them, or children crying or laughing, or whatever,” Judith said.

That noise competes with the liturgy of the Mass.

“There are all kinds of accommodations they make for other disabilities, but very few accommodations for hearing loss,” Charlie said.

As the American population ages, the Reeses expect hearing loops to become more common, much like wheelchair ramps, hand rails and handicapped parking spaces.

“This really has taken root in Europe,” Charlie said, noting Westminster Abbey has a hearing loop.

The hearing loop project at St. Timothy took the better part of two years, Judith said. It took time to get the equipment installed and to fine-tune it, so it’s an effective way of helping people hear.

Rev. Kenneth Malley, pastor at St. Timothy, said he knows the project is appreciated by people of all ages who have hearing difficulties. He recalled one older woman telling him about a hearing loop system at Our Lady of Lourdes church in Dunedin.

She had tears in her eyes, Malley said. She told the priest, “I could finally hear what was going on.”

St. Timothy and Our Lady of Lourdes have hearing loops, and Our Lady of Fatima in Citrus County is investigating the possibility of adding one. The Diocese of St. Petersburg is unaware of any other church within the diocese that has the technology, but some churches may have installed one without informing the diocese.

The project at St. Timothy took some time, the Reeses said, but they think it’s worth the effort because it will help open people’s ears to the word of God.

Published May 21, 2014

 

Sunlake trio has football in their future

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Last football season, the Sunlake Seahawks had a suffocating defense. They recorded four shutouts, and held their opponent to less than seven points three additional times, en route to a 9-2 record and a playoff berth.

Joe Jean-Baptiste, left, Ricardo Williams and Nick Larry take part in a ceremonial signing at Sunlake High School on May 16. All three will continue their football careers after graduation. (Michael Murillo/Staff Photo)
Joe Jean-Baptiste, left, Ricardo Williams and Nick Larry take part in a ceremonial signing at Sunlake High School on May 16. All three will continue their football careers after graduation.
(Michael Murillo/Staff Photo)

Last week, three of their standout players got together to do a little paperwork.

Seniors Nick Larry, Joe Jean-Baptiste and Ricardo Williams participated in a ceremonial signing session to cement their college plans. Each of them will attend a different school, all on scholarship and with an opportunity to continue their athletic career in the collegiate ranks.

Even though head coach Bill Browning has been a football coach for 36 years — including his tenure at Sunlake, which began when the school opened in 2007 — seeing athletes commit to colleges and continue their careers never gets old.

“It’s something they work for and something they dream about, so it’s always exciting to see someone go on and get an opportunity that they’ve been working for,” he said.

All his athletes have worked hard, Browning explained. They have a rigorous practice and preparation regimen, and he feels that their program — being in Florida, which is known as a strong area for high school football — will serve the players well at the next level.

And the players who participated in the signing last week can’t wait to get there.

“It’s honestly a dream come true,” said Jean-Baptiste, who played safety for Sunlake.

He’ll attend Lake Erie College in Painesville, Ohio, and play for the Storm on a partial scholarship.

While he acknowledges the Seahawks had a strong defense, Jean-Baptiste also realizes that playing at the next level will include new challenges. Just as the speed of the game changed for Jean-Baptiste when he made the jump from junior varsity to varsity, he expects a similar increase in game speed in college.

To prepare, he plans to spend time watching game film and scouting opponents when he’s not studying criminal justice.

Larry will play football for Gattaca, a post-graduate team whose players attend Hillsborough Community College with an eye toward playing for bigger schools in their future. For him, attending college on a full scholarship validates the effort he put in to improve and excel during his high school career.

“It feels amazing. It just shows that everything I did, I did right. And all the work I put in, it shows that it pays off,” Larry said.

While the defensive tackle wants to take this time to improve and prepare for a football opportunity in the future, Larry doesn’t want to get ahead of himself. He’ll study sports management and make sure his grades are strong while he also focuses on football.

Williams also was part of the team’s excellent defense as a cornerback, but he also played wide receiver. But when he attends Peru State College in Nebraska on a partial scholarship, he’ll play for the Bobcats on the offensive side of the ball at running back.

And Williams believes that playing on defense in high school will help him when he suits up in college.

“As the cornerback, you have to have quick hips and you have to stay focused at all times,” Williams said. “And I feel like that if you translate that to a running back, those are really good features to have.”

He believes that his time playing defense will help him anticipate their moves and positioning, since he’s spent a lot of time thinking like a defensive player. When he’s not on the field, he’ll study nursing.

All three players are eager to get their college careers going, but their coach has some advice for the soon-to-be college freshmen: Savor the moment and focus on what’s important.

“Just work hard and enjoy the experience,” Browning said. “And the bottom line is, get the education.”

Published May 21, 2014

Private schools nurture a love of reading in children

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Karen Green began her private school five years ago with two children — her daughter, Addison, and another little girl.

She knew leaving the security of her job with Hillsborough County School District to launch her own preschool was a leap of faith. But she felt compelled to do it.

Karen Green, left and Jackie Petersen are co-owners of The Reading Corner and TRC Academy, both in Lutz. Both schools emphasize nurturing a love of reading among children. (B.C. Manion/Staff Photo)
Karen Green, left and Jackie Petersen are co-owners of The Reading Corner and TRC Academy, both in Lutz. Both schools emphasize nurturing a love of reading among children.
(B.C. Manion/Staff Photo)

“I had to put my children in daycare,” Green said. “They weren’t getting early literacy lessons. I wanted a place where the love of reading and learning to read meet.”

She wasn’t interested in using a boxed reading program, or being limited to materials approved by a large school district. Her goal isn’t to merely teach children how to read, but help them develop a love for it.

So, Green decided to take the plunge and launch her own school.

“The Reading Corner really started on my couch with a computer,” said Green, a former reading coach and first-grade public school teacher.

It was slow going at first. But as word spread, Green found out that she wasn’t the only one who wanted early literacy opportunities for her children.

By April 2010, she had 40 children coming to her in some capacity, and she leased out a 1,500-square-foot space in Seven Oaks. But The Reading Corner quickly outgrew that space, too.

Last year, Green and co-owner Jackie Petersen decided to take another giant leap of faith and added an academy for kindergarten through fifth-grade. They call that school TRC Academy.

The Reading Corner is at 1800 Collier Parkway. TRC Academy and The Reading Corner is at 19215 Livingston Ave.  The total enrollment for both schools is 289, which includes 64 kindergarten through fifth-graders in TRC Academy.

“We have a lot of teachers that have been teachers before that maybe stayed home once they had babies,” Green said. “They stayed home for a couple of years and maybe didn’t want to go back to the grind of full-time.”

The school offers flexible schedules for its staff, which has resulted in many part-time teachers.

“We are all moms first,” Green said.

There’s also an effort to keep tuition affordable, she added.

“Parents know that we could easily increase tuition, but we don’t,” Green said. “We don’t have teachers that leave and we have very few families leave, so we create that culture of consistency.

“We are small and we are going to remain small. We want to ensure that we know our kids personally,” she added.

Along those lines, the teacher-student ratio is low, with a ratio 2-to-20 for kindergarten through third grade, and a ratio of 1-to-15 for grades three through five. In voluntary pre-kindergarten, the ratio is 2-to-16 at the Collier Parkway campus, and 1-to-11 at the Livingston campus.

Programs for younger children have ratios ranging from 1-to-8 to 1-to-6, depending on the age.

Delivering personalized instruction is a critical part of Green and Petersen’s philosophy. Each child, teacher and classroom is unique, Green explained.

“For our reading … we do individual reading conferences for all of the kids,” she said.

The teacher gives them a book, and from there try to figure out their area of weakness.

“We focus on what that child needs helps in, and then we do individual reading conferences twice a week,” Green said.

And it’s made a difference.

“We have found that that program has completely changed the way these kids are reading,” Green said. “They’re having more conversations about the books they’re reading. They’re understanding them better. Their fluency is better.”

In essence, they get help exactly when and where they need it.

“We’re very big into active literacy, which means you’re communicating, you’re talking, you’re thinking about what you’re reading,” Green added.

A walk through the campus on Livingston reveals welcoming teachers and young children who are engaged in lessons or activities.

Petersen, who was a teacher at Carrollwood Day School before she joined the staff, said she, too took a leap of faith when she left her previous job.

“Something was just drawing me,” Petersen said.

She began as a teacher, and has gone on to become a co-owner. Petersen has a degree in finance, so she focuses on financial issues, while Green focuses on academics.

Besides offering classes during the academic year, there are summer programs and afternoon programs, too. Someday, the school may extend into higher grades, but for now it is focusing on ensuring excellence in the existing preschool and academy, Green said.

Both schools also will remain rooted in the mission of nurturing a joy of reading in children.

“I love seeing kids getting immersed in reading,” Green said.

Published May 21, 2014

 

Inaugural Memorial Day parade ready to get rolling

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People often have things they always wanted to do or try, but never got around to it. For Bob Barbero, that thing was a Memorial Day parade.

Barbero didn’t want to attend one. He wanted to start one.

The Knights of Columbus’ Memorial Day parade will end at the Baldomero Lopez State Veterans Nursing Home, where local dignitaries will speak at the inaugural event. (Michael Murillo/Staff Photo)
The Knights of Columbus’ Memorial Day parade will end at the Baldomero Lopez State Veterans Nursing Home, where local dignitaries will speak at the inaugural event.
(Michael Murillo/Staff Photo)

“It’s something I’ve had in my mind to do for 30 years,” he said. “It was one of those bucket list things.”

In his working years, Barbero never had the time to put it together. Now that he’s retired, he joined fellow members of the Knights of Columbus Assembly 2741 and Council 8104, and their first Memorial Day parade is scheduled for May 26 at 9 a.m.

The hardest part of organizing a parade, which took nearly a year, was the logistics and compliance issues, Barbero said. They wanted to set up a route that wouldn’t block any roads completely, making parade logistics especially challenging.

Traffic control also was important, as was setting up first aid stations, gathering permits and purchasing insurance.

But the easy part was getting participants. Barbero was pleasantly surprised to find that, once groups heard about the parade, they were eager to participate. Organizations associated with the Shriners and Boy Scouts contacted them to see if there was room in the parade, and around 25 different organizations will be participating on Monday.

“We’ve had so many great experiences that have just fallen into place,” Barbero said. The Ancient Order of Hibernians, representatives from MacDill Air Force Base, and the Wesley Chapel High School Marching Band also are participating. Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco will serve as grand marshal.

While the entire event took a lot of work to organize, one part of the parade route was known from the beginning. The Knights of Columbus work frequently with the Baldomero Lopez State Veterans Nursing Home at 6919 Parkway Blvd., and Barbero wanted to make sure their residents would be able to see the parade.

“I said, gee, wouldn’t it be nice to have a parade so these fellas could come outside and see the bands and all of this? And that’s exactly what is happening,” he said.

The parade begins at Dupree Lakes before turning at Ehren Cutoff and then Parkway Boulevard, where the nursing home is located. And while Barbero doesn’t know how many people will turn out on Monday, the Knights of Columbus are prepared for strong attendance with nearly 500 American flags to hand out to parade-goers.

But regardless of how many people will be at the Memorial Day parade, Barbero feels good about the organizational and community support, and the ability to pay tribute to those who made sacrifices around the world for everyone else here at home.

“I’m an American, and I think we should all do what we can, when we can,” Barbero said. “The main thing is to never forget what got us here, how many wonderful people that gave their lives so that we can walk around these streets in America and feel free.”

Published May 21, 2014

Lutz Patriots continue making every Friday a flag day

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Every Friday afternoon, drivers on U.S. 41 near the Old Lutz School are making hand gestures and honking their horns.

But they aren’t frustrated residents stuck in a traffic jam. The hand gestures are waves and thumbs-up, and they’re honking their horns at the Lutz Patriots, who line up American flags by the former school once a week.

Jim Russell, left, Bill McCray and Bruce Hockensmith of the Lutz Patriots wave to drivers along U.S. 41, who honk their horns in return to show support. The group has been setting up flags near the Old Lutz School on Fridays for more than a decade to show support for the military and their families. (Michael Murillo/Staff Photo)
Jim Russell, left, Bill McCray and Bruce Hockensmith of the Lutz Patriots wave to drivers along U.S. 41, who honk their horns in return to show support. The group has been setting up flags near the Old Lutz School on Fridays for more than a decade to show support for the military and their families.
(Michael Murillo/Staff Photo)

The Patriots are not a political organization, but they do want to remind drivers that troops remain in harm’s way, and that military personnel and their families still need support.

According to member Bruce Hockensmith, people are getting the message.

“If you stand here and watch us, you’ll hear the horns honking and see the lights flashing,” Hockensmith said. “It’s like a silent majority, people who support the troops.”

The Lutz Patriots have waved to drivers almost every Friday since 2003. The group was founded by two sisters, Karen Williams and Barbara Mueller, who wanted to show support for a family member at a time when there was public anti-war sentiment during the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts.

Now, a core group of about 10 make up the organization, who still line up flags by the school and still get a strong showing of support from the drivers who see them on their Friday afternoon travels.

The Lutz Patriots is mostly made up of retired military, and they recognize that their weekly message is seen by those who serve and their families, as well as the general public. Sometimes members of the military will stop and say hello and thank them for their display.

For Jim Russell, a Lutz resident who was in the U.S. Navy, it’s especially important that members of the military feel appreciated for their service. Russell was in the Gulf of Tonkin during the Vietnam War, and received a negative, disrespectful reception when he came home.

“I got off the ship in San Francisco in 1967. Does that tell you anything?” he said. “I don’t want to see things get back to that. It’s part of the reason I’m out here.”

While the Lutz Patriots can be found waving their flags every Friday, it’s not the only place they make their presence felt. When the remains of a fallen soldier are returned via MacDill Air Force Base, the group sets up their flags along Bayshore Boulevard in South Tampa to let the grieving family know their sacrifice doesn’t go unrecognized.

They also send packages to troops stationed across the globe. Hockensmith, who served in the U.S. Army and was stationed in Germany during the Vietnam War, said the group recently spent more than $700 in postage to send out a series of packages.

Hockensmith has been with the group since they began their weekly event, and said it feels strange on the rare occasions when bad weather prevents them from being there. They want to make sure drivers take a moment to remember those who are around the world serving in the military.

“We just want to keep them aware that we do have guys and gals serving that are in harm’s way every minute of every day,” he said. “We don’t want those people serving out there to be forgotten.”

The Lutz Patriots start setting up flags around 4:30 p.m. every Friday. To contact the group or make a donation, visit LutzPatriots.com, or e-mail Hockensmith at .

Published May 21, 2014

Keystone conference to highlight safety, home reinforcement

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As a group, the Keystone community is known for taking control of its own destiny, its civic association a powerful force of more than 4,200 homes just across the Hillsborough County line.

But a town hall gathering this week will ask those same residents to take control of a different kind — one that involves their own home.

The “Get Ready and Take Control” conference is set for May 22 beginning at 6:30 p.m., designed for residents to be ready when bad things happen.

“We cover 32 square miles, and we have an awful lot of wooded area,” said Tom Aderhold, president of the Keystone Civic Association, who is helping to organize the event. “We have a lot of woods, a lot of lakes, and a lot of opportunity for misfortune to befall somebody. We want to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

It’s not that Keystone isn’t safe. It’s just that life in this rural area between the smaller metropolis that is Tampa and the growth of Pasco County faces challenges its neighbors don’t.

For instance, children can get lost in the woods. Boaters and swimmers can have accidents in the lakes. Even encounters with the local wildlife can be troublesome.

And even with Pasco on a fast path to growth, residents there also face some of the same issues, which is why everyone — whether they live within Keystone or not — is invited to come out, Aderhold said.

“Public services are slow to get to us, so sometimes we have to be ready to help ourselves,” he said.

In the past, civic association and community leaders have worked with the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office and other first-responder agencies to make the community more self-sufficient. That included making an inventory of the kind of equipment individual homeowners already have that could be made available in an emergency, and now there is about $400,000 worth at their disposal.

Keystone also created citizen-led patrols led not by a car, but instead horses.

“Keystone has one of the largest horse populations in the state of Florida,” Aderhold said. “We told the county that we don’t want any of your cars, we’ll just do it on horseback. And it’s neat when you get a whole bunch of people together doing these sort of things.”

The meeting Thursday has two parts. The Keystone Citizen Corps & Emergency Operations Plan group is leading the first, designed specifically for homeowners. It doesn’t matter who built a home or when, houses are vulnerable to events like storms. But they don’t have to be.

“We have a woman coming in from Florida Emergency Management Services from Tallahassee to do a workshop showing homeowners how they can walk parts of their home and identify the five components that need the most attention,” Aderhold said. They are water barriers, whole house anchoring, gable ends, window openings and doorways.

“We have building codes in Florida, and builders build right to those codes. But they can decay or deteriorate over time,” Aderhold said. “We’ll have some retrofit specialists available as well to help homeowners.”

The second part of the conference is a town hall-style presentation dealing with a number of issues like crime, burglary, identity theft, hazards and dangers at work and at home, and sudden property damage from natural or man-made events.

This portion will include information from a variety of different groups including Residential Mitigation and Security, Neighborhood Watch, Hillsborough County Citizen Patrol, the Community Emergency Response Team, Medical Reserve Corp, and even the Amateur Radio Emergency Services team.

“They are an essential component of the emergency operations center,” Aderhold said of those radio operators. “When public communications go down, the ham radio operators have a huge network already in place, so they can be there communicating when others can’t.”

The conference will take place at Keystone Park, 17928 Gunn Highway, and the public is invited.

To get more information, call Tom Aderhold at (813) 968-6866.

Published  May 21, 2014

Aquaponics a growing venture for Odessa family

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When the Holzbergers began learning about aquaponics five years ago, they didn’t realize their interest would blossom into a full-fledged business.

But that’s exactly what happened.

Colin Holzberger stands with a mini system produced by The Urban Food Forest, an Odessa-based company that manufactures aquaponics systems. (Courtesy of Michele Holzberger)
Colin Holzberger stands with a mini system produced by The Urban Food Forest, an Odessa-based company that manufactures aquaponics systems.
(Courtesy of Michele Holzberger)

After attending a training session on aquaponics at MorningStar Fisherman in Dade City about four years ago, they began devising their own system at their Lutz home.

“We never stopped building and changing and fixing and growing and learning,” said Dustin Holzberger, who now operates The Urban Food Forest Inc., a business that manufactures and assembles aquaponic systems at 13219 Byrd Drive in Odessa.

The family was aware there was a market for an aquaponic system that was simple and attractive, said Michele Holzberger, his wife and the company’s co-owner. The family experimented with several variations before coming up with systems they decided to manufacture and sell.

“The company then began building systems for people,” Dustin Holzberger said. That’s where their son, Colin, comes in. He installs the systems.

In essence, aquaponics is the marriage of aquaculture — raising fish and hydroponics, growing plants without soil.

When the systems are tied together, the fish waste becomes a food source for the plants, which in turn provide a natural filter for the water where the fish live.

The Holzbergers have developed different kinds of aquaponic systems. One, called a mini system, is the shape of the barrel. It has fish on the bottom tier and plants on the top.

Another, called the Green Thumb System, has larger containers, which look more like tubs.

Another variation, which is the largest, is a trough system connected to a fish tank. The company calls this one the Aquaponics Victory Garden, which they say is like having a farmer’s market in your backyard.

“The Urban Food Forest’s vision is to integrate aquaponics into classrooms and backyards of our society, where we can build a food forest, one aquaponic farm at a time,” according to the company’s website.

The Holzbergers, who have three children, grow their own vegetables. They want others to be able to do so as well.

“What we wanted was for every person to have the confidence and the ability to grow some of their own food that is healthy,” Michele Holzberger said.

The systems they manufacture have been appealing, in particular, to schools, she said.

“It’s something they can keep indoors,” she said. “And, it’s something that by incorporating aquaponics in a science class, they can actually forego expensive labs and other teaching materials because this is so rich. It can be plants and roots for younger kids. It can be water chemistry and pH for older students.

“It can be just teaching children where food comes from and how to begin to think about food as something, that normally, throughout history people have grown themselves.”

The systems include graphics that provide information about aquaponics and maintenance instructions for the system.

Word is getting out about the Odessa company.

“We just go an order yesterday from Virginia Tech. They want to put one in their lobby,” Dustin Holzberger said.

The trend toward sustainable practices is growing, and people are interested in growing their own foods, Michele Holzberger said.

“Organic vegetables are so expensive,” she said. “And now, people are eating kale, Swiss chard and greens, instead of vitamins,” she said. “They’re growing their healthy food right in their backyard, and they’re putting it in their salads and smoothies, and they can feel confident that it’s clean and good for them.”

Colin Holzberger, who delivers and sets up the systems, said people want to know what they can grow and how to care for the fish. They also have questions about water chemistry.

Aquaponics offers many advantages, Dustin Holzberger said.

“You’re gardening without weeding, without tilling, without watering. Basically, you took a lot of work out of gardening,” he said. “Yet, you still get the same produce, if not more.”

Besides having the location in Odessa, the company also has an affiliation with Holloway Farm Supply at 3036 Land O’ Lakes Blvd., in Land O’ Lakes.

For more information about aquaponics and The Urban Food Forest, go to TheUrbanFoodForest.com.

WHAT: Aquaponics open house at The Urban Food Forest, 13219 Byrd Drive in Odessa
WHEN: May 31 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
COST: Free

Published May 21, 2014