The Laker/Lutz News

Serving Pasco since 1981/Serving Lutz since 1964

Local News

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

Business Digest 05-21-14

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BIll Heinrich
BIll Heinrich

Heinrich new CFO at Zephyrhills hospital
Bill Heinrich has been named the new chief financial officer of Florida Hospital Zephyrhills, making the short move from Florida Hospital Tampa where he was the assistant vice president of finance since August 2011.

Heinrich has been with the Adventist Health System since 2004, and brings more than 10 years of experience in hospital finance.

During his time at Florida Hospital Tampa, located near the University of South Florida’s main campus, Heinrich oversaw the renovation of Florida Hospital Tampa’s cafeteria, established the Tampa branch of Florida Hospital Home Infusion, and started the Finance Residency Program for the West Florida Region.

Before joining that hospital, Heinrich was the finance manager for Florida Hospital Altamonte, and a financial analyst for Florida Hospital Orlando.

Heinrich has a master’s degree from Webster University, and a bachelor’s degree in business from Union College in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Local Parade of Home winners
Home and community developers from Pasco and northern Hillsborough counties picked up 14 awards recently as the Tampa Bay Builders Association named its 2014 Parade of Homes winners.

The parade itself featured 143 model homes by 33 builders in more than 80 Tampa Bay area communities from Pasco, Hillsborough, Pinellas, Polk and Hernando counties.

Judging was done by a panel of independent homebuilding experts who, according to a release, considered site plan, curb appeal, design, materials, outdoor living spaces, architectural detailing, and workmanship.

Among the local communities, Connerton was the biggest winner with two grand and two merit awards. Terra Bella in Land O’ Lakes earned grand and merit awards, as did Cordoba Estates in Lutz.

Local grand award winners were:
• Ashton Woods Homes, Fairfax at Crenshaw Reserve
• D.R. Horton, The Surrey at Terra Bella
• M/I Homes, Madison C at Trinity Preserve
• Ryland Homes, Frost II at Connerton
• Standard Pacific Homes, the Bellingham at Cordoba Estates
• Standard Pacific Homes, the Castleberry in Crosswinds at Seven Oaks
• Standard Pacific Homes, the Chelsea at Peregrina at Watergrass
• Taylor Morrison, Kentwood III at Connerton

Standard Pacific Homes also earned a Best Floor Plan award for its Castleberry in Crosswinds at Seven Oaks in Wesley Chapel.

Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel sponsors parade
Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel has become the title sponsor for the inaugural Land O’ Lakes Memorial Day Parade hosted by the Knights of Columbus.

The parade, which begins at 9 a.m., on May 26, will start at Dupree Lakes Boulevard off Collier Parkway, and end just past the Baldomero Lopez State Veterans Nursing Home on Parkway Boulevard. The event is free to the community.

The parade also will include marching bands from area schools, as well as Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco as the grand marshal.

For information about the parade, call Bob Barbero at (813) 995-2736, or Ed Aguila at (813) 995-0973.

New models underway at Heron PreserveLennar has started construction of two new model homes at Heron Preserve at K-Bar Ranch in New Tampa.

The community, located on Climbing Aster Drive near Kinnan Street in New Tampa, has plans for 118 homes ranging in size from three to six bedrooms, and priced from $248,000 to around $350,000.

The Eastham model is a three-story, four-bedroom, 2,065-square-foot house, while the two-story Harwich model home will offer five bedrooms and 3,777 square feet of space.

Financial company opens in Dade City
Don Carter, a retired U.S. Air Force officer, has opened an office of The Interface Financial Group in Dade City.

The office is expected to help small businesses in the area access to alternative sources for working capital.

“There are many growing local businesses that are unable to get traditional bank financing,” Carter said, in a release. “I am very excited about the opportunity to provide financial options to local business owners so they can achieve greater success.”

The office will be located at 12701 Grand Traverse Drive in Dade City. It can be reached at (352) 668-4519.

Area Odyssey of the Mind teams qualify for world competition

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An Odyssey of the Mind team from Pine View Middle School will head to the OM World competition in Ames, Iowa, at the end of May.

This Odyssey of the Mind team from Land O’ Lakes High placed second at a state competition to qualify for the World OM competition, but they won’t be attending because of scheduling conflicts. Shown here, from left to right are Blake Lash, Raelynn Lewis, Jenny Huynh, Taylore Presta, Victoria Arriaga, and Rachel Granruth. Dalton Sihite is kneeling on the ground in front of the group. (Courtesy of Jenny Huynh)
This Odyssey of the Mind team from Land O’ Lakes High placed second at a state competition to qualify for the World OM competition, but they won’t be attending because of scheduling conflicts. Shown here, from left to right are Blake Lash, Raelynn Lewis, Jenny Huynh, Taylore Presta, Victoria Arriaga, and Rachel Granruth. Dalton Sihite is kneeling on the ground in front of the group.
(Courtesy of Jenny Huynh)

Another OM team from Land O’ Lakes High School also qualified for the international competition, but is not going because of the competition’s timing. All of the members on that team are graduating seniors and are busy with senior year activities.

A total of six of the 57 Pasco County teams that competed at the state level qualified for the international contest. The other qualifying teams are Mitchell and Gulf high schools, Deer Park Elementary and Seven Springs Middle schools.

Odyssey of the Mind is an international program that encourages youths to work together as teams to use their creative and analytical skills to solve problems.

The Pine View team, which placed second in its division, tackled a problem called “Not So Haunted House.”

The Pine View team — made up of Cameron Mitchell, Zachery Dahm, Tristan Wiles, Cody Schwartz, Caleb Leeb and Timmy Heuser — is psyched about competing at worlds. They’ll battle 67 teams from such places as Switzerland, Hong Kong, Singapore, Mexico, India, Russia and Great Britain.

Some team members think they have a pretty good shot for a good showing at worlds. Others aren’t so sure. “It’s not necessarily about if we’re in the top or in the bottom. We made it to worlds. That says something,” said Tristan Wiles, whose mother, Stacy Wiles, coaches the team.

Schwartz is looking forward to the experience, no matter how the team does.

“I get to meet people from around the world,” he said.

When it came to solving the problem at state, the team had no trouble figuring out their theme, Heuser said. But agreeing to the approach to use was more challenging.

“Everybody wanted to do their own thing, and then nobody understood what the other person was saying,” Heuser said.

Leeb agreed, joking: “Success is 1 percent inspiration, 99 percent perspiration and 100 percent bickering.”

But they worked through it, Stacy Wiles noted.

“It was not an easy process and that’s what makes it so cool,” the coach said.

It’s a balancing act, Tristan Wiles said.

“We all have to come together to create a solution,” Tristan Wiles said. “We all have to be one team, in order to solve the problem. That’s the whole point of this. You need to learn how to work well with each other. You need to learn to listen to each other.”

The coach has confidence in them because they are funny, creative, resourceful and kind, Stacy Wiles said.

Each team member brings different strengths. Mitchell and Dahm are good at tackling logistics and engineering. Tristan Wiles is artistic. Schwartz places a key role in writing the script. Heuser helps keep things rolling and does considerable backstage work.

The team must cover its own expenses for the trip, but Pine View’s PTSA and Pasco County Schools both contributed $1,000 each to help cover the costs, the coach said.

Although the Land O’ Lakes team isn’t traveling to worlds, team members — Rachel Granruth, Victoria Arriaga, Dalton Sihite, Blake Lash, Raelynn Lewis, Taylore Presta, and Jenny Huynh — are delighted that they qualified.

They used an out-of-this-world approach to tackling their challenge, which was called “Driver’s Test.” The vehicle they made traveled through space, in their imaginary world.

Their skit included alien beings that worshipped Beyoncé and channeled Justin Bieber. They adapted songs from stage musicals such as “The Book of Mormon” and “Hairspray,” and they incorporated solar flares and shooting stars in their story line.

In short, they had a blast coming up with ideas and executing them.

They also spent a lot of time working together to prepare for the state competition.

“You learn some practical skills. I know how to sew now,” Sihite said.

“I know how to use power tools,” Huynh said.

“Everyone is good at something,” Arriaga said. “You build on each other’s ideas.”

Lewis thinks more students should get involved in OM.

“It’s a really interesting mix of sciences and arts,” she said.

Many members of the team have been doing OM for years, Lash said. He was even coached by Stacy Wiles when he attended Pine View.

Lash has been involved, he said, because it’s fun. Other teammates agreed.

Andrew Southwick, the OM sponsor for the Land O’ Lakes team, is a former OM competitor. He was impressed by the team’s performance.

“Their personalities are a little bit intense,” Southwick said, but they worked well together. “It’s good to see that creativity isn’t dead.”

Published May 14, 2014

Guv’na hopefuls kick off campaigns at annual ‘debate’

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The candidates to become the next Lutz Guv’na are all a bunch of sellouts.

Lester ‘Boddie’ Osteen, a Lutz resident since 1936, took a few moments to share his memories of the area and its history with the crowd. ‘You’re privileged to live in this community,’ he said. (Michael Murillo/Staff Photo)
Lester ‘Boddie’ Osteen, a Lutz resident since 1936, took a few moments to share his memories of the area and its history with the crowd. ‘You’re privileged to live in this community,’ he said.
(Michael Murillo/Staff Photo)

At the annual Guv’na debate May 10 at the Old Lutz School, the five hopefuls for the ceremonial title were doing whatever they could to raise cash: Selling cookies, brownies and even specialty popcorn. They had raffles and drawings. They even announced yard sales and other fundraisers scheduled for the next couple months.

But unlike a traditional political campaign, the money raised doesn’t go toward buttons, bumper stickers or negative attack ads. It goes to local schools, civic organizations and other groups that benefit from the Lutz Guv’na event, which names the winner solely by how much money they raise for charity. Last year the candidates as a group raised nearly $12,000, most of that coming from the winner and current Guv’na, Suzin Carr.

The debate was an opportunity for the candidates to kick off their campaigns with smiles, handshakes and outrageous promises if “elected” to office. One vowed to rid the area of pesky mosquitoes. Another promised a five-day weekend. And they participated in contests to show their ability to handle the job, such as watermelon eating and knitting.

If it all sounds a little strange, Carr said that’s exactly how it’s supposed to be.

“It’s a silly, community spirit, wonderful thing for Lutz,” she said. “It’s supposed to be tacky. It’s supposed to be off-the-cuff crazy.”

Having a campaign for an honorary title is the kind of event that keeps Lutz’s small-town appeal intact. The fact that the money goes directly to organizations that need it makes the Lutz Guv’na race a positive force in the community, Carr explained. Scout troops, the Civil Air Patrol, Friends of the Library and the Old Lutz School itself are just some of the groups who will benefit from the money candidates raise.

This year’s crop of candidates seemed eager to kick off their campaigns. Liane Caruso is the founder and chief marketing officer of Limelight Marketing. She has a strong knowledge of social media and a love of tacos going for her.

Susan Gulash is the owner and creative force behind Gulash Graphics. She couldn’t attend the debate, but was well represented with her team both at the booth and the podium.

“Papa” Jay Muffly was the longtime president of the Lutz Volunteer Fire Association. He’s the choice of the Lutz-Land O’ Lakes Woman’s Club, and had plenty of supporters in attendance.

Dr. Cindy Perkins is the owner of the Back in Health Wellness Center. She came to the debate armed with cupcakes for sale and a pink tutu to wear while on the panel.

Jerome Smalls is the director of operations at Soccer Gemz, a sports program for younger children. His program is so positive-oriented that when asked to showcase his “mean coach” voice, he only shouted encouragement.

Carr, the only two-time Lutz Guv’na, loves wearing the sash that designates her as current title-holder. But she knows her term will come to an end soon, and she has some advice for those who want her job: Enjoy the race, and the title that might come with it.

“Have fun. Put yourself out there,” she said. “For me, when I ran, it wasn’t as Suzin Carr. I was in a character. The Guv’na to me is a character.

“Nobody believes that at home I’m really a private person. But when I’m in the public eye like this, you just go with it.”

Published May 14, 2014

Proud to report more readers than ever before

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About this time every year, I write a column about our annual circulation and readership audit. I use this audit to talk about the number of papers we print and deliver, and more importantly, how many people regularly read The Laker or Lutz News.

In the free newspaper industry, Circulation Verification Council has been verifying circulation and readership since 1992. Today it audits more than 2,000 publications with more than 55 million in circulation, including The Laker and Lutz News.

Well, it’s audit time again, and our numbers are even better than they were a year ago. Our circulation has increased by 3.8 percent to 42,600, and our readership grew by 3 percent to give us 79 percent household penetration.

Most newspapers would be thrilled with 60 percent household penetration — a percentage most publishers have not seen since before the Internet explosion of news. For our papers to be at 79 percent household penetration is enviable, and one we’re very proud to report.

To put our circulation growth in perspective, earlier this month most daily newspapers in Florida reported circulation drops by the auditing company they use. Close to home, the Tampa Bay Times reported its mid-week circulation was down 7 percent, while The Tampa Tribune showed no growth after accounting for the circulation gain of a weekly paper it bought in Clearwater April 2013.

As proud as we are about our audit and the gains we’ve made this past year, I realize you may think these numbers a bit boastful and not really relevant to your life.

It probably doesn’t matter to you whether we throw 10,000 papers or 50,000, just as long as your paper is thrown in your driveway or dropped at your newsstand every Wednesday. You get to decide each week if you want to take the time to read the stories and look at the ads from local businesses.

It’s our job to make sure your paper has stories and information that are relevant and you find interesting to read.  And it’s our job to make sure you can count on your paper to be delivered every week so reading it becomes a habit.

In addition to circulation verification, the audit gives us demographical information about our readers, which we use to choose the stories we write.

We know that 57 percent of our readers are women, that 42 percent are between the ages of 35 and 54, and another 41 percent are over 55. Our readers are well educated (74 percent have attended or graduated from college) and affluent (30 percent have household incomes above $100,000, and another 20 percent above $75,000).

The audit also surveys readers and asks what types of stories they want to read. That’s why we write a lot about growth and development, things to do and stories about people and organizations in our communities. We’ve worked hard this past year to bring you more stories about topics that interest you.

This year’s audit is, as they say, proof in the pudding that we’ve improved. It’s independent confirmation that we’re doing a good job, and that the changes we’ve made in our news coverage this past year have resulted in increased readership.

And this is tremendously gratifying to my staff and I because we love what we do. Nothing is more emotionally satisfying than to know that our hard work is appreciated, and that we make a difference in the community where we work and live.

Published May 14, 2014