Wesley Chapel/New Tampa News

Bull Run: Wiregrass Ranch soccer team still undefeated

December 18, 2014 By Michael Murillo

Sunlake High School is considered a powerhouse boys soccer program in Pasco County.

And for good reason: The Seahawks have a long track record of success, a winning coach, and they’re undefeated so far this season.

But they’re not the only ones.

Brendan Duran and his soccer teammates at Wiregrass Ranch High School are off to a perfect start. (Michael Murillo/Staff Photo)

Wiregrass Ranch High School has had five straight winning seasons, and the sixth already is in the bag after just 13 regular season games.

The Bulls are 13-0, including 5-0 in Class 4A-District 8. They’ve scored 62 goals compared to just five against, with nine shutouts. Their closest opponent in the district standings, Mitchell High School, lost 2-0 to Wiregrass Ranch last week.

And according to coach David Wilson, they don’t need to be micromanaged to succeed.

“They’ll run the first 25 minutes of practice without me having to do anything,” he said. “I say one thing to them, and they’ll be gone. They go on their run, they come out and stretch, they do their preliminary practice stuff and their preparation stuff.

“There’s expectations that we’ve set and these kids know what to do when they come in.”

Part of knowing what to do comes from playing at the local club level, Wilson said. Including the junior varsity team — which also undefeated — around 90 percent of their players participate in club soccer.

While the Bulls are dominating offensively and defensively, the coach said their strength lies in their depth. Injuries, sickness and club soccer commitments have required the team to dig deep into the roster frequently, and their bench players are able and ready to perform at a high level when called to the pitch.

“There’s not a drop-off when we have to go to the bench,” Wilson said. “You can wear teams down if you can go to your 20th player and have the kid not drop off too much from your No. 11 player.”

There isn’t any drop-off when they switch goalkeepers, either. While the shutouts and low goals against are impressive, it doesn’t come from one standout player. The Bulls actually rotate dominating goalkeepers, including Wilson’s son, Payton.

They have another goalie getting work at the junior varsity level, so an area that causes some teams to struggle is a very deep position at Wiregrass Ranch.

Wilson hopes that depth helps the team go farther than they did last year, even though it was a successful season. They reached the regional semifinals before falling to district rival Mitchell, 5-1.

That loss — at home, no less — stung some of the players. Providing a little payback with a 2-0 victory on Dec. 9 was an important win for them.

“That felt great. It was sweet revenge,” said Brendan Duran, the team’s assist leader.

After not playing their best in their final game last year, he said it’s important to start out this year strong and keep expectations high so they can advance farther.

But expectations alone won’t get it done, and Duran believes the team has the skill to reach the state finals. But even skill isn’t enough, and he knows what else is required to reach their potential.

“It’s going to have to take dedication,” Duran said. “And definitely hard work.”

His coach agrees that the team has the ability to compete for a state title, but he won’t be running around on the sidelines and screaming at his team to get there. Wilson isn’t that kind of coach, preferring to keep things in perspective and build strong foundations that aren’t swayed by the emotions of one game.

But he’s proud of the program, noting that alumni frequently come to games or practices to support the current players and reminisce with him about previous seasons.

Wilson, who also coaches tennis and is the school’s athletic director, has been coaching soccer for 26 years. But if other schools are hoping he might hang it up soon and give them a chance to topple Wiregrass Ranch, they’ll probably have a long wait.

“There’s really nothing else I want to do,” Wilson said. “I still really enjoy it.”

Published December 17, 2014

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Future is here: Body cameras coming to Pasco

December 18, 2014 By Michael Hinman

Many law enforcement agencies around the country continue to debate whether they should have patrol officers wear body cameras — but the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office isn’t waiting any longer.

More than 400 deputies and investigators will be equipped with body cameras in February, a movie Sheriff Chris Nocco said would make neighborhoods safer for deputies and the people who live in them.

Pasco County Sheriff’s deputy and field training officer Kristina Perez, right, demonstrates the new body camera that other deputies in Sheriff Chris Nocco’ department will be equipped with beginning in February. (Michael Hinman/Staff Photo)

“This is not the panacea,” Nocco said during a news conference last week. “This is not going to be the cure-all for all the issues of our world. But it’s a tool, just like any other tool that we use in law enforcement.”

The sheriff’s office is in the process of ordering 415 sets of Taser Axon cameras, which can be mounted on glasses, hats, shirt fronts, collars, lapels and other locations on a deputy. They record up to four hours of video and audio, and have a battery that lasts 12 hours.

Deputies will turn it on whenever they get out of their patrol car to interact with the public or investigate a crime, Nocco said. At the end of each shift, deputies connect their camera to a docking station to upload each video. Once it’s in the system, they cannot be manipulated, and deputies will not be able to edit them.

It’s the kind of system that will not only provide transparency in how deputies interact with people inside Pasco County, but it also could streamline the court system significantly.

“The criminal justice system’s job is to get to the truth,” said Craig Laporte, an attorney with Proly Laporte & Mulligan in Port Richey, who represents one of the deputy unions. “If an individual has, in fact, committed a crime, this provides evidence of that. This could reduce the number of jury trials … because the state attorney will immediately have information they can use.”

Cameras also could significantly reduce the complaints filed against deputies, each one of which must be investigated. By having an unedited video and audio record of the encounter, internal investigations would not have to rely on witness accounts alone, discouraging people from making false claims against the officer.

It also could stop a deputy from crossing any lines, making some of the problems police are experiencing in New York City and Ferguson, Missouri, a lot less likely to happen.

While the use of body cameras is something some observers have suggested after the officer-involved deaths in those cities, Nocco said Pasco’s plan has been in motion for quite some time, with field testing beginning last October.

“This started months ago because citizens are constantly pulling their phones out and taping deputies,” Nocco said. Those deputies were “looking on their own to get body cameras, and they were talking about buying them on their own. But I said to wait, because we have to come up with a policy.”

That policy includes when deputies are expected to have the cameras on, and how long videos will be stored before they’re deleted. The policy also makes it clear that the cameras can’t be used as “Big Brother,” Nocco said, referring to the novel “1984,” where supervisors can’t pull up random video just for the sake of disciplining a deputy.

The entire program will cost $400,000 a year — far less than what other neighboring agencies like the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office is considering, Nocco said. Initial funds will come from federal forfeiture dollars, but future years will require funding through tax dollars controlled by the Pasco County Commission.

The cameras bring their own controversies to the table, primarily when it comes to privacy rights, Fourth Amendment protections of search and seizure through the U.S. Constitution, and how footage is used, and what is made available to the public. Nocco says he hopes lawmakers in Tallahassee will address body cameras this coming year, but in the meantime, he’s moving forward.

So far for the upcoming legislative session, only one bill has been filed in Tallahassee regarding body cameras. State Rep. Shevrin Jones, D-West Park, filed H.B. 57 on Dec. 4 that, if passed, would require every uniformed law enforcement officer primarily assigned to patrol duties to be equipped with a body camera by Jan. 1, 2016.

“We’re not fearful of being a leader out there,” Nocco said. “There’s always going to be bumps in the road, and there is always going to be tweaks.”

Cameras like this already are in use in different parts of the United Kingdom, and those police departments provided a significant amount of data on how the cameras were used. For example, one town in Scotland found that 70 percent of cases that involved body cameras were less likely to go to trial. Closer to home in Rialto, California, complaints against law enforcement officers dropped from 24 to just three.

Published December 17, 2014

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Massive Quail Hollow land grab raises eyebrows

December 11, 2014 By Michael Hinman

A developer who had originally planned to build a 260-acre corporate park near the Suncoast Parkway before selling the land last year hasn’t quite given up on Pasco County.

Charles Bruck, the owner of Tampa’s SoHo Capital, is among the buyers of more than 1,000 acres of land just west of Quail Hollow in Wesley Chapel. Bruck’s SoHo Dayflower LLC company and some other partners completed the purchase just before Thanksgiving for $4.2 million.

Armenian Acres, a small rural gated community off Mangrove Drive, could be the most affected by any planned development of more than 1,000 acres that surround the community on the western side. (Michael Hinman/Staff Photo)

But what does Bruck have in store for the land? He’s not talking quite yet. However, it’s not necessarily far-fetched to believe he’s planning to turn hundreds of acres of agricultural land into a brand new development.

Except that’s not what he’s doing, at least according to one prominent land broker. Bill Eshenbaugh, known in the industry as “The Dirt Dog” and owner of Eshenbaugh Land Co., wasn’t involved in this particular land sale, but has worked in the past for Bruck, as well as his partners in this particular purchase — J. Aprile Properties LLC, D. Aprile Properties LLC and R. Aprile Properties LLC.

The plan? Leave the land just the way it is. At least for now.

“The Apriles are good dairymen, and they can work that land just the way it’s been for the past few decades,” Eshenbaugh said. “They really have nothing to lose on this. It’s one of the lowest prices I’ve seen.”

The purchase was most likely part of what is known in the land industry as a 1031 exchange, Eshenbaugh said. That refers to a portion of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code where a property owner can sell land, and then reinvest those proceeds in a similar property purchase elsewhere to defer the capital gains taxes he would have to pay otherwise.

The Apriles, for example, recently sold one of Hillsborough County’s last dairy farms off Cowley Road in the Riverview area, Eshenbaugh said. The family could reinvest that money in the Pasco land to avoid paying federal taxes on the profit.

Two foreign companies have owned the land Bruck’s group purchased since the 1980s. The largest parcel of more than 600 acres, located west of Mangrove Drive, surrounds a small block of homes on Armenian Lane behind a rural gate known as Armenian Acres.

Gazas N.V. Inc., a company located in the former Netherlands Antilles, bought that land in 1981 for $1.1 million, according to county property records, or what would be $2.9 million today.

The second parcel is located north of it, along Quail Hollow Boulevard, just below Apple Blossom Lane. Lexel Establishment Ltd. of Israel purchased that land in 1980 for $520,000, or $1.5 million when adjusted for inflation.

Just two years ago, the property owners approached Pasco County officials about potentially developing the land to build up to 1,000 homes. However, building officials resisted the idea, according to notes from that meeting, citing the need to vastly improve what are primarily rural roads connecting that land to the major throughways.

Bruck could come back and work with the county on possibly developing that land again in the future, Eshenbaugh said, and would have the necessary experience to get it done. Or, Bruck and the Apriles could flip the land in a few years, and likely make a hefty profit since they likely could make far more than they paid.

Bruck wanted to build what he was calling the Suncoast Employment Village, some 260 acres of land he bought in 2011 for nearly $1.8 million along State Road 54 just east of the Suncoast Parkway. However, Bruck flipped that land just two years later to Newland Communities LLC for $6 million, which would then become a part of that developer’s much larger Bexley Ranch project.

When the land was sold, it was entitled to build 780 townhomes, 1.8 million square feet of office space, and 440,000 square feet of retail, according to published reports.

The Suncoast Employment Village was another example of Bruck buying land cheap — at less than $7,000 an acre. But in this particular case, instead of developing it as he had planned, Bruck instead was able to sell for $23,000 an acre, more than triple what he originally paid.

So far, no one has approached the county again about developing the land into a residential or commercial site, said Michele Crary of the county’s planning and development department. If Bruck and the Apriles do set up a meeting, however, they would still be hampered by the need to vastly upgrade roads like Quail Hollow Boulevard to make such a project feasible.

Bruck did not return requests for comment made through his primary company, SoHo Capital.

Published December 10, 2014

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New ordinance could have predators on the run

December 11, 2014 By Michael Hinman

Registered sexual predators and offenders already have to stay at least 1,000 feet away from areas where kids might congregate. If Mike Moore gets his way, those convicted of sexual crimes could be pushed back even further.

Moore, who joined the Pasco County Commission last month, is expected to propose a new countywide ordinance in January that would increase the distance registered predators and offenders have to stay away from children areas at 2,500 feet, or nearly a half-mile. That would include everything from schools and day cares, to the thousands of bus stops located around the county.

And if that means there’s nowhere left for predators or offenders to live, Pasco County sheriff Chris Nocco says he’s OK with that.

“It’s not a bad day if they all leave the county,” he said. “You get a guy who did a sexual battery on an 11-year-old girl, and I propose that anybody who is against this, let that person move into your house. If you feel like we’re beating up on that person, let them move into your house, or let them move next door to you.”

It’s not clear exactly where those who are convicted and registered predators and offenders would be able to live, but Moore said during a news conference Monday there are some pockets in the county that would still be legal if the ordinance were to pass. It might come off as highly restrictive for those who have been convicted of crimes, but the safety of children should come first and foremost, the commissioner added.

“Anything we can do to reduce the opportunity for sexual offenders and sexual predators to come into contact with these children is a positive for us,” Moore said. “Looking from the outside and looking in, they’ll understand that Pasco is a safe place.”

Although Moore has not discussed the proposal with other commissioners, he said he has talked to the county attorney, Jeffrey Steinsnyder. A draft of the ordinance might echo similar ones in other areas, including one in Miami-Dade County. The ordinance there strengthens state law that already restricts those convicted of a sexual battery, lewd and lascivious act on or in the presence of a child under 16, the sexual performance by a child, or selling or buying of minors for portrayal in sexually explicit conduct, to reside within 1,000 feet of any school, day care center or playground.

The Miami-Dade ordinance, however, only restricts residency within 2,500 feet of a school. The Pasco ordinance, Moore and Nocco said, also would include bus stops, day care centers, libraries, assisted living facilities and nursing homes.

“Anywhere that our most vulnerable citizens congregate,” Moore said.

The Miami-Dade restrictions were enough to prompt the American Civil Liberties Union to file a lawsuit in federal court, claiming the ordinance is too onerous, and does not give registered predators or offenders any place to live.

Moore won’t let this hamper his efforts to move the proposal forward, however.

“We can’t be scared of lawsuits when we propose an ordinance,” he said.

Such an ordinance would have to be approved by the full county commission, which will not even officially get an introduction to Moore’s plan until its next regularly scheduled meeting on Jan. 13.

Nocco was a vocal supporter of Moore during his political campaign to replace longtime commissioner Pat Mulieri. Nocco appeared in a television advertisement as well as mailers supporting the commission campaign.

Published December 10, 2014

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Extra innings for Wesley Chapel baseball park?

December 11, 2014 By Michael Hinman

An ambitious plan to bring a major youth-oriented baseball complex to the Wiregrass Ranch area of Wesley Chapel might be coming apart. Yet, the developers of the plan aren’t giving up, and are even willing to continue on without $11 million in funding from Pasco County.

Pasco Sports LLC, a partnership between Blue Marble Strategic’s James Talton and retired Major League Baseball star Gary Sheffield, missed a deadline to file a financial plan with Pasco County officials Friday, a little more than a week after county commissioners gave them more time to get money together.

Major League Baseball star and Tampa native Gary Sheffield talks to some representatives of Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel after a September meeting with the Greater Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce. Sheffield and development partner James Talton have a new plan to bring a youth baseball complex to Pasco County. (File Photo)

“I am very disappointed that they were unable to obtain the financing by today’s deadline,” Pasco County administrator Michele Baker said last week in a statement. “However, we still believe very strongly in the concept. Youth sports are an important component of our tourism plan, and the Wiregrass location is geographically well positioned for the region. We look forward to continued dialogue with interested parties in order to bring a sports complex like this to Pasco County.”

Pasco Sports was looking to get $11 million in county tourism funding to help construct the project, along with $23 million of its own money. However, getting a financial backer to front the private side of the deal has been problematic for Talton and Sheffield in recent weeks, forcing some scale-back from what was originally a $70 million project.

The key to the deal, at least in the eyes of the Pasco County commission, was a $3 million pledge to guarantee loans on the project, something Sheffield told commissioners just before Thanksgiving that he would be willing to front himself, if need be.

“In our minds, this is just another step in the process, and we have every intention of getting this project completed,” Talton told The Laker/Lutz News in an email over the weekend.

The commission, based on what Ted Schrader told Talton and Sheffield at the pre-Thanksgiving meeting, is expected to terminate the agreement it has with Pasco Sports at its next meeting in January. Talton, however, said that’s exactly what he now wants to happen.

“The current agreement is being terminated,” he said. “I literally cannot work based on the current financing environment. We will negotiate new terms and have financing in place upon execution so we can move forward immediately.”

In fact, Talton said the county would no longer be asked to invest $11 million into the project, as long as it releases Pasco Sports from its obligation to pay fixed and contingent county revenue, as well as the company’s obligation to secure funding by a specific date and at a specific amount. Talton shared this in a letter to Pasco County administrator Michele Baker Nov. 25.

The county, however, would still be responsible for funding and construction of the connector road between Wiregrass Ranch Road and the park, Talton said. While Pasco would save the $11 million, it would not receive a piece of the revenue generated by the sports park when it goes into operation under this revised plan.

Talton told members of the Greater Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce last October that his project — consisting of 19 baseball fields, dormitories and other sports-related amenities — could create an estimated 8,000 jobs and a $318 million annual economic impact boost to the county.

Commissioners wanted to make a final decision on the $11 million investment at its January meeting, but in order to do that, the developers needed to have paperwork submitted by the end of the day Dec. 5. That would then give county officials time to review the paperwork before it was presented to commissioners.

Published December 10, 2014

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Porters give blood, sweat, tears to Wiregrass Ranch development

December 4, 2014 By Michael Hinman

Not too long ago, Tampa mayor Bob Buckhorn called Pasco County a bedroom community, doing nothing more than supplement the economic engine of his county, Hillsborough.

Whether Buckhorn’s observation of Pasco is accurate or not now is not what J.D. Porter is focused on. Instead, he wants to make sure that’s not the Pasco County of tomorrow.

J.D. Porter, right, joins his late father, Don, in groundbreaking ceremonies that helped create what would become the Wiregrass Ranch development area in Pasco County. The Porter family has owned much of the land for decades. (File Photo)

“Bedroom communities are not the future,” Porter recently told members of the Pasco Alliance for Community Associations.

Porter represents his family in the expansive Wiregrass Ranch project that is converting thousands of acres of grazing and agricultural land into sustainable residential neighborhoods and corporate parks in the greater Wesley Chapel area.

The land is part of more than 14,000 acres the Porter family picked up in 1941 at $1.73 an acre when their previous land holdings in Zephyrhills were grabbed to create what would become the municipal airport there.

Porter’s uncle would be the first to flip his land, doubling his money in just four years in what would later become Meadow Pointe. But J.D.’s grandfather James and father Don would hold on for decades.

“We could’ve easily sold out to a bunch of different developers, but none of them represented the legacy that my dad and my grandfather really embraced,” J.D. Porter said. “They wanted to do all the things they didn’t have growing up. That is why you see a college and a hospital, something other communities don’t have after 35 years. Here, you see them in before there is even a rooftop at Wiregrass.”

Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel far exceeded any of the initial expectations, and already is running at capacity, Porter said.

Pasco-Hernando State College’s Porter Campus at Wiregrass Ranch opened in 2013 already saw its enrollment jump more than 22 percent in its second year.

The Shops at Wiregrass, which opened in 2008 at the corner of State Road 56 and Bruce B. Downs Boulevard, makes more money per square foot — about $15 more — than Tampa’s International Mall, Porter said.

Property nearby along the east side of State Road 56 is planned for more of a mixed use, including the possibility of constructing apartments up to five stories tall.

“It would be for young professionals working at the hospital, at the college, or even with Raymond James, they might be able to catch some of those buyers,” Porter said. Rents there could run as high as $1.25 a square foot — or $1,375 for a 1,100-square-foot unit — well above some of the typical prices of about $1 per square foot.

Porter doesn’t want to just start and stop with young professionals, however. Instead, he envisions having a community that serves all walks of life, from birth to retirement. That’s why that particular area also includes plans for a 300-unit active adult community that could save families having to drive to places like Zephyrhills or the University of South Florida area to see older relatives.

Pasco has not had tremendous luck in attracting big-name employers to the county, but Raymond James Financial is still at the table, Porter said. The St. Petersburg-based financial company announced in 2011 plans to build two 100,000-square-foot buildings that could bring 750 jobs to the area by 2024. The county and state even kicked in $15 million in tax incentives to help make it happen.

Raymond James, however, missed its 2012 target date to start construction. Making matters worse, the company says it will likely delay that project up to five years simply because they’re not ready to expand.

“We think it’s a great site over time,” Raymond James’ chief executive Paul Reilly said during an October symposium. “But right now, we don’t need the space, and when we need the space, we’ll look at expansion there, or see what happens to our other facilities.”

But it’s just not the economy holding that project up, Porter said. It’s the federal government.

“We have all the permits from Pasco County, and all the permits from Swiftmud,” Porter said, referring to the Southwest Florida Water Management District. “What we’ve been waiting for over the past 16 months is the Army Corps of Engineers. There are a lot of things I’d rather do than deal with these people. It is disgusting.”

Although there are a lot of hands in the Wiregrass Ranch pot when it comes to development, Porter refuses to take a backseat.

“So much blood, sweat and tears go into this,” he said. “But you only get one shot to do it right.”

Published December 3, 2014

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Weightman students hope to stamp out tobacco use

December 4, 2014 By B.C. Manion

The students come streaming into the media center at Weightman Middle School before school started, and went straight to work making posters.

They were creating messages for the middle school’s Red Ribbon Week, an effort to discourage drug use.

Fourth-grader Siena Bracciale enjoys helping Weightman’s Students Working Against Tobacco club on its projects. She is the daughter of Weightman principal Brandon Bracciale. (B.C. Manion/Staff Photo)

Some kids arrived at the library at 8 a.m. sharp, others drifted in over the next 20 minutes or so. Whether they arrived early or late, though, it was clear they wanted to be there.

The students belong to a school club called Students Working Against Tobacco, or SWAT for short. Their primary goal is to discourage tobacco use, but they’ve also branched into other areas, said Cpl. Kevin Brantley, the school resource officer at the Wesley Chapel middle school.

“We meet in here every Wednesday,” said Brantley, who launched this chapter of the club three years ago when he was stationed at Weightman.

The club gets bigger each year. It started with a dozen kids, then doubled in size.

Now, it has up to 50 members, with about 30 kids turning out any given week.

Besides spreading the word on the dangers of smoking and other forms of tobacco use, Brantley said the kids also pitch in on community cleanups and other volunteer efforts.

On Oct. 29, they created posters with a couple of different themes. One set of posters proclaimed, “Reddy to say no to drugs.”

“We’re playing on the word ‘red,’” Brantley explained, in honor of the school’s Red Ribbon Week.

The other posters said, “These paws don’t touch drugs.”

To help raise awareness of dangers posed by tobacco use, the club had an event last year where 88 people lined up, then fell, as if to their death. The dramatization signified the 88 people who die each day in Florida from medical conditions stemming from tobacco use.

The club plans to stage a similar event this year, Brantley said. The school resource officer likens these kinds of dramatizations to the Truth commercials from the American Legacy Foundation that appear on television to give people a reality check about the dangers of tobacco use.

Club member Jasmine Thoey said she belongs to SWAT because she wants to be a part of positive change.

“I don’t want other people to get sick,” she said.

She thinks the club appeals to other kids because it helps them feel that they can make a difference.

“We can do it,” Thoey said. “We can change the world.”

Beyond participating at school, Thoey and members of other SWAT clubs also make public appearances, speaking against the use of tobacco. She makes appearances before state lawmakers, city councils and other groups in the effort to stamp out tobacco use.

A group of SWAT students made an appearance earlier this year before the Pasco County school board asking for smoking to be outlawed on school campuses. Kenny Blankenship, president of United School Employees of Pasco, said the current contract allows schools to conduct surveys to see if they want to become tobacco-free. Under that contract, however, if even just one school employee wants to retain smoking on campus, the right to do so is protected.

But those who would ban tobacco use on school district grounds could see a major shift, if language in contract negotiations gains approval. USEP has agreed to the proposed elimination of tobacco use on district property effective July 1, 2016.

While contract negotiations continue at the district level, fourth-grader Siena Bracciale enjoys helping Weightman’s SWAT team on its projects. The daughter of principal Brandon Bracciale, she recently was at Weightman working on a poster.

Bracciale wants to discourage people from smoking or using drugs.

Besides spreading a message against tobacco and drugs, the club also gives kids a chance to meet other kids and to make friends, Brantley said. The Weightman club is part of a statewide youth organization that works to achieve a tobacco-free future.

Pasco County’s clubs have more than 250 active students. Besides Weightman, schools on the eastern and central portions of the county with SWAT clubs include Long Middle School, Pasco High School and Rushe Middle School.

Published December 3, 2014

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Holiday happenings abound: Prepare to have fun

November 26, 2014 By B.C. Manion

Whether it’s a stroll along Christmas Card Lane in Lutz, tree lighting festivities in Zephyrhills, synchronized tree lights and music at The Shops at Wiregrass in Wesley Chapel, or a magical Christmas parade in Dade City — there are plenty of holiday events in coming weeks to put on your calendars.

Several events are planned in anticipation of the holidays in Lutz.

Here’s just one of the displays that visitors are likely to encounter if they visit the Old Lutz School during the holiday season. (File photo)

Shoppers looking for a unique gift may want to check out the 2014 Lutz Arts & Crafts Festival at Lake Park, 17302 N. Dale Mabry Highway, on the weekend of Dec. 6-7.

The annual event attracts more than 250 vendors, offering a wide array of items including paintings, photography, jewelry, woodcarvings, ceramics and pottery, and stained glass.

The juried art show awards cash prizes as the year’s biggest fundraiser for the GFWC Land O’ Lakes Woman’s Club, and supports a multitude of community organizations and activities. The event also features various food selections, including the woman’s club’s famous peach cobbler.

The event’s hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Dec. 6, and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Dec. 7. There is no admission charge, but parking costs $2.

The Lutz community also is planning a couple other events likely to appeal to those who enjoy old-fashioned holiday festivities. At the 18^th annual Christmas at the Old Lutz School, 18819 U.S. 41 N., visitors can walk through rooms to enjoy holiday displays, listen to musical presentations, sip a cup of hot chocolate, and nibble on a cookie.

There is no admission charge, but donations are accepted. Proceeds are used for the Old Lutz School. Canned foods and new toys also are accepted to provide for those less fortunate.

It’s open this year from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on Dec. 11, Dec. 13, Dec. 14, Dec. 16, Dec. 18, Dec. 20, Dec. 21, Dec. 26, Dec. 27 and Dec. 28. For a nominal fee, children can enjoy breakfast with Santa from 8:30 a.m. until 11:30 a.m. on Dec. 13.

For those who like entertainment, the heartwarming Christmas musical, “3 Wise Men and a Baby” may be just the ticket. Heritage Church, 1854 Oak Grove Blvd., in Lutz, is presenting free performances of the play at 7 p.m. on Dec. 13, and 10:30 a.m. Dec. 14.

Lutz also is planning another community event beginning at 6:30 p.m. Dec. 16, when it will showcase its Christmas Card Lane.

The event features the displays of four-by-eight-foot illuminated holiday cards, along with performances by children from local schools, a visit by Santa, hot chocolate and cookies.

The event takes place at the corner of U.S. 41 and Lutz Lake Fern Road in the vicinity of the Lutz Train Depot near the library.

Those who enjoy holiday concerts may want to plan on attending one of two presentations of “A Saint Leo Christmas,” at Saint Leo University in the town of St. Leo. The free presentations are scheduled for 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Dec. 2 in the Greenfelder-Denlinger Boardrooms of the Student Community Center, 33701 State Road 52.

Although admission is free, those attending the 7 p.m. show must call to reserve tickets to be assured seating. To reserve a seat, call Tamra Hunt at (352) 588-8294.

The Founders Garden Club of San Antonio also is gearing up for its annual “Christmas in the Park,” held at 7 p.m. on Dec. 7 in the city park.

The event includes lighted Christmas cards placed around the park by area businesses and families. After the lighting, the Rev. Santiago Huron and his musical family from Heritage Bible Church of San Antonio will present a Christmas concert.

The event also includes refreshments, carol singing, and a Nativity blessing by the Rev. Edwin Palka.

Those who enjoy watching parades may want to mark their calendars for the 2014 Magical Night of Christmas Parade in Dade City at 7 p.m. on Dec. 5, and the parade planned for 6 p.m. on Dec. 6 during the Festival of Lights in Zephyrhills.

The Dade City parade, organized by the Greater Dade City Chamber of Commerce, will feature bands, floats and walking units.

In addition to the parade, the Festival of Lights, presented by Main Street Zephyrhills, has a theme this year of “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.”

Another event likely to draw a big crowd is the 30^th annual Lighting of the Trees, hosted by Florida Hospital Zephyrhills, from 1 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. on Dec. 7, on the front lawn of the hospital, 7050 Gall Blvd.

The event includes decorating trees, entertainment, a live Nativity, Santa’s arrival, skydivers, and of course the tree lighting and some fireworks.

Forest Lake Estates, 6429 Forest Lake Drive in Zephyrhills, has its annual craft fair from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Dec. 6. It will feature handcrafted items including jewelry, jams, decorations and other goods.

Those who enjoy a lively Christmas lights show can swing by The Shops at Wiregrass to take in its seventh annual Symphony of Lights. The holiday light show features a 55-foot tall tree and more than 250,000 lights, synchronized to music by the Trans-Siberian Orchestra.

Shows run nightly, on the hour, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., through Dec. 31 at 28211 Paseo Drive in Wesley Chapel.

Wesley Chapel also has a new performing arts company presenting O. Henry’s heartwarming story “The Gift of the Magi.” Dreamhouse Theatre will present the play at 8 p.m. on Dec. 5 and at 2 p.m. on Dec. 6 at Bridgeway Church, 30660 Wells Road in Wesley Chapel.

Tickets at the door are $22 for adults, and $17 for students and kids 12 and younger. Tickets also are available at a discounted rate online at DreamhouseTheatre.com.

For those who don’t mind venturing out of the area to take in some holiday sights and sounds, there are a host of offerings that they may find enticing.

The Celebration of Lights is a new attraction in Tampa Bay, which features a mile-long route that motorists can drive along to see a dazzling display of animated lights.

The event was the vision of Dave Parrish, a community leader in West Pasco who died before his vision could come to life.

The event is open at dusk on Nov. 27-30, and Dec. 5-Jan. 4 at 15325 Alric Pottberg Road in Spring Hill. Entry fees are $20 per car and $40 for a 14-passenger van.

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First Class: Support the Troops remembers those serving overseas

November 26, 2014 By Michael Murillo

Mark Van Trees received the Champion of Service Award presented by Gov. Rick Scott on Nov. 12 for his work with Support the Troops. And it would be a good story — except Van Trees doesn’t like talking about it.

“It’s certainly not deserved,” the Wesley Chapel organization’s director said.

Mark Van Trees, left, Steve Dieulio and teacher Colleen McCormick load up more than 320 pounds of candy donated by Academy at the Lakes. The school donates leftover sweets to Support the Troops each year. (Michael Murillo/Staff photo)

Instead, Van Trees prefers to talk about the dozens of volunteers who stock, store and pack the steady stream of care packages that get shipped to military personnel overseas. He believes they’re the ones who deserve to be honored.

He also likes talking about Bob Williams, the founder of Support the Troops, who worked tirelessly growing the organization until an accident in 2012 left him unable to continue the project.

Williams deserves the credit, Van Trees insists, as indicated by the hundreds of certificates of appreciation addressed to him that decorate Van Trees’ office and the walls of the facility, located at 29807 State Road 54, that ships the packages. Williams now resides at Baldomero Lopez State Veterans Nursing Home in Land O’ Lakes, and Van Trees is now the person who works six days a week, raising money for the seemingly endless postage expenses associated with shipping thousands of care packages overseas every year.

The recipients live on military bases that don’t have the facilities for personnel to get the basic comfort items we take for granted in the United States, he said.

And while receiving the award was a proud moment, Van Trees keeps a more personal kind of recognition in a box by his desk.

“Thank you so much for the gifts. They are greatly appreciated,” reads one card from a member of the military.

“Thank you very much for your recent donation,” starts another from a group hosting a charity golf event.

“We would like to offer our sincerest gratitude and appreciation,” continues another card.

They arrive daily from different groups and individuals from the Tampa Bay area and throughout the world. The thank you cards are small but meaningful tokens of gratitude from those who have been touched by Support the Troops and its mission, and each one means a lot to its director.

“We read every one and then we post them out there (in the work areas) and we let all the volunteers know,” Van Trees said. “They’re not for me. They’re for the volunteers.”

The packages themselves mean a lot to the recipients and the entire unit that shares in the bounty. Coffee, toothpaste, razors and socks are minor comforts, but coveted items for military members stationed far from home.

Once Support the Troops gets requests from the soldiers or their families, volunteers assemble a 50-pound care package and dispatch it to bases in Africa, Afghanistan and other locales.

They also take donations, whether it’s pallets of surplus Girl Scout Cookies or a single five-pack of razors. They accept private donations and whatever few dollars local residents can spare. The donations go to military-related causes, whether the items get shipped in care packages, or provide comfort to local homeless veterans, or are donated to other organizations with similar goals.

They also ship a lot of candy, and those supplies are often replenished by donations as well. Last week, more than 320 pounds of Halloween leftovers made their way to Support the Troops courtesy of Academy at the Lakes, a private preparatory school in Land O’ Lakes.

The school’s National Junior Honor Society collects candy for Support the Troops every year, and the amount they donate grows annually as well. Colleen McCormick, a teacher at the school who delivered the candy, said the school was enthusiastic about seeing it all go to a worthy cause.

“Our families are so great and so involved,” McCormick said. “It’s rewarding for (students) to see it all come together and then being given away.”

Even though donations keep the shelves stocked and the boxes full — and the volunteer staff keeps things moving — postage costs can be daunting. At nearly $50 per package, it adds up quickly. Support the Troops spent more than $160,000 last year, Van Trees said, just to ship the packages.

But if that’s the cost to fulfill every request and keep the post office busy (each recipient receives packages every couple of weeks while stationed overseas), Van Trees will keep finding a way to pay the tab. The important thing, he said, is that the ones sacrificing overseas, and missing holidays, birthdays and other life events with their family, never feel forgotten.

Even if the media moves on to other topics, or spends more time on celebrities than soldiers, Van Trees wants people to remember there are still thousands serving in remote locations whose days are brightened by receiving a box shipped from Wesley Chapel.

“It’s like Christmas,” he said of their reaction when receiving a package. “The thing we battle every day is to let people (here) know they’re still over there.”

To make donations to Support the Troops, or request care packages for a member of the military, call (813) 991-4256, visit OurTroopsOnline.com, or e-mail Van Trees at .

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Trinity hospital planning $15M newborn services expansion

November 26, 2014 By Michael Hinman

The population growth in Pasco County is not expected to end anytime soon, and Medical Center of Trinity is getting ready now — even if the hospital is just three years old.

HCA West Florida, which owns both the Trinity hospital as well as Regional Medical Center Bayonet Point in Hudson, is having its initial meetings with Pasco County officials ahead of a proposed $15 million expansion that could add or shift at least 50 beds.

The hospital is just three years old, but Medical Center of Trinity already is thinking about expansion, focusing heavily on its neonatal and pregnancy services. (Michael Hinman/Staff photo)

The primary target of the renovations is the hospital’s post-partum department as well as its neonatal intensive care unit, according to documents the hospital has filed with the county. The goal is to add 36 beds, relocate 17 beds in the post-partum unit, and renovate the NICU.

Later phases would include building out an additional elevator shell as well as expand the suite for patients undergoing cesarean sections.

Hospital spokeswoman Mary Sommise wouldn’t elaborate on those plans. But according to what the company told county officials, Trinity would begin its bed expansion on the hospital’s fifth floor as well as its C-section suite work. Once that’s done, the post-partum unit would shift from the hospital’s east wing to the west.

When all that work is completed, the hospital would then focus on its NICU, making that renovation the final phase.

Medical Center of Trinity opened in 2011 on 55 acres of land along State Road 54, just east of Little Road. It cost $200 million, and replaced the aging Community Hospital the company ran in New Port Richey.

The five-story main campus opened with 400,000 square feet of usable space, as well as a 90,000-square-foot office building.

The Trinity hospital gave itself plenty of room to expand, something Community Hospital didn’t have. Combined with the Bayonet Point facility, both hospitals saw nearly 157,000 patients in 2013, according to HCA West’s annual report, including nearly 86,000 emergency room visits — half of them going to Trinity.

Both hospitals have a combined economic impact of more than $290 million to Pasco County, officials said. More than $163 million of that comes from salaries and benefits paid to employees, while another $35 million is dedicated to charity or uncompensated care.

The Trinity and Bayonet Point hospitals also contribute more than $16.5 million in taxes to the county each year, and redirects $27 million to local vendors.

The 282-bed hospital has a little more than 1,200 employees earning an average annual salary of $63,600 a year, according to the hospital.

The Trinity hospital is not alone in wanting to expand services to newborns and mothers. Florida Hospital Zephyrhills spent last summer expanding its obstetrics unit after the number of babies born were more than double initial projections going into the year.

Officials did not share any timelines on when renovations might begin, but when it does start, Matt Nitch of Earl Swensson Associates Inc. out of Nashville, Tennessee, will manage it.

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