The Laker/Lutz News

Serving Pasco since 1981/Serving Lutz since 1964

Zephyrhills/East Pasco News

Ranch Days is back for its second act

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When the organizers were gearing up to debut Ranch Days last year at Little Everglades Ranch, north of Dade City, they proceeded with caution.

They wanted to see how the event went, before making plans for another one.

Apparently, the event went well because now event planners are gearing up for the second annual Ranch Days on the 2,050–acre property, owned by Bob and Sharon Blanchard.

Kevin Campbell, events coordinator for Little Everglades Ranch, and Melissa Black brought a WWII amphibious landing craft that will be used for rides at the Ranch Days event in February. (Richard K. Riley)

Slated for Feb. 10, from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., and for Feb. 11, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., the event offers a chance to listen to music, grab a bite to eat, and take home a purchase or two. Little Everglades Ranch is at 17951 Hamilton Road, north of Dade City.

Last year, about 5,000 turned out, said Kevin Campbell, who along with his wife, Andie, coordinates events at Little Everglades Ranch.

“For a first-year event, we were pleased with the amount of people that we had out,” he said.

This year, he said, there have been some improvements.

“The stage is bigger and better,” Campbell said.

“Where we have the stage sits on a real gentle kind of hill to the north, and there are three or four real big live oak trees kind of around it.”

“The music is great. We went a little bit harder on some of the headline entertainment,” he said.

This year’s lineup includes Thomas Wynn and The Believers, as the headline act on Feb. 10. “They’re kind of a bluesy-rock Florida group.”

Another act, Colin Axxxwell, is coming from Nashville.

“He’s just so good. I had to book him,” Campbell said.

There’s also Bill “The Sauce Boss” Wharton.

“Bill is a 72-year-old man who has been playing music for many years. For the last 30 years, he cooks out a batch of gumbo on the stage. He comes up in a chef’s coat and a chef’s hat. He plays guitar all by himself, with a bass drum and a high hat.

“When he first comes out, I think he has a 12-gallon pot. We give him all of the ingredients and he fills this pot up, and he starts his batch of gumbo — and then 67 minutes later he takes the batch of gumbo … and he gives out 100 bowls of gumbo.”

Another act, Mean Mary, is back again from last year.

“She’s been playing since she was a 4- or 5-year-old child. She plays fiddle and banjo. “She’s really, really talented,” Campbell said.

The Junior Savage Race is back, too, complete with medals for the kids who complete the course.

This year’s guided tours include a bus tour, swamp buggy rides, a ride on a Vietnam-era amphibious supply vehicle, and camel rides. The bus tour is new.

The event also offers a petting farm, pony rides, face painting, and entertainment by Mr. Tommy.

Other acts will include high-wire shows by Tino Wallenda, of the Flying Wallenda Family, and a snake show and exhibit by Jim Mendenhall, a snake handler and expert.

Lady Kitty will be there, with her birds of prey; and, Rick and Jan Stratton will provide a juggling and variety show, with their sidekick, Snorkel the pig.

He offered these tips for enjoying the experience. Buy tickets for rides early, wear hiking boots, and bring lawn chairs and blankets, to relax on while you listen to the music.

“The rides were booked solid last year,” he said. “People just loved going across the ranch,” he said.

The amphibious vehicle goes across the ranch and into the lake.

There are plenty of choices for food, and there’s beer, soda and water.

Admission is free, but parking is $10 for cars, and $25 for buses and RVs.

Campbell think it’s an event that families will enjoy.

“You pay for rides, and you pay for food and you pay to park,” Campbell said, but everything else is free, he said.

No coolers or pets are allowed. The event will be held, rain or shine.

For more information, visit RanchDays.com.

Ranch Days
Where: Little Everglades Ranch, 17951 Hamilton Road, Dade City
When: Feb. 10, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Feb. 11, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Cost: Admission is free; parking is $10 for cars, $25 for buses and RVs; vendor charges for food, rides and purchases
Details: Live music on two stages, ranch tours, exhibitions of a high-wire act, a juggling and variety act, birds of prey and indigenous snakes, kids’ activities and more
Info: Visit RanchDays.com.

Published January 31, 2018

Raising Cane fest offers sweet and savory flavors

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The annual Raising Cane event held Jan. 13 at the Pioneer Florida Museum & Village, 15602 Pioneer Museum Road in Dade City, gave visitors a chance to purchase homemade cane syrup, taste some chili, see cane grinding and enjoy live entertainment. Musicians who enjoy jamming had a chance to do that, too, and there was even a miniature donkey at the event.

Published January 24, 2018

Six-year-old Sofia Quintero, of Clearwater, samples some chili on tostados prepared by Deana Mazurkiewicz, of Zephyrhills. (Richard K. Riley)
Six-year-old Sofia Quintero, of Clearwater, samples some chili on tostados prepared by Deana Mazurkiewicz, of Zephyrhills.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This miniature donkey was part of the Raising Cane festival.
Dade City Manager Billy Poe won first place with his chicken chili in the People’s Choice competition.

 

 

 

Festival-goers enjoy heaping helpings of barbecue and blues

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Ed Wright, left, and Chuck Riley, of the Ed Wright Duo, were the opening act at the eighth annual Pigz in Z’Hills BBQ & Blues Festival. (B.C. Manion)

Visitors to the eighth annual Pigz in Z’Hills BBQ & Blues Festival had plenty of tasty temptations awaiting them.

The scent of barbecue smoke flavored the air, as guests made their way up and down aisles of booths offering slabs of ribs, pork sandwiches, pulled pork, coleslaw, baked beans, and all sorts of sides. There was plenty of beer to wash down those meals, and there were treats — such as funnel cakes and fried Oreo cookies, to top them off.

Chris and Missy Moon, of Dade City

Chris and Missy Moon, of Dade City, said they came with a strategy. They planned to try a variety of foods, sharing their purchases as they went along.

“We’re going to make our rounds,” Missy Moon said.

“We skipped breakfast, so we’d have plenty of room,” Chris Moon said, noting the couple came to the event to support the community.

Published January 24, 2018

Honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

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Dade City held festivities over the weekend to commemorate the birthday and honor the legacy of slain civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

More than 200 participants and spectators gathered at the steps of the Pasco County Historic Courthouse, following the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Parade in Dade City, to sing, pray and listen to the reading. (Richard K. Riley)

The city had a parade, followed by a unity prayer on the steps of Historic Pasco County Courthouse. That evening there was a banquet, with proceeds benefiting a scholarship fund.

Other festivities planned included an MLK Commemorative Program on Jan. 15, with keynote speaker is the Rev. Donald R. Smith, senior pastor of Greater Mount Moriah Missionary Baptist Church in Lacoochee, followed by a picnic in the park at 38724 Mudcat Grant Blvd., in Dade City.

Dade City Mayor Camille Hernandez reads a proclamation at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. festivities, as Boys & Girls Club Manager Rev. Cassie Coleman stands nearby.

It’s a tradition that’s been going on for about 20 years, said

Cassie Coleman, president of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Committee of Pasco County.

“It brings unity in the community. We all know that what Martin did, he didn’t just do for one group of people,” Coleman said.

Dade City Mayor Camille Hernandez, the City of Dade City, the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office and the Dade City Police Department all played instrumental roles, Coleman said.

Published January 17, 2018

The Lacoochee Boys & Girls Club, along with their Prodigy arts component, created a Statue of Liberty theme for their float that participated in the Dade City Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. parade on Jan. 13.

New space sought for Zephyrhills Senior Center

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Pasco County Senior Services is seeking a new location for the Zephyrhills Senior Center, after its abrupt closure at St. Elizabeth’s Episcopal Church.

Last month, the church informed the county it no longer could support the program, citing financial reasons.

The senior center closed on Dec. 31. It been operated at the church since 2010.

The Zephyrhills Senior Center has been located at St. Elizabeth’s Episcopal Church since 2010, but closed on Dec. 31, after the church said it no longer could support the program, citing financial concerns. (File)

Under a public-private agreement, the church lent out its multipurpose space at no cost, while the county provided meals and other services to seniors in the community.

Dozens of residents took advantage of the Zephyrhills programs each day.

Those seniors have since been redirected to the Dade City Senior Center, until the county finds a new facility to support a program in Zephyrhills.

Officials hope to pinpoint a permanent location within the next few weeks, likely under another public-private scenario.

It’s not the first time Zephyrhills seniors have been forced to trek to Dade City to receive meals and services.

The senior space was shut down in September 2016 for kitchen renovations, after black mold was discovered.

The facility reopened nine months later, after a $33,000 makeover fully funded by the church.

Besides Dade City and Zephyrhills, the county’s senior services division operates facilities in Port Richey, New Port Richey, Land O’ Lakes and Shady Hills.

At each facility, hot, balanced meals are served five days a week, free to seniors age 60 and older.

The locales also provide seniors with entertainment and socialization.

Card games, bingo and puzzles were some of the regularly scheduled events at the Zephyrhills Senior Center.

Movies, live music and guest speakers were also presented there each month.

Those broad offerings will remain at the new location, according to Diane Cunningham, senior services manager for Pasco County.

“When we move to the new location, we will continue to offer a variety of activities, exercise, events, trips, nutritional education and nutrition counseling,” Cunningham wrote in an email to The Laker/Lutz News.

“We are working with other organizations to increase activities and provide more informational programs,” she added.

The Zephyrhills Senior Center has had several locations during its history.

The senior program has also been hosted by First Church of the Nazarene in Zephyrhills and Trinity Church of Wesley Chapel.

From 1993 to 2008, the Zephyrhills Senior Center was located on Airport Road and owned by CARES (Community Aging and Retirement Services) Inc.

Published January 3, 2018

Community gardening coming to Dade City

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Two new community gardens will be coming soon to Dade City.

The University of Florida/Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Pasco County Extension Office will be establishing community gardens with the help of the City of Dade City, the Pasco County Commission and private donors.

Soon, gardeners will be using community gardening plots to grow vegetables in Dade City. (Courtesy of Eden Santiago-Gomez, Pasco Extension Office)

Members of the community will be able to grow their own produce in free garden plots, according to Whitney C. Elmore, Pasco County Extension director and urban horticulture agent.

The gardens will be located at Watson Park, which is at North and Main avenues, between 17th and 19th streets, and on the land surrounding the Stallings Building, at 15029 14th St.

The Dade City Watson Park Community Garden is being made possible with support from Dade City Mayor Camille Hernandez, the Dade City Commission and UF/IFAS, Elmore said. This is a new land use agreement model piloted between the University of Florida and a municipality, she added.

The Stallings Building Urban Farm has been made possible through the recently passed Pasco County Urban Agriculture Ordinance, the cooperation of Pasco County Commission and the guidance of Assistant County Administrator Cathy Pearson, Elmore added.

Many private citizens and companies also donated items and equipment to make these new ventures possible, according to Eden Santiago-Gomez, community gardens program assistant at the extension office.

The Dade City Watson Park Community Garden will host more than 30 community plots of varying sizes, including wheelchair-accessible and senior-accessible raised beds. All plots and beds will be available to lease free of charge on a first-come, first-served basis to the surrounding community.

Nice, plump tomatoes may be among the vegetables grown soon in Dade City by gardeners using community garden plots. (Courtesy of University of Florida/IFAS)

Educator plots also will be available, so students on school field trips can engage and interact with all things gardening.

Lessons will be taught, on site, by the UF/IFAS Pasco County Extension faculty and staff on topics such as gardening 101, good bugs/bad bugs, gardening for nutrition, composting, rain water harvesting, fertilizers, eating on a budget, and making your own healthy snacks, Elmore added.

Garden tours also will be available to the public in the future by Pasco Master Gardeners and Horticulture staff.

A planting party will be held to commemorate the first community garden in Dade City. The party will be on Jan. 12, from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., at the Dade City Watson Park Community Garden. The public is invited to share the afternoon with Dade City officials, local leaders and members of the community.

The Stallings Building Urban Farm will feature more than 50 8-foot-by-8-foot community plots and six raised wheelchair-accessible beds, all available for the community to lease, free of charge on a first-come, first-served basis. The rest of the area will be farmed by the UF/IFAS Pasco County Extension Office’s Community Gardens Program. All food grown in that area of the Urban Farm will be donated to local food pantries initially. At some point, the hope is to offer a monthly farm stand or possibly Community Supported Agriculture to benefit the local community, Santiago-Gomez said.

Numerous gardening techniques will be utilized at this site (from traditional row cropping to permaculture design techniques) as educational demonstrations for county residents during various classes, to be offered in the near future.

Both gardens are located in the low-income communities of Dade City, and are aimed at helping local community members learn to grow their own food.

This will give local community members access to fresh fruits and vegetables, in what is currently a food desert. Additionally, money saved on grocery bills, by growing much of the produce needed for a family, can be redirected to other areas of everyday life, Elmore said.

Citizens can sign up now for a free garden plot at either of these locations and start gardening. Please contact Eden Santiago-Gomez at or (352) 518-0156 to reserve your free plot.

Here’s a slate of upcoming classes aimed at helping people who want to learn more about how to propagate from seeds, and other gardening topics.

Propagating from Seeds #101
Where: Clayton Hall at Pasco County Fairgrounds, 36702 State Road 52 in Dade City
When: Jan. 6, 9 a.m. to 10 a.m.
Cost: Free
Details: Learn some tricks of the trade to successfully germinate seeds and raise the seedlings to beautiful plants.
Registration is required. Call the UF/IFAS Pasco County Extension Office at (352) 518-0156 for details.        

Composting Workshop
Where: Centennial Park Branch Library, 5740 Moog Road in Holiday
When: Jan. 11, 2 p.m. to 3 p.m.
Cost: $35 fee, includes instruction and one composting bin
Details: Learn how to recycle nutrients into plants and add organic matter to your soil. The workshop covers the do’s and don’ts of composting for Florida flowers and vegetables. Each Pasco household is eligible to receive one compost bin when at least one household member registers and attends this workshop.
Call the UF/IFAS Pasco County Extension Office at (352) 518-0156 for details.        

Vegetable Gardening Basics
Where: Stallings Building, 15029 14th St., in Dade City
When: Jan. 18, 2 p.m. to 2:45 p.m.
Cost: Free
Details: Learn how to to choose a location for a garden, what makes good soil, when to plant different vegetables, and how to control common vegetable garden pests.
Registration is required. Call the UF/IFAS Pasco County Extension Office at (352) 518-0156 for details.        

Published December 27, 2017

Zephyrhills Police undergoes restructuring

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The Zephyrhills Police Department is shaking up its command staff — a measure it hopes will improve efficiency and communications throughout the law enforcement agency.

The department is adding an operations lieutenant and an administrative lieutenant, while eliminating a captain’s position and a detective sergeant’s position — roles that have been vacant for months.

The lieutenants’ positions already have been advertised internally and will be filled from the current group of sergeants. The starting salary for both is $53,584.  The starting salary for the eliminated captain and detective sergeant positions were $57,975 and $47, 696, respectively.

The new positions are expected to be filled by the end of the year or in early 2018, Zephyrhills Police Chief Derek Brewer said.

The Zephyrhills City Council approved the staffing proposal last month.

In a memo to the council and City Manager Steve Spina, Brewer said it offers a number of benefits, including, “better span of control, improved unity of command, opportunities for employee advancement and potential cost savings.”

The department’s command staff in the past has been budgeted for a chief, two captains and five sergeants, as well as 25 sworn officers.

One of those captain’s position has been vacant since June, however. The detective sergeant’s position also has remained vacant since the promotion of Capt. Reggie Roberts, at around the same time.

Because of that, Roberts has been the liaison for the agency’s operations and administrative divisions, without the benefit of another captain or detective sergeant to reduce the burden.

Adding two lieutenants — to report to Roberts — will “level out” supervision for both divisions and improve agency directives, the police chief explained.

“By placing some lieutenants in between the sergeant and the captain, it allows for information to flow a little better, and also for the captain not to be stretched so thin,” Brewer said.

Once in place, the operations lieutenant will directly oversee three departments: uniform patrol, criminal divisions and special operations — which encompass reserve, honor guard, bike patrol.

The administrative lieutenant, meanwhile, will oversee communications and administrative support and services, ranging from property and evidence management, record keeping, accreditation and training, fleet maintenance and so on.

Brewer, a 15-year veteran of the department and a former lieutenant, said the idea to reshuffle the command staff arose while he was serving as interim chief from June to September.

He was officially sworn-in as the city’s police chief in October, replacing former chief David Shears, who retired in May.

Brewer pointed out many similar-sized agencies, such as the New Port Richey Police Department, “adopt that model of more layers in-between.”

It gives the command structure “a more linear approach,” he said.

“One thing I’ve kind of noticed with the chief and the two captains over the years is that span of control is still pretty wide, so I kind of felt like this was the best way to approach the span of control, as well as just making sure things move more fluid,” the chief added.

The shuffling may also reduce agency overtime costs.

Besides assisting with administrative duties, the lieutenants would also support patrol functions by filling gaps in supervision should unforeseen needs arise from shift supervisors, such as sick time. Instead of calling in another supervisor for coverage, a lieutenant could cover the open shift to eliminate the need to call in a sergeant or officer in charge on the opposite side of the schedule.

Brewer explained, “A lot of times when sergeants accumulate overtime, we don’t have that ability to adjust their schedule, but having lieutenants may allow us to fill those gaps, so as they accumulate the overtime, we can kind of adjust their schedule and save in overtime.”

In 2014, independent consultant William Liquori, from the Florida Police Chiefs Association (FPCA), recommended reinstituting lieutenants within Zephyrhills Police.

In his report, Liquori, a 44-year law enforcement veteran from Altamonte Springs and past president of the statewide association, said communication was a major concern among all employees, and that command staff needed to address the issue.

Brewer said that report further “reinforced the need to bring (lieutenants) back.”

By hiring lieutenants from within, Brewer said it allows for additional opportunities for promotion and internal movement for the department’s employees.

“We thought that it would create better morale; that was another thing we had looked at,” Brewer said.

Published December 20, 2017

Adventist Health System to buy Bayfront Health in Dade City

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Adventist Health System, which is the parent company of Florida Hospital, signed an agreement to buy the 120-bed Bayfront Health Dade City Hospital, according to a news release from Adventist Health System.

The deal is expected to close in early 2018.

Details on the sales price weren’t disclosed.

The sale will include the hospital, at 13100 Fort King Road, as well as physician clinic operations and outpatient services.

“Finding a partner to allow a seamless medical care experience for our patients is important,” said Linda Stockton, in the news release. “Florida Hospital can bring their experience to build on our history of service and success.”

Bayfront is owned by Community Health Systems.

The sale is the “best plan for the future of Bayfront Health Dade City, according to the news release.

“Bayfront Health is a valuable asset to Dade City and its residents, and we want to continue the long history of providing essential care in that facility,” Mike Schultz, chief executive officer of the Adventist Health System West Florida Division, said in the release.

In recent years, Community Health Systems has struggled financially, and has been selling its hospitals.

A new release from Community Health System issued in November previewed “additional planned divestures,” based on $110 million loss in the third quarter of 2017. That was an increase over losses last year.

According to a news release, Bayfront Health in Dade City was one of those divestures.

About $40 million in losses for 2017 resulted from complete or partial shutdowns of some hospitals in Texas and Florida during Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, according to the company press release.

Published December 20, 2017

Dade City poised to adopt anti-corruption code

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Dade City is on track to become the first municipality in Pasco County to embed an anti-corruption measure into its city charter.

The Dade City Commission and members of the Charter Review Advisory Committee met Dec. 5 to discuss recommendations on charter revisions.

Plans are to let voters decide on at least some of those recommendations during the April 2018 city elections. Other items might be handled through an ordinance instead.

Details on which charter items to include on the ballot will be determined in coming weeks.

A handful of residents attended the Dec. 5 meeting at City Hall, including members of the nonpartisan citizens’ group, Representing Pasco.

The activists are part of a growing anti-corruption movement in Florida.

Tallahassee and Cocoa Beach have been at the forefront of approving ethical standards for elected officials and government employees.

Locally, Representing Pasco wants the county and other cities in Pasco to follow Dade City’s example.

“We think people are basically protected through ethics provisions (in the charter),” said Land O’ Lakes resident Elyse Mysles.

She told committee members and city commissioners that Representing Pasco plans to actively educate the public about the charter’s ethics measure.

The charter committee has recommended that the city fund its own educational outreach effort.

The citizens’ group also had a request.

“It is our hope you’re including at least one citizen as part of the board to investigate complaints,” Mysles said.

The charter review is routinely completed every 10 years. Committee members began meeting last summer and presented their final report in November.

Committee members were Judge Lynn Tepper, Steve Hickman, Julie Hale, Dr. Bernice Mathis, Pablo Vela-Guerrero, Mattie Jones and Jim Ward.

Marilyn Crotty served as facilitator. She is the director of the Florida Institute of Government at the University of Central Florida.

Crotty said there is an anti-corruption trend statewide. Some cities have ordinances, or they designate someone as an ethics officer who investigates complaints, she said.

However, using a charter to establish ethics standards is rare, she added, and it has more permanency that an ordinance.

The amendment, if adopted, would require a code of ethical standards for elected officials and employees. The city commission would have six months to establish a local ethics code once the amendment passed.

“You can establish how strong you want it to be,” Crotty said.

Other recommendations from the charter review committee include:

  • Banning former city commissioners from doing business with the city for one year
  • Removing a city commissioner from office for a misdemeanor conviction for dishonesty or making a false statement (The current standard is conviction for a felony)
  • Making the finance officer a charter position, which is appointed and removed by a simple majority vote of the City Commission

The charter review committee also discussed some issues that are not included in the charter revisions.

Members suggested an ordinance that would cap local finance campaign contributions at $250 per individual per election.

Crotty said several cities, including Tallahassee and Cocoa Beach, have adopted limitations.

“This would remove the possibility of someone trying to buy a seat,” she said.

However, Dade City Commissioner Nicole Deese Newlon wondered how that would work in races where one candidate could afford to fund his or her own campaign. The cap didn’t seem to address that, she said.

“I feel like that hurts the candidate who is not, as an individual, as well-funded,” Newlon said.

Committee members also didn’t include a recommendation that the city manager live within city limits. Some favored that, but there wasn’t a consensus.

“I do feel he or she should be fully invested in the city and its goings on,” said Hale.

Others said there should be some flexibility, and it should be an issue addressed in contract negotiations.

There also were differences on whether hiring or firing a city manager should require a super majority vote, rather than the simple majority required now.

“When you have a super majority, it does give job security,” said Dade City Commissioner Scott Black, who favors the switch. With a simple majority, he said, a qualified candidate might hesitate to apply.

Tepper observed: “Making it stable should be the goal.”

Published December 13, 2017

Wrong turn creates a new path for opportunities

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Sammy Ortiz was headed to the annual Dade City Kumquat Festival a couple of years ago, but instead of taking the usual turn onto Meridian Avenue, he wound up on Lock Street.

The Wesley Chapel man was astounded.

He could not believe the difference between the conditions along Lock Street and the Southern charm of downtown Dade City.

Lock Street, roughly a mile away from downtown, “looked like a Third World country,” Ortiz said.

The minister felt called to become involved.

Angel Mendez, Sammy Ortiz and Isabel Lopez talk about how a program called Young Entrepreneurial Students, also known as Y.E.S., can create new opportunities for disadvantaged and minority youths. (B.C. Manion)

“I feel like God impressed on my heart that I need to do something for the area that didn’t involve necessarily preaching to them, but giving something to them,” Ortiz said.

Soon after, Ortiz rented some space in Dade City, and began walking Lock Street to become acquainted with the residents and their needs.

The pastor said he’d been warned not to walk down Lock Street, that the area was too dangerous.

But, he said, he never felt threatened and instead encountered people who were nice.

He decided to begin a program that he calls Y.E.S., which stands for Young Entrepreneurial Students.

“I felt if we could change the mindset of young people concerning economic distress, then we can really help future generations,” Ortiz said.

One group of nine students has completed the program, and a second one is underway.

“The first cohort was a guinea pig cohort. It consisted of five weeks,” Ortiz said. “We are now doing them in 15-week increments.

“What we want to teach young people is how to start their own business, organization or cause,” he said.

Nineteen-year-old Angel Mendez was in the first group.

“Y.E.S. gives hope to young people in the community,” said Mendez. The program, he added, “helped to look at where my passions were and where I wanted to take them.”

It also helped him get his hands on some video production equipment and gave him an opportunity to network.

Now, he has a video production business he calls WhatEyeSee Productions. It’s a fledgling operation, but he’s excited about what lies ahead.

Isabel Lopez, 19, is part of the second cohort.

She heard about Y.E.S. from another graduate and was attracted to the opportunity.

“I like it. I actually changed my major in college to psychology,” she said, deciding to follow her passion rather than simply choose a more practical career.

Osvaldo Limas, another Y.E.S. participant, likes to dream big.

He’d like to open a zoo in Dade City, he said, via an email to The Laker/Lutz News.

“Now, opening up a zoo in Dade City is a very tall order,” Limas acknowledged.

But he is undaunted.

“The path is long, but I am determined that I will reach the end,” Limas said.

Ortiz said the Y.E.S. program consists of weekly sessions.

“The curriculum is modular. They learn about their personal strengths, how to develop a team. They learn about personal obstacles and limitations. They learn about their passions and their dreams, and then they begin to identify problems,” he added.

They identify what problem they are solving, who their customers are and what solutions they are offering.

They must calculate the costs for launching their business and figure out how much funding they need to keep it going, and how they will generate that revenue, Ortiz said.

The youths use a curriculum that was developed by Co.Starters — which is a youth version of the curriculum that Pasco Economic Development Council uses for its adult entrepreneurial program, Ortiz said.

He credits John Walsh, of the Pasco EDC, for helping him to get Y.E.S. rolling.

Unlike the Pasco EDC’s program, Y.E.S. provides its program to minority and underprivileged youth at no charge.

Ortiz also has launched a cohort at the Juvenile Detention Center, will be starting one at Cox Elementary School, and is beginning an entrepreneurial club at Saint Leo University and another at Pasco-Hernando State College.

“I want to make sure that young people, especially those that are in economically distressed areas, have the same opportunities that I would call privileged young people would have.

“They have some great ideas.

“Somebody has to encourage them to pursue things that they may feel a little apprehensive pursuing,” Ortiz said.

In some cases, he noted, these students are the first from their families to pursue a college education.

Some youths have potential, but lack confidence.

He likes to tell them: “You may not do that yet — but you can learn how to do that.”

He doesn’t want youths to be held back by their financial circumstances.

“They can’t be excluded,” Ortiz said. “I want, if anything, just to make room at the table.”

Ortiz wants to extend the opportunities to more disadvantaged youths and has been working to raise funds to support it. At the moment, he and his wife have been the primary financial supporters.

“Poverty is cyclical. So, we want to break that,” Ortiz said. “We want success to be cyclical.”

When Ortiz thinks back to a couple of years ago, he realizes that none of this might have happened, if he hadn’t driven down Lock Street.

“I’m glad that I got lost,” Ortiz said.

If you’d like to know more, or would like to help, call Ortiz at (813) 563-5753, or email him at .

Or, you can visit the website, YoungEntrepreneurialStudents.org.

Published November 29, 2017