The Laker/Lutz News

Serving Pasco since 1981/Serving Lutz since 1964

Reasons To Smile

Who says sharks have to be scary? They can be fun, too.

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Shaina Smith, right, a youth services assistant at New River Library, welcomes those attending Story Time. Smith joined library associates Steven Rosen and Laura Covillon in reading fun shark stories to the children. (Fred Bellet)

Whether they were riding in strollers, amped up with excitement or just ambling along — those gathered at New River Library, 34043 State Road 54, were asked to turn on their imaginations and to listen to some stories about sharks.

Bubbles bobbed about them, in the library staff’s attempt to create the sense of an underwater adventure.

And, library staffers gave lively readings of stories featuring sharks as the main character.

Unlike the common stereotype, these sharks weren’t frightening. They were fun.

The people who came to Story Time seemed to be having fun, too.

Library staff has been looking forward to having in-person events, after a long hiatus, due to a massive makeover of the branch library, as well as shifting to virtual programming because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In keeping with safety protocols, registration was taken for these programs, too, to avoid crowding.

For information about library programs, visit PascoLibraries.org, or call 813-788-6375.

Four-year-old Jesse Snyder, of Wesley Chapel, makes a big entrance into the bubble-filled, special events room at the New River Library. The bubbles were intended to create the effect of being in the ocean — just the right mood for hearing stories about sharks.
With words displayed on the screen behind him, Steven Rosen, a youth services associate at New River Library, reads to toddlers and preschoolers in two sessions of Story Time.
Two-year-old Sunny Rae takes a closer look at the shark books that will be featured during the second session of Story Time for preschoolers, at the New River Library. She was there with her mom, Dayna Jenkins, of Dade City.
One-year-old Hadley Kiefer, of Zephyrhills, makes a move toward other toddlers during Story Time at the New River Library. Hadley didn’t get very far from her mom, Heather Kiefer, and 2-year-old sister, Carly.
Seven-month-old Joyelle Schultz catches a few winks in the special events room, at the New River Library, in Wesley Chapel, before Story Time festivities begin. Joyelle was there with her mom, Sarah Schultz, of Wesley Chapel. The little girl’s great-aunt, Nancy Hoskins, and her grandmother, Nancy Dunlop, were there, too. They were both visiting from Michigan.
Evan Snyder, 1, clings to his mom, Haruka Snyder, of Wesley Chapel, while his 4-year-old brother, Jesse, heads into the bubble-filled room for Story Time at New River Library.

Keeping a tradition alive, even during a pandemic

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Twenty-one-month Cecilia Mathes, along with her 4-year-old brother Zachary and her 6-year-old brother Connor, on Connor’s first day of kindergarten. (They’re the children of Andy and Erin Mathes, of Appleton, Wisconsin, and the grandchildren of Diane Kortus, publisher of The Laker/Lutz News.) (Courtesy of Andy and Erin Mathes)

Schools across The Laker/Lutz News coverage area have rung in another school year  — with children breaking in their new shoes, sporting new haircuts and hauling nearly empty backpacks to classes on their first day of school.

Oh, of course, there were those traditional First Day of School Photos, too.

Here are some that families within our newspaper’s coverage area shared with us, so we could, in turn, share them with you.

There are a couple of photos, as well, of children from outside our coverage area: Publisher Diane Kortus shared the photo of her grandchildren, who live in Wisconsin, and contributor Doug Sanders shared the photo of his granddaughter, who attends prekindergarten in New Port Richey.

Rachel Kocsis is a second-grader at Denham Oaks Elementary.(Courtesy of Shelley H. Roth)
Rishaan Nair is in second grade at Sanders Memorial Elementary School. (Courtesy of Manpreet Kaur)
Rebekah Miller, on her first day as a junior at Sunlake High School. (Courtesy of Sally Miller)
Nykolus Di Roma marks his first day of third grade at Denham Oaks Elementary. (Courtesy of Sabrina Di Roma)
Nileah Rodriguez, on her first day of fifth grade at Sanders Memorial Elementary. (Courtesy of Jeff Rodriguez)
Nicholas Miller on his first day of eighth grade at Rushe Middle School. (Courtesy of Sally Miller)
Freedom High School English teacher and department head Megan Lewandowski on her first day of the 2021-2022 school year. (Courtesy of George O’Connor)
Second-grader Margaret Lewandowski, on her first day at Chiles Elementary. (Courtesy of George O’Connor)

 

Luna Stoltz on her first day of preschool at Mary’s House in Land O’ Lakes. (Courtesy of Jan Crowley)
Kindergartener Liliana Stephenson on her first day of school at Sanders Memorial Elementary. (Courtesy of Juliana Stephenson)
Julia O’Connor celebrates her first day of fourth grade at Sand Pine Elementary. (Courtesy of George O’ Connor)
Jonah Miller, on his first day as a second-grader at Oakstead Elementary. (Courtesy of Sally Miller)
Eleven-year-old Isabella Wilson on her first day of sixth grade at Rushe Middle School. (Courtesy of Billie Jo Wilson)
Sixteen-year-old Devlin Frost, a junior, and 14-year-old Griffin Frost, a freshman, on their first day of the 2021-2022 school year at Cypress Creek High School. (Courtesy of Vanessa Frost)
Four-year-old Derek Fillingham heading to his first day of prekindergarten at KidsRKids, in Wesley Chapel’s Meadow Pointe community. (Courtesy of Frank Hult)
Nine-year-old Daphne Fread, on her first day of fourth-grade at Pine View Elementary. (Courtesy of Jennifer Trimble)
Christopher ‘CJ’ Muniz, on his first day of kindergarten at Connerton Elementary. (Courtesy of Stephanie Muniz)

 

Cannon Frisco, 17, is a senior at Sunlake High School. (Courtesy of Tammy Frisco)
Brielle Leonard and Brandon Leonard attend Countryside Montessori. Brielle is in fifth grade and Brandon is in third. (Courtesy of Krystin Leonard)
Four-year-old Tensely Hannah Collito, on her first day at prekindergarten at Beacon Community Church, in New Port Richey. (She is the granddaughter of Doug Sanders, the contributor of Knowing Your History for The Laker/Lutz News.) (Courtesy of Alanah Jean Sanders)

Caddy The Cat Is Back With A Second Book By Local Author and Speech Pathologist!

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Land O’ Lakes resident Anne Higgins is the author of the children’s book, “Princess Caddy Finds a Home.” The book tells an endearing story of a real-life cat that came to Higgins’ yard and would not leave, while teaching important concepts for young children and helping them develop vocabulary and comprehension skills.

Released in 2018, the Princess Caddy book has been such a success that Higgins has written a follow up book, “Princess Caddy Takes a Vacation,” which will be available to readers next spring.

In addition to the new book, Higgins also is introducing an adorable plush toy of Caddy the Cat, which will be sold individually and also packaged with her books.

Higgins is a speech pathologist who has helped thousands of children develop their speech and language skills. She previously supervised 35 speech pathologists in the Plano Independent School District, in Texas, where she also published an articulation kit for severe speech disorders that was in publication for 20 years.

After moving to Land O’ Lakes a few years back, Higgins continued to work with children with speech disabilities, and it was here that Princess Caddy entered her life.

“This is a true story about a little kitty that basically came to my yard and didn’t leave. I was telling my little 3- and 4-year-olds about the kitty and found out they were more excited about what Caddy would do every day, than what Miss Anne would do,” said Higgins. “They could care less what I did in the morning, but they wanted to know everything that Caddy did in the morning.”

So Higgins decided to write a book about the adventures of her cat that would both entertain young readers, and help them develop vocabulary and comprehension skills. The hardcover book is filled with colorful illustrations, and appeals to a broad audience of children.

The response to the first Princess Caddy book has been amazing.

“I found integrating Princess Caddy into my therapy to be probably one of the best methods I’ve ever come up with,” Higgins said.

The books use stories about Caddy and her interaction with other animals to help teach basic concepts and help them to develop their vocabulary. Higgins established an index for adults to explain basic concepts that are important for 3- to 5-year-olds, and also lists the vocabulary words presented in the book, which children learn through repetition. Each book contains more than 100 vocabulary words, ranging from simple to complex. Higgins also added a section of questions to help children with their comprehension.

“After you read this to the child, you can ask them some questions, and see if they were listening and understanding,” she said.

Higgins received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Texas, in Austin, and her master’s degree from the University of Texas Dallas branch.

Laster, she moved to Scottsdale, Arizona, where she worked with 3- and 4-year-old children with hearing impairments. At the same time, Higgins worked on speech and language skills with students with autism and who were severely developmentally delayed.

The original Princess Caddy book is available through Amazon.com and BarnesAndNoble.com.

Published August 25, 2021

Future leaders in the making

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(Courtesy of Patricia Serio)

The GFWC Lutz-Land O’ Lakes Woman’s Club recently helped its affiliate teen club, Little Women of Lutz, during a cleanup of its sponsored roadway, Lutz Lake Fern Road. The woman’s club sponsors and mentors this group of young women who hope to become our future leaders and community service volunteers. From left: Ashlyn Turnage, Pam Blumenthal, Lyndsey Turnage and Jasmine Doering. For information and membership opportunities, visit GFWCLutzLandOLakesWomansClub.org, or its Facebook page.

Seeking first day of school photos

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The first day of school last year was anything but typical, as some students stayed home to learn and others headed off to traditional school campuses.

This is Rose Beckett, who had her picture taken last year by her family, as she marked her first day as a kindergartener at Bexley Elementary School. Her family shared her photo with us, so we could share it with you. (File)

While it remains unclear what impacts COVID-19 and the delta variant will have on this school year, the vast majority of students will head off to traditional brick-and-mortar schools for the 2021-2022 school year.

It has become a tradition at The Laker/Lutz News to share First Day of School photos we receive from families, with our readers.

That’s where you come in. We need your help. Please send us your First Day of School photos.

The photos can be taken in your home, on your front porch, before or after school, near the school, at the bus stop, or at another location you prefer.

Your child could be heading to prekindergarten, or heading off to college.

We welcome group shots of siblings, but please identify each child in the photo, from left to right.

When submitting your photo, please tell us your child’s name and age, what community you live in, what school the student attends (or if the child is home-schooled) and the grade of the student.

Also, provide contact information, in case we have questions.

We’d like to publish our First Day of School photo collection on Sept. 1, so please submit them no later than Aug. 20.

Send photos to .

‘Fore’ the veterans

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(Courtesy of Patricia Serio)

Members of the GFWC Lutz-Land O’ Lakes Woman’s Club recently attended a golf tournament at Innnsbrook Golf Resort, a fundraiser for veterans. The women gave each veteran present a star (removed from retired American flags), along with a patriotic verse in a pocket sleeve, meant to be worn close to one’s heart. The recipients were deeply moved and appreciative of the star packets. From left: Mary Jane Carrino, Dolores Tarafa, Lois Cohen, Dee Knerr, Nancy Taylor, Deb Cardona, Darlene Choe and Jan King. For information on the club, visit GFWCLutzLandOLakesWomansClub.org, or its Facebook page.

Avalon Applauds The Stano Foundation

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Congratulations to The Stano Foundation, a nonprofit in Wesley Chapel, for being applauded by Avalon Park Wesley Chapel.

The Stano Foundation is an organization dedicated to supporting troops of all branches, both active duty and veterans. It was founded by Paula Stano in 2015, two years after her son, Jordan Viches, joined the Marines at age 17.

“It was through my son that I learned that not everybody is supported in the military, not everybody has family,” says Stano.

While she initially only sent care packages to Viches when he was stationed in Okinawa, Japan, Stano began putting on drives to be able to send Viches’ friends — and eventually other troops — basic necessities.

Before Stano knew it, the foundation had a group of dedicated volunteers who would meet up once a quarter at the Rotary Club of Zephyrhills, where they filled the packages — which roughly consists of 48 items.

“We truly put the ‘care’ into care packages,” says Stano.

When someone applies or nominates someone else to receive a package, they are asked on the foundation’s website for the top five things from home they miss. Stano and her team try to incorporate those requested items into the care package.

Stano says she’s incredibly grateful for the impressive growth the nonprofit is having. In its first year, The Stano Foundation sent out 64 packages. Now, the total packages sent to date is 5,339.

“This is kind of my way to not only give back, but feel connected to my son even though he wasn’t here at the time,” says Stano.

There’s multiple ways you can support The Stano Foundation.

Monetary donations can be mailed to The Stano Foundation, P.O. Box 7811, Wesley Chapel, FL 33545. They also have an Amazon wish list for highly requested items, (https://tinyurl.com/59374kye), that will be sent to the nonprofit.

For people who can’t make a monetary donation, but still wish to support the foundation, Stano says she always needs handwritten thank you cards to include in the active duty members’ care packages. All she asks is that you don’t have glitter in the letter, and address the letter with “Dear Troop” or “Dear Hero.”

If you’d like to volunteer, head on over to the nonprofit’s Facebook page, The Stano Foundation, as all volunteer opportunities are listed there.

Bolts Babies!

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AdventHealth is celebrating the 2021 Stanley Cup Champions, the Tampa Bay Lightning, by welcoming “Bolts Babies” into the world. AdventHealth Wesley Chapel welcomed Baby Rodriguez and Baby Burford on game day. The parents are excited for their bundles of joy to share a birth date with the historic championship win for the Bolts. AdventHealth is the Official Health and Wellness Partner and the 2021 Playoff Sponsor of the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Baby Rodriguez (Courtesy of AdventHealth West Florida Division)
Baby Burford

Land O’ Liberty Salute

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(Courtesy of Sandy Graves)
(Courtesy of Sandy Graves)

Thanks to all who came out in the rain to ‘paint’ Land O’ Lakes red, white and blue, for the Fourth of July. If you’d like to help remove the ribbons, meet at Copperstone Executive Suites, 3632 Land O’ Lakes Blvd., on July 11 at 1 p.m.

 

Hockey fan in the house

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(Courtesy of Melonie Monson)

Melonie Monson’s dog, Thor, is fan-ready to cheer on the Tampa Bay Lightning. Monson is the president/CEO of the Greater Zephyrhills Chamber of Commerce.