The Laker/Lutz News

Serving Pasco since 1981/Serving Lutz since 1964

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Royal Lanes prepares to turn off the lights for good

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It’s a place where leagues have battled for cash prizes and bragging rights, and little kids have had birthday parties.

For some, it’s been a gathering spot with friends after work to bowl a few games and enjoy a few pitchers. For others, it was where they hung out when they were kids.

Andre Pamplona, general manager for Royal Lanes, said the closing of a bowling alley has an impact on the community.
(B.C. Manion)

Soon, however Royal Lanes bowling center, at 1927 Brinson Road in Lutz, will welcome its final bowlers and pack up its pins for good.

The last day of operation will be May 21, said Andre Pamplona, the bowling center’s general manager.

The bowling alley has been owned for a quarter-century by Sandy and Neville Woolf, of Canada, but they’ve decided to sell, Pamplona said.

“My group was trying to purchase it. That’s what we came up to do, to try to salvage it and keep it a bowling center, but we got outbid. And, that’s it,” Pamplona said.

“I knew of a potential sale to the other group. We were doing our best to try to finalize our deal. The numbers just wouldn’t work,” Pamplona said. “The land just got overvalued.”

He’s not sure what the future use of the site will be, but he has heard that the building will be renovated for another use that has something to do with the automotive industry.

He’s sorry to see Royal Lanes go, not just because he worked there, but because the community will miss it.

“One of the things that owners don’t calculate is the impact to the community,” Pamplona said.

Soon this sign will be replaced by a new business occupying the site on Brinson Road, just off North Dale Mabry Highway, in Lutz.

But, he said he understands that the owner is making a business decision

Still, Pamplona said, “Land O’ Lakes will suffer. Land O’ Lakes will hurt. People will have to drive out of their way to go to bowling centers.”

Plus, bowlers are losing a gathering spot where many have been coming for decades.

“There’s such a value … it’s intangible, you can’t put a dollar to it,” Pamplona said.

Royal Lanes had 437 bowlers in five full adult leagues and two youth leagues. One of the youth leagues was purely youths and the other was a youth-adult league, where kids bowled with their parents, he said.

“Most of the leagues are going to stay together,” he said, and most have already decided to go another bowling center,” he said.

The closest bowling alleys are at Old State Road 54 and Little Road; on Hillsborough Avenue, across from Tampa International Airport; on Armenia Avenue, south of Hillsborough Avenue; and on U.S.301 in Zephyrhills.

Ultimately, some bowlers may choose to join different leagues at bowling centers that are more convenient for them, he noted.

This is the exterior of Royal Lanes, in Lutz. Lots of memories have been made within this building, which opened during the 1970s.

Most of Royal Lanes’ 18 employees also have relocated to another alley, Pamplona said, although he’s not sure what he’s going to do.

“I’ve got some options in the industry. I’ve got some options out of the industry,” he said.

When Royal Lanes ceases operations, it will no longer be a place where the clatter of bowling pins competes with memories of days gone by.

“Our Wednesday morning league is called The Lakerettes,” Pamplona said. “They’ve been bowling here, since basically the beginning.”

Royal Lanes is also the place where the Betty Strickland, who has since passed on, developed a reputation for her bowling prowess and her kindly nature.

Chances were, if you were looking for Strickland on a weekday, she’d be over at Royal Lanes.

Some days, she was known to roll as many as 10 games, but typically, she threw four or five.

One of Strickland’s biggest moments at the bowling alley came on Jan. 9, 2006, when she bowled 300 — a perfect game.

At the time, Strickland was the nation’s third-oldest woman to bowl a perfect game, according to a report published by The Tampa Tribune.

It’s also a place that figures prominently into the memory of Rachel Thompson, who worked at the bowling alley when she was young and now works at The Laker/Lutz News.

Thompson threw her perfect game at Royal Lanes. Her big moment came on Nov. 9, 2012.

Published May 17, 2017

Hearings authorized for impact fee hike

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The Pasco County Commission has set into motion the process for boosting school impact fees, which are charged against new residential construction to help pay for new schools.

Commissioners directed county staff to set up a hearing before the Development Review Committee and to establish two public hearing dates on a proposal to boost school impact fees.

In pushing the issue forward, commissioners rejected a recommendation by the School Infrastructure Funding Committee, which they had appointed to study funding needs and potential revenue sources for school construction.

New houses are springing up across Pasco County, prompting the need for more schools. The Pasco County Commission has authorized public hearings to consider a rate hike in school impact fees charged against new residential construction, except for in age-restricted communities for those 55 and older.
(B.C. Manion)

That committee recommended the County Commission adopt the full impact fee recommended by a school district consultant, provided the Pasco County School Board votes to put at least a quarter-cent sales tax on the 2018 ballot, so voters can decide the issue.

County commissioners didn’t like that idea.

“I’m not very keen on the recommendation for this board to attempt to almost hijack the process, or tie the school board’s hands by forcing them to go out and raise the sales tax. That makes me uncomfortable,” Commission Chairman Mike Moore said.

“It’s not my job as a county commissioner to tell the school board members what they should do,” Moore said. “I do not want them to feel that we’re forcing them to do something.”

Commissioner Mike Wells agreed: “I don’t think we should tell them what to do.”

Wells also agreed with Commissioners Kathryn Starkey and Jack Mariano, who said the board needs to help the school district to tackle the need for new schools.

“We’ve got to help our youth. It comes down to ‘What’s the amount?’,’” Wells said.

Starkey, a former school board member, said, “I believe the school district needs help. It’s unfortunate that our state is, in my opinion, not funding needs at an adequate level, and I guess now it comes to the local government to help schools.”

Mariano added: “I think it’s clear that everyone agrees they need the full fee.”

The new fee would be tiered, based on the square footage of a house.
As it stands now, the proposed school impact fee would be $7,539 for a house with less than 1,500 square feet; $9,785 for a house larger than 1,500 square feet, but less than 2,500 square feet; and $12,028 for a residence exceeding 2,500 square feet.

The ordinance also would include a provision that allows the fee to go up or down each year, based on construction costs.

Those figures are subject to change, based on the County Commission’s vote after the Development Review Committee’s meeting and the two public hearings.

Any new impact fee would take effect 90 days after approval by the County Commission.

Even if the county adopts the highest rate, school district officials estimate a $284 million shortfall in revenue needed for capital construction during the next decade.

The district says that the impact fees would be used to build Cypress Creek Middle, Starkey Ranch Kindergarten through Eighth Grade, a high school with a location to be determined and an elementary school in the Wesley Chapel area.

The district is already feeling the squeeze and conditions are expected to worsen, as an estimated 20,000 students are projected to arrive in the district during the next 10 years.

Some relief is expected, as Bexley Elementary and Cypress Creek Middle High are set to open in the fall.

But, as residential growth continues to march through Pasco, the school district will have to come up with additional revenues to pay for schools needed to accommodate increased enrollment, said Ray Gadd, deputy superintendent for Pasco County Schools. Boosting impact fees is only part of the solution, he said.

Published May 10, 2017

A ‘Safe Place’ for Dade City

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The door is always left open — until someone is in danger.

It’s called “Safe Place.”

And it’s situated directly inside the lobby of the new Dade City police station, at 38030 Meridian Ave.

Signage went up last month for ‘Safe Place,’ an 8-by-12 room designed for citizens seeking shelter from danger, abuse or both.
(Kevin Weiss)

While “Safe Place” signage was installed just last month, the 8-by-12 room has been operable since the 12,000-square-foot building opened in January 2016.

Geared toward protecting against domestic violence incidents, citizens seeking shelter from danger, abuse or both can enter the chamber and simply shut the door.

Once closed, the room locks, dispatch is alerted and a Dade City police officer is summoned from an adjacent back door.

The area, replete with comfortable lounge chairs, is soundproof and bulletproof.

It’s under video surveillance, too.

In domestic incidents, an officer intervention is required before an individual may exit, said Brian Uppercue, the department’s spokesman.

“Once that door is closed, there’s no way for them to get out, even if they had a change of heart,” Uppercue said.

“We’ve had a couple uses for it already,” added Dade City Police Chief Ray Velboom.

Fingerprinting and noncustodial interviews— of victims and witnesses — are also conducted inside the “Safe Place” confines.

According to Uppercue, the space supplements the department’s ‘soft’ and ‘hard’ interview rooms, specifically in complex cases, “to keep all the parties separate.”

The Dade City police station became operable in January 2016.
(Courtesy of Dade City Police)

That way, folks aren’t passing through “the belly of the police department.”

Besides dire instances, the “protected” area is also employed for property returns and pickups.

The “Safe Place” concept materialized in the station’s design phase a few years ago, Velboom said.

In the old building, at 38042 Pasco Ave., residents often would file police reports in the lobby.

“There was no place to talk to those folks, so they were being interviewed right out in the lobby, in the open,” Velboom said. “We wanted…something that was a little more secure, a little more private.”

The idea follows another public-use offering, initiated by the department.

Last April, the department unveiled a “Safety Exchange Zone,” in its parking lot, permitting locals to meet up to sell or buy items through eBay, Craigslist or other websites.

The department currently has two parking spaces designated in its main lot off Pasco Avenue, behind the new municipal complex on Meridian Avenue.
The area is lighted and has video surveillance.

The safety zone helps reduce the potential danger of meeting with strangers to make a purchase, which was arranged online.

One such transaction, which was conducted in an east Tampa neighborhood in February, turned deadly.

James Beck, a 44-year-old Holiday resident, was shot dead Feb. 2 during a dirt bike sale arranged through Craigslist, multiple outlets reported.

Beyond transactions, the “Safe Exchange Zone” is used for custody exchanges.

“If you’re in a bad relationship, and you’re meeting at the police station, it’s going to temper everything down a little bit,” the police chief explained.

“It’s just a nice, safe, neutral area,” Uppercue added.

The “safe” areas are just two of the many features at the Dade City police station.

Besides its four holding cells, there’s enhanced evidence-processing laboratory, extra space for K-9 officers and evidence, and a high-tech Emergency Operations Center (EOC).

There’s also a designated room for weapons cleaning, equipped with an ultrasonic cleaner, air gun and vent system.

The $6.2 million building, which is combined with City Hall, was handled by St-Petersburg-based Wannemacher Jenson Architects, though some work at the police department was subcontracted to Generator Studio, an architecture firm in Kansas City, Missouri.

“We used the best concepts of a lot of police designs all around the country,” Uppercue said.
And, it sure beats the department’s previous digs.

“It was just this little cracker box; it didn’t have the technology this building has,” he said.

Published May 3, 2017

Drawing portraits, one pet at a time

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John LaFree was always told he couldn’t make a living as an artist.

But he created a career with his artistic talents, as the proprietor of Canine Caricature Pet Portraits.

Freelance and self-employed, LaFree operates his easel out of the comfy confines of his Wesley Chapel home.

The pieces he produces are anything but ordinary.
LaFree, 42, puts a “fun and whimsical spin” on the traditional pet portrait, creating an original hand-drawn work of art based on a combination of submitted photos, descriptions and requests.

John LaFree, of Wesley Chapel, launched Canine Caricature Pet Portraits in 2010. The 42-year-old puts a ‘fun and whimsical spin’ on the traditional pet portrait, creating an original hand-drawn work of art based on a combination of submitted photos, descriptions and requests.
(Kevin Weiss)

His custom illustrations — drawn on 12-inch by 16-inch paper using markers and Prismacolor art stix — serve as a unique interpretation of pets, incorporating the owner’s lifestyle to form “a very personal and collaborative project.”
“Oftentimes when people are giving me their descriptions, they’re talking about what they imagine their dog is thinking about,” said LaFree. “I can manipulate it and go in any direction, whether it’s something the dog enjoys doing, the dog enjoys playing with, or maybe it’s something you enjoy doing.”

The artsy influences are bred from his youth, when he doodled and pored over MAD Magazine and Gary Larson’s The Far Side.

Though dogs are the primary focus, Lafree’s portraits have expanded to include cats, horses, hamsters, ferrets, rabbits, snakes and turtles.

“It literally can be any animal,” he said. “I market myself as Canine Caricatures, but it’s easily feline, equine, bovine.”

The creative venture began in 2010, following stints as a caricature artist at Busch Gardens and the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, in Ohio.

An example of one of LaFree’s recent pet portraits.
(Courtesy of John LaFree)

Before that, LaFree was a stage actor, with a few appearances in small films and television.

Besides Florida and Ohio, his career led him to California, Colorado and New Mexico.

The shift from actor to artist happened “almost overnight.”

“I think the whole time I was trying to be an actor, I was ready to not be an actor anymore,” LaFree explained. “I wasn’t enjoying it as much as I enjoyed the process and the rehearsals and the applause of each show.”

Conversely, artwork “is all process” to LaFree.

“It’s more pleasing for my eye,” he said, “and it’s a lot more fulfilling for me to be working on my visual stuff and try to convey a story with a few marker strokes.”

Since Canine Caricatures launched, LaFree established an extensive client network, commissioning artwork for various animal shelters and pet rescues, along with pet store chains.
“Artistically, it was very fulfilling,” he said. “It was new for me. It was a challenge. It was hard. And, nobody I knew was doing anything like that,” he said.

Most of his business today is via online orders.

Beyond the United States, he’s received orders from countries like Australia and Sweden.

Each piece — barring any distractions — takes about one to two hours to complete, LaFree said.

He works on about five projects per day, hoping to complete 20 to 25 per week.
The typical turnaround time for an order is about three weeks.
That can expand to nearly two months, during the busy holiday season.

“Christmas,” he said, “is nuts.”

Though LaFree regularly is “super busy,” he remains grateful to do something he enjoys.

Most of LaFree’s business comes via online orders. He typically completes 20 to 25 pieces per week.

“There are not a whole lot of us that have made a whole business out of it,” he said.

The work, too, has given the artist an appreciation “for all of the diversity of life on this planet.

“I’ve learned about so many different breeds. I know more about dogs than I ever thought there was to know,” he said.

Meanwhile, the artist’s drawing style continues evolving.

That includes incorporating more realistic visual features, like pinpointing a pet’s glassy eyes or moisture in its gums.

“I’ve continued to be a student of what I’m doing. I’ve always tried some new stuff,” LaFree said.

Several other ventures, too, are in the works for LaFree.

They range from molding dog sculptures, to writing a children’s book.

There’s also a project called Boozehoundz, a cartoon drawing about dogs with drinking problems.

“I try to branch out,” LaFree said. “The more I can do, the more interesting it stays for me.”

LaFree has a tent at the Fresh Market at The Shops at Wiregrass the first and third Saturday of each month, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

For information, visit CanineCaricatures.com.

Published April 26, 2017

Using the power of music to help others

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Emma Skantze was a 9-year-old student at Turner Elementary School when she decided she wanted to get involved to help others.

After brainstorming with her mom, she came up with the idea of organizing a concert.

The first event featured her and some of her friends.

Emma Skantze has devoted many hours of her life to the quest of helping others through an annual benefit she organizes. Sometime there is one concert; sometimes, two. But, the goal is always the same: To raise money for people in need.
(B.C. Manion)

But now, as she prepares for the seventh annual Helping Hands benefit, she’s working out all of the details for having two concerts, at two venues.

One concert features about 30 performers, ranging in age from 5 to 18. The other showcases professional musicians from across the Tampa Bay area.

Besides lining up the musicians and the venues, she’s also organizing a bake sale and working on lining up food trucks, too.

It’s a lot of work, but the 17-year-old said the satisfaction she derives after it is all over makes it all worthwhile.

Last year, there was one event, which raised $7,200.

This year, with two concerts, the fundraising goal is $15,000, said Skantze, a junior at Land O’ Lakes High School.

The student concert is scheduled for April 23 at 5:30 p.m. at Grace Episcopal Church, 15102 Amberly Drive in Tampa. Tickets are $10 in advance and $15 at the door. Those attending will be able to purchase baked goods. A couple of food trucks also are expected.

Concert-goers also are encouraged to donate baby food and diapers, because the items are in great need by Metropolitan Ministries, she said.

The student concert also will include a performance by Eden Shirmohammad, of Land O’ Lakes.

“I want to show the younger students, especially, what they can do if they keep with their music,” Skantze said.

The professional concert is scheduled for May 27 at 6 p.m. at Barness Hall, at the University of South Florida, 4202 E. Fowler Ave., Tampa.

There will be a bake sale there, too, and she’s trying to line up food trucks, but is still working out what needs to be done to make that happen at USF, she said.

Tickets for the professional concert are $20 in advance or $25 at the door.

Skantze said there’s a feeling of satisfaction that comes from staging the concerts.

“Metropolitan Ministries has really expanded in the past couple years,” she said, and added, “I love being able to be a part of it.”

The organization has a day care, an elementary school and a considerable amount of job training.

In the beginning, organizing the event was difficult because she hadn’t done it before.

Over time, she’s become more comfortable in seeking sponsors and handling the logistics.

“I’m always talking to people who are older than me. But, with a lot of practice, I think my confidence has gone up, and it has gotten easier to talk to other people,” she said.

“I think it’s very cool when I can find adults who take me seriously,” she added.

She also noted that she doesn’t have to do everything by herself.

“I have a great support team,” Skantze said.

Even with experience, she said, it’s a time-consuming task. “For some reason, there’s not less time that you need to put it into.

“You have to reach out to the same amount of people,” she said, estimating she’ll log 100 hours on the project by the time it is completed.

Still, she is gratified by the results.

“We’ve been able to grow the concert every year and raise more money,” said Skantze, who manages to balance taking four Advanced Placement classes, doing soccer and track, and managing the details of the fundraiser.

“I organize my time,” she said. “I make a lot of lists. Sometimes I just have to prioritize what I think is more important.”

Helping others, in this young woman’s eyes, is important.

Seventh annual Helping Hands concerts to benefit Metropolitan Ministries Student Concert 2017
What: Concert will feature about 30 performers, ranging from age 5 through 18
Where: Grace Episcopal Church, 15102 Amberly Drive, Tampa
When: April 23, 5:30 p.m.
How much: $10 in advance; $15 at the door (Also will be collecting baby food and diapers for Metropolitan Ministries)

What: An evening of music
Concert will feature professional musicians performing on piano, classical guitar and violin.
Where: Barness Hall at the University of South Florida, 4202 E. Fowler Ave., Tampa
When: May 27, 6 p.m.
How much: $20 in advance; $25 at the door (Also will be collecting baby food and diapers for Metropolitan Ministries)

For information: Go to HelpingHandsTampa.com, or contact Emma Skantze at (813) 892-4868 or .

Published April 19, 2017

Pioneer Florida Museum makes film history

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The 19th century Overstreet House at Pioneer Florida Museum & Village aced the audition and got the casting call for its film debut.

For two nights, the Dade City museum hosted actors and about a dozen graduate students from the College of Motion Picture Arts at Florida State University.

Actor Demi Castro stands on the front porch of Overstreet House and rehearses a scene for ‘The Terrible Trio.’
(Kathy Steele)

The front porch at the Overstreet House will be the setting for a climactic showdown of retribution and revenge in “The Terrible Trio.”

The 12-minute live action short is the thesis film for Robert Eaton, director, screenplay co-writer, and FSU graduate student. His film will debut on campus at FSU, but Eaton anticipates also showing “The Terrible Trio” at small film festivals.

The actors and FSU film crew came to Dade City to shoot their movie on museum grounds after hours.

They blocked out scenes, ran cables, set up lighting, rehearsed and filmed scenes from late afternoon until past midnight on March 27 and March 28.

It is the first time that anyone can recall the museum, and Overstreet House, being featured in a movie.

Director Robert Eaton, center, works with his film crew to take measurements and block out an upcoming scene for ‘The Terrible Trio.’

The museum more often is a popular field trip for elementary students who like to end their day with a picnic on the grounds, said Stephanie Black, the museum’s executive director.

But, she added: “It’s thrilling to have a film crew take over at night.”

Black said she got an email from FSU asking for pictures of Overstreet House. Students then came down for a visit and an agreement was reached to allow filming.

In return, the museum will receive a copy of the film, a screen credit, and an invitation to the screening.

Eaton said Overstreet House competed with another local 1910 house.

But, Overstreet came closest to matching a 1870s “bachelor pad” for a character that Eaton describes as “the king of outlaws.”

The house had simplicity and one irresistible feature – a front porch.

The character, Ronaldo Rey, is of Mexican heritage, slick and intelligent, Eaton said.

Students from the Florida State University’s film school set up lighting for night scenes shot at the Pioneer Florida Museum & Village, in Dade City

Rey (which means king in Spanish) and a gang of corrupt lawmen rob a trio of misfits of gold, furs and a horse. The theft strips them of their livelihoods.

Eaton described his characters as atypical for a Western.

One is a former slave and a Mandingo fighter. Another is a Canadian fur trapper, and the last is Felicity Ford, the female protagonist and film lead. She is struggling to be a strong, independent woman in the Old West.

However, the exact locale of the story is deliberately ambiguous. It could be the Deep South, but then Eaton said the story could unfold somewhere between Florida and California.

The plot unfolds as the terrible trio bands together to reclaim their possessions and their destinies.

The film is a hybrid — including drama and comedy.

“It’s a little over the top and playing on clichés,” Eaton said.

Actors and students from Florida State University’s film school rehearsed a scene for ‘The Terrible Trio’ to make sure everything was ready to shoot a climactic scene at the Pioneer Florida Museum & Village.

When finished, FSU has ownership of the film. The school gives students a budget of $4,000, which Easton boosted to $10,000 through a private investor.

His actors were hired largely through taped auditions.

Caitlyn Sponheimer, who plays Felicity, started her career with modeling and commercial assignments. She also has done film and television.

“I always wanted to do a Western,” she said. “This is a strong female who rebels against the norms of the time. She’s not timid. She’s feisty.”

Demi Castro plays Rey. “He’s charming, very grandiose and verbose. Extremely confident.”

Castro lives in Orlando where he recently performed in the telenovela comedy, Destiny of Desire, at the Garden Theatre in Winter Haven. He also has movie and television credits, and helps other actors put together audition tapes at Class Act Studios, also in Orlando.

John Racioppo is a Canadian actor, living in New York. His character is Wayne Tuck, a fur trader, who Racioppo says is “a stranger in a strange land.”

He gets dropped into the middle of an unfamiliar world, and his attempts to adapt provide a lot of the film’s comedy, Racioppo said.

The third actor in the trio wasn’t available when a reporter from The Laker/Lutz News visited the set.

This is Eaton’s third film, after “Once Upon a Blood Moon” and “The Devil’s Luck.”

He co-wrote “The Terrible Trio,” with Carolina Garrigo, an FSU teaching assistant.

Eaton currently is in discussions to become a second unit director on the HBO series, Westworld. Other jobs on the same series are possible, too, Eaton said.

Whatever comes next, Eaton added, “I love telling stories. I don’t see myself leaving this.”

For information on FSU’s film program, visit Film.fsu.edu.

For information on the Pioneer Florida Museum & Village, visit PioneerFloridaMuseum.org.

Published April 12, 2017

Hungry Harry’s big heart receives community honor

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Instead of going to their bank, law office, hospital or real estate company — or dozens of other businesses — these men and women showed up at Hungry Harry’s Family Bar-B-Que on a recent sunny and clear Wednesday morning.

They were there to honor Harry Wright and his son-in-law, Chad Hudson, for their restaurant’s longstanding contributions to community life in Land O’ Lakes.

Members of the Central Pasco Chamber of Commerce gather to honor Harry Wright, left and Chad Hudson, with the Central Pasco Chamber’s ‘Heart of Pasco Award.’
(B.C. Manion)

Members of the Central Pasco Chamber of Commerce’s community affairs committee presented a sign declaring Hungry Harry’s as “The Heart of Pasco.”

“Hungry Harry’s has been actively involved in the community and has given back to the community in countless ways,” Mary Lynn Gorsline said, as she read from a letter explaining why the restaurant was singled out for the honor. Sandy Graves, also on the committee, presented a plaque to Wright and Hudson.

After the formalities, those attending huddled around Wright and Hudson for a group photo, and then the two men posed with individuals and groups who wanted a picture to mark the occasion.

Wright said the recognition wasn’t necessary, but he was obviously pleased.

“Just being part of the community is enough acknowledgement for me. To have this many business people acknowledge me, is really good,” Wright said.

He’s also happy that his son-in-law, who runs the operations now, has kept up the restaurant’s tradition of giving back to the community.

Hungry Harry’s, at 3116 Land O’ Lakes Blvd., has a long history in Land O’ Lakes.

When the restaurant opened, 33 years ago, it was a very lean operation. Just Wright, his wife, Sherry, and one employee handled all of the chores.

Over time, Hungry Harry’s has become a mainstay at charitable events in the community.

When volunteers for Coastal Cleanup finish cleaning up, for instance, they’re rewarded with a meal supplied by Hungry Harry’s. That tradition dates more than 20 years.

Wright estimates the restaurant has been involved in 5,000 fundraisers. At the 30-year mark Hungry Harry’s had given away about 250,000 meals, he said.

Like most businesses, Hungry Harry’s has had its successes and setbacks.

At one point, when a portion of the restaurant’s property was taken by eminent domain to widen U.S. 41 — also known as Land O’ Lakes Boulevard — Hungry Harry’s was closed for eight months. At another point, Wright was knocked out of commission by a heart attack.

When the recession hit, it wiped out nearly all of the restaurant’s commercial catering and dealt a serious blow to its walk-in trade, Wright said.

But, the family has stuck together, and through hard work, it has weathered the storms, Wright said.

It now has a thriving catering service for weddings, which Hudson developed, which catered more than 400 weddings last year, Wright said.

Opening a barbecue restaurant was never part of a grand plan, Wright said.

“I was running the world’s largest service center and tire store in Tampa. My boss wouldn’t pay me my $11,800 bonus,” he said. So, he turned in his two-week notice.

He and Sherry had five kids at the time.

“She was really concerned and upset.  “She said, ‘Well, what are you gonna do?’”

Wright had an idea.

He had been working near a barbecue joint that enjoyed an excellent reputation.

Wright thought he could do better.

“I said, ‘Honey, if this guy around the corner can be the best in Tampa Bay, I can cook barbecue better than that. I cooked barbecue for our wedding.’

“She said, ‘You stupid fool. I’ve never worked in a restaurant, and we don’t have any money.’

“Twenty-four days later, we opened,” Wright said.

Now, Wright and his wife are partners with their daughter, Stacey and their son-in-law, Chad.

“My son-in-law is an unreal businessman,” Wright said.

Things are far more systematic than they were when Wright ran things.

“We had no recipe books, when he came.

Members of the Central Pasco Chamber of Commerce gather to honor Hungry Harry’s Family Bar-B-Que with the ‘Heart of Pasco Award.’
(Courtesy of Suzanne Beauchaine)

“He said, ‘Starting tomorrow, everything you do for the next year, you’ve got to write it down.’”

“I’d tear off box tops, and I’d write down, ‘Mashed potatoes for 600.’”

Hudson took the recipes and converted them into spread sheets, with step-by-step instructions.

At its inception, the restaurant was named Hungry Harry’s Famous Bar-B-Que.

“Who decided it was famous?” Wright asked, rhetorically? “I did,” he answered, with a laugh.

Now, that the restaurant’s ownership is in the family’s second generation, the company refers to itself as Hungry Harry’s Family Bar-B-Que.

Initially, the restaurant operated out of a former barbecue joint called Rib Junction. It had been closed for two years and its lot was choked with weeds. Its dining room had 130 seats and stretched out to what is now the middle of the highway.

To help fill those seats, Wright went to church — many churches, actually.

He would tell the pastors: “You pick a night that works for me, and I’ll feed every man, woman, (and) child a complete dinner, with everything including dessert, for $2.”

The church dinners often would draw 300 to 350 people, and roughly 150 of them would end up at Hungry Harry’s for a meal within a week.

Wright said he has always been his own man.

“I did what I wanted to do. I fought the county, when I wanted to fight the county. I fought for causes,” he said.

The American flag that covers the restaurant’s roof is proof positive of that.

“Eight days after 911, the flag was started to be prepped and painted. I was so upset at that time,” he said, and he wanted to do something.

“So, we painted it.

“Sometime after that, Pasco County came to warn me that I was in violation of the sign code.

“I informed them I didn’t want to be warned. I told them I wanted to be cited. They’d have to take me out of here in handcuffs, feet cuffs (ankle cuffs). I had people in the armed forces who said they would sit up on the roof.

“So, they (county regulators) decided just to leave it alone,” he said.

Wright is a big believer in Land O’ Lakes, and in supporting local businesses.

“We have six kids. We had five when we came. The sixth was born almost in the restaurant.

“We have 14 grandkids, 11 of them in Land O’ Lakes, so I’m pretty well vested in the community,” Wright said.

He appreciates the relationships and friendships he’s formed through the years, with local business owners and local organizations.

“I don’t think I had anything but relationships in business when I came here. That was all that kept me in business,” Wright said.

While he appreciates the chamber’s recognition, it’s not something he sought after, he said.

“I have never been a person who needed to be acknowledged. I got the satisfaction from what we’d done. I’ve never done anything unless I’ve wanted to, and that’s a real freedom,” he said.

Now, he’s working on a book he plans to call ‘Everybody knows everything about life, and barbecue.’”

His favorite sentence so far is this: “Two days after everybody agrees on religion and politics — two days after that, they’ll agree on barbecue.”

In looking back, Wright said, “I don’t think I was a very good businessman.

But, that doesn’t seem to bother him.

“I probably could have been a whole lot more successful monetarily, but I couldn’t have been a whole lot more satisfied,” Wright said.

Published April 5, 2017

Teen isn’t defined by rare disease

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Remington Walls is just like any other 17-year-old.

Except that he can’t eat food.

Walls, a junior at Land O’ Lakes High School, suffers from a rare disease called Eosinophilic Esophagitis (EoE).

Essentially, all food deteriorates his esophagus — and there is no cure.

Remington Walls, right, is pictured with Cameron Douglas, a childhood friend. Walls is a switch-hitting, leftfielder on the Land O’ Lakes Gators varsity baseball team. He suffers from a rare disease called Eosinophilic Esophagitis (EoE), in which all food sources cause inflammation in his esophagus.
(Courtesy of Stephanie Walls)

His only source of nutrition comes via a hypoallergenic amino acid-based liquid formula, called Neocate EO28 Splash.

It’s specifically designed for patients who are allergic to proteins.

Walls drinks the “shake” 15 to 18 times per day, about every two hours.

Moreover, he’s been drinking the same flavor — orange-pineapple — every day since he was removed from all foods at age 4. It is his only flavor option.

The teen, however, doesn’t let the disorder define him.

“You try not to think about it,” he said.

It also hasn’t prevented him from pursuing his passions, including baseball.

He’s currently a switch-hitting, leftfielder on the Land O’ Lakes Gators varsity squad.

“The only thing I can’t do is eat,” he said. “That’s how I look at it.”

And, over the years, he’s learned to cope with the realization he can’t enjoy any of the foods his peers consume on a daily basis.

“I’ve been around it so long it doesn’t bother me at all. I drink my shake, they have their food,” he said.

But, in recent months, a new hurdle has emerged.

Every year, Walls’ formula was fully covered through insurance — until now.

His mother, Stephanie Walls, says coverage was coming through Verizon, her husband’s employer. However, when Frontier Communications bought out the company in 2016, the insurance coverage changed under a policy with Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield.

Shown here is a photo of the Walls family. From left: Stephanie Walls, Mike Walls, Dalton Walls and Remington Walls. They are pursuing legislation, calling for mandated coverage for those who suffer from Eosinophilic disorders.
(Courtesy of Stephanie Walls)

As of Jan 1, the insurance company has declined any coverage of the formula.

The family has made multiple appeals, but has been denied each time — even after Anthem’s board of doctors deemed that Walls’ formula was medically necessary for “sustenance of life.”

Stephanie’s insurance plan, likewise, doesn’t cover the elemental formula.

“For Rem, his nutrition is like insulin for diabetics,” she explained. “How do you deny this? It’s not like it just came up over night. We’ve had this disease now since (Remington was) the age of 4. We are absolutely stymied that they are allowed to do this.”

Remington, too, is aghast by the situation.

“I was shocked,” he said, “because I knew insurance always said they covered it, and then they said they didn’t cover it. I knew it was expensive, but I didn’t know how expensive until the price is actually shown.”
The formula, on average, costs about $2,000 a month.

Stephanie predicts the monthly formula payments will become even pricier as her son grows.

On top of that, the family has travel costs from the seasonal visits they must make to the Cincinnati Center for Eosinophilic Disorders, in Ohio.

“It makes me nervous,” she said of the looming expenses.

Fortunately, Stephanie said a private source has stepped forward to fund formula payments for the rest of the year.

But, the family is still battling the insurance company, trying to serve as a “voice for the voiceless.”

Remington Walls’ only source of nutrition comes via a hypoallergenic amino acid-based liquid formula, called Neocate EO28 Splash. He drinks the ‘shake’ 15 to 18 times per day, about every two hours.
(Courtesy of Neocate)

“We’re going to stand up for the injustice that’s taken place,” Walls said. “I don’t know if we’ll ever make progress, but we’re determined to get out there and make a difference, somehow.”
The family is now pursuing legislation, calling for mandated coverage for those who suffer from Eosinophilic disorders and need the formula to survive.

Florida law currently has a mandate to cover formula for those with Phenylketonuria, but not Eosinophilic disorders.

Stephanie — an eighth-grade language arts teacher at Pine View Middle School — has already reached out to U.S. Rep. Gus Bilirakis and to U.S. Senator Marco Rubio.

“We’re just trying to find the people we need to contact to get us in the right direction,” she said. “I have to do a ton of research and gather data before I can even move forward.”

She believes legislative efforts could take at least two years.

No matter how long it takes, she plans to keep fighting.

“It is imperative that we pass this legislation — something’s got to change,” she said. “What’s going to happen to all the kids and grownups that need this formula for later on in life?” she asked.

Between dealing with the insurance company and pursuing legislation, countless hours have been spent to help her son — and others like him.

“It’s absolutely mind-boggling the amount of time we’ve invested on this,” Stephanie said. “But, we felt forced to do it.”

Meanwhile, there has been a ground swell of community support for the Walls family.
A GoFundMe page was created on March 3 by Janeen Salzberger, a longtime family friend.

Word quickly spread after Land O’ Lakes High principal Ric Mellin passed along the information to the Pasco County School District.
As of March 27, $16, 617 has been raised. The goal is set at $40,000.
“It has humbled us greatly,” Stephanie said. “This is something we could not take on ourselves.”

To donate, visit GoFundMe.com/remington-walls.

Published March 29, 2017

Sharing the story of women’s progress

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Madonna Jervis Wise, a local author who writes primarily about history, has been making the rounds lately, talking about women in the work force and “East Pasco Women Who Rocked.”

Women played an important role in munitions factories during World War 1.
(Courtesy of Madonna Jervis Wise)

Her talks, which have been delivered at the Pioneer Florida Museum and Village in Dade City, at the East Pasco Networking Group’s breakfast meeting and at the Zephyrhills Public Library, have traced the evolving role of women in society.

The essence of her presentation traces the progress that women have made since ancient times to the present.

First, she delivers an overview of women in history and then she focuses on the contributions of seven East Pasco women.

While delivering her talk at the East Pasco Networking Group, Wise said she keeps her mother and grandmother in mind.

Irene Davis Dobson was a founding member the Head Start Early Childhood program in Pasco County, and also active in programs aimed at creating awareness of contributions of African-Americans throughout Florida and across the country.

“My mother was Depression-era woman who worked most of her life. My grandmother was equally as industrious,” she said.

“As we go through the presentation, please stop and think about the women in your life.

“Right now, we have 72 million women in the American workforce. That’s 30 million more than 1984, and women roughly make up about 50 percent of the workforce,” she said.

Despite their large numbers in the work force, women still trail men in terms of pay, Wise noted. Women receive approximately 81 percent of what men are paid, she said. And, only 14 percent of the executive positions in Fortune 500 companies are held by women.

There has been progress, however, compared to opportunities for women in the past.

“Women weren’t allowed to participate in any capacity, throughout most of history —in terms of speaking, political involvement, certainly not leadership,” Wise said.

“In the American colonies, women didn’t own property and certainly didn’t vote,” she said.

“I do a lot of genealogy. Sometimes you don’t even find the woman’s first name in genealogy.”

Bernice Rooks was in the first class at the University of South Florida. She was student No. 18. After graduating, she taught for 29 years.

Census data from the 19th century shows blank spaces for occupations because women’s work was not recorded, Wise said.

Women’s role in the world of work has evolved over time, she said.

“By the 1820s, women were starting to go into the textile mills. Pay was about $3 a week.

By the early 19th century, women still were mostly involved in domestic services, laundry, cooking, cleaning, some teaching, nursing, she said.

But she noted, women’s opportunities have expanded significantly — even during her own lifetime.

“I remember when I was in school. They’d say, ‘Are you going to be a secretary, nurse or a teacher?’,” Wise said.

Madonna Jervis Wise has been giving talks about women’s progress at various venues during Women’s History Month.
(B.C. Manion)

Women now have more career choices. They can belong to civic clubs that once banned them. And, there are more opportunities in athletics and the military, Wise said.

For generations, East Pasco women have played pivotal roles in expanding opportunities for the entire community, Wise said. She singled out these seven:

• Irene Dobson: She came from a large family and picked cotton as a child. She taught school in Georgia and later in Dade City, and was a founding member the Head Start Early Childhood program in Pasco County. She has been very active in the community and has helped to organize African-American programs to teach new generations about the contributions of African Americans in Florida and across the country.

  • Bernice Rooks: Even at age 94, she remains active in the community. She was the valedictorian of the 1940 class at Zephyrhills High School. She worked at MacDill Air Force Base and was a school bus driver. When the University of South Florida opened in 1958, she enrolled, becoming student No. 18. She graduated and taught for 29 years. She is also known for the family business, the Crystal Springs Roller Skating Rink which opened in 1939 just before World War II. For 35 cents, you could skate all day.
  • Lorena Leatherman Neukom: Known as Neukie and her husband, Charles, opened the iconic Neukom’s Drug Store drugstore in 1921. The store closed in 2001. She was in charge of payroll, buying and keeping the books until she was 93. The drugstore was a popular place for politicians, snowbirds and local residents.
  • Rosemary Wallace Trottman: She was a widely known educator and researcher. She published “The History of Zephyrhills; 1821-1921.” She founded the Zephyrhills Historical Association. Her research revealed the effects of the railroad on the community and detailed the colonial years of East Pasco, in which the day-to-day activities of the settlers involved log-rolling, sugar-caning, subsistence farming and the beginning of unique institutions. Her father was a pioneer settler of Abbott Station.
  • Willa Rice: She has the distinction of being first and only female mayor of Zephyrhills. After being voted into office in 1958, she revamped the police department by firing two of the department’s five policemen and accepting the resignation of the police chief.
  • Margarita Romo: Her work to champion the causes of of farmworkers in Pasco County and around the state led to her being named to the Florida Civil Rights Hall of Fame in 2012 & Hispanic Woman of the Year. She is founder of Farmers Self-Help, Inc., and has worked diligently for more than 40 years to help farmworkers help themselves.
  • Jean McClain Murphy: Most recently she was the 2017 Zephyrhills Founder’s Day Grand Marshal. She was an educator with Pasco County Schools. Known for her beautiful singing voice, she taught taught “Glee Club” at the high school level for six years. She remains the singing director at her Rotary Club, and has served as choir director for five different choral groups at the First Baptist Church in Zephyrhills.

Revised March 22, 2017

Local science club reaches state finals

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The Land O’ Lakes High School Science Olympiad Club has reached the state finals for the third year in a row.

Moreover, it’s the first year that two of the club’s teams — consisting of 15 students each — have advanced to the Florida Science Olympiad State Tournament.

This year the event is set for March 25, at the University of Central Florida in Orlando.

The club’s achievements are notable, particularly considering that it is just four years old.

Team Exdee and Team Natural Selection, made up primarily of International Baccalaureate (IB) students, will compete against 40 teams from across Florida.

The Land O’ Lakes High School Science Olympiad Club has advanced to the Florida Science Olympiad State Tournament, on March 25 at the University of Central Florida in Orlando. The club is sending two teams (of 15 students each) to the competition. During Science Olympiad, the teams will engage in hands-on, interactive, inquiry-based activities that are lab-based, research-based, or pre-built. There are 23 different events, with subjects ranging from physics, chemistry, earth space science, biology and engineering.
(Courtesy of Amanda Faint)

Both Land O’ Lakes squads qualified after finishing in the top six in a field of 47 regional teams at the Western Regional Science Olympiad, held Feb. 4 at Hillsborough Community College-Brandon.

A third team — Andromeda — finished 11th at the regional event.

Land O’ Lakes High School is the only public high school in Pasco County to reach the state competition this year.

Now, with multiple teams in the fold, the club is eyeing the possibility of a better showing than its 11th place finish last year.

“I think it’s about improvement,” said Amanda Faint, the club’s sponsor, who teaches chemistry at Land O’ Lakes High.

“We know how we did at regionals. We know states is tougher, so if we can…stick at the same general numerical place (during regionals), that’s still an improvement,” Fain said.

Club president Albert Xing, a senior, hopes his fellow teammates are more comfortable this time around.

“I think we’re…just trying to get a grasp of states,” Xing said. “We’re probably going to try to get more (medal) placings. Historically, we’ve gotten about two, three medals at states per year, and they’re usually third place or second place.”

The club also has a more ambitious challenge on its mind: unseat Boca Raton Community High School — the winner of the state tournament every year since 2011.

“Our goal is to knock them down,” Faint said.

“They’re like a powerhouse,” Xing added.

During Science Olympiad, students engage in hands-on, interactive, inquiry-based activities that are lab-based, research-based, or pre-built.
There are 23 different events, with subjects ranging from physics, chemistry, earth space science, biology and engineering. Various events are rotated out and substituted every few years.

The activities are all team-based, and at least two students work together on each event.

Throughout the competition, students are required to complete a designated activity within a 50-minute window.

Teams are then evaluated by judges, who determine how well students complete the task based on the rules described for each event.

“It’s kind of like golf, where the lower score is better,” Xing explained.

Typically, any particular student will compete in three to four events during the day.

Xing, for example, will mainly focus on the Wind Power, Ecology and Dynamic Planet categories.

Unlike other science competitions, Science Olympiad requires students to go beyond reporting about a science project, they must actually apply science.

Xing said the competition calls for applying the knowledge that students gain in the classroom.

“We may cover things like kinematics and trajectory, but realistically we never do anything like that inside of school,” Xing explained. “And then, doing these build events, we are basically applying what we learned at school to something that we can compete with.”

For others, like sophomore Armen Brotgandel, Science Olympiads provides an opportunity to learn about additional disciplines, such as astronomy.

“I think it’s just wanting to be able to do subjects that are usually not taught in school,” Brotgandel said. “There aren’t really any courses here on astronomy, but we get to go and study it with friends, and then you get to test your knowledge.”

Science Olympiad was created in 1983 by Dr. Gerard J. Putz and Jack Cairn, as an alternative to traditional science fairs and single-discipline tournaments.

After successful trial Science Olympiads in Michigan and Delaware, the competition began to grow.

Now, Science Olympiad has members in all 50 states, totaling more than 12,000 actively participating schools, with participants ranging from seniors to kindergarten students.

Besides testing science knowledge, the competition also provides an outlet for students to connect, outside of the classroom.

“Between events, we’ll have fun,” Brotgandel said. “We’ll play some sports, and just get to be with a bunch of friends.”

Land O’ Lakes High School Science Olympiad Club
Team Exdee
Albert Xing
Alyssa Nguyen
Hang Nguyen
Sidhvi Nekkanti
Navya Jampani
Kenta Xu
Rohil Tuli
Josie Hidalgo
Shania Tjhiang
Brianna Vo
Trip Gray
Cindy Long
Josiah Pineda
Sena Eskalen

Team Natural Selection
Adelin Pop
Akshaya Venkata
Alexander Lilov
Armen Brotgandel
Ashley Rocks
Edward Brotgandel
Ethan Teo
Felix Sanjay
Funda Eskalen
Joseph Pineda
Joshua Brett
Lisa Johnson
Nathan Brett
Tony El‐Rady
Tzuriel Garcia

Published March 15, 2017