Depending on your age, you have cheered either for Daniel Laruso or Dre Parker to bring home a karate championship. But that’s the movies.
In reality, for those living in Wesley Chapel, all eyes were on the Vo brothers — Derick, Jason and Andrew — who traveled all the way to Poland to represent the United States at the World Union of Karate-Do Federations World Karate Championship.
The three range in age from 11 to 16, and their luggage was a bit heavier with medals returning home to Florida.
“It was an amazing experience because it was the first time me and my brothers were all able to travel together and complete in the world championships,” Derick Vo, a Wesley Chapel High School junior, told reporter Michael Murillo.
The efforts of those brothers made their father, Duy-Linh Vo, proud. He traveled with his sons to Poland,which helped him appreciate the opportunities they have in America.
“In Vietnam, they were very limited in dojos (karate learning centers) in rural areas,” he said.
Want to hear all about the Vo family’s trip to Poland? Check it out in this week’s print edition of The Laker/Lutz News, available now. Or read it all online for free by clicking here.
While the Vo brothers’ trip to Poland may not have been the subject of a movie, there are parts of Lutz that was … well, 40 years ago.
It was a B-movie called “Satan’s Children,” and key parts of it were filmed on a farm in Lutz — complete with quicksand made out of oatmeal.
“We bought up every case of oatmeal we could find in the North Tampa area,” John Mocsary, one of the special effects people on the film, told reporter Michael Hinman. “And we used every bit of it. I had to make a three-foot pit, and it had to look real.”
Whether it did look real or not, that’s up to the viewer to decide. And sadly, in 1974, there weren’t too many viewers of this film, despite the work by a local television producer named Joe Wiezycki, and members of the University of South Florida drama department.
However, that film will get its due next weekend when the Tampa Theatre celebrates its 40th anniversary with a cast and crew reunion, including people like Mocsary, who still live in the area.
“I first got to see it back in 2006, and even then, I noticed it was made in Tampa,” said Andy Lalino, a WUSF-TV producer who is organizing the reunion. “That piqued my interest, since I’m from the Tampa Bay area, and I toyed around with some ideas on what to do about that.”
The reunion also will include some of the actors involved, like Stephen White, Rosemary Orlando and John Edwards.
To get all the details on the film, and why you should attend Nov. 15, pick up this week’s print edition of The Laker/Lutz News, or read it all online in our free e-edition, right here.
Finally, it’s November, and that means big holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas are just around the corner. It’s a joyous time for many people, but not necessarily everyone, and bereavement counselor Dale Thien wants to help.
“Your grief is like you have a broken heart,” Thien told reporter B.C. Manion. “The thing is, we can’t really see that.”
How do you handle a friend or family member who might be struggling with their own loss this holiday season? Do you leave them be? Do you invite them out? Do you sit and listen? Or all of the above?
Thien, who works with HPH Hospice, shares her thoughts about all of it in this week’s print edition of The Laker/Lutz News. Find it on newsstands, or maybe by your front door. Or you can read it online for free by clicking here.
All of these stories and more can be found in this week’s The Laker/Lutz News, available in newsstands throughout east and central Pasco County as well as northern Hillsborough County. Find out what has your community talking this week by getting your local news straight from the only source you need.
If The Laker/Lutz News is not coming to your door, call us to see where you can get your copy at (813) 909-2800, or read our free e-edition by clicking here.
