Kris Keppel is the last person who feels he deserves all the accolades he’s received lately. While he had to retire as both a cross-country coach and a teacher for Land O’ Lakes High School earlier this year because of his battle with pancreatic cancer, Keppel still has to admit, what he’s done — and always has done — is inspire.
And that’s what he wants to keep on doing.
“It’s pretty easy to inspire,” Keppel told fans at the recent Land O’ Lakes-Sunlake football game, according to reporter Michael Hinman. “Inspiration is a two-way street. You all can inspire each other on a daily basis.”
Keppel not only received the honor of having his name put on an award that will be given regularly by the high school to those that inspire others, but also to have a street named in his honor on campus.
“What better way to have students in the future know how much he inspired us to do things the Keppel way than to actually rename the roadway that leads into the athletic facility,” school principal Ric Mellin said. “From this point forward, every time our athletes come down the road from the parking lot into the stadiums in the back here, they are going to be doing it the Keppel Way.”
What did Coach Keppel and others think of all this? Find out in this week’s print edition of The Laker/Lutz News, available now. Or if you’re someone who can’t leave their computer quite yet, check out the story in our free online e-edition by clicking here.
It was a different kind of inspiration that led Bryan and Darci D’Onofrio to start their own theater company. And the name says it all.
Dreamhouse Theatre opens its first full production, “Little Shop of Horrors,” this weekend at the Center for the Arts at Wesley Chapel.
“Something we’ve always wanted to do was to have our own theater,” Bryan D’Onofrio told reporter B.C. Manion. “That’s been a dream of ours.”
So they pulled together their resources and made it happen. Bryan is the artistic director, while Darci is the executive director.
“We absolutely love the arts,” Darci D’Onofrio said. “We want to bring them here. We know that’s a need.”
Learn more about Dreamhouse Theatre and the people behind it in this week’s print edition of The Laker/Lutz News, available everywhere now. Or if you’d prefer, read it right now in our free online e-edition. Just click here.
There is a lot of focus on veterans at Saint Leo University, and not necessarily because a lot of them are traveling to Pasco County to take on classes. In fact, there are many veterans who are finding a way to get that post-high school education they’re looking for from Saint Leo — but they are doing it through the convenience of distance technology.
One man — U.S. Marine Corps gunnery sergeant Tedd “Gunny” Weiser — is in charge of making sure veterans successfully make the transition from battlefield to classroom.
“When these veterans come off active duty, there’s a trust, a comfort level, in being able to speak to somebody who can not only talk the talk, but walk the walk,” Weiser told reporter Michael Murillo.
The support his department provides is more than just answering basic questions or even maintaining a campus presence. It also comes in the form of a free online course developed by Saint Leo to help veterans and their families transition from military to civilian life. And not just to go to school, but to make it in the world that isn’t always the most friendly to soldiers coming back from conflict.
To learn more about what Saint Leo is doing with veterans, check out this week’s print edition of The Laker/Lutz News. Or read our free online edition by clicking here.
And finally, photojournalist Fred Bellet has some great pictures to share from the recent Fall Festival at The Grove at Wesley Chapel. It was some great costumes and more at the annual event — put on by the Greater Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce — which can be found on the front of this week’s B-Section. See it online 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.
