The Laker/Lutz News

Serving Lutz since 1964 and Pasco since 1981.
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GFWC Lutz-Land O' Lakes Woman's Club

In Print: Profiling community leaders who make a difference

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When Todd Patrick learned there was a homeless teenager living behind a supermarket about to face freezing cold temperatures, he knew he had to do something about it.

Patrick, the director of sales at Hampton Inn & Suites in Wesley Chapel, pulled out his personal credit card and booked the teen a room in his hotel. And that moved earned him one of the top individual awards an employee of the national hotel chain can receive: a Spirit of Hampton Award.

“I love the fact that to you, people just don’t go unnoticed,” Scott Schrank, a vice president with the Hampton chain, told Patrick last week on a conference call. “This had nothing to do with hospitality, and that’s what I love about examples like this. You believe you were born to care, and you look for opportunities to give, and that’s what you did.”

While Patrick is keeping his eye out for people in need, Lisa Bekiaris wants to make sure pets don’t get overlooked.

A few short years ago, Bekiaris learned how many pets go hungry — or even worse, how many owners will go hungry just to make sure their pets eat — and decide to do something about it. She started Raffle Rescue where people don’t just donate cash, they enter a chance to win prizes. And all the proceeds make sure pets in disadvantaged families get the food they need.

Daphne is just one of the many animals whose pet bowls have been filled, thanks to Raffle Rescue's efforts throughout the county. (Photo courtesy of Lisa Bekiaris)
Daphne is just one of the many animals whose pet bowls have been filled, thanks to Raffle Rescue’s efforts throughout the county. (Photo courtesy of Lisa Bekiaris)

“I have had people tell me, ‘I didn’t eat today because I had to buy dog food,'” Bekiaris told reporter Michael Hinman. “We as humans can go out and ask for help, but our animals solely rely on us as a pet parent, and too often we’ll make sacrifices for ourselves to keep them fed.”

Both Patrick and Bekiaris are prime examples of people who give back to the community, but reporter B.C. Manion helps remember one woman who helped start the very charity fundraising that has become a tradition in Lutz.

Alice Joan “Jo” Van Bebber was the original Lutz Guv’na, and spent decades of her life serving the community. She died March 5.

“To me, we lost a truly great lady,” said longtime friend Marilyn Wannamaker. Not only was Van Bebber a community activist, she was a vital member of the GFWC Lutz-Land O’ Lakes Woman’s Club, and was quite involved at the First United Methodist Church of Lutz.

All of these stories and more are 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.

Thousands expected at arts and crafts festival at Lake Park

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Every year, for the past three decades, the Lutz Arts & Crafts Festival has attracted thousands to this community north of Tampa.

Vendors display their wares at the annual Lutz Arts & Crafts Festival. (Photo courtesy of the GFWC Lutz-Land O’ Lakes Woman’s Club)
Vendors display their wares at the annual Lutz Arts & Crafts Festival. (Photo courtesy of the GFWC Lutz-Land O’ Lakes Woman’s Club)

The event, Dec. 7 and Dec. 8 at Lake Park, 17302 N. Dale Mabry Highway in Lutz, features nearly 250 vendors offering paintings, photography, jewelry, woodcarving, ceramics, pottery, stained glass, quilts and food.

The event, co-sponsored by the GFWC Lutz-Land O’ Lakes Woman’s Club and Hillsborough County Parks, Recreation and Conservation Department, is free after a $2 per vehicle parking charge.

The art show is juried, with cash prizes awarded by the Woman’s Club.

A variety of foods will be available, with the Woman’s Club booth offering breakfast items, hot dogs and the club’s peach cobbler. Other food booths will offer barbecue, Cuban selections sausages, funnel cakes and other items.

The event gives shoppers a chance to peruse booths to find holiday gifts and décor. It also raises money for the Woman’s Club, which uses the proceeds to support many local organizations, said Phyllis Hoedt, co-chairwoman of the festival.

It’s a popular event, attracting as many as 30,000 visitors.

The show enjoys a good reputation, and vendor booths sell out shortly after applications become available each March, Hoedt said. Many of the event’s vendors come from other states to set up their tents at the festival.

Pulling off the annual event requires an army of volunteers, Hoedt said. The Civil Air Patrol, the Boy Scouts and the Woman’s Club itself provide dozens of helpers, and community volunteers pitch in, too.

For additional information, call Hoedt at (813) 949-1937, or her co-chairwoman, Shirley Simmons at (813) 949-7060.