The Laker/Lutz News

Serving Lutz since 1964 and Pasco since 1981.
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Immaculee Ilibagiza

The Laker/Lutz News wins 10 Florida Press Association awards

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The Laker/Lutz News received 10 awards during the 2017 Florida Media Conference on Aug. 11 at The Ritz-Carlton Naples.

The newspaper garnered three first-place, six second-place and one third-place prize in the Florida Press Association’s Better Weekly Newspaper Contest.

This image of 91-year-old Pat Caldwell competing in a billiards tournament at the Lutz Senior Citizen was one in a series of photographs that yielded top honors from the Florida Press Association for photographer Fred Bellet. Bellet is a regular contributor to The Laker/Lutz News. (Fred Bellet)

The contest drew 1,154 entries from 56 newspapers. Winners were selected by judges in Arizona, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and New York. Work receiving recognition was completed in 2016.

Fred Bellet, a regular contributor to the newspaper, received first place for a Photo Series in One Issue for “Cueing up for a good time,” a full page section front photo essay on a pool tournament at the Lutz Senior Center.

The judge noted that every photo showed expressions of emotion.

“Good photos deserve big play, and the deep page-width shot of the 91-year-old eventual tourney winner bending over to line up his shot qualified for that play. Laughs to grimaces to concentration displayed in the six photos told the story.”

Richard Riley, another regular contributor to the newspaper, received top honors for his Feature Photo entry, “Sister Helen Lange turns 103.”

“Moment captured. Emotion. Action. The picture is worth at least 10,000 words,” the judge wrote.

This prize-winning photo by Richard Riley shows paramedic John Ward helping Sister Helen Lange blow out the candles during her 103rd birthday celebration at Heritage Park in Dade City. (Richard Riley)

A column by Tom Jackson, a former contributor to the newspaper, received top honors in the Serious Column category.

The judge extolled the quality of Jackson’s entry, “Appreciating Joe Hancock’s Legacy.”

“Community columnist Tom Jackson is a master craftsman of the language and the ability to create impactful images,” the judge wrote. “His tribute to a local man killed when his bicycle was struck by a car begins at the burial ceremony at a cemetery, works backwards to show what kind of man the victim was, and concludes with this idea of a tribute to him: ‘And, near the spot of the crash, a suitable plaque, affixed to a German Focus (bicycle). So, we remember, always, and drive, or cycle, accordingly.’”

Staff writer Kevin Weiss received second place in the Sports Feature Story category for his entry, “Player returns to soccer, after 17 broken bones.” The story chronicled the impressive battle of Carrollwood Day School soccer player Spencer Peek’s to get back on the field after undergoing four surgeries and extensive rehabilitation following a serious car accident.

The judge summed up the entry this way: “Great story of overcoming the odds.”

B.C. Manion, the newspaper’s editor, received five second-place awards.

She was honored in the Community History category for her entry, “Telling Wesley Chapel’s Story.”

Photographs such as this one, of a car parked at the end of a cypress log in the 1930s, help tell the story of Wesley Chapel’s history. The car illustrates the enormity of the trees that were felled in the area. Large timber companies or trusts acquired vast tracts of land that were depleted of lumber. Many deserted the claims, once the limber was harvested and the properties were sold for tax deeds. (Courtesy of Madonna Jervis Wise)

The judge wrote: “The black and white pulled me in. The words kept me reading. Good use of photos.”

She also was honored in the Faith and Family Reporting category for her entry, “Finding Hope in the Heart of Darkness,” for a story about Immaculee Ilibagiza, a survivor of the 1994 Rwandan genocide. Ilibagiza detailed her ordeal and the power of faith during two talks at St. Timothy Catholic Church in Lutz.

The judge remarked: “The details of this subject’s gripping story made for a compelling read.”

Manion’s other winning entries were for Education Reporting, “Guiding Pasco Schools is a Big Job;” Local Government Reporting, “Tampa Bay Express Aims to Address Region’s Congestion;” and Feature Story Profile, “Sister Helen’s Secrets to a Good Life: Work Hard, Love People.”

Staff writer Kathy Steele received third-place in the Business Reporting category for her entry, “Residential Building Momentum in Pasco.”

The judge described the entry this way: “Detailed story about a housing boom in Pasco County, with the additional touch of featuring one family who moved from Michigan for sunshine and a small-town feel. And one set of their parents will soon make the move as well. There were 116 homes being built in the subdivision in 2016. Bigger picture reporting showed 1,900 permits to contractors by mid-2016, matching all of 2015. Story contrasts current boom with 2005’s 7,252 permits and 2011’s 884. Story also notes that starter homes are in short supply, so apartments are taking over the market. Good information for those considering if and where to relocate and for those living there to assess the boom and what it might mean to them.”

The Laker and Lutz News are free community weekly newspapers delivered every Wednesday to homes and businesses in the suburban north Tampa communities of Lutz, Odessa, Land O’ Lakes, Wesley Chapel, Zephyrhills, Dade City and San Antonio.

The newspapers are independently owned by Publisher Diane Kortus, a resident of Land O’ Lakes. The Laker has been published in Pasco County since 1981. The Lutz News has been published in Hillsborough County since 1964.

Published August 16, 2017

2016 marked by rapid growth, touching moments

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The national election captured headlines and attention, but 2016 was an eventful year in many other ways, as well, across The Laker/Lutz News coverage area.

The big story is the region’s growth.

Eighty-eight-year-old Angel Torres, center, a veteran from Puerto Rico and a resident of the Baldomero Lopez State Veterans Nursing Home, is being positioned to have his photograph taken by Mark Fosket, of Valrico, during the ‘Honor Flight’ ceremony at the nursing home. Gabrielle Perrella, a volunteer from Baltimore, Maryland, who is dressed in a uniform costume, posed with each veteran for their portrait.
(File Photos)

New houses are popping up all over the place, with developments such as Long Lake Ranch, Estancia at Wiregrass Ranch, Connerton, Bexley and Asturia, just some of the residential communities beckoning to buyers.

Pasco County is on the move in many other ways, too.

A futuristic, technology-based network of communities across 7,800 acres in northeast Pasco County is in its planning stages.

Raymond James Financial has closed on a deal to buy 65 acres across from Pasco-Hernando State College’s Porter Campus at Wiregrass Ranch, with the financial services giant expected to have hundreds of workers in Pasco County at some point.

Florida Hospital Center Ice — a new 150,000-square-foot hockey arena and sports complex — is nearly set to open, and that is expected to be a big draw for both tournaments and tourists.

And then, there’s the commercial development that continues to transform the State Road 54/State Road 56 corridor, especially near the Interstate75/State Road 56 interchange.

Just in that vicinity alone, there’s Tampa Premium Outlets, Longhorn Steakhouse, BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse, Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen, Chick-fil-A and Culver’s.

A 186,000-square-foot Costco Wholesale is expected to open in February, with an estimated 200 employees.

A historic photo of a baptism of members of the First Baptist Church of Lutz.

Just across the road, on the north side of State Road 56, Cypress Creek Town Center — another shopping development — is being built.

There are also plans for a new cinema, grocery store, apartments, shops and restaurants next to The Shops at Wiregrass, off State Road 56.

Of course, all of this growth is compounding traffic problems on area roads — and numerous projects are underway or are expected to begin work in coming years.

Improvements are expected to begin near the I-75/State Road 56 interchange. Wesley Chapel Boulevard is slated to be widened. An extension of State Road 56 is planned between Wesley Chapel and Zephyrhills, and discussion continues about the best solution for reducing congestion at U.S. 41 and State Road 54.

Growth is putting the squeeze on schools, too.

Pasco County Schools can’t keep pace with growing enrollments.

The district opened Wiregrass Elementary School, in Wesley Chapel, in August, to reduce crowding at area schools.

In the coming school year, it plans to open Bexley Elementary and Cypress Creek Middle/High.

Bexley is being built in a new subdivision off State Road 54. Cypress Creek Middle/High is going up on Old Pasco Road.

School board members gave preliminary approval for boundaries for Bexley and Cypress Creek at a contentious public hearing on Dec. 20. A final vote is expected on Jan. 17.

But, school board members and Superintendent Kurt Browning said the new schools fall far short of addressing district needs. They want the Pasco County Commission to require new residential construction to pay higher impact fees to support school construction.

Paramedic John Ward helps Sister Helen Lange blow out the candles that lit up her 103rd birthday cake at a party at Heritage Park in Dade City.

While growth and its ripple effects clearly dominated the news, there were plenty of other notable moments within the region during 2016.

For instance, there were heroics in everyday life.

On June 3, a fire claimed the life of a tiny black Chihuahua named Peanut, but not until after the dog’s persistent barking saved the life of three generations of a Lutz family.

Later that same week, quick actions by a student at Saddlebrook Preparatory School in Wesley Chapel averted potential tragedy at the international boarding school for aspiring golf and tennis players.

A student smelled smoke, investigated, pulled the alarm and help to ensure that all 28 students and two adults got out of the dorm safely.

It took 55 firefighters more than 1 ½ hours to put out the blaze.

This past year also was one of milestones and celebrations.

The First Baptist Church in Lutz celebrated its 75th anniversary, The San Antonio Rattlesnake Festival turned a half-century, Cox Elementary School turned 90 and the Town of St. Leo marked its 125th anniversary.

On a more personal note, Sister Helen Lange, of Dade City, received a surprise cake to mark her 103rd year on Sept. 28 in Dade City, and Nellie and Gain Hughs Bailey Sr., of Lutz, celebrated 70 years of married life on March 31.

There were inspiring moments, too.

Hundreds of people turned out for the “Honor Flight” celebration on Aug. 20, at the Baldomero Lopez State Veterans Home in Land O’ Lakes. The event provided a virtual tour of the nation’s war monuments because these veterans are unable to make the trip to Washington D.C.

The stands were also filled at Ron Allen Field at Gaither High School, in North Tampa, to attend the June 15 vigil to honor Christopher Joseph Sanfeliz, one of 49 people killed during a mass shooting on June 12 at Pulse nightclub in Orlando.

There was the inspiring message, too, from Immaculee Ilibagiza, a survivor of the Rwandan genocide, who spoke at two days of gatherings at St. Timothy Catholic Church in Lutz.

Ilibagiza’s family, friends and other members of her tribe were brutally murdered in Rwanda, but through her faith, she was able to forgive the killers.

Forgiveness, the genocide survivor said, brings freedom.

Published December 28, 2016

Forgiveness brings freedom, genocide survivor says

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There was a time when Immaculee Ilibagiza didn’t think she’d live to see another day.

Now, she rejoices for each new day because it gives her a chance to share her faith.

Ilibagiza, author of “Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust,” was at St. Timothy Catholic Church on Jan. 27 and Jan. 28, sharing her story of survival — which she attributes to God’s immense love.

The church invited her to speak, as part of its celebration of the Jubilee year of Mercy.

Immaculee Ilibagiza signs copies of her book, ‘Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust.’ (B.C. Manion/Staff Photo)
Immaculee Ilibagiza signs copies of her book, ‘Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust.’
(B.C. Manion/Staff Photo)

Pope Francis has declared a Jubilee of Mercy, which began Dec. 8 and runs through Nov. 20, 2016, according to the National Catholic Reporter. The pope has called on Catholics around the world to use the ongoing Jubilee year of mercy to “open wide” the doors of their hearts to forgive others and to work against social exclusion.

Ilibagiza’s message fits perfectly with that theme.

She grew up in a small village in Rwanda and had been attending the National University of Rwanda to study electrical and mechanical engineering.

She was home on Easter break in April of 1994 when the assassination of the Hutu president sparked months of massacres of Tutsi tribe members throughout the country.

To spare his daughter from rape and murder, Ilibagiza’s father told her to run to the home of a Hutu pastor, who was a family friend. The pastor hid her and seven other women in a cramped 3-foot-by-4-foot bathroom for 91 days.

“We stayed in that bathroom three months. We never spoke to each other those three months,” she said.

During that time, her faith was crushed and challenged.

She knew that any tiny noise could lead to her death.

The Hutu killers stormed into the pastor’s house and searched through it. They looked on the roof, under the beds and in the ceiling.

As she feared for her life, she asked God to give her a sign. She asked him to keep the intruders from finding the bathroom door.

In a 60 Minutes interview, the pastor said one of the intruders put his hand on the doorknob, but didn’t turn it.

That’s when Ilibagiza said she knew, without doubt, that God is real.

It took her quite some time, though, to reach a point where she could forgive the murderers.

She said she used to pray the “Our Father,” but couldn’t sincerely ask God “to forgive” those who had trespassed against her, so she skipped that part of the prayer.

Eventually, though, she realized that the prayer was instituted by Jesus, so she had to find a way to forgive the people who brutally killed her family, friends and other members of the tribe.

That’s when she began praying for the ability to forgive.

She then realized that would require true surrender. So, she prayed for that.

The words that Jesus spoke, as he was dying on the cross, provided guidance, she said.

During his agony, he uttered, “Forgive them Father, they don’t know what they do,” she said.

And, it occurred to her that the people wielding machetes were like the people who killed Jesus.

“They have been blinded by hatred, selfishness, all of those things have taken over, blinded them,” she said.

And, it also reminded her that everyone is capable to choosing the wrong path.

“All of us we become blind, when we go into hatred, when we become selfish,” she said.

Forgiveness, however, frees those who have been harmed to move away from the hatred and to choose peace, she said.

Her change of heart did not come overnight and did not come easily, she said.

When she went into that bathroom, she said, she weighed 115 pounds and when she came out, she weighed 65 pounds.

“Every bone was out,” she said. “People were running away from me when I came out, ‘Look at her, she became a skeleton.’

But, that wasn’t her only or most important transformation.

“Inside my heart, I felt so beautiful. Inside my heart, I was smiling,” she said.

“I knew who I was. I’m a child of God. I’m not going to hate. I’m going to pray.”

February 3, 2016

Finding hope, in the heart of darkness

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Immaculee Ilibagiza boards an airplane nearly every week to travel to a speaking engagement, where she shares her message of hope and forgiveness.

That’s the primary theme of her book, “Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust.”

Ilibagiza grew up in a small village of Rwanda and had been attending the National University of Rwanda to study electrical and mechanical engineering, when she came home during an Easter break.

Immaculee Ilibagiza survived the 1994 Rwandan genocide, and believes she was spared to share a message of faith, hope and forgiveness. (Courtesy of Immaculee Ilibagiza)
Immaculee Ilibagiza survived the 1994 Rwandan genocide, and believes she was spared to share a message of faith, hope and forgiveness.
(Courtesy of Immaculee Ilibagiza)

That’s when the April 1994 assassination of the Hutu president sparked months of massacres of Tutsi tribe members throughout the country.

To spare his daughter from rape and murder, Ilibagiza’s father told her to run to the home of a Hutu pastor, who was a family friend.

The pastor hid Ilibagiza and seven other women in a 3-foot-by-4-foot bathroom for 91 days.

“My faith was crushed and challenged, when I was in that bathroom,” said Ilibagiza, who will be giving two talks at St. Timothy Catholic Church in Lutz this week.

“I felt there’s nothing out there. I’m dying and life is over, and how can this be?”

“Any tiny noise could have been the end of our life,” Ilibagiza said.

The Hutu killers heard that some Tutsi women had been seen near the pastor’s house, so they stormed in and searched through it.

“They went in the ceiling of that house. In the roof of the house. Under the beds.

“Every reasonable thing said, ‘It’s over,” Ilibagiza said.

She held onto the rosary her father had given her, and had her Bible, too.

As she feared for her life, she prayed God: “If there’s anything beyond this, please give me a sign. Don’t let them find the door, just today, in this house.”

In a 60 Minutes interview, the pastor said the intruders put his hand on the doorknob to the bathroom, but didn’t turn it.

Ilibagiza recalls that moment: “You are literally counting, on the grace of God, for them not to open that door,” she said.

She believes they were saved by God’s grace.

When she went into hiding, she weighed 115 pounds. When she emerged, she weighed 65. “We were like bones,” she said.

When she was able to escape, she learned that her family, with the exception of a brother who was abroad studying, had been murdered.

She said the faith that she discovered through prayer during her ordeal, enabled her to let go of the anger, resentment and hate, and to instead feel hope, forgiveness and peace.

She emigrated to the United States in 1998 and shared her story with some co-workers at the United Nations, who encouraged her to write it down, she said.

Just a few days later after she finished writing her story, she said she met internationally known Wayne Dyer at a conference and book signing.

That meeting led to Dyer’s involvement in the publication of her book.

The two became friends, frequently sharing the stage during Dyer’s inspirational talks.

The story of Ilibagiza’s life is expected to be made into a movie, with filming slated to begin this year.

“Realistically, my prayer has been, I hope they do a good job — something that will inspire people. I don’t just want a movie to make noise,” Ilibagiza said. Rather, she hopes the movie will help people to have better lives.

Her talks on Jan. 27 and Jan. 28 at St. Timothy Catholic Church, 17512 Lakeshore Road, will be “sharing from one human heart to another,” she said.

“I will share what I have lived,” she said. “I will speak about forgiveness.

“I want to share with people with the way I met God, how I came closer,” she said. She also wants to help people embrace “forgiveness, prayer and the power of prayer.”

She wants to encourage people to get closer to Mary, the mother of Jesus.

“Talk to her as a mother,” she said.

Ilibagiza said she also wants to share the lesson that her life and faith have taught her: “If you love one another, if you forgive one another, you will have peace.”

What: Immaculee Ilibagiza speaks on “Faith, Hope and Forgiveness.”
Where: St. Timothy Catholic Church, 17512 Lakeshore Road in Lutz
When: Jan. 27 at 7 p.m., and Jan. 28 at 10 a.m., a Mass will precede each talk
How much: Admission is free

Published January 27, 2016