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Lutz-Land O' Lakes Woman's Club

Final fundraisers keep Lutz Guv’na hopefuls busy

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The race for Lutz Guv’na is wrapping up, but the candidates aren’t ready to pack it in.

All three hopefuls are prepping for last-minute fundraising, with some big events in the final days of the race. All the money goes to Lutz organizations, and the candidate who raises the most earns the ceremonial title. So they’re pulling out all the stops to grab as much cash as possible.

The cash grab for the Lutz Guv'na race was already in full swing at the debate back in May. Now, the three candidates are ramping up the fundraising as the July Fourth deadline looms. (MIchael Murillo/Staff Photo)
The cash grab for the Lutz Guv’na race was already in full swing at the debate back in May. Now, the three candidates are ramping up the fundraising as the July Fourth deadline looms.
(MIchael Murillo/Staff Photo)

According to two-time former Guv’na Suzin Carr, that’s a good strategy to have in the last days of the race.

“The final push is huge, ” Carr said. “It ain’t over until it’s over.”

That motto came to fruition last year, when the race was decided by less than $20 out of around $9,600 raised. In the end, Dr. Cindy Perkins won the Guv’na sash by the thinnest of margins. And on July 4, she’ll hand it over to whichever of the three candidates pushes themselves over the top.

The bulk of the money is actually due the day before, July 3, at 2 p.m. After that deadline, the candidates can raise up to 10 percent more of their total between then and the Lutz Parade on July 4.

Even that final window gets utilized by the best candidates. Carr recalls raising money at the parade itself, doing whatever she could to add a few dollars to her total. When her races were finishing up, she was selling items at clearance prices and hitting up whoever was nearby for whatever they could spare.

“I was calling all of my constituents in my neighborhood and just begging,” Carr said.

By acting like she had nothing to lose, Carr earned herself a couple of big wins. She raised more than $6,000 in 2009, and more than $8,000 in 2013, making her the only two-time winner in Guv’na history.

Now she’s watching a new group vie for the title, and she’s come away impressed. All three are doing a good job of getting in the public eye and driving home the dollars, she said. In fact, Carr admitted she’d be a bit nervous if she had to face their fundraising skills.

Whoever wins the race, it’s not like the others will be considered losers. They’re all contributing to much-needed funds for local groups, and they’ll all have a say in where the money goes. Win or lose, each candidate gets to direct 10 percent of their total to whatever group they choose. A committee will disperse the remaining funds, and around 20 different organizations usually benefit from the annual event.

Here are the last major fundraisers for each of the three candidates:

On June 24, Cheryl Lynn Ayres will bring her campaign to Elsa’s Mexican Restaurant, 18450 U.S. 41., in Lutz. Starting at 4 p.m., the restaurant will donate 10 percent of the sales from anyone who states they’re supporting her Guv’na campaign. Ayres herself will be there after 5 p.m., with games and prize drawings. She’s also auctioning off prime parade-viewing space (complete with air conditioning and bathroom facilities) for the parade on July 4. Details for the auction can be found on her Facebook page (Cheryl Lynn Schmolke Ayres).

KarenSue Molis and her fellow Lutz Land O’ Lakes Woman’s Club members are having an indoor flea market on June 27 at the Lutz Community Center, 101 First Ave., NW, from 8:30 a.m. until 1 p.m. She promises to beat the heat with rock-bottom prices inside the center.

Jennifer Rankin has been auctioning items on her Facebook page (Jennifer Silence Rankin) and will host a “Shootin’ For Guv’na” clay pigeon tournament on June 27 at Tampa Bay Sporting Clays, 10514 Ehren Cutoff in Land O’ Lakes. Both spectators and participants are welcome, with prizes for the winners. The event begins at 9 a.m.

Those fundraisers could mean the difference between winning and losing. But each candidate is hoping for good things, and Carr expects another nail-biter when the winner is announced on July 4.

“I will be surprised if this is not extremely close this year. These three candidates have really put themselves out there,” Carr said.

Published June 24, 2015

First Fridays aim to raise funds, build fellowship

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The Lutz-Land O’ Lakes Woman’s Club is known for the community’s Fourth of July parade. The Lutz Civic Association is known for its annual Lutz Guv’na campaign.

And now the Lutz Citizens Coalition wants to kick off its own signature event.

Beginning Sept. 6, the coalition will sponsor Lutz First Fridays, a food truck rally on the first Friday of each month, aimed at helping to raise money for the community organization and to give residents a place to eat and mingle.

This is one of more than two dozen food trucks that will selling food at the Lutz First Fridays events, to get people together and raise money for the Lutz Citizens Coalition. (Photo courtesy of Generation Food Truck)
This is one of more than two dozen food trucks that will selling food at the Lutz First Fridays events, to get people together and raise money for the Lutz Citizens Coalition. (Photo courtesy of Generation Food Truck)

The rally, which will be professionally managed by Generation Food Truck, will have at least 26 trucks, said Jeremy Gomez, who owns the company along with his wife Candy.

The food trucks will offer diverse selections, including everything from kangaroo to gourmet popsicles, Gomez said. He thinks it’s safe to estimate that the monthly event will draw a couple thousand people out for dinner.

Food truck rallies are popular because people like to try new foods, he said.

“People like the variety. They know the trucks aren’t storing stuff in a freezer,” Gomez said. “I don’t even know a food truck that owns a microwave. Most of the foods are locally sourced.”

He also thinks the rally is a natural fit for the community.

“Lutz has always been good for outdoor events,” Gomez said.

Sam Calco, vice president of the Lutz Citizens Coalition, said the monthly gathering will help the coalition raise not only money, but the organization’s profile in the community as well.

“We’ve been an organization for about a year. We derive most of our money from family memberships, $25 a year,” Calco said.

The organization also receives donations from businesses.

The best way to raise money is to get the community involved, Calco said, like the coalition did with its Lutz Biggest Yard Sale in May.

“We learned a lot of things of what to do and what not to do,” Calco said.

With the food truck rally, the coalition will receive a fee from each participating truck and it will handle the drink concessions, Calco said.

He thinks the food truck rally will be a popular community event. It gives people a chance to mingle, to take a break from cooking dinner and to enjoy themselves at a family-friendly event.

Final details are still being worked out, including what time the event will begin, but would likely start around 5 p.m. or 6 p.m., Gomez said. It will end around 10 p.m., unless people come over after a local football game and it needs to stay open longer, Calco said.

The location for the event is still being pinned down, too, but both men expect that to be determined soon.

The Lutz Citizens Coalition was formed about a year ago. Its mission is to preserve Lutz and protect it from unwanted growth, Calco said.

Showering others with kindness

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Every year, like clockwork, members of the Lutz-Land O’ Lakes Woman’s Club throw a luncheon and shower to benefit women and children living in two area domestic violence shelters.

Club members come to the event bearing clothing and other gifts to give to the shelter residents. They tend to be practical items, such as diapers, children’s toys, children’s clothing and personal hygiene supplies.

The woman’s group also has a boutique and a flea market, where club members and the general public can shop to raise money for the shelters.

Rosie Heim, president of the Lutz-Land O’ Lakes Woman’s Club, works with member Jeannie to sort donations. (Photo courtesy of the Lutz-Land O’ Lakes Woman’s Club)
Rosie Heim, president of the Lutz-Land O’ Lakes Woman’s Club, works with member Jeannie to sort donations. (Photo courtesy of the Lutz-Land O’ Lakes Woman’s Club)

The event also features a $6-a-plate lunch of lasagna, salad, bread, a drink and dessert, which is open to the public.

“Last year, we fed 75 people,” said Joan Collins, chairwoman of the luncheon for the woman’s club.

The items provided through the woman’s club luncheon lifts the spirits of the women and children who live at Sunrise of Pasco Inc.’s domestic violence shelter, said Trish Kley, the center’s development director.

They appreciate that people who don’t even know them are willing to help them, and they marvel at the items that are donated, she said.

Shelter residents get excited as “they are unloading and unloading and unloading” the vehicles that deliver the items that were donated at the shower, Kley said.

“What they do is fantastic. So many of these things, we’d never be able to supply,” Kley added.

The shelter is grateful for any donations and particularly need practical items, such as toilet paper, toiletries and bigger-ticket items such as highchairs, car seats and strollers.

Sunrise is seeing a growing demand, and is addressing that by adding 15 new beds, Kley said.

The woman’s club event offers a chance to do a bit of shopping and to mingle at lunch, Collins said. Before lunch, there’s a boutique and mini-flea market, where club members and the general public can purchase goods.

The money raised is donated to Sunrise and to the Pasco County Salvation Army Domestic Violence Shelter in Pasco County.

Collins said once the boutique is over, the club will also donate those gently used items — if the shelters want them.

The woman’s club gets satisfaction from the annual event because they know that the shelters need the help, Collins said.

“They’re very appreciative of everything we give them,” Collins said.

Abuse shelter benefit luncheon and boutique

Aug. 22: 10 a.m. shopping at the boutique, followed by lunch at 11:30 a.m.
Lunch is $6 a plate for lasagna, salad, bread, dessert and a drink
Where: Lutz Community Center, 98 First Ave. N.W.
Questions? Call Joan Collins at (813) 855-7254.

Land O’ Lakes woman gives personal touch to greetings

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In this age of Tweets and texts, Gloria Dale sticks with an old-fashioned method of sending holiday cheer to veterans and troops.

She writes each of her greeting cards by hand.

The 78-year-old spends much of the year preparing about 1,575 cards to hand out at local nursing homes and to mail to active military personnel overseas.

Gloria Dale works through the year, writing holiday greeting cards for area veterans and military troops overseas. (Photo by B.C. Manion)
Gloria Dale works through the year, writing holiday greeting cards for area veterans and military troops overseas. (Photo by B.C. Manion)

She’s a fixture at the Dunkin’ Donuts on SR 54 in Land O’ Lakes — where she plants herself at her favorite corner table on Wednesdays, Saturdays, Sundays and holidays.

She sips coffee as she jots out cards. Sometimes she’ll indulge in a bagel or some oatmeal.

When she’s not at the shop, she can be frequently found penning the cards at Winter Quarters Pasco RV Resort’s clubhouse, while watching NASCAR or her beloved Tampa Bay Rays.

Dale does the holiday card project every year, on behalf of the Lutz-Land O’ Lakes Woman’s Club.

She got involved about eight years ago, while helping other club members complete the task.

“Well, some of them write so small you can’t read it,” Dale said. So, she thought to herself: “I’ll just take that little chore on myself.”

She asked the group: “Can I take these cards home?”

They told her that’d be fine.

“So, I took those cards home on a Thursday, and the next Thursday I took them back, all done,” Dale said.

Since then, the project has become Dale’s little baby.

As soon as one holiday season is over, she’s out buying cards for the next one.

“After Christmas, I go to the store. They’ll come down — 75 percent and 80 percent off,” said Dale, who pays for the cards herself.

The woman’s club pays for the postage to send the cards overseas, said Rosie Heim, club president.

Heim said the club is lucky to have someone with Dale’s commitment.

“I’m loving that she does it. She gives a personal touch from the club, which we like,” Heim said. “We want people to know that we care. She has beautiful writing.”

Signing the cards is simple, Dale said.

“I could get a stamp that says ‘Merry Christmas’ or ‘Happy Holidays,’” Dale said, but she added, “That would look horrible.”

Instead, she carefully signs each card, places it in an envelope and then adorns the envelope with holiday stickers.

“This is what it looks like when it’s finished,” Dale said, holding a card that she’s finished. “It doesn’t look commercial.”

Dale says she enjoys the project. It’s a way she can honor people who have put their lives on the line for the nation.

“My dad was in the service,” she said. “I had an uncle who was in the service who got killed. I had brothers-in-law and my husband. They all served.

“My (late) husband (Harry), about the last thing he said to me was, if there’s anything to do to help a veteran, help them. So, I try my best.”

Not everyone who gets a card always knows they get it, especially in nursing homes where patients may not always be aware of what’s going on around them.

“But the family will know that they have a card, that we’re thinking of them,” Dale said.

The greetings may also bring a bit of cheer to troops overseas at the holidays, she said.

“I enjoy doing the cards. I can sit and write all day long,” Dale said. “It gives me something to do. It keeps my fingers limber.”

Anyone with new holiday cards they would like to contribute or who would like to help cover postage costs can reach Dale at (813) 215-1045.