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Madonna Jervis Wise

A book of supernatural stories, local history

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When Madonna Jervis Wise was considering the opportunity to do a book venturing into the realm of the unknown, she wasn’t so sure she wanted to pursue it.

After all, she’d spent much of her life meticulously researching the history of the people and places in Pasco County, and she didn’t want to take any chances of damaging her credibility.

But the more she thought about it, the more intriguing it became.

Madonna Jervis Wise has put her researching skills to work to dig up stories about unexplained events and unusual stories in Pasco County’s past. Her book is called ‘A Haunted History of Pasco County.’ (Courtesy of Madonna Jervis Wise)

So, in true Madonna Jervis Wise fashion, she soon was immersed in the hunt for ghost tales and other unexplained phenomena in Pasco County.

She used social media tools to solicit stories.

Wise said she had no idea she’d get the response that she did — adding, apparently there’s a huge following for these kinds of stories.

“Folks would call me up and say, ‘I heard this story. I wanted to tell you about it,’” Wise said.

Her book, “A Haunted History of Pasco County,” shares the tales, while not attempting to be a final authority on the veracity of the claims. She also mixes in stories about Pasco County’s history along the way — drawing from a vast storehouse of knowledge she’s built up through decades of research.

As a result, there are stories involving widely known community landmarks, as well as accounts of odd and unusual characters and events.

Wise said she used her discretion to exclude stories that seemed to be a bit too outlandish, but based on some of the stories that did make the cut, those must have been doozies.

She describes the story of Georg Karl Tanzel as “the creepiest story in the book.” So, we’ll start with an excerpt of that story, and share excerpts of other stories, too.

The macabre ‘Sleeping Beauty’ in Zephyrhills
Georg Karl Tanzler, a native of Germany and a medic in World War I, was living in Zephyrhills when he became obsessed with 17-year-old Elena Hoyos Mesa. After her death — he abducted her body from a private mausoleum he had funded — and meticulously reconstructed it, and experimented further with radiation in attempts to revive her.

Georg Karl Tanzler, a native of Germany and a medic in World War I, was living in Zephyrhills when he became obsessed with 17-year-old Elena Hoyos Mesa. After her death, he took her body from a mausoleum and attempted to revive it. When the corpse was discovered years later, the story attracted international attention.

“He serenaded her every morning with melodious organ music (on a pipe organ he built himself) and dressed her in bridal finery, jewels and daily fresh flowers.

“When police, with the help of Elena’s sister, Florinda Medina, found the corpse in 1940, it was a doll-like configuration of papier-mache, wax, cheesecloth, piano wire, chemicals and glass eyes.

“In the yard was a portion of a strange, dilapidated airplane fuselage that was labeled in his photo albums as ‘Elena’s air ship to heaven.’”

When the body was discovered, it attracted international coverage, with Tanzler reveling in the publicity.

It was one of the “darkest and most macabre chapters in Zephyrhills’ history,” Wise writes.

The demise of 109
Maj. Francis Longhorne Dade and his troops camped along Fort King Road on Dec. 25, 1835, near the site of the current-day Pasco High School.

It’s said that Dade had a dream that turned out to be a premonition.

During his dream, he confided to another: “He had seen images of deceased comrades from the War of 1812 marching hypnotically in front of him.”

Just three days later, on Dec. 28, Dade and his 108 soldiers were killed in an attack by the Seminole Indians, who waited in the palmettos near current-day Bushnell.

“The fatalistic ambush, later labeled the Dade Massacre, set off the Second Seminole War.”

The hillside where Major Dade camped is still linked to much mystery.

Historic Pasco County Courthouse
The ghostly form of Grace Maud Karney Evans has been glimpsed, or perhaps imagined, in the Historic Pasco County Courthouse, in downtown Dade City.

Evans was sentenced for a life term on Oct. 4, 1935, to be served at the Florida State Farm, in Raiford, for murder in the first degree, with recommendation of mercy.

“She had chosen to survive in the midst of unthinkable abuse from two men, in an era when women were to be seen and not heard,” Wise writes.

Evans was paroled in 1947, granted a full pardon in 1965, and lived a long and productive life, before passing away at age 96.

Since her death, in 1973, there have been reports of a faint illusion of a creature carrying the scales of justice — who could be any number of ghostly tenants — sporadically descending the staircase in the historic 1909 structure.

The Edwinola opened in 1912, in Dade City. But, before it opened, the original owner fell out of a third-story window and died. Stories circulate about phantoms being seen and murmuring voices being heard there.

A historic and ghostly hotel?
The Edwinola, once one of Dade City’s most genteel hotels, also is said to have ghosts.

The original developer and owner, Seymour H. Gerrowe, was killed there, in 1911, after falling from a third-story window. After his death, his widow sold the unfinished hotel to Gerrowe’s brother-in-law, Edwin, and his wife, Lola Gasque. They completed it, and named it Edwinola, by combining their first names.

Gerrowe is believed to be an occasional phantom there.

There have been reports of soft murmurs coming from empty rooms and the faint smell of cigar smoke from former dining areas. Some also have reported the apparition of a female ghost, which quickly vanishes, as well as other mysterious sightings.

Not haunted, but part of Pasco’s history
Besides the unexplained stories in Pasco County’s past, this book also includes some stories that are simply unusual.

For instance, Pasco County was the film location for “Edward Scissorhands,” a film directed by Tim Burton.

The Carpenters Run neighborhood of pastel-colored homes, in Lutz, is one memorable part of the movie, but another setting, off County Road 41, outside of Dade City, is visually interesting, too. That was the setting for the film’s castle, complete with topiaries. The 1990 film featured actors Vincent Price, Johnny Depp, Winona Ryder, Dianne Wiest and Alan Arkin, among others.

This is one of the sculptures at a place called ‘Enchantment,’ at the home of Lewis Van Dercar, who had hundreds of statues and sculptures in his yard. Besides being an artist, he was a self-proclaimed warlock and had Halloween parties that attracted thousands of people.

Lewis Van Dercar’s ‘Enchantment’
Lewis Van Dercar — the self-proclaimed warlock and prince of the Order of Magi — was known to welcome up to 3,000 people from across the country to his annual Halloween festivities at his Wesley Chapel hideaway that he called Enchantment.

The artist and sculptor, who came to the area from Miami, filled his forest with artworks, including gargoyles, statues and other sculptures.

Folks “remembered the advertisement he posted in 1961 to sell his poltergeist. He explained that he had purchased a new table for his study which had been used in a stage play, “Arsenic and Old Lace,” and discovered it was possessed by a female poltergeist. He said he tolerated the poltergeist until she started leaving marks on his paintings, which he wouldn’t have minded, if she could paint,” according to Wise’s account.

A murder that took on a life of its own
There’s also the story of a graphic murder of a nun at St. Edwards Hall, on the campus of what is now Saint Leo University. It turns out that story was concocted by local attorney Bill Dayton and a friend, as a Halloween prank, when they were students in the class of 1962.

The story is still making the rounds.

Blue Moon at the Museum
What: The event will include the book launch of “A Haunted History of Pasco County” by Madonna Jervis Wise, including book contributors sharing local, chilling tales. There will be lantern tours of the museum buildings; live music; a food truck; shortbread and hot cider; and drawings for door prizes.
Where: The Pioneer Florida Museum & Village, 15602 Pioneer Museum Road in Dade City
When: Oct. 30, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Cost: $10 for adults; $8 for seniors; $5 for students; free for kids under age 5.
Info: Visit PioneerFloridaMuseum.org.

Superstitious practices

  • Carrying the coffin out of the house feet first, to prevent the spirit from beckoning another family member
  • Taking down or covering mirrors, to avoid blocking a spirit from passing to the world beyond
  • Hiding photographs, or turning them upside down, so spirits would not cling to impressionable family members
  • Orienting graves with the corpse’s head to the west and feet to the east, as it was surmised that judgment would come from the east
  • Positioning beds in a north-south orientation for luck
  • Leaving doors unlocked and windows open, to ensure that a soul was not obstructed in its migration to heaven

“A Haunted History of Pasco County,” published by Haunted America, sells for $21.99.
For more information, contact .

Source: A Haunted History of Pasco County by Madonna Jervis Wise

Published October 28, 2020

Pasco’s early law enforcement days were notorious

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Pasco County’s early law enforcement days inspired quite a few dramatic stories.

An illegal killing captured headlines during Henry C. Griffin’s tenure as sheriff.

Built in 1892, the Old Pasco County Jail is the oldest brick structure in Dade City. It had two inmate cells, an isolation cell and an east wing used for the Sheriff’s living quarters. A later addition to the west end was the county’s gallows where the last legal hanging included “An array of picnickers positioned on the grounds surrounding the gallows area,” according to research conducted by local historian Madonna Jervis Wise in 2014. (Courtesy of Norman Carey)

During his second term, a mob killed two black men who were being held inside the county’s first jail located near downtown Dade City.

Will Wright and Sam Williams had been charged in the murders of Dan Childers and J.B. McNeil at Rice & Phelps’ turpentine camp near Dade City, according to newspaper stories published by The Tampa Morning Tribune.

The Tribune reported on Feb. 14, 1901, that Griffin refused to give up the keys and the mob —estimated as being between 30 to 50 men — broke down the outer door.

When they were unable to break down the steel doors of the cells, they opened fire, shooting both Wright and Williams to death, the report said.

The Coroner’s jury determined the prisoners came to their deaths at the hands of “parties unknown.”

Griffin lost his bid for re-election in 1904 to Bart Sturkie, who went on to serve four terms.

Another account of Pasco’s early law days involves the death of a Dade City farmer named Noah Green, who also is the Cherokee great-grandfather of Debbie DeLuca of Land O’ Lakes.

“As it stands right now, the only word I have on his death was the fire in the jailhouse,” DeLuca said.

“I have had cousins try to find his grave over in Linden Cemetery (off State Road 50 in Sumter County),” she added. “We were told it was in the center of the graveyard in an unmarked grave.”

Based on research for this column by Pasco County historian Jeff Miller, four newspapers including The Atlanta Constitution reported on the fire started by Green, who was “arrested on a charge of drunkenness and duly locked up.”

The 1892 cornerstone from the Old Pasco County Jail is currently on display at the West Pasco Historical Society in New Port Richey. (Courtesy of Fivay.org)

With a headline, “Cremates himself in lockup in Dade City,” The Tampa Morning Tribune printed this account on Nov. 23, 1911: “About 3 o’clock this morning, beginning to get sober, Green began to feel cold and scraping what rubbish he could gather on the floor, set fire to it.

“Locked up alone in the place, Green found it impossible to escape and began to cry loudly for help. No one was on the streets at that hour but a citizen who lives near the jail hurried to the place. He arrived too late, for Green was then beyond human aid. The jail was burned to the ground and Green’s charred and shrunken body was found in the ashes.”

Newspaper accounts are clear that Green left behind “a wife and five children,” but not much is known not about the wooden jail facility itself.

That incident offers just a glimpse into the county’s early law enforcement history, according to documents archived by fivay.org, a website that specializes in tracking Pasco County history.

Another vigilante mob stormed the jail in Dade City on the night of Aug. 5, 1915 and took a black inmate named Will Leak, according to the Dade City Banner. Leak had been charged with the attempted rape of a young white girl in Trilby and was hung on an oak tree in front of Hillard’s barber shop in the center of town. Details of the event were published on The Banner’s front page on Aug. 6, 1915.

Sturkie, who was serving his fourth term at the time of the break-in, was defeated in his re-election bid for sheriff in 1916 by Isaac Hudson, Jr., who served two terms as sheriff.

During his first six months in office, Hudson raided 164 moonshine stills, according to his son, Leon, who served as Dade City’s Police Chief in 1951.

Hudson’s family is prominent as the founders of Hudson, Florida.

Sheriff Hudson had a historic role on Dec. 28, 1917, when he released the trap door and executed Edgar London for the murder of his wife in the summer of 1917 at Ehren, near present-day Land O’ Lakes.

This is how the newspaper reported the last legal hanging in Pasco County, on Jan. 4, 1918: “The execution took place at ten minutes past one in the presence of a large crowd of whites and blacks who had come in for miles around to witness the affair.

“The negro was led to the platform by Sheriff Hudson and Deputy Osburn. He was accompanied by Rev. Father Francis (future Abbot at Saint Leo Abby), who had been with him all during the day, preparing him for his death. While the noose was being adjusted about his neck by Deputy Osburn, the negro displayed the utmost composure, never flinching once during the nerve-racking ordeal. He had the side of his face to the crowd and his lips could be seen moving in prayer.”

The account continued: “He never offered to say anything to the crowd, but kept his head well up and an erect position to the last, exhibiting a wonderful nerve. The black cap was placed over his head and the trap was sprung by Sheriff Hudson at 1:10. His neck was broken by the fall, and in six minutes he was pronounced dead by Dr. E. L. Reigle, the attending physician.”

Doug Sanders has a penchant for unearthing interesting stories about local history. His sleuthing skills have been developed through his experiences in newspaper and government work. If you have an idea for a future history column, contact Doug at .

Published Oct. 11, 2017

She knows local history, and is preserving it

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If you want to learn a thing or two about local history — particularly as it pertains to Wesley Chapel, Dade City and Zephyrhills — a telephone call to Madonna Jervis Wise will put you on the right track.

Madonna Jervis Wise has written several books, including four which help preserve the history of Zephyrhills, Dade City and Wesley Chapel. (B.C. Manion)

Wise has written books about all three communities.

“I’ve always been interested in history,” she said. “We’re sitting in my dining room, and these are some of my family heirlooms that came on a covered wagon from Pennsylvania,” the retired educator said, during an interview in the Zephyrhills home she shares with her husband, Ernie.

Her interest in the history of people, places and things began early.

As a little girl, she would go with her father, who was a farmer in Indiana, as he went out to plow fields.

As he worked, he would have her wait in the home where he was plowing.

“One of those people that I remember, when I was about 6 or 7, was Mrs. Hefley. And, I remember her showing me the crochet work and the tatting work. She would begin to tell me about the family and the experiences they had. I just always made those connections.”

She also recalls spending an enormous amount of time with her grandparents.

“My grandfather was a blacksmith during World War I,” said Wise, who began her career in education as a history teacher.

Dade City women organized the Alpha Sorosis Club, which met regularly for intellectual pursuits. The club was founded in 1909, and continued through 1968. (File)

She’s always been a writer, for as long as she can remember and, wherever she’s worked, people have turned to her to do newsletters and other writing chores.

Her foray into authoring local history books began while she was working as the principal at West Zephyrhills Elementary School and she began compiling information about the community of Zephyrhills.

“I just started researching it,” she said. “I would get more and more stuff. I was like, ‘This has to be preserved.’ That’s kind of how it happened.”

To capture that history, she self-published a book called “Zephyrhills – An Anthology of its History Through Education.”

The book was a family affair. Her husband and daughter, Mamie, edited the volume.

Downtown Dade City, during the 1940s, was a thriving hub of activity.

Around the same time, she published a book called “Juanita in Blue,” a four-year project showcasing her mother’s recipes.

“My mother was an extraordinary cook. She ran this little restaurant in Indiana. It was called The Rainbow Café.

“After she passed away, I had all these boxes of recipe cards,” Wise said.

So, she created cookbooks for each of her three kids: Jervis, an attorney in St. Petersburg; Mamie, an attorney in Tampa; and Rachel, who is studying to become an attorney, in Gulfport.

The three community history books that Wise has written are part of Arcadia Publishing’s Images of America series.

The publisher, which has now merged with History Press, invited Wise to do a local history book about Zephyrhills. After that, the publisher invited her to do books on Dade City and Wesley Chapel.

Before accepting the offer to do the Dade City book, Wise said she cleared the idea with various groups from the Dade City community because she didn’t want to be presumptuous or intrusive.

Any concerns along those lines were alleviated by Dade City folks who not only encouraged her to pursue the local history book, but helped her in tracking down the documents and photographs that she needed to tell the community’s story.

“It really came together,” Wise said.

Pasco Packing was the home of the largest citrus processing company in the world, when citrus was in its heyday in Florida.

Next, she tackled the task of compiling Wesley Chapel’s history.

Figuring out how to approach that took some thought, she said, because unlike Zephyrhills and Dade City — which are municipalities with city records — Wesley Chapel is unincorporated.

So, she turned to genealogy skills to help track down the families who have shaped the community’s history.

Initially, she thought the book would focus primarily on ranching, and would include some ranching artifacts.

But then, she went into some genealogy sites and plugged in some key names, which led to interviews with families.

One interview led to another, and the story of Wesley Chapel emerged.

A desire “to preserve the stories” motivates her to do the research, conduct the interviews, gather the photographs, track other documents and compile the local history books, she said.

Wise said she enjoyed digging into the history of residents who settled in Pasco County, adding they remind her of the people in Patrick Smith’s book, “The Land Remembered.”

“It’s a young history, relatively speaking,” Wise said. It’s an area where “rugged people cleared the land and settled and persevered. I’ve always been drawn to those stories.

“I become really enamored with the people,” Wise added. “That was a hard life. The mosquito-ridden frontier of Florida — no air conditioning.

“It was something else,” she said.

Published September 20, 2017

Sharing the story of women’s progress

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Madonna Jervis Wise, a local author who writes primarily about history, has been making the rounds lately, talking about women in the work force and “East Pasco Women Who Rocked.”

Women played an important role in munitions factories during World War 1.
(Courtesy of Madonna Jervis Wise)

Her talks, which have been delivered at the Pioneer Florida Museum and Village in Dade City, at the East Pasco Networking Group’s breakfast meeting and at the Zephyrhills Public Library, have traced the evolving role of women in society.

The essence of her presentation traces the progress that women have made since ancient times to the present.

First, she delivers an overview of women in history and then she focuses on the contributions of seven East Pasco women.

While delivering her talk at the East Pasco Networking Group, Wise said she keeps her mother and grandmother in mind.

Irene Davis Dobson was a founding member the Head Start Early Childhood program in Pasco County, and also active in programs aimed at creating awareness of contributions of African-Americans throughout Florida and across the country.

“My mother was Depression-era woman who worked most of her life. My grandmother was equally as industrious,” she said.

“As we go through the presentation, please stop and think about the women in your life.

“Right now, we have 72 million women in the American workforce. That’s 30 million more than 1984, and women roughly make up about 50 percent of the workforce,” she said.

Despite their large numbers in the work force, women still trail men in terms of pay, Wise noted. Women receive approximately 81 percent of what men are paid, she said. And, only 14 percent of the executive positions in Fortune 500 companies are held by women.

There has been progress, however, compared to opportunities for women in the past.

“Women weren’t allowed to participate in any capacity, throughout most of history —in terms of speaking, political involvement, certainly not leadership,” Wise said.

“In the American colonies, women didn’t own property and certainly didn’t vote,” she said.

“I do a lot of genealogy. Sometimes you don’t even find the woman’s first name in genealogy.”

Bernice Rooks was in the first class at the University of South Florida. She was student No. 18. After graduating, she taught for 29 years.

Census data from the 19th century shows blank spaces for occupations because women’s work was not recorded, Wise said.

Women’s role in the world of work has evolved over time, she said.

“By the 1820s, women were starting to go into the textile mills. Pay was about $3 a week.

By the early 19th century, women still were mostly involved in domestic services, laundry, cooking, cleaning, some teaching, nursing, she said.

But she noted, women’s opportunities have expanded significantly — even during her own lifetime.

“I remember when I was in school. They’d say, ‘Are you going to be a secretary, nurse or a teacher?’,” Wise said.

Madonna Jervis Wise has been giving talks about women’s progress at various venues during Women’s History Month.
(B.C. Manion)

Women now have more career choices. They can belong to civic clubs that once banned them. And, there are more opportunities in athletics and the military, Wise said.

For generations, East Pasco women have played pivotal roles in expanding opportunities for the entire community, Wise said. She singled out these seven:

• Irene Dobson: She came from a large family and picked cotton as a child. She taught school in Georgia and later in Dade City, and was a founding member the Head Start Early Childhood program in Pasco County. She has been very active in the community and has helped to organize African-American programs to teach new generations about the contributions of African Americans in Florida and across the country.

  • Bernice Rooks: Even at age 94, she remains active in the community. She was the valedictorian of the 1940 class at Zephyrhills High School. She worked at MacDill Air Force Base and was a school bus driver. When the University of South Florida opened in 1958, she enrolled, becoming student No. 18. She graduated and taught for 29 years. She is also known for the family business, the Crystal Springs Roller Skating Rink which opened in 1939 just before World War II. For 35 cents, you could skate all day.
  • Lorena Leatherman Neukom: Known as Neukie and her husband, Charles, opened the iconic Neukom’s Drug Store drugstore in 1921. The store closed in 2001. She was in charge of payroll, buying and keeping the books until she was 93. The drugstore was a popular place for politicians, snowbirds and local residents.
  • Rosemary Wallace Trottman: She was a widely known educator and researcher. She published “The History of Zephyrhills; 1821-1921.” She founded the Zephyrhills Historical Association. Her research revealed the effects of the railroad on the community and detailed the colonial years of East Pasco, in which the day-to-day activities of the settlers involved log-rolling, sugar-caning, subsistence farming and the beginning of unique institutions. Her father was a pioneer settler of Abbott Station.
  • Willa Rice: She has the distinction of being first and only female mayor of Zephyrhills. After being voted into office in 1958, she revamped the police department by firing two of the department’s five policemen and accepting the resignation of the police chief.
  • Margarita Romo: Her work to champion the causes of of farmworkers in Pasco County and around the state led to her being named to the Florida Civil Rights Hall of Fame in 2012 & Hispanic Woman of the Year. She is founder of Farmers Self-Help, Inc., and has worked diligently for more than 40 years to help farmworkers help themselves.
  • Jean McClain Murphy: Most recently she was the 2017 Zephyrhills Founder’s Day Grand Marshal. She was an educator with Pasco County Schools. Known for her beautiful singing voice, she taught taught “Glee Club” at the high school level for six years. She remains the singing director at her Rotary Club, and has served as choir director for five different choral groups at the First Baptist Church in Zephyrhills.

Revised March 22, 2017

Pioneer descendants receive honor

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On the momentous occasion when Florida issued its first drivers’ licenses in 1940, Ruth Smith made history.

County Judge O. L. Dayton Jr., pulled a desk into the hallway at the Dade City courthouse and plopped the 17-year-old into a chair in front of a manual typewriter.

“People lined up and stood as I typed up the first driver’s license in Pasco County,” said Ruth Smith Adams, now age 93. “I even typed up my mother and father’s (licenses). That’s probably before most of you were born. Here, I’m back this time, and it’s amazing.”

Ruth Smith Adams and brother, Bill Smith, received a resolution from the Pasco County Commission thanking them for efforts to preserve the heritage of Pasco County and Wesley Chapel. From left, front row: Pasco County Commissioner Mike Moore, Pasco County Clerk of Court Paula O’ Neil, Bill Smith, Ruth Smith Adams, Pasco County Chairwoman Kathryn Starkey and Pasco County Commissioner Jack Mariano. From left, back row: Pasco County Commissioner Ted Schrader, Pasco County Commissioner Mike Wells, Pasco County Administrator Michele Baker and Pasco County Attorney Jeffrey Steinsnyder. (Photos courtesy of Richard K. Riley)
Ruth Smith Adams and brother, Bill Smith, received a resolution from the Pasco County Commission thanking them for efforts to preserve the heritage of Pasco County and Wesley Chapel. From left, front row: Pasco County Commissioner Mike Moore, Pasco County Clerk of Court Paula O’ Neil, Bill Smith, Ruth Smith Adams, Pasco County Chairwoman Kathryn Starkey and Pasco County Commissioner Jack Mariano. From left, back row: Pasco County Commissioner Ted Schrader, Pasco County Commissioner Mike Wells, Pasco County Administrator Michele Baker and Pasco County Attorney Jeffrey Steinsnyder.
(Photos courtesy of Richard K. Riley)

Adams was addressing the Pasco County Commission, which was bestowing a resolution it passed honoring her and her 91-year-old brother, Bill Smith, for their work in preserving the heritage of Wesley Chapel and Pasco County.

They accepted the resolution on June 7 in what is now the Dade City Historic Courthouse.

The siblings are descendants of one of Pasco’s pioneering families dating back to 1867 when their great-grandfather, William R. Smith, settled in Wesley Chapel after the Civil War. In 1883, the elder Smith became owner of 160 acres of open land under the Homestead Act of 1862. He married Annie E. Sims and had six children, including Daniel Smith, the grandfather of Adams and Bill Smith.

Wesley Chapel remained part of Hernando County until 1887, when maps were redrawn to create Pasco.

Local historian Madonna Jervis Wise recorded the memories and recollections of Adams and Smith during hours of interviews for her book, “Images of America: Wesley Chapel.”

The pair also provided Wise with documents including homesteading deeds and photographs. And, they assisted her in drawing a map of area settlements in the 1900s.

“This is quite an honor,” Smith told commissioners.

He recounted the day in 1941 that he walked out of a Zephyrhills’ movie house after seeing a John Wayne western.

Ruth Smith Adams and her brother, Bill Smith, are descendants of one of the pioneer families that settled Wesley Chapel.
Ruth Smith Adams and her brother, Bill Smith, are descendants of one of the pioneer families that settled Wesley Chapel.

“I started walking and someone came running down the street, yelling that (Japan) had bombed Pearl Harbor,” said Smith, who was 16 at the time.

He joined the U.S. Army when he was 19 and was shipped to the Philippines. He was there when the United States dropped the atomic bomb on two Japanese cities.

“I saw Nagasaki when it was still smoking,” said Smith, during a telephone interview.

Back home he worked for a while on the family ranch, later joining a seaman’s union and working on cargo ships for a couple of years. He also worked as a coalman for the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad before again returning to help with the family’s cattle and citrus farming endeavors.

His father, Luther Smith, was the son of Daniel Smith and Elizabeth Geiger Smith, who was born near Zephyrhills. To honor Daniel and Elizabeth’s marriage, friends and family held a barn raising to build their home in 1894.

This is the map of pioneer families in Wesley Chapel, as recalled by Ruth Smith Adams and her brother, Bill Smith. The Smiths were instrumental in helping Madonna Jervis Wise , research the community’s history for her book, “Images of America: Wesley Chapel.” (Courtesy of Madonna Jervis Wise)
This is the map of pioneer families in Wesley Chapel, as recalled by Ruth Smith Adams and her brother, Bill Smith. The Smiths were instrumental in helping Madonna Jervis Wise , research the community’s history for her book, “Images of America: Wesley Chapel.”
(Courtesy of Madonna Jervis Wise)

Luther Smith helped bring electricity to Wesley Chapel in the 1940s when he served on the Withlacoochee River Electric Cooperative. The cooperative then was part of the Rural Electric Administration, a federal agency created in 1935.

Luther Smith’s home was located off Smith Road in Wesley Chapel.

In 1979 the family donated the pioneer, cracker-style home of Luther Daniel Smith to Cracker Country, a living museum located at the Florida State Fairgrounds in Hillsborough County.

When the house was moved there initially, members of the Smith family participated in special pioneer days and shared memories of life in Wesley Chapel and Pasco. Later, fair officials recruited volunteers to take over those duties.

According to the resolution, Smith and Adams remember a heritage of “open range, general stores over time, the Fifth Sunday Sings (Singing Convention) which so defined Wesley Chapel culture, the weekly rodeo, and the economic mainstays of timbering, turpentine, and ranching, as well as family farming, charcoal making, moonshining and hunting.”

Wesley Chapel was also known for The Singing Convention, which was held any month there was a fifth Sunday, Wise said. Families gathered, spread picnic lunches outdoors on orange crates, and enjoyed songs and music, Bill Smith said.

The siblings also recalled traveling to Zephyrhills every Saturday for grocery shopping. Their mother carried homegrown vegetables and eggs to trade for supplies.

“They wanted to tell a positive story, and I think there is something to be said for that,” said Wise. “They really are preservers of history.”

Published July 13, 2016

Check out these local authors

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If you enjoy learning about local history, love to solve mysteries or are in the mood for a bit of romance, a selection of books by local authors may be right up your alley.

More than 20 local authors will gather at Barnes & Noble Booksellers at The Shops at Wiregrass on May 21 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., to sell their books, field questions on writing and chat with patrons.

Jamie Elizabeth Tingen has a new book for this year’s author fair, ‘Betrayed by a Butterfly.’ The author describes it as a novel of deceit, mystery and romance. (Courtesy of Jamie Elizabeth Tingen)
Jamie Elizabeth Tingen has a new book for this year’s author fair, ‘Betrayed by a Butterfly.’ The author describes it as a novel of deceit, mystery and romance.
(Courtesy of Jamie Elizabeth Tingen)

The bookstore, at 28152 Paseo Drive in Wesley Chapel, hosts the annual event to give local authors a chance to showcase their works.

Local authors get a chance to sell their books, but also have a chance to network with each other and encourage aspiring writers.

The showcase will include a wide selection of titles across many genres including business, quilting, spirituality and romance, to name a few.

Some of the authors have been there before, including Madonna Jervis Wise, who has written several books. Her most recently published book, “Images of America: Wesley Chapel,” shares the community’s story through historic photographs and tales of the families who settled there.

Jamie Elizabeth Tingen, another author who has been at the event before, will be there with a new book this year. She describes her new book, “Betrayed by a Butterfly,” as a novel of deceit, mystery and romance.

John Chaplick, of Lutz, will be making an appearance, too. His titles include “The Rivergrass Legacy,” “Forbidden Chronicles of a Roman Centurion” and “Bridge of The Paper Tiger.”

Other authors expected to be on hand include Barbara Post-Askin, Ben Gold, C. Johnson, Debbie Lum, Dee Segarra, Elizabeth Rivera, Evelyn Taylor, Jeanette Dundas, Jenice Armstead, Jonathan Chateau, Josh McMorrow-Hernandez, Jwan Israil, Kimberly Karalius, Lorelie Dionne Orat, Lucille Rose D’Armi-Riggio and Maria Rooney.

Six tables will be set up on the bookstore’s second floor, with authors grouped together by genre, said Lisa Kuehner, assistant store manager for Barnes & Noble.

The store hosts the annual showcase to give the community a chance to find out about the local writers and their books.

“It’s our way of supporting local authors,” Kuehner said.

Local authors event
What: Meet more than 20 local authors who will be on hand to field questions and sign books.
When: May 21 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Where: Barnes & Noble Booksellers, 28152 Paseo Drive, at The Shops at Wiregrass

Published May 18, 2016

Preserving stories of Wesley Chapel’s past

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Motorists passing through Wesley Chapel today are likely to see it as a place on the move.

Within the past decade or so, a landscape once characterized by cattle ranches and citrus groves, has become a place becoming more widely known for its shopping, medical, education and residential options.

Gwen Wells Ellerbee and Esther Burnside Boyette are washing clothes in this 1941 photo taken at a location off of Ellerbee Road. (Courtesy of Madonna Jervis Wise)
Gwen Wells Ellerbee and Esther Burnside Boyette are washing clothes in this 1941 photo taken at a location off of Ellerbee Road.
(Courtesy of Madonna Jervis Wise)

But, there are plenty of people who remember when the community was more closely associated with timber and turpentine operations, moonshine stills and gator hunts.

To help keep those memories alive, the Pasco-Hernando State College’s Porter Campus at Wiregrass Ranch hosted a Wesley Chapel History Fair.

The college intends to have the event every year, said Dr. Bonnie Clark, vice president of distance education and provost of the Porter Campus.

Speakers at the event were:

  • Madonna Jervis Wise, author of “Images of America: Wesley Chapel,” who talked about details about the community she unearthed during her research
  • J. Thomas Touchton, founding chairman of the Tampa Bay History Center, who brought along an 1884 map of Hernando County, when it included Wesley Chapel, though not called that at the time
  • Quinn Porter Miller, who shared stories about the Porters’ history in Wesley Chapel
  • Stephanie Bracknell Black, director of the Pioneer Florida Museum & Village, who shared stories about her grandfather, Lonnie Tucker
  • Angelo Liranzo, a librarian who talked about a project involving the digitizing of more than 100 years of newspapers, and how to access the data

Because Wesley Chapel, unlike some communities, did not have a central downtown or a government, Wise relied on information she gleaned from homestead records, pension records and other public records, and interviews with families.

As she conducted her research, she learned about the close connections between families.

“I’ve rarely seen families that cared so much about each other,” Wise said.

She was surprised to learn about the important role that music played in Wesley Chapel.

“There’s something in Southern Culture that’s known as the fifth Sunday sing. Sometimes it is known as the singing convention,” Wise said, explaining people would gather for an entire day of singing and picnics.

Dr. Bonnie Clark, vice president of distance education and provost of Pasco-Hernando State College’s Porter Campus at Wiregrass Ranch, checks out a map of early Wesley Chapel homesteads. (B.C. Manion/Staff Photo)
Dr. Bonnie Clark, vice president of distance education and provost of Pasco-Hernando State College’s Porter Campus at Wiregrass Ranch, checks out a map of early Wesley Chapel homesteads.
(B.C. Manion/Staff Photo)

“The First Baptist Church of Wesley Chapel was the center. After the convention, they had something that was known as ‘Dinner on the Ground.’ This was an all-day thing.”

Wise also talked about the turpentine communities, truck patches, gator hunting and moonshining that were part of life in Wesley Chapel.

There aren’t many remaining historic houses in Wesley Chapel, and that’s mainly because most were constructed of wood, Wise said. “We actually only found about three or four homesteads that were still standing.”

Quinn Porter Miller, another speaker, applauded the idea of annual history fairs.

“My dad would talk about all of these stories. My brother and I would say, ‘We’ve just got to get them all in one room, give them some Scotch and hit record.’

“We didn’t get the chance before my dad passed and, thankfully, Madonna (Jervis Wise) was able to get these people together and really document all these wonderful stories and these things, otherwise, that would really go down with the people,” Miller said.

Miller told the crowd about her grandfather James Hatcher “Wiregrass” Porter, who moved into the area in 1946 with his wife, Martha.

Her dad, Don Porter, was 6 when the family moved to Wesley Chapel.

“Wiregrass’ father, J.B. Porter, or J.B. or Pop Porter, as he was called, bought the land in 1937 from the Rockefeller Land Trust, for somewhere around $3 an acre,” Miller said.

When Wiregrass moved to the area, he and his family lived in an old frame house.

“My grandma Martha would cook these three hot meals a day on a Coleman stove. No electricity, no running water up there until they built their red brick house on (State Road) 54 in 1960,” Miller said.

“I don’t know if anyone could have known how this area would grow,” Miller said.

But, the family has always known how important education is, and that’s what inspired the gift of 60 acres where Porter Campus now sits.

She recalled her father’s determination to help make that happen.

“He knew how important it was that a student could go from preschool through college without having to leave the Wesley Chapel community,” she said.

And, when Don Porter came to the college’s dedication ceremony shortly before his death, he was thrilled by the college, she said. She recalls him saying: “Can you believe this? Isn’t it wild?”

Touchton also recalled Don Porter’s vision for the area.

“I remember visiting with Don when he would show me the master plan, as it was being developed. He was willing to be patient, and he would point out different areas of the property – this will be residential, this will be shopping, this will be education, this will be sports. He was very, very proud of the vision, in conjunction with his brothers, of course, and I’m sure J.D. and Quinn,” Touchton said.

Black shared tales of the legendary Lonnie Tucker, known for his gator hunting abilities and his marksmanship.

To her, though, he was her grandpa.

She recalled asking him once to bring two big watermelons to share at school.

He did.

But, he also brought scores of small watermelons so all kinds of people got to take one home.

The annual history fair aims to prevent such memories from fading away.

Published April 6, 2016

History fair focuses on Wesley Chapel

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If you’re curious about the history of Wesley Chapel, there’s a new event designed to help you learn about the community’s past.

Pasco-Hernando State College is hosting the Wesley Chapel History Fair on March 31, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., at the college’s Porter Campus at Wiregrass Ranch, 2727 Mansfield Blvd. The event will be in the college’s conference center.

Pasco-Hernando State College is hosting a history fair on March 31, with speakers sharing stories about Wesley Chapel’s past. Madonna Wise will talk about her book, “Images of America: Wesley Chapel.” (Photos courtesy of Madonna Jervis Wise)
Pasco-Hernando State College is hosting a history fair on March 31, with speakers sharing stories about Wesley Chapel’s past. Madonna Wise will talk about her book, “Images of America: Wesley Chapel.”
(Photos courtesy of Madonna Jervis Wise)

The event will showcase stories and anecdotes about the area, as it has evolved from a rural community into a center for growth in Pasco County.

Madonna Jervis Wise will talk about her latest book, “Images of America: Wesley Chapel,” which recounts what Wesley Chapel was like when the community still had moonshiners, alligator hunters, turpentine and timber operations.

Wise also will be signing copies of her book, which will be available for purchase at the event.

Other highlights will include presentations from two women who will share stories about their family members.

Stephanie Black, director of the Pioneer Museum & Village, will recount tales of the legendary Lonnie Tucker, and Quinn Porter Miller will share vignettes about James H. “Wiregrass” Porter, and her family.

Thomas Touchton, founding Chairman of the Tampa Bay History Center, will share the J. Thomas and Lavinia W. Touchton Collection of Florida Cartography.

Angelo Liranzo, a librarian who spearheaded the digitizing of more than 100 years of area newspapers, will provide a hands-on demonstration regarding local historical resources.

There was a time when Wesley Chapel was widely known for its moonshining operations and its alligator hunting. The community has been transformed in recent years into a major growth center in Pasco County.
There was a time when Wesley Chapel was widely known for its moonshining operations and its alligator hunting. The community has been transformed in recent years into a major growth center in Pasco County.

Wise, who has also written local history books about Zephyrhills and Dade City, said it was harder to find a starting point in Wesley Chapel because the community did not have a city hall or established town center.

So, she relied on her knowledge of genealogy and tracked down people she could interview, which led to more interviews and documents to help tell the community’s story.

Putting together the book meant interviewing scores of pioneer descendants, culling through land records, visiting properties and even putting together a map to get a sense for what it used to be like.

As Wise did her research, she said one surprising discovery was that women in the community had long been acknowledged for their contributions.

“Pioneer women of Wesley Chapel were revered for their tireless days of toil, with a nurturing spirt and the skill to raise large families,” she wrote in her book.

Published March 23, 2016

Telling Wesley Chapel’s story

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Writing about local history is nothing new for Madonna Jervis Wise.

The Zephyrhills woman traced the history of Zephyrhills, and also of Dade City, for books published by Arcadia Publishing, of Charleston, South Carolina.

Now, she has written another book for the publisher’s Images of America series. This one focuses on Wesley Chapel.

Gator hunting was done at night in the swamps of Wesley Chapel. Lonnie Tucker, at far left with a light on his head, guides two visitors through the swamp. (Photos courtesy of Madonna Jervis Wise)
Gator hunting was done at night in the swamps of Wesley Chapel. Lonnie Tucker, at far left with a light on his head, guides two visitors through the swamp.
(Photos courtesy of Madonna Jervis Wise)

When the publisher asked her to do the Wesley Chapel book, Wise knew it would be challenging.

Unlike Zephyrhills and Dade City – which both have city governments, historic buildings and established town centers, Wesley Chapel offered no clear place for Wise to begin her research.

So, Wise relied on her background in genealogy to help her track down descendants of families with deep roots in Wesley Chapel.

She began her quest by tracking down Marco Edward Stanley, of Gainesville, who arranged for Wise to interview his mother, 95-year-old Lillie Sapp Stanley.

The historian met with members of the Stanley family, and that interview led to others.

When she interviewed David Brown, Michael Boyette, Bill Smith or members of the Stanley family, she discovered the families shared deep bonds.

Ranches were a significant part of Wesley Chapel’s history. An outstanding Texas Longhorn-Ankole bull was 15 years old and had a horn span of 54 inches, when he died at K-Bar Ranch in Wesley Chapel.
Ranches were a significant part of Wesley Chapel’s history. An outstanding Texas Longhorn-Ankole bull was 15 years old and had a horn span of 54 inches, when he died at K-Bar Ranch in Wesley Chapel.

“There was this cohesiveness among the settlers,” Wise said. “They would talk about each other in this real, deep caring way.”

Putting together “Images of America: Wesley Chapel,” meant interviewing scores of pioneer descendants, culling through land records, visiting properties and even putting together a map to get a sense for what it used to be like.

Through U.S. Census records and interviews with primary sources, Wise learned the names of the families of many early settlers, including Asbel, Barnes, Boyette, Bradley, Cooper, Ellerbee, Geiger, Gillette, Godwin, Hill, Kersey, O’Berry, Overstreet, Ryals, Smith, Stanley, Strickland, Thomas and Tucker.

Some of those names, she discovered, had various spellings, such as Stanley and Standley.

She also discovered that the community was known by various names through the years. Those names included Godwin, Double Branch, Wesley, Lemon and Gatorville – and finally, Wesley Chapel.

A car parked at the end of a cypress log in the 1930s illustrates the enormity of the trees that were felled in the Wesley Chapel 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.
A car parked at the end of a cypress log in the 1930s illustrates the enormity of the trees that were felled in the Wesley Chapel 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.

One surprising discovery, she said, was that women have long been acknowledged for the prominent role they played in the community.

“Pioneer women of Wesley Chapel were revered for their tireless days of toil, with a nurturing spirt and the skill to raise large families,” Wise wrote.

For instance, Francis Asbury Barnes’ granddaughters, Martha and Vida, played pivotal roles in Barnes’ ranching operations. The women, Wise wrote, were “industrious managers of land and cattle.”

Photographs and anecdotes in the 127-page volume paint a portrait of a place where people worked hard and cared about their neighbors. It was a community where the church was the central gathering place.

“This was a haven for the Singing Convention,” Wise said. “That’s something that occurred a lot in the South, but it was really, really prominent here.

“It occurred any month that had a fifth Sunday,” she said.

It was described by one descendant as Wesley Chapel’s ‘Grand Ole Opry.’

“It was hosted usually at the Double Branch Church (now known as the First Baptist Church of Wesley Chapel), and people came from everywhere,” Wise said.

“When I interviewed Cullen Boyette, he said these barbershop quartets that were on the radio would come here. Mostly, it was gospel music,” she said.

“They would have music nearly the entire day, and then they had (what they called) ‘dinner on the ground,’” she said.

They spread blankets out on the ground and enjoyed a potluck feast, Wise explained.

Around 1931, 19-year-old Lonnie Tucker watches for revenuers. He is pictured in Wesley Chapel with his moonshine still.
Around 1931, 19-year-old Lonnie Tucker watches for revenuers. He is pictured in Wesley Chapel with his moonshine still.

She also noted that Wesley Chapel United Methodist Church, for whom many believe the community was named, operated only from 1890 to 1892, at the corner of State Road 54 and Boyette Road.

Besides its church life, Wesley Chapel was known for its moonshining, gator hunting and turpentine stills, Wise said.

The timber and turpentine industries also played a significant role, she said. And, many ranching operations were founded on land where timber had been depleted, and the land was sold off for for tax deeds, Wise wrote.

Over time, many of Wesley Chapel’s ranches and citrus groves have given way to shopping centers, homes, schools, churches, a state college and other developments.

Of all of the changes through the years, Wise thinks the construction of Interstate 75 had the biggest influence on the community’s growth.

“I think that’s the most significant change. Wesley Chapel would not be what it is today without that. It really did change the landscape,” she said.

Two teachers and 33 students are in this photograph taken in the early 1920s at Wesley Chapel School.
Two teachers and 33 students are in this photograph taken in the early 1920s at Wesley Chapel School.

As she conducted interviews, tracked down records and gathered photographs, Wise developed a wealth of knowledge about Wesley Chapel.

Despite her prodigious research, though, there were some questions that she could not answer.

For instance, she couldn’t pinpoint the exact boundaries of the community – an issue still debated today.

And, she couldn’t determine precisely how the community got its name.

Some said it was named after an early settler. Others, claimed it was after John Wesley, founder of the United Methodist Church.

As for Wise?

She’s content, for now, to leave those questions open.

Upcoming book events

  • Feb. 16 at 2 p.m.: Talk at the Hugh Embry Library, 14215 Fourth St., in Dade City. It will include both “Images of America: Dade City” and “Images of America: Wesley Chapel.”
  • Feb. 25 at 12:30 p.m.: Book signing at the East Campus of Pasco-Hernando State College, 36727 Blanton Road in Dade City
  • March 4 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.: Book signing at the Zephyrhills Library, 5347 Eighth St., in Zephyrhills.

For more information about the book or events later this year, email Madonna Wise at .

Published February 10, 2016

Seasonal residents find plenty to like about life in Zephyrhills

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Motorists cruising through Zephyrhills along State Road 54 or U.S. 301 may not realize what a mecca the city is for residents wanting to escape winter’s chill.

If those passing through took a closer look, however, they’d observe the myriad mobile home parks dotting the community.

Thousands of seasonal residents flock to Zephyrhills every winter to escape bone-chilling weather in northern locales. Betmar Acres, the city’s largest mobile home park, has been housing winter residents for decades. (Fred Bellet/Photo)
Thousands of seasonal residents flock to Zephyrhills every winter to escape bone-chilling weather in northern locales. Betmar Acres, the city’s largest mobile home park, has been housing winter residents for decades.
(Fred Bellet/Photo)

There’s Betmar Acres, at 37145 Lakewood Drive, which founder M.H. Meengs and his partner, George Sprinkle named by combining their wives’ first names — Betty and Mary.

There’s Winters Mobile Home Park, Inc., 38022 Winter Drive, operated for generations by the Winters’ family since the 1950s.

Grand Horizons, Gem Estates Mobile Home Village, Southport Springs, Baker Acres, Valleydale and Palm Tree Acres are among the other parks that are home to the thousands of seasonal and permanent residents dwelling in Zephyrhills.

These communities are more than mere collections of manufactured homes.

Residents talk about the sense of community that develops from mingling at potluck suppers, going to square dances, playing card games and shuffleboard, and taking part in other special activities.

The Greater Zephyrhills Chamber of Commerce office, at 38550 Fifth Ave., is often the first place that new seasonal residents visit when they arrive in town, said Vonnie Mikkelsen, the chamber’s executive director.

“They’ll come in for a map, and they’ll leave with a handful of information,” Mikkelsen said.

Those who haven’t been to the chamber before often are surprised by the friendly reception they receive, Mikkelsen said. Many don’t realize that Zephyrhills has a history of welcoming newcomers — one that dates back to the city’s earliest days.

Capt. Howard B. Jeffries purchased land in December 1909 in Zephyrhills to initiate a colony for Civil War veterans, according to a book authored by local historian, Madonna Jervis Wise.

He attracted people from all over the country to live in the city known for its sparkling water and gentle winds.

“He had visited, at that time, every state in the union. He had recruited people from every place. Even Alaska,” Wise said.

The early seasonal visitors, dating back as far as the 1910s, were known as Tin Can Tourists, according to an excerpt from Wise’s book, “Images of America: Zephyrhills.”

The development of railroad lines and of automobiles brought even more visitors to the area and over time, many visitors decided to become seasonal or permanent residents of the city.

The seasonal residents play an important role in the ebb and flow of life in Zephyrhills.

“They’re the economic driver for at least three months of the year,” Mikkelsen said.

“We’d like them to come earlier and stay longer. If there’s anything we can do to encourage it, we’d like to know about it,” the chamber executive added.

There are telltale signs of the snowbirds’ arrival.

More lights go on in the mobile home parks. Restaurants, churches and stores are more crowded. There’s more traffic on area roads.

Typically, it’s the weather — not dates on a calendar — that chart the arrival and departure of the seasonal residents. They come south to escape frigid weather and head north when the weather warms there.

Helene Rubenstein and her husband, Marty, visited a number of places before choosing to live in the community of Grand Horizons, at 7645 Green Slope Drive.

Some of the communities they visited had better access to an interstate highway, but didn’t measure up in other ways, said Rubenstein, who lives part of the year in Connecticut.

She likes the convenience Grand Horizons offers, when it comes to meeting her daily needs.

“The hospitals, the doctors — they’re right around the corner,” Rubenstein said. Nearby restaurants are a plus, too.

After living in Grand Horizons for 11 years, Rubenstein is perhaps most impressed by one of the community’s intangible strengths: The people living there.

“It may sound corny, but it is the truth. Everyone, so far, I have liked,” she said. She must admit, however, some people took a little longer to warm up to than others.

Grand Horizons is loaded with activities.

“We have shuffleboard on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays,” Rubenstein said. “We have a reading club. We have a writing club.”

There’s coffee and doughnuts on Wednesdays. There’s mahjong, pinochle and euchre, too.

In fact, there’s so much going on that Rubenstein said her husband sometimes says that he barely ever sees her.

People are cordial, as they make their rounds in the community.

“We walk down the street and everybody says ‘hi.’ We wave to whoever passes by. Sometimes we don’t even know who they are, but we wave,” said Rubenstein, a former auditor for the state of Connecticut.

Lee Heffelfinger describes a similar feeling of camaraderie at Gem Estates Mobile Home Village.

“It’s like a big family,” she said.

Friendships are formed through potluck dinners and game nights. Residents enjoy entertainment and special events, such as the Christmas golf cart parade.

Coffee socials, held on Thursdays, are a big hit when winter residents are in town, typically attracting about 125 people.

To help Gem Estates residents put a name to a face, they wear nametags to the coffees and programs in the park.

Residents also get acquainted while strolling through the community, said Heffelfinger, who along with her husband, Russ, has lived full-time at Gem Estates for 15 years.

These communities tend to be tight-knit places, where people share life’s joys and sorrows.

They celebrate anniversaries and weddings. They help each other through illnesses. They grieve when someone dies or is forced to move away because of poor health.

There’s a genuine sense of concern for one another, Heffelfinger said.

“When the ambulance comes in here, you can’t believe how the people will flock to that house. ‘What can I do? What can I do?’ ” she said.

On Christmas Day, for instance, there were three ambulance calls to Gem Estates.

“Luckily,” Heffelfinger said, “nobody died.”

We know there’s a lot going on in the mobile home park communities in Zephyrhills, and we’d like to help you share your news. We encourage you to write accounts of what’s happening in your park and we really appreciate photos, as well.
Please help us to share your stories.
If you’d like to know how you can submit your park news, contact Mary Rathman at .

Published January 7, 2015