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Nellie Bailey

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

Seventy years of marriage, and going strong

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They were teenagers.

She was visiting her brother and his wife in Tampa, and she took the streetcar over to the Sulphur Springs swimming pool.

He was at the pool to relax.

He spotted her.

Nellie and Gains Hugh Bailey Sr., recently celebrated 70 years of married life, and they relish the love story they share. (B.C. Manion/Staff Photo)
Nellie and Gains Hugh Bailey Sr., recently celebrated 70 years of married life, and they relish the love story they share.
(B.C. Manion/Staff Photo)

“He came over and started talking to me, and he was cute, so I talked back with him,” said Nellie Bailey, of Lutz.

“I was 16,” said Nellie, now 87.

“I was 17,” said Gains Hugh Bailey Sr., now 88.

“That day we went to Whitehead’s Drugstore, got a hamburger and went to a movie,” Hugh said.

They don’t remember what movie they saw.

“I was looking at her, not the movie,” Hugh said.

“We dated every night the whole summer,” Nellie said. “We went to the beaches. We bowled and we ate out, and we went to movies, and we went over to the park and kissed under the trees.”

But, then she had to return to North Carolina to finish high school. He had to finish high school, too.

“We wrote about once every two weeks. We continued on with our normal lives, going to school, and dating other boys and girls. But, we didn’t forget each other. We kept writing,” Nellie said.

Then, she moved to Tampa with her family in January of 1946.

“We renewed our dating, dating every night,” Nellie said.

Then he was drafted.

Nellie Bailey’s beauty attracted the attention of Gains Hugh Bailey Sr., more than 70 years ago, leading to a marriage that’s still cherished by both Nellie and Hugh. (Photos courtesy of Janice Kurtz)
Nellie Bailey’s beauty attracted the attention of Gains Hugh Bailey Sr., more than 70 years ago, leading to a marriage that’s still cherished by both Nellie and Hugh.
(Photos courtesy of Janice Kurtz)

“He asked me to marry him and go with him. I said, ‘OK, let’s go,” Nellie said.

They married on March 31, 1946.

“Our first stop was Amarillo, Texas. The next stop was San Antonio, Texas. The third stop was West Palm Beach. I followed him wherever he was sent.

“He was honorably discharged in February 1947,” Nellie said.

“We had our first anniversary in Tampa, March 31, and our daughter was born then. Right on the day.”

Their second child, a son, also was born on their anniversary in 1951.

The couple went on to have a total of four children: Donna, Gains Jr., James Douglas and Janice Nell. The couple also has six grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.

This past weekend, they celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary at a party with about two dozen family members.

Even after seven decades, the romance is alive.

Nellie said she wrote Hugh a love letter years ago. “He reads it every night,” she said.

And, she still recalls every word of a song called “You Belong to My Heart” — their song when they were dating.

“He tells me every day, ‘I love you more than anything in the world.’ And, I tell him the same thing, every day,” Nellie said.

“We always kiss goodbye when he goes out the door and kiss when he comes in,” she said.

“We love each other very much. If we have a spat or disagreement, we can’t stay mad, or go to bed mad, because we won’t be able to sleep if we do.

“I’m miserable as soon as we have cross words and he is, too, so the sooner we make up, the happier we are,” Nellie said.

Gains Hugh Bailey Sr., when he was young.
Gains Hugh Bailey Sr., when he was young.

“We just can’t stay angry. I’ll try to see his side and he’ll try to see my side, and we kind of communicate on it and settle it – to both of our satisfactions, to where we’re both all right with it,” Nellie said.

“Whatever is important to him, is important to me. And, that’s the same way he feels,” she said.

“If it isn’t, I make it important,” Hugh said.

For instance, he said he learned to fish after she gave him a rod and reel.

“I fished when I was a child and he didn’t, so I bought him a rod and a reel as an anniversary present,” Nellie said.

“Our neighbor was a fisherman, and he started taking me fishing,” Hugh said.

For her part, Nellie expanded her musical tastes.

“He likes country music, and I never did like country music,” she said. “I like country music now.”

Hugh was always a good provider, Nellie said.

“We took vacations every year with the children, to the beaches, and camping and fishing. We enjoyed them so much. We got a boat, and he (Hugh) took them (water) skiing. We’d swim at the beach. We took them fishing,” Nellie said.

“We’ve traveled all over the United States, from Maine to San Francisco. We took the whole family, the children and grandchildren, to Yellowstone,” Hugh added.

Having fun with each other, with their friends and with their family, has always been important to both of them.

“We’ve always had fun. You just can’t have a good marriage without some fun in it,” Nellie said.

They also share many fond memories of times they’ve shared together.

When they lived in San Antonio, they lived near the Alamo.

“Bands would be down there playing every night. Our windows would be open, and we could hear that soft romantic music,” Nellie said. “They had a watermelon hut there. They served nothing but watermelon down by the water, so we’d have watermelon every night.”

Hugh thinks Nellie saved his life.

“I went into Afib and my heart was beating 160 beats a minute, and they took me to Tampa General,” Hugh said.

He spent seven days in intensive care, with Nellie at his side.

“He was heavily sedated,” Nellie said. “They would say: ‘He might can hear you.’

“I’d say, ‘Hugh can you hear me? Squeeze my hand.’ He’d squeeze my hand,” Nellie said.

When they were young, Nellie said, she recalls imagining Hugh the way he looks today.

“That’s what I always wanted, for us to grow old together,” she said. “We’re actually still in love. It’s a much deeper love now.”

Hugh agreed: “She’s still my sweetheart.”

Published April 6, 2016