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Serving Pasco since 1981/Serving Lutz since 1964

Pennsylvania Avenue

San Antonio set to repair water leak

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The City of San Antonio will take another stab at fixing an ongoing water leak along Pennsylvania Avenue.

The San Antonio City Commission recently approved additional funds to repair a water leak at Pennsylvania Avenue. The work is scheduled for Feb. 25. (Kevin Weiss)

City commissioners approved $10,000 in additional funds with contractors Superior Siteworks and EA Tapping Services. Of that, $6,000 will go for tapping services and $4,000 will go for excavation work.

The action came during a special commission meeting on Feb. 6, and the repairs are scheduled for Feb. 25.

A road closure will be in effect for a portion of Pennsylvania Avenue between Curley Street and Main Street, for the duration of repairs, which are expected to be complete that same day.

City officials anticipate the following dwellings will be without water during the scheduled repairs, and will be placed under a 48-hour boil water notice:

  • Pasco County Fire Rescue Station 27
  • Businesses on Pennsylvania Avenue east of Curley Street
  • A residential home on Curley Street

The total allocation for the water leak project now totals $22,500.

Commissioners initially awarded a $12,500 bid to Superior Siteworks in December.

The contractor attempted to make repairs on Jan. 28.

But, the project’s scope proved larger than anticipated, officials explained, requiring more funds for a water line stop, and, possibly a water valve replacement.

The water leak was first observed by city officials after Thanksgiving Day, according to Will Plazewski, the town’s water clerk.

The cause of the leak isn’t known, but water started flowing out of the valve rise, Plazewski said.

The city presently has barricades set up along Pennsylvania Avenue, roughly between the City Hall building and Poncho’s Villa Mexican Restaurant, blocking off some adjacent parking spaces and a portion of the roadway that was cut out during the first attempt to repair the leak.

“We need to get this fixed; it’s not getting any better,” waterworks commissioner Eric Stallworth said, at the meeting. “We talked about the budget earlier in the fall, and we knew we were going to have to be making some repairs to our water system.”

In other action, the commission issued a request for proposals for trash collection services; the city’s contract with Waste Connections is expiring.

Published February 13, 2019

Park bench honors original garden club members

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The San Antonio Founders Garden Club recently paid tribute to the 23 original members of the club by dedicating a park bench in their honor.

Members of the San Antonio Founders Garden Club and community members listen to Donna Swart, the club president, during the dedication of a park bench. (Richard Riley)

The event was at the San Antonio City Park, 32819 Pennsylvania Ave., on the morning of Sept. 7.

The ceremony was meant to celebrate and honor the club’s many contributions through the years.

The club draws its name from the fact that it was the first garden club in the city, according to a history compiled to celebrate the club’s 50th anniversary in 2011.

The name also pays homage to the foresight of the original founders of the Catholic Colony of San Antonio who set aside the land for a park, the document adds.

Deacon Irv Lau of St. Rita’s Catholic Church blesses the bench during the dedication ceremony on Sept. 7.

No minutes were taken at the club’s first meeting, the account says, but those attending the second meeting were: Jeanette Barthle, Stella Barthle, Rose Cope, Margaret Cissel, Alice Epperson, Bobbie Epperson, Jo Ann Franz, Marie Harper, Ruth Pike Herman, Mary Jones, Effie McCabe, Margaret Keifer, Patsy Reynolds, Theresa Schrader and Charlene Spalding.

The following month, Elizabeth Cannon, Blanche Naeyaert, Sylvia Gude and Dolores Nalley joined, and shortly thereafter, Alice Burger, Betty Burger, Sid Corrigan and Mary Schrader joined, the account says.

Betty Burger and Stella Barthle are two of the original founders who are still active in the San Antonio community.

The club still hosts an annual “Christmas in the Park,” which offers an old-fashioned celebration for the holidays.

The event, scheduled for the evening of Dec. 3, aims to encourage families and friends to gather together to celebrate the season.

Festivities generally include a sing-along, a tree lighting and free refreshments.

Published September 27, 2017

A half-century of old-fashioned fun

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A half-century ago, the San Antonio Jaycees got together and hatched a plan for a fun way to raise money to support local causes.

They figured they could hold a festival, with rattlesnakes as the centerpiece.

Cowboy Tom is a popular act at the annual San Antonio Rattlesnake Festival. The event is celebrating its half-century mark this year. ({Photos courtesy of San Antonio Rattlesnake Festival)
Cowboy Tom is a popular act at the annual San Antonio Rattlesnake Festival. The event is celebrating its half-century mark this year.
(Photos courtesy of San Antonio Rattlesnake Festival)

Over the decades, the leading organizers have changed — and so have some of the particulars — but the essence of the annual event remains the same: Every year, on the third weekend of October, residents and visitors flock to the San Antonio Rattlesnake Festival & Run in City Park.

This year, to celebrate the 50th anniversary, organizers have scheduled a two-day festival.

Organizers of the event have gone from the Jaycees, to R.A.G.E. (Rattlesnake and Gopher Enthusiasts), to a group of Rotary Clubs, to the Rotary Club of San Antonio, which has been the chief organizer for the past three years.

“We, of course, have help from the people who did it all of those years,” said Betty Burke, chairwoman of the current organizing committee.

“Dennis Devine, he’s been with it since the beginning, and he’s our music master.

“Jack Vogel is one of the people who started it. He was in the Jaycees,” Burke said. His son, Jay, is this year’s volunteer coordinator.

Betty’s daughter, Andrea Calvert, who works for the Town of St. Leo, is involved, too. The town sponsors a pumpkin patch, which is a popular place for people to take photos of their children, and to snap selfies, too.

Burke’s sister, Winnie, who is the president of the Rotary Club of San Antonio, is also involved. She’s in charge of the arts and crafts area.

Blacksmith demonstrations are among the highlights at the San Antonio Rattlesnake Festival.
Blacksmith demonstrations are among the highlights at the San Antonio Rattlesnake Festival.

Other members on the festival planning committee include Terri Grissom, Rick Behnke and Anne Kibbe.

Event highlights include 5-mile and 1-mile runs, a family bike ride, musical entertainment, a snake show, a cowboy show, crocodile demonstrations, mechanical gopher tortoise races, food booths, children’s rides and a pumpkin patch.

Other attractions include a butterfly exhibit, children’s crafts and games, a farm animal exhibit, M.A.D. Flames Fire Entertainment and Pioneer Village demonstrations.

Vendors will be selling a variety of items, there will be a farmer’s market, and there will be a pet corner, too.

Visitors also will have a chance to learn more about the festival’s history.

In the beginning, preparing for the event meant going out into the woods — equipped with a long pole with a hook on the end — and rounding up snakes.

Amateur and professional snake hunters would bring the snakes in, and organizers would pay for their snakes, according to published reports.

The gopher tortoise races used to feature live tortoises, too.

People would decorate the creatures with glitter and nontoxic paint, and pit them against each other.

The live gopher tortoise races ended after increasing development in Florida led to the state placing them on its protected species list.

Undaunted, organizers began using wooden replicas, operated by yanking ropes to pull them to the finish line.

Over the years, the festival has helped to create many fond memories.

Children enjoy riding around in a barrel train during a previous San Antonio Rattlesnake Festival.
Children enjoy riding around in a barrel train during a previous San Antonio Rattlesnake Festival.

“It is a fun thing. The kids have always had fun,” said Donna Swart, a former volunteer, who recalled how much her kids enjoyed the festival and racing live gopher tortoises.

Eric Herrmann, who has run the mechanical gopher tortoise race for years, said he’s been going to the festival his entire life.

“As the son of one of the founders, I’m very proud of it,” Herrmann said.

“It’s one of the last old-fashioned, hometown festivals,” Herrmann said, noting his dad, Eddie Herrmann, helped to design the mechanical gopher tortoises used in the races.

“It’s a very distinctive and unusual game, that’s pretty much singular to our festival,” he said.

He recalls one festival when a girl desperately wanted to win, but couldn’t, despite repeated attempts.

At the end of the second day, she still hadn’t won a race.

“I made a decision and I called her over, and we gave a one-time award for ‘Perseverance,’” he said.

Those kinds of things make all of the work worthwhile, he said.

“There are moments of pride,” Herrmann said.

One year, a Japanese television crew came to film the event, and the race they chose to cover included the young son of a Japanese-American family.

The boy’s grandmother still lived in Japan.

“The grandmother watched the show in Japan,” Herrmann said. “That was the first time she ever got to see her grandchild — other than in a picture.”

In another instance, a young man who had attended the snake show was bit by a snake after the festival had ended.

Because he’d gone to the show, he knew what to do and sought immediate medical attention, Herrmann said.

“The doctor said, ‘That festival probably saved his life,’” Herrmann said.

The event’s souvenir T-shirts have been wildly popular through the years, he noted, adding, “there are pictures of people all over the world, who are wearing the festival’s T-shirt.”

Kibbe, a volunteer who is handling the public relations for this year’s event, is fond of the festival.

She lives on Pennsylvania Avenue, across from City Park, and she lets musicians who are playing the event to park in her yard.

“I am front and center,” Kibbe said. “I like to tell people, ‘Yes, I’m having a festival this weekend in my front yard.’”

Kibbe appreciates the way the festival has evolved, and she thinks others admire that, too.

“As people became more ecologically and environmentally conscious, we stopped painting the turtles, and we stopped catching the snakes. And now, it’s educational,” she said.

Indeed, families who homeschool their children often show up because there are so many opportunities for learning, she said.

Socially, it’s a great time, too, Kibbe said.

“It’s like a big family reunion in a lot of ways,” she said, noting people who lived in San Antonio come back for the event.

“Folks come back from out-of-town. They moved to Saint Pete, or they moved to Orlando, but they come for the festival. So, that’s a big plus.”

This year’s event is being organized by the Rotary Club of San Antonio.

Proceeds from the event will support local educational programs, scholarships, community projects and international Rotary projects, such as Polio Plus.

The event is partially funded by Visit Pasco Tourism and Visit Florida, and is supported by numerous local sponsors, including The Laker/Lutz News.

San Antonio Rattlesnake Festival & Run
Where: City Park, 12202 Main St., San Antonio, Florida, 33576
When: Oct. 15 and Oct. 16
How much: Parking, admission and most of the entertainment are free; there are nominal charges for the snake show. 

Festival schedule
Oct. 15
8 a.m.: Rattlesnake run begins; race winners are announced on main stage at 9:15 a.m.
10 a.m.: Festival opening ceremony

Musical lineup
10:15 a.m.: Graham Music Studio’s Showstoppers
11 a.m.: Crabgrass Cowboys
Noon: Beaumont!
1 p.m.: J2
3 p.m.: Jesse & Noah
4 p.m.: Those Unscrupulous Sunspots

Other highlights include:

  • Cates Educational Snake Lectures: 10 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 1 p.m., 2:30 p.m. and 4 p.m. (Free for those 5 and under, $3 for ages 6 through 12; $5 for those 13 and older)
  • Cowboy Tom’s Wild West Show: Performances throughout the day (Free)
  • Croc Encounters demonstrations: 11 a.m., 12:30 p.m., and 3:30 p.m. (Free)

5 p.m.: Festival closes for the day

Oct. 16
9:30 a.m.: Family bike ride
11 a.m.: Festival grounds open

Musical lineup
11 a.m. to noon: The band called 2 PM
Noon: Moon Dance
1 p.m.: Sassafras Bluegrass
2 p.m.: Mark Hannah & Major Dade’s Last Ride
3 p.m. Mary Smith with Dean Johnson

Other highlights include:

  • Cates Educational Snake Lectures: 11 a.m., 12:30 p.m., 2 p.m., and 3 p.m. (Free for those 5 and under, $3 for ages 6 through 12; $5 for those 13 and older)
  • Cowboy Tom’s Wild West Show: Performances throughout the day (Free)
  • Croc Encounters demonstrations: Noon, 1:30 p.m., and 2:30 p.m. (Free)

3:30 p.m.: Closing ceremony
4 p.m.: Festival ends

Published October 12, 2016

 

Gran Fondo cycles into Pasco

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For the fourth year in a row, cyclists from all across the nation will make the trek to Pasco County to ride in the Gran Fondo Florida racing event on March 26.

The race begins — and ends — in downtown San Antonio.

It is one of eight events across the country as part of the Gran Fondo National Championship Series.

The Gran Fondo Florida race has a 35-mile, 55-mile and 100-mile route. As opposed to a ‘start to finish’ race, each route will have timed segments at specific mile markers. (Courtesy of Reuben Kline)
The Gran Fondo Florida race has a 35-mile, 55-mile and 100-mile route. As opposed to a ‘start to finish’ race, each route will have timed segments at specific mile markers.
(Courtesy of Reuben Kline)

The cycling route is 100 miles, but there are also 35-mile and 55-mile routes for less avid riders.

While much of Florida is synonymous with flat roads, the bike race travels along Pasco County’s rural rolling hills, with cyclists riding by horse farms and clear springs throughout the scenic route.

The 100-mile course has nearly 3,000 feet of cumulative elevation gain, according to Reuben Kline, president and race director of the Gran Fondo National Championship Series.

“The rolling back roads are beautiful, but also very challenging,” Kline said. “The area around Pasco County and even up into Hernando County — it offers amazing riding for any perspective. It’s a great area to ride— a lot of back roads, low traffic.”

The gran fondo format differs from other bike races, because it’s not a “start to finish” race. Instead, there are timed segments throughout the courses, which are used to calculate a rider’s competitive time.

In the 100-mile course, for example, there might be a chip-timed session from mile 17 to mile 20, and again from mile 42 to mile 47.

“It’s really a unique style of race. The Gran Fondo is really becoming popular,” said Ed Caum, tourism director for Pasco County. “You casually ride for part of it, and then when you hit your sections where you’re timed, then that’s where you do your sprint. Then, you’re back down to cycling through beautiful Pasco countryside until you get to your next timed section.”

Kline noted the gran fondo format is “less contentious” than other road races, because it eliminates the “peloton dependency,” where cyclists ride in a tight group, drafting off one another to conserve energy.

“Historically, bicycling hasn’t been a very user-friendly discipline when it comes to a competitive environment because of the need to draft in a large group of people. The atmosphere is often contentious because of the dynamics of it, and because of the safety, or lack of safety involved,” Kline explained. “There’s not a lot of closeness among competitors, because you’re always like ‘I’m going to have to use you to win.’

“What we saw with this gran fondo format was an opportunity to make something that people could both enjoy and (also) be competitive,” he said.

According to Kline, the gran fondo-racing format has only been around in the United States for “no more than six or seven years.”

“It’s a new discipline, and a lot of people don’t understand, ‘what is a gran fondo and how does it work?’”

Gran fondo events, which originated in Italy, provide a cycling outlet for everyone from beginners to elite cyclists, he said.

“It’s very much like a marathon. How many people enter a marathon thinking they’re going to win? Not many, but some do,” the race director said. “The atmosphere is such that those people are showing up to compete, because it inspires the other people to compete. People might enter to either finish the race, finish atop their age group or finish at the top of the overall standings.

“It does provide an opportunity to be competitive, and not only competitive with a whole bunch of people, but also with their friends and teammates.”

Last year, the race drew 297 riders — a 70 percent increase from 2014, and a 140 percent from 2013 — reports show.

Additionally, only 26 of those riders lived in Pasco County, with the majority coming from all across Florida.

There were also participants from a dozen other states — Alabama, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee.

A 2015 post-event report shows an economic impact of $44, 878, based on the total number of room nights booked by participants and spectators.

“They come from across North America, and then you’ll have some people that are down here—snowbirds and all— that ride the (gran fondo) races…throughout the circuit,” Pasco County’s tourism director said. “Some people travel specifically to participate in the event.

“As people come here and ride, they’ll want to come back, because it’s so beautiful out there in San Antonio and St. Joseph, and Dade City.”

Kline has been pleased with the event’s “very sizable growth” since it’s inception, and plans to bring it back to Pasco County.

“We intend to continue holding the event in Pasco County. We’ve enjoyed working with the representatives in Pasco County,” he said.

Gran Fondo Florida
What: A bike racing event for everyone from beginners to elite cyclists. There are 35-mile, 55-mile and 100-mile routes, each with chip-timed sections.
When: March 26 at 8 a.m.
Where: Local Public House & Provisions, 32750 Pennsylvania Ave., San Antonio
For more information, visit GranFondoNationalChampionshipSeries.com.

Published March 16, 2016