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South Korea

Teacher broadens her horizons through a fellowship in Korea

September 26, 2018 By Kevin Weiss

It’s fitting Karen Coss teaches AP Human Geography and World Cultural Geography at Land O’ Lakes High School.

After all, she has visited 16 countries on six continents.

“I like to travel,” said Coss, who also teaches psychology at the high school.
Her most recent international stop came this past summer, in South Korea. The trip was part of a teaching fellowship through the Korean War Legacy Foundation.

 Land O’ Lakes High School geography teacher Karen Coss was among teachers selected to be a Korean War Legacy Foundation fellow over the summer. She spent the last week in July in the Republic of Korea researching Korean history and culture. She is shown here at the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), a 160-mile border that has divided North and South Korea for more than 60 years since the end of the Korean War. (Courtesy of Karen Coss)

Coss was one of just 30 teachers selected for the fellowship, which took place the last week of July.

According to the foundation, the fellowship “focused on building a deeper understanding of the Korean Peninsula’s rich history, its simultaneous achievements of rapid economic development and democratization, and close friendship with the United States” through visits to key historical sites, museums, and conversations with Korean teachers and students.

The trip marked the teacher’s first visit to Asia, and her first fellowship.

“It was a whirlwind, but absolutely amazing, to be able to go,” she said. “They really did get to show us so much of Korea. To do as much as we did in five days was amazing.”

The trip’s high point, for Coss, was visiting the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), a 160-mile border that has divided North and South Korea for more than 60 years since the end of the Korean War.

Fellows were allowed special access to the border area and were able to stand feet away from North Korea near where inter-Korean summits take place.

Coss quipped she actually stepped foot in North Korea — for about 10 minutes. Of course, she and other fellows were safely secured by South Korean guards in the zone’s joint security area.

“It certainly didn’t disappoint,” Coss said, of visiting the border.

“The DMZ was amazing,” she said, adding she’s sure her visit there will figure into future lessons she delivers to her students.

As an educator, Coss also valued the opportunity to meet with Korean teachers and gain some insight into the country’s education system. Her group visited Seoul Digitech High School, a school for gifted students known for its technology and graphic design programs.

While there, fellows tested out a virtual reality video game built by students. They were also given a comic book that students made.

Korean War Legacy Foundation fellows pose for a picture outside the Korean Demilitarized Zone. The fellowship for social studies teachers also included visits to other key historical sites and museums. (Courtesy of Korean War Legacy Foundation)

“We knew we were going to meet some teachers in Korea, but we did not know that we were actually going to visit a school, so that was real cool,” Coss said.

During the visit, the Land O’ Lakes teacher discovered school days in South Korea are much longer than in the States, oftentimes from 8 a.m. until as late as 10 p.m., five days a week.

Coss learned that classes in South Korea finish around dinnertime, but most students typically remain at school through the evening to work on various assignments and projects, or get help from teachers.

Fellows, too, were introduced to Korean history and culture across the weeklong trip.

That portion included stops at the National Museum of Korean Contemporary History in Seoul and the Gyeongbokgung Palace, the main royal palace of the Joseon dynasty built in 1395.

They also stayed at a Buddhist temple on Gangwha Island near Incheon — the trip’s “unexpected highlight, by far,” Coss said.

At the temple, fellows learned about a monk’s daily life, practiced meditation and had a special question-and-answer session with the head monk of the monastery.

They dressed in traditional monk garb and made prayer bead bracelets during the stay.

Coss recalled waking at 4 a.m., for morning prayers.

The Buddhist prayers entailed performing prostrations, or bows, 108 consecutive times to show reverence to the Triple Gem (comprising the Buddha, his teachings, and the spiritual community) and other objects of veneration.

Of the prostrations, the teacher proudly noted she “did them all.”

“I did all 108. It was a little rough. I didn’t exactly do them correctly,” she said, with a chuckle.

Another memorable part of the trip: Fellows visited the War Memorial of Korea and were special guests at the United Nations Armistice Day celebration, which was attended by Korean War veterans from several nations and the Prime Minister of Korea, Lee Nak-yeon.

Coss said she found the citizens to be very welcoming to Americans and “anyone who had anything to do with the war.”

“We were like celebrities everywhere we went,” Coss said. “Everything is very pro-U.S. Like, they’re very, ‘Oh, Americans!’ It’s not like going to Europe.”

The entire experience will surely have lasting effects for the high school teacher.

She plans to share what she learned with her students, highlighting some of the cultural differences she observed in South Korea and detailing how the country has developed into the world’s eighth-largest economy since the end of the Korean War.

The fellowship experience also has prompted Coss to help initiate a student club, called ‘Time for Diversity.’

Through some of the teacher’s newfound Korean connections, Land O’ Lakes students in the club will get to Skype and communicate with an all-girls school in southern South Korea every month or so.

Meantime, Coss said she’s going to apply for more teaching fellowships to other countries.

She, too, has several international trips on the docket over the next several years.

She’ll visit the Dominican Republic over winter break and might visit Spain next summer.

She also is organizing student trips in 2020 and 2021, to Ecuador and Japan, respectively.

“There’s so many places to see in the world,” she said.

Published September 26, 2018

Filed Under: Education, Land O' Lakes News, Local News Tagged With: Gyeongbokgung Palace, Karen Coss, Korean Demilitarized Zone, Korean War, Korean War Legacy Foundation, Land O' Lakes High School, Lee Nak-yeon, National Museum of Korean Contemporary History, Seoul Digitech High School, South Korea, United Nations Armistice Day, War Memorial of Korea

Figure skating heats up in Wesley Chapel

June 6, 2018 By Kevin Weiss

As Tampa Bay becomes synonymous with hockey this time of year, another ice-based sport is heating up in the region.

For the first time, the Florida Sports Foundation selected Pasco County to be the host community for the annual Sunshine State Games Figure Skating Championships.

The competition took place at Florida Hospital Center Ice in Wesley Chapel, from May 18 through May 20.

The games drew more than 300 male and female skaters of all ages, with skaters and their families trekking all the way from the First Coast to South Florida, and everywhere in-between, to compete in the statewide, Olympic-style program.

The majority of the participants were girls between the ages of 10 to 14.

Ten-year-old Jordan Scott, of Wesley Chapel, won the juvenile girls free skate event and was a recipient of the Betty Stark Award as the games’ top juvenile skater.

Skating sisters shine
A pair of young sisters from Wesley Chapel fared among the best.

Twelve-year-old Haley Scott and 10-year-old Jordan Scott each earned gold medals in their respective competitions.

Haley won the novice ladies division with a personal-best in the free skate (84.96 total score).

Jordan, meanwhile, won the juvenile girls free skate event (48.75 score) and was a recipient of the Betty Stark Award as the games’ top juvenile skater.

Haley won the same award back in 2016 for first-place finishes in the juvenile girls free skate and intermediate ladies short events.

She also won the games’ Dorothy Dodson Award in 2017, named after the late long-time figure skating judge that recognizes the highest combined score in the intermediate ladies free skating and short program events.

The success in Florida has translated to the national stage, for Haley.

Between October and January, she skated in the South Atlantic Regional Championships in Ashburn, Virginia (second place, Intermediate Ladies); the Eastern Sectional Championships in Foxborough, Massachusetts (second place, Intermediate Ladies); and in the 2018 Prudential U.S. Figure Skating Championships in San Jose, California (10th place Intermediate Ladies).

Twelve-year-old Haley Scott, of Wesley Chapel, won the novice ladies division with a personal-best in the free skate (84.96 total score). Her younger sister, Jordan Scott, 10, also earned a gold medal in the juvenile free skate. (Courtesy of Julie Scott)

But, her proudest skating moment came the year before, when she earned a bronze medal in the juvenile girls division at the 2017 Prudential U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Kansas City, Missouri.

Ranked among the nation’s top young figure skaters, the Olympics may be a reality someday.

“My goal is just to keep having fun, keep pushing to my potential, just enjoying the journey,” she said. “The Olympics would be great.”

The Scott sisters have each been skating for about six years, when they first tried it out at a friend’s birthday party.

They’ve been hooked ever since.

“I like the challenge of it. Each day you get to do something new and try to push yourself,” Haley said.

Added Jordan: “I also love competing. It’s really fun to ice skate.”

In the juvenile division, figure skater Kaitlyn Wright, 6, left, talks with friend, Briana Reich, 7, of Wellington. The two girls are coached by Lauren Salzlechner, also of Wellington. Wright and her family may be moving to Wesley Chapel in order to live near Florida Hospital Center Ice. (Fred Bellet)

A convenient training ground
The skating wunderkinds, along with their mother Julie Scott, moved to Wesley Chapel from Port Orange, chiefly for the offerings at Florida Hospital Center Ice.

Labeled the largest ice sports facility in the Southeastern U.S., the 150,500-square-foot, two-story complex features five ice rinks — an Olympic rink (200 feet by 100 feet), three National Hockey League-sized rinks (200 feet by 85 feet) and a mini rink.

While living in Port Orange, the family would commute three hours everyday to a skating facility in Jacksonville.

They made the daily drive for about four years, until Florida Hospital Center Ice launched in January 2017.

Now they’re just minutes away from sheets of ice.

“This facility is probably the best in the southeast right now. It really is. You really can’t beat it,” Julie Scott said.

The Scott sisters, who are home-schooled, use the Wesley Chapel facility about six days a week for practice and training. Their team of coaches is also stationed there.

“They’ve got ballet here. They’ve got yoga. They have it all. They have a trainer. It’s all in-house, which is really nice,” their mother said.

Other skating families are relocating to Wesley Chapel to access those opportunities.

Josh and Marissa Wright and their two children soon plan to move to the area from Boynton Beach. They want to be within a 15-minute drive of Center Ice.

They recently made the 3 ½-hour drive from South Florida so their 6-year-old daughter, Kaitlyn, could participate in the games’ basic series event.

When Josh first toured the facility, he was awestruck with the complex located off Interstate 75 at the State Road 56 interchange.

“It’s amazing. It’s unbelievable. I mean, there’s nothing like this,” he said, adding the facility his family currently uses only has one rink.

Florida’s figure skating surge
The first Sunshine State Games Figure Skating Championships began 32 years ago in Clearwater with less than 60 skaters.

It’s grown nearly fivefold since, and has been hosted at several other locations over the years, including Tampa, Ellenton, Jacksonville and West Palm Beach, among others.

Twelve-year-old Avery Kelley and her coach, Steve Belanger, both of Jupiter, made the trip to the annual Sunshine State Games Figure Skating Championships at Florida Hospital Center Ice in Wesley Chapel. Kelley, a competitor in the intermediate division, skates with “elegance and poise,” according to her coach. (Fred Bellet)

Betty Stark has served as the games’ figure skating director since its inception.

She said it’s “a good tune-up” for skaters with aspirations of reaching qualifying competitions, like regionals and sectionals, later in the year.

“A lot of the kids that participate in the Sunshine State Games get the opportunity, if they place, to go on to the State Games of America,” she said, noting several homegrown skaters have wound up competing nationally and internationally.

Stark, a former club figure skater herself at the University of Florida, has also witnessed the sport’s surge in the state across the past three decades.

“It’s been taking off a lot.” she said. “The number of rinks and the interest in figure skating has increased a lot. Coaches have been coming down here starting up programs. Guests coaches from across the country love to come down for the warm weather…and some of them just wind up staying here; and they bring their expertise from their years of skating and their coaching.”

Meantime, the figure skating event may remain here for the foreseeable future.

Pasco County Tourism Manager Consuelo Sanchez said the county plans to bid to keep the state games in Wesley Chapel for the next few years.

“We are interested to keep it here because it is the most important (figure skating) competition in the whole state of Florida,” she said.

Further, the event may be a springboard for drawing even larger figure skating competitions at Florida Hospital Center Ice.

“The good thing about bringing the Sunshine Games is we’re going to show that we can host big events,” Sanchez said.

“We’re already having conversations with USA Figure Skating to try and bring regionals and, hopefully, national championships here. But, they wanted to see that we have the capability of hosting these events, and this is a great experience.”

The facility is already no stranger to the big stage.

It was the training home for the USA Hockey Women’s National Team that won gold in the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

It has also hosted multiple National USA Hockey championships and is the training home for international athletes — including six-time French national champion figure skating pair Vanessa James and Morgan Cipres.

And, it’s bucking the notion that ice sports are reserved for northern states and colder climates.

Said Julie Scott, “Everybody always asks us, ‘Why ice skating in Florida?’ But, why not? You’ve got these great facilities.”

Published June 6, 2018

Filed Under: Local News, News Stories, Wesley Chapel/New Tampa News Tagged With: 2018 Winter Olympics, Ashburn, Betty Stark Award, Boynton Beach, Clearwater, Dorothy Dodson Award, Eastern Sectional Championships, Ellenton, First Coast, Florida, Florida Hospital Center Ice, Florida Sports Foundation, Foxborough, French, Haley Scott, Interstate 75, Jacksonville, Jordan Scott, Josh Wright, Kaitlyn Wright, Kansas City, Marissa Wright, Massachusetts, Missouri, Morgan Cipres, National Hockey League, National USA Hockey, Olympics-style, Pasco County, Pasco County Tourism Manager Consuelo Sanchez, Port Orange, Prudential U.S. Figure Skating Championships, PyeongChang, South Atlantic Regional Championships, South Florida, South Korea, State Road 56, Sunshine State Games Figure Skating Championships, Tampa, Tampa Bay, University of Florida, USA Figure Skating, USA Hockey Women's National Team, Vanessa James, Virginia, Wesley Chapel, West Palm Beach

USA Women’s Hockey, fans celebrate gold in Wesley Chapel

March 7, 2018 By Kevin Weiss

Just days removed from celebrating a gold medal win in the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea, the USA women’s ice hockey team returned to where their remarkable journey all began — Wesley Chapel.

The U.S. women’s national ice hockey team posed for pictures on Feb. 28 at Florida Hospital Center Ice, in Wesley Chapel. The team spent more than five months training at the facility and lodging at Saddlebrook Resort. (Kevin Weiss)

It’s where the team spent more than five months getting prepared for the Winter Olympics, training at Florida Hospital Center Ice and lodging at Saddlebrook Resort. It’s also where daily practices, off-ice testing and intrasquad scrimmages were used to determine the 23 players selected for the Team USA roster back in May.

The team spent the better part of an hour on the afternoon of Feb. 28 greeting fans, posing for pictures and signing autographs at the Center Ice facility.

The surprise visit was part of a nationwide media blitz that took them to Los Angeles, Washington D.C., and New York City.

A week earlier, the team defeated Canada in a 3-2 shootout to win gold, ending a 20-year drought for the women’s hockey program.

Moments since have been nothing short of surreal for Team USA, from celebrating the victory to the fan support.

“It’s been overwhelming, exciting, just a whirlwind,” said two-time Olympian and forward Kendall Coyne. “It’s been truly an honor to bring home this gold to the United States, and to see the reaction from everybody and the support.”

“It’s been crazy,” added 19-year-old defenseman Cayla Barnes, the youngest member of Team USA. “This has been a goal of ours for so long, and it just proves you can do whatever you set your mind to.”

Two-time Olympian and forward Kendall Coyne shows off her Olympic gold medal. She is one of 23 players on the U.S. women’s national ice hockey team.

Their time spent in Wesley Chapel won’t soon be forgotten, either, from top-flight training digs and hospitality, to the warm, sunny weather.

“These facilities were awesome, the staff here was amazing, and they really helped us with everything we needed,” Barnes said. “It was great to be down here, such nice weather, and really nice to train out here in preparation for the games.”

“Hockey in Florida was new to a lot of us, but I don’t think it took long for us to realize that hockey is serious in Florida,” said Coyne. “The growth is amazing, and just to see the growth in the short six months we were here just shows how much more there can be.”

Coyne added, the gold medal victory provides a “huge opportunity” to further the sport in the United States, particularly among young girls.

The 25-year-old herself was inspired by Hall of Famer Cammi Granato and the 1998 U.S. Olympic Women’s Ice Hockey, the last team to win gold.

“With our win, I think we can get more girls playing across the United States,” Coyne said.

“If you look at our team currently, a lot of us are playing because we saw the ’98 team win a gold medal. So, knowing that feeling and knowing personally I was one of them… I saw Cammi Granato, and seeing her gold medal made me want to become one of them.”

Tampa resident Chad Courson is all smiles after posing for a picture with Team USA Women’s Hockey. He came equipped with a Team USA jacket and ‘Gold Medal edition’ box of Corn Flakes to get autographed.

Having Team USA train in Wesley Chapel was likewise beneficial to Florida Hospital Center Ice and the Tampa Bay hockey community, said Gordie Zimmerman, managing partner and developer of Florida Hospital Center Ice.

The $28 million,150,500-square-foot complex was picked as Team USA’s training ground over such hockey facilities in Boston, Chicago and others.

“It’s been terrific on every front — for the development of hockey for the girls and the boys, and just the awareness and having the girls here in the facility,” explained Zimmerman.

“I think there was a lot of pressure on them and where they train…and it turned out to be a great experience for everybody. This wave is going to continue, and you can see like with the girls’ (programs) — and that’s what it’s all about.”

As one of dozens of fans at the meet-and-greet, Wesley Chapel resident Rob Simonelli just couldn’t pass up the chance to take photos and chat it up with the newly crowned Olympic gold medalists.

He found out about the team’s surprise appearance at Center Ice through a friend who caught wind of the event.

“I had a feeling because they had been here for a couple months with their training that they’ve got to come back and take a look at the people at the rink,” said Simonelli, who plays recreational hockey at Center Ice along with his son.

“They’re really friendly, and it’s nice that they decided to come and just kind of say ‘Hey’ to the people.”

Simonelli said he watched much of the Olympic coverage on television, and even attended some of the team’s tryouts and international games at Center Ice last year.

Besides national pride, he felt some local pride, too.

“I just was excited that this was their home base. Just following them when they made this their home was kind of cool,” Simonelli said.

Another exuberant fan, Tampa resident Chad Courson, came to the event equipped with a Team USA jacket and a “Gold Medal edition” box of Corn Flakes featuring a cover picture of USA women’s gold winning hockey star Meghan Duggan.

He brought both items to get signed. He also bought about 40 other boxes of the limited-edition Corn Flakes to get signed later that night at Amalie Arena as part of another Team USA appearance.

“I met the team on previous occasions, but it’s still cool,” Courson said of the team’s stop in Wesley Chapel.

As for the team’s run in PyeongChang?

“It was amazing,” Courson said.

Published March 7, 2018

Filed Under: Top Story Tagged With: Amalie Arena, Cammi Granato, Cayla Barnes, Chad Courson, Florida Hospital Center Ice, Gordie Zimmerman, Kendall Coyne, Meghan Duggan, PyeongChang, Rpb Simonelli, Saddlebrook Resort, South Korea, Team USA, Wesley Chapel, Winter Olympics

Korean War spy shares wartime experiences

August 10, 2016 By Kevin Weiss

For nearly 50 years, Eddie Ko didn’t tell a soul about the integral role he played during the Korean War.

“Not even my wife or my children,” the now 80-year-old said.

But for the past 15 years, the Tampa resident has gladly shared the experiences he had as a 14-year-old spy, helping the United Nations throughout the “Forgotten War.”

Eddie Ko, 80, visited the Baldomero Lopez State Veterans’ Nursing Home on July 26. He worked as a teenage spy during the Korean War. (Kevin Weiss/Staff Photo)
Eddie Ko, 80, visited the Baldomero Lopez State Veterans’ Nursing Home on July 26. He worked as a teenage spy during the Korean War.
(Kevin Weiss/Staff Photo)

He began sharing his story in 2002, after he began organizing an annual golf outing for Korean War vets at his golf club — the Quail Hollow Golf Course in Wesley Chapel.

The outings — held until he sold the course in 2012 — encouraged vets to share their wartime experiences with family and friends.

“Most of the Korean veterans who were in combat — they don’t want to talk about it, even though they are heroes,” Ko said. “Just remember, they were only 18 (years old) or 19 years old, and they had to kill somebody in order to survive.

“But…it’s my opinion that I feel better when I talk about it and get everything off of my chest,” Ko said.

In June of 1950, about 75,000 soldiers from the North Korean People’s Army invaded Ko’s homeland of South Korea. They wiped out thousands of civilians, including his Christian missionary parents.

“That really hurt my heart,” Ko said. “That day forward, I decided I was not going to be accepting of the (North Korean) army.”

His anger possessed him to join the Student Volunteer Army, an anticommunist group of 12 teenage spies spearheaded by a South Korean officer with ties to the U.S. military.

“At 14 years old, you don’t really have patriotism — you have ‘revengism.’ The revenge of mine was so mad that I really wanted to help the Americans,” Ko said.

For three years, he penetrated enemy lines, and relayed valuable information to U.S. Navy Lt. Eugene Clark.

Working as a teenage spy, Ko was the first to discover that Chinese Communist Forces had crossed the border into North Korea to join the fight against the United Nations. That tip prevented U.S. Marines from walking into an ambush of nearly 120,000 Chinese soldiers.

“They didn’t even know that the Chinese were involved,” Ko said. “The lack of intelligence was the biggest fault during the Korean War.”

Nearly 34,000 Americans were killed during the Korean War.

“A lot of Americans died because they didn’t even know where they were, and who they were fighting,” he said.

To gather intel, a young Ko lurked alongside enemy commanders, asking seemingly innocent questions: How many soldiers are here? Are more reinforcements on the way? Where are the heavy tanks?

Ko would report his findings to American forces either via radio communication, or in person.

“Many times it was very risky,” Ko said.

He used faith to help him handle the stressful moments and constant anxiety.

“I became very, very religious at the time and very, very confident in myself,” Ko said. “That’s what helped me survive for three years.”

The Korean War came to an end after an armistice was signed on July 27, 1953. North and South Korea remain separate and occupy almost the same territory since the war began.

After the war, Ko left South Korea to become a naturalized U.S. citizen. He attended high school in East Orange, New Jersey, and subsequently volunteered for the draft in 1956.

He served three years in the U.S. Army, working in counterintelligence and civilian affairs in South Korea.

“I thought wearing a U.S. uniform, I could help the Korean people more. I’m so proud I did that,” Ko said.

He became a successful businessman, and owned three golf courses in Florida before selling them.

Ko now serves as the chairman for the Korean War monument at Veterans Memorial Park, 3602 U.S. 301 in Tampa.

He often visits the 20 Korean War veteran’s association chapters throughout Florida. He tells his story, and gives out copies of the book, “Korea Reborn: A Grateful Nation Honors War Veterans for 60 Years of Growth.”

Ko presents the book — which is a retrospective look at the Korean War and the prosperity that followed — to help uplift Korean War veterans.

“They should be proud of their service,” Ko said. “After 80 percent of Korea was destroyed, now 50 million Korean people live in peace, and it’s one of the strongest economic countries in the world.”

Published August 10, 2016

 

Filed Under: Local News Tagged With: Eddie Ko, Eugene Clark, Korean War, North Korea, Quail Hollow Golf Course, South Korea, U.S. 301, U.S. Marines, Veterans Memorial Park, Wesley Chapel

Korean Methodist Church buys former CrossRoads campus

November 17, 2014 By Michael Hinman

The Tampa Korean Methodist Church made the big move north from Tampa to Wesley Chapel last April. And now they own the 33 acres and much larger sanctuary on County Line Road that once housed CrossRoads Community United Methodist Church.

The Korean Methodists, who conduct services both in Korean and English, finalized the sale of the church campus at 26211 County Line Road, in September for $1.2 million, according to Pasco County property records. With it comes an 18,000-square-foot sanctuary built less than a decade ago, to help accommodate the growing congregation.

The church was previously located on North Boulevard in Tampa, and is part of the greater United Methodist Church, which has 12 million members worldwide, including 7.7 million in the United States. Nearly 30 percent of South Korea’s population identifies as Christian, with more than 63 percent of them claiming Protestant religions like Methodism and Presbyterianism, according to government studies there.

English services are held Sundays at 9:30 a.m. at the church.

Filed Under: Updates Tagged With: County Line Road, CrossRoads Community United Methodist Church, North Boulevard, Pasco County, Protestant, South Korea, Tampa, Tampa Korean Methodist Church, United Methodist Church, United States, Wesley Chapel

In Print: A true American hero, remembered once again

June 18, 2014 By Special to The Laker/Lutz News

It’s the kind of heroic scene that movies try to capture, but can never quite get right.

Baldomero Lopez is a name many residents might be familiar with locally, thanks to the veterans nursing home just off Ehren Cutoff. Reporter Michael Murillo, however, shares a lot more about the man behind the name in his regular history column, Presenting the Past.

The Baldomero Lopez State Veterans Nursing Home honors its namesake with a wall display as visitors walk into the facility. (Photo by Michael Murillo)
The Baldomero Lopez State Veterans Nursing Home honors its namesake with a wall display as visitors walk into the facility. (Photo by Michael Murillo)

There, we learn about Lopez, a first lieutenant with the U.S. Marine Corps, who worked directly under Gen. Douglas MacArthur in efforts to recapture the South Korean capital of Seoul. A photographer caught some of the final moments of his life at the Battle of Inchon, when he led the 3rd Platoon, Company A, 1st Battalion, 5th Marines over the seawall at Red Beach — literally scaling the wall.

The moments after on that fateful day on Sept. 15, 1950, would be remembered fondly by history, where he would sacrifice his life to save his men. And it’s a story you don’t want to miss in this week’s print edition of The Laker/Lutz News, which you can find on newsstands now, or you can read online by clicking here.

Pasco County has taken a hard stance when it comes to signs for businesses, but one type of sign they have overlooked a bit are loose, flag-like banners known as “feather signs.”

But not anymore. County commissioners were set last week to prohibit the temporary signs, especially after they started to dominate the landscape along major thoroughfares like U.S. 41. However, commissioners have agreed to hold off a bit, because homebuilders need something to grab the attention of motorists into their communities, and feather signs have been the way to go.

“We’re hoping that you’ll allow us to put together a policy that provides us a pathway for compliance,” said Jennifer Doerfel, executive vice president of the Tampa Bay Builders Association, which represents homebuilders locally. “We do not want to see blight, and we certainly don’t want to see tattered signs, and we’re part of this community, too. We want to make sure this looks great, because that’s what attracts buyers to our homes.”

Builders have worked with other communities to find a good balance between good advertising and eliminating blight, Doerfel said, and there’s hope that they can find that balance in Pasco as well.

Why are the signs so important to developers? Find out in reporter Michael Hinman’s story in the print edition of this week’s The Laker. Or you can read it online right now by clicking here.

The recent death of poet Maya Angelou hit many people who enjoyed her work over the decades quite hard, and Janet Watson of Wesley Chapel is no exception.

The local poet says she’ll miss the moving words Angelou put to paper, but expects her work will inspire artists for many years — and generations — to come.

“I’m so pleased that the world has paused for a moment to realize that poetry has value, and to mourn the passing of a great poet,” Watson recently told reporter B.C. Manion.

Watson does not want young people to miss out on the chance to have their own poetry recognized at the state level, and is working to spread news about one competition she feels ever aspiring creative writer should consider.

To find out about it, pick up this week’s The Laker, or read all about Watson and her work in our free online edition by clicking here.

All of these stories and more can be found in this week’s The Laker/Lutz News, available in newsstands throughout east and central Pasco County as well as northern Hillsborough County. Find out what has your community talking this week by getting your local news straight from the only source you need.

If The Laker/Lutz News is not coming to your door, call us to see where you can get your copy at (813) 909-2800, or read our free e-edition by clicking here.

Filed Under: Updates Tagged With: B.C. Manion, Baldomero Lopez, Battle of Inchon, Douglas MacArthur, Ehren Cutoff, Hillsborough County, Janet Watson, Jennifer Doerfel, Maya Angelou, Michael Hinman, Michael Murillo, Pasco County, Red Beach, Seoul, South Korea, Tampa Bay Builders Association, U.S. 41, U.S. Marine Corps

Local man offers spiritual help at Sochi Olympics

March 6, 2014 By B.C. Manion

The 2014 Olympics in Sochi may have been half a world away, but a chaplain from Lutz was there, offering spiritual support to athletes.

Scott Hamilton autographed a sign that Asif Shaikh held up at the ‘Today Show’ set at the 2014 Winter Olympics. Shaikh’s wife Leaha saw the sign on television. (Courtesy of Asif Shaikh)
Scott Hamilton autographed a sign that Asif Shaikh held up at the ‘Today Show’ set at the 2014 Winter Olympics. Shaikh’s wife Leaha saw the sign on television. (Courtesy of Asif Shaikh)

Asif Shaikh, who pronounces his name “Ah-sif Shake,” traveled more than 30 hours, with stops in Chicago, Dusselfdorf, Germany, and Moscow before flying over the opening ceremonies to land in Sochi.

But it wasn’t his first Olympic experience. He and his wife Leaha tended to the spiritual needs of athletes at the Olympic games in London in 2012 as well.

This time, however, Shaikh traveled alone to Sochi and said his ministry work there involved prayer and Bible studies with hockey players and speed skaters. One of the athletes he prayed with was Jessica Lutz, a hockey player who was born in the United States, but because her father was born in Switzerland, was able to play on the Swiss team.

Lutz — who pronounces her name the same way as the northern Hillsborough County community — already was familiar to Shaikh.

He and his wife met the hockey player during a summer program they worked at in Colorado in 2009. Shaikh’s wife was Lutz’s advisor.

As it turns out, Shaikh was able to watch Lutz’s Swiss team play against the American team in a contest where the Swiss were soundly defeated. But he also saw Switzerland defeat Sweden in the bronze medal game, where Lutz scored the winning goal.

The idea of interacting with world-class athletes is nothing new for Shaikh. Besides providing spiritual guidance in London, he also had daily chapel gatherings for athletes competing to be part of the American team during the 2012 U.S. Olympic track team trials in Eugene, Ore.

Before that, he was a chaplain to the U.S. soccer team at the FIFA World Cup in South Africa, and served in the same capacity at the track and field International Association of Athletics Federations World Championship in Daegu, South Korea and the 2011 Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico.

Because of those experiences, Shaikh is familiar with the types of security precautions taken at international events. Despite reports of potential security threats leading up to the games, Shaikh said he felt completely safe while there. He rated the quality of the security as “off the charts.”

“There was no issue. They were ready,” Shaikh said.

The hotels, however, were another matter. Although he stayed in a private home, Shaikh said media reports about some of the hotels not being ready were true.

The trains, on the other hand, were fantastic and they were beautiful, he said.

While he was able to pray with some athletes, Shaikh said the most important part of his trip this year was making connections for future Olympics. He got to know people involved with the U.S. Olympics Committee and with people within the Procter & Gamble Co., who sponsored the P&G Family Home in Sochi.

There the company offered moms, Olympians and their families a home away from home during the Olympics. It served as a place to hang out and be pampered, he said.

The USA House also served as a gathering place for members of the U.S. Olympics Committee, for Team USA, for corporate partners, sponsors, suppliers and licensees.

Shaikh hopes the connections he made during his time in Sochi will lay the groundwork for him to volunteer his spiritual help at the USA House, the P&G house or both during a future Olympics.

“I’m trying to get established. I think the next step would be, ‘How can I help, in the sense of volunteering my time,’” Shaikh said. “They don’t have any spiritual leaders. They don’t recognize that as something that’s important.”

The chaplain said he’s found that athletes often welcome spiritual support. Many of them travel to the competitions by themselves and some of them are facing personal crises, even as they prepare to compete on a world stage.

Besides praying with athletes in Sochi, Shaikh said he was lucky enough to get free tickets from Procter & Gamble for several events. He was able to watch American skaters Meryl Davis and Charlie White win the gold medal in ice dancing. He also watched bobsled, ski jumping, speed skating, curling and the half-pipe.

While there, Shaikh also had his own fleeting taste of fame. On Valentine’s Day, he went down to the set for NBC’s “Today Show” onsite at the Olympics carrying a sign that Lutz had made for him to hold, wishing his wife a happy Valentine’s Day.

“Scott Hamilton signed an autograph on it and it was on TV,” Shaikh said. “Leaha saw it, so it was really neat.”

Filed Under: Local News, Lutz News, News Stories, People Profiles Tagged With: Asif Shaikh, Charlie White, Chicago, Daegu, Dusselfdorf, FIFA World Cup, Germany, Hillsborough County, Jessica Lutz, Leaha Shaikh, Meryl Davis, Moscow, Olympics, Procter & Gamble Co., Sochi, South Africa, South Korea, Switzerland, Team USA, The Bible, U.S. Olympics Committee

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