The Laker/Lutz News

Serving Lutz since 1964 and Pasco since 1981.
Proud to be independently owned.

Stephanie Black

Dade City event offers sweet and spicy treats

By

The community is invited to bring an appetite for the annual Raising Cane: A Sweet and Spicy Event, on Jan. 12.

The function will be held at the Pioneer Florida Museum from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

A hot Kiwanis pancake breakfast will usher in the event at opening time for $3.

Most folk-oriented events at the Pioneer Florida Museum encourage musical jam sessions. This one, with a variety of strings, performed in the cool weather at last year’s function. (File)

It will also give patrons the opportunity to try free samples for the cane syrup tasting contest.

Throughout the day, vendors will offer arts and crafts, as well as foods consisting of chili dogs, chili nachos and chili cheese fries.

At 11:15 a.m., the venue will be livened with performances from The Sara Rose Band, The Sandy Back Porch and The Barking Dogs.

Attendees will be able to sample various chili from two challenges – one held by city officials and another by local residents.

Ten tickets can be purchased for $5 with a sampling cup – one ticket per sample.

Three free voting tickets will be granted to guests to decide on their favorite chilis.

Cash and trophy prizes will be awarded to those in first, second and third place at 4:30 p.m.

“We’re looking forward to it,” said Stephanie Black, director at the museum. “It’s a great food event.”

Admission is $10 for adults, $5 for students and free entry for those under age 5.

Patrons are asked to only bring service dogs with a vest and proper documentation.

For more information or applications, visit PioneerFloridaMuseum.org, or email .

Raising Cane: A Sweet and Spicy Event
Where: Pioneer Florida Museum, 15602 Pioneer Museum Road, Dade City
When: Jan. 12 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Cost: $10 for adults; $5 for students; free admission for those under age 5.
Details: The event will offer a pancake breakfast, a cane syrup tasting contest, chili tasting contests and numerous vendors.
Info: Visit PioneerFloridaMuseum.org, or email .

Published January 2, 2019

Big things are in store for Pioneer Florida Museum and Village

By

For the second year in a row, the Pioneer Florida Museum & Village in Dade City will be hosting a traveling Smithsonian Exhibition.

This year, it will be presenting “Hometown Teams: How Sports Shape America,” from March 17 through April 28.

A young woman competes in a high school rodeo in 2011. (Courtesy of National High School Rodeo Association/David Jennings Media Group)

The Pioneer Florida Museum & Village, in cooperation with Florida Humanities Council, will be presenting the program, which is part of the Smithsonian’s Museum on Main Street program.

The exhibit will feature a variety of sports, said Stephanie Black, the museum’s executive director.

The Smithsonian does one traveling exhibition a year that travels to six different place in the state, Black said.

“Out of the group from last time, we’re the only ones who got it for a second time in a row,” she said.

The exhibition also will arrive at the Dade City museum first, which helps because the Smithsonian and the other museums all come to help set it up, Black said.

The Florida Humanities also is involved with a family reading project leading up to the exhibition, Black said.

In conjunction with the exhibition, the museum receives grant money and must meet certain requirements, Black said. One of those things is to help a home team in the area, she said.

“We’re looking at Dade City Little League. We’re going to sponsor a team this year,” Black said.

Stephanie Black, executive director of the Pioneer Florida Museum and Village in Dade City, is excited about upcoming events and improvements at the museum. (B.C. Manion)

“Hometown Teams” will capture the stories that unfold on the neighborhood fields and courts, and the underdog heroics, larger-than-life legends, fierce rivalries and gut-wrenching defeats. For more than 100 years, sports have reflected the trials and triumphs of the American experience and helped shape the national character. Whether it is professional sports or those played on the collegiate or scholastic level, amateur sports or sports played by kids on the local playground, sports are everywhere in America, according to a news release about the exhibition.

Black said she’s still working on the details regarding what will be part of the exhibit at her museum.

In other news, the museum is working on improvement projects and additional events.

It is using a state grant to pay for the construction of eight new bathrooms.

“Those will help us when we have events here, we don’t have to rent port-a-lets. Nobody likes those anyway,” Black said.

The permanent restrooms will provide more comfort for guests and eliminate the rental costs, she said.

“The grant was for $53,500,” Black said, so the museum just needs to chip in a few hundred dollars to cover the remaining cost.

The museum is also adding a new blacksmith’s shop and a new carpenter’s shop. The blacksmith shop is 24 by 24 and the carpenter’s shop is 24 by 32.

In the blacksmith’s shop, the museum acquired Dade City road bricks to put in the floor.

There are also beams from one of the railroads, to put in the buildings, Black said. Since the buildings weren’t moved there, the staff still wanted it to be full of Dade City history, she said.

In another project, the community is trying to organize a room that will feature an exhibit focusing on black churches and black businesses.

“There’s a woman from Saint Leo University who is doing a lot of work on black history that’s involved with this,” Black said.

The museum also is planning some additional events this year.

The Living History & Civil War Re-Enactments will be on the museum grounds on Feb. 24 and Feb. 25, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., with a special school day planned for Feb. 24.

“We’re very excited about it,” Black said.

The event had been held at the museum years ago, but it was in September, which was the wrong time of the year.  “It was just way too hot for them.”

The Pioneer Florida Museum & Village is at 15602 Pioneer Museum Road in Dade City. It is open Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., with general admission of $10 for adults; $8 for seniors and $5 for students. Children under age 5 are free.

Revised February 15, 2018

Two museums receive money for special projects

By

Two museums will receive a financial boost in Pasco County’s fiscal year 2018 budget.

The Pasco County Commission has agreed to give $25,000 each to the West Pasco Historical Society Museum and Library in New Port Richey and the Pioneer Florida Museum & Village in Dade City. The action came at the commission’s Aug. 29 meeting in Dade City.

The infusion of cash to the nonprofits stemmed from a request in July by Pasco County Commissioner Ron Oakley.

The Pioneer Florida Museum & Village in Dade City served as a backdrop for a movie called ‘The Terrible Trio.’ Here, actors and students from Florida State University rehearse a scene for the movie, outside the historical Overstreet House at Pioneer Florida Museum & Village. (File)

Before granting Oakley’s request, however, his colleagues on the commission wanted details on how the money would be spent.

“They struggle throughout the years to get funding to keep up with our records and history,” Oakley said.

County officials outlined each agency’s plans for the funds. Each agency sent a letter of explanation, as well.

Pioneer Florida Museum & Village wants to relocate a historical log cabin from Lacoochee to add to its collection of historical buildings at the 16-acre site in Dade City.

Museum officials are exploring the costs and suitability of moving the cabin, according to the letter from Melissa Lea, board president, and Stephanie Black, executive director.

“The museum is continually trying to preserve and improve,” the letter states.

Other potential projects could be attic fans and better lighting for the Blanton Packing House, or repairs to other buildings. The main building, with numerous displays and traveling exhibits, needs flooring.

Visitors to the museum already can tour its history center, as well as the Overstreet House, a one-room school house. They also can check out a church from Enterprise, the Trilby depot and a train engine.

West Pasco Historical Society will spend the money to expand storage. The museum is at capacity, according to the letter from Bob Langford, the society’s president.

“In the past few years, we have had to refuse items simply due to the fact that we don’t have room,” he stated.

A second potential project would be to digitize the museum’s collection of weekly newspapers – The New Port Richey Press, The Dade City Banner and The Zephyrhills Colonist/Zephyrhills News.

For more information about both of these organizations, visit PioneerFloridaMuseum.org and WestPascoHistoricalSociety.org.

Published September 13, 2017

Pioneer Florida Museum makes film history

By

The 19th century Overstreet House at Pioneer Florida Museum & Village aced the audition and got the casting call for its film debut.

For two nights, the Dade City museum hosted actors and about a dozen graduate students from the College of Motion Picture Arts at Florida State University.

Actor Demi Castro stands on the front porch of Overstreet House and rehearses a scene for ‘The Terrible Trio.’
(Kathy Steele)

The front porch at the Overstreet House will be the setting for a climactic showdown of retribution and revenge in “The Terrible Trio.”

The 12-minute live action short is the thesis film for Robert Eaton, director, screenplay co-writer, and FSU graduate student. His film will debut on campus at FSU, but Eaton anticipates also showing “The Terrible Trio” at small film festivals.

The actors and FSU film crew came to Dade City to shoot their movie on museum grounds after hours.

They blocked out scenes, ran cables, set up lighting, rehearsed and filmed scenes from late afternoon until past midnight on March 27 and March 28.

It is the first time that anyone can recall the museum, and Overstreet House, being featured in a movie.

Director Robert Eaton, center, works with his film crew to take measurements and block out an upcoming scene for ‘The Terrible Trio.’

The museum more often is a popular field trip for elementary students who like to end their day with a picnic on the grounds, said Stephanie Black, the museum’s executive director.

But, she added: “It’s thrilling to have a film crew take over at night.”

Black said she got an email from FSU asking for pictures of Overstreet House. Students then came down for a visit and an agreement was reached to allow filming.

In return, the museum will receive a copy of the film, a screen credit, and an invitation to the screening.

Eaton said Overstreet House competed with another local 1910 house.

But, Overstreet came closest to matching a 1870s “bachelor pad” for a character that Eaton describes as “the king of outlaws.”

The house had simplicity and one irresistible feature – a front porch.

The character, Ronaldo Rey, is of Mexican heritage, slick and intelligent, Eaton said.

Students from the Florida State University’s film school set up lighting for night scenes shot at the Pioneer Florida Museum & Village, in Dade City

Rey (which means king in Spanish) and a gang of corrupt lawmen rob a trio of misfits of gold, furs and a horse. The theft strips them of their livelihoods.

Eaton described his characters as atypical for a Western.

One is a former slave and a Mandingo fighter. Another is a Canadian fur trapper, and the last is Felicity Ford, the female protagonist and film lead. She is struggling to be a strong, independent woman in the Old West.

However, the exact locale of the story is deliberately ambiguous. It could be the Deep South, but then Eaton said the story could unfold somewhere between Florida and California.

The plot unfolds as the terrible trio bands together to reclaim their possessions and their destinies.

The film is a hybrid — including drama and comedy.

“It’s a little over the top and playing on clichés,” Eaton said.

Actors and students from Florida State University’s film school rehearsed a scene for ‘The Terrible Trio’ to make sure everything was ready to shoot a climactic scene at the Pioneer Florida Museum & Village.

When finished, FSU has ownership of the film. The school gives students a budget of $4,000, which Easton boosted to $10,000 through a private investor.

His actors were hired largely through taped auditions.

Caitlyn Sponheimer, who plays Felicity, started her career with modeling and commercial assignments. She also has done film and television.

“I always wanted to do a Western,” she said. “This is a strong female who rebels against the norms of the time. She’s not timid. She’s feisty.”

Demi Castro plays Rey. “He’s charming, very grandiose and verbose. Extremely confident.”

Castro lives in Orlando where he recently performed in the telenovela comedy, Destiny of Desire, at the Garden Theatre in Winter Haven. He also has movie and television credits, and helps other actors put together audition tapes at Class Act Studios, also in Orlando.

John Racioppo is a Canadian actor, living in New York. His character is Wayne Tuck, a fur trader, who Racioppo says is “a stranger in a strange land.”

He gets dropped into the middle of an unfamiliar world, and his attempts to adapt provide a lot of the film’s comedy, Racioppo said.

The third actor in the trio wasn’t available when a reporter from The Laker/Lutz News visited the set.

This is Eaton’s third film, after “Once Upon a Blood Moon” and “The Devil’s Luck.”

He co-wrote “The Terrible Trio,” with Carolina Garrigo, an FSU teaching assistant.

Eaton currently is in discussions to become a second unit director on the HBO series, Westworld. Other jobs on the same series are possible, too, Eaton said.

Whatever comes next, Eaton added, “I love telling stories. I don’t see myself leaving this.”

For information on FSU’s film program, visit Film.fsu.edu.

For information on the Pioneer Florida Museum & Village, visit PioneerFloridaMuseum.org.

Published April 12, 2017

Smithsonian exhibit comes to Pioneer Museum

By

The working life of Americans from the mid-19th century to the late 20th century will be explored in a traveling Smithsonian exhibition that will make its first stop in Florida at The Pioneer Florida Museum & Village in Dade City.

Two children work at a mill in Macon, Georgia. This photo is from a Smithsonian exhibition on the working life of Americans.
(Courtesy of National Archives, Records of the Children’s Bureau)

The exhibit – “The Way We Worked” – is part of the Museum on Main Street, which is a national, state and local effort to bring exhibitions and programs to rural cultural organizations. The Florida Humanities Council selected the Pioneer museum as a host site.

Visitors to the Pioneer museum, at 15602 Pioneer Museum Road in Dade City, can view the exhibit from Jan. 28 through March 18.

A series of local speakers will bring insight into Pasco County’s contributions to the nation’s work history.

There also will be field trips, special programs, lunch and learn events, and tours.

The Pioneer museum released details on the exhibit in a news release. The museum is seeking corporate sponsors, speakers and docents for additional programming.

Two girls deliver ice in 1918. This photo is part of a Smithsonian exhibition on Americans’ work history that is coming to The Pioneer Florida Museum & Village.
(Courtesy of National Archives, Records of the War Department, General and Special Staffs)

“This is the first time a Smithsonian exhibition will be in East Pasco County,” said Stephanie Black, the museum’s executive director. “It allows us the opportunity to explore this fascinating aspect of our own region’s history, and we hope that it will inspire many to become even more involved in the cultural life in our community.”

The exhibit tells the story of working America through 86 black-and-white, and color, photographs. The photographs explain where Americans worked, how they worked, who they were and why they worked.

The traveling exhibit is an adaptation of an original exhibition by the National Archives and Records Administration, which explores the connections between work and American culture.

It is a look at the past 150 years at influences on the workforce and its environment, including the growth of manufacturing and the rise of technology.

Five other communities in the state also will host the exhibit in coming months, including the Polk County History Center in Bartow.

For information or to volunteer, visit PioneerFloridaMuseum.org.

Additional information also can be found at FloridaHumanities.org.

Published January 11, 2o17

 

History fair focuses on Wesley Chapel

By

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

Dunn deal: Home sweet home surprises Dade City resident

By

Mary Maldonado stepped into a driveway in Dade City on Nov. 7 expecting to take a few photos in front of a home she was preparing to buy.

She got a lot more than she bargained for.

Warrick Dunn greeted Mary Maldonado and her son, Leonni, at the driveway of the house she was preparing to buy. He surprised her with a fully furnished home, a fully stocked kitchen, and $5,000 of mortgage assistance. (Michael Murillo/Staff Photo)
Warrick Dunn greeted Mary Maldonado and her son, Leonni, at the driveway of the house she was preparing to buy. He surprised her with a fully furnished home, a fully stocked kitchen, and $5,000 of mortgage assistance. (Michael Murillo/Staff Photo)

Maldonado arrived with her infant son, Leonni, and was greeted by Warrick Dunn, former NFL player and philanthropist. His charity, Homes for the Holidays, helps single parents realize their dreams of owning a home.

Partnering with Habitat for Humanity of East and Central Pasco County, who helped Maldonado through the home-buying process and set her up with an advantageous loan, Dunn welcomed her into a fully furnished home with a well-stocked kitchen. From living room furniture to a bedroom set for Leonni, the home was move-in ready.

She signed the ownership paperwork, received her keys, and accepted a ceremonial check for $5,000, which went toward her mortgage, courtesy of Homes for the Holidays.

Not bad for a Friday morning.

“Seeing the house and everything, it definitely paid off,” Maldonado said. “It’s very exciting.”

It also was Maldonado’s hard work that paid off to get to this point. As part of Habitat for Humanity’s homebuyer program, she had to put in 400 hours of volunteer work, which she scheduled around her full-time job. She also attended special classes on home maintenance and safety to prepare for ownership and help her navigate through unfamiliar challenges.

The volunteer hours and classes are worth it when their customers finally see themselves as homeowners, according to Gloria Sadler, director of family services for Habitat for Humanity.

“They’re humble. They can’t believe it,” she said. “They can’t believe that I got them to this point.”

Sadler teaches the homeowner classes and walks the homebuyer through each step in the process, explaining forms and helping them get their paperwork together.

While Habitat for Humanity provides a no-down payment, interest-free loan, applicants need to meet certain criteria to be eligible. They must have a need for affordable housing and have been at their current employer for at least one year.

And while they don’t need perfect credit or a specific credit score, applicants must demonstrate that they have a history of taking responsibility for their debts.

“Not everyone qualifies,” explained Stephanie Black, director of development and public relations at Habitat for Humanity. “We’re not doing them any favors by putting them into a home that they can’t afford.”

As a result of the screening process, volunteer work and classes, default rates are very low.

This was the 140th event for Homes for the Holidays, and Dunn — a former Tampa Bay Buccaneer — has been to almost all of them in the charity’s 17 years. For Maldonado’s celebration, he had to drive in from Atlanta. But he believes it’s important to attend each one while he can.

“For me, it’s the experience,” Dunn said. “Getting those expressions and how they react.”

Sometimes the reactions come later, after the presentation and when the new homeowner can sit in their house and realize it really belongs to them.

While he often has to travel to attend the events — Homes for the Holidays has helped families in a dozen cities and plans to keep growing — Dunn pays for all his travel expenses out of his own pocket.

Dunn’s charity honors his mother, Betty Smothers, who died before realizing her own dream of home ownership. Now his charity helps single families realize that dream, and Dunn said he witnessed the true importance of charity’s work after he saw the first event covered on television.

“When I went home and I watched the news, then it really hit me, the impact that I had that day,” he said. “Now I really understand the impact on the community.”

Habitat for Humanity’s impact is seen in new homeowners like Maldonado and those who are going through the process of buying a home. And completing that process results in a great deal of satisfaction for both the homeowner, and Habitat for Humanity’s employees as well.

“I love it,” Sadler said. “To see the smile on the family’s faces, to get to know the kids and the family, it’s an honor and a privilege to work for Habitat for Humanity.”

Published November 12, 2014

See this story in print: Click Here