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The Tampa Tribune

The Dade City Banner chronicled local news

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By the time Katharine Graham became publisher of the Washington Post in 1963, Margaret Bazzell had already been the publisher for The Dade City Banner for 20 years.

Both women became owners of their family owned newspapers upon the deaths of their husbands.

Succeeding in a male-dominated industry, Graham was the first female publisher of a major American newspaper. Her paper’s coverage of the Watergate scandal eventually led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon in 1974.

The National Guard was brought in to protect dozens of homes and businesses damaged by a tornado, as reported by The Dade City Banner on April 2, 1959. (Courtesy of the University of Florida Digital Collections)

Bazzell became the first female publisher in Pasco County during World War II. Her husband died when he was just 42.

The newspaper reported the death under the headline — “H. S. Bazzell died suddenly Sunday p.m.,” spelled out in all capital letters.

An account, published Jan. 22, 1943, said in part: “When an employee is called upon to chronicle the passing of his employer and intimate friend it borders on the impossible.”

Prior to the Banner’s first publication on July 25, 1913, it chose a name that was briefly considered for Pasco County in 1887.

Volume 1, number 1 of the Banner was a “well-edited and well-appearing paper,” observed its first editor John Tippen.

Published on the Banner’s front page was a picture of “the beautiful Edwinola Hotel.” It was completed the previous year at a cost of about $50,000.

The structure was described this way in the Banner: “It is a fire-proof concrete building of three stories, containing 32 guest rooms, all of which are located on the second and third floors, the first floor being used for office, parlor and a dining room.”

In a notice to its readers and advertisers in 1915, the Banner promised “to conduct a clean, wholesome newspaper, which will give in every instance a fair deal to all.”

For much of the Banner’s history, that public pledge was followed by Margaret Bazzell.

During her time as owner and publisher until 1968, Margaret Bazzell would see her son, Harley S. Bazzell Jr., become editor.

She also hired her daughter-in-law Roszlyn “Ro” Bazzell (who died earlier this year); Harold Taylor, as typesetter; and William R. Branas, as advertising manager.

Calling itself “Pasco County’s Leading Newspaper,” the Banner became a daily and would eventually cover all of East and Central Pasco County, including the towns of Blanton, Dade City, Land O’ Lakes, Richland, Ridge Manor, San Antonio, Trilby, Gator (Wesley Chapel) and Zephyrhills.

“We lived within walking distance of our jobs,” former reporter Nell Moody Woodcock recalls on the Pasco County history website Fivay.org.

This old post card shows the offices of The Dade City Banner sometime in the early 1920s. The newspaper’s staff is pictured on the front steps, while a company car is shown on the right. (Courtesy of David Ward)

Keeping a finger on the pulse on Pasco
“The Banner was the newspaper of record for legal advertisements. Hard news was generated at the Pasco County Courthouse or city hall,” Woodcock recalls.

It was convenient that the Coleman and Ferguson Funeral Home was located on the opposite side of Seventh Street from the Banner.

“Their ambulances were called to emergencies, and a check with the front office would reveal the location and severity of the incident,” explains Woodcock, who grew up in Lacoochee and later retired as a staff reporter with The Tampa Tribune.

Readers especially enjoyed the Society Page by editor Catherine H. McIntosh. This section of the Banner was filled with articles about children’s birthday parties, families entertaining out-of-town guests, and weddings that were not complete without full descriptions of the dresses worn by the brides.

Typical was the following published on June 30, 1952: “Given in marriage by her father, the bride (Miss Vivian Bailey) wore a gown of candlelight satin with the full skirt terminating in a cathedral train. An overskirt of princess lace was a feature of the gown, which was fashioned with a basque bodice, with jewel neckline and long fitted sleeves with points over the hands. Her fingertip veil of illusion fell from a Queen of Scots cap, caught with orange blossoms, and appliqued with princess lace. She carried a shower bouquet of lilies of the valley and stephanotis, centered with a white orchid.”

With no door-to-door delivery, “subscribers got the paper in the mail (and) those who were in the military could learn all about what was happening back home by having the paper mailed to them,” according to the Fivay.org website.

That included local sports coverage by Gerald Newton, who was hired by the Banner in 1965 while still a 23-year-old student at Southeastern Bible College in Lakeland.

“I was once warned about being too wordy with some of my articles,” Newton posted on his Facebook page for Feb. 23, 2020.

This undated photograph shows the new Edwinola Hotel near downtown Dade City. Opening on March 8, 1912, it made front page news published in the first edition of The Dade City Banner on July 25, 1913. (Courtesy of Fivay.org)

The 1979 Dade City Little League state championship and the 1992 Pasco Pirate state title were covered during his 47-year career that spanned three newspapers following the Banner, as well as sports director for radio station WDCF in Dade City, and as a coach and teacher for Pasco County Schools.

Nearly 3,000 issues of The Dade City Banner are part of the digital collections on file at the University of Florida.

Preserving the newspaper began with efforts by the Pasco County Genealogy Society in 2000.

“They thought it would be a good idea to start indexing the births, deaths and marriages in The Dade City Banner,” explains Glen Thompson, a member of the Friends of the Hugh Embry Library in Dade City.

Following seven years of work on issues printed from 1913 to 1923, these copies were sent to the University of Florida. Also shipped out were Banners found in a dumpster, and others stored in archival boxes at city hall.

According to Angelo Liranzo, the library’s manager, copies of The Dade City Banner were digitized from 1914 to 1971 at a cost of approximately $15,000.

While the digital files are all PDF, the original papers still survive.

They chronicle news including construction of the new Evans bulk orange juice concentrate facilities south of Dade City in 1957, and the closing of the Cummer & Sons Cypress Company in 1959.

But, the stories of generations of families are the primary history that is preserved, in part, on the pages of The Dade City Banner.

The records are not clear, but sometime between 1973 and 1974, The Dade City Banner changed its name to The Pasco News under new management.

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

Published October 07, 2020

Pasco courthouse has colorful history

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If you visit downtown Dade City, it’s nearly impossible not to notice the stately Historic Pasco County Courthouse.

It sits in the middle of a town square, at Seventh Street and Meridian Avenue.

Originally constructed in 1909, and restored in a $2.3 million renovation in 1998, the courthouse was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on Sept. 20, 2006.

Pictured in 1909, Pasco County’s historic courthouse was added to the National Register of Historic places on Sept. 20, 2006. (Courtesy of Fivay.org)

With its Classical Revival style of architecture, the building at 37918 Meridian Ave., has a colorful history of its own.

For instance, there was confusion for years over who designed the red brick building, according to various accounts published in The Tampa Tribune.

Altemus Roberts was credited in local history books for designing the courthouse, but that was put into question after Gregory Herrmann, originally from East Pasco, moved to Texas and spotted a courthouse in Mason, Texas, which looked very much like the one in Dade City, the Tribune reported.

The East Pasco man learned that an architect named Edward Columbus (E.C.) Hosford had designed the Texas courthouse. He sent that information, along with a photograph, to his brother, Eddie, who was deeply involved in local history circles.

Eddie dug into old Pasco County records to find out that, indeed, the building people had believed to be designed by Roberts, actually was designed by Hosford.

Hosford’s involvement was documented on April 17, 1909 in a story by the Tampa Morning Tribune.

Spearheaded by Pasco County Commissioner Sylvia Young, a four-year restoration totaling $2.3 million included the demolition of five additions to the historic courthouse. (Courtesy of Fivay.org)

In that account, the newspaper reported the Pasco County Commission had approved the architectural plans submitted by Hosford, and commissioners agreed to erect “a courthouse that will be a credit to any county.”

The board also adopted a resolution to build the new courthouse for less than $35,000. A contract was awarded that May to Mutual Construction Company of Louisville, Kentucky, in the amount of $34,860. Hosford also received $871.50 for his plans and specifications.

The confusion over Roberts’ role on the courthouse may be partially due to the fact that he did design other buildings in downtown Dade City, and was the construction superintendent on the courthouse project, Tribune reports said.

While the courthouse, with its neoclassical dome and clock tower, is impressive — the design was not exactly unique.

Hosford used a similar design for three courthouses in Georgia and two in Texas.

The courthouse in Mason, Texas, was built for $39,786. It featured front porticos and Doric columns, and was built the same year as the courthouse in Dade City.

Stanley Burnside checks the time inside the clock tower. His father, Archie Burnside, made the first payment for the new courthouse in the amount of $6,360 in 1910. Both father and son served as the Pasco County Clerk of the Circuit Court for a combined total of 17 terms. (Courtesy of Fivay.org)

Hosford designed seven courthouses in Florida and usually worked with the Mutual Construction Company to build them.

The courthouse in Polk County, which opened in 1909, also is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

With completion of the new courthouse in Dade City, the county board sold the former two-story wooden courthouse structure at public auction for $500.

Part of the deal called for removing the building from courthouse grounds within 60 days, said Scott Black, a local historian who also sits on the Dade City Commission.

A bandstand was built at the northeast corner of the courthouse yard in 1925, after famed composer and conductor John Philip Sousa visited Dade City.

Sousa never returned, and the bandstand was repurposed as a World War II Memorial. The dedication for that memorial was held on Flag Day, on June 14, 1948.

The courthouse in downtown Dade City played a central role in Pasco County government for 70 years. Five additions were added to accommodate the county’s growth.

When a new courthouse opened in 1979, activities shifted, and over time, the 1909 structure fell into disrepair.

But, Pasco County Commissioner Sylvia Young championed a $2.3 million renovation, which used $1.3 million in taxpayer money and $1 million in state grants, according to Tribune reports.

The project took four years to complete, and included knocking down the additions to restore the building to its original look.

Sidewalks leading to the county’s courthouse contain the names of pioneer families of Pasco County. (Courtesy of Doug Sanders)

The project was not without its controversy.

Some thought it was too extravagant, particularly when Young pushed for money to purchase period pieces to furnish the renovated building.

But, that idea prevailed. Commissioners approved a $50,000 budget, and Young searched far and wide, to accomplish the job.

The building, once again, has become a center for county activities.

Except for during this time of COVID-19, the full Pasco County Commission typically gathers twice a month on the second floor.

They meet in the same room where trials were once held and hearings conducted.

Now restored to its original grandeur, the building is a symbol of pride for the Dade City community.

Its image is part of the logo for The Greater Dade City Chamber of Commerce, and it is used as a setting for community events.

The building was rededicated in 1998, when Young was chairwoman of the county board.

And, when she stepped away from her 20-year stint on the board in 2000, she described the courthouse restoration as her “crowning glory.”

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

Mighty Wurlitzer plays on, during pandemic

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When the iconic Tampa Theatre opened in downtown Tampa in 1926, it was hailed by The Tampa Daily Times as perhaps the finest achievement of its kind, south of the Mason-Dixon line.

John Eberson, who designed the movie palace, was known throughout America, for his atmospheric theaters.

The Tampa Theatre offers theater-goers a chance to enjoy a movie in one of the country’s finest movie palaces. Sometimes, when one of the theater’s volunteer organists is in the house, patrons get an extra treat: a pre-show of organ music. (Christine Holtzman)

Besides laying claim to being Tampa’s first air-conditioned building, the theater, at 711 N. Franklin St., boasted a Mighty Wurlitzer, which, at that time, had 1,400 pipes.

Flash forward to the present — when patrons arriving to the theater often are treated to a pre-show provided by one of the volunteer organists.

“People love it. They absolutely love it,” said Jill Witecki, the theater’s director of marketing and community relations.

“There is something about seeing that organ rise up out of the floor — and to know that 93 years ago, when we opened, that’s what you were hearing,” she said. “It’s magical.”

Like all movie venues across Florida, Tampa Theatre was forced to go dark because of concerns about the potential spread of the deadly coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19).

So, while its doors are closed, theater staff have turned to virtual offerings to continue providing ways to connect with patrons.

One such event is set for May 22 at 7 at p.m., when the nationally acclaimed organist Steven Ball will accompany the 1926 silent comedy film, “The General,” starring Buster Keaton.

Ball will play his original score to an empty theater auditorium, while the event is livestreamed on the Tampa Theatre Facebook Page.

Ball isn’t the only highly recognized organist to grace the stage at the historic theater.

Rosa Rio, one of the few female organists to play during the silent film era, also has accompanied films there.

Trained in classical music at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York, Rio accompanied screenings at venues such as Loew’s Burnside Theatre in New York and Saenger Theatre in New Orleans, according to a story by Sherri Ackerman, published on Aug. 26, 1998 in The Tampa Tribune.

Rio survived the emergence of “talkies,” played live backup to national television soap operas and went on to teach some of the finest musicians in the country, according to Ackerman’s account.

Witecki recalled Rio’s performances at Tampa Theatre.

“Rosa didn’t come to us until much, much later in her life,” Witecki said, noting Rio had retired to Sun City Center and came to the theater to attend a friend’s concert.

“When she saw this place and saw this organ, and saw they were willing to bring in — you know — volunteer organists, she was on board,” Witecki said.

“She played for us for, I think, seven or eight years. She played up until a few months before she died — and, she died at 107,” Witecki said.

The organ feels right at home here
The Tampa Theatre is the perfect place for an instrument like the Mighty Wurlitzer, Witecki said.

“The architects never conceived of amplified sound coming out of speakers when they built this building. It was built for unamplified music. It was built for a 21-piece orchestra or a pipe organ. That’s why the music in here sounds so incredible,” she said.

When the movie palace opened, it featured silent films.

“It was live musicians sitting up there,” Witecki said.

“It wouldn’t be uncommon that the full orchestra would play the weekend shows, the big Friday night shows. But, on a weekday, if you didn’t want to pay 21 musicians to be here, you could bring in one organist instead,” she said.

“With an organ, it’s not just the organ that’s important. You’re also playing the building,” said Dave Cucuzza, a volunteer organist for the theater.

“The building picks up the sound and amplifies it,” he said.

Besides playing traditional rich organ tones, Tampa Theatre’s organ can produce all sorts of special effects, including a train whistle, a horn, a siren and others.

It can produce bright sounds, low sounds, soft sounds and loud sounds, Cucuzza said.

It can set a mood, create an atmosphere.

Cucuzza gets a thrill out of sharing his love for organ music.

“I want people to be able to hear that sound because what they’re hearing is the same exact thing that people heard in 1926, during the silent movie era,” the organist said.

And, while the sounds of the organ can transport people back in time, there was a time when the organ at Tampa Theatre fell silent.

After the talkies came along, the organ fell into disuse and was sold to Bayshore Baptist Church, where it remained for decades.

It was returned to Tampa Theatre in the 1980s, with the help of the Central Florida Theatre Organ Society. Members of that society help to maintain the organ and some of them volunteer to play for film screenings and events.

Witecki said the theater welcomes additional volunteer organists, but noted a vetting process is required.

The more volunteers the theater has, the more it can share a form of music not commonly heard today, she said.

The theater tries to offer organ music as often as it can before screenings.

However, Witecki noted: “We are at the mercy of our organists’ schedules, whether or not they are able to make it.”

During the holidays, for instance, there often are sing-alongs before the classic movies begin. Most of the shows during a recent season had coverage.

However, Witecki noted: “We did have a few shows that didn’t have an organist — and man, did we hear about it.”

You can’t visit the Tampa Theatre now, because like other movie theaters it is closed due to concerns over the potential spread of coronavirus disease-2019. When it reopens, though, it’s worth a visit — and be sure to get there early, in case there’s a volunteer organist offering a pre-show. For updates about the theater, check TampaTheatre.org.

Virtual ‘silent’ movie
What: Acclaimed organist Steven Ball will accompany the classic silent film, “The General,” a 1926 comedy starring Buster Keaton.
Where: The organist will play his original score to an empty auditorium, while the movie is live-streamed on the Tampa Theatre Facebook Page.
When: May 22 at 7 p.m.
Cost: There’s no charge the watch the movie, but donations are welcome.
Details: If you want to buy popcorn, that can be arranged in advance. Visit TampaTheatre.org/popcorn-pickup.

Want to play the Mighty Wurlitzer?
Tampa Theatre is looking to add to its cadre of volunteer organists. If you are interested, contact Jill Witecki at (813) 857-9089 or

Published May 20, 2020

Honoring those who have gone before

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When Vernon Wynn looks across U.S. 41, he can see the final resting place of dozens of his relatives.

They’re among the roughly 1,600 people buried in Lutz Cemetery, at the corner of U.S. 41 and Fifth Ave., N .E.

The cemetery was established in 1911, and the first person buried there is known only as Mr. Nims, according to local historians. His grave marker is gone, but he is believed to have been buried there in 1914.

A scene from the Lutz Cemetery, as mist rises on a recent early morning. (B.C. Manion)

The plot of land offers a look into the community’s past, with generations of families buried there, and hundreds of veterans, too.

Some grave markers offer a spiritual message: “The Lord is my shepherd,” and “Thy will be done” and, “Every day is a gift from God. Share it with someone else.”

Another states simply: “Gone, but not forgotten.”

Some laid to rest there are widely known throughout Lutz.

Oscar Cooler, for instance, was a champion for youth sports, and there’s a sports complex named for him on Lutz Lake Fern Road.

Carolyn Meeker, former president of the Lutz Civic Association, is buried there, too. She was tenacious at Hillsborough County zoning hearings, taking on anyone who threatened to change the character of Lutz.

Ralph Combs, the very first Eagle Scout from Troop 12, is laid to rest there, too, Wynn said.

Wynn, who is president of the Lutz Cemetery Association, has deep roots in Lutz.

“My grandparents came here in 1920,” he said. “Where I live now, is where I was born and raised.”

Kathy Vanater, Vernon Wynn and Bob Jackson are officers in the Lutz Cemetery Association. They’re working to ensure the upkeep of the cemetery, where an estimated 1,600 are buried.

And, it’s because of that affinity for the community that Wynn decided to take an active role in the cemetery association.

The group wants to ensure that the grounds are well-kept, into perpetuity.

Wynn said their aim is: “To make sure that everything is going to be good for the community.”

“It’s paying respect to the people buried there,” said Kathy Vanater, the cemetery association’s secretary/treasurer.

Land for the cemetery was donated to the community, more than a century ago, by C.E. Thomas, who was president of the North Tampa Land Company, according to accounts published in The Tampa Tribune and other local publications.

The company was made up of a group of Chicago landowners who bought about 32,000 acres, north of the city of Tampa.

The original cemetery plot was 230 feet by 80 feet, according to “Citrus, Sawmills, Critters, Crackers …,” a local history book by Elizabeth Riegler MacManus and her daughter, Susan A. MacManus.

Over time, the cemetery has expanded.

“The folks in the community used to take care of the grounds,” Vanater said.

Volunteers gather in 1911 to clear land for the Lutz Cemetery. (Credit: ‘Going, Going, Almost Gone … Lutz-Land O’ Lakes Pioneers Share Their Precious Memories’)

Indeed, according to the MacManus book, when area residents gathered to clean up the cemetery, men would come with hoses and rakes, and women would pack a picnic lunch.

But, by the mid-1950s, the volunteer cleanups had dwindled.

“So, the Lutz Cemetery Association formed in 1956,” Vanater said.

For decades, the organization was low-key.

In recent years, though, a more active group of volunteers has stepped up — completing needed repairs, maintaining the grounds and making plans for its future upkeep.

Dead trees have been removed. The utility shed has a new roof. A replica of the original archway has been erected, and there’s now a cemetery sign.

Over the years, most of the cemetery plots have been sold, said Vanater, a banker, by profession. But, when those plots were sold, the sales weren’t accompanied by perpetual maintenance plans, and now there are just about 75 plots remaining, she said.

So, Vanater said, “we’re trying to keep an income to be able to maintain the grounds.”

To that end, Bob Jackson, the association’s vice president for administration, spent months researching the idea of purchasing a columbarium — which contains niches for urns containing cremains.

Like Wynn, Jackson feels a personal connection to the traditional burial place in Lutz.

“I’m fourth generation. My grandparents are in that cemetery,” Jackson said.

After months of research, he found a company in Canada that produces the kind of columbarium the association found suitable for the cemetery.

The first columbarium was installed at the cemetery in July. It has 64 niches, which can hold two urns each.

The cemetery has plenty of space to erect additional columbariums, depending on the demand.

Besides providing a source of revenue for the cemetery, the columbarium provides additional capacity to serve people who want Lutz to be their final resting place, said Vanater, who joined the volunteer association at the request of a friend, and expected to pitch in for a year. That was nine years ago.

The association, Wynn said, just wants to keep the community’s cemetery alive.

Lutz Cemetery Association Board Members
Vernon Wynn, president
Bob Jackson, vice president
Mary Lewis, vice president
Kathy Vanater, secretary/treasurer
Judi Wynn
Terry Donovan
John Hodges
Tim Goins

Columbariums
For those interested in having Lutz as their final resting place, there’s another option available.

The Lutz Cemetery Association has added a columbarium that has 64 niches. Each niche can hold two urns each.

The new option provides a source of revenue needed to continue the upkeep of the cemetery grounds, and also expands the capacity of the cemetery to accommodate more people who wish for it to be their final resting place.

Each of the niches in the columbarium holds up to two urns, with the cost for the niches ranging from $1,200 to $1,500, depending on the niche’s location in the columbarium.

Anyone who wishes to purchase a niche should contact Bob Jackson, (813) 928-9412 or Vern Wynn, at (813) 293-0263.

Published December 11, 2019

Clay Sink remains; others fade away

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Small communities with names such as “Mexico,” “Drexel,” “Ehren,” and  “Chipco” appeared on Pasco County maps more than 100 years ago.

They were located along the Orange Belt Railway, the first — and last — railroad to cross Central Pasco with a potential for future development.

Still moss-draped as it was when the Slaughters buried their infant daughter in 1873, the Clay Sink Cemetery is located on a hill and is the final resting place for six generations. Descendants still live in Pasco County. (Courtesy of Doug Sanders)

The names of those small towns now are mere footnotes in Pasco County’s history.

But, a tiny community has survived.

Surrounded by hundreds of acres of the Withlacoochee State Forest, a 2-square-mile area is still known as “Clay Sink.”

Call it a quirk of fate.

Unlike many of Florida’s rural outposts, by the 1930s, the greater Clay Sink area had a complex economy.

In addition to farming and ranching, the expansion of the Atlantic Coast Line railroad spurred a timber harvesting industry and a turpentine business.

“It was lonely living oftentimes, but we had the radio to listen to programs like the ‘Grand Ole Opry’ and ‘Fibber McGee and Molly,’” recalled Jean Brinson Ward, who was 7 years old when her father monitored the area in the 1940s from the fire tower for the U.S. Forestry Service.

A wood-frame building, erected in 1904 on this site, served as the Clay Sink Missionary Baptist Church until the present building was constructed of heart pine in 1956. It remains one of the few churches still located on state forestland. (Courtesy of Doug Sanders)

The settlement has been known by different names.

In a land transaction on May 20, 1862, Jesse Sumner sold 120 acres to Harrison H. Slaughter and Martha Ann McKinney Slaughter.

Martha had three children from a first marriage in 1859, and at least 10 children with Harrison, who had escaped a Yankee POW camp at the start of the Civil War and fled to the Everglades.

The settlement that soon developed initially was called Slaughter, after this pioneering family.

But later, it was called Clay Sink, after the local clay sinkhole.

Life wasn’t exactly easy.

Farms were worked in the intense heat of a Florida sun without the benefit of modern air conditioning or diesel tractors.

Families grew their own pork, chicken, beef, and planted gardens for vegetables.

And, they saw plenty of wildlife.

During an oral history with the Citrus County Historical Society on August 26, 2006, Frances Pritchell, a lifelong resident of Clay Sink, described what happened to her husband when he came home from a late shift at Pasco Packing in Dade City: “It was dark, and when he turned out the lights at the front gate and opened the gate, something ran into him and like to have knocked him down. He thought it was a dog. He came out around the house, but the dog was in the yard. Well, when he got along there about the chimney, it squalled out. It was a panther, and he had to go on around it to come in the house. About that time, it hollered again. A panther. And then about that time the dogs taken after it, and that was it. But, there are panthers here.”

Built as a one-room schoolhouse in 1912, this structure has served as the fellowship hall for the Clay Sink Missionary Baptist Church since school consolidation in 1943. (Courtesy of Doug Sanders)

During Prohibition, the Dade City Banner reported this news item on Sept. 22, 1925:

“Saturday a raid in the Slaughter neighborhood resulted in the capture of two stills, both small ones.”

No arrests were made in one instance, the newspaper reported. But in the other, “Bob Johnson, colored, not only lost his lard can outfit and a gallon of shine, but was also lodged in Jail.”

A year later, the Dade City Banner reported on the burial of Roy Slaughter at Clay Sink Cemetery. He was a veteran of World War I and also…”a member of Pershing’s punitive expedition into Mexico during the border troubles caused by the Mexican Revolution (1910-1920).”

During World War II, a bombing range less than a mile east of Clay Sink was operated by the U.S. Army for testing Mustard Gas, an oily liquid used as a shell filling, according to Jean Brinson Ward, vice chairman of the Dade City Historic Preservation Advisory Board.

Now the home of the Florida Bass Conservation Center—the state’s major freshwater fish production hatchery—the bombing range was used to test the effects on goats and rabbits.

Details from a 1956 Pasco County map show Slaughter as a settlement in the extreme northwest corner of Pasco County. Richloam is locatedDetails from a 1956 Pasco County map show Slaughter as a settlement in the extreme northwest corner of Pasco County. Richloam is located across the county line in Hernando County. (Courtesy of Fivay.org)

“We could feel the earth shake when the bombs were dropped, and our house was in Richloam, which was about 9 (miles) or 10 miles from the range,” Ward said.

In an article published by The Tampa Tribune on Dec. 26, 2007, Pasco County Attorney Robert Sumner said people wanted to live in Clay Sink “where they were free to do what they wanted to do without being fenced in, where they could develop their own church.”

Back then, Sumner added, “the people who came to Florida came for the same reasons people originally came to the United States.”

Sumner’s own family history dates back to the 1820s, before Pasco County was created.

In October 1936, the federal government started buying forestland around Clay Sink, first from the Schroeder Land and Timber Company for $3 an acre, and then from area families such as the ancestors of 84-year-old Henry Boyett.

“They didn’t want our cattle eating the young pine trees they had planted,” Boyett recalled during an interview at the fellowship hall. “We tried to convince them there was too much turpentine in those saplings for cattle to digest.”

By 1939, the purchase of private-owned farms was completed to begin restoring the forests and wetlands under the U.S government’s Withlacoochee Resettlement Act.

To this day, Clay Sink remains a small cluster of farmsteads and homes due to the Great Depression and the loss of grazing lands.

For Boyett, though, it’s a desirable place.

He describes it as “peace and quiet, and it can never be developed.

“It’s the most fantastic thing I can tell you,” Boyette said.

In the stillness of this place, rainfall could be heard falling on the tin roof of the fellowship hall.

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

Published July 24, 2019

Automotive section launches today

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This week The Laker/Lutz News is expanding our business coverage with a new automotive section that we’re calling “autoMOTIVES.”

We emphasize the word “MOTIVES” because we believe this section’s outstanding content will educate and motivate you to keep up with the latest automotive trends, and help you decide what is the best vehicle for you and your loved ones.

Our editor is Nitish Rele, an accomplished automotive writer who lives in New Tampa and is under contract with several automobile manufacturers to test drive and write stories for industry publications and blogs.

Rele has been writing product reviews, test drives and reporting automotive news for more than 20 years. He will be doing the same for The Laker/Lutz News, but with a heavy emphasis on local automotive and dealer news for our readers in Pasco and north Hillsborough counties.

Rele is also the founder and publisher of Motoring Tampa Bay, a comprehensive auto enthusiast guide in print and online since 2009.  Also notable, Rele was at The Tampa Tribune from 1989 to 2009 and was the weekly automotive columnist for his last 11 years there.

Rele received his master’s degree in journalism from the University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri, and has been a Tampa Bay resident for nearly 30 years. I’m proud to add that he is a longtime, regular reader of our newspaper.

“Buying a vehicle is one of the biggest expenses a family incurs,” said Rele. “Our goal is to give readers timely and informative automotive news and professionally sanctioned test drives to help local people make informative decisions about their next vehicle.”

It is interesting to note that according to our 2017 readership buyer’s survey, 38 percent of our readers plan to purchase a new or used vehicle in the next 12 months —or 13,557 vehicles.

“We want to educate readers early in the buying process — when you are still considering your top vehicle choices and deciding how much you want to spend,” said Rele.

“Our goal is to give you information to make intelligent automotive decisions, and to help you find your next vehicle close to home at a dealership that is convenient and which provides service, body and warranty work.”

The Laker/Lutz News is able to add automotive news to its coverage because of the support of our inaugural advertisers — Christian Brothers Automotive, Maus Family Chevrolet, Parks Ford of Wesley Chapel and Wesley Chapel Toyota/Lexus/Honda.

All are locally owned, family businesses, just like we are at The Laker/Lutz News.

My staff and I sincerely thank these advertisers for their support, and if you have an opportunity to visit these neighborhood businesses, please be sure to thank them for bringing automotive news to your community newspaper.

Published December 12, 2018

Royal Lanes prepares to turn off the lights for good

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It’s a place where leagues have battled for cash prizes and bragging rights, and little kids have had birthday parties.

For some, it’s been a gathering spot with friends after work to bowl a few games and enjoy a few pitchers. For others, it was where they hung out when they were kids.

Andre Pamplona, general manager for Royal Lanes, said the closing of a bowling alley has an impact on the community.
(B.C. Manion)

Soon, however Royal Lanes bowling center, at 1927 Brinson Road in Lutz, will welcome its final bowlers and pack up its pins for good.

The last day of operation will be May 21, said Andre Pamplona, the bowling center’s general manager.

The bowling alley has been owned for a quarter-century by Sandy and Neville Woolf, of Canada, but they’ve decided to sell, Pamplona said.

“My group was trying to purchase it. That’s what we came up to do, to try to salvage it and keep it a bowling center, but we got outbid. And, that’s it,” Pamplona said.

“I knew of a potential sale to the other group. We were doing our best to try to finalize our deal. The numbers just wouldn’t work,” Pamplona said. “The land just got overvalued.”

He’s not sure what the future use of the site will be, but he has heard that the building will be renovated for another use that has something to do with the automotive industry.

He’s sorry to see Royal Lanes go, not just because he worked there, but because the community will miss it.

“One of the things that owners don’t calculate is the impact to the community,” Pamplona said.

Soon this sign will be replaced by a new business occupying the site on Brinson Road, just off North Dale Mabry Highway, in Lutz.

But, he said he understands that the owner is making a business decision

Still, Pamplona said, “Land O’ Lakes will suffer. Land O’ Lakes will hurt. People will have to drive out of their way to go to bowling centers.”

Plus, bowlers are losing a gathering spot where many have been coming for decades.

“There’s such a value … it’s intangible, you can’t put a dollar to it,” Pamplona said.

Royal Lanes had 437 bowlers in five full adult leagues and two youth leagues. One of the youth leagues was purely youths and the other was a youth-adult league, where kids bowled with their parents, he said.

“Most of the leagues are going to stay together,” he said, and most have already decided to go another bowling center,” he said.

The closest bowling alleys are at Old State Road 54 and Little Road; on Hillsborough Avenue, across from Tampa International Airport; on Armenia Avenue, south of Hillsborough Avenue; and on U.S.301 in Zephyrhills.

Ultimately, some bowlers may choose to join different leagues at bowling centers that are more convenient for them, he noted.

This is the exterior of Royal Lanes, in Lutz. Lots of memories have been made within this building, which opened during the 1970s.

Most of Royal Lanes’ 18 employees also have relocated to another alley, Pamplona said, although he’s not sure what he’s going to do.

“I’ve got some options in the industry. I’ve got some options out of the industry,” he said.

When Royal Lanes ceases operations, it will no longer be a place where the clatter of bowling pins competes with memories of days gone by.

“Our Wednesday morning league is called The Lakerettes,” Pamplona said. “They’ve been bowling here, since basically the beginning.”

Royal Lanes is also the place where the Betty Strickland, who has since passed on, developed a reputation for her bowling prowess and her kindly nature.

Chances were, if you were looking for Strickland on a weekday, she’d be over at Royal Lanes.

Some days, she was known to roll as many as 10 games, but typically, she threw four or five.

One of Strickland’s biggest moments at the bowling alley came on Jan. 9, 2006, when she bowled 300 — a perfect game.

At the time, Strickland was the nation’s third-oldest woman to bowl a perfect game, according to a report published by The Tampa Tribune.

It’s also a place that figures prominently into the memory of Rachel Thompson, who worked at the bowling alley when she was young and now works at The Laker/Lutz News.

Thompson threw her perfect game at Royal Lanes. Her big moment came on Nov. 9, 2012.

Published May 17, 2017

Sunsets restaurant to replace Hot Rod’s BBQ

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A down-home, comfort-style restaurant – named Sunsets – is expected to open in May on the former site of Hot Rod’s Country BBQ.

The popular dining spot in Lutz, locally famous for selling what it claimed to be ‘swamp bat,’ closed in 2013.

Since then, rumors and speculation have swirled around just what would replace Hot Rod’s.

Sunsets restaurant, which will open in May, is under construction on Livingston Avenue on the former site of Hot Rod’s BBQ.
(Kathy Steele)

A wrecking crew took down the old restaurant in March, several months after Sunset Livingston LLC bought the property, at 18430 Livingston Ave., in Lutz.

Construction is well underway on Sunsets.

The restaurant will be the anchor for a small retail and entertainment plaza that will have an escape room, archery shop, consignment store, insurance agency and a barbecue food trailer, according to an email from real estate broker Jerry Shaw.

“The concept is simple, good food at an affordable price,” said Shaw in the email.

There will be a relaxed “sit down” atmosphere, screened porch, a drive-through window, and a menu with a variety of choices, he added.

The other shops, including Lost in Lutz, will occupy existing storefronts located on-site. Lost in Lutz should be open by late March or early April.

Lost in Lutz will be escape room entertainment, where game participants follow clues and solve puzzles in an interactive adventure. Escape rooms are a growing entertainment trend nationwide, according to co-owner Julie Woolary.

Players “crack the lock” and “beat the clock,” according to the website.

The first of three escape rooms to open will have a theme, “Stuck in the ‘70s”. Players will have 60 minutes to solve puzzles, riddles and clues to find their way back to the present.

“We are hoping that people will come out and test their skills and brainpower, and most importantly have fun,” said Woolary.

Hot Rods had been a dining staple in Lutz since the late 1990s. Then-owner, Rod Gaudin, started his restaurant with a barbecue pit and a converted wood-frame house next to a country store he operated.

In addition to barbecue and cornbread, it had an offbeat menu with specialty items such as ‘lizard tail’ and ‘armadillo eggs’. They were more commonly known as beef steak and cheddar cheese poppers.

And, despite the restaurant’s claims, the ‘swamp bat’ delicacy actually was quail, according to a published account by Sherri Ackerman, a reporter for The Tampa Tribune.

Published March 8, 2017

A citrus king who savored the art of the deal

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When James Emmitt Evans was 12 years old, he already knew what he wanted to do.

He aimed to be “a general business man,” as he liked to call it.

By the time he died, at age 96, the Dade City man would have gone on to build one of the first citrus concentrate plants in the state south of Dade City.

This is where Evans Packing Plant stood in February 1989. (Courtesy of Pam Higgins/The History Center/Pioneer Florida Museum and Village Collection)
This is where Evans Packing Plant stood in February 1989.
(Courtesy of Pam Higgins/The History Center/Pioneer Florida Museum and Village Collection)

He is perhaps best remembered for his pioneering strategies to hedge juice inventory on the futures market, and for planting some of the largest contiguous citrus groves in Florida.

When he died, his obituary carried the lead headline on the front page of the June 13, 1996 edition of The Tampa Tribune.

A half-century before his death, Evans was a vice president on the board of the Pasco Packing Company in Dade City. Other board members were L. C. Edwards Jr., president (whose father was the former head of the Florida Citrus Exchange); W. F. Edwards, vice president (namesake of the football stadium at Pasco High School in Dade City); L.C. Hawes, vice president; and, H.S. Massey, secretary-treasurer.

These men, who were all citrus growers, had a combined total of 10,000 acres that could produce 2.5 million boxes of fruit annually for processing at the plant.

When the company’s whistle was heard across Dade City at noontime, the Valencia Restaurant in downtown Dade City was often the unofficial “Board Room” for Pasco’s board of directors.

Located across from the Historic Pasco County Courthouse at the time, the Valencia was probably the place where plans were discussed to sell the company to Lykes Brothers in Tampa.

With the citrus industry changing beyond all recognition, Pasco’s board members recognized how frozen concentrate was letting growers preserve and ship juice with greater efficiency.

Built in 1900, the longtime residence of James Emmitt Evans is now the home of a Pasco County Circuit Court judge. (Courtesy of Doug Sanders)
Built in 1900, the longtime residence of James Emmitt Evans is now the home of a Pasco County Circuit Court judge.
(Courtesy of Doug Sanders)

Only 50,000 gallons of concentrate were produced in the inaugural year of 1945. By 1951, production had zoomed to 31 million gallons.

Selling the plant allowed the new owners to change the name to Lykes Pasco Packing in 1961, and to market its labels around the world as “Old South,” “FloridaGold” and “Vitality.”  At its peak, Lykes had more than 2,000 workers on its payroll in Dade City.

Unlike any grower in the state at the time, Evans was a trader with his own accounts on the emerging Frozen Concentrate Orange Juice futures market.   He was never satisfied with dealing through brokers, buying his own seat and remaining a major force during the formative years of the exchange.

“All I can say is, I love making deals,” Evans said, in a Feb. 2, 1983 story published by The Gainesville Sun.

Evans Packing Company was one of the first processors to supply other packagers with drums of bulk concentrate for distribution to chain stores.  At its peak with some 400 employees, many of Evans’ six grandchildren and five great-grandchildren worked side-by-side with their spouses and in-laws.

“If they’re kin, we’ll give them a job,” he was quoted as saying.

Evans enjoyed spending time with his family and friends.

He employed his own pilot, Sam Fallin, who flew the eight-seat, twin engine King Air to the Evans ranch in Homestead, where friends and family could spend a weekend fishing, playing golf, and hunting.

Over the years, Evans endured his share of challenges.

His citrus groves faced hard freezes, the Mediterranean fruit fly and citrus canker.

The area where Evans Packing Plant stood is vacant today, except for the Walgreens at the intersection of U.S. 301 and Morningside Drive. (Courtesy of Doug Sanders)
The area where Evans Packing Plant stood is vacant today, except for the Walgreens at the intersection of U.S. 301 and Morningside Drive.
(Courtesy of Doug Sanders)

Despite these harsh realities, Evans started the development of 7,000 acres for production in St. Lucie County in the 1960s. He also began an even larger grove along the Indian River/Okeechobee County lines near the Florida Turnpike during the 1970s. And, the purchase of 10,000 acres for additional groves in Charlotte County was completed in the early 1980s.

Evans did not live to see the outbreak of citrus greening, the agricultural disease with no known cure that has decimated Florida’s citrus production to an all-time industry low.

The 1983 Gainesville Sun story identified Evans as one of 21 Floridians on the Forbes magazine list of the 400 wealthiest Americans. At the time, he citrus fortune was estimated at $135 million.

Five years later, he was the oldest resident in Florida on Forbes 400 list, with $400 million in holdings — putting him at 157th place on the list.

Evans had been successful since the early 1920s, starting off with less than $500 from selling tractors.

“I never did have a bad year in business,” he told The Gainesville Sun. “Not even during the Great Depression.”

Despite his wealth and success, Evans lived in the same wood frame, three-bedroom home on the corner of 12th Street and Meridian Avenue in Dade City for 49 years.

He headed his family business for 39 years.

And, the company he founded in 1951 still remains as one of the largest growers in the state with 12,000 acres of citrus groves.

“Retirement is not for me,” Evans was quoted in 1983.  “Retirement is the day I die.”

It turns out, that’s exactly what happened.

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

Published September 14, 2016

Welcome 700 Dade City Families!

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With this edition of The Laker, we’re proud to welcome 700 Dade City families to weekly home delivery of our newspaper.

If you live in the downtown area, or in subdivisions south of town along Fort King Road and Clinton Avenue, you most likely found today’s paper in your driveway, and can look forward to receiving it every Wednesday.

In addition to this new home delivery, we’ll continue to distribute 2,000 Lakers every week to 60 newspaper boxes, business locations and public buildings in the Dade City – San Antonio area. In Zephyrhills, we have another 130 outlets and 6,300 papers.

Adding circulation is a big deal in the newspaper world, especially one that represents a 35 percent jump in one community, all in one week. And we do so without hesitation, and with much confidence, because Dade City readers and business leaders have been asking for home delivery of The Laker for some time.

So when The Tampa Tribune stopped publishing so suddenly and unexpectedly in early May, we decided there was no better time than right now to add home delivery in Dade City. With the help of the fine folks at The Greater Dade City Chamber of Commerce, we selected neighborhoods with demographics that matched those of newspaper readers, and decided to take the plunge and add all 700 homes the Chamber was recommending.

Our goal is to fill the void left behind by the closing of The Tampa Tribune, which always had a strong following in east Pasco. Earlier this year, we began to step up our East Pasco news coverage when we hired Kevin Weiss as a full-time reporter assigned to Zephyrhills, Dade City and San Antonio.

Kevin, a 2014 graduate of the University of South Florida, has the enthusiasm, energy and passion about community journalism that make his stories easy to read and understand. He is a talented, hard-working young man I’m proud to employ, and one I hope you have an opportunity to meet.

Joining Kevin in our East Pasco news coverage is Kathy Steele, a seasoned journalist and excellent writer who covers transportation, growth and development, as well as Pasco County government. Kathy joined our staff a year-and-a-half ago after 15 years as a Tampa Tribune reporter.

Our newest journalist whose coverage includes East Pasco is Tom Jackson, another Tampa Tribune veteran who wrote a column about Pasco County politics and people for more than 18 years.

Tom began writing his column for The Laker two weeks after The Tampa Tribune shut down. His knowledge about Pasco County, and his genuine love for its people, passionately pours through his words.  You’ll know what I mean if you read Tom’s column last week about the tragic bicycling death of Joe Hancock, a Dade City citrus farmer whose family has lived in Dade City for generations. It was a poignant column that was so well written that it brought me to tears, even though I did not know Joe or his family.

It’s Kevin, Kathy, Tom and editor B.C. Manion, who brings all this talent together, to give you an interesting and relevant news package every week. Their work makes The Laker different from other newspapers in East Pasco.

We give you a broader, county-wide viewpoint that includes news and stories about issues and people throughout central and east Pasco, including Wesley Chapel, Land O’ Lakes and Lutz.

People in Dade City and Zephyrhills are a vital part of this larger Pasco community. It’s where you shop, work, attend school, meet friends for dinner or drinks, go to movies, practice your faith, and visit family and friends.

Because your interests go beyond the town limits of Dade City and Zephyrhills, The Laker will continue to bring you stories about this larger, vibrant community where we make our lives.

Published June 15, 2016