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U.S. Marine Corps Reserve

Skills training program led to White House trip

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Patrick Pinnone was wrapping up a five-year stint in the U.S. Marines when he heard about a training program offered by Home Builders Institute (HBI) — an educational arm of American Home Builders.

It was exactly what he was looking for, as he prepared to make the transition to civilian life.

But, there was a problem.

Patrick Pinnone, of Dade City, back row, left, was invited to attend an event in Washington D.C., after completing an HBI training program. Others pictured are Gustavo Ramirez-Rodriguez, back row right; and front row, from left, Cullen Clebe; Greg Ugalde, NAHB Chairman of the Board; and Champagne Smith. (Courtesy of National Association of Home Builders)

The program wasn’t being offered at Camp Lejeune, the Marine base in Jacksonville, North Carolina, where he was stationed.

It was available at Fort Bragg, an Army base just west of Fayetteville, North Carolina, two hours away from his chain of command.

Pinnone was not dissuaded.

“I had to jump through hoops to get my chain of command to approve it,” he recalled.

But, he was persistent and gained approval — and became the first Marine to complete the HBI training.

And, the efforts he put forth during training led to an invitation for a trip to the White House.

He went to the nation’s capital to attend a follow-up ceremony to the July 2018 Pledge to America’s Workers.

That pledge was signed by President Donald Trump and many trade organizations, including the National Association of Home Builders and its workforce development arm, HBI, to show their commitment to create new jobs through apprenticeships, training programs, continuing education and so on.

Pinnone, who lives in Dade City, enjoyed the event.

“It was surreal. I never expected I would ever get a chance to go into the White House,” he said, adding he couldn’t believe he was in the same room as numerous top-ranking government officials, including the president and Vice President Mike Pence.

The president was there for the ceremony, but left quickly after it ended. Pence stayed longer, circulating around the room to shake hands and pose for photos.

Pinnone said he also was impressed by HBI’s training program.

He said students in the program learned skills required for residential construction work, including carpentry, foundations, siding, painting, roofing and drywall.

After finishing the HBI program, he picked up three jobs — including one with Lyle Bleachers Inc., which builds bleachers for gymnasiums and athletic fields throughout Florida.

David Lyle, president of Lyle Bleachers Inc., said the HBI training served Pinnone well.

“I think it definitely prepared him for working in our field, which is a construction-type industry,” Lyle said.

He applauded HBI’s efforts and said he’d like to see an increase in such programs.

“We need hands-on skilled laborers in this country,” Lyle said.

Pinnone said the value of the experience went beyond the skills he learned through the training.

His main takeaway? “The initiative you put out, will pay off in the end,” Pinnone said.

Pinnone, a member of the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, is now enrolled at Saint Leo University, where he is studying accounting.

Published August 21, 2019

Rushe Middle goes extra mile to encourage reading

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Students from Rushe Middle School traipsed through Barnes & Noble at The Shops at Wiregrass, on a scavenger hunt to solve a riddle.

They went from place to place picking up new clues in a search that finally led them to the discovery of the selection for the book the We Be Book’n club will read over the next few months.

Sgt. Robert Loring, a veteran who served in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, unveils the book that the We Be Book’n book club is reading at Rushe Middle School. (B.C. Manion/Staff Photo)
Sgt. Robert Loring, a veteran who served in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, unveils the book that the We Be Book’n book club is reading at Rushe Middle School. (B.C. Manion/Staff Photo)

The big unveil took place on Nov. 11, and the school-wide book club will read the young adult adaptation of “Unbroken” by Laura Hillenbrand. It tells the story of Olympian Louis Zamperini’s journey from airman to castaway to captive.

Students, accompanied by their parents, dropped by a table to get pointers on how the scavenger hunt worked, and picked up their first clue. As they solved one clue in one part of the bookstore, they received another clue that led them to a different part of the bookstore.

They concluded their search by meeting former Sgt. Robert Loring, a veteran who was a qualified parachute jumpmaster in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve.

Rushe faculty members Dawn Gilliland and Kelli Rapaport came up with the idea of creating a school-wide book club, according to school principal David Salerno. The principal was quickly onboard with the idea, and Rushe’s teachers, staff and parents have been great supporters, Gilliland said.

Gilliland — an information and communication technology literacy coach at Rushe — and Rapport, an intensive reading teacher, said the book club aims to motivate kids to read. So far, more than 100 students have joined the voluntary club.

“It’s just for fun,” Rapaport said. “We just want to get kids excited about literacy.”

Both women view themselves as avid readers and want to pass along their love of the written word to Rushe’s students. They selected an informational text because they want to help students develop the ability to read for information. They also wanted students to see that these kinds of books can be fascinating.

“We see kids who just aren’t reading, especially informational texts,” Gilliland said. “They don’t have that passion.”

Hillenbrand’s book recounts a story about perseverance, Salerno said. It’s a character trait he hopes students will develop.

The message Salerno hopes students will get from the book is this: “No matter what barriers you have, you can overcome them.” Salerno thinks the book is a good choice because it introduces students to a genre they don’t normally read.

The big reveal at Barnes & Noble capped weeks of buildup. Rushe staff members helped create a sense of excitement through dramatizations during which they pretended to beg for the book title’s name, offered bribes for the name, and even broke down crying.

Yet, Gilliland and Rapaport refused to give out the title.

At one point, they wrapped copies of the book in brown paper and marked them with the words “confidential” and “top secret,” and placed them at various places around the school. Teachers also talked up the big reveal.

Rapaport and Gilliland worked with the managers at Barnes & Noble to plan the event. Gilliland’s husband Jeff joined the teachers to developer the clues.

“Every clue has to go with what’s in the book,” Rapaport said. “It’s really previewing the content for them ahead of time.”

Jennifer Kosowski, whose daughter Brooke is a seventh-grader at Rushe, appreciates the efforts the school is making to encourage reading.

“It’s fun,” she said. “It gets them in here and gets them interested in reading.”

Brooke said she had fun figuring out the clues, noting some of them weren’t very easy.

The Barnes & Noble event is just one of many activities the school has planned for the book club. Over the next few months, as they read the book, a number of special events will take place that center on the book’s themes.

For instance, the school will have a mock Olympics because the book’s main character was an Olympian. The final event will be a lock-in at the school’s David Estabrook Collaboration Center, where students and staff members will spend the night playing games, watching movies, and having a chance to win prizes.

Published December 3, 2014

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In Print: New Lowe’s adding traffic light to State Road 54

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When the new Lowe’s store opens next March, it not only will bring more jobs to State Road 54 in Land O’ Lakes, but more traffic congestion as well.

To accommodate the new store, Pasco County will link the Lowe’s parking lot to the Village Lakes Shopping Center across the street, complete with the first traffic light between Collier Parkway and Land O’ Lakes Boulevard.

But that does mean some parking spaces at Village Lakes have to go, and traffic patterns through the parking lots there will be adjusted as well. In return, the area will get new crosswalks — one of the few places pedestrians can legally cross along the nearly two-mile stretch.

Want details of what this new intersection will entail? Check out reporter Michael Hinman’s story in this week’s print edition of The Laker/Lutz News, available on newsstands and in many home driveways right now. Or you can check out the complete paper online with our free e-edition by clicking here.

He may not look like Kris Kringle, but Bob Loring feels he might be a little like Old Saint Nick, considering how many toys he delivers each year.

Bob Loring will do whatever it takes to get the word out for his annual local Toys For Tots campaign. (Michael Murillo/Staff Photo)
Bob Loring will do whatever it takes to get the word out for his annual local Toys For Tots campaign. (Michael Murillo/Staff Photo)

Loring leads the local Toys For Tots chapter, part of a national program that distributes toys to needy children, run by the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve for more than 65 years.

“I’m the head elf,” Loring recently told reporter Michael Murillo. “It’s a thrill. Personally, it’s so rewarding. I get to work with and be around the neatest people in Pasco County.”

Loring first took over in 1999, and that first year, delivered toys for nearly 400 children just in time for Christmas in the Dade City area. Since then, the program has been expanded across the county, aiming to help 4,000 children.

Find out more about the program, and how you can help, in this week’s print edition of The Laker/Lutz News, available now. You also can read all about it with our free online e-edition, which you can find right here.

And finally, Rushe Middle School is going the extra mile when it comes to reading. The school has started a We Be Book’n club, and is looking for new ways to introduce young people to books in today’s digital age.

That includes a recent trip to Barnes & Noble where students took part in a scavenger hunt to find out what they’ll be reading next.

“It’s just for fun,” one of the teachers, Kelli Rapaport told reporter B.C. Manion. “We just want to get kids excited about literacy.”

It’s not the last thing — or even the biggest thing — the We Be Book’n club has planned for the coming school year. Want to see what else is up the sleeves of teachers like Rapaport and Dawn Gilliland? Then check out this week’s print edition of The Laker/Lutz News, or do some reading of your own in our free online e-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.

It’s crunch time for annual holiday toy drive

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Bob Loring isn’t Santa Claus. Yet he has some 250 elves at his disposal, and he seems pretty jolly about his job.

“I’m the head elf,” Loring said. “It’s a thrill. Personally it’s so rewarding. I get to work with and be around the neatest people in Pasco County.”

Bob Loring will do whatever it takes to get the word out for his annual local Toys For Tots campaign. (Michael Murillo/Staff photo)
Bob Loring will do whatever it takes to get the word out for his annual local Toys For Tots campaign. (Michael Murillo/Staff photo)

The retired Marine doesn’t look like Kris Kringle, either, but he does share a common goal with the Christmas character. With the help of elves (volunteers), he distributes toys to boys and girls during the holiday season.

The difference is that Loring does it in real life.

Loring heads up the local Toys For Tots chapter, part of a national program that distributes toys to needy children run by the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve for more than 65 years. He took the helm back in 1999, and in his first year, the group distributed toys for nearly 400 children in the Dade City area.

But he knew it wasn’t enough.

To expand, Toys For Tots would have to increase the number of communities it serves. Most people who donate want the recipients to live in their area, Loring said. As a result, they’ve broadened their efforts to provide a happy holiday to children in Zephyrhills, Land O’ Lakes and Wesley Chapel, as well.

The donations have gone up, too. Loring expects to distribute toys to around 4,000 children this year. And the method of distributing them is almost as important as the donations themselves.

Toys For Tots relies on school counselors to identify needy children and families. Then, instead of simply distributing bags of gifts based on age and gender, a parent or guardian will go to a local center where one of the elves helps them choose from the available toys for each child in the family.

Every recipient receives a couple of bigger gifts as well as some stocking stuffers to make sure they have a few things to open. Someone who knows them handpicks them all.

This method ensures the right gift goes to the right recipient, Loring said, because the parent or guardian has a good idea what each child would like. Some children might be more or less advanced for their age, and finding suitable gifts requires more than guesswork based on how old they are.

Letting a parent or guardian choose the gifts themselves provides another benefit: dignity.

“I want the parent, first of all, to be treated with kindness, to be brought into the Christmas spirit,” Loring said. “We’re not here to make people feel uncomfortable that they’re asking us to help them.”

By playing a role in deciding what their children receive, the experience is more in line with traditional gift giving.

While the organization has provided toys for decades, Toys For Tots had to adjust with the times. They still have collection boxes at various locations and businesses where people can donate new, unwrapped toys. And they still have their annual toy drive with the National Association of Letter Carriers, where residents leave toys by their mailboxes and the letter carriers pick them up on their postal routes.

The problem is that fewer people know about it.

The U.S. Postal Service previously allowed Toys For Tots distribute free mailers to each resident, letting them know when the drive would take place. But a few years ago they stopped providing that benefit due to costs, Loring said, so his organization has had to get more creative in getting the word out on when to leave toys for their letter carriers.

He admits that current donations would be even higher if not for the mailer setback, because many residents don’t know exactly when it occurs.

Still, with some assistance from the national Toys For Tots organization and mostly local donations, the chapter provides presents for thousands of local children each year. And with some help from other groups, Loring has built a network of add-ons to accompany the holiday presents.

For example, faith-based organizations and Rotary Club sponsor Food For Tots and Skivvies For Tots, offering food and clothing for those in need. And down the road, Loring would like to add Shoes For Tots as well.

But for now, Loring will settle for another successful toy drive for needy area families. And in doing so, it also will translate into a happier holiday for those volunteers who find it can be better to give than to receive.

“My elves get more out of this than the families we help. That is true,” Loring said. “They come away with the Christmas spirit and they take it home. It’s magnificent.”

The Letter Carriers’ toy drive is set for Dec. 6.

For more information about local Toys For Tots efforts, contact Loring at (352) 588-4230, or at .

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Toys for Tots collection begins

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Christmas time is just around the corner, and the campaign by the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve has started to collect toys for children.

The first Toys for Tots collection drive will take place at the Pasco County Tax Collector’s offices in Land O’ Lakes, Dade City and Lutz. The west side offices will begin their drives in December.

Toys for Tots was created to help less fortunate children in communities enjoy a better holiday season. The program seeks new, unwrapped gifts for children and teenagers. Toys donated by members of any given community will be given to children in that community.

“I applaud the veterans and volunteers from Toys for Tots who give so much time to help the less fortunate children in Pasco County,” Tax Collector Mike Fasano said, in a release. “I encourage everyone who has a heart for children to consider dropping off a gift at one of our offices. The generosity of our friends and neighbors will go a long way towards making this a special holiday season for countless kids who may not otherwise receive a nice gift this year.”

Throughout November, toys can be donated to the Land O’ Lakes office at the Central Pasco Government Center, 4111 Land O’ Lakes Blvd., in Land O’ Lakes; 4610 Pet Lane, C101, in Lutz; and at the East Pasco Government Center, 14236 Sixth St., Room 100, in Dade City.