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Margarita Romo

Dade City Youth Council wins statewide photo contest

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Reyes Figueroa loves Dade City.

And, he appreciates the east Pasco community’s acceptance in celebrating diverse cultures — particularly his Hispanic heritage.

Last month, the 17-year-old Pasco High School junior and Dade City Youth Council delegate won first place in the Florida League of Cities’ (FLC) Youth Council Photography Contest.

Figueroa’s winning photo, ‘Cinco De Mayo Parade,’ was taken during the city’s Cinco de Mayo Parade & Fiesta, held annually at Resurrection Park. The image, captured on his iPhone, shows a youth folk dance troupe posing in traditional Mexican-style clothing. (Courtesy of Reyes Figueroa)

The winning photo, “Cinco De Mayo Parade,” was taken during the city’s Cinco de Mayo Parade & Fiesta, held annually at Resurrection Park. Captured on Figueroa’s iPhone, the image exhibits a youth folk dance troupe posing in traditional Mexican-style clothing.

Figueroa was humbled when he learned about the first place honor. “I was kind of surprised,” he said.

The Florida League of Cities’ photography contest encouraged youth council members throughout the state to take a picture of something that tells the story of why they love their city. Each photo had to be the applicant’s original work and accompanied by a brief statement of how that photo depicts the reason they love their city.

In his statement, Figueroa wrote, “I love Dade City because it has, and continues to, hold this event (Cinco De Mayo Parade) each year that is close to my people’s tradition.”

Figueroa, on behalf of the Dade City Youth Council, will receive a trophy and $300 reward at the Florida League of Cities’ annual conference on Aug. 19 in Orlando.

He also will be featured in the League’s statewide publication, Quality Cities (QC) magazine; and have the win presented on the organization’s website and Facebook and Twitter accounts.

It’s not the first time the Dade City Youth Council, which has roughly 10 members, has been recognized by the League.

Last year, the youth organization finished fourth place in the fifth annual Municipal Youth Council Video Competition.

Reyes Figueroa won first place in the Florida League of Cities’ (FLC) Youth Council Photography Contest. The 17-year-old Dade City Youth Council delegate is a junior at Pasco High School. (Kevin Weiss)

The 60-second video, “Dade City: The Place to Be,” spotlighted the city’s distinct offerings, from bike trails to downtown shopping, and festivals and events.

Dade City’s Cinco de Mayo Parade, meanwhile, draws hundreds of patrons each year, to celebrate the Mexican Army’s unlikely victory over French forces at the 1862 Battle of Puebla.

The vibrant event on Lock Street, is highlighted by dancing, singing, games and traditional Mexican-style dishes.

Figueroa said he has attended the parade, with family and friends, for well over a decade.

The teenager noted the event’s food is a big hit.

“It would probably have to be No. 1,” Figuero said.

But, there are also “really cool” activities, like rock climbing and pickup soccer matches, he added.

“You always have different things coming up,” he said. “I like how they contribute something new every year.”

Figueroa has been a member of the Dade City Youth Council since he was in sixth grade and was recommended for a delegate position by Margarita Romo, who runs the Resurrection House Mission Lutheran Church.

The youth council, which was formed by Dade City Mayor Camille Hernandez, devotes a bulk of its time to volunteer service and community enhancement projects.

Some of its more recent initiatives include organizing the city’s Movie in the Park series, and the Kumquat Festival 5K.

“The Dade City Youth Council gives us opportunities to create events that an individual teen, like me, wouldn’t be able to do by himself,” Figueroa explained. “Having some support from Camille and commissioners, and different sponsors, that helps a lot,” he added.

Members of the youth council also have a chance to gain insight into how the municipality interacts with the Florida Legislature and sometimes are able to travel to partake in meetings in Tallahassee.

Besides youth council, Figueroa is junior class president at Pasco High. He also plays in the East Pasco Soccer League.

After high school, Figueroa hopes to attend either Florida State University or Saint Leo University. He aspires to work in construction, architecture or engineering.

Whatever career path he follows, he’s adamant to stay involved in community affairs.

“It’s kind of tough because there’s so many things to do. I kind of want to have a career where I’m stable, but gives me the flexibility to volunteer in my community,” he explained.

Since living in Dade City, Figueroa said he’s noticed positive initiatives within in the community. He pointed to new sidewalks (the northern extension of the existing Hardy Trail) and repaved roads from Church Avenue to Lock Street as a few of the city’s upgrades. He’s also passionate about the number of groups that serve the community’s youth, mentioning the Boys & Girls Club and the now-reopened Moore-Mickens Education and Vocational Center.

Elsewhere, Figueroa is one of 12 recipients of the Marguerite Casey Foundation’s Sargent Shriver Youth Warriors Against Poverty Leadership Award.

The award honors youth who exhibit “vision, passion and dedication to improving the lives of families in their communities.”

He will be presented with the $5,000 award on Aug. 13, in Seattle, Washington.

Published August 9, 2017

Activists bring new life to Moore-Mickens

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The Pasco County School District handed over the keys to the new tenants of the Moore-Mickens Education Center effective July 1.

The lease is for 30 years at $10 a year.

Volunteers and board members of the nonprofit Moore-Mickens Education Center and Vocational Center Inc., are working to reopen the historical school in Dade City. From left, Rev. Jesse McClendon Sr., Saundra Coward, Londa Edwards, Levater Holt, Marilyn Hunter and Margarita Romo. (Kathy Steele)

So, now the school’s future is in the hands of a coalition of community activists who founded the nonprofit Moore-Mickens Education Center and Vocational Center Inc.

Its legacy already is in place.

Moore-Mickens is rooted in Pasco’s history as the first public school for blacks. It began as Moore Academy and later operated under the Moore and Mickens’ names as elementary, middle and high schools, and finally, as the education center.

The school’s name honors the accomplishments of two Pasco educators, Rev. Junias D. Moore and Odell Kingston Mickens.

Though the nonprofit plans to be patient and move ahead one program at a time, there are ambitious plans in store for Moore-Mickens, which sprawls across a campus of 14 buildings at the end of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in Dade City.

Empowering children is a priority.

The first goal is to open a volunteer prekindergarten school that will give children a foundation for educational success.

“I want to see kids open doors for themselves,” said Marilyn Hunter, president of the nonprofit.

Margarita Romo echoes those thoughts.

A monument sign for Moore-Mickens Education Center sits behind a fence at the entrance to the campus, off Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in Dade City.

“It can be the lighthouse for people who need to believe in themselves, said Romo, founder of Farmworkers Self-Help.

There are challenges ahead.

The first step is to organize a volunteer cleanup to get buildings ready to open. Plans are to use the administrative building, the building that housed the Cyesis teen parent program, and a building where the Dade City City Commission once held meetings.

In April, vandals broke about 100 windows and several doors in several buildings. The school district boarded up the windows and doors.

Repair costs are left for the nonprofit.

Romo can tick off a laundry list of items the school needs.

A church donated about 100 chairs, but more are needed, she said. Tables, commercial kitchen equipment, books and lawn mowers for the sprawling campus make up a short list.

“It’s a hard task just getting started,” Romo said. “We’ll open a little bit at a time, so we don’t go in debt.”

A local Episcopal church is making a donation to aid the school.

Hunter said the nonprofit plans to apply for a state historical grant, but additional cash donations and in-kind support are needed.

Termites are an issue in at least one building.

“It’s been sitting for three years without any care at all,” she said.

Prior to its closing in 2015, Moore-Mickens offered classes for adults, teen parents and special-needs children.

In April, vandals busted out 100 windows and broke several doors at the Moore-Mickens Education Center in Dade City.

Hunter taught in Pasco schools, including adult education classes at Moore-Mickens. And, she is a high school graduate of the class of 1970, the last one before desegregation.

“I’m proud of that,” she said.

School officials threatened to close Moore-Mickens in 2014, but backed off when area residents rallied to keep it open. They cited costly repairs as the reason for finally closing the campus a year later.

Community activists immediately began lobbying to save the school. Many had ties as former students or teachers at the school.

Rev. Jesse McClendon Sr., took the lead early on. A core group of 15 or so came together, eventually founding the nonprofit.

Few would have given them much chance for success.

But, Moore-Mickens stirs passions among people who revere the school as a community treasure.

“My heart has always been here at this school and this community,” said Saundra Coward, the nonprofit’s vice president and a former student. “I have a hurt for east Pasco because there’s so much taken away from us. This center here is the heart of many of us. The closing of it was a hurting thing.”

The passion caught even McClendon by surprise.

He had expected the outcry from the black community, but everyone who had ties with Moore-Mickens wanted to save it, he said.

McClendon went to Moore Elementary, and later worked as plant manager at Moore-Mickens. His mother, Joanna McClendon, was a teacher.

Levater Holt is an officer with the nonprofit as well as former student and teacher at the school. “This school for me is where I came up,” she said. “We’re reaching out to the whole community.”

In addition to VPK classes, the nonprofit wants to offer General Equivalency Diploma instruction and vocational skills classes. Other social agencies also could become partners, including food banks, and other children’s programs. There could be a charter school, afterschool programs, and a community garden.

Hunter would like to see sports activities, possibly basketball and badminton, and maybe a splash pad.

Romo sees the Moore-Mickens campus as a hub for social agencies in the area. A “one-stop” community center already is planned for the former Stallings Building on 14th Street in Dade City.

In the future, there could be links between that site and Moore-Mickens, which Romo said has space to accommodate several programs.

Londa Edwards, Romo’s granddaughter, has a mentoring program in the Tommytown neighborhood. She would like to also bring it to Moore-Mickens.

Coward, and her sister, Dometa Mitchell, are founders of Hebron Refuge Outreach, which offers youth programs that could fit in at Moore-Mickens as well.

This is a grassroots effort, Romo said.

“It’s kind of exciting, because here is a community that gathered together to try to say ‘yes we can’.” And, now she added, “We’re going to make this happen.”

For information, call Hunter at (352) 807-5691 or email .

Published July 5, 2017

Sharing the story of women’s progress

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Madonna Jervis Wise, a local author who writes primarily about history, has been making the rounds lately, talking about women in the work force and “East Pasco Women Who Rocked.”

Women played an important role in munitions factories during World War 1.
(Courtesy of Madonna Jervis Wise)

Her talks, which have been delivered at the Pioneer Florida Museum and Village in Dade City, at the East Pasco Networking Group’s breakfast meeting and at the Zephyrhills Public Library, have traced the evolving role of women in society.

The essence of her presentation traces the progress that women have made since ancient times to the present.

First, she delivers an overview of women in history and then she focuses on the contributions of seven East Pasco women.

While delivering her talk at the East Pasco Networking Group, Wise said she keeps her mother and grandmother in mind.

Irene Davis Dobson was a founding member the Head Start Early Childhood program in Pasco County, and also active in programs aimed at creating awareness of contributions of African-Americans throughout Florida and across the country.

“My mother was Depression-era woman who worked most of her life. My grandmother was equally as industrious,” she said.

“As we go through the presentation, please stop and think about the women in your life.

“Right now, we have 72 million women in the American workforce. That’s 30 million more than 1984, and women roughly make up about 50 percent of the workforce,” she said.

Despite their large numbers in the work force, women still trail men in terms of pay, Wise noted. Women receive approximately 81 percent of what men are paid, she said. And, only 14 percent of the executive positions in Fortune 500 companies are held by women.

There has been progress, however, compared to opportunities for women in the past.

“Women weren’t allowed to participate in any capacity, throughout most of history —in terms of speaking, political involvement, certainly not leadership,” Wise said.

“In the American colonies, women didn’t own property and certainly didn’t vote,” she said.

“I do a lot of genealogy. Sometimes you don’t even find the woman’s first name in genealogy.”

Bernice Rooks was in the first class at the University of South Florida. She was student No. 18. After graduating, she taught for 29 years.

Census data from the 19th century shows blank spaces for occupations because women’s work was not recorded, Wise said.

Women’s role in the world of work has evolved over time, she said.

“By the 1820s, women were starting to go into the textile mills. Pay was about $3 a week.

By the early 19th century, women still were mostly involved in domestic services, laundry, cooking, cleaning, some teaching, nursing, she said.

But she noted, women’s opportunities have expanded significantly — even during her own lifetime.

“I remember when I was in school. They’d say, ‘Are you going to be a secretary, nurse or a teacher?’,” Wise said.

Madonna Jervis Wise has been giving talks about women’s progress at various venues during Women’s History Month.
(B.C. Manion)

Women now have more career choices. They can belong to civic clubs that once banned them. And, there are more opportunities in athletics and the military, Wise said.

For generations, East Pasco women have played pivotal roles in expanding opportunities for the entire community, Wise said. She singled out these seven:

• Irene Dobson: She came from a large family and picked cotton as a child. She taught school in Georgia and later in Dade City, and was a founding member the Head Start Early Childhood program in Pasco County. She has been very active in the community and has helped to organize African-American programs to teach new generations about the contributions of African Americans in Florida and across the country.

  • Bernice Rooks: Even at age 94, she remains active in the community. She was the valedictorian of the 1940 class at Zephyrhills High School. She worked at MacDill Air Force Base and was a school bus driver. When the University of South Florida opened in 1958, she enrolled, becoming student No. 18. She graduated and taught for 29 years. She is also known for the family business, the Crystal Springs Roller Skating Rink which opened in 1939 just before World War II. For 35 cents, you could skate all day.
  • Lorena Leatherman Neukom: Known as Neukie and her husband, Charles, opened the iconic Neukom’s Drug Store drugstore in 1921. The store closed in 2001. She was in charge of payroll, buying and keeping the books until she was 93. The drugstore was a popular place for politicians, snowbirds and local residents.
  • Rosemary Wallace Trottman: She was a widely known educator and researcher. She published “The History of Zephyrhills; 1821-1921.” She founded the Zephyrhills Historical Association. Her research revealed the effects of the railroad on the community and detailed the colonial years of East Pasco, in which the day-to-day activities of the settlers involved log-rolling, sugar-caning, subsistence farming and the beginning of unique institutions. Her father was a pioneer settler of Abbott Station.
  • Willa Rice: She has the distinction of being first and only female mayor of Zephyrhills. After being voted into office in 1958, she revamped the police department by firing two of the department’s five policemen and accepting the resignation of the police chief.
  • Margarita Romo: Her work to champion the causes of of farmworkers in Pasco County and around the state led to her being named to the Florida Civil Rights Hall of Fame in 2012 & Hispanic Woman of the Year. She is founder of Farmers Self-Help, Inc., and has worked diligently for more than 40 years to help farmworkers help themselves.
  • Jean McClain Murphy: Most recently she was the 2017 Zephyrhills Founder’s Day Grand Marshal. She was an educator with Pasco County Schools. Known for her beautiful singing voice, she taught taught “Glee Club” at the high school level for six years. She remains the singing director at her Rotary Club, and has served as choir director for five different choral groups at the First Baptist Church in Zephyrhills.

Revised March 22, 2017

Extension Office could get makeover

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The Pasco County Fair Association is seeking a state grant to help pay for a $1.1 million upgrade of the Pasco County Extension Office.

The Extension Office — which is supported by state and county funding — now leases space from the fair association.

But, the facility needs improvements and more space to expand its services.

The state grant could address both needs.

The Pasco County Commission, on Jan. 24, gave the fair association the go-ahead to seek a state grant to help cover the costs.

Whitney Elmore, director of Pasco County Extension, says more meeting space is essential for the Extension Office to expand its services.
(Richard K. Riley)

The state grant requires a 40 percent match. So, the county has agreed to provide about $243,000, and the fair association would cover about $197,000, if the grant is approved.

The fair association would be in charge of completing the project, which will include securing contractors and obtaining county permits.

While the fair association and members of the community are on the same page now, that wasn’t the case during an October stakeholders meeting.

At that point, the county was considering options that included moving Extension to the Stallings Building, at 15029 14th St., in Dade City, leaving it at the fairgrounds or finding another location.

Those supporting the fairgrounds’ location said Extension should stay because its activities are closely aligned to those of the Pasco County Fair. But, those supporting the Stallings Building said the community living near there need the additional programs that Extension could bring to the area.

“From that last meeting in October, we really learned a lot from the whole community,” Cathy Pearson, assistant county administrator for public services said, at a Jan. 19 follow-up stakeholder meeting.

“It opened our eyes to what that community really needs. There’s a need in both places,” Pearson said.

“So, we had the opportunity in the last 60 days to meet with the Pasco County Fair board, and really voice our concerns about the building, and stuff that needs to be improved here.

“We also talked about operations.

“You know what? They really listened. They really did,” Pearson said.

Margarita Romo is delighted that the county is looking into ways to offer programs at the Stallings Building, at 15029 14th St., in Dade City. The neighborhood needs more services, Romo said. Cathy Pearson, an assistant county administrator is in the background.

If the grant is approved, Extension would move temporarily to the Stallings Building.

The county also will work with the community to develop a business initiative, Pearson said.

“What kind of community programs can we put in there?” she said. “We have until March 6 to work on our plan,” Pearson said.

If the state grant is approved, there would be more meeting space, more classroom space, a renovated kitchen, a new greenhouse, upgraded parking and other improvements, said Whitney C. Elmore, the Extension director.

She said she based her renovation plan on information she gleaned from other Extension directors around the state.

More meeting space is critical to enable Extension to expand its programs, Elmore said.

An updated kitchen also is needed to offer classes that are in demand, but can’t be provided because of inadequate facilities and equipment, she said.

Enhanced office space, a reception area and other improvements also would be completed in the proposed project. The overall space would increase from roughly 3,000 square feet now to more than 5,200 square feet, once the improvements are done.

The fair association should find out in May or June whether the grant has been approved.

If it doesn’t come through, the county and fair association will work together to see what can be done with the approximately $440,000 that’s available, Pearson said.

But, Pearson added: “We’re going to be optimistic, though, we know we’re going to get the grant. That’s what we’re going to think.”

Margarita Romo, who spoke passionately at the October meeting about providing more services to the community near the Stallings Building, said she’s thrilled about the direction the fair association and county are taking.

“I’m just very excited,” Romo said. “Everybody is going to have what they need.

“We want the master gardeners to be happy. We want them to come and help us to learn how to do things better than we did in the past.

“Most important is the children,” Romo said. “All of those children make up Dade City, too. It would be wonderful to be able to interact with each other, to see that the county cares about us, the Extension Office cares about us, that all of the master gardeners care about us.

“Then, we could begin to close that gap because you know we’ve all been so separated in different ways. And, it’s time to come together,” Romo said.

Published February 1, 2017

Pasco Extension eyeing options for new home

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Nobody disputes that Pasco County’s Extension Office is in serious need of an upgrade.

But that’s where the consensus ends.

Extension now operates out of space owned by the Pasco County Fair Association, under an annual $17,000 lease, which is currently on a month-to-month basis.

But the office is too small and outdated to meet Extension’s needs.

The county wants to improve conditions for Extension and has been weighing various options.

It held a community stakeholder meeting on Oct. 12 at the Stallings Building, at 15029 14th St., in Dade

Whitney Elmore, director of Pasco County Extension, said she needs more space to enable her to create more programs to serve more Pasco County residents.
Richard K. Riley/photos                                 Whitney Elmore, director of Pasco County Extension, said she needs more space to enable her to create more programs to serve more Pasco County residents.

City.

The county owns that building and had been leasing it out, but that lease ended and the building is now vacant.

Moving Extension to the Stallings Building is one of the options the county is considering, said Cathy Pearson, an assistant county administrator.

The building, constructed in 1991, is in generally good condition and is immediately available. It would cost an estimated $146,000 to renovate and the project would take about 120 days, Pearson said.

Some advantages are that it has a kitchen and there’s space to do a community garden center.

Another option the county is considering would keep the program at the fairgrounds, with improvements made there.

“We’re on hold right now. We want to look and see what it would cost to do some renovations to that,” Pearson said. “We haven’t had a chance to work those figures out. We want facilities to take a hard look at that in the next month or so and come back with some figures.”

The county doesn’t own the fairgrounds, Pearson said.

The county also considered a third option to move Extension to the county’s  old Data Center building, but that option doesn’t appear to be viable, Pearson said.

The building, constructed in 1977, would cost an estimated $606,000 to renovate and would take about a year, Pearson said.

A fourth option would involve a public/private partnership, but none has materialized so far.

“Is there something that we’re not thinking of?” Pearson asked.

County staff needs more time to evaluate the fairgrounds option, Pearson said, noting that it just began exploring that idea earlier in the week.

She estimated it would take about 90 days to evaluate that option and suggested meeting with the stakeholders again after the holidays.

Margarita Romo is urging Pasco County to relocate the Extension Office to the Stallings Building. She said area children need more opportunities and this would help to provide them.
Margarita Romo is urging Pasco County to relocate the Extension Office to the Stallings Building. She said area children need more opportunities and this would help to provide them.

Reaction from the crowd was all over the map.

Some support upgrading the fairgrounds building and keeping Extension there.

Others want the county to move the program to the Stallings Building because it could serve to help lift up a neighborhood where people struggle to provide opportunities for their children.

Some noted potential safety issues, if Extension moves to the Stallings Building.

A comparison of police calls shows that the neighborhood had more than twice as many police calls than the fairgrounds location.

However, some people in the crowd noted that improved trust in law enforcement has led to a greater number of calls, and the Stallings Building is in a more populated area than the fairgrounds, which makes police calls more likely.

Others in the crowd questioned how long it would take to upgrade the fairgrounds, how much it would cost and how Extension would operate in the interim.

A question also was raised about why the county would want to invest taxpayer money in a property not owned by the county.

Other questions included whether the county would continue to pay rent on the fairgrounds property and how the arrangement would affect Extension’s ability to control scheduling and programs.

Whitney Elmore, the director of Extension, said the main goal to expand the programming that’s available.

“Our existing facilities don’t allow us to expand,” she said.

Some speakers suggested relocating Extension temporarily to the Stallings Building, until renovations can be made to the fairgrounds, at which time it would move back.

Others suggested the county consider using both sites.

Margarita Romo, founder of Farmworkers Self-Help, urged the county to move Extension to the Stallings Building and to keep it there. The community’s children need more opportunities, she said.

“Come here, where it’s a challenge,” Romo said. “Take it on.”

LeAnne John, president of the Pasco County Fair Assoc., asked for time to determine whether improvements can be made at the fairgrounds to keep Extension there.

Leanne John, president of the Pasco County Fair Association, wants Pasco County to gather more information on whether it would be possible to upgrade the fairgrounds' building, so Extension could remain there.
Leanne John, president of the Pasco County Fair Association, wants Pasco County to gather more information on whether it would be possible to upgrade the fairgrounds’ building, so Extension could remain there.

“I grew up with the fair,” said Cindy Waller, John’s mom, and also a former president of the association. “If you want to showcase your Extension Office, what better place?” she asked.

Another meeting with stakeholders is expected after the county has gathered more information.

Published Oct. 19, 2016

 

 

Celebrating San Antonio’s small-town charms

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When you’re young and restless, Betty Burke says, San Antonio is the sort of town you leave. It’s small. It’s sleepy. It’s a long way from anywhere.

It scarcely helps that its mascot is the Eastern Diamondback rattlesnake, the deadliest serpent in North America. More about that in a moment.

So you go. To college. To a fast-paced career. To bright lights and busy streets. To places that, famously, never sleep. And, you stay far, far away, reveling in the distance and big-city tumult … until something fundamental and ancient clicks inside, and you’re ready to rear children.

Betty Burke, head of the organizing committee for the San Antonio Rattlesnake Festival, is busy preparing for the festival’s two-day 50th anniversary celebration. Here, she is at last year’s festival, in front of the event T-shirt tent. (File Photo)
Betty Burke, head of the organizing committee for the San Antonio Rattlesnake Festival, is busy preparing for the festival’s two-day 50th anniversary celebration. Here, she is at last year’s festival, in front of the event T-shirt tent.
(File Photo)

Then you return, knowing, even as the town changes, in all the essential, pleasing ways, it will have remained the same. San Antonio still will offer, for your offspring, the simple treasures you couldn’t properly appreciate until you lived apart from them.

Burke knows this because she has lived it. She is among those bright-eyed lasses and lads whom the town methodically sends into the world who, upon review, find the entire leaving-home business unsatisfying.

It’s then, feeling the biological magnetism of bringing up offspring as they were brought up, they find their trajectory arcing toward home, toward its friendly faces, familiar rhythms and reassuring appeals to the senses.

All of that, and so much more, will be in play next week when, precisely on schedule on the third weekend of October, the little town’s biggest adventure — its 50th annual Rattlesnake Festival — is scheduled to unfold.

It is for such reassuring predictability that Burke became a human boomerang 35-odd years ago, returning — after two years at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh and career-related stopovers in Miami, Tampa and St. Petersburg — to the ancestral 40-acre plot off State Road 52. She arrived accompanied by husband Bruce Calvert, a since-retired Tampa Bay Times building maintenance manager, and, restored to her roots, they added to the family line.

Now, about the Rattlesnake Festival: Among the things you learn, fast, in small towns is that for good things to happen, everybody has to pitch in. So, even as responsibility for the autumnal celebration with the arresting premise has passed from one group to another — the Rotary Club of San Antonio, 15 members strong, has topped the masthead these last three years — making it happen remains very much a community effort.

The city makes sure adequate electrical power is installed in the park and dispatches maintenance supervisor John Weaver to troubleshoot. The town of St. Leo supplies a well-received pumpkin patch. Jay Vogel, whose dad was among the festival’s founders, coordinates volunteers.

More? Of course, more. Amy and John Greif conduct races of hand-carved wooden gopher tortoises (the live versions having become endangered and, therefore, off-limits). Eric Herrmann — because it’s not a legitimate San Antonio event without at least one Herrmann — provides a history presentation.

Of course, if there’s more than one Herrmann involved, it’s a certifiable “Major Event.” Nurseryman Steve Herrmann makes it so by employing his landscape trailer to fetch bleachers from the athletic complex and transport them to the City Park. Margarita Romo brings her Farmworkers Self-Help associates over from Tommytown to fix Mexican corn-on-the-cob.

And, to prove she doesn’t play favorites, Burke reserves the most thankless task of all for her spouse: Calvert manages the supply and good working order of the 30 portable toilettes.

“This is how small towns work,” Burke says, “and that’s how we like it.”

She says this even as outside forces surge San Antonio’s way — recently, city commissioners heard from Metro Development Group about the mini-city with the mega-lagoon planned for northeast Wesley Chapel — possibly threatening the town’s last-century ambiance.

On the upside, development has reduced rattlesnake encounters in the wild. Burke says she hasn’t seen one in eight years, at least. That could explain why there’s no longer a rattlesnake roundup at the Rattlesnake Festival.

Otherwise, Burke hopes the things she loves will resist outside influences. For instance, the corner post office is where information — OK, gossip — has been swapped, like, forever. Surely that will endure.

And the termite-ridden bulletin board that will be replaced with Rotary funds from the festival? It’s always papered over with announcements and opportunities; it was San Antonio’s Facebook long before there was Facebook.

These things, she says, are worth preserving. So, too, is the Rattlesnake Festival, even as it evolves, with food trucks replacing barbecue cookers and bounce houses substituting for carousels.

And now, another one is upon us.

Something happens the week before, Burke says. “You know how they talk about, ‘When the circus comes to town?’” We do. It’s anticipation, the pulse-quickening phenomenon that triggers the brain’s pleasure centers in what psychologists call “rosy prospection.”

Well, Burke adds, “When the tents start going up, the same thing happens in San Antonio.” How could it not? That thrill comes from knowing they’re about to be in the regional spotlight. Organizers expect 6,000 visitors to experience their small-town charm, and return home better for the experience.

For Burke, it all comes with a shot of melancholy. Even as the Rattlesnake Festival looks forward to its second half-century, this year’s event brings endings, and she is full of anticipation about that, too.

After three years as head of the organizing committee, she is stepping down. At a vibrant 73, with a confident gait and sparkling eyes, she nonetheless says, “It’s time for someone younger to take it on.”

She has her eye, eventually, on Brady Whalen, recent Pasco High alumnus, Pasco-Hernando State College freshman and all-around reliable go-fer. (Surprise, Brady.)

And, when the festival closes, so, too, will Park Place Antiques, the shop she has run with her sister and nephew in the old Bradshaw house across Main Street from the park.

About this she explains, simply, “There are other things I’d rather do.”

None of which will involve leaving San Antonio. Not for very long, anyway. After all, she’s been there and done that. This is one boomerang who’s never wants to make another extended round trip.

Tom Jackson, a resident of New Tampa, is interested in your ideas. To reach him, email .

Published October 5, 2016

Legislature votes to grant in-state tuition for undocumented students

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Legislation adopted by the Florida Legislature — and signed into law by Gov. Rick Scott on June 9  — will make college more affordable for undocumented workers.

The governor’s signature signals the end of an 11-year effort to allow undocumented workers who have completed at least three years in a Florida high school the opportunity to attend Florida state colleges at the in-state tuition rate.

The students, however, must enroll in the postsecondary school within 24 months of graduation.

Margarita Romo, executive director of Farmworkers Self-Help Inc., is pleased that the state legislature has passed a bill that will allow undocumented students to qualify for in-state tuition at Florida colleges. (File Photo)
Margarita Romo, executive director of Farmworkers Self-Help Inc., is pleased that the state legislature has passed a bill that will allow undocumented students to qualify for in-state tuition at Florida colleges.
(File Photo)

Margarita Romo, executive director of Farmworkers Self-Help Inc., in Dade City, played a major role in advocating for the change, and is pleased by the Legislature’s action.

“We’re very happy that we got what we got. It’s been a long time coming,” Romo said.

For years, she’s been taking undocumented students to Tallahassee to meet with lawmakers to explain why it is so important to allow them to attend Florida colleges without paying out-of-state tuition. Throughout that effort, Romo has repeated this refrain: “You can pick enough oranges to pay in-state tuition, but you cannot pick enough oranges to pay out-of-state tuition.”

With the adoption of this legislation, Florida will become the 20th state to offer some sort of in-state tuition to students brought to the United States illegally, according to The New York Times. Romo credited state House Speaker Will Weatherford’s support for playing a key role in gaining the legislation’s passage.

“The speaker of the house really knocked himself out,” said Romo, who was inducted last year into the Florida Civil Rights Hall of Fame for her work in advocating for the needs of migrant farmworkers and immigrants.

Romo took three young men in to meet the Wesley Chapel Republican to discuss the issue, and Weatherford told her that made an impression.

“I was actually in the hospital when the speaker of the house called me,” she said. “Of course, I didn’t answer the phone because I was in the hospital. I just had my fourth heart attack. He called and left a message saying he had a surprise.

“He said, ‘I just want you to know that I am really going to support in-state tuition.’ That certainly gave my heart a lift. And, he kept his word.”

When the legislation passed, Weatherford issued a statement that said lawmakers were making history.

“For many years, children who are here through no fault of their own have waited for the opportunity to fully realizing their dreams,” Weatherford said in the statement. “Today, the Florida Legislature put those dreams into reach.”

While pleased with the legislation, Romo would like to see an amendment in the future that would remove the provision that limits the in-state tuition to those who have graduated from a Florida high school within the past two years. The battle to make this change began more than a decade ago and the two-year limit leaves out too many people who simply will never be able to attend college, without the lower rate, Romo said.

Published June 11, 2014

See this story in print: Click Here

In Print: Germany looks to Pasco for that nude you

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Next month, Pasco County will be featured prominently on Germany’s second-largest television station, and it’s all thanks to the diverse — and pretty sizable — nudist community here.

Charlene Ierna, right, brings an alligator to Lake Como to help spark the interest of a German film crew on hand for a documentary airing in Europe next month. (Photo by Michael Hinman
Charlene Ierna, right, brings an alligator to Lake Como to help spark the interest of a German film crew on hand for a documentary airing in Europe next month. (Photo by Michael Hinman

A film crew spent a week in the area visiting places like Lake Como and Paradise Lakes, exploring the naked life outside of Europe. And it could mean a further European tourist boom to the county.

“This has been a niche kind of tourism for Pasco all these years,” retired firefighter and nudism activist Pam Oakes told reporter Michael Hinman. “There was an opportunity to reach out to Europe where there are 50 million naturists alone, and they speak English.”

The story of nudism was told from the perspective of German couple Peter and Luise Krause, and you can read all about what this trip could mean in this week’s print edition of The Laker. You can also read the online edition for free by clicking here.

As executive director of Farmworkers Self-Help Inc., and her own work as a community activist, Margarita Romo has spent years pushing to make in-state college tuition prices available for undocumented students. And with the single stroke of Gov. Rick Scott’s pen this past week, she finally achieved that goal, opening the door for higher education for more people who now call Florida home.

“We’re very happy that we got what we got,” Romo told reporter B.C. Manion. “It’s been a long time coming. You can pick enough orange to pay in-state tuition, but you cannot pick enough oranges to pay out-of-state tuition.”

You can read the full story in this week’s print edition of The Laker/Lutz News, or read our online print edition by clicking here.

Sam-I-Am may like green eggs and ham, but Blake High School freshman Cameron LeVine simply likes being green.

LeVine is taking on the roles of the Grinch and Yertle the Turtle in the upcoming New Tampa Players’ musical production of “Seussical.”

“I am so honored,” LeVine told reporter Michael Murillo. “The Grinch is my favorite out of the Dr. Seuss stories. I love how over the top mean he is, but not in a bad way.”

LeVine and his sister, who also is appearing in the play, hail from Lutz. They will join a cast of more than 30 people who will put this production on at CrossPointe Church of the Nazarene in Lutz beginning in August.

To read more about “Seussical” and LeVine’s role, check out this week’s print edition of the Lutz News. You also can read it free online 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.

Romo makes Florida Civil Rights Hall of Fame

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Margarita Romo will be the first to tell you that she is a flawed woman and that some people simply do not like her.

But the path she’s traveled led her to advocating for farm workers, immigrants and the poor. Her work has been recognized by Gov. Rick Scott, who selected her to be inducted into the Florida Civil Rights Hall of Fame.

The honor goes to people who have made significant contributions to improving the lives of minorities and all Florida citizens.

Margarita Romo sits in her office on Lock Street. She will be inducted into the Florida Civil Rights Hall of Fame on April 24. (Photo by B.C. Manion)

Romo, 76, founded Farmworkers Self-Help in Dade City, a nonprofit organization that has focused on education, advocacy and addressing the needs of migrant farmworkers and immigrants for more than three decades.

The organization helps with immigration issues, gives bread to the poor, advocates for legislative changes and seeks to improve conditions for the impoverished. It has been particularly active in seeking improvements for Tommytown, a community northwest of downtown Dade City.

“It wasn’t anything that I purposely went out to do,” Romo said. Her involvement began when she was asked to translate church services at migrant camps.

Her commitment grew from there.

Romo said she didn’t have a strategic or systematic method for helping people. She said they came to her with a need and she explored ways to help them.

As time went on, Romo became more knowledgeable and established more relationships — making it possible for her to help more people.

“In my wildest dreams I never thought I’d be doing this, especially with the history that I had. It seemed like there was just disaster after disaster,” Romo said.

***

Romo was born in Texas, and at age 3, her mother died. Her father placed her in an orphanage and sent her three brothers to another orphanage. They stayed there a couple of years until he remarried.

“I went in as Margarita and I came out as Margaret,” Romo said, and she was no longer speaking Spanish.

She joined the convent when she was 15 and left two years later with the hopes of mending a strained relationship with her stepmother, which never happened.

Romo has been divorced three times, and along the way she had six children.

She believes her personal failings and the challenges she’s faced have helped her become more compassionate.

“We all have issues, and we’ll always have issues. There’s no one who is ever going to be perfect, but I think knowing your own imperfections causes you to be more understanding about others,” Romo said.

She also understands despair.

She was so despondent after her first divorce that she attempted to take her own life, she said. She’d taken some pills and someone found her — otherwise, her life would have ended then, she said.

“I’m a real miracle, walking,” Romo said.

That experience made her realize how important it is for people to seek counseling when they need it, Romo said. “I’m a real champion about mental health.”

She also understands poverty.

***

Romo needed help after one of her divorces, and a woman from a migrant camp understood that need.

“I’ll never forget — she gave me some of her food stamps,” Romo said.

While she is being honored for her work, Romo is quick to give credit to those who have helped her to help others.

“It’s not about me,” Romo said. “If it hadn’t been for those undocumented farmworkers, we wouldn’t be here. They’re the ones who walked with me. They went to Washington, D.C. They went to Tallahassee.”

She also said mentors she’s met have helped her to be more effective.

Romo views herself as an activist, but uses a different approach than many young organizers whom she sees as being more aggressive and eager to take on the world.

When she goes to Tallahassee to advocate for changes, she said she reads scripture to lawmakers and prays for God to guide them.

“We need God to go in front of us,” Romo said. “We need to do battle with the Bible in our hand. I really believe that God has to be called in, and I believe God hasn’t been called into the middle of all of the crises. God has got to be in the middle of everything we do.”

Sometimes, she feels conflicted.

“Being a pastor and being an activist organizer is just a real difficult place. You have to constantly forgive, and at the same time you’re in the middle of a battle,” said Romo, who became an ordained minister 10 years ago.

She was reaching out spiritually to children in her community even before she was ordained: “I started telling parents, if you want to bring me your children, we’re going to have children’s church on Sunday morning. You can go wash. You can go to the flea market. We’ll take care of the children.”

***

Romo is being inducted into the Florida Civil Rights Hall of Fame on April 24 alongside Harry T. and Harriette V. Moore and Judge James B. Sanderlin.

They were among the nominees the Florida Commission on Human Relations recommended to Scott.

“As Florida marks its 500 year anniversary, we want to honor individuals who have stood for equality in our state’s history even in the face of adversity. These champions of freedom have paved the way for equal rights among all Floridians,” Scott said, in a Feb. 27 release.

Romo said she’s not really sure what the induction means.

“If they really want to do something, then give us (Florida) KidCare (low-cost or free health insurance) for legal immigrant children,” she said.

She’d also like to have a conversation with lawmakers about the negative impacts she believes zero tolerance has on kids. She also thinks the state should allow immigrants who arrived here before age 16 and who have no criminal record to attend Florida colleges at in-state tuition rates.

“You can pick enough oranges to pay in-state tuition, but you cannot pick enough oranges to pay out-of-state tuition,” Romo said. “That’s just the bottom line.”

Romo could go on and on about injustices that need to be addressed and opportunities that need to be offered.

She tackles what she can in Tallahassee, in the community and her office, a humble white house on Lock Street.

***

Photographs on the walls of her office serve as constant reminders of the work that remains.

One photo shows a smiling girl who died before she reached age 5 because she could not get the medical care she needed quickly enough.

Another photo shows an old man standing in a dumpster. He’d rummage around wherever he could to find cans he could sell, Romo said. When he died, it cost $800 to buy his ashes so his life could be honored.

There’s also a photo of a young man who died from AIDS and another of a man who died from prostate cancer.

Romo said she remembers those people when she thinks about the work she needs to do.

She also thinks about tragic things that have happened because of dangerous working conditions. She thinks of workers who have “lost their eyesight because of pesticide” or “fallen off ladders and broke their back and got no compensation.”

Romo aims to help people help themselves.

“We need to think for ourselves,” Romo said. “If we’re really about teaching people to be free, then you’ve got to give them the tools to do that. … To help us learn to think for ourselves is where the real work comes in and the real love,” said Romo, whose organization encourages students to attain their GED, enroll in college and seek job training.

She said she feels blessed to do the work she does.

“When you’re a community organizer and you help organize your community, then that community grows and it becomes a whole different place and everybody who received the benefit of that growth takes it with them and plants it somewhere else, and it never stops growing.”

No matter how dark things can get at times, Romo hangs on.

“Thirty-three years and we’re still here.”