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Rodney B. Cox Elementary School

Chalk Talk 01/26/2022

January 25, 2022 By Mary Rathman

Family Fest & Health Fair
Pasco-Hernando State College (PHSC) will host a free Family Fun Festival and Health Fair at the school’s New Port Richey campus, 10230 Ridge Road, on Feb. 5 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Festivities will include music, food, campus tours, children’s activities, crafts, games, prizes and giveaways.

Information on PHSC programs, financial aid, scholarships, student activities and athletics also will be provided; and application fees for college admission will be waived for prospective students in attendance.

Students under the age of 18 interested in applying at PHSC must be present along with a parent or guardian.

The free event, sponsored by the Musunuru family, will be hosted in recognition of Pasco County’s Rao Musunuru, M.D. Day, established on Feb. 1, 2014 by the Pasco County Commission to honor the nationally renowned, Hudson-based cardiologist and his many initiatives to support community health.

Organizations providing health care, mental health services, diet and fitness programs, or any service related to community wellness can reserve a free table for the event’s Health Fair online at tinyurl.com/ya6cfur2.

To register for the event, visit PHSC.edu/about/events.

Open House
Land O’ Lakes Christian School, 5105 School Road in Land O’ Lakes, will host an open house on Jan. 30 from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.

The school encompasses PK3 through 12th grade.

It has full accreditation, affordable tuition, character training, college prep classes, fine arts, and athletics.

For information, call 813-995-9040.

Student achievements
These students were named to the fall 2021 Dean’s List at their respective schools:

  • Madison Nichols, of Odessa, Nazareth College, Rochester, New York
  • Laurie Schlosser, of Land O’ Lakes, University of Wisconsin Oshkosh
  • Timothy Williams, of Lutz, Wheaton College (Illinois)

Afterschool craft
New River and Hugh Embry library staff will visit Rodney B. Cox Elementary School, 37615 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., in Dade City, on Feb. 2 from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., for an afterschool craft.

For information, call the New River Library at 813-788-6375.

Flexible-start classes
Registration for Hillsborough Community College’s (HCC) spring flex-start semester is underway, with an offering of more than 1,000 classes.

The flex-start schedule offers a variety of start dates, times and modalities, including on campus, online, and live online, to ensure that students have the flexibility they need.

Students can earn credits applicable to any of HCC’s associate in arts and associate in science degrees, college credit and postsecondary adult vocational credits.

Tuition assistance also is available.

Flex-start semester dates are: Feb. 7 (12-week classes); Feb. 14 (10-week classes and five-week classes); March 8 (eight-week classes); and March 29 (five-week classes).

For information, visit HCCfl.edu/flexstart.

Scholarship applications
Supervisor of Elections Brian E. Corley is accepting applications for the Florida State Association of Supervisors of Elections Scholarship (FSASE).

Applicants must be at least a junior in college; be enrolled or accepted as a full-time student in a senior college or university in Florida, and have at least a C average or above for the previous year; have been a resident of Florida for two years; and demonstrate a financial need.

Two letters of recommendation, one from a college or university last attended or graduated from, and one from a personal reference should accompany the application.

The applicant also must be a registered voter.

Applications, as well as additional requirements, guidelines and eligibility information, can be found online at PascoVotes.gov, by selecting the 2022 FSASE Scholarship Application under the Newsworthy tab on the homepage.

Deadline for getting applications to the supervisor’s office is March 11.

Applicants will personally be interviewed by Corley, who will then select one finalist from Pasco County for consideration by the FSASE Scholarship Committee.

The association will award four $1,200 scholarships statewide to a political science/public or business administration or journalism/mass communications major.

She had just the right touch, and left a lasting impression

October 12, 2021 By B.C. Manion

Some people know when to listen, know when to help and know when a great big hug is precisely what’s needed.

That was Kelly Boyd.

At least that’s how the people who knew Boyd describe the 52-year-old Dade City woman — who died unexpectedly.

A candlelight vigil for Kelly Boyd, organized by her loved ones, brought people to share the joy of having known the 52-year-old and to grieve the pain of her sudden death. (Courtesy of Rodney B. Cox Elementary School staff)

Boyd was affectionately known around the school and community as “Miss Kelly.”

The Dade City woman worked for 31 years as the clinic assistant at Rodney B. Cox Elementary School, at 37615 Martin Luther King Blvd., in Dade City.

Her unexpected death on July 8 was met by disbelief and sadness.

Miriam Cosme, a data entry operator at the Dade City school, said Miss Kelly treated every child who came through her clinic as if he or she was her own. She knew the particular needs of individual children, Cosme said.

If a family needed an extra bag of food for the weekend, or if a child or a child’s brother or sister needed a pair of shoes, Miss Kelly met that need.

“She was our go-to person if we needed to find out anything about a kid or a family,” added Cosme, who knew Miss Kelly for 15 years. “If she didn’t have the answer, she would be on the phone making contact with parents to find out answers.”

Karen Lamar, the school’s bookkeeper, said she met Miss Kelly six years ago and they became instant friends.

These words on the marquee at Rodney B. Cox Elementary, in Dade City, express the sense of loss the school community feels at the unexpected death of Kelly Boyd, a clinic assistant at the school for 31 years.

“Kelly was the best hugger; I know the kids and adults loved how she would squeeze you and make everything OK,” Lamar said.

She made sure that kids were fed, clothed and that they had the things they needed.

She was uber-connected throughout the school and the community, her friends say.

“Kelly was a walking directory for our school family. Whenever you needed a phone number or to get in touch with a family, she knew that number, and knew where they lived and most of the family members,” Lamar said.

Principal Karen Natal said people gravitated to Miss Kelly because they knew she genuinely cared.

She had a remarkable memory, Natal said, noting Miss Kelly recalled not only names and faces, she also remembered people’s stories.

She would connect with them and check in on them, Natal said.

“She was just a safe person to talk to,” the principal added.

Even after students left Cox to go on to middle and high school, they would drop by the elementary school to talk with Miss Kelly.

Despite the integral role she played in many people’s lives and the extra hours she voluntarily gave to address others’ needs, Miss Kelly was not one to call attention to her good works or seek any kind of credit for what she did, Natal said.

This poster, including an array of photos, was created to honor Kelly Boyd. It is surrounded by candles, during a vigil at the school.

But the community knew.

And, when the school posted news of Miss Kelly’s death on its Facebook page, dozens responded with posts— many mentioning her kindness and compassion.

Courtney Wynn Loss couldn’t quite take it in.

“What!!! OMG this is so sad and heartbreaking,” she posted. “I’ve known Miss Kelly for years. She was/is so amazing and my daughter loved her.”

The clinic assistant’s loved ones organized a candlelight vigil at the school, and the principal asked the Pasco County School Board to rename Building No. 19 on Cox’s campus as the Kelly Boyd Center.

The building seemed a fitting choice, since Miss Kelly worked there for years and the building is used to offer both student and community services, Natal said.

In the letter to the school board, Natal described Miss Kelly’s contributions.

She served as community liaison for the Thomas Promise food program, she coordinated the East Pasco Toys for Tots and she collaborated with the community on the school’s clothes closet.

Beyond providing practical help, she was encouraging.

After Natal finished addressing  the school board, at its Oct. 5 meeting, Allen Altman, the school board’s chairman said he would be honored to step outside of his role as chairman, so he could make the motion to grant the request.

“I have been volunteering at that school for decades, and as a board member, I’ve been there 15 years, and I can absolutely verify everything that you said about Miss Kelly,” Altman said to Natal.

“She meant the world to that school and it meant a bunch to her, too,” Altman said.

Published October 13, 2021

Parade celebrates Stanley Burnside’s ‘Big 100’

June 2, 2020 By Doug Sanders

There was a big drive-by parade on May 23 in Dade City, to honor Stanley Burnside on his 100th birthday.

Stanley Burnside took it all in, as he turned 100 — and the community turned out to celebrate with him — from a social distance. COVID-19 did not stop them from letting Burnside know they appreciate him. (Doug Sanders)

Those gathered were there to celebrate the century-mark of a man who served as the Pasco County Clerk & Comptroller. Both he and his father held that post. They served a combined 68 years — for a total of 17 consecutive terms.

Stanley Burnside’s life spanned a century in history ranging from Model-T Fords to the COVID-19 pandemic.

He was just 7 when he saw men lay down the bricks on 12th Street to the Dade City Grammar School, now known as Rodney B. Cox Elementary School.

In 1937, he marched with the graduates of Pasco High School.

He was in the Army Air Forces during World War II — serving in the jungles of New Guinea and in the Philippines, on the Island of Corregidor.

People lined up to wish Stanley Burnside, the former Pasco County Clerk & Comptroller, a happy 100th birthday.

He was a family man. He had three children, six grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.

He worked as an accountant for James Emmitt Evans, giving him a front-row view into the makings of one of the largest bulk orange juice concentrate distributors in Florida’s history.

He coached Little League, too.

Over the span of 100 years, he left a huge imprint, evidenced through 200 tributes to him, posted on Facebook.

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 June 03, 2020

Police officers help kids start school year in style

August 7, 2019 By Brian Fernandes

Eleven-year-old Jayden Boykin made his way from one aisle to the next, as he went shopping for school clothes with his new buddy – Officer Troy Fulford of the Dade City Police Department.

The police officer and fifth-grader were on a mission, to make sure Jayden will look fashionable for his first day back at Rodney B. Cox Elementary School.

Fourteen-year-old James Walker was offered tips for new school clothes from Sgt. Lorenzo Moreno of the Dade City Police Department during the Summer Shop with a Cop event. The Aug. 2 program allowed the new freshman to pick his own gear at the Dade City Walmart before starting his first year at Pasco High School. (Brian Fernandes)

The pair was among those taking part in the second annual Summer Shop with a Cop event that brought 18 local kids and Dade City police officers together to select new school gear, on Aug. 2.

At the Dade City Walmart on U.S. 301, the police officers pushed shopping carts — following the lead of eager children ready to select clothing, to their liking, off the shelves.

Members of the Dade City Youth Council and the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office Explorers also teamed up with the officers in helping the students shop.

Victoria Conn is part of the Youth Council and helped kids comb through the clothing.

“I think it really helps – being able to show the kids, ‘Yeah, you’re being partnered with a cop,’” the 17-year-old said. “It really breaks a lot of boundaries, and I think it’s good to be able to have that interaction.”

The off-duty officers volunteered to help out at the shopping extravaganza.

Jayden Boykin stocked up on a new wardrobe of clothes with the help of Officer Troy Fulford of the Dade City Police Department. The Shop with a Cop event on Aug. 2 helped the 11-year-old pick his own fashion style before returning to Rodney B. Cox Elementary School this fall.

Sgt. Lorenzo Moreno said he was happy to be there. It gave him the chance to make friends with James Walker, 14, a Pasco High freshman.

“He’s the boss,” the sergeant said, with a smile. “Wherever he wants to go, whatever he wants to get – I’m here for him.”

The shopping experience initially was suggested by the Youth Council, after they found out about it being done in other Florida towns.

Since last year, the Youth Council and the Explorers have been working with the police department to help Dade City students.

Kids are recommended for assistance by teachers who may notice their unmet needs.

Each event sees a new round of kids being helped with shopping.

Lt. Brian Uppercue of the Dade City Police Department said the experience helps to build a good relationship between students and law enforcement.

Because the program gives youths a chance to meet officers in a different environment, it’s also believed that it helps them feel more at ease to approach officers in various situations.

Three Shop with a Cop events are held each year, supported by funds from the Youth Council and the police department.

In the spring, kids get to shop for school supplies. During the holidays, they can buy gifts for family members, and in the fall, they get to pick out new school clothes.

Timothy Rayford was excited to pick out his superhero attire with the help of Kayla Contreras, a Dade City Youth Council member. The first-grader was one of 18 youths chosen for the Summer Shop with a Cop event on Aug. 2.

“We want them to feel positive about what they’re wearing and build that self-esteem on their first day of school,” Uppercue said.

Dade City Mayor Camille Hernandez helps to oversee the Youth Council and to organize the Shop with a Cop events.

Besides helping the students, it also helps their parents, Hernandez said, noting that it reduces the financial pressures they face.

“Parents love that we do this,” the mayor said. “The word has spread and it’s been a very positive reception.”

Another opportunity to engage with kids will be the upcoming ‘Cop-sicle’ event, Hernandez mentioned. The Youth Council and the police department plan to hand out popsicles within the Dade City community.

Meanwhile, it won’t be long now until the students get to show off their new school fashions. The new school year starts in Pasco County on Aug. 12.

Published August 07, 2019

Market Place at Hibiscus Park prepares for new season

August 29, 2018 By Brian Fernandes

The Market Place at Hibiscus Place in Dade City will be marking its fifth season, with its first event this year set for Sept. 1.

The market is held on the first Saturday of each month, September through May, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Narvel and Debby Pettis, of Trilby, had a booth featuring their Alpaca farm, during a previous Market Place at Hibiscus Park. (Courtesy of Richard K. Riley)

The event is free, and both people and pets are welcome.

Shoppers will have plenty of choices, said Lucy Avila, event coordinator.

“We have a variety of vendors,” said Avila.

“We could be as many as 25 to 30.”

Some of the items that will be available for purchase include soaps, birdbaths and feeders, honey, fresh produce and jewelry.

Patrons also can purchase cookies and scones, enjoy Italian ices and hot dogs, and sample various wines.

Guests can stroll through the park, relax at picnic benches, listen to music — or step up to perform for others with the help of a karaoke machine.

From left, a shopper checks out the scents of various soaps at the Dade City Soap Company booth, during a previous Market Place at Hibiscus Park. Also shown, Marilyn O’ Rourke, of Dade City (white blouse), and Lucy Avila, coordinator of the market, as well as Veronica Boise, of Dade City, and her daughter, Lorraine Boise, owners of Dade City Soap Company.

“It’s a hometown feeling because Dade City is that,” Avila said.

All proceeds will go toward the Dade City Youth Council, which will be taking an active role at The Market Place.

Camille Hernandez, Mayor of Dade City, oversees the Youth Council and has been instrumental in helping its members broaden their horizons.

The Youth Council has had the opportunity to visit City Hall, where members have been able to learn about different aspects of government and how to officiate meetings.

The group also has shown movies to students at Rodney B. Cox Elementary School.

Avila hopes that the event will encourage patrons to attend other Dade City events, including the Festival of Christmas parade, during the holidays, and the Kumquat Festival, which is held each spring.

For more information, call Avila at (352) 424-4972 or email her at .

The Market Place at Hibiscus Park
Where:
Seventh Street & Bougainvillea Avenue, Dade City, FL 33525 (In front of the Dade City Garden Club)
When: First Saturday of the month, from September through May, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Cost: Admission is free
Details: Vendors will be selling goods, food will be available for purchase and there will be entertainment at this pet-friendly event.
Info: Contact Lucy Avila at (352) 424-4972 or .

Published August 29, 2018

Stitching together a life’s big moments

December 7, 2016 By Tom Jackson

Perhaps it was how she was brought up, or maybe it’s just in her genes, but Sherry Lee Steiert never was interested in being a poster child for polio.

Never mind that she’d have made a good one. Struck when she was just 7 years old and paralyzed for a time from the waist down, Steiert survived to create a life that was exceptionally normal — a marriage, four lively children, a career or three — despite having to get along on uncooperative Mutt & Jeff legs that she herself calls “the shriveled one,” with the brace and the boot, and “the heavy one.”

And dance? Oh, yes, she danced. “I did my share,” she says, triumphantly. More on that in a moment.

Betty Burke, left, and her friend, Sherry Lee Steiert, show off the quilt that Steiert made that will help raise money to battle polio. (Tom Jackson/Photo)
Betty Burke, left, and her friend, Sherry Lee Steiert, show off the quilt that Steiert made that will help raise money to battle polio.
(Tom Jackson/Photo)

Life turns on moments. A handful of fateful seconds here. A chance encounter there. Early on, Steiert’s life pivoted on at least a couple.

There was that Saturday morning in 1949. She was 7, hurrying down one of the side streets by Rodney B. Cox Elementary on her way to a dance recital in which her friend, Suzanne Williams (of the downtown Dade City department store family), was performing, when she was sideswiped by a boy on a bicycle.

He struck her, and she went down. Within a day or so, she ached powerfully in her lower joints, and a fever came on. Then, “My leg just gave way,” she says. Soon she was at Tampa General Hospital being treated for polio.

The collision and the onset of the disease are most likely pure coincidence, she concedes; polio was not transmitted by random acts of two-wheeler mayhem. But, it stands as one of those incalculable before-and-after episodes.

Steiert also remembers a brother enduring a bout of fever and aches only a week or so earlier, then bouncing back like nothing happened. Suppose the boy on the bike missed her. Did the crash somehow weaken her at a crucial passage?

That’s how it was with polio in the fear-soaked days before Jonas Salk’s miraculous vaccine stopped it cold in 1955. Some got fevers and aches, and were back playing in a week. Others got fevers and aches, and wound up in massive iron lungs.

“That’s what I remember from being in the hospital,” Steiert says. “The boy in the iron lung. That made an impression on me. No matter how bad it was for me, I was lucky. There were others worse off.”

Doctors recommended exercise, which is how the family moved from its San Antonio acreage to Sarasota, so Sherry could attend a school with a pool.

“I became a duck,” she says. “Third and fourth grade, swimming is what I did.”

Eventually, they returned to the family’s ranch land east of town, where Lake Jovita — the golf course and gated community — sprawls now. Then, it was 1,800 acres of citrus and wildlife, and more than enough to keep the second family of a locally legendary frontiersman busy. Alas, William E. Lee died when they were young, leaving not much money and absolutely no time for feeling sorry for themselves.

Which is how 14-year-old Sherry Lee found herself zipped into a gown of her mother’s design and stitching, on the elbow of her younger brother, practically shoved through the door of the Dade City Garden Club hall for a soirée remembered as the “sub-deb ball of 1956.”

She didn’t want to be there; she especially didn’t want her brother for a date. But, never leaving the house means missing the moments on which life changes, and if she’d stayed home, she’d have missed this one:

Phil Williams, Suzanne’s brother, future proprietor of Williams Lunch on Limoges, striding across the floor and asking her to dance.

“He was so good looking!” Steiert says.

“I remember it well,” Williams says. “Suzanne was Sherry’s champion. I’m sure she encouraged me. But, I probably would have done it anyway. It was the right thing to do.”

Today, the episode decorates Steiert’s memory like a flower pressed in a book: delicate and precious, a reminder of a moment that was full of life and beauty.

On a recent morning on the porch of Betty Burke’s antiques shop, these two events stood out from a lifetime when sometimes just getting out of bed was a major accomplishment.

Add a marriage — to a lumber mill worker and house builder, long since deceased — the rearing of four children, careers with Saint Leo University and the University of Florida/Pasco County Extension Office (where, self-taught, she designed the web page), and you have plenty of life for someone with two good legs.

There’s more. Not a closing chapter, by any means, but, deep into her story, a plot twist. Sherry Lee Steiert has become a quilter. She does it to fill up her days, she says, and they go to family and friends. As gifts. You simply can’t buy one.

But, you could win one. As Steiert says, she never has been one much for the cause of eradicating polio. “I contracted it so early, it’s part of who I am,” she says. Maybe she simply doesn’t want to be reminded that her timing was bad.

Still, her friend Betty is a Rotarian, and persistent, and Rotary International is bent on stamping out polio where it still lurks in the world. Bad stuff travels in this modern world, she notes, and if an infected someone from a Third World country comes in contact with one of the thousands of American children unvaccinated on their parents’ say-so, what then?

Like Rotarians everywhere, then, the San Antonio chapter is raising money for the cause. And next week, at the club’s Dec. 13 meeting, two of Sherry Lee Steiert’s quilts will be raffled off. See them at RotarySanAntonioFL.org, ask a club member, or call (352) 588-4444 to obtain tickets.

Maybe this, too, will be a moment: a simple act of selflessness that changes everything. Buying a ticket wouldn’t just affirm this late-coming poster child’s decision to join the fray. In the words of Phil Williams, it would be the right thing to do.

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

Published December 7, 2016

 

Brick roads preserve a sense of history

May 25, 2016 By Doug Sanders

When four people tripped and fell during Dade City’s Church Street Christmas celebration in 2000, the incident triggered an unexpected outcome.

The strollers were enjoying a holiday outing when they stumbled across holes in the street where asphalt paving had worn through to the brick street beneath.

This company logo is frequently found on the brick streets in Dade City. In 1933, the Southern Clay Manufacturing Company had contracts with Miami, Jacksonville, St. Augustine and St. Petersburg. At least 80,000 bricks were made daily for streets. The company also made fire and chemical bricks, clay sewer pipe, various construction bricks and telephone line conduit. (Photos courtesy of Doug Sanders)
This company logo is frequently found on the brick streets in Dade City. In 1933, the Southern Clay Manufacturing Company had contracts with Miami, Jacksonville, St. Augustine and St. Petersburg. At least 80,000 bricks were made daily for streets. The company also made fire and chemical bricks, clay sewer pipe, various construction bricks and telephone line conduit.
(Photos courtesy of Doug Sanders)

The city’s director of public works, Ron Ferguson, reported at a January 2001 City Commission meeting that no one was injured.

But, what to do about the holes in the street?

According to records obtained from Angie Guy, Dade City’s city clerk, a consensus was reached.
The city’s historic preservation advisory board recommended that city crews “strip asphalt from Church Avenue” and make repairs with salvaged brick and new brick, if necessary, “to significantly enhance historic preservation in Dade City.”

The City Commission agreed to the brick restoration “after considerable discussion and on recommendation of staff.”

Removing the asphalt without damaging the bricks would prove to be no easy task, according to a St. Petersburg Times report from some 16 years ago.

“With all the work that has to be done just on a daily basis, we did not think we could do it,” Ferguson told the newspaper.

On April 5, 2001, the city started a “pilot program” with five city employees, a Bobcat Skill loader, a Caterpillar backhoe, a 10-yard dump truck, and some improvised hand tools.

In his progress report to the City Commission, Ferguson indicated that a 2-inch layer of asphalt had been cleared on Church Avenue from Eighth Street to 17th Street.

Work was done “after 9:30 a.m., to allow school traffic time to leave the area,” Ferguson’s report said.

Stanley Burnside, born in 1920, and his father Archie Burnside, served a combined total of 17 terms as the Pasco County Clerk of the Circuit Court. The younger Burnside graduated from Pasco High School in 1937.
Stanley Burnside, born in 1920, and his father Archie Burnside, served a combined total of 17 terms as the Pasco County Clerk of the Circuit Court. The younger Burnside graduated from Pasco High School in 1937.

Additional equipment was needed to clean “fine pieces of crushed asphalt and dirt” by using a tractor equipped with a water tank and the city’s street sweeper.

It cost a total of $4,133.78 to expose the layer of red bricks that had been laid more than 70 years ago.

Each one of the bricks was from the Southern Clay Manufacturing Company, in Robbins, Tennessee.

Ninety-six-year-old Stanley Burnside lives near Church Avenue, which is the only street in Pasco County designated a national historic site.

To him, the brick streets bring back memories of a different era when people were riding in Model-T Fords and Warren G. Harding was the 29th President of the United States.

On a recent Sunday afternoon, Burnside agreed to walk the two blocks from his townhome in downtown Dade City to the corner of 12th Street and Meridian Avenue.

Standing at the same spot as he did in 1927, he is photographed with Rodney B. Cox Elementary School over his right shoulder.

“I was 7 years old, but I still remember them laying down the brick by hand,” Burnside recalled.

From Meridian Avenue heading north, the brickwork was laid without any mortar and was headed straight to what was then the Dade City Grammar School, at the far end of 12th Street.

Burnside often walks past this same corner on his daily walks, which sometimes gives him time to think about the brick streets in Dade City.

“You might say they last forever,” says Burnside, who celebrated his 96th birthday on May 23.

Over the years, maintaining the brick streets has posed its share of challenges.

City Manager Ben Bolan described some of them in a 1988 interview with The Tampa Tribune.

Because of the difficulty in finding skilled labor to do the maintenance work, Bolan recommended that Fifth Street and 10th Street be repaved, due to sections of those brick streets being uneven, creating a potential hazard, if drivers didn’t slow down.

But, the consensus of the City Commission was the same then as it was for Church Avenue.

“(The Commission’s) general philosophy is that there will never be another brick street paved over in Dade City,” Bolan was quoted by the newspaper 28 years ago.

And, to this day, there hasn’t been.

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

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The “Let’s Do Good Memorial Day Concert” is scheduled for May 28 from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m., at Land O’ Lakes Heritage Park, 5401 Land O’ Lakes Blvd., to benefit the Tunnel to Towers Foundation. Tunnel to Towers provides mortgage-free homes to Gold Star and fallen first responder families with young children, and builds custom-designed smart homes for catastrophically injured veterans and first responders. The foundation is committed to eradicating veteran homelessness and aiding the victims of major U.S. disasters. The event will include vendors, gifts, a Forget-Me-Not Garden, and more. Entertainment will be provided by Fred Chandler, Charles Goodwin, Cruz Er Mac, Mike Henderson, and Travis White. Special guests include Congressman Gus Bilirakis and State Sen. Danny Burgess. Rain date is Sept. 10. … [Read More...] about 05/28/2022 – Memorial Day Concert

05/28/2022 – Seafood Festival-CANCELLED

The North Tampa Bay Chamber’s Summer Seafood Festival is scheduled for May 28 from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., at the Tampa Premium Outlets, 2300 Grand Cypress Drive in Lutz, between the outlets and At Home. There will be seafood, crab races, a kids zone, live bands, craft beer, a local market, a Nautical Art Show, and a crab claw-eating contest. For information, call 727-674-1464. … [Read More...] about 05/28/2022 – Seafood Festival-CANCELLED

06/04/2022 – D-Day reenactment

The Zephyrhills Museum of Military History, 39444 South Ave., in Zephyrhills, will present “D-Day, Invasion of Normandy” on June 4 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. There will be an opening ceremony at 11 a.m. The event will include skydivers, reenactors, World War II veterans, and WWII vehicles/aircraft on display. Visit zmmh.org/events, for additional information. … [Read More...] about 06/04/2022 – D-Day reenactment

06/11/2022 – Community cleanup

Save the date: A Dade City Community Cleanup is scheduled for June 11 from 8 a.m. to noon. The city will provide two garbage trucks and one roll-off to dispose of household waste. Residents will be able to drop off unwanted items at three locations. Volunteers also are needed and can register online at DadeCityFl.com. More information will be forthcoming. … [Read More...] about 06/11/2022 – Community cleanup

06/13/2022 – Vacation Bible School

The Church at Myrtle Lake, 2017 Riegler Road in Land O’ Lakes, will host the Spark Studios Vacation Bible School from June 13 to June 17 from 9 a.m. to noon. The event is free for children of age who have completed kindergarten through sixth grade. Registration is open online at MyrtleLake.org. For information, call 813-949-5516. … [Read More...] about 06/13/2022 – Vacation Bible School

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22 May

SUNDAY MORNING SPORTS: Wyatt Deaton, 11, of Wesley Chapel, swam 2 miles and raised $5,900 for charity at the Swim Across America fundraising event. Great picture @MikeCamunas! Full story ---> https://buff.ly/3lktCIv

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21 May

Go Pasco — Pasco County’s public bus service — is planning to use technology to enable riders to get up-to-date information to track buses in real time https://buff.ly/3aafXS6

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21 May

What an AMAZING transformation! 💫 The Block is housed in a historic building that was an auto dealership in the 1920s. Now, its a venue space, a brewhouse, a restaurant, a CrossFit gym and more ---> https://buff.ly/3PsLvTo

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