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Saint Leo

Sister Helen turns 105

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Sister Helen Lange, a member of the Benedictine Sisters of Florida in Saint Leo, celebrated her 105th birthday on Sept. 28.

There were 75 guests at the party, including three relatives, according to Cheryl Chadick, development assistant for the Benedictine Sisters of Florida.

The relatives who came to the party were Sister Helen’s cousin, Joan Schmidt, from Brandon; and, her niece, Monica “Shotsie” Keyes, who traveled from Salem, Virginia. Keyes was accompanied by her daughter, Stefanie Martin, who is Sister Helen’s grand-niece.

Sister Mary David Hydra escorts Sister Helen Lange to her 105th birthday cake, as Sister Roberta Bailey, Prioress of the Benedictine Sisters of Florida assists. Sister Helen resides at the Heritage Park Health and Rehabilitation Center, and the other sisters live at the Holy Name Monastery in St. Leo. (Courtesy of Richard K. Riley)

Kym Hoerr honored Sister Helen with three dozen roses, Chadick added.

“The party was a huge success. Sister Helen looked beautiful, as usual,” Chadick said.

The festivities were held at Heritage Park Health and Rehabilitation Center in Dade City.

Sister Helen, formerly known as Laurina Lange, was still a teenager when she traveled by train from Texas to Florida to pursue the religious life, according to an Aug. 17, 2016 Laker/Lutz News report.

The year was 1930, and she was accompanied by four of her cousins — Irma Multer, Pauline Block, and Rosaria and Rosanna Matthiesen. They, too, had decided to answer God’s call.

She recounted many of her experiences in a memoir she wrote called “Kicking the Habit.”

In the account, she describes growing up on a farm in Olfen, Texas.

Her family prayed often, enjoyed making music, and had frequent gatherings with friends and relatives, her memoir says.

One of her favorite times of the year was Easter.

“Holy Week was truly Holy Week. There were no radios, no running around, no dancing or partying,” her memoir says.

Standing before attendees as they sing ‘Happy Birthday’ at her party, Sister Helen takes the first taste of the cake celebrating her 105 years.

“On Holy Saturday, all of us kids were sent out to pick flowers to build Easter nests for the bunny to come. While we were out hunting the flowers, little did we know that mom was busy dying the eggs — which we never saw until Easter morning.

“We made small nests with the wildflowers we picked out in the fields.

“On Easter Sunday morning, we all tumbled out of bed to see what the Easter bunny had brought. There were eggs of all colors neatly laying in our nest of flowers. What a beautiful day!”

She enjoyed shopping days with her mother, her memoir reports.

Once the necessary items for the household were purchased, she and her mother would stop by the drugstore for an ice cream soda.

“They only cost 25 cents back then,” her account says.

“Another favorite treat was a chocolate bar with marshmallows and nuts. This was called a Tango. It was only five cents,” the memoir adds.

Of course, living on a farm required hard work.

There was “cotton to chop, cotton to pick, maize to head, tractors to run, cotton to haul to the gin, repairs to be done. Too many chores to mention,” the book recounts.

And, she attribute her family’s deep faith as a key influence in her decision to pursue the religious life.

Over the years, Sister Helen would be a teacher, a band director and a principal. She would oversee a hostel for visitors from other countries. And, later, she would work in elder care.

She also moved around quite a bit. Her first assignment took her back to Texas, but she also worked in New Orleans and Slidell, Louisiana, and in various parts of Florida, including San Antonio, Venice, Sarasota, North Miami, Ocala and Jacksonville Beach.

Published October 3, 2018

Saint Leo lacrosse celebrates its program-best season

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Saint Leo University made history in 2006 as the first NCAA lacrosse program in the state of Florida.

The university has added another significant notch to its belt — becoming the state’s first lacrosse program to make a national championship appearance.

Saint Leo’s men’s lacrosse team squared up on May 27 against Merrimack College in the NCAA Division II Lacrosse National Championship at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts.

The Saint Leo men’s lacrosse team recently became the state’s first program to make a national championship appearance. They lost to Merrimack College 23-6 in the NCAA Division II Lacrosse National Championship at Gillette Stadium, in Foxborough, Massachusetts.
(Courtesy of Saint Leo Athletics)

The Lions were overmatched by the Massachusetts-based foe, surrendering 23-6. However, the season still goes down as the best run in team’s 13-year history.

Saint Leo finished the 2018 campaign with a 16-3 overall record, including a 7-0 mark in the Sunshine State Conference.

The team ranked among the nation’s leaders in scoring (11th, 13.63 goals per game), shot percentage (first, .393) and clearing percentage (third, .907).

Leading up to the season finale, the Lions defeated conference rival University of Tampa 11-10 in the national quarterfinals and then downed Lenoir-Rhyne (North Carolina) University 12-11 in the national semifinals.

As the team regroups from a biting title game loss, players are proud to finish national runner-up and be part of the remarkable campaign.

Redshirt junior goalkeeper Tom Tatarian described the season as “an incredible run.”

Senior attacker Anthony Visintin evoked similar feelings: “It sounds cool and awesome to say that we had the best record in Saint Leo history and we get to go down as one of the best teams to go through here. Obviously, we would’ve rather it gone the other way and we would’ve rather won and have the whole big grand ending, but I guess you could say it’s the second-best ending that could happen.”

As one of 15 seniors on the 2018 roster, Visintin and others took the onus upon themselves to make their final season count — by improving upon a relatively disappointing 2017 where the Lions finished 9-5 overall and 1-4 in conference play.

Many of those upperclassman, including Visintin, were also part of squads that finished 9-5 and 7-7 in 2016 and 2015, respectively.

“I think for me, playing for four years, we kind of found ourselves underachieving almost every year,” he said.

“But I think this year we were able to finally put it together. Having a big senior class definitely helped,” added Visintin, who finished with 20 goals and 11 assists.

Saint Leo men’s lacrosse coach Brad Jorgensen said the team, starting in the offseason, “worked hard to go from a pretty good team to a great team.”

Saint Leo men’s lacrosse coach Brad Jorgensen launched the program more than a decade ago.
(Courtesy of Saint Leo Athletics)

Jorgensen, who helped launch the program more than a dozen years ago, explained there was a “re-energized” commitment and attitude toward game preparation, strength and conditioning, among other team aspects.

The heightened focus and mindset, Jorgensen pointed out, allowed the Lions to win several close games this year; eight of their wins came by three or fewer goals.

The prior year, the Lions lost two conference games by two goals. They lost two others by four goals and five goals, respectively.

Jorgensen explained: “I think we had a tendency, when the pressure got on, to do what felt comfortable instead of what needed to be done on some occasions and it was really that tougher battle of, ‘Am I willing for the next 10 months to do the hard stuff to get us to where we want to go?’”

He added: “Guys needed to realize the devil’s in the details and, when you lose as many close games as we did in 2017, it just points to a little bit of a lack of attention to detail and commitment to getting the little things right.”

Thinking ahead to next year
Like many of the Lions’ players, Jorgensen acknowledged he’s still reeling from the national championship loss.

But the longtime coach hasn’t lost sight of what just getting there means for the program’s future.

“We got unbelievable exposure over the course of the (championship) weekend,” Jorgensen said. “Being able to have the Saint Leo logo plastered all over Gillette during the final four where you’re talking 35,000 to 40,000 people were able to see us and see our school and be exposed to it, that’s obviously huge.”

It’s especially important for recruiting because the national title appearance enhances Saint Leo’s reputation as a bona fide lacrosse power.

“I think every coach tells recruits that they want to play for a championship and that they’re a championship program and all that other stuff, but it becomes a heck of a lot easier sell now that you’ve been that close,” the coach said.

Meanwhile, the lacrosse program looks to move on without a senior class that made up about 40 percent of the 2018 roster.

Among the key departures is attacker Jake Gilmour, the program’s first-ever United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) Division II First-Team All-American.

Another is defender Jake Bye, who was named USILA honorable mention.

Said Jorgensen, “It’s not like this class graduating snuck up on us, but it is kind of impossible to discount what we’re losing to graduation. …Some guys who have been starting here for four years won’t be here in the fall when we get started. That’s going to be an adjustment.”

Even so, the Lions do have solid core in place for next season.

That includes Tatarian, a second-team All-American goalkeeper who ranked sixth nationally with 13.84 saves per game; attacker Charlie Kurtenbach, who was second on the team in goals (40) and assists (29); and midfielder Julian Taylor, a Tampa product and Plant High School alum who tallied 23 points.

Tatarian, for one, is embracing what’s in store for 2019, where he’ll be a graduate student exhausting his final year of eligibility. (He received a medical redshirt for an injury suffered as a freshman in 2015.)

He will be the longest-tenured player on next year’s roster, likely forcing him to become more of a leader in both actions and words.

Said Tatarian, “There’s really going to be a movement forward to a younger team and I have to take that responsibility upon myself as well as the other seniors to really shoulder the dynamic for this program, for what we’re about, and what we’re going to do moving forward. I think it’s going to be a very exciting process seeing all the young guys coming in and see what they’re going to bring to the table.”

Published June 6, 2018

Priority highway projects focus on growth spots

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Growth is where the rubber meets the road when it comes to building, widening and re-aligning highways that crisscross Pasco County’s landscape.

Most highways in the county move north and south. It is the east to west connections that are often missing or out-of-date.

The recently approved 2015 Priority List of Highway Projects tapped into that scenario. The Florida Department of Transportation uses the list as a guide for its long-range planning, and in determining when and where to spend its state and federal dollars.

County officials say traffic improvements are high priority for the busy intersection of State Road 54 and U.S. 41. A study is underway but no construction funds are available. (Kathy Steele/Staff Photo)
County officials say traffic improvements are high priority for the busy intersection of State Road 54 and U.S. 41. A study is underway but no construction funds are available.
(Kathy Steele/Staff Photo)

Among 15 projects identified by Pasco’s Metropolitan Planning Organization, all but two are in central and east Pasco. The top choices take aim at State Road 52 from its intersection with U.S. 41 in central Pasco to Dade City in east Pasco.

“It’s going to rectify a situation of having more direct east-west local connectors,” said James Edwards, Pasco County’s transportation planning manager. “It is going to be a growth center for the county.”

Also on the list is the intersection of State Road 54 and U.S. 41. The roads bisect Land O’ Lakes and serve as a clearinghouse for a high volume of truck and residential traffic.

The intersection is west of the retail explosion on State Road 54 and State Road 56, where Tampa Premium Outlets is slated to open in October. More shops, restaurants, hotels and rooftops are on their way in the next couple of years.

“What we’re faced with at the outlets (mall) will be congestion and future congestion,” Edwards said.

In September, the county plans to schedule workshops to get public input on the kinds of road projects needed to address traffic near the outlet mall, and between Wesley Chapel and Zephyrhills.

By placing emphasis on State Road 52 now, county officials are hoping to come out ahead of the development curve with road upgrades, before developers start digging dirt for rooftops and retail.

The proposed roadwork is part of ongoing efforts to widen and realign an important regional corridor that could eventually stretch across Florida from west coastal Pasco to the U.S. 98 junction, and on to Palm Beach.

The state roads department is completing a study for a four-year plan to build a new four-lane State Road 52, south of the current highway that passes through San Antonio, Saint Leo and Dade City. This project envisions construction of an approximately 8.5 mile, four-lane extension of Clinton Avenue. Pedestrian and bicycle lanes will be built on either side of the highway. When that project is completed, the old highway would become County Road 52.

The state roads department anticipates that design work and right-of-way purchase will be done over the next two years.

Construction is slated for 2019, according to the department’s records.

In west Pasco, a segment of State Road 52 had a makeover in 2007 when it was widened to six lanes from Moon Lake Road to the Suncoast Parkway. Going east past the Suncoast, State Road 52 narrows to four then two lanes as it approaches Shady Hills Road.

The Metropolitan Planning Organization proposes construction along a major segment of roadway in central Pasco by widening it from two to four lanes from U.S. 41 to Bellamy Brothers Road.

Along with this, another priority is a north-south segment on U.S. 41, which would be widened to four lanes from Connerton Boulevard and the Ridge Road extension up to the intersection with State Road 52.

However, the caveat with all of the identified projects is that none has construction funds on the immediate horizon. County officials estimate the price tag for these projects is more than $750 million spread out over the next 25 years.

Funding will have to come from a mix of county, state and federal dollars.

These are the projects for central and east Pasco, according to county records:

  • State Road 52 from U.S. 41 to Bellamy Brothers Boulevard will go from two lanes to four lanes. Preliminary engineering is underway.
  • U.S. 41 from Connerton Boulevard/Ridge Road Extension to State Road 52 will go from two lanes to four lanes. Construction is anticipated in 2019-2020.
  • State Road 52 and Clinton Avenue extension adds four lanes from east of Uradco Place to Fort King Road. Construction is anticipated in 2018-2019.
  • State Road 54 at the U.S. 41 interchange is under study.
  • Interstate 75, at Overpass Road/interchange from Old Pasco Road to Boyette Road, is set for construction in 2019-2020, with full funding by Pasco County.
  • U.S. 98 at U.S. 301- Clinton Avenue intersection realignment. This is not funded.
  • U.S. 301- Gall Boulevard redesign at Sixth and Seventh streets, from State Road 39 to County Road 54, is being planned. This construction is unfunded.
  • State Road 56 at Interstate 75 interchange, from west of County Road 54 to west of Cypress Ridge Boulevard. Planning and engineering are scheduled in 2016-2017.
  • U.S. 301 – Gall Boulevard will go from four lanes to six lanes from State Road 56 to State Road 39. Preliminary engineering is underway, but construction is unfunded.
  • U.S. 301- Gall Boulevard from will go from four lanes to six lanes from County Road 54 at Eiland Boulevard to Kossik Road. Design is underway. Right of way and construction are unfunded.
  • State Road 54 at Collier Parkway interchange. Right of way is funded over a 10-year period.
  • State Road 56 will go from two lanes to four lanes from Meadow Pointe Boulevard to U.S. 301, near Zephyrhills. A state infrastructure bank loan is pending.

Published August 12, 2015

Meals On Wheels keeps delivering for East Pasco

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East Pasco Meals on Wheels attracts a lot of good people to the cause of preparing and delivering meals to the homes of those who need them.

The group includes hardworking and community-minded volunteers, and is led by a former postmaster.

“I just prayed that God would put me somewhere I could be used. When this (opportunity) opened, it was ideal for me,” said Beth Aker, who left her position as postmaster of the Saint Leo post office a few months ago to take the position of executive director.

These Meals On Wheels ‘doghouses’ are receptacles stationed throughout Zephyrhills where residents can bring recyclables for the organization. The recycling helps fund the organization’s operations, which are approaching $200,000 a year. (Courtesy of East Pasco Meals on Wheels)
These Meals On Wheels ‘doghouses’ are receptacles stationed throughout Zephyrhills where residents can bring recyclables for the organization. The recycling helps fund the organization’s operations, which are approaching $200,000 a year.
(Courtesy of East Pasco Meals on Wheels)

Aker was already familiar with the organization, since she had volunteered for them in the past.

In her new role, she’s tasked with trying to expand the program, reach people who need their services and raise enough money to keep things running smoothly.

Achieving those goals starts with education, Aker said.

Many people think Meals On Wheels is just for the invalid or homebound.

They do serve people in those situations.

But they also serve many people who temporarily prefer to have a meal delivered.

People in that category include individuals recovering from surgery or recovering from the loss of a spouse.

If there’s a need, Meals On Wheels can deliver each weekday for just $4 a meal.

There’s a board-reviewed program that considers financial hardship cases as well.

Another misconception is the type of food they deliver. These aren’t simple, frozen meals cobbled together from donations.

Considerable care goes into making sure customers get a variety of meals, and they’re never frozen.

“Our meals are cooked fresh every single day here,” Aker said. “Every meal comes home-cooked.”

A recent menu offered barbecue pulled pork, potato salad and baked beans one day, and sliced ham with oven-roasted potatoes and applesauce on the next. They also come with other sides and a dessert.

Meals On Wheels also makes accommodations for dietary restrictions for vegetarians and those with diabetes or allergies.

It also provides a varied menu.

Customers might go two months without seeing the same meal repeated, Aker said.

Each day the organization serves between 110 and 120 meals, with that number dropping a bit when the snowbirds leave town. Serving that many meals around lunchtime is a challenging task, and Meals On Wheels relies on a team of volunteers to make sure the meals get to their intended recipients in time.

Two of those volunteers drive their route together.

After 63 years of marriage, Dick and Kate Rudnicki are used to doing things as a team. They’re retired, but still enjoy doing one route a week, and sometimes more when Meals On Wheels is short-staffed.

“We like to volunteer, and we know people need things. It’s something we enjoy doing,” Dick said. On a busy day they’ve delivered as many as 21 meals, starting in the late morning and finishing up around noon.

The Rudnickis are from Michigan, and were snowbirds until recently, when they decided to become full-time residents. They’ve been volunteering for Meals On Wheels for years, and believe it’s an important service for many people in the area.

“I think it’s a great organization,” Dick said. “It really serves a desperate need.”

Serving that need is valuable, and it’s also expensive. Operating costs approach $200,000 per year, and the East Pasco chapter doesn’t get any state or government funds. Their money comes from donations from individuals and businesses, and a recycling program that allows residents to donate what they would leave on the curb anyway.

East Pasco Meals on Wheels has receptacles (they call them “doghouses”) in various locations around the Zephyrhills area, including parks. Residents who are interested in donating to their cause can leave cardboard, aluminum cans and newspapers, which will then be picked up by the organization. Meals On Wheels receives the proceeds from those recyclables.

That money goes to help fund their day-to-day operations, which they hope to expand in the future.

There’s a need for expansion.

Meals On Wheels has had to turn away people in the Wesley Chapel area because they don’t have the volunteers to serve them.

And, if they have to turn away people who need their meals, Aker feels like they’re not doing their job.

“Everything that we do, we hope to grow to be able to help more people,” she said. “Because there is such a need out there for lots of different reasons.”

And when those needs are met, the people who receive meals are very grateful.

The Rudnickis, who are in their 80s, plan to keep continue delivering meals as long as they’re able.

Part of the satisfaction of volunteering, Kate said, is the response they receive from customers.

“You get hugs and you get thanks, and it’s very rewarding,” she said.

East Pasco Meals On Wheels is located at 38145 15th Ave., in Zephyrhills. The organization is always in need of driver and kitchen help. For more information, call (813) 782-2793.

Published April 29, 2015

Saint Leo grads ready to learn something new from Petters, Davidson

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Last year, Huntington Ingalls Industries earned more than $6.8 billion.

Huntington Ingalls Industries president and chief executive C. Michael Petters, right, shakes hands with employee Timothy Madden at the yard at Newport News Shipbuilding in Virginia. Petters hails from Pasco County, and he and sister Susan Davidson will speak May 3 at Saint Leo University commencement ceremonies. (Courtesy of Chris Oxley)
Huntington Ingalls Industries president and chief executive C. Michael Petters, right, shakes hands with employee Timothy Madden at the yard at Newport News Shipbuilding in Virginia. Petters hails from Pasco County, and he and sister Susan Davidson will speak May 3 at Saint Leo University commencement ceremonies.
(Courtesy of Chris Oxley)

Chances are, you’ve never heard of this Virginia-based company. But you should definitely be familiar with its products — nuclear-powered aircraft carriers that are more than 1,000 feet long and weigh 100,000 tons — and you may even know its president and chief executive officer.

C. Michael Petters has led Huntington Ingalls since before it was spun off from Northrop Grumman. Petters is a preeminent shipbuilder who learned his skills through the U.S. Naval Academy and the College of William and Mary, but the foundation of his success goes back even further — all the way to the small German Catholic St. Joseph community in Pasco County.

There, Petters and his siblings worked hard on the family’s orange groves, but still remained focused on education and service. So it’s no surprise that not only has Petters been invited to speak at upcoming commencement exercises at Saint Leo University, but so has his sister — U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Susan Davison.

The Class of 2014 graduation marks a milestone in the Petters’ family history — it’s 60 years after their father graduated from what was then Saint Leo Prep School.

“My parents were committed,” Petters said. “They were committed to the farm and their business and to their acquaintances and all that, but the one thing that they held out there more than anything else was education.”

Petters’ grandfather said each person should strive to learn something new every day. That prompted a daily question from his own father, asking what he’d learned.

“If you said ‘nothing,’ that wasn’t a good answer,” Petters said. “It didn’t matter to my parents whether it was classroom training or not. It was learning, and it wasn’t just words to them. They went the extra mile to make sure they could afford to send us to schools.”

Yet, good schools cost money, something the Petters didn’t necessarily have a lot of. So Mike Petters and his siblings would work their way through school, and even paused long enough to serve their country in the military. Petters would end up on the USS George Bancroft, a nuclear-powered submarine in the 1980s. And sister Susan Davidson would make her career in the military.

Davidson received her commission in 1983, but didn’t begin active duty until 1986 after a short delay when she had to help replant the family orange grove that was damaged in a hard freeze.

Davidson served in Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm in the 1990s, and later in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Two years ago, she assumed command of Defense Logistics Agency Distribution. But they are not the only Petters children who have found success.

“The whole gang has been successful,” Petters said. “We even have a rocket scientist and a helicopter pilot in there. And they’ve all been successful because they have taken this never-stop-learning approach, and made it the drumbeat of their lives.”

Commencement ceremonies are set for May 3, honoring the portion of Saint Leo’s 16,000-student body who have finished this level of their education. However, if graduates walk away from anything after Petters’ remarks, he hopes that it’s with the understanding that education never ends.

“Where you’re from is an asset,” Petters said. “Everything you have done up to today prepares you for what you’re going to be doing tomorrow.”

Published April 23, 2014

De-annexing Lake Jovita could create mess on St. Leo commission

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The results of a recent election in the town of Saint Leo and a bill making its way through the Legislature could be on a collision course that may result in a town commissioner resigning, a special election or an appointment to the commission by Gov. Rick Scott.

All of these scenarios are possible.

Patricia Petruff
Patricia Petruff

It all boils down to the fact that the town’s commission may soon lack a quorum.

The purpose of a quorum is to ensure elected representatives are actually representing the people who elected them by typically requiring more than half of those representatives to be present at a meeting.

It’s a concept nearly as old as organized meetings themselves, and prevents a leader from having more power than he should. Without a quorum, decisions can’t be made, governing virtually comes to a complete halt, and nothing gets done.

St. Leo’s government requires three of its five commissioners to be present to create a quorum.

However, a bill making its way through Tallahassee is expected to pass and once it gets the governor’s signature, three of those five St. Leo commissioners will be removed from office. Thus, there won’t be a quorum available with the remaining two to fix it.

It’s something that could keep attorneys up at night, but not St. Leo town attorney Patricia Petruff. That’s because she has a plan.

“We’re going to have three commissioners (from Lake Jovita) as of May, and if one of them does not resign, we’ll have a little bit of a pickle on our hands,” Petruff said.

With the Florida House back in session this week, work once again begins on H.B. 1401, introduced by Rep. Amanda Murphy, D-New Port Richey, that would remove part of the Lake Jovita subdivision from the St. Leo town limits, and have it join the rest of that community in unincorporated Pasco County.

When there’s a vacancy on the commission, the mayor — with the consent of his fellow commissioners — can appoint a replacement. In fact, that happened in 2005 when Commissioner John Fantone decided not to seek re-election, and no one ran to replace him. Then-mayor James Hallett appointed Bill Hamilton, the son of a former St. Leo mayor, to the seat.

That couldn’t happen this time, because in order for the commission to consent to an appointment, there has to be an actual commission, which doesn’t exist without the three-member quorum.

The battle to de-annex has been ongoing for years, especially as Lake Jovita residents have slowly moved into commission seats. Right now, commissioners James Wells and Robert Inslee as well as Mayor John Gardner hail from Lake Jovita. Gardner chose not to seek re-election, but Ray Davis defeated longtime commissioner Donna DeWitt on April 8, and with that, kept the Lake Jovita majority on the commission.

Whether H.B. 1401 is signed into law before the new commission is seated in mid-May or after, an immediate de-annexation of St. Leo is going to leave three empty seats and a complicated process to fill it. In fact, it could be up to Gov. Rick Scott to appoint at least one member to the commission so that they can order a special election. But Petruff hopes it doesn’t get that far.

In fact, there’s an even easier solution: resign.

“If we have only two members who are from the area impacted by (H.B.) 1401, then after the new commission is seated in May, we would only lose two members, and the mayor could appoint to fill the spots,” Petruff said.

That would mean some trust on behalf of the Lake Jovita residents on the commission, as the mayor would need to appoint someone outside that subdivision to fill the seat, giving non-Lake Jovita residents the majority.

The commission has scheduled meetings already for April 28 and May 5, depending on how far H.B. 1401 has moved in the House.

“I think the plan is that one of them will resign, but nobody has told me that for sure,” Petruff said. “And none of them have come up and said that.”

One person who probably won’t hand in his resignation if this situation continues past mid-May is Davis, who beat DeWitt by just four votes to win her seat. Davis told The Laker/Lutz News after the election his goal was to be insurance in case H.B. 1401 failed.

“They call me ‘Plan B,’” he said. “You never know what’s going to happen.”

Davis himself said he didn’t want to speculate, but DeWitt feared they could keep a move to dissolve the 123-year-old town in their back pocket just in case.

Petruff, however, isn’t focused on that. She is expecting H.B. 1401 to clear both the House and Senate, and find itself under Scott’s pen in the near future. But just in case no one resigns, and there are just two commissioners in the St. Leo Town Hall once that happens? Petruff said she wants the current commission to give her and Town Clerk Joan Miller the power right now to organize and conduct a special election and get the empty seats filled. The two would also run the town until a quorum once again exists.

“We talked a little bit about whether or not the sitting commission could give direction in the event that this happens,” Petruff said, noting no final decision has been made yet.

But those decisions will have to be made soon.

“Timing is critical,” she said. “That’s why we’re watching this very closely.”

Published April 23, 2014

Dade City teams with Saint Leo for downtown’s future

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Dade City has traveled a path of success from dilapidated downtown of the 1980s, to one that pulls in people from all over the region today.

Yet, there is still more that can be done.

The Greater Dade City Chamber of Commerce has hired Pride Consulting, a student-run organization at Saint Leo University, to steal a glimpse of what Dade City’s downtown might — and should — look like in the future.

“Dade City has this iconic downtown where we have these wonderful antique shops and eclectic restaurants, and it’s really one of a kind,” said John Moors, the Dade City chamber’s executive director.

But as the people change, so may Dade City’s downtown. And Moors said he wants to be ready.

That’s where Pride comes in. Led by John Lax, the marketing instructor at Saint Leo’s Donald R. Tapia School of Business, this group of juniors and seniors from a variety of the school’s business programs provides marketing services to business.

For Dade City, they’ll be working to identify potential models for the district based on research of the community and businesses. They’ll also explore each of those models, and see if there are other towns across the country that Dade City could emulate.

“They’re going to be touring the downtown, teams of like 15 or 20 of them,” Moors said. “They’ll interview some of our merchants, and get in touch with some of our property owners, and get their input.”

That would include what they would like to see, what could help improve Dade City’s downtown, and what might be holding it back.

Pride will continue to work through the winter, and then look to present their findings during a public meeting in March.

Moors also hopes to tackle another issue for Dade City, which he describes as “brain drain.” With both Saint Leo and Pasco-Hernando Community College nearby, there is a lot of academics, but not a lot to hold those students to Dade City when they graduate.

“We don’t know if we’ll find the answers to those questions, but looking at some models might help,” Moors said. “One example might be to have a more artistic type of community, which is extremely important to families, and important to tourism.”

The Dade City chamber has taken the lead on downtown, especially after its former advocacy group — Dade City Main Street — shut down last spring. At the time, Moors said he was confident in downtown’s ability to keep the area vibrant.

“We have a great group of merchants in Dade City,” Moors told The Laker/Lutz News in April. “They’re engaged. They’re active. They’re really committed to the betterment of our downtown, and I think it shows when you look at our downtown.”

Public is invited to peace-building program

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A peace-building program, sponsored by Saint Leo University and some other organizations, will be offered at two locations on Sept. 30.

The event will feature Rabbi Ron Kronish, director of the Interreligious Coordinating Council in Israel, and Qadi (Judge) Iyad Zahalka, head of the Muslim Sharia Court in Jerusalem. They will discuss “The Other Peace Process–Interreligious Dialogue in the Service of Peace.”

The speakers will share their thinking on grassroots efforts at peace building. The event will be hosted by Saint Leo’s Center for Catholic-Jewish Studies.

The program will be presented twice. The first session is scheduled from 3 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., in the Student Community Center, Greenfelder-Denlinger, 33701 State Road 52 in Saint Leo, four miles east of Interstate 75.

An evening session is scheduled from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Congregation Beth Am, 2030 W. Fletcher Ave. in Tampa.

The event is free and open to the public, but space is limited so admission will be first-come, first-serve.

Besides Saint Leo, other sponsors of the event are Congregation Beth Am, University Ministry and West Central Florida Pathology Associates/Harvey Feld M.D.

For more information and to register, contact Abraham Peck, executive director of

Saint Leo University’s Center for Catholic-Jewish Studies, at (352) 588-7298 or .