Lutz NEWS
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MARCH 2, 2016
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Festival finds new home By Kevin Weiss
kweiss@lakerlutznews.com
The GFWC Lutz Arts & Crafts Festival has a new home. After months of searching, the GFWC Lutz-Land O’ Lakes Woman’s Club found an ideal fit for the festival at Keystone Prep High School, 18105 Gunn Highway in Odessa. The festival is slated for the first weekend in December. According to woman’s club president Cathy Mathes, the two-day festival will be at Keystone Prep for “the next few years.” Mathes was particularly impressed by the school’s large property, and the school’s enthusiasm in hosting the event. “They’re getting the students involved. They have a really involved parent club
FILE PHOTO
The GFWC Lutz Arts & Crafts Festival will take place at Keystone Prep High School on Dec. 3 and Dec. 4 this year. Last year’s festival was cancelled at Lake Park after a sinkhole developed in a road.
that’s going to be doing a lot of work, too,” the club president said, noting the festival will be mutually beneficial for fundraising purposes. Last December, the 36th annual Lutz Arts & Crafts Festival was cancelled at Lake Park
due to a sinkhole that was estimated as being around 6 feet wide and 100 feet deep. The club had also encountered some problems with flooding on park roads during previous arts and crafts festivals. After the cancellation, the woman’s club opted to find a new location to house the popular event, which typically attracts up to 30,000 people. The festival is the largest yearly fundraiser for the club, which gives back to the community in the form of college scholarships and donations to local charities. The process of finding a new location was “quite a search,” according to Pat Serio, head of public relations for the woman’s club. “Finding a new venue is not as easy as it See FESTIVAL, page 11A
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Taylor Hicks to perform in Land O’ Lakes By B.C. Manion
bcmanion@lakerlutznews.com
Before he became nationally known, Taylor Hicks spent years in relative obscurity, sharing his music at any venue where he could get a booking. “I would play everything from small venues to clubs to honky-tonks, to roadhouses to juke joints — you name it, I was playing it,” Hicks said. Over the years, he played concerts and club dates with widely known musicians, but he didn’t get his big break until he won Season 5 of American Idol. Hicks said he hadn’t really been planning to audition for the popular television show, now celebrating its farewell season. He had gone to a wedding and was stranded by Hurricane Katrina, and he wound up getting a free ticket to fly anywhere in the country, he explained. “So, I flew to Vegas on a whim,” he said. That just happened to be where American Idol was holding auditions, so Hicks decided to get in line. That was the beginning of Hicks’ rise to national fame. He went on to become America’s favorite. “The season that I was on was their biggest season. With all of that attention, it was pretty amazing,” Hicks said. After winning the title, doors opened for him, and he remains grateful. “The Idol platform has set me up to be able to do a lot of different things,” he said. Less than three weeks after winning Idol, his debut single,“Do I Make You Proud,” enSee HICKS, page 11A
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Taylor Hicks said he loves performing, and it’s something he expects he will always continue to do. He will be performing on March 11 in Land O’ Lakes at the Central Pasco Chamber of Commerce’s Spring Music Festival & Expo.
‘Trial by Fire’ seeks to spark social movement By B.C. Manion
bcmanion@lakerlutznews.com
Documentary filmmaker Charles Mattocks hopes to inspire a social movement to help people suffering from Complex Regional Pain Syndrome and other rare diseases. Mattocks — who is the nephew of famed reggae artist Bob Marley — has produced “Trial by Fire,” a documentary that tells the story of his mother’s eight-year struggle Complex Regional Pain Syndrome, called CPRS for short. It’s a rare condition that is not widely understood, Mattocks said. “I was totally confused, really, on what this thing was,” Mattocks said.“I used to tell my mother,‘Mom, you’ve got to walk it off. You’ve got to go to the gym.’” Mattocks said while he didn’t initially know what CRPS was, as he delved into the topic and observed his mom, he knew something must be done to give people suffering from the condition a voice. “It’s agony,” Mattocks said. The key symptom is prolonged pain that may be constant and, in some people, extremely uncomfortable or severe, according to information published on the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke’s website. The pain can spread through the body, the pain can travel from limb to limb and there often is increased sensitivity in the affected area, such that even light touch or contact is painful, the website says. People with CRPS also experience con-
stant or intermittent changes in temperature, skin color, and swelling of the affected limb, the website says. Other common features of CRPS include: • Changes in skin texture • Abnormal sweating • Changes in nail and hair growth patterns • Stiffness in affected joints • Problems coordinating muscle movement • Abnormal movement in the affected limb Fifteen-year-old Natalia Rijos, who is also featured in the film, is quite familiar with CRPS. There’s a clear line of demarcation in her life. One day, she was a typical 12-year-old, enjoying the normal activities of girls her age. But, that changed on Dec. 15, 2012. That was the day she was horsing around with her dad, showing off some karate moves. Her dad grabbed her leg, she began to fall, and as she went to brace herself from the fall, she injured her left hand. Initially, her mom, Myrna Concepcion, thought it was just a sprain. But, the girl’s hand became swollen and discolored, and didn’t heal properly. In ensuing months, the pain became unbearable and doctors couldn’t figure out what was wrong. It took three months to get a diagnosis. According to Concepcion, in one sense, See FIRE, page 11A
B.C. MANION/STAFF PHOTO
Fifteen-year-old Natalia Rijos has been diagnosed with Complex Regional Pain Syndrome. It’s a condition that is characterized by prolonged pain that may be constant and, in some people, extremely uncomfortable or severe.