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SEPTEMBER 23, 2015
Cheval Cares 5K battles pediatric cancer By Michael Murillo
that the cure rate for her type of leukemia was greater than 90 percent,” Peck explained. “Seeing the other children in the hospital, their diagnoses were a lot more devastating. We had everything quickly put in perspective for us. All of a sudden, we felt fortunate.” Callie is now well past her treatments. Her chemotherapy ended last April, and she now just has monthly blood tests to check for recurrences or side effects. But her family is still active in the community’s 5K event. The Fourth Annual Cheval Cares 5K will be on Sept. 26 at 8 a.m., at the Cheval Athletic Club, 4142 Cheval Blvd., in Lutz. Callie, now 6, will be part of the ribboncutting ceremony to begin the race, while her brothers, Gavin and Cole, and her parents,Amber and Scott, participate in the 5K. Lindsay Whitney helped create the 5K and used to work at the Pediatric Cancer Foundation. The Cheval resident still serves
mmurillo@lakerlutznews.com
When the Peck family joined the Cheval Athletic Club, their daughter Callie was 2. They took an immediate interest in the community’s Cheval Cares 5K event to benefit the Pediatric Cancer Foundation. It wasn’t just a good cause. It was personal. “When we joined there a few years back, (Callie) was bald. It was no surprise to anybody that she had cancer,” recalled Callie’s mother, Amber Peck. Diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, Callie had to endure frequent trips to hospitals, spinal taps and surgeries. For lengthy periods, she endured chemotherapy treatments daily. Just a toddler, she received treatment for more than two years. And despite the challenges, the Pecks consider themselves PHOTOS COURTESY OF VIVIDIVITY fortunate. For the Peck family— Amber, Scott, Gavin, “We were actually very lucky in the fact Cole and Callie — the 5K is an annual tradition.
See CHEVAL, page 13A
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B INSIDE, PAGE 1B
COURTESY OF MOTHER TERESA OF CALCUTTA CATHOLIC SCHOOL
Festivities held to dedicate school The Most Rev. Robert Lynch and priests from the Diocese of St. Petersburg celebrate Mass at St. Timothy Catholic Church as partof the blessing and dedication of Mother Teresa of Calcutta Catholic School in Lutz.
Carrollwood Day School may soon have home-field advantage By Michael Murillo
mmurillo@lakerlutznews.com
Phase II of Carrollwood Day School’s Patriot Pride campaign includes a multipurpose sports complex on the private school’s campus at 1515 W. Bearss Ave., in Tampa. It includes space for football, baseball and soccer games, and will allow the school’s athletic teams to finally play home games at home. It will also cost a couple million dollars. The school has raised about 25 percent of that cost. And while $500,000 is a significant number, it still leaves a lot of ground to cover. Thanks to a $1 million matching pledge by Todd and Kari Wagner — who have children attending the school — the home fields are very close to becoming a reality. “It’s a game-changer for Carrollwood Day School,” said Head of School Ryan Kelly.“It’s the largest donation that we have ever received. And it just is going to allow us to do something that I’ve dreamt of doing, and that is having our own sports complex.” Kelly made the announcement about the donation at the football team’s home game on Aug. 28 against Admiral Farragut. Like other sports at Carrollwood Day School, the home football games aren’t actually played at home. They play football at Skyway in Tampa, baseball at Citrus Park and soccer on a leased parcel of land. That’s all going to change by next season, according to Kelly. That $500,000 now
COURTESY OF CARROLLWOOD DAY SCHOOL
Head of School Ryan Kelly announced the $1 million matching donation at halftime of the school’s Aug. 28 football game.
puts Carrollwood Day School halfway to accessing the $1 million match and funding the complex. When it’s finished, the complex will include turf fields that will be used for outdoor sports, dugouts and batting cages for baseball, a press box, bleachers that will seat 600 to 1,000 fans and a concession area. High school football, baseball and soccer are the primary beneficiaries, but the complex also will be used by the middle-schoolers, physical education activities and possibly lacrosse, at some point. That accessibility will be a dramatic
change from what the school deals with today, and Kelly is well aware of the challenges and hard work that goes into making it work. “The athletic director, Baker Mabry, does an outstanding job. But it is a nightmare,” Kelly said, describing the scheduling and logistics of constantly going off-site for games and practices. “We cannot wait until we don’t have to do that any longer,” Kelly added. They won’t have to wait long. With current cash on hand and the pledge secured, See HOME-FIELD, page 13A