The Laker-Wesley Chapel/New Tampa-October 12, 2016

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The LAKER WESLEY CHAPEL/NEW TAMPA EDITION

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Independent Catholic church forms By Kevin Weiss kweiss@lakerlutznews.com

An independent Catholic church is forming in Wesley Chapel. Services at Spirit of Light Synodal Catholic Church will begin Oct. 23. A Mass will be celebrated every Sunday morning at 10:30 a.m., inside the meeting room at the Rodeway Inn, 5642 Oakley Blvd., in Wesley Chapel. A typical communion Mass is expected to last about an hour. According to the church’s website, synodal Catholicism strives to express the Catholic faith in a more accepting manner.

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Lionel Repasky, the pastor at Spirit of Light, said the church is “all-embracing” and “inclusive to all.” “The easiest thing to say is that we’re a Catholic church that’s not Roman,” said Repasky, who was or- Lionel Repasky dained last November. “We have both male and female priests — married and single.” The Mass, the pastor said, will be quite similar to that of other Catholic churches. “We have the same seven sacraments, the

same saints, essentially the same history,” he said, “it’s just we’re approaching it with a more modern interpretation of welcoming all.” The synodal church believes the sacraments “are outward and visible signs of inward and spiritual grace, given by Christ to the Church.” It recognizes the following sacraments: baptism, confirmation, Eucharist, marriage, holy orders, reconciliation and anointing of the sick. According to the church’s doctrine, “sacraments are not restricted to any indiSee CHURCH, page 11A

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Fundraiser aims to help local teenager

Pulse Salon & Spa Charity Event WHAT: 50 percent of proceeds will be donated to fund for service response dog. Food and drinks will be provided, and there will be basket raffles. WHEN: Oct. 15 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. WHERE: 3756 Turman Loop, Suite 101, Wesley Chapel

By Kathy Steele ksteele@lakerlutznews.com

The bond between Joe Soueidan and Dani strengthens each time they meet. And, within a few months, Dani should be a permanent member of the Soueidan family. But, the furry Labrador mix won’t be the typical man’s best friend. She is a seizure response dog that will serve as a helper and protector for a young man who has lived a lifetime with the unpredictable and debilitating effects of epilepsy. “We have seen what the dog is capable of,” said Joe’s mother, Natalie Soueidan. On one occasion during a family visit to Canines 4 Hope, Dani recognized signs of a seizure and immediately went over to Joe Soueidan, licking his face to keep him alert and offer comfort. “It was amazing but simple,” his mother said. Canines 4 Hope is a certified training center for service dogs, located in Palm City. Seizure response dogs can activate a lifealert alarm, find someone to help, retrieve medication, food or a phone, and provide comfort. They wear vests to identify what they do, and also carry brochures and other materials with information on how to respond to a seizure. However, service dogs, with such skills, require months of training and are expensive. Dani will cost the Soueidan family $12,500.

INFO: (813) 428-6917 or Facebook.com/pulsesalonandspawc

COURTESY OF NATALIE SOUEIDAN

Joe Soueidan, 19, is bonding with Dani, a Labrador mix that is being trained as a service response dog for people with seizure disorders.

To help with the expense an online donation site has been set up at YouCaring.com.About $4,900 in donations have been given so far. On Oct. 15 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., hairstylists at Pulse Salon & Spa will have a fundraiser to help the family. Half of the proceeds from shampoos, haircuts, blow-drys and other spa services will go toward the fund to pay for Dani. Food and drinks will be provided.There also will be basket raffles. Jennifer McCaslin organized the event with Pulse’s owner,Alberto Franco. Soueidan is one of her clients, but they met years before when McCaslin took her then 3-year-old son, Mitchell, to Soueidan for speech therapy. To help her own son, Soueidan had returned to school to earn a master’s degree from the University of South Florida in communication sciences and disorders. “I love working with kids and working with families with special needs. I know

what they go through. I’ve been there,” she said. When McCaslin asked Franco about holding the fundraiser for Natalie’s son, he readily agreed. “I’m very appreciative of that,” McCaslin said. Natalie Soueidan hopes Dani can be lifechanging for her son. For the first eight months of his life, Joe Soueidan was a happy, curious toddler. He learned to walk at nine months and was saying a few words. But, then he “just stopped,” his mother said. Emergency room trips and doctors’ visits didn’t immediately yield answers to why her son was having very subtle seizures. “That was the beginning of a crazy time,” she said. For awhile, his seizures were controlled with medications obtained legally through Canadian pharmacies. But, the seizures returned – as many as 75 in a day – and Joe Soueidan had the first of two brain surgeries. By third grade, he was off medications and doing well in school.As he entered his teen years, he went bowling, swimming, See FUNDRAISER, page 11A

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B INSIDE, PAGE 1B

A half-century ago, the San Antonio Jaycees got together and hatched a plan for a fun way to raise money to support local causes. They figured they could hold a festival, with rattlesnakes as the centerpiece. Over the decades, the leading organizers have changed — and so have some of the particulars — but the essence of the annual event remains the same: Every year, on the third weekend of October, residents and visitors flock to the San Antonio Rattlesnake Festival & Run in City Park. This year, to celebrate the 50th anniversary, organizers have scheduled a two-day festival. Organizers of the event have gone from the Jaycees, to R.A.G.E. (Rattlesnake and Gopher Enthusiasts), to a group of Rotary Clubs, to the Rotary Club of San Antonio, which has been the chief organizer for the past three years. “We, of course, have help from the people who did it all of those years,” said Betty Burke, chairwoman of the current organizing committee. “Dennis Devine, he’s been with it since the beginning, and he’s our music master. “Jack Vogel is one of the people who started it. He was in the Jaycees,” Burke said. His son, Jay, is this year’s volunteer coordinator. Betty’s daughter, Andrea Calvert, who works for the Town of St. Leo, is involved, too. The town sponsors a pumpkin patch, which is a popular place for people to take photos of their children, and to snap selfies, too. Burke’s sister,Winnie, who is the president of the Rotary Club of San Antonio, is also involved. She’s in charge of the arts and crafts area. Other members on the festival planning committee include Terri Grissom, Rick Behnke and Anne Kibbe. Event highlights include 5-mile and 1-mile runs, a family bike ride, musical entertainment, a snake show, a cowboy show, crocodile demonstrations, mechanical gopher tortoise

PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE SAN ANTONIO RATTLESNAKE FESTIVAL

Children enjoy riding around in a barrel train during a previous San Antonio Rattlesnake Festival.

San Antonio Rattlesnake Festival & Run WHERE: City Park, 12202 Main St., San Antonio, Florida, 33576 WHEN: Oct. 15 and Oct. 16 COST: Parking, admission and most of the entertainment are free; there are nominal charges for the snake show.

Cowboy Tom is a popular act at the annual San Antonio Rattlesnake Festival.

races, food booths, children’s rides and a pumpkin patch. Other attractions include a butterfly exhibit, children’s crafts and games, a farm animal exhibit, M.A.D. Flames Fire Entertainment and Pioneer Village demonstrations. Vendors will be selling a variety of items, there will be a farmer’s market, and there will be a pet corner, too. Visitors also will have a chance to learn more about the festival’s history. In the beginning, preparing for the event meant going out into the woods — equipped

with a long pole with a hook on the end — and rounding up snakes. Amateur and professional snake hunters would bring the snakes in, and organizers would pay for their snakes, according to published reports. The gopher tortoise races used to feature live tortoises, too. People would decorate the creatures with glitter and nontoxic paint, and pit them against each other. The live gopher tortoise races ended after increasing development in Florida led to the state placing them on its protected species list. See RATTLESNAKE, page 11A


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The Laker-Wesley Chapel/New Tampa-October 12, 2016 by LakerLutzNews - Issuu