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Dade City has location for splash park By Kevin Weiss kweiss@lakerlutznews.com
The Dade City Commission has approved a land purchase that may finally bring a splash park/bike hub to the city’s downtown area. The city has targeted a 2.23-acre parcel that borders the Hardy Trail on Eighth Street. The property, at 3772 Church St., is owned by local businessman Otto Weitzenkorn.
The real estate’s 2018 appraised value is $1.168 million, but city officials say the Weitzenkorn family is willing to sell it to the city for $800,000. At their Oct. 22 meeting, commissioners voted 4-1 to proceed with the purchase. Commissioner Nicole Deese Newlon dissented. The city has until the end of the year to close the transaction per terms of the presale agreement, according to City Attorney
Thomas Thanas. An onsite inspection, suitability study and new appraisal will be needed, too, he said. City leaders have discussed building a splash park/bike hub for the past few years. Finding an ideal location had been another matter, until the Weitzenkorn family approached the city in August. A preliminary concept plan for the recreSee SPLASH, page 19A
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Seven-year-old Elizabeth Gordon, left, hugs her 3-year-old cousin, Montana Graham, in the pumpkin patch at the St. Joe Fall Festival, that was held earlier this month. The event took place at the Sacred Heart Catholic Church of Saint Joseph, 32145 St. Joe Road in Dade City. The girls are both from Dade City. For more coverage, see 1B.
Loving Hands Ministries lifts up men in need By Brian Fernandes
LOCAL WILDLIFE
STEFANIE BURLINGAME/STAFF PHOTO
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CHRISTINE HOLTZMAN
bfernandes@lakerlutznews.com
When Gustavo Cabrera arrived at the Loving Hands Ministries campus in Dade City, he had no idea about the kind of impact it would have on his life. His path to the ministry began while he was in Miami. He had taken up with bad company there and was implicated in a robbery. After the incident, he began a spiritual quest to get his life in order and came across a pamphlet about Loving Hands Ministries – a program that relies on the study of Scripture, to help men get their lives back on track. After his two-year stay on the Dade City campus, he went on to graduate from Southeastern University and is now a minister helping to build churches. Loving Hands Ministries has two campuses. One is in Dade City and the other is in Palmetto. Marshall Walker is program director for the Dade City campus. He, too, went through the ministry’s two-
year program. “The reason it’s become successful for me — and I believe for all the men — is that it’s a spiritual regeneration,”Walker said. The program requires the men to spend several hours each day studying the Bible. Walker described himself as a struggling drug addict when he moved onto the Dade City campus. Building a relationship with Jesus and getting away from worldly distractions changed him,Walker said. “Sin is fun for a season, but then after a while, it’s not fun anymore,”Walker said. Loving Hands Ministries was founded in the 1980s by Pastor Wendell Wilson and his wife, Nancy, who wanted to help men like Cabrera and Walker. Pastor Wilson had led a number of different churches throughout Florida, but after ministering to men on the street and in jails, he felt compelled to do more, said Kim Dodson, his daughter and current president of the organization. In 1982, the Wilsons opened their See LOVING, page 19A
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The site is located at the corner of of heading toward a construction start Magnolia Boulevard and Wesley Chapel Amici Plaza in spring with an opening likely Boulevard, which is also known as County ksteele@lakerlutznews.com by the end of 2016. Road 54. Pasco County records show a conceptual Pasco County is moving forward with acOwners of Amici Pizza & Deli are planthe plan with about 3,000 square feet for Road ning to build a new stand-alone restaurant, for quisition of right-of-way along County restaurant, and about 1,800 square feet 54 to prepare for the expansion of the twowith additional retail space, on Wesley retail. the lane road into a four-lane road at Chapel Boulevard. “We’d like to have our own building and 54 junction of State Road 56 and State Road The new restaurant is a short distance a bigger kitchen,” said Andrea Mannino. from the existing Amici restaurant in Grand No decisions have been made on the adSee PIZZA, page 13A Oaks Square, at Wesley Chapel and Pet Lane. ditional retail space, he said. Andrea and Josephine Mannino, are
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JANUARY 27, 2016
Pasco administrator to retire in
By Kathy Steele
ksteele@lakerlutznews.com
Pasco County Administrator Michele Baker expects to be very busy over the next year and a half. She’ll be crossing off a to-do list, one by one, before leaving in 2017 to go on a lengthy road trip with her husband. The couple will hit the road with their recreational vehicle and their motorcycles, on a tour of as many baseball parks and national parks as they can squeeze into a year. “That’s been our dream,” Baker said, so letting her contract lapse in July 2017 makes sense. But, don’t expect a lame duck administrator. “There’s no kicking back here,” Baker said.“This isn’t me slowing down. ” Baker has told Pasco County commissioners she won’t seek renewal of her current two-year contract, which makes her
2017
last day July 9, 2017. the jail and construction of new fire stations By then, Baker will • Relocating have worked 35 years central Pasco more government offices to in public service, 24 Baker also plans to fill vacancies for a of those years with few key leadership positions that remain, Pasco County. cluding an assistant county administrator infor Her to-do list, in public safety and administration. short form, includes: Progress has been made, Baker said, but • Completing mas- government services still could be more ter plans and updates customer-friendly. for storm water, solid A culture that was decades in the waste and tourism making is being changed, she said.“You don’t • Funding and building a diverging get to dia- turn a canoe.You’re turning mond road design to ease traffic congestion a ship.” Public service wasn’t Baker’s first at State Road 56 and Interstate 75 career choice. • Completing the State Road 56 extenOver the years she worked sion as a waitress, • Nurturing SunWest Park, the county’s flight attendant and a theater manager. She also served in the U.S.Air Force Reserve. fledgling aqua park Her undergraduate degree was in • Replacing and repairing aging busiinfra- ness administration. structure and roads damaged by the It wasn’t until she accepted a secretarial summer flooding • Making progress on the expansion of See RETIRE, page 11A Michele Baker
Kumquats reign supreme at area festival
By Kathy Steele
ksteele@lakerlutznews.com
®
Saturday, January 30, 2016 9 AM - 5 PM Historic Downtown Dade City
FREE ADMISSION KATHY STEELE/STAFF PHOTOS
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WESLEY CHAPEL/NEW TAMPA
Amici Pizza plans stand-alone location
Mark Pizzurro, Joe Traina and Peter Abreut
anticipate opening their craft brewery
in Land O’ Lakes in spring.
I th
The first kumquat tree in St. Joseph took root more than 100 years ago, when C.J. Nathe planted it in his backyard. He added a few more, and soon he had small grove on an acre of fertile ground. a The kumquat king, as Nathe was later dubbed, transformed a quiet back road community into the Kumquat Capital of the World. An open house will take place on Jan. and Jan. 29 at the Kumquat Growers 28 packi h d
Margie Neuhofer and her h
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BRIAN FERNANDES
The staff and residents of the Loving Hands Ministries, in Dade City, stand in front of a portrait of the organization’s founders, Wendell and Nancy Wilson. The ministry also has another location in Palmetto.
FILE
Anthony Derby is the Founder and CEO of Brew Bus Brewing.
Brewery aims to become Wesley Chapel ‘gem’ By B.C. Manion bcmanion@lakerlutznews.com
If all goes according to plan, Florida Avenue Brewing will open in Wesley Chapel by next spring. It aims to become “a destination, a gem,” said Anthony Derby, the Founder and CEO of Brew Bus Brewing, located in Seminole Heights. Brew Bus Brewing and Florida Avenue Brewing are affiliated, but Florida Avenue Brewing is considered to be the company’s flagship brand. And, while operations will continue in Seminole Heights, the Wesley Chapel location will be called Florida Avenue Brewing and will be known as the company’s flagship location. The goal for the new Pasco County location is to create a place that people refer to as “a cool brewery,” Derby told those attending the North Tampa Bay Chamber economic development luncheon last week. “The project that we’re building now is going to be able to do 60,000 barrels (a year). It will be the largest locally owned brewery in the state of Florida,” Darby said. See BREWERY, page 19A