From The Playing Field To The Game of Life

Posted Feb 1, 2007 by Stephen Hammill

Updated Feb 1, 2007 at 02:11 PM

ALL SPORTS GRADUATES GIVE BACK

By STEPHEN HAMMILL
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When Tyrone Keys founded All Sports Community Service in 1993, he envisioned a program where kids could find the opportunity to pursue higher education through community service and mentoring.

Fourteen years, $20 million and hundreds of college graduates later, he has achieved just that.
K

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AP Motorcyclist Dies After Crash

Posted Jan 30, 2007 by Bill Rogers

Updated Jan 30, 2007 at 08:30 PM

AVON PARK — A steady procession of cars pulled up to the family home Tuesday on W.L. Kirkland Street to pay their respects to the family of Andrew Actavous Brown, 28, after he succumbed to his injuries Monday from a motorcycle crash.

Avon Park resident Frank Lyle Shearer, 33, was heading west on W.L. Kirkland approaching a stop sign in his Pontiac sedan as Brown approached the intersection headed south on Waldron Avenue. Waldron Avenue has no stop sign at W.L. Kirkland.

At about 6:50 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 19 Avon Park police say Brown hit the Pontiac broadside.

Brown’s mother, Marjorie Brown-Sewell, was in her home that night doing laundry when a girl she didn’t remember banged on her door yelling that Andrew Brown was in a crash at the corner and was badly hurt.

“Miss Marjorie, Miss Marjorie, somebody hit Andrew,” Brown-Sewell said, describing the bearer of bad news as jumping up and down with a cell phone raised above her head. “I don’t know, somebody took the laundry out of my hands and I ran out there.”

Neighbor Alvin Moore was sitting in his living room when he heard the the crash. His front door is about 20 feet from where they found Brown, badly injured, laying on the ground. He came outside to see what was going on. It was getting dark. There was a street light but the light had gone dim.

“The motorcycle was still running – wide open,” Moore said Tuesday. “I walked right up to him. We couldn’t tell who he was because there wasn’t enough light.”

There’s a street light directly over the spot, but it hasn’t been working very well for some time now, Moore said.

He’s known the Browns about 16 years and his wife Carol has known Andrew Brown since he was a baby.

A girl with a cell phone held it close to his face. In the light from the phone, she said it was Andrew, Moore said. “I saw Andrew a million times walking past here, coming, going, he was a real quiet type. He was one of those kids who was never in a hurry.”

It was a fateful decision to take a dirt bike with no lights and no helmet for a ride at dusk, which set events into motion.

Moore, who works as a mechanic for Jahna Concrete, heard from a friend of Brown’s that the motorcycle may have had mechanical troubles that contributed to an already bad situation.

“I talked to a friend of Andrew’s who told me the bike wasn’t running that good,” Moore said. “It had problems with the throttle - it was sticking - and the brakes weren’t that good.”

The stop sign at that corner is stained with drippings from Spanish moss growing in the tree above, and is difficult to read. It is unknown if that was a factor, as Shearer was not charged with running it.

Avon Park Police Chief Frank Mercurio said Tuesday the crash investigation is ongoing. So far, no charges had been filed against Shearer.
Shearer was not injured, and there were no other passengers or pedestrians involved.

Brown’s stepfather, Eric Sewell, said Tuesday there has been a non-stop procession of cars visiting the home since news got out of Andrew Brown’s death. The family living room was adorned with floral arrangements from loving friends and family.

Brown is survived by his mom, stepfather and his daughter A’nya, almost 2, his brothers Earnest, 38; Cleo, 36; Kevin, 34; and Edgar, 23; half sister, Rosemary Brown, 46; and grandmother, Daisey Martin, lots of aunts, uncles, and cousins, plus 17 nieces and nephews with two more on the way.

“Andrew was a soft-hearted young man – very loving and yes, yes, yes, he had a lot of friends,” Brown-Sewell said.

“Every time he walked up to you he’d give you a big hug, no matter who you were,” said VerKosha Hamilton, a family friend. Brown’s mother is godmother to her daughter. “He was a big hugger. He was sweet.”

“Yes he liked to hug and kiss, kiss,” his mom added. “He was very loving.”

Her next stop was to make the funeral arrangements for a week from Saturday.

“Funeral arrangements to bury my son,” she said. “Yes, that’s the hardest thing.”

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Chamber VP is bullish about Brandon

Posted Jan 29, 2007 by D'Ann White

Updated Jan 29, 2007 at 09:10 PM

“I just feel so fortunate to be in this place at this time,” he said, “working at the chamber but also living in Brandon where there’s such pride in community.”
  Reagin said the Brandon community stands in sharp contrast to his home in Terra Haute, Ind.
  “There you see boarded up buildings and struggling businesses,” he said. “The difference is so apparent. I feel good to live in Brandon where people are passionate about their community and help those who are less fortunate – it really feels good to be a part of that.”
  As vice president for sales, Reagin oversees membership at the Greater Brandon Chamber of Commerce (GBCC).
  “We’re kind of the customer service department,” he said. “Our main concern is keeping members happy and of course recruiting. We want their experience to be valuable – not just in business but personally.
  “I can offer a lot of avenues for promoting members’ business,” Regain said, “and also a lot of personal connections. We give business a voice. We help speak for things that are important to your business such as government advocacy and quality of life issues. We help people get involved in the community and make the community better.”
  Reagin draws his energy from the membership. With close to 1800 member businesses and organizations Brandon’s chamber is unusually active.
  “Our members are passionate about Brandon,” he said. “I think people who participate in the chamber have a real love for their community.”
  And he feels that this is not just a center for business, but also a gathering place.
  “We’re not a social organization,” Reagin said, “but people really do enjoy those events.”
  Reagin first came to the chamber in 1995 to work in directory sales and has held his current position six years.
  “Before then at a small AM radio station in Dade City (WDCF),” he said. “I’d previously worked in advertising in Indiana.”
  Reagin’s dad was career Air Force, a veteran of three wars, and the family lived in Maryland, Hawaii, Ohio, and then Indiana.
  “I did most of my growing up around Terra Haute,” he said. “I studied biology at Concordia College then went to Indiana State where I earned my degree in communications. I did on-air announcing for a while before going into sales at WBAK, the local ABC affiliate.”
  In 1994 Reagin’s wife, Lynn, landed a teaching job in the Brandon area. The young family moved south.
  “She teaches fourth-grade at Alafia Elementary,” he said. “In Indiana the schools were laying off teachers. She heard about the Great Florida Teach-in and got all kinds of job offers.
  “It’s was definitely a great move for us,” Reagin said, “professionally as well as personally.”
  Brandon, Reagin tells his friends up north, is unique.
  “The heart of Brandon is not what you see, it’s the people,” he said. “The service groups and the churches and the charities are all so active trying to make the community better.”
  One way to achieve a better community, he believes, is through a strong active chamber.
  A conscientious worker, Reagin admitted he needs to add some balance.
  “I do enjoy reading,” he said, “but I don’t have much of a recreational life at this time. I could certainly use one. Then as a family we do the typical things folk with 6-year-olds do. Theme parks, piano lessons, local parks, going to the beach.”
  Asked to pinpoint Brandon’s immediate challenges, Reagin fingered affordable housing.
  “The folks our members need to hire can’t afford to live in Florida,” he said. “It’s hard to find qualified people but when out of state folks find out about the housing costs it’s really difficult to recruit them.
  “The other challenge,” he said, “is making sure that our growth is responsible.”

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Cutting-Edge Technology Makes Communication A Beautiful Thing

Posted Jan 29, 2007 by D'Ann White

Updated Jan 29, 2007 at 09:09 PM

When our boxes arrived the family gathered to watch me assemble the components. After I was done I flipped the appropriate switches and a pale green screen stared back at me, its cursor blinking unflinchingly.
“Bring it on,” it seemed to be saying, “I’ve frustrated people smarter than you.”
Then my wife, Rebekah, took a turn. Much later and aware of her growing discouragement, our son, Andrew, who was 6 at the time, offered to help.
“Don’t worry Mama,” he said, patting her on the arm, “it just takes some people longer than others.”
Thus began my love-hate relationship with technology. I need it, I use it, I develop a small base of working knowledge, my confidence grows, and then someone in Seattle or California goes and changes all the rules.
When it comes to gadgetry, I’m afraid the ubiquitous built-in obsolescence factor is looking right back at me from the bathroom mirror. That is why it’s so nice to have reared my own help desk. Andrew really is very patient, and that’s going to be increasingly handy as the next few decades hit us at breakneck speed. Then, of course, there will be more widgets, thingamajigs and doohickeys, plus eventually a grandchild or two to help with whatever comes along next.
At graduation last month Andrew scored a new laptop. A miraculous wonder not even “Star Trek” creator Gene Roddenberry could have possibly imagined back in 1988. My desktop dinosaur (circa 2001) is not even in the same galaxy.
“What do you want?” we asked him.
“An XPS Core 2 Duo GeForce 7400 TurboCache Media Center Edition,” he said.
Or something like that.
“What on earth is that?” I asked someone in the know at the know-how store.
“Something you can’t afford that does stuff I don’t understand,” the helpful expert replied.
Then he looked at my son.
“What you want to do your dad like that for?” he said.
Well he got his DuoForce TurboCore MediaX thingy, and I must admit the wow factor really is pretty huge. Then he pooled his Christmas money and purchased an iPod Nano. I’d heard about iPods but never really paid attention, kind of a “who needs one more thing” response to yet another device I couldn’t understand.
Andrew gave us a quick demo. The thing’s so simple it makes sense right away, and it’s the size of a credit card, good grief. Then he gave me some ear buds and let me listen. I still can’t believe the pure rich quality of the sound. A few minutes later he took me to the iTunes software on his computer and I was hooked.
Now I have his “old” laptop. It is cleaned up and restored so it runs good as new. I’ve parked it on the kitchen counter so we can use it for Internet access and music, and I’ve launched the enormous task of converting our extensive CD collection to digital files. In a few more days and for the first time in history, all our music will be cataloged, cross-referenced and easily accessible.
I’m writing about this today because along with the music, I downloaded several gigabytes of hope. I think the penny has finally dropped for me when it comes to technology and I’m beginning to see where a wedge of common language might be driven into the small openings that remain in a world increasingly determined to foster isolation via misunderstanding and fear.
Don’t misunderstand me. I don’t believe technology has the power to save us. But I do believe there is so much more we can do to communicate the message of freedom and of peace other than killing people and blowing things up.
Just maybe our rapidly evolving ability to communicate might eventually put enough regular people on the same page that we can begin to reach some common understanding. Now if Steve Jobs can just tweak my computer so I can run this column in Farsi. …

Derek Maul is a writer who lives in Valrico. You can reach him at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

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Gardening On A Shoestring

Posted Jan 29, 2007 by D'Ann White

Updated Jan 29, 2007 at 09:08 PM

It will come back to you many times over in food or flower production, increase your property value, better your mental and physical health and create personal satisfaction, plus other immeasurable benefits.
But if you want to spend less and gain more do the following:
1. PLAN carefully. This will save you more than money. It will save human and fossil energy. It can help you budget for improving certain areas during certain years. Sketch your house and property and any existing features like trees, driveways and patios. Do it as accurately as you can, but better to do this badly than not at all. Then furnish the outdoor rooms of your yard as you would inside. Plant only what will fit—now and at maturity. Get a pamphlet on xeriscaping from your extension agent or check out my book “Xeriscaping for Florida Homes.” It’ll teach you about grouping plants according to water needs, cutting down on turf areas and help you choose native plants that will thrive on little care.
2. PLANT SEEDS instead of plants whenever this is feasible. In fact, right now is a good time. You’ll get many more plants for the money. Start now and you’ll have blooms or food from annuals in the spring. Start perennials anytime. Patient gardeners even start trees from seeds. However, seeds take much longer, so if you want citrus or petunias as soon as possible, plants are worth the extra cost. This is a good time to plant seeds of cabbage and all the cole crops, tomatoes, lettuce, kale, sugar pod peas, arugula, many of the herbs, and flowers such as nasturtiums, cosmos and larkspur.
Also learn to recognize and nurture seedlings. I now expect nasturtiums to re-seed. All I have to do is re-plant the ones that come up in the wrong places. I am also transplanting some larkspur seedlings that came up from last year’s plants and I found and weeded around a few Johnny-jump-ups. Look for such near where you had them before. I found the seedling that is now my huge loquat tree soon after I had bought one. I transplanted the seedling and it has out-produced the purchased plant a hundredfold.
3. SHARE your extra plants with other gardeners and they will do the same. This is half the fun. If you pass a lovely garden with something you crave, go to the door or leave a note asking permission to take cuttings or extra seedlings and offering something you don’t see but have yourself in exchange. Go to garden club or plant society meetings for their sales or, even better, join in their exchange. Many of my fruit trees and shrubs were won at the raffle of the rare fruit club.
4. SHOP AT GARAGE SALES for seeds, plants, tools and vases. The seeds may or may not be fresh, but if they are cheap enough, you can test them when you get home by germinating a few between damp paper towels. You can pretty well tell about the plants and tools. Hoes and spades must be sharpened periodically in any case. Check hoses for good ends and handles for good connections. If someone in your neighborhood is having a sale, ask if you can add some of your plants. Then stay with them for a while and talk to the people who buy and you my find some willing to trade as well. It was at a garage sale I found the old-fashioned cultivator that is now my long-handled picker for raking oranges and other fruit off of high branches.
5. ASK for the almost lost. Some gardeners find plants on trash piles and help themselves. Others see someone digging out something they want and stop and ask for it. A few watch where roads and new developments are about to destroy plants, ask permission, and take the plants home, even small trees. Some of my favorite plants came that way. Anything set out for trash pick up you don’t even have to ask about, but asking could result in important information like the name of the plant if you don’t recognize it, what color the flowers will be and whether the plant needs sun or shade.
At least one of the plants I got this way had apparently wilted so badly the owner considered it dead. He or she put out two pots of pink justicia the night before trash day, and one of them revived from the dew. I came by at the advantageous time, screeched to a halt, backed up, put it in my car and brought it home. Cuttings from it have spread throughout my yard.

Monica Brandies can be reached at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

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Cougars Claw At Eagles

Posted Jan 29, 2007 by D'Ann White

Updated Jan 29, 2007 at 09:07 PM

This time last year, the town was abuzz about the possibility that Durant’s wrestling team had a small chance to end Brandon’s legendary winning streak.
  The national media was waiting with baited breath ready to report the story of an upset; supporters from each school rallied their troops and poured into Durant High School for the match to end all matches and alumni who had wandered away from the school flooded back.
  But, as had been the case for nearly three decades, Brandon put down the Cougars.
  About the only thing that’s still the same this year is the outcome of the Durant/Brandon dual meet. Brandon, still a national wrestling powerhouse squads with their record-setting streak up to 439, handily defeated Durant last week.
  Durant marched into Brandon Jan. 11 knowing they were in for a tough battle. And while some wrestlers put up a fight, the final result rested 62-9 in favor of Brandon.
  Brandon’s Sean Patrick, 189 pounds, set the tone for the evening, pinning John Decker in 38 seconds.
  Patrick was one of eight Brandon pins. The others included Keith Simmons, Terry Dawson, Eric Grajales, Zach Berridge, Sean Joyce, Keith Koziel and Tom Timothy.
  Grajales, Joyce, Timothy and Patrick all improved their season records to 27-0.
  And while it might not have been a street fight, Durant did get a couple good shots in.
  Sean Padgett, 103 pounds, defeated Eddie Ciesla in a 6-2 decision, while Matt Wacaser, 142 pounds, beat Brandon’s Nick Hutchinson 7-6. Durant’s Erik Ruiz, 121 pounds, delivered Kyle Keller his second loss of the season at 15-13.
  “Durant’s a fine program,” Brandon’s coach Russ Cozart said. “(Dennis) Kitko’s a fine coach and the kid’s always have fight. We knew we’d get a good workout here tonight.”
  Cozart moved his wrestlers up a weight class while Cozart’s former pupil, Durant’s Dennis Kitko moved his squad down a class.
  Kitko said he was impressed with Ruiz, who beat Brandon’s state-runner up.
  “Realistically, they’re tough and we’re down. They know when to attack,” Kitko said.
  Ruiz, who is 18-2 in his first year at Durant as a senior, said he felt great following his win.
  “His (Keller) shots were pretty weak,” Ruiz said, adding that the match came down to technique.

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Brandon Invited To Take Part In Yearlong Rail Study

Posted Jan 29, 2007 by D'Ann White

Updated Jan 29, 2007 at 09:06 PM

Longtime Brandon resident Vince Ferraro remembers sitting on a committee formed by the county 10 years ago to study the possibility of building a commuter rail system in Tampa Bay.
  The plan the committee came up with was so detailed that the county had developers reserve right of way for the future rail line that would run from Interstate 4 south to Riverview through the Westfield Brandon property with a station on Bloomingdale Avenue.
  However, the plans were shelved when new county commissioners came on board with different attitudes about rail transit, said Ramond Chiaramonte assistant executive director of the Hillsborough County Planning Commission.
  Then, over the next 10 years, with no active rail plan under way, the commission had no choice but to relieve developers of their obligation to reserve right of way for commuter rail, he said.
  “They’ve been talking about a rail system for years but nothing gets done,” said Ferraro. “It would have been a lot cheaper if they’d done it 10 or 15 years ago. It’s a lack of leadership.”
  Lucy Ayer, executive director of the Hillsborough County Metropolitan Planning Organization, the long-term transportation planning agency for the county, took part in all those former commuter rail studies. She said she understands the frustration, but that it won’t happen again.
  “I personally believe it’s time for us,” she said.
  Both the MPO and planning commission unanimously adopted resolutions to take another look at commuter rail.
  Tampa Bay is one of the top 25 metropolitan areas in the country, ranking 19 with a population of 2.6 million people. However, by 2025, Tampa Bay is expected to add 400,000 residents. This is the equivalent of adding a city the size of Atlanta to Hillsborough County, Chiaramonte said.
  All but two of the top 25 metropolitan areas have major rail transit systems: Tampa and Detroit. Even smaller areas such as Albuquerque, N.M., and Salt Lake City, Utah, have commuter rail systems, noted Chiaramonte.
  Los Angeles, which dismantled its rail system after World War II and became known for its dependence on cars, is now in the process of rebuilding its commuter rail system.
  “Lack of mass transit was one of the reasons our bid for the Olympics failed,” said Chiaramonte.
  He believes Tampa Bay’s failure to attract the Olympics and the fact that Orlando was able to get financing for a commuter rail system was the impetus behind the push for a rail system in Hillsborough County.
  From a resident’s point of view, rail simply makes sense, he said.
  If a family with two breadwinners can eliminate one car, that family could increase its home mortgage by $60,000 to $70,000.
  A rail system will improve residents’ quality of life in other ways as well, he said, allowing people to spend less money on gas and less time in traffic. And it offers a reliable, consistent means of transportation for residents who do not drive.
  Then there are the economic advantages, he said. Communities with rail systems attract development – businesses, industry, universities and residential development.
  Although a new commuter rail line between Charlotte and Mooresville, N.C., is still four years from completion, developers have begun or proposed $1.5 billion of projects around the line’s station stops.
  Because so many commuter rail line studies of Hillsborough County already have been done, added Ayer, transportation planners won’t be starting from scratch.
  “We aren’t reinventing the wheel,” she said. “We’ve got a lot of information already that we’ll be using.”
  In fact, the Florida Department of Transportation purchased the county’s old downtown jail facility specifically for a commuter rail station. And CSX Railroad has 61 miles of right of way it’s agreed to sell. The DOT will loan the money to the county and cities through which the right of way runs for the commuter rail lines.
  Among those studies is the 1993 study Ferraro was involved in, which shows a rail line running south along the east side of Interstate 75 from the CSX rail line near U.S. 92 in Mango into south Hillsborough County. The study also shows a commuter rail using the existing railroad line that runs through Mango, Seffner, Valrico, Dover and into Plant City.
  Brandon attorney and Winthrop Town Centre developer John Sullivan is among those who have volunteered to be on the rail transit stakeholder committee and take part in a yearlong study beginning this month.
  Among his concerns is how the commuter rail system will be financed.
  “Since developers are very dependent on transportation, maybe developers should own a piece of that rail,” he suggested.
  With the Florida Legislature now discussing forming regional transportation authorities to oversee transportation planning in the state, incoming chamber chairwoman and former state Rep. Sandy Murman wondered who would make decisions about the rail system.
  “It’s got to be a lot of different groups working together,” said Chiaramonte.
  “We have to think regionally but act locally,” agreed Ayer.
  Between now and April, the MPO and planning commission will host public meetings and get residents’ thoughts and ideas about commuter rail. Then, between June and October, staff and consultants will begin planning and design various rail corridors and possible stations, investigate the different rail technologies and look at costs and revenues. Finally, in November and December, they will identify funding sources and develop an action plan to have a rail system in place within the next 20 years.

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New Store Brings Color, Zest To Home Accessories

Posted Jan 29, 2007 by D'Ann White

Updated Jan 29, 2007 at 09:05 PM

In a 12-month span, she left a successful longtime corporate career, sent her youngest child off to college and launched a business venture.
After Ploor and her husband, Rick, escorted their daughter, Sarah, to her new campus home at the University of Florida last fall, Ploor decided it was time to add a little zest to her life.
In November, after 17 years in sports marketing management with Gatorade, she opened Orange, a home accessories store in Plaza Bella on Bloomingdale Avenue. The shop’s name is a sentimental nod to a fond childhood memory.
“I wanted the store to be a happy, colorful and fun place, and I associate those things with memories of picking oranges with my brothers in our back yard,” she said. “Dad would pay us a quarter each to gather them up. He gave them to friends who had a bakery in Miami, and they used them to make pastry fillings. It’s just a very happy memory, and I thought the name also nicely reflected our family’s Florida origins.”
Her older brother, an architect, still lives in Miami. He helped design the new store and accompanies her on buying trips. She shares the entrepreneurial spirit with her younger brother who owns two Beef O’Brady’s restaurants in Auburndale. Ploor’s parents, Elizabeth and Dan Owens, help run the restaurants.
Ploor’s new career path follows in the footsteps of her parents. The Owens owned a store called Hand of Man in Jacksonville about 10 years ago. Antiques and traditional pieces were mainstays at her parents’ store. By contrast, Ploor purveys modern and retro-style pieces.
Ultra-stylish home accessories and eclectic gift items, inexpensive gourmet teas and soy candles, high-end accent pieces and handmade rugs are on display in the 1,600-square-foot store.
Throughout the shop, objects of all shapes and sizes boast ethereal colors and retro-modern forms. Delicate hand-blown lamps and vases share shelf space with whimsical kitchen implements and elegant handmade jewelry.
Ploor has a penchant for collecting functional art pieces. A pewter cat sits atop a glass cheeseboard, four “mice” beneath serving as the tray’s feet. Upon closer inspection, a fanciful plastic and wire sculpture turns out to be a salt and pepper shaker set. Prices vary from a $20 wall-mount Lucite fish bowl to an $800 hand-made cotton area rug.
“It’s so nice when new customers come in,” she said. “Everyone seems to find something that stands out for them. We wanted to have a little something for everyone in every price range from inexpensive, unique gift items to elegant and exclusive high-end pieces.”
Ploor thoroughly enjoyed the fast-paced corporate track she left behind, but she’s excited about building her own business.
“What I liked about my sports marketing career was meeting and talking with people and bringing great products to the public,” Ploor said. “In a way, I’m still doing that. The biggest change for me is I don’t have to travel all the time, and that’s a good thing.”
Through all the recent changes in her life, one thing has remained intact: Ploor’s involvement with the Brandon Ballet. She was a founding member of the company in 1993 and remains on the board, though it’s been years since her own daughters laced up their slippers for a recital.
“I stay involved with the ballet because I helped build it and I’ve seen it grow so much,” she said. “It’s like a child to me, and I’m very proud of what we have been able to accomplish over the years. It’s provided such great experiences for young dancers in our community.”
Ploor got involved with the ballet for the sake of her children, and it became a part of her, one she passed on to her older daughter. Allison Ploor is establishing herself as a dancer in New York City, where she plans to build a modern dance company of her own.
As for Ploor, she wouldn’t dream of staging the newest chapter of their life anywhere but Brandon. Like her children, her career and the ballet, she’s enjoyed watching the community grow and change through the years.
“Brandon always was, and still is, a great place to raise a family,” she said. “We have so many great friends and everything we need right here in Brandon.”
Orange is in Plaza Bella at 1046 Bloomingdale Avenue. Information: 681-8686.

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Lastinger Leaves Lasting Legacy

Posted Jan 29, 2007 by D'Ann White

Updated Jan 29, 2007 at 09:05 PM

That word came up a lot in interviews following her death Jan. 7 at Tampa General Hospital with her family at her side.
  Lastinger, 80, graduated from Brandon High and was an elementary school teacher in Brandon for 34 years. She was a past president of the Greater Brandon Old-Timers Association, which meets once a year for a luncheon attended by residents with longtime roots in the area.
“She was a beautiful lady from the inside out,” said Karen Rodriguez, president of the Brandon High School Alumni Association and past president of the old-timers’ association. “What I will remember most are the original arrangements, the centerpieces, she made for the old-timers’ association. They were different year after year after year and they were beautiful.”
So, too, was Lastinger, she said.
“I ran into her recently with her husband, Oscar, at Wal-Mart,” Rodriguez said. “Whenever you saw her she was meticulously dressed. She was always such a classy lady.”
Earl Lennard, the former superintendent of schools for Hillsborough County, issued a similar sentiment.
Lastinger was his second- or third-grade teacher at Palm River Elementary School. She taught there after teaching at Brandon School, where she met her husband of 55 years while a third-grade teacher. After Palm River, she helped open Walter S. Yates Elementary School, Brandon’s first standalone elementary school.
“She was such a beautiful lady,” Lennard said. “Everybody wanted to have her as a teacher because she was such an extraordinarily patient and kind person. All the young boys thought she was the quintessential woman, and she was. She was somebody all the young girls could look up to and emulate as a role model.”
Lennard entered the school system as a first-grader and graduated from Brandon High School. He said he first met Oscar Lastinger when he was a student at Brandon High. Oscar Lastinger was an agricultural education teacher.
“Later on, he was an ag teacher at Turkey Creek and Plant City High and I was an ag teacher at East Bay High School,” Lennard said. “We kept close to the Lastingers all these years because, with all the ag teachers, it’s like a family. We had ag functions during the year where the families would be invited. The Lastinger family would always be there.”
Still, it’s his memories as a young student in Mrs. Lastinger’s classroom that Lennard holds most dear.
“She was not only a good teacher, she was a great teacher,” Lennard said. “You could tell that she just cared about the youngsters in her classroom and I think everyone felt that.”
Lennard said her legacy will live on for generations.
“I really believe that the essence of having a link to our past is through people like Mrs. Lastinger,” he said. “I had her for a short time as a teacher, but she taught my younger brother, Charlie, as well.”
“It’s a terrific loss,” said Rodriguez. “Brandon has lost another great old-timer, another great longtime friend.”
Lastinger began her teaching career in 1948 under her high school principal, E.F. McLane, for whom McLane Middle School is named. She was born Nov. 2, 1926, in Seffner, to Fred Day and Reta Chastain Baucom. As a young girl, she played the piano at First Baptist Church of Seffner. In 1943, she became a member of First Baptist Church of Brandon, where she was a Sunday school teacher, choir member and church pianist.
She is survived by her husband, Oscar; her children, Becky Jordan, Martha Henderson and George Lastinger; her grandchildren, Audra Butler, Matthew and Victoria Lastinger, Dyan and Shawn Henderson; two nieces and five nephews.

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Opening Bells

Posted Jan 29, 2007 by D'Ann White

Updated Jan 29, 2007 at 09:04 PM

“It doesn’t take long for them to knock it down,” said her husband, Mark, who was on site Jan. 8 as the wrecking ball turn the little house that became the Green Boutique, 1014 Bloomingdale Ave., into a heap of debris.
“Some people didn’t realize it was going to be torn down,” Roz Creager said. “Probably when they see it gone, it will surprise a lot of people. It probably has become a little bit of a landmark for the area.”
Their son, Matt, now a partner in the business, was born shortly after the Creagers moved into what was then a chopped-up concrete structure in need of desperate repair in 1977.
The Green Boutique, specializing in Vera Bradley and Brighton purses, shoes and jewelry, gifts, home décor and apparel, moved into the 36,000-square-foot Plaza Bella shopping center Thanksgiving Day. The store officially reopened for business Dec. 1.
As the developers of Plaza Bella, the Creagers knew that both the home they once lived in and an adjacent building had to come down to make room for a 7,000-square-foot retail complex. But that didn’t make it any easier to see the buildings demolished.
“How does it feel? It’s emotional, because that building holds a lot of memories,” Roz Creager said. “But we’re thrilled with progress, too. So it’s all real positive, but I hate to see everything come down.”
Also slated to be removed were some of the stately trees on the property.
“When we moved there, it was just a big, barren pasture,” Roz Creager said. “We planted all the trees that were there. I remember planting the trees when we redid the house, thinking of shade, and strategically placing them around the house. And, of course, with the, we planted even more trees. We planted a lot of the oak trees that were around there.”
The Creagers’ business began as a nursery but transformed into a gift shop. They closed the nursery about 15 years ago.
The old property consisted of two buildings, with a combined space of 2,600 square feet. The Plaza Bella shopping center has 5,000 square feet. Retailers include Robeks; Salon Essence; the Vino 100 wine store; Southern Title; and Orange, a home décor and gift shop specializing in contemporary gifts (see related story).
The Creagers helped design the building, which they feel should be a source of pride to the community that has meant so much to them.
Creager is the daughter of Dick Cimino, a longtime civic activist who served as president of the Greater Brandon Chamber of Commerce and honorary mayor of Brandon. The elementary school in Bloomingdale East off Culbreath School is named in his honor.
Creager remembers when she could ride her horse on a curvy John Moore Road and into the orange groves near the Brandon Swim and Tennis Club, renamed the Brandon Sports and Aquatic Center, at 405 Beverly Blvd.
“There were just a few houses, really, on Bloomingdale Avenue, but far to the east of me, and a couple of neighbors on Bell Shoals Road,” Creager said. “When that sun set, it was dark. There were no street lights. It was just pitch dark. It was the country. We were in the sticks.”
Those sticks gave way to suburbia, complete with big-box retailers and traffic gridlock, as well as a 2,270-student school, regional library and the Bloomingdale subdivision.
Creager remembers a water worker telling her about the coming Bloomingdale development after moving into her home in 1977.
“I remember him telling me, ‘Boy, you bought a good place. This whole subdivision, Bloomingdale, is going in and it has a golf course‘ ” Creager said.
The nearby Bloomingdale Square shopping center, anchored by Publix and Wal-Mart, was a pine tree forest, back then.
“It’s all progress. What can you say?” Creager said. “You move on.”
Her son, who graduated from Bloomingdale High School in 1996 and the University of South Florida four years later, also has mixed emotions.
“I’m glad to be staying here on the property and seeing this (Plaza Bella) business community and shopping center come about,” he said. “It would be sad if someone else had demolished it, and to see something pop up that we didn’t build, design or plan.”
Still, the Creagers did look into moving their old home, but it was just too expensive.
“Originally we were thinking of trying to incorporate it into the (Plaza Bella) development,” Creager said. “To move it or attach it to a building. But reality sets in when you start looking at the dollars and cents of things. It was impractical and cost-prohibitive. When you learn more about how things work, you realize it’s a pipe dream.”
As for Mark Creager, he took pictures as the old home came down.
“Different things hit you at different times,” he said, as he watched pieces of wood, “some tired old boards,” as he put it, crack in half.
“I rebuilt this place when we bought it,” he said. “My mother carried sheet rock, piece by piece, to the street and the garbage men took it away.”
Nostalgia aside, Mark Creager said the day of demolition felt “kind of good.”
“Right now, it’s good to see it come down because it has to be done and it’s holding up other things.”

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Brutally Frank: The Canonization Of St. Nancy Pelosi

Posted Jan 29, 2007 by D'Ann White

Updated Jan 29, 2007 at 09:03 PM

All through the 2006 congressional campaign, Pelosi trumpeted her having five children in six years as “the best training in the world for Speaker of the House,” and claims that the reasons she “came to Congress are simple: the children, the children, the children.”
  But before Pelosi wraps herself in the sacred mantle of her motherhood, before anyone calls Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican to schedule St. Nancy’s canonization, perhaps one should consider the children that Pelosi seems to have forgotten about or intentionally disregarded: the unborn.
  Pelosi, a congresswoman from San Francisco, has come under fire from pro-lifers for her unabashedly pro-abortion voting record. She’s also been an outspoken supporter of gay “marriage” and an opponent of any efforts at constitutional amendments protecting marriage as exclusively between one man and one woman. Pelosi’s positions are directly contrary to the teachings of the Roman Catholicism that she seems to wear like a mere fashion accessory.
  “Rep. Pelosi has been unwavering in her support for abortion and is downright defiant toward the Church’s teachings on the sanctity of human life,” said Judie Brown, president of American Life League. “It is shameful that Trinity College, a supposedly Catholic institution, has turned a blind eye to the heretical views Pelosi embraces.
  “Rep. Pelosi has a tremendous opportunity to make a difference for all human beings as the most powerful Catholic in Congress. Unfortunately, she continually supports the very act that destroys life rather than protects it. It is for this very reason that a Catholic institution should not condone or support her position as a legislator.”
  The American Life League has consistently called on Catholic bishops to deny Holy Communion to Catholic politicians who support abortion. During the 2004 presidential campaign, anti-abortion advocates also encouraged the Catholic Church to deny communion to Senator John Kerry.
  In the face of such criticism, St. Nancy has taken to twisting Catholic teaching in search of a defense.
  “I believe that my position on choice is one that is consistent with my Catholic upbringing,” said Pelosi, “which said that every person has a free will and has the responsibility to live their own lives in a way that they would have to account for in the end.”
  But William Donahue, president of the Catholic League, doesn’t quite regard clear principles of faith as being as conveniently dispensable as does St. Nancy.
  “It is one thing for Nancy Pelosi to defend the intentional killing of innocent babies,” said Donohue, “quite another to suggest that her view is consistent with Catholic teaching. She justifies her pro-abortion position by invoking freedom of conscience, arguing that this is what the Catholic Church teaches. While it is true that the Catholic Church honors the role of conscience in making moral decisions, it explicitly emphasizes the need for a ‘well-formed conscience.’ By this it means that Catholics are obliged to acknowledge the central role of Catholic teaching in arriving at a just decision. Absent such a condition, anything could be justified. After all, Jeffrey Dahmer invoked his conscience in justifying murder and cannibalism, yet no one thinks what he did was just.
  “This leaves Pelosi with two choices: stop supporting abortion or stop misrepresenting the teachings of the Catholic Church.”
 
  Frank Shannon is a writer and longtime conservative activist. He can be contacted via email at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

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Bomb Bustin’ Bow-Wows

Posted Jan 29, 2007 by D'Ann White

Updated Jan 29, 2007 at 09:01 PM

For the dogs whose work it is to find explosives, there’s something inside them, a drive that gives them the fervor to spend hours upon hours tirelessly searching.
But they don’t do it for free. These dogs serving agencies such as the FBI, CIA and Pentagon are looking for payment at the end of the day, even if it’s just a tennis ball, leather chew toy and scratch behind the ears.
According to Deputy Doug White, a whiff of an explosive is all they need since dogs have a sense of smell 400 times stronger than humans; their enthusiasm spikes when they smell something as simple as flash powder.
Kira is one of those animals. A 3-year-old Belgium Malinios Pentagon police dog, she looks more cuddly than deadly. But, in an instant, she, and other police dogs like her, can transform into a deadly opponent for criminals found breaking the law.
“100 pound furry razor blades,” said White.
With trainer Phil Sherman, Kira waits his command, sitting at his feet between training exercises last week at the Hillsborough Sheriff’s Office Walter C. Heinrich Practical Training Range in Lithia, 14603 S. County Road S.
She seems to smile at the sight of about 25 suitcases laid out systematically on the concrete next to Boeing 727 in the middle of the nearly 200-acre complex.
Sherman leads her to the concrete to demonstrate her abilities. If dogs could talk, it seems this one would be muttering “finally.” With her tow, Sherman walks her around several suitcases, tapping the corners he wants the dog to sniff.
After several negative results, the dog stops dead, calmly sits down, and looks at her handler. Kira won’t move. This is the one, I’ve done what you asked, here you go, she might say.
Sure enough, she’s nailed the mock bomb. And for her hard work, she is treated to a toy.
So it was the order of the day last Wednesday as part of the week-long certification training at the 2007 National Explosive Detector Dog Workshop at the range Jan. 8-12.
Kira and Sherman were one of 39 dog teams represented by 28 agencies from across the country.
The workshop was set in the classroom and the field.
Kira, 3, started working when she was 15-months-old. Most dogs can work until they are about 10, or the equivalent of 70 people years, and then are retired, usually living out the remainder of their lives with their handler.
“She plays a vital role in keeping everybody safe,” said Sherman of Kira. “It’s a necessity.”
Two teams from the Pentagon came to Hillsborough County last week. In Washington, D.C. the dogs are used for sweeps in search of explosive devices in and around the Pentagon. The dogs have been considered a greater value to police work since the terrorist attacks five years ago.
“This is very valuable … to get fully exposed live scenarios,” Sherman said.
This is the second time the sheriff’s office has hosted the training, the first time in 2005. 
Cpl. Matt Hall had his 9-year-old partner Bo work the ground airplane, walking the isle, the dog jumping into the seats and lurching up for the overhead bins.
After traversing several rows of seats, the German shepherd had found what he was looking for, the smallest of scents coming from an explosive device.
Slipping back to the floor, Bo chewed happily on a piece of leather.
Having worked since 1999, Bo will probably retire this year, Hall said. The dog served the sheriff’s office during 9/11.
“He’s been working ever since, chasing bad guys,” Hall said of his partner. “These guys (dogs and handlers) are some of the best in the business.”
Bo has never found a bomb while on duty and that’s a good thing for everyone’s safety, Hall said.
Had explosive been found for real, the cargo of the vehicle would have been unloaded and the dogs would search it. Then, the vehicle—bus, train or plane—would have had its perimeter searched by the dogs looking for any other devices.
Other exercise demonstrated was the explosion of several devices including a suitcase rigged with a mineral water bottle disruptor, or water bomb.
The water bomb uses the force of its minute explosion to separate components of an explosive device, keeping the bomb from detonating.
Blowing up the suitcase, which exploded in hundreds of pieces and tore the cloth case at its seams with a snap-like sound, was an example of what might be done when an unidentified box or object is discovered.
Once the dogs find a threatening device, a bomb squad is then sent in, White, also a member of the sheriff’s office bomb squad, explained.
The county has seven bomb teams, who if a situation arises, don their protective gear and rig a questionable device with the water bomb, a peroxide-based explosive.
But most times it takes a dog to get the bomb squad to that point, he added.
“They’re absolutely amazing creatures,” he said. “They’re very, very good at what they do.”

 
 

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Candidly Dawn: I Can’t Wait To See What The Rest Of The Year Holds

Posted Jan 29, 2007 by D'Ann White

Updated Jan 29, 2007 at 09:00 PM

Yes, I am well aware that we are only 20 days into the New Year but, quite frankly, I do believe I have seen enough in these few infant days of 2007 to give an assessment.
I’m still searching for the “Kick Me” sign that I swear is taped to my back. I even asked a woman in Wal-Mart to examine my back side. She didn’t spot one either. And she thought I was nuts. She was right on both accounts.
So I share with you my brand new days of a brand new year at the Zamanis household.
Everything seemed pretty normal the first few hours of New Year’s Day. “Normal” in my house meant nothing was on fire, no one was MIA and I could actually identify my boys by their correct names the first try.
I was in good spirits and New Year’s Eve was quite peaceful and enjoyable. We watched the ball drop at Times Square in New York, my hometown, and after we got up to hug, we all poked each other in the eye accidentally (no lie) and everyone went to bed with icepacks over their eyeballs. 
New Year’s Day we got a late start. I was still in my pajamas when my bell rang. At my door was a teen from the neighborhood with his dad’s trailer attached to his dad’s new SUV to empty my garage of its growing pile of junk. 
I was unprepared because he never said he was coming that day, but figured I’d get it done while I had the chance. It felt great having the garage emptied (a side-by-side fridge had been taking up half of the garage as was an old loveseat that was collecting dust. I also threw in about 40 Hefty bags of trash for good measure. Off to the dump on Fowler he went (or so he told me.)
At noon, and still in my pajamas, I was greeted at my door and read my Miranda rights. Yes, my faithful readers, I was about to be placed under arrest outside in front of my modest home while wearing only mismatched PJs and a pair of fluffy striped socks that reached to my knees. I threw on a robe and some lip gloss, figuring if I were going to the slammer, I wanted to look presentable. But I never made it past having my rights read.
As humiliating as that may have been to anyone else in that position, I was nearly unfazed because I realized rather quickly (after having only one cup of cold coffee) that the officer had the wrong guy.
The police had tracked me down after rummaging through my trash that the kid had dumped at the entrance of my elite development and finding a receipt with my name on it.
They soon realized, however, that rather than being an illegal dumper, I was just a duped mom who obviously wasn’t starting the New Year off on a high note.
I have since invested in a commercial-grade paper shredder. I only wish I had purchased one years earlier. It really helps channel anger, frustration and annoyances. It beats expensive therapy sessions. Sometimes I find myself shredding things just for the sheer satisfaction of hearing the sharp metal teeth grind away and tear to shreds anything that shove into it.
The following days were really not much better but when you’ve nearly been arrested in your pajamas on New Year’s Day, you really tend to take things with a grain of salt. 
But I really did not expect to be called by the police while working from home a day or two later. As it turned out, a teen getting off the bus stop near my home hurled a rock at my 8-year-old, causing a concussion. His twin brother called 911 and then called me. Then came the dilemma—whether to have the ambulance take my baby away without me so I could locate my three other kids and make sure they were safe before I headed to the hospital.
I ended up driving him to the hospital myself. My 8-year-old is OK, thank God, no internal bleeding, but not allowed any physical activity for two weeks.
Enter twin No. 2 one day later. Wrestling with the neighborhood kids, all in good fun, despite my stern warnings, he fractures his foot, and off we go to the same hospital I’d left just hours earlier.
With FCATs just around the corner for these two all-American third-grade boys, I sent the concussion patient to school with his doctor’s OK but twin No. 2 was down for the count.
These were my options for getting him back to school
1. I could purchase child-size crutches and send him back to school and risk a fall and more severe injury. But he would be prepared for FCATs.
2. I could rent a wheelchair and beg someone to wheel him from class to class. I could envision the antics in the hallway.
3. I could locate a baby stroller at Goodwill and wheel him around school myself, emotionally scarring him for life.
4. I could keep him home until he was able to walk again. 
I went with my last option.
So that’s how the New Year began. I can’t wait to see what the rest of 2007 has in store.

Dawn Zamanis is a Valrico resident and the mother of five sons. She has been a freelance writer for national magazines and news publications and can be contacted through .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

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Bullets Aim To Develop Player Skills, Community Service Ethics

Posted Jan 29, 2007 by D'Ann White

Updated Jan 29, 2007 at 08:58 PM

“My joke was the reason we originally named them Bloomingdale Distance was we had a long way to go,” he said.
  Now, almost 10 years later, the Bullets Baseball Organization boasts nine teams with more than 100 players between the ages of 8 to 18. The club recruits players from Bloomingdale, Pinecrest and South Brandon Little Leagues.
  A number of Bullets teams have won multiple state and national tournaments over the years. In addition, 70 percent of the players on the debut roster advanced to high school ball. Several inaugural-year players, including Giardina’s son, Carmine, graduated high school in 2006 and went on to play college ball. Carmine Giardina plays for the University of Central Florida Golden Knights.
  According to the organization’s founders, however, the Bullets biggest accomplishments can’t be measured on a scoreboard or a stats sheet.
  This month, the league held its third annual baseball marathon to benefit Brandon-area families in need.
  Every player in the league collected “per inning” dollar amount pledges from family, friends and neighbors. In exchange, all nine teams pledged to play at least 100 consecutive innings of baseball in one day.
  The Jan. 6 marathon game began at 8 a.m. at Bloomingdale Park, 2215 Bloomingdale Ave. By 3:30 p.m., the group had played 400 innings and raised $13,500, earmarked this year to benefit the Greater Brandon Community Foundation.
  Giardina credits the success of the annual marathon to the all-inclusive involvement of Bullets players and families.
  “We’ve got a lot of people in our organization on board with giving back to the community,” he said. “These kids are very blessed with what they have. Every player in our organization takes part in our vision to give a little back.”
  Last January, the group raised $12,000 to benefit the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. In 2005, the marathon netted $7,500, which the team donated to the Disaster Relief Fund of the American Red Cross Tampa Bay Chapter, to benefit the victims of Hurricane Charley in Punta Gorda.
  In addition to the marathon, the club holds two more annual benefit programs.
  Each November, every family in the organization pays a $40 community outreach fee to provide Thanksgiving dinner for one area family in need. Last year, they provided turkeys and all the trimmings for 100 families, most identified by Dover Baptist Church as disadvantage migrant farm workers. 
  In December, each family is asked to buy $40 worth of Christmas gifts for a needy child. The group hosts a holiday dinner party to distribute the gifts at the Dover church. Last December, they cooked and served dinner to 100 underprivileged kids and their families. After the dishes were done, the players looked on as their guests open presents.
  “It is an incredible event, and an incredible opportunity for the boys to see first hand how they’ve personally helped one child, one family,” Giardina said.
  “Our whole goal with our three outreach events is to teach these kids how to give back to the community,” he continued. “If they’re in our organization for 10 years – from the time they’re 8 until they’re 18 – community service and giving back is going to become a big part of their lives.”
  The group has partnered with Hillsborough County’s Parks and Recreation Department to refurbish the baseball fields at Dover Park on Gallagher Road. Although the club leases the fields, it’s working on a major overhaul of the facility.
  “We don’t own the property, but we’re spending close to $10,000 to upgrade the baseball fields. Not only will it be a great place for our league to practice and play, it will provide a great field for the community to use,” said Lancaster.
  Giardina’s biggest hopes for the club’s future don’t have anything to do with tournaments or trophies.
  He hopes to continue to expand the league’s fundraising and community outreach efforts. He’d also like to run a few free camps for underprivileged kids.
  Most of all, he’d like to see other youth baseball organizations step up to the plate with similar outreach programs.
  “I feel we have something very special here with the Bullets, and I hope that other organizations will follow this path. How great would it be to have all these leagues using the greatest game in the world to help people in need, and to teach our youth how to do that?” he said.
  For more information, call 661-4525.

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Now’s The Time To Plant Amaryllis

Posted Jan 29, 2007 by D'Ann White

Updated Jan 29, 2007 at 08:56 PM

Brazil, which had little or no production in the late 1990s, now has nearly 500 acres under production. Wouldn’t that be something to see? Other amaryllis production areas, South Africa and Israel, remain stable, each have about 62 acres in cultivation, Ferguson said, while the Netherlands cultivates another 173 acres just for cut flower production besides 150 acres for commercial production of bulbs.
Amaryllis belladonna, the actual true amaryllis, is a South African native, a large plant. Hippeastrum is its South American cousin, a fellow member of the Amaryllidaceae family, and the flower most of us know as amaryllis. The name is a shortened version of its popular name, Dutch amaryllis. These smaller, more elegant flowers are much more widely grown than the belladonna type, which has the popular name belladonna lily. It is the Hippeastrum or Dutch amaryllis that so many know and love as the winter wonder flower.
Planting amaryllis is easy. The best thing to do is place bulbs in a sunny spot that has improved soil. The upper shoulders and neck of the bulb should be left exposed in theory, but after either squirrels or grasshoppers ate many right out of my garden, I have buried them all the way. Water well and keep the soil barely moist until growth begins. Water regularly once the green shoot appears to keep the soil moist, but not soggy.
A single amaryllis bulb produces multiple stems, each stem with three to six lily-shaped flowers. It takes only a single bulb to make an excellent display and a single stem makes a fine bouquet. Cut the flowers in the opening bud stage or after one or two of the flowers on a stem have opened. Split the stem ends. If conditioned in deep, cold water for several hours, amaryllis will last a day or two without water, so they make lovely wedding bouquets or corsages. In a vase each flower lasts four to seven days. The whole stem lasts longer as some of the flowers fade but others open. Leave the foliage on the plant to make next year’s blooms.
If one bulb is excellent, then grouping several bulbs together is spectacular. Try planting two, three, even five or more amaryllis bulbs. The bulbs have been known to last for 75 years, passing down from generation to generation. Plants are also easy to start from seed.
There are miniature and full-sized types with stems from 18 to 26 inches tall. The miniatures tend to have smaller flowers and more of them. Doubles are becoming more popular. Flower colors range through red, burgundy, orange, peach, pink and white, with some bicolors and picotee edges.
When your clumps get overcrowded, dig and separate the bulbs during their nearly dormant period in late summer or early fall. If given room to grow, the smaller offsets will reach full size in a few years. Amaryllis bulbs can be left in the ground here or else lifted in the fall and replanted at intervals from November to February for a succession of bloom. Some bulbs will bloom just four to six weeks after planting, some can take as long as nine to 12 weeks, depending on the variety. Fertilize when new growth begins and again after bloom stops.

Monica Brandies can be reached at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

 

 

 

 

 

 

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