Tuesday, April 2, 2013
Take a look back at one boy's mission to make sports accessible everyone.
Editor's note: This story originally ran in December 2012. We're putting the spotlight on it again to illustrate the accomplishments one person can make. A teen with a love for baseball wants the world to know that "everyone can play." Owen Sarwatka of Lutz founded Everyone Can Play!, a program for players with special needs, as a sophomore at Tampa Catholic in 2010. Now a senior at Academy at the Lakes in Land O' Lakes, Owen continues to work tirelessly toward the success of both his program as well as all of the athletes that participate in Everyone Can Play, mom and organization director Suzanne Sarwatka said. The program saw great success immediately, introducing a number of local children with special needs to the sport Owen loves so …
Thursday, March 21, 2013
Rich Bonet traveled the country before setting up shop in Lutz.
Every business owner has a story. Rich Bonet wears some of his. The owner of Studio 54 Tattoo in Lutz got his first ink as a University of South Florida college student about 18 years ago. “Working at the university golf course, I met an attorney who had a bold and bright tree frog tattoo,” Bonet said. “I was referred to this tattoo studio and quickly got my first tattoo. Then I got my second, and a third tattoo.” As a regular customer, Bonet developed a relationship with the owners and staff. So when the studio’s body piercer needed an apprentice, he was tapped for the job. “And so the journey began,” Bonet said. After graduating from USF, Bonet traveled the country, working at studios in Tampa, Atlanta, Miami, Los Angeles, and San …
No need to drive to Ybor City. The local shop features artists with more than a decade of experience.
On a sunny Tuesday afternoon at about lunchtime, Studio 54 is packed with customers, waiting to be inked. Clean and bright, the busy tattoo and piercing shop opened in Lutz in December 2011. Most people owner Rich Bonet talked to before opening the studio said they got their work done in south Tampa or Ybor. He and his wife, Alyssa, set up shop to fill a void in the market, and because they saw tremendous growth potential in the area. “We have two full-time tattoo artists and one full-time piercer, and we have guest artists all the time,” owner Rich Bonet said. Artist Jay Wyckoff has more than 15 years of experience and Bukshot has more than 13 years, Bonet said. Bonet is the studio’s body piercer. His experience dates back to his college…
Saturday, March 16, 2013
A variety of membership options are available for residents and others who want to join the group's efforts.
- THE NEIGHBORHOOD FILES
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Saturday, March 16
Concerned about your community? Want to make sure your voice is heard? The nonprofit Lutz Citizen's Coalition accepts membership applications from residents and business owners who want to get involved. "Our goal is to keep the true stakeholders of our community, our Lutz residents, informed, involved, and engaged by keeping them abreast of newly proposed projects, as well as the ever changing status of ongoing projects. And, to provide them with a platform in which to have their voices heard for their community," the LCC website states. Membership to the Lutz Citizens Coalition includes exclusive access to LCC issues, member forums, dicussions/polls/surveys/voting, LCC meeting minutes, election information and notifications, and the …
Sunday, March 10, 2013
Upload your photos and videos anytime to share with your Patch community.
Friday, March 8, 2013
Lutz Prep sixth-grader Jacob Canals has big plans for the summer— and the future.
Jacob Canals is a straight-A student, a future marine biologist and a Warrior. The Lutz Preparatory School sixth-grader plays defense for the Wesley Chapel Warriors lacrosse team, and credits his dad—and his coaches—for sparking his interest in the game. “I really like my coaches. They have helped me a lot to learn about lacrosse because I am new this year and they were very welcoming of me,” Jacob said. Off the field, Jacob enjoys science, music, and collecting baseball and football cards. “Science is my favorite subject because we get to hold all kinds of reptiles and learn about chemistry.” He also loves his church, Sonrise Worship Center. “I've been going to Sonrise Worship Center since I was 4 years old. I like how I know everybody, …
Thursday, March 7, 2013
The event also will feature jewelry, a bake sale, raffles and a lemonade stand.
Stacy Nussbaum needs a new kidney. Students, teachers, family and friends are doing everything they can to take the financial burden off the beloved Denham Oaks third-grade teacher. And this weekend, Nussbaum's supporters are putting the fun in fundraiser in a big way. A "huge" yard sale, bake sale, art and jewelry fair and lemonade stand will take over the parking lot of Children's Nest Day School, 24170 State Rd 54 in Lutz, organizer Tiffany Hines said. There also will be raffles during the event, which will be held from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, March 9. Donations for the yard sale are still needed, Hines said. You can drop off donations anytime between 7 a.m. and 6 p.m. at Children's Nest through Friday, she said. Hines's son, …
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
An online fundraiser is in place to help the family with the sudden loss.
A Lutz mother passed away recently after giving birth to her third child on Feb. 15. Kristen Reece Whitmore, 30, had the flu when she was admitted to the hospital, according to a web page created to raise funds for the family. The infection took her life on Feb. 28. She is survived by her husband, Sean Whitmore; sons, Bryson and Nolan; daughter, Kamryn; parents, Brenda and Robert Weeks; grandmother, Anetha Cochran; brothers, Daniel Colin and D.J.; and sister, Kasey, according to her obituary on TBO.com. A visitation will be held from 7 to 9 p.m. on Wednesday, March 6, at the First Baptist Church of Lutz, 18116 US 41. A graveside service will be held at 11 a.m. Thurs., March 7, at Garden of Memories Cemetery. if you would like to help the…
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
The accomplishments helped make school district history.
Two Steinbrenner High students made Hillsborough County School District history recently with perfect SAT scores. Seniors Ana Cheng and Nathaniel Lee were among four students in the district to earn perfect 1600 scores on the SAT. Another Hillsborough County student scored a perfect 36 on the ACT college admissions exam. "That's the highest number of perfect scores the district has ever had," district spokesman Stephen Hegarty said in a media release. According to Hegarty, more than 1.6 million U.S. students took the SAT in 2012, with a reported 360 perfect scores. The probability of having two seniors at the same school score a perfect 1600 is unclear, Hegarty said.
Saturday, February 23, 2013
We invite you to share your best shots taken around town or of Lutz people right on the site.
Have big plans for the weekend? Be sure to bring your camera along! Lutz Patch always welcomes reader-submitted photos on the site. Just upload your best shots taken around town, at events or of Lutz people right to the site. To get started, visit our Pics & Clips Gallery and click on the big green “Upload Photos and Videos” button to get started. Have a great weekend, Lutz!
Barbara Faiola
9:48 am on Tuesday, March 12, 2013
That's My Grandchild....so proud of him....Jacob you go with your dreams...God will always show His favor over your life....BB more ›