Neena Pacholke: The ‘Brightest Light In The Room’

Former Freedom High basketball star Neena Pacholke, who was a popular news anchor for WAOW-TV in Wausau, WI, tragically took her own life on Aug. 27.

There was something about Neena Pacholke that made you feel special and loved.

The smile, the laugh, the joy. 

“She had this bright, awesome personality that just made you feel so welcomed,” said Lauren Repp, a longtime friend and former basketball teammate. “She had a special charm.”

Charm may be the best word to describe Neena’s personality, as she had it in abundance, according to those who played basketball with her, or watched her as a television anchor where, judging from the outpouring of love following her death, she could radiate from the screen and make you feel as if you’ve been friends for years.

Neena, who played high school basketball at Freedom High and then at the University of South Florida, took her own life Aug. 27 in her Wausau, WI, home. She was only 27.

Neena’s life was celebrated at Radiant Church Heights in Tampa on Sept. 10. She is survived by her sister Kaitlynn, father Aaron and mother Laurie, who coached her at Freedom.

“Absolutely devastated,” wrote Aaron on Facebook. “She was a great gift.”

Neena’s death was shocking to most who knew her. However, Laurie told WAOW-TV News 9 in Wausau, where her daughter was a popular anchor, that Neena had struggled with mental health issues for years. 

“She was getting treatment,” Laurie said. “I’ll put it out there — she had been to the crisis center a couple of times. She had so many people here to talk to. She talked to people, but she didn’t want anybody to know how she was hurting, so she didn’t talk until it got so bad.” 

That part is what makes it so painful for friends like Repp, who met Neena when they were 12 years old.

“It’s hard to wrap my head around,” Repp said. “Just hearing that maybe it was because she felt like a burden to others, it breaks my heart. All of us are living with the what-ifs and are absolutely crushed and devastated.”

Neena was the “ideal American girl” in high school, who would get excited over coffee, loved the changing seasons and buying a new sweater or boots. She painted her nails on the Fourth of July and St. Patrick’s Day and loved being with her cat, says Faith Woodard who, along with Repp, were teammates of Neena’s.

The Pacholke family in happier times: (l.-r.) Laurie, Kaitlynn, Neena and Aaron. (Photo: Pacholke family Facebook page)

The three were starters on the 2013 Freedom High team that made the program’s only State final four appearance. Woodard said she has been watching old game films since receiving the news. 

The gritty, tenacious Neena was the Patriots’ point guard, and even watching old games today, Woodard said she can feel her energy and glee.

“She was the glue on that team,” Woodard said. “She was everyone’s biggest cheerleader. But, she was more than just your teammate. She was your friend…She was the happiest person I knew, and the best person I knew.”

After graduating from USF in 2017, she joined WAOW-TV as a reporter. At her service at Mt. Olive Lutheran Church in Weston, WI, on Sept. 4, one of her first friends at the station, Josh Holland, shared with an in-person audience of roughly 200 what a joy Neena had been. Together, the two rookie reporters went to high school pep rallies, sported silly socks, challenged high school athletes to Nerf football games and played life-size games of Hungry Hungry Hippos against students. “She went to great lengths to bring joy to others,” Holland said. 

She was promoted to anchor in 2019 and her popularity grew. Following her death, the station’s phone lines and Facebook page were flooded with condolence calls and sadness from people who only knew her through a screen, her personality breaking through that barrier.

When WAOW-TV had technical difficulties and couldn’t broadcast her memorial service live, it didn’t stop more than 22,000 people from watching when it was posted a day later.

Brendan Mackey wrote that being Neena’s co-anchor was an honor and called her, “The brightest light in the room.”

Friends like Repp and Woodard will never forget Neena. Not only did Faith transfer to Freedom for her senior season because of Neena, she followed her into broadcasting, and is currently an anchor for KTHV-TV (THV11) in Little Rock, AR.

“I always tried to be more like her,” Woodard said. “I tried to volunteer more because she did. I tried to do the good things she did and I even tried to make my work (as a news anchor) look more like hers. More than anything, I’m going to miss her for the good, supportive person she was.”

Repp said Neena’s loss will be felt by many. She well remembers her friend always wiggling her way out of running at the end of basketball practices, never taking anything too seriously and always being able to break the tension by laughing or giggling about something.

Repp said she was recently at a Milwaukee Brewers game when the ladies sitting behind her found out she played basketball in Tampa with Neena. 

“They started freaking out,” Repp says. “They told me they loved her.”

It is a feeling shared by many.

Florida’s Sports Coast To Host 2022-24 Florida Senior Games

The Wesley Chapel area already is host to some of the largest youth sports tournaments in the Tampa Bay area and will now expand its reach to a new demographic — seniors.

The Florida Sports Foundation, the state of Florida’s sports promotion and development organization, and Florida’s Sports Coast (Pasco County’s sports tourism arm) will team up to be the primary host of Florida Senior Games for the next three years, starting in December of this year.

“It’s definitely a different demographic than what we tend to go after,” said Adam Thomas, the director of Florida’s Sports Coast. “Out of all of our sports, 95% of them are youth sports. This will be a new audience to tap into.”

The Florida Senior Games is an Olympic-style sports festival, for athletes over the age of 50 (and there is even a 100+ age group). The 31st annual Games in December will consist of 22 sports — half of which will be staged in Wesley Chapel — and will be held December 3-11. The event is a qualifier for the 2023 National Senior Games in Pittsburgh, PA.

The county has hosted various Senior Games events in the past. The Wiregrass Ranch Sports Campus of Pasco County hosted bag toss, basketball shooting, 3-on-3 basketball and volleyball in December 2020, while pickleball was played at the Sarah Vande Berg (SVB) Tennis & Wellness Center in Zephyrhills. 

This year, however, will mark the county’s first time as the primary host of the entire event.

And, because of the growth of sports venues in Wesley Chapel over the past decade, many of the events will take place here.

The Wiregrass Ranch Sports Campus will host archery, basketball shooting and 3-on-3 basketball (Dec. 3), and volleyball (Dec. 10-11), while Saddlebrook Resort will host foot golf Dec. 10.

SVB will host almost every racquet sport, including padel (which will be played for the first time in the Senior Games Dec. 9-11), tennis (Dec. 3-8) and pickleball (Dec. 8-11).

Cypress Creek High and its rubber track will be home for many of the running events. Track & field is scheduled for Dec. 9-11, with a 1,500-meter power walk and 1,500-meter race walk set for Dec. 11.

Events like bowling and shuffleboard (Zephyrhills), golf (Trinity), and even power lifting (Land O’Lakes) will be held across the county.

“We’ve always been involved with the Senior Games in some form or fashion,” Thomas says, “but landing the actual games as the host destination, that will bring in close to 2,000 (hotel) rooms for a week-long event, and it will bring up to 3,000 athletes and their families here for that same time period. So we’re looking at total visitors per day of 4,000.”

Thomas says that, according to Florida’s Sports Coast’s projections, the Senior Games will have an economic impact of $1.2 million per day throughout Pasco County. And, because the event is a national qualifier, Thomas is hoping the Florida games can put Florida’s Sports Coast in line to host the national event at some point down the road.

“This opens the door for us,” Thomas says. “We’ve definitely got our eyes on that.”

For more information about the 2022 Florida Senior Games, visit FloridaSeniorGames.com or follow FloridaSeniorGames on Facebook. For more information about Florida’s Sports Coast, visit FLSportsCoast.com.

Road Closure Coming This Week

Morris Bridge Rd. at the S.R. 54 intersection will be closed for five days beginning Thursday.

An around-the-clock detour of Morris Bridge Rd is scheduled to begin after 12 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 17, and be active until Thursday, Sept. 22, as long as the weather doesn’t get in the way and delay construction crews trying to do their work.

Drivers can follow the detour signs along S.R. 54, U.S. 301, S.R. 56 and Morris Bridge Rd.

This closure/detour is necessary for the Cone & Graham construction company to reconstruct the southern side of the intersection of Morris Bridge Rd. and S.R. 54 as part of the $42.8-million S.R. 54 widening project, which is adding two lanes with medians to the previous two-lane road running from east of Curley Rd. to east of Morris Bridge Rd. 

For more information on the project, which is expected to be completed sometime late next year, visit HERE.

Publix Prepping For Big Move And Other Notes

It has been almost a decade since the plans for the Publix supermarket in the Hollybrook Plaza to move a little to the east into a newly built location were first floated.

But now, those plans finally are picking up steam.

According to permitting records filed with Pasco County, Publix is beginning the process of moving from its current location at the corner of S.R. 54 and Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. to a 9.5-acre parcel right across Wiregrass Ranch Blvd. from the Walmart.

Plans indicate that Publix, which owns the land, will build a 60,548-sq.-ft. center, which will be anchored by a 48,848-sq.-ft. grocery store, with a 2,100-sq.-ft. liquor store and 9,600 square feet of retail space.

The new Publix center will be located directly behind the Bank of America, Advance Auto Parts and Starbucks-anchored Pleasant Plaza on S.R. 54 (see map).

Permitting also was submitted last month for a retail and restaurant project to be located behind the Clearwater Crossing plaza (anchored by Glory Days) and wrapping behind the new Publix.

Wiregrass Ranch development company Locust Branch, LLC, submitted a preliminary development and construction plan for a 7,216-sq.-ft. strip center.

There are no current plans for the future of the Hollybrook Publix building. However, Scott Sheridan, the chief operating officer of Locust Branch, LLC, doesn’t think it will remain empty for long.

“I think that will be an easy fill,” he says, largely in part to the fact that it is a heavily-trafficked area. 

There are also new apartments planned just south of Hollybrook Plaza, behind the Sonny’s BBQ on BBD.

TWO MINUTE WARNING: The Sombutmai Center, located at 22835 S.R. 54 a little west of Morris Bridge Rd. in Wesley Chapel, is adding a restaurant to its plans, according to permitting records.

2 Minutes, a popular mom-and-pop  restaurant known for its large portions and located on Gall Blvd. in Zephyrhills, is planning its second location at the new Wesley Chapel-located center.

The new 2 Minutes will be 3,017-sq.-ft. and will serve breakfast, lunch and dinner.

NEW CHILDCARE OPTIONS: There are a few new childcare/education options coming for Wesley Chapel residents.

Amazing Explorers Academy (AEA), a 12,110-sq.-ft. facility which will be located just south of Overpass Rd. near Watergrass, is in permitting. AEA will offer a STEAM curriculum for 200 students between the ages of six weeks-12 years old.

Also, a 13,586-sq.-ft. Primrose School (for children in Pre-K through kindergarten) on Chancey Rd. and Persimmon Park Dr. in Wiregrass Ranch also is in permitting. A third, as-yet-unnamed 10,000-sq.-ft. childcare facility is being planned just north of the El Dorado Furniture store (see below) on Wesley Chapel Blvd.

PLACE TO SIT: Speaking of El Dorado Furniture, the 70,000-sq.-ft. store located on S.R. 54, just west of Wesley Chapel Blvd. (across from the Cypress Creek Town Center), will hold its Grand Opening in September.

El Dorado promises a different kind of furniture store experience, with Boulevard showrooms set up like strips of old-fashioned city streets, with benches and street lamps lining the path.

Weightman, Teachers Big Winners On Primary Night

As far as surprises go, Pasco County didn’t have many (if any) on Primary Election night (Aug. 23).

But, the Wesley Chapel area most likely has a new commissioner lined up to replace the departing Mike Moore in District 2. Buoyed by the backing of Moore and other well-known local Republicans, Seth Weightman coasted to an easy win over opponents Christie Zimmer and Troy Stevenson.

Weightman picked up 48.9 percent of the vote, while fellow Republicans Zimmer (27.1 percent) and Stevenson (24 percent) basically split the rest.

A regional manager for waste-hauling company Republic Services, Weightman was backed by county tax collector Mike Fasano, former Florida House Speaker Will Weatherford and current Florida Senate President Wilton Simpson (who won the GOP nomination for Florida Secretary of Agriculture and will face Democratic nominee Naomi Esther Blemur in the General Election on Nov. 8).

Only registered Republicans voted in the two County Commission primaries. If only Republicans had entered the races, the primaries could have decided the elections, as voters of all parties would have been allowed to cast ballots.

But, Louie Rodriguez entered the Dist. 2 race as a write-in candidate with no party affiliation, which closed the primary to only Republican voters.

On Nov. 8, Weightman and Rodriguez will “run” against each other. 

In Dist. 4, challenger Gary Bradford was accused of employing the same closed primary strategy when he defeated incumbent Christina Fitzpatrick 43.9-37.7 percent, avenging his loss for the same seat in 2020. 

According to the Tampa Bay Times, Bradford acknowledged that a friend of his, Cory Patterson, filed as a write-in candidate in order to close the primary to Republicans only. 

As the Times noted, Patterson, who has donated to Bradford’s campaign and has a Bradford campaign sign in his yard, will “run” against his friend on Nov. 8.

Only about 1 in 4 (24.8 percent)registered voters in Pasco County cast ballots in the 2022 Primary Election. However, that was still up from just 21 percent for the midterm Primary Election in 2020.

Meanwhile, there were three Pasco School Board seats up for grabs on Aug. 23. In Dist. 1, which includes all of Wesley Chapel, Al Hernandez (44.8 percent) and James Washington (31.5) were the top two vote-getters of the three candidates. Since Hernandez failed to pass the 50 percent threshold, he and Washington will square off in November to determine who replaces retiring Allen Altman, the Dist. 1 member since 2006.

Cynthia Armstrong edged Matthew Geiger by 2,159 votes on Election Day, but by then, had already built a massive 13,000-vote advantage via mail-in ballots, to hold on to her Dist. 3 seat with 58 percent of the vote. Megan Harding retained her Dist. 5 seat with 71 percent of ballots cast.

In other races, Dist. 12 U.S. Congressman Gus Bilirakis easily won his primary with 84 percent of the vote. His 33,883 votes were more than five times the combined amount of his four challengers, who received roughly 6,000 votes total. Bilirakis is in a safe Republican district and is expected to easily win re-election in November against Democrat Kimberly Walker and Charles Smith, who has no party affiliation.

And, in one of the more interesting votes of the night, Pasco’s millage referendum to raise funds to increase teacher salaries easily passed (59-41%), even though a similar measure narrowly failed in neighboring Hillsborough County.

In Pasco, registered Republicans, generally advocates of lower taxes and less spending, outnumber Democrats 165,856 to 114,335. But, in Hillsborough, which has more registered Democrats, its millage referendum failed in a vote so close a recount was ordered.