Just A Good ‘Ol Boy Making His Films The Only Way He Knows

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John Schneider, best known for his role in the 1980s as Bo Duke in “The Dukes of Hazzard,” is heading up the CineFlix Film Fest, which will make a stop in Wesley Chapel Oct. 31-Nov. 3.

John Schneider has starred in hit television shows like “The Dukes of Hazzard” and “Smallville,” where he played Superman’s father on earth, and is currently starring in Tyler Perry’s popular “The Haves and the Have Nots” on the Oprah Network. Schneider has had five singles reach No. 1 on the country music charts. He also has made and starred in dozens of films.

His latest adventure, however, may be the one he finds the most exciting.

Monday, October 31-Friday, November 3, Schneider and producer Alicia Allain (founder of Maven Entertainment) are bringing the CineFlix Film Festival to the Cobb Grove 16 & Cinebistro in Wesley Chapel as part of what Schneider says is a first-of-its-kind independent film festival.

The concept: to showcase new filmmakers while also giving them a cut of the festival’s sales proceeds.

“It’s our first year, so there may be some bumps in the road,’’ Schneider says. “Not only have we never done this before…no one has done this before.”

Schneider then chuckled. “In two weeks, I’m sure we’ll be saying, ‘What in the world were we thinking?’ But, we’re all about trying new things and helping folks have a new experience.”

The idea to take the film festival on the road, with seven other stops in three other southeastern states, including Lakeland and Palm Beach Gardens in Florida, arose from Schneider’s career as a touring country music singer. Schneider recorded 10 albums and had five No. 1 hits, three of those coming after his role as Bo Duke on “The Dukes of Hazzard” came to an end in end in 1985.

“I noticed that film festivals seem to be more about the festivals than they are about the filmmakers,’’ Schneider said. “I started to realize that I thought somebody needs to start a filmmaker-centered film festival, and wouldn’t it be cool, since I used to travel on country music tours, to take it to the people instead of people having to search out independent films?”

dukes
(L.-r.) John Schneider, Catherine Bach & Tom Wopat starred in “The Dukes of Hazzard.” Schneider is bringing his CineFlix Fest Film Festival to The Grove theaters Oct. 31-Nov. 3.

The tour, though, almost didn’t happen. Louisiana, where Schneider started John Schneider Studios to help independent filmmakers, was beset this summer with its second flood in this calendar year, almost completely submerging all 58 acres of Schneider’s property, which includes a film set, a bamboo forest, a lake, a swamp and a large home that was built in 1910. Almost half of the movies he helps make are filmed and edited there.

“I tell everyone that the first flood took everything, and the second flood took everything else,’’ Schneider says, adding that all 75,000 square feet of floor space was under at least three feet of water, with some places as deep as six feet.

Because they had no power or Wi-Fi, he and Allain went to a nearby hotel and watched the film festival entries there.

“This is going to slow us down, but this is not going to stop us,’’ Schneider said.

The flood also inspired Schneider to make a new country album, which will be called “Ruffled Skirts.” The album was cut with other southern musicians in the ruined living room of the house.

Although he is still best known for his role as Bo Duke, one of three rabble-rousing cousins — Luke and, of course, Daisy Duke were the others — who spent their days outfoxing Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane in their customized 1969 Dodge Charger, aka the General Lee, Schneider grew up in southern New York running around filming things on a Super 8 camera and making movies even as a kid.

“I’ve always considered myself a filmmaker,’’ he says.

A New Career Path

When his run as Bo Duke ended, Schneider became a country music star. But, technology, he says, helped get him back into filmmaking. It doesn’t take nearly as many people to make movies today as it once did, and running your own movie studio doesn’t require the millions of dollars it once did. It was an easy decision to return to his roots.

filmfest3Independent films are often stereotyped as low-budget, off-the-beaten-path movies that aren’t profitable enough for the major studios to bother with. Schneider, who has a lead role in one of the films that will show in Wesley Chapel, as well as cameos in a few others, says there are plenty of hidden gems in the field.

“The great thing about independent filmmakers is they have an idea, they have a story they want to tell, they have a perspective, and they carry that story and perspective all the way through to the end,’’ Schneider says. “So, you see an A+ term paper.”

Schneider says there are movies and documentaries. One of the movies, Hate Crime, opens with police surrounding a suspect who is holding a weapon as dead bodies lay scattered around him. The police then proceed to take the weapon in for questioning, and the film follows the prosecution of the weapon all the way through trial.

“It is absurd and wonderful all at the same time,’’ Schneider says.

A Salute to Honor revolves around three World War II veterans, each of whom had to give up their dream to serve in the military during the war. And, another film centers around two sets of parents, one dealing with the death of their son at the hands of the son of the other parents.

filmfest1“It’s really terrific,’’ Schneider says. “It will make you think, it will make you cry, it will make you wonder and somewhere in there, it will make you want to be a better parent.”

Schneider understands that even though “The Dukes of Hazzard” went off the air 30 years ago, his star power is still enough to draw people to the festival just to see him. But, he hopes those who do come for that reason will end up sticking around for the movies themselves.

“There will be a tent outside, I’ll be there and so will other filmmakers,’’ he said. “We’ll have some Q-and-As, some music, some private time. This is really for people interested in the process of filmmaking and film distribution what goes into telling a story. Yes, people can come out and bring their ‘Dukes of Hazzard’ lunchbox and that’s fine, but I’m hoping to skew more towards film students and musicians and artists, really, who want to know how it works.”

The Neighborhood News is a proud sponsor of the CineFlix Fest, which  is scheduled for Mon.-Thur., Oct. 31-Nov. 3, at the Grove 16 & Cinebistro at 6333 Wesley Grove Blvd. For more information, check out CineFlixFest.com, or call Cinebistro at 948-5444.

Wiregrass Ranch gets relief, GGG gets a zone with proposal

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These are the new zones proposed for Wesley Chapel for the 2016-17 school year.

Wesley Chapel’s newest high school is set to open off Old Pasco Rd. next fall. While High School GGG may not have an official name yet, it does now have a proposed zone with a pool of students to draw from in order to fill its hallways.

Wiregrass Ranch and Wesley Chapel high schools, as well as Dr. John Long and Thomas Weightman middle schools, are getting some much needed relief, and Seven Oaks, a vocal community in the process, survived unscathed despite concerns from residents it would be chopped up to achieve the county’s goals.

A third meeting to determine the new school’s boundaries was held on Thursday morning in Wesley Chapel High’s media center, with the Pasco’s School Boundary Committee (SBC) debating 14 options. It swiftly moved through most of the options before option 12 emerged as the choice.

GGG will draw from a swath of homes that line the west side of I-75, extending from north of Old Pasco Rd. all the way down to County Line Rd.

The most congested school in Pasco County is Wiregrass Ranch High (WRH), which currently has 2,495 students (which means it is at 153 percent of its capacity of 1,633), and its primary feeder school, Dr. John Long Middle School (JLMS).

JLMS, with 1,870 students, currently is at 147 percent of its capacity of 1,327. And, both schools are located in the fast-growing Wiregrass Ranch Development of Regional Impact (DRI), so something had to be done to accommodate an ever-growing number of students.

The option adopted reduces WRH by 782 students, or 31 percent. That leaves it only 80 students over capacity, and would eliminate the need for 10-period schools days, something the school had to resort to beginning in 2015-16 because of overcrowding.

JLMS is reduced by 612 students, or 33 percent, putting it 69 students under capacity.

WCH, which was already over capacity, gains 45 students, and is at 114 percent capacity, while TWM picks up 43 students, and is at 126 percent capacity.

To get to those numbers, WRH and JLMS students currently zoned for those two schools but living in communities on the western edge of the current boundary like Country Walk, Fox Ridge, Meadow Pointe III and IV, Wyndfields and Union Park will now be re-zoned to attend Wesley Chapel High and Weightman Middle.

For some students, such as those living in Meadow Pointe III and Union Park, that means a much longer drive to school, which was considered.

Wesley Chapel principal Hetzler-Nettles and Wiregrass Ranch principal Robyn White say the hardest thing about the process was trying to consider future growth in the plans. An Epperson Ranch development as part of of potential Connected City project could bring major growth to Wesley Chapel, while the Wiregrass Ranch area continues to expand as well.

“You just don’t know,” White said. “It’s hard to look into the future without knowing who will be in all these new locations.”

The SBC, which is made up of staff representatives from every school as well as parents from each and led by the director of planning for the Pasco School District, Chris Williams, will present Option 12 to the public on Tuesday, November 29 (where parents will be in attendance and allowed to weigh in) — before the Pasco County School Board can vote to approve them or not.

“I thought it went well,” said Hetzler-Nettles. “I came in thinking one way and ended up choosing an option that wasn’t even on the table in the second meeting.”

Hetzler-Nettles said her only surprise was that it passed unanimously.

Roughly 25 parents were on hand to watch the process, most from Seven Oaks. When Option 20, the last one to recommend re-zoning Seven Oaks, was voted out, a small, collective sigh could be heard.

A group of residents called Seven Oaks Voice submitted a six-page recommendation at the Sept. 29 meeting, and revised it for Thursday’s meeting, hoping to spare their subdivisions — which are located east of I-75 and north of S.R. 56 — from being broken up.

According to maps provided by the county, 20 percent of the current WRH population, or 509 students, live in Seven Oaks, and 22 percent of JLMS enrollment, or 414 students, live there as well. If the plan is to reduce the student bodies at those schools, an examination of Seven Oaks was unavoidable, and in fact, 10 of the 14 options called for either splitting up the community or re-zoning it for GGG or WCH.

In its proposal, Seven Oaks Voice suggested beginning the rezoning process with communities located west of I-75 (Westbrook Estates, Lexington Oaks, etc.), as well as those east of Meadow Pointe Blvd. (Union Park, Windsor, Country Walk and the Double Branch Elementary zone).

The recommendation said the current Seven Oaks DRI provides stability and won’t be a future strain due to limited future growth potential, while the other communities are in high-growth areas. Seven Oaks Voice also suggested that established communities should have priority over newer communities with the same proximity to JLMS and WRH.

Also, by leaving Seven Oaks in its current school zone, the county also can avoid transportation issues, as it claims the subdivision is one of the furthest away from GGG.

The SBC was charged with considering socio-economic balance, maintaining feeder patterns, future growth in certain areas (especially in Wiregrass Ranch), transportation and subdivision integrity before finalizing a proposal.

‘Changing Chapel’ With One Big Football Victory At A Time

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left to right, DB Isaiah Bolden, QB Jacob Thomas and RB Dexter Leverette.

Anthony Egan knew his first head coaching job wouldn’t be easy.

He was inheriting a Wesley Chapel High (WCH) team that had gone 7-33 the previous four seasons. Five of those seven wins were against teams that were either 0-10 or 1-9.

In 2013, the Wildcats only scored 68 points all season en route to a winless campaign.

“Change Chapel?”

Yes, please.

“When I first came to Wesley Chapel, I heard guys like (senior running back) Ellrie Allen and some of the seniors saying, ‘Changing Chapel,’” Egan says. “We cut the ‘ing’ off and made it our own.”

The “Change Chapel” mantra is paying dividends, as the Wildcats head into the toughest stretch of the season, starting with tonight’s home Class 5A, District 8 game against Anclote. 

The Wildcat players have clearly bought into shedding their image as a losing football team. In fact, Wesley Chapel is now 6-0, the Wildcats’ best start since posting back-to-back 10-0 regular seasons way back in 2001-02. The Wildcats are 4-0 in 5A-8, tied for first with upcoming opponents Zephyrhills (Oct. 21) and River Ridge (Oct. 28).

Wesley Chapel won its first two 2016 games against two teams with the deepest tradition of playoff football in Pasco County, knocking off Land O’Lakes 13-3 in the season opener on Aug. 26 and following that up with a 34-21 win over Pasco on Sept. 9. It was the first time since 2007 WCH had beaten the Pirates.

The Wildcats were just warming up. In its next three games, it outscored opponents 137-28, beating Ridgewood (42-22), Gulf (50-0) and Fivay (45-6). Last week, the Wildcats rallied from a 28-20 fourth quarter deficit to beat Hudson 39-34.

“Week one, we had about 90 percent buy in” Egan says. “Now we’re at 100 percent,” Egan said.

New Coach, New Attitude

It started with Egan. He had two coaching runs, at River Ridge High as well as a short stint at Hudson. He’s a 2003 River Ridge graduate. Last season, when Egan was still at River Ridge, the Royal Knights devoured the Wildcats in the first half, 35-0.

“We were up big but Wesley Chapel came out in the second half and outscored us 21-7,” Egan says. “I saw a lot of athletes, a lot of guys moving around fast and I knew this was a place I wanted to go.”

Tony Egan talks to his team at a recent practice.
Tony Egan talks to his team at a recent practice.

Egan was set on finding a head coaching job somewhere after serving as a defensive coordinator and line coach for several years. It wound up that the only place he applied was Wesley Chapel; he was hired in January.

“What I saw right away was a good group of respectful kids ready to work,” Egan says. “We had 40-50 kids in the weight room, 40-50 all through the summer.”

In the spring game, Wesley Chapel thumped Weeki Wachee 54-20, showing off the steady running game that was the hallmark of the Knights’ attack the past few seasons. The Wildcats seemed to be on their way.

“As soon as Coach Egan came in, you could feel it in the air — there was that hunger,” senior quarterback Jacob Thomas said. “This was not going to be the same Chapel. We weren’t going to do what we’d been doing for years and years.”

A Perfect Mix…

A few new players have been contributing to the Wesley Chapel turnaround, including highly-regarded junior defensive back Isaiah Bolden, a Florida State verbal commitment and 4-star recruit, according to the Rivals.com.

Though he transferred in from Jacksonville-area Bartram Trail (to be with his father), Bolden is not new to Wesley Chapel — he went to Thomas E. Weightman Middle School and played football for the Weightman Wildcats. He had moved to the Jacksonville/St. Johns area for high school to be with his mother, where he developed into a top recruit.

“It was different, real different when I came back from Bartram Trail,” Bolden says. “I just wanted to see where I’d fit in.”

He has fit in just fine. Last season, Bolden had a 108-yard interception return for a touchdown for the Bears, and those skills were in full effect against Pasco, when Bolden ran a kickoff back 95 yards for a TD.

First-year running back Dexter Leverett is another transfer having a big impact. Leverett played for Eastside High in Taylors, SC, as a freshman but spent a whole year on the sidelines, waiting for his chance. After transferring to Wesley Chapel for 2015, he was on the team but ineligible to play.

He now leads Pasco County in rushing, with 906 yards (7.6 yards a carry) and six touchdowns. Leverett’s 906 yards is more than the Wildcat team rushed for the entire season in 2013, 2014 and 2015. Teammate Malik Melvin is tied with Leverette for the team lead with six rushing touchdowns, while contributing 297 yards.

Thomas, the senior leader at QB, continues to excel, even if he isn’t throwing the ball as much as he is used to.

Last year, Thomas threw an average of 33 times a game for a county-best 1,825 yards and 17 touchdowns as a junior for the Wildcats, but he has sacrificed his prolific numbers, throwing only seven times a game this season, for the sake of the team.

The 6-foot-4, 180-pounder has completed 17 of 42 pass attempts, but almost half his completions — eight, to be exact — have gone for touchdowns, including three to junior WR Justin Trapnell and two to freshman RB Keith Walker.

“If I don’t buy in (to Egan’s gameplan), then who does?” Thomas said after the win over Pasco. “We are going to run his style (of offense), I knew how it would be but he makes the calls and we execute them.”

“Jacob’s been great, he’s been patient,” Egan says. “He’s a big kid that’s still waiting on that first (college) offer. He can really hit receivers when they’re open and that’s what the running game (sets up). He is such a good leader, he could hand off 60 times and pass two. It’s all about winning. He’s worried about the team and winning.”

That’s what it is all about at Chapel these days.

Change, indeed.

Wharton’s Zachary Godbold Wins Javelin Event At Junior Olympics

Wharton freshman Zach Godbold (center) receives his gold medal for his career-best throw of 167 feet, 5 inches, in the javelin at the AAU Junior Olympics in July.
Wharton freshman Zach Godbold (center) receives his gold medal for his career-best throw of 167 feet, 5 inches, in the javelin at the AAU Junior Olympics in July.

Looking for something new to try, Zach Godbold’s eyes caught a javelin sitting in the grass near where his Running Tigers of Hillsborough County Track Club teammates were training.

Uninterested in the long distance runs that had lured him to the club with his big brother Frankie, Zach had been only mildly satisfied with throwing the shot put and discus. “They were just okay,’’ he says.

But, the javelin? Now, that looked a little more interesting.

Turns out, Zach made an excellent choice that day. He is now the best 14-year-old javelin thrower in the country and the reigning  AAU Junior Olympic (JO) champion. In August, the New Tampa teenager turned in the biggest throw of his life, a whopping 167 feet, 5 inches — at the biggest event of his life — to capture the gold medal.

“It was pretty big,’’ Zach says. “Especially because it was such an important event.”

The JO win capped a huge spring and summer for Zach, a 14-year-old freshman at Wharton. He won a handful of local and regional events, and improved his throws by more than 40 feet from the beginning of track and field seazach_godbold_4son to the end.

“I think that’s what was most impressive, how he went from throwing 120 to 140 to 160,’’ said his father, Frank. “That’s pretty impressive.”

Frank and his wife Maria hardly imagined such heights were attainable five years ago,
when Zach first noticed that javelin laying in the grass near the track at Turner-Bartells K-8 School, where the Running Tigers practiced.

Coach Gig Brown told him to give it a try. It was a natural fit.

“I wasn’t the best at it (right away),’’ Zach says, “but I learned it quickly.”
There aren’t many sports at which the natural athlete hasn’t succeeded. He plays top-flight club soccer for the Temple Terrace Spirit, he was an exceptional pitcher on the Little League baseball diamond, he has run track and he’s currently playing junior varsity football — as a kicker and punter — for the Wildcats.

zach_godbold_2But, it is this most unique sport that has brought Zach his greatest success.

Once Brown got him started, Zach took it from there. He would find a place to throw while his teammates raced around the track, and he and Frank would search out empty fields near their Arbor Greene home to practice, often at the overgrown baseball fields across from Pride Elementary. Because actual javelin coaches are about as rare as an uncongested road in New Tampa, Zach studied YouTube videos in his free time to hone his craft.

“The javelin is much different from other throwing events because you don’t need to be big and strong and have a lot of muscles to throw it,’’ says Zach, who is 5-foot-9 inches tall and roughly 160 pounds. “If you’re smaller and want to try throwing because you don’t like running, you can be good at this.”

Or great, as Zach was this summer.

He had competed at the Junior Olympics the three previous years, in the javelin and the discus, but had never had his breakthrough.

In 2013, he finished seventh, followed by a second-place finish in 2014 and 12th-place in 2015.

Taking It To His Rival

His primary rival was No. 1-ranked Jack Caudle of Atchison, KS, who beat out Zach for the gold in 2014 and set a national record for 13-year-olds while winning again last year, with a throw of 147-11.

If he were to win, Zach knew it was Caudle he would have to beat as they squared off with 58 other competitors at Turner Stadium in Humble, TX.

Competitors are allowed three throws in the preliminary round, with the top eight advancing to the finals, where they get three more throws. The best throw, including those in prelims, wins gold.

Zach wasted no time — on his first throw, he delivered a career-best toss of 167’-5”.

“I felt pretty confident, and I knew that was going to make it into the finals,’’ he said.

Zach didn’t manage a better throw, though he did clear 160 feet with two other throws.

He didn’t need to improve, however. He anxiously watched as the other competitors tried to better his top distance, including Caudle, who had come up short on his first five throws.

But, the tall lefty had one throw — and one nerve-wracking moment for the Godbold family — remaining, and he sent the javelin sailing high into the Texas sky, his best throw of the competition.

“I was so nervous,’’ Zach said. “I knew it was going to be really close.”

It was — Caudle came up with a throw of 166’-10”, just seven inches shy of a third straight championship, and in the stands Frank and Maria Godbold jumped with joy.

“I thought Maria was going to lose her mind,’’ Frank said, chuckling. “I’m real proud of him, obviously. Not just about winning, but doing it on the biggest stage. The other guy had just been better than him, and to see him get over the hump, it meant a lot. Never in our wildest dreams did we imagine this kind of moment when he started throwing a javelin.”

As a former Little League pitcher and back-up quarterback in football who was only used for long throws like Hail Marys, the javelin was the perfect fit. Most in his age group send their javelins arcing high into the air; Zach is known for his low, long throw.

“He always had a tremendous arm,’’ says Frank. “His uncle used to tell him he should be throwing a baseball.”

In five years, Zach has developed into one of the best young javelin throwers in the land. He has put away his 600-gram (21-lb.), 7-foot-long javelin for the winter, while he focuses on football and soccer.

Despite the fact he can’t compete in the event in high school because the javelin is not a sanctioned high school field event in Florida, like the discus and shot put, Zach plans on throwing the javelin all the way to college, and maybe beyond.

Next spring, he moves up to the 800-gram (28-lb.) javelin, which is between 8’3’’ and 8’7” long, the same one you see being thrown at the Olympics. He will continue to travel the state and country as he competes in AAU track season and competitions, with one goal in mind — to keep getting better.

“It’s definitely something I love doing,” Zach says, “and I’m definitely sticking with it.”

Like five years ago, that’s probably another good choice.

Macy’s Future Bleak?

macysIs the Macy’s at the Shops at Wiregrass mall off S.R. 56 on the chopping block?

The department store chain announced in August that it will be closing 100 stores by next year, and the news doesn’t seem to be good for the Macy’s location in Wiregrass.

Morningstar Credit Ratings has identified 28 Macy’s locations with sales below the company’s national average (for 2014, the most recent year information was available), putting the stores at a higher risk of being one of the 100 to be shuttered.

The Wiregrass Macy’s is No. 8 on that list. According to the report, Macy’s reported $118 in sales per square feet. The average for Macy’s overall in 2014 was $169 per sq. ft.

The Macy’s at Cottonwood Mall in Albuquerque, NM, is at the highest risk of closure, with only $76 in sales per square foot. The 28th, or last store on Morningstar’s list, is Marrimack Premium Outlets in New Hampshire, with $166 in sales per sq. ft.

The only other Macy’s on the list of 28 underperforming stores that is located in Florida is at the Lakeland Square Mall on U.S. Hwy. 98 in Lakeland.

Macy’s, which currently has 728 total stores nationwide, is one of the anchors — the “big name” stores that are generally considered paramount to a mall’s success — at the Shops at Wiregrass. Losing an anchor can have a big impact on a mall’s numbers, although it’s not usually a fatal effect.

The Morningstar report states, “However, if a mall is hit by two or more anchor closures, that’s typically the beginning of a downward spiral.”

In Other News…

North Tampa Behavioral Health (NTBH), located on S.R. 56, less than two miles east of the Shops at Wiregrass, broke ground on August 15, as the 53,000-sq.-ft. facility begins a 27,500-sq.-ft. expansion.

Representatives from the Pasco Economic Development Council (EDC) and the Greater Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce (WCCC) were on hand to mark the new construction.

groundbrwebAccording to the EDC, the project is expected to bring $10 million in investment and 50 jobs to Pasco County. The Pasco EDC assisted the company in obtaining expedited permitting.

“We are extremely excited to be able to meet the needs of our community through our expansion,’’ said Abbey Brown, director of business development for NTBH, in a press release. “From our veteran and active duty population, to our local area, this project will assist in offering additional services to our growing community.”

NTBH is a private, inpatient mental health and substance abuse treatment center.  The facility currently has 75 beds and addresses a range of behavioral issues, including depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder and others.

The expansion will add 24 beds, with “shell” space for 24 additional beds in the future. The first phase is set to grow NTBH’s C.O.R.E. (“Challenge. Overcome. Restore. Empower”) program, which addresses the needs of the area’s veteran population.

Construction on the site actually began on August 22 and is expected to be complete in approximately nine months, or sometime around May 2017.

For additional information, visit NorthTampaBehavioralHealth.com.