Category: News

In Loving Memory Of Dick Strom

Somehow, even though he passed away on May 29 and friends and family were invited to be received by his family at a memorial service on June 5, I didn’t find out until June 9 that my friend and Cross Creek resident Dick Strom, 61, had lost his battle with cancer. A friend asked me if I had heard Dick had passed at an event that day and, even though I knew he wasn’t doing well following multiple rounds of chemotherapy, I felt my knees buckle when I heard the news.

Kathy, his wonderful wife of 38 years, and Dick didn’t have much time to mourn the passing of their son Patrick, who died in a single-car accident in Hunter’s Green in 2012 before Dick was first diagnosed with cancer.

The Stroms and their friends started a nonprofit organization in Patrick’s honor in 2014, called “Trick’s Kicks,” which has held two golf tournaments and other fund raisers, all with the purpose of donating “Kicks” (athletic shoes, which Patrick, who liked to be called “Trick,” loved) to children in need.

I reported about the second “Trick’s Kicks” golf event in October of last year and Dick was already battling cancer, where I first met the Stroms’ older son Michael and Michael’s future wife Dee.

“Cancer sucks,” Dick told me, “and chemo is really hard on your body. But, I’m not giving up. I have so much to live for.”

His only “complaint” or “question?”

“If you’re going to take me anyway, God, why did you have to take Patrick first?”

One of the events Dick was on hand for was Michael and Dee’s wedding, but since then, he started posting on Facebook about the toll not only the cancer but also the treatments themselves were taking on him.

Even so, it feels like yesterday that Dick and I were coaching youth basketball against each other at Benito Middle School, when both of our younger sons were playing in a Saturday youth league.

I, of course, was among the most…let’s say vocal…of all of the coaches and Dick was one of the quietest (although some of his on-court expressions while biting his tongue were priceless), but somehow, we developed a mutual respect for each other.

I didn’t really get to know him, however, until he and Kathy lost Patrick, but the love he had for his entire family (including his new daughter-in-law) was just so obvious every time we spoke.

Dick was a Project Manager for KFORCE who managed installation of EMC Hardware for federal customers for many years. He also was a faithful and devoted member of St. Mark the Evangelist Catholic Church and the consummate family man.

It’s never easy for me to say goodbye to someone, especially a true fighter and amazing man like Dick Strom, but it’s even harder to not express my feelings about it here.

Rest in peace, Dick. I know your only consolation is being reunited with Patrick.

Four Candidates Vying For Montelione’s Vacant Dist. 7 City Council Seat

Luis Viera is the latest candidate to officially enter the race for Tampa City Council.

After two months of lining up support and organizing a campaign, Tampa lawyer and Hunter’s Green resident Luis Viera has officially entered the race for the Tampa City Council District 7 seat being vacated by Lisa Montelione.

Montelione turned in her resignation June 10 with intentions of challenging Republican incumbent Shawn Harrison for the Florida House District 63 seat in November. Montelione, who earns $42,078 as a City Council member, will continue to serve on the Council through Nov. 8.

Viera joins three others in the upcoming special election —Dr. Cyril Spiro of Cory Lake Isles, newspaper editor Gene Siudut of Tampa Palms and former police officer Orlando Gudes of the Copeland Park area near Busch Blvd.

City Council elections are usually held in March in odd-numbered years. An official date for the special election had not been announced at our press time, but the winner of it will serve until the District 7 seat is up again in 2019.

Viera, a single father whose son attends Lawton Chiles Elementary in Tampa Palms, is an attorney with Ogden & Sullivan, P.A., a civil trial practice firm in Tampa, and a former Temple Terrace resident. This is his first time running for public office.

“I took a long look at the process and took a look at life’s responsibilities, and made that personal assessment that I felt this was something I could do,’’ Viera says of his approach. “I wanted to make sure there was good support for me in this race. I wanted to make sure I’m doing well in that regard.”

Which he is, if endorsements are any indication.

While all municipal elections in Tampa are non-partisan, Viera already has a number of top Democrats lined up behind him. Since entering the race on June 1, he already has big-name endorsements, such as from U.S. Rep. (14th Congressional District of Florida) Kathy Castor.

“As an active member of our Tampa community, including work in the City of Tampa Civil Service Board, with the Tampa Hispanic Bar Association and with his autism foundation, Lawyers Autism Awareness Foundation, he (Viera) has proven to be a strong advocate for our community and a fighter for those who need a clearer voice in the community, something that I strive to do everyday in the halls of Congress,’’ Rep. Castor said in a statement.

Viera also claims the endorsements of current Tampa City Council chair Mike Suarez, former state Rep., U.S. congressman and Florida gubernatorial candidate Jim Davis and former state Rep. Mary Figg, who represented the Lutz area in the Florida Legislature in the 1980s.

“We’ll have more endorsements forthcoming and more community leaders supporting our efforts,’’ Viera says.

Will endorsements translate to votes in New Tampa and throughout the diverse District 7? Perhaps. Viera says the support he has already received will help when it comes to building on the work already done in the district, which runs north from Waters Ave. to County Line Rd. and includes Forest Hills, Terrace Park, the University of South Florida and New Tampa. “I plan on fighting for respect for this part of the city,’’ he says.

Viera, who held a fund-raising event in June, has another scheduled for Friday, June 29, hosted by Columbia Restaurant Group president Richard Gonzmart.

Spiro Leads District 7 Candidates in Funds Raised

Cyril Spiro hasn’t held any fund raisers yet, but still leads the field after raising more than $10,000 in May. — Cyril Spiro’s campaign kickoff fundraiser is June 23 at Peabody’s Palm Lounge in Tampa Palms 7:30-9:30 p.m., but he already leads the field after raising more than $10,000 in May.

Speaking of raising funds, Spiro, who works in health care data analytics and has been on the Cory Lake Isles Community Development District (CDD) Board of Supervisors the past five years, had a good first month and led the District 7 pack with $10,989.83 raised in May, including $1,989.83 of his own money, plus six $1,000 donations.

Spiro was pleased with his first month’s total, considering he has yet to hold an official fund raiser.

Meanwhile, Siudut, who recently held a fund raiser at the University Club in downtown Tampa, raised $9,425 in May, according to financial reports.

“We wanted to get to $10,000 our first month, and including in-kind (non-cash, which totaled $1,280.22) donations, we did, so we’re very pleased,’’ said Siudut.

Viera, who wasn’t in the race at the time, and Gudes, who said he has yet to begin fund raising, did not file financial reports for May.

Gudes said he has been spending his time setting up a campaign headquarters, meeting with the local community to identify their needs, and was waiting for Montelione to officially resign, “before we put things in full gear.”

Girl Scouts Leave A Legacy At Tampa Palms Elementary

The Girl Scouts of Troop 966 donated a bike rack to Tampa Palms Elementary as part of their Bronze Project encouraging bike safety. The girls, pictured here with TPE principal MaryAnn Lippek are (l.-r.): Kaitlyn Graulich, Carissa Smith, Mallory Yee, Emory Seay, Lily Scalabrin, Isabella Cruz (in back) and Alexander Dominique. Gina Jasreman is not pictured.

When the eight girls (see photo) who make up Girl Scouts Troop 966 get together every other week, they meet at Compton Park in Tampa Palms. They’ve just completed fifth grade, but they’ve been a group since they were in kindergarten. While a few girls have come and gone over the years, the core group has stuck together.

“Six of the girls started together as Daisies, then moved up to Brownies, then Juniors,” explains their leader, Mieke Caris. “They are Juniors in fourth and fifth grade, and have now bridged to be Cadets, which is the Girl Scout rank for sixth grade girls.”

Now, as they leave Tampa Palms Elementary (TPE) and move on to middle school, they are leaving their mark at the school where all but one girl attended, in the form of a bike rack and a bike safety program that will continue, even after they’re gone.

Throughout this past school year, the girls have worked to complete their “Bronze Award” project, the highest award that can be received by Girl Scout Juniors. They have done all of the work and submitted their application; now they are waiting to hear if they will receive the award from the Girl Scouts of West Central Florida.

Earlier this year, the girls decided they wanted their project to support kids. “The Girl Scout law says to care for our neighborhood,” says Mieke, “so they found a good cause in safety when going to school.”

She explained that their research for the project included interviewing their school principal, local police, the crossing guards, and kids and parents on bicycles. They sold Girl Scout cookies and held other fund raisers to support their efforts.

Ultimately, the girls designed a program of bike safety that was supported by the TPE’s PTA. At a PTA meeting, the local group Bike/Walk Tampa Bay gave a presentation on bike safety, the girls discussed their project, and the PTA gave away bicycles and helmets.

“The Girl Scouts then placed a bike rack for all students to use in years to come to store their bikes safely,” says Mieke proudly.

Local Author’s First Book Sparked By Roar Heard In Wesley Chapel

The RoarWEB — Alicia White was inspired by a thread on the Wesley Chapel Community Facebook page to write her first novel, entitled The Roar.

Although Alicia White has lived in Lutz and Land O’ Lakes for 20 years, she says the first time she heard a roaring sound she describes as “ominous” was when she moved to Wesley Chapel a year ago.

White, who is a fifth grade teacher at Turner/Bartels K-8 School in nearby New Tampa, said the noise shook the windows and she felt it in the ground.

“I happened to be online and noticed people posting about it on the Wesley Chapel Community Facebook page,” she says, and it piqued her curiosity. “It’s the kind of thing that makes you look at someone in the room and say, ‘You heard that, too, right?’”

Alicia says that sparked an idea and led her to write a book. “The story is entirely fictional, but the idea came to me from hearing this roaring noise here in Wesley Chapel.”

Alicia’s self-published book is called The Roar and is available in hard copy and e-book form on Amazon.com. Alicia’s pen name is A. M. White.

The Roar is classified as “young adult dystopian fiction,” Alicia says, and is planned to be the first in a series. The book’s back cover explains it this way: “The world as we know it disappeared with the roars. Alex was enslaved by those controlling them. Little does she know that some have survived the roars and live outside the compounds, and someone out there is very interested in finding her. Alex’s world is about to expand beyond her imagination.”

Alicia is currently writing the second book in the series. Although she doesn’t use the book in her classroom (“That would be a little too much shameless self-promotion,” she laughs.), she does use her story to inspire her fifth graders. “It’s not just my dream to be a published author,” she tells her students. “It’s something that can be realized.”

Alicia says she intentionally wrote the book so that it would be appropriate for her students who might come across it. “Nowadays, it’s harder to find things that aren’t risqué,” Alicia says. “There is some violence in the book, because it’s a dystopian novel and has people trying to survive. But, I kept out profanity and sexual content.”

Alicia has been encouraged by reviews and the response to The Roar so far. She says book bloggers from around the world – from Denmark, India, South Africa, and the Philippines – have contacted her, wanting to read and review her novel.

“That’s been really neat,” she says. “It makes the world a bit smaller.”

The reviews on Amazon.com include this one by Maddy, who says:

“The Roar was a novel that sucked me in before I even started with a unique and captivating concept, took me through twists and turns and then left me wanting more. The characters were interesting and relatable, the story held my attention as I held my breath, cried, and laughed throughout, and the post apocalyptic world painted was one like no other. This book will please fans of post apocalyptic novels with slight nods to The Hunger Games and Divergent. You won’t be disappointed.”

As for those noises in Wesley Chapel? Alicia still hears them from time to time. While the most popular explanation seems to be they are from military exercises from MacDill Air Force Base, Alicia insists that just doesn’t make sense.

“It doesn’t seem like there’s a good explanation,” she says.

You can read more reviews or get your own copy of the book by searching “The Roar by A.M. White” at Amazon.com.

Guinness Record for local hotshot

New Tampa resident Justin Dargahi recently made it into the Guinness Book of World Records for making 26 NBA-range (23’-9”) three-point shots in one minute.

Justin Dargahi doesn’t have the smoothest shot around. His form isn’t ideal, his finish isn’t textbook. In fact, you could argue he looks a little awkward as he fires the basketball towards the rim, jumping forward a bit, landing on his right foot.

“My shot’s been laughed at all my life,’’ Dargahi says.

Until it starts going in, which it almost always does.

Swish.

Dargahi, who lives in Hunter’s Green, is one of the newest entries into the Guinness Book of World Records, for that not-ideal, non-textbook, awkward-motion shot, after he made 26 three-pointers from the NBA range in one minute.

Shooting at the top of the key from 23 feet, 9 inches away, Justin broke the old Guinness record of 25 threes in a minute held by Oregon’s Dan Loriaux, who also holds the record for most treys made in one hour (1,077) and in 24 hours (10,381).

“I told some friends that I set the record, but they just told me to come see them when it’s official,’’ Justin said, laughing.

Well, it’s official.

Taking aim at Guinness record

The former Land O’ Lakes girls basketball assistant coach set the record Jan. 4 in the Land O’Lakes High gymnasium. His record-setting morning, for which he had to file an official application, as well as hiring basketball officials and recording the event, was finally certified by the Guinness Book of World Records last month.

Justin says the Guinness record doesn’t sound like much to some, who are convinced that an NBA player could set it if they tried. But, he says some have, most notably former Boston Celtics All-Star forward Paul Pierce and former NBA journeyman and sharpshooter Jason Kapono, who led the NBA in three-point shooting percentage twice and also won the Three-Point Shootout, held during the NBA’s midseason All-Star Weekend, twice.

It takes consistency and resilience, Justin says, and the fortitude to throw up almost a shot a second. After about 10 shots, most shooters’ arms grow weary. After 20, they hurt and after 30 the ball gets heavier, and the shooting form becomes a bit unraveled.

On Justin’s most recent attempt, which was the fifth time he had tried to break the record, he missed his first shot but then made his next six.

Halfway there (at 30 seconds), he had 16 makes and only five misses.

Justin Dargahi sets the record, seen here on YouTube.

And, with 7.8 seconds left, Record No. 26 swished through the net.

Justin, however, thought he had only made 25. After missing his final four shots, he extended his arms in agony, despite the cheering from the girl basketball players on hand.

“We had to make sure and check the video,’’ he said.

In all, Justin shot 38 times in 60 seconds, and made 26, for a remarkable 68.4 percent.

“It’s a little bit of notoriety, that’s nice,’’ said Dargahi, who works for Future Home Realty, which has six Florida offices, including one in Wesley Chapel.

Guinness confirmation arrives

The official Guinness Record certificate now sits over the fireplace in his home, a testament to setting a goal and achieving it. His next shot at fame, he says, may come from the free throw line, where the current record is 52 made in one minute from that 15-foot distance.

For Justin, the road to the record books was a natural one. He grew up a shooter, always drawing crowds and breaking records at the pop-a-shot games you find at arcades and theme parks.

He first played organized basketball at Tampa Baptist and Tampa’s Cambridge Christian, and had college aspirations. But, there were few spots on college basketball rosters for slightly-built 6-footers who weren’t great defenders.

“I was always by far the best shooter on the basketball teams I played on,’’ Justin said. “But, I wasn’t at good playing defense.”

Instead, Dargahi went to USF — where he once won $1,000 in a three-point shooting contest at the school — and graduated with a degree in journalism.

He continues to shoot hoops. On a recent blazing hot afternoon at Hunter’s Green’s Capt. Nathaniel Hunter Park, Justin shows off his gift, moving around the court and firing up shots, or “shot puts,” he jokes, many from a few feet behind the arc.

Swish.

“I’ve never been better,’’ says Justin, who is 34 years old. “My range keeps getting better.”

Justin still plays on Sunday mornings at Cambridge Christian on N. Habana Ave. with his old high school teammates and friends, and though he lives across the street from the court at Hunter’s Green, he doesn’t get out to shoot as much as he would like.

Still, he recently sent a letter to the University of South Florida basketball program — which has sorely lacked a pure outside shooter in recent years — asking coach Orlando Antigua for a chance to walk on to the team. He figured if he can make the Guinness Book of World Records for his uncommon gift of deadeye, long-range shooting, why not?

“Wouldn’t that be a great story?’’ Justin asks with a smile.