Open For Business

Now that it has opened to traffic, the S.R. 56 Extension is expected to provide a boon to local businesses, as well as create a badly needed 4-lane East-West road crossing Pasco County.

WHEN PLANS were originally made to extend S.R. 56 all the way from Meadow Pointe Blvd in Wiregrass Ranch all the to U.S. 301 in Zephyrhills, they included a lane in each direction.

Wesley Chapel’s growth, however, rendered those original plans moot.

“That wasn’t going to be enough,” said District 2 county commissioner Mike Moore.

So after some creative management and a wealth of cooperation between the Florida Department of Transportation, Pasco County, the City of Zephyrhills and multiple landowners along the proposed extension, the eastward expansion of S.R. 56 officially opened for traffic on July 10 as a freshly-paved, scenic, six-mile, four-lane road winding through pastures, in between trees and alongside ponds, while connecting Wesley Chapel to Zephyrhills.

“It’s a beautiful road,” said FDOT District 7 secretary David Gwynn, against the backdrop of four lanes running into a horizon flanked by nature. “Not just the road, but the surrounding area as well.”

City officials from Zephyrhills, all but one of Pasco’s county commissioners, the media and a number of other local dignitaries were given a sneak preview of the road on July 9, driving it from U.S. 301, through a signalized intersection at Morris Bridge Rd. and past Meadow Pointe Blvd.

Moore said no one was more excited about the extension than he was. The day it opened to everyone (June 10), he says he drove the length of it twice — once for work, and another time to visit his mother, who lives in Zephyrhills. He said the drive cut 15-20 minutes off his typical travel time in that direction, along the two-lane S.R. 54 (which also is in the process of being widened to four lanes).

He also touted the access to Polk County and even Orlando (via I-4) that the extension will provide, allowing residents in the area an alternative route.

“It’s pretty awesome,” Moore said. “I think people are going to love it. I was on Facebook, and I saw a lot of good comments from people who are definitely happy about it.”

In fact, a Neighborhood News Online video about the opening had more than 15,000 views in less than 24 hours, with hundreds of likes and mostly positive comments about the new road on Facebook (search “Neighborhood News”).

Among those who are happy about it is Ann Marie Schumaker, who lives in Zephyrhills but works at Soriano Insurance in Wesley Chapel. “I love the 56 extension,” she says. “Now I don’t have to take the dreaded Meadow Pointe cut-through up to 54 and sit in traffic during rush hour times with all the construction going on to go into Zephyrhills….it saves me 20 minutes every morning and evening on my daily commute to work. Being a single mom and having to make pick-up times is stressful. So, any extra time I can save is great. I’m overly excited. I’ve been waiting so long for this extension to be done.”

The extension is expected to provide an economic benefit to businesses in Wesley Chapel. Residents in Zephyrhills should find visiting the Shops at Wiregrass and Tampa Premium Outlets, as well as the many surrounding businesses in the area, to be a much easier and quicker trek. 

The only option to go from Wesley Chapel to Zephyrhills has been driving on one lane westbound on S.R. 54, which is roughly a 25-30 minute trip in light traffic, and even longer during morning and evening rush hours, especially when the snowbirds are in town in the winter and spring. The new extension will make those jaunts significantly shorter.

Currently, the road remains a nice trip through what District 1 commissioner and lifelong county resident Ron Oakley called “old Pasco.”

It can be enjoyed by bicyclists looking to take advantage of a generous 7-foot-wide bike lane in either direction, as well as pedestrians who can walk along a 10-foot- wide multi-use trail on the south side or a 5-foot wide sidewalk on the north side of the new 56 extension.

The completion of the project gives Pasco County it’s first 4-lane road from U.S. 19 to the west to U.S. 301 to the east, Oakley said. 

“I’ve spent my entire life in Pasco County with only two-lane roads,” he said.

How It Happened

Moore said the county was smart to look ahead and make a deal to extend S.R. 56 with four lanes. He said too many times roads are constructed, only to need widening or other work to accommodate growth 10 years later, when the costs also will be greater.

To get the extension changed from two to four lanes was monumental, Moore said, and no easy feat.  

The BOCC had to approve seven different agreements in 2016 to come up with a plan to repay a $22.7-million loan from the State Infrastructure Bank (SIB), which provides investment funds for surface transportation projects. That loan will be repaid with money from the county, the City of Zephyrhills and via mobility fee surcharges to developers of Wesley Chapel Lakes, Wyndfields, River Landing and Two Rivers Ranch, all of which will eventually have communities along the road.

Most of the $59.7-million total cost (plus another $7-8 million in interest) to build the extension came from FDOT, which contributed $35 million.

Oakley said that the beautiful terrain the extension cuts through previously has only been seen by local ranchers, and that those who are now using the road should enjoy it while they can. In 8-10 years, he said, that definitely could change, as Wesley Chapel Lakes, Wyndfields, River Landing and Two Rivers Ranch are expected to add as many as 10,000 new homes to the corridor. 

Businesses, parks and new schools also are expected as well.

But for now, the extension of S.R. 56 is a scenic convenience.

Try New Tampa’s Authentic Mediterranean Cuisine At Al-Sham Palace!

Although I always loved gyro sandwiches, which are known more as Greek food anyway, and the occasional falafel when I lived in New York, I never really sampled any authentic Lebanese, Syrian or Jordanian food until I lived in the Tampa Bay area.

Here in New Tampa, a couple of Mediterranean options have hung around, while others have come and gone, but one that might just have some staying power is Al-Sham Palace, located in the Pebble Creek Collection on Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd.

Samer Aljajeh, the owner-chef, and his general manager, Hadil Simreen (one of his wife’s friends), are both from Syria, but Hadil says that most Middle Eastern food is similar, because it all traces its roots to Turkey, which at one time occupied Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and Palestine.

Wherever Al-Sham Palace’s culinary roots are from, I will tell you that I already have several favorite dishes.

First of all, the falafel is green inside, which I’d never seen before, because chick peas aren’t generally green, but Hadil says the green is parsley. The falafels are served with a savory tahini sauce made from crushed sesame seeds, garlic and lemon juice. Yum.

“Almost everything we serve is made here,” Hadil says. “A lot of people follow the Mediterranean diet these days. We have everything you need for that diet here.”

I also loved the shawarma chicken salad, especially with Samer’s lightly spiced vinaigrette dressing. 

As for entrées, my two favorites so far have been the lemon chicken and the mixed grill of beef shish kababs, shish kefta (ground beef with onions and spices) and shish tawook (chicken) pictured above. The hummus served on the side was slightly addictive and the veggies were nicely seasoned and the grilled onions served with the mixed grill are almost sweet.

Al-Sham Palace has all of your other authentic Mediterranean favorites, including fried kebbie (lamb or beef with onions and spices), gyro sandwiches, grape leaves, mtable (eggplant with tahini sauce), baba ghanouj, tabouleh, fattoush salad, as well as onion rings, fried or grilled fish (tilapia), cheeseburgers, Philly steak or chicken sandwiches and more.

There’s even Mediterranean breakfast items available, including Foul mudammas (fava beans, garlic, parsley, tomato, olive oil & spices) Qalaya (meat with tomato sauce) and Fateh (pureed chick peas, with pita, tahini sauce and lemon juice, as well as friend eggs and unique egg omelets with ground beef and spices.

 Delectable Desserts, Too!

For those who love baklava, Al-Sham Palace’s is homemade and delicious, but my favorite dessert so far has been the warbaat with walnuts and milk cream — and I don’t really like walnuts. The milk cream is like halfway between liquid and cream cheese and the triangular pastry shell is crisp, flaky and delicious. It’s like the best cheese croissant in town. Top either of those desserts (or haraseh or kunafa) with a cup of super-dark Turkish coffee (they also have American coffee and tea) and you’ll understand why I so enjoy Al-Sham Palace, even though I’m not Middle Eastern.

“About half of our customers are Americans,” Hadil says. “We are welcoming to everyone and hope everyone will come in and enjoy our authentic Mediterranean food.” 

Al-Sham Palace is located at 19651 BBD Blvd., and is open every day for lunch and dinner. For more information, call (813) 907-8233, search for “Al-Sham Palace” on Facebook or see the ad in one of our latest issues. The ad has a coupon for $5 off any purchase of $30 or more (limit one per table). Go and check out our area’s most authentic Mediterranean cuisine and please tell Hadil and Samer I sent you!  

NTP’s ‘The Little Mermaid’ Ready To Be ‘Part Of Your World’

Before Disney chose Halle Bailey to play the role of Ariel in the live-action version of “The Little Mermaid,” Patty Smithey of Land O’Lakes (above) had already been chosen for the same role in the New Tampa Players’ production, which opens tonight.

When Disney announced recently that Halle Bailey, a teenage African-American actress, was going to play the lead role as Ariel in the live-action remake of  “The Little Mermaid,” Patty Smithey thought that was really cool.

The idea, she figured, made perfect sense. And why wouldn’t she? After all, before Disney chose Halle Bailey, the New Tampa Players chose Patty Smithey.

An African-American actress herself, Smithey has been working hard to perfect the role of Ariel, which she was selected to play in the upcoming New Tampa Players (NTP) production of the 1989 Disney animated blockbuster.

The show opens tonight at 8 p.m. at the University Area Community Development Center (CDC) at 14013 N. 22nd St. in Tampa. There are two showings on Saturday, one on Sunday, and then showings the weekend of August 2-4.

For the past month, Smithey, who lives in Land O’Lakes, has been rehearsing with the rest of the NTP, a local acting troupe, at the CDC.

An acting hopeful in middle and high school, Smithey set aside her thespian dreams when she went off to college at Florida State University in Tallahassee.

Smithey earned a degree at FSU in International Affairs, studying abroad in places like Panama, Prague, Poland and Croatia, as she focused on human rights. 

The acting bug, however, never went away. And, at the age of 25, Smithey is returning to her first love.

“It’s my big comeback,” Smithey says, with a chuckle. “I definitely feel honored I was chosen for this role.”

When she auditioned in May, she considered herself a longshot for any role. “The Little Mermaid” wasn’t exactly a movie rich with non-white characters.

On the paperwork for NTP, she put down a number of roles she felt suited to play, like Ursula, or one of Ariel’s sisters, or, she jokes, “maybe a fish in the background.”

She also, on a whim, wrote down Ariel.

Nora Paine, the president of NTP, says the troupe didn’t go into the audition process looking for a white actress to play the role of Ariel. She says that is never part of the process. “We looked for the person who could best embody the character,” Paine says. “For Ariel, we were looking for that innocence, a teenage kind of spunk, for lack of a better word.”

Because the movie revolves around a mermaid’s yearning to explore a new, forbidden world, the role had to be filled by someone who embodied Ariel’s way of looking at that world with total awe. 

“Patty had the facial expression of Ariel, the innocent and the curious face,” Paine says. “She did really, really well.”

Not to mention the voice. Smithey took on the movie’s iconic ballad, “Part of Your World,” for her audition, considered one of the best Disney songs ever, and nailed it. 

The role of Ariel was filled by someone who had the complete package that director Derek Baxter, choreographer Anne Tully, musical director G. Frank Meekins and Paine were looking for all along.

“I knew I could sing,” Smithey says. “But, when I got that call, wow, it was just amazing.”

Smithey’s enthusiasm for her role, and the significance of being a black Ariel, has not been tempered by some of the backlash Disney has received in social media for also picking an African-American for the role.

There have been hurtful memes passed around, and the hashtag #NotMyAriel actually trended on Twitter.

“I saw some of that on social media, and I was shocked,” Smithey said. “I mean, where are these people coming from, that they would be that upset about this mythical creature (being played by a black woman). Some of the stuff I saw was very negative.”

Smithey hasn’t received any backlash, and instead prefers to think of it as inspired and inclusive casting by Paine and the NTP.

The controversy over Disney’s decision has been noticed by Paine as well. While she admits that NTP may have smiled a bit when Disney made the same decision NTP did while casting, she says the debate over inclusivity in theater is a good one. She said diversity was a strong theme in many of the speeches at this year’s Tony Awards as well.

“We’re really glad it can be a national conversation, and a local one as well,” Paine says.

She says the NTP has always strived for inclusivity, no matter the production, no matter the role. The troupe has hosted productions like the Penguin Project, which provided opportunities for those with special needs, and inserted a host of actors into non-traditional parts for other productions.

In 2016, NTP reached out to residents in the University Area, where most of the troupe’s productions are performed — until their new home in New Tampa is completed — and asked them what they wanted to see. Residents in the area, which has a large African-American population, told the NTP they would love for their children to come to productions that had actors that looked like they do.

In 2017, NTP heeded that advice and did a production of the “The Wiz”, which re-imagines “The Wizard of Oz” with a primarily African-American cast.

Choosing Smithey was nothing out of the ordinary for NTP.

“ I think it’s great how they are modernizing the role,” Smithey said. “Maybe other little girls and little boys can see that anyone can be a princess or a prince.”

Smithey will lead 52 other castmates in what will be one of NTP’s biggest productions yet.

NTP is bringing in a choreographer from the Shinobi School in Temple Terrace, which focuses on acrobatic performances relating to parkour (movements used in military obstacle course training), ninja warriors and the circus arts.

“It’s going to add a circus twist to Disney,” Paine says.

Long pieces of silk cloth will hang from above to provide the illusion of being underwater, with performers artfully working their way around the silky streams.

“This is new, as far as I can tell, combining a traditional Broadway musical and circus arts done by a non-professional company,” Paine says.

“The Little Mermaid” opens Friday, July 26, at 8 p.m. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit NewTampaPlayers.org.

Kinnan /Mansfield May Be Connected, But Only For Emergencies

This is the view from the end of Kinnan St., which runs north from Cross Creek Blvd. Mansfield Blvd. in Meadow Pointe is on the other side of the barrier, about 40 feet away. (Photo: John C. Cotey)

The decades-old debate over connecting Kinnan St. in New Tampa to Mansfield Blvd. in Wesley Chapel appears to have, pardon the pun, reached the end of the road.

After years of meetings and studies and community activism, the Pasco Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) sided with the Meadow Pointe residents who claim that connecting the roads would put their children’s safety at risk.

On June 11, the Pasco MPO voted unanimously to forward their recommendation to the Board of County Commissioners that Wesley Chapel be connected to New Tampa’s growing K-Bar Ranch community via two roads further to the east of Kinnan-Mansfield (neither has been completed) — Meadow Pointe Blvd. and Wyndfields Blvd., both of which would eventually connect to K-Bar Ranch Blvd. (at different locations).

But, Mansfield Blvd. and Kinnan St. will not be connected for area commuters.

“Everybody that came today spoke against opening up Kinnan and Mansfield,” said Pasco District 2 Commissioner Mike Moore, who represents the Meadow Pointe area, at the June 11 Pasco MPO meeting. “There was one person who was in favor of it, and he lives in New Tampa.”

Hunter’s Green resident Dr. Jim Davison was the person who spoke in favor of connecting Kinnan-Mansfield.

The final vote to settle the roadways question was expected to be held In August, in Dade City.

Considering that all five members on the Pasco BOC also are on the MPO Board that voted unanimously in favor of making only two of the three connections that were considered, it is almost certain to pass.

Hillsborough County District 2 commissioner Ken Hagan and District 7 Tampa City Councilman Luis Viera, both of whom have fought for the connection for years, expressed disappointment and frustration over the Pasco MPO’s decision.

Hagan called it “extremely parochial and irrational.”

However, both New Tampa representatives took some solace in the fact that the famed 40-foot patch of dirt, weeds and trees (and often, garbage and abandoned furniture) separating the roads may be paved over, connecting the roads for use by emergency service vehicles — with a mechanical traffic arm keeping local traffic out — as well as providing a path for bikers and pedestrians.

Public safety was one of the primary reasons both Hagan and Viera had fought for the connection.

“I’m pleased that Pasco County is finally recognizing the significant public safety concerns with Kinnan-Mansfield remaining closed,” Hagan said. “I think this is a necessary first step, and we will live to fight another day.”

Davison was less pleased with the concession for emergency vehicle access. A longtime traffic activist and emergency room physician, Davison said that most people come to the hospital emergency room by private vehicle, not an ambulance, and those people will still face a longer trip to get care.

“Connecting Kinnan and Mansfield is in the public good,” Dr. Davison said.

After years of political arguments and one costly study, Pasco’s MPO turned to its residents to help render a decision.

The MPO was presented with the results from its recent online Pasco Resident Survey, which asked which of four options for connecting Meadow Pointe to New Tampa were preferred.

Meghan McKinney of the consulting firm AECOM, which conducted the initial Wesley Chapel Roadway Connections study which produced the choices for the online survey, said the total number of eligible respondents was 1,180.

The option most favored by those polled online was Option 2, which asked if respondents favored connecting only Meadow Pointe Blvd. to K-Bar Ranch Pkwy. 

Nearly 68 percent responded yes, with 32 percent saying no.

The MPO, however, voted unanimously to forward the second-most popular option, Option 3 — connecting both the Meadow Pointe Blvd. Extension and Wyndfields Blvd. to K-Bar Ranch Pkwy. — which 66 percent favored.

Connecting only Kinnan-Mansfield was never an option — nor was it an option that was studied in the year-long Roadways Connections Study commissioned by the county — but the controversial connection was included with the other roads in both Option 1 and Option 4. Option 1, which asked if residents would be in favor of connecting Kinnan to Mansfield as well as the Meadow Pointe Blvd. Extension to K-Bar Ranch Pkwy., received a “yes” vote by 54 percent of respondents. 

The least popular option from the survey results was No. 4, which would have connected Mansfield Blvd., the Meadow Pointe Blvd. Extension and Wyndfields Blvd. — in other words, all three potential connections to the New Tampa area. Even so, a majority of those responding, 52 percent, still voted in favor of that option as well.

Dr. Valerie Mainguy, a Meadow Pointe resident who works at St. Mark the Evangelist Catholic Church on Cross Creek Blvd., suggested that those numbers were tainted. She told the board she was privy to a “huge initiative” by New Tampa residents to use Pasco addresses and names to skew the results to get Kinnan-Mansfield connected

She said the “fraud” that happened is well known and public knowledge, although she offered no proof of it.

A majority of those saying no to any connections involving Mansfield Blvd. came from those who live along the road. They were signified by red dots on a map showing where the respondents resided.

“The ones that would utilize that connection don’t want that connection,” Moore said.

Those who showed up to the MPO meeting spoke against adding any more traffic to Mansfield Blvd.

“I’m a red dot because I’m the father of two boys that ride their bikes up and down (Mansfield) every day to go to school,” said Meadow Pointe II resident Brad Jorgensen.

Like many of those opposed to connecting Kinnan St. to Mansfield Blvd., Jorgensen cited the safety of children in the neighborhoods along the road.

“This is about not turning our neighborhood into alternate Bruce B. Downs,” Jorgensen said.

Fr. David Says Goodbye

It was his last mass, but it felt like his first one.

The pews at St. Mark the Evangelist Catholic Church were filled. Everyone was eager to hear what he was going to say. And, the nerves and emotions were almost overwhelming.

“It was pulling me in all kinds of different directions,’’ Father David DeJulio said.

After 16 years of leading St. Mark’s through massive growth and the construction of a new church, making hundreds of friends in the community and helping even more families, Fr. David said goodbye on June 30 to a congregation that has grown from 2,100 families when he came to the church to more than 3,800 as he departs.

He was pleased with his homily, which challenged parishioners to hold steady as they follow Christ, despite the ever-growing plague of distractions. Towards the end of the eucharist prayer, as the end of his time at St. Mark’s drew nearer, he started fighting back those emotions.

Tampa City Council member Luis Viera presented Fr. David with a city commendation, leading to a rousing 45-second standing ovation. When Fr. David tried to bring the mass to a close, his staff 

interrupted him and presented him with a plaque.

“I lost it there at the end,” Fr. David confessed. 

After gathering himself, he followed a procession of altar boys and deacons and, for the last time as their priest, walked past rows of the adoring St. Mark congregants for the final time.

”I’m not really thrilled about leaving,” Fr. David said afterwards, “but when God tells you you gotta go, you gotta go.”

He is headed north (but not too far) to St. Frances Xavier of Cabrini in Spring Hill, only 15 minutes from where his twin brother Frankie’s family lives.

Fr. David will essentially trade parishes with Rev. Richard Jankowski, who has been at St. Frances of Cabrini for 13 years.

It’s the next stop on Fr. David’s journey, which began at the age of 5, when he says he first knew the church is where he wanted to be.

It wasn’t until he was 27, however, that he entered the seminary. He graduated with a finance degree from the University of South Florida, making the long drive to classes from his family’s home in Holiday, FL.

He took a job at a bank in St. Petersburg, a job he said he truly enjoyed. But, that feeling he got in church as a kid never went away.

“It kept haunting me,” he says.

His first year in the seminary, he wasn’t so sure he made the right choice. He thought about quitting after one semester. He had been living with his girlfriend in an apartment in St. Petersburg and was in control of his life. But, when he entered the seminary, he wasn’t.

“My first year was tough,” he says. “I just really didn’t like it.”

He knew he had faith, but wondered what kind. In the end, it turned out to be a determined, resilient and unbending faith, the same kind of faith he implores his parishioners to strive for every day.

It is Fr. David’s style, which is described as easy-going, funny but still somewhat stern, that made him a popular fixture in New Tampa.

Among the first families he met when he came to St. Mark’s were Richard and Nancy Larson. Nancy was the liturgist at St. Mark’s, and Frankie contacted her about planning a party for the installation of his brother, the new priest.

The party was held at Hunter’s Green Country Club, in the community where Fr. David has lived in a home the church uses as its rectory.

Richard and Fr. David became instant friends, as did dozens of others from Hunter’s Green who joined Fr. David’s Bible study group that would meet weekly at his home. Fr. David would teach, and afterwards, there would be wine and food and cigars.

“He built my faith and he made me a much stronger person,” Richard says. “He did that to our whole group.”

Many, Richard says, weren’t even members at St. Mark’s, but Fr. David still brought them home, too.

“He was so good at evangelizing and bringing people back to the church,” Richard says. “He was just a regular guy. I think that appealed to a lot of people.”

Fr. David golfed with the group — he says his handicap is currently a 13 — and the more time he spent with those who had stopped going to church, the more those people started going again.

When they found out Fr. David was leaving, the group pitched in and bought him a membership to Southern Hills Plantation in Brooksville, 10 miles from his new church, so he could continue to spread God’s word to new friends while working on that handicap. 

After Fr. David’s final mass Sunday, he was greeted in the courtyard by Noel and Nellie Negron, whose eyes welled with tears as they thanked their longtime priest for bringing them back into the church.

Noel has been a member for 23 years, but hasn’t always been a regular churchgoer.

“I went when I felt like it,” he said. “When I met Fr. David, he brought me back. (Now) there isn’t a Sunday I miss. I love coming to church.”

Nellie recalled a story about the time her granddaughter Olivia saw Fr. David walking alone across the field next to the church, and asked if that was Jesus.

“I will always remember that story,” she said, smiling. “I love him. I am going to miss him.”

The Negrons have already been to his new church, and plan on stopping in for a mass here and there.

Richard says he will do the same, as, he suspects, many others who knew Fr. David also will do. He joked that he will definitely see Fr. David again, “because I made him promise he would do my funeral.”

Priests usually serve 12 years at one church, but Father David was given 16, so he could spend some time enjoying the church he helped to build.

Fr. David was named pastor at St. Mark’s in 2003, preaching from the Family Life Center the church flock was quickly outgrowing. He envisioned a spiritual center for New Tampa, a place for families to come together in prayer. A fund-raising campaign was started, and the although the economic downturn in 2008 forced a delay, on June 6, 2015, the $10.1-million, 35,000-sq.-ft. sanctuary was dedicated. 

Today, the church is only $1.5 million from paying off a $5-million loan to finish it.

“It’s kind of a slip of the tongue to say it’s “my place,” but I feel connected here,” Fr. David says proudly. I spent half my priesthood here. It’s always going to have a special place in my heart, wherever I am.”

Father David will always be remembered for his stewardship over the sanctuary project, which he credits as a testament to the “tremendous sacrifices on the part of parishioners.”

But, it’s just a small part of the legacy he hopes he leaves behind.

“Obviously buildings are important, but what happened here is we created a place with a story,” he says.

He says he wants to be remembered not only for helping create a beautiful structure to worship in, but also for what has happened inside it. He is proud that St. Mark has been a place where families feel welcome, where you’re greeted by four or five people before you even got to your seat, where he challenged his parishioners’ faith and helped guide them through both happy and difficult times.

He fostered a community that did many good things, a community that he helped connect to God through his teachings.

At the end of the day, and 16 wonderful years, it was all that he could ask.

“I started to think about him not being here, and it was a very emotional thing,” Noel said. “When you have someone you can turn to for some encouragement and leadership and someone to guide us…and now he won’t be here. He was a good shepherd for us.”