What's happening
By Times Staff Writer
Published July 17, 2005
HIGH FIVES
Adam Riney of Spring Hill was recently presented with the Student Council Leadership Award from St. Louis College of Pharmacy during the largest scholarship and awards ceremony in the school's 141-year history at the Eric P. Newman Education Center.
Riney received one of 169 awards given this year. He is a 2001 graduate of Central High School and the son of Thomas and Cindy Riney.
Retired engineer Richard Poling of Spring Hill recently attended his 65th high school reunion.
Poling graduated from Charleston High School in 1940. He and his fellow classmates attended the reunion May 6-8 at the Greenbrier Hotel in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va. The reunion slogan was "65 and Still Alive."
During the 50th reunion, the class had hired a dance band from Pittsburgh, Benny Benack and the Muskrat Ramblers. The class loved that the band played music from their era, so they voted to make the band honorary classmates. This allows the class to have music from its era played for all of its reunions.
Classmates attending the 65th reunion received T-shirts and hats that listed the locations of previous reunions - the "50 years of reunion memories." In 1990 for the 50th reunion, the class celebrated at the Greenbrier Hotel; in 1992, they took a Caribbean Cruise; in 1993, they traveled to New Orleans and took a cruise on the Mississippi.
In 1995 for the 55th reunion, the class was back in Greenbrier; in 1997, the class took a cruise to Bermuda; in 1998, they celebrated in Branson, Mo.; and in 1999, for the 59th reunion, they took a cruise to Alaska. In 2000 for the 60th reunion, the class was back in Greenbrier; in 2002 they went to Nova Scotia, and in 2004 they went to Las Vegas.
At the 65th reunion, 75 classmates and their guests - 120 people in all - attended.
Cortney Kelly, 20, of Spring Hill recently cut off 10 inches of her hair and donated it to Locks of Love, an organization that provides wigs for children with medical hair loss.
Donating her hair was just the latest gesture of Kelly's, according to her grandmother, Milly Cucinotta, also of Spring Hill.
"Courtney helped me through my bout with cancer and thought one more donation would be the icing on the cake," said her grandmother.
Kelly is a senior at Florida State University and plans to attend law school after graduation. She is the daughter of Cheryl Kelly and the granddaughter of Victor and Milly Cucinotta, all of Spring Hill.
Casey Nugent, a student at Springstead High School, was one of 800 high school juniors about to enter their senior year who were invited to participate in the 2005 Summer Leaders Seminar, held each June at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.
Attendees were invited to the workshop based on a competitive basis, using academic, athletic and extracurricular information candidates provide in their application form.
The weeklong program consists of academic workshops, where each student chooses four of 16 possible classes in various disciplines taught by academy instructors. Students also participate in military training, physical fitness training and intramural athletics under the leadership of West Point cadets who act as squad leaders for all aspects of the program.
Summer Leaders Seminar students live in the cadet barracks and eat in the cadet dining facility at Washington Hall. While their schedule is packed with educational activities, there is also time for fun, including tours of West Point and the West Point Museum. There is also a cadet-student mixer and a boat ride on the Hudson River.
Nugent is the son of Richard and Wendy Nugent of Spring Hill.
CLUBS AND ORGANIZATIONSMore than 300 Florida law enforcement agencies helped celebrate 22 years of the Special Olympics Law Enforcement Torch Run this year.
Hernando County runners carried the torch on April 27, beginning at the Killingsworth Plaza on Cortez Boulevard in Brooksville and finishing at the Hernando County Courthouse steps.
Participants included Sheriff Richard Nugent, Chief Deputy Michael Hensley, Major Royce Decker and Janet Anderson, all with the Sheriff's Office; Don Barbee and Peter Magrino, with the State Attorney's Office; and Judy Hensley, Dermott Barr and Fred Click.
Special Olympics athletes who participated included Mark Swiconek, Angela Click, Nick Schmidt, William Terry and Kristina Terry. The runners were escorted by sheriff's deputies Alan Jernigan, Bill Boettger, Dane Jenkins and Jason Deso.
Swiconek is a Special Olympics Global Messenger who was named to the Florida Hall of Fame in August 2004.
The Torch Run is held each year just before Florida's Special Olympics State Summer Games.
Gene Chambers, philanthropic chairwoman of the Nature Coast Decorative Artists, a local chapter of the Society of Decorative Painters, was recently presented with a plaque of appreciation from soldiers from Company B of the Army National Guard's 1st Battalion, 171st Aviation Regiment based at the Hernando County Airport.
Chambers coordinated monthly gifts that were sent to the soldiers while they were stationed in Kuwait.
Each month, large coffee cans, painted by the group, were filled with bags of cookies, toiletries, snacks and other items, and were mailed to the unit. The club also painted cosmetic bags for the female soldiers in the unit and filled them with toiletry supplies. The chapter pays for the postage, and members donate the goodies.
The Nature Coast Decorative Artists have been supporting the troops in Iraq and Kuwait with "touches from home." The 2004 chapter project benefited the 1st Battalion, 171st Aviation Regiment, which has since returned to Brooksville.
The 2005 chapter project will support the Army National Guard's 690th Military Police Company in Crystal River. Again, decorative coffee cans filled with cookies, phone cards and other "touches from home" will be mailed.
At the Junior Achievement luncheon in Tampa on June 3, Randy Christianson and Dennette Peninger, two volunteers from Hernando County, were honored as the Hernando County Volunteers of the Year.
The awards were presented by Gary Russell, chairman of the Hernando County Junior Achievement board of directors. Russell, Christianson and Peninger all work at the Wal-Mart Distribution Center and volunteer their time to make sure each child in kindergarten through 12th grade receives the JA "economics of life" lesson for their particular grade level.
Both Christianson and Peninger volunteered for the first time this year to teach JA material to a class at Pine Grove Elementary School. The classroom teacher at the school nominated the two for the JA Volunteer of the Year award for Hernando County, based on their enthusiasm for teaching the class.
Celeste Nelson, a teacher at Chocachatti Elementary School, was awarded the Hernando County Teacher of the Year award, although she was unable to attend the luncheon.
The Withlacoochee Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution recently awarded medals to outstanding cadets from each of the six Junior ROTC programs in Hernando and Citrus counties.
The cadets were chosen by their respective JROTC instructors for demonstrating superior leadership abilities, military bearing and overall academic excellence.
Medal recipients were: Ryan Guy, Springstead High School; Michael Hudson, Central High School; Brittany McHenry, Hernando High School; Michael Pisculli, Crystal River High School; Michael Isselhardt, Lecanto High School, and David Garlitz Jr., Citrus High School.
Recipients, their parents and the JROTC instructors were all invited to a luncheon hosted by the chapter.
The luncheon began with the chapter's Thomas Jefferson Color Guard, dressed in colonial military uniforms, posting the colors. The Rev. Randy Moody, a member of the chapter, delivered the invocation. Each of the cadets addressed the meeting and talked about his school activities and future plans. Several of the cadets intend to pursue military careers.
Members of the SAR Withlacoochee Chapter were impressed by the demeanor of the JROTC cadets, who reflect the high quality of influence and instruction of their JROTC instructors.
Since May 8 was VE Day, during the luncheon the chapter recognized World War II veterans in attendance, including: John E. Balson, who served as executive officer on the submarine Segundo; William Gemill, who served as lead bombardier of a B-24 group in the European Theater; Harley Nelson, who served as a seaman in the Pacific, and Judson Lincoln, an Army Air Corps armorer.
The Withlacoochee Chapter is comprised of SAR members in Citrus and Henando counties and is dedicated to promoting patriotism and fostering humanitarianism, especially among youth and veterans.