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Hometown Hernando

What's happening

By Times Staff Writer
Published March 12, 2006

HIGH FIVES

On Jan. 26, Wider Horizons School had its annual Chinese New Year celebration. It was an all-day affair involving students, staff and family members.

One of the highlights was when the preschool students formed a dragon parade and then went from room to room visiting the other classes.

Students from kindergarten to high school enjoyed lunch at King's Buffet in the Western Way Plaza. Parents and grandparents were invited to join them for the annual luncheon. More than 140 parents and grandparents, as well as older siblings, joined the group of 120 students.

Girl Scout Cadette Troop 1206 of the Spring Mermaids Service Unit recently sponsored a "Fairy and Princess Day" for the service unit's Daisy troops.

The Daisy troops, ages 5 and 6, attended the event on Jan. 28 at Holy Cross Lutheran Church. Members of the Cadette troop spent hours planning the event, which included games, crafts, music and fairy tale stories for the younger girls.

Member of Cadette Troop 1206 dressed in fairy and princess costumes to complement the theme, and the Cadettes helped the younger girls make ice cream sundaes to end the enchanted afternoon.

Members of the Interact Club at Springstead High School, sponsored by the Rotary Club of Spring Hill, voted to put together and deliver Valentine's Day goodie bags.

Seventy-five goodie bags were purchased, stuffed with candy and then tied with ribbon. The bags were delivered to the Boys & Girls Club of Hernando County for the children attending the after-school program.

According to Jim Knight, director of the after-school program, the children were surprised with the special Valentine's Day treat. Club members, after delivering the goodie bags, stayed and visited with the children.

On Feb. 11, members of the Interact Club at Springstead High participated in Operation Pride, an annual community cleanup.

The club was asked to participate in Operation Pride by the Rotary Club of Spring Hill Central, which sponsored the event. Members of the Interact Club were supplied with orange vests, garbage bags and gloves.

Interact members started at Barclay Avenue and Spring Hill Drive and continued up the Suncoast Parkway trail. According to Elba Gutierrez, Interact adviser at Springstead, the students found the day rewarding, and they enjoyed mingling with some of the Rotarians.

Members of the Spring Hill Regional Hospital Auxiliary helped raise funds for the annual Spring Hill Relay for Life event to benefit the American Cancer Society.

The auxiliary raffled a quilt, which was made and donated by Melody L. Hicks of Lake Mary. Ticket sales netted more than $300. The winner of the quilt was Marge Hertlein.

Members of the Holiday Spring Chix, a chapter of the Red Hat Society from Holiday Springs RV Resort, recently participated in a food drive for the Holy Ground homeless shelter. The food drive was successful, and many boxes of food were delivered.

The chapter also has been involved in other community projects, including entertaining at Crown Pointe Senior Living Community in Spring Hill, and collecting items to send packages to soldiers stationed in Iraq.

Helping Hands of Brookridge recently presented Christine Dyal, co-chairwoman of the World's Greatest Baby Shower, with 17 infant layettes.

Each layette consisted of hand-knitted and crocheted baby sweaters, caps, booties and blankets. Also included were bibs and flannel receiving blankets.

The layettes were given to expectant parents of newborns to 12-month-olds at the annual shower, which was Feb. 25 at St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church.

The ninth annual World's Greatest Baby Shower was sponsored by the Early Living Coalition of Pasco and Hernando counties, Childhood Development Services, Hernando County Health Department, Healthy Start and Catholic Charities. Special recognition was given to the March of Dimes, Florida Bay Area and the St. Petersburg Times.

I want to congratulate each and every participant in this school year's Hernando County Science and Engineering Fair.

I was a participant in the Hernando County Science and Engineering Fair for seven years before graduating and heading off to college. Each and every participant, whether you placed or not, should be honored to have competed in the fair.

Students work hard, staying up late, even the night before the fair, just to make sure that everything is perfect for the next morning. I have been there and done that, and have succeeded in my wishes. I hope that if you have not succeeded in what you wanted, that one day you will succeed.

Competing in science fair is more than just a required assignment for some. It is sometimes a person's whole high school life. Competing, judging, participating, working on the project - it all fills up the time between studying and sleeping. For some, especially since I personally know some who have done this, it also takes up free months during the summer.

Science fair requires dedication, motivation and enthusiasm. Being a Hernando County Science and Engineering Fair graduate, and also attending and placing at the state level and competing at the international level, I'd like to congratulate those who have accomplished science fair projects.

If you didn't place this year, there is always another year to improve. If you did place this year, there is still room to improve. Congratulations to each and every one of you for a job well done! And also congratulations to the teachers, fair directors and parents who have helped along the way.

Nava Cohen, University of Central Florida, Orlando

[Last modified March 12, 2006, 01:18:21]