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They led, taught and surprised us

By TIMES STAFF WRITERS
Published December 31, 2006

It seems Hernando County never runs short of interesting people, and 2006 was no exception. Here is a quick look at some of the folks who set the tone and captured our attention during the past 365 days:

Emma Grace Wood - 7 pounds, 1 ounce - was Hernando County's first newborn of 2006. Daughter of Joshua and Catherine Wood, she debuted at 3:01 a.m. at Spring Hill Regional Hospital on Jan. 1.

Gary Kuhl was named county administrator in January. It has been a colorful year. Kuhl said he would move here, then the board told him he could stay at his nearby Citrus County home - then it turned out state law required him to live within county boundaries. He rented an apartment in August.

Monsignor John Cippel celebrated his last Mass at St. Frances Cabrini Catholic Church in June and retired after more than 10 years of pastoral service in Spring Hill.

Ginny Solomon of Brooksville made her Mojo Black Bean-Chicken Pizza, competing in March as one of 100 finalists for the $1-million prize in the 42nd Pillsbury Bake-Off.

Wendy Tellone announced that 2007 would be her last as superintendent of the school system, after 30 years in the district.

Elizabeth Launier, a sophomore at Springstead High School, was named Youth of the Year by the Boys and Girls Clubs of Hernando County in the spring, after racking up hundreds of volunteer hours at the club and helping out around Spring Hill.

Susan Gemmati was named Teacher of the Year by the Hernando County Education Foundation, after impressing colleagues with her efforts in Fox Chapel Middle School's inclusion program for special needs students.

Stanley Giannet, dean of arts and letters at Pasco-Hernando Community College, was tapped to succeed Burton H. Harres Jr. as provost at the Brooksville campus.

Ernie Chatman, a longtime teacher and coach at Hernando High School, joined an elite club in September when he finished a marathon in Hawaii, his 50th in 50 states. "I know it doesn't seem like it to most people," Chatman said, "but to me this is just a lot of fun."

James D. Daugherty, the second longest-serving Brooksville city employee, retired after 32 years with the Fire Department and six as its chief.

Tina Regan, a science teacher at Fox Chapel Middle School, became a hero Feb. 17. The bus she was riding with her students stalled while crossing the train tracks in Ridge Manor just as a train was coming. Regan was the last one off the bus, moments before the train struck.

The Boston Red Sox traded Bronson Arroyo to the Cincinnati Reds in March, even after the boy from Brooksville turned big league ballplayer signed a deal for less money than he could've gotten from other teams, just because he loved Boston and wanted to stay and thinks money isn't everything - but then he showed them and went to Cincy and made his first All-Star team.

The year's recipient of the annual Great Brooksvillian award was Joe Johnston Jr., Hernando High Class of 1940, founding member of the Brooksville Rotary Club and the First National Bank of Brooksville, county School Board attorney for almost 40 years, onetime city attorney, father of the current mayor, and civic contributor.

Spring Hill antiwar activist Brian Moore was never going to win a seat in the U.S. Senate - not really, not ever, not even close - but he ran, and he ran because he believed in himself and his message - and still does - and if that isn't a bipartisan idea, what the heck is?

More people in Hernando means more judges were needed, and one of them in 2006 was Circuit Judge Stephen Rushing, a St. Petersburg native and a Vietnam veteran who was a Pinellas County judge from 1989 to 1999 before moving up here to the hills out near Ridge Manor.

Ditto for Kurt Hitzemann, a new county judge, who grew up in a small Wisconsin farm town, came to Florida in the mid 1990s and was a senior assistant county attorney before being picked to wear the black robe.

Eldon "Al" Drier retired in April after cutting hair in Brooksville for 46 years.

[Last modified December 30, 2006, 21:01:16]