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The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 4, 2008

Country Club Refutes Inspection Report

On Dec. 12, Lake Jovita Golf and Country Club underwent a routine Health Department inspection. Our staff was preparing lunch at the time. We received an "excellent" rating (90 of 100) which, I am pleased to say, is also routine.

A report of this inspection, published in The Pasco Tribune 10 days later, gave a very different impression:

•"Damaged food improperly segregated." Lake Jovita received no such violation.

•"Cross-contamination of equipment, personnel, storage." Lake Jovita received no such violation.

•"Staff not washing hands." Lake Jovita received no such violation.

•"Inadequate fire extinguishers." This is false. Our portable fire extinguisher tags were out of date (violation 45-41-1). The inspector specifically noted in her report that we do have the proper fire extinguishers: a built-in hood suppression system with a backup Class K (kitchen) extinguisher in the kitchen and a multipurpose, Class ABC extinguisher in the bar. All our fire extinguishers have been recertified.

•"Thermometers, gauges or test kits not provided." This is false. The chemical test kit for the bar water (used to ensure proper sanitary conditions for washing glasses) had been set at the wait station next to the bar rather than at the bar (violation 17-08-1). This was corrected by moving the kit back to the bar. The inspector noted this was done in her presence. The inspector specifically noted chemical test results in her report, which showed the bar sink to be at proper concentrations.

•"Inadequate food protection." This is false. In the walk-in freezer, a staff member removed a frozen roast beef from its storage shelf and placed it on a higher shelf so he could reach food stored behind the roast beef. The higher shelf was above the frozen fish shelf (violation 08A-24-1).

Fish is required to be stored above beef in the walk-in freezer. The employee corrected this by returning the roast beef to its place. In her report, the inspector noted that all temperatures were proper at the cook line, reach-in cooler, walk-in cooler, food preparation line and walk-in freezer.

•"Food contact surfaces not clean or sanitized." This is false. The plastic lid of the ice machine was neither unclean nor unsanitary, but it did have water spots from ice touching the lid (violation 22-20-1). The staff corrected this by wiping off the water spots.

•"Consumer advisory on raw/undercooked oysters or animal products." This is inaccurate. The FDA consumer advisory for undercooked animal products is not printed on our new menus. Therefore, we are required to post it on the podium at the entrance to the Main Dining Room (violation 02-13-2). A staff member posted the warning immediately, and the inspector noted this was corrected in her presence. The inspector specifically noted that a warning for raw or undercooked oysters was "Not Applicable."

•"Food improperly stored, labeled, dated or tagged." Our flour bin did not have the label "FLOUR" (violation 02-26-1). The staff corrected this by placing a "FLOUR" label on the bin.

•"Improper hygienic practices." A kitchen staff member had set his Styrofoam water cup on the counter (12B-07-1). The staff member corrected this by moving his cup.

If left unquestioned, this Tribune report could damage the reputation of Lake Jovita and its food and beverage staff - people who work hard to maintain safe, hygienic and sanitary dining facilities. Printing this letter will be a small step toward correcting the misimpression the report created.

DAN CONDELLA

Lake Jovita

Community Responds

Our Christmas 2007 toy distribution came to pass with "sleigh bells ringing and all the people singing." We were able to serve all our preregistered families and provided abundant toys for their precious children.

Our ever-cheerful volunteer elves assisted 828 families; they received toys and other essential items for 3,139 tots. I'd rate it as a near perfect toy distribution for all five of our communities: Dade City, Zephyrhills, Land O' Lakes, Wesley Chapel and the Trill-Lacoochee communities. I'm confident Santa would have been most pleased to see how all the communities came together to provide assistance to our children in need.

As usual, our Christmas miracle started with careful planning. This year, with five seasoned area captains - Sylvia Salazar, Tom Graef, Mary Anderson, Anna Fulk and Pastor Dave Raley - we started with great confidence in our plan of action.

Again this holiday season, the post office letter carriers' toy drive brought us an abundant amount of dolls, trucks and other exciting toys, all donated by caring neighbors and friends.

Many businesses and organizations once again allowed us to place toy drop-boxes in their establishments. Off-duty firefighters assisted us. We stored our collection in space donated by Metro Storage and moved our toys in trucks provided by Heyl Trucking, R.E. Garrison Inc. and 1-800-Pack-Rat.

As in years past, we were supported by several community events. Phillips & Jordan Inc. and the women's Moose in Zephyrhills collected toys at their annual parties; we also received many fine toys collected at the Smokehouse Rodeo. And we wish to thank Southern Charms for providing numerous bikes for many of the children living in the Zephyrhills area.

For the seventh year, food parcels were provided to all our registered families by our valued partner, Food For Tots Inc. Rotary clubs throughout our community assisted us and provided socks, underwear and toothbrushes at several distributions.

Scouts, Explorers, Naval ROTC cadets, cheerleaders, Interact Club students and a host of other volunteers provide the people power we need to sort and distribute toys. Their combined efforts ensured that our Toys for Tots distribution rang out with the true spirit of Christmas. They performed the important undertaking of filling all our participating families with the joy and spirit of the holiday season. Their participation was truly outstanding and delightful to behold.

To the Marine Corps League, many thanks. To school counselors and Premier Community Health, thanks for helping register families. To the city of Zephyrhills, Pasco-Hernando Community College, firefighters, sheriff's deputies, the media, and all our friends and supporters, many thanks. We could not have had such a successful outcome without your valued help and support.

Our entire community has, once again, come together to help provide a most merry Christmas for our children in need.

BOB LORING

Toys for Tots of East Pasco

Step Up For Students

Our Pasco County School District is currently seeking community input on the District Strategic Plan, 2008-2013. I would like to give input that relates to sections of the strategic plan, including expanding career and work readiness opportunities that reflect current and future economic trends.

Our district currently has property on Old Pasco Road designated for a high school. This would be a wonderful site for a technical high school like Hernando's Nature Coast or Hillsborough's Tampa Bay Tech. A technical school at this site would be in line with points in our district's strategic plan.

Pasco County schools have offered west side students the opportunity for training in technical careers for more than 20 years through Marchman Technical Education Center. Students in east Pasco have not had this opportunity to train for careers in computer programming and repair, automobile mechanics, auto body, electrical wiring, air conditioning and the other 17 programs at Marchman.

Career and technical programs on the east side are at various high schools, with students being bused back and forth. We are always retrofitting and offering east side students a confusing patchwork of programs in different places.

I have seen the impact this has on students. I taught in east Pasco for 20 years and have taught at Marchman for the past eight. Driving home to Dade City every day for the last eight years, I have thought about and been saddened by the opportunities that my east side students have missed.

I think of former east side students I have had and what a wonderful opportunity the Marchman programs would have been for them. Many of my former students in Dade City lived in areas that were severely economically depressed, and training for these careers would have given them a way out of poverty.

A technical high school on Old Pasco Road would finally give east side students a consolidated site with much-needed opportunities and a state of the art facility for technical career training, comparable to the opportunities west side students have had for more than 20 years.

A technical high school would help fulfill the above points in the District Strategic Plan and give east side students the same opportunities that west side students have had for more than 20 years. I believe that with the leadership of Rob Aguis, this school could be one of the best technical high schools in our state.

Please give east side students this opportunity for careers that will help them to move up in the world.

DEBRA FRELICK

Dade City

Tough Love

It was refreshing to read Cristina Ledra's article on Pasco High School's head football coach, Tom McHugh ("McHugh's Tough Love Gets Results," Dec. 25). I felt the program was not getting its earned recognition by your paper, and I wrote the gentleman who is the sports editor for Pasco and told him so.

Again, thanks for the article.

W.M. BORDERS

Mary Esther

The writer is food and beverage manager at Lake Jovita Golf and Country Club. Editor's note: The restaurant inspections reported by The Pasco Tribune are provided by the state Department of Business and Professional Regulation. The Tribune publishes those

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