Victoria and Sandy Barley at the 28th Annual Chasco Coronation Ball.
Photo courtesy of Photos by J David.

The 28^th Chasco Coronation Ball was held on Friday April 5th at Spartan Manor in New Port Richey. Victoria Barley was crowned Queen Chasco and Sandy Barley was crowned King Pithla. This is only the second time a married couple has been selected. Both Victoria and Sandy are very involved in the West Pasco Community, donating many hours of community service to a number of not-for-profit organizations. They are committed to making Pasco a better place to live for everyone.

Victoria Barley, who is a realtor, was nominated by Youth & Family Alternatives and Senior RAP House Leadership Council. Her volunteer service includes the Youth and Family Alternatives Senior RAP (Runaway Alternatives Project) House Leadership Council (Committee Chair), the Community Service Council, YMCA of the Suncoast, Good Samaritan Clinic, American Cancer Society, West Pasco Chamber of Commerce, and West Pasco Board of Realtors. In 2012 Victoria received the West Pasco Chamber of Commerce Outstanding Citizen Award and Volunteer of the year from the Community Service Council of West Pasco.

Sandy Barley, who is the Operations Manager at the Lighthouse for the Visually Impaired and Blind, was nominated by Rotary Club of Trinity and Youth & Family Alternatives.

Sandy’s affiliations include the Rotary Club of Trinity, the Community Service Council, Youth and Family Alternatives, RAP River Run, Krewe of Chasco, Pasco Kid’s First, and the West Pasco Chamber of Commerce. Sandy has been awarded the Paul Harris Fellow twice, the Four Avenues of Service Award from Rotary, Rotary District 6950 Large Club President of the Year in 2010 and Volunteer of the Year from the Community Service Council.

The Lighthouse has been hosting the Chasco Coronation Ball for 28 years. The Ball kicks off the Chasco Fiesta each year, by crowning the new King Pithla and Queen Chasco.  All proceeds from the event go to support the Lighthouse Blind Babies and Children’s Programs. This year marks the Lighthouse’s 30^th anniversary of providing services to the visually impaired and blind.

About the Lighthouse

The Lighthouse for the Visually Impaired and Blind offers free adaptive training for persons who are blind and visually impaired of all ages, living in Pasco, Hernando and Citrus Counties. We are partially funded by the Florida Division of Blind Services, the United Way of Pasco and Hernando Counties, and Pasco County Commissioners. We rely on donations to meet the need for service. In 2013, the Lighthouse is celebrating 30 years of inspiring hope, confidence and independence. We could not have done this without you.

Please contact the Lighthouse for more information:

Lighthouse for the Visually Impaired and Blind, Inc.

• Pasco: 8610 Galen Wilson Blvd., Port Richey, FL 34668, Phone: (727) 815-0303
• Hernando: 6492 California St., Brooksville, FL 34604, Phone: (352) 754-1132
• Citrus: Toll free: 1-866-962-5254

Submitted by Lighthouse Volunteer, Caryl Melancon.

Brianna M. Gresh, Jessica S. Sweeney, Lauren M. DeLisi, Mellissa M. Goulding and Kathleen C. Egan, all of Holyoke, were chosen from among 13 contestants at the 59th Annual Colleen Pageant held Saturday night at Holyoke High School.

Here is their coronation ball evening on February 16th, 2013.

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 Nominations for 2013 King Pithla & Queen Chasco are now being accepted!!!

The King and Queen are chosen for their dedication and commitment to our community.  We encourage your organization to submit the names of deserving community volunteers, as this is a rare opportunity to acknowledge those people who have helped to make our community a better place to live.

The King and Queen are chosen by independent judges, not associated with the Lighthouse in any way.  The judges review each nominee questionnaire and statistically rate their contributions to the community.

Nominations should be completed on the attached form and emailed to
Lighthouse Executive Director Sylvia Perez at sperez@lvib.org.

ALL NOMINATIONS MUST BE RECEIVED NO LATER THAN FEBRUARY 22, 2013!

For more information on the Chasco Coronation Ball,
please contact Event Chair Tina Shelton at
tinashelton@tampabay.rr.com or (727) 439-0516.

You can also visit the Lighthouse website for more information.

Reservations for this event are currently being accepted.

The net proceeds from this event assist the Lighthouse for the Visually Impaired and Blind in continuing the organization’s mission. The Lighthouse provides persons who are visually impaired the skills needed to achieve their maximum independence.  Since the Lighthouse is a nonprofit organization and unable to assist nominees with the purchase of tickets, we encourage the nominating organizations and groups to sponsor nominees.

Ingredients:

• 7 tart apples, peeled, cored and sliced
• 4 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1/2 cup butter, room temperature

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  In a mixing bowl, combine apples, lemon juice, and vanilla.  Toss to combine.

Layer sliced apples in a 9 x 12 inch baking pan.

Combine brown sugar, cinnamon, and oatmeal in a bowl.  Cut in the butter.  Sprinkle sugar mixture over apples.

Bake 45 minutes or until topping looks crunchy and apples are tender.

And now for something completely different… MARDI GRAS!  Mardi Gras season is officially under way… the Krewe we are a part of (Krewe of Tucks) had its Coronation Ball a couple weeks ago, and I was one of the Maids for the Krewe.  Ken dressed up as a character from “Manos the Hands of Fate.”  The whole evening was a lot of fun.

Then just this past weekend was the first parade of Mardi Gras in New Orleans (there are other parades in other parts of Louisiana but this was the first one in the city limits).  It’s called Krewe du Vieux (pronounced “Crew de Voo”) and it always has a totally inappropriate, raunchy, politically inappropriate theme.  This year’s theme was “Crimes Against Nature” and the floats were as hilarious as the name would suggest. 

This year we have people coming into town for both weekends of Mardi Gras, just like last year!  This first weekend we’ve got a friend of Ken’s coming into town who he went to high school with.  She is interviewing at Tulane Med School on Friday and she’ll be with us from Thursday afternoon through Sunday morning so she’ll get to see some of the early parades.  Then next weekend, the guy who is going to be Ken’s fellow-resident is coming with his girlfriend because they’ve never been to New Orleans and figured it would be fun to come for Mardi Gras.

So to all of you I say, HAPPY MARDI GRAS!