Spring Hill

The 50th anniversary of the grand opening of Deltona Corp’s Spring Hill community was on April 30 of this year. The county and Hernando County Chamber of Commerce will be commemorating the anniversary on July 27th at The Lake House, which was once Spring Hill’s community center. It was here where early residents gathered for community picnics and celebrations.

The county's first go-kart park opened in 1973 by Jimmy Rodgers and family. The park was located on Weatherly Rd off of Mondon Hill Rd. The charge for 10 minutes around the track was just a dollar. This track is no longer open, but another track was established in Hernando County located off of Countyline Rd, now known as Springleton Fun Park.

Delta Woods Park in Spring Hill got a new addition. With the help of United Way Hernando and the strong dedication of their sponsors and volunteers as well as their Student Board, the Born Learning trail was created.

Recycle Tuesday’s

The Hernando County Public Library offers many programs for all ages and some of those programs are truly unique and creative.

Every third Tuesday of each month, the Spring Hill branch offers a program called Recycle Tuesdays.

With a chance to automatically advance to the state tournament on the line, the Spring Hill National AAA Minors (age 9-10) All-Stars came up with a clutch victory on Thursday.
SH National trounced San Antonio, 15-2, on the final day of the District 6 Tournament held at Kenny Dixon Sports Complex in Bushnell, assuring a trip to states, which begins July 16 in Sebring.
“The kids came to play,” SH National head coach Larry Marsh said. “They were all excited when we told them they were playing for runner-up.”

Gulfcoast Homing Club is a local pigeon racing club here in Hernando County.

“We have the largest club in the world,” said Vernon Young, president of the Gulfcoast Homing Club.

Civilizations have utilized homing pigeons for sport, communication and in times of war for centuries. Pigeons can be extremely valuable, some having sold for hundreds of thousand of dollars.

Nestled just before the curve on Parker Street you are greeted by a huge monkey tree guarding the entrance. It’s a hidden gem in Spring Hill that not many people know about.

Welcome to the Nature Coast Botanical Gardens. Encompassed within the Nature Coast Botanical Gardens are three lush acres with pretty much every tree, plant and flower you can think of that flourishes here in Florida.

Editor’s note: The author of this obituary was a close friend of Frank Roderus for nearly 50 years. Because Mr. Roderus shunned the camera, the only photographs we have of him are of poor quality.

Frank Roderus, of Spring Hill, one of America’s most prolific Western novel writers, passed away December 17 after a short illness.

Mike Bray, a writer in Las Vegas, NV wrote online last week, “I lost a friend yesterday and the world lost one of the greatest western writers of our time.”