BY MICHELE MILLER
What’s What New Port Richey
April 2023
The kids start filing in around 6 p.m. for the “This Is How We Do It” AAC’s Performing Arts Academies afterschool program just as volunteers are rustling up dinner for them in the kitchen of the historical Booker T. Washington School on Pine Hill Road.
Depending on the day, middle and high schoolers get their choice of acting, band or dance lessons taught by area teachers who volunteer a few hours of their time each week. Weightman Middle School band instructor, Donald Scott comes all the way from Wesley Chapel to teach music outside under a front overhang while inside, Que Lynn Hicks runs a group of youngsters through their latest dance number. On a recent Tuesday, Gulf Middle drama teacher, Diane Ramos, guided a group through the process of writing, then performing monologues.
“It feels like a little family. It’s love the minute you walk in the door,” said Ramos, who also served as a volunteer tutor at the club about 10 years ago to help kids prepare for the state’s standardized tests.
“It’s comforting to be here,” said Dynari Eugene Taylor. who participates in the acting and band programs and had a chance to show off his chops by singing a solo, Take Me to the King at the club’s MLK celebration in January.
“It gets the negative off your mind. Helps make positive thinking your mindset.”
Providing a positive and nurturing environment is a big part of the mission of the African American Club of Pasco, a gem of a 30+ year mainstay located in the heart of the Pine Hill neighborhood in Port Richey.
The club was founded in 1990 by a handful of local men in the community wanting to change the impression of what others saw as just a drug-addled neighborhood.
Pine Hill had a bad reputation for drugs, said founding member and current president, Eugene Scott. And while it was a problem, there was more to that in the neighborhood he grew up in. As a young boy, he attended the Blacks-only Booker T. Washington School until integration finally took hold in Pasco County in 1967.
“That’s where my desk was,” he says, pointing to a spot by the stage in the community room. Over there was where the principal office was, he says before changing direction. “And over here – well that was where we had our little library.”
Scott later attended Gulf High and technical school in Pinellas County which led to work as an electrician for the Pasco County Schools. After a 35-year career, he retired about a year ago as the Senior Crew Chief of Maintenance.
“We’re hard-working people,” said Scott, adding that when they first started the club Tampa drug dealers were bringing their product to Pine Hill because they had found a niche. “So a bunch of good guys got together to change that.”
They came up with a mission and got to work founding a club that would take back and elevate their community. Since then the African American Club has followed its mission of enriching the lives of youngsters by hosting afterschool programs and sponsoring scholarships for graduating high school seniors.
To promote an environment that focuses on cultural, social, ethical, educational and creative interests. To seek ways to give back to the Pasco County community through volunteer work, providing positive adult role models for our youth through membership and business community-sponsored programs and events.
African American Club of Pasco Mission Statement
The African American Club’s outreach helps to educate the broader community about African American history with events such as the annual MLK and Juneteenth celebrations. They also host an annual fundraising Scholarship Dinner Dance that has raised thousands for graduating high school seniors. (Note: The Denim and Bling 8th annual will be held on Saturday, April 22 at the Seven Springs Golf & Country Club in New Port Richey. Get info here)
They’ve made more than a dent and a difference.
“I just have to think of all the kids I’ve seen over the years,” Scott said. “We’ve had kids come in here that were on their way to prison that didn’t end up there. Every now and then one or two will come back to visit and sometimes we see their children and their grandchildren. They have good memories of what we’ve done here.”
“A lot of these kids are multi-talented. They’re like little sponges,” said Chonita Williams, a volunteer of 4 years who has a front-row seat to the goings-on while keeping attendance for the afterschool program. “Just to see what Eugene has done with all the children who have come back to talk about how this place carved their path.”
“The idea is to meet the needs of the community, to be a focal point where people can come with their kids, to be a safe haven where kids can be kids and adults can enjoy kids and what they’re doing here and everyone can come and have a good time, whether it’s for MLK or Juneteenth,” Scott said.
Programs held over the years range from providing free test prep for standardized testing to golf and chess instruction, to a Life Skills program that included a special Shark Tank session held at the Boulevard Beef & Ale in New Port Richey. There, kids had to come up with a business idea and present it before a panel of volunteer judges.
“The kids came up with some really great ideas. I was so proud of them,” Scott said, smiling broadly as he recalled how that particular activity helped turn the attitude of one young member who early on, really didn’t want to be there.
The AAC has also taken youth members beyond the club walls, sponsoring bus tours to historical sites in Florida including Rosewood and the Harry and Harriet Moore Memorial Park in Mims, St. Augustine and a behind-the-scenes tour at Disney World. They’ve toured the historical Spelman College, the African APEX American Museum, Centennial and CNN Studios in Atlanta, GA. With this year’s focus on culture, they were treated to a performance of The Nutcracker. They also performed at local MLK celebrations held at Sims Park and the African American Club and at a recent Fourth Friday Art Walk.
“My baby this year was the arts,” said Scott, noting that the purchase of musical instruments for the band program was made possible by a hefty donation from a local altruistic organization called, 100+Women Who Care Pasco. “The kids enjoy it. What really warms my heart is seeing them come in here all excited. Seeing their talents. They’re all “my kids.” That’s what I call them – “My kids.”
The African American Club is located at 6105 Pine Hill Road, Port Richey. Telephone 727-849-5582. Website Facebook
Membership | Volunteering -Membership levels range from $25 to $200 (platinum). For info and application go to aacpascofl.org/membership-application. Meetings are held the first Saturday of each month at 11 a.m. at 6105 Pine Hill Road, Port Richey. To make a donation to the AAC Club of Pasco, go to aacpascofl.org/donate
AAC Scholarships
- The AAC of Pasco Scholarship – Awarded to high school students who have maintained a 2.0 or higher cumulative grade-point average or mature or returning students who wish to pursue post-secondary education at a college, university, or an apprenticeship/trade/technology program at a technical college
- The Harry Mines Memorial Scholarship – Awarded to African American students with a 2.5 or higher cumulative grade-point average pursuing a degree in Special Education
In honor of the son of Shantay Mines - The Lawrence Christopher Guy Memorial Scholarship – Awarded to students of all races with a documented disability who have maintained a 2.5 or higher cumulative grade-point average and who are pursuing a post-secondary degree. In honor of the son of Aleacia Guy
For an application, go to aacpascofl.org/2023/02/AAC-Scholarship-Application
The Denim and Bling 8th annual will be held on Saturday, April 22 at the Seven Springs Golf & Country Club in New Port Richey. Get info here).
History
History of the Booker T. Washington School, Fivay.org
In the News
- Avalon Applauds African American Club of Pasco, Laker/Lutz News, March 2023
- African American Club honors Martin Luther King, Suncoast News, Jan. 2023
- African American Club of Pasco celebrates 30 years of service with banquet, Suncoast News, Nov. 2021
- African American Club of Pasco County Celebrates 30 Years, Spectrum News/BayNews, February 2020
- African American Club welcomes all with symbolic march and Dr. Martin Luther King’s uniting message, Tampa Bay Times, Jan. 2019
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