Kent and Cindy Ross of RP&G Printing, winners of the top Small Business.
Oh, what a night! Congratulations go out to the Greater Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce (WCCC), which held its annual “Celebrating Excellence in Business” awards gala on Nov. 9 at the Hilton Garden Inn off S.R. 54 near the Suncoast Pkwy.
The event had an even bigger buzz than usual and the well-dressed crowd of 180 people certainly enjoyed the food, beverages and festivities for the evening.
Bob Thompson of Thompson Brand Images was again the emcee for the evening, which again included awards for Small & Large Business of the Year, Business Leader of the Year and Volunteer of the Year.
New awards this year included the New Business of the Year, the Dorothy Mitchell Lifetime Achievement award and a Community Hero award.
The Volunteer of the Year was Chamber Ambassador Cindy Ross of RP&G Printing and Cindy and her husband, Rotary Club of Wesley Chapel Noon president Kent Ross, also won the Small Business honors.
The New Business winner was James Serrano of Pinot’s Palette.
Denyse Bales-Chubb, left
This year’s Business Leader award winner was Denyse Bales-Chubb, the CEO of FHWC. (Note: We incorrectly reported this in the most recent issues of the Neighborhood News. Our apologies.).
The Large Business of the Year was Morton Plant North Bay Hospital in New Port Richey.
Long-time West Pasco volunteer Bob Memoli won the award named for the late former 20-year Pasco County School Board member Dorothy Mitchell, whose family’s ranch land would become the Trinity area of New Port Richey.
Both the Large Business and Mitchell award winners were nods to the WCCC’s 2017 merger with/asset acquisition of the Greater Pasco Chamber of Commerce, which has been serving West Pasco.
The community hero award went to Pasco County District 2 Commissioner and Wesley Chapel resident Mike Moore for his herculean efforts to help local residents following Hurricane Irma.
Again, it was a truly amazing night. Can’t wait until next year! — GN; photos by Stephen John Photography (see ad on pg. 46)
Rachell Moodie, pictured above with her husband, Matt, and two daughters, Hannah and Madelyn. Rachell was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 24 (below) and now helps other young adults fighting cancer & their families.
Picture a cancer patient.
Chances are, you’re thinking of an older adult, or maybe a child.
It’s not likely that you think of a young adult, but that’s where Wesley Chapel resident Rachell Moodie found herself in 2009, at the age of 24.
She had been married just nine months when she got the diagnosis — breast cancer. She went through 17 weeks of chemotherapy and a double mastectomy.
“People know older adults get cancer and kids get cancer, but there’s this other subset of people,” Rachell says. “People wondered if I went crazy and shaved my head. No one thought I had cancer because it’s outside of the realm of what people expect.”
She says that although she had the support of her family and community, she wanted to connect with other people like her. Even her doctors usually treated patients in different life stages. So, for example, even though her doctors didn’t tell her that the cancer treatment could make her infertile, it did cross her mind.
“I knew I wanted to be a mom,” she says. “So I asked my doctor to let me figure out this fertility thing.”
She was able to have her eggs harvested, starting the process for IVF (in-vitro fertilization). That’s just one reason she’s now passionate about helping other young women who are facing cancer. “If you’ve already gone through chemotherapy,” Rachell says, “it’s too late.”
Rachell has now been cancer-free for eight years. “After going through that journey, I felt like I was on a mission to go through this with other people,” she says, adding that she wants to help others with all of the things she was so clueless about — from the unexpected side effects of chemo, to how to pick out a wig, etc.
A couple of years ago, Rachell met Madison Miller, another young adult cancer survivor, who had created a nonprofit organization for the young adult cancer community, called Spark The Way.
The two were both speaking at an event at the Moffitt Cancer Center on USF’s Tampa campus and recognized their mutual passion. In fact, they both say they instantly believed they would be lifelong friends.
“We just hit it off,” says Madison. “Rachell has such a passion for young adults in the cancer community, so I invited her to join me in Spark The Way.”
Madison was diagnosed with lymphoma in 2013, the same week she lost her grandpa to the same disease.
“He had fought with faith and fought fearlessly,” Madison says. “It was like he unknowingly equipped me to be able to fight.”
Madison says the most important lesson she watched was that her grandfather let people in. “Everyone was always going to treatments with him,” she says. “It was always a ‘we’ thing.”
So, while Madison says many young adults want to push people away when they struggle, even with cancer, “community is everything when you’re going through it.”
Through Spark the Way, Madison and Rachell — along with other “mentors” — make themselves available to cancer fighters, survivors and caregivers.
They’ll talk on the phone, chat online, meet for coffee, or come by a hospital room — whatever they can do to meet the needs of someone who is fighting cancer and would benefit from a listening ear and comforting words from someone who has been there before.
“Friends and family want to support you, but they just don’t get it,” says Rachell. “To have someone who’s been there and can say, ‘I know exactly how you’re feeling and this is how we can face this,’ is so helpful.”
That dream that Rachell once had to be a mom? She’s happy to say it has now come true.
She had to wait until she was five years cancer-free, and then Rachell became pregnant via IVF.
“Madelyn, who’s three, is my daily reminder that God keeps his promises, and you can hold on to hope because there is life after cancer,” she says.
Then, there’s Hannah, who’s now one-and-a-half.
“Right before Madelyn’s first birthday, I became pregnant naturally, so Hannah’s my reminder that God’s bigger than anyone else and He’ll make His plan happen,” Rachell says.
To learn more about Spark the Way or to request a phone call or other contact from Rachell or another young adult cancer mentor, visit SparkTheWay.org or email yourfriends@sparktheway.org.
I’m currently between dogs in my life, but after attending both the VIP pre-opening and the Grand Opening and Greater Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce (WCCC) ribbon cutting of the new Pet Paradise Wesley Chapel, located off S.R. 56 behind the Gate gas station, I’m almost tempted to go out and get me a new puppy, just so I can watch him or her play at the coolest pet resort ever.
For those who wonder if their dog or cat will be comfortable at a “resort” with indoor-outdoor “condos,” a dog bone-shaped pool, 24-7 video monitoring and lots of other dogs (and yes, cats, too), all I can tell you is that, while I’ve never owned a cat, I’ve yet to see a dog unhappy, sitting off by itself or not engaging in the seemingly-all-day, all-out play sessions with other dogs of all breeds and sizes at this amazing new boarding and doggie daycare facility. I mean, I haven’t seen even one snarl or “warning snap,” even from multiple “alpha” dogs.
When I’ve had dogs, boarding them did sometimes make me a little anxious, but Pet Paradise WC manager Zandra Straple, who has a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) degree in Animal Science from the University of Florida in Gainesville, and her awesome staff definitely have a winner on their hands here in “The Chap.”
And more great news, my friends at Seven Oaks Pet Hospital, located less than a half-mile from Pet Paradise on 56, provide on-call veterinarian services for the resort.
Don’t forget to mention to Zandra and assistant manager Brianna Bermudez that you read about Pet Paradise in the Wesley Chapel Neighborhood News! Pet Paradise is located at 2270 Cypress Ridge Blvd.
Congratulations to Dr. Aparna Ambay of 360 Dermatology and her husband, Dr. Raj Ambay of Ambay Plastic Surgery, on the opening on Oct. 19 of their amazing, new Transformation Aesthetics & Surgery Center (located a 1/4-mile north on Cypress Ridge Blvd. in Wesley Chapel from Pet Paradise).
The state-of-the-art, free-standing building offers not only the dermatology and skin care services of 360 Dermatology, but also the cosmetic plastic surgery of Ambay Plastic Surgery. Best of all, Dr. Raj can perform his plastic surgery magic and Dr. Aparna (both have been named among “America’s Top Doctors” by Castle Connolly Medical Ltd.) can do skin cancer surgeries in the Transformations Aesthetics Center’s on-site surgery center.
The opening and WCCC ribbon cutting on Oct. 19 attracted hundreds of locals, including several other local health care professionals, as well as WCCC members and many of the current and former patients of these Top Docs.
Dr. Raj, who has served as a Lt. Colonel in the U.S. Army and Special Operations (Green Beret) in both Afghanistan and Iraq, also is trained in trauma surgery, oral surgery and dentistry. During the Grand Opening event, you could see the joy on his face and hear it in his voice as he called the ribbon-cutting at this unique medical and aesthetic facility, “the fulfillment of a long-time dream.”
For info about the Transformations Center (2441 Oak Myrtle Ln.), visit TampaBayTransformations.com, call (813) 563-1144 or see the ad on pg. 15.
True Inspiration!
A $2.8-million dollar women’s health center, called “Inspiration Place,” opened in the Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel Wellness Plaza on Oct. 23, offering comprehensive care for women at every stage of life.
The next day, FHWC hosted a VIP event attended by hundreds of locals at Inspiration Place. The hospital’s president & CEO Denyse Bales-Chubb (photo below) was excited to unveil this unique, 12,000-sq.-ft. center created, she said, “To do something truly special for the women of Wesley Chapel.”
Services available for women at the beautiful new Inspiration Place include gynecology, obstetrics and prenatal care, along with primary medical care and wellness services and more.
Inspiration Place also includes a spa, for services such as massages and skin care treatments. There’s even a coffee bar.
All I can tell you is that I heard lots of “oohs” and “aahs” during the VIP event tours of Inspiration Place, and quite a few women who were booking appointments.
