On Saturday, June 25, at 9 a.m., the MOMs Club of Wesley Chapel (photo) will host the first-ever Team Tampa Bay “Climb out of the Darkness” event at Wesley Chapel District Park (7721 Boyette Rd.).
Climb out of the Darkness is the largest annual fund raiser supporting Postpartum Support International (PSI), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to helping women and families have access to information, social support and professional care to deal with mental health issues related to childbearing. PSI provides help for families that suffer from PMAD (perinatal mood and anxiety disorders), including anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder and other postpartum issues.
The local Climb will include a community walk (bring your strollers, talk with other families) followed by family fun, including a bounce house, large yard games for the kids, raffle prizes (gift cards, zoo passes, swim lessons and more) and snack items. And, a hockey puck signed by Brayden Point of the Tampa Bay Lightning will be auctioned off.
MOMs Club president Joy Clark explains why the club chose to host a Climb as its annual philanthropy this year.
“We took on this project when I was only two weeks out after having my second son. I myself suffered severe anxiety and depression during both of my pregnancies. I know this is real and I found my support in MOMS Club. We are honored to support PSI . (Postpartum) mental health problems are real, and I want people to know they are not alone.”
No. 1 singles boys tennis standout Ninad Raut led the Bulls to the Class 4A State semifinals.
There was little doubt which of Wesley Chapel’s three high school athletic programs had the best spring this year — Wiregrass Ranch High.
The Bulls dominated the Sunshine Athletic Conference (SAC) East selections, capturing three team titles, three Coaches of the Year and four Players of the Year, as well as putting 25 athletes on all-SAC first teams and another 28 on second teams.
WRH was the only area school to have at least one All-SAC first-team performer in all 10 sports offered — baseball, softball, boys weightlifting and wrestling, and boys and girls tennis, track and field and lacrosse — during the Spring 2022 season.
Softball Player of the Year Kylee Johnson, a junior shortstop, had arguably the best season ever for an area player, batting .506 with 34 RBI, 8 home runs, 10 triples and 12 doubles for a whopping slugging percentage of 1.149.
Other Bulls Players of the Year included:
• Girls lacrosse standout Luna Khatib, who scored 83 goals and had 33 assists in 17 games this season in earning POY honors for a second straight year
• No. 1 singles boys tennis standout Ninad Raut, who led the Bulls to the Class 4A State semifinals
• Hurdler Catherine Fleming, who advanced to the State championships in the 100- and 300-meter hurdles as well as the 4×100 relay and, like Khatib, was a repeat POY winner.
Coaches Craig Havermann (girls lacrosse), Dave Wilson (boys tennis) and Mark Kantor (weightlifting) were all named Coaches of the Year after leading their respective sports at WRH to SAC championships.
Other highlights for the Bulls included:
• Brothers Maddox (sophomore infielder) and Mason McDougal (senior outfielder), who made the All-SAC first team for baseball.
• Seniors Mackenzie Smith (offense) and Alessia Lloyd (defense) and junior defender Aly Allen joined Khalib on the All-SAC lacrosse team.
• Boys tennis players Raut, Vld Shumakov, Zak Herrmann, Belal Mansour and Leonardo Rodriguez all made the All-SAC first-team, and all are juniors, so they will return next season.
• Track & Field’s Ava Schmitt, a freshman, made the first team in two events – the 1600m and 3200m.
Meanwhile, Cypress Creek High produced two SAC Players of the Year — senior infielder Ethan Petry, who led the Coyotes with a .479 batting average, 33 runs and six homers at the plate and a 5-2 record and 60 strikeouts in 42 innings as a pitcher, and freshman weightlifter Jayden Cruzado, who finished third at the Class 2A State championships in the 129-pound weight class. Cruzado also made first team All-SAC in wrestling at 129 pounds
Other highlights for Cypress Creek included senior Kione Roberson making the track & field first team in the long jump and second in the high jump, and junior Tiffany Colin making first team in the 100-, 200- and 400-meter sprints.
Wesley Chapel High’s baseball team won the SAC title this season after going 6-2 in the conference, and the Wildcats also were represented on the All-SAC teams by girls track & field Athlete of the Year Latia Dove — a senior who advanced to the Class 2A State championships in the long jump and 4×100 relay — and 199-pound senior Jorden McCaslin, the SAC Wrestler of the Year and a competitor at the Class 2A State championships.
Other highlights for the Wildcats included McCaslin also making first team for weightlifting and second team for track (in the 4×100 relay); senior pitcher Zach Showalter (team-high .333 average, four homers, 21 RBI, 0.78 ERA and 89 strikeouts in 45 innings) making first team for baseball; and Kandace Means capping a great career (.390 batting average, 19 doubles, 15 home runs and 91 RBI in 73 games) with first-team softball honors.
Here’s all the Wesley Chapel-area choices by school:
The team at the new Edward Jones office on Bruce B. Downs Blvd. in the Shoppes of Wesley Chapel includes (l.-r.) William Morales, Jimmy Tovar, office administrator Karn Weigel, Natalie Matos, office admin Cathy Giacinto, Paul Eliot & Scott Peterson. (Photos by Charmaine George)
The financial world is, for many, more precarious than ever these days.
Jobs and benefits are in flux, the stock market is all over the place, inflation is leaving a mark and the economy is either booming or teetering on destruction, depending upon who you ask.
Trying to decide how to shield your savings and investments from this potential storm isn’t a decision to be taken lightly. That’s why, when financial advisor William Morales is asked for one piece of advice, it’s this: come see us at Edward Jones.
“It doesn’t cost you anything, other than time,” says Morales, referring to Edward Jones’ free consultation. “That’s really it. That hour you sit down and talk with an Edward Jones advisor, you’ll get answers to questions you have and uncover questions that you never thought of yourself.”
At Edward Jones, a handful of financial advisors — Morales, Paul Elliott, Natalie Matos, Scott Peterson and Jimmy Tovar — are here to guide you from their new office on Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd., which opened earlier this year in the Shoppes of Wesley Chapel across BBD from AdventHealth Wesley Chapel. The new office’s Grand Opening and ribbon-cutting ceremony were held on May 6.
Edward Jones offers a wide range of financial services, advising clients on retirement and college savings, business plans, wealth strategies and investments, life, long-term care and disability insurance, annuities and credit.
“We do everything,” Morales said. “The core of what we do is planning. The investments, that hasn’t changed, but it’s all about how we’re connecting with clients and understanding what their goals are…we know there’s a lot of people out there who should be talking to us that aren’t, so making sure we have a presence in our community is a big part of why things are moving differently.”
Morales has had his office in Wesley Chapel for years and has lived here since 1998, but now, sharing a larger workspace with other advisors with different levels of experience, different backgrounds and from different places, is a boon to clients.
“At the end of the day, it’s what can we bring to the client experience?,” says Elliott, who has been with Edward Jones since 2012. “In a single office, maybe I have an idea I want to run by someone. I tell the client I’ll make a phone call or check with an email, to ask what do you think? That’s very different from calling one of the other advisors in the office and getting maybe a different point of view. I think that’s good for the client.”
While there are many services offered, the most common questions are about retirement, by those already retired or those just getting there.
At Edward Jones, the approach is to build a relationship with clients before money and investments are even discussed.
That’s because instead of promising what they can do for you, at Edward Jones, the advisors are more interested in what you see when you look into the future.
“What are you trying to accomplish?,” Matos says is often the first question. Once a client has laid out their own plan, the investments to get them there act as the vehicle.”
Peterson, a University of Pittsburgh graduate who has worked in financial services for more than a dozen years, says he will ask clients to close their eyes and describe how retirement might look.
“Where are you, who is with you, what are you doing and what are your plans for that day?, “ he says. “Tell me about it,” and, whether you are at the beach or in the mountains or babysitting your grandkids in another state, “there is no wrong answer. You tell me what you want it to look like, and then we’ll go from there.”
That is a message shared by every Edward Jones advisor.
“When people ask what I do, my break-the-ice answer is I make dreams come true,” says Morales, smiling. “I’m kind of joking but I’m not, because it is really what I do. We spend a lot of time trying to uncover what someone’s goals are, and what their vision of the future is, and then we try to build a personal plan towards that goal. Everything we do revolves around the client’s needs and goals.”
And, everyone is different. Some clients have grand plans for retirement, others just want to make sure they have enough to live well, and there are thousands of points in between.
Every answer is different as well, depending upon the current situation of the client. The team at Edward Jones says they don’t shy away from the tough conversations, when a client’s vision of retirement is clouded by some current realities.
“It’s powerful to tell a client, ‘I know you want to retire at this age but, according to the models, it’s not going to work…BUT, if we tweak this and change this up this look what happens,” says Tovar, a Wesley Chapel resident since 2003. “This is where we come in.”
Your Financial ‘Toolbox’
Edward Jones has a variety of answers for each situation.
“We’re not a one-trick pony,” Elliott says. “I like to think of myself as a contractor and I have a toolbox and no bias for any of my tools. I sit down with my clients like an architect and ask what are we going to build? If I only get to use my hammer that day, then that’s fine.”
And, because Edward Jones has no proprietary products or services, Peterson says there is no incentive to use a tool that may not be the best one. “The end result is the only thing that matters to us.”
That’s important to retirees and pre-retirees, who have a number of heady concerns when it comes to their respective futures. Things like health care costs (the No. 1 concern, according to most surveys), taxes, savings and investments are important issues. So, the toolbox has to be big.
At Edward Jones, financial advisors have Series 7 and Series 66 securities registrations, and many of them have acquired further credentials, including the CFP (Certified Financial Planner), AAMS (Accredited Asset Management Specialist), CRPC (Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor), ChFC (Chartered Financial Consultant) and state insurance licenses, according to its website.
That level of service, says Matos, is why so many families keep coming back. She says generations of families have stuck with her over the years, and she hopes to build a similar long-lasting clientele in Wesley Chapel at Edward Jones.
“We care about people, we care about the community and that’s why we’re here,” says Matos, a University of South Florida graduate who has worked in the financial industry for 28 years.
“That’s the bottom line.”
Edward Jones is located at 2653 Bruce B. Downs Blvd., Suite 120, in the Shoppes of Wesley Chapel. The new office’s hours are Monday-Thursday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. , and 9 a.m.- 4 p.m. on Friday. For more information, call (813) 991-7034 or visit EdwardJones.com.
The addition of Dr. J. Carson Woolwine (left) to the practice of Dr. David Scamard (right) at Excellence in Eye Care at Costco means more hours and appointments for customers looking for great optometry service. (Photo: Charmaine George)
As life gets back to a more normal routine as the Covid-19 pandemic finally fades, independent Doctor of Optometry David Scamard, O.D., is pleased that his Excellence In Eye Care is growing. More and more patients are discovering and appreciating both his office’s convenience and, well, excellence.
Five years ago, Dr. Scamard moved his Excellence In Eye Care, LLC, to inside the Costco next to the Tampa Premium Outlets on S.R. 56. Prior to that, his office was located a couple of miles west off of S.R. 54 in Lutz.
Now, J. Carson Woolwine, O.D. — a 2016 graduate of Nova Southeastern University College of Optometry — has joined Dr. Scamard at the practice.
The addition of Dr. Woolwine has led to expanded availability for appointments. Excellence in Eye Care is now open six days a week, where it previously was open only five.
A second exam room also was outfitted, so that two patients can be seen simultaneously. Both exam rooms offer top-of-the-line equipment with state-of-the-art technology.
Offering the latest technology has always been important to Dr. Scamard. He and Dr. Woolwine use a high-tech retinal imager to view the internal structures of the eyes. They also use a digital refractor, which is faster, more accurate and more efficient than the old-style refracting devices. Many patients also like the digital refractor because they don’t usually have to have their eyes dilated.
All of the equipment is electronic and controlled by a computer. It ties in with the practice’s electronic medical records, too, for a streamlined and convenient patient experience.
Costco shoppers have gotten used to seeing Dr. Scamard over the last five years, but many of his patients have known him much longer. He opened his first private practice on Bruce B. Downs Blvd. in New Tampa in 2002 and has taken care of patients in New Tampa, Wesley Chapel, Lutz and Land O’Lakes ever since.
Dr. Scamard earned his undergraduate degree at the University of South Florida in Tampa and received his O.D. degree from Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale.
The combination of his decades of experience and commitment to keeping his practice on the cutting edge of eye care technology has allowed Dr. Scamard to help some patients when others couldn’t.
Mike Roth says he was born with an incurable virus in his right eye, but for most of the 29 years of his life, it didn’t really bother him. That all changed last year when he started having trouble with his left eye.
He went to his ophthalmologist, who couldn’t figure out the problem and sent him to a specialist. The specialist then sent him to another specialist, who sent him to an eye institute in Miami.
Fortunately for Mike, he happened to be playing ultimate Frisbee with a teammate whose wife worked for Dr. Scamard. She told the doctor about Mike’s frustrating issue, and Dr. Scamard offered to take a look.
Although Mike did also see the specialist in Miami, he visited Dr. Scamard, too, and both doctors came to the same conclusion.
“It turns out the virus had switched eyes and began to attack the optic nerve in the other eye,” Mike explains. Eventually, his retina detached, causing blindness, and he had to have surgery to repair it. The surgeon suggested he be fitted for contacts, which was basically a lifelong dream come true for Mike.
“I’ve worn glasses every day since I was five years old and no one would fit me for contacts because they weren’t sure how the virus would react,” says Mike. But, Dr. Scamard said he was a good candidate for contacts and was willing to help him. “That was something I was crazy excited for.”
Mike had his surgery a little over a year ago and has now been wearing contact lenses without any problems for eight months.
“My experience (with Excellence in Eye Care) has been nothing short of incredible,” Mike says, explaining that Dr. Scamard found answers for him when many other doctors gave up. He also truly cared about Mike’s situation and his well-being. “Dr. Scamard has personally reached out to me a couple of times just to see how things are going.”
Scamard explains that he is able to help people like Mike — and many others — because he and Dr. Woolwine offer the latest innovations in contact lenses.
“There’s even a contact now that helps prevent bacterial growth, which makes it healthier for the eye,” Dr. Scamard explains. “There has been a constant improvement in the technology and materials we have to work with.”
The entire process from eye exam to putting the glasses on your face or contacts in your eyes can be completed right there in Costco. You don’t need to be a Costco member to visit Excellence in Eyecare and have an exam, but you do need a membership to purchase your glasses and contact lenses from the wholesale giant’s extensive eyewear department, located right next to the office.
Get Those Eyes Examined!
Excellence In Eye Care currently is seeing many patients who have missed their annual eye exams due to the pandemic. Dr. Scamard encourages everyone who hasn’t had their eyes checked lately to make an appointment.
“The health of your eyes is very important,” he says, “and we, of course, practice all the guidelines for protection to make sure our patients are safe and we’re safe, too.”
So, whether you’re in need of an annual eye exam or your first exam in a long time, Dr. Scamard and Dr. Woolwine invite you to visit their convenient location for top-notch care.
“We always strive to make all of our patients happy and make the experience as pleasant as possible,” says Dr. Scamard. “We make sure their eyes are healthy and that they can see their best.”
Excellence In Eye Care is located inside the Costco at 2225 Grand Cypress Dr., on the south side of S.R. 56. The office is open Mondays, Wednesday, and Fridays from 10 a.m.–5 p.m., Tuesdays and Thursdays from 1 p.m.–7 p.m., and Saturdays from 10 a.m.–2 p.m. For more information, call (813) 279-7038 or visit ExcellenceInEyeCare.net.
(l.-r.) Attorneys Charlie Spinner, Patrick Barnes and Anissa Morris offer top-notch personal injury representation right here in Wesley Chapel. (Photo courtesy of Charlie Spinner)
When it comes to recovering from an accident or any kind of personal injury, it can take a lot to restore a person back to wholeness. Big firms advertise their big resources, but personal injury attorney Charlie Spinner says not to be deceived by their slick advertising.
He and his team of experienced attorneys at the Spinner Law Firm will fight just as hard, but you get the benefit of working with a small firm that feels like family, right here in Wesley Chapel.
And while the firm has a comfortable, familiar feel, it has three experienced attorneys who work together to ensure that clients get top-notch representation that can go up against any insurance company, person or organization that has caused your injury.
Charles Spinner, Esq., originally established his firm in New Tampa in 2003. Its main office is now located in the Cypress Glen Professional Park off S.R. 56, just east of I-75.
Spinner graduated from the University of Dayton in Ohio, and then received his Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree from the University of Toledo College of Law, in Toledo, OH, in 1996. He worked for several years as a civil trial and insurance defense attorney before opening his own private practice.
Attorney Anissa Morris joined the firm in 2011, and fellow attorney Patrick Barnes joined in 2020. Both bring years of experience and complementary skill sets to Spinner Law.
Morris is a certified Circuit-Civil Mediator, as well as a Family Law Mediator. Mediators are neutral parties who facilitate conversations to mediate between the parties in a lawsuit instead of going to a jury trial. While she doesn’t currently work as a mediator, Morris gained an incredible amount of experience through her training and required observations, where she went behind closed doors to see both sides of mediations as they were happening.
“It gives you a much better understanding of the process, so we are better able to prepare our clients to go into mediation,” she explains.
Her undergraduate degree is in public relations and communication arts from Xavier University in Cincinnati and she earned her J.D. degree at Salmon P. Chase College of Law at Northern Kentucky University in Highland Heights.
More than a decade ago, Morris opened a private practice after being a stay-at-home mom and raising her children in New Tampa. She started out renting space from Charlie and helping with his family law cases, which was her area of specialty at the time.
The two had a great synergy and Morris found that she wasn’t enjoying the family law cases, so she joined Charlie’s team working on personal injury cases instead.
“When you hire Spinner, you’re hiring a small family firm, so you talk to an attorney the very first day,” Morris explains. “You have access to us any time you want to. At a bigger firm, you might only talk to a case manager.”
Barnes grew up in Florida and came home to be near his family when his kids were born. Like Morris, he started out working for himself, but met Spinner and found that the two worked well together, so he, too, joined the firm.
SPINNER
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Barnes went to Florida State University in Tallahassee and earned a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology in 2009. He then received his J.D. degree from Florida Coastal University in Jacksonville in 2012. He practiced in Denver before moving back to Florida.
Many years ago, Barnes realized that he and others in his field were deeply affected by all the trauma their clients have dealt with, and started researching how trauma affects both clients and the professionals in the field of law who help them.
“We deal with traumatic material constantly and represent those who have been traumatized,” Barnes says, “so I’m doing my best to shed light on it and bring it to the forefront.”
He says he never talked about being “trauma-informed” during his undergrad or graduate schooling, but that conversations with his dad, who is a licensed mental health counselor, led him to understand the idea and want to bring it to his profession.
Now, he has written articles on the topic and spoken about it at bar associations and other organizations. He’ll be speaking at a national conference in St. Louis later this year.
While trauma-informed practice is fairly new to the law world, it’s well established in the medical field and other areas.
“It is all about changing the way you practice to be more supportive of your traumatized client, to be sure not to re-traumatize them, and to become aware of how you as a lawyer and your staff as a support team can becoming secondarily traumatized by dealing with (these) issues all the time.”
He says being trauma-informed can help a legal team see a “difficult client” very differently. If you have a client who has memory issues, or is easily agitated or is hyper-vigilant, those can be protective defense mechanisms. Instead of viewing the client as “just” a difficult person, when you realize that they’ve been traumatized, it makes you more patient and more empathetic, and not take the behavior personally.
Barnes says he likes working for Spinner Law because it’s a “good mix” of high-level legal expertise and an approachable feel.
“You don’t lose any of the firepower because we’re smaller, but you’re gaining more communication and knowing who you’re going to work with,” he says. “If you’re experiencing trauma, to feel safe, you need to know who’s going to answer the phone and who’s going to help you. That’s huge.”
Candy Sandford has experienced that kind of trauma, being involved in two different life-changing car accidents in the last decade. The first time, she was rear ended on Bruce B. Downs Blvd. At the time, she went to a chiropractor who recommended Spinner Law.
“Charlie and his staff were more than just a lawyer,” Sandford says. “They became like family and friends. They worked so well with us to make things easier during a very difficult time.”
She says she balked when Charlie suggested going to trial, but she eventually agreed, and is glad she did.
“When Charlie is in the courtroom, he’s incredibly focused and professional,” she says. “But, he also has a really fun, friendly, comforting side to him.”
Sandford says Spinner called her personally one morning to say his wife was giving birth to their fifth child and Morris would be in the courtroom with her instead of him. “Anissa came and handled everything that day,” Sandford says. “It was so smooth. She’s amazing, too. I can’t even find enough words to explain how happy I am with them.”
Then, two years ago, Sandford was hit by a Frito-Lay truck, and immediately went back to Spinner. Again, she says, the entire staff was helpful during a difficult time. And this time, he was able to negotiate a favorable outcome for her without having to go to trial.
“It took him a lot of work to accomplish what he did,” Sandford says. “Charlie was willing to take a lot of the burden off of me. He loves representing his clients and doing his best for them.”
She says she’s also impressed with the generosity of how they support the community, from the ways they see Spinner Law donating both time and money to local charities, to the firm’s generous response when they asked for support for the Knights of Columbus, of which her husband is a member.
“It’s more than marketing,” Sandford says. “It’s genuine.”
Spinner Law Firm offers a comprehensive consultation for all legal matters at no charge. The firm is located at 2418 Cypress Glen Dr. For more information, call (813) 991-5099 or visit SpinnerLawFirm.com.
