Members of the Wharton High “Beautification Club” hope to raise funds to add some green to this serenity garden, which serves as both a memorial and a place of peace and quiet on the school’s campus.
Several years ago, students in Wharton High’s Key Club created a place on campus to remember students and faculty members who had passed away. But, the quiet corner it’s tucked into doesn’t have sprinklers, so grass won’t grow, and plants planted in the “serenity garden” wither.
Over the years, it fell into disrepair. In fact, says Jennifer Bell, an English teacher at the school, “It became a weed-choked barren thing with a picnic table — not the kind of memorial garden we wanted.”
So Wharton’s “Beautification Club,” which Bell co-sponsors with fellow English teacher Lindsey Glenn, went to work.
Back in September, with the help of the school’s head custodian, Junior Cintron, club members completely overhauled the area, adding raised plant beds with drought-friendly plants.
Now it’s much improved, but members of the club think it still has a way to go. While other solutions have been tried, such as mulch (which washed away in heavy rain), it was decided that the best way to improve the space would be with artificial turf, since no water is available to keep grass alive.
The turf is expensive, so the club hopes members of the community might help to make this project happen. The turf is estimated to cost about $1,200.
“We know there are people in our community who have been touched by those who were lost,” says Bell.
She emphasizes that the area is not only a memorial, which is why it was named the serenity garden.
“We want to make it a place that is uplifting and beautiful, as a place of reflection,” she explains. “So, if you need to go and re-center yourself, it’s off the beaten path a little, so you can take a quiet moment to yourself if you’re having a rough day.”
She says that is already happening. “We’ve heard there are definitely students who have noticed the improvement and have been sitting out there if they are upset and need to take a moment to themselves.”
Bell says that the serenity garden isn’t the only project the Beautification Club has undertaken since its inception last year.
“One thing that’s striking at Wharton is that everything at the school is gray,” she says. “We felt like the lack of color and beauty was hurting morale at Wharton.”
She explains that while the club hopes to overcome the gray with some color, it’s about more than that.
“We want to boost morale and improve the overall climate around the school,” she says, explaining that the club takes on a couple of large and a couple of small projects each year. “We’ve placed anonymous Post-It notes to encourage students, we’ve made sensory bottles — also called calm-down bottles — to help autistic students, and painted murals at our on-campus preschool playground.”
To support the Wharton Beautification Club’s efforts to install artificial turf in the school’s serenity garden, contact the club’s sponsors via the school: (813) 631-4710. Checks, made out to “Wharton High School” and designated for the Beautification Club, can be dropped off at the school.
Wesley Chapel resident Norm Dann (in the goalie gear) recently competed in the 80s Division at the Hall of Fame Games in Ottawa, Canada. Dann’s team was comprised of octogenarians from all over the country, the oldest playing being 86 years old.
Florida Old Timers Hockey Association secretary/treasurer Norm Dann is looking for a few good (older) men — and women — to come out in support of ice hockey in Wesley Chapel.
The Canadian-born Dann just turned 80 years old, and amazingly, he says 75 of those have been spent playing organized hockey. He also says he once had pro aspirations while playing in a juniors league for the Ontario Hockey Association, but says a back injury torpedoed his chances. As a teenager, he moved to Tampa in the 1950s, but never stopped playing hockey.
It’s easier to find venues these days for Dann, who lives in Wesley Chapel and is already taking part in some senior hockey programs already going at Florida Hospital Center Ice (FHCI).
The USA Hockey Adult Nationals Program has been at the Ice Sports Forum in Brandon since 2004. Dann says in 2015, at its zenith, the program produced 50 teams of 50-over players, 12 teams of 60-over, eight teams of 65-over and six teams of 70-over.
There were even 24 ladies teams for ages 50-over. Yes, ladies. There is room for you in senior hockey leagues, too.
Meanwhile, FHCI hosts a myriad of hockey leagues for many different age groups, from beginners to ages 50-over, but Dann is pushing for an even older hockey division.
“It’s definitely something we could do,” says FHCI general manager Gordie Zimmerman. “Last year, we had a very successful adult nationals hockey tournament here.”
Finding the older skaters is the next goal. Dann says he meets seniors frequently at FHCI, many of them snowbirds who had no idea that there is an opportunity to play locally.
“I’ve met 12 guys just standing around and when I ask them where their gear is and they say, ‘Up home, up north,’” Dann says. “I go over there (FHCI) two or three times per week, just to see who’s there and to get on the ice. Most guys I talk to are interested, we just have to let people know that if they are interested, to contact us.”
The leagues and the membership are already strong in the Tampa area for older hockey players.
Currently, Dann, who credits a 125-over-65 blood pressure with a resting heart rate of 50 to the health benefits of playing hockey, skates at Clearwater Ice Arena in Largo, and his bonds run deep there.
He says the camaraderie and warmth in a hockey locker room is like no other, and that spirit is what makes it difficult to start a league in Wesley Chapel.
“There’s guys that would like to play here (Wesley Chapel) but they play in Brandon or Oldsmar and they’ve made friends there,” Dann says. “They don’t want to leave their leagues.”
But, Dann is hoping to create those same bonds here in Wesley Chapel.
“It’s a beautiful facility here, everything anyone could want,” Dann said. “They have a studio, a half rink (aka “minipad”), weight rooms and off-ice facilities. It’s so new you can still smell the paint.”
Dann and his teammates don’t bang each other around like they might have in their youth. In fact, checking and other overly physical contact is not allowed.
“It becomes more of a finesse game, “ Dann says. “All these guys have great stick handling.”
Appreciation for the sport over decades isn’t lost on Zimmerman, who also grew up playing hockey in Canada before moving south.
“I’ve been playing since I was three and I’m 52 now,” Zimmerman says. “I enjoy it as much now as I did back then. You can play until you’re someone like Norm’s (Dann) age and still enjoy it.”
Anyone interested in joining a senior hockey league at FHCIcan reach Norm Dann at Florida Old Timers’ Hockey Association, PO Box 7218, Wesley Chapel, FL 33543-0103. Or, call (813) 973-3654 or email old.puck@juno.com.
Tom Murtha, CPA (left), and his son Patrick, of Murtha & Murtha, LLC, go over some of the new tax codes that will take effect next year. (Photo: John C. Cotey)
Sometimes, your taxes can be a snap. Buy a computer program, plug in some numbers, and voila! Tax return!
But oftentimes, it’s not that simple.
In fact, for many, it can be a long, painful, costly and needlessly confusing experience. It doesn’t have to be, though.
The father-and-son team of Tom and Patrick Murtha, of Murtha & Murtha, LLC, specialize in making tax season a smoother ride for individual filers and businesses. Stop by, meet the Murthas, hear what they have to offer and experience what the duo refers to as the “Murtha & Murtha Difference.”
“It’s true,’’ says Tom Murtha, CPA (Certified Public Accountant). “We really are different.”
The Murthas, partners and owners of their firm in the Seven Oaks Professional Park off S.R. 56 (across from Sam’s Club), have decades of combined experience. Along with sharing a friendly and an affable nature, they pride themselves on building relationships with clients as much as they do their skill in detangling financial numbers that can mire even the most diligent filer or business person in a maze of numbers, forms and laws.
“We’re very approachable,” Tom says, “and that makes a big difference. People are sometimes afraid of going to professionals with all these licenses. They wonder, ‘Will I be able to talk to them?’ But, we are approachable, and we return phone calls.”
Returning calls may not sound like that big of a deal, but when it comes to tax season, it is. A lot of the customers the Murthas will see this tax season are those looking for an accountant because theirs have gone missing.
“I’ve been getting a ton of people saying “I don’t know where my CPA is,” Patrick says. “It’s kind of unbelievable.”
Patrick grew up around tax codes, spending lots of time at his father’s business. He also became friends with the firm’s senior accountant, Kyle Flischel, the son of one of Tom’s former business partners, while they were both in high school and helping their dads with tax returns.
Patrick and Kyle both attended the University of South Florida. Patrick now holds a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) degree in Finance and a B.S. in Accounting, while Kyle holds a B.S. in Accounting and a Master of Science (M.S.) degree in Accounting with a tax concentration.
(From l.-r.) Patrick Murtha, Heather Harris, Tom Murtha and Kyle Flischel are ready to tackle the tax season head on. (Photo: John C. Cotey)
They say this tax season will be the busiest yet, but unlike others who get bogged down and are slow to reply, the team at Murtha & Murtha is ready. The firm added marketing manager Heather Harris to the squad last summer.
“She was a big addition,” Tom says. “We’re really excited about that as we get ready for tax season, because it’s going to get really crazy.”
The Murthas offer free consultations — and often, peace of mind for those whose tax questions are keeping them up at night — but prefer to do those consults in person. They ask potential clients to bring in their last 2-3 years of tax returns, which Murtha & Murtha will examine and, in quite a few cases, find errors that lead to amending those returns and earning a larger refund (or paying less tax)for their clients. And, the Murthas promise they will always be honest with their clients, whether the news is good or bad.
“We ask people to come in; let’s meet eyeball to eyeball and make sure we want to work together,” Tom says. “I don’t want you to commit to me unless we like each other and can work together. That’s so important.”
Tom earned his B.S. degree in Management from Long Island University in Brooklyn, NY, in 1976, and his M.B.A. (Master of Business Administration) degree in Accounting from St. John’s University in Queens, NY, in 1981.
While he was working on his MBA, Tom also worked as assistant controller in the non-bank financial segment of a major New York City bank.
He moved to Brandon in 1987 and opened Accutax Services, Inc., a non-CPA public accounting business. One day, his wife told him it was time to leave behind the fire ants and cow patties of Brandon for the surf. Around the same time, he received an offer to sell Accutax Services, which he did in 1997.
The Murthas moved to Gasparilla Island, and it wasn’t long before Tom joined another CPA firm in nearby Englewood, FL, that he eventually bought into — Flischel, Murtha & Associates.
An Educated Educator
When Tom passed his Florida CPA test in 2000, he says it was with the fourth highest score in the state. He’s also taught accounting courses at both Hillsborough Community College (HCC) in Tampa and at the American Institute of Banking in New York City.
Tom says that gives him an edge over others when it comes to his ability to easily explain complicated tax situations in plain language to his clients.
“I kind of consider myself to be an educator,” Tom says. “I make sure when clients walk out of here that, after a complex situation, they understand what’s going on. I’ll ask them to repeat things back to me. We go over everything again and again and again. I don’t want people walking out of here if they don’t understand what’s going on. That doesn’t help anyone.”
Patrick graduated in 2009, and joined his father in opening a firm in Tampa in 2010 focusing on mergers and acquisitions. One of Patrick’s first tasks was to sell Tom’s Englewood accounting firm.
“Within a month, a contract was on my desk,” Tom says. “That was his first success.”
In 2013, the Murthas expanded to full service, and in 2015 moved to their current location in Wesley Chapel.
CFO Retainer Packages
At their new location, Patrick conceived of another success — a “CFO Retainer Package” to help businesses and those who are self-employed whose company may need a Chief Financial Officer but don’t have the budget to hire a full-time manager or accountant.
For a fraction of the cost of a full-time CFO, the Murthas will provide monthly financial reports — “valuable for getting loans and bringing on investors,” Patrick says — and create a budget for the business.
“It’s a big deal, because it really makes a business look at numbers and compare it to expectations,” Tom says. “A lot of business owners go day to day, thinking it is what it is and the economy is what it is. But, there’s so much a business can do to bring in more business.”
While most accountants focus on the previous year as they file returns, the Murthas also choose to look forward. Because they do valuations as part of their CFO Retainer Package, businesses can find out what they need to do to raise their value and sell at the price they desire.
The CFO package also offers unlimited consulting time with the Murthas.
“It’s really intended for business owners in growth mode, who are excited about it and want it to grow,” Patrick says.
And, for those wondering how the new Republican-backed tax bill might affect their returns, now is as good a time as any to find a trustworthy and reputable CPA firm, like Murtha & Murtha, to prepare. Patrick says that deductions, exemptions and tax rates are all changing, as he plopped a 200-plus page “summary” of some of the new changes coming in 2018 on the table.
“I’ve learned it,” Tom says. “I got it.”
The Murthas handle a wide spectrum of filers, from individuals to businesses that bring in from $100,000 a year to those with $80-million stock portfolios.
Patrick says Murtha & Murtha specializes in big issues, like helping those with rental properties, those who are self-employed, have complicated investments and especially those coming off big life changes like a divorce or an inheritance.
“But we help anyone who needs it,” Tom says.
With tax season ready to kick into high gear, the Murthas are excited for another busy few months.
“The tax season is the best time of the year,” Tom says. “We really enjoy helping people, making a difference with businesses who see their businesses is growing because of us. That keeps me excited. Why do it if it doesn’t make a difference and if you can’t take the worry away?”
Murtha & Murtha, LLC, is located at 2236 Ashley Oaks Cir., Suite 101, in Wesley Chapel. For more information, visit TampaTaxFirm.com or to schedule a free consultation, call (813) 991-1120.
Dr. Ronald Manalo, M.D., offers caring, personalized service for those who want to truly develop a relationship with their primary care doctor. Visit him at his Wesley Chapel office or at his Tampa location on E. Fletcher Ave.
Ronald S. Manalo, M.D., opened Florida Family Practice less than a year ago, seeing patients at both his Wesley Chapel office (in the Cypress Glen Professional Center off S.R. 56 near I-75), and in his Tampa office on E. Fletcher Ave.
Dr. Manalo and his family have lived in Wesley Chapel for the last several years. His wife, Dr. Hoka Nyanda, practices with a local dermatology group. They moved here when she began practicing a few years ago, even while he did his residency at the Mercer School of Medicine in Macon, GA. He finished in 2015, then worked as a hospitalist at Navicent Health Hospital in Macon for a year before making the transition to living full-time in Wesley Chapel and opening his private practice here.
“I love Wesley Chapel,” he says. “It’s great. It’s not busy like Tampa. It’s nice and quiet, but has a lot of growth and potential to grow, and I look forward to growing with the community.”
He says opening his practice is the culmination of many years of hard work and planning.
“Since medical school, it’s been my dream to own my own practice,” he says. He received his Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) degree from Meharny Medical College in Nashville, TN, in 2010. Prior to that, he earned a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) degree from Fort Valley State University in Fort Valley, GA, in 2001.
Now, Dr. Manalo is a family practice physician who sees people in all life stages, from infant to geriatric.
“As a family doctor, you grow with your patients,” he says. “You get to know them, and they become part of your family, too.”
While many parents choose to take their children to a pediatrician, the whole family can see one doctor at Florida Family Practice. Dr. Manalo says anything a pediatrician can do, he can do, too, but a patient who comes to him as a child doesn’t have to transition to a different doctor when they reach a certain age.
“I recently saw a husband and wife who brought their infant to me,” he says. “They’re a young couple, just starting their family, and it’s just a joy. It is really rewarding to take care of the whole family.”
He says his practice is different than what’s typical in our area these days.
“We’re personal, patient, caring and compassionate,” Dr. Manalo explains. “You’re not here for a certain time slot and then out the door.”
Instead, he adds, “We want to get to know you. When you come to see me, it’s not just about your diabetes or high blood pressure, but you as a whole person. We treat your whole body and we get to know you well.” Dr. Manalo believes that this whole person philosophy, “promotes wellness within.”
He also says that he and his office administrator Dayna Yannello are always building these types of relationships with their patients and creating a different atmosphere in the practice. “As a new practice,” he says, “we have the ability to take time with the patients we see, and to really get to know (them). (We’re) unlike other practices around here.”
Happy, Healthy Patients
José Bernardo and his wife, Lillian Ayala, agree that Florida Family Practice is unique. “When we moved here from Puerto Rico six years ago, we came from a different culture, where it’s more of a family relationship built with you and your kids,” José says. “Our experience here with doctors is that it’s been impersonal, and the feeling that your doctor cares about you just hasn’t been there.”
But, José explains, “Dr. Manalo is completely different from that. He cares. He follows up, emails you, calls you. And, Dayna is amazing. They have been available for us on the weekend, after work hours. We have not been able to find this type of treatment and care from anybody else, and we have tried plenty.”
Dr. Manalo explains it this way: “For me personally, the care and services I provide to my patients is a partnership or a trust. A lot of doctors say, ‘do this, take this,’ and that’s that. I like to have more of an open dialogue. We’re developing a relationship; it’s not one-sided where I’m the boss telling the patient what to do.”
He says his dream to own his ownmedical practice is rooted in caring for his community. “I’m getting to know communities and families and want to be the best doctor I can be,” he says. “My vision is to streamline medicine. Some people don’t think primary care is necessary. In the future, I hope to combine family practice and urgent care, so that people who come in just for urgent care can get the follow up they need from a family practice doctor.”
In a way, he says, his office already functions similarly to an urgent care facility. “If you need a sick visit, we can accommodate that.”
The practice offers same-day visits, so you don’t have to schedule months in advance, and you can even schedule online, through FLFamilyPractice.com.
Florida Family Practice is currently seeing patients at the Fletcher Ave. office on Mondays and Tuesdays, and in Wesley Chapel on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. Saturday and after-hours appointments are sometimes available, if needed.
“I’m here and I’m available,” Dr. Manalo says. “I have a new vision of how a practice should be. You can reach us by phone, email or text, and you won’t have to wait several days to hear back from the doctor. You’ll see it as you get to know us. Community is key.”
Florida Family Practice’s Wesley Chapel office is located at 2412 Cypress Glen Dr., Suite 102, and its Tampa office is at 3450 E. Fletcher Ave., Suite 330. For more information, visit FLFamilyPractice.com, or call (813) 812-4133.
Together, José Jiménez, M.D., and Nancy Silva, M.D., are two local pediatricians who care for many young patients at Small World Pediatrics in Wesley Chapel.
More than just partners in practice, they’re partners in life, too — as husband and wife, and Dad and Mom to two kids, ages 12 and three.
They’re part of this community, as Meadow Pointe residents for 15 years, with their kids attending local schools. They think that’s part of what makes Small World Pediatrics special.
“It’s much more personal here,” says Dr. Silva. “We have fun. Our patients know our staff, and know us. We run into people in the community and see our patients at Publix.”
Dr. Jiménez earned his Bachelor’s degree from the University of Florida in Gainesville in 1992, after transferring from prestigious Cornell University in Ithaca, NY. He earned a Doctor of Medicine(M.D.) degree from the University of South Florida (USF) College of Medicine in Tampa in 1996, and completed his pediatric residency at USF in 2000.
Dr. Silva earned her M.D. degree from the State University of New York (SUNY) Health Science Center in Brooklyn in 1997, after earning a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) degree in an Honors B.S./M.D. program at City University of New York (CUNY) Brooklyn College in 1993. Like Dr. Jiménez, she also completed her residency at USF in 2000.
Small World Pediatrics is located in the Windguard Professional Center across Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. from Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel (FHWC). Dr. Jiménez first opened Small World Pediatrics in 2003 in the Northwoods plaza on BBD in Wesley Chapel, near Target, and moved it to its current location in 2010.
Dr. Silva joined the practice in 2014, after the couple’s second child was born. She had been practicing with a group in Brandon for 14 years, but — with two small kids — wanted a job closer to home and with more flexibility than working full-time somewhere else.
She and her husband have been working together ever since.
“Most patients don’t realize it, but they’re really getting a ‘2-for-1 deal’ when they come here,” Dr. Silva says. “We bounce ideas off each other. We can give (each other) a second opinion.”
They also share a philosophy to provide personal service.
“Some people want to get in and get out and get their antibiotics and be on their way in five minutes,” says Dr. Silva. “But, for those people who want more of a parent/child connection, and don’t want to feel like a number, those are the patients who should come to us.”
Dr. Silva says her best medical advice for your children is to get annual physicals.
“Even if your kid is fine, please get an annual physical,” she says. “We recently had a seven-year-old patient we had only seen for sick visits since he was two, and we found he had undescended testicles. We discover so much in those physicals, from vision problems to scoliosis.”
While it does take a little time, the annual check-up likely won’t cost you any money.
“It’s very rare to see a co-pay on a well check these days,” says Dr. Jiménez.
At Small World Pediatrics, caring for children and their parents is always the highest priority.
“We try to do our absolute best for our patients,” explains Dr. Jiménez. “When there are tough decisions to make, we try to always do what’s right for the child, and we always take time for the parents.”
For example, the office doesn’t have an answering service.
“All after-hours calls are forwarded to my cell phone, where patients may leave a message,” says Dr. Jiménez. “I return all calls personally.”
And, they don’t just send patients to the emergency room, either. The doctors will call ahead to notify the hospital that a patient is coming and make sure the medical records are transferred appropriately.
They also invite their patients to call them if they’re not sure whether they should head to the emergency room – or which one to go to. “It may be that you should go to St. Joseph’s, where they have pediatric ER doctors and surgeons on call, or you might need to go to Florida Hospital, which is a lot closer,” Dr. Silva says. “Just call us and we’ll guide you.”
Happy Patients…Happy Parents
Christina M’Gaha is a Wesley Chapel mom with four children and one more on the way. She has been taking her kids to Small World Pediatrics for 11 years, since her oldest was just six months old.
“What I love is that it’s not just a doctor’s practice,” she says. “They treat you like you’re family.”
She explains, “They remember your name. If they see you in the store, they call you by name. They ask about my husband even though he’s not usually there (at the appointments). They get to know the whole family.”
Christina says Dr. Jiménez and Dr. Silva have both gone above and beyond for her family, such as the time she called Dr. Jiménez after hours and he met her at the office 15 minutes later, rather than sending her to an urgent care facility. Another time, Christina says Dr. Silva made a house call when a plumbing issue closed the Small World Pediatrics office temporarily.
“I used to think it was just me they treated like family,” says Christina. “Now I see that they really care about all their patients.”
Dr. Jiménez says that’s the way he wants it to be. “I’m a small town guy, so I like seeing people I know at the supermarket,” he says. As a pediatrician in this community for 14 years now, that happens pretty often.
As for his personal care, he says. “I’m proud and honored that patients have stayed with me and many have been here since the beginning.”
Dr. Jiménez and Dr. Silva are involved in the community they serve. Dr. Silva recently became a Boy Scout leader with their son’s troop. Previously, both doctors were Cub Scout leaders, and Dr. Silva was active with the Sand Pine Elementary PTA.
They also are advocates for wearing seatbelts, which began with a very personal story, as Dr. Silva lost a patient due to an automobile accident in 2006. Dr. Jiménez and Dr. Silva began “The Battle of the Belts” in Pasco County in 2009, partnering with Pasco Safe Kids, a seatbelt awareness campaign involving all of the high schools in Pasco County each spring. Schools compete to effectively deliver the message to students. Small World Pediatrics is the sole sponsor of the event this year.
The doctors also have worked to help pass seatbelt laws in both 2009 and 2014.
All of their efforts in the community, to raise their family, and to take excellent care of their patients are things they do together. “We trade off with both kids and work, and I like it,” says Dr. Silva. “I like that someone always has my back, and in this case, it’s my husband.”
Small World Pediatrics is located is at 2527 Windguard Circle, Suite 102, and is open Mon. – Fri., 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. For more information, visit SmallWorldPediatrics.com, see the ad on page 6 or call (813) 907-8001.
“We know there are people in our community who have been touched by those who were lost,” says Bell. 
