There was the announcement in 2014 that the first Metro Development Group Metro Lagoon by Crystal Lagoons, the first-ever of its kind in the U.S., was coming to Wesley Chapel.
Then, there was a groundbreaking in 2016, followed by an event announcing the spigots to fill the lagoon had been opened in 2017, which gave way to a ceremony as it was filled with 16 million gallons of water later that year, and then, finally, a ribbon cutting to kick off 2018.
Next up: Saturday’s Grand Opening.
Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps (photo), considered by most to be not only the greatest swimmer but also the greatest Olympic athlete of all time, will be on hand for the grand opening on Saturday, April 28.
The grand opening will feature a daylong tropical-themed celebration, highlighted by planned water ski shows, flyboarding performances, a live Caribbean band performing on Gasparilla Island and even mermaids in the lagoon.
There will also be a be a live band and DJ on the main stage, food trucks, drinks, dancing and more.
Free parking and free admission provided to guests. The event is already at capacity, but you can sign up for the waitlist, and future events, at LagoonEvent.com.
Phelps will help kick the party off. He was announced last year as a global ambassador for Crystal Lagoons, the company which has built 300 lagoons across the world (with a dozen or more also in the works) since it was founded in 2007 by Chilean real estate developer and biochemist Fernando Fischmann.
Gasparilla Island.
While previous events have featured the lagoon in various states of development, the Grand Opening is expected to show the lagoon in all its grandeur — a 7.5 acre paradise maintained by ultra-sonic technology that uses sensors to monitor the quality of the crystal-clear water and 100 times fewer chemicals than a traditional swimming pool, surrounded by man-made beaches, private cabanas, swim-up bars, a tidal pool, restaurant and entertainment plaza.
The Crystal Lagoons are expected to become the hottest amenities driving home sales at new developments across the U.S.
In Wesley Chapel, home sales at Metro Development’s Epperson community, located on Curley Rd. less than three miles north of S.R. 54), have been booming, in large part due to the lagoon. At Mirada, another Metro development in northeastern Wesley Chapel, work is beginning on a second, even larger lagoon. Both developments are part of the Connected City project, which links northern Wesley Chapel to San Antonio.
The lagoon will be exclusive to the2,000 homeowners in Epperson, who will pay for the maintenance of it. But until the community is mostly filled, there will be opportunities for the general public to use it.
For more information about Epperson, visit Epperson.Metroplaces.com. For information about Crystal Lagoons, visit Crystal-Lagoons.com— JCC
If you have chronic back and/or neck pain, regular adjustments from a trained chiropractic physician, like those at The Joint Chiropractic Center, located in the Publix-anchored New Tampa Center plaza (near Pizza Hut), may help. A lot.
As I’ve mentioned in these pages before, The Joint is a new, much more affordable way to address your chronic pain when compared with most other chiropractic offices.
Like some of you, I wasn’t a believer in chiropractic care, in part because I never really suffered from any kind of back or neck pain until I was well into my 50s. I chalked it up to the problems of my sometimes sedentary lifestyle — I spend a lot of hours gazing into a computer, especially during my two deadline weeks per month — combined with trying to continue to do regular physical activity in order to keep my weight down as my body has aged.
But today, I am a true believer in not only the power of regular, ongoing chiropractic care, but also in The Joint, because never before has visiting a chiropractor been this affordable.
Although other chiropractors also work at The Joint’s New Tampa location — which is owned by Dr. Edward Leonard’s TJ Wesley Chapel PA and managed by my friends Valerie and Alex Pierroutsakos of Valex, Inc. — the chiropractor who sees patients every Monday through Friday is Dr. Barney Bickerton, DC (Doctor of Chiropractic). Dr. Barney and The Joint have been Godsends for both my fiancé Jannah and myself, because we have both been able to visit every week since Alex and Valerie opened The Joint’s New Tampa clinic last summer.
The initial fee at The Joint is just $29 and includes a consultation, an exam and an adjustment. Dr. Barney takes the time to find out where your pain is and when you feel it most often, and if you say you have pain in your neck or back, you don’t even have to show him where it is because he’ll find the source of it with his magic hands within a few seconds.
If you’re used to paying $45-$55 or more every time you visit the chiropractor, you’ll probably appreciate the fact that one adjustment per week — four adjustments every month — at The Joint will set its members back only $69, and additional adjustments in the same month, when you need them (like after Jannah and I were in a car accident in November), are just $10 each.
The Joint New Tampa recently hosted a Customer Appreciation event where Dr. Barney saw and adjusted 90 people in one day, including yours truly — with minimal wait times. Look for a one-year anniversary celebration announcement in future issues and please tell ‘em I sent you!
For more info about The Joint (19014 BBD Blvd.), visit TheJoint.com, call (813) 534-6415 or see the ad on pg. 3! — GN
Financial advisor William Morales, AAMS (Accredited Asset Management Specialist), and branch office administrator Beth Ramirez make up the Edward Jones Financial Services team in the Windfair Professional Center, located across Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. from Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel (FHWC).
Morales has been serving clients in this location since 2012, when he closed his Tampa Palms office and moved it to Wesley Chapel. He joined Edward Jones in 2008.
“I always wanted a Wesley Chapel branch,” says Morales, who has lived in Meadow Pointe with his wife for 20 years, where they raised two daughters, and where he now serves his neighbors.
“We are a full-service agency, and I wear many different hats,” he explains. “When I work with clients, I may serve as their stock broker, their insurance agent and their bond dealer. At its core, my work is as a financial planner.”
He explains that he helps his clients in any of five different core areas, depending upon each client’s stage of life and their individual needs:
• Planning for a comfortable retirement (for those who are currently working)
• Enjoying retirement (for those who have already retired)
• Paying for education
• Preparing for the unexpected
• Saving money on taxes
A Little History
Founded in 1922, Edward Jones has grown to be the largest financial services firm in the industry, with 16,000 financial advisors and 14,000 branches, serving more than 7 million households.
Morales explains that Edward Jones, which is headquartered in St. Louis, MO, is different than other financial firms, as it is not a publicly traded company itself, and has no Board of Directors and no shareholders. Therefore, Morales says, his singular focus can be on serving his clients. All 14,000 Edward Jones branches throughout the U.S. and Canada are small offices located in the communities where the financial advisors live and serve.
Morales works with his clients through a five-step process, starting with “Where am I today?” and “Where would I like to be?” Then, he says, the next steps — “Can I get there?” and “How do I get there?” — are his job. Once he’s worked with you through those steps, Morales says he continues to advise each client to determine, “How can I stay on track?”
“I take care of financial affairs for a select group of families in our area,” he says, “with about half of my clients working families, and the other half being already retired.”
He says this “select” group of both working families and retirees is limited not by any particular criteria, but because he limits himself to maintaining a small group of clients so that he can manage all of their needs well.
“If we try to be everything to everyone, we lose that personal touch,” Morales says. “It makes it tough to deliver the same level of service.”
He says the most important thing to do when you’re looking for a financial advisor is to find someone you feel confident in that you hopefully will want to work with for the rest of your life.
“(Your financial advisor) has to be someone you like, someone who makes you feel comfortable and someone you can trust,” he says.
Satisfied Customers
John and Debbie Engel are Wesley Chapel residents who have been working with Morales for about four years.
“Our experience has been fabulous,” says Debbie. “He’s always available. He’s extremely smart, very passionate, very caring, and he’s always there (for us).”
She adds that Morales never makes her feel rushed, and always spends time answering all of her questions. “Every question my husband and I have ever had has been answered,” Debbie says. “There were issues we didn’t understand, so we asked questions, and he gave us a very explicit explanation. I feel very safe and at-home there, like I could ask him anything.”
Debbie also explains that, “Our entire portfolio for retirement is with Edward Jones, including our investments, assets, bonds, annuities, 401ks, IRAs…our whole life, and I feel very comfortable with that.”
Morales says the way he approaches his clients is known as the Edward Jones “value proposition.”
He says, “There’s nothing more important to us than understanding what’s important to you, using an established process to help you build personalized strategies to achieve your goals, and partnering together with you throughout your life to keep you on track.”
Morales explains that a first-time appointment with him is similar to visiting a new doctor. “I’m going to ask you a lot of personal questions, so I can really understand what’s going on with you financially,” he says, adding that he also uses financial questionnaires and conversation to help determine his clients’ needs.
Payment Options
Once someone becomes Morales’ customer, they can choose to pay a flat annual fee for Edward Jones to manage all of their assets. The more traditional method is where Morales receives his payment from the mutual funds, insurance policies and other investments he sells.
“Another thing that makes us unique from our competition is that there are no Edward Jones investments to sell,” says Morales. “We sell the products of all the other companies, such as Fidelity, for the same cost to you as if you bought directly from them.”
Morales recommends working with a large firm, such as Edward Jones, “because the big firms have oversight. Unlike independent financial planners who don’t work for a larger company, Edward Jones has measures in place to watch what I do.”
He adds, “My job is relationship-driven. I have to do the ‘nerd work’ and crunch the numbers, but most of what I do is serve my clients, and there’s no cost for my advice.”
Before joining Edward Jones, Morales was president of a mortgage company in New Tampa and served six years in the U.S. Army Ordinance Corps, spending four years stationed in and around Kuwait. Originally from New York City, he and his family moved to Tampa, where he graduated from Chamberlain High.
For more info, call Wesley Chapel Edward Jones branch office administrator Beth Ramirez at (813) 991-7034, and she’ll schedule your appointment with Morales at the office located at 2748 Windguard Cir., Suite 101 (in the office plaza behind The Hungry Greek) in Wesley Chapel. Or, see the ad on page 26, or visit EdwardJones.com/William-Morales.
(L.-r.): Drs. Cho, Ledford, Lockey, Fox and Glaum are Board-certified allergists and immunologists who recently opened a new office whose services include a unique commitment to academic research and teaching the next generation of doctors, too.
At a busy office on the top floor of a medical building near the corner of Fletcher Ave. and Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd., a team of Board-certified allergists and immunologists both see patients and conduct research at the University of South Florida Division of Allergy & Immunology Clinical Research Unit next door. The practice recently opened an office in Wesley Chapel and now has five locations, including the main office on BBD Blvd. in Tampa, plus locations in South Tampa, Citrus Park and Brooksville.
Drs. Lockey, Fox, Ledford, Glaum and Cho make up the group that can be found online at AllergyTampa.com.
Richard Lockey, M.D., founded the practice in 1984 as Academic Associates in Allergy, Asthma & Immunology. He earned his medical degree from the Temple University College of Medicine in Philadelphia, PA. Dr. Lockey served in the U.S. Air Force during the Vietnam War, then subsequently joined the faculty of the University of South Florida College of Medicine (now Morsani College of Medicine) as a Professor of Medicine.
He currently is the director of USF’s Division of Allergy & Immunology. He also volunteers at the James A. Haley Veterans (VA) Hospital, where he was previously Chief of Allergy & Immunology.
Dr. Lockey also has served as a president of the World Allergy Organization and is a past president of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology (AAAAI), of which all of the practice’s specialists are members.
Roger Fox, M.D., earned his medical degree from St. Louis University School of Medicine in St. Louis, MO. He has written and lectured extensively on the topics of environmental, chemical, food and drug allergies, urticaria (hives) and skin disorders, such as angiodema.
Dennis Ledford, M.D., received his M.D. degree from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis. Like Dr. Lockey, he also served as a past president of AAAAI. Dr. Ledford is the director of the Section of Allergy & Immunology at the James A. Haley VA Hospital. His published writings focus on immunology and autoimmune disorders and he has won many leadership awards. Dr. Ledford says he loves teaching medical students and educating patients. He was installed to the Gold Humanism Honor Society at USF.
Mark Glaum, M.D., PhD, earned his medical degree at Hahnemann University School of Medicine in Philadelphia, PA. He completed a fellowship in allergy and clinical immunology at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, also in Philadelphia. His areas of interest include how the body responds to substances that cause allergic reactions and advancing diagnostic techniques, such as rhinoscopies (examining nasal passages with specialized instruments).
Seong Cho, M.D., received his medical degree as an otolaryngologist — an ear, nose and throat doctor — from Kyung Hee University School of Medicine in Seoul, South Korea. His allergy and immunology training was completed at Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine, in Chicago, IL. He recently received a grant from the National Institutes for Health (NIH) in Bethesda, MD, studying pathogens and chronic rhinitis.
The physicians manage a variety of disorders related to allergy, asthma, and immunology, including rhinitis (inflammation and swelling of the mucous membrane of the nose, often referred to as hay fever), cough, laryngitis, headaches and immune disorders. The specialists also treat allergic reactions and immune responses resulting in rashes and dermatitis.
Research Benefits Patients
What sets Drs. Lockey, Fox, Ledford, Glaum and Cho apart from other groups is the relationship the doctors have with USF. With all five doctors also teaching students at USF’s Morsani College of Medicine, the patients they care for in private practice reap the benefits.
“There are advantages of being with physicians who have contact with the future in teaching residents,” says Dr. Ledford. “The process of educating makes you better.”
Dr. Ledford explains that all five doctors conduct research at USF’s Division of Allergy & Immunology Clinical Research, too. As a researcher, he says, “you’re aware of developments and where science is progressing.” He adds that his practice’s patients can gain access to studies when there are new therapeutic trials being conducted.
If a study is being conducted that could help a specific patient, the doctors can send that patient right down the hall to USF’s Clinical Research Unit to participate in the study. Dr. Ledford says that not only can that benefit the patient with medicine or techniques that may not be readily available in mainstream medicine, but also, “by participating in the study, our patients are helping to advance the field.”
Dr. Ledford explains that one such study is peanut immunotherapy, where extremely precise and tiny doses of peanuts are introduced to patients in a methodical way, to teach the body to tolerate them.
For someone who has a life-threatening allergy to peanuts, to be able to tolerate small amounts can relieve the constant fear of accidental contact with peanuts.
“It’s quite liberating,” Dr. Ledford says of the results of this technique, which is not yet mainstream but is available through his practice’s research partnership with USF.
He adds that this partnership allows his office to provide the convenience of neighborhood medicine, combined with the experience of the academic setting.
“It’s unusual,” Dr. Ledford says, “but Dr. Lockey has created a hybrid of a university clinic and a private practice. They complement each other.”
Sue Moore is a patient who says she has benefited from this approach. After conventional treatments for her asthma left her still “gasping for breath,” she says Dr. Ledford found a brand new treatment for her — one that has helped her breathe easy so that she no longer struggles with asthma symptoms.
“Dr. Ledford went beyond the norm to find a treatment that works,” Sue says. “He stays on top of his profession, continually doing research, and always has his patients at the top of his agenda.”
Sensitive To Pollen?
This is the time of year when seasonal allergies are at their worst.
“March is the peak of allergy season in Florida,” says Dr. Ledford. “In our area, people react to tree allergens — primarily oak and cypress — from about Christmas to Easter.”
Dr. Ledford says that for people who have moved to Florida from up north, spring happens much earlier, as trees start pollinating between January and April. So, allergy sufferers will notice that happening much earlier here than in colder climes.
To help the doctors assess the environment and know what allergens to test their patients for, “we sample the environment to see what’s there,” explains Dr. Ledford. He says air samples are gathered from the patient’s roof, then Dr. Glaum counts the pollen and other allergens under a microscope. He then provides those counts to the community on the practice’s website, AllergyTampa.com.
Now Open In Wesley Chapel
The Wesley Chapel office is open in the Seven Oaks Professional Park on Thursday mornings, beginning at 7:30 a.m., where patients can see Dr. Cho.
While the doctors and staff at the practice have considerable clinical and research experience, as well as access to the latest in treatments and technology, Dr. Lockey expresses a basic principle that guides his team in its work.
“We practice the most cost-effective and honest medicine,” he says. “We treat patients like they’re our family members. That’s what all medicine should be about.”
To learn more about Drs. Lockey, Fox, Ledford, Glaum and Cho, visit AllergyTampa.com or call (813) 971-9743. The New Tampa office is located at 13801 BBD Blvd., Ste. 502, and the Wesley Chapel office is located at 2106 Ashley Oak Cir., #102.
The New Tampa Christian Academy is set to open on County Line Rd. in New Tampa on Aug. 20. This is a rendering of the private K-12 Christian-based school.
While the backbone of any good school has always been its curriculum, today’s modern students and parents also desire innovation outside of the classroom.
With that in mind, Sandra Doran, Ed.D., has been overseeing the construction of North Tampa Christian Academy (NTCA), located just west of the Grand Hampton community on County Line Rd., just south of Wesley Chapel.
Doran, the founding headmaster of the area’s first Christian K-12 school, promises a top-notch curriculum, to be taught on a state-of-the-art campus.
“Innovative buildings, innovative furniture, innovative teaching practices,” Doran told an audience of local business leaders gathered Feb. 22 for a North Tampa Chamber of Commerce Economic Development briefing at Hunter’s Green Country Club.
The new school is set to open on Aug. 20, with a full complement of grades, including an early childhood center that will take students as young as 2 years old. It is such a lofty goal that even Doran had to take a deep breath and smile when revealing the plans.
“Everything opens,” she said. “Early childhood, lower school, middle school. We’re not doing it gradually. Everything opens.”
The NTCA, with annual tuition prices ranging from $12,000-$16,000, is the culmination of plans that were hatched in 2012, when the Florida Conference of Seventh-Day Adventists (in concert with Adventist Health System and Florida Hospital West Florida Region) began to work with Tampa Bay-area churches and schools to establish a new campus in our area.
On August 17, 2015, the Florida Conference purchased the 43-acre parcel in New Tampa, right on the Hillsborough/Pasco County line, just south and west of Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel (FHWC).
While school officials felt confident the emphasis on project-based learning, academic excellence via innovative teaching and Christian ideals offered by the school would prove attractive for prospective families, they also wanted to be sure it was offered in an attractive, forward-thinking package.
The question was, according to Doran, “What kind of school architecture would promote good learning practices?”
The answer was Prakash Nair, of Fielding Nair International, whose company has designed innovative schools all over the world, including Academy of Holy Names in Tampa and Shorecrest Prep in St. Petersburg.
Project manager Michael Gilkey reached out to Nair via email, assuming he was in India and getting a timely reply would be difficult.
“Lo and behold, Prakash Nair had not only moved to the United States, and had not only moved to Florida but moved to Tampa and was at Michael Gilkey’s door the next day,” Doran says. Then, with a chuckle, added, “As people of faith, we found that very interesting.”
Nair discarded the original plans, which he dubbed the “Walmart Model” – a big building with a parking lot in front.
Instead, Nair devised a collection of four smaller buildings, each one housing about 150 students, or “separate learning communities,” as Doran referred to them. The separated structures will house an early childhood center, plus buildings for grades K-2, 3-6 and 7-12.
A hoped-for second phase will include an additional building to break up the older grades into 6-8 and 9-12.
The design places less emphasis on walls, doors and standard classrooms, and instead focuses on open spaces that free flow from room to room, with buildings connected by a sun-shielding shade.
Doran, who was associate superintendent at the Florida Conference of Seventh-Day Adventists (the second-largest parochial school system in the world, she says), agreed to take on the task of leading the NTCA. At that time, however, she had no idea, before visiting for the first time last July, that she was inheriting a dusty field with a discarded mattress laying on it.
As for the curriculum, Doran said that she is excited about what she describes as a project-based learning environment.
“The bottom line is this: we want our students, when doing their projects, to have an outcome that matters,” she says. “Are you creating beauty or solving a problem? If it’s none of the above, it’s pointless. Think about the science fair, when those are over, what do you do? You throw them (the projects) away, right? And yet, we wonder why our children don’t like doing them.”
There will be a focus on reading skills (her area of expertise, and a personal connection as well, as her son has struggled with dyslexia), Bible study, challenging math courses and Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), designed to improve science education. The NGSS have been adopted by 19 states, although Florida is not one of them.
The school also will have a gymnasium and a soccer field and has already hired a volleyball coach, although Doran says NTCA isn’t looking to develop a high-level athletic program like the ones that define so many private and religion-based schools throughout Florida.
With 43 acres, NTCA will have plenty of room left over for students and staff to explore the woods and trails behind the classrooms. Doran says the school has available capacity for 750 students and is projecting 240 enrollees for the 2018-19 school year, plus another 100 children in the early childhood programs.
“It’s a scary and exhilarating adventure,” she says. “Am I a risk taker? Yes.”
The North Tampa Christian Academy is now accepting applications for the 2018-19 school year. For more information, visit SeeThisSchool.com or NorthTampaChristian.org, or call (813) 591-0309.
If you have chronic back and/or neck pain, regular adjustments from a trained chiropractic physician, like those at The Joint Chiropractic Center, located in the Publix-anchored New Tampa Center plaza (near Pizza Hut), may help. A lot.
