Trish Waller has recently joined the Keller Williams Realty team in the Brandon/Suburban Tampa Florida market center.

Mega Agent TRISH WALLER Joins Keller Williams In Brandon

Trish Waller, one of Hillsborough County’s top-producing real estate professionals, is leaving RE/MAX Across The Bay to join the Keller Williams Realty team in the Brandon/Suburban Tampa Florida, market center.

Waller’s consistent performance as a top-producing agent over 13 years has landed her into the coveted ‘Top 100 Agents’ register in Hillsborough County. Through that time she has helped nearly 1000 families achieve their real estate goals. Her integrity and professionalism are appreciated by buyers, sellers and fellow Realtors alike.

“We’re excited to welcome Trish to the Keller Williams family,” said Lisa Spencer, Broker/Team Leader of Keller Williams Brandon/Suburban Tampa and Plant City. “At Keller Williams we believe in succeeding through people. We only grow by creating the best customer experience and attracting and retaining top talent. Trish has been admired by her colleagues here at Keller Williams for years and we are so excited to have her on board.”

“I joined Keller Williams Realty because I saw great opportunity in being a part of this talented network of real estate agents,” said Waller.

The Brandon/Suburban Tampa and Plant City Market Center, located at 2350 E. SR 60 in Valrico, will hold a grand opening in early 2019. Call Lisa Spencer at 748-1834 or visit www.kwBrandon.com for more information.

With both Lauren Brun (l) and CJ Hernandez (r) onboard, the Campo Y team is eager to expand its positive impact in the Greater Brandon area.

New Y Directors Ready To Serve The Community

The Campo Family YMCA is pleased to welcome Christian ‘CJ’ Hernandez and Lauren Brun to its leadership team as it continues to provide a safe place where Greater Brandon area community members can go to feel supported, improve their well-being and create meaningful experiences in their lives.

As the membership experience director, Hernandez leads staff in providing a superior member experience at the Y. He comes to the Tampa Bay area from Ohio where he worked in membership, aquatics and wellness at the Lima Family YMCA. Prior to the Y, he worked for a national fitness chain where he supported membership and personal training. Hernandez has a bachelor’s degree in Healthcare Administration and an MBA from Northwestern Ohio University.

“Christian is excited for the opportunity to take his experiences into his new role and continues to advance the Campo Y’s impact in the community,” said Campo Y Executive Director Jarrod Williams.

Brun is the new senior aquatics experience director for the Campo Y. She has served as the aquatics experience director for the Northwest Hillsborough Family YMCA for the past two years. Prior to that, Brun served as an aquatics coordinator, lifeguard and welcome center representative at various Ys within the Tampa Metropolitan Area YMCA. She received her bachelor’s degree in Exercise Science from Indiana University.

“Lauren’s commitment to program quality and staff development along with her exceptional work ethic and drive has been instrumental in the growth of the Tampa YMCA’s aquatic departments,” said Aquatics Experience Executive Amanda Walker.

For more information, visit www.tampaymca.org/locations/valricofl-campo-ymca/ or call 684-1371.

Tax Preparation Volunteers Sought

Local AARP Foundation coordinators are looking for volunteers to work in the annual Tax-Aide program. The program offers free tax preparation assistance to a wide range of taxpayers with a focus on clients over 50.

AARP volunteers receive free training and are IRS-certified each year. All volunteers are required to attend class and must pass a national tax test for certification.

Tax training is done at the Bloomingdale Library during January. Tax help is offered completely free at the Seffner-Mango and Bloomingdale Libraries from February until April 15.

To become a much needed volunteer in your community, log on to www.aarpfoundation.org/taxaid and fill out the application. For more information, email local coordinator Lee Neal at lee45neal@gmail.com.

Presales At New Fitness Center To Be Located In The BayCare HealthHub At Bloomingdale

BayCare Fitness Center (Bloomingdale) will be a 20,000 sq. ft. fitness space housed inside the BayCare HealthHub at Bloomingdale—an innovative, high-tech health and wellness facility designed to make life better for residents in the greater Brandon area and surrounding communities. It is expected to open in spring 2019.

It will have state-of-the-art technology including art cardio and strength equipment. It will also provide personal training, a free fitness tracker, more than 50 group exercise classes per week (including barre), separate yoga and cycling studios and nutrition services. The facility will also have on-site child care services for an additional fee.

Presales for the BayCare Fitness Center (Bloomingdale) have just begun and will run until it opens.

“We’re thrilled to work with EXOS to bring a world-class fitness center into our BayCare HealthHub at Bloomingdale,” said Todd Jones, vice president of Ambulatory Experience and Operations at BayCare. “This facility’s amenities and features will help create an environment where wellness, community and fitness become one.”

At this time, the community can come see BayCare Fitness Center (Bloomingdale) representatives in the BayCare Membership Bus located at the corner of Lithia Pinecrest Rd. and S. Miller Rd.

Business hours are Monday through Friday from 7 a.m.-7 p.m. and Saturday through Sunday from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Residents can also call 586-8600.

BayCare HealthHub at Bloomingdale, located at 2470 Bloomingdale Ave. in Valrico. For more information on the fitness center, visit https://baycare.org/services/fitness-centers/baycare-fitness-center-bloomingdale?hcmacid=a0Z1a00000E7CZKEA3.

South Florida Baptist Hospital, St. Joseph’s Hospital-South Receive Florida Award For Safely Reducing Primary C-Sections

The Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) and the Florida Department of Health (DOH) announced South Florida Baptist Hospital and St. Joseph’s Hospital-South as two of 20 Florida hospitals in 2017 that achieved the Healthy People 2020 (HP2020) Maternal and Child Health goal focused on reducing cesarean section deliveries for first-time mothers with low-risk pregnancies. AHCA and DOH announced the recognition awards to hospitals at the Florida Hospital Association’s annual meeting on Oct. 4, 2018 during the Celebration of Achievement in Quality and Service Awards Ceremony.

South Florida Baptist Hospital’s C-section rate in 2017 was 21.0 percent and St. Joseph’s Hospital – South’s C-section rate was 18.3 percent, well below the 23.9 percent national goal.

While life-saving in certain cases, cesarean sections (C-sections) can pose serious health risks to mothers and babies. Once a woman has a cesarean, she has a greater chance of having a C-section for subsequent births, increasing her risk of major birth complications. For the baby, some of the consequences can include a longer hospital stay in the neonatal intensive care unit, as well as higher rates of respiratory infection.

The mission of this recognition program is to highlight the importance of this health care quality issue statewide and to recognize those hospitals that are contributing to providing quality health care for mothers and infants. Both AHCA and DOH have recognized that the high rate of low-risk cesarean births is a major maternal and child health issue in Florida, as the state has one of the highest rates in the nation.

Mary Wells of Valrico was recently awarded the GRI designation.

Mary Wells Recently Awarded Graduate REALTOR® Institute (GRI) Designation

The Greater Tampa Association of REALTORS member, Mary Wells of Valrico, recently completed the curriculum required to achieve the highly acclaimed designation. She joins a select group in the residential real estate industry holding the designation across the nation.

West earned the ‘Graduate REALTOR® Institute’ (GRI) designation by attending a specific, intensive series of a minimum of 90 hours of classroom instruction and examinations, covering a variety of subjects including: contract law, professional standards, sales and marketing, finance and risk reduction.

Individuals completing the program learn the fundamentals of brokerage and other areas of real estate specialization. With this designation and through increased awareness of current topics important to the real estate professional, such as legal issues, these REALTORS® can better serve prospective clients and customers.

The GRI designation sets the individuals who have attained it apart from other practitioners because it indicates to the public that the individual has obtained a professional educational foundation on which to base the services they provide and that they are a member of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®.

Unique Fighting Style Teaches Defense Strategies That Work

Anyone can learn Krav Maga. Since it is very unique from other fighting styles, it teaches the user the mentality to survive when a threat is unavoidable. It also covers technique for speed, aggression and raw violence. Krav Maga is designed for anyone to learn quickly and easily, by taking advantage of the attacker’s vulnerable points. These are all real world self defense strategies that work.

Classes include high intensity warm up, power drills and cardio or strength drills at intense intervals. No martial arts experience is needed. For this holiday season, give the gift of self defense and preorder gift cards.

Outcast Krav Maga is located at 3636 Erindale Dr., Unit 103 in Valrico. For more information, call 365-5726 or visit https://outcastkravmaga.com/.

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Michelle Colesanti
Michelle has been with the Osprey Observer for almost nine years, and her current position is Assignment Editor. She resides in Bloomingdale with her husband Phil, two sons, Philip and Matthew, and Tigger the cat.