Edited by Jenny Bennett
David Weekley Homes Celebrates Five Years In Encore At FishHawk Ranch
Encore at FishHawk Ranch, the 55-plus lifestyle division from David Weekley Homes, is celebrating its fifth anniversary. Located within the master-planned FishHawk Ranch, the community is closing out in all three sections, with a limited number of homes remaining.
“We’ve been honored to create a unique, vibrant space for our 55-plus homeowners to call home over the last five years in Encore at FishHawk Ranch,” said Mike Foster, division president for David Weekley Homes in Tampa. “With the close-out of these final sections, we wrap up more than 22 years of building in FishHawk Ranch. I’m grateful to the nearly 1,000 David Weekley homeowners who have made this community such a special place.”
Encore at FishHawk Ranch boasts a 5,000 sq. ft. amenity center, the Oasis Club, exclusively for Encore residents that features bocce and pickle ball courts, a high-end fitness room, resort style pool and entertainment room with a bar and catering space. A full-time lifestyle director maintains a calendar of events. Residents in the community also enjoy convenience to outdoor recreation, including parks and miles of hike and bike trails.
For more information about David Weekley Homes in Encore at FishHawk Ranch, call 774-4155.
Daylight Concepts Can Brighten Your Home
Daylight Concepts is a specialized group of professionals that helps increase the comfort of your home. Have you ever walked into a room in the middle of the day and had to turn your lights on? That’s exactly the type of problem that it can solve in just a couple of hours.
With tubular skylights, it brings natural daylight to kitchens, bathrooms, hallways, staircases, you name it. In over 14 years in business, it’s brightened thousands of homes. If you want a personalized experience, unique design and the best quality of products and services, it is the right contractor for you.
Daylight Concepts is based in Tampa. For more information, visit www.daylightconcepts.com or visit on Facebook at www.facebook.com/solatubeflorida/.
Magruder Agency Celebrates 31 Years
The Magruder Agency was established in 1989 by Patricia Magruder and has grown because it pays attention to the needs of each client. It is too easy to find yourself with a generic insurance policy that doesn’t truly fit your specific situation.
The Magruder Agency takes the time to sit with each of its policyholders and new clients to take the time to learn about their coverage needs, budget limitations and policy types that they are interested in. Each client leaves with the best quality coverage to meet each of their needs and requirements.
Over the years, the Magruder Agency has received many community awards, including Woman-Owned Business of the Year, Small Business of the Year and Excellence in Marketing from the Brandon Chamber of Commerce, and Woman of the Year from the American Business Women’s Association.
The Magruder Agency is located at 655 W. Lumsden Rd. in Brandon and is open Monday to Friday, from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Patricia Magruder can be reached on 654-3100 or by email at patricia@magruderagency.com. For more information, visit www.magruderagency.com.
Preservation 1st Financial Group Celebrating 16 Years In Business
Father and son team Michael and Christian Beiter are celebrating 16 years of their insurance and financial planning business, Preservation 1st Financial Group.
Preservation 1st Financial Group serves all your financial planning and insurance needs, including retirement planning, estate planning, life insurance, Medicare coverage, college planning and more. Its mission is to partner with their clients and their families in their pursuit of their financial goals.
Preservation 1st Financial Group is located at 912 Lithia Pinecrest Rd. in Brandon and can be contacted at 627-0872; it is currently providing virtual appointments. For more information, visit www.preservation1st.com.
Dorothy Cares Assisted Living Facility Awarded Best Of Senior Living Award
The SeniorAdvisor.com Best of Senior Living 2021 Awards, in partnership with A Place for Mom, recognizes senior living and home care providers who receive consistently high ratings and positive reviews from residents, families and visitors. This exclusive designation is awarded to less than 3 percent of providers nationwide.
Dorothy Cares Assisted Living Facility in Riverview was just awarded this for the third consecutive year. Dorothy Cares offers assisted living 24/7, respite care and adult day care in smaller, home-like settings which many prefer for more of that one-to-one care.
It offers assistance with activities of daily living, three meals along with two snacks per day, housekeeping, laundry, help setting up transportation to doctor appointments, medication supervision, exercise and social programs and more.
It is the perfect facility for a loved one who is not ready for a nursing home or a large assisted living facility and still wants to feel independent in a place that they can call home.
Dorothy Cares Assisted Living Facility has two homes in the Riverview area. For more information, visit www.dorothycaresalf.com, email dorothycaresalf@gmail.com or call 862-8871.
Interactive Children’s Science Center Now Open In Brandon
Galactic Playgrounds, an 8,500 sq. ft. interactive science center for children at 1041 W. Brandon Blvd. recently opened.
Owner Greg Mendolia described it as “a science center for all ages. We offer hands-on excitement with exhibits powered by children, so they get exercise, S.T.E.A.M learning and fun all at once.”
The large variety of interactive science exhibits demonstrate magnetism, hydro forces, electric power, kinetic energy, static generators and gas plasma effects. Other exhibits include astronomy videos on a 14-foot-tall, planetarium-like screens and painting on Buddha Boards.
The 8,500 sq. ft. space allows for easy social distancing and the center is equipped with a special new HVAC with five times more outside air.
Galactic Playgrounds is open daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. For more information, visit www.galacticplaygrounds.com or call 315-9478. Visit on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/Galactic-Playgrounds-185653645411415/.
Local Odor Removal Company Eyes Expansion
Local realtor and entrepreneur Sherri Southwell is a woman on a mission. She not only sells homes but rids them of odors as well.
Using a proven removal process, which is both economical and nondestructive, customers’ homes and/or businesses are treated to eliminate odors resulting from pets, smoke, cooking, mold and mildew in addition to sanitizing AC ductwork and killing bacteria and viruses.
While her business primarily caters to real estate agents, property managers and real estate investors, Southwell has noted that homeowners are also discovering the benefits of ozone. As a result of increased demand for odor removal and home sanitization services, Accurate Ozone Solutions of the Gulf Coast, based in Apollo Beach, is seeking to expand its service area into the surrounding counties.
For more information on the services provided, visit www.stinkclean.com, email info@StinkClean.com or call 833-357-8465.
Badcock Home Furniture Employee Sale Benefits Local Boys & Girls Club
W.S. Badcock Corporation, the company behind its namesake, Badcock Home Furniture & More, has a long-standing history with the Boys & Girls Club.
Each year, Badcock holds two employee sales in which sample merchandise is sold to its corporate employees in an auction setting, with proceeds directly benefiting the local club. These regular donations, combined with other initiatives, help fund new buildings and the implementation and ongoing expenses of the after-school and summer programs.
The Boys & Girls Club of Mulberry area director, Mike Borders, brought a few of the program’s children to the Badcock Corporate Office to receive the donation of $25,424. Borders is incredibly happy with the ongoing relationship between them and thanked the Badcock family and its employees for their generosity towards the Boys & Girls Club.
Fidelity National Title Opens In FishHawk
Fidelity National Title recently opened in the FishHawk area, offering title and escrow services. Although it’s a new office, the team has over 40 years of combined experience.
Manager Tiffiney Daniels described their purpose as: “The mission of Fidelity National Title is to advance, expand and protect the experience of property ownership. Our role in the real estate transaction is as the neutral third party, handling the paperwork on the transaction from contract to close.”
Fidelity National Title is also the underwriter, providing the title policy and protecting your investment. It works directly with real estate agents on purchase transactions, with lenders and mortgage brokers on refinance transactions and can handle a ‘For Sale By Owner’ directly with sellers.
The new office is located at 13463 FishHawk Blvd. in Riverview and is open Monday to Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. For more information, visit tampa.fntic.com/offices/fishhawk or call 688-9316.
Hess Annual Girl Scout Cookie Buy Event Returns
Hess Orthodontics is proud to support its local Girl Scouts and announce the annual Girl Scout Cookie Buy event is back this year. Stop by any of its five office locations between Monday, February 1 and Wednesday, March 31 and it will buy up to five boxes of Girl Scout cookies per scout. Girl Scouts must be present at the time of purchase.
Hillsborough County Earns Six Sigma Accreditation
Hillsborough County has earned Six Sigma Accreditation for its commitment to introduce and adopt insight-driven decision-making and process improvement throughout the county government. Six Sigma is a set of management techniques that uses data and metrics to improve the decision-making process.
The goal is to make an organization more efficient and effective in identifying problems, identifying their cause and solving them. County staff trained in the Six Sigma curriculum will use that knowledge to make processes more effective and efficient within their departments and throughout the county.
Hillsborough County earned the Six Sigma Accreditation after a rigorous process that took more than six months. To earn accreditation, each segment of the county’s Six Sigma training process, from curriculum to teachers, had to meet a strict set of standards. The county teaches Six Sigma techniques on an ongoing basis, training about 550 employees over the last three years.
