Bryan Glazer Family Jewish Community Center Celebrates 5th Year

TAMPA, FL ? As the Jewish community around the world celebrates Hanukkah, the Tampa Jewish Community Center & Federation has another reason to celebrate.

The JCC & Federation will observe the fifth birthday of the founding of the Bryan Glazer Family Jewish Community Center at 522 N. Howard Ave., Tampa, with a week-long open house and celebration.

From Dec. 1-8, the community is invited to get to know the Bryan Glazer Family JCC and experience the benefits of being a member.

On Wednesday, Dec. 8, the community is invited to the Bryan Glazer Family JCC for a concert by the local popular band, South of Kennedy. The evening will begin at 5:30 p.m. with food and activities as well as a chance to mingle with members, staff and guests. Then the band will kick off at 6:30 p.m. Invision Advisors is the presenting sponsor for this event.

Throughout the week, the community can experience a sampling of what the Bryan Glazer Family JCC has to offer: fitness classes; contest giveaways, complimentary refreshments and chances to win swag; a generational art project created by members of all ages; and karaoke with the Tremble Clefs, a therapeutic singing program for people living with Parkinson?s disease.

The Bryan Glazer Family JCC is a family-friendly destination, housing a state-of-the-art fitness facility, event venue, arts and culture center and pool.

For generations, the 1941 Fort Homer W. Hesterly National Guard Armory stood sentry on Howard Avenue. Vacant since the early 2000s, JJC renovated the historic building and reopened it as the Bryan Glazer Family JCC, named in honor of Bryan Glazer, co-chairman of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who pledged $4 million to the project.

The facility has 100,000 square feet of space featuring:

• A fitness center with full-body workout cardio equipment with personal viewing screens, free weights and strength training equipment along with barre, yoga, dance fitness, boot camp, cycling, Pilates, kickboxing, tai chi and Zumba classes.
• The Mezrah Family Aquatic Center with an eight lane, 25-yard competition lap pool, a warm-water zero-entry recreation pool, family-friendly splash pad and a heated spa.
• The Roberta M. Golding Visual Arts Center operated by the City of Tampa Parks & Recreation Department in coordination with the Tampa Museum of Arts, featuring 7,500 square feet with nine indoor kilns pottery wheels, a glass fusion studio, jewelry-making studio and mixed-media studio. The center offers classes in ceramic sculpture, pottery, oil painting, watercolor, drawing, digital, mixed media, small-scale metal sculpture, jewelry, glass fusion, stained glass, fiber arts and printmaking.
• The Florida-Israel Business Accelerator, connecting Israel?s most high-potential tech startups to the partners, investors and advisers they need to launch successfully in the U.S.
• Tampa Jewish Family Services, including a food bank, counseling offices, mental and social wellness programs and financial management assistance.
• JLoft, an area for teens and tweens to hang out.
• JCafe and Executive Catering.
• The Senior Center for Active Living.
• An event venue with more than 11,000 square feet of space accommodating up to 750 people for weddings and upscale fundraisers, corporate and holiday events, and bar and bat mitzvahs.

The Tampa Jewish Community Center & Federation?s mission is to support and enrich the continuity of Jewish life and values in the community, in Israel and worldwide as well as improve the quality of life for everyone in the community ? Jewish and non-Jewish.

In addition to the Bryan Glazer Family JCC, the Tampa Jewish Community Center & Federation operates the JCC on the Cohn Campus.

Upcoming JCC activities include:

• Jewish Heritage Night with the Tampa Bay Lighting at Amalie Arena as the Lightning take on the St. Louis Blues. There will be menorah lighting in Thunder Alley outside the arena at 6:15 p.m., a kosher dinner in the Budweiser Biergarten and a custom Lightning menorah pin for attendees. Click here for tickets.
• Tampa Multicultural Cafe, Dec. 7 from 5 to 6:30 p.m. at the Bryan Glazer Family JCC. This is a monthly event exploring the tastes, sounds, art and history of the ethnic cultures that make up Tampa in partnership with the University of South Florida and the Tampa Bay History Museum. The Dec. 7 event will explore "A Taste of Greece." Click here for tickets.
• The Bobbe Karpay Women of Distinction Program Thursday, Dec. 9 at 7 p.m. at Congregation Schaarai Zedek, 3303 W Swann Ave., Tampa. The event honors women who represent more than 20 Jewish organizations and congregations in the area. The keynote speaker will be Nadine Epstein, editor-in-chief and CEO of Moment Magazine and executive director of the Center for Creative Change. Click here for tickets.
• The 26th annual Tampa Bay Jewish Film Festival Feb. 17-27, featuring the best and brightest cinematic moments from newly released Israeli and Jewish cinema. Submissions are now open. Click here.