Hi, my name is Jared Hagerstrom. I am 26 years old and live in Ave Maria, Florida. I have a younger brother, Jason, and we were both born and raised in Tallahassee, Florida. Yes, that makes me a Floridian but also a Seminole fan, but don't hold that against me. When I was born in 1998, I was injured at birth. It was then that I was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy. The injury left me unable to speak and walk. By the time I was 3 years old, I had an augmentative device to talk and a powered wheelchair to get around on my own. At an early age, I loved people and never stopped talking which most of my friends can tell you is true. I also loved being outdoors growing up. Whether it was camping or riding bikes my parents pulled a trailer behind their bikes to get me around. I also loved my youth group at church and still keep in contact with the youth pastor today. It was around 13 that I came to know Jesus as my personal Savior. He changed my life and gave me hope for the future he had planned for me.

I started liking cars at a young age. My parents took me to car dealerships on the weekends, and those weekend trips inspired my dream of becoming a car salesman one day.

 

My family moved to Tennessee when I was around 15 and bought a produce business.  It was at that time my dream to become a car salesman came true because we had a huge parking lot at our business. It started one car at a time at first but then I was selling so many cars my parents closed the produce business and Jared's Auto Sales was born.  For 5 years I was buying and selling automobiles, reaching about 150 cars per year. When COVID-19 hit we decided to close shop and start a new adventure. I didn't know what that adventure would be at that time I would think of something. I was always coming up with new ideas. During COVID, I started getting involved with a disabled organization called Rivers Way. I did Zoom with them every day Monday-Thursday for about a year . When COVID started to settle down we started going to the YMCA. I was involved for many years. I loved it so much that the Rivers Way director asked me to go on the Board which I am still on today. 

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It was after selling my business we decided to take a trip to Florida. We were planning our trip and trying to find an Airbnb in Naples when a pop-up of Ave Maria, Fl. kept coming up on my computer. We decided to check Ave Maria out while we were vacationing in Florida. We visited Ave Maria five times during the trip and decided to buy a Coachhouse in the National to live part-time in Tennessee and part-time in Ave Maria, Florida. I would finally be a Floridian again. After we moved and lived 4 months in Ave we loved the community of people and the church we were attending called Fellowship Church we decided to move to Florida full-time. We told my brother about how much we loved Ave and he decided to move to Florida with his fiancee. We moved to a Maria model in the National and my brother lives in the coach house.  We are only about a block away from them which I love.

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It was in Ave Maria that I continued to find my love for people and the outdoors. Everyone who knows me calls me the Mayor because I love to know everything that is going on in our town and share that information with everyone. That is what sparked my new adventure of starting Ave Outdoors! So I hope you enjoy my website, Ave Outdoors and my weekly newsletter to tell you what is going on in the greatest community that I have ever lived in. You can find me daily on Facebook and instagram.

 

Welcome to Ave Outdoors!