As a newbie....should I even consider a formally well established provider that has not been reviewed in nearly a year?

you have no way of knowing why there is a year-long gap in her reviews.  She might have retired, taken a hiatus, or been seeing regulars who don't post additional reviews of her.

I would suggest you find someone with more current reviews.  If you are really determined to see this particular provider, send her an email and see if she is still active.  If you don't hear from her, it's time to move on.  Another thing to consider, is this provider newbie friendly?

Swim

I have contacted her and have a few exchanges. She seems to be newbie friendly an willing to work with me. She has an active website and a few adds I can find. She is well reviewed on this site the only thing that gives me pause is the las review on here was in July of last year.

If you haven't asked, maybe you should.   If you don't feel 100% comfortable, don't see her, find someone else.  Only you can make the decision.

Swim

Consider she is trying to stay under the radar. Some of us don't like alot of reviews and our business is just fine without them.

I moved from Tampa to Alabama.  FL is huge on TER.  In Alabama, most hobbyists have never heard of TER.  

I have to travel to get reviews on here now.  There is one perfectly legit reason for a gap in reviews.

A well established lady with a past history of good reviews with an active website seems fine to me.  Sounds a lot like me actually.  Which leads me to say, I'm sorry but based on the above scenario you have described; I think suspicion over a gap of time in reviews is just a bit over the top and paranoid.