BSL Architectural Review Update – July 2024
By Betty Ingerson, BSL Board of Directors, ARC Liaison
There were seven single-family home applications reviewed by ARC in July, but only one was recommended for approval. Sixteen other applications were reviewed,
and nine were recommended for approval. The following architectural projects were either approved or conditionally approved by the Burnt Store Lakes Board of Directors during the July 16 board meeting.
As of July 30, there were 110 new homes in the construction process. Fifty new homes have received Certificates of Occupancy in the current fiscal year (October 2023 to September 2024).
ADDRESS BOARD APPROVED PROJECT NEW HOMES
17020 Cape Horn Blvd SPEC HOME: 3,292 Sq Ft (2,361 AC). 4 bedroom, 2 1/2 baths, 3 car garage, paver driveway, and tile roof color Weathered Ash by Lennar Homes, LLC. Home color Loggia, trim Shoji White. No Pool. OTHER CONSTRUCTION
17522 Vellum Ct POOL AND CAGE: Pool and cage installation by Holiday Pools.
17315 Cape Horn Blvd POOL AND CAGE: Pool and cage installation by H2 Pools on new home under construction by TTM Builders.
24340 Nicobar Ln ENCLOSURE SHIELD AND WALKWAY: Six ft high by 8 ft long by 4 ft wide gray vinyl enclosure shield with one gate by Owner. Includes paver bottom and paver walkway from driveway.
24477 Gijon Ln IRRIGATION WELL: Irrigation well by H2O Systems. Located on left side of home across from lanai.
16551 San Edmundo Rd EXTERIOR PAINT & TRIM: Paint home from Restrained Gold with Toasty trim to Restrained Gold with Summer White trim by Owner.
24458 Rio Togas Rd ROOF: Tile-to-tile by American Building Contractors. Tile color Capistrano (blend of light gray, terracotta, and tan).
17074-17094 Acapulco Rd ROOF: Tile-to-tile by Dynamic National. Tile roof color Viera Blend-Belair.
24301 Santa Inez Rd ROOF: Tile-to-metal by Green Coast Roofing. Metal roof color Copper Metallic. 24407 Cabana Rd FENCE: Black aluminum 4 ft high fence with three single gates by South Central Fencing.
Annual Meeting
Saturday, October 19, 2024
Join Your Neighbors And Meet The Candidates Who Are Running For A POA Board Position In October!
Located off Rio Togas near Burnt Store Road.
Sunday, Sept. 15 1 to 3 p.m.
Hot dogs and hamburgers will be served. Please bring a casserole, side dish, and/or a dessert to share with 12 to 15 people and bring your own beverage. Plates, silverware, napkins, and water will be provided.
Come for the food and stay for the fellowship, fun, and the opportunity to hear the board candidates speak about why they are running! We hope to see everyone there!
Welcome New BSL Employee
In response to growing homeowner concerns regarding community standards, the POA has hired someone to assist in monitoring conditions and reporting as appropriate to the POA.
Our Annual Meeting will be held on Saturday, Oct. 19, at 9:30 a.m. at the Presbyterian Church on Burnt Store Road. By the time you read this article, all Annual Meeting information packets will have been mailed to all property owners. There are several items that you will vote on:
• Roll Over of Funds from 2023/2024
• 2024/2025 Budget
• Election of Board of Directors
This year there are four open Board of Director positions that you will be electing. A short biography of each candidate is included in your packet. You will vote on the budget items by the enclosed proxy. If you decide to attend the meeting, all voting materials will be given to you there.
It is important to vote – either in person or by proxy! This is your community, and everyone should exercise their right to vote! (If you have any questions, please call or email Dawn Caniff at the office at (941) 639-5881 or office@bslpoa.org.
Submitted by Sandy Funk
We would like to welcome our newest employee, Suzanne Vigliotti. She will be monitoring construction and ensuring deed restrictions are in compliance. Please become familiar with her, as she will be driving throughout the community daily, taking photos so we can successfully address all homeowners’ concerns.
Thank you, On behalf of Burnt Store Lakes Board of Directors
Board Of Directors
Sandy Funk ~ President Liaison – Long-Range Planning
Richard Hefright ~ Vice President Liaison – Mechanical & Maintenance and Beautification
Elisabeth Geltz ~ Secretary Liaison – Drainage and Swales
David Todd ~ Treasurer Liaison – Lakes Quality
Thomas Freimark ~ Director-At-Large Liaison – Beautification
Betty Ingerson ~ Director-At-Large Liaison – Communications Liaison – Architectural Review
Richard Mathis ~ Director-At-Large Liaison – Safety and Preparedness Board Of Directors Community Standards
Board of Directors meeting is Saturday, Sept. 14 at 10 a.m.
Meetings are hybrid meetings held in the Community Center and available by Zoom.
16500 Burnt Store Road, Suite 102 (941) 639-5881
From My Lanai
August 16 - September 21
In a blend of suspense and humor, the renowned Queen of Crime, Agatha Christie, crafts a captivating murder mystery. At a secluded countryside guesthouse, seven strangers find themselves snowed in. Their predicament takes a chilling turn when a police sergeant arrives on skis, revealing there’s a killer among them. As suspicion mounts, each guest unveils their murky past, adding layers of intrigue to unfolding drama.
September 27 - November 9
Set amidst the razzle-dazzle decadence of the 1920s, CHICAGO is the story of Roxie Hart, a housewife and nightclub dancer who murders her on-the-side lover. Desperate to avoid conviction, she dupes the public, the media and her rival cellmate, Velma Kelly, by hiring Chicago’s slickest lawyer to transform her malicious crime into a barrage of sensational headlines. Hear favorites All That Jazz, Cell Block Tango, Razzle Dazzle, Roxie and more! Don’t miss the longest-running American musical in Broadway history!
Dates may be subject to change.
As I type this, it is four years to the day that my husband and I jumped aboard the COVID-19 bus and headed to Punta Gorda. A lot has happened in four years, as I’m sure you all know. COVID-19 came (and mostly went), then came Hurricane Ian, and then came the dawning of the dump truck. They are forever running up and down our roads, leaving behind dirt, debris and ruts. Progress. We elected a new president of the United States and watched as our governor tried to take to the campaign trail. A short trail, in this case. Now we are on the eve of another presidential election that has recently turned violent. But I have watched politics from Eisenhower to Biden. I get older, sometimes I get poorer, occasionally I get wealthier. I don’t depend on Washington, D.C., to make my life full and happy. Thank God!
To be clear, I am writing today to thank you for the four years you have allowed me to share my thoughts,
my musings, and my space in a paragraph or two. For now, I am saying so long
The four years of cathartic prose have seen me through and caused me to gain a new perspective. I will be leaving my lanai more often. I will be getting involved in things that matter, things that make a difference in our community. I have no earthly reason to take my foot off the accelerator of my life, and I have many heavenly reasons to keep it pressing forward. I will lend my knowledge, my experience, and my time to those who have less of all the above. I will be happy. I will find fulfillment. And I will likely find friends.
This will be my last submission to the Heron
. I am leaving my lanai.
Eight Facts About Labor Day
For more than 125 years, Americans have celebrated Labor Day on the first Monday of every September – which means Labor Day falls on Monday, Sept. 2, in 2024. The origins of this holiday have been somewhat lost to time. Now it’s seen as the unofficial end of summer (and hot dog season), the dreaded return to school for kids across the country, and a time to score a great deal on a mattress. But with more than a century of history to sift through, you’d be forgiven for not knowing about the holiday’s roots. So, from the true story of its beginnings to the final word on whether you can wear white afterward, here are eight facts about Labor Day.
1. The first Labor Day parade was held in New York City in 1882.
If you were a factory worker in the 1880s, you were probably toiling away at your job for an average of 60 hours a week, and it wasn’t unheard of for textile laborers in New York to make only 75 cents a day, which was a paltry sum, even for the time. To bring attention to these unfair working conditions, labor organizers coordinated the first Labor Day parade on Tuesday, Sept. 5, 1882.
Close to 10,000 people attended the parade, according to a New York Times article published on Sept. 6, 1882. Marchers carried signs bearing slogans like “Eight Hours for a Legal Day’s Work” and “Less Hours and More Pay.” The New York Times called the demonstration “pleasant” and “orderly,” although it noted that the parade’s organizers expected closer to 30,000 or 40,000 laborers to show up and support the march.
2. The origins of Labor Day are still disputed.
Historians often credit Peter J. McGuire, co-founder of the American Federation of Labor, as the first to propose a holiday celebrating workers. According to the modern-day American Federation of Labor, McGuire brought up the idea in an 1882 meeting of the New York Central Labor Union, saying workers should lead a parade to “publicly show the strength and esprit de corps of the trade and labor organizations.”
However, researchers from the New Jersey Historical Society suggest the true founder may have been someone else with a very similar name: Matthew Maguire, a machinist from New Jersey who led several strikes in the 1870s and by 1882 had become the secretary for the New York Central Labor Union. In an 1894 editorial about the holiday, which President Grover Cleveland had just signed into law, a New Jersey newspaper said the honor should go to Maguire, the “undisputed author of Labor Day as a holiday.”
However, some historians suggest that labor organizers may have deliberately tried to cloud Maguire’s association with Labor Day’s origins, concerned that the holiday might become associated with his “radical” politics (he was a member of the Socialist Labor Party).
3. There’s a reason Americans celebrate Labor Day over May Day.
On May 1, 1886, 35,000 workers went on strike in Chicago as part of a larger organized labor protest across the country. For the first two days, the protests and demonstrations were peaceful, but by May 3, violence broke out between laborers and police during a protest at Chicago’s McCormick Reaper Works factory, leaving several workers wounded or dead. The incident encouraged anarchist labor leaders to call for another protest the following day in Haymarket Square, where violence broke out again after police attempted to disband the crowd. At that point, an anonymous individual threw a bomb at the police, killing one officer at the scene. The police retaliated, and when all was said and done, seven officers and (at least) one civilian were killed in the chaos, and plenty more in the crowd were injured.
Following the riot, police arrested eight anarchist leaders on charges of conspiracy. Seven of the eight were convicted of murder and sentenced to death, despite the fact that six of the defendants weren’t even in Haymarket Square at the time the bomb was thrown. At the Second International Socialist Conference in 1889, members voted to celebrate May 1 as International Workers’ Day, often referred to as May Day, to commemorate the Haymarket affair. President Cleveland wanted to avoid the socialist and anarchist connotations of May Day, so when he established a holiday to celebrate America’s workers, he chose the first Monday in September, calling back to previous traditions from New York’s labor movement.
4. Oregon was the first state to make Labor Day an official holiday.
In 1887, Oregon became the first state to celebrate Labor Day as a legal holiday. In 1894, the rest of the United States followed suit when President Cleveland signed the holiday into law after political pressure created by his suppression of the Pullman Strike. Cleveland, aware he needed to appease the labor movement, pressed for nationwide recognition of the first Monday in September as Labor Day.
5. Canada’s Labor Day is also celebrated on the first Monday of September.
Prime Minister John Thompson signed Labor Day into law in 1894, the same year Cleveland declared it a national holiday in the United States. Many labor unions that held successful events in the United States, like the Knights of Labor, also had branches in Canada. Thompson was similarly motivated by mounting political pressure from labor activists, who organized several strikes to demand a nine-hour workday.
6. People once tried to make “Labor Sunday” a thing.
In 1909, the American Federation of Labor declared the Sunday before Labor Day “Labor Sunday” – an opportunity to reflect on the spiritual and educational parts of the labor movement. It never really took off among the general public, but some churches and religious organizations acknowledge the holiday during Sunday services.
7. There’s no good reason why you shouldn’t wear white after Labor Day.
You can ignore that age-old myth that you shouldn’t wear white after Labor Day—there’s nothing wrong with it, most fashion moguls say, and the “rule” has always been rather arbitrary. Instead, you should “wear what’s appropriate,” the Emily Post Institute says, “for the weather, the season, or the occasion.”
8. Labor Day is a dangerous day to be on the road. Because so many people travel during Labor Day weekend, roads tend to be much more crowded – and because of that, they’re more dangerous. According to data from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System, the United States saw an average of 308 fatal car accidents per year during Labor Day weekends from 2011 to 2015. That’s second only to the average number of fatal accidents seen during Memorial Day weekend (approximately 312 per year).
Herald
Ava Ritter
Labor Day march
The mission of the Peace River Wildlife Center is to contribute to the survival of native Florida wildlife through rescue, rehabilitation, and education.
What’s New With PRWC
During the month of July, PRWC admitted 267 animals. This brings our total intake for 2024 to 1,762. Our rehabilitation team released 26 animals back into the wild and transferred three to other wildlife facilities.
Please do not bring injured wildlife to the Ponce Park location. Injured or orphaned wildlife should be dropped off at PRWC’s wildlife hospital located at 223 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Punta Gorda, open daily from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Please call (941) 637-3830 with wildlife questions or concerns.
Our education center and gift shop at Ponce Park are open to the public for visits and tours from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., seven days a week. The education center is an outdoor facility.
Note: This time of the year it may become necessary for our facilities to close early during adverse weather events. Please call (941) 637-3830 before dropping off wildlife or planning your visit when conditions are questionable. For after-hours wildlife emergencies, please visit our website.
Babies Onboard!
This female Virginia opossum was admitted to PRWC after being hit by a car. She had suffered facial fractures, a traumatic brain injury and was bleeding from her eyes, nose and mouth. At the time of admission, she had babies in her
pouch that luckily had not been injured by the impact. She was treated for her injuries and the babies were left with her, because being with mom is always the best thing for babies.
Over the course of the next few days, mama opossum regained consciousness and her equilibrium. She started eating soft foods slowly and quickly became more active. Eventually she was placed in an outdoor habitat and began teaching her babies about the outside world. When baby opossums are tiny, they latch on to a nipple in mama’s pouch and stay there for the first weeks of their lives. As they start to grow, mom’s pouch quickly gets a little cramped, and they spend more time outside of her pouch. They will wrap their front feet around the hair on mom’s back and hold on for dear life as she meanders about her business.
Upon release, this little baby initially became separated from her. He was able to catch up, crawl up her leg, and settle in for the family’s trek to freedom!
If you find a baby opossum on its own, measuring less than seven inches from the tip of its nose to the base of its tail, it is a true orphan! Please bring it to PRWC or the closest wildlife rehabilitation center near you as soon as possible!
Red-Shouldered Hawk Release
This red-shouldered hawk was admitted to PRWC on June 7 with multiple fractures to the left radius. The wing was bandaged, and the hawk underwent cage rest and gentle physical therapy. It then graduated from its indoor caging to a slightly larger habitat and eventually to our large outdoor flight cage. The hawk was successfully released back to its home at Lettuce Lake on July 19.
PRWC can provide essential medical care to our native wildlife thanks to donors like you. Please consider giving a tax-deductible donation today.
Resident Spotlight
Meet Arby , PRWC’s resident burrowing owl.
Arby was admitted to PRWC in July 2020, after being found in the Pilot/ Arby’s drive-through in Punta Gorda. She had sustained a right midhumeral wing fracture. The wing healed well, but Arby was unable to sustain flight for any substantial length of time after recovery.
She now calls our education center home until her new habitat on Henry Street is constructed. Visit her at 3400 Ponce De Leon Pkwy. and see Arby hanging out with her screech owl roommates.
Burrowing Owl Fun Facts
* Underground Dwellers. Burrowing owls are one of the few owl species that live underground. They make their homes in abandoned burrows of other animals, which they modify to suit their needs. This unique behavior helps them stay safe from predators.
* Daytime Activity. Unlike many owls that are nocturnal, burrowing owls are often active during the day. They are known to hunt and forage for food in daylight hours, making them more visible to people who are out and about.
* Social Butterflies. These owls are quite social compared to other owl species. They live in family groups and often share their burrows with other burrowing owls, sometimes even forming small colonies. They’re known to communicate with each other using a variety of calls and signals.
* Special Adaptations. Burrowing owls have adapted to their underground lifestyle with some unique features. Their long legs help them run quickly to escape danger, and their large eyes are well-suited for both low light and bright conditions, aiding their daytime and nighttime activities.
* Variety of Vocalizations. Burrowing owls are known for their diverse range of vocalizations. They produce a variety of calls, from soft “cooing” sounds to louder, more distinctive “barking” noises that can resemble the sound of a barking dog. When threatened by a predator, burrowing owls may make a high-pitched, rapid “chattering” noise to sound alarmed and deter the intruder. They also use these vocalizations to communicate with their family group, defend their territory and attract mates. The different sounds help convey messages and coordinate activities among the owls. Burrowing owls can even mimic the sounds of rattlesnakes! When threatened by predators, these owls may produce a hissing noise that closely resembles the sound of a rattlesnake’s rattle. This mimicry can serve as a deterrent, making potential predators think twice about approaching, as they might believe they are dealing with a more dangerous adversary. This clever adaptation helps the burrowing owl avoid confrontation and stay safe in their underground homes. These quirky and adaptable birds highlight the wonder of wildlife, making them a fascinating subject for any nature enthusiast!
The Incredible Importance Of Restoring Coral
Scientists across the state are working on various solutions to rehabilitate Florida’s crucial coral reefs. Coral reefs are in dire straits worldwide and in Florida. Globally, coral reefs have been reduced by 50 percent. In Florida, home to the world’s third-largest barrier reef, which stretches about 350 miles down the east coast from the Dry Tortugas to the St. Lucie Inlet, only 2 percent of its living coral cover remains.
Reasons for coral loss include stressors such as climate change, marine heat waves like last summer’s extreme ocean temperatures, acidification of oceans, disease, overfishing, pollution, hurricanes and other factors.
Coral reefs are often called the “rainforests of the sea” due to the diversity of life found in the habitats they create, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). About 25 percent of the ocean’s fish depend on healthy coral reefs.
“We’ve been tracking a kind of degradation of coral reefs across the entire globe for the better part of a century now,” said Jason Spadaro, staff scientist and program manager for the Florida Coral Reef Restoration Program at Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium. But that degradation has been accelerating in the last few decades.
“And it’s important to note that those stresses aren’t one plus one equals two. They’re synergistic,” Spadaro said. They exacerbate the effects of one another, he explained. “So, it’s one plus one equals five.”
The result is coral bleaching events that records indicate have become more frequent and severe since the 1980s. Bleaching is the loss of corals’ symbiotic algae, which provides their color. The algae provide food for the coral. “So, if you lose all those algae, they have to either eat a lot more, or they starve,” Spadaro said.
A record-breaking heat wave in summer 2023 caused widespread bleaching of coral in the Florida Keys.
“They’re definitely the foundation of that entire ecosystem,” Spadaro said. “Without corals, you wouldn’t have the reef that supports all these other non-coral species that are important ecologically, economically and socially. Economically, corals have an estimated $8 billion value through fishing, thousands of jobs, tourism and recreation.”
The first thing to understand about coral is that it is an animal, not a plant. Spadaro said many people not familiar with coral are surprised to hear that.
They house a symbiotic alga that photosynthesizes. Then, they deposit mineral skeletons underneath them, which is the basis for coral reefs. So, “they’re animal, mineral and vegetable all in one very exciting package,” he said. Some species of corals have tiny, tentacle-like arms that they use to capture their food and sweep it into their mouths.
There are about 64 species of coral in the Caribbean and Florida. Globally, there are about 900 species, Spadaro said.
“But they’re also this canary in the coal mine,” Spadaro said. “Coral reefs don’t necessarily produce a large proportion of the oxygen that we’re breathing, but our open ocean ecosystems do. A vast majority of the oxygen that we’re breathing is produced by algae in the sea. And a healthy, open ocean ecosystem is critical to life on earth. If our coral reefs are showing this decline, that’s a sign that we need to pay attention to the health of our oceans.”
This is why scientists and researchers at several facilities throughout Florida are working hard to stem the tide of loss, including Mote Marine based in Sarasota, with eight campuses around Florida. Other sites like The Florida Aquarium, are working with the University of Miami on a project to bring coral back from Honduras to see if crossbreeding can boost the resilience of Florida coral.
Mote Marine’s approach is to:
• Promote coral sexual reproduction (spawning, fertilization and settlement).
• Grow corals from microscopic larvae to adult colonies.
• Test coral genetic varieties for resilience to stressors like climate change and disease.
• Produce more colonies through fragmenting corals asexually.
• Plant corals onto damaged reefs.
• Raise corals to maturity to start the process again.
Mote Marine’s Elizabeth Moore International Center for Coral Reef Research & Restoration on Summerland Key is cloning corals, growing corals, providing assisted sexual reproduction, trying to crossbreed for selective traits, and creating diverse genetic varieties that will be more resilient to the stresses corals are enduring. Corals are grown in land nurseries, transferred to offshore nurseries and eventually planted carefully to replace coral that has been lost.
That’s a highly abbreviated and simplified version of a process that is as fascinating as it is complex, labor-intensive, and delicate.
“Restoration is probably not the right term for what we’re doing,” Spadaro said. “It’s probably remediation or rehabilitation, because we’re not trying to put back all the corals that were there. We’re trying to put enough colonies of spawning size close enough together so that natural recovery processes take over. Not only do we have to put corals back onto the reef, but we must select for traits that are resilient to the current stresses and the ones that’ll be there 50 or 100 years down the road,” he said. “So, it’s not just a matter of taking a bunch of coral, making a bunch of pieces, and then putting them back onto the reef. We must be very careful about which corals we’re putting back, and in which different proportions and which species we’re combining with one another. The goal is building a community that can withstand the insults that they’re getting right now, the ones that we anticipate, and the ones that we can’t,” Spadaro said.
In another effort to bring diversity and resilience to coral communities, The Florida Aquarium has been working on a partnership with the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science to bring corals, particularly endangered elkhorn corals, from Honduras to the United States. “This is the first time living elkhorn coral colonies have been transported across international lines with the hope of crossbreeding them for restoration,” said Keri O’Neil, director and senior scientist at The Florida Aquarium.
The project is spearheaded by Andrew Baker, professor of marine biology and ecology and director of the Coral Reef Futures Lab at the Rosenstiel School. “We work with Dr. Baker’s lab on many different coral projects and coral spawning projects,” O’Neil said. “They really entrusted us to take half of these elkhorn corals, because they know our previous success with coral spawning work and being able to successfully raise the offspring.” The coral went through a 15-hour journey by land, sea, and air to get to Miami and the aquarium’s Coral Conservation and Research Center in Apollo Beach.
Restoring Coral on page 5
Coral spawning
Bleaching of coral reef
John Robert Wooden (Oct. 14, 1910 to June 4, 2010) was an American basketball coach and player. Nicknamed the “Wizard of Westwood,” he won 10 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) national championships in a 12-year period as head coach for the UCLA Bruins, including a record seven in a row.
Restoring Coral from page 4
Due to last summer’s heat wave, “We lost a significant amount of elkhorn coral on Florida’s coral reef,” O’Neil said. The water got up to the low 90s, and it was too high for most of them to survive. However, the elkhorn corals from Honduras live in a bay where the water temperature routinely gets to 90 degrees in the summer. “So, we hope that they are adapted to those conditions. If we breed them, they may transfer some heat tolerance genetically into the Florida population.” Since the elkhorn are not reproducing successfully in the wild, they will try to reproduce them in the lab so that they have a chance of recovery, she said. Coral only spawns once a year, on cues from the lunar cycle and the water temperature, according to NOAA. This means entire colonies of coral reefs simultaneously release their tiny eggs and sperm into the oceans (see photo). They need the Honduran and Florida corals to spawn on the same day, she said. “And then what we do is we collect their egg and sperm bundles from the aquarium, and then we do the crossing. We do basically assisted fertilization, where we’ll take the eggs from one and mix them with the sperm from another and cross them in the laboratory and raise the larvae in our lab.” However, if the Florida coral spawns before the Honduran coral or vice versa, they have a cryopreservation lab that freezes the sperm at a very low temperature, she said. “They’re actually still viable when they’re thawed and can be used to fertilize the eggs.”
There is clearly progress being made. Mote Marine scientists have restored 230,000 to 240,000 to Florida’s coral reef over the last several years, most of them since about 2016, Spadaro said. Several of the restored corals have spawned, engaging in sexual reproduction to produce new corals.
The Florida Aquarium’s Coral Conservation Program is also among the leaders in coral restoration. To date, biologists have successfully spawned 14 different species of coral at The Florida Aquarium — many of which had never reproduced in a lab before.
Spadaro has hope for the future. “It’s really easy to kind of look at all the negative and forget that this isn’t the first heat wave that they’ve gone through. This isn’t the worst stress that they’ve gone through. This is just another in a long history of insults against coral reefs. And if it’s not a heat wave, it’s a disease. If it’s not a disease, it’s overfishing or pollution or endocrine disruptors in the water.” These are all challenges that have solutions, Spadaro said. “And the biggest kind of bright spot in all of this is that Florida’s coral reef has survived all these things. It’s obviously down, but it’s not out,” he said. “This isn’t the end of coral reefs in Florida. We get up every day and we come in and we have faith. We don’t even need to have faith. We have science that shows us that, yes, we can do this. This is a solvable problem.”
Blue whale tongues can weigh as much as an elephant! Their hearts, meanwhile, can weigh almost a ton and need to beat just once every 10 seconds.
September Events
Sullivan Street Craft Fair
Date: Sept. 14 to Sept. 15
Time: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., both days
Recurring Activities
Trivia Night At Coastal Expressions & Wine
Every Thursday, 6 to 8 p.m.
1133 Bal Harbor, Suite 1135, Punta Gorda
Contact information: Lori Sandage at (941) 214-8599 or at loriscoastal-expressions.com
Dance Fusion Class
Every Tuesday and Friday 8:30 to 9:30 a.m.
Punta Gorda Isles Civic Association, 2001 Shreve St., Punta Gorda or by Zoom
Contact information: Carla Peralta, (941) 276-1887 or at carlap@hotmail.com.
Wine-O Bingo At Coastal Expressions & Wine
Every Friday, 6 to 8 p.m.
1133 Bal Harbor, Suite 1135, Punta Gorda
Contact information: Lori Sandage at (941) 214-8599 or at loriscoastal-expressions.com
Live Music At Fishermen’s Village
Every Friday and Saturday, 5 to 9 p.m.
1200 W. Retta Esplanade, Punta Gorda
Contact information at kathyb@fishville.com
Punta Gorda Farmers’ Market
Every Saturday, 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. Downtown corner of Taylor and Olympia History Park Sunday Market Every Sunday 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
History Park, 501 Shreve St., Punta Gorda Email: 118pghs@gmail.com
Website: http://www.puntagordachamber.com
Event Description: Artisans from around the country will exhibit their wares at this annual art extravaganza the length of Sullivan Street.
Location: Downtown Punta Gorda
Key Lime/Tropical Fest
Date: Sept. 21
Time: 12 to 8 p.m.
Website: http://www. fishermensvillage.com
Event Description: Annual Key Lime/Tropical Fest featuring specialty vendors, music, dance, shopping and dining!
Location: Fishermen’s Village, Punta Gorda
Contact Information: Email Kathy at kburnam@ fishersmensvillage.com.
Fees/Admission: Free parking ~ free admission
Country For A Cause
Date: Sept. 28
Time: 6 to 10 p.m.
Website: https://volunteercare.org/country-for-a-cause-2024/
Event Description: Once again, Virginia B. Andes Volunteer Community Clinic is hosting Country for a Cause. This is a party and a charitable donation all rolled into one. Not only
do you get a night of toe-tapping music, libations, and a delectable spread of food, but you will be supporting a great cause! So, what are you waiting for? Grab those cowboy boots, practice your best “yeehaw,” and get ready to make a difference in the most fun way possible. The Eric Barton Band will be our entertainment for the evening.
Location: Sunseeker Resort, 5500 Sunseeker Way, Charlotte Harbor, FL 33980
Contact Information: Email Barbara at bwastart@ volunteercare.org or call (941) 368-8863.
Fees/Admission: $150 per person ~ Sponsorships are available ~ Ticket fee will increase Sept. 16.
Available special “Hit the Hay” includes Country for a Cause tickets with a one-night stay at Sunseeker Resort. Visit our website for more information and to purchase your tickets today!
Beware Of Alligators!
Inhabitants of Burnt Store Lakes and nearby areas have encountered alligators from time to time.
If you cross paths with an alligator that … a. is in a place considered unacceptable, such as a swimming pool, lanai, garage, etc., b. you consider a threat to people, pets, or property, c. approaches people, or d. doesn’t retreat if approached, … please call the BSL POA office at (941) 639-5881. Do not feed or harass it. Doing so is dangerous and illegal.
Visit the Burnt Store Lakes Property Owners Association website for more information.
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Caught On Camera
Good Neighbor Program
Let us know if you would like to be connected with a neighbor. Neighborhood Watch is accepting resident profiles as a community service for those who may need assistance from time to time, particularly in the event of a severe storm or hurricane. To obtain a copy of the profile and/or to obtain additional information, contact Louise Barrett at (508) 728-8002 or at lbarrett10@comcast.net. The BSL website (bslpoa.org) also has the profile forms and information available.
Furthermore, you can register online at the State of Florida Special Needs registry for “special needs” status if you have a physical, mental, or sensory disability and require assistance during an emergency. Charlotte County Emergency Management, along with the Florida Department of Health in Charlotte County, will strive to provide special needs sheltering and/or transportation to a general shelter.
There must be some grubs, worms, ants, or termites in all this long grass! Photo by BSL resident Curt Johnson
Awww... a perfect spot for a nap! Photo by Edie Johnson
The armadillo must be a new “resident”! He was seen again in the park. Photo by Edie Johnson
