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AN OBSERVER NEWSPAPER
FREE • Thursday, NOVEMBER 8, 2012
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2012 SieSta Key CryStal ClaSSiC
Nov. 8 through Nov. 12 SieSta beaCh
Look inside to see the news you missed this summer on the Key. PAGES 10-16A
OUR TOWN + Hats off to vets Honor U.S. military veterans at a Veterans Day parade, which takes place at 10 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 11, at the intersection of Main Street and U.S. 301, in downtown Sarasota. The parade proceeds west on Main Street to Gulfstream Avenue, and a one-hour program will follow at J.D. Hamel Park to honor veterans killed in action.
EVENT GUIDE
THECRYSTALCLASSIC.ORG
SPECIAL
DIVERSIONS
Look inside for our guide to the Siesta Key Crystal Classic.
Ulla Searing’s life was shaded with many colorful stories. INSIDE
sand success by Alex Mahadevan | News Editor
Champions unite for Crystal Classic Karen Fralich and Sue McGrew will sculpt together at the event for the first time in almost two years.
+ Your chariot awaits Sarasota Bay Club staff competed in a pumpkin-decorating contest Wednesday, Oct. 31, to get in the Halloween spirit, and the finished products were on display at its cocktail event. To encourage creativity, contestants were not allowed to carve the pumpkins. Placing first in overall creativity, this pumpkin, decorated by Arts and Leisure staffers, sat ready to escort guests to their respective Prince Charmings.
Sand sculptors begin crafting the sponsor scroll for the Siesta key Crystal Classic Master Sand Sculpting Competition. Onlookers watched — and at times dodged — bulldozers and backhoes moving hundreds of tons of sand into piles Nov. 5, on Siesta Key Beach. Shirtless sand sculptors carve niches into a hardening wall of the soft sand, and fire hoses blast the piles with water. It’s less than one week until the Siesta Key Crystal Classic Mas-
ter Sand Sculpting Competition, and the sponsor display is taking shape southeast of the beach pavilion. There will be three days of festivities, including the master sand-sculpting competition, amateur sculpting contest and quick-sculpting event, at the third annual event, which is shaping up to be the biggest so far. Organizers sold out of spots
shoreline threatened
for the vendor village, which will be made up of food and retail booths, a month ago, said Crystal Classic Steering Committee member Lourdes Ramirez. Twenty-two sculptors competed in the inaugural event in 2010, and 24 participated the following year. Twenty-four sculptors from as far away as Singapore are scheduled to dig, pack and carve
Alex Mahadevan
this year, including 2010 winner Sue McGrew and last year’s champ, Karen Fralich. “I love contests, I adore them; to me it’s like cotton candy — I just can’t wait for the next one,” Fralich said. The pair last worked together at the North American Sand Sculpt-
SEE CRYSTAL CLASSIC / 2A
by Alex Mahadevan | News Editor
Sarasota County authorizes Beach Road repair Although a temporary fix is in the works, a long-term solution could cost upward of $2 million and take two years to complete. + In the hot seat Visitors at the Sunday, Nov. 4 SECA Car Show, on Hillview Street, stopped to admire this washroom on wheels. Tis go-kart features all the luxuries of a restroom, including hardwood floors, on a mobile fourwheel frame.
Sarasota County will spend as much as $250,000 to retrofit the north end of Beach Road for vehicle access, but it may not be the only time spending will be required.
County Administrator Randall Reid approved an emergency procurement request for funding Nov. 5, for Frederick Derr & Co. to repair the portion of roadway that collapsed one week earlier.
As of Nov. 7, the contractor chosen for the repair is waiting for the go-ahead from county staff. Staff recommended a designbuild approach for the longterm fix, which means the county would hire one contractor to complete the design and construction of a mitigation solution for Beach Road erosion, after looking at quotes from various
firms. That would cost about $2 million depending on permitting requirements from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and the possibility of underground utility lines, according to a Nov. 2 memo from County Engineer Jim Harriott. But, county commissioners as-
SEE BEACH ROAD / 2A
INDEX Briefs....................4A Classifieds ........ 15B
Cops Corner..........9A Crossword.......... 14B
Opinion .............. 8A Real Estate........ 12B
Sports................ 17A Weather............. 14B
Vol. 43, No. 15 | Four sections YourObserver.com