bserver O
EAST COUNTY
You. Your neighbors. Your neighborhood.
SPORTS
IN FOCUS
Chili cook-off spices up LWR Main Street.
+ Farmers market adds offerings The weekly Farmers Market at San Marco Plaza has added new vendors and is now offering free-range chicken and grass-fed beef, lamb and pork. The market, open Fridays from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., also offers fresh produce, breads, candles, novelty crafts and more.
+ SMART to hold tack sale In keeping with the Black Friday spirit, SarasotaManatee Association for Riding Therapy, or SMART, will host a tack sale from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Nov. 23, at Tractor Supply Co., 4404 E. State Road 64, Bradenton. Horse and tack equipment, including saddles and bridles for both English and Western riders, will be available. Proceeds will benefit SMART’s programs and rider scholarships.
NEWS
Sandies Awards Skaters ready for holiday show honor local at Ellenton rink. entreprenuers.
PAGE 1B
OUR TOWN
free • Thursday, november 22, 2012
PAGE 3A
PAGE 15A
update by Pam Eubanks | Managing Editor
Closing date set for new Ranch maintenance facility With county approvals in hand, Lakewood Ranch CDD 2 is ready to close on land and financing for a new maintenance facility. LAKEWOOD RANCH — Progress on Lakewood Ranch Town Hall’s new maintenance facility is finally getting traction. Supervisors on Lakewood Ranch Community Develop-
ment District 2 learned Nov. 15 that Manatee County officials had signed off on site plans for a maintenance facility, which is slated to be built on 59th Avenue East, near Risen Savior Lutheran
Church, off Lorraine Road. The board now can move forward with purchasing the land from Lakewood Ranch developer-Schroeder-Manatee Ranch, a deal that is scheduled to go
helping for the holidays
through sometime this week. Financing for the project also is supposed to be finalized by the end of the month. Officials have secured a 12-year, tax-exempt, bank-qualified loan for the more than $2.4 million project. Although CDD 2 is financ-
SEE CDD / PAGE 8A
by Pam Eubanks | Managing Editor
+ Hayes, McClash celebrate retirement After years of public service, Manatee County Commissioners Donna Hayes and Joe McClash are celebrating their retirements. The longtime commissioners and their friends and supporters gathered for a retirement party Nov. 13 at the Crosley Museum in Sarasota. Hayes had served on the commission as the District 5 commissioner, who oversees the majority of the East County territory, since 2004. McClash, an at-large commissioner, has served on the board since 1990.
+ Saturday is Small Business Saturday East County residents can support their friends and neighbors this weekend by shopping locally. Nov. 24 is Small Business Saturday. The nationwide campaign encourages people to buy from small businesses owned by members of their own community.
Pam Eubanks
Lakewood Ranch residents Dick Moran, Don O’Leary and Richard Lozier hope to collect 5,000 pounds of food and $10,000 in monetary donations for The Food Bank of Manatee, during a collection drive that starts this week and runs through December.
Giving Thanks, Giving Back Three Lakewood Ranch men hope this year’s food drive will be the most successful one yet. LAKEWOOD RANCH — It’s not the first time Lakewood Ranch residents Don O’Leary, Richard Lozier and Dick Moran have spent their weekends shuffling in and out of a car, toting heavy
bags and trying to cram as many cans of food as possible into their vehicle. But you won’t hear the Edgewater residents complaining. The men couldn’t be more eager to
help stock the shelves of the Food Bank of Manatee, by hosting a food drive throughout the Lakewood Ranch community. “It reminds you of what you have, relative to what other people don’t have,” Lozier said of the food drive.
SEE GIVING / PAGE 8A
INDEX Business............ 13A Calendar............ 14A
Classifieds ........ 17B Cops Corner....... 14A
Crossword.......... 16B Real Estate........ 14B
Sports................ 15A Weather............. 16B
Vol. 13, No. 45 | Two sections YourObserver.com