E A ST COUNTY
Observer Lakewood Ranch’s weekly newspaper since 1998
Let the social season begin. INSIDE
YOU. YOUR NEIGHBORS. YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD.
VOLUME 17, NO. 48
YOUR TOWN
FREE
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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2015
LAKE MANATEE’S DAM: 50 YEARS LATER PAGE 3A
Pam Eubanks photo
Sixty years of wedded bliss
Soaring to new heights
East County engineer Rick Schappacher helped his parents celebrate 60 years of marriage in style. Schappacher and his seven siblings helped throw a ’50s-themed party for their parents, Roy and Jean Schappacher. Siblings traveled from Ohio and Alabama to attend the recent gathering. “My parents were completely surprised,” Schappacher said. “They didn’t have a clue.”
JESSICA SALMOND
I
STAFF WRITER
t was 1941 and 8-year-old Hank Lackey was chopping down weeds on his grandpa’s 40-acre field. The Illinois summer was hot, and the sweat beaded on his skin. Lackey didn’t like that kind of work, and in those moments, he wondered if he would be a weed-picker his whole life. The Bridgewater resident remembered, though, back to one particular moment when an unusual sound distracted him.
Kids care
Gilbert W. McNeal Elementary School is learning how to pay it forward. Principal Cheryl McGrew suggested everyone read “Ordinary Mary’s Extraordinary Deeds,” a book that teaches kids the idea of repaying kindness with kindness. Ashlie Fulmer, a fourthgrade teacher, had the idea to start a caring quilt. She wanted students to use their words to better understand the concept. The quilt has been up for a week, and students and teachers are adding notes to it that acknowledge nice things others have done for them. The teachers have a Sunshine Committee that works to improve school culture and morale. So teachers started saying nice things about each other and performing random acts of kindness, such as leaving thank you notes, after the whole school read the book. “This is a nice way to share kindness without spending money at all,” Fulmer said. “Spreading kindness is just as important.”
SEE LACKEY PAGE 8A
Photo by Jessica Salmond
THE MAIN EVENT A crowd of more than 2,000 people attended the 10th anniversary gathering for Lakewood Ranch Main Street and the Business Alliance. SEE PAGE 19A
Photo by Jessica Salmond
Cindy Gordon and Gloria Schroeck, members of the Avian Club, talk with Chewy, a female Blue Crown Conure.