Matt Baar (pictured above with Thomas Pressley) took a dream vacation to Hawaii when he was 14 years old. He had cancer, so it was provided by the Children’s Dream Fund. At 27, he just raised enough money to send four Manatee County kids on vacations of their own. He hosted the first annual Turkey Toss, a cornhole competition, at his Myakka City home Nov. 22.
“Coming from someone who went through the experience of having cancer and getting to take a trip with my family without worrying about finances or planning, it was such an awesome day,” Baar said. “Getting to provide the same for other kids is more meaningful than I can describe.”
5, Eibel attended Music on Main with lights lit up on her hat and around her neck. She said she has a special holiday shirt to wear in December. A few days prior, she wore an elf shirt, which brightened a young boy’s day. “Life is too short not to be happy,” Eibel said. “You can make adults and children smile. That’s what life is all about.”
The second Lakewood Ranch Blues Fest offered seven bands in all-day event at the park. SEE PAGE 1B
Courtesy image
Madison Bierl
New career center makes its debut at Lakewood Ranch High
Set up by 12 of Lakewood Ranch’s ‘brightest of the brightest’ students, the center can help students explore their career choices.
MADISON BIERL STAFF WRITER
Lakewood Ranch High freshman Landon Dees was in the school’s media center Nov. 5 when he was called to the new Lakewood Ranch College and Career Center by Vito Bavaro, the college and career advisor at the school.
Dees doesn’t know what path he wants to pursue after high school, but said the career center, which has various resources such as pamphlets, books and scholarship opportunities, is a great resource for students like him.
He said the center can educate students about how to use their skills and talents in places they might not have expected.
“Lots of kids’ lives have been what others want of them,” Dees said. “It’s hard for someone to realize what they truly want and not what others want for them. With a program like this, kids can choose a college they desire to focus on their career choice and their path of life.”
The grand opening for the new career center was on Nov. 5. The high school’s band played followed by a ribbon cutting. Bavaro said there was a similar career center years ago in another area of the high school, but it didn’t get much traffic. He thought the library would be a better space for it.
Bavaro said Lakewood Ranch High is heavily based on college preparation, but he is proud that the center caters to every student in the school, no matter their career direction. It doesn’t matter if they plan to go to college, trade school, the military or directly into the workforce. There is something for everyone.
The center was a collaboration between Bavaro and the media specialist Audrey Dombroski. It is to help students with colleges and
careers, but also to help bring students to the library.
“It is a struggle to get high school kids into libraries,” Dombroski said. “It’s not that they’re disinterested, I think they have just such small windows of opportunity.”
Dombroski said she was more than eager to use what Bavaro called “dead space” in the library.
“I wanted it to be open and inviting,” Bavaro said.
Bavaro has a group of 12 students, he described as the “brightest of the brightest” who assist in projects such as the college and career fairs.
Seniors Gavin Moore, Abigail Frint and Ryan Johnson were among the group and each had a hand in setting up what is referred to as the “career corner.”
Gavin Moore, a senior who wants to pursue computer science, said the center is important because it shows the potential of what students can pursue later in life.
“That’s what high school is supposed to be,” Moore said. “It’s supposed to be a stepping stone for your career in college. This helps ease the transition for many that would otherwise not know where to go.”
Frint wants to study kinesiology to become an athletic trainer or physical therapist. She said students do often overlook the importance of utilizing resources such as guidance counselors and career advisors, but hopes the career corner will help reopen that door.
Frint also emphasized the importance of going after scholarships, especially local ones, which are posted on the bulletin board. She said students often go for the bigger ones worth more money, but overlook smaller amounts that can add up.
She said $1,000 here and there really does make a big impact, especially toward essentials for education like textbooks, dining and housing.
Frint said the path isn’t always going to be linear, especially for students in high school moving onto the next step.
“For people whose path keeps changing, just acknowledging that it’s not the same pace or the same path for everybody is important,” Frint said. “To find what you want
In a collaborative effort with Audrey Dombroski, who works as the media specialist and Vito Bavaro, the college and career advisor, “dead space” in the library is now being utilized to attract students to the library and explore options for their future.
to do, you should try to find something that you love and you’re passionate about to enjoy in the future.”
“I think showing that education doesn’t end in high school is the best thing to do for our students,” Dombroski said. “There’s more to get and more to see.”
Seniors Gavin Moore, Abigail Frint and Ryan Johnson were among 12 students at Lakewood Ranch High School to set up and spread the word about the opportunities available at the new College and Career Center.
Photos by Madison Bierl
Millage review process a top Manatee priority
Finding a way to cut taxes is a top priority in Manatee, but finishing improvements on Lorraine Road is not.
LESLEY DWYER STAFF WRITER
With seven strong personalities comprising the Manatee County Board of County Commissioners, the county’s staff members can sometimes be pulled in seven different directions.
So commissioners met for a work session Dec. 3 at the Bradenton Area Convention Center to discuss a strategic plan that will better guide staff members as to the entire board’s priorities, versus individual commissioner priorities.
District 5 Commissioner Bob McCann has made it clear that his No. 1 priority is to finish widening and improving Lorraine Road, but only one other commissioner placed a gold star next to Lorraine Road, so it is not a board priority.
When asked individually, commissioners came up with 79 different priorities, which were then categorized by staff and placed on poster boards. Commissioners were given 10 gold stars to place beside the items they felt were of the highest priority.
After the gold stars were tallied, U.S. 41 was prioritized over Lorraine Road.
“I put a star on advancing Vision 41 (improvements along U.S. 41 from Cortez Road to the Sarasota County line) because it’s the only one that’s financially feasible on that priority list,” Commission Chair George Kruse said. “The rest of it is just a pipe dream. It’s super expensive to build roads right now.”
The discussion of Lorraine Road ended up shifting to a bigger conversation about transportation.
Kruse wants to keep the focus on finishing the trail system and smaller projects, such as intersection improvements.
McCann countered that he can’t drive his car on a trail, and Commissioner Jason Bearden said that he doesn’t want to drive his kids to school in a golf cart. In the end, the only major priority all seven commissioners could agree on under the category of “Infrastructure, Mobility and Transportation” was that the permitting process needs to be reformed and streamlined using new technologies.
However, there were two issues that all seven members of the board agreed should be placed at the top of the priority list — change the way the millage is reviewed each year and attract “targeted agricultural and agritourism businesses” to Manatee County, which despite its growth still consists of two-thirds agricultural land.
Director of Government Relations
Stephanie Garrison led the meeting. She said the strategic plan, when finalized, will improve transparency for the public and allow commissioners to hold staff members more accountable because every action will tie into a set goal.
In addition, every goal and every action will be tracked within a software system so staff members can provide regular updates to commissioners and residents.
Now that commissioners have weighed in, staff members will return Dec. 16 with a final draft for the board’s approval. At that time, a website will also be launched so the public can see the plan for themselves.
TAX CUTS
Kruse described how millage is reviewed currently by the commission, “We wait until September (when the budget is being finalized), and then we throw out a random millage cut and there’s no rhyme or reason.”
He equated the minimal cuts from past years to “trimming one olive off every salad” and said the cuts are never tied to anything.
Kruse used the recent change in garbage collection as an example of the government making assumptions.
“I voted to keep (trash collection) twice a month and have everyone pay more, and I was told that any dollar in the pocket is a good dollar to save,” he said. “We cut a day off trash, and people are starting to regret that decision.”
Kruse suggested following Wakulla County’s process. The county holds a series of town hall meetings where they lay out the budget and let people see how much each department spends and on what.
Essentially, the public is given gold stars to stick on boards and make their own decisions as to what services should be prioritized. Then, the staff lays out those priorities from highest to lowest.
Cutting the low priority items can provide a dollar amount going into the budget session.
Commissioner Tal Siddique also requested to see the utilization rate of county services, and Bearden wants the balance between workforce allocation and service delivery defined.
“What we don’t want are our service levels dropping,” Bearden said.
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
While commissioners voted 4-3 to not renew the county’s contract with the Bradenton Area Economic Development Corp. in September, they did agree that economic development and job creation rate are at the top of their priority list as a board.
While disagreement remained as to which entity — the county or the EDC — should take on the responsibility, the board agreed that they want to attract more agricultural businesses to Manatee County.
“(Economic development) needs to be focused,” Kruse said. “There’s a lot of great things people in Manatee County are doing that could cre-
SENATE BILL 180
There was one more item commissioners agreed on during the Dec. 3 work session — Manatee County’s comprehensive plan needs to be updated despite Senate Bill 180, which prevents local governments from amending anything within their comprehensive plans or land development codes that could be considered “more restrictive or burdensome” on development.
“Don’t tell me what we can’t do,” Commissioner Carol Felts said. “Let’s start looking at all the things that we can do, because once this nightmare is over with, we’ll have all those little things taken care of when we’re out of this situation.”
Commission Chair George Kruse called the current land development code “stale.”
Instead of making the codes “more burdensome” where commissioners don’t want more growth, the alternative is to use “an invisible hand” to encourage growth where commissioners do want it.
“If we made it economical and smart for people to build any place we want — the infill locations, the corridor places, the Vision 41 places, they won’t keep building further and further out east because it’s more profitable to build where we want them to build,” Kruse said.
ate permanent green space, create a thriving ecosystem out in the rural areas, and discourage the growth out there.”
Commissioner Carol Felts emphasized the need to “take advantage of the skills and talents that we have innately existing here.”
She focused on farming, but also scientific industries that are focused on water quality.
“Then, we’re bringing in businesses into rural areas that fit with the culture and help to preserve that culture long term,” Commissioner Amanda Ballard said.
BOARD PRIORITIES
The 79 priorities named by Manatee County commissioners were nested under seven main themes and 36 headings. This is the whittled down list that all seven commissioners agreed should be prioritized.
GROWTH
MANAGEMENT, LAND USE AND DEVELOPMENT POLICY
■ Code modernization and simplification
■ Move forward with comprehensive plan and land development code changes that can be enacted despite Senate Bill 180
■ Regulatory flexibility and removal of barriers, such as minimum lot sizes and parking ratios
INFRASTRUCTURE, MOBILITY AND TRANSPORTATION
■ Permitting reform to streamline permitting and use new technologies to process infrastructurerelated applications
HOUSING, HOMELESSNESS AND COMMUNITY
WELLBEING
■ Homelessness and shelter operations with a focus on Fresh Start
Manatee
■ Animal welfare improvements with a focus on Bishop Animal Shelter
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND JOB CREATION
■ Industry attraction and agritourism
■ Economic development strategy
GOVERNMENT
EFFICIENCY, TRANSPARENCY AND FISCAL STEWARDSHIP
■ Seek opportunities for real millage relief
PUBLIC SAFETY, QUALITY OF LIFE AND ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
■ Stormwater and flooding mitigation
■ Protect natural areas, wildlife habitats and green spaces
■ Public safety and community services
VETERANS AND HUMAN SERVICES
■ Complete the development and launch of the Valor Commons (the veterans connections hub)
Commissioners George Kruse, Mike Rahn and Tal Siddique choose their top priorities for Manatee County
Courtesy images
Director of Government Relations Stephanie Garrison leads the work session Dec. 3.
Commissioner Bob McCann wants Lorraine Road prioritized, but the board as a whole would have to support the improvement project.
Manatee announces leadership positions
Manatee County has announced its leadership positions for 2026.
District 3 Commissioner Tal Siddique was selected by his fellow commissioners to serve as the Board of County Commissioners chair.
“It’s a tough job, but I’m up to the task,” said Siddique in a Manatee County news release. “The job of the chair, to me, is about running an efficient meeting and representing the will of the board wherever we possibly can.”
District 2 Commissioner Amanda Ballard has been selected to be first vice chair of the board, while AtLarge Commissioner George Kruse will serve as second vice chair, and District 1 Commissioner Carol Ann Felts will serve as third vice chair.
District 4 Commissioner Mike Rahn will once again serve as chairman of the Manatee County Port Authority. Felts will be the vice chair, and the second vice chair will be AtLarge Commissioner Jason Bearden. Ballard will serve as the Tourist Development Council chair while Felts will be the Board’s alternate representative on the TDC.
Manatee Clerk warns of scams
Angel Colonneso, Manatee clerk of the Circuit Court and comptroller, has alerted county residents about a new version of the recurring jury duty scam and an unpaid parking ticket scam.
A county release said Colonneso received a report from a Manatee County resident who said scammers were posing as law enforcement agents and have been calling with the claim the residents have ignored a jury summons. The scam is slightly different than a previous con in which the person calling claimed the victim missed jury duty. Both include the threat of arrest and demands for immediate payment via gift cards or other untraceable methods.
“We want to make sure our residents know this is a scam,” Colonneso said. “No one will call you threat-
ening arrest or demanding payment for missed jury duty. If you receive this type of call, hang up.”
Legitimate jury summons are delivered in the U.S. mail and no signature is required upon delivery. Residents who receive suspicious calls should hang up immediately. Questions about legitimate jury service can be directed to the Clerk and Comptroller’s Jury Coordinator at 749-1800.
The other scam involves the caller claiming to be from the Department of Motor Vehicles. The caller says the potential victim has outstanding traffic fines and must make an immediate payment to avoid suspension of driving privileges and potential prosecution.
“This isn’t the first time we’ve seen this scam — it appeared back in May with the exact same messaging,” Colonneso said. “We will never demand payment via text message. My office will notify you by mail using official letterhead regarding unpaid traffic citations.
”If you receive one of these messages, don’t click the link; just delete it.”
Children’s Services Advisory Board positions open
Two seats are available on Manatee County’s Children’s Services Advisory Board, which makes recommendations to the Board of County Commissioners about priorities and expenditures of the county’s dedicated millage for children’s services. The openings are for a child advocate and a physician. Only Manatee County residents are eligible.
The board meets once a month. The next meeting is Jan. 21 at 3 p.m. Those interested must fill out an application by Dec. 29. For information about the process or to get an application, call 748-4501, Ext. 3485 or email Kristi.Hagen@MyManatee. org.
New EMS station delayed, not denied yet
Manatee County commissioners are not in favor of a site that borders Lake Manatee and Lake Manatee State Park.
LESLEY DWYER STAFF WRITER
Manatee County commissioners have delayed an application for a proposed 4,740-square-foot EMS station at 1505 Dam Road, near Lake Manatee.
As the board clearly was leaning toward denial at the land use meeting Dec. 4, Commission Chair George Kruse offered the option of deferring the item, and Deputy County Administrator Bryan Parnell accepted the offer.
The current 1,196-squarefoot EMS station sits on the same 10-acre site where the new station was proposed to occupy, along with the Quattlebaum House, a 6,342-square-foot former home that is now occupied by the county’s Natural Resources department.
The EMS station served as a guest house before Manatee County bought the property in 1980. EMS has occupied the guest house since 1982.
The site borders Lake Manatee and Lake Manatee State Park. The land’s zoning is a mix of agriculture and conservation.
The EMS station sits within the conservation area, but it was built in the 1970s, and the land wasn’t rezoned to conservation until 1991.
Manatee County’s staff members requested the entire site be rezoned to Planned Development Public Interest, so a new station could be built behind the Quattlebaum House, closer to Lake Manatee.
Kruse noted that commissioners and staff were all on the same page in that another EMS station needs to be built in the area, but some commissioners questioned whether that particular location — on conservation land and abutting Lake Manatee — is a good fit.
“I’m not going to get accused of allowing the government to do things that I don’t otherwise allow
the private sector to do,” Kruse said of the proposed rezone.
THE DIFFERENCE OF THREE MINUTES
There are several reasons why the Lake Manatee EMS station needs to be replaced.
For residents in that area, it comes down to response times.
EMS response times average just over eight minutes, but the response time from the Lake Manatee station is nearly 11 minutes because one ambulance is not enough to service an area so far away from a hospital.
Lakewood Ranch Medical Center is 12 miles away from the station, and Manatee Memorial Hospital is 14 miles away.
A trip to the hospital takes the Lake Manatee ambulance out of service for more than an hour, so the next closest ambulance has to respond to any other calls for assistance during that time.
What difference does three minutes make?
“Hold your breath for three minutes,” said James Crutchfield, the deputy director of Public Safety.
“Someone who’s having a stroke, that can mean the difference between sucking through a straw for the rest of your life or being able to walk.”
The need for improved service in the area was acknowledged by the last board when it approved the purchase of a second ambulance and the construction of a larger station, but the location wasn’t determined.
Crutchfield said ambulances take about three years to build, and the one on order is half way through the process.
Property Management decided on the location off Dam Road because it’s county-owned land that can save on costs.
Sydney Seymore, the project manager, said that the department looked into tearing down the Quattlebaum House to build the station in
APPROVED
While the current board of county commissioners didn’t approve the location at 1505 Dam Road for a new Lake Manatee EMS station, additional EMS staff members and an ambulance are approved and funded within Manatee County’s capital improvement plan.
The 2026-2030 CIP allocates $3,636,016 to the station and $688,986 to the ambulance and staff. The station will include a dormitory, kitchen, ambulance bay, office and space for equipment storage. When built, the station will house six to nine EMS employees.
its place, but “based upon sizes and setbacks, it wasn’t feasible.”
For EMS staff, the Lake Manatee station needs to be replaced because the building is “inadequate.”
Crutchfield said the inside quarters are cramped, and there’s not even a bay to store the ambulance.
In December 2023, Manatee County purchased six new ambulances for $2,450,178. That comes out to over $400,000 each. Nearly $700,000 is earmarked for the Lake Manatee ambulance, plus its required staff, in the county’s capital improvement plan.
Modern-day ambulances are stored in drive-thru bays that keep them powered and dry. Equipment, such as medicine coolers, require the ambulances to be connected to power when parked.
The ambulance at Lake Manatee sits out in the rain. There’s no room for the second ambulance because the building doesn’t have extra space to house a second crew.
BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD
Lake Manatee falls in Commissioner Carol Felts’ district. She told the staff to go back to the drawing board.
In the meantime, EMS might have
to look for help from East Manatee Fire Rescue.
While commissioners questioned if sharing space could be a permanent solution, Crutchfield said it would only be a stopgap.
Fire Station 3 on Rye Road has provided temporary shelter to Lake Manatee EMS in the past when the station has encountered electric and plumbing problems.
“East Manatee Fire Rescue has been great,” EMS Chief Sean Dwyer said.
“They’ve always opened their doors for us, but it’s not a long term
solution without an expansion of that building.”
That station has an engine and a brush truck to store, plus its own crew. It can’t permanently accommodate two ambulances and two more crews.
Crutchfield also noted that any sort of long term need for space comes with a cost. The county would have to negotiate a lease agreement with the fire district.
So now it’s up to Property Management to either adjust its plan for the Dam Road property or find a new location.
This map shows the current EMS station, along with the proposed location for a new station that commissioners did not support.
Lesley Dwyer
The Lake Manatee EMS station is due for a replacement. EMS moved into the space in 1982.
Commissioners reject more commercial development on S.R. 64
The proposed site is located next to Neal Communities’ Palm Grove development.
LESLEY
hile 4-3 votes have become commonplace during Manatee County Commission meetings, commissioners Bob McCann, Carol Felts and Jason Bearden are usually on the losing side of the vote.
Commissioner Amanda Ballard reversed the tide at the Dec. 4 land use meeting by voting with McCann, Felts and Bearden to deny a commercial development on the north side of State Road 64 across from Uihlein road.
The applicants, Albatros 64 Partners and Casto Net Lease Properties, asked to rezone 15 acres of a 37-acre property from agricultural to planned development commercial.
The plan was to build out a maximum of 195,000 square feet of commercial space, which would have included a grocery store up to 30,000 square feet and a self storage facility up to 120,000 square feet.
As the district’s commissioner, Felts gave an impassioned speech asking the board to trust her word that the area’s stormwater system cannot handle one more development.
She also accused builders of worsening the situation.
“We’ve been going through this for the last five years,” she said. “(Builders) bring a pump in. They pump the water off their property into somebody else’s, and then as soon as it’s reported, they pick up the pump and they move it someplace else.”
Felts said instead of looking to data, people should trust what they see with their eyes. She contends that since development began between Zipperer Road and Lake Manatee State Park, the ditches are filled with water even during droughts.
East County resident Julie Spicer questioned how the development
LEVELS OF SERVICE
The
A:
B:
C: Stable operations
D: Unstable operations
E: Extremely unstable operations
F: Breakdown
could contain its water without a retention pond. She’s concerned that the development will worsen flooding on her property when the site is dewatered because it will be
pumping and channeling the water through a manmade ditch that runs behind her home.
“It floods out there if you spit in the street,” McCann said. “We’re not taking care of our watersheds. Our storm drainage is terrible.”
He said the county is at a crossroads and needs to stop the urban sprawl to allow the utilities, street and stormwater infrastructure to catch up.
The condition of State Road 64 was another hurdle the applicants couldn’t get past.
The traffic study showed that while State Road 64 currently operates at a B service level, once all the approved development in the area is built out, that level of service will drop to an F.
Yuri Bykau, the traffic consultant for applicants, said if the proposed commercial project was built today, State Road 64 would still operate at an acceptable level of service (by Florida Department of Transporta-
tion standards), although it would drop from a B to a C.
Bykau also noted that the roundabout at State Road 64 and Uihlein Road is anticipated to be completed in March 2026, which would have served as one of the main ingress and egress points.
“By providing neighborhood commercial uses in closer proximity to the surrounding area, which is predominantly residential, that reduces the vehicle miles traveled on the surrounding roadway network,” he said.
“Those folks, who are going to be living at (Palm Grove), they can take a short walk or drive their golf carts and go to this site without having to travel on State Road 64 to get their commercial goods and services.”
However, a Publix already is slated for the southwest corner of State Road 64 and Uihlein Road. The size was limited to a 30,000-squarefoot grocery store in the proposal in anticipation of a specialty grocery store occupying the space.
Commission Chair George Kruse argued the closest Publix to Palm Grove and Star Farms right now is the Publix on State Road 64 and White
“By providing neighborhood commercial uses in closer proximity to the surrounding area, which is predominantly residential, that reduces the vehicle miles traveled on the surrounding roadway network.”
Yuri Bykau
Eagle Boulevard, and the closest restaurant is the nearby Panda Express at the same location.
“You claimed (State Road 64) is a death trap, but now you want them to drive on it to get to the retail and shopping that they need,” he said.
“If I can capture traffic, then I can help that F road. I can help that over congestion by keeping people where they should be.”
With only Kruse and commissioners Mike Rahn and Tal Siddique in favor of approval, the project was denied.
Lesley Dwyer
Commissioner Carol Felts makes the motion to deny the commercial project.
Kitty City built at Nate’s Honor with $250,000 donation from a volunteer.
NEW CITY FOR KITTIES
Martha McKlveen, a longtime Nate’s Honor Animal Rescue Center volunteer, has a big heart for cats, especially the ones who have health or behavioral issues that might keep them from being adopted.
An example is Mulan, who now is McKlveen’s oldest cat at 10. Mulan had just given birth to kittens in 2017 and wasn’t doing well in the shelter environment, so McKlveen decided to take her home.
McKlveen has fostered over 1,000 cats since 2009 and currently owns five cats that she described as “foster fails.”
“You just get attached to them, and I still cry because they deserve to have a safe environment to live in,” McKlveen said. “Not everybody, not all cats, are going to be cuddle bugs. I just make sure that I match them up with somebody who knows the expectation is not that the cat’s going to sit on their lap and purr every night, but to be able to watch them develop and grow.”
For McKlveen, who is 75, volunteering has given her a purpose, as she said she would probably be sitting at home in her recliner a whole lot more. McKlveen’s impact at Nate’s Honor goes beyond greeting people at the shelter and fostering so many cats over the years.
McKlveen has donated $250,000 to Nate’s Honor, which completely funded the new cat wing — Kitty City — that will open in the first quarter of 2026. Right now, the cats are in one 400-square-foot room. Kitty City expands the space for cats to 1,500 square feet.
Nate’s Honor has been planning and implementing construction for its renovated facility for eight years.
“When they announced what we were going to do as time went on (in 2019), I finally just said, ‘What will it cost me?’” McKlveen said. “I’ve fulfilled that obligation.”
The cat wing includes five rooms for individuals or pairs of cats. Those rooms will have big windows so they cats will be on display for adoption.
There is also an office, kitchen and laundry room just for the cat wing.
In addition to the five individual rooms, there are seven rooms that will hold more cats — four rooms that hold three to four cats and three big-
NATE’S HONOR ANIMAL RESCUE CENTER EXPANSION
Kitty City, the cat wing, is just one part of the new and improved Nate’s. It plans to open the new space in the first quarter of 2026. It will also include:
■ New 23,000-squarefoot Welcome and Adoption Center
■ 4,300-square-foot Training Center that will serve as a resource for current pet owners in the community
■ 5,000-square-foot
intake building to allow sick and special needs animals away from the healthy animals in our care
■ 10 new dog cottages
Other site improvements include:
■ Access to care veterinary clinic for the community
■ Children’s education room
■ Community event space
■ Meet and Greet Pavilion
■ Dog pool
■ Fenced play area
■ Walking trail
■ Children’s playground
For more information, visit NatesHonorAnimalRescue.org.
Martha McKlveen, a Nate’s Honor Animal Rescue Center volunteer and donor, is eager for Kitty City to be able to support more cats that are in need, just like the more than 1,000 she has fostered since 2009.
Fiona and Shrek are among the cats that have been housed in the 400-square-foot cat room. With Kitty City, Nate’s Honor Animal Rescue Center hopes to get 1,000 cats adopted next year compared to this year’s 300.
ger rooms that can hold between six and eight. They all feature cat condos, interactive screens for the cats to play games, vented litter boxes and “catios” where the cats can take in the natural sunlight.
Rob Oglesby, the development director at Nate’s, said the cat condos are made mostly of material used on boats.
“It holds up to everything until you can clean it,” he said.
Kitty City is especially important to McKlveen because it features silhouettes of McKlveen’s favorite cats she has fostered and owned.
The idea stemmed from a Christmas present she received in 2020, a Nate’s Honor sweatshirt with the silhouettes, from Michaela Oglesby who works as a veterinarian at the facility. Those same silhouettes and more are now spread across the walls to honor past and present cats.
“All of the cats in our care that are going to be in those rooms are going to walk past all of the success stories,” Michaela Oglesby said.
Rob Oglesby said as of Dec. 3, 228 cats have been adopted through 2025. They expect to adopted out more than 300 by the new year, and with the new Kitty City, Oglesby hopes they are able to get over 1,000 cats adopted next year.
“We had some donors here yesterday who love cats, and they’re like, ‘This is just amazing,’” Rob Oglesby said. “They’ve been involved with other groups all over the country and they’re like, ‘I’ve never seen anything like this.’”
Once Kitty City opens its doors, Nate’s will need more volunteers to help as they will be caring for more cats. Volunteers will clean the rooms, feed and socialize with the cats, clean the litter boxes and more.
“If we are to build a better world, we must remember that the guiding principle is this — a policy of freedom for the individual is the only truly progressive policy.”
Friedrich Hayek “Road to Serfdom,” 1944
Publisher and President / Emily Walsh, EWalsh@YourObserver.com
Associate Publisher — East County Observer / Lori Ruth, LRuth@YourObserver.com
Executive Editor and COO / Kat Wingert, KWingert@YourObserver.com
Managing Editor / Jay Heater, JHeater@YourObserver.com
Sports Reporter / Jack Nelson, JNelson@ YourObserver.com
Staff Writers / Madison Bierl, MBierl@ YourObserver.com; Lesley Dwyer, LDwyer@YourObserver.com
Digital News Analytics and Marketing Strategist / Kaelyn Adix, KAdix@YourObserver.com
Digital News Editor / Eric Garwood, EGarwood@YourObserver.com
Advertising Graphic Designers / Luis Trujillo, Taylor Poe, Louise Martin, Shawna Polana
Digital Developer / Jason Camillo, JCamillo@YourObserver.com
Information Technology Manager / Homer Gallego, HGallego@YourObserver. com
Chief Financial Officer / Laura Strickland, LStrickland@YourObserver.com
Controller / Rafael Labrin, RLabrin@YourObserver.com
MARTHA MCKLVEEN’S CURRENT CATS
Currently in her care are five adopted cats:
■ Mulan is 10 years old and was adopted in 2017 after not doing well in the shelter environment and escaping a medical trailer.
■ Fuzzster is 8 years old and Martha adopted him in 2018 simply because he was cute.
■ Symba is 5 years old and seemed to have medical issues at a young age that he seems to have outgrown. By the time he could be adopted, he was always whining at the door for Martha so she couldn’t let him go.
■ Greyson is 3 years old and was adopted in 2022 from Knoxviille, Tennessee, after a friend of Martha’s said she needed to have him.
■ Echo is 8 months old and was adopted this year after going through surgery for a heart murmur. Without the surgery, she had a short life expectancy but is now enjoying her time with Martha.
Office and Accounting Coordinator / Donna Condon, DCondon@ YourObserver.com
Observer Media Group Inc. is locally owned. Publisher of the Longboat Observer, East County Observer, Sarasota/Siesta Key Observer, West Orange Times & Observer, Southwest Orange Observer, Business Observer, Jacksonville Daily Record, Key Life Style Magazine, LWR Life Magazine, Baldwin Park Living Magazine and Season Magazine
CEO / Matt Walsh
MWalsh@YourObserver.com
President / Emily Walsh
Chairman Emeritus / David Beliles
Vice President / Lisa Walsh (1995-2023)
8130 Lakewood Main St., Suite D207 Lakewood Ranch, FL 34202 941-755-5357
Nate’s Honor Animal Rescue Center volunteer and donor Martha McKlveen received a personalized sweatshirt from Michaela Oglesby, a veterinarian at the shelter, in 2020. Now the same cats are honored on the walls of Kitty City.
Photos by Madison Bierl
MADISON BIERL | STAFF WRITER
SMR provides us with a fun history lesson
The coffee table book, written by Schroeder-Manatee Ranch, documents the development of land for a successful, Southwest Florida community.
My confession today is about sitting in the waiting room for the doctor, or my mechanic, or my barber.
As an adult, I often looked down on the coffee table to check out my choices. There always was the 6-month-old People magazine with the address label scratched off. Next to it was an even older version of Better Homes & Gardens. There might even be an occasional Field & Stream.
While all those can be interesting, I would bypass them for another magazine that I would be discrete in picking up — Highlights.
I know, I know. It’s a magazine for kids. But I loved the “Hidden Pictures” feature where you were asked to find nine bananas in a photo of a football game being played in a packed stadium. I couldn’t help myself. “Gosh, I found eight. There’s got to be one more banana out there.”
In today’s world, it can be tough for any business that utilizes a waiting room to find entertainment for its patients or customers. Sure, everyone has a cell phone, but people do, indeed, still enjoy reading material.
For those of you who want to find something meaningful to place on that table in the waiting room, I have a great choice for you. Oh, and if you want a conversation starter in your living room, this works in that environment as well.
Schroeder-Manatee Ranch has just released “Lakewood Ranch — A Legacy of Living with the Land,” which it bills as prose that will help you “Share in the Legacy of Lakewood Ranch — a story grounded in the land, shaped by vision and guided by care.” It’s not so much a history of Lake-
wood Ranch as it is documentation of how the land it is built upon was developed in a way that mimics the evolution of Florida as a whole.
I asked Laura Cole, a senior vice president at Schroeder-Manatee Ranch, why such a book would be an important read for those in our area.
“Florida has and will continue to welcome large numbers of people migrating here for the sun and lifestyle,” Cole wrote in an email.
“Lakewood Ranch attracts its fair share of newcomers from all corners of the U.S. and around the world.
Many arrive from places where they have had deep multigenerational ties, and we want them to know they are joining a community with its own rich sense of history and longstanding respect for the land.
Understanding the history deepens one’s connection to the place — whether you live here, work here, or invest in its future.”
OK, that’s pretty deep.
And while all that is, indeed, true, I would say the book is just plain fun.
Cole and SMR President and CEO Rex Jensen were two of the main cogs who headed the book project. It would have been easy for them to write a book that would have made a Harvard grad race for a dictionary or would have left the average reader bogged down in a swamp of legal terms.
It could have taken on the feel of reading a medical paper or a government document.
But it didn’t.
The book is broken down into sections, and not so much chapters. So if you aren’t so interested in the Schroeder family history, you can skip ahead to “From Timber to Tomatoes.”
If you don’t want to read about “Diversification and Big Decisions,” you go right to “The Right People at the Right Time.”
Every page that you do stop to read, you learn sometime quickly, such as how Lakewood Ranch came upon its name. Or you can learn about how SMR planted 150,000 pine trees on a 235-acre tract of pasture to support the Florida Forest Industries’ directive that encouraged farmers and ranchers to replant trees on idle land.
If you want to read about how the land advanced in terms of agriculture, there’s plenty for you. If you are a people person, there are many stories of key figures who formed this community. Oh, and the photos. I felt like I was strolling through a museum as I turned each page. The photos aren’t Ansel Adams, but they are packed with raw emotion that makes an impression on the reader.
I guarantee that if you read “Lakewood Ranch — A Legacy of Living with the Land,” you will discover why the first line of the book’s introduction reads, “What does it mean to create a true sense of place?”
Cole stresses that SMR should be considered the author of the book and that it was constructed using the voices of “family members, community leaders, staff and residents.”
So why write it now?
Cole said the book was developed in collaboration with the Uihlein family, even though the Uihleins always have preferred to remain behind the scenes. Cole said the family felt as Lakewood Ranch headed into its fourth decade, it was time to chronicle both the community’s evolution and the “deeper
history of the land.”
Cole said, “The book gives voice to the long arc of stewardship and vision that has resulted in a community the Uihlein family and its shareholders are very proud of.”
Among the fun facts that come to light are:
■ August Krug and August Uihlein, original founders of what would become the Schlitz Brewing Co., survived a burning, sinking ship when making a transatlantic voyage from Germany to the U.S. Kind of odd when you consider that Joseph Schlitz, the namesake of the Schlitz Brewing Co., later drown on a ship that sank.
■ In 1910, the John Schroeder Land & Timber Co. began buying thousands of acres of land in Florida, including land that would eventually become Lakewood Ranch, to produce wood for “Playskool” toys.
■ In 1929, the stock market crashed, kicking off the Great Depression. The Uihlein family assumed the banknote from Schroeder in 1930, which resulted in the name Schroeder-Manatee Ranch.
■ SMR became the second largest
contributor of oranges to Tropicana and also had one of the largest aggregate mines in the country at the same time.
■ The thought of a masterplanned community was ignited in 1979 when the threat of an airport was imposed on SMR land. The book was published by Advantage, which is the publishing arm of Forbes. It can be purchased for $29.99 on Amazon, at the Lakewood Ranch Information Center on Lakewood Main Street or on Sundays at the Farmers Market in Waterside Place.
If you aren’t sure it should sit on your own coffee table, give it a try in a waiting room. It will be the book sitting between the latest Lakewood Ranch Life and Highlights.
Jay Heater is the managing editor for the East County Observer. Contact him at JHeater@ YourObserver.com.
Jay Heater
SMR’s new coffee table book, “Lakewood Ranch — A Legacy of Living with the Land,” is available locally and on Amazon.
They took their best shot
Morales said about half the kids who participated are part of Wave Basketball of Bradenton.
regional and state tournaments to earn a spot in the Hoop Shoot Nationals in Chicago, her performance might have discouraged others from taking her on when the event was held Dec. 5 at Carlos E. Haile Middle School.
Bullock had a walkover in her 12-13 age group and will again move forward to the district competition, which this year will be held Jan. 3 at G. T. Bray Park. She made 19 of her 30 free throws with no competitors pushing her.
Gil Bullock, Claire’s father, said the Hoop Shoot experience has taught her how to build mental toughness. For the past three years, Bullock has been part of the Wave Basketball program, which is run by Wave Director Luis Morales. The Elks Hoop Shoot is a collaboration between Wave Basketball and the Lakewood Ranch Elks Lodge No. 2855. The competition is open to boys and girls between the ages of 8 and 13.
Morales described the Hoop Shoot experience as a “fun basketball journey” and enjoys any opportunity to pass on knowledge to kids at an early age. He said basketball in general produces well-rounded, contributing members of society.
“Sports and life go hand in hand, and you’ve got to work hard to get what you want,” Morales said. “Just like in a job, you have to work hard to get paid a good salary or financially be responsible to make it in life. You can’t cut corners. With sports, you can’t cut corners, either.”
He said those who earn the right to advance in the Hoop Shoot contest put in the work.
“It’s all about having fun, setting goals for yourself, and being with your friends,” said Jeff Bosworth, the Elks chairperson for the event.
Liam Goutos won the boys 10-11 group by hitting 21 of 30 free throws. Emma Bullock, Claire Bullock’s younger sister, will advance in the 10-11 age group after making 15 of 30 shots.
Braylen Boleman beat five competitors at 12-13 by making 20 of his 30 free throw shots.
Out of 30 free throws, Braylen Boleman made 20, Liam Goutos made 21, Emma Bullock made 15 and Claire Bullock made 19 to win their age divisions of the Elks Hoop Shoot on Dec. 5.
Madison Bierl
On the edge of new opportunities
At Manatee Technical College, Project Edge is a transitional program for students with intellectual disabilities to learn foundational skills.
Parrish’s Justin Torres, 19, has always liked art and working with machines.
So after he enrolled at Manatee Technical College and visited the advanced manufacturing program, he knew what he wanted to pursue.
“I went in there and I saw everything,” Torres said. “I was like, ‘Wow.’”
Dawn Giddens, the Project EDGE coordinator at MTC, said the 900hour program is meant for students with intellectual disabilities, with an IQ of 69 or lower. Project Edge, which stands for “Empower Develop Grow Educate” is a “postsecondary, nondegree-seeking transitional program” according to the MTC website.
The program is grant funded through the Florida Center for Students with Unique Abilities.
Paul Gansemer, executive director of adult, career and technical education at the School District of Manatee County, said the idea behind the program is to improve self and career development.
“At the same time, it’s about having them on campus with the other traditional students,” Gansemer said. “It’s about having them be a part of the culture on campus, and it’s about the campus understanding and accepting the students for who they are and what they can do.”
Giddens said they learn foundational skills, including how to budget and advocate for themselves. A huge part of the program is job exploration, as well.
“A lot of them, they’ve gotten to work at Publix, they’ve gotten to work at Goodwill, but there are so
MORE ON PROJECT EDGE
“Project Empower Develop Grow Educate is a postsecondary nondegree-seeking transitional program designed for students with intellectual disabilities. The program offers you a chance to receive hands-on learning and industry certification(s). Our goal is to provide you with a comprehensive educational experience that will lead to a successful transition to either a program on Manatee Technical College’s main campus or employment. Project EDGE connects students to technical college life, potential industry certifications and employment opportunities.”
Visit ManateeTech.edu/Programs/Project-Edge/.
many more options out there that they might not be aware of,” Giddens said.
Torres said that the Project EDGE program so far has been 50% hard work and 50% learning that has come relatively easy.
Giddens said Torres will continue to attend advanced manufacturing because that is what he is truly passionate about.
“He is one of those students that, come February, we’ll look at a change of program for him and he will look to probably go over there next year and enroll full time,” Giddens said.
modations, so they’re learning about what accommodations they might be able to get in the job or even in the classroom,” said Carrie Walden, the Project Edge classroom instructor.
“A lot of them are shy, so we need to break that shyness so that when they’re out and about, they will say, ‘Hey, I need some help.’”
This is the second year of the program, with eight students ranging in age from 19-24. Last year there were eight between 18-27.
“I loved it when I saw my old students working so hard in the class,” Walden said. “I told them it’s gonna be hard, it’s a lot of work but it’s definitely a payoff.”
getting something wrong.”
The first group went from Aug. 12 to May 30. Gansemer said people often compare the size of the program to others, but said it is meant to be small and concise.
Lakewood Ranch’s Ella Quaid, who has Down syndrome, was one of the eight students who went through the program and graduated in May. She said she felt more grown up and independent, because she made all of her own decisions like any other college student.
“It was a great opportunity for Ella,” Stacy Quaid said. “Knowing that it was a new program, I think they did a great job making Ella feel comfortable, teaching her a lot and preparing her for work.”
“A lot of them, they’ve gotten to work at Publix, they’ve gotten to work at Goodwill, but there are so many more options out there that they might not be aware of,” Giddens said.
“A lot of our students need accom-
Giddens said the students in the Edge program learn foundational skills including how to budget and advocate for themselves. A huge part of the program is job exploration.
Lakewood Ranch’s Mia Desire Pardella, 19, said she decided to join the program to get out of her shell and try new things. Pardella wants to become a phlebotomist, which is a medical professional who draws blood.
“One thing that Walden has taught me, which is still a little nervous for me, is not always being perfect,” Pardella said. “You’re not always going to be exactly what you want all the time, and it’s OK. I’m very ‘I need everything to be exactly a certain way.’ I’m not really just OK with
Ella has worked at Publix stocking shelves since 2022 and is currently searching for another job. She is interested in working in some sort of lab or hospital.
Of the other students who completed the program along with Ella, five students chose to MTC programs in baking and pastry, culinary skills, advanced manufacturing, early childhood education and construction production.
Photos by Madison Bierl
Carrie Walden, the Project Edge classroom instructor, is teaching 10 students, including Mia Pardella and Justin Torres, in the Project Edge program at MTC East.
Lakewood Ranch’s Ella Quaid graduated in May as one of the first students to complete Project Edge. She appreciated the independence and works at Publix.
TRIBUTES
Paul Emil Geck, age 81, passed away peacefully at his home in Longboat Key, Florida, on November 18, 2025.
Born on January 4, 1944, in Detroit, Michigan, Paul grew up in the city and attended De La Salle Collegiate High School where he met some of his lifelong friends. He spent most of his adult life in Commerce Township. In retirement, he and his wife Karen made their home in Longboat Key, where he enjoyed the warm weather and a slower pace of life.
Paul began his long career with Ford Motor Company in 1963, ultimately serving as the senior staff advanced high-strength steel technical specialist before his retirement. He also served as chairman of the Auto Steel Partnership. Throughout his career, he led major cross-functional engineering research efforts, including the Improved Materials & Powertrain Architectures for 21st Century Trucks (IMPACT) Project, a largescale collaboration between industry and the Department of Defense focused on pickup-truck weight reduction through advanced steel technologies.
After retiring from Ford, Paul continued to work as a consultant to the steel and automotive industries and
Paul Emil Geck 1944-2025 455264-1
taught the Advanced HighStrength Steel Seminar for SAE International. He held two master’s degrees in engineering and an MBA from the University of Michigan. His work generated numerous publications in computer-aided engineering, noise and vibration engineering, steel technology, and automotive weight reduction.
Among his professional honors, he received the Industry Leadership Award from the American Iron & Steel Institute in 2006, the Long-Term Contribution Award from the Auto/Steel Partnership in 2007, and earned the SAE-Automotive Resources Institute Registered Consultant designation in 2008.
Outside of his professional achievements, Paul enjoyed both energetic pursuits and quieter pastimes. In earlier years, he could be found on a motorcycle or on a court or field, playing or watching sports. He loved being on the water, boating and fishing, and he especially loved visiting friends in Saratoga, New York, and spending time at the race
track. At home, he relaxed with drawing, reading, doing puzzles and playing solitaire–his mind always active. He once coached a high-school basketball team and hosted a public-access cable show where he interviewed experts in their fields, reflecting his wide-ranging curiosity and steady patience.
Paul is survived by his wife, Karen Geck; his brother, Joseph Geck; his sister, Anna Geck; his sister-in-law, Barbara Geck; his sister-in-law, Sharyn Schymick; Sharyn’s partner, Russ Ravary; and many nieces and nephews. He will be remembered for his intelligence, dedication, humor, and the warmth he shared with those close to him.
SERVICE:
Thursday, March 7, 10AM Vendata Center, 216 19th Ave. SE, St. Petersburg, FL 33703 (727) 896-9840; VendataCenter.com
DONATIONS:
In lieu of flowers, donations in Paul’s memory may be made to: Alzheimer’s Association or Affinity Care of Manatee — affinityhealthflorida.com or (941) 277-5990
Dr. Monica Drummond brings to Intercoastal Medical Group at the Lakewood Ranch I office a wealth of knowledge and experience in Family Medicine.
Undergraduate:
Undergraduate: University of South Florida, Sarasota, FL
Medical School:
Graduate School: Liberty University, Lynchburg, Virginia
of Medicine and Health Sciences,
Basseterre, SKN
Medical School: Campbell University, Buies Creek, NC
Residency: Colquitt Regional Medical Center, Moultrie, GA
Dr. Keyur Kurani brings to Intercoastal Medical Group at the Cattleridge office a wealth of knowledge and experience in Internal Medicine. Certification:
Certification: Board Eligible, American Board Family Medicine, Osteopathic Manipulative Treatment (AOBFP)
Sarasota Memorial Hospital; Doctors Hospital
Hospital Affiliations: Lakewood Ranch Medical Center
Lakewood Ranch I 11505 Rangeland Parkway, Bradenton, FL 34211 www.intercoastalmedical.com and most
New spice company owners work until the cows come home
Lakewood Ranch company, Moo-Jitsu, formed to help teach the owners’ kids life lessons.
MADISON BIERL STAFF WRITER
Brandon Whitman, along with his kids, Olivia and Diego, passed some cows swimming in a pond as they drove back from a New Breed jiu-jitsu tournament in Port St. Lucie in October 2024.
It sparked a question.
“I said, ‘I didn’t know cows could swim,’” said Olivia Whitman, who is 9. Her father told her that they indeed do swim.
So she asked, “Can cows do jiujitsu?”
Her dad’s answer was, “Probably.”
Olivia Whitman and her dad
MOO-JITSU AND MOO4KIDS
“We partner with jiu-jitsu schools across the country to identify and support the young competitors in their programs who need it most. Your purchase doesn’t just help you win in the kitchen; it helps a young champion win on the mat.”
For more information, visit MooJitsu.co or contact Hello@MooJitsu.com.
decided to create something to combine their love of jiu-jitsu and cows. Olivia has training at Lakewood Ranch’s Team Mastery Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu for over three years.
After some thought, Olivia came up with “Moo-Jitsu,” which the Whitman’s used to name their new spice company. Everything is
themed around jiu-jitsu, and they created a fictional “Moo-Verse” with three special “defenders of great flavor” — Professor Moo, Professor Cluck and Professor Pork.
“We’re building something bigger that we can have fun with and that the kids can grow up with,” Brandon Whitman said. “They get to understand not only the business side, but the fun and the humor and the cool story behind it.”
Whitman is the founder and chief executive officer of Moo-Jitsu and works with his best friend, Scott Wacha, whom he has known his whole life. Wacha works as the chief financial officer. Whitman’s brother, Ryan Whitman, and father Russell Whitman are also part of the family business, working as the chief technology officer and the chief operating officer.
Wacha has their new business as an “untapped market.”
Moo-Jitsu currently sells four different spices. Rear Naked Gold
is sweet lemon, herb and pepper.
O-Moo-Plata Green is herb garlic and garden fresh. Arm Bar Red is smoky barbecue and chili heat. KiMoo-Ra Black is made of garlic, pepper and umami.
“We just started brainstorming, picking what we thought were the best combinations,” Brandon Whitman said. “When we landed on being the defenders of flavor, that really drove us and landed our brand. We have to do premium ingredients, no fillers, and that’s what we landed on.”
Olivia said all four of their spices go well together and she prefers KiMoo-Ra Black on popcorn and Arm Bar Red on pizza.
Whitman said Brazilian Jiu-jitsu is where strength, flexibility, discipline and patience meet. He said that most kids learn to swim, but don’t learn how to defend themselves and others.
“You don’t want them to have to learn that in real time at some point in their life,” Whitman said. “You would like them to be prepared so that they at least feel confident enough to know how to respond.”
Wacha said the number of beneficial life lessons people, especially kids, can learn in jiu-jitsu outweighs what they can learn in more traditional sports like baseball and soccer.
“There’s no excuses for the kid, because it’s a one-on-one sport and that’s why we wanted to get our kids into it young,” Wacha said.
“The work that they put into it is directly impacting their success or their failure.”
Wacha said along with the skills
they learn in jiu-jitsu, it is important to have their kids be involved in the business. They do extra “math homework,” tracking how much they earn from each sale and more. They also practice geography skills together. So far, they have sold to 31 states and the kids learn cities and states and mark off wherever orders originate.
Wesley Wacha, 9, attends Gene Witt Elementary School and brings stickers and business cards to help out his family business. He also helps work the booth at events such as the Market at Nathan Benderson Park.
“I feel like when people walk by, they’re just, ‘It’ll be mean to walk past this kid without even trying a sample,’’ Wesley Wacha said. Wesley Wacha said he hopes the business expands to include hot sauces and comic books about the Moo-verse.
Both Whitman and Wacha work full-time jobs and have families. Whitman is a recruiting consultant at Dover.com and Wacha is an executive director at a pharmaceutical company. They didn’t create Moo-Jitsu for the money.
Within the Moo-Jitsu brand, there is Moo4Kids, which takes the profits from the spices, merchandise and fundraising to sponsor kids to go to competitions.
“We want to sell enough spices to be able to have those kids go from the gym to the competition,” Wacha said. “They can win, they can lose, but they still have a great time doing it and they learn a lot.”
Madison Bierl
Scott Wacha, the chief financial officer of Moo-Jitsu, and Brandon Whitman, the founder and CEO, aim to teach their own children about business while also sponsoring other kids to go to jiu-jitsu competitions through Moo4Kids.
Courtesy image
Olivia Whitman, Diego Whitman, Wesley Wacha, Anna Wacha and Lily Wacha all practice Brazilian jiujitsu and are heavily involved in the sales and promotion of Moo-Jitsu.
The Art of Waterfront Living at Wild Blue
Lakewood Ranch’s premier waterfront community offers exceptional resort-style living with stunning single-family homes by the region’s most sought-after builders. In response to phenomenal demand, Wild Blue at Waterside has released new premium homesites.
The spectacular 30,000-square-foot clubhouse, opening Fall 2026, will feature resort pools, dining, putting course, golf simulator, cinema, and fitness center. Residents are already enjoying Midway Sports Park, now open with tennis, pickleball, and basketball courts.
Secure your place in Sarasota’s most distinctive waterfront address.
IT’S READ EVERYWHERE
Headed on a trip? Snap a photo of you on vacation holding your Observer, then submit your photo at YourObserver.com/ ItsReadEverywhere for a chance to win.
Courtesy: NARA
DISCERNING READING IN DUBAI: Tatiana Dorenko catches up on her community’s news in the East County Observer while on a trip to Palm Jumeirah, Dubai
SPORTS
FAST
to
for the 2026 spring semester.
Greyson Kelly, a senior running back for Braden River football, signed with Southeast Missouri State on Dec. 3 as the NCAA’s early signing period opened. The 6-foot, 190-pound ball-carrier received 14 offers from Division I programs, most recently from Western Illinois on July 16 and Nevada on March 30 in addition to Southeast Missouri’s offer. The Redhawks of the Football Championship Subdivision finished 4-8 overall and 3-5 in the Ohio Valley Conference.
... Lakewood Ranch boys’ ice hockey is still undefeated four months into the season. The Mustangs, who compete in the West Division of the Lightning High School Hockey League, are 11-0-0 as of Dec. 4 — the last remaining perfect team. Forward Carter Bagshaw leads the way with 19 points on eight goals and 11 assists. Chase Koski is tied with Bagshaw in goals with eight. Defenseman Jackson Ellis (14), forward Liam Johnston (14) and forward Mathy Roy (12) round out the Mustangs’ top-five scorers (goals and assists combined). Lakewood Ranch hosts Jesuit (10-1-1) at 8:15 p.m. Dec. 19. ... Braden River girls’ basketball is 5-1 as of Dec. 3 in the wake of last season’s 13-10 finish. The squad’s latest victories have come over Gaither, 36-28, on Nov. 25, Bradenton Christian, 50-38, on Dec. 1 and Parrish Community, 49-44, on Dec. 2. Then-sophomore Kelis McGrady, then-senior Kamiyah McGrady and then-junior Alexa Helton were the Pirates’ leading scorers in 2024-25 with 12.2, 7.8 and 7.3 points per game, respectively. Pam Ostrander sunk the ninth hole-in-one of her career on Nov. 21 at the Lakewood Ranch Golf and Country Club. Playing the Legacy course, she used a pitching wedge to ace the 17th hole from 90 yards.
“I
want to win state. It’s difficult, obviously, but at least by the end of high school.”
THE PASSION IS BACK
After a long recovery following a shoulder injury, Lakewood Ranch’s Gabriella Rawles rediscovers her love of tennis as she heads to Notre Dame.
JACK NELSON SPORTS REPORTER
There was a routine Gabriella Rawles would follow before every one of her tennis matches.
She needed to prepare her body for the physical stresses of facing highlevel opponents.
Resistance bands were part of that warm-up. As a 14-year-old on the International Tennis Federation’s junior circuit, shoulder issues were a concern.
But on a rainy day in Santa Tecla, El Salvador, her routine was disrupted.
“I’ll never forget,” Rawles said. “It was the one match that I didn’t do my bands before.”
It was a tournament early November 2022. After winning a secondround singles match in the morning, she was scheduled to compete in doubles quarterfinals that afternoon. Rain just kept pushing the match back.
When the court was finally playable, Rawles didn’t have time to warm up with the bands. She was thrown into the match, and on an overhead at the net, she felt a pop in her right shoulder.
She didn’t think much of it at the time. Now, over three years removed from that day, she still hasn’t forgotten what transpired. That labrum tear nearly derailed her career entirely.
Rawles has been resurgent. The Lakewood Ranch resident committed to the Notre Dame women’s tennis program Nov. 26 as a five-star recruit, ranked No. 21 in the Class of 2026, per Tennis Recruiting Network. She’ll join the Fighting Irish in January after graduating early from ICL Academy.
“I haven’t been anywhere long enough and trained consistently enough to get the most out of myself,” Rawles said. “Hopefully, starting at Notre Dame, I’ll be able to train again consistently, and be surrounded by a good support system.”
Her recruitment process was short-lived — and intentionally so. She wasn’t interested in speaking with colleges until she felt truly confident with her game. That didn’t come until August.
As a freshman, she won the ITF Grade 5 junior singles title in Valledupar, Colombia, as well as the Grade 5 junior doubles crown in Kamloops, Canada. On the Universal Tennis Rating circuit, she went 188-77 in singles play from 2017 through 2021.
sons and tournaments seem to blur together.
The thrill of a well-placed ace or joy of a perfectly executed forehand didn’t feel the same as it had in the past. She was just going through the motions, no longer carrying a genuine love for the sport.
“When you do something that much for that long, it’s hard to continue doing it for yourself instead of for others,” Rawles said. “The pressure that I was feeling to do well in competitions came more from other people.”
Tennis, after all, was what brought her to the country. She grew up in Southampton, England, and started out not in tennis, but in horseback riding, just like all the women in her family.
Joining a local kids club at 5 years old sparked her interest in racket sports. One of her friends there returned from a vacation to Bradenton with a raving review about IMG Academy.
As Rawles and her brother, Louis Rawles, spent more time on the courts, their parents, Heath Rawles and Elizabeth Young, thought a week-long summer trip to Florida would be wise.
A week became a month. A month became years.
NOTRE DAME WOMEN’S TENNIS
Coach: Alison Silverio (eighth year)
Assistant: Jason Kerst (third year)
■ 2025 — 21-6 overall, 9-3 ACC, NCAA Second Round
■ 2024 — 18-10 overall, 7-6 ACC, NCAA Second Round
■ 2023 — 16-11 overall, 6-7 ACC, NCAA Second Round
But those accolades came before her shoulder injury, so they meant little to college coaches. They wanted to evaluate a more recent resume.
Rawles offered exactly that by winning the Battle of Boca women’s open singles title on April 28. She’s compiled a 21-14 singles record in UTR events this year, and believes greater things are ahead.
“There’s still a lot of ways that I’m not as good as I was before (the injury),” Rawles said. “Although I’ve gotten better with my strokes and everything, mentally, I’m just not quite there.”
She approached the 2023 season by doing extensive physical therapy, and for a while, that helped. Months passed without her feeling any pain in her right shoulder.
It became hard for the sophomore to plot a future strategy. What if she pushed herself and found success on the court? What if she pushed too hard and reinjured herself?
At the same time, a different internal battle was being waged.
Rawles did everything in her power to stay in the game — too much. The day-by-day grind had made les-
The family realized that England wasn’t the environment to support their quickly blossoming passion for tennis. Just like that, Gabriella and Louis Rawles were enrolled at IMG Academy. She stayed for two years before leaving in search of more personalized coaching.
Though her brother ultimately left the sport behind, she stayed addicted. At 9 years old, according to Rawles, her future on the court became clear at the “Little Mo” Nationals in Texas.
“It was just a crazy experience. All of us were playing hide-and-seek in the hotel. I met people from all different parts of the world,” Rawles said. “That was when I first realized I wanted to play tennis at a higher level.”
That little version of herself — driven by a pure passion for tennis — could never have imagined she would need surgery in January 2024 to repair a torn right labrum.
Returning to IMG Academy for rehab, Rawles couldn’t play any sort of tennis for three months. From months four through six of recovery, she could hit, but not with full force. That came in month seven, and even after that, any pain required a stop in activity.
Attempting a comeback was a humbling experience.
“I always was pretty good for my age. I’d be playing people older than me and I’d be beating them,” Rawles said. “Suddenly, two years had passed, and now I’m the older one playing younger people and losing.”
Her 2025 schedule represents the first full season of tennis Rawles has played since 2022. Even after being largely inactive in tournament play for two years, a Power Four program is eager to have her services.
She’s smashing forehands crosscourt and down the line because she genuinely wants to — not because she feels an obligation to do so.
Tennis is hers once more.
Gabriella Rawles underwent surgery in January 2024 to repair a torn right labrum, and this year has played her first full season of competitive tennis since 2022.
— Lakewood Ranch High’s Francesca Bisordi SEE PAGE 19A
Image courtesy of SEMO Athletics Greyson Kelly poses for a photo during his official visit
Southeast Missouri State. The Braden River running back signed with SEMO on Dec. 3 and will enroll early
Lakewood Ranch teen shifts from the saddle to a boat
It takes some good horse sense to realize a successful Million Meter Day event for the Sarasota Scullers rowing club.
Fortunately, the club has just the right person to contribute in Lakewood Ranch’s Ashley Redman.
Ashley’s dad, Roger Redman, discovered the Lakewood Ranch area because he used to fly from his Michigan home to play polo in the area with Robin Uihlein, who began managing the club in 1991.
Roger Redman became a pro polo player, but now is retired.
His wife, Amy Redman, breeds ponies. The Redman family has horses at the Sarasota Polo Club. Ashley became involved in that enterprise before finding a different sport to her liking.
A trip to Nathan Benderson Park for a rowing event captured Ashley’s interest. She has evolved into a “high-performance” competitor with the Scullers. Her mom said Ashley, who practices six days a week, has high aspirations of going far in rowing, so has dedicated herself to her new sport.
She routinely finishes high in regattas as a “singles” rower.
While Ashley, a homeschooled junior, competes in the lightweight division, she often competes against heavyweight rowers when the event she is attending doesn’t have a lightweight class, which is often.
After joining the club 18 months ago, she also rows in the quad (four-person sculling boat), and the double (two-person boat).
The Million Meter Day on Dec. 13 is more about endurance than time. All the Sarasota Scullers members put in the combined effort to cover a million meters. The goal is to
raise $50,000 to help rebuild from damages to equipment and facilities suffered during past hurricanes.
Ashley loves the challenges of rowing.
“It’s made me more self-confident, healthier physically and it’s taught me a lot of discipline,” she said. “Training that many hours and then getting homework done and everything else — it’s tough.”
Roger Redman currently serves as treasurer on the Scullers’ board of directors. Amy Redman is a boisterous advocate for the Osprey-based club.
Amy Redman speaks highly of it because it’s taken student-athletes to great heights. Not only has the organization turned her shy daughter into a leader, the sport has, quite literally, spared others from failure.
“We have kids who were failing out of high school that are now A students on the honor roll since joining the Scullers,” Amy Redman said. “It is transformative for these kids. It gives them a purpose.”
When they’re not making strides in the classroom, they’re lapping opponents on the water. The right equipment is necessary for them to do so.
However, with a larger number of members than years past and a commitment to equitable opportunity, the club is in need of donations and new equipment.
High-quality boats aren’t hard to find in this country, said head coach Bernhard Stomporowski, but that doesn’t mean they’re cheap.
By Ashley’s account, a single boat can cost between $7,000 and $15,000 for a high-line model. Eights can range from $60,000 to $100,000, while fours average around $35,000.
Optimized for racing, these boats are made of fiberglass, a material that’s prone to damage if not protected. They require careful maintenance, so costs inevitably exceed the up-front investment.
Even Ashley, a relatively new rower, understands the value of a high-quality, race-ready vessel.
“It makes a big impact. I started out on the lower end, and when I moved to the higher end, I could definitely feel the difference,” Redman said. “It was a lot smoother, faster, lighter.”
The Scullers need new boats for their high-caliber athletes. As Stomporowski pointed out, not having the boats would be “putting pearls in front of pigs,” as the old expression goes in his home country of Germany about wasted effort.
High-caliber athletes are worthy of high-caliber boats. The club now has enough top athletes to warrant such purchases. And they hope more talented rowers will choose the Scullers in the years to come.
It was only a few years ago that the Scullers had less than 15 members even though the club has been around for over three decades.
Stomporowski doesn’t mind
working with a small ground. He said rowing has never seemed like a numbers game to him.
The Scullers’ membership now hovers around 36 members, which pales in comparison to the neighboring powerhouse Sarasota Crew, which serves over 350 athletes.
But 36 members is enough to pursue an ambitious goal of covering 1 million meters in one day. Athletes across its program will team up for a triathlon of rowing, biking and erging (working on an indoor rowing machine). Beginning at 6:30 a.m., they plan to row from the Scullers’ boatyard at 800 Blackburn Point Road in Osprey to the Albee Road Bridge and back.
They then bike from their boatyard to the 1927 Historic Venice Train Depot and back. The final leg — done on stationary indoor rowing machines — will take place at the Scullers’ clubhouse at 153 N. Tamiami Trail.
“Last year, we raised the money for a pair (two-person boat),” Stomporowski said. “At the end, we didn’t get a pair. We actually got two fours out of that money.”
Competitors are encouraged to ask relatives, friends and others in
the community to donate for every meter they complete. If a pennyper-meter model was applied, an athlete who contributes 25,000 meters would raise $250 toward the cause.
On average, each athlete would have to contribute 28,571 meters, though in reality, some will do more and some will do less. That’s about 17.75 miles per person — less than the 26.2 required in a marathon. Founded in 1991, the Scullers are the longest-running nonprofit youth rowing club in Sarasota County.
Stomporowski would like the club to grow to about 45 to 60 people. He said that would be optimum.
“If it gets bigger, I probably won’t remember every first name anymore.”
Jack Nelson is the sports reporter for the East County and Sarasota/Siesta Key Observers. Contact him at JNelson@ YourObserver.com.
Image courtesy of Amy Redman
Ashley Redman rows in a single boat. The senior, homeschooled in Lakewood Ranch, has been with the Sarasota Scullers for 18 months and is a “high-performance” rower.
Francesca Bisordi
Much has changed for Francesca Bisordi. The junior is wrestling in a new class. She’s working under a new coach. But her history remains a big part of her future. Bisordi was the first female wrestler at Lakewood Ranch High to qualify for the state tournament, competing in the 170-pound class as a sophomore. She posted a 27-5 record last season, following a 3-20 effort as a freshman. She is the East County Athlete of the Week.
When and why did you start wrestling?
My freshman year, I was just doing weightlifting. My brother (Thomas Bisordi) had been wrestling since he was in elementary school. He told me they were letting girls on the team and that I should join. I came to a practice in (early December 2023), and ever since then, I just loved it and stuck with it.
What do you love most about the sport?
How hard we have to work. It’s a lot of work, so it’s a lot more rewarding when we do well.
How have you been focused on improving your skillset?
My past few years, I did a lot of throwing and defensive stuff. Now, I’m trying to do more shooting and offensive stuff. I also am cutting a weight class or two, so since I’m lighter, I have to be quicker and people don’t get thrown as eas ily. We have a new coach (Nate Lancaster), so he’s switching around our style as a whole. All of my techniques are a lot different than they were before.
What are your goals for your junior season with Lakewood Ranch? I want to win state. It’s difficult, obviously, but at least by the end of high school. I’m putting that as my goal
If you would like to make a recommendation for the East County Observer’s Athlete of the Week feature, send it to JNelson@YourObserver.com.
because I want to set my goals high. Last year, I just went and I didn’t do well — I didn’t win anything. If I place, I would be happy.
When you’re not wrestling, how do you spend your free time?
I have a lot of hard classes. I’m taking five APs, so I have a lot of homework most of the time.
What quote or piece of advice has stuck with you throughout your career?
“You are in control.” I write it on everything, and it keeps me going throughout whatever I’m doing.
If you could meet any professional athlete, who would you meet and why?
Helen Maroulis, because she’s just insane in women’s wrestling history.
If you could go anywhere in the world right now for a dream vacation, where would you go and why?
I would want to go to Spain. I’ve never been.
Finish this sentence.
Francesca Bisordi
Tough. The only thing that keeps me winning is that I stick it through and I’m scrappy.
A touch of the blues YOUR NEIGHBORS
Arcadia’s Craig Brogan says music “frees his soul.” So Brogan made the trip to Waterside Place on Saturday for the second Lakewood Ranch Blues Fest. He loves to see how blues can bring a community together.
He was one of the many blues fans who danced from the time the first note was played in the day-long event. Among the dancers who joined him were Sarasota’s Karen Butler and her daughter, Kim Morton.
Butler said Brogan’s rhythm while dancing inspired her to get up, too.
“This is the most fun I’ve seen my mom have in a long time,” Morton said. “The music is awesome and the ambiance and energy makes it a lot of fun here.”
Lakewood Ranch’s Jody and Gordon Hoffstein had a great time attending last year’s Lakewood Ranch Blues Fest but said the festival far exceeded their expectations this year. Paul Benjamin, who co-produces the event, said the seven bands he scheduled featured a mix in the blues genre, including soul blues, rock blues, Chicago blues and Mississippi blues.
Artists from the Music Compound warmed up the incoming fans before the Shaelyn Band, Eden Brent, Albert Casti-
Photos by Madison Bierl
St. Petersburg’s Ella Brown and Sarasota’s Mike Chambers take full advantage of the live music to show off their best dance moves at the Lakewood Ranch Blues Fest on Dec. 6.
Eden Brent, a blues musician and singer, says she appreciates the Lakewood Ranch crowd’s enthusiasm.
Chicago bluesman Toronzo Cannon says he hopes 70% of his audience connects with his music on a deep level.
Toronzo Cannon, event co-producer Paul Benjamin and Johnny Rawls gather backstage at the Lakewood Ranch Blues Festival prior to performances by Cannon and Rawls.
Lakewood Ranch’s Jody and Gordon Hoffstein, along with John Stone from Colorado, say the Lakewood Ranch Blues Festival is comfortable, fun and engaging.
Arcadia’s Craig Brogan says music is freeing for his soul and makes him dance in front of the crowd.
Blues rocker Albert Castiglia was raised in Miami and has worked with wellknown blues musicians such as Junior Wells.
There’s a new attraction at the first Ranch Nite Wednesday of each month — goats.
The goat yoga class is so popular that Waterside Place residents Trista Kohne and Hannah Jaworski couldn’t get into the class last month.
Nicole Hackel, events and resident experience manager for Lakewood Ranch, said she’s going to bump the registrations up from 50 to 70 people moving forward.
On Dec. 3, the goats were dressed for Christmas. The larger goats fit into dog outfits, but kid goats, like 4-week-old Winnie and Penny, need outfits made for cats.
Myakka City’s Blissful Goat Yoga provides the classes.
Aliyah Burnett, 12, lives next door to the farm. She gladly helps owner Corinn Smith herd and dress the goats. Burnett accepts her pay in the form of goat cuddles and ice cream.
“People need to come out and just sit with the goats,” Smith said. “You can’t think about your problems when you’re holding them. They just won’t allow it.”
— LESLEY DWYER
Top producer for the past four consecutive years: Over $244 million sold since 2020
Ranked in the Top 1.5%
Individuals by Sales Volume Nationally by RealTrends Verified 2025
“Working with Gloria Bracciano was a very easy and fun experience. She is incredibly knowledgeable about the market and helped us narrow right down to the neighborhood that would best meet our needs. She fought for us when things weren’t delivered as promised and made the settlement process move smoothly. We would
Photos by Lesley Dwyer East County’s Griffin and Joshua Day stop by to see the goats after yoga class wraps.
Myakka City 12-year-old Aliyah Burnett helps her neighbor, Corinn Smith of Blissful Goat Yoga, with the goats. She dressed them in Christmas outfits for Ranch Nite Wednesday on Dec. 3.
Dr. Kansara
at Coastal Eye Institute, is a leading expert in the field of ophthalmology, specializing in:
• Glaucoma Management & Surgery
• Minimally Invasive Glaucoma Procedures
• Micro-Incision Cataract Surgery
• Routine Eye Care
His patient-centric approach ensures personalized treatment plans that cater to your unique eye health needs.
Whether you’re seeking preventative care or battling an eye condition, Dr. Kansara’s expertise and compassionate care can guide you towards improved vision and a healthier lifestyle. He is dedicated to staying at the forefront of ophthalmic advancements, offering the latest treatments and technologies to deliver the best possible outcomes for his patients.
Don’t miss this opportunity to receive compassionate and personalized eye care.
Lakewood Ranch’s Nancy Shanley gets ready to dig into perogies and kielbasa. Her friend, Tammy Plyler, is visiting from New York.
Lakewood Ranch 4-year-old Mikayla Barclay chows down on a hot dog.
Bradenton 6-year-old Savanah Greene asks Santa for a Labubu doll for Christmas.
LIVING
A place to call home
Harbor58 supports young adults who have aged out of foster care by building new homes.
LESLEY DWYER STAFF WRITER
It’s been a year since 19-year-old Airanna Gibbons attended her first monthly meeting at Harbor58, a Lakewood Ranch nonprofit that supports young adults who have aged out of the foster care system.
That meeting was in October, so it doubled as a Halloween party. Annie Wilson, a Harbor58 mentor, had been inviting Gibbons to meetings every month since they met at the group home where Gibbons was living.
“She was very (persistent),” Gibbons said of Wilson. “She would text me every single time to say, ‘If you want me to come pick you up, just let me know.’”
That month, Gibbons hadn’t heard from Wilson, so she initiated the contact to ask if she could attend the Halloween party. Wilson’s response was, “Oh my gosh, yes, I’ll be there in five minutes.” Gibbons had fun, so she attended
Harbor58’s Friendsgiving dinner the next month, but that event was more of a challenge due to her anxiety. Between the holiday and all the new people and activity surrounding her, Gibbons said she became overwhelmed.
Missy Parmenter, president of Harbor58, noticed.
At the dinner, there was a separate room set up for anyone who needed to get away from the crowd and relax.
“Missy came into the room and saw me there,” Gibbons said. “She told me the room was created for me, and that warms my heart because it made me realize that people do care.”
Gibbons is now preparing to enter Harbor58’s 18-month housing program, where she’ll receive life skills training, career coaching and help buying a car. She was able to see the apartment on Thanksgiving and will be moved in before Christmas.
Once Gibbons turned 18, she was “dropped” into a program in Sarasota County which wasn’t comfortable for her because her group home, job, and support system all had been established in Manatee County.
Now she is looking forward to the impending move to Harbor58.
Besides working at Starbucks,
she is one of Harbor58’s first paid interns, thanks to grant funding from the Sisterhood for Good nonproft.
Harbor58 operates out of Oasis Church on Lorraine Road. The housing program Gibbons is entering is a pilot program and will operate off-site, but plans are moving forward for a $4.5 million housing complex on the church’s campus.
The new community will include 12 individual villas within six buildings and a community center. A groundbreaking ceremony was held Nov. 17.
The church is paying for all the ground work, which will take up to nine months to complete. As for going vertical, Parmenter said $3 million out of the $4.5 million has been pledged so far, including numerous in-kind donations.
Mill Creek’s Tim Parker is the president of Red1 IT. His company will be donating the materials and labor for the fire alarm system, which would otherwise cost Harbor 58 up to $10,000.
Parker is a member of Bayside Community Church on Lorraine Road, so he considers Oasis Church a neighbor. Red1 often looks to give back, but with so many needs in the community, Parker said he looks
Mission statement: Working with the often marginalized and forgotten, we will offer lifelong care and support through relationships. Our goal is to launch them into society as vibrant, thriving adults.
for projects that he and his staff are passionate about.
Parker and his wife, Cassie, adopted two children out of the foster care system, so this project fit that requirement.
“The older kids get, the less adoptable they become,” Parker said. “Then, they age out of the foster care system and the state pretty much says, ‘Go do something and find a home; just don’t get in trouble.’ That’s no way to treat these kids.” Parker’s not alone. Members from around the community have
offered their support and services.
Erick Packwood, owner of The Way Plumbing in Parrish, offered plumbing services. Wilfredo Hernandez, owner of R.O.H. Mechanical LLC in Bradenton, offered HVAC services, and Bryan Dotson, owner of Palmetto Smart LLC in Palmetto, offered electrical services.
That’s only to name a few. Cabinets, painting, flooring, roofing, fencing, landscaping and more services have been offered. Private foundations, private donors and Manatee County are also stepping up with financial assistance.
The Esplanade Women’s Pickleball Association presented Parmenter with a check for over $22,000 at the groundbreaking.
The assistance through the county is coming from the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Home Investment Partnerships American Rescue Plan Program. On June 3, commissioners approved funding in the amount of $573,740.
“It’s beautiful to see the collaboration and support from the community,” Parmenter said.
The project is anticipated to be completed sometime in the first half of 2027.
Courtesy images
There will be 12 villas among six buildings available to young adults who have recently aged out of foster care.
Harbor58 volunteers and Manatee County commissioners put the first shovels in the ground Nov. 17.
DENTAL IMPLANTS
VOTED SARASOTA’S TOP IMPLANT & AESTHETIC DENTISTS
MAGGIE MISCH-HARING Specialist in Periodontics & Implants
KATHERINE MISCH Specialist in Prosthodontics & Implants
MISCH Specialist in Oral Surgery & Implants Providing simple to complex specialty dental care in one convenient location
The miracle of caring
The Miracle League of Manasota honors the late Joanne DiCarlo, a local Elks member who supported the program for years.
JAY HEATER MANAGING EDITOR
Miracle League of Manasota
Executive Director Chris Cushman was trying to find the words to describe the late Joanne DiCarlo, who was one of the Miracle League’s biggest supporters.
“Funky,” Cushman finally offered.
Those who knew DiCarlo from the Lakewood Ranch-Sarasota Elks Lodge shook their heads affirmatively.
Yes, DiCarlo, who died Aug. 16 at 83, went about doing things in a different manner than most. Cushman noted that for a few years, he couldn’t contact DiCarlo through any means other than talking to her in person or a phone call because she didn’t want to use social media.
But Cushman always made the extra effort, because DiCarlo always was there when it came time to raise money for the Miracle League — which is played at Longwood Park in Sarasota — or to just show up to support the “differently abled children and adults” who played in the league.
On Dec. 7, the Miracle League celebrated its first Joanne DiCarlo Christmas Party. The party itself is a longstanding tradition, but now will go forward bearing her name.
“Her passion was the Miracle League,” said Elks Club member Sarah Davis, who has taken over DiCarlo’s role as the contact person between the Elks and the Miracle League. “We have sponsored the Miracle League ever since Joanne joined the Elks. We sponsor the (Miracle League’s) Pirates.”
Elks Golf Tournament Director Mark Liddell presented a check of $1,500 to the Miracle League during the Christmas Party. It was a percentage of the proceeds of this year’s
“If the Miracle League didn’t offer something like this, De’andre wouldn’t have anything social to do. This is an outlet for him.”
Misty Sneperger
tournament. The Elks Riders motorcycle group donated another $1,100 to the league in funds raised through a lottery ticket raffle.
“Joanne is looking down on us today,” Liddell said to those at the Christmas party.
Sarasota’s Misty Sneperger, whose 8-year-old son, De’andre McKinon, has autism and is a member of the Miracle League, talked about how important it is for the Miracle League
His
Women’s
Preventive
Medicare
Care
Joint/bursa
Dr.
Photos by Jay Heater
The Elks’ Santa (Ron Lee) visits with 8-year-old De’andre McKinon at the Miracle League’s first Joanne DiCarlo Christmas Party at Longwood Park.
to receive support from people like DiCarlo.
“If the Miracle League didn’t offer something like this, De’andre wouldn’t have anything social to do,” Sneperger said. “This is an outlet for him.” When De’andre arrived at the event, he was disappointed to hear there would not be a game.
“He was so sad,” Sneperger said. “He told me, ‘Get my green bat.’”
She said she truly appreciates everything the sponsors, such as DiCarlo and the Elks, have done for the league.
“Joanne just loved kids,” Davis said. “She had a motherly nature and a heart of gold.”
Davis also said DiCarlo was relentless in getting things done for a cause.
“She was the typical Italian woman,” Davis said.
“She made things happen,” said Robyn Graham, who is board president for the Miracle League. “Without the loyal sponsorships, we wouldn’t have a league. She made a difference. And she got me to join the Elks.”
Cushman eventually did come up with other words to describe DiCarlo.
“She was tenacious, but so supportive,” he said. “She cared deeply. She would come to games by herself, and just sit with the kids. The Christmas Party was near and dear to her heart.
“Her legacy and involvement will live on.”
DiCarlo did have other passions as well. She was an avid bridge player and golfer, who once won the club championship at St. Andrews Golf Club in St. Charles, Missouri and also served as the president of the St. Louis Women’s Golf Association.
At the Lakewood Ranch-Sarasota Elks Lodge, she served as the chaplain along with leading other fundraising committees. She was the Eucharistic Minister at Our Lady of the Angels Catholic Church in Lakewood Ranch.
The Miracle League of Manasota, which started in 2012, is an affiliate of the National Miracle League that has leagues in more than 200 communities around the nation.
Miracle League Board President Robyn Graham, Elks Golf Tournament Director Mark Liddell, Elks’ Sarah Davis and Miracle League Executive Director Chris Cushman celebrate the Elks’ $1,500 donation to the league.
YOUR CALENDAR
COMMUNITY
THURSDAY, DEC. 11 THROUGH
SUNDAY, DEC. 14
LIVE MUSIC AT JIGGS LANDING
Runs from 3-6 p.m. each day at Jiggs Landing, 6106 63rd St. E., Bradenton. The live music lineup at Jiggs Landing includes Steve Arvey (Thursday), Blue Grass Pirates (Friday), Bonfire Jam Band (Saturday), and Kid Red (Sunday). The Friday and Saturday shows are $5; the others are free. For information, go to JiggsLanding.com.
FRIDAY, DEC. 12
MOVIE IN THE PARK
Runs from 6-9 p.m. at 7301 Island Cove Terrace, Waterside Park. “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” is the featured attraction for the free Movie in the Park series at runs the second Friday of the month. The movie begins at sunset. The event is sponsored by Grace Community Church. The first 488 patrons will receive a free cheese or pepperoni cheese slice from Percoco’s. Please bring a blanket or lawn chairs. Concessions will be available from We B’ Poppin Popcorn and Kettle Corn. Inflatables for the kids will be available at 6 p.m.
FRIDAY, DEC. 12 AND SATURDAY, DEC. 13
MUSIC AT THE PLAZA
Runs from 6-9 p.m. at Waterside Place, 1561 Lakefront Drive, Lakewood Ranch. Singer-songwriter Sheri Nadelman headlines the show on Friday for those strolling the streets at Waterside Place while singer-songwriter Sara Nelms entertains on Saturday. For more information about the free music series, go to WatersidePlace.com.
THURSDAY, DEC. 11 THROUGH SUNDAY, DEC. 14
‘WONDERLAND: BELIEVE’
Begins at 7 p.m. Thursday and Friday; sold out Saturday; and 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. Sunday at University Town Center. Then runs multiple dates through Jan. 4. Nik Wallenda’s circus production is held inside a climate controlled tent. Go to Tickets. WonderlandCircus.com/Events/3 to see all the dates and times and to purchase tickets, which start at $40. Wonderland takes audiences on a heartwarming and visually stunning journey that brings together the enchantment of the winter holidays and their unique traditions.
SATURDAY, DEC. 13
ROOFTOP YOGA
Begins at 9:30 a.m. at the Lakewood Ranch Library, 16410 Rangeland Parkway, Lakewood Ranch. Adults (18-and-older) can participate in the Rooftop Yoga program. The donation-based group class is designed to inspire and invigorate. Beginners are welcome, as are those with experience. The workout focuses on balancing effort and ease through breath work and postures. Those who participate are asked to bring a yoga mat. For information, go to MyLWR.com.
HEALTHY HARVEST FEST
Runs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Gamble Creek Farms, 14950 Golf Course Road, Parrish. Gamble Creek Farms is host a free Healthy Harvest Fest, with live entertainment, farm activities, local vendors, bounce houses, and health and wellness activities. For more information, call 539-8970.
BEST BET
WEDNESDAY, DEC. 17
FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS
Runs from 6:30-8:30 p.m. at University Town Center under the Big Top tent. The free Festival of Lights at Hanukkah is hosted by University Town Center. The community celebration will be held inside Nik Wallenda’s theater-sized circus tent in the UTC East District. The featured entertainer is Six13, a critically acclaimed six-man Jewish a cappella group known for its high-energy vocals and creative musical parodies. Based in New York City, Six13 has earned popularity for hits like “Bohemian Chanukah,” their spin on Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody,” and “Era-lution,” a Taylor Swift–inspired medley retelling the Hanukkah story. The group has performed at prestigious venues including The White House, The Kennedy Center, and Madison Square Garden. In addition to the free concert, guests can enjoy face painting, family friendly activities, and festive treats. For more information, go to UTCSarasota.com/Holidays.
SATURDAY, DEC.13 AND SUNDAY, DEC. 14
MUSIC AT THE LODGE
Runs 6-9 p.m. on Saturday and noon to 3 p.m. on Sunday at Linger Lodge, 7205 85th St. Court E., Bradenton. Linger Lodge’s live music schedule includes Huckleberry on Saturday and Scotty Yates on Sunday.
SUNDAY, DEC. 14
FARMERS MARKET
Runs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Lakefront Drive in Waterside Place, Lakewood Ranch. The Farmers Market at Lakewood Ranch, which was just voted as the top farmers market in the nation, will run year-round every Sunday. Vendors offer seafood, eggs, meats, dairy products, pastas, bakery goods, jams and pickles among other items. Other features are children’s activities and live music. For information, visit MyLWR.com.
YOGA IN THE PARK Runs 8-9 a.m. at Waterside Park, 7301 Island Cove Terrace, Sarasota. Start the morning off with gentle yoga with lake views. For information, go to MyLWR.com.
TUESDAY, DEC. 16
MARKET AT THE PARK Runs from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Nathan Benderson Park, 5851 Nathan Benderson Circle, Sarasota. The Market at Nathan Benderson Park runs on Tuesdays and features local artists, small businesses, and crafters from all walks of life. In addition, there will be a kids zone, food trucks, live music and themed events. Go to NathanBendersonPark.org for more information.
WEDNESDAY, DEC. 17
RANCH NITE WEDNESDAYS Runs from 6-9 p.m. at 1560 Lakefront Drive in Waterside Place. Join the crowd at Waterside Place enjoying the food trucks and live music or playing in the cornhole league during Ranch Nite Wednesdays. Weekly programming is offered each week in Gateway Park. No outside food or beverage is allowed. For more information, MyLWR.com.
Saturday, Dec. 4 | 7pm
Saturday, Dec. 4 | 7pm
SPONSORS
Start:
Wild Blue home tops sales at $3.25 million
ADAM HUGHES RESEARCH EDITOR
Ahome in Wild Blue at Waterside topped the week’s sales. Lucas and Paige Strawn, trustees, of Bixby, Oklahoma, sold the home at 1058 Blue Shell Loop to Axel Zimmermann and Helene Zimmermann, trustees, of Sarasota, for $3.25 million. Built in 2025, it has five bedrooms, five-and-a-half baths, a pool and 4,607 square feet of living area.
COUNTRY CLUB EAST
Michael and Renee Biehl, of Lakewood Ranch, sold their home at 7665 Haddington Cove to Theodore Robert Young, of Bradenton, for $2.65 million. Built in 2017, it has four bedrooms, four-and-a-half baths, a pool and 4,309 square feet of living area.
WILD BLUE AT WATERSIDE
SDWB Waterside LLC sold the home at 1123 Blue Shell Loop to James Stahl and Kimberly Storey, of Sarasota, for $2.2 million. Built in 2025, it has four bedrooms, fourand-a-half baths, a pool and 3,126 square feet of living area.
Kenneth Robert Madison and Nichol Virginia Madison, trustees, sold the home at 1217 Blue Shell Loop to Andrew and Jennifer Block, of Sarasota, for $1.98 million. Built in 2024, it has four bedrooms, four baths and 3,756 square feet of living area. It sold for $1.73 million in 2024.
RIVERDALE REVISED
David and Debra Groff, of Loganville, Georgia, sold their home at 576 Fore Drive to Anthony Langello and Luiza Mota Langello, of Bradenton, for $1.38 million. Built in 2015, it has three bedrooms, three baths, a pool and 2,720 square feet of living area. It sold for $1.5 million in 2014.
EMERALD LANDING AT WATERSIDE
Weekley Homes LLC sold the home at 1575 Running Tide Place to Thomas Hekker and Erika Olsen, of Sarasota, for $1.26 million. Built in 2025, it has four bedrooms, threeand-a-half baths and 3,225 square feet of living area.
Weekley Homes LLC sold the home at 1712 Gem Lane to Joseph and Olga Zarlenga, of Sarasota, for $550,000. Built in 2025, it has three bedrooms, two-and-a-half baths and 1,774 square feet of living area.
Weekley Homes LLC sold the home at 7263 Kodiak Lane to Joanna LaGow Reynolds, trustee, of Sarasota, for $540,000. Built in 2025, it has three bedrooms, two baths and 1,494 square feet of living area.
Weekley Homes LLC sold the home at 1708 Gem Lane to Guy Thomas Ellis Jr., of Sarasota, for $525,000. Built in 2025, it has three bedrooms, two-and-a-half baths and 1,740 square feet of living area.
WINDWARD
Neal Communities of Southwest Florida LLC sold the home at 8132 Anthirium Loop to Brant Thomas Barlow and Quinn Thomas Barlow, of Sarasota, for $1.25 million. Built in 2025, it has three bedrooms, three baths, a pool and 2,861 square feet of living area.
Kate and Aaron Howard, of Sarasota, sold their home at 2578 Wild Cherry Path to Michael and Heather Armbruster, of Sarasota, for $650,000. Built in 2022, it has three bedrooms, two-and-a-half baths, a pool and 2,066 square feet of living area. It sold for $770,000 in 2022.
ROSEDALE ADDITION
Charles and Jennifer Large, of St. Petersburg, sold their home at 9912 Carnoustie Place to David Emmerling, of Bradenton, for $1.17 million. Built in 2017, it has three bedrooms,
three baths, a pool and 2,768 square feet of living area.
REGENTS PARK
Robert and Marjorie Stem sold their home at 8223 Regents Court to Marc and Marnie Gibeley, of Boxford, Massachusetts, for $1.1 million. Built in 1993, it has four bedrooms, three-and-a-half baths, a pool and 3,128 square feet of living area. It sold for $620,000 in 2012.
RIVER CLUB NORTH
Prabhu and Megan Ramkumar, of Lakewood Ranch, sold their home at 6018 Glen Abbey Lane to Brandon Marcello and Jennifer Reiner-Marcello, of Bradenton, for $1 million. Built in 1996, it has three bedrooms, two-and-a-half baths and 2,815 square feet of living area. It sold for $725,000 in 2023.
LAKEWOOD NATIONAL GOLF
CLUB
Danielle Stiscak Lewis and Christopher James Lewis sold their home at 17459 Hickok Belt Loop to Joseph Futcher, of Lakewood Ranch, for $850,000. Built in 2020, it has four bedrooms, two baths, a pool and 2,270 square feet of living area. It sold for $496,000 in 2020.
POLO RUN
Daniel and Rachel Holleran, of Venice, sold their home at 6410 Rosehill Farm Run to Todd Wesley Jeffreys and Melissa Pace Jeffreys, of Bradenton, for $800,000. Built in 2018, it has six bedrooms, five baths, a pool and 3,908 square feet of living area. It sold for $595,000 in 2020.
BRADEN OAKS
William Wolf, trustee, sold the home at 3804 65th St. E. to Jason and Mariana Drabant, of Bradenton, for $775,000. Built in 1982, it has three bedrooms, two baths, a pool and 2,378 square feet of living area.
COUNTRY CLUB
Steven Mark Burnett, trustee, sold the home at 7131 Sandhills Place to Anne and John Brennan, of Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, for $745,000. Built in 2002, it has four bedrooms, two baths, a pool and 2,210 square feet of living area. It sold for $430,000 in 2014.
James Christopher Leary and Cathy Ann Leary sold their home at 6655 Pebble Beach Way to Mark Charles Frey and Joan Leota Frey, of Lakewood Ranch, for $665,000. Built in 2002, it has three bedrooms, two baths and 2,204 square feet of living area. It sold for $562,500 in 2021.
RIVERWALK RIDGE CYPRESS
BANKS
Michael and Marilyn Davenport, of Parrish, sold their home at 6811 Honeysuckle Trail to Charles Shannon Frazier and Danielle Marie Frazier, of Lakewood Ranch, for $725,000. Built in 2002, it has three bedrooms, three baths, a pool and 2,476 square feet of living area.
MAGNOLIA HAMMOCK AT UNIVERSITY PLACE Personal
Inc. sold the home at 7727 Heyward Circle to Juan Carlos Vigil, of Bradenton, for
$675,000. Built in 2006, it has four bedrooms, four baths and 3,272 square feet of living area. It sold for $407,500 in 2006.
GREYHAWK LANDING
Daniel Ryan Day and Lauren Rose Day, of Tampa, sold their home at 12628 Daisy Place to Joseph and Juanita Ecker, of Lexington, South Carolina, for $669,000. Built in 2007, it has three bedrooms, three baths and 2,500 square feet of living area. It sold for $702,000 in 2022.
MILL CREEK
HPA JV Borrower 2019-1 ML LLC sold the home at 2111 152nd Court E. to Charles David Spry Jr. and Kristi Wong, of Bradenton, for $650,000. Built in 2006, it has four bed-
rooms, three baths, a pool and 3,075 square feet of living area. It sold for $438,000 in 2018.
DEL TIERRA
Randal and Myrna Paine, trustees, of Bradenton, sold the home at 14818 Trinity Fall Way to Gregory Mirque and Carolyn Croce-Mirque, of Bradenton, for $600,000. Built in 2016, it has four bedrooms, two baths, a pool and 2,812 square feet of living area. It sold for $363,600 in 2016.
HERITAGE HARBOUR Rudolph and Michele Smartt, of Parrish, sold their home at 8912
Courtesy image
A Wild Blue at Waterside home at 1058 Blue Shell Loop sold for $3.25 million. Built in 2025, it has five bedrooms, five-and-a-half baths, a pool and 4,607 square feet of living area.
Heritage Sound Drive to James and Lori Rosenberger, of Florence, Kentucky, for $585,000. Built in 2008, it has two bedrooms, two baths and 1,853 square feet of living area. It sold for $630,000 in 2022.
ASHLEY TRACE AT UNIVERSITY
PLACE
Dan and Bilha Davidson and Eliau Rock Murciano and Victoria Murciano, trustees, sold the home at 7906 Ashley Circle to Patrick Hanrahan and Laura Lajos, of University Park, for $575,000. Built in 2004, it has three bedrooms, two baths and 2,135 square feet of living area. It sold for $392,500 in 2021.
DESOTO LAKES COUNTRY CLUB
COLONY
Htee Thein and Cherry Than, of Lakewood Ranch, sold their home at 8040 Conservatory Circle to Kenneth-Walter Douglas Sorensen and Kayla Marie Sorensen, of Sarasota, for $540,000. Built in 1994, it has four bedrooms, two baths, a pool and 2,169 square feet of living area. It sold for $250,000 in 2000.
CREEKWOOD
Nicholas Sparks and Georgina Mary Sparks sold their home at 7604 49th Ave. E. to Thomas Nyamweya Orenge and Lelde Burija, of Bradenton, for $525,000. Built in 1994, it has three bedrooms, two baths, a pool and 2,126 square feet of living area. It sold for $345,000 in 2018.
MALLORY PARK
Sarah Morley sold her home at 11502 Golden Bay Place to Kathryn Buttaccio, trustee, of Riverside, California, for $500,000. Built in 2017, it has three bedrooms, two baths and 2,014 square feet of living area. It sold for $417,500 in 2020.
TARA
Bonnie Kay Kaluk and Jamie Kay Kaluk, trustees, of Gadsden, Alabama, sold the home at 6507 Drewrys Bluff to Randy and Pamela Craig, of Bradenton, for $500,000. Built in 1990, it has three bed-
rooms, two baths, a pool and 2,390 square feet of living area. It sold for $270,000 in 1990.
SOLERA Anthony and Taylor Tignino sold their home at 5307 Grove Mill Loop to Victoria Cruz and Angelina Cruz, of Bradenton, for $499,000. Built in 2023, it has five bedrooms, three baths and 2,987 square feet of living area. It sold for $590,000 in 2023.
AZARIO ESPLANADE
Catherine Lynette Hanson and David Hanson, trustees, of Bradenton, sold the home at 15752 Sacile Lane to Raymond and Karen Moorman, of Bradenton, for $486,000. Built in 2023, it has two bedrooms, two baths and 1,558 square feet of living area. It sold for $490,600 in 2023.
ESPLANADE
Nancy Reilly, of Gulf Shores, Alabama, sold the home at 12619 Sorrento Way to Lisa and Steven Moore, of St. Louis, for $450,000. Built in 2018, it has two bedrooms, two baths and 1,680 square feet of living area. It sold for $346,500 in 2018.
RIVER CLUB SOUTH Dawn Butler, of Ocoee, sold the home at 10240 Silverado Circle to Rachel Marie Cacace and Paul Wagner, of Venice, for $415,000. Built in 1998, it has three bedrooms, two baths and 1,710 square feet of living area. It sold for $305,000 in 2017.
BACCIANO AT ESPLANADE
Jon Carl Moulthrop and Linda Mary Moulthrop, of Jeffersontown, Virginia, sold their Unit 202 condominium at 13837 Messina Loop to Jeff Allen Fink and Kristy Tolbert, of Nashville, Tennessee, for $390,000. Built in 2020, it has two bedrooms, two baths and 1,528 square feet of living area. It sold for $251,900 in 2021.
SPA SERVICES
• Massage Therapy – Swedish, deep tissue and couples’ treatments
• Hair & Nail Salon – Premium styling cuts and color for men and women
• Lashes – Extensions, lifts and tints for enhanced beauty
MEDICAL SPA SERVICES
• Weight management – Personalized GLP-1 programs
• Laser, permanent makeup, tattoo removal, Botox and fillers
FACIALS AND SKINCARE TREATMENTS
• Non-Invasive procedures – Peels, dermaplaning, waxing and more
NATURE’S BEAUTY WITH
“H NKWR ZROO ST IT PHSN ‘SNR OHYBOTXO’ RWRMV ORKOTX AES H OSHDG YV XTOR HX ... YKGHXJ OEMR SNR ONTP NKO K OTEZ.” YKSS JMTRXHXJ
“DX, CZRH’A ZRYYPMEM’ BRM, HZEA EA TRLH AEBYAXM; SNAH WEKKEMU, KXM’H ZRMU NY, HZEA EA MRMOD ORLHCLEUZH.” MRMOD ORLHCLEUZH
LET THE MUSIC GUIDE YOU by Hannah Slovut-Einertson, edited by Jared Goudsmit
By Luis Campos
The Shanahan Luxury Group Team provided outstanding service from day one and facilitated the sale of our home with professional care and focus. My wife and I have sold 8 homes in 6 different states over the years and this realtor team experience was a true partnership, the best we have seen by far. The team’s attention to detail, including accurate pricing, world class staging and communication made us very comfortable throughout the entire process. We interviewed several realtors before selecting The Shanahan Luxury Group, but no one came close to having all the tools, dedication and experience that Katina, Ken and Tyler bring to the table. Selling a home is serious business requiring thoughtful associates to be successful. We highly recommend The Shanahan Luxury Group to handle this complicated effort in a stress free and skilled manner that will make you happy!
