E A ST COUNTY
Observer Lakewood Ranch’s weekly newspaper since 1998
YOU. YOUR NEIGHBORS. YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD.
VOLUME 17, NO. 27
FREE
NOLAN’S NIGHT PAGE 1B •
THURSDAY, MAY 21, 2015
ALWAYS ENOUGH LOVE PAM EUBANKS SENIOR EDITOR
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homemade welcome mat leading into the McAndrew home reads, “Welcome to our loud, crazy, fun, happy home.” With six children under one roof, the noise begins at 6:30 a.m. It doesn’t stop until nearly 9 p.m. There’s plenty of stress, but expectations are clear. It’s highly organized and structured. And, there’s always plenty of fun. It was like that even before Tom and Holly McAndrew took in two foster children ages 4 and 7 in March, adding to the already full house that includes Thomas, 11, Owen, 9, Scarlette, 3, and Merritt, 2. “We’ve become one big happy family,” Holly McAndrew says. The McAndrews had talked about fostering children after their first two children were born but put the idea on hold after the birth of their third and fourth children. But in January, while Holly and Tom McAndrew were remodeling a room at Woodland Community Church, where Holly works as an administrative assistant, they learned about two children in Pam Eubanks
SEE FOSTER CARE PAGE 3A
TRIBUTE TO HEROES Will you be at the Memorial Day Parade on Main Street to honor America’s bravest?
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Tom and Holly McAndrew gather with their children Thomas, 11, Merritt, 2, two foster children, center, Owen, 9, and Scarlette, 3.
THE HALL WAY He has a list of goals for the Manatee County School District, but Don Hall will take a pass on the long-term role of superintendant.
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YOUR TOWN OF BUTTERFLIES AND BECOMING BIGGER
Julia Butler shows off her handmade butterfly accessories.
All God’s Children voluntary pre-K students spent weeks caring for caterpillars and watching their transformations within the classroom. But on May 4, students, with paper headbands fastened around their foreheads, released their monarchs into the school’s butterfly garden while parents and students watched nearby.