E A ST COUNTY
Observer Lakewood Ranch’s weekly newspaper since 1998
Back to School
YOU. YOUR NEIGHBORS. YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD.
SPECIAL SECTION INSIDE
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FREE THURSDAY, AUGUST 4, 2016
VOLUME 18, NO. 36
Should county drop water park? Opponents want the idea squashed, but the county administrator asks for the process to continue. SEE PAGE 6
YOUR TOWN
Courtesy photo
Welcome wagon After two years, two months and one week, Lakewood Ranch’s Maribeth Phillips, above right, celebrated the homecoming of her daughter, Ashley Boccuzzi, above left, after Ashley served two years in the U.S. Peace Corp. “So grateful to all my family and friends who have checked in these last 26+ months to see how Ashley’s been doing,” Phillips posted on Facebook.
WHEN
LIFE’S RUFF
Creekwood resident answers call in eastern Manatee County. SEE PAGE 3
Jay Heater
Cheryl Brady, the owner of Vet Care Express Animal Ambulance, checks on Kash, a German shepherd who is being transported after surgery.
Pam Eubanks
From ‘groan’ to great All summer, 17-year-old cousins Sydney Wright of Lakewood Ranch and Jessica O’Dell of Sarasota groaned about their uncle, Bill Porter, signing them up for a Rotary Club youth leadership camp. At the Rotary Club meeting July 28, though, they thanked him in front of a room full of people. “I realized it was OK to be flawed,” O’Dell said. Wright, who lost a sister to cancer nine years ago, added, “It’s perfectly OK to be broken.”
SMR targets lifestyle changes
A+E
New director of community relations takes over in The Lake Club and Country Club East. SEE PAGE 4 Pam Eubanks
Monaca Onstad talks about opportunities for programming at Country Club East’s “Retreat” facility. “It gets me excited,” she says.
Trash Fish Dinner continues to elevate Sarasota’s sustainable seafood scene. INSIDE