East County Observer 6.23.22

Page 1

EAST COUNTY

Reunion at home plate

Observer

PAGE 7B

Lakewood Ranch’s weekly newspaper since 1998

YOU. YOUR NEIGHBORS. YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD.

FREE • THURSDAY, JUNE 23, 2022

VOLUME 24, NO. 31

YOUR TOWN

Program aims to spark better learning climate The School District of Manatee hopes Project Spark leads to students loving their surroundings. SEE PAGE 3A

Liz Ramos

Couple gives back with a pick-me-up Greenbrook’s Frank and Kathy Black regularly can be found picking up trash as they walk along State Road 70 on June 17. For the past seven years, the Blacks have been walking five to 6 miles from their home in Greenbrook to the Panera in The Green at Lakewood Ranch filling bags with the trash they find on the side of the road. “It’s our home,” Frank Black said. “We’re trying to keep it clean. It’s not a landfill. It’s amazing how much we pick up.” Frank Black said he and his wife have picked up every type of clothing as they collected trash. “One day I said, ‘I think we’ve found everything but a bra,’ and then 10 minutes later, we found a bra,” he said. While the Blacks are walking, cars and trucks will honk at them as a thank you for keeping the area clean. They hope as people see them picking up garbage, it will remind them not to litter.

Courtesy photo

Whitfield Presbyterian Church members pose for this 1985 photo. They volunteered for Meals on Wheels, which is now celebrating its 50th anniversary.

Five decades of compassion Meals on Wheels celebrates its 50th year, but need grows to an all-time high. SEE PAGE 8A Ian Swaby

A Cinderella story goes to the market Two princesses had a chance meeting at the Night Market at UTC on June 17. Sarasota 5-year-old Gabby Spivak happened upon Madelyn Grogan of Princess Perfect Boutique. Grogan was dressed as Rapunzel from Disney’s “Tangled.” It turned out that Spivak didn’t need one of the makeovers that Princess Perfect Boutique offers. She already was attending in a colorful outfit that included a crown. “She never goes out of the house without being dressed that way,” said her father, Eugene Spivak. Grogan said she came out that night “Just to see all the beautiful faces, make some kids happy, and make somebody’s day a little brighter, a little more magical.”

A+E

Plenty of hoopla for circus show. SEE PAGE 11A

Good gracious! $76,850 in grants Jay Heater

Douglas Staley, the CEO of Child Protection Center, shows a painting made by a child who now is seeing the world in a brighter light because of the nonprofit.

Sisterhood for Good presents 25 grants to regional nonprofits. SEE PAGE 6A


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