East County Observer 5.11.23

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Taco ’bout a good incentive

Todd Richardson, the principal at B.D. Gullett Elementary School, was able to celebrate Cinco de Mayo in a special way May 5.

With the help of Melissa Sharp’s fifth grade class, Richardson turned into a taco as a prize for raising the most money during the school’s walk-a-thon.

Richardson laid on a blanket that looked like a taco shell while fifth graders covered him from head to toe in refried beans, lettuce, shredded and melted cheese, salsa, sour cream, guacamole and ground beef and more.

“That salsa’s hot,” Richardson said as students poured salsa on him. “It’s spicy.”

After he was covered in ingredients, students chanted, “Wrap him up,” as he was covered with the taco shell blanket.

Building morale

The SUP and Run 5K brought together a group of Willis Smith Construction employees May 6 for an opportunity to build morale.

The Lakewood Ranch-based company pays for employees to enter a 5K once a month.

Ron Humphrey, a network engineer, chooses the race and registers the team.

He said the company tries to participate in races that support good causes.

As a veteran who served in the Army for 11 years, Humphrey said he leans toward veteran charities, making the Sup and Run 5K at Nathan Benderson Park the perfect race for him.

The race benefited Operation Second Chance, which provides services to veterans who are wounded, injured and ill.

way

Darryl Fisher, the founder and president of Dream Flights, takes Chip Tominelli, an Army veteran and Cypress Springs Gracious Retirement Living resident, on his second Dream Flight.

Liz Ramos

Todd Richardson turns into a taco.

Lesley Dwyer Willis Smith Construction teammates Ron Humphrey, Carol Brunemann, Ginger aka “The Ginge”, Viron Lynch and Laura Lynch.

Partnership addresses teacher shortage

The School District of Manatee County hires 10 new teachers who graduated from USF education programs.

Anna Bunyak’s first job was as a paraprofessional at Myakka City Elementary School. She found working with students to be inspiring.

“It made me realize how much I loved it,” she said. “Whenever I was off from (school), I would think about it, like ‘Oh my gosh, I miss the kids; I miss being there.’ Seeing their growth from the beginning of the year to the end of the year in not just schoolwork, but personal growth, really touched me and inspired me to stick with it.”

So Bunyak decided to enroll in the University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee’s elementary education program.

Bunyak was one of the 10 USF students who celebrated signing a one-year teaching contract with the School District of Manatee County during a Signing Day at the USF Sarasota-Manatee campus April 25.

Bunyak and another elementary education program graduate, Jennifer Bartens, will start their first year teaching at East County elementary schools.

Bartens said she will float around Freedom Elementary school serving as a teacher in pre-K through fifth grade. She’s looking forward to being a part of the school community.

“They seem like a really nice group,” she said. “They’re very welcoming and supportive of my journey.”

Both Bartens and Bunyak said they are grateful for the partnership between USF Sarasota-Manatee and the school district, which includes a paid internship and clinical experience where USF students intern in Manatee County schools.

“I feel like it set me up for suc-

MEET THE TEACHERS

The School District of Manatee County has hired 10 graduates of the University of South Florida’s education programs.

n Jessica Bailey: Palmetto Elementary

n Jennifer Bartens: Freedom Elementary

n Shelbi Berner: Southeast High

n Anna Bunyak: Gilbert W. McNeal Elementary

n Hailey Cosby: Samoset Elementary

n Ashley Danko: Prine Elementary

n Paige Dodd: Prine Elementary

n Hope Gratzer: Southeast High

n Ariana Morales: Samoset Elementary

n Madison Atkinson: Elementary school not yet determined

cess in this career field,” said Bunyak, who will be a first grade teacher at Gilbert W. McNeal Elementary. “The support we’ve gotten definitely makes it feel like they want us to stay within the district. I feel valued as a first-year teacher.”

Upon completing their internships, the students are offered contracts to become teachers for the school district.

“They know when they go into their internship that they are ready for employment,” said Cynthia Saunders, the superintendent of the Manatee schools. “They don’t have to stress or worry about where they are going to work because they’re going to know that from the very beginning.”

The university and school district partnership is helping address the teacher shortage in the county.

“We are in dire need of high quality teachers, not just locally but nationally,” said Cheryl Ellerbrock, dean of the College of Education on the Sarasota-Manatee campus. “To be able to contribute to help our School District of Manatee County public schools be able to produce the next generation of amazing teachers is just an honor.”

LIZ RAMOS SENIOR EDITOR

MAKING MANATEE HOUSING MORE AFFORDABLE

LESLEY DWYER

STAFF WRITER

Affordable housing could be coming to Lakewood Ranch.

The first application for an affordable housing project in Lakewood Ranch was submitted for a property on Lena Road, off Interstate 75 near Lena Business Park. Out of 606 proposed units, 152 will be affordable rentals. The property is currently zoned for agricultural use. Rezoning usually adds four to six months to the process of getting a proposed project approved, but the project could be moved into the planning phase by the end of the year.

The Lakewood Ranch affordable housing project would be the first in East County out of the nearly 80 affordable housing projects in progress in Manatee County.

Manatee County commissioners are working to address affordable housing through the Livable Manatee Incentive Program, which began in 2017 and incentivizes developers to incorporate affordable housing into their projects. To qualify, 25-35% of units must be considered affordable and stay within rental limit guidelines.

“We like to see the rental mix because we believe the lower-income families can learn something from those folks within the market rate,” Affordable Housing Coordinator Rowena Elliott said. “We believe that being in the mix gives them some kind of comfort to say, ‘OK, we might be able to get there at some point,’ so having that mix is a very good thing for the county.”

Commissioners are in support of the program expanding into the eastern portion of the county.

“Lakewood Ranch needs service workers,” Commissioner George Kruse said. “We’ve got commercial, we’ve got hotels out there, so people who work out in Lakewood Ranch and support the residents of Lakewood Ranch need to have a reasonable place to live that they can afford.”

UPDATED INCENTIVES

Elliott was hired in November 2021 to analyze the Livable Manatee Incentive Program and make sure it was meeting requirements. Amendments were made in September 2022 to encourage more applications and approvals.  Elliott’s recommendations included changing the quarter-mile rule and removing the $500,000 incentive cap.

The quarter-mile rule stated that affordable housing should be built within a quarter mile of public transportation. A lack of housing is a more pressing issue than a lack of transportation within the county, so now housing can be constructed within a half-mile of public transportation, Elliott said.

Manatee

As an incentive to build affordable housing, developers could previously receive up to $500,000. Elliott said the cap caused some developers to be $100,000 to $150,000 short of fully funding the projects.

“One of my analyses of the program was that I realized if a developer came in and they were doing 100% affordable, the maximum they could get was only $500,000,” Elliott said.

“To me, that kind of defeated what we were trying to accomplish. If a developer came in with 100% affordable housing, we should be incentivizing them 100% because they’re going to benefit more families.”

Since the revisions, the county has been able to revive 18 stagnant applications and has received 15 new ones. There are nearly 80 projects at all phases making their way through the program, which equates to 1,300 affordable housing units.

The largest project in the works broke ground in March. Lincoln Avenue Capital, a development firm specializing in affordable housing, is building a project in Oneco called the 301 Flats and the Savoy at 301.

The Flats will provide 324 units for working families, while the Savoy will offer 248 units of senior housing. Both projects will have units for rent starting in 2024, with full completion in 2025. Combined county incentives total $4.4 million for the project.

HOW IT WORKS FOR ELIGIBLE RESIDENTS

While the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Section 8 program might have the most name recognition, this effort is not part of that. HUD issues vouchers to lowincome, disabled and elderly residents that are presented to landlords, then a portion of the rent is paid by the public housing agency and the remainder is paid by the tenant.

Section 8 rentals are not designated as affordable housing units. They’re rentals that anyone can apply for, but

the landlord has to agree to accept the terms of the voucher.

For the Livable Manatee Incentive Program, funding comes from the State Housing Initiatives Partnership, which incentivizes local governments to form partnerships that preserve and create affordable housing for low- to moderate-income families.

The process is the same as renting any other apartment. Potential tenants work directly with the developments, no pre-approval required. Units are rented on a first-come, first-served basis, but the tenant must fall within median income limits set forth by the Florida Housing Finance Corporation, which are based on figures provided by HUD.

To receive a Section 8 voucher in Manatee county, the household income can’t exceed 50% of the median income for the county, and 75% of vouchers must go to residents earning 30% and under. To qualify for a rental through Livable Manatee, a family can earn up to 120% of the median income in Manatee County.

While 140% of the median average officially qualifies as “workforce housing” under HUD, Livable Manatee includes the workforce by allowing for higher salaries up to 120% of the median income. A teacher or nurse with 20 years experience most likely wouldn’t qualify at 120%, but those early in their careers would.

In September 2022, the School Board of Manatee County unanimously approved a raise for new

PROGRAM BASICS IN LAYMAN’S TERMS

BUILDER INCENTIVES

n Housing Rapid Response Team/Fast Tracking speeds up the review time for applications.

n Review Fee Deferral credits the deferred fees from the affordable housing units to the applicant’s account once the terms are met and a certificate of occupancy is issued.

n The Tree Protection Trust Fund provides reimbursement to replace small trees used for landscaping.

n Density Bonus allows developers to build up to twice the number of units in eligible areas.

n Bulk and Dimensional Standards refer to lot sizes and setbacks. A standard setback for a garage is 25 feet in the front yard, but it could be reduced to five feet.

n Modification of Other Standards expands on the bulk and dimensional standards by including things like buffers and easements.

teachers. The starting salary is now $55,177, which falls well below the eligibility requirement for a oneperson household.

The program also benefits firsttime homebuyers, but out of the 1,300 units in process, only about 30 are homes and mainly cottages. But if the purchase price falls within the pricing guidelines, the home is eligible even if it wasn’t intended to be affordable housing.

Eligible buyers can receive financial assistance of up to $75,000 for down payments and closing costs. Applicants must attend a Homeownership Training Course given by Step Up Suncoast and be qualified through a certified lender. The lender submits the application on behalf of the applicant. The county keeps a list of certified lenders on its website.

There are stipulations if approved.

“The agreement for affordability is 30 years on the houses. They do have the option, after a certain period of time, to still sell. They’re still going to have equity coming out of the home, but if they’re not selling the home to another qualified homeowner, then they have to pay a portion into the affordable housing subsidy account to help someone else to get a home,” Elliott said. “If they sell that to them as a market rate home, then we have just lost one of our affordable homes to the market.”

n Transfer of Development Rights allows a developer to transfer the development rights of the affordable units from one project to another within the county as long as that project doesn’t exceed the 35% threshold.

n Certificate of Level of Service Extension Request gives priority to projects within the “urban core” and within ¼ mile of public transportation over standard residential projects and allows for certificate extensions due to extenuating circumstances like a hurricane.

n Site Improvement Incentives allow builders to opt for modifications of the affordable housing units, such as zero lot lines with fencing and reduced buffers and lot sizes.

n Impact Fees on designated affordable homes are paid for by the county.

BUILDER REQUIREMENTS

n File an online application with Manatee County.

n Commit to keep units affordable from 20 to 50 years.

n Abide by the comprehensive plan and all county and state regulations.

Reinventing Your Diamonds

Driven to complete new range

Driving range under construction in Myakka City will serve all law enforcement agencies in Manatee County.

LIZ RAMOS STAFF WRITER

Jay Romine was all smiles as he put on a hard hat and grabbed a shovel.

Romine, who is the director of the Law Enforcement Academy at Manatee Technical College, has been waiting 15 years to see a facility with a firing range and driving pad be constructed in Manatee County.

“I wasn’t sure if I’d ever see it happen, but now, we are going to see it happen,” he said. “It’s exciting for the citizens of Manatee County and for all the law enforcement agencies in the county.”

Manatee Technical College officials and the Bradenton Police Department celebrated a groundbreaking May 4 for the Manatee Technical College-City of Bradenton Police Firing and Driving Range.

The state-of-the-art facility will be constructed on 70 acres off Taylor Road in Myakka City.

MTC received a $2 million grant from the state to put toward the firing and driving range. The School District of Manatee County will provide the rest of the funding for the $4,769,164 facility.

The School Board of Manatee County approved the project in July 2021 and has since been going through approvals with other stakeholders along with planning and design.

Mike Pendley, an executive planner for the school district, said the next step for the project is to go through permitting with Manatee County. He said A.D. Morgan, the project’s contractor, is projecting to officially break ground in November, with the project’s completion being sometime in the summer or fall of

ABOUT THE FIRING AND DRIVING RANGE

Partnership: Manatee

Technical College and Bradenton Police Department

Scheduled opening: Summer or fall 2024

Site: 70 acres off Taylor Road

Scope of work: 25-yard pistol range, 100-yard rifle range, a simulated shoot house, a 300-by-600-foot driving pad and a building containing a classroom, offices, a gun room and more.

Budget: $4,769,164

Architect: Fawley Bryant

Architecture

Construction manager: A.D. Morgan

2024.

Manatee Technical College and the Bradenton Police Department will work in together to manage the facility.

The facility will feature a 25-yard pistol range, 100-yard rifle range, a simulated shoot house, a 300-by600-foot driving pad and a building containing a classroom, offices, a gun room and more.

“Never in the history of Manatee County, with the county as big as it is, have we had a public safety firing range; never have we had a driving range; never have we had a shoot house to this caliber,” said Melanie Bevan, chief of the Bradenton Police Department. “Here’s an opportunity for agencies from all over to be able to come and get the kind of training that saves lives.”

Bevan, Bradenton Mayor Gene Brown and school board Chair Chad Choate commended the collaborative efforts between the Bradenton City Council, Bradenton Police Department, Manatee Technical College and the school board to make

the facility a reality.

“Sometimes government bodies don’t necessarily agree on things,” Choate said. “This proves we can come together as different bodies of government and get great things accomplished for our area. What’s more important is our men and women who serve us in the community and keep us protected will have a great facility to train in.”

Bevan said if her officers want or need to get training at a firing or driving range, they have to travel to St. Petersburg. With the new facility in Manatee County, officers can spend less time traveling to training and more time protecting and serving.

“If we want to get that kind of training, we have to drive to a different county, a different city,” Bevan said. “No more — we’re going to have it in our own backyard … You’re going to have officers out there that are going to have that advanced training that is going to allow us to serve and protect even better.”

Romine said the facility will help train the MTC Law Enforcement Academy’s recruits better before going into the field.

“There’s never been a time, in my opinion, that proper training is more important for law enforcement than

it is right now,” he said. “We have to make sure we are producing the best quality recruits we can. I think we do, and we’re going to do it even better with the proper facilities to use.”

The MTC Law Enforcement Academy has between 30 and 35 students per class in its basic recruit academy.

The academy also offers equivalency training for out-of-state officers who are moving and going to work in Florida, which Romine said there’s been an influx of over the past few years as people move to the state.

The 123 officers in the Bradenton Police Department will also use the facility for training. Bevan said agencies across the county, such as the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office and Holmes Beach and Palmetto police departments, will be able to use the facility as well.

Romine said he already has told Jennifer Gilray, the assistant director at MTC’s east campus, that he’ll be spending several hours at the new facility upon its completion.

“This is my 44th year in law enforcement in Manatee County, and quite honestly, I wondered if I’d ever see this day come,” he said. “I keep telling Dr. Gilray that we need to get this done so I can retire because I refuse to leave until this is done and it’s in operation.”

Bradenton Police Chief Melanie Bevan, Bradenton Mayor Gene Brown and Cynthia Saunders, superintendent of the School District of Manatee County, celebrate the groundbreaking of the new firing and driving range.

Liz Ramos

RV park proposed for Lorraine Road

The proposed RV park includes 130 sites, no extended stays, a queuing area, clubhouse and bathhouse.

LESLEY DWYER STAFF WRITER

After rallying against a proposed zoning change for the land from Fruitville Road north to Blue Lake Road in the fall, residents along Lorraine Road are expressing concerns over a new zoning change proposal.

This time, the proposed zoning change is for about 45 acres located at 2000 Lorraine Road. It’s composed of four lots a half-mile from Fruitville Road and would allow for a recreational vehicle park.

Kelley Klepper with Kimley-Horn and Associates filed a zoning change pre-application on behalf of SITC Inc., which is owned by John Cox, to Sarasota County in April to allow for SITC Inc. to construct the RV park.

More than 50 area residents attended a virtual workshop, conducted by Klepper and William Merrill III with Icard Merrill Timm Furen & Ginsburg on May 2, to express concerns and ask questions about the RV park. The neighborhood workshop is a mandatory step in the zoning change application process.

Residents raised two major concerns: increase in traffic and whether this proposed RV park would become another Sun Outdoors, formally known as Sun N Fun, on Fruitville Road.  Sun Outdoors allows mobile homes, which can provide permanent structures and residency. The park also has a two-story waterslide and live entertainment, and both draw regular crowds.

The proposed park will border David Fink’s property on the north and west sides. His concern is that the park will disturb his peaceful neighborhood.

“I’ve only been out there for about

33 years, I know how quiet it is,” Fink said. “Sun N Fun has their band out by the pool on the weekends, and I don’t know what time you guys go to bed, but I really like the peace and quiet out there.”

The attorneys said their client is proposing a completely different kind of park. The most impactful difference being no long-term stays.

Residents were concerned that children could be registered for school using an address in the park, but that would go against county codes and the park’s concept.

SITC will be marketing to Class A motorhomes that drive in and out, staying anywhere from a weekend up to six months.

Kampgrounds of America describes Class A motorhomes as “the most massive coaches on the market, and they run the gamut as far as extravagance goes.”

“We want to create a more upscale type of RV community,” Merrill said.

The property could allow for up to 215 campsites at the minimum standard of 2,500 square feet per lot, but SITC is proposing no more than 130 sites to accommodate the larger Class A motorhomes that are up to eight-and-a-half feet wide and 45 feet long. The lots will also be “significantly set back” from the road.

The plans also include a clubhouse and bathhouse. A queuing area will be incorporated into the entrance to prevent a backup of motorhomes on Lorraine Road while guests check into the park.

One of the access points into the park is proposed at the intersection of Lorraine Road and Dog Kennel Road. Windward resident John Knoakes asked if a traffic circle or stoplight is being considered, but Merrill said the traffic study didn’t warrant it.

The study itself was also questioned: Does it take into consideration projects that aren’t completed? Merrill said the study has to look at anything that’s been approved, even if it’s not constructed yet.

Buffers were also addressed.

“Lakewood Ranch and SchroederManatee Ranch created an incred-

ible kind of corridor using the natural features and providing buffers,” Klepper said. “We’re actually proposing to emulate those buffers so it’s a consistent theme from Lorraine Road where it cuts into Fruitville all the way up into the Waterside community.”

Because the proposal isn’t far enough along yet in the process, Klepper and Merrill couldn’t address all of residents’ concerns, including

Leaf it OUT!

No plastic bags for yard waste.

Sarasota County has transitioned away from the use of plastic bags for yard waste materials. Effective May 1, 2023, yard waste materials must be placed in paper bags, reusable containers or bundled properly. For more information and a list of FAQs, visit scgov.net/leafitout.

noise restrictions, whether the park would have a liquor license and if an outdoor speaker system will be installed.

Sarasota County commissioners will hold two more public meetings to discuss the zoning change for the proposed RV park, but the dates are to be determined.

If approved, the RV park will take about a year-and-a-half to two years to complete.

To the first-time mother looking for assurance before the big day. To the child spending their first night in the hospital and searching for a friendly face. To the fighter who needed encouragement and the survivor who needed a coach. To all the friends and family members who rest easier knowing their loved ones will always be safe in your care.

Being a nurse isn’t easy, and some days it might seem like too much. But to every patient in need of your strength and your support, You make a world of difference.

FLIGHT OF THEIR DREAMS

re-acclimate airmen returning from Vietnam.

Melanie Gutierrez sat in a World War II era open cockpit biplane feeling anxious.

Gutierrez, a U.S. Air Force veteran who served from 1976 to 1982, is scared of heights. She was focused on not crying or stopping the plane from taking off because she wanted to overcome her fear for this honor flight.

“No loop de loops, right?” Gutierrez said with a laugh to Darryl Fisher, the founder and president of Dream Flights.

Dream Flights is a Nevada-based organization that honors veterans with a free flight in a Boeing-Stearman biplane.

Gutierrez, who is a resident at Cypress Springs Gracious Retirement Living, gave a thumbs up after Fisher put a World War II era pilot hat on her. She was ready to take off.

After taking off into the clouds, Gutierrez’s nervousness melted away. She was amazed as she saw Sarasota thousands of feet below her.

“It took off nice and slow,” Gutierrez said. “There was this peace, and I know God gave me that peace. It was a gift. It was the most beautiful thing.”

Gutierrez was one of nine Cypress Springs Gracious Retirement Living residents and veterans to go on Dream Flights on April 27.

Other than a commercial airline flight, Gutierrez had never been in any other type of plane, but she has flown in a helicopter before during her time as an intensive care unit nurse in the Air Force.

As an ICU nurse, Gutierrez helped

“They were so isolated,” Gutierrez. “That was the hard thing. The human touch and stuff is what was missing (for the airmen). If you could give them that, they would sometimes come back.”

Before becoming a member of the Air Force, Gutierrez actually protested the Vietnam War while in college at Kent State. But she said she had a choice to make: be a “party girl” or build a life.

Little did she know, her time in the Air Force would lead her to her husband, Mario Gutierrez, whom she met in Officer Training School in 1976. Mario and Melanie Gutierrez were married 20 days later.

Leading up to the Dream Flights, Gutierrez and Cypress Springs resident Albert Perna, who served from 1951 to 1953 in the Army, were teasing each other about the plane stunts they would do on their flights.

As soon as Gutierrez landed, Perna was ready for his turn.

“He’s going to have a blast,” Gutierrez said about Perna.

Perna loved his time in the sky. When he landed, he thanked Fisher for the opportunity.

“He had me strapped in so tight, I couldn’t wing walk,” Perna said with a laugh.

Perna’s wife, Lillie, walked over to him as he talked to Fisher about his time in the Army. The Pernas watched as Fisher signed a hat for Albert Perna, or as Fisher now knows him, “Big Al.”

The Dream Flight was extra special for Ted Kimball, who served in the Army from 1967 to 1970. The flight was a birthday gift for Kimball, who celebrated his 74th birthday April 27.

Cypress Springs residents surprised Kimball with signs wishing him a happy birthday as he walked onto the tarmac to prepare for his flight.

After landing, Kimball described his trip in the sky with two words: “totally awesome.”

“I listened to all the communications with the tower, and when that engine kicked over, wow, I was just bouncing off the walls,” Kimball said. “The view was just amazing. You can see all the water, boats, hotels and houses from a bird’s-eye view, and you don’t often get to do that.”

Kimball said he was a “political pawn” during his time in the service. He didn’t want to be recruited to fight in Vietnam, but the recruiter, whom Kimball nicknamed “Mr. Sunshine,” gave him a book of military occupational specialties. Kimball chose to specialize in nuclear weapons, but he needed to pass a test first. He said Mr. Sunshine told him he wouldn’t be able to pass the test.

“I passed the test, and I got in and went through school,” he said. “Fifteen of us were earmarked for Vietnam. They were going to put tactical nuclear weapons in Vietnam. They sent us on a 30-day leave, and one evening when the peace talks were announced, the next morning, I had new orders. We became political pawns, if you will, in the process, but it worked. I went to Korea instead.”

During his time in the Korean War, Kimball recalled a time an infiltration team was only a mile away from his base. His team provided the weapons that were loaded into missiles pointing into North Korea. He said a battery was pointed at his base in case the base was overrun and his team couldn’t destroy the weapons.

Although it was war, Kimball always wanted to look on the bright side.

“The people were amazing, the food was amazing, totally different than what I was used to,” he said. “There were good times and bad times, but I always try to find the good in situations like that.”

One of his favorite memories was when he walked into the mountains. He was told not to drink the water because it could cause him to get sick, but he went to a monastery that had a natural spring.

“The water was incredible, and we didn’t care if we came down with something, which we didn’t,” Kimball said with a laugh.

MEET THE VETERANS

These Cypress Spring Gracious Retirement Living residents went on Dream Flights in honor of their service.

John LaDue Army 1959-1962

Frank Baily Air Force 1974-2000

Victoria Baily Air Force 1989-2002

George Troisi Marines 1976

Ted Kimball Army 1967-1970

Peter Moore Navy 1964-1974

Melanie Gutierrez Air Force 1976-1982

Albert Perna Army 1951-1953

Chip Tominelli Army 1942-1945

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LIZ RAMOS SENIOR EDITOR

Dream Flights honor Lakewood Ranch veterans with a flight around Sarasota.

Peter Moore, a Cypress Springs Gracious Retirement Living resident and Navy veteran, and Darryl Fisher, founder and president of Dream Flights, are ready to take to the skies in a Boeing-Stearman biplane.

Photos by Liz Ramos

Ted Kimball, a Cypress Springs Gracious Retirement Living resident and Army veteran, says celebrating his 74th birthday by going on a Dream Flight was phenomenal.

Cypress Springs Gracious Retirement Living residents and veterans celebrate their own Ted Kimball’s birthday. Kimball’s gift was going on a Dream Flight.

Head-on crash with growth

We watched the heralded diverging diamond construction for years at the Interstate 75/University Parkway interchange.

Everyone had high hopes.

The truth is that construction has been a success. But those who drive through it daily might disagree.

Without this construction, though, things would be worse. A lot worse.

All that planning, all that construction and all that money couldn’t withstand the growth. You can spend a solid chunk of your day getting through that area. It is likely most of us have experienced it.

Simply put, for the high traffic time of day, there are too many cars that drive through that interchange. Short of building double-decker roads and ramps over the existing roadway, that section of road is doomed.

The University Town Center area continues to grow, and the Mote Science Education Aquarium will open in about 18 months. More national and international events are coming to Nathan Benderson Park and more hotels. People, people, people.

We assume that most people love it because the parking lots are filled and the roads are jammed. So what to do?

The I-75/University Parkway interchange is just one of several traffic hotspots in East County that will complicate all our lives for years. Are there solutions?

It isn’t likely that more lanes, bridges and concrete are going to fix the snarls. Our county’s planning already has arrived at its crisis moment, and it’s time to give some serious thought about how we grow.

I try to be careful not to sound like one of the people who lament, “There used to be cows in my backyard.”

Indeed, before I moved to Lake-

wood Ranch eight years ago, there used to be cows in my backyard.

But where my house sits used to be a tomato farm, and before the tomato farm, well, I am sure coyotes and bobcats used to meet there for social events.

Is it fair to say, “I’ve got mine, so no more building is allowed?”

New York City, Dallas, Los Angeles ... you pick the city ... spread out and swallowed up land where you could once see cows. Perhaps our area would be best suited to be a Miami west.

So at this point we have to give up and accept the inevitable, or if the majority of residents want reckless growth to be severely curbed, we need to relate that desire to county commissioners in a unified and forceful manner.

Besides the obvious strain on our natural resources, all these new residents translate into more cars on the road. And how long is it before paradise turns into a jail cell because you can’t get anywhere?

So let’s look at a couple of traffic hotspots, or potential hotspots, in East County.

The I-75/University Park interchange tops the list for all the aforementioned reasons, and then you can throw in the development as you drive east along University Parkway. Figure in more than 5,000 homes in Lakewood Ranch Southwest, which generally will sit on 4,120 acres between University Parkway and Fruitville Road and east of Lorraine Road. SchroederManatee Ranch’s land sprawls almost to the Old Miakka community to the east.

All those homes are going to pour motorists toward University Parkway and the University Parkway/I-75 interchange. Good grief.

Next up is the Lakewood Ranch Boulevard and Upper Manatee River Road intersection with State Road

64. A major shopping area is being developed just down the road at the S.R. 64/I-75 interchange and business has swallowed up most of the vacant land on both sides of S.R. 64 as you head east toward Lorraine Road.

At rush hours, those trying to get home toward Parrish or to the new east developments on S.R. 64, pack that intersection. Those headed eastbound who want to make a left onto Upper Manatee River Road get so frustrated with the wait that they pack the middle of the intersection, causing more snarls when the light changes.

Manatee County is beginning construction to widen Upper Manatee River Road through to the Fort Hamer Bridge, but that is going to take three or four years, and then another couple of years to build another span over the Manatee River to accommodate the wider roadway.

Commissioners are acting as fast as they can to prioritize road projects to handle the influx of people. But somewhere along the line it would make sense to turn some potential residents away. Egads. Meanwhile, housing projects throughout that corridor continue flying through the permitting process and then are approved by the Manatee County Commission.

Now it is easy just to blame commissioners, but, in fact, we have laws and regulations in place that affect their decisions and protect land ownership rights, and therefore what you can do with your property.

Turning down many of those projects would result in lawsuits against the county — lawsuits the county most likely would lose.

So the change here might involve changing laws and regulations or adding new ones.

If we don’t see change, the next traffic hotspot will be the intersec-

tion of S.R. 70 and Lorraine Road. Only five years ago, this was a quiet area, but it has quickly developed much higher traffic volume. Manatee County is trying to get ahead of potential problems with the widening of Lorraine Road to four lanes from S.R. 64 to S.R. 70 while the Florida Department of Transportation widens S.R. 70 through County Road 675 and adds a series of roundabouts.

Like the University Parkway/I-75 interchange, you wonder how much pressure that intersection can stand with thousands of homes being added in eastern portions of Lakewood Ranch and along Lorraine Road and with the commission’s willingness to allow much more dense construction east of the Future Development Boundary Area.

The center of Manatee County, in terms of population, is shifting eastward, and how long will it be until driving through Lakewood Ranch is going to be like going

through downtown Bradenton at rush hour? Will we have to just stay home and live on the internet?

What do you believe to be an impending traffic hot spot? Are their ones that exist now that you need to drive through every day? Do you see any solutions? Let me know by sending me an email to JHeater@ YourObserver.com.

Jay Heater

Turning onto Upper Manatee River Road from State Road 64 can be a major task at rush hour. Manatee County is widening Upper Manatee River Road, but so many homes are set to be built toward the corridor, it might not matter.

Jay Heater is the managing editor for the East County Observer. Contact him at JHeater@ YourObserver.com.

Giving back in style

Fashion show featuring clothing from Monkee’s of Lakewood Ranch will support Everyday Blessings’ Springboard Program.

Country Club’s Melissa Howard knows firsthand the impact Everyday Blessings can have on a child in foster care.

Howard adopted her sons, 14-year-old Jayden and 15-year-old Cameron, three-and-a-half years ago. She met them through Everyday Blessings, a nonprofit focused on providing care for children and young adults in the foster care system. While volunteering for the nonprofit, she saw how it helped children like her sons feel supported and cared for on its campus in Lithia, Florida.

Howard, along with Lakewood Ranch’s Marina Wolf-Schmidt, are hosting a fashion show May 19 to support Everyday Blessings’ Springboard Program, which provides housing for 18- to 22-year-olds in the Extended Foster Care Program.

The Springboard Program leases fully furnished one-bedroom units to them at an affordable amount in Sarasota. The individuals receive life skills training, tutoring, mentoring and therapeutic services as well.

The fashion show, which will feature clothing from Monkee’s of Lakewood Ranch, will give Howard, Wolf-Schmidt and Richard Stroud, the CEO and executive director of Everyday Blessings, an opportunity to not only financially support the nonprofit but also spread awareness about its mission.

“It’s a real blessing,” Stroud said. “A lot of (the young adults) are from tough areas. That’s why we focus on putting them in a nice, safe area. That’s an absolute must for these kids, that they feel safe. They often haven’t felt safe in the past. We can’t

IF YOU GO

FASHION SHOW

When: 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

May 19

Where: Lakewood Ranch Country Club, 7650 Legacy Blvd., Lakewood Ranch

Price: $100

Details: View styles from Monkee’s of Lakewood Ranch while supporting Everyday Blessings’ Springboard Program.

More information: EverydayBlessings.TicketLeap.com/ May2023

do any of our other programming or any other assistance to these kids until they actually have a roof over their head.”

Stroud said the proceeds from the fashion show will allow the Springboard Program to put funding toward finding more housing as well as purchase furniture and home items.

Wolf-Schmidt said as a former business owner, she always wanted to support local businesses and nonprofits as her way of giving back to the community, which is why she is looking forward to supporting Monkee’s of Lakewood Ranch.

“I feel so blessed in my life in many ways,” she said. “I know how challenging it is on good and bad times … This is my time to give back right now. Who knows, maybe this will be (a fashion show) we do every year.”

Courtesy photo

Lakewood Ranch’s Melissa Howard and Marina Wolf-Schmidt are hosting a fashion show, featuring clothing from Monkee’s of Lakewood Ranch, to support Everyday Blessings’ Springboard Program.

Moo-ving onto bigger pastures

Ranch High School

LIZ RAMOS SENIOR EDITOR

Ryann Hilyer remembers going out to the barn at Carlos E. Haile Middle School when she was in sixth grade.

She had a passion for animals, but her mind always went to dogs and cats when she thought of them.

It wasn’t until she was in Haile’s barn looking at a dairy cow that she realized she could have a career in agriculture and working with animals.

“I realized, wow, this is what I want to do,” Hilyer said. “This is something different.”

In eighth grade, she decided to raise a dairy cow to show at the Manatee County Fair. She finally dipped her toe into the world of agriculture, and since then, she hasn’t looked back.

Hilyer’s experiences going out to the barn at least twice per day for the past four years caring for dairy cows and steer have inspired her to attend Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College in Tifton, Georgia, after graduating from Lakewood Ranch High School on May 18.

After showing a dairy cow in eighth grade, Hilyer went on to be a part of the agriculture program and FFA chapter at Lakewood Ranch High School, showing dairy cows and steer at the fair while learning about the various aspects of agriculture.

“Knowing there’s other people who are around you that want the same goals and the same things as you definitely made me feel like I have a family here, especially when I came into the Lakewood Ranch FFA barn,” Hilyer said. “It’s not just a barn; it’s a whole team.” She fell in love with the agriculture

industry and in particular, cows.

“Agriculture has definitely changed my life,” Hilyer said. “I feel like I’ve changed from being the scared little kid in my freshman year who sat in the back of the class to being the first one to raise my hand and answer any question and being the first one to say I’ll get in the pens and help.”

Hilyer spent her senior year taking care of Ryker, a steer. She spent her days building a bond with him to the point that she could call him and he would run from the pasture to where she was in the barn like a dog running to its owner.

“They’re your partner, and you treat them like your partner,” she said. “You work with them every day, and they will always hold a special place in my heart.”

McKenzie Gorskey, an agri-science teacher and FFA adviser, said Hilyer is passionate, driven, motivated and a team player.

“I have yet to work with a student who is so eager to make Lakewood a team like her,” she said. “Literally up into her last days, she’s like, ‘We’re a team.’ I think that drive is something that will carry her, especially as she develops a new passion in her life, not just in high school.”

Hilyer, who is president of the FFA chapter this school year, was given a leadership award at the chapter’s award banquet. Gorskey said she choked up as she presented the award to Hilyer, knowing how far she’s come as a student and seeing how she’s grown as a leader.

“Going from being the newbie to being the expert is just, to me, capturing her presence in the program and what she’s done,” Gorskey said. “We grow leaders, so she’s a trifecta. She can speak publicly; she can show livestock; she can run an officer meeting — she can do anything ... There are so many good leaders at this school, but the FFA is blessed to have some of the best. Their mark and their impacts on the chapter will forever be remembered.”

Hilyer said being a part of the

Lakewood

senior plans to continue pursuing her love for agriculture and cows in college.

school’s FFA chapter and agriculture program has helped her gain skills in areas she never expected, such as speech.

Her junior year, she participated in a speech contest for the Farm Bureau, which she had never done before. She did not like speaking in front of people, but she worked on it and became more confident. She won third place in the contest.

She learned about horticulture, how to do injections in animals, how to tag animals and more during her time in the program.

Hilyer said even if she wasn’t pursuing a career in agriculture, she’s grateful for the knowledge she gained.

“Another thing that really intrigued me was learning where your food comes from — like they say, ‘from pasture to plate,’” she said. “It made me have an under-

standing of agriculture and where your food comes from, where all your byproducts come from. It just makes me a more educated consumer in the future and helps me advocate for myself and other people in the industry.”

Hilyer plans to major in livestock production but is considering going into elementary education with a focus on agriculture to become an agriculture elementary teacher. She said she likes working with kids, and elementary school is the first opportunity they have to be exposed to agriculture.

“You’re the first one to spark their interest, and I think it’s important that we have people who love it just as much as I do in that role,” Hilyer said. “If you love it and you are interested, you speak about it with confidence. That will catch them and spark their interest as well.”

Courtesy photo

Ryann Hilyer, a Lakewood Ranch High School senior, will continue pursuing her passion for agriculture at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College after graduation.

Movin’ on up to the

max,” co-owner Courtenay Smith said. “We enclosed it, but it was in this shack.”

Partner and co-owner Nikka Colorado jumped in to say, “It was an illegal building. I’m glad we got away with it for as long as we did,” and both women had a good laugh over their humble beginnings in downtown Sarasota’s Rosemary District.

The pair finish each other’s sentences and bring out the best in one another like a happily married couple who have weathered more than one storm together. When the lease for Waterside was signed, they thought the space would be ready in one year. It took four.

Lesley Dwyer

Friends and partners, Nikka Colorado and Courtenay Smith, open a second yoga studio in Waterside Place.

IF YOU GO

SHACK YOGA + FITNESS

Where: 1561 Lakefront Drive, Suite 210, Sarasota

Hours: Classes start between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. seven days per week, depending on the day’s schedule, which can be found at ShackYogaFitness.com.

Cost: Membership costs $129 per month for unlimited classes. Single classes cost $23; class packs start at $105 for five classes.

They rented a studio in the Lakewood Ranch Corporate Park to fill the gap but closed it when their lease expired during the COVID pandemic. Both agree that the delay wasn’t ideal, but it gave them time to pause and focus on the original studio, which is not fully back to pre-COVID numbers, but close.

“We’re like each other’s yin to the yang,” Smith said.

Smith is the “grounded” one who keeps things steady, while Colorado is the “fire” that pushes them to expand. While they describe themselves as opposites, they say they’ve lived parallel lives.

Both are about the same age. Smith is 38, and Colorado is 39. Both are working mothers of young children and met their husbands 18 years ago. And both of their husbands led them from the east coast of Florida to Sarasota. Colorado’s husband received a job offer, and Smith’s husband has family in the area.

The women met while working at Lululemon together about eight years ago. Smith was the manager.

She’d been holding classes at the Shack for two years at that point and was ready to go full time. Colorado took the leap with her.

The yogis moved out of the carport but stayed on Central Avenue. A membership includes classes at both studios. At the downtown location, the building qualifies as historic. At the Waterside location, the building is anything but.

Being in the newly built hub, the walls are freshly painted, and the floors are without a scuff.

A second-floor balcony greets guests with a different kind of charm. Kingfisher Lake peeks behind the shops and buildings across the street, while lush plants and cushioned loungers invite students to linger after class.

“When you’re done sweating in there, this actually feels cold,” Colorado said.

The temperature was about 82 degrees outside. Shack is a heated yoga studio. While classes are “not Bikram hot,” which is up to 105 degrees, the temperatures reach between 90 and 95 degrees.

Classes accommodate up to 45 students, and there are a lot more strength and fitness classes to choose from at the Waterside location.

“We think fitness is going to do better here because there’s a lot of working people. Downtown, you get a lot of tourist traffic,” Smith said. “This is going to probably be more families and people working that 9-5 job. They need to get their yoga and their fitness all in one hour.”

Smith also says yoga shouldn’t be intimidating. Shack classes are a challenge, but anyone can get through them using the modifications offered by instructors. Clients range in age from 20 to 80, and a lot more men attend classes than people might expect.

The studio is open now, but April was a soft opening. A full schedule of classes started May 1.

“At the end of the day, we put our relationship before the business. Businesses can come and go, and if this one burnt to the ground, we could start a new one. But nothing’s going to trump our respect and our relationship that we have for each other,” Colorado said, “I think that, in turn, makes the business successful.”

“This is going to probably be more families and people working that 9-5 job. They need to get their yoga and their fitness all in one hour.”

Courtenay Smith

ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT

KT Curran builds a bridge of

EMPATHY

Local director’s film shines a light on ‘compassion fatigue’ among first responders.

MONICA ROMAN GAGNIER ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR

Director KT Curran is no stranger to the film festival circuit.

For the past eight months, she’s shown her stunning feature, “Bridge to the Other Side,” at about a dozen festivals, including the Sarasota Film Festival, where the film won two awards in April, and the Fort Myers Film Festival, where it will be presented on May 18.

But the May 2 presentation of “Bridge to the Other Side” at Resilient Retreat, a lush 84-acre compound down Fruitville Road, was different than the other screenings.

Curran’s emotional antennae were more attuned than usual and with good reason: It was the first time the director had shown her film to an audience of first responders, the subject of her film.

There were no visible tears shed after the screening, though there may have been when the lights were down. But there was a palpable sense of discomfort as the film unspooled to the sounds of coughing, bodies shifting in chairs and nervous fidgeting in the audience.

“Bridge to the Other Side” is a raw, emotional journey that follows Max Toussante, a former high school guidance counselor who is drowning in alcohol and grief after losing her firefighter husband to COVID. On a whim, she decides to join a crisis response team being formed by her late husband’s fire department. Her partner is Jake Monroe, a firefighter who has given up rescue diving because of the toll it has taken on his psyche and his family; he is divorced.

Curran wrote and directed “Bridge to the Other Side” after interviewing 150 first responders and their family members. She spent mornings writing her script and put a producer’s hat of sorts on in the afternoon, she says, although the film had a real producer in the form of Jerry Chambless.

The firefighters, police officers, chaplains and other first responders who gathered at Resilient Retreat to watch Curran’s film may not have experienced the exact losses suffered by Toussante (Valerie LeBlanc) and Monroe (Chase Garland) or had their community outreach efforts

“I knew there was a high level of depression, divorce and other serious issues among our most heroic members of society. But until COVID, I hadn’t realized how much firefighters and police officers can be affected by compassion fatigue. I wanted to celebrate the efforts of first responders and try to destigmatize mental health issues for them.”

In search of the perfect 10

“The play’s the thing,” Shakespeare once wrote. With all due respect to The Bard, the 10-minute play will be the thing in Sarasota from May 11-14.

Now in its 18th season, Theatre Odyssey’s Ten-Minute Play Festival will feature eight plays in competition and will take place at the Jane B. Cook Theatre at the FSU/Asolo Center for the Performing Arts.

“The beauty of the 10-minute play is if you don’t like it, you only have to sit through 10 minutes,” says Michael Bille, president of Theatre Odyssey.

But this is no amateur hour — or sixth of an hour. Everyone involved in the plays gets paid, Bille says. That includes playwrights, directors, actors and production professionals. “They’re not going to get rich, but they’re going to be compensated for their time and talent.”

One could be forgiven for assuming the phenomenon of the 10-minute play has something to do with the internet and the shorter attention spans it has spawned.

But the genre actually got its start back in 1977 at the Actors Theatre of Louisville’s Humana Festival of New American.

These days, the guru of the genre is none other than Gary Garrison, author of “A More Perfect Ten: Writing and Producing the Ten-Minute Play.” Garrison’s 10-minute street cred also derives from an earlier book, “Perfect 10: Writing and Producing the Ten-Minute Play,” as well as an award in his name for university playwrights of 10-minute plays the Kennedy Center instituted in 2014.

Garrison was the executive director of the Dramatist Guild of America from 2007-17 and was associate chair, artistic director and master teacher of playwriting in the Goldberg Department of Dramatic Writing at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. Sarasota’s Ten-Minute Play Festival will feature a Q&A; session with Garrison, who also will serve as one of the fest’s “adjudicators.”

The other three individuals judging the 10-minute plays will be playwright and TV host Gabe Ortiz, founder of the Take Theatre Ensemble for inner-city youth; Blake Walton, who has directed seven plays for Theatre Odyssey and has appeared in award-winning performances at Florida Studio Theatre, and Carolyn Michel, who just completed a sold-out run of “Family Secrets” at the Sarasota Jewish Festival.

Here’s how the festival works: Once the eight plays have been selected, Theatre Odyssey assigns each of them a director,

< Q+A: An impossible dream comes true for ‘Man of La Mancha’ star Mauricio Martínez. 18

FOOD: Matriarchal traditions take center stage in the Mother’s Day ‘Eating With Emma.’ 19 >

Courtesy photo Gary Garrison

Courtesy photos

Above: Valerie LeBlanc stars in KT Curran's “Bridge to the Other Side,” a feature about first responders that has been making the film festival circuit. Below: Director KT Curran attends the opening night of The Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino on Nov. 4, 2022.

KT Curran

threatened by government cuts, it was obvious that they identified with the film nonetheless.

A reporter attending the Resilient Retreat screening promised to be a fly on the wall, lest any questions act as a trigger for the first responders who watched the film. But it can be observed that the most honest and emotional responses came from older audience members who were retired from protecting the public and, as a result, were not jeopardizing their livelihoods by talking about their feelings.

During a Q&A session after the film, Curran and members of Resilient Retreat’s board, including Chaplain Kelvin Foster, a former firefighter and EMT, discussed the challenges that face first responders and health care professionals following the onslaught of COVID and the stigmatism facing those who reach out for help.

One former firefighter at the Resilient Retreat screening described being led away in handcuffs by the police, who were called to escort him from his firehouse after he told his boss that he was no longer up to the job emotionally.

One of the characters in Curran’s film who contemplates ending it all by jumping off the bridge is a nurse who has lost patients to COVID and feels like a failure because she wasn’t able to save their lives.

Resilient Retreat offers workshops and weekend programs free of charge for first responders and health care professionals who need to recuperate from trauma and strengthen their emotional well-being.

Curran used real actors and places in “Bridge to the Other Side,” which was filmed in and around Sarasota during December 2021. The bridge in “Bridge to the Other Side” is the Ringling Bridge, but the small city in the film is named Sunrise, not Sarasota. The panoramic shots delivered by a drone give the film a high-quality feel that is typically found in a high-end, Hollywood production.

Some of the performers in Curran’s film were real-life responders. She credits the participation of the Cape Coral Fire Department with helping to make the film a reality.

When Curran started thinking about her script for “Bridge to the

Other Side,” she was focused primarily on the daily traumas experienced by public safety and health care professionals.

But with the pandemic, she began hearing more and more about the burnout on the front lines among doctors, nurses and others being overwhelmed by the physical burdens of caring for the sick and dying and the emotional pain of being separated from loved ones to prevent the virus from spreading.

“I knew there was a high level of depression, divorce and other serious issues among our most heroic members of society. But until COVID, I hadn’t realized how much firefighters and police officers can be affected by compassion fatigue,” Curran said. “I wanted to celebrate the efforts of first responders and try to destigmatize mental health issues for them.”

A former actress, Curran is a playwright who has published 20 plays primarily dealing with social issues. She’s also skilled at improvisation, a requirement for any successful independent filmmaker.

Prior to forming the nonprofit Wingspan three years ago, Curran was best known for a 2019 film about high school called “Surviving Lunch.”

Her experience telling the stories of troubled teens shines through in “Bridge to the Other Side,” when Max and Jake answer a call for help at Max’s former school, where a student is distraught because her father has succumbed to COVID.

“Bridge to the Other Side” may be the first feature from Curran’s company, Wingspan Productions, but it is just the latest example of how Curran uses art to educate filmgoers about mental health and break down cultural barriers deterring survivors of abuse and trauma from seeking help.

During the production of “Bridge to the Other Side,” Curran and her cast and crew were caught in the crosshairs of COVID themselves.

Curran thought the coast would be clear when she and her cinematographer Ryan Patrick Dean were scheduled to start shooting the film during the first week of December 2021. But that’s when the Omnicron variant of COVID hit Sarasota.

“We formed a bubble. We had nurses coming on the set and testing everyone. A magical muse was following us. Nobody tested positive until the end,” Curran recalled.

After eight months of nonstop engagements and travel to support “Bridge from the Other Side,” Curran is ready to take a breather.

After being the recipient of an impromptu birthday party at Resilient Retreat, replete with cupcakes for the audience and one with a candle for Curran, the director drove into Sarasota for a celebration hosted by friends. The next day, she was scheduled to fly to Los Angeles to visit family.

Curran’s not ready to talk about her next project, but she promises it will stay true to Wingspan’s mission, which is nothing less than producing films that “deal with life-altering issues, have high production values and help the world.”

Curran wants to save the world, one film at a time.

In the meantime, her goal is the same as that of every indie filmmaker: maximizing exposure for her production in the hopes of getting a distribution deal of some kind.

Courtesy photos

Director KT Curran on the set of the film “Bridge to the Other Side,” which was filmed in and around Sarasota in December 2021.

PLAYS FROM PAGE 15

who does casting and sets up their own rehearsals. But they aren’t allowed to change the words.

A playwright is allowed to attend rehearsals and give notes, but that’s the extent of their involvement in the production.

The plays selected for this year’s Ten-Minute Film Festival are “15 Seconds” (Bruce Karp), “Back to One” (Keith Whalen), “Eternity” (Elan David Garonzik), “In Remembrance” (Michelle Pascua), “Paradise Breakup” (Risa Lewak), “Pity Mourner” (Paul Donnelly), “A Squad of Their Own” (Bethany Dickens Assaf) and “Steam Fog” (John J. Kelly). During Covid, the festival used a radio play format from 202021 but has been back with live performances since last year.

Bille says he expects to fill most of the 160 seats in the Cook Theatre for this year’s festival. He warns that tickets for the Sunday performance will sell out quickly because that’s when the winners are announced and family members attend the festival.

“Sign Here” was the winner of last year’s festival.

IF YOU GO

When: 7:30 p.m. May 11-13, 2 p.m. on May 14

Where: Jane B. Cook Theatre, FSU/Asolo Center for the Performing Arts

Tickets: $29

Info: Visit TheatreOdyssey.org.

MARTÍNEZ

‘Man of La Mancha’ is a dream come true for Mauricio Martínez

The noted Latino actor/singer stars in Asolo Rep’s twist on the classic Don Quixote musical.

MARTY FUGATE CONTRIBUTOR

Mauricio Martínez is a dreamer. He’s also a versatile actor/singer with an enviable track record in Mexico and the U.S. He’s appeared in plays, musicals, concerts, films and television in both countries — and released two Latin pop albums in his spare time. He’s earned a shelf full of awards, including a Mexican Emmy.

None of those honors came easily. Martínez is a fighter, though his easygoing nature makes that easy to miss. He fought cancer and won — four times. His creative quest now continues in the U.S.  Martínez is fiercely proud of his Mexican heritage. His fighting spirit is part of it; his impossible dreams are, too. Those dreams are what drive him. Many became realities.

His dream of playing Don Quixote remained impossible for decades. But it recently came true. “Man of La Mancha” is coming to the Asolo Rep stage. Martínez will bring the musical’s quixotic hero to life. He’s one dreamer playing another. And he was happy to share what that means to him.

“Man of La Mancha” takes many twists and turns. What’s the heart of the story?

In the musical, it’s the story that the old Don Quixote tells in a prison. It begins in his younger days, when he was a country squire named Alonso Quixano. He’s very literate and he reads romantic novels from dawn

to dusk. Alonso gets lost in dreams of knights and daring deeds in the Middle Ages. He wants to live in those dreams.

Alonso wants to turn back time — to a golden age that never existed. Yes, exactly. Alonso decides to bring back the age of chivalry. So, he reinvents himself as “Don Quixote,” a knight-errant who longs to be a knight. To prove himself worthy, he goes on a quest to battle the forces of evil and right all the wrongs in this world. Unfortunately, Don Quixote lives in a dream world, not the real world. He doesn’t see things as they are. He thinks windmills are giants. Yes. Don Quixote is missing a few marbles upstairs. In his heart, he’s still a heroic, noble soul and one of the greatest characters in all of literature.

How’d he wind up in a Broadway musical?

That’s very, very complicated. You want the short version?

That’d be great. OK … In 1605, Miguel de Cervantes wrote “Don Quixote” — one of the greatest stories of all time. In 1959, Dale Wasserman adapted his beautiful epic novel as a beautiful teleplay. In 1965, Mitch Leigh and Joe Darion added music and lyrics, and turned it into “Man of La Mancha.”

The musical we all know and love. Yes. And it deserves our love! It has some of the most unforgettable songs in Broadway musical theater history. I sang them as a teenager while studying musical theater in New York City. Those songs have really stood the test of

time. I feel so honored to be singing them again as an adult in my time.

What do you love about this musical? What’s the hard part?

I love so much about it … the language, the poetry, the story and the courage it gives you to dream. And “La Mancha” has so many great characters. But Don Quixote is my favorite. I love him. But he’s not so easy to play. I’m on stage for most of the time without taking a break.

I play the same person — but it’s like playing three different characters. In “La Mancha,” Don Quixote is a younger man, a middle-aged man and an old man. That’s all me. So, I literally transform myself in front of the audience. I bounce back and forth in time, shift accents, change costumes. The role is also physically demanding. I wrestle with giants and windmills, get thrown off the stage, wave my sword and ride a horse. Don Quixote’s language is also very flowery and Shakespearean. For an actor, his dialogue is tough to speak. If you don’t get it right, you sound unnatural or phony.

You’ve played gangsters, scientists and Mayan priests. What inspired you to play Don Quixote?

Because it’s always been my dream.

I’m not alone. For any Latino musical performer, Don Quixote is the role of a lifetime. In American musical theater, there are few iconic Spanish characters and very few leading roles for male performers with a Spanish heritage. Right now, Molina from “Kiss of the Spider Woman,” Ché from “Evita,” and Bernardo from “West Side Story” are the only ones I can think of. But Don Quixote will always be the most iconic Spanish hero.

What are your favorite songs in this musical?

All of them.  But “Impossible Dream” is my absolute favorite. What else could it be?

Is “Man of La Mancha” still relevant in 2023?

I think it’s more relevant than ever. The world of today can kill your dreams. You go on Twitter or just open the newspaper — and there’s war, racism, homophobia, exploitation, climate change. It’s all so hopeless and depressing. It’s so easy to give up.

Nothing to be done. Don Quixote wouldn’t agree. He didn’t give up. He wanted to inspire people to see the world as it should be. He was crazy enough to try to change the world. That’s a good kind of crazy.

What’s Director Peter Rothstein’s take on this musical?

“Man of La Mancha” is a beautiful dream. Peter honors that dream. But he’s reimagined it with a brilliant creative choice. The original musical is set in 1605. And Don Quixote tells his story in a Spanish prison. Rothstein shifts it forward to 2023. Don Quixote is now in a modern Ameri-

can detention center — and surrounded by “Dreamers” (immigrants brought to the U.S. as children who have been caught in an American regulatory battle). He tells the same story — but you see it with new eyes. It’s so amazingly relevant and timely.

What’s your advice to any readers with impossible dreams?

“Man of La Mancha” dares you to dream. Your dream may be impossible today. In the future, your dream may come true. I know that from my own experience. I’m a Mexican immigrant, and I’m living the American Dream. I’ve also found acceptance for my gay orientation. That’s been an impossible dream for centuries around the world. Impossible dreams do come true!

IF YOU GO

‘MAN OF LA MANCHA’

When: May 13 through June 11

Where: FSU Center for the Performing Arts, 5555 N. Tamiami Trail

Tickets: $33-$93

Info: Visit AsoloRep.org.

Courtesy photo

Mauricio Martínez stars in "Man of La Mancha," which opens May 13 at the Asolo Rep and runs through June 11.

Mangia with Your Mama

feeling we locals get when we spy multiple parking spots in multiple quadrants on St. Armands Circle. That’s why I know Mimi would be walking into Speaks with coiffed hair, pink lipstick and dressed to the nines ordering the shrimp cocktail ($12). This appetizer is served in a chic martini glass with savory cocktail sauce tucked beneath each deliciously chilled crustacean. I can see her smile between each bite — because ladies never talk, or smile, with their mouth full.

Cat Mom’s Choice: Next up, sweet treats. Any mama on a “I’m watching what I eat” diet can devour these delicate dessert shooters free of any guilt. Options include four flavors: tiramisu, deconstructed peanut butter pie, chocolate hazelnut mousse and key lime. There are also two rotating flavors of Oreo cheesecake and strawberry cheesecake. But why stop at one flavor when you can get an entire desert flight? No one should count calories on Mother’s Day.

MICHAEL’S ON EAST

1212 S. East Ave., Sarasota; 941-366-0007, BestFood.com

Just in time for Mother’s Day, here’s an ode to the favorite restaurants of my family’s matriarchs.

My mom is my best friend.

While it wasn’t always that way (high school hormones, boyfriends of yore monopolizing my free time, moving nonstop to evolve, etc.), at 26 I learned that I couldn’t go a day without talking to my mom.

Whether it’s a text asking how the dogs are handling another Connecticut winter, an hourlong Facetime discussing the weather and my outdoor plants or a too-long-toadmit phone call to ask whether my latest ailment is normal — Amy and I are in constant communication.

My mother was taught how to be a strong soul by her mother, Barbara, my late Mimi. I would not be writing these words without their guidance, compassion and love.

So on Mother’s Day, I wanted to share the matriarchs’ favorite restaurants. Since our family started coming to Longboat Key in 1974, we’ve eaten at a place or two over the years. Here are three tasty spots where you should mangia with your mama

TOASTED MANGO CAFÉ

430 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota, 941-388-7728; 6621 Midnight Pass Road, Sarasota, 941-5526485, ToastedMangoCafe.com

According to Amy: My mom has recently added this diner destination to her must-stop-eats after dining here the day after our hurricane wedding. Order up! French toast ($9.99) and an iced tea ($3.29) for Amy, who has officially entered her sweet tooth era. Seriously, if the Mango was open for dinner, you’d find my mom snacking on French toast as an evening entrée. Before embarking on her you-only-liveonce eating habits, my mother typically ordered two eggs sunnyside up with a side of Rye toast. Now, she lights up like the Ringling Bridge at sunset when she even hears the words, “French toast.” She might even swap out the iced tea for a mimosa ($10.99) depending on her sun-seeker mood.

A Bite for Barbara: Mimi wasn’t a huge breakfast gal, but she loved a classic bowl o’ oats or yogurt. She would have either ordered the slowcooked homemade oatmeal (cup, $5.29 or bowl, $6.99) and added seasonal fruit or nuts for $2 or the breakfast banana split ($11.99). No chocolate or ice cream with this split but rather yogurt with strawberries, blueberries, mango sliced

banana and granola crumbles. While these light breakfast offerings would get Mimi in the door, it’s the fact that the Toasted Mango Cafe is a dog-friendly eatery and that alone would get her to sit — and stay for a while. Cat Mom’s Choice: Count me among millennials that, if given the chance, would give birth to fur babies. Taking care of two 20-pound dog-like cats makes me a mom, too, so I’ve included myself in this Mother’s Day extravaganza. My pick pulls in the greatness of my mom’s go-to, but adds fresh mango, house toasted coconut (to die for!) and real whipped cream for Toasted Mango French toast ($12.99). The bread is fluffy, the powdered sugar is the muse all nonsavory breakfast food items should be seeking and the fresh fruit makes you feel fitish. Skip the syrup when slurping up this bountiful breakfast creation because it’s sensational as is and a sweet start to any day!

SPEAKS CLAM BAR

29 N. Boulevard of the Presidents, Sarasota; 941-232-7633, 8764 State Road 70 E., Lakewood Ranch; 941232-7646, SpeaksClamBar.com

According to Amy: “One order of broccoli rabe and sausage rigatoni” ($18) are eight words my mother says at least once every time she is in town. Who can blame her? If this mouthwatering meal wasn’t her top choice, it certainly would be mine. A trifecta of ingredients makes the house-made rigatoni rather remarkable. The mild sausage leaves subtle sweet notes and hints of heat, the bites of broccoli rabe are bitter yet buttery and the cream sauce is so luscious that you’ll want to keep it in your fridge. (My mom does because it’s available for purchase.) Gluten-free pasta is also an option. You dairy-free peeps can ask for oil instead of cream and each bite is just as iconic.

A Bite for Barbara: During the summer, Mimi would drive over and sit on our porch with a plate of shrimp, my mother’s homemade cocktail sauce and Dewar’s on the rocks. I remember watching simple happiness overcome her — that

According to Amy: My mom used to go to The Colony with her parents, then with my father and then her girlfriends on weekend getaways for years. In fact, I had my first adult-style piña colada to go with my mom on our way to SRQ airport when we had a girls’ trip of our own. So, when she saw that Michael’s On East had the Colony snapper ($58) on the menu, I watched her travel back in time to the days both her parents danced around the Monkey Bar — the same bar where my mother accused one of the Beach Boys of stealing her purse. But I digress. The snapper is superbly stacked with lump crabmeat that melts in your mouth instantly, basil and sun-dried tomato beurre blanc, sweet potato planks that I wish were part of every meal and haricots vert that elevate your foodie senses in all the best ways.

A Bite for Barbara: My grandmother knew what she liked: singing in church on Sundays, picking the pink and purple hydrangeas that bloomed outside her kitchen window and being in the front row at her grandkids’ extracurricular activities. But truth be told, she loved a rare steak. I’m sure she would have loved what’s served by Michael’s. The USDA Prime New York Strip, 14 oz. (Market Price) is hand-cut, handpicked and aged a minimum of 25 days. Don’t miss adding sides like the roasted Brussels sprouts, Molly’s truffled mac and cheese and creamed spinach.

Cat Mom Choice: Do I mention the magnificent Mezze spread appetizer with spicy Greek feta? Do I showcase Michael’s seasonal salad with fantastic figs? Do I choose the Chilean sea bass with lemon lobster risotto? All great, but one thing reigns supreme. No one makes an Espresso Martini ($17) like Michael’s. Mixed with Smirnoff vanilla vodka, dark crème de cacao, Kahlua, espresso and finished with a chocolate/sugar rim. You can find me sipping these dangerously delicious drinks any day Tuesday through Saturday at the piano bar around 6:30 p.m. while enjoying the sounds of the talented Joe Micals.

Treat Your Mom: Michael’s is hosting a brunch buffet on Mother’s Day, May 14, at 10:30 a.m. in its ballroom. For $84.95/adults and $44.95/kids, enjoy salads, omelet, pancake and carving stations, an endless dessert display and more. Plus mimosas and bloody mary’s!

To mothers who have lost children and to those who have lost their mother, to the foster moms and the stepmoms, to the not-yet moms and the fur baby mamas, to the single moms and new moms and to my mom and all the other moms out there — I hope you treat yourself or get treated to one, if not all, of these three tasty spots.  Happy Mother’s Day.

Colony snapper ($58) takes my mom right back to her day at the Monkey Bar.

Courtesy photo

EMMA JOLLY CONTRIBUTOR

Emma Jolly

My mom has been eating at, I mean coming down to, Longboat Key since 1974.

Emma Jolly Toasted Mango French toast ($12.99) with powdered sugar — a muse all nonsavory breakfast food items should be eyeing.

Courtesy photo Little dessert shooters at Speaks are sweet treats sans guilt.

OODLES OF KITTENS

THIS WEEK

FRIDAY

‘BLACK WOMEN IN OUR COLLECTIVE CULTURE’

6:30 p.m. at Hermitage Beach (entrance at 6660 Manasota Key Road, Englewood) $5 per person. Registration required Visit HermitageArtistRetreat.org.

Two acclaimed Hermitage Fellows – visual artist Delita Martin and author Imani Perry – have a common goal: redefining the role and representation of Black women.

SPRING SHOWCASE WITH GIUSEPPINA CARLA

7 p.m. at Sarasota Contemporary Dance, 1400 Boulevard of the Arts $20; students with ID $10 Visit SarasotaContemporaryDance. org.

Sarasota Contemporary Dance’s InStudio Series serves as an incubator for artists at different stages in their career. This performance features a harpist and dancers. Continues Friday and Saturday.

ABBY POSNER + BABYL

8 p.m. at Fogartyville, 525 Kumquat Court $15 members; $18; $9 students Visit WSLR.org/Fogartyville.

Abby Posner is best known for her ability to play nearly any instrument that she can get her hands on and pushing the definitions of folk, roots, electronic, and pop music, making her “genre fluid.”

SATURDAY CELEBRATING YOUNG TALENT

3 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church of Sarasota, 2050 Oak St. Free Visit SarasotaMusicClub.org.

Six talented Suncoast Music Scholarship 2023 winners will perform a free concert to celebrate their earning a music scholarship. The young musicians selected to receive scholarships will be featured in voice, piano, violin, cello, flute and French horn performances.

PRIDE: BE FABULOUS FESTIVAL

3 p.m. at Fogartyville, 525 Kumquat Court Free Visit FabAF.org.

For over a decade the Pride: Be Fabulous Festival has been known as the Harvey Milk Festival. It recently changed its name to provide greater support for the LGBTQ+ community. As in previous years, the 13th edition of the fest includes arts and music.

TOM JONES: AGES & STAGES TOUR

7:30 p.m. at Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, 777 N. Tamiami Trail Regularly priced tickets are sold out, but private vendors have seats available online. Visit VanWezel.org.

With a career spanning over 50 years, Tom Jones has recorded enduring hits such as “It’s Not Unusual,” “Kiss,” “Delilah” and “What’s New Pussycat?” and more. The Welshman continues to garner critical acclaim with the release of his 2022 album, “Surrounded By Time,” his latest collaboration with producer Ethan Johns.

DISCOVERIES: ‘MUSICAL POSTCARDS’ 7:30 p.m. at Sarasota Opera House, 61 N. Pineapple Ave.

$32-$70 Visit SarasotaOrchestra.org.

Sarasota Orchestra’s final concert of the season takes listeners on a whirlwind journey guided by guest conductor Joseph Young. Villa-Lobos traces connections between the German composer J.S. Bach and the music of Brazil in his “Bachianas Brasileiras.” Korean guitarist Bokyung Byun brings Joaquín Rodrigo’s “Concierto de Aranjuez” to life, while Mendelssohn’s vacation to Italy spawned his joyful “Italian” Symphony.

Courtesy photo “The Concert: A Tribute to ABBA” will feature the Swedish supergroup’s iconic hits May 11 at the Van Wezel.

SUNDAY STILL FRIENDS

2 p.m. at Fogartyville, 525 Kumquat Court

$15 members

Visit WSLR.org/Fogartyville.

On Mother’s Day, why not treat mom to a performance by Still Friends, an acoustic group that combines strong songwriting with elements of folk, rock, bluegrass, jazz and soul?

VIOLA ROYALE

4 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church, 2050 Oak St. $40 Visit ArtistSeriesConcerts.org.

Brothers Paul and Steven Laraia are both world-class violists. Paul is with the Grammy Award-winning Catalyst String Quartet, while Steven is with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, having previously been principal violist of the Sarasota Orchestra. Their program features music by composers who played the viola, including a viola quintet by Mozart..

‘CINDERELLA’

4 p.m. at Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, 777 N. Tamiami Trail $27-$86

Visit VanWezel.org.

Professional dancers and students of the International Ballet of Florida will perform the timeless classic “Cinderella.” IBF welcomes principal guest artists from the National Ballet of Ukraine, Lithuanian Ballet, Dance Alive National Ballet and more.

THE TEENYBOPPERS TEEN

IMPROV TROUPE

7:30 p.m. at Venice Theatre’s Raymond Center, 140 Tampa Ave. W., Venice $15

Visit VeniceTheatre.org.

Members of the 2023 edition of The Teenyboppers include Delaney Lockwood, Hannah Randi, Haley Fadley, Julia Whittaker and Anika Hulshoff. They are directed by Natalia Mock.

‘ANNIE KIDS’ PENGUIN PLAYERS

7:30 p.m. at Manatee Performing Arts Center, Third Avenue W., Bradenton $11.50-$20

Visit ManateePerformingArtsCenter. com.

This adaptation of the Tony Awardwinning musical follows little orphan Annie as she searches for the parents who left her years ago at an orphanage. Continues Monday.

TUESDAY BEHIND THE CURTAIN: EXPLORING THE VAN WEZEL FROM THE ART TO THE STAGE

1:30 p.m. at Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, 777 N. Tamiami Trail $15

Visit ArtsAdvocates.org.

In this two-part tour, a docent will guide you through the paintings and sculptures within the Van Wezel on loan from Arts Advocates. And that’s just the beginning of the show!

OUR PICK

MIKE PARAMORE

DON’T MISS

‘THE CONCERT: A TRIBUTE TO ABBA’

When: 7:30 p.m. Thursday, May 11, at Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, 777 N. Tamiami Trail Tickets: $52-$72 Info: Visit VanWezel. org.

“The Concert: A Tribute to ABBA” will present the Swedish superstar group’s most iconic hits, including “Mamma Mia,” “Waterloo” and “Dancing Queen.”

A featured comedian on FOX’s hit show “Laughs,” Mike Paramore has performed at the Just for Laughs Festival and the Cleveland Comedy Festival. He was the winner of Laughing Devil Festival in New York City, the Laugh Fest’s Best in the Midwest competition and the Best of the Fest Big Pine Comedy Festival. Runs through May 21.

IF YOU GO

When: 7 p.m. Wednesday, May 17 through May 21

Where: McCurdy’s Comedy Theatre, 1923 Ringling Blvd.

Tickets: $25 Info: Visit McCurdysComedy.com.

YOUR NEIGHBORS

STITCHED WITH LOVE

Lakewood Ranch residents make quilts to donate to the Tunnels to Tower Foundation.

LESLEY DWYER STAFF WRITER

A house is not home until you’re tucked under a cozy quilt. Quilts are much more than mere bedding. They’re handcrafted symbols of love.

As the wife of a Vietnam veteran, Greenbrook’s Jerry Stube wanted to send some love to the Let Us Do Good Village being constructed in Land O’ Lakes by the Tunnel to Towers Foundation, which supports military personnel and first responders.

Stube and fellow Our Lady of the Angels Catholic Church members are sewing 100 quilts for the new community of wounded veterans, Gold Star families and families of fallen first responders. Gold Star families have a loved one who died in the line of duty.

There are about 20 to 25 core members of the group known as the Loving Stitches, but before Stube joined, the women mostly crocheted. Now, they’re too busy filling a quilt quota. Each quilt takes about 100 hours to cut and sew, partly why each quilt cost upwards of $1,000.

LET US DO GOOD VILLAGE

The village is being built by the Tunnel to Towers Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting military personnel and first responders. Out of every dollar donated, 95 cents is spent on direct services. The village is part of the foundation’s Smart Home Program. The purpose is to build homes that can accommodate those who have been catastrophically wounded. The homes are built with technology that allows these men and women to regain their independence.

With 85 quilts sewn, the group is in its final 1,500 hours. The project came with perfect timing for Esplanade’s Barbara Pfeiffer. After retiring in 2021, she decided to “do good” with all her extra time. She joked she never expected to make so many quilts, and the number is too high to put in print.

“I just fell in love with the proj-

ect,” Pfeiffer said. “My dad was in the Army. For 20 years, he was an Army officer, so we want them to know that we appreciate what they did for us.”

U.S. Army SFC Sualauvi Tuimaleali’ifano III moved into a smart home in the Let Us Do Good Village April 29, and Stube was there to deliver his quilt.

Tuimaleali’ifano served with a signal unit in Iraq and with special forces in Afghanistan. At the end of his third deployment in July 2007, Tuimaleali’ifano was wounded and lost all feeling and function from the chest down.

Tuimaleali’ifano can manage daily living a little easier with the modifications in his new home, which include wider hallways and showers to allow for his wheelchair, the stove raises and lowers and the cabinets feature pull-down shelves.

Each house is designed around the specific needs of that homeowner.

“When he went to raise the flag in front of his home, it just brought tears to your eyes,” Stube said. “The whole experience was just unbelievable. When we went in the home to present him with his quilt, we spread the quilt over him in his wheelchair. Neither one of his hands work, but he put one hand on the quilt and he started rubbing his face with it and said, ‘This is so soft.’”

Members of Loving Stitches design and sew the quilts and keep an online inventory. The homeowner can scroll through the inventory to see the designs and dimensions and choose their favorite.

Stube had already been donating to Tunnel to Towers when she heard about the village. She immediately sent an email offering to donate 100 quilts.

“I got a letter back saying, ‘That would be fantastic,’ and so that’s when I started going, ‘Oh my God, what did I just do?’” Stube said with a laugh. “But our group at church has been a tremendous supporter and other shop owners too.”

Not all 85 quilts were made by the church group; some have been donated. But the number wouldn’t be close to 85 without the Loving Stitches.

“Even people who don’t quilt have learned to make quilts from that group,” Pfeiffer said. “So it takes them a lot longer to make it, but they’ve gotten them done, and they’re beautiful.”

To date, more than 600 families have had a mortgage paid off, moved into a home or are waiting for their homes to be finished through the foundation.

Thanks to the Loving Stitches, Land O’ Lakes homeowners get something technology can’t offer, a tradition rooted in creativity and care.

“Quilts are personal,” said Stube. “They’re a hug.”

Members of the Loving Stitches Jerry Stube and Barbara Pfeiffer

Courtesy photo

SFC Sualauvi Tuimaleali’ifano III with his mother, wife, Shannon, and Jerry and Jack Stube

Lesley Dwyer

“When he went to raise the flag in front of his home, it just brought tears to your eyes. The whole experience was just unbelievable.”

— Jerry Stube

FRIDAY, MAY 12 AND

SATURDAY, MAY 13

MUSIC AT THE PLAZA Runs from 6-9 p.m. both days at Waterside Place, 1561 Lakefront Drive, Lakewood Ranch. Singer/ songwriter Sara Nelms entertains on Friday, while on Saturday, singer/ songwriter Justin Layman performs. For more information, visit LakewoodRanch.com.

SATURDAY, MAY 13

GIRLS-ONLY BALL HOCKEY

CLINIC

Runs 9-11 a.m. at the Lakewood Ranch outdoor rink, 5350 Lakewood Ranch Blvd., Lakewood Ranch. The Tampa Bay Lightning will host this free girls-only ball hockey clinic.

Two-time world champion Kelley Steadman will run the clinic, which consists of two 45-minute sessions of skills and drills and ends with a game. The 9-10 a.m. session is for ages 5-10, and the 10-11 a.m. session is for ages 11-15. All skill levels are welcome. For more information, visit LakewoodRanch.com.

SUNDAY, MAY 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 will run year-round every Sunday. Vendors will be offering seafood, eggs, meats, dairy products, pastas, bakery goods, jams and pickles, among other items. Other features are children’s activities and live music. For more information, visit MyLWR.com.

YOGA IN THE PARK

Begins at 9 a.m. at Waterside Place Park, 7500 Island Cove Terrace, Lakewood Ranch. Lakewood Ranch Community Activities offers yoga that is free to residents; $10 for nonresidents. For more information, go to MyLWR.com.

WEDNESDAY, MAY 17

GARDENING BASICS

Runs 11 a.m. to noon at Greenbrook Adventure Park, 13010 Adventure Place, Bradenton. Learn about different gardening topics such as vegetable gardening, pest and beneficial

BEST BET

FRIDAY, MAY 12

MOVIES IN THE PARK

Runs from 7-10 p.m. at Waterside Park, 7301 Island Cove Terrace, Sarasota. Enjoy watching Disney Pixar’s “Up,” which will start at 8 p.m. Grace Community Church will provide a free Chick-fil-A sandwich or nuggets to the first 200 attendees. Seating is available on a first-come, first-serve basis. It’s recommended to bring a blanket or lawn chairs. Concessions from We B’ Poppin Popcorn and Kettle Corn and Chick-filA will be available. Face painting and inflatables will be available from 7-9 p.m. For more information, visit LakewoodRanch. com.

insects, plant diseases and more. For more information, visit MyLWR. com.

BINGO FOR ALL

Begins at 10 a.m. at Greenbrook Adventure Park, 13010 Adventure Place, Lakewood Ranch. Lakewood Ranch Community Activities hosts Bingo. For more information, go to MyLWR.com.

SATURDAY, MAY 20

DRAGON BOAT FESTIVAL

Starts at 9 a.m. at Nathan Benderson Park, 5851 Nathan Benderson Circle, Sarasota. The Sarasota International Dragon Boat Festival is an annual event that offers racing for competitive teams in a Sport division and for entry-level teams in a Community division. Races in the Sport division will be 200 meters, 500 meters and 2,000 meters. Food and entertainment vendors will be on site. The event is free for spectators, though on-site parking is $5 per car. For more information, visit NathanBendersonPark.org or MLDB. GWNEvents.com/Sarasota.

Drink up, it’s time to celebrate

While not a hugely popular holiday in Mexico, Americans love Cinco de Mayo.

Rocco’s Tacos and Tequila Bar took it to the next level and threw a block party to celebrate May 5.

Guests mingled, danced and sipped margaritas as DJ Memphis pumped up the volume.

Instead of traditional and top-heavy margarita glasses, the sweet and sour concoctions were served in little bottles with straws. For an extra kick, an even smaller bottle with a shot of straight

Patron tequila could be added as a “hitchhiker.”

While a few guests kicked back cans of Corona, a Mexican beer to suit the occasion, the margarita bottles were by far the crowd favorite. River Strand’s Maria Lowe brought her own party. She was at Rocco’s to celebrate her birthday. She said May 5 as a great day to be born.

“Wow, everybody’s celebrating my birthday,” Lowe said as she looked at the crowd.

— LESLEY DWYER

Photos by Lesley Dwyer

North Port’s Ann Carpenter, Venice’s Kathy Lefrancois and Sarasota’s Diamante Luna enjoy their margaritas at the block party.

Servers Chris Reyes and Sarah Blanch man one of the drink carts outside.

Fiorela Giordano serves Patron margaritas with hitchhiker shots.

Sarasota’s Heidi Marcin, Aimee Galvin and Lisa Troppman have fun celebrating Cinco de Mayo.

Windward residents Scott and Tracy Woodruff have fun at Rocco’s Cinco de Mayo block party.

A Wildly Successful Launch

Wild Blue at Waterside by Stock Development has dazzled homeowners with its spectacular location in Lakewood Ranch, incredible lifestyle amenities, and luxury single-family homes from 2,300 to over 4,000 square feet, built by some of the area’s finest luxury homebuilders.

You can live your best life at Wild Blue at Waterside. With a 13-acre sports complex featuring tennis and pickleball, kayak launch, and walking trails, there’s something for everyone. The 25,000-square-foot social clubhouse offers indoor and outdoor dining, two pools, a movie theater, and a fitness center. Plus, our lifestyle director organizes social events to bring the community together.

The launch of this new waterfront community has been a tremendous success. Visit our sales center today and learn about all that’s new.

Lake Club home tops sales at $2.5 million

ADAM HUGHES RESEARCH EDITOR

The following residential real estate transactions took place between April 24 and April 28. A home in Lake Club tops all transactions in this week’s real estate.

Eric Garnier and Jottie Taylor, of Englewood, sold their home at 7910 Staysail Court to Alan Wells and Cynthia Wells, trustees, of Lakewood Ranch, for $2.5 million. Built in 2020, it has four bedrooms, four-and-a-half baths, a pool and 3,137 square feet of living area. It sold for $1,044,600 in 2020.

SHOREVIEW

William Parry and Susan Parry, trustees, of Lakewood Ranch, sold the home at 7776 Grande Shores Drive to Janet Miller, trustee, of Anna Maria, for $2,395,000. Built in 2018, it has five bedrooms, four baths, a pool and 4,813 square feet of living area. It sold for $956,200 in 2018.

COUNTRY CLUB

William and Rebecca Manise, of Lakewood Ranch, sold their home at 6903 Westchester Circle to Julian Blum, of Lakewood Ranch, for $2.2 million. Built in 2004, it has three bedrooms, three-and-a-half baths, a pool and 3,947 square feet of living area. It sold for $2.4 million in 2022.

Mats Herlow Sundstrom, of London, England, sold the home at 7528 Greystone St. to Thomas and Julie Ann West Family Revocable Trust for $1.61 million. Built in 2005, it has four bedrooms, three baths, a pool and 3,058 square feet of living area. It sold for $1,375,000 in 2006.

David and Margaret Brucker, of Stone Mountain, Georgia, sold their home at 7140 Ashland Glen to Ralph Beton, of Marietta, Georgia, for $1.2 million. Built in 2002, it has three bedrooms, three baths, a pool and 3,410 square feet of living area.

Edward Ray Griese and Kristin Davis Griese, of Falmouth, Maine, sold their home at 7039 Twin Hills Terrace to Gregory and Susan Wilson, of Lakewood Ranch, for $1,195,000. Built in 2002, it has three bedrooms, three baths, a pool and 2,759 square feet of living area. It sold for $555,000 in 2017.

LAKEHOUSE COVE AT WATERSIDE

Glenn Kennedy, trustee, of Bradenton, sold the home at 8217 Grande Shores Drive to Albert and Coca Hummel, of Sarasota, for $2.1 million. Built in 2020, it has three bedrooms, four baths, a pool and 3,355 square feet of living area. It sold for $1.25 million in 2021.

RIVERDALE REVISED

Gregory Whitford and Michelle Lane, of Parrish, sold their home at 657 Regatta Way to Ronald and Laura Olson, of Bradenton, for $2.05 million. Built in 2014, it has three bedrooms, two-and-a-half baths, a pool and 3,512 square feet of living area. It sold for $1.8 million in 2021.

Michael and Deborah Norrick, of Carmel, Indiana, sold their home at 4720 Clipper Drive to Billie and Daniel Ipes, of Bradenton, for $750,000. Built in 1995, it has two bedrooms, two baths, a pool and 1,693 square feet of living area. It sold for $442,000 in 2020.

RIVERDALE

Gary and Lori Lanser, of Fort Myers, sold their home at 4505 Fifth Ave. N.E. to Salvatore and Jennifer Zatkowski, of Bradenton, for $1.9 million. Built in 2013, it has three

bedrooms, four-and-a-half baths, a pool and 3,452 square feet of living area. It sold for $1,075,000 in 2019.

Taryn McGannon and Garrett Brown, of Sarasota, sold their home at 117 41st Circle E. to Zachary

Dalton Fox and Kelly Mauerhan Fox, of Bradenton, for $629,000. Built in 1999, it has four bedrooms, two baths and 2,668 square feet of living area. It sold for $397,000 in 2021.

Albemarle John and Katherine Bondur sold their home at 6801 Chancery Place to Sherry Winn Howell, trustee, of Nashville, Tennessee, for $1.5 million. Built in 2006, it has three bedrooms, three baths, a pool and 4,352 square feet of living area.

LANGLEY PARK

Matthew Todd Perkinson and Stacy Perkinson, of St. Petersburg, sold their home at 7034 Langley Place to Scott Christopher Lonkart and Marisa Ann Lonkart, of Narragansett, Rhode Island, for $1.15 million. Built in 2000, it has three bedrooms, three baths, a pool and 2,911 square feet of living area.

Braden Woods Amy and Carlos Faundez, of Bradenton, sold their home at 6714 93rd St. E. to Brian Faulkner, trustee, for $1,132,000. Built in 1990, it has five bedrooms, three-and-a-half baths, a pool and 2,953 square feet of living area. It sold for $875,000 in 2022.

DEL WEBB

Michael and Anita Buddle, trustee, of Ashburn, Virginia, sold the home at 6937 Chester Trail to Dennis and Mary Doherty, of Standish, Maine, for $1.06 million. Built in 2016, it has three bedrooms, three baths, a pool and 2,488 square feet of living area. It sold for $544,600 in 2016.

Michael and Maria Phillips and Helen Phillips, of Miami, sold their home at 16722 Ellsworth Ave. to Gerald Thomas Burton Jr. and Karen Leigh Burton, trustees, of Bradenton, for $825,000. Built in 2018, it has four bedrooms, three baths and 2,914 square feet of living area. It sold for $461,900 in 2018.

COUNTRY CLUB EAST

David and Patricia Anne Rees, of Bristol, England, sold their home at 14707 Castle Park Terrace to James Richard Rountree and Virginia Rodriguez Palacios, of Sarasota, for $1 million. Built in 2014, it has three bedrooms, three baths, a pool and 2,681 square feet of living area.

BRIDGEWATER

Clifford and Robin Stevenson, of Downingtown, Pennsylvania, sold their home at 13212 Bridgeport Crossing to Herbert Frentzel Jr., of Smithton, Illinois, for $890,000. Built in 2014, it has three bedrooms, two baths, a pool and 2,411 square feet of living area. It sold for $479,000 in 2014.

ROSEDALE ADDITION

Jeremy and Tara Waldrip, of Sarasota, sold their home at 4828 Royal Dornoch Circle to Bobby Malik and Hannah Cianci, of Sarasota, for $860,000. Built in 2016, it has three bedrooms, two-and-a-half baths, a pool and 2,365 square feet of living area. It sold for $439,000 in 2018.

William Henry Benwell and Diane Benwell sold their home at 10644 Glencorse Terrace to Daniel Lee Metzler and Janet Louise Metzler for $799,900. Built in 2015, it has three bedrooms, three-and-a-half baths, a pool and 2,399 square feet. It sold for $365,000 in 2015.

GREENBROOK Michael Regan, of Lakewood Ranch, sold his home at 14438 Sundial Place to Edgar and Kathleen Salings, of Bradenton, for $855,000. Built in 2007, it has four bedrooms, three-and-a-half baths, a pool and 3,253 square feet of living area. It sold for $599,000 in 2016.

Reginald Davis and Patricia McCain Davis, of Bradenton, sold their home at 6538 Flycatcher Lane to Andrew Jang and Anna Han Hung, of Lakewood Ranch, for $725,000.

Built in 2004, it has four bedrooms, three baths, a pool and 2,464 square feet of living area. It sold for $425,000 in 2007.

RIVER CLUB SOUTH

Kevin Tichenor and Pamela Izard, trustees, of Charlotte, North Carolina, sold the home at 7308 Tori Way to Damian and Nicola Callaghan, of Lakewood Ranch, for $850,000. Built in 2004, it has three bedrooms, three baths, a pool and 2,817 square feet of living area. It sold for $410,000 in 2011.

CLUBSIDE AT COUNTRY CLUB

EAST

Scott and Susan Rowe, trustees, sold the home at 7383 Divot Loop to Brian and Tammy Jersey, of Fairfield, Connecticut, for $787,500. Built in 2019, it has two bedrooms, two baths and 2,332 square feet of living area. It sold for $345,000 in 2020.

MOTE RANCH Richard Willis and Susan Kay Willis, of Annapolis, Maryland, sold their home at 6925 Conestoga Place to Gail Sato Welch and Lena Catherine Welch, trustees, of Sarasota, for $741,000. Built in 2002, it has three bedrooms, three baths, a pool and 2,859 square feet of living area. It sold for $470,000 in 2015.

See

Courtesy photo

A Lake Club home at 7910 Staysail Court sold for $2.5 million. It has four bedrooms, fourand-a-half baths, a pool and 3,137 square feet of living area.

Fast Break

Feeling the fight again

After missing all of 2022, Payton Kinney holds a 2.20 ERA in 2023, helping the Huskies clinch a second-straight Big East title.

The Survivors in Sync breast cancer survivor dragon boat team, based out of Nathan Benderson Park, placed second overall at the 2023 International Breast Cancer Paddlers Commission Participatory Dragon Boat Festival, held April 15-16 at Lake Karapiro in Cambridge, New Zealand. SIS saw 24 team members travel and participate in racing at the event, which is noncompetitive designed for breast cancer paddler teams.

… Nathan Benderson Park will host its own Sarasota International Dragon Boat Festival on May 20, featuring both a competitive Sport Division and a more relaxed Community Division. Admission is free for spectators, but parking on the island is $5. For more information, visit NathanBendersonPark.org.

… The Out-of-Door Academy senior Tyler Beck won the boys pole vault (13 feet, 9.25 inches) at the school’s track and field regional meet held May 6 at the Community School of Naples.

… Lakewood Ranch Golf and Country Club saw two hole-inones on its golf courses May 4. Deb Miller sank one on the 109-yard No. 16 hole of the club’s Cypress Links course with a 9-wood, and George Swindasz sank one on the 130yard No. 4 hole on the club’s King’s Dunes course with a 4-hybrid.

… The Braden River High flag football team won its May 3 Class 1A regional semifinal game 6-0 against Lecanto High. The Pirates (14-2) scored the game’s lone touchdown when junior quarterback Cydnee Brooks found senior Courtney Kawcak

… The Lakewood Ranch High softball team lost its district tournament title game against Sarasota High 5-3, but still advanced to the Class 7A regional tournament. The Mustangs (1610) will play Steinbrenner High (18-7-1) May 11 on the road.

On April 30, Payton Kinney got her edge back.  Pitching in the final inning of the University of Connecticut’s softball game against DePaul University, Kinney found herself with the chance at a save — in a game she also started. Kinney, a Lakewood Ranch High grad, pitched into the sixth inning but was pulled for senior Meghan O’Neil after giving up a run, DePaul’s first run of the game. Kinney left with a 2-1 lead. O’Neil allowed two runs to score in the sixth, giving DePaul a 3-2 lead heading into the seventh. But the Huskies retook a 4-3 lead, and in the bottom of the seventh, after O’Neil allowed the first two batters to reach base, the Huskies went back to Kinney.

Kinney, a vocal player when on the mound, said DePaul had been letting her have it all game, making fun of how she yelled to herself after good pitches, among other insults. But in the seventh, bolstered by her team’s faith that she’d get the job done, all the jabs did was make Kinney mad. It helped her lock in her focus, she said.

It helped her feel like a version of herself again, something she had not felt in a long time.

THE INJURY

While pitching during the 2021 fall season, Kinney felt a pop in her right shoulder. This wasn’t completely abnormal, Kinney said. She had felt some amount of pain in her pitching shoulder dating back to her high school career, usually increasing as seasons went along and she felt more worn down, then feeling better with rest. But when rest didn’t help, Kinney and UConn’s team doctors figured out the pain was not normal.

Kinney had overused her shoulder muscles to the point that her labrum had torn in multiple places, and that wasn’t all.

“The ligaments and tendons holding my shoulder in place were so loose that my shoulder was dislocating,” Kinney said.

Kinney had surgery to repair her labrum and tighten her shoulder ligaments and tendons in September 2021. She would not start her pitching regimen again until June 2022. That period of time would not be easy for Kinney. Alongside constant physical therapy to regain strength in her shoulder, Kinney said, things took a toll on her mental health.

“I had a hard time seeing my teammates out on the field (without her),” Kinney said. “I wanted to support them, but I still had that roadblock of not being able to play. It was a struggle.”

Kinney said it became so difficult that she ended up not traveling with the team on road trips, though she still attended the team’s home games. Kinney said her coaches and teammates were supportive of her decision. Kinney began seeing a sports psychologist, who gave her advice on how to move past her mental blocks, including to stop looking so far into the future. Instead of counting down the days until she could start throwing again, which can induce anxiety, Kinney’s psychologist advised her to think more about her current circumstances.

“The past is in the past, and I can’t change it,” Kinney said. “The future is unpredictable. I might as well live in the present. What can I do now

that will make me happy? Because softball can’t be my outlet right now. I ended up doing things to figure out what my interests in life are and who I am as a person. It was a cool journey that I went on.”

Kinney, an English major, turned to books. She said getting lost in the pages of a compelling narrative, be it real or fictional, distracted her from the overwhelming emotions she was feeling. She could become someone else for as long as the story lasted, then do it again, becoming someone else. They ranged from “Good Vibes, Good Life” by Vex King, to novels from bestselling writer Colleen Hoover, to books about military veterans and how they dealt with their experiences upon coming home.

THE SECOND STRUGGLE

Eventually, Kinney got through her rehab and returned to the mound, but her struggles were not all gone. Kinney said she felt the pressure of living up to her freshman season, when she made 20 starts, held a 2.99 ERA and was named to the Big East All-Tournament team, among other accomplishments.

In July 2022, Kinney started experiencing panic attacks for the first time. Her heart would race and her chest would tighten, which made it difficult to breathe without hyperventilating, Kinney said. She would get overstimulated by things like bright lights and get a debilitating migraine. Kinney said sometimes there was a trigger for the attacks, but other times they just happened out of nowhere.

In August 2022, Kinney was officially diagnosed with anxiety and panic disorder. Kinney said she still gets panic attacks and has even experienced them while pitching, sometimes asking to come out of a game as a result. Kinney said her coaches and teammates have supported her in this, too, especially junior catcher Lauren Benson, who will visit the

mound and help Kinney take deep breaths.

Knowing that her teammates care more about her than whatever is happening during a game has been a boost, Kinney said. It has not been easy, but Kinney has gradually learned to manage her anxiety, preventing it from taking over by leaning on her support system.

Kinney said she has been hesitant to share too much about her anxiety, not knowing how people will react or think of her. But as she’s learned to manage it, she’s become more comfortable with who she is — and sees talking about it as a way to reduce anxiety’s stigma in the athletic community.

“I guarantee a thousand people before me have gone through this and a thousand coming up the chain will, too,” Kinney said. “Being in athletics, mental health is starting to be more prioritized, but it has never been the No. 1 concern. You’re not taught to talk about what you’re going through. You’re told to be tough and push through anything. Being able to tell my story may help some little girl out there who doesn’t know what’s going on or how to navigate it.”

THE OTHER SIDE

With the support of her program, Kinney returned to the mound for the start of the 2023 season. Though Kinney said there have been ups and downs, like any season, and she’s been learning to navigate her anxiety, her stats speak for themselves: as of May 5, Kinney holds a 2.36 ERA and a 10-5 win-loss record.

But as good as her numbers are, Kinney said she still didn’t feel all the way back until April 30 against DePaul, in that fateful seventh inning.

The Blue Demons’ taunts did nothing: After one walk, Kinney shut down DePaul’s offense to secure a 4-3 Huskies win. The victory clinched a share of the Big East regular season title for UConn, the program’s second-consecutive conference title — but the first where Kinney feels like a part of the team again. The Huskies have just 16 players on their roster, but Kinney said the players’ closeness, developed in part by how they support each other through whatever they’re dealing with, acts as a secret weapon.

With Kinney in the fold, they’re capable of a lot this postseason. And Kinney is feeling better than she has in a long time.

“That (game) gave me my edge back,” Kinney said. “You can try to tear me down, but I will persevere. I will get through this and come out on top.”

The Huskies will now host the Big East Championship tournament May 10-13.

PAYTON KINNEY’S BIO AND 2023 STATS

College: University of Connecticut

High School: Lakewood Ranch

High Sport: Softball

Position: Pitcher

Height: 5-foot-7

ERA: 2.36

Win-loss record: 10-5

Saves: 3

Batting average against: .167

Strikeouts: 86

Defensive assists: 8

Errors: 0

“When I was 7 and playing machine pitch, I hit my first inside-the-park home run.”

— Lakewood Ranch Little League’s Timmy Sulkowski

Courtesy photo

The 2023 Survivors in Sync dragon boat team

RYAN KOHN SPORTS EDITOR

Payton Kinney holds a 2.36 ERA in 2023.

After a strong freshman season, Payton Kinney missed the 2022 season with a shoulder injury and felt pressure upon returning in 2023.

Courtesy photos

PROSE AND KOHN RYAN KOHN

Dick Vitale Gala does it again

The event raised $12.4 million for The V Foundation for Cancer Research, breaking its own record.

The passion never wavers.

It’s the thing that continues to surprise me most about Dick Vitale, though at this point it shouldn’t. Vitale, the Hall of Fame college basketball broadcaster and a Lakewood Ranch resident, has been hosting the Dick Vitale Gala for 18 years now. It started as a party in his backyard, a way to help The V Foundation for Cancer Research as much as he could. It has grown into a multimillion-dollar fundraiser.

But a lot of people host fundraisers. A lot of people say they care about the causes behind them. I’m sure plenty of them actually do. But few, if any, speak about the cause as frequently and with as much passion as Vitale speaks on pediatric cancer.

The 2023 Dick Vitale Gala, held May 5 at The Ritz-Carlton, Sarasota, was no different. At a pregala press conference, Vitale said his goal, as usual, was to break the previous year’s fundraising record. It’s never an easy task, but to do it in 2023 was a bit more challenging than usual. All year, he’s known it would be: The 2022 gala raised $11.1 million for pediatric cancer research, beating the 2021 mark by approximately $4 million. That was wonderful, but unexpected, he said, and it caused him a bit of panic, wondering how he’d pull enough funds to beat it this year.

He shouldn’t have worried.

Vitale announced May 6 that the gala raised $12.4 million, making it another record-breaking night. Part of that fundraising comes from the

event’s appealing experiences and trips put into the silent auction for bidding, like a trip to the U.S. Open tennis tournament. It includes VIP tickets to the men’s and women’s doubles finals in the ESPN suite and a chance to mingle with legends like John McEnroe and Patrick McEnroe, two of the gala’s 2023 honorees. Another part comes from things like a car raffle: The prize this year was a 2023 Porsche Taycan.

But a lot of the fundraising also comes from people who hear Vitale’s passion and want to help.

Vitale tweeted that Mark and Cindy Pentecost, founders of It Works!, gave $2 million at the gala, for

instance. Not as part of a bid, mind you, just as a donation.

It’s a common sentiment among the event’s honorees, too: Hear Vitale speak, and it’s hard not to come away invigorated.

“The reason I got into broadcasting was because of Dick,” Patrick McEnroe, an ESPN tennis analyst, said. “I heard this guy screaming and yelling and said, ‘That sounds like fun.’

“But as I said to him in numerous texts as we became good friends over the last few years, he’s left a mark on broadcasting, but he’s left an even bigger mark with what he’s doing here.”

And it’s not only about the event with Vitale’s name on it, either. He’ll help raise funds for other events supporting pediatric cancer patients. Former San Francisco Giants catcher and 2012 National League MVP Buster Posey, a 2023 honoree, said that in 2016, Vitale visited UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital in San Francisco with Posey and his wife, Kristen Posey, as part of an event hosted by BP28, the Posey family’s charity dedicated to helping pediatric cancer patients.

Maybe ESPN’s Kevin Negandhi, who served as the event’s emcee, summed up the special appeal of the night best.

CONGRATULATIONS

“We are here to kick cancer’s ass,” Negandhi said. “You cannot face cancer by yourself and beat cancer. What you need is a team. What Dick has done here with The V Foundation, what Lorraine (Vitale, Dick Vitale’s wife) has done here, we’re a team. We are here to support the families and friends and kids that go through this day in and day out.

This is Dick’s lasting legacy because from the beginning, he’s gone all the way with the sincerity.”

Since going through his own cancer scare in 2021-2022 with melanoma and lymphoma, Vitale has only increased his efforts. He knows now what the kids he’s fighting for go through, he said. And he had a lot of people in his corner. Some he knew well, but others, like 2023 gala honoree Rick Barnes, he did not. That didn’t stop Barnes, the University of Tennessee men’s basketball coach, from helping however he could.

“All of a sudden, I get a text message (from Barnes),” Vitale said. “For five straight months, I kid you not, I got a personal prayer from him, encouraging and inspiring me. In those dark moments when I was down, laying in the hospital, he gave me a lift.”

When you’re good to people, people are good back to you. The way Vitale has dedicated his time to pediatric cancer patients is always inspiring. The 2023 gala was no exception. Vitale joked that he’ll spend the day after the gala wondering how he’ll top it in 2024, but he’ll find a way.

Joseph Antonelli-Pike

David Bailey

Maria Ballesteros

Ashley Balot

Valentina Baretta

Sage Barger

Rachel Benson

Lance Blackwell

Rebekah Bourque

Jacob Burns

Addie Butler

Jordyn Byrd

Peter Carlo

Joseph Carlo

Madeline Carson

Andrew Carter

Jacob Charles

Aidan Cheperka

Owen Clough

Micaela Coluzzi

Matthew Compa

Kyle Cooke

Blakeley Coyne

Cameron Curran

Ella Curran

Marc Dalmau

Taylor Daly

Madelyn Davenport

Olivia Davis

Cameron de Boer

Brennan Dearing

Mallory DeBlauw

Matthew Delzer

Kayla DesJardins

Sawyer DeYoung

Abigail Duplissey

Anna Farley

Abigail Fayette

Cooper Flerlage

Kendall Flury

Trinity Forgét

Erin Galvin

Hayden Garriott

Noah Gregory

Bryanna Gropo

Luke Halfpenny

Zoe Halfpenny

Leah Hamilton

Mason Handloser

Chloe Harpsoe

Celeste Harrell

Gage Hassler

Lucas Hassler

Terry Higgins

Jonathan Howard

Isabella Iglesias

Dylan Ittig

Nathan Johnson

Gabrielle Joyce

Paige Judson

Joseph Jurgielewicz

Charles Justus

Jessica Kaszubski

Kate Kochis

Sally Koscho

Amy Kurinets

Carter Lambert

Sean Laureano

Justina Lekaj

Alexander Liebel

Finley Linehan

Ophelia Linger

Mallory Lumpkin

Jack MacKinnon

Matthew Maloni

Scott Martz Jr.

Luca Mascaro

Thomas Matt

Michaela Mattes

Simon Maun

Joseph McCoy

Erin McCusker

Liam McDonough

Sofia McFadden

Stuart McFall

Andrew Mellon

Macy Meshad

Pearson Miller

Taylor Milligan

Annika Miltenberger

Allie Moore

Christina Mroczkowski

Luke Nelson

Cade Norman

Austin Olander

Easton Olthoff

Sydney Opstal

Anna Page

Malcome Paine

Christopher Palmer

Nathaniel Parker

Mary Patterson

Perla Pelegrin-Santos

Alyssa Prima

Michael Ramsamooj

Zachary Redgrave

Connor Reindel

Niti Romeri

James Rosenberg

Mariclare Ruben

Katherine Ruona

Taden Russell

Giulia Saccani

Cecilia Sanchez

Ella Schaefer

Christopher Schultz

Norah Secord

Aiden Shea

Ava Shields

Gracie Simons

Bianca Smith

Grace Smith

Rhiann Soucek

Tyler Stonebridge

Peyton Strand

Nathan Sutthoff

Daniel Taylor

Caroline Teto

Garrett Towsley

Caroline Troiano

Anne Van Pelt

Madison Vavra

Mariela Via-Reque

Caryn Violette

Harrington Waldrip

Nathan Weitzner

Peyton White

Ryon White

Randy Wilson Jr.

Piper Yeagley

Michael Yencik

CMHS Class of 2023 - We are so proud of you!

CMHS

Ryan Kohn is the sports editor for the East County Observer. Contact him at RKohn@ YourObserver.com.

Ryan Kohn

Dick Vitale and the 2023 Dick Vitale Gala raised $12.4 million for The V Foundation for Cancer Research.

Timmy Sulkowski

Timmy Sulkowski, 12, is a baseball player with Lakewood Ranch Little League. On May 1, Sulkowski threw 5.2 shutout innings for his Empower Financial team. On May 2, Sulkowski hit two home runs in one game.

When did you start playing baseball?

I started when I was 6 years old.

I started with machine pitch at Cal Ripken Youth Baseball before coming to Lakewood Ranch Little League. I played soccer first, but my family wanted me to try baseball too. I did, and I loved it so much more than soccer.

What is the appeal to you?

There’s so many things to do. You can hit, pitch, play defense. You don’t just run around a field like in soccer. Hitting is my favorite. That’s where you make your money.

What is your best skill?

Hitting, because I’m good at it.

That’s why I loved hitting the two home runs (in one game) a lot. But I also like pitching. I like throwing my two-seam fastball because I like the grip. I can throw a lot of strikes with it.

What is your favorite memory?

When I was 7 and playing machine pitch, I hit my first inside-the-park home run. A few pitches before, I had hit a triple, but they called it back for some reason. The next pitch, same thing. But then I hit a good one, and they didn’t call it back and it turned into a home run.

What does your team have to do to have playoff success?

We need to limit the amount of runs we give up, and we need to get our bats going so that we

If you would like to make a recommendation for the East County Observer’s Athlete of the Week feature, send it to Ryan Kohn at RKohn@ YourObserver.com.

can beat a team early. Then we just have to finish the game.

What is your favorite food?

I love Philly cheesesteaks with cooked onions and peppers.

What are your hobbies?

I like to ride my bike. I like to be outside and active.

Which superpower would you pick?

I would pick flying so I could easily get wherever I want to go.

What is the best advice you have received?

You fail more times than you succeed in baseball. I think about that a lot whenever I have a bad game. Even in the pros, good hitters only get hits three out of 10 times.

TA

82 Car that rhymes with “see it” in “Jiggle Jiggle”

83 Book ID

84 Tennis player’s headwear

88 Genetic messenger (Abbr.)

89 Switch from a GR86 to a Prius, say

90 Agent Jimmy Woo’s org.

91 One can be drawn, figuratively or literally

93 Baking soda amt. 98 Gumbo vegetable

99 Composure

100 Chip dips

101 Bit of ink

103 Operatic solos

107 Stockholm citizen

108 Hathaway and Rice

109 Constellation component

110 Word before “vault” or “dance”

111 Slid into an inbox (Abbr.)

112 One of the seven deadly sins

113 “May It Be” singer

114 ___ in (join a Zoom call)

116 Actress Moore

118 iPhone purchase

119 Cavs, on scoreboards

120 Chinese philosopher

Lao-___

122 ___ and downs

By Luis Campos

Celebrity Cipher cryptograms are created from quotations by famous people, past and present. Each letter in the cipher stands for another.

“UOXWBABK DGC ZG WG FXHL ECTTBEE, DGC OXAB WG OXLF HL WOBKB XLZ

OGJB FGGZ WOHLFE OXJJBL. XVUXDE WOHLI JGEHWHAB.” ZGL KHTIVBE I

“K’T EVARORPN YVKZKSF THGKJ SAY UAV ZXB GOTB VBOGAS OG K GZOVZBC YVKZKSF GASFG YXBS K YOG 14 -- ZA TBBZ YATBS.” MSLXNPCJ MKLLANN

“KD SHDHPTR CHBCRH COI IBB WOZX VTKIX KD IXH PKZX, IXH VTWBOF, IXH CBRKIKZKTDF, TDJ DBI HDBOSX VTKIX KD IXHWFHRNHF.” MBDB

COUNTING DOWN THE DAYS by May Huang, edited by Jeff Chen