East County Observer 07.06.23

EAST COUNTY

Observer

Bird in the hand

Lakewood Ranch’s weekly newspaper since 1998

PAGE 17

YOU. YOUR NEIGHBORS. YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD.

FREE • THURSDAY, JULY 6, 2023

VOLUME 25, NO. 32

Manatee County thinks pig County invests more funds into trying to capture destructive wild hogs. SEE PAGE 3

YOUR TOWN

Building

momentum Excitement grows as the Lakewood Ranch Prep upper school reaches its final stage of construction. SEE PAGE 8

Courtesy photo

An engaging development at Waterside Waterside Place has become a special spot for Taylor Briggs and his future bride, Taylor Metcalf (above).

The couple walks around the Farmers Market at Lakewood Ranch on Sundays after church. They swing in the hammock overlooking the lake.

As the community developed, so did their relationship.

Briggs, 28, surprised Metcalf, 24, with a ring as they walked over the bridge behind the plaza like they’ve done so many times before.

They live in the nearby 50 Paramount apartments off Fruitville Road. Both Briggs and Metcalf are school teachers in Sarasota. They immediately hit it off after meeting on a dating app.

“We saw eye to eye on everything,” Briggs said. “She definitely checked all my boxes.”

Liz Ramos

Lakewood Ranch Preparatory Academy staff members and school partners tour the new upper school, which will be ready for opening day on Aug. 10.

In depth with new Manatee schools superintendent

Courtesy photo

MTC student gets with the program Manatee Technical College’s Arik Edstrom (above) has done it again. Edstrom placed first in the CNC Five-Axis Milling Programmer contest at the 2023 SkillsUSA Championships in Atlanta.

The championship was a national competition in April.

Edstrom placed first in the same contest this past year.

Now a graduate of MTC’s CNC Production Specialist program, Edstrom started working for Sunshine Water Filter Manufacturing June 28.

MTC’s Luciano Calvillo placed third in the nation in the Electrical Construction Wiring contest.

Jason Wysong talks about his priorities as he takes over the school district.

SEE PAGE 4 Courtesy photo

New Superintendent Jason Wysong wants to prioritize career and technical education in Manatee schools.

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Art Center upgrade.

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YourObserver.com

EAST COUNTY OBSERVER | THURSDAY, JULY 6, 2023

Robot donation computes for SCF Two Lakewood Ranch businesses, RND Automation and Certified Collectibles, combine to make an important donation to the school.

“I hope those students (who work with the machine), become our future leaders.”

JAY HEATER

have to create a pipeline.”

The grant comes from the PMMI U Skills Fund, part of its nonprofit foundation. Bagley said it is much needed.

Bagley said it would cost $10,000 just to move and set up the machine, about the size of one of those arcade games where a crane tries to grab stuffed animals. However, it’s heavy and will require a real crane to place it.

Zahory said it was all happening because of RND Automation.

“They have a strong relationship with our college partners,” Zahory said.

While Laine was giving Bagley and Laine a tour of the RND Automation facility in Lakewood Ranch, which was opened in 2018, an SCF Coding Academy summer camp tour group was checking out of machines and robots as well.

Bagley said similar students, who will be approximately 11 and 12 years old, will be learning how to program the machine by next summer. SCF’s coding students will be working with the machine in the fall. The Coding Academy opened in 2021.

She said RND Automation is setting a great model for other technology companies to follow.

It was the second major donation of a machine by RND Automation, which was founded in 2005 and has grown to 58 employees. The first donation was given to Suncoast Technical College.

— Certified Collectibles Vice President Craig Fiumara

MANAGING EDITOR

I

t was 2017 when the Certified Collectibles Group paid $135,000 for RND Automation to develop a special machine for its company to pull American Eagle silver dollars out of a case to be evaluated.

The machine made a laborious process rather simple — the coins were sealed tightly in a square plastic case — and cut the time needed to complete the task significantly.

After the coins were pulled and evaluated by Certified Collectibles’ staff members, the ones not meeting proper standards were returned to the machine to have the robot seal them back into the plastic case.

Aaron Laine, RND Automation’s key account sales engineer who was the main mechanical engineer on the project, said the machine was, indeed, one of a kind.

However, the uniqueness of such specially designed machines also can limit their lifespan. After five years, the way Certified Collectibles received the coins was changed, and the machine became obsolete.

“It got to the point where we could do it better,” said Certified Collectibles Vice President Craig Fiumara.

The robot had been designed to handle the American Eagles and also a Chinese coin called the “Panda.”

Fiumara said the purchase from RND Automation paid for itself many times over. However, upon taking the machine offline, Fiumara had another problem.

“It is amazing how many labor hours that machine saved us,” Fiu-

Photos by Jay Heater

SCF’s Desh Bagley, Certified Collectibles’ Craig Fiumara, RND Automation’s Aaron Laine and PMMI’s Heather Zahory show off the $50,000 grant PMMI presented to SCF for its Coding Academy.

mara said. “But we have space constraints, and I didn’t want to trash it.”

So Fiumara called Laine and asked if he wanted his machine back.

Laine had an idea. Instead of using the machine to scavenge parts, how about Certified Collectibles donating the machine to an educational institution? Laine could handle the particulars and hopefully land a matching grant of $50,000.

Fiumara, who has purchased four such machines from RND Automation, was all for it, so the two Lakewood Ranch companies worked out the details.

Fiumara said if the donation of the machine would inspire one student to go into the industry, it was worth it.

“I hope those students (who work with the machine), become our future leaders,” he said.

Meanwhile, Desh Bagley, the State College of Florida’s director of its new Coding Academy (Bradenton

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Heather Zahory, of the Packaging Machinery Manufacturers Institute, and RND Automation’s Aaron Laine talk about an RND Automation machine that is being donated to SCF.

campus), had called Laine to see if RND Automation would be willing to make a $500 donation to the school. She was holding a free college workshop open to the public and wanted to use the money to pay for

the event’s food.

Laine told Bagley, “I’ve got something better for you.”

He asked her if she could make use of the machine and its five-axis FANUC robot.

“I told him, ‘I’m game,’” Bagley said.

Bagley said the machine would allow SCF to expand its workforce development training.

Laine worked with Heather Zahory, a program assistant for the Packaging Machinery Manufacturers Institute. PMMI gave a matching grant of $50,000 to accompany the donation.

Zahory said her job is to make connections with schools and industry executives.

“Manufacturing is on the rise,” said Zahory, whose office is in Herndon, Virginia. “We definitely need (workers).

“We have to grow awareness about the packaging industry and jobs. We

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YourObserver.com

EAST COUNTY OBSERVER | THURSDAY, JULY 6, 2023

Hogs wait in the holding pen at Duette Preserve to be transported to Shogun Farms.

Courtesy photos

FROM PROBLEM TO PLATE Through a pilot program, feral hogs are being trapped and turned into artisanal pork products.

LESLEY DWYER STAFF WRITER

R

unning hog wild is all fun and games until it’s the hogs doing it.

In 2021, feral hogs were spotted so regularly in backyards and on the streets of Lakewood Ranch that Lakewood Ranch’s Inter-District Authority hired a trapper. Last year, Manatee County set traps in Premier Park.

The efforts have continued in 2023 and the fiscal year 2024 recommended budget includes more funds for hog trapping.

A feral hog capture program managed by Manatee County’s Natural Resources department is attempting to get a handle on the year-round breeders in a way that can be beneficial for its citizens.

For example, hogs captured by the county have the potential of becoming bacon or part of a pork quesadilla at local restaurants.

Natural Resources just put in a budget request of $68,190 for 2024 to hire an additional ranger and to buy six more traps to expand the program, a small cost considering the findings from the USDA Animal Plant Health Inspection Service that feral hogs cause an estimated $2.5 billion in damage and control costs per year throughout the country.

Hogs cause property damage, destroy crops, displace native wildlife and carry parasites and diseases. APHIS estimates over 6 million are living across 35 states, predominately in the south.

Estimates offer a range of population in Florida, between 500,000 and more than a million, but hogs breed so rapidly, it’s hard to pinpoint an exact number. What is known about wild hogs in Florida is that they are living and breeding in all 67 counties.

HOGS AREN’T MIGHTIER THAN THE PEN

Manatee County has been running its pilot program for the past two years out of Duette Preserve. When a complaint is received, a feeder filled with corn is delivered as close as possible to that area on county land. Once the hogs get comfortable, a corral pen is built around the feeder to trap them.

“Our services are limited to our own county-held parks and preserves,” Natural Resources Director Charlie Hunsicker said. “We cannot

provide taxpayer supported services to private property.”

Currently, the county has three traps that consist of a feeder, camera and corral. The camera sends notifications and photos to Park Ranger Jerry Miller’s cell phone. Being that hogs are mostly nocturnal, he sometimes receives 4 a.m. walk-up calls.

“The hogs are almost like a volunteer thing. I don’t comp out time or anything, but it is weird hours,” Miller said. “I’ll be in the movies or out to dinner and they’ll go into the pen.”

No matter where he is, as long as Miller has service on his cell phone, he can shut the gate. He’s careful though, watching the video for up to a half-hour before pulling the trigger. Miller said hogs are smart, so he has to get the whole sounder (herd) at once because the stragglers won’t return to that feeder after the rest have been captured.

It’s a job that requires patience from start to finish. Once the feeder and camera are installed, Miller monitors the area for up to two weeks counting hogs. After the hogs are comfortable with the feeder and Miller is comfortable with his count, his team moves in with a pen. The hogs will quickly adjust to walking in and out of the pen for more corn.

Once they are trapped, the hogs are transported to a holding pen near the entrance of Duette Preserve, where they’re kept under shade and given food and water.

From there, Shogun Farms takes over. Swamp Mountain Outfitters, the trapping side of the business, transports the hogs to Shogun Farms in Hillsborough County. The hogs are quarantined and fed organic, domestic feed for about five months in preparation for slaughter. After being processed and inspected by the USDA, the meat is sold.

The county collects a small fee from Shogun per hog. Gross program revenues for Manatee County in 2022 were $290, which covered the cost of corn to bait them.

Currently, the county is only capturing between 100 and 150 hogs per year, and not all are from traps.

“Roughly 50% are trapped, and 50% are harvested by the public using archery and firearms during our regulated hunts that occur from September through April,” Natural Resources Division Manager Michael Elswick said.

At Duette, the big game hunt also

years ago. He handled animal intrusion and food safety.

“Even if the hogs didn’t eat the crops, which they obviously were doing, just their presence in the field, we would have to rope off an entire block,” Miller said. “You can’t take that risk with selling food to the market.”

According to the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, risks include, “at least 30 viral and bacterial diseases and nearly 40 parasites that can be transmitted to humans, pets, livestock and other wildlife.”

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Chiles Hospitality sells bacon, ham and sausage made from hog meat at the market at Gamble Creek Farms in Parrish. They also use the meat for the pulled pork quesadillas served at the Sandbar on Anna Maria Island.

includes whitetail deer, but small incentives are offered to encourage hunters to target hogs.

“It’s another way to generate interest,” Miller said. “They have to bring the hogs out, and they’ll eat them, too.”

One rule of the hunt, made clear in the guidelines, is that the “waste of wildlife is prohibited.” Nothing can be left behind in the preserve. The harvested hog becomes the hunter’s responsibility.

Within a 22,000-acre preserve like Duette, invasive hogs disrupt the natural environment. Beyond visible signs of “rooting” around the park, which looks like the start of trenches being dug, Miller said they eat the quail eggs, turkey eggs and snakes.

Rooting also spreads invasive grasses and plants throughout the preserve through either the hog eating the plants and expelling the seeds or picking up and transplanting seeds because they get caught in the hogs’ bristles.

Wild hogs are especially troublesome for local farmers. Miller worked for Lipman Family Farms in Duette before he was hired by the county six

When properly monitored and prepared, not only are wild hogs safe to eat, but Sandbar owner Ed Chiles said, “This is arguably the finest pork in North America, and it has a tremendous story.”

Chiles said it is the finest ham in the world because the lineage of Florida wild hogs dates back to the 1500s when Queen Isabella of Spain sent hogs with Hernando de Soto on his historic expedition.

Chiles compares the meat to Iberico ham from Spain, which can cost up to $4,500 for a leg. The meat is sought-after because of the pig’s acorn diet.

At Shogun Farms, the hogs are fed acorns, denatured grains, vegetables and dairy products to round out their fat content.

“When I eat it, I want a little bit of fat with every bite because of the taste. The flavor is just so exceptional, ” Chiles said. “The pig you want to eat is the pig that lived a good life.”

Chiles Hospitality owns three restaurants and a bakery on Anna Maria Island, plus Gamble Creek Farms in Parrish. The company uses every part of the hog. The pork belly is used in the collard greens, and the bones are turned into fertilizer for the farm.

“This isn’t taking lemons and making lemonade. This is taking lemons and making limoncello,” Chiles said. “It’s as far as you can go with an invasive species that is causing millions of dollars of damages and turning it into an artisanal product that is healthy and good for you.”

Lesley Dwyer

Park Ranger Jerry Miller stands in the permanent holding pen at Duette Preserve. Miller oversees Manatee County’s feral hog capture program.

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YourObserver.com

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Prioritizing career and technical education, making sure graduating students know where they are headed and concentrating on early reading habits are among his priorities.

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J

ason Wysong was sworn in as the new superintendent of the School District of Manatee County July 3.

With that job comes questions of where the district and its more than 50,000 students and 6,000 staff members are headed.

The East County Observer talked with Wysong to discuss his vision as he takes the helm.

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What are your three priorities you’d like to tackle?

I want to continue to prioritize career and technical education.

That includes exposing students early to concepts and subjects that might sound complex but you can get them down to age-appropriate activities.

There’s already some great STEM initiatives happening in elementary schools. You want students to discover interests in those areas as early as possible.

Academic performance in both reading and math would be a focus area, and in particular, how we can

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What do you hope to accomplish in the first 100 days?

As an outsider, there’s a lot to learn.

There’s the history of the district, the communities and then down to how individual families have experienced the district, how our employees are feeling about their careers and what they hope to accomplish.

I’m a person who likes to go back and process and reflect. I will make a quick decision when the urgency requires it, but I like to take the time to synthesize all the information and then come back and share with the board what I’ve learned, what I’ve seen and then where I see us moving forward.

The board is elected to represent and reflect the community, so the board will provide that strategic direction and certainly identify their priorities.

My job and the job of the staff is to make that happen.

It’s about some of the things that I see, but it’s also very much about where the board as a reflection of the community wants us to go together.

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That starts, of course, with reading and math, but then it should quickly spiral into ungraded enrichment, things that students find interesting, that motivate them to do things other than just go to class.

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YourObserver.com

EAST COUNTY OBSERVER | THURSDAY, JULY 6, 2023

build upon past successes and move forward.

The true measure of a successful school district is how students in the lowest quartile, the bottom 25% of test scores, are making consistent progress. It’s the biggest challenge the district faces. I think long-term, high performing districts find ways to show progress there.

That’s going to be an area that I’m interested in, particularly learning what’s already in place and then what our educators and parents think they need more of so their students can be successful.

The third area is what we need to do to ensure we’re retaining the highest quality workforce.

The education profession is changing quickly. There’s been a lot of attention on recruitment, which is certainly important, but if you can retain people, then you don’t have to recruit as many. It’s simple math.

I worry, as an educator, that we are losing, particularly midcareer teachers, who are choosing to go and do other things. That group is vital to the success of early career teachers. An early career teacher, you’re going to look up to the people who are more experienced and innovative.

If you lose too many of those midcareer folks, it affects the success of your early career folks.

I think we have to talk about what more we can do to make sure our teachers feel the support of the community and want to keep going with their work.

A big part of the 1-mill property tax referendum coming up again for renewal in 2024 is that employee salaries are tied to the referendum. What are your thoughts on the referendum and what would you want to spend that money on?

I’m always a proponent of confirming priorities and then making sure that your resources are aligned to the priorities.

School district budgets are complex. I think you have to go through the process of making sure that whatever the priorities are, that’s what’s resourced.

I think sometimes in public education, we want to do it all, we

community questions about things they hear.

Maybe there’s something that happens in another district somewhere else that wouldn’t happen here, but we have to communicate that. So how do we? How do we communicate the good work that’s happening in schools and answer questions that people might have based on things they hear or read about?

File photo

Jason Wysong says he feels “as well prepared as anyone could be to come into a superintendent seat.”

want to say yes to everything, and sometimes, you have to say no to one thing to stay focused on what your priority is.

I’m looking forward to diving into the current budget and how it’s been historically approached and then having all these conversations and sitting down and synthesizing all of it and drawing my own conclusions. Then I’ll share those findings with the board so we can find a way forward.

Anytime a community votes to increase its own financial responsibility, I take that very seriously as a leader. I think we have an obligation to not only be transparent about it but also to continue to assess what our priorities are and how we pay for them. I haven’t drawn any conclusions, but I will say that coming into a community that clearly values education and is willing to resource it is very exciting.

What are going to be some of the biggest challenges you’ll face as you go into your first year as superintendent?

Retention and recruitment of an

outstanding workforce is always at the top of the list.

I think retention is a conversation at all levels of the organization, so it’s bus drivers and teachers but also maintenance personnel and principals. Principals are an incredibly important driver of academic outcomes and parental and community satisfaction. We have to take care of that group of leaders, too.

It’s retention at all levels of the organization, which is what are we doing for groups of employees, but it’s also about individual conversations with people about what they want for their careers, why they do what they do, what they love about it and what we can do to support them to either keep doing it or to grow to their next step.

Another challenge and priority is helping people to separate, I guess, what you might call fact from fiction in a school district.

I have the luxury of going to schools any time I want, to go in and see what’s happening. I think we have to find ways to be transparent about the great work that teachers do every day and to answer

What do you think are the district’s biggest strengths and weaknesses?

A clear strength is innovative programming and the balance between what all students receive and what is unique about each school. You always want to have that balance.

There is academic and fiscal stability. That is not the case in other districts, so we have a solid foundation to build on.

We always want to improve reading scores. If I were leading the No. 1 district in the state on reading scores, I would say, “We have to do better with reading scores.” Literacy is the centerpiece of opportunity for children.

I know a lot of good work is well underway, and there are schools that have demonstrated that trajectory. What I want to work on is making sure that there are systems and structures in place so that we support each student who is behind grade level with a systemic process and way to do that.

I want to confirm that all of our practices are grounded in research and evidence because our students and families deserve to know that we’re not working randomly, that there’s a process to things.

I’m looking forward to jumping in and learning how all of that works here and seeing whether there are opportunities to build upon what’s already in place.

How do you plan to address the growth we constantly have?

Growth is so interesting because some people love it. It’s a sign that people want to be where you are and that the community is healthy.

Then other people don’t like growth because of congestion and density and how it changes the feel.

From the perspective of leading a

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school district, the growth is coming regardless of how we feel about it. We want to make sure we have access to all the latest data, that we’re listening to a lot of different perspectives, because no one has a crystal ball on this.

At the end of the day, we want to make decisions about new schools and enrollment patterns and attendance boundaries that consider all of the different kinds of risks and possibilities.

We have to do that transparently.

There is nothing more emotional for parents than attendance boundary changes.

When those tough decisions come up, you have to take in a lot of input, you have to be transparent and you have to communicate the why.

At the end of the day, you might have to agree to disagree with some people, but you’re trying to make the best decision you can for 50,000-plus students.

You have a background in innovation at Seminole. Are there any programs you’re hoping to bring to Manatee County?

There are lots of neat initiatives both in Seminole and Manatee. I am not coming to Seminolize Manatee.

I want to build on the strengths here.

A passion of mine is taking subjects and disciplines that students encounter in high school and might be intimidated by and expose students to them early. In Seminole, I was able to do that with things like physics and computer science.

I’m always going to look for opportunities to take those interdisciplinary study areas and find ways to expose students to those earlier so they can make informed choices.

That decision is also informed by making sure we can sustain what’s already here. I think a big mistake that leaders and schools can make with innovation is you announce a really big program and then it’s gone in five years because you couldn’t afford it to begin with.

That’s part of laying out the educational landscape in Manatee County. What are our priorities?

How do we sustain them? What else is there room for? So we’ll see.

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Sotheby’s International Realty® and the Sotheby’s International Realty logo are registered service marks used with permission. Each office is independently owned and operated. Equal Housing Opportunity.

Property information herein is derived from various sources, including, but not limited to, county records and multiple listing services, and may include approximations. All information is deemed accurate. Source: Real Trends 2023.

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Photos by Lesley Dwyer

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The Italian restaurant will be fully open by the second week of July after a soft opening.

WELCOME Ryan Jones, MD

LESLEY DWYER

IF YOU GO

Osteria 500. 1580 Lakefront Drive, Unit 101. Open 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays; 11 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. Visit Osteria500.com (which will be set up by the opening).

STAFF WRITER

W

aterside Place is on the verge of another restaurant opening.

After signing a lease agreement nearly two years ago, Osteria 500 is preparing to open its doors. The Italian restaurant plans to be fully open the second week of July after a soft opening.

One of the restaurant’s main features is a pizza oven, which is a mosaic-tiled dome oven that sits atop a red Fiat 500. It was shipped to Lakewood Ranch from Naples, Italy.

The Fiat also serves as the restaurant’s logo.

Board-Certified Family Medicine Physician Dr Jones received his medical degree from St. George’s University in Grenada and completed his residency in family medicine at Promedica Monroe Regional Hospital in Monroe, Michigan.

He offers comprehensive outpatient care for the entire family, starting at 2 days of age and older. He specializes in the following services:

An osteria in Italy is a wine bar that serves simple food. The menu takes that lead with a less is more approach, allowing a few ingredients to speak for themselves.

The seafood is delivered daily.

Steaks are cooked on a Brazilian charcoal grill. The pizza and pasta are made fresh using Italian flour that has no chemicals and a lower gluten content.

All three owners and the chef hail from Italy.

Co-owner Andrea De Dominicis moved to Florida 12 years ago from

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Dr Jones is accepting new patients.

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To make an appointment, call 866-515-9777 or schedule online at lakewoodranchmedicalgroup.com

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6600 University Parkway, Suite 201 | Lakewood Ranch, FL 34240 BRADENTON

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EAST COUNTY OBSERVER | THURSDAY, JULY 6, 2023

large, industrial space with exposed ceilings, the owners took care to weave their Italian culture into the nooks and crannies.

The loft area upstairs is a nod to Sorrento and the town’s love for lemons. Bright yellow lemons dot the greenery hanging overhead. Downstairs, behind the bar, is a private dining room, where garlic and peppers are draped in with the lighting.

The restaurant can hold up to 160 diners between the indoor and outdoor seating. The outside patio features a fire pit on one side and a unique bar area on the other.

“We didn’t want to build just a regular bar,” De Dominicis said.

“This feels like you’re on a street in Italy.”

This bar is hard to miss when walking down Lakefront Drive. It’s a baby blue Citroen truck. The windows pop open just like a food truck, but they reveal a full bar instead of a stovetop. The truck is another European import. While popular in Europe, the vehicles haven’t been sold in the United States since the late 1980s.

The cocktail bar is the centerpiece of the outdoor lounge area. If looking for something light, there’s a separate menu offering smaller, shareable dishes.

“If you go to a burger place, you can have a burger every day,” De Dominicis said, “But if you eat Italian, you can have something new every day.”

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While the pizza oven is on wheels, it’s not going anywhere. Andrea De Dominicis said it’s so heavy that the forklift lifted up from the back end when moving it in.

Every Tuesday & Saturday | 9 a.m.

Thursdays | 6 p.m.

Call 941-271-4444 to register.

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1300 Sarasota Center Blvd., Sarasota, FL 34240

406245-1

Abruzzo, east of Rome, on a work visa through Cafe Epicure. Ten years later, he sold his house to build Osteria 500 with his co-owners — brother-in-law Giuseppe Del Sole and longtime friend Carmine Ussano.

Friends become family, too, so De Dominicis calls his newest restaurant a family business. The chef, Salvatore Scaccino, is Del Sole’s nephew.

Del Sole has co-owned Napule on South Tamiami Trail in Sarasota since 2017 with Alessandro Di Ferdinando. The pair owned Made in Italy in Venice before opening Napule.

Del Sole will be back and forth between Osteria 500 and Napule, while De Dominicis and Ussano oversee the bar and dining room Scaccino mans the kitchen.

“The four of us, we can take the pressure,” De Dominicis said of his bold investment move to sell his home.

Now, De Dominicis lives and works at Waterside. Walking to the restaurant from his Botanic apartment has given him a chance to get to know his neighbors and their thoughts on the restaurant’s progress.

“Nine months ago, they were nice about it. Now, they’re grabbing me by the shirt saying, ‘You said you’d be open last month,’” De Dominicis joked.

Construction and shipping delays aside, he said it has taken time to design and build the restaurant from scratch. While the restaurant is in a

7

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YourObserver.com

EAST COUNTY OBSERVER | THURSDAY, JULY 6, 2023

EAST COUNTY

Work continues on Lakewood Ranch Preparatory Academy’s upper school in June.

“If we are to build a better world, we must remember that the guiding principle is this — a policy of freedom for the individual is the only truly progressive policy.”

Friedrich Hayek

“Road to Serfdom,” 1944 Publisher and President / Emily Walsh, EWalsh@YourObserver.com Associate Publisher — East County Observer / Lori Ruth, LRuth@YourObserver.com Executive Editor and COO / Kat Wingert, KWingert@YourObserver.com

FINISHING TOUCHES

The building is expected to be complete in time for the first day of school Aug. 10.

LIZ RAMOS SENIOR EDITOR

P

rincipal Cheryl Cendan walked through the doors of the new Lakewood

Ranch Preparatory Academy upper school building and looked past the piles of construction materials, the unfinished ceiling and the cabinetry and furniture that had yet to be finished and installed.

Photos by Liz Ramos

It was June 16, but she could clearly picture what the building will look like on Aug. 10, the first day of school.

“The families are going to be in for such a shock because they realize how big the building is, but when they go in, I don’t think they’re going to realize how beautiful it is,” Cendan said.

Cendan and other Lakewood Ranch Preparatory Academy staff members were touring the upper school, which is expected to be finished in late July. They were seeing their vision coming to life.

“Our freshmen did a great job identifying and getting the vision and implementing it as a student body,” Cendan said. “They are student leaders. I think having more space to be able to demonstrate their leadership is just going to be great. It is very exciting.”

The tour group was able to go into some of the classrooms to see the possibilities. For example, they could see how the high school classrooms have partitions that will allow teachers to combine their classes in one large room or break down into smaller classes and groups.

Classes for the high school will be on the lower level of the upper school, while classes for middle school will be on the second floor.

The upper school will feature a college and career room, Cambridge Advanced International Certificate of Education science rooms, black box theater, gymnasium, weight room, TV production room and more.

Lakewood Ranch Preparatory Academy staff take in the view from the patio of the cafeteria, where students will be able to enjoy lunch outdoors, as well as the green space.

Outside, the school has a football field, tennis courts and green space with artificial turf.

The cafeteria will be able to fit 269 students, not including the patio with picnic tables so students can eat lunch outside.

“The goal is to allow them to come outside and get some air before going back to class,” Cendan said.

With the upper school complete, Cendan said Lakewood Ranch Charter School will be able to add more athletics programs and other extracurricular activities, which will include e-sports, student government, stock market, computer science, pre-law and pre-med groups.

Cendan said although the school is a WISH model school, which stands for wellness, innovation, science and health, the school will offer more learning opportunities and extracurriculars that are outside the fields of health and sciences to address students’ interests.

In the 2023-24 school year, Lakewood Ranch Prep will have kindergarten through seventh grade as well as high school freshmen and sophomores.

With the construction of the upper school building, Lakewood Ranch Preparatory Academy was able to double the number of students in its kindergarten “village” as well as accommodate more fifth graders for the 2023-24 school year.

In the upper school, Cendan said

The Lakewood Ranch Preparatory Academy upper school will feature Cambridge Advanced International Certificate of Education science rooms.

LAKEWOOD RANCH PREPARATORY UPPER SCHOOL The upper school will house middle and high school students with high school classrooms on the first floor and middle school classes on the second floor.

The building features a college and career room, Cambridge Advanced International Certificate of Education science rooms, black box theater, gymnasium, weight room, TV production room and more.

there are close to 200 students enrolled in both sixth and seventh grades and approximately 130 students enrolled in ninth and 10th grades.

In seventh grade, the school was able to offer about 80 more seats.

The school offered about 120 seats for sixth grade, and about 20 to 25 seats for ninth and 10th grades.

Cendan said the school is at capacity and has a waitlist. “(The enrollment) validates what we do and that the community wants choice,” she said. “There’s hurdles you have to overcome, but that’s the great thing about being a choice school. The families that stay are the ones that choose to stay.”

Although students in sixth grade through 12th grade will be next door at the upper school, Cendan said a priority for the charter school will be to maintain the relationships built among the high school and middle school students and the elementary students.

“We are going to make sure we are very intentional in maintaining our relationship with the bigs and the littles because that was so organically beautiful,” Cendan said.

The high school students would greet elementary students at the car line and walk them to class, or on some days, the middle school students would read to the elementary students or listen as the elementary students read to them.

“Even though we have two buildings, we are a K-12 system,” Cendan said. “We’re very intentional in maintaining our K-12 culture.”

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EAST COUNTY OBSERVER | THURSDAY, JULY 6, 2023

SIDE OF RANCH

9

JAY HEATER

Do you need to curb crazy driving habits?

S

o it was a sleepy Saturday morning ... except for the drivers.

It was a couple of weeks ago when I was sitting at a red light on State Road 70 at its intersection with Lorraine Road. I guess I had a premonition, because I glanced into my rear view mirror to see if I should expect any craziness.

The intersection has two lanes on S.R. 70 headed eastward, but the right lane only runs 100 yards from the signal light and turns into the Wawa center. I was in the left-hand lane and there was a car to my right.

When I looked into the mirror, though, I saw a woman, likely in her 40s, who seemed to be throwing a major fit directly behind me. There was a simple reason for her anger ... she was behind me.

Perhaps she knows that being a senior, I lack the driving aggressiveness of my youth. I am well aware that often, the car in the right lane, at that particular signal light, has no intention of turning right, but wants to speed forward and then cut back into the left lane as the right lane runs out of real estate.

And, guess what? That’s OK with me these days. Just go ... please.

S.R. 70 is a dangerous road and I try to avoid it as much as I can. When I am headed to Myakka City, I try to be, well, conservative.

Funny thing, though, the car to my right didn’t jump off the start, and rode alongside me for the 100 yards before turning right. This seemed to be one of those “all’s right with the world” moments, except that Crazy Lady behind me, in a midsized sedan, was not pleased.

When the right lane ended, she was stuck behind me in a no passing zone, and her temperature was rising. I noticed in my passenger side mirror that she had pulled onto the shoulder and was attempting to pass me that way, with no lane

Jay Heater

Sgt. Steve Gaskins, the public affairs officer for the Florida Highway Patrol, uses a vehicle rollover simulator to demonstrate the dangers of driving aggressively during an FDOT seminar.

available.

She didn’t get too far, though, when she realized the shoulder most likely was going to send her into the ditch, and she got back in line.

She hugged my back bumper and I buzzed ahead at 60 mph, catching up to another car in front of me, which was, in turn, following a large citrus truck. Usually it might take 15 minutes to get to Myakka City, but we probably weren’t going to make it for 19 minutes, God forbid.

So, with a truck and two cars all cruising along at 60 miles per hour, Crazy Lady, in her midsized sedan, crossed a double yellow line and zipped past me. The stupidity of the moment was frightening, and I hit the brake because I didn’t want to be collateral damage when she hit a

west-bound vehicle head on.

She passed the other car and then was taking on the truck. I couldn’t see what might be coming the other direction, and I continued to slow down. She did make it, though, and I didn’t see her car again for four or five minutes until she ended up behind a few more trucks. Her brush with death saved her about 30 seconds.

But that wasn’t the end of my morning joy ride.

I stopped at Dakin Dairy, then headed back to S.R. 70 on Betts Road to turn right (east) toward Myakka City. A solid line of cars were zooming west, but the east lane was clear. I looked both ways, and pulled on to S.R. 70.

And just as I did, Mario Andretti shot out of the west-bound lane

to pass cars. Here I was, basically standing still, looking death in the bumper. The car was going so fast, right at me, I only had time to yank my car toward the shoulder of the road. We were three cars across the two lanes, Mario making his pass and then darting back into the west-bound lane. My heart was thumping as I realized I had come a few feet from death. My tombstone would read, “Killed by Idiot Driver.”

The Florida Department of Transportation is adding seven roundabouts on S.R. 70 from Uihlein Road to County Road 675 in the hope of curbing some of the insanity. I know many of you have a distaste for roundabouts, but it’s our own horrible driving habits that make such construction necessary.

Furthermore, the FDOT also has begun a safety campaign to educate the public on aggressive driving. It’s worth taking note.

I will offer one more story as I plead with you not to be Crazy Lady, or Mario Andretti or this next guy. Look in the mirror. Is this you?

Do you want to wake up every day knowing your driving caused someone’s death? Or what if you don’t wake up at all because of your bad driving habits?

This was a couple days ago, again on S.R. 70, but this time coming out of the 7-Eleven parking lot. It’s actually a road called Fields Lane.

I was at the stop sign waiting to turn right (west), looking up and down the highway. To my left, getting ready to leave the shoulder and get into the right lane was a tractortrailer. Obviously, he had some mechanical difficultly and had pulled over to the shoulder.

I could see the driver looking at me, wondering if I would give him a moment to get back on the road.

I waved him ahead and he waved back to thank me.

Just before I waved him forward, a car had pulled up behind me. If you

are not familiar with that area, it is two-lane road, with one lane going in each direction. Those driving east on S.R. 70 turn left into The Green on Fields Lane.

Well, the guy must have needed to get to Lakewood Ranch Medical Center because he flipped when I motioned the tractor-trailer forward. He pulled out into the lane next to me, which of course, was for cars going the opposite direction.

He pulled right in front of the tractor-trailer, which had to brake.

Then, his car was going head-tohead with another vehicle that had turned left off S.R. 70 to come into the strip mall.

The two cars swerved to miss each other, and the impatient idiot almost took out the front of my car.

Out of control, he entered the lanes of traffic, and almost was taken out by another car going west on S.R. 70 at 60 to 70 mph. It could have been a horrifying scene.

When the tractor-trailer passed, I pulled out onto S.R. 70 and went into the left lane, heading to the next light to turn left on Lakewood Ranch Boulevard. The idiot driver was in front of me, stopped at the light. He was about my age, which is to say 60-something.

I followed him down Lakewood Ranch Boulevard for a while, and he turned left into the Country Club.

I guess he didn’t have to go to the hospital after all.

Until the next time.

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

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YourObserver.com

EAST COUNTY OBSERVER | THURSDAY, JULY 6, 2023

BY THE NUMBERS

$5.5 million Project budget 40-50 Students who could graduate from the school each year 50 Employers in the aviation and aerospace industry in Manatee and Sarasota counties 16% Percentage the aviation sector accounts for in Manatee County’s workforce 630,000 Estimated need for aviation maintenance technicians worldwide over the next 20 years

Liz Ramos

Karen Holbrook, regional chancellor of the University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee, and Cynthia Saunders, superintendent of the School District of Manatee County, say they can’t wait to see the completed Aviation Maintenance Technician School. They attended the groundbreaking ceremony June 29.

Ready for takeoff

Chad Choate, the chair of the School Board of Manatee County, and Doug Wagner, the deputy superintendent of operations for the School District of Manatee County, celebrate the groundbreaking of the Aviation Maintenance Technician School.

Manatee Technical College and Suncoast Technical College, among other partners, celebrate the groundbreaking of the new aviation school that will offer hands-on opportunities for students.

LIZ RAMOS SENIOR EDITOR

A

s planes were taking off and landing June 29 at the Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport, Rick Piccolo was shoveling dirt.

After more than five years of waiting, Piccolo, the president and CEO of the airport, was able to celebrate the groundbreaking of the Aviation Maintenance Technician School.

“(The Sarasota-Manatee Airport Authority Board) and I are proud to be part of the future Airframe and Powerplant School that will provide opportunities for our children and grandchildren in a growing technical field that provides great compensation and worldwide demand,” Piccolo said.

Manatee Technical College will partner with Suncoast Technical College to staff and instruct students to provide career certificate work-

force training for those who want to become aviation airframe mechanics and aviation powerplant mechanics.

Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the 2022 state budget that allocated $5.5 million to the new aviation school. Piccolo said the airport dedicated more than $1.5 million toward the design and infrastructure of the project.

Doug Wagner, the deputy superintendent of operations for the School District of Manatee County, said construction of the school could be

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Paul Gansemer, executive director of adult, career and technical education for the Manatee school district, said that although the school might be built, it must wait until the program receives accreditation from the Federal Aviation Administration and the Council on Occupational Education, which accredits MTC programs, to begin enrolling students.

Once the program begins, students will be enrolled in both the Airframe Mechanics program and Aviation Powerplant Mechanics program.

An estimated 40-50 students could graduate from the school each year.

Ron DiPillo, executive director of career and technical education for Sarasota County Schools, said this partnership between Manatee Technical College and Suncoast Technical College on one program is a first.

“We’re going to do a wonderful job collaborating with our postsecondary partners, whoever comes to the table, and work on a model for the state in terms of collaboration,” DiPillo said.

DiPillo and Piccolo said having the aviation school on the grounds of the Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport is crucial as it provides hands-on opportunities for students.

“As technical schools, we try to create a classroom environment that’s almost as closely related to the work environment as possible,” DiPillo said. “What better place to host an aviation maintenance program than at an airport in a hangar with airplanes all around you, with like-minded professionals, recruiters and guest speakers.”

Piccolo said the new airframe and powerplant school, which will be constructed at the airport, will meet a growing need in the aviation industry.

He said United Airlines will need more than 7,000 technicians over the next few years while Boeing estimates a need for 630,000 technicians worldwide over the next 20 years.

Piccolo said the average starting salary for aviation maintenance technicians is $65,000.

Karen Holbrook, the regional chancellor for the University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee, said the university will be able to provide learning modules related to the aviation industry.

“We are well aware of the demand for qualified technicians, and our campus is committed to helping bolster the talent pipeline and to equipping these new professionals with skills they will need to meet the business challenges and complexities of the ever-evolving aviation industry,” Holbrook said. “We believe this coursework will provide enhanced career trajectories for the graduates in an industry sector that is prime for continued growth.”

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EAST COUNTY OBSERVER | THURSDAY, JULY 6, 2023

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ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT JULY 6, 2023

YOUROBSERVER.COM

SHAKING UP

ART CENTER SARASOTA Executive Director Kinsey Robb works to elevate Sarasota’s oldest visual arts institution.

MONICA ROMAN GAGNIER ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR

I

f she wasn’t an arts administrator, Kinsey Robb would be a good shrink. The executive director of Art Center Saraso-

ta is adept at maintaining a neutral expression. Not like someone who has had one too many Botox injections. Just calm but curious. You feel as if you’ve entered a judgment-free zone.

The ability to convey neutrality is an enviable quality when dealing with artists, donors and other stakeholders who might not all share the same vision for Art Center Sarasota.

The only time you might see a flicker of annoyance on Robb’s face is when someone describes Art Center Sarasota as “amateur.”

Then she patiently explains, not for the first time nor for the last, that many of the exhibitors are indeed professionals and if they weren’t when their work was exhibited on the walls of Art Center Sarasota, they will be later.

About those walls. During a recent walkthrough, Robb tells a visitor that the first thing she did after starting as executive director in May 2021 was to get rid of the carpet on the walls and the linoleum on the floors.

When the carpet was removed, the art center found messages from former directors and artists underneath. “You’ve heard the expression, ‘If these walls could talk,’” Robb said.

“Well, our walls do talk.”

She repeats the story later in the week during a presentation at Arts Advocates in the Crossings at Siesta Key mall. Both times she notes the upgrade was made possible due to a grant from the Selby Foundation.

“We renovated our space to be more respectful to artists,” she says.

That same attitude also prompted the art center to hire professional installers to hang the shows and to limit the number of submissions in its juried shows.

Not all the changes Robb has made have won favor with artists.

Submissions for the center’s juried show must now be done electronically, which has been anxiety-producing for artists who don’t consider themselves tech-savvy. In the past, pieces were dropped off at the center to submit for a show.

During her Arts Advocates talk, Robb said electronic submissions give artists the freedom to submit an artwork elsewhere since it’s not sitting in the center’s offices at 777 N. Tamiami Trail.

Christina Baril, Art Center Sarasota’s exhibitions coordinator, is happy to help artists with the electronic

Photos by Monica Roman Gagnier

Art Center Sarasota Executive Director Kinsey Robb stands in front of George Zebot’s prize-winning “Healing Democracy.”

submission process, Robb said.

But Robb is not a proponent of change for the sake of change. Art Center Sarasota’s logo remains the same as when she arrived. Black aprons and hats adorned with a white modified capital “A” are sold in the lobby and on the website.

“You got to have good merch,” she says.

Everything about Robb and her plans for Art Center Sarasota exudes professionalism. That’s to be expected, given her blue-chip credentials in the art world. A graduate of Syracuse University’s Visual and Performing Arts program, Robb worked at high-powered art galleries in New York before moving to Sarasota — big names, like Gagosian, Lehmann Maupin and Perrotin.

Her international art street cred was on display front and center durSEE ART CENTER ON PAGE 14

Perry deVick’s oil on wood panel “Memento Mori, Memento Vivere,” won an honorable mention in Art Center Sarasota’s 2023 Annual Juried Regional Show.

YourObserver.com

EAST COUNTY OBSERVER | THURSDAY, JULY 6, 2023

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ART CENTER, FROM PAGE 13

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ing her Arts Advocates presentation.

Robb regaled an enraptured audience with war stories from the trenches, including “Bananagate.”

That incident took place in 2019 at Art Basel Miami, when a performance artist ate a ripening banana that was part of Maurizio Cattelan’s “Comedian,” a piece that had already been sold for $120,000.

“Art is spectacle,” Robb said with a smile, as she showed a picture with dozens of cellphones capturing David Datuna eating the banana.

Still, art’s not all fun and games.

Robb’s mood turned serious when she talked about how artists need to keep their pricing consistent. If Art Center Sarasota has priced a piece at $1,000, the artist shouldn’t sell a similar work out of their home or online for $200.

STRONG FOUNDATION

mer camp. In May, it hosted an art exhibit by Sarasota County Schools students. Ringling College of Art and Design students, including fine arts photographer Jesse Clark, have exhibited at the center.

Now that Robb has elevated Art Center Sarasota’s interiors, she’s ready to tackle its technology. A $6,000 grant from the John and Tana Sandefur Foundation and the Gus Lobenwein Memorial Fund of the Community Foundation of Sarasota County was recently used to purchase a new donor management system.

Next on her checklist is hiring a director of development to add more names to the ranks of those donors.

Robb may not have the financial heft of some of Sarasota’s well-heeled arts organizations, but the center’s sitting pretty. That’s because its building is located within the confines of The Bay, the new 53-acre bayfront park.

Robb literally had place at the table when decisions about the giant park were being made. “One day, A.G. (Lafley, the chairman and CEO and first president of the Bay Park Conservancy) referred to me by name, and I was shocked that he knew who I was,” Robb said.

But she is no stranger to rubbing elbows with C-suite types and philanthropists, nor to Sarasota. The daughter of a former fashion industry CEO has been coming to Sarasota ever since her parents retired here.

Despite her worldly connections, there’s something down to earth about Kinsey Robb. Dressed in rolled-up Levi’s, she still looks like the girl next door even if she’s paired the jeans with four-inch designer heels and a filmy cream-colored blouse that reveals a black bra underneath and a tattoo on her back.

Don’t be fooled by Robb’s placid demeanor and fresh-faced looks.

She gets exactly what she wants.

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Art Center Sarasota has bragging rights for being the first arts organization in town, but it is surely one of the most misunderstood. Founded in 1926, its inception predates that of the John & Mable Ringling Arts Museum.

The building that houses the art center’s Gallery 3 was designed in 1949 by father-and-son team T.R. and Frank Martin in the Sarasota School of Architecture style.

While midcentury modern design is respected these days, the art center’s building seems humble, especially compared to the majestic Ringling Museum.

But the comparison isn’t fair. Art Center Sarasota wasn’t founded by a circus magnate and it is not a museum. It doesn’t charge admission and the work on display is for sale.

Although it sells art, Sarasota Art Center is not a gallery. It is a nonprofit dedicated to arts education and raising the profile of area artists.

On a recent day, the art center was filled with children attending a sum-

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EAST COUNTY OBSERVER | THURSDAY, JULY 6, 2023

15

Up close and personal with

John Sims The late Black artist’s creations sparked arguments, but they also forged connections.

CONTRIBUTOR

T

his story is a portrait of an artist. The late John Sims is the artist in question. What kind of artist? Well, that’s a tough question. Like Walt Whitman, Sims was large. And contained multitudes.

This Black artist was a true polymath. Sims’ creations covered the multimedia map. He expressed himself via spoken word poetry, digital art, music, video game creation, installations, conceptual art and clever pranks.

Sims’ obsessions included mathematics, racial justice, the codes of national and tribal symbols (i.e., flags), and political action and Pi — the most irrational number of all.

This artist had a lot to say. And he said it in many different ways.

But Sims also liked to give others a voice.

Artistic collaboration was Sims’ style. And not just with other creative individuals. His projects brought groups of people together across cultural ethnic and political divides. Bringing people together has its risks. Failed attempts lead to fights, feuds and factions. Sims didn’t flinch and kept trying. Risktaking was also his style.

You can see Sims’ work at “From the Chambers: Honoring John Sims” at the John and Mable Ringling Museum. It’s on display until Aug. 6.

A BIG HEART WITH COMMUNITY COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS

Sims’ recent conceptual art series buried and lynched Confederate flags. That infuriated white supremacists armed with plenty of hate.

But Sims had plenty of love. His big heart drove his connections with communities and individual creators in his world — and sometimes the next. Sims honored the artists who came before. His final artistic creation honored one in particular.

For nearly a decade, Sims lived a few blocks away from me in downtown Sarasota. My house was on 14th Street; his home/studio was on 10th Street, which was on my way home.

Every few days, I’d see him on the sidewalk. I’d drive by; we’d wave at each other. That two-second connection was pretty much it. What a waste. I could have easily popped into Sims’ studio all the time. I rarely did. But Sims wasn’t the only artist in the neighborhood.

Sculptor John Chamberlain also had a 10th Street studio. He was an Abstract Expressionist who worked in the medium of salvaged auto parts.

Chamberlain bent, folded and mutilated that junk, fused it together, then splashed the result with candycolored paint. I couldn’t visit this artist, because he’d moved to the next world. But I talked to him once.

I interviewed Chamberlain in the mid-1990s. He quickly turned it

1734 South Tamiami Trail Venice, FL 34293 941.493.7441

IF YOU GO

‘FROM THE CHAMBERS: HONORING JOHN SIMS’ When: Through Aug. 6.

Where: John & Mable Ringling Museum of Art, 5401 Bayshore Road Tickets: Free with $25 museum admission.

Info: VisitRingling.org.

around and interviewed me. I stubbornly worked my list of questions.

He kept going off-script. Our chat became a verbal chess game. And Chamberlain was a verbal chess master. As I recall, he was smart, cagey, guarded, profane, hilarious, unpredictable and always one move ahead. It was one of my best interviews ever.

10TH STREET STUDIO BECAME A RUIN

Chamberlain left town in 1996, and left this world in 2011. His 10th Street studio stayed in place for years. A hulk. A shell. A memento mori. Eighteen thousand square feet of waste.

That 10th Street ruin was also on my way back home. I’d pass it after waving to Sims, but rarely looked.

The building had been part of my landscape since childhood. I took it for granted. Sims didn’t.

Like most true artists, Sims was an ancestor worshipper. Even if you’re only halfway good, you know you stand on the shoulders of giants.

You also know the debt you owe these giants. Nothing less than the techniques in your hands and ideas in your head.

There are only two ways to pay

Courtesy photos

John Sims in the 2021 presentation of his “Recolorized Confederate Flag” project at Historic Asolo Theater.

the giants back. Remember their names. Make sure others do. And make damn sure nobody tosses their art and legacy in a dumpster.

That’s not just a metaphor. I found that out last September.

I was driving by the site of Chamberlain’s studio. It was missing from the landscape. No studio. Only a gutted shell remained, but not for long. Cranes were ripping through the wreckage like giant carrion birds.

I parked my car, got out and took an iPhone video. I sent it to Sims, then called him.

DOCUMENTING EVERY STEP

“Hey John. They’re demolishing … ” “John Chamberlain’s studio. Yeah, I know, Marty. I saw it.”

“You don’t sound surprised.”

He wasn’t. A few weeks back, Sims had read the city’s demolition order posted outside the studio. He’d come back to with a digital video camera.

Not just once. Sims documented the destruction every step of the way.

“What’ll you do with the video?”

“I don’t know yet. But I will do something. And I’ll still be going back … ” Sims’ video was better than mine.

He did do something.

To quote Sims’ essay in “Sculpture” magazine: “I pour some coffee libation to the ground in memory, in honor and respect for the spaces that bring forth the best evidence of our humanity and capacity to create. Now, I am ready to get to the studio and work on my newest piece.”

The “piece” Sims refers to is a liberated (and transformed) shard of disrespected history. A work of art, but not conceptual art. It’s a physical object. And heavy as hell.

DOING WHAT MUST BE DONE

John Chamberlain’s “Added Pleasure” (1975-82).

4551 N. Washington Blvd.

Sarasota, FL 34234 941.355.8437

John Sims’ sculpture from recycled metal “From the Chambers” (1982).

2510 1st Street West Bradenton, FL 34208 941.748.4679

Sims did go back to Chamberlain’s gutted studio. That’s where he found that shard. A rusty metal spike painted a happy shade of chrome yellow.

Sims pulled that spike from the ruin. Now what?

The junk was too big for his car. His studio was 1,056 yards away. There was only one way to get it there. Artists sometimes suffer for their art, right? This was one of those times.

Sims dragged that heavy metal down 10th street up to his own studio. Then got to work hammering it into the shape of a spike crowned by an infinity symbol — and magically turned junk into sculpture. Sims named it “From the Chambers.” It would be his final artistic creation.

Sims died on Dec. 11, 2022. So it goes.

You can see his tribute to John Chamberlain at the exhibition that

shares the sculpture’s name. Steven High curated this show. It’s minimalistic and stripped down. And it hits you like a slap to the face.

A TALE OF TWO SCULPTURES

Sims’ sculpture stands on one side of the gallery. Chamberlain’s sculpture hangs on the opposite wall. The two pieces initially seem to reflect each other. But they’re radically different.

Sims’ “From the Chambers” (2022) looks like 3-D steel calligraphy. A punk rock glyph, with a rough, raw texture. Chamberlain’s “Added Pleasure” (1975-1982) is painted and chromium-plated steel. Slick and shiny.

Sims’ sculpture is a Chamberlain homage, not an imitation. It’s made of banged-up metal, sure. But that’s its only resemblance.

The two artworks aren’t mirror images.

They face each other. But they’re not reflections.

They’re looking each other in the eye. And having a dialogue.

Sims’ art always sparked dialogue.

It’s seems he’s done it one more time.

In an adjoining gallery, Sims’ video documentary plays in an endless loop. The giant carrion cranes erase history, again and again. His poem also plays from a speaker on the ceiling. Sims’ words, Sims’ voice. Half manifesto. Half mournful elegy.

“No man is an island.” John Donne said it. John Sims knew it.

My continent of self is a little smaller now that Sims is gone. Along with John Chamberlain, Kevin Dean, Allyn Gallup and so many others.

Nothing lasts forever. That applies to both buildings and people. Including the smart, creative artistic ones who make our world a little better.

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MARTY FUGATE

YourObserver.com

EAST COUNTY OBSERVER | THURSDAY, JULY 6, 2023

THIS WEEK

WEDNESDAY

PAT GODWIN 7 p.m. at McCurdy’s Comedy Theatre, 1923 Ringling Blvd. $25 Visit McCurdysComedy.com.

A quick-witted comedian who is also a singer/songwriter, Godwin is a veteran of “The Howard Stern Show,” “Last Comic Standing” and “The Tom & Bob Show.” Runs through July 16.

THURSDAY

SUMMER CIRCUS SPECTACULAR 2 p.m. at Historic Asolo Theater, 5401 Bay Shore Road $15-$20 Visit CircusArts.org.

Circus fans of all ages can experience the best of the circus arts at affordable prices thanks to the ongoing partnership of The Circus Arts Academy and The Ringling. Runs through Aug. 12.

‘THAT MUST BE THE ENTRANCE TO HEAVEN’ 7:30 p.m. at Urbanite Theatre, 1487 Second St. $39 Visit UrbaniteTheatre.com.

In this world premiere by Franky D. Gonzalez, four Latino boxers all chase a world title to achieve their personal versions of heaven. But are the sacrifices required to win the

OUR PICK

22ND PLAYERS NEW PLAY FESTIVAL For more than two decades, The Players Centre has provided local playwrights with the opportunity to read their plays in front of an audience. The winner will see their play produced with full sets, costumes, lighting and sound, with a local director and actors. The plays in competition have not yet been publicly announced. Runs through July 14.

IF YOU GO When: 7:30 p.m. Monday, July 10 Where: The Players Centre, 1400 Boulevard of the Arts, Suite 200 Tickets: $10 Info: ThePlayers.org.

DON’T MISS Courtesy photos

Summer Circus Spectacular is playing at Historic Asolo Theater through Aug. 12.

undocumented slave-era music and an African American prisoner who has the knowledge needed for the project. Runs through July 30.

championship belt worth it? Runs through July 9.

THE SURFER BOYS 7:30 p.m. at FST’s Goldstein Cabaret 1265 First St. $18 Visit FloridaStudioTheatre.org.

FRIDAY

JAZZ HAPPY HOUR The Tamas Nagy Trio performs folk jazz with Eastern European influences. A native of Hungary, vocalist Nagy plays guitar and brings a personal note to his interpretations. He is joined by Jack Berry on bass and Jared Johnson on drums. Jazz Happy Hour continues July 26, Aug. 9 and Aug. 23.

IF YOU GO When: 6 p.m. Wednesday, July 12 Where: Selby Library, 1331 First St. Tickets: Free. Registration required.

Info: SarasotaMusicArchive.org

‘THE MANTLE’ 7:30 p.m. at The Players Centre, 1400 Boulevard of the Arts, Suite 200 $17 Visit ThePlayers.org.

Four Broadway veterans bring The Beach Boys’ biggest hits to life with classics like “California Girls,” “Good Vibrations,” “Barbara Ann” and many more. Runs through Aug. 13.

“The Mantle” follows Benny Craft on what could be the last day of his life.

Craft plans to post a suicide note on social media at midnight, but is he really looking for somebody to talk him out of it? Runs through July 9.

‘SHEAR MADNESS’ 8 p.m. at FST’s Gompertz Theatre, 1265 First St. $25 Visit FloridaStudioTheatre.org.

TUESDAY

There’s been a murder in a local hair salon, and it’s up to Sarasota audiences to catch the killer in this interactive comedy whodunit. Runs through July 16.

DIVAS THREE 7:30 p.m. at FST’s Court Cabaret, 1265 First St. $18 and up Visit FloridaStudioTheatre.org.

‘BLACK PEARL SINGS!’ Florida Studio Theatre 8 p.m. at FST’s Keating Theatre, 1265 First St. From $25 Visit FloridaStudioTheatre.org.

Three female vocalists present four decades of songs made famous by Aretha Franklin, Celine Dion, Whitney Houston and other performers who have won the coveted title of “Diva.” Runs through Sept. 3.

“Black Pearl Sings” tells the story of an unlikely friendship between a musicologist who wants to record

Jazz Happy Hour returns to the Selby Library on July 12, with The Tamas Nagy Trio featuring Jack Berry on bass and Jared Johnson on drums.

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JULY 6, 2023

Classifieds 31 Games 26 Real Estate 21 Sports 23 Weather 26

YOUR NEIGHBORS These lessons aren’t chickenfeed J

Photos by Liz Ramos

Bridget Ipjian, a rising junior, laughs as a chicken rests on her back.

ohn Rubalcaba, a rising third grader, had never been around farm animals before.

But he wasn’t shy when it came time to hold a chicken inside the chicken coop at Lakewood Ranch High School.

He grabbed a chicken in each of his hands while Bridget Ipjian, a rising junior and a camp counselor, set a third chicken on his shoulder.

“I love animals and being at farms,” Rubalcaba said.

Rubalcaba was able to get up close and personal with cows, chickens and pigs during Lakewood Ranch High School FFA’s Junior Ranchers summer camp June 27.

He met Lucy, a Dakin Dairy cow, who was brought to the school so the campers could learn how cows are milked.

Courtney Dakin with the Florida Ag Experience, which is a branch of Dakin Dairy, was thrilled to be with the campers to teach them about dairy cows.

“A lot of people don’t understand how important it is to (develop) farmers here and how important it is to expose kids to agriculture,” she said. “They’re the ones coming up, and if they don’t go into agriculture, no one will.”

The camp, which ran June 2630, taught campers about various aspects of agriculture, such as plants, animals, insects and the environment.

Lydia Egolf, a rising third grader, said the camp will help her prepare for her future in agriculture.

— LIZ RAMOS

Junior Ranchers campers listen as Courtney Dakin, with the Florida Agriculture Experience, explains how a cow is milked.

John Rubalcaba, a rising third grader, says he wanted to participate in Junior Ranchers because he likes animals and being at farms.

Byron Smith, a rising junior, takes OD for a walk before letting campers interact with her.

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Emma Cyfert, a rising sophomore, cares for Aries. Cyfert has been a member of FFA since she was in sixth grade.

YourObserver.com

EAST COUNTY OBSERVER | THURSDAY, JULY 6, 2023

Toddler takeover

I

f you heard music and drove through bubbles in the UTC parking lot on Wednesday morning, it’s because there were a bunch of toddlers partying on the Green.

UTC Kids Club: Gameland is an interactive hourlong playdate every fourth Wednesday of the month from 9-10 a.m., before it gets too hot to play outside. The series targets the preschool crowd. It began in February and runs year-round.

It was another fun day June 28 as Lakewood Ranch’s Prescott Delk kept taking swings at a T-ball, while Palm Air resident Andrew Mullen dunked on the bean bag baskets.

About 80 kids, parents and grandparents attended the mega playdate. With 10 play stations set up around the Green at UTC, the bigger, more active kids wore themselves out with mini golf, T-ball and basketball.

For the less mobile crawlers, there was a maze set up with ball pits in between tunnels. Other stations included whack-a-mole and magnet fishing.

Sarasota resident Pat Gmerek babysits her grandson, Maverick Cressy, who lives in Lakewood Ranch, on Wednesdays.

“I usually bring him to the Brats Club at 1 p.m. (at Nathan Benderson Park), so this is a little something extra to tire him out,” Gmerek said.

Photos by Lesley Dwyer

A one-hour playdate takes place every fourth Wednesday of the month at the Green at UTC.

After a lot of tries, Palm Air resident Andrew Mullen gets a bean bag in the top basket.

— LESLEY DWYER

University Park resident Sabine Ladwig and Sarasota resident Caleb Daniels make friends over a game of whack-amole.

About 80 parents, grandparents and kids attend the UTC Kids Club at the Green.

Lakewood Ranch residents Evelyn, Nicole and Bryce Stillman bring grandma, Melissa Delaney, to the playdate.

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EAST COUNTY OBSERVER | THURSDAY, JULY 6, 2023

SUNDAY, JULY 9

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.

R&B and island dance music. Proceeds from the event will benefit the Healthy Start Coalition of Sarasota County. The event includes food vendors, beer trucks, sponsor booths, live music and games as well as activities for kids (presented by Grace Community Church). For more information, go to MyLWR.com.

FRIDAY, JULY 7 AND SATURDAY, JULY 8

MUSIC AT THE PLAZA Runs from 6-9 p.m. at Waterside Place, 1561 Lakefront Drive, Lakewood Ranch. The Side Project Duo plays classic rock on Friday for those who stroll through Waterside Place’s selection of restaurants and businesses. Singer/songwriter Justin Layman entertains on Saturday.

The entertainment is free. For more information, go to WatersidePlace. com.

YOUR CALENDAR

BEST BET

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DO YOU KNOW WHAT’S IN YOUR WATER?

SATURDAY, JULY 8

COMMUNITY THURSDAY, JULY 6 THROUGH SUNDAY, JULY 9

LIVE MUSIC AT JIGGS LANDING Runs from 5-8 p.m. at Jiggs Landing, 6106 63rd St. E., Bradenton. The live music lineup at Jiggs Landing includes Donnie Bostic (Thursday), Al Fuller’s Moonlight Movers (Friday), the Divebombers (Saturday), and Al Fuller (Sunday). The Friday and Saturday shows have a $5 cover; the rest are free. For more information, go to JiggsLanding.com.

FRIDAY, JULY 7

MUSIC ON MAIN Runs 6-9 p.m. at Main Street at Lakewood Ranch. The free concert and block party series returns with Big Night Out, which will play Latin,

SAFE DRINKING WATER IS FUNDAMENTAL TO LIFE Fehl Safe Water Treatment has more than 30 years of experience in making water safe.

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LEARN TO ROW Runs from 9 a.m. to noon at Nathan Benderson Park. Learn to Row is a class led by USRowing-certified instructors. The course is an introduction to sculling, with the focus on fundamentals of rowing with two oars. Those who attend will be taken through nomenclature, safety maneuvers and independent boat handling skills. The two-day, eighthour course will equip the participant with the skill set to safely row a single scull. Upon completion of the course, the participant will receive a certificate of completion. Nathan Benderson Park provides the rowing and safety equipment. For more information or to register, go to NathanBendersonPark.org.

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BALLET AT THE MALL Begins at 1 p.m. at the Mall at UTC’s Grand Court, 140 University Town Center Drive, Sarasota. A special presentation of Coppelia is performed by the Sarasota Cuban Ballet School. The family friendly show presents the tale of a mad inventor and his lifelike doll. For more information about the free presentation, go to MallAtUTC.com.

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YourObserver.com

EAST COUNTY OBSERVER | THURSDAY, JULY 6, 2023

BRADENTON 5106 Lorraine Road 5 Beds 5 Baths 7,595 Sq. Ft. Stacy Haas 941-587-4359 A4573991 $4,245,000

LAKEWOOD RANCH 16639 Collingtree Crossing 3 Beds 2/1 Baths 2,633 Sq. Ft. Stacy Haas 941-587-4359 A4573463 $1,550,000

LAKEWOOD RANCH 7416 Pine Valley Street 3 Beds 3/1 Baths 3,499 Sq. Ft. Nicole Ryskamp 941-807-1766 A4574194 $1,199,000

LAKEWOOD RANCH 13508 Brown Thrasher Pike 3 Beds 3/1 Baths 3,258 Sq. Ft. Stacy Haas 941-587-4359 A4574571 $1,100,000

LAKEWOOD RANCH 13409 Bridgeport Crossing 4 Beds 3 Baths 2,477 Sq. Ft. Christopher Van Vliet & Jamie Van Vliet, PA 941-993-7087 A4568716 $1,000,000

LAKEWOOD RANCH 11905 Perennial Place 6 Beds 4/1 Baths 3,899 Sq. Ft. Carroll Couri 813-727-1630 A4558750 $915,000

LAKEWOOD RANCH 14511 Stirling Drive 3 Beds 2/1 Baths 2,487 Sq. Ft. Stacy Haas 941-587-4359 A4566581 $885,000

LAKEWOOD RANCH 15422 Helmsdale Place 3 Beds 2 Baths 1,744 Sq. Ft. Carroll Couri 813-727-1630 A4570858 $859,000

PARRISH 15451 27th Court E 4 Beds 3 Baths 2,628 Sq. Ft. Cheryl Roberts 941-266-1450 A4572996 $850,000

PARRISH 4320 Rustling Pines Terrace 4 Beds 3 Baths 2,601 Sq. Ft. Dan Desoto, Jr 941-567-8006 A4565051 $749,000

LAKEWOOD RANCH 8462 Miramar Way 3 Beds 2/2 Baths 2,997 Sq. Ft. David D'Angelo 941-587-7268 A4572949 $739,000

LAKEWOOD RANCH 5438 Summit Glen 4 Beds 3/1 Baths 2,931 Sq. Ft. Kelly Quigley 941-356-9954 A4574393 $729,000

LAKEWOOD RANCH 6503 Drewrys Bluff 4 Beds 3 Baths 2,375 Sq. Ft. Cathy Palmer 941-920-2247 A4565403 $660,000

LAKEWOOD RANCH 6430 Watercrest Way 203 3 Beds 2 Baths 1,916 Sq. Ft. Beth Ann Boyer 941-780-6606 A4565831 $637,000

LAKEWOOD RANCH 6360 Watercrest Way 403 3 Beds 2 Baths 1,916 Sq. Ft. Beth Ann Boyer 941-780-6606 A4549533 $630,000

LAKEWOOD RANCH 6647 Pebble Beach Way 2 Beds 2 Baths 1,774 Sq. Ft. Anja Deichmann 941-284-7987 A4573870 $625,000

LAKEWOOD RANCH 11809 Winding Woods Way 3 Beds 3 Baths 2,285 Sq. Ft. Thomas Cinquegrano 941-284-5049 A4572429 $615,000

LAKEWOOD RANCH 7115 Boca Grove Place 104 2 Beds 2 Baths 1,552 Sq. Ft. Sally Piccolo 941-525-8295 A4573753 $435,000

LAKEWOOD RANCH 12303 Hollybush Terrace 2 Beds 2 Baths 1,163 Sq. Ft. Cathy Palmer 941-920-2247 A4569908 $430,000

PALMETTO 907 22nd Avenue W Debbie Vogler & Cathy Palmer 941-705-3328 A4567821 $425,000

PALMETTO 5533 Los Robles Court 3 Beds 2 Baths 1,492 Sq. Ft. Stuart Lawrence & Laura Lawrence 941-894-4001 A4573062 $399,000

LAKEWOOD RANCH 16804 Vardon Terrace 201 2 Beds 2 Baths 1,286 Sq. Ft. Mary Pat Pihl & Laura Navratil 941-932-3065 A4566631 $398,000

LAKEWOOD RANCH 7615 River Oak Run 202 2 Beds 2 Baths 1,144 Sq. Ft. Leslie Capozzi 408-204-0172 A4572359 $328,000

LAKEWOOD RANCH 8855 White Sage Loop 1604 2 Beds 2/1 Baths 1,064 Sq. Ft. Victoria Beckham 941-544-6734 A4575031 $320,000

LAKEWOOD RANCH 8869 White Sage Loop 1504 2 Beds 2/1 Baths 1,064 Sq. Ft. Victoria Beckham 941-544-6734 A4569653 $310,000

LAKEWOOD RANCH 8335 Lucerne Loop 4 Beds 4/1 Baths 4,002 Sq. Ft. Stuart Lawrence & Laura Lawrence 941-894-4001 A4569941 $3,500,000

LAKEWOOD RANCH 17107 Salerno Drive 4 Beds 4 Baths 3,754 Sq. Ft. Stacy Haas 941-587-4359 A4572960 $3,295,000

LAKEWOOD RANCH 19460 Ganton Avenue 4 Beds 4/2 Baths 4,476 Sq. Ft. Tina Ciaccio 941-685-8420 A4566700 $2,799,000

888.552.5228 | MICHAELSAUNDERS.COM

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20

YourObserver.com

EAST COUNTY OBSERVER | THURSDAY, JULY 6, 2023

RESEARCH EDITOR

A

home in Country Club topped all transactions in this week’s real estate. Thomas and Holly Crisp, of Lakewood Ranch, sold their home at 7217 Greystone St. to Mitzi Reitnouer and Donal Renninger, of Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, for $2.1 million. Built in 2011, it has four bedrooms, four baths, a pool and 3,861 square feet of living area. It sold for $1.3 million in 2021.

COUNTRY CLUB EAST

Anthony and Laurie Sagona, of Webster, New York, sold their home at 15616 Linn Park Terrace to Robert Neal and Ramona Gail Neal, of Lakewood Ranch, for $1.75 million.

Built in 2013, it has three bedrooms, three baths, a pool and 3,215 square feet of living area.

Joshua Mark Newman, of Sarasota, sold their home at 15719 Seaton Place to Burton Edsel Williams III and Megan Michelle Williams, of Bradenton, for $975,000. Built in 2020, it has four bedrooms, three baths, a pool and 2,231 square feet of living area. It sold for $559,900 in 2020.

SAVANNA

Andrew Tyler Booth and Megan Elizabeth Booth, of Bradenton, sold their home at 13307 Saw Palm Creek Trail to Richard and Andrea Haymore, of Bradenton, for $935,000. Built in 2020, it has four bedrooms, four-and-a-half baths, a pool and 3,043 square feet of living area. It sold for $512,000 in 2020.

LORRAINE FARMS

Joseph and Brenda Hutchins, of Palmetto, sold their home at 5828 Lorraine Road to 5828 Lorraine Road LLC for $849,000. Built in 1993, it has three bedrooms, three baths and 1,944 square feet of living area.

HERITAGE HARBOUR

Robert and Tina Maloney, trustees, of Lakewood Ranch, sold the home at 8320 River Preserve Drive to Daniel Parkinson and Donna Adams-Parkinson, of Ruston, Washington, for $848,000. Built in 2010, it has four bedrooms, three baths, a pool and 2,402 square feet of living area. It sold for $500,000 in 2018.

Petr Michovsky, of Bradenton, sold his home at 6808 Wild Lake Terrace to Somers Investment Holdings Ltd. For $755,000. Built in 2017, it has four bedrooms, three baths, a pool and 2,287 square feet of living area. It sold for $346,200 in 2017.

KENWOOD PARK

Michael Benstock, of Seminole, sold his home at 7134 Westhill Court to Amanda Duff, of Lakewood Ranch, for $615,000. Built in 2014, it has two bedrooms, two baths, a pool and 1,794 square feet of living area.

It sold for $445,100 in 2021.

COUNTRY CLUB

WATERLINE ROAD

Gregg Michael Schneider, of Lakewood Ranch, sold his home at 13806 Milan Terrace to Jill Sugar Factor and William Jeffrey Factor, of Lakewood Ranch, for $1,199,000.

Built in 2004, it has three bedrooms, three-and-a-half baths, a pool and 3,394 square feet of living area. It sold for $721,500 in 2018.

David and Theresa Witzerman, of Fortville, Indiana, sold their home at 7435 Wexford Court to Kathleen Elizabeth Saraceno and Michelle Leanne Bouchard, of Lakewood Ranch, for $710,000. Built in 2009, it has two bedrooms, two baths, a pool and 1,912 square feet of living area. It sold for $599,900 in 2022.

Reina Chassy sold the home at 12030 Thornhill Court to Mark and Christine Lashinger, of Bradenton, for $655,000. Built in 2011, it has two bedrooms, two baths and 1,840 square feet of living area. It sold for $288,200 in 2011.

EDGEWATER

Jason and Kelli Gosnell, of Bradenton, sold their home at 6553 Waters Edge Way to Marianne Shoecraft, of S. Salem, New York, for $1,295,000.

Built in 1998, it has three bedrooms, three-and-a-half baths, a pool and 3,751 square feet of living area. It sold for $785,000 in 2021.

RIVER CLUB SOUTH

Michael and Stacey Corley, of Sarasota, sold their home at 10608 Cheval Place to Christopher and Kirsten Kovack, of Bradenton, for $1,149,000. Built in 1999, it has four bedrooms, three baths, a pool and 3,028 square feet of living area.

It sold for $501,500 in 2003.

RYE WILDERNESS ESTATES

Cao Van Tran and Ty Thi Phan, Diem Thanh Kieu Nguyen of Bra-

JUNE 19-23

denton, Si Nguyen, of Niceville, sold their home at 405 167th Blvd.

E. to Michael White, of Bradenton, for $1,025,000. Built in 2019, it has five bedrooms, five baths and 4,003 square feet of living area. It sold for $520,000 in 2019.

Sheldon and Joyce Paley, of Columbus, Ohio, sold their home at 8175 Abingdon Court to Daniel Roman and Deborah Benton Roman, of Bradenton, for $840,000. Built in 2002, it has three bedrooms, twoand-a-half bath, a pool and 2,394 square feet of living area. It sold for $480,200 in 2015.

Steven and Patricia Whinery, of Lakewood Ranch, sold their home at 13612 Matanzas Place to Christopher and Christina Owens, of Siesta Key, for $1.59 million. Built in 2012, it has three bedrooms, three baths, a pool and 3,210 square feet of living area. It sold for $965,000 in 2020.

RESIDENTIAL REAL ESTATE TRANSACTIONS

Alan and Sharon Pulnik, of Bradenton, sold their home at 16914 Waterline Road to Burnett and Celeste Caudill, of Bradenton, for $835,000. Built in 1981, it has four bedrooms, two-and-a-half baths, a pool and 2,155 square feet of living area. It sold for $440,000 in 2016.

Jay Heater

This Country Club home at 7217 Greystone St. sold for $2.1 million. It has four bedrooms, four baths, a pool and 3,861 square feet of living area.

SAPPHIRE POINT

Karen Fleming, of Bradenton, sold her home at 6039 Bluestar Court to Douglas Freeman and Natalie Freeman, trustees, of Leawood, Kansas, for $617,000. Built in 2021, it has two bedrooms, two baths and 1,897 square feet of living area. It sold for $608,000 in 2021.

CARLYLE AT THE VILLAGES OF PALM AIRE

Margaret Shaw and Andrea Andrus, of Sarasota, sold their home at 5135 Creekside Trail to Howard Stanten and Erin Wright, of Sarasota, for $615,000. Built in 2001, it has four bedrooms, two baths and 2,130 square feet of living area. It sold for $325,000 in 2016.

DEL WEBB

sold the home at 17433 Hampton Falls Terrace to Catherine Pease, of Lakewood Ranch, for $601,000.

Built in 2018, it has two bedrooms, three baths and 1,574 square feet of living area. It sold for $348,700 in 2018.

Alan and Judith Loew, trustees, of Sarasota, sold the home at 17543 Hampton Falls Terrace to William and Kathleen Bernethy, of Lakewood Ranch, for $585,000. Built in 2018, it has two bedrooms, two baths and 1,425 square feet of living area. It sold for $304,000 in 2018.

Royal Service Systems LLC sold the home at 6738 Haverhill Court to Thomas Burger, of Bradenton, for $500,000. Built in 2017, it has

Kathleen Mootrey, trustee, and Warren Mootrey, of Bradenton,

SEE REAL ESTATE, PAGE 22

In with the new NOW UNDER CONSTRUCTION

INDIGO

Gary and Robin Schmidt, of Park City, Utah, sold their home at 4011 Celestial Blue Court to Fordyce Foster and Lynn Markgraf, of Lakewood Ranch, for $780,000. Built in 2016, it has three bedrooms, two baths, a pool and 2,388 square feet of living area. It sold for $725,000 in 2022.

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GREYHAWK LANDING WEST

Geraldine De Stefano, trustee, of Lake Worth, sold the home at 11713 Goldenrod Ave. to Paul Anthony Longley and Leigh-Ann Longley, of Bradenton, for $755,000. Built in 2020, it has three bedrooms, twoand-a-half baths, a pool and 2,268 square feet of living area. It sold for $515,000 in 2020.

HPA II Borrower 2020-I GA LLC sold the home at 740 Rosemary Circle to Robert Iaderosa, of Bradenton, for $492,100. Built in 2016, it has four bedrooms, three-and-ahalf baths and 2,825 square feet of living area. It sold for $451,500 in 2021.

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SUMMERFIELD

Barry and Elaine Meyers, of Dresher, Pennsylvania, sold their home at 11226 Rivers Bluff Circle to Kyle and Stacie Olivarri, of Bradenton, for $745,000. Built in 2001, it has three bedrooms, three baths, a pool and 2,468 square feet of living area. It sold for $413,800 in 2017.

Brennan and Julie Batien sold their home at 12503 Rockrose Glen to Trevor and Aimee Johnson, of Lowell, Michigan, for $610,000. Built in 2000, it has three bedrooms, twoand-a-half baths, a pool and 2,248 square feet of living area. It sold for $335,000 in 2018.

Downtown Sarasota

The Collection | 941.232.2868 | thecollection1335.com

Sales galleries open and available for virtual or in-person presentations.

Virtual home tours | OnDemand local experts | Interactive site and floorplans

mscdeveloperservices.com | 844.591.4333 | Sarasota, Florida Prices as of December 2022

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REAL ESTATE

Country Club home sells for $2.1 million

21

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EAST COUNTY OBSERVER | THURSDAY, JULY 6, 2023

Real estate

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GREENBROOK

Rebekah Ann Walton, of Charlotte, North Carolina, sold her home at 13827 Waterthrush Place to Robert Chalmers and Alexandra Van Der Weyden, of Lakewood Ranch, for $592,000. Built in 2002, it has three bedrooms, two baths, a pool and 2,316 square feet of living area. It sold for $320,000 in 2020.

Joan and Thomas Sparks, of Bloomington, Indiana, sold their home at 13907 Nighthawk Terrace to Richard Alan Blake and Marilynn Janes Seamans, of Lakewood Ranch, for $565,000. Built in 2002, it has three bedrooms, two baths, a pool and 1,984 square feet of living area.

It sold for $336,000 in 2019.

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Opendoor Property Trust I sold the home at 5517 61st St. E. to Jason Newsome and Betsy Steinacker, of Bradenton, for $575,000. Built in 1992, it has three bedrooms, two baths, a pool and 1,986 square feet of living area. It sold for $505,300 in 2022.

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MIRABELLA AT VILLAGE GREEN

Jeff and Lee Sympson, trustees, of Palmetto, sold the home at 1418 Calle Grand St. to Li Jun Xu, of Bradenton, for $572,000. Built in 2016, it has two bedrooms, two baths and 1,525 square feet of living area. It sold for $299,100 in 2016.

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Todd and Stephanie Golden sold their home at 5727 Arbor Wood Court to Reid Lortz, of Bradenton, for $560,000. Built in 2014, it has three bedrooms, two-and-a-half baths and 1,883 square feet of living area. It sold for $330,000 in 2020.

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IH5 Property Florida LP sold the home at 6737 64th Terrace E. to Mario and Dayne Salazar Izep, of Bradenton, for $552,000. Built in 2003, it has three bedrooms, three baths, a pool and 2,726 square feet of living area. It sold for $320,000 in 2015.

CHAPARRAL

Jeanne Fleming, of Sarasota, sold the home at 6819 Wagon Wheel Circle to Michael and Veronika Klimanov, of Sarasota, for $550,000.

Built in 1998, it has three bedrooms, two baths, a pool and 2,049 square feet of living area. It sold for $205,200 in 1998.

JOIN THE CLUB!

Wayne and Sherry Rex, of Bradenton, sold their home at 2303 162nd St. E. to Edwin and Krystle Alicea, of Bradenton, for $540,000. Built in 1988, it has three bedrooms, three baths and 1,284 square feet of living area. It sold for $245,000 in 2015.

BACCIANO AT ESPLANADE

Russell and Michelle Lair, of Rome, New York, sold their Unit 201 condominium at 12630 Sorrento Way to Joseph Krause and Jana Krause, trustees, of Boston, for $537,500.

Built in 2019, it has two bedrooms, two baths and 1,528 square feet of living area. It sold for $248,000 in 2019.

SOLERA

Maja Sobolewska, of Arlington Heights, Illinois, sold their home at 17613 Cantarina Cove to William Zink and Crystal Dawn Zink, of Bradenton, for $515,000. Built in 2021, it has three bedrooms, two-and-ahalf baths and 2,054 square feet of living area. It sold for $395,000 in 2019.

Veranda at Lakewood National Jesse and Nancy Vance, of Eatonton, Georgia, sold their Unit 2222 condominium at 5674 Palmer Circle to Laura and Douglas Curry, of Rockford, Illinois, for $485,000.

Built in 2021, it has two bedrooms, two baths and 1,329 square feet of living area. It sold for $482,500 in 2022.

CENTRAL PARK

Jeremy and Kelly Rogers sold their home at 11119 Battery Park Place to Manuel and Teresita Bersach, of Bradenton, for $476,000. Built in 2012, it has three bedrooms, two baths and 1,859 square feet of living area. It sold for $437,500 in 2021.

TARA

Cynthia Louise McKeown, of Tampa, sold her home at 7428 Birds Eye Terrace to and Clyde Edward Carswell and Debra Smith Carswell, of Bradenton, for $457,000. Built in 2005, it has three bedrooms, two baths and 1,643 square feet of living area. It sold for $390,000 in 2021.

MELROSE GARDENS AT TARA

Marc and Pamela Mires sold their home at 7149 Melrose Place to Nancy Curtis, trustee, of Bradenton, for $415,000. Built in 2000, it has three bedrooms, two baths and 1,759 square feet of living area. It sold for $235,000 in 2020.

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JULY 6, 2023

SPORTS Local PGA pros raise some green Break “‘We’ over ‘me.’ Basketball is not an individual sport.”

— Braden River High’s Marcus Schade SEE PAGE 25

Fast

The 2023 Tim Beckwith Memorial Pro-Am will be held July 10 at Sarasota’s TPC Prestancia to raise scholarship funds.

RYAN KOHN SPORTS EDITOR

Courtesy photo

The Braden River Soccer Club’s 2008 Premier Boys team is headed to the Elite Club National League Regional Final in Norco, California.

T

he Braden River Soccer Club’s 2008 Boys Premier team will play in the Elite Clubs National League’s Regional League Finals on July 14-17 in Norco, California. The Rage will be one of eight teams in the event, which serves as the league’s championship. … Registration for the Manatee Ball Hockey League’s Fall 2023 Youth season is open through July 29. The league plays on Saturdays at Lakewood Ranch Park. Registration for all age groups is $135 per person except the Lil’ Manatees age group (3-5 years old), which is $110. The season runs from Aug. 19 to Oct. 28. For more information or to register, visit MBHL.org. … Lakewood Ranch-born hockey player Sasha Pastujov, who had his rights drafted by the Anaheim Ducks in 2022, was named to the Ontario Hockey League’s All-Star second team on June 2. Pastujov, who played for the Sarnia Sting, had 98 points (41 goals, 57 assists) in 60 games in 2022-23. … Braden River High is holding a youth football camp on July 21 from 5-8 p.m. Pirates coaches and players will provide youth players with the sport’s fundamentals in a fun environment. Registration is $50. For more information or to register, email QBDandCamps@Yahoo.com. … Results from the links: Chris Klein (34) won the Nine Hole Women’s Golf Association event (individual low net) held June 29 at Palm Aire Country Club’s Lakes course and Mary Jane Sanacore won the Nine Hole Ladies Golf Association “Short and Sweet” event (individual low net) held June 29 at University Park Country Club.

H

e wanted to be a big brother to the golf community.

That’s how Jeff Boudrie, a Lakewood Ranch resident and the Southwest Chapter president of the PGA’s North Florida section, describes Tim Beckwith.

Beckwith was a PGA Master Professional and the director of golf at The Oaks Club in Osprey for 20 years. He even wrote a book, titled “The Front Nine,” which was published in 2015 and served as both a golf advice book and an open letter to his son, Jackson Beckwith.

“Win or lose, I would rather play a game my way — with integrity,” Beckwith wrote in the book. “This was the only way I could play golf and still get to sleep at night.”

Beckwith was big on charity.

Boudrie said that though events like the chapter’s annual “Birdie-athon,” which was often spearheaded by Beckwith, he helped to raise nearly $500,000 for local children’s charities over a decade-long period.

He was also a great mentor to his golf assistants and helped them land big-time positions once leaving his tutelage. One such assistant, Kevin Swan, left to become the director of golf at Sarasota’s TPC Prestancia and is now in the same position at The Club at Mediterra in Naples. Another former understudy, Patrick Sams, is now the head golf pro at Lake Naomi Club in Ponoco Pines, Pennsylvania.

“These skills (mentoring and raising money for charity) were like superpowers,” Boudrie said.

In October 2021, Beckwith died after a four-year bout with cancer.

But the golf world was not ready for the memory of him to leave. Beckwith posthumously received the PGA of America’s 2021 Bill Strausbaugh Award, given annually to someone who “personally displays outstanding integrity, character, and leadership through a commitment to mentoring and making significant impacts on the careers of PGA Professionals,” according to the PGA’s website.

“He was considered the best mentor in the country,” Boudrie said.

“When he died, it shook people. I mean, here’s a 6-foot-3 good-looking guy who hardly ate an unhealthy meal. He was a larger-than-life figure.”

The Southwest chapter wanted to do even more to honor Beckwith’s towering legacy. In 2022, the idea for the Tim Beckwith Memorial ProAm was conceived. The event would raise money for a scholarship given to a local athlete who displays not

Legacy Golf Club’s Kevin Paschall, Wendi Patterson, K.C. Bartlett and Jeff Boudrie are members of the Southwest Chapter of the North Florida PGA. The Chapter is holding the Tim Beckwith Memorial Pro-Am at TPC Prestancia on July 10.

GIVE ME A BREAK PAGE 24

Courtesy photos

only great skill, but who has strong grades and is a staple in the community. The inaugural event took place July 8, 2022, at TPC Prestancia in Sarasota.

In 2023, the event is coming back.

It will be held July 10 at TPC Prestancia, with a 9 a.m. shotgun start.

Boudrie said he welcomes anyone who is interested in playing in the event in doing so, as long as they get a foursome together that includes a PGA professional. Those who don’t want to play can still contribute to the event’s scholarship fund by visiting the North Florida PGA website.

The more money the events gives away, Boudrie said, the more it honors its namesake.

“Tim was a humble guy, but he would be proud of this,” Boudrie said.

Missy Williams, the director of golf at Tara Golf and Country Club and the vice president of the Southwest Chapter, said that the event is special to her. In Beckwith’s Bill Strausbaugh Award video presentation, Williams said Beckwith lit up a room every time he walked into one — not on purpose, but naturally. He was a superstar, Williams said.

“You would listen to him and want to be a better person,” Williams said.

Kevin Paschall, the co-owner of Legacy Golf Club and the North Florida PGA president, said Beckwith mentored every professional in the Southwest Chapter through his leadership and his dedication to giving back.

Boudrie said he’s excited to see the event grow in its second year.

“All us golf pros, we work 60-80 hours a week, so it is tough to find much time, but a lot of came together and got this thing started,” Boudrie said. “It’s nice. I’m proud of my fellow PGA members for showing lead-

BECKWITH’S BIRDIE-ATHON LIVES ON The Tim Beckwith Memorial Pro-Am is not the only way the Southwest Chapter of the North Florida PGA gives back to the community throughout the year. It has carried on the Birdie-a-thon — the event Beckwith put a lot of time into behind the scenes — so it can raise money for local charities. The 2022 event raised $48,000.

Who will hold the championship plate in 2023?

ership in the community and giving back. We all had mentors and we all caught a break at some point. It’s nice to give back to hard-working kids who need a bit of a boost.”

For more information on the tournament or how interested parties can donate or participate, contact Boudrie at JeffBoudrie@PGA.com or Williams at MWilliams@TaraGCC.com.

Kevin Paschall is owner of Legacy Golf Club and the North Florida PGA president.

The North Florida PGA’s Southwest chapter is hosting the Tim Beckwith Memorial Pro-Am on July 10 at TPC Prestancia.

YourObserver.com

EAST COUNTY OBSERVER | THURSDAY, JULY 6, 2023

PROSE AND KOHN

RYAN KOHN

Summer siesta? The defense rests S ometimes, work means rest.

High school coaches know that producing successful programs often means putting in the work when no one is watching, such as during the summer break.

Even though no formal practices can begin until July 31, the coaches find ways to improve their programs, their players and themselves. Sometimes that means attending clinics or camps, or spending countless hours preparing for the next season.

However, the work can reach the point of diminishing returns, a fact not lost on Out-of-Door Academy head football coach Rob Hollway, who said he will put his coaching hat on the shelf for the next couple of months to recharge his coaching batteries.

Hollway, who led the Thunder to an undefeated regular season in his first year with the program, is showing his face around voluntary player workouts, he said, but he’s not leading them.

That’s the job of ODA strength and conditioning coach Chris Cecere, who previously worked as a performance coach with the MLB’s Baltimore Orioles and Atlanta Braves. Hollway said Cecere will put ODA athletes through traditional workouts, but also things like testing their verticals or improving their shuttle drill times in preparation for college camps.

It’s a lot easier to relax when you have good help.

“Our kids take football seriously,” Hollway said. “They want to get ready for these summer camps, so at this point in the year, we’re helping them get to their goal numbers and supporting them however we can.”

If Hollway takes a short break in the summer, it is because he goes full speed the rest of the year.

Not one to pass up an opportunity to improve himself, Hollway

BACK SOON

Missing high school sports?

The athletic year will be in full swing soon enough. Here’s when each fall and winter sport will begin regular season play in 2023.

FALL Cross-country: Aug. 21 Golf: Aug. 21 Swimming: Aug. 21 Volleyball: Aug. 21 Football: Aug. 25 WINTER Girls weightlifting: Oct. 30 Soccer: Nov. 6 Basketball: Nov. 20 Girls wrestling: Nov. 20 Boys wrestling: Nov. 27

File photo

ODA coach Rob Hollway pats Michael Luedeke on the head. Hollway led the Thunder to a 9-1 record in 2022.

and his staff took a trip to Orlando in February to attend the 2023 Nike Coach of the Year Clinics, which featured University of Georgia head coach Kirby Smart as a featured speaker.

Hollway said Smart spoke about the importance of knowing not just your opponent’s strengths and weaknesses, but how your opponent plans to exploit your own team’s weaknesses. “(Smart said) during the offseason, he researches what teams were trying to do to beat them,” Hollway said. “That is how they create their practice schedules. They focus on measuring what actually matters.”

Hollway said he’s been using that

advice when thinking about what ODA’s practices may look like once the 2023 season begins. But since the team cannot hold a real practice until July 31, more planning can wait.

The team is too spread out anyway, Hollway said, with some players taking visits to various colleges and camps, and other players going on trips with club teams in different sports.

ODA football head coach Rob Hollway said he attended the 2023 Nike Coach of the Year Clinics in Orlando in February and learned from Kirby Smart. After a bit of rest, Hollway said he’s excited to get the team back together so he

can see the full scope of the talent he has, including transfer quarterback Jackson Roth, a 6-foot-1 rising junior coming to the Thunder from Iroquois Ridge High in Ontario, Canada.

Away from his football coaches duties, Hollway still has plenty on his plate. He serves as the school’s assistant athletic director and said ODA has been busy installing a new floor in its gym, among other projects.

Away from school, he’s enjoying his free evenings with his Liz Hollway, and twin boys, Bo and Lou Hollway, who will start attending ODA this fall. In the summer, his family is his top priority. He tries not to bring his work home at this time of year.

That doesn’t mean he doesn’t continue to nudge his sons, who are going into pre-K, toward football.

“They’ll be 2037 state champs here,” Hollway said.

Coaches in all sports can have a hard time putting their coaching hat on the shelf during the summer.

Providing colleges all the recruiting information they need on the school’s top athletes can be time consuming. All the camps and clin-

ics can make for a nonstop schedule.

Lakewood Ranch High boys soccer head coach Vito Bavaro is, like Hollway, taking it easy in June and July, though not as easy as he would like. A planned summer vacation to Italy was put on hold because Bavaro is recovering from a toe injury.

Even so, he said he is taking a break from anything soccer-related.

He also encourages his athletes, most of whom finished their club soccer seasons in June, to do the same in July. He wants his players to have memories other than just nonstop training.

Bavaro said his best memories of soccer all are from when he was a high schooler himself, traveling to Canada for travel tournaments or piling 20 of his friends in a pickup truck and driving around town.

“This was before seat-belt laws,” Bavaro said with a laugh.

“It’s important for these kids to be kids,” Bavaro said. “Soccer can be a 12-month sport here. It’s important to take time off. Go out on a boat, go play golf, go hang with your friends. Do normal kid stuff.

Have fun. We ask so much of these kids now and they burn out, and burnout is terrible.”

Last year, his players held optional conditioning workouts once a week during the break. While the workouts were popular, Bavaro said those summer workouts led to his team being tired at the end of the 2022-23 season, part of the reason he’s adamant on his players taking a break this summer.

That advice goes for coaches as well.

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

Enjoy life outdoors Celebrating our Freedom!

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SCAN FOR AN EXCLUSIVE OFFER

SHOP OUR SUMMER SALE EVENT

Shop small and support your local businesses!

MON-SAT 10AM - 6PM, SUN 12-5PM

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SARASOTA • BONITA SPRINGS • NAPLES

FOLLOW US 404525-1

24

YourObserver.com

EAST COUNTY OBSERVER | THURSDAY, JULY 6, 2023

When did you start playing basketball?

I started in eighth grade. I had played baseball before then, but I lost my love for it. Basketball just has more going on. I have to think so much more while I’m playing.

What is the appeal to you?

I like the team aspect. Everyone has a role to play, and you need everyone (to contribute), not just one or two people.

What is your best skill?

Right now, I’m having success attacking the basket. I don’t stop shooting. I’m feeling confident.

What have you been working to improve?

My defense and my athleticism, especially my agility, my speed.

What is your favorite movie?

Either “Jurassic Park” or “Jurassic World,” something from that series. I like it a lot.

What is your favorite school subject?

I like math most of the time. I’m pretty good at it.

Aquatic Centers

(941) 907•8482 mjbhaus@aol.com www.busybeetutoring.net

(941) 907• 8482 mjbhaus@aol.com Schooloffishswimminglessons.com

CAT CARE CLINIC

Affordable Veterinary Services

What are your hobbies?

I like to swim. I’m either doing that or basketball or hanging out with friends.

Open to the Public

By Appointment Only - 941.366.CATS (2287) 2542 17th St., Sarasota, FL 34234 For pricing and services, go to www.catdepot.org

Which superpower would you pick?

Invisibility. I could get out of any situations I don’t want to be in.

Can't-Miss Summer Read!

What is the best advice you have received?

‘We’ over ‘me.’ Basketball is not an individual sport. Coach Gilmer helped me see that. Everyone has to get involved in order to win.

Relax and enjoy Key Life online as it shines a light on the people, experiences, culture, arts, architecture and business that set the keys apart - and makes them so special.

Finish this sentence: “Marcus Schade is …” … Spontaneous. I’m different all the time.

What is your favorite basketball memory?

Last year, our Braden River team won the Shorecrest Prep holiday tournament. That was big for us as a team, and I had a few big games in the tournament.

(Schade scored 42 points on Dec. 28 in a 63-54 win against St. Petersburg Catholic.)

A School Of Fish Today!

“Smart” JoinWethe are open for private and group t Gif r lessons at home, community pools, a e Y All g and the Lincoln and G.T. Bray Lon 405177-1

What is your favorite food?

I have to go with pizza rolls right now.

Tutoring Grades K-College General Education & Special Needs

SWIMMING LESSONS

406183-1

Marcus Schade is a rising senior guard on the Braden River High boys basketball team. Pirates head coach Dwight Gilmer said Schade has taken his game to a new level this summer. Schade was named a Top Performer at the Gibbs Summer League showcase by basketball scout Kevin Perper on June 30.

Schade also scored 30 points June 24 in a 2023 Florida Association of Basketball Coaches Camp game against Clearwater High.

BUSY BEE TUTORING

ATHLETE OF THE WEEK

Marcus Schade

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.

25

What are your goals for next season?

I want to reach 1,000 points for my career. I think I’m approximately 300 points away right now, so it’s doable.

Register today for a FREE digital edition, delivered directly to your inbox!

YourObserver.com/Key-Life

404736-1

READ NOW

The Observer’s

Weather

&Nature

2023-24 PHOTO CONTEST

A R E F L E C T I O N O F N AT U R E ’ S B E A U T Y

Submitted by: Jack Kelley

Sponsored by

KITCHEN | CABINETRY OUTDOOR PAVERS

394811-1

Go to Yourobserver.com/contests for details.

406255-1

Submit your photos of spectacular local weather and nature displays and you could win $500!

26

YourObserver.com

WEATHER

EAST COUNTY OBSERVER | THURSDAY, JULY 6, 2023

NATURE’S BEAUTY WITH

FORECAST THURSDAY, JULY 6

SUNRISE / SUNSET Sunrise Sunset

High: 94 Low: 77 Chance of rain: 58%

FRIDAY, JULY 7 High: 91 Low: 78 Chance of rain: 47%

Thursday, July 6

6:39a

8:28p

Friday, July 7

6:40a

8:28p

Saturday, July 8

6:40a

8:27p

Sunday, July 9

6:41a

8:27p

Monday, July 10

6:41a

8:27p

Tuesday, July 11

6:42a

8:27p

Wednesday, July 12

6:42a

8:27p

MOON PHASES

SATURDAY, JULY 8 High: 91 Low: 78 Chance of rain: 53%

July 9 Last

July 25 First

Aug. 1 Full

RAINFALL

SUNDAY, JULY 9

Darlene Edelman photographed these two young Sandhill cranes walking around in Riva Trace of University Park.

July 17 New

High: 94 Low: 77 Chance of rain: 24%

Monday, June 26

0

Tuesday, June 27

0

Wednesday, June 28

0

Thursday, June 29

0

Friday, June 30

0

Saturday, July 1

0

Sunday, July 2

0

*Rainfall totals from Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport

Submit your photos at YourObserver.com/contests. All submissions will be entered for the 2023-24 Weather and Nature photo contest. In February 2024, you will vote for your favorite photo, and the submission with the most votes will win a $500 gift card.

YEAR TO DATE: 2023 10.06 in.

2022 17.99 in.

MONTH TO DATE: 2023 0.02 in.

2022 0.00 in.

We have all of your luxury flooring needs carpet | hardwood | tile | stone | pavers | and more

at MANASOTA FLOORING INC Sarasota 941.355.8437 | Bradenton 941.748.4679 | Venice 941.493.7441 | manasotaonline.com

SHOWROOMS!

celebrity cipher

35 Caiman cousin, for

short 1 Just a bit 36 Early web portal 4 Bruins of the Pac-12 37 Scrolling through feeds, 8 Accords often 13 Taylor with the album 40 Legendary loch “Midnights” 43 ... for Mr. Magoo?

18 Returned to earth 48 Veggie burger bean 20 Prepare to fly 50 ___ free (words on a 21 King-like? bottle) 22 Pearl River gambling 51 Fourth mo., alphabetimecca cally 23 Signature song for 52 Research support Aladdin?

53 In favor of 26 Make a choice 54 Not so hardy 27 Set of keys for Keys 28 Senator Collins of Maine 56 Sally of “80 for Brady” 59 Memo words 29 PR handouts 31 Deer’s playmate in song 60 Idris of “Luther” 33 Twice-told or tall story 61 Charming snake?

62 Make available, as a

time slot 93 ... for Thor?

64 Pooch pest 96 Unappetizing bowlful 65 Won over 98 No-bake black-and66 ... for Jessica Fletcher? white treats 71 Kills it on the guitar 100 Year, in Toledo 74 Given name of Ricky 101 Angler’s target Nelson or Jamie Foxx 103 Stay out for the night?

75 Like a walrus or warthog 104 Words on a ticket 78 They get what’s coming 109 Pacific states, in political slang to them 113 Pat or Daniel 79 Many a robocall 80 Some 35mm cameras 115 Erin of “Happy Days” 116 Musical set in South (Abbr.)

83 Houston center, for one America 117 ... for Dorothy Gale?

85 Wash day cycle 120 Fire engine warning 86 Latin lead-in?

121 Fowl choice 87 Adjuster’s workload 122 In ___ of 89 Guitarist’s booster 90 Aussie footwear brand 123 “Strega ___” (Tomie dePaola children’s book) 91 “Pronto!” on a memo

“K SFVA AY ALFVU FOO ALH XLYBOIHJX YN ALH XAJYVC FVI WJFRH FVI GYBJFCHYBX SYTHV ALFA K FT XAFVIKVC YV.”

FBIJF TGIYVFOI

“D PIDEH PIBLB MLB VBO PIDESF XWLB YMPLDWPDN PIME PMHDES PIB PDXB PW XMHB TWCL NWCEPLT M UBPPBL YRMNB.”

XDNIMBR XWWLB

“JYGOYGD FO’X FM OYG DFVYO JBC RD XRTGOFTGX OYG JDRMV JBC, CRP EGBDM BHRPO EFIG BMS FOX EGXXRMX.” OGMMFX KEBCGD BTGEFG TBPDGXTR © 2023 NEA, Inc.

sudoku

Complete the grid so that every row, column and 3x3 box contains every digit from 1 to 9 inclusively.

©2023 Andrews McMeel Syndicate

406253-1

©2023 Universal Uclick

63 FedEx alternative 64 ISP watchdog 65 Mr. Pickles of “Rugrats” 67 Many a trade secret 68 Do some self-promotion DOWN 69 Archer’s asset 1 Bucs’ bay 70 “I’m home!”

2 Chef Ducasse with more 71 “Who cares?” gesture than 20 Michelin stars 72 Katherine of “Firefly 3 Pick on persistently Lane” 4 Vegas-based MMA org.

73 ... for Gollum?

5 Bracelet fastener 76 Classroom challenge 6 Lash of cowboy films 77 Emma Thompson or 7 TikTok and Telegram Angela Lansbury 8 Babe and buttercup 79 Have a war of words 9 First name of an Irish 80 Take a night to consider carrier 81 Chaps in the pub 10 Rap sheet list 82 One in a truck stop 11 Maker of some pods lineup 12 Gardener’s handful 84 Glass house? (Abbr.)

13 Lipstick slip-up 87 Olympic sport including 14 Bit part bouldering 15 ... for Queen Elsa?

88 Decorative bedding 16 It’s true! accessory 17 Kid-friendly taters 92 Big Apple neighborhood 19 Musician’s liability 93 Destination that aptly 24 Plum or mango rhymes with “aah” 25 Consume, as savings 94 “Princess Mononoke” 30 “Eww”-inducing genre 32 Cassini of fashion 95 Detroit nickname 34 “___ Miz” 97 Like many a good date 37 Window shade option 99 Well-armed group?

38 Front line for Al Roker 102 Gives the once-over 39 Director Ephron 104 Potts of “Young 41 High point of a skyline? Sheldon” 42 Leaves on the table?

105 Ward off 43 Closest pal (Abbr.)

106 Star hunter?

44 Explorer Erikson 107 Farm female goat 45 Lift option that’s not 108 Wrap up by Lyft 109 Not as many 46 Arrange the curtains 110 Like Nurse Ratched or 47 ___ Vegas Dolores Umbridge 49 Div. with Chargers 111 Preschool basics 53 Took to the skies 112 Southern side 55 “Fantasy Island” host 114 Massage choices 57 Biblical outcasts 118 Came out on top 58 Body once known as the 119 Networking center Lake of Sodom 60 Caribou cousin

Puzzle Three Clue: K equals P

124 Winter gliders 125 Golfer’s concern 126 Belgrade native 127 Big Apple pub.

By Luis Campos Celebrity Cipher cryptograms are created from quotations by famous people, past and present.

Each letter in the cipher stands for another.

Puzzle Two Clue: V equals F

SIGNATURE SONGS by Pam Amick Klawitter, edited by Jeff Chen

Puzzle One Clue: W equals B

crossword

ACROSS

399843-1

COME SHOP OUR

7-6-23

YourObserver.com

EAST COUNTY OBSERVER | THURSDAY, JULY 6, 2023

27

IT TAKES TWO TO TANGO

in America!

PROVEN HIGH PERFORMANCE AND CONNECTIVITY, STYLISH

NEW DESIGN.

SOUTH CAROLINA LICENSE NUMBERS: HTP-1029, HTP-1024, HTP-1031, HTP-1023, HAS-0573, HAS-0642, HAS-0637, HAS- 0638, HAS-0633

GEORGIA LICENSE NUMBERS: HADS000995, HADS000996, HADS001001, HADS001003

405706-1

SEE INSIDE FOR SPECIAL OFFER

YourObserver.com

EAST COUNTY OBSERVER | THURSDAY, JULY 6, 2023

PHONAK SLIM IS THE FIRST PHONAK HEARING AID TO BE SOLD EXCLUSIVELY AS A PAIR INTRODUCING

PHONAK SLIM

DELIVERING AN UNRIVALED HEARING EXPERIENCE

ALL OF THE FEATURES YOU’D EXPECT FROM A PREMIUM HEARING AID AND MORE! • unique left and right hearing aids • Three different color options • AutoSense OS 4.0, SoundRecover, StereoZoom, Motion Sensor Hearing, Tap Control, RogerDirect, Dynamic Noise Cancellation, Speech Enhancer • “Made for All connectivity” with true hands-free calling

RECHARGEABLE

REMOTE PROGRAMMING

A fast-charging option, a drying function via inductive charging, and intuitive left and right LEDs for status information.

Remote programming to resolve issues and make adjustments from the safety and comfort of your home or office.

UNIVERSAL CONNECTIVITY

SMART PHONE APP

Connect your Lumity hearing aids to your smart phone for carefree streaming of TV shows, movies, phone calls, music & more!

Remote Control App can control your hearing aid from a smartphone without the need for other hardware!

INTRODUCTORY SPECIAL!

FOR A LIMITED TIME GET 50% OFF YOUR NEXT SET OF DEVICES

SOUTH CAROLINA LICENSE NUMBERS: HTP-1029, HTP-1024, HTP-1031, HTP-1023, HAS-0573, HAS-0642, HAS-0637, HAS- 0638, HAS-0633

GEORGIA LICENSE NUMBERS: HADS000995, HADS000996, HADS001001, HADS001003

405707-1

28

YourObserver.com

EAST COUNTY OBSERVER | THURSDAY, JULY 6, 2023

29

STOP MISSING OUT ON LIFE!

FOR A LIMITED TIME GET 50% OFF YOUR NEXT SET OF DEVICES

WE ALWAYS PROVIDE THESE SERVICES FREE!

Reprogram your current hearing aids with your new hearing prescription and up-to-date software improvements at no charge.

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HEARING AID CHECK UP

It is important to have your hearing checked at least once a year.

Our Video Otoscope can detect if ear wax may be the reason you are experiencing hearing difficulty.

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HEARING EXAM & CONSULTATION! NO OBLIGATION!

VIDEO EAR SCAN MAKES SURE IT’S NOT EAR WAX

OTHER DIGITAL SPECIALS 100% Digital Open-Fit BTE (Open Fit Behind-the-Ear)

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100% Digital CIC (Completely -in-Canal)

100% Micro CIC (Completely -in-Canal)

WAS $795

WAS $995

WAS $995

WAS $1995

each

(Up to 40 db Loss)

NOW 395 $

each

(Up to 40 db Loss)

NOW 495 $

each

(Up to 40 db Loss)

NOW 595 $

each

(Up to 40 db Loss)

405708-1

NOW 395 $

YourObserver.com

EAST COUNTY OBSERVER | THURSDAY, JULY 6, 2023

YOU’RE INVITED TO A SPECIAL EVENT

PHONAK SLIM, AN UNRIVELED HEARING EXPERIENCE

50% OFF YOUR NEXT SET OF DEVICES FREE

HEARING EXAM! No Cost, No Obligation!

WE FIT & SERVICE ONLY THE WORLD’S BEST HEARING AIDS

Elite Hearing Centers

OUR PROFESSIONAL STAFF OF DOCTORS OF AUDIOLOGY & LICENSED HEARING AID SPECIALISTS

of America

OVER 50 LOCATION NATIONW S IDE

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2807 University Pkwy In Publix Plaza at University Walk

BRADENTON 941-269-4768

DELRAY BEACH 561-915-0201 4900 Linton Blvd #3 (In between Poppies Restaurant and Kristi Cleaners)

ROYAL PALM BEACH 561-858-3599 11985 Southern Blvd (In between Publix and Sal’s)

(Bradenton Pain and Wellness Center)

BOYNTON BEACH 561-916-2922 4739 N Congress Ave (In between Dollar Tree and Fon Shan Chinese)

JUPITER 561-941-3844 6725 West Indiantown Rd Bay 39 (In Jupiter West Plaza)

2001 Manatee Avenue E. Ste 104

SOUTH CAROLINA LICENSE NUMBERS: HTP-1029, HTP-1024, HTP-1031, HTP-1023, HAS-0573, HAS-0642, HAS-0637, HAS- 0638, HAS-0633

GEORGIA LICENSE NUMBERS: HADS000995, HADS000996, HADS001001, HADS001003

405709-1

30

Made for where you live. Here!

THURSDAY, JULY 6, 2023

RED PAGES DEADLINES: Classifieds - Monday at Noon Service Directory - Friday at 3PM • PAYMENT: Cash, Check or Credit Card The East County Observer reserves the right to classify and edit copy, or to reject or cancel an advertisement at any time. Corrections after first insertion only. *All ads are subject to the approval of the Publisher. *It is the responsibility of the party placing any ad for publication in the East County Observer to meet all applicable legal requirements in connection with the ad such as compliance with towncodes in first obtaining an occupational license for business, permitted home occupation, or residential rental property Notice: All real estate advertised herein is subject to the Federal Fair Housing Act, which makes it illegal to advertise any preference, limitation, or discrimination because of race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, or national origin, or intention to make any such preference, limitation or discrimination. All persons are hereby informed that all dwellings advertised are available on an equal opportunity basis..

Autos Wanted DESPERATELY NEEDED Low mileage, cars and trucks.

Also rare or unusual vehicles.

Larry 941-350-7993

Adult Care Services

15 PIECE Corningware, excellent condition. $30, 941-932-1172 32 PIECE Stoneware dinnerware, black & tan design. $30, 941-932-1172

GARAGE SALE As low as $17.50 per week!

941-955-4888

PIANO ROLLS - 40 Aeolian piano rolls with 40& 50 music. $100 for all. (941)926-7254

Merchandise Wanted SENIOR LOOKING to purchase precious metals, diamonds, time pieces, coins, jewelry, antique and estate jewelry, and some collectors plates. Personal and confidential.

Please call Marc: 941-321-0707

eBike Sales and Rentals Ride easy on an eBike with as much exercise or assistance as you want.

Leave traffic and parking problems behind!

13 models available.

Daily and weekly rentals available We also repair other Brands Open 10 to 5 daily except Sundays and holidays 12208 Cortez Road, Cortez, FL

941-251-7916, Ext 1

Autos Wanted CASH FOR YOUR CAR We come to you!

Ho Ho Buys cars.

941-270-4400.

YourObserver.com/RedPages

STORAGE FACILITY Boat/ RV/ Trailer. Secure facility, low monthly rentals, Clark Rd area.

941-809-3660, 941-809-3662.

WE BUY cars. top $$ paid for your vehicles.

Call Hawley Motors: 941-923-3421.

Motorcycles

OLD MOTORCYCLES WANTED *Before 1985* ALL Makes & ModelsAny Condition!

Running or Not! $Cash Paid$ Call 845-389-3239 cyclesndmore10@gmail.com

You’re only cheating yourself.

ADVERTISE YOUR MERCHANDISE with the total value of all items $200 or less in this section for FREE! Limit 1 ad per month,15 words or less. Price must be included next to each item. No commercial advertising.

Ad runs 2 consecutive weeks in 1 Observer.

Call 941-955-4888 Or Email ad to: classified@yourobserver.com (Please provide your name and address) Or Online at: www.yourobserver.com Or mail to: The Observer Group 1970 Main St. - 3rd Floor Sarasota, Fl 34236

Happy 4th of July!

SAVE UP TO $250!

941-955-4888

peekers’ place

Items Under $200

BEACH’ N RIDES Electric Bike Shop!

auto

stuff

SELL IT NOW!

(CAREGIVERS) ELDER CARE/COMPANIONS job is for 5 Days a Week – 5 Hours per Day – Salary is $20 per Hour. Clean record, good recommendations, mobile, with many skills For more details about the position, email (holt.j88@yahoo.com) PERSONAL CARE GIVERPrivate care: Meal preparation, errands, shopping, and more.

Affordable hourly rates, available weekdays, weekends, and holidays.

Minimal shift 5 hours can also provide overnight care.

Temporary or long term care.

Over 10+ years experience.

References available. No new faces, one consistent caregiver.

COVID Negative.

Call Kati: 941-536-7706.

Auto Transport SHIP YOUR car, truck or SUV anywhere in the United States.

Great rates, fast quotes. Call Hawley Motors: 941-923-3421.

Looking for something? Your lucky discovery is closer than you think.

RED PAGES Made for where you live. Here!

Call 941-955-4888 or visit YourObserver.com/redpages

www.braziliancleaningbymk.com

EUROPEAN HOUSEKEEPING •Reliable •Top to bottom disinfecting •High-quality final touches •Linen service available FREE ESTIMATE 941-928-5801

FIND BUYERS AND SELLERS HERE! 941-955-4888 YourObserver.com/RedPages

Painting CARLO DATTILO Painting Licensed & insured. Interior/ Exterior painting including drywall repair and retexturing.

Wallpaper installation & removal, pressure washing. Residential & commercial, condos.

Honest & reliable.

Free estimates. 941-744-1020.

35+ years experience.

Advertise your business or service in the Observer

SARASOTA INTERIOR PAINTING

RED PAGES

HIGH-END INTERIOR PAINTING WE ARE THE BEST!!!

Fully Insured.

CALL or TEXT Don 941-900-9398

941-955-4888 RED AdvertisePAGES your business

This week’s Crossword answers

Advertise your business or service in the Observer

CALL TODAY

or service in the Observer

CALLPAGES TODAY RED

941-955-4888 This week’s Celebrity Cipher answers

Puzzle One Solution: “I want to thank all the shoulders of the strong and brave and courageous women that I am standing on.”

Audra McDonald

CALL TODAY 941-955-4888

Puzzle Two Solution: “I think there are few things more patriotic than taking the time to make your country a better place.”

Michael Moore Puzzle Three Solution: “Whether it’s in the right way or sometimes the wrong way, you learn about life and its lessons.”

Tennis player Amelie Mauresmo

This week’s Sudoku answers

©2023 Universal Uclick

TREASURES

found here.

BRAZILIAN CLEANING Service

by Maria. Residential. Meticulous Cleaning. Excellent References.

Free Estimates. Reliable. Lic./Ins. 941-400-3342.

©2023 NEA, Inc.

Sporting Goods

Cleaning

We’ll SWEEP youyou off your feet!

We’ll We’ll SWEEP SWEEP you off off your your feet! feet!

redpages@yourobserver.com • yourobserver.com/redpages

home services

INFORMATION & RATES: 941-955-4888

YourObserver.com

EAST COUNTY OBSERVER | THURSDAY, JULY 6, 2023

Clock Repair

Health

GET YOUR LIFE BACK!

Christo’s Clock Repair

Do You Have Neck or Low Back Pain?

Do You Want To Avoid Surgery?

4630 5TH ST W BRADENTON

“IF IT DOESN’T TIC, TOC TO ME.”

“Specializing inin6” Gutters” “Specializing 6” Seamless Seamless Gutters”

941-773-0875 • 941-932-5505

941.650.9790 941.650.9790 YoderAluminum.com

Don Christo, Sr., Horologist

YoderAluminum.com

Attorney

Board Certified in the specialty of non-surgical spinal decompression

Computer

Is Your Computer Feeling Sick?

Divorce without Lawyers

DR. DAVID CIFRA, DC Midtown Medical Park 1215 S. East Ave. Suite 210 Sarasota, FL 34239

Let Us Fix It!

Call A Geek Computer ServiCeS

Divorce is never fun, but it does not have to be nasty & hateful! Protect your family relationships and assets from expensive Court litigation. Consider Divorce Mediation, the peaceful alternative.

(941) 351-7260 call-a-geek.net

Call me for a free 30 minute consultation before you call a Divorce Lawyer!

Computer Repair & Service Virus & Malware Removal / Protection New System Set Up / Data Transfer Networking: Wired/Wireless Installation Data Recovery / Remote Support One-On-One Tutoring / Training

www.SarasotaDiscCenter.com DrCifra@SarasotaDiscCenter.com

The Only Thing You Have To Lose ... Is The Pain!!

Home Services

Over 18 yrs serving Manatee/Sarasota Counties

Pegatronics Computer Instruction and Repair It’s Easier Than You Think!

We have mediated divorces involving up to 10 million dollars of assets over past 27 years.

Hardware Repair Virus / Malware Cleanup Software & Printer Install New Computer Setups New Purchase Consults Seniors & Beginners

William J. Leininger, JD

405295

Supreme Court Certified Family Mediator 677 N. Washington Blvd Sarasota, FL 34236 SarasotaDivorceMediator.com 941-727-5555

RED PAGES

SELL YOUR CAR! FAST • EASY • SAFE

WE COME TO YOU

Are You Having Dryer Difficulties?

• Dryer hot but clothes still wet after (1) drying cycle?

• Dryer gets hot to the touch or doesn’t heat up at all?

Learn Computer Basics Phones/Tablet Help Apple & Microsoft Problems Solved On-Site and Off Much More! Call Today!

Pegatronics.com

941-735-3362

406036

Auto Service

941.270.4400

Recognized Among the Best Non-Surgical Spinal Decompression Physicians in America

405360

404969

Owner /Insured Operator Insured

FREE CONSULTATION 941.358.2224

CALL FOR AN APPOINTMENT

405364

Dustin Yoder

Dustin Owner Yoder/ Operator

Give Us a Call - We Can Help

406035

Aluminum

BOOST YOUR BUSINESS

Take a simple test to see if your vent is clogged. Unhook your dryer vent & compare drying time.

Residential

941-705-5468

Commercial

405365

Home Watch

Pinnacle Home Watch.com Stop Worrying About Your Home While Away Dave and Connie Grundy

Showcase your products or services each week in the Red Pages.

CALL PINNACLE TODAY! 941-306-1999

CALL 941-955-4888

405075

32

FIRST RESPONDER OWNED & OPERATED

5-Star Rated

Doors 405073

HoHoBuysCars.com

Sliding Glass Door Repair

DESPERATELY NEEDED

“FIX IT - DON’T REPLACE”

Made for where you live. Here!

www.shorelockhomewatch.com

Furniture Repair

RED PAGES

Patio Furniture Repairs.com Furniture Sales & Repairs Cushions • Slings • Re-powdercoating

941-504-0903

404970

FREE PICKUP / DELIVERY • FREE ONSITE QUOTES

404971

YourObserver.com/RedPages

dan@shorelockhomewatch.com

405074

New Deluxe Rollers Will Make Your Doors Roll Better Than Ever Call Mark 928-2263 proslidingglassdoorrepair.com

406031

Low Mileage, Cars & Trucks.

Also Rare or Unusual Vehicles.

UNIQUE SPORT & IMPORTS 941-350-7993

(941)544-0475

405076

Autos Wanted

Doors

Irrigation

DON’T let your PATIO DOORS be a DRAG or your WINDOWS be a PANE!!

IRRIGATION (941) 725-8100 REPAIR edsrainmakerirrigation@gmail.com MAINTENANCE Insured

Window Repairs • Sliding Glass Door Repairs Sliding Glass Door Deadbolts

Servicing LWR, Parrish and NE Bradenton

Call us today! 941.628.8579

Kitchen/Bath Remodeling

SHOWER & BATH MAKEOVERS Cleaned - Regrouted - Caulked - Sealed

405077

405361

www.ezslider.com

FREE IN-HOM ESTIMATEE S

406034

ED’S RAIN MAKER IRRIGATION

Call John 941.377.2940

Free Estimates • Sarasota Resident Since 1974

www.showerandbathsarasota.com

YourObserver.com

Landscaping & Lawn

Custom Granite Services, llc

GARDENS No Job is Too Small!

941-400-4912

Building & Roofing Contractor

by Allison

• Aluminum, Vinyl, & Wood Soffit & Fascia Repair & Installation • Roofing Repair & Installation • Metal Roofing & Tile Roof Repair Specialists

941-626-3194

Allison J. Abizaid

Personal Gardening Services | Designer

941-400-0431 • gbyallison@yahoo.com • gardensbyallison.com

CALL BEFOREYOU YOU FALL CALL BEFORE FALL

Licensed & Insured CCC - 058059 CBC - 1253936

405367

405366

CJ COOLEY OWNER/OPERATOR

Painting

GRAB BARS GRAB BARS

Screening

SARASOTA INTERIOR PAINTING, LLC

COMPLETE INSTALLATION PACKAGE

249 235

Kenneth Fuhlman Inc.

Design • Garden Beds • Landscape • Courtyards Clean-Up • Makeovers • Weeds • Trimming

CustomGraniteServicesLLC@gmail.com

* $ $235

Roofing

405079

Kitchen/Bath Remodeling

$

33

EAST COUNTY OBSERVER | THURSDAY, JULY 6, 2023

INCLUDES22MOEN MOEN STAINLESS INCLUDES STAINLESS STEEL STEELANTI ANTISLIP SLIP CONCEALED PEEN CONCEALED SCREW SCREW GRAB GRAB BARS (16”BARS & 24”)(16” & 24”)

FULLY INSURED • OWNER OPERATED

BLACK LABEL CAR SERVICE

Complete Interior & Exterior Painting

405078

FREE ESTIMATES - Call Joel, Owner 30 Years Exp. Cell 619-405-7650 Home/Office 941-758-4840

Find anything in the RED PAGES

10% off

941-248-4734

Res./Com.

RELIABLE • INSURED

941-920-8221

STANDARD WINDOWS

Call to reserve your ad space: 941-955-4888 YourObserver.com/RedPages

“No Job Too Small” Insured

941-270-1561

HEROES found here.

Relax. You’ve got better things to do.

Find a professional here in the Red Pages.

RED PAGES Made for where you live. Here!

Call 941-955-4888 or visit YourObserver.com/redpages

ows

150

$

INCLUDING SCREENS, TRACKS, MIRRORS & FANS

Eldridge Re-Screen Licensed

25

UP TO

Rescreening & Repairs

TIME TO BUILD YOUR BUSINESS

1/1

Lic./Ins.

Form Serving Longboat Key Since 2005

Small plumbing repairs. Replace toilets, faucets, water filters, water softeners and repair leaks.

Licensed & Insured

https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?tab=rm&ogbl#search/royaltreasurecasino%40yahoo.com?projector=1

& Pressure C Window lean t e s ing n s a S u n u n w r o i s n e k Wind S erly

Mark’s Plumbing Service

954-1878 (cell) 780-3346

All Airports, Hourly & Tours www.blacklabelcarservice.com

Booked Referral Program Next Ride with Booked Referral

Windows

Plumbing

GLENN KROECKER

WITH THE RED PAGES

Luxury for Less

941-955-4888

404974

THE GRAB BAR GUY

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Transportation

Homes - Driveways - Sidewalks - Tile & Shingle Roofs - Pool Cages & Decks

Get a FREE quote today!

Call 941-800-7760

405363

404976

UNIQUE PAINTING & PRESSURE WASHING SERVICES

“SOLUTION WITH SUPERIOR RENOVATIONS CRAFTSMANSHIP”

Licensed & Insured www.ghrenovationllc.com

1/10/23, 10:25 AM

SPECIAL 00 5

$

senior citizen discount. www.sunsetwindowcleaningsrq.com

Purified water window cleaning available!!

Call Tibor for FREE ESTIMATES | 941- 284 - 5880

405359

REMODELING

405080

KITCHEN & BATH

CALL OR TEXT 941-900-9398 TODAY! OWNER: DON HUBIAK

406038

DRGRABBARS.COM

*DRILLING CHARGES MAY APPLY FOR MARBLE, GRANITE OR PORCELAIN. COUPON REQUIRED.

404975

LIFETIME GUARANTEE • LICENSED • BONDED • INSURED COVERAGEAREA: AREA:LAKEWOOD PARRISH TO NORTHPORT COVERAGE RANCH TO S. VENICE

406030

941.966.0333

364556 405362

High-End Interior Painting Services

34

YourObserver.com

EAST COUNTY OBSERVER | THURSDAY, JULY 6, 2023

Open House Event

Join our best-in-class global advisors for a two-day open house showcase.

SATURDAY, JULY 8 SUNDAY, JULY 9

Featured listings pictured below may be shown by appointment only

Scan for a full list of Open Houses, property details, driving directions and more

LAKEWOOD RANCH 14738 Como Circle Laura Stavola

ISLES AT LAKEWOOD RANCH $2,999,999 941.447.4875

COUNTRY CLUB EAST 16516 Berwick Terrace Donna Soda

$1,549,000 941.961.5857

8205 Championship Court Donna Soda & Joel Schemmel

$1,000,000 941.587.1776

$849,000 941.376.2005

5760 Rock Dove Drive Thomas Netzel

$1,300,000 941.961.5857

$2,999,000 941.812.4219

27438 Hole In One Place Bob Linthicum

BRADENTON $1,149,900 941.228.9206

10639 Cheval Place Charles Totonis

RIVER CLUB

$995,000 941.539.0633

10085 Cherry Hills Avenue Circle Laura Stavola

$749,000 941.961.5857

4177 Westbourne Circle Ken Ipox

PRESTANCIA 4464 Calle Serena Donna Soda

10121 Ruffled Fern Lane Robyn Sadlo

BOCA ROYALE

RED HAWK RESERVE

HUNTINGTON POINTE 8809 Havenridge Drive Brian Snyder

SARASOTA

$2,000,000 941.961.5857

LAKEWOOD RANCH

ARBOR LAKES 5885 Palmer Ranch Parkway Tamara & Todd Currey

8327 Redonda Loop Donna Soda

$1,025,000 941.524.8299

ESPLANADE $985,000 941.447.4875

12642 Fontana Loop Gloria Bracciano

STONEYBROOK ESTATES $659,000 941.993.7279

$900,000 941.730.1999

HI HAT RANCH 9435 Swaying Branch Road Robyn Sadlo

$577,000 941.812.4219

NOW ACCEP TING RESERVATIONS

THE NEXT EVOLUTION OF LUXURY BEGINS

Introducing 78 Grand New Residences on Sarasota’s Bayfront Presentation Gallery Now Open at The Ritz-Carlton, Sarasota 1111 Ritz-Carlton Drive, Sarasota, Florida 34236 941.499.8704 | TheResidencesSarasotaBay.com

PRESENTED BY

The Ritz-Carlton Residences, Sarasota Bay are not owned, developed or sold by Marriott International, Inc. or its affiliates (“Ritz-Carlton”). KT Sarasota South, LLC uses The Ritz-Carlton marks under a license from Ritz-Carlton, which has not confirmed the accuracy of any of the statements or representations made herein. Broker Participation Welcomed and Encouraged. ORAL REPRESENTATIONS CANNOT BE RELIED UPON AS CORRECTLY STATING REPRESENTATIONS OF THE SELLER. FOR CORRECT REPRESENTATIONS, MAKE REFERENCE TO THIS BROCHURE AND TO THE DOCUMENTS REQUIRED BY SECTION 718.503, FLORIDA STATUTES, TO BE FURNISHED BY A SELLER TO A BUYER OR LESSEE. This project has been filed in the state of Florida and no other state. This is not an offer to sell or solicitation of offers to buy the condominium units in states where such offer or solicitation cannot be made. Prices and availability are subject to change at any time without notice. Images are artist’s renderings and may not represent the final building. Furnishings and fixtures are for display purposes and are not included with the residence. Actual improvements, including, recreational facilities and amenities, may vary from those shown and views may not be available from all units.

BROKERAGE | RENTALS | RELOCATION | NEW DEVELOPMENT MORTGAGE | INSURANCE | FINE ART CONSIGNMENT

PremierSIR.com VENICE | 941.412.3323

LAKEWOOD RANCH | 941.907.9541

LONGBOAT KEY | 941.383.2500

Sotheby’s International Realty® and the Sotheby’s International Realty logo are registered service marks used with permission. Each office is independently owned and operated. Equal Housing Opportunity.

Property information herein is derived from various sources including,but not limited to, county records and multiple listing services, and may include approximations. All information is deemed accurate.

RENTALS | 941.203.3433 396046-1

SARASOTA - DOWNTOWN | 941.364.4000