East County Observer 6.13.24

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Liz Ramos

Rebecca St. Pierre, Suzi Regulski and Paige Hunt perform during rehearsal with Ring Sarasota.

Courtesy photo Elkin Mosely tries out disc golf at Bob Gardner Park.

Ramos

photo

CERT-ified tips for hurricane season

The Lakewood Ranch CERT held a public information session at Town Hall.

LESLEY DWYER STAFF WRITER

After 21 years of living in Summerfield Hollow, instead of the generic hurricane preparedness tips to stock up on water and fill the car’s gas tank, Jean Ricucci wanted information that was tailored to her neighborhood.

Ricucci and about 100 other residents signed up for the Lakewood Ranch Emergency Response Team’s public information session on June 4 at Lakewood Ranch Town Hall.

CERTs are made up of neighbors helping neighbors. The teams hit the streets after a disaster. There are 19 teams across Manatee County. The Lakewood Ranch CERT’s territory is Phase 1 of Lakewood Ranch, which is between University Parkway and State Road 70 and generally between Lakewood Ranch Boulevard and Lorraine Road.

Two hours after walking into Town Hall, Ricucci left with the name and location of the CERT contact in the Hollow and learned that she can text 911 if the call system goes down.

After Hurricane Ian, Lakewood Ranch CERT deployed 160 volunteers to check on their neighbors, roads and structures. In addition to 48 downed trees blocking roads and a number of collapsed pool cages, team members found two houses with gas leaks.

CERT President Jim Emanuelson said not every county will accept text messages through 911, but he knows Manatee County does from that experience.

“We tried calling (to report the gas leaks), and we couldn’t get through. We texted and got through,” Emanuelson said. “I’ve been through two

THREE TIPS FOR LOCALS

1.) Waiting too long to evacuate can leave you stuck on Interstate 75; try to make up your mind early.

2.) With more than 400,000 residents, Manatee County shelters have a capacity of 35,000, and only four accept pets. Plan ahead.

3.) After a hurricane, most emergency workers are going to be in the western portion of the county dealing with the storm surge, so stock enough supplies to last three to five days.

strong storms — Irma and Ian — and both of them, we didn’t have 911 service after them. So you think you can call 911, but no.”

Sarasota County’s 911 system also accepts text messages.

Presenter Jordan Perlin used Hurricane Ian as an example of how much rain a hurricane can generate. Grove City, north of where Ian made landfall, received 27 inches of rainfall.

“One of the misnomers I keep hearing is, ‘Oh, we live 10 miles from the coast. I don’t need to worry about it,’” Emanuelson said. “Even this far from the coast, because we’re close to (the Braden River) — a major artery river — we’ve got a flood zone right on top of us.”

“Know your flood zone” is a phrase regularly heard during hurricane season, but what helps Presenter Jill Perlin sleep at night is the couple’s flood insurance policy, even though the Perlins’ home is not located in a flood zone.

“You can’t eliminate the risk, but you can mitigate the risk to the point that you can,” Jill Perlin said.

The Lakewood Ranch CERT has

240 volunteers, but smaller and newer communities like Del Webb have much smaller numbers. Secretary Sheree Parke said with 36 volunteers, Del Webb is the next largest CERT group in the area.

A problem the Del Webb CERT sees with the newly built homes in their community is that homeowners are under the assumption that they don’t need to do a lot of preparation before a hurricane.

“Their salesman told them these houses are rated for 150 mile an hour winds,” President Howard Malis said. “They buy a natural gas generator and think they’re safe.”

Neighbors in Phase 1 with older homes wanted to know how to protect their pre-2002 garage doors — backing a car up to the door can help, but wind braces are a better option. Another question was where to keep a propane tank — a covered lanai is the best bet.

“I hadn’t thought that now was the time to start preparing,” Ricucci said, “But now I have to go home and get started.”

EAST COUNTY CERTS

The teams are always looking for additional members. Email or visit the websites for more information on volunteering or receiving assistance.

Central Park — Email

Harry.Benas@SBCGlobal.net

Del Webb — Email DelWebbLWRcert.org

Greenfield Plantation — Email Medic1Larry@yahoo.com

Indigo — Email IndigoCERT@ gmail.com

The Isles Lakewood Ranch — Email SCCFink@gmail.com

Lakewood National — Email DSangove01@gmail.com

Lakewood Ranch — Email LWRcert.org

Lorraine Lakes — Email GACockfield@gmail.com

Mallory Park — Email SRASCorp@icloud.com

Polo Run — Email CMartinez@PolorUnCERT.org

River Club — Email CERT@RiverClub.us

University Park — Email GioCant@gmail.com

Waterlefe — Email JeffreyABrand@gmail.com

Lesley Dwyer

CERT members Jill and Jordan Perlin, along with Lakewood Ranch CERT President Jim Emanuelson, presented hurricane preparedness information on June 4 at Lakewood Ranch Town Hall.

Karen Plotkin hands out information on the Ham Radio Committee, which is looking for additional members.

JAMES SATCHER goes from District 1 commissioner to candidate for supervisor of elections

KEVIN VAN OSTENBRIDGE goes from District 3 commissioner to candidate for District 7 seat

KEITH GREEN goes from District 7 candidate to District 1 candidate to District 3 candidate

APRIL CULBREATH goes from District 7 candidate

AS THE DUST SETTLES

Candidates in Manatee County attempt to find their right election fit.

LESLEY DWYER

STAFF WRITER

Former Commissioner Carol Whitmore remembered attending Stan Stephens’ election night after-party in 2000, mainly because Stephens lost the race.

He was running for the District 3 seat on the Manatee County Commission. Not only was he the incumbent, he raised over $100,000 in campaign contributions. Stephens was up against Jane Von Hahmann. She owned a retail surf store, raised less than $10,000 and had never run for office before.

Whitmore was reminded of the upset when Commissioner Kevin Van Ostenbridge announced on May 31 that he wouldn’t be running for reelection in District 3. Instead, he’s launched a campaign in District 7, which is the at-large seat currently held by Commissioner George Kruse. “Developers were very supportive of (Stephens),” Whitmore said. “He lost because the people spoke, and I think that’s why Kevin did what he did because it has happened before (where a sitting commissioner lost even with considerable financial backing).”

KEY DATES

n Registration deadline to vote in the primary election: July 22

n Primary election: Aug. 20

n Registration deadline to vote in the general election: Oct. 7

n General election: Nov. 5

Following Van Ostenbridge’s announcement, April Culbreath announced that she would be running for the District 3 seat instead of the one in District 7. In April, District 1 Commissioner James Satcher gave up his District 1 seat to accept the appointment as Supervisor of Elections, thereby putting himself in the upcoming election for that position, while candidate Keith Green reacted by announcing he would be running for District 1 instead of District 7. In some cases, candidates have spent a lot of money to see where they best fit, or don’t fit, when it comes to running for office.

Former Commissioner Misty Servia said polls that cost about $12,000 a pop can evaluate races for them.

“People with the big money do a

to ask donors if he can put that money toward his new campaign. He sent request letters on June 3 and said on June 6 that so far, no one has asked for their money back.

Kruse said the more than $200,000 in Van Ostenbridge’s campaign account will be spent mostly on signs and consulting services, but “endless piles of money” will be spent by political action committees to pay for attack ads against him.

“That’s not an exaggeration,” Servia said. “It is an unlimited amount of money because of one donor who has told me personally, ‘I don’t care what it takes. I want all seven commissioners rowing in the same direction, doing what I want them to do.’”

Servia declined to name the donor, but there’s another person responsible for the current commissioners’ success during elections — political strategist Anthony Pedicini.

Pedicini led every sitting commissioner on the board to victory, except Ray Turner, who was appointed after Vanessa Baugh retired early. Turner has since hired Pedicini for his election bid.

Candidates represented by Pedicini have received significantly more campaign contributions than their competitors. Satcher raised over $70,000 for the District 1 race before being appointed as supervisor of elections. No other candidate has raised more than $12,000 in the District 1 race as of June 11.

Kruse used Pedicini’s services in 2020 to get elected, too. Now, he’s taking his chances on a grassroots campaign. He’s raised just over $40,000 to date and has refused to accept multiple checks from the same LLCs. Most of his campaign contributions have come from individuals in increments under $500.

Kruse said informed voters will favor him. He said vast majority of voters in District 3 are long-term residents who are familiar with Van Ostenbridge.

lot of polling,” she said. “If it looks like they may have trouble winning, they switch districts.”

Van Ostenbridge said his switching races had nothing to do with his popularity in District 3 and everything to do with what he calls Kruse’s “liberal” voting record as a commissioner.

“I’ve been blessed with a tremendous amount of support,” Van Ostenbridge said. “That level of support enables me to challenge Commissioner Kruse on the countywide level and rid Manatee County of the most liberal politician we have.”

Van Ostenbridge has raised nearly $215,000 in support, and $170,000 of those contributions toward the District 3 seat were reported in December. He said he’s been contemplating running against Kruse for “a while,” even though it’s “possibly” a bigger risk.

Van Ostenbridge will need to earn about four times more votes than when he won the District 3 seat in 2020 against Matt Bower. With a 79.84% voter turnout, he received 23,213 votes, but only needed 19,884.

Kruse received 21,184 votes in the 2020 primary against Ed Hunzeker. He won the general election in a 93% landslide against write-in candidate Thomas Whitten Dell. To win the seat, he needed 85,719 votes.

“Their entire base is uninformed voters,” Kruse said. “(I) guarantee that a disproportionate 80%-90% of the people who voted for (Van Ostenbridge, Culbreath and Satcher) had no idea who they were before qualifying. Their entire vote will be based solely on the mail and the TV and everything else they pump out in the next eight to 10 weeks.”

Whitmore lives in District 3. She predicts Van Ostenbridge will spend a lot of money in Lakewood Ranch’s District 5, “where people don’t know him.”

ENDLESS PILES OF MONEY

OpenSecrets is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that researches and tracks “money in politics and its effect on elections and policy.”

The organization isn’t tracking local elections, but in 2022, 93.38% of House races and 82.35% of Senate races were won by the top spending candidates.

While originally running in District 3, the majority of contributions for Van Ostenbridge came in $1,000 increments from sources outside of District 3, many from addresses in Lakewood Ranch. He’s now required

“He’s represented them for years, yet people in that district hate him,” Kruse said of his opponent. “What does that say to the other four districts?”

Van Ostenbridge has more campaign money, but Kruse is the incumbent in District 7. It will put the strength of campaign dollars to the test against being an incumbent. Open Secrets reports that for the past 10 years, incumbents have won over 80% of Senate seats and over 90% of House seats.

REPUBLICAN MAJORITY

Republicans, in general, have an edge in Manatee County. Out of 270,838 registered voters, 128,415 are registered as Republicans, compared to 69,896 registered Democrats.

As of now, District 5 voters don’t have a Democratic option for representation. The two Republican candidates vying for the seat are Robert McCann and incumbent Ray Turner.

The rest of the commission seats have at least one Democrat in the race. District 7 has two — Aliyah Hurt and Sari Lindroos-Valimaki. Because it’s an at-large seat, it’s also the only other commission race that will be on Lakewood Ranch residents’ ballots.

“Making this move gives everybody in this county an opportunity to replace liberal representation with staunch conservative representation,” Van Ostenbridge said of the District 7 race.

Kruse has opposed some high profile projects. He voted against Carlos Beruff’s East River Ranch project that lies beyond the Future Development Area Boundary. He voted against cutting back wetland buffers and voted against cutting funding to any agency affiliated with Planned Parenthood.

“George is more of a conservative, fiscally, than any of them up there,” said Whitmore, who is a Republican. “(Saying he’s liberal) is a talking point that his strategist told him to use because that’s what we as Republicans want to hear, but it’s totally not true.”

On May 28, Kruse was the only vote against an increased budget request of $841,340 from the Supervisor of Elections office. Satcher had been appointed to the office one month earlier, and the request covered the remaining four months of the fiscal year. Kruse also has been fighting to increase impact fees.

“If you want clean water, you’re a liberal. That’s the spin,” District 1 Republican candidate Carol Felts said. “I look at George as a fiscally conservative, moderate Republican.”

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Cat population climbs in Manatee County

Manatee County Animal Welfare said it has reached a high capacity with 130 cats and kittens in its care.

In the past month, Manatee County has taken in 374 cats.

“With our cat population climbing, we’re urging our community to do what it can to adopt, foster or donate,” said Jennifer Hume, Manatee County Animal Welfare’s division manager, in a release. “It all helps as we continue to take in large numbers of kittens during this incredibly busy season.”

Manatee County Animal Welfare is asking that those who want to help:

n Take part in $15 kitten and $5 adult cat adoptions to celebrate Adopt-A-Shelter-Cat Month (through June 30).

n Foster a pet. The county provides all supplies and training for urgently needed foster families. You can sign up by emailing Lauren. Tryon@MyManatee.org.

n Donate supplies to help keep the shelter stocked. Their mostneeded donations are KMR formula, heating discs, snuggle buddies, miracle nipples and small, kitten scratch pads. View all of these items and more on their Amazon Wish List at Bit.ly/FOMCAW_Wishlist.

The Meower-Shower Donation Drive is at the center of Cat Town’s five-year anniversary celebration on June 15. It features a special day of fee-waived adoptions for all cats and kittens at Cat Town, 216 Sixth Ave. E., Bradenton. All adoptions include spay-neuter and microchip services, along with a rabies certificate (valued at more than $300). The pet must be licensed in the county for an additional $20. Besides Cat

EAST COUNTY

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8130 Lakewood Main Street, Suite 207, Lakewood Ranch, FL 34202

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Palmetto Adoption Center at 305 25th St. W., or at the Bishop Animal Shelter, 5718 21st Ave., W., Bradenton.

Anyone who would like to plan before a visit can go to MyManatee. org/Pets to view all adoptable pets. The county offers free food and supplies to pet owners facing financial and housing hardships.

County seeks community interaction

The Manatee County Public Safety Department and Division of Emergency Management is looking for community participation in upcoming Local Mitigation Strategy Planning meetings.

The next meeting will be June 26 at 2:30 p.m. at The Manatee County Emergency Operations Center, 2101 47th Terrace E., Bradenton. Citizens are asked to collaborate and contribute their ideas on how to better prepare for and mitigate the effects of natural disasters, such as hurricanes, floods and other emergencies.

Participants will learn about current strategies, provide input on community needs and priorities and help shape the development of plans designed to protect lives, property and the environment.

For more information, go to MyManatee.org/Hazard, or contact the Manatee County Division of Emergency Management at 749-3500, ext. 1672.

County receives funds for key projects

Manatee County ommissioners appropriated $2.5 million of grant revenues June 11 from the Florida Department of Transportation in the Highway Capital Projects fund to put toward design work on the expansion of the Fort Hamer Bridge. During the same meeting, commissioners appropriated $15.6 million to fund the Emerson Point Land Expansion acquisition project as approved by the County Commission on May 28.

Commissioners also approved $696,500 in funding for improvements at the newly acquired Crooked River Ranch Preserve.

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Hospital breaks ground on expansion

Lakewood Ranch Medical Center’s $120 million, five-story tower is the largest expansion in the hospital’s 20-year history.

LIZ RAMOS SENIOR EDITOR

Robert Hillstrom stood at a podium outside Lakewood Ranch Medical Center 20 years ago to celebrate the opening of the hospital.

Hillstrom, who started with the hospital as the first chief of the medical staff, said getting a hospital started was no easy feat. He had to hire nurses and support staff and recruit physicians.

Lakewood Ranch Medical Center started with 160 credentialed physicians and allied health professionals.

Now the chairman of the board of governors for the hospital, Hillstrom returned to a podium at Lakewood Ranch Medical Center June 11 to celebrate the groundbreaking of the hospital’s $120 million expansion.

The hospital now has more than 750 medical providers.

“(The hospital) always had a really good culture, and that culture has only gotten better,” Hillstrom said. “We all work together to make it happen.”

The new five-story, 170,000-square-foot, multiphase addition is expected to open in December 2025.

Andy Guz, chief executive officer of the hospital, said the tower is the largest and most significant expansion in the hospital’s history.

“This is going to be something that puts us on the map,” Guz said. “This has been a long time coming. In order for us to keep up with the demand of the community, this is the project that needs to happen.”

The new tower will go in the green space between the entrance to the Women’s Center and the main entrance of the hospital. It will be the tallest building on the campus as the other buildings on campus are three stories.

The hospital’s capacity will increase to 180 beds with the addition of 60 beds. Guz said the additional capacity will limit wait times

in the emergency room and provide hospital beds for patients who need to stay overnight in the emergency room.

Guz said one of the best aspects of the design of the universal rooms is their flexibility. He said they are designed so they can be an intensive care unit room, a telemetry room or whatever the hospital and patient needs.

The tower also will expand departments, first of which are the intensive care unit and the progressive care unit. Other departments that will be expanded include the pharmacy, laboratory, education, preadmission testing and food and nutrition services.

The tower will be built to include

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“ ... In order for us to keep up with the demand of the community, this is the project that needs to happen.”

Andy Guz, chief executive officer of the hospital

two shell floors that will have space for an additional 60 beds. The hospital will be able to add two more floors to the tower, bringing the tower to seven floors. When both phases of the tower are completed, it will double the hospital’s patient bed capacity to 240.

Guz said the hospital will add approximately 100 new jobs to the hospital.

Lakewood Ranch Medical Center staff and community members attended the groundbreaking. Lakewood Ranch’s Barbara Milian was among the crowd celebrating with “overwhelming joy” for the hospital in which she was the first mother to give birth when it opened.

Milian said when she came into the hospital 20 years ago, she was nervous. She had a scheduled C-section. She said she was immediately greeted by hospital staff, and there were multiple nurses and staff members helping her to relax nerves.

“They just made me feel so comfortable,” Milian said.

At 9:22 a.m. Sept. 1, 2004, Milian welcomed her son, Julian Milian, who still lives in Lakewood Ranch.

“I love Lakewood Ranch and this hospital,” she said. “I’ve been here many times, and the staff is amazing. The emergency room is flawless.”

With Lakewood Ranch growing by leaps and bounds, Guz, Milian, Hillstrom and Edward Sim, the Universal Health Services president of acute care division, all said the hospital’s expansion is necessary.

“We take care of our community members and take care of each other,” Sim said to the groundbreaking attendees.

Liz Ramos

Chief Financial Officer Renee Shopoff, Chief Operations Officer Philip Reber, Universal Health Services President of Acute

Care Division Edward Sim, Chief Executive Officer Andy Guz, Group Vice President Florida Region Ryan Chandler and Judy Young, the chief nursing officer, celebrate the groundbreaking of Lakewood Ranch Medical Center’s new tower.

Courtesy rendering

The five-story tower will add 60 beds to the hospital’s capacity.

Charging ahead

The Lakewood Ranch Chargers program is a nonprofit soccer club based out of the Premier Sports Campus.

LESLEY DWYER STAFF WRITER

Juan De Brigard, a soccer coach for 40 years and the new director for the Lakewood Ranch Chargers, said few players reach the top of the sport.

“The other ones are going to continue with life, and hopefully, we can contribute in helping their families to make good, decent people,” De Brigard said. “Youth sports are a builder of character.”

The Lakewood Ranch Chargers are part of the larger Chargers Soccer Club, a nonprofit Tampa Bay area youth club that has 3,800 participants from ages 4-19. The program was formed 46 years ago.

The Chargers offer a recreational league, competitive program and summer camps at the Premier Sports Campus.

De Brigard began as the club’s director in April. One of his top priorities is to even out the ratio between boys and girls. After tryouts for the competitive program, there were 19 boys teams and only three girls teams.

“It’s a bit ironic that soccer is one of the most successful women’s sports in the United States, yet

ABOUT THE NONPROFIT

LAKEWOOD RANCH CHARGERS

Visit ChargersSoccer.com/LWR

Mission statement: The Chargers Soccer Club’s predominant focus is the player and team development. Through a program that challenges each player, a coaching staff that adheres to high standards and firstclass facilities, Chargers Soccer Club is resolute in dedicating its time and resources to long-term technical, physical and psychological development of its players.

there is a struggle to attract young girls to the game right now,” De Brigard said.

Rebecca Waterman brings an even ratio to the club. Her son, Bradford, 9, earned a spot in the competitive program, and her daughter, Samantha, 6, plays on the recreation league.

Bradford played soccer with i9 Sports and the YMCA before joining the recreation league last season. He earned a spot in the competitive program starting this fall. Players have to try out and be chosen to participate.

“(We switched to the Chargers) because of the more competitive nature, and we heard the organization had a good reputation,” Waterman said. “They both enjoyed the rec league last season. And the coaches are supportive, which is great.”

The Watermans now have to travel for games since Bradford is

playing competitively. The recreation league only plays at home, once a week on Saturday mornings.

De Brigard said soccer offers an array of teachable moments from dealing with a loss to being graceful when you win. Teamwork is at the top of the list.

“U.S. American sports are built to have an individual hero — a quarterback, pitcher, point guard,” he said. “In soccer, you can’t achieve anything unless you have a team. It’s very difficult for any player in the world, no matter who they are, to be successful without constant and productive teamwork.”

De Brigard is Colombian. Over the course of his career, he spent 14 years working for professional soccer clubs in Colombia. He’s been coaching youth sports in the Tampa Bay area for the past 15 years.

He said soccer stars aren’t made over a season. It takes years to develop a great player. They should

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be playing by 7 years old. He compares the players’ long-term development to students progressing through grades in school.

“A grade is adapted to the capacity of their brain,” De Brigard said.

“In the case of the soccer player, it’s adapted to the way the human body develops the capacity to coordinate and grow speed with your feet.”

He used baseball, football, basketball, ice hockey and lacrosse as examples of sports played with the hands. He said soccer is a completely different coordination process.

But the league is not all about soccer. De Brigard said the club is a good community member, too.

“We, as clubs, should never forget that word ‘community,’” he said. “If we have the privilege of being allowed to use a facility like Premier, we should definitely provide a service to the community.” De Brigard hates to see parents

drive more than an hour for a competitive program when local clubs can be competitive, too. Colleges and universities regularly recruit players from the Chargers. Camps cost $180 a week, and the recreation league is either $185 or $195, depending on the player’s age. The competitive league requires travel, so it’s best to discuss pricing with the club.

Scholarships are available through a business partnership program. Businesses sponsor about 500 kids a year between the recreation league and the competitive program. In exchange, the businesses’ logos are stitched on the team jerseys.

“Nobody’s really refused here. It’s a nice club,” coach David Hawkes said. “We’re just trying to develop the kids. They know if they want to play or if they want to move on to another sport.”

Samantha Waterman gets some extra practice in at summer camp. She’s on the Lakewood Ranch Chargers recreation league during the regular season.

Photos by Lesley Dwyer

Connor Ryan, 6, learns new skills at the Chargers summer camp at the Premier Sports Campus.

Water officials remain concerned about drought

Despite a rainy forecast, much more water is needed to make up for an extremely dry May.

LESLEY DWYER STAFF WRITER

Rainy season began on June 1 in Florida, and while the region has seen a few showers since, water management officials say it will take a lot more rain to make up for the dry conditions Southwest Florida has been experiencing.

The Southwest Florida Water Management District reported rainfall of less than an inch in May for its southern region, which includes Manatee, Sarasota, Charlotte, DeSoto, Hardee and Highlands counties.

The normal range of rainfall for May in the region is anywhere between 2.21 and 5.16 inches. The drought caused Manatee County to impose a burn ban that began on June 3 and remains in effect through June 17 despite this week’s rainfall.

“There’s been an increased volume of calls for wildland fires,” East Manatee Fire Rescue Deputy Chief Paul Wren said. “We’re advising everyone to adhere to the burn ban. Right now, there’s enough out in nature alone that will undoubtedly spark and cause fires that we have to respond to.”

In Manatee County, the wildlandurban interface is generally east of Panther Ridge toward Myakka City.

The University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences defines a wildland-urban interface as “a place where built structures intermix with natural areas.”

Over the past two weeks, Wren said the fire rescue has averaged between two and five responses a day. Because of how dry everything is, fires start easier and spread more rapidly.

Even though East County saw some showers after the burn ban was put in place, Wren said it hasn’t been

enough to saturate the area and mitigate the fire danger.

Jodie Fiske, director of public safety for Manatee County, said the week of June 10 was expected to bring 8 to 12 inches of rain.

“We’re not sure if it’s going to be steady rainfall or quick downpours, so we want to make sure we’re doing our due diligence to keep this burn ban in effect,” she told commissioners at an emergency meeting on June 10.

The dry conditions can be seen in the aquifers underground, too.

“Declining aquifer percentile values provide an indicator that water levels in the aquifer are dropping,” said Susanna Martinez Tarokh, spokeswoman for the Southwest Florida Water Management District. “This is important, as aquifer water levels can affect the amount of groundwater that water users can pump for their needs.”

The entire district is under a Modified Phase I Water Shortage through July 1, which prohibits “wasteful and unnecessary” water use, such as hosing down a driveway when a broom would suffice.

Although rain is in the forecast for East County, fire officials say that conditions continue to be ripe for wildfires.

The bells are calling

When Ring Sarasota had an opening, Sweetwater’s Suzi Regulski answered the bell.

FUN FACTS

n Handbell performers are called ringers.

n The two most renowned handbell manufacturers are Malmark and Schulmerich. The two companies prompted “The Bell Wars” as they filed lawsuits against each other for comparing their bells to the other’s. One lawsuit made its way to the Supreme Court, which refused to hear the case. “The Bell Wars” lasted more than 30 years.

n Ringers wear gloves to protect the bells from the oils on ringers’ hands.

n Handbells are generally run in sets of six to 12 bells.

n The largest handbell ensemble consisted of 664 participants from the Mall of America, the Handbell Musicians of America and the Salvation Army during a performance on Nov. 19, 2016, in Bloomington, Minnesota.

LIZ RAMOS SENIOR EDITOR

As the beat of “What a Feeling” from the 1983 movie “Flashdance” came to life, the energy in the choir room at Pine Shores Presbyterian Church became electric.

Helping to put a charge into the music was Sweetwater’s Suzi Regulski, who bounced on her toes as she played her notes on handbells.

Next to her, East County’s Libby Tyner Bispham was swaying as she played the instruments.

It was as if a dancing bug bounced from one member to the next of the 19-person ensemble.

It wasn’t long before every member of Ring Sarasota was dancing while playing during the ensemble’s final rehearsal of the season June 10.

The rehearsal was in preparation for Ring Sarasota’s final show — Sights and Sounds at Waterside Place June 14.

Although handbells are more commonly known to be used in churches, especially around the holidays, Ring Sarasota has a knack for taking songs of various genres and showing they can be played on handbells.

Regulski, who has been playing handbells since 1995, said it’s all about teamwork.

Unlike most instruments, where the full scale of notes is at the player’s fingertips, these “ringers,” or handbell performers, have to depend on each person hitting the right note with just one bell at the right time.

It’s all about timing ... all the time, which Regulski said can be stressful.

The focus and determination on her face during the rehearsal showed that stress.

Although she was enjoying herself as songs like “America the Beautiful,” “Popcorn” and “Sway” filled the room, she never lost sight of the fact if she didn’t pick up a bell and ring it at the right moment, it would be like a hole in the music.

Because handbells are expensive, Regulski said it’s not often ringers have their own sets to practice with at home.

So she has to improvise.

Regulski said she uses her

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When: 6-7 p.m.

every Monday July 8 through Aug. 12

Where: Pine Shores Presbyterian Church, 6135 Beechwood Ave., Sarasota

Cost: Free

Details: No experience is necessary to learn how to play handbells. More information: RingSarasota.org/Event/ Ringing-101

made with smaller bells.

Now, Regulski is in her fifth season with Ring Sarasota.

Little did Regulski know she would go from performing Christmas songs to playing “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” to “Build Me Up Buttercup” and other easily recognizable songs.

IF YOU GO

SIGHTS AND SOUNDS AT WATERSIDE PLACE: RING SARASOTA

When: 6-7 p.m. June 14

Where: Waterside Place, 1560 Lakefront Drive, Sarasota

Cost: Free

Details: Ring Sarasota, a handbell ensemble, will perform a set of songs that can be heard across the radio waves.

More information: LakewoodRanch.com

She will tap along to a recording — similar to someone pretending to play the air guitar — and go through the motions of ringing the bells to ensure she knows the music before rehearsal.

Although practicing with wooden spoons is helpful, there’s nothing like having a bell in hand. Regulski said the bells are different sizes to produce different notes. A ringer needs to space out the bells on the table correctly to ensure they don’t hit each other when picked up during a song. Teamwork is important as the ringers know if someone can’t reach a particular bell in time, that someone else will grab it.

Like many of Ring Sarasota’s members, Regulski started playing handbells after the music director at her church, Northminster Presbyterian Church, asked her if she knew how to read music.

Regulski had been playing piano since she was 7 years old and knew how to read music well.

She was asked to join the church’s handbell ensemble rehearsal, and she’s been ringing ever since.

Although she had never picked up a handbell before, Regulski said she was a quick study.

“When you get a compliment from the director that, ‘Oh, yeah, you’re a natural the way you pick it up and ring,’ I was like, ‘OK,’” Regulski said with a shrug and a smile.

As her comfort with the instruments grew, so did her skill level. Regulski started with the large bells that played the bass notes.

She’s made her way up to the treble clef, or the higher notes, which are

Ring Sarasota’s show at Sights and Sounds at Waterside Place is titled “Radio Waves” as it includes songs of various genres that can be heard across radio stations.

For the ringers in Ring Sarasota, the ensemble is a hobby.

The ensemble’s rehearsals and shows were something Regulski looked forward to after a long day working in insurance and employee benefits.

It was fun and the Ring Sarasota members became a second family to her.

Music always has been a part of her life as she played piano, violin and flute as a child. She always was a solo act though. It wasn’t until she started ringing handbells that she was part of an ensemble, which she said was invigorating.

But when people hear she plays handbells, the reaction usually is one of intrigue. Regulski said many people only associate handbells with the holidays.

When Regulski and other members of Ring Sarasota attend handbell conferences, like the 2022 International Handbells Symposium in Nashville, Tennessee, they learn they are not alone.

Regulski said she met ringers from Japan, England, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Puerto Rico and other countries.

More than 300 ringers gathered to play together.

“(Handbells) was much bigger than I thought,” Regulski said of the instrument’s popularity. “Initially I just thought, ‘Oh, my church has handbells.’”

She said she enjoys performing with the 19-member Ring Sarasota and The Pops Orchestra together during Christmas concerts.

“To have that 65-piece glorious orchestra behind you, it was really a ‘wow’ moment for a number of us to do that,” Regulski said.

Members of Ring Sarasota travel to participate. Some are from Fort Myers, Cape Coral, Seminole and Largo.

Regulski said she’s loved developing friendships with the other ringers. They spend time together outside of Ring Sarasota as well.

“It’s nice to make music with this family ... It really is,” said Rick Holdsworth, Ring Sarasota’s principal conductor, as the rehearsal came to a close.

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than just

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wooden kitchen spoons and her dining room table to practice movements.

Suzi Regulski is all smiles when hitting the last note of a song.

Rick Holdsworth leads Ring Sarasota as principal conductor.

Photos by Liz Ramos

Libby Tyner Bispham dances along while playing.

Ring Sarasota performs with more

handbells as shown by Tim Gerken, Kathryn Hamill, Sara Lindgren and Chris Sheppard.

Will local political drama find its own stage?

Manatee County races should raise voter interest.

So push aside the telecast of the two Donald Trump-Joe Biden presidential debates.

I’ve got something even juicer for the airwaves.

I’ll start with the matchup for the Manatee County supervisor of elections post between James Satcher and Scott Farrington.

Yes, you’ve got that right. Stop laughing. Calculators at 10 paces.

Then I’ll come right back with the main event, this year’s version of Ali-Frazier — Kevin Van Ostenbridge and George Kruse for the District 7 title of the Manatee County Commission.

As one former elected Manatee County official told me, “I would pay money to see that one.” Heady stuff.

Unfortunately, I doubt it ever will happen, even though it should. You see, debates are important at the local level, even more so than those involving national races. At the higher levels of government, you have plenty of chances to research what a candidate is all about. At the local level, not so much.

Unless you follow your local government meetings, you might be relying on those little cards you get in the mail, featuring all of one candidate’s misdeeds, and a photo supplied by a pro with a telephoto lens of the candidate with his finger in his nose. Time to vote. Certainly, the more responsible method would be to find out where the candidates are speaking (they all have websites with schedules or contact information listed) and meet them face to face. Better yet, attend a debate. Unfortunately, debates held in paradise often are not attended very well. Nobody worries too much about paradise until it is gone.

Poor attendance can discourage some groups from doing all the necessary work that goes into preparing an impartial event. Fortunately, we have groups such as the Manatee Tiger Bay Club and the League of Women Voters that continue to present debates no matter the turnout or the difficulties. But if voters don’t punish those who fail to participate, the future of local debates would seem to be in jeopardy.

The Van Ostenbridge/Kruse race even gets more complicated because any debate would bump up against possible Sunshine Law violations since both are sitting Manatee County commissioners. It would need to be held in an official setting with a clerk to take notes and with the blessing of county attorneys.

In our quest to make sure underhanded deals aren’t being agreed upon in backrooms, out of the public eye, we have handcuffed ourselves in terms of evaluating candidates. Perhaps if we did a better job choosing candidates, we wouldn’t have to worry so much about what is said over a sandwich

in a courthouse restaurant.

Debates are critical in the election process, so I hope Manatee County can work out all the technicalities so the winner of Van Ostenbridge/ Kruse doesn’t end up in court if they do debate before the Aug. 20 primary.

Perhaps that is something that a good supervisor of elections could help with?

It is interesting, at least for me, we are even talking about a supervisor of elections race. Honestly, I didn’t even know it was an elected position when I arrived on the scene almost 10 years ago. Why isn’t the post just appointed by county commissioners? Makes you scratch your head. It’s kind of like needing to elect the heads of the mosquito control district.

Certainly, the voters can’t sort out the best candidates in either of those races by their ability to handle the necessary machinery involved or by the best spraying techniques.

And that’s why the race for supervisor of elections can be both boring and fascinating at the same time.

Consider the rumblings. Farrington has been accused of quitting the day of Satcher’s appointment by the governor and taking all his office’s passcodes with him. Satcher has painted a picture of needing to rebuild an ineffective department that needed an $841,340 budget increase to bring it up to today’s security standards. It was an increase that was approved May 28 by Manatee County Commissioners ... all except for Kruse, who dared to question the reasons for such an increase.

Kruse noted during a commission meeting that the Florida Department of State‚ Office of Election Crimes and Security Report to the Legislature dated Jan. 15, 2024, showed Manatee County had just 12 complaints over seven elections during the major 2020 election year.

Kruse said Satcher presented a “made-up narrative to justify a made-up budget.”

Satcher said he is just trying to present Manatee County voters with an efficient, fair voting system.

Come on, now. This is all fun stuff, unless you are a taxpayer who is picking up the tab.

I would love to hear Satcher and Farrington debate these issues, as well as tell us what a supervisor of elections actually does and why the position is worth $170,000 a year. And who doesn’t want to hear Kruse, who said Van Ostenbridge changed races because everyone in his former District 3 “hates him,” go toe to toe with Van Ostenbridge, who said he only changed races in order to get rid of the “liberal” Kruse. Yes, I would pay to see this show.

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

Gulfside Bank has broken ground on a new location off Fruitville Road, east of I-75.

It’s hard to believe that just five short years ago, Gulfside Bank opened its doors to Sarasota’s business community for the first time. We’ve been growing to meet the financial needs of a vibrant, thriving community ever since.

Today, Gulfside can do anything the big banks can do, only faster, with local decision making and a true personal touch you won’t find anywhere else. And we’re just getting started.

Come grow with Gulfside.

|

George Kruse and Kevin Van Ostenbridge will square off in the Manatee County Commission District 7 race.

Jiggs concessions open fewer days in summer

While the park concessions will be closed MondayWednesday, rentals will continue to be available online.

n the evenings at Jiggs Landing, a crowd of about 30 people regularly crowd around the small stage that hosts local bands as sunset falls over the Evers Reservoir.

Since last October, though, that has been the only crowd that Jiggs Landing Outpost owner Denise Kleiner has been able to count on.

that is available to rent.

First-time Clients. Mondays & Tuesdays 9-5

New clients can book online at flspa.com or download our app (Florida Lakes Spa) to book your appointment.

Also Offering: Neurotoxin, Filler, and Body Contouring.

Kleiner, who has operated the concessions at Jiggs Landing since 2019, has seen a decline in those using the concessions the past nine months, and she said she can’t figure out the reason.

This week, Kleiner announced the Outpost would be closed Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays through the end of September.

She stressed that even on the days the Outpost is closed, those who so desire can still book or rent a cabin, book a tour, or rent a boat. Accommodations for bookings will be taken as an online service (JiggsLanding.com) and the Outpost will have employees on call when needed.

The Manatee County park and the boat ramp will continue to be open every day from sunrise to sunset. A nighttime access card to the boat ramp is available for $30.

The new store hours are 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday through Sunday. Live music will continue to be featured Thursday through Sunday from 5-8 p.m.

The park, at 6106 63rd St. E., offers freshwater fishing, canoeing, kayaking and other boating opportunities on the Evers Reservoir and the Braden River. The park also features picnic areas and a large pavilion

“In October, November and December, we were off 10% (in sales),” Kleiner said. “In January, February and March, we were down 15%, and then in May, we were down 30%.”

Although Kleiner kept her concession manager, assistant manager and employees, she had to cut back hours.

She said she will continue to experiment with attractions. The Outpost is offering an Alligator Tour from Wednesdays through Sundays at 8:30 p.m. Part of the tour will be a night trip to Bird Island.

“It’s magical out there at night,” Kleiner said. “You hear everything.” She said a skeleton staff managing the Outpost Monday through Wednesday during the mornings will be able to sell bait if fishermen need it. She said they have considered starting a kids’ fishing clinic or individual fishing lessons if anyone is interested.

Kleiner said if any groups want to rent kayaks or canoes, or take a tour on a day when the concessions are closed, accommodations can be made.

The Outpost plans to be open seven days a week again in October.

Courtesy photo

A crowd watches a local band on the stage at Jiggs Landing,

Beyond First Class™

ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT

A PLACE IN THE SUN

MONICA ROMAN GAGNIER

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR

It’s been a crazy couple of years for Sarasota author Robert Plunket, whom many know as a longtime local writer, including his tenure writing home stories for The Observer and as “Mr. Chatterbox,” gossip columnist of Sarasota Magazine. In 2022, Hurricane Ian forced Plunket to evacuate his Englewood home, which was subsequently destroyed. Last year, his first novel, “My Search for Warren Harding,” was reissued after 40 years, turning his world upside down. Suddenly, the Sarasota septuagenarian was featured in profiles in The New Yorker, The New York Times and The Paris Review and being celebrated at bookstore readings in New York, Sarasota and elsewhere.

We’ll take a victory lap here since The Observer was the first to notice that “My Search for Warren Harding” was about to get a second life. It’s been a year since we did our first Q&A with Plunket.

We decided to check in with Plunket again after his second novel, “Love Junkie,” was republished on May 14. In “Love Junkie,” a housewife-turned-arts-volunteer finds herself slipping into a demimonde of porn stars and gay tastemakers.

Unlike “My Search for Warren Harding,” which was funny all the way through, “Love Junkie” is a mixture of humor and pathos.

Although the book includes scenes of gleeful abandon, it ends on a somber note as AIDS is cutting down towering figures in New York’s fashion, design and arts scenes in their prime.

Before heading off to New York to promote “Love Junkie,” Plunket talked about how his life has changed in the last year and his plans for the future.

Given that Plunket has a gift for satire, some answers should be taken with a grain of salt (or two).

Congrats on the reissue of your second novel, “Love Junkie.” But before we get to that, remind me how “My Search for Warren Harding” was reissued in 2023.  I have a small army of fans, and both of them got together and pestered this fancy publisher to reissue it. The publisher was appalled. The book is politically incorrect to an incredible degree. But they decided to take a chance. And guess what? There was an audience for this sort of thing!

How has your life changed since the reissue of “My Search for Warren Harding”?

Well, the biggest change is that I got enough money to paint my trailer, which badly needed it. I was getting warnings from the management. Of course, I could only paint the exte-

rior; the inside will have to wait.

Yes, I went to New York and I’m going again. One of the bookstores up there has made special “Love Junkie” hard candies, and they promised I could have a whole bag full.

Tell us about “Love Junkie.” It was published in 1992, nearly a decade after “Warren Harding.” It’s the tale of a woman named Mimi Smithers, a lonely, naive housewife from an NYC suburb. While doing some volunteer work for the local arts council, she meets the charismatic Tom Potts, who runs an arts marketing agency. She is soon working for him — for free — and finds herself falling down the rabbit hole into the glamorous fast lane of gay life in New York circa 1980.

Soon she meets a famous porn star named Joe and falls madly in love. She becomes his administrative assistant and is put in charge of selling his “merch” — photo sets, used underwear, etc.

When her clueless husband goes off to India on an extended business trip, she sells her jewelry to finance Joe’s new movie. Then on the day when they are shooting the lesbian scene, the actress they hired fails to show up. What are they going to do? All eyes turn toward Mimi …

What inspired you to write “Love Junkie”? I was a part of that world during my thirties. I myself was no way cool enough, but I “married” into it. My lover (that’s what we called them) was a charter member of the cool set, and what a set. Gay men were running New York — fashion, the arts, design. I got to watch it all —

Sarasota author Robert Plunket is basking in the glow of late-in-life fame.

and take notes. What I didn’t realize (or maybe I did) was that the book is really about a civilization ending.

Can you tell us about the character Joe, the porn star in “Love Junkie”? He seems to inspire admiration among both women and men. Porn stars were major celebrities of the gay world at that time, and I got to know my share. Joe is an amalgamation of several but by far the most important was Al Parker. He was a legend. He’s even had a book written about him. (Two books if you count “Love Junkie.”) We worked on several projects together

Monica Roman Gagnier

Robert Plunket relaxes poolside in the Glen Oaks neighborhood of Sarasota, perusing what he hopes will be a summer best-seller.

Courtesy photo

After the success of last year’s “My Search for Warren Harding,” Sarasota author Robert Plunket’s second book, “Love Junkie,” has been reissued.

— some audio tapes, the soundtrack for one of his movies. Google him — if you dare.

Could “Love Junkie” be published today?

Sure. It’s not politically incorrect like “My Search for Warren Harding.” True, it is tasteless and has far too much sex, but so does the evening news. So I’d say it’s amazingly contemporary. Stormy Daniels could be a character right out of the book.

When I was reading “Love Junkie,” I mused that many people today don’t understand the toll that AIDS took. Have people have forgotten?

Yes. But many of them weren’t even born, so I cut them some slack. That particular generation of gay men has vanished from the world’s history. They were pre-internet; they had no children; they all died except for a few old geezers like me. So they’re mostly forgotten. It’s sad.

Is there any interest today in making a film adaptation of “Love Junkie” or “My Search for Warren Harding”?

The film rights to the Warren Harding book have been optioned and a screenplay is being written. Not by me. I’m no good at such things. “Love Junkie” is still available.

Are you working on any new projects?

Yes! I’m working on a novel about Sarasota. It sounds very farfetched, but here’s the plot: A young couple — charming, good looking and very well connected in the world of far-right politics — decide to spice up their marriage by having threesomes with attractive young women.

The wife sends the husband to local bars, where he scouts possibilities and surreptitiously takes pictures with his phone for the approval of his wife. They set up a hot date, but the wife has to work late at the school board, so the husband goes alone. I’m not sure what happens next. My big problem: Is anybody going to actually believe this?

I recently saw your performance in Martin Scorsese’s “After Hours” on the Criterion Channel. Have you watched the film lately? How do you think it holds up?

I saw it recently on TCM for the first time in years, and I was surprised at how well it holds up. In the past year or so, it’s been getting a lot of recognition, with special showings at the Film Forum in New York. There was also a screening at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. Somehow my invitation got lost in the mail, but I hear it went very well.

Don’t just think of

Sarasota

author Robert Plunket’s second novel, “Love Junkie,” was reissued in May.

THIS WEEK

THURSDAY

JAZZ THURSDAY AT SAM

5:30 p.m. at Sarasota Art Museum, 1001 S. Tamiami Trail Free to $20 Visit SarasotaArtMuseum.org.

Jazz Club of Sarasota presents the Tampa-based trio La Lucha, made up of three friends from different parts of the world: Alejandro Arenas (Colombia), John O’Leary (Mexico) and Mark Feinman (United States). Their versatility and varied influences result in engaging performances with lots of audience interaction.

‘THE WORLD GOES ’ROUND’

8 p.m. at FST’s Gompertz Theatre, 1265 First St.

$39-$59

Visit FloridaStudioTheatre.org.

Florida Studio Theatre kicks off its Summer Mainstage Series with “The World Goes ’Round,” a musical revue celebrating the works of John Kander and Fred Ebb. The show features memorable songs from hit Broadway

OUR PICK

‘HAPPY DALE’: A COMEDY BY DAN LANDON

If you Google directions to The Sarasota Players production “Happy Dale,” make sure you’re paying attention. You might end up in Estero, Florida, where there’s a Happy Dale Lane. In Dan Landon’s “Happy Dale,” a retired English teacher (Lee Gundersheimer) is sent to an assisted living facility after he begins acting strangely following his wife’s death. Happy Dale’s newest resident quickly turns the facility’s routines upside down. Runs through June 23.

IF YOU GO

When: 7:30 p.m. Thursday, June 13

shows such as “Chicago,” “Cabaret” and more. Runs through June 30.

FRIDAY

SIGHTS & SOUNDS AT WATER-

SIDE PLACE: RING SARASOTA

6 p.m. at Waterside Place, Lakewood Ranch, 7500 Island Cove Terrace

Free Visit RingSarasota.org.

No matter which Sirius XM or radio station you listen to, the Ring Sarasota handbell ensemble will play something you enjoy. Under the direction of Rick Holdsworth, Ring Sarasota’s repertoire crosses genres, including country, Latin and ’80s pop. Seating is limited, so feel free to bring a chair. No outside food or drinks permitted.

IN THE ROUND PERFORMANCE

7 p.m. at Sarasota Contemporary Dance, 1400 Boulevard of the Arts, Suite 300 $22 Visit SarasotaContemporaryDance. org.

Where: The Players Centre, 3501 S. Tamiami Trail, Suite 1130

Tickets: $30; student $13 Info: Visit ThePlayers.org.

Sarasota Contemporary Dance Artistic Director Leymis Bolaños Wilmott leads an interactive session that allows rising choreographers to receive audience feedback.

SATURDAY

SUMMER CIRCUS SPECTACULAR

2 p.m. at Historic Asolo Theater, 5401 Bay Shore Road $20 adults; $15 kids Visit Ringling.org.

Presided over by Ringmaster Jared Walker, the Summer Circus Spectacular includes contortionist Uranbileg Angarag, acrobatic hand balancers The Bello Sisters, hair hang artist Camille Langlois, slack wire performer Antino Pansa and clown Renaldo, a veteran of the Big Apple Circus. Runs through Aug. 17.

AMERICAN SOUNDSCAPES’

7:30 p.m. at Sarasota Opera House, 61 N. Pineapple Ave. $30-$70 Visit SarasotaOrchestra.org.

If you can only attend one of the more than a dozen concerts at the Sarasota Music Festival, this is the one. Fiddler/violinist Tessa Lark,

DON’T MISS JUNETEENTH ARTS FESTIVAL

Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe hosts its second annual Juneteeth Arts Festival on Father’s Day with food vendors, live music and dance on an outdoor stage and indoor film screenings in the Donelly Theatre. The festival, which lasts until 6 p.m., includes Monessa Salley from Sarasota Contemporary Dance and musical numbers by WBTT’s Stage of Discovery students. There will be free seats to a 7:30 performance of WBTT’s summer production, “Coconut Cake.” The feature film is “Into The Storm,” a documentary about Booker High School’s 1966-67 state championship basketball team. There will be free haircuts for dads and a children’s show, Toni Kennedy’s “What’s Poppin’ Penny.”

IF YOU GO

When: Noon, Sunday, June 16

Where: at Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe, 1012. N. Orange Ave. Tickets: Free Info: Visit WestcoastBlackTheatre.org.

cellist Mike Block and SMF Director Jeffrey Kahane improvise on beloved American songs. And that’s only part of the bill, which will include Block leading festival fellows in a rousing jam. Leave all your preconceptions about classical music at the door.

Courtesy photo

Image courtesy of John Jones

Matthew Peterson wins Ringling College Carl Foreman Award

Matthew Peterson’s “Swan Song,” about a film student and a father living with Alzheimer’s, won the first Ringling College Film Carl Foreman Award.

“Swan Song” was selected from among 30 entries by a panel of seven jurors.

The Carl Foreman Award, to be given annually, recognizes a graduating Ringling College of Art and Design senior majoring in film or creative writing for outstanding achievement in screenwriting, directing or producing.

The winner receives $5,000 as well as a Will Kane bronze statuette, inspired by the lead character in “High Noon,” Foreman’s classic 1952 western.

Foreman’s widow, Evelyn “Eve” Williams-Jones, originally created the Carl Foreman Award in 1983 in memory of her late husband, a screenwriter, director and producer who was blacklisted by Hollywood during the communist witch hunts of the McCarthy era.

He left the United States in 1951 for the United Kingdom. The original Carl Foreman Award was created in conjunction with the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, known as BAFTA for short.

When Eve and her husband, Michael Williams-Jones, decided to bring the Carl Foreman Award back to the United States, they considered several film schools before bringing it to Sarasota.

“Initially, we considered the fabulous film schools of Los Angeles, a natural choice,” said Michael Williams-Jones. “But as great and as legendary as they are, none of them felt quite right because Hollywood had once turned its back on Carl. Then, we met the truly remarkable and inspirational Dr. Larry R. Thompson and discovered Ringling College with its world-class film program.”

The Sarasota Ballet names Charmaine Hunter community engagement director

The Sarasota Ballet has named former Dance Theatre of Harlem principal dancer Charmaine Hunter as its new community engagement director.

In her new role, Hunter will oversee “Dance – The Next Generation,” Joyful Movement through Parkinson’s, Silver Swans and other community engagement programs.

Before joining The Sarasota Ballet, Hunter served as director of community enrichment for Orlando Ballet, where she developed arts education programming for seven counties in central Florida.

As principal dancer with Dance Theatre of Harlem, Hunter was known for roles such as “The Firebird” and “Medea.” While Hunter was still performing, she began working to improve access to the arts for

young people.

Toward that end, Hunter helped to launch Dancing Through Barriers, Dance Theatre of Harlem’s flagship outreach program in South Africa, before developing it for communities across the United States.

Hunter’s rich dance and arts career includes director of Disney’s “The Lion King” in Toronto, talent scout for Cirque du Soleil in Las Vegas, co-founder of Las Vegas Contemporary Dance Theater and Upper School Principal with Texas Ballet Theater.

“Charmaine has an incredible background in both professional ballet and community engagement,” said Christopher Hird, education director of The Sarasota Ballet in a statement. “She has a passionate commitment to bringing dance to everyone, and we are extremely lucky to have her choose Sarasota as her new home.”

Image courtesy of Harry Sayer

Ringling College of Art and Design student Matthew Peterson, winner of the first Ringling College Film Carl Foreman award, and Foreman’s widow, Eve Williams-Jones.

Courtesy image Charmaine Hunter

Once upon a time in Georgia

ever since; and her unquiet spirit resides within. Year after year, Odella drags unwary Black teens and children into her watery realm as substitutes for her own lost child. (Once kids see her red eyes, they’re goners.) So the story goes.

MARTY FUGATE

THEATER CRITIC

Terry Guest’s “Oak” has just premiered at Urbanite Theatre. His new play is philosophical, political, historical, metaphorical, hilarious and allegorical. Above all, it’s a scary ghost story. That story transpires with the double vision of magical realism.

On the realistic level, the setting is a mythical backwoods town named Oak in contemporary Georgia. The tale revolves around an African American family. Peaches (DeAnna Wright) is the matriarch. Although she’s still a young woman, motherhood defines (and confines) her. It’s been that way since she had her first child at age 16.

Instead of following her Hollywood dreams, Peaches got a backbreaking job at a burger joint — and still works there. Her daughter Pickle (Trezure B. Coles) is now 16 years old. The kid’s tough but not rebellious. Big Man (William Rose II) is Peaches’ 9-year-old son. He’s still a kid, but he acts big. Suga (Jaeda LaVonne) is their first cousin — not so tough, but imaginative.

“Oak” dives into magical depths at the start — with Pickle and Big Man telling competing versions of the same ghost story. “Odella” is the ghost in question. Urban legend has it that — back in the bad old days of slavery — Odella had a chance to escape but left her baby girl behind. She ran for her life — and fell to her death in a creek. It’s been called “Odella Creek”

Coincidentally, the town has a yearly “Snatching Season” when young African Americans go missing. It’s that time of year when Pickle and Big Man relate their ghost story. When their cousin Suga vanishes, the kids decide it isn’t fiction.

Pickle has seen the specter’s crimson eyes and figures she’s next. She seeks out a crazy old woman who somehow resisted Odella’s hypnotic spell. Pickle learns her spell-breaking secret. Does it save her? Don’t ask me.

The playwright keeps that card close to his chest right up the end. That’s the hand he wants to play; I won’t spoil it.

Guest’s dialogue sizzles, but “Oak” isn’t all talk. There’s lots of action, and clever bits of business, including a seriously creepy shadow-puppet show. Director Mikael Burke latches on to the play’s relentless forward momentum. The result is a pure adrenaline rush.

The shape-shifting actors do an excellent job with the main characters and also morph into ghosts and social outcasts as the play requires. Wright’s Peaches has an exhausted, flat affect — as if her dead-end job squeezed her like a damp rag until her life force was drained. But there’s no poorme attitude. Her character never complains. She does what she has to do right now. And then does the next thing.

Coles’ portrayal of Pickle is beautifully expressive. Her character can shout. But there are times (especially around her mother) when she keeps

make-believe with a forest of cutout oak trees (which the actors move around).

Alex Pinchin’s lighting is a cinematic horror show. It’s moody and murky, until strange (or stranger) things emerge. The actors aren’t lost. Pinchin keeps their expressions illuminated despite the gloom.

her thoughts to herself. With eye-rollings, shrugs and body language, Coles deftly conveys Pickle’s inner life.

Rose’s Big Man is another sharp portrayal. He’s an adult actor, not nine years old. But he moves, reacts and talks like a kid — convincingly. LaVonne’s Suga gets only a few scenes, but she makes the most of them. She’s the first to see Odella’s red eyes. With very few words, she portrays her haunted, hunted inner life. She knows she’s prey, and it’s driving her nuts.

Urbanite’s backstage talent does a killer job bringing Guest’s creep-show to life. Frank Chavez’ proscenium-arch set is a first for this black-box theater. You know there’s nothing behind that arch. This is the theater of the mind; the imaginary world-building is up to you. Chavez underscores this

Brian Grimm delivers the scary sounds behind this sight. These include sound trucks warning of “Snatching Season,” the ghost’s repetitious lullaby and suitable jump scares.

Adrienne Pitts’ costumes evoke the working-class vibe of a hardluck Georgia town. It’s never seen any better days; it’s always been a trap for folks who don’t get out.

Along with directing, Burke also designed, created and filmed the entire puppet-show-fromhell scene. His child-like designs evoke a horrific sense of innocence lost. Graffiti by Kaitlin Kelly adds to the lurking fear. It adds up to one wild ride. You’ll alternate between “Ha-ha” and “Ahhhh.” That horror-humor duality is baked into the playwright’s script. Guest’s magicalrealist mystery trip works on both levels.

On the human plane, the play’s characters are sympathetic and three-dimensional. On the ethereal realm, Guest’s ghost story kept me on the edge of my seat. The playwright takes a scary note from “Jaws” and takes his sweet time putting the Big Bad on stage. (What you don’t see can scare you.)  “Oak” tells a great story, both magically and realistically. Until the final scenes, the play’s natural and supernatural elements all weave together. But they come apart at the ending. Without giving it away, the climax is an allegorical response to tragic Black experience. (Survivors should soldier on and not look back.) Fair enough. But that tough-minded ending undercuts the war between good and evil the ghost story’s led you to expect. I could say more. For now, let’s just say I didn’t like it. But I don’t like a few of Stephen King’s endings, so take that as you will.

Ending aside, Guest’s philosophical, political, historical, metaphorical, allegorical, hilarious, horrifying ghost story is one of the best plays I’ve seen this season. I’m haunted by it still. But don’t be afraid. See it anyway.

Image courtesy of Sorcha Augustine

Trezure B. Coles stars as Pickle in Urbanite Theatre’s world premiere of Terry Guest’s “Oak.”

YOUR NEIGHBORS

PUT IT ON THE SCHEDULE

Looking for a little summer fun? These 12 area activities have something for everyone.

LIZ RAMOS SENIOR EDITOR

Crossing a bridge that sits near the dog park at Greenbrook Adventure Park leads to the start of a peaceful, paved trail that will take you to Heron’s Nest Nature Park.

There, you will find a lake and the serenity of a park that provides the opportunity for people to connect with nature for a relaxing outing.

Heron’s Nest Nature Park offers opportunities for a tranquil walk or for a fisherman to throw a line in the water.

But have you been there?

It’s just one of the many cool and interesting spots in East County you might want to discover this summer.

Here are some activities and places that you might want to investigate if you haven’t been there before.

JIGGS LANDING OUTPOST

The Braden River provides a beautiful backdrop to Jiggs Landing Outpost. Grab a bite to eat, listen to live music available on certain nights, go on a boat tour or fish off the dock.

Location: 6106 63rd St. E., Bradenton

Hours: 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mondays through Wednesdays; 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thursdays to Sundays; Concessions open Thursday through Sunday during the summer

Cost: Kayak and canoe rentals $15$85; boat rentals $35-$75 per hour; boat and kayak tours $20-$55 More information: JiggsLanding.com

FISHING AND ROWING AT FORT HAMER PARK

The freshwater area of the Manatee River begins at Fort Hamer Park. You can fish from the dock or a boat. Many different varieties of fish are caught off the dock, as well as blue crab. There is nearly 15 miles of protected waters for rowing.

Location: 1605 Fort Hamer Road, Parrish

Hours: Sunrise to sunset

More information: MyManatee.org

LAKE MANATEE STATE PARK

Ride your bike on a 2.5-mile paved interior road or the 2.34 miles available for off-road cycling. If biking isn’t your speed, hit the trails on foot with 4.5 miles of trails for hiking. Check out the water by taking your boat on the lake or explore the shores of the lake in a canoe or kayak. If one day isn’t enough, make it an overnight trip by camping in the 60-site camping area that’s within walking distance of the beach and fishing areas.

Location: 20007 State Road 64 E., Bradenton

Hours: 8 a.m. to sun down

Cost: $5 per vehicle; canoe or kayak rental $15-$20 per half-day and $5 for each additional hour; bike rental $3 per hour, $9 per half-day, $15 per day; boat ramp $4

More information: FloridaStateParks.org/Parks-And-Trails/LakeManatee-State-Park

DISC GOLF AT BOB GARDNER

COMMUNITY PARK

Go to Bob Gardner Community Park for a friendly game of disc golf on the nine-hole course at the park. When you’re done, take a stroll around the park to see other sports courts, soft trails, a gravity rail for kids and more.

Location: 2710 White Eagle Blvd., Lakewood Ranch

Hours: Sunrise to sunset

Cost: Free

More information: LakewoodRanch. com/Life-On-The-Ranch/ParksTrails

HERITAGE BEE FARM

During the hour-and-a-half honey bee farm experience, participants will have a short lesson and familiarization on bees, beekeeping equipment, pollination and beehive products. The experi-

ence also includes honey tasting as well as learning how to wear protective gear and light a bee smoker.

Location: 13339 MJ Road, Myakka City Hours: Call for information

Cost: $45 for adults; $25 for children for the honey bee farm experience; $125 per person, $75 for children 12-16, not suitable for small children

More information: HeritageBees. com

BINGO AT JAMES

PATTON PARK

Head over to James Patton Park every Wednesday as Lakewood Ranch Community Activities hosts Bingo.

Location: James Patton Park, 5725

White Eagle Blvd., Lakewood Ranch

Hours: 10-11 a.m.

Cost: $5 for Lakewood Ranch residents; $15 for nonresidents More information: MyLWR.com

FARMERS MARKET

AT LAKEWOOD RANCH

Take in the lake view at Waterside Place while shopping from dozens of vendors that offer fresh produce, prepared foods and specialty gifts and items. There’s also children’s activities and live music.

Location: Lakefront Drive in Waterside Place, Lakewood Ranch

Hours: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sundays

Cost: Free

More information: LakewoodRanch. com

MYAKKA ELEPHANT RANCH

Get up close to African savanna elephants at Myakka Elephant Ranch, which offers an educational encounter that is available through July. The encounter is focused on conservation and learning about elephants. People can ask questions, touch an elephant and take a picture with an elephant.

Location: Myakka City (An address will be provided upon confirmation of booking.)

Hours: By appointment only

Cost: $39 for adults; $29 for children ages 3-9; free for children ages 2 and younger More information: MyakkaElephantRanch.org

JOHNSON PRESERVE AT BRADEN RIVER Take in the beauty of the nearly 44-acre preserve nestled between the River Club and Braden Woods. The trail circles wildlife habitats rather than weaving in and out of them. You might be able to spot gopher tortoises and swallow-tailed kites. Location: Johnson Preserve at Braden River, parking lot is at 6804 99th St. E., Lakewood Ranch; pedestrian-only trailhead is at 6820 93rd St. E., Lakewood Ranch Hours: Sunrise to sunset More information: ConservationFoundation.com/Johnson-PreserveAt-Braden-River

PEACEFUL PATH

Take a walk down the Peaceful Path and keep your eye out for various pieces of art on the path in the shade. Artwork and decorations along the path change depending on the season. Location: Peace Presbyterian Church, 12705 State Road 64, Bradenton (the entrance to the path is along the driveway leading to the church) Hours: Dawn until dusk daily More information: PeacePCUSA. com/Path

DAKIN DAIRY FARMS

Tour the family-owned dairy farm or visit the Dakin Dairy Farm Market, Location: 30771 Betts Road, Myakka City Hours: 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Mondays through Fridays; Myakka Market is every first Saturday; check the website for tour dates and times More information: DakinDairyFarms.com

Kelly Harmon with Lakewood Ranch Community Activities calls out the letter and number in bingo while asking residents about themselves to allow everyone to get to know each other.

Courtesy photo

Lou Jacob, CEO of Myakka Elephant Ranch, started the ranch after learning more about elephant conservation at a symposium in South Africa and interning at a zoo in Germany.

No

one wants to fly this coop

Junior Ranchers summer camp in Lakewood Ranch leaves kids wanting to learn more about agriculture.

LIZ RAMOS SENIOR EDITOR

Mary Anne Poulton, 9, loved Junior Ranchers summer camp so much last summer, she had to come back for more this year.

Every chance she had June 4, Poulton was either holding a chicken or petting a cow at Lakewood Ranch High.

Poulton said she loves animals and being in nature, so the camp is perfect for her.

She said learning about various bugs and how they can help the environment was particularly interesting to her. But the chickens were her favorite.

“I love the chickens because they’re small and I get to pick them up,” she said. “They’re the size of my dog (a Yorkie named Zoey), and I love my dog.”

Her time in Junior Ranchers has inspired her to participate in FFA when she goes to middle school and high school. She said she hopes to someday show an animal, possibly a pig, at the Manatee County Fair.

Ashley Crane, a rising Lakewood Ranch High School senior and camp counselor, shared her personal experience with the campers. She’s shown pigs and cows at the Manatee County Fair and has chickens at home.

“It’s cool to see their responses and how they interact with the animals,” Crane said.

School: Nova Southeastern University College of Osteopathic Medicine, Fort Lauderdale, FL

Residency: Internal Medicine, Broward Health Medical Center, Fort Lauderdale, FL

Certification: Board Certified, American Osteopathic Board of Internal Medicine; American Board of Internal Medicine

Hospital Affiliations: Lakewood Ranch Medical Center; Doctors Hospital; Sarasota Memorial Hospital

Ashley Crane, a rising senior, talks to campers about how to tell the difference between a boy chicken and a girl chicken.

Photos by Liz Ramos

Mary Anne Poulton, who is 9, returns to Junior Ranchers for a second year. She loves being with all the animals and spending time in nature.

Kennedy Hoeper, a rising Lakewood Ranch High junior, takes Sadie to get weighed. It’s important for the cow’s weight to be measured to track its progress.

Chase Reynolds, who is 10, takes his time gently petting a cow.

IT’S READ EVERYWHERE

BEST BET

SATURDAY, JUNE 15

DAD’S DAY BLOCK PARTY

Runs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Mall at University Town Center, 140 University Town Center Drive, Sarasota. The mall hosts the annual Dad’s Day Block Park that will feature 40-plus Father’s Day vendors, live entertainment, craft beer sampling, mini golf, the Tampa Bay Bucs RV and activities, pro athlete meet and greets and autograph signings, raffles, giveaways and more. For more information, go to MallatUTC. com.

COMMUNITY

THURSDAY, JUNE 6

THROUGH SUNDAY, JUNE 9

LIVE MUSIC AT JIGGS LANDING

Runs from 4:30-7:30 p.m. each day at Jiggs Landing, 6106 63rd St. E., Bradenton. The live music lineup at Jiggs Landing includes Donnie Bostic (Thursday), the Koko Ray Show (Friday), Sycamore Shade (Saturday) and Al Fuller (Sunday). The Friday and Saturday concerts have a $5 cover; the other concerts are free. For more information, go to JiggsLanding.com.

FRIDAY, JUNE 14

SIGHTS AND SOUNDS

Begins at 6 p.m. at Waterside Place, 1560 Lakefront Drive, Lakewood Ranch. Ring Sarasota, the region’s premier handbell ensemble, will perform the free show “Radio Waves” during its 14th performance season. The talented ringers will re-create

some of the most popular songs to hit the airwaves in all genres, including country, Latin and 1980s pop. The group is under the direction of former Navy bandleader Rick Holdsworth. A large ensemble of ringers will ring more than 200 handbells and handchimes. Limited seating is available, so please feel free to bring a lawn chair. No outside food or drinks are permitted.

MOVIE IN THE PARK

Runs from 7-10 p.m. at Waterside Park, 7301 Island Cove Terrace, Lakewood Ranch. Movie in the Park features “A Bug’s Life.” The monthly free event includes a family friendly movie that begins at sunset, concessions and inflatables for the kids. Seating is on a first-come, firstserved basis. Bring a blanket or lawn chairs. The movie is sponsored by Grace Community Church. The first 300 receive a free Siesta Pop.

SATURDAY, JUNE 15

MUSIC AT THE PLAZA

Runs 6-9 p.m. at Waterside Place, 1560 Lakefront Drive, Lakewood Ranch. Musician/singer Ektor Keyes will entertain those who stroll through Waterside Place as part of the free music series. For more information, go to WatersidePlace.com.

SUNDAY, JUNE 16

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 and meats, among other items. Other features are children’s activities and live music. For information, visit MyLWR.com.

YOGA IN THE PARK Runs 9-10 a.m. at Waterside Park, 7301 Island Cove Terrace, Sarasota. For more information, go to LakewoodRanch.com.

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 19

BINGO Begins at 10 a.m. at James Patton Park, 7525 White Eagle Blvd., Lakewood Ranch. Weekly Bingo under the pavilion is hosted by Lakewood Ranch Community Activities. For information, go to LakewoodRanch. com.

YOUR CALENDAR

File photo

Lakewood Ranch residents Zavier and Jaslyn Lumbsden celebrated their dad, Samuel, at the UTC Dad’s Day Block Party in 2023.

Country Club home tops Lakewood Ranch-area sales at $2.03 million

ADAM HUGHES RESEARCH EDITOR

Ahome in Country Club topped all transactions in this week’s real estate. Gary and Charlotte Ann Lafemina, of Lakewood Ranch, sold their home at 7210 Desert Ridge Glen to Jeffrey Hawkins and Magdalena Reyes, of Lakewood Ranch, for $2.03 million. Built in 2005, it has four bedrooms, four baths, a pool and 4,487 square feet of living area. It sold for $1.21 million in 2008.

WATERLINE ROAD

Darrell and Lynn Turner, of Bradenton, sold their home at 15308 Waterline Road to Frederic and Lorrie Gaschen, of Bradenton, for $1.4 million. Built in 1994, it has five bedrooms, four baths, a pool and 2,866 square feet of living area. It sold for $632,000 in 2016.

COUNTRY CLUB

Lawrence Irving Edoff and Autumn Mathisen-Edoff, of Lakewood Ranch, sold their home at 7312 Desert Ridge Glen to Christopher Ryder and Ashley Ryder, trustees, of Naperville, Illinois, for $1,327,500. Built in 2004, it has four bedrooms, five-and-a-half baths, a pool and 3,889 square feet of living area. It sold for $838,000 in 2020.

Elsbeth Waskom, trustee, of Venice, sold the home at 6518 Oakland Hills Drive to Peeping Willie Realco LLC for $565,000. Built in 1999, it has three bedrooms, two baths and 1,940 square feet of living area. It sold for $330,000 in 2013.

Joyce Ahearn, of Lakewood Ranch, sold her home at 6715 Pebble Beach Way to Aseem Om Rawal and Zohreh Tabatabai, of Tiburon, California, for $530,000. Built in 2001, it has two bedrooms, two baths and 1,752 square feet of living area. It sold for $303,400 in 2001.

WATERLEFE

Richard and Diane Carroll, of State College, Pennsylvania, sold their home at 820 Maritime Court to Kenneth Canaday and Tina Hawley-Canaday, of Bradenton, for $1.3 million. Built in 2003, it has four bedrooms, four baths, a pool and 3,124 square feet of living area. It sold for $580,000 in 2013.

Stanisa Ivanjesku and Maryanne Maya Ivanjesku, of Bradenton, sold their home at 630 Sand Crane Court to Jerrad Ryan Biggar and Adrienne Leigh Biggar, of Bradenton, for $1,125,000. Built in 2000, it has four bedrooms, four baths, a pool and 3,692 square feet of living area. It sold for $720,000 in 2022.

KENWOOD PARK

Kevin Killips and Cynthia GizzoKillips, of Hinsdale, Illinois, sold their home at 8339 Abingdon Court to Kenneth Plotkin and Jaime Plotkin, trustees, of Highland Park, Illinois, for $1,265,000. Built in 2004, it has three bedrooms, twoand-a-half baths, a pool and 2,660 square feet of living area. It sold for $665,000 in 2021.

ESPLANADE

Catherine Mary Downey, trustee, of Venice, sold the home at 12848 Sorrento Way to Terrence Cooney and Joan Marie Cooney, of Arlington Heights, Illinois, for $1.2 million. Built in 2018, it has three bedrooms, three baths, a pool and 2,298 square feet of living area. It sold for $628,600 in 2018.

TIDEWATER PRESERVE

Nicolas Dussault and Carolyn Smith, of Bradenton, sold their home at 1002 Overlook Court to John and Holly Hein, of Bradenton, for $1,015,000. Built in 2015, it has three bedrooms, four baths, a pool

and 2,824 square feet of living area. It sold for $435,000 in 2019.

DEL WEBB

Richard Alan Rein and Linda Rein, trustees, of Sarasota, sold the home at 6955 Gosport Cove to Gary and Cynthia Pickney, of Lakewood Ranch, for $977,500. Built in 2017, it has three bedrooms, three baths and 2,511 square feet of living area. It sold for $509,200 in 2017.

Kathleen Silletti and Ernesto Ortiz sold their home at 17120 Hampton Falls Terrace to Ruth Gerad, of Bradenton, for $869,000. Built in 2018, it has three bedrooms, two baths, a pool and 1,974 square feet of living area. It sold for $575,300 in 2018.

Perry and Jenette Ann Smith, trustee, of Port St. Lucie, sold the home at 16623 Blackwater Terrace to Roger Brear, of Bradenton, for $637,500. Built in 2018, it has three bedrooms, two baths and 1,572 square feet of living area. It sold for $380,000 in 2020.

GREYHAWK LANDING WEST

Luis and Kim Rocafort, trustees, of Bradenton, sold the home at 530 Chantilly Trail to Daryl and Michelle McMath, of Bradenton, for $950,000. Built in 2015, it has three bedrooms, three baths, a pool and 2,892 square feet of living area. It sold for $850,000 in 2021.

RIVER CLUB SOUTH

Peter Caruso, of Bradenton, sold his home at 9977 Laurel Valley Ave. Circle to Dean Rees and Joann Sadoyan, of Bradenton, for $950,000. Built in 1996, it has three bedrooms, three baths, a pool and 2,631 square feet of living area. It sold for $700,000 in 2023.

SAVANNA

Geoffrey and Elizabeth Lowe and Mario and Alvarina Matos, of Bradenton, sold their home at 14321 Carolina Sky Place to Graziele Montoro, of Bradenton, for $950,000. Built in 2019, it has six bedrooms, four-and-a-half baths, a pool and 3,899 square feet of living area. It sold for $529,000 in 2019.

Justin Adam Lambert and Olivia Lambert, of Wake Forest, North Carolina, sold their home at 3717 Savanna Palms Court to Cody and Ciera Stokes, of Bradenton, for $910,000. Built in 2023, it has five bedrooms, three baths, a pool and 2,988 square feet of living area. It sold for $686,900 in 2023.

James and Melissa Hill, of Bradenton, sold their home at 14208 Florida Rosemary Drive to Lawrence and Janet Gray, of Bradenton, for $768,000. Built in 2019, it has three bedrooms, two baths, a pool and 2,251 square feet of living area. It sold for $380,000 in 2019.

COUNTRY MEADOWS

Michael and Arominta Blake, of Bradenton, sold their home at 438 147th Court N.E. to Andrea and Imre Magyar, of Parkland, for $940,000. Built in 2012, it has four bedrooms, three baths, a pool and 3,178 square feet of living area. It sold for $867,000 in 2022.

Mark David Stilley and Angela Dawn Stilley, trustees, of Lincoln, Nebraska, sold the home at 14749 Second Ave. Circle N.E. to William and Laura Newell, of Bradenton, for $810,000. Built in 2007, it has three bedrooms, three baths, a pool and 2,499 square feet of living area. It sold for $682,500 in 2021.

LAKEWOOD NATIONAL GOLF CLUB

Van and Candice Gearhart sold their home at 5823 Cessna Run to Anthony Samuel Conte Jr. and Lisa Colby Burke, of Newbury, Massachusetts, for $875,000. Built in 2017, it has two bedrooms, twoand-a-half baths, a pool and 1,870 square feet of living area. It sold for $849,900 in 2022.

SERENITY CREEK

Joshua and Tracy Miller, of Parrish, sold their home at 13079 Utopia Loop to Brandon and Michelle Bustamante, of Bradenton, for $875,000. Built in 2018, it has five bedrooms, four baths, a pool and 3,765 square feet of living area. It sold for $559,000 in 2020.

INDIGO Joseph and June Cavallaro, of Webster, New York, sold their home at 12825 Coastal Breeze Way to Kathleen and Daniel Griffin, of Braircliff Manor, New York, for $865,000. Built in 2020, it has three bedrooms, two-and-a-half baths, a pool and 2,305 square feet of living area. It sold for $424,900 in 2020.

Liz Ramos

This Country Club home at 7210 Desert Ridge Glen sold for $2.03 million. It has four bedrooms, four baths, a pool and 4,487 square feet of living area.

Real estate

FROM PAGE 23

Arlene Kuhn, of Bradenton, sold her home at 3416 Azurite Way to Giovannina De Carlo and Christopher De Carlo, trustees, of Bradenton, for $527,500. Built in 2019, it has three bedrooms, two baths and 1,832 square feet of living area. It sold for $322,600 in 2019.

WOODLEAF HAMMOCK

Robert and Saranne Beatenhead, of Bradenton, sold their home at 11610 Apple Tree Circle to Ralph Scott Knepper and Lisa Grace Stoddard, of Bradenton, for $850,000. Built in 2021, it has four bedrooms, three baths, a pool and 2,333 square feet of living area. It sold for $455,800 in 2021.

AZARIO ESPLANADE

Robert Dale Deuberry, of Parrish, sold their home at 14631 Derna Terrace to Gary Elmer Hartman and Kathleen Anne Hartman, of Bradenton, for $740,000. Built in 2022, it has two bedrooms, two baths, a pool and 1,678 square feet of living area. It sold for $592,300 in 2022.

PRESERVE AT PANTHER RIDGE

Roger and Susan Anderson, of The Villages, sold their home at 23332 Red Robin Place to John William Harding III, of Bradenton, for $730,000. Built in 2004, it has four bedrooms, three baths and 2,222 square feet of living area. It sold for $735,000 in 2023.

GREENBROOK

Aleksandr Kovalenko sold his home at 6718 Pirate Perch Trail to Kelly Anne Brown, of Lakewood Ranch, for $679,000. Built in 2006, it has three bedrooms, three baths, a pool and 2,294 square feet of living area. It sold for $590,000 in 2021.

RIVERWALK

John Reuel Plotkin and Cheryl Lynn Goldsmith, of Morgantown, West Virginia, sold their home at 7344 Arrowhead Run to Shelley Uhl and Sue and Ronald Uhl, of Lakewood Ranch, for $600,000. Built in 2001, it has four bedrooms, three baths, a

pool and 2,246 square feet of living area. It sold for $375,000 in 2020.

CREEKWOOD

Chandra Dixit and Priyanka Dubey, of Sarasota, sold their home at 7502 52nd Terrace E. to David Marcus Groff and Grace Groff, of Bradenton, for $559,000. Built in 1994, it has three bedrooms, two baths, a pool and 2,209 square feet of living area. It sold for $390,000 in 2021.

MILL CREEK

Justin and Meriem Richardson, of Homosassa, sold their home at 13628 Second Ave. E. to Hannah Grill and Jeanne Grill, of Bradenton, for $515,000. Built in 1989, it has three bedrooms, two baths and 1,510 square feet of living area. It sold for $515,000 in 2022.

LONGPOND AT MOTE RANCH

Donna and Terry Crittendon, of Sarasota, sold their home at 6912 Superior St. Circle to Vygandas Stanevicius and Vida Fletcher, of Santa Clarita, California, for $510,000. Built in 1995, it has three bedrooms, two baths and 2,020 square feet of living area. It sold for $239,000 in 2012.

ROSEDALE

Robert Schreitmueller, of Sarasota, sold his home at 4809 Tobermory Way to Jeffrey and Wanda Bowman, of Bradenton, for $510,000. Built in 2019, it has three bedrooms, two baths and 1,694 square feet of living area. It sold for $340,800 in 2019.

SOLERA

Randi Lynn Evans, of Carlsbad, California, sold her home at 17510 Canopy Place to Tyler and Cara Goffi, of Bradenton, for $505,000. Built in 2023, it has five bedrooms, three baths and 2,674 square feet of living area. It sold for $490,000 in 2023.

COACH HOMES AT RIVER STRAND Josephine and John King, of Suffern, New York, sold their Unit 5701 condominium at 6704 Grand Estuary Trail to Francis and Barbara Sue Maguire, of Bradenton, for $501,300. Built in 2016, it has three bedrooms, two baths and 1,786 square feet of living area. It sold for $271,000 in 2020.

SPORTS

Fast Break

Former Braden River High baseball outfielder Ryan Waldschmidt and the University of Kentucky have qualified for the Men’s College World Series, to be held June 14-24 in Omaha, Nebraska. Kentucky swept Oregon State University in two games in the super regional round to get to this point. Kentucky will play either the University of Georgia or North Carolina State University in the first round of the CWS, with the time and date to be determined. Waldschmidt, a junior, is hitting .346 with 14 home runs and 46 RBIs.

... Former Braden River High football tight end Carson Goda announced his transfer to the University of Illinois on May 27. Goda previously played for Saint Anselm College. Goda, who will be a senior in the fall, was twice named a Northeast-10 Second Team All-Conference player at Saint Anselm. He has 122 catches for 1,456 yards and 12 touchdowns in his college career.

... The Florida Gulf Coast League, a summer softball league for college athletes, begins its season June 14 at Lakewood Ranch Park. Former Lakewood Ranch High softball players Addyson Bruneman (University of North Florida), Grace Hogie (Radford University) and Amanda Lee (Radford University) are playing this season, which runs through July 8. A postseason tournament will take place July 10-13. For a full schedule and team rosters, visit FGCLSoftball.com.

Gwen Murphy (33) won the 19-27 flight of the Ladies Golf Association Individual Low Net event held June 4 at University Park Country Club. Mary Lou Snider and Betsy Nelson (37) tied for first place in the 10-18 flight.

Mario Summa Terry Taylor Toby Morrison and Ron Simon (112) won the Men’s Golf Association Shambles Best Ball event held June 5 at University Park Country Club.

“I love the competition and the feeling of winning. It is an adrenaline rush.”

Just another day at the beach

Ashley Pater won the DI beach volleyball title at USC, while Brooke Pater won the DII title at the University of Tampa.

RYAN KOHN SPORTS EDITOR

After winning an NCAA Division II beach volleyball national championship with the University of Tampa on April 14 in Taveras, Lakewood Ranch’s Brooke Pater had a choice to make.

Pater, a sophomore, had enough credits to graduate from Tampa, thanks to participating in dual enrollment while at Lakewood Ranch High. She decided to do so and to enroll at Georgetown University in pursuit of a master’s degree. But on May 4, the day of her Tampa graduation, Pater’s sister, Ashley Pater — a freshman at the University of Southern California — was playing in the NCAA Division I beach volleyball tournament semifinals in Gulf Shores, Alabama. If USC won, the championship match would be the next day.

Pater had to decide whether to walk across the stage or catch a flight to Alabama to watch her sister vie for glory.

“I remember thinking, ‘You know, it’s not the graduation that is going to make me feel like my time at Tampa is sealed,’” Pater said. “It was the national championship that was the end of the chapter, and I wanted to see Ashley get that same championship feeling.”

She got on a plane. By the end of the weekend, both Pater sisters were national champions. USC defeated UCLA 4-0. Ashley Pater teamed with graduate student Grace Seits to win their individual match 2-1. It was the Trojans’ fourth-straight national championship.

Brooke Pater has no regrets about her choice. The sisters were raised around the game and loved it so much that the Pater family installed a beach volleyball court in their backyard for convenient training. Brooke Pater said seeing Ashley’s dreams come true at the highest collegiate level was an amazing experience.

And for Ashley?

“We were all on cloud nine,” Ashley Pater said. “It was surreal. We worked so hard throughout the year, busting our butts. It does pay off. I was so proud of our team.”

Ashley Pater said she had no expectations coming into 2024. As a freshman entering a dominant

program, she said, her only goal was earning a starting spot by the end of the season. It was not easy. Pater said that every day was a roller coaster of emotions and that every practice felt like an opportunity to prove herself to her coaches and win their trust. Everyone being so talented, Pater said, only upped the stakes. Though competitive, the Trojans also became a close-knit group.

“I could not have asked for a better team and better coaches to surround me,” Ashley Pater said.

Pater finished the season with a 31-4 record, including 12-1 records with both graduate student Grace Seits and sophomore Madison White as partners.

Brooke Pater served a different role at Tampa. While she rarely found herself in the Spartans’ starting lineup, she was named a team captain, a sign of respect from her coaches and teammates. Pater said she was shocked by the honor, but took the role seriously.

“When I was not showing those physical results (in matches), I had to do other stuff to help the team,” Pater said. “I was giving 110% in practice and motivating other people. It’s about the little things, and they paid off.”

Brooke Pater will be leaving the game, at least at a competitive level, when she moves to Washington,

D.C. to attend her master’s program at Georgetown. The game, however, will not be leaving her. Pater said beach volleyball has helped her become more confident in herself and improved her social skills.

She’s also made several relationships through the game she plans on keeping, she said.

“It’s the people that make it awesome,” Brooke Pater said.

She will also be keeping an eye on her sister’s career. Brooke Pater said she has known for a long time that Ashley was destined for big things. Pater said that while watching Ashley’s championship match, all she could think about was 13-year-old Ashley practicing on the court in their backyard, hours after Brooke had gone inside to rest, working on serving or other skills by herself.

As for Ashley Pater, she will be keeping busy. Pater said she plans on playing in a handful of professional tournaments across the country to stay sharp, while also taking time off to enjoy being back in Florida for a bit. When next season rolls around, she has loftier expectations for herself. She wants to keep the starting spot she earned and help her team contend for another title, but she also wants to make inroads on becoming a captain in the future. Just like her sister.

FAST FACTS: ASHLEY AND BROOKE PATER

ASHLEY PATER

n Finished her freshman year at the University of Southern California with an NCAA Division I national championship, the school’s fourth in a row n Held a 31-4 overall record, including a win with partner Grace Seits in the Trojans’ 4-0 national championship win over UCLA n Was named to the NCAA All-Tournament Team for her efforts

BROOKE PATER n Finished her sophomore season at the University of Tampa with an NCAA Division II national championship, the school’s second in a row. n Was named a team captain despite not seeing regular time in the starting lineup n Graduated early and will next attend a master’s program at Georgetown University

— Lakewood Ranch High golfer, Emily Storm SEE PAGE 28

Todd Pater, Brooke Pater and Lorraine Pater pose with Brooke’s NCAA Division II national championship trophy that she won with the University of Tampa.

Ashley Pater worked her way into the University of Southern California beach volleyball starting lineup as a freshman and helped the Trojans win a national title.

Courtesy photo

Former Braden River High outfielder

Ryan Waldschmidt is having a big junior season at the University of Kentucky.

Sisters Ashley Pater and Brooke Pater hold up Ashley’s NCAA Division I beach volleyball trophy, which she won as a freshman at the University of Southern California.

Both sisters won national championships in 2024.

Courtesy photos

Local rowers race the best at Benderson

The event was held June 6-9 at Nathan Benderson Park.

At the USRowing Youth National Championships, held June 6-9 at Nathan Benderson Park, spectators ran nearly as fast as the boats they were watching.

The first half of a Youth Nationals race is predominantly watched on the park’s large video screen, but as soon as the boats hit the 2,000-meters-to-go mark, there is a mad rush to the beach to get the best live viewing position. Some fans whip out their cameras, and the particularly zealous among the crowd will shout words of support, even though the rowers on the water are fully focused on the finish line.

The scramble does not stop once the boats cross the finish line, either. The winning boat’s teammates and fans will then sprint to the other side of the lake to give their congratulations as the boats head back to the dock. It is nonstop action, especially on Sunday’s final day of the four-day event.

The region’s rowing fans should be used to the flow of this event by now. Benderson Park has hosted the event each year since 2019, as well as in 2017 and 2015. The 2024 edition was the biggest yet, with more than 4,000 athletes representing 224 different clubs competing.

Though no East County rowers representing either Sarasota Crew or Manatee County Youth Rowing took home medals this year, the packed house did see several reach the A Final, or the top-eight boats, in their respective events.

Sarasota Crew’s Iaroslav Shuman, an eighth grader at Dr. Mona Jain Middle, helped the team’s U16 boys 8+ boat to a fifth-place finish in the event’s A Final (6:37.95). The Crew’s Jenna Khalil, a Lakewood Ranch

High freshman, helped the team’s U16 girls 8+ boat to a seventh-place finish in the A Final (7:32.17). The Crew’s Sam Obine-Galvin, a Lakewood Ranch High junior, helped the team’s varsity boys 8+ boat to an eighth-place finish in the A Final (6:01.58).

Prior to the event, Khalil said the U16 girls 8+ boat’s goal was to reach the A Final. That, she said, would put the boat among the best of the best at the biggest event of the year. No matter what happens after that, being in that race is a victory. The boat accomplished its goal by finishing third in its semifinal race on June 7 (7:37.96). Khalil was a large part of the boat’s success. She sat in the stroke seat for the race, which is the position closest to the coxswain and the seat that sets the boat’s stroke rate and rhythm.

Khalil said reaching the A Final was a dream come true.

“We were like, ‘Oh my gosh, we did it,’” Khalil said. “Being here,

it’s a lot. It’s scary. You are around everyone who worked year-round to be here. There are so many teams, so many girls, who want it as bad as you do. It’s hard, but it feels good (to succeed).”

Khalil credited the Sarasota Crew coaches with helping her boat maximize its potential.

The seventh-place finish is something that rowers like Khalil can build on next year. While everyone wants to take home a medal, there are plenty of reasons to be proud of making the A Finals. The work required to get to this point involves intense training and discipline. Not everyone is cut out for rowing, but for those who are, the experience is deeply rewarding.

Just ask Sarasota Crew captains Maeva Ginsberg-Klemmt and William Mathes. The two seniors rowed their final high school races at the Youth Nationals. Ginsberg-Klemmt, the girls captain and a member of the girls varsity 8+ boat, said her

experience with the Crew showed her the importance of self motivation. While the team’s coaches have a deep knowledge of the sport, she said, they put the preparation for big events on the rowers, teaching them how to be responsible and independent.

“You find out your own limits,” Ginsberg-Klemmt said. “It has been nice. Everybody works so hard to achieve their goals, and everybody’s goals are different. But at the end of the day, you come together to compete and race. It’s a great environment.”

Mathes, the boys captain and a member of the boys varsity 8+, said that every boat’s goal at the start of Youth Nationals is to take gold, and they grade themselves by how close they get to that goal. While eighth place is not the finish the boat wanted, Mathes said, but it was not for a lack of effort.

“We left everything we had on the water,” Mathes said.

Another East County rower did not make an A Final, but still finished high. Landon Hess, an eighth grader at Dr. Mona Jain Middle, finished second in the B Final in the Sarasota Crew boys U15 4x+ boat (7:34.95), which equates to 10th overall. Lizabeth Derrick and Haylyn Hastreiter of Manatee County Youth Rowing also finished sixth in the B Final of the U17 2x boat (8:21.96), which equates to 14th overall.

In the process, the local fans got their money’s worth — and some good exercise — sprinting to watch their favorites.

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

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Ryan Kohn

Lakewood Ranch High’s Jenna Khalil (second from left) was in the stroke seat in the Sarasota Crew girls U16 8+ boat at the US Rowing Youth National Championships, between coxswain Sophia Karanjai and rowers Claire Xia and Annalise Naylor. The boat finished seventh in the A Final (7:32.17).

ATHLETE OF THE WEEK

Emily Storm

Emily Storm is a rising junior girls golfer who attends Lakewood Ranch High. Storm has finished in the top 20 in six straight tournaments played in April and May, including a 19th-place finish (80-82—162) at the Florida Junior Tour’s Golf Road Junior Major tournament, held May 29-30 at Pine Tree Golf Club in Boynton Beach. Storm will next play in the 2024 Florida State Golf Association Girls Junior Championship, held June 27-29 at Pelican Golf Club in Belleair.

When did you start playing golf?

My dad (Gene Storm) got me into golf at a young age. I was 3 when I first picked up a club, and I have been playing ever since.

What is the appeal to you?

I love the competition and the feeling of winning. It is an adrenaline rush. When I win or I have a good round, I just want to keep going. It has also helped me evolve as a person with things like discipline.

What is your best skill? Putting and chipping. My short game was weak for a while and needed to get better, so I practiced it a lot and it helped.

What have you been working to improve?

Using my irons and hitting more greens in regulation. It makes putting easier. I’ll lower my score if I’m closer to the hole. It cuts down on mistakes.

What is your favorite golf memory?

I got a hole-in-one at the Chicago Highlands Club (Westchester, Illinois) when I was 10. It was hole No. 4, 107 yards, during a PGA Junior League event. I was just happy. My mom (Bee Nguyen) was there, and so were a few local pros. It was nice to have those people there and get their approval.

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.

What are your expectations for the Girls Junior Championship? Hopefully, I can win it. My goal is to shoot in the low 70s and have no three-putts. I’m happy with how I’m playing right now, but, like everyone else, I think I can always improve.

What is your favorite food? I’ll say chicken Parmesan.

What is your favorite movie? “Central Intelligence,” with Kevin Hart and Dwayne Johnson.

What is your favorite school subject?

I like science, especially biology. I like learning about the world and the science behind it.

What are your hobbies? I like to work out, and I like to play pickleball.

What is the best advice you have received?

Drive for show, putt for dough. You can drive it 200 or 300 yards but you still have to putt well to win.

Finish this sentence: “Emily Storm is ... ” ... Outgoing.

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BACKING MUSICIANS by Aaron Rosenberg, edited by Jeff Chen

By Luis Campos

Natalie Smith captured this photo of the sunshine coming through the fog in Braden Woods.

Ken and Katina were the only agents that followed up on my initial house search trip to the area. They listened to what my requirements were and then provided me with a list of possibilities that matched my list of needs. On my second visit to Florida, Ken showed me several homes, and when I found the perfect one, he helped me put a strong offer together which was accepted. With Ken and Katina as my agents I knew they were working for me and really cared that I find the right home in the correct location. I highly recommend them to be your real estate agents of choice.