Longboat Observer 6.30.22

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JULY 2022

1

Longboat Key’s weekly newspaper since 1978

INSIDE

YOU. YOUR NEIGHBORS. YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD.

FREE • THURSDAY, JUNE 30, 2022

VOLUME 44, NO. 47

Managing change

YOUR TOWN

Town manager says he’ll step away in December after five years. PAGE 2A

Lesley Dwyer

One shell of a rescue

Take a selfie

In April, Irina La Rose was on the phone scheduling appointments as usual when a car pulled onto the curb in front of her salon, Design 2000. The car inched closer and closer until it knocked a giant planter into the window. The driver was having a medical episode and had to be transported to the hospital.

The window was replaced with plywood while cracks in the building are assessed.

In May, La Rose turned an inconvenience into art. Artist Stephanie Troxler used the blank plywood as her canvas to paint a pink and turquoise rendering of the island. La Rose is calling it the new Longboat Key selfie spot.

Turtle swims free thanks to pair. PAGE 5A

Lesley Dwyer

Reggie turns 105 Lesley Dwyer

Avid anglers Dawn Milstead and Laura Groppo, who spend a lot of time on the water, found a tangled loggerhead turtle.

A+E

Reggie Gurland has achieved a status most of us will not: She is officially a semi-supercentenarian.

In other words, she turned 105 on June 23. About 25 of Gurland’s friends and family threw a potluck dinner to celebrate.

Gurland has slowed down a bit of late. She can’t make the ceramics she once loved creating because they’re too heavy to lift now.

But her wit doesn’t age.

When asked about her new status, she held her hand out like the queen of England and asked, “Would you like to touch me?”

Turtle tracks

Wading into writing Kitchen duels.

SEE PAGE 10A

Former Mote intern serves up new book on leadership. PAGE 1B

LONGBOAT June 19-25 Nests False crawls

2022 156 263

2021 112 174

Totals since April 24 2022 2021 Nests 807 594 False crawls 953 786 Source: Mote Marine Laboratory Lesley Dwyer

Julie Henry’s book deals with lessons she’s learned from the animal world.

2A

LONGBOAT OBSERVER

YourObserver.com

THURSDAY, JUNE 30, 2022

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Harmer tells town he’s retiring in December Commissioners are expected to begin talking about how to replace him during Friday’s meeting.

ERIC GARWOOD MANAGING EDITOR

T

own Manager Tom Harmer informed town commissioners and staffers last week that he intends to retire from his position in December at the end of his five-year contract.

Harmer, 63, would have been eligible for a three-year extension in August.

Instead, commissioners are expected to begin talking about initial steps in replacing Harmer when they meet Friday, July 1 for the final time before their two-and-a-halfmonth summer hiatus.

“Managers don’t personally accomplish things. It is really the employees and the departments that make the difference,” he wrote to town staffers announcing his decision. “The town is fortunate to have such a high-caliber group of employees, and I have enjoyed being part of the team.”

Harmer was recruited to the town from his role as Sarasota County administrator in June 2017 by thenTown Manager Dave Bullock, who likewise gave the Town Commission about six months to weigh his replacement.

At the time, Harmer agreed to a $187,000 salary in a contract that included town retirement benefits of 17.8% salary ($33,286) deposited into a deferred compensation account.

“What a great opportunity for any manager as I consider Longboat Key to be the best place to be in municipal administration,” he wrote “It is obviously also one of the best places to live, work and play in the country as recognized numerous times over the past couple of years and supported by our local citizen survey results.”

For nearly eight years beginning in

Eric Garwood

Tom Harmer made a point of meeting with groups around town following his acceptance of the town manager position.

Among the first was a visit to the Kiwanis Club in 2018.

1999, the U.S. Marine Corps veteran served as fire chief in the Brevard County town of Titusville, rising to become emergency manager, executive director of the town’s community development agency and town manager.

After a stint as the senior vice president of an Orlando real estate development company, he returned to government as deputy county administrator in Sarasota and then county administrator.

In his letter to commissioners, Harmer said he would likely return to the private sector in a family business role but would remain connected to the town in some fashion. He and his wife, Dee, moved to Longboat Key in 2018.

“My oldest son has recruited me for some time to help him with some

of his ventures and the timing is right as I complete my commitment to Longboat Key,” he wrote.

Also on the agenda for Friday’s meeting: The budget: Commissioners will set a not-to-exceed millage rate for the 2023 fiscal year. Although some commissioners lobbied for an even lower threshold, a consensus this month settled on setting that rate at 1.99 per $1,000 of taxable value once tax assessors’ offices in Sarasota and Manatee counties deliver their final property figures.

Preliminary estimates in June showed the town topping $7 billion in overall value for the first time ever, rising about 13.5% from 2021. In comparison, Venice’s estimated values rose 18.5% to $5.7 billion; North Port’s rose 24.5% to $7.2 billion;

Sarasota’s rose 17% to $14.6 billion.

Longboat Key is the smallest of those municipalities.

If the town left its millage rate unchanged at 2.114 about $1.76 million in additional tax revenue would flow into the operating budget.

At 1.95 (a 7.8% decrease), that figure falls to $608,917. At 1.99, it’s $890,000.

The proposed 2023 budget calls for $18.3 million in revenue, $13.7 of it from ad valorem taxes based on 1.95 millage. Expenses are budgeted at $17.8 million.

Town Center Green: Following a pair of over-budget bids and the subsequent withdrawal of one of them, commissioners will face a choice on how to proceed with the site work and stage construction that make up phase two of the overall project.

At a workshop meeting June 20, commissioners voted by consensus to consider altering the town’s proposed budget to account for the site work overage and catch up on potential private donors’ willingness to help fund the stage construction.

Commissioners expressed hesitance to give up on the stage construction plan or rebid the project over concerns nothing would change.

Since the workshop, the Longboat Key Foundation has been working the phones in an attempt to gain commitments for additional private financing.

Trash collection: Commissioners will hear a request from operators of Waste Management Inc. for an adjustment in rates for collection and disposal of trash, yard waste and recyclables.

By contract, the company can request an annual adjustment in rates of up to 4% based on the consumer price index, which recorded a May to May increase of 8.6% from 2021 to 2022 — its largest since September 2005.

Waste Management is requesting a 10.1% increase, based on the costs of fuel, labor and materials, and such an increase would require Town Commission approval through a resolution.

In materials provided by the company, a monthly bill for a home that uses a 96-gallon trash cart picked up twice a week, a 64-gallon recycling cart collected once a week and yard waste collected once a week would rise to $17.72.

“These inflationary increases have substantially increased our cost to provide services to your town,” wrote Bill Gresham, the public sector solutions manager for Waste Management Inc., in a June 8 letter to the town. “These unexpected cost increases are requiring WM to seek this type of increase with nearly all our accounts.”

If approved, the new rates would take effect on Aug. 1.

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LONGBOAT OBSERVER

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THURSDAY, JUNE 30, 2022

Samantha Danchuk of Aptim said government’s role would be largely focused on policy, land-use decisions, protection of public assets and maintaining a desired level of service for roads and stormwater systems.

Private property owners would be responsible for backyard seawalls, flood-proofing or elevating homes and businesses, and keeping sea level in mind when designing and building new structures or streets.

The public and private sectors would need to work together on land-use options for the future, designating sites for stormwater retention and other resiliency facets.

“There is this nexus between those where there are opportunities to think about how can we really solve the problem together,” she said.

IN 2040 n Most vulnerable structures will be those built before the 1983 FEMA base flood elevation standards.

14%

of town parcels could be subject to nuisance flooding.

7%

of town parcels could be subject to flooding of a foot or more.

ADAPTATION MEASURES

RISING

TIDES

Eric Garwood

In a report this year by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, sea levels along U.S. coastlines are predicted to rise as much as 1 foot by 2050.

A multiphased approach was designed to offer a range of ideas on sealing off the sea from island properties — and how to pay for it.

ERIC GARWOOD MANAGING EDITOR

H

igher seawalls, built-up roads, knee-high walls along Gulf of Mexico Drive and complex drainage systems are among a town consultant’s ideas to shield Longboat Key from sea-level rise over the next three to five decades, according to proposals delivered in a draft report to town leaders this month.

Town staff have been working with consultants from Aptim Environmental & Infrastructure Inc. since 2018 to assess the town’s infrastructure in a four-phase study designed to prepare the island into the 2070s.

Nearing the end of the third phase, Aptim presented draft recommendations to the Town Commission on June 20 with plans to submit a final phase-three report in the fall.

From there, in phase four, funding and priorities can be worked on and timelines laid out. Aptim’s initial estimates for private and public projects reach as high as $50 million (in current dollars) by 2040.

“We do see there are a substantial number of homes in the town that were developed in the 1960s and the 1970s before the town adopted modern flood-control measures through your ordinances, so there are a number of homes in town that are below the base flood elevation today and are at risk,” said Doug Mann, lead coastal engineer with Aptim.

Mann said that by 2070, abnormally high tides, referred to as king tides, could affect about 450 town structures, based on current projections and building-elevation data gath-

ered by Aptim, but that figure falls away further into the future, based on the numbers of structures built to modern-day elevation standards.

Aptim data also shows about 2 miles of the town’s approximately 200 miles of seawalls — mostly private — could be overtopped by 2040.

Mann added that projection is conservative but also subject to change as actual levels are monitored and potential effects recalculated over three or four decades.

“We’ll see how things progress as we move forward,” he said.

The town has already made some progress toward resiliency, including installing one-way valves on stormwater infrastructure to ease street flooding during high tides, enacting a ordinance to allow higher seawalls, rebuilding a street to head off frequent flooding and adding a highwater rescue truck to its fleet.

The town’s work with Aptim is designed to create a comprehensive plan with a list of projects and improvements to protect the town.

In a report this year by the Nation-

FINDINGS n Storms will continue to generate more vulnerabilities in the near term than sea-level rise. n Continue considering balance between active and passive water management. n Identify funding sources. n Evaluate policy to support private projects. n Review resilience standards for public infrastructure. n Plan now for capital improvements.

al Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, sea levels along U.S. coastlines are predicted to rise as much as 1 foot by 2050, with the east coast and Gulf coast expected to see the fastest rise because of settling soils combined with rising waters.

Explaining the split between public and private responsibility,

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Danchuk said that as the town moves ahead, projects designed to protect against more severe storm effects, such as surge from the Gulf of Mexico and Sarasota Bay, can also serve as longer-term solutions for the more gradual rise of sea levels.

Among those first concerns are projects to restore beachfront dunes in about 10 locations to form a first line of defense against a stormy sea.

Also, plans to raise vulnerable electrical systems at town sewer-pumping stations could serve to insulate them not only from immediate threats but for decades as well.

“If you start to address storm surge now and think about ways to become resilient to storm surge, you essentially are building in the protection for sea-level rise,” she said, adding that funding for storm-surge protection is available from several sources. “When we talk about storm surge, we’re talking about several feet. As you start to decide where you want to invest to protect against storm surge, you really are already providing sea-level rise protection.”

Danchuk told the Town Commission that such policy-driven decisions as allowing for higher private seawalls are an example of something that could protect against surge now and higher sea levels.

Additionally, shifting stormwater regulations from using historical models to projections similar to those used by Aptim would make sense, she said.

The challenge, she said, is not only identifying lower and more vulnerable areas of the island but also figuring out ways to keep water from finding low spots in seawalls, roadways or other barriers, adding it’s nearly impossible to actively pump or drain seawater once it pours in.

Using Longbeach Village as a potential example, Danchuk spoke about the potential for one day building up a perimeter road in a design called a “polder” in Holland, which is a thoroughfare built higher than its surroundings as a dike-like feature.

She also mentioned low walls along Gulf of Mexico Drive that could serve to keep the island’s main road open, even if rising waters from bayside canals threatened to inundate the roadway from the east, as well as floodgates at the end of canals that could be closed during king tides or storms and land-use designations created to allow for water retention along rights of ways or on incentivized private lands.

“I do want to note that flooding will still occur with mitigation during extreme events, so you want to be very careful during the community outreach process, especially if we’re talking about active stormwater management,” she said. “There could still be a really, really intense rain storm or a hurricane, and there will be flooding. Sometimes people, when they hear you’re coming in to address flooding, they think their neighborhood will always be dry.”

THE RISKS

Aptim Environmental & Infrastructure Inc. provided this view of the potential hazards of sea-level rise.

Courtesy graphic

LONGBOAT OBSERVER

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THURSDAY, JUNE 30, 2022

Do You Suffer From Chronic Lower Back Pain?

Freedom Fest is a July Fourth staple

YO U A R E I N V I T E D !

File photos

Observer Media Group’s Lisa Walsh is this year’s grand marshal.

Join Philip Meinhardt, M.D., our board-certified spine surgeon, as he offers his expertise and answers your questions about the latest innovations and minimal invasive procedures to eliminate your discomfort.

The 2002 Freedom Fest parade kicked off with the Pledge of Allegiance, and a lot of youngsters on red, white and blue decorated bicycles.

LESLEY DWYER STAFF WRITER

D

Wednesday, July 13, 2022 4:30 pm

Please register to attend: events@sforzodillingham.com or 941.378.5100 ext. 214

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on your red, white and blue, and don’t forget the dog because Freedom Fest is back, with Lisa Walsh, a co-founder of the event and former executive editor of the Longboat Observer, as grand marshal.

Walsh, along with Gail Loefgren, the president of the Longboat Key Chamber of Commerce, transformed feelings into actions in 2002 when together they created the Independence Day staple in Longboat Key. “It was borne out of the patriotism we all felt after the 9/11 attack,” Loefgren said. “Lisa should be very proud of what a simple conversation between two people sitting around a table at the chamber has turned into.

I know I am.”

At the time, Longboat Key didn’t have a town event to mark the Fourth of July. That first year, chamber members grilled hamburgers and hot dogs, and the fire chief and town manager sat in a dunk tank.

Walsh volunteered the Longboat Observer to sponsor and publicize the event, and the town was on board from the start.

“Freedom Fest would not have been, and would not be, what it is today were it not for the way the town employees, public works and police and fire departments all con-

Lisa Walsh

tribute to the setup and takedown of the event,” Walsh said.

Freedom Fest also wouldn’t be what it is today without Walsh.

“She is a true patriot, the real deal and someone who can be counted on when needed,” Loefgren said.

In 2013, the Rotary Club of Longboat Key added the Hot Diggity Dog Parade and Contest to the lineup, and the Longboat Key Garden Club added a butterfly release that follows the parade.

“The most rewarding thing to me was after the first Freedom Fest parade when I overheard two brothers talking. They were on their bikes.

They were so excited,” she said. “The younger of the two told his brother, ‘This has been the best day of my life!’ That did it for me. That melted my heart.”

Freedom Fest runs from 9-11 a.m. on Bay Isles Road.

LONGBOAT

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LONGBOAT OBSERVER

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THURSDAY, JUNE 30, 2022

5A

HOW CAN YOU HELP A MARINE ANIMAL IN DISTRESS? Kincaid was clear: Turtles bite.

Mote asks that everyone call the stranding hotline before taking action. That way, neither human nor animal ends up hurt. Not only was the loggerhead disentangled, but it was also checked for further injuries. Calling the hotline also helps staff members keep track of local animals. They share their reports with bigger agencies, such as the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

Kincaid said Milstead and Groppo did everything right. They tagged their location immediately and called for help. The response they received was akin to a 911 call for people. The stranding program takes calls 24 hours a day. The team also responds to deceased marine animals and sea turtles; the animals are retrieved and given an autopsy, and the findings contribute to research on mortality trends.

Had the turtle not taken the line under the water with it, one additional step the women could have taken was to attach the line to one of their boat’s cleats.

Never get close enough to harm or be harmed, but if the entanglement material is within reach, it’s

Lesley Dwyer

Laura Groppo and Dawn Milstead live on Anna Maria Island. They called in a distressed turtle about a mile out from Longboat Pass.

Pair of boaters help save tangled turtle A fishing trip turned into a successful rescue operation.

LESLEY DWYER STAFF WRITER

dinated with the Manatee County Sheriff’s Marine Unit, which regularly patrols the area. Mote relies heavily on law enforcement agencies in both Sarasota and Manatee counties because they have bigger, more powerful boats to navigate choppy waters and take large animals on board.

“We knew it would be very difficult to get an adult loggerhead onto our boat if it needed to come in for rehab,” said Amber Lea Kincaid, Mote’s stranding biologist.

It took the rescue team about an hour to reach Milstead and Groppo’s boat. As the women circled around looking for the loggerhead, a dolphin swam in and out of their wake for nearly half that time. They spotted, what looked to be, a 10-inch lure hooked into the side of its mouth. “It was heartbreaking because I felt like

it was saying, ‘Get this out! Get this out!’” Groppo said.

It’s not uncommon for dolphins to follow fishing boats looking for an easy meal. Groppo gave the video to Mote, and the dolphin was added to a watch list within a larger Florida stranding network.

“Dolphins are hard because they don’t always stick around when they need our help,” Kincaid said.

The loggerhead did stick around, though. Even though the women didn’t see it resurface in the hour they waited, within 10 minutes, the rescue boat located it. What Kincaid thought was the buoy ended up being an inner tube. As they went to retrieve it from the water, they saw the loggerhead pop its head up.

The line was wrapped once around its neck, and the rest was twisted up in

a simple way to keep the animal in one place while waiting for the rescue team.

“The really important thing is that Dawn called us instead of trying to do anything herself,” Kincaid said. “Because of her, we saved a turtle’s life.” The 24-hour hotline number for Mote’s Stranding Investigations program is 888-345-2335.

the water beside it. Kincaid assessed the loggerhead as feisty and not in need of rehab, so the rescue team performed a remote disentanglement.

The line was untwisted until the turtle was able to get its neck out. This turtle didn’t have any abrasions, but the concern in similar cases is that the entangling material can cut into the skin and later cause an infection.

This rescue had a happy ending.

The turtle swam away, and the women headed home.

“It was just bizarre. The weather was coming in, and we were boogying to get back,” Groppo said. It was then that Milstead spotted another turtle. The couple sees turtles regularly from their boat, but never two in one day.

“We’re convinced it was her saying, ‘thank you,’” Milstead said.

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T

wo everyday anglers turned into wildlife heroes after assisting an entangled sea turtle and an injured dolphin on June 15. Dawn Milstead and Laura Groppo were doing what they do most days: They left their dock from Anna Maria Island and headed out for a day of boating and fishing.

What the couple initially mistook for a big fish was a female loggerhead turtle caught in the ropes of a crab trap. “The turtle was struggling. We could tell it was in distress,” Milstead

said. As they pulled the boat closer, the turtle went under the water and out of sight.

Milstead thought fast and tagged the boat’s GPS coordinates. Next, she called her brother-in-law, Steve Howard, because he volunteers for the Longboat Key Turtle Watch.

Howard gave her a 24-hour hotline number for the stranding investigations program at Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium.

Milstead and Groppo were too busy getting help to take a picture, so they gave a detailed description of what they saw. “We remembered the color of the buoy and a little bit about the turtle itself,” Groppo said. They were asked to stay in the area and keep looking in case the turtle resurfaced.

The boat was less than a mile out from Longboat Pass, so Mote coor-

Courtesy photo

A female loggerhead turtle being untangled from a crab trap.

LONGBOAT OBSERVER

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YourObserver.com

THURSDAY, JUNE 30, 2022

COPS CORNER

HAVE YOU MET

BOB?

FRIDAY, JUNE 17

911? FOR A GOLF CART? 10:33 a.m., Seabreeze Avenue Parking warning: Police received an emergency-line call about a pair of golf carts that were reported to be parked illegally. The officer, who first handled a higher-priority call, discovered one of them parked properly, though the other was parked in the grass nearby. The officer asked that it be moved, and it was. A verbal warning was issued.

HELPING OUT 9:18 p.m., New Pass Agency assistance: The town’s marine patrol unit was sent to assist another agency with a report of a disabled boat in New Pass. The vessel was grounded on a sandbar and was waiting for a commercial tow service to assist, so no police help was needed.

FRIDAY, JUNE 17

THE ENVELOPE PLEASE 5:12 p.m., 500 block of Hornblower Lane Citizen dispute: Police were sent to a residence to look into a civil disturbance but found no one at the scene.

The officer ascertained that the caller alerted police to the presence of an envelope on his door from a contractor concerning an ongoing civil matter. The officer tried to contact the contractor to recommend further communication be done in a more official manner, either through the court system of via certified mail.

SATURDAY, JUNE 18

PIPE DOWN 3:29 p.m., Greer Island Noise complaint from water: An officer asked a boater who had been reportedly playing loud music just offshore to reduce the volume. The boater did so.

LIGHTING THE WAY 9 p.m., 5400 block of Gulf of Mexico Drive Citizen assist: While on patrol, an officer saw three bicyclists riding on the sidewalk after dark with no lights, a violation of state law. The officer explained the requirements to the cyclists and gave them each bicycle lights, donated by the Florida Arrive Alive Bicycle campaign.

NOT HOME 3:33 p.m., 500 block of Sanctuary Drive Alarm: A medical alarm alerted police to potential trouble at a home, but officers soon learned the owner of the alarm was in a Midwestern state and had forgotten to update the address with the monitoring company.

TUESDAY, JUNE 21

NOT WELCOME 5:50 p.m., 600 block of Dream Island Road Citizen assist: Police told a visi-

FRIENDLY

tor to a relative’s house he was not welcome and advised the resident to call police again if the visitor returns.

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 22

POWERFUL VISIT 10:10 a.m., 2900 block of Gulf of Mexico Drive Suspicious vehicle: A resident who was not at home called police to alert them to the presence of a vehicle that did not belong in his driveway. The resident told the officer that after the vehicle arrived, a man stepped out, walked around the property and left. An officer discovered a door-knob hanger from a public-utility company. The resident said he would verity the identity of the visitor with the company.

I QUIT 3:30 p.m., 600 block of Norton Drive Citizen dispute: A business owner and an employee argued over the treatment of power landscaping equipment, resulting in the employee resigning on the spot. The owner offered to drive the employee back to the company headquarters when work was complete, but the employee kept interrupting the work and wanted to leave. Both men were checked for wants or warrants, and no physical contact was made.

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THURSDAY, JUNE 30, 2022

OPINION / OUR VIEW

LONGBOAT

What is liberty?

Americans want to be happy about their country on the Fourth of July. This year, it’s hard to cheer.

MATT WALSH

C

ome Monday, July 4, this is the day Americans want to be happy, the day we want to feel good about the U-S-A. It is the one day every year we want to celebrate and be thankful to our founding ancestors for two of the most extraordinary human concepts that took root in this land and flourished over the next 244* years: independence and freedom.

Fifty-six men on July 2, 1776, with astonishing courage, declared with their signatures that the 13 American colonies were henceforth independent from British tyranny

and, equally astonishing, that the 2.5 million inhabitants of America were “created equal” and “endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights” — life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

They declared the right to live free.

John Adams wrote in a letter to his wife, Abigail, that the Declaration of Independence “will be the most memorable epocha in the history of America.” He said the day should be “solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires and illuminations from one end of this continent to the other from this time forward forever more.”

Indeed, we should celebrate this historic occasion this coming Monday. We should be joyous, thankful and high-spirited about the miraculous moment that brought forth the most amazing, extraordinary country in the world.

But let’s be honest.

Will we honestly feel good about our nation on its 246th birthday?

Will we honestly feel good about our independence and freedom?

Sure, we’ll whoop it up and ooh and aah in parades and under the sights and sounds of the fireworks.

Personal stories of stolen liberty In the course of this great job as a newspaper editor, you are afforded the opportunity to meet amazing people. Even better, you get to hear their life stories.

Every one of them is a treasure — rich and fascinating in its unique detail and DNA. The following five stories fit that mold. They are stories of Sarasotans or their family members who had their property and possessions ruthlessly taken away, confiscated by tyrannical governments; who escaped the clutches of an evil government that wanted them to be slaves; or who witnessed the invasion of foreign forces who destroyed property and liberty in a quest to enslave an entire nation.

Each of these stories is a reminder of how precious and how tenuous liberty is and that it can never be taken for granted. Not even in the United States.

— M.W.

Courtesy photos

Zoltan and son Thomas Modly before Zoltan’s death in 2017.

A DARING ESCAPE FROM CLUTCHES OF COMMUNISM Thomas “Tom” Modly, now a resident of Siesta Key, devoted 20 years of his life in service to his country, the latter half in the highest levels of the Department of Defense.

A Naval Academy graduate with a gift for analytical thinking and leadership, he served as the head of the Defense Business Board, tasked with modernizing the business practices of the DOD. He became the undersecretary of defense for financial management, later served as undersecretary of the Navy as chief operations officer and finally served four months as acting secretary of the Navy.

If you know Modly, you know he is a serious man. His love of country and patriotism run deep. They are traits that seeped into his core through his parents, East European immigrants who hungered to come to the U.S. after their experiences during World War II. Modly’s mother was orphaned at age 4 and separated from her grandparents for six years during and after the war. Modly’s father, Zoltan, spent the last two years of World War II living in a bomb shelter.

After the war, in 1948, with the Soviet Communists exerting their

Zoltan Modly in the crush of immigrants waiting in line to leave Europe for America in 1950.

control in Hungary, they conscripted Zoltan Modly to leave law school and join the Soviet army and Communist Party.

Unwilling to become a Communist, Zoltan Modly traveled to the Hungary-Austria border. To make his escape, he dressed as a nun.

After a heart-throbbing passage through the gates, the Communist guards released an attack dog to chase him down. He saved himself by subduing the dog with a cudgel, allowing him to flee to freedom.

Two years later, Zoltan Modly made it to the U.S., sponsored by an aunt and uncle. His first job: a bellboy at a Washington, D.C., hotel.

He went on to become a father of four and a chemical engineer in Cleveland. “After the war,” Modly said, “he was not a big risk taker. He was an introvert. He just wanted to live his life.” In freedom.

We will live that day, or in the moment, happy and thankful for the USA. And perhaps for the day we will block out of our minds that, in truth, we are living in a period of rapidly eroding personal freedoms and increasing tyranny foisted on us by an elite few.

When those 56 Founding Fathers signed the Declaration of Independence, the American people were in a war to stop “a long train of abuses and usurpations” of absolute despotism that inflicted intolerable pain and suffering.

They, along with their patriot colonists, were willing to die for their independence and freedom and determined not to be the slaves of a despotic ruler.

Now look at today, two-and-ahalf centuries later. For the past year-and-a-half especially, we have been living under rapidly deteriorating economic and social conditions. If left unchecked or not overturned, they most certainly will take this great country down a path to inevitable destruction and an end to living free and living for ourselves.

Exaggeration?

Do not laugh or scoff. Read the condensed stories of five Sarasotans who themselves or their families have experienced firsthand the horrors of tyranny, of how governments abruptly confiscated their property, attempted to enslave them and deprived them of life, liberty and

the pursuit of happiness.

Sadly, too many Americans take liberty for granted. They live day to day exhibiting little to no care about what their governments are doing to them.

As one of those Sarasotans, John Clarke, told us: “These governments might start out with sensible ideas, but very quickly they are taken over by despots.”

Clarke’s comment reminds us of other warnings that we all should heed on this 246th day of the birth of America, independence and freedom: Ronald Reagan: “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream.

It must be fought for, protected and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.”

Plato: “If you do not take an interest in the affairs of your government, then you are doomed to live under the rule of fools.”

By all means, enjoy the Fourth of July. But on July 5, commit yourself to doing your part to preserve your rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. *We say the U.S. has flourished the past 244 years; the past two it has not.

THEY TOOK LAND ‘FOR THE PEOPLE’

sold their farm to the government for a pittance far below market value, laid off the 40 families and shuttered the school.

“It was a horror,” Clarke said.

He remembers visiting the farm years later. The government had destroyed the property’s beautiful cedar forest. Clarke: “It was an utter disaster.”

For a third time, at the beginning of the 1970s, the Clarkes started anew, this time in Rhodesia. Clarke and his wife, Lorna, took on debt financing to purchase a ranch at 8,000 feet altitude. They produced high-quality tobacco leaves, cattle and sheep.

The business grew to employ 50 families and another on-site school for the children. But once again, civil unrest erupted. “I spent more time fighting terrorists than farming,” Clarke said.

By 1977, with four children, the Clarkes saw another Kenyan-like takeover coming. The government wanted to take land and give it to “the people,” African settlers. The Clarkes sold, laid off the farmhands and shuttered the school.

Soon after, the government confiscated the land and handed their former property over to a brigadier general who had three wives. It was payment for his military service.

The Clarkes packed again. This time, they left Africa altogether for the United States. When they left, the government allowed them to take $1,000 of their own money and their personal belongings.

“We don’t talk about it,” Clarke said of his family and their experiences with government confiscations. “But they all know how lucky we are to be here.”

John Clarke is best known in Sarasota as the former CEO and president of Schroeder-Manatee Ranch, one of three people credited most with bringing the vision of Lakewood Ranch to life.

Now 84, he has been a resident of Sarasota for 30 years. Before then, he spent his youth and his early adult life as a farmer and rancher in Kenya and Zimbabwe, formerly Rhodesia.

His parents, British natives, had owned a ranch in Kenya since 1937, when the African nation was a colony of the British government.

They raised sheep and cattle.

After periods of violence between native black Kenyans and British settlers in the 1950s, Kenya gained independence in 1963. With Clarke age 23 and back from being educated at Cambridge, the Clarkes received a letter from the new government giving them one week to move their livestock and belongings off the property. The government was seizing their land — “for the people,” it said.

They managed to buy another farm in Kenya 80 miles away and began anew.

They rebuilt their operations, big enough to employ 40 African families and operate an on-farm school for the employees’ children. They were raising livestock and producing food that fed people around the region.

Seven years later, it happened again. Another letter. The Kenyan government notified the Clarkes they were converting their land and adjacent farms into a governmentowned agricultural cooperative.

Declining to participate, the Clarkes

Jay Heater

John Clarke and his family lost three farms in Africa in the 1960s and 1970s because of governments seizing private property.

THE BLOOD BATH IN HAVANA

In 2016, the ever-gracious and kind-hearted Carol Siegler became so agitated with former President Barack Obama, she felt so compelled — and so out of character for the Sarasota philanthropist — to speak out and speak out loudly.

Obama triggered long dormant emotions in Siegler when he issued an executive order lifting the U.S. trade embargo on Cuba.

In response, Siegler wrote a 1,600-word open letter to Obama.

It was published in the May 19, 2016, editions of the Observer.

Siegler rebuked Obama, calling his order “a reckless” and scolded him, noting that even though he was well intentioned, “unfortunately, you are dealing with ruthless and intransigent operatives.

My family and I know about them firsthand.”

Like the John Clarke family in Africa, the Siegler family in Havana

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

Friedrich Hayek

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experienced the terror of government thugs wantonly invading their home and confiscating their family business, property and wealth.

Seigler’s father, Charles Shapiro, a New Yorker, was a business owner in Havana for nearly 30 years before Fidel Castro arrived in Cuba in 1953.

Shapiro was the first person to open a textile factory in Cuba and later became the owner of the oldest and largest department store in Havana.

But Siegler recalled how shortly after Castro ousted Fulgencio Batista on Dec. 31, 1958, the revolution to liberate the Cuban people “became a bloodbath.” Its terror included the Shapiro home. In her letter, Siegler wrote: “My parents, Charles and Wilma Shapiro, resided outside of Havana at the time of the revolution. They had hired Castro soldiers to guard their home when it was obvious that a regime change was coming.

“One early evening, the guards did not appear, and at sunset, several armed soldiers invaded my parents’ home looking for money.

“My father, who had accepted Castro as the reformer for the Cuban people, suddenly saw the revolution for what it really was and decided to take steps to protect the family. He withdrew money from his bank and within hours distributed the money among his trustworthy Rotarian friends.

“Without a doubt, someone at the bank shared this information, prompting this invasion of my par-

FRANTIC DASH TO FREEDOM

This is another story about Cuba.

But this one is about a dancer whose hunger for freedom compelled him to make a split decision at an airport and run for his life — to escape a life of governmentimposed misery for a life of liberty.

Javier Dubrocq is now an accomplished artist living in Sarasota, with collectors of his works around the U.S., Mexico, Argentina and Spain. He and his wife, Isabel, a Mexico native, have lived in Sarasota for 25 years and have three grown sons, all born and raised in Sarasota.

Dubrocq, the youngest of four from a struggling Cuban family, said he cannot believe and is effusively grateful that he is living the life he dreamed about growing up in the destitute environs of Cuba.

Talk to Dubrocq about his youth, and he will tell you: “In Cuba, when you wake up, every day is a struggle to find anything to survive.”

Dubrocq was born to be free. He remembers always resisting going along and having a constant burning inside for freedom and a better life. He refused to go to the government military school his brothers attended because of its strict rules and government propaganda.

His mother lived in fear because “I had a big mouth,” Dubrocq said.

He always complained about their restricted, poor life. “The neighbors would hear me, and my mother would say, ‘You know I’m going to die because of you.’”

At age 15, after Castro boycotted the Los Angeles Olympics,

Dubrocq’s gymnastics career ended. The Cuban National Ballet recruited him. He excelled at dance.

But his feistiness and outspokenness worried the authorities. When a friend abroad sent him a copy of the American dance movie “White Nights,” he showed it to his dance colleagues. His instructors confiscated it and accused Dubrocq of brainwashing his fellow dancers.

Dubrocq’s talent catapulted him to be among the Cuban dancers who would travel the world performing as guest artists. In one trip, Dubrocq caught the eye of Anne Marie DeAngelo, artistic director of Ballet de Monterrey in Mexico. She wanted him in her company.

In December 1992, Dubrocq traveled to Mexico City with five other Cuban National Ballet dancers to perform for the ex-president of Mexico.

DeAngelo called Dubrocq and asked him to join her company.

In turn, Dubrocq called Cuban authorities for permission. But they told him to return to Cuba to fill out the proper paperwork. Dubrocq knew what that meant. They would not let him go.

On Sunday afternoon, when the dancers went to the Mexico City airport for the flight home, one of the female dancers was missing.

Unbeknown to her Cuban chaperones, she had spent the night not at the hotel with the other dancers but with her father who was visiting

Courtesy photo

Javier Dubrocq’s self-portrait

gigigigi gigi

in Mexico City. As departure time neared, the chaperones fretted over her absence.

She finally arrived. Worried about defections, the chaperones began screaming at her.

At that moment, with everyone’s attention focused on the young woman, Dubrocq made an instant decision. He began running, dodging people, jumping over chairs, racing for a set of doors to get him outside.

He jumped into a taxicab. “I turned around,” he said. “The last image I saw was two guys running after me.”

He defected.

With only a shoulder bag with ballet shoes, ballet clothes and his passport, Dubrocq spent the rest of the day in a cafe, called DeAngelo and made it to Monterrey.

Free at last.

Footnote: Dubrocq’s mother and siblings now live in the U.S. His father is deceased.

UKRAINIANS SHOW VALUE OF LIBERTY

Nolan Peterson, graduate of Pine View and the U.S. Air Force Academy and an Iraq-Afghanistan veteran, has spent the past eight years as a war correspondent in Ukraine.

This past Sunday, a Russian cruise missile exploding nearby awakened Peterson and shook the walls of his and wife’s apartment in Kyiv. He was unscathed — as was his wife, Lilly, whom Peterson relocated to safety in France last February.

As a writer of the first draft of this history, Peterson has seen horrendous atrocities and destruction the Russians have inflicted on the Ukrainian people. He described the outskirts of Kyiv as “Warsaw in 1945.”

“It’s hard to understand where that brutality and barbarism comes from,” he told us this week.

Despite the savagery, Peterson nonetheless continues to be awestruck at the resolve of the Ukrainians and the value they place on preserving their freedom.

Every last Ukrainian still in the country is involved in the war.

“It’s so amazing,” he said. “Even the millennials. … They are so will-

THURSDAY, JUNE 30, 2022

9A

Courtesy photo

Lilly and Nolan Peterson

ing to pick up a gun and stare down a tank because they want to be free.”

Whenever Vladimir Putin increases the bombings, Peterson said: “It doesn’t work. It just pisses (the Ukrainians) off and hardens their resolve. They have this core ideal that they have the right to make their own decisions. It’s so emotional to them.”

Peterson said watching the Ukrainians is “inspiring and upsetting at the same time.” Inspiring to see their “will to fight and commitment to democracy.” Upsetting to see what they are enduring.

From his vantage point, Peterson believes the outcome is going to come down to a difficult decision for Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy: Make a concession to Putin or keep fighting, knowing the cost will be high.

“They are not going to surrender,” Peterson said of the Ukrainian people. “They will fight with sticks and stones if they have to.”

For his fellow Americans, Peterson said the Ukraine war is a reminder: “We can’t assume freedom will last forever. There are always dark places out there. To maintain freedom, you have to keep working at it. You have to be ready to defend it.”

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“Everyone in the house was terrorized. My father was hit with a bayonet across the eyes. My mother was disrobed by force and suffered multiple injuries.”

In 1960, 40 years after Siegler’s father arrived in Havana and at age 65, Charles and Wilma Shapiro “left Cuba under duress with the shirts on their back and nothing to show for their years of hard work on the island.”

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THURSDAY, JUNE 30, 2022

IRON GECKO The kitchen staff at Gecko’s Grill & Pub isn’t just catering to your appetite. They’re trying to outdo each other.

SPENCER FORDIN A+E EDITOR

T

Spencer Fordin

Courtney Hancock, Dana McCormack and Ramiro Delgado are getting in the spirit of Gecko’s Iron Chef competition.

says that the best part of Iron Chef is the camaraderie among employees who want to make an impact.

“I like it just for the fun,” she says of Iron Chef. “I like creating new dishes and seeing what my backof-house staff can do as far as being creative. And I love the way my team works together to make these dishes great. In Week One, my guy was a dishwasher, but he wanted to jump in and help.

“And he did. I was so proud of him and glad he did it. He’s really talented.”

Veldhouse, formerly the kitchen manager at Fruitville Gecko’s, has used the Iron Chef as a springboard to move up in the world.

He’s now the chain’s director of culinary operations, and he says that Gecko’s absolutely likes to see its staffers take a bit of initiative.

“We like to see creativity,” he says.

“A lot of our menu items and specials are derivatives of things people have done from these competitions.

We find things that work well. Not everything that works in a special menu will always work on your core menu. Sometimes people order more of it when they can’t have it as often.”

Veldhouse says his past winning dishes have included a blackjack grouper Reuben, a country-fried steak and a shrimp-and-scallops

“It’s a competition, but at the same time you’ve got to be a team because you’ve got to be there to help each other.”

— Dana McCormack, Hillview kitchen manager

dish plated with risotto.

And what are the secrets to winning consistently?

Veldhouse says you have to work cooperatively; he would frequently tell his servers that he would share his winning proceeds if they helped push his plates.

Interestingly, though, it’s not just about finding a winning taste.

The kitchen managers have to work within Gecko’s price points, and they have to choose ingredients that are readily available.

Not only that, but they also have to stay late sometimes to make sure things are prepared.

“You’re going to have your product ready or it’s not going to get sold,” says McCormack. “It’s on them to make sure that their stuff is prepared and then to be able to work with the

other cooks on the line. It’s a competition, but at the same time you’ve got to be a team because you’ve got to be there to help each other.”

There are salary bonuses on the line and bragging rights to boot. There’s also a trophy, but more importantly, there’s the opportunity to improve their skills and make a statement.

For some competitors, it’s a yearround obsession. They’re looking at sales trends in their kitchens, and they’re plotting how to tweak them the next time Iron Chef rolls around.

McCormack jokes that you don’t have to outsell everyone, only the people in the kitchen you don’t like.

But in a more serious moment, he echoes Hancock in saying that it’s an important team-building exercise in that the Iron Chef clues you into skills you didn’t know that your teammates have.

“It’s a great way to find new people for your kitchen,” says McCormack.

“You have somebody who’s been working on dishes for a year, and all of a sudden they put out dinners, and you’re like: ‘You’re no longer a dishwasher. Now you’re going to be on the line.’

“That’s a great way to move up. We have a kitchen manager now who I hired as a dishwasher and over the years moved up. You apply yourself, and the opportunity is there.”

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hey’re teammates by day, working to take your orders and cook you a delicious meal. But when they go home, they’re plotting how to put their own stamp on the menu.

Gecko’s Grill & Pub has been holding its annual Iron Chef competition for the past few weeks, inspiring kitchen staffers to flex their creative muscles and transform the regular menu.

There’s more on the line this year than most: The competition hasn’t been held since 2019, and four-time defending champion James Veldhouse has moved out of the competitive fire.

That means that the competition is wide open, and three-time winner Dana McCormack, the kitchen manager at Hillview Gecko’s, is excited about the opportunity.

“This is a time where you want to try and step it up and do something a little fancier, show some skills you may have,” he says. “You also try and do something that’s feasible for the restaurant. What if you want them to take your recipe and put it on the menu? You try and use stuff you already have in house.”

McCormack, known for his skill at cultivating spicy peppers, is always looking to add some heat to the menu. And that’s what’s fun about the Iron Chef competition: All the Gecko’s employees are encouraged to take the existing menu and add their own flavor.

The competition has already gone through four weeks, and the staff at each Gecko’s location is primarily competing against each other.

Six location champions have been crowned, and the final will be held among the champions from June 27 through July 3.

Courtney Hancock, the assistant kitchen manager at Fruitville Gecko’s,

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MARTY FUGATE THEATER CRITIC

G

racie Gardner’s “Athena” has unsheathed its foils on the Urbanite Theatre stage.

It’s a play about fencing.

But that’s a lot like saying “The Tempest” is a play about the aftermath of a shipwreck. There’s far more to it than that.

The setting is the Fencers’ Club in New York City. Two high school juniors are training for a national fencing competition.

It’s their first bout together. And their backgrounds and fighting styles are radically different.

Athena (Lea Sevola) is aggressive and in your face. Whacking her foil on her opponent’s shoulder is her signature move.

And when Athena scores, she shouts a warrior’s victory cry.

“Athena” is her self-chosen “fencing name” — a one-word handle like “Sting.” The character takes it from the Greek goddess, her role model. (As she puts it, Athena’s “just like the goddess of strategic warfare and all that.”)

But that Olympic grandiosity is missing from Athena’s home life.

Outside of competition, she lives a life of quiet desperation, inhaling her father’s secondhand smoke in his cramped NYC apartment.

Anything beyond community college is out of her reach. Winning the nationals is Athena’s way out.

Mary Wallace (Emma Giorgio) is shy and politely apologetic. When she loses a point, she weeps.

Sure, she wants to win. But fencing’s just a hobby to her.

Mary’s a child of privilege (a

rich kid, in other words).

She needs no student loan.

Marine biology? No problem.

Mary’s family will happily pay her way. If she finds herself and changes her major, they’ll pay for that too. Mary needs no way out.

She’s already in.

Class and temperament aside, these young women have something in common. They’re both good fencers — and they both want to get better.

They’re almost evenly matched as training partners.

Despite their differences, they decide to keep training together.

And so they do.

Athena and Mary Wallace start off as sparring partners, not friends.

But as William Blake once observed, “Opposition is True Friendship.” By fighting each other, Mary and Athena make each other better. In the process, they become friends.

But can they stay that way?

That would be telling.

And it’s hard to tell where this play is going.

Dialogue and swordplay go back and forth. Literally.

That’s largely a result of the unconventional staging.

Live theater typically transpires behind a proscenium arch.

That rectangular opening is an implied window — the invisible “fourth wall” through which you spy on the characters like a Peeping Tom with a ticket.

But “Athena” is far from typical.

The playwright’s highly specific about the staging she wants.

Alyssa Mohn’s minimalistic set delivers beautifully.

In this Urbanite production, the characters fence (verbally and with foils) on a “piste” — a catwalk running from one end of the room to the other.

The audience sits on both sides of this strip, watching the actors go back and forth.

Here, you’re no voyeur gazing

IF YOU GO

‘ATHENA’ When: Runs through July 10 Where: Urbanite Theatre, 1487 Second St. Tickets: $20-$36 Info: Visit UrbaniteTheatre. com.

through a window.

You’re in the room.

Now let’s shift from swords to words. There’s a music to Gardner’s speech — a rhythmic, staccato counterpoint. In “Athena,” nobody rambles or monologues.

Her dialogue is a series of short, sharp, shocks. Imagine a Pinter play about two female fencers …

Athena: I watch tapes.

Mary Wallace: I make notes.

Athena: I mentally catalogue my mistakes.

Mary Wallace: I fixate on mine.

Along with being sparse, Gardner’s speech is never on the nose.

Her characters (like real-life teens) don’t wear their hearts on their sleeves. They don’t telegraph their deepest desires. (“I need a friend.”

Or whatever.)

Aside from psychobabble and sports cliches, they don’t put their motives into words (and probably can’t). You have to work that out for yourself. There’s no fat in Gardner’s writing.

Summer Wallace’s direction is equally lean and mean.

This scripted play strives to seem unscripted. Wallace succeeds in evoking the urgency of now. The two young actors do, too. They’re in the moment.

And have no clue about the moments to come.

Kudos also to Katherine Coyl’s expert fight direction. Her swordplay doesn’t look choreographed.

It obviously has to be. If not, the actors might get hurt.

But if it’s not done well, their fights might seem fake.

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Lea Sevola plays Athena and Emma Giorgio plays her foil, Mary Wallace.

Coyl always keeps it real (or seemingly real).

Alison Gensmer’s costumes cleverly reveal and conceal. When they’re not suited up, Athena’s street garb is working-class tough; Mary Wallace’s outfits are tasteful and upscale.

Gensmer’s clothes make the character — like wearable shorthand that individualizes them.

But their fencing uniforms are just impersonal. They hide the fencers’ faces. Wire mesh masks are all you can see. It makes the actors look like serial killers from some grindhouse horror movie.

OK, that sounds pretty scary.

But Gardner’s play is all about laughter, not slaughter. This is a comedy, folks. But a spoonful of comic sugar makes serious medicine go down. Between the laughs, the playwright hints of the

characters’ hidden wounds.

Their story is deeply personal.

But it also aims a spotlight on America’s obsession with winners and losers.

Sports is a zero-sum game.

Most sports plays and movies are, too.

You want to know the final score! Rocky? Eric Liddell? Peter LaFleur? Who won?

In a typical sports play, that’s the big question.

“Athena” doesn’t even ask it.

Gardner’s interested in a far different question: Is William Blake right?

Does fierce competition create friendship — or kill it?

The playwright’s ending gives her answer. I’m not sure I agree with it.

But I won’t give it away.

Soar this July 4th Weekend and

5370 GULF OF MEXICO DR, LONGBOAT KEY SUITE 105 379316-1

“Athena” explores the fine line between competition and friendship in a fastpaced production at Urbanite Theatre.

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THURSDAY, JUNE 30, 2022

OUR PICK

SUMMER CIRCUS SPECTACULAR We have no idea how they do it. There’s no strings and no wires. There’s just old-fashioned human amazement and wonderment. The Circus Arts Conservatory and the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art bring you an hour’s worth of entertainment full of nimble acrobats, flexible contortionists and the insane art of balancing the weight of your partner in the palm of your hand — or on your head.

IF YOU GO When: 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. through Aug. 13 Where: Historic Asolo Theater, 5401 Bay Shore Road Tickets: $18; children over 12 $12; children 12 and under free Info: Visit Ringling.org.

THIS WEEK THURSDAY

KEN MILLER 7 p.m. at McCurdy’s Comedy Theatre, 1923 Ringling Blvd. $25 Visit McCurdysComedy.com You’ve got five chances to see upand-coming comic Ken Miller, who turned heads as the grand prize winner at the Steve Harvey Standup Spotlight Comedy Competition in 2019. Miller, an Army veteran, was born in North Carolina but lives in Orlando. His website boasts that if you don’t laugh at his show, he’ll buy your first drink. Runs through July 2.

FRIDAY ‘DISNEY’S ALADDIN JR.’ 7 p.m. at Manatee Performing Arts Center, 502 Third Ave. W. $9.80-$20 Visit ManateePerformingArtsCenter. com.

This is a For Kids By Kids production of the Disney classic that took an Academy Award and later hit Broadway. Dream up three wishes and watch as the talented youngsters transport you to another time and place.

MUSIC ON MAIN 6-9 p.m. at Lakewood Ranch Main Street Free Visit LakewoodRanch.com.

If it’s the First Friday of the month, that means it’s a street party in Lakewood Ranch. Scarlet Drive will be the featured band, playing an upbeat blend of country, pop, rock and dance music. The streets will be lined with food venders and beer trucks, and proceeds benefit Manatee Police Athletic League.

‘MOXIE’ BY RITA RUST 6-9 p.m. at Art Uptown Gallery, 1367 Main St. Free Visit ArtUptown.com.

www.manasotaonline.com

Come fete painter Rita Rust at the reception for her exhibit, “Moxie.”

Rust’s compositions explore the quest to find joy and light in dark times. The painter said she was inspired to paint these “action portraits” during the pandemic when she saw pictures of her niece’s children cavorting outside. The exhibit will be on display through July 30.

LASER LIGHT NIGHTS: SUBLIME 9 p.m. at Bishop Museum of Science and Nature, 201 Tenth St. W., Bradenton $15 Visit BishopScience.org.

Lasers. It’s What I Got. The Bishop Museum’s Laser Light Nights will take on the ska-infused canon of Sublime, and if you’re two hours earlier, you can catch a show that mashes up the music of Green Day and The Offspring. Plant your eyes on the ceiling as laser lights punctuate your favorite songs with animations and blasts of color.

SATURDAY ARTS ADVOCATES MEMBER EXHIBIT: CHRIS BUTCHER 2-4 p.m. at Arts Advocates Gallery, 3501 S. Tamiami Trail Free Visit ArtsAdvocates.org.

This month’s featured artist at Arts Advocates is Chris Butcher, who takes on familiar classic works of art and substitutes exotic birds for models. The exhibit is called “The Bird People,” and the gallery is open every Saturday for two hours. Free tours scheduled for 3 p.m.

NEVERFEST 4 p.m. at Big Top Brewing Company, 975 Cattleman Road Free Visit Eventbrite.com.

It’s a punk rock party hosted by a brewery. Neverless and Roxx Revolt & the Velvets will headline this festival at Big Top’s refurbished location of the old Cock and Bull bar. Discord Theory, Red Letter Day, Flagman

1734 South Tamiami Trail Venice, FL 34293 941.493.7441

and Grand Central are also scheduled to play.

MURDER MYSTERY TROLLEY 7:30 p.m. at Discover Sarasota Tours, 1826 Fourth St. $50 Visit DiscoverSarasotaTours.com.

Somebody’s dead. And you’ve got to figure out whodunit. Visitors to the interactive trolley tour can be cast as part of a 90-minute journey that visits several Sarasota circus locations. It’s part play and part scavenger hunt, and the rest is up to you.

‘WHEN X MEETS Y: AMERICAN REVOLUTION’ 7:30 p.m. at Bowne’s Lab, 1265 First St. $15 Visit FloridaStudioTheatre.org.

play involves two women who are foils in fencing and life as they seek to navigate their hopes and dreams in sports and beyond.

MONDAY ‘AMERICAN FANFARE’ 4:30 p.m. at Sarasota Opera House, 61 N. Pineapple Ave. Tickets $5-$50 Visit ChoralArtistsSarasota.org.

The long-standing tradition continues. The Choral Artists of Sarasota have made Independence Day a highlight of their schedule with an event that features patriotic songs and a salute to the Armed Forces.

The Choral Artists will be joined by the Lakewood Ranch Wind Ensemble in their celebration of America.

TUESDAY 21ST ANNUAL PLAYERS NEW PLAY FESTIVAL 7:30 p.m. at The Players Studio $10 for a single day; $24 for three days; $35 for five days Visit ThePlayers.org.

Witness the birth of a few new plays as regional playwrights compete for their work to be produced by The Players next season. “Of the Lake” will be the play shown on Tuesday evening. “Gin Rickey,” “Lateral Moves” and “When Lighting Strikes” will be shown over the next three evenings.

WEDNESDAY GREG WARREN 7 p.m. at McCurdy’s Comedy Theatre, 1923 Ringling Blvd. $25 Visit McCurdysComedy.com.

Greg Warren takes his “Creamy and Crunchy” tour all over America, and you might have even seen him on late-night TV shows like “Late Night with Seth Meyers” and the old “The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson.” His last comedy special was called “Where The Field Corn Grows.” Warren will play six shows at McCurdy’s running through July 10.

Give them a location and three notes on the keyboard, and Florida Studio Theatre will handle the rest. It’s a tale of the revolution and of love stories told in the style of “Hamilton” and sung for comedic effect.

SUNDAY BEYOND VAN GOGH 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Starry Night Pavilion, 195 University Town Center Drive $29-$84 Visit VanGoghSarasota.com.

Be part of a masterpiece. The Van Gogh immersive exhibit has been on display in Sarasota since March, and it’s such a big hit that it’s already been extended twice. As of now, the final date of the exhibit is July 25.

So you’ve got three more weeks to stand among the sunflowers and take a visual tour of the master’s work that’s literally larger than life.

‘ATHENA’ 2 p.m. at Urbanite Theatre, 1487 Second St. $20-$36 Visit UrbaniteTheatre.com.

There’s one more week to see “Athena,” which runs through July 10. This

4551 N. Washington Blvd.

Sarasota, FL 34234 941.355.8437

2510 1st Street West Bradenton, FL 34208 941.748.4679

DON’T MISS

FOURTH OF JULY ALL-AMERICAN COOKOUT Mom, Dad and apple pie. And fireworks! Come down to Selby Gardens for fun, games and all-American food available for purchase from Michael’s On East. Parking is included in your general admission tickets, and Selby Gardens will provide a commanding view of the fireworks over Sarasota Bay. IF YOU GO When: 5:30 p.m. Monday, July 4 Where: Selby Gardens, 1534 Mound St. Tickets: $35; members $25; all-inclusive $200 Info: Visit Selby.org.

OUR SHOWROOMS ARE OPEN Special Financing Available

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Longboat Key Chamber of Commerce

Longboat Key's

4

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of July

FREEDOM FEST

9:00 to 11 a.m. Monday, July 4, Bicentennial Park on Bay Isles Road

Parade Food Games Sand Art Face Painting Balloon Artist Stilt Walker Chucko the Clown

$500 Prize. Cannons Marina is offering a $500 cash prize to the most patriotic business entry in the parade (as long as there is a minimum of 10 business entries). Floats may be any motorized vehicle with 4 wheels e.g. golf cart, auto, van, trailer, etc. To enter, please call the chamber at 383-2466. Registration fee is $25 for business floats and there is no charge for non-profit floats. Parade starts promptly at 9am.

Kid Games & Butterfly Release. Fun games for kids of all ages after the parade with loads of prizes for everyone. Kids can also take tours of Longboat Key's biggest fire truck and rescue unit. Kids will get to release dozens of butterflies, supplied by the Longboat Key Garden Club.

"Hot Diggity Dog!" Parade & Contest w/ Prizes

Presenting Sponsor

Supporting Sponsors

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THURSDAY, JUNE 30, 2022

ROGER SELLS LUXURY WATERFRONT PROPERTIES MORE THAN $206 MILLION CLOSED IN 2021

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CALL TODAY FOR YOUR EXCLUSIVE TOUR (941) 387-1840 443 John Ringling Boulevard, Suite F | Sarasota, FL 34236 595 Bay Isles Road, Suite 250 | Longboat Key, FL 34228 Pettingell.com | www.bestSarasotarealestate.net Twitter.com/RealRoger | Instagram.com/RogerPettingell | Roger@Pettingell.com Owned by a subsidiary of Realogy Brokerage Group LLC 379695-1

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YOUR NEIGHBORS

Intern to

HER BONAFIDES

LESLEY DWYER STAFF WRITER

W

hat can a sea cucumber teach people about leadership?

Julie C. Henry says you’d be surprised. The slimy sea cucumber has a chapter dedicated to its resilience in Henry’s book, “Wisdom from the Wild.”

When approached by a predator, a sea cucumber will eviscerate itself.

The predator will either go away or eat what’s been expelled.

Either way, the sea cucumber survives.

“At that point, the sea cucumber, which is related to a sea star, can regrow its own guts, which is hugely inspirational and comforting to me because as leaders, especially leading change and especially everything we’ve dealt with in the last two years, you feel quite scared and like you’re going to throw up,” Henry said. “To me, the lesson in nature is you’re not just built to survive but to thrive, and so it’s dialing back into your gut memory.”

The sea cucumber analogy highlights unlikely leadership traits but is also meant to catch attention.

Henry was working in Alabama with clients in a manufacturing plant. She said, “If I tell them a story about a sea cucumber, they’re sud-

denly paying attention, even though they’ve been working 12-hour shifts out on the production floor.”

After 11 years of working at zoos and aquariums, Henry had unknowingly compiled chapters for her book.

She was using the same lessons when working with corporate clients, so in 2008 she launched her own consulting business, Finish Line Leadership.

Henry travels the country and is on the road one to two weeks a month, but Sarasota is her home base.

Longboat Key is not only close to Henry’s heart because of her connection to Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium; her family used to spend spring breaks at the Casa Del Mar Beach Resort.

She still remembers the family tennis lessons and filling a bucket with coquinas, water and sand. She hauled the bucket back to their condo and put it in the refrigerator.

Henry acknowledges that was a terrible idea, but she didn’t grow up near the beach. Growing up along the Great Lakes in Chicago, then Cleveland, she could only dream of waterfronts that weren’t hazardous to her health.

“When I moved to Cleveland in ’84, the lake was declared dead, and the river caught on fire. There were syringes washing up on shore, and that anchored my environmental soul,” Henry said. “And then coming

down here to Longboat and to Casa Del Mar and just realizing, OK, here’s the other side of things.”

Henry was studying the works of Mote Founder Eugenie Clark at the Miami (Ohio) University when her parents moved to Sarasota.

Her mom was at Mote and asked how her daughter could get an internship; Henry was a Mote intern in 1994 and 1995. In 1999, she moved to Sarasota and worked in Mote’s education department until 2005.

A dream come true, Henry gave presentations alongside Eugenie Clark and did yoga with her in the conference room after work.

“She was a larger-than-life personality but the most real scientist I’ve ever known,” she said.

There’s a nod to Clark in the book: “I moved to Florida in awe of working at the organization founded by such a legendary scientist and surrounded by ongoing, groundbreaking research.”

That’s the only time Henry names a scientist or organization in the book, but locals might recognize the touch tank in Chapter 8. Henry worked at Mote when it was being designed. They wanted a tank as easily accessible to a visitor in a wheelchair as it would be to one standing.

The solution was to shape one portion as an hourglass. Wheelchairs can roll underneath like a tabletop,

Lesley Dwyer

Henry uses animals to teach leadership skills in her book, “Wisdom from the Wild.”

and everyone enjoys the same touch tank experience.

Henry is the type of person who champions the underdog, whether it’s a sea cucumber or a human being.

“I have a heart for people who don’t exhibit stereotypical leadership qualities,” she said. “Maybe they’re not the loudest person in the room or the most gutsy or the person who’s going to step up first, but it doesn’t mean they’re not a leader.”

“Wisdom from the Wild” was published in January and is available online at Amazon or locally at the Mote gift shop, Barnes & Noble, Elysian Fields and Environeers.

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author

Julie C. Henry has completed: n Bachelor of Science degrees in both zoology and education (Miami University of Ohio) n A Master of Arts in communication (University of South Florida) n A postgraduate diploma in outdoor education (University of Otago – New Zealand) n Executive program certificate in sustainable business leadership (Green Mountain College) n Graduate coursework in winter ecology in Grand Teton National Park (Teton Science School) n A fellowship with the Toyota TogetherGreen program of the National Audubon Society n The Disney’s Animal Kingdom/World Wildlife Fund Biodiversity Leadership Institute n The Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar program to New Zealand

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Passing the gavel Rotary’s Concierge Physician. His award states, “On call 24/7, house calls not a problem.” His wife, Nancy Rozance, noted a minor issue with the 24/7 calling hours but was happy for him nonetheless.

She won the Children’s Literacy & Water Safety Champion award.

“Her Harvest Fest program that she organized for Children’s Guardian Fund benefited 114 local children, bringing literacy, nutrition and family bonding time to 50 homes,” Carol Erker said. “Spring into Action with Children’s Guardian Fund assisted 85 children from 50 families.”

Rozance also helped gather 275 gift packages for the Angel Tree program over the holidays.

They were given to children of migrant farmworkers in Arcadia and Palmetto. At Tuttle Elementary, she helped distribute 1,300 books and secured district grants to help offset the Rotary’s cost for providing students with water safety training.

“I’m proud of our club for not only persevering through the challenges all clubs faced during the pandemic but also growing membership, accomplishing predefined goals and flourishing,” Fuller said.

—LESLEY DWYER

Photos by Lesley Dwyer

Teresa Taft, Jeff Driver and Bo Fuller

Gene Luca thanks the club for a happy birthday.

Nancy and Jack Rozance show off their awards.

St. Armands Key

All are welcome at All Angels no exceptions

LUTHERAN CHURCH

• We’ve ramped up, anyone of any mobility is welcome

SUMMER WORSHIP

Saturday at 5pm Sunday at 10am (with Fellowship at 9am)

• In-person worship services Sunday at 10 a.m.

• Live-stream at AllAngelsLBK.org to participate on-line

UPCOMING EVENTS:

• Discussion Groups on Tue & Wed at 10 a.m.

Growing in Jesus’ Name

379709-1 379700-1

379215-1

563 Bay Isles Rd • 941-383-8161 AllAngelsLBK.org

Sunday July 3 at 4pm A Patriotic Celebration featuring The Swing Sisters Community BBQ * Free

St. Armands Key Lutheran Church • 40 North Adams Dr., Sarasota, FL • 941.388.1234 • Questions? Contact: michael@saklc.com

St. Mary, Star of the Sea,

Worship WorshipWith WithUs UsAt atOur OurChurch Church Sunday Service 10:00 AM Sunday Service 10:00 AM The Rev. The Rev.Dr. Dr.Norman NormanPritchard Pritchard

Catholic Church

Would like to Welcome & Invite You, Your Family Members & Friends to Celebrate Mass with Our Parish Community SUMMER MASS SCHEDULE (May-December) Saturday: 4:00 PM Sunday: 8:30 AM and 10:30 AM Daily Mass at 9:00 AM; Rosary at 8:30 AM Monday - Friday Daily Chaplet of Divine Mercy following Mass

Men’s Bible Study: Monday @ 9:00 Masks AreWednesday Optional @ 10:00 Women’s Bible Study:

Visitors Welcome Visitors & & Residents Residents Welcome

6400 Gulf of Mexico Dr.

•

941.383.8833 (office)

379341-1

An Ecumenical Church that Welcomes all People Founded in 1956

•

379237-1

www.bit.ly/cclbksermons www.bit.ly/cclbksermons oror (followYouTube YouTubelink) link) www.christchurchof lbk.org(follow www.christchurchoflbk.org

www.christchurchoflbk.org

Please join us for worship in person on Sunday at 10 a.m. or online at our website and Facebook Live Stream at 10 a.m.

379408-1

Watch AMService ServiceLive: Live: WatchOur Our10:00 10:00 AM

4280 Gulf of Mexico Drive Longboat Key, FL 34228 383-1255 • www.stmarylbk.org

Rev. Robert Dziedziak, Pastor

Temple Beth Israel

The Center of Jewish Living on Longboat Key

Please join us for Friday Evening Shabbat Services at 7:30pm each week in our Sanctuary, and morning Shabbat service & Torah Study at 10:00 am every Saturday.

Check our website for more information on upcoming events & programs, including the NEW Education Center at TBI offerings!

If you’d like to join our mailing list, send an email to office@tbi-lbk.org to stay up to date!

Due to the rise of Covid cases in our area, we will require masks & encourage social distancing until further notice.

6200 Gulf of Mexico Drive • Longboat Key, Florida 34228 • 941-383-6491

941.383.3428 | www.tbi-lbk.org

Follow us on Facebook • www.longboatislandchapel.org

RABBI STEPHEN L. SNIDERMAN, D.D.

567 Bay Isles Road • Longboat Key, FL

The Lord’s Warehouse is OPEN Monday, Wednesday and Saturday from 9am - noon.

379420-1

T

he “do-goodery” was as high as the temperature Tuesday night when the Rotary Club of Longboat Key met for its annual Passing of the Gavel ceremony.

Outgoing President Bo Fuller passed the gavel to his successor, Jeff Driver. Playing into the fun and excitement of the evening, Driver waved the gavel around, joking he was Thor.

About 30 members gathered in the Parish Hall at All Angels by the Sea Episcopal Church. They sang “Happy Birthday” to Gene Luca, they dropped “happy dollars” into donation buckets, and they recognized the club’s “do-goodery” over the past year.

The Rotary is not only a fundraising organization but also a volunteering organization. Members do not simply write checks.

The proof is in the awards. Ellen Greenberger won the Academy Award for Creativity in Presenting Programs to Children.

During a presentation to promote swimming safety, Josh the Otter teaches children to float, so Greenberger took a hands-on approach. She “floated” with the kids of Tuttle Elementary School while prone on the floor.

Jack Rozance was named

LONGBOAT N O KE D Y CB

America!

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From all of us at

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YourObserver.com

LONGBOAT OBSERVER

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THURSDAY, JUNE 30, 2022

3B

#1 LONGBOAT KEY TEAM 2021 Michael Saunders & Company & TOP 1.5% OF AGENTS NATIONWIDE!

I NADRI N IN V ELTS N TO I SAT OU R S P EMCAI ARLT Y •I NG C O N•NPER E C TSONA I O N S LM T ESERV R! BENCHFM K GR E SU • RY STR EGIC K ET I ZAT ED ICE

E IC R P

T EN M VE O PR IM

RECENT ACTIVITY

BENCH M A R K R E SU LTS • S T R AT EGIC M A R K ET I NG • PER SONA L I Z ED SERV ICE 2067 H A R BOUR LINKS DR I V E, #4 L on g b o at K e y | O f f ere d at $ 7 79, 0 0 0 MLS# A4178487

D

L H A R BOUR LINKS DR I V E, #4 2067 SO

2067 H A R BOUR LINKS DR I V E, #4 L on g b o a t K e y | O f f e re d a t $ 7 79, 0 0 0 MLS# A4178487

L on g b o at K e y | O f f e re d at $ 7 79, 0 0 0 MLS# A4178487

SLEEPY LAGOON SANCTUARY

2067 H A R BOUR LINKS DR I V E, STREET #4 2067 H AAT R $1,499,000 BOUR LINKS DR I V E, #4 701 PENFIELD | OFFERED

2067 H A R BOUR LINKS DR I V E, #4 750 PENFIELD ST | $3,000,000

L on gPerfectly b o a t K esituated y | O f f eon re da deep a t $ 7water 79, 0 0canal 0 with easy access L on b o a t K eBay, y | Othis f f e2rebedroom d a t $ 7 79, 000 togSarasota home MLS# A4178487 MLS# A4178487 offers 2 docks, a 2 car garage, a new roof and an ideal north Longboat Key location

with deeded beach access.

2067 H A R BOUR LINKS DR I V E, #4MLS# A4537570 2067 H A R BOUR LINKS DR I V E, #4 L on g b o at K e y | O f f ere d at $ 7 79, 0 0 0 MLS# A4178487

L on g b o a t K e y | O f f e re d a t $ 7 79, 0 0 0 MLS# A4178487

U

G IN T S LI

2067 H A R BOUR LINKS DR I V E, #4 L on g b o a t K e y | O f f e re d a t $ 7 79, 0 0 0 MLS# A4178487

2067 H A R BOUR LINKS DR I V E, #4 L on g b o at K e y | O f f ere d at $ 7 79, 0 0 0 MLS# A4178487

2067 H A R BOUR LINKS DR I V E, #4

2067 H A R BOUR LINKS DR I V E, #4

2067 H A R BOUR LINKS DR I V E, #4

2067 H A R BOUR LINKS DR I V E, #4

L on g b o a t K e y | O f f e re d a t $ 7 79, 0 0 0 MLS# A4178487

L on g b o a t K e y | O f f e re d a t $ 7 79, 0 0 0 MLS# A4178487

I A N A DDY, PA

R E A LT O R ®, M B A SAND KEY BEACH RESORT

IanAddy@MichaelSaunders. com 4725 GULF OF MEXICO DRIVE #213 | OFFERED AT $869,000 in grossHincome for 2021 and comes fur-#4 2067 This H A2Rbedroom BOUR vacation LINKSgetaway DR I Vearned E, #4over $63K2067 A R BOUR LINKS DRfully I V E, nished.

The beachfront community of Sand Cay offers owners excellent amenities including a heated L on g b o a t K e y | O f f e re d a t $ 7 79, 0 0 0 L on g b o a t K e y | O f f e re d a t $ 7 79, 0 0 0 pool, shuffleboard, tennis courts, barbeque area and over 340’ of MLS# white A4178487 sand beach to enjoy.

MLS# A4178487 MLS# A4539173

L on g b o a t K e y | O f f e re d a t $ 7 79, 0 0 0 549 YAWL LANE | $1,600,000 MLS# A4178487

L on g b o at K e y | O f f e re d at $ 7 79, 0 0 0 MLS# A4178487 LD SO

G A I L W IT T IG

BROK E R-A SSOCI ATE GailWittig@MichaelSaunders.com 2067 H A R BOUR LINKS DR I V E, #4

941.387.0100

I A N A DDY, PA R E A LT O R ®, M B A

IanAddy@MichaelSaunders.com

L on g b o a t K e y | O f f e re d a t $ 7 79, 0 0 0 MLS# A4178487

230 SANDS POINT ROAD #3907 | $2,703,000

G A I L W IT T IG

BROK E R-A SSOCI ATE GailWittig@MichaelSaunders.com

941.387.0100

W W W . L O N G B O AT L I F E . C O M

379354-1

W NE

L on g b o a t K e y | O f f e re d a t $ 7 79, 0 0 0 MLS# A4178487 CT A 2067 THR A R BOUR LINKS DR I V E, #4 N CLOon g b o at K e y | O f f e re d at $ 7 79, 0 0 0 MLS# A4178487 ER D N

4B

LONGBOAT OBSERVER

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THURSDAY, JUNE 30, 2022

YOUR CALENDAR

SMITTEN WITH KITTENS

941-366-2404 | 2542 17th St., Sarasota, FL 34234 | www.catdepot.org

379603-1

Adopt, Don’t Shop

Living and Working on Longboat Key for 40 Years

Cathy C. Meldahl, P.A. Your Longboat Key Community Realtor

File photo

MONDAY, JULY 4

FREEDOM FEST AND HOT DIGGITY DOG PARADE & CONTEST From 9-11 a.m. at Bicentennial Park, 2730 Gulf of Mexico Drive. Get out your red, white and blue because Freedom Fest is back for its 19th year with fun for the whole family, including the Hot Diggity Dog parade and contest. This event is free and open to the public. Call 383-2466.

• Consistent top producer on Longboat Key • In-depth knowledge of the real estate market • Active in our community with Longbeach Village Association Longboat Key Historical Society Longboat Key Chamber of Commerce Longboat Key Garden Club

SUNDAY, JULY 3

379361-1

941.724.7228

SUMMER GARDEN CONCERT 4 p.m. in the garden at St. Armands Key Lutheran Church, 40 N Adams Drive. The church is hosting a patriotic celebration and community BBQ. The Swing Sisters will be performing. This event is free and open to the public. Call 388-1234.

CathyMeldahl@michaelsaunders.com

RECURRING EVENTS MONDAYS

STRETCH & STRENGTHEN From 10-11 a.m. at The Paradise Center, 546 Bay Isles Road. Focus is on strength training and flexibility for balance. Suzy Brenner leads the class. Fee is $10. Walk-ins welcome.

Call 383-6493.

THINKING OUT LOUD: TIMELY TOPICS WITH MIKE KARP From 1-2:30 p.m. at The Paradise Center, 546 Bay Isles Road. Topics will include U.S. and world current affairs, popular culture and topics relevant to seniors. Cost is $10.

Walk-ins welcome. Call 383-6493.

LORD’S WAREHOUSE THRIFT STORE The thrift store will be open 9 a.m. to noon at 6140 GMD. Donations are

9 4 1 . 3 4 3 . 9 3 9 6 | w w w. G r a n t s G a r d e n s . c o m

One of a kind

TUESDAYS

QI GONG From 10-11 a.m. at The Paradise Center, 546 Bay Isles Road. Qi gong is a mind-body-spirit practice designed to improve mental and physical health. Class is outdoors, weather permitting. Cost is $10. Walk-ins welcome. Call 383-6493.

MAH JONGG From 1-3 p.m. at The Paradise Center, 546 Bay Isles Road. Fun time for experienced players. To check availability at the tables, email MaryAnnBrady@TheParadiseCenter.org.

ROTARY CLUB Meets at 5 p.m. on first and third Tuesdays in All Angles Parish Hall, 563 Bay Isles Road. To learn more, call Nancy Rozance at 203-6054066 or email Info@LongboatKeyRotary.org.

TUESDAY AND FRIDAY

LONGBOAT LIBRARY The Longboat Library is open from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Tuesdays and Fridays at 555 Bay Isles Road. A halfprice sale on the library’s collection of used books is held every Wednesday. Call 383-2011 for information.

MOVE IN READY NEWLY LISTED

Tidy Island Estate

537 Spinnaker Lane, Longboat Key

LIVE THE LUXURIOUS FLORIDA LIFESTYLE In this stunning waterfront double lot home on Sarasota Bay’s Tidy Island! This palatial Parker Walter Group-designed home offers three levels of indoor/outdoor living space with a total of 11,330 square feet! Brazilian cherry floors and cypress-lined ceilings exemplifies the highest-end material and finishes. Complete with an elevator, the accessible 3-floors offer 5 bedrooms (plus a bonus room), 4.5 bathrooms, and a 4-car garage. Entering the home, the breathtaking staircase leads you to the 2nd level with an expansive view of the bay, a chef’s dream kitchen including a Wolf oven, large gas range, Sub-Zero refrigerator, dual Fisher-Paykel dishwashers, expansive counter space, beverage station with wine cooler, and storage. Enjoy this open concept living with limitless entertainment space for your family and friends with the master suite, guest, and bonus rooms nearby. Ownership on Tidy Island is the distinctive opportunity for you! $3,200,000 MLS #: A4537194

BOATING TO BEACH LIFESTYLE - $2,375,000 This charming home feels larger than 2,046 of living space, w/ a great split floor plan, open to the beautiful pool and patio, a true 3+BD/3BA w/an ensuite den enjoying peaceful water views. Location, waterfront luxury lifestyle & move in ready are all possible to start living the dream you deserve!

KATHY CALLAHAN 941-900-8088 KathyCallahan@michaelsaunders.com LBKathy.com

Shandra Holbrook REALTOR®

440 Gulf of Mexico Drive, Longboat Key, FL 34228

s.holbrookfl@gmail.com Dalton Wade Real Estate Group

383713-1

daltonwade.com Office: (502) 905-8528

383851-1

383371-1

MONDAYS, WEDNESDAYS AND SATURDAYS

accepted during business hours.

Call 383-4738.

REAL ESTATE... REAL PARADISE

YourObserver.com

LONGBOAT OBSERVER

|

THURSDAY, JUNE 30, 2022

5B

REAL ESTATE BY A REAL EXPERT

OVER $134 MILLION SOLD IN 2021 • OVER $68 MILLION LISTED, PENDING, AND SOLD IN 2022

FAIRWAY BAY 1904 HARBOURSIDE DR., #204 LONGBOAT KEY, FL JUST LISTED $1,195,000 A 3BR/3BA, 2,258 sq-ft corner townhouse in Fairway Bay has been completely remodeled with top-quality touches and appointments throughout and includes a rarely found 2-4 car garage.

1904 HARBOURSIDE DR., #204 - JUST LISTED

THE HARBOR - BAY ISLES 501 HARBOR GATE WAY LONGBOAT KEY, FL JUST LISTED $2,995,000 Discover next-level grandeur, serenity and privacy in this 3BR plus den/office, 3,662sq.-ft. canal-front pool residence, featuring a 120’ seawall, and boasts a boat lift for a smaller boat, plus dock space for the yacht.

501 HARBOR GATE WAY • LONGBOAT KEY, FL - JUST LISTED TWO NEW HOMES TO BE BUILT 2315 WEBBER STREET SARASOTA, FL $1,895,000 The Laurel Oak model is a 4BR/5.5BA, 3,250+/- sq.-ft. contemporary-style residence by Vertical Design+Build, professionally designed for leisurely entertaining and elegant living. Fine appointments and luxury features are found at every turn to create a brilliant showplace of both form and function, from the decorative porcelain tile floors flowing throughout to the private gate entrance, 20,000+sq. ft. lot and everything in between.

2315 WEBBER STREET • SARASOTA, FL - NEW CONSTRUCTION

VIZCAYA 2333 GULF OF MEXICO DR., #1C2 LONGBOAT KEY, FL $ 4,895,000 Stunning Gulf and Bay views from this luxurius and sprawling 4BR/4.5BA residence with a wraparound terrace, separate guest suite, voluminous 2-car garage, and private elevator.

2333 GULF OF MEXICO DR. #1C2 • LONGBOAT KEY, FL

WATER CLUB 1241 GULF OF MEXICO DR., #201 LONGBOAT KEY, FL $6,495,000 Double the luxury and lifestyle with two sweeping stories of front-row views of the Gulf of Mexico from this 5BR/6.5BA, 2-level residence with a private walkdown to the beach.

1241 GULF OF MEXICO DR. #201 • LONGBOAT KEY, FL

Bruce Myer

Realtor ®

941.376.5311 595 BAY ISLES ROAD, SUITE 250 LONGBOAT KEY, FL 34228

379729-1

Bruce@BruceMyer.com • www.BruceMyer.com

6B

LONGBOAT OBSERVER

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YourObserver.com

THURSDAY, JUNE 30, 2022 Pirouette® Operating Systems PowerView® Motorization

PET PICS

Sarasota’s Best Voted One of

Have photos of your four-legged family members? We want to see them! Share them at YourObserver.com/contests/petpics to be published online and for a chance to see them in print!

28 Years in a Row!

YOUR HOME DESERVES

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DISTINGUISHED LOOKING: Ryder Rebel Yell playing catch with Mom on Buttonwood Drive on Longboat Key.

845 LongboatevClub 65 Lighthouse dPoint irD tRoad nioP esuohthgiL 56 aoR bDrive ulC taobgnoL 548 Rivo Sarasota 19,300 SF | A4440615 0845 0 0,Longboat 59|7$19,750,000 ,3$ |Club 181Road 834 4|ARegent | FS 3Court 39,4 4,933 SF | A4438181 0 0 0Penthouse ,057|,9$3,795,000 1$| |Downtown 5160 4 4 4A | FS 0 03,91

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LONGBOAT OBSERVER

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THURSDAY, JUNE 30, 2022

7B

REID MURPHY PRESENTS

LUXURY ON THE WATER BUYING or SELLING Call Reid for a successful real estate experience!

941-232-3304

LONGBOAT KEY GULFFRONT

New resort-style estate now under construction on Longboat Key. Home + Guesthouse w/100’ of frontage on rare 1+ acre. 10,400 sf of A/C + 2,850 sf of decks & patios w/ Spa & fitness, 60 ft. lap-pool and eight car garage.

LONGBOAT KEY CUSTOM HOME

$17,900,000

$4,395,000

Behind the gates at the Longboat Key Club. Custom built, 5 en-suite BR + office space on lush Islandside golf course. Expansive patio area w/60’ lap-pool. Deeded beach access & attached three car garage.

NEW LISTING

LONGBOAT KEY SANCTUARY

$2,575,000

SARASOTA PENTHOUSE

$6,875,000

Ready for remodel. 5th Floor 3BD/2.5BA w/floor to ceiling windows + spacious east & west terraces for expansive views. 24 hr guarded gate + great sanctuary amenities.

Downtown Ritz Carlton 3BR Ensuite Residence. Magnificent 4,276 sf open floor plan. Spectacular views. World class amenities.

LONGBOAT KEY

$2,750,000

LONGBOAT KEY BAYFRONT ESTATE

$5,975,000

Coastal contemporary 4 BR/5BA home in The Preserve of Longbeach. Light & open indoor/ outdoor living areas. Former model w/ high-end appliances & finishes.

Rare opportunity! Build your dream home Bayfront on oversized lot, 100ft on the bay, beach access across the street & side canal for privacy. PLUS elevated separate guest house is a bonus structure no longer permitted for new builds.

Developers Realty Inc. Lic. Real Estate Broker

www.ReidMurphy.com

595 Bay Isles Road Longboat Key, FL 34228

379252-1

CALL REID TODAY! | 941.232.3304

LONGBOAT OBSERVER

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YourObserver.com

THURSDAY, JUNE 30, 2022

SARASOTA 1111 Ritz Carlton Drive 1703 3 Beds 3/1 Baths 4,276 Sq. Ft. The Walter Group 941-232-2000 A4537226 $4,995,000

LONGBOAT KEY 311 Firehouse Court 3 Beds 3/1 Baths 2,352 Sq. Ft. Cindy Fischer 941-465-1124 A4534473 $2,395,000

LONGBOAT KEY 537 Spinnaker Lane 3 Beds 3 Baths 2,046 Sq. Ft. Kathy Callahan 941-900-8088 A4536497 $2,375,000

SARASOTA 1654 Arlington Street 4 Beds 3 Baths 2,514 Sq. Ft. Ryan Heers 941-726-1703 A4538711 $1,697,000

LONGBOAT KEY 518 Bayview Drive 3 Beds 2 Baths 1,740 Sq. Ft. Cathy Meldahl & Susan Smith 941-724-7228 A4534262 $1,695,000

LONGBOAT KEY 1465 Gulf Of Mexico Drive 504 3 Beds 3 Baths 1,837 Sq. Ft. Lindsay Nock 941-735-7005 A4534263 $1,775,000

SIESTA KEY 6146 Midnight Pass Road 10S 2 Beds 2 Baths 1,384 Sq. Ft. Marlene Marshall & George Marshall 941-539-8850 A4527968 $1,500,000

LONGBOAT KEY 701 Penfield Street 2 Beds 2 Baths 1,736 Sq. Ft. Ian Addy, PA 941-961-8850 A4537570 $1,499,000

SIESTA KEY 6300 Midnight Pass Road 505 2 Beds 2 Baths 1,240 Sq. Ft. Kristina Rain 941-320-2639 A4538428 $1,425,000

SARASOTA 1111 N Gulfstream Avenue 3C 2 Beds 2 Baths 1,736 Sq. Ft. Jodene Moneuse 941-302-4913 A4533731 $1,375,000

SIESTA KEY 6300 Midnight Pass Road 603 2 Beds 2 Baths 1,240 Sq. Ft. Kristina Waskom 941-266-8658 A4538939 $1,349,000

SIESTA KEY 5880 Midnight Pass Road 310 3 Beds 2 Baths 1,713 Sq. Ft. Linda Stowe 941-228-5685 A4536003 $1,285,000

SIESTA KEY 1157 Coquille Street 205 2 Beds 2 Baths 1,760 Sq. Ft. Kim Ogilvie 941-376-1717 A4538203 $1,250,000

LONGBOAT KEY 775 Longboat Club Road 906 2 Beds 2 Baths 1,524 Sq. Ft. Lenore Treiman 941-356-9642 A4527843 $1,199,000

LONGBOAT KEY 1485 Gulf Of Mexico Drive 103 3 Beds 2/1 Baths 1,774 Sq. Ft. Sherri Mills 941-350-7112 A4538490 $1,100,000

SARASOTA 1685 Laurel Street 9 3 Beds 2/1 Baths 1,914 Sq. Ft. Lenore Treiman 941-356-9642 A4535266 $1,095,000

SARASOTA 8407 Cypress Hollow Drive 3 Beds 3 Baths 2,883 Sq. Ft. Susan Katanic 941-400-0601 A4537662 $1,030,000

SIESTA KEY 5760 Midnight Pass Road 404D 2 Beds 2 Baths 1,361 Sq. Ft. Joseph McDonald 941-375-9646 A4531860 $997,500

LONGBOAT KEY 4311 Gulf Of Mexico Drive 401 2 Beds 2 Baths 1,293 Sq. Ft. Victoria Lear 941-350-1064 A4522542 $995,000

BRADENTON 2112 51st Street W 4 Beds 3 Baths 3,805 Sq. Ft. Jodene Moneuse 941-302-4913 A4529879 $895,000

LONGBOAT KEY 3806 Gulf Of Mexico Drive C404 2 Beds 2 Baths 1,514 Sq. Ft. Stephen Harris 941-780-2352 A4536940 $895,000

LONGBOAT KEY 4725 Gulf Of Mexico Drive 213 2 Beds 2 Baths 1,071 Sq. Ft. Ian Addy, PA & Gail Wittig, LLC 941-961-8850 A4539173 $869,000

BRADENTON 3701 54th Drive W 101 3 Beds 3 Baths 1,439 Sq. Ft. Adam Cuffaro 941-812-0791 A4534190 $699,000

LONGBOAT KEY 4400 Exeter Drive J106 2 Beds 2 Baths 992 Sq. Ft. Malihe Karimi 941-376-5099 A4534112 $595,000

SARASOTA 1645 Bay Hill Circle 3 Beds 2 Baths 2,040 Sq. Ft. Tammy Mast 941-256-6543 A4538655 $475,000

SARASOTA 1771 Ringling Boulevard PH302 3 Beds 3/1 Baths 2,873 Sq. Ft. Michael Moulton 941-928-3559 A4532280 $2,975,000

LONGBOAT KEY 597 Bayview Drive 3 Beds 3 Baths 2,450 Sq. Ft. The Walter Group 941-232-2000 A4537864 $2,750,000

SARASOTA 13966 Pine Woods Lane E 5 Beds 3/1 Baths 4,531 Sq. Ft. Tammy Mast 941-256-6543 A4535509 $2,400,000

888.552.5228 | MICHAELSAUNDERS.COM 373737-1

8B

YourObserver.com

LONGBOAT OBSERVER

THURSDAY, JUNE 30, 2022

9B

REAL ESTATE

Grand Bay condo sells for $3 million

|

RESIDENTIAL REAL ESTATE TRANSACTIONS

JUNE 13-17

ADAM HUGHES RESEARCH EDITOR

A

condominium in Grand Bay tops all transactions in this week’s real estate. Paula Wilhoit, of Springfield, Missouri, sold the Unit 246 condominium at 3040 Grand Bay Blvd. to Ronald and Ayana Machen, of Silver Spring, Maryland, for $3 million. Built in 1996, it has three bedrooms, threeand-a-half baths and 2,781 square feet of living area.

It sold for $1.65 million in 2017.

BIRD KEY

Patrick Kelly, of Columbus, Ohio, sold his home at 643 Owl Way to Elizabeth Reilly, of Sarasota, for $1,972,500. Built in 1968, it has three bedrooms, three baths, a pool and 1,942 square feet of living area.

It sold for $1,599,900 in 2021.

Cheryl Ann Zanetti, trustee, of Sarasota, sold the home at 640 N. Owl Drive to Dennis Smith, of Sarasota, for $1.8 million. Built in 1968, it has two bedrooms, three baths, a pool and 3,204 square feet of living area. It sold for $315,000 in 1996.

THE PLAYERS CLUB

Hardot Corp. sold the Unit 408 condominium at 1485 Gulf of Mexico Drive to 1485 Longboat Holdings Ltd. Partnership for $1,081,000.

Built in 1981, it has three bedrooms, three baths and 1,756 square feet of living area.

BAYPORT BEACH AND TENNIS CLUB

Caroline and Jeffrey Schneider, of Harrison, New York, sold their Unit 750 condominium at 750 Bayport Way to Patrick and Beth Ann Schipani, of Moon Township, Pennsylvania, for $850,000. Built in 1983, it has two bedrooms, two baths and 1,370 square feet of living area. It

File photo

Unit 246 condominium at 3040 Grand Bay Blvd. has three bedrooms, three-and-a-half baths and 2,781 square feet of living area.

sold for $425,000 in 2021.

LONGBOAT HARBOUR

LONGBOAT KEY YACHT AND TENNIS CLUB

Cynthia Sullivan, trustee, of Greenwhich, Connecticut, sold the Unit 102 condominium at 4215 Gulf of Mexico Drive to Stephen and Nina Todd, of Crystal Lake, Illinois, for $795,000. Built in 1974, it has two bedrooms, two baths and 1,284 square feet of living area. It sold for $205,000 in 1997.

Robert and Dominica Winter, of Sarasota, sold their Unit 206 condominium at 4410 Exeter Drive to Michael David and Angela Antonelli, of Great Falls, Virginia, for $640,000. Built in 1970, it has two bedrooms, two baths and 1,168 square feet of living area. It sold for $154,500 in 1999.

SUTTON PLACE

Christopher and Kathryn Deariso, of Sarasota, sold their Unit 101 condominium at 600 Sutton Place to Richard Charles Marquardt Jr. and Tiffany Lynn Grandominico, of Westerville, Ohio, for $460,000.

Built in 1973, it has one bedroom, one bath and 812 square feet of living area. It sold for $323,000 in 2021.

SEAPLACE

Kenneth David Elgena and Heather Elgena, of Thompson, Pennsylvania, sold their Unit G2-204D condominium at to Alexander and Sheila Pozantidis, of E. Amherst, New York, for $700,000. Built in 1974, it has two bedrooms, two-and-a-half baths and 1,214 square feet of living area. It sold for $440,000 in 2019.

In with the new NOW UNDER CONSTRUCTION

Longboat Key

TOP BUILDING PERMITS These are the largest building permits issued by the Longboat Key Planning and Zoning Department for the week of June 17-23 in order of dollar amounts.

L O N G B OAT K E Y ADDRESS 591 Putter Lane

The Residences at the St. Regis | 941.213.3300 | From $2.4MM to $10.9MM | Call for appointment | SRResidencesLongboatKey.com

PERMIT Remodel

APPLICANT Robert J. Hudson Jr.

AMOUNT($) $916,000

Revocable Trust

444 GMD

Interior alterations

Dry Dock LLC

$600,000

3010 Grand Bay Blvd.

Interior alterations

Kenneth N. Karlin

$265,066

3030 Grand Bay Blvd.

Kitchen and bath

Thomas R. Crawford

$244,340 $169,263

NOW TAKING CONTRACTS

#494 #353

remodel

5055 GMD Unit 124

Interior alterations

Steven Philip Marto

4525 GMD Unit 104

Interior alterations

David and Paige Brewer

$159,779

415 L’Ambiance Dr. #E407 Interior alterations

James L. Adornetto (TTEE)

$116,000

340 GMD #115

Interior alterations

Eileen O’Donnell

$100,000

791 St. Judes Dr. N.

Remodel

791 St. Judes Dr. N LLC

4234 GMD Unit L1

Remodel

Kelleen M. Burns-Amighi

$86,000

3240 GMD #B507

Interior alterations

Ruth M. Graden

$80,000

Testamentary Trust

6600 GMD

Re-roof

Paul Gould

$98,839

4051 GMD

New construction

Cherokee Trust

$62,170

Re-roof

Jean Krafsur

$53,950

2339 Harbour Oaks Dr.

Windows and doors

Deena Delmoro

$50,000

3516 Mistletoe Lane

Re-roof

David D. Furer

3514 Mistletoe Lane

Re-roof

James B. Brooks

Alterior alterations

John B.M. Brown CO-TTEE

$44,000

600 Preserve Ct.

Pool

Jordan A. Schrader

$43,000

1115 GMD #204

Windows and doors

Douglas A. Armbruster

$42,468

Bradley and Melisa Wynne

$40,000

766 St. Judes Dr. N.

Seawall repairs/ replacement

1125 GMD #403

Kitchen remodel

Howard L. Schwartz

$37,430

525 Putter Lane

Windows and doors

Mikula M. Shane

$35,000

Mary S. Talarico

The Collection | 941.232.2868 | From the $2MM’s | Call for appointment. | thecollection1335.com

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

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

$35,000

MichaelSaunders.com/New-Homes | 844.591.4333 | Sarasota, Florida

Road #901 3570 Fair Oaks Way

Re-roof

Gerald Hamburg

$35,000 Source: Town of Longboat Key

Prices as of February 2022.

Licensed Real Estate Broker

373659-1

Enterprise

Downtown Sarasota

$46,415

Unit E

Electrical

2 UNITS LEFT

$46,415

3447 Winding Oaks Dr.

601 Longboat Club

400 Central | 727.209.7848 | From the $1MM’s | Call for appointment. | Residences400central.com

$73,650

3498 Mistletoe Lane

Downtown St. Petersburg

LONGBOAT OBSERVER

|

YourObserver.com

THURSDAY, JUNE 30, 2022

Coldwell Banker CONGRATULATES the TOP team!

JUDY KEPECZ-HAYS TEAM L'Ambiance

Queen's Harbour

3633 Fair Oaks Place| 3 bed, plus den 3.5 bath | 2,892 Sq Ft www.3633FairOaksPlace.com | Offered for $1,925,000

435 L’Ambiance Drive #G601 |3 bed, 3 bath www.Lambiance-G601.com | Offered for $6,880,000

Longboat Key Towers

Seashell on Siesta Key

601 Longboat Club Rd Unit #302S| 2 bed, 2 bath | www.LongboatKeyTowers302.com | Offered for $1,750,000

6500 Midnight Pass Rd Unit #505 | 2 bed, 2 bath | Investment opportunity| 6500MidnightPass505.com| Offered for $850,000

Sarabande

340 South Palm Ave #75 | 3 bed, 3.5 bath www.Sarabande75.com | Offered for $3,500,000

Embassy House

770 South Palm Ave #503 | 2 bed, 2 bath www.EmbassyHouse503.com | Offered for $1,098,500

Waterside in LWR

8052 Grande Shores Drive | Waterside | 4 bed, 4.5 bath Offered for $2,500,000

Thinking of selling your Luxury Property? Call us today!

LongboatKeyLuxury.com | (941) 587-1700

The Ritz Carlton

1111 Ritz Carlton Drive #1204 | 3 bed, 2.5 bath www.Ritz-Carlton1204.com | Offered for $3,299,000

423 St. Armands Circle | Sarasota, Florida 34236 595 Bay Isles, Suite 250| Longboat Key, FL 34228

384398-1

Su OP nd EN 1p ay HO m ,J U -4 ul SE pm y 3

10B

YourObserver.com

LONGBOAT OBSERVER

SUNRISE / SUNSET

FRIDAY, JULY 1

Sunrise Sunset

High: 88 Low: 77 Chance of rain: 58%

11B

THURSDAY, JUNE 30, 2022

WEATHER

NATURE’S BEAUTY WITH

FORECAST

|

Thursday, June 30

6:38a

8:29p

Friday, July 1

6:39a

8:29p

Saturday, July 2

6:39a

8:29p

Sunday, July 3

6:39a

8:29p

SATURDAY, JULY 2

Monday, July 4

6:40a

8:29p

High: 87 Low: 76 Chance of rain: 58%

Tuesday, July 5

6:40a

8:29p

Wednesday, July 6

6:41a

8:29p

MOON PHASES SUNDAY, JULY 3 High: 89 Low: 77 Chance of rain: 52%

July 6 First

July 13 Full

July 20 Last

July 28 New

TIDES Highs Lows Thursday, June 30

Phil Trainer captured this photo of two bald eagles near Sunset Beach on Longboat Key.

—

12:31p

—

9:24p

Friday, July 1

4:31a

1:12p

6:41a

9:59p

Saturday, July 2

4:43a

1:55p

7:44a

10:33p

Sunday, July 3

5:01a

2:42p

8:52a

11:08p

Monday, July 4

5:23a

3:35p

10:07a

11:44p

Tuesday, July 5

5:50a

4:37p

11:27a

—

Wednesday, July 6

6:19a

5:54p

12:20a

12:51p

Submit your photos at YourObserver.com/Weather. All submissions will be entered for the 2022-23 Weather and Nature photo contest. In February 2023, you will vote for your favorite photo, and the submission with the most votes will win a $500 gift card.

MANASOTA FLOORING INC 941.493.7441 | www.manasotaonline.com

crossword

celebrity cipher

ANCIENT HISTORY by Rebecca Goldstein. Edited by David Steinberg 52 Oddity 55 Brand spanking new 57 Speed intials 58 Idaho’s capital 61 Smell from a bakery, e.g.

DOWN 63 Lacking a key, musically 1 Exactly 66 Expresses disapproval 2 “Only Time” singer 67 Two, in Tijuana 3 Secret pacts? (Abbr.)

68 Consumed 4 “Told ya!”

69 Garments that may be 5 M.D. with an otoscope wireless 6 Snoozed 70 Start making music 7 Singer-songwriter Mann alone 8 “Let’s go!”

71 Chosen groups 9 Kind of ball with strands 76 Out of juice 10 ID shared with a CPA 77 Jazz pianist Count 11 Tips that don’t leave you 78 Squirrel’s cheekful better off?

79 Palindromic Swedish 12 Middle Eastern sultan- group ate 80 Record holder?

13 Dogs to beware of 82 Pigpen 14 Brief request in a text 84 Building near a barn 15 Pace of “Halt and Catch 85 White lies Fire” 87 ___ Whip (pineapple ice 16 Granola grain cream treat) 17 5-Down and others, 88 Airport shuttle briefly 91 Talking tank engine 18 16-oz. units 93 Rowing trophies at 21 “Encanto” abode camp, perhaps 23 Elaborate scam 95 “We are SO settling 27 Null’s partner this!”

40 **Twitch broadcast, e.g. ally depicted in each pair of 96 ***It connects to the 29 Journalist Lisa 97 Arched, as a neck uterus 42 Go downhill starred clues’ answers 31 Futbol cheers 98 Had on 43 Risked going too far 72 Troupe performing for 98 Tropical fish, or excited 33 Strap over a jogger’s 101 Cultural prefix shouts 47 Plentiful the troops (Abbr.) sleeve, perhaps 102 Proudly admit an error 99 Security system device 48 Home to most of 73 Capital on a fjord 34 Biblical outcast 103 Camp sights 100 Shade source humanity 74 Synagogue cabinets 35 Stories 105 Ventimiglia of “This 102 Indigenous Mexican 49 28 of Beyonce’s awards 75 Former 36 It’s a sign!

Is Us” 104 Some parents, infor51 Rooster, in French 77 Post-shower surfaces 37 ___ mule (cocktail) 107 Buffoons 53 “It’s ___ fun!”

81 App for sharing pics mally 38 “Schmigadoon!” actress 109 Self starter?

54 Winter neckwear 83 Ballet Slippers nail pol- 106 ****Rapunzel’s home DeBose 110 Class taken before calc 56 Early describer of 108 Channing of “Magic ish brand 39 Sovereign who ruled 111 Saucers in a Pentagon animal behavior?

Mike” 85 Fiction’s counterpart Siberia, once report, briefly 57 Places to find Help 113 Bit used to make 86 ___ Dhabi 41 British prep school 112 ISP option 59 Bae chocolate 87 Self assessment?

42 Break-even outcome 113 Playfully shy 60 Indian musical compo- 89 Mite 117 ****Changes from ABC 43 Sung ode 114 Eggs, scientifically 90 Lives a publicly gay life to AMC, say sition 44 Verbal pauses 115 Porky pic 92 ***New York City’s most 119 Hype too much 62 Harvest 45 Campfire treats 116 Mine find 120 Not suitable populous borough 64 Charged particle 46 Piece of text that’s 117 Quarter of a quart 94 Like some sushi and ice 121 Cauldron contents 65 Metaphor for past often blue 118 Some vinyls, for short 122 Ivy in New Haven disagreements that’s liter- cream 50 Spaghetti sauce choice 123 Stag’s mate 124 Fence supports 125 Canoodles, in Cambridge

©2022 Universal Uclick

ACROSS 1 In need of a rubdown, say 6 Burlap bags 11 Short haircut 14 Trudge 18 *Big Ben’s home 19 Prom rides 20 “Do you understand me?”

22 *Howl like a werewolf 24 Arrays in spreadsheets 25 Apt rhyme for “cache” 26 Warms up the crowd 27 They tell you which way the wind blows 28 Overjoy 30 Raincoat attachment 32 **Classic theater name 37 The ___ (simulated reality in a sci-fi film)

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

Each letter in the cipher stands for another.

“XTDCJ VBJAJ TAJ VKXJM ZBJG XDMVJAD KM XEAJ KXLEAVTGV VBTG IGEZWJNPJ. ... XDMVJAD TM FTVTWDMV HEA KXTPKGTVKEG.” – HKWXXTIJA R.R. TCATXM

“SRTDFG JK LOREDKE. JE’K ‘J PDC ER FJYYDO,’ JY GRA’OD YXUSG, RO JY GRA’OD NDHJKI, ‘IDG, ZJKEDU ER EIJK!’” – TDZ PORRVK

“PJSZ AHV ZSZX KPHVOPK KPJK LJX GW J TJNPHVWZ JUN KPJK ZSZXAHUZ GU KPZ LJX GW J MJKGZUK?” – HXGJUJ EJYYJFG © 2022 NEA, Inc.

Puzzle Three Clue: E equals F

941.748.4679 | Venice

Puzzle Two Clue: N equals J

941.355.8437 | Bradenton

Puzzle One Clue: N equals D

Sarasota

383366-1

KARASTAN, MOHAWK, AIRO, SMARTSTRAND, ALL PET

CARPET

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

©2022 Andrews McMeel Syndicate

6-30-22

Made for where you live. Here!

THURSDAY, JUNE 30, 2022

RED PAGES INFORMATION & RATES: 941-955-4888

Vacation/ Seasonal Rentals

redpages@yourobserver.com • yourobserver.com/redpages DEADLINES: Classifieds - Monday at 2PM

WEEKLY MONTHLY

Service Directory - Friday at 3PM • PAYMENT: Cash, Check or Credit Card

Items Under $200 Room Divider, Chinese, Black Lacquer, 4 panels. $200 (941)544-4485 TV MOUNT Sanus ALT 1 $30, Floral Duvet Bundle set (Full) $60 Email greytreelane@outlook.com

LUXURIOUS CONDO on Anna Maria Island For Rent - Upgraded granite/strainless kitchen.

Incredible water views through floor length windows. Waterfront patio, luxury furnishings, 2BD/2BR, king bed. Pool, tennis, walk to the beach. Private carport.

Monthly rent July-December.

Owner/renter. Flexible terms.

570-239-0431 marketreps@aol.com

YourObserver.com/RedPages

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

Please call Marc: 941-321-0707

The Observer Media Group will be closed on Monday, July 4th.

Deadline for classified advertising in the July 7th editions will be due Friday, July 1st at 2:00 pm.

Autos Service

GENERAL ELECTRIC GE 25 Cu.Ft. side-by-side refrigerator/freezer. Water/ice in door. Excellent cond. Selling for kitchen reno. $199 (941)350-6354

Autos Wanted

GREAT FINDS LOCATED HERE!

CASH FOR YOUR CAR We come to you!

Ho Ho Buys cars.

941-270-4400.

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

941809-3660, 941-809-3662.

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

Call Hawley Motors: 941-923-3421.

PERSONAL ASSISTANT. Experienced business manager with Fortune 50 companies available as personal assistant, chauffer, butler, connoisseur and property manager. 60 mile radius of Bradenton. (717) 825-1739

You’re only cheating yourself.

auto

YourObserver.com/RedPages

FOR SALE: 2 New, Slim Cut, suits, Grey, Tiger of Sweden 38 & Blue Trussardi, 40, $100 each.

(941)504-0165

OIL PAINTING 'Macaw Scarlet Parrots'. $100. Coca Cola 1937 Ford steel pick-up truck. 1/18 scale/mint in box. $35.

941-776-0034

COASTAL SPECIALTY Store on St. Armands Circle. Brands include Tommy Bahama, Brighton and Gretchen Scott. Seeking sales clerk, FT/PT positions available. Please call (407)765-1400

941-955-4888

BOBO'S RODS and Customs Offering to assist in the purchase or sale of classic cars in Sarasota.

Email: titan7777@yahoo.com

HEXAGONAL PATIO table with glass like top and umbrella.

Includes 6 chairs. $150. Call 941-925-3084 to see.

BOAT DECK Hands for Cruising West Coast of Florida. Please have experience with Anchoring, placement of Fenders, Navigational signage, minor cooking and cleaning.

Text message to Charles at 303-944-8300

SELL IT NOW!

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

Ad runs 2 consecutive weeks in 1 Observer.

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

Help Wanted

peekers’ place

CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING EARLY DEADLINE

Houses or Condos

RED PAGES IN PRINT AND ONLINE

A POWERFUL COMBINATION

941-955-4888

YourObserver.com/RedPages

Homes for Rent LONGBOAT ANNUAL Lease Town home on water. Spanish Main Marina 2b/2b. Utilities, I-net, beach access, pool. Over 55, no pets, no smoking. 5k month.

(941) 545-7460

Vacation/ Seasonal Rentals LONGBOAT KEY: Beachfront Condos, 1st or 2nd floor, 2BR/2BA, W/D in units, free Wi-Fi, heated pool, & parking.

Call 941-383-3338.

First 15 words .................. $ 17.50 per week Each add’l word ....... 50¢

15% DISCOUNT FOR 4-WEEK RUN Color background: $ 5 per week Ad border: as low as $3 per week PLACE YOUR AD: Call: 941-955-4888 Email: RedPages@ YourObserver.com Online: YourObserver.com /RedPages

Reservations 941-383-5577 wagnerlbkrentals@gmail.com Visa/MC

FIND BUYERS & SELLERS HERE!

5360 Gulf of Mexico Dr., Suite

Cleaning

101 Longboat Key, FL 34228 Rental office 9a.m. - 5p.m.

M-F Ask about our special rates!

CLAUDIA C. Cleaning Services.

Experienced, dependable, and ready to begin!

Residential.

Excellent references.

941-773-6895.

Since 1939 www.rentalsonlongboat.com

REAL LOCAL STUFF HERE!

www.YourObserver.com/RedPages

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

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

This week’s Crossword answers

PUBLIC NOTICE LOST OR ABANDONED PROPERTY Held by Longboat Key Police Department 5460 Gulf of Mexico Dr. THE LONGBOAT KEY POLICE DEPARTMENT IS HOLDING AN APPLE IPHONE AND JEEP CAR KEY RECEIVED AS FOUND PROPERTY DURING THIS TIME PERIOD OF 06-01-2022 THRU 06-20-2022. IF NOT CLAIMED BY OWNERS, ITEMS SHALL BE DISPOSED OF AS AUTHORIZED BY F.S.S. 705.103.

INQUIRES 941-361-1976 x1928

SELL IT FAST!

This week’s Celebrity Cipher answers

Place Your Ad Online

Puzzle One Solution: “Maybe there are timesYourObserver.com/RedPages when mystery is more important than knowledge. ... Mystery as catalyst for imagination.”

Filmmaker J.J. Abrams Puzzle Two Solution: “Comedy is protest. It’s ‘I beg to differ,’ if you’re fancy, or if you’re Jewish, ‘Hey, listen to this!’”

Mel Brooks Puzzle Three Solution: “Have you ever thought that war is a madhouse and that everyone in the war is a patient?”

Oriana Fallaci

This week’s Sudoku answers

©2022 Universal Uclick

SEARCH the RED PAGES for GREAT DEALS To place an ad

Call 941-955-4888

©2022 NEA, Inc.

941-955-4888

Between

home services

Condos/Apts. for Rent

jobs

stuff

FIND IT IN THE RED PAGES

Beachfront, Bayfront and In

Wagner Realty

Antiques/ Collectibles DIECAST COLLECTIBLE cars & trucks race cars, trucks, collectibles in boxes (860) 302-5581

SEASONAL Rates

real estate

The Longboat Observer reserves the right to classify and edit copy, or to reject or cancel an advertisement at any time. Corrections after first insertion only. *All ads are subject to the approval of the Publisher. *It is the responsibility of the party placing any ad for publication in the Longboat Observer to meet all applicable legal requirements in connection with the ad such as compliance with towncodes in first obtaining an occupational license for business, permitted home occupation, or residential rental property.

Notice: All real estate advertised herein is subject to the Federal Fair Housing Act, which makes it illegal to advertise any preference, limitation, or discrimination because of race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, or national origin, or intention to make any such preference, limitation or discrimination. All persons are hereby informed that all dwellings advertised are available on an equal opportunity basis.

RED PAGES AD RATES

YourObserver.com

LONGBOAT OBSERVER

Health $100 COUPON $100 COUPON

Give Us a Call - We Can Help

FREE CONSULTATION 941.358.2224

384299

Rescreening & Repairs

383272

University Health Park 2415 University Parkway Bldg. 3, Suite 216 Sarasota, FL 34243

941-345-5264

specialty screens / screw replacement / paint Doors and more!

Insurance

Sliding Glass Door Repair

Kenneth Fuhlman Inc. (941) 345-5264 • Aluminum, Vinyl, & Wood Soffit & Fascia Repair & Installation • Roofing Repair & Installation • Metal Roofing & Tile Roof Repair Specialists

EXPERIENCE KNOWLEDGE SOLUTIONS

941-626-3194

Licensed & Insured CCC - 058059 CBC - 1253936

Windows

382754

Mike Mailliard ~ Lacey Weaver Allen Hovis ~ Marshall Bruce Matthew Mailliard ~ Julia McIlrevey Haley Jestings ~ Samantha Ryan Jaimie Simpkins

Furniture Repair

Res./Com.

383582

383273

Furniture Sales & Repairs Cushions • Slings • Re-powdercoating

Form Serving Longboat Key Since 2005

STANDARD WINDOWS

Privatehome homehealthcare healthcare Private in in thethe safetyand andsecurity securityofofyour your own own safety home.Providing Providinglong-term, long-term, home. short-term,palliative palliativecare care and short-term, and endend of life care.

After 32 years of being of life care. After 32 years of being a Pastor, I know firsthand a Pastor, I know firsthand thethe difference loving care can make. difference loving care can make.

Chrissy Stites LMT, CMCE

609-820-4251

By appointment only

MediCupping & Massage Therapy services for healing

Rest your mind & body.

Connect with your spirit.

384245

CNA CNAServices, Services,LLC LLC Philip CNA PhilipPolsonPolson-Licensed Licensed CNA (941) (941)545-3493 545-3493

ows

150

$

INCLUDING SCREENS, TRACKS, MIRRORS & FANS

Massage

Health

25

UP TO

595 Bay Isles Rd. Suite 215 941.554.8909 | www.micinsurancefl.com

FREE PICKUP / DELIVERY • FREE ONSITE QUOTES

Lic./Ins.

ndow & Pressure Clea et Wi nin s n wn as Sunrise Win g Su erly kno d

Home • Condo • Auto • Umbrella • Boat • Flood

Patio Furniture Repairs.com 941-504-0903

Warranties

Our team of professionals provides superior service and expertise for all of your insurance needs.

“FIX IT - DON’T REPLACE” New Deluxe Rollers Will Make Your Doors Roll Better Than Ever Call Mark 928-2263 proslidingglassdoorrepair.com

Manufacture and workmanship

Building & Roofing Contractor

MIC INSURANCE

Doors

Roofing

382755

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

424-333-0713 | rockstarmobilehair@gmail.com www.rockstarmobilehairsalon.com

384247

• Pool Cage Restoration • Rescreening Specialists • Specialty Screens • Paint • Doors and more!

Satisfaction guarantee Satisfaction Guarantee Pool cage Restoration/ Rescreening specialists Manufacture and Workmanship Warranties

www.SarasotaDiscCenter.com DrCifra@SarasotaDiscCenter.com

Philipwith withClient Client Philip HowardTibbals Tibbals Howard

FREE INSTANT ESTIMATES when you Call RICK for SCHEDULING

DR. DAVID CIFRA, DC

AMANDA

House Washing, Roofs, Screen Cages, Pavers, Driveways and Walkways.

383581

383879

SERVING YOU IN THE COMFORT OF YOUR HOME

PRESSURE WASHING

941-CLEAN IT 2 5 3 - 2 6 4 8

Board Certified in the specialty of non-surgical spinal decompression

Beauty

SOFT WASH

WE ARE THE SOFT WASH PRESSURE WASHING PROS

$100 COUPON

HoHoBuysCars.com

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

$100 COUPON

Personal Services

SPECIAL 00 5

$

senior citizen discount. www.sunsetwindowcleaningsrq.com

Purified water window cleaning available!!

Call Tibor for FREE ESTIMATES | 941- 284 - 5880

384261

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WE COME TO YOU

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Do You Have Neck or Low Back Pain?

Do You Want To Avoid Surgery?

FAST • EASY • SAFE

13B

Power Washing

GET YOUR LIFE BACK!

SELL YOUR CAR!

THURSDAY, JUNE 30, 2022

$100 COUPON $100 COUPON

Auto Service

|

CREATE BUZZ!

383566

“Loving That’sThe TheDifference” Difference” “Loving Care, Care, That’s

Advertise your business or services in the Red Pages.

Made for where you live. Here!

384246

RED PAGES

Call 941-955-4888

YourObserver.com/RedPages

YourObserver.com/RedPages

Insurance

SECUR-ALL INSURANCE AGENCY | 941.383.3388

510 BAY ISLES ROAD, SUITE 1 • LONGBOAT KEY, FL (Next to SUNTRUST BANK)

CHUBB, AIG, UNIVERSAL, UNITED, SAFECO, PROGRESSIVE, VAULT, FLOOD, WE HAVE YOU COVERED!

TREASURES FOUND HERE!

TO ADVERTISE CALL 941-955-4888 OR VISIT YOUROBSERVER.COM/REDPAGES

383889

Sandra Smith

LONGBOAT OBSERVER

|

YourObserver.com

THURSDAY, JUNE 30, 2022

FURNITURE & MAT TRESS

Take Immediate Delivery On All In-Stock Items

★ 4th Of July ★

Sale

BUY MORE, SAVE MORE ★

★

Going On Now!

Ends July 4 th

! | Surfside Wing Chair

NOW $1088 Reg. $2619

Enjoy Instant Savings Up To

$5000 OFF Your Purchase ★

★

★

This 4th of July bring your Florida lifestyle home with Instant Savings Storewide during our Buy More, Save More Sale!

$100 OFF

Valid on purchases of $2,000-$2,999

$175 OFF

Valid on purchases of $3,000-$4,999

$350 OFF

Valid on purchases of $5,000-$7,999

$500 OFF

Valid on purchases of $8,000-$9,999

! | Ciao Bella Dining Table

NOW $2589 Reg. $5589

! | Queen Panel Bed

NOW $898 Reg. $2429

$1000 OFF

Valid on purchases of $10,000-$19,999

$2000 OFF

Valid on purchases of $20,000-$29,999

$3000 OFF

Valid on purchases of $30,000-$39,999

$5000 OFF

Valid on purchases of $40,000 or more

Rules: 1) Within the above promotional dates, if any products are cancelled or removed from a Sales Order after initial purchase, the savings will be reduced on all products and the amount recalculated based on the qualifying level. 2) After the promotional dates, if any products are removed or cancelled, the entire discount will be removed from the Sales Order and priced at the current sale pricing.

! | 100% Genuine Italian Leather Sofa

NOW $1988 Reg. $4999

Exclusions: Valid on furniture purchases only. One per address, valid on new sales only. No cash value.

Some exclusions apply. Not applicable on clearance, closeout items, MSRP products, special value items or accessories. Excludes Stressless®, Temper-Pedic®, Sealy® and Stearns & Foster®. Does not include service plans or delivery fees.

Event Ends 07/04/2022

FURNITURE & MAT TRESS

matterbrothersfurniture.com | 383992-1

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SPIRIT OF AMERICA

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JULY 2022

Together with you.

From the shores of Anna Maria Island to Boca Grande, we are proud to call the Gulf Coast of Florida our home. Just like our nation, Michael Saunders & Company was founded on the values of independence and community.

Wishing you a happy and safe 4th of July.

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JULY 2022

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JULY 2022

CONTENTS ALSO INSIDE

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Calendar............................ 8

CARS From cruising down the local strip to zooming across country, we love our four-wheeled independence.

Fireworks shows............ 10

OTHER THINGS WE LOVE Wide open spaces........... 12 Our national anthem...... 14 Honoring veterans......... 16 Rocking out.................... 19

20

Beer................................ 22 BALD EAGLES As national mascots go, our is a fierce representation of our spirit.

Revolutionaries.............. 23 Jazz................................ 24 The American dream.... 26 Football........................... 28 Apple pie........................ 32 Our flag.......................... 34 Freedom......................... 34

30

HISTORY To know where you’re going, sometimes it’s important to know where you’ve been.

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Land of the Free Because of the Brave - God Bless America!

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BACHELOR’S DEGREES WHEN YOU CAN, THE WAY YOU WANT. Early Childhood Education Elementary Education Exceptional Student Education Health Services Administration Public Safety and Emergency Management Supervision and Management Nursing

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State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges to award associate and baccalaureate degrees. Contact the Commission on Colleges at 1866 Southern Lane, Decatur, GA 30033-4097 or call 404-679-4500 for questions about the accreditation of State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota. State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota does not discriminate on the basis of sex, pregnancy, race, religion, age, national origin/ethnicity, color, marital status, disability, genetic information or sexual orientation in any of its educational programs, services and activities, including admission and employment. Direct inquiries regarding nondiscrimination policies to: Equity Officer, 941-752-5323, 5840 26th St. W., Bradenton, FL 34207. The Bachelor of Science degrees in the fields of Elementary Education and Exceptional Student Education (ESE) will begin enrolling students this fall, pending approval by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges.

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JULY 2022

HAVE A

America: We have a lot in common

JULY 4

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Don’t let the noise fool you. As Americans, we agree on more things than you might think.

My fellow Americans, I am writing here to tell you something that perhaps people don’t want to admit. Something so outlandish and contrary to the current narrative in our country that it might seem like it couldn’t be true. Something that the politicians and perhaps some media don’t really want us to realize.

That we, as Americans, have a lot more in common than we think.

Right before the 2020 election, at a time that we seemed witheringly polarized as a populace, a Harvard University study found that 71% of Americans “have more in common with each other than many people think.”

That’s a pretty large majority, but now consider this. One of the key questions of the study was asking Americans about what they deem are “essential rights important to being an American today.” More than 93% of respondents — across all political affiliations — agreed on the following as being essential rights: voting, equal protection, free speech, equal opportunity, privacy and racial equality.

Even on the touchy issues, things like the right to bear arms and LGBTQ rights, bipartisan

majorities agreed on those as being essential rights, to the tune of about 70%.

Let’s be honest: It benefits certain groups to divide us. That is, after all, how they win. They are asking us to choose one candidate over another, one channel over another, one ideology over another. But when it comes down to it, we might agree on way more than on which we disagree.

In psychology, one tool to help people experience gratitude is to ask them to focus on what’s going right rather than on what’s going wrong. Just this simple reframing can help us enjoy our lives more, feel more satisfied and give us a better outlook on the future.

As we planned this section, we wondered: If it works for individuals, why wouldn’t it work for us as a country?

In the spirit of finding common ground, we sought things we can celebrate about America. Things we all have in common. And guess what? We had way more than 15.

That, to me, was good news. It means that as a country, much like a family, we share a lot of DNA. So the next time people try to focus on how we’ve never been more divided, try to remember the things we have in common.

Turns out, there are a lot of them.

— KAT HUGHES, EXECUTIVE EDITOR

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JULY 2022

FIREWORKS

File photo

The crowd watches fireworks explode along the Sarasota bayfront in 2021.

SUNDAY, JULY 3

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traveling down Tamiami Trail to catch the impressive fireworks show launching from the south jetty at Venice Beach around 9 p.m. The free, 30-minute show can be checked out at several area beaches from Caspersen to Nokomis. The south jetty and Jetty Jack’s Refreshment Deck will be closed to the public. For more information, visit VeniceGov.com.

VENICE FIREWORKS There are few better ideas than

PALMETTO FOURTH OF JULY FESTIVAL The Palmetto Community Redevelopment Agency’s annual Fourth of July festival will again be a lively affair, with craft beer and food vendors at Sutton Park, 1036 Sixth St. W., Palmetto. Live music and kids activities start at 5 p.m., and fireworks will begin

FIREWORKS ON THE LAKE Take part in this fireworks show with festivities beginning at 4 p.m. at Nathan Benderson Park.

The fireworks will begin over the lake when the sun goes down, around 9 p.m. Details to come.

For more information, call 3587275.

BAYFRONT FIREWORKS SPECTACULAR The fireworks display will kick off around 9 p.m. with seating around Sarasota’s Island Park, the bayfront and downtown. Free.

For more information, visit SuncoastSummerfest.org.

at dusk. Event is free. For more information, call 723-4988.

SIESTA KEY COMMUNITY FIREWORKS The Siesta Key Community Fireworks show, now in its 31st year, has families and friends flocking to Siesta Key’s whitesand beaches for an evening of fun. The Siesta Key Chamber of Commerce hosts the community event on Siesta Key Beach. Fireworks are free, but the event has sponsorships available that provide free parking, free beverages and snacks, as well as preferred seating at the hospitality area for the best view. Viewing area opens at 6 p.m., and fireworks start at dusk. For more information, call 349-3800.

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JULY 2022

Robinson Preserve features incredible vistas and wide open spaces to hike and kayak.

Photos by Spencer Fordin

Carlton Reserve is a seasonal mix of dense vegetation, wet prairies and pine flatwoods.

No. 1:

Wide Open Spaces

From deserts and mountains to forests and beaches, when it comes to a variety of landscapes, climates and breathtaking features, ‘America the Beautiful’ got it right: We’ve got just about everything you could want to see in our 50 states. Close to home, our wide open spaces usually revolve around water. Here are a few places nearby to enjoy.

The pine trees in the area were used for making turpentine starting in the late 1800s. The forest did not become a nature reserve until 1995, when it was purchased as part of the Myakka Estuary Conservation and Recreation Lands project.

Now it consists of 8,592 acres of protected spaces that provide hiking and recreational opportunities to area residents.

Here are just a few of the wide open spaces Sarasota residents can enjoy.

SPENCER FORDIN A+E EDITOR

I

t’s a city known for its beaches and posh resorts. But it’s nestled in a thicket of forests and wide open spaces.

Sarasota, bordered on the west by the Sarasota Bay, stands in the shadow of the Myakka State Forest, a natural habitat that provides a home for deer and countless species of birds.

The forest is made of mesic flatwoods, characterized by an open canopy of tall pines and a dense ground layer of shrubs and grasses. The Myakka River runs through the northeastern part of the forest, cleaving the forest into two distinct tracts.

Much of what we now know as state forest was historically used for cattle grazing and farming.

MYAKKA RIVER STATE PARK

The seeds for the Myakka River State Park were sown by a Chicago businesswoman named Bertha Palmer, who relocated to the Gulf Coast and bought thousands of acres of land. She used much of the territory for cattle and swine

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ranching, and when she died in 1918, the Civilian Conservation Fund purchased 17,000 acres of Palmer’s land.

That territory was turned into Myakka River State Park, which was developed between 1934 and 1941 and opened to the public in 1942. Many of the amenities still in use today — including the visitor center and two picnic pavilions — were originally developed by the Civilian Conservation Fund, and the park has grown up all around it.

There are two ways to enter the park, and if you enter off State Road 72, you’ll quickly be confronted with a large open space on both sides of the road. If the weather is right, you’ll see alligators lounging in open fields or submerged up to their eyes.

There’s also a spot named Deep

Hole Trail where you can see dozens of alligators sunning themselves.

What else can you see in the park? That depends on the season and the time of day.

You can routinely see deer and large wading birds such as great blue herons and sandhill cranes in the park, many of them congregating near the boat launch and in scattered water holes throughout the park.

There’s also an elevated canopy walk that will allow you to take a 100-foot jaunt through the skyline 25 feet above the ground. The walkway also has a tower that stands 74 feet high, giving you a chance for a bird’s-eye view of the forest.

The canopy walk was completed in 2000, and it’s billed as the first public treetop trail in North America.

Another cool feature of the park is the birdwalk, a walkway that extends over the river’s floodplain. From here you can look out over a wide expanse of land and see birds of prey hunting over

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CARLTON RESERVE

The Carlton Reserve is closer to Venice than Sarasota, and it’s connected to the Myakka River State Park Reserve via the 12-mile Myakka Island Wilderness Trail, but it serves its own distinct purpose.

The property was purchased in 1982 for the purposes of developing a wellfield to provide drinking water for Sarasota County, and today it consists of 24,565 acres set aside for conservation.

There are more than 100 miles of trails to walk, bicycle or ride horses on, providing endless opportunities for recreation.

Some treeless areas of the ground are known as wet prairies; this means they are low-lying treeless areas with soft-stemmed plants. The Carlton Reserve has more than 1,000 of these wet prairies over its territory.

During the rainy season, flood waters will cover much of the 38 square miles of the Carlton Reserve, and fish can navigate the whole expanse. But in April and May, when the waters recede, the fish are trapped in shallow pockets.

That gives wading birds plenty of opportunity to pick off a meal with minimal effort.

There are more than 80 miles of hiking trails within the Carlton Reserve, and they are delineated by color-coded markings.

The Carlton Reserve also has a kayak launch, and 6.5 miles of the Myakka River abuts the reserve.

ROBINSON PRESERVE

To the north, the Robinson Preserve is situated on a salt marsh in Bradenton and consists of a 600-

acre span of coastline.

Here, you’ll find waterways to canoe or kayak down and scenic bridges, mangrove forests and picnic spots to traverse on land.

The Valentine House, a 120year old home, was relocated to the Robinson Preserve and rests near the entrance.

Perhaps the most prominent feature of the reserve is a 53-foot tower that provides a commanding view of the Tampa Bay. You can see the Sunshine Skyway off in the distance, and in the foreground, canoes or kayaks lazily cutting through the water.

Interestingly, Robinson Preserve was formerly distressed farmland. Much like the other parks in the area, it has been restored to its natural state by a partnership of state and local agencies dedicated to conserving wild Florida. Here you can see a wide variety of birds all yearround, and there are miles of hiking trails to saunter down and enjoy the view.

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No. 2:

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JULY 2022

Our National Anthem

Ever hear other nations’ anthems? Yep — booorrring.

Not only is our anthem spirited (sort of like us), but it has been performed in every style out there. Three singers explain what it takes to do it justice.

LIZ RAMOS

and hitting the right pitch is important so she can be confident, said the singer, who is 11.

“I get nervous every time I sing it, but I feel honored they picked me to sing it and not some other adult who could probably sing it better than I can,” she said.

The first two times Ochsendorf sang the national anthem at the Sarasota Polo Club, she sang accompanied by a piano recording. In her final performance, Ochsendorf decided to show the ultimate in national anthem courage — performing it acapella.

The “Star-Spangled Banner” is a song everyone in the U.S. has heard, but our national anthem is rarely performed the same way.

Whether it’s the key, tempo, style, or sometimes the notes themselves, singers’ interpretation can be as unique as we are.

Three local singers, who are students and a teacher at the Music Compound, share their own approaches to the national anthem.

“Many different artists are singing it in many different ways,” said Lakewood Ranch’s Sabine Kvenberg, a teacher at Music Compound. “You have to find the right way that works for you and your voice.”

Lakewood Ranch’s Jasleen

STAFF WRITER

S

arasota’s Jessie Ochsendorf likes to focus on an object when she’s standing in front of a large crowd preparing to sing the national anthem.

So what better object to focus on than the red and white stripes of an American flag?

Ochsendorf uses the flag as her mode of concentration. Beginning the national anthem strong

Courtesy photo

Sarasota’s Jessie Ochsendorf chooses to sing the national anthem acapella.

Liz Ramos

Lakewood Ranch’s Sabine Kvenberg, who also is a teacher at the Music Compound, takes Lakewood Ranch’s Jasleen Kaur have both sung the national anthem before polo matches at the Sarasota Polo Club.

Kaur, who is 17, said being able to put her own spin on a song that is so well known is scary.

“You don’t want people to be like, ‘Oh, she didn’t sing it the right way,’” Kaur said. “You just have to know that any song you sing you have to add your own little twist to it. Nobody wants to sing it exactly how it’s written.”

Kvenberg said the national anthem actually is quite challenging to sing because of its wide range.

“The modern pop songs have a small range, so a lot of people can sing them,” Kvenberg said. But the “Star-Spangled Banner” has notes that span an octave and a half, making it difficult for even

seasoned singers.

At times, singers like Kaur and Ochsendorf admit they have trouble reaching the high note that comes with the word “free” in the song.

The key to a great rendition, the singers said, it just that — finding the right key to start on to be able to achieve that high note, and then identifying the areas of the song where they can showcase their singing abilities.

Kvenberg, who is 62, looks for moments where she can show off the power of her voice. “The ramparts red glare, the bombs bursting in air,” is her sweet spot.

Ochsendorf agreed. That line in particular is her favorite because

it allows her to project as the melody builds.

“The music gives you guidance,” Kvenberg said. “The melody is so important. For me, words are important too, but the melody is something that touches you on a different level. With the national anthem and how it is written, it’s just so beautiful.”

In contrast, Kaur said she takes it slow and her voice is often softer. She emphasizes lyrics with a lot of emotion because of the deep meaning behind the song.

Kvenberg’s favorite lyric is the last line of the song “O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.”

“Living in a country like the United States, sometimes we take it for granted, the freedom we have,” she said. “And also the bravery from a lot of brave souls who fought for freedom. It reminds us how lucky we are, and we should be eternally grateful for that freedom.”

The same lyrics are Kaur’s favorite because they give her an opportunity to play with the melody and sing at different notes.

Each of the singers said she is honored to be able to sing the national anthem at an event.

“It feels special because it also represents our country,” Kvenberg said. “When I sing a song, I am 100% engaged in it. I put my whole self into a song. In that moment, when I perform, the song becomes part of me, and I become part of the song.”

QUIZ Test your anthem acumen at YourObserver.com

WE REMEMBER & HONOR. WE ARE GRATEFUL FOR OUR VETERANS WHO SELFLESSLY DEFENDED OUR COUNTRY AND PROTECTED OUR

FREEDOM.

We are THANKFUL for all veterans and are HONORED to have over 25 working side by side with us. We are so GRATEFUL for their service to this country and we are PROUD to have them on our team now serving our clients. We also thank the HEROES who continue to fight for our freedom today, as well as the families who support them at home.

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SPIRIT OF AMERICA

No. 3:

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YourObserver.com

JULY 2022

Honoring Veterans

It’s easy to take it for granted as Americans, but we celebrate several holidays to remind ourselves: Freedom isn’t free. From wreath laying to taps ceremonies, our traditions ensure we never forget to thank those who sacrificed for our country. One local in particular makes sure he does his part to keep these traditions alive.

HARRY SAYER STAFF WRITER

S

arasota pays respect to its veterans.

The city comes together for Memorial Day parades, soldier memorials, Fourth of July celebrations and more.

But these traditions don’t just happen. They are the work of many individuals, each contributing in their own ways. Danny Bilyeu has become a part of that support year in and year out, and maybe not in the way you’d expect.

Bilyeu has a long and involved history with the public service — you’ll likely remember him as a former city commissioner and later a field representative for U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan. If you have enjoyed Sarasota’s annual holiday parade recently, it’s Bilyeu that organizes that lively march down Main Street each year.

His day job is as construction field manager for Habitat for Humanity Sarasota. But another one of what he considers his duties — quietly but no less importantly — is act as the bugler who plays taps on his horn to close out military funerals and services. If you’ve attended one of Sarasota’s many tributes to those who have served our country, and stayed for

the ceremonies that follow, you’ll likely have seen Bilyeu standing proudly and blowing his horn in musical tribute.

The 24 notes that compose the melancholy music that typically ends military funerals and memorial services is an everpresent fixture at these events, and Bilyeu takes his role playing them seriously.

“It brings an end,” Bilyeu said.

“Especially on Memorial Day, where we’re remembering those who gave it all. It’s a remembrance of them.”

Bilyeu found his musical passion early, growing up in Illinois where he started playing music in middle school.

That developed into playing for the high school band and learning to play the trumpet. He studied music at Manatee Community College — now the State College of Florida — and played jazz music.

He had a respect for the military even earlier than that. Bilyeu’s father was a Navy veteran who saw his share of combat while serving on a Destroyer warship in World War 2.

Living and learning about his father’s time in the military — and seeing the toll that time had on him — fostered a respect and patriotism in Bilyeu that he carried with him as he grew.

“I respected his service to the country,” Bilyeu said. “After he died when I was 15, I didn’t (play taps) as much until I moved to Sarasota in ’79 and became involved with the (city) commission.”

Bilyeu started attending veterans events and services while serving as a city commissioner, and that carried on after he moved on to new positions. Bilyeu has played at veterans events, parades, memorial services and more.

When his dear friend Paul Thorpe, who started many downtown Sarasota parades and traditions, died in 2017, Bilyeu was there performing taps at his service at Sarasota National Cemetery.

He’s contributed to veteran groups in other ways as well.

Bilyeu routinely plays the Kiwanis Veterans Breakfast each year and plays service songs for the group.

“It’s a privilege and an honor to be able to play,” Bilyeu said. “These people gave their lives so we can do what we do.”

One of his most proud moments

through the years has been helping put together the Spirit of 45 observance program and threeday celebration in Sarasota in 2015, which had a dinner event that invited World War II veterans to attend and had big band music, swing dancers and more.

The weekend of events concluded with a large production with more than 40 trumpet players who played a moving rendition of taps at the Sarasota

National Cemetery. Bilyeu still thinks about performing with the group, and the veterans he recognized over the weekend, with pride.

“It had to be the highlight of my work supporting veterans,” Bilyeu said.

In spite of his many times performing and participating in events, Bilyeu makes it a priority to keep from becoming the center of attention during the ceremony.

When he’s playing taps out in the Sarasota National Cemetery, he keeps away from the stage and stands behind the crowd near the headstones.

“You just need to hear the music, you don’t need to see me playing because it’s not about me,” Bilyeu said. “It’s my contribution to what these people have done. There’s mixed emotions, but God gave me the talent so I’m going to use it.”

Danny Bilyeu plays taps at ceremonies locally.

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No. 4:

Cars I

ERIC GARWOOD MANAGING EDITOR

With nearly 47,000 miles of interstate highway in the U.S., it’s no wonder Americans dig cars. At a recent car show, we tune into what we love so much about our four-wheeled rides.

Photos by Eric Garwood

Chevrolet Corvette noses in a patriotic color scheme.

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t’s a sunny Saturday morning in some agrarian, eastern European country that ends in -ia or -stan.

Villagers arise to a bucolic setting, grab a creamy mug of dhallë and head to the main square to chat with old friends or make some new ones.

It’s a few kilometers down the rutted dirt road, so maybe they walk, ride a bike, hitch an ox to a cart or fire up a decades-old, Soviet-era tractor that runs on anything from kerosene to cooking oil. Either way, the fellowship is obvious as the villagers chat about things they love: the harvest, livestock, who really owns the means of production or that wacky Borat fellow.

Just like-minded people enjoying each other’s company.

Here in the USA, on a sunny Saturday morning, the sentiment is much the same, replayed in gatherings over and over from Miami to Seattle with origins further back than the real-life people who inspired “American Graffiti.”

It’s a motor-crazy staple called a Cars and Coffee meet-up, where people chat about things they love: rumbling muscle cars, six-figure exotics, classic vintage sportsters, built-from-theground-up hot rods, hatchbacks seemingly propelled by their stereo systems alone and zoomy rebuilds of what once were sensible econoboxes.

We may say we hate bumperto-bumper traffic, $4.75 gas, spiraling insurance premiums, redlight cameras, slow-pokes in the passing lane, 55 mph speed limits, radar guns and parking meters — the trappings that accompany

25

Robert Alfarone and his 1955 Chevrolet pickup truck.

everyday commuting. But we love our cars and the freedom they deliver, to the point that all other headaches pale once we, quoting Steppenwolf here, “get your motor running.”

So unconditional is that love, mind you, that a drivers’ license is not required.

Meet Brian Sanchez, a soonto-be-fourth-grader from St. Petersburg whose Lakewood Ranch grandfather is as car crazy as he is. Standing next to a waisthigh-to-an-adult Ford GT that even Brian towered above, the youngster made clear that soccer is cool, video games are cooler, but internal combustion, man . . .

“Look at them all,” Brian said, shooting a smile at his grandfather not far away and plugging his ears when a monster-sized motor fired up 20 feet away, instantly turning a few bucks worth of refined former dinosaur into noise, heat, fumes and boyhood joy. “I’m not sure which one is my favorite ... this one maybe.”

CORVETTE LOVE

John and Nita Govoni, of Bradenton have owned their 1963 Chevrolet Corvette coupe since he bought it in 1969 at age 22. To look at it today, you’d think John F. Kennedy was still a newly minted president and a gallon of Sinclair was still 30 cents. They drove their blue, split-window fastback to hang out with other owners of America’s quintessential sports car, doing what most everyone at such an event does: chat with anyone who stops by.

“It’s gotta be in your blood, you’ve gotta be a gearhead, I’ve been messing around with cars since I was 15,” John said, adding he brought eight cars with him when he and Nita moved to Florida. “If we didn’t have these cars, we wouldn’t meet anybody.

You know, neither of us work. If you’re working at a job, you meet people, so with these cars, we go to shows and we meet all kinds of people. You talk to them, we all got something in common: We

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spent all our money on cars.”

He’s had the Corvette brought back to original condition.

Though it’s not a daily driver, Govoni said he regularly enjoys the memories it delivers.

“My daughter, she grew up in the car,” he said, adding the Corvette is probably worth about $150,000 (original list price in 1963: about $4,300), adding the “not-for-sale price is $250,000.”

“If someone wanted it bad enough and they wanted to spend $250 (thousand),” he said, pausing for a moment, “I gotta give it to my daughter.”

A TOY THAT REALLY WORKS

Robert Alfarone’s 1955 Chevrolet pick-up truck is more than a play thing. He uses it as part of his ice cream catering business and, a bit, as a connection to his wife, who died of cancer in 2015.

Together, they had worked on the truck since 2003.

“It’s an ongoing project,” he said, agreeing with a passer-by who added “they always are.”

“That’s it, it’s kinda a fun project. It kinda, sorta keeps me out of trouble — until you get in and start the motor.”

Oh, the motor.

It’s a rumbling 350 cubic inch (that’s 5.7 liters, kids) V-8 that’s been modified to displace 383 cubic inches — a far cry from its factory-original six cylinders.

He’s designed the truck’s look, the custom interior, the custom wood bed. “It’s a labor of love.

Every time I walk into the garage, I find something new to do on it.”

Alfarone said he’s at a car gathering most every weekend with his dog, but he likes the Cars and Coffee meet-up the best.

“I love the get-togethers,” he said. “And this is even nicer

because there’s no pressure, you don’t have to win a trophy, you just come and show up.”

The night before a car show, Alfarone said, he made $450 with his ice cream business, selling scoops out of the back. Ice cream, he’ll sell. The truck, well ...

“I could never sell it,” he said.

“And again, only because my wife and I had 19 years into it before she passed away,” he said. “So, no, it’s going to my daughter when I’m done.”

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Rocking Out

OBSERVER STAFF STAFF

On the opposite end of the gathering far from the bluster of American iron and muscle, Rich Barbieri’s car-show neighbors were, shall we say, a little more refined. He loves his new 1968 Jaguar E-type, considered one of the sexiest machines ever built.

Barbieri has owned the Jaguar a little more than a year, but other classics such as a BMW M3, Porsches, a Ferrari are in his garage as well. “I own seven cars, which is kid of silly.”

This one, though, is something special. It’s that sexiness, even without air conditioning.

“I’ve always liked the styling,” he said. “Enzo Ferrari said it was the nicest car he’d ever seen, which is saying a lot coming from Enzo.”

A recent gathering was the first time he had brought the butteryellow convertible out to a car show. He said he’s always had a soft spot for the Jaguar — he’s in cool company: Steve McQueen, Tony Curtis, Brigette Bardot also owned one.

So does the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

“There’s something nostalgic about older cars...” Barbieri said.

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Classics like Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the U.S.A.” and Ray Charles’ rendition of “America the Beautiful” will always put you in the patriotic spirit, and you can never go wrong with Whitney Houston singing “The StarSpangled Banner.” But this year, try broadening your soundtrack for some extra flair.

Johnny Cash’s “Ragged Old Flag” is a spoken piece that tells the history of the proud country the flag has flown over. On her patriotic hit “American Heart,” Faith Hill said, “Times are hard and people are struggling, but our spirit as Americans always seems to prevail.”

Although the country genre might not be everyone’s favorite, it’s provided plenty of road trip-type hits that celebrate the U.S. Can you listen to “Dixieland Delight” without singing along?

And make sure to catch the Sarasota call-out in Johnny Cash’s “I’ve Been Everywhere.”

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“Sweet Caroline” is of course a must, but don’t miss another of Neil Diamond’s patriotic songs, “America,” which celebrates being the home for immigrants. “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” written in 1900 by James Weldon Johnson on the struggles Black Americans faced following the Reconstruction era, has been known as the Black national anthem since 1917. Sam Cooke’s “A Change is Gonna Come,” ranked No. 3 in Rolling Stone’s 2021 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list, became a civil rights anthem after its 1964 release.

Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the U.S.A.” is another Fourth of July classic, thanks to its catchy and upbeat chorus, but listen to the bluesy verses for the tale of veterans facing economic hardships after returning from Vietnam.

Turn up the volume with spirited pop too. Miley Cyrus’ “Party in the U.S.A” will fit in with every playlist, and Weezer’s “I Love the USA” is a fun close to the party.

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SPIRIT OF AMERICA

No. 6:

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YourObserver.com

JULY 2022

The Bald Eagle As anyone who has seen one of these beauties in person can attest, it’s hard to imagine a better symbol of strength and freedom. Luckily, we have an abundance of them, so we talked to a few aviary enthusiasts on what makes them so special.

Jay Heater

Bald eagles often frequent the area in Lakewood Ranch aptly named White Eagle Boulevard.

JAY HEATER MANAGING EDITOR

Photography Club and a Florida Audubon Eagle Watch volunteer.

“When I see a bald eagle flying, my eyes are drawn to its size, strength, agility, and how free it looks. Like the birds, Americans are strong, love where they live, and protect it. But mostly, we are free like the eagles.”

Sarasota’s Rick Waid said the fact the bald eagle has been America’s national bird since 1782 makes photographing it special.

“It’s a symbol of our country, and of bravery,” Waid said. “It’s a bird of prey, and intelligent. I’ve grown up with it. Eagles are dramatic, huge, acrobatic.”

He loves the bonds they form.

“You can see the attraction between them,” he said. “I was watching a mated pair the other day and it almost looked like they

BIG BIRD

National recognition: The bald eagle has been the national bird of the United States since 1782 when it was placed on the Great Seal of the country.

Partially protected: The bald eagle was removed from the federally endangered and threatened list in 2007 and was removed from the Florida Fish and Wildlife threatened species list in 2008. However several state and federal acts still project the majestic bird.

Right on the money: Do you know why the bald eagle is considered the most photographed bird? Look at your $1 bill.

Big crib: Bald eagles build the biggest nests of any bird, sometimes reaching 13 feet deep, 8 feet wide and weighing almost a ton.

Fast flyer: Bald eagles often fly at speeds from 35 to 40 miles per hour but can dive at speeds up to 100 miles per hour.

Not so bald: Bald eagles don’t develop their white head and tail feathers until they are 4 or older.

Get to know me: Eagles can live more than 30 years in the wild.

Somebody’s watching you: Bald eagles can see forward and to the side at the same time.

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n speaking with friends from outside Florida, University Park’s Susan Beausang often mentions she had just come back from photographing bald eagles.

“They are amazed to hear I can go out and photograph a bald eagle here in Florida,” Beausang said.

Indeed, Florida ranks third in the U.S. with its more than 1,500 nesting pairs (study by AZAnimals.com) of bald eagles, behind only Alaska, which boasts more than 30,000 bald eagles, and Wisconsin, which has an estimated 1,600 nesting pairs.

Beausang, a member of the Lakewood Ranch Digital Pho-

tography Club, takes advantage of the many bald eagle nests in Sarasota and Manatee counties to photograph the majestic bird.

She especially likes watching nests on White Eagle Boulevard in Lakewood Ranch, at the Manatee County landfill site in East County, and on Lido Key Beach in Sarasota.

“White Eagle really is the best because it is so open there,” Beausang said. “And it’s such a fun thing because you can watch the ongoing story.”

Although most bald eagles fly north in the summer, some remain year round.

“Watching the bald eagle, it’s no wonder it is our country’s symbol of freedom,” said Margaret Lanier, who is a member of the Lakewood Ranch Digital

were kissing.”

Waid likes the White Eagle Boulevard nest as a place to shoot, and he likes that the mating pair there seem to keep coming back to the same nest every year. He also shoots photos of bald eagles in Longboat Key just off Gulf of Mexico Drive at Triton Bend.

Getting dramatic shots of the bald eagles can be tough though.

“Believe me, they can sit on a perch for hours on end and do nothing,” Beausang said.

Sarasota’s Jane Lyons, who moved to the area five years ago from New York City, knows that patience is rewarded when it comes to photographing bald eagles, but that’s OK because she has made visiting a nest on Lido Key Beach in Sarasota part of her everyday walk down the beach.

She said the bald eagles seem like part of her family now.

“I know them and can identify them by their expressions,” she said. “I can tell them apart when they fly. Every day gives me more insight.”

She has gained respect for bald eagles after watching them be caring parents, and she has grieved with them the past two years when their chicks have died, possibly due to poisoning from the adults bringing home rodents that have eaten rat poison.

Jeanne Dubi, president of Sarasota Audubon chapter, said that is a problem in the region that area residents can solve by not using poisons that can kill bald eagles.

Those who photograph the majestic bird are just glad it is no longer rare to see one.

Lyons is just happy they chose the bald eagle as the national bird.

“They were going to choose a turkey,” she said.

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JULY 2022

No. 7:

Beer

Just because we didn’t come up with the idea doesn’t stop Americans from taking something and making it uniquely ours. Like beer. So crack open a cold one and dive into the debate : big brews vs. craft concoctions.

ANDREW WARFIELD STAFF WRITER

B

eer.

Americans didn’t invent it, but we’ve have spent the last few decades trying to perfect it.

From the time the federal government lifted the ban on home brewing in the late 1970s, craft beer has migrated from the kitchen sink to the brewpub as brewers have toiled to mix unique flavors and specialty grain blends into gourmet concoctions.

But did they really need to do that? And is there still a dominant taste for commercially produced, familiar brands from decades gone by?

Whether swilling by the waves or sipping at a table, both have their following, and they are by and large the same.

“Beer drinkers come back to the legacy brands when they are doing some hardcore, sitting-on-thebeach drinking, poolside drinking and golf drinking. They’re not drinking the heavier craft beers,” said John Saputo, who owns Gold Coast Eagle Distributing in Lakewood Ranch.

They are drinking the heavier craft beers, though, in growing numbers straight from the tap in brewpubs, tasting rooms of trendy micro breweries and from bottles and cans from grocery store shelves as distributors — like Gold Coast Eagle — cater to the demand craft brewers are creating.

Mike Bisaha, co-founder and CEO of the Sarasota-Bradenton area’s first craft brewery, Big Top Brewing Co., said his brewery produces roughly 10,000 barrels a year. Big Top and other breweries are taking a small but hoppy bite out of the market.

“We’re with 13 different dis-

Nearly as old as mankind itself, the history of beer production dates back some 6,000 years. In 1516, Germany enacted the Beer Law requiring beer to be brewed using only water, malt, hops and yeast, the same raw ingredients used today.

According to The Atlantic, here is a history of the craft beer movement in the U.S. 1965: Fritz Maytag, great-grandson of a home appliances tycoon who purchased a 51% stake in Anchor Steam, set out to improve the quality of his favorite beer and enhance its flavor, leading to new styles including Liberty Ale, the country’s first modern IPA.

tributors, primarily AnheuserBusch distributors, throughout Florida and we have thousands and thousands of accounts,” Bisaha said.

Piggy-backing on the distribution of the major domestic brands demonstrates that craft and legacy commercial beers can coexist in harmony.

“I honestly think that we’re complementary of each other,” Bisaha said. “The big brands are always going to have their place, and the craft market is just fighting for the scraps. But there’s no question that if one local craft gets someone to try a craft beer, as it allows that consumer to have a different perception, we’re more likely to get them to try our brand as well.

“In general, there’s a perception craft beer is hoppy and bitter.

That’s not what all craft beer is by any means. It’s just getting getting consumers to try something outside of their wheelhouse.”

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FORD VERSUS CHEVY

Commercially produced beers still control 80% of the market in the U.S., slightly higher locally, according to Saputo. Gold Coast Eagle distributes 285 different labels and has more than 1,100 varieties in its warehouse. Saputo said 70% of the American adult population drinks beer, account-

n Stella Artois n Bud Light n Budweiser n Miller Lite n Corona Extra

ing for 40% of all alcohol consumed in the U.S., with 20% of it liquor and the remainder wine.

Brand loyalty among the commercial beers is fierce.

Craft beers not so much.

“The craft beer drinker by design is always looking for something that’s new and creative,” Bisaha said. “It could be an IPA, but there are thousands of different IPAs, so there’s no loyalty, whereas if you look at the domestic side, there’s absolutely brand loyalty. It’s the same as Ford and Chevy. There’s no steering away from it, where in craft beer we see the exact opposite.”

Brand loyalty aside, the craft beer movement is driving change among the legacy commercial labels, with women leading the adaptation toward more fruitflavored beers, seltzers and readyto-drink pop-top cocktails.

“A lot of these these new products are driven by demands of women,” Saputo said. “They are consumers who have not been into beer, and they’re demanding different flavors, they’re demanding different products and we’re trying to stay ahead of the game by coming up with new stuff as fast as we can.”

Beer producers feel the need for speed as nimble craft brewers can create new concoctions daily to test the on palates of the ever-

“The craft beer drinker by design is always looking for something that’s new and creative.”

— Mike Bisaha

evolving new brew demographic.

That’s why hyperlocal craft breweries’ audiences are within a short trip of their brewpubs and tasting rooms, providing geographical loyalty in person, less so in bottles or cans on grocery shelves in farflung locales.

Big Top and other craft breweries in Sarasota-Bradenton that started a decade ago and survived are competing for that 20% of the market share on both fronts.

“When we started in 2013 we saw the the mad rush with a lot of breweries coming into the market,” Bisaha said. “There was a lot of emphasis on local breweries and everybody wanted to have local, and they only really wanted to focus on what’s in a 15-mile radius, which is really good to some extent, but when you’re a brewery that’s been built for distribution, which are a lot of what we call like our class of 2013 are, you can’t do it within just a 15-mile radius.”

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YEARS OF BEER

1979: Home brewing is legalized. Signed by President Jimmy Carter, HR 1337, made way for the home brewing movement. According to some sources, up to 90% of craft brewers began as home brewers.

1997: The home brewing legislation paved the way for microbreweries to start opening.

Between 1985 and 1997, new brewery growth was at least 20% per year; some years considerably more, most of them not surviving.

2000s: More than putting their own spin on old-world styles, breweries that survived the beer bust began reinventing beer, adding everything from apricots to algae, resulting in a cohort of “beer geeks” who not only loved beer, but also collected it.

2010-present: As more consumers began demanding more flavorful American beer, the largest beer companies in the U.S. began to adapt, most recently resulting in a variety of flavored seltzers and readyto-drink beer-based cocktails.

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22

SPIRIT OF AMERICA

YourObserver.com

No. 8:

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23

JULY 2022

Mavericks

They zig when others zag. They see not what is, but what could be. We’re talking about mavericks. No, not the ‘Top Gun’ kind (although we love them as well). The trailblazing kind. Here are a just a handful of the mavericks who helped make our area great.

Can you name them?

Happy

Being the first to do something is part of the very definition of a Maverick. In 1884, this individual was Sarasota’s first black settler, who also went on to help survey and plat the town of Sarasota. He and his wife, Irene, sold the land to build Bethlehem Baptist Church for $1 in 1897, and he served as its first minister.

4

TH

JULY

While some wealthy ladies were out socializing, this one was out buying up land and introducing new agriculture advances to the some 80,000 acres of Sarasota County she owned (OK, she did that socializing stuff, too.) She also helped extend the railroad from Manatee County to Venice and was responsible for recruiting other settlers to the area.

Sometimes, it takes an outsider’s perspective to find a new path. That’s exactly what this individual did when she came here from Chicago in 1984.

She was hired to make Lakewood Ranch a profitable agriculture operation; instead, she helped transform the land into what’s now one of the top master-planned communities in the country.

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That beautiful bridge that garners about a million tags on Instagram? Yep, it almost didn’t happen.

But this individual fought the naysayers in Sarasota to make a fixed-span Ringling Bridge a reality in 2003. While a city commissioner in the 1960s, he also helped build Bayfront Park and the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall.

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SPIRIT OF AMERICA

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No. 9:

YourObserver.com

JULY 2022

Jazz

Unlike many things in America, this one started here.

Sarasota is home to its own following of this original musical genre, which has proved a lasting homage to our country’s history of hardship and hope.

SPENCER FORDIN A+E EDITOR

I

f only Hal Davis could see the Jazz Club of Sarasota now.

Jazz, one of the original American art forms, was once an undernourished passion in Sarasota, but over time it has developed into one of the area’s most ubiquitous calling cards.

The club, birthed by Davis with listening parties in his home, has grown into a regional institution with hundreds of members. And it might be ready to grow more.

“There’s a need identified there to explore and to evolve the group into a more professionally managed organization,” said Ed Linehan, president of the Jazz Club of Sarasota, adding that without staff, the club might have to do less.

Nobody wants that. If there’s anything the decades have shown, it’s that there’s an appetite for more jazz.

When Davis, a former advertising executive and member of Benny Goodman’s management team, relocated to Sarasota, he quickly found a lot of like-minded people. His small group of music aficionados quickly outgrew his

living room, his condominium’s meeting room and even a third location at a bank community room.

Davis established a roster of performers, a series of concerts and also the Sarasota Jazz Festival, which held its latest incarnation at Nathan Benderson Park in March.

But Davis, who died in 1990, might not recognize the club he started.

“It was a social group and then became a membership group. It grew amazingly, but without a master plan,” said Linehan. “...

It was people who just enjoy the kind of music and recognize that there was a lot of local talent, some of which had retired here from a professional career.”

Now the group doesn’t just build the audience; it helps to develop the artists.

It raises more than $20,000 in scholarships to higher education for young artists every year, and it helps organize events multiple nights a week during its respective seasons. The Jazz Club has its Monday Night Jazz Cabaret series, hosted by Florida Studio Theatre, in addition to its Friday Jazz at Two performance series

Ian Swaby

The Sarasota Jazz Club held its annual Sarasota Jazz Festival in March at Nathan Benderson Park.

at Unitarian Universalist Church.

Between those two series, you’re talking about more than 40 performances per year. The club’s newest offering, Jazz Thursdays at the Sarasota Art Museum, have also brought in a dedicated following. Linehan said the jazz club now has more than 800 members.

Nancy Roucher, the club’s music committee chair, has been deeply involved in the club’s maturation for decades. She calls Davis, “a genius masquerading as an advertising man,” and she said she’s fortunate that she got to know him. Her husband, Jerry Roucher, took the mantle from Davis and ran the Jazz Club of Sarasota for a decade.

Over time, the club began to not just foster jazz appreciation but to enrich the community from within, and its expanded performance calendar has given regional art-

ists the chance to showcase their skills to a wider audience. Some of those artists are teachers, and some of them are local scholarship winners who have brought their career to a higher level.

Roucher singled out pianist Liston Gregory III. “He was at our first cabaret this year,” she said. “He grew up in the community and went to the University of North Florida, which is known for its jazz program. He’s now touring with a nationally known group, and he’s been to Singapore and all over the world.”

Adversity appeared on the horizon a couple years ago for the Jazz Club, much like every other industry in America.

Linehan said the club’s membership was at 960 people in March 2020, nearly doubling as the result of a 15-month campaign to bring in new faces. Then came

the COVID-related performance shutdown and slowdown, and the memberships dwindled. Recovery has come slowly; Linehan said that many people did come back once performances resumed, but he estimates that there’s at least a few hundred subscribers that never returned. But he remains optimistic for the club’s future.

If you look at the environment it was born into, you can begin to understand why there is still limitless potential to grow.

“They had the Asolo,” said Roucher. “The opera was still in its infancy. They had the orchestra. And they had the Ringling Museum. But they didn’t have any jazz, and that’s what he loved to listen to. So he and his wife started inviting people over to their house to listen to records in their living room. And that’s how the jazz club started.”

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YourObserver.com

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25

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SPIRIT OF AMERICA

|

YourObserver.com

JULY 2022

No. 10:

The American Dream

We’re all familiar with the phrase ‘the American dream.’

But what that looks like depends on the person. For immigrants, it’s an especially poignant ideology. Two such individuals share their stories and what it means to them.

SANDDY MARCHENA LIZ RAMOS STAFF WRITER

W

h e n L a kewo o d Ranch’s Sanddy Marchena received documentation in 1994 stating he was a U.S. citizen, being a teenager, he didn’t really realize the significance of the papers.

But he remembers his mother, Isabel Marizan, was ecstatic.

Reflecting on his life now at the age of 42, Marchena said his mother’s decision to emigrate her family from the Dominican Republic to the U.S. and obtain their citizenship led to a world of opportunities.

“I tell my wife all the time, that’s one of our most important documents,” Marchena said.

“Now later in life, especially with what goes on in the world, I’m so thankful I’m a citizen of the United States. I’m thankful, but I’m also proud. I’m proud to call this country my country.”

In 1985, Marchena’s family moved to Manhattan, New York, after Marizan won a trip to New York as a reward for being the top salesperson for Mary Kay Cosmetics. She saw a world in which

her sons could thrive and build successful lives.

At 5 years old, Marchena moved with his mother and brother, Edwin, to New York.

“I was young, but for my mother, I’m sure it was scary being the main provider for two children and one on the way,” Marchena said. “That key decision by my mother probably changed the trajectory of my life and my family now.”

After his family’s arrival in New York, Marizan’s first priority was for her children to learn English, Marchena said. His mother hired a tutor, and he went through a 30-day crash course in learning how to speak English.

“I must have learned well because I did really well in elementary school, grammar school and high school,” Marchena said. “It was important for my mom that as soon as we arrived I immerse myself in learning the language, even though to this day, she struggles with it.”

As a child, Marchena said he was like a sponge, wanting to learn anything he could and try new things, so he didn’t have a hard time learning the language or adjusting to life in the U.S. But that doesn’t mean he didn’t notice the changes.

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Courtesy photo

“I was a skinny kid from the Dominican Republic, and within six months of being here, I was pudgy and fat,” Marchena said with a laugh. “I discovered places like McDonald’s. I think that was one of my favorite places to go when I was 9 or 10 years old.”

Education has always been important to Marizan, so Marchena and his brothers always made sure they went to class, did their homework and studied.

“She believed education was the way to take our family to the next level,” Marchena said.

Marchena remembered his mother looking over his homework, even though she didn’t understand what she was looking at. But she always made sure he finished it.

The family moved to Union City, New Jersey, where Marchena continued his education.

His high school history teacher, Nellie Chapman, was instrumental in helping Marchena get accepted into Brown University.

Chapman would take a group of students, including Marchena, on college tours.

“She believed before we even had an awareness that we could be successful and we could further ourselves,” Marchena said of Chapman.

Marchena recalled the day he received notice from Brown University regarding his application.

He remembers watching a TV show where people were receiving acceptance letters to college.

“If it’s a regular letter, it means you didn’t get in; if you got in, it’s a big envelope,” he said. “I remember coming to my mailbox and seeing a big envelope.

When I saw it was from Brown, I was excited. It’s the culmination of all my hard work. I’m not the smartest guy, but boy I will outwork you.”

When he graduated, Marchena gave his diploma to his mother as a symbol of gratitude for her influence in his achievement.

His mother, meanwhile, had been busy pursuing her own achievements, including owning multiple salons.

“If my mom had a 10th of the

opportunities I’ve had in this great country, she’d be a known name,” Marchena said.

Marchena’s career in banking with Capital One led to many good things in his life, including meeting his wife, Melodie Marchena, and learning about the Kiddie Academy franchise.

Marchena followed his mother’s entrepreneurial example by purchasing two Kiddie Academies with his wife. They own Kiddie Academy of Cedar Knolls in New Jersey and took ownership of the Kiddie Academy of Lakewood Ranch on May 20.

He can’t wait for his mother to be able to visit him and his family in Lakewood Ranch so she can see the new business and the life he and Melodie have built for themselves and their daughters, Sophia and Camila.

“I can’t wait to see her eyes the first time she looks at the building,” Marchena said. “I know that she’ll be proud. I just wish I could do more.”

Marchena said becoming a U.S. citizen feels like a gift, and his job is to pass it on, whether that’s helping his staff at Kiddie Academy pursue their dreams or guiding his daughters to become contributing members of society.

Marchena wants to pass down his culture and Dominican heritage to his daughters.

“I don’t think you can go forward without understanding where you’re coming from,” he said.

Marizan’s decision to leave her family and friends in the Dominican Republic to move somewhere she only had been once before always has inspired Marchena to dream big.

“I need to be at least as courageous as my mom or at least 50% as courageous as her,” Marchena said. “That’s the great thing about this country: if you believe in yourself, if you’re someone who is resourceful, there’s nothing you can’t do. My mom had a vision, so for me, that’s what I try to impart on myself, my family, my two young daughters. I want them to have vision. There’s nothing they can’t accomplish.”

Lakewood Ranch’s Sanddy Marchena and his wife, Melodie Marchena, love living in Florida with their daughters, Camila and Sophia Marchena. Sanddy Marchena says immigrating to the U.S. changed the trajectory of his life.

SPIRIT OF AMERICA

YourObserver.com

DRAGOS ALEXANDRU

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JULY 2022

27

A SUNCOAST FAMILY TRADITION!

RYAN KOHN SPORTS EDITOR

A

t the age of 23, Dragos Alexandru thought he was headed to the United States within

Ryan Kohn

Dragos Alexandru immigrated to the U.S. from Romania in 1988. He lived in New York until moving to Sarasota in 2002, where he worked in IT and became a rowing coach.

kind. In Manhattan, staring at the bread aisle, Alexandru felt overwhelmed. He bought a soft white bread, not knowing that he had to toast it to unlock its full potential.

He ate his bread mushy for a while until he figured out the secret.

Other things that confused Alexandru at first: coin-operated laundromats and greeting people with handshakes as opposed to kisses on the cheek.

Despite these cultural differences, Alexandru thrived in America. He decided to take classes at Grumman Data Systems Institute and was able to find a job in his field of IT work.

He stayed in New York until 2002 when, in the wake of 9/11, he and his family moved to Sarasota.

Once here, Alexandru stayed in IT but also became a rowing coach with Sarasota Scullers. He stayed with the program until 2012. He is now the head coach of Sarasota County Rowing Club and assisted in the development of Nathan Benderson Park as a top rowing destination.

Alexandru experienced a personal tragedy in 2007 when his son, George Alexandru, died in a car accident at the age of 23.

Dragos Alexandru said his son’s death is the only thing he would change about his time in America.

In every other aspect, his experience has been more than he ever dreamed.

“You use your brain and you work hard and you can make it,” Alexandru said. “It’s not perfect, but no place is perfect. All the good here cannot be pushed out by the bad. Living here is an advantage. Take it.”

It is the extent of America’s freedom of choice, Alexandru said, that separates it from all other countries, even other welldeveloped nations. In Europe, he said, people can’t sit and talk after finishing their drinks at a cafe on a weekday morning. They will be questioned and told to leave by the staff. In America, you can relax. If you want to move to another state, you don’t have to get approval from the government first, you just do it. You can travel any time you want. You can swim in the bay or visit a gun range.

These are things many Americans take for granted. After growing up in Romania, Alexandru never will — not even mushy bread.

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months.

He was not — at least not yet.

Though he had talked to the U.S. Embassy about immigrating, it would be four years of waiting for him to leave his home country of Romania, for his government did not want him or anyone else to leave. The years in between were filled with harassment from the Romanian government and stress about when (or if) the country would let him leave. It got so bad that Alexandru attempted to defect via an oil ship headed for Houston; Alexandru was caught and arrested, but ultimately let go with a warning.

When he finally arrived in America at the age of 27, Alexandru said, he realized all the hassle had been worth it.

Alexandru, now 65, was not just anyone in his home country. He had represented Romania in the 1980 Moscow Summer Olympics as a rower. It was during his travels as a rower to places like Italy, he said, that he began to realize just how restrictive the communist Romanian government was. It controlled the news you consumed, the food you ate and the place you worked. One week, Alexandru remembers, in an attempt to save on gas, the Romanian government allowed only half of its drivers to use their cars, the ones with license plates starting with even numbers. The next week, only cars with odd license plates were allowed to be on the road.

“It’s all one way,” Alexandru said. “It’s ‘follow or else’ and the ‘else’ is putting you in jail.”

When many Eastern Bloc countries announced they would not partake in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics in support of Russia, Alexandru feared Romania would follow suit. He found himself with a choice to make: he could stay and make an attempt at qualifying for the 1988 games, or he could put his rowing career aside and leave, starting anew. He opted for the latter, and he wanted to go to the United States, even though he knew no one there. He had heard enough stories of achieving the “American dream” that he believed he could make a life here, and that was enough.

“I had no real expectations (for the U.S.),” Alexandru said. “What I did know, for sure, was that it could not be worse than where I was. That’s the bottom line. It could only go up.”

So he left, or at least prepared to leave. Four years later, he found himself on a train to Rome, where he spent two weeks with other Romanians immigrating to the U.S. in a type of adjustment period, learning about U.S. customs from an English-speaking teacher. He brought little with him other than clothes. After two weeks, Alexandru flew from Rome to Manhattan, New York, where the U.S. had an organization waiting for him, helping him transition.

He was given two weeks’ worth of money and a place to stay. He had that amount of time to find a job and a more permanent residence, which he did via a Romanian connection he made in the city.

When Alexandru arrived in Manhattan, he was shocked by many things, but none more so than the choices he found in the bread aisle of his local supermarket. In Romania, people simply buy bread, for there is but one

28

SPIRIT OF AMERICA

No. 11:

|

Football

RYAN KOHN SPORTS EDITOR

T

here may not be a more American image than the one of legendary football coach John Madden, hand in the air, being carried off the field by his Oakland Raiders team after winning Super Bowl XI in 1977.

If you know football, you know the image. The Raiders had defeated the Minnesota Vikings 32-14 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. Madden, who died in December at the age of 85, looks so happy in this photo.

Whether as a coach or a broadcaster or a video game cover star, no one loved the game of football more than Madden. He was representative of America: big, loud and never too serious, but sharper than a steel knife. When he won that Super Bowl, it was a result of not just his success, but the people around him, all working together to achieve a goal.

It’s appropriate that he came to represent our country’s favorite sport. Yes, baseball may be America’s pastime, but it is football that controls our fall weekends.

Like America itself, football grew out of something English and made better. In 1869, college students from Princeton and Rutgers played the first intercollegiate football game, something students in the Northeast created as a mix of rugby and soccer. In fact, the game was originally known as “gridiron football” to differentiate it from soccer — which is short

4th of

July

copenhagen imports

YourObserver.com

JULY 2022

for “association football,” if you didn’t know. The game was still fairly rugby-ish at the beginning; we have Yale student and eventual coach Walter Camp to thank for the implementation of most of football’s signature features, like the concept of downs, turnovers, the line of scrimmage and, crucially, the quarterback.

Would we love football as much if there was no quarterback position? When you watch Tampa Bay’s Tom Brady or Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes make a 40-yard throw to the corner of the end zone that falls gently into their receiver’s arms, as if handing them a newborn, it almost makes you want to cry — but this is football, so you hoot and holler instead.

Know what else is beautiful?

Kids playing football in the snow.

That’s how Braden River High Head Coach Curt Bradley came to love the game. Bradley, the son of former University of Missouri quarterback (and pro baseball player) Phil Bradley, was born in 1985 in Missouri and grew up watching not the Tigers, but the University of Colorado Buffaloes.

“They had a running back named Eric Bienemy, who is now the offensive coordinator of the Kansas City Chiefs,” Bradley said.

“He was a small running back and I was small. In those days running backs used to go over the top of their linemen at the goal line.

I would practice that, going over the top of my dad, who was on his hands and knees.”

Bradley said snow was not a

Yes, we are well aware that baseball is America’s pastime. But when it comes to sports, we are obsessed with the pigskin. Explore how this rough-and-tumble sport has grown to dominate our sports landscape — and all our fall weekends.

Photos by Ryan Kohn

Braden River offensive coordinator Eric Sanders and Head Coach Curt Bradley played football together at the University of Northern Iowa.

hinderance to him and his football-playing friends. In fact, it created one of his fondest memories, when the group snuck spray paint out of a friend’s garage and spray painted an entire football field, complete with end zones, in the neighborhood and played a full game.

See that? Football teaches innovation.

It teaches a lot more than that, too. Bradley said despite the rise of social media in today’s age — which has created a more individual sport with a “me first” attitude — football has a lot to teach our country’s youth.

“I tell my team all the time, if you work hard and do the right thing, the game will pay you back,” Bradley said. “For some, that means playing the game at the next level, but for others it

means learning how to persevere through difficult times. What it takes to be successful in football is still the same: commitment, toughness and being a good teammate.”

You don’t need to look further for proof of that than Bradley, who not only has been a successful football coach at Braden River, but has turned many of his players into stand-up members of the community. Bradley said he’s blessed for the opportunity to do so. Watching former Pirates turn into parents and successful businessmen is one of his favorite parts of the job, he said.

I played football for a few Pop Warner seasons. I stopped, ironically, to focus on baseball, which was more suited to my skills, but my experience playing football has stuck with me. It was where

The Braden River football program has been elite since Head Coach Curt Bradley was hired in 2012.

I learned how to get yelled at, which is a surprisingly important skill to learn. It was where I learned how to pick myself up, literally, after taking a beating. And it was where I learned how to do a touchdown dance, because this is America, damn it, and if there is one thing Americans know how to do, it’s celebrate.

Now go have a beer and throw the pigskin around your backyard. You deserve it.

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Photos by Ian Swaby

Vickie Oldham, president and CEO of the Sarasota African American Cultural Coalition, was taught by Leonard Reid’s daughters Ethel Reid Hayes and Viola Reid.

No. 12:

History

Admittedly, we’re just babies relative to the legacies of other countries. But history — even a short one — is crucial to understanding our community. The following landmarks help connect us to the past.

IAN SWABY STAFF WRITER

people,” he said.

He said that while little is known about the descendants of these early inhabitants, some members of the Seminole tribes of Florida trace their ancestry back to Florida’s ancient peoples.

The Historic Spanish Point campus, located in Osprey off North Tamiami Trail, is open daily from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. Visit Selby.org.

Sarah Bennett, archaeologist at the Spanish Point campus, said that the Window to the Past exhibit is the only one of its kind in Florida.

A WINDOW TO THE PAST AT SPANISH POINT (UP TO 2,500 YEARS AGO)

Around the same time that Stonehenge was created, at 1,000 to 2,500 years ago, the shell midden at Marie Selby Botanical Gardens’ Historic Spanish Point campus was gradually formed by the native people of the area.

Visitors to A Window to the Past at Historic Spanish Point can view a cross section of time as they walk inside the layers of shells, peering into them through a literal window.

According to John McCarthy, vice president for Regional History at Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, the materials, which were stacked over approximately 1,000 years, reveal the utilization of shellfish as dye, tools, and technology, as well as the evolution of pottery.

The site is far from simply a trash disposal site, said McCarthy; rather, it was designed as a foundation to maintain a coastal village during storms, as well as for the people to live where they could experience the breeze.

“The people who built these were very wise, strategic, resourceful, creative, successful

Jane Kirschner was president of the Historical Society of Sarasota County when the Bidwell-Wood House and Crocker Memorial Church (pictured) were moved to Pioneer Park in 2006.

PIONEER PARK (1901 / CIRCA 1884)

Pioneer Park offers a picture of where it all began.

The Bidwell-Wood House, a classical revival-style home, is among the earliest documented homes in the Sarasota area. It was originally located at the corner of U.S. 41 and Wood Street.

The home has notable ties to the area’s past. Alfred Bidwell, who had built the home by 1884, was implicated in the murder of postmaster Charles Abbe by the Sara Sota Vigilance Society. Abe had allegedly been aiding land-

grabbers, helping them to find land-boundary violations to acquire others’ property.

In 1896, Luke A. Wood from Rhode Island purchased the home for his wife, Annie Wood, as a winter residence, and in 1934, Wood donated 12 acres to the city, creating Luke Wood Park, which still exists today. The house remained in the family until 1966.

The Crocker Memorial Church began in 1901 at what is now the intersection of Bee Ridge Road and U.S. 41, on two acres of land that its founder Peter Crocker purchased for just $1. A Civil War veteran born in 1843, Crocker fought at the battles of Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, and Gettysburg.

The building now serves as a venue for weddings, funerals, plays, musical entertainment, art classes, and clubs.

Jane Kirschner, who helped coordinate the move of both buildings to Pioneer Park in 2006, when she was formerly president of the Sarasota Historical Society, said that preserving buildings like these is important for understanding Sarasota. “If you don’t know the history of a place, you don’t know the place as far as I’m concerned,” she said.

The park can be found at the intersection of North Tamiami Trail and 12th Street.

LEONARD REID HOUSE (1926)

Vickie Oldham, president and CEO of the Sarasota African American Cultural Coalition, said she recalls a bustling business district in Sarasota’s first African-American community, Overtown.

She said the Leonard Reid House, which was recently moved to Newtown — the community that evolved from Overtown and where where Oldham grew up — exemplifies the frame vernacular architecture typical of the homes Overtown residents built and inhabited.

Oldham said that during those times, which saw the oppression brought on by Jim Crow laws, the community was resilient because of its reliance upon itself.

“They tried their best to live their lives and endure the hardships of this life in Sarasota,” she said of its people. “And they were able to have a quality of life because they loved one another, and the community was tightknit, and they did the best that they could.”

The home, built in 1926, is known for its past ownership by a pioneering member of the community, Leonard Reid. Born in South Carolina in 1881, Reid became acquainted with and then employed by Sarasota’s first mayor, Col. Hamilton Gillespie, even helping to lay out the town’s first golf course.

Reid and his wife, Eddye Coleman, were influential in establishing Payne Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church.

Their daughters Ethel Reid Hayes and Viola Reid were prominent educators and taught Oldham herself when she was a young child.

“We will take very good care of this Leonard Reid family home, and we will love it,” she also said.

“Just like the family loved the Overtown community and the Newtown children.”

The house is now found at the corner of Orange Avenue and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Way.

Courtesy photo

Manatee County Commissioner Jonathan Bruce, Mary Fran Carroll, and SMR President and CEO Rex Jensen perform the ribbon cutting atop the Mary Fran Carroll Bridge in 2004.

the 60 years of its operation.

The forge was founded by German immigrant George Kreissle Sr., in 1947, and occupied by his son George Kreissle Jr. until 2007, when it was sold to another metalsmith, Martin Hoss, then changed hands to Kingston Realty in 2018.

Ralph Hoehne, the company’s owner, said that a search is ongoing for another generation of craftspeople to occupy the location, although it is a challenge.

The site still retains its equipment, including a fireplace and coal repository for heating metal, a hammer press for flattening metal, steel tables for working on projects, rollers for bending and twisting metal, and welders.

Just a few examples of items produced by the forge include the re-creation window grilles on the Ringling Mansion, the metal staircase at the St. Mary, Star of the Sea Catholic Church on Longboat Key, the light fixtures inside Columbia Restaurant on St. Armands Circle, and the gates in the courtyard of the Bishop Museum of Science and Nature.

However, so extensive was the collection of items the forge produced, that many of them have yet to find a place. Those interested in purchasing the metalwork can visit the location from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.

MARY FRAN CARROLL BRIDGE (2004)

The name of Mary Fran Carroll (1922-2014) will not be forgotten in Lakewood Ranch.

As the individual credited with envisioning the Lakewood Ranch community, she once said that the Mary Fran Carroll Bridge, which spans the Braden River along Lorraine Road just north of 70th Terrace East, was “validation” for her efforts when it was dedicated in 2004.

Carroll graduated in 1943 from business school at Northwestern University and entered public accounting at Northern Trust Co. in Chicago, where she was a native resident.

“It was a perfectly lovely time for a woman to be a business major, because men were going off to war,” said Carroll in 2013.

“They would never hire a woman before then.”

She traveled to Sarasota in 1980, exploring the area for a bank client, which led to a career with Schroeder-Manatee Ranch as chairman of the board and CEO from 1984 to 1997.

When rumors of an airport east of I-75 arose, Carroll told the board to reconsider the use of its 26,000 acres of land, which was then devoted to ranching and farming. She went on to lead the establishment of the Summerfield and Riverwalk communities and to help create the Sarasota Polo Club.

Carroll was noted for her toughness, intellect and strong desire to do what was right.

Having watched Lakewood Ranch develop into a full-fledged community, she said in 2008, “God, I have to be proud.”

KREISSLE FORGE (1947)

A familiar sight located on the eastern side of Tamiami Trail, just north of the airport, the Kreissle Forge supplied a wide array of items to the community during

Ralph Hoehne activates the hammer press, which flattens metal that is hot from the furnace.

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SPIRIT OF AMERICA

No. 13:

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JULY 2022

Apple Pie

‘As American as apple pie.’ Need we say more? Apple pie has been a symbol of American prosperity since the early 1900s. Local superstar pie makers share their secrets on making the perfect one.

HARRY SAYER

2. FIND THE RIGHT MIX

pple Pie. America is many things to many people, but there are touchstones in our cultural imagination. Baseball, Norman Rockwell paintings, etc.

And of course, apple pie.

It’s one thing to have it in your head, though, and another thing to make it real. Which begs the question — how does one make a great apple pie?

The baking experts at Der Dutchman restaurant and bakery certainly have their ideas. Managers Robin Wild and Devon Williamson share some of the tips on how to make your own perfect apple pie at home.

After peeling and slicing your apples, create that delicious sugary filling that will showcase them properly. The guys at Der Dutchman recommend sprinkling the prepared apples with an equal ratio of sugar to cinnamon.

Williamson also substituting corn starch for flour to make the pie thicker and more satisfying. He also recommends adding slices of butter on top of the filling before placing the top of the pie crust to make a hearty mix.

When the pie’s crust is placed on the pie tin, Williamson wets the edges of the crust with a water-soaked brush to prevent the crust from drying too fast and crumbling when the dough for the lid is placed.

1. PICK THE RIGHT APPLES

3. PRESENTATION MATTERS

STAFF WRITER

A

Most (if not all) restaurants used canned apples to keep up with demand, but you don’t have that excuse — you had better start with fresh apples.

“I grew up making apple pie with my grandma; we always used green Granny Smith apples,” Wild said. “It’s a tart apple that holds its integrity.”

Although tart apples are best, crisp apples like pink ladies and gala apples will work as well.

Before putting your pie in the oven, cut some vents in the crust, in any style you choose.

Another pro tip: Williamson recommends brushing an egg on top before sprinkling it with brown sugar — it helps brown the top of the pie. It’s best not to overdo it — he stresses to just beat one egg and spread a light layer over the crust — but the final product will look even more delicious because of it.

ALL-AMERICAN APPLE PIE INGREDIENTS

INSTRUCTIONS 1.) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Double crust n 2 cups flour n 1 teaspoon salt n 1/4 cup butter, chilled n 1/2 cup shortening n 6 tablespoons cold water

2.)Create filling by mixing sliced apples with sugar, 3 tablespoons flour, cinnamon and pinch of salt. Substitute 1/2 of flour for cornstarch depending on desired consistency.

Filling n 1 cup sugar n 3 tablespoons flour n 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon n Pinch of salt n 5 Granny smith apples, peeled and sliced

3.)Cut butter into cubes. Fold the flour, salt, butter and shortening together to form the dough for the crust. Sprinkle with cold water as needed to bring dough together without making it sticky.

4.)Once dough is formed, divide into two balls. Roll first out into a circle, then place on bottom of pie tin, leaving about an inch around the pan. Pour filling into bottom crust. Roll out second ball of dough to create pie top. Place on top of filling, cut any excess dough, then crimp the edges closed with a fork or your fingers. Cut vents in the top of the crust, then bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes or until top is golden brown. Enjoy!

Recipe courtesy of Christie Wingert

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SPIRIT OF AMERICA

No. 14:

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JULY 2022

Our Flag

No. 15:

Freedom

Old Glory is a distinctive and beautiful representation of our pride. So much so that we like to plaster it everywhere.

Below are a few examples of our patriotism.

Because without freedom, none of these other things matter.

Happy Independence Day. “Freedom, in any case, is only possible by constantly struggling for it.”

Albert Einstein

“The cost of freedom is always high, but Americans have always paid it.

And one path we shall never choose, and that is the path of surrender or submission.”

John F. Kennedy

“Liberty, when it begins to take root, is a plant of rapid growth.”

George Washington

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