Longboat Observer 5.19.22

LONGBOAT

Observer

Longboat Key’s weekly newspaper since 1978

YOU. YOUR NEIGHBORS. YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD.

VOLUME 44, NO. 41

SRQ plans expansion.

PAGE 10A FREE • THURSDAY, MAY 19, 2022

YOUR TOWN

Town tax values soar Longboat might consider lower tax rate based on Sarasota’s projections. PAGE 2A

Eric Garwood

Road work coming

Florida Department of Transportation crews will mill and repair two sections of Gulf of Mexico Drive this week, likely requiring overnight closures of single lanes.

Work is scheduled to take place from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m.

Wednesday through Friday in the 2200 block on the south end of the island and in the 4700 block in the mid-island area (above.)

Single-lane traffic is likely while work is underway.

Courtesy photo from Billy Brown

A Kemp’s Ridley nests on Longboat Key.

Rare turtle nests

Longboat Key got a VIP guest on its beaches the other day.

A Kemp’s Ridley sea turtle was spotted nesting on the island on May 11.

This turtle has two superlatives: smallest and rarest sea turtle in the world. They’re also the only sea turtle to nest in the daytime. There are fewer than 8,000 nesting females in the world, and they’re considered the most critically endangered sea turtles. This nesting mama seems to be on the opposite side of the Gulf of Mexico as the rest of her species, as Kemp’s Ridley turtles typically nest on Texas and Mexico beaches.

Longboat Key usually sees leatherback and green sea turtles on its beaches, and they’re arriving to nest in droves. Turn off beach-facing lights, fill in holes, knock down sand castles and keep beach furniture off the sand at night to protect the turtles.

Uncharted waters Longboat Key tries a new course to solve residents’ complaints. PAGE 3A

Eric Garwood

Boaters gathered on the sand spit of Greer Island on May 14, like they do on most warm-weather weekends and holidays.

A+E Light and color.

PAGE 12A

Turtle tracks LONGBOAT May 8-14 Nests False crawls

2022 38 44

2021 35 45

Totals since April 24 2022 2021 Nests 56 45 False crawls 56 62

Sad swan season One egg, no cygnets for mating couple. PAGE 4A

Source: Mote Marine Laboratory Nat Kaemmerer

Lydia exits the water to check on her nest again.

LONGBOAT OBSERVER

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THURSDAY, MAY 19, 2022

|

Tax values expected to rise by double-digit percentage

BY THE NUMBERS A look at some facts and figures from Sarasota County’s Tax Appraiser’s office.

Town leaders begin talk of reducing millage as budget sessions begins.

42

Longboat Key homes in which new owners were eligible in 2021 for homestead portability protection

ERIC GARWOOD MANAGING EDITOR

After a year of record real estate prices in 2021, an equally unusual budget season is likely to follow this summer, Sarasota County’s chief deputy tax appraiser said Monday.

Though estimates by the Sarasota County Property Appraiser’s office are expected to fluctuate until a certified valuation is delivered on July 1, Brian Loughery, the Sarasota County chief deputy property appraiser, said his department’s early estimates for Longboat Key’s taxable property values are up about 13%, or the equivalent of $600 million.

If such estimates hold, it would push property valuations of the Sarasota County side of town beyond $5 billion and the townwide valuation past $7 billion, even if Manatee County valuations remain flat, which is unlikely considering the broad increase in property sale prices in the region over the last year.

“I’m not kidding when I say every day if I run these reports I’ll have different numbers,” Loughery said. “If I run them every hour, I’ll have different numbers.”

By June 1, the town is due to receive estimated valuations from Manatee and Sarasota counties, upon which town leaders can begin formulating a millage rate for the desired property tax income.

At the town’s first budget workshop of the season this week, during which discussion focused mainly on long-range capital projecs, town commissioners raised the possibility of reducing the general fund millage rate. If that happens, it would be the first change in the town’s rate of

37%

Percentage of homes and condominiums on Longboat Key that are homesteaded (about 2,000)

JULY 1 File photo

According to figures from the Realtor Association of Sarasota and Manatee, the median price for a single-family home on Longboat Key was up 98% year-over-year to $2.64 million, and the median price for condos was up 32% to $930,000.

2.1144 since the 2017 budget. Town properties rose 5.99% in taxable value for the 2021 budget compared with the year before.

“We’ve talked internally, with the increase in the tax base, that a decrease in the operating millage is likely,” Town Manager Tom Harmer said.

Town Commissioner Penny Gold, in a budget workshop on Monday morning, asked whether if reducing millage now was wise, considering higher prices and other inflationary pressures. Harmer said with double-digit increases in property values forecast, the town is looking at expenses it cannot control, such as fuel prices and insurance costs, and will have a better handle on them by the time the Town Commission meets on the budget again in June, adding that the town’s reserves could offset some of the expected expenses, still leading to a lower tax rate.

“We expect it will be a pretty dramatic increase in property values ... so, in an attempt to not necessarily

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level that out, we can at least eliminate some of the impact of that; we might be able to reduce the operating millage rate somewhat,” Mayor Ken Schneier said.

The region has experienced rapid growth in real estate sales prices since the beginning of 2021, and Longboat Key came along for the ride. In March, the most recent month available, median prices for both single-family homes and condos were well above the previous year in the town’s two-county ZIP code.

According to figures from the Realtor Association of Sarasota and Manatee, the median price for a single-family home on Longboat was up 98% year-over-year to $2.64 million, and the median price for condos was up 32% to $930,000.

“The market was very fruitful this year,” Loughery said.

Loughery said values of homesteaded properties, which make up about a third of the town residences, will likely rise by the maximum

allowed 3% and non-homesteaded properties by the maximum 10%. For sales of properties that took place in 2021, unless the owners bring homestead portability from their previous Florida property, the taxable value will likely rise from its previous level to about 85%-88% of the sales price.

Loughery said this tax season is the first in the last 10 in which the taxable values for homesteaded properties have reached the 3% limit, saying they typically rise by 1%-2%.

The five parcels that make up the property on which The Residences at the St. Regis Longboat Key Resort sits are also rising in value as work progresses. Loughery told commissioners the property would likely be valued for this budget cycle at around $60 million. In 2021, the just value for the 244 individual parcels was $36,285,500.

If the project is completed as expected in spring 2024, its full value would be on the tax rolls for 2025.

Date on which town commissioners must set a maximum millage rate. From there, it can be lowered but not easily raised

JULY 5

Date after which property owners can see their valuations on the Sarasota County Tax Appraiser’s website

$10 BILLION

Estimated increase in countywide taxable values (16%) in Sarasota, based on calculations made in mid-May

6,373

Sarasota County taxable parcels

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LINE

IN THE

SAND ERIC GARWOOD MANAGING EDITOR

L

ongboat Key leaders want to take action to keep the distance between anchored vessels at a popular boating destination and the residents of the island’s north shore.

The wraparound beach of Greer Island on weekends and holidays is regularly packed with small boats, beached on its east-facing side just south of the Longboat Pass boating channel. It’s one of the mostdynamic geographic features in the area, shifting and growing as sand flows through the pass from the Gulf side, though five groins built as part of the most-recent beach management project are designed to slow that drift.

But after an emergency project in early 2021 pushed the waterline back north of the iconic wooden fish landmark, the fragile spit has again encroached on the decadesold Lands End dock, putting boaters ever-closer to private property and cutting off access to the Greer Island lagoon for all but kayaks, paddleboards, the smallest of boats and the occasional personal watercraft.

Manatees, too.

Mike Logan, who lives on the north end, said manatees that entered the lagoon in high water over the weekend had trouble getting out when the tide receded.

“The dock’s been there 70 years, probably,” Vice Mayor Maureen Merrigan said. “What’s moved is the spit.

My brother was a commercial fisherman, and he was down a couple weeks ago, and he said, ‘The only thing that changes here is (Greer) Island.’”

Although another emergency action to reopen the link to the lagoon to ensure tidal flushing for water quality and wildlife access is planned for June, a more-comprehensive pushback of the sand might not happen until late in 2022. Such a spit management plan has been in the works for months and would enable the town to periodically reset the sand to keep the outlet open, using the sand derived from the operation to put back on the nearby Gulf beaches.

To keep boats from getting too close to north-end property, owners of which have complained about noise and bad boater behavior, town staffers this week rolled out a plan for the Town Commission that proposed designating a portion of the sand spit closest to the dock as a swimming beach zone, barring any motorized boats from entering a buoyed-off zone between 50 and 100 feet into the water from the high-water mark.

The main zone would measure about 180 feet north and south, with the possibility of a smaller zone adja-

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THURSDAY, MAY 19, 2022

3A

Photos by Eric Garwood

Boaters gathered on the sand spit of Greer Island on May 14.

The establishment of a public beach swim area can keep vessel operators from beaching near homes or a sensitive lagoon. cent to Canal 1A that connects the lagoon to Sarasota Bay. It’s not the first time town officials have tried to shoo boaters from the spot.

Earlier this year, in concert with Manatee County, signs were erected posting the area as reserved for the launch and recovery of non-motorized vessels only. About a month later, the signs were removed following word from Manatee County officials that the restrictions couldn’t be enforced.

Even while the signs were up, boaters ignored them fairly routinely.

Although the bathing beach restrictions require review from the Florida Wildlife Conservation Commission, the town can create its own regulations. Other options, such as simply banning motorboats or calling for slow speed or no wake zones, come with their own state requirements of data on accidents, injuries, damage and boating-infraction citations.

“Some of those are harder to get approved than others, so what you have is an effort by the staff to work with the state and identify a way we can generally accomplish what was being put in place before,” Town Manager Tom Harmer said, adding that town police can also cite boaters who anchor so close to the lagoon outlet as to impede navigation or anyone operating a powerboat in the lagoon unsafely or as a threat to wildlife or seagrass.

Town leaders earlier this year had hoped to designate the lagoon offlimits to all but the residents but found that state regulations require everyone to be treated equally.

“A local jurisdiction can establish a public beach or bathing area at the local jurisdiction’s own discretion.

That’s why we’re recommending that, not necessarily that the anticipation is that this is going to be an active swimming area,” said Allen Parsons, the town’s director of Planning, Zoning and Building.

Commissioners in the non-voting workshop session generally supported moving ahead with formalizing the proposal, hoping to vote on June 6 and July 1 to establish the swim-only zones by Independence Day weekend.

Commissioner Mike Haycock said the presence of buoys bobbing in the waters off the Greer Island shoreline would be a strong indicator for boat operators to stay clear. Parsons said the state would require the swimming areas to be marked.

“You’re going to see that way before you see the shoreline signs,” he said. “I’ve rarely seen a boat violate an area that’s well marked.”

Merrigan said once the lagoon opening is cleared out, she will be concerned that boaters will find a new place to beach, likely just east of the Longboat Pass bridge. Commissioners proposed adding a smaller, second swim zone there, just wide enough to bump up against the boating channel, effectively blocking mooring or beaching. It would be against the rules to beach in the swim zone, nor could they anchor in a channel where they might block navigation.

Commissioners also discussed the

possibility in the future of simply allowing motorized vessels to come and go from docks behind homes on North Shore Drive.

Parsons said the town already is in communication with FWC on the plans and has heard no initial concerns or reasons to alter course.

Longboat’s proposed swimming zone is essentially the same as the area initially marked, then unmarked, by Manatee County in March. The town has spoken with county leaders, who have urged it to

2020

maintain boating access east of the bridge’s main span, although the ever-shifting sand spit decades ago ended hundreds of yards to the west.

“We have the ability, if this doesn’t work, if people are avoiding it or it can’t be enforced or for some reason it doesn’t work, we can go back and say to Manatee County, it doesn’t work, and we have to extend it out to the bridge, or something like that,” said Mayor Ken Schneier.

Before an emergency project, Greer Island's sand spit extended beyond the Land's End dock, cutting off boat access to the lagoon to the east.

2021

Town pays about $81,000 for an emergency clearing of the lagoon’s opening into Sarasota Bay.

2022

Manatee County erected signs advising boaters of a no-motor landing area. The signs were removed after about a month.

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THURSDAY, MAY 19, 2022

No swan babies this year

Golden brunch for Kiwanis

A

NAT KAEMMERER STAFF WRITER

S

wans will be swans. Despite swan keeper David Novak’s best efforts, Longboat Key will be without cygnets once again.

Novak and swan expert and breeder Bob Knox went to check the only nest that was made this year, which was Chuck and Lydia’s. Novak had been keeping food and water bowls near Lydia, who nested in foliage across from the CVS on Bay Isles Parkway, to keep her alive as she sat on her one egg.

“Just Chuck and Lydia made a nest,” Novak said. “Nick and Lacy didn’t, and Donald is south waiting for Greta to come back and maybe pair up, but it’s been months, and they haven’t paired up.”

Knox candled the egg, which means that he took a very bright flashlight in a dim space (in this case, towels thrown over foliage) and held it to the egg to see if a cygnet was forming. Novak distracted the swan while Knox and wife, Lisa, swept in to check in the egg. Knox delivered a grim diagnosis.

“It looks perfectly fine, but I can tell it’s rotten,” Knox said.

He moved Lydia back into the water so she could clean up and let go of the egg. There was some extra drama: Greta, whose mate Clark died about this time last year, had been hanging out in the same pond as Chuck and Lydia, trying to get Chuck’s attention.

However, after Lydia got back in the water and reunited with Chuck, Greta began to move away rather than raise a stink. Novak plans to move her and swap her with a female at Islandside, where the swans are more on their own, in the hopes of mating Donald with a female. In the

Lydia puffs up as she heads off the nest.

Photos by Nat Kaemmerer

David Novak holds the failed egg.

end, however, nature is nature, and swans are swans.

“I have no idea why one rejects another, why two build a nest and don’t use it,” Novak said. “(Lydia) is younger, but she could’ve still laid a full clutch. She only laid one, and it wasn’t fertile. All I can do is keep trying to do these matches, and hopefully something will work. Bob Knox was like, ‘Hey, man, they breed and produce. You don’t have to tell them what to do. They’ll do it. It’s natural.’”

It’s unusual for a swan to lay just one egg; usually, a clutch has about six. Novak removed the egg and began destroying the nest so Lydia will realize quickly that she has nothing to go back to. She lost weight while in the nest, so he wants to keep her away from a failed nest to get her healthy again. Luckily, she started a self-care routine shortly after being in the water.

“It’s good she’s preening and drinking, but you can see the weight loss,” Novak said.

lthough the history of the Kiwanis Club of Longboat Key was on every diner’s placemat on May 15, few remembered all of it except two diners whose relationship to the Kiwanis goes back to nearly the start of the service organization: John Wild, a long-tenured member who wrote the history of the club, and Jo Bell, a former Longboat Key police sergeant who received the club’s first annual Policeman of the Year award in 1973.

The club started in 1972, so members celebrated the 50-year milestone with a brunch at the restaurant where they hold their meetings. Club President Michael Garey, who owns Lazy Lobster, organized a brunch to replace the annual pancake breakfast the club used to hold. Crispy golden waffles and potatoes, along with gold star-worthy omelets, helped mark the club’s golden anniversary.

Members of the club came in and donned yellow aprons (which they also wear during the Lawn Party) and got to work serving coffee and checking on diners. The buffet was decorated with banners and memorabilia from the club’s past, including the record-breaking check they recently gave to the Children’s Guardian Fund after the success of the Lawn Party.

Garey found the banners in storage at the Truist building and hung them up for the event. The rest of the decorations bore the blue and gold of the club, including balloons at every table.

All told, about 200 friends of the club and hungry customers came to partake in brunch. Many were members or former members, but Garey said he had been taking reservations from people who had never been involved in any Kiwanis business. One family walked in after searching for a place for breakfast and stayed for the brunch. Coincidentally, one family member was celebrating her 50th birthday, too.

There were also more than 20

Above: Michael Garey, Ed Krepela and Chris Sachs Left: Former Longboat Key Police Sgt. Jo Bell and member John Wild

Photos by Nat Kaemmerer

members of the Rotary Club of Longboat Key who came for brunch.

Although they’re different organizations, both service Longboat Key and its surrounding communities, and the Rotary members wanted to help mark such a landmark event for their fellow club.

“This means too much to our organization,” Garey said.

More than 20 members of Rotary showed up to support their fellow service club.

—NAT KAEMMERER

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THURSDAY, MAY 19, 2022

5A

Judy Carman, co-owner of Carman’s Shoes and Handbags, dies at 79 Carman remained dedicated to her family first and foremost.

NAT KAEMMERER STAFF WRITER

J

udy Carman wore many hats throughout her nearly 80 years: Mrs. Claus, Mable Ringling, the owner of Carman’s Shoes and Handbags, Bill’s better half. No matter the role, though, the most meaningful one was always with the ones she loved.

“They were very much about their family,” longtime associate Andrew Vac said of Judy and her husband of nearly 60 years, Bill. “They went everywhere together. You rarely saw one without the other. They were attached at the hip, and they were a very, very tightknit family.”

Carman died May 15 at age 79.

Before her death to cancer, she became a grandmother to baby Archer, born prematurely in April.

She never got to meet him.

“But there’s a miracle about that,” longtime friend Diana Corrigan said. “Archer’s due date was actually May 15. ... Although she never got a chance to hold him, she was all excited about being a grandma, and (son) Matt had taken a bunch of photos for her, and the last time I talked to her she was really excited because they were planning on coming this month, and it unfortunately just didn’t happen. She passed away on the day that Archer was supposed to be born, and Matt said that she said, ‘Well, I’m just going to be his guardian angel.’”

Carman was a fixture on St. Armands Circle as a business owner and member of the St. Armands Circle Association.

She played Mable Ringling in the 75th anniversary celebration of the Circle in 2001 and posed as a stand-in for Mrs. Claus during the Christmas celebrations for several

Bill and Judy Carman would have celebrated their 60th anniversary in July.

years. During the rest of the year, she worked in Carman’s Shoes and Handbags with her husband, whose parents established the store in the 1960s. Bill ran the store while Judy was raising their three sons, but she came to work once they were grown.

She worked in the handbags store upstairs until they retired in 2010.

“The store was a fixture, and they were part of the association and had all the knowledge,” Vac said. “They were both just a delight and wonderful people to have as friends. They were in the shoe business, so they

“Judy was just so personable. Anybody that walked in the store, it was like they were a long-lost friend. She just treated everybody like she’d always known them. It was just a beautiful, family-run business ... .”

— Longtime friend Diana Corrigan

Courtesy photo

sold shoes first, but it would come around to the latest gossip or what the news on the Circle was because they were in the thrust of it.”

And they were in the thrust of it together. The Carmans had been together since they were 13, got married when they were 19 and spent time together constantly, whether it was as a family or in the store. Longtime Circle Association members dropped in to see them from time to time.

“They are the easiest people in the world to talk to,” Corrigan said. “Judy was just so personable. Anybody that walked in the store, it was like they were a long-lost friend. She just treated everybody like she’d always known them. It was just a beautiful, family-run business. Their twin sons and even their youngest son all worked in the store, too, so everybody was there.

“Not only were they husband and

wife and family, but they worked together in the store. They did everything together. They were best friends. They were truly soulmates.”

Corrigan said Carman was a grounded person whose strong faith kept her going. Her attitude was always positive, and her first thoughts were always for her family. When nurses asked her what she liked to do, she said she liked to cook for her family and take care of them.

“When they got the news at the end that there wasn’t anything that could be done, she said, ‘Well, it wasn’t the news that we wanted to hear, but you know, we’re going to make the best of this,’” Corrigan said. “She told Bill, ‘Now you have to be both grandma and grandpa to Archer. I’m counting on you to do that.’ She had an amazing attitude and was an amazing person.”

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THURSDAY, MAY 19, 2022

COPS CORNER

SPRING

COOL CASH IS BACK

THROUGH MAY 28, 2022

FRIDAY, MAY 6

OUR BEACH! 7:35 p.m., 3700 block of Gulf of Mexico Drive Animal complaint: An officer responded to a complaint about an aggressively acting snake on the beach. By the time the officer arrived, a civilian had removed the snake from the sand and released it into the vegetation of the dunes. No injuries were reported, reptilian or otherwise.

CASTING ASPERSIONS 10:59 p.m., 7200 block of Gulf of Mexico Drive Suspicious person: A boater reported a group of people fishing from a forbidden portion of the Longboat Pass bridge. Upon the officer’s arrival, he noted the only people fishing on the bridge were in the proper location.

SATURDAY, MAY 7

IT TIPPED OVER 4:06 p.m, 1000 block of Gulf of Mexico Drive Property damage: Following a storm, a man called police to report a light pole had fallen on his car in a parking lot. The man added he had seen the pole swaying back and forth earlier and moved his girlfriend’s car, which was not damaged. Damage was seen on the man’s vehicle’s roof cargo rack. A security officer helped the police officer move the tumbled light pole off the man’s vehicle. No other vehicles were damaged.

SUNDAY, MAY 8

AN INSIDE LOOK 10:28 a.m., Reclinata Drive and Gulf of Mexico Drive Citizen assist: An officer was unable to lock or even close an electrical service box that a resident reported finding open. Florida Power and Light was notified. No foul play was suspected.

TIDYING UP 12:06 p.m., 3600 block of Fair Oaks Place Noise complaints: An officer responding to a report of noise encountered a resident using a vacuum to help clean a pool deck. There was no violation of town noise codes.

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NEED A LIFT? 11:34 p.m., 600 block of Broadway Street Citizen assist: An officer was sent to assist a driver with a flat tire.

Upon the officer’s arrival, he found the driver needed a tow truck, which he summoned with the help of emergency dispatchers.

TUESDAY, MAY 10

CLOSING TIME TUNES 3:40 a.m., 6900 block of Gulf of Mexico Drive Noise: Police investigated a complaint of music coming from a restaurant after hours. With no one at the business and music still coming from the outdoor speakers, the officer laid the speakers face down to muffle the sound. The owner of the business, reached later in the day, said the music had been inadvertently left on at closing time and that it wouldn’t happen again.

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TOOL TIME 9:57 a.m., 4900 block of Gulf of Mexico Drive Citizen assist: An officer was flagged down by a man who asked for police to stand by while he entered a worksite from which he had been fired to collect his personal tools. An officer did so without incident.

arrived but found no one at the pool.

The caller told the officer he had since learned that the men were guests who were allowed at the pool.

THURSDAY, MAY 12

PREP WORK 6:23 a.m., 600 block of Hibiscus Way Noise: Police went to a construction site following a complaint of noise.

The officer spoke to two men there who said they were setting up a machine for later and had no plans to use it until after 8 a.m., when such work noise is permitted by the town.

The officer who responded reported seeing and hearing no work being done earlier than allowed.

RENTED, PARKED, (MAYBE) TOWED 2:45 p.m., 6900 block of Gulf of Mexico Drive Abandoned vehicle: The manager of a business told police a white SUV had been parked on the property for five days. Officers learned it was registered to a national rental car fleet but were unable to penetrate the company’s automated phone system to learn more about who might be responsible for it. There were no warrants and no sign of attempted forced entry on the SUV. The manager said she would soon call for a tow truck to remove the vehicle from the premises.

HERE IN AMERICA . . .

6:01 p.m., 200 block of Gulf of Mexico Drive Citizen dispute: The manager of a dining establishment called police to report a couple who refused to pay for their meal or leave. The officer requested the manager to ask the couple to call him so he could explain their options. The officer reported receiving a call from a man with an overseas accent who said he and his wife had been displeased with the way they had been treated. The officer explained the tenets of Florida’s defrauding an innkeeper statutes and that they could both be taken to jail. The manager shortly thereafter informed the officer the couple’s bill had been paid in full.

THIS BALCONY OR THAT BALCONY? 11:33 p.m., 4700 block of Gulf of Mexico Drive Suspicious incident: A man who entered a hotel room balcony drew the immediate attention of security staff and police. A hotel manager said all was well, though. The man had accidentally entered the wrong balcony.

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YourObserver.com

THURSDAY, MAY 19, 2022

OPINION / OUR VIEW

LONGBOAT

The biggest economic crisis Florida’s $3.6 trillion property insurance market is in collapse. Whether Florida’s economy will be rescued will be a political duel: Gov. Ron DeSantis vs. Speaker Chris Sprowls and the state’s plaintiff attorneys.

S P E C I A L L E G I S L AT I V E P R E V I E W

MATT WALSH

“If they do little or nothing, Floridians will suffer even more than they are now.”

— Bob Ritchie Founder, CEO American Integrity Insurance Co.

“If Florida is hit with two Cat 4s, it will be the end of Florida.”

— Joseph Petrelli Founder, CEO / Demotech

F

lorida Sen. Jeff Brandes, R-St. Petersburg, calls this “the biggest economic challenge in the state’s history.”

It is. For sure.

Actually, it is more than that, more than the biggest challenge. It is also a crisis. You could accurately call it the biggest economic challenge and crisis in state history.

Florida’s property insurance market — if you can call it a “market” — is collapsing. “For all intents and purposes, it has essentially already happened,” Brandes contends.

“This is what a collapsed insurance market looks like.”

It has been a crisis — at a high, over-the-pot boil — for two years and a growing boil for the three years before that.

Everyone in and around the industry, including a few legislators intimately familiar with the industry, saw it coming. They warned about it with increasing emphasis in 2019 and 2020, urging legislative leaders and lawmakers to make needed reforms.

In particular, two senators, Brandes and Sen. Jim Boyd, R-Bradenton, an insurance agency owner, tried. Brandes has tried throughout his four-year term, urging the governor’s staff to act the past three years. In 2021, Boyd sponsored SB 76, proposing sweeping changes; this past session, he tried again with SB 1728.

And yet, in the two years of his speakership, Florida Speaker Chris Sprowls, R-Palm Harbor, singlehandedly has resisted and rejected every meaningful change that the Senate and House members have proposed. One insurance executive bluntly stated Sprowls “eviscerated” key provisions from SB 76.

And this past session, even knowing how bad the crisis was growing, the crisis worsened as a result of Sprowls doing nothing.

To wit: Much has been written about Florida having 79% of the damage-claim lawsuits nationally while having 9% of the damage claims, and that while insurers have paid out $15 billion to cover claims since 2013, 71% of that money has gone to plaintiff’s attorneys fees and only 8% to property owners.

Everyone involved, including Sprowls, has known this flood of lawsuits is the crux of the problem. And yet, in 2021 the number of damage-claim lawsuits filed topped a record 100,000, and so far in 2022, conditions are worsening.

Lawsuits rose 30% in January over January 2021 and 17% in February over February 2021.

But now, after having immersed himself in fighting COVID-19 and the culture wars the past two years and in early 2022, and after the failure of the Legislature to act this spring, Gov. Ron DeSantis realized the insurance crisis needed to be addressed — now. He knows his political future is at stake.

Beginning next Monday, May 23, the Legislature will convene in a

special session to begin trying to save an industry that is the backbone of Florida’s economy. Without affordable property insurance, it’s no exaggeration to say Florida real estate will collapse, and the Florida economy will go into another Great Recession — even worse if the unthinkable occurs: direct hurricane hits. There will be excruciating economic pain on top of the national inflation already ravaging average Floridians.

In this special report, our hope is to give you, our readers (and all Floridians) the perspective and information you need to call your legislator and demand action.

We will explain: n The gravity of the crisis n The why: Why the crisis exists; who and what caused it; what’s making it worse n How bad it really is n What is ahead for Floridians if it isn’t fixed n The politics influencing it all n What should happen in the special session n What is likely to happen.

THE GRAVITY OF THE CRISIS

“I have a bad feeling about 2022,” says Joseph Petrelli, CEO and founder of Demotech, the company that has been rating and evaluating the financial health of Florida’s property insurers since 1996.

“If two Category 4 hurricanes hit Florida this year, it’s the end of the world in Florida,” Petrelli says.

Petrelli is not just talking about the physical destruction that two major hurricanes would inflict on Florida. He’s referring as well to a catastrophic insurance and rebuilding aftermath.

If the Legislature fails to enact bold reforms to property insurance statutes in its special session next week, Petrelli sees three more catastrophes that would be as big or bigger than the property damage from two Category 4 hurricanes: n The number of damage-claim lawsuits in the two subsequent years would so overwhelm the state’s courts that “claims would not get settled,” Petrelli predicts.

They would become backlogged in the courts the way the foreclosure suits were backlogged for three years in the wake of the 2008 Great Recession. n The cost of materials and supplies to rebuild would skyrocket because of already existing shortages and backlogs. n Existing labor shortages would drag out repairs for years. “There’s nobody to fix things,” Petrelli says.

ASSESSMENTS & EXORBITANT RATES

Most Floridians likely are unaware they have a financial stake in Citizens Property Insurance Co., the state- and taxpayer-owned property insurer of last resort.

When Floridians are unable to find insurance from a private carrier, or if the cost of that insurance

is too high, they can find refuge in Citizens. Not only is Citizens there as a last resort, but its premiums also are the lowest in the state.

In today’s collapsing market, then, Citizens’ policyholder rolls are skyrocketing as most Florida insurance carriers are shedding policies and not renewing policies to try to stay solvent. Citizens is adding about 32,000 new policies a month to its insured rolls. Its growth is so fast it is on the verge of a 100% increase in policies from February 2021 to year-end 2022, from 552,000 to 1,064,000 policies.

This is bad news for Floridians.

As the state-owned insurer, Citizens in 2002 was granted the Legislature’s approval to impose assessments to cover its losses in the event of major catastrophes. If, say, a major hurricane hits South Florida, where 50% of Citizens’ policyholders live, and the damage is so great that Citizens exhausts its reserves, reinsurance and money from the Florida Catastrophe Fund, Citizens can impose surcharges on its policyholders and assessments on all insurance companies doing business in Florida.

And that means those insurers would pass on those assessments to their policyholders, on top of the already exorbitant insurance premiums policyholders are paying.

Although unlikely, Citizens has the legal authority to impose assessments of up to 45% of policyholders’ existing annual premiums.

In a presentation to the Citizens board last month, Barry Gilway, CEO of Citizens, showed the potential effects of 1 million-plus policyholders and two Category 4 storms.

If one storm took the pre-landfall potential path of Hurricane Irma in 2017 up the West Coast of Florida and the other took the actual path of the Great Miami Hurricane of 1926, the assessment on Floridians would total $14.5 billion.

The more policies Citizens takes on, the greater the potential assessments in the event of disasters. This points to another reason state lawmakers would want to adopt remedies to create an environment where private insurers can thrive and avoid taxing Floridians even more.

‘THIS IS A WHOLE NEW PACKAGE OF STUPID’

Policyholders are well aware of the 20%, 30%, 40% and 50% increases in their premiums, but if you owned and operated an insurance agency in Florida the past two years, it has been a living hell.

Michael Mailliard, owner of MIC Insurance on Longboat Key, says when he tells his clients about their rate increases, or worse, their policies not being renewed, the initial response typically is “WTF!?”

“I’m having to educate them on why they need to replace their roof when it has five years of life left on it,” he says. “I have to be a hard guy and persuade them to replace their roofs if they want to maintain their insurance.”

Mailliard says he knows of only

two carriers that will insure roofs up to 30 years. That’s what it used to be. Some are up to 20 years; some up to 15; some only up to 10; and some, he says, will insure only new roofs.

But even when he persuades clients to replace their roofs, to make matters worse, it’s now taking eight to 10 months for roof materials to show up.

“Nobody in anybody’s career in this business has seen anything like this,” Mailliard says “This is a whole new package of stupid.”

Multiply that by the 66,200 Floridians who work in Florida’s insurance agencies.

WHY THE CRISIS CAME ABOUT

It’s not any one thing; it’s a lot of things. But some things and some people are more responsible than others. Here are major contributors: THE FLORIDA SUPREME COURT’S 2017 JOYCE DECISION:

In 2017, the Florida Supreme Court rejected long-standing legal precedent and practices regarding the awarding of legal fees known as contingency fee multipliers.

Prior to the Joyce decision, the courts awarded multipliers of 1.5 to three times the fees on top of normally accepted contingency fees in “rare and exceptional” cases and when there was “competent, substantial evidence” justifying the multiplier.

In Joyce v. Federated National Insurance Co., the Charlie Cristappointed Supreme Court justices threw out rare and exceptional and ruled that fee multipliers could be applied in almost any case.

This has been the mother lode for plaintiff lawyers.

FLAWED INCENTIVES LAWMAKERS VOTED INTO STATE STATUTES:

In Universal Insurance Holding’s 10-Q report, the company’s management explains the consequences of Florida statutes that codify “one-way attorney fees” in property insurance cases: “The one-way right to attorneys’ fees essentially means that unless an insurer’s position is entirely upheld in litigation, the insurer must pay the plaintiff’s attorneys’ fees in addition to its own defense costs. This affects not only claims that are litigated to resolution, but also the settlement discussions that take place with nearly all litigated claims.

“The one-way right to attorney fees creates a nearly risk-free environment and incentive for attorneys to pursue litigation against insurers.”

The oft-repeated statistic explicitly illustrates how out of whack the incentives are: Florida has 79% of the national property damageclaim lawsuits but only 9% of the national damage claims.

PLAINTIFF LAWYERS EXPLOITING THE INCENTIVES

Guy Fraker, founder and owner

GRAVITY OF THE CRISIS: MOUNTING LOSSES, FEWER INSURERS Here’s a summary of the operating losses for the property insurers operating in Florida.

2021 Florida-based Insurers ($1,000,510) Citizens Property $80,128

Florida-based Insurers ($1,340,582) Citizens Property ($166,516)

Net Income ($000) 2020 2019 2018 ($806,097) ($326,096) ($123,927) $128,967 $86,329 ($151,350) Underwriting Gains/Losses ($000) ($1,486,952) ($662,350) ($372,443) ($98,327) ($97,059) ($280,699)

Underwriting losses occur when insurers pay out more in claims than they generate in premiums.

The snapshots above show how Florida’s insurance market has been heading toward collapse for five years.

More specifically, in 2021, out of 45 Florida insurers, 35 reported net losses, and 39 reported underwriting losses. What’s more, Standard & Poor’s rated seven of the 44 companies with its “outlook negative” rating, indicating those

companies would not likely be able to survive a major storm.

Should that occur, those companies would join six other Florida insurers that have gone into liquidation since 2019. Two insurers, Avatar Property & Casualty Co. and St. Johns Insurance Co. Inc., covering 197,000 policyholders, were ordered into liquidation in February and March.

2017 ($92,401) ($1,028,383)

“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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($365,801) ($1,164,965)

Source: Citizens Property Insurance

As the losses have persisted, Florida’s insurers have adopted a strategy of increasing rates and reducing their policy counts as a way of cutting future losses.

While these steps will help, the supply of insurers that can and are willing to underwrite Florida residences continues to shrink, which means rates will continue to rise 20%, 30% and 40%.

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UNSCRUPULOUS ROOFERS AND CONTRACTORS

The wife of a Sarasota insurance agency owner, who asked not to be identified, tells this story: While checking out at a gift shop, she struck up a conversation with the checkout associate. They began talking about their husbands’ jobs.

The checkout associate said she and her husband had recently moved to Florida. He’s a roofer.

The store associate said he interviewed at five roofing companies, and at each one, his interviewers asked if he would be willing to inflict damage on roofs when conducting inspections.

He said no. None of the firms would hire him.

This is not an isolated case, nor is it to say all contractors and roofers are unscrupulous and unethical.

But it’s real and another illustration of how incentives influence behavior and consequences.

As is, Florida’s building codes provide incentives for roofers to find and create damage. State codes require that if 25% of a roof is damaged in an event, the entire roof must be replaced.

USE OF AI AND SOCIAL MEDIA TO FUEL LAWSUITS

Like most businesses these days, plaintiff law firms, contractors and roofers focusing on propertydamage clams and roof replacement are becoming sophisticated users of geo-targeting and the use of key words on internet search engines to drive potential clients to them.

And it’s working. Once a law firm or a public adjuster secures a client who has roof damage, it’s easy to take his address and comb his neighborhood.

Fraker contends the use of AI

has become more sophisticated than that. His data “strongly suggests that specific insurers are targeted with an explicit purpose determined by an overall litigation growth strategy. The common attribute shared by all target insurers is premium growth and surplus volume by market share.” #1 REASON FOR THE WHY — SPEAKER CHRIS SPROWLS:

Every legislator in Tallahassee knows that current Speaker Chris Sprowls, a lawyer, has blocked meaningful insurance reform the past two years in ways that benefit the trial bar.

In 2020, he ordered the deletion of all proposed roof repair reforms the Senate passed in SB 76. In 2021, Sprowls did not even allow the House to consider another insurance reform bill the Senate approved, SB 1728.

Sprowls did not return phone calls or emails seeking his response and comment.

THE POLITICS OF THE SESSION

Often in the Legislature, to little surprise, what is or isn’t addressed has little to do with good public policy. What matters is how it affects politicians’ careers and re-election.

The special session next week is full of that political intrigue.

At the top: Gov. DeSantis has a lot of motivation to pursue meaningful insurance reform. One of the Democratic opponents to his re-election bid, former Gov. Charlie Crist is campaigning that the failure of DeSantis and the Republican Legislature is the reason the state’s insurance industry is collapsing.

Crafty politician that he is, Crist is telling listeners that under DeSantis insurance premiums have tripled from when he was governor — neglecting to tell voters, of course, how his policies chased the national insurance companies out of Florida and created an insurance crisis that planted the seeds for what exists today.

Meanwhile, in the Senate and House, President Wilton Simpson and Speaker Sprowls are at the end of their leadership terms. They no

15 MOST-ACTIVE FLORIDA ATTORNEYS

These Florida attorneys filed the most property insurance lawsuits in 2021.

Anthony Lopez Thomas Morgan Kenneth Robert Duboff Grant Krapf Robert Gonzalez Michelle C. Lopez Yitzhak Levin Andrew Vargas Kevin Weisser Leo A. Manzanilla Dean Makris Scott Gregory Millard Peter Mineo Jr. Jesus David Moises Clay Kuhn

longer have carrots and sticks to force lawmakers to vote certain ways. They can no longer punish legislators who don’t go along with them or reward those who do.

DeSantis has this: He has yet to sign the state budget into law. If lawmakers go against him in the special session, he can veto the special projects and funding for their districts.

The legislative leaders who have ascending power are incoming Senate President Kathleen Passidomo, R-Naples, and Speaker Paul Renner, R-Palm Coast.

In the Senate, Simpson has given his confidence to Sen. Boyd to help craft whatever legislation comes before the Senate. In the House, Sprowls alone is in control of what the House will propose or consider.

Insurance executives and lawmakers we interviewed agree: If the special session is to result in meaningful, bold reforms, DeSantis will need to sway Sprowls to go along.

But Sprowls will be conflicted. He has been a friend of the trial bar, the largest campaign contributors in the state. The talk in Tallahassee is Sprowls is eyeing a run for attorney general. The question for Sprowls will be this: What’s more important … the millions of trial bar money to help his political ambitions or Floridians’ insurance premiums?

Politically, this special session

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American Integrity’s Ritchie calls Florida’s insurance crisis a manmade crisis. It has little to do with natural disasters.

It’s obvious, then, the number one problem to solve is dramatically reduce fraudulent claims and lawsuits. “Shut the door on the core motivators for bad actors,” Fraker says.

Ritchie is advocating for two essential reforms — lawyer fees and how roof payouts are calculated.

He wants to revert to the contingency fee multiplier system for legal fees — “rare and exceptional” — that existed from 1992 until the Joyce decision in 2017. “That worked,” he says.

Another option others favor: Eliminate one-way attorney fees altogether, and instead adopt a system in which the state plays no role in attorney fees. Each side pays its own fees. As current law exists, plaintiff lawyers always win; they get paid by insurers whether they win or lose.

Roof reform: Ritchie advocates a set formula for valuing roofs that need repair.

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Essentially, a meaningful reform would be to treat the insurance of roofs the way auto damage is treated. When you total your 2010 Ford, your insurer doesn’t give you a check to buy a new car; the check is for the depreciated value of the car, or actual cash value.

In Florida, the only state that does this, if 25% of your roof is damaged in an event, state building codes require the entire roof must be replaced. All other states put the threshold at 50%.

At the least, a simple and quick way to address the crisis would be for Sen. Boyd to re-introduce SB 1728, the bill Sprowls ignored.

That would be a big step toward the goal Brandes and Boyd have pursued for the past two years — a first step toward establishing a rational, stable, competitive property insurance market and, in the process, saving Florida’s economy.

WHAT IS LIKELY TO HAPPEN

As this went to press, neither the Senate nor House bills to be considered had been filed.

For nearly the past month, Gov. DeSantis, his staff, Sen. Jim Boyd and the staff of the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee; Speaker Sprowls and his staff; and Rep. Jay Trumbull, R-Panama City, have been negotiating.

Prediction: Based on multiple interviews with lawmakers and insurance insiders, expectations are not high for dramatically positive reforms.

Ritchie is in that camp. “We’ll get through this crisis,” he says.

“But it’s going to get worse before it gets better.”

Earlier this week, Sen. Brandes, the lawmaker who triggered the special session and has devoted his four-year term to trying to create a stable property-insurance market, said he also had heard the bills likely to be submitted would be underwhelming.

“If that’s the case,” said Brandes, regarded as the Senate’s maverick of dissent, “I’ll be the first to stand up and say, ‘Why are we here?’”

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of Building Futures Advisory, has conducted extensive research the past three years on what he calls the state’s “litigation economy.” His research reveals that there are about 100 Florida plaintiff’s lawyers extracting $5 billion a year in legal fees from Florida insurers and, ultimately, all Floridians. (see box).

Says Bob Ritchie: “This is a man-made crisis. Why in the world would we let 2% of the populace exploit the rest?”

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THURSDAY, MAY 19, 2022

New concourse is just the start of SRQ expansion plans To meet current growth and plan for as many as 7 million annual passengers, the Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport is investing $72 million to build a new concourse, with more to follow.

ANDREW WARFIELD STAFF WRITER

The Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport needs more gates, and it needed them yesterday.

More passenger capacity is coming but won’t be available until 2024.

In airport expansion terms, that’s supersonic speed.

Already one of the nation’s fastest-growing airports in terms of passenger count prior to 2020, pandemic-fueled interest in visiting and relocating to the Sarasota-Bradenton area has brought explosive passenger growth year over year to SRQ as more airlines and more flights pack the airport’s 13 gates served by a single concourse.

By this fall, with an eye toward growth and the need to better serve current customers, the airport will embark on a $72 million project to add a ground-based boarding facility capable of serving upwards of 2.5 million passengers a year through five new gates. Combined with the current 13 gates, SRQ’s capacity will be about 5 million annual travelers.

“We’re growing so fast we need more gates, and the fastest way to do that is ground-based because you don’t have to build air bridges and you don’t have to go two stories,” said SRQ President and CEO Rick Piccolo.

Ground-based boarding brings passengers directly outside to the tarmac, where they board and disembark aircraft via portable ramps or stairs.

The new facility will be labeled Concourse A, and the existing facility Concourse B. The expansion will include four dedicated TSA lines.

SRQ currently has five TSA checkpoints for Concourse B with room — and the need — for one more.

The new boarding area will be built behind the airline ticketing area.

While that is being built, the Sarasota Bradenton Airport Authority is already planning for the next expan-

Courtesy rendering

The planned Concourse B at Sarasota Bradenton International Airport will connect to the terminal’s ticketing area with a soaring ceiling and expansive windows.

sion: an elevated concourse to connect the two, designed to include four more traditional gates.

There is no timetable for that project, but when it does happen Piccolo said SRQ will will have a capacity of about 7 million passengers a year.

becomes too difficult from the standpoint of one day the gate is available, then there’s a weather incident, and the next day the gate isn’t available.

They don’t have enough certainty to keep that service.”

Pre-pandemic passenger growth at SRQ is largely credited to the arrival of Allegiant in 2018, which contributed to a 44% increase in 2019. That made it the fastest-growing airport, percentage-wise, in the country. The first three months of 2020 brought 43% growth year-over-year, before the airlines all but shut down at the onset of COVID-19. By the end of the year, SRQ was one of the leastimpacted airports in the country.

“In 2020, while other airports were down 50%, 60% or 70%, we were down 33%, so we were recovering faster than anyone,” Piccolo said.

In 2021, passenger count was also 70% higher than the airport’s pre-

MAINTAINING THE MOMENTUM

Now that the Sarasota-Bradenton area has captured the attention of the traveling public, expanding capacity at SRQ is vital to maintaining that momentum, Piccolo said. Airlines want to bring more flights, and gate capacity is crucial to scheduling.

Currently, there is little flexibility.

“Let’s say we do at least 3.5 million passengers this year. You can stuff 4 million people into Terminal B, but that pretty much puts a cap on things, and airlines won’t be able to add more service,” Piccolo said.

“Then the issue for the airlines is it

pandemic levels, when it was already the fastest-growing in the country.

PARKING IS NEXT

More passengers, though, bring another set of challenges in and around the terminal. Prior to construction of Concourse A, SRQ is already short on concessions, parking and car rental service capacity.

The expansion project includes building “bump-outs” in Concourse B to accommodate more concessions.

Passengers now have few options — suitable for 1.5 million passengers but not 3.5 million — past the security checkpoint. There are two fullservice dining establishments, Gulf Breeze and Kona Bar, along with a Starbucks, Dunkin’ Donuts, a graband-go kiosk and a news shop that also offers grab-and-go items.

“We need more space just to serve the customers we have and give them

a more-pleasant experience,” Piccolo said. “We need more seating areas for departures, and concessions are a real challenge right now because we just don’t have enough space.”

Or enough parking.

At 2,100 spaces in a surface lot, SRQ parked 4,500 cars a day during the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays last year. In addition to operating a temporary remote lot, the airport also used auxiliary tarmac space to park 500 cars behind a temporary security fence.

Design work is underway for a permanent 1,400-space remote parking lot, a project that will help the airport address yet another growth challenge: car rental service.

The airport expansion project will be funded in part by federal grants of $4.6 million per year for each of the next five years.

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ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT

COLOR Christian Sampson’s unique creations require a glass of a different color.

SPENCER FORDIN A+E EDITOR

R

oom by room and light by light, young Christian Sampson found inspiration from an early job at the Ringling Museum.

A Bradenton native and former student at Ringling College of Art and Design, Sampson was charged with walking through the museum early in the morning and making sure the light bulbs worked.

If they didn’t, he replaced them.

But all the while, his artist’s eye was working on identifying contrasts.

Two decades later, the acrylic, film and glass installation artist has a piece titled “Vita in Motu” enshrined in Ringling’s permanent collection.

Sampson, based in Los Angeles, can’t help but think back to his time alone in the Ringling Museum and how it forged his future.

“I had the whole place to myself,” says Sampson, who visited his installation at Sarasota Art Museum in April. “I was studying painting at the time. I was noticing how different temperatures of bulbs affected the paints. They made blues different colors. They made reds warmer or cooler. I think that kind of influenced my work today: How you see color, how you see light, how paintings made by candlelight were lit by halogen bulbs at the time.

“That was really influential in my art making. I think it put me on the path to experimenting with light.”

Photos by Spencer Fordin

Christian Sampson’s experiments with color and light have resulted in his largest work to date, “Vita in Motu.”

ON THE CUTTING EDGE

Depending on the time of day you visit, you can get a totally different experience based on the rotation of the sun and the angle at which it hits.

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Sampson, who has shown his work in Paris and all over New York, believes that growing up in Bradenton triggered his artistic appetites.

The Manatee High School graduate can recall coming to Sarasota to visit a magic shop on Tamiami Trail and spent a lot of time at Ringling Museum before he wound up working there.

The Sarasota Art Museum, which now houses his installation, was the site of rival Sarasota High when Sampson played high school baseball. This wasn’t just a great place to grow up, says Sampson, but also a geographic anomaly that compelled him to think about light and space as a youngster.

“This is the West Coast of Florida,” says Sampson. “Geographically, we’re on the East Coast, but we have the West Coast experience.

I live in L.A. now; when I went out to the West Coast, I was like, ‘This is very familiar.’ We have the sunset and the way the light plays off the water. There’s a history of artists from the West Coast experimenting with light and space, and I think I got that. Growing up here, we have those sunsets.

“I grew up on the water and was always on a boat. I first went to the Florida Keys when I was 5; going underwater and seeing color was like the most amazing thing ever.”

Now, for future generations of residents growing up in Sarasota and Bradenton, experiencing Sampson’s “Vita in Motu” installation will provide many of the same sensations.

The installation, made of acrylics, glass and dichroic film, is on display on the third floor of the museum in the Jonathan McCague Arcade.

Depending on the time of day you visit, you can get a totally different experience based on the rotation of the sun and the angle at which it hits.

The exhibit has a feel like stained glass but is made of completely different materials. Sampson, who is married to painter Ariel Dill, uses cutting-edge dichroic glass formed in Germany as well as fused glass fabricated at Judson Studios, a venerable glass studio in Pasadena, California. Together, the elements form something novel.

“I sometimes think of it as film,” he says of his installation. “I use

LONGBOAT OBSERVER

film gels; and the way things are projected, you could look at it as a small moving film with the projection. ‘Vita in Muto’ means life is in motion. It’s alluding to the way that it slowly moves, almost like projecting colors onto the sculptures and through the space. I studied film briefly, and when you think of it that way, I think it opens up a lot of interesting interpretation.”

You might be thinking that Sampson sketches things or paints the way he wants things to look before he visits an installation.

You’d be wrong.

He says that his style strongly favors chance; he wants to get into the space where his work will be displayed so he can gauge the way that light works there, but then he wants to figure it out as he goes.

When he visited Sarasota Art Museum and saw the space designated for “Vita in Motu,” it fired his imagination. He went home and began shaping pieces of the glass that he could move and adjust in different ways across the installation space.

Then the actual art happened in a way that guided his hand.

“The installation was over three days, so I could come at different points,” he says of interpreting the light. “And right away, there was a really strange moment. One of the forms came on the floor, and it was like the symbol for the museum. It was moving quickly; it was something where I was just helping to place but it knew what it was doing.”

BREAKING THROUGH

Looking back on his career, Sampson singles out late former Ringling College professor Leslie Lerner as a massive influence on his life.

He says that though he doesn’t make art like Lerner did, he took cues from him in learning that the art world was a creative force to tap into as a guide for the rest of his life.

Shortly after graduating from Ringling, Sampson moved to New York and started studying for a master’s in fine arts from Hunter College. He drove a box truck to keep his artistic dreams alive, and there were points where he worked for galleries and other artists.

It was a hustle, he says, to go from

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THURSDAY, MAY 19, 2022

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Immediately, says Sampson, he was at home with Russell.

They understood each other. They spoke the same artistic language, and they both couldn’t get their words out fast enough.

Soon, Sampson was visiting the space and figuring out exactly how the light would work.

“I tried to figure out how can I use the grid on the windows with the sun from the east,” he says.

“I started bringing little samples and playing with how the color would go through, how it would hit the objects. As soon as I had the samples in, I was so excited. I was seeing the reflections and the projections and all the stuff happening with the natural light. It all kind of melded into this thing that’s bigger than me.

I’m just visiting it like I’m visiting an old friend.” struggling artist to permanent collection.

“The thing about being an artist is you kind of have to work twice as hard,” he says. “You’ve got your studio practice, but you also have to make money for rent.

“I heard an artist say one time that artists are like pirates. They’re always looking for the next opportunity to create. When things happen big, they help each other. But there are times that are rough seas.”

The waves broke for Sampson in about 2010 or 2011, when he crossed paths with a kindred spirit.

Sampson says Pascal Rousseau, a France-based art historian and professor, helped break him into a bigger level by inviting him to show his work at the Centre Pompidou in Paris. All of a sudden, he had gone international.

“I was a struggling artist,” he says.

“When he emailed me, I honestly thought it was spam. But it was an amazing experience to have someone recognize your work and email to say, ‘I’m curating this show. Would you like to be a part of it?’ And I was just like, ‘What?’”

A few years later, says Sampson, the same thing happened again.

But this time it was a meeting with Anne-Marie Russell, the former executive director of Sarasota Art Museum, that opened new

SELFIE MAGNET

When Sampson visited the Sarasota Art Museum and saw the space designated for “Vita in Motu,” it fired his imagination.

doors. Russell had come out to visit his studio in New York because she had heard he was a Ringling student who was doing shows in Europe, and she came with an offer he couldn’t refuse.

Sampson would have a chance to design a piece for his hometown museum’s opening.

Interestingly, over time the piece has drawn Sampson even closer to the community where he grew up.

People don’t just visit “Vita in Motu” and keep it to themselves.

They take pictures and post them to social media.

It’s a phenomenon that has taken on a life of its own, says Sampson, and it enriches his life on a regular basis. The artist is now working on a large dichroic glass display for an elementary school in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, and “Vita in Motu” is in some respects a prototype for his work going forward. He can only hope that his future installations inspire the same response.

“When the community began interacting with it and posting pictures, that’s something an artist can’t predict,” he says. “I had friends from high school that have come. Art teachers from Ringling emailed me how much they enjoyed the piece.

Friends from New York who I haven’t seen since I moved to L.A. have sent me pictures.

“That was always cool; people would come in, and I’d get a picture of them at a certain point of the day.

Maybe it was a cloudy day. It could be a sunny day. But I was always getting these texts or posts from people.”

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THURSDAY, MAY 19, 2022

THIS WEEK THURSDAY

This beloved children’s classic has been adapted into a play performed in more than 200 theaters. Settle in as the Venice Theatre tells the story of a friendship that bridges the boundaries of the animal kingdom.

Runs through May 29.

NORTH COUNTY K-12 SPRING ART SHOW 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Art Center Sarasota, 707 N. Tamiami Trail Free Visit ArtSarasota.org Celebrate the skill of local student artists from 17 elementary, seven middle and six high schools throughout Sarasota County whose art will be on display at Art Center Sarasota through May 21. Prizes include a full year of tuition from State College of Florida and a pair of $10,000 scholarships from Ringling College of Art and Design.

FRIDAY SARASOTA SHRIMP & MUSIC FESTIVAL 4-10 p.m. at JD Hamel Park, 199 Bayfront Drive Free Visit ParagonFestivals.com.

Sure, you’ve been to music festivals and food festivals, but have you ever been to a shrimp and music festival?

The eighth-annual Sarasota Shrimp & Music Festival aims to give you all you can handle in smooth sounds and edible crustaceans, and festival attendees will have an opportunity to browse an arts-and-crafts marketplace in between bands. The festival will also run from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Saturday and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday.

‘THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS’ 7:30 p.m. at Jervey Theatre, 140 W. Tampa Ave. $12-$20 Visit VeniceTheatre.org.

HERMITAGE POET’S CORNER — DAMARIS B. HILL AND KIRYA TRABER 5 p.m. at Bookstore 1, 117 S. Pineapple Ave. $5. Registration required Visit HermitageArtistRetreat.org Listen in as two masters of the written word discuss their distinctive turns of phrase. DaMaris B. Hill, an associate professor of creative writing at the University of Kentucky, will share selections from “Breath Better Spent: Living Black Girlhood,” and playwright/poet Kirya Traber will tease her forthcoming novel and share works from her illustrious past. Traber’s debut novel will be published in 2023 by Dutton Children’s Books.

SATURDAY

WHOLE BAND QUATRO 8 p.m. at Fogartyville, 525 Kumquat Court $15 members, $18 non-members Visit WSLR.org/Fogartyville It might not be the Whole Band, but it’s the business end of it. The Whole Band Quatro, a four-part and slightly scaled-down version of the Whole Band, will showcase the collective’s original music. Singers Callie Chappell and Kevin Thompson will handle the vocals, supported by pedal steel player Dave Pearce and bassist J.P. Coley.

THE INVENTION OF SEEDS — ANNALISA DIAS 10:30 a.m. at Historic Asolo Theater, 5401 Bay Shore Road Free members, $5 non-members Visit Ringling.org Annalisa Dias, artist-in-residence, will bring you an informal reading of her new work, “The Invention of Seeds,” which traces a story from seeds, pollinators, soils and the scientists who study them. What separates humans from the foods we eat? Dias will attempt to answer that philosophical question on Saturday morning.

‘ALICE IN WONDERLAND’ 1 and 5:30 p.m. at Riverview High School, 1 Ram Way $20-$30; $10 children’s tickets Visit SarasotaBallet.org

IN STUDIO PERFORMANCE FEATURING SEA LEE 7 p.m. at Sarasota Contemporary Dance, 1400 Boulevard of the Arts $20 Visit SarasotaContemporaryDance. org

Student dancers from the Sarasota Ballet School and Dance – The Next Generation will bring you the classic story of “Alice in Wonderland” told through the prism of dance in two performances at Riverview High School.

Sea Lee will wow you with her technical skill and inventive choreography. Lee, who earned a master’s in fine arts and a fellowship from Hollins University/American Dance Festival, has been on the faculty at University of Tampa and St. Petersburg College. Lee’s performance is entitled “The Apple Show.”

SUNDAY HD AT THE OPERA HOUSE — RIGOLETTO 1:30 p.m. at Sarasota Opera House, 61 N. Pineapple Ave. $22 Visit SarasotaOpera.org Opera season is over in Sarasota, but you can still scratch your itch at the Opera House. The Royal

DON’T MISS NOCHEUNIDOS You’ve got your orchestra over here and your mariachi band over there.

Now smash them together.

UnidosNow is inviting the community to celebrate the organization’s 10th anniversary of advocating for a better future for the Latino population of Sarasota and Manatee counties.

The 72-piece Venice Symphony and Mariachi Cobre will take center stage, blending the sounds and traditions of two art forms that have stood the test of time and culture.

The Friday night event will be held at the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, but there will also be a Saturday afternoon encore performance at the Venice Performing Arts Center.

IF YOU GO When: 7:30 p.m. May 20; 2:30 p.m. May 21 Where: Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, 777 N. Tamiami Trail and Venice Performing Arts Center, 1 Indian Ave., Venice Tickets: $30-$120 Info: UnidosNow.org/Nocheunidos

Opera House in London will present the three-act Verdi masterpiece “Rigoletto,” and you can take it all in without flying across the Atlantic.

“Rigoletto” is just the first act of the Sarasota Opera’s HD at the Opera House series, which runs through August.

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OUR PICK

‘2 HOT 2 TANGO’ It’s red-hot intimate dance with the delicate intonations of a piano and bandoneón duo.

Ben Bogart and Winnie Cheung will provide a soundtrack of the most familiar tunes from the history of Argentina’s tango composers, and World Tango Champion Fernanda Ghi and her partner Silvio Grand will move cheek to cheek.

Ghi, founder of an eponymously named dance company, was nominated for a Tony Award for her work in the 1998 production of “Forever Tango” and has been one of the world’s foremost ambassadors of the dance for more than 20 years.

2 Hot 2 Tango will perform for one night only at the Historic Asolo Theater.

The

Season

IF YOU GO When: 3 p.m. May 22 Where: Historic Asolo Theater, 5401 Bay Shore Road Tickets: $25-$45 Visit: ArtistSeriesConcerts.org

KALLE TOIVIO 6 p.m. at St. Boniface Church, 5616 Midnight Pass Road $20, $10 college students, free 18 and under Visit BonifaceChurch.org

pianist John O’Leary and drummer Mark Feinman, has performed at international festivals in Spain and Italy, and they’ll bring their chemistry and skill to the John C. Court Cabaret for one night.

Kalle Toivio will bring his worldclass skill on the organ to bear in a performance at St. Boniface Church. Toivio, director of music at the Church of Notre Dame NYC, has earned many distinctions for his exemplary playing, including first prize at the American Guild of Organists National Competition in Organ Improvisation in 2018.

WEDNESDAY

MONDAY LA LUCHA TRIO MONDAY NIGHT JAZZ CABARET 7:30 p.m. at FST’s John C. Court Cabaret, 1265 First St. $35-$39 Visit JazzClubSarasota.org.

Full Season Subscriptions Available Now!

OPENING RECEPTION: DRITA DAWN 5-8 p.m. at Creative Liberties, 901-B Apricot Ave. Free Visit CreativeLiberties.net

Featuring Jessica Lang’s

WORLD PREMIERE

Sir Kenneth MacMillan’s

Creative Liberties bills itself as a group of artists in the business of helping other artists, and they’ll give features artist Drita Dawn a helping hand at a reception on Wednesday.

Dawn, an abstract artist, will exhibit some of her works at the Creative Liberties studio and be on hand to the meet the public and answer questions about her process.

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La Lucha has taken their skill to Europe and back. The trio, which consists of bassist Alejandro Arenas,

Box Office 941.359.0099 SarasotaBallet.org

Danielle Brown | Photography by Matthew Holler

JOIN US THIS JUNE AND JULY FOR

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SUMMER TEEN STUDIOS

20th Annual Disaster Preparedness Seminar Thursday, June 2, 3:15pm - 6pm Registration 3:15-4pm

Harbourside Ballroom Longboat Key Club, 3000 Harbourside Drive, LBK

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Presenting sponsor:

Keynote Speaker:

Bob Bunting

CEO, Sarasota’s Climate Adaptation Center Speakers:

Steve Litschauer

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Chief Meteorologist ABC 7 WWSB

THE STUDIOS @ SAM

Hurricane season begins June 1.

Are you ready?

Let’s Make Some Art!

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OPENING RECEPTION FOR ‘HERE COMES THE SUN’ EXHIBITION When: 5-8 p.m. June 9 Where: 901B Apricot Ave. Tickets: Free Info: CreativeLiberties.net

Spencer Fordin

Barbara Gerdeman and Elizabeth Goodwill are taking dramatic license to get their Creative Liberties off the ground.

A safe space for artists Barbara Gerdeman and Elizabeth Goodwill want nothing more than to create art and help other artists achieve their goals.

SPENCER FORDIN A+E EDITOR

T

hey share a desk and work space. They finish each other’s sentences.

And they’re determined to do the hard work of not just creating art but helping other artists.

Barbara Gerdeman and Elizabeth Goodwill have known each other for years thanks to their shared tenure as summer art camp teachers at Art Center Sarasota. But now they’ve gone into business together and are taking dramatic license to create something entirely new.

The business, Creative Liberties, is both a brick-and-mortar opera-

tion and an aspirational concept to be something bigger. The artists are renting studio space to other artists and providing all kinds of assistance away from the canvas.

“We have that freedom to mold it,” says Goodwill. “That’s something I don’t think I’ve ever really had as a job: full directorial freedom where I can give it a shot and make it happen. We can experiment in our artwork; now we can experiment in our lives.”

Goodwill, who works in mixed media, sculpture and fiber art, and Gerdeman are doing all of the little things to get their business off the ground. They began in a different location but soon found a new home in the Limelight District on Apricot Avenue. That’s when things really took off.

There are seven other studio artists and six featured artists working in the Creative Liberties art space.

Gerdeman says the studio has a waiting list of artists requesting space, and Creative Liberties has already built a wide and expansive list of events. All of that has developed organically, Gerdeman says.

“The kind of thing we were

starting with was an opportunity for artists to put their art on our website,” says Gerdeman. “Do you need help photographing your art?

Do you need help preparing for an exhibition? Do you need help reaching out to galleries or help promoting yourself? Those were our original services and tools we were offering.”

They’re not just building a space for creating art — they’re also helping one another sell their pieces to the public.

Creative Liberties is open to the public from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Wednesday through Saturday, and any artist on hand can help you purchase the work of any artist who sells worth there.

There are also dedicated exhibitions and marketplace events at the studio. Goodwill says that many of their connections were formed at Art Center Sarasota, and working there really gave her a push to go out on her own. But now, as the studio prepares for the summer months, the partners in art are struck by how much they still have left to do.

“It’s great that summer is coming,” says Goodwill. “People were

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like, ‘Ugh, it’s going to get slower.’

We were like, ‘That’s great, but we’re not stopping.’ We’re going to continue to still do events. We’re not going to do outdoor events because it’s too hot, but we’ll still be doing inside events and encouraging our community that is still here. And our community that is not here, that’s what the website is about. We’re going to push a lot on the website this summer.”

Gerdeman, a photographer, painter and mixed-media artist, operated a succesful private muralpainting business for 20 years prior to operating Creative Liberties.

Her daughter, Ashley Harter, runs the Creative Liberties social media pages, making it a family business.

But it still isn’t necessarily a big moneymaker. Goodwill and Gerdeman are splitting the operating costs and are sanguine about the operation’s future prospects.

Every day is an art therapy session, they say, but they’re betting that Creative Liberties can be even more.

“We’re definitely not profiting,” says Gerdeman. “It’s a labor of love at this point. The money we’re bringing in through vendor fees for events and wall rentals and things like that are stuff that is currently going back into the business.

“Paying for advertising, doing all those things, updates and things that we’ve done to the building.

Everything that’s happened here, all the materials, has been out of our pocket. It’s all an investment at this point.”

It’s not just an investment in their business; it’s also an investment in people and an entire community.

The Bazaar on Apricot & Lime is just a few doors down, and Creative Liberties has piggybacked on the bazaar’s hours to encourage more walk-in traffic.

Creative Liberties is also part of the Sarasota Studio Artists Association, a group of artists that open their space to the public once a month. The best thing about opening their business, says Gerdeman, is the synergy with artists and neighbors.

“Right around the time we were moving in here and creating the studios, we met the president of the board of directors of the Park East neighborhood,” says Gerdeman.

“We told them about what we were doing and what the plan was, and it

was so exciting because it was right in line with what they want to see happen with the neighborhood.

“This neighborhood is predominantly a working-class neighborhood, and they’re working very hard to not push residents out but to bring this kind of element in.

It’s Rosemary without the gentrification. There’s no million-dollar condos or any of that stuff, but we’re bringing in exciting, healthy, family-friendly-type things into the neighborhood and preserving the homes for the people that live here.”

What’s growth look like for Creative Liberties?

Gerdeman and Goodwill say they don’t necessarily want to operate a bigger studio space; they want to reach more artists and continue being a bridge between creators and the consumer.

They want to expand their series of events, which includes artist exhibitions, markets and opportunities to come in and hang out with other creative people in a creative space.

Goodwill says that she and Gerdeman needed help from their partners to physically construct some of the art spaces in the studio, and so far it’s been a total team endeavor.

“The funny thing is that we both decided that this was going to be the year where we found our worklife balance and our art again. Then we were like, ‘Oh yeah, let’s take on a brick-and-mortar business,’” she jokes. “As much as I was wanting to focus on me and my art for this year, it’s also me focusing on my mental health. And this is helping me mentally and physically. I’m moving around more than I did before. I do not have a sit-down job anymore.”

At this point, Gerdeman and Goodwill are just thrilled to be operating their business.

Gerdeman says she’s been touched by the influx of customers who come into the studio and mention how upbeat and positive the space feels.

She couldn’t have asked for a better tribute, and she wants artists to know that she wants to help them no matter their background.

“Inclusivity is a big buzzword to us,” she says. “It’s really important to us that anybody who walks in the door, whether they’re an artist or a customer, that they feel welcome, and that they will find support here.

“We have artists who have displayed their work here who have never publicly shown their art before. We welcome artists of all ages, races, creeds and points of career, whether they’re just starting or they’ve been making art for 60 years.”

ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT

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The 2022 Annual Gala transformed the Ritz ballroom into a homage to Sherwood Forest, the setting of Robin Hood’s adventures. Guests arrived dressed as fantasy figures, the Merry Men, Robin Hood himself and more. The event benefited the theater’s 2021-22 season.

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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 379689-1

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MAY 19, 2022

YOUR NEIGHBORS

A LIFECHANGING JOURNEY

Courtesy photos

Julie Madison

GOING THE DISTANCE

NAT KAEMMERER STAFF WRITER

J

ulie Madison was making her way around the southern tip of Longboat Key when she first heard the cowbells.

And then the cheering.

Madison, 34, was enduring a grueling challenge to swim around the 11-mile-long island, battling hypothermia, wind and waves when she saw her husband driving a boat and ringing cowbells and Garry Fenimore, the leader of the AMI Hogfish, on shore cheering her on with a group of bystanders.

“It was a really great surprise, and that definitely helped get me through the last couple miles,” Madison said.

Although Madison powered through the water by herself, she was never alone during her 23.17mile swim. Over the course of the more than 11 hours in the water, four teams of two kayakers each stayed by her side, feeding her juice and high-calorie foods, helping her with navigation and making sure her temperature didn’t drop too low.

“Me and my team had been planning this for four months, and I pretty much told them that as long as the conditions were doable, I wanted to go and do it,” Madison said. “I wasn’t waiting for the very best day to do it; I was waiting for manageable conditions.”

That manageable day turned out to be April 21, when Madison and her

Julie Madison stays warm with her crew before setting out.

kayak teams set out for a life-changing journey. She had circumnavigated Anna Maria Island in December and Lido Key in 2017. Once she made it around Anna Maria Island, which is about a 17-mile swim, she knew she could do Longboat Key. She started at the beach access at 3495 Gulf of Mexico Drive.

“I just kept pursuing it,” Madison said. “The Hogfish from Anna Maria Island were super excited about my Anna Maria Island swim, so they asked me what they could do and what was my next big thing, and I said I wanted to do Longboat Key, and they were like, ‘Well, we would love to help you.’ They were fantastic. They did most of my support for

that swim. ... The kayak really helps with navigation, because especially the day I did it, the back end of the island was very choppy. There was a good section of the swim that there were 1-, 2-, 3-foot waves, so I couldn’t see very well.”

She relied on her kayak team to keep her on the right track and safe from boat traffic. They tried to stay no more than 100 yards offshore to shelter Madison from the 15to 20- mph winds. The water was about 72 degrees.

“That’s (temperature) the lowest level of what I can tolerate for that amount of time,” Madison said. “I

Madison actually swims with a higher purpose in mind. She’s the secretary of Forgotten Coast K9, a nonprofit that teaches veterans to train their own service dogs. To support that, she runs three swim events a year in St. Pete Beach, Madeira Beach and Honeymoon Island, and all proceeds go to Forgotten Coast K9. All the races are in open water, but there are a couple designed so that people with less experience can try out open-water swimming with supervision.

“It’s a super-diverse group of friends,” Madison said.

SEE SWIM PAGE 4B

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Cortez woman swims a lap around Longboat Key

Julie Madison is accompanied by two Hogfish kayaks.

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THURSDAY, MAY 19, 2022

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Men’s Club gathers for lunch Most of the attendees were men, but a few ladies tagged along

T

he Temple Beth Israel Men’s Club is getting ready for the hazy, crazy, Lazy (Lobster) days of summer. Several members attended a social lunch at the Lazy Lobster on May 11.

About a dozen people came to dine. While that’s fewer than would normally come during a social event in the height of snowbird season, it’s still more than would normally be here in the summer. Rabbi Stephen Sniderman noted that more people are staying in town longer than usual.

No temple business was discussed, as members just got to know one another over lunch in the back of the restaurant. Though the summer is a slower time for social activities, the club will continue to meet once a month until the fall.

Photos by Nat Kaemmerer

Above: Isaac Azerad, Stu Tauber and Barbara Pressman Left: Stephen Sniderman and son Spencer.

—NAT KAEMMERER

Judy and Neil Blume

Stuart Sinai and Carole Shaw

Len and Bonney Libman

All are welcome at All Angels no exceptions

St. Armands Key

LUTHERAN CHURCH

• We’ve ramped up, anyone of any mobility is welcome • In-person worship services Sunday at 8 a.m. and 10 a.m.

JOIN US WORSHIP

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

Saturday at 5pm Sunday at 9 & 11am or worship with us online at saklc.com/live or via Facebook

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)

379335-1

An Ecumenical Church that Welcomes all People Founded in 1956

•

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.

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

Follow us on Facebook • www.longboatislandchapel.org

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

379402-1

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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.

941.383.3428 | www.tbi-lbk.org

RABBI STEPHEN L. SNIDERMAN, D.D.

567 Bay Isles Road • Longboat Key, FL

379414-1

Growing in Jesus’ Name

379703-1 379700-1

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

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

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THURSDAY, MAY 19, 2022

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YOUR CALENDAR

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THURSDAY, MAY 19, 2022

FRIDAY, MAY 20

CHAMBER OF COMMERCE GOLF TOURNAMENT With a shotgun start at 9 a.m. at the Harbourside Golf Course at the Longboat Key Club, play 18 holes and get the chance to win games and prizes along the way.

Registration begins at 7:30 a.m. and is $200 a golfer and $750 for a foursome. Register at LongboatKeyChamber.com.

THURSDAY, MAY 26

MOVIE MATINEE At 1 p.m. at The Paradise Center, 546 Bay Isles Road, watch 2021’s “West Side Story.” There will be popcorn and soft drinks. Free for members and $10 for nonmembers. Walk-ins welcome. Call 3836493 for information.

BEST BET

Journey

FRIDAY, MAY 20

FROM PAGE 1B

CLAWS FOR A CAUSE From 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at Whitney Beach Plaza, 6838 Gulf of Mexico Drive, browse merchants and get food at The Maine Line, a lobster food truck. This is the first of a series of charitable events from the merchants at Whitney Beach Plaza, and 10% of proceeds will be donated to the Longboat Key Turtle Watch. Call 387-9087 for details.

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.

MONDAYS, WEDNESDAYS AND SATURDAYS

File photo

Attendees flock to The Maine Line at the January Market on Longboat Key.

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.

LORD’S WAREHOUSE THRIFT STORE The thrift store will be open from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 6140 GMD. Donations are accepted during business hours. Call 383-4738.

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.

TUESDAYS

TUESDAY AND FRIDAY

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.

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

did wind up getting mild hypothermia with about 8 miles left in the swim. My teeth were chattering. My lips were blue. I was definitely really consciously battling to stay warm enough to be able to finish the swim. I didn’t really know that I was going to finish the swim until I got about a mile out.”

Her team was feeding her juice and coconut water every 20-30 minutes to keep her caloric and electrolyte count up because her body was burning so much just to stay warm. She started to add chia seeds for recovery protein as she got closer to the end. She finished her swim in about 11-and-a-half hours.

“It was extremely surreal,” Madison said. “It was a life-changing moment for me. Because I can, I’ve done swims that are hard and that are difficult and kind of on that level, but I’d never really had a team with me for that, and their excitement for it was so palpable.

It really just filled my heart with joy just to see my kayakers starting to really smile.

“I could hear the people on the boat, and then I could see the people at the finish line. I was like, ‘Oh my god, I’m gonna do this.’ And this was a team effort. I’m an extremely strong believer in team stuff and that, for me, was the highlight, just to finish with them and for them afterward to be like, ‘You just did that. We can’t wait for what we’re gonna do. That was really cool.

Now we want to go do something to push ourselves.’ That’s the coolest thing, to hear, ‘You just motivated me.’ I have friends who are ironmen, and they’re really strong athletes in their own right, so to hear that from an athlete is just so cool.”

A LOVE FOR SWIMMING

Madison fell in love with the area about seven years ago after swimming around Lido Key. Shortly after that, she and her husband got a condo on Longboat Key. She now lives in Cortez but is still only a short drive from the beach.

Customized just for you1 you!

As for swimming, she fell in love with that long ago. Madison has been a swimmer pretty much her whole life, she said, and first got into the water with her mom at about a year old.

From there, she was on swim teams though high school but took a three-year break after graduating because she felt burnt out. She saw herself headed in a direction she didn’t like, so she took up lap swimming again. The first few months were humbling, she said.

“I still consider myself an average athlete with an over-average drive ... . I was like, ‘This is gonna get better. I just have to get through this,’” Madison said. “I did a lot of pool swimming for the next two years ... . I was like, ‘I will do my very, very best. I will go as long as I can as hard as I can, and that’ll start getting me on the right track.’”

Another swimmer noticed her doing laps and invited her out for open-water swimming. At first, Madison was skeptical: Who wants to go out there and potentially run into animals? But she decided to try it once. She swam in the Connecticut River when it was about 58 degrees. The river was so fast she barely went anywhere, like she was on a giant, watery treadmill.

“I was like, ‘This is amazing,’” Madison said. “I think what really drew me to it was the power that was in the water, and for me, water symbolizes change, and I was just in that process of changing and defining myself. I was like, ‘If I let this water mold me, I will change into who I want to be.’

“So I committed the next year to swimming with groups that could teach me what I needed to know about open-water swimming and to be able to do that safely by myself.”

Now she regularly swims long distances in open water. Recently, on a recovery swim from her Longboat Key effort, a ray about 2-1/2 feet across swam right under her, just after she had convinced herself to keep going on a swim she just wasn’t feeling that day. But she just kept swimming and made something amazing from it.

Courtesy photo

FUELING ON THE FLY For fuel, Madison was taking in juice and coconut water every 20-30 minutes. The juice provided calories and didn’t upset her stomach like typical long-distance fuel of gooey substances or dense, gummy chews, while the coconut water kept her electrolytes up. As she got closer to the end, she started to add chia seeds into her fuel sources to start building up stores of protein to help her recover.

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THURSDAY, MAY 19, 2022

5B

REID MURPHY PRESENTS

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6B

LONGBOAT OBSERVER

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YourObserver.com

THURSDAY, MAY 19, 2022

Summertime Shabbat Temple Beth Israel hosts May Shabbat dinner

S

ummer is fast approaching, and the snowbirds are flying north, but there are still plenty of people around Temple Beth Israel to celebrate Shabbat. The temple hosted a dinner before services on April 13.

Attendees came to the temple for a social dinner and to catch up with friends. About 70 people attended, which is more than normal at this time of year. More residents are staying longer into the summer, so the temple decided to host another Shabbat dinner during the season.

The event also marked the end of the temple’s fiscal year, meaning that new leadership will soon be taking over. Stuart Sinai’s presidency will end after two years, and Marion Levine and David Gorin will become co-presidents. Executive Director Isaac Azerad and Rabbi Stephen Sniderman spoke about Sinai’s leadership and gave him a replica of his presidential parking

Barbara Pressman and Miriam Goldfarb

plaque he’s had for two years.

“It would’ve been easy to give up and let things fall through the cracks, but Stuart (Sinai) was there with his wonderful presidential messages,” Sniderman said.

Dinner and services followed.

Isaac Azerad spoke fondly of Stuart Sinai.

—NAT KAEMMERER

Mindy Brandt and Jason Brandt

Photos by Nat Kaemmerer

Irwin and Sylvia Pastor and Sam Samelson

Susan Landau, Kelli Veit and Marion Levine

Barbara Diznoff and Barbara Mishkin

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LONGBOAT OBSERVER

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THURSDAY, MAY 19, 2022

7B

Coldwell Banker CONGRATULATES the TOP team!

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340 South Palm Ave #75 | www.Saraband75.com Offered for $3,800,000 Bayfront elegance – downtown location at its best! This 7th floor 3 bedroom corner Contemporary flavor residence has panoramic views of Sarasota Bay, the Marina, downtown skyline, and Exploding sunrise & Epic sunsets. Sarabande offers exceptional amenities, including club rooms for private use, a state-of-the-art fitness center, a 25-meter swimming pool, spa, sauna, and 2 guest apartments. The community is pet friendly.

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THURSDAY, MAY 19, 2022

Longboat Key resident aims to raise awareness of COPD Diagnosed with COPD, Deanna Rollyson launched a campaign to help other women with the condition.

NAT KAEMMERER STAFF WRITER

L

ongboat Key resident and Mrs. Sarasota Deanna Rollyson was an asthma patient for years.

She never thought much of it, just took her medication when she needed to and avoided certain sprays and perfumes that set her off. Meanwhile, at work she was also deep in the respiratory health business as the owner and president of AeroCare, a company that supplies respiratory medical equipment.

“I started this company years ago, not ever realizing that I would actually be a COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) patient,” Rollyson said. “I never thought about this progressing to COPD, but it has, and now I live with this knowledge. Obviously, that sparks my capability and advocacy to do a little bit more about it.”

Rollyson is starting a venture to help women like her try to forget their troubles for a day or two. She’s partnered with local businesses Secur-All Insurance, Trojan Coating, Reed Medical Group, Adapt Health, Fugate’s, CPAPmyWay.com and Florida RPM Services to help raise funds for spa days for women with COPD who are on noninvasive ventilators.

“I came up with the idea of doing something nice for these ladies to make a difference in somebody’s life,” Rollyson said. “These partners all agreed and thought it was a great cause and opportunity, and we have several patients identified. We have one that’s already scheduled.”

She’ll find patients, discuss what services they would like and align them with a spa. There are some considerations to make with COPD

patients, including no candles or sprays to aggravate low-functioning lungs. Some services, such as a lymphatic massage, can help patients with chronic illness flush out impurities in their muscles and give them some ease in their day-to-day lives. Other services are just to help patients feel better for a while.

“As a woman who suffers with COPD, it is overwhelming to get the diagnosis, but it becomes overwhelming when you get oxygen or you’re asked to be on a ventilator eight hours in the daytime, and I just think it’s something nice that women would like to be pampered with,” Rollyson said. “Whether it’s their nails, their hair, something that makes them feel beautiful for a day and forget what they’re living with ... I think this is a great way to bring about visibility, to focus on the conditions of COPD and how it affects women and how it can break down their self-esteem.

“I’m hoping that this is a bigger opportunity to, you know, bring about visibility more than just in Sarasota. My platform, I’m hoping, will be strong enough to go to the national stage and hopefully more and more will become more aware.”

At the same time that she’s trying to help patients with COPD forget, Rollyson is working to bring awareness to the grave issue of COPD, the third-leading cause of death worldwide. As a business owner in the respiratory industry for more than 30 years and someone who had worked with COPD patients long before she was diagnosed herself, Rollyson was shocked that there wasn’t more attention on the matter.

“You see all the commercials on TV and all the different medica-

TAKING IT TO THE STAGE

Courtesy photo

Deanna Rollyson will compete in the Mrs. Florida pageant this weekend.

“I think this is a great way to bring about visibility, to focus on the conditions of COPD and how it affects women and how it can break down their self-esteem.”

tions out there and Trelegy (a COPD medication), and you see happy, smiling patients, and they’re taking their inhalers,” Rollyson said. “That’s not what it is. This morning, I have struggled to even breathe and to see my airways cleared from the buildup of mucus, which is not very flattering. ... It’s not easy, but of course, they have to make it look that way.

But most of the commercials don’t look like it’s a bad disease.”

Even before her condition was diagnosed, Rollyson performed fundraising and advocacy for people with the disease in Tallahassee and closer to home in Tampa, such as the recent Climb for Air from the American Lung Association. This year, however, she decided she wanted to stay even closer to home and help women in her own community. She’s just thrilled the business community decided to turn out as well.

“Since I’m familiar with so many patients, it felt like the right thing to do,” Rollyson said. “I’m contemplating looking into a 501 C3, because I didn’t realize so many companies would actually have interest in it... .

I’m hoping it will turn into something pretty significant in the future.”

Deanna Rollyson, Longboat Key resident and Mrs. Sarasota

One of the ways Rollyson tries to raise COPD awareness is through her pageant competitions. She’s the current Mrs. Sarasota and will compete for Mrs. Florida on May 20-21.

She’s competed in the past and wanted to take to the stage once more.

“I’m 57 years old, and usually 57-year-old women do not compete in pageants,” Rollyson said. “I think that it’s an incredible cause, and if it means that the 57-year-old stands on stage with women half her age, I’m prepared to do that because I think just getting the message out, it’s worth that to me.”

Rollyson is driven by her desire to raise awareness of the condition. Any platform she can get to aid that desire, she’ll use.

“I just feel strongly that it’s a major issue, so anything that I can do to make my life longer and my quality of life stronger, means a lot to me,” Rollyson said.

“Anything I’m doing right now I feel makes a difference for other people. ... Any opportunity that comes about that allows me to do more in the world of COPD, I’m encouraged and always open to.”

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LONGBOAT OBSERVER

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THURSDAY, MAY 19, 2022

9B

REAL ESTATE BY A REAL EXPERT OVER $134 MILLION SOLD IN 2021 OVER $61 MILLION LISTED, PENDING AND SOLD IN 2022

573 YAWL LANE • LONGBOAT KEY, FL

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3610 BAYOU CIRCLE • LONGBOAT KEY, FL 573 YAWL LANE • LONGBOAT KEY, FL JUST LISTED $3,495,000 Country Club Shores • A remarkable opportunity for the Longboat Key lifestyle you’ve longed for, as location and luxury come together perfectly for this exceptional 2-story waterfront home with a flowing, open floorplan, main level master suite, private Trex dock, a boat lift, and Sarasota Bay just a moment away.

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10B

LONGBOAT OBSERVER

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YourObserver.com

THURSDAY, MAY 19, 2022

Josh the Otter swims by Tuttle Elementary School The Rotary Club of Longboat Key taught students about water safety with Josh’s help.

A

n adult can tell kids about water safety all they want, but a furry otter can help make the message stick. The Rotary Club of Longboat Key visited kindergartners at Tuttle Elementary School to teach them about water safety with the story of “Josh the Baby Otter.”

Four Rotarians read the story to the class after member Jack Rozance introduced the topic of water safety. From the get-go, it seemed like the students were on board with the idea. Rozance called for examples of water safety, and several kids noted the importance of swimming with a buddy. The story also emphasized the importance of learning to float; the baby otter had to learn how before he could go play with friends.

After the story came the big event of the day. Josh the Otter himself came in to recite the water safety pledge with the kids and danced to a song about learning to float.

Kids eagerly stepped up to hug Josh and pet his fur. They headed back to class with a copy of the book each.

Josh the Otter is a program started by Blake Collingsworth, whose son Joshua died after falling into a pool.

The book, which Collingsworth wrote when he started the Joshua Collingsworth

Josh the Otter makes a splashy entrance.

Memorial Foundation, emphasizes the importance of kids staying away from water unless an adult is with them.

The Longboat Key Rotarians have been involved in the program for several years after former President Nancy Rozance learned Florida is the No. 1 state for drownings of those under the age of 4.

Rozance is also the member who dons the Josh costume annually.

—NAT KAEMMERER

Photos by Nat Kaemmerer

Kids clamor to get closer to Josh the Otter.

Susan McGuire reads the story.

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22,000 Households, 56,000 Residents + Counting

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Plans, specifications, community amenities, standard features, availability and prices are subject to change without notice. The information, illustrations, maps and depictions based on the current proposed development concepts. Actual development may vary from what is depicted. © Lakewood Ranch 2022

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E x p l o r e Ava i l a b l e L e a s i n g O p p o r t u n i t i e s : Wat e r s i d e P l a c e . c o m / r e ta i l- l e a s i n g

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THURSDAY, MAY 19, 2022

11B

St. Armands bayfront home on market for $12 million The South Washington Drive home has 150 feet of bayfront views.

ERIC GARWOOD MANAGING EDITOR

S

The main living area has a two-story ceiling.

Courtesy photos

The property includes 150 feet of bayfront, along with a boat dock.

The master suite and its luxurious bathroom are on the first floor.

itting on a pair of bayfront lots totaling more than a half-acre, a St. Armands Key estate has reached the real estate market with a nearly $12 million price tag.

With more than 7,800 square feet, the five-bedroom, five-and-onehalf bath is marketed by Roger Pettingell of Coldwell Banker Realty.

Among the 2005 build’s most eye-catching features: its 150 feet of bayfront and 65-foot infinityedge pool overlooking the bay at 97 S. Washington Drive, not far from St. Armands Circle and Lido Beach.

The yard is equipped with a dock and boat lift.

Although the most up-to-date figures for April are due out this week, a buyer could purchase 24 of the March median-priced homes for the same price as this listing. And while we’re on dollars and cents, the property taxes last year were $49,425 on a taxable value of just over $3.1 million.

In the last days of 2021, a home down the street at 171 S. Washington Drive sold for $10.06 million.

Pettingell’s listing was built by John Cannon Homes in the Spanish/ Mediterranean style with soaring tray ceilings (up to 26 feet) and crown moldings. Travertine floors with tile inlays lie throughout the home.

For entertainment, there’s a media room, a 200-bottle wine room and an extensive summer kitchen on the rear lanai.

The master suite and an office are downstairs; the second story houses the remainder of the bathrooms and bedrooms.

Car enthusiasts should know there is a five-vehicle garage that opens to a circular paved driveway. The garage includes space for a workshop.

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LONGBOAT OBSERVER

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YourObserver.com

THURSDAY, MAY 19, 2022

ST. ARMANDS KEY 66 N Washington Drive 4 Beds 3/1 Baths 4,983 Sq. Ft. Kristina Waskom 941-266-8658 A4519666 $10,900,000

SIESTA KEY 7108 Midnight Pass Road 6 Beds 5 Baths 4,697 Sq. Ft. Stephen Weeks & Jeff Hinrichs 941-504-3689 A4523915 $4,950,000

ANNA MARIA ISLAND 820 N Shore Drive 4 Beds 4/1 Baths 3,953 Sq. Ft. Kathy Harman 941-900-9828 A4524887 $4,350,000

LONGBOAT KEY 540 Harbor Cove Circle 3 Beds 2/1 Baths 2,081 Sq. Ft. Julie Klick & Beverly St Hilaire 941-780-6001 A4534178 $3,600,000

ANNA MARIA 421 Alamanda Road 4 Beds 4/1 Baths 2,116 Sq. Ft. Kathy Harman 941-900-9828 A4534408 $3,495,000

SARASOTA 1547 Sandpiper Lane 3 Beds 3/1 Baths 3,136 Sq. Ft. Michael Hays 941-376-1826 A4531554 $2,699,000

SARASOTA 650 Golden Gate Point 302 2 Beds 2/1 Baths 1,949 Sq. Ft. Dana Westmark 941-356-5091 A4531159 $2,600,000

BIRD KEY 628 N Owl Drive 3 Beds 2 Baths 2,534 Sq. Ft. Kathy Valente & Gregory Zies, LLC 941-685-6767 A4526783 $2,495,000

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

SARASOTA 1350 Main Street 1410 2 Beds 2/1 Baths 2,288 Sq. Ft. Bibi-Ann Allard PA 941-685-0422 A4534087 $2,285,000

SIESTA KEY 6326 Midnight Pass Road 508 3 Beds 3 Baths 2,318 Sq. Ft. Karen Chandler 941-544-4919 A4523199 $2,159,000

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

LONGBOAT KEY 1465 Gulf Of Mexico Drive 504 3 Beds 3 Baths 1,837 Sq. Ft. Lindsay Nock 941-735-7005 A4534263 $1,875,000

SIESTA KEY 814 Paradise Way 4 Beds 2 Baths 1,996 Sq. Ft. Stacy Liljeberg & John Garmong 941-544-6103 A4534252 $1,575,000

SIESTA KEY 6146 Midnight Pass Road 10S 2 Beds 2 Baths 1,204 Sq. Ft. Marlene & George Marshall 941-539-8850 A4527968 $1,500,000

SIESTA KEY 19 Whispering Sands Drive 102 2 Beds 2 Baths 1,464 Sq. Ft. Mary Jo Violett 941-928-8474 A4533091 $1,395,000

SIESTA KEY 1280 Dolphin Bay Way 504 2 Beds 2 Baths 1,840 Sq. Ft. Diana Kryszak 941-993-4078 A4533845 $1,390,000

SARASOTA 1694 Floyd Street 2 Beds 2 Baths 1,988 Sq. Ft. Julia Mcclung 941-356-6499 A4533919 $1,350,000

LONGBOAT KEY 775 Longboat Club Road 906 2 Beds 2 Baths 1,524 Sq. Ft. Lenore Treiman 941-356-9642 A4527843 $1,299,000

SIESTA KEY 5920 Midnight Pass Road 304TOW 2 Beds 2 Baths 1,234 Sq. Ft. Rudy Dudon 941-234-3991 A4528197 $1,200,000

SIESTA KEY 6140 Midnight Pass Road 502 2 Beds 2 Baths 1,521 Sq. Ft. Barbara Dumbaugh & Victoria Lear 941-951-6660 A4532193 $1,200,000

SIESTA KEY 5760 Midnight Pass Road 404D 2 Beds 2 Baths 1,361 Sq. Ft. Joseph McDonald 941-375-9646 A4531860 $1,100,000

LONGBOAT KEY 1926 Harbourside Drive 1304 3 Beds 3 Baths 2,135 Sq. Ft. Cindy Fischer & Mark J Baron 941-465-1124 A4528490 $1,095,000

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

SARASOTA 832 Alderwood Way 3 Beds 2 Baths 2,209 Sq. Ft. Terri Derr & Rita Holbrook 941-356-6694 A4532568 $445,000

SIESTA KEY 7722 Sanderling Road 2 Beds 3 Baths 2,580 Sq. Ft. Brian Loebker 941-735-4393 A4527041 $9,000,000

LONGBOAT KEY 2161 Gulf Of Mexico Drive PH3 4 Beds 4/1 Baths 6,002 Sq. Ft. Jenifer Schwell 941-780-0968 A4534425 $8,950,000

BRADENTON 5708 Inspiration Terrace 4 Beds 5/1 Baths 6,326 Sq. Ft. Fran DeDona & Pam Goodwin 941-812-5023 A4528037 $4,995,000

888.552.5228 | MICHAELSAUNDERS.COM 373731-1

12B

YourObserver.com

LONGBOAT OBSERVER

ADAM HUGHES RESEARCH EDITOR

A

home on Lido Beach tops all transactions in this week’s real estate. James and Lara Briggs, of Sarasota, sold their home at 166 Bryant Drive to 166 Bryant LLC for $5.5 million. Built in 2005, it has five bedrooms, five baths, a pool and 4,979 square feet of living area. It sold for $2.8 million in 2018.

BAY ISLES

Helga Wall-Apelt, of Longboat Key, sold the home at 1630 Harbor Cay Lane to Todd and Elizabeth Rieke, trustee, of Longboat Key, for $4.5 million. Built in 1980, it has three bedrooms, three baths, a pool and 2,473 square feet of living area. It sold for $480,000 in 1987.

THE WATER CLUB AT LONGBOAT KEY

Judd Powell, trustee, of Dayton, Ohio, sold the Unit PH08 condominium at 1241 Gulf of Mexico Drive to David Maus and Nicole Maus, trustees, of Odessa, for $4,385,000. Built in 1996, it has three bedrooms, four baths and 2,965 square feet of living area. It sold for $1.65 million in 2020.

GRAND BAY

Lawrence Coleman, of Longboat Key, sold the Unit 191 condominium at 3060 Grand Bay Blvd. to RG

RESIDENTIAL REAL ESTATE TRANSACTIONS

MAY 2-6

Trust Services LLC, trustee, for $3.6 million. Built in 1994, it has three bedrooms, three-and-a-half baths and 2,781 square feet of living area. It sold for $1.2 million in 2004.

13B

Richard and Marsha Ambrose, of Sarasota, sold their Unit 236 condominium at 3040 Grand Bay Blvd. to Dale and Shelley Stortz, of Alpharetta, Georgia, for $2.85 million. Built in 1996, it has three bedrooms, three-and-a-half baths and 2,781 square feet of living area.

It sold for $1.65 million in 2018.

COUNTRY CLUB SHORES

Donald Robinson and Suzannah Holland Robinson, trustees, of Orlando, sold the home at 500 Ketch Lane to Barbara Slagowitz, trustee, of Longboat Key, for $3.5 million. Built in 2017, it has three bedrooms, three-and-a-half baths and 3,172 square feet of living area.

It sold for $1.92 million in 2020.

Photo courtesy

This home on Bryant Drive sold for $5.5 million.

pool and 2,772 square feet of living area. It sold for $1.4 million in 2021.

Anthony Callobre, trustee, of Los Angeles, sold the home at 521 Golf Links Lane to Lawrence and Karen Shaw, of Charlotte, North Carolina, for $1.95 million. Built in 1970, it has three bedrooms, twoand-a-half baths, a pool and 1,838 square feet of living area. It sold for $830,000 in 2018.

BIRD KEY

Park & Play RV Inc. sold the home at 420 Partridge Circle to Sean and Cydney Stepanoff, of Keenesburg, Colorado, for $2.33 million. Built in 1971, it has three bedrooms, twoand-a-half baths, a pool and 3,549 square feet of living area. It sold for $1,130,200 in 2021.

QUEENS HARBOUR

Robert and Carol Baldwin sold their home at 3606 Fair Oaks Place to Agnes Peterson, of Longboat Key, for $3.1 million. Built in 2000, it has five bedrooms, three baths, a pool and 3,842 square feet of living area.

It sold for $1,067,100 in 2000.

LONGBOAT KEY ESTATES

GCH Properties LLC sold the home at 569 Kingfisher Lane to Christopher and Heather Price, of Plano, Texas, for $2,551,000. Built in 1967, it has four bedrooms, two baths, a

JOHN RINGLING ESTATES

Adam and Karen Sailor sold their home at 150 Grant Drive to 171 MCKINLEY LLC for $2.3 million. Built in 1968, it has four bedrooms, four baths and 3,508 square feet of living area. It sold for $815,000 in 2017.

THE BEACH RESIDENCES

Anthony and Nadia Rendina, of Sarasota, sold their Unit 304 condominium at 1300 Benjamin

TOP BUILDING PERMITS These are the largest building permits issued by the Longboat Key Planning and Zoning Department for the week of May 6-12 in order of dollar amounts.

L O N G B OAT K E Y ADDRESS 2120 Harbourside

THURSDAY, MAY 19, 2022

REAL ESTATE

Lido home sells for $5.5 million

|

Franklin Drive to James and Katrina Schadler, of Birdsboro, Pennsylvania, for $1.95 million. Built in 2005, it has two bedrooms, two baths and 1,864 square feet of living area. It sold for $1,375,000 in 2021.

SEAPLACE

Gary and Barbara Ackerman, of Sarasota, sold their Unit G1-110 condominium at 2089 Gulf of Mexico Drive to Randall Rohrman, trustee, of Spring Grove, Illinois, for $1,889,000. Built in 1974, it has three bedrooms, two baths and 1,492 square feet of living area. It sold for $177,000 in 1979.

TANGERINE BAY CLUB

Marvin Smith and Heidi Smith Ferren sold their Unit 116 condominium at 340 Gulf of Mexico Drive to Barbara Davis, trustee, of Glencoe, Illinois, for $1,579,000. Built in 1991, it has two bedrooms, twoand-a-half baths and 2,378 square feet. It sold for $1.1 million in 2019.

In with the new NOW UNDER CONSTRUCTION

PERMIT Interior alterations

APPLICANT Bob and Taube Levitt

AMOUNT($) 260,370

1945 GMD #312

Interior alterations

Strothman Living Trust

223,688

545 Sanctuary

Windows and doors

Jane R. Rebholz

176,052

Drive #623

Drive #A302

Revocable Trust

350 GMD #218

Interior alterations

Andy Shaer

137,500

1045 GMD #203

Interior alterations

Paul and Kelli Humphries

125,000

711 Russell St.

New pool

Neil Richard Edwards

119,055

1095 GMD #404

Interior alterations

Trends US Inc

110,000

380 GMD #512

Interior alterations

William L. Kimbell, Jr.

90,000

651 Emerald Harbor Drive

Dock and lift

John and Kimberly Wise

82,214

4390 Exeter Drive Unit 301 Interior alterations

Virginia M. Leon

66,925

535 Sanctuary

Scott R. Kennedy

61,500

Interior alterations

Drive #A703

Revocable Trust

1965 GMD

Concrete repair

Seaplace Association Inc

52,160

1975 GMD

Concrete repair

Seaplace Association Inc

52,160

1965 GMD

Concrete repair

Seaplace Association Inc

52,160

1045 GMD #401

Interior alterations

Roy Kenneth Zitomer

46,000

Revocable Trust

3545 Fair Oaks Lane

Joseph P. McNamara

Re-roof

Longboat Key

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

Downtown St. Petersburg

45,894

Revocable Trust

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

3115 GMD #204

Windows and doors

James Leonardo

43,718

525 Putter Lane

Dock and lift

Shane M. Mikula Enterprises

41,507

1095 GMD #405

Electrical

Alan M. Lestz Revocable Trust

38,550

801 Broadway

Elevator

Stephen J. TR Kring

37,500

2550 Harbourside

A/C change-out

Alice C. Harper Revocable Trust 36,912

2 UNITS LEFT

Drive #341 5930 Emerald Harbor Drive

Frank D. Cox

33,700

100 Sands Point Road #111 Interior alterations

Seawall

Judith Ochsner TTEE

31,104

775 Longboat Club

Doors

Marcene M. Greif

30,513

Downtown Sarasota

Road #407 A/C change-out

Vladimiar Savcenko

30,203

Interior alterations

Alan M. Lestz Revocable Trust

27,000

560 Linley St.

Electrical

William Whalen

23,525

25 Lighthouse Point Drive

Lift

Laurie Branch

23,200

560 Linley St.

Re-roof

William Whalen

21,863

6529 Gulfside Road

Re-roof

Jeff Nalin

16,000

3302 Sabal Cove Lane

Door

Adam Waller

15,868

561 Putting Green Lane

Pool resurface

James K. Cheney

15,800

1465 GMD #302

Mechanical

W A S Tower L B K LLC

13,926

629 Kingfisher Lane

Demolition of single Nancy A. Jenkins

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

12,987

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

family residence Prices as of February 2022.

Source: Town of Longboat Key

Licensed Real Estate Broker

373653-1

1211 GMD #1004 1095 GMD #405

14B

LONGBOAT OBSERVER

YourObserver.com

THURSDAY, MAY 19, 2022

|

Living and Working on Longboat Key for 40 Years

PET PICS

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

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!

379358-1

941.724.7228

CathyMeldahl@michaelsaunders.com

GET A $40 PREPAID VISA® CARD* WITH QUALIFYING BRAKE PARTS PURCHASE OF $250** OR MORE! OFFER VALID May 1- June 30, 2022

375660-1

Ask your Service Advisor for details. Offer valid May 1 - June 30, 2022 at both NAPA AUTO PARTS Stores and participating NAPA AutoCare Centers. Claim online by July 15, 2022. *This Card is issued by Sunrise Banks N.A., St. Paul, MN 55103, Member FDIC, pursuant to a license from Visa®? debit cards are accepted. Use of this card constitutes acceptance of the terms and conditions stated in the Cardholder Agreement.

Card expires 6 months from issuance, per the “Valid Thru”date printed on the card. See your cardholder agreement and associated materials for details. **$250 of qualifying products will be based on the final price paid, less any discounts, warranty reimbursements, extended warranty, core and resurface charges and excluding taxes, installation/labor, and shipping fees.

5608 MARINA DR., HOLMES BEACH, 34217

(NEXT TO DOMINOS PIZZA) 941-896-7898 • GROOMSAUTO.COM

seitreporp esitrepxe stluser

properties properties expertise UNRIVALED expertise results EXCEPTIONAL results

YRANIDREXTRAORDINARY OAEXTRAORDINARY RTXE

DELAVIRNU

Certified Residential Specialist LBroker-Associate ANOITPECXE

941.928.3559

UNRIVALED

t silaicep S lai tn edis eR defi it reC e t a i c o s s A - r ek o r B EXCEPTIONAL

9553.829.149

MichaelMoulton@michaelsaunders.com moc.srednuasleahcim@notluoMle ahcMichaelMoulton@michaelsaunders.com iM

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19,300sf | 140’ on the Gulf | $16,500,000 LD SO

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finest

www.SARASOTAS

finest

PROPERTIES.com

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379387-1

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RUNNING A BIT RUFF: Hexie didn’t want to mess up her hair while joining her Jersey cousins for a tour of Longboat Key.

4,430sf | 4BR | Bay Front | $3,300,000

We’re neighbors covering neighbors.

Liz Ramos STAFF WRITER

Beat: East County Education Hometown: Carol Stream, Illinois Currently Living: Bradenton Alma mater: University of Missouri What you do when you are not working?

I love to spend time with friends and family, bake, craft and go to Disney.

Connect: lramos@yourobserver.com

Whether it’s a classroom assignment or a big School District of Manatee County issue, I love that the Observer covers it all. I have the opportunity to share the great things happening in our schools while also writing about important topics and decisions affecting every student in the district.

//

Support independent local journalism today at YourObserver.com/newsies

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JOIN THE NEIGHBORHOOD

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LONGBOAT OBSERVER

15B

THURSDAY, MAY 19, 2022

SUNRISE / SUNSET

FRIDAY, MAY 20

WEATHER

NATURE’S BEAUTY WITH

FORECAST

|

Sunrise Sunset

High: 84 Low: 75 Chance of rain: 53%

Thursday, May 19

6:39a

8:14p

Friday, May 20

6:39a

8:14p

Saturday, May 21

6:38a

8:15p

Sunday, May 22

6:38a

8:16p

SATURDAY, MAY 21

Monday, May 23

6:38a

8:16p

High: 85 Low: 74 Chance of rain: 40%

Tuesday, May 24

6:37a

8:17p

Wednesday, May 25

6:37a

8:17p

MOON PHASES SUNDAY, MAY 22 High: 85 Low: 74 Chance of rain: 32%

June 14 Full

June 20 Last

June 28 New

July 6 First

TIDES Highs Lows

Brian Wamback captured the sunset on a beach at Greer Island.

Thursday, May 19

—

1:56p

—

11:22p

Friday, May 20

—

2:52p

—

—

Saturday, May 21

—

4:00p

12:28a

—

Sunday, May 22

—

5:34p

1:32a

—

Monday, May 23

9:31a

7:26p

2:27a

2:28p

Tuesday, May 24

9:42a

9:04p

3:14a

3:59p

Wednesday, May 25

9:58a

10:25p

3:52a

5:01p

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

382261-1

941.748.4679 | Venice

celebrity cipher

BREAKING BREAD by David P. Williams. Edited by David Steinberg 110 Black-and-white cookies 111 Large group of troops (... first five) 113 Eurasian mountains 114 Sun Devils’ Arizona city 115 Ice skating jump 116 “The Taste of Country Cooking” chef Lewis 117 Dole (out) 118 Changes the color of 119 Neat 120 Like some fakes or lakes

46 Buddy 49 Narrow valley 50 Mathematician Terence 52 Shapeless shape 53 Like lightly cooked steak 54 Parroted 55 Long vehicle, for short 56 Unnamed writer (Abbr.)

57 Verbal nudge 59 Astronauts feel them 61 Comedian’s gimmick (Var.) 62 Nut to squirrel away 63 Ready to harvest DOWN 66 “You gave me no 1 Sometimes-blue birds choice!”

2 “There’s no stopping 67 Soda holder me!”

68 Inquires 3 Ball game in Las Vegas 71 Sorority invitation 4 Sphere 74 Young pooch 5 Bea of “The Golden Girls” 76 Tire filler 6 Steps for dinner or 78 Veiled criticism disaster 80 Rush 7 Oohs and ___ 81 Came into sight 8 Bikini part 82 Non-fiction?

9 Like a ghost town 84 Lift that isn’t a Lyft 10 First-class 85 Near disaster 11 Apple assistant 86 Jeong or Jennings on 12 Chain with quesaritos TV ©2022 Universal Uclick 13 Be patient 87 Pivotal point on a 87 One celebrating a win 55 Computer support, four in this one) ACROSS 14 “That clears things up” seesaw energetically (Last six maybe?

30 Admit wrongdoing 1 “___ Dreams of Sushi” 15 Campari cocktail 88 “Count me in!” letters + ...)

58 Against the law 32 Desert hill (2011 film) 16 Range of vision 89 Show contempt for 91 ___ and cheese 60 Bolshevik’s foe 33 Pampered one?

5 Iraqi, perhaps 20 Much of North Africa 90 Housefly larva 92 Fit for the task 64 Hit, as a double bass 34 Drama in Shibuya 9 Sleeveless garment 21 Stuff to mold 91 Oscar winner Sorvino 93 “Well, uh-uh” 35 Clever comeback (Last 65 What moles collect 13 Barolo or merlot 23 Handmade jewelry 95 “Bam” and “beep” 94 Performs like Nicki (Last two letters + ...) four letters + ...)

17 Spanish for “love” source 96 Over the moon 67 Chicken ___ (... first six) Minaj 37 Lead-in to “dynamic” 18 Tail end 28 Like 24-karat gold 97 “In conclusion ...”

95 SpongeBob’s channel 69 Dance to punk 38 Stereo alternative 19 Assumed name 29 “The Hot Zone” virus 98 Workplace inspection 70 N. Macedonia joined it (... first six) 21 Name that sounds like 39 Pseudo-cultured 31 Personal taste org.

99 5G predecessor in 2020 40 Unrefined resource “K.C.” 32 Blue tang in “Finding 100 Ball containers in 22 “Abso-freaking-lutely!” 41 “OK, but just this once” 71 Goes around for rounds 100 Strong desire Nemo” probability textbooks 101 Kind or type 72 Single or twin (Note the last three letters (... first four) 35 Peace’s opposite 101 Extent 102 Light beams 73 Available from a keg 43 Staggers in this answer + ...)

36 Rush of water 104 Thing proven by an 103 Ben & Jerry’s flavor for 75 Drops from the sky 45 Bawl 24 Around the time of 37 Athlete who shines exception Deadheads (Last 3 letters 77 Journeys 46 Opinion survey 25 Feudal lord 38 Humble 105 “Ratatouille” rat + ...)

79 “Obviously!”

26 NBC sketch show, briefly 47 Help 41 Charged particle 106 Long skirt 106 Crush, like potatoes 81 Trippy drug 48 Gung-ho 27 Not that!

42 Musician Phair 108 Lose it 107 Hi-___ image 82 Shark part 50 Sunbathes 28 They’re often lit at 44 Stated 111 Baseball club 109 Stale episode garden parties (... the first 51 Black-and-white animal 83 Open, like an oyster 45 Salsa singer Cruz 112 Spearheaded

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

Each letter in the cipher stands for another.

“Z KVVC VTVNULDV ZM JOA GVNV KLN X NVXMLD. ... Z XCFXUM AGLORGA SU NVXC PXCCZDR FXM AL GVCJ LAGVN JVLJCV.”

– IXDVA IXPBMLD

“AFOPTWN, R JTFP PA WRKN LNALSN NKNIUPXRFW PXNU JTFP TFB HAIN. R’SS JTOX PXNRI VTI ZAI PXNH AF PXN JTU AYP.”

– PINFP INCFAI

“DKSJ WURJ POTVIPSJBR WB PR JKB ZBFFAKUOBR. PT P RBB RUWBUOB JBYJPOH EVIPOH JKB RKUD, P DSFX UTT JKB RJSHB.”

– WPIPSW WSIHUFMBR

Puzzle Three Clue: Z equals C

941.355.8437 | Bradenton

Puzzle Two Clue: Z equals F

Sarasota

KARASTAN, MOHAWK, AIRO, SMARTSTRAND, ALL PET

Puzzle One Clue: T equals V

CARPET

© 2022 NEA, Inc.

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

©2022 Andrews McMeel Syndicate

5-19-22

Made for where you live. Here!

THURSDAY, MAY 19, 2022

RED PAGES home services

redpages@yourobserver.com • yourobserver.com/redpages DEADLINES: Classifieds - Monday at 2PM Service Directory - Friday at 3PM • PAYMENT: Cash, Check or Credit Card 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.

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

941809-3660, 941-809-3662.

Merchandise Wanted BUYING BASEBALL card collections! Looking to free up space and make $$? Need to sell sports cards? Collector looking to expand collection.

Pay top dollar. Text/call 941 548 6492 with photos.

YourObserver.com/RedPages

Condos/Apts. for Rent 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 May-November.

Owner/renter. Flexible terms.

570-239-0431 marketreps@aol.com

LONGBOAT KEY Incredible views Private boat dock Pet friendly condo Owner/agent $650,000 The Lake Club LWR 4 bed 4.5 bath Pool/Spa Dazzling with upgrades 2.5 Million Buy or Sell with Brooke O’Malley as your Realtor, and CLUB REALTY will Pay your title insurance.

Call 941-726-2677.

Autos Wanted

Vacation/ Seasonal Rentals

CASH FOR YOUR CAR We come to you!

Ho Ho Buys cars.

941-270-4400.

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

Call 941-383-3338.

Place Your Ad Online YourObserver.com/RedPages

Transportation LONGBOAT LIMOUSINE Your local luxury transportation provider since 1994.

New luxury Sedans and SUVs. Fully Licenced and insured.

E-mail: longboatlimousine @yahoo.com

Epic Home Care Personal Care-Respite Care Alzheimer’s Care Light Cleaning Med Administration Meal Prep Shopping, Errands & More

941-955-4888 YourObserver.com/RedPages

Call for a FREE Evaluation!

941-536-6372 EpicHomeCare@yahoo.com Rosa Torres- Owner

WEEKLY MONTHLY SEASONAL Rates Beachfront, Bayfront and In Between Houses or Condos

Auto Transport

Reservations 941-383-5577

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

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

wagnerlbkrentals@gmail.com

SELL YOUR STUFF HERE!

5360 Gulf of Mexico Dr., Suite 101 Longboat Key, FL 34228 Rental office 9a.m. - 5p.m.

941-955-4888

M-F

YourObserver.com/RedPages

Ask about our special rates!

Cleaning

Wagner Realty Since 1939 www.rentalsonlongboat.com

CLAUDIA C. Cleaning Services.

Experienced, dependable, and ready to begin!

Residential.

Excellent references.

941-773-6895.

Homes for Rent

Homes for Sale

SELL IT FAST!

Call/Text 941-383-1235

Visa/MC

3BR/2BA SLEEPY Lagoon.

Monthly rental, available May 2022 and next season. Heated pool, large screened lanai, one car garage, breakfast nook, quiet street, on canal $3,500.

Ask for Bruce (302) 420-4289

auto

Adult Care Services

FIND BUYERS & SELLERS HERE!

You’re only cheating yourself.

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

Ad runs 2 consecutive weeks in 1 Observer.

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

Items Up to $200

BEACH HARBOR CLUB, LONGBOAT KEY FLORIDA: 2 Bedrooms, 2 baths, 1,046 sq. ft. 3rd floor, water view.

Fully upgraded and equipped.

Walking distance to Sarasota Bay and Gulf. Rent is $2,0004,000/month. Contact (440)371-5008 lin44139@yahoo.com

peekers’ place

Items Under $200

SELL YOUR STUFF FOR FREE!

real estate

stuff

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

Call Hawley Motors: 941-923-3421.

Vacation/ Seasonal Rentals

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

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

Free estimates. 941-744-1020.

35+ years experience.

TREASURES FOUND HERE!

Advertise your business or service in the Observer

RED PAGES PUBLIC NOTICE

CALL TODAY 941-955-4888

LOST OR ABANDONED PROPERTY Held by Longboat Key Police Department 5460 Gulf of Mexico Dr. THE LONGBOAT KEY POLICE DEPARTMENT IS HOLDING APPLE AIRPODS RECEIVED AS FOUND PROPERTY DURING THIS TIME OF 04-16-22 THRU 05-16-2022. IF NOT CLAIMED

BY OWNERS, ITEMS SHALL BE DISPOSED OF AS AUTHORIZED

BY F.S.S.705.103. INQUIRES 941-361-1976 x1928

This week’s Crossword answers

GARAGE SALE Advertise as low as $17.50 per week!

941-955-4888

This week’s Celebrity Cipher answers

Puzzle One Solution: “I feel everyone is put here for a reason. ... I always thought my real calling was to help other people.”

Janet Jackson Puzzle Two Solution: “Onstage, I want to give people everything they want and more. I’ll wash their car for them on the way out.”

Trent Reznor Puzzle Three Solution: “What most infuriates me is the cellphones. If I see someone texting during the show, I walk off the stage.”

Miriam Margolyes

This week’s Sudoku answers

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DR. DAVID CIFRA, DC 381779

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CONSTRUCTION HANDYMAN • Home Repairs & Maintenance • Interior & Exterior 941.504.2745 • Garage Floor Paint 941.400.1563 • Power Wash

25

UP TO

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& Pressure C Window lean t e s ing as Sunrise Wi n w o n k Sun y l nd er

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| 941.383.3388

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

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17B

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THURSDAY, MAY 19, 2022

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THURSDAY, MAY 19, 2022

AUCTION HOUSE

C A R S A R T

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W I N E

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NORTHWEST BRADENTON 8413 9th Avenue NW Jayne Kocher

PALMA SOLA POINTE

$2,600,000 941.920.6818

643 Owl Way Dennis Girard

$1,250,000 941.809.0041

308 61st Street Laurie Mock

$6,900,000 941.232.3001

6821 Hughes Street Jayne Kocher

$2,999,000 941.915.6000

$2,095,000 941.809.0041

HOLMES BEACH

LONGBOAT KEY

GRAND BAY $1,200,000 941.232.3665

SARASOTA $550,000 941.809.0041

LONGBOAT KEY VILLAGE

SARASOTA

SUNSET BEACH

641 Fox Street Dennis Girard

1479 Bay Point Drive Louis Wery

$3,850,000 941.807.2863

ISLAND AT RIVIERA DUNES

2109 Gulf of Mexico Drive #1103 Dennis Girard

435 L’Ambiance Drive #J204 & K205 $7,950,000 Laura Pearson & Carmen Baskind 941.993.5167

SARASOTA

9804 2nd Terrace NW Amy Royall

1005 Riviera Dunes Way Cindy Pierro

LONGBOAT KEY

$19,500,000 941.915.6000

1633 8th Street Sandra Appignani & Mark Baumgarten

3060 Grand Bay Boulevard #151 Carolyn Collins & Roberta Tengerdy

$3,250,000 941.320.0722

BAYOU HARBOR $480,000 941.320.1002

1011 66th Street NW Lisa Gullick

$425,000 941.321.6973

Vie w a re a listings

23 CONTEMPORARY TOWNHOMES

It’s Better

uptown

Situated in Sarasota’s uptown, Premier on Main boasts 23 contemporary townhomes.

Priced from $1,195,000, these four-level residences offer a sophisticated, modern sanctuary near the city’s captivating arts and cultural district.

2191 Main Street, Sarasota, FL 34237 | 941.920.1500 | TheFrankLambertTeam.com

WORTH MORE

SARASOTA - DOWNTOWN | 941.364.4000 SARASOTA

VENICE | 941.412.3323

LAKEWOOD RANCH | 941.907.9541

Contact us for a confidential consultation PremierSothebysRealty.com LONGBOAT KEY | 941.383.2500

RENTALS | 941.203.3433

Sotheby’s International Realty® and the Sotheby’s International Realty logo are registered service marks used with permission. Each office is independently owned and operated. Equal Housing Opportunity. Property information herein is derived from various sources including, - DOWNTOWN | 941.364.4000 VENICE | limited 941.412.3323 LAKEWOOD RANCH 941.907.9541 LONGBOAT KEY | 941.383.2500 RENTALS | 941.203.3433 but not to, county records and multiple listing services, and may include|approximations.

All information is deemed accurate.

382007-1

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