LONGBOAT
Observer
Longboat Key’s weekly newspaper since 1978
Trees to see. PAGE 15A
YOU. YOUR NEIGHBORS. YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD.
FREE • THURSDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2022
VOLUME 45, NO. 17
3 candidates, 3 seats
YOUR TOWN
Commission election rendered unnecessary following withdrawal. PAGE 4A
Season of
Sparkling event kicks off the holidays. PAGE 1B
light
Courtesy photo
Helping the animals Kevin Byrne is in pest control, but he’s not what you’d call an exterminator. Byrne is quite the opposite: He’s become a life saver for Longboat Key wildlife. Within six months, while on the job for NaturZone Pest Control, Byrne rescued three swans, two sea turtles and a burrowing owl. He has a passion for protecting Florida wildlife and has built relationships with two local rescue and rehabilitation centers through his encounters: Wildlife Inc. and Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium. When the two turtle hatchlings were lost and headed toward traffic, Byrnes scooped them up and delivered them to Mote’s sea turtle hospital. It’s not surprising that Byrne’s coworkers call him the NaturZone Steve Irwin.
Lesley Dwyer
Donna and Mark Meador under the lights they help to set up each year.
Projects move ahead
A+E
Seasonal staple. INSIDE
Town’s to-do list of big-ticket work features some nearly done and others a ways off. PAGES 3A, 5A, 7A Lesley Dwyer
A funding source is the main hurdle for a canal maintenance program.
Courtesy photo
The Pettingells pass out pies St. Armands Circle-based Realtor Roger Pettingell and his family, wife Alisa and son Max, once again took part in their Thanksgiving tradition of donating pies to clients, with the option of passing the yummy desserts on to local food banks. The Realtor from Coldwell Banker distributed more than 100 pies, all baked by Yoders of Sarasota. “We’ve been doing this for 20 years, and it has become an integral part of Thanksgiving for our clients,” Pettingell said. Out-of-town clients were offered the option of donating their pies.