LONGBOAT
Observer
Longboat Key’s weekly newspaper since 1978
YOU. YOUR NEIGHBORS. YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD.
A+E 2021 in review. SEE PAGE 16
FREE • THURSDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2021
VOLUME 44, NO. 21
YOUR TOWN
MARCH MARCH
A YEAR APART Members of St. Mary, Star of the Sea, Catholic Church came together for the first time in about a year, enjoying their annual picnic on the church campus, urged on by Aaron Watkins (above). The event featured food, fellowship and a ball drop in which a hovering helicopter dropped dozens of golf balls for prizes.
THE FITTEST OF THEM ALL Zach Schield was not surprised to be named the fittest member of the Longboat Key Fire Rescue Department. The 33-year-old Longboat Key firefighter and paramedic said bragging rights were on the line for the department when members perform their annual agility test.
THE YEAR IN PHOTOS
W
e knew going in that 2021 was shaping up to be something else entirely. Not normal. Maybe OK. But, we hoped, not 2020. Anything but that. On the plus side, COVID-19 vaccines were on the verge of mainstream as the new year dawned. But as we soon learned, patience and a fair amount of technical expertise was required to get one. Uh, oh. Spring and summer were pretty up and down, too. Our lives, our jobs, our indoor events started looking typical again. Yay.
Then along came delta, which heretofore had really only been an airline and an Oldsmobile (OK, you petrol-heads: a Lancia, too). But as a COVID-19 variant, not great. Through it all, though, we kept reporting and photographing. And wouldn’t you know it, we DID have a lot to smile about even through some frustratingly similar days to the previous year. Here then is what we saw through our Nikons (and an iPhone or two) in 2021.
Nat Kaemmerer
New year, new art
Updating your art collection in the new year? All Angels by the Sea Episcopal Church has the event for you. The church has started collecting secondhand art for its second annual New to You Art Sale, which it will host in February. It was a big success for the church last year and started when they found themselves without an Artist of the Month in late winter. Church members and Longboat Key residents brought in art they no longer wanted in their homes, and the response was far beyond what they imagined. After last year’s success, they’re bringing it back. Call Linn Torres at 383-8161 for information or clarification on accepted pieces.
SEE PAGE 3
JULY
RED, WHITE AND BLUE After it was canceled in 2020 due to the pandemic, pent-up demand for Freedom Fest brought hundreds to Bay Isles Road for the short parade and festival on the morning of Fourth of July. The Hot Diggity Dog! parade and contest, hosted as always by the Rotary Club of Longboat Key, had 33 patriotic pups walking Bay Isles Road — a parade record. Ivan and Sharon Gould entered Herbie.
OCTOBER
POPPING THE CORK On a day years in the making, ground was broken (both ceremonially and actually) for the $800 million Residences at the St. Regis Longboat Key Resort. Unicorp National Developments Inc. plans to build 69 condo units and 166 hotel units along with restaurants and other facilities, many of them open to the public. It's been nearly three years since the buildings and other structures of the Colony Beach & Tennis Resort were torn down on the land. St. Regis unit owner Kim Costello was invited to saber the first bottle of sparkling wine, a St. Regis tradition.
File photo
Pineapple time If you’re around downtown Sarasota on Friday night, keep an eye out for falling pineapples — or, more correctly, one giant pineapple. The city’s traditional New Years Eve celebration is planned from 1 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. on Main Street and Five Points Park with events and attractions planned for all ages — all revolving around the midnight pineapple drop at Main Street and Orange Avenue. Live music, carnival rides and games around Five Points Park, along with food and fireworks, are all part of the festivities.