LONGBOAT
SEASON 21 WINTER 20
Observer bserver Longboat Key’s weekly newspaper since 1978
E R ’S THE OBSERV
SOCIETY E A R TS A N D G U I D E TO T H
INSIDE
YOU. YOUR NEIGHBORS. YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD.
VOLUME 43, NO. 21
YOUR TOWN
See ya, 2020
At midnight Dec. 31, 2020 will finally be over. That, more than ever, calls for celebration and clinking glasses. On Longboat Key, there are a lot of champagne flutes being filled in the final weeks of 2020, LBK Liquors Manager Jacob Harrison said. Of course, the store sees plenty of sales of champagne of any kind at the end of the year — especially Veuve Clicquot, Harrison said. It sells a lot of hard seltzer too, in keeping with the trend of 2020. High Noon is one of the most popular ones at the store, Harrison said.
2020
FREE
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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2020
SEPT. 4
YEAR IN PHOTOS
Whew! What a year, right? Here’s a review of all we experienced. PAGES 3-9 NOV. 12
Courtesy photo
David Novak and Dan Wade
Swan snapshot
It’s the photo that generated countless “aww’s,” and now it’s immortalized at the Resort at the Longboat Key Club. The Gracie Swan Foundation, named after the first female swan brought to Longboat Key in 1995 and founded by unofficial swan keeper David Novak, presented the club with the iconic Lou Newman photo from over the summer, an adorable snapshot of swan Greta and her late cygnet near the Harbourside golf course. Novak and foundation volunteer Renee Odell presented the print to member engagement manager Dan Wade as a thank-you for 25 years of the club’s swan support.
MARCH 26
SEPT. 24 File photos
Clockwise from top right: Sept. 4: As Tropical Storm Eta hammered the island, water from Sarasota Bay overtook properties largely on the north end, as Fred Kagi experienced. Nov. 12: Chuck and Margie, a mating pair of swans from Illinois, arrive at their new Longboat home. March 26: With COVID-19 making its presence known, town officials closed public access to beach parking and other facilities to keep the crowds at bay. Sept. 24: It was hardly smooth sailing for Mark Sternal, whose sailboat crash landed on the beaches of Longboat. The vessel stayed there for weeks until Tropical Storm Eta smashed it to bits.