Longboat Observer 4.21.22

LONGBOAT

Observer

Longboat Key’s weekly newspaper since 1978

YOU. YOUR NEIGHBORS. YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD.

Working on a fix. PAGE 4 FREE • THURSDAY, APRIL 21, 2022

VOLUME 44, NO. 37

ACE’s next chapter

YOUR TOWN

County library idea springs from arts, culture and education plans. PAGE 3

Courtesy photo

Hunter’s field trip

EGGS-TRA SPECIAL EASTER

Though the telecommunicators of Sarasota County’s dispatch office are pretty good at communicating from afar, the Longboat Key Fire Department wanted to take an opportunity to thank them in person. In honor of National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week, which started April 11, Hunter the therapy dog trekked out to Sarasota.

He was accompanied by his mom, Longboat Key’s Deputy Chief Sandi Drake, who brought bagels and a note from Chief Paul Dezzi to the Sheriff’s Office to thank the telecommunicators for all they do. Longboat Key doesn’t have its own call center, so calls are handled by the Sarasota Sheriff’s Office.

Dezzi thanked them for handling often-panicked calls and bringing useful information to first-responders.

Hunter thanked them with some fluffy hugs.

Kids find what they seek at Sand Cay. PAGE 18

Nat Kaemmerer

Heather Diggens snaps a photo of Cory, Aved, Noah and Layla Dehnee alongside the Easter Bunny at Sand Cay on April 15.

A+E

Courtesy photo

Sunny Easter morning

Nat Kaemmerer

Into the beyond.

INSIDE

Easter lilies were planted at St. Armands Key Lutheran Church.

Confluence of holy tradition Passover, Easter weekend crowds grow on Longboat. PAGE 17

Of course, the classic Easter flower is the lily. The Easter decorating team at St. Armands Key Lutheran Church had plenty of those surrounding the sanctuary steps on April 17, but front and center stood dozens of sunflowers.

While they added a pop of brightness to the church’s display, there’s a deeper meaning behind the blooms.

The sunflower is the national flower of Ukraine and has been used as a symbol of peace in the country for decades.

Throughout the current war, they’ve been used across the world in protests against Russia’s invasion. At home on St. Armands Key, they took center stage on Easter Sunday. Music Director Michael Bodnyk said the decorating team added them as a show of solidarity with Ukraine’s people.

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LONGBOAT OBSERVER

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YourObserver.com

THURSDAY, APRIL 21, 2022

Battery of questions regarding electric cars in Key Charging facts, how EVs fit into Longboaters’ lifestyles were among topics covered at presentation.

ERIC GARWOOD MANAGING EDITOR

A

bout 20 car enthusiasts gathered in Longboat Key Town Hall the other day to talk about, well, cars.

An Audi owner was there.

So was a gentleman who just bought a Ford Mustang.

Several fans of Elon Musk’s sporty creations. Even a boat.

Many of the rest of the folks gathered in the space normally reserved for town commissioners or municipal advisory boards also owned something cool, but everyone on hand was there to learn.

Yet there was no chatter about handling, horsepower or how many speeding tickets drivers had chalked up.

There was, however, plenty of discussion about kilowatt hours, amps, and charging times.

Sara Kane, Sarasota County’s sustainability program supervisor, was in town with her presentation, “Electric Avenue: Supporting Electric Vehicles in Sarasota County.”

Here are some answers to some questions that were raised: Does the county practice what it preaches?

In a word, yes.

In addition to the county’s 18 free-to-use charging stations with 30 access points, Sarasota County also operates a 2019 Chevrolet Volt electric vehicle. Kane said she wanted to bring it with her on her visit to Longboat Key, but it’s a popular ride in the county’s motor pool and already checked out by another user.

The sedan offers about 230 miles of range and is used by a range of county employees for day-to-day chores.

Can you publicly charge an EV on Longboat Key? Yes. The town of Longboat Key offers one EV charging station at Bayfront Park. The NovaCharge NC5025 non-networked, single-port, level 2 charging station can accommodate one car at a time, but it is free.

A Sarasota County grant covered $2,734 of the approximate $5,500 it took to install the Bayfront Park charger in 2017.

What do we know about Longboaters and their electric cars?

Based on the 2022 Citizen Survey, we know something about their ownership habits and their hopes.

A few examples of questions and answers: Do you currently own an electric vehicle? n Yes, I own a full-electric vehicle: 5.5% n No, I own a hybrid-electric vehicle: 6% n No: 88.5% If charging stations were available, would you plan on purchasing or leasing an electric vehicle in the next five years? n Yes: 32.6% n No: 36.5% n Unsure: 30.1% Are there currently charging stations or outlets for electric vehicles available in your home or residential community/complex? n Yes: 16.7% n No: 74.6% n Unsure: 8.7% Is access to convenient charging stations or outlets a concern that might prevent you from purchasing an electric vehicle? n Yes: 51.1% n No: 48.9% What are some concerns Longboaters have with electric cars?

Based on the discussion at the workshop, most agreed an electric car on Longboat makes sense for local trips, and many said they charge their vehicles just a few times a month, often at home-based charging stations. The island is home to a public

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SEE FOR YOURSELF

On April 23, Earth Day, an event sponsored by DriveElectric, will bring together electric vehicles and their owners for a showcase of technology.

About 25 vehicles, including an electric motorcycle, will be on display from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Florida House, 4454 Beneva Road in Sarasota. The event is open to the public.

charger at Bayfront Park, and a few are at private locations that are open to the public. Some condominium communities are heading in that direction, but technical details and costs are often impediments. Town officials last year discussed the

potential of installing more stations on the island, but there was concern about the costs being passed on to the public at some point. The town would have been responsible for the estimated $180-$240 a month for the cost of electricity and the total operating costs of about $17,000 during the seven-year stretch. The cost to purchase the chargers after the seven-year term would have been between $35,000 and $55,000, plus between $2,000 and $4,000 in annual maintenance.

State law provides a condo association cannot prohibit an owner from installing a charging station within the boundaries of the owner’s limited common element parking area. But some condos do not consider parking spaces as common elements. Plus, the condo owner has to pay for installation, operation,

maintenance, repair and insurance of the charging station.

Can businesses install charging stations? Are there deals to be had?

Yes. Sarasota County offers a program called ChargeUp! Sarasota in which rebates are offered for businesses and nonprofits, based on fund availability. Businesses can receive 25% of station costs up to a $2,000; and nonprofits or government agencies can get up to half the cost refunded, up to $4,000, but the stations have to be open to the public. Among those eligible are tourism attractions, hotels, retail hubs, community centers, high-traffic government offices and employers with 150 full-time equivalent positions.

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Eric Garwood

About 20 people attended the electric vehicle workshop presented by Sarasota County last week at Town Hall.

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LONGBOAT OBSERVER

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THURSDAY, APRIL 21, 2022

Commission Penny Gold prepares to signal her support for one of about 45 initiatives posted.

STRENGTHS AND INFLUENCES As part of the Town Commission’s annual retreat this week, staffers identified a series of external influences and positive attributes facing Longboat Key in the next months. Among them:

Reading into the future Library and community center could coincide with tax base effects of new resort and residences opening in 2025.

ERIC GARWOOD MANAGING EDITOR

A

t a strategic planning retreat on Monday, a week and a few days before sitting down with Sarasota County commissioners in a joint workshop in Sarasota, town commissioners worked through a potential request timeline for a countyrun library and community center that could be running by 2025.

Town Manager Tom Harmer ran through a series of requests and benchmarks to be presented to Sarasota County, beginning with a

system for online-ordered materials on the island this year.

From there, the intention is to ensure county leaders recognize a Longboat Key library/community center as a county capital project.

And then: n Fund planning and design of such a building in the fiscal 2023 budget; n Fund construction in 2024; n Begin funding the operational money in 2025.

“You know that bullet that says ‘fund operational dollars’? The county administrator has said ‘You know, it’s not impossible for me to find the initial money and the money for construction.’ A full-service library like the one in Venice costs $1 million a year to operate . . . I said “Our library is going to be half the size of the Venice library,’ but he said it’s still a million dollars. My comment to the county administrator was ‘Perfect timing, in 2025, St. Regis will be online. You’re going to

Funding for canal dredging drew broad support from commissioners.

Public Works Director Isaac Brownman explains some of the details of the Town Center Green’s second phase.

of county library services a delivery

EXTERNAL INFLUENCES n Two years and counting of the COVID-19 pandemic n The war in eastern Europe between Russia and Ukraine n Fuel costs n Delays in purchasing and delivery n Inflation, loss of buying power n The insurance market in Florida n Tight labor market n Potential of recession

POSITIVE ATTRIBUTES

n Stable town commission

(Commissioners B.J. Bishop, Mike Haycock and Maureen Merrigan were re-elected in March without opposition) n Strong financial reserves and policies n Stable tax base n High service levels, as acknowledged in the town’s 2022 Citizen Survey n Tenured staff (90 years of town service among nine town department heads)

“The governance is stable if you think about some of the things in other communities,” Town Manager Tom Harmer said. “Other town managers have told me recently that two or three of the commissioners don’t get along with the other two; they’re constantly fighting publicly and privately, and we don’t have that. That’s a strength. When you’re going through tough times, that’s a strength.”

THUMBS UP

Photos by Eric Garwood

Mayor Ken Schneier applies one of his sticky dots to a town initiative he favors.

get county revenue that will more than cover the library expenses from that one project.’”

The St. Regis project includes 69 condo units and 166 hotel units along with restaurants and other public facilities. Ground was broken in October, and construction went vertical earlier this year. Late last year, the project was valued at $800 million, with some units selling for as much as $20 million. From just the residential condos alone, with a county millage rate of 3.2 and an average taxable value of $7.5 million, the tax revenue totals $1.65 million annually without even considering the resort/hotel portion of the 17.6acre property.

The anticipated site on the Town Center Green can accommodate an 11,000-square-foot building, though a second, 7,000-square-foot building could go nearby. The vision for what the building on the former Amore Restaurant site would look like, and the purposes it would serve, remain open questions.

In conversations with the the county and Sarasota County Schools, Harmer said such a building could consist of a library, classrooms for adult education and a multipurpose space. No price points exist, though Harmer said the county was amenable to a series of forums to design the building around desired amenities.

“I think when you say library, you think of books, and they are much more than that today; they’re networking centers,” Commissioner Debra Williams said. “It’s where people connect with each other.

I dont want to minimize the book version, but that is important. But if they give us a bookmobile, I just don’t see a lot of value in that.”

Mayor Ken Schneier said the only thing in such a proposal missing when compared with the original vision of an arts, cultural and education center built with private dollars in partnership with Ringling College is the professional performance options. He said residents of Lido Key have expressed support for a library community center, and he expects to hear from St. Armands residents as well.

“This is an uphill struggle for us to get the county to participate with us,” he said. “They’ve made it pretty clear that it’s got to have the word ‘library’ in it. Maybe they’ll change their mind, but they don’t seem inclined to, and we want to get on their agenda for design.’’

He said when the town and Ringling were working on the original plan for the arts, culture and education center, there wasn’t a clear vision of what the final outcome was going to be, but “we did know that we committed to the town residents we we’re going to put a $12 million bill on their tab. We’re going to try to get the services they wanted, and we’re going to try to get it funded and managed by people other than the town and work in concert and partnership with other entities. Ringling fell away. The next natural solution was to work with the county.

“This is what we have available to us, potentially, but we have to fight for it.”

On a day perfectly suited for the beach, the Town Commission went to the seashore with some of the town’s department heads on Monday. Well, maybe not all the way to the sea, but to Seaplace, anyway, for their annual offsite retreat, a day set aside at the condominium’s beachfront clubhouse for freewheeling discussions about the year ahead, away from the confines of Town Hall and parliamentary procedure.

Still open to the public (two faces familiar around Town Hall watched for a while), the getaway ended with commissioners signaling support for their 10 favorite initiatives posted on flip charts, derived from citizen suggestions and longrunning proposals.

Among the top vote getters: n Establishing funding methodology for canal dredging plan n Advance concept of a community center with a public library, adult education and multipurpose space at Town Center n Advancing planning for Sarasota County for public library services n Advance GMD corridor plan concept.

Evaluate further plans for a roundabout on the south end of the island at Longboat Club Road n A unified system for public transit on the island

Town Manager Tom Harmer led the discussion.

The offsite retreat took place in the beachfront clubhouse of the Seaplace condominium complex.

Town Attorney Maggie Mooney makes a point.

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YourObserver.com

THURSDAY, APRIL 21, 2022

City, BID seek ways to get ahead on statue repair costs in St. Armands Funding for such work isn’t part of the Sarasota Public Works Department’s budget.

ERIC GARWOOD MANAGING EDITOR

S

even virtues.

Six heads.

One confounding set of circumstances for members of the St. Armands Business Improvement District and Sarasota city leaders over “Music,” one of a collection of statues arrayed near a crosswalk at the eastern approach to the shopping district, and her statuary siblings.

It’s been months since damage was done to “Music,” which stands near an informational sign explaining the “Allegory of Sarasota” through seven qualities of life: water, music, flora, sculpture, learning, medicine and bounty.

In addition to her noggin, fingers are missing from her left hand, as are her right forearm, the majority of a stringed musical instrument and the hand that once held it.

“The Seven Virtues” was dedicated in 2008, joining some new works and some donated by John and Mable Ringling throughout the Circle and St Armands Key, totaling 33.

Mary Davis Wallace, a senior planner with the city and leader of the Office of Public Art, and Todd Kucharski, general manager of the city’s Public Works Department, spoke recently to the BID’s board of directors to gain insight into how to proceed not only with repair to “Music” but also on a broader view of all of the Circle’s works.

“They are beloved,” Wallace said.

Kucharski said the city has received a bid of about $12,000 to clean and repair 15 statues in need of attention, including “Music,” but no money exists in the city Public Works Department budget for such work.

“This type of vandalism that occurred is substantial,” he said,

Eric Garwood

“Music,” one of seven statues illustrating the seven virtues of Sarasota, was damaged months ago. It stands alongside Flora on the eastern side of St. Armands Circle.

adding that the statue was found on the ground and was reset to prevent further damage. “Public Works looked at it as it’s within our right of way, but it’s not green and growing like in Parks and Recreation, so we took it on as the potential to see what we could do. Public Works did not fund or have any funds available for the repair work.”

Wallace said five years of money for upkeep of the 2008 donations was set aside but not renewed. And although the artwork is for all to see, it doesn’t fall under the purview of the Office of Public Art, which is funded through a fee paid by developers when they apply for a city building permit valued at $1 million or more.

She said “Music” and statues like

it are “very close to people’s hearts” but are made of lower-quality pressed marble dust, not a traditional original sculpture.

Wallace, who is coordinating an overarching public art master plan for the city, said that it ultimately might be a good idea to create a segment of the proposal to deal with “cultural amenities” that sit outside the boundaries of traditional art but still need funding for upkeep and repairs. While that plan will likely be delivered to city leaders in early 2023, Wallace suggested BID and the city work together on devising a plan for St. Armands statue upkeep and repair until then.

“Cultural amenities to me are beloved items that aren’t necessarily original art but that the commu-

nity really feels special about them,” she said.

Gavin Meshad, chair of the BID, said a renewed vision for the Circle should include the statues but that residents and shop owners should have a say in how they are displayed and kept up.

Meshad suggests hearing from the residents and others about what they want to see happen.

“If the residents and the merchant say, ‘Oh my gosh, this is the history of the Circle. We love them. This is such a great gift to the Circle,’ we could find a place in the redesign of the Circle,” he said.

Among the ideas: raising the statues higher to keep damaging hands off or using landscaping to prevent close access.

BID RENEWAL IN 2023 Members of the St. Armands Business Improvement District will likely begin working toward another 10-year renewal this summer, perhaps after the hiring of an operations manager who would work with both the organization and the Downtown Improvement District.

Mike Connolly, Sarasota’s deputy city attorney, presented to the BID last week the steps required.

The 10-year term expires Sept. 30, 2023, and it’s been extended twice previously.

Connolly told the BID board of directors that the 125-day process begins when a petition signed by 20% of the district’s property owners is submitted to the Sarasota City Commission seeking the renewal. It ends with certified results being presented to the commission.

Within 45 days after the petition is filed, the city clerk/ auditor must certify the petition and compile a list of all property owners and addresses for delivery of mailed ballots.

To approve renewal, owners of a majority of the district’s assessed property value must vote yes.

Connolly told the board members that a failed vote can be repeated and that there are mechanisms to allow new property owners to take part in the election.

“My only caution to you is once you start the process, make sure you’re ready to go because it’s a 125-day process from the date you go to the City Commission,” Connolly said.

Should the election fail and the organization sunsets, all property belonging to the BID would revert to city control.

“If you think of old statuary, sometimes heads are missing, arms are missing, so at least as far as I’mseeing, there is no further damage being done,” Kucharski said.

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THURSDAY, APRIL 21, 2022

Commercial land plan approved Brista Homes’ plan includes a master drainage system designed to alleviate neighborhood flooding problems.

ERIC GARWOOD MANAGING EDITOR

T

File photo

The commercial land is adjacent to a pair of subdivided lots approved for two single-family homes.

he town’s Planning and Zoning Board on Tuesday unanimously approved a proposal to build a commercial site on Gulf of Mexico Drive with room for offices, a medical practice, retail and possibly a restaurant.

In addition to the potential for future jobs and tax revenue for the town comes a proposed solution to some of the flooding and drainage problems experienced by residents of adjacent Buttonwood Harbour.

In a 7-0 vote, the board OK’d Mark Brista’s proposal to build two commercial structures on 1.38 commercially zoned acres immediately north of land he also owns, already approved for a pair of homes. Built into the plan is a drainage system designed to route not only the commercial land’s runoff into Crane’s Bayou, but also that of the homes and a flood-prone area at Buttonwood Drive and Gulf of Mexico Drive.

The key to making it all work will be agreements from the Buttonwood Harbour Homeowners Association for easements (one between the commercial and residential land, the other along Winslow Place) and a third from the town just east of Monroe Street. The agreements with the homeowners are under discussion, and the Town Commission would have to OK the Monroe Street deal.

Brista told the board he and the Buttonwood residents have a “great working relationship.”

“As you’ll see through the whole process, we’ve worked in union with them for the best possible project,” he said.

“Absent proactive action, the flooding that has historically

occurred will continue and will only be exacerbated if Mr. Ursini were to develop his properties without the additional drainage improvements that he has proposed,” wrote R. Lorenzo DeNino, president of the Buttonwood Harbour Homeowners Association, in a letter to the town.

At the meeting, he said there was no formal endorsement of the project yet, but the group continues to work with the builder and intended to urge the town to help pay for some of the master-drainage plans.

He also said the residents of Winslow Place urge sufficient buffering and fencing to block their view of the buildings. “We’re with you on that,” board member Gary Coffin said.

Public Works Director Isaac Brownman said the town is generally supportive of helping to pay for the portion of the drainage plan that affects the intersection of Buttonwood and Gulf of Mexico Drive, including street drains and a connection to the overall system. Even without that portion, Brownman said, the development plans for the residential and commercial land meet town standards to move forward. Cost estimates for the drainage plan are around $70,000.

The drainage system would rely on a grassy, T-shaped dry retention feature, about 2 to 3 feet deep with a drain box built to an elevation that would accept water once it rose to a certain height. While runoff is held in the feature before it drains off, solids and impurities would filter out naturally. A series of yard drains in the residential properties and new drains installed at the west end of Buttonwood Drive would be tied into the system, designed to eliminate a standing problem in which water often sheets off the statemaintained highway.

From there, the water would flow in a pipe north to Monroe Street, where pavement ends but the road is mapped to the shoreline, with no development plans. A swale would lead the water into the bayou.

Jason Coates, a civil designer at Shroyer Drapala Engineering, said

TIKI BAR OFFICIALLY REJECTED The Planning and Zoning Board officially issued orders of denial for a pair of proposals for Courtney’s Lo’Key Tiki Bar on Tuesday morning.

On March 15, in front of a packed chambers, the board voted 7-0 to prepare the denial orders for a site-plan application and a special exception to land-use regulations put forward by the owners. On Tuesday, the board again voted unanimously to reject both applications. Owners are working on a new proposal for later this year, based on the complaints received a month ago. At that time, neighbors complained about several factors, including traffic and noise.

The restaurant would have featured an open-air, roofed Tiki bar on the west side of the building at 5620 Gulf of Mexico Drive, erected to the edge of the property line. The owners planned 144 seats, all but five of which were planned within the open-air structure.

the elevation of the dry-retention area and the run of pipes would be high enough to keep water flowing toward the bay, even at high tide.

The land owner would be responsible for the upkeep of the dryretention area, Brownman said.

The proposal calls for 43 parking spaces, though 37 are required in the current configuration. Ursini said there are no firm tenants, but he plans to open a Brista Homes office there. A restaurant’s parking requirements were built into the plans, based on 1,500 square feet of floor space.

A restaurant would require Planning and Zoning Board approval.

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YourObserver.com

THURSDAY, APRIL 21, 2022

Sarasota alights on bridge holiday plan

SPRING

COOL CASH

Commissioners settle on a lineup for Ringling Bridge displays.

IS BACK

ERIC GARWOOD MANAGING EDITOR

The lighting system on the Ringling Bridge will get a workout in the next year after a decision this week by city commissioners to mark additional special occasions with the span’s flexible lighting system.

Monday’s decision to choose specific holidays and other occasions matched with specific color schemes dates back to June 2021, when the Florida Department of Transportation initially rejected, then approved, the city’s request for rainbow-colored lights to honor Gay Pride month.

Following the pushback from the city’s LGBTQ community, the FDOT relented and allowed the lights and prompted deeper discussions at the city level on what other holidays and occasions should be honored with the bridge’s LED system.

City Manager Marlon Brown said seven days would be the maximum display time, even if the period being honored was longer than a week.

At least three commissioners chose a total of 22 events in an informal poll, and on Monday added Animal Abuse Awareness Day, Valentine’s Day, Hispanic Heritage Month, Cancer Awareness Day and Hannukah.

Kwanzaa was added to FDOT’s Holidays category, which also includes Christmas from Dec. 25-31.

The bridge will be illuminated in white for that period.

“One thing, I would rather see Christmas red and green, in my opinion, rather than white,” Commissioner Hagen Brody said.

Hannukah was added as a standalone lighting period in the beginning of December.

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“We have a number of pillars and columns on the bridge, and there is a scheme that would illuminate a pillar for each night,” Brody said, adding that there was initially some confusion about whether such a thing was possible, but he said FDOT had cleared that up. “They reassured us it was no issue whatsoever; we have that in writing.”

The final list of times to be honored: New Year’s Day (Jan. 1), Martin Luther King Jr. Day (Jan. 17), Presidents Day (Feb. 17), Child Abuse Awareness Month (April 1), Mental Health Awareness Month (May 1), Memorial Day (May 30), Independence Day (July 4), Equality Day (Aug. 26) , Labor Day (Sept.

5), Women’s History Month (March 1), St. Patrick’s Day (March 17), the first day of spring (March 21), Sexual Assault Awareness Month (April 1), Victim’s Rights Week (April 24-30), Support our Troops Month (May 1), Diversity Day (May 21), Mental Health Day (Oct. 10), Domestic Violence Awareness Month (Oct. 21), Pride Month (June 1), Juneteenth (June 19), Animal Abuse Awareness Day (April 1), Valentine’s Day (Feb. 14), Hispanic Heritage Month (Sept.

15-22), Cancer Awareness Day (Oct. 1) and Hannukah (Dec. 18-26).

The Florida Department of Transportation initially rejected, then approved, Pride Month colors last summer.

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LONGBOAT OBSERVER

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THURSDAY, APRIL 21, 2022

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CO M I N G T O LI D O B E AC H

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YourObserver.com

THURSDAY, APRIL 21, 2022

OPINION / OUR VIEW

LONGBOAT

The rumble over Rumble In the scheme of things, the money was a pittance.

But the squalls that blew brought to the fore free speech hypocrisy and the flaws of ‘incentives.’

“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

“Road to Serfdom,” 1944

MATT WALSH

A

h, Rumble. … the irony, the hypocrisy and the lessons in that little saga. (Yes, little compared with other, more-pressing issues.) The whole thing illustrates just how upside down so many people and public policies have become.

Surely, you are aware of the squalls that have swirled the past seven months around Longboat Key, the Sarasota County Commission, the Economic Development Corp. of Sarasota County and Rumble.

They started blowing when Ontario, Canada-based Rumble, a fast-growing video platform competitor to YouTube, agreed in early October to lease for its U.S. headquarters the waterfront office building at 444 Gulf of Mexico Drive on Longboat Key, next to Dry Dock Restaurant. The big plan was/is to bring 165 tech jobs to the Key, paying an average wage of $102,000 a year.

Wow. That would be a big tech win for Sarasota County and the Economic Development Corp. of Sarasota County: bagging an elephant in the hunt for big-game corporate relocations.

But in the process, as most of these relocating corporate elephants do, Rumble’s owners applied for the county’s “incentive grants”: $825,000 of county tax dollars to be given to Rumble in increments over nine years in exchange for hiring the 165 employees.

We’ll address the folly of these incentive grants, but first let’s focus on the irony and hypocrisy that erupted after the public learned that Rumble was the company on the verge of signing a contract with Sarasota County for that $825,000 “rebate,” as some commissioners called it.

The free speech irony and hypocrisy

Rumble CEO Chris Pavlovski, whose family owns property in Venice, founded Rumble in 2013. It became a fast-rising media company the past two years after Google’s YouTube, Facebook and Twitter began censoring conservatives.

That put a target on the company right from the start.

You can bet that when word surfaced that the Sarasota County Commission was about to sign a contract with a video platform favored by conservatives, it triggered a call to action among liberal activists (see photo above).

You also can imagine that many of those who had no idea what Rumble was went online and clicked on the Rumble entry on Wikipedia. The reference section containes two dozen entries with headlines from mainstream and liberal media describing Rumble as the rapidly favored alternative search engine for conservatives.

More clicking and you would read that its CEO has stated: “Rumble is designed to be … immune to cancel culture. We are a movement that does not stifle, censor or punish creativity and believe everyone benefits from access to a neutral network with diverse ideas and opinions. We are on a mission to restore the internet to its roots by making it free and open once again.”

For many of us, that would be welcome relief from the censoring

by Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.

(Side note: Rumble is not totally open to anything anyone wanting to publish or post. See some of Rumble’s terms and conditions, right.)

But as we all know now, it wasn’t just that Rumble is popular with conservatives that brought out the protests and petitions. In early March, the Sarasota Herald-Tribune reported that Rumble, on the verge of being awarded $825,000 in taxpayer grants, still gave its users access to content from RT.com, the Russian government-owned TV network, while other major tech platforms had restricted access.

(BTW: You can still get RT.com content on Google.)

That did it. Out they came, the protesters. Five to six people stood on the swale many afternoons at 444 Gulf of Mexico Drive, the Rumble headquarters address, castigating Rumble, waving Ukrainian flags and signs urging Rumble to get the heck out of Longboat Key. More than 560 people signed a petition demanding the county nix the incentive contract with Rumble because of access to RT.com.

The activists didn’t stop there.

They grew nasty, accusing in letters and emails Gecko Hospitality and its owners — owners of the building Rumble is leasing — of having Ukrainian “blood on your hands” and “profiting from Putin.”

They demanded on social media that Gecko restaurants be boycotted and that Gecko break its lease with Rumble.

Nevermind, of course, that Gecko and Rumble negotiated the lease back in early October, well before Russia invaded. Back then, when Gecko’s owners did their due diligence on Rumble, they thought having a new technology company paying Rumble’s wages would be a boost to Sarasota County and a catalyst for more technology jobs — a big net plus for the region.

Now the irony and hypocrisy: Start with the First Amendment: “Congress shall make no law … abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble … .”

While all those protesters were exercising their First Amendment rights, as they are entitled to do, apparently it did not register with them that they campaigned that Rumble be denied the incentive funds for which it is legally qualified and for Rumble to leave Longboat Key because they disagree with how Rumble is exercising its First Amendment rights.

It’s OK for them to say what they want, but it’s not OK for Rumble to publish what it wants.

Remember this? … When the Vietnam War protesters burned the American flag, many Americans gasped, cringed and shuddered with anger. But we all knew those protesters had the right to do it.

Or flip the situation: Imagine Rumble calling for a stop to the protesters’ right to protest. Oh, the rage that would follow.

Yes, Americans are passionately sympathetic to Ukrainians and hold hostile hate toward the Russian government. But if Rumble wants to give its users access to Russian government propaganda, it has a right to do so.

No one is obligated to consume it.

President and Publisher / Emily Walsh, EWalsh@YourObserver.com Executive Editor and COO / Kat Hughes, KHughes@YourObserver.com

Courtesy image

Anti-free speech? This was posted on the website of the Sarasota County Democratic Party.

All of us can choose not to tune in and ignore it.

Likewise, however, there might be some who want access to RT.com, who out of curiosity want to see how the Russian propaganda machine works. And they will do it knowing what they are reading. You know this saying, too: Stay close to your friends, closer to your enemies.

In the end, the protests over Rumble can remind us that the one value, the one right that makes the United States better than anywhere else is the First Amendment. Free speech is part of our American DNA. Indeed, there was a time, you might recall, when we all believed: “I may not like what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”

The errant culture of business handouts

In the end, the Sarasota County commissioners made the right decision to eliminate the county’s job incentive grants altogether.

How they got there wasn’t perfect and, in an ideal world, would have been much better. But neither was the commission’s path to its decision outrageous, as has been portrayed.

To a great extent, the commissioners found themselves sucked into the nation’s longstanding culture of states and local communities handing out corporate subsidies in the name of economic development.

For more than three decades, the accepted practice around the United States has been for local and state governments to offer a multitude of taxpayer subsidies to attract existing businesses to move to their communities. The justifications primarily have been: n The economic return on investment to a community or state supposedly would far exceed the value of the subsidy in terms of new jobs and economic multipliers that follow. n Everyone does it, so the argument has always been: “We must be competitive.”

Neither holds sway.

To the first: Why should the government use taxpayer dollars to pick business winners and losers? It shouldn’t.

RUMBLE’S COMMENT RESTRICTIONS Here are some of Rumble’s terms and conditions: n Rumble reserves the right to monitor messages on Comments and the Forum and to remove messages which Rumble in its sole discretion determines to be undesirable, inciting violence, harmful, offensive or otherwise in violation of these Terms of Use. n You may not post or transmit any message which is libelous, defamatory or which discloses private or personal matters concerning any person or entity.

You may not post or transmit any message, file, image or program which is indecent, obscene or pornographic. n You may not post or transmit any message which is abusive,

inciting violence, harassing, harmful, hateful, anti-semitic, racist or threatening. n You may not use the Forum to conduct or solicit the performance of any illegal activity or other activity which infringes the rights of others. n You also agree that you will not harvest or collect information about users of the Forum or use such information for the purpose of transmitting or facilitating transmission of unsolicited bulk electronic e-mail or communications. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, you further agree that you will not knowingly solicit or collect personal information from a child 18 years old or younger.

In the late 1990s, Sarasota County awarded subsidies to a national accounting firm that opened an office employing hundreds of people. The owner of a small accounting firm told us then that he objected because 1) he had never received a dime from Sarasota County, and 2) the subsidies gave the national firm an unfair advantage. They made it more difficult for his firm to compete and hire workers.

When Alabama offered $300 million in taxpayer subsidies in the early 1990s to Mercedes-Benz to build a car plant in Tuscaloosa, the late Nobel economist Milton Friedman objected on two counts: “Ask the widow on a fixed income in Mobile, Ala., how she feels about taking her money and giving it to one of the most profitable car companies in the world.” What’s more, he said, the government’s taking of that $300 million from taxpayers arrogantly presupposes that existing Alabamans would not generate as much income as Mercedes. Let the market decide.

To the second — “We must be competitive” — research repeatedly has shown that companies already have made the decision to move to a new location even before applying for a subsidy. Rumble already had signed a five-year office lease before securing the county’s incentive grant.

To their credit, county commissioners recognized it was time to end the county’s corporate subsidies. Commissioner Christian Ziegler was the only commissioner who rightly said government should not be in the business of picking winners and losers. The other commissioners sided with ending the grants because economic circumstances have changed.

The grants program dated back to the Great Recession, when Sarasota County’s economy was gasping for any type of boost. But now, as Commissioner Nancy Detert noted: “Our new problem is not that we have high unemployment … Our new problem is too many people want to come here, and how do we handle the tidal wave of people and businesses?”

The answer is not using taxpayers’ money to subsidize businesses. The answer is to create and maintain the framework that makes Sarasota County attractive to businesses: the quality-of-life attributes of low taxes, low regulations, low crime, good schools and well-maintained environment.

In the scheme of economic development subsidies, the $825,000 that Rumble sought was a pittance.

Three weeks ago, the CEO of Intel Corp. asked Congress to provide $52 billion in subsidies to his industry.

But both CEOs and companies are wrong. Just as governments should not subsidize businesses, businesses should not seek taxpayer subsidies.

That’s the lesson in this little saga. None of this controversy would have occurred, or will ever occur again, if governments at all levels decline, to begin with, to hand out other people’s money to private enterprises and CEOs quit asking for handouts as well.

Managing Editor / Eric Garwood, EGarwood@YourObserver.com Staff Writers / Nat Kaemmerer, NKaemmerer@YourObserver.com Digital & Engagement Editor / Kaelyn Adix, KAdix@YourObserver.com Copy Editor / Shawn Candela, SCandela@YourObserver.com Editorial Designers / Melissa Leduc, MLeduc@YourObserver.com; José Valle, JValle@YourObserver.com A+E Editor / Spencer Fordin, SFordin@YourObserver.com Black Tie Editor / Harry Sayer, HSayer@YourObserver.com Director of Advertising / Jill Raleigh, JRaleigh@YourObserver.com Sales Manager / Penny Nowicki, PNowicki@YourObserver.com Regional Digital Director / Kathleen O’Hara, KOHara@YourObserver.com Senior Advertising Executive / Laura Ritter, LRitter@YourObserver.com Advertising Executives / Richeal Bair, RBair@YourObserver.com; Beth Jacobson, BJacobson@YourObserver.com; Jennifer Kane, JKane@YourObserver.com; Honesty Mantkowski, HMantkowski@YourObserver. com; Toni Perren, TPerren@YourObserver. com; Brenda White, BWhite@ YourObserver.com Classified Advertising Sales Executive / Lexi Huelsman, LHuelsman@ YourObserver.com Sales Operations Manager / Susan Leedom, SLeedom@YourObserver.com Sales Coordinator/Account Manager / Lori Downey, LDowney @YourObserver.com Digital Fulfillment Specialist / Emma Burke, EBurke@YourObserver.com Tributes Coordinator / Kristen Boothroyd, Tributes@YourObserver.com Director of Marketing / Robin Lankton, RLankton@YourObserver.com Director of Creative Services / Caleb Stanton, CStanton@YourObserver.com Creative Services Administrator / Marjorie Holloway, MHolloway@ YourObserver.com Advertising Graphic Designers / Luis Trujillo, Taylor Poe, Louise Martin, Shawna Polana Digital Developer / Jason Camillo, JCamillo@YourObserver.com Director of Information Technology / Adam Quinlin, AQuinlin@YourObserver.com Chief Financial Officer / Laura Strickland, LStrickland@YourObserver.com Controller / Rafael Labrin, RLabrin@ YourObserver.com Office and Accounting Coordinator / Donna Condon, DCondon@ YourObserver.com

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LONGBOAT OBSERVER

I attended the hearing on the proposed Lo’ Key Tiki Bar and Grill at 5620 Gulf of Mexico Drive on March 15 and have a few comments.

First, I think that the process ultimately worked—the proposed restaurant and bar was too large and open capacity-wise for the space in which it was designed to fit. This even though the restaurant’s plans checked every box required by LBK Planning, Zoning and Building, and they recommended it be approved.

Second, the outrage from a few (not all) of the residents who spoke out against the project was unnecessarily over the top. In our time on LBK, we have yet to see any restaurants/bars that attract the types of people and delinquent behaviors that these folks were only too willing to suggest would materialize at this one. Their willingness to disparage the motives and character of a fellow LBK resident who hopes to open a very much needed on-island dining and gathering place for other LBK residents was discouraging and unfair. And it’s worth remembering that the property in question is zoned for light commercial use and was before most or all of the abutters purchased their residential properties.

My understanding is that Kevin Pass and Courtney Rossler intend to present a revised restaurant and bar concept that will be better scaled to the space while addressing many of the abutters’ concerns. It will

provide our community with an awesome gathering spot for quality food and drink. It’s my sincere hope that the process will once again work, and our Planning and Zoning Board will approve it.

JOHN CONNOLLY LONGBOAT KEY

The Observer’s Our Opinion is exactly right about the city of Sarasota’s plan to build a “new” Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall. There are too many blue-sky assumptions here to alleviate fears of all of this ending up on the taxpayers’ doorstep.

That’s why I’m encouraged to read in the Observer about continued plans moving ahead for some kind of indoor destination here on Longboat Key, which could be either funded by private donations, some of the money we send to the mainland in the form of school taxes, property taxes or all of the above.

I look forward to the day when we can enjoy entertainment here in paradise while watching traffic back up on the bridges or causeways.

SUNDAY, APRIL 10

NOT REALLY AN EMERGENCY 10 a.m., 2200 block of Gulf of Mexico Drive Citizen assist: A man having trouble dialing 411 instead dialed 911, triggering a police visit. The officer who arrived helped the man find the telephone number he was seeking.

THE NOTE SAID IT ALL 2:56 p.m., 600 block of Triton Boulevard Traffic hazard: Police investigated a report of a disabled camper parked alongside the road. An officer found a camper parked with a note that read “disabled’’ attached. The officer determined there was no traffic hazard.

JEAN AND CARROLL MARX LONGBOAT KEY AND ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN

TUESDAY, APRIL 12

BE HEARD

BACK WHERE IT BELONGS 2:49 p.m., 2000 block of Gulf of Mexico Drive Found property: An officer responded to a report of a found purse containing a wallet, checkbook and other items. The officer delivered the purse to an address found on a driver’s license inside, and the owner signed a property receipt.

Surely you have an opinion on a town issue. Let us hear it through a letter to the editor. Email them to managing editor Eric Garwood at egarwood@yourobserver.com.

Be sure to include your name and where you live.

Town of Longboat Key

and

Planning Zoning Board Citizens Tax and Oversight Committee MPO Citizens Advisory Network Zoning Board of Adjustment Sarasota County Bicycle/Pedestrian/Trail Citizens Tax Oversight Advisory Committee Committee Citizens’ OversightAdvisory Committee forNetwork Public MPO Citizens School Facility Planning Sarasota County Bicycle/Pedestrian/Trail All applications must be submitted to the Office of the Town Clerk by 12:00 Advisory Committee p.m. on April 22, 2022. All applicants must be registered voters of the Citizens’ Oversight Committee for Public Town of Longboat Key. Late applications may not be accepted.

Any memSchool Facility Planning ber who fails to attend two of three consecutive scheduled and called reg-

ular meetings without cause, and without prior approval of the chairman All automatically applicationsforfeit must submitted Office of the shall his be appointment, andtothethe Town Commission Town Clerk byvacancy.

12:00 p.m. on April 22, 2022. All shall promptly fill the

applicants must be registered voters of the Town of

All members of the Planning and Zoning Board & Zoning Board of AdjustLongboat Key. Late applications may not be accepted. ment are required to file a financial disclosure form within 30 days after Any member who fails to attend of three appointment and annually thereafter for thetwo duration of the consecutive appointment scheduled and called regular meetings without cause, and as required by Florida Statues Chapter 112.

without prior approval of the chairman shall automatically The Town Commission may schedule a Meet and Greet with applicants at hisPlease appointment, a forfeit later date. call the Officeand of thethe TownTown Clerk atCommission 941-316-1999 forshall an promptly fill the vacancy. application or if you have any questions. Applications may be submitted to: All

members of the Planning and Zoning Board & Zoning Board ofTown Adjustment are– Office required to file of Longboat Key of the Town Clerk a financial 501 Bay Roadafter appointment and disclosure form within 30Isles days Longboat Key FL 34228 annually thereafter for the duration of the appointment as required by Florida Statues Chapter 112.

Additional Volunteer Opportunity:

Zoning, & Building Department The Town Planning, Commission may schedule a Meet and Greet Administrative Aide with applicants at a later date. Please call the Office of the The full description of duties for the administrative aide position Town Clerk at 941-316-1999 for an application or if can you be found on the Town website at https://www.longboatkey.org/Home/ have any questions. Applications may be submitted to:

Additional Volunteer Opportunity: Planning, Zoning, & Building Department

380296-1

Components/JobPosts/job/59/358. Those interested in volunteering Town of Longboat Key – Office or of e-mail the Town Clerk should call Human Resources at 941-316-1999 hr@longboatkey. org for the Volunteer Program 501Application Bay Isles Road Published: 04-13-2022, 04-20-2022

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 13

SHE WHO MUST NOT BE NAMED 12:40 p.m., 2300 block of Harbour Oaks Drive Citizen assist: Police were called to a residence to stand by while a resident removed belongings from a home. The woman, who did not wish to be identified, gathered belongings and left.

THURSDAY, APRIL 14

SCOOTING THROUGH THE PAPERWORK 1:33 p.m., police headquarters Serial number inspection: A police employee helped a resident with paperwork required to transfer the title of an imported-brand motorscooter from a previous state to Florida. The employee matched the numbers to the previous title and confirmed all was proper.

Managing Director/Investments Portfolio Manager – Solutions Program Sarasota, Florida | Atlanta, Georgia

The Town of Longboat Key is accepting application for appointment to the The Town of Longboat Key is accepting applications following boards and committees:

Longboat Stephanie Janney, Administrative Assistant Key FL 34228

THUNDER ROAD? 4:49 p.m., 5600 block of Gulf of Mexico Drive Traffic hazard: An officer on patrol spotted a screen door that had slammed into the road, blocking it and the cycling lane. It wasn’t a beauty, but, hey, it was all right.

Congratulations to Gary S. Brochin

ATTENTION VOLUNTEERS boards

NOT-SO-PRIVATE PROPERTY 10 a.m., 0 block of Lighthouse Point Suspicious person: A resident called police to report a man had arrived on his private beach aboard a kayak and set up a beach chair, a cooler and other leisure gear for an extended stay.

The police asked the kayaker to leave, which he did.

UNHAPPY GUEST 4:09 p.m., 3100 block of Gulf of Mexico Drive Citizen assist: Police went to a vacation resort following a call from an employee about a guest who was unhappy with the accommodations. Work was being performed on an adjacent room, which the guest deemed unacceptable, prompting a verbal altercation. The employee said the guest eventually returned to her room but only after saying the establishment wasn’t doing enough to satisfy her and her husband.

Police also spoke to the guest.

Looking forward to entertainment here

for appointment to the following Planning and Zoning Board committees: Zoning Board of Adjustment

SATURDAY, APRIL 9

JUST MAKING SURE 4:03 p.m., 1000 block of Gulf of Mexico Drive Traffic hazard: While on patrol, an officer stopped to make sure the driver of a vehicle on the side of the road was OK. The driver was adding fuel to the vehicle, and the officer stood by until assistance was no longer required.

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Planning process worked

FRIDAY, APRIL 8

9

THURSDAY, APRIL 21, 2022

COPS CORNER

LETTERS

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10

LONGBOAT OBSERVER

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YourObserver.com

THURSDAY, APRIL 21, 2022

Snapping to it Connie Schindewolf nears the end of her first walk of the season.

NAT KAEMMERER STAFF WRITER

O

ne of the Longboat Key Turtle Watch’s founders, Orville “Top Turtle” Clayton, used to say that when the water hit 80 degrees, “that’s when the girls come in,” said turtle patroller Connie Schindewolf. But Schindewolf, a 39-year turtle patroller, judges it by when her orchid blooms.

“It’s about three-quarters bloomed now,” she said.

So even though she hit the beach at 6:45 a.m. on April 15, she didn’t expect to find any signs of nesting turtles. Sea turtle nesting season begins May 1, but Turtle Watch patrollers head out two weeks early to make sure no one gets missed.

A day in the life of a preseason patroller looks a little different than it will by May. Though all of the group’s volunteers are signed up to hit the beach by April 15, it’s OK if a couple can’t make it or if, like in the

case of a few teachers on the roster, they can’t start until summer.

On April 15, Schindewolf was alone because her two partners were busy with taxes and recovering from foot surgery. Her walk from the Manatee County line to Covert II on Gulf of Mexico Drive was brisk, and she didn’t carry any stakes to mark nests.

Her routine will be to park at one end of the walk with a partner, drive to the other end, walk and keep an eye out for nests, then drive back to the car that was left behind.

“When we have more of us (early in the season), someone is dedicated to picking up trash, and it makes things go smoother,” Schindewolf said. “We need to do all we can to allow them to nest and do what they do. If you don’t dwell on what we have to do new this year, everything’s really optimistic and positive, and that’s what good about the beginning of the year.”

When the season starts, the data collection for Schindewolf’s Zone D will look different from previous years. Because part of it was renourished during last year’s project, more data is required. Renourishment areas are monitored for several years to see how the turtles react to it, so every other nest will be regularly monitored rather than every fourth nest on other stretches. Every nest

Photos by Nat Kaemmerer

on the beach is monitored daily, but nests that are deemed “staked and monitored” will be excavated after they hatch, and turtle patrollers will dig down to find the top egg when the nest is first found. About one-third of Zone D will be like that.

For now, Schindewolf is enjoying the calm of the early season. Though she likes the hustle and bustle of May, June and July, when lots of mothers are coming onto the beaches and nests start hatching, there’s something lovely about April.

“It’s wonderful in the early season because we know we’re not going to be on the beach forever; we know we’re not going to get overheated; it’s nice and cool,” Schindewolf said.

“We’re watching for tracks, but the early season is probably the best.”

Nests aren’t expected until late April, but volunteers place bets on when they’ll see the first ones.

Schindewolf used to bet on May 18 because that’s her daughter’s birthday, but turtles now come earlier

because waters get warmer sooner.

“We have a lottery and put in a dollar and a date, and this year I put April 28,” Schindewolf said. “It just came to me.”

The rest of the month will likely continue to go as quickly as a 2-and-a-half-mile beach walk can. Schindewolf will keep her eyes peeled for false crawls and nests until her partners can come back and help in time for data collection. Luckily, she likes waking up early.

“Just the anticipation of knowing the turtles are out there and coming in soon, it’s just a feeling of starting fresh in a way,” Schindewolf said.

“It’s better the turtles don’t go all year long, because I might suffer burnout. But after being away from it for six months, I’m ready to go, and you have to have that attitude, because once the season gets going, it’s hard physical work.”

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Though nesting season doesn’t start until May 1, some turtles arrive before their scheduled time.

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THURSDAY, APRIL 21, 2022

Maison Blanche celebrates 20 years The restaurant, which shares its name with its Parisian predecessor, has built a following over two decades.

NAT KAEMMERER STAFF WRITER

F

or 20 years, Maison Blanche has been bringing a bit of Paris to Longboat Key. The restaurant opened on March 2, 2002, and owners Jose and Victoria Martinez have delicately balanced on the edge of assimilating into American culture and keeping their French roots strong.

The couple moved to the area after selling their Parisian restaurant and found Longboat Key to be the perfect place to start fresh. Victoria didn’t want to move to a big city like Miami, and Naples was too sleepy. Their happy medium was Sarasota, with its vibrant arts scene, safety and manageable size. She saw potential and a bit of European flair here, so they put down roots with the help of friends who had also recently moved to the country. But they couldn’t just pick up the Parisian version of themselves and plunk it down on an island.

“We had to adapt because we came with everything we know, and when you transport to another country, it’s a big adjustment,” Victoria said.

The Longboat Key restaurant, located next to Four Winds Beach Resort, has the same name as the one from their Parisian past. Victoria’s brother named it when he opened the first location in the 15th Arrondissement in 1980. By the time he died and the Martinezes took over, it had grown to 240 seats and had one Michelin star — the first restaurant of its size to earn that distinction.

“When he opened it was a little place,” Victoria said. “It was one chef and a dishwasher. But it became very successful, so he expanded. He was looking for a sous chef, and that’s how I met my husband.”

Jose was 18 when he started working in kitchens. Trained by master

Nat Kaemmerer

chefs in France, Jose is now 58 and still working on honing his abilities and finding the best ingredients.

About 80% of their menu is organic — it’s just the way Jose’s particularity works out. The focus on improving the quality of the menu has drawn in many repeat customers over the years, but the Martinezes took a risk when they opened.

“We opened just after September 11, 2001, so it was a little bit concerning to be opening when everybody was watching and the economy was crumbling a little bit,” Victoria said.

“We worried about it, but we said, ‘We are here; let’s do it.’”

Their gamble paid off. Now they’ve built a loyal customer base that returns year after year. Victoria even wrote a poem to their regulars on the day of their 20th anniversary, offering 7,300 thanks for 7,300 days of business. In 2002, they hardly

knew anyone.

“We didn’t know a lot of people, but we met beautiful human beings,” Victoria said.

Though they’ve racked up awards and recognition over the years, including the designation as one of America’s 100 Best Restaurants by Opentable in 2016, the Martinezes are not a pair to rest on their laurels.

When they travel, they take note of the highlights of other restaurants, and Jose is always trying to improve on his techniques. Currently, he’s working on updating his presentation and elaborating on the menu at hand, though their regulars enjoy the same dishes over time. Jose prefers to update rather than redo, like with the filet mignon, beef short ribs or sweetbread. Overall, their ethos has remained the same: Don’t do anything you wouldn’t accept yourself.

“Never forget your roots and your

ethics and what you believe,” Victoria said.

Their roots are plain to see if you know where to look. The Martinezes have held true to themselves down to the tables and chairs in the restaurant, all taken right from the Paris location. Even the building was designed by the same architect who created the first Maison Blanche. By now, the Martinezes have established themselves in the Sarasota scene, but they’ll never forget where they came from and who helped them get to where they are today.

“We feel blessed,” Victoria said.

“It’s a lot of work, of course, but what else can you do but try to be good at what you like and what gives you energy? … We have wonderful friends, and the clients we have are really just the best. Even when it’s been difficult, we’ve done our best.”

Jose Martinez in the main dining room at Maison Blanche

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Stop By! We are happy to help you make this online donation at The Paradise Center!

546 Bay Isles Road TheParadiseCenter.org 941.383.6493 MONDAYS 10-11am Stretch & Strengthen

TUESDAYS 10-11am Qi Gong

WEDNESDAYS 10-11am Beginner Tai Chi

THURSDAYS 10-11am Zumba & Pilates

FRIDAYS 10-11am Intermediate Tai Chi

1-3pm Thinking Out Loud Discussion Group

1-3pm Mah Jongg

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Walk-Ins Welcome for Fitness Classes! $10/Non-Members FREE for Members

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To play, email

MaryAnnBrady@ TheParadiseCenter.org

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544 Bay Isles Road

Call each practice directly to make your appointment!

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JFCS-Cares.org 941.366.2224 JFCS is excited to be serving the LBK community!

The Tidewell Foundation and Empath Health welcome you to the Tidewell Foundation Building showcasing an outstanding group of health and wellness organizations ready to brighten the lives of the Longboat Key community.

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THURSDAY, APRIL 21, 2022

Photos by Eric Garwood

Above: Club President Scott Gray and Jack Brill, acting chair of the Republican Party of Sarasota County Right: Richard and Sunny McGrath join former club President Joe McElmeel alongside Sarasota County Sheriff Kurt Hoffman and Teri Hoffman.

Longboat Republicans hear from school board candidates

M State Rep. Tommy Gregory meets Sarasota School Board candidate Tim Enos.

embers of the Republican Club of Longboat Key heard from candidates for Sarasota County School Board and a candidate for Manatee County Commission on Tuesday during their final gathering of the season.

The group will meet again in September, President Scott Gray said, urging members to learn about the process for absentee balloting in case they are headed

out of the area for the summer.

School board incumbent Bridget Ziegler joined hopefuls Robyn Marinelli and Tim Enos in delivering addresses that focused on parental rights in school and other issues while reminding those in attendance that the races will be decided not in November but during the first round of elections in August.

Jason Bearden, a candidate for Manatee County Commission, told

guests about his military career and the need to stay ahead of infrastructure needs in the county.

Failing to do so, he said, would end up costing taxpayers more in the long run.

Among the dignitaries at the event, held at the Harbourside Ballroom of the Longboat Key Club, were Sarasota County Sherif Kurt Hoffman and State Rep. Tommy Gregory.

—ERIC GARWOOD

Above left: Jason Bearden is running for an at-large seat on the Manatee County Commission. Above right: Incumbent Sarasota School Board member Bridget Ziegler speaks to the crowd. Right: Sarasota School Board candidate Robyn Marinelli addresses the audience.

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16

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THURSDAY, APRIL 21, 2022

THURSDAY, APRIL 21

at 366-2224, ext. 166, or jkatz@ jfcs-cares.org.

KIWANIS CLUB OF LONGBOAT KEY AUTHOR SERIES Meet at the Lazy Lobster at 8:30 a.m. for a breakfast meeting with author Jon Dietz, who recently published his second novel. Dietz is a former newspaper reporter but changed careers to be an investigator for the Office of the Public Defender in the 12th Judicial District. Breakfast is $15 for nonmembers. Call 383-4415 to RSVP.

BEGINNER TAI CHI From 10-11 a.m. at The Paradise Center, 546 Bay Isles Road. Class is outdoors, weather permitting.

Cost is $10. Walk-ins welcome. Call 383-6493.

THURSDAYS

SAKLC SPEAKER SERIES At 4 p.m. at St. Armands Key Lutheran Church, 40 N. Adams Drive, join a presentation about Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium.

Hear from from Michael Moore, special adviser to the office of the president, and Demian Chapman, director of the Center for Shark Research. The event is free and open to the public. Visit SAKLC. com for more information.

File photo

FRIDAY, APRIL 22

EARTH DAY WALKS AND TALKS From 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Longboat Island Chapel, 6200 GMD, participate in Earth Day events including guided bay walks with Selby Gardens, talks at the gazebo and presenters such as the Longboat Key Garden Club, Longboat Key Turtle Watch and Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium. The event is free and open to the public. Call 383-6491 for information.

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.

MONDAY THROUGH FRIDAY

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

MONDAY, WEDNESDAY AND FRIDAY

MUSCLES AND MORE WITH ANN ALVIS

From 8:30-9:30 a.m. at the Bayfront Park Recreation Center, 4052 GMD, use strength equipment to build flexibility, endurance and balance. Class focuses on proper lifting technique. $10 for members and $15 for others. Visit LongboatKey.org for information.

PUMPING THE PRIME WITH MIRABAI HOLLAND At 10 a.m. at the Bayfront Park Recreation Center, 4052 GMD, take this low-impact cardio and strength class. Participants should be able to get up and down from the floor. Bring a mat or towel. Classes are outside. $10 for members and $15 for others. For information, email Mirabai Holland at mirabai@movingfree.com or call 201-956-1466

MONDAYS, WEDNESDAYS AND SATURDAYS

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.

MONDAYS AND THURSDAYS

more, call Nancy Rozance at 203605-4066 or email Info@LongboatKeyRotary.org.

SARASOTA INSTITUTE OF LIFETIME LEARNING VIDEOS OF MUSIC MONDAYS AND GLOBAL ISSUES III LECTURES 9 From 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Temple Beth Israel, 567 Bay Isles Road.

Through Thursday, April 7. $10 per person. Visit SILLSarasota.org or TBI-LBK.org.

TUESDAYS AND THURSDAY

PILATES SCULPT WITH DEBBY DEBILE From 9-10 a.m. at the Bayfront Park Recreation Center, 4052 GMD. Class is $10 for members and $15 for others. Visit LongboatKey.org for information.

TUESDAYS

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

Walk-ins welcome. Call 383-6493.

FEEL GOOD YOGA WITH DEBBY DEBILE From 10:30-11:30 a.m. at the Bayfront Park Recreation Center, 4052 GMD, get into this therapeutic yoga style, which combines gentle vinyasa, alignment and restorative yoga. Suitable for all levels. Class is $10 for members and $15 for others. Visit LongboatKey.org for information.

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.

WEDNESDAYS

BEREAVEMENT GROUP From 2-3:30 p.m. weekly through March 23 at the JFCS office at 540 Bay Isles Road, facilitated by Community Chaplain Rabbi Jonathan R. Katz. Cost is $36 for the six-week program. To register, contact Katz

ROTARY CLUB Meets at 5 p.m. on the first and third Tuesday in All Angles Parish Hall, 563 Bay Isles Road. To learn

KIWANIS CLUB OF LONGBOAT KEY At 8:30 a.m. at Lazy Lobster, 5350 Gulf of Mexico Drive. This service organization meets every first and third Thursday of the month for breakfast and a speaker. Breakfast is $10. Email Lynn Larson at lynnlarson@comcast.net to register.

ST. ARMANDS KEY LUTHERAN CHURCH BRIDGE CLUB Every Thursday beginning at 1 p.m. at St. Armands Key Lutheran Church, 40 N. Adams Drive, join an ACBL-sanctioned game of contract bridge with certified teachers. All skill levels are welcome. There is an $8 suggested donation for each session. Refreshments will be provided. RSVP to 952-9251.

ZUMBA AND MAT PILATES FOR SENIORS From 10-11 a.m. at The Paradise Center, 546 Bay Isles Road. The class, designed for active seniors, starts with zumba and shifts to all-level mat Pilates at 10:30 a.m.

Come for 30 minutes or the full hour. Cost is $10. Walk-ins welcome. Call 383-6493.

FRIDAYS

QI GONG AND MEDITATION From 11:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. at The Paradise Center, 546 Bay Isles Road, take qi gong and meditation with Sandi Love. Free for members, $10 for others. Call 383-6493.

INTERMEDIATE TAI CHI From 10-11 a.m. at The Paradise Center, 546 Bay Isles Road. Reuben Fernandez teaches the class outdoors, weather permitting. Free for members, $10 for others. Walkins welcome. Call 383-6493.

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LONGBOAT OBSERVER

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THURSDAY, APRIL 21, 2022

17

Photos by Nat Kaemmerer

Above: Easter lilies were planted at St. Armands Key Lutheran Church. Right: The Rev. Robert Dziedziak took his congregation through every Station of the Cross on Good Friday.

Traditions drive holy weekend NAT KAEMMERER STAFF WRITER

T

he Rev. Brock Patterson quickly learned to love the traditions at Longboat Island Chapel after he became the lead pastor in late 2020 — even reporting for duty at 5:30 a.m. on Easter Sunday. It leads to something beautiful.

The church has held its Easter sunrise service for a long time, and despite the early wakeup call, it’s beloved among churchgoers and by Patterson himself.

“Last year I was told by a number of people who don’t normally attend the chapel that it’s a tradition to go to the sunrise service,” Patterson said.

“It’s a really neat experience. Last year was the first one, and now I’ve been here a year and the church is doing really well. … It’s perfect timing with (7 a.m.) being closer to true sunrise, so it’s still a little dark when

we start.”

In 2022, crowds have grown and traditions have restarted and grown for the holy weekends of Easter and Passover. The Jewish event started on April 15, which also marked the start of Easter’s holy weekend, and the faith communities of Longboat Key mobilized to celebrate and uphold their traditions.

The sunrise service wasn’t the only unique tradition at Longboat Island Chapel. Throughout Lent, which started March 2, congregants participated in daily sacrifices. Some were painless, like reading the Bible for 10 minutes a day, but others required a more open heart, like praying for somebody who’s hurt you. For every week of daily challenges someone completed, they got to put a rose on the chapel’s flower cross. The flower cross has been around for years, but it’s back inside now; two years ago congregants drove by and added flowers to it from outside the chapel during the pandemic.

“It’s just loaded with roses because so many people have been doing it,” Patterson said. “It’s been neat to see week to week how those roses have blossomed.”

At St. Mary, Star of the Sea Catho-

lic Church, the Rev. Robert Dziedziak welcomed about 250 people into the Stations of the Cross service on Good Friday. For the past couple years, the service has had fewer people and is usually held outside on the church’s bay walk. However, this year, due to the heat, Dziedziak kept the congregation inside. Together, they prayed through the 14 stations that depict the day of Jesus’ crucifixion.

“I’m glad we did it inside with this volume of people because the prayer walk is pretty narrow,” Dziedziak said.

Other traditions, like that of the coffee hour after Easter service at Christ Church of Longboat Key, have returned with vigor after a year off. Meanwhile, at Temple Beth Israel, the templewide Seder is back.

Executive Director Isaac Azerad said members celebrated the first Seder on April 15 at home with their families, then 100 of them came together for Seder the next day.

Passover is one of the most-celebrated events on the Jewish calendar and commemorates the Jewish departure from Egypt and slavery.

There are many traditions, but hiding and finding the afikomen is a big one. There are three pieces of matzah on the table, and the middle one,

called the afikomen, is broken. The big piece is wrapped in a napkin and hidden somewhere.

“If you’re a kid, or a kid at heart, or in our case 70 or younger, the special traditions include finding the afikomen,” Azerad said. “You hide it, and the kid who finds it usually gets $1.

Of course, today with inflation, someone joked you have to do $35.”

Now that the spring holidays are done, the full-timers of Longboat Key have a reason to celebrate even as their part-time neighbors mourn: The holidays usually mark the end of the busy season on Longboat Key, so the population will start to shrink going forward.

“Usually, Easter determines the season cutoff,” Azerad said. “Because this year coincidentally Passover fell on April 15th, which was Good Friday, people made their own considerations. A lot of them decided they want to stay for the Seder and leave right after.”

All are welcome at All Angels no exceptions

LUTHERAN CHURCH JOIN US WORSHIP

• In-person worship services Sunday at 8 a.m. and 10 a.m.

• Good Friday service 4.15 at noon, in-person and on-line.

UPCOMING SPEAKER SERIES EVENTS:

Growing in Jesus’ Name

April 21 at 4pm: Mote Marine Lab & Aquarium April 28 at 5:30pm: Agape Flights

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• 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

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

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 With Us at Our Church

Catholic Church

Sunday Service 10:00 AM The Rev. Dr. Norman Pritchard

Would like to Welcome & Invite You, Your Family Members & Friends to Celebrate Mass with Our Parish Community

Masks Are Optional

Visitors & Residents Welcome

941.383.8833 (office)

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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

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Watch Our 10:00 AM Service Live:

•

In a collision of commemorations, Easter and Passover fell on the same weekend this year. That actually happens more often than not, and the holidays have coincided with each other every year and three times since the turn of the century. Easter falls on the first Sunday after the first full moon of the spring equinox. Passover is determined by the lunar calendar, but historically it begins the night of the 15th day of the month of Nissan.

This year, however, marked a three-way collision of religious holidays, as the Muslim holiday of Ramadan fell last weekend, too. That trifecta happened for the first time in 30 years.

St. Armands Key

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

6400 Gulf of Mexico Dr.

HOLY TRINITY

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

WINTER MASS SCHEDULE Saturday: 3:00 PM & 5:00 PM Sunday: 8:00, 9:30 & 11:30 AM Daily Mass at 9:00 AM- Monday through Friday Confessions after daily Mass or by appointment

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

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The churches and temple on Longboat Key have their own unique traditions to celebrate their holidays.

Classifieds 34 Games 33 Real Estate 31 Weather 33

APRIL 21, 2022

YOUR NEIGHBORS

EGG HUNT EXTRAVAGANZA

Above: Heather Diggens and the Easter Bunny.

Left: Mike Lepczyk slides down the inflatable water slide.

About 50 kids descended upon the lawn at the Longboat Key resort.

NAT KAEMMERER STAFF WRITER

F

Photos by Nat Kaemmerer

Top: Kids head out to hunt for eggs. Above: Catherine Owens holds up an egg she found.

baskets and walked away with several new toys for his vacation.

After the lawn had been picked clean and the baskets opened, kids headed for the inflatable water slides to work up their appetites. On the other side of the lawn, Sorensen and company set up a Publix picnic for guests.

Above: Reef Keating shows off his golden egg. Right: Mary Lou Stillwell and Avery Miller

379191-1

or Kiera Bourke, the strategy for the Easter egg hunt was simple: Get candy. It worked out pretty well for her; she walked away with several eggs, a princess-themed Easter basket and plenty of candy.

“I picked the princess one with M&Ms, my favorite,” Bourke, 6, said.

The Sand Cay Easter egg hunt kicked off on April 15, Good Friday this year, like it has for decades.

More than four dozen kids raced around the Sand Cay lawn searching for bright plastic eggs, hidden with varying degrees of difficulty based on age. There were about 500 eggs hidden around the property in total.

Many of the egg hunters are second or third generation, said manager Lyn Sorensen, because a lot of their guests come year after year. Bourke was one of 11 youngsters in her family to do the egg hunt this year and joined up with her cousins after the hunt died down to trade candy.

“We’ve been coming probably about 30 years,” Bourke’s grandmother Peggy Kotz said. “It’s like a second home to us. Our three daughters and 11 grandchildren always come at Easter.”

After the initial rush of egg hunters, Kotz and two of her grandchildren took a second lap around the main area looking for unfound eggs.

Several kids wound up with bags or baskets bulging with candy-filled treats, but in the end, it wasn’t quantity that mattered. Golden eggs were the thing this year, and 3-year-old Reef Keating found one of three of them. He got first pick at the bevy of

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LONGBOAT OBSERVER

|

THURSDAY, APRIL 21, 2022

19

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LONGBOAT OBSERVER

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YourObserver.com

THURSDAY, APRIL 21, 2022

The Rev. David Svihel with the Church of the Redeemer leads the walk.

Good Friday walk A

round 1,000 people joined church leaders for a walk down Main Street during the annual Good Friday pilgrimage on April 15.

The event, put on by the Sarasota Ministerial Association and the Church of The Redeemer each year, saw hundreds meeting outside the Hollywood 11 Theater on Main Street to walk and stop at 14 stations representing Jesus’ walk to his crucifixion.

Several church leaders and representatives spoke at the various stations before concluding at the Church of The Redeemer.

—HARRY SAYER

Photos by Harry Sayer

Above: Pastor Jeff Gross speaks at a station. Right: Jan Hamel Solomon prays with the group.

Above: The Rev. David Svihel with the Church of the Redeemer leads the walk.

Right: Marta Asencio speaks at a station.

Pastor Peter Greenidge speaks to the crowd.

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21

THURSDAY, APRIL 21, 2022

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LONGBOAT OBSERVER

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YourObserver.com

THURSDAY, APRIL 21, 2022

Photos by Nat Kaemmerer

Kelly Taylor gets ready to drop off bags as Jack Rozance organizes the tables.

Springing into giving

I

t might not have been the Easter Bunny doling out baskets of goodies to local foster care guardians ad litem, but the members of the Longboat Key Rotary Club still hopped to it with gusto to donate on April 12. Several members came to the Children’s Guardian Fund facility in Sarasota to donate groceries and goodies to the guardians ad litem.

Although the guardians aren’t the ones watching the kids, they’re the volunteers who sign up to look after the best interests of the children in the SarasotaManatee foster care system. Sometimes that means picking up some candy and other treats. In total, the Rotary members helped out 50 families with 85 children.

Guardians drove up, told volunteers which families they were picking up for and were sent on their way.

For this donation, Rotary and Children’s Guardian Fund focused on the kids who are in relative or non-relative care rather than in licensed foster care, because those families receive less financial assistance from the state, said Children’s

Guardian Fund Executive Director Svetlana Ivashchenko.

“We try to target those families because they have more stress and more to deal with,” Ivashchenko said. “The less stress there is for caregivers makes it easier to keep kids in these placements.”

Each family got four bags: two with perishable groceries including cucumbers, beef, celery, carrots, apples and more; one with shelf-stable foods; and another with recipes for the food they got, an Earth Day scavenger hunt, a $10 Goodwill gift card and Crocs in each kid’s size. The club did another donation like this at Thanksgiving in 2020 with food and goodies suited to the holiday, as well as books for each kid, because literacy is a focus of Longboat Key’s club.

“This (donation) is more environmentally focused because Rotary’s very environmentally conscious,” Ivashchenko said. “They want to help teach kids sustainability.”

Above: Betsy Nordstrom and Gene Luca prepare to give out bags.

Left: Svetlana Ivashchenko looks for the proper bag to load into a car.

Below: Kristin Poolman sorts through envelopes containing recipes and gift cards.

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LONGBOAT OBSERVER

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YourObserver.com

THURSDAY, APRIL 21, 2022

Riding in the cycling lane is preferred.

GET YOUR MOTOR RUNNING

Fast facts about the city’s VEO scooters and bikes.

How Many? 350-400 scooters and 50 bicycles across Sarasota When Can You Ride? Scooters and bicycles are available for rental from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily.

Where Are They? The VEO app shows where clusters of bikes and scooters are available at parking corrals. You’ve seen them already; we know you have.

Are there speed rules? You must

Get scootin’ HARRY SAYER STAFF WRITER

F

or a time, I had a running joke with an Observer colleague about the city of Sarasota.

We have our beaches, and our arts scene, and more than a few snowbirds who decide to stay longer and longer every year. Ask the sunfried beach bums out on Siesta Key, and they’ll tell you we have everything we need.

But for some reason — in my friend’s eye — Sarasota wouldn’t be truly modern and alive unless it adopted an electric scooter program.

It’s a fair-ish observation. Electric scooters and bicycles have become a popular mode of transportation in cities in recent years. When traffic and parking is so abysmal, can you blame anyone? Bouncing from one location to another with relative ease on a scooter is certainly appealing.

At long last, our running joke is dead: Electric scooters and bikes have arrived.

Which begs the question: Are they cool? Are they fun? Will you crash the second you get on one? (Short answers: no, yes and probably not.)

Photos by Harry Sayer

Fast but not too fast, the city’s latest addition makes getting around cool.

GETTING STARTED

While you slept, downtown Sarasota became full of scooters. You’ll notice the VEO scooters in bunches at street corners and locales across the area, and you’ll need to download the VEO app and finish a training session before being allowed to ride one.

I picked up a bicycle helmet at a local shop to protect the oversized melon I call a head. Then I started a ride with a Cosmo, the seated scooter that you’ve now seen basically everywhere — not the “Sex in the City”-preferred drink — and got to riding in downtown Sarasota’s bicycle lanes.

Some kids looked legit jealous of the scooter when I arrived, if that convinces you any.

HOW DOES IT FEEL?

First off, these things are fast enough but they don’t exactly speed. If you have a nice unbothered bike lane to cruise along, you’ll be just fine. I started out in the downtown area but made my way over to the other side of town, cutting through the RitzCarlton, Sarasota to make my way to the Ringling Bridge.

Second off, these things are heavy.

They’re easy to control, so I wasn’t exactly worried about a crash, but I did have second thoughts about riding

Customized just for you1 you!

ride in bike lanes or roads where the speed limit is 30 mph or under. Over that, you can take to the sidewalk (but don’t hit anyone).

How Much? $1 to activate a scooter and 37 cents a minute following; bikes are 50 cents a half-hour.

Who Can Ride Them? Riders 18 and up

up the Ringling area in the pedestrian walking section, which is allowed but discouraged when crowded.

I took the bridge’s bike lane instead, which really made me feel both like a rebel for being so close to vehicles and also like a lazy potato for idly cruising where others were cycling hard to reach the top of the bridge.

Still, we live in a beautiful area, and the cool Sunday morning breeze hit just right at the top of the bridge. A highly recommended experience.

Eventually I made my way to St. Armands Circle and, upon remembering what a snake pit of pedestrian and vehicular traffic it usually is, decided to make a detour.

I ended up at Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium, where I got some looks when parking and getting off to stretch my legs. But the sun was shining, the air felt right, and it was a good day.

After some time relaxing, I headed back to where I’d parked my car in downtown Sarasota. All in all? About 35 minutes there and back; not too bad for a morning jaunt.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Florida state law views these new scooters as bicycles moreso than vehicles, so compare them accordingly.

They’re definitely more convenient than bicycles if you’re in a lowpedestrian space, and they’re simply fun to use. Part of me prefers to actually exercise with a bicycle if I’m out and about, but if you’re feeling lazy or want to make a morning date out of it, it’s a ton of fun.

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THURSDAY, APRIL 21, 2022

25

THE ACKERMAN GROUP 941.387.1820 TOP PRODUCING SMALL TEAM IN SARASOTA COUNTY RYAN ACKERMAN ryan@ackermangroup.net

BARBARA ACKERMAN barbara@ackermangroup.net

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FEATURED PROPERTIES MERIDIAN 3 — OAKS PRESERVE

MERIDIAN 3 - 401 N. POINT ROAD #703 $949,000 3BR/3BA | 2 Parking Spaces | Hurricane Shutters | Unobstructed Gulf and Intracoastal views, screened terrace,7th floor residence.

HARBOR ACRES ESTATE

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PENDING SALE

3010 GRAND BAY BLVD. #433 $1,895,000

988 BLVD. OF ARTS #1215 $989,000

3509 FAIR OAKS COURT $1,199,000

RECENT SALES

1701 GULF OF MEXICO DR. #103 $1,225,000

99 SUNSET DR. #302 $1,075,000

2089 GULF OF MEXICO DR. #G1-110 $1,889,000

LISTINGS COMING SOON

Siesta Cove 1425 GULF OF MEXICO DR. #201 $1,625,000

500 S. PALM AVE. #52 $3,500,000

Call us to be the first to know!

360 GULF OF MEXICO DR. #321 $1,180,000

595 BAY ISLES RD., SUITE 250 | LONGBOAT KEY, FL 34228

Queens Harbour Royal St. Andrew

•

443 JOHN RINGLING BLVD., STE., F | SARASOTA, FL 34236

This is not a solicitation of another broker’s listing.. Market data supplied by Market Quest June 2021.

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3060 GRAND BAY BLVD. #191 $2,950,000

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THURSDAY, APRIL 21, 2022

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Pop culture convention comes back to Selby.

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Dressed to thrill at library

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Although Selby Public Library is always full of activity, April 9 brought a more colorful crowd.

Stormtroopers and Jedi warriors patrolled outside. Superman, Spider-Man, Batman and other heroes were inside playing with children and posing for photos. The entire librarywas full of families and fans enjoying 2022 SRQ Con. It’s a relatively new event for the Selby Library, which put on its first convention in 2019.

“The big (conventions) in Tampa and Orlando cost money,” librarian Diego Hernandez Calabria said. “We’re trying to give as much of the convention experience as possible for as little money as possible. That’s the primary goal of any library convention.”

The day’s entertainment included escape rooms, craftmaking, scavenger hunts, lightsaber training and more than 10 vendors showcasing comics and collectibles.

Calabria, who planned the event, said much of the programming comes from local groups and cosplay talent volunteering their time. He joined the library in early 2020 and says he brought his knowledge working in library cons elsewhere in the state to the burgeoning event.

“Public libraries are these places everyone can get together,” Calabria said. “They’ve evolved into places of community and togetherness.”

Families arrived wearing costumes and set to playing games and attending panels. One popular offering was

Harry Sayer

from the Outer Rim Guilds cosplay organization, which put on lightsaber battles.

Guild members Peri Adamides and Eddy Cooper were relatively recent converts to the “Star Wars” world.

The pair worked as performers with the Sarasota Medieval Fair before falling into the Outer Rim Guilds group.

While they still slash and parry with swords as renaissance fair staff, Adamides and Cooper now put on practice fights with lightsabers. The same basic principles of sword fighting apply.

“We asked, ‘What if we took the knowledge we knew about stage combat and costuming and translated it to ‘Star Wars?’” Cooper said.

Sarasota resident and convention regular Elizabeth Hall said she was pleased with the day’s turnout. Hall is involved with the Guardians of Justice cosplay charity group that works with nonprofits to visit sick children.

She’s gone to conventions as Wonder Woman but this year dressed as Captain Marvel. Sunday’s event was something of a test run for her costume before she volunteers as the superhero with the group.

“Having something local is a lot more fun than driving to Tampa or Orlando,” Hall said. “This gives people here the opportunity to come out and show their colors.”

Sean and Tulip Silvious

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THURSDAY, APRIL 21, 2022

27

REAL ESTATE BY A REAL EXPERT OVER $134 MILLION SOLD IN 2021

95 DAY RECAP —BRUCE MYER CONTINUES TO LEAD THE MARKET IN 2022

WATER CLUB 1241 GULF OF MEXICO DR. #201 $7,500,000

HARBOUR OAKS 2179 HARBOURSIDE DR. #501 $949,000

GRAND BAY I 3060 GRAND BAY BLVD. #175 PENDING - $1,599,000

FAIRWAY BAY 1918 HARBOURSIDE DR. #902 PENDING - $1,195,000

INN ON THE BEACH 225 SANDS POINT RD. #6203 PENDING - $650,000

ST. ARMANDS KEY 130 BLVD. OF PRESIDENTS PENDING - $1,495,000

GRAND BAY IV 3010 GRAND BAY BLVD. #485 PENDING - $1,595,000

FAIRWAY BAY 1930 HARBOURSIDE DR. #135 PENDING - $699,000

LONGBEACH NAUTILUS 7065 GULF OF MEXICO DR. #22 PENDING - $849,000

PLAYERS CLUB 1445 GULF OF MEXICO DR. #304 SOLD - $1,500,000

ISLANDER CLUB 2295 GULF OF MEXICO DR. #95-S SOLD - $817,500

GRAND BAY IV 3010 GRAND BAY BLVD. #463 SOLD - $1,887,250

FAIRWAY BAY 2016 HARBOURSIDE DR. #311 SOLD - $827,000

COREY’S LANDING 3467 BYRON LANE SOLD - $1,075,000

COUNTRY CLUB SHORES 500 HALYARD LANE SOLD - $2,445,000

SOUTH SIDE PARK 2073 GROVE ST. SARASOTA SOLD - $1,250,000

BIRD KEY 411 PHEASANT WAY SOLD - $3,295,000

LIDO KEY 129 TAFT DR. #W303 SOLD - $2,995,000

FAIRWAY BAY 2110 HARBOURSIDE DR #526 SOLD - $820,000

FAIRWAY BAY 2120 HARBOURSIDE DR. #623 SOLD - $875,000

QUEENS HARBOUR 3632 FAIR OAKS PLACE SOLD - $2,725,000

BIRD KEY 525 BIRD KEY DRIVE SOLD - $2,900,000

DOWNTOWN SARASOTA 624 S. PALM AVE. #3 SOLD - $3,100,000

LONGBOAT KEY TOWERS 603 LONGBOAT CLUB RD. #1204N SOLD - $1,750,000

Bruce Myer

Realtor ®

941.387.1847

379724-1

Bruce@BruceMyer.com • www.BruceMyer.com

28

LONGBOAT OBSERVER

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THURSDAY, APRIL 21, 2022

Photos by Eric Garwood

Above: Cody Jeffers, Catherine Deveux and Hugh Brian get to work cleaning up the island. Left: Ronda Ryan, president of Sarasota Bay Watch, and Rusty Chinnis talk about Sister Keys and where the volunteers would be working. Right: Becky Parrish emerges from a thicket.

Clean sweep

Right: Gene PrintzKopelson, Mindy PrintzKopelson and Audrey Bear take a moment during their cleanup work on the island.

Below: The volunteer crew embarks on small boats.

A

bout 40 volunteers boated over from north Longboat Key to nearby Sister Keys on April 9 for a morning of trash cleanup and invasive-plant removal.

Sponsored by Sarasota Bay Watch, the group ranged widely in age and experience level but not enthusiasm.

Together, they waded ashore from several boats and collected trash and recyclables, while a smaller group concentrated on removing vines of vinca, an invasive plant often called periwinkle. Among the items found on the islands: a floodlight bulb, an unopened can of Coors Light beer, a tattered American flag and a couple resin patio chairs that had seen better days.

Teens from Sarasota High’s Sailor Bay Watch took part in the event, as did residents of Longboat Key and supporters from off the island.

Following their hours on the islands in Sarasota Bay, the volunteers were treated to lunch at Mar Vista Dockside restaurant.

In 1992, the town of Longboat Key bought the Sister Keys system, which consists of four islands. The island were restored with native plants, salt marsh and gopher tortoise habitat and wetlands at the urging of a citizens’ group called the Sister Keys Conservancy.

—ERIC GARWOOD

Wendi Gengler and Brooke Langton work to uproot vinca plants, an invasive species.

est. 1997

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CELEBRATES 25 YEARS

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Get events directly to your inbox 3 Stores n 1 Location Tuesday - Saturday n 10:00am - 5:00pm 2095 17th Street n Sarasota Have large items to donate?

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From festivals to performances and art exhibits, discover the wide variety of events happening in Sarasota and Manatee.

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THURSDAY, APRIL 21, 2022

29

Coldwell Banker CONGRATULATES the TOP team!

The #1 sales team in the state of Florida $134 Million Sold in 2021

1

#

Small Team

Lori Lawson

941.735.4385

Judy Kepecz-Hays 941.587.1700

Steven Kepecz 941.376.6411

Judy Kepecz-Hays Team $2.3 Billion Career Sales

E NT C I ME R P ST JU D A

April April21, 14,2022 2022

“We have worked with Judy over many years, buying & selling property on Longboat Key. Each time, Judy and her team carry out their duties with honesty, integrity and respect - very often going that extra mile! We were kept informed every step of the way and knew each time that the sale/purchase was in safe hands -very reassuring when we live in the UK.”

-Michael & Helen McArdle ‘ Newcastle, United Kingdom

Happy Easter and Pesach

Ritz-Carlton Managed Residence 1111 Ritz Carlton Drive #1204 Offered for $3,750,000. $3,495,000 www.Ritz-Carlton1204.com

from the Judy Kepecz-Hays Team Testimonial

Luxury Knows No Limits! Sought after residence at the Ritz-Carlton in the heart of the city. Beyond Imagination, this home affords terrific views of the marina, Sarasota, and her islands.

Helen McArdle with Prince William

G D N I L IT D O SN DE N E P A PE M I AP H

FAIRWAY BAY | BAY ISLES

Ritz-Carlton Managed THE BEACH RESIDENCES 1300 Benjamin Franklin Dr. Residence 1001 Sarasota, FL 34236 Offered for for $5,399,000. $5,399,000 Sold for $5,550,000 BEYOND IMAGINATION with unparalleled amenities in a lifestyle of privacy and comfort await you here – instant enjoyment with hypnotizing views of the Gulf, Bay, Sarasota skyline, and the nature preserve. Beautiful views envelop this meticulously designed 3 bdrm plus a family room of 4200 sq. ft. residence. Ultimate casual elegance. 2 parking spaces & 2 pets welcome no weight limit.

1930 Harbourside Drive #121 Longboat Key, FL 34228 Offered for $850,000.

Sarasota Bay and skyline views from this light and bright large corner residence! 2 bedroom, 2 bath. 1,442 sq. ft. Residence has deeded beach access to the Gulf of Mexico with a grill, volleyball, & shaded picnic table. Create memories, relax, and enjoy endless amenities. One parking space under the building. They also allow you to have a small dog under 15 lbs.

Call us today for similar results 941-587-1700 $2.3 BILLION IN CAREER SALES

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COLDWELL BANKER REALTY

423 St. Armands Circle | Sarasota, FL 34236 595 Bay Isles Road, Suite 250 | Longboat Key, FL 34228 Email: Kepecz@JudyHays.com Website: LongboatKeyLuxury.com

$134 MILLION IN CLOSED SALES IN 2021

380515-1

If you’re thinking of buying or selling, please call us for exceptional service.

LONGBOAT OBSERVER

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THURSDAY, APRIL 21, 2022

SARASOTA 4645 Ainsley Place 7 Beds 6 Baths 4,272 Sq. Ft. Kim Ogilvie 941-376-1717 A4514309 $22,000,000

ANNA MARIA ISLAND 820 N Shore Drive 4 Beds 4/1 Baths 3,953 Sq. Ft. Kathy Harman 941-900-9828 A4524887 $4,500,000

SARASOTA 1898 High Point Drive 5 Beds 6/1 Baths 4,102 Sq. Ft. Jeffrey Hinrichs 941-456-1251 A4527192 $4,350,000

SARASOTA 105 N Isle Drive 3 Beds 4/1 Baths 4,258 Sq. Ft. Phyllis Garfinkel 941-302-6400 A4530323 $3,950,000

ANNA MARIA ISLAND 112 Mangrove Avenue 4 Beds 3/1 Baths 3,577 Sq. Ft. Hannah Hillyard & George Myers 941-744-7358 A4502423 $3,949,000

SARASOTA 650 Golden Gate Point 302 2 Beds 2/1 Baths 1,949 Sq. Ft. Dana Westmark 941-356-5091 A4531159 $3,700,000

SIESTA KEY 615 Waterside Way 4 Beds 3 Baths 4,211 Sq. Ft. Ethel Lovelace & Mina Johnson 941-586-7390 A4529531 $3,200,000

SARASOTA 473 Partridge Circle 4 Beds 3/1 Baths 3,226 Sq. Ft. Drew Russell 941-993-3739 A4511642 $3,195,000

SIESTA KEY 472 Island Circle 4 Beds 3/2 Baths 3,339 Sq. Ft. Lenore Treiman 941-356-9642 A4526972 $2,995,000

SARASOTA 35 Watergate Drive 603 3 Beds 3 Baths 2,990 Sq. Ft. Joan Dickinson & Beth Afflebach 941-914-0496 A4529059 $2,750,000

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

ANNA MARIA 822 N Shore Drive 2 Beds 2 Baths 1,840 Sq. Ft. Ken Kavanaugh, Jr 941-799-1943 A4529310 $2,477,000

SARASOTA 1335 Second Street Villa 2E 2 Beds 2/1 Baths 2,520 Sq. Ft. Brian Loebker & Jonathan Abrams 941-735-4393 A4522536 $2,399,900

SARASOTA 3224 Signet Court 4 Beds 3/2 Baths 4,008 Sq. Ft. Linda Driggs & Sara Boudarga 941-374-2920 A4530120 $2,250,000

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

SIESTA KEY 1660 Summerhouse Lane 103 3 Beds 2/1 Baths 2,400 Sq. Ft. Stacy Liljeberg & John Garmong 941-544-6103 A4530114 $1,850,000

UNIVERSITY PARK 8171 Abingdon Court 2 Beds 2/2 Baths 2,609 Sq. Ft. Rachel Benderson 941-376-0218 A4525357 $1,650,000

LONGBOAT KEY 1145 Gulf Of Mexico Drive 401 2 Beds 2 Baths 1,172 Sq. Ft. Ian Addy, PA & Gail Wittig, LLC 941-961-8850 A4530559 $1,599,000

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

SARASOTA 8149 Grande Shores Drive 3 Beds 2/1 Baths 3,214 Sq. Ft. Drew Russell 941-993-3739 A4529184 $1,495,000

BRADENTON 6227 Champions Row Street 4 Beds 4/1 Baths 3,678 Sq. Ft. Adam Cuffaro 941-812-0791 A4531184 $1,429,000

SARASOTA 1646 7th Street 3 Beds 3 Baths 2,340 Sq. Ft. Valarie Wadsworth 941-780-3858 A4528362 $1,369,000

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 $1,225,000

SIESTA KEY 6480 Midnight Pass Road 315 2 Beds 2 Baths 1,265 Sq. Ft. Denise Mei 941-685-3198 A4527710 $1,150,000

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

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

888.552.5228 | MICHAELSAUNDERS.COM 373727-1

30

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LONGBOAT OBSERVER

THURSDAY, APRIL 21, 2022

RESIDENTIAL REAL ESTATE TRANSACTIONS

APRIL 4-8

ADAM HUGHES RESEARCH EDITOR

A

home in Sleepy Lagoon Park tops all transactions in this week’s real estate. Patricia Muller, trustee, of Bradenton, sold the home at 750 Penfield St. to Michael and Lillian Carroll, of Longboat Key, for $3 million.

Built in 1977, it has three bedrooms, three baths, a pool and 3,710 square feet of living area. It sold for $760,000 in 2012.

L’AMBIANCE AT LONGBOAT KEY CLUB

Photo courtesy of Ian Addy, Michael Saunders & Co.

The home at 750 Penfield St. was built in 1977 and has three bedrooms, three baths, a pool and 3,710 square feet of living area.

and 2,311 square feet of living area.

It sold for $735,000 in 2008.

SANDS POINT

Donald Swanson Bradford and Nadine Carole Bradford sold their home at 100 Sands Point Road to Piquette Corner LLC for $900,000. Built in 1966, it has one bedroom, two baths and 1,492 square feet of living area. It sold for $391,000 in 2015.

Phillip Mumford and Renee Mumford, of Hinsdale, Illinois, sold their Unit B-602 condominium at 415 L’Ambiance Drive to Arthur Nielsen and Sheila Nielsen, of Winnetka, Illinois, for $2.6 million. Built in 1992, it has two bedrooms, threeand-a-half baths and 2,385 square feet of living area. It sold for $1.4 million in 2011.

BEACH HARBOR CLUB

MARINA BAY

James and Darlene Reynolds, of Bradenton, sold their Unit C-108 condominium at 3806 Gulf of Mexico Drive to Georgianna Tiger and Jason Gavin, of Westminster, Colorado, for $660,000. Built in 1970, it has two bedrooms, two baths and 1,401 square feet of living area. It sold for $160,000 in 2009.

Albert Caesar, of Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, sold the Unit 141 condominium at 2410 Harbourside Drive to Robert Lapenta Jr. and Tina Nugent, of Longboat Key, for $2,575,000. Built in 1993, it has three bedrooms, three baths and 3,690 square feet of living area. It sold for $1.35 million in 2008.

COUNTRY CLUB SHORES

Colin Coupland Hartley and Christine Hartley, of Windermere Cubria, United Kingdom, sold their home at 500 Halyard Lane to Nicholas Mueller, of Longboat Key, for $2,445,000. Built in 1967, it has two bedrooms, two baths, a pool

REAL ESTATE

Sleepy Lagoon home sells for $3 million

|

Scott and Melissa Kadish, of Cincinnati, sold their Unit E-312 condominium at 3808 Gulf of Mexico Drive to Janet Sanzo Scheller, trustee, of Longboat Key, for $1.2 million. Built in 1970, it has two bedrooms, three baths and 2,544 square feet of living area. It sold for $415,000 in 2012.

PROMENADE

AQUARIUS CLUB

Stephen Thompson, of Nova Scotia, Canada, sold the Unit 2-G condominium at 1701 Gulf of Mexico Drive to Teresa Joanne Morneau, trustee, of Ontario, Canada, for $780,000. Built in 1975, it has two bedrooms, two baths and 1,551 square feet of living area. It sold for $410,000 in 2011.

THE PRESIDENTIAL

My Dog Scooter LLC sold the Unit 111 condominium at 1211 Gulf of Mexico Drive to Metcalf Family LLC for $1 million. Built in 1985, it has three bedrooms, three baths and 2,273 square feet of living area. It sold for $485,500 in 1985.

Pierre and Susan Geoffrion sold their Unit 403 condominium at 845 Benjamin Franklin Drive to Vance Travis Jr. and Rebecca Little Travis, of Signal Mountain, Tennessee, for $645,000. Built in 1974, it has

two bedrooms, two baths and 991 square feet of living area. It sold for $108,000 in 1992.

BAYPORT BEACH AND TENNIS CLUB

Milena Henzlova, of Sarasota, sold her Unit 744 condominium at 744 Bayport Way to James Schmidt and Maria Del Castillo-Schmidt, of Tampa, for $558,000. Built in 1983, it has two bedrooms, two baths and 1,456 square feet of living area. It sold for $457,500 in 2015.

SARASOTA HARBOUR EAST

Carlos Silva, of Flushing, New York, sold his Unit 6 condominium at 771 John Ringling Blvd. to Joseph and Panayiota Corcoran, of Tampa, for $555,000. Built in 1965, it has two bedrooms, two baths and 882 square feet of living area. It sold for $375,000 in 2021.

In with the new

TOP BUILDING PERMITS

NOW UNDER CONSTRUCTION

These are the largest building permits issued by the Longboat Key Planning and Zoning Department for the week of April 8-14 in order of dollar amounts.

L O N G B OAT K E Y ADDRESS 1050 Longboat Club

PERMIT Interior alterations

APPLICANT David S. Eaton

1701 GMD #602

Interior alterations

Mark Currie

4425 GMD Bldg 1

Re-roof

Longboat Key

AMOUNT($) 246,220

Road #903 243,188

La Playa

218,734

3030 Grand Bay Blvd #382 Interior alterations

Michael Karl Kreisberg

110,500

4600 GMD Unit 203

Interior alterations

Dave Samuels

105,000

1445 GMD #503

Interior alterations

Michele O. Butler

58,828

1065 GMD #304

Windows and doors

Reisman Properties LLLP

54,176

Lands End Drive

Seawall

Lands End Condominium

47,193

Screen lanai,

371 NSR Woelkers Realty LLC

371 N. Shore Road

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

43,859

pool cage 571 Ranger Lane

Lift, dock

Raymond Michael Rastelli

4239 GMD Unit MH

Windows and door

Bonnie M. Schneider

36,848

41,192

5610 GMD Unit 5

Electrical

Shawn David Hamilton

34,000

1065 GMD #105

Windows and doors

Diane E. Lambie Trust

30,774

540 Harbor Gate Way

Plumbing

Marsha Katz Revocable LI

1932 Harbourside Drive

Interior alterations

Renee S. Stern Revocable Trust 28,000

Lift

Ihan Rodriguez

25,000 23,383

Downtown St. Petersburg

30,000

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

#251 561 Chipping Lane

2 UNITS LEFT

4310 Falmouth Drive

Hurricane windows, Clark D. Parrish

Unit 105

doors

4600 GMD Unit 304

Hurricane windows

Gordon K. Lenci

23,382

3251 Bayou Sound

Mechanical

Lorraine C. Kapla

20,000

Revocable Trust

2603 Harbour Links Drive

Pool resurfacing

Gus Campisano 2007 Trust

749 Lands End drive

Lift

Patrick E. Beavers

16,818

1045 GMD #102

Windows and doors

Louis P. Finos

14,803

3423 Winding Oaks Drive

A/C change-out

David R. Geis Trust

13,404

15 Twin Shores Blvd

A/C change-out

John E. Langwig

12,971

2377 GMD #2E3

A/C change-out

Thomas O. Hecht

12,820

2450 Harbourside

Hurricane windows

Mark S. Hale Revocable Trust

12,335

A/C change-out

Frank M. Sulzman

11,989

3341 GMD

Plumbing

3341 Gulf of Mexico Drive

11,255

1070 Bogey Lane

Windows

Alexander J. Cingone

10,600

551 Spanish Drive S.

A/C change-out

Paul A. Robb

10,500

5910 GMD

Plumbing

Clare Marie Fox

Downtown Sarasota

16,875

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

Drive #233 1932 Harbourside

9,000 Source: Town of Longboat Key

373649-1

Drive #232

MichaelSaunders.com/New-Homes | 844.591.4333 | Sarasota, Florida Prices as of February 2022.

Licensed Real Estate Broker

31

LONGBOAT OBSERVER

|

YourObserver.com

THURSDAY, APRIL 21, 2022

PET PICS 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!

#BeTheOne to help us create a community where no child is hungry DOG TIRED: Bailey takes a break after playing at the dog park on Longboat Key.

allfaithsfoodbank.org

941.379.6333

374850-1

32

We’re neighbors covering neighbors.

Eric Garwood MANAGING EDITOR

Hometown: Melbourne, Florida Currently Living: Sarasota, Florida Alma mater: University of South Florida Observer Employee: Five Years What you do when you are not working?

My wife and I enjoy exploring parks, traveling and walking.

Connect: egarwood@yourobserver.com

There’s so much to enjoy here in Sarasota.

I’ve lived in several regions of Florida, and Sarasota has more to offer than any of them. I’m so happy to be part of the Observer team, telling the stories of the people and events that take place here.

JOIN THE NEIGHBORHOOD //

Support independent local journalism today at YourObserver.com/newsies

YourObserver.com

LONGBOAT OBSERVER

SUNRISE / SUNSET

FRIDAY, APRIL 22

Sunrise Sunset

High: 84 Low: 68 Chance of rain: 24%

33

THURSDAY, APRIL 21, 2022

WEATHER

NATURE’S BEAUTY WITH

FORECAST

|

Thursday, April 21

7:00a

7:58p

Friday, April 22

6:59a

7:59p

Saturday, April 23

6:58a

7:59p

Sunday, April 24

6:57a

8:00p

SATURDAY, APRIL 23

Monday, April 25

6:56a

8:00p

High: 85 Low: 69 Chance of rain: 37%

Tuesday, April 26

6:55a

8:01p

Wednesday, April 27

6:54a

8:02p

MOON PHASES SUNDAY, APRIL 24 High: 85 Low: 69 Chance of rain: 32%

May 22 Last

May 30 New

June 7 First

June 14 Full

TIDES Highs Lows

Monique Palladino captured this storm off a dock on Buttonwood Drive.

Thursday, April 21

—

2:57p

—

—

Friday, April 22

—

3:55p

12:58a

—

Saturday, April 23

—

5:21p

2:01a

—

Sunday, April 24

11:31a

7:23p

3:12a

1:50p

Monday, April 25

11:05a

9:08p

4:09a

4:00p

Tuesday, April 26

11:11a

10:25p

4:52a

5:07p

Wednesday, April 27

11:21a

11:27p

5:26a

5:58p

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.

The Observer’s

Weather ENTER: &Nature

Sponsored by

YourObserver.com/contests KITCHEN | CABINETRY OUTDOOR PAVERS

379855-1

2022-23 PHOTO CONTEST

A REFLECTION OF NATURE’S BEAUTY

celebrity cipher

56-Across) 46 Progressive and disco, for two 47 First performance 48 Bit of ink 52 Souvenir from a beach trip?

53 Heart chart, for short 55 Scoundrel 57 Crook’s joint?

58 Sports page fig.

63 Present tie 65 Morsel served with lox 67 Inhaler spray, often 68 Dryers’ predecessors, DOWN and a theme hint 1 Fabric pattern for a G.I. 70 Sample version 2 Squirrel’s snack 73 Brook fish 3 Dessert with pearls (Hint: 75 Like the story of Medusa This clue’s answer includes 76 Roman or American 40-Across) legislative group 4 Afternoon snooze 77 (It’s cold!)

5 Zulu, e.g.

78 Suffix for “lime” 6 Salt Lake City athlete 79 Tater ___ 7 Outrage 82 Null and void 8 Bin covers 83 “___ OK” 9 SAT coach 84 Offer from a Nigerian 10 Executed perfectly prince, perhaps 11 Diana Ross’ hairdo 85 Ice cream holder 12 “Cool!” inspired by a cookie 13 Apt Maugham novel ©2022 Universal Uclick 86 “Care to put money on to devour? (... includes that?”

88 Vikings’ language 32 Boring response to 61 Visual illusion’s genre ACROSS 37-Across) 91 Stitched juncture 89 Command that makes “What’s new?”

62 Where to say “I do” 1 2019 movie musical with 14 Poet’s “before” 93 Peculiarity recruits alert 35 Taken-back auto 64 Taking to court feline characters 15 Street in a city center 95 Dove’s sound 90 Hit the sack after a long 37 Flip-flop, for one 65 Kept in the loop 5 Muscular, slangily 16 Where Japan is 98 Some wash their boxers day 40 Graduate’s headwear 66 Like a shocking old 10 Waltz, e.g.

17 “No, thanks” (... includes 110-Across) 92 Jacket 41 Free (of) practice 15 Dudes 20 Mini vehicle?

101 Honest ___ 94 Tolkien monsters 43 Pumpernickel purchase 69 Palindromic explosive 18 Berry in a bowl 28 Small demon 102 Decanter’s relative 96 Martians, e.g.

(Abbr.)

45 Very, very 70 “Shoot!”

19 Open patio 31 Freshly 105 Tibetan teachers 97 Virgil poem 46 It comes after harvard.

71 Awards for John Legend, 21 Lead-in to a concern 33 Bawl 107 Magical sticks 99 Crisp set 48 Write in a Google Doc briefly 22 Small battery 34 Medical vow (... includes 108 Simple basketball shot 100 ___-tzu (philosopher) 49 ___ Field (stadium in 72 Crunchy sandwich 23 Sulk 111 Minecraft minerals Queens) 74 Some Nintendo control- 101 Summer coolers, briefly 92-Across) 24 Must 36 End of a figurative 112 Like a sage lers 103 European gambling 50 Stand by for 25 “Hotline Bling” rapper journey 114 “Voila!”

77 Cauldron contents mecca 51 Body of water within 26 “Kinda” 38 2009 sci-fi film with a 116 Noblewoman 78 Cancel, like a launch 104 What a handshake “eared seal” 27 “... but are we sure about 2022 sequel 117 Light run 80 MLB player in Queens symbolizes 54 Pie nut that?”

39 Tons 118 Antipollution grp.

81 Energy company in 2001 106 Give a bad offer to 56 It can be bulletproof 29 Roll in the yard 42 Pool section for skilled 120 Most Wanted list org. news 109 Quarterback Newton 59 Word before “station” or 30 Spacious carry-on swimmers 121 Email provider since ‘93 83 “Same here!”

110 Graduate’s garment “stove” 31 Member of a small 44 Eisenhower was one 60 Take onto a spaceship, 84 “You reap what you ___” 113 Back muscle, informally colony? in the Army (... includes 87 Singer Amos 115 Like photos taken by say

“ALJV BJYBCJ XYSJ HYRJHLJP ZYP HLJ RYYO YZ LFSTVKHG TVO HLJ JTPHL, AJ XTV TXXYSBCKNL RPJTH HLKVRN.” – OTEKO NFMFDK

“WYCXJN IOXJW JBKTHTKS TM AYCMG ZYC WJKOCG KIJW KIG PCGJKGMK WOBNGJC JBBTUGWK TW ITMKYCS.” – XJCKTW BCOV MXTKI “XWLZS TV YU VJKV VJU XWNTS HKFSUDTX TM MJWBTFP LM BJKV’M UMMUFVTKZ RWC K JUKZVJG UXWFWDG KFS HZKFUV?” – SWFFK DKZVI © 2022 NEA, Inc.

Puzzle Three Clue: C equals R

drones 117 Employer’s listing 118 Like a haunted house 119 “You do good work!”

122 Actress Taylor-Joy 123 January’s number 124 Group asking Jen Psaki questions 125 Father figure?

126 Prolonged dispute 127 “___ a grip!”

128 Buffoons 129 Departs the dock 130 Sports award

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

Each letter in the cipher stands for another.

Puzzle Two Clue: V equals Z

HANGING OUT TO DRY by Garrett Chalfin. Edited by David Steinberg

Puzzle One Clue: M equals Z

crossword

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

©2022 Andrews McMeel Syndicate

4-21-22

Made for where you live. Here!

THURSDAY, APRIL 21, 2022

INFORMATION & RATES: 941-955-4888

Vacation/ Seasonal Rentals

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

WEEKLY MONTHLY SEASONAL Rates

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.

5360 Gulf of Mexico Dr., Suite

Autos Wanted

Longboat Key, FL 34228

TWIN BED sturdy, hickory, amish.

Comes with luxury foam mattress.

Breaks down easily. Slightly used. $100. 941-960-9380

Use the RED PAGES to clean out your garage CALL 941-955-4888 USED KAYAK 10’, good condition $199 OBO 941-312-5863

Condos/Apts. for Rent FOR RENT (Summer at the Beach) – Anna Maria Island Updated 5 Star Condo - Available May to November. ($4,500 monthly with Multi-month discount) Million$ water view, first floor, 2BR/2BA, walk to beach, pool, tennis, carport included.

Smoke free.Call or Email NOW: 570-239-0431 rentamiwaterview@aol.com

auto

Homes for Sale LONGBOAT KEY Incredible views Private boat dock Owner/agent $650,000 The Lake Club LWR 4 bed 4.5 bath Pool/Spa Dazzling with upgrades 2.5 Million

Autos Wanted CASH FOR YOUR CAR We come to you!

Ho Ho Buys cars.

941-270-4400.

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

941809-3660, 941-809-3662.

Buy or Sell with Brooke O’Malley as your Realtor, and CLUB REALTY will Pay your title insurance.

Call 941-726-2677.

Rentals Wanted SEAPLACE OWNERS Inquiring about a 2 or 3 bedroom rental for next (2023) season.

We are seeking an updated rental with a water view.

I was an original owner in G-5.

Contact with dates & photos. rnelson137@outlook.com

SELL IT FAST HERE! POST YOUR AD WITH EASE

Between Houses or Condos Reservations 941-383-5577 wagnerlbkrentals@gmail.com Visa/MC

101 Rental office 9a.m. - 5p.m.

M-F Ask about our special rates!

Your local luxury transportation provider since 1994.

New luxury Sedans and SUVs. Fully Licenced and insured.

Call/Text 941-383-1235 E-mail: longboatlimousine @yahoo.com

SELL YOUR STUFF HERE! 941-955-4888 YourObserver.com/RedPages

Wagner Realty Since 1939 www.rentalsonlongboat.com

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

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

Cleaning

RED PAGES AD RATES First 15 words .................. $ 17.50 per week Each add’l word ....... 50¢

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

YourObserver.com/RedPages LONGBOAT KEY: Beachfront Condos, 1st or 2nd floor, 2BR/2BA, W/D in units, free WiFi, heated pool, & parking. Call 941-383-3338.

LONGBOAT LIMOUSINE

FIND BUYERS & SELLERS HERE!

CLAUDIA C. Cleaning Services.

Experienced, dependable, and ready to begin!

Residential.

Excellent references.

941-773-6895.

SELL YOUR STUFF FOR FREE! Items Up to $200 YourObserver.com/RedPages

Government

Painting

PUBLIC NOTICE

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.

Professional Services ANGELO'S LAWN Care. Mow, edge, string trim & blow. From $20/cut. Licensed & Insured.

941-217-9000

This week’s Crossword answers

LOST OR ABANDONED PROPERTY Held by Longboat Key Police Department 5460 Gulf of Mexico Dr. THE LONGBOAT KEY POLICE DEPARTMENT IS HOLDING SEVERAL FIREARMS RECEIVED AS FOUND PROPERTY DURING THIS TIME PERIOD OF 01-01-2000 THRU 04-05-2022.

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 Celebrity Cipher answers Puzzle One Solution: “When people come together for the good of humanity and the Earth, we can accomplish great things.”

David Suzuki Puzzle Two Solution: “Normal human activity is worse for nature than the greatest nuclear accident in history.”

Martin Cruz Smith Puzzle Three Solution: “Could it be that the COVID pandemic is showing us what’s essential for a healthy economy and planet?”

Donna Maltz

This week’s Sudoku answers

©2022 Universal Uclick

SEARCH the RED PAGES for GREAT DEALS Visit YourObserver.com/RedPages

©2022 NEA, Inc.

PET STROLLER for cat or small to medium dog $50 386-676-7401

L’AMBIANCE, LONGBOAT KEY Beach front 2BR/3BA condo on high floor with wrap-around terrace, 270 degree views over the Gulf, Sarasota Bay and LBK Club.

Sunrises, sunsets through floor to ceiling windows. View at: www.thephotos.smugmug.com Call John at: 203-984-8477 or E-mail: garment@optonline.net

You’re only cheating yourself.

Items Under $200

real estate

stuff

FIND BUYERS & SELLERS HERE!

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

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

Call Hawley Motors: 941-923-3421.

Vacation/ Seasonal Rentals

Beachfront, Bayfront and In

home services

RED PAGES

Transportation

YourObserver.com

LONGBOAT OBSERVER

WE COME TO YOU

GladysKhabbaz@gmail.com 805 Molly Circle, Sarasota

Health

5-Star Rated

GET YOUR LIFE BACK!

378819

HoHoBuysCars.com

Do You Have Neck or Low Back Pain?

Do You Want To Avoid Surgery?

Beauty SERVING YOU IN THE COMFORT OF YOUR HOME

$100 COUPON

SOFT WASH

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941-CLEAN IT 2 5 3 - 2 6 4 8 FREE INSTANT ESTIMATES when you Call RICK for SCHEDULING

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

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SELL YOUR CAR!

Power Washing

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Handyman

$100 COUPON

Auto Service

35

THURSDAY, APRIL 21, 2022

|

Pressure Washing

Pressure Washing

Give Us a Call - We Can Help

FREE CONSULTATION 941.358.2224

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

SIDEWALKS • DRIVEWAYS

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

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

379116

941-345-5264

Insurance

CONCRETE FUSION

MIC INSURANCE

Call Bobby • FREE Estimates 319-693-8800 or 941-374-7670 Doors

specialty screens / screw replacement / paint Doors and more!

Roofing

Manufacture and workmanship Warranties

EXPERIENCE KNOWLEDGE SOLUTIONS

(941) 345-5264 Kenneth Fuhlman Inc.

Building & Roofing Contractor

• Aluminum, Vinyl, & Wood Soffit & Fascia Repair & Installation • Roofing Repair & Installation • Metal Roofing & Tile Roof Repair Specialists

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

Sliding Glass Door Repair

941-626-3194

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

“FIX IT - DON’T REPLACE”

Licensed & Insured CCC - 058059 CBC - 1253936

Windows Res./Com.

RED PAGES Bring Results | 941-955-4888 Dog Grooming

380572

379537

Home • Condo • Auto • Umbrella • Boat • Flood 595 Bay Isles Rd. Suite 215 941.554.8909 | www.micinsurancefl.com

For

LMT, CMCE

609-820-4251

By appointment only

STANDARD WINDOWS

MediCupping & Massage Therapy services for healing

Rest your mind & body.

Connect with your spirit.

ws

140

$

INCLUDING SCREENS, TRACKS, MIRRORS & FANS

Personal Services

SPECIAL 00 5

$

Registered member of the National Dog Groomers Association of America (NDGAA)

senior citizen discount. www.sunsetwindowcleaningsrq.com

Call Tibor for FREE ESTIMATES | 941- 284 - 5880

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Furniture Repair

Patio Furniture Repairs.com Furniture Sales & Repairs Cushions • Slings • Re-powdercoating

941-504-0903

FREE PICKUP / DELIVERY • FREE ONSITE QUOTES

Find anything in the RED PAGES | 941-955-4888

379548

Purified water window cleaning available!!

380107

Made for where you live. Here.

RED PAGES YourObserver.com/RedPages

Insurance

SECUR-ALL INSURANCE AGENCY

Sandra Smith

| 941.383.3388

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

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

378948

380109

Serving Longboat Key Since 2005

25

UP TO

Massage

Chrissy Stites

Lic./Ins.

& Pressure C Window lean t e s i Sun merly known as Sunrise Windo ng

379529

379535

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

BUZ CORP D/B/A

| scaperotta@aol.com

Rescreening & Repairs

www.SarasotaDiscCenter.com DrCifra@SarasotaDiscCenter.com

CRACK REPAIR

New Deluxe Rollers Will Make Your Doors Roll Better Than Ever Call Mark 928-2263 proslidingglassdoorrepair.com

941-544-1066 Italian American Owned

379541

Concrete

9 EPLACE Don’t R Concrete d of Goo only 5% when cked! is cra

378897

DR. DAVID CIFRA, DC

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

BEFORE

AFTER

Serving Sarasota/Manatee Area Since 2004

Board Certified in the specialty of non-surgical spinal decompression

AMANDA

#1 in IR REPA c Cra k 5%

Honesty, Integrity and Pride

• Roofs • Pool Cages • Decks • Driveways Deck/Paver Sealing• •Decks Gutter• Driveways Cleaning ••Roofs • Pool Cages AndSealing Much•More!

• Deck/Paver And Much More

380575

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

LONGBOAT OBSERVER

|

YourObserver.com

THURSDAY, APRIL 21, 2022

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

3731 INDIAN BEACH ROAD

$6,495,000

Built in 2006, this gorgeous 5BR estate offers exceptionally high quality construction, designed with energy efficient and sustainable materials. The enviable central locale minutes from downtown, plus spectacular bay and sunset views perfectly complement the lavishness at this custom residence.

www.3731IndianBeach.com

15111 GADDY UP RANCH ROAD

$3,995,000

Country breezes rustling through century old oaks and pines welcome you to this unique, 82.5-acre property known as the fully-operational Gaddy Up Ranch, offering many possibilities.

Some equipment and livestock are also available for purchase separately.

www.GaddyUpRanchSRQ.com

842 MOLLY CIRCLE

$640,000

Delight in the convenience of newer construction at this 2016-built, Ashton Woods home in the maintenance-free Whitaker Park (lawn maintenance and irrigation provided

by HOA). Some furnishings available separately.

www.842MollyCircle.com

6144 ABACO DRIVE 862 GRANDE PASS WAY Create your dream beach home experience at this private, gated enclave on the southern tip of Boca Grande. Offering more than a 1/4-acre in the exclusive Hill Tide Estates community.

wwww.862GrandePassWay.com

$2,995,000

$699,000

Furnished and move-in ready, this newer 3BR plus den lakefront home is located on nearly a half-acre of lush property. All you need to bring is your toothbrush to this beautiful turnkey residence in the private neighborhood of Isles of Sarasota, overflowing with community amenities for the entire family to enjoy.

www.6144AbacoDrive.com

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 Twitter.com/RealRoger | Instagram.com/RogerPettingell | Roger@Pettingell.com Owned by a subsidiary of Realogy Brokerage Group LLC 379685-1

36