East County - Thursday, March 3, 2011

Observer

EAST COUNTY

SPORTS:

OPENING DAY!

A&E BOZO BEHAVIOR

Cal Ripken Little Lynda Lilley aka Leaguers celebrate Blossom puts her best spring season. 14A face forward. 8A

photos ON 1B

Crew Craze

Thousands of rowing fans flock to annual regatta.

You. Your neighbors. Your neighborhood.

SHORT STACK

Thursday, MARCH 3, 2011

Ret. Brig. Gen. John Casey, of Tara, celebrated his 80th birthday Feb. 27. His wife, Arlene, made sure he would never forget it.

KUDOS, QUOTABLES AND COMMUNITY

The children of Peace Presbyterian Church were active participants in the recent baptism of Wellspring Olson Thomas, son of the Revs.

Clay Thomas and Tricia Dillon Thomas.

The Thomas baptism was the first in Peace’s new location in the Manatee Board of Realtors building on Lakewood Ranch Boulevard.

For information about Peace Presbyterian, visit www.peacepcusa.com or call 753-7778.

By Pam Eubanks | News Editor

LAKEWOOD RANCH — The search for a new executive director for Lakewood Ranch Town Hall is under way.

Executive recruiter Colin Baenziger on Feb. 26 began the recruitment process by posting the position on his website and e-mailing it to more than 7,000 local government professionals.

On Monday, Baenziger said he already had received about 40 applications, including what supervisors on the Lakewood Ranch Inter-District Authority board received unsolicited since former Executive Director Bob Fernandez announced his resignation in late January.

“I’ve had more (unsolicited) inquiries about this job in the limited time it’s been out there than I

+ Our Lady youth group learns to fly

INDEX Business Directory................12B Classifieds..............................12B Cops Corner............................5A Crossword.............................11A Neighborhood.........................1B Real Estate.............................9B Sports....................................15A Vol. 12, No. 9 Two sections www.YourObserver.com

Baenziger continues search for director Colin Baenziger, of Colin Baenziger & Associates, already has received about 40 applications for the IDA’s vacant Lakewood Ranch Town Hall executive director position.

+ Peace hosts first baptism

The Youth Group from Our Lady of the Angels braved dizzying heights while learning to fly on the trapeze Feb. 27 at Christian Retreat.

The Trapeze School helped the participants focus on their faith journey as well as learn the difference between believing and trusting.

head hunting

SEE SEARCH / PAGE 9A

Pam Eubanks

On his 80th birthday Feb. 27, Ret. Brig. Gen. John Casey took to the air with fellow pilot Nigel Milligan, and even had the opportunity to take the controls during their nearly hourlong flight.

Ride of His Life

By Pam Eubanks | News Editor

TARA — At first, Ret. Brig.

Gen. John Casey thought nothing of the growing roar he heard as he mingled with friends at the Tara Golf and Country Club Feb. 27 for his 80th birthday celebration.

But as the noise grew louder, his wife, Arlene, latched onto his arm and ushered him from the shade and into the sunlight.

This wasn’t any ordinary helicopter, she says to him.

It’s for him. Just for him.

After walking through an honor guard of golfers saluting with their golf clubs, John Casey, a helicopter pilot in Vietnam, secured his seatbelt and helmet and took off for a nearly hour-long ride with pilot Nigel Milligan.

His smile never left his face.

Arlene relaxed only after determining her husband’s

shock had worn off sufficiently. Somehow, she’d managed to keep this surprise a secret from the one-star general for weeks on end.

“I think half of Tara knew about it,” she says, grinning.

COMMUNITY HERO

John’s wife of 16 years, Arlene originally had planned a small cocktail gathering at

SEE FLIGHT / PAGE 8A

Proposed timeline March 11 — Closing date for submission of applications March 16 — Baenziger reports the results of the recruiting effort to the IDA board.

April 11 — Baenziger forwards the finalist materials to the IDA. Information includes candidates’ resumes, a summary of his interviews with candidates, the results of background and reference checks and Internet/newspaper archive results. Materials scheduled to arrive April 12.

April 15 — Baenziger reviews finalists with IDA. April 28 — IDA members interview candidates one-onone and as a group.

INBRIEF

Look and Feel Great this Spring!

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The Manatee County Sheriff’s Office is continuing to patrol the Summerfield section of Lakewood Ranch more frequently following a Feb. 18 incident during which a driver of an unmarked van got out of his vehicle several times to speak to children.

Sheriff’s office Public Information Officer Dave Bristow said the sheriff’s office has not been able to classify the incident as anything other than a suspicious circumstance. The sheriff’s office believes the driver may have been a door-to-door salesman based on interviews with residents and other information.

“We did get some conflicting information as we interviewed people,” Bristow said. “(But) there was no question there was a van there.”

Bristow said the incident was “nowhere near an attempted abduction” because the suspect did not attempt to grab or lure the child into the van.

The sheriff’s office notifies Manatee County Public School officials in instances where children are in danger. The incident in Summerfield Crest, Bristow said, which did not occur at school, was considered only a suspicious circumstance and did not warrant a notification to local schools.

Manatee County School District spokesperson Margi Nanney said principals of East County Schools followed proper procedure in handling the incident.

“We look to (the Sheriff’s Office) for direction,” Nanney said. “If they’d have thought we (needed to) sent out notification (to parents), they would have told us, and we would have done it immediately.”

+ Sanborn on hunt for another site

Film production company Sanborn Studios has announced it will not purchase a nearly

www.uniqueservices.com

The EAST COUNTY Observer THURSDAY, MARCH 3, 2011

www.YourObserver.com

7-acre parcel in Lakewood Ranch as planned but will continue looking in the area for another future studio location.

Founder and CEO Ken Sanborn said after completing due diligence on the prospective Lakewood Ranch site, the company determined it would not be appropriate.

“We decided it wasn’t the best location for what we wanted to build,” he said. “We’re looking for another possible site in Sarasota County. We’re still looking in Lakewood Ranch as well.”

Schroeder-Manatee Ranch President and CEO Rex Jensen confirmed the termination of the proposal to purchase the parcel.

“On Feb. 17, 2011, we received a fax from Sanborn Studio’s legal counsel that terminated our agreement with them,” he said.

“At this point, Schroeder-Manatee Ranch no longer has any contractual relationship with Sanborn Studios.”

However, the company still plans to purchase its existing Lakewood Ranch facility sometime during the duration of its leaseoption, Sanborn said.

Additionally, Sanborn Studios opened its first office in Los Angeles March 1. The company’s Chief Financial Office Alan Bailey will manage the office and split his time between California and Sarasota, Sanborn said.

“The important this is we want to attract other businesses here,” Sanborn said. “We have paved the way for more (businesses) to come.”

+ Memorial bricks to be placed at Jiggs

East County residents can honor a loved one or recognize a special date by purchasing a special memorial brick for Jiggs Landing Preserve.

The Old Braden River Historical Society is selling the memorial bricks for $50 each, with $25 going toward the cost of interpretive displays at the preserve.

The first 12 bricks recently were installed at the park.

For information or to place an order, visit www.oldbradenriver.org.

7211 Pasadena Gln Lakewood Ranch $1,675,000 #A3928147 941-907-9595 Mary Pat Pihl 941-932-3065

708 Riviera Dunes Way $1,050,000 #M5811875 Joe Foster

Palmetto 941-907-9595 941-812-7634

250 Sands Point Rd # 5401 $739,000 #A3921919 Gail Wittig

Longboat Key 941-383-7591 941-228-1985

9648 18Th Avenue Nw Cir $695,000 #M5813130 Sandy Drapala

Bradenton 941-748-6300 941-725-0781

7812 Rosehall Cv Lakewood Ranch $689,900 #A3928813 941-907-9595 Leigh Simons 941-224-4515

7047 Vilamoura Pl Lakewood Ranch $649,000 #A3934820 941-907-9595 Barbara Najmy 941-705-1158

4303 Cobia Ct $625,000 Jody Shinn

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Snead Island 941-748-6300 941-705-5704

644 Norsota Way $575,000 #A376790 Gail Wittig

Siesta Key 941-383-7591 941-228-1985

3605 54Th W Dr # 201 $460,000 #A3921448 Adam Cuffaro

Bradenton 941-752-2683 941-812-0791

8721 12Th Nw Ave $459,000 #M5814247 Pamela Sperounes

Bradenton 941-748-6300 941-812-0754

1132 Crescent St $439,900 #A3928683 Barbara Najmy

8303 Shadow Pine Way $385,000 #A3939744 Elizabeth Holman

Sarasota 941-349-3444 941-356-0709

12467 Natureview Cir $335,000 #M5818822 Dana Preston

Bradenton 941-748-6300 941-705-5510

5352 Eliseo St $275,000 #A3939819 Susanne Cosgrove-Lee

Sarasota 941-349-3444 941-400-9068

7710 Whitebridge Gln University Park $269,900 #A3935415 941-907-9595 Edward Haggerty 941-685-6154

8071 St Simons St # 8071 University Park $265,900 #A3923636 941-907-9595 Catherine Lamphier 941-400-4219

7332 Lake Forest Gln Lakewood Ranch $265,000 #A3920921 941-907-9595 Christine Mazur 941-374-4015

2016 N Lockwood Ridge Rd $245,000 #M5815004 Laura Tracy Clekis

Sarasota 941-748-6300 941-915-4167

6402 Quail Hollow Pl # 34A $239,000 #M5818024 Neddy Harkins

Bradenton 941-748-6300 941-730-4941

7711 San Juan Ave Bradenton/Palma Sola $199,000 #M5815865 941-748-6300 Maria Christenson 941-920-3583

1065 Whitegate Ct $152,000 #A3939757 Sabrina Fusco-Sullivan

1253 Paradise Way $139,900 #A3924458 Richard Maggs

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Venice 941-907-9595 941-350-5826

Siesta Key 941-907-9595 941-705-1158

Bradenton 941-748-6300 941-545-4430

Bradenton 941.748.6300 • IMG Academies 752.2683 • Lakewood Ranch 907.9595 • Main Street Sarasota 951.6660 • St. Armands 388.4447 • South Longboat 383.7591 • Siesta Key 349.3444

51060

LWR Family Practice Walk-in 2A

The EAST COUNTY Observer THURSDAY, MARCH 3, 2011

NeWS

www.YourObserver.com

update

Rescue reveals first cottages Honor Animal Rescue’s Ranch features buildings similar to the structures used following the 2010 earthquake in Haiti.

By Michael Eng | Executive Editor

LAKEWOOD RANCH — You’ve never seen an animal rescue like this.

Honor Animal Rescue’s new home, called the Ranch, features four cottage-style buildings similar to those used following Hurricane Katrina and the 2010 earthquake in Haiti. The buildings create a courtyard, and in the middle stands a pond-less water feature complete with a fire hydrant.

There’s nary a chain-link fence in sight. And that’s just how President Rob Oglesby likes it.

“It’s a complete different environment for animal rescue,” Oglesby said of the Ranch, which sits on a 7.68-parcel at 4951 Lorraine Road in Lakewood Ranch.

“They’re meant to resemble a Key West village.”

The village is the culmination of months of planning for the 4-year-old East County-based organization. When complete, it will allow the rescue to streamline its operations. Currently, the rescue houses its animals in existing structures on the Ranch property as well as at Nate’s Place off Cooper Creek Boulevard.

Eventually, the rescue will transfer all animals to the Ranch.

Oglesby said the Ranch’s environment not only will be healthier and happier for its furry friends but also it will provide a more comfortable environment for families looking to adopt.

Furthermore, he said the Ranch gives donors the satisfaction of seeing their dollars at work.

“Each of these costs $15,000,” he said of the cottages. “It takes an average of 21 days to adopt a dog, and each of these can hold

Michael Eng

U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan hosted a public forum about Florida’s prescription drug abuse problem Feb. 28 in Sarasota.

six dogs at a time. That means for $15,000, we can help rescue 140 dogs in one year per cottage.”

And in the current economic conditions, Oglesby said the rescue needs that kind of productivity from every dollar it receives.

“Two years ago, we rescued 300 animals,” he said. “Last year, that jumped to 550.”

Honor Animal Rescue also has

SARASOTA COUNTY — U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan isn’t just hearing from parents who have lost children to overdoses on prescription drugs.

He’s hearing from other legislators in other states, as well.

“They (tell me): (Florida) is killing our kids,” Buchanan said at a forum on prescription drug abuse Feb. 28.

More than 100 community members, media and local officials attended the forum at Sarasota City Hall to hear representatives from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the Florida Attorney General’s Office and from the sheriffs offices of Sarasota and Manatee counties address Florida’s prescription drug epidemic.

“Florida is the epicenter of this abuse, and we need to take care of it,” Buchanan said. “It’s completely out of hand. We’re looking at the federal level what we can do.”

Possible solutions, he said, include tougher penalties for physicians and others caught inappropriately prescribing or dealing with prescription drugs and a database for monitoring prescription drugs on a federal level. The District 13 representative co-sponsored H.R. 4956, called the Stop Oxy Abuse Act of 2010, which would have reclassified drugs containing oxycodone hydrochloride and limited their approval to use for the relief of severe-only pain if it had passed.

The Florida Legislature passed a prescription drug monitoring program about two years ago, but the program is not yet in operation because of objections raised by one of the contractors who bid on the project but lost. The Florida PDMP Foundation, the organization tasked with funding the project, has raised enough money to pay for the Department of Health to implement the database for at least the first year.

However, under his proposed budget documents, Gov. Rick Scott is seeking to eliminate the program because of concerns with long-term funding. He closed the Office of Drug Control, which acted as a driving force behind the program’s creation while coordinating the efforts of the state’s local drug coalitions.

Dave Aaronberg, a former state senator who now serves as the special council for the State Attorney General’s Office’s pill mill initiative, said the state Attorney General’s Office has retained two Office of Drug Control employees to continue working on the issue.

Contact Pam Eubanks at peubanks@yourobserver.com.

partnered with Petco and showcases animals at the store’s East County location, 131 N. Cattlemen Road.

The Rescue will be the beneficiary of Lakewood Ranch’s Music on Main concert from 6-9 p.m. this Friday. For more, visit www.honoranimalrescue.org.

Contact Michael Eng at meng@yourobserver.com.

As part of the Sarasota Invitational Regatta, organizers hosted an inaugural adaptive rowing program for clients of Community Haven for Adults & Children with Disabilities and for Easter Seals on Feb. 25.

By Pam Eubanks | News Editor

As part of the weekend’s events, Laura Schwanger, a gold, silver and bronze medalist in track and field in the 1988, 1992 and 1996 Paralympic Games and a bronze medalist in rowing in the 2008 Paralympic Games, provided an adaptive rowing demonstration on Feb. 27. Schwanger, a military veteran, was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis while on active duty.

Buchanan promises support in drug fight

By Pam Eubanks | News Editor

Sarasota debuts adaptive rowing

STAR POWER

epidemic

Rescue President Rob Oglesby said each of the cottages costs $15,000.

MAKING WAVES

SARASOTA COUNTY — Barry Gradert’s face shined with a constant smile as he pulled out from the dock and rowed himself across the waters at Nathan Benderson Park.

“This is what it’s all about — the look on his face,” said Madeline McGrail, director of adult day training at Community Haven for Adults & Children with Disabilities. “Our goal is to support and encourage our clients to live as independently as possible. Rowing itself gives them the power. There’s something much more involved in that they’re accomplishing something rather than just experiencing something.”

Sarasota County Government and the rowing community partnered to offer the area’s first adaptive rowing event Feb. 25 as a kick-off to the Sarasota Invitational Regatta. The twoday regatta, which featured opportunities to row with U.S. National Team and Olympic rowers from Feb. 26-27 at Nathan Benderson Park, raised funds to start an adaptive rowing program for individuals with mental and physical disabilities in the area.

Adaptive rowing takes rowing equipment and adapts it to accommodate the needs of rowers with disabilities, said coach

3A

Community Haven’s Barry Gradert, front, couldn’t stop smiling as he rowed with coach Alex Alexandru.

Joe Dobson, of the Sararowing classes to people sota Rowing Club. with vision, mental or “In this case, we used developmental impairspecial pontoons to proments, paraplegics, vide safety (and help staquadriplegics and ambilize the boat),” Dobson putees. said.

Dobson said he hopes About 10 individuals to get the program cerfrom Community Haven tified through the U.S. and Easter Seals, nonOlympic Committee this profit organizations that year. work with individuals The Sarasota Inviwith disabilities, turned tational Regatta was out Friday for the inausponsored and produced Photos by Pam Eubanks gural adaptive rowing Coach Joe Dobson, right, shows CHAC client by the Sarasota County program, where each par- Amy Cross how to use the oars properly.

Rowing Club, the Saraticipant took a turn at the sota County Commisoars with veteran rower Alex Sarasota County Parks and sion, Sarasota County Parks Alexandru.

Recreation Coordinator An- and Recreation, the Sarasota “This is like a chance in a drea King the event served as a and Bradenton area Convenlifetime,” said Jeannne Buzbee, sort of “taste test” for what the tion and Visitors Bureaus services coordinator for Easter future may hold. Sarasota Parks and Benderson Development.

Seals. “(The participants who and Recreation, the Sarasota Metlife sponsored the adaptive came here today) wanted to Rowing Club and the T-REC rowing event as well as a demdo this instead (of going to the Coalition of Sarasota County onstration by Paralympic medbig Mardi Gras party we had have partnered together to alist Laura Schwanger. planned). They’ve been very ex- form a proposed adaptive rowContact Pam Eubanks at peucited.” ing program that would offer banks@yourobserver.com.

For photos from the 2011 Sarasota Invitational Regatta, see Neighborhood, 1B.

4A

OPINION

www.YourObserver.com

THE EAST COUNTY OBSERVER THURSDAY, MARCH 3, 2011

Observer our view EAST COUNTY

“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

Publisher / Lisa Walsh, lwalsh@yourobserver.com Associate Publisher-Multimedia / Emily Walsh Parry / ewalsh@yourobserver.com Editor-Editorial Page / Rod Thomson, rthomson@yourobserver.com Executive Editor / Michael Eng, meng@ yourobserver.com Assistant Managing Editor /Jessica Eng, jeng@yourobserver.com News Editor / Pam Eubanks, peubanks@ yourobserver.com Associate Editor / Jen Blanco, jblanco@yourobserver.com Black Tie Editor / Stephanie Hannum, shannum@yourobserver.com Social Editor / Molly Schechter, mschechter@yourobserver.com Arts & Entertainment Editor / Heidi Kurpiela, hkurpiela@yourobserver.com Director of Advertising /Jill Raleigh, jraleigh@yourobserver.com Advertising Executives / Tracy Bender, tbender@yourobserver.com; Louise Lewis, llewis@yourobserver.com; Suzanne Munroe, smunroe@yourobserver.com; Kathleen O’Hara, kohara@yourobserver. com; Laura Ritter, lritter@yourobserver. com; Lori Ruth, lruth@yourobserver.com; Kenji Trujillo, ktrujillo@yourobserver.com; Maria Witty, mwitty@yourobserver.com Account Manager / Victoria Baga, vbaga@yourobserver.com Classified Advertising Supervisor / Pam Cooper, pcooper@yourobserver.com Classified Advertising Sales Executive / Maureen Hird, mhird@yourobserver.com Multimedia Production Manager / Caleb Stanton, cstanton@yourobserver.com Advertising-Production Operations Manager / Kathy Payne, kpayne@yourobserver.com Advertising-Production Coordinator / Brooke Schultheis, bschultheis@yourobserver.com Advertising Graphic Designers / Monica DiMattei, mdimattei@yourobserver.com; Shawna Polana, spolana@mass.rr.com; Marjorie Holloway, mholloway@yourobserver.com; Luis Trujillo, ltrujillo@ yourobserver.com Circulation Manager / Paul Simons, psimons@yourobserver.com Circulation/Admin. Assistant / Donna Condon, dcondon@yourobserver.com Chief Financial Officer / Laura Keisacker, lkeisacker@yourobserver.com Accounting Manager / Lori Downey, ldowney@yourobserver.com Accounting Assistant / Kathy Klein, kklein@yourobserver.com

The Observer Group Inc. Locally Owned

Publishers of The Longboat Observer, The East County Observer, The Sarasota Observer, The Palm Coast Observer, Season magazine and Gulf Coast Business Review

Chairman / David Beliles Editor and CEO / Matt Walsh Vice President / Lisa Walsh

8788 State Road 70 E., Suite 103 Bradenton, Fla. 34202 941/755-5357 www.yourobserver.com

County right, policy still wrong

When Ken Sanborn asked Sarasota County for another $500,000 for his startup movie studio in Lakewood Ranch, it just highlighted an ongoing policy problem.

Sarasota County Commissioner Nora Patterson rightly called the request “startling,” coming on the unproven heels of $650,000 the county already has given Sanborn Studios.

County staff agreed. Administrator Jim Ley said he was not going to place it on the agenda unless a commissioner requested it and, if so, it was going to be with a recommendation against it.

It’s heartening to see the county staff and commissioners see the foolishness of more funding for this enterprise, and we hope they continue to see it in a year or whenever it may be that more requests will come.

While we would love to see Sanborn Studios succeed and thrive — and based on Sanborn’s track record building Gyrocam, the company just might — the idea of using taxpayer money to fund such a high-risk venture as a movie studio is not prudent.

With growing opposition, Sanborn pulled his request. Issue over? Not really.

The real problem is with these taxpayer giveaways. By opening the Pandora’s Box of endless government largesse, our leaders entered into a frenzy where every local,

out-of-state or startup business has the full expectation of getting tax money for what they often plan to do anyway.

You just don’t read of expansions or new companies without reading about how much they were given in grants or other financial incentives. For instance, the same day Sanborn asked for more money, Tervis Tumbler got a $30,000 annual tax break from Venice for a plant expansion that it was clearly going to do anyway.

It’s not really the fault of business. Why would any business owner or CEO not seek cheap capital wherever it is available? It would practically be a breach of fiduciary responsibility not to. Local governments have made themselves just another capital source for businesses now.

No, this is completely on local leaders acting like sheep instead of acting on principle. Seeing that the box is open, the best that governments are left with is: Everyone else is doing it!

Patterson used another apt term for the Sanborn project when she said funding for the film industry was being done “kind of speculatively.” But there is a sense in which all of these giveaways are speculative.

Very near to the last thing any county commission needs to be doing with taxpayer money is speculative investing — something

we fervently hope commissioners will remember regarding Jackson Labs.

+ Hurricane Charlie

Crist, that is. Even the Wall Street Journal is lamenting the state of Florida’s insurance industry in the aftermath of the former governor’s irresponsible politicizing of the state’s property insurance market.

We all know the score. The state-run Citizen’s Property Insurance Corp., which was supposed to be the insurer of last resort, now controls 25% of the market and has become the insurer of first resort thanks to subsidized rates. Plus, Citizens does not have enough money to handle a major storm and would end up having to tax everyone to make up the difference.

The Journal’s contention is that Crist was always relying on Washington to bail out Florida if the big one hit, because his system was never going to be solvent.

That is wrong on principle. It should not be the responsibility of Iowa farmers and Tennessee cashiers to subsidize Florida waterfront owners and beyond.

The solution is simple, if politically hard.

The state needs to back way out and let market forces dictate prices and coverage, allowing competition from private insurers who will then take on the risk — not taxpayers.

my VIEW

Anti-growthers reliably wrong Local governments have wisely been reducing or ditching new home taxes known as impact fees to spur the economy. Opponents are spitting mad.

Predictably enough, cutting or eliminating new-home taxes in our area is causing an outbreak of vein-popping hysteria among those who always oppose economic growth if it means either more people here, or developers make money.

Some only see nefarious moneygrubbing in the Sarasota County Commission’s decision to cut road impact fees in half for two years. The School Board already eliminated school impact fees because of a drop in students that means ROD other schools will not be THOMSON needed for several years.

Sarasota attorney and anti-developer extraordinaire Dan Lobeck wrote recently that the impact-fee cuts mean that “developers who bankroll political campaigns will benefit and the rest of us will pay.” He sees the decision as nothing more than crony payoffs by corrupt county commissioners. Unwarranted and predictable, but he has a following.

Others see a tax shift. Sarasota HeraldTribune columnist Eric Ernst started a recent column with, “My taxes just went up.

So did yours if you are a property owner in Sarasota or Manatee counties.”

He points the crooked tax-raising finger at the Sarasota and Manatee county commissions’ impact fee cuts, acting on the long-engrained assumption that growth does not pay for itself but costs existing taxpayers. We all like to blame the other guy. It’s easiest when whatever is wrong is someone else’s fault. And so if you are paying more in taxes than you want to, or if the roads are more congested, just blame it on newcomers. Politicians have generally enjoyed this game because future taxpayers can’t vote now — tax the dudes not here!

The fallacies in this argument are myriad.

First, Ernst’s taxes did not go up. In fact, they probably went down because his

property value is declining and the county has not increased the millage rate. A small point, but being factually wrong ought to diminish the effect of an otherwise fine rhetorical flourish.

Second, the charge is made that we have a glut of homes, and so cutting impact fees won’t make any difference in new home construction. But we don’t necessarily have the available houses people moving here want. And the existing stock can be readily taken up with workers in construction and the businesses spun off from there.

For instance, Manatee County cut impact fees last year — and the Manatee School District has also eliminated impact fees for now — and the county just extended those cuts. What has resulted is a steady increase in building permits.

Third, the primary issue is the assumption that newcomers cost us money by having to build new roads, schools, libraries and so on. But it turns out newcomers pay taxes, too. Who knew? And since most new homes are more expensive than the average existing home base, newcomers pay on average more taxes than existing residents.

There was a fascinating study done two years ago that documented — contrary to popular beliefs — how newcomers actually do pay more than their own way.

Elliot Eisenberg, senior economist for the National Association of Home Builders in Washington, D.C., did an in-depth study of impact fees in Collier County in 2009. While Eisenberg’s employer cannot be considered objective, his numbers are numbers pulled from the database and are fascinating. And Collier is a reasonable comparison with Sarasota and Manatee.

Eisenberg used the same formula adopted by many institutions and universities, including the University of Florida, to demonstrate concretely what many of us thought intuitively: Growth does pay its own way. And more.

Here’s how he did the numbers.

Eisenberg broke the study into three parts: construction, the ripple effect and

occupancy. The benefits of those three phases are combined and compared against the costs of the new house and people during the same time frames. The costs include all services from education, fire and police to sewer, water and roads to parks, libraries and public health care.

For the 565 single-family homes and 283 multifamily units built in Collier County in 2008, the construction phase created 2,538 jobs — 1,754 in construction, the rest in spin-offs — plus $31 million in taxes and $149 million in local income.

During the ripple effect phase, which includes spending that income on goods and services in the local economy, the new housing created 1,531 jobs, plus $6.6 million in local taxes and $82 million in local income.

And then come the numbers that are so often left out: occupancy, when people are living and working in the community. That created another 556 permanent jobs, plus $5 million in local taxes and $28 million in local income. Every year. Ad infinitum.

The point overlooked or willfully ignored is that people in these new houses buy food and cars, go to the dentist and the bank and use child care. That obvious benefit is often what the growth opponents won’t consider.

So over 15 years, the cumulative take in taxes for local governments was $115 million. But the total cost during those years in all public services was $55 million.

Taxes flowing into government coffers as a result of new home construction and people growth generated nearly twice their costs to the local government in services.

Stunning news. Yet Eisenberg has reproduced this study all over the country and shows consistent findings.

Not only does growth pay for itself, it subsidizes those of us already here.

Ernst ends his column using the rusty old Lobeck postulation that “someone is making money off this. It’s just not you and me.”

The point? There must be sleaze involved here. Probably those dirty developers.

Maybe some commissioners on the take.

Actually, it may well be that we are making money off of growth, because these newcomers pay more than their fair share.

Impact fees tilt the field even more in financial favor of those of us already here.

Rod Thomson is editorial pages editor of the Observers and can be reached at rthomson@yourobserver.com.

The EAST COUNTY Observer THURSDAY, MARCH 3, 2011

by the Observer staff

Observer Group announces new editorial pages editor

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Rod Thomson is the former executive editor of the Gulf Coast Business Review, also owned by The Observer Group Inc. Rod Thomson, executive editor of the Gulf Coast Business Review, has been promoted to the new position of editor of the editorial pages for The Observer Group Inc. Thomson will have responsibility for the weekly editorials, opinion pages, letters to the editor and contributing opinions for the Longboat Observer, Sarasota Observer and East County Observer.

“This is a perfect match of Rod’s best talents and our company’s needs,” said Matt Walsh, editor and CEO of The Observer Group.

“Many of our readers have seen Rod’s every-other-week column in the Sarasota Observer and may remember his popular twice-weekly column from his days at the Sarasota Herald-Tribune,” Walsh said.

“Now all of our Observer readers will get the benefit of reading Rod’s thought-provoking and common-sense commentary on local issues.

“And this will come as no surprise to our readers: We are happy to appoint Rod to this position because his politicalLBK2010 philosophyHaligns perfectly with our company’s,” Walsh added. “He, too, is a

steadfast proponent of individual freedom, personal responsibility and capitalism.”

For the past five years, Thomson has directed the editorial staff and content of the Gulf Coast Business Review, which is also owned by The Observer Group.

Prior to that, Thomson spent nearly six years traveling to and from Haiti while he worked for the Sarasota-based Hand to the Plow Ministries.

Thomson is a graduate of Michigan State University and a diehard Spartans and Detroit Tigers fan. He has been a journalist for 27 years, having served at newspapers in Minnesota and Iowa and the Herald-Tribune and written articles for the New York Times, People, Picture Week, National Review Online and Focus on the Family.

Thomson is an elder in his church and a director of Hand to the Plow Ministries. He and his wife, Kim, have been married for 30 years. They have eight children and two grandchildren and live in east Sarasota County.

Thomson can be reached at rthomson@yourobserver.com.

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COPS The following information was gathered from incident and arrest reports obtained from the Manatee County Sheriff ’s Office.

COOPER CREEK Reported Feb. 23

2:07 p.m. — 8460 Cooper Creek Blvd., Suite 103 (Cooper Creek Dental). Telephone harassment. An unknown male has continually called the dentist office several times a day on all three of the available lines.

The suspect either says nothing or requests the Social Security number of the employee who answers the phone. The suspect also inserts the phone number to his business and uses it to call the business back. The only number given from the suspect that may be valid was listed in the suspect information. Verizon was contacted and given the

The EAST COUNTY Observer THURSDAY, MARCH 3, 2011

NeWS

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case number for the incident.

Verizon will attempt to trap the suspect’s number and then contact the sheriff ’s office with the results.

LAKEWOOD RANCH Feb. 23

8 a.m. — 8100 block of Lakewood Ranch Main Street. Auto burglary. While the victim was at work, the subject(s) opened an unlocked door to his vehicle and removed several items.

MYAKKA CITY Feb. 21

1:30 p.m. — 40000 block of Clay Gulley Road. Information.

The complainant wanted to document that his mother still continues to call him and harass him about why the family Baker Acted her. He wanted it documented, so he can get a restraining order

so she will quit coming over and calling him. He was informed to file for a restraining order at the courthouse.

Feb. 22

4 p.m. — 46700 block of State Road 70 E. Criminal mischief.

An unknown person attempted to ram open the front gate with an unknown type of vehicle. The gate bent but didn’t break open.

There were no witnesses found in the area that saw or heard anything.

4:11 p.m. — 37000 S.R. 70 E. (Myakka Gas Station). Possession of drug paraphernalia.

The defendant was arrested for a warrant. During a search of his pockets, the responding deputy found a bag with seven needles in his left front pants pocket and a silver spoon in his right front pants pocket coated with a white substance. The items were placed into property for lab work, requesting the spoon be tested for a narcotic due to the white residue left on the spoon.

SUMMERFIELD Feb. 22

8 a.m. — 12300 block of Mosswood Place. Grand theft of a trailer. Unknown person(s) stole the victim’s trailer that was located behind his house.

OTHER Feb. 22

1:30 p.m. — 8750 S.R. 70 E. (Sweetbay). Lost property. The complainant reported she lost her keys at the store, and they had not been turned in.

Feb. 23

8:15 a.m. — 2800 block of 58th Avenue Drive East. Burglary to an occupied structure. The suspects drove onto the fenced in property and parked on the backside of the building. The suspects then removed metal items from a storage bin, placed the items in the back of the truck and fled in the vehicle. The suspects were located and one of the suspects was arrested. The second suspect was initially let go due to lack of infor-

mation. A capias was later written for his arrest.

10:39 a.m. — The intersection of State Road 70 E. and Interstate 75. No driver’s license. The suspect was driving a vehicle with an expired tag. The vehicle had no registration, and the suspect didn’t have a driver’s license. The suspect was taken to the Manatee County Jail and the vehicle was towed. It was unclear who owned the vehicle. There were no records of the VIN being registered.

The tag that was on the vehicle was placed into property.

5 p.m. — 2911 53rd Ave. E. (Walmart). Retail theft. According to the sworn affidavit of loss prevention, the defendant, who is an employee at the store, placed several items valued at $32.27 into a bag. He then passed all points of sale and exited the store without paying for the items, depriving Walmart of making a profit. Loss prevention detained the defendant until the sheriff’s office arrived. He was arrested and charged with the theft.

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Advertisers also may obtain all Observer Group Inc. advertising rates and editorial calendars online at www.YourObserver.com.

Classified Advertising/Service Directory: For information and rates, see the classified advertising section, or call 941-955-4888. Hours: 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. To place a classified ad online, e-mail your ad to Pam Cooper, pcooper@yourobserver.com.

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The EAST COUNTY Observer THURSDAY, MARCH 3, 2011

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exclusive

CARE TO SHARE Peace Presbyterian members Dan and Kirstin Shontere, a group of college students and others visited Haiti Feb. 15-21 to deliver food, assistance and some much-needed love.

the kids, and I have so much admiration for the (educated) people there.”

Haiti does not offer a free public education for students, so families must pay for their children to attend. Sponsorships for students at the Good Shepherd pay for classes, uniforms and one meal per day.

Because of the rising prices of foods such as rice and beans, only about two-thirds of students are fed each day. The missions group distributed about 100 pounds of rice and beans to the Haitian people in Pele and used the peanut butter and jelly donated by their home church, Christ Presbyterian, to make sandwiches for the students, particularly those who wouldn’t be eating.

“For a lot of them, it’s the only meal they get for the day,” Dan Shontere said “They have (peanut butter in Haiti), but it’s not something they ordinarily would have. It’s a (nutritious) treat.”

At one point, the group was passing out sandwiches, but only had about 100 left, forcing them to close off the distribution area so they wouldn’t run out of food.

“You could see their little feet outside the gate,” Kirstin Shontere said. “There was one little boy who ran out, ripped his sand-

By Pam Eubanks | News Editor

Photos courtesy of Kirstin Shontere

Lori O’Donnell shares Silly Bandz with a Haitian child.

suitcases with clothing, shoes, crafts, games and more than 200 jars of peanut butter and jelly and headed to the streets of Haiti, where they distributed goods and shared their faith with children at the Good Shepherd School, the only educational facility in a small urban slum of Port-auPrince called Pele.

“The trip was awesome,” said River Club resident and Christ Presbyterian member Kelly Pleasant, who went to Haiti with her daughter, Karlie. “I (loved)

The mission team distibuted more than 1,000 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches thanks to support from Christ Presbyterian Church.

get involved

For information about sponsoring a Haitian child at the Good Shepherd School, visit www.

Haitichildsponsorship.org. wich in half and handed it under the gate. It was so sweet.”

The Shonteres have been involved with helping children in Haiti for 20 years. Kirstin Shontere began sponsoring a child there after her sister visited the country. After she and Dan married 17 years ago, the couple took up the cause. They began visiting the country about two years ago when they were trying to decide where to take their Young Life group for a mission trip.

“We figured, ‘What better place to go than to the school?’” said Kirstin, a reading teacher at Lakewood Ranch High School.

Dan agreed.

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“When we read (in the Bible) about ‘the least of these,’ they’re basically our neighbors,” he said of the Haitian people. “Haiti is the poorest country in the western hemisphere.”

And, while the Shonteres said they were excited to share with Haitian students, they were equally eager to rekindle relationships with Haitian teachers and others at the school.

“By going back there, we get to maintain these relationships and let them know people care,” Dan Shontere said. “They’re not this forgotten spot on the globe.”

The group originally was scheduled to arrive in Port-au-Prince in December but was forced to reschedule their trip because of rioting around the county’s airport. The Shonteres plan to take another missions team to Haiti again around Christmastime.

Contact Pam Eubanks at peubanks@yourobserver.com.

Lakewood Ranch Blvd

MANATEE COUNTY — As Kirstin Shontere leaned her head back against the airplane seat, the week’s events pressed on her chest like a 2-ton weight.

After nearly a week in Port-auPrince, Haiti, it felt like her efforts — and those of her missions team — had been a mere pebble cast in an ocean of need.

During their trip, the East County team built two latrines at a local school, passed out more than 1,000 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and played games with children there.

“You kind of feel like, ‘Wow,’” Kirstin said. “In the end, what were we really able to do to help anyone? We were able to help them for the few days we were there, but there’s so much need.

You have to tell yourself: You do what you can, and if everyone can help just one more person, that’s one more person that’s helped.

“We’re here because God cares about them and that’s why we’re trying to help,” she says. “It really does make a difference, even just a little bit.”

Last month, Shontere, her husband, Dan, about a dozen college students in their Young Life College group and others loaded

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CASEY / PAGE 1A their modest Tara home but offered her husband a chance to invite whomever he wished after realizing there may be people in his life she may not think to invite.

“He started writing a list, and it kept getting bigger,” Arlene says. “He overwhelmed me (with the number, so we had to change venues). He said there were so many people in his life over the years that touched him. This was his way of saying, ‘Thank you.’”

Of the 131 people who received invitations, only one sent regrets.

“Everyone else said they (were) coming — even the first principal from when he started teaching school,” Arlene says.

“That tells you about the man.”

Friends describe John as humble, downto-earth, patriotic, courteous and gracious.

“He’s a man of great integrity and an all around nice fellow,” friend Art Mullins said.

His wife agreed.

“I’m always calling him a hero, but he doesn’t like that word,” she says. “(Veterans are) all heroes. (John)’s my hero. He’s the Tara community’s hero.”

DECORATED VETERAN

While John Casey quickly waves off all efforts to sing his praise, his wife just chuckles.

“He deserves it,” she says, a glimmer lighting her eyes as her husband walks out of the room to watch “The Price is Right” and give her space to talk unabashedly.

She darts into a bedroom and returns with her hand extended.

A black coin with gold trim, goldetched words and a military emblem shines as if it has been polished 100 times over.

Casey received the coin, now given in the military to show excellence, while he was at a mili-

The EAST COUNTY Observer THURSDAY, MARCH 3, 2011

NeWS

www.YourObserver.com

tary affair last summer. A middle-aged veteran who served in the U.S. Special Forces approached the retired general, read the medals John donned on his uniform and asked for the honor of shaking Casey’s hand, Arlene says.

John reciprocated the feeling of honor and thanks for service, and once the handshake had finished, John was left with the coin in his hand.

“This gentleman probably received it for (something he did),” she says.

Over his 28 years in the U.S. Army, John Casey worked his way up from a private to a decorated military officer, retiring as a brigadier general in 1979. A senior parachutist and senior aviator with more than 500 combat flying hours, Casey’s distinctions include the Combat Infantry Badge, four Legions of Merit, two Distinguished Flying Crosses, 23 Air Medals, a Meritorious Service Medal, a Joint Service Commendation Medal, two Army Commendation Medals, the Purple Heart and the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry with Palm and the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry with Bronze.

Jamie Day, a representative for Engage Aviation, the company that provided the helicopter ride for Sunday’s celebration, said Engage President Philip Carey couldn’t wait to give the general a chance to relive his passion for flying helicopters after seeing John Casey’s military résumé.

“He was so moved he really wanted to do anything he could to honor Gen. Casey for his birthday,” Day said.

TAKEOFF

John Casey breezes through his nearly 30-year military career in

John Casey walked through an honor guard of golfers as he headed to the greenway for his first helicopter ride in more than 30 years.

Left: John Casey’s military medals and other memorabilia fill the office of his Tara home. what seems like a matter of minutes.

After high school, John dreamt of attending West Point. His parents, he says, sacrificed everything for him to get an education, and John Casey spent his first year of undergraduate studies at Georgetown College in Kentucky before transferring to Georgia Military Academy for another year of schooling.

Then, he enlisted, following his father, who was recalled to active duty for World War II, into military service. Although the senior Casey had never pushed either of his sons toward enlisting, he was proud of both their decisions to do so.

“We made our own choices,” John says of himself and his brother.

“I grew up an Army brat, but I had no idea what it was like to be a soldier,” he adds.

John Casey began his military training in 1951 with basic training in Ft. Rally, Kan. The training site, which was flooded at the time of arrival, seemed desolate to

Casey, who had always enjoyed the comforts of home. The barracks had no heat, and sand covered the floor.

“In the 16 weeks I was there, I ate the worst food I’d had in my entire life,” John says with a chuckle. “They’d sent all the cooks to Korea.”

After boot camp, John Casey completed six months of Officer Candidate School.

Soon thereafter, he was promoted to 2nd lieutenant. But instead of going to Korea with many of the other soldiers, John was retained to run two cycles of Officer Candidate School classes.

“It’s a long, hard six months,” John says.

“You run every morning with them. You go to their classes with them.”

The next several years proved adventurous. John Casey spent the next year guarding radar sites in Iceland — a country he describes as windy and somewhat barren and having some of the most beautiful and literate people in the world — before spending three years in Ft. Benning, Ga.,

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CASEY / PAGE 8A as a weapons instructor. He then joined the Army’s newly created 3rd Brigade 1st Calvary Division, also called Airmobile, where he learned to fly helicopters. After a year of training, he became a tactical instructor for military aircraft in support of troops on the ground.

Then in 1961 during the Cold War, John Casey headed to Germany, where he commanded a rifle company, among other duties. “You had to keep your infantry trained,� he says.

After returning to the United States in 1964, John went to command at General Staff College for additional officer training. “They train you for more responsibility,�

John says, noting his next assignment was at the Pentagon before he volunteered to serve in Vietnam in 1966.

After commanding the 128th Assault Helicopter Unit for a year, John returned to the Pentagon and attended the National War College, the last step for completion of his officer training. “It’s designed to introduce you to international affairs and that type of activity,�

John says. “It’s designed to have you look at economics, politics, cultures. Everything.�

After completing his training, he served as the division operations officer for the 82nd Airborne Division from 1969 to 1971.

Then, everything changed.

NeWS bullets through the doorpost of the helicopter, through Casey’s wrist and into his chest plate.

The shots nearly severed Casey’s dominant right hand off, and he was transported immediately to a military hospital in Saigon, where he underwent surgery — the first of two in Saigon. “They weren’t sure my hand would stay on (at first),� John recalls.

He then was transported to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., where he spent the next 18 months undergoing five more surgeries as well as physical and occupational therapies.

Surgeons gave John the option of how he wanted his hand permanently bent, since motion in his fingers would be limited, at best. “I said to fit a golf club,� he says, chuckling. “You can see a golf club can fit in there.�

Arlene chides in: At the time of surgery, rumor had it that the surgeon even had

www.YourObserver.com

9A

LANDING

Photos by Pam Eubanks

John Casey and his wife Arlene celebrated John’s birthday with about 130 loved ones.

someone go get a golf club, sterilize it and bring it into to surgery for just that purpose, she says.

Although his hand had been shaped for it, John Casey never thought he’d play again until a golf pro at Tara took him under her wing. And in 1992, he picked up the sport he’d enjoyed since he was a teenager.

A crowd reappears on the green behind the Tara Golf & Country Club as the whirl of the helicopter again fills the air.

Upon landing, John Casey begins unstrapping himself as the helicopter’s blades come to a standstill. Friends push forward, snapping pictures and smothering him with birthday hugs as he dismounts. “It was really a thrill,� he says of the ride. “You never forget it. It’s been 30 years since I touched the controls. It’s a lovely feeling to be above everything.�

The hugs continue as John slowly makes his way toward the reception inside.

This birthday would be one he’d never forget. “I never thought I’d get (to 80),� John says. “It’s really special. It came about because I have a lot of great friends, and the medical profession took great care of me.�

Contact Pam Eubanks at peubanks@ yourobserver.com.

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normally get for city manager job over the whole recruiting period,� Baenziger said.

The IDA board hired Baenziger on Feb. 10 to conduct the search for Lakewood Ranch’s new executive director, and also have asked Baenziger to recruit candidates as quickly as possible without jeopardizing the quality of candidates. Baenziger is working to have a new director selected by the end of April, although the typical recruitment process takes three months.

Supervisors on the IDA, which oversees matters that affect the existing community’s four resident-controlled Community Development Districts, invited representatives from Lakewood Ranch’s various homeowners associations and CDD boards to meet with Baenziger Feb. 21 and share expectations for the new hire.

Baenziger said the meetings gave him more insight into the complexities of the position — particularly the tension that exists between the CDD boards, IDA and homeowners associations. “The person I look for is going to have to truly be a people person and someone who can bring people together,� Baenziger said. “The individual will be someone who has outstanding listening skills, who recognizes the different interest and who is good at building consensus.�

Baenziger noted the individual also would be expected to attend almost every meeting of the homeowners associations and CDD boards, at least for the first year. “If a candidate is not comfortable doing that, then that individual is probably not a good fit with the Lakewood Ranch IDA,�

Baenziger said. “It will be a tricky balance because the job will require a person who is achievement oriented but also someone who is comfortable in a crowd and going to meetings.�

The new director is expected to have at least 10 years of experience and at least a bachelor’s degree in business, public administration, engineering or a related field.

Starting salary will be between $120,000 and $160,000.

Contact Pam Eubanks at peubanks@ yourobserver.com.

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John Casey pauses, turning his attention to the end table in his office. The glass display that doubly serves as a tabletop holds one of Casey’s most cherished possessions.

An Army green chest plate sits, a quarter-sized hole ripped in the fabric. “That saved my life,� he says.

His permanently cupped right hand tells the other half of the story.

Six months into John’s second tour in Vietnam with the 3rd Brigade 1st Calvary Division, a 51-caliber machine gun sent

*Financial Planning Magazine Annual Broker Dealer Survey; June 2010 **STFP is not in the business of providing tax advice and this information although taken from public sources believed to be reliable, may not be accurate and complete. You should consult your CPA to fully understand how these tax issues could affect you. Investment Advisory Services offered through Southern Trust Financial Planning, Inc. Securities offered through Securities America, Inc. Member FINRA, SIPC. Southern Trust Financial Planning Inc. is not affiliated with Securities America Companies.

10A

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53399

CLOWNING GLORY

Photos by Heidi Kurpiela

Lynda Lilley, aka Blossom, attracts a crowd outside the Ringling Museum. “I think people are too serious these days,” she says. “It sounds corny, but to make somebody smile is so heartwarming.”

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Lynda Lilley is creating a spectacle.

She’s sitting on a bench outside the Visitors Pavilion at the John and Mable Ringling Museum, chatting with tourists as they stream past.

It’s a Monday afternoon —Presidents Day to be exact — and season in Sarasota is in full swing.

Lilley is dressed in garish, worn-in, clown regalia: white grease paint, neon wig, hulking sneakers and a polka-dotted

dress, which she bejeweled with sequins and tassels specifically for today’s interview. The museum is packed with kids, parents, senior citizens and teenagers, all of who seem to turn their cameras on the 54-year-old clown with the mini-clown puppet.

“It’s been a while since I was here,” Lilley says. “This is like my mecca. You’d think I’d come here every day, but I’m not even in the same realm as some of these

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legendary clowns … Lou Jacobs and all those guys.”

Lilley has spent the last 32 years dressing as a Blossom the Clown. Yet in all her hammy endeavors, she’s only visited the Ringling Museum a handful of times.

“Ya know,” she says taking inventory of the paparazzi swarm, “having a clown around here wouldn’t be a bad idea.”

She came to a similar conclusion seven months ago when she drove past a Venice barbershop and noticed the owner had scattered signs outside his storefront hoping to attract customers.

Armed with a business proposition, Lilley marched into the barbershop dressed as Blossom.

When Jeff Strode caught a glimpse of the clown and her strange puppet, he agreed to pay her $10 an hour to stand outside and wave to people.

The overachieving grandmother-of-six said she’d do one better: She’d dance.

With her MP3 player loaded with songs

by The Beatles, The Spice Girls, Pink and the Bee Gees, the clown began dancing in her size-14 New Balance sneakers.

“I can get anyone to smile,” Lilley says.

“Unless they’re on their cell phone or picking their nose.”

She pulled out all her favorite moves — The Twist, The Swim, The Mashed Potato and a little two-step she invented called The Temptation Shuffle.

“She’s helped tremendously,” Strode says. “I had a couple other people out there waving — kids mostly, but it was like I had to go out there and take their pulse. Lynda is a ball of energy. She’s brought us more attention for sure.”

Lilley has danced so much she’s worn out a patch of grass in front of the plaza.

A Sarasota native and graduate of Sarasota High School, Lilley always wanted to be a clown.

As a child she worshipped Bozo.

When she was 5 years old, she drove with her parents to Boston to appear on “Bozo’s Circus,” a television show starring her idol, Frank Avruch.

“He was approachable,” Lilley says of Avruch’s Bozo. “He had a simple outfit and simple makeup. That’s important.

You never want to look too good.”

Approachability is why Lilley keeps Blossom’s hair, makeup and clothes disheveled. It’s also why when people ask her how long it takes her to get into character, she tells them five minutes, followed by: “It gets easier as you get older.

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT You just follow the lines in your face.”

Some clowns adhere strictly to pantomime. The quick-witted Lilley has never been that kind of clown.

After high school, she studied journalism at the University of South Florida before auditioning for the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Clown College, in Venice.

She was rejected, however, for having a puppet.

“They didn’t do puppets in those days,” Lilley says. “But I went down to that circus tent and I tried. Boy, did I try.”

She raised six children as a single mother, working a variety of odd jobs, the oddest of which was, of course, clowning.

She invented Blossom in the late 1970s as a creative way to make extra cash.

Her first gigs were at the Brown Derby Restaurant on the corner of Siesta Drive and Tamiami Trail; there she worked as a waitress by day, clown by night.

In an outfit not unlike the one she wears

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today, Lilley would plod around the diner pulling sight gags on customers.

Her favorite was an old trick she picked up from comedian Joan Rivers.

She would tuck a long strip of toilet paper into the back of her shoe and walk around the restaurant like she didn’t know it was there.

“Anything to make ’em laugh,” she says recalling the memory. “Those were the glory days — before kids were afraid of clowns.”

When she says this, a dark cloud seems to hover over her otherwise sunny disposition.

If there’s one thing Lilley can’t stomach, it’s rampant clown phobia, which she blames on movies such as Stephen King’s “It.” “These days, kids are taught to fear clowns,” she sighs. “But not all of us are bad. Most of us are good. It’s sort of like pit bulls. You get one bad one, and it ruins it for the whole lot.”

11A

Lilley’s puppet, which she calls Sprout, is beginning to show signs of mildew.

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The EAST COUNTY Observer THURSDAY, MARCH 3, 2011

Arts & entertainment

backstage pass

Foot Notes

Sarasota Ballet’s tireless education director explains how she juggles motherhood, teaching and running the company’s new downtown dance studio.

By Heidi Kurpiela | A&E Editor

Sayward Grindley is a study in multitasking.

Just poke your head into her office on the first floor of the FSU Performing Arts Center and you’ll see that she doesn’t just dance. She juggles.

Now in her third season as education director of the Sarasota Ballet School, Grindley, a North Carolina native, is the first to admit she’s got a lot going on.

First, there’s her daughter, Parker — a vocal 9-month-old who happily toddles into the arms of any of the dancers who pass by Grindley’s office.

“They adore her,” Grindley says of the company dancers and students who take turns watching the baby between rehearsals and classes. “Yoohung (Lee, a member of the corps de ballet) loves her so much he says his girlfriend is jealous.”

Parker’s playpen takes up onehalf of Grindley’s small office.

On top of the pen, Grindley has tossed a plastic bag of glittery green costume accessories that will soon adorn the tutus of her younger dance students in an upcoming St. Patrick’s Daythemed recital.

A baby stroller is pushed up against another wall.

“The older she gets, the more stuff I need to occupy her,”

Heidi Kurpiela

Sayward Grindley’s office is home to the Sarasota Ballet School’s youngest pre-trainee: Grindley’s 9-month-old daughter, Parker.

Grindley says, hoisting Parker on her hip as coryphée dancer Jamie Carter walks past; his face lights up at the sight of the child.

“I joked about bringing her to work after my maternity leave,” Grindley said. “I didn’t think Iain (Webb, the company’s ballet director) would go for it, but he’s been really amazing. I get emotional whenever I think about what they’ve done for my family and me. It used to be women had babies and they couldn’t work.

They had to stay home.”

Grindley’s office is brimming

with dance programs, dance books, stacks of loose-leaf paper, plastic cups filled with crunchy baby snacks, manila folders and newspaper articles trumpeting the 29-year-old’s accomplishments in expanding the ballet’s dance program.

When she was promoted to education director after three years of teaching part-time at the school, there were only 65 students in the program. Since then, the roster has more than doubled and grown to include a trainee and pre-trainee program

for older dancers.

The Sarasota Ballet School has become such a draw it now has a waiting list.

“I like being presented with a challenge,” Grindley says. “Especially when people don’t think things are possible. I ask myself, ‘What do we need to do to make this happen?’ And, then, I just do it.”

It helps that Grindley, a former dancer with Fuzión Dance Artists, studied dance performance and education at East Carolina University. A teacher at heart, when she received a full ballet scholarship to attend the university, she insisted on pursing two degrees.

“It took me an extra semester,” Grindley says. “But it’s helped me tremendously in the long run.”

When she moved in 2005 to Sarasota, she began working as a dance instructor at Manatee School for the Arts and later Booker Middle School, where she completely rebuilt the school’s dance program.

Sarasota Ballet’s Dance — The Next Generation program now rehearses in a studio Grindley helped design during her time at Booker.

“I always tell my students to get a well-rounded education,” Grindley says. “The ballet world is very competitive. If you can walk into a company looking

DID YOU KNOW? Sayward Grindley was named after a character actress Elizabeth Montgomery (“Bewitched”) played in the 1978 television miniseries, “The Awakening Land.” The series was based on a book trilogy by Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Conrad Richter about an American frontierswoman. for a job and you can teach every age and every style of dance, you’ve got a greater opportunity to make money doing what you love.”

One of her biggest projects this season has been overseeing the company’s new downtown dance studio on Lemon Avenue — Studio 20 at Pineapple Square, which, in addition to providing additional rehearsal space for overflow students, offers a full schedule of adult dance classes.

“I’m trying to start a mommyand-me class dance class,” Grindley says. “I want something interactive, though. I’ve seen some classes where babies just sit in a stroller while the moms dance around. Kids love to dance. I know Parker’s already bouncing to music. When she was younger, I would wear her to class, and she’d fall asleep on my chest.”

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Sports

Observer

EAST COUNTY

Your Complete East County Sports Source

Thursday, MARCH 3, 2011

girl power

ODA kicks off first O Bowl ODA hosted its first girls-only football game Feb. 26 under the stadium lights.

By Jen Blanco | Associate Editor

LAKEWOOD RANCH — As the final seconds of the first half ticked off the clock, Melanie Mason tucked the football safely inside her navy blue jersey and took off for the end zone.

The Out-of-Door Academy sophomore running back ran left then cut right, making her

way into the secondary before a swarm of white jerseys descended upon her — sending her red flag flying and signaling the end of the first half.

Trick plays such as these were the name of the game for the seniors and sophomores, who kept the juniors and freshmen off guard for four quarters to preserve a 13-6 victory in The Out-

of-Door Academy’s first O Bowl Feb. 26.

Led by senior quarterback Rachel Cannon, who threw for two touchdowns and an extra point, Team Blue captured the powder puff trophy and bragging rights in the school’s first girls flag football game under the lights.

“It’s just fun — it’s like playing any other sport,” said Cannon, who played the entire game. “It’s kind of special though because

SEE ODA / PAGE 16A

Photos by Jen Blanco

Team Blue, comprising The Out-of-Door Academy’s seniors and sophmores, defeated Team White in the first O Bowl Feb. 26.

Shane Davidson slides safely back into first base during Lakewood Ranch’s 9-1 victory over Braden River Feb. 22.

meeting on the mound

By Jen Blanco | Associate Editor

East County and district rivals Braden River and Lakewood Ranch took to the fields in pivotal district contests Feb. 22.

The host Lady Pirates defeated the Lady Mustangs 1-0. Sophomore Courtney Mirabella pitched a complete game for Braden River, allowing two hits and two walks while striking out 17.

After four scoreless innings, the Lady Pirates took the lead in the bottom of the fifth inning on a double by Ashley Allard, which drove in Kenya Yancy from first base. Braden River notched eight hits off Lakewood pitcher Huntyre Elling. Allard

Photos by Jen and Brian Blanco

Braden River sophomore pitcher Courtney Mirabella, center, earned her first win over Lakewood Ranch Feb. 22.

Lakewood Ranch High senior Sarai Miller has helped the Lady Mustangs post a 5-2 record this season. went 2-for-3 with a double and a RBI, and Nicole Tira went 2-for3 with a double to lead the way for Braden River at the plate.

Meanwhile, the visiting Lakewood Ranch baseball team defeated Braden River 9-1. Junior Seth McGarry held the Pirates to just two

hits in six innings to preserve the win for the Mustangs. Zach Larson hit a two-run home run, and Connor Lewellan drove in three runs to lead the way for Lakewood at the plate. With the win, Lakewood improves to 3-0 in the district, while the Pirates fall to 1-2.

Braden River High sophomore Myles Straw beats the throw to first base. Straw went 1-for-3 at the plate.

COMMENT

Spring ball conjures childhood memories Spring has sprung in the East County, and I couldn’t be happier.

Sure, the 80-degree weather we’ve been having may have something to do with it; but after all, who wouldn’t want to spend their afternoons basking in the sunlight while they take in batting practice, hit a few tennis balls or catch a track meet?

JEN Granted, BLANCO the season doesn’t officially start for another three weeks, but a quick look around the East County contradicts the calendar. Yes, spring sports seasons are alive and well.

Braden River, Lakewood Ranch and The Out-of-Door Academy all started their spring seasons last month, and Spring Training for Major League Baseball is finally underway. But for me, nothing says spring more than a game of baseball — Little League baseball.

This past Saturday, I spent the afternoon out at Manatee Cal Ripken Little League’s Opening Day celebration. And as I watched the players — some playing baseball for the first time — it reminded me of the first time I stepped onto the ball field.

It was 1990, and I was 5 years old. Decked out in my light blue YMCA T-ball shirt and red ball cap, I grabbed my brand new baseball bat and my blue glove and eagerly headed out to my first T-ball game.

And although I don’t remember much about that first game, I’ll never forget loving every minute of it.

Like most Little Leaguers, I

SEE COMMENT / PAGE 16A

14A

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Trent Goodman, 5, returned to the field for the first time since breaking his leg in October.

HERITAGE HARBOUR — Five-year-old Trent Goodman ran out onto the field and assumed his position at second base — all the while grinning from ear to ear.

It had been four months since Trent ran out onto the diamond with the rest of his teammates, and the Cal Ripken Little Leaguer couldn’t contain his excitement. In October, Trent broke his leg while playing at school.

He spent three weeks in the hospital and was forced to sit out the rest of the fall season.

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Instead, Trent came out to every game in his wheelchair to cheer on his teammates.

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SPORTS

Trent eventually learned how to walk again; and on Feb. 26, Trent ran out onto the field with his Kansas City Royals teammates for the first time since his injury.

“I’m having fun,” Trent said. “I like batting because I get to hit the ball, and I like to catch the ball.”

Trent was one of more than 450 players who took to the field last Saturday for Cal Ripken Little League’s Opening Day celebration. This spring, the league features 32 teams, ranging in age from coach pitch to Majors.

“I enjoy seeing all of the kids in their uniforms and seeing them excited to play baseball,” Manatee Cal Ripken Little League coach Brian Hedgepeth said. “They really love the game of baseball and they’re excited to be out here. It’s just the feeling of spring.”

Each of the 32 teams played its first game of the season on Opening Day; and while the majority of the players had played before, for some, it was there first time stepping out of the dugFive-year-old Benny Hedgepeth is out.

“I wanted to play because I was out of soccer,” playing coach pitch this year.

5-year-old Sebastian Caro said. “I’m just growing. Soccer is for 4-year-olds. So I’m here now.”

The Manatee Cal Ripken Little League spring season will run through May. For more information on Manatee Cal Ripken Little League at Heritage Harbour, visit the league’s website at www.manatee.baberuthonline.com.

Contact Jen Blanco at jblanco@yourobserver. com.

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Deposit balances are insured up to the maximum amount permitted by law. Please see www.fdic.gov for insurance coverage. *Special offer only available with a Fifth Third Checking Account with monthly Direct Deposits. If your checking account is closed for any reason (by you or us), or transferred to another kind of account, or if direct deposit is cancelled, standard interest rates/annual percentage yields (APYs) apply. Balances of $250 to $2,499 earn 0.15% APY. Balances of $2,500 to $9,999 earn 0.25% APY. Balances of $10,000 or more with a Fifth Third checking account and direct deposit established at time of opening earn 1.20% APY. Annual Percentage Yields accurate as of 01/09/2011 and valid for new Relationship Savings accounts opened on/after 01/09/2011. For APY or interest information on existing deposit accounts, contact us at 1-877-579-5353 or visit your local Banking Center. APYs vary by market. Rate may change after the account is opened. Relationship Savings Interest Bonus (Double-Interest Bonus): Open a Relationship Savings account and a Fifth Third checking account, or link a new Relationship Savings account to an existing active Fifth Third checking account, and your Relationship Savings account will receive the Double-Interest Bonus if you conducted one of the following checking activities: One (1) direct deposit of $100.00 or more received in the previous 35 calendar days; Or your Fifth Third checking account must have (i) one (1) automatic checking transfer of $100.00 or more into a Fifth Third personal savings account during the previous 35 calendar days AND (ii) total net transfers from your checking to savings during the previous 35 days equal $100 or more; Or any combination of five (5) or more of the following checking activities in the previous 35 calendar days: Debit card purchases (signature or PIN); cleared check(s); online and/or telephone bill payment(s). Your Fifth Third checking account is considered “active” by satisfying any of the aforementioned requirements above. An Interest Bonus (equal to the amount of interest already earned in the previous statement cycle) is paid to the account at the end of your next statement cycle based on the previous 35 calendar days’ checking activity.

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53437

March 11, 8 pm | Neel March 10 & 12, 8 pm; March 13, 2:30 pm | Van Wezel

INBRIEF

ODA / PAGE 13A girls don’t really get to play football.

“I didn’t want to miss a second,” she said. “I never like to come out of any game. You can’t deny a night of competition.”

In addition to bragging rights, the seniors and sophomores also won points toward the Thunder Cup — the prize of a yearlong competition between the different grade levels.

ODA has held a powder puff football game in years past, but with its new football stadium now complete, the school decided to take a traditionally smallscale event and turn it into a bigger spectacle.

“We have this new stadium and the lights, so we wanted to make it primetime under the lights on a Saturday night,” ODA Director of Student Activities Tim Brewer said.

Any girl in grades 9-12 was eligible to play. The seniors and sophomores represented Team Blue, and the juniors and freshmen played as Team White.

“I’ve always been athletic, and I wanted to prove that I’m as athletic as the guys because they think they’re so good because they play football,” junior Sammi Jo Gaeta said. “It’s fun because

COMMENT / PAGE 13A couldn’t wait to swing the bat.

I would eagerly walk up to the plate, grip my bat and dig in my heels. And of course, I would try to hit a home run every time.

I played T-ball for three years before deciding to trade in my

The EAST COUNTY Observer THURSDAY, MARCH 3, 2011

SPORTS

www.YourObserver.com

+ Braden River blanks St. Pete Lakewood

Photos by Jen Blanco

The Out-of-Door Academy sophomore Ashtin Frank rushes for a Team Blue first down during the school’s first O Bowl under the stadium lights. we don’t get to play football in school.”

Once the teams were in place, the girls spent about a month learning plays and practicing with their assistant coaches — members of the Thunder football team.

“I like the whole reversal of roles,” Brewer said. “The girls take center stage, and the boys help coach. It also gives the girls in different grades an opportunity to get to know one another and bond.”

With game day upon them, the two teams took the field, and

it wasn’t long before the smack talking ensued. Penalty flags began to fly as elbows were thrown, inadvertent tackles were made and blood was shed.

Team Blue took a 13-0 halftime on a pair of touchdown grabs by sophomores Sam Albano and Caroline Dailey. Team White responded late in the third quarter on a long touchdown run by Gaeta, but it proved too little too late.

“We’re competitive with the seniors,” Gaeta said. “We didn’t want to lose to them.”

Contact Jen Blanco at jblanco@yourobserver.com.

bat and glove for a pair of pom poms, but that still didn’t keep me away from the ballpark. After I quit, I watched my younger brother, Jason, play. It’s not only America’s pastime; it’s my family’s pastime as well.

And who knows? Maybe one day, I’ll find myself once again

out at the ballpark watching as a spectator from the stands and cheering on my own little boy. But for now, I’ll enjoy the memories as I watch our East County teams take the field for another spring season.

Contact Jen Blanco at jblanco@yourobserver.com.

The Braden River softball team scored five runs in the third en route to a 9-0 victory over St. Pete Lakewood Feb. 25.

Sophomores Courtney Mirabella and Hannah Loyer combined for the no-hitter, allowing only two walks while striking out 16.

Jada Schopfer went 4-for-4 with two stolen bases, a RBI and a run scored; and Kenya Yancy and Ashley Allards both went 3-for-4 with a double, a stolen base, two RBIs and two runs scored to lead the way for the Lady Pirates at the plate.

+ Lakewood swimmer qualifies for camp Lakewood Ranch High swimmer Danielle Valley has been invited to the 2011 USA Swimming National Open Water Select Camp June 7-11 in Fort Myers.

The camp will feature the top 12 male and top 12 female swimmers in the 1,500-meter freestyle based on their 2010 USA Swim times. Athletes will have the opportunity to qualify for the 2011 FINA World Championship in Shanghai, China, the 2011 World University Games in Shenzhen, China and the 2011 Pan American Games in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.

+ Pirate lifters win tri-meet

The Braden River High boys

weightlifting team scored 48 points to defeat Manatee and Southeast Feb. 23.

The Pirates finished with five first-place winners. First-place winners include: Sam Valley (119-pound weight class), 275 pounds of total weight; Tyler Pittman (154), 470; Tyler Linde (169), 480; Nathan Kirkman (219), 575; and Tracy Jackson (238), 510.

+ ODA girls tennis tops Braden River

The Out-of-Door Academy girls tennis team defeated Braden River 4-2 Feb. 24.

Michelle van Dalen (No. 2), Savannah Sleight (No.3), Callan Malone (No. 4) and Liz McGayhey (No. 5) all won singles matches for the Lady Thunder.

Braden River’s Marie Babayan defeated Cheyenne Kerekes in No. 1 singles before teaming up with Annalise Cook in No. 1 doubles.

+ Ladwig, Evora prepped for Tokyo

Sunshine from Darkness and the Ellenton Ice & Sports Complex will host a special World Championship send-off to 2011 U.S. pairs silver medalists Mark Ladwig and Amanda Evora from 3:30-4:30 p.m., March 12, at the complex, 5309 29th St. E. Ladwig and Evora then will depart for the World Figure Skating Championship, which will be held March 21-27 in Tokyo, Japan.

The event is free and open to the public. During the event, guests will enjoy performances and an autograph session.

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16A

The EAST COUNTY Observer THURSDAY, MARCH 3, 2011

www.YourObserver.com

17A

ATHLETE OF THE WEEK

Courtney Mirabella

Mon-Sat 11:30am-midnight Sunday Noon-11pm

Join in the “HOOPLA!”

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Are You “ALL IN?”

BOGEY’S DAILY SPECIALS

W he r

Do you have any siblings?

How does it feel to have gotten The East County I have an older sister, Heather, your first win over Lakewood Observer and Bowho is 20 years old.

Ranch? gey’s Restaurant It was so exciting. I’ve been thinkand Sports Pub Are you from Florida originally? ing about this game all year. I had the have teamed up Yes. I don’t like Florida though. date memorized and everything. to showcase the It’s too hot. I want to live in New East County’s top York City.

How did you get into softball? athletes. Each reI started playing when I was 7 Who is your biggest role model? cipient’s article will years old. My older sister played, and Derek Jeter. He’s really good at be featured on the my dad told me to play, too. baseball. restaurant’s wall.

What’s the toughest part about If you could go anywhere in the being a pitcher? world, where would it be and why?

The game is always in your hands.

Italy. I want to go because of the shopping and the food.

If you had to describe your team in one word, what would it be?

What’s your favorite type of music?

Crazy.

I listen to rap and R&B — I despise country.

What makes your team unique?

What do you like to do when you aren’t We all get along, and (there isn’t) any drama. playing softball?

I think that helps us play better on the field.

I like to go to the beach, go to the movies and hang out with my friends.

What’s your favorite TV show?

“Jersey Shore.” It’s so funny.

— Jen Blanco

49146

Braden River sophomore pitcher Courtney Mirabella pitched a complete game Feb. 22, allowing two hits and two walks while striking out 17 to lead the Lady Pirates to a 1-0 victory over rival Lakewood Ranch. Mirabella followed up her first win over Lakewood with eight more strikeouts Feb. 25. Here is an inside look at this week’s Athlete of the Week.

941-799-3000 • SR 70-Just 1/4 mile west of I-75 • 7230 52nd Place East

18A

The EAST COUNTY Observer THURSDAY, MARCH 3, 2011

SPORTS

www.YourObserver.com

senior spotlight

COMMUNITY GOLF

+ Lakewood Ranch

Joe Parelman and Mike Paolino shot 53 to win the Men’s Lakewood Ranch threeball event Feb. 9.

Judy Lemieur, Ulrike Wistorf, Mary Richardson and Jan Neitlich scored 31.2 to win the Golf at the Ranch WGA nine-hole event Feb. 17 on Cypress Links.

Greg Wolff, Gene Seashore, Bud McAnallen and Mike Adams scored 151 to win the team quota points Men’s event Feb. 19 on King’s Dunes.

Heidi Phillips, Yolanda Dwyer, Pat Hosmer and Geri Judd shot 99 to win Flight 1 of the 1-2-1 on 3-4-5 event Feb. 22 on King’s Dunes.

Angie King, Ginny Moss, Stephanie Simpson and Donna Hamilton shot 97 to win Flight 2.

+ River Club

Gail Overholt finished +10 to win the quota points LGA event Feb. 12.

Jeremy Carter and Tom Moran won the two-man quota points MGA event Feb. 16.

Jan Doede shot 66 to win the low net LGA event Feb. 19.

+ Rosedale

John and Kathi Skelton shot 60 to win the Augusta Flight of the four-ball low net Couples Club Championship Feb. 19. Ken and Darlene Hoffmann shot 59 to win the St. Andrews Flight.

Love of tennis serves up fun for Meadows couple

cause of the tennis and because of the way the developer laid it out,” Bill King said. “There are so many interesting people that live here.”

When the couple is living in Sarasota, Bill King tries to get out on the court at least six times a week. Back home in Virginia, Bill King travels about 50 miles to Richmond once or twice a week to play tennis.

“We live in a little town with tennis courts, but they aren’t very good,” Bill King said. “Richmond has nicer tennis courts and the country club.”

In addition to playing singles, Bill King also plays men’s doubles. Bill King and his wife also play mixed doubles with some friends in Virginia.

“There’s a group of us in our little town that play Mixed doubles,” Sally King said. “We got out and play, but it’s not very serious.”

Prior to competing at the Meadows, Bill King competed in the USTA Super Series Grand Prix event Feb. 14-19 at Payne Park in Sarasota where he reached the quarterfinals in Men’s 80 singles.

Bill King isn’t sure whether or not he’ll compete again before heading back to Virginia, but he is certain about one thing. His age hasn’t stopped in from playing and he doesn’t plan on letting it any time soon.

“I hadn’t really noticed it getting harder,” Bill King said of playing tennis now that he’s older. “It’s fun. I have no intentions of quitting now.”

Contact Jen Blanco at jblanco@yourobsever.com.

Part-time Meadows resident Bill King reached the semifinals of the men’s 80 singles division of the USTA Super Senior Grand Prix Feb. 21-26.

By Jen Blanco | Associate Editor

THE MEADOWS — For three days, Sally King sat in a lawn chair with her eyes on the tennis court.

Every now and then, the parttime Meadows resident would glance toward the scoreboard before reverting her attention to the match at hand. After all, this wasn’t any ordinary match.

It was the semifinals of the Men’s 80 singles, and her husband, Bill King, was on the court for the third time in the USTA Super Senior Grand Prix, which ran Feb. 21-26 at The Meadows Country Club.

“He likes having me watch,” Sally King said. “That’s mainly why I come.”

Between serves, Bill King would look back toward his wife and smile.

“I’m glad when she comes,” Bill King said.

The 80-year-old Bill King began playing tennis 50 years ago.

A natural athlete, Bill King began looking for something to keep him active and occupy his time.

“I’ve just always liked sports of any kind, but when you’re 30 (years old), tennis is the easiest thing to play,” Bill King said.

Jen Blanco

Part-time Meadows resident Bill King, 80, began playing tennis 50 years ago. Today, King competes in about six tennis tournaments a year.

Bill King began playing tennis with some friends in his hometown of Warsaw, Va.; and shortly thereafter he taught his wife how to play. Although, Sally King admits she isn’t nearly as competitive as her husband.

“He taught me how to play when we first got married, but I wasn’t a very good student,” Sally King said. “He’s nice enough to let me play. We’ll go out and hit together sometimes.”

Get a grip, lose a hip!

by

friday, march 11th, 2011

“She plays a lot less than I do,” Bill King said. “She’s alright, but she’s never considered herself competitive.”

Today, Bill King competes in about six tournaments throughout the year, splitting his time between Sarasota and Virginia.

This past fall, the couple bought a condominium in the Meadows, allowing Bill King to get out on the courts more often.

“We like The Meadows be-

Lynn Nottage

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JUST THE

STATS 575

The total weight in pounds that Braden River’s Nathan Kirkman lifted to win the 219-pound weight class of the boys weightlifting trimeet Feb. 23.

The number of strikeouts sophomore pitcher Courtney Mirabella notched in the Braden River High School softball team’s 1-0 victory over Lakewood Ranch Feb. 22.

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The number of months it has been since 5-yearold Trent Goodman ran

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13

The number of points the seniors and sophomores scored in The Out-of-Door Academy’s O Bowl Feb. 26.

1,500

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The total number of teams playing this spring out at Manatee Cal Ripken Little League.

The length in meters of the freestyle swim in which Lakewood Ranch swimmer Danielle Valley qualified for the 2011 USA Swimming National Open Water Select Camp.

52152

80

17

19A

53478

The EAST COUNTY Observer THURSDAY, MARCH 3, 2011

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The EAST COUNTY Observer THURSDAY, MARCH 3, 2011

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Neighborhood ■

■

inside

McNeal Wildcats rally at annual Winter Carnival.

Page 2B

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real estate

Photo Contest

East County sales Ranch home tops weekly transactions.

See inside for this week’s weather winner. Page 11B

See page 9B

www.YourObserver.com

Jessica Song, right, and the rest of the Hillsborough Crew team were ready to race.

■

■

THURSDAY, MARCH 3, 2011

Power 10 coxswain Rachel Cohn was ready to compete.

Miami Beach’s Thoe Tennis listens to last-minute instructions from her coach before leaving the dock.

Crew Craze Even at the novice level, competition was fierce throughout the day.

Thousands of rowing fans flocked to Nathan Benderson Park in the East County for the 2011 Sarasota Invitational Regatta Feb. 26-27. The competition featured hundreds of student and professional rowers from around the country while also raising funds to start an adaptive rowing program in Sarasota County.

Teams enjoyed perfect weather all day.

Left: The Sarasota Scullers were tough competitors at this year’s regatta.

in focus

by Michael Eng | Executive Editor

2B

The EAST COUNTY Observer THURSDAY, MARCH 3, 2011

NEIGHBORHOOD

www.YourObserver.com

step right up!

McNeal Wildcats rally at winter bash Silver Stars co-captain Melanie Hahn was excited to perform at this year’s carnival.

Despite its name, McNeal Elementary School’s Winter Carnival felt more like a spring fling Feb. 26.

Guests enjoyed carnival games and treats, a performance by the Lakewood Ranch High School Silver Stars and more.

— Michael Eng

Jordyn Golden, 7, sat perfectly still as she got her face painted.

Right: Cate Eschmann, 12, didn’t mind getting wet in the dunk tank.

Left: Kaylee Burns, 4, and her mom, Christine, posed for this carnival caricature photo.

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Alyssa Squitieri, right, had a great time at the carnival her mother, McNeal PTO President Nicole Squitieri, helped organize.

The EAST COUNTY Observer THURSDAY, MARCH 3, 2011

www.YourObserver.com

3B

happy feet Craig Conklin

51970

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Adam Catterson, Cornelia Santana, Caleb Gostkowski, Dylan Martorano and Lucas Naylor ran hard during this year’s event.

Tara Elementary laces up for run-a-thon fundraiser Tara Elementary students pulled on their running shoes and took to the field for the school’s Run-A-Thon Feb. 25.

After they finished running, students enjoyed ice-cold water and popsicles.

— Pam Eubanks

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(tax and gratuity not included) Expires 3/13/11

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Draft Beer or Soda with Purchase of Lunch Entrée

Expires 3/13/11

Bradenton’s

Premier Daily Fee Golf Course 53417

7515 Grand Harbour Parkway

Dessert with Purchase of Dinner Entree

Dozens of East County children enjoyed a morning of fishing at this year’s tournament.

Money Saving Coupons at:

www.golfstoneybrook.com

Lakewood Ranch youth reel in fun, fish at fishing tourney Dozens of East County anglers cast their lines into Summerfield Lake for the annual Youth Fishing Tournament

Feb. 26. The event, organized by the Lakewood Ranch Community Activities Corporation and led by the Anglers Club,

Jake Cullen caught a bass, a tilapia and a bluegill to win first place in the 5-8 age category.

Right: Kaitlyn Alvarez, 12, snagged first place in the 1215 age category.

gave children ages 5-15 a chance to catch a variety of fish throughout the morning.

— Michael Eng

Cody Martineau, 11, won the 9-11 age category.

All InclusIve Golf 7 Days a week

Includes Breakfast, Lunch, & 2 Draft Beers 55 before 8am 60 after 12pm

$ $

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68 after 8am 35 after 3pm

$ $

941-925-2755 | www.serenoagc.com

53614

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52025

7AM-8AM 8AM-Noon Noon-2PM After 2PM

941-746-2696

www.YourObserver.com

Restaurant open daily for lunch Dinner Friday and Saturday

at HERITAGE HARBOUR

$

4B

The EAST COUNTY Observer THURSDAY, MARCH 3, 2011

NEIGHBORHOOD

www.YourObserver.com

5B

if you can dodge a wrench ...

Lakewood Ranch students take aim for Littlejohn son

Lennie Twenty, of the JC and the Black Warriors team, prepped for a fierce competition.

Lakewood Ranch High School’s Student Government Association on Feb. 24 hosted its second charity dodgeball tournament.

This year’s event, which featured 28 teams, raised $4,500 for the trust fund of Adrian Littlejohn, the 1-year-old son of Lakewood football and track coach Anthony Littlejohn, who is undergoing treatment for a rare form of pediatric cancer.

— Pam Eubanks

Fiona Morley, nicknamed “Princess” for the tournament, played with Team Bieber Fever.

James Cascone, 17, proved himself to be a team player.

Devin McDermott, along with Kristen Voight, announced teams as they entered the gymnasium.

Ashley Seide, Melissa Berthold and Choumika Desir came to watch friends compete.

53602

Football coach Shawn Trent got in on the action.

6B

Spend a night in a fully-furnished Vacation Home or on an RV Site

The EAST COUNTY Observer THURSDAY, MARCH 3, 2011

www.YourObserver.com

communitycalendar To publicize your event in our community calendar, please send it via fax: 753-8456; by mail: 8780 S.R. 70 E., Ste. 101, Bradenton, FL 34202; or by e-mail: meng@yourobserver.com. Photos are welcome. Deadline is noon Thursday.

Thurs., March 3 Blood Donations — Florida Blood Services’ Manatee Bloodmobile will be accepting donations in the East County from noon to 3 p.m., March 3, at Lakewood Ranch Golf & Country Club, 7650 Legacy Blvd; 4:30-8:30 p.m., March 3, at Cooper Creek Office Park, 8039 Cooper Creek Blvd.; 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.., March 3, at Meridian College, 7020 Professional Parkway E. Financial Forum @ The Ranch —This group will meet at 9 a.m., March 3, at the Serving Spoon, 8215 Lakewood Ranch Blvd.

Joe Najmy will present “Estate Planning and Creditor Proofing It with Trusts.”

Erich Weber, 350-5379.

at our award-winning resort for only $24.99* including lunch buffet for two

Fri., March 4

Once you’re here, you’ll discover a winter lifestyle like no other resort with 162 weekly experiences from Aerobics to Zumba!

Blood Donations — Florida Blood Services’ Manatee Bloodmobile will be accepting donations in the East County from noon to 3 p.m., March 4, at Sweetbay, 5201 33rd St. E.

Call 941-371-2505 or 800-843-2421 for your night in paradise today!

Tennis Day Spa Olympic-size pool 2 huge hot tubs Lawn bowling Acres to walk and bike Entertainment Restaurant Poolside Bar & Grill And much more!

52925

*Additional nights available at regular price.

Offer good February and March 2011 for new reservations only. Based on availability.

Jonathan Cortez —This musician will perform from 9 p.m. to midnight, March 4, at The Polo Grill and Bar, 10670 Boardwalk Loop. 7820899.

Wine Tasting — WineStyles Lakewood Ranch will host a tasting from 5-7 p.m., March 4, at the shop, 8225 Nature’s Way, San Marco Plaza. Sponsor is Nick Vizzi, of Amerprise Financial. 306-5804 or www.winestyles.net/ lakewoodranch.

Sat., March 5

tions in the East County from 2:30-5 p.m., March 5, at Crowder Bros. Ace Hardware, 2401 Lakewood Ranch Blvd.

Brooks ‘Run Happy’ Cavalcade of Curiosities Bus Tour — This double-decker British bus will make a stop in the East County from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. March 5, at Fit2Run, 8249 Cooper Creek Blvd., University Center. Runners of all ages, skill levels, shapes and sizes will be entertained, educated and awed by the display.

358-5100 or www.runhappy.com.

Horseshoe Cove’s Annual Spring/Fine Arts Craft Sale —This show and sale will be from 9 a.m. to noon, March 5, at Horseshoe Cove, 5100 60th St. E. The event features paintings, wreaths, jewelry and more.

Sun., March 6 Falafel Lunch — Chabad of Bradenton and Lakewood Ranch will host this lunch from noon to 1 p.m., March 6, at the center, 11509 Palmbrush Trail, Lakewood Ranch. 752-3030.

Mon., March 7 Beginner’s Conversational Italian with Roberto — These Italian classes will be from 6:30-8 p.m., Mondays through March 14, at Mamma Onesti’s, 8453 Cooper Creek Blvd.

Cost is $45 per lesson or $160 for the entire class; includes dinner every evening. RSVP to (727) 866-6892.

Blood Donations — Florida Blood Services’ Manatee Bloodmobile will be accepting donations in the East County from 8 a.m. to noon, March 7, at Encore, 800 Kay Road N.E.;

Blood Donations — Florida Blood Services’ Manatee Bloodmobile will be accepting dona-

7125 Fruitville Road, Sarasota, Florida 34240 Join us on Facebook www.sunnfunfl.com

a community partner

113 113 Tamiami Tamiami Trail Trail in in the the town town of of OSPREY, OSPREY, FL FL 1 Block South of Spanish Point

941-966-9800 941-966-9800 53618

Photo: FRAnK AtuRA

Hours: Hours: Mon-Sat Mon-Sat 10-5 10-5 Sun Sun 11-5 11-5

Anne Frank

“Look for the Orange & Green Building!”

SEE CALENDAR / PAGE 8B

Quilts • Linens • Period Furniture Vintage Chandeliers & Lighting Primitive Iron • Wicker • Rattan Clocks • Tools • Mirrors • Fine Art Bronzes • Collectibles • Pottery Art Glass • Books • Military • Postcards Jewelry • Bakelite • Toys 8,600 sQ FT oF unIQue AnTIQues WITh 30 deALeRs!

YOuR NeIgHbORHOOD FIsH HOuse There’s nothing quite like it!

Freshest Seafood

Only Local shucked Raw bar

Friendliest Atmosphere

Lunch Served Monday-saturday

staff and Neighborhood Patrons

Dinner Served

Fun for the Whole Family

Tuesday-sunday

The Jewish Federation believes in the power of one, but recognizes the strength in numbers. By collaborating with local and national organizations, such as the Sarasota Ballet, the Federation is able to provide an even wider variety of cultural, social, and educational programs and services to our community. Visit www.jfedsrq.org or call 941.371.4546 to find out more.

Real Food & Real good Times!

Sunday Hours 3pm-8pm DON’T FORGET MARCH 17th BEST CORN BEEF IN TOWN!

& fish market Klingenstein Jewish Center 580 McIntosh Road, Sarasota FL 34232

941-907-0589 www.luckypelicanbistro.com

Can you find the lucky pelican?

6239 Lake Osprey Drive, Lakewood Ranch

941.371.4546 www.jfedsrq.org

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Located a mere 30 second drive off I-75 exit 213.

Next to the Holiday Inn....in the Lake Osprey Plaza

www.YourObserver.com

7B

52909

The EAST COUNTY Observer THURSDAY, MARCH 3, 2011

8B

CALENDAR / PAGE 6B and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., March 7, at Walmart, 2911 S.R. 70 E. Gulf Coast United Cheer & Dance —This school will host Handspring and Cheerleading Clinics March 7-10 at the school, 3220 59th Ave Drive E., Unit 104. 752-6278.

Tues., March 8 Conversational Hebrew — Chabad of Bradenton and Lakewood Ranch will host this class at 7 p.m., March 8, at the center, 11509 Palmbrush Trail, Lakewood Ranch. 752-3030.

Fox Business Group —This group will host its Business Lunch and Learn at noon, March 8, at Country Pancake House, 8205 Natures Way, San Marco Plaza. 758-2404.

Friends of the Braden River Branch

The EAST COUNTY Observer THURSDAY, MARCH 3, 2011

NEIGHBORHOOD

www.YourObserver.com

Library Book Discussion Group — This group meets at 6:30 p.m., the second Tuesday of each month, at the library, 4915 S.R. 70 E. The group will discuss “A Reliable Wife” by Robert Goolrick at its March 8 meeting. 727-6079.

meets at 11 a.m., Tuesdays, at Lakewood Ranch Town Hall, 8175 Lakewood Ranch Blvd.

Trash and Treasure Sale — The Harmony Hall Hobby Club of Colony Cove will present this sale from 9 a.m. to noon, March 8, at Colony Cove, 7615 Lakeshore Drive.

Lakewood Ranch Democratic Club —This group will meet at 7 p.m., March 8, at Lakewood Ranch Town Hall, 8175 Lakewood Ranch Blvd.

Speaker will be Dr. Stanley Katz, former deputy assistant secretary for international economic affairs in the Department of Commerce. For more, visit www.lwrdems.com.

Wed., March 9 Jewish Learning Institute — Chabad of Bradenton and Lakewood Ranch will continue JLI’s winter semester at 7:30 p.m., March 9, at the center, 11509 Palmbrush Trail, Lakewood Ranch. Course continues Wednesdays through March 16. Cost is $75 or $135 per couple. 7523030.

Ladies Lunch & Learn — Chabad of Bradenton and Lakewood Ranch will host this event from noon to 1 p.m., March 8, at the center, 11509 Palmbrush Trail, Lakewood Ranch.

752-3030.

Lakewood Ranch Business Alliance —This group will host its March Membership Luncheon at 11:30

Senior Lunch Club — This club

a.m., March 9, at The Polo Grill and Bar, 10670 Boardwalk Loop. RSVP required. Members are $25; nonmembers are $35. For more, visit www.LWRBA.org.

Lakewood Ranch Professional Women’s Networking Group — This group meets at 11:45 a.m., Wednesdays, at the River Club Cabana On The Green Restaurant, 6600 River Club Blvd. This is a non-compete, all-women networking group. Cost is $12.50 (includes lunch). RSVP by Tuesdays to Kathi, 538-8800.

Vera Bradley Story with Vera Bradley’s Joan Bradley Reedy — Joan Bradley Reedy, daughter of Vera Bradley and sister to co-founder Barbara Bradley Baekgaard, will appear from 3-5 p.m., March 9, at Crowder’s Gifts & Gadgets, 2401 Lakewood Ranch Blvd. 744-2442, Ext. 108.

Dick Vitale Book Signing — Dick Vitale will be signing copies of his new children’s book from 6:30-7:30 p.m., March 4, at Little Bookworms, 8111 Lakewood Main St., Suite 103. 907-3808.

FREE PICK-UP & TAX DEDUCTION We need working appliances, furniture, home décor, home goods, kitchen cabinets, doors, windows, and building materials.

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to schedule a pick-up (941) 355-7082

REGISTER AT www.youandmeWE.org OR CALL 941.708.5894 Funding for this project was provided by the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Grant Number 90FE0132/01. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families. You&Me.WE programs and services are not intended to address the very serious issue of domestic violence. Abuse is never OK. If you feel you may be in an abusive relationship, call the Florida Hotline at 800-500-1119 (www.fcadv.org).

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941-348-2799 D9972, D0150, D0330, D0272, D0210, D1110 IT IS OUR OFFICE POLICY THAT THE PATIENT AND ANY OTHER PERSON RESPONSIBLE FOR PAYMENT HAS THE RIGHT TO REFUSE TO PAY, CANCEL PAYMENT OR BE REIMBURSED FOR PAYMENT FOR ANY OTHER SERVICE, EXAMINATION OR TREATMENT WHICH IS PERFORMED AS A RESULT OF AND WITHIN 72 HOURS OF RESPONDING TO THE ADVERTISEMENT FOR THE FREE, DISCOUNTED-FEE OR REDUCED-FEE SERVICE, EXAMINATION OR TREATMENT.

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New Patients Only.

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Couples Invitational Day Excursion

The EAST COUNTY Observer THURSDAY, MARCH 3, 2011

REAL ESTATE

www.YourObserver.com

9B

transactions

Lakewood Ranch home sells for $865,000 N.C., for $345,000. Built in 2003, it has three bedrooms, two-andone-half baths, a pool and 2,367 square feet of living area.

By Adam Hughes | Research Editor

The following residential real estate transactions took place between Jan. 20-26.

A home in the Country Club of Lakewood Ranch tops the transactions in this week’s real estate.

Elia and Suzanne Sorice sold their home at 7116 Ashland Glen to G.L. Anderson and Sarah Anderson, trustees, Lakewood Ranch, for $865,000. Built in 2003, it has three bedrooms, three baths, a pool and 3,589 square feet of living area. It previously sold for $1,334,000 in 2004.

Eaton Place

Mill Creek

Shane and Amy Martin, Palmetto, sold their home at 1905 141st St. E. to Karen Wood and Marilyn Weaver, Bradenton, for $338,000. Built in 2007, it has four bedrooms, three baths, a pool and 3,154 square feet of living area.

Mandalay Jen Blanco

This home in Lakewood Ranch features three bedrooms and three baths.

Thomas and Virginia Cuchra, Bradenton, sold their home at 7301 Eaton Court to Randolph and Judith McLeod of McHenry, Md., for $615,000. Built in 1996, it has three bedrooms, three baths, a pool and 2,895 square feet of living area.

Bradenton, sold their home at 5712 Lorraine Road to Chabad Lubavitch of Bradenton Inc. for $440,000. Built in 1979, it has three bedrooms, two baths, a pool and 1,832 square feet of living area.

Lorraine Road

Joseph and Caroline Fanchi, Lakewood Ranch, sold their

Barry and Diana Howard,

Edgewater Village

home at 8127 Waterview Blvd. to Samuel and Lynn Nucci, Sarasota, for $405,000. Built in 1997, it has three bedrooms, three baths, a pool and 2,887 square feet.

Riverdale Revised

Michael and Susan Carroll, Orlando, sold their home at 167 Americas Cup Blvd. to Christopher and Lynn Joyce of Havelock,

Wilmington Land Company sold the home at 6211 46th Court E. to Ding and Hua Huang, Bradenton, for $329,400. Built in 2010, it has four bedrooms, three baths and 2,900 square feet of living area.

Cypress Creek Estates

Federal National Mortgage Association sold the home at 6118 Ninth Ave. Circle N.E. to Tan and Phuong Nguyen, Bradenton, for $305,500. Built in 1995, it has

four bedrooms, three baths and 2,834 square feet of living area. It sold for $251,600 in 2010.

Country Club of Lakewood Ranch

Samuel and Lynn Nucci, Sarasota, sold their home at 7240 Lismore Court to Joseph and Caroline Fanchi, Lakewood Ranch, for $294,700. Built in 2010, it has three bedrooms, two-and-onehalf baths and 2,202 square feet of living area. It sold for $297,500 in 2010.

Watercrest

George Castro, Bradenton, sold the unit 202 condominium at 6450 Watercrest Way to Robert Harcke, trustee, of Westmoreland, N.H., for $250,000. Built in 2005, it has three bedrooms, two baths and 1,742 square feet.

It sold for $427,300 in 2006.

See more real estate transactions online. www.YourObserver.com

The Sarasota Concert Association presents the noted pianist

Schedule your appointment

by March 17, 2011 to receive surprize

Emanuel Ax

“POT OF GOLD”

performing works by Schubert and Chopin

savings

Monday, March 7

the day of treatment at

8 p.m.

at the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall

53004

53626

Photo: J. Henry Fair

777 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota

941-955-0040

www.sarasotaconcertassociation.org

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Expires 3/16/2011

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Includes x-rays, exam, intraoral photos, periodontal charting

8198 Tourist Center Dr. Located off University Pkwy. (across from Super Target) Aaron Kennedy D.M.D.

Plantar Fasciitis • Hammer Toe • Flat Feet • Bunions • Heel Spurs

The Good FeeT STore - SaraSoTa

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American Dental Association American Dental Implant Association Academy General Dentistry FL Dental Association West Coast District Dental Association

Dentistry For All Ages Most PPO Dental Insurance Accepted Joleyn McClemens, RDH, BS, CDHC

American Dental Hygiene Association President-Elect of FL Dental Hygiene Association Manatee Sarasota Dental Hygiene Association Past Delegate of FL Dental Hygiene Association

Not valid with other offers, prior services, and/or insurance discounts D0150, D0210, D0330 THE PATIENT AND ANY OTHER PERSON RESPONSIBLE FOR PAYMENT HAS A RIGHT TO REFUSE TO PAY, CANCEL PAYMENT, OR BE REIMBURSED FOR PAYMENT FOR ANY OTHER SERVICE, EXAMINATION, OR TREATMENT THAT IS PERFORMED AS A RESULT OF AND WITHIN 72 HOURS OF RESPONDING TO THE ADVERTISEMENT FOR THE FREE, DISCOUNTED FEE, OR REDUCED FEE SERVICE, OR TREATMENT.

53630

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Complete Dental Checkup

10B

3rd Annual

Who’s Your Paddy

The EAST COUNTY Observer THURSDAY, MARCH 3, 2011

www.YourObserver.com

BY THE NUMBERS

TOP BUILDING PERMITS

These are the largest East County building permits issued by Manatee County for the week of February 14-18, in order of dollar amounts.

STreeT Fair Block ParTy Thursday, March 17th

Address

Permit

4713 62nd Terrace E. Pool 5871 Lakeside Woods Circle Renovations 13517 Second Ave. E. Re-roof 6167 Ninth Ave. Circle N.E. Pool cage 22005 71st Ave. E. Door/window 5028 Misty Canal Place Mechanical 7519 Harrington Lane Mechanical 4619 Tournament Blvd.

Addition 8415 Whispering Woods Court Door/window 7784 Pine Trace Drive Re-roof 4513 Peridia Blvd. E. Re-roof 11226 Rivers Bluff Circle Mechanical 4954 Oak Run Drive Re-roof 4915 Kilty Court E. Door/window 7705 River Preserve Drive Pool Cage 5623 River Sound Terrace Door/window 9807 Portside Terrace Mechanical 14218 Tree Swallow Way Enclosure 6117 Ninth Ave. Circle N.E. Pool cage 4549 Pro Court E. Re-roof

Starts at 5pm!

corn Beef and cabbage ALL DAY! Bagpipes

Live Music with The Rum Runners

Applicant

Amount

Sandra Marmero Alfred Viehbeck Michael Purcell Snehal Parikh Anne Thomas Janice McLaughlin Charles Barrow Tonya Fox Richard Rothstein Georgia Hines Diana Davis Daryl Koncer Carl Christensen Pauline Mazzone Craig Springer Robert Somers Edward Adams Dreama Wren Thanh Tran Robert Bibby

$42,883 $39,660 $21,000 $18,615 $18,429 $17,343 $17,343 $15,000 $14,907 $11,010 $10,785 $9,900 $9,800 $9,636 $9,550 $9,500 $9,152 $8,400 $8,000 $7,506 Source: Manatee County

March 7th Texas hold’em Poker Tournament 7:30 – 9:30

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53485

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Your Local Neighborhood Pharmacy Just across the parking lot from Hospital Emergency Room in Medical Office Building II

Pharmacist Owned & Operated

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from left: Aqsa Nawaz; Jeff Wagner, Rph; Kelly Pireaux, Rph; Jerry Pireaux, Rph

LOCAL NEWS! YourObserver.com You. Your Neighbors. Your Neighborhood.

8:00 am to 5:30 pm Monday through Friday We accept most prescription insurance and Medicare D drug coverage plans. VISA/Master Card/Discover

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941-907-1500 | Fax: 941-907-1544

53663

Local News that’s

The EAST COUNTY Observer THURSDAY, MARCH 3, 2011

WEATHER

TemperatureS

Temps.

High Sun., Feb. 20 80 Mon., Feb. 21 77 Tues., Feb. 22 75 Wed., Feb. 23 80 Thurs., Feb. 24 79 Fri., Feb. 25 77 Sat., Feb. 26 77 Average Gulf water temperature: 69

Sunrise/sunset

Sunrise Thurs., March 3 6:53 Fri., March 4 6:52 Sat., March 5 6:51 Sun., March 6 6:50 Mon., March 7 6:49 Tues., March 8 6:48 Wed., March 9 6:47

Manatee/Sarasota

Sun., Feb. 20 Mon., Feb. 21 Tues., Feb. 22 Wed., Feb. 23 Thurs., Feb. 24 Fri., Feb. 25 Sat., Feb. 26 Year-to-date:

0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 2010 4.72 in.

Month to date: 2011

0.78 in

2010 2.34 in.

WEEKLY WINNEr: FALL IN WINTER Low 53 55 55 63 62 61 60

March 12

March 19

First

Full

March 26

March 4

Last

New

WIND SPEED

Manatee/Sarasota

Sun., Feb. 20 Mon., Feb. 21 Tues., Feb. 22 Wed., Feb. 23 Thurs., Feb. 24 Fri., Feb. 25 Sat., Feb. 26

3.9 7.4 3.3 4.4 6.9 8.7 4.5

Visit YourObserver.com to click on our interactive weather button, which features current weather conditions, weather radar and a five-day forecast.

Harry Meier took this picture of changing foliage last December from his lanai in Summerfield.

PHOTO CONTEST: Enter your sunset, sunrise or weather-related photos for The Observer’s weather photo contest, sponsored by Cool Today. Each week’s winner will receive a $50 restaurant gift card. Send your photos to The East County Observer, 8788 S.R. 70 E., Suite 103, Bradenton, FL 34202, or e-mail them to jeng@yourobserver.com. Please include the name and contact information of the photographer and when and where the photo was taken. Also, please include “photo contest” in the subject line.

CORRECTION: Last week’s winner, Larry Davenport, took his photograph at Jigg’s Landing, not Lido Beach.

52544

2011 3.13 in

11B

MOON PHASES

Sunset 6:32 6:33 6:34 6:34 6:35 6:35 6:36

RAINFALL

www.YourObserver.com

T H E O B S E R V E R C R O S S WO R D Edited by Timothy E. Parker

HERE, THERE, EVERYwHERE by Paull Jenn

1 6 11 15 19 20 21 22 23 25 26 27 28 29 31 34 35 37 38 39 41 44 45 47 48 54 56 57 58 60 61 64

C R Y P T O G R A M S by Myles Mellor 1. V R W A Q V O D V M V O A H D K V R Y K A V Q T T Q A A W M A S R Q O D V, H N V K A Q D N M O D V M V OA V R Y K AV Q T T Q A A W M A SRQ MAA. 2. Y A U E A Q L F U P U M Q I L Y A H Y H B E G Y L U P U M Q I L J U C A H WCL UAB TUGGUA QALBEBIL, OFQTF LCEABH UCL LU WB TEUOIJBBL.

66 67 71 73 74 78

ACROSS More guileful Slack off Cocoon occupant Marching band instrument Tropical fish Type of tea Plow team Geraint’s wife in “Idylls of the King” Well past one’s prime “Beetle Bailey” creator Walker Throws in Sleep study cycle Modify, as the Constitution Generosity Talmudic schools FM device Smart-mouthed Subject of media coverage Take off the books Traveled a curved path Wonder Woman topper Luau offering Secular Yoko of “Double Fantasy” Innate Record jackets Tub temperature tester White wading bird Wee bit Young hooters Tottering Shakespearean performer, e.g.

Televises Euphoric Sword handle Hemp fiber used in caulking Huckster’s curative Naturally illuminated

80 81 83 84 86 90 91 93 94 95 97 100 103 104 105 109 111 113 114 116 117 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127

Zip Hardly swanky Genetic material Credit cards, slangily Seizure-inducing currents Vestment for the clergy October birthstone “Who ___ that masked man?”

Inundated (with) Spay or neuter Evening repast Weight displayer Moore of Tinseltown They make up a big spread Old Greek gymnasium Like some workers Like fresh brownies “For ___ a jolly good fellow ...”

Word on light bulbs Soybean product Sensible Upstate New York’s ___ Canal Several Monopoly props.

Thumb twiddler Mold’s origin Some flight data Male red deer Sauce for spaghetti ___ on (victimizes)

dOwn 1 Bedtime request 2 Flood prevention measure 3 Things on an agenda 4 Make a mistake 5 Type of poison 6 Tarzan, notably 7 Urgent request 8 Analogous 9 Spilled the beans 10 Wriggler in the sea

11 Fragrant hair ointment 12 Wifely 13 Trelliswork arbors 14 Starting chip, in poker 15 “Film at eleven” promo, e.g.

16 Clandestine, as spy work 17 Take part in an auction 18 Some magazine fillers 24 To ___ and to hold 29 Once around the track 30 NASA calls it an EVA 32 “Three cheers” recipient 33 “Ghostbusters” director Reitman 34 Bridle strap 36 Religious beliefs 38 Plant anchorer 40 Crude bed, in Britain 41 “Swan Lake” outfit 42 Barge ___ (interrupt) 43 Great tennis serves 44 Lemon meringue, for one 46 World workers agcy.

49 Credit-card woe 50 House made of snow 51 Tool used in boring mines 52 Do some impressive work?

53 See socially 55 Omit in pronounciation 59 Divining rod user 62 Payments to cross a bridge 63 Shot in the arm, perhaps 64 Where to go through a withdrawal?

65 Musical piece with a

repeated theme 68 Steinbeck migrant 69 Mattress choice 70 Sunbathers catch them 71 Out of the shell, as a peanut 72 Way to vote without being present 75 Whale tale with Bo Derek 76 Tattoo artist’s supplies 77 Mascara’s place 78 French WWI fighter plane 79 Useful bit of information 81 Villain in “The Lion King” 82 UFO staff?

85 Legendary lover 87 Woolly mamas 88 In good health 89 Has to pay back 92 Beelzebub 96 Plays the ham 98 “Remembrance of Things Past” author 99 Writing implement 100 Short, upright piano 101 Cuban leader for many years 102 A cappella range 106 Spasm of pain 107 Take another crack at 108 Whence the phoenix rises 110 State with many Mormons 111 A la ___ (dessert choice) 112 Birds with binocular vision 114 Itty-bitty 115 “Wherefore ___ thou Romeo?”

117 Small decrease 118 Sixth sense 119 Showery month (Abbr.)

Last weeks Cryptograms 1. What is the favorite snack of worn out tourists visiting the magnificent Paris cathedrals?

The lunchpack of Notre Dame.

2. This is quite a strange quirk: In prison, you can watch TV and play games. At work, you get fired for watching TV and playing games!

Thursday, March 3, 2011 Items Under $200 For Sale

Garage/Moving/Estate Sales

BEDDING SET- King, quality, earth tones, bedspread, shams, skirt & matching drapes.

Sacrifice $95. 941-358-5313

LBK: ROYAL RUMMAGE SALE IV ST. MARY, STAR OF THE SEA 4280 Gulf of Mexico Dr. SAVE THE DATES March 4, Fri. 1 - 6p.m. $5 admission March 5, Sat. 8 - 3p.m. Free Admission.

BIGGEST, BEST EVER!

CHANDELIER: BRONZE, 6 frosted glass lights. New in box. $200. Matching pendants available. 753-1993.

HEALTHCARE EQUIPMENT: Wheelchair, 2 walkers, 3 bedside commodes, elevated toilet seat, canes, $120 o/b/o. 941-705-6840.

LENNOX CHINA- Service for 8+1, Hancock pattern, never used in original boxes.

Sacrifice $200. 941-907-6009

Boats 18/FT. 4 Winns 1997 Runabout 130HP Johnson. No trailer. Runs well, looks good. $6000 O/B/O. Longboat Harbour 941-387-8786

Furnishings DREXEL “BOMBE” China Cabinet $699.

Stanley Bar, Marble Top, 4 Stools. 3-piece Robb & Stucky Leather Sofa Group.

5-piece Marble Top Home Office $799.

Henredon Secretary Desk $899; 68” Detagon Aluminum Patio Table & 6 sling chairs $599; 5-piece Rattan Dinette on casters $399; 3-piece White (Cottage) Klaussner Wall Unit $850. Cherry Regency Buffet “Baker” $699; 3-piece Sofa Group (Lloyd Flander) $995. Herman Cherry Desk & Hutch $245. Giant 4-poster Bed with Armoire & 2 marble-top night stands (Collezione).

Manatee Furniture

941-745-2596 3015 1st St. (US Hwy 41) Bradenton SARASOTA BARGAIN Thrift Store & Consignment Center. 1635 12th St., Sarasota. Washers, Dryers, Refrigerators, Freezers. Furniture, Beds, Dressers, Sofas, Tables, TV’s, Records, Books, etc. Don’t give your items away, let us sell them for you!

Delivery & pick-up available. 941-812-0587

MOVE IT IN... MOVE IT OUT...

JUST SOLD OUR HOME IN 9 DAYS! IT’S FULL OF DESIGNER HOME FURNISHINGS AND ACCESSORIES FROM TAMPA’S PARIS FLEA’S DECOR AND DESIGN STUDIO AND UNFORTUNATELY ITS ALL GOT TO GO! THIS WEEKEND. DON’T MISS IT! MARCH 4TH AND 5TH, 10A.M.-5P.M. LAKEWOOD RANCH 10516 FIRESTONE DR. BRADENTON, FL 34202

Pets

Business Opportunities THE EAST COUNTY NEEDS A SMALL RENTAL STORE The population of the east county is now adequate to support a small rental store.

The cost of occupying a building is probably the lowest now it will ever be.

YORKIE MINI CKC- Adorable Tiny Teddy Bears. Home Raised. SUPER Tiny Teacups Available Meet The Parents. We have a wonderful selection .941-322-6709 $495.-$995.

Plants/Trees LARGE WHOLESALE TREES 14-15’ Maples, Cypress, Sycamore, Sweetgum: $95.00 each.

16-18’ Maples, Live Oak, Laurel Oak, Cedars: $275 each.

15 Acres of native trees to choose from.

40 varieties, various sizes available.

Delivery & installation available. By appt. only. Contact Eddie @ 941-232-9377 or eddie@mckeithen.net

Events WAREHOUSE SALE! March 4th thru 6th, 8a.m.-6p.m. Northgate Business Park, 1839 Northgate Blvd. (off 301 between Fruitville & University). Up to 85% off. VISA, M/C accepted. Home furnishings, apparel, men’s and women’s activewear, jewelry, shoes and more! Nike, Ralph Lauren and one of a kind items.

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INTERNATIONAL DIXIELAND BAND CONCERT & MARDI GRAS DINNER MARCH 6TH AT 3 P.M.

Team Up Today With Classifieds 941-955-4888

BRADEN RIVER PRESBY. CHURCH 5150 PERIDIA BLVD. E. (In Peridia off SR70)

Pets

Tickets/$18.00 Bring Your Camera 941-896-5316 or 941-739-0202

2 ADORABLE SPRINGER DOODLES FOR SALE- Two Lovely Springerdoodle brothers, cannot be separated. They are 2.5 years old, well trained, healthy, great temperments and very lovable. 50lbs. Jack 941-928-5732

DID WE get your attention? You bet we did!

Make your ad stand out with COLOR. Only in The Observer Classifieds.

Call 941-955-4888 to advertise.

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Good Things To Eat

Fresh Vegetables Hydroponically Grown Sat. 9am-5pm, Sun. 9am to 4pm 24401 State Road 64 East, Myakka City, FL (11 miles East of I-75, 1/4 mile East of C.R. 675, North side of S.R. 64) Bob 941-705-0909 / Marilyn 941-725-1047 www.bobsveggiepatch.com

Schools/Instruction

THE OBSERVER LP # 39520

PRIVATE PIANO INSTRUCTION in your home. All ages. 20 years experience.

Bachelor Music Piano. 1st Lesson Discount.

941-776-7381.

I have a successful rental store in Manatee County where I want to spin off the equipment rental portion of my business and focus on party rental. I also have experience in rental store franchising. I will sell you my well-maintained inventory, computer system, all the tools you need, and loan you an employee to get you started in the business successfully. I’ll also personally mentor you to get you on your feet. All you need is a physical location of about 5,000 square feet, plus some outside space.

Confidentially contact by phone only 941-812-7616.

Help Wanted DRIVERS: COVENANT NEEDS YOU! IMMEDIATE Opportunities!

No CDL, No Problem!

CDL Training Available.

Great Benefits & Potential Earnings of $750-800wk! Call Today! 1-866-203-8443

Homemakers/ Companions CNA’S/ HHA’S You Can Make a Difference. Help seniors stay independent. We provide: non medical care, personal care, meals, light housekeeping, transportation & companionship.

Flexible hours available- F/T, P/T, Overnight, Weekends and Live-In. Positions available in Sarasota/ Bradenton/ Venice. To work now fax resume to 941-929-7438 or email: joanieck@comcast.net

Condos/Apts. For Rent PALM AIRE: 1BR/1BA, upstairs (private entrance), screened patio, W/D, pool/ tennis available. Annual $650/mo. First/ security.

No pets. N/S. 366-3282, 355-3915 evenings/ weekends.

Homes For Rent CREEKWOOD: SR70 & 75. Lakefront home, very spacious 2BR/2BA, cathedral ceilings, lanai, laundry room, 2 car garage, community pool and tennis court. Walk to shopping. $1200/mo. 941-752-7553 or 941-383-1909

This week’s crossword answers

O

Storage

STORAGE FACILITY Boat/ RV/ Trailer.

Secure facility, low monthly rentals, Clark Rd area. 941-809-3660, 941-809-3662

www.yourobserver.com www.yourobserver.com Ready When You Are – Classified Ads, The Way to Sell Ready When You Are –

Say You Saw it in

THE OBSERVER LP # 39513

The EAST COUNTY Observer THE EAST COUNTY OBSERVER THURSDAY, MARCH 3, 2011

13B Classifieds 13B

CLASSIFIEDS

www.YourObserver.com

www.yourobserver.com

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Homes For Rent

Adult Care Services

Computer Services

Pools

LUXOR MHP

CAREGIVER- PROVIDE you with personal care, housekeeping, etc. Great references.

16 years in area. Reasonable rates. 941-7399026

COMPUTER REPAIR, Installation and Training.

Fast and Reliable.

Call “The Computer Doctors”. 941-586-8535.

DT POOLS- Maintenance and Repairs.

Complete Pool Care. 941-224-8242 dtorino1973@gmail.com

$425mo-1 bed/bath mobile homes.

55+ community. No Pets.

5811 14th St. W. Bradenton.

Sarasota Real Estate Assoc, Inc. Greg Nowak 941-809-6034

Homes For Sale COASTAL LIVING style home in River Club, has 3500/sq.ft., 3-4BR/3.5BA, marble fireplace, French doors, plantation shutters, pool and spa and lots of extras. Cash back at closing. $474,900. MLS# M5819210.

Lora Alfiero, Owner/Agent. Century 21 Advantage. 941-730-4465.

FAIRWAY BEND, PALM AIRE 3/2/2. Huge Immaculate 2150 sf. villa. Move in ready!

Open plan/Views.

Custom remodeled. $229K. 941-355-4345. Open Sat/ Sun

OPEN SUN 12-3PM

CNA/HHA WILL take care of your loved one.

Excellent references. Great rates. Flexible hours. Call 941-726-0392.

COMPLETE IN-HOME PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL HEALTH CARE is available through ElderCare Services Unlimited.

Companionship/ caregiving, medical and non-medical, meal preparation, light housekeeping, transportation. Medicare/ Medicaid affiliated. 3 hours to 24/7. Lic. #30211372 Bonded/Insured.

941-377-4465, Eldercaresarasota.com TLC FOR YOUR LOVED ONES Excellent Group of Caregivers and CNAs Assistance w/every day living.

Available 7 days a week.

Licensed/ Insured.

941-378-5553 1-888-906-6565

Waterfront Property BREATHTAKING WATERFRONT parcel.

Fully engineered, approved and ready for development of 7 SF homes and 5 boat dock on fabulous Palma Sola Bay. Or use all 3.9 acres for your own retreat. Will trade for waterfront Sarasota home or negotiate on sale. $1.8M Marcia Wood, Broker, marcia@marciawood.com 941-350-2285

Adult Care Services CAREGIVER - Will do house duties, drive, and some cooking. Compassionate, experienced, certified CNA, CPR, and Safe Staff.

941-727-9413

PC TECHNICAL SUPPORT: Repair hardware/ software/ Internet problems, remove viruses/ spyware. Navy veteran - electronics.

941-364-2109, 941-225-0046.

Flooring R.J. DAVIS WHOLESALE FLOORING: Sales & Installation. Tile, stone, wood, pavers, laminates & Travertine. Specializing in exotic & design flooring. 18 years Lic./Ins. Low overhead low prices. Call me and I will absolutely save you money. Free estimates.

941-586-8996 ☺.

RETIRED LONGBOAT KEY police officer & associate. Drive your car to the North and back. 941-713-1596, 941-720-0426.

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.

FREE ESTIMATES! Call Dottie, detailed cleaning. 24 Years Exp. Lic./ Ins. Residential/ Commercial. Dottie, 941-321-6645.

EPOXYGARAGES.COM Free Estimates.

941-321-1889

Personal Services YOUR PERSONAL BOOKKEEPER, LLC Gail Sunray, Owner

GULFBREEZE CLEANING. Residential & Commercial.

Move/ins-outs.

Weekly, Bi-weekly, Monthly. References. Lic./Ins. God bless you. 941-923-4030.

HIGH-END HOUSEKEEPER/ NANNY House Manager. Thorough and meticulous.

Excellent references. Call 941-993-2517.

HOUSECLEANING. I have lots of experience, attention to detail. Reliable. Call me, I can help! Carol, 941-536-3705.

RESIDENTIAL/ COMMERCIAL. Roofs, Pool Areas, Driveways, Lanais, etc. When Quality Counts! 941-565-3935.

Professional Services FREE TV SERVICE! Free Reception Report for your address. #1 Best HD. For equipment estimate call Set You Free TV 941-223-7887

Tile STEVE ALLEN FLOOR COVERINGS PROFESSIONAL TILE & MARBLE INSTALLATION 20 YRS. EXPERIENCE

WATER HEATERS, faucets and small plumbing repairs. Reasonable rates. License #CFC1426756. 941-737-0349.

Painting/Wallpapering

A CLEANING EVEN YOUR MOTHER-INLAW WILL APPROVE! Every time, guaranteed! Licensed/Insured. Bonded. www.CleanTimeServices.com Pamela, 941-320-0023.

Pressure Cleaning

Home Improvement/ Remodeling

Auto Transport

Cleaning 6 OPEN HOUSES IN ONE NEIGHBORHOOD! ROSEDALE GOLF & COUNTRY CLUB Gated, golf, clubhouse, tennis, No CDD Fees. SR70, BRADENTON. STOP AT Rosedale Realty Office at 5415 87th St. E. for map. 941-751-9070

OWN A MAC? MacTutor offers 21 years experience. Unlimited free telephone follow up. (941)812-3887 www.FLMacTutor.com

CALL FOR FREE ESTIMATE 726-1802 LIC/ INS

Tutoring NEED A TUTOR? Patient, experienced, teacher, K through 6th grade. Reading, math, writing, FCAT prep. Call Creative Classroom Solutions, 941-704-8658.

READING TUTOR for Your Child.

Master’s Degree in Reading. Specializing in Elementary and ESOL. Donna 941-907-3096 LWR.

4 EAsy WAys To Place your Classified Ad

Personal & Business Bookkeeping Accounting/ Taxes

Call 941-955-4888

I come to your home or office.

 Bill Paying & Account Reconciliation  Organizing Personal and Business Files  Budgets & Financial Reports  Federal and State Tax Returns

RESIDENTIAL/ COMMERCIAL/ resorts/ house checks. When quality counts! $20 off 1st time cleaning. 941-756-4570.

Fax 941-362-4808 Email classified@yourobserver.com

BONDED & INSURED Over 25 yrs. experience

Online at Telephone: 941-749-5646 yourbookkeeper@tampabay.rr.com

www.yourobserver.com/classifieds All major credit/debit cards accepted.

Get all 3 Observers for only $99 Stand out from the crowd and get widespread exposure with The Observer ‘Make Your Move’ real estate ad. Your ad will appear in all 3 Observers – reaching prime prospects in Sarasota and Manatee counties.

Reserved Space

Buy Now

LP Reserved Space

The Longboat Observer • The East County Observer • The Sarasota Observer

That’s over 75,000 in circulation and more than 150,000 readers!

To advertise your listing call (941) 955-4888 or email classified@yourobserver.com

The Observer You. Your Neighbors. Your Neighborhood.

Ad Specifications Ad Size: 2.5” x 3” Photo size: 2.5” x 1.5” Avg # of words: 40 Full color available!

No logos.

Designate your headline.

P M

e l

A S

absolutely elegant home in silver oak.

Model perfect Biscayne floor plan by Bamboo Builders. One of best lots w/lake & Private Views. Over 3400 sq. ft. under air. 4 BD + den, 3 1/2 BA. Gourmet kitchen w/wood cabinets, granite counters, stainless appl. 3 car gar., large htd pool & spa w/outdoor kitchen. Built in 2001! $899,900. John Doe Real Estate.

John Doe

941-555-5555

14B Classifieds 14B www.YourObserver.com

THE The EAST COUNTY OBSERV EAST COUNTY Observer THURSDAY, MARCH 3, 2011 Thursday, March 3, 2011

CLASSIFIEDS www.yourobserver.com

ACCOUNTING

DOG GROOMING

KITCHEN/BATH REMODELING

Looking for ways to save money?

General Contractor Specializing in Kitchen & Bath Remodeling Free at home consultation National Brands, Competitive Pricing Limited Lifetime Warranty Seasonal Discounts

52742

(941) 907- 9188 A D V I S O RY, F I N A N C I A L & TA X S E R V I C E S

LANDSCAPING & LAWN

31 Years – Locally Owned & Operated License # EC13001486

FURNITURE REPAIR

PATIO REPAIRS Furniture Sales & Repairs HANDYMAN

Family Owned & Operated

Weekday, Evening, Weekend Service Appointments Available!

52200

941-753-5225

www.sunshineappliances.com

6YkZgi^h^c\ ^c i]Z HZgk^XZ 9^gZXidgn bV`Zh ndj

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Total Superior Maintenance

Serving Bradenton/Sarasota areas Over 30 years experience

52751

SCOTT WOOLF HANDYMAN EXTRAORDINAIRE

We sell boxes!

U.S. DOT No. 1915800

941-536-1770

scottmwoolf1@gmail.com

MO V I N G

“Will move anything from a couch to a household�

LOCAL - LONG DISTANCE FREE ESTIMATES

HAULING

) # # s $/4 &, -/6%23 )-

53109

Goodbye Junk. Hello Relief!

Fully Licensed and Insured

Dave McCarthy

52297

52232

Call Anytime

COMPUTER

(941) 315-0896

359-1904

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(941) 752-4741

Many Local References

MOVERS

31 Years Experience, Prompt, Reliable Service, I Call Back My Customers, Keep My Appointments, AND Your Satisfaction is My Goal.

“IF IT DOESN’T TIC, TOC TO ME.�

Free tes ma Esti

Free rt Expetation ul Cons

No job is too small, We will do it all!

Servicing the Residental and Commercial Communities for over MENTION 25 Years THIS AD 10% OFF

941-256-2027

Christo’s Clock Repair

All Makes & Models House Calls by apt.

LYLE’S HANDYMAN SERVICES

lyleshandymanservice@hotmail.com

CLOCK REPAIR

Horologist

Lawn & Landscape Repair #OMPLETE -AKE /VER s -AINTENANCE s )RRIGATION 4REE 3HRUB 4RIMMING s ,ANDSCAPE ,IGHTING #LEAN 5PS s -ULCH s 2OCK

/54$//2 &52.)452% %80%243 s 777 0!4)/2%0!)23 .%4

Sunshine Appliances

Don Christo, Sr.

Sod & Landscaping

52212

941-504-0903

PLUGS +

Dave McCarthy

Phone (941) 704-4278 Fax (941) 538-3781

Operator/Owner

PAINTING 53021

Trusted since 1989.

LP Missing: # 53586

Call Computer Doctors today!

Specializing in repairs, Formerly Digital Doctors,upgrades it’s the same team you know and trust. and networking

Free mobile service!

53401

K 739-3600 $10 off 782-1204

Ask a Neighbor!

Home Watch Services ‘Peace of mind is priceless’ Weekly Services from $15 (941) 928-0391 Karen@the-lyons.com

UĂŠ iĂŒ>ˆÂ?i`ĂŠÂ…ÂœĂ•ĂƒiĂŠÂ“ÂœÂ˜ÂˆĂŒÂœĂ€ÂˆÂ˜}ĂŠ ĂƒiĂ€Ă›ÂˆViĂƒ UĂŠ6ÂˆĂƒÂˆĂŒĂƒĂŠV>Â˜ĂŠLiĂŠV>Ă€Ă€Âˆi`ĂŠÂœĂ•ĂŒÂ‡ĂŠ 7iiÂŽÂ?ÞÉ ÂˆÂ‡Â“ÂœÂ˜ĂŒÂ…Â?ĂžĂŠÂœĂ€ĂŠ ÂœÂ˜ĂŒÂ…Â?Ăž

a FREE estimate!

Professional Interior Painting

"ASIC 0AINTING s $ECORATIVE 7ALLS s &URNITURE s ,IGHTS s -ISC )TEMS

“No Job Too Small� (941)

320-1397

PACK & SHIP

UĂŠ Â˜ĂŒiĂ€ÂˆÂœĂ€Ă‰ Ă?ĂŒiĂ€ÂˆÂœĂ€ĂŠ ÂˆÂ˜ĂƒÂŤiVĂŒÂˆÂœÂ˜ĂƒĂŠÂ‡ĂŠ*Â…ÂœĂŒÂœĂƒĂŠ i“>ˆÂ?i`ĂŠĂŒÂœĂŠĂžÂœĂ• UĂŠ ÂˆĂ€ÂŤÂœĂ€ĂŒĂŠÂŤÂˆVŽ‡ÕÊ>˜`ĂŠ`Ă€ÂœÂŤĂŠÂœvv UĂŠ ÂœĂ•ĂƒiÂŽiiÂŤÂˆÂ˜}ĂŠĂƒiĂ€Ă›ÂˆViĂƒĂŠÂˆvĂŠ Ă€iÂľĂ•ÂˆĂ€i` UĂŠ,iviĂ€i˜ViĂƒĂŠĂƒĂ•ÂŤÂŤÂ?ˆi`

941-726-7077

Painting by Karen

HOME SERVICES 52201

53586

Book online at 1800gotjunk.com or call 1-800-468-5865

Lyon

LAKEWOOD RANCH PAINTING

Š Interior & Exterior Painting & Wallcovering Š Full Service Interior Design & Color Selection Assistance Š Over 30 Years Experience Need a Referral? Matt Arndt, Owner Call today for

Say goodbye to your junk without lifting a ďŹ nger.

Whether it’s old furniture, appliances, electronics or renovation debris, we do all the loading and clean-up.

COMPUTER REPAIR

52736

#USHIONS s 3LINGS s 5MBRELLAS

,%7)3 !6% s */(. -!'')% &2/34 /7.%23

52745 38056

Appliance Service & Repair

365-2407

%XPERIENCED s )NSURED 7ORKER S #OMP Lic. #RGLAN-SL-A1815

CUSTOM PACKAGING & SHIPPING 941-751-2070 941-751-2070

Twelve Oaks Shopping Center, next to Publix Twelve OaksEast, Shopping Center, next to Publix 7282 55th Ave. Bradenton 7282 55th Ave East, Bradenton Mon - Fri,Mon9am 6pm Sat, - Fri, -9am - 6pmand and Sat, 9am9am - 1pm - 1pm

52618

APPLIANCE REPAIR

52238

Call (941) 747-1968 52235

941-752-1040

s ,ANDSCAPE DESIGN RENOVATION INSTALLATION s .ATIVE PLANTS 8ERISCAPE %XPERTS s &REEZE 0ROOF 0LANTS s 3OD 2EPAIR s #ONTAINER 'ARDENING s 3EASONAL #LEAN 5P 2EMULCH s .EW 0AVERS 0AVER 2EPAIR s /RGANIC 'ARDENING &ERTILIZING

52735

Š h{‰ z{„Š w‚ Š i‹ˆ}{ fˆ…Š{yŠ…ˆ‰ Š Y…ƒƒ{ˆy w‚ ]{„{ˆwŠ…ˆ‰Š X‹y {Š jˆ‹y Š \‹‚‚ i{ˆŒ y{ [‚{yŠˆ yw‚ Y…„ŠD

,OU +AKOURIS % !

20 years experience 52223

3947 Clark Road, Sarasota, FL 6150 State Road 70 E., Bradenton, FL

CGC1507388 Lawrence Barnett (941)526-7750

Native Son Landscape Services, Inc. GO GREEN!

s -ONTHLY !CCOUNTING "OOKKEEPING s "USINESS )NDIVIDUAL 4AX 0REPARATION

!LL 3TATES &AST 2EFUNDS % lLE 0ROVIDER s .EW "USINESS #ONSULTING 3ET 5P

Call for Free Initial Consultation

www.lightreno.com

ELECTRIC

L.K. ACCOUNTING & TAXES, INC.

52812

Lighthouse Renovations

52236

53019

We can show you how outsourcing your business accounting will save you time and money. Give Us a Call for a Free Written Cost Savings Analysis.

REALTORS

Bisson RooďŹ ng Inc.

Lakewood Ranch announces

Home & Business

Yard 6 Month Control Stop All Insects & Fire Ants & Fleas

THE PROFESSIONAL PRODUCTS STORE

10 YR. LABOR WARRANTY ON ALL NEW ROOFS

Call 924-9000 *A/H 730-0130

www.realtor.com/sarasota/bethbarnett

PET SERVICES

OWNER SUPERVISES EVERY JOB START TO FINISH.

24 hours

REMODELING/HOME IMPROVEMENT

Call for appointment

SCREENING

Re-Screen gulfcoastscreenscapes.com

a new kind of home services company 51230

We save you money. Guaranteed.

Home Performance Evaluations Service Projects Energy Monitoring Maintenance Basic Green Starter Packages Advanced Services

Pool1 FREE MONTH OF POOL SERVICE! Heater Inspection & Start-Up $59 (With Agreement)

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9800-610-4570 41-776-7517

Ask us about Superscreen Rescreening pool cages, lanais, etc.

25% OFF FULL RESCREENS

53620

POOLS

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West Florida Contractor, Inc.

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TILE

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A Professional Licensed & Insured Pool Company

FL LIC# CGC1505233

52205

52746

Lic. CPC1457144

53398

Residential/Commercial Construction & Renovation – All Phases

*Service *Repair *Equipment Upgrades *Remodel

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345-6081

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Pretty Tile, Ugly Grout?

s Wood Floors s Drywall s Crown Molding s Tile s Painting s Carpentry s Pressure Washing s Much More Ask for Doug

941-955-4888 REALTORS

We Cure Sick Grout!

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52748 38066

Dennis Yoder

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Experience You Can Count On!

*****

941-755-1300

BUYING OR SELLING Residential or Commercial

www.groutdoctor.com Ă€>Â˜ÂˆĂŒiĂŠ ÂœĂ•Â˜ĂŒiĂ€ĂŒÂœÂŤĂƒĂŠJĂŠfÇ°xĂ¤Ă‰ĂƒÂľÂ°ĂŠvĂŒÂ°ĂŠUĂŠ >“ˆ˜>ĂŒiĂƒĂŠJĂŠÂ°Â™Â™Ă‰ĂƒÂľÂ°ĂŠvĂŒÂ° *ÂœĂ€ViÂ?>ÂˆÂ˜ĂŠĂŒÂˆÂ?iĂƒĂŠJĂŠfÂŁÂ°ĂŽÂ™Ă‰ĂƒÂľÂ°ĂŠvĂŒÂ°ĂŠUĂŠ7œœ`ĂŠ >Lˆ˜iĂŒĂƒ

Call Dennis 941-376-0372

Installation available on all.

Owned & and Operated by NRT LLC

Call Scott @ 941-315-0857

52305

denyoder@verizon.net

ROOFING

8334 Market St. Lakewood Ranch, FL 34202

Jim Soda

Residential & Commercial .EW 2OOFS s 2OOF 2EPAIRS 3HINGLES s -ETAL s &LAT s 4ILE

#1 Real Estate Agent in Lakewood Ranch*

www.jimsoda.com If you are buying or selling your home

Frank Shaft

*according to Trendgraphix

jim@jimsoda.com

Florida Certified Roofing Contractor

53227

941-809-7759 941-961-5857

52747

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CCC #1327713

941-779-4440

with this ad

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COUNTRY CANINE MAKEOVERS DOG GROOMING Located off of SR 70 E. 1 mile North on Verna Bethany Rd. 7804 Barr Road Myakka City, FL 34251

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Prices Include:

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Advertise in The Observers’ Service Directory – Call 955-4888 for more information...

00

OFF + Additional

For Senior Citizens

53015

- & s 3AT

Residential/Commercial RooďŹ ng Specializing in Roof Repairs

For listing your house, call BETH for proven results!!

52239

53520 43500

Sarasota 5900 S. Tamiami Trail 922-1817

“Your Local Roofer – We’ll Cover You�

52202

All Insect Control Can’t Buy in Regular Stores

ROOFING

BETH BARNETT “East County’s #1 Agent!�

Do It Yourself Pest Control at BUG BUSTERS Lowest Prices

Bradenton 3790 14th St. W. 746-6654

www.YourObserver.com

50231

PEST CONTROL

SINCE 1993

15B Classifieds 15B

CLASSIFIEDS www.yourobserver.com

52203

THEEAST EAST COUNTY OBSERVER The COUNTY Observer THURSDAY, MARCH 3, 2011 Thursday, March 3, 2011

16B

The EAST COUNTY Observer THURSDAY, MARCH 3, 2011

www.YourObserver.com

National Name .

Community Focus.

Personal Service. homes for sale n 1-4

n Su

Ope

$249,900 Watch @Waterlefe Condo 9623 Sea Turtle Terr #101, 3BR/2BA, Upgrades, River views.

M5816586 Patricia Evans 928-8424

homes for sale

All Signs Point UP! After a few tough years, things are looking up in our local real estate market. More buyers are looking, sales are increasing and people are moving again. If you spent the past couple years waiting for the market to improve, now is the time to act.

In 2010, we ranked #1 in every sales category in Lakewood Ranch*.

In 2011, we’re the agency to trust with your real estate investment.

$219,900 Tara Preserve Maintenance Free, Lake & Preserve views.

M5818637 Jeff Hammond 487-5116 ,000 $20 ced u d e R

No One Knows Lakewood Ranch Better.

Call today to let us help you buy, sell or rent a home: (941)

907-2000

or visit www.PruLWR.com $339,000 Watercrest Condo 3BR, Lake & golf views, Many upgrades + 2 car garage A3931003 Lyon Team 400-7306 ced Redu

,000 $20

Sales ~ Property Management ~ Rentals

ale ort S

Sh

$379,900 Lakewood Ranch Country Club Maint. Free, Lake & golf views, Full guest suite.

A3939571 Jerry Richter 224-1350

Learn how Florida real estate works: • latest market statistics • U.S. tax implications • tips on buying and selling

Deer Hammock.

SF home, 5 acres +adj 5 acres, 2800SF bldg, Reduced $280K. A3930207 Rayma/Tan 504-9232 le 0 t Sa 0 Shor $701,0 d e c Redu

featured listing

Join Us For Our Free Seminar !

WHEN: March 24th, 5 - 6:30pm WHERE: Lakewood Ranch RSVP: 941-926-0791 SeatiNg iS LiMited

$520,000

ed List Just

* Trendgraphix statistics: Jan 1, 2010 to Dec. 31, 2010 combining Prudential Lakewood Ranch & Prudential Palms Realty.

international buyers & sellers $729,900 Edgewater Pointe Gorgeous Unique Home, Lake views, Furnished.

A3919292 Denny King 807-2572

$224,900 Mill Creek 1+ Acre lakefront lot, Recently updated, pool M5814260 Sara LaPlante 685-4566

Just

Shor

$699,900 Lakewood Ranch Country Club Unique & completely private pool home, right out of the pages of Architectural Digest. This designer showplace is one you couldn’t duplicate for this price & one you won’t forget. Details are too dramatic & numerous to list!

A3931293 Rita Lasky 780-3579

0 0,00 $20 ced u d e R

ed List

$899,000 Lakewood Ranch $1,395,000 University Park Home w/attached Casita, Lake views, Chef’s kitchen.

4160SF , Furnished, Guest Suite, Gated golf community A3899203 Kay Culliton 447-4471 A3938955 Linda A. Page 504-0123

le!

t Sa

$999,000 Lakewood Ranch Country Club Gourmet kitchen + outdoor kitchen w/fireplace.

A3938161 Judy Bastic 465-6271 00

140,0

$ ced Redu

$1,749,900 Founders Club Casual elegance, Sweeping golf views, Gated A3932890 Pat McMillan 544-4538

$1,210,000 Lakewood Ranch Country Club Lake & Golf views, pool, lots of upgrades, Gated.

A3932871 Ellen Quinn 504-0595

*Short Sale

941-907-2000 ~ Over 5,000 listings on our website: PruLWR.com Agents conveniently located at: Lakewood Ranch Main Street ~ Market Street in Lakewood Ranch ~ Siesta Key Downtown Sarasota, Tamiami Trail ~ Palmer Ranch ~ St. Armand’s Circle ~ Stoneybrook ~ Longboat Key

Prudential Lakewood Ranch Realty and Prudential Palms Realty are sister companies serving Manatee and Sarasota Counties. © 2011. An independently owned and operated member

of Prudential Real Estate Affiliates, Inc.

Prudential is a registered service mark of The Prudential Insurance Company of America.

Equal Housing Opportunity

53414

Highest Overall Satisfaction for Home Sellers Among National Full Service Real Estate Firms