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LONGBOAT Thursday, APRIL 7, 2011

You. Your neighbors. Your neighborhood.

DIVERSIONS

IN MEMORIAM

KEY LIFE

Actress Melliss Kenworthy knocks us out in 10 minutes. INSIDE.

Lou Gorman gave everyone the VIP treatment.

The Public Interest Committee celebrates 25 years of action.

OUR TOWN

Dora Walters

+ Buck bakes the cake at Christ Church When members of Christ Church of Longboat Key, Presbyterian gather for their monthly dinners, the menu changes and so does the chef. But there is one constant — church member Patty Buck always prepares the dessert. At a recent dinner, the dessert was carrot cake, and Buck baked all 10 of them — and frosted them, too. Buck says it is a labor of love and that she really enjoys baking. And the members enjoy her desserts — there are never any leftovers.

Photo courtesy of Jim Herrington

+ Mourning doves right at home on Key For the second year, a pair of mourning doves has nested in a hanging planter just a few feet from the front door of Jim Herrington and Carol Camiener’s Emerald Harbor home. The birds are not disturbed by the couple’s coming and going. Two eggs recently hatched, and if you look closely at Herrington’s photograph, you will see them peeking out from underneath their mother’s wing.

SEE OUR TOWN / PAGE 8A

PAGE 5A.

fresh faces

PAGE 1B.

FLOOD OF PROBLEMS

By Kurt Schultheis | City Editor

Commission chooses Leaky pipes Zunz for District 5 seat create GMD By Kurt Schultheis | City Editor

The Longboat Key Town Commission welcomed former Planning and Zoning Board member Pat Zunz to the dais Monday night.

congestion

The Longboat Key Town Commission’s transformation continued Monday, April 4 when Land’s End resident Pat Zunz was elected to the District 5 seat, recently vacated by Robert Siekmann. Vice Mayor David Brenner nominated Zunz, while Commissioner Hal Lenobel nominated former Mayor Jeremy Whatmough and Commissioner Lynn Larson nominated former Mayor Ron Johnson. Brenner, Mayor Jim Brown and Commissioners Phillip Younger and Jack Duncan voted for Zunz. Lenobel voted for Whatmough, and Larson voted for Johnson. For only the third time since 1955, two of the seven seated commissioners are women. Zunz, who will serve out the year left on former Commissioner Robert Siekmann’s two-year term, becomes the sixth new face on the commission in the last three years. (Other recently elected commissioners with no prior commission experience are Brown, Larson, Brenner, Younger and former Commissioner Gene Jaleski.) Although Zunz has no prior commission experience, she has made her mark at Town Hall in the last eight years. Zunz was a Zoning Board of Adjustment member from 2004 to 2009 and spent the last three years on the board as its chairwoman. When Zunz resigned in May 2009, she was appointed to the Planning and Zoning Board, for which she gave input when the board reviewed the Longboat Key Club and Resort’s Islandside renovation-and-expansion project. Four of the seven current commissioners were former Longboat Key Planning and Zoning Board members.

Leaking wastewater pipes under Gulf of Mexico Drive are creating construction zones along the island’s most traveled road. An old, corroding, iron wastewater pipe that funnels all of the sewer water on the south end of the Key is wasting away and creating flooding. Now the possibility exists that Gulf of Mexico Drive may need to be torn up to replace it. A small portion of the 30-year-old pipe was scheduled to be replaced this summer, along with a wastewater lift station in the area, but Mother Nature has severely corroded a 50foot section of the pipe and created a major construction zone, complete with concrete construction barriers, just north of Bay Isles Road in the northbound lane. Work to repair the pipe, which is 24 inches in diameter and sits 15 feet underground, began Friday, April 1, and it could take at least a week to completely stop the leak, which has flooded Bicentennial Park. “We located the pipe, found it extremely deteriorated, and it was obvious we were in deep trouble,” said Public Works Director Juan Florensa said.

SEE PIPES / PAGE 2A

Dora Walters

The Longboat Key Town Commission elected Pat Zunz to the District 5 Commission seat Monday night.

Zunz, originally from New York, has also chaired the town’s Tree Subcommittee and the Vision Plan Subcommittee that worked last summer to update the Vision Plan. Brenner told the Town Commission he was impressed with Zunz’s work last summer on that plan. “We met every Wednesday for 10 weeks last year, and I was impressed with the way she handled that committee,”

Brenner said. “She would make a great addition to the commission.” Zunz, a retired publishinghouse editor and landscape designer, was also on the Zoning Board of Adjustment for eight years in South Orange, N.J., where she was also involved in creating a master plan for the town. Zunz and her husband

SEE ZUNZ / PAGE 2A

Dora Walters

The northbound lane in the 2800 block of Gulf of Mexico Drive is being rerouted while a wastewater pipe is repaired.

INDEX Classifieds ........ 12B Cops Corner....... 10A

Crossword.......... 11B Deal Us In......... 10B

Letters..................7A Opinion.................6A

Real Estate.......... 2B Weather............. 11B

Vol. 33, No. 36 | Three sections

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PIPES / FROM PAGE 1A The town has not had to stop wastewater service from Bay Isles Road to the south end of the Key, because when it works on the pipe, wastewater is pumped out manually into trucks that are transporting the water into other manholes on the Key. Without performing that process, residents would be seeing backups in their toilets and sinks. Florensa told the Longboat Key Town Commission at its Monday, April 4 regular meeting that the town planned to make a $30,000 repair to the pipe starting at 10 p.m. Tuesday, April 5. The technique, which has been used to make repairs on other portions of the Key’s aging waterand-wastewater pipeline system, involves sending a camera into the pipe to survey the damage. Then, a small machine will be sent into the pipe to scrub the walls of the pipe before placing a new pipe lining over the old pipe. If it works, the life expectancy of the pipe would be 50 to 75 years. But Florensa warned that the procedure is not being done under ideal circumstances after last week’s storm and because the island was hit with more wind and rain Tuesday. The pipe is also in worse shape than any other his staff has encountered. “We have other options, but the pipe would most likely have to be replaced and it wouldn’t be an ideal situation for motorists,” Florensa said. “That could be a long and painful process.” For Longboat Key motorists, the repair currently is causing delays in the area, although town staff and the Florida Department of Transportation have maintained two

THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 2011

smaller lanes at most times because that section of the state road is wider in that area. Workers created a temporary fix Sunday, April 3 by replacing a 12foot section of the pipe with PVC pipe. Town Manager Bruce St. Denis noted that the Public Works Department staff has been working day and night on the problem since Friday. “This is a miserable, miserable project and everything that went wrong went wrong,” St. Denis said. “But our staff and contractor have worked together and service to our residents has been maintained during the height of season.” Also Friday, a leak in a wastewater pipe at Jungle Queen Way and Gulf of Mexico Drive was discovered. Florensa said his crews discovered two, 10-inch diameter holes on the side of a concrete manhole. The openings allowed sand to enter the town’s sewer main and completely block it. The sand was removed, and the necessary repairs to the pipe are being performed this week. Florensa said it’s too soon to know what it will cost to make all the repairs in both areas. In an email to the Town Commission April 2, Florensa noted that the severe thunderstorms that hit the Key Thursday, March 31 and brought 6.5 inches of rainfall last week could have led to the problems at both locations. “It is interesting that these two very unusual events have occurred within 12 hours of each other,” wrote Florensa in his email. “One theory is that the very large amount of rainfall we received earlier in the week created a surcharge into our system due to ground-water infiltration into our wastewater system.”

Dora Walters

Commissioners Lynn Larson, Jack Duncan, Pat Zunz and Hal Lenobel make commission appointments for the next year at the Town Commission’s Monday, April 4 regular meeting.

ZUNZ / FROM PAGE 1A Ed, who is a Zoning Board of Adjustment member, have been Longboat Key residents since 1985 and full-time residents since 2000. Zunz, who considers herself a private person, told the Longboat Observer Tuesday that becoming a town commissioner was never something for which she strived. “Being a commissioner wasn’t even on my radar,” Zunz said. “I thought most of what I do here was under the radar.” But Brown told the commission it became increasingly more aware that Zunz was the top candidate when everyone he called who lived in District 5, including Siekmann, mentioned her name. “Everyone’s list included Pat Zunz,” Brown said. When Zunz became chairwoman of the Vision Plan Subcommittee last summer, she made an impression on a commission

that is focused on revitalizing the island by trying to encourage developers to spruce up aging shopping centers. Zunz updated the commission on the Vision Plan several times last year and told them she didn’t believe the island needed to grow leaps and bounds, but that it needed to attract some new buyers. “I think that town needs to realize that if you don’t do anything, nothing stays the same,” Zunz said. “If you don’t upgrade and take care of properties, people move on and aren’t interested in living there. In today’s market, people expect more than they are used to. If the town just does nothing and thinks we will remain the way we were, we will go in the opposite direction.” Zunz said she has no set agenda for the next year she will serve on the commission. “I don’t have all the answers,” Zunz said. “But I do believe it’s a mistake not to be aware of what’s happening and just assume all the closings and deterioration around the Key are completely beyond our control.”

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THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 2011

petition postponement

30 DAYS

By Kurt Schultheis | City Editor

Club, town request challenge delay Rental rule The Longboat Key Club and Resort and the town requested a judge postpone an Islandside project challenge from IPOC. IPOC disagrees with the postponement. The Longboat Key Club and Resort and the town of Longboat Key have urged a judge to delay the Islandside Property Owners Coalition’s petition for a writ of certiorari, which challenges the town’s Comprehensive Plan and the Islandside renovation-and-expansion project ordinance the commission adopted in July. For the petition challenge, a judge relies solely on the record formed during hearings, which were held at Temple Beth Israel, to make a decision. On Tuesday, March 29, club attorneys and town attorney David Persson urged a Sarasota County Clerk of Court judge to postpone oral argument for the writ of certiorari and postpone the entire petition until the town completes amendments to the comp plan. The amendments are being made to make the plan consistent with code changes, which the Town Commission approved in May, re-

garding the Islandside project. The town is working on comp plan amendments to further clarify its position with the state’s Department of Community Affairs (DCA). “All parties have agreed in the state matter to abate that proceeding while the town finishes the DCA process,” Persson said. A Tallahassee-based administrative law judge, meanwhile, has also agreed to postpone the scheduling of hearings regarding IPOC’s administrative appeal of the commission’s decision. The appeal will be postponed for at least six months. But not everyone is on board with the town and the club’s request to postpone the writ of certiorari process. IPOC attorney Robert Lincoln argued against the postponement and was granted 10 days to file a written argument that will explain to the judge why the process should continue. The town

DESTRUCTION ZONE

By Kurt Schultheis | City Editor

and the club will then be given five days to respond to Lincoln’s argument. IPOC President Bob White told the Longboat Observer that the coalition disagrees that all three appeals are directly related and should be postponed. “We believe the writ of certiorari is independent and we should move forward with it,” White said. “The Key Club has been claiming our (IPOC’s) objection was to delay construction, and now it’s the club that is asking for a delay of proceedings. It’s rather hypocritical to say we are trying to delay when these requests are delaying any future construction.” Another challenge from IPOC still looms. A request for a de novo hearing, which allows IPOC to ask for a new hearing challenging the Islandside project, still does not have a scheduled date yet in the Sarasota County Clerk of Court.

Storm damages mobile-home parks A 30-second gust of powerful wind and rain hit the middle of Longboat Key at 4:45 p.m. Thursday, March 31. The storm ripped off roofs and downed power lines in the Twin Shores and Gulfshore of Longboat Key mobile-home park communities. Approximately 15 mobile homes, mostly in Twin Shores, were damaged. Three homes had roofs partially torn off. The Twin Shores’ covered parking area and office roofs blew off, with shredded pieces of metal flying onto and over several homes and creating roof damage. At least two residents were forced to seek shelter elsewhere for the night from the Red Cross. Mobile-home park residents were without power for more than 24 hours before power was restored. Vickie VanMeier, president of Twin Shores, said the community of 107 homes has not been so badly damaged by a storm in the last seven years she has been a resident of the park. Gulfshore, which fared better, has 178 mobile homes. “A 30-second gust of wind and rain was all it took,” VanMeier said. “The rain was so bad, I couldn’t see my patio table from my window.” VanMeier said she and the residents were thankful for the prompt response of the Longboat Key Fire Rescue and Police Departments, as well as Sarasota County emergency services. Joan Fulchino, a nine-year resident of Twin Shores, considers herself lucky. While Fulchino was in Bradenton having dinner with her son, a piece of the Twin Shores’ covered parking roof blew onto her home and ripped off portions of her roof. “My neighbors called me to tell me what happened,” said Fulchino, who got permission from Sarasota County building inspectors to sleep in her home after it was determined

A 30-second gust of wind and rain damaged 15 Longboat Key mobile homes. Three roofs were torn off, in addition to downed power lines.

Kurt Schultheis

Pieces of a metal roof and pink insulation litter a street in the Twin Shores mobile-home park after a powerful gust of wind and rain damaged the area Thursday, March 31.

no portion of the roof was leaking. Twin Shores resident Frank Magdic said he and other residents saw the rain and wind coming down sideways. “But it just seemed like any other bad storm coming in off the Gulf,” Magdic said. Lorraine Shepard thought the same thing as she drove into Gulfshore at 4:50 p.m. Thursday. “But by the time I got out of the car, the rain pelted me so bad, I was drenched,” Shepard said. Mayor Jim Brown expressed concern for the residents of both mobile-home park communities Friday, but he said the storm should serve as a wake-up call to the residents of those two communities. “Many of those mobile homes are old and not well built,” Brown said. “They are dangerous, and people can get

hurt from pieces of metal flying around the Key like that.” Brown said he hopes the residents will think more about redeveloping their properties instead of leaving the status-quo, grandfathered mobile homes as they are. Thursday’s powerful gust was just a portion of a line of storms and tornadoes that made their way through Central and Southwest Florida Thursday. Police Chief Al Hogle said he was relieved no one was injured as a result of the damage the parks received. “We are really blessed no one got hurt,” Hogle said. But the mobile-home parks weren’t the only area of town that received damage from the storm. Brown spent Friday cutting a tree down that fell between his home and his neighbor’s house in Longboat Key Es-

in jeopardy The town of Longboat Key’s 30-day rental rule could become obsolete if a bill proposed in the Legislature is approved. A bill being reviewed by the Legislature has the potential to make the town’s 30-day minimum residential rental requirement null and void. The bill, which has already passed through two committees in the state’s House of Representatives and is now being reviewed by a Judiciary Committee, would allow residential property owners to rent a residential home for one day, if they wish. The town’s current 30-day rental rule, which would be overridden if the bill passes in May in the Legislature, requires that Key homeowners rent their homes for 30 days or more at a time. At the request of Town Manager Bruce St. Denis, Mayor Jim Brown sent a letter to Sen. Michael Bennett, R-Bradenton, urging the Legislature not to approve the bill. “As the mayor of Longboat Key I want to covey to you the importance of the defeat of House Bill 883,” Brown wrote. “A discussion about allowable rental durations has come up several times in Longboat Key’s history. Each time the answer is the same — no rentals of less than 30 days in areas that are residentially zoned. The town, like many other communities in Florida, has many units zoned for tourism that can rent for as short a period as a single night. Please do not allow decisions to be made in Tallahassee that will change the character of our community after the decision has been made locally.” The rental rule has been in place since October 1982. If the bill passes, town attorney David Persson said the town’s current 30-day rental requirement would no longer exist. The bill would not affect rules set in place by Key homeowner associations, which have the right to make their own rental restrictions. Longboat Key is not the only municipality or county that’s upset with the proposed bill. Sarasota County Administrator Jim Ley told the Town Commission in an email that the bill would invalidate portions of the county’s zoning regulations that are designed to control overnight rentals. Persson’s office is monitoring the bill closely and providing regular updates on its status to the Town Commission.

30-day Rental RULE on LONGBOAT

A telephone pole fell on top of a power line near the entrance of Twin Shores.

tates. And another home in Longboat Key Estates near the entrance had its flat, gravel roof torn off. The Sea Horse Beach Resort Condo, 3453 Gulf of Mexico Drive, also suffered roof and flooding damage.

The current rule states: “‘Residential use’ or ‘residential occupancy’: The use of a building, or portion thereof, designed for and used for occupancy periods of not less than 30 days. ‘Residential use’ may allow for occupancy periods of less than 30 days by one family, and only that same family, and shall not preclude visitation by guests, provided that such property is not used as a tourism use for remuneration.”

LONGBOAT Observer

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NEWSBRIEFS

THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 2011

+ Post office prepares for tax deadline The Longboat Key Post Office has additional supplies of both certified mail and return receipt U.S. postal forms available for taxpayers submitting tax forms to the Internal Revenue Service before the Monday,

Meetings agendas

Code Enforcement Board Regular Meeting — 10 a.m. Monday, April 11. 

 Town Commission Goals and Objectives Workshop — 2 p.m. Monday, April 11.  Zoning Board of Adjustment Regular Meeting — 9:30 a.m. Thursday, April 14.

All meetings take place at Town Hall, 501 Bay Isles Road.

year to the organization. In a March 31 email to Town Manager Bruce St. Denis and the Longboat Key Town Commission in response to the town’s request that the Historical Society participate in the 2011 Goals and Objectives Workshop, Mayers wrote: “Our core belief is that the Historical Society makes life more interesting and fun here on Longboat Key. This belief reflects your Vision goal of ‘strategies and tactics, which both preserve and promote Longboat Key to benefit existing and future residents and businesses.’” The Goals and Objectives Workshop will take place at 2 p.m. Monday, April 11, at Longboat Key Town Hall, 501 Bay Isles Road. The Longboat Key Historical Society Museum is open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. most weekdays, at 6826 Gulf of Mexico Drive, and features past Longboat Key newspapers, photographs, video and audio.

April 18 tax deadline this year. Proper preparation of these forms will allow postal clerks to efficiently process and complete these transactions, limiting the amount of time each customer has to spend waiting. Additional assistance will be present in the Longboat Key Post Office lobby throughout the day April 18 to answer any questions. However, there will not be extended post office hours. Regular business hours at the Longboat Key Post Office are from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Contact the Longboat Key Post Office at 383-4499 or email Postmaster Rodney Masengale at Rodney.E.Masengale@usps.gov for more information.

+ Historical Society requests funds Longboat Key Historical Society President Tom Mayers requested the town allocate at least $1,000 per

What you missed on the Web The top-five most read stories online last week were: • Storm damages Longboat Key community (April 1) • Longboat under tornado watch (March 31) • Our View: Pay hikes doomed the pensions (March 30) • Cops Corner (March 30) • Squatters pay cash for keys to the Colony — April Fools (April 1) See all photos from this week’s events online: • Sarasota Yacht Club Charitable Foundation Gala (March 27) • Bird Key Yacht Club Fashion Show (March 31) • Ted Rehl piano concert (April 1) • An Affaire to Remember (April 2) • Mote’s Run for the Turtles (April 2) • Whitney Beach Antique and Art Fair (April 2) • Longboat Island Chapel Jazz Sunday (April 3) • Sarasota Yacht Club Blessing of the Fleet (April 3)

YourObserver.com You. Your Neighbors. Your Neighborhood.

TOWN OF LONGBOAT KEY NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING APRIL 19, 2011 (QUASI-JUDICIAL)

Complimentary Seminar

Are we in a

Please take notice that a public hearing will be held at the request of Lighthouse Point Association of Longboat Key to consider an Outline Development Plan Amendment and Site Plan Amendment to reconfigure the Lighthouse Point community dock area resulting in an increase of the projection into the waterway to 59.6 feet, with an additional 240 square feet of dock area for a total dock area of 1,651 square feet, to provide mooring areas for lots located at 40, 50, 60, 70, 80 and 90 Lighthouse Point Drive.

BOND BUBBLE?

A quasi-judicial public hearing before the Planning and Zoning Board on the proposal will be held on April 19, 2011 at 9:00 a.m., or as soon thereafter as may be heard, at the Town Commission Chambers, 501 Bay Isles Road, Longboat Key, Florida. This hearing will be held in accordance with established quasi-judicial procedures. The proposed amendment will affect property within the corporate boundaries of the Town of Longboat Key as shown on the map appearing at the bottom of this advertisement

Please join us for an enlightening discussion of the following: • Performance of bonds during times of rising/declining interest rates • Things to consider when choosing between: - Individual bonds or bond funds? - Tax free or Taxable bonds? - Long term or short term bonds? - High yield bonds or preferred stock? • Ways to hedge against rising interest rates

All interested persons may appear and be heard with respect to the proposal. Copies of the proposal and related material may be viewed at the Planning, Zoning & Building Department, 501 Bay Isles Road, between 8:30 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. weekdays, prior to the public hearing. Questions may be directed to the Planning, Zoning & Building Department at 316-1966. If any person decides to appeal any decision made by the Board with respect to any matter considered at this meeting, a record of the proceedings will be needed. For such purpose that person may need to ensure that a verbatim record of the proceedings is made, which record includes the testimony and evidence upon which the appeal is to be based.

*Bond prices fluctuate inversely to changes in interest rates. Therefore, a general rise in interest rates can result in a decline in the value of your investment. *Mutual funds will be discussed at this seminar. Investing in mutual funds involves risk. The principal value and investment return will fluctuate so that shares, when redeemed, may be worth more or less than their original cost.

BJ Webb, Chairman, Planning and Zoning Board Published 4/6/11

Wednesday, April 13 - 2:00pm

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THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 2011

IN MEMORIAM

By Robin Hartill | Community Editor

Former Red Sox manager gave VIP treatment to all On the baseball diamond, James “Lou” Gorman was known for his keen eye for talent. He procured all-star players such as Roger Clemens, Curt Schilling, Jim Palmer and Lenny Dystra. In his tenure as general manager of the Boston Red Sox, which spanned from 1984 to 1993, he put together a roster of players that nearly won the 1986 World Series. But even off the baseball diamond, he treated everyone like a VIP. He regaled longtime friends such as Stan Rutstein with stories over long dinners. Some of his stories were legendary — like the one about Game Six of the 1986 World Series, when Boston was winning in the 10th inning. The team seemed sure to sail to victory, until player Bill Buckner made a fielding error and dropped the ball between his legs. It was just one of Gorman’s many stories from his career of more than 50 years in major league baseball. “At midnight, he was still sitting there telling his story,” Rutstein recalls about the stories he and his wife, Jo, heard when they went out to dinner with Gorman and his wife, Mary Lou. “He just loved the game.” The Gormans stayed at Casa del Mar, where they owned a unit for 21 years, for the first three months of each year. Gorman left at I the end of seaLBKnever - 2010 son without a farewell, thank you

and, usually, a few gifts for the office staff. “He was one of the nicest, kindest people you would ever meet,” said D.M. Williams, general manager of Casa del Mar. Gorman, 82, of Weston, Mass., died Friday, April 1 — the opening day of the Red Sox season. Born Feb. 18, 1929, in Providence, R.I., he grew up with a love for baseball. He previously told the Longboat Observer that he tried out for the Philadelphia Phillies in 1947 but didn’t make the cut. His dad told him: “Lou, get a job.” Gorman went on to graduate from Stonehill College in 1953, earn his master’s in teaching from Bridgewater Teachers College and serve a total of 34 years of active and reserve duty in the U.S. Navy. Eventually, he got an apprenticeship in the minor leagues before beginning his major league baseball career as assistant farmand-scouting director for the Baltimore Orioles. Gorman became familiar with the Sarasota area in 1973, when he became director of the Kansas City Royals’ Baseball Academy, which was located in Twin Lakes Park, in Sarasota. He went on to become general manager of the Seattle Mariners for five years before becoming general manager of the Boston Red Sox. Gorman remained involved with the Red Sox, serving as coordinator of the

File photo

Lou Gorman autographs a copy of his book, “One Pitch From Glory,” in 2005 at Circle Books, on St. Armands Circle.

team’s hall of fame until shortly before his death — a testament, Rutstein said, to his leadership. “Lou was their face,” Rutstein said. “It’s an amazing thing in business, because usually when you’re retired, your days are over.” Williams said that Gorman generally kept a low presence at Casa del Mar, often spending time at the swimming pool, although his prominence was apparent in the hundreds of pieces of mail he received each day. On Longboat Key, he attended St.

BUYING GOLD

Mary, Star of the Sea, Catholic Church, where he spoke to the Men’s Club on at least one occasion. But Gorman used his position as a way to show his generosity. He made friends out of strangers, such as CVS pharmacist Sheri Friedrich, who wears a Red Sox lanyard around her neck every day at work. When she first met him at CVS, he let her try on his 2004 World Series ring and take pictures. He later returned with autographed copies of his book.

Friedrich recalls a time when she had planned a trip to Boston and bought tickets for a Red Sox game. At the last minute, she decided to go to a second game. “On a Friday afternoon, I called and left a message at Fenway for him and asked if there was anything he could do,” she said. “Not more than 15 minutes later, he called and asked how many tickets I needed.” Gorman compiled many of his stories in his books, “One Pitch From Glory: A Decade of Running the Red Sox” and “High and Inside: My Life in the Front Offices of Baseball.” But of Gorman’s many stories, the one that his friends heard most often was the story of Game Six of the 1986 World Series. But when Gorman told it, he didn’t just emphasize Buckner’s error. He praised Buckner as a person. He said that, despite the loss, Game Six was one of the best games he ever watched. “Even though he lost,” Williams said, “he still understood that it was just a game.” Gorman is survived by his wife, Mary Lou; sister, Virginia Moran; seven nieces and nephews; and eight great-nieces and nephews. A funeral Mass will take place Thursday, April 7, in Weston. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made to the Alzheimer’s Association, 311 Arsenal St., Watertown, Mass., 02472.

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“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/Executive Editor / Lisa Walsh, lwalsh@yourobserver.com Associate Publisher-Multimedia / Emily Walsh Parry, ewalsh@yourobserver.com Editor-Editorial Pages / Rod Thomson, rthomson@yourobserver.com Managing Editor / Jessica Luck, jluck@ yourobserver.com Assistant Managing Editor/Design / Nancy Schwartz, nschwartz@ yourobserver.com Senior Editor / Dora Walters, dwalters@ yourobserver.com City Editor / Kurt Schultheis, kschultheis@yourobserver.com Community Editor / Robin Hartill, rhartill@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 Staff Writer / Maria Amodio, mamodio@ yourobserver.com Staff Photographer / Rachel O’Hara, rohara@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 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@yourobserver. com; Marjorie Holloway, mholloway@ yourobserver.com; Luis Trujillo, ltrujillo@ yourobserver.com Multimedia Production Manager / Caleb Stanton, cstanton@yourobserver. com Circulation Manager / Paul Simons, psimons@yourobserver.com Circulation/Admin. Assistant / Patti Colby, pcolby@yourobserver.com Chief Financial Officer / Laura Keisacker, lkeisacker@yourobserver.com Accounting Manager / Lori Downey, ldowney@yourobserver.com Accounting Assistant / Kathy Klein, kklein@yourobserver.com Founders: Ralph, Claire and Janet Hunter, 1978-1995

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THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 2011

our view

Summer is sure to be hot, steamy Enjoy the peace and tranquility on Longboat Key while you can. So far, it has been a quiet Season on Longboat Key. The Longboat Key Club and Resort hearings and drama are a year-old memory, and although a Town Commission election always generates great copy for us, it was kind of nice not to have to report about petty election-sign violations or feel the undercurrents of divisiveness that often accompanies commission campaigns. In fact, things seem to be eerily peaceful at the moment. And that can only mean the proverbial calm before the storm. Indeed, to that end, newly elected Vice Mayor David Brenner last week in his monthly online “Brenner Banner” gave constituents a sneak preview of what’s ahead in the coming months. We won’t need any hurricanes this summer. There’ll be enough big issues on the town agenda to keep the winds blowing pretty hard. Three issues Brenner cited:

• Next year’s budget

Wrote Brenner: “We’ve begun departmental reviews, and the most compelling estimate is a probable decline in property tax revenue of 7% or about $600,000. To hold the line on taxes and maintain level of service, there are critical expense cuts to be made.” We’ve been there before, and it’s always painful. It appears, however, a strong majority of commissioners have recognized there is one primary driver to to the town’s budget — payroll. And that means pensions, as in see the next item.

• Compensation

Wrote Brenner: “We need to overhaul all aspects of our compensation arrangements so that our taxpayers are no longer overwhelmed with a commitment they cannot afford. The results of the current state legislative session will probably have a significant impact on what we do. This battle will be long and messy.” You are now forewarned. The current slate of town commissioners appears ready to confront the town employees’ pension benefits, which we all know are unsustainable in their present form. We already have had a foreshadowing of what’s to come with the firefighters’ pension board. But it’s going to become especially difficult for the commissioners and town manager. This really could be a long, hot summer.

• Community center

It’s back. For the third time in 15 years.

Brenner noted commissioners will restart discussions on this topic at their April workshop. Judging from the two previous experiences, the subject of a community center can rile the emotions of Longboat Key residents. About a decade ago, Longboat voters rejected a proposal for construction of a community center at Joan M. Durante Park. And not long after that, voters again rejected spending $6 million on what many believed to be a lavish, publicly funded community center at Bayfront Park. It’s a conundrum. Longboat residents all know the Key lacks a centrally located gathering place for large town affairs and events. The Town Commission Chambers are too small and inadequate for events. So is the elevated recreation center at Bayfront Park. As a structure, that building — God bless it — is also obsolete for just about every activity. (Aerobic Grandma Molly Schechter can give you an impassioned book on that.) We do have the beautifully remodeled Longboat Key Center for the Arts, with its large gallery room and community room. But let’s be honest, unfortunately, the Center for the Arts still has difficulty convincing Longboat residents on the south end of the Key that the earth doesn’t end at Pattigeorge’s, Euphemia Haye or Harry’s Continental Kitchens. The Arts Center’s location works against it. Still, the Arts Center is so perfectly adequate in terms of nice, usable space that it makes it difficult to justify spending $3 million to build a new taxpayer-funded community center. For one, a new community center certainly would not bode well for the future for the Arts Center. Jane Buckman, executive director of the center, wants more events there and doesn’t need to be competing with a publicly funded facility. Second, and more important, the Arts Center is one of the few standing historic landmarks on the Key. It (along with the Colony Beach and Tennis Resort) is one of the last physical links to Longboat’s heritage. It would be tragic to see it become displaced by a stucco-sided, governmentlooking community center. Third, do we really need a multimilliondollar building to hold a few weekly exercise classes, a few weekly bridge matches and an annual debate between Town Commission candidates? All of those activities can be accommodated elsewhere now.

U.S. BUDGET DEBATE IN CONTEXT Up until this week, those so-called tough-on-spending Republicans in Congress have been trying to cut about $60 billion from the federal budget. It sounds like a lot. But it’s only 4.2% of the total $1.4 trillion in spending. Let’s put this in perspective. Take the median family income for Manatee County, and let’s show what household spending would look like if it mirrored the federal government’s attitude toward spending. In the accompanying table, family “income” represents this year’s federal budget revenues; “spending” represents federal expenditures; “credit-card” debt represents the federal debt; and the “proposed cuts” are the tiny reductions Republicans are desperately trying to pass. The “new spending” level is what the everso-slightly improved mess would look like if Republicans prevail. The result? If a Manatee family making $38,673 spent like Congress, it would spend $57,700 this year while carrying $232,038 in credit-card debt. Further, the more responsible spouse among the two

U.S. BUDGET DEBATE IN TERMS OF MEDIANINCOME FAMILY Annual income................... $38,673 Annual spending................. $57,700 Credit-card debt............... $232,038 Proposed cuts......................... $975 New spending..................... $56,725 — which is not saying much in our example — is trying to cut a measly $975, so the family is only spending $56,725. But the other spouse is fighting that cut as unaffordable. This is what is going on in Congress. That $60 billion the Republicans are trying to cut equates to that $975 for our family. And yet, the Democrats and President Obama are fighting it at every step. They are only up for a paltry $10 billion in cuts, which equates to $163 in our family budget. This is the context in which to listen to the Democrats calling proposed budget cuts “extreme.” This is why there is no credibility there.

What’s more, we all know what happens when we build government buildings. We make work to fill them up and expand government; bureaucracy and expenses grow. But of course, there’s the other side of the coin: What, pray tell, should the town do with the existing recreation center, which some allege is being held up only because the termites are standing leg locked to leg? We like the idea of Sarasota County sending more of Longboat taxpayers’ tax dollars back to the Key for a change. That’s how the remodeling of Bayfront Park and the property to the south of it are being financed. But nothing is simple. Rarely, if ever, is it simple on Longboat Key. If you stick around this summer, you can bet it’s going to be hot and steamy.

WORLD CHAMPION

Longboaters Stan Rutstein and Lou Gorman at Fenway Park in 2008. Lou Gorman, a seasonal resident at Casa del Mar on Longboat Key for the past 14 years, was an undisputed baseball legend — especially to those who worked with him and knew him. (See his obituary on page 5A.) The longtime general manager of the Boston Red Sox, Seattle Mariners and Kansas City Royals, Gorman influenced the course of so many players and the history of the game far beyond what the record books show. But more than anything, in spite of his celebrity, Gorman was a decent, caring man, the antithesis of pretentious. He loved people and loved to chat, no matter who you were. Those who had the privilege of spending an hour or more with Gorman while he made his annual spring training trek to Longboat Key will tell you he had enough fascinating stories about baseball, its characters, players and historic moments to fill all of Cooperstown’s Hall of Fame. And what a story-teller he was. Members of the St. Mary Star of the Sea Men’s Club always packed the church hall when Gorman was the club’s guest speaker. His talks and stories were priceless. Equally amusing was how his wife, Mary Lou, was such a trouper. For more than four decades she tolerated Gorman’s love of baseball, even though she openly admitted she had no interest in the sport. Baseball writers often remember Gorman for being one ground ball away from winning the World Series in 1986 while general manager of the Red Sox. That was the famous Bill Buckner flub at first base. But Gorman eventually won “the ring” — a World Series ring — when the Red Sox beat the St. Louis Cardinals in 2004, when he was a vice president and executive consultant for the team. Gorman was proud of that ring. He never hesitated to take it off and let his dinner mates or audience members hold it, touch it or put it on. Gorman deserved that ring. He was, without a doubt, a World Champion of a man.

LONGBOAT Observer

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THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 2011

TO THE EDITOR ness Event held March 20 at the Longboat Key Public Tennis Center would like to thank the community for the overwhelming support we received. One business after another was willing to sponsor this event or provide items for the raffle. We would also like to thank the Longboat Observer for its great coverage. We know that today there are so many demands for support of this kind of event, and we are honored that so many of you chose to participate. With your support, we were able to raise $12,500 for the Breast Health Center at Sarasota Memorial Hospital. These funds will stay in our community and every penny raised will go to provide breast-health services for our community. Those businesses that provided support deserve to be recognized. Thanks to all of you: Nails of Longboat; Lana Hayes of SRQ Hair Salon; Blue Dolphin; Nosh A Rye; Mar Vista; Ciao Italian Eatery; Granny Knots Baby Sweaters; The Friends of Tennis, Inc.; Marina’s Face, Body and Nail Care; Secur-All Insurance; POS Card Systems, Inc.; Victoria Horstmann Realtor; Green Ginger Hair Design; Beth Callans Management Corporation; Fresh Produce; Lazy

Dear Editor: When disaster from nature occurs, i.e. hurricanes or tornadoes here in Florida, confusion settles in the aftermath. Not so here at Gulfshore of Longboat Key or Twin Shores, because of the dedicated people of Relief Ministries, Calvary Chapel of Sarasota, headed by Curt and Mary Jo Hencye. They were here in the early-morning hours with their crew working in concert for both parks and stayed until the evening and continued through Saturday hauling away debris. They are a voluntary mission, giving their services worldwide. However, they do accept donations, which is deservedly earned. Also, our police force and firefighters and emergency staff deserve a great deal of our thanks for their exceptional work and concern for the residents. Thank you to all. Charlotte Jensen Longboat Key

+ Thanks to community for support of event Dear Editor: The organizing committee for the Breast Cancer Aware-

Lobster Longboat; Your Fitness Instructor; Natural Discoveries; Dr. Lawrence Kassouf; Contemporary Alternative Care; Design 2000 Hair and Nail Salon; Exit Art; Prestige Services; St. Armands Therapeutic Massage; Pink Angel Boutique; the Longboat Observer; and the Longboat Key Public Tennis Center, which hosted the event. Laurin Goldner Longboat Key

+ Longboat Key should widen its bike lanes Dear Editor: As a baby boomer resident

Art with Function

who has recently started biking the length of the Key for exercise, I would like to suggest a solution to the bike-lane debate. The town should widen the bike lane by 18 inches to 24 inches. A slightly wider bike lane would be far safer for both bikers and drivers. The current bike lane is too

Please email them to rthomson@ yourobserver.com, or mail them to the Longboat Observer, 5570 Gulf of Mexico Drive, Longboat Key, 34228. The Longboat Observer gives priority to letters of local interest and about local issues. The Observer will print all letters to the editor if it feels they are of general interest, but only if the letter is signed and the author’s street address and phone number are given. The editor reserves the right to condense letters.

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think that maybe you could print this letter so that dog owners who don’t use leashes might read this and understand how other dogs on leashes might feel? I really want to go back to Durante Park, but I know that I won’t be able to until this problem is solved. Love, Lilly

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+ A note of thanks and appreciation

Dear Editor: My name is Lilly, and I am an 11-pound poodle who is asking for your help. My mom, Leba, adopted me almost five years ago. I was 3 years old then, and I was so very happy to leave my life of abuse and move to Longboat Key. I was most excited to learn about a place called Durante Park, where I could walk for miles and see lots of kids playing and people walking. I especially liked watching the birds and wildlife that we saw on our walk. I am very sad because we don’t to go Durante Park anymore. There are so many dogs off their leashes that run up to me and scare me that Mom usually has to pick me up or I try hiding behind her. Some

dogs are really big and some are little like me, but I don’t know when they come running up to me unleashed if they are friendly or not, so I start shaking or try to hide. I can’t go to Durante Park, because it makes my mom so angry that people don’t abide by the leash rule. She says that it isn’t worth my getting so scared when I am there, so now we walk around the Centre Shops, and it isn’t the same. Last Saturday I begged to go to the park one last time, and, sure enough, just as we got out of the car another dog came running up to me that looked kind of mean, so we had to leave. Do you

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LETTERS

+ People should abide by dog-leash law

LONGBOAT Observer

www.YourObserver.com

THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 2011

OUR TOWN + Key resident catches spectacular sunset Beach Harbor Club resident June Beigbeder, holding the Longboat Observer, recently crossed two items off of her bucket list: She took a hot-air balloon ride in North Port. Then, March 7, she celebrated with family members and neighbors at the condominium clubhouse before gathering eight of her friends on three helicopters for a sunset ride over Longboat Key. Beigbeder was wowed by a helicopter

>> Continued from Page 1A ride over Maui she took 24 years ago. This time, she got a bird’s-eye view of the island where she has lived for the past nine years. “Longboat is beautiful with the color of the water,” she said. When the pilot flew the helicopter low, Beigbeder and her friends could pick out local restaurants and see dolphin coves. But one site hit close to home: Beigbeder’s Beach Harbor Club neighbors had gathered on a condo rooftop and stood waving to her as she savored the special sunset.

Courtesy photo

Photo courtesy of James Corwin Johnson

+ Sea-turtle supporters run for fun and a cause The 25th annual Run for the Turtles event took place Saturday, April 2, on Siesta Key Beach. The race had a large turnout with 1,005 runners and walkers who participated in the event, plus friends and family supporters who cheered on the participants. There was a 1-mile Fun Run followed by a 5K. The fun-run winners were Alexander Zarris, 13, and Anna Johnson, 17. The overall female winner for the 5K was Heather Butcher, 38, with a time of 18:31, and the overall male winner for the 5K was Jim McQuade, 41, with a time of 16:42. Mote was the main sponsor for the event, with partners including the Manasota Track Club and Sarasota County Parks and Recreation. This year’s event also honored Longboater Michael T. Martin, the event’s longtime sponsor who died last year. The funds raised at the annual event go toward Mote’s sea-turtle research. This is Mote’s 30th year of being involved in local sea-turtle conservation efforts.

+ Tangerine Bay celebrates with endof-season barbecue Tangerine Bay Club held its end-of-season barbecue March 30, at the Bay Isles Beach Club. There were more than 50 people in attendance, and the weather, which was threatening, held. Phyllis Black, who is events coordinator for the condominium, along with her husband, Jack, prepared a true Southern barbecue Courtesy photo feast. Pat Farrell, Carolyn Vioni and Diane Van Ess

+ Observer offers unique content on its website While clicking around YourObserver.com to get the latest news in your neighborhood, don’t miss The Observer’s daily online crossword puzzle (you can even save your puzzle and come back to it later); weekly E-editions of each paper; our online “It’s Read Everywhere” contest; and an interactive Weather page that shows you current conditions. To access the crossword, click the crossword puzzle rectangle in the bottom, right-hand corner of the homepage. To upload “It’s Read Everywhere” photos of yourself holding your favorite local newspaper in various worldwide locations, click on the contests tab at the top of the homepage. Photos can be uploaded through Oct. 15. Voting for the photo contest takes place from Oct. 15 to Nov. 7, and winners will be announced in the Nov. 10 “Welcome Back” issue.

YourObserver.com You. Your Neighbors. Your Neighborhood.

+ Temple Beth Israel to offer entertaining evening

Rachel S. O’Hara

Temple Beth Israel will hold its Cabaret Night at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 7, at Temple Beth Israel, 567 Bay Isles Road. The event will feature MODI, who was recently voted one of New York City’s top comedians. The Tampa-based Michael Ross Trio will perform. The event includes refreshments, beer, wine and a dessert buffet. For tickets, call 383-3428.

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THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 2011

Three Agents In One

In these uncertain times for the nation’s real estate markets, there are encouraging new certainties about ours. First, with a growing number of properties being sold from Bradenton to Boca Grande—Southwest Florida is showing definite signs of a sustained recovery.

gold standard for unbiased local market profiles based on actual sales. Your agent as knowledge broker will walk you through these revealing monthly trend reports and explain your best options as a buyer or seller.

Second, the recovery is occurring faster in many popular neighborhoods and price segments; less so in others. Third, in something of a blast from the not-too-distant past, a significant number of sellers are working with our agents to field multiple offers—thanks mainly to aggressive pricing.

Last week, front pages across the nation announced in bold headlines that February’s existing-home sales dropped 9.6% nationally compared with January. They were also down by 2.8% compared with last February.

To guarantee a successful transaction these days, your agent must not only possess competent real estate skills but also be equal parts knowledge broker and problem solver. Foreclosures, short-sales, fluctuating inventories and falling values—it can be very difficult for buyers and sellers to keep ahead of the market when the playing field changes constantly. To maximize your understanding of today’s market, be sure to contact an agent from Michael Saunders & Company. No one is more fully equipped, better trained or capable at dealing with each new twist and turn this market sends our way. To immediately capitalize on developing opportunities and trends within specific communities, neighborhoods, zip codes and price ranges we continuously provide our agents with updated market reports from such trusted sources as Trendgraphix—the industry’s

The Sarasota Herald-Tribune dutifully reported these less than stellar results as well—but with one key difference. It noted early-on in the story that for the third straight month homes sales in Southwest Florida defied the national trend. In fact, 17 of Florida’s 19 metro areas bucked February’s downward trend in national home sales. 18 of them also enjoyed higher condo sales. According to the Sarasota Association of Realtors, February sales in the Sarasota MLS were up 24.2% over January, up 27% over February 2010; and the inventory of unsold homes hit a six-year low. Plus, for the first time since April 2010—when the first time home buyer tax credit was still artificially stoking sales—pending sales exceeded 1,000. This proves yet again the adage that all real estate is local, thus making it unwise to form local housing decisions based solely on national trends. Foreclosures continued to place a drag on February prices in 14 of

Florida’s metro areas. Sarasota’s median price receded as well. Still, as the quickening pace of unit sales indicates, prices now occupy a comfortable range for many buyers who believe that any additional price declines are not worth the wait if it means missing out on a specific property, passing up a low interest rate; or having fewer firstrate properties to choose from. Instead, they’ve been known to formulate offers based on their best judgments of how area home prices may yet fall marginally before bouncing back. Moreover, our market has been repeatedly declared undervalued by numerous real estate experts. Theirs is also the expectation that prices will recover rather quickly once the backlog of distress sales is dealt with. With too many present-day transactions succumbing to preventable lending or title issues, your agent must also function as a troubleshooter as the sale progresses from contract to closing. Working in tandem with the teams from MSC Mortgage and MSC Title our agents offer their customers the added benefit of one-stop shopping; where the expertise and problem-solving skills of everyone involved remains unified, purposeful and communicative. When you choose a real estate company, be sure to get the personal representation you need in today’s hyper-challenging market. Choose an agent from Michael Saunders & Company and you’ll get three professionals in one. The licensed agent, the knowledge broker and the problem solver.

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Cops

LONGBOAT

THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 2011

Corner

March 24 Getting out of scrapes 8:28 p.m. — 4700 block of Gulf of Mexico Drive (GMD). Property Damage. A man told police that his rental car suffered several scrapes on the right-side rear door that weren’t there before. Damage was estimated at $300.

CLASSIC COPS

cleaner refused to give them back to her until she paid for the prior alterations. A dry cleaner employee told police it was the store’s policy to perform such action when there is an outstanding balance for a stopped check. Both parties were advised their matter was a civil matter and not a criminal matter.

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March 25 Light the way 1 a.m. — 800 block of Jungle Queen Way. Suspicious Vehicle. A man called to report that someone drove a pickup truck down his road with its high beams on and parked on the street. The truck could not be found.

March 26 Hung out to dry 9:51 a.m. — 600 block of Longboat Club Road. Civil Disturbance. A woman told police that she stopped payment on a check three years ago after she wasn’t satisfied with a local dry cleaner’s alterations of her clothes. When she dropped off clothes for cleaning recently, the

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6:10 p.m. — 5400 block of GMD. Civil Disturbance. A resort employee filed a police report because an employee violated a non-compete clause in her contract.

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when police asked them to do so.

Request granted 12:58 p.m. — 1200 block of GMD. Fraud. A woman told police she received an e-mail from her cable provider that asked her to update her billing information and her date of birth and Social Security information. She planned to place a fraud alert on her credit reports after completing the request.

3:12 p.m. — 3300 block of GMD. Boat. Police observed two Jet Skis too close to shore. The Jet Ski riders resumed normal operation 300 feet from shore after police notified them of the town’s code.

Fire extinguished

March 29

9:6 p.m. — 2700 block of GMD. Code Enforcement. A group of college kids from Chicago put out their beach fire

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It’s time to move on 7:53 p.m. — 3400 block of GMD. Code Enforcement. Police saw a motor home parked on a vacant piece of land and found the driver asleep inside. The man told police he had been driving for 14 hours and pulled over to rest. Because of some bad weather, police said he could stay as long as he left first thing in the morning.

March 27

9:24 a.m. 4300 block of GMD. Officer reported a physical clash between two men aged 75 and 76. Altercation brought to a halt by shortness of breath on both parts. Only minor injuries sustained.

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Longboat Key Republican Club — meets at 11:30 a.m. Friday, April 8, at Bird Key Yacht Club, 301 Bird Key Drive. Political consultant Jamie Miller will speak about Florida politics. Tickets are $22 for members, $25 for non-members. RSVP to Ruth Strauss at 3835349. James Harvey Book Signing — takes place from 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday, April 9, at Circle Books, 478 John Ringling Blvd. Harvey is a seasonal Florida resident and new contributor to the “Gulf Coast Lit” genre with his novel, “Grayton Beach Affair.”

DON’T MISS A Taste of the Keys and Male Fashion Show What: Food and fashion will be the focus of this fun-filled evening. “A Taste of the Keys” will feature a male fashion show with styles from Brooks Brothers. Models include Town Manager Bruce St. Denis, Public Works Director Juan Florensa and Police Chief Al Hogle, just to name a few. The menu will include a variety of hors d’oeuvres from at least 11 local restaurants, including Chart House Restaurant, Mar Vista Dockside Restaurant and Pub and the Longboat Key Club and Resort. When: 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 13 Where: Longboat Key Center for the Arts, 6860 Longboat Drive S. Tickets: $50 Contact: Barb Kerwin at 383-0772 or Susan Landau at 383-8030

Call 388-2850. Fidelity Investments Senior Doubles Tennis Tournament — takes place at 9 a.m. Monday, April 14 through Thursday, April 17, at the Longboat Key Public Tennis Center, 590 Bay Isles Road. Registration is $40 per person. The tournament is a USTA-designated tournament and is open to men in the 60 and 70 age divisions and women in the 55 and 65 age categories. Call the tennis center at 316-8367 or visit USTAFlorida.com.

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Party on the Pass — takes place at 6 p.m. Saturday, April 16, at Mote’s Aquarium Courtyard, 1600 Ken Thompson Parkway. Tickets are $75 and include beer, wine and food stations provided by the SarasotaManatee Originals. Silent and live auctions will be featured and benefit Mote’s ongoing care of sick, injured or stranded dolphins, whales and sea turtles. Call 388-4441 or visit www.mote.org/partonthepass. Shall We Dance — takes place at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 19, at the Longboat Key Center for the Arts, a Division of Ringling College Art and Design, 6860 Longboat Drive S. Fuzion Dance Artists will perform with area musicians for an evening of music and movement. Tickets are $20 in advance, $25 at the door. Call 383-2345.

public Tennis Under the Stars — takes place at 6 p.m. Friday, April 15, at the intersection of Main Street and Palm Avenue, in Sarasota. Downtown Sarasota will be transformed into a full-size tennis court and street party for the Sarasota Open. Proceeds benefit the Sarasota Open Foundation, a charitable organization benefiting youth athletic programs. Tickets are $30. Call 809-8996 or visit sarasotaopen.org.

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54871

LONGBOAT Observer

THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 2011

LONGBOAT Observer

www.YourObserver.com

Aitken meets with SRQ airport officials Retired pilot Andrew Aitken blames the Federal Aviation Administration for low-flying planes. The results of a Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport review are in, but, for one resident, they don’t solve the issue of airplanes ascending over the north end of Longboat Key. Emerald Harbor resident and retired Navy pilot Andrew Aitken notified the Sarasota Manatee Airport Authority Board in January that pilots are not following procedures, particularly near the north end of the Key. Pilots cleared for takeoff on Runway 32, the airport’s most western runway, Aitken said, must fly west for a minimum of seven miles before beginning a turn toward their destinations. But Aitken has noticed that aircrafts with a northern destination to places such as Atlanta are beginning their turns at between three and four miles, which takes them over the north end of Longboat Key. The move means that planes are gaining altitude over the Key — when most of the plane-ascension noise is emitted. Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport CEO Fred Piccolo told Aitken he would review the airport’s compliance with noiseabatement procedures.

After meeting with Piccolo, Aitken believes the problem exists on the federal level and that the pilots are being cleared to make early-ascension turns. Piccolo and Aitken met March 30 at the airport, and Piccolo explained in a follow-up email that he will be discussing the issue with his managers later this month. In a March 31 email to Vice Mayor David Brenner, Aitken outlined what he now believes to be the crux of the problem. “The point was made that SRQ personnel are doing everything necessary to ensure that Federal Aviation Association (FAA) rules, and the FAA controllers interpretation of them, are complied with by departing aircraft,” Aitken wrote in his email. “But it is the underlying rules that are flawed.” Aitken explained that Piccolo and the airport staff will appeal to the FAA and ask them not to allow an early-ascension turn over the island. “I consider the overall review of departure procedures as ongoing,” Aitken wrote in his email. “I intend to follow it closely.”

MAN POWER

Longboat Key Challenge rescheduled for mid-May After being delayed due to beach renourishment projects on the north end of the Key, the Longboat Key Challenge has been re-scheduled for Sunday, May 15. The Longboat Key Challenge, organized by the Longboat Key, Lido Key, St. Armands Key Chamber of Commerce, will be the first open-water race for rowers, scullers, kayakers and all human-powered watercraft on the waters of Sarasota and Manatee counties. The race will begin and end on the north end of the Key in the Longbeach Village neighborhood. The course will be seven miles, with a three-mile course also available to accommodate various levels of competitors. The race is open to all singleperson, human-powered, silent watercrafts, including, but not limited to, rowing sculls, kayaks, sea kayaks, surf skis and paddleboards. Unlike the Longboat Key Triathalon, which attracted more than 300 athletes to its inaugural event in October, race organizers are trying to keep the Longboat Key Challenge small for its first year,

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said LLSA Chamber President Tom Aposporos. “We were lucky last year that the triathlon was so successful,” he said. “This event is a water event, and that brings up additional issues, so we’re being very conservative.” With safety as a primary concern, the number of participants will be limited to 60. Aposporos says that the chamber has been in contact with the Coast Guard, and that Longboat Key Police Chief Al Hogle will arrange for at least one police boat to be present for the race. Although the race may be starting off small, Aposporos

Courtesy photo

says he hopes to increase the number of participants and the distance of the course in the future. “We’re trying to start small and get it right so that we can do this on a bigger scale in the future,” says Aposporos. Registration fee is $35, which includes the after-party immediately following the race. Race packet pickup will be Friday, May 13, at a pre-race gathering for competitors and their families. Sponsorships opportunities are available at various levels. For additional information, visit www.longboatkeychallenge.com.

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Steve Schwalbach and his son, Cameron, middle, meet March 31 with the firefighters and Bayflite flight-crew members who rescued Schwalbach.

Burn victim thanks firefighters, flight crew Steve Schwalbach is healing well from the fire he survived. Today, he has just two scars on his body and has returned to work as a home builder. But one thing still lingers from the fire: his gratitude to the Longboat Key firefighter/paramedics and Bayflite crew that saved him. On Thursday, March 31, he arranged to reunite at Bayfront Park Recreation Center with those who saved him to say thank you. “They rescued me from a fire,” Schwalbach said. “A lot of times, they don’t get thanked enough.” Firefighters responded to a report of a dryer fire Jan. 6, at Beachplace condominium. That’s where Schwalbach, who lives in Cincinnati, was visiting his parents, Jackie and Garry Schwalbach, and heard a noise coming from the doublestacked washer and dryer. He opened the service panel, and a flame burst out, causing Schwalbach’s hair and shirt to

catch fire. His father used a towel to suppress the flames that engulfed him. Longboat Key Fire/Rescue responded to the reported fire within minutes. When they saw that Schwalbach had been injured, half of the eight responders began treating him, while the remainder put out the fire. Because of the severity of Schwalbach’s burns, they contacted Bayflite, which transported him to Tampa General Hospital’s burn unit. Fire Chief Paul Dezzi said that Schwalbach arrived at the burn unit less than an hour after firefighters arrived on scene — which is the department’s goal for such cases. Schwalbach spent eight days in the hospital and continues to attend therapy in Cincinnati. Dezzi said that the experience was rewarding for the firefighters. “You have a lot of calls throughout your career,” he said. “But you only have a couple that come back to thank you.”

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A public hearing before the Planning and Zoning Board on the proposal will be held on April 19, 2011 at 9:00 a.m., or as soon thereafter as may be heard, at the Town Commission Chambers, 501 Bay Isles Road, Longboat Key, Florida. The proposed amendment will affect property within the corporate boundaries of the Town of Longboat Key as shown on the map appearing at the bottom of this advertisement. All interested persons may appear and be heard with respect to the proposal. Copies of the proposal and related material may be viewed at the Planning, Zoning & Building Department, 501 Bay Isles Road, between 8:30 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. weekdays, prior to the hearing. Questions may be directed to the Planning, Zoning & Building Department at 316-1966. If any person decides to appeal any decision made by the Board with respect to any matter considered at this meeting, a record of the proceedings will be needed. For such purpose that person may need to ensure that a verbatim record of the proceedings is made, which record includes the testimony and evidence upon which the appeal is to be based.

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ORDINANCE 2011-26 AN ORDINANCE AMENDING THE ZONING CODE OF THE CODE OF ORDINANCES OF THE TOWN OF LONGBOAT KEY, FLORIDA, AMENDING SECTION 158, ZONING CODE, SUBSECTION 158.026, ZONING BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT, SUBSECTION 158.026(F)(5), TO ALLOW FOR THE ZONING BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT TO MAKE DETERMINATIONS OF THE BOARD’S JURISDICTION; PROVIDING FOR SEVERABILITY; PROVIDING FOR REPEAL OF ALL ORDINANCES IN CONFLICT HEREWITH; PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE.

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THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 2011

LONGBOAT Observer

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By Dora Walters | Senior Editor

Once again the Anna Maria Island Community Center was transformed into a glamorous setting for a spectacular evening April 2 for the 27th annual “An Affaire to Remember.” Attending the fundraiser for the center, which was founded in 1960, were 370 supporters. Highlights of the evening included two performances by country singer Lee Greenwood, best known for his song, “God Bless the USA,” a silent auction and a live auction offering Tampa Bay Rays tickets for seats in the owner’s box, a week in Costa Rica and a three-day stay in Washington, D.C., with Congressman Vern Buchanan, R-Longboat Key, as your personal guide in the House of Representatives. This year, there is a special goal for the center. “The center must raise $890,000 by Oct. 1 to Photos by Dora Walters pay off the mortgage and secure a brighter fu- Chairwoman Trudy Moon and Lee Greenwood ture for the center and all those we serve,” said Executive Director Pierrette Kelly. Trudy Moon has served as chairwoman of the fundraising event for the last 16 years.

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LONGBOAT Observer

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THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 2011

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More buyers locally, nationally and internationally choose FloridaMoves.com for their home search. Beachplace I $689,000 Gary McKinstry, 941-924-9000 Match your dreams Canal Villas $799,900 Baskind Warren Team, 941-388-3966 Tropito this 2BR/2BA penthouse with Gulf and Bay views. SHF#A3939863 cal Island living in this new 4BR/2BA pool home. Walk to Siesta Beach. SHF#A3933041 Lido Shores $8,900,000 Barbara Ackerman, 941-924-9000 Superb Atrium Fairway Bay $510,000 Gabe/Charles Buky, 941-924-9000 Opporappointments define this 5BR/6+BA residence. Cathedral ceilings. tunity knocks! Best value. 3BR bay views updtd & furn w/beach access. Mandarin Park $799,900 Inna Snyder, 941-924-9000 Make happiness a SHF#A3939549 SHF#A3934496 priority in this tile-roofed 4BR/3BA residence. Garage. SHF#A3939718 Bird Key $3,250,000 Lynne Koy, 941-924-9000 Spectacular dream home Fairway Bay $449,000 Judy Kepecz-Hays, 941-924-9000 Bay Views Broadway Promenade $499,900 Martina Coppenrath, 941-924-9000 Corner updated & furn to perfection 2BR+offc residence w/beach access. with gorgeous open bay, west facing views! SHF#A3938218 Taste reigns in this rewarding 2BR/2BA condo. Community swimming pool. SHF#A3941131 The Beach Residences $2,999,000 Judy Kepecz-Hays, 941-924-9000 SHF#A3939731 Longboat Key $439,900 Patrick DiPinto, 941-924-9000 Casual Island livSunsets & turquoise waters. 3BR+den; Imagine & Enjoy Ritz Carlton lifeStoneybrook $499,000 Janet Dugan/Charles Offer, 941-388-3966 Seting. 3BR/2BA waterfront home. Walk to the beach! SHF#A3935406 style. SHF#A3902833 tle proudly in this rewarding 4BR/3BA residence in a gated community. Bird Key $2,395,000 Lynne Koy, 941-924-9000 Fabulous 4 bedroom, 4+ Seaplace $429,000 Lynne Koy, 941-924-9000 2BR/2BA condo w/Gulf SHF#A3941271 bath custom built home on deep sailboat water. SHF#A3936580 views! New SS appl, granite, tile & a tiled lanai. SHF#A3930959

Bird/Lido Key

Lido Harbour Towers $729,000 Inger Lill, 941-388-3966 Fabulous beach Beachplace III $429,000 Maggie Hicks, 941-924-9000 Sample the comfront Condo. 2BR/2BA plus. Totally updated throughout. SHF#A3940038 forts in this rewarding condo set on the waterfront. SHF#A3937335 Sarasota $539,000 Patrick DiPinto, 941-924-9000 Gorgeous lot. Walk to Long Beach $424,900 Patrick DiPinto, 941-924-9000 Walk to the Bay and clubhouse, marina, tennis courts. Minutes from beach. SHF#A3940485 beach! Completely remodeled 3BR/2Ba home. Beautiful! SHF#A3938301

Longboat Key

Buttonwood Harbour $409,000 Patrick DiPinto, 941-924-9000 Incredible Value! Waterfront home site w/canal views in Buttonwood Harbour. Longboat Key $3,200,000 Judy Kepecz-Hays, 941-924-9000 Prime SHF#A3927362 Bayfront Homesite! 18,000 + sf with 309ft wtr front with bch access. Islander Club $399,000 Judy Kepecz-Hays, 941-924-9000 Updated SHF#A3930758 2BR residence on beach w/endless amenities. Furn & ready to enjoy.

L Ambiance $2,695,000 Bruce Myer, 941-924-9000 Beach & Gulf views SHF#A303203 from the terrace of this 3-4BR/4.5BA waterfront condo. SHF#A3940518 Casa Del Mar $399,000 Maggie Hicks, 941-924-9000 Rewarding 2BR/2BA Sleepy Lagoon $1,795,000 Barbara Ackerman, 941-924-9000 4700SF waterfront condo. Community swimming pool and tennis. SHF#A3940765 waterfront home w/4 BR+study, summer kitchen, pool, on sailboat wtr. Seaplace $349,000 Lynne Koy, 941-924-9000 2BR/2BA residence. InSHF#A3933668 cludes 2 htd pools/spas, club house & fitness ctr. SHF#A3924866 Water Club $1,699,000 Barbara Ackerman, 941-924-9000 Achieve the gracious living that comes with this exquisite 3BR/3BA condo. SHF#A3939856 Fairway Bay $329,000 Bruce Myer, 941-924-9000 Crisp, clean, 2BR/2BA condo w/tile floor & contemporary furnishings. SHF#A3936418 Water Club I $1,450,000 Bruce Myer, 941-924-9000 Serene gulf & bay Seaplace $300,000 Lynne Koy, 941-924-9000 Enjoy garden views from this views are yours from this beautiful 2BD/3BA penthouse. SHF#A3940177 2BR/2BA residence in Seaplace on Longboat Key. SHF#A3926751 Harbour Court $1,200,000 Judy Kepecz-Hays, 941-924-9000 Bayfront home, updated 3BR & den w/dock; beach access in exclusive Bay Isles. Whitney Beach $249,000 Patrick DiPinto, 941-924-9000 Gulf to Bay community. Furnished 2BR/2BA end condo, beachfront amenities. SHF#A3940816 SHF#A3938680 Water Club 1 $1,199,000 Bruce Myer, 941-924-9000 Sweeping ocean & Mark I $245,000 Audrey Marten, 941-924-9000 You will exclaim over this city views from this 2BD/3BA 8th flr condo. Pet friendly. SHF#A3939771 rewarding 2-bedroom condo. Central H/A. SHF#A3941200 Longboat Key $995,000 Barbara Ackerman, 941-924-9000 Prepare for a delightful lifestyle in this contemporary 3BR/2+BA residence. SHF#A3938728 Inn On The Beach $239,000 Bruce Myer, 941-924-9000 Upkeep is a breeze in this delightful condo. Central H/A. Easy lifestyle! SHF#A3935824 Grand Bay $869,000 Judy Kepecz-Hays, 941-924-9000 See sunrise & sunsets from 6th flr/3BR. Walls of glass, wrap-around terrace. SHF#A3913522 Inn on the Beach $238,000 Inna Snyder, 941-924-9000 Golf course views from 1BR/1B unit at the LBK Club. Golf, tennis & fitness. SHF#A3920570 Tangerine Bay Club $850,000 Baskind Warren Team, 941-388-3966 Island living at it’s best! Spacious 2BR+den/2+BA w/bay and lagoon views. Mainland Sarasota SHF#A3940736 Sanctuary III $799,900 Barbara Ackerman, 941-924-9000 3BR/2.5BA con- Mcintyre Wilson & Potters $1,000,000 Linda Ann Remley, P.A., 941-388do w/renovated kitchen, floor to ceiling windows & balcony. SHF#A3926119 3966 Immerse yourself in luxury in this irresistible 6/6 home. Spacious layout. SHF#A3936140 Seaplace $799,000 Lynne Koy, 941-924-9000 Walk into the wonderful, Old Oaks $997,000 David Jennings, 941-388-3966 4B/3B/3 car garage warm style of this gracious 3BR/2BA condo. SHF#A3936911 with over 3,200 square feet of interior living space. SHF#A3920079 Sunset Beach $725,000 Gabe/Charles Buky, 941-924-9000 This Is It, Look No Further! Like new 2BR with forever sunsets Owner motivated. Prime $989,000 David Jennings, 941-388-3966 Built with detail an a commitment to quality. 4/3 with a detached suite. SHF#A3939323 SHF#A3938774

Serenoa $449,000 Linda Ann Remley, P.A., 941-388-3966 Warm & bright with appealing styling!. 4BR/3+BA home. Community amenities. SHF#A3935823 Condo On The Bay $424,900 Martina Coppenrath, 941-924-9000 Settle with ease in this very pleasing 2BR/2BA condo on waterfront site. SHF#A3937353 Hudson Landings $399,000 Bruce Myer, 941-924-9000 Serene 2BR+Den/2BA 2nd flr condo located near downtown on the Hudson Bayou. SHF#A3940967 Broadway Promenade $399,000 Martina Coppenrath, 941-924-9000 Explore this very nice 2BR/2BA condo. Community swimming pool. SHF#A3941390 Cascades At Sarasota $347,000 Eric Caravello, 941-388-3966 Discover the versatility of this fenced 3BR/2BA home with pool. SHF#A3940993 Sarasota Harbor West $305,000 Babette Paige, 941-388-3966 A beautiful bay front condo in a maintenance free 55+ waterfront community. SHF#A3941092 Broadway Promenade $299,000 Inger Lill, 941-388-3966 Ideallypriced,3BR/2BA condo. Lge balcony w/southern exposure. SHF#A378992 Villa Navarra $255,000 Selina Auvil, 941-388-3966 Carefree condo living. Take life easy in this 2BR/2BA stucco condo. SHF#A3941315 Sarasota Harbor $254,900 Don Straka, 941-388-3966 Location says it all. Fabulous Bay front view, Just steps to St. Armand’s SHF#A3941203 Broadway Promenade $234,900 Martina Coppenrath, 941-924-9000 Choose this appealing 2BR/2BA condo. Elevators. Community swimming pool. SHF#A3940946

Siesta Key Bay Oaks $209,000 Audrey Marten, 941-924-9000 Upkeep is a breeze in this pleasing 2BR/3BA waterfront condo. Dock. SHF#A3940758

St. Armand’s Key Kingston Arms $324,000 Peter Brennan, 941-388-3966 Stucco condo star. Find joy in the warm ambiance of this delightful unit. SHF#A3938669

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55064

941.924.9000 ❙ F L O R I D A M O V E S . C O M

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LONGBOAT Observer

www.YourObserver.com

passion for fashion

THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 2011

By Loren Mayo | Staff Writer

Bird Key Yacht Club’s runway blooms with color Models sporting fashions from Lilly Pulitzer and La Mariee commandeered the runway during Bird Key Yacht Club’s latest style show Thursday, March 31. Stylist and makeup artist Ana Molinari arrived early that morning to lend her talents and give the models a unique

glow for the show. Members and guests watched as models paraded ensembles laced with pinks and greens to elegant eveningwear and even bridal gowns. LOOK Jewelry provided pieces that complemented the outfits.

Lynda Doery, Barb Sanandres, Jan McCracken, Joan Partridge and Jan Colby

Michele Morland

Photos by Loren Mayo

Eleanor and Tracy Stalza

Kara Nally and Ana Molinari

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Susie Klingeman strolls down the runway.

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Front row: Arlene Sjosten and Jan Peakes. Back row: Jen Davis and Carol McCloskey

St. Amands (941)388-1155 Mon-Sat. 9:30-9:30 Sun. 11-9:30

TOWN OF LONGBOAT KEY

Tree Pruning and Permitting Educational Session

Lic. #299993609 Lic. #299993726

You are invited to an educational session conducted by the Sarasota County Extension Service on “Structural Tree Pruning” and “Palms in the Landscape,” as well as a presentation by Town staff on the recent amendments to the Town of Longboat Key Tree Code.

A Private Duty Home Health Agency We Guarantee Compassionate Care • Personal Care Bathing • Meal Preparation • New Born & Mom Assist program

THURSDAY - APRIL 21, 2011 9:00 TO 11:00 A.M. at the Town Hall Commission Chambers 501 Bay Isles Road

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ExcEptional SErvicE, ExcEptional carE, onE patiEnt at a timE

GEnEral & coSmEtic DEntiStry

ANTIQUE ATTRACTION By Dora Walters | Senior Editor

Whitney Beach sale welcomes buyers

Photos by Dora Walters

941-388-4114

30 Years of

pErSonal attEntion

New Patients Welcome complimEntary initial Exam

Bermuda Building 544 John Ringling Blvd. Sarasota, FL 34236

charlES E. cranE, DDS & John h. Quirk, DDS 55433

LONGBOAT Observer

THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 2011

(code D0150)

Sales were brisk at the April 2 and April 3 Antique and Art Fair, at Whitney Beach Plaza. The vintage clothing at Steff ’s Stuff attracted a lot of browsers, and others lingered over tables of household items from the past, which brought back memories. For hungry shoppers, one stand offered a selection of home-baked breads and cookies to munch while they browsed or to take home. The final sale of the season will be the weekend of May 7 and May 8.

A blue Fiestaware pitcher is Hille Wingrove’s find.

It’s decision time for Ann Hilliard.

54149

Christine Winkler packs up Barbara Stoutenburgh’s purchases.

A COLLECTION OF EXPERIENCED ESTABLISHED PROFESSIONALS HELPING YOU MAKE YOUR DREAMS COME TRUE

the longboat observer subscribe to your neighborhood newspaper

C A B I N E T S

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Stay connected to your Longboat Key neighbors and neighborhood.

ver r e s b O BOAT LONG

• Kitchens

1C NEWS

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NS: DIVERSIO POSH BOY PAPER E 1B |

’s census Longboat show numbers lation 9.4% popu 3A. drop. Page

PAG INSIDE Eric Cross

You.

2319 72nd Ave. East • Sarasota, FL 34243

Licensed & Insured

Bridge Tender Inn and Dockside Bar

h 24, 2011

neighbor

By Kurt

PEOPLE,PLACES PICS &

Pat’s Cabinets 941-224-3247

, MARC ThURSDAY

hood.

ges on chan commissi

hbor Your neig

OUR TOWN

• Tile & Granite Gallery

years, After 19 an l will give Ted Reh ormance. encore perf

r’s chair kes mayo Brown ta

Style guru isn’t dead at proves printfashion show. upcoming

s. Your

• Flooring

Piano Man

NEWS OFFICIAL COUNT

Schultheis

| City Editor

e. first tim or for the or. may omes may Brown bec elected as vice sioner Jim id Brenner is Commis sioner Dav Commis

n. the ion is broke The tradityears in a row, isFor five Key Town Commsemost Longboat selected the -person sion has er of its seven town’s nior memb become the to group 21 March mayor. its Monday, comBut at meeting, the Jim statutoryvoted 5-2 to selectLongr of photo mayo mission Courtesy issioner as the Brown McCalden over Comm ann is Siekm and Sarah boat Key Alexander Siekmann.and final year Robert term uins) wille Brown in his thirdissioner, while as a + VIP(eng rd Mot d term as a comm will ng his secon march towa Aquarium beginenteri e is er. in and Mote Marin tie guests commission blackwas sworn at the blackhost some Once he his new seat ber: four exa ning in Novemns as part of be after takingthe dais, Brown will of footed penguiexhibit that center his gratitude. fellimited-time uin Island.” thank mytheir pressed like to called “Pengation of this black“I would issioners for “I will has a In anticip low commBrown said. bunch, Mote name. be as and-white t who needs a hopefully lost support,” Dora Walters and and just masco best new do my the mayor we e Spoll).” rg/penguinisl left, Brown, . Visit mote.o 15 to vote. good as Mayor Georg Youngof service Mayor Jim before April appointed de for his years (outgoingissioner Phillip off y, newly s . Comm g Monda town’s gratitu g sign isn’t ated Brown Commisry meetin expresses the it sells, + Friedber s statuto er nomin, Younger, that novel Comwhenever h, that he a plaque Commission’ Brown Brenner, n and resihis wife on her first Key , thoug Key TownGeorge Spoll with David a Larso Longboat Longboat sioner disappointed mayor. Lynn to be Former ia Friedberg heldand ct 1 Com- At the ts outgoing Mayor missioner -in Distri irked Siek- wasn’ t votedhave been nice . e dent Patric an voted presen book signing ay, to declin er terms mayoral vote Longboat would “It newly swornJack Dunc tunity Saturd Brenn the The he oppor lecture told at missioner . nominated er r, and , who meeting given the March 19, 1, in Larson vice mayothe po- mann ver after the ointed.” Commission for Brown 8A ann and Bookstore for nominated as the town’s voted to on his Obser disapp Land’s End PAGE ly / Siekm R who for was “clear el, — voted whose Sarasota, move Brenner a 7-0 vote else was was SEE MAYO Hal Lenob as mayor, novel, by Siekmann, sale and will with one her first for e.” h sition ay — after no west Siekmann house is c North “21 Aldgatis brief speec birthd Siekmann. r and to the Pacifi made a ation and The novel n, nominated. new mayo ear Lenobel his nomin to honor set in Londo The town’s serve one-y during Friedberg on, to vice mayor will commission ny during the positi Germa wars. urged with the France andbetween world Siekmann the period film based on the h no avail. A feature development throug in novel is Pictures Ltd., in go to Progress For information, om. England. ate.blogspot.c ns http://21aldg ect mea 2A

You can have The Longboat Observer delivered right to your mailbox no matter what your zip or postal code. Just complete the form below and send it, fax it or drop it off: the longboat observer, 5570 gulf of Mexico Drive, P.o. box 8100, longboat Key, Fl 34228.

vote validates error in Town ad

NDUM REFERE BEACh

See OUR

TOWN /

PAGE

INDEX

.........11B ...................... ........12C Black Tie ...................... .......11C Classifieds ...................... C Crossword ..................10 In........... ........... 2C Deal Us Estate........... Key Real ...............7A the Editor ...6A Letters to ...................... 1C Opinion ........... .....................1 ........... Weather

h proj um. million beac bond referend town’s $16 h-project s Feb. 14. r for the ate the beac week of the error mean ing the valid town, rtising erro beach bond in daily For the million the town An adve judge must now referendum in the the $16 beach bond publications election, that be issued until election or a county er

Diversions No. 34 Vol. 33, ns Three sectio server.com www.YourOb

Dora Walters

to newspaper prior to the m. State can’t holds anoth by a counbe used week either Schultheis proble validated that will eroded north By Kurt has fourth created the a bond refer- gets the vote the Large pipes on oat Key which the error funnel sand onto were placed 18. in the ates that of Longb funds island advertised to the ty judge. er discovered , March The town $16 million in for a law mand end of the Island Friday must be Grang prior to ved no access voters appro due to a endumand fifth weeksndum should Beer Can third the PAGE 8A that Key The refere t last week, ising TION / election. published during Inbeach projec s Office advert SEE ELEC Feb. 21. been Town Clerk’ Feb. 7 and told have hed durGranger ay weeks of was only publis error. Trish it ver Mond stead, Town Clerk oat Obseradvertised the the Longb office only that her | City Editor

ARTS | EN T E R TA I

NMENT | SOCIETY | FOOD | FA SHION | D éCOR

NEWS MUSE

by Heidi Kurpiela

Where The View is Free

The Observer

WWW.yo

UroBSErv

Er.coM

thUr SDAy MARC H 24, 2011

| A&E Editor

INSIDE

FILM: A preview of the Film Festival / 7B Sarasota

BLACK TIE thE SocIAL oBSErvEr

Fax: Phone:

941.383.7193 941.383.5509 or 941.366.3468

Date of request ______________________________________________ subscription start date________________________________________ name ______________________________________________________ address______________________________________________________ City _______________________________state (Province)___________ Zip/ Postal Code_______Country_____________Phone ____________ Credit card__________________________sec Code ________________

cAMErA rEAD y: the out-of-Door emy’s Banyan Ball Acad/ 11B

Come by Land, Come by Sea ~ ICW Marker 49 ~

covEr: Senior Friendship centers Madcap Evening ’ “A at the circus” / 9B

Posh paperboy

2011 subsCriPtion rates

trash bins dressed in a flashy blue button-down shirt, pinstrip e pants and shiny black shoes — his on this particu outfit lar Tuesday. But it’s where he his best materia says he unearths ls.

CROSS CONTI NUED

ON PAGE 2B

Andi Munzer and Jan Feidelman

1 Year (52 weeks) 6 Months (26 weeks) 3 Months (13 weeks)

Lunch • Dinner • SpiritS

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Happy Hour 11:30 - 7:00 – MoN. tHru FrI.

2 Deep Water DockS Dinner Reservations Suggested

135 Bridge Street • 778-4849 • Bradenton Beach One Block East of Trolley Stop #43

_________________ Check # ____________________Cash: ___________________

Heidi Kurpiela

pictured here

Artist Eric Cross grabbed local headlin to this weeken d’s ‘iconcept’ fashion es for his tea-length contrib ution show at Art Center Sarasota.

ric Cross is a pretty dapper dresser for a dumpster diver. It’s hard to picture 51-year-old with a 30 creating window years experience displays for luxury clothing retailer s rooting throug h

exp Date_____________________billing zip code

You. Your Neighbors. Your Neighborhood.

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standard Mail $75

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Dockside Music with our Local Greats

“I’ve always been fascinated with the packing by paper design creating something three-dim he created for ensional from this year’s “iconcept a bolt of fabric,” ” show. says Eric Cross,

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LONGBOAT Observer

www.YourObserver.com

sea savers

THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 2011

ENCORE PERFORMANCE

By Loren Mayo | Staff Writer

By Robin Hartill | Community Editor

Plymouth Harbor resident returns on a high note Ron Greenberg, Mote Marine President and CEO Kumar Mahadevan and Vincent Dipano

Plymouth Harbor resident Ted Rehl returned to performing on the piano Friday, April 1, at his concert, “To Plymouth Harbor With Love.” For Rehl, a retired music professor and concert pianist, the performance was his first in nearly 18 years. He was the subject of the March 24 Longboat Observer feature, “The Piano Man,” which described his vow nearly two decades earlier to never play the piano again. Rehl told the audience that he dedicated his performance to his wife, Fran, who found the vintage Steinway piano on which he performed and who selected the 11 short pieces for the program. At the end of the program, Rehl addressed the question so many have asked: Will he continue to play the piano? “I can honestly say I don’t know,” Rehl said, describing the hours of practice he underwent before the performance. “What I might consider doing next year is playing a program of your favorite pieces.” Plymouth Harbor President/CEO Harry Hobson read from a three-page, handwritten fan letter that Rehl received after his story ran in the Longboat Observer. The story ended with Rehl saying that,

Photos by Loren Mayo

Michael and Sharon Crosby

Annual event supports Mote Marine’s research Last summer, Mote Marine Laboratory began monitoring and researching the effects of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, as well as treating and rehabilitating sea turtles affected by the oil spill. The Sarasota Yacht Club Charitable Foundation held its annual gala dinner, “Beyond the Sea,” Sunday, March 27, at SYC. The event supports Mote’s research and goal of mitigating the longterm damage to the marine environment.

Kevan Main, Ann Hayes and Nathalie Mould

Robin Hartill

Ted Rehl received a standing ovation for his program, “To Plymouth Harbor With Love.”

this time, he wasn’t going to promise to never play the piano again. The writer suggested that, this time, Rehl should promise “to never stop playing the piano again.” The writer also enclosed a CD. It contained the track “My Best Days Are Ahead of Me.”

Café Don Giovanni Casual Italian Restaurant Delicious Dinners Nightly 4:30-Close

Call for reservations 383-0013

We Have Golf Logix GPS

accepting Golf outings for 2011

BeeF BRiSKet Monday - Friday:

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8:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m.

7am-8am

8am-12pm

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exp. 4/30/11

6600 River Club Blvd. Bradenton, FL 34202 • 751-4211

aSK uS aBOut

TOWN OF LONGBOAT KEY

ATTENTION VOLUNTEERS

The Town of Longboat Key is accepting applications for appointments to the following Boards: PLANNING & ZONING BOARD* CODE ENFORCEMENT BOARD* ZONING BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT* MPO CITIZENS ADVISORY COMMITTEE GENERAL EMPLOYEES’ RETIREMENT SYSTEM All applications must be submitted to the Office of the Town Clerk by April 19, 2011, at 5:00 p.m. The Town Commission may host an applicant “meet and greet” prior to making the appointments. All applicants must be registered voters of the Town of Longboat Key. The Code Enforcement Board shall, whenever possible, consist of persons experienced in their respective fields as follows: 1) Architect; 2) Businessman; 3) Engineer; 4) General Contractor; 5) Subcontractor; 6) Realtor. *These Boards have regular meetings scheduled every month, and may schedule special meetings as needed.

S/ Jo Ann Mixon, Deputy Town Clerk

Published: April 6, 2011

55388

Applications are available at the Office of the Town Clerk or can be downloaded from the Town’s website www.longboatkey.org. If you have any questions please call the Office of the Town Clerk at 941-316-1999. Applications may be submitted to: Town of Longboat Key – Office of the Town Clerk 501 Bay Isles Road - Longboat Key FL 34228

YOuR CateRinG & Deli-tRaY neeDS

Re Sta li uRant & De

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$10 OFF

8:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m. Sunday: 8:30 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.

New Restaurant Now Open Breakfast & Lunch 6:30am-dark

Breakfast Served daily until 11:30 a.m.

23 Ave. of the Flowers • Longboat Key (behind Publix)

941-387-9300

Since 1967 R U O H Y BAR S HAPP 6 PM PECIA 4 TO $ 00 LS EN & R D L I Prem 4 CH ES I T ium D R A P rinks LARGE OME STONE CRAB RESTAURANT WELC

Stone Crabs Are Here Come Check Out our New Lighter Fare Menu & New Bar Appetizer Menu Hours: 11:30 am to 9:30 pm Daily

By Land: 800 Broadway St. • By Sea: Marker 39 on the Waterway North End of Longboat Key • 383-1748 Call Ahead Seating/Reservations for 6 or more

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Fall Rates

$10 OFF

FRiDaY niGHt SPeCial

Ask about our Seasonal Membership

We’re Now

CUSTOM HOMES

License # CGC043438

Golf Lessons available thru our head professional

ADDITIONS

Insured

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5610 Gulf of Mexico Drive, Longboat Key

REMODEL

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Osso Buco • Veal Chop • Chicken • Lamb • Fresh Seafood Sea Bass • Dover Soul • Pasta • Pizza

LONGBOAT Observer

www.YourObserver.com

THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 2011

teenage tunes

obituaries

By Dora Walters | Senior Editor

Alfred ‘Alf’ Rudolph

Elijah Anderson

Brent Layman

Booker Jazz Combo plays original music The Booker High School Jazz Combo was featured at the Longboat Island Chapel’s April 3 service. The combo took first place at the 2010 High School Jazz Festival, held at the Berklee School of Music, in Boston. At the chapel, the group presented several of its original compositions. Performing for the crowd were Elijah Anderson, Austin Gill, Alex Hernandez, Brent Layman and

19A

Mary Katherine Kerr. Not present were Jacob Byers and Tyler Oswald. The Rev. Kenneth Gill told the congregation of Anderson’s recent misfortune and asked if they would help. Anderson’s car was stolen, along with his drum set. The car was found about a mile from his home and had been burned. The chapel collected $1,500 to donate to Anderson.

Alfred “Alf ” Rudolph, 95, of Longboat Key, died March 29. Born Dec. 13, 1915, in New York City, he graduated from Stuyvesant High School and Packard Business School, both in New York City. He worked in the home office of Met Life and retired in 1976 as a division manager after 42 years of service. He was a fellow of the Life Officer Management Society and a board director and past president of the Beach Harbor Condominium Association. Mr. Rudolph was known for his extensive knowledge of condominium rules and regulations and spent many happy hours reading the condominium bylaws. Mr. Rudolph was preceded in death by his wife of 59 years, Marie. He is survived by his daughters Barbara, Arline and Linda; two grandsons; two great-granddaughters; and many nieces and nephews.

Photos by Dora Walters

Henry Taub

Henry Taub, 83, of Tenafly, N.J., and Longboat Key, died March 31. Born in 1927 in Patterson, N.J., he founded Automatic Data Processing (ADP), a global provider of integrated computing and business outsourcing. Mr. Taub was active in many local and national Jewish leadership organizations. He served as national president of the American Technion Society (ATS) from 1974 to 1976 and was chairman of the Technion International Board of Governors from 1990 to 2003. At the time of his death, Mr. Taub held the title of honorary chairman of the Technion International Board of Governors. He was also a member of the ATS National Board of

Directors, the New York Metropolitan Region Board and an active member of the Sarasota ATS chapter, having recently served as honorary chairman of the group’s annual dinner. Mr. Taub was the recipient of the Technion medal, a Technion honorary doctorate and a Technion honorary fellowship. In 2004, he was honored with a special ATS tribute celebration at the Plaza Hotel, in New York City. Mr. Taub and his wife, Marilyn, spearheaded numerous projects, including the Henry and Marilyn Taub Family Science and Technology Center, the Leaders in Science and Technology Faculty Recruitment Program and the Henry and Marilyn Taub Fund for the Future. Mr. Taub is survived by his wife, Marilyn; sons Ira and Steven; daughter, Judith Gold; brother, Joseph; and 10 grandchildren. A service took place Sunday, April 3, in Tenafly.

WORSHIP SERVICES All Angels by the Sea Episcopal Church, 563 Bay Isles Road, will hold Wednesday communion and anointing services at 10 a.m. Sunday worship services are at 8 and 10 a.m. The Rev. David Danner is the rector. 383-8161. Christ Church of Longboat Key, Presbyterian USA, 595 Bay Isles Drive, will hold Sunday worship services at 10 a.m. The Rev. Bruce Porter is the pastor. 3838833.

The audience applauds the jazz combo.

Memorial donations can be made in his memory to Preston High School for the Marie Rudolph Scholarship Fund, 2780 Schurz Ave., Bronx, N.Y., 10465.

Longboat Island Chapel, 6200 Gulf of Mexico Drive, will hold

Sunday worship services at 10 a.m. The Rev. Kenneth Gill is the minister. 383-6491. St. Armands Key Lutheran Church, 40 N. Adams Drive, will hold contemporary Sunday worship services at 9 a.m. and traditional Sunday worship services at 11 a.m. The Rev. Mark Bernthal is the pastor. 388-1234. St. Mary, Star of the Sea, Catholic Church, 4280 Gulf of Mexico Drive, will hold Masses at 4 and 6 p.m. Saturday and at 8, 9:30 and 11:30 a.m. Sunday. Daily Masses during Lent are at

9 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. Monday through Friday and at 9 a.m. Saturday. Stations of the cross takes place at 5 p.m. Fridays during Lent. Confession is held at 11 a.m. daily, from 5 to 7 p.m. Fridays and 9 to 11 a.m. Saturdays before weekend masses. The Rev. Gerard Finegan is the pastor. 3831255. Temple Beth Israel, 567 Bay Isles Road, will hold Shabbat services at 8 p.m. Fridays and 10 a.m. Saturdays. Rabbi Jonathan Katz is the rabbi. Call 383-3428.

WORSHIP DIRECTORY

Chris ChurCh

563 Bay Isles Road, Longboat Key

INVITES YOU

Reverend Dr. Bruce Porter

All are welcome. Please join us in worship!

Sunday Services 8:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m.

SUNDAY SERVICE • 10 A.M.

The Rev. David L. Danner, D. Min., Rector

Love is the doctrine of this church… Come join us as you travel your journey of faith. 9:00 a.m. Adult Education Electa A. Lee Middle School Orchestra

The Rev. Kenneth Gill Senior Minister

6200 Gulf of Mexico Drive, Longboat Key, Florida 34228 Telephone: 383-6491 web: www.islandchapel.com

55306

The Community Church on Longboat Key

St. Mary, Star of the Sea,

CATHOLIC CHURCH

WINTER MASS SCHEDULE Saturday 4:00 pm & 6:00 pm Sunday 8:00 am, 9:30 am & 11:30 am

53921

Daily during Lent M-F: 9 am & 11:30 am/Sat at 9 am Stations: Friday during Lent at 5:00 pm 4280 Gulf of Mexico Drive Confessions daily 11 am, FRI 5-7 pm, Longboat Key, FL 34228 SAT 9-11 am and before all weekend masses.

Msgr. Gerard Finegan, Pastor

Music Director: Dan Hoffman

Gulf of Mexico Drive

383-8833

www.christchurchoflbk.org

Roser Community Church

Gary Gary A. Batey, Pastor Pastor A non-denominational, traditional A non-denominational, traditionalchurch church

Celebrating 100 years of Service in 2013

10:00 a.m. Worship Service

383-1255

SERMON: “Offended by God’s Grace” Fourth in series: “Grace is Not a Blue-eyed Blonde”

Sunday 9 AM9AM and 1111AM —Traditional Traditional Worship Sunday, and AM – Worship 10AM—–Adult Adult Sunday Sunday School 10 AM School&&Book BookStudy Study 9AM – Children and Youth Church School 9 AM — Children and Youth Church School

941-778-0414

512 Pine Avenue, Anna Maria

53087

Communion & Anointing

55309

Wednesday 10:00 a.m.

Website: www.AllAngelsLBK.org

Publix - CVS

www.roserchurch.com

Temple Beth Israel A Center of Jewish Life and Learning in the Sarasota Area Join Share Shabbat and more: Friday Evening, 8:00 pm

Jo in

U s!

Fourth Friday of the Month, 5:30 pm Saturday Morning, 10:00 am Please visit our Judaica Shop • 41..org 941-778-0414 512 Pine Avenue, Anna Maria 941.383.3428 www.tbi-lbk.org www.roserchurch.com Temple Beth Israel • 567 Bay Isles Road • Longboat Key, FL • 941.383.3428

Roser Community Church 567 Bay Isles Road • Longboat Key, FL

53590

383-8161

595 Bay Isles Road

Mediterranean Plaza

of Longboat Key • Presbyterian USA

Bay Isles Pkwy.

The Episcopal Church on Longboat Key

54576

All Angels by the Sea

Gary A. Batey, Pastor

A non-denominational, traditional church

20A

LONGBOAT Observer

www.YourObserver.com

THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 2011

Spring is in the air. Jake (6) Max (4) enjoying the great Spring weather in the pool.

www.rogersmarketupdate.com

Sign up to receive your customized, monthly market snapshot. You will receive, by email, the industry’s most impressive market reports, packed with up-to-the-minute MLS market and property information, plus interactive photos, maps and graphs.

SANCTUARY 545sanctuary201.com Ascot plan offers Gulf and pool views. 3BR/3.5BA plus bonus room. $1,595,000 HARBOR SECTION 521harborcaydrive.com 3BR plus den, oversized pool, deep water harbor. $1,495,000

PROMENADE promenade402.com Southern corner, 3BR/3BA, turnkey furnished and views of the Gulf, bay and city. $899,000

MAJESTIC BAY majesticbay401.com Golden Gate Point – 3BR covers an entire floor. $1,695,000

PlAYERS ClUB ▲ playersclub502C.com Beautiful, light and bright 3BR penthouse with Gulf, bay and city views. $999,000

wATER ClUB waterclub204.com Delightful, B plan with 3BR and sitting room. Furnishings included. $1,499,000

▲ waterclub404.com 4th floor, pool and garden views out to the Gulf. $1,499,000 waterclub804.com 9th floor, Brighton, sunset side of building 2 with views that go on forever. $1,395,000 waterclub-208.com 3BR, wraparound floor plan with sunset views. Furnished. $999,000

PHOENIX phoenix-602.com 3BR/3.5BA, 6th floor, incredible views of bay, harbor and downtown. $1,695,000

PIERRE pierre403.com Southern Gulf views, bay/city vistas. Wood floors, hurricane shutters. $975,000 pierre501.com Wraparound views, 5th floor, south side, value-priced residence. $899,000

PENDING

THE lANDINGS 1469landingscircle.com Located in the heart of Sarasota, this 3BR townhome has bay views. $449,000

GRAND BAY ▲ grandbay261.com Antigua plan with sweeping views of downtown, the bay and golf course. $1,195,000 grandbay211.com Oversized terrace, wood floors, 3BR/3.5BA and amazing views! $1,045,000 grandbay322.com Vistas of view, Biscayne 3BR/3.5BA with wrap around terraces. $829,000 grandbay642.com Charming, bright 2BR/2BA with lovely bay views. $499,000

SEAPlACE seaplacem2-411.com Direct Gulf, 2BR/2BA, 4th floor, turnkey furnished. $499,000 seaplaceg7209.com G-7 bldg with Gulf/sunset views. Updated, furnished and ready to enjoy! $339,000 seaplaceg3213.com 1BR/2BA townhouse. Furnished. $235,000 l’AMBIANCE 415lambiancedr402.com Wraparound terrace and views of Gulf, bay and city! 2,350 sf in a Southern corner. $1,425,000 415lambiancedr302.com Southern corner, 3BR/3BA Areca plan with outstanding finishes. $1,295,000 TOwElS COURT 1857morrillstreet.com Two-story home. 2BR/2BA upstairs apartment over your own studio. $499,000

COUNTRY ClUB SHORES 1015bogeylane.com New construction 4BR/5BA, canal views, furnishings available. $1,699,000 511bowspritlane.com 4BR, open plan, lush landscaping, deep water. Short distance to beach. $1,095,000 512cutterln.com Charming 3BR/2BA on deep water canal has been lovingly updated. $679,000 551yardarmlane.com 3BR/2BA mid-canal home in terrific condition. $649,000 552rangerlane.com Incredible value, deep water, 3BR/2BA home. $599,000 lONGBOAT HARBOUR TOwERS longboatharbourtowers102.com

Direct Gulf, only steps to the beach. 2BR/2BA. $495,000

Roger sells Bird Key

611mourningdove.com 4BR/5BA, direct bayfront. Cook’s kitchen, travertine, wine storage. $3,445,000

258robindrive.com Over 5,000 feet of living space surrounded by luscious gardens. $1,150,000

523nspoonbilldrive.com Completely renovated, new roof, kitchen, baths, plumbing, electric. $699,000

roger c. pettingell

RITZ BEACH RESIDENCES beachresidences1007.com 10th floor, awesome views, incredible finishes, unparalleled services. $1,949,000

Luxury Waterfront SpeciaLiSt

941.387.1840 roger@longboatrealestate.com

Residential Real estate d e d i c at e d t o L u x u ry e S tat e S M

941.586.6668

www.longboatrealestate.com Visit rogersbestdeals.info if you would like a copy of my list. You may also click on this QR code with your smartphone, call our office, or send us an email.

47868

SOUTH SIESTA KEY 9250blindpassroad.com The perfect beach house! Located on Blind Pass, this contemporary 3BR plus den home is one of the most private beach homes you will find! Elevator, marble flooring and elevated pool. $2,495,000

THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 2011

YourObserver.com

NEWS

REAL ESTATE

SPORTS

Sarasota Yacht Club blesses its fleet at ceremony.

A Country Club Shores home sells for $825,000. PAGE 2B.

Scott Schindler Rollerblades to go the distance.

PAGE 5B.

PAGE 8B.

Timeline Spring 1985 — The Longboat Key Public Interest Committee (PIC) forms.  OCTOBER 1985 — PIC publishes its first newsletter, “The Voice of Longboat Key.”

PIC formed in the spring of 1985, and its membership peaked at 1,100 in 1993.

public interest

PIC members listen to Town Manager Bruce St. Denis during his “Beaches 101” presentation Jan. 27, at Longboat Island Chapel. About 60 people attended the PIC forum, titled “Longboat Key Beaches Under Pressure: What You Need to Know.”

By Robin Hartill | Community Editor

The voice of Longboat Key

The Longboat Key Public Interest Committee (PIC) has evolved in the 25 years since its incorporation. But members say the organization maintains a powerful voice. What would Longboat Key look like without the Public Interest Committee (PIC)? Twenty-five years after the political-action committee incorporated, the answers vary widely. But most residents agree on this: Had a group of concerned citizens not formed PIC a quarter-century ago, Longboat Key would be a different place. For one, the makeup of past and present Longboat Key town commissions and town boards would likely be different. For many members, PIC has been a springboard from which to learn about how the town works. Key residents would have fewer resources available through which to learn about their local government. PIC has published its newsletter, “The Voice of Longboat Key,” since October 1985, three months before it incorporated, and continues to send a representative to all town meetings to ensure that residents learn about the latest happenings.

“If it was not for PIC, we would have a Fort Myers Beach or a Key West, overrun with partying tourists,” said former Mayor Joan Webster, who in 1988 joined PIC’s board, on which she served for more than 14 years. She served four years as president before resigning in 2003 to run for Town Commission. “We have kept this as an upper-end, residential island.” “I think PIC is probably largely responsible for the character of the island,” said PIC Co-President Gaele Barthold.

Past influences File photos

PIC members opposed a plan that would increase the density of developer Jerome “Jerry” Ansel’s land on the Gulf in exchange for the donation of land on the bay to the town.

But without PIC, according to many residents, Longboat Key itself would look different. The island was a different place in 1985 when PIC formed. Arvida Corp. was in the midst

of developing the south end of Longboat Key. The density of the island and the types of commercial development that would be permitted were contentious issues at the time.

A May 7, 1985, referenda election, which would require voter approval to change the island’s density limitations provided in the 1984 Comprehensive Plan, loomed. Shortly before the election, PIC, along with two other new organizations, registered with the town clerk’s office, a move required by Florida election law for organizations plan-

SEE PIC / PAGE 6B

Jan. 1, 1986 — PIC incorporates after discussions with the town clerk and Sarasota County Supervisor of Elections. March 11, 1986 — Dr. Harry Klinger is elected as PIC’s first president at its first annual meeting. 1993 — PIC membership peaks at 1,100 members. 1999 — PIC changes its masthead from “dedicated to reporting the facts about our town” to “dedicated to promoting good government in our town.” 2008 — PIC supports the approval of a referendum allowing the rebuilding of 250 tourism units. April 11, 2011 — PIC will celebrate its 25th anniversary at a members reception.

PIC pioneers The following Key residents made up PIC’s first board of directors. Claire Bell Durland Clark Russell Fernald H.M. Gilbert Homer Greer Albert Hage Ralph Kent Harry Klinger Nat Krate S. Levites Stanley Miller Ruth Napoliello C.S. Ozburn Norman Pratt Reuben Resnik Robert Roembke Harry Rosenberg Joseph Rowen Virginia Sanders Walter Small Anita Weed Rita Weil A. Hart Wurzburg

LONGBOAT Observer

www.YourObserver.com

THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 2011

real estate | transactions

Country Club Shores Unit III home sells for $825,000

2010 TOP SALES TEAM FOR MICHAEL SAUNDERS & CO. LONGBOAT KEY

LOnGBOAT KEY GULf fROnT panoraMIc gulf vIews & sunsets, approX. 3900 sf, prIvate Heated pool, Ideal MId-Key locatIon $3,800,000

Ronald Smith, of Rossett Wrexham, Wales, sold his home at 500 Gunwale Lane in Country Club Shores Unit III to Kevin and Mary Pozulp, of Homer Glen, Ill., for $825,000. Built in 1963, the 4,361-square-foot home has four bedrooms, five bathrooms and a swimming pool. It sold for $755,000 in April 1998. The transaction topped the 14 sales recorded at the Sarasota and Manatee county courthouses during the week of March 21 through March 25, on Longboat, Lido, St. Armands and Bird keys. Of the week’s sales, 10 occurred on Longboat Key, seven of which were in Manatee County, while two took place on St. Armands Key and one occurred on Bird Key. Also in Country Club Shores, John and Norma Richmond sold their home at 540 Yardarm Lane in Unit IV to Keith and Penny Pozulp, of Western Springs, Ill., for $700,000. Built in 1968, the 2,003-square-foot home has two bedrooms, two bathrooms and a swimming pool. It last sold for $217,500 in December 1987.

SIESTA KEY BAYfROnT pEnInSULA Bay Island, 1.1+ acres, waterfront estate, no BrIdges to gulf, prIvate lagoon $2,300,000

e us pM Ho – 4 en pM opn. 1 u s

Castillian

BAY ISLES LOnGBOAT KEY updated waterfront 3700+sf, pool & spa, docK for 50’+ yacHt, prIvate BeacH cluB $1,895,000

By Robin Hartill | Community Editor

Shelley Hull and Deborah Gaffin, trustees under the Last Will and Testament of Bernice Gaffin, sold Unit 512 at the 60-unit Castillian, 4545 Gulf of Mexico Drive, to Stanley Gadiel and Ceinwen Schreiner, husband and wife, of Jenkintown, Pa., for $598,000. Built in 1979, the 1,738-square-foot unit has three bedrooms and two bathrooms. It sold for $242,200 in February 1986.

SIESTA KEY WATERfROnT MId-century Modern 3 BedrooM, MInutes froM BeacH 94sf +/- water frontage Heated pool & spa $960,000

y ed rt ur ope t a fe t pr or s re

McCall’s Beach Castle

Marcus Heinrich and Anita Sauers, husband and wife, of St. Charles, Ill., sold Unit 3 of McCall’s Beach Castle condominium, 5311 Gulf of Mexico Drive, to Christopher and Heather Monroe, of Washington, Ill., for $450,000. Built in

Rachel S. O’Hara

The 4,361-square-foot home at 500 Gunwale Lane has four bedrooms, five bathrooms and a swimming pool. It sold for $825,000.

1973, the 1,028-square-foot unit has two bedrooms and two bathrooms. It last sold for $797,100 in May 2005.

Cedars West

Longulf Inc., an Ontario corporation with a Collingwood, Ontario, address, sold Unit 106 at the 56-unit Cedars West, 5655 Gulf of Mexico Drive, to Upsandowns Investments LLC, a Florida limited-liability company with a St. Petersburg address, for $435,000. Built in 1975, the 1,274-square-foot unit has two bedrooms and two bathrooms. It last sold for $142,000 in December 1990. Also at Cedars West, BankUnited, which has a business address in Miami Lakes, sold Unit 207C to Jay and Deborah Dittmer, of Ada, Mich., for $330,102. Built in 1975, the 1,274-square-foot unit has two bedrooms and two bathrooms. It sold for $715,000 in April 2005, and BankUnited took the certificate of title in October 2010.

Longboat Terrace

Peter Capano, of Boise, Idaho, and Andrea Lee, of Cluster, N.J., sold Unit 216

Talk to Tina Today - Longboat Key’s International Connection LOnGBOAT KEY CLUB & RESORT renovated 2 BedrooM prIvate Balcony gulf vIew. In Hotel progaM. gross annual revenue - $78,000+ $895,000

BULK SALE – KEY WEST TOWNHOMES Eight income producing designer furnished Key West style 3BR/2.5BA with Gulf and bay views only 300’ to sandy beaches. Built in 2006 with over 2000 sq.ft. with all the bells and whistles. Owner Financing Available.

nORTH SIESTA KEY Bay Island, oversIZed lot wItH approXIMately 20,000 sf, cHarMIng old florIda cottage, Ideal to BuIld your dreaM HoMe $575,000

Offered at $3,800,000

55318

Longboat Key Realty 6000 Marina Drive Holmes Beach, FL 34217

Longboat Key CLub & ResoRt

CLUB SUITES 4301 A+ 6103 A

Unit Views Gross Revenue 2010 Beach $ 78,000+ Golf & Bay $ 74,200+

$475,000 Beach $349,000 Lagoon View

$ 68,800+ $ 40,100+

Luxury on the Water

REGENT COURT GULFFRONT ESTATE – Architectural marvel behind the gates of Longboat Key G DIN $17,500,000 Club. 150 feet directly on the gulf. PEN GULFFRONT ESTATE – BEST BUY ON BEACH 1+ acres with a gated entrance and a private boardwalk to beach. Stunning Gulf, Beach and Sunset views! REDUCED $5,700,000 WESTWAY ESTATE – 210 FT. DIRECTLY on New Pass, views to Gulf, outstanding sunsets. 4 BR main home plus $8,900,000 4 BR guest house. Gorgeous courtyard pool, dock, private beach access. DIRECT BAYFRONT NEW MEDITERRANEAN MASTERPIECE 5 BR with magnificent pool/patio area $9,500,000 bayside plus patio off master suite. Designer finishes + gated w/lush landscaping. ISLANDER CLUB – Fantastic gulf side 2/2 updated condo w/dramatic bay views from every room! Beautiful beach & many amenities. REDUCED $515,000 LONGBOAT HARBOUR – Bayfront with boat dock and great amenities. $270,000 NEW CONSTRUCTION – with custom finishes. Direct Bay views to the north, canal views to the $1,875,000 south, protected boating water and walking distance to the beach. GORGEOUS NEW CONSTRUCTION – Waterfront adjacent to shops & dining on St. Armands. Deepwater dock, steps to the beach. Architect Cliff Schultz design w/ impeccable finishes. REDUCED $2,995,000 RITZ CARLTON TOWER RESIDENCE – 10th floor views of Sarasota Bay to Big Pass, plus marina views of Marina Jack. Southeast corner with two large terraces and morning sun. $2,700,000 BAYFRONT ESTATE – Gated, Private. Spectacular sunset vistas from home, terraces & pool. Private beach access. Boat dock & lift – BAYFRONT LIVING AT ITS BEST! REDUCED $3,450,000 SABAL COVE – Spacious 4BR w/first level magnificent master suite. Exquisite lakefront! $1,795,000

info@athomesarasota.com • Leading Residential Luxury Specialist Ian Addy, PA MBA, Realtor

Barbara Milian, PA Bilingual Realtor

Michael Saunders & Company

PREsEnts...

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• Team Sales Exceed $ 186 Million Since 2005

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• 58+ Years of Combined Real Estate Experience

www.engelvoelkers.com/longboatkey

Gail Wittig Broker Associate

SCAN TAG TO VIEW LISTINGS

Licensed Real Estate Broker

55385

440 Gulf of Mexico Dr., Longboat Key, FL 34228 • 941.383.7591

developers Realty inc. Lic. R.e. Broker 1266 1st St., Suite 9, Sarasota, FL 34236

55323

TWO BEDROOM Price 2803 C+ $895,000 5401-02 B+ $739,000

Tina Rudek • 941-920-0303 • Tina@LBKRealEstate.com

LONGBOAT Observer

www.YourObserver.com

THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 2011

Lynne Koy

BUILDING PERMITS These are the largest building permits issued by the Longboat Key Planning and Zoning Department for the week of March 25 through March 31, in order of dollar amounts. (GMD = Gulf of Mexico Drive) Permit Applicant Re-roof Islands West Alteration Thomas Foley Alteration Longboat Cove Alteration Longboat Cove Alteration Brian Feeney Re-roof John Harned Jr. Re-roof Paul Keyes Alteration Caryn Williams Alteration Leon Wechsler Alteration Sarah Posnick Alteration Larry Baker Re-roof Robert Weeks Alteration Donald McBride Alteration Janet Sterett Alteration Virginia Sanders Alteration Curtis Vaughan Alteration Longboat Cove Alteration Longboat Cove Alteration Louis Lasday Alteration Vincent Moschetta

at the 36-unit Longboat Terrace, 5393 Gulf of Mexico Drive, to David Lenefsky, of New York City, for $420,000. Built in 1979, the 1,300-square-foot unit has two bedrooms and two bathrooms. It sold for $190,000 in May 1985.

Longboat Key Yacht & Tennis Club Mark II

Bird Key

Cedars East

St. Armands Key

Windward Bay

Richard and Gaye Hasslinger, of Boca Raton, sold Unit 12-VR-22-C at the 151unit Windward Bay, 4870 Gulf of Mexico Drive, to Minna Zaret, of Great Barrington, Mass., for $190,000. Built in 1974, the 973-square-foot unit has two bedrooms and two bathrooms. It sold for $85,000 in June 1996.

The Colony Beach & Tennis Resort

Lenore Fuhrer, of Roslyn Heights,

presents her

LuxuRy PReMIeR ◆

COLLeCTIOn◆ Lido Shores – Sweeping views of the Bay, John Ringling Bridge & Downtown Sarasota will mesmerize you from this spectacular custom built 5BR/5.3BA furnished home. www.1418JohnRinglingPkwy.com $3,895,000 SE OU NH 4 OPE N 1 – SU

N.Y., sold her Unit 118-S at the Colony Beach & Tennis Resort, 1620 Gulf of Mexico Drive, to 1620 Properties LLC, a Delaware limited-liability company with a Buffalo, N.Y., address, for $45,000. The 705-square-foot unit was built in 1973. It last sold for $122,000 in March 2001.

DSS Investment LLC, a Florida limited-liability company, c/o Dr. Stephen Rosenblum, of Ann Arbor, Mich., sold Unit 202 at Longboat Key Yacht & Tennis Club Mark II, 4215 Gulf of Mexico Drive, to Jeffrey and Christine Vorel, of Sycamore, Ill., for $392,000. Built in 1974, the 1,284-square-foot unit has two bedrooms and two bathrooms. It sold for $125,000 in November 1986. Robert and Mary Beth Cutts sold Unit 8 at Cedars East at 802 Evergreen Way to Joseph Mooney III, of Clayton, Mo., for $265,000. Built in 1991, the 1,440-square-foot unit has two bedrooms and two-and-a-half bathrooms. It last sold for $247,500 in September 2002.

Amount $335,000 $126,312 $60,000 $60,000 $30,217 $28,350 $16,000 $11,000 $11,000 $8,747.13 $8,000 $6,190 $4,035 $3,925 $2,455 $2,350 $1,821 $1,530 $1,100 $500

Floorit Holdings Inc., an Ontario corporation with an Oakville, Ontario, address, sold the home at 600 Wild Turkey Lane to Frank and Joan Radocchio, of Stratford, Conn., for $750,000. Built in 1971, the 2,044-square-foot home has three bedrooms, two bathrooms and a swimming pool. It last sold for $850,000 in July 2008. Regions Bank D/B/A Regions Mortgage, an Alabama banking corporation with a Hattiesburg, Miss., address, sold the home at 250 S. Blvd. of the Presidents in the St. Armands division of the John Ringling Estates, to Mario and Joan Arcari, of Johnsburg, Ill., for $531,050. Built in 1961, the 1,597-square-foot home has three bedrooms and two-and-a-half bathrooms. It sold for $1 million in September 2006. Regions Bank took the certificate of title in January 2011. Bruce Weiner, of Pittsburgh, sold Unit 3 in Arlington House of Sarasota Harbour Apartments, 761 John Ringling Blvd., to Gloria Watkins, of Berea, Ky., for $210,000. Built in 1963, the 816-squarefoot unit has two bedrooms and two bathrooms. It sold for the identical amount of $210,000 in January 2011.

BIRD KEY - Classic Mediterranean home on open bay with gorgeous sunset views and deep water docking. www.344WRoyalFlamingo.com $3,250,000

BIRD KEY - Fabulous 4BD/4.5BA canal front home on deep sailboat water. Stunning foyer, gourmet kitchen & game room with bay views. www.647Nowl.com $2,395,000 E PRICCED U D E R

BIRD KEY - A spectacular, stunning, scenic sanctuary w/fabulous grounds & partial bay views. www.201Seagull.com $1,495,000

LONGBOAT KEY TOWERS – Tastefully decorated w/spectacular views of Gulf & Bay from this updated 2BD/2BA, 11th floor condominium home w/2 covered parking spaces! www.603LBKTowers1104.com $1,195,000

E PRICCED U D RE

THE SHORE - Fabulous gulf front views from this 2BD/2BA updated condominium that is tastefully furnished. $629,000

KEY TOWER SOUTH – Fabulous full gulf views and expansive white sand beach surround this 2 BD/2BA turnkey furnished condominium home that is tastefully decorated w/one covered $589,000 parking space.

CASTILLIAN – Direct Gulf View! SEAPLACE - Direct Gulf views from Tastefully furnished 2BD/2BA this stunning 2 BD/2BA furnished w/covered parking. penthouse with views of the Gulf condo $529,000 of Mexico from most rooms. $559,000

THE BEACHES – Tastefully furnished 2 BD/2BA condominium with sweeping golf course views in a Gulf Front community behind the gates of the Longboat Key Club. www.775Beaches204.com $449,000

SEAPLACE – Once in a lifetime opportunity! Direct Gulf and beach views! Penthouse Location! $775,000 www.1925Seaplace408.com

NEW

ING

LIST

NEW

SEAPLACE – Fabulous views of the Gulf and Downtown Sarasota from this 2BD/2BA Condo w/ Updated Kitchen. $469,000

ING

LIST

ISLAND CLUB – Fabulous Direct Gulf Views from every room in this 2 BD/2BA condo. Priced to Sell! $399,000

LONGBOAT

HARBOUR

lkoy@coldwellbanker.com Tour Lynne’s properties at

www.lynnekoy.com

At The Chart House on Longboat Key

Broker / Associate, CRB, CRS, GRI Previews International Property Specialist International President’s Premier, Involved Citizen: Sarasota Opera, SPARCC, Make-a Wish, Meals on Wheels, Breast Cancer Awareness

◆

22 SALES YEAR TO DATE IN 2011 ◆

Global Marketing: NYtimes.com • Birdkeynews.com • Coldwellbanker.com • Worldproperties.com • Trulia.com •LynneKoy.com • Rightmoves.com • Greatwaterfrontliving.com • Realtor.com • Zillow.com You can search Lynne’s website in Follow me on 13 languages – including English. Facebook / Twitter LinkedIn / YouTube

Stunning 2 Bd/2 BA condominium with long views down the canal. Artfully designed and fully updated. This unit is a must see. www.4380Exeter304.com $299,900

941.387.1803

55483

Address 2525 GMD 415 L’Ambiance Drive 5481 GMD 5461 GMD 789 Broadway 3331 GMD 5941 GMD 4545 GMD 340 GMD 545 Sanctuary Drive 615 Dream Island Road 588 Spanish Drive N. 6925 Bayside Drive 561 Ketch Lane 709 Hideaway Bay Drive 2525 GMD 5461 GMD 5461 GMD 360 GMD 539 Bayview Drive

LONGBOAT Observer

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THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 2011

business | market watch

By George Rauch

What is the risk of investing in this market? The stock market is in a confusing posture. Slowly, investors are coming back, and the market continues to creep upward. But, at the moment, it may not be wise to commit too much more of one’s cash to stocks. The market, which is in a bull trend, is not priced for gains. It’s already the second-most expensive market in history. Rather, the market is postured to hand investors heavy losses. Here are some of the underpinnings of this economy that could affect the ability of the market to increase further in value:

GEORGE

Medicare and Medicaid will cause 72% of the increase in government expenditures through 2020 (Congressional Budget Office), and that’s absurdly understated. 4) Real GDP growth in the last 100 years in this country has been just more than 3% per annum. Growth is expected to be less than 2% annually over the next 10 years. Debt requirements alone will exceed cash created from such growth.

1) The market is strong RAUCH because of the $600 billion the federal government printed to stimulate the economy, called “QE2,” this year. In June, the last of the QE2 funds Congress authorized will be spent. At that point, it is likely the market will sell off. QE2 funds go to the banks, which lend the money to brokers. The government hopes that when QE2 is terminated in June, the market — and the economy — will be able to sustain themselves. That is unlikely. Thirty percent of current federal government expenditures are borrowed, and without the borrowed funds, the government cannot continue to operate. Look for more government borrowing. More debt creates additional financial burdens, which this economy is already incapable of handling.

5) Japan’s problems today are the result of its large debt build-up in the 1980s. The Japanese economy has been flat ever since. Its stock market trades at less than onethird of what it did in 1989. The U.S. government is experiencing the same problems today managing debt that Japan has had for the last 20 years.

2) Hyperinflation occurs when 20% to 40% of government expenditures are debt. We are already at 30%. In the last 20 years, Brazil, Turkey and Russia have inflated away their debt. That would be nice but difficult for the U.S. to do, because the dollar is the world’s reserve currency.

7) Residential real-estate rentals are anticipated to increase 15% by the end of 2012. The vacancy rate is forecast to be less than 5% by then. The pressure on rentals continues because of people vacating homes, people coming into the employment world and graduating from schools and those people who are not credit-worthy enough to own a house. Housing costs are likely to increase rapidly, like food and fuel have lately.

3) Social Security currently represents 25% of federal government expenditures. Fifty percent of government expenditures are indexed, so inflation will continue until Congress changes the law. Social Security,

6) Inflation statistics are false. Food and energy are not part of the Consumer Price Index. Anybody who has filled his gas tank or been to the grocery knows that inflation is already here. The following are some differences in prices from two years ago: Gas is up 70%, gold is up 61%, corn is up 78%, soybeans are up 42% and sugar is up 165%. These commodity price increases spill over into the cost of everything. They create the real core of our inflation, which is not accounted for in the CPI!

8) The PPI (Producer Price Index) is in-

Laura D. Hansen, 41 Year Resident of Longboat Key

creasing at the rate of 20% annually, as compared to a 5.8% increase last year. This indicates that inflation is heating up. How can government statistics show us we are only experiencing 2.4% annual inflation? 9) The U.S. dollar is now the world’s biggest bubble following our bond-market bubble, stock-market bubble, high-tech bubble and the real-estate bubble, all created by the federal government and the always complicit Federal Reserve System. As with the stock market, there are more reasons for the dollar to continue sinking than for the dollar to stabilize.

11) Charles Dow, founder of the Wall Street Journal, would counsel to never invest in a stock that paid less than a 3.5% dividend yield. The dividend yield now on the Dow stocks is 2.4%. Should the market sell at a 3.5% yield, instead of a 2.4% yield, the DJIA would be 8,400 points instead of 12,200 points. In severe market downturns, yields reach 6% (1970s and 1980s). A 6% yield would move the Dow to 4,900 points. Just the historical average Dow yield of 4.3% would move the market 12) We need 10 million jobs to get back to 5% unemployment, the rate we had before all of this began. Creating 1.5 million jobs

George Rauch, Longboat Key, is chief executive officer of Bradenton-based General Propeller and a former Wall Street investment banker.

10) Last week we heard that the Federal Reserve Bank’s profits rose sharply to $94 billion last year. The amazing thing is that the public accepted that fabrication. Here’s how it works: The Federal Reserve prints money with a computer entry and “loans” it to the federal government, which pays interest back to the Fed for the use of the funds. Not one lick of work has been expended for all of this cash — it’s simply magical, like us printing our own money when we run out of cash. And it’s highly inflationary.

CEDARS EAST

Impeccably maintained, updated town home featuring new floors, Pella windows, siding, roof, master and guest baths plus renovated balcony, newer a/c and appliances. View of the bay from master bedroom plus nature views. One car garage with lots of storage. Top tennis resort community includes on site rental program 10 Har-Tru courts and Jr Olympic size $349,900 heated pool.

941-383-8273

lhansen44@comcast.net or laurahansen@michaelsaunders.com

55322

52428

$398,000 REDUCTION

Michael Saunders & Company

Conclusion

The cautious investor would be wise to maintain liquidity and build cash. Patience will pay great dividends. Future opportunities are likely to be greater than existing opportunities for investors with cash. There is a large amount of sorting out in the economy yet to occur. The most difficult thing to do is to be patient, which reminds us of the old saying: “Patience is a virtue. Catch it if you can. Seldom found in woman and never found in man!” To justify these price-earnings ratios, real growth in our economy would need to exceed 5% annually for an extended period of time. Even our historical growth rate of 3% annually will not get us back to an economy that can justify these stock-market heights. One knows they have problems when it’s necessary to borrow money simply to pay interest on debt. Until the many problems of this economy are better addressed than the Congress-proposed $50 billion to $100 billion in spending cuts, the taxation and interest payments required for government expenditures will require more than 100% of our country’s annual income for years to come. Government requirements for cash in our economy are in conflict with economic growth, which must have a negative effect upon the stock markets, unless rectified. Caveat emptor.

GRI

4BR/3.5BA in gated Landings. New kitchen and luxurious master suite, all mahogany library, bonus recreation room, hurricane protection, large pool, lushly landscaped. $997,000

a year is necessary just to absorb young people coming into the labor market. If we begin to produce jobs at the rate of 300,000 a month, the amount in the late 1990s during the strongest job growth in our history, it would take more than four years to dig us out of this hole. (The above paragraph was published in an April 2010 Market Watch article.)

941.383.5502 or 941.724.7228 CathyMeldahl@michaelsaunders.com

3174 Gulf of Mexico Dr. Longboat Key, FL 34228

Licensed Real Estate Broker

440 Gulf of Mexico Drive, 941-383-7591

Michael Saunders & Company Cathy C. Meldahl P.A. Licensed Real Estate Broker

GULF

➡ Longboat Key GULF FRONT - Wonderful 5 bedroom, 5 bath home on 1.2 acres with 44 ft. beach side lap pool. Other features include a kitchen with stainless appliances, 4 car garage and abundant fruit trees. ...........................FURNISHED $5,440,000 GULF FRONT - Corner ground floor 2/2 condo, beautifully updated, decorated and furnished, Pet friendly... $549,000 HARBOUR LINKS - An awesome lifestyle awaits you in this corner villa with 3 bedrooms, 3 baths, a den and a 2 car garage, located on the Harbourside Golf course at the Longboat Key Club. The community is pet friendly and offers Beach Club membership. . ................................................................................................................................FURNISHED $419,000 YOU WILL ENJOY BAY & MARINA VIEWS from the living room, master bedroom & the screened porch of this 2/2 condo located at the south end of LBK. The community offers a heated pool, boat docks, fitness facility. Furnished...........$339,000 BANYAN BAY - Beach to Bay complex. This charming 2 bedroom condo is designed for seaside living. Tennis, pool, fishing pier. Pet Friendly................................................................................................................................................................$299,000 BAY HARBOUR - South end of LBK, 2/2 expertly renovated w/ direct bay and marina views. Amenities include boat docks, fishing pier heated pool. .......................................................................................................................................$395,000 LBK 2 bedroom and a den Village home - lovely treed lot - close to beach and bay.......................................... $489,000 WHITNEY BEACH - BEACH TO BAY - 1/1 in desirable community with boat docks, fishing pier, tennis courts, and a wonderful walking beach. 2 pets allowed .......................................................................................FURNISHED $215,000 UNIqUE 1 bedroom, 2 bath ground floor at Whitney Beach. Great amenities. 2 Pets allowed. FURNISHED $235,000 LBK BAYFRONT - 2/2 condo on Sarasota Bay w/views of Sarasota skyline. Nicely appointed w/updated kitchen. Offered turnkey furnished. Amenities include fitness room, boat docks, pool, tennis courts, & beach access. All this for ...$375,000 WINDWARD BAY - Sunrise, sunset! You’ll enjoy both from 2/2 renovated residence with unobstructed bay views. The community offers 2 pools, tennis courts, fitness facility, and boat docks............................................................$399,000

BAYFRONT FAMILY COMPOUND - Price Reduced $1,800,000

New Price! Secluded haven situated directly on Sarasota Bay, open Gulf waters just seconds away. A mariner’s paradise, this waterfront oasis features three boat docks with lifts with bay views and views of Jewfish Key. Several guest quarters, multiple gathering spaces and kitchens. Screened pool area with spa and large deck overlooking the brilliant water. 2 fireplaces. 5br/3 ba, 3200+ sq. ft., 4+ car garage. www.UltimateBoathouse.net $2,499,000

53142

bobbiebanan@michaelsaunders.com

Michael Saunders & Company Licensed Real Estate Broker

St. Armands Circle, Sarasota, FL (941) 388-4447

55324

BOBBIE BANAN, REALTOR® 356-2659 • 383-2659

Ambassador’s Circle

LONGBOAT Observer

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THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 2011

SAFETY FIRST By Maria Amodio | Staff Writer

Sarasota Yacht Club blesses its fleet Sarasota Yacht Club held its annual Blessing of the Fleet ceremony Sunday, April 3, at the yacht club. Mark Gibbens, associate pastor at First Baptist

Church, and Rabbi Peter Kasdan blessed each boat individually and wished all passengers calm seas and safe passages throughout the year.

Photos by Maria Amodio

Sandy and Burt Polishook and Sheila Kasdan aboard “Pixie Dust III”

Joe and Eileen Casha aboard “La Diva” Judge Nancy Donnellan, associate pastor of First Baptist Church of Sarasota, Mark Gibbens, Rabbi Peter Kasdan and SYC Commodore Jeff Birnbach perform the Blessing of the Fleet ceremony.

John and Michele Powell and Monique and Gerry Breyton aboard the Breytons’ boat, “Caladon”

Sue and Herb Berman were all smiles after the blessing of their boat, “Superb.”

PROPeRtieS

MOULTON

eXPeRtiSe ReSULtS

MICHAEL

Certified Residential Specialist, CRS Broker Associate

Michael Saunders & Company Licensed Real Estate Broker

COUntRY CLUB ShOReS – New construction 4BR canal front home. A3929970 $995,000

ViZCAYA w/PRiVAte POOL - Tropical paradise spacious gulf condominium w/private pool & covered 1,200SF terrace. A344892 $2,725,000

BAY FROnt eStAte LOt - 100’ frontage w/deeded beach access. A3937319 $1,975,000

SARABAnDe PenthOUSe - Come view this spacious 3 bedroom condo in the premier bay front building. A3940572 $2,175,000

SUttOn PLACe - Ground floor condo w/bay views & remodeled kit. Pet friendly. A3928481 $300,000

ViLLA Di LAnCiA - Designer furnished 3BR condo w/staircase from your terrace to the pool & beach. A3921064 $1,675,000

440 Gulf of Mexico Drive, Longboat Key, FL 34228 Office 941.383.7591 | Mobile 941.928.3559 | SarasotasFinestProperties.com

55365

en PROVenCe - Exquisitely furnished gulf front condo that feels like a private home on the beach. A3929322 $2,800,000

55458

Richard and Wally Nelson aboard “Night Shadow”

Call 941-383-5577 or visit www.wagnerrealty.com

54134

5360 Gulf of Mexico Dr., Suite 101, Longboat Key

LOOKING FOR THE PERFECT LOCATION? THIS IS IT!

2BR/2BA bright end unit w/ updated kitchen, new carpet, paint, A/C, water heater, move-in ready. Heated pool, clubhouse, billiards & lighted tennis court, central location! Teresia Bradford $109,000 #M5820603

ENJOY THE WATER VIEWS

from this 2BR/2BA turnkey furnished condo. Updated kitchen, W/D, newer air, 2 pools, 2 tennis courts, 2 marinas, beach access, only $12 a month for boat slip. Dorothy Cook $295,000 #A3939881

BAYSIDE WATERFRONT 2BR/2BA

with new kitchen, tastefully furnished, 4 pools, tennis, fitness center, balcony overlooks canal. Deeded beach access. Dorothy Cook #A3914276 $329,000

CAPTIVATING AND VERY SPACIOUS

top floor condo overlooking the Gulf, pool & gorgeous tropical grounds. Completely updated & beautifully decorated. Pets OK. Teresia Bradford #M5815650 $689,000

BEAUTIFUL 2-STORY, 4BR/4BA HOME

located in luxurious gated community. Anna Maria beaches just across the bridge. Oversized lot w/ heated pool. Extras galore! Jerry Cunningham #A3938209 $695,527

MEDITERRANEAN LUXURY

on North LBK.Sailboat water with 40’ dock, davit & 13,000 lb. lift. 3BR/2.5BA & office, high ceilings and completely renovated! Huge pool, patio & walk to beach. Jerry Cunningham/ Marta Altizer $779,624 #A3935452

LONGBOAT Observer

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THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 2011

PIC today

PIC / FROM PAGE 1B ning to spend more than $500 total in any one election. (The amendment passed with 53% of voters approving it — a victory for PIC’s supporters.) But, according to Betty Blair, a former Longboat Key resident who got involved in PIC shortly after its inception, PIC’s formation wasn’t the result of any one issue or event. “It was a culmination of events that seemed like the town was becoming much too commercial,” Blair said. In its first “Voice” newsletter, PIC reported that it had formed when a group of residents met “to try to find a suitable way to provide their neighbors with factual, unbiased information about their town as it seeks to address its problems.” In describing the purpose of “Voice,” PIC officials wrote: “Because only a truly informed people can serve their community and their own interests, it is the purpose of this newsletter, ‘The Voice of Longboat Key,’ to present the facts, quoting from official town documents whenever possible.” The group saw the Longboat Observer and other island newspapers as being under the influence of developers. As a result, in its early newsletters, PIC declared that the publication would be supported by subscriptions and donations. PIC incorporated Jan. 1, 1986. By March, PIC reported in “Voice” that it had received contributions from 749 people in less than a year. Also that March, PIC endorsed its first four candidates for the commission. All four won in what a local newspaper columnist described as “a mandate” to keep Longboat Key a residential community.

File photo

PIC Co-President Gaele Barthold addresses the audience at a March 9 pension forum regarding the town’s three pension plans.

Throughout the 1980s, PIC took on controversial issues, opposing a transfer that increased the density of developer Jerome “Jerry” Ansel’s land on the Gulf in exchange for the donation of land on the bay to the town. PIC also promoted citizen participation in local affairs and encouraged residents to vote and attend town meetings. By the 1990s, PIC continued to interview and endorse candidates and publish its newsletter. But most of the issues were less divisive than in years past. According to Webster, during that period PIC gave its support to issues such as beach renourishment, the town taking responsibility for running Bayfront Park Recreation Center and the creation of the Longboat Key Public Tennis Center.

If it was not for PIC, we would have a Fort Myers Beach or a Key West, overrun with partying tourists. — Former Longboat Key Mayor and past PIC President Joan Webster

Mayor Jim Brown said that PIC had become less controversial by the time he joined in 1999 or 2000. “When I first joined, there weren’t a lot of big issues,” said Brown, who remained involved until 2004, when he joined the Planning & Zoning Board. “It had almost become a dormant organization.” Recently, PIC found itself in the midst of controversial issues again. The group endorsed the 2008 referendum allowing the creation of 250 additional tourism units and supported the Longboat Key Club and Resort’s proposed $400 million Islandside redevelopment project — positions that many longtime members have said indicate that PIC’s role has shifted. “PIC has changed over the years, no longer representing just the homeowners,” Webster said. “It has broadened its scope to include businesses and commercial venues. Whether that’s good or bad, I can’t answer that.” But others say that the shift represents an evolution. Sandy Gilbert, who was active in PIC from 2003 to 2006, said that the group began as a “watchdog” for homeowners. Today, he thinks it has become a watchdog for taxpayers. He said that PIC has invited the public to learn about various issues through forums about topics such as oil drilling and pensions. And he said that the group’s meetings generate open discussions about issues. “Some of the best discussions I’ve ever had have been in PIC meetings,” Gilbert said. PIC Co-President Ann Roth said that PIC currently has 140 members. She currently sees the organization as “nether pro-development, nor pro-stagnation” but, rather, one that strives for the best living conditions possible on the island. “I see it as becoming a stronger and larger and positive force in the community,” Roth said. “It’s educational. It’s trying to work for the community — and making it better and better and better.”

S aint C acchiotti,

PA, Direct: 941.38.SAINT (387-2468) Cell: 941.809.0787 Toll Free: 877.581.3444 SaintCacc@aol.com

VISIT MY WEBSITE!

Realtor®

www.dougparks.com

It takes a lifetime to become an experienced professional and only 5 minutes to realize you’re working with one!

HOMES

JUST REDUCED

BALLENTINE MANOR ESTATES

Car collector’s dream home with A/C garage to accommodate 16+/- cars, 8,900+ sq. ft., overlookPrivate & gated estate on 1.16 acres overlooking a ing the Bay on over half acre. Endless possibilities vast expanse of Sarasota Bay. Epitomizing elegance, await! $899,000 this residence offers 8,976 SF of every imaginable creature comfort. 2 docks w/lifts and 75’ heated bay CONDOS front pool. $9,995,000

EXCLUSIVE WATERFRONT ESTATE

REDUCED

JUST LISTED

1800 Ben Franklin Dr #608B L’Elegance Bay and city views, 2BD/2.5BA plus office/den, high ceilings, pet friendly, furnished $749,000

800 Ben Franklin #603 Lido Ambassador Gulf and Bay views, 1BD/1.5BA, updated, furnished, southern exposure $649,000

SANCTUARY ON LONgBOAT KEY

280’ ON THE BAY

Remarkable Gulf front residence located behind the gates Custom residence located in Hideaway Bay featuring of the Longboat Key Club overlooking the glorious white 5,400+ SF of luxurious living space, contemporary kitch- sand beaches. Open floor plan with 2,375 SF, large beach en, wine room, pool, spa and private boat dock with lift. front terrace and private garage parking. $1,199,950

$2,895,000

373 S Washington Dr St Armands 81’ of wide canal, over $200K in renovations, 4BD/3BA, pool $1,695,000

JUST REDUCED

CORAL SHORES BAYFRONT

Pamper yourself in the amazing comforts this home has to offer including a chef’s dream kitchen, 2 wet bars, wine refrigeration, Ralph Lauren paint techniques, large terraces, outdoor summer kitchen, infinity edge pool, spa, and dock. $1,500,000

SOLD 101 Ben Franklin Dr #53 St Armands Towers S. Full Gulf views, custom renovations in 2006, one of a kind unit $635,000

Surround yourself in luxury with fine dining, generous amenities and dramatic views of the Gulf, lagoon and golf course fairways with graciously appointed condominium/hotel suites. Great income potential! Unit # Unit Type View Offered at 3203 Club Suite Gulf $437,900

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Access Virtual Tours & MLS at SaintCacchiotti.com

55402

7908 Hampton Court University Park 3BD/2BA, vaulted ceilings, furnished, $5K credit to Buyer for updates $279,000

LONGBOAT KEy CLUB & RESORT

Michael Saunders & Company, Licensed Real Estate Broker 440 Gulf of Mexico Dr., Longboat Key, FL 34228 • 941-383-7591

Exclusive affiliate of Christie’s Great Estates & Leading Real Estate Companies of the World

55321

101 Ben Franklin Dr #54 St Armands Towers S. Across from Lido Beach, 2 blocks to the Circle, 40’ balcony, pet friendly $387,000

LONGBOAT Observer

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THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 2011

REAL ESTATE REPORTS

FABuLOus reAL esTATe OppOrTuniTies

By Robin Hartill | Community Editor

+ Bob and Lisa Morris join Signature Sotheby’s The husband-and-wife team of Bob and Lisa Morris has joined Signature Sotheby’s International Realty. Lisa Morris is originally from Alexandria, Va., and earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a master’s degree in social work from Courtesy photo Loyola University, Bob and Lisa Morris in Chicago, before moving to Sarasota and specializing in luxury waterfront real estate. With her husband and father, W. Howard Rooks, Morris formed new real-estate investmentand-development companies. They also founded Rooks Morris Real Estate, which focused on luxury waterfront real estate with a concentration on modern homes. Bob Morris earned the distinction of Eagle Scout with Boy Scouts of America and was discharged from the U.S. Marine Corps with the rank of captain. He graduated from the University of Colorado and earned an MBA with a concentration in finance from Loyola University. Prior to moving to Sarasota, he worked at Competitive Government Strategies (CGS), the Indianapolis mayor’s office and the office of U.S. Sen. Richard Lugar. His commercial real-estate background includes experience in property development, multi-family residential development and out parcel, build-to-suit transactions. He is also involved in retailand-office investment property analysis, acquisition, sales, leasing and management. The Morrises and their two children live on Lido Key.

Longboat Key, Florida

Beachfront with 1.4+ Acres

On The Beach at L'Ambiance

Nestled among the native Florida palm and pine trees is truly one of the best beachfront estate parcels available on Longboat Key. This magnificent, unspoiled 1.4+ acre beachfront estate with 110 feet on the Gulf of Mexico and 580 feet from beachfront to entrance has that rare "Old Florida" ambiance with gorgeous views. Four charming income producing cottages are scattered throughout the grounds. MLS A3925019.

Beautiful condominium with lots of light and stunning 270 degree, unobstructed views of the Beach, Bay, St. Armands and all the way to downtown Sarasota. This elegant residence has custom cabinetry, lighting, gorgeous floors and exquisite details throughout. The Areca floor plan is wrapped in floor to ceiling windows and includes 700' of wrap terrace to take in all those stunning views. MLS A3935483.

$3,895,000

$1,595,000

Gorgeous, direct bay views from Fairway Bay. Beautifully, turnkey furnished, and updated with 1,440 sq. ft. $425,000

Beautiful bay front estate property with additional buildable lot. Property is 1.2+ acres with 131’ on the bay. $1,995,000

This is a Boater’s paradise w/196’ of deep-water seawall within one of the most prestigious communities on Longboat Key. $1,195,000

Gorgeous views from this 15th floor, 3 BR, 3575 sq. ft. condominium at the Sarasota Ritz-Carlton. $1,995,000

Fabulous price on this north Longboat Key, 2 bedroom, Longbeach Condominium with full Gulf views. $399,000

Beautiful and private, 3,100 sq. ft. custom home on sailboat water with kayak ramp, boat dock and lift. $889,000

+ Louise Hamel joins MS&Co. St. Armands office

LEASING & MANAGING HOMES & CONDOS Annual, Seasonal, Vacation 941-953-6000 941-359-3435

440 Gulf of Mexico Drive, Longboat Key, FL 34228 HannerleMoore@michaelsaunders.com 37328 54245

www.JennetteProperties.com

2009 & 2010 Top Individual Producer for Michael Saunders & Company’s Longboat Key Offices

www.michaelsaunders.com

pH 941.387.7300 www.Hannerle.com

Go to www.Hannerle.com to see a video tour on every property

FX 941.296.7722 52985

Louise Hamel has joined the St. Armands office of Michael Saunders & Co. Originally from Boston, Hammel moved in 1981 to Sarasota County and graduated with honors from the Ringling College of Art and Design. She specializes in barrier-island and downtown Sarasota properties. Hamel earned five years of recognition as a Five-Star Customer Service agent and was part of Prudential Palms Realty’s President’s Circle and Leading Edge Society. She holds the Graduate Realtor Institute, ICREA Transnational Relocation Certification, E-certification and Fine Homes designations.

LONGBOAT Observer

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THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 2011

Bruce A. Myer

athlete of the week

941.387.1859 BruceMyer.com

SELLING LUXURY REAL ESTATE FOR OVER 30 YEARS

Scott schindler

Rated in the Top 100 agents in Florida JUST REDUCED!

JUST LISTED!

SLEEPY LAGOON - Unique 7BR/5.5BA home on canal with dock/lift $599,000

L’AMBIANCE 3BR+Den/4.5BA Royal floorplan. Direct Gulf views from the expansive waterfront terrace and private walk down to beach. Offered furnished $2,695,000

JUST REDUCED!

4% TO SELLING AGENT!

By Rachel S. O’Hara | Staff Photographer

Scott Schindler has always been active, and one of his favorite activities is Rollerblading. Originally from Brooklyn, N.Y., Schindler moved in 2002 to Longboat Key and picked up Rollerblading that same year. Schindler was a long-time runner but found that Rollerblading was more fun and allowed him to go longer distances than he could running. He Rollerblades three days a week along Gulf of Mexico Drive and usually logs between 10 and 10.5 miles on each trip.

Visit our website to see Schindler Rollerblade. www.YourObserver.com SANCTUARY - Tastefully updated 3BR/3BA condo in gulf front complex $849,000

SEAPLACE - Beautiful 3rd floor 2BR/2BA condo Offered at $249,500

QUEENS HARBOUR - 4BR+Den/3.5BA home with beautiful bay views and private dock $2,395,000

Fairway Bay

Inn On The Beach GREAT INCOME OPPORTUNITY!

Rachel S. O’Hara

Q &A How often and how far do you Rollerblade each week? I usually Rollerblade three days a week — Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I do it along Gulf of Mexico Drive. I do it from my house all the way up to Windward Bay and back, and it’s a round trip of about 10 or 10.5 miles.

CLUB SUITE Bldg. 2 $469,000 CLUB SUITE Bldg. 4 $469,000 CLUB SUITE Bldg. 2 $439,000 CLUB SUITE Bldg. 5 $239,000

2BR/2.5BA

$449,000 Just Reduced!

2BR/2BA

$415,000

2BR/2BA

$399,000

2BR/2BA

$329,000 Just Reduced!

What is the biggest challenge you face while Rollerblading?

2-Story condo with boat dock!

The biggest challenge is I have to watch the ground all the time because any pebble, any rock and twig would stop me, and I would fall over. That’s the biggest challenge I have. When I was running, I didn’t care about the ground. When I’m

Updated and partially furnished with covered parking space! Furnished with Bay views!

Beachplace

Partially furnished and updated with great bay views!

JUST REDUCED!

Rollerblading, I’m constantly looking down.

Why did you switch from running to Rollerblading? I picked up Rollerblading as opposed to running, because when I got down here I couldn’t increase my distance while I was running. I was doing five miles a day running, and I wanted to increase it. I found that by Rollerblading, I was able to increase my distance almost to non-stop. I do like it when people ask me how far I Rollerblade, and I like telling them the distance and seeing their reaction, but other than that, I just do it for myself.

Michael Saunders & Company Exceptional People People & & Properties Properties Exceptional Licensed Real Estate Broker • Exclusive Affiliate Of Sotheby’s International Realty & Leading Estates Of The World

2BR/2BA 4th Floor $449,000 2BR/2BA 2nd Floor $429,000

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Steve Abbott broker - Associate CrAig Abbott broker - Associate (941) 374-3003

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★ SaraSota Magazine’S five Star

SUNRISE SHORES - Furnished 2BR +Den/2BA with bay views $349,000

PIERRE- 3BR/3BA Two terraces and Gulf views Offered at $799,000

I HAVE CLOSED 13 SUCCESSFUL TRANSACTIONS ALREADY IN 2011 AND HAVE 8 PENDING CLOSINGS!

• buttoNWood HArbour Water front • bEACHplACE Surround yourself with spectacular home, 3BD/3BA features Great room w/fireplace, cathedral views: Gulf, Bay & golf course. Beautiful 20” stone tile in all living ceiling & opens onto screened deck overlooking spa & pool. areas, new stainless appliances, turnkey furnished. Under bldg 3500 SF includes oversized 2-car garage. New roof. New AC. parking space. 2 BD/2BA. A must see! MLS#A3932712 $449,000 6000 lb boat lift. MLS#A3918027... .....REDUCED! $695,000 • HArbour oAKS Like a single family home, but no maintenance! 3BD/2.5BA end unit with no steps. Vaulted ceilings, skylight, kitchen, family room, formal dining, living room, fireplace, turnkey furnished. 2 car garage, membership to Bay Isles Beach Club. A Must See! MLS#A394115 .................................... $449,000

JUST REDUCED!

LIDO BEACH CLUB Furnished 2BR/2BA, 10th floor condo with Gulf view $699,900

CLUB LONGBOAT -Furnished 3BR/2BA Top floor condo with partial Gulf views $445,000

SalE • buttoNWood CovE WIDE OPEN WATER PEn Ding VIEWS highlight 2BD/2BA split plan condo, 5 acres with

HUDSON LANDINGS Downtown 2-3BR/2BA condo with dock/lift and 1-car garage$399,000

• tidES oF loNGboAt 3 BD/3BA. Gulf views from

Bruce A. Myer

living room, dining room, kitchen, lanai and all 3 bedrooms. Beautifully maintained complex offers pool, tennis and under-bldg. parking. Right on magnificent white sand beach MLS#A3918027.. ............................REDUCED TO $749,000!

frontage on Gulf & Bay. Granite countertops in completely remodeled kitchen, club house, pool, tennis, racketball, boat slips & parking garage. Furnished. MLS#A3911622 .. $449,000 • buttoNWood CovE 1500 sq ft 3BD/2BA split plan end unit w/water views over cove. New kitchen w/granite & stainless steel appliances & newer furnishings. Wonderful beach to bay complex. Under bldg parking MLS#A3932389 ..............$449,000

nEw liSt ing

DIRECT: 941-387-1847 CELL: 941-376-5311 EMAIL: Bruce@BruceMyer.com

• SANd CAY BEST VALUE 2BD/2BA. Beautifully • rivErS ridGE 4BD/4BA home shows like a model. updated and turnkey furnished in popular Gulf front rental Spacious 2 car garage, patio & pool. Wonderful family home on complex. Gulf view from outdoor balcony MLS#A3937165. “no thru traffic” circle. Walk to DeSoto Nat’l Park and Robinson Steve 941-374-3003 ................................................$399,000 Preserve. 3400 sq. ft. MLS#A3917532. ........................ $495,000 Abbott Group / Sold

55427

Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate 201 Gulf of Mexico Dr., Ste. 1 Longboat Key At the Charthouse

Visit our website: BruceMyer.com

SalE PEn Ding

BUTTONWOOD COVE MARINA BAY BUTTONWOOD DR. BAYVIEW DRIVE NORTON ST. CASTILLIAN LONGBOAT BEACH HOUSE THE WATER CLUB WINDING OAKS

LBK LBK LBK LBK LBK LBK LBK LBK LBK

$377,500 $980,000 $712,500 $400,000 $510,000 $860,000 $460,000 $1,350,000 $425,000

99TH ST. NW BAY DRIVE NO. BAY DRIVE NO. RESORT AT LONGBOAT KEY CLUB BUTTONWOOD HARBOUR BEACH RESIDENCES MOURNING DOVE DR. 565 SANCTUARY DR. CRESTWOOD DR.

For vi rtuAl tou rS CraigAbbott.michaelsaunders.com

BRADENTON BRADENTON BRADENTON LBK LBK LIDO KEY BIRD KEY LBK ANNA MARIA

440 Gulf of Mexico Drive • Longboat Key, Florida 34228

$850,000 $600,000 $500,000 $945,000 $941,000 $2,995,000 $4,625,000 $1,875,000 $1,350,000

54887

COUNTRY CLUB SHORES 3BR/4BA Exquisite home on canal with many upgrades $1,499,000

RED UCE $ D 10 0,00 0

LONGBOAT Observer

www.YourObserver.com

THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 2011

AWARD CEREMONY

GEENNTT I INN SSAALLEESS VV O O LL U U ME E ## 1 1AAA G E N T and I NManatee S A LCounties E S VinO2009 L UM ME forG Sarasota

By The Observer Staff

TOP SALES ASSOCIATE forfor Sarasota and Manatee Counties Sarasota and Manatee Countiesinin2009 2009

#1 COLDWELL BANKER AGENT

Ranked the top # 1# 1C C OO LL D WWE E LL Lin EERRofAAGGEENNTT D LB BA AN NKK1% in Florida for 2009 Florida for2009 2009 Worldwide in in Florida for Coldwell Banker Associates

Ackerman Ackerman Ackerman

BARBARA BBAARRBBAARRAA Courtesy photo

The top-10 “Who’s B.O.B.?” winners are Ron Morrissette, Larry Shapiro, Rich McGrath, Jim Tarsy, Allan Thompson (first place), Rich Fiore, Andy Sawyer, Jim Long and John Beeman. Not picture is Joe Higgins.

Public Tennis Center names best of the best

As seen on Sarasota’s

“Hot ProPerties” Segment Every Wednesday!

Sleepy Lagoon – 100’ of Gulf Frontage

Gorgeous Balinese inspired beach front home built in 2002 with 6 BR/6.5 BA, separate study and 2nd family room upstairs. Mahogany and Bamboo floors, high Pecky Cypress ceilings, gourmet granite kitchen with breakfast bar. 2-car garage. $4,875,000

North Longboat Key – Best Boating Water!

4,700 SF waterfront showplace new in ’06 with 4 BR+ study, fireplace, pool/spa, summer kitchen, deep water dock, boat lift & jet ski area. $ Walk to beach. 1,795,000

Sanctuary IV

$ $ 1,269,995 Indian Beach – Bay Front Luxury Beachplace III 695,000 7th Floor 3BR/3BA Gulf, Bay & City views Gated 4 bedroom waterfront home with 5,215 SF, soar- 302 - 3rd Floor 2BR/2BA direct Gulf views ing ceilings, granite-inlaid marble floors, breathtaking $ Sanctuary III INCREDIBLE NEW PRICE $799,900 sunsets and a fabulous Bay Shore Road location! Extreme Beachplace III 695,000 5th Floor 3BR/2.5B Southeast corner Open Bay & City views value has never looked better. $2,690,000 304 - 3rd Floor 2BR/2BA direct Gulf views

KEY TOWERS SOUTH - Direct Gulf Front INFt.G NDSq. 7th Floor 2BR/2BA $549,000 PE1,364 CRESTWOOD VILLAS – Sarasota Mainland Maintenance Free 2BR/2BA 1,206 Sq. Ft. $119,000 Sea Gate Club - Direct Gulf Front Floor-to-ceiling glass frames the Beach and Sunsets from every room in this 1,470 SF 2BR/2BA with higher ceilings, wood floors and 2 terraces. Great amentias and on-site management. Walk $ to shopping. WAS $675,000 625,000

Mrs.Rogers’

www.barbaraackerman.com

Stunning Bay views from this fully renovated contemporary 2-story home on fabulous Bird Key. 3 BR + large office/4th BR, 4.5 baths, family room, private dock with boat lift &2-car garage. $2,195,000

It’s Still

REALTOR ® REALTOR

The name to know in real estate The nam e to know in real estate www.barbaraackerman.com The name to know in real estate www.barbaraackerman.com SAL EP END www.barbaraackerman.com ING

Bird Key - Wide Open Bay Front

On March 29, the Longboat Key Public Tennis Center concluded its season-long men’s doubles “Who’s B.O.B.?” competition (“Who’s Best of the Best?”) with a cookout and awards ceremony. Points accumulated from November through the last event in March are used to determine the top-10 players. As in the past, the season ends in March to make room for the upcoming April Spring League. In addition, the Public Tennis Center will also be hosting its fifth annual Fidelity Investments Senior Doubles Tournament from April 14 to April 18. There will be two divisions for men (ages 60 and 70) and two divisions for women (ages 55 and 65). The tournament also has a cashprize incentive. The final day to sign up for the tournament is April 11. For more information or to register for the tournament, call the tennis center at 316-8367.

REALTOR®

RED ROCK TERRACE – Oyster Bay Vacant Lot Bellasara – Golden Gate Point Lot w/ House Plans $439,000 La Sparkling water views from this amazing 5,585SF Penthouse apartment with 4BR/5BA, private his & hers stud-

ies, wine cellar & separate tasting area, media room and GRAND BAY I – Longboat Key Bay Front terrace overlooking the Bay and downtown. Private 9th Floor 3BR/3BA 2,550 Sq. Ft.$1,275,000 large $5,950,000 boat dock & 2 car garage.

FAIRWAY BAY - Longboat Key Townhouse 2BR/3BA 1,626 Sq. Ft. $539,000

Neighborhood

GRAND BAY II – Bay & City Views 4th Floor 3BR/3BA 2,781 Sq. Ft. $1,395,000

Annette Rogers has ranked among Greater Sarasota’s top-producing Realtors for 37 years.

PIERRE – Longboat Key Direct Beach Front 3rd Floor 3 BR/3BA 2,410 Sq. Ft. $799,000 Water Club I - Direct Beach Front Exquisite 3,045 SF luxury on 5th floor w/Gulf views, private elevator foyer, 3BR/4BA, study area in master suite. Beautiful window treatments, plantation shutters, marble floors, full wine bar. $1,800,000

Legendary Service. Remarkable Results. Contact Annette today.

941.383.7591 (office) 941.284.7373 (mobile)

Longboat Key – Boater’s Fantasy 3,435 SF home with 114 feet of DEEP water frontage! Extra large rooms, with living area on one level and tons of ground floor play space. Covered 45x20 slip and Jet Ski dock included. $995,000

Water Club I - Gulf & Bay Views

Lido Shores - Direct Gulf Front Palazzo Combines 200 ft. of seawalled Gulf front with private Dock and Beach access. This 7,415 SF residence built in 2003 has 5BR/8BA, exercise room, his and her bath & studies, 50 ft pool/spa & 5-car garage. $8,900,000

Mainland – Bay Front Retreat Warm and welcoming with 4600 SF, 5 BR, upper and lower master suites, wood floors, gourmet kitchen, & fireplace. Pool & outdoor entertainment area w/ large deck & private dock right on the Bay! $1,495,000

Longboat Key – Direct Beach Front “The Johnson Estate” Gated privacy on 2+ acres w/ 150 ft. of Gulf front. 10,000 SF. 7BR/6.5BA includes separate attached guest wing. New in ‘07. www.Johnsonestatelongboatkey.com $11,500,000

941-387-1820 Direct 53677

2,250,000

La Bellasara - Downtown Bay Front Outstanding Bay, Marina, & City Skyline views! 3BR/4.5BA + study or 4th BR with 3,370 SF. 28’ balcony w/ summer kitchen, private elevator lobby, 2-car $ garage & gated security. 2,395,000

Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate, LLC

annetterogers@michaelsaunders.com

Michael Saunders & Company Licensed Real Estate Broker

& 4 parking spaces.

●

6th floor 3 bedroom, 3 full bath apartment with beautiful water views, private elevator, 10 foot ceilings and two expansive terraces for viewing nightly sunsets. Gated community with excellent amenities. $1,699,000

201 Gulf of Mexico Drive, Suite #1, Longboat Key

800-910-8728 Toll-Free

All of Barbara’s listings are linked Internationally in 13 languages.

55334

“She is all of the things I’d hoped a real estate agent would be: intelligent, expert, courteous, patient, reassuring and available. To put it bluntly, she is the consummate professional.”

Marina Tower - Downtown Bayfront

Extraordinary 5,800 SF with 365˚ views, priv. elevator foyer, SAVOY – Downtown & Bay Views home theatre 9th Floor 3BR+Den/3.5BA 3,172 Sq. Ft. $1,985,000 4BR/4.5BA + study, main & catering kitchens, $

10B

LONGBOAT Observer

www.YourObserver.com

games | deal us in

THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 2011

BRIDGE HAND

By Donna Swan | Contributing Writer

North’s sacrifice bid shows faith in partner North’s decision to sacrifice against the four-spade contract by bidding five diamonds was based on the vulnerability and faith in his partner’s strong over-call. East doubled to keep her partner from continuing the bidding. One might come up with the opening lead of the king of spades, and that would set the contract down one. This West player opted for the king of hearts lead. That move might have done in the defense, but the trouble was that, when declarer won

the ace in the dummy, East elected to show an entry in spades by signaling with the Jack of hearts. Declarer led a trump from the dummy. East jumped up with the ace of diamonds and tried to give her partner a heart ruff. Unfortunately, West did not have a trump to ruff the heart. Declarer won with the queen in the dummy and discarded two spades on the nine and eight of hearts, which were high. Declarer made the five-diamond doubled contract, plus an overtrick.

Dealer: North

Vulnerable: East, West

North

Without the sacrifice bid, West bought the contract at a bid of four spades. North found the eight of clubs opening lead and did not continue with a club after capturing the king of hearts with the ace at trick two. West almost made an overtrick in the four-spade contract.

West

♠ KQJ632 ♥K ♦4 ♣K7543

Donna Swan is a resident of Longboat Key, an ardent bridge player and an American Contract Bridge League certified director who plays “for the fun of it.”

♠ 10 8 4 ♥AQ9862 ♦ 53 ♣86

South

♠ ♥ ♦ ♣

it’s read everywhere

Bidding: North Pass 5 ♦ Pass

The Observer’s “It’s Read Everywhere” photo contest is now online at YourObserver.com. Visit our website, YourObserver.com, to upload your photo submissions from now until Nov. 1; photos submitted directly to the paper will automatically be uploaded to our website. Online voting takes place from Nov. 1 to Nov. 7. Winners will be announced in the Nov. 10 issue of the Longboat Observer. Email your entries to nschwartz@yourobserver.com or mail them to the Longboat Observer, 5570 Gulf of Mexico Drive, Longboat Key, Fla., 34228.

♠ A5 ♥J753 ♦ AJ ♣ Q J 10 9 2

97 10 4 K Q 10 9 8 7 6 2 A

East 1 ♣ Double

Opening Lead: K

East

South 4 ♦ Pass

West 4♠ Pass

♥

observerSudoku Edited by The Mepham Group

Solve the puzzle by placing the numbers 1 through 9 in each row, column and box. See answers on page 10B. © Tribune Media Services

GUAM. Longboat Key’s global marathoner, John Wallace, reads the Longboat Observer while visiting Fort Nuestra Senora

de la Soledad, in Guam. While in Guam, Wallace ran his 343rd marathon in his 107th country — a new world record.

You’re Invited to a Special Open House Sunday april 10

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ThePlaza PlazaatatFive FivePoints Points The The The The Plaza Plaza Plaza atatat Five atFive Five Points Points Points The Plaza Five Points 50 Avenue,Suite Suite110, 110,Sarasota, Sarasota, 34236 REDUCED 50 Central Central Avenue, FLFL 34236 JuSt SoLd: 6980 74th St. Circle 5050 50 Central Central Central Avenue, Avenue, Avenue, Suite Suite Suite 110, 110, 110, Sarasota, Sarasota, Sarasota, FL FL FL 34236 34236 34236 50 Central Avenue, Suite 110, Sarasota, FL 34236 Sheldon.Paley@sothebysrealty.com Sheldon.Paley@sothebysrealty.com EastSheldon.Paley@sothebysrealty.com in River Club $350,000 The ThePlaza PlazaatatFive FivePoints Points Sheldon.Paley@sothebysrealty.com Sheldon.Paley@sothebysrealty.com Sheldon.Paley@sothebysrealty.com www.signaturesir.comThe The The Plaza Plaza Plaza atatFive atFive Five Points Points Points www.signaturesir.com The Plaza Five Points REDUCED PEndinG: 7608 Camden Harbor inat www.signaturesir.com www.signaturesir.com www.signaturesir.com www.signaturesir.com 50 Central Avenue, Suite 110, Sarasota, 34236 50 Central Avenue, Suite 110, Sarasota, FLFL 34236 941.356.1857 941.364.4000 941.356.1857 941.364.4000 Heritage Harbour $400,000 Signature Sotheby’s International Realty Signature Sotheby’s International Realty 5050 50 Central Central Central Avenue, Avenue, Avenue, Suite Suite Suite 110, 110, 110, Sarasota, Sarasota, Sarasota, FLFL FL 34236 34236 34236 50 Central Avenue, Suite 110, Sarasota, FL 34236 941.356.1857 941.356.1857 941.356.1857 941.364.4000 941.364.4000 941.364.4000 941.356.1857 941.364.4000

Sotheby’sInternational International Realty AlinariSignature Downtown Signature Sotheby’s Realty Signature Signature Signature Sotheby’s Sotheby’s Sotheby’s International International International Realty Realty Realty Signature Sotheby’s International Realty 1070 sq. ft. - turn key furnished .............................. $295,000 Sheldon Paley, Realtor® Sheldon Paley, Realtor® Sheldon Sheldon Sheldon Paley, Paley, Paley,Realtor® Realtor® Realtor® Sheldon Paley, Realtor® Bellagio in Osprey Harbour Village 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 2010, 2011 3BR/2½ BA 45JuSt ft dock.. ......................................... $699,000 SoLd: 6980 74th St. Circle 5 Star Best in Client Satisfaction Signature Signature Signature Sotheby’s Sotheby’s Sotheby’s International International International Realty Realty Realty Signature Sotheby’s International Realty Sheldon.Paley@sothebysrealty.com Sheldon.Paley@sothebysrealty.com Fairway Bay TheAtrium PlazaatatFive Five Points The Plaza Points East in River Club $350,000 Sheldon.Paley@sothebysrealty.com Sheldon.Paley@sothebysrealty.com Sheldon.Paley@sothebysrealty.com Sheldon.Paley@sothebysrealty.com The The The Plaza Plaza Plaza atatat Five atFive Five Points Points Points The Plaza Five Points Reduced $100,000 New ListiNg 3BR/2BA, 2031 sq. ft., full bay view www.signaturesir.com 50 Avenue,Suite Suite110, 110,Sarasota, Sarasota, 34236 ...................... $599,000 50 Central Central Avenue, FLFL 34236 www.signaturesir.com 5050 50 Central Central Central Avenue, Avenue, Avenue, Suite Suite Suite 110, 110, 110, Sarasota, Sarasota, Sarasota, FL FL FL 34236 34236 34236 50 Central Avenue, Suite 110, Sarasota, FL 34236 PEndinG: 7608 Camden FEATURED PROPERTY www.signaturesir.com www.signaturesir.com www.signaturesir.com www.signaturesir.com 7323 Kensington Court in University Park Harbor in Sheldon.Paley@sothebysrealty.com Sheldon.Paley@sothebysrealty.com 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 941.356.1857 941.364.4000 941.356.1857 941.364.4000 Sheldon.Paley@sothebysrealty.com Sheldon.Paley@sothebysrealty.com Sheldon.Paley@sothebysrealty.com Sheldon.Paley@sothebysrealty.com Heritage Harbour $400,000 Signature Sotheby’s International Realty Signature Sotheby’s International Realty 2/3 BR - 1800 sq. ft. ................................................ $359,000 941.356.1857 941.356.1857 941.356.1857 941.364.4000 941.364.4000 941.364.4000 5 Star Best in Client Satisfaction 941.356.1857 941.364.4000 www.signaturesir.com www.signaturesir.com Signature Signature Signature Sotheby’s Sotheby’s Sotheby’s International International International Realty Realty Realty Signature Sotheby’s International Realty www.signaturesir.com www.signaturesir.com www.signaturesir.com www.signaturesir.com NOW PENDING 1211 Gulf of Mexico--Promenade 941.356.1857 941.364.4000The 941.356.1857 941.364.4000 ThePlaza PlazaatatFive FivePoints Points 941.356.1857 941.356.1857 941.356.1857 941.364.4000 941.364.4000 941.356.1857 941.364.4000 and full941.364.4000 Gulf view ................................. The The The Plaza Plaza Plaza atatat Five atFive Five Points Points Points $650,000 The Plaza Five Points Reduced $100,000 New ListiNg2 bedroom 50 Central Avenue, Suite 110, Sarasota, 34236 50 Central Avenue, Suite 110, Sarasota, FLFL 34236 NOW PENDING5050 Staghorn Lane in Deer Creek 50 Central Central Central Avenue, Avenue, Avenue, Suite Suite Suite 110, 110, 110, Sarasota, Sarasota, Sarasota, FLFL FL 34236 34236 34236 50 Central Avenue, Suite 110, Sarasota, FL 34236 PENDING PENDING SOLD PENDING PENDING SOLD Lakeview with 4 bedrooms ..................................... $469,000 Sheldon.Paley@sothebysrealty.com PENDING PENDING PENDING PENDING PENDING PENDING SOLD SOLD SOLDSheldon.Paley@sothebysrealty.com PENDING PENDING SOLD Sheldon.Paley@sothebysrealty.com Sheldon.Paley@sothebysrealty.com Sheldon.Paley@sothebysrealty.com Bayou Sound Grand Bay Islander Bayou Sound Grand Bay Harbourside Islander Sheldon.Paley@sothebysrealty.com 2016 $749,000 in Bay Isles 7323 Kensington Court, University Park $359,000 NOW PENDING 2020 Harbourside Bayou Bayou Bayou Sound Sound Sound Grand Grand Grand Bay Bay Bay Islander Islander Islander Bayou Sound Grand Bay Islander $1,250,000 $999,000 $500,000 $1,250,000 $999,000 $500,000 www.signaturesir.com OPEN 3 bedrooms, 3 baths and$500,000 2462 SF withwww.signaturesir.com 2 bedrooms plusSUNDAY den, 2 baths 1802 $999,000 $1,250,000 $1,250,000 $1,250,000 $999,000 $999,000 $500,000 $500,000 $1,250,000 $999,000 $500,000 www.signaturesir.com www.signaturesir.com www.signaturesir.com $465,000 2Spectacular bedroomBay with full Bay view................................. www.signaturesir.com views SF with10 Lakefront views - 4:00pm April from 1:00pm 941.356.1857 941.364.4000 941.356.1857 941.364.4000 SOLD 74th Street Circle in River Club 941.364.4000 941.356.1857 941.356.1857 941.356.1857 941.364.4000 941.364.4000 941.356.1857 941.364.4000 2016Reduced Harbourside$30,000 in Bay Isles. Lakefront 4 bedroom............................................... $365,000 Beautiful unit with 2462 SOLD Camden Harbour in Heritage Harbour sq. PENDING ft.PENDING 3/BR/3BA with full PENDING SOLD.......................... PENDING SOLD PENDING PENDING SOLD PENDING PENDING Golfcourse view with 4SOLD bedrooms $400,000 SOLD PENDING PENDING PENDING PENDING PENDING PENDING SOLD SOLD PENDING PENDING bay view ............. $749,000 SOLD

1204 Hillview Drive | Harbor acres

PENDING PENDING PENDING PENDING

Bayou Sound Bayou Sound

$7,900,000

Grand Grand Bay Bay

Islander Islander

Bayou Bayou Sound Sound Sound Grand Grand Bay Bay Bay Islander Islander Islander Bayou Sound Grand Bay Islander $1,250,000 $999,000 $500,000 $1,250,000 $999,000 $500,000 Bayou Sound Grand Bay Bayou Sound Grand Bay Harbourside 2016 7323Bayou Kensington Court, UniversityGrand Park $359,000 $1,250,000 $1,250,000 $1,250,000 $999,000 $999,000 $999,000 $500,000 $500,000 $500,000 $1,250,000 $999,000 $500,000 PENDING SOLD PENDING SOLD Bayou Bayou Bayou Sound Sound Sound Grand Grand Grand Bay Bay Bay Bayou Sound Grand Bay

SOLD SOLD SOLD SOLD Islander Islander $749,000 Islander Islander Islander Islander

55300

Sheldon Paley, Realtor® Sheldon Paley, Realtor® Sheldon Sheldon Sheldon Paley, Paley, Paley, Realtor® Realtor® Realtor® Sheldon Paley, Realtor®

$1,250,000 $999,000 $500,000 $1,250,000 $999,000 $500,000 PENDING PENDING PENDING SOLD SOLD SOLD PENDING SOLD 3 bedrooms, 3 baths and$500,000 2462 SF with 2 bedrooms plus den, 2 baths 1802 $1,250,000 $1,250,000 $1,250,000 $999,000 $999,000 $999,000 $500,000 $500,000 $1,250,000 $999,000 $500,000 Sabal Cove Queens Harbor Sabal Cove Queens Harbor Sabal Sabal Sabal Cove Cove Cove Queens Queens Queens Harbor Harbor Harbor Sabal Cove Queens Harbor Spectacular Bay views $1,194,000 $975,000 $1,194,000 $975,000 SF with Lakefront views $1,194,000 $1,194,000 $1,194,000 $975,000 $975,000 $975,000 $1,194,000 $975,000

Bob & Taube Levitt Reduced $30,000

1211 Gulf of Mexico

$769,000 Staghorn in Deer Creek

2 bedrooms, 2 baths and 1827 SF with full Gulf views Select Properties Selling Sarasota’s

$469,000

Realtors

(941) 356-0743 PENDING PENDING PENDING PENDING PENDING SOLD PENDING SOLD PENDING PENDING PENDING PENDING PENDING PENDING PENDING PENDING PENDING PENDING PENDING SOLD SOLD SOLD PENDING SOLD Selling SaraSota and the KeyS! Bayou Sound Grand Bay Bayou Sound Grand Bay Bayou Bayou Bayou Sound Sound Sound Grand Grand Grand Bay Bay Bay Sabal Cove Sabal Cove

Sabal Sabal Sabal Cove Cove Cove Sabal Cove Bayou Sound $1,194,000 $1,194,000 $1,250,000 $1,250,000 $1,194,000 $1,194,000 $1,194,000 $1,250,000 $1,250,000 $1,250,000$1,194,000 $1,250,000

PENDING PENDING PENDING PENDING PENDING PENDING

QueensHarbor Harbor Queens Queens Queens Harbor Harbor Harbor Queens Queens Harbor Grand Bay $975,000 $975,000 $999,000 $999,000 $975,000 $975,000 $975,000 $975,000

$999,000 $999,000 $999,000 $999,000

Sabal Cove Sabal Cove

SOLD SOLD SOLD SOLD SOLD SOLD

QueensHarbor Harbor Queens

$975,000

$769,000 Staghorn in Deer Creek

2 bedrooms, 2 baths and 1827 SF with full Gulf views2BR and 2 remodeled LONGBOAT HARBOR

LUXURY ReaL estate in saRasota

$469,000

baths with new windows. TKF. Drastically Reduced!

941.376.6121

$299,500 WOW!!! PROMENADE PENTHOUSE 1003 3 BR/3.5BA with 2 terraces to enjoy views from sunrise to sunset. Updated kitchen, marbles PENDING SOLD PENDING SOLD PENDING PENDING PENDING baths, hallways,SOLD SOLD PENDING 2SOLD walk-in closets in Master SOLD suite, fireplace, skylights. Sabal Cove QueensHarbor Harbor Sabal Cove Queens Sabal Sabal Sabal Cove Cove Cove Queens Queens Harbor Harbor Harbor Sabal Cove Queens Harbor $1,194,000 $975,000 $1,194,000 $975,000 DrasticallyQueens Reduced! $999,000

marcia Salkin, realtor

941.356.0203

paulene SoubliS, realtor

$1,194,000 $1,194,000 $1,194,000 $1,194,000

$975,000 $975,000 $975,000 $975,000

Promenade Sold to Date: 102, 204,

54934

BEACHPLACE 2/2 walk down, closest bldg. to 207, 302, 402, 503, 511, 601, 603, 705, pool, designer decorated, TKF. 707, 811, 901, 1001 Drastically Reduced! $599,000 Bellagio at Osprey Harbor $799,000 Alinari at Rosemary Place $304,000 Coldwell Banker Residential R. E. LLC. • 423 St. Armands Circle

51240

55430

Licensed ReaL estate BRokeR

www.sarasotarealestatefind.com

xsybarite@aol.com

36250

Michael saunders & company www.michaelsaunders.com www.luxuryrealestateinsarasota.com

$1,194,000

36250

Sabal Sabal Sabal Cove Cove Cove Queens Queens Harbor Harbor Harbor Sabal Cove Queens Harbor $1,194,000 $975,000 $1,194,000 $975,000 Bellagio at Osprey Harbor $799,000 Alinari at Rosemary Place Queens $304,000 $1,194,000 $1,194,000 $1,194,000 $975,000 $975,000 $975,000

1211 Gulf of Mexico

Islander Islander Islander Islander Islander Islander $500,000 $500,000 $500,000 $500,000 $500,000 $500,000

LONGBOAT Observer

www.YourObserver.com

THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 2011

Sunrise/sunset

RAINFALL North Mid Mon., March 28 3.32 4.46 Tues., March 29 0.00 0.00 Wed., March 30 0.52 0.49 Thurs., March 31 2.49 2.06 Fri., April 1 0.00 0.00 Sat., April 2 0.00 0.00 Sun., April 3 0.00 0.00

Month to date: 2011 0.00 in Year-to-date:

South 4.72 0.00 1.07 0.75 0.00 0.00 0.00

2010 0.02 in.

2011 2010 12.29 in 9.17 in.

Sunrise

Sunset

Thurs., April 7

7:15

7:51

Fri., April 8

7:14

7:52

Sat., April 9

7:13

7:52

Sun., April 10

7:12

7:53

Mon., April 11

7:11

7:53

Tues., April 12

7:10

7:53

Wed., April 13

7:09

7:54

11B

WEEKLY WINNEr: ON GOLDEN POND

TemperatureS

Temps. High Low 81.5 64 81 72.5 76 70 76.5 65 79.5 60 86.5 62 84 66

Tues., March 29 Wed., March 30 Thurs., March 31 Fri., April 1 Sat., April 2 Sun., April 3 Mon., April 4

Record Temps. High Low 96 (1996) 45 (1987) 89 (1988) 52 (1981) 85 (1997) 44 (1984) 85 (2008) 47 (1984) 89 (1997) 44 (1989) 86.5 (2011) 43 (1984) 86 (2008) 53 (1984)

Average Gulf water temperature: 75

Karmen Scott submitted this sunset photo, taken on Bradenton Beach.

TIDE CHART

Highs

MOON PHASES

Lows

Thurs., April 7

3:46a

2:03p

8:09a 10:33p

Fri., April 8

4:48a

2:42p

8:27a 11:31p

Sat., April 9

3:29p

—

Sun., April 10

4:30p

—

12:39a

—

Mon., April 11

5:51p

—

1:50a

—

Tues., April 12

10:00a

7:30p

2:55a 2:04p

Wed., April 13

10:15a

9:03p

3:15a 3:41p

April 11 First

PHOTO CONTEST: Enter your local sunset, sunrise or weather-related photos for The Observer’s weather photo contest, sponsored by Cool Today. Please include where you took the photo when submitting photos, as well as your mailing address. Each week’s winner will receive a $50 restaurant gift card. Please send your photos to the Longboat Observer, 5570 Gulf of Mexico Drive, Longboat Key, Fla., 34228, or email them to nschwartz@yourobserver.com.

April 18 Full

Visit YourObserver.com to click on our interactive weather button, which features current weather conditions, weather radar and a five-day forecast. May 3 New

April 25 Last

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

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ACROSS Hankie substitute Lettuce variety ___ kwon do (martial art) Palindromic address for a lady Walrus-skin boats Harmonious connection Spanish actress Alonso Information about consumers Motion pictures, collectively Curved molding In a proper way Christmas tune “Uh-huh” Republican stronghold Robert of “Big” Biased viewpoint Hairy cousin on “The Addams Family” Monk’s robe “I’m ___ you!” Frequently, poetically ___ Maria (coffee liqueur) Many miles off Circus tent The state of being typical “For” vote Central Swiss canton Word in an Agatha Christie title Use a lasso on Cornfield guard Greek vowels Moonwalker James “Survivor” network A quarter of four Sign

69 72 73 74 75 76

77 81 82 84 85 87 89 92 94 95 96 97 99 100 102 104 109 110 112 114 115 117 122 123 124 125 126 127 128

Big band venue Sail supporter Used to be “Quiet on the ___!” Tropical eel When repeated, a vitamin B deficiency Consider, as a thought Berra the catcher Certain antiseptic “Now I ___ me down to sleep ...” Base bed Grave markers Bagel topping Sounds of disapproval Baseball-bat wood Gov’t property overseer Send out Classic theater Spelling contest WXYZ buttons Roo’s friend Almost four-fifths of Earth’s atmosphere Santa ___ winds “Giselle” garb Cabaret show Grand Canyon transport Aquarium buys Pool hall features Fill with anger Coming attractions Out-and-out Subside (with “off”) They’re a year ahead of jrs. “The Catcher in the ___” Electrical resistance symbols

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2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

13 14 15 16 17 20 22 24 29

32 33 35 36 38 42 43 44 46 47 48 50 51 52 54 58 60 61 62

PR concern Begat “Land ___ alive!” It’s picked in Maui Guinness Book suffix Thin pancake Brewery oven Punishment from a witch Craggy peak Fly ball’s path ___ group (people sharing a common culture) Nutmeg spice Indigos Dolphins Hall-ofFamer Marino Temporarily suspended Something kept Kickback Computer for a commuter Wickerwork material What all U.S. bourbon must be aged in Tennessee gridders Not quite upright Ashen Wounds with a tusk Aristotle’s forte Lennon’s love Factory overseer Most hackneyed Jellied garnish Prickly seed covers Bad thing to invoke Like the Grinch Wayward Scattered, as seed Salute with gusto Adversary In a skillful manner Like the 1920s Type of kick

63 Watered down 65 It might be dumb or bright 68 Have unpaid bills 70 Owl calls 71 Jason’s mythological ship 72 The Beatles’ “Love ___” 74 Eyelid woe 76 Annoy 78 Bring joy to 79 Aries animal 80 Written reminders 82 “The stage ___” (dramatic line) 83 That girl, in Spain 86 General ___ chicken 88 Mollycoddled 89 Governing body 90 Word before “domain” 91 “My Way” singer 93 Thumbscrew ridges 97 Decide 98 Misgivings 101 Screen’s partner 103 Getty Center architect Richard 104 “Grey’s Anatomy” extra 105 Game played with a 40-card deck 106 Soviet prison camp 107 “Maria ___” (1941 Jimmy Dorsey hit) 108 Condor homes 111 Tech’s customer 113 Fluctuate 116 Criminal charge 118 “Cash” ending 119 “Viva ___ Vegas” 120 Chinese philosophical principle 121 Sofa part

Last weeks Cryptograms 1. A committee was defined by a fine comic as a body that writes minutes and wastes hours. 2. A busy purchaser at the office placed this funny notice on his desk: “Sanity is back-ordered. Sarcasm has an unlimited supply.”

Thursday, April 7, 2011 Items Under $200 For Sale

Boat Slips For Rent/Sale

Garage/Moving/Estate Sales

Help Wanted

ANCHORS- 3 danforth-style anchors, 22lbs and less. Excellent condition + bucket of chain $120 376-1999

BOAT SLIP. High and dry, indoor, for sale or lease. Southend of LBK at the Boathouse. Owner financing available. For info call 941-544-5597.

ESTATE SALE 9a.m.-2p.m., Friday - April 8 720 Indian Beach Cir. Near Sarasota Jungle Gardens

SALES POSITION. P/T. Must be available evenings & weekends. Located on Anna Maria Island. Retirees Welcome. 727-244-5906.

FLIP-TOP SOFA Bed & Chair- Good condition $60 each 941-383-3037 FREE CATS: (2) Burmese. Call 387-7136 for consideration. MOWER, NEUTON battery powered. Smart mower for small lawns. Edger/trimmer attachment. Barely used. $199. 355-8235 PAINTING, WATERCOLOR sailboat, 5’W x 4’H $75. TV Console, new, 3’ x 21” $100. 941-387-3826 PIANO LAMP: House of Troy, Polished Brass. 14” shade, adjustable stem, Like new. $55. 941-320-5790 VIOLIN- NEW, with bow and case, $180, 941-358-8511

Antiques/Collectibles LOCAL GUN Collector. Cash paid for 1 gun or entire collection. Older Winchesters, Marlins, Parker, L.C. Smith. etc. Please call Ron, 545-6212.

Autos For Sale

FOR SALE/RENT By Owner: Boat Slip at the Boathouse on Longboat Key. Call 941- 379-9292. LBK MOORINGS; 45’ slip near bay for rent by owner. Good monthly or longer rates. 941-383-3103.

Boats 18/FT. 4 Winns Runabout 130HP Johnson. No trailer. Runs well, looks good. $6000 O/B/O. Longboat Harbour 941-387-8786. 1993 24’ Grady White- walk-around cuddy w/225 Yamaha OB, color Garmin GPS/Fish finder, porta-john, fresh water, live well, bottom paint, trim tabs. Lift kept on AMI. A must see at $13,900. Call 941-773-7255. 23’ 2004 CROWNLINE 235CCR. Excellent cond., 125 hours, many extras. Full extended warranty. $29,900 obo. 717-372-8499 Boats Are Selling Very Well. Big or small, the market is brisk. Over 30 boats sold in 45 Days. Experienced in 15’ boats to 65’ Yachts. Island resident 15 Years. Business on a handshake. Let’s talk about selling your boat. Dave S. at 941-228-3489. Yachtingflorida@aol.com

Furnishings

2005 MERCEDES 320CLK- 2 door coupe, red, 52k miles, garage kept, pristine, elegant, perfect condition. $21,900. 941-544-9717 LEXUS 1998 ES300- White Pearl 4 door sedan. Taupe Leather interior, one owner, 100,000 original miles, well maintained & excellent condition. Recent full service with new tires. Asking $7,200. 317-627-1189

Autos Wanted

LIDO ESTATE- Heritage “Federal” Buffet with Brass Gallery $695. Kindal “Block Front” Mahogany Chest $599. Large Drexel bookcase, Wallace Nutting collection $850. Solid Oak Home-Office Desk, Return & Hutch $995. Lane Leather Sofa Sleeper, like new $599. 5pc White Patio Set, Superior, swivel Tilt Chairs $599. Stanley 5pc. King Bedroom $895. Like new LaZBoy Sofa & 2-Recliners, Plasma TV, Daybed, Bar & Stools, Leather Groups (Robb & Stucky).

Manatee Furniture

941-745-2596 3015 1st St. (US Hwy 41) Bradenton WHITE WICKER bedroom suite: queen bed, 5 drawer chest, double dresser/mirror, night stand, beveled glass tops. 941-761-0274.

AUTOS WANTED! Let me take the hassle out of selling your car. Cash offered today! Call Mike, 941-713-2277.

Boat Slips For Rent/Sale

32FT. BOAT slip for rent, Boat House of LBK, 3rd level, dry. Call 718-974-5269 or 718-979-8017.

BIG TYPE. 4 EAsy WAys EASY READ. FAST RESULTS.

The

Vintage: lighting, 9’ X 12’ Kirman, 7’ decorated glass panels (4); swan base table, Schumann, Shelley, Meissen & other good, collectible china, canes, painted 1920’s bed set, rattan sofa, chair, loveseat, coffee table & hassock; Spanish twin bed set, dressing table, pedestals, love seat, sofa bed, brass & glass tea cart, umbrella stand shaving mirror, trundle bed, desk, office chair, double cabinet, lamps, wardrobe, copper box, 3 round wood tables with beautiful covers, lady’s clothes, accessories, linens & kitchenware. SALE BY JULIE MCCLURE Pictures: www.appraisals4u.biz

FRIDAY & SATURDAY, April 8th & 9th, 8a.m.-4p.m. 3080 Riviera Dr. War Medal Collection, Napoleon figurines: 22, various eclectic different parts of the world items. Don’t miss this sale. A must see! GARAGE SALE- 522 Juan Anasco Drive, Longboat Key. Saturday April 9th 8am-4pm. Includes Indian Carpet, baby carriage, lots of stuff.

General Merchandise ELECTRIC HANDICAP Go Cart. Rechargeable, transportable. Like new, 2009. $300. 941-383-2694. LADY’S BIKE: Bivia, brand new, used 2 times. paid $460. Best offer. 941-383-5168. THRIFT SHOP: LORD’S WAREHOUSE. Hours: Mon., Weds., & Sat., 9a.m. to 1p.m. Non-profit. Clothes, jewelry, furniture, other items. 6140 Gulf of Mexico Drive. 941-383-4738.

Health/Fitness/Beauty BEACH FITNESS 24/7 Fitness. Free enrollment. VIP access. #HS8848. Next to the Lazy Lobster! 941-778-0120.

Investment Opportunities

To Place yourClassiﬁ Classified Ad Observer eds 955-4888 Call 941-955-4888

This Premium Ad Space Can Be Yours! Fax 941-362-4808 Make YOUR ad

the ﬁrst to be seen in aEmail premium position!

classified@yourobserver.com

Summer Special

FREE COLOR! Online at www.yourobserver.com/classifieds

Call 955-4888

All major credit/debit cards accepted.

INVESTOR WANTED - $150,000 for 24 months. 9% annual interest with payments monthly. Well secured/ insured. 941306-6715.

Commercial Property For Rent OFFICE SUITE: Reception Area, 2 Private Offices, 575/sq.ft., Lakefront View, 1891 Porter Lake Drive, south of Fruitville, minutes from I-75. Includes: Electrical, Water, Security, Parking. Annual Lease: $835 per month. 941-355-9520.

Commercial Property For Sale LBK GAS Station Site. Corner Gulf of Mexico Dr. & Broadway. Various commercial uses. $999,000 Longview Realty, 941-383-6112. www.longviewrealty.com

Condos/Apts. For Rent BEACH-TO-BAY CONDO at Bayport BTC. First floor, end unit. Newly decorated 2 bed/2 bath. Free local phone, cable and wireless Internet. Pictures and details: www.bayportbtc.com. Contact owner at 615-376-9448 FIRST LIDO 1900 Ben Franklin. Large 1BR/2BA condo. Gulf view from all windows, No obstruction. Rent for 6 months or longer. $1500. 513-834-1410 LBK: BAYFRONT, 2BR furnished condo, Longboat Harbour. Spectacular water views from every room, ground floor, end unit. Covered parking, no trucks/ pets/ smoking. Gulf/ private beach house access. Boat dock available. Avail. April 2nd. $1300/mo annual lease +utilities. 734-425-8245. SEAPLACE CONDO- 2/1 overlooking Gulf. Nicely furnished. Steps to beach. Annual rental $1595 month. Will consider short term also. 301-529-5600 SPELL-BOUNDING FULL BAY VIEWS. Location is everything. Walking distance to downtown, St. Armands Circle and the Gulf beaches. Boating and fishing are only steps away. 2 bedroom condo, ground floor, covered parking, furnished, boat dock included. Newly renovated pool. 55 and older community. $1200/mo. for 12 months or $1500/mo. for 8 months. Tenant pays electric. Please call Karin Stephan at 941-504-4435.

This week’s crossword answers

Storage

STORAGE FACILITY Boat/ RV/ Trailer. Secure facility, low monthly rentals, Clark Rd area. 941-809-3660, 941-809-3662

Help Wanted

P/T CONCIERGE/ GATE HOUSE Position

Longboat Key Condo. No experience Necessary. Must be Service Oriented and Outgoing. Background Check, competitive Pay. Email Resume: info@lambiancelbk.com or fax to 383-9051

THE OBSERVER LP # 39513

LONGBOAT Observer

THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 2011 THE LONGBOAT OBSERVER Thursday, April 7, 2011

www.yourobserver.com

Condos/Apts. For Rent

Homes For Rent

Real Estate Wanted

ST. ARMANDS TOWERS NORTH2BR/2BA, 8th floor condo in this classic building. Stunning unobstructed views, full balcony, heated pool, exercise room. Available April 1st- November 1st. 3-month minimum. Call 941-554-4763

DEEP WATER ACCESS Boater’s Dream residential rental in south Longboat Key. 3BR/2BA, approx. 1720 sq.ft., only minutes to Sarasota Bay and open Gulf. 100/ft canal frontage with pool. Yearly lease at $2350/month + utilities. Call 228-327-7801.

LOOKING FOR a 2BR furnished home or condo. 1 or 2 months, June, July, August. Family of 3, non-smoking, no pets. Will provide local references. 727-224-4859 or email: skbrynt@aol.com

Condos For Sale BY OWNER. Inn On The Beach, LBK. Lowest priced Club Suite. 708-267-6704. LONGBOAT HARBOUR 1BR/1BA. Newly furnished, updated, remodeled kitchen. Glass and screened lanai with beautiful water view. Many amenities. $170,000. 941-383-7301. LONGBOAT KEY: 2BR/2BA, full bay and boat dock views, $249,000. SIESTA KEY: 2BR/2.5BA, full bay and dock views, $209,000. Value priced to sell! Audrey Marten, Coldwell Banker 941-587-5060. NEW TO MARKET! Waterfront 3/2/2 condo on private Island. Discover the other Island, Tidy Island in Sarasota Bay. Views of lake, bay & preserve. Former model, sold furnished! $244,900. Katharine Pepper, RoseBay Real Estate 941-792-9459. SUNSET BEACH: 2BR/2BA, beautiful pool and Gulf view. $575,000. 727-347-1554 or 727-420-4405. WATERVIEW VILLA- Open Sunday 12-3. 2BR/2BA. Spanish Main Yacht Club. 5700 Gulf of Mexico. Longboat Key. 885 North Spanish Drive. Boat marina & docks. Beach easement. Available now. $350,000. R/E Max Alliance Group 941-256-6775 or 941-954-5454.

Fractionals TIMESHARE ON LONGBOAT KEY LITTLE GULL COTTAGES. Beautiful 2BR/2BA on bayside, dock, pool, access to private gulfside beach area. Week 24 - Unit 14 (June) only $1200 OBO. LONGBOAT BAY CLUB - 1600/sq.ft. float week, 2BR/2BA, balcony overlooking bayside cove, pool, hot tub & dock. Only 100 yards walk to the gulf. $1500 OBO. Call Sandy @ 407-234-9551

HISTORIC LBK BEACH COTTAGE Furnished 2br/1ba. $1200/month includes utilities. Monthly rental. 941-320-4640

Homes For Sale BIRD KEY TRADE. Anchor built, 2002, 3100/sq.ft. luxury home. Pristine, private, 3.5/BA, well pool. Will trade for condo or commercial, +/- cash. Call Mike, 941953-6393. DIRECT GULFFRONT 4BR/4.5BA +den, 3 car garage, pool/ spa, elevator, security. Immaculate 2005 Mediterranean style architecture with breathtaking Gulf views. 5,146 sq.ft. under roof on N. Anna Maria, 12106 Gulf Drive. $3,400,000 furnished. Contact Owner/ Broker, 941-920-1699. FORECLOSURES IN Sarasota County. www.foreclosuresinsarasotacounty.com RE/MAX Platinum Realty JUST REDUCED in Turtle Rock! 3 BR/3 BA Courtyard home! High End upgrades, Fireplace, Pool, Spa. 3rd BR w/separate entry, perfect for Guest Suite or office. Pristine! $359K. Call Tom Ward, Waterside Realty, 941-350-2463.

WANTED: LONG TERM lease for professional working couple. Mature, professional working couple looking for 2BR 2BA condo/house for long term lease. Call Steve at 317-432-3164.

CASA DEL MAR BEACH RESORT WEEKLY RENTALS GULF FRONT/ GULF VIEW Reservations: 941-383-5549 Visa/ MC Fax: 941-383-7925

Vacation/Seasonal Rentals 392 FIREHOUSE LANE, LBK. Newer upscale & stylish Gulfside home. Steps to beach & pool. 2BR +loft. Annual or Seasonal. No pets. Owner/Agent, 941544-0214, www.LuxuryHomes-Condos.com 3BR- LONGBOAT KEY CASTILLIAN 2.5BA, gulf front, furnished condo. Available from May 2011 throughout Season 2012. Call 941-953-3438 or 941-266-9406 A LONGBOAT KEY Condo, 2BR/2BA, 10th floor, completely remodeled. Excellent view of gulf/ bay, beach, pool, & tennis courts. Non-smoking. Available OctoberDecember 2011. 3 month minimum. 941-377-4177 A PLAYERS CLUB, LBK: luxury waterfront penthouse, 3BR/3.5BA, 8 rooms, Har-Tru tennis courts. 3 month minimum. $7500 total for June, July & August. 941-400-8547. For pictures: dterry285@aol.com

“Take our video tour at” www.casadelmar.net Office Open 7 Days, 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. 4621 Gulf of Mexico Drive Longboat Key 34228

WASHER/ DRYER IN EVERY UNIT BEAUTIFUL KITCHENS LARGE HEATED POOL GULFSIDE FREE Wireless High Speed Internet

“Where People Return Year After Year” “INTENTIONALLY BETTER”

CONDO & BOAT SLIP RENTALS HARBOUR VILLA CLUB 615 Dream Island Rd. Longboat Key, FL 34228

BEACHPLACE 3BR, UPDATED, TASTEFULLY DECORATED. GULF & BAY VIEWS. AVAILABLE IN SEASON & ANNUAL

New construction from $900,000.

BEACHPLACE GULF FRONT CONDO Beautiful 2 bedroom 2 bath. New kitchen and new bathrooms. Tasteful tropical decor with tile floors. Pool and gym. HD flat screen TV's and free internet and cable. Available 12/11- 4/12. Prefer 4months. Also available for annual rental. 917-846-4416

CALL CYNTHIA 407-492-5749

BOOK NOW for next season. Longboat Key, direct beachfront. 3BR/3.5BA and 1BR/1BA. 941-383-3844.

Homes For Rent 3BR/ 2BA Longboat Key canal front home with boat dock. Fully furnished. 5 minute walk to beach/ restaurants. Annual rental: $1650/mo. dwestbamberg@aol.com or 941-778-6601.

Vacation/Seasonal Rentals

ST. ARMANDS KEY Quaint Cottage, quiet front porch location, 3BR/2BA, lowest on the Island. $589,000. The island’s only confirming building lot 131 front feet.

Glenn Callaghan Re/Max Alliance Group 941-928-9020

D L SO

941-383-9544 Fax: 941-383-8028 www.harbourvillaclub.com

COVERT II 2BR/2BA with 30’ glass screened enclosed lanai on the gulf. Heated pool, non-smoking, no pets. Available weekly starting May 2011. Also available Jan, Feb, March and April 2012 monthly. 513-871-9120 or 513-702-0418 DIRECT GULF FRONT CONDO: 2BR/2BA. No Pets. $5000/mo. 813-334-0813 www.SunnyFloridaCondo.com

Exceptional Vacation Rentals Since 1994 Homes & Condominiums Studios to Six Bedrooms Beachfront, Intercoastal or Garden Excellent Service & Staff

Cha-Ching!

Stunning Views, Private Boat Dock, Deep Water/Sailboat Access Canal Private Beach Access, Elegant Marble Floors Throughout, Granite/Stainless Kitchen, 15 Foot Dramatic Cherry Ceiling. A FREE PIZZA with Purchase. All Brokers Realty Inc 714-0555 Shawn R. Giles DIRECT 941-962-5764

Now Offering Beach Castle Resort Nightly and Weekly

CLEAN UP In The Observer Classifieds Call 955-4888 to Advertise

in The

13B

Classifieds 13B www.YourObserver.com

FLORIDA VACATION CONNECTION

Observer Classifieds

www.FLvacationconnection.com 941-387-9709 877-705-2460

Bring Your Boat! Comfortable 2 Bedroom, 2 1/2 Bath Longboat Key Home for annual rental. Secluded, Longboat Key home has a pool with caged lanai, enclosed garage, Unfurnished. Washer, dryer, lawn and pool maintenance included. Located in the Buttonwood subdivision on a dead end street with lots of trees. Short walk to the beach on beautiful Longboat Key and close to world class shopping in St. Armand’s Circle. Boat dock access may be available. $1,400/month plus utilities. 941.355.9500

THE OBSERVER LP # 39514

WATERFRONT MINI-ESTATE 1502 Siesta Dr. 5BR/ 4.5B Gated 5,158sf. Almost everything new! Smart House, wood floors, elevator, 4 car gar. Pool/ Spa deep water dock. Outdoor kitchen & fireplace. $2,095,000. MY Realty Co., Marni Hayden

941-809-5044

www.yourobserver.com

Ready When You Are – Classified Ads, The Way to Sell

14B

14B Classifieds www.YourObserver.com

LONGBOAT Observer

THE LONGBOAT THURSDAY,OBSERVER APRIL 7, 2011 Thursday, April 7, 2011

www.yourobserver.com

Vacation/Seasonal Rentals

Auto Transport

Home Improvement/ Remodeling

HISTORIC LBK BEACH COTTAGE Furnished 2br/1ba. $1200/month includes utilities. Monthly rental. 941-320-4640

PLAYERS CLUB - Direct Gulf! Upscale 2BR/3BA. Available December 1, 2011. Four month minimum. No smoking. 847-634-1991

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

JOHN GUBERNAT HANDYMAN SERVICES ALL HOME REPAIRS

TOWN HOUSE at Seaplace, steps to 2 miles private beach. Fully equipped, 2BR/2.5BA, lanai, terrace, tropical garden, pools, tennis, clubhouse, barbecue sites, sauna, Jacuzzi. Available for $3800 during season, add 10% tax. mandalka@gmx.de

Long Distance Delivery. “Snowbirds” I drive your car door to door! One Inclusive price. Mike 941-993-0236

LBK AQUARIUS CLUB. Direct beach front, 2BR/2BA, W/D, newly renovated. Covered parking, pool, tennis courts. 3 month min. 912-507-2279 or 912-507-2280 LBK BEACHPLACE Condo. Beachfront, 2BR/2BA. Elegantly furnished, heated pool, tennis court, covered parking, exercise room. Available May 1st. through Dec. 31st. Also 2012. Non-smoking/ pets. By owner. 941-383-1884. LBK CONDO: 3320 GMD, 2BR/2BA, end unit on bay. Pool, tennis, boat dock & launch, steps to beach, kitchen, W/D, carport. No smoking/ pets. 815-978-2958. LBK PLAYERS CLUB: 1445 Gulf of Mexico Dr. Upscale, ocean view condo, 3BR/3BA, covered parking. Steps to beach and pool. Available December 2011 to March 2012. 516-885-6217. LBK: PROMENADE. Newly renovated 2BR/2BA condo, 7th floor, Gulf and bay view, southern exposure. Wi-Fi and all amenities. 3/mo. minimum rental. $20,000. 941-383-3688. LBK: TIFFANY Plaza Beachfront Condos, 1st floor, 2BR/2BA, walk out to beach. Beautifully furnished, heated pool, covered parking. 1 mo. min. 941-383-3338. LIDO BEACH CONDOMINIUMS Weekly - Monthly - Seasonal

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THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 2011

by Heidi Kurpiela | A&E Editor

“When you’re on stage for only 10 minutes, you’ve got to be prepared with your character the second the lights come up,” Melliss Kenworthy says.

Heidi Kurpiela

Steel magnolia Theatre Odyssey’s Melliss Kenworthy dons two hats for this year’s 10-Minute Play Festival: artistic director and actress. The feisty star gives a killer performance as both.

or 40 years, Melliss Kenworthy has played blushing leading ladies in big, showy musicals. Many actresses get typecast. It comes with the job. And let’s face it: In an industry that values stars, being pigeonholed as the leading lady isn’t exactly a misfortunate.

Yet, Kenworthy has all the makings of a great character actress. From her big-brimmed sun hat, strawberry bob, sunglasses, gravelly laugh and salty sense of humor, Kenworthy is a striking creature that appears decades younger than her 71 years.

KENWORTHY CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

INSIDE

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COVER STORY

KENWORTHY from 1 A Katharine Hepburn-meets-Lucille Ball kind of dame, Kenworthy has waited years to showcase her comedic chops. “Deep down in my heart I’ve always wanted to do comedy and character acting,” Kenworthy says. “But no one would ever give me a part. I was always the straight woman.” That is, until a Southern, backwoods, bourbon drinking, husband-killer came along. Now in her third season as a performer with Theatre Odyssey, an annual 10-minute play festival founded by Sarasota actor Tom Aposporos and playwright Larry Hamm, Kenworthy has taken on two new roles: artistic director and Becky Sue — a trashy, Southern wife wronged by her two-timing husband in the black comedy “Justice Here, Justice There,” by Bradenton playwright Bernard Yanelli. A longtime Sarasota actress, Kenworthy has easily embodied both. Within five minutes of walking into the Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe’s new downtown building, which Theatre Odyssey will use for this weekend’s play competition, Kenworthy begins projecting her lines on stage in a tenacious Southern drawl — profanity and all. “You don’t understand,” Kenworthy hisses. “I had to poison the sonofabitch.” The monologue continues with the revelation that Kenworthy has just killed her cheating husband by slipping rat poison in his tuna casserole and clobbering him over the head with a shovel. As the actress swaggers across the stage, her mouth curls downward with each angry and disturbingly funny passage. “I haven’t read through the lines with my husband,” says Kenworthy, a Harbor Acres resident. “I want him to come to the show and get the full effect at once. He doesn’t eat tuna casserole, so he shouldn’t be worried.”

IF YOU GO

Theatre Odyssey will present its 10-Minute Play Festival, “Seven in ’11” at 8 p.m. April 8 and April 9 and at 2 p.m. April 10, at the Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe venue, 1646 Tenth Way, Sarasota. Tickets are $10 and can be purchased at the door on the day of the performance. For more information, visit www.theatreodyssey.org.

“(Playwrights) are brave to turn over their words to a director,” Kenworthy says. “You never know if the visions will align.”

GOT 10 MINUTES?

Bradenton playwright Bernard Yanelli, author of “Justice Here, Justice There,” gives us his tips on writing a 10-minute script.

should be clear to the audience that it’s going to cause tension in the main character’s life.”

• Create a memorable protagonist

“Most 10-minute plays, or at least comedies, have to have a ‘wow’ finish. The audience loves a payoff.”

“Your character should have extreme personality traits that the audience is either rooting for or against.”

• Add a triggering event

“A triggering event should happen in the first minute or so, and it To visualize Becky Sue, picture Kenworthy in turquoise eye shadow, a lowcut blouse, black bra, tight jeans and gaudy jewelry, sitting spread-eagle in a rocking chair, guzzling from a beer. “I’ve never had so much fun,” she squeals. With one 10-minute script, Kenworthy feels as if she’s caught up on decades of lost bad-girl roles. “I was thrilled when Melliss said she wanted the part,” says Yanelli, a history and economics teacher at St. Stephen’s

• Write a surprise ending

• Think competitively

“Competition raises the stakes. It’s why I like entering these play festivals. They’re fun, and they force aspiring playwrights to work harder.” Episcopal School. “She’s an outstanding actress, and apparently she’s never played anything like this before, which is funny because she can be very saucy.” Locally, Kenworthy, a Philadelphia native, has appeared on stage with the Banyan Theater Company and The Golden Apple Dinner Theatre. She volunteered this year to be Theatre Odyssey’s artistic director, because she hoped to bring more recognition to local playwrights by expanding the competition’s awards reception.

“We have such a plethora of talented writers in this community,” Kenworthy says. “I think it’s important to make a big to-do of their work. These plays are their babies. It’s a big deal when they’re able to see them mounted on stage.” The three-day play festival, which received 54 new submissions this season, was whittled down to seven 10-minute scripts. Dubbed “Seven in ’11,” the program includes premieres by Yanelli, Paul Argentini, CeCe Dwyer, Larry Parr, Lorene Erickson, Lisa Evans and Connie Schindewolf. Sitting on the judging panel is novelist Wayne Barcomb, actress Catherine Randazzo and retired Asolo Repertory Theatre Director Howard Millman. The winner of the contest will receive a cash prize following Sunday’s matinee performance. As an artistic director, she says she would love to organize a catered reception for the festival’s playwrights. However, due to time and space constraints, she’s had to table the plan for next year. In the meantime, her goal is to do Yanelli’s boozy, foul-mouthed Becky Sue justice by being as lewd and crude as possible. “I can’t tell you how cathartic it is,” Kenworthy says, tilting the brim on her straw bonnet. “It’s such a good feeling to not be playing a cookie-baking grandmother.”

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COLUMN

art scene HEARD

HOT TICKETS

by Heidi Kurpiela | A&E Editor

+ SFF makes a play for female theatergoers Ladies: This year’s Sarasota Film Festival is for you. Soak it up. Although its organizers have not come out and stated this fact: SFF’s events and partnerships are awash in estrogen, from the pet project of celebrity guest-of-honor Geena Davis (Davis is being honored for founding the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media), to its collaboration with Through Women’s Eyes (TWE), a film festival sponsored by the Gulf Coast Chapter of the U.S. National Committee for UNIFEM. Now in its 12th year, the TWE lineup includes Kim Longinotto’s documentary, “Pink Saris,” about a gang of women fighting for women’s rights in India; Michèle Midori Fillion’s “No Job for a Woman: The Women Who Fought to Report World War II”; Jennifer Siebel Newsom’s “Miss

Courtesy photo

“The Price of Sex” premieres April 9.

Representation,” about the damaging representations of women in the media; and the premiere of Mimi Chakarova’s sex-trafficking investigation, “The Price of Sex.” Fans can meet the women who called these shots at a filmmaker’s reception from 6 to 7:30 p.m. April 9, at Art Center Sarasota. Tickets are $75. For a complete list of TWE films, visit www.throughwomenseyes.com.

‘Deathtrap’: Ira Levin’s classic mystery thriller is up now through May 14, at the Asolo Repertory Theatre. Directed by Peter Amster, the play stars Mercedes Herrero, Bryan Torfeh, James Clarke and third-year conservatory student Dane Dandridge. The show holds the record for the longest-running comedy-thriller on Broadway. For tickets, call 351-8000 or visit asolorep.org.

‘Ghost-Writer’: Florida Studio Theatre closes its season with Michael Hollinger’s new play “Ghost-Writer” about a New York novelist who falls in love with his young secretary. FST regulars may recognize Hollinger’s name. The playwright’s “Opus” prompted the company to collaborate with the Sarasota Orchestra two years ago. “Ghost-Writer” is up now through May 29, in FST’s Keating Theatre. For tickets, call 366-9000 or visit www.floridastudiotheatre.org.

+ La Musica to ‘GPAC’ the house

+ Roller derby films predicted to ‘Bomb’

La Musica turns 25 this month with a string of concerts April 4 through April 15, at the Sarasota Opera House, led by Artistic Director Bruno Giuranna and associate Artistic Director Derek Han. For those of you South Sarasota County residents who cringe at the thought of trekking into downtown Sarasota at the height of season, The Glenridge Performing Arts Center is hosting a free open rehearsal at 3:30 p.m. Friday, April 8. Catch performers Federico Agostini

Just when you thought the wild Bradentucky Bombers couldn’t get any cooler, they get immortalized in not one, but two short films screening at the Sarasota Film Festival. Sarasota writer/ director Moe Lynch’s “Crushed” stars Bradentucky Bomber Mary Brown as a skater who keeps her roller derby life a secret from her co-workers, despite the telltale bruises cropping up on her arms and legs. State College of Florida film student Amanda Ibasfalean’s “Derby Girls: Inside the

+ Gloria Musicae brings back Mozart’s ‘Requiem’ It’s been 10 years since Gloria Musicae presented the regional premiere of Robert Levin’s completion of Mozart’s “Requiem Mass in d Minor.” The composer died before he could

finish it, which left classical-music groupies scrambling to fill in the missing pieces, including Levin, whom many of you know as the artistic director of the Sarasota Music Festival.

Lisa-Marie Mazzucco

Cellist Julie Albers

(violin), Anne Schoenholtz (violin), Julie Albers (cello) and Franco Petracchi (bass) as they work through “In Rossini, Sonata a Quattro No. 1 in G major.” Remember, not all musicians will let you drop in on a rehearsal — especially the perfectionists.

Well, Requiem-ites, the lost Mozart work returns next week to Gloria Musicae. The concert’s four soloists, handpicked by famous mezzo-soprano Marilyn Horne, are as follows: soprano Julie Davis, mezzo-soprano Deborah

Robert Rex Jackson

The Bradentucky Bombers

Bradentucky Bombers” stars the entire allfemale roller derby league. A Bradenton native, Ibasfalean highlights the league’s sportsmanship, athleticism, charity work and ability to juggle work, motherhood and skating. For more on the films, visit www.bradentuckybombers.net.

Nansteel, tenor Joshua Stewart and bass-baritone Richard Ollarsaba. The show begins at 7:30 p.m. Monday, April 11, at the Sarasota Opera House. For tickets, call 360-7399 or visit www.gloriamusicae.org.

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4 ■ Diversions >>

www.YourObserver.com

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THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 2011

BACKSTAGE PASS by Heidi Kurpiela | A&E Editor

Sonic youth Allison Koehler makes sure area students get the red-carpet treatment during SFF’s youthFEST. A 6-year-old Jack Russell terrier named Turk is the unofficial guard dog of the Sarasota Film Festival’s outreach and education department. If you’ve visited the Cocoanut Avenue office recently, you’ve probably met the high-strung pooch and its laidback owner, Allison Koehler. Over the course of the last three years, the 24-year-old tattooed outreach and education director has turned the 1920s Florida cracker shack into a functional live/work space. That’s right. From January to May, Koehler lives where she works. You would too if your office was as homey as Koehler’s. There’s a small lobby furnished with bookshelves and reading materials, a classroom with one wall freshly covered in chalkboard paint, an editing suite filled with filmmaking equipment, an office, a bedroom, a kitchen and a fenced courtyard. “Three-quarters of the building is for working and one-quarter is for living,” laughs Koehler, a New Jersey native who splits her time between Sarasota and Brooklyn, N.Y. “We basically work 18-hour days, so it’s pretty convenient.” By “we,” Koehler means she and George Denison, the office’s production manager

KOEHLER’S TOP 5 KID FLICKS ‘The Land Before Time’

“This movie still makes me cry. I had a Petrie puppet growing up.”

‘Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer’

“I’m talking about the original stop-motion animation. I’ve got five nieces and nephews, and all they know is the digital version. It breaks my heart.”

‘The Little Mermaid’

“I was a big singer as a kid, and the songs from ‘The Little Mermaid’ were the best for singing.”

‘E.T.’

“I have a special place in my heart for ‘E.T.’ I think I always sympathized with the kid seeing something and the parents not believing him.”

‘The NeverEnding Story’

“It had that awesome dragon.” and other 24-year-old inhabitant. She and Denison were film students at the University of Tampa when they began working as SFF volunteers four years ago. Now full-fledged employees, Koehler and Denison run youthFEST, an arm of SFF that provides more than a dozen filmrelated programs to Sarasota and Manatee County students. More than 5,000 students participate in youthFEST each year. According to

Heidi Hurpiela

“I pay attention to a lot of film fests,” says Allison Koehler, pictured here in SFF’s education classroom. “I think the quality of our festival is right up there with Sundance and SXSW.”

IF YOU GO

youthFEST family features include “Circus Dreams,” “To Be Heard” and the German stop-animation import, “The Sandman and the Lost Sand of Dreams.” For a complete list of outreach and education events, visit www.sarasotafilmfestival.com. Koehler, it’s the largest youth program of any film festival in the United States and the only one that offers its curriculum and equipment to students for free. In addition to collaborating with community organizations, SFF’s outreach and education office runs youth screenwriting and cinematography workshops, film analysis classes, field trips and filmmaker lectures. Students serving on youthFEST’s “Junior Jury” even assist in selecting the winner of SFF’s “Best Family Film” at the end of the festival. “Working with kids is definitely not something I planned on doing,” Koehler says. “But now that I’m here I feel like it’s a win-win situation on every level. There’s

no other youth fest I’d rather be working for.” She breezes past photos of teen filmmakers posing on last year’s red carpet. The snapshots serve as reminders of her hard work. In the off-season, Koehler works as a website copywriter, freelance video editor and event planner in Brooklyn. As much as she enjoys the break, she says she’d love to see SFF turn its education and outreach programs into a year-round endeavor. “I think a lot of people forget that we’re a nonprofit organization,” Koehler says. “Yes, we have amazing and fabulous parties, but we have this giant youth component that requires constant fundraising. We rely on the community to keep us functioning.”

2010 2011 S e A S O n

Leif Bjaland, Artistic Director

LYNN NOTTAGE

by 2009 Pulitzer Prize-Winning Playwright of RUINED

“TRULY MAGNETIC”

A musical tribute to the master of suspense.

-JEANETTE BILLINGS, lONgbOAT KEy NEwS

“POWERFULLY TOUCHING”

Friday, April 15, 8:00 pm | Van Wezel Alfred Hitchcock pioneered the psychological thriller genre of

-JAY HANDELMAN, SARASOTA HERAlD-TRIbUNE

movies. In this innovative tribute, clips from many of his great movies are paired with the original scores, performed live by the Sarasota Orchestra. Footage and dialogue from To

MAY 15

Catch a Thief, Strangers on a Train, Dial M for Murder, and North by Northwest highlight a musical evening of suspense, excitement and thrills. Conducted by Andrew Lane.

CONTAINS MATURE THEMES