Sarasota Observer - Thursday, May 26, 2011

bserver O Remember America’s bravest

SARASOTA

You. Your neighbors. Your neighborhood.

NEWS

Photos by Loren Mayo

Ray Borghesi and Mike Broy

+ Wall of winners finds a home

Animal blessing gives graces to all kinds.

Three friends raise the volume on Sarasota’s gallery beat. INSIDE.

PAGE 3A.

OUR TOWN

RELIGION

DIVERSIONS

City sets sights on capital improvements.

ley’s off

Thursday, MAY 26, 2011

PAGE 9A.

by Robin Roy | City Editor

‘Thanks’ and ‘goodbye’

name that tune

by Robin Roy | City Editor

Jim Ley had positive things to say about the residents and staff for which he served more than a decade as the chief executive of Sarasota County.

One Sarasota animallover, who also happens to be a barber and stylist, is kicking off a community program to benefit animal welfare at 9 a.m.

Saturday, May 28, at the Boardwalk Studio (1500 Stickney Point Road), in the Boatyard Village.

“Wall of Winners” is an opportunity for 100 pet owners to donate $10, display a framed photograph of themselves and their pets and share their story on the wall at the studio.

Proceeds will be donated to animal-welfare organizations. Call 735-3357 for information.

Rachel S. O’Hara

Ernie Ritz, chairman of the Downtown Improvement District, is behind a proposal to install in Selby Five Points Park speakers that pump out music to create an ambience in the downtown park.

DID tunes in to park addition Downtown leaders are pushing for amplified music to ring out in Selby Five Points Park.

Robin Roy

Before he walked away from the commission table mid-meeting May 25, Jim Ley shook hands and hugged all five county commissioners, including Chairwoman Nora Patterson.

Sumner Beeman

+ Cardinal Mooney seniors make mark Shortly after fresh cement was poured on the grounds of Cardinal Mooney Catholic High School Thursday, May 19, the seniors started signing their names and sketching out “2011” in giant letters.

Once they’d picked up their alumni T-shirts, it was time for soda and hot dogs — one last hurrah before final exams began the following day.

For 14 years, Jim Ley served as Sarasota County administrator.

It took just minutes for him to say his final goodbyes after the County Commission accepted his resignation Wednesday.

Caught up in a procurementdepartment scandal that took place under his watch, Ley offered his resignation during the Tuesday, May 24 commission meeting.

“It’s clear I have become the issue,” said Ley. “I have become the lightning rod.”

At Tuesday’s meeting, Ley also listed his greatest achievements while in office (see side-

bar page 2A).

Commissioners accepted his resignation the following day.

The Sarasota County Commission chambers were nearly full May 25 to see the administrator go.

Television and still cameras were trained on Ley while he sat in his usual chair, third seat from the right. His facial expressions did not allude to anything out of the ordinary.

He presided over the presentation of retirement gifts for two longtime county employees — he was all smiles while he shook hands and gave out

hugs.

But then it came time to discuss Ley’s departure.

His attorney, Dan Bailey, detailed a mutual agreement that would pay Ley $265,000 in severance, which is an amount equal to a year’s salary and benefits.

In actuality, he would have been eligible for $385,000 if the commission fired him without cause, which would mean he did not commit serious crimes while in office.

It was the subject of crimes

SEE LEY / PAGE 2A

Selby Five Points Park has seen its share of change within the past several months.

First, it underwent a facelift, with new landscaping, brickwork and sculpture.

Second, an elaborate lighting system was added to its tree canopy. And last week the City Commission voted to remove all benches from the park.

Now the Downtown Improvement District is considering another alteration.

In musical terms, the DID wants to transform the park from “The Sound of Silence” to “The Sound of Music.”

Former Mayor Kelly Kirschner suggested in January that speakers be placed in the park to pump out music, and the DID is now prepared to make that hap-

SEE MUSIC / PAGE 2A

INDEX Briefs....................4A Classifieds......... 16A

Cops Corner....... 14A Crossword.......... 15A

Opinion.................6A Permits.............. 13A

Real Estate........ 12A Weather............. 15A

Vol. 7, No. 29 | Two sections YourObserver.com

SARASOTA Observer

YourObserver.com

THURSDAY, MAY 26, 2011

Ley’s legacy

MUSIC / FROM PAGE 1A

LEY / FROM PAGE 1A

pen.

“I like the idea of music in the park,” said DID member John Simon, a developer who has utilized outdoor music in some of his outdoor shopping centers.

DID board members want to spend about $3,000 on a computerized music system and are currently taking bids from contractors.

They briefly discussed at their May 17 meeting purchasing a more elaborate system that would synchronize the music to the tree-lighting system.

“Let’s first see how loud (the music is),” said Simon.

“If we don’t like it, why be stuck with synchronization?”

When the subject arose about whether to consult with downtown residents, DID members decided to let the City Commission handle the public input.

“We can turn it down to zero or up to 12,” said Simon. “Somewhere in there is an acceptable range.”

Peter Fanning, president of the Downtown Sarasota Condo Association, said residents need to be consulted.

“I would want to talk to the residents of 50 Central and 100 Central, because they’ll be the most affected,” he said. “I expect we’ll have a good conversation (with the commission) over this sooner rather than later.”

that nearly derailed the resignation.

Commissioner Joe Barbetta insisted the agreement include a clause that stated, “During my tenure as county administrator, I have not violated any laws.”

“I’m not casting aspersions,” said Barbetta. “But every (county) employee has to sign that. I don’t see why the county administrator is any different.”

Barbetta’s point was that if it was discovered later that Ley did commit a crime related to the procurement scandal or anything else, the county would not have to pay his severance package.

The rest of the commission did not want to include that clause.

“If we don’t have an inkling of evidence he committed a crime, why would he be singled out?” asked Commissioner Jon Thaxton.

With the resignation package now in agreement, Ley thanked his wife, county residents and his staff, whom he called “a lean, mean dedicated machine.”

He walked down the row of commission seats, again shaking hands and giving hugs, before walking out the backdoor, leaving his seat empty.

Commissioners nominated Major Kurt Hoffman, of the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office, as the interim county administrator, while they conduct a national search for a permanent replacement.

Loud speaker?

The details still have to be determined, but Downtown Improvement District members are talking about acquiring a computerized music system that could play music from CDs, MP3 players, the Internet or satellite radio.

What could complicate things is that the city would most likely have to purchase licensing rights to play any of that music.

DID member Pat Westerhouse is a manager for Casto Development, which owns the Whole Foods complex, and her company uses the Muzak service, which includes licensing in its costs. Muzak is also a possibility for the downtown park.

Also to be determined are the times in which the music will be played: all day, every day or just on certain occasions or certain times.

And the volume will be a work in progress, but it cannot exceed the levels in the city’s noise ordinance.

Venice Theatre DESTINATION EDUCATION

Who is Kurt Hoffman?

County commissioners tapped Maj. Kurt Hoffman of the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office to serve as the interim county administrator, while they conduct a national search for Jim Ley’s permanent replacement.

Hoffman accepted the job.

“My goal will be to stabilize the role of county administrator and restore public confidence in Sarasota County government,” he said. “We will move forward and find efficient ways to get the work of the people done.”

Hoffman serves as the sheriff’s office’s administrative-division commander and its general counsel.

A former state prosecutor, he spent 20-plus years working in the criminal-justice system and is a member of the Florida Bar’s labor-andemployment law and city, county and local government law sections.

During his parting words, Jim Ley recited a list of what he believed were his greatest achievements during his 14 years as Sarasota County administrator.

• Lowered property taxes by nearly 25% • Achieved a Triple-A bond rating — one of only a few dozen counties in the U.S. to do so.

• Kept per-capita cost of government flat to declining and per-capita number of employees flat to declining, while serving a larger population with a robust set of services.

• Changed the county from being the most water-poor public water purveyor to the waterrichest county in the region.

• Knit together a collection of private and public water and sewer franchises into a public utility.

• Virtually eliminated the flooding hazard that used to plague parts of the county.

• Preserved tens of thousands of acres of park and environmental land.

• Increased library system by one-third and modernized nearly all of the existing libraries.

• Doubled the size of the transit system.

• Expanded coverage of emergency services and quality of its staff.

• Made large investments in the road system.

• Passed two surtax extensions, enabling an investment of hundreds of millions of dollars of infrastructure.

• Built a new jail addition, while managing the jail population.

• Helped the needy, but encouraged responsibility from those same people by requiring results from the human-services grant program.

• Made community safer through wildfire mitigation.

• Passed a charter amendment that better governed uncoordinated annexations.

• Focused on the benefits of recreation tourism as a means to diversify the economy, namely creating a world-class rowing facility.

• Cited greatest accomplishment as being the quality of county staff and its attitude toward public service.

NEED HELP WITH YOUR

RETIREMENT SAVINGS? LET'S TALK. Richard D Crawford, CFP®

SPARKLES FADE,

Financial Advisor .

443 John Ringling Blvd Suite 1220 2nd Floor Sarasota, FL 34236 941-388-2847

RHINESTONES CRACK,

www.edwardjones.com

Member SIPC Member CIPF

Come spoil yourself during The Ritz-Carlton Spa and Salon’s

June Open House Enjoy unique treatments including exfoliations, body wraps and a therapeutic hydrotherapy tub.

Plus, top-of-the-line facials and massages, manicures and pedicures.

Simply call to reserve your time in The Spa or Salon. 941-309-2090. www.ritzcarlton.com /sarasota 1111 Ritz-Carlton Drive, Sarasota FL 34236

LEARNING LASTS! Register for Summer Theatre Camp!

6 week, 3 week and 2 week sessions for grades 1-12

Just 15 minutes from South Sarasota 57718

(941) 486-8679 ● venicestage.com

57543

BEST PRICES IN TOWN!

56841

2A

SARASOTA Observer

YourObserver.com

THURSDAY, MAY 26, 2011

making a list ...

3A

by Robin Roy | City Editor

City staff earmarks $182 million for capital-improvement projects From bayfront connectivity to new police radios to U.S. 301 landscaping, City Hall has 52 projects that it is currently planning to perform during the next 10 years.

The city is moving forward more than $180 million in capital improvements during the next 10 years. However, it is warning that falling property-tax revenues could put some projects at risk.

City officials had promised to perform many projects that were approved by a sales-tax referendum, but those promises were based on the projection that the tax would bring in $8.2 million.

It’s currently generating $5 million.

“We’re going to have to take projects off the list,” warned City Manager Bob Barto-

lotta. “They’re all worthy projects, but the money isn’t there.”

Fifty-two capital-improvement projects are currently featured on the list, with 50 of them having dedicated funding sources. The total estimated cost of doing those projects today is $182 million.

The work falls in six different categories: • Critical infrastructure, such as the replacement and rehabilitation of bridges and federally mandated upgrade of the police-radio system; • Enhancement projects, such as street

resurfacing and sidewalk construction; • Economic-development projects, such as Newtown redevelopment and Lido Beach erosion control; • Transportation projects, such as the bayfront-connectivity plan and new roundabouts; • Quality-of-life projects, such as phase II of Payne Park construction and Lido Beach pavilion improvements; • Sustainability, such as stormwater improvements and Whitaker Bayou Greenway Park.

CAPITAL-IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS Critical infrastructure

Quality of life

Street reconstruction

$18.9 million

Arlington Park improvements

$3.50 million

Bridge replacement and rehab

$4.29 million

Parks and recreation facilities upgrades

$2.65 million

Sidewalk construction and replacement

$3.97 million

Payne Park phase II construction

$1.69 million

Police-radio system upgrade

$1.74 million

Lido Beach pavilion improvements

$1.25 million

Orange Avenue storm-pipe replacement

$1.65 million

Neighborhood improvement strategies

$759,000

Landscape and streetscape improvements

$1.52 million

Payne Park and municipal auditorium rehab

$587,000

Street-tree planting

$658,000

Bayfront mooring field

$578,000

Curb and gutter construction and replacement

$656,000

Newtown-entrance plazas

$500,000

City Hall improvements

$280,000

Bayshore protection/seawall reconstruction

$295,000

Downtown-greenspace plan

$285,000

Handicapped-access ramps

$173,000

Indian Beach Park shoreline

$142,000

Alta Vista sidewalk construction

$126,000

Transportation and mobility Bayfront-connectivity plan with roundabouts

$25.7 million

U.S. 301 additional lanes

$25.5 million

Fruitville Road pedestrian crosswalks

$7.16 million

Multi-use recreational trail

$6.78 million

Mobility master plan projects

$6.68 million

Bradenton Road roundabouts and streetscape

$4.62 million

Advanced traffic-management system

$2.09 million

Traffic signalization/intersection upgrades

$1.66 million

Wayfinding signs

$1.63 million

Economic development/recovery

Traffic-calming program

$1.07 million

Lido Beach erosion control

$13.3 million

$794,000

Affordable housing

$11.9 million

Pineapple Ave. and Ringling Blvd. roundabout

$616,000

State Street parking garage

$7.27 million

U.S. 41/U.S. 301 turn lane

$531,000

Newtown-redevelopment plan

$3.08 million

Bayfront Drive reconfiguration

$350,000

Siesta Drive streetscape

$2.80 million

Bobby Jones golf course clubhouse

$2.68 million

Marion Anderson site cleanup

$1.34 million

U.S. 301 landscaping

$1.19 million

Palm Ave. and Ringling Blvd. roundabout

Payne Park

St. Armands enhancement

$400,000

Bird Key park

Sustainability Whitaker Bayou greenway park Alderman ditch/trail/Brother Geenan Way Indian Beach stormwater program

$3 million $1.07 million $1 million

Stormwater-utility projects

$1 million

Green-canopy program

$788,000

Lido Beach

TOTAL.......................................................................................................................................... $182

Robin Roy

Commissioner Paul Caragiulo, left, believes the newly installed parking meters could drive customers away from downtown businesses.

Workshop focuses on parking and budget An informal City Commission meeting allowed commissioners to highlight issues most important to them.

In a break from tradition, city commissioners are setting their own agendas, instead of relying on staff members, residents groups and city management to set them for them.

In their first bi-weekly workshop May 26, commissioners detailed the things on which they would like to focus, including paid parking, cutting personnel costs and privatizing certain services or consolidating them with the county.

Newly installed parking meters was the biggest topic of discussion, with new commissioners Paul Caragiulo and Shannon Snyder saying they believe a comprehensive parking-management system should have been put into place before the meters were utilized.

“It’s like we bought a train set and threw it out there and said, “OK, enjoy it,’” Caragiulo said.

Snyder equated the parking meters to taxing people to park downtown.

“The explanation should have been on (the city’s) website from the beginning that (meters) are paying for garages and enforcement,” he said.

City Manager Bob Bartolotta replied that those things were explained.

“We had probably 100 meetings with the public,” said Bartolotta.

He also said that during last year’s budget hearings, the commission chose the option of parking meters instead of having parking operations paid through taxes.

The city manager asked that the commission give City Hall six months to a year to study how effective the parking meters are.

On the topic of personnel costs, Vice Mayor Terry Turner said that despite city staff being reduced by 24%, personnel expenses remained flat, he said, because pension costs are rising 37%.

Turner said he feels that either the number of staff members or their compensation should be reduced.

“If we’re going to cut the budget, we’re going to have to manage personnel costs,” Turner said.

Another way commissioners discussed reducing the budget is to outsource certain business or consolidate them with the city.

Merging some police operations with the sheriff’s office was mentioned most often.

“You don’t reduce costs by not having some (police services),” said Caragiulo.

“Those officers are just moved to (another department), and the personnel costs are the highest costs.”

SARASOTA Observer

YourObserver.com

NEWSBRIEFS

4A

THURSDAY, MAY 26, 2011

+ Sit-in protest at library aimed at park benches

who, residents say, monopolize all of the bench space.

Demonstrators were homeless supporters and the homeless themselves.

“The park is open to everyone,” said Sarasota resident Hedda MatzaHaughton. “I come from New York.

Everyone sits on benches in Central Park, whether you’re homeless or not.”

A homeless woman, who wanted to remain anonymous, said removing the benches to rid the park of transients is wrong.

“They shouldn’t do this just because someone wants to sit on a bench,” she said. “I could see it if someone is sleeping on the benches.”

Downtown residents say many homeless do sleep on the benches and sit on them for hours at a time, which prevents others from using them.

“They have set up a home office there,” said Jim Lampl. “They’re there for six to eight-hour shifts.”

The city plans to study the effects of the bench removal in three months and then decide whether the benches should return to the park.

About two-dozen demonstrators conducted a sit-in protest May 23 at Selby Five Points Park.

The protesters objected to the complete removal of benches from the park. They brought their own lawn chairs or just sat on the grass.

City commissioners ordered last week the removal of park benches to eliminate the massing of transients,

YourObserver.com

TOP FIVE

The most read stories online last week were:

1. The ‘bling’ king (May 18) 2. Photo gallery: SHS prom (May 14) 3. Scene and Heard (May 18) 4. Leading Lady: Atwell outlines the goals for her term (May 18) 5. Video of the Day: Puppy cam (May 18)

+ Downtown parking meters go online After a couple of years of discussion and several back-and-forth City Commission votes, downtown parking meters were finally unveiled and put to use.

Drivers began paying to park in parts of downtown May 23.

More than 470 metered spaces are located in an area bounded roughly by Orange Avenue, Gulfstream Avenue, McAnsh Square and Second Street.

For two weeks, volunteer “parking ambassadors” will monitor Main Street and help drivers use the new meters.

Mayor Suzanne Atwell served as one of those ambassadors.

She said she received mostly positive remarks, but she also received some negative comments. One man said he’d never visit Sarasota again.

+ Government offices closed for holiday City and county government offices will be closed Monday, May 30, for

Meetings agendas

&

Alta Vista Neighborhood Association — 7 p.m. Thursday, May 26, Harmony Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center, 2600 Courtland St., Sarasota 

 Gillespie Park Neighborhood Association — 7 p.m. Thursday, May 26, Gillespie Park Substation, 710 N. Osprey Ave., Sarasota

Early Learning Coalition — 8 a.m. Friday, May 27, Cavanaugh and Company, 2381 Fruitville Road, Sarasota



Police Officers’ Pension — 8:15 a.m. Friday, May 27, Police Headquarters, 2099 Adams Lane, Sarasota



Memorial Day. Downtown paid parking will not be enforced on holidays. Trash collection will not be affected.

Plumbing . Air Conditioning . Electrical

TIPS THAT MAKE SENSE FOR YOU AND YOUR HOME. Dear John, How often should I replace the filters on my air conditioning unit?

A dusty filter reduces air flow. Examine your unit’s air filters once a month and clean or replace filters when necessary. Keeping your filters clean can cut energy consumption 5 to 15%.

24/7 EMERGENCY REPAIR Free Installation Estimates & 2nd Opinions Maintenance/Service Agreements

SAME DAY SERVICE - OPEN SATURDAYS Residential & Commercial

HVA

C C LE AL I C E P ANING S 15% OFF

Regular Prices (heating, ventilator, Air Conditioning system)

FIRST 10 CALLERS TO BOOK THEIR HVAC CLEANING Receive Top Tech Programmable Thermostat

....FREE!!! ($349.00 value)

Includes: Duct System Grilles Evaporator Coils Blower metor

John Miller

57528

100% Satisfaction Guarantee...

You Have My Word On It!

John Miller, President

941 - 225-2363

www.aquaplumbing.com

52026

8283 Vico Court. Sarasota, FL 34240

lic#plbg CFC057648 Elec EC13003845 HVAC CAC1816020

Observer SARASOTA

TO E-MAIL US:



ADDRESS: 1970 Main St., Sarasota, Fla., 34236 | PHONE: 941-366-3468 | FAX: 941-362-4808 | WEBSITE: www.YourObserver.com





E-mail press releases, announcements and photos to: Jessica Luck, jluck@yourobserver.com E-mail Letters to the Editor to: Matt Walsh, mwalsh@yourobserver.com



TO ADVERTISE:



Display Advertising: To obtain information, call Donna Condon at 941-366-3468, Ext. 301.

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

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



FREE HOME DELIVERY & SUBSCRIPTIONS

Free home delivery: The Sarasota Observer offers free home delivery in selected neighborhoods in the following zip codes: 34234, 34236, 34237.

To find out whether your neighborhood qualifies for free home delivery, or to suspend or discontinue your subscription, call Donna Condon at 941-366-3468.

Mail Delivery Subscription rates: First-Class One year / $60 Six months / $40 Three months / $30

Canada One year / $185 Six months / $95 Three months / $45

Europe One year / $395 Six months / $200 Three mos. / $100

SARASOTA Observer

YourObserver.com

THURSDAY, MAY 26, 2011

LOVE CONNECTION

5A

by Loren Mayo | Community Editor

Couple stays connected through virtual reality Just beyond the front door of Susan Lorenc-Haluska and Michael Haluska’s home are two office desks pushed together. On top of each desk is an Apple computer. At first glance, it appears the couple just likes to face each other when they’re working. But the computers are how the couple stayed connected.

Until April, the husband and wife had spent the past six years in a long-distance relationship, during which they communicated every evening via their computer’s cameras.

The two met in 1980. LorencHaluska was working at a clothing store in Johnstown, Pa., when the owners hired Haluska to hang new wallpaper. At the time, each was married to someone else. It was years later, when both parties were single, that they reconnected.

“I had reached my 10-year mark in 2005 of being cancerfree,” Lorenc-Haluska said. “Michael was the one regret in my life. He was fun and always in a good mood. He is the most positive person I have ever met in my entire life — there’s something about him. So, I got on my computer, did a search for him and left a message on his machine.”

She followed up with a handwritten note, and upon receiving one in return, she dialed his digits a second time. Hitting it off on the phone, the two planned to spend Thanksgiving weekend LBK 2010 - J together for sightseeing, hiking and reminiscing. At the time, she lived in Washington, D.C., and he

Susan Lorenc-Haluska and Michael Haluska fell in love over dinner, drinks and long conversations — via their computers.

Loren Mayo

During their long-distance relationship and marriage, Michael Haluska and Susan Lorenc-Haluska shared the tradition of fixing the same meal and clinking wine glasses via their computers. lived in Sarasota.

“In March (2006), he talked me into buying an Apple (computer),” Lorenc-Haluska said. “We’d talk during the day about what we wanted to have for supper that night. If we decided on spaghetti, we’d both make spaghetti and toast by clinking our wine glasses together. We spent three to four hours talking every night without fail for just over four years.”

The two kept their relationship interesting by coming up with fun activities they could do together.

“Apple iChat has that beautiful ability to see each other,” Haluska said. “I would find a lot of novels or short stories she hadn’t read, like Jack London’s ‘Call of the Wild.’ We played more games when we were apart than we do now that we’re together.”

Lorenc-Haluska even came up

BUYING GOLD Instant Cash

with a schedule for the activities. On Mondays, the two would read a book together, taking turns reading paragraphs out loud.

They spent Tuesdays completing an art project, and on Wednesdays they’d play Scrabble. Thursdays were set aside for jigsaw puzzles. The two even screenshared their computer screens with each other, so that both could see the same information

at the same time.

“It got to the point where we didn’t even ask what time the other person wanted to have dinner — we’d say, ‘I’ll see you at 6,’” Lorenc-Haluska said. “We probably spent more time getting to know each other again than people who are dating in the same town do.”

In 2006 during a visit to Virginia over Thanksgiving weekend, Haluska proposed.

It didn’t matter that the two still lived states apart when they got engaged or even when they were married the following year Dec. 26, 2007, at the Sarasota County Courthouse.

“I had three more years with the Navy Federal Credit Union until I could retire,” LorencHaluska said.

Said Haluska: “We weren’t about to disrupt that.”

When Lorenc-Haluska moved in with her husband in April, she had three requirements for the former bachelor: The 1946 house he lived in had to be re-floored; the bathroom absolutely had to have a door put on it; and the well water had to be changed to city water so that she wouldn’t have to hold her breath during showers.

“The heat here is killing me,” Lorenc-Haluska says, making a face at her husband. “He turns the air up, I turn it down, and then he makes comments like, ‘Wait until you get the $400 electric bill.’ But now we have more day-to-day interaction in person — and we have our desks turned around to face each other.”

CLEAR LEXAN PANELS Protect Your Entire Home

Sell your old gold while gold prices are at an all time historical high!

YOUR TRUSTED HOMETOWN JEWELER FAMILY OWNED & OPERATED

SAVE 40%-70% OFF DIAMONDS

Or Under

Diamond Solitaires

Based on average single family home.

Restrictions apply.

Expires 7/31/2011

Clear panels are 30 - 50% lighter than metal panels. The transparent panel can be left in place for the entire storm season while letting the light into your home; eliminating that “closed-in cave-like” feeling.

Diamond Stud Earrings

1/4 1/2 1.00 2.00 4.11

Reg.

SALE PRICE

$99 $250 $690 $650 $2200 $2499 $6250 $20,100 $5900 $350

Carat Weight

Reg.

1.02

$2350

1.50

$5000

No more dusty lanais that require constant maintenance.

Operating doors and windows let you enjoy clean fresh air while bringing the outside inside your home!

SALE PRICE

$790

$1499

$2950 2.81 $15,450 $5900 3.02 $23,025 $7500 2.00

5.00

$8350

$32,050

Take

$12,900 Acrylic

$590!

Reg. $2000

J E W E L R Y

C O M P A N Y

42801

four generations

. Impact Glass . Glass

941.925.1390

BIG DIAMONDS small prices

Corner of U.S. 41 & Bee Ridge Rd.

Across from Saks Fifth Ave.

All carat weights are total and may vary by 5%. Sale prices exclude existing layaways, trade-ins,and special orders. Quantites vary by store.

Reg. represents suggested manufacture’s list price. Does not necessarily represent an actual sale.

GC# 1518597

$500 Off

Expires 7/31/2011.

On new orders only. Restrictions apply.

57650

Carat Weight

LANAI ENCLOSURES

6A

sarasota Observer

YourObserver.com

THURSDAY, May 26, 2011

Observer opinion | our views SARASOTA

“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 City Editor / Robin Roy, rroy@yourobserver. com Community Editor / Loren Mayo, lmayo@ 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 Photographer / Rachel O’Hara, rohara@yourobserver.com Director of Advertising /Jill Raleigh, jraleigh@yourobserver.com Advertising Executives / Victoria Baga, vbaga@yourobserver.com; Tracy Bender, tbender@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

Benches, unfortunately, had to go It is refreshing to see a serious Sarasota City Commission willing to take decisive action on behalf of productive law-abiding members of the community. It did so when voting to remove park benches from Selby Five Points Park for what should be obvious reasons.

Unfortunately, the decision results in productive law-abiding members of the community losing out on a modest public amenity. Some of the responses have gone from disappointment to outrage — amazing what people will get outraged over — that the commission took away the remaining benches.

But let’s be clear. The blame for this does not lie at the feet of the new City Commission. The finger of blame rightly needs to be pointed at the homeless themselves and the choices they made and are making that leave them hanging around all day in the shade of the park, taking up benches, often being loud and panhandling and being a general nuisance to the productive in the city.

We support groups, such as the Salvation Army, which provide a meal and shelter, but in return for responsible choices that include no alcohol and drugs and a willingness to work.

This type of group offers treatment programs for drugs and alcohol — a factor in most homelessness. For those homeless who find themselves in that position and who are working to become productive again, we have

compassion and encouragement.

But that is not mostly what you see in Selby Five Points Park or other areas downtown.

And we know from police statistics that a portion of these are chronic criminals, whose crimes range from vandalism to theft to assault.

The fact the vagrants — not the temporary homeless — set up camp each day at the park is not the fault of the commission, which is responding to responsible residents who live in the area and are understandably tired of it all. The fault lies with the choices made by the vagrants.

But there are also those who do not pursue wise policies with the homeless. Some may be guided by compassion and some by a political agenda. They are often referred to as “homeless advocates,” by which their actions do indeed seem to advocate homelessness. The Salvation Army is not in this group.

The problem is, that removing the final three benches — six had been removed earlier to dissuade the homeless from gathering — may still not solve the problem. They may still gather under the shade to hang out and at times harass passersby.

Homelessness is a difficult, perplexing problem. Removing the park benches was a tough but admirable decision. The commissioners did what they should have — sided with the taxpaying public.

NEW commission AGENDA The newly seated Sarasota City Commission has shown itself decisive, and after a commission that seemed to want to talk every issue to a slow and painful death, it is refreshing. Here is a brief recap of what we laid out for an agenda of top items for the new commission after the March election.

1) City employee pensions. Pensions for police and general employees will surpass the city’s entire property-tax collections next year. This is unsustainable and in need of a drastic overhaul.

2) Can-do attitude. Flip the city’s existing won’t-do reputation into one of making sure that commission and staff are not obstacles to progress and economic vibrancy.

3) Increase development density. It’s a no-brainer.

The city is built-out. For it to grow and prosper, commissioners need to allow more density downtown and in other areas. The opposite option is stagnation and decline.

4) North Trail Development. Clean up the crime; create a safe and helpful environment for businesses to create jobs; try to change neighborhood resistance to new development — which we most recently saw on display again with the defeat of boat slips on Whitaker Bayou.

5) Downtown outside the margins. Downtown is the city’s biggest revenue generator. Increase densities. Consider turning the lower end of Main street into a pedestrian plaza. Think big.

Multimedia Production Manager / Caleb Stanton, cstanton@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 Chief Financial Officer / Laura Keisacker, lkeisacker@yourobserver.com Accounting Manager / Lori Downey, ldowney@yourobserver.com Accounting Assistant / Kathy Klein, kklein@yourobserver.com Administrative-Circulation Assistant / Donna Condon, dcondon@yourobserver. com

The Observer Group Inc. Locally Owned

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

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

1970 Main Street, Floor 4 Sarasota, Fla. 34236 941/755-5357 www.yourobserver.com

Keep the Promise for Israel To understand why The Observer Group almost no help from any other country. And newspapers have always been strong supever since, they have been beset on all sides. porters of Israel — and find deep fault with Historian Thomas Cahill wrote in his President Obama’s Middle East speech last book, “The Gifts of the Jews”: “The story week — we have to go as far back into the of Jewish identity across the millennia … written record of history as possible. And against impossible odds … is a unique that starts with Abraham, a man living in miracle of cultural survival.” More historical what is modern day Iraq, but before there context from Cahill: “The belief system we were Arabs. have come to call Judaism is the origin of In Genesis, God called Abraham to go to a the worldview to which all Western people new land. Abraham did and arrived in modsubscribe.” ern day Israel. Isaac was the son of Sarah, The Jewish people are the reason we Abraham’s wife, and the Jewish people believe in one God. “We can hardly get up in come through his line. Ishmael was the son the morning or cross the street,” Cahill says. of Hagar, Sarah’s servant, He goes on: “Most of and Abraham, and the Arab our best words … new, ad‘Prepare to cross the people come through his venture, surprise; unique, line. Ishmael was sent away individual, person, vocaJordan here, with all with his mother because of tion; time, history, future; the people into the the enmity between Sarah freedom, progress, spirit; land I will give the and Hagar, and that is the faith, hope, justice — these biblical origin of the ArabIsraelites … the land, are the gifts of the Jews.”

Israeli conflict. The Quran The Jews need a homewhich I swore to actually tells much the same land, and Israel is theirs their fathers I would story. This conflict is many from antiquity. give them.’ thousands of years old.

More context is freedom.

After the Egyptian captivIsrael is the only country God’s instructions to Joshua ity of the line of Isaac, Moses in the Middle East that is when the Jews reached the led the Jews to the Promised a free democracy, holding Promised Land Land — again, modern-day free elections with a free Israel. Forty years of wandermedia, offering property ing in the desert ended by rights and civil rights to all. crossing the Jordan River into Israel.

None of the enemies surrounding it has any God told Joshua at the time: “Prepare to sorts of freedoms. They are run by degrees cross the Jordan here, with all the people of tyrants who kill their own people as well into the land I will give the Israelites … be as Jews. firm and steadfast so that you may give this It is worth remembering that 21% of Israeli people possession of the land, which I swore citizens are Arabs, predominantly Muslims, to their fathers I would give them.” and they are economically better off than That is Israel, a nation of people who have their kin in surrounding Muslim countries. suffered like no other people in the hisArab-Israelis, including several generals, tory of the world. After being dispersed by serve in the Israeli Defense Force. Even 14 of Babylonians and myriad other conquerors the 120 members of the Knesset, the Israeli through the centuries, most Jews settled in Parliament, are Arabs. Jews have no right to Arab and Gentile nations around the world. basic survival in Muslim countries.

They were persecuted under pogroms that The difference between the free, diverse, killed and destroyed families and homes. tolerant, inclusive nation of Israel and the That long history of misery culminated with oppressive regimes of the Arab nations the Holocaust, in which the Nazis and their around them could not be more stark. U.S. helpers slaughtered 6 million Jews. policy has long recognized the importance After that climax of genocide, the Jews of having a lamp of liberty in the region. re-created the state of Israel in 1948 with Palestinians have been the pawns of Arab

tyrants since the 1940s, used to keep hatreds of the Jews inflamed. Twice the West has strong-armed Israel into pulling out of occupied territories in Lebanon and Gaza. Both times, the violence against Israel escalated, and that is exactly what would happen now.

The problem is not geographic borders, but the utter failure of the Palestinians to create any semblance of a stable, constitutional government. Instead, they have chosen a terrorist state under Hamas where the vast majority of them accept the killing of Jews.

With all of this as context, it is dismaying to see President Obama push for changes realistically only on the part of free and democratic Israel. Calling for a return to the 1967 boundaries of Israel gives important regions such as the West Bank and Golan Heights back to Syria’s dictators, and narrows the nation to nine miles at one point — about the distance from University Parkway to Clark Road. This clearly imperils Israel’s existence.

Credit Obama for coming around to the Bush Doctrine that he so excoriated as a Senate back-bencher. In 2008, he called the surge a failure and was for pulling the troops out of Iraq. He now holds up Iraq as an example of how democracy can work in the Middle East. He practically quotes Bush now when saying freedom, democracy and economic reform are America’s “top priority.”

Yet in the Israeli case, the president cannot see the chasm between the free, inclusive Jewish state and the tyrannical, intolerant Muslim states seeking Israeli’s death. These are not equal negotiating parties.

The president’s sympathy for the Muslim autocrats, and antipathy toward the Jewish democrats, is hard to understand. In his comprehensive speech on the Middle East, he never mentioned the word Islam. And while he verbally opposes violence perpetrated by the Palestinian terror government Hamas, he requires little of them. It is always the free Jewish state that must give in.

His new policy of preemptively requiring 1967 borders is a wrong and immoral position for the president of the United States.

This is a fatal flaw, from a fatally flawed view of Israel and her neighbors.

SARASOTA Observer

YourObserver.com

THURSDAY, MAY 26, 2011

by Jeffrey Oldenburg and Peggy Benzinger

Redeeming North Trail N.T.-zoned property could see its tax base double, if not triple, alleviating much of Sarasota’s fiscal pain. The yacht basin would be one of areas ripe for revitalization, as would the North Trail Plaza and the old Winn Dixie site at Myrtle Street and up in the 4500 block is a 12-acre parcel on the east side of the road and a 10-acre parcel on the west side.

Although, since 1986, enormous amounts of money and resources have been allocated to downtown, and recently in Newtown, almost nothing has been contributed to the North Trail.

A few years ago the city and the county contributed $25,000 for a study of the North Trail in which the stakeholders were never notified, and they helped us get into the enterprise zone, which is so under utilized that legislation was almost proposed to eliminate it.

I would like to see the county that presently has an incentive program for businesses that create new jobs, double the incentives to anyone locating on the North Trail. I would like the city and county commissions to contribute to an Economic Development coordinator for

the North Trail, easing some of the untenable burden of the business owners, trying not only to keep our businesses economically viable, but to do the city’s revitalization as well.

And, lastly, if FDOT would allow it, I would like to see the speed limit decreased by five or 10 miles an hour, the two 12-foot traffic lanes made into two 10-foot lanes with a 4-foot bicycle lane and new landscaping with decorative street lighting installed, even if it had to be implemented incrementally.

With these initiatives the sun would shine much brighter on the North Tamiami Cultural District, creating a crown jewel northern gateway and benefiting the entire city.

In addition to being small-business owners, Jeffrey Oldenburg and Peggy Benzinger are 32-year residents of Sarasota.

Although they buy properties in a variety of blighted neighborhoods, renovate them and then work with residents, neighborhood associations and the city to revitalize the areas, their primary focus for the last eight years has been on the North Tamiami Trail, where they own Indian Beach Plaza.

•Men’s Regular Haircut •Men’s Style Cut’s • Hot lather-straight razor edge out •Fades •Children’s Haircuts

June 28 Estate Planning 101

54876

Open 7 days a week

Mon. – Fri.: 11am – 7pm • Sat. & Sun. 11am – 5pm

.furn www

FIRST TIME Men’s Hair Cut

then $10 once a month Organic Spray Tan

R & R Electric of Sarasota

379-9296

memorial day ! e c n a r a e l C

m

se.co

hou ware

9

Sponsored by:

2151 Siesta Drive | Sarasota 34239 955-1668 | Reflectionsbydiana@hotmail.com

Location: Fruitville Public Library • 100 Coburn Road, Sarasota

www.catdepot.org

12

$

Reflections By Diana Hair Salon

Presented by: Tom Roberts, CFP®

2542 17th St., Sarasota, FL 34234 (941) 366.2404

Men’s Hair Cut

Hours: Mon - Sat 9 – 6 pm

RSVP to 941.927.9590

CALL NOw!

MONDAY $ SENIOR DAY

We sell Crew products.

57557

All workshops are complimentary

Support spay and neuter

Suzanne Dameron, Lime Communications, David Voss, Voss & Associates, and Ginya Carnahan, Dattoli Cancer Center

SERVICES WE OFFER:

“Who Wants to Play Hide & Seek?”

Ask for Michelle

Jeff Maultsby, Sarasota County manager of business and economic development, and Allan Lane, economic development manager for the city of North Port

We W ant you t o Come Check us Out !

Tom Roberts, CFPR Guest Speaker - Sue Ellen Addicott “The Up Side of Downsizing” May 31 • 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.

CALL TODAY! 941-366-2404

permitting for companies that are expanding or relocating to Sarasota County.

Photos by Rod Millington

Kathy Baylis and Debra Jacobs, The Patterson Foundation

formerly of A+ Family Barbers

what can you expect in retirement?

To qualify you must reside in Sarasota or Manatee County

The Economic Development Foundation of Sarasota County hosted a retirement reception Tuesday, May 24, at Laurel Oak Country Club, for Kathy Baylis, founding president and CEO of the Economic Development Corporation of Sarasota County. Local business leaders and city officials attended the reception.

Baylis’ accomplishments include: creating a film and entertainment office, which has facilitated hundreds of productions that generated $13.6 million in economic impact; initiating the Economic Gardening Program to improve technical support for local businesses; and helping create the SMART program that speeds

Come see Diana & Wanda,

Do you have concerns about your future?

Join us for straight talk!

• Feral and Community Cats • Your cats

Baylis admirers cheer her accomplishments

Reflections

By Diana Diana By Reflections

By Diana

Straight talk Series

FREE and Low Cost Spay and Neuter for

by The Observer Staff

56903

As we have been working to help revitalize blighted areas in Sarasota (the Rosemary District, Gillespie Park and North Tamiami Trail) for the last 18 years, we share your editorial writer’s frustration (“North Trail hypocrisy”) in that no seated City Commission in the last 30 years has contributed anything really significant to the revitalization of the North Trail.

With SRQ, the Ringling College of Art and Design, USF, New College, the East West College of Medicine, the Ringling Museum/Asolo/Sarasota Ballet compound, the Jungle Gardens, the Sarasota Museum of Whimsy and the Van Wezel, and Westcoast Symphony Players Theater on the southern cusp, the North Trail boasts the most stunning concentration of assets of any other location from Naples to Pensacola.

With three or four wellplaced redevelopment projects on the North Trail, along with the ensuing revitalization they would spur, the existing assets already in place and the ever expanding colleges, the North Trail could easily become an absolutely beautiful gateway to the city, and its 105 acres of

ECONOMIC IMPACT

No INterest UNtIl JUNe 2012! Next Day DelIvery avaIlable!*

“Retailer of the Year - State of Florida”

Special Purchase!

2-Pc Designer Two-Tone Sectional Features long wearing micro fiber fabric. You get it all - style, comfort and unquestionable value!

$

699

Matching ottoman is available $199

BRADENTON 1100 West Cortez Rd. Corner of 41 and Cortez Next to Office Depot

749-6069 Mon.-Sat. 9-9 Sun. 11-6

*with approved credit

SARASOTA

VENICE

PORT CHARLOTTE

4027 N. Washington 1 Mile South of University on 301

550 S. Seaboard Ave. Just North Of Venice Nissan on U.S. 41 Bypass

1241 El Jobean Rd. (776 across from Sam’s)

351-8600

485-3211

764-8700

Mon.-Sat. 9-9 Sun. 11-6

www.furnwarehouse.com

Mon.-Sat. 9-6 Sun. 11-6

Mon.-Sat. 9-9 Sun. 11-6

56625

opinion | my view

7A

8A

SARASOTA Observer

YourObserver.com

ART WALK

THURSDAY, MAY 26, 2011

rowing recognition by Rachel S. O’Hara | Staff Photographer

by Rachel S. O’Hara | Staff Photographer

Craft festival brings hundreds downtown Hundreds of people came out this weekend to sell and buy a wide range of items, everything from beautiful flowers to unique art pieces to kettle corn, during this weekend’s 7th annual Downtown Sarasota Craft Festival along Main Street and in Five Points Park.

Diann Flanders, John Leeming, Casey Galvaneck and Chuck Flanders

Sarasota Crew celebrates a winning rowing season Sophia Miller, 5, gives Misty some attention while at the craft festival with her mom.

Sarasota Crew members, along with their family and friends celebrated the 9th annual “Night of the Stars” Sunday, May 22, at Michael’s On East. The evening included dinner, a video montage of the 2010-2011 season and the presentation of varsity letters and awards.

Lauren Frisbie, 6, sits while Rafael Diez draws a free caricature of her at the Kaufman, Englett & Lynd booth.

Stafford Shaddy, André Dupuis and Ryan Day

Doris and Roy Muller Photos by Rachel S. O’Hara

Robert Mefford paints a wooden sign during the festivities.

Dalton

The 13 high school seniors who are finishing up their final season with Sarasota Crew were also recognized. Sarasota Crew recently won the 2011 youth state championship for rowing. Both men and women teams from Sarasota Crew will be competing at nationals in Oak Ridge, Tenn.

Photos by Rachel S. O’Hara

Jeannie and Marty Beyer

stoneygolf@verizon.net

RemAx AlliAnCe GRoUP | 2000 Webber Street | Sarasota

STONEYBROOK GOLF & C.C. Spectacular water & golf viewS from this maintenance free Villa on 5th fairway. 2BD + Den, extremely well maintained, tile,new carpets,soft Florida colors,crown molding,huge walk-in closets, heated pool & spa. Full golf equity incl., tennis, fitness ctr., debt free community. $374,900 ShowS like a model! Fabulous 1661 sq. ft. 1st floor Abbey Veranda. This end unit has remodeled kitchen & bathrooms, Jacuzzi tub,new floating cork floors, berber carpets,enclosed tiled lanai,den/ office,faux painting,1 car garage. Full golf equity incl. renovated clubhouse & fitness Ctr. $313,000 enjoy gloriouS golf viewS from thiS 2nd floor, turn-key 2BD/2BA Terrace Condo overlooking the 8th Fairway. Well maintained, tiled floors & lanai, above average furnishings,high ceilings.

Full golf equity membership incl. renovated fitness Ctr. & Clubhouse, debt free community. $171,900 Beautifully decorated and furniShed 1661 Sq. Ft. End Unit veranda overlooking 7th fairway, 2/3BR + Den, chair rails, mirrored dining room, tiled flrs., walk-in closets, near pool + tennis. Golf equity incl. Financially stable + debt free community. $303,900 faBulouSly priced 2nd flr, turn-key furnished 2BD/2BA corner unit with a ”complete makeover”, fresh paint, new carpet, new appliances, new furniture, tiled lanai & much more. Full golf equity incl. stunning new grill room, renovated clubhouse. Assumable annual lease in place for 2011. $175,900 fantaStic 2/3Bd Veranda with outstanding water & golf views of the 7th green & lake. Features granite counters, upgraded cabinets,tiled flrs.,enclosed lanai, den with built-ins,new AC system close to heates pool. Full golf equity incl.Debt free/financially stable community. $244,900 SenSational golf & water viewS overlooking the 3rd Green & Lake. 2BD/2BA Carlton Veranda in excellent condition, nicely decorated & furnished, new AC system, cathedral ceilings, large walk-in closets, ample storage space, 1 car garage,steps from htd. pool. Full golf equity incl. Renovated fitness Ctr. & Clubhouse. $214,900 Bright & cheery 2BD/2BA true/end/corner unit on ground flr with golf views. Condo has brand new above average furnishings, newer carpets& AC system, freshly painted, extra windows for more light. Full golf equity incl. Renovated clubhouse with stunning new grill room.

Assumable rental income in place for 2011 season. $178,000 great 2Bd + den Barrington veranda overlooking the 17th fairway with wonderful golf course views. Veranda is beautifully furnished & decorated with above average furnishings and soft neutral colors.There is an enclosed lanai, cathedral ceilings,walk-in closets, 1 car garage, steps from htd pool and substantial assumable 2011/2012 rental income. Full golf equity incl., fitness, tennis, clubhouse. $242,000 country cluB living at itS BeSt!! Fabulous water & golf views from this 2BD/2BA Condo on 3rd flr. Extremely well maintained and beautifully furnished & decorated. Brand new appliances & AC system. Full golf equity incl. Steps from heated pool and short stroll to clubhouse. Renovated fitness center & clubhouse. $172,900 wonderful home w/ beautiful lake views, featuring sprawling tiled floors, cathedral ceilings, huge family room, spacious kitchen, corian counters, new fixtures, freshly painted, new carpet, hurricane shutters and large lanai. Golf equity incl. renovated fitness center & clubhouse. Debt free & financially stable community. $329,000 a SenSational maintenance free home on MacGregor Lane.3BD/3BA, remodeled kitchen with granite + new appliances, remodeled bath,new carpets,freshly painted,new AC,hurricane shutters,huge heated pool + Spa.Full Minutes from Clubhouse, full golf equity incl., renovated fitness center & stunning grill room. $437,500 SuperB terrace 1314 sq. ft. End Unit overlooking the 8th fairway.Well maintained, above average furnishings,tiled flrs,enclosed tiled lanai,California closets,extra kitchen cabinets. Full golf equity incl. Renovated fitness Ctr and Clubhouse. Debt Free Community. $179,900

Hmm...

There are over 4,000 public parking spaces in Downtown Sarasota, including curbside, parking lots and garages.

For frequently asked questions and a map that details parking areas, please visit:

sarasotagov.com

Where can I park?

57307

941-918-0570 | 941-928-9106 cell

57694

Kevin A. DAlton, Realtor®

SARASOTA Observer

YourObserver.com

THURSDAY, MAY 26, 2011

9A

PET PROJECT

by Loren Mayo | Community Editor

Jacquie Williams brought her gran-bunnies, Sir Oliver Wendell Williams and Lady Bianca Sweet Pea Williams, to be blessed.

Blessing ceremony honors all animals There were big dogs, little dogs, bunnies and even a chicken. Temple Emanu-El celebrated pets and the importance of animals in Jewish tradition at its Blessing of the Animals ceremony Saturday, May 21.

Rabbi Brenner Glickman blessed each animal during the special event, which was held outside the temple in the shade.

See a video of Golden Lace the chicken leading a chase. www.YourObserver.com

Photos by Loren Mayo

Matthew Rosen and Leo Glickman with Golden Lace

I help create clean, green energy every day.

I am Mosaic.

Mosaic is about more than providing nutrients to help grow the world’s crops. It’s also about environmental leadership. As an engineer for Mosaic, I help convert the steam from our fertilizer manufacturing process into power — enough to run our Florida plants, and then some. The process, called cogeneration, requires no fossil fuels and releases zero carbon dioxide emissions.

Rabbi Brenner Glickman with Joanne Watkins, Jasper and Rocky

Which means it is easy being green.

And I’m proud to be doing just that.

®

Ellie gets some exercise while playing in the water trough.

56172

www.mosaicfla.com

10A

SARASOTA Observer

YourObserver.com

good works

THURSDAY, MAY 26, 2011

HOLLYWOOD GLAMOUR

by Loren Mayo | Community Editor

by Loren Mayo | Community Editor

BHS students make an entrance at prom Booker High School students lined up on the red carpet before making their grand entrance into prom Saturday, May 21, at the Hyatt Regency Sarasota. Ladies were bedazzled in poofy dresses and satin evening gowns, and guys sported a sleek James Bond look. This year’s theme was “Hollywood: A Red Carpet Affair.”

Jill Berg, Amanda McCracken and Kathleen Patterson

Juno Pierre and Alisa Miller

Photos by Loren Mayo

Cindy Kaiser and Beth Cannata

Junior League ladies enjoy annual meeting The ladies of the Junior League of Sarasota County gathered for their annual meeting and dinner Tuesday, May 17, at Marina Jack. Member Lisa Ward was inducted as the organization’s new president. She replaces Past President Angie Stringer.

Photos by Loren Mayo

Amanda Scambrosky, Jenna Ladd and Claudia Rightmire

Right: Incoming President Lisa Ward, outgoing President Angie Stringer and President-Elect Linda Maudlin

Bruce Felton rocks.

“IT SEEMED LIKE A GOOD IDEA AT THE TIME . . . .”

Guaranteed Results All Breeds, All Ages Obedience Training Behavioral Problems Lifetime Warranty Personal Protection Vet and Police K-9 Recommended

ss e l nk eft! a 7 T rs L y l e On eat H

License # CFC057375

www.TheSurfinPlumbers.com

Mark Jacobs • Training Director/ Certified Dog Trainer Call 941-416-3489 •www.oncommandk9academy.com

Located South of Sarasota Memorial Hospital

56269

The words seemed to echo off the office walls of Tim Pritchard, founder of Pritchard Plumbing (now known as “The Surfin’ Plumbers”). Tim continues “I just can’t believe it. When we decided to offer an unheard of special on Tankless Water Heaters we never imagined how much response we would be getting”. Tim even had to ask his team “Now what are we going to do?” Tim took the time to negotiate a special price from two different manufacturers just for this special offer. The problem Tim says is that the special negotiated price was for just 25 units and the promotion was to last until the end of May. Tim feels they will run out and have to end the special early. The company set their promotional display (above) out at their headquarters on Hwy. 70 the last week of April and literally had people walking in off the street wanting to take advantage of the special.

Installing a Tankless Water Heater has

many benefits both to the homeowner and the environment. With no tank to rust and rupture, there will be no empty old tanks going to the landfill.

This is wonderful for the environment.

“Our seasonal residents love the peace of mind knowing there will be no tank to rupture and leak while they are back at their summer homes”, says Pritchard. Tankless water heating is more energy efficient and cost less to operate. Everybody wins here. But homeowners who have gone tankless are simply enjoying the endless hot water that tankless provides. It heats on demand and supplies continuous hot water. With the negotiated special price, rebates from the utility companies and an unheard of $350 trade in for the customers old tank heater, getting a Tankless Water Heater is now more affordable than ever! The special will run until May 31 or until the last unit is gone. For more information call The Surfin’ Plumbers at (941) 348-2000.

57533

Sarasota -

57627

We Can Train Any Dog!

Advertisement

SARASOTA Observer

YourObserver.com

THURSDAY, MAY 26, 2011

around the world

by Rachel S. O’Hara | Staff Photographer

it’s all in the cards

11A

by Rachel S. O’Hara | Staff Photographer

Gocio students celebrate first year of bridge club

Melissa Jekonski and Dr. Brad Lerner

Residents get inspired at travel-themed event Fifth Third Bank, Admiral Travel International Inc. and Travcoa teamed up for an evening of wine and small plates from Spain, India and Thailand Tuesday, May 17, at Sarasota Yacht Club.

“An Inspired Journey” event also in-

cluded a travel presentation, during which Travcoa Travel Director Jane Vermeulen showed photos and itineraries for three culinary inspired trips to Spain, India and Thailand. There was also a raffle for a spa day at The Met.

Cemantha Crain, with Admiral Travel, Jane Vermeulen, with Travcoa, Malaka Hilton, with Admiral Travel, and Kathy Leavesley, with Fifth Third

Said Rasid gets some help from Iris Wilson, the lead bridge coach of Gocio’s bridge club.

Photos by Rachel S. O’Hara Photos by Rachel S. O’Hara

Kathryn and Bob Carr

Hunter DeSerio shows off his bridge skills to James Foster during the bridge club’s final meeting.

Heven Mendez laughs while playing bridge with his other bridge club members.

57432

David Klein and Andrea Kirchoff

Gocio Elementary’s newest GoGetter program this school year was bridge club.

More than 20 students participated in the after-school program.

The bridge club held its final meeting Monday, May 23, inside Gocio Elementary School’s Media Center, where they played bridge, received awards and ate pizza.

12A

SARASOTA Observer

YourObserver.com

THURSDAY, MAY 26, 2011

real estate | transactions

By Adam Hughes | Research Editor

Hidden Harbor home sells for $3.2 million A home in Hidden Harbor tops all realestate transactions from May 9 to May 13. YOLA Sunshine Ltd. sold the home at 5109 Jungle Plum Road to Morgan and Kathleen O’Brien, of Pittsburgh, for $3.2 million. Built in 2009, it has six bedrooms, six-and-a-half baths, a pool and 5,271 square feet of living area.

Vista Bay Point

SARASOTA

Condominium on the Bay

Leland Birch and Deborah Weston, of Sarasota, sold their Unit 202 condominium at 128 Golden Gate Point to Cairns Cove LLC for $367,600. Built in 2004, it has two bedrooms, two baths and 3,317 square feet of living area. It previously sold for $1.14 million in 2004.

Plaza at Five Points

SunTrust Bank, trustee, sold the Unit 1106 condominium at 888 Blvd. of the Arts to Anthony Napoli and Macall Robertson, of North Kingstown, R.I., for $305,000.

Built in 1982, it has two bedrooms, two baths and 1,555 square feet of living area.

It previously sold for $179,000 in 1996.

Five Points Residential Investments LLC sold the Unit 17PHC condominium at 50 Central Ave. to Anthony and Kathy Sanzo, of Sarasota, for $2.16 million. Built in 2005, it has three bedrooms, three-anda-half baths and 4,174 square feet of living area.

Marblehead

Rivo at Ringling

Linda Stenberger, trustee, sold the home at 2549 Marblehead Drive to Robert and Elizabeth Beckham, of Sarasota, for $276,300. Built in 2003, it has three bedrooms, two baths and 1,874 square feet of living area.

Rivo at Ringling LLC sold the Unit 206 condominium at 1771 Ringling Blvd. to Anthony and Mabel Esposito, of Longboat Key, for $855,000. Built in 2006, it has three bedrooms, three-and-a-half baths and 3,460 square feet of living area.

Sapphire Shores

Lawrence Pointe I

BHF LLC sold the Unit 402 condominium at 101 Sunset Drive to Molly Schechter, trustee, for $730,000. Built in 1978, it has three bedrooms, three-and-a-half baths and 2,215 square feet of living area.

It previously sold for $750,000 in 2007.

Unit 17PHC at the Plaza at Five Points has three bedrooms, three-and-a-half baths and 4,174 square feet of living area. It sold for $2.16 million. sold for $566,700 in 2007.

Cynthia Biggar, of Sarasota, sold her home at 450 Woodland Drive to Thomas Fredericks and Kathleen Krafft, of Fenwick Island, Del., for $240,100. Built in 1969, it has three bedrooms, two baths and 1,442 square feet of living area. It previously sold for $150,000 in 1997.

1350 Main

Oyster Bay Estates

Gulf Gate Woods

Ira and Annette Ross, of Osprey, and Diane Papazian-Longem, of Osprey, sold their Unit 1308 condominium at 1350 Main St. to Jay and Iris Leonard, of Short Hills, N.J., for $565,000. Built in 2007, it has two bedrooms, two baths and 1,336 square feet of living area. It previously

Rachel S. O’Hara

John and Tiffany Gammaro, of Sarasota, sold their home at 1627 S. Lake Shore Drive to Matthew Schulz, of Sarasota, for $465,000. Built in 1965, it has five bedrooms, three-and-a-half baths, a pool and 3,586 square feet of living area. It previously sold for $360,000 in 1998.

Observe

Earl Ingold and Harriet Anderson, trustee, sold the home at 7343 Biltmore Drive to Glen Crick and Marcia Robbins, of Chicago, for $215,000. Built in 1972, it has three bedrooms, two baths and 1,887 square feet of living area. It previously sold for $262,000 in 2004.

SIESTA KEY Revised Siesta

Deborah Knowles, trustee, and Charles Knowles, of Sarasota, sold the home at 4034 Roberts Point Road to Kenneth and Lynne Whitmore, of Sarasota, for $2.13 million. Built in 1990, it has four bedrooms, five baths, a pool and 4,179 square feet of living area.

Siesta’s Bayside

William and Leslyn Stewart sold their home at 646 Waterside Way to Katherine and Detlef Zimmerman, of Switzerland, for $1 million. Built in 1972, it has four bedrooms, three baths, a pool and 3,182 square feet of living area. It previously sold for $310,300 in 1991.

Village Sands

J. Robert and Karen Sweeney, of Brentwood, Tenn., sold their Unit C-2 condominium at 100 Columbus Blvd. to L-5 Investments II LLC for $775,000. Built in 2001, it has two bedrooms, two-and-ahalf baths and 1,959 square feet of living area. It previously sold for $565,400 in 2002.

Mira Mar Beach

Parrot Beach Cottages LLC sold the home at 60 Avenida Veneccia to Parrot Beach Cottages SK LLC for $570,000. Built in 1925, it has one bedroom, four baths, a pool and 1,482 square feet of living area.

It previously sold for $1.2 million in 2006.

Sandra and Jason Delaurier, of Sarasota, sold their home at 5290 Avenida Navarra to L-5 Investments I LLC for $565,000.

Built in 1968, it has two bedrooms, two baths, a pool and 1,620 square feet of living area. It previously sold for $152,000 in 1993.

Saturday, June 4 56355

what you are missing...

Home & Design Center Special Financing Available

Political views perfect

Vinyl Impact Window Replacements

fOr ANy pArty!

As a PGT Platinum Dealer, Mullet’s Aluminum is pleased to introduce PGT’s new PremierVue vinyl impact window that combines style and high performance to meet the needs of today’s discerning homeowner. PremierVue has among the highest industry ratings for energy, structural, air and water resistance in a vinyl impact product line.

For a FREE in-home estimate please contact us.

Local News that’s

YourObserver.com

49649

You. Your Neighbors. Your Neighborhood.

Toll Free 1-877-MULLETS | (941) 371-3502 | www.mulletsaluminum.com

55439

LOCAL NEWS!

SARASOTA Observer

YourObserver.com

THURSDAY, MAY 26, 2011

Robert Ruiz and Sheri Lasley, of Sarasota, sold their Unit 217 condominium at 1303 Dockside Place to Peter Urbain and Donna Ruiz-Urbain, of West Springs, Ill., for $450,000. Built in 1982, it has three bedrooms, two baths and 1,737 square feet of living area. It previously sold for $385,000 in 2010.

Dennis and Sheila Smith, of Derbyshire, United Kingdom, sold their Unit 112 condominium at 1257 Dockside Place to Scott and Leslie Bellinger, of Ontario, Canada, for $370,000. Built in 1982, it has two bedrooms, two baths and 1,217 square feet of living area. It previously sold for $518,000 in 2004.

Siesta Dunes Beach

Gary Anderson and Jeannie Anderson, of Chicago, sold their Unit 103 condominium at 6236 Midnight Pass Road to Andrew and Elizabeth Wachnik, trustees, for $360,000. Built in 1979, it has two bedrooms, two baths and 1,150 square feet of living area. It previously sold for $495,000 in 2004.

Crescent Arms

Capital One NA sold the Unit 605-S condominium at 6312 Midnight Pass Road to Ronald and Karen Troyan, of Loveland, Ohio, for $357,500. Built in 1968, it has two bedrooms, two baths and 894 square feet of living area. It previously sold for $528,700 in 2004.

Excelsior Beach to Bay

Laurence and Clare Connor sold their Unit 206 condominium at 6285 Midnight Pass Road to Bruce and Patricia Ketcham, of Rochester Hills, Mich., for $355,000.

Built in 1981, it has two bedrooms, two baths and 1,469 square feet of living area.

It previously sold for $119,500 in 1981.

Visit our website to read more transactions and to see a map

TOP BUILDING PERMITS These are the largest city of Sarasota, Sarasota County and Siesta Key building permits issued by Sarasota County and city of Sarasota for the week of May 9 through May 13, in order of dollar amounts.

CITY OF SARASOTA Address

Permit

Applicant

Amount

360 N. Shore Drive 528 Siesta Drive 555 S. Gulfstream Ave. 378 Golden Gate Point 555 S. Gulfstream Ave. 2616 Wood St. 760 Indian Beach Lane 1173 Sylvan Drive 35 Watergate Drive

Outdoor Area Residing Windows Mechanical Windows Mechanical Re-roof Alterations Mechanical

Stephen McDonald Stephen Ellis Mary Allen, trustee Jose Antunes Fae Edwards Philip Gulliford Samuel Politz Marietta Lee Elton White

$35,917 $31,000 $20,000 $18,584 $18,000 $10,506 $7,000 $6,651 $5,976

SARASOTA COUNTY Address

Permit

Applicant

7864 Esperanza Circle 3720 Torrey Pines Way 2305 Casey Key Road 469 Duchamp Drive 5137 Flicker Field Circle 3744 Beneva Oaks Blvd.

2324 Brink Ave. 101 Da Vinci Drive 2616 Clipper Ship Way

Renovations Enclosure Mechanical Re-roof Re-roof Repairs Re-roof Repairs Re-roof

Roger Cyganek Mike Guiley Brian Sullivan Loretta Horvath Edward Hurter E.R. Tirabassi Roger Siegel James Willott Robert Goodell

Amount $120,000 $63,270 $48,963 $20,634 $20,000 $20,000 $18,000 $18,000 $15,313

SIESTA KEY Address

Permit

Applicant

Amount

460 Beach Road 5780 Midnight Pass Road 1239 Big Oak Lane 5104 Oakmont Place 4087 Shell Road 6218 Midnight Pass Road 3525 White Lane 20 Whispering Sands Drive 5300 Ocean Beach Blvd.

Mechanical Remodel Windows/Doors Re-roof Mechanical Windows/Doors Dock Renovations Doors

Gary Leng John Wright Michael Cotting Helen Larson Maria Stefanidu Bill Evans Charles Knowles Theresa Collary Peter Van Roekens

$26,985 $23,200 $18,000 $17,000 $12,821 $12,724 $12,380 $11,600 $11,367

57659

Harbour Towne

13A

Source: Sarasota County; city of Sarasota

www.YourObserver.com CPC 1456671

olympic pools where great pools begin

NEW POOLS • RESURFACING • PAVERS

Summer is the perfect time to start orthodontic treatment.

POOL SERVICE • REPAIRS • REMODELING • HEATERS

941-485-0062

• Braces behind your teeth: Incognito certified

VOTED BEST OF VENICE #1 POOL BUILDER

Smiles talk...

52049

941.907.8898 941.922.6444 SmilesTalk.com

• Complimentary exam • Board certified orthodontists • Invisalign & Invisalign Teen certified • Many insurances accepted • Free financing

121 Triple Diamond Blvd Unit 13, North Venice 34275 www.olympicpools.us

Don’t Struggle to keep your

what does

Independence

• Computer Lab yours say?

• MicroSociety® Claudia F. Moricz, DDS, MS • Science & Math Lab Karen L. Varone, DDS, MS • Operation S.M.A.R.T. 2916 Bee Ridge Rd., Sarasota, FL 34239 • and much more!

At Home...

girls smart

Tennis Swimming Computers Television production Field Trips Cooking MicroSociety®

need apply.

Lic. #299993609 Lic. #299993726

A Private Duty Home Health Agency We Guarantee Compassionate Care

enroll now for Girls Inc. Where

Summer Camp

girls

grow

Two-week sessions for girlsto agebe 6 tostrong, 14 take place from June 7 and to AugustBOLD 19.

SMART

enroll now for Girls Inc.

Summer Camp

201 S. Tuttle Ave., Sarasota, FL 34237

Your Extended Family

201 S. Tuttle Ave., Sarasota, FL 34237

girlsincsrq.org • Julie@GirlsIncSRQ.org girlsincsrq.org • julie@girlsincsrq.org

• Personal Care Bathing • Meal Preparation • New Born & Mom Assist program

LICENSED • INSURED • BONDED

Two-week sessions for girls age 5 to 14

941-366-6646 941-366-6646

• Free Nursing Evaluation • Administration of Medication • Errands, Shopping, Transportation • Activities of Daily Living

• Trusted • Experienced • Caring

Sarasota (941) 388-3117 Venice (941) 484-3242 Englewood (941) 474-4455 Bradenton (941) 795-7000 www.helpathomefl.com

55879

• • • • • • •

Turn to us for help!

53970

57590

Offices in Lakewood Ranch & Sarasota

14A

Cops

Plan a Ritz Kids® party for your little ones at the beach or our kids Clubhouse.

SARASOTA

3:17 a.m. — 900 block of Siesta Drive.

Animal Problem. Officers responded to a report of a dead shark on a sidewalk.

What they found was … a dead shark on a sidewalk. It was a 5-foot nurse shark.

They called the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, but the agency declined to respond, because nurse sharks are not endangered. The officers then contacted their supervisor to see what they should do. The supervisor told them to throw it back into Sarasota Bay, which they did.

Run for cover

One for you, one for me 1:41 p.m. — 1300 block of Main Street.

Suspicious Person. Some men were seen sitting in a park, passing around alcohol.

Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate’s life for me.

1:30 p.m. — 1900 block of Main Street. Criminal Mischief. Someone vandalized three large umbrellas used to shade an outdoor dining area. The restaurant owner said he arrived at work in the morning to see the framing on the $1,000 umbrellas had been pulled apart.

He had put the umbrellas away himself the previous night, so he knew the damage occurred after the restaurant closed.

Bench monster 6:07 p.m. — 1400 block of Main Street. Suspicious Person. Complainant called to report someone (or perhaps something) was sitting on a bench scaring people while they passed.

May 17

No soliciting

Thief sinks to new low 57717

great time to celebrate

May 16

June is a the men in your life with us!

Corner around the hospital all day disguised in scrubs and looks for things to steal.

May 15

The Ritz-Carlton Members Beach Club 1234 Benjamin Franklin Drive, Sarasota, FL 34236

THURSDAY, MAY 26, 2011

May 14

Land shark

Ritz Kids® specialize in creating unforgettable parties for a child’s most important occasions. Please contact The Ritz-Carlton party professionals at (941) 309-2573 for bookings, pricing and more information.

SARASOTA Observer

YourObserver.com

12:40 p.m. — 1700 block of South Tamiami Trail. Petit Theft. A woman leaving the hospital left her purse in a wheelchair at the valet stand. The valet used her cell phone to get in touch with her.

He told her the purse would be in the valet area, and he placed it on top of the stand. Shortly thereafter, a man dressed in hospital scrubs walked by and took the purse. Employees say the man walks

7:15 a.m. — 3900 block of South Tamiami Trail. Code Enforcement. A woman was seen asking for money from drivers stopped at a traffic light. She was carrying a sign that read: “Homeless and God bless.” She had collected $6. Police told her that soliciting in that manner is a code violation, and she received a ticket. An officer offered to take her to a homeless shelter for help, but she refused.

FRESH SEAFOOD MARKET

LIVE Maine Lobster (Take ‘em live or we’ll steam for you!)

Tuna, Cod, Haddock, Shrimp, Sword, Steamers, Mussels, Scallops & More Florida’s Fresh Catch - Grouper, Snapper, Shrimp, etc!

941-918 CLAW(2529) • 8780 S. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota 34238 www.lotsalobstersarasota.com

(next to SkyKing fireworks, just south of Sarasota Square Mall)

Golf Lessons

We Have

available thru our head professional

Golf Logix GPS Ask about our Seasonal Membership

accepting Golf outings for 2011

Summer Rates

uncles and brothers, friends and others.

$

Be sure to join us as we Focus on financial health and wealth. Our featured speaker will be Marc S. Wolff, owner and branch manager of Southern Trust Financial Planning in Sarasota. An investment professional with 24 years of Marc S. Wolff experience, Marc will discuss investment strategies, the importance of financial planning at any age and how to manage risk.

21 Weekdays

$

26 Weekends

AFTER 3PM $

15 Weekdays

$

21 Weekends

We Accept All Summer Discount Cards

Restaurant Open Breakfast & Lunch 6:30am-dark

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

Wednesday, June 1 or Friday, June 17

57051

We’re Now

It’s June, the month we traditionally honor fathers. So let’s Celebrate all the men in your life: husbands and fathers,

56895

Flown in Fresh DAILY!

GOLDEN BEACH: 519/521 Villas Drive, Venice; DUPLEX, 2/2 with deeded beach access, Great rental $ potential!

329,000 SORRENTO EAST: 309 Rubens Dr Nokomis, 3BR, 2BA, 2CG +bonus room, large lanai, oversized lot $ backs to Oscar Scherer State Park, 239,900

10:30 a.m. for both lunch events Celebrate your loved ones. Focus on your finances... and enjoy great meals with us in June.

RIVENDELL:

668 Clear Creek Dr., Osprey, 3-4 BR, 3 BA, 3CG, solar heated saltwater pool/spa, many $ upgrades 429,900.

RSVP required for both lunch events.

Call today for reservations: (941) 798-8122

754 AnnaND Hope ING Lane, Osprey, ALE PE 2.5BA, 2CG, heated pool/ maintenance freeS3BR+den, $ spa, beautifully appointed home.

324,900

RIVENDELL:

SM

56162

Exceptional Experiences Every Day is a Service Mark of Brookdale Senior Living Inc., Nashville, TN, USA. 51280EF-ROP01-0611 LB

Barbara Gahry, GRI, SFR

Michael Saunders & Co.

941-966-8000 (office) bgahry@comcast.net 941-586-3936 (cell) www.BarbarasProperties.com 8660 S. Tamiami Tr. Sarasota, FL 34238

56897

A Life Care Community, Exceptional Experiences Every Day 6406 21st Avenue West, Bradenton, FL 34209 www.brookdaleliving.com

RIVENDELL: 714 Shadow Bay Way, Osprey, 4BR, 3BA, 3CG + office/den + hobby room, solar heated $ pool/spa. Close to Pine View School.

469,000

SARASOTA Observer

YourObserver.com

THURSDAY, MAY 26, 2011

RAINFALL

Wed., May 18 Thurs., May 19 Fri., May 20 Sat., May 21 Sun., May 22 Mon., May 23 Tues., May 24

0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

Month to date: 2011

1.97 in Year-to-date:

MOON PHASES

Sarasota

June 1 New

June 9 First

June 15 Full

June 23 Last

15A

WEEKLY WINNEr: SISTERLY BOND

2010 0.80 in.

2011 2010 15.48 in 12.51 in.

TemperatureS

Temps.

High Low 78 62 83 56 88 62 87 68 87 69 87 70 88 69

Wed., May 18 Thurs., May 19 Fri., May 20 Sat., May 21 Sun., May 22 Mon., May 23 Tues., May 24

Record Temps.

High Low 97 (1938) 50 (1927) 95 (1938) 52 (1917) 94 (1974) 54 (1917) 96 (1927) 55 (1924) 96 (1974) 53 (1994) 96 (1959) 57 (1981) 93 (1995) 55 (1971)

Average Gulf water temperature: 81.7

Wayne Magee submitted this sunset photo of his granddaughters, taken on Siesta Key.

RED TIDE

Sunrise/sunset Sunrise 6:37 6:37 6:37 6:36 6:36 6:36 6:36

Sunset 8:18 8:19 8:19 8:20 8:20 8:21 8:21

Karenia brevis, the Florida red tide organism, was not detected alongshore or offshore Sarasota Friday, May 20, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institute.

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 Sarasota Observer, 1970 Main St., fourth floor, Sarasota, Fla., 34236, or email them to nschwartz@yourobserver.com.

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

52544

Thurs., May 26 Fri., May 27 Sat., May 28 Sun., May 29 Mon., May 30 Tues., May 31 Wed., June 1

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

C R Y P T O G R A M S by Myles Mellor 1. C J

LMV

UZJ,

GBG

JIK

VFVD

OILBQV

LMZL

GIHR

QZO’L GZOQV FVDJ UVNN? LMVDV’R Z HIIG DVZRIO. B L’ R C V Q Z K R V L M V J M Z F V L U I N V T L T V V L !

2. R

KZWICOOWZ

ORS

R V N LV G C Q V Z W O O

OFZCCF RQB OFWK NRDISRE.

FNC

JRLQ

SNCQ NC ROGCB SNE,

FNC ZWWOFCZ FWDB NLJ, “ONC SRQFO FW DRE LF W Q F N C D L Q C .”

OR ELSE by Paul Jenn ACROSS

71 Without a chaperon 72 Just a bit, if that 75 “___ as good a time as any!”

76 Mouse-spotters’ cries 77 Snorkeling destination 78 Icelandic literary collection 79 “If the ___ fits ...”

80 World Series site of 1969 81 Rhyming writers 83 In bundles, as hay 84 Feather go-with 85 Railroad stops (Abbr.)

86 Mafia bosses 87 Monkeyshines 88 Less stale 90 Consequently 91 Zilch 92 “The ___ Queene” 94 “The First ___” (Christmas tune) 95 Protect from depletion 100 Pro Football Hall-ofFamer Michael 101 Words of finality 104 She may cry “Uncle” 105 Roman greetings of old 106 Letter-shaped support 107 Best or Ferber 108 ___ Lee (frozen dessert brand) 109 Heredity unit 110 Town near Tuscany 111 Negative votes

1 Rank 5 Haul with effort 10 Small, medium or large, e.g.

14 See in the distance 18 Squashed circle 19 Courtship participant 20 Start of many Ocean Spray juice names 21 Banished person 22 Risky stakes 25 Roll over, as a subscription 26 Caused by necessity 27 Pink, as cheeks 28 Heavy hooded coats 29 Cunning 30 Winnie-the-___ 31 “Go for the ___” (old Schlitz slogan) 32 Football and golf 36 Seat that often swivels 38 Gaelic language 39 Boarding-pass word 42 Hefty volumes 43 Single-masted boat 44 Terrier’s tormenter 45 Scandinavian capital 46 ___ Bator, Mongolia 47 Pond covering 48 Property claim 49 Nincompoop 50 In any manner necessary 55 The Hindu destroyer 56 Health resort 57 Norms on the links 58 Fly off the handle 59 Hypothetical primates 60 Religious ceremony dOwn 61 Unit of magnetic 1 Went by train, e.g. flux density 2 Mary Kay rival 62 Fuzzy image 3 Tight as a drum 63 Incisor’s neighbor 4 Temporary home for 66 Positive replies Napoleon 67 Rude, crude dude 5 Potential boat 68 Ambulance chaser’s capsizers advice

55 Short burst of 6 Bunch of bunk energy 7 Shepherd in the 59 Standoffish 23rd Psalm 60 Step before spin-dry 8 Suffix for “velvet” 61 ___ kick out of 9 What an amateur (enjoys) may turn 62 Radius, ulna, etc.

10 Group of fish 63 Art capable of 11 Apt to celebrate 64 Word meaning March 17? “hello” and 12 Off-the-wall “goodbye” 13 Chang’s bosom 65 Words to a waverer buddy?

66 “Yowza!”

14 Put out, as effort 67 Author Harte and 15 Success/failure pitcher Saberhagen metaphor 16 Statement of guilt or 68 Move like a crab 69 Fully anesthetized innocence 70 “By Jove!”

17 Trees used in 72 Composer of “The making longbows Merry Widow” 21 Undo, as writing 73 Layered cookie 23 Shoppers’ guides 74 Old, dilapidated car 24 Girl Scout unit 76 Lauder of cosmetics 28 South Korea’s 81 St. ___ Girl (German second-largest city beer) 30 Nanki-___ of “The 82 Covert ___ (army Mikado” assignment) 31 “My Big Fat ___ 83 Ultralight wood Wedding” 85 Sty denizens 32 Ticket halves 86 Crackers go-with 33 Tentacled sea 87 Screening locale creature 89 “Fanny” author 34 D-day beachhead Jong 35 City near Lake Tahoe 90 Subway turnstile 36 Speaks indistinctly feeder 37 Grant has a famous 91 “Inception” director one Christopher 38 T.S. of literature 92 Goldfish propellers 40 Popeye’s skinny 93 Delivery from a diva sweetie 94 Where the 41 Wagner’s Valhalla congregation sits god 95 Manitoba tribesmen 43 Pinball machine 96 Not odd display 97 Update, as a room 44 Broadway bombs 98 Street crossing 45 Turn the ___ cheek Hollywood 47 Use rollerblades 51 Offer one’s thoughts 99 JFK predictions 52 You’ll get a rise out 101 “___, you are it!”

102 “My country, ___ of of this thee ...”

53 Merciless 54Charlotte ___ (cream- 103 Kimono cinch filled dessert)

Last weeks Cryptograms 1. Figure this out: how did a ten-thousand-word legal document come to be called a brief?

2. Vanity shows itself in numerous subtle ways. Those people affected by it are often me-deep in conversation..

Thursday, May 26, 2011 Items Under $200 For Sale

Autos Wanted

Storage

ENGLISH BICYCLES (2): his and hers, in excellent condition and great quality. $180.

941-925-8660.

AUTOS WANTED! Let me take the hassle out of selling your car. Cash offered today!

Call Mike, 941-713-2277.

STORAGE FACILITY Boat/ RV/ Trailer.

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

Boats

Help Wanted

FOLDING TABLE/ Padded Chairs. New. Steel frame, enameled durable, lock release $58. 941-266-4200 GOLF BAG Burton, sleeved, Grand Haven logo, like new $30; Nicklaus driver $20.

941-439-6051

MEMORIAL DAY EARLY DEADLINES

KENMORE REFRIGERATOR with ice maker, works well $75.00 941-377-2255

for June 2nd edition CLASSIFIED ADS Deadline Tuesday, May 31st, 12:00pm SERVICE DIRECTORY Deadline Thursday, May 26th, 12:00pm The Observer will be CLOSED Monday, May 30th for the Memorial Day Holiday.

We will reopen Tuesday, May 31st at 8:30am.

Call 941-955-4888 To Place Your Ad

Items Under $200 For Sale 300 HOURS of music/vocals on tapes.

Sony TC530 player/recorder included. $199 Details 941-377-8158 ADVERTISE YOUR merchandise with the total value of $200 or less in this section for FREE! Limit 1 ad per month, 15 words or less. Price must be included. No commercial advertising. Ad runs 2 consecutive weeks.

Email ad to: classified@yourobserver.com or online at: www.yourobserver.com/classifieds CARDBOARD BOXES- For shipping.

18x18x28. I have 160 boxes. Sell for $1 each. 941-918-9171 COCKTAIL TABLE- Extra large, square 48” each side.

5 Glass inserts on top. $75.

941-927-2299 COFFEE TABLE- 40X40 designer brass & glass w/beveled edges $70, metal storage shelves $25. 941-504-2252

LUGGAGE- AMERICAN Tourister. 3 sizes, fits inside & 1 shoulder bag, black. $50 obo.

941-924-8477 MICROWAVE OVEN: new, still in box, $175.

941-927-5153, Hein.

SHOP VAC- Dirt Devil (Wet-Dry), 3.5hp.

Excellent condition $25. 941-923-1757 SOFA- PALE orange faint Oriental brocade $75. Desk $65. End tables, antique pair $55.

941-922-2046 WHEELS- CORVETTE chrome wheels, fits ‘97-’99, front 17” & rear 18”. Excellent condition. $200. 941-320-0751 WINE COOLER- Euro Cave, holds 180 bottles, 5 shelves, 24Wx68Hx23D. New $1600.

Asking $200obo. 941-966-3261 YARD TOOLS- Craftsman Weed Wacker, 4 cycle $80. Craftsman Pressure Washer, Like New $100. 941-751-2707

Autos For Sale 1998 BENZ ML320 SUV- Outstanding shape. Sunroof, Leather, New Radio, Heated Seats, Trunk Liner. Clean inside and out.

New brakes all around. Tires are in good shape. 139k miles. Car has no mechanical problems. Call to come and look! 941-3833313 or cell 201-452-2063 Asking $6,500.

2005 BUICK RENDEZVOUS: 2 WD, CXL. Immaculate, 1 owner, non-smoker, garage kept, Car is flawless like new. $8995.

Call David, 518-6661.

2001 GRADY WHITE 232 Gulfstream w/250 Yamaha. Runs great. $25,900. Call Tony 941-232-5071. Osprey HOT TUB: 5 person with lounger, 110/220, never used. Warranty, can deliver. $2595.

941-462-0633.

Furnishings SARASOTA BARGAIN Thrift Store & Consignment Center. 1635 12th St., Sarasota. Washers, Dryers, Refrigerators, Freezers. Furniture, Beds, Dressers, Sofas, Tables, TV’s, Records, Books, etc. Don’t give your items away, let us sell them for you!

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

Garage/Moving/Estate Sales   FLEA MARKET. Sarasota Municipal Auditorium. Saturday, May 28, 10a.m.-5p.m. & Sunday, May 29, 10a.m.-4p.m. For info: 954-4165.

ESTATE SALE- A-Z Household, Tools, collectibles, Furniture, SAT. 8-2. Priced to Sell. Stoneybrook, 9512 Hawksmoor. Say address at gate. 941-404-9780 SATURDAY, MAY 28TH, 8a.m.-3p.m., 5548 Waneta Place, Sarasota. Household goods, furniture, tools, trolling motor, clothes and much more!

Merchandise Wanted LOOKING FOR memorabilia items, photos, etc. from the old Summer House restaurant on Siesta Key. Contact Jim, 262-510-3375 or E-mail info. to: jschlesing@gmail.com

Pets BIEWER YORKIE/ SILKY TERRIER: 9 week old female, first shots given, $600. Can be seen locally. 941-713-1559.

Announcements 800-431-4635 MONEY PROBLEMS? Guaranteed help now. Free Call 24/7.

You Can Make a Difference. Help seniors stay independent. We provide: non medical care, personal care, meals, light housekeeping, transportation & companionship.

Flexible hours available- F/T, P/T, Overnight, Weekends and Live-In. Positions available in Sarasota/ Bradenton/ Venice. To work now fax resume to 941-929-7438 or email: joanieck@comcast.net PERSONAL ASSISTANT. Organizing, transportation, appointments, eclectic work requiring flexibility. Good pay. 941726-5830, leave message 24/7.

Positions Wanted Multi-Talented Couple Available To Be Your House Manager, Companion, Cook, Driver.

Housekeeper, Estate Manager/Property Caretaker, Personal Assistant, Computer Guy. Estates, Homes, Condos. Live-in position desired. Experience working for senior couple in private home & executive living in gated estate. Will travel with homeowner. Available immediately.

We currently live in West Palm Beach.

Dan & Margie Curry. 561-385-6424, dancurry@bellsouth.net

Condos/Apts. For Rent 1BR CONDO with garage, lake view, gated community. Furnished or unfurnished. $1050-$1125 per month. 941-706-1948 1BR/1BA: IMMACULATELY clean, nicely furnished, pool, tennis court, walk to shops, near downtown. No pets. $625/mo. annual.

Assigned parking. Water, sewer, pest control included. 941-374-3401.

DOWNTOWN- 2/1, bayview, large lanai, no pets/ smoking. By owner/ agent. $950 month. 941-914-1759. Available late June FIRST LIDO 1900 Ben Franklin. Large 1BR/2BA condo. Gulf view from all windows, No obstruction. Rent for 6 months or longer. $1500. 513-541-1135.

Auctions

HIDDEN LAKES: Studio, immaculate, balcony, pool, tennis courts, weight room, sauna. $595/mo. annual. No pets. 374-3401.

AUCTION

This week’s crossword answers

May 28, 11a.m.

Full house of furniture, art, glass & collectibles 3479 51st. Circle West, Bradenton.

THE OBSERVER LP # 56732

Go online 24/7 to place your ad in The Observer Classifieds

For pictures & More Information, www.afraac.com

www.yourobserver.com

ALL FLORIDA REALTY & AUCTION CO.

Your source for local Classifieds

Ab923 941-746-5355 Au1333 LV1241

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

Homemakers/ Companions CNA’S/ HHA’S

10% Buyer’s Premium for cash or local checks, 13% with VISA, MC or Discover

THE OBSERVER LP # 56733

SARASOTA Observer

THE SARASOTA OBSERVER THURSDAY, MAY 26, 2011 Thursday, May 26, 2011 SIESTA KEY. Bayfront, super view top floor, furnished, oversized 2BR/2BA, enclosed lanai. All amenities with boat dock available.

Steps to beach. Annual or monthly, $1500.

941-383-1909.

Condos For Sale

Homes For Rent

Cleaning

LUXOR MHP

EDLA’S CLEANING SERVICES: Residential Commercial, New Construction. Meticulous, deep cleaning top to bottom. We Guarantee.

Affordable & Reliable. Excellent References.

Free Estimates. Licensed & Insured. 30% off first cleaning. 371-9869.

$425mo-1 bed/bath mobile homes.

55+ community. No Pets.

5811 14th St. W. Bradenton.

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

Homes For Sale PALMER RANCH DISTRESSED PROPERTIES

DOWNTOWN SARASOTA BAYFRONT GULF VIEWS. DOUBLE UNIT - REGENCY HOUSE - 435 GULFSTREAM AVE. 3330+ sq.ft. living area with split 2-3BR/3BA. Totally remodeled, parquet floors, granite kitchen, walk-in closets, office/den with built-ins. Hurricane shutters, a 180 degree view of the keys and the Gulf. A must see unit. Steps to downtown activities and restaurants. Price reduced. RON STAHL REALTY, 941-374-1671.

SARASOTA HOMES & CONDOS

Home Improvement/ Remodeling

One Site for All Your Needs!

ROBERT INTERIORS, LLC.

LARRY BRZOSTEK RE/MAX Alliance Group.

941-993-3125

Room For Rent RETIRED LADY wants responsible roommate. Furnished bedroom and bath in spacious 3BR/2BA home near Clark & Stickney Point. Non smoker/No pets. $700 includes all except food. 941-925-2434 or 941-320-3772, Deanna

Vacation/Seasonal Rentals RITZ CARLTON TOWER RESIDENCES 35 Watergate Dr. #406 Priced Under $1 Million 2800sf, NE corner + private elevator.

2br/3ba + office. Plus 840sf terraces.

Marble, granite & wood upgrades thru-out.

Attached to the Ritz Carlton but private and secure. (941)356-4050 Riverfront Condo with dock at your back door! Central Sarasota Location $320,000

LBK: 1BR furnished condo, water views, includes cable, Longboat Harbor. Covered parking, no pets/ smoking, Gulf/ private beach house access. Boat dock available.

Available May 1st - Nov. 1st. $750/mo. +utilities. 248-231-3793.

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.

PALM AIRE. Fabulously furnished 2BR/2BA condo. Screened lanai, golf views, W/D, community pool, carport. $1400 through $2500. Inquire: Eileen, 732-740-9398.

Adult Care Services

2BR/2.5BA with 2 car garage, 1583 SF Walk off your deck & onto your boat!

Direct access to ICW. Impeccable property, perfect condition. Priced to sell fast.

Harold Lasky 941-780-8514 Prudential Lakewood Ranch

HaroldLasky@gmail.com SIESTA KEY. Gulfside, Jamaica Royale garden apartment #76, furnished, 2BR/2BA, ceramic tile, great rental. $479,000. Owner, 847-927-7008.

Homes For Rent DOWNTOWN - Across from park. 2BR/1BA $750 mo. + security. No smoking. NO PETS. Garage for storage. 941-955-7693 or 941-586-5672 GATED 2BR/2BA +Office, Living Room, Great Room, fully furnished (Ethan Allen), caged pool. Verizon Fios Internet & HDTV, security system & lawn service included. $3100/month. 941-918-4488

The

BIG TYPE. EASY READ. FAST RESULTS.

Observer Classifieds 955-4888

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

SUNCOAST CLEANING- Flexible, customized residential cleaning plans mean we handle your home cleaning duties so you don’t have to. Licensed/Insured.

Call Jenni today for your free estimate!

941-822-1837

www.LarrySellsSarasota.com

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

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

941-377-4465, Eldercaresarasota.com

YourObserver.com

Personal Services

FREE computerized list with pictures. buyforeclosures@realtyofsarasota.com 941-468-4917 Brigett Stinson Century 21 Advantage

Property Search Homes - Condos - Golf Communities Short Sales - Foreclosures

17A Classifieds 17A

Complete Home Improvement & Quality Craftsmanship "We treat your home as if it were our own."

Home Repair Interior/Exterior Painting Interior Trim Professional Tile Work & Wood Flooring.

Call David 941-256-6170 or Greg 727 560-7670.

No Project too big. No project too small!

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

Painting/Wallpapering CARLO DATTILO PAINTING. Licensed & insured. Interior/ Exterior painting including drywall repair and retexturing. Wallpaper installation & removal, pressure washing.

Residential & commercial, condos. Honest & reliable. Free estimates. 941-744-1020.

35+ years experience.

4 Easy Ways To Place your Classified ad Cha-Ching!

Call 941-955-4888

CLEAN UP

FORUM SALON Welcomes ALLIE Martin.

Specializing in all forms of color applications and all the latest cuts and styles. Call for appointment 941-365-8165 YOUR PERSONAL BOOKKEEPER, LLC Gail Sunray, Owner Personal & Business Bookkeeping Accounting/ Taxes I come to your home or office.

 Bill Paying & Account Reconciliation  Organizing Personal and Business Files  Budgets & Financial Reports  Federal and State Tax Returns BONDED & INSURED Over 25 yrs. experience Telephone: 941-749-5646 yourbookkeeper@tampabay.rr.com

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

Professional Services ***PERSONAL ASSISTANT*** Organizing, bookkeeping, appointments, shopping, etc. Experienced with references.

Call and leave a message 941-321-9615

Tile STEVE ALLEN FLOOR COVERINGS PROFESSIONAL TILE & MARBLE INSTALLATION

Fax 941-362-4808

Email classified@yourobserver.com In The Observer Classifieds Call 955-4888 to Advertise Online at

www.yourobserver.com/classifieds

20 YRS. EXPERIENCE CALL FOR FREE ESTIMATE 726-1802 LIC/ INS

Find Treasure!

NEED HELP? Dr. appts., errands, prepare meals. Good natured, good driver, college educated companion. 923-5366.

Auto Transport SUNCOAST TRANSPORTER

Reserved Space LP Reserved Space

Want to find a great deal on something you’ve always dreamed of?

Long Distance Delivery.

“Snowbirds” I drive your car door to door!

One Inclusive price.

Mike 941-993-0236

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

CLEANING SERVICE RESIDENTIAL & COMMERCIAL. Professional Service.

Excellent References. Affordable Rates.

Lic./Ins./Bonded. Call 941-284-7466.

24hrs./7 days.

You never know what you’ll find in the classifieds!

Your source for local Classifieds

LV1247

Condos/Apts. For Rent

www.yourobserver.com

SARASOTA Observer THE SARASOTA OBSERVER THURSDAY, MAY 26, 2011 Thursday, May 26, 2011

www.yourobserver.com

ACCOUNTING

COMPUTER

HANDYMAN Frustrated depending on unreliable servicemen?

57254

6HUYLQJ 6DUDVRWD DQG 0DQDWHH %XVLQHVVHV

Repair Express

(OUSEHOLD 2EPAIRS s 0AINTING s 4ILE s #ARPENTRY &ANS ,IGHT &IXTURES s 0RESSURE 7ASHING -ORE Licensed/Insured 941-544-0920 Free Estimates 6PDUW 5HDVRQV WR 2XWVRXUFH <RXU $FFRXQWLQJ 1HHGV WR 8V

HOME SERVICES

Â&#x2021; <RX QHHG PRUH WLPH $FFRXQWLQJ DQG ILQDQFH LV RXU FRUH FRPSHWHQF\ Â&#x2021; (QKDQFH GHFLVLRQ PDNLQJ ZLWK RXU LQWHJUDWHG WHDP RI SURIHVVLRQDOV Â&#x2021; 6DYH XS WR RQ DFFRXQWLQJ FRVWV :H RIIHU FRPSHWLWLYH UDWHV

House Care Watch

$ ' 9 , 6 2 5 < ) , 1 $ 1 & , $ / 7$ ; 6 ( 5 9 , & ( 6

PC & LAPTOP REPAIR

L & R AIR CONDITIONING & HEATING

SALES & SERVICE NEW & REFURBISHED NETWORKING DSL AND CABLE SETUPS TRAINING BACKUP & RECOVERY SETUP, INSTALL, UPGRADE AFFORDABLE RATES

3204 Gulf Gate Dr., Sarasota (Across from the Library)

INTERIOR DESIGN

Beautiful Interior Design on a Budget

941-961-0045 ANOTHER LBRL, INC. COMPANY

ALTERATIONS/UPHOLSTERY

UĂ&#x160;->Â&#x201C;iĂ&#x160; >Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x160;-iĂ&#x20AC;Ă&#x203A;Â&#x2C6;ViĂ&#x160;UĂ&#x160; iĂ&#x20AC;Ă&#x152;Â&#x2C6;wi`Ă&#x160;/iVÂ&#x2026;Ă&#x192; UĂ&#x160;6Â&#x2C6;Ă&#x20AC;Ă&#x2022;Ă&#x192;]Ă&#x160;-ÂŤĂ&#x17E;Ă&#x153;>Ă&#x20AC;iĂ&#x160;,iÂ&#x201C;Â&#x153;Ă&#x203A;>Â?Ă&#x160;UĂ&#x160;/Ă&#x20AC;>Â&#x2C6;Â&#x2DC;Â&#x2C6;Â&#x2DC;} UĂ&#x160;7Â&#x2C6;Ă&#x20AC;iÂ?iĂ&#x192;Ă&#x192;Ă&#x160; iĂ&#x152;Ă&#x153;Â&#x153;Ă&#x20AC;Â&#x17D;Â&#x2C6;Â&#x2DC;}Ă&#x160;UĂ&#x160;1ÂŤ}Ă&#x20AC;>`iĂ&#x192; UĂ&#x160; - Ă&#x160;EĂ&#x160; >LÂ?iĂ&#x160;-iĂ&#x152;Ă&#x2022;ÂŤ UĂ&#x160;,iÂ&#x201C;Â&#x153;Ă&#x152;iĂ&#x160; >VÂ&#x17D;Â&#x2021;1ÂŤĂ&#x160;-iĂ&#x20AC;Ă&#x203A;Â&#x2C6;Vi

Frank Beck Upholstery Home Furnishing Restoration and Upholstery Specialist!

100

In-Home Consultation & Do-It-Yourself Plan 57260

(ONESTY s )NTEGRITY s 1UALITY s 6ALUE In shop free estimates Pick up and delivery services available

941s 925 s 2447

-964 *65*,7; ;6 -050:/

552-5766

Quality Furniture Made With Fine Wood #VJMU *OT t &OUFSUBJONFOU $FOUFST t "SNPJSFT $PNQVUFS %FTLT %JOJOH 3PPN 5BCMFT t )VUDIFT 'VSOJUVSF 3FQBJS 3FmOJTIJOH t $BCJOFU 3FGBDJOH

FURNITURE REPAIR

PATIO REPAIRS Furniture Repairs FurnitureSales Sales &&Repairs

BOAT SERVICES DOCKSIDE BOAT REPAIR AND MAINTENANCE SMS Mobile Marine Service *36 )LVKILQGHU ,QVWDOODWLRQ Â&#x2021; 2XWERDUGV , 2ÂŞV Â&#x2021; ,QERDUGV Call for appointment Â&#x2021; 941-232-3523

57457

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

941-504-0903

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

Affordable Expert

PLUGS +

Sod & Landscaping

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

Free rt Expetation ul Cons

(OME -AINTENANCE 0ROGRAMS s Home Renovations 2OOM !DDITIONS s #USTOM #ONSTRUCTION

CLEANING 174 175' 5 74 v E 4+14+6;

175' #6%* '48+%'5 g '5+&'06+#. .'#0+0) '48+%'5

jMHEk MFK g EHFG &6'%* .'#0+0) '48+%'5 0%

56772

+%'05'& g 10&'& g 0574'&

999T &6'%* .'#0+0)T%1/

COMPUTER

Computer Consultant

-OWING s 7EED %ATING s %DGING

+ITCHENS s "ATHROOMS s 7INDOWS s $OORS s 3CREEN 2OOMS s &LOORING s 2OOlNG s 0AINT (OME /FlCES s $ESIGN "UILD s 'REEN #ONSTRUCTION s 3OLAR s -ETAL "UILDINGS s "ARNS 'ARAGES s ND &LOOR !DDITIONS s #OMMERCIAL s )NDUSTRIAL s #USTOM (OMES

Lic./Ins.

For Free in-home estimates and consulting

By Referral or Ad Only

LYLEâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S HANDYMAN SERVICES Total Superior Maintenance

Smart-SplitDivorceMediation.com or call 941-993-2808 - BECAUSE -

UNCOUPLING IS HARD ENOUGH

941-256-2027

ANOTHER LBRL, INC. COMPANY

- DONâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;T -

SURRENDER CONTROL and MONEY - DO -

PURSUE this RATIONAL, ECONOMICAL and LAWYERLESS ALTERNATIVE to an UNCONTESTED DIVORCE INSURED

57377

54606

anthonylenari@hotmail.com

F R E E E STI M ATE S 941-706-5569 YRS IN BUSINESS LEGAL SERVICES

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

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

Repair â&#x20AC;˘ Service â&#x20AC;˘ Training Business & Residential

(941) 315-0896

AFFORDABLE LAWN CARE

Call: 941-746-5255

Visit our website at: www.TLHillConstruction.com

Anthony Lenari

Many Local References

LAWN CARE

Honey Do Lists / No Job Too Small ASK ABOUT OUR DISCOUNTS! â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 10% Senior Discount

State Lic #CGC1507489

365-2407

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

#USHIONS s 3LINGS s 2E POWDERCOATING #USHIONS s 3LINGS s 5MBRELLAS

HANDYMAN

CERTIFIED & INSURED

941-706-1208

586-4791

Mottern :2 20 2':2 5.,1* &

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

56973 38056

OfďŹ ce in Palmer Ranch 8586 Potter Park Drive, Sarasota, FL 34238

Thomas

0

YOUR DESIGN - YOUR CHOICE OF WOOD 57548

Sharon M. Guy

(< &8672

56949 38314

Sharon M. Guy, P.A.

NEW TV - CALL ME

Law OfďŹ ce of

35 26

REFACE OR NEW IN BAMBOO

ATTORNEY

WILLS, TRUSTS, PROBATE, ELDER LAW

Native Son Landscape Services, Inc. GO GREEN!

57317

Gulf Gate Village 6568 Superior Ave., Sarasota, FL 34231

LANDSCAPING & LAWN

CUSTOM WOODWORKING

ESTABLISHED 1975!

56952

57259

(OURS -ONDAY &RIDAY AM PM s 7EEKENDS BY APPOINTMENT

941.726.1560

www.chiconthecheap.net chiconthecheap@gmail.com

941-921-7552

Allow me to do my very best for you!

RedeďŹ ning Interior Design

$

56383

10% OFF for First Visit

56405

56367

Servicing All Makes and Models

56959

VIRUS & SPYWARE EXPERTS! LAPTOP REPAIR SPECIALISTS

56889

24 Hour Emergency Service Residential and Commercial

Dennis Gotthelf

57552

On Site or In Shop

941.266.0562

57261

AIR CONDITIONING

53750

Multi-Point InspectionsÂ&#x2021;Water Plants Car ChargeÂ&#x2021; Meet/Arrange Contractors DGotthelf1@Verizon.net - REFERENCES

56408

ZZZ NHQQHWKMDUYLV FRP

56385

18A YourObserver.com 18A Classifieds

Self-Determination - Not the System

SARASOTA: 1900 MAIN ST. SUITE 750 LAKEWOOD RANCH: 9040 TOWN CENTER PKWY. (COMING SOON)

Leonard Goodkin Florida Supreme Court &HUWLĂ&#x20AC;HG 0HGLDWRU

19A Classifieds 19A YourObserver.com

www.yourobserver.com

THURSDAY, MAY 2011 Thursday, May26, 26, 2011

MOVERS

PET SERVICES

Pet Care

by

STORAGE

FLORIDA CLASSIC CAR STORAGE

Melanie

Discreet, secure, climate controlled/dehumidiďŹ ed storage for your collector car.

s 0ET 3ITTING s $OG 7ALKING

359-1904

s /VER YEARS EXPERIENCE

We sell boxes!

For Every Size. For Every Budget. Energy Savings for Everybody!

FREE

ESTIMATES

than Dewey NaPainting COMPANY

COMMERCIAL & RESIDENTIAL Interior & Exterior Pressure Washing Pool Decks Drywall Repair Family Owned & Operated

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Quality Workmanship for Over 25 Yearsâ&#x20AC;?

56828

WINDOWS

3M WINDOW FILMS

NBI SUN CONTROL

57015 23483

1-800-TINTING

Auto / Residential / Commercial

Are You Thinking About Renovations? a Â&#x160;y~{Â&#x201E;Â&#x2030; Š XwÂ&#x160;~Â&#x2030; Š m Â&#x201E;zÂ&#x2026;Â?Â&#x2030; Š ZÂ&#x2026;Â&#x2026;Â&#x2C6;Â&#x2030; fw Â&#x201E;Â&#x160; Â&#x201E;} Š h{Â&#x2020;w Â&#x2C6;Â&#x2030; Š Wzz Â&#x160; Â&#x2026;Â&#x201E;Â&#x2030;

West Florida Contractors, Inc.

941-906-8554

Lic./Ins. se Window Washin i r n Su d Pressure Cleanin g

Res./Com.

an

CGC1505233

www.wfcgeneralcontractors.com

g

Environmentally Friendly

h,EAVE 9OUR $IRTY 7INDOWS 4O 5Sv

s

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

PSI P

Lic/Ins

#OMMERCIAL 2ESIDENTIAL s 4REE 2EMOVAL s 0RUNING ,ANDSCAPING "USHES 3HRUBS s 3TUMP 2EMOVAL s 0ALMS /AKS ETC s ,OT ,AND #LEARING #LAM 4RUCK (AULING s #RANE "UCKET 3ERVICE s "OBCAT s 3HELLWORK $EMOSSING #LEANOUTS s &IREWOOD s (R %MERGENCY 3ERVICE s ,IC )NS E-mail: jhtreeguy@verizon.net Insurance Claims (941) 266-0365

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

484-4576

s 0ROFESSIONAL 1UALITY 7ORK s )NTERIOR %XTERIOR AINTING s ,ICENSED )NSURED s /WNER /PERATED 941-321-2791 s ,OCAL 2EFERENCES www.psipainting.com

James Tree Service & Complete Landscaping

57318 38066

PROMPT RESPONSE 56386

Fully Insured

(941) 388-3580

Š _Â&#x201E;Â&#x160;{Â&#x2C6; Â&#x2026;Â&#x2C6; fw Â&#x201E;Â&#x160; Â&#x201E;} Š fÂ&#x2026;Â&#x2020;yÂ&#x2026;Â&#x2C6;Â&#x201E; Y{ Â&#x201A; Â&#x201E;} h{Â&#x192;Â&#x2026;Â&#x152;wÂ&#x201A; Š mwÂ&#x201A;Â&#x201A;Â&#x2020;wÂ&#x2020;{Â&#x2C6; h{Â&#x192;Â&#x2026;Â&#x152;wÂ&#x201A; Š j{Â&#x17D;Â&#x160;Â&#x2039;Â&#x2C6;{z \ Â&#x201E; Â&#x2030;~{Â&#x2030; Š ZÂ&#x2C6;Â?Â?wÂ&#x201A;Â&#x201A; h{Â&#x2020;w Â&#x2C6;C h{Â&#x2020;Â&#x201A;wy{Â&#x192;{Â&#x201E;Â&#x160;

56382

PAINTING

TREES

57579

The Observer Service Directory Call 955-4888 to advertise.

Specializing in Residential Painting

EcoTechnoUSA.com

CVC56744

56983

BULLSEYE! Reach a Targeted Audience

Corby J. deKozlowski

364-5900

h50 4/ 34!.$!2$ 7).$/73 s v 302).' 30%#)!,3

Call Now for a Free Estimate (941) 962-0395

10%

Free Estimates

00

OFF + Additional

For Senior Citizens Prices Include:

Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x160; >Ă&#x152;Â&#x2026;Ă&#x160; Â&#x2C6;Ă&#x20AC;Ă&#x20AC;Â&#x153;Ă&#x20AC;Ă&#x192;Ă&#x160;UĂ&#x160;Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x160; >Â&#x2DC;Ă&#x192;Ă&#x160;UĂ&#x160;/Ă&#x20AC;>VÂ&#x17D;Ă&#x192;Ă&#x160;UĂ&#x160;-VĂ&#x20AC;iiÂ&#x2DC;Ă&#x192;

Observe

what you are missing...

Local News thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s

LOCAL NEWS! YourObserver.com

57320

Operator/Owner

U Spray Foam Insulation U Solar Hot Water and Pool Heaters U Solar PV Electricity U Variable Speed Pool Pumps

57544

Dave McCarthy

Reduce electric bills from 25% to 100%!

Free energy analysis and consultation

56892

LOCAL - LONG DISTANCE FREE ESTIMATES Phone (941) 704-4278 Fax (941) 538-3781

56409

TILE

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Will move anything from a couch to a householdâ&#x20AC;?

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

941-584-8616 Team Up Today With Classifieds 941-955-4888

REMODELING/HOME IMPROVEMENT

Dave McCarthy

57460

MO V I N G

(941) 966-2960

56381

Fully Licensed and Insured

s %XCELLENT REFERENCES 56402

U.S. DOT No. 1915800

Centrally located near downtown Sarasota.

Also, storing RVâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s, Boats, Motorcycles.

57302

THE SARASOTA SARASOTA ObserverOBSERVER

20A

SARASOTA Observer

YourObserver.com

THURSDAY, MAY 26, 2011

Smart Time To Sell

This news reached us recently courtesy of Real Trends, the Colorado-based real estate and communications company, whose highly-anticipated annual ranking of the 500 Largest Real Estate Brokers in the U.S. has just been officially released.

During 2010—one of the most challenging years ever for Florida real estate—our agents’ combined productivity propelled the company from 88th to 60th place in total dollar volume among all U.S. brokerages surveyed. This noteworthy improvement received additional praise from Real Trends for being achieved strictly through increased sales. Not through mergers or acquisitions, as most were.

Michael Saunders & Company was also the nation’s 13th most improved firm in terms of total transaction sides closed; its ranking moving from 130th in 2009 to 88th in 2010.

Such improved performance, while certainly a credit to our agents and leadership team, also underscores the growing momentum of our market’s recovery. In fact, recent trends in monthly sales may surprise those buyers and sellers who are just now venturing into the market.

While ours is still very much a buyers’ market, the pendulum is gradually swinging in the other direction.

For sellers planning to list their homes in the near future, the news is encouraging. Over the past several months buyers have finally unleashed several years of pent-up demand, signaling a strong comfort level with home prices that have dropped by as much as 50% since 2005. For the first time in six years, statistics show there are plenty of buyers prepared to purchase well-priced, well-maintained properties.

For buyers holding-out for potentially lower prices, though still counting on a good selection of properties, this current buying spree is your wake-up call. Even with today’s unprecedented wave of foreclosures, short sales and competitively-priced non-distressed properties, our market’s once-swollen inventory of properties has been so thoroughly picked-over that buyers are complaining of the shortage. Our agents, in the meantime, are actively searching for new listings to satisfy this demand, even as they routinely field multiple offers on the best buying opportunities. Nothing portends an improving market for sellers better than a growing trend in multiple offers.

Conventional wisdom throughout the industry agrees that a six-month supply of homes constitutes a balanced market. According to Trendgraphix—the industry’s best source for identifying new trends— Sarasota County presently has 6.7 months of available inventory based on April’s rate of closed sales; but only 5.5 months based on pending sales. Similarly, Manatee County has 6.9 months of inventory based

on closed sales; and 5.1 months based on pending sales. In Charlotte County, there are 7.6 and 6.7 months respectively. The months of available properties vary by price range; but as inventories generally decline in the wake of stronger sales, competition for the best-priced properties is expected to remain heated—frequently resulting in expedited sales and multiple offers.

Consequently, now is a good time to sell your home, provided it is priced competitively and under $1 million. The market for properties above $1 million remains a challenge, with just over 19 months of available inventory in both Sarasota and Manatee counties. Charlotte County faces an even greater climb. It currently has a 101-month—or 8-plus years—supply of $1 million-plus properties based on April’s rate of sales.

Why is there a shortage of more moderately-priced properties developing even with an indeterminate number of distressed properties still in the pipeline? Quality foreclosures, it seems, have the shortest shelf lives of all once they reach the market. Investors in these types of properties have done their homework and are prepared to pounce. In Sarasota County, for example, there’s only 1.8 months of available foreclosure properties based on April’s rate of closed sales. That month, 205 foreclosures were listed in the MLS. 147 were sold.

This is another reason why we feel confident our market is recapturing its balance. With prices bottoming, inventories declining and demand on the rise, it is both a good time to buy; and a smart time to sell

1232 N Casey Key $10,400,000 #A310605 Annette & Albert Ayers

Osprey 941-966-8000 941-223-2343

1102 N Casey Key Rd $4,200,000 #A3918770 Nancy Moore

Osprey 941-966-8000 941-374-2200

1607 S Lake Shore Dr Sarasota $1,985,000 #A3920649 941-951-6660 Nora Johnson & Denise Mattmuller 941-809-1700

717 N Manasota Key Rd $1,699,000 #D5779293 Pamela Neer

Englewood 941-473-7750 941-830-0999

395 Sugar Mill Dr $1,295,000 #A3938623 Alexei Dovgopolyi

Osprey 941-966-8000 941-966-8000

5880 Midnight Pass Rd # 411 $1,250,000 #A3932628 Linda Stowe

Siesta Key 941-349-3444 941-228-5685

202 Gaines Ave $999,999 #A3924030 Debra Pitell

Sarasota 941-951-6660 941-356-0437

3903 Founders Club Dr $949,000 #A3940709 Linda Driggs

Sarasota 941-951-6660 941-374-2920

7560 Preservation Dr $899,000 #A3936408 Lenore Treiman

Sarasota 941-966-8000 941-356-9642

5056 N Beach Rd # 401 $795,000 #A3936504 Terri Healey

Englewood 941-966-8000 941-320-0389

8990 Wildlife Loop $775,000 #A3939624 Maripat Flood

Sarasota 941-966-8000 941-320-0441

5306 Hidden Harbor Rd $674,900 #A3943342 Stacy Liljeberg

Siesta Key 941-349-3444 941-544-6103

312 Oakwood Cir $649,500 #D5783143 Marci Storey/Debi Benson

Englewood 941-473-7750 941-380-0153

480 Coral Creek Dr $625,500 #D5783043 Marci Storey/Debi Benson

Placida 941-473-7750 941-380-0153

627 Khyber Ln $459,000 #N5771735 Helene Johnston

Venice 941-493-2500 941-486-8224

5420 Eagles Point Cir # 206 $445,000 #A3939857 Tara Lamb & Judy Greene

Sarasota 941-349-3444 941-266-4873

5421 Plaza Des Las Palmas $439,000 #A3940290 Christine Del Monte

Siesta Key 941-349-3444 941-266-6733

808 Carnoustie Dr $399,900 #N5772952 Scott Johnston

Venice 941-493-2500 941-232-5482

1045 Scherer Way $365,000 #A3939758 Linda Bastian

Osprey 941-966-8000 941-321-6203

6265 Midnight Pass Rd # 304 $365,000 #A3942042 Lee Byron and Sue Keal

Siesta Key 941-349-3444 941-350-5542

1771 Ringling Blvd # 806 $350,000 #A3943160 Pamela Charron

Sarasota 941-951-6660 941-993-3388

5225 Avenida Navarra St # 2 $339,000 #A3916899 Sara Chester

Siesta Key 941-349-3444 941-737-8234

1350 N Portofino Dr # 202 $330,000 #A3943345 Mary Sauve`

Siesta Key 941-966-8000 941-228-3518

1181 Night Wind Ter $329,000 #C7022305 Kaley Lewis

North Port 941-639-0000 941-268-3700

604 Wild Pine Way $325,000 #N5771029 Jo-Anne Sckowska & Nell Taylor

Venice 941-485-5421 941-321-8975

5207 Conner Ter $319,900 #D5776652 Mercedes Skidmore

Port Charlotte 941-473-7750 941-716-5406

8921 Veranda Way # 311 $305,000 #A3925512 Janet Montgomery

Sarasota 941-966-8000 941-544-7031

750 N Tamiami Trl # 1018 $295,000 #A3939227 Bibi-Ann Allard PA

Sarasota 941-951-6660 941-685-0422

4493 Legacy Ct $289,000 #A3942299 Anja Deichmann

Sarasota 941-951-6660 941-284-7987

281 Hidden Bay Dr # 201 $239,000 #A3931910 Lorraine Neal

Osprey 941-966-8000 941-350-0997

144 Tall Trees Ct $235,000 #A3940782 Susan Mitchell

Sarasota 941-951-6660 941-780-5085

11453 Dancing River Dr $232,500 #N5773038 Theresa Brown

Venice 941-485-5421 941-350-5005

8901 Veranda Way # 112 $229,900 #A3929642 Cathi Reali

Sarasota 941-966-8000 941-232-8200

4462 Streamside Ct # 1602 $222,000 #A3928647 C Susan Hilton

Sarasota 941-966-8000 941-350-3781

525 Barcelona Ave # 202 $199,000 #N5772946 Beverly Weltzien

Venice 941-485-5421 941-223-0612

4640 Tower Hill Ln # 2326 $179,000 #A3937001 Don Hughes, PA

Sarasota 941-966-8000 941-374-1941

7216 W Country Club N Dr # V-23 Sarasota $169,900 #A3942302 941-951-6660 Julie Jordan 941-504-7414

3021 Matecumbe Key Rd # 1 $128,800 #C7015772 Jennifer Calenda

Punta Gorda 941-505-5555 941-916-0798

437 Cerromar Ln # 316 $115,000 #N5769130 Bambi Utton

Venice 941-493-2500 941-228-4881

3179 Cardiff St $109,900 Lisa Laflamme

Punta Gorda 941-639-0000 941-916-0538

213 Rubens Dr # 213C Nokomis/North Venice $84,900 #N5772896 941-485-5421 Laura Kovac 941-587-4080

#C7019685

3235 Madagascar Ave North Port/Venice $64,900 #C7024072 941-505-5555 Jennifer Calenda 941-916-0798

Mid Longboat 941.383.5502 • South Longboat 383.7591 • St. Armands 388.4447 • Main Street 951.6660 • Palmer Ranch 966.8000 • Siesta Key 349.3444 • Venice 485.5421

51571

Today’s column begins with an expression of gratitude. As a home buyer or seller, you have many choices of real estate agents situated throughout Southwest Florida. Thank you for choosing an agent with Michael Saunders & Company. Their ability to assist in achieving your goals helped them accomplish one of the best collective performances of any real estate company in the United States during 2010.

A RT S | E N T E RTA I N M E N T | S O C I E T Y | F O O D | FA S H I O N | D é C O R

Diversions YourObserver.com

COLLECTIVE CONSCIOUSNESS

THURSDAY, MAY 26, 2011

by Heidi Kurpiela | A&E Editor

Heidi Kurpiela

“We’re not exactly Palm Avenue,” says Stephanie Broche, pictured with Rocky Bentley, right, and Midgeann Schotsch, left. “You don’t have to have a large pocketbook to walk into our gallery.”

Friends with vision The Five Points Collective is redefining what it means to be artists and gallery owners in downtown Sarasota.

T

he Five Points Collective isn’t afraid of becoming a hangout.

In fact, it’s striving for that.

How else do you explain the community skateboard that’s available to patrons hoping to hop a quick ride into downtown Sarasota?

You heard right: a community skateboard.

It turned up last month in the Five Points break room following a Thursday night live-music session.

After unsuccessfully trying to track down the board’s owner on

Facebook, Five Points founders Stephanie Broche, Rocky Bentley and Midgeann Schotsch decided to give up their search and proclaim the skateboard “an in-house board” and offer it to anyone wanting a quick ride into downtown Sarasota.

FIVE POINTS CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

INSIDE

Black Tie

EDIBLES:

Florida fresh produce / 5

Lori Formato

THE SOCIAL OBSERVER

Dick Vitale Gala / PAGE 8

CAMERA READY Fashionable Gala / 10

2 ■ Diversions >>

YourObserver.com

■

THURSDAY, may 26, 2011

COVER STORY

FIVE POINTS from 1 “We’ve got a friend who comes by and asks if he can borrow it pretty frequently,” Broche says. “He brings it back every time.”

Located in a small oft-forgotten plaza next door to Porter Paints off U.S. 301, “the collective,” as its founders refer to it, is a five-minute skateboard ride from the heart of downtown Sarasota.

A multi-hyphenate arts venue that functions as an art gallery, recording studio and bead store, Five Points occupies a 1,100-sqaure-foot space that once housed a day spa.

The gallery, which sits on the outskirts of Towles Court, is edgier than most of its neighbors. A hip, new outlier to Sarasota’s deeply rooted, grown-up arts colony, Five Points is decidedly less cutesy than the rustic garden-chic galleries on Adams Lane.

Its name has nothing to do with downtown’s Five Points intersection, park or condominium. More poetically, it signifies the five points on a star.

“Everybody wants to be a star,” says Bentley, who 25 years ago played in a Los Angeles “hair band” that fizzled when grunge rock came on the scene.

The self-described “grandpa” of the group, Bentley, 45, fronts the local band, Rockstarr Bentley, in addition to hosting “The Rock Show” every Monday night on

IF YOU GO The Five Points Collective is located at 300 S. Washington Blvd. across from Payne Park. The studio streams live music by local bands every Thursday night on www.fivepointslive.com. Tune in from 7 to 9 p.m. May 26, for Traphik 3:16 and June 2 for Hangman Jury.

WSLR radio.

“The entire concept of the collective came from Rocky’s desire to have a clean space to practice his music,” Broche says.

“We realized it’s no small affair to rent rehearsal space.”

Broche is Bentley’s girlfriend. A legal billing specialist by day, artist by night, Broche, 41, who specializes in large-scale mixed-media works which were rarely exhibited in public.

“I looked inside the windows along Palm Avenue, and I could never picture my work there,” Broche says. “It didn’t fit the mold.”

The first thing she did upon opening her Rivoli Gallery inside the Five Points storefront was put her canvases on display.

One of her pieces, “Alphabet Soup,” takes up nearly half of the store’s front window display. Dubbed a “painted poem,” the work is a mix of metallic paint, hematite stone, papier-mâché, alphabet charms and glitter gel.

Broche, a Laurel Park resident, is among

25 artists represented by the Rivoli Gallery, the name of which comes from her Sicilian ancestors.

“In order to get it going we had to function differently than other galleries,” Broche says. “We’re a little more friendly to the average starving artist.”

Admittedly, Broche, Bentley and Schotsch only make up three-fifths of the collective. DJ Frankie Valencic (aka Frankie V) and drummer Michael Kiss are also members.

It was the threesome’s friendship, however, that took the collective from a distant dream to a functioning one-stop art/ music studio.

“It’s been like kismet,” Bentley says.

“Serendipity.”

It was only a month ago that they opened the space and less than a year ago that they outlined a business plan.

The idea grew out of a chance encounter last year with Schotsch, a 37-year-old, mother of three with a fashion degree from the University of South Florida, Tampa.

Schotsch wanted to open a bead studio and jewelry store when she meet Bentley and Broche for the first time following a Rockstarr Bentley concert last October.

“The more we started hanging out, the more we realized we each had visions of having a place where we could do our own thing,” says Schotsch, a Gillespie Park resident. “We had so many ideas streaming through our heads.”

Adds Bentley: “We wanted to create something cool, so the kids from Ringling would think it was edgy and the Towles Court crowd would still be comfortable.”

Mission accomplished.

The group successfully established what fellow Sarasota art gallery owner Lori Frary refers to as a throwback to the “emporium business model of the 1970s hippie generation.”

Lounging in a windowless break room, the friends are chatty, energetic and optimistic, still basking in the glow of a new business venture.

An Ace of Base remix pipes through the store, giving the place a ’90s record store feel. The atmosphere drums up the kind of nostalgia you don’t often come by in an iTunes world.

“This place has become our home,” Broche says. “At the end of the night, we’ll lock down the doors, listen to music and talk about our days. The next thing you know, it’s 11 o’clock and time for bed.

That’s how good we feel when we’re here.”

Cortez Road 41

4780 14th St. W. U.S. Hwy 41 Bradenton, FL 34207

Let us bring your next car to You.

TROPICAL

14th Street West

TROPICAL

70

53rd Street

2011Cadillac SrX

469/mo

$

rive Sign & D

39 months, 10,000 miles per year, plus tax, tag and dealer fee. See dealer for details.

STK#11245 STK#11441

2010Cadillac eSCalaDe Get the WOW experience you deserve! Just call and make an appointment to have a Sales Professional bring a car to you in the comfort of your own home with the convenience of

Tropical Cadillac’s Concierge Program.

Oil & Filter Change

$

19

95

Starting From

57,995

$

2011Cadillac CtS

Offsite trade evaluations available!

TROPICAL SERVICE INCLUDES: • Up to 8 qts. of oil • genUine MFg oil filter • Check all fluid levels • Free Multi-point inspection

KIA & GM models Only. Some models higher. Excludes Synthetic oil. Plus tax and shop supplies where applicable. Must present coupon at time of write-up. Not valid with any other coupons or advertised specials. Valid only at Tropical Cadillac. Expires 6/10/2011.

4/15/11.

Sign & Drive

*24 Month lease 2,699 due at signing plus tax, tag, title, and dealer fee of $499.95. 10,000 miles per year with approved credit through Ally financial. Also includes owner loyalty. ** Includes owner loyalty. Photos for illustration purposes only. The dealership or it’s agency are not responsible for late, lost of misdirected mail, typographical or production errors.

STK#11352 STK#11172

379/mo

$

Tropicalcadillac.com

•

941.751.6886

57595

39 months, 10,000 miles per year, plus tax, tag and dealer fee. See dealer for details.

THURSDAY, may 26, 2011

>>

■

Diversions

YourObserver.com

■

3

COLUMN

art scene HEARD

+ Frary closes Rosemary District gallery

by Heidi Kurpiela | A&E Editor

+ Evancho tapes solo concert at Ringling Museum The Ringling Museum slipped this one under our noses while we were preoccupied with the Sarasota Film Festival. “America’s Got Talent” sweetheart Jackie Evancho, an 11-year-old classical singer with pipes like a veteran opera diva, shot her first solo concert April 10 through April 14, at the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art. Accompanied by 16-time Grammy Award-winning composer and producer David Foster and several musicians from the Sarasota Orchestra, Evancho performed selections from her second album, “Dream With Me,” for the PBS series, “Great Performances.”

The Ringling crew remained mum about the concert, which airs next month on PBS stations across the country. (Locals can catch the program at 3:30 p.m.

June 4 and 7:30 p.m. June 5 on WEDU.) According to Pam Fendt, director of marketing and communications for the museum, only select board members, volunteers and staff were allowed to watch performances, which were shot in four locations around the Ringling campus: the courtyard, Cà d’Zan, Historic Asolo Theater

The Rosemary District has suffered some serious blows this season.

First, it saw the opening and closing of two cafés in the former Sarasota Olive Oil location and, then, it bid farewell to Laura Daniel Gale, whose Central Avenue boutique, everything but the girl, ended its sixyear-run in April.

Now the latest neighborhood casualty — Frary Gallery, which opened in 2009 on Fifth Street — has closed up shop and is looking for temporary “pop-up” space to showcase its collection of eclectic art.

“I had to make a decision before summer hit,” says owner Lori Frary. “Otherwise, I’d be sitting here like the Maytag repair

Heidi Kurpiela

Lori Frary man waiting for someone to walk through the door and buy art.”

In just two years, Frary, a no-nonsense, straight-shooter with an affinity for mid-priced contemporary art, has made a big impact on the Rosemary District.

She provided rare wall space

for local emerging artists, was elected to president of the district and won a People magazine contest in which she gloated about the neighborhood.

“A pop-up gallery scenario makes the most amount of sense,” says Frary, who had to resign as the neighborhood’s president now that she’s no longer a business owner. “You’re utilizing people’s empty space, and you’re no longer a static location that people take for granted. It creates a sense of urgency when you have only so much time to see or purchase art.”

In the meantime, Frary will continue to sell art off her website, frarygallery.com. Good luck, girl. We’ll miss your colorful footprint.

+ Oh baby, the places you’ve been!

Courtesy photo

Jackie Evancho and Rubens Gallery.

“It’s been a while since we’ve seen something of this caliber shot at the museum,” Fendt says. “It was an opportunity for us to be highlighted in the most extraordinary way. We were thrilled to get involved.”

You wouldn’t know it from the headshot that runs with this column, but I’m nine months pregnant and less than a week away from my due date.

To those of you whom I’ve interviewed this past season: Thank you for being so protective of The Bump, as I’ve scaled chairs, stools, desks and condominium roofs to snap photos.

To those of you in publicrelations departments who’ve provided me with Reese’s Cups at evening press conferences: thank you.

I feel like my kid has soaked up more arts and culture in utero than some people do in a lifetime.

On one recent assignment at Ringling College of Art and Design, actor Andy Garcia even paid heed to The Bump when a cell phone went off in the middle of his lecture.

The ring tone was (coincidentally) a nursery rhyme, and its owner happened to be sitting next to me in the crowd.

Garcia stopped mid-sentence as his eyes met mine.

“It’s not my phone,” I squeaked.

To which Garcia replied in his famous Cuban accent: “The baby isn’t even born yet and you’re already singing it lullabies.”

So, dear readers, I leave Diversions in good hands. I’ll

The Bump at last month’s Vinyl Music Fest. be on maternity leave for the summer, and in my stead, The Observer’s talented and effervescent community editor, Loren Mayo (lmayo@yourobserver.com), will take over the section and with it, this column.

I’ll be back in the fall — ironically, around Labor Day. See you then!

DREAM WEAVER

SALUTE TO THE

d e te & i h R W ue l B SALE

25% - 50% Red, White & Blue Items plus 10 – 90% OFF Selected Merchandise

FRIDAY – MONDAY

MAY 27–30

Kids under 18

5.00

$

56365

364 St. Armands Circle • 941-388-1974 • www.dreamweavercollection.com

57564

10AM-6PM

4 ■ Diversions >>

YourObserver.com

BACKSTAGE PASS

■

THURSDAY, may 26, 2011

by Heidi Kurpiela | A&E Editor

Primal colors

Abstract painter Beverly A. Smith peels away layers of paint to reveal what lies behind her uninhibited brushstrokes.

Beverly A. Smith has experienced the kind of success for which some artists wait a lifetime.

The 52-year-old started painting four years ago, and already she’s produced almost 100 paintings, nearly half of which have sold to fervent art collectors enamored with her intense brushstrokes and penchant for dense layers and vivid colors.

“For a kid who just fell off the wagon, I think I’ve done pretty well,” Smith says. “Initially, it was scary. Most people don’t wake up at my age and say, ‘Ahh, I have this talent I never knew about!’ It was kind of embarrassing.”

A former Massachusetts gymnastic coach and physical education teacher, Smith is enjoying her second incarnation as an artist.

She’s showcased her work in galleries from Tampa to New York City, and in February she garnered a full-page review, in New York’s Gallery & Studio Magazine, in which her work was compared to 1960s abstract expressionist Helen Frankenthaler — a hefty accomplishment for any artist, much less an artist with no formal training.

If the metamorphosis seems like an overnight sensation to some artists, to Smith, who

IF YOU GO Beverly A. Smith is one of four female artists collaborating with Fuzión Dance Artists for “Dancing through the Eyes of Women,” an art-meets-dance performance scheduled for June 3 through June 5, at Art Center Sarasota. For tickets, call 365-2032. works out of the Celery Barn, in Towles Court, it feels like a longtime coming, the manifestation of years of pent-up emotions.

“People will look at a painting, and they’ll ask me how long it took to create, and I’ll say, ‘Three hours,’ and they’ll be blown away,” Smith says. “Then I tell them, ‘Yes, but it took me a lifetime of pain.’”

The seventh of eight children, she says she spent years in therapy having grown up in a dysfunctional family plagued by mental illness.

Diagnosed with bipolar disorder in her mid-30s, Smith began painting as a way to cope with her turbulent past and relentless energy.

The first painting she ever produced, an abstract piece titled,

Heidi Kurpiela

“I felt like I had barnacles on me that were beginning to break off,” Beverly A. Smith says of her first attempt at painting. “The creativity was fighting to get out.”

“Emotional Storm Over Edgartown,” was submitted along with an impressionist landscape to a show at the Attleboro Arts Museum, in Massachusetts.

Of the 300 pieces in the exhibit, Smith’s abstract was one of two that sold.

“My husband and I were walking through the museum, and he turned to me and said, ‘There’s a red dot on your painting,’” Smith says. “When I realized what that he meant, I was like, ‘Get outta town!’”

Smith, who lives in The Landings, still has the demeanor of a gymnastics coach and former gym teacher. She’s athletic, loud and outspoken. She gets to the point quickly and breaks down her artistic process the way you’d

imagine someone who spent 18 years coaching girls through back handsprings would: with little frilliness.

She has a mater’s degree in physical education and exercise physiology, which she had expected to use to help rehabilitate cardiac patients at hospitals. Instead, she pursued art.

“I don’t think I’d be an artist if I hadn’t gone through all the things I’ve gone through,” she says. “It’s like peeling away the layers of an onion.”

Walking around her gallery and studio, you sense the unbridled passion that makes her work so powerful.

The things that inspire her are rendered in thick gobs and lush streaks of oil paint: her 23- and

24-year-old sons, the Gulf of Mexico, the Atlantic Ocean, her travels abroad, her left-leaning politics, even cartoons she grew up watching as a kid.

“I use a ton of paint, and I make a big mess,” she says, gesturing toward the laundry room and shower stall inside her studio. “I’m a real dirt bag when it comes to painting.”

Eventually, she says she’d like to do smaller, more refined work, improve on her figurative skills and try her hand at more representational landscapes.

“I’ve been a good student all my life, but I’m afraid I’m not a good art student,” Smith confesses. “When it comes to this stuff, you can’t anchor me down.

It’s too primal.”

Sterling Silver Bonanza!!!

Trivia: What do you have in your home that you don’t use

anymore … or want to clean … & your kids don’t want it either?

Answer: STErlinG SilvEr Bring it in polished or tarnished, we’ll buy & pay you

TOP DOllAr!!

• Coins • Diamonds • Antique Jewelry • Paper Money • Antiques

• Watches • Clocks • WWII Collectables • Pocket Watches • Antique Toys and more …

55577

• Gold 10k, 14k, 18k, 24k • Silver - Sterling • Sterling Flatware • Dental Gold

Priscilla Gratton

AUTHENTIC ITALIAN RESTAURANT

941-306-3600

Across from the Sarasota Memorial Parking Garage

56143

1974 Hillview St., Sarasota, Fl 34239

Early DINING MON - SaT 4pm – 5 pm 10 Menu Choices for Just $10 each Wednesday - OSSO BuCCO SpECIal Open for Dinner Nightly • Serving Lunch Mon. - Fri. 20 years family owned and operated  

Function rooms available for up to 70 guests

 

Nightly Specials

4001 S. Tamiami Trail • Sarasota, FL • 941.921.4848 • www.cafebaci.net

47480

G & M Estate Buyers

THURSDAY, may 26, 2011

>>

■

EDIBLES

Diversions

YourObserver.com

■

5

by Molly Schechter | Food Editor

Florida fresh produce hits the spot RECIPE

Cantaloupe and prosciutto salad with rustic croutons Yield: Eight to 10 side-dish servings

Photos by Molly Schechter

Cantaloupe and prosciutto salad with a rustic crouton and goat cheese What comes after strawberries in the way of widely available, locally grown produce? According to Dale Rodgers, produce manager of the Publix store on Longboat Key, it’s quite a list: “Florida blueberries from growers around Kathleen, outside of Lakeland; Florida peaches from the same area; sweet corn, bi-color is the most popular with everybody; and, this year, the Athena variety of Florida cantaloupes. They started a week early, right around Mother’s Day, because of the warm weather.” Rodgers should know — he has been with Publix for 39 years and at the Longboat Key location since 1983.

At two for $5 and weighing about five pounds each, these cantaloupes are a bargain and all but irresistible. A cantaloupe is a musk melon, so named for its alluring fragrance. All cantaloupes are musk melons, but not all musk melons are cantaloupes; the family (botanically, cucumis melo) also includes honeydew, casaba

and others. The cantaloupe has a netted rind; others are smooth. The whole lot originated in Persia (today, Iran). Athena is an early maturing variety “in a class of its own,” according to Gurney’s seed catalog. Transplanted northerners will recall setting out cantaloupe seedlings with tomato plants in late May, just about when we start enjoying them here.

Selecting a ripe cantaloupe in the store is, according to Rodgers, a matter of both sight and smell.

“Less green equals more ripe,” he says.

“You want that nice banana color.”

A ripe cantaloupe will let you know by its fragrance.

A slice of cantaloupe makes a great breakfast. Add some blueberries, a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a couple of tablespoons of any orange-flavored liqueur for a simple, splendid dessert. This easy-tomake salad is great as a stand-alone light lunch or as a side dish with almost anything for dinner.

“A PHENOMENON ” -NPR

Let come to room temperature before serving for best flavor. Garnish with longer strips of chives.

1 cantaloupe, approximately five pounds, cut into bite-sized pieces 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil 1 tablespoon cider vinegar 1 tablespoon sugar 1/2 cup prosciutto di Parma torn into small shreds (approximately four ounces) 3 tablespoons fresh chives, snipped (almost all of a one-ounce cello package) plus additional for garnish 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper or to taste Combine the melon pieces, olive oil, vineggar, prosciutto, sugar and chives in a medium bowl and toss gently to blend.

Add pepper to taste. Salad can be made ahead several hours and held refrigerated.

Thinly sliced prosciutto can be knife-chopped or (preferably) torn into small shreds.

To make the rustic croutons 1 loaf crusty country bread (Publix’s Tuscan boule is photographed), approximately one pound Olive oil for broiling 8 ounces fresh goat cheese Preheat broiler.

Cut the bread into 1-inch thick slices.

Coat generously with olive oil, using a pastry brush, or pour some oil onto a flat plate or shallow dish and briefly dip both sides of each slice. Toast under a broiler on an ungreased baking sheet until golden, approximately two-and-a-half minutes per side. Watch closely. Let cool, then spread generously with goat cheese or serve the cheese separately.

For a variation and about 50% cost savings, use sopressata instead of prosciutto. Cut thin slices into narrow strips.

Publix’s Tuscan boule loaf makes excellent rustic croutons.

“GlOriOus!“ -USA TODAY

HERSHEY FELDER AS

GEORGE GERSHWIN ALONE

MAESTRO: THE ART OF

LEONARD BERNSTEIN JUNE 8–12 SPONSORED BY

941-351-8000 • ASOLOREP.ORG HERSHEY FELDER, PHOTO BY HUGH GLENDINNING

GEORGE GERSHWIN and IRA GERSHWIN book by HERSHEY FELDER directed by JOEL ZWICK NOW THRU JUNE 5

57599

music and lyrics by

AND DON’T MISS HERSHEY FELDER IN

Asolo Rep’s artistic programs are paid for in part by Sarasota County Tourist Development Tax Revenues.

Tommy Bahama Betsy Johnson Kenneth Cole Jantzen Gottex Speedo Reef

Making a

Second Entrance Whether you just love short dresses or you want to make a second grand entrance, changing dresses on your wedding day is very much in vogue.

Exquisite Style - Exceptional Service

4051 Clark Road, Sarasota. Expo on Clark Shopping Plaza.

Mon. - Sat. 10am-6pm

927-4969

Sarasotabrides.com

57558

haLf Off

57620

Buy One Get One Longboat Key Sarasota 3170 Gulf of Mexico Drive 1960 Stickney Point Road (941) 383-2288 (941) 922-4545

6 ■ Diversions >>

PREVIEW

YourObserver.com

■

THURSDAY, may 26, 2011

by Pam Nadon | Film Critic

Film >> SUMMER

MOVIE PREVIEW

Beat the heat, grab a seat and chill out at your favorite movie theater. Hot sequels and superheroes aside, I’m opting for substance and style with this year’s summer picks. The top 10 are …

an openly gay man and really enjoying it, he’s diagnosed with a terminal illness. His son supports, grieves and finds unexpected love throughout the experience. Sound far-fetched? It’s based on the real-life experience of director/writer Mike Mills.

Starring Christopher Plummer (who really gets better with age) and Ewan McGregor. June 3

Brad Pitt Courtesy photos

Adam Scott and Paul Rudd in “Our Idiot Brother.”

‘THE TREE OF LIFE’

Christopher Plummer and Ewan McGregor

ties in 1942. She stumbles onto a horrific secret, which evolves into a journey of self-discovery. Directed by Gilles PaquetBrenner of the disturbingly brilliant “Pretty Things.” July 22

‘COWBOYS & ALIENS’

‘PROJECT NIM’

A remarkable documentary about a chimp (Nim), who was the subject of an experiment to ascertain whether he could learn language. Not only a study on Nim, the film reveals volumes about the people who participated in the project. Oscar winner James Marsh (“Man on Wire”) tracked down the family who raised Nim 30 years ago. July 8

This is a sci-fi Western (my only guaranteed blockbuster pick), starring Daniel Craig, aka James Bond, and is described as “ … the ‘Unforgiven’ with aliens landing.”

It can’t hurt that Harrison Ford also stars with heavy hitters Steven Spielberg, Ron Howard and Brian Grazer producing. Directed by Jon Favreau (“Iron Man”). July 29

This is an unprecedented look into the underground world of Iranian youth culture. A family is torn apart by their children’s highly illegal, obsessive and defiant behavior. It’s not often Westerners are privy to such volatile information. “Insightful” would be an understatement. Aug. 19 The title alone is a draw. In the opening scene, the title character (Paul Rudd) gets busted selling pot to a uniformed (yes) police officer. I like it so far. Zooey Deschanel, Elizabeth Banks and Emily Mortimer play sisters to idiot brother and score another major draw. Aug. 26

The always-profound Kristin Scott Thomas stars as an American journalist researching an article about the Vel’ d’ Hiv Roundup of Jews by French authori-

‘BEAUTIFUL BOY’

The unconventional love story is about a couple on the verge of separating when their son goes on a shooting rampage at school. Needless to say, their lives are drastically altered. Expect intimate performances from Maria Bello and Michael Sheen, master actors. June 3

‘THE DEBT’ Emma Stone, Octavia Spencer and Viola Davis in “The Help.”

‘THE HELP’

Based on the best-selling novel by Kathryn Stockett, the film centers on the ability to create change through unlikely friendships. Three courageous women destroy

‘BEGINNERS’

Kristin Scott Thomas in “Sarah’s Key.”

In this espionage thriller, two former Mossad agents capture and kill a notorious Nazi war criminal in 1966 in Berlin.

Mission accomplished. Or was it? Director John Madden (“Shakespeare in Love”) assembles a dream cast, which includes Helen Mirren, Tom Wilkinson, Ciaran Hinds and Sam Worthington. Aug. 31

Back Pain? Sore Feet?

Bunions? Hammer Toe? Flat Feet? Plantar Fasciitis?

Arch Supports!

Get Relief with

FREE Pedigraph FREE Balance Demo FREE Personal Fitting Over 300 Styles & Sizes Fits ALL Your Shoes Try BEFORE You Buy Open 7 DAYS Per Week

20 OFF

$

Any Pair of Arch Supports

57624

Dad comes out of the closet at age 75.

Finally living the life he was meant to as

‘CIRCUMSTANCE’

‘OUR IDIOT BROTHER’

‘SARAH’S KEY’ Maria Bello in “Beautiful Boy.”

the code of rules in a small Southern town by exposing rampant racist behavior in the 1960s. Nice casting including Sissy Spacek, Viola Davis and Emma Stone just for starters. Tate Taylor, who won an Audience Award for Best Short (“Chicken Party”) in 2003 at our own Sarasota Film Festival, directs. Aug. 12

OR

33% OFF Any Pair of Shoes When Purchased with any Arch Supports

Cannot be combined with any other offer Valid in Sarasota/Tampa Bay area ONLY.

Cannot be combined with any other offer Valid in Sarasota/Tampa Bay area ONLY.

Expires 6/9/2011

Expires 6/9/2011

The Good FeeT STore - SaraSoTa 4950 Fruitville Road - West of Honore (Next to KFC)

941 • 487 • 7974

GoodFeetTampaBay.com

57078

Get your long-awaited Brad Pitt fix in Terrence Malick’s fifth flick. In the making for decades, surprisingly, plot details are scarce. Sean Penn plays the grown-up version of a boy raised by parents diametrically opposed to one another in their view of the world. It looks as though patience may have been a virtue, having seen the amazing trailer. May 27

■

YourObserver.com

Diversions

■

57477

THURSDAY, may 26, 2011

7

THE SOCIAL OBSERVER

Black Tie

CAMERA READY Womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Leadership Council Page 11

YourObserver.com

THURSDAY, MAY 26, 2011

By STEPHANIE HANNUM

Black Tie Editor

The Ritz-Carlton, Sarasota became the hub for sports and social reporters (more than 40!) all trying to catch a glimpse of famous coaches and personalities. The Dick Vitale Gala Saturday, May 21, treated the sold-out crowd of 860 guests to an exciting event that honored college basketball coaches John Calipari, of University of Kentucky, Roy Williams, of University of North Carolina, and tennis legend Nick Bollettieri. The gala, chaired by Mary KenealyBarbetta, raised more than $1.3 million for The V Foundation and cancer research. Vitale dedicated the evening to Adrian Littlejohn, Johnny Teis and Lucy Weber.

Next yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s gala is scheduled for May 18, 2012, and will honor Villanova coach Jay Wright, former Maryland coach Gary Williams and former Notre Dame coach Lou Holtz.

The evening was dedicated to Adrian Littlejohn, Johnny Teis and Lucy Weber.

Photos by Stephanie Hannum

John Scott, Ashley Dimare and Debbie Dimare, Lauren Scott and Casey Grosso

Rimi and Arun Khazanchi

Coach Billy and Christine Donovan with Pat Williams and Peter Vecsey

Sisters Sherri and Terri Vitale

Paula and Steve Andrews with their daughter, Erin Andrews

Mindy and Chip Bennett

Leigh Larosa, honoree John Calipari and Mike Larosa

Lorraine and Dick Vitale

Honoree Roy Williams with Julie and Pat Warren

Don and Krista Johnson

THURSDAY, may 26, 2011

Diversions

YourObserver.com

■

9

COLUMN

black tie tales

+ Perennial favorites

by Molly Schechter | Social Editor “At the end of all our wanderings, we return to the place of our very beginning, and see it, as if for the first time,” T.S. Eliot. Once again, a season has flown by. Here is what many of you remember …

+ Admirable accomplishments

Stephanie Hannum

Keith and Debbie Lowrance, Bibb and Pam Swain, Deb Knowles, Diane and Keith Anderson at the Orchid Ball

+ Big bands are still No. 1

Harry Leopold: “Sarasota landed Roxie Jerde to be CEO of the Community Foundation of Sarasota County — a giant home run! We will be seeing wonderful things happen.”

Harold Ronson: “This year’s co-producers dinner for the Sarasota Opera was the largest in history. The program accounted for about $250,000 in donations when Susan Danis came on board 11 years ago; this year it raised $1.3 million.”

Dennis Stover: “Never in Sarasota have I seen a dance floor fill up so fast as it did for Beatlemania at the New College 50th anniversary event.” Margaret Callihan: “The lads … really rocked the Ritz, and we all had a blast singing and dancing along with them!”

+ New and notable …

+ Memorable moments

Hillary Steele: “One of my most favorite moments was when Jean Weidner appeared on stage and danced at the Sarasota Ballet’s 20th anniversary Gala. Scott Anderson: “When Jean Weidner appeared on stage, she took everyone’s breath away.” Jules Rose: “The Perlman Winter Residency Music Program and Itzhak Perlman singing Be Bop with a group of teachers.

Flora Major: “Sarasota doesn’t always remember that RSVP means respondez s’il vous plait — please reply!”

Susan Jones: “Make a plan and stick to it; deviation is death to an event.” Gloria Moss: “Where was the message?” Veronica Brady: “The band playing too loud during dinner keeps people from talking. The unintended consequence is that when the music stops, people start to talk and nobody listens to the auctioneer or whatever comes after.”

Bob Plunket: “I hate to sound self-serving, but my favorite thing all year was my dance at CANdance. Never have I felt so much love.” Wendy Feinstein: “It was absolutely a blast to win ‘The Best Shoes’ at Wine, Women and Shoes.” Phil King: “Being nominated for the Standing O Award (Outstanding Couple) was fun, flattering and, on a serious note, a very good political statement by the Sarasota community.”

KC and the Sunshine Band at the Firefly Gala

Chris Pfahler: “The best event band was KC & The Sunshine Band for Forty Carrots’ Firefly Gala.” Gloria Good: “They refer to themselves as ‘The Party Band,’ and KC held his arms out and called himself ‘KFC.’” Deb Knowles: “The Asolo Rep’s Men Who Cook — seeing all those men with their signature dishes was inspiring!”

+ Room for improvement

+ Personal bests

Nora Johnson: “Pique Nique was just magic … every piece that went down the runway was something the women in the room would die for.” Pam Swain: “We invited long-time friends from Virginia Beach to the Orchid Ball, and they said it was the best event they had ever been to.” Carolyn Michel: “Seeing the artistic directors on the runway at the Designing Women Boutique fashion show, strutting their junk … er … stuff, pardon the expression.” Betty Schoenbaum: “The Sarasota Orchestra at the Jewish Family & Children’s Service Gala and ‘Inventing American Sound,’ written, produced, narrated and conducted by Leif Bjaland.” (And then he broke our hearts by announcing that he was leaving — on Valentine’s Day, no less.)

+ More to eat

+ A thank you note and an invitation

Thanks to all of you who responded to my request for your season highlights and for all you do to keep us informed all season long.

And, please send information on your events for next season to Stephanie Hannum, SHannum@ YourObserver.com. See you in the fall!

+ Last words

Phil Mancini: “We worked hard on creating new entrées including braised meats like Kobe short ribs, veal osso bucco, brisket and lamb shanks.

We also did a lot of rack of lamb, special cut veal chops and even skirt steak.”

Keith Coleman and Ruby Tuesday

Courtesy Photo

Margaret Wise: “It was the best year in the last three; everybody seemed to enjoy themselves more. The gloom is gone and there is a party mood.” Terri Klauber: “Wow, what a season! Sarasota really knows how to throw great parties; there’s no place better!”

Heriz Persian rugs

Present a Fabulous Tribute to Neil Diamond and Barbara Striesand and friends $10.00 Per Person Advance Sales—Reserved Seating

Genuine, Handmade, distinctive RuGs Hand Cleaning & Repair Services

Reservations Appreciated for Our Friday Night Dinner in the Restaurant Prior to Show Time

57503

For , the road to Box Office wellness never felt better.

366-4449 Ext.320

600 N. BeNeva Road • SaRaSota

For , the road to For , the, thefelt road toto For never road wellness better. wellness never wellness neverfelt feltbetter. better.

For , the road to wellness never felt better.

$

39 $ $ $49 39$39 $39 $ $39 $ 49 $4949 49

Introductory 1-hour MASSAGE SESSIon*

From Persia, india, the Orient, & around the World Largest selection on West coast of Florida

Introductory 1-hour hEALthy SKIn1-hour FAcIAL SESSIon* Introductory Introductory 1-hour ** MASSAGE SESSIon MASSAGE SESSIon Introductory 1-hour Introductory MASSAGE SESSIon*1-hour * Introductory 1-hour MASSAGE SESSIon Introductory 1-hour * Introductory 1-hour hEALthy SKIn FAcIAL SESSIon * * hEALthy SKIn FAcIAL FAcIAL SESSIon hEALthy SKIn SESSIon Introductory 1-hour Give theSESSIon Gift * hEALthy SKIn FAcIAL of WeLLNeSS.

end of season Blowout sale

uP to 70% off!

MASSAGEENVY.COM | FRANCHISES AVAILABLE

MM#20895

MM#20895

57631

SArASotA South Give the Gift Give the Gift of WeLLNeSS. 4037 clark road of WeLLNeSS. Give the Gift SArASotA South sarasota soutH sarasota NortH Expo center

by Moe's 4037 Clark 2855 University Parkway 4037Road clark road of WeLLNeSS. SArASotA South Between Publix & Panera Expo Center by Buffalo Wild Wings (941) 927-6200 Expo center by Moe's (941) 556-6400 4037 clark927-6200 road (941) Give the Gift (941) 927-6200 SArASotA Southby Moe's Expo center Coming soon: doWntoWn of WeLLNeSS. Open 7 days: M-F 8aM-10pM, sat 8aM-6pM, sun 10aM-6pM OPEN DAYS: 8AM-10PM, SAT 9AM-8PM, SUN 9AM-8PM Open OPEN 7 days: DAYS: M-F 8aM-10pM, 8AM-10PM, sat SAT 8aM-6pM, 9AM-8PM, sun SUN 10aM-6pM 9AM-8PM (941) road 927-6200 4037 clark OPEN 7 DAYS: m-f 8am-10pm, Sat & Sun 9am-8pm | FranChisesaVailable aVailable MASSAGEenVy.COM | FranChises ExpoSArASotA center bySouth Moe's*See centerMASSAGEenVy.COM for details. ©2010 Massage Envy Franchising, LLC. Open 7 days: M-F 8aM-10pM, sat 8aM-6pM, sun 10aM-6pM OPEN DAYS: 8AM-10PM, SAT 9AM-8PM, SUN 9AM-8PM LLC. *See center for details. ©2010 Massage Envy Franchising, (941) clark 927-6200 4037 roadMASSAGEenVy.COM | FranChises aVailable MM#20895 Expo center*Seebycenter Moe's details. ©2010 Massage Envy Franchising, LLC. Open sat OPEN 7 days: DAYS: M-Ffor8aM-10pM, 8AM-10PM, SAT 8aM-6pM, 9AM-8PM, sun SUN 10aM-6pM 9AM-8PM

• Free Delivery to your home or condo • Free Shipping in the continental US with our delivery service • Family owned and operated for 18 years

16 South Blvd. of Presidents • Sarasota, FL

info@herizpersianrugsinc.com • (941) 388-2049 Open Mon-Sat10am - 8:30pm • Sun 12pm-5:30pm

www.HerizPersianrugsinc.com

57530

>>

■

10 ■ Diversions >>

YourObserver.com

■

THURSDAY, may 26, 2011

CAMERA READY

Hurricane Bash Golf Tournament and Celebrity Chef Cook-Off

Designing Daughters’ ‘A Fashionable Gala’

Designing Women Boutique Thursday, May 19 | Michael’s On East Wine Cellar

Photos by Stephanie Hannum

Kathryn Sperber and Bob Johnson

Brian and Caroline Drechsler

Co-Chairs Tatyana Sharoubim and Molly Klauber

Brigid Hewes and Kelly Engel

American Red Cross | Friday, May 20 | University Park Country Club

Diane Capobianco and Beverly Arias

Mary Rainey, Jeannie Slater and Rochelle Dudley

Event chair John Boyle with his wife, Marta

Photos by Pam Eubanks

Phyllis and Mac Carraway with Cyndi and Todd Pokrywa

Observe

57612

what you are missing...

More than just

bOW tiES & bALLgOWNS!

Local News that’s

LOCAL NEWS! YourObserver.com

57220

You. Your Neighbors. Your Neighborhood.

THURSDAY, may 26, 2011

>>

■

Diversions

YourObserver.com

■

11

CAMERA READY

Women’s Leadership Council Luncheon Boys and Girls Clubs of Sarasota County | Monday, May 16 Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse and Wine Bar

Photos by Stephanie Hannum

Lisa Bechtold, honoree Lem Andrews and Dana Bakich

Celebration of Hope Take Stock in Children of Sarasota County Thursday, May 19 | Chelsea Center

Photos by Stephanie Hannum

The Hon. Rochelle Curley and Sylvia Taylor

Victoria Berry and her mother, Debbie

Peter Abbott and Saul Coplan

Marjorie DeCanio and Darlene Craver

Elaine Lunkes and Elizabeth Barrett

TM

a program of the sarasota orchestra Robert Levin, Artistic Director

Sarasota in June never sounded so good.

Ob 5” Ma

Classical musicians from around the world converge on Sarasota for three weeks of breathtaking performances.

This year’s highlights include: • • • •

World premiere of completed Mozart fragments Masterpieces by Bach, Brahms, Dvořák and more Festival premiere of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony Two new conductors take the podium

Artist Showcases - June 2, 9 & 16 - 5:30 pm | Holley Hall Friday Festival Concerts - June 3, 10 & 17 - 8:00 pm | Opera House Saturday Symphonies - June 4, 11 & 18 - 8:00 pm | Opera House

Come as you are. www.SarasotaOrchestra.org | 941-953-3434 Leave different.

57618

TickeTs from $20

57538

Dewayne Hill, Shannon Hill and Kate McManus

Anne Weintraub and guest speaker Susan Burns

12 ■ Diversions

YourObserver.com

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

A Wealth of Experience.

A Commitment to This Community.

d

duce

e Re Pric

Just

■

THURSDAY, may 26, 2011

ced!

Redu

No One Knows Sarasota Better. $829,000 Grand Bay, Longboat Key Bay & Golf Views, Beach Club, Pet friendly.

A3937063 David & Lori Simon 400-8764 00 49,0

d $1

ce Redu

Prudential is your top choice when you are ready to buy or sell a home in Sarasota.

Our award-winning local Realtors have the experience and expertise to guide you, and they consistently deliver premier service that caters to every client’s unique needs.

Locally owned and nationally supported, Prudential is proud to contribute to the natural beauty, cultural events and extraordinary people that make this community a great place to live. Call us today and let us match you with the house that perfectly suits your definition of home.

$499,900 Tidy Island Waterfront, Updated, Gated + Tennis & Pool.

A3937160 Page/Musto 504-0123

Personalized Service. Trusted Agents.

$950,000 Tangerine Bay Club, Longboat Key Gorgeous Penthouse, Turnkey furnished, 2 Terraces.

A3923029 Michael Granston 504-8018 ced Redu

941-926-7000 www.PrudentialPalmsRealty.com

$610,000 Sarasota Surf & Racquet Club Siesta Key, Gulf Views, 2BR/2BA, Resort Amenities A3941955 Mitchell Team 586-1754

0 0,00 $50

Shor

le t Sa

LAKEWOOD RANCH HOUSING SHOWCASE!!

Reduced $100K! $1,299,000 Ann Maria Island - La Casa Costiera, a gorgeous Gulf front complex, Luxury 2-3BR/2.5BA condo, gourmet kitchen, fireplace and designer furnishings.

Michelle Sunday,A3915811 May 1st, fromMusto 1-4809-3714 pm

Reduced! $1,399,000 Roberts Bay, Nokomis Magnificent, A Perfect Day spacious waterfront Key Westto styleGet home Moving! w/Full bay views of Roberts Bay. Updated w/attached guest house. Gina Penzotti 809-2152

$1,995,000 Country Club Shores, Longboat Key Bay views, Pool/spa, Dock with direct bay access.

A3914523 Mark Huber 356-2435

Jumpstart your housing search!!!

Reduced! $1,390,000 Crescent Royale, Siesta Key Gorgeous 2000+ sq. ft., double penthouse with expansive • See 17 of the “Best Buys” in Lakewood Ranch views of Siesta Key’s World famous Beach. Totally rebuilt.

• Register to win a $200 American Express A3922542 Ziad Sleit 928-5493

on!

ced Redu

Milli $1.4

$795,000 Siesta Key Canal-front 3BR/3BA , pool, dock w/lift. Wkly Rentals.

A3941821 Rudy Dudon 234-3991

Gift Certificate

$3,975,000 Harbor Acres Bayfront Over 3/4 acre, Bay views with Southern exposure. Structure needs renovation or build new.

A3941234 Marty Benson 232-9264

$595,000 Holmes Beach – Key Royale Great for primary ~ Get real estate market information and a list of residence, 2nd home/investment property. Spacious floor bank-owned and distressed properties plan, Private golf-course with optional membership in the • Trying to decide between building or buying neighborhood!

A3941626 Michael Renick 400-8735

!

tion

c Redu

• Visit our Real Estate Information Center From $600K Oyster Bay Landings Lots 6 Lots Available Priced from $600K, Waterfront Lots available. at 8141 Main Street, Lakewood Ranch A3937879 Rita Ferrell Lasky 780-3579 ~ Enjoy refreshments

$2,200,000 Longboat Key 1 acre directly on Gulf, 100ft of beachfront.

A379491 Owner/agent 586-4052 e Hug

$749,000 Bird Key Beautifully renovated Garden home, • Talk to an onsite financial expert about Luxurious Master Suite, large kitchen, lanai, pool + paver your financing needs deck/drive.

A3930928 Lynn McDonald 302-0054

$875,000 Bay Island, Siesta Key Home on historical register. Pool/deck + pine floors.

A3938107 Rayman/Tan 504-9232 ced Redu

an existing home?

Short Sale $399,000 Longboat Key - Sea Oats Direct Gulf front unit w/unobstructed view. Short-term weekly rental al ~ Attend a short seminar presented by Gibraltar Homes lowed. 8 unit complex on Longboat Key. Rayman/Tan 504-9232

0 9,00 $50

• Learn the pros and cons of both

$299,900 Sarasota- Country Place 3BR/2BA-Kitchen w/ granite & newer appliances.

New tile in liv & din rm. Mstr For more information and directions: bedroom w/sitting area.

Eat-in kit. pool/spa. A3939232 visit www.PruLWR.com or callHtd 941-907-2000 Wellman/Moffatt 923-1813 $3,000,000 Country Club Shores, Longboat Key $6,185,000 Bird Key Sarasota Bay & Downtown views, Gated, Outdoor kitc., Owner financing. Modern Masterpiece, Deluxe Details, Views of Bay to Big Pass!

A3905758 Teri Sax 228-5578 A3939198 Hale/Appel 323-2371

$3,190,000 Legends Bay Bay views, Waterfront masterpiece, Never lived in!

A3937779 Pat McMillan 544-4538

941-926-7000 ~ Over 5,000 listings on our website: PrudentialPalmsRealty.com Prudential Lakewood Ranch Realty and Prudential Palms Realty are sister companies serving Manatee and Sarasota Counties. © 2011. An independently owned and operated member of Prudential Real Estate Affiliates, Inc. Prudential, the Prudential logo and the Rock symbol are service marks of Prudential Financial, Inc. and its related entities, registered in many jurisdictions worldwide. Used under license.

Equal Housing Opportunity

50783

Offices to conveniently serve you including: Downtown Sarasota Lakewood Ranch ~ Longboat Key ~ Siesta Key ~ St. Armands Circle ~ Osprey