East County Observer 08.11.11

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EAST COUNTY

You. Your neighbors. Your neighborhood.

SPORTS

Thursday, AUGUST 11, 2011

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new school year.

PAGE 12-13

Petrilla relives school glory days as Look inside for our a football star. annual guide to the PAGE 16

OUR TOWN

Foundation fulfills dreams at annual camp.

unhappy ending By Pam Eubanks | News Editor beauty and the feet

Little Bookworms to close After six years of providing children’s books and family fun to East County residents, the Lakewood Ranch bookstore will close Aug. 12. LAKEWOOD RANCH — There is no bittersweet feeling for Little Bookworms owner Heidi Allwood. When Allwood locks up her shop on Lakewood Ranch Main

Street Aug. 12, she will be doing so for the last time, ending a vision she and her mother, Holly Baracchini, birthed six years ago. “It’s a hard realization,” All-

wood said. “It’s what I’ve wanted to do for my life. It’s difficult to see the plan not work out the way you wanted it to, but you have to be realistic. It has to come down to a business and

financial decision.” The store found its niche offering children’s books and other items, as well as story times,

SEE BOOKWORMS / PAGE 8

+ Ranch kids make fashion statement Take note, New York and Paris: Preschool kids at Kids R Kids of Lakewood Ranch may have created the latest fashion trend. Using paper grocery bags and a variety of beads, stickers and other decorations, East County students showed off their creations for Silly Hat Day. The silly hats proved not only to be a great way to keep the bags out of a landfill but also a stylish accessory for just about any occasion.

+ District opens line for parents The Manatee County School District this week opened a special line, called the Parent Information Phone Line, to help parents with back-toschool questions. The purpose of the line is to answer questions about registration, school zones, bus stop locations and times, home education and more. The General Parent Information Phone Line is 708-4971 and will be open from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., through Aug. 24. The Manatee County School District Transportation Parent Phone Line is 782-1287 and will be operational from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., through Aug. 19 and from 6:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., Aug. 22-24.

cowboy chronicle By Pam Eubanks | News Editor

Even at 93 years old, veteran rodeo man Hub Hubbell still loves working with his trick pony and practicing rodeo stunts.

Pam Eubanks

GOOD OL’ HUB

Rodeo man and East County resident Hub Hubbell, at 93, soon will be immortalized in print. EAST COUNTY — A longtime rodeo man, East County resident Hub Hubbell misses no opportunity to relive his glory days riding bronc horses, shooting targets off his wife’s head and performing

tricks with ropes. And now, even at 93 years old, it seems Hubbell’s glory days are still far from over. Retired Braden River Elementary School media specialist Judith Leipold is helping to bring

those memories — particularly those spent working rodeos — to life for others. Leipold is working on two books based on Hubbell’s life; one is a biography and the other is a children’s tall tale.

“I’m hoping to get (the books) published in about six months,” Leipold says. “It’s about Hub and local cowboys and his friends from out of state. There’s

SEE HUBBELL / PAGE 2

INDEX Briefs......................4 Classifieds ...........21

Cops Corner............7 Crossword.............20

Opinion...................6 Neighborhood.......10

Sports...................16 Weather................20

Vol. 12, No. 32 | Two sections YourObserver.com


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