bserver O SARASOTA
You. Your neighbors. Your neighborhood.
NEIGHBORHOOD
Participants in CYD’s annual event create candy-coated cottages. PAGE 13A.
OUR TOWN
SPECIAL
Thursday, DECEMBER 1, 2011
DIVERSIONS
Look inside for our annual Holiday Gift Guide.
Steven Strenk brings his kinetic curiosity to s/ART/q. INSIDE
hotel options by Kurt Schultheis | City Editor
City in talks with developers Sarasota has two companies interested in placing a hotel on a vacant parcel next to the Palm Avenue parking garage.
File photo
Last year, Solenia and Taiz Caminero watched the parade while wearing their Santa hats.
+ Holiday parade goes tropical
Two companies with vast experience in the construction of luxury hotels and residences are interested in building a hotel on a city-owned parcel adjacent to the Palm Avenue parking garage, close to the intersection of North Palm Av-
enue and Cocoanut Avenue. Sarasota-based Floridays Development Co. and Atlanta-based Jebco Ventures Inc., which also has a Sarasota office, held a closed-door meeting with city staff Tuesday at City Hall to discuss their proposals
during an invitation-to-negotiation session. City Purchasing Manager Mary Tucker said the city has until Dec. 16 to negotiate a deal with either company, with the
SEE HOTEL / PAGE 2A
Last year, The Observer Group employees drove a candy-apple red Volkswagen Beetle and handed out candy canes and newspapers to thousands of spectators who lined Main Street for the Sarasota Holiday Parade. This year, for the 16th annual parade, the holiday tradition is turning tropical. More than 4,000 participants will demonstrate how to celebrate — Floribbean style. The grand finale will be the arrival of Santa Claus, who will be escorted in true Florida style. Groups will compete for the best tropical-themed float to win the coveted mayor’s trophy. The defending champion is Sarasota School of Arts and Sciences. The parade runs from 7 to 9 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 3, on Main Street, from U.S. 301 to Gulfstream Avenue.
+ YPG brightens holidays at Girls Inc. Sarasota’s Young Professionals Group members dressed in Santa hats and reindeer antlers while wrapping gifts. The group partnered with Girls Inc. for “Project: Santa’s Helper,” during which local families “shopped” for toys, thanks to a donation from The Concession Charities. Members of YPG donated their time Nov. 20, at Girls Inc., as part of their monthly volunteer opportunity. Their goal was to provide three gifts for every child in 100 different families. “One mother opened her bag of gifts for her daughter and had tears in her eyes as she saw the Legos and the dress-up clothes her daughter will open on Christmas,” said Courtney Wise, with YPG.
Kurt Schultheis
City officials have designated a sliver of land next to the Palm Avenue parking garage as a hotel site.
MOVING PERFORMANCE
Rachel S. O’Hara
Courtney Smith and Leah Verier-Dunn, of Moving Ethos, perform “The Evolution of a Relationship” on the dance-themed floor of the Palm Avenue parking garage, Wednesday, Nov. 30, during the Vertical Gallery Opening.
PAYING OFF
by Rachel Brown Hackney | Staff Writer
Magazine generates Sarasota buzz The president of the Sarasota Convention and Visitors Bureau reports a US Airways magazine section has brought tourists to Sarasota. Although she wasn’t expecting “hard numbers” until November ended, Virginia Haley, president of the Sarasota Convention and Visitors Bureau, said this week that she has been hearing lots of positive responses to a US Airways in-flight
magazine advertising section about Sarasota. Haley has been collecting anecdotes from the exposure. “I’ve heard from people far and wide, commenting on it,” she said. For example, a group of Wash-
ington, D.C., residents attended Sarasota Ballet performances Nov. 18, at the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, Haley said, after having read about Sarasota in the magazine.
SEE MAGAZINE / PAGE 2A
INDEX Briefs....................4A Classifieds......... 25A
Cops Corner....... 10A Crossword.......... 24A
Opinion.................6A Permits.............. 23A
Real Estate........ 22A Weather............. 24A
Vol. 7, No. 55 | Two sections YourObserver.com