bserver O
EAST COUNTY
You. Your neighbors. Your neighborhood.
here she is! in this issue Ranch High School crowns 2013 royalty. PAGE 2B
OUR TOWN
Thursday, APRIL 12, 2012
SPORTS
East County families enjoy Easter excursions. PAGEs 4-5B
SunCoast team storms way to 40-5 record. PAGE 15A.
religion
NOVEMBER 20, 1917 — APRIL 7, 2012
beauty and the feet
By Michael Eng | Managing Editor
Foreclosure forces Faith Christian to close
+ McNeal students compete in contest
The Lakewood Ranch church closed just days before Easter.
McNeal Elementary School students wowed judges with their speech-giving talents, as student competed in the school’s ninth annual 4-H Tropicana Speech Contest March 30. Anjolie Berninger will advance to a countywide competition May 12, after taking first place for her speech, “A Century of Love.” Other winners included Megan Peters (second place), Lauren Teyke (third place) and Jose Guerra (honorable mention). Nathan Benderson, founder of Benderson Development, an East County-based developer, died April 7. He was 94.
‘One of a Kind’ Nathan Benderson, who grew up in the Great Depression, turned a hardscrabble childhood into a lifetime of business success and unbridled philanthropy. He died April 7.
+ Imagine principal reaps wet reward After children at Imagine School at Lakewood Ranch sold more than $10,000 in books at its Scholastic Book Fair, Principal Stephen Sajewski provided a unique reward to students. Sajewski on April 5 read aloud to students for 100 minutes while sitting in a kiddie pool filled with water.
+ LunchWithLeaders hosts first luncheon LunchWithLeaders, a nonprofit forum for community leaders in the Manasota area, recently hosted its first meeting at The Polo Grill and Bar in Lakewood Ranch. The exclusive, invite-only luncheon provides an intimate setting for community leaders to connect and share how to improve the their community.
EAST COUNTY — When the music played, 1950s swing to slow crooners, Nathan Benderson just couldn’t help himself. He would always get up and dance. The patriarch of one the region’s most charitable families and successful businesses, Benderson lived like that well into his 90s, say several in his large network of family and friends. Many in that network cited Benderson’s wit, business smarts and humility — in addition to his dancing skills — this week in remembering him. Benderson died April 7, after a brief illness. He was 94. “Everybody who had a chance to meet him will never
File photos
Nathan Benderson enjoyed spending time with his family. From SEE VOLUNTEERS / PAGE 11A left: Gina, Shawn, Nathan, Lori and Sarah Benderson.
LAKEWOOD RANCH — Last Sunday, while thousands of Christians filled dozens of East County churches to celebrate Easter, a Lakewood Ranch church sat unoccupied, its doors locked and parking lot empty. Foreclosure proceedings forced Faith Christian Church to close its doors just days before Easter. The church had planned for Easter Sunday to be its final day, however, church officials said the church’s financial troubles prevented that from happening. The church had been unable to make its mortgage payments since November 2011. Church officials tried to negotiate a new payment schedule with its leinholder, Community Bank, but were unable to do so. Faith Christian received a foreclosure lawsuit from Community Bank in February. Since then, Faith Christian had planned to use the remaining $36,000 in its account to pay other outstanding bills. But Community Bank on April 5 exercised its “right to offset” and applied that balance to the delinquent mortgage. That money, church officials said, was slated to pay insurance and utilities through Easter Sunday. With those accounts delinquent, church officials decided to cancel the final Easter service. “Overnight and without our knowledge or permission, Community Bank zeroed out our entire bank account and applied that money to our delinquent loan,” church elders Sam Jameson, Paul Palmer and Jeff Weatherhead wrote on the website. “We therefore cannot pay utilities, insurance, payroll or any other of our bills. In fact, our staff’s payroll for this past two weeks has bounced, and so they are not receiving their pay that is due them. “We are heartbroken that it has come to this,” they wrote. “How-
SEE FAITH / PAGE 10A
By Pam Eubanks and Mark Gordon | The Observer
INDEX Classifieds ........ 12B Cops Corner..........7A
Crossword.......... 15B Opinion.................8A
Real Estate........ 10B Neighborhood...... 1B
Sports................ 13A Weather............. 12B
Vol. 13, No. 15 | Two sections YourObserver.com