East County Observer 2.20.14

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bserver O EAST COUNTY FREE • THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2014

YOU. YOUR NEIGHBORS. YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD.

SPORTS

UPDATE

FOUNDING FAITH

Lakewood boys fall in state semi-finals. PAGE 19A

County questions how to avoid future raids. PAGE 3A

RiverLife Church celebrates 100th anniversary. PAGE 1B

LEADERSHIP

OUR TOWN

faceless

by Josh Siegel | Staff Writer

by Josh Siegel | Staff Writer

University corridor has own identity Businesses along the Manatee County side of University Parkway struggle to explain their whereabouts.

+ Seeking statue River Club residents Cheryl and David Columber awoke a few weeks ago to find a beloved statue of a rottweiler stolen from their driveway. The couple wants the statue returned — no questions asked. “(It) has a lot of sentimental value to us,” Cheryl Columber says. “The dog tags from since-passed-away Rottweiler pets were on the statue.” The Columbers are asking neighbors in River Club and surrounding communities to help the statue find its way home. The couple live at 7110 River Club Blvd., at the corner of River Club Boulevard and Laurel Valley Circle, and can be reached at 915-5200 with information.

+ Fire fantastics The East Manatee Fire Rescue District recognized its best performers at its annual Promotions and Awards Program Feb. 10. The Board of Fire Commissioners named Chad Hoksema the 2013 Firefighter of the Year. Derrick Toney earned the 2013 Fire Officer of the Year award. Chief Byron Teates also announced the promotion of two staff members from engineer to lieutenant: Casey Lambert and Adam McDaniel.

+ Flower fest Three boys from The Out-ofDoor Academy put their special stamp on Valentine’s Day by buying a flower for every girl at the Upper School. Their reason? So every girl in the Upper School would receive a flower on Valentine’s Day. ODA’s Student Council sold the flowers, but the boys — Josh Simon, Jonathan Furman and R.J. Jansen — even went to the store to purchase more after the Student Council ran out.

SEE OUR TOWN / 10A

Josh Siegel

Before Kirk Boylston can begin work at Schroeder-Manatee Ranch — and move back home for good — he must find a replacement for his old position in Las Vegas.

SMR names new realty president

Kirk Boylston, who has spent his career on the West Coast, returns home to lead Lakewood Ranch into prominence. LAKEWOOD RANCH — Kirk Boylston has traveled across the country to compete in adventure racing — a combination of endurance sports such as mountain biking, paddling and climbing — and he has even participated in three X Games, the extreme sports event run by ESPN. The endurance competitions may prove good preparation for his new job as president of Lakewood Ranch Commercial Realty, a subsidiary of Lakewood Ranch developer Schroeder-Manatee Ranch. To make Lakewood Ranch nationally known, Rex Jensen, the CEO and president of Schroeder-Manatee Ranch who values continuity and often hires inhouse, looked far outside the fa-

miliar — sort of. Jensen hired Boylston, a Siesta Key-born real estate professional and University of Florida graduate who has spent his 20-yearplus career on the West Coast of the United States, to lead SMR’s commercial real estate division into national prominence. “We can accommodate almost anything,” Boylston said in a Feb. 18 interview at SMR’s headquarters, a week and a half before he begins work March 3. “And there’s more that can be done. Lakewood Ranch hasn’t been sought after nationally. Everything that an executive or resident wants is already here: schools, hotels, retail, universities, skilled employees. Now, it’s a matter of getting the word out.”

Boylston, most recently a regional director of EJM Development Co., where he oversaw a portfolio of more than 5.5 million square feet of commercial space in southern Nevada and developed the largest commercial master-planned product in Las Vegas, replaces Brian Kennelly, who left the position in September. After spending the last decade in Las Vegas, known for its onetrick economic sector, gaming, Boylston calls his new opportunity — a chance to return home and continue the job of filling 32,000 acres of land with commercial property — limitless. Jensen is banking that Boylston, a Riverview High

SEE BOYLSTON / PAGE 8A

EAST COUNTY — To open her business, Gigi’s Cupcakes, Jodi McGaharan, a former nurse, had to learn how to swirl frosting and accept that the desserts she would bake at her shop were better than the ones she made at home. But for McGaharan, the most challenging aspect of entering entrepreneurial life was something more mundane. “The hardest part of starting this business was finding out what our address was,” McGaharan said of Gigi’s Cupcakes, which opened Sept. 22 in The Shoppes at UTC on Cooper Creek Boulevard. The challenge to find an accurate address for Gigi’s Cupcakes showcases an identity dilemma that many of the businesses along the north side of University Parkway, west of the Interstate 75, face. Any locale along the north side of University Parkway east of Honore Avenue, as well as some areas just west of this intersection, are in Manatee County, while property on the south side of University Park-

SEE IDENTITY / PAGE 8A

Josh Siegel

The entrances along the University Parkway corridor are marked by attractive landscaping, an effort by developers to create a unique identity for the region.

INDEX Calendar............ 17A Classifieds ........ 16B

Cops Corner....... 15A Crossword.......... 15B

Neighborhood...... 1B Real Estate........ 12B

Sports................ 19A Weather............. 15B

Vol. 14, No. 46 | Two sections YourObserver.com


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