Sarasota Observer 1.28.21

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THURSDAY, JANUARY 28, 2021

Back in action

City prepares to resume outdoor special events, but with caution.

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Courtesy photo

Tops in their field

The founder of Michael Saunders & Co. is among 40 of the nation’s top female real estate executives, according to a consulting firm.

Michael Saunders, also the CEO of the Sarasotabased real estate company, landed 18th in T3 Sixty’s annual Top 40 Women Executives List, a subset of the firm’s Power200 List for the entire industry.

Saunders’ son and company President Dayton Saunders was ranked 90th on the overall list.

Making a clear point Winning artist delivers a message with her work.

SEE PAGE 19A

Harry Sayer Courtesy photo

Emily Norris worked on her “Small Struggles” art piece for a month.

Day school breaks ground

It was a sunny day for new beginnings on Jan. 24, when Hershorin Schiff Community Day School staff and supporters celebrated the groundbreaking of its new campus.

The “Beyond the Groundbreaking” event had an assembled crowd recognizing the school’s eventual move to its new 8.8-acre campus in central Sarasota, the former location of the Suncoast School for Innovative Studies and Temple Baptist Church. Guests heard from Head of School Dan Ceaser and fundraising campaign co-Chair Rachel Saltzberg (above) and enjoyed walking through the new grounds while seeing the construction underway.

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30 years: Making a difference File photo

The Bard and love.

SEE PAGE 2B

Linda Holland and Virginia Haley, early members of the Coalition of City Neighborhood Associations, say their participation in the group has also provided an opportunity to forge some long-lasting bonds with neighbors.

From humble start, CCNA grows into a city powerhouse.

SEE PAGE 4A

WH AT’S H A PPENING

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WEEK OF JAN. 28, 2021

Fruitville teacher honored

“Any time you meet anyone, hope that when you leave them, they’ll feel glad they met you.”

Joe Newman, age 108. READ MORE ON PAGE 1B

BY THE NUMBERS

DiPino resigns as Sarasota police chief

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States allowing medical or recreational use of marijuana.

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City’s proposed maximum capacity in a vacation rental.

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Age of student winner Emily Norris in the “Embracing Our Differences” art contest.

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CALENDAR n Regular Sarasota City

Commission meeting — 6 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 2, Commission Chambers, City Hall, 1565 First St. n Regular Sarasota County School Board meeting— 6 p.m.

Tuesday, Feb. 2, Board Chambers, Landings Administrative Complex, 1980 Landings Blvd.

Fashionable

arasota Police Chief Bernadette DiPino has submitted her resignation to the city and will depart her post at 5 p.m.

Friday, the city announced Wednesday.

DiPino’s resignation came after the Sarasota HeraldTribune reported earlier this month about a November incident in which the chief of police joked about using a stun gun on an individual who was homeless. In the wake of the report, both city administration and a police union leader criticized DiPino’s conduct.

The city’s announcement did not detail a reason for DiPino’s resignation, stating only that City Manager Marlon Brown executed a separation agreement with the chief on behalf of the city. The agreement waives a clause in DiPino’s contract requiring notice 30 days ahead of a voluntary resignation. The agreement entitles DiPino to a lump sum of five months’ pay as well as 982.5 hours of pay for accrued time off.

“This agreement is not,

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File photo

Bernadette DiPino joined the Sarasota Police Department as chief of police in December 2012.

and shall not be interpreted or construed as, an admission or indication that [the] city or DiPino has engaged in any wrongful or unlawful conduct of any kind,” the agreement states.

In the release, city leaders offered kind remarks for DiPino’s work as chief, a position she’s held since December 2012.

“Through her leadership

and dedicated efforts with community policing, she helped reduce crime by nearly 40% and strengthened trust between residents and officers through extensive community outreach initiatives from the Citizens Police Academy to Coffee with a Cop and family movie nights on the SPD lawn,” Brown said in the release.

DiPino said she was proud of the work she’s done as chief and would pursue another position in law enforcement.

“I believe I am leaving the Sarasota Police Department in good standing for the next chief,” DiPino said in the release. “This has been a bittersweet decision, but I know the men and women of the Sarasota Police Department will continue to keep the city of Sarasota a safe place to live, work and play.”

Brown said the process of appointing an interim police chief will begin immediately.

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A 15-year kindergarten teacher at Fruitville Elementary is Sarasota County’s Teacher of the Year and is now eligible for consideration for the statewide honor.

In a virtual ceremony held last week, Kari Johnson was presented the $2,500 prize by the Education Foundation of Sarasota County.

Johnson and the other finalists — Samantha Miller of Sarasota Military Academy Prep; Emily O’BrienSwope of Alta Vista Elementary School; and Becky Satterly of Booker High School — participated in the ceremony in virtual “watch party” rooms while at home.

The other finalists each received $1,250 prizes.

School board hires counsel The Sarasota School Board selected new legal counsel to replace attorney and general counsel Art Hardy after he retires.

With a 3-2 vote in a special meeting, the board approved the legal team from Sarasota firm Shumaker, Loop and Kendrick. Hardy will retire after more than 20 years with the district.

Attorney Daniel DeLeo will be in charge of the team.

Patrick Duggan, who served as counsel for the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office, will handle daily work.

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Image courtesy Howard Alan Events

The Uptown ArtFair in Naples, held Jan. 23 and 24, included public health precautions, such as face mask requirements and attendance capacities.

Return of events The city will begin issuing for special events next month. How will organizers manage large outdoor gatherings amid a pandemic?

“We’re doing everything we possibly can to keep people safe and give them a feeling of safety while still trying to enjoy some sense of normalcy in their life.”

— Diana Corrigan

DAVID CONWAY DEPUTY MANAGING EDITOR

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slate of cancellations in March 2020 was one of the first major signs of the effects COVID-19 would have on Sarasota.

Now, after 11 months of restrictions, the city has reopened the application process for special events, and outdoor gatherings could resume next month.

Various outdoor events have been ongoing in Sarasota since last summer. The Sarasota Farmers Market reopened in August, and the county has given the go-ahead to events including the Siesta Fiesta art festival in October. But the city had been a holdout in the region, initially announcing that it would not issue event permits until April at the earliest.

The city has since revised that policy, deciding it will consider permit applications for events taking place after Feb. 10. That could allow the Downtown Sarasota Festival of the Arts, set for Feb. 13 and 14 on Main Street, to go on as scheduled.

The change represents another loosening of temporary regulations put in place last year as a public health precaution at the outset of the pandemic. With COVID-19 still present in the community at higher rates than it was at times last year, both the city and organizers say safety continues to be a priority, reorienting events to allow for social distancing and other protective measures for those in attendance.

Although the city has not issued any permits for events yet, Auditoriums Manager Debbie Perez said applications are coming in, and organizers are eager to resume activity.

“They’re excited,” Perez said.

“They want to be back.”

Events might go on, but the city has added at least one major precaution to the application process because of COVID-19: Event organizers must submit a safety plan that the city’s event manager

File photo

Despite the city’s prohibition, outdoor events have been going on in the Sarasota area since last year, including the Siesta Fiesta art festival in October.

must review. There are no hardand-fast guidelines the city is placing on events, instead relying on organizers to take the lead on developing a suitable strategy.

“Each event is so different, the sponsor has to be the one to come up with the perfect plan,” Perez said.

Howard Alan, whose company, Howard Alan Events, organizes the Downtown Sarasota Festival of the Arts, said his team has become experienced in producing pandemic-era outdoor gatherings. Most recently, it produced the Uptown ArtFair in Naples.

Precautions included a mask mandate, hand-washing stations, one-way walkways and a limit on the number of visitors.

Laura Burns, executive director of the United Arts Council of Collier County, sent a message to the company after the event with praise for their its and singling out the signage and messaging related to health guidelines.

“It was a very safe event,” Alan said. “It made it very comfortable for the patrons as well as the exhibitors.”

Alan said the response from the

communities that have hosted events during the pandemic — including attendees, vendors and nearby businesses — has been positive. In addition to the safety precautions, the outdoor nature of the art shows provides comfort for people who are still averse to indoor gatherings because of COVID-19. And for business districts that have seen a decline in activity, any attraction that draws visitors is a welcome presence.

“People have been so cooped up, and they’ve got cabin fever,” Alan said. “We’re giving them a safe alternative. The other thing we’re doing is, the stores in downtown are not doing that great.

They need traffic, and we’re creating the traffic that help creates some economic relief.”

Diana Corrigan, the executive director of the St. Armands Circle Association, agreed with that perspective. That’s why the merchants group is working to get the city’s permission to host the annual St. Armands Circle Art Festival in April. To facilitate that request, the association has to get the City Commission to approve a waiver to a rule prohibiting events

in St. Armands Circle Park during peak season.

Corrigan said the merchants association has already gotten an endorsement from the St. Armands Landowners, Merchants and Residents group, a sign that the entire community is supportive of measures that will benefits that have struggled during the pandemic.

“The foot traffic that those events bring generates sales for our stores, for our restaurants,” Corrigan said.

Like Alan, Corrigan said health would be a priority as the Circle developed plans for its art show.

“We’re doing everything we possibly can to keep people safe and give them a feeling of safety while still trying to enjoy some sense of normalcy in their life,” Corrigan said.

Perez said a few other applications for events have come into the city, including a spring fine arts show on Gulfstream Avenue and a St. Patrick’s Day event on Lemon Avenue. In a previous interview, City Manager Marlon Brown said the city would continue to monitor the COVID-19 positivity rate and observe CDC guidelines as it considers temporary coronavirus regulations. As of Tuesday, the local seven-day COVID-19 testing positivity rate in Sarasota County was 6.1%, down from above 8% earlier in the month.

Although the city is entering a new phase of the pandemic, Perez is optimistic that event operators and sponsors will be responsible.

“I don’t truly know what we’re going to run into, but I think our sponsors are going to be so happy to have the chance to get back that they’re going do due diligence,” Perez said.

Alan, meanwhile, is confident that his company’s experience has prepared them to safely handle pandemic events.

“We’ve learned how to do this,” he said. “We’re not experimenting. We have a program that works.”

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Concerned about the prospect of a large commercial development near their neighborhood in the late 1980s, people living in Sarasota’s Avondale neighborhood

reached across the city for help.

Mollie Cardamone, an Avondale resident, remembers recruiting leaders of neighborhood groups in Gillespie Park, Bay Point Park and Laurel Park to join in the opposition to the plan.

Although the project wouldn’t directly affect the other neighborhoods, they all had concerns about commercial intrusion into residential areas.

By joining forces, they amplified their voices, causing city officials to take heed of the neighborhood associations at a time policy was more generally

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geared toward growth and economic development. The project was rejected. In the wake of their triumph, the faction that united in opposition shifted its focus to formalizing its alliance.

“We said: ‘We were so successful. We probably should organize an association of neighbors supporting neighbors in this kind of thing,’” Cardamone said. “‘As the city grows, it’s going to happen more and more.’”

That’s the origin of the Coalition of City Neighborhood Associations, a group that celebrated its 30th anniversary at its January meeting. CCNA’s ranks have grown since 1990 to more than 30 associations. Formed in an effort to persuade city officials to listen to resident input, the group has evolved into a hub of power in its own right.

Members have gone on to win seats on the City Commission and key advisory bodies. A representative for city administration is typically in attendance at every meeting, usually accompanied by other staff members.

Pre-pandemic, CCNA met regularly at 9 a.m. on the first Saturday of every month at the Waldemere Fire Station. For years, meetings have followed the same general agenda: Neighborhood representatives give a brief overview of issues in their community, the organization hears a presentation from a speaker, and the group discusses initiatives old and new.

“I understand that listening to 35 neighborhood representatives talk about what’s going on in their neighborhood can sometimes seem a little boring,” said Kathy Kelly Ohlrich, who served as CCNA chair from 2015-16.

“But it’s very important — that’s when you find out that another

“I’d like to see us get back to our roots of helping the neighborhoods that need the help.”

— Linda Holland

neighborhood is having problems with trash pickup or tree removal or something else, and you learn that there are common issues.

That’s when you come together, and you connect with that other neighborhood to find solutions.”

GETTING RESULTS

Cardamone served as CCNA’s first chair from 1990-91. In its nascent stages, she said CCNA was able to quickly gain the attention of city officials thanks to support from City Manager David Sollenberger.

She recalled two early victories that energized CCNA. The city required developers to meet with residents before filing most project applications. The city also agreed to send notice of potential land use changes to property owners within 500 feet, an increase from 200 feet.

“They’re simple by today’s standards, but they were really important to us at the time,” Cardamone said.

Neighborhood association leaders David Merrill and Nora Patterson won seats on the City Commission in 1991. Cardamone joined them in 1993. From there, Cardamone said, the commission shifted to more heavily emphasize neighborhoods. The city created a neighborhood services department and added a neighborhood chapter to its comprehensive plan, changes in which CCNA members played an active role.

Participation in CCNA often leads to political ambition, including for some of its founding members. Mollie Cardamone, left, served on the City Commission from 1993-2011, and Linda Holland ran for a seat in 2011 and 2013.

“David, Nora and I kind of changed the character of the City Commission,” Cardamone said.

Virginia Haley and Linda Holland, who filled the CCNA chair role from 1993-1997, said the group prioritized being a proactive, productive group. Although CCNA came together in opposition to a development, its leaders sought to find ways to improve engagement between neighborhoods and city officials.

“It was very important not to be that organization that was opposed to everything,” Haley said. “Looking for those opportunities to find common ground was very important.”

WIELDING INFLUENCE

CCNA has become the city’s conduit for tapping into the interests of its neighborhoods.

While she was chair, Ohlrich oversaw a series of workshops in which neighborhoods came together to identify the top issues they shared. One of those top

priorities were parks and green space. A year later, the city began the process of creating a dedicated parks and recreation funding district, which the commission established in 2019.

When individual neighborhood representatives brought up concerns about trees being removed from properties, the CCNA board of directors realized this was a universal issue. The conversation sparked the formation of a tree advisory board and the drafting of revised removal regulations.

“I think without CCNA, it wouldn’t have happened,” Ohlrich said.

Although city officials have praised the work CCNA has done, at least one commissioner has expressed some caution.

“As a representative of the entire population of the city, I have to keep in the back of my mind that there are some people who are not involved in the neighborhood associations,” Mayor Hagen Brody said in 2018.

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Cardamone expressed some frustration at what she perceived to be a waning emphasis on neighborhood issues among elected officials. Although the city abandoned its effort to produce a form-based zoning code following pushback from CCNA in 2018, the commission declined to adjust its standards for reviewing downtown development proposals, an initiative CCNA supported.

Holland said dealing with the changing makeup of city leadership — and negotiating perspectives even among CCNA members — has been a challenge for the organization. She expressed some reservations about the emphasis the group has placed on downtown development in recent years, expressing a desire to focus primarily on neighborhood initiatives.

“I’d like to see us get back to our roots of helping the neighborhoods that need the help,” Holland said.

Although there are debates on more granular matters, those who have been involved with CCNA are broadly proud of the work the organization has done and continues to pursue. Ohlrich, who joined the group in the early 2010s, worked alongside Cardamone and Holland to produce a report commemorating the organization’s 30th anniversary. She was surprised to learn how much the group was able to accomplish, applauding all of those who have served the group for their dedication to improving their neighborhood — and, by proxy, the city. “[There are] all kinds of things that we all take for granted now, but if the early founders of CCNA hadn’t been so persistent, who knows where we’d be today,” Ohlrich said.

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Sarasota commissioners lobby for opt-out allowance to potential changes in state law allowing personal use.

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Despite changes at the federal and state levels, Sarasota County officials hope to pass a resolution barring local sales and use of recreational marijuana.

In November, four states voted to legalize recreational marijuana, bringing the total to 34 states allowing either medicinal or recreational uses. In December, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to decriminalize marijuana at the federal level.

Although Florida has allowed the use of medical marijuana, a constitutional amendment could be on the 2022 ballot to make marijuana available to all adults for personal use, and commissioners say a local resolution should be enacted as soon as possible.

“We need to start working on this now, so that we get to decide for ourselves,” Commissioner Al Maio said. “That way counties that want to have recreational marijuana get to have it, and if we don’t, we don’t.”

Commissioners attempted a similar ban, introduced by Commissioner Mike Moran in 2018,

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but had to abandon it because of flawed language.

The new attempt would contradict the city of Sarasota, which in 2019 voted to decriminalize possession of cannabis so long as it is under 20 grams.

Commissioners at their December retreat directed Rob Lewis, the director of business and economic development, to begin lobbying state lawmakers to allow home rule on the issue.

“Rob needs to get started on it early before [lawmakers] even write anything because once they do, they’ll want to say state law supersedes everything,” Commissioner Nancy Detert said.

Bills introduced in 2020 in both the Florida House and Senate to make marijuana available for adult use failed, but representatives plan to reintroduce legislation in the 2021 session.

Meanwhile, county commissioners continue to block requests for permits for medical marijuana dispensaries.

“I have a lot of concerns with supporting the start or the expansion to recreational marijuana,” Commissioner Christian Ziegler said. “What I don’t want to do is approve all these medical shops that come before us, and they go through the dog-and-pony show and say, ‘Hey, we want a medical marijuana shop,’ and that’s what we approve. And then all of sudden, overnight, they become recreational.”

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THURSDAY, JANUARY 28, 2021

SARASOTA / SIESTA KEY

OPINION / OUR VIEW

The threat to democracy The sick irony: The winners are shutting down speech. Now we know who the real fascists are.

WORTH NOTING “Our liberty depends on the freedom of the press, and that cannot be limited without being lost.”

— Thomas Jefferson Jan. 28, 1786 “It is a free market that makes monopolies impossible.”

— Nathaniel Branden, Objectivist Newsletter, 1965

MATT WALSH

C

ome get me, Katie Couric and Eugene Robinson … you two members of the elitist New York-Washington media class.

Come get me.

Whisk me away in a white jacket, and take me to be deprogrammed.

I voted for Donald Trump. Not once, twice, which definitely, according to Couric and Robinson, makes me a hardcore member of the “Make America Great Again” cult.

Yep, I signed onto “the cult of Trump.” I signed on because I believe what he believes: in individual freedom above the state and its statists, the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, freedom of speech, freedom of religion, the right to bear arms, a nonactivist judiciary, American exceptionalism, law and order, secure borders, legal immigration, entrepreneurial capitalism, life and God. I am guilty of this, too: I believe, as Trump does and did, that the Washington, D.C., Deep State and Swamp — the majority of the elected, entrenched establishment and bureaucrats — have been destroying the U.S. for decades. We no longer have at the federal level, as Lincoln implored, “government of the people, by the people, for the people.”

Come get me.

Not only do I need deprogramming, but, I’ve been told, I have “blood on my hands.”

Donald A. Semisch of Longboat Key told me in two letters last week that I “have been and continue to be an enabler of the greatest liar in recorded history.” “Your hypocrisy knows

“The fundamental threat to freedom is power to coerce, be it in the hands of a monarch, a dictator, an oligarchy or a momentary majority.”

— Milton Friedman, “Capitalism and Freedom” “Fundamental differences in basic values can seldom if ever be resolved at the ballot box; ultimately, they can only be decided, though not resolved, by conflict. The religious and civil wars of history are a bloody testament to this judgment.”

— Milton Friedman, “Capitalism and Freedom”

no bounds,” he said. “You have blood on your hands.”

Another letter writer, a coward who did not sign his or her name, wrote that five of my Observer colleagues and I — all of us described, in his words, as “part of the Trump cult club” — “inspired those evil people who invaded our nation’s capitol. …

[M]aybe God will forgive you all, … but we will not.”

And so it goes.

Big-tech censorship spreads by the day, shutting down speech that doesn’t conform with the self-appointed leftist thought police. CNN initiates a campaign calling for the shutdown and stifling of Fox News. The cancel culture has become a raging forest fire, burning down one person after another. Nationally known corporations have joined in, blacklisting and banning Republican members of Congress members who supported an audit of the presidential election results. And, of course, there’s Nancy Pelosi taking the low road — a muddy, sludgefilled path of slime — pursuing impeachment, with Joe Biden,

laughably, calling for unity.

Talk about hypocrisy knowing no bounds.

Here’s another one of hypocrisy knowing no bounds: Semisch wrote: “Trump brought our democracy to its knees, and had he been reelected, we would have lost our democracy.”

We heard that for four years — that Donald Trump was “an existential threat to our democracy.” But what does that mean, “we would have lost our democracy”? Someone please explain how the Trump policies of putting American workers first was a threat to democracy.

The sickening irony is what Semisch’s leaders (Biden, Pelosi, Schumer, Sanders, the Squad, et al.) are doing and who they are.

They spent four years claiming to be fighting Trump’s alleged fascism (Show me: Did Trump

shut down free speech via censorship?)

But now look what they are doing — silencing dissent, urging consumers to quit supporting businesses that disagree with them, harnessing the power of their big corporate tech allies to silence disagreement and control public thought, and calling for the deprogramming of Americans who do not agree with their woke orthodoxy.

They are woefully blind to the obvious: They are the epitome of fascism. They are the existential threat to our democracy.

Without free speech, we are doomed to an avalanche of tyranny and servitude. The crush is only beginning.

Come get me, Katie Couric.

In the words of Patrick Henry: “Give me liberty, or give me death.”

Leave your state’s misery behind We hear it over and over: Florida’s real estate market is sizzling hot.

Realtors tell us their inventory of homes for sale is tight, real tight. And they tell us people fleeing the pandemic-shuttered and “tax-everything-that moves” states of New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Ohio, Michigan and California are fueling the buying.

It’s a seller’s market.

Indeed, Florida’s documentary-stamp tax collections last year almost reached 2007 levels, making 2020 the fourth-highest year on record.

Look at the streets and restaurants in downtown Sarasota.

Packed. Traffic almost feels like a typical winter season. We’ve been told of young couples renting here for six months to escape Cuomo-coma-induced New York City.

What’s more, Florida’s aggregate population growth in 2020 was its highest in a decade — 387,479 net new residents.

That influx came from all the usual places — all the aforementioned high-tax, shutdown states and from South America and the Caribbean.

From an economic standpoint, this is good news for Florida.

Population growth has been high-octane fuel for Florida’s economic engine for 75 years.

And yet, although population growth has been the underlying

driver of Florida’s healthy economy, there is a political effect to the recent in-migration from the Northeast about which freedomloving, laissez-faire Floridians should be concerned. It’s the same concern they have in Texas, with its influx of Californians.

Will all these escapees bring with them and try to inflict on us the bad habits and policies that ruined the places they fled?

Florida’s Republican-dominated Legislature, business owners and the millions of Floridians who love the state’s low-tax, low regulation, “letus-live-our-lives” structure should be on guard.

We should let it be known repeatedly that Florida’s culture is that of an open, free, lowtax, low-regulation state that strongly embraces free-market capitalism over statism; whose citizens want to live peacefully, neighborly and safely; whose citizens work hard to make their communities better for the next generations; and whose citizens cherish Florida’s magnificent environmental surroundings.

Wokeness is not welcome.

Indeed, we welcome those who want what we have here.

But we want them to remember: Leave your former state’s policies and misery behind. Remember why you left there in the first place.

Appraiser vs. Selby: Furst should be the bigger person Picture this: Two bulls in a pen, facing each other down. Heads lowered, eyes red with ferocity, noses spewing mist, hooves dug in, poised for battle.

That’s kind of how we see Sarasota County Property Appraiser Bill Furst and Jennifer Rominiecki, the CEO of the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens.

Two bulls unwilling to give in their war over whether or how much Selby should pay in property taxes.

If you’ve followed this dispute, you know Furst wants to impose a property tax on a portion of Selby

Gardens’ facilities, saying they are being used as an incidental, for-profit venture and not as part of the gardens’ not-for-profit research mission. He says state statutes are on his side.

Rominiecki and the Selby board disagree.

The two sides went before a special magistrate last week in an attempt to reach a resolution.

Our guess is that is not likely to occur. So they’ll go to the next level: a circuit court.

That is unfortunate because neither side appears to be engendering public sympathies,

and both sides are spending thousands of dollars on legal fees — with taxpayers covering Furst’s fees, and Selby donors covering Selby’s fees. No one wins, except the lawyers.

Three things could and should happen: 1. Furst should be the bigger person and offer a temporary compromise. Treat Selby as he treats all other not-for-profit venues with similar circumstances.

2. Meanwhile, press the Legislature to fix the statute. If the two sides are reading it differently, it must be flawed.

If the legislative route is achieved, take the new law, and start from there.

3. If not that, we see the onus on Furst for a fix. Selby was not the only not-for-profit caught off guard in this matter; others were as well. That tells you something must be amiss.

Rather than be the government guy who always says, “Sorry, it’s the law,” Furst could be the government guy who says, “Let’s find a way to make things better.”

“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

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THURSDAY, JANUARY 28, 2021

Nordic socialism isn’t socialism but rather capitalism with some unique features that might or might not work here.

CHARLES LIEBERMAN

R

oger Ralph in his Jan. 21 “My View” points out that 43% of companies plan to reduce their workforce because of technology by 2025. I accept the 43% as correct (though I suspect it is exaggerated), but it is irrelevant, and it reflects a lack of understanding of how economies work.

Technology displaces workers everywhere and makes it possible to improve living standards. English economist Thomas Malthus didn’t understand this. He believed that to double output in agriculture, you must double land and labor. But because populations grow exponentially, and land is limited, inevitably, he expected output per person to fall, pushing populations into poverty.

Mechanization, hybrid

seeds, fertilizer and other modern methods enabled a declining population of farmers — from more than 50% of our population to less than 2% today — to feed roughly 150% of the U.S. population.

We’re doing the same in manufacturing. About a third of our workforce was employed in manufacturing after World War II. We’re down to about 11%, and it will go lower. Still, output is higher. We now produce 18 million or 19 million autos a year versus 13 million or 14 million in the 1950s.

What happened to all the secretaries and telephone operators? Almost all of those jobs are gone. New jobs were created, many in industries that didn’t exist then.

And this is true for every successful economy, such as the Nordic countries, and untrue for the economies that try to be socialist, such as Cuba or China under Mao, which failed to adopt technology and became progressively more backward.

Ralph cited that 78% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck. This is partly a matter of choice and a failure of education. My father worked in a factory and never made much. But he lived within his

means, saved and invested.

I have a nephew who makes a nice income writing software but denies himself nothing. He has no savings aside from his 401(k). This is a social failure.

Ralph says the net worth of Black Americans is one tenth the net worth of white Americans. This is an outcome of discrimination years ago. Have Black people fared better in Europe in general or Scandinavia in particular? Hardly.

Ralph noted also that the Nordic countries are not nanny states. People there know the state handles college and medical care, and they must handle everything else.

More accurately, we are the nanny state, and we destroy work motivation. We are the ones who hand out entitlements, which encourages people to become wards of the state. We lock them into poverty.

Our income tax system is far more progressive than in Scandinavia, which relies much more on the value-added tax, which hits their middle (and lower) class much more.

Yet our politicians think our high income groups don’t pay enough. In fact, our rich pay far more than the European rich.

Our problem isn’t the capitalist system. It’s our political system. Our capitalist system bails us out. Our politicians are too partisan to put the needs of the country ahead of their nar-

row political interests.

Blaming capitalism is just a way of making a case for a preferred economic system.

Capitalism is not perfect.

Despite its flaws, it has delivered vast improvements in living standards for everyone.

In contrast, socialism has never worked, and Nordic socialism isn’t socialism but rather capitalism with some unique features that might or might not work here.

But you can’t take a few Nordic features, such as free health care and college tuition, and impose them on our economy without the complimentary structures to make them work, such as increasing tax rates far more broadly to pay for them.

But that runs against the progressive agenda.

To paraphrase Winston Churchill, capitalism is the worst economic system known, except for all the others. But capitalism can also be fine-tuned and manipulated to address many (not all) of its flaws. If only we could do the same to our politicians.

Charles Lieberman is the former chief economist for Chase Bank and was previously head of the monetary analysis staff of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. He is founder and managing partner of Advisors Capital Management LLC, an advisory firm registered with the SEC, and a resident of Longboat Key.

“Our problem isn’t the capitalist system. It’s our political system. Our capitalist system bails us out. Our politicians are too partisan to put the needs of the country ahead of their narrow political interests.”

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THURSDAY, JANUARY 28, 2021

County leaders will again discuss mental health district The taxing district would allow funds to be diverted to mental health organizations.

BRYNN MECHEM STAFF WRITER

Sarasota County leaders this year are hoping to resurrect a referendum that would create a mental health taxing district to help address treatment gaps.

Commissioners first began discussing a special taxing district to support mental health in 2019 after Commissioner Mike Moran brought forth the idea.

They were poised to add the issue to the November 2020 ballot but decided against it when financial uncertainties over COVID-19 arose in April.

Now they hope to bring the idea back in 2021.

Moran said local health organizations have expressed a belief that their missions would be enhanced with reliable funding, and he sees the need in the community.

“Organizations could have the best plan in the world, but they don’t have the money to execute,” Moran said. “With this, you’ve taken a huge variable away.”

During the commissioner’s planning retreat in December 2020, local leaders and mental health experts implored commissioners to bring discussions back.

In early 2021 meetings, Commis-

File photos

Left to right: John Annis, of the Charles & Margery Barancik Foundation, says the project needs to begin sooner rather than later. Commissioner Mike Moran first brought up the idea of a mental health district, stating there’s a great need in the community.

Left to right: Commissioner Al Maio brought the project back to the table for discussion. Commissioner Nancy Detert says she’d like to see funds go toward help for juveniles.

sioner Al Maio requested a status report on the district.

County Administrator Jonathan Lewis said staff plans to have a report ready to present to the board in March and would

then seek direction from the board in April.

Among the leaders hoping to see a revival is John Annis, the senior vice president for collaboration and impact of the Charles and

Margery Barancik Foundation.

“I think this has been proven that there is such a need,” Annis said. “The pandemic did not make mental health any better. In fact, every piece of research I’ve read has talked about how bad it has been for our mental health, so this is the right time to make this investment.”

Although many commissioners support the idea of dedicating money to various programs, some residents and members of the business community are hesitant to tie the tax district’s revenue to property taxes. A rate of taxation has not been determined.

Members of pro-business groups, such as Christine Robinson, the executive director of the Argus Foundation, have said that although they support the county prioritizing mental health, it should not create a separate taxing district to do so.

“If you intend to raise taxes, it is understandable why a taxing district will be considered, and you should let the public know that up front,” Robinson said at the board retreat. “If you intend to just move the mental health money you are spending now to the taxing district, it is a mistake that could have terrible consequences for mental health.”

The county last year sent out a survey to residents and stakeholders to gauge their opinion of a mental health district.

Of the 1,663 respondents, 67% said they knew someone in need of mental health services. Around 78% of respondents said they’d

support a degree of tax increase, ranging from $50 to $200 annually.

Although most residents are in favor of the program, it is still unclear what the priority of the funding will be.

Commissioner Nancy Detert said she’d like to see the program focus on mental health services for juveniles.

A mental health scan funded by the Barancik Foundation and Gulf Coast Community Foundation and conducted by University of South Florida in 2018 found there are more than 10,000 untreated youth countywide, which costs the county $86 million annually.

“There’s a scarcity there,” Detert said.

Annis said commissioners could choose to divvy up the funds in a variety of ways. They could have the Human Services and Advisory Council decide how to split the funds, they could choose a priority for the year and dedicate a percentage to a corresponding organization, or they could create a subcommittee of experts to determine what the county’s biggest issues are.

No matter what model the county chooses to adopt, Annis said he hopes commissioners agree on one soon.

“We’ve pushed off something we should have started working on 10 years ago,” Annis said.

“A long time ago we should have started addressing this issue because it’s so serious. Any more time that we delay, it’s just not a positive thing.”

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THURSDAY, JANUARY 28, 2021

FIESTA FRIDAYS! POSTPONED Fiesta Fridays!, a monthly event that included live music, food, games and other attractions, has been postponed for the foreseeable future, Nathan Benderson Park CEO Tomás HerreraMishler said.

Herrera-Mishler said the event is too expensive to host with the limited capacity necessary to ensure social distancing. He called the postponement of the event, one of his personal favorites, an easy decision.

“No matter how much I love that event, and so will the rest of the people of Sarasota, we just can’t do it in the midst of the pandemic,” Herrera-Mishler said. “We have to wait. We do things right. We do them well. Doing it right, doing it well, can be expensive. And it has to break even. We’re a nonprofit organization. That doesn’t mean we can do stuff that puts us in the red.”

File photo

Carrie and Brandon Phillips, visitors from Alexandria, Va., enjoy a day on the water at Rec Days on Sept. 19. Rec Days was a constant source of revenue for the park during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Treading economic waters during pandemic Nathan Benderson Park reduces costs until the pandemic eases and events return. prestigious — they’re great exposure for the park and for our community,” Rodriguez said. “Olympic trials are exactly that. It’s not a big event in terms of athlete numbers because it’s limited to the best of the best. … So you’re not driving economic impact with that, but really, you’re part of the Olympic movement.”

In 2016, the Olympic rowing trials generated an estimated $862,000 for the region, along with 1,600 hotel rooms rented, but that was including fans. The event should be limited this time in terms of spectators.

“We anticipate that the economic impact for the event will be

BRENDAN LAVELL STAFF WRITER

S

tephen Rodriguez, the chief operating officer of Nathan Benderson Park, said the park’s financial situation could be much worse given the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

And now, with the return of U.S. Olympic Team Rowing Trials in February, the park has something to celebrate.

USRowing announced Jan. 22 that Nathan Benderson Park will host the first set of U.S. Olympic Team Trials for rowing Feb. 22-26.

“You have the [events] that are

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less than 2016,” Rodriguez said.

“However, the benefits of hosting the Olympic trials is about marketing and exposure.”

The Olympic trials will provide a small economic boost to the area after a year in which Nathan Benderson Park didn’t create its usual economic impact.

The park, which is managed by nonprofit Suncoast Aquatic Nature Center Associates, was created in part to drive economic impact to the area. Rodriguez said the park estimated its economic impact on the community was down $19 million for fiscal year 2020 based solely on events that were lost. That’s a sizable

chunk of the approximately $30 million per year that the park had been averaging.

Rodriguez estimated the park lost about $250,000 in revenue from events canceled during the 2020 fiscal year, such as the USRowing Southeast Regionals, USRowing Youth Nationals and Sculling State Championships.

“We were able to get through some of the year that had some good, profitable events,” Rodriguez said. “And then when we got events [canceled], we were able to keep our programming going.

The programming really drove our income.”

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constant sources of revenue during the pandemic. One is Rec Days, which was launched in early 2020 and has been held multiple times per month. Rodriguez said the park also saw a record number of children enrolled in its summer camps.

Rodriguez said the 2021 fiscal year could be worse than 2020 if the COVID-19 situation doesn’t improve by summer. For example, last year, many rowing teams had already paid to use the park for training before the COVID-19 pandemic sent Florida into lockdown. The park will likely dip into its reserve fund, which has more than $1.3 million, to offset the deficit, Rodriguez said.

This year, about 90% of the teams that typically use the park for training in winter and early spring are canceling their visits, as almost everyone — barring Olympic hopefuls for the U.S. rowing team — is staying home.

Rodriguez said team training typically brings in more than $100,000 per year.

Park officials said the pandemic has resulted in one silver lining: Nathan Benderson Park has become a more communitydriven park. They said the park started seeing thousands of daily visitors during the pandemic and estimated the park hosted at least four times as many guests than usual on many days.

Some visitors even discovered the Finish Tower was an optimal place work out in the shade.

Although these visitors don’t make the park any money, officials still saw value in the skyrocketing community usage.

“When we look at what our core missions are, one of them is about community,” Rodriguez said. “It’s helping us fulfill our mission. So is it a financial benefit? No. Is it an economic impact benefit to have locals use the park? No. But it’s a benefit to the community, and that’s who we are.”

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THURSDAY, JANUARY 28, 2021

Your Home Deserves Hunter Douglas

door. Although the hotel wanted to press charges, an officer said there was no evidence the man broke the glass.

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THURSDAY, JANUARY 28, 2021

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County amends affordable housing incentives The changes mean developers who build east of I-75 no longer have to include affordable units, but they can choose to.

BRYNN MECHEM STAFF WRITER

County commissioners advanced a plan that strips away requirements that developers include affordable housing in proposals east of Interstate 75.

Despite residents’ concerns, commissioners voted 4-0 — with Commissioner Nancy Detert absent — to approve changes to county affordable housing policies following a state law that went into effect in 2019.

The change comes after state lawmakers approved House Bill 7013, which mandated county governments that require affordable housing units to provide incentives that offset the cost to develop the affordable units.

In previous discussions, County Planner Steve Kirk said the county offers developers greater density in exchange for affordable housing units, but not many large-scale developers use the project. Siesta Promenade is the largest project to take the county’s offer in recent years, Kirk said.

County Attorney Joshua Moye explained that the issue revolves around the value of the incentives the county was providing.

Moye said the Florida law would allow the county to keep its current policies if it fully offset the costs for the affordable units. However, without a firm value attached to the incentives, the county faced potential litigation if they were found to have not fully offset the cost of the affordable units.

Therefore, Moye said it was best that the county amend its policies to match the state’s.

“If the current system doesn’t provide enough incentive to offset [the cost], the county would be responsible for that difference, and that could be a significant amount,” Moye said.

Although the new Florida law allows the county to seek affordable housing, the new changes to the county’s Comprehensive Plan and the Unified Development Code make it clear that the county’s system is voluntary.

Currently, if a developer plans to build in the village designation, a minimum of 15% of the dwelling units within a development have to be affordable.

The amendment to the UDC, which governs new communities east of I-75, includes: n Two incentive dwelling units for every housing unit provided for a family equal to or lower than the 80% area median income — a value of $61,200 in 2020; n One and a half incentive dwelling units for every housing unit provided for a family equal to or lower than 100% AMI — a value of $76,700; and n One incentive dwelling unit for every housing unit provided for a family equal to or lower than the 120% AMI — a value of $92,040.

None of the 2050 villages already approved by the county will be affected by the changes.

Commissioners said the incentive-based system would offer more benefits to developers and

Brynn Mechem

Commissioner Mike Moran says the amendments will allow developers to be protected, and the county can still offer incentives.

therefore bring more affordable housing projects to the county.

Commissioner Mike Moran said he interpreted the state’s intent was to allow governments to incentivize affordable housing while still protecting developers.

“If a community wants to do affordable housing, fine, have at it, but don’t be pushing that on the private sector,” Moran said of the policy’s intent.

When commissioners first discussed the amendments in September 2020, Commissioner Nancy Detert was the only board member to vote against them.

Detert at the time said the county offers incentives, and

builders follow the county’s plan based on whether they need the incentives, which she said doesn’t do enough to encourage affordable housing in the county.

“Then we pretend we did something about affordable housing,” Detert said. “My goal is to have family housing, working family housing, not welfare housing, all over the place.”

Several residents and members of the Florida Housing Coalition were against the changes, stating the county’s current policies are more than sufficient.

In a Jan. 5 email to commissioners, leaders of the Florida Housing Coalition asked commissioners

not to implement the changes.

The memo states the county has created 2,889 units as a result of its current zoning regulations and that the regulations fully offset the cost of the affordable housing units.

Minjee Kim, an assistant professor of urban planning at Florida State University, said she frequently teaches courses on land-use law, and the county already is doing what it should to meet the state’s standards.

“The most powerful tool that local governments can use to meet the new standard is exactly what you’ve been doing,” Kim said.

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THURSDAY, JANUARY 28, 2021

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Last spring, the City Commission and its advisory boards began to hold meetings via videoconferencing as a safety precaution following the emergence of COVID-19 in the community.

Although municipal bodies are usually required to have an inperson quorum to take any action — meaning one more than half of the members must be physically present — Gov. Ron DeSantis issued an executive order in March permitting remote meetings.

That order expired at the end of October, which meant the city’s boards had to resume inperson meetings. Although the City Commission has resumed its business with a hybrid system that allows two members to continue to appear remotely, the inperson requirements have caused problems for the city’s volunteer advisory boards.

In December, the city’s Planning Board had to delay several items after a majority of the board declined to meet for more than two hours, citing COVID-19 concerns. Following a November meeting of the Police Complaint Committee, one of the nine people seated at the table tested posi-

tive for COVID-19, requiring the board to quarantine for 14 days.

In January, the Parks, Recreation and Environmental Protection Board unanimously voted to send a letter to the governor’s office encouraging DeSantis to allow the volunteer boards to continue to meet remotely. Board Chair Carl Shoffstall noted the statewide COVID-19 positivity rate hovered above 10% for most of January, meaning the coronavirus continued to spread even as vaccinations began.

Shoffstall, 64, said he didn’t see any problem with the remote meeting software the city used while COVID-19 restrictions were in place last year. On a personal level, Shoffstall said he was relatively vulnerable and would prefer to eliminate unnecessary risks, particularly now that the vaccination effort is underway.

“I don’t want to get this thing right at the end of it when there’s the potential in the next couple of months we might get on the plus side of things,” Shoffstall said.

The Downtown Sarasota Condominium Association also sent a letter to DeSantis on Jan. 15 asking him to allow virtual meetings.

DSCA President Eileen Normile, who previously served on the Planning Board, said there was no reason to jeopardize the wellbeing of people who were volunteering their time, even if the city had implemented some safety precautions.

“Why are you putting these people at risk at all?” Normile said.

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City considers new rules for vacation rentals Barrier island residents are encouraging officials to move forward with regulations aimed at large rental properties in their neighborhoods.

DAVID CONWAY DEPUTY MANAGING EDITOR

F

or the past year, residents on St. Armands and Lido keys have sounded alarms about issues with large vacation rental properties in their neighborhoods.

Next week, the City Commission is poised to take action on regulations designed to address residents’ concerns. Chris Goglia, the president of the St. Armands Residents Association, sees this as a pivotal moment regarding the future of “hotel houses” — the moniker the neighborhood has given to big homes listed on rental platforms, such as Airbnb.

“If it isn’t stopped, this thing is going to forever change the city’s barrier island neighborhoods,” Goglia said.

The city will consider an ordinance containing a package of

rules related to hotel houses at Tuesday’s commission meeting. The ordinance would establish a maximum occupancy of 10 individuals at any home used as a vacation rental, though that regulation would be phased in over the course of several years for properties that are currently operating lawfully. The ordinance would also require owners of all vacation rental properties to register with the city annually.

The scope of the ordinance is subject to revision based on the commission’s input at Tuesday’s meeting — if officials decide to move forward with the proposal at all. In a memo, City Attorney Robert Fournier shares a list of six major questions associated with the regulations as drafted. Those questions include which areas of the city the ordinance should cover and whether the 10-person maximum occupancy is ideal.

Additionally, Fournier asks whether the City Commission wants to prioritize the adoption of a vacation rental ordinance when it’s possible the state could overrule any local rules during this year’s legislative session.

Goglia said it’s essential for the city to move forward now, regardless of what the legislature might do. He notes that residents have

THURSDAY, JANUARY 28, 2021

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IF YOU GO REGULAR CITY COMMISSION MEETING When: 6 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 2 Where: Commission Chambers, City Hall, 1565 First St. Virtual: SarasotaFL.gov and on TV via Access Sarasota (Comcast channel 19 and Frontier channel 32)

File photo

Lido Key Vacations, which operates large vacation rentals such as this one on Lido Key, has communicated with the city a desire to avoid extensive rules for registering its properties.

been complaining about issues at vacation rentals in their neighborhoods for more than a year, stating the homes create excessive noise and other issues detrimental to quality of life in the area. The neighborhood believes these homes, which advertise the ability to accommodate upward of 20 guests, violate the city’s definition of household living.

Goglia is hopeful the city will allow the neighborhood to guide any revisions to the ordinance.

He pointed out one example

where residents would like to see a change to the proposal: As written, the rules would apply only to single-family neighborhoods, but Goglia said many of the large rental homes on Lido Key are in areas zoned as multifamily.

“If the basic justification for adoption of the ordinance is essentially the preservation of the stability of single-family residential neighborhoods, this ultimately seemed to me to be the preferable approach, since presumably the city is less con-

cerned about preserving singlefamily neighborhoods in areas zoned multiple family,” Fournier wrote in the memo.

Goglia said the vacation rentals can affect a residential area regardless of the zoning.

Fournier said the residents aren’t the only people with thoughts on the ordinance. The city attorney met with Lido Key Vacations, which operates 10 vacation rentals on the city’s barrier islands. The group shared the measures it takes to avoid noise or trash issues, and it encouraged the city not to establish onerous regulations.

Although there are some unanswered questions about what the final language will look like, the St. Armands Circle Association is supportive of moving forward with the ordinance. Goglia was optimistic the regulations would be easier to enforce than standards for household living, defined as no more than four unrelated persons in a single residence.

“It might be hard to say, ‘This group is a family; this one is not,’” Goglia said. “It should be much easier to count the number of persons on the premises of a vacation rental.”

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THURSDAY, JANUARY 28, 2021

Commission approves consideration of hotels

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the proposals piecemeal and that instead the board should consider the overall impact all three hotels will have on the barrier island.

“Our ask of our county planning department and the board BRYNN MECHEM of commissioners is to make this STAFF WRITER a transparent process,” Spiegel said following the meeting. “We ounty commissioners on demand a broader consideration Tuesday took a procedural of the impact and implications step toward approving three of multiple large-scale hotels on hotels on Siesta Key, unani- our roads, beaches and neighbormously advancing three out- hoods. Give us a real seat at the of-cycle changes to the county’s table, like what was done when future land use policy. these policies were enacted.”

The changes pertain to height, Some developers, however, density and transient use on the would prefer that the proposals barrier island. be considered separately.

The proposals were set to be Mike Holderness, the owner of approved without discussion, but Siesta Key Beach Resort, said his Commissioner Christian Ziegler proposal does not seek any buildreset them for full consideration. ing height increase above the 35 Commissioner Mike Moran clari- feet currently allowed, just an fied the approval means staff will increased density. now allocate time for a review and “As you can imagine, we have a discussion process. It does not lot of developers that would like to mean the projects have the green come to our area and change what light to be built. we have and what we’re all about,” “The community has plenty of Holderness said. “But it does not opportunities, including work- have to be all or nothing. A better shops and Planning Commission choice than a universal change is hearings to be heard,” Moran said. one that fits the mold.”

Before commissioners disCommissioner Nancy Detert cussed the out-of-cycle revisions, said the commission approved the members of the Siesta Key Coali- changes out of cycle to accommotion, which started in opposition date staff workload. of the hotels, implored commis“These are going to be highly PUBLICATION: CLIENT: DESIGNER: sioners not to move ahead. contentious and lotslena@lenashore.com of public Sarasota Observer Turner Pest Control Lena Shore, Siesta Key Coalition President input about the substance of the DATE: Mark Spiegel said it is ADnot SIZE:appro5”W x 8”Hissue,” Detert FILEsaid.

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IF YOU GO

‘EMBRACING OUR DIFFERENCES’ OUTDOOR ART EXHIBIT When: Through April 1 Where: Bayfront Park, 5 Bayfront Drive Contact: Call 404-5710.

For information: Visit EmbracingOurDifferences. org.

Harry Sayer

Emily Norris in front of her “Small Struggles” art piece at the “Embracing our Differences” outdoor art exhibit.

Small struggles, big venue Emily Norris won the Best in Show Student award at the “Embracing Our Differences” outdoor art exhibit.

HARRY SAYER STAFF WRITER

Emily Norris, a 13-year-old student at Sarasota Middle School, sometimes has trouble with words. But that doesn’t mean she doesn’t have things to say. The seventh grade artist has expressed herself through digital art and painting for years.

She typically puts her energy into all sorts of digital designs

— painting faces is a particular favorite — but recently submitted one of her pieces to the “Embracing Our Differences” outdoor art exhibit in the hopes of having it be part of the annual art collection. “Small Struggles” depicts a young Black child looking at a towering wall of white, blond dolls at a toy store.

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with the finished product. To her surprise and delight, not only was she accepted as a candidate, but Norris also won the competition’s Best in Show Student award.

Her artwork, drawn on a 8.5-by-11-inch paper, has been blown up to billboard size and displayed at Bayfront Park along with other powerful works as part of Embracing Our Difference’s annual exhibit, which opened Jan. 20.

“When I found out, I just got really excited,” Norris said. “I was super happy. I went out [to] tell my friends immediately, and it was just a really great feeling.”

Her mother, Arin, said Norris has always been creative, with the pair of them sewing and making crafts together when she was younger. As Norris became more independent, she started asking for more art supplies, and Arin was happy to oblige. Norris said she was inspired by sketches, nature paintings and magic figures and wanted to be able to draw the same. “[Art] is the best way for me to express my emotions,” Norris said. “It really just helps me calm down and level myself out when needed.”

Norris said she’s working on

THURSDAY, JANUARY 28, 2021

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things all the time. She had the idea for “Small Struggles,” she said, when thinking about how some people of color need different hair products than others and how those small differences can make someone feel.

“It’s about how the smallest lack of representation can mean something in the long run,” she said. “I’ve been to stores, and I’ve seen all the advertisements where it’s like ‘We look like you!’ and I just see the lack of variation.”

She started out with the project sketching the idea in her notebook, which she then took a picture of and re-created it online.

She printed that design and used alcohol markers and gel pens to color it in. All in all, the process took around a month.

Although Norris usually makes it a point to draw faces, this time she framed the scene of the child facing up at the wall of toys to better convey a feeling of not being represented in day-to-day life. “[I wanted to] express the feeling of not being able to see someone like yourself,” Norris said, “when everyone around you is advertised to look like you, but it does not.”

The artwork is now on display at Bayfront Park, something that the Norrises are still getting used to when they’ve visited the exhibit. Norris said that the first time she saw her work up on display, it didn’t feel totally real.

“They’re such good pieces, and then just to think that I know her and that she’s just 13 is absolutely amazing,” Arin Norris said. “I was speechless. … I’m going to go back and see it every day that I possibly can.”

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THURSDAY, JANUARY 28, 2021

Youngsters get a taste of commerce The Young Entrepreneur Market had more than 20 children selling their creations at The Bazaar on Apricot and Lime.

for his future.

“Some of the money I put back into the business, but most of it I save,” he said. “It’s good practice.”

SOFIA SANCHEZ, 11

HARRY SAYER STAFF WRITER

It’s been common to see children selling gifts at The Bazaar on Apricot and Lime from time to time. But co-Owner Kim Livengood recently dedicated an entire day to the youngsters and hosted a Young Entrepreneur Market event in the bazaar’s courtyard Jan. 23.

More than 20 young vendors set up shop and sold their wares that included pastries and artwork.

Photos by Harry Sayer

Left to right: Douglas Hanna has been selling his googly-eye shell creations for years. Sofia Sanchez sold her carefully created vanilla cupcakes at the bazaar.

DOUGLAS HANNA, 14

Douglas Hanna is no stranger to markets and fairs. He’s been selling his Googly Shells creations for three years.

It started when the young business owner was given a small shell with googly eyes as a gift, and it sparked an idea to sell other shell creations with googly eyes attached. He combs the beaches in Sarasota, Venice and Bradenton for shells and artifacts that he then assembles into pelicans, parrots and fish.

He’s done a handful of markets and selling spaces in his time, and business has been relatively booming. Hanna brings in around $150 to $200 every time he puts his creations out for sale, and he said he’s been saving the money

Sofia Sanchez has fond memories of cooking quesadillas, omelets and other treats with her mother, Regina, when she was younger.

Regina learned to bake at a young age — she grew up wanting to be a chef — and passed the skills down to her daughter as soon as she was able.

The duo has baked together many times in the past, and when Livengood invited Regina and her daughter to the market, they knew they had an opportunity to share their baked goods with others.

The duo spent Saturday morning passing out carefully made vanilla cupcakes to hungry families.

Sanchez has always had fun decorating the cupcakes, but it’s been a great way for her to enjoy time with her family as well.

“You can spend time with your family [baking] and learn more about each other,” she said. “You can have fun cooking and learning new foods to bake. … I feel really happy and proud of myself that I can make a cupcake that’s good.”

JADE MOON, 17

Left to right: Jade Moon has been building up inventory of her miniature paintings to sell. Adriano Tolino brought his “Star Wars” Lego kits to the show to sell.

Jade Moon specializes in acrylic mini-paintings with a focus on tropical landscapes, bamboo and plants that she’s typically sold online. Saturday’s event, though, was the first time she’s put her paintings out in such a big way.

“I’ve been into art my whole life and wanted to try to make

some money doing it” Moon said.

“Mini-paintings are really cute and easy to paint.”

She’s been hand-painting each creation and building up inventory to have on sale at the market. Each painting takes around an hour to an hour and a half to create.

“Painting is relaxing and fun,” she said. “At the end of the day, you have a good product, and you feel accomplished.”

ADRIANO TOLINO, 12

Adriano Tolino loves Lego and said he’s been playing with the toy bricks for as long as he can remember. They’re a good distraction that can let him unwind and focus on constructing figures, shapes and worlds.

But as he has kept buying sets — “Star Wars”-themed are his favorite — he’s ended up running out of space in his room, which is a problem when new, more exciting sets are released every year.

He’s found a solution with his new Lego-selling business, where Tolino offers up starter packs, vintage characters and framed portraits to buyers at the market.

“My philosophy is ‘Get rid of Legos to make room for more Legos,’” Tolino said.

Business has been good. Several children, along with their grandparents who fondly remember the toys, have picked up his sets.

“I don’t use these much anymore, and I have an abundance of them,” Tolino said. “I thought some kids could use them.”

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SPORTS

“ I have been able to travel so many places to play basketball.”

HIGH

— Riverview High’s Nicole Blanch SEE PAGE 23A

5

1

Cardinal Mooney High girls soccer senior Lauren Golon scored a goal Jan. 26 in the team’s 3-2 win against Manatee High.

2

Sarasota Christian boys basketball junior Aaron Fayette scored 19 points Jan. 25 in the team’s 58-51 win against The Out-ofDoor Academy.

3

Sarasota Christian girls basketball freshman Samantha Kotasek scored 17 points Jan. 24 in the team’s 50-48 loss against Bradenton Christian.

4

Cardinal Mooney High boys basketball junior AJ Russo scored 16 points Jan. 21 in the team’s 59-39 win against The Outof-Door Academy.

5

Riverview High boys soccer senior Tomas Travnicek made six saves Jan. 20 in the team’s 1-0 win against North Port High.

Riverview girls basketball’s grittiness starts with its coach.

RAM TOUGH Photos by Ryan Kohn

Gerald Perry had his girls basketball team practice against the junior varsity boys team for a more physical test.

RYAN KOHN SPORTS REPORTER

G

erald Perry never planned on being a basketball coach.

Perry, an assistant coach on the football and track and field teams at Riverview High, was not looking to add anything to his resume when former Rams girls basketball Coach Stacia Hill approached him to coach her junior varsity team for 2018-19.

“I didn’t want to do it, honestly,” Perry said. “But I said I’d work with them on strength and conditioning.”

But Perry made the best of it at the first practice, giving the girls the only instructions he could think of: layup lines and sprints around the gym. He appreciated how the girls listened. He decided to coach the team that year while learning on the job, and under his tutelage, the Rams found success, winning all but one game.

When Hill left the varsity position before the 2019-20 season, the school hired Perry in her place.

After an up and down 12-14 first season, Perry’s Rams blossomed in year two of his guidance. Riverview is 16-1 as of Jan.

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27, the a 47-45 overtime loss Jan. 7 to Lakewood Ranch High (15-3).

Otherwise, the Rams have been dominant. According to MaxPreps, they’ve averaged a 23.7 per game scoring advantage.

In practice, Perry works his team hard. On Tuesday, Perry pulled a handful of junior varsity boys over and had them play his girls in a half-court game.

No score was kept, but the boys dared the girls to take the ball to the post, and the girls did.

Rams sophomore Sami Slusarek said she prefers being pushed in practice. Otherwise, she said, she and the team aren’t won’t get any better. Slusarek, who averages 9.3 points a game, said playing for this particular team has been fun.

Nicole Blanch, a junior guard, moved to Sarasota from Philadelphia before this season. Her arrival was a spark for the Rams.

Blanch is averaging a team-high 12.5 points a game. She called Perry one of the best coaches she’s been around. He cares about their growth, Blanch said, as players and as people. And he’s fun, too. An end-of-practice streak of Blanch 3-point shots from way deep sent her and Perry into a laughing fit. And while junior guard Lily Lockhart was explaining how intense things can get, a huge shot block during a drill sent the entire gym into a tizzy.

The Rams have one game left, a Jan. 28 game against Newsome High, before the playoffs. Perry said he’d be lying if he said he foresaw this type of success this soon, but his players have exceeded all his expectations. Whatever happens, Perry is excited for the future — all but three players will return next season — but he’s not done thinking about this year yet.

COLLECTIVE EFFORT Gerald Perry (above) has brought a winning culture to Riverview girls basketball, but he insists he didn’t do it alone. Perry said his basketball coaching mentors — Jim Ward, Bernard Ziggler and current Rams boys Coach Rudy Fraraccio — have helped him, and the school’s administration has given him the support he needs.

Perry also thanked his varsity and junior varsity coaching staffs for putting in the work, and everyone controlling the clock, keeping stats, etc., as well as the school’s booster club.

Those things are vital to running a program over the long haul — and Perry said he indeed plans on sticking around a while.

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THURSDAY, JANUARY 28, 2021

PROSE AND KOHN

RYAN KOHN

Deep run ahead?

Mooney girls basketball elevates its play.

E

ven though Cardinal Mooney High had beaten The Out of Door Academy 62-34 Dec. 1 in girls basketball, I expected a closer game Jan. 21 at the Cougars’ home court.

Despite the loss to Cardinal Mooney (12-8) earlier, the Thunder had compiled an 8-4 record.

Both schools are in Class 3A and have talented players.

It had to be closer.

Instead, it was over in a blink.

Cardinal Mooney pounced on ODA early, playing suffocating defense and hustling to score points in transition. The Cougars led 21-0. Mooney eventually played its reserve players, and ODA started making shots, but it still ended with the Cougars taking a 72-48 victory.

It was a dominant display of basketball. Sophomore shooting guard Olivia Davis scored a game-high 26 points. She, junior point guard Natalie Mercadante, sophomore forward Jordyn Byrd, freshman forward Kennedy McClain and junior guard Madison Smithers have made Mooney a force in Class 3A. For a small school, Mooney

Olivia Davis provides a scoring punch for Cardinal Mooney High.

punches above its weight class.

Most of its losses have come against bigger schools, even giving Class 6A state hopeful Braden River High all it could handle Jan. 9. The Cougars lost 53-51 but kept it close despite 31 points from Braden River’s superstar O’Mariah Gordon, a Florida State signee.

Davis said the key to the team’s success has been knowing everyone’s strengths and weaknesses and playing to the strengths.

Photos by Ryan Kohn

Natalie Mercadante is the team’s point guard and a team leader.

At the beginning of the season, Davis said, there was an adjustment period. Davis missed the 2019-20 season with a torn ACL, so finding her fit within the program, plus integrating fresh-

men like McClain, took some time. Now, Davis said, the team is playing together.

That includes a 76-70 win over Seffner Christian on Dec. 29.

Seffner has players committed

to Arizona (Kailyn Gilbert) and Missouri (Addison Potts), but Davis said the Cougars were able to win by trusting one another to make plays.

The Cougars do have size in forward Jordyn Byrd, who is 6-foot-4, and McClain, who is 5-foot-11. Mercadante, who is 5-foot-3, said she believes the team can continue to improve its defensive communication, something that would take the Cougars over the top. The Cougars don’t try to “out-physical” most teams, but they can be smarter, more prepared and more willing to hustle.

“We’ve been moving the ball well on offense,” Mercadante said. “We’re finding the open person, and we trust them to make a play.”

It has worked so far. With two games left in the regular season, attention has started to turn to the postseason, where Mooney believes it can be a factor. Based on how the team played against ODA, another capable program, I don’t doubt the Cougars’ claims.

In fact, I’d be surprised if they don’t make a deep run. They’ve got skills and heart — and just the right amount of ego.

“We’re a school of 400 kids and a team of nine kids, but we’re capable of a lot,” Davis said.

Ryan Kohn is the sports writer for the Sarasota Observer. Contact him at RKohn@ YourObserver.com.

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Nicole Blanch is a junior guard on the Riverview High girls basketball team. Blanch averages a team-high 12.5 points a game.

She moved from Philadelphia to Sarasota during the offseason.

When did you start playing basketball?

I started when I was 4 with my brother, [Justin]. We would always play when we were young.

We would go to Ardmore Park, where Kobe [Bryant] used to play. That’s where it started.

What is the appeal to you?

I love where it has taken me. I have been able to travel so many places to play basketball. Also, meeting great people and great coaches and learning the game.

You have to learn to love the process of it all.

THURSDAY, JANUARY 28, 2021

23A

If you would like to make a recommendation for the Sarasota Observer’s Athlete of the Week feature, send it to Ryan Kohn at RKohn@ YourObserver.com

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What are your hobbies?

I like to spend time with family and friends. I also spend a lot of time working out, and I listen to a lot of music.

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What is the best piece of advice you have received?

Stay consistent. A lot of people only do things for a certain amount of time [before giving them up]. If you stay consistent with things, whether it’s making your bed in the morning or something basketball-related, it makes you feel more accomplished.

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What is your best skill?

My best skill is shooting, 3-point shooting. I also am good at finding my teammates for open looks.

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I’m still working on my mid-range shot, but it’s getting better. Also trying to improve my left hand.

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JANUARY 28, 2021

YOUR NEIGHBORS Asking the big questions

“I have a belief: I know what I know, and I know what I think.”

— Joe Newman

At 108, Joe Newman concedes there is still a lot to learn at the discussion group he leads.

HARRY SAYER STAFF WRITER

J

oe Newman wouldn’t say he’s growing older. He’s already there.

Newman, a resident of Aviva Senior Life, recently celebrated his 108th birthday, not that the number impresses him much.

He said at a certain point, the years blend, and the number of birthdays no longer matter.

What’s important to Newman now is how he spends each day he’s been given.

“If you don’t think about how old you are, it’s better you just wake up each day, do what you like to do and keep going,” he said.

“If you ever get another one, then you get up and do the same thing.”

It’s a philosophy he enjoys sharing each week.

Newman is the leader of the Socrates Café, a weekly conversation club at Aviva that delves into the workings of society, culture, history and purpose.

Newman and his colleague Richard Weingarten lead the half-virtual, half-in-person meetings with a single topic. The around-20 members of the group don’t shy away from tough conversations and often debate the merits of the U.S. immigration policy, social order and recently the riots and insurrection in the U.S. Capitol.

The exchange of ideas with his colleagues and the possibility of seeing the world in a new light are what excites Newman about each

Photos by Harry Sayer

Joe Newman’s partner, Anita Sampson, celebrated his 108th birthday with him at the weekly Socrates Café meeting.

The Socrates Café recently celebrated Newman’s 108th birthday.

week. He often tells his colleagues not to be afraid of advancing age but to instead embrace it, enjoy the moment and keep going.

He’s heard the old joke about senior living homes being God’s waiting room, and he rejects it.

The idea that at a certain point it’s not worth it to be engaged, to stop living, isn’t something he

accepts — he still wants to be part of the world.

“I have a belief: I know what I know, and I know what I think,” Newman said. “But I haven’t gotten anywhere unless I know what you know and know what you think. … To me, that makes it worth getting up tomorrow.”

Newman said he had a normal childhood growing up in South Bend, Ind. — decent in school, didn’t give his parents too much trouble — but the circumstances that led him to living in America were anything but. His parents were Russian activists, and he said they likely met in a gulag in Siberia for passing out leaflets advocating overthrow of the tsar.

That political activism stayed with them as they immigrated to America. Newman recalls many dinner table discussions about the state of the world.

His parents couldn’t speak much English, and Newman said he was lucky enough to have his

older sister bring him books to read. He devoured “Black Beauty,” “Huckleberry Finn” and countless others — his appetite for reading has stayed with him.

“You can immerse yourself in what you’re reading,” Newman said. “[My partner] complains I’ve got my face in a book or a newspaper even now.”

As important as exercise is for health, Newman feels it’s just as important if not more to keep his mind active. His philosophical debates have been a great way to do just that.

One of his most memorable exchanges was a debate about the Black Lives Matter movement.

Newman approached the subject from its roots, wanting to see how members viewed the idea of what constituted “law and order,” which concept was in service to the other and what demographics and social groups benefited from the idea of “order.”

He said it’s not so much that the debates change his mind on topics, but it allows him to slow his thinking down and modify how he views certain things.

That patience for others’ perspectives is something he thinks society lacks. He’s disheartened that the world is still asking the same questions about societal decay and collapse that he discussed with his parents nearly a century ago. Even now, he doesn’t feel he has the answers.

For all of the introspection and explorations of human beings and the societies we form, Newman has kept to a guiding principle his sister told him long ago: If every person were kind to the people around them, society would reach a better place.

“Any time you meet anyone, hope that when you leave them, they’ll feel glad they met you,” Newman said. “Try to make them feel that, even for a few seconds, life’s a little brighter, a little happier. I think if each of us took a piece of that responsibility, some of this dissension will dissipate.”

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THURSDAY, JANUARY 28, 2021

LOVE, SHAKESPEAREAN STYLE Love is in the air as Valentine’s Day nears, thanks to The Players and the Bard.

MARTY FUGATE | CONTRIBUTOR

S

arasota’s experiencing its own winter of discontent. To take the edge off, The Players Centre for Performing Arts is taking a page from

Shakespeare in an outdoor production at The Bazaar on Apricot and Lime. “In Love with Shakespeare” will offer a selection of the Bard of Avalon’s greatest love scenes. Elliott Raines compiled the anthology and will also direct the play. We spoke to him recently.

When did you first encounter Shakespeare?

I did an honors project on “Richard III.” I thought I had a profound understanding. I was 17 years old. When you’re 17, you’re basically an idiot.

Courtesy photos

Carrie McQueen and Jim Floyd bring “In Love with Shakespeare” to life.

What is your ideal Shakespeare project?

Shakespeare wrote 10 history plays, eight of which comprise two tetralogies. I’d like to do all of those eight history plays.

I’d start in the 1920s, in an organized-crime setting. Each would jump ahead a decade. By

the time we got to “Richard III,” we’d be in the John Gotti era.

What was the most disappointing Shakespeare production?

“Richard III” — the Al Pacino version. That was the absolute worst. I saw it on Broadway about 40 years ago. All the other actors were doing the typical British accents. But Al Pacino stuck with his Brooklyn accent. He sounded like Michael Corleone. Ugh. It was funny at first. After about 10 minutes, I started

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Which plays did you draw your scenes from?

“Richard III,” which we talked about. Then “The Taming of the Shrew” — that has a perfect wooing scene. And of course I had to do “Romeo and Juliet.” If your play is running on Valentine’s Day, that’s sort of obligatory.

Who did you wind up casting?

Jim Floyd, Carrie McQueen, Charlie Tyler, Michele Strauss

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‘Was ever woman in this manner wooed?’

Yes, exactly. I thought about doing that scene, and I thought about doing an anthology of wooing scenes. I figured the concept could work with a small cast and an outdoor production. [Artistic Director] Jeff Kin loved the idea, and we were off to the races.

THURSDAY, JANUARY 28, 2021

Divorce without the Fight

getting angry. I’m sitting in a Broadway theater paying good money for this? Learn the dialect, you idiot!

What was the genesis of this project?

Long story short, I’d been scheduled to direct “Death of a Salesman” last summer.

I’d broken down almost half the play — and then the production was canceled. I was moderately depressed at first.

To occupy my time, I picked up the guitar and started reading through Shakespeare’s plays in chronological order. The history plays are fairly uneven, but “Richard III” is one of my favorite plays. It has a really fascinating wooing scene.

|

and Diane Cepeda, who is also my stage manager. They’re all extremely talented — and having a blast.

What will Sarasota audiences experience?

I think they’ll have a blast, too.

The wooing scenes are entertaining, they’re funny, and they get to the core of where people live. Shakespeare had an amazing understanding of the human heart. And people haven’t really changed over the centuries — and I think that’s a source of hope. He had his share of plagues in his time. He got through it. We will, too.

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THURSDAY, JANUARY 28, 2021

Orchestra brings music to classical dinner

T

he Sarasota Orchestra presented its first classical dinner of the season Jan. 21 in the Michael’s On East atrium.

About 30 guests gathered for the socially distanced “A Little Night Music” dinner and concert. Orchestra instrumentalists Jennifer Best Takeda, Samantha Bennett, Daniel Urbanowicz and Natalie Helm played beloved chamber music that ranged from Mozart’s “Eine Kleine Nachtmusik” to Alexander Borodin’s “Nocturne” to guests, who were seated in groups of two.

The night concluded with guests enjoying dinner in the outdoor atrium.

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Left: Samantha Bennett plays violin as part of Sarasota Orchestra’s “A Little Night Music.”

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BOUTIQUE RESIDENCES WITH ONLY 3 + 4 HOMES PER FLOOR Tucked amongst the most coveted galleries, restaurants, shops, theaters and the marina, The DeMarcay offers a respite from the bustling downtown while remaining the most walkable condominiums in Sarasota.

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©2021 Wolf Development Strategies and Wolf Residential. All Rights Reserved. Wolf Residential and Coldwell Banker operated by a subsidiary of NRT LLC. fully supports the principles of the fair housing act and the equal opportunity act. Oral representations cannot be relied upon as correctly stating representations of the developer.

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18 Months Promotional Financing Available!

Photos by Harry Sayer

Above: Jennifer Takeda plays violin.

Left: Sarasota Orchestra CEO Joe McKenna and Nicole Eibe

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WELCOMES Anthony Spinella, MD Board Certified, Family Medicine Above: Beverly Fisher and Susan Brennan Right: Daniel Urbanowicz plays viola.

Dr. Anthony Spinella brings to Intercoastal Medical Group at the Palmer Ranch I office a wealth of knowledge and experience in Family Medicine, utilizing the most current technologies and techniques to address your needs, from the routine to the complicated.

EAGLES POINT AT THE LANDINGS

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THURSDAY, JANUARY 28, 2021

LOCALLY KNOWN. GLOBALLY CONNECTED. SINCE 1976.

LAKEWOOD RANCH 8015 Bounty Lane Linda Driggs & Sara Boudarga 941-374-2920 A4488233 $1,795,000

SARASOTA 16225 Hidden Horse Way Thomas Cinquegrano 941-284-5049 A4485343 $1,599,000

LAKEWOOD RANCH 19432 Ganton Avenue Stacy Haas & Gloria Bracciano 941-587-4359 A4444895 $1,575,000

SARASOTA 3520 Trebor Lane Ann Martin & Joanna Benante 941-356-7717 A4488570 $1,400,000

SARASOTA 1711 Baywood Way Jami Kellogg 941-809-6931 A4488310 $1,200,000

SIESTA KEY 6208 Midnight Pass Road 202 Rudy Dudon 941-234-3991 A4480362 $869,000

SIESTA KEY 8735 Midnight Pass Road 101B Barbara A Milian, PA 941-504-0660 A4478410 $799,000

SARASOTA 945 Benjamin Franklin Drive 5 Camille Schwabe 941-894-4771 A4488654 $722,000

SIESTA KEY 5760 Midnight Pass Road 103 Kristina Waskom 941-266-8658 A4448159 $695,000

SARASOTA 888 Blvd Of The Arts 1003 Wayne Fastzkie & Philip Pisano, III 941-315-0442 A4485927 $675,000

SARASOTA 4026 Las Palmas Way Cole Collins 941-350-8360 A4488340 $670,000

SARASOTA 5351 Saddle Oak Trail Mackenzie Longueuil & Pat Mudgett 941-961-4023 A4488152 $650,000

SIESTA KEY 777 Beach Road 1B Judy Wright 941-232-8041 A4483053 $615,000

SARASOTA 523 S Palm Avenue Kristen Srur 941-350-0612 A4476013 $570,000

SARASOTA 6726 S Lockwood Ridge Road Barbara Dumbaugh & Victoria Lear 941-951-6660 A4488186 $395,000

SARASOTA 3885 Wilshire Circle 23 Chris Baylis & Sue Cosgrove-Lee 941-735-4713 A4485929 $369,000

SARASOTA 4234 64th Drive E Laura Navratil & Mary Pat Pihl 941-806-7436 A4487927 $359,000

VENICE 4339 Manfield Drive Margaret Kennedy 941-713-5000 A4488140 $355,000

VENICE 982 Bass Court Jo-Anne Sckowska 941-321-8975 N6113287 $350,000

NOKOMIS/NORTH VENICE 403 Rubens Drive Lisa Harris 707-337-2615 A4487743 $330,000

SARASOTA 1700 Starling Drive 204 Tina Von Kessel & Brigitte Von Kessel 941-266-2848 A4488583 $330,000

SARASOTA 435 S Gulfstream Avenue 907 Pamela Wall & Gladys Carrasco 941-504-5019 A4488260 $329,000

SARASOTA 5215 Parisienne Place 103BD2 Carol Aviles 941-356-6777 A4486046 $289,900

OSPREY 222 Woodland Drive Priscilla Adams & Susan Elkins 941-350-5871 A4488204 $242,000

SARASOTA 8330 Glenrose Way 1613 Robert Agnello 941-928-1328 A4488133 $225,000

VENICE 732 Nectar Road Linda Bastian 941-321-6203 A4485648 $219,000

SARASOTA 1968 Toucan Way 1405 Jennifer Thompson & Taylor Thompson 941-928-0790 A4484324 $144,900

SIESTA KEY 1291 Southport Drive Kim Ogilvie 941-376-1717 A4485002 $3,995,000

SARASOTA 1155 N Gulfstream Avenue 1802 Francoise Borel & Ken Desautels 941-228-3768 A4485046 $3,950,000

MSC MORTGAGE | MSC TITLE | MS&C COMMERCIAL NEW HOMES & CONDOMINIUMS

SIESTA KEY 4708 Ocean Boulevard E11 Denise Mei & Nicole Mei 941-685-3198 A4487843 $2,750,000

888.552.5228 | MICHAELSAUNDERS.COM 348861-1

SIESTA KEY 539 Norsota Way Lenore Treiman 941-356-9642 A4485407 $8,200,000

SARASOTA 1155 N Gulfstream Avenue 1604 Andrea O'Brien & Marci McFarland 978-257-5176 A4488339 $1,995,000

SARASOTA OBSERVER

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Siesta Key home sells for $3 million

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THURSDAY, JANUARY 28, 2021

RESIDENTIAL REAL ESTATE TRANSACTIONS

JAN. 11-15

Other top sales by area SARASOTA

Courtesy photo

The home at 1253 N. Basin Lane on Siesta Key was built in 1971.

It has four bedrooms, four baths, a pool and 3,464 square feet of living area.

ADAM HUGHES | RESEARCH EDITOR

A

home in Siesta Properties Inc. tops all transactions in this week’s real estate. Peter Murphy and Jennifer Aguiar Murphy, of Easton, Mass., sold their home at 1253 N. Basin Lane to Mary Lynn Logli, trustees, of Sarasota, for $3 million. Built in 1971, it has four bedrooms, four baths, a pool and 3,464 square feet of living area. It sold for $975,000 in 2019.

SARASOTA

MARINA TOWER Charles Smith Jr., of Jupiter, and Todd Smith, of New Port Richey, and T. Raymond Suplee, of Sarasota, trustees, sold the Unit 803 condominium at 1233 N. Gulfstream Ave. to Steven Rothbloom, of New York City, for $1.37 million. Built in 2001, it has two bedrooms, two-and-a-half baths and 2,035 square feet of living area. It sold for $975,000 in 2004.

BURNS COURT VILLAS Mary Nolan, of Sarasota, sold the Unit 21 condominium at 563 S. Palm Ave. to Annarita Scott, trustee, of Sarasota, for $880,000. Built in 2007, it has three bedrooms, two-and-a-half

Sansara Richard Augustine, trustee, of Sarasota, sold the Unit 501 condominium at 300 S. Pineapple Ave. to Frank Ross III and Barbara Ross, trustees, of Barrington, Ill., for $1.9 million. Built in 2016, it has three bedrooms, three baths and 2,702 square feet of living area.

It sold for $1.76 million in 2017.

PALMER RANCH

Cobblestone on Palmer Ranch Achille and Charlotte Chiappetta, of Bluffton, S.C., sold their home at 8721 Mangilli Road to Thomas Arthur Williams and Clara Ann Washburne, of Sarasota, for $720,000. Built in 2017, it has three bedrooms, three baths and 2,370 square

feet of living area. It sold for $566,200 in 2017.

OSPREY

Bay Acres Val Dwek and Eugene Margolin, of Nokomis, sold their home at 320 Bayshore Drive to Patricia Solomon, of Osprey, for $1.28 million. Built in 1961, it has three bedrooms, three baths, a pool and 3,772 square feet of living area. It sold for $650,000 in 2000.

NOKOMIS

Calusa Lakes Anne Hepp, trustee, of Clearwater, sold the home at 1963 White Feather Lane to Pamela Kah and Dale Wood, of Sarasota, for $465,000. Built in 1993, it has four bedrooms, three baths, a pool and 2,593 square feet of living area.

baths and 2,052 square feet of living area. It sold for $650,000 in 2012.

LAKE PARK Allen and Loreen Steinfeld sold the home at 1705 Spring Creek Drive to John Leeming III and Alexis Jayne Leeming, of Sarasota, for $810,000. Built in 1967, it has four bedrooms, two-anda-half baths, a pool and 2,902 square feet of living area. It sold for $400,000 in 2011.

MCCLELLAN PARK Sandra Appignani sold her home at 2318 McClellan Parkway to Charles Pennetti and SinSEE REAL ESTATE, PAGE 8B

These are the largest city of Sarasota and Sarasota County building permits issued for the week of January 11-15, in order of dollar amounts.

C I T Y O F SA RAS O TA Address

Permit

Applicant

11 Sunset Drive #103

Remodel

Sarah Ravis-Bergman $200,000

Amount

2900 Cherokee Terrace

Alterations

Amelia Anderson

$130,000

1550 Harbor Drive

Seawall/Repair

William Kennedy

$115,850

Docks 949 Pomelo Place

Pool/Spa

Jeffrey Talbot

$87,500

1350 Main St. #1601

Alterations

Alexandra Armstrong

$80,000

545 Freeling Drive

Remodel

Richard Lyons

$75,000

174 Golden Gate Point #41

Renovations

Graham Eady

$55,000

2833 Wood St.

Pool/Deck

Karen Tancredi

$31,120

SA R A S O TA CO U N T Y Address

Permit Applicant Amount

6154 Midnight Pass Road

Remodel

Ann Davis, trustee

$226,000

8986 Grey Oaks Ave.

Renovations

Cynthia Dopjera

$100,000

8109 Midnight Pass Road

Re-roof

Tim Wilson

$68,683

1267 Southport Drive

Pool/Deck

Catherine Force

$57,000

3732 Torrey Pines Way

Windows/Doors

John Robert Day

357 Mac Ewen Drive

Windows/Doors

Lydia Hausman

$50,900

6226 Buckingham St.

Pool/Deck

Donald Gursky

$50,000

1621 Caribbean Drive

Seawall

Ashok Sastry

$50,000

#306

$51,702

Source: Sarasota County, city of Sarasota

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SARASOTA OBSERVER

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THURSDAY, JANUARY 28, 2021

Real estate FROM PAGE 7B

dia Velazquez, of Sarasota, for $750,000. Built in 1951, it has four bedrooms, three baths and 2,186 square feet of living area. It sold for $385,000 in 2003.

E.A. SMITH’S DK Phenix Homes LLC and Pelican Development Group LLC sold the home at 1929 Ninth St. to Christine Neel and Justin Tyler Neel, of Sarasota, for $599,900. Built in 2020, it has three bedrooms, two-and-ahalf baths and 1,914 square feet of living area.

SOUTH GATE Reed and Diana Giasson, of Sarasota, sold their home at 2235 Siesta Drive to Rudiger Poe and Lee Ann Poe, of Sarasota, for $579,500. Built in 1956, it has four bedrooms, three baths, a pool and 2,750 square feet of living area. It sold for $120,000 in 2001.

Stacy Moss, of Sarasota, sold her home at 2927 Pinecrest St. to Todd Gordon Horsley and Kristen Leigh Carter, of San Diego, for $371,000. Built in 1958, it has three bedrooms, two baths and 1,561 square feet of living area. It sold for $315,000 in 2016.

Beverly Pillot, trustee, of Lakewood Ranch, sold the home at 2629 Bigelow Drive to Amy Pintus, of Sarasota, for $330,000.

Built in 1962, it has four bedrooms, three baths and 1,756 square feet of living area. It sold for $119,000 in 1995.

Karl Scott Rhyne and Arlene Nancy Rhyne, of Inverness, sold their home at 2503 Tanglewood Drive to Rod Galvan, of Sarasota, for $315,000. Built in 1961, it has three bedrooms, two-and-a-half baths and 2,015 square feet of living area. It sold for $125,000 in 1998.

Jennifer Topjun, of Sarasota, sold the home at 2331 Tangerine Drive to Equity Trust Co. Custodian FBO Martin D. Lieberman IRA and Equity Trust Co. Custodian FBO Jeffrey P. Bowan IRA for $309,000. Built in 1955, it has three bedrooms, two baths and 1,288 square feet of living area. It sold for $121,500 in 2001.

PRIME John Herrli, of Sarasota, sold the home at 1717 Alta Vista St. to Konrad and Kay Marine, of Wayzata, Minn., for $570,000. Built in 1949, it has two bedrooms, one bath and 1,079 square feet of living area.

PLAT OF SARASOTA Mikeal’an O’Keefe, trustee, of Sarasota, sold the home at 518 Columbia Court to Sidney and Troy Turner, of Sarasota, for $560,000. Built in 1937, it has three bedrooms, three baths and 1,199 square feet of living area. It sold for $225,000 in 2009.

HARBOR HOUSE WEST Cornelia Long Matson, trustee, of Sarasota, sold the Unit 51 condominium at 226 Golden Gate Point to Greg and Joanne Pieczynski, of Sarasota, for $540,000. Built in 1968, it has two bedrooms, two baths and 1,396 square feet of living area. It sold for $349,000 in 2010.

LANDINGS TREEHOUSE Dale Wolfson, trustee, of Sarasota, sold the Unit 67 condominium at 1449 Landings Circle to Alan and Nicole Maio, of Sarasota, for $532,500. Built in 1982, it has three bedrooms, two-and-a-half baths and 2,136 square feet of living area. It sold for $142,000 in 1986.

Thomas Williams, of Sarasota, sold his home at 8936 Huntington Pointe Drive to Elizabeth Armstrong and William Knab, of Hamburg, N.Y., for $380,000.

Built in 1994, it has two bedrooms, two baths and 1,932 square feet of living area. It sold for $349,800 in 2018.

1500 STATE STREET Alexandre and Josette Calame sold the Unit 504 condominium at 1500 State St. to Rita Loreti, of Sarasota, for $495,000. Built in 2017, it has two bedrooms, two baths and 1,014 square feet of living area. It sold for $504,000 in 2018.

PINE SHORES ESTATES Karen Hansen-Guerrero and Manuel Guerrero Jr., trustees, of Venice, sold the home at 6401 Beechwood Ave. to Aaron Rodriguez, of Sarasota, for $385,000.

Built in 1954, it has two bedrooms, two baths and 1,190 square feet of living area. It sold for $379,900 in 2005.

ALINARI Garwood Erickson, of Sarasota, sold the Unit 1108 condominium at 800 N. Tamiami Trail to James Driscoll and Ann Driscoll, trustees, of Sarasota, for $470,000.

Built in 2007, it has two bedrooms, two baths and 1,484 square feet of living area. It sold for $569,000 in 2007.

GULF GATE Robin Hsu and Matura Suksai, of Tampa, sold the home at 3360 Kenmore Drive to Michael Jaye Long and Lori Ann Long, of Highlands Ranch, Colo., for $355,000. Built in 1969, it has two bedrooms, two baths, a pool and 1,616 square feet of living area. It sold for $298,000 in 2020.

Weekley Homes LLC sold the home at 2405 Ezzell Court to Kurt Otto Utich II, of Sarasota, for $424,000. Built in 2019, it has three bedrooms, three baths and 1,736 square feet of living area.

Jonathan and Katherine West, trustees, sold the home at 6721 Roxbury Drive to Kathleen Coyne, of Sarasota, for $335,000.

Built in 1971, it has two bedrooms, two baths, a pool and 1,655 square feet of living area. It sold for $145,000 in 2012.

HUNTINGTON POINTE Michelle Kathleen Gilbert sold the home at 4203 Hearthstone Drive to Theresa and Claudia Visconti, of Sarasota, for $399,000. Built in 1994, it has three bedrooms, two baths and 1,817 square feet of living area. It sold for $334,800 in 2017.

PELICAN COVE Herman Schwendinger, of San Leandro, Calif., sold his Unit 108 condominium at 1603 Bayhouse Point Drive to Idlewild Enterprises LLC for $340,000. Built in 1976, it has two bedrooms, two baths and 1,216 square feet of living area. It sold for $310,000 in 2014.

TROPICAL SHORES Krista Alford sold her home at 1668 Colleen St. to HP Florida I LLC for $325,000. Built in 1958, it has three bedrooms, two baths and 1,656 square feet of living area. It sold for $165,000 in 2014.

LOMA LINDA PARK Maria Portanyi and Carmen Guislain sold their home at 2155 Temple St. to George Tom, of Temecula, Calif., for $305,000.

Built in 1955, it has four bedrooms, two baths and 1,478 square feet of living area. It sold for $145,000 in 2004.

SIESTA KEY SARASOTA BEACH Arthur and Kandy Magnotti, of Sarasota, sold the home at 630 Avenida De Mayo to Molly Chan, of Sarasota, for $950,000. Built in 1947, it has four bedrooms, three baths, a pool and 3,416 square feet of living area. It sold for $540,000 in 2010.

SIESTA BREAKERS Janice Jenkins, of Chicago, sold the Unit 415 condominium at 6480 Midnight Pass Road to Jeremy and Courtney Zelwin, of Solon, Ohio, for $822,000. Built in 1979, it has two bedrooms, two baths and 1,265 square feet of living area. It sold for $158,000 in 1981.

ONLINE See more transactions at YourObserver.com

Of all the exotic places you’ve dreamt of visiting, an out-of-town cancer center probably isn’t one of them.

A diagnosis of cancer is bad enough. Spending hours on a plane to get care makes it worse. No one should have to leave home for cancer treatment— and soon you won’t have to. Comprehensive cancer care is coming to Sarasota. So you can stop fighting your way through strange airports and start fighting your cancer here at home.

You have the power to give hope. Please consider a gift to help support the Brian D. Jellison Cancer Institute.

Hope comes home. Give today.

941.917.1286 | smhf.org A COPY OF THE OFFICIAL REGISTRATION AND FINANCIAL INFORMATION MAY BE OBTAINED FROM THE DIVISION OF CONSUMER SERVICES BY CALLING TOLL-FREE 1-800-435-7352 WITHIN THE STATE OR BY VISITING www.freshfromflorida.com/divisions-offices /consumer-services. REGISTRATION DOES NOT IMPLY ENDORSEMENT, APPROVAL, OR RECOMMENDATION BY THE STATE. (REGISTRATION #CH103) THE HEALTHCARE FOUNDATION WILL USE THE FUNDS FOR THE STATED PURPOSE BUT RESERVES THE RIGHT TO USE THE GIFT IN A MANNER CONSISTENT WITH ITS CHARITABLE PURPOSE IF THE STATED PURPOSE IS IMPOSSIBLE OR IMPRACTICAL TO ACHIEVE.

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Photos by Nat Kaemmerer

Kenney DeCamp with Leaf and Ange Wanless

Outdoor concerts return to Lutheran church

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9B

THURSDAY, JANUARY 28, 2021

donate & shop Building Materials | Furniture | Appliances Art | Decorative Accessories | Lamps

S

t. Armands Key Lutheran Church brought back its outdoor concert series with two shows by jazz band The Romantics in January. The most recent concert was Sunday, Jan. 24.

The afternoon felt nearly summery as the concert started, but the temperature fell as the sun did. About 30 church members and visitors attended.

SAKLC began its outdoor concerts over the summer of 2020, as the COVID-19 continued to keep church members apart.

Director of Music Michael Bodnyk started by finding musicians at the Sarasota Farmers Market and has since brought in other regular performers.

— NAT KAEMMERER

3 Stores n 1 Location Tuesday - Saturday n 10:00am - 5:00pm 2095 17th Street n Sarasota Have large items to donate?

Call to schedule your free pick up.

(941) 444-5783

www.habitatsrq.org

Our vision is everyone deserves a decent place to live.

Debbie Comer and Diane Jensen

OUR BUYERS ARE

n

347871-1

OUR SELLERS ARE

MORE BUYERS ARE

BUYING

SELLING

COMING

PENDING DECEMBER | $1.325M

SOLD DECEMBER | $2.2M LP

548 BEACH RD | $1.695M

SOLD JANUARY | $4.25M LP

SOLD DECEMBER | $1.199M LP

7345 PINE NEEDLE RD | $1.22M

SOLD NOVEMBER | $1.995M LP

PENDING DECEMBER | 2 LOTS $3.995M EACH

9122 MIDNIGHT PASS RD, #23 | $1.195M

YOUR HOME HAS NEVER BEEN WORTH MORE. I DON’T JUST SELL THE SIESTA KEY LIFESTYLE, I LIVE IT! • Siesta Key’s Top Selling REALTOR® Since 2005 • Best in client satisfaction real estate agent 15 years in a row by Sarasota Magazine

Sotheby’s International Realty® and the Sotheby’s International Realty logo are registered service marks used with permission. Each office is independently owned and operated. Equal Housing Opportunity.

348264-1

941.928.3424 | judie.berger@premiersir.com | www.homesofsarasota.com |

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THURSDAY, JANUARY 28, 2021

DON’T MISS JAN. 30

WELCOMES Brittney M. Benjamin, MD Board Certified, Family Medicine

FILL THE TRUCK 9 a.m. to noon at the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall parking lot.

Impact100 SRQ has helped fund the cost for a refrigerated truck, allowing for a greater number of perishable donations.

For information, visit impact100srq.org/ events/fill-the-truckevent.

Courtesy photo

Dr. Brittney Benjamin brings to Intercoastal Medical Group at the Beneva Family Practice office a wealth of knowledge and experience in Family Medicine.

Undergraduate: Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI Medical School: Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI Residency: Bayfront Health, Family Medicine Residency, St. Petersburg, FL Certification: American Board of Family Medicine

NOW ACCEPTING NEW PATIENTS! TO SCHEDULE AN APPOINTMENT, PLEASE CALL

941-365-7390 Beneva Family Practice Office

JAN. 28

JAZZ BRUNCH SUNDAY From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Hamlet’s Eatery, 821 Apricot Ave., is putting on a jazz brunch in The Bazaar on Apricot and Lime’s courtyard with bassist/vocalist Victoria Woods and guitarist Josh Hindmarsh of Hot Tonic.

The program includes jazz, Patsy Cline music and a free mimosa with entree. Admission is free.

Call 445-1938.

JAN. 29

IN CONVERSATION WITH EMILY KACZMAREK 5 p.m. Online. Hermitage fellow Emily Kaczmarek will discuss

her work as a playwright, screenwriter and performer during the Hermitage Artist Retreat’s “In Conversation” program. Kaczmarek is the author of “The Mirror Stage,” “Afterwords” and other pieces.

Cost is $5. For information, visit HermitageArtistRetreat.org/ calendar.

FEB. 2

YOGA BY THE BAY WITH ERIN 5:30-6:30 p.m. at Bayfront Park, 5 Bayfront Drive. Erin Hurter leads a weekly yoga session.

Bring a yoga mat and water bottle. Free. For information, visit FB.com/YogaByTheBayWithErin.

348772-1

921 S. Beneva Road, Sarasota, Florida 34232

www.intercoastalmedical.com Medicare and most insurances accepted

A Patient Focused, Multi-Specialty Group l National Expertise l Multiple Locations

BRINGING ITALY TO SIESTA KEY OPEN FOR IN-HOUSE DINING! Order Online for PickUp 5-10pm Daily www.cafegabbiano.com 941.349.1423 • 5104 Ocean Blvd.

NOW OPEN WITH FULL TABLE SERVICE Captain Curt’s is a family-friendly “Old Florida” restaurant.

Open Daily 11am to 10pm | The Sniki Tiki Bar: 11am to 11pm Coffee Shop: 8am to 4pm Tiki Trading Co. Gift Shop: 9am to 10pm

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Curbside Takeout Available 941.349.3885 | www.captaincurts.com

COMPOUNDING PHARMACY & WELLNESS CENTER

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Transfer to Sarasota’s most trusted Compounding Pharmacy!

Family Pharmacy has closed the location at Beneva & Webber and expects patients to transfer to their Tampa location. We would love the opportunity to serve you! Keep Compounding Local!

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SARASOTA OBSERVER

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FORECAST

NATURE’S BEAUTY WITH

THURSDAY, JAN. 28 High: 66 Low: 45 Chance of rain: 5%

FRIDAY, JAN. 29 High: 68 Low: 48 Chance of rain: 5%

SATURDAY, JAN. 30 High: 74 Low: 58 Chance of rain: 5%

Gordon Silver captured this image of a monarch butterfly among colorful flowers at Marie Selby Botanical Gardens in Sarasota.

SUNDAY, JAN. 31 High: 76 Low: 63 Chance of rain: 5%

Submit your photos at YourObserver.com/Weather. All submissions will be entered for the 2020-21 Weather and Nature photo contest. In February 2021, you will vote for your favorite photo, and the submission with the most votes will win a $500 gift card.

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11B

THURSDAY, JANUARY 28, 2021

SUNRISE / SUNSET

Sunrise Sunset

Thursday, Jan. 28

7:17a 6:08p

Friday, Jan. 29

7:17a

6:09p

Saturday, Jan. 30

7:16a

6:10p

Sunday, Jan. 31

7:16a 6:11p

Monday, Feb. 1

7:15a

6:11p

Tuesday, Feb. 2

7:15a

6:12p

Wednesday, Feb. 3

7:14a

6:13p

MOON PHASES

Feb. 11 New

Feb. 19 First

Feb. 27 Full

March 5 Last

RAINFALL Monday, Jan. 18

0

Tuesday, Jan. 19

0

Wednesday, Jan. 20

0

Thursday, Jan. 21

0

Friday, Jan. 22

0

Saturday, Jan. 23

0

Sunday, Jan. 24

0

YEAR TO DATE:

MONTH TO DATE:

2021 0.63 in.

2021 0.63 in.

2020 0.76 in.

2020 0.76 in.

A REFLECTION OF NATURE’S BEAUTY 349203-1

941.355.8437 | Bradenton

CROSSWORD

941.748.4679 | Venice

IN HERE! by Matthew Stock; Edited by David Steinberg

©2021 Universal Uclick

ACROSS 1 Streetcars travel on them 6 More than none 10 Blot gently 15 Male turkeys 19 “Scratch what I just said!”

21 Wombs 22 “Rain, rain, go ___” 23 God, while forming a major landmass?

25 Taproom barrels 26 Has another birthday 27 Unlike a lie 28 Currency in Italy 29 Blissful 31 “Neither snow ___ rain ...”

32 Curved 33 Wolf pack meetup gone horribly wrong?

35 “You gotta be kidding me!”

37 Big hunk of meat 39 What may be seen around a house?

40 “Rock Wit U (Awww Baby)” singer 43 “___ sesame” 45 Roofing goo 46 Palindromic Indian flour 50 Scaredy-cat’s laundromat?

53 Unkind people 55 Horse/49-Down hybrid

56 Talk rudely to 57 Back muscle, for short 59 Runs in neutral 60 Finale 61 Clear sky’s color 63 Bus payment 64 Fuss over your looks 65 Zoo’s money manager?

68 Black key near C 70 Pinball cheater’s move 71 Took a chance 72 Baker or banker 75 “A ___” (money-centric 2008 hit) 76 Resort with cucumber slices

KITCHEN | CABINETRY OUTDOOR PAVERS

941.493.7441 | www.manasotaonline.com briefly 103 Pre-iTunes music purchases 106 New York or Kentucky, in Monopoly 107 Three-time Olympic track medalist Bowie 108 Its kernels are often used in burritos 109 Obnoxious kid 110 T. ___ Price 111 What a successful hat seller leads?

115 Limbs under sleeves 116 All-star lineup 117 Candy with a chewy center 118 Goes blond, perhaps 119 Squad 120 “A Raisin in the Sun” divisions 121 Silences, as a Twitter troll

44 ESPN personality Katie 47 Subway ___ (backsplash choice) 48 Many a quinceanera guest 49 See 55-Across 51 Ring weight measures?

52 Perfect places 54 Broadcasted 58 Renter 61 Short story writer Nin 62 Acne spot 63 Be the right size 64 Dessert at an eating competition 65 Like someone who doesn’t mess around 66 Style 67 Inch (along) 68 Dreadful 69 Custardy dessert 72 Web language 73 Do as Simon says, say 74 Vocal part for Lance DOWN 74-Down 1 Puerto ___ (San Juan 75 Palindromic studio resident) 77 Plunges into a pool 2 Disco era suffix 78 Vitriol 3 Adult’s playful side 80 Known, in a geographic 4 Tons (of) sense 5 ___ Lanka 81 Convent figures 6 Prow’s opposite 83 Place setting part that 7 “Dagnabbit!”

8 “The Queen’s Gambit” vic- doesn’t go in the dishwasher 84 TV executive’s concerns tory, familiarly 85 Judicial order 9 “... and so on” (Abbr.)

88 Intense competitions 10 Next to appear 92 Sun Devils’ sch.

11 Classic consoles 93 Medium-sized string 12 “For sure!” instruments 13 One who may not want a 95 Like soup you have to relationship, slangily 77 Take courses?

14 Blaze involving many wheels blow on 78 Rum cake 97 Capacitor unit 15 Look, informally 79 Starts holding a subway 16 Olympian Jesse 98 Creamy-white strap 99 Self-description after a 17 Field with rabbits?

82 Certain evil spouses? lifestyle change 18 Food distribution giant 86 List that includes entrees 20 International understanding 100 Supervillain’s misdeed, 87 Pencil, after much use 24 Sandwich with sauerkraut often 89 “I loved it!” review 102 Loo users 30 Racket 90 Uses to achieve greater 104 “At Eternity’s Gate” star 32 Cartoon hit sound success Willem 33 ___ lazuli 91 GPS, for one 105 Parts of an IKEA manual 34 Dutch cheese 94 Mole or rat 108 Shoe with holes 36 Spice from nutmeg 96 Makes a knot in 38 Sinkers of ships, in a saying 109 Veal cordon ___ 97 Put the last touches on 112 “Who am ___ stop you?”

40 Tippy-top hockey items?

113 Zeta follower 41 Ostracize 101 Postmortem notice, 114 That ram 42 “To recap ...”

CELEBRITY CIPHER

By Luis Campos Celebrity Cipher cryptograms are created from quotations by famous people, past and present.

Each letter in the cipher stands for another.

“C’L VUXGGF IWWM OG GECZACZI OPWJG XDXUFGECZI ... PXTWUX C LOAX O MXRCHCWZ. ... C’L O YCPUO, OZM C’L DXUF HGUOGXICR.” – ECYOUF MJTT

“M’U LK LEMVD ... M JVA DTMJXATN SMDAYERVS LKS ... SMDAEVDDVS LKS GTYDAVEVS MG AXMKJD JP LIEN.”

– ULKSN UPPEV Puzzle Two Clue: I equals W

Sarasota

HUNDREDS OF COLORS AND STYLES ON SALE NOW!

Puzzle One Clue V equals P

CARPET

© 2021 NEA, Inc.

SUDOKU

Complete the grid so that every row, column and 3x3 box contains every digit from 1 to 9 inclusively.

©2021 Andrews McMeel Syndicate

01-28-21

Made for where you live. Here!

THURSDAY, JANUARY 28, 2021

INFORMATION & RATES: 941-955-4888

redpages@yourobserver.com • yourobserver.com/redpages DEADLINES: Classifieds - Tuesday at Noon Service Directory - Friday at 3PM • PAYMENT: Cash, Check or Credit Card The Sarasota and Siesta Key Observer reserves the right to classify and edit copy, or to reject or cancel an advertisement at any time. Corrections after first insertion only. *All ads are subject to the approval of the Publisher. *It is the responsibility of the party placing any ad for publication in the Sarasota and Siesta Key Observer to meet all applicable legal requirements in connection with the ad such as compliance with towncodes in first obtaining an occupational license for business, permitted home occupation, or residential rental property.

ANNUAL INDIAN BEACH SAPPHIRE SHORES NEIGHBORHOOD YARD SALE- 50+ HOUSEHOLDS: Items are the style of an eclectic artsy area. January 30th & 31th: 9a.m.-3p.m.

South of Ringling Museum, West of Tamiami Trail (US41).

Please remember to bring your mask!

SAP ERP CONFIGURER: Design, test & deploy software applications for SAP modules.

Worksite in Sarasota, FL and unanticipated U.S. locations.

Job requires travel & possible relocation to unanticipated U.S. locations. Some telecommuting is permissible depending on projects. Send resume to: Office Manager, Phoenix Business, Inc., 6021 Midnight Pass Rd. Unit 3, Sarasota, FL 34242.

Autos Wanted

WORK FROM HOME: Busy sales man seeks assistant ASAP.

CASH FOR YOUR CAR We come to you!

Ho Ho Buys cars.

941-270-4400.

Make calls, set appts, typing Unlimited earnings.

Call Paul:

POST YOUR AD WITH EASE.

917-751-6506.

YourObserver.com/RedPages

GARAGE SALE

WE BUY cars. top $$ paid for your vehicles.

Call Hawley Motors: 941-923-3421.

As low as $17.50 per week!

941-955-4888

VINTAGE TECHNICS SB-K40 3-way speakers.

27"Hx14 3/4"x 12 5/8"D. $60. (941) 966-6816.

WORKING HOSPITAL bed, good shape, $100 OBO. 941-726-7318.

Antiques/ Collectibles WANTED ANTIQUE & Vintage Items Paying Cash for Vintage costume jewelry, vintage/ antique clothing, old postcards, Vintage lighting & general antiques.

(978) 390-8803.

FAMILY SECURITY DRIVER 941-735-4732 Ask for Eddie.

Many years experience with rock stars, wild teens, children, elderly, and foreign families.

Feel safe, Be safe 24/7 Licensed and Legal.

Autos for Sale REDUCED PRICE! MERCEDES BENZ 1999 For Sale- S500 (stretch) M: 136K; Asking: $5,800 OBO. Great Condition.

Sunroof, Heated Electric Seats, Original W/S with sticker, 4Dr, Original MB hood emblem.

Black Car w/ light grey interior.

Located on Lido Key Cell 315.727.4933. Theresa

Autos Wanted STORAGE FACILITY Boat/ RV/ Trailer. Secure facility, low monthly rentals, Clark Rd area.

941-809-3660, 941-809-3662.

You’re only cheating yourself.

PAVERS CONCRETE for walkways, all sizes & shapes .50-.75 up to $1.

(941) 920-2494.

LAUREL OAK C.C. Openings in F&B, Landscape, & Golf Course Maint.

Competitive wages 941-378-3608. or email: info@laureloak.com

peekers’ place

YourObserver.com/RedPages

real estate

Help Wanted HELP WANTED: Servers and bartenders for Chef Rolf's New Florida Kitchen. Call: 941-806-6820.

BLACK FAUX leather reclining chair $50. Shiatsu homedics back massager $60.

941-321-0843.

BUY & SELL HERE!

jobs

auto Autos Service

100 YEAR old silver dollars, common dates, $28/each.

Call/text Paul: 814-450-9899.

LENOX 6 light brass and ceramic chandelier $100.

SINGER 328 portable sewing machine w all accessories $40. call (leave msg), or text: 508-672-1119.

CONDO SALE: Beautiful waterview walk to beach.

2BD/2BA has it all! State of the art kitchen. A must see! $415,000. 941-400-4808.

Call to see.

NORTH SIESTA Key Penthouse for Sale: Whispering Sands, 12th floor corner unit 2BD/2BA 55+ community.

270ft of incredible gulf and beach views from your 50ft wrap-around lanai. Private beach included. $1.375 million.

941-373-5432.

FIND BUYERS & SELLERS HERE! 941-955-4888 Homes for Sale Beach Front Home: 4BED5BATH, 2CARGAR $3,999,000 University Pool/Spa 4BED3BATH $425,000 55+ Beach and Boating: One story villa 2BED-2BATH $424,000

Items Under $200 ADVERTISE YOUR MERCHANDISE with the total value of all items $200 or less in this section for FREE! Limit 1 ad per month,15 words or less.

Price must be included next to each item. No commercial advertising.

Ad runs 2 consecutive weeks in 1 Observer.

Call 941-955-4888 Or Email ad to: classified@yourobserver.com (Please provide your name and address) Or Online at: www.yourobserver.com Or mail to: The Observer Group 1970 Main St. - 3rd Floor Sarasota, Fl 34236

Condos/Apts. for Sale

Condos/Apts. for Rent OSPREY SPACIOUS light and bright 2BD/2BA w/ garage, large screened lanai, step in shower, pool and tennis, in a no smoking building. Requires application. $1675/mo.

Includes cable and water.

941-966-9763.

2.5 Acres: 4BED/3BATH, 3CAR GAR. Luxury kitchen, barn, horses. $645,000 Longboat Key Beach House: on Canal, 3BED-3BATH, 2/CARGAR, Dock/Lift. $530,000.

Advertise your business or service in the Observer

RED PAGES CALL TODAY 941-955-4888

SELL YOUR STUFF FOR FREE! Items Up to $200

YourObserver.com/RedPages

Homes for Sale

Private Boat Lift: beach access villa/condo $399,000 Sarasota: Built in 2010 4BED2.5BATH Lakeview Lanai $335,000 Phillipi Gardens: INVESTORS 3BED-2BATH $209,000 Buy or Sell with Brooke O’Malley as your Realtor, and CLUB REALTY will Pay your title insurance.

Call 941-726-2677 LOCATION LOCATION! 3BD/2BA, Walk to beach.

Great rental or retirement home. $389,999, Call to see: 941-400-4808.

This week’s Crossword answers

FOR SALE on Siesta Key! Located in the heart of Siesta Village, close to Siesta Beach; this Grand 4 bedroom, 2 1/2 bath, private pool home could be yours.

Rarely available weekly rental income property. Won’t last!

Call: (941) 321-8585

CLEAN OUT YOUR GARAGE HERE! CALL 941-955-4888

This week’s Celebrity Cipher answers Puzzle One Solution: “I’m pretty good at thinking about everything ... before I make a decision. ... I’m a Libra, and I’m very strategic.”

Hilary Duff Puzzle Two Solution: “I’m an Aries ... I get slightly disturbed and ... distressed and flustered if things go awry.”

– Mandy Moore

This week’s Sudoku answers

©2021 Universal Uclick

©2021 NEA, Inc.

stuff

Garage/ Moving/ Estate Sales

Help Wanted

MOW OVER the competition!

RED PAGES

SARASOTA OBSERVER

YourObserver.com

Adult Care Services

Mobile Homes MOBILE HOME in N. Sarasota for sale. New A/C and carport. $14,90 OBO. Palmterracefl.com Call: 941-355-3411 or 941-355-5332.

Adult Care Services

POST YOUR AD WITH EASE. LAKESHORE VILLAGERarely Available Villa!

COMPLETELY RENOVATED top to bottom. This Maintenance Free property has 2 bedrooms PLUS A DEN! The kitchen has expansive Cambria quartz counter tops, SS KitchenAid appliances, custom cabinets w/lots of storage.

Designed tastefully with Quality finishes throughout the home including artful lighting, built-ins, crown molding, on-trend wood-like flooring, two screened in lanais with sliding glass door and incredible lake views. This spacious home includes a two-car garage, has been completely replumbed, widened front walkway, redone lanai areas and SO MUCH more. 55+ Community.

Call to schedule your appointment today!

Asking $369,000.

Chris Baylis 941-735-4713 Susanne Lee 941-400-9068

home services

YourObserver.com/RedPages

EPIC HOME CARE Personal Care-Respite Care Alzheimer’s Care-Light Cleaning Med Administration-Meal Prep Shopping, Errands & More Call for a FREE Evaluation!

941-536-6372 EpicHomeCare@yahoo.com Rosa Torres- Owner

RED PAGES AD RATES First 15 words .................. $ 17.50 per week Each Add’l word ....... 50¢ 15% DISCOUNT FOR 4-WEEK RUN

Call: 941-955-4888 Online: yourobserver.com

NEED ASSISTANCE? A LENDING HAND HOME NEED ASSISTANCE? CARE A LENDING HAND HOME CARE NEED ASSISTANCE? - Transportation A LENDING HAND HOME - Meal Preparation - Transportation CARE -NEED Light Housekeeping ASSISTANCE? - Meal Preparation - Personal Care A LENDING HAND HOME - Light Housekeeping -- Transportation Dementia CARE Care -Companionship Personal Care -- Meal Preparation - Dementia Care -- Light Housekeeping Medical Reminders - Transportation - -Companionship Personal Care - Meal Preparation - Medical Reminders - Dementia Care Schedule free in-home - Light your Housekeeping - Companionship consultation today!

- Personal Care Schedule your free in-home - Medical Reminders - Dementia Care consultation today!

941-809-3725 - Companionship Schedule your free in-home www.alhhomecare.com - Medical Reminders 941-809-3725 consultation today!

NR#30211577 www.alhhomecare.com Schedule your free in-home NR#30211577 941-809-3725 consultation today! www.alhhomecare.com NR#30211577 CLEAN OUT YOUR 941-809-3725 GARAGE HERE! www.alhhomecare.com NR#30211577 CALL 941-955-4888

Auto Transport SHIP YOUR car, truck or SUV anywhere in the United States.

Great rates, fast quotes. Call Hawley Motors: 941-923-3421.

Cleaning

Moving

BRAZILIAN CLEANING Service by Maria. Residential.

Meticulous Cleaning. Excellent References. Free Estimates.

Reliable. Lic./Ins. 941-400-3342.

CLEANING BY Brazilian Lady.

Meticulous, reliable, deep cleaning specialist. Residential.

Commercial. New Construction.

941-400-2866.

Landscaping/ Lawn Services

REAL LOCAL STUFF HERE!

PROFESSIONAL GARDENER Design, installation, maintenance, flowers, herbs, vegetables, and exotic gardens.

Regular weekly lawn maintenance and restoration 40+ years experience.

Tomlarsen559@gmail.com farmgirlfarmboyorganics.com 941-357-7750 business or 678-755-3804 cell

YourObserver.com/RedPages

Professional Services PERSONAL CHEF/ CONCIERGE/CAREGIVING 10+ years experience. Great references. My services are provided with the utmost integrity, punctuality and care.

Flexible schedule.

(941) 266-8329. @joyfulgourmet

Aluminum

“Specializing in 6” Seamless Gutters”

Dustin Yoder

941.650.9790 YoderAluminum.com

Owner / Operator Insured

• Window Repairs • Sliding Glass Door Repairs • Sliding Glass Door Deadbolts

349956

Computer

Call us today!

349300

Painting 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.

DON’T let your PATIO DOORS be a DRAG or your WINDOWS be a PANE!!

www.ezslider.com

MOVING? UNIQUE PACKING/UNPACKING SERVICES. Hire the pros.

(941) 800-3700 www.weunpack4you.com

HOUSECLEANER: VERY honest and reliable.

Guarantee quality work.

Have plenty of cleaning references to give upon interview. If interested and you have questions, Call: 660-362-2333.

Doors

941.628.8579

13B

THURSDAY, JANUARY 28, 2021

COMPUTER REPAIR SALES & SERVICE

FREE IN-HOM ESTIMATEE S

New & Refurbished Computers Servicing PC & MAC on Site or In Shop Virus and Spyware Removal- Free Software We Make Windows 10 User-Friendly!

DON’T THROW YOUR COMPUTER OUT THE WINDOW – CALL LORITECH!

6968 Beneva Road (Next to Beneva Flowers)

Realtors

350458

Homes for Sale

|

941-929-9095

Pegatronics Computer Instruction and Repair It’s Easier Than You Think!

Hardware Repair Virus / Malware Cleanup Software & Printer Install New Computer Setups New Purchase Consults Seniors & Beginners

Learn Computer Basics Phones/Tablet Help Apple & Microsoft Problems Solved On-Site and Off Much More! Call Today!

349058

Pegatronics.com

941-735-3362 Concrete State Lic. CR CO25291

LACIVITA CONCRETE Since 1967

Residential Concrete Specialist Patios - Driveways - Sidewalks

3680493-01

922-3157 350470

GROW YOUR BUSINESS

Find anything in the RED PAGES | 941-955-4888

WITH THE RED PAGES

RED PAGES Bring Results | 941-955-4888

Call to reserve your ad space: 941-955-4888

349338

YourObserver.com

THURSDAY, JANUARY 28, 2021

Health

Michael Koch Concrete, Inc.

“No Job Too Small” Reasonable Prices

Licensed & Insured

334711

918-8587

Also Laying Stone

Free Estimates

Doors

THE BEST

Watching your home while you’re away

Bob & Carol Guthrie 941.993.6613

SPINAL DECOMPRESSION PHYSICIANS IN AMERICA “Medical Breakthrough Technology for bulging, herniated and degenerative disc ...

No Pain, No Drugs, No Injections, No Surgery”

Sliding Glass Door Repair

Serving the Palmer Ranch Area Since 2007

Pinnacle Home Watch.com Stop Worrying About Your Home While Away

DR. DAVID CIFRA, DC

349299

University Health Park 2415 University Parkway Bldg. 3, Suite 216 Sarasota, FL 34243

www.SarasotaDiscCenter.com

Call 941.358.2224 today to schedule a 350452

FREE CONSULTATION

Handyman

The Only Thing You Have To Lose ... Is The Pain!!

CHTR Construction, Renovations & Home Repairs 349120

chtr.construction@gmail.com

941.356.9092

Licensed General Contractor CGC046512

Kitchen/Bath Remodeling

RED PAGES

GRAB BARS

235

$

(941) 504-3168

STEVE PANEBIANCO H R S 24/7 SERVICE

966-5094 Cell #809-7311

FREE ESTIMATES!

GROW

YOUR BUSINESS Advertise as low as $85 per week.

Call to reserve your ad space: 941-955-4888 YourObserver.com/RedPages

349963

ome epaiR eRvice • No JoB Too SmaLL • ScReeN RepaiRS • paiNTiNG/DRY WaLL • TiLe RepaiRS • & MUCH MORE!

FINE LINE

HOME

Owner: Gregory Farnack

SERVICES

Cell

THE GRAB BAR GUY GLENN KROECKER

Licensed & Insured

Specializing in painting, tile, flooring, level 5 drywall finishes & more. Meticulous & hard working.

Licensed & insured.

COVERAGE AREA: LAKEWOOD RANCH ƭƨ S. VENICE

954-1878 (cell) 780-3346 SHOWER & BATH MAKEOVERS Cleaned - Regrouted - Caulked - Sealed

350460

“OUR ESTIMATES & ADVICE ARE FREE”

350459

Licensed Lic. #38333 References

DAYANA

349497

941.348.1359 TheConcierge.co

LIFETIME GUARANTEE Licensed • Bonded • Insured

349308

Lower your home insurance with our GPS stamped reports on every visit.

941.966.0333

DrGrabBars.com

INCLUDES 2 MOEN STAINLESS STEEL ANTI SLIP CONCEALED SCREW GRAB BARS (16” & 24”)

Call a certified HOME WATCH PROFESSIONAL you can trust!

✦ Carpentry ✦ Indoors ✦ Remodeling ✦ Ceramic Tile ✦ Water & Fire Damage ✦ Kitchen/Baths

CALL BEFORE YOU FALL

COMPLETE INSTALLATION PACKAGE

WHO’S WATCHING YOUR HOME & BOAT?

349336

GladysKhabbaz@gmail.com 805 Molly Circle, Sarasota

941.504.2745 941.400.1563

CALL PINNACLE TODAY! 941-306-1999

Home Services

• Home Repairs & Maintenance • Interior & Exterior • Garage Floor Paint • Power Wash

Naji Aoun

Dave and Connie Grundy

Made for where you live. Here!

YourObserver.com/RedPages

CONSTRUCTION HANDYMAN

Licensed & Insured

www.PalmerRanchHomewatchers.com PalmerRanchHomewatchers@comcast.net

Board Certified in the specialty of non-surgical spinal decompression

“FIX IT - DON’T REPLACE” New Deluxe Rollers Will Make Your Doors Roll Better Than Ever Call Mark 928-2263 proslidingglassdoorrepair.com

PALMER RANCH HOMEWATCHERS®

This Doctor is Among

Servicing the Sarasota area since 1999

Driveways • Sidewalks

Home Services

349339

Concrete

349306

|

610.657.6792 Free estimates.

www.showerandbathsarasota.com

RIGHT ON TARGET

Rita Raimer

941-315-2415 HighTechHomeWatch.com Rita@hightechhomewatch.com

High Tech Home Watch and Concierge Service available Who is checking the house while you are gone?

BONDED/INSURED

Call John 941.377.2940

Free Estimates • Sarasota Resident Since 1974

Advertise your business, starting at only $85 per month.

OBSERVER RED PAGES

Call 941-955-4888 YourObserver.com/RedPages

349340

RED PAGES. MADE FOR WHERE YOU LIVE. HERE! TO ADVERTISE CALL 941-955-4888 OR VISIT WWW.YOUROBSERVER.COM/REDPAGES

349059

SARASOTA OBSERVER

349063

14B

SARASOTA OBSERVER

YourObserver.com

Plumbing

General Plumbing Services Inc. Complete Plumbing Services & Repairs Residential, New Construction and Commercial Serving the area since 1993 No Job Too BIG or Too SMALL. We DO IT ALL!

Free Estimates Lawn & Landscape Maintenance

724-2945

941-923-8140

Licensed & Insured State Lic CFC056748

Kenneth Fuhlman Inc. Building & Roofing Contractor • Aluminum, Vinyl, & Wood Soffit & Fascia Repair & Installation • Roofing Repair & Installation • Metal Roofing & Tile Roof Repair Specialists

Power Washing

Movers Pressure Washing

David McCarthy Moving

Pressure Washing

941-626-3194

Licensed & Insured CCC - 058059 CBC - 1253936

...will move anything from a couch to a household

dmccarthymoving@gmail.com

Local And Long Distance Movers Residential Moves Commercial Moves Pack, Crate & Wrap

Honesty, Integrity and Pride • Roofs • Pool Cages • Decks • Driveways • Deck/Paver Sealing • And Much More

www.davidmccarthymoving.com

For $95 per hour you get: A truck, 2 men with equipment, experience and a great attitude to

See my ratings at:

scaperotta@aol.com

941-345-5264

Italian American Owned

specialty screens / screw replacement / paint

Rescreening & Repairs

Doors and more!

Licensed and insured #IMT708

Personal Services

Licensed

“No Job Too Small”

Warranties

(941) 345-5264

10 Years Experience

941-270-1561 350453

Windows

LEAKY ROOF?

Call or Email for FREE Information Today!

Gulf Gate RoofinG inc.

P: 941.900.9398/E: Donald.Hubiak@sci-us.com

38 Years Experience

Pet Services by

Melanie Gates

• Pet Sitting • Dog Walking • Over 24 years experience • Excellent references

All Work Guaranteed

941-228-9850

Joe Murray, Owner

Fully Insured

State Licensed Contractor #CCC057066

350468

(941) 966-2960

Specializing in Re-Roofing & Repairs

Serving South Sarasota Only including: Palmer Ranch – Osprey – Nokomis

RED PAGES

Pet Care

BOOST YOUR BUSINESS Showcase your products or services.

CALL 941-955-4888

HEROES found here.

Relax. You’ve got better things to do.

Find a professional here in the Red Pages.

RED PAGES Made for where you live. Here!

Call 941-955-4888 or visit YourObserver.com/redpages

Res./Com.

Lic./Ins.

& Pressure C Window lean t e s ing s a S u n n w r o i s n e k W Sun y ind erl Form Serving Longboat Key Since 2005

Roofing

350471

Licensed & Insured

941-232-1192

Insured

10% OFF FOR MENTIONING THIS AD

Don Hubiak/Certified Pre-Arrangement Advisor.

Pre-Needs Estate Planning/Cremation

Trees

Manufacture and workmanship

Eldridge Re-Screen

make your moving day a pleasure.

Ray - 941-313-4538

• Pool Cage Restoration • Rescreening Specialists • Specialty Screens • Paint • Doors and more!

Satisfaction guarantee Satisfaction Guarantee Pool cage Restoration/ Rescreening specialists Manufacture and Workmanship Warranties

BEFORE

AFTER

941-544-1066

349966

Wizard Moving SRQ

350641

349960

Serving Sarasota/Manatee Area Since 2004

Screening

349326

941-704-4278

• • • •

350454

350472

Lic. & Ins.

Veteran Owned & Operated • Third Generation Master Plumber All Major Credit Cards Accepted Generalplumbingsarasota.com

• Drain & Sewer Cleaning • Backflows Installation • Natural Gas Installations - Appliance Hook ups • Power Flush & Comfort Height Toilets • All Water Heaters - Tankless - Gas - Solar • All Major Plumbing Fixtures Repaired or Replaced • Garbage Disposals • New Water & Sewer Services • Dishwashers Installed • Wells & Pump Repairs

25

UP TO

STANDARD WINDOWS

ows

120

$

INCLUDING SCREENS, TRACKS, MIRRORS & FANS

SPECIAL 00 5

$

senior citizen discount. www.sunsetwindowcleaningsrq.com

Purified water window cleaning available!!

Call Tibor for FREE ESTIMATES | 941- 284 - 5880

349327

373-9299

349964

3687676-01

Curt’s Lawn Service

15B

THURSDAY, JANUARY 28, 2021

Roofing

349064

Lawn Care

|

16B

SARASOTA OBSERVER

|

YourObserver.com

THURSDAY, JANUARY 28, 2021

DOING MORE IS OUR DISTINCTION

$

WWW.SCHEMMELGROUP.COM

U ND E R C O NTR AC T IN 3 DAYS BY VIRT UAL SH OWIN G

PR E S TA N C I A 41 9 9 LO SI L L I A S D RI V E | $1 ,0 9 5 ,0 0 0

U N D E R C O NTR AC T IN 0 DAYS

SOLD

H A R B O R AC R E S 14 49 H I L LV I E W D R I V E | $ 3 , 5 0 0,0 0 0

28

MILLION

PENDING IN JANUARY

SOLD

S I E S TA K E Y 3 9 2 9 H I G E L AV E N U E | $ 5 ,0 0 0,0 0 0

SOLD

$

U ND E R C O NTR AC T IN 2 DAYS

SOLD

U N D E R C O N T R AC T I N 2 DAYS

104

MILLION

CLOSED IN 2020

S I E S TA K E Y 3 3 6 0 G U L F M E A D D RI V E | $ 3 ,6 5 0,0 0 0

UNDER CONTRACT IN 1 DAY – MULTIPLE OFFERS

SOLD

DEER CREEK 8 6 91 WO O D B RI A R D RI V E | $ 5 6 5 ,0 0 0

UNDER CONTRACT IN 14 DAYS – MULTIPLE OFFERS

PENDING

BAY S T R E E T V I L L AG E – O S PR E Y 4149 F R O N T I E R L A N E | $ 2 5 9,0 0 0

U ND E R C O NTR AC T IN 17 DAYS

PENDING

N O KO M IS BAY F R O N T 2 1 1 5 LYC H E E L A N E | $ 3 , 3 5 0,0 0 0

T O U R O U R O P E N H O U S E S S U N D AY, J A N U A R Y 3 1 F R O M 1– 4 P. M .

SIES TA K E Y | 41 3 6 RO B ERTS P O INT CIRCLE | $ 4, 20 0,0 0 0 SIES TA K E Y | 1 320 P O INT CRISP ROAD | $ 3, 14 5 ,0 0 0 PRES TAN CIA | 4 6 3 4 MIR ADA WAY #1 5 | $ 3 9 9,0 0 0 JOEL SCHEMMEL, J.D., REALTOR® 941.587.4894 | JOEL.SCHEMMEL@PREMIERSIR.COM SHARON CHIODI, REALTOR® 941.809.0380 | SHARON.CHIODI@PREMIERSIR.COM SCHEMMELGROUP

SCHEMMELGROUP

SCHEMMELGROUP

Sotheby’s International Realty® and the Sotheby’s International Realty logo are registered service marks used with permission. Each office is independently owned and operated. Equal Housing Opportunity. Property information herein is derived from various sources including, but not limited to, county records and multiple listing services, and may include approximations. All information is deemed accurate and neither suggests nor infers that Sotheby’s International Realty participated as either the listing or cooperating agent or broker in the sale or purchase of the properties depicted.

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SCHEMMELGROUP

. . . t i a W But

S ’ E R THE !

E R MO

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CELEBRATING 45 YEARS!