For 41 years, Scot Ruberg, better known as Scooter of the Beach, has been a fixture of Siesta Key Beach from his seat in the lifeguard stand.
Yet, earlier this week, Ruberg announced his retirement from the role he has held since 1984, a decision he reached after nearly six months off duty following an injury.
“I’m ready, man,” he said. “Something told me it’s time, and I got a little taste of that time off when I was with the injury, and I kind of liked it.”
Ruberg says he will miss the daily interaction with the families, kids, concession workers, sheriffs and maintenance workers he has befriended across the years.
However, there’s something Scooter’s fans can continue to look forward to: his morning “beach report” videos on social media, where he has gained many thousands of followers.
Running in remembrance
When Marc Tuchman, owner of 99 Bottles Taproom & Bottle Shop, started a weekly run club in 2022, it drew just 14 participants.
However, the club has grown in size to the point of drawing hundreds of participants, who make their way on a 5K run through downtown, over the John Ringling Causeway and back. On Sept. 10, the turnout also encompassed numerous local recruits of the U.S. Army.
Staff Sgt. Dominique Frederick said the Army’s participation was a chance to make sure soldiers in training were invested in their community.
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Ian Swaby
Troy Griffin, Brayden Fadley and Dalton Willis
WEEK OF SEPT. 18, 2025
BY THE NUMBERS
$303 MILLION
Total approved spending plan of the city of Sarasota for fiscal year 2026 PAGE 7
$7.5 MILLION
Contract approved by the city for hurricane-related repairs at multiple waterfront parks and amenities PAGE 9
30,762
The amount of square footage for The Farm, the agriculture facility at McIntosh Middle School PAGE 19
CALENDAR
n Sarasota County Commission regular meeting — 9 a.m., Wednesday, Sept. 24, County Administration Building, 1660 Ringling Blvd. n Sarasota County Commission final budget meeting — 5:30 p.m., Wednesday, Sept. 24, County Administration Building, 1660 Ringling Blvd.
“The biggest thing for me was over $20 million of our fund balance being used to patch up the budget. We wouldn’t run our checkbook at home like that.”
Sarasota County Commissioner Tom Knight. Read more on page 7
Lido among trending fall trip destinations
Lido Key has been ranked among the nation’s top trending autumn travel destinations by vacation rental marketplace HomeToGo in its 2025 Fall Travel Report. With an increase of 327% year over year in vacation rental searches, Lido Key ranks as the sixth-highest trending destination, one spot behind Disney’s Celebration near Orlando at 343%.
The list is topped by Oro Valley, Arizona, with a 779% gain followed by Evergreen, Colorado
(710%), Kanab, Utah (423%), and The Galena Territory, Illinois (397%).
“Seeing Lido Beach continue to rank as one of the mostsearched fall travel destinations proves what Sarasota County locals have always known: Trading scarfs for sandals is the way to vacation,” said Visit Sarasota County President and CEO Erin Duggan.
Following Lido Key in the HomeToGo Top 10 trending destinations was Solana Beach, California (313% gain), Mineral
Bluff, Georgia (300%), Mystic, Connecticut (285%) and Brookings, Oregon (280%).
Duggan, in part, credits the growing popularity of Lido Key as a fall vacation destination to a recent marketing campaign.
“This past spring and summer, we ran a campaign we affectionally called ‘The Sarasota Keys are Calling’ to remind travelers why they fell in love with our barrier islands in the first place,” she said.
To view the entire report, visit HomeToGo.com.
City invites artists to submit sculpture
Artists are invited by the city of Sarasota to submit proposals for a sculpture to be placed at Payne Park Tennis Center. The selected sculpture will be placed within an interior courtyard — a partially shaded, highly visible location that is also viewable from the public right of way. The city will provide the concrete base, integrated or required lighting and a permanent plaque. Proposals may be figurative, abstract or conceptual and may be newly commissioned or existing works. Although the artist budget is up to $25,000, proposals of all budget levels will be considered. Competitive bidding will be one of several factors in the selection process. Application deadline is Oct. 5, 2025. For more information and to apply, visit SarasotaFL.gov/PPTCCall-For-Artists.
School board elects new chair, vice chair
During its Sept. 16 meeting, the Sarasota County School Board elected board member Robyn Marinelli as chair, in the absence of other nominees, and named board member Bridget Ziegler as vice chair, the latter on a 3-2 vote.
Liz Barker and Tom Edwards dissented on Ziegler’s nomination.
“I don’t think this has to be terribly contentious,” Barker said, stating that Edwards represented the minority view on the board, and that neither he nor Marinelli had served in the chair position, whereas Ziegler and Karen Rose have.
The school board also voted to move three upcoming meetings from 6 p.m. to 10 a.m. These meetings will take place Oct. 21, Nov. 18 and Dec. 16.
Changes to the language in its code of conduct and discrimination policy were also made, replacing mentions of specific minority groups with more generic language referring to “all” students and “any” instances of discrimination or harassment.
That change was approved via a vote of 3-2 with Barker and Edwards dissenting.
File photo
Lido Key is the six-highest trending fall 2025 vacation rental inquiry destination, according to HomeToGo.
Capacity concerns a key factor in proposal to close school
By November, the Sarasota School Board could decide on closing Wilkinson Elementary and moving its central office there.
ERIC GARWOOD | DIGITAL NEWS EDITOR
There’s no “For Sale” sign in front of Sarasota County Schools’ central office in The Landings yet, but a proposal is gaining momentum to move the district’s operations 3 miles east to Wilkinson Elementary School, but only after first reassigning students there to three other schools nearby.
In a timeline that involves surveys, outreach and more, a School Board vote to set the proposal in motion could take place by late November.
The school district’s central office complex sits on about 8.5 acres zoned for office and professional space. The Sarasota County Property Appraiser values it at around $19 million.
Wilkinson students would disperse as early as next school year to Alta Vista, Brentwood and Gulf Gate elementary schools in surrounding neighborhoods.
The notion is a component of Superintendent Terry Connor’s broader plan, rolled out to board members Sept. 9, to keep county schools operating closer to capacity and develop wider educational programs to better compete with alternative-school options.
“We look to act,” Connor said. “We can’t sit around and do nothing that things will just become rosy and better for us. We have to get into a posture of being proactive about the resources our taxpayers have entrusted to us as stewards.”
Of deepest concern are effects
THE SEATS
According to a plan proposed by Sarasota
of the state’s Schools of Hope program, first proposed in 2017 by then-Speaker of the House Richard Corcoran, now the president of New College. Evolved from its original idea, Schools of Hope allows, among other things, high-performing charter schools designated by the state to simultaneously occupy educational space in under-capacity traditional schools.
With a capacity of 786 children, Wilkinson operates at about 50%. The three surrounding schools are at about 60% capacity.
“If we have a school that is under 50%, half the school is empty,” Connor said. “We have maybe a wing or several classrooms that are not currently being utilized because enrollment has declined over the years. That provides an opportunity for a School of Hope operator to essentially make an intent to say ‘we want to designate that space for our school.’ And if they do that, the kicker is we also have to not only provide the space, but we also have to provide the transportation for the students, the food service, the custodial, the security support, the shared spaces — the cafeteria, the gym — all of that comes at no cost to the operator.”
Proponents say Schools of Hopedesignated operations open options for parents by allowing the charter school to set up in established facilities of traditional schools without having to find and pay for facilities of their own. Opponents point to the predicament school districts find themselves in, potentially acting as an unpaid charter-school landlord.
School Board member Liz Barker called it a “failed experiment, and not good for our students and not good for families.”
School Board member Tom Edwards was equally staunch.
“This is a wealthy county, and they want access to those dollars,” he said. “Before we move forward, the community deserves to understand exactly what’s at stake.”
Finances and loss of students to other forms of education such as homeschooling and private schools are also driving the shift in thinking, especially in light of Florida’s voucher program — referred to as Florida Empowerment School scholarships. Losses of students to FES scholarship-funded private schools affect public school districts’ funding.
Among the superintendent’s specific financial considerations: costs associated with operating the 1984-vintage central offices in The Landings and the fixed operating costs of running a cluster of four under-capacity schools. Closing Wilkinson would eliminate four potential Schools of Hope opportunities by pushing enrollment in the three remaining schools into the 70s or higher. Zoned enrollment — the total of grade-level students who live in a school’s zone regardless of their educational choice and potentially could attend public school at some point — would also soar by eliminating Wilkinson from the mix.
Other pieces of Connor’s plan involve connecting with privatesector partners to enhance segments of learning to keep students in public-school seats.
Junior Achievement connections with local businesses are just one example. Overhauling the curriculum at Brookside Middle School to attract new students is another.
Also on the table, partnering with private organizations to use open space for child care or pre-K.
“I am sad to be having this conversation,” Barker said. “I do see the potential for new ideas, and I’m thrilled to hear we’re talking about child care, talking about what else can we deliver for our families, but anytime we talk about closing school like that, that’ll gut you.”
THE CASE FOR MOVING
The Landings campus, on Tamiami Trail south of Sarasota’s city limits, was built in 1984 as professional offices and purchased by the school district in 1995. The four buildings, each identified by the color of their entry awnings, cover about 95,500 square feet of office space.
New when Teddy Ruxpin and the internet were still novel ideas, the buildings today lack the securityminded design, wind resistance and capacity of modern government buildings, Connor said, adding about $65 million in deferred maintenance is outstanding. They are also in a flood zone.
Annual operating costs are around $612,000, which includes $6,000 to The Landings Management Association.
One thing moving to Wilkinson can’t solve is location, though.
As Sarasota County’s population shifts south toward new develop -
ments along Interstate 75, there is also a need to reset where a central office resides, said School Board member Bridget Ziegler.
The same population shift to the south is a factor in the dwindling enrollment of the four schools under discussion.
“In my mind, a central office should be central,” she said after acknowledging that talk about shifting from The Landings has been a conversation topic for years. “We have developers we can have conversations with, perhaps there is land, I don’t know, but I’m saying more central by the highway. I want to pull in staff and make it easy to get there, to drive.”
School district Executive Director of Facilities Services Jody Dumas said the district at one time considered relocating offices to land adjacent to Pine View School and other possibilities.
“It comes down to land, land, land,” he said. “You’re talking about building a new facility from the ground up; you’re talking about a very expensive proposition these days.”
In district documents, school officials estimate a sales price between $14 million and $18 million. A potential lease-back plan with a buyer until Wilkinson is ready is estimated to cost $1.7 million annually.
LATER THIS FALL
Connor assured School Board members that decisions on moving ahead on the early phases of the proposal will be informed by deep layers of community involvement. But a January deadline looms for data on school capacity.
“We’d obviously need stakeholder input on parking, security and costs, but before any move, we’d want a market analysis and a listing agent to put this property up for sale. Then we’d phase the relocation process so it aligns with our other facility strategies,” Connor said.
Key dates ahead include:
■ Sept. 18: Community meeting scheduled at Wilkinson cafeteria at 6 p.m.
■ Oct. 7: Board work session
■ Oct. 8: Public hearing
■ Nov. 11: Public hearing
■ Nov. 18: Final board action
Board Chair Robyn A. Marinelli said it wasn’t so long ago that the state of schools in the northern half of Sarasota County was much different. And while the Schools of Hope and other factors affect the conversation, they are not driving it.
“At one time, Wilkinson was a big school, had the portables, same thing with Gulf Gate,” she said. “These are all top-quality, Alta Vista, topquality schools, top-quality staff, administration, but unfortunately, they are shrinking. We would be having this conversation anyway.”
and
Photos by Ian Swaby Wilkinson Elementary operates at about 50% capacity, prompting school officials to consider closing it
sending students to three other under-capacity schools.
Mote SEA opens in early October
The new aquarium, adjacent to Nathan Benderson Park, will open to the public Oct. 8.
ERIC GARWOOD
DIGITAL NEWS EDITOR
Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium is scheduled to open its north Sarasota County Science Education Aquarium on Oct. 8, with a sneak preview on Oct. 6-7 for Mote members.
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Admission prices listed on the Mote website include adult rates ($34 per person) and children’s rates ($26). According to a message from Mote, anyone interested in attending the grand opening must buy timedentry tickets in advance. Likewise, members wishing to attend the earlier “SEA It First” event must book ahead of time. Slots are limited to the number of people enrolled as part of memberships.
“Mote SEA is much more than just an aquarium; it stands at the intersection of paradigm-changing research, science education, and community engagement,” said Michael P. Crosby, President & CEO of Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium in a statement. “We envision a future in which tens of millions of visitors will experience the transformative power of learning and discovery”
Mote’s origins date back 70 years to 1955, when marine scientist Eugenie Clark founded the one-room lab that later earned the moniker “Mote Marine Laboratory” for benefactor William Mote. From the early days, Clark placed a premium on philanthropy and community partnerships.
Built adjacent to Nathan Benderson Park and University Town Center, Mote SEA represents a stark contrast in the organization’s public-facing presence in the community. The $132 million facility on 12 acres alongside Interstate 75 received partial funding from tourism tax revenue and private donations.
HANDY TO KNOW
■ Active-duty service members are admitted free with
■ Holders of reciprocal partnerships must present ID and member card to receive benefits
Ticket website: Mote.org/ tickets
Hours: 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily
Address: 225 University Town Center Drive
Inside, the building covers 146,000 square feet designed to showcase Mote’s science endeavors and also serve as an educational site for K-12 students in Sarasota, Manatee and surrounding counties.
In June, visitors and volunteers began saying goodbye the Mote’s venerable City Island aquarium, which closed to visitors on July 6. From there, animals were moved across the 12-mile route to their new home. In addition to the moving process, the wildlife had to undergo a quarantine after being introduced to new habitats. Much of Mote’s scientific work will continue on the bayfront campus, with public spaces reimagined. In 2019, Sarasota County and Mote agreed on a path forward that included tax funding and the purchase of the county-owned acreage for $100. Construction began in 2020.
Call 941-953-4859 or visit us at 3407 Bahia Vista St., Sarasota, FL 34239, everence.com/certificates to learn more.
Courtesy image Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium is opening its SEA site in early October.
valid ID.
Adagio condo inches closer to reality
Several issues need to be taken care of before DRC resubmittal.
Anticipating a partial sign-off for an 18-story mixed-use residential development at South Pineapple Avenue and Ringling Boulevard, with unresolved comments from six city departments, representatives of Adagio will require a third submittal to the Sarasota Development Review Committee.
Adagio had its second submitted hearing before the DRC on Sept. 3. Designed to conform with Florida’s Live Local Act, which incentivizes including attainable housing, the project is proposed at two towers, one 10 stories and the other 18. They will stand above a podium
that includes structured parking and 31,933 square feet of street-level commercial space.
The 18-story, bay-facing tower will include 103 market-rate condominiums and in the 10-story building to the east, 69 attainable units. The site is zoned Downtown Core, which if not developed under the Live Local Act would limit the height of the project to 10 stories.
The Live Local Act usurps local approval authority over residential developments that include at least 40% of its total units priced at 120% area median income or lower. Unlike city-offered incentives, Live Local does not require the attainable units to be equally spread among 80%, 100% and 120% area median income.
Live Local permits height and density matching any zoning district within a one-mile radius of the project, providing the property’s zoning permits commercial, industrial or mixed-use development.
To receive those incentives and others, 40% of the total dwellings must be offered as attainable for a period of no fewer than 30 years. Implementation of the Live Local Act for developments also provides for administrative-only approval, provided a project meets all code requirements.
Consultant Joel Freedman told staff the project needs one administrative adjustment, addressing a comment that a fire command room — which is a central, secure room that consolidates fire protection and life safety system controls — along Pineapple cannot be considered habitable space and must be relocated. Additionally, clarification is needed on a room adjacent to retail space and a stair egress corridor along Pineapple to meet the definition of habitable. Freedman told the committee he expected that adjustment to be granted soon.
WHAT IS FLORIDA LIVE LOCAL?
The Florida Live Local Act is designed to incentivize affordable housing by usurping local government approval authority and provide various incentives, tax exemptions, and streamlined approval processes. If a developer proposes a qualifying residential development, a jurisdiction:
■ Must authorize multifamily and mixed-use residential as allowable uses in any area zoned for commercial, industrial or mixed use, providing at least 40% of the residential units are, for a period of at least 30 years, affordable as defined.
■ May not require such a development to obtain a zoning or land use change, special exception, conditional use approval, variance or comprehensive plan amendment for the building height, zoning and densities authorized by the legislation. For mixed-use residential projects, at least 65% of the total square footage must be residential.
■ May not restrict the density of a proposed development authorized below the highest allowed density where residential development is allowed.
■ May not restrict the height below the maximum currently allowed for a commercial or residential development located within one mile of the proposed development, or three stories, whichever is higher.
■ Must provide for administrative approval if the development satisfies the land development regulations for multifamily developments in areas zoned for such development.
There are enough other issues among six departments remaining to require the third submittal to the entire committee.
To build Adagio, The Lutgert Cos.
of Naples assembled five parcels along Ringling between Palm and Pineapple avenues, including the U.S. Garage building at 330 S. Pineapple Ave. and a parking lot formerly owned by Church of the Redeemer. It paid $26 million in separate transactions.
LIVE-WORK UNITS AND A PROJECT REVIVAL
The DRC also held a pre-application conference with developer Top Florida Homes of Orlando, which is planning eight live-work townhome units under the working name of 575 North Washington Boulevard. Planned at the corner of North Washington and Sixth Street, the proposal for the currently vacant property is for eight townhomes, each above designated individual commercial space on the ground floor.
Zoned Downtown Edge, the project is proposed to be processed through administrative approval. Vehicle access for the Sixth Streetfacing units is proposed via a rear alley, where each unit’s garage and studio space are located, off North Washington Boulevard.
As no application for the project has been made, square footage and other specifications of the residential units were not disclosed.
Also making a pre-application conference appearance was 333 Cocoanut, an 11-story mixed-use residential building at the southwest corner of Fourth Street and Cocoanut Avenue.
That’s the site of a previously planned 10-story condominium building denied a Planning Board adjustment in April 2024 that would have allowed developer Fourth Street LLC to cut a driveway into the property off Fourth Street and would instead have to share an alley off Cocoanut Ave. with residents of Encore.
That project never advanced. In September 2024, however, the Planning Board unanimously recommended City Commission rezoning for a development plan by Palsar Developments of Lakewood Ranch that would wrap around Encore, and include a driveway off Fourth Street. That rezoning was approved by the City Commission in November 2024.
Image courtesy of Kobi Karp Architecture
A rendering of Adagio as viewed from the northeast at the corner of Pineapple Avenue and Ringling Boulevard.
Columbia Restaurant legend Gonzmart Sr. retires
DANA KAMPA
STAFF WRITER
One of the first sights greeting visitors to St. Armands Circle is the iconic blue-and-white sign standing against the sky, flagging one of the area’s longeststanding restaurants.
This landmark of the island operates under a brand that began in 1905, and that legacy is now passing to another generation.
Casey Gonzmart Sr. recently made official his retirement as chairman of the board overseeing the 1905 Family of Restaurants.
He is a fourth generation member of the family that started the flagship restaurant.
He is a direct descendant of Casimiro Hernandez Sr., who brought his Spanish-Cuban heritage to Tampa when he immigrated at the turn of the century. He opened the Columbia Saloon in 1903, renamed the Columbia Restaurant in 1905. It remains Florida’s oldest operating restaurant.
Continuing the family legacy are owners/operators Casey Gonzmart
Jr., his eldest son; Richard Gonzmart, his brother and president/CEO of the company; and Andrea Gonzmart Williams, his niece and holder of many roles, including director of operations for sister restaurant Cha Cha Coconuts, located on the Circle
next to the Columbia.
The senior family member has overseen the family of restaurants through all the hurdles and hurrahs, and his hospitality career has spanned 60 years.
His three family members in the business will retain their current roles, and the position of board chairman will retire with him.
Gonzmart Sr. said in a statement released this week about his July 25 retirement that it is “truly magical” to see the family legacy pass to a fifth generation. The significance is not lost on Gonzmart Jr., who was born in Sarasota and has worked directly with the restaurant from a young age. He played a pivotal role in writing down essential recipes, like the famous black bean soup, that have passed from person to person.
He recognized in a Business Observer 40 Under 40 feature how rare it is for businesses to exceed three generations of consecutive family management.
“Every single generation has worked in the restaurant from the ground up, so nothing has ever been handed to anybody,” Gonzmart Jr. said in the interview. “I don’t know how other businesses do it, but for us, between myself and my cousin, we’ve worked in the kitchen since we were 10 and 11 years old. We weren’t handed the keys and told, ‘Here, go do it.’”
Now, he, his uncle and his cousin will be taking on a new level of responsibility for carrying the torch.
Jeff Houck, vice president of marketing, noted that the post announcing Gonzmart Sr.’s retirement made more than 75,000 impressions.
Community members joined in reminiscing about the enterprise’s legacy, recalling their visits from childhood to the present day.
He has made plenty of memories at the restaurants over the years, starting when he worked in the kitchens at a young age and continuing after his board appointment in 1994.
The restaurant reassured patrons that while it will always be adapting to changing circumstances like ingredient availability, staples like the “1905” Salad and Cuban sandwich aren’t going anywhere. Customers can of course still look forward to ever-evolving specials like the stone crab dishes so popular to the St. Armands restaurant, which opened in 1959.
Gonzmart Sr. has valued serving as a leader of the restaurant on St. Armands — which he helmed for more than 20 years before moving back to Tampa — and the six other restaurants under the 1905 Family of Restaurants. But he also sought deeper community connections in Sarasota.
He has served as president of the St. Armands Circle Association and the Suncoast Foundation for Handicapped Children. He also served on boards for the Sarasota Convention and Visitors Bureau; Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium; and John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, among other leadership roles.
Even with a well-established brand, each generation charged with running the family of restaurants has dealt with its own challenges in 120 years, from world wars and prohibition to contemporary issues, like a pandemic and hurricanes that flooded the St. Armands Circle location.
However, the family has always found a way forward. Gonzmart Sr. said in the statement he takes pride in being able to entrust the legacy to the younger generation.
“It’s the most beautiful transition we could imagine,” he said. “Our little cafe founded more than a century ago has fed countless families, celebrated thousands of milestones and created a home away from home for our community. We’ve weathered every storm together, and now we’re about to embark on the most exciting chapter yet.”
The restaurants are poised to continue even beyond five generations. Gonzmart Sr. is retiring in Tampa with his wife, Heidi, where he plans to spend time with his children and four grandchildren.
Younger Gonzmart family members will take over St. Armands icon.
File image
Melanie Gonzmart, Casey Gonzmart, Andrea Gonzmart-Williams and Beau Williams
Lori Sax
The Columbia Restaurant’s fourth-generation owner, Casey Gonzmart Sr., believes that passion and fun are essential to running a restaurant empire.
County budget vote approval falls short of unanimous
Sarasota County Commissioner Tom Knight voted against approval of the fiscal year 2026 budget over capital spending objections.
arasota County is now one more public hearing and final vote away from adopting its $2.5 billion budget for fiscal year 2026. Although the budget includes a 0.5% decrease in the countywide millage rate at 3.2273 mills, the property tax value assessment rose 5.6% over the current fiscal year, bringing a revenue increase of $15.7 million. Still, the county will shift some $23 million from the general fund balance to balance the budget, and for that reason, freshman County Commissioner Tom Knight said he could not support the resolution. His was the lone dissenting vote on a motion to approve the budget at its first of two public hearings on Sept. 10. Final budget approval requires a second public hearing and a second vote of commissioners. That is scheduled to be held Sept. 24.
During an Aug. 19 budget workshop, Knight and others sounded the alarm that future budgets will require some belt tightening. They approved a resolution instructing County Administrator Jonathan Lewis and staff to begin the commission’s involvement in budgeting earlier in the year, particularly with constitutional and elected officials such as the Sheriff’s Office, Medical Examiner’s Office, Clerk of Court, Tax Collector’s Office, State Attorney’s Office and more.
Those offices represent the lion’s share of the budget — just more than $2 billion — and the state approves their budgets. Commissioners want to meet with them starting as early as February in an effort to help control rapidly rising costs before their budgets are submitted to their respective state agencies.
At the Aug. 19 meeting, commissioners were warned that, by the time fiscal year 2028 arrives, the county could be facing a $25.22 million deficit according to staff budget projections. That prognostication was based on current spending increases year over year, continued anticipated deceleration of the rate of assessed property tax value increases, and the commission’s lack
2026 budget.
WHAT IS A MILL?
One mill is equivalent to one-tenth of one cent. The property tax rate is based on millage multiplied by assessed property value. That means the annual property tax bill for a home in Sarasota County valued at $400,000 is $1,290.
Homeowners within the city limit will pay the county rate plus the 3.273 mills approved on the first of two required votes by Sarasota City Commission at its Sept. 3 meeting. That comes to $1,309 for a combined total of $2,599 for the year.
of control over elected and constitutional officer budgeting.
The county has set a goal of holding the line at a 1.6% spending increase across the board in fiscal year 2027.
But that’s next year and beyond. Knight would prefer to see cuts starting now.
“I just want to let the board know that I will not be approving or partaking in the approval of this,” Knight said. “I know the Sheriff’s Office budget escalated tremendously. We had an opportunity to slow down our capital programs and our own buildings, which next year will add $4 million, but the biggest thing for me was over $20 million of our fund balance being used to patch up the budget.
“We wouldn’t run our checkbook at home like that.”
Sarasota approves 2026 fiscal budget
The City Commission gives final approval of the $303 million spending plan.
In a matter of 21 minutes and six unanimous votes, the Sarasota City Commission ended the fiscal year 2026 budget season with its final public hearing and second vote during a Sept. 15 special meeting.
The budget includes a citywide property tax operating millage rate of 3.2730, up from the current fiscal year rate of 3.0 mills, the extra revenue generated to be earmarked to rebuild the city’s fund balance, which has been depleted by hurricane recovery costs.
During prior budget workshops, interim City Manager Dave Bullock told commissioners that the amount of FEMA reimbursements to the city to recoup losses incurred in the 2024 storm season are uncertain, if they are to be remitted at all. Those costs reduced the city’s emergency fund balance from $32 million going into the current fiscal year to $16.8 million, well below the 17% to 25% range of the city’s operating budget.
The just more than one-fourth mill increase over fiscal year is antic-
ipated to generate $5.2 million, which Bullock said is part of his three-year strategy to rebuild the fund balance, this year taking it approximately $22 million, or just more than 20% of the $108.3 million general fund portion of the budget.
There is an additional millage of 0.1348 for debt service payments on general obligation bonds issued in 2015 for a total rate of 3.4078 mills on residential and commercial property assessed values.
“The total proposed city budget is $303,575,000, which is a $2.1 million decrease from the previous year,” Director of Financial Administration Kelly Strickland told commissioners. In addition to the operating budget, the capital improvement plan and costs for fiscal year 2026 include:
■ Environmental: $23.7 million
■ Public safety: $2 million
■ Growth and development: $1.99 million
■ Residents and neighborhoods: $3.81 million
■ Parks and recreation: $4.08 million
■ General Government (Public Facilities) $6.56 million
■ Water and sewer administration: $1.25 million
■ Drinking water system: $6.04 million
■ Wastewater system: $6.85 million
■ Approximate Total: $56.32 million
File photo Sarasota County Commissioner Tom Knight was the lone dissenting vote in first vote approval of the county’s fiscal year
ANDREW WARFIELD STAFF WRITER
Andrew Warfield
Sarasota Director of Finance Kelly Strickland talks fiscal year 2026 budget with the Sarasota City Commission as Budget Manager Tyler Harris looks on.
Bivalves of the Bay
Volunteers join 2025 Great Scallop Search.
DANA KAMPA STAFF WRITER
During the most recent citizen science search for scallops, dozens of pairs of eyes were on the seagrass beds of Sarasota Bay. In several instances, there were sets of pinpoint turquoise eyes looking back up at those people.
A fleet of volunteers took off from Sarasota Sailing Squadron headquarters on Aug. 23, aiding Sarasota Bay Watch with the Great Scallop Search of 2025.
Executive Director Ronda Ryan started off the morning with a rundown of how to spot the elusive bay scallops and a demonstration of how to lay out transect lines. The weighted ropes guide divers as they scan the bay floor, looking for a hint of the bivalves that play a critical role in filtering Florida’s waterways.
Teams gathered information on scallops they spotted and on habitat and any other interesting aquatic critters they spotted, reports of which went to the Florida and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
This annual search has been a core event for Sarasota Bay Watch since 2008. Volunteers hold similar events along Florida’s west coast, including the 30th annual event in Tampa.
In Tampa, teams found 267 scallops in 2023, Ryan said.
“They found 45 this time,” she said. “That is not a good sign. That is an indicator of poor quality and loss of seagrass, among other conditions. What are we going to find today? I don’t know.”
In total, the Sarasota group — which had 16 boats and 105 snorkelers — found about 20 scallops between Curtis and Connor Craig and Sophia Haakman. Teams may have found more after getting the
hang of the search, but incoming stormy weather prompted boats to head in.
The volunteers who found success in locating them didn’t solely rely on their eyes. Curtis Craig, who kayaked out with his son, Connor, said he got his hands in the vegetation while searching, which was particularly helpful on the overcast day.
“We took the rope and tied it to our kayak, and my 12-year-old son sat in the kayak with the paper, writing down what we saw,” he said. “The first time I was looking, I didn’t see anything. But then I turned around, and I started to put my fingers in the grass. Once I did that, I could feel the shells.”
The duo also spotted some other interesting wildlife, including several live conches.
“We’ll keep coming back for these events,” Curtis said. “It’s a lot of fun, and it’s helpful for the environment.”
Haakman also found her scallop by gently dissecting balls of vegetation.
“There was a lot of micro algae, so I picked up a big chunk, and it was in there,” she said.
She has been a Sarasota Bay Watch member for several years and is the founder of the local chapter of the Florida Young Birders Club.
“Even if you don’t have much experience, I think it’s definitely worth doing,” she said. “Obviously, it’s important to have new experiences, but also, it’s cool to be part of the research.”
For more information, go to SarasotaBayWatch.org.
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Courtesy image
Sophia Haakman, a Sarasota Bay Watch member of several years and founder of the local chapter of the Florida Young Birders Club, holds up a bay scallop she found during the Great Scallop Search of 2025.
Brian Jung, captain of “Barely Just Fine,” guides volunteer Peter Bonk on how to toss the transect line for the Great Scallop Search. Jung has been part of the Sarasota Bay Watch board for eight years and now serves at vice president.
Courtesy image
Volunteers with Sarasota Bay Watch found about 20 scallops in Sarasota Bay, almost half of what the 200 volunteers at the Tampa search found. SBW Executive Director Ronda Ryan said healthy seagrass beds are a good indicator of healthy habitat for the scallops.
Image courtesy of Curtis Craig
Connor Craig, who volunteered with his dad, Curtis, holds up a scallop the pair found during the Great Scallop Search of 2025 in Sarasota Bay.
Photos by Dana Kampa
Volunteers assisting with the Great Scallop Search of 2025 worked in grids to get a picture of how bivalves are fairing along Sarasota Bay.
Ronda Ryan, executive director of Sarasota Bay Watch, demonstrates how to lay out a transect line to guide volunteers’ underwater search for scallops in Sarasota Bay.
Matt Walsh will be on leave until mid-October.
Sarasota signs contractor for hurricane-related paving repairs
ANDREW WARFIELD STAFF
WRITER
In a consent agenda approval vote at its Sept. 15 meeting, the Sarasota City Commission authorized the mayor and the city auditor and clerk to execute a $7.5 million agreement between the city and Ajax Paving Industries of Florida for construction services related to infrastructure repairs and resiliency.
Multiple projects are proposed for completion under the Ajax agreement for possible FEMA reimbursement tied to the 2025 federal large project threshold of just more than $1 million per project.
They include Whitaker Park, Whitaker Park Pier, Nora Patterson Bay Island Park, Sapphire Shores Park, west end of Cleveland Drive, Tangier Way, Eloise Werlin Park and Bayfront Park, as well as other projects meeting FEMA eligibility.
Each eligible project is treated individually and must meet or fall below the 2025 federal ceiling of $1,062,900 to qualify for FEMA reimbursement when applied to a continuing contract, such as the pact with Ajax.
The aggregate value of all the FEMA-eligible projects under the Ajax agreement may exceed $7.5 mil-
lion, providing each individual project complies with the just more than $1 million FEMA cap.
The initial term of this agreement will be for a period three years, renewable for up to three one-year terms.
DRONE REPLACEMENT
In other business, the City Commission approved amending the current fiscal year budget to create a revenue and expense budget within the Special Revenue Grant Fund for $50,000 to replace two drones for the Sarasota Police Department. No local match is required.
The funding will provide for the replacement of aging drone equipment with new technology to enhance operational efficiency, improve safety and expand capabilities for public safety, according to city documents.
The Drone Unit under the Support Services Division has been deployed 30 times so far this year for cases that involve locating missing persons and in support of the specialty units conducting high-risk investigations.
A grievance, but not aggrieved
City Commission votes 4-1 to deny Laurel Park resident Kelly Franklin aggrieved person status to appeal Selby Gardens plan approval.
ANDREW WARFIELD STAFF WRITER
If a tree falls in a botanical garden, does it adversely impact a resident who lives several blocks away to a degree greater than the general public?
Laurel Park resident and neighborhood activist Kelly Franklin attempted to make that argument before the Sarasota City Commission on Sept. 15, and in the end found only one commissioner, Jen AhearnKoch, to agree she should be granted aggrieved party status.
A decision to the contrary would have permitted an appeal by Franklin to the commission of the Planning Board’s Aug. 7 unanimous approval of the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens Master Plan Phase 2 development.
At issue was the removal of seven grand trees, including a live oak that will make way for construction of a centerpiece conservatory where Selby Gardens will house and display to the public its collection of 20,000 plants from its living research collections and its world-best scientifically documented collections of orchids and bromeliads.
Prior to the start of the hearing, Sarasota City Attorney Joe Polzak advised commissioners that Franklin does not meet the city’s legal definition of aggrieved party status. Those standards include proximity to an approved development that would cause physical, financial or quality of life harm to an individual or entity to a greater degree than the general public.
“Miss Franklin did not apply for such standing at the Planning Board level and thus was not a party, and
thus did not have traditional standing, the kind of standing that our Florida appellate rules would contemplate,” Polzak said. “However, having said that, it has been the practice of the city to bring these matters before the City Commission out of an abundance of caution and fairness.”
As a typical example, a resident of a nearby or adjacent condominium complex may qualify as an aggrieved party to challenge a new development’s site plan because the new building would significantly impact views, traffic and density in their immediate vicinity. Franklin’s Laurel Park address is not in direct proximity to Selby Gardens, nor does the project pose a direct threat to her property. She argued, though, that tree removal does impact her quality of life as she regularly kayaks the waters adjacent to the property as she takes in the nature and photographs birds and other wildlife.
The removal of trees on the Selby Gardens property, she said, will disrupt the migratory path of birds, displace wildlife that resides there and ultimately have an adverse effect on property values surrounding the property. She also cited turnover in staff that resulted in a prior arborist’s
report that was not included in the Planning Board’s packet — a report that was still discussed at that Aug. 7 meeting — as an irregularity.
Franklin told commissioners that not only is she an aggrieved party, but the entire city is, as well.
“The reason I’m here is I am affected more than most, but this decision was an error,” Franklin said. “We’re all aggrieved. The city is aggrieved. My basic rationale for the appeal is that, on its face, the site plan violates the city’s grand tree ordinance.”
Polzak reminded all parties the matter before the commission wasn’t whether the Selby plan violates the city’s tree ordinance nor the irregularity regarding retired City Arborist Donald Ullom’s report. Rather, it was whether Franklin met the definition of an aggrieved person.
Dan Bailey, attorney for Selby Gardens, argued she did not.
“We regret to tell you some inconvenient truths, and that is that Miss Franklin does not meet to test for an aggrieved person,” Bailey said. “She indicated that the real aggrieved person here is the city. The city did not appeal it, and I don’t think the city would have been inclined to appeal it since your own planning board did approve it.”
that lifestyle with Privada Homes’ coastalinspired residences—sophisticated designs that balance comfort and luxury.
Image courtesy of the city of Sarasota
The damage to Bayfront Park from Hurricanes Helene and Milton is estimated at $1.15 million.
Andrew Warfield
Laurel Park resident Kelly Franklin points to plans for Selby Gardens Master Plan Phase 2 development while addressing the Sarasota City Commission.
WILD Close Encounters!
Experience
Remembering to ‘never forget’
USF Sarasota-Manatee hosts ceremony in remembrance of 9/11.
IAN SWABY STAFF WRITER
Edward Grayson recounted a scene of total devastation at the site of the World Trade Center after the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.
A sanitation worker at the time, the former commissioner of the NYC Department of Sanitation was among the thousands of responders who performed recovery operations at Ground Zero.
“There was no safe haven. There was no place to shield your eyes, and you were already heartbroken having had to go there at all,” he told attendees during the 9/11 Remembrance Ceremony at University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee.
Held the morning of Sept. 11 in the school’s grand ballroom, the event also included other speakers, the laying of wreaths and a choir performance by third graders from Saint Stephen’s Episcopal School in Bradenton.
Grayson and other speakers urged attendees to never forget the events of that day and the lives lost.
Another speaker, Richard Sellwood, who grew up in upstate New York, recounted watching as the second plane hit the South Tower.
Sellwood, who is now senior vice president and COO of USF Credit
Union, discussed how he studied the impact of 9/11 for his senior project the next year.
“My family had many friends who lived and worked near Ground Zero,” he said. “Listening to their stories, documenting their experiences, was profound and life-changing. It taught me that history is not just about events. It’s about people, real people, and the ripple effects of loss, resilience and hope.”
“Always remember the resolve of our country,” Grayson said. “That the terrorists didn’t win. That we do not live under the cloak of fear and that we all gather in memory to honor true patriots who gave their lives on that fateful day.”
The event was preceded by a flagraising ceremony outdoors, as well as by the planting of 2,997 American flags in the campus courtyard on Sept. 6.
Edward Grayson, 9/11 responder and former commissioner of the NYC Department of Sanitation, speaks at the event.
Firefighter Jason Moore of Cedar Hammock Fire Rescue, Officer Alex Stevenson of USF SarasotaManatee and officer J.T. Shapiro of the Sarasota Police Department follow USF Alumnus Ross Allen on bagpipes as the flag raising begins.
Photos by Ian Swaby
A Century Old Story
A story that began over 100 years ago and is still being written today. Once a beloved landmark, now an enduring icon reborn. Mira Mar is the future of luxury living in Sarasota, grounded in the grandeur of its past, and offering an unparalleled residential experience in the heart of downtown.
One of Sarasota’s few remaining flagships of the great Florida Land Boom of the 1920’s, it is with great pride that we restore the Mira Mar to it’s rightful place as a gleaming icon of Sarasota.
Rising elegantly above South Palm Avenue, the revived and resplendent Mira Mar presents a limited collection of 70 estate-style residences across two 18-story towers. Each home is designed to the highest standards, with sweeping views, refined interiors, and private access to best-in-class amenities.
Mira Mar is more than a residence — it’s a return to grace.
It
TRIBUTES
SUNDAY, AUG. 17
TAB SKIPPER
6:55 p.m., 1400 block of Main Street
Sherry
the legal profession.
She was the only child of Helen and Robert Minard and the proud mother of her four children.
Renee Phinney, Jack Phinney, Becky Phinney Clancy and Bob Phinney. All of whom also reside in Sarasota. A tight knit family like none other.
With half a dozen beautiful grandchildren, Meghan Downing, Destin Phinney, Reese Clancy, Anna Belen Phinney, Jaxson Phinney, and Henry Phinney. And one lovely great granddaughter, Megan’s daughter, Brynleigh Downing.
Her family, friends, poker club, writing group and laughter were her cherished gifts. Her unique sense of self was always on full display in her rotating t-shirt collection with funny and borderline inappropriate quotes. When you were in her presence the conversation was always lively and meaningful.
She made it her mission to get to the heart of the matter through her special ways of “curiosity”, a/k/a interrogation and story-telling. You could always count on
Sherry Lee Phinney 1944-2025 451030-1
her to give it to you straight and to make certain you knew where you stood. She wrote her own memoir in the same style. “Santa and The Wild West” was published and launched on her 80th birthday. If you have a copy, hold onto it tightly as it is priceless!
SERVICE:
True to form, her wish (i.e., demand) was to have a big celebration at her beloved Jasmine Beach Club. A “Saints Come Marching Home” style shindig.
It will be held on Saturday, November 1, 2025 and will be Halloween themed – her absolute favorite holiday of the year.
DONATIONS: In lieu of flowers, a donation to one of Sherry’s many favorite charities would honor her own legacy. Girls, Inc., The Humane Society of Sarasota County, SPARCC, Boys & Girls Club of Sarasota and DeSoto Counties, and her writers group. Thank you for being a part of her ripple (not the wine) and, above all else, love.
Disturbance: Because a woman was causing a disturbance in a downtown restaurant and bar, she was asked to leave by staff. Although she refused at first, the subject eventually left but did not pay her tab for one drink. Restaurant staff informed responding officers they did not wish to press charges for the theft, but did request she be issued a trespassing warning.
While officers were canvassing the area, one spoke with staff of a bar and grill on the 1500 block of Main Street, who said the same woman had lunch at their establishment and also walked out on her tab. They, too, wished to have the woman trespassed from the property.
Officers eventually located the subject at the corner of Main Street and Lemon Avenue, where she was advised of the trespassing warnings issued for both establishments. Acknowledging the warnings, she then left westbound on foot.
TOPSY-TURVY TOPPLING TIPSY
2:17 a.m., 1500 block of Main Street
Impaired persons: Officers conducted a welfare check on two intoxicated individuals who had fallen onto the ground in front of a business not related to their condition. When on foot patrol in the area, officers observed a male lift a female over his shoulder before losing his balance and falling backward into a concrete wall.
Officers could see the woman had hit her head against the wall, initiating the welfare check. Assisting the pair into chairs, the man told officers he was the woman’s “baby daddy” and refused to permit them to administer aid. He was ordered twice to back away to allow the welfare check to continue as the woman fell in and out of consciousness. Observing a golf ball-sized knot on her head, EMS was called.
Baby daddy, meanwhile, became upset with officers for calling for emergency response to the scene and attempted to refuse medical intervention on her behalf. He then tried to lift baby mama, who was unable to stand on her own, out of the chair before officers intervened and ordered him again to back away.
SATURDAY, AUG. 16
TOO HOT TO HANDLE
10:45 p.m., 4800 block of North Tamiami Trail
Civil dispute: Law enforcement was asked to respond after a guest’s wife had fallen down a staircase and suffered a minor leg injury during a dispute with the motel over ineffective air conditioning. The complainant stated the couple’s initial accommodation was in poor condition and that the air conditioning did not work. After complaining to the desk clerk, they were moved to lodging on the second floor and, although the climate control unit in the second room had been adjusted by the clerk, it remained uncomfortably hot. While returning to the front desk to lodge the complaint, the woman fell on the stairs.
The complainant asked the officer to experience the temperature in the room to verify his complaint, which was confirmed to be uncomfortably warm and, according the incident report, “was blowing anemically despite being set to cool.”
An officer spoke with the clerk who said her boss had instructed her to not move the couple into a third room and she was to issue only a refund for their room deposit. When asked by the officer if he would consider the partial refund and filing a claim with his credit card company for the balance, he said he would consider it. The reporting officer also advised there were other lodging opportunities in the area. Officers stood by while the partial refund was issued and the parties separated in civil fashion.
Baby daddy was eventually restrained and EMS arrived, advising officers the woman required transport to the hospital for treatment of her injuries. She was placed under the Marchman Act, since she was not of sound mind to make decisions on her own behalf as a result of her extreme intoxication. What became of baby daddy from that point was not included in the incident report.
MONICA ROMAN GAGNIER ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR
As European settlers arrived in North America from the 15th to 19th centuries, they confronted an Indigenous world where women often served as political leaders, healers and negotiators. But women were mainly assigned the duties of child-rearing, farming, cooking and sewing.
Men’s work was primarily hunting, trading, leading religious ceremonies, educating the next generation of warriors and fighting enemies.
The beaded wampum belts that Native Americans gave as gifts and to encourage other tribes to join their military campaigns were made by women, as was apparel fashioned from animal hides and decorated with beads and feathers. Creating these goods was referred to as “women’s work.”
As colonists introduced woven cloth and blankets to the New World (along with firearms, metal tools and alcohol), tribes began incorporating them into their cultural traditions. Women began fashioning distinctive patchwork skirts and creating designs still used on modern-day Pendleton blankets.
Once the U.S. government confined nomadic Native American tribes to reservations and the wars between settlers and Indigenous peoples ended around 1900 after four centuries, Native culture didn’t cease to exist. Making and selling jewelry, pottery, paintings and other art became a way for tribal members to celebrate their heritage as well as earn money.
Thanks to the efforts of the Smithsonian Institution, which opened the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C., in 2004, and other museums such as the Eiteljorg Museum in Indianapolis, and the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture in Santa Fe, the evolution of “women’s work” is widely recognized as art.
Some tribes, enriched by gambling revenues from casinos on their reservations, built their own museums to honor their heritage. One of the largest is the Mashantucket Pequot Museum in Connecticut, with more than 300,000 square feet.
Modern-day collectors have followed in the footsteps of George Gustav Heye, who used his collection of 800,000 Native American artifacts to found the Museum of the American Indian in New York in 1916. Today, prominent Indigenous art collectors include John and Susan Horseman, Judith Lowry and Brad Croul and J.W. “Bill” Wiggins.
In the 21st century, one could argue there is greater appreciation than ever for contemporary art created by tribal members, especially women. It is against this backdrop that The Ringling presents “Ancestral Edge: Abstraction and Symbolism in the Works of Nine Native American Women Artists.”
The exhibition, which opened Sept. 13 and runs through April 2026, is the brainchild of Ola Wlusek, curator of contemporary art at The Ringling. Wlusek spearheaded the groundbreaking 2023 exhibit, “Reclaiming Home: Contemporary Seminole Art,” which marked the first time that The Ringling presented the work of Indigenous Florida artists in its massive galleries.
Five years in the making because of interruptions due to COVID-19,
Women’s work gets its due
The
IF YOU GO
“ANCESTRAL EDGE: ABSTRACTION AND SYMBOLISM IN THE WORKS OF NINE NATIVE AMERICAN WOMEN ARTISTS”
When: 10 a.m.
Where: The John and Mable Ringling Art Museum, 5401 Bayshore Road
Tickets: Free with $25 admission; Mondays Visit Ringling.org.
Bell’s “Basket Full of Flowers” is one of several sweetgrass baskets in The
Seminole and Miccosukee tribes and artists with mixed heritage.
Some of it was loaned by the AhTah-Thi-Ki Museum on the Big Cypress Seminole Indian Reservation, which also lent advice on the dazzling, multimedia exhibition. Other works were loaned by the Eiteljorg, the Museum of American Indian Arts and Culture, and Santa Fe’s IAIA Museum of Contemporary Indian Arts.
“Reclaiming Home” featured more than 100 pieces, including several large installations, by 12 artists whose works were spread throughout the cavernous Ulla R. and Arthur F. Searing Wing. There are some large-scale pieces in “Ancestral Edge,” but the all-female exhibition in The Ringling’s Keith D. Monda Gallery for Contemporary Art is not as ambitious as “Reclaiming Home.”
CREATING CONTEMPORARY WORKS FROM TIME-WORN TRADITIONS
Wlusek was still working with installers during a recent interview, but she estimated the number of works in “Ancestral Edge” to be somewhere between 30 and 40. The nine artists represented come across the country.
Artist Marie Watt stands underneath “Sky Dances Light: Revolution VII,” a mobile of tin jingles on loan to The Ringling from the Gochman Family Collection.
Kiana
Ringling’s “Ancestral Edge”
Courtesy images
Dyani White Hawk’s “They Gifted: Day” and “They Gifted: Night” have been acquired by The Ringling for its permanent collection.
A CROSS-CULTURAL CRUSADER
Ola Wlusek was born in Krakow, Poland, moved to Canada and earned a bachelor’s degree in anthropology and art history from McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario.
Wlusek moved to England to earn a master’s degree in contemporary art theory from Goldsmiths’ College, University of London. After graduating, she returned to Canada, where she was curator of contemporary art at the Ottawa Art Gallery in Ontario from 2011-15 and later public art program coordinator for the city of Calgary in Alberta.
Wlusek joined The Ringling in 2018, with the help of a $5 million donation from Keith and Linda Monda, who endowed her contemporary art curatorship and donated art by Teo Gonzalez, Yayoi Kusama, Beverly Pepper and Richard Serra.
As a curator and in her research, Wlusek has focused on developing new curatorial strategies and methods for exploring non-Western, Indigenous and comparative approaches to art.
Some of Wlusek’s travel and research for “Reclaiming Home” was underwritten by a curatorial research fellowship she received in 2021 from the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts.
As contemporary curator at The Ringling, Wlusek enjoys being able to juxtapose exhibitions of non-Western, contemporary art such as “Reclaiming Home” with the museum’s collection, dominated by large-scale Renaissance and Baroque paintings acquired by founder John Ringling, the circus magnate.
There is one artist featured in “Ancestral Edge” who was also showcased in “Reclaiming Home.”
She is Elisa Harkins, a multimedia artist, musician and curator of Cherokee/Muscogee/Creek descent who lives and works on the Muscogee Reservation in Oklahoma.
Harkins uses electronic music, dance and visual art to preserve and disseminate tribal traditions. At The Ringling, you can hear Native songs that Seminoles sang to console themselves as they traveled the “Trail of Tears” along with other tribes who were forcibly relocated from their homelands in the southeast United States to Oklahoma.
Harkins makes videos of Native singers and recorded in sheet music the songs that were handed down through generations. She also taught herself to sew so she could create patchwork fabric used for Seminole skirts. “I like the fact that while the patchwork is quite accomplished, it’s not perfect. You can see that it’s not machine-made,” Wlusek says.
When you first walk into The Ringling’s Monda Gallery, you are greeted by Marie Watt’s shimmering installation, “Sky Dances Light: Revolution VII.” The thousands of tin jingles in the piece resemble the small metal cones sewn into Native American costumes worn for ceremonial dances and powwows. The artwork was loaned to The Ringling from the Gochman Family Collection.
“Many of the artists in this show are skilled in community-based arts and crafts and have incorporated these into their work,” Wlusek says.
One of the artists that Wlusek is most excited about is Dyani White Hawk. Her silkscreen prints, “They Gifted (Day)” and “They Gifted (Night),” were recently acquired by The Ringling for its collection.
The companion works, created in 2024, are based on Lakota symbology and motifs found in the tribe’s beadwork and quillwork. According to the artist’s statement, they “explore the potential to communicate the powerful concepts of balance and interconnectivity, including to one another, the land, and all forms of life.”
Indigenous artists are based on longstanding traditions such as weaving. Among them are Kiana Bell’s ornamented sweetgrass baskets, on loan from the Ah-Tah-ThiKi Museum. Born in Oklahoma, Bell now lives in Hollywood, Florida, where she has been inspired by her cultural roots and Florida’s lush landscapes to create her baskets.
Chitimacha/Choctaw artist Sara Sense also builds on weaving with “Brooklyn Alligator,” a threedimensional artwork fashioned from photographs, not something you see every day, even in a museum. The diamond print seen throughout is inspired by crushed sea grapes, a fruit that is native to coastal Florida. The title of the photo-weaving references both Florida’s gators and the Brooklyn Museum’s collection of Chitimacha baskets.
Blankets are another recurring motif in “Ancestral Edge.” These seemingly mundane items are
fraught with pain for some Native Americans because they symbolize the loss of lands unwittingly traded away and gifts accepted to seal treaties that were later broken.
Nevertheless, Native Americans took the colonists’ blankets and incorporated them into their culture. Blankets and hides, symbolizing Native hunting practices that produced not only food, but clothing, can be seen in several artworks on display in “Ancestral Edge.”
One is Natalie Ball’s mixed media tapestry, “Playing Dolls,” on loan from the Rubell Museum in Miami.
Born and raised in Portland, Oregon, she traveled far from home to earn numerous academic degrees, including a bachelor’s degree with a double major in Indigenous, Race & Ethnic Studies and Art from the Uni-
versity of Oregon, a master’s from Massey University of New Zealand focused on Indigenous contemporary art and an MFA from Yale. Ball returned to her ancestors’ homeland of Oregon/Northern California to raise her three children. She serves as an elected official on the Klamath Tribal Council in addition to creating her massive mixedmedia wall hangings.
What Wlusek found particularly rewarding about curating “Ancestral Edge” was learning how much new indigenous art is being created right now. “Most people, when they think about contemporary art, they think about works going back to the 1970s, but some of the art here was created last year,” she says.
Ola Wlusek
Courtesy images
Natalie Ball’s massive mixed media tapestry, “Playing Dolls,” is on loan to The Ringling from the Rubell Museum in Miami.
FST promotes two artistic team members
Florida Studio Theatre has promoted Catherine Randazzo to associate producer from associate artist and has added literary manager to Nancy Rominger’s title of artistic associate.
“Catherine and Nancy are both extraordinary leaders and artists. Their combined vision and expertise will keep FST at the forefront of producing work that matters,” said FST Producing Artistic Director Richard Hopkins in a statement. “It is a joy to see our artistic staff continue to grow — both personally and professionally. As they flourish, so too does the theatre and its audience. Together, we expand and evolve as FST enters its second half-century of serving Sarasota.”
A graduate of Otterbein University in Ohio, Randazzo was production coordinator of the now-defunct Golden Apple Dinner Theatre in Sarasota for seven years and taught dance at the State College of Florida before joining FST in 2014.
As associate artist at FST, she has served as an in-residence director, professional actor, teaching artist and literary manager.
Randazzo’s directing credits include winter cabarets, summer mainstage and cutting-edge Stage III productions as well as countless new play workshops. She is also the line producer for FST’s popular Summer Cabaret Series and has
been instrumental in bringing new acts to Sarasota. In her new role as associate producer, Randazzo will continue to serve as lead director of FST Cabaret, while working closely with Richard Hopkins on the management of FST’s artistic programming. She will also remain an active in directing, acting and mentoring within the company.
“FST is more than a theater to me: It’s a creative home,” said Randazzo in a statement. “I’m honored to step into this new role and continue working alongside Richard and our artistic team to produce theatre that speaks to our community in meaningful ways.”
Rominger joined FST in 2024 following 12 seasons at the Alabama Shakespeare Festival, where she served as associate artistic director.
She was previously director of the Southern Writers Project, where she directed a new play program focused on stories by Southern playwrights, Southern topics and the African American experience.
At FST, Rominger has directed Stage III productions including “Shedding a Skin” and the current mainstage production “Don’t Dress for Dinner.”
Rominger adds the responsibilities of literary manager, a role previously held by Randazzo. She will now oversee FST’s literary office and new play development program, collaborate with playwrights, train and supervise literary interns, provide dramaturgical research, support cabaret development and lead audience engagement initiatives.
“New work has always been at the heart of my artistic journey,”
Rominger said in a statement. “I’m thrilled to build on FST’s legacy of championing new plays and voices.
I look forward to nurturing the kind of theatre that sparks dialogue and truly resonates.”
With their promotions, Randazzo and Rominger buttress FST’s capacity to develop new works and produce programming for its 225,000 annual attendees. Together, they will help guide the theater’s next chapter of growth, ensuring that FST continues to produce programming that both challenges and entertains, FST said in a statement.
ANCESTRAL EDGE
Abstraction
and Symbolism in the Works of Nine Native American Women Artists
• Sarah Sense (Chitimacha/Choctaw) • Sara Siestreem (Hanis Coos) • Marie Watt (Seneca/German-Scot) • Dyani White Hawk (Sičáŋǧu Lakota)
BRIEFS
Courtesy images
Catherine Randazzo
Nancy Rominger
FST cabaret takes a nostalgic time trip to the land of folk music
A Band Called Honalee invites audiences to sing and remember when the times were a-changin’.
MARTY FUGATE THEATER CRITIC
“ABand Called Honalee” is a magical, musical time trip at Florida Studio Theatre. The golden age of American folk is its temporal destination. The show’s packed with great tunes by “Peter, Paul and Mary ... and friends” — but it’s not a musical.
“A Band Called Honalee” is a real band. Its musicians aren’t singing actors playing the parts of fictional characters or legends from the past. Here, they get to be themselves. And this show is their concert.
Brian Ott, Michael Grieve and Sigrid Wise take the spotlight on the FST cabaret stage. They’re an insanely talented trio. Ott and Grieve play dual lead guitars. All three sing. This lineup echoes Peter, Paul and Mary — without being an imitation. The band’s three rotating bass players stay outside the spotlight. (Bassist Bill Swartzbaugh performed on my night.)
A Band Called Honalee is the brainchild of Aaron Gandy. This music supervisor and producer (he spent nine years as assistant music director for Broadway’s “The Lion King”) created the band to keep the spirit of the 1960s folk revival alive. Evidently, he succeeded.
Wise, Ott and Grieve don’t approach folk music like a dusty
IF YOU GO
‘A BAND CALLED HONALEE’ When: Through Oct. 26
Where: Florida Studio Theatre’s Goldstein Cabaret, 1239 N. Palm Ave.
Tickets: $37-$42
Info: Visit FloridaStudioTheatre. org.
artifact from the past. While they respect the folk tradition, they’re not slavishly deferential. They’re not a by-the-numbers tribute band serving up nostalgic fan service. They’re a trio of 21st-century folk musicians. They play from their hearts — and love what they play. They’re the real deal. Folk music was hopeful in the early 1960s. The first act hits the right optimistic note. That resonates with the nostalgic crowd — who get permission to sing along. The band opens with the hardhitting “If I Had a Hammer.” Pete Seeger and Lee Hays wrote this song in 1949; Peter, Paul and Mary performed it at the Lincoln Memorial in 1963 during the “March for Jobs and Freedom” and it became an anthem of the civil rights movement, whose fellow travelers were often fans of what’s called “roots music” today — folk, gospel and blues.
Contrasts, October 12, 4:00 pm
Grammy Lifetime Achievement winner Nicholas Eanet with Jungeun Kim, Natalie Helm, and Bharat Chandra performing works by Schubert, Dvorak, and Bela Bartok’s Contrasts, which was commissioned by Benny Goodman. Legacy, October 19 & 20, 4:00 pm
Celebrate the dedication of Dr. Joseph Holt as a star of Sarasota’s music scene for the past 16 years. Holt, Daniel Jordan, and Christopher Schnell present an all-Russian program exploring composers’ responses to Soviet oppression.
The Queen’s Six, October 28, 7:30 pm
They performed at the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, and now return to Artist Series Concerts after a sold-out concert in 2023. Their vast repertoire promises a memorable evening of royal fun!
Images courtesy of Sorcha Augustine
Michael Grieve, Sigrid Wise and Brian Ott are A Band Called Honalee, appearing at Florida Studio Theatre’s Goldstein Cabaret through Oct. 26.
“Hammer” is followed by another song of freedom — Bob Dylan’s pre-electric “Blowing in the Wind” (1962). The band’s guitars are acoustic but plugged into amps with suction-mics. Grieve points to the amps, and makes a joking aside about Dylan’s electrification, a controversial transition recently mined by Hollywood in the Oscar-nominated film “A Complete Unknown.”
After these initial political power ballads, the pendulum swings to the personal. Ott jokes that Peter, Paul and Mary’s “Lemon Tree” is “about unrequited love — and the ingredients of lemonade,” before launching into the bittersweet song, one of the lesser-known numbers in the band’s repertoire.
The Mamas and the Papas’ “I Dig Rock and Roll” (1967) is flavored with chart-topping snippets and gentle mockery of rich rock stars and their commercial compromises. (Wise winks on the line: “But if I really say it, the ra-di-o won’t play it.”)
One medley includes The Mamas and the Papas’ “California Dreaming” (1965) and The Beatles’ “Drive My Car” (1965). Wise’s sweet soprano rings out on “Both Sides Now” (1967). She never falters on Joni Mitchell’s high-wire act made famous by Judy Collins.
Grieve and Ott stand in for Simon and Garfunkel on “The 59th Street Bridge Song.” They get the whole crowd feeling groovy. Ott knows a little something about feeling groovy since he was recently on stage with FST’s cabaret, “59th Street Bridge” celebrating the music of Simon and Garfunkel and others.
“Leaving on a Jet Plane” (1969) was a hit for Peter, Paul and Mary — and a career boost for the songwriter, John Denver. The trio’s “Puff the Magic Dragon” (1963) sheds a tear for childhood’s end. (And gave the band its name.)
After 1965, the ’60s counterculture hit the downhill slide. Folks
across America were feeling less upbeat as American involvement in Vietnam escalated. Folk musicians were no exception. The second act reflects that vibe.
Bob Dylan’s “The Times They Are A-Changin’” (1963) celebrates the future victory of civil rights and the triumph of youth culture — and snarls at present-day resistance. Stephen Stills’ “For What It’s Worth” (1966) looks back in anger on LA’s Sunset Strip curfew riots. Young people marched, cops cracked heads, Peter Fonda got arrested and the authorities stripped the Sunset Strip’s clubs of youth permits.
When the public square becomes a battle zone, it’s easy to turn inward — which many did in the late 1960s. (Don’t protest, party! Or feel sorry for yourself.) A Mamas and Papas medley reflects that inward turn, weaving together “Monday, Monday” (1966), “Go Where You Want to Go” (1965) and “I Saw Her Again” (1966).
John Prine’s “Angel from Montgomery” (1971) looks homeward with sweet sadness. (Wise sweetly shares with the audience that she and Grieve were married in Montgomery, Alabama.)
When the streets get ugly, running away is another option. Two traveling songs evoke that breathless, homesick flight. Elizabeth Cotton wrote “Freight Train” in 1904. Her sad escape struck a nerve in the 1960s — when thousands fled their parents or the draft.
Hedy West’s “500 Miles” (1961) was a Peter, Paul and Mary hit — and another homesick odyssey. The show’s last two songs are defiantly hopeful. Blind Willie Johnson’s “If I Had My Way” (1927) references Samson’s last stand. (Samson got a buzz cut. Like most longhairs, he took it badly.) Woody Guthrie’s “This Land Is Your Land” (1940) stakes a claim on the whole country. It’s all home. Why run?
Sigrid Wise let the audience know she and fellow band member Michael Grieve got married in Montgomery, Alabama, when they sang John Prine’s “Angel From Montgomery.”
THIS WEEK
THURSDAY
KICKOFF PARTY FOR 2025
MODERN WORKS FESTIVAL
6 p.m. at Urbanite Theatre, 1487 Second St. $32 for individual play readings; $5 for students; festival pass $99 Visit Urbanite Theatre.com.
Urbanite Theatre kicks off its sixth annual Modern Works Festival celebrating female playwrights with a party in its black-box theater downtown. The party is for festival passholders only. Tickets for staged readings of the three plays in competition (Stacey Isom Campbell’s “1999,” Jenny Stafford’s “Ahoy-hoy” and Sarah Cho’s “Screen Time”) can be purchased separately. This year’s keynote speaker, National New Play Network Executive Director Nan Barnett, takes the podium at 7:30 p.m. on Sept. 19. Festival runs through Sept. 21.
Stand-up comedian Jason Salmon is well known to those who like to watch their comedy online. The Texas native is bringing his “Biscuits and Gravity” tour to McCurdy’s. Salmon honed his comedy chops performing for U.S. troops in Europe and Afghanistan. He has graced the small screen in such shows as “Orange is the New Black” and “30 Rock” and received acclaim for his previous album, “Force of Nurture,” which debuted at No. 1 on iTunes. Runs through Sept. 21.
‘GUTENBERG! THE MUSICAL’
7:30 p.m. at the Manatee Performing Arts Center, 502 Third Ave. W., Bradenton $34.50 Visit ManateePerformingArtsCenter. com.
Looking for a few laughs? We’ve got just the show for you — Manatee Players’ “Gutenberg! The Musical!” The musical-within-a-musical follows two driven writers’ efforts to produce a Broadway show about the inventor of the printing press that requires the actors to play multiple roles. Runs through Sept. 21.
FRIDAY
‘NUNSENSE’
7:30 p.m. at Venice Theatre’s Raymond Theatre, 140 Tampa Ave. W., Venice $40 Visit VeniceTheatre.org.
Join Mother Superior Sister Mary Regina and the rest of the nuns as they stage a madcap variety show to help defray the cost of funerals
OUR PICK
‘I’M GOING TO MARRY YOU, TOBEY MAGUIRE’
Billed as a “Y2K farce,” “I’m Going to Marry You, Tobey Maguire” follows a starstruck teenager, played by Jamie Saunders, who kidnaps her heartthrob, the star of “SpiderMan,” played by Tom Horton. In the play, Mark-Alan does double duty as a poster of Tobey Maguire, which comes to life, and Brenda, a nosy real estate agent. Runs through Sept. 21.
IF YOU GO
When: 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 18
Where: Dingbat Theatre Project, 7288
S. Tamiami Trail
Tickets: $30; students $10 Info: Visit DingbatTheatre.org.
after a culinary disaster. “Nunsense” began as a line of greeting cards before becoming an Off-Broadway musical in 1985 that has since morphed into a global comedy phenomenon. Murray Chase directs Venice Theatre’s production, which features choreography by Vanessa Russo and music direction by Donna Smith. Runs through Oct. 5.
‘A BAND CALLED HONALEE’
7:30 p.m. at FST’s Goldstein Cabaret, 1239 Palm Ave. $39 and up Visit FloridaStudioTheatre.org.
The subtitle to Florida Studio Theatre’s cabaret show of the summer season is “A Tribute to Peter, Paul Mary … and Friends,” but any self-respecting folk rock fan can spot the play on words in the name “A Band Called Honalee.” ICYMI, it refers to the mythical land made famous by the children’s song “Puff the Magic Dragon.” The incarnation of the Band Called Honalee appearing in Sarasota includes Brian Ott, a veteran of FST’s “59th Street Bridge,” who has been touring with the group since 2019. Also on stage are Michael Grieve, Geoffrey Neuman and Sigrid Wise. Runs through Oct. 26.
SUNDAY
‘ART DECO: THE GOLDEN AGE OF ILLUSTRATION’
11 a.m. at the Sarasota Art Museum campus of Ringling College, 1001 S. Tamiami Trail Free for museum members; $20 Visit SarasotaArtMuseum.org.
The Sarasota Art Museum celebrates the 100th anniversary of the exposition that kicked off the Art Deco movement. More than 100 eyecatching posters from the Crouse Collection as well as industrial furniture, home furnishings and other objects loaned by the Wilsonian-Florida International University are on display. In addition to consumer products, there are
DON’T MISS
‘CASA HAVANA’ WITH TANIA VERGARA
Tania Vergara, founder and artistic director of Endedans Contemporary Ballet, presents “Casa Havana.” Set in modernday Cuba, the piece tells the story of three siblings and their mother. The mother is anguished by her fear of the government and worries her children could be punished for making their views known. But it is a son who chooses to leave that is the source of true heartbreak.
IF YOU GO
When: 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 20
Where: Sarasota Contemporary Dance Home Studio, 1400 Boulevard of the Arts Suite 300
Tickets: $25-$30
Info: Visit SarasotaContemporaryDance.org.
posters for automobiles, train and ocean travel, as well as sports competitions that reflected a growing love of speed and luxury in spite of the Great Depression. Through March 29, 2026.
CHURCH OF THE REDEEMER EVENSONG: ARVO PART CELEBRATION
5:15 p.m. at Church of the Redeemer, 222 S. Palm Ave. Free Visit RedeemerSarasota.org.
Church of the Redeemer will honor the birthday of Estonian composer Arvo Part, who turned 90 on Sept. 11, at its Sunday Evensong. Celebrating the minimalist composer in a church is fitting since his music is partly inspired by Gregorian chant. Even if you’ve never heard of Part, you’ve no doubt heard his music. In recent years, he has rivaled Hollywood’s John Williams as the living composer whose works are most frequently performed.
Courtesy image
Tania Vergara, founder of Endedans Contemporary Ballet, presents her work, “Casa Havana,” at Sarasota Contemporary Dance’s home studio on Saturday, Sept. 20.
Image courtesy of Adrian Van Stee
Tom Horton and Jamie Saunders star in “I’m
Going to Marry You, Tobey Maguire,” which runs through Sept. 21 at Dingbat Theatre Project.
FUTURE-READY FARMING
The Farm at McIntosh Middle School fully opens.
s Kate Traugott spoke at The Farm at McIntosh Middle School, she had a special guest with her — Napoleon.
She said the Old English game rooster was very much like a small rooster she had as a child while growing up in Sarasota — before a neighbor’s call to code enforcement, about the crowing of the bird, forced her family to auction it off.
As farm manager in Sarasota’s school district, however, she has the opportunity to oversee The Farm, which provides a dedicated space for kids throughout the district to perform agricultural projects.
The ribbon cutting on Sept. 9 celebrated the complete opening of the 30,762-square-foot facility, which is partially a renovation of existing farm space and was stated in June to be budgeted at $8 million.
Since the soft opening last year, the facility had been supporting students. Traugott said on Sept. 9 that more than 1,600 sixth and seventhgrade students were already scheduled for science field trips, with three classes from Sarasota High prepared to use the space.
Included on the campus, which features seven new buildings and two renovated buildings, are an animal showing arena, a greenhouse, a food
science lab and kitchen, a hog, sheep and goat barn supporting 36 animal projects, and a cattle barn supporting 17 cattle or dairy projects.
Superintendent of Schools Terry
Connor stated it had been a priority to see the project come to fruition, noting the different disciplines, and career and technical education pathways, represented in agriculture.
“(Agriculture) really is a technologically advanced field that has a lot of promise,” he said. “I mean, when you talk about drone technology, you talk about hydroponics and aquaculture, there’s so much technology and engineering involved in that, that it just merges very well with the whole STEM process.
Traugott called the engineers and architects involved with the project “so open and receptive to hearing about the student experience in these buildings and really creating something unique and state-of-theart for our students.”
In addition to the animal facilities, the campus also includes a greenhouse with both horticulture and aquaculture features.
She said students will focus on growing cucumbers, tomatoes and lettuce, to bring the basics of produce into the school’s cafeterias and culinary programs, while high school students in culinary arts programs will also have their own garden space.
A metal roof on the kitchen is designed to capture rainwater so it can be piped into the greenhouse for irrigation, while a bio-digester and a mineralization tank convert waste into fertilizer that can be used on the property. Additionally, the kitchen space can be used for students to learn about food preparation, and for training culinary staff.
Among the students to already find a place on The Farm is seventh grader Sophia Sandusky, who is housing her pig, Stella, there, as well as a cow she is going to name Bella.
She said while the farm she previously used was sold to developers, as a student at McIntosh, she now has a convenient spot.
“The old farm was like an hour away from my house, and I was only able to go once a day because it’s so far away,” she said. “But here I come twice a day because it’s my school, so I come here in the morning, and then I come here after school to make sure that the pen’s all clean and she has food and water and she’s all healthy.”
She says the visits help ensure Stella has eaten her first meal instead of overturning her food container.
“I like that everything has a spot, and I like that we’re all held accountable for everything that we do,” she also said.
Addison Porter, a high school sophomore who takes online classes and says she wants to be a large animal vet in the future, spoke during the ceremony about her gratitude for the farm.
“There are a lot of kids out there like me that don’t have property of their own to take on livestock projects, so we are extremely grateful for this farm,” she said. “I know a lot of time and energy has gone into making this farm a great place for us all to do what we love, and learn more about these projects we take pride in.”
IAN SWABY STAFF WRITER
Riley Henley, a sophomore at Sarasota High School, cuts the ribbon, amid a group that includes local and state officials.
Photos by Ian Swaby
Sophia Sandusky, a seventh grader at McIntosh Middle School, tends to her pig, Stella.
The project includes facilities for students to raise animals.
Full-Circle creativity
Longboat Key photographer Mary Lou Johnson said she only participates in shows close to home, extending to Naples.
“It keeps my little world here, but (people are) coming from all over,” she said. Including puzzles featuring Johnson’s photos, the third annual St. Armands Circle Art Festival with Craft Marketplace, held Sept. 13-14, had plenty of unique offerings to draw visitors from near and far.
Just one of the unusual items on display were the “unzipped rocks” by Timothy Gregory and his wife, Lauren Gregory, of Port St. Lucie. The rocks had been partially carved out, fitted with zippers around the openings, and filled with real objects.
“I look at the rock, and I try to imagine, if it were to open, what would it look like?” Timothy Gregory said. “And I just
kind of flow with the stone. And it kind of tells me what it wants to do.”
Another was the images of photographer Steven Madow of Orlando, who has clearance from NASA to take up-close photographs of rocket launches.
“I take the approach of trying to create the most surreal, most beautiful images of these launch es, and rockets themselves are just powerful, exciting,” he said.
“We’ve had a great crowd, great sales, people are out and about, and it’s cooler this weekend,” Johnson said. “I love seeing people who have bought my art before, but I love meeting all the new people, as well.”
— IAN SWABY
Photographer Mary Lou Johnson, of Longboat Key, shows her puzzles to Russ and Lynne Brown.
Bradenton photographer Jimmy Chadsey hangs a painting in his booth.
PET PICS
Have photos of your four-legged family members? We want to see them! Share them at YourObserver.com/Contests/Pet-Pics to be published online and for a chance to see them in print!
SPORTIN’ A TIE: Sully, a former Dogs, Inc. guide dog, is ready to seize the day.
The art of dog training
In late August, the Observer joined Dogs Inc. as a group of guide dogs completed a training session at the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall.
On Sept. 15, Dogs Inc. was at another Sarasota landmark, the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art. Service dog instructor Katrina Verzosa said the organization likes to bring its dogs in training to places that the recipients of the animals will visit.
“A lot of times, the life of a service dog is to hang out with their person and to really be there as a nice calming presence, so if you’re going to a gallery or something like that, and you’re there to kind of absorb the ambiance, then that’s a good training route for us to be like, ‘All right, cool, so we’re here, and we are going to do a little bit of walking, but we’re also going to live life together,’” she said.
The organization’s service dogs are provided to veterans who suffer from PTSD, and learn how to accompany their human companions constantly, as well as perform tasks.
and
— IAN SWABY
Photos by Ian Swaby Tommy and Sam Doyle look at the art.
The group heads by the “David,” with Jamie Leese, walking Jet, and Giselle Enriquez, walking Star, in front.
Gillian Daniels walks through the gallery with Stanley.
Museum volunteer and former employee Patsy French meets Tommy and Sam Doyle.
Pride in the pavement
IAN SWABY STAFF WRITER
Artist Beck Lane created seven murals on the Avenue of Art in front of SEE Alliance, before that entire project was erased following a statewide order by the Florida Department of Transportation.
Her work included a piece at the building’s entryway that Lane describes as “LGBTQ and allinclusive,” and a double-panel piece featuring the public schools of Sarasota.
“This isn’t going to fly. There’s no way this can fly. There’s absolutely no way,” Beck recalled thinking when she first read the memo from the state government.
Yet, after the Sarasota City Commission voted during a Sept. 2 meeting to comply with the state order, citing threats to funding, what followed was the removal of the rainbow crosswalk in Downtown Sarasota, along with some 300 sidewalk murals of the Avenue of Art in Burns Court. However, at The Harvest Sarasota church, new color was introduced on Sept. 14. Volunteers, including representatives and staff of local LGBTQ+ organizations like Project Pride and Equality Florida, worked together to create a new Progress Pride Flag crosswalk on the organization’s property.
Lead Pastor Dan Minor said the church had not initially planned to create artwork in that space, but after seeing the removal of the memorial artwork at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, followed by the removal of art in Sarasota, he decided something had to be done. Furthermore, Detroit-based artist Joey Salamon was in the area and able to assist.
that’s what we’re about.”
He called the turnout that day “incredible.”
Beck praised The Harvest for taking a stand in the current political climate.
“Right now, it takes a tremendous amount of courage, in this climate, to say, you will not treat me with this level of disrespect, or the community with that level of disrespect,” Beck said.
Another attendee looking to support the project was Siesta Key artist Stacey Palosky.
FRIDAY, SEPT. 19
ROAR!
10:15 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. at John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, 5401 Bay Shore Road. Free, but ticket required. Preschool kids and toddlers. This free storytime focuses on both art and early literacy. Kids will read, make art, and learn about an object in the museum. Visit Ringling.org.
SATURDAY, SEPT. 20
NAMASTE AT THE BAY YOGA
9-10 a.m. at Sarasota Garden Club, 1130 Boulevard of the Arts. Free. Enjoy yoga at The Bay at this event featuring a variety of Sarasota yogis. This session features certified instructor Maria Saldarriaga. Visit TheBaySarasota. org.
TUESDAY, SEPT. 24
SARASOTA COUNTY FALL COLLEGE NIGHT
6-8 p.m. at Robarts Arena, 3000 Ringling Blvd. Free. All Sarasota County families and students, of all grades are invited to attend this college night. Meet representatives of colleges and universities from throughout the state and country, learn about programs at Suncoast Technical College and learn about admission requirements, financial aid, scholarships and choosing a degree. Visit SarasotaCountySchools.net.
WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 24
READ WITH THE DOGS
BEST BET SUNDAY, SEPT. 21
SUNDAYS AT THE BAY FEATURING LOS RUMBEROS
6-7 p.m. at The Oval, 1055 Boulevard of the Arts. Free. This concert series features a different local performer each week. Los Rumberos offers a “vibrant blend of world music, combining the passion of flamenco, the elegance of classical, the soul of Latin jazz, the smoothness of bossa nova and the rich melodies of the Mediterranean.” Visit TheBaySarasota.org.
Boulevard of the Arts. Free. This movie and discussion panel takes place ahead of the 20th Annual Sustainability Community Workshop on Nov. 6, by Sarasota County UF/IFAS Extension and Sustainability. Also presented in partnership with WEDU PBS, and EarthEco International, it features a screening of the 2025 PBS documentary “Good Natured,” followed by a youth panel discussion. Visit TheBaySarasota. org.
CREATION STATION: CACTUS ROCK GARDEN
4-5 p.m. at Gulf Gate Library, 7112 Curtiss Ave. Free. Children are invited to read with a furry friend, a certified therapy dog. First come, first seated. Visit SCGovLibrary. LibraryMarket.com.
ART MOSAICS CLASS
Minor called the former Sarasota crosswalk “such a beam of light” in the city, and said that after seeing it painted over with black, and said he was “so upset and angry” for his friends in the LGBTQ+ community, especially after hearing their responses.
She creates pieces that include fluid art and paintings, and since January, has also been creating a mural on her property near the north bridge. She says it is connected to both her love of the beach and of the LGBTQ+ community. She said projects like the one at The Harvest are a way to express continued support amid the current political situation.
“I mean, it’s one thing to protest downtown, but this wasn’t a let’s go downtown and get loud and get angry,” he said. “This is a let’s pour some love out onto the streets here ... It’s not a political statement. It’s just about loving people better, and
“I think it’s really important for us to continue to find every avenue to express support for all people in our community who are getting hurt,” she said. “Both the Pride community, the immigrant community, they all need to know that they’re supported and loved.”
10 a.m. to noon at Senior Friendship Centers, 1888 Brother Geenen Way. Free. Create Mosaic art with images or patterns, using small pieces of colored glass, stone or other materials known as tesserae, at this weekly event. Visit FriendshipCenters.org.
THURSDAY, SEPT. 25
CINEMA AT THE BAY: “GOOD NATURED” 7:30-9 p.m. at The Oval, 1055
1-2:30 p.m. at Selby Library, 1331 First St. Free. Transform rocks into a cactus garden using paint and your creativity. All supplies are provided. Visit SCGovLibrary. LibraryMarket.com.
THE UKE DAYS OF SUMMER
1-2 p.m. at Betty J. Johnson North Sarasota Library, 2801 Newtown Blvd. Free. Learn to play ukulele chords and chord progressions, and learn chord transitions and strumming techniques. A limited number of ukuleles will be available at the library’s Creation Station, but you may also bring your own, and a few select ukuleles will be available to borrow. Visit SCGovLibrary.LibraryMarket.com.
Photos by Ian Swaby
Attendees, including Carissa Marsh, paint the walkway.
Joey Salamon removes tape from between sections of the crosswalk.
A Phillippi Gardens home
ADAM
HUGHES RESEARCH EDITOR
Curtis Potter, of Sherwood, Ohio, sold his home at 2127 Lusitania Drive to Daniel and Karin Fitzgerald, of Rancho Cucamonga, California, for $2.68 million. Built in 2006, it has four bedrooms, three baths, a pool and 2,870 square feet of living area. It sold for $2.1 million in 2022.
SARASOTA
SARASOTA BAY CLUB
Sarasota Bay Club LLC sold the Unit 205 condominium at 1301 Tamiami Trail to Murray Duffin, of Sarasota, for $1.4 million. Built in 2000, it has two bedrooms, two baths and 1,546 square feet of living area. It sold for $1,125,000 in 2023.
THE CONDOMINIUM ON THE BAY
Stephen Toa and Douglas Keh, trustees, of Los Angeles, sold the Unit 1415 condominium at 988 Boulevard of the Arts to Edwin and Ruth Doepel, Dana John Wikstrom and Erin Doepel, of Sarasota, for $980,000. Built in 1982, it has two bedrooms, two baths and 1,555 square feet of living area. It sold for $385,000 in 2010.
THE CITYSCAPE AT COURTHOUSE CENTRE
Holly Ann Incitti, trustee, of Punta Gorda, sold the Unit 15 condominium at 1990 Main St. to Enrique Bradfield Jr., of Sarasota, for $620,000. Built in 2005, it has two bedrooms, two baths and 1,562 square feet of living area. It sold for $700,000 in 2022.
ANONYMOUS ACRES
Milan and Mayra Puda, of Sarasota, sold their home at 3136 Webber St. to Rebekah and Jeffrey Miller, of Odon, Indiana, for $580,000. Built in 1978, it has three bedrooms, two baths, a pool and 1,698 square feet of living area. It sold for $400,000 in March.
GULF GATE
Rudolph Mamula, of Sewickley, Pennsylvania, sold his home at 3884 Kingston Blvd. to Jeffrey Lane Davis and Lisa Marie Mills, of Kalamazoo, Michigan, for $540,000. Built in 1982, it has three bedrooms, two baths, a pool and 1,769 square feet of living area. It sold for $435,000 in 2021.
VALENCIA TERRACE
Patrick and Julia Miller, of Sarasota, sold their home at 1330 16th St. to Elizabeth Jelinek Loeffler and Ronald Joseph Loeffler Jr., of Sarasota, for $510,000. Built in 2007, it has four bedrooms, three baths and 3,452 square feet of living area.
SIESTA KEY
SARASOTA SURF AND RACQUET
CLUB
Toni Kaiser, trustee, of Dublin, Ohio, sold the Unit 501 condominium at 5920 Midnight Pass Road to Michael Longano, of Painesville, Ohio, for $1.4 million. Built in 1971,
it has two bedrooms, two baths and 1,624 square feet of living area. It sold for $68,500 in 1974.
SOMERSET CAY
Ann Schulz, trustee, of Burbank, California, sold the Unit 24 condominium at 9122 Midnight Pass Road to Barbara Fordyce, trustee, of Canton, Ohio, for $1,375,000. Built in 2002, it has three bedrooms, three baths and 2,558 square feet of living area. It sold for $1,325,000 in 2024.
SIESTA BEACH
Henry Ernest Blagden III and Linh Ngo-Blagden, trustees, of Sarasota, sold the home at 614 Tropical Circle to Diversified Investments Group LLC for $920,000. Built in 1983, it has five bedrooms, threeand-a-half baths, a pool and 3,362 square feet of living area. It sold for $610,000 in 2005.
THE ANCHORAGE
Melvin and Patti Bowsher, of Sarasota, sold their Unit 910 condominium at 6415 Midnight Pass Road to Patrick Burke and Lisa Burke, trustees, of Sarasota, for $850,000. Built in 1975, it has two bedrooms, two baths and 1,290 square feet of living area. It sold for $600,000 in 2022.
SARASOTA BEACH
Shawn and Stephanie Carroll, trustees, of Sarasota, sold the home at 633 Calle De Peru to Ryan Peirce and Courtney Peirce, trustees, of Hobart, Wisconsin, for $630,000. Built in 1951, it has two bedrooms, two baths and 1,296 square feet of living area. It sold for $325,000 in 2004.
OCEAN BEACH
Stephen Gary sold his home at 4522
Banan Place to BH Siesta LLC for $600,000. Built in 1962, it has two bedrooms, two baths, a pool and 978 square feet of living area. It sold for $432,500 in 2019.
PALMER RANCH
DEER CREEK
Castleco LLC sold the home at 4724
White Tail Lane to Michael Shawn Munro and Joanne Munro, of Sarasota, for $811,000. Built in 1991, it has four bedrooms, three baths, a pool and 2,976 square feet of living area. It sold for $675,000 in 2024.
TOP BUILDING PERMITS
VILLAGEWALK
David and Lisa LeBeau, trustees, of Log Angeles, sold the home at 5712 Ferrara Drive to Cathy and Carey Ross, of Sarasota, for $699,000. Built in 2002, it has three bedrooms, two baths, a pool and 2,008 square feet of living area. It sold for $455,100 in 2021.
Other top sales by area
SIESTA KEY: $1,588,500
Siesta Beach David Foster Coleman and Kelli Elizabeth Coleman, trustees, of Sarasota, sold the home at 5121 Oxford Drive to Karland LLC for $1,588,500. Built in 1983, it has three bedrooms, three baths, a pool and 1,730 square feet of living area. It sold for $1 million in 2020.
PALMER RANCH:
$975,000
Enclave at Silver Oak Sobucki Family Revocable Trust, trustee, sold the home at 8832 Enclave Court to Rex and Anne Wetherill, of Sarasota, for $975,000. Built in 2004, it has two bedrooms, three baths, a pool and 2,751 square feet of living area.
NOKOMIS: $575,000
Havana Heights
Kerstin Hiller, of St. Petersburg, sold her home at 205 Sugarloaf Drive to Andrew Musser and Caroline Turner, of Nokomis, for $575,000. Built in 2004, it has three bedrooms, two-and-a-half baths, a pool and 2,100 square feet of living area. It sold for $375,000 in 2015.
Ian Swaby
Exercise should be a pleasure not a chore
MIRABAI HOLLAND CONTRIBUTOR
It’s September, and temperatures will be getting a bit cooler and humidity will be dropping. It’s a nice time to get outside and the perfect time to ramp up your exercise program.
So I thought I would talk about one of the most important aspects of any fitness program — pleasure.
If you like it, you’ll do it. If you don’t, you won’t.
A popular trend right now in the fitness industry is boot campstyle workouts that basically whip you into shape.
This type of exercise may be some people’s idea of fun, but for many of us who have had trouble getting or staying on an exercise program, it’s just not sustainable. Exercise should be a pleasure, not a chore. And one size does not fit all. That thought played over and over in my head as I watched two sets of bicyclists on their daily rides. Near where I live there is a road that has two bike paths. There is one for serious touring bikers and one for slower traffic.
The serious group is just that — SERIOUS! Featherweight bikes with drop handlebars, tiny seats and pedals that require clip-on shoes. They wear flaming color form-fitting, high-tech clothes that slip through the air, wick the sweat and have hidden pockets for keys and snacks.
They stream along at high speed, with their bodies bent over for aerodynamic position and helmeted heads lurched forward and look like a flock of supersonic tropical birds. This is the type of exercise they enjoy. They’re working hard and wouldn’t have it any other way. Young or old, these athletes are in top condition.
However, just a few feet away, an endless parade of more leisurely exercisers ambles along,
Courtesy image
For the serious cyclist, staying in top condition is the best reason for why they enjoy the type of extreme exercise.
pedaling merrily, sitting upright, zinging their bells, smiling and chatting. They wouldn’t have it any other way either. Are the amblers as fit as the racers? Probably not. But is their daily moderate exercise enough to reap most of the health benefits exercise has to offer? Probably so.
Research clearly shows that you don’t have to be an athlete to be fit enough to be healthy and live longer. Find a physical activity you like or at least don’t hate and pursue it with pleasure. Stay in your comfort zone, and if you do, exercise will become something you look forward to instead of dread.
Mirabai Holland is CEO of NuVue LLC, a health education and video production company. She is a certified health coach, exercise physiologist and wellness consultant for Manatee County government employees and has a private practice. Her wellness programs are implemented in hospitals, MD practices, fitness facilities, resorts and corporations worldwide. She is also an artist who believes creativity enhances health. Visit MirabaiHolland.com Contact her at AskMirabai@MovingFree.com
Knight resigns as Cardinal Mooney volleyball coach
Allan Knight held the position for just over a year before stepping down; Leah Mihm takes over in interim role.
Allan Knight has resigned as the head coach of Cardinal Mooney indoor volleyball, effectively immediately, as confirmed to the Observer on Sept. 15 by Principal Ben Hopper.
The two-time FHSAA state championship-winning coach held the position for one year and two months before stepping down.
In his place, assistant Leah Mihm — also the school’s director of advancement — will serve as interim coach for the remainder of the season.
“She has coached here before and brings a wealth of experience,” Hopper said. “Her ties to (Cardinal) Mooney athletics and the programs, and just the advancement of the school, makes her a good fit to
step in on an interim basis.”
Midway through the 2025 season, the Cougars — members of Class 3A-District 11 — are 6-5 at the point of Knight’s departure. They reached the region finals and finished with a 22-5 record last season under his guidance.
Knight won FHSAA state titles with Orlando Bishop Moore Catholic and Orlando Timber Creek in 2015 and 2008, respectively.
Before taking the job at Cardinal Mooney, he served as the Altamonte Springs Lake Brantley volleyball coach, leading the team to the 2023 Class 7A regional finals.
It marks the second resignation in as many years for Cardinal Mooney volleyball.
Former indoor and beach volleyball coach Chad Davis departed the program in March 2024 for personal reasons.
“We’re going to begin the (head coach search) as soon as possible, but we’ll let the season play out before any final decision is made as to the permanent replacement,” Hopper said.
Hopper was unable to confirm the reason for Knight’s resignation.
JACK NELSON SPORTS REPORTER
HURRICANE PREPAREDNESS
Storm Ready, Comfort Steady
When hurricane season approaches, the uncertainty can be stressful. Homeowners want to feel confident they’ve done everything possible to prepare their property and protect their families. That’s where Aqua Plumbing & Air comes in. With more than 50 years of experience serving Southwest Florida, the company focuses on helping residents take smart, practical steps: before, during, and after a storm.
“Aqua’s got your back,” says Andrew Freitas, Aqua’s General Manager of Residential Service. His team’s expertise spans HVAC, plumbing, electrical, water treatment, and backup power generation. From installing and servicing whole-home generators to offering comfort protection plans and 24/7 emergency response, Aqua helps keep essential systems functioning when families need them most.
Preparation doesn’t stop at storm supplies. Regular maintenance is one of the best ways to prevent problems. “During routine AC service, we inspect all the main components,” Freitas explains. “If we notice a part starting to fail, we can fix it before it becomes a bigger problem.” That kind of proactive care saves homeowners from costly diagnostic fees and the frustration of being without air conditioning in Florida’s heat.
The same approach applies to water heaters. “When we flush and inspect your water heater, we can see inside in ways homeowners can’t,” Freitas says. “That lets us catch wear or potential failure before it leaves you without hot water.”
Plumbing is another area where small problems can turn into big headaches. “During a safety inspection under sinks and throughout your plumbing, we look for tiny drips or other issues that could grow,” says Charlie Stephens, Operations Manager for Plumbing Service. “Identifying them early prevents bigger repairs and helps protect your home.”
Aqua also understands that recovery matters just as much as preparation. After a storm, power may be out and systems may falter, but its experienced crews are ready to respond quickly and restore essential services. Through the Aqua One maintenance agreement, homeowners receive discounts, priority scheduling, and even pre-storm safety inspections.
“It’s called preparedness for a reason,” says Stephens. “We want to make sure families are ready before the storm and taken care of after.”
$20,000,000
$5,500,000
$1,435,000
SPORTS
“My injury last season. It really restarted that flame of love for football ... to finally be able to play again really just rekindled that love I have for it.”
FAST BREAK
GRIDIRON GONE GLOBAL
Sarasota Christian football begins partnership with Poland’s Kraków Kings.
JACK NELSON SPORTS REPORTER
An uncommon partnership began with an unusual connection. Jacob Spenn had long dreamed of something like this, but even he was blown away by how it happened.
Knowing the right guy cascaded into an exchange of global proportions.
“A crazy chain of events transpired,” Spenn said.
Before he took the job of Sarasota Christian athletic director and founded the school’s football program in 2022, he worked and coached at Cypress Christian in Houston. He often conversed with a friend doing missionary work in Spain about taking his student-athletes abroad.
Spenn wanted to break them out of the private-school bubble. He understood their privilege and sought to give them perspective.
Still, dreams were just dreams for a while. They finally evolved into action days before Christmas 2024. His missionary friend knew a guy who knew one of the coaches for the Kraków Kings. The two ran into each other at a wedding in the United States, and just like that, Spenn found himself on a plane to Poland in March 2025.
Less than a year later, there stood Robin Volkmar, head coach of the Kings’ U19 team, on the Blazers’ turf during a muggy September afternoon.
“This doesn’t just happen. This is cool,” Spenn said. “People that have really only one thing in common, which is a game, and (the connection) was just instantaneous.”
The Sarasota Christian head coach emailed his team with an open invite to visit Poland in June, right after the end of the school year, not knowing what the reception would be like. He
wound up taking 13 players, along with three coaches and three parents.
Their voyage across the pond marked the formal first step in what Spenn and Volkmar hope will be a partnership for years to come.
Naturally, plenty of football was on the itinerary, with practices held each night and a scrimmage on the final day. But the Blazers in attendance saw the Kings’ impact transcend the gridiron.
“I wasn’t necessarily intrigued about the football aspect, because I didn’t know I was going to come back up until very late,” said junior center/guard Jakob Lester. “We get there, and (we realized) this was a big deal. You thought it was going to be a small thing, but no, you’ve got a whole community.”
The Kings, founded in 2007, are a professional American football club and nonprofit organization sending teams to compete in the Polish Football League, which has operated since 2021. They consist of three programs — seniors, juniors and flag football.
Volkmar’s U19 squad “Kings Young Blood” is a member of the PFL Juniors Southern Group as one of 10 teams distributed evenly across two divisions. He’s served as their head coach on a volunteer basis since December 2023, but once played defensive end for the Kings for more than six years.
It’s a perpetual struggle for him to find other teams to play friendlies with or scrimmage against during preseason preparation.
Sarasota Christian came along at the perfect time. Not only did the team help solve that problem, but they offered an exchange of knowledge, showing Polish kids what’s possible in this game they share a love for.
“When his kids came and started
KRAKÓW FACTS
n Population: 804,237
n Average Sept. high temp.: 67
n Average Sept. low temp.: 48
n Famous residents: Pope John Paul II, Oskar Schindler
n Number of McDonald’s: 18
n Number of Pizza Huts: 10
n Number of Popeyes: 1
practicing, I just noticed what a high football IQ they had, and how quickly they picked up things,” Volkmar said.
“For my kids to see that it can be like this, and that they can develop this football IQ, this was a big thing.”
Through such interactions, and conversations with Volkmar, the gravity of who the Kings are really began to sink in.
The sport is believed to have first appeared in Poland in 1999, with the beginnings of a team in Warsaw. The first game, though, wasn’t held until 2006 following the formation of the now-defunct Polish American Football League in 2004.
In Kraków — a population of over 800,000 — the Kings offer the only organized football in the entire city. That makes them a magnet for kids who get inspired by NFL Europe games or Netflix documentaries and dig around online to learn about Volkmar’s squad.
Those who do join are fully invested. They go out of their way on a regular basis to give their all.
“My players have to be here every day. And then they have to walk from there to there to here,” Spenn said. “(Volkmar)’s got guys that are riding public transportation for an hour to get to practice. That’s a different level of commitment.”
Noah Spenn is one of several Sarasota Christian athletes who enjoys the luxury of a short commute. It allows the junior safety/wide receiver to focus on football first and foremost, never having to worry about how he’ll get to the field.
He took that for granted until he returned from Kraków.
“It was definitely a little shaking. I live 10 minutes away; I drive here for practice,” said Noah Spenn. “But to hear the stuff they go through and
the struggles they have, yet they’re still at practice, going through it (and) working hard every day. That just hit me.”
A week-long experience in Poland didn’t just mature athlete perspectives. It was the collaborative element that excited the two coaches as lifelong students of the game themselves.
For Volkmar, the resources available can’t possibly compare to Jacob Spenn’s. With football still in its infancy internationally, European coaches like himself have to think outside the box to best inform themselves on teaching strategy and technique.
That makes his budding relationship with Sarasota Christian rather valuable.
“We have the opportunity here to get to know each other’s cultures, but there’s also a knowledge transfer,” Volkmar said. “In Europe, we have a bunch of great coaches, but the knowledge we get is limited. It really depends on who is often coincidentally living in the same place and interested in coaching football.”
What’s next for the two programs isn’t yet set in stone. Volkmar’s trip to Sarasota last week was merely an exploratory visit, with hopes of bringing some of his players in the coming year.
They’ll continue to connect over WhatsApp and share film on Hudl, but until they meet again, the Blazers and Kings will have to grow from a distance.
Social media is their gridiron until they clash helmets once more.
“The number of kids from Poland that follow me and our school on social media is hilarious,” said Jacob Spenn. “And most of them, I actually know who they are.”
It was smooth sailing for Cardinal Mooney once again, now riding the wave into their bye week. Cardinal Mooney football (3-1) hit the road last Friday and trounced Tampa Berkeley Prep, 49-10, with their most points scored in any game yet this campaign. Junior running back Connail Jackson ran for 125 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries, while on the other side of the ball, senior defensive back Vantrez Yarn led the squad with eight total tackles — four of which were solo. Senior quarterback Devin Mignery committed to Stanford on Sunday.
... Booker football (3-1) torched Naples, a reigning FHSAA Class 4A state semifinalist, for a 42-0 home triumph last Friday. Marking their third win in a row and most decisive yet this season, the Tornadoes are heating up approaching Week 5. The squad travels to Naples Lely for a 7:30 p.m. game Friday.
... The good times just keep on rolling for the Rams. Riverview football (3-0-1) eased past Melbourne Central Catholic, 45-14, last Friday in the second stage of its five-game home stretch, staying undefeated as we near the end of the first month of the season. Junior running back Toryeon James — who led the team in receiving last season — continues to be a driving force in the backfield, boasting 525 rushing yards and eight touchdowns through Week 3. Right alongside him has been senior quarterback Parker Nippert, who surpassed 1,000 passing yards with 165 through two and a half quarters in Week 4.
... Sarasota girls’ volleyball (5-9) has rebounded from an 0-5 start to win five of its last nine contests. In their first year under 23-year-old coach Emma Thrift, the Sailors are now halfway to matching their win total from 2024. As of Sept. 14, junior outside hitter Liza Collier (88), senior right setter Julia Norman (52) and senior outside hitter Braelynn Rebholz (51) top the kills chart. Junior libero Mikala Moon leads with 94 digs, while junior middle hitter Gemma Mulhollen owns a team-high 11 blocks.
File image Cardinal Mooney junior running
Noah Spenn (white jersey) runs through the Kings’ defense after a catch in Kraków, Poland, in March. The junior safety/wide receiver was one of 13 student-athletes from Sarasota Christian to make the trek to Poland.
Images courtesy of Jacob Spenn
Spenn (blue quarterzip) and Volkmar (black T-shirt) watch during a practice between Sarasota Christian and Kraków Kings.
Jack Nelson
Sarasota Christian football coach Jacob Spenn (left) shakes hands with Kraków Kings U19 coach Robin Volkmar (right). After the Blazers visited Poland in June, Volkmar and one of his assistants visited Sarasota last week.
The APP Tour’s all-time medals leader put true athleticism on display at Sarasota’s Dill Dinkers.
Those tired pickleball remarks aren’t lost on Megan Fudge. More than three years have passed since she signed up for her first tour-level event, and still, she hears echoes. She faced them first-hand when she committed to the sport and left tennis behind.
“There’s always been that stigma, ‘Oh, I’m going to go join the dark side,’” Fudge said. “But I feel like we’ve kind of overcome that now ... nowadays, it’s the cool thing to do.”
Fudge was invited to Dill Dinkers pickleball club of Sarasota last weekend, taking a break from competition to teach clinics and practice with fellow pros. But there were no sneers or snickers that followed. No tennis purists were in attendance to rain on her parade. There were only smiles and laughter among a crowd of people who unapologetically love pickleball for exactly what it is — the fastest-growing sport in the United States.
Once a four-time All-Big Ten honoree with Illinois women’s tennis, Fudge is now a premier competitor in the Association of Pickleball Players, ranking No. 1 in the world for women’s doubles. She broke the record for most all-time medals earlier this season by winning her 69th alongside Jill Braverman at the Vlasic Classic. To date, she has 77 to her name and counting. Fudge and husband Ryler DeHeart — APP world No. 6 for men’s singles — swapped out their St. Petersburg home for an RV in 2023 to compete across the country. They’re also raising two children, Lily, 10, and JR, 8, on the road while
passing down their love of pickleball.
Dill Dinkers didn’t offer Fudge and family medals or money. They jumped at the invite, anyway.
“I don’t just see myself as a pro pickleball player. I see myself as an ambassador for the sport,” Fudge said. “I don’t just do this here in the States. I’ve been all over Asia, just sharing the joy of the sport and helping grow the sport.”
Tennis traditionalists have long resented pickleball, and with its explosion both domestically and internationally, such sentiments are getting more airtime. Their attitudes range from mild dislike to seething hate, but regardless of where they stand, they do stand somewhere.
Naysayers claim the sport lacks skill or athleticism, and thus, lacks entertainment value. Others are frustrated with the emergence of pickleball courts in their neighborhoods, instead asserting that tennis courts should be built in those spaces. Then there’s the stereotype of the “old man’s game” because of its age-friendly design.
Try telling that to Fudge, or any members of her family. Watching one practice of hers would quickly dispel the negative preconceptions of any open-minded onlooker.
Cat-like reflexes were on display in a world-class pace of play. Fudge demonstrated considerable poise and patience at the net, applying quick hands to return even the hardest of volleys.
Her instincts — which took years of training to hone — allowed her to be prepared for any shot in her practice partner’s arsenal. A bouncy stance and fancy footwork helped in that department as well.
What also stood out was the fearless approach Fudge had to each point. She expected velocity on every shot sent her way, and rather than backing away from body shots, took them in stride and shrugged them off with a smile.
“It’s such a simple sport — easy to learn, hard to master,” Fudge said. “My son is 8, and we’ve played with a 90-year-old ... What other sport is out there where you can step on the court with someone you’ve never met, that you might have nothing in common (with) besides a pickleball in your hand, and you’re just having joy?”
The wisdom she’s accumulated over years on tour showed through coaching moments. After almost every rep or drill, she debriefed on the do’s and don’ts of strategy. There were discussions about timing your passing shot by being patient without ceding control of the point.
As tempting as it looked to rip the ball with each forehand, Fudge talked more so about positioning yourself for a quality shot, every shot. There are, after all, tennis sensibilities to this sister sport —
extending the point however possible shifts the pressure back to the opponent.
Other than her split-second reaction time, skills shined in the way she was able to extend past her immediate swing radius to get any ball. Overheads were few and far between, but on one or two occasions, Fudge did reach back for an airborne ball to smash it back in play.
No average person could keep up with her. Pickleball is indeed more accessible than tennis, but that doesn’t eliminate athleticism from the equation.
“It lights people’s day up when they get to come out and exercise and laugh together and goof around together, but also feel like an athlete,” Fudge said. “I think a lot of people have missed that in their lives.”
It’s a weird war of words between
the two racket sports. At the end of the day, they’re both fighting major domestic players like football and basketball to boost viewership and engagement. Some tennis figures are bitter about the fact that pickleball emerged by downsizing their beloved game. Considering the rich history and tradition of tennis, they see a violation of its sanctity and want to protect it.
But they shouldn’t make the mistake of dismissing players entirely. Fudge is a competitor to her core.
Jack Nelson is the sports reporter for the East County and Sarasota/Siesta Key Observers. Contact him at JNelson@ YourObserver.com.
Jack Nelson
Ryler DeHeart (left) and Megan Fudge play alongside one another during a practice session.
husband and wife have lived
Joel Morris
The Booker Tornadoes are eyeing another deep run in the FHSAA Class 3A state tournament, and if they have it their way, they won’t settle for a Final Four appearance this time around. Against Naples this past Friday, Booker football (3-1) posted a decisive 42-0 victory at home, blowing out the reigning 4A state semifinalists.
Joel Morris was a big reason why. The senior quarterback and threestar recruit went 15-for-24 through the air for 279 yards and four scores. As the offensive engine behind arguably the team’s biggest win this season, Morris is the Sarasota Observer’s Athlete of the Week.
When and why did you start playing football?
I watched my father and my neighborhood friend; they (were) always playing. My relationship with both of them made it easy to get involved. How did you gravitate to quarterback as your top position?
I was a big Florida State fan, so I grew up watching EJ Manuel and Jameis Winston. Watching them win all those games and (watching) Jameis win the national championship, I was like, ‘Damn, I want to be like him.’
What’s been your highlight of the season so far?
Just coming together as an offense and just winning a lot of games. That Naples game really just made the team have a little bit more confidence in each other.
What’s been your most humbling moment as a player?
My injury last season. It really restarted that flame of love for football, missing a whole season, and to finally be able to play again really just rekindled that love I have for it.
What are your goals for your senior season with Booker?
Just win, honestly. (I’ve) come to win Booker (its) first state championship.
If you would like to make a recommendation for the Sarasota Observer’s Athlete of the Week feature, send it to Jack Nelson at JNelson@ YourObserver.com.
What’s one quote that you live your life by?
It’s by (Raiders quarterback) Geno
Smith. “They wrote me off, I ain’t wrote back though.”
If you could meet any professional athlete, who would it be and why?
I’d probably meet Lamar Jackson. A lot of people say I play like him, so I would just want to learn the most I can from him.
If you could go anywhere in the world right now, where would you go and why?
Japan. I’m really into Japanese culture — I watch a lot of anime. Just seeing a lot of vlogs, and how clean and friendly the nation is, I would just want to take a visit there.
If you were stuck on a desert island with only one item, what would you bring and why?
A tent or an umbrella. Something to provide shade.
What’s your favorite meal? Cajun pasta — my sister makes it at home.
What’s your go-to, pregame hype music?
Really whatever they’re playing in the locker room. But I like to calm my nerves, so I really listen to Brent Faiyaz.
Finish this sentence. Joel Morris is ... Amazing.
ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
at
• Glaucoma Management & Surgery
• Minimally Invasive Glaucoma Procedures
• Micro-Incision Cataract Surgery
• Routine Eye Care
Whether
Don’t
NATURE’S BEAUTY WITH
HIGH DRAMA by Michael Schlossberg, edited by Jared Goudsmit
By Luis Campos
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