SIESTA KEY
Observer YOU. YOUR NEIGHBORS. YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD.
A+E Adaptive steps. SEE PAGE 14
FREE • THURSDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2021
VOLUME 52, NO. 25
YOUR TOWN
2021 THROUGH THE LENS A look back in pictures to the year we (almost) got back to normal.
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Pineapple time
If you’re around downtown Friday night, keep an eye out for falling pineapples — or, more correctly, one giant pineapple. The city’s traditional New Year’s Eve celebration is planned from 1 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. on Main Street and Five Points Park with events and attractions planned for all ages — all revolving around the midnight pineapple drop at Main Street and Orange Avenue. (Sorry, fans of fruit-appropriate intersections, Pineapple Avenue wasn’t available.) Live music, carnival rides and games around Five Points Park, food and fireworks are all part of the festivities.
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MARCH
WAY UP THERE Nik Wallenda’s Daredevil Rally returned to Sarasota County with a collection of circus-style acts, including a wire walk from the man himself. Wallenda launched the drive-in traveling show as a way to entertain spectators without gathering in an indoor area or circus tent. Wallenda did his thing 80 feet in the air while answering questions from the Benderson Park crowd.
NOVEMBER
BREAKING A RECORD The comings and goings of passenger jets, particularly those of Southwest Airlines and Allegiant Air, helped propel Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport to record travel numbers in 2021. November, like so many others in 2021, set a monthly record with more than 321,000 passengers traveling through. By the end of 2021, 3 million passengers are expected to have used SRQ, the most ever.
ERIC GARWOOD | MANAGING EDITOR
W
e knew going in that 2021 was shaping up to be something else entirely. Not normal. Maybe OK. But, we hoped, not 2020. Anything but that. On the plus side, COVID-19 vaccines were on the verge of mainstream as the new year dawned. But as we soon learned, patience and a fair amount of technical expertise was required to get one. Uh, oh. Spring and summer were pretty up and down, too. Our lives, our jobs, our indoor events started looking typical again. Yay. Then along came delta, which heretofore had really only been an airline and an Oldsmobile. But as a COVID-19 variant, not great. Through it all, though, we kept reporting and photographing. And wouldn’t you know it, we DID have a lot to smile about even through some frustratingly similar days to the previous year. Here, then, is what we saw through our Nikons and Canons (and the occasional iPhone) in 2021.
SEE PAGE 3 Harry Sayer
Softball and the circus Cardinal Mooney Catholic High School showcased its softball program Dec. 18, with a little help from circus performers. Catalina and Natalie Young were among those enjoying popcorn, peanuts and circus games aplenty. Kids got their faces painted, put on goofy clown wigs and had plenty of cotton candy at the event. The Mooney softball field had a number of people playing kickball, and other softball players helped run several of the stations. Santa Claus himself also arrived to take photos with children and families. One of the main features for the program was Catholic speaker Kelly Colangelo delivering the keynote address, “You Are Enough: Teamwork Makes The Dream Work.”
JULY
LIFEGUARDS MAKE A SPLASH Florida’s best lifeguards showcased their lifesaving abilities during a two-day competition at Siesta Key. More than 160 lifeguards from a number of lifeguard agencies made their way to Siesta Key for the 2021 James P. “Mac” McCarthy Regional Surf Lifesaving Championships, an athletic gauntlet that had competitors sprinting, swimming, paddling and displaying other life-saving skills over the course of 16 challenges.