Sarasota/Siesta Key Observer 6.30.22

SARASOTA/SIESTA KEY

Observer

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JULY 2022

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INSIDE

YOU. YOUR NEIGHBORS. YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD.

FREE • THURSDAY, JUNE 30, 2022

VOLUME 18, NO. 31

YOUR TOWN

County takes aim at hiring Preliminary budget calls for rehiring staff in positions lost to COVID cuts. SEE PAGE 3A

Courtesy photo

Splash Shabbat

Temple Emanu-El has plenty of fun with its Tot Shabbat events, which bring families together monthly for a day of play and stories.

But if you haven’t noticed, it’s summer.

So Temple Emanu-El brought its members to Payne Park for a Splash Shabbat, where families kept cool from the summer heat. Kids and Temple EmanuEl Rabbi Michael Shefrin played in the park’s water splash pad area while parents had it made in the shade.

Shefrin led families in Shabbat songs, stories and blessings for the children and even made time to celebrate a few summertime birthdays. The day ended with popsicles for everyone.

Harry Sayer

Elyse Germeroth and Kai Frisoli admire the small caterpillar.

Harry Sayer

A RADD show

Sarasota has a healthy music scene, but sometimes it doesn’t always get the attention it needs.

DreamLarge recently sought to help with that by putting on a lively weekend concert for music lovers in the Rosemary District on June 25.

The RADD Show — the event’s name, not just a description — brought local music heads and bands to the space outside The Overton for a night of music and good times. Local bands Physical Plant and Me Umbra represented Sarasota proper by playing plenty of pop music and funky southern rock jams.

Darwin Champagne (above) of Me Umbra led off the event.

ON WINGS OF CURIOSITY Children’s Garden connects kids with caterpillars and butterflies. SEE PAGE 2B

A+E

Turtle Tracks AS OF JUNE 25 TOTAL NESTS: 2022 Siesta Key 57 Lido Beach 16 Casey Key 242

2021 52 14 164

TOTAL FALSE CRAWLS: 2022 2021 Siesta Key 106 82 Lido Beach 29 21 Casey Key 343 213 Source: Mote Marine Laboratory

File photo

Sarasota’s contract with the police union expires on Oct. 1.

Police union talks heat up City officers compare area salaries. SEE PAGE 4A

Tasty competition.

SEE PAGE 10A

2A

TABS

W HAT ’S HAPPENING

SARASOTA OBSERVER

YourObserver.com

THURSDAY, JUNE 30, 2022

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WEEK OF JUNE 30, 2022

Parkside East sells for $6 million

“Unless you have done it, you can’t really get it.

When you do, and you know other people who do, you understand.”

A Sarasota apartment complex has sold for $6 million.

Parkside East, a 23-unit complex at 785 N. Osprey Ave., was bought by an LLC named FL Echo. The company’s address, 50 Central Ave., Sarasota, matches that of Insula Cos., a local real estate investment firm, according to Florida Division of Corporations records.

The buyer, according to a statement from the Lakewood Ranch commercial real estate firm Dreznin & Pappas, which worked on the deal, is an “experienced investor with a wealth of knowledge, and the property is expected to receive numerous updates and enhancements moving forward.”

Although the sale price is not as flashy as some multifamily properties sold across the region in the past year, the $260,870-perunit mark is certainly impressive, especially when you consider the complex, built in 1975, is not a highend development with a laundry list of amenities.

Bambi Bowman Huisveld on open-water swimming Read more on page 14A

BY THE NUMBERS $55,826

Starting pay for city police officer in Sarasota, following 12-18 months on probation.

PAGE 4A

13.2%

Gain in revenue expected for the fiscal year 2023 Sarasota County budget.

PAGE 3A

400

Acres that make up Sarasota County’s Celery Fields.

PAGE 1B

Luxury condo hits 50% sold mark

4,500

Length in feet of Sarasota’s proposed Lido Key multiuse recreational trail.

YOUROBSERVER.COM Courtesy photo

A practice green is featured on the penthouse’s outdoor-living area.

CALENDAR

Top-priced condo: $16.3M W

n Sarasota City Commission regular meeting — 9 a.m. Tuesday, July 5, Commission Chambers, City Hall, 1565 First St. n Sarasota County School Board regular meeting — 6 p.m. Thursday, July 7, Landings Administration Building, 1980 Landings Blvd. n Sarasota County Commission regular meeting — 9 a.m. Tuesday, July 12, Commission Chambers, County Administration Building, 1660 Ringling Blvd.

hy leave home to practice golf when you can buy a bayfront penthouse with a putting green overlooking Sarasota’s bayfront?

Oh, and a new take on your short game isn’t all you’ll get for this penthouse’s $16.35 million asking price in the Epoch building on South Gulfstream Avenue.

The four-bedroom, four-and-ahalf bath penthouse, which is the highest price point for a condo in the area, offers floor-to-ceiling windows, Italian wood flooring, a private elevator and more.

“This exceptional penthouse offers west-facing orientation to take full advantage of the waterfront views,” said listing agent Moriah Taliaferro, of Premier Southeby’s International Realty.

“Its generous indoor and outdoor living areas provide the feel of a single-family home with the convenience and service of a luxury condominium.”

A chef’s kitchen includes Caesarstone countertops, a walk-in pantry, a Gaggenau refrigerator and freezer towers, natural gas cooking, sleek Cucine Ricci

cabinetry, Dornbracht fixtures, a Quatrus stainless steel sink and a Perlick wine fridge.

An owners’ suite features direct access to the bay-view terrace, two large walk-in closets outfitted by California Closets and a spa bath.

Beyond the 5,600-square-foot unit itself, the new owners will have access to resort-style amenities including a residents’ club, a fitness center, steam showers and a massage suite, a pool, a spa, fire tables and natural gas grills.

One Park Sarasota, an 18-story luxury condo development on the city’s waterfront, has opened a new sales gallery after having sold 50% of its units.

The gallery, run by Coldwell Banker Realty, is at 20 N. Lemon Ave. One Park is going up on Boulevard of the Arts and North Tamiami Trail.

The tower, when complete, will be made up of 123 two-, three- and fivebedroom units ranging from 2,760 square feet to 8,460 square feet.

Prices start $2.8 million. In addition to those units, there will be a One Park Penthouse Collection with six apartments with private rooftops, summer kitchens and plunge pools.

Units in the tower will come with 12-foot floor-to-ceiling windows, a lighting package with recessed lighting, dimmers and lighting control, fully built-out closets and a midnight bar in primary bedrooms. These will go along with a list of outdoor amenities.

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SARASOTA OBSERVER

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THURSDAY, JUNE 30, 2022

REVVED UP REVENUE Sarasota County’s millage rate of 3.46 mils is the second lowest among Florida’s 67 counties and is 25% lower than in fiscal year 2000. Still, unless commissioners reduce the millage rate to help offset the 16.75% increase in property values countywide, residential and commercial property owners in the county will be paying more in fiscal 2023.

Although the final numbers won’t be released until July 1, Sarasota County’s taxable property value is expected to be $81.8 billion, up from $70.2 billon last year. Should the millage rate remain constant, the county’s ad valorem revenue would increase from $192.2 million last year to $223.8 million in fiscal 2023.

File photo

Deputy Josh Sanders helps Sophia Castellanos try on a helmet at a recent open house at the headquarters of the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office. The Sheriff’s Office in 2023 is seeking 19 additional full-time equivalent positions.

CREATING JOBS Flush with new property tax revenue, Sarasota County departments asked to create more than 100 new jobs needed to keep up with growth during County Commission budget hearings.

ADDING UP

A look at Sarasota County constitutional offices and their full-time equivalent employment for 2022 and proposed for 2023.

Department Sheriff’s Office

FY 2022

FY 2023

Change

1,017.00

1,036.00

19.00

100.00

103.00

3.00

73.10

78.10

5.00

Tax Collector Clerk of Circuit Court Property Appraiser

68.00

71.00

3.00

Court Administration

48.00

53.00

5.00

ANDREW WARFIELD

Supervisor of Elections

32.00

32.00

0.00

STAFF WRITER

County Commission

5.00

5.00

0.00

Guardian Ad Litem

4.00

4.00

0.00

Tourist Development

1.00

1.00

0.00

1,348.10

1,383.10

35.00

W

ith an anticipated 13.2% gain in revenue driven by a meteoric rise in assessed property values over the past year — combined with no mention of adjusting the millage rate to approach or achieve a revenue neutral budget — many Sarasota County government departments and agencies are eyeing a hiring spree in fiscal year 2023.

The Sarasota County Commission held its two-day budget workshop last week, listening to the pitches of departments and agencies, most of which included the addition of full-time equivalent staff to refill COVID-related reductions and to fill new positions needed to keep pace with growth.

Total

HIRING SPREE

A look at Sarasota County’s full-time equivalent employment for 2022 and proposed for 2023.

Department Emergency Services

FY 2022

FY 2023

Change

605.20

631.20

26.00

243.51

258.26

14.75

Public Utilities Parks/Recreation

219.66

225.10

5.44

Public Transit

216.00

196.00

-20.00

Planning & Development

199.15

203.15

4.00

Public Works

198.30

201.70

3.40

Libraries

163.75

166.50

2.75

General Services

116.90

121.75

4.85

Information Technology

78.00

89.00

11.00

Financial Management

64.00

66.00

2.00

Capital Projects

52.00

53.00

1.00

Human Resources

44.84

56.80

11.96

39.17

38.27

-0.90

39.00

39.00

0.00

Solid Waste Health & Human Services

Courtesy photo

“Sarasota County has continuously found ways to do more with less and has not pursued a millage rate increase in 23 years.”

— Al Maio

According to the Bureau of Economic Research, Florida Population Studies, the county’s population is projected to increase from 433,300 in 2020 to 464,900 by 2025 and to 489,600 by 2030.

More people means higher expenditures. An op-ed piece written by outgoing County Commission Chair Al Maio suggests the county’s millage rate of 3.46% will remain unchanged.

“Sarasota County has continuously found ways to do more with less and has not pursued a millage rate increase in 23 years,” Maio wrote.

“And, once again, the proposed fiscal

Communications

34.40

34.40

0.00

County Attorney

24.00

24.00

0.00

Office of Administrator

13.75

12.75

-1.00

UF/IFAS Extension

12.00

15.00

3.00

Non-Departmental

8.72

21.87

13.15

Governmental Relations

3.25

3.25

0.00

2,375.60

2,457.00

81.40

Total

year 2023 budget for Sarasota County does not include a millage increase.

“In fact, our current millage rate is the second lowest of the 67 counties in the state of Florida, which is even more important because it took over a decade — from 2008 to 2020 — for our gross taxable property values to recover after plummeting nearly 38% during the Great Recession. Sarasota County has remained focused on our financial priorities related for maintaining a very high level of service despite the ups and downs of the housing market.”

The ad valorem tax increase increments property owners will pay will not be equivalent, percentage-wise, to their corresponding increase in tax value assessments. By Florida statute, homestead property values are capped at 3% percent growth on their property tax bills, and nonhomestead property taxes at 10%. In both cases, though, taxable values

are expected to hit the top marks.

New construction or the owners of newly resold properties will pay close to full value unless they bring with them portable elements of the state’s homestead exemption.

“The total expenditure budgets of departments controlled by county commissioners have increased by just 4% from 2009 to 2022, from $127.5 million to $132.7 million,” Maio wrote. “If the board’s departments had increased their expenditures by the annual inflation rate, their 2022 expenditure budgets would have been exceeded by $31 million.”

SEEKING 116 NEW POSITIONS

Maintaining the current millage rate, County Administrator Jonathan Lewis has proposed a 2023 general fund budget of $378.2 million, a 10.7% increase.

Although the final numbers from the tax appraiser’s office aren’t due

until July 1, preliminary figures suggest the county’s property tax revenues will swell by $267.87 million, up 14% from $230.4 million this fiscal year. That revenue growth reflects the preliminary appraised value of real estate countywide of $81.8 billion, up 14.1% over the current fiscal year’s $70.2 billion.

Combined, county departments are looking to parlay the resulting bump in revenue into 81.4 new fulltime equivalent employees, a personnel growth of 3.4%. The county’s head count is 2,375, which doesn’t include constitutional departments and agencies. Combined, those are seeking 35 new positions, led by the Sheriff’s Office’s ask for 19 new positions that would bring its head count to 1,036, a 1.9% increase over fiscal year 2022.

Filling those openings won’t be easy. Commissioner Nancy Detert sounded that alarm during Thursday’s opening session.

“We have very low unemployment. It’s hard to find workers.

Every employer will tell you that, so it’s going be more competitive,” Detert said. “I think we really need to think a little higher when it comes to salaries. It’s going to be harder and harder to find supremely qualified people that we currently and historically have who that want to work for wages that are lower than competitive wages.”

Lewis said he began addressing the compensation issue during the current fiscal year. Above and beyond the 1% pay plan adjustment and then up to a 3% merit base, Lewis made an additional 1% pay plan adjustment during the spring.

“And we raised starting pay,” he said of the increase of the minimum wage to $15 an hour. “We just we weren’t competitive. And as the board knows, we’ve been in discussion with the ATU, which is our transit union, on what their base pay would be for drivers and attendants and other positions.

“That’s why instead of that possible 4%, it’s a little bit higher at 6% this year for our non-(collective) bargaining employees. We continue to look at it we’ll certainly adjust within budget parameters. It’s a tough one to balance.”

UP TO 6% PAY HIKES

During his presentation, Sheriff Kurt Hoffman described recruiting and retention challenges his department face against agencies near and far that offer higher wages and perhaps a lower cost of living. One officer is leaving, he said, because the new ownership of his apartment complex raised the rent by nearly $900 a month, and he and his family can no longer afford to live here.

“I had a 19-year corrections deputy who retired early and moved out of state to take another job because of cost of living in Sarasota County,” Hoffman said. “I had a conversation with somebody who’s talking to someone who wants to come work here in Sarasota County, and they’re going to be making significantly less than what they are in the jurisdiction that they’re in now.”

A civilian staff member, he added, is regularly going to a food bank to help pay some college tuition bills.

“You ask for college degrees, you ask for the technical expertise whether it’s digital forensics or drug lab or crime analyst, and then you have to be able to pay them,” Hoffman said.

To address compensation, Lewis is proposing a general wage increase among all non-collective bargaining employees of about 5.5%-6%.

“I’m playing with scenarios, depending on how the budget works out, of a 4% merit this year with some variation of the 2% pay plan adjustment which is might be 1% in the beginning of the year and 1% halfway through the year,” Lewis said. “That’s what I’m looking at and what’s factored in here.”

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YourObserver.com

THURSDAY, JUNE 30, 2022

City, police union squaring off over contract talks

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With its collective bargaining agreement expiring this fall, the union that represents Sarasota Police officers charges that the city is slow to respond to demands.

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With the three-year collective bargaining agreement for all 178 members of the Sarasota Police Department expiring Oct. 1, the union representing them has accused the city of showing no sense of urgency to come to terms.

The city, meanwhile, maintains it is negotiating in good faith and in accordance with state statute.

International Union of Police Associations Local 6045 President Eric Urbain last week circulated an email saying the city has slowwalked the negotiation process since February.

The city offered a different take.

“Since February 2022, city management representatives have regularly participated in multiple negotiation sessions with the IUPA bargaining unit,” read a statement released by the city. “From the beginning, we have negotiated in good faith and in accordance with Florida Statute 447, which outlines collective bargaining practices. We have been active participants, responded to numerous proposals and listened to the IUPA members during the negotiations.”

The union’s primary objectives are to achieve wages competitive with other police agencies in the Tampa Bay region and to establish practices that provide the union with greater involvement in discrimination claims. Urbain said the city has “flat-out rejected” the latter, citing issues alleged by two officers of a

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PAY AROUND THE BAY First-year pay for sworn officers and criminalists in Sarasota Police Department compared to those in Tampa and St. Petersburg: PATROL OFFICER n Tampa PD: $60,270 n St. Pete PD: $58,016 n Sarasota PD: $55,826* SERGEANT n Tampa PD: $92,227 n St. Pete PD: $92,601 n Sarasota PD: $78,033* LIEUTENANT n Tampa PD: $117,728 n St. Pete PD: $109,366 n Sarasota PD: $91,052 CRIMINALISTS n Tampa PD: $54,038 n St. Pete PD: $51,765 n Sarasota PD: $36,648 Sources: International Union of Police Associations Local 6045 and Sarasota Police Department *Union-protected sworn employees not subject to probationary period

minority class.

“We’re hemorrhaging officers from our agency to others that are higher paying,” Urbain said. “We have the lowest number of officers on the street in 10 years, and they’re being asked to do more with fewer.

We see that the tax base is here, that the revenues are here, and we are on par with the tax base of Tampa. I understand that it’s a larger city, but we’ve got a smaller agency, so as far as the compensation per officer, it should not be a difference.”

In addition to patrol officers, IUPA 6045’s membership includes ser-

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Starting pay for criminalists is $36,648, rising to $45,801 in eight years, and senior criminalists start at $51,661, rising to $67,444 in eight years.

The current agreement also included a bonus structure.

Officers, sergeants, criminalists and senior criminalists who worked 12 months of fiscal year 2018 and had fewer than five years of service received a one-time lump sum payment of $1,500 at the start of fiscal 2019. Those with more than five years received $3,000. In addition to the 3% base pay and step increases, personnel achieving those same benchmarks received equal bonus payments at the start of fiscal 2020.

The union also demands removal of anti-discrimination inquiries from solely under the city’s purview.

Urbain said a proposal modeled after other law enforcement agencies in the region, which allows investigations to be reviewed by the union’s attorney, was dismissed out of hand.

Relying on the city human resources department to investigate and adjudicate discrimination claims, Urbain said, is a conflict of interest.

To that matter, the city replied in a statement: “The city of Sarasota does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, pregnancy, national origin, age, disability or marital status. These classes are already protected under state and federal law as well as local ordinance, and the city abides by those regulations in all its employment-related decisions.”

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The city says SPD has 13 sworn officer openings, 10 of them additional positions approved for the current budget year, and is processing 10 applications for those vacancies.

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According to the union, first-year pay for an SPD patrol officer is $52,621, a sergeant is $73,554, and a lieutenant $91,052. Figures supplied by the city, though, show starting pay for a patrol officer is $55,826, rising to $78,534 after 20 years of service, and a sergeant $78,033, $91,701 after 20 years. Starting pay for lieutenants is $91,052, but the city says none of SPD’s nine lieutenants earn less than $99,121, which occurs at the fouryear mark of that rank.

There is an explanation for the differences. The compensation figures shared by the city are for protected union members and those who have successfully completed probation.

The department hires some probationary officers who are not protected by the union, and the wage scale doesn’t apply until they successfully exit probation, which can take from 12-18 months.

Above an annual 3% cost of living increase, in the existing contract there is a 2.13% annual step increase for officers and sergeants and a 2.64%-2.95% increase for lieutenants, depending on which step number they are on.

A step increase represents the next level of compensation seniority.

Years 12-19 show wages frozen at $77,273 for patrol officers and $90,441 for sergeants before a slight uptick in year 20.

In the existing contract, there were no step increases after year 12 until year 20. Those individuals, however, remain eligible for the annual 3% increase applied to all employees in those years.

THURSDAY, JUNE 30, 2022

NEW PERIODONTIST

geants and criminalists. Urbain said lieutenants are in talks to become part of the union as well.

“With staffing shortages, it’s difficult to get leave, and that affects morale, wellness and mental health,” Urbain said. “Compensation packages similar to Tampa and St. Pete will help relieve the hemorrhaging of officers.

“We’ve got a critical manpower shortage that we cannot address.”

In its response to the manpower matter, the city said SPD has 13 sworn officer openings, 10 of them additional positions approved for the current budget year, and is processing 10 applications for those vacancies.

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Business Park district sets up multiuse campus zoning

BOB?

Sarasota County is on pace to establish Business Park zoning districts in south and east county areas before November.

ANDREW WARFIELD STAFF WRITER

E

mployment opportunities are bypassing Sarasota County, in part because there are no zoning districts that accommodate multiple commercial uses in a business park setting, leaders say.

To remedy that, county government is working through the process of creating a Business Park zoning district while identifying corridors east of Interstate 75 best suited for that type of use.

The BP district provides for office, research and development, light industrial and manufacturing, processing, storage and warehousing, wholesaling, distribution uses, and flex spaces. Those uses may be combined with limited office and/or retail functions.

The district is intended to provide job opportunities in campus-type developments, accommodating potential employment options that Erin Silk, the vice president business development services of the Economic Development Corp. of Sarasota County, says don’t exist here.

“Today, people want to be able to live, work and play within 15 minutes of our homes,” Silk said. “The intention of Business Park is to create smaller, more flexible, industryresponsive centers where there is a variety of jobs and even career training opportunities.”

In March, the County Commission held a hearing to create a Business Park Corridor as a new Resource Management Area designation within the Sarasota 2050 chapter of the Comprehensive Plan. The purpose was to implement the BP zoning district outside of the Major Employment Center designation.

On April 26, the commission established the BP district within the MEC and identified corridors of Fruitville Road east of I-75, Bee Ridge Road east of I-75, the interchange of State Road 681 and I-75, and South River Road. A public hearing for those designations is set for July 12.

Most recently, the commission identified two specific sites along Lorraine Road: north of Fruitville Road and south of Clark Road.

The proposed Fruitville Road

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BP zoning designation is between Lakewood Ranch Boulevard and a mile east of Lorraine Road, Bee Ridge Road between Mauna Loa Boulevard and Lorraine Road, and South River Road from the North Port city limit to North Oxford Drive.

The designation provides the opportunity for rezoning requests fronting the corridors while recognizing that not all properties will be appropriate for BP zoning.

“In the past two years, we’ve all seen the increase in residents moving here, and the EDC has experienced the same level of demand from companies wanting to relocate here,” Silk said. “We also have local companies that are growing. With the increase in demand, we’ve run out of properly zoned sites in many parts of our county. The new business park will enable us to capture more of the job growth opportunity.”

According to the county’s description, the BP district is not commercial in nature or character, but certain limited commercial and service uses are permitted. Heavy industry and residential uses are not though.

“We have unfortunately had to turn away new companies because we just don’t have the type of site they need at this time,” she said. “What we’ve heard, particularly from our manufacturers, is that they are growing quickly and need to expand. … We know there is an immediate opportunity for these new jobs, but until we have the sites for it, there’s just nowhere for that to happen in unincorporated Sarasota County.”

A planning commission hearing for the Lorraine Road corridors is set for July 21. Tentatively scheduled are County Commission hearings on Aug. 20 and Oct. 25.

Erin Silk, the vice president business develop of the EDC of Sarasota County, says Business Park zoning will open opportunities for business recruiting and expansion.

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THURSDAY, JUNE 30, 2022

OPINION / OUR VIEW

SARASOTA/SIESTA KEY

What is liberty?

Americans want to be happy about their country on the Fourth of July. This year, it’s hard to cheer.

MATT WALSH

C

ome Monday, July 4, this is the day Americans want to be happy, the day we want to feel good about the U-S-A. It is the one day every year we want to celebrate and be thankful to our founding ancestors for two of the most extraordinary human concepts that took root in this land and flourished over the next 244* years: independence and freedom.

Fifty-six men on July 2, 1776, with astonishing courage, declared with their signatures that the 13 American colonies were henceforth independent from British tyranny

and, equally astonishing, that the 2.5 million inhabitants of America were “created equal” and “endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights” — life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

They declared the right to live free.

John Adams wrote in a letter to his wife, Abigail, that the Declaration of Independence “will be the most memorable epocha in the history of America.” He said the day should be “solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires and illuminations from one end of this continent to the other from this time forward forever more.”

Indeed, we should celebrate this historic occasion this coming Monday. We should be joyous, thankful and high-spirited about the miraculous moment that brought forth the most amazing, extraordinary country in the world.

But let’s be honest.

Will we honestly feel good about our nation on its 246th birthday?

Will we honestly feel good about our independence and freedom?

Sure, we’ll whoop it up and ooh and aah in parades and under the sights and sounds of the fireworks.

Personal stories of stolen liberty In the course of this great job as a newspaper editor, you are afforded the opportunity to meet amazing people. Even better, you get to hear their life stories.

Every one of them is a treasure — rich and fascinating in its unique detail and DNA. The following five stories fit that mold. They are stories of Sarasotans or their family members who had their property and possessions ruthlessly taken away, confiscated by tyrannical governments; who escaped the clutches of an evil government that wanted them to be slaves; or who witnessed the invasion of foreign forces who destroyed property and liberty in a quest to enslave an entire nation.

Each of these stories is a reminder of how precious and how tenuous liberty is and that it can never be taken for granted. Not even in the United States.

— M.W.

Courtesy photos

Zoltan and son Thomas Modly before Zoltan’s death in 2017.

A DARING ESCAPE FROM CLUTCHES OF COMMUNISM Thomas “Tom” Modly, now a resident of Siesta Key, devoted 20 years of his life in service to his country, the latter half in the highest levels of the Department of Defense.

A Naval Academy graduate with a gift for analytical thinking and leadership, he served as the head of the Defense Business Board, tasked with modernizing the business practices of the DOD. He became the undersecretary of defense for financial management, later served as undersecretary of the Navy as chief operations officer and finally served four months as acting secretary of the Navy.

If you know Modly, you know he is a serious man. His love of country and patriotism run deep. They are traits that seeped into his core through his parents, East European immigrants who hungered to come to the U.S. after their experiences during World War II. Modly’s mother was orphaned at age 4 and separated from her grandparents for six years during and after the war. Modly’s father, Zoltan, spent the last two years of World War II living in a bomb shelter.

After the war, in 1948, with the Soviet Communists exerting their

Zoltan Modly in the crush of immigrants waiting in line to leave Europe for America in 1950.

control in Hungary, they conscripted Zoltan Modly to leave law school and join the Soviet army and Communist Party.

Unwilling to become a Communist, Zoltan Modly traveled to the Hungary-Austria border. To make his escape, he dressed as a nun.

After a heart-throbbing passage through the gates, the Communist guards released an attack dog to chase him down. He saved himself by subduing the dog with a cudgel, allowing him to flee to freedom.

Two years later, Zoltan Modly made it to the U.S., sponsored by an aunt and uncle. His first job: a bellboy at a Washington, D.C., hotel.

He went on to become a father of four and a chemical engineer in Cleveland. “After the war,” Modly said, “he was not a big risk taker. He was an introvert. He just wanted to live his life.” In freedom.

We will live that day, or in the moment, happy and thankful for the USA. And perhaps for the day we will block out of our minds that, in truth, we are living in a period of rapidly eroding personal freedoms and increasing tyranny foisted on us by an elite few.

When those 56 Founding Fathers signed the Declaration of Independence, the American people were in a war to stop “a long train of abuses and usurpations” of absolute despotism that inflicted intolerable pain and suffering.

They, along with their patriot colonists, were willing to die for their independence and freedom and determined not to be the slaves of a despotic ruler.

Now look at today, two-and-ahalf centuries later. For the past year-and-a-half especially, we have been living under rapidly deteriorating economic and social conditions. If left unchecked or not overturned, they most certainly will take this great country down a path to inevitable destruction and an end to living free and living for ourselves.

Exaggeration?

Do not laugh or scoff. Read the condensed stories of five Sarasotans who themselves or their families have experienced firsthand the horrors of tyranny, of how governments abruptly confiscated their property, attempted to enslave them and deprived them of life, liberty and

the pursuit of happiness.

Sadly, too many Americans take liberty for granted. They live day to day exhibiting little to no care about what their governments are doing to them.

As one of those Sarasotans, John Clarke, told us: “These governments might start out with sensible ideas, but very quickly they are taken over by despots.”

Clarke’s comment reminds us of other warnings that we all should heed on this 246th day of the birth of America, independence and freedom: Ronald Reagan: “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream.

It must be fought for, protected and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.”

Plato: “If you do not take an interest in the affairs of your government, then you are doomed to live under the rule of fools.”

By all means, enjoy the Fourth of July. But on July 5, commit yourself to doing your part to preserve your rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. *We say the U.S. has flourished the past 244 years; the past two it has not.

THEY TOOK LAND ‘FOR THE PEOPLE’

sold their farm to the government for a pittance far below market value, laid off the 40 families and shuttered the school.

“It was a horror,” Clarke said.

He remembers visiting the farm years later. The government had destroyed the property’s beautiful cedar forest. Clarke: “It was an utter disaster.”

For a third time, at the beginning of the 1970s, the Clarkes started anew, this time in Rhodesia. Clarke and his wife, Lorna, took on debt financing to purchase a ranch at 8,000 feet altitude. They produced high-quality tobacco leaves, cattle and sheep.

The business grew to employ 50 families and another on-site school for the children. But once again, civil unrest erupted. “I spent more time fighting terrorists than farming,” Clarke said.

By 1977, with four children, the Clarkes saw another Kenyan-like takeover coming. The government wanted to take land and give it to “the people,” African settlers. The Clarkes sold, laid off the farmhands and shuttered the school.

Soon after, the government confiscated the land and handed their former property over to a brigadier general who had three wives. It was payment for his military service.

The Clarkes packed again. This time, they left Africa altogether for the United States. When they left, the government allowed them to take $1,000 of their own money and their personal belongings.

“We don’t talk about it,” Clarke said of his family and their experiences with government confiscations. “But they all know how lucky we are to be here.”

John Clarke is best known in Sarasota as the former CEO and president of Schroeder-Manatee Ranch, one of three people credited most with bringing the vision of Lakewood Ranch to life.

Now 84, he has been a resident of Sarasota for 30 years. Before then, he spent his youth and his early adult life as a farmer and rancher in Kenya and Zimbabwe, formerly Rhodesia.

His parents, British natives, had owned a ranch in Kenya since 1937, when the African nation was a colony of the British government.

They raised sheep and cattle.

After periods of violence between native black Kenyans and British settlers in the 1950s, Kenya gained independence in 1963. With Clarke age 23 and back from being educated at Cambridge, the Clarkes received a letter from the new government giving them one week to move their livestock and belongings off the property. The government was seizing their land — “for the people,” it said.

They managed to buy another farm in Kenya 80 miles away and began anew.

They rebuilt their operations, big enough to employ 40 African families and operate an on-farm school for the employees’ children. They were raising livestock and producing food that fed people around the region.

Seven years later, it happened again. Another letter. The Kenyan government notified the Clarkes they were converting their land and adjacent farms into a governmentowned agricultural cooperative.

Declining to participate, the Clarkes

Jay Heater

John Clarke and his family lost three farms in Africa in the 1960s and 1970s because of governments seizing private property.

THE BLOOD BATH IN HAVANA

In 2016, the ever-gracious and kind-hearted Carol Siegler became so agitated with former President Barack Obama, she felt so compelled — and so out of character for the Sarasota philanthropist — to speak out and speak out loudly.

Obama triggered long dormant emotions in Siegler when he issued an executive order lifting the U.S. trade embargo on Cuba.

In response, Siegler wrote a 1,600-word open letter to Obama.

It was published in the May 19, 2016, editions of the Observer.

Siegler rebuked Obama, calling his order “a reckless” and scolded him, noting that even though he was well intentioned, “unfortunately, you are dealing with ruthless and intransigent operatives.

My family and I know about them firsthand.”

Like the John Clarke family in Africa, the Siegler family in Havana

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Kristen Herhold

Fidel Castro’s thugs invaded Carol Siegler’s parents home in Havana, hitting her father with a bayonet across his eyes and forcibly disrobing her mother.

experienced the terror of government thugs wantonly invading their home and confiscating their family business, property and wealth.

Seigler’s father, Charles Shapiro, a New Yorker, was a business owner in Havana for nearly 30 years before Fidel Castro arrived in Cuba in 1953.

Shapiro was the first person to open a textile factory in Cuba and later became the owner of the oldest and largest department store in Havana.

But Siegler recalled how shortly after Castro ousted Fulgencio Batista on Dec. 31, 1958, the revolution to liberate the Cuban people “became a bloodbath.” Its terror included the Shapiro home. In her letter, Siegler wrote: “My parents, Charles and Wilma Shapiro, resided outside of Havana at the time of the revolution. They had hired Castro soldiers to guard their home when it was obvious that a regime change was coming.

“One early evening, the guards did not appear, and at sunset, several armed soldiers invaded my parents’ home looking for money.

“My father, who had accepted Castro as the reformer for the Cuban people, suddenly saw the revolution for what it really was and decided to take steps to protect the family. He withdrew money from his bank and within hours distributed the money among his trustworthy Rotarian friends.

“Without a doubt, someone at the bank shared this information, prompting this invasion of my par-

ents’ home. Among the intruders was a Czechoslovakian soldier. His accent was identifiable. No doubt, the Russian presence was already actively there.

“Everyone in the house was terrorized. My father was hit with a bayonet across the eyes. My mother was disrobed by force and suffered multiple injuries.”

In 1960, 40 years after Siegler’s father arrived in Havana and at age 65, Charles and Wilma Shapiro “left Cuba under duress with the shirts on their back and nothing to show for their years of hard work on the island.”

Dubrocq’s gymnastics career ended. The Cuban National Ballet recruited him. He excelled at dance.

But his feistiness and outspokenness worried the authorities. When a friend abroad sent him a copy of the American dance movie “White Nights,” he showed it to his dance colleagues. His instructors confiscated it and accused Dubrocq of brainwashing his fellow dancers.

Dubrocq’s talent catapulted him to be among the Cuban dancers who would travel the world performing as guest artists. In one trip, Dubrocq caught the eye of Anne Marie DeAngelo, artistic director of Ballet de Monterrey in Mexico. She wanted him in her company.

In December 1992, Dubrocq traveled to Mexico City with five other Cuban National Ballet dancers to perform for the ex-president of Mexico.

DeAngelo called Dubrocq and asked him to join her company.

In turn, Dubrocq called Cuban authorities for permission. But they told him to return to Cuba to fill out the proper paperwork. Dubrocq knew what that meant. They would not let him go.

On Sunday afternoon, when the dancers went to the Mexico City airport for the flight home, one of the female dancers was missing.

Unbeknown to her Cuban chaperones, she had spent the night not at the hotel with the other dancers but with her father who was visiting

FRANTIC DASH TO FREEDOM

This is another story about Cuba.

But this one is about a dancer whose hunger for freedom compelled him to make a split decision at an airport and run for his life — to escape a life of governmentimposed misery for a life of liberty.

Javier Dubrocq is now an accomplished artist living in Sarasota, with collectors of his works around the U.S., Mexico, Argentina and Spain. He and his wife, Isabel, a Mexico native, have lived in Sarasota for 25 years and have three grown sons, all born and raised in Sarasota.

Dubrocq, the youngest of four from a struggling Cuban family, said he cannot believe and is effusively grateful that he is living the life he dreamed about growing up in the destitute environs of Cuba.

Talk to Dubrocq about his youth, and he will tell you: “In Cuba, when you wake up, every day is a struggle to find anything to survive.”

Dubrocq was born to be free. He remembers always resisting going along and having a constant burning inside for freedom and a better life. He refused to go to the government military school his brothers attended because of its strict rules and government propaganda.

His mother lived in fear because “I had a big mouth,” Dubrocq said.

He always complained about their restricted, poor life. “The neighbors would hear me, and my mother would say, ‘You know I’m going to die because of you.’”

At age 15, after Castro boycotted the Los Angeles Olympics,

Courtesy photo

Javier Dubrocq’s self-portrait

in Mexico City. As departure time neared, the chaperones fretted over her absence.

She finally arrived. Worried about defections, the chaperones began screaming at her.

At that moment, with everyone’s attention focused on the young woman, Dubrocq made an instant decision. He began running, dodging people, jumping over chairs, racing for a set of doors to get him outside.

He jumped into a taxicab. “I turned around,” he said. “The last image I saw was two guys running after me.”

He defected.

With only a shoulder bag with ballet shoes, ballet clothes and his passport, Dubrocq spent the rest of the day in a cafe, called DeAngelo and made it to Monterrey.

Free at last.

Footnote: Dubrocq’s mother and siblings now live in the U.S. His father is deceased.

UKRAINIANS SHOW VALUE OF LIBERTY

Nolan Peterson, graduate of Pine View and the U.S. Air Force Academy and an Iraq-Afghanistan veteran, has spent the past eight years as a war correspondent in Ukraine.

This past Sunday, a Russian cruise missile exploding nearby awakened Peterson and shook the walls of his and wife’s apartment in Kyiv. He was unscathed — as was his wife, Lilly, whom Peterson relocated to safety in France last February.

As a writer of the first draft of this history, Peterson has seen horrendous atrocities and destruction the Russians have inflicted on the Ukrainian people. He described the outskirts of Kyiv as “Warsaw in 1945.”

“It’s hard to understand where that brutality and barbarism comes from,” he told us this week.

Despite the savagery, Peterson nonetheless continues to be awestruck at the resolve of the Ukrainians and the value they place on preserving their freedom.

Every last Ukrainian still in the country is involved in the war.

“It’s so amazing,” he said. “Even the millennials. … They are so will-

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THURSDAY, JUNE 30, 2022

Courtesy photo

Lilly and Nolan Peterson

ing to pick up a gun and stare down a tank because they want to be free.”

Whenever Vladimir Putin increases the bombings, Peterson said: “It doesn’t work. It just pisses (the Ukrainians) off and hardens their resolve. They have this core ideal that they have the right to make their own decisions. It’s so emotional to them.”

Peterson said watching the Ukrainians is “inspiring and upsetting at the same time.” Inspiring to see their “will to fight and commitment to democracy.” Upsetting to see what they are enduring.

From his vantage point, Peterson believes the outcome is going to come down to a difficult decision for Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy: Make a concession to Putin or keep fighting, knowing the cost will be high.

“They are not going to surrender,” Peterson said of the Ukrainian people. “They will fight with sticks and stones if they have to.”

For his fellow Americans, Peterson said the Ukraine war is a reminder: “We can’t assume freedom will last forever. There are always dark places out there. To maintain freedom, you have to keep working at it. You have to be ready to defend it.”

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IRON GECKO The kitchen staff at Gecko’s Grill & Pub isn’t just catering to your appetite. They’re trying to outdo each other.

SPENCER FORDIN A+E EDITOR

T

Spencer Fordin

Courtney Hancock, Dana McCormack and Ramiro Delgado are getting in the spirit of Gecko’s Iron Chef competition.

says that the best part of Iron Chef is the camaraderie among employees who want to make an impact.

“I like it just for the fun,” she says of Iron Chef. “I like creating new dishes and seeing what my backof-house staff can do as far as being creative. And I love the way my team works together to make these dishes great. In Week One, my guy was a dishwasher, but he wanted to jump in and help.

“And he did. I was so proud of him and glad he did it. He’s really talented.”

Veldhouse, formerly the kitchen manager at Fruitville Gecko’s, has used the Iron Chef as a springboard to move up in the world.

He’s now the chain’s director of culinary operations, and he says that Gecko’s absolutely likes to see its staffers take a bit of initiative.

“We like to see creativity,” he says.

“A lot of our menu items and specials are derivatives of things people have done from these competitions.

We find things that work well. Not everything that works in a special menu will always work on your core menu. Sometimes people order more of it when they can’t have it as often.”

Veldhouse says his past winning dishes have included a blackjack grouper Reuben, a country-fried steak and a shrimp-and-scallops

“It’s a competition, but at the same time you’ve got to be a team because you’ve got to be there to help each other.”

— Dana McCormack, Hillview kitchen manager

dish plated with risotto.

And what are the secrets to winning consistently?

Veldhouse says you have to work cooperatively; he would frequently tell his servers that he would share his winning proceeds if they helped push his plates.

Interestingly, though, it’s not just about finding a winning taste.

The kitchen managers have to work within Gecko’s price points, and they have to choose ingredients that are readily available.

Not only that, but they also have to stay late sometimes to make sure things are prepared.

“You’re going to have your product ready or it’s not going to get sold,” says McCormack. “It’s on them to make sure that their stuff is prepared and then to be able to work with the

other cooks on the line. It’s a competition, but at the same time you’ve got to be a team because you’ve got to be there to help each other.”

There are salary bonuses on the line and bragging rights to boot. There’s also a trophy, but more importantly, there’s the opportunity to improve their skills and make a statement.

For some competitors, it’s a yearround obsession. They’re looking at sales trends in their kitchens, and they’re plotting how to tweak them the next time Iron Chef rolls around.

McCormack jokes that you don’t have to outsell everyone, only the people in the kitchen you don’t like.

But in a more serious moment, he echoes Hancock in saying that it’s an important team-building exercise in that the Iron Chef clues you into skills you didn’t know that your teammates have.

“It’s a great way to find new people for your kitchen,” says McCormack.

“You have somebody who’s been working on dishes for a year, and all of a sudden they put out dinners, and you’re like: ‘You’re no longer a dishwasher. Now you’re going to be on the line.’

“That’s a great way to move up. We have a kitchen manager now who I hired as a dishwasher and over the years moved up. You apply yourself, and the opportunity is there.”

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hey’re teammates by day, working to take your orders and cook you a delicious meal. But when they go home, they’re plotting how to put their own stamp on the menu.

Gecko’s Grill & Pub has been holding its annual Iron Chef competition for the past few weeks, inspiring kitchen staffers to flex their creative muscles and transform the regular menu.

There’s more on the line this year than most: The competition hasn’t been held since 2019, and four-time defending champion James Veldhouse has moved out of the competitive fire.

That means that the competition is wide open, and three-time winner Dana McCormack, the kitchen manager at Hillview Gecko’s, is excited about the opportunity.

“This is a time where you want to try and step it up and do something a little fancier, show some skills you may have,” he says. “You also try and do something that’s feasible for the restaurant. What if you want them to take your recipe and put it on the menu? You try and use stuff you already have in house.”

McCormack, known for his skill at cultivating spicy peppers, is always looking to add some heat to the menu. And that’s what’s fun about the Iron Chef competition: All the Gecko’s employees are encouraged to take the existing menu and add their own flavor.

The competition has already gone through four weeks, and the staff at each Gecko’s location is primarily competing against each other.

Six location champions have been crowned, and the final will be held among the champions from June 27 through July 3.

Courtney Hancock, the assistant kitchen manager at Fruitville Gecko’s,

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THURSDAY, JUNE 30, 2022

KEN MILLER 7 p.m. at McCurdy’s Comedy Theatre, 1923 Ringling Blvd. $25 Visit McCurdysComedy.com You’ve got five chances to see upand-coming comic Ken Miller, who turned heads as the grand prize winner at the Steve Harvey Standup Spotlight Comedy Competition in 2019. Miller, an Army veteran, was born in North Carolina but lives in Orlando. His website boasts that if you don’t laugh at his show, he’ll buy your first drink. Runs through July 2.

FRIDAY ‘DISNEY’S ALADDIN JR.’ 7 p.m. at Manatee Performing Arts Center, 502 Third Ave. W. $9.80-$20 Visit ManateePerformingArtsCenter. com.

This is a For Kids By Kids production of the Disney classic that took an Academy Award and later hit Broadway. Dream up three wishes and watch as the talented youngsters transport you to another time and place.

MUSIC ON MAIN 6-9 p.m. at Lakewood Ranch Main Street Free Visit LakewoodRanch.com.

If it’s the First Friday of the month, that means it’s a street party in Lakewood Ranch. Scarlet Drive will be the featured band, playing an upbeat blend of country, pop, rock and dance music. The streets will be lined with food venders and beer trucks, and proceeds benefit Manatee Police Athletic League.

‘MOXIE’ BY RITA RUST 6-9 p.m. at Art Uptown Gallery, 1367 Main St. Free Visit ArtUptown.com.

Come fete painter Rita Rust at the reception for her exhibit, “Moxie.”

Rust’s compositions explore the quest to find joy and light in dark times. The painter said she was inspired to paint these “action portraits” during the pandemic when she saw pictures of her niece’s children cavorting outside. The exhibit will be on display through July 30.

LASER LIGHT NIGHTS: SUBLIME 9 p.m. at Bishop Museum of Science and Nature, 201 Tenth St. W., Bradenton $15 Visit BishopScience.org.

Lasers. It’s What I Got. The Bishop Museum’s Laser Light Nights will take on the ska-infused canon of Sublime, and if you’re two hours earlier, you can catch a show that mashes up the music of Green Day and The Offspring. Plant your eyes on the ceiling as laser lights punctuate your favorite songs with animations and blasts of color.

SATURDAY ARTS ADVOCATES MEMBER EXHIBIT: CHRIS BUTCHER 2-4 p.m. at Arts Advocates Gallery, 3501 S. Tamiami Trail Free Visit ArtsAdvocates.org.

This month’s featured artist at Arts Advocates is Chris Butcher, who takes on familiar classic works of art and substitutes exotic birds for models. The exhibit is called “The Bird People,” and the gallery is open every Saturday for two hours. Free tours scheduled for 3 p.m.

NEVERFEST 4 p.m. at Big Top Brewing Company, 975 Cattleman Road Free Visit Eventbrite.com.

It’s a punk rock party hosted by a brewery. Neverless and Roxx Revolt & the Velvets will headline this festival at Big Top’s refurbished location of the old Cock and Bull bar. Discord Theory, Red Letter Day, Flagman

and Grand Central are also scheduled to play.

MURDER MYSTERY TROLLEY 7:30 p.m. at Discover Sarasota Tours, 1826 Fourth St. $50 Visit DiscoverSarasotaTours.com.

Somebody’s dead. And you’ve got to figure out whodunit. Visitors to the interactive trolley tour can be cast as part of a 90-minute journey that visits several Sarasota circus locations. It’s part play and part scavenger hunt, and the rest is up to you.

‘WHEN X MEETS Y: AMERICAN REVOLUTION’ 7:30 p.m. at Bowne’s Lab, 1265 First St. $15 Visit FloridaStudioTheatre.org.

Give them a location and three notes on the keyboard, and Florida Studio Theatre will handle the rest. It’s a tale of the revolution and of love stories told in the style of “Hamilton” and sung for comedic effect.

SUNDAY BEYOND VAN GOGH 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Starry Night Pavilion, 195 University Town Center Drive $29-$84 Visit VanGoghSarasota.com.

Be part of a masterpiece. The Van Gogh immersive exhibit has been on display in Sarasota since March, and it’s such a big hit that it’s already been extended twice. As of now, the final date of the exhibit is July 25.

So you’ve got three more weeks to stand among the sunflowers and take a visual tour of the master’s work that’s literally larger than life.

‘ATHENA’ 2 p.m. at Urbanite Theatre, 1487 Second St. $20-$36 Visit UrbaniteTheatre.com.

There’s one more week to see “Athena,” which runs through July 10. This

OUR PICK

SUMMER CIRCUS SPECTACULAR We have no idea how they do it. There’s no strings and no wires. There’s just old-fashioned human amazement and wonderment. The Circus Arts Conservatory and the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art bring you an hour’s worth of entertainment full of nimble acrobats, flexible contortionists and the insane art of balancing the weight of your partner in the palm of your hand — or on your head.

IF YOU GO When: 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. through Aug. 13 Where: Historic Asolo Theater, 5401 Bay Shore Road Tickets: $18; children over 12 $12; children 12 and under free Info: Visit Ringling.org.

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play involves two women who are foils in fencing and life as they seek to navigate their hopes and dreams in sports and beyond.

MONDAY ‘AMERICAN FANFARE’ 4:30 p.m. at Sarasota Opera House, 61 N. Pineapple Ave. Tickets $5-$50 Visit ChoralArtistsSarasota.org.

The long-standing tradition continues. The Choral Artists of Sarasota have made Independence Day a highlight of their schedule with an event that features patriotic songs and a salute to the Armed Forces.

The Choral Artists will be joined by the Lakewood Ranch Wind Ensemble in their celebration of America.

TUESDAY 21ST ANNUAL PLAYERS NEW PLAY FESTIVAL 7:30 p.m. at The Players Studio $10 for a single day; $24 for three days; $35 for five days Visit ThePlayers.org.

Witness the birth of a few new plays as regional playwrights compete for their work to be produced by The Players next season. “Of the Lake” will be the play shown on Tuesday evening. “Gin Rickey,” “Lateral Moves” and “When Lighting Strikes” will be shown over the next three evenings.

WEDNESDAY GREG WARREN 7 p.m. at McCurdy’s Comedy Theatre, 1923 Ringling Blvd. $25 Visit McCurdysComedy.com.

Greg Warren takes his “Creamy and Crunchy” tour all over America, and you might have even seen him on late-night TV shows like “Late Night with Seth Meyers” and the old “The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson.” His last comedy special was called “Where The Field Corn Grows.” Warren will play six shows at McCurdy’s running through July 10.

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THURSDAY, JUNE 30, 2022

‘Athena’ in full form “Athena” explores the fine line between competition and friendship in a fastpaced production at Urbanite Theatre.

MARTY FUGATE THEATER CRITIC

G

racie Gardner’s “Athena” has unsheathed its foils on the Urbanite Theatre stage.

It’s a play about fencing.

But that’s a lot like saying “The Tempest” is a play about the aftermath of a shipwreck. There’s far more to it than that.

The setting is the Fencers’ Club in New York City. Two high school juniors are training for a national fencing competition.

It’s their first bout together. And their backgrounds and fighting styles are radically different.

Athena (Lea Sevola) is aggressive and in your face. Whacking her foil on her opponent’s shoulder is her signature move.

And when Athena scores, she shouts a warrior’s victory cry.

“Athena” is her self-chosen “fencing name” — a one-word handle like “Sting.” The character takes it from the Greek goddess, her role model. (As she puts it, Athena’s “just like the goddess of strategic warfare and all that.”)

But that Olympic grandiosity is missing from Athena’s home life.

Outside of competition, she lives a life of quiet desperation, inhaling her father’s secondhand smoke in his cramped NYC apartment.

Anything beyond community college is out of her reach. Winning the nationals is Athena’s way out.

Mary Wallace (Emma Giorgio) is shy and politely apologetic. When she loses a point, she weeps.

Sure, she wants to win. But fencing’s just a hobby to her.

Mary’s a child of privilege (a

rich kid, in other words).

She needs no student loan.

Marine biology? No problem.

Mary’s family will happily pay her way. If she finds herself and changes her major, they’ll pay for that too. Mary needs no way out.

She’s already in.

Class and temperament aside, these young women have something in common. They’re both good fencers — and they both want to get better.

They’re almost evenly matched as training partners.

Despite their differences, they decide to keep training together.

And so they do.

Athena and Mary Wallace start off as sparring partners, not friends.

But as William Blake once observed, “Opposition is True Friendship.” By fighting each other, Mary and Athena make each other better. In the process, they become friends.

But can they stay that way?

That would be telling.

And it’s hard to tell where this play is going.

Dialogue and swordplay go back and forth. Literally.

That’s largely a result of the unconventional staging.

Live theater typically transpires behind a proscenium arch.

That rectangular opening is an implied window — the invisible “fourth wall” through which you spy on the characters like a Peeping Tom with a ticket.

But “Athena” is far from typical.

The playwright’s highly specific about the staging she wants.

Alyssa Mohn’s minimalistic set delivers beautifully.

In this Urbanite production, the characters fence (verbally and with foils) on a “piste” — a catwalk running from one end of the room to the other.

The audience sits on both sides of this strip, watching the actors go back and forth.

Here, you’re no voyeur gazing

IF YOU GO

‘ATHENA’ When: Runs through July 10 Where: Urbanite Theatre, 1487 Second St. Tickets: $20-$36 Info: Visit UrbaniteTheatre. com.

through a window.

You’re in the room.

Now let’s shift from swords to words. There’s a music to Gardner’s speech — a rhythmic, staccato counterpoint. In “Athena,” nobody rambles or monologues.

Her dialogue is a series of short, sharp, shocks. Imagine a Pinter play about two female fencers …

Athena: I watch tapes.

Mary Wallace: I make notes.

Athena: I mentally catalogue my mistakes.

Mary Wallace: I fixate on mine.

Along with being sparse, Gardner’s speech is never on the nose.

Her characters (like real-life teens) don’t wear their hearts on their sleeves. They don’t telegraph their deepest desires. (“I need a friend.”

Or whatever.)

Aside from psychobabble and sports cliches, they don’t put their motives into words (and probably can’t). You have to work that out for yourself. There’s no fat in Gardner’s writing.

Summer Wallace’s direction is equally lean and mean.

This scripted play strives to seem unscripted. Wallace succeeds in evoking the urgency of now. The two young actors do, too. They’re in the moment.

And have no clue about the moments to come.

Kudos also to Katherine Coyl’s expert fight direction. Her swordplay doesn’t look choreographed.

It obviously has to be. If not, the actors might get hurt.

But if it’s not done well, their fights might seem fake.

Courtesy photo

Lea Sevola plays Athena and Emma Giorgio plays her foil, Mary Wallace.

Coyl always keeps it real (or seemingly real).

Alison Gensmer’s costumes cleverly reveal and conceal. When they’re not suited up, Athena’s street garb is working-class tough; Mary Wallace’s outfits are tasteful and upscale.

Gensmer’s clothes make the character — like wearable shorthand that individualizes them.

But their fencing uniforms are just impersonal. They hide the fencers’ faces. Wire mesh masks are all you can see. It makes the actors look like serial killers from some grindhouse horror movie.

OK, that sounds pretty scary.

But Gardner’s play is all about laughter, not slaughter. This is a comedy, folks. But a spoonful of comic sugar makes serious medicine go down. Between the laughs, the playwright hints of the

characters’ hidden wounds.

Their story is deeply personal.

But it also aims a spotlight on America’s obsession with winners and losers.

Sports is a zero-sum game.

Most sports plays and movies are, too.

You want to know the final score! Rocky? Eric Liddell? Peter LaFleur? Who won?

In a typical sports play, that’s the big question.

“Athena” doesn’t even ask it.

Gardner’s interested in a far different question: Is William Blake right?

Does fierce competition create friendship — or kill it?

The playwright’s ending gives her answer. I’m not sure I agree with it.

But I won’t give it away.

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JUNE 30, 2022

HIGH

SPORTS

5

Goal: Accomplished Cardinal Mooney’s Christian and Sean Laureano will play in the World Lacrosse Championship Aug. 10-20 in Limerick, Ireland.

RYAN KOHN SPORTS EDITOR

1

Former Riverview High girls swimmer Emma Weyant took bronze in the Women’s 400 medley (4:36) on June 25 at the 2022 FINA World Championships in Budapest, Hungary.

After a three-year wait, Christian Laureano and Sean Laureano will get their chance to shine on a world stage.

It was 2019 when the brothers first heard that Puerto Rico was attempting to put together teams to play in the 2020 World Lacrosse Championship in Limerick, Ireland. Christian was a sophomore at Cardinal Mooney High, and Sean was still in eighth grade.

Christian saw on social media that Puerto Rico was holding a tryout at Premier Sports Campus for its U19 team. He was intrigued. The brothers’ father, Jason, was born in Puerto Rico, giving them eligibility.

After a few phone calls, the boys were on the tryout list.

“I thought it was the perfect way to harness my passion, which is lacrosse, and bring that together with my Puerto Rican heritage, which I want to dig into and represent,” Christian said.

Christian said the tryout was filled with an mix of approximately 15 people. Some of the athletes were born in Puerto Rico and spoke Spanish as their primary language. Others, such as the Laureanos, were born in America and spoke little, if any, Spanish. Although Puerto Rico is a U.S. territory, the International Olympic Committee allows it to field teams separate from the national organization.

A FIRST ATTEMPT

2

Riverview High rising junior Charles Lester III, a cornerback/wide receiver on the football team, received an offer from the University of Oregon on June 22.

3 4

The Sarasota Little League National 8-9-10 All-Star team won the District 16 title June 23.

Sarasota triathlete Rachel Chambers finished 10th (1:17:56) in the Women’s 50-54 age group at the 2022 World Triathlon Sprint and Relay Championships held June 2426 in Montreal. The triathlon consisted of a 750-meter swim, a 19.2-kilometer bike ride and a 5-kilometer run.

5

Sarasota High rising senior Lauriel Trotman III, a safety on the football team, received an offer from Seton Hill University (Greensburg, Pennsylvania) on June 28.

The tryout was Puerto Rico’s first attempt at putting together a lacrosse team to compete internationally, so everyone was new, including the coaching staff. The coaches devoted time at the tryout to going over the team’s mission as Puerto Rico wants to be competitive on the world stage and expand the game, especially to its youth. The Puerto Rico Lacrosse nonprofit organization was founded in 2015 to do exactly that.

After the tryout, Christian was named to the U19’s main roster while Sean was named a U19 alternate and a main member of the country’s U15 roster. The boys expected to compete in the world championships with those assignments — until COVID-19 hit. The 2020 championships were canceled.

An attempt to move the event to 2021 also fell through. It’s now 2022, and the championships are on, though they will feature U21 teams instead of U19 teams to compensate for the cancellations. Both Laureano brothers have made the main roster.

They will head to Limerick on Aug. 10-20.

A lot has changed in the three years since the initial tryout. For one thing, Christian is no longer a Cardinal Mooney Cougar. He’s playing for NCAA Division I program Mercer, where the 6-foot-2 freshman appeared in five games, notching two goals and an assist. Meanwhile, Sean just completed his junior season at Cardinal Mooney. Playing one of the toughest schedules in the state, Sean, who is 5-foot-11, was second on the team with 90 points (43 goals, 47 assists).

TIME TO IMPROVE

CROWNING SWIM PAGE 14A

Both players feel like the time away has helped their games, especially Sean, whose tape impressed Puerto Rico’s coaches enough to see him named to the main U21 roster.

“I have become a lot faster and a lot bigger,” Sean said. “The best thing I bring is energy. I always try to play with as much energy as possible, so being faster and bigger helps me play that way, whether it is cutting

Ryan Kohn

Sean Laureano, right, used the three years between his first Puerto Rico team tryout and the 2022 World Lacrosse Championship to improve his game and earn a sport on the U21 team alongside his brother, Christian Laureano.

Courtesy photo

Braden Woods’ Christian Laureano and brother Sean Laureano will represent Puerto Rico at the World Lacrosse Championship in Ireland.

to the net or getting to the ball. I am also more experienced in terms of placement on the field. I’m smarter about where I need to be. I think the coaches saw that and liked that.”

Christian has improved, thanks to the challenge of collegiate lacrosse.

He said that in addition to learning how to manage his time and workload, he learned how to play against players of a higher athleticism level.

As much as Florida has developed its high school lacrosse programs in the past decade, it lags behind states in the mid-Atlantic and places like California. Going against players from those regions every day forced challenge to be better in the details of the game, as he could not use his own athleticism to the dominant degree that he did in high school.

As excited as the brothers are to

play against the world’s best lacrosse players, they are just as excited to play on the same team again. They were supposed to share the field at Mooney for two seasons, but COVID-19 shut down the 2020 season early, and during a preseason game in 2021, Sean suffered a broken jaw, which kept him on the sidelines for most of the year.

“I feel like we were robbed of our time playing together,” Christian said. “I am thankful to have the opportunity, and from knowing each other so well, I think it will benefit the (Puerto Rican) team to have both of us on the offensive side. We have a natural connection, and I think it will allow us to play well together SEE LACROSSE, PAGE 15A

SARASOTA OBSERVER

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YourObserver.com

THURSDAY, JUNE 30, 2022

PROSE AND KOHN

RYAN KOHN

Give her the Crown Bambi Bowman Huisveld swam across the Catalina Channel in nine hours and 41 minutes on June 14 to complete the open-water Triple Crown.

O

uter space or the ocean: Which is more terrifying?

It it a question that has divided bloggers for years and has perhaps divided other less important people longer. It is impossible for me, a 27-yearold journalist, to know. My brain struggles to retain information on anything that happened before the MySpace boom of the mid-2000s, which is when I became terminally online. But I assume people were having this debate in the 1980s and 1990s as well, for it is a fascinating one.

I understand the arguments.

Existential thinkers can get lost just by pondering space’s infiniteness.

Then there is the lack of oxygen, the gigantic meteors and other debris, plus the ever-present threat of other unknown life forms.

All valid points.

We know about the same about our oceans as we do outer space, which is to say not much. Approximately 71% of Earth’s surface is water, and approximately 80% of that 71% remains unexplored.

There are surely hundreds of species of fish, crustaceans and other critters down there that we have not discovered. The ocean’s powerful tides can pull you to sea at a moment’s notice. And, of course, intrinsic to all these points is that the ocean is our reality. I’m going to guess that everyone reading this has been within steps of the sea. I’m also going to guess far fewer have been, or will go, to space.

For those reasons and more, open-water swimming is the athletic pursuit I want to do the least.

I would rather attempt to climb Mount Everest than, say, swim the 31.6 kilometers that make up the Catalina Channel, between southern California and Santa Catalina Island. That swim is one leg of the Open Water Swimming Triple Crown, the other two being the English Channel and the Manhattan Island Marathon Swim.

Sarasota resident Bambi Bowman Huisveld disagrees.

Bowman Huisveld, 48, completed the Catalina Channel swim on June 14. She did so in approximately nine hours and 41 minutes. It was her final leg of the OWS Triple Crown; she completed the English Channel in 2021 and the Manhattan swim in 2020. Open-water swimming is not new to her. Her interest in long, grueling swims came after qualifying for a U.S. Olympic Trials distance camp in 1992 in Hawaii.

“The first week (of the camp) was ‘Hell Week,’” Bowman Huisveld.

“They try to break you. Everyone swims, swims, swims until they can’t. As everyone was getting injured or stopped swimming, I kept going and kept getting better.

Then they put us in an open water, rough swim, and I enjoyed that. …

After my freshman year swimming at George Washington University, my assistant coach John Flanagan said I should train for and compete in the U.S. Nationals 25-kilometer swim. I won it. And I got a free trip to Italy, basically: I went to the 1994 FINA World Aquatics Championships in Rome.”

That is how her obsession began.

She continued doing OWS events through college (and a little bit

Courtesy photo

Bambi Bowman Huisveld completed the Open Water Swimming Triple Crown on June 14.

after) but eventually stopped to start her career and her family.

After going through a divorce and other personal things five years ago, she started calling her friends, asking them if they thought she was nuts for thinking about picking the OWS habit back up — with the idea of completing the Triple Crown.

“I missed the community of it and how it made me feel,” Bowman Huisveld said. “I wanted to reclaim my identity, so to speak. I wanted to get back my self-confidence and self-esteem.”

Bowman Huisveld said she was expecting to be told she was crazy.

She wasn’t — only that she needed to space out the swims so she could correctly train and recover. Each swim requires months of preparation, swimming 40,000 to 50,000 yards a week. Otherwise, her friends said, it was doable. So she did it.

Nothing about the Triple Crown swims is easy. Bowman Huisveld actually attempted to do the Catalina swim last year but failed because she attempted the swim

during a new moon, which resulted in a sky so dark — the swims take place at night to avoid the ships roaming the channel — that she could not see her own arm when she reached it out to take a stroke; the person steering the escort kayak next to her — essentially the eyes and ears of the swimmer — tipped over because she lost her sense of direction. It was like swimming in a sensory-deprivation tank, Bowman Huisveld said.

The failed attempt gave Bowman Huisveld extra motivation to get it done this year. Even with better conditions, the swim takes a toll.

There is a lot of unpredictability in OWS, much more so than swimming in a pool. If your goggles get knocked off-kilter in a 50-meter freestyle sprint, that’s no big deal.

If they get knocked off during hour one of a nearly 10 hour swim?

That’s a significant problem that needs to be fixed. Then there is the feel of the water itself, which Bowman Huisveld said is filled with more energy on the ocean. It’s also usually a lot colder. The tempera-

ture of the water during her 2022 Catalina swim was 65 degrees, and that’s warm for the channel. For two months beforehand, Bowman Huisveld took ice baths to acclimate to those temperatures.

Bowman Huisveld said she took a quick break every half hour during her Catalina swim to “feed.”

Some swimmers actually eat during these breaks, but she does not, only drinking something, usually Gatorade mixed with something else — a CarboPro workout mix, caffeine or even liquid Tylenol if she’s starting to hurt. While in the water, not much is going through an open-water swimmer’s head. Bowman Huisveld said she is sometimes entertained by what her observers on the accompanying boat are doing. Other times, it’s only silence.

Through all this — the failed attempt in pitch black, the months of preparation, the nearly 10-hour successful swim — the question that remains is why. The ocean is a chaotic well of nightmares, and Bowman Huisveld managed to tame it.

“It’s not for everybody, I get that,” Bowman Huisveld said. “It’s like running an ultramarathon or any of the other extreme sports feats.

Unless you have done it, you can’t really get it. When you do, and you know other people who do, you understand.”

Maybe that is for the best. Maybe, just like our understanding of the ocean itself, it’s best this feeling remains a mystery to most of us.

After all, you don’t have to understand the ocean to see the overwhelming beauty in its terror, and you don’t have to complete an OWS swim to acknowledge the aweinspiring guts and determination it takes to do so.

Ryan Kohn is the sports editor for the Sarasota/Siesta Key Observer. Contact him at RKohn@ YourObserver.com

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SARASOTA OBSERVER

right away.”

Christian said he’s proud of the way Sean battled back from his jaw injury to play in a few late-season games.

Sean did not tell Christian when he would be returning and instead surprised Christian by showing up to the game in full uniform. Christian said it is that toughness that makes his brother hard to play against.

EARLY BEGINNINGS

The Laureanos have been playing together since they could first hold lacrosse sticks, tossing the ball around their backyard for hours, but they have rarely shared the field in games thanks to their age gap. Youth lacrosse typically offers age divisions two years apart, meaning Christian would age out of a division as soon as Sean aged into it. It is why they were disappointed about their missed opportunity at Mooney and why they are so excited about their chance to finally play together in Ireland.

It is not all about the Laureanos’ improvements, either. The Puerto Rico roster has also had some turnover in the past three years, resulting in a stronger core. A pre-tournament ranking has Puerto Rico ranked ninth out of the 23 teams competing. Although those who follow the sport in Puerto Rico might be pleased with that ranking, Christian said he believes the team will outperform that ranking.

Both brothers admitted that they are not all that knowledgeable about Puerto Rico’s history and culture.

Christian said he visited Puerto Rico with his father twice when he was a child but does not remember much of the either trip. He would like to use this trip as a starting point to dig deeper.

He is especially fond of Puerto Rico Lacrosse’s dedication to reach its youth through the game and provide them opportunities they would otherwise not have. Christian said some U.S. members of the U21 team went on a trip to Puerto Rico earlier this year to hold clinics and get acquainted with the area. Due to scheduling reasons, the Laureanos could not

2022 WORLD LACROSSE CHAMPIONSHIP

4.05 6 MONTH CD

What: The event brings together the best U21 lacrosse players in the world. It is typically contested with U19 teams, but the 2022 edition will use U21 teams because the 2020 and 2021 events were canceled due to the pandemic. The first championships were held in 1988.

When and where: The 2022 Championship will be held Aug. 10-20 in Limerick, Ireland.

Teams in attendance: United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, Iroquois Nationals, Australia, China, Chinese Taipei, Czech Republic, England, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Israel, Jamaica, Japan, Kenya, Korea, Latvia, Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, Uganda, Wales Recent history: The United States defeated Canada 13-12 to win the 2016 World Championship, which was hosted by Canada.

Local connection: Cardinal Mooney athletes Christian Laureano and Sean Laureano will represent Puerto Rico at the championship. This will be Puerto Rico’s first time competing.

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After Sean Laureano plays in the 2022 World Lacrosse Championship, he plans to come back to play his senior season at Cardinal Mooney.

attend the trip but said they would like to do in the future.

“All of us on the team have been in communication,” Christian said.

“We have played a few practice tournaments together, which has allowed us to bond. We want to take advantage of this three-year wait and turn it into something positive.”

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Guiding You on Your Journey.

As a top real estate professional in Sarasota since 2005 and 30+ year Sarasota resident, Andrew has strong roots in the community with a vast network of friends, colleagues, and industry professionals.

Always going above and beyond, Andrew and his team are committed to excellence and are passionate about raising the standard of service in the industry.

Contact Andrew to learn more about his unique approach to real estate.

Andrew Haddad Real Estate Advisor 941.313.1218 | andrew.haddad@compass.com | andrewhaddad.com

Compass is a licensed real estate broker and abides by Equal Housing Opportunity laws. All material presented herein is intended for informational purposes only. Information is compiled from sources deemed reliable but is subject to errors, omissions, changes in price, condition, sale, or withdrawal without notice. This is not intended to solicit property already listed. Photos may be virtually staged or digitally enhanced and may not reflect actual property conditions.

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JUNE 30, 2022

YOUR NEIGHBORS

Photos by Harry Sayer

People can always can be found at Celery Fields admiring the scenery or going for a jog.

GETTING OUT

Few locations can top the variety of Celery Fields.

WANT TO GO? Celery Fields is located just east of Interstate 75 at 6799 Palmer Blvd.

Call 8615000 for information.

Learn more at SarasotaAudubon. org/the-celery-fields.

HARRY SAYER | STAFF WRITER

O

f all the vistas you can find in Sarasota County, Celery Fields is something of a one-stop shop.

Need a short hike to get your blood pumping, or a

stroll walk to clear your head? What about a chance to spot a rare bird, or a morning surrounded by rabbits and the odd alligator?

What if you want to take someone on a nature date with views they won’t forget?

Whatever you need, however you’re feeling, you can find it there.

Am I being hyperbolic? A little.

But in a town full of sandy shores and beach views, Celery Fields stands alone as an out-of-the ordinary space full of heights and marsh elements that can fit the need of whoever is visiting. The 400 acres are owned by Sarasota County and serves as Sarasota’s main stormwater collection zone.

Much like it can be various things for the county, Celery Fields can be various things for the type of activity you want to do.

THE VIEWS

Sarasota — and Florida — is lovely but flat as can be. Celery Fields, at about seven stories tall, offers some altitude.

It can be a romantic spot as well; the hill is often full of partners taking time to themselves.

There are benches at the top of the hill, but they’re almost always taken by teenagers on dates, so respect the young love at work, and find your own spot.

The true geniuses, though, are the people who bring their own hammocks to hang between trees and sway in the breeze while watching the sun set. Maybe you’re that kind of genius; it never hurts to invest in yourself and buy a hammock.

THE EXERCISE

Peace, love and ambiance are great, but there are times you want to cut loose with physical exercise. Celery Fields is a great place to run, and you have some options.

You can go up and around the hill itself — a small track, but it more than makes up for it with the views — but interested runners can also

A good route for running is reaching the top of the hill and then heading down and around the loop to end up back at the entrance.

start at the hill, run up to the other side, descend and run a track along the marsh area. It takes you along the road and back to the main entrance, all in all a sturdy 2 miles.

The hill’s incline makes it a perfect place to go for a power walk or a relaxing stroll and enjoy the scenery while still getting exercise.

It can be good to mix and match the routes, plus it helps to have a backup to get away from the swarms of high school cross country and track teams going up and down the hill.

WILDLIFE APPRECIATION

On top of everything else, Celery Fields boasts an astounding variety of wildlife within its acres.

You’ll notice the rabbits first, of course.

The top of the hill seems to be home to a truly staggering number of rabbits resting on the trail and hopping around when you get too close.

Celery Fields in particular has a robust variety of birds — the Sarasota Audubon Society can help you figure out which is which.

There’s also the alligators, which should be expected in Florida. A trail at the foot of the hill often has gators resting at the side, so do be careful when bringing your dog for an afternoon stroll.

The most robust element is the Sarasota Audubon Society, which makes its home right outside Celery Fields and hosts bird-watching tours and excursions.

Cards on the table: On one of my first walks through Celery Fields, I was almost jumped by a river otter.

I was walking on the far end of the fields when I see in the distance, but drawing closer, a small furry critter rushing at me like he’s on a mission from God. It was at that point I wondered if I was on drugs because how often do

you see an otter in the wild? Let alone an otter that’s coming at you like you owe it money.

The river otter eventually broke off and dove into the nearby water, but it got to me in a peculiar way. Did I dream it?

My thoughts often return to that otter, wondering if I’ll ever see it again.

Will we meet as enemies or as friends?

I know I’ll find the answer one day.

But if you see the otter before me, let it know that I’m good for paying it back.

Getting Out is an occasional series exploring the outdoors.

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THURSDAY, JUNE 30, 2022

GREAT SELECTION!

Photos by Harry Sayer

Ruth Frushour and Aura Rasmussen with the St. Clair Butterfly Foundation release a number of monarch butterflies into the sky.

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Beatriz and Miguel Garcia check out the small caterpillar.

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Tim and Jan will also be offering short rides aboard the KEY BREEZE ABSOLUTELY FREE on July 3rd, 3-6PM and August 6th 9AM-Noon. No reservations needed for this free block party with refreshments at E Dock of Marina Jack, Sarasota, near Flying Fish Fleet. Gate E-1 and Slip E-19, 2 Marina Plaza.

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utterflies took flight across the Children’s Garden play area during a learning event on June 25.

The Butterfly Encounter event welcomed Ruth Frushour and Aura Rasmussen of the St. Clair Butterfly Foundation, which supports underserved children and families, to teach families and children about the life cycle and development of caterpillars and butterflies.

It’s one thing to hear about something, and it’s another to see it. To that end, Frushour and Rasmussen brought some newly emerged monarch butterflies and caterpillars to the garden for children to see. After teaching the kids about butterflies, Frushour and Rasmussen released the monarchs high into the sky to continue their life spans.

Following the display and release of the monarchs, children got busy coloring in their own butterfly masks to take home.

Meet Tim and Jan, as well as Key Sailing Founders, Tom and Sally Reed, pictured with “GrandSailor” Ivey Coletti on Tim and Jan’s recent 45th wedding anniversary!

Key Sailing is the area’s longest running sailing charter in Sarasota history!

Join The Party!

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Anastasiya and Nika Sivakova enjoy the colored mask.

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WELCOMES WELCOMES WELCOMES WELCOMES WELCOMES

Some of the butterflies took a moment at the Children’s Garden.

— HARRY SAYER

Jacob S.S.Gardner, Gardner, MD Jacob Gardner, MD Jacob S. MD Jacob S. Gardner, MD Jacob S. Gardner, MD Board Certified, Internal Medicine

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THURSDAY, JUNE 30, 2022

Prideful pets

C

ats, dogs and Sarasota’s LGBTQ community and supporters met for a cheerful walk through Bayfront Park during Project Pride SRQ’s pet parade on June 18.

Project Pride SRQ members hosted the annual event, in which pet owners dressed their beloved dogs — and even a cat or two — in vibrant colors and cheerful Pride flags for an early-morning stroll. Many dogs wore colorful collars, others donned peace and love sunglasses, and some even rode in their own special parade carts.

Volunteers dressed as inflatable unicorns led the group and encouraged nearby pet owners to join in on the walk.

The walk was brief but intense — the morning was particularly hot. Water bowls were positioned for the four-legged participants throughout the route.

Project Pride SRQ’s grand flag march across Ringling Bridge on June 25 was canceled because of weather.

Project Pride co-founder Katie McCurry with Steve Martin-Bennett and Remy

— HARRY SAYER Nancy Dickman dressed Lola in some peace-and-love attire.

Photos by Harry Sayer 383912-1

Matty strolled with his owner, Leona Collesano.

JOIN US ON SUNDAY, JULY 3 AT 10:30 AM

FOR A COMMUNITY-WIDE CELEBRATION IN THE HEART OF DOWNTOWN SARASOTA! Celebrate the birth of our nation as we hear from special guest Lt. General Jerry Boykin who participated in numerous high-profile missions, most notably the Black Hawk Down incident.

We will have inspiring patriotic music featuring the First Sarasota Choir & Orchestra along with a special kids choir!

We would love to meet you and your family & friends at First Sarasota for this unforgettable weekend!

DR. JOHN CROSS, SENIOR PASTOR

941.365.2846 | FIRSTSARASOTA.ORG | 1661 MAIN STREET | SARASOTA, FL 34236

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SARASOTA OBSERVER

YOUR CALENDAR

BEST BET MONDAY, JULY 4

BAYFRONT FIREWORKS SPECTACULAR 9 p.m. at Bayfront Park. Sarasota’s premier patriot celebration — organized by Suncoast Charities for Children — returns to Bayfront Park for a night of dazzling fireworks and displays of patriotism. People will be arriving early (naturally) so find a parking spot and maybe walk over to the park.

SATURDAY, JULY 2

NATIONAL HOT DOG DAY Noon at Bazaar on Apricot and Lime, 821 Apricot Ave. Hot dogs are the dish at the day at this Hamlet’s Eatery event — also celebrating its birthday — that features free beer and live music. For information, go to bazaaronapricotandlime.com.

SUNDAY, JULY 3

AMERICAN FANFARE 4:30 p.m. at Sarasota Opera House, 61 N Pineapple Ave. The Choral Artists of Sarasota and Lakewood Ranch Wind Ensemble team up for a one-day patriotic celebration right in time for the Fourth of July.

Tickets start at $5 for students, $35 for adults. For information, go to choralartistssarasota.org.

FIREWORKS ON THE LAKE 5 p.m. at Nathan Benderson Park.

Traditional fireworks return to Nathan Benderson Park with an

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afternoon event that features music, a play area for kids and the aforementioned fireworks. Gates open at 5, fireworks at 9. Parking starts at $20. For information, go to nathanbendersonpark.org.

Wednesday, July 13, 2022 4:30 pm

MONDAY, JULY 4

Please register to attend:

SIESTA KEY COMMUNITY FOURTH OF JULY FIREWORKS Dusk at Siesta Public Beach, 948 Beach Road. Siesta Key goes all out once again with its 31st annual fireworks display starting at dusk. You can be assured that people will be arriving as early as possible to get parking, so be ready to give it a go.

events@sforzodillingham.com or 941.378.5100 ext. 214

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TUESDAY, JULY 5

KIDS’ SUMMER BEACH RUNS 5:30 p.m. at Siesta Beach, 948 Beach Road. The summer series returns with weekly mile fun runs for kids on Siesta Beach. Registration at 5:30 p.m., run starts at 6. For information, go to scgov.net.

JULY 5

8TH ANNUAL LIBERTY LITTER CLEANUP 7 a.m. at Sarasota locations. Sarasota follows up Fourth of July with a morning clean-up event that will keep our area nice and spotless for locals and visitors alike. For information, go to scgovn.net or call 311.

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P1 OFFSHORE POWERBOAT BLOCK PARTY 6 p.m. at Gulfstream Avenue. The lively and busy power boat weekend starts with a block party bringing the race teams and boats to downtown Sarasota. Food, drinks and games will be on hand as well. Free.

THURSDAY, JUNE 30, 2022

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THURSDAY, JUNE 30, 2022

SIESTA KEY 7722 Sanderling Road 2 Beds 3 Baths 2,580 Sq. Ft. Brian Loebker 941-735-4393 A4527041 $9,000,000

SIESTA KEY 8223 Midnight Pass Road 4 Beds 4 Baths 3,784 Sq. Ft. Kaitlin Kuhn 941-400-7861 A4538492 $3,950,000

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SIESTA KEY 472 Island Circle 4 Beds 3/2 Baths 3,339 Sq. Ft. Lenore Treiman 941-356-9642 A4526972 $2,995,000

SARASOTA 1771 Ringling Boulevard PH302 3 Beds 3/1 Baths 2,873 Sq. Ft. Michael Moulton 941-928-3559 A4532280 $2,975,000

SARASOTA 955 Whitakers Lane Barbara May & Fred Sassen 404-822-9264 A4537894 $2,900,000

SARASOTA 650 Golden Gate Point 302 2 Beds 2/1 Baths 1,949 Sq. Ft. Dana Westmark 941-356-5091 A4531159 $2,600,000

BIRD KEY 628 N Owl Drive 3 Beds 2 Baths 2,534 Sq. Ft. Kathy Valente & Gregory Zies, LLC 941-685-6767 A4526783 $2,495,000

SARASOTA 13966 Pine Woods Lane E 5 Beds 3/1 Baths 4,531 Sq. Ft. Tammy Mast 941-256-6543 A4535509 $2,400,000

SIESTA KEY 323 Treasure Boat Way 4 Beds 3/1 Baths 2,726 Sq. Ft. Robin Leonardi 941-685-6270 A4535869 $2,375,000

SARASOTA 3537 Founders Club Drive 3 Beds 3 Baths 3,544 Sq. Ft. Richard Hearn 941-313-1591 A4535534 $2,300,000

SIESTA KEY 681 Avenida De Mayo 3 Beds 3 Baths 3,324 Sq. Ft. Camille Buck 941-894-4771 A4535840 $2,295,000

SARASOTA 409 Partridge Circle 3 Beds 3 Baths 2,796 Sq. Ft. Marcia Salkin, PA 941-376-6121 A4536601 $1,950,000

SARASOTA 8188 Grande Shores Drive 3 Beds 2/1 Baths 2,797 Sq. Ft. Stacy Haas 941-587-4359 A4532966 $1,795,000

SARASOTA 1654 Arlington Street 4 Beds 3 Baths 2,514 Sq. Ft. Ryan Heers 941-726-1703 A4538711 $1,697,000

SARASOTA 1111 Ritz Carlton Drive 1008 1 Bed 1/1 Baths 1,768 Sq. Ft. Kim Ogilvie 941-376-1717 A4535190 $1,695,000

SIESTA KEY 6146 Midnight Pass Road 10S 2 Beds 2 Baths 1,384 Sq. Ft. Marlene Marshall & George Marshall 941-539-8850 A4527968 $1,500,000

SIESTA KEY 6300 Midnight Pass Road 505 2 Beds 2 Baths 1,240 Sq. Ft. Kristina Rain 941-320-2639 A4538428 $1,425,000

SARASOTA 1111 N Gulfstream Avenue 3C 2 Beds 2 Baths 1,736 Sq. Ft. Jodene Moneuse 941-302-4913 A4533731 $1,375,000

SARASOTA 1646 7th Street Valarie Wadsworth 941-780-3858 A4531752 $1,369,000

SIESTA KEY 6300 Midnight Pass Road 603 2 Beds 2 Baths 1,240 Sq. Ft. Kristina Waskom 941-266-8658 A4538939 $1,349,000

SARASOTA 770 S Palm Avenue 901 2 Beds 2 Baths 1,532 Sq. Ft. Barbara Dumbaugh & Victoria Lear 941-951-6660 A4538482 $1,325,000

SARASOTA 7754 Holiday Drive Cathy Palmer 941-920-2247 A4538801 $1,300,000

SIESTA KEY 5880 Midnight Pass Road 310 3 Beds 2 Baths 1,713 Sq. Ft. Linda Stowe 941-228-5685 A4536003 $1,285,000

SIESTA KEY 4205 Higel Avenue 4 Beds 4/1 Baths 8,571 Sq. Ft. Maurice Menager & Lin Dunn 941-238-8119 A4539090 $8,900,000

SARASOTA 3300 Old Oak Drive 4 Beds 4/3 Baths 6,428 Sq. Ft. Barbara May & Fred Sassen 404-822-9264 A4520464 $8,495,000

OSPREY 1851 Island Way 4 Beds 4 Baths 5,233 Sq. Ft. Mackenzie Longueuil & Pat Mudgett 941-961-4023 A4537690 $3,950,000

888.552.5228 | MICHAELSAUNDERS.COM

373698-1

6B

YourObserver.com

SARASOTA OBSERVER

ADAM HUGHES

T

he following residential real estate transactions took place between June 13 and June 17. A home in Cocoanut Bayou tops all transactions in this week’s real estate. Ronald and Rebecca Bizick sold their home at 241 Cedar Park Circle to Carol Mueller, trustee, of Avon Lake, Ohio, for $9,175,000. Built in 1998, it has five bedrooms, fourand-two-half baths, a pool and 6,838 square feet of living area. It sold for $3 million in 2008.

Royal St. Andrew Lawrence Zaslavsky and Sheree Kaz, of Sarasota, sold their Unit 501 and 502 condominiums at 555 S. Gulfstream Ave. to Alexis Romano, of Sarasota, for $2,955,500.

Built in 1969, it has four bedrooms, four baths and 2,700 square feet of living area. It sold for $900,000 in 2020.

Courtesy photo

The top-selling property in Sarasota this week was units 501 and 502 of Royal St. Andrew, 555 S. Gulfstream Ave.

INDIAN BEACH Barbara Middaugh, trustee, and Ann Ericsson sold the home at 3923 Bay Shore Road to Sarasota Group Properties LLC for $2.7 million.

Built in 1941, it has three bedrooms, three baths, a pool and 2,552 square feet of living area. It sold for $495,000 in 1994.

LAUREL STREET Laurel Park OZF LLC sold the home at 1663 Laurel St. to David Kahl and Karen Hoffman Kahl, trustees, of Sarasota, for $1,475,000. Built in 2006, it has two bedrooms, twoand-a-half baths and 1,494 square feet of living area. It sold for $1.25 million in 2021.

SOUTH GATE

GOLDEN GATE POINT Sarasota Golden Point LLC sold the home at 531 Golden Gate Point to 531 Golden Gate LLC for $2.25 million. Built in 1945, it has four bedrooms, four baths and 2,058 square feet of living area. It sold for $600,000 in 2012.

ROSELAWN Roselawn 2058 LLC sold the home at 2058 Roselawn St. to 66 Old Country Road LLC and West Jericho Smithtown Realty LLC for $1.15 million. Built in 2019, it has eight bedrooms, six-and-two-half baths and 3,546 square feet of living area.

It sold for $1 million in March.

OYSTER BAY ESTATES Mark and Aurelie Van Den Broek, of Sarasota, sold their home at 1801 N. Lake Shore Drive to Joseph Niles and Amanda Niles, trustees, of Sarasota, for $1.75 million. Built in 1957, it has three bedrooms, three baths, a pool and 3,349 square feet of living area. It sold for $890,000 in 2006.

Lara Kasser sold her home at 1705 Field Road to Albert George Joerger, of Sarasota, for $960,000. Built in

OSPREY: $1.5 MILLION

Sorrento Shores Patrick Deputy and Christine Deputy, of Nokomis, sold their home at 367 Renoir Drive to Andrew and Donna Bricker, of Simsbury, Connecticut, for $1,501,000. Built in 1999, it has three bedrooms, three-and-a-half baths, a pool and 2,933 square feet of living area. It sold for $690,000 in 2009.

PALMER RANCH: NOKOMIS: $1.28 $1.39 MILLION Deer Creek MILLION

bedrooms, three baths and 3,210 square feet of living area. It sold for $115,000 in 2004.

GRANADA Chippy Ajithan, of Lakewood Ranch, sold her home at 3811 Camino Real to Daniel and Alexandra O’Neill, of Sarasota, for $2.03 million. Built in 2006, it has four bedrooms, three-and-a-half baths, a pool and 3,101 square feet of living area. It sold for $750,000 in 2016.

JUNE 13

SARASOTA: $2.95 MILLION

1975, it has three bedrooms, two baths and 1,985 square feet of living area. It sold for $300,000 in 2009.

SARASOTA

RESIDENTIAL REAL ESTATE TRANSACTIONS

Other top sales by area

RESEARCH EDITOR

7B

THURSDAY, JUNE 30, 2022

REAL ESTATE

Cocoanut Bayou property breaks $9 million level

|

Kathy Kalichman, of Sarasota, sold her home at 2411 Siesta Drive to Jeffrey and Lynn Coe, of Chicago, for $835,000. Built in 1957, it has two bedrooms, two baths and 1,368 square feet of living area. It sold for $321,000 in 2021.

Stanley and Mahalie Fulton, of Lakewood Ranch, sold their home at 8551 Woodbriar Drive to Steven Brian Supe and Amy Elizabeth Supe, of Sarasota, for $1,389,000.

Built in 1993, it has six bedrooms, six baths, a pool and 5,456 square feet of living area. It sold for $660,000 in 2011.

Casey Key KOMAC Properties sold the home at 2816 Casey Key Road to WWS LLC for $2,835,000. Built in 1977, it has two bedrooms, two baths, a pool and 1,767 square feet of living area. It sold for $1,280,500 in 2003.

ONLINE See more transactions at YourObserver.com

Dawn and Thomas Griffith, of Myakka City, sold their home at 2112 Clematis Place to Ronald and Lori Serpico, of Sarasota, for $766,000. Built in 1979, it has four bedrooms, three baths and 2,329 square feet of living area. It sold for $123,000 in 1993.

Roselawn 2068 LLC sold the home at 2058 Roselawn St. to 66 Old Country Road LLC and West Jericho Smithtown Realty LLC for $1.15 million. Built in 2019, it has eight bedrooms, six-and-two-half baths and 3,546 square feet of living area.

It sold for $1 million in March.

In with the new NOW UNDER CONSTRUCTION

POINSETTIA PARK Virgil Joseph Keith, of Osprey, sold his home at 1937 Goldenrod St. to Deborah and James Ford, of Sarasota, for $1.1 million. Built in 1925, it has two bedrooms, two baths, a pool and 1,219 square feet of living area. It sold for $800,000 in 2021.

Longboat Key

PALMER’S

Perry White sold his home at 2595 Hillview St. to Robert Sullivan and Laura Krotky, of Sarasota, for $875,000. Built in 1970, it has three

The Residences at the St. Regis | 941.213.3300 | From $2.4MM to $10.9MM | Call for appointment | SRResidencesLongboatKey.com NOW TAKING CONTRACTS

TOP BUILDING PERMITS These are the largest city of Sarasota and Sarasota County building permits issued for the week of June 13-17, in order of dollar amounts.

Downtown St. Petersburg

CITY OF SARASOTA Address

Permit

Applicant

3536 Bayou Louise Lane

Windows/Doors

Amount

Brian Wood

$172,000

555 S. Gulfstream Ave. #701 Remodel

Lilia Talarico

$150,000

1860 Boyce St.

Alterations

Jeffrey Scott

$100,000

340 S. Palm Ave. #162

Remodel

Donald Faust

$95,910

1829 Bougainvillea St.

Remodel

John Orr

$80,020

4810 Bay Shore Road

Addition

Bruce Chasser

$75,000

350 Golden Gate Point #21

Renovations

Joseph Matejka Jr.

$60,000

405 Sapphire Drive

Alterations

Jane Nutter Johnson,

$55,020

400 Central | 727.209.7848 | From the $1MM’s | Call for appointment. | Residences400central.com 2 UNITS LEFT

Downtown Sarasota

trustee 900 Citrus Ave.

Re-roof

Alfred Bilik

$42,771

915 Indiana Lane

Windows/Doors

Joy Striepe

$32,210

Amount

SARASOTA COUNTY Address

Permit

Applicant

1925 Upper Cove Terrace

Remodel/Addition

Allen Stroup

$250,000

888 Mac Ewen Drive

Remodel

Bradford Nees

$175,000

1804 Casey Key Road

Seawall/Dock/

Gregory McMillan

$141,000 $127,396

The Collection | 941.232.2868 | From the $2MM’s | Call for appointment. | thecollection1335.com

Sales galleries open and available for virtual or in-person presentations.

Virtual home tours | OnDemand local experts | Interactive site and floorplans

Boat Lift Alterations

Daniel Horgan

5858 Midnight Pass

Renovations

Andrew Locke

1519 Clower Creek Drive #255 Remodel

William Manion Jr.

$127,200 $100,000

Source: Sarasota County, city of Sarasota

MichaelSaunders.com/New-Homes | 844.591.4333 | Sarasota, Florida Prices as of February 2022.

Licensed Real Estate Broker

373659-1

8625 Midnight Pass #206B

8B

WEATHER

SARASOTA OBSERVER

|

YourObserver.com

THURSDAY, JUNE 30, 2022

NATURE’S BEAUTY WITH

FORECAST THURSDAY, JUNE 30 High: 87 Low: 77 Chance of rain: 38%

FRIDAY, JULY 1 High: 87 Low: 77 Chance of rain: 58%

SUNRISE / SUNSET Sunrise Sunset Thursday, June 30

6:38a

8:29p

Friday, July 1

6:39a

8:29p

Saturday, July 2

6:39a

8:29p

Sunday, July 3

6:39a

8:29p

Monday, July 4

6:40a

8:29p

Tuesday, July 5

6:40a

8:29p

Wednesday, July 6

6:41a

8:29p

MOON PHASES

SATURDAY, JULY 2 High: 88 Low: 77 Chance of rain: 55%

SUNDAY, JULY 3

Gordon Silver took this photo of a large alligator cooling off on a warm day at Myakka River State Park.

High: 88 Low: 77 Chance of rain: 51%

July 6 First

July 13 Full

July 20 Last

July 28 New

RAINFALL Monday, June 20

0

Tuesday, June 21

0.14

Wednesday, June 22

0

Thursday, June 23

0

Friday, June 24

0

Saturday, June 25

0.02

Sunday, June 26

2.27

*Rainfall totals from Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport

Submit your photos at YourObserver.com/Weather. All submissions will be entered for the 2022-23 Weather and Nature photo contest. In February 2023, you will vote for your favorite photo, and the submission with the most votes will win a $500 gift card.

YEAR TO DATE: 2022 17.59 in.

2021 18.06 in.

MONTH TO DATE: 2022 7.70 in.

2021 8.95 in.

MANASOTA FLOORING INC 941.493.7441 | www.manasotaonline.com

crossword

celebrity cipher

ANCIENT HISTORY by Rebecca Goldstein. Edited by David Steinberg 52 Oddity 55 Brand spanking new 57 Speed intials 58 Idaho’s capital 61 Smell from a bakery, e.g.

DOWN 63 Lacking a key, musically 1 Exactly 66 Expresses disapproval 2 “Only Time” singer 67 Two, in Tijuana 3 Secret pacts? (Abbr.)

68 Consumed 4 “Told ya!”

69 Garments that may be 5 M.D. with an otoscope wireless 6 Snoozed 70 Start making music 7 Singer-songwriter Mann alone 8 “Let’s go!”

71 Chosen groups 9 Kind of ball with strands 76 Out of juice 10 ID shared with a CPA 77 Jazz pianist Count 11 Tips that don’t leave you 78 Squirrel’s cheekful better off?

79 Palindromic Swedish 12 Middle Eastern sultan- group ate 80 Record holder?

13 Dogs to beware of 82 Pigpen 14 Brief request in a text 84 Building near a barn 15 Pace of “Halt and Catch 85 White lies Fire” 87 ___ Whip (pineapple ice 16 Granola grain cream treat) 17 5-Down and others, 88 Airport shuttle briefly 91 Talking tank engine 18 16-oz. units 93 Rowing trophies at 21 “Encanto” abode camp, perhaps 23 Elaborate scam 95 “We are SO settling 27 Null’s partner this!”

40 **Twitch broadcast, e.g. ally depicted in each pair of 96 ***It connects to the 29 Journalist Lisa 97 Arched, as a neck uterus 42 Go downhill starred clues’ answers 31 Futbol cheers 98 Had on 43 Risked going too far 72 Troupe performing for 98 Tropical fish, or excited 33 Strap over a jogger’s 101 Cultural prefix shouts 47 Plentiful the troops (Abbr.) sleeve, perhaps 102 Proudly admit an error 99 Security system device 48 Home to most of 73 Capital on a fjord 34 Biblical outcast 103 Camp sights 100 Shade source humanity 74 Synagogue cabinets 35 Stories 105 Ventimiglia of “This 102 Indigenous Mexican 49 28 of Beyonce’s awards 75 Former 36 It’s a sign!

Is Us” 104 Some parents, infor51 Rooster, in French 77 Post-shower surfaces 37 ___ mule (cocktail) 107 Buffoons 53 “It’s ___ fun!”

81 App for sharing pics mally 38 “Schmigadoon!” actress 109 Self starter?

54 Winter neckwear 83 Ballet Slippers nail pol- 106 ****Rapunzel’s home DeBose 110 Class taken before calc 56 Early describer of 108 Channing of “Magic ish brand 39 Sovereign who ruled 111 Saucers in a Pentagon animal behavior?

Mike” 85 Fiction’s counterpart Siberia, once report, briefly 57 Places to find Help 113 Bit used to make 86 ___ Dhabi 41 British prep school 112 ISP option 59 Bae chocolate 87 Self assessment?

42 Break-even outcome 113 Playfully shy 60 Indian musical compo- 89 Mite 117 ****Changes from ABC 43 Sung ode 114 Eggs, scientifically 90 Lives a publicly gay life to AMC, say sition 44 Verbal pauses 115 Porky pic 92 ***New York City’s most 119 Hype too much 62 Harvest 45 Campfire treats 116 Mine find 120 Not suitable populous borough 64 Charged particle 46 Piece of text that’s 117 Quarter of a quart 94 Like some sushi and ice 121 Cauldron contents 65 Metaphor for past often blue 118 Some vinyls, for short 122 Ivy in New Haven disagreements that’s liter- cream 50 Spaghetti sauce choice 123 Stag’s mate 124 Fence supports 125 Canoodles, in Cambridge

©2022 Universal Uclick

ACROSS 1 In need of a rubdown, say 6 Burlap bags 11 Short haircut 14 Trudge 18 *Big Ben’s home 19 Prom rides 20 “Do you understand me?”

22 *Howl like a werewolf 24 Arrays in spreadsheets 25 Apt rhyme for “cache” 26 Warms up the crowd 27 They tell you which way the wind blows 28 Overjoy 30 Raincoat attachment 32 **Classic theater name 37 The ___ (simulated reality in a sci-fi film)

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

Each letter in the cipher stands for another.

“XTDCJ VBJAJ TAJ VKXJM ZBJG XDMVJAD KM XEAJ KXLEAVTGV VBTG IGEZWJNPJ. ... XDMVJAD TM FTVTWDMV HEA KXTPKGTVKEG.” – HKWXXTIJA R.R. TCATXM

“SRTDFG JK LOREDKE. JE’K ‘J PDC ER FJYYDO,’ JY GRA’OD YXUSG, RO JY GRA’OD NDHJKI, ‘IDG, ZJKEDU ER EIJK!’” – TDZ PORRVK

“PJSZ AHV ZSZX KPHVOPK KPJK LJX GW J TJNPHVWZ JUN KPJK ZSZXAHUZ GU KPZ LJX GW J MJKGZUK?” – HXGJUJ EJYYJFG © 2022 NEA, Inc.

Puzzle Three Clue: E equals F

941.748.4679 | Venice

Puzzle Two Clue: N equals J

941.355.8437 | Bradenton

Puzzle One Clue: N equals D

Sarasota

383366-1

KARASTAN, MOHAWK, AIRO, SMARTSTRAND, ALL PET

CARPET

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

©2022 Andrews McMeel Syndicate

6-30-22

YourObserver.com

SARASOTA OBSERVER

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THURSDAY, JUNE 30, 2022

9B

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SARASOTA OBSERVER

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THURSDAY, JUNE 30, 2022

11B

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

Notice: All real estate advertised herein is subject to the Federal Fair Housing Act, which makes it illegal to advertise any preference, limitation, or discrimination because of race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, or national origin, or intention to make any such preference, limitation or discrimination. All persons are hereby informed that all dwellings advertised are available on an equal opportunity basis.

stuff

BUYING BASEBALL card collections! Looking to free up space and make $$? Need to sell sports cards? Collector looking to expand collection.

Pay top dollar. Text/call 941 548 6492 with photos.

SENIOR LOOKING to purchase precious metals, diamonds, time pieces, coins, jewelry, antique and estate jewelry, and some collectors plates. Personal and confidential.

Please call Marc: 941-321-0707

Help Wanted PERSONAL ASSISTANT. Experienced business manager with Fortune 50 companies available as personal assistant, chauffer, butler, connoisseur and property manager. 60 mile radius of Bradenton. (717) 825-1739

FIND BUYERS & SELLERS HERE! 941-955-4888 YourObserver.com/RedPages

REAL LOCAL STUFF HERE!

www.YourObserver.com/RedPages FOR SALE: 2 New, Slim Cut, suits, Grey, Tiger of Sweden 38 & Blue Trussardi, 40, $100 each.

(941)504-0165 GENERAL ELECTRIC GE 25 Cu.Ft. side-by-side refrigerator/freezer. Water/ice in door. Excellent cond. Selling for kitchen reno. $199 (941)350-6354

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

941809-3660, 941-809-3662.

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

Call Hawley Motors: 941-923-3421.

GREAT FINDS LOCATED HERE!

HEXAGONAL PATIO table with glass like top and umbrella.

Includes 6 chairs. $150. Call 941-925-3084 to see.

OIL PAINTING 'Macaw Scarlet Parrots'. $100. Coca Cola 1937 Ford steel pick-up truck. 1/18 scale/mint in box. $35.

941-776-0034 Room Divider, Chinese, Black Lacquer, 4 panels. $200 (941)544-4485 SPECIALIZED MOUNTAIN bike, mens. Hardrock FS 21 speed, ex. cond. $199 941-914-1498 TOYOS TIRES (4) Size is 225-55R-19. V. good condition, no flats, $60 for all 4. 941-914-1498 TV MOUNT Sanus ALT 1 $30, Floral Duvet Bundle set (Full) $60 Email greytreelane@outlook.com

General Merchandise WEBBER GRILL, gas. Spirit S310. Like new. $300 941-350-5651

jobs

METAL CHANDELIER, BROWN, HARDWARE INCLUDED. LIKE NEW, $20 (941) 920-2494

Help Wanted PART-TIME HOUSEKEEPER Siesta Key resort. 28 hrs/week, Mon 8am-12pm, Thurs, Fri, Sat 8am-4pm. $15/hour.

Call 941-349-2500 9am-5pm or email resume to cbcmgr@vacationfla.com

real estate

CASH FOR YOUR CAR We come to you!

Ho Ho Buys cars.

941-270-4400.

Condos/Apts. for Rent LUXURIOUS CONDO on Anna Maria Island For Rent - Upgraded granite/strainless kitchen.

Incredible water views through floor length windows. Waterfront patio, luxury furnishings, 2BD/2BR, king bed. Pool, tennis, walk to the beach. Private carport.

Monthly rent July-December.

Owner/renter. Flexible terms.

570-239-0431 marketreps@aol.com

You’re only cheating yourself.

BUDDHA STATUE, 20 inches high, 2 bodies facing away from each other. Rare, unusual. $199.99. 941-921-0512

Autos Wanted

peekers’ place

ADVERTISE YOUR MERCHANDISE with the total value of all items $200 or less in this section for FREE! Limit 1 ad per month,15 words or less. Price must be included next to each item. No commercial advertising.

Ad runs 2 consecutive weeks in 1 Observer.

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

auto

Items Under $200

Vacation/ Seasonal Rentals

REDUCED PRICE $1,800,000

WEEKLY MONTHLY SEASONAL Rates Beachfront, Bayfront and In Between Houses or Condos Reservations 941-383-5577 wagnerlbkrentals@gmail.com Visa/MC

This unit has it all!

Located near Siesta Key's Turtle Beach, this Somerset Cay 5th floor condo has spectacular Gulf and Bay views. Watch sunrises and sunsets from your balconies.

3BR/3BA, 2558 SqFt, partially furnished, oversized two car garage and boat dock with lifts.

Murphy Stevens, Realtor 941-587-8879 Alan J Stevens, Broker 941-925-1818

SELL YOUR STUFF FAST!

GARAGE SALE Advertise as low as $17.50 per week!

CALL 941-955-4888 YourObserver.com/RedPages

Homes for Sale

5360 Gulf of Mexico Dr., Suite 101 Longboat Key, FL 34228 Rental office 9a.m. - 5p.m.

M-F Ask about our special rates!

Wagner Realty Since 1939 www.rentalsonlongboat.com

Advertise your business or service in the Observer Advertise your business Advertise Observer or service inyour the business or service in the Observer Advertise your business or service in the Observer

RED PAGES RED RED PAGES PAGES CALL TODAY RED PAGES 941-955-4888 CALL TODAY CALL TODAY 941-955-4888 941-955-4888 CALL TODAY Auto Transport 941-955-4888

SELL YOUR STUFF HERE!

Adult Care Services

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

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

Cleaning BRAZILIAN CLEANING Service

by Maria. Residential. Meticulous Cleaning. Excellent References.

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Regular weekly lawn maintenance and restoration 40+ years experience.

Tomlarsen559@gmail.com farmgirlfarmboyorganics.com Please call 334-739-3409

Professional Services

CNA PROVIDING full range of private duty care including meals, cleaning, transportation to appointments, and more.

Call Maribel: 941-518-6438 3BR/2BA/3CG 6988 Country Lakes Cir. Sarasota, FL 34243.

Country Club Lakes at Palm Aire.

Split bedroom floor plan. WICs all bedrooms. Spacious. Natural light. Quiet setting. Roof 2019. $795,000. Kim Jatich, Broker.

(941) 504-3874 www.quartzcoastrealtyfl.com

BUY & SELL HERE! YourObserver.com/RedPages

PERSONAL CARE GIVER- Private care: Meal preparation, errands, shopping, and more.

Affordable hourly rates, available weekdays, weekends, and holidays.

Minimal shift 5 hours can also provide overnight care.

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COVID Negative.

Call Kati: 941-536-7706.

This week’s Crossword answers

CALL MARCIA! She's Sweet!

Marcia Sweet, MBA. PC, MAC, Printer, Wifi, email, iPhone, Android, Tablet, Laptop, iPad, Kindle, Smart TV, Cameras, Roombas....anything technology!

I make house calls!!

(941) 773-2377

This week’s Celebrity Cipher answers Puzzle One Solution: “Maybe there are times when mystery is more important than knowledge. ... Mystery as catalyst for imagination.”

Filmmaker J.J. Abrams Puzzle Two Solution: “Comedy is protest. It’s ‘I beg to differ,’ if you’re fancy, or if you’re Jewish, ‘Hey, listen to this!’”

Mel Brooks Puzzle Three Solution: “Have you ever thought that war is a madhouse and that everyone in the war is a patient?”

Oriana Fallaci

This week’s Sudoku answers

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Merchandise Wanted

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home services

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THURSDAY, JUNE 30, 2022

Doors

Health

SELL YOUR CAR!

Sliding Glass Door Repair

WE COME TO YOU

“FIX IT - DON’T REPLACE”

CNA CNAServices, Services,LLC LLC Philip CNA PhilipPolsonPolson-Licensed Licensed CNA (941) (941)545-3493 545-3493

Philipwith withClient Client Philip HowardTibbals Tibbals Howard

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After 32 years of being of life care. After 32 years of being a Pastor, I know firsthand a Pastor, I know firsthand thethe difference loving care can make. difference loving care can make.

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

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Handyman

STEVE PANEBIANCO H R S

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

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

Pegatronics.com 383934

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COMPUTER REPAIR SALES & SERVICE

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Dave and Connie Grundy

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PALMER RANCH HOMEWATCHERS® Watching your home while you’re away

Window Repairs • Sliding Glass Door Repairs Sliding Glass Door Deadbolts

Bob & Carol Guthrie 941.993.6613

Call us today! 941.628.8579 www.ezslider.com

Serving the Palmer Ranch Area Since 2007 Licensed & Insured

www.PalmerRanchHomewatchers.com PalmerRanchHomewatchers@comcast.net

FREE IN-HOM ESTIMATEE S

384250

382755

Auto Service

383895

|

383278

SARASOTA OBSERVER

Kitchen/Bath Remodeling CALL BEFOREYOU YOU FALL CALL BEFORE FALL

GRAB BARS GRAB BARS

Realtors

COMPLETE INSTALLATION PACKAGE

249 235 235

$$

$

INCLUDES22MOEN MOEN STAINLESS INCLUDES STAINLESS STEEL STEELANTI ANTISLIP SLIP CONCEALED PEEN CONCEALED SCREW GRAB BARS (16”BARS & 24”)(16” & 24”) SCREW GRAB

941.966.0333 LIFETIME GUARANTEE • LICENSED • BONDED • INSURED COVERAGE AREA: RANCH TO S. VENICE COVERAGE AREA:LAKEWOOD PARRISH TO NORTHPORT

384258 364556

14B

DRGRABBARS.COM

THE GRAB BAR GUY GLENN KROECKER

384259

384260

954-1878 (cell) 780-3346 Licensed & Insured

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

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SARASOTA OBSERVER

Plumbing

Call John 941.377.2940

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

www.showerandbathsarasota.com

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

Free Estimates • Sarasota Resident Since 1974

941-923-8140

Lawn Care

Wizard Moving SRQ

PRESSURE WASHING

House Washing, Roofs, Screen Cages, Pavers, Driveways and Walkways.

Res./Com.

941-270-1561

384247

specialty screens / screw replacement / paint Doors and more!

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

Roofing

Manufacture and workmanship

383894

LEAKY ROOF? (941) 345-5264

BOOST YOUR BUSINESS Showcase your products or services.

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38 Years Experience

All Work Guaranteed

Fully Insured

State Licensed Contractor #CCC057066

TREASURES

found here.

Looking for something? Your lucky discovery is closer than you think.

RED PAGES Made for where you live. Here!

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INCLUDING SCREENS, TRACKS, MIRRORS & FANS

SPECIAL 00 5

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941-228-9850

150

$

Call Tibor for FREE ESTIMATES | 941- 284 - 5880

Gulf Gate RoofinG inc.

Joe Murray, Owner

ows

Purified water window cleaning available!!

Warranties

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

25

UP TO

STANDARD WINDOWS 383583

384246

Form Serving Longboat Key Since 2005

Insured

941-345-5264

Lic./Ins.

& Pressure C Window lean t e s ing as Sunrise Wi n w o n k Sun y l nd er

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

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

Melanie Gates

Trees

Windows

“No Job Too Small”

Licensed

Pet Services

941-626-3194

Licensed & Insured CCC - 058059 CBC - 1253936

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Eldridge Re-Screen

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(941) 966-2960

SOFT WASH

FREE INSTANT ESTIMATES when you Call RICK for SCHEDULING

383280

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• Aluminum, Vinyl, & Wood Soffit & Fascia Repair & Installation • Roofing Repair & Installation • Metal Roofing & Tile Roof Repair Specialists

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Kenneth Fuhlman Inc.

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Curt’s Lawn Service

373-9299

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$100 COUPON $100 COUPON

383890

Cleaned - Regrouted - Caulked - Sealed

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

383581

General Plumbing Services Inc.

15B

383281

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384261

SHOWER & BATH MAKEOVERS

THURSDAY, JUNE 30, 2022

Roofing

383896

Kitchen/Bath Remodeling

|

SARASOTA OBSERVER

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YourObserver.com

THURSDAY, JUNE 30, 2022

FURNITURE & MAT TRESS

Take Immediate Delivery On All In-Stock Items

★ 4th Of July ★

Sale

BUY MORE, SAVE MORE ★

★

Going On Now!

Ends July 4 th

! | Surfside Wing Chair

NOW $1088 Reg. $2619

Enjoy Instant Savings Up To

$5000 OFF Your Purchase ★

★

★

This 4th of July bring your Florida lifestyle home with Instant Savings Storewide during our Buy More, Save More Sale!

$100 OFF

Valid on purchases of $2,000-$2,999

$175 OFF

Valid on purchases of $3,000-$4,999

$350 OFF

Valid on purchases of $5,000-$7,999

$500 OFF

Valid on purchases of $8,000-$9,999

! | Ciao Bella Dining Table

NOW $2589 Reg. $5589

! | Queen Panel Bed

NOW $898 Reg. $2429

$1000 OFF

Valid on purchases of $10,000-$19,999

$2000 OFF

Valid on purchases of $20,000-$29,999

$3000 OFF

Valid on purchases of $30,000-$39,999

$5000 OFF

Valid on purchases of $40,000 or more

Rules: 1) Within the above promotional dates, if any products are cancelled or removed from a Sales Order after initial purchase, the savings will be reduced on all products and the amount recalculated based on the qualifying level. 2) After the promotional dates, if any products are removed or cancelled, the entire discount will be removed from the Sales Order and priced at the current sale pricing.

! | 100% Genuine Italian Leather Sofa

NOW $1988 Reg. $4999

Exclusions: Valid on furniture purchases only. One per address, valid on new sales only. No cash value.

Some exclusions apply. Not applicable on clearance, closeout items, MSRP products, special value items or accessories. Excludes Stressless®, Temper-Pedic®, Sealy® and Stearns & Foster®. Does not include service plans or delivery fees.

Event Ends 07/04/2022

FURNITURE & MAT TRESS

matterbrothersfurniture.com | 383992-1

16B

YourObserver.com

SPIRIT OF AMERICA

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JULY 2022

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SPIRIT OF AMERICA

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YourObserver.com

JULY 2022

Together with you.

From the shores of Anna Maria Island to Boca Grande, we are proud to call the Gulf Coast of Florida our home. Just like our nation, Michael Saunders & Company was founded on the values of independence and community.

Wishing you a happy and safe 4th of July.

373275-1

MICHAELSAUNDERS.COM | 888.552.5228

Licensed Real Estate Broker

SPIRIT OF AMERICA

YourObserver.com

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3

JULY 2022

THE ADDY WITTIG TEAM TOP 1.5% AGENTS NATIONWIDE REALTRENDS 2022

B E N CMH ESU SU LT S•••SSSTT TRR RAT AT EEGIC GIC M TIN G • •P R S OSONA NALIZ S E RV I C EICE BENCH RRERESU LTS IING LL E II Z SERV ICE BENCH MAM ARA RKRKK LTS ATEGIC MAAARRRKKKEET ET NG • EPER PER SONA ZDED ED SERV

ARIA

2067HH AR BOURLINKS LINKSDR DRI V I VE,E,#4 #4 2067 AR BOUR L on o atK eKye y| O | O e re 7 79, L on g bgobat f f fefre d da ta t$ 7$79, 0 000 MLS# A4178487 MLS# A4178487

$3.45MM

FOUNDERS CLUB (HOME/LOT) 2067HH AR BOURLINKS LINKSDR DRI V I VE,E,#4 #4 2067 AR BOUR L on o atK eKye y| O | O e re 7 79, L on g bgobat f f fefre d da ta t$ 7$79, 0 00 00 0 MLS# A4178487 MLS# A4178487

$3MM

SLEEPY LAGOON 2067 H A R BOUR LINKS DR I V E, #4 2067L on HA V E, g bRo BOUR at K e y | LINKS O f f e re d aDR t $ 7I79, 0 0 0#4 L on g b o at K e yMLS# | O fA4178487 f e re d a t $ 7 79, 0 0 0 MLS# A4178487

$4.85 MM

POINT OF ROCKS

2067HHAARRBOUR BOUR LINKS LINKS DR DRIIVVE, E, #4 #4 2067 ong gbbooa at tKKeeyy | | OOf f feereredd aatt $$7779, 79,000000 LLon MLS# A4178487 MLS# A4178487

SOLD! 2067HHAARRBOUR BOUR LINKS LINKS DR DRIIVVE, E, #4 #4 2067 ong gbbooa at tKKeeyy | | OOf ff feereredd aatt $$7779, 79,000000 LLon MLS# A4178487 MLS# A4178487

$2.7MM

LONGBOAT KEY CLUB 2067 H A R BOUR LINKS DR I V E, #4 2067 HgAb oRaBOUR I V0E, L on t K e y | OLINKS f f e re d a tDR $ 7 79, 0 0#4 L on g b o a t K eMLS# y | OA4178487 f f e re d a t $ 7 79, 0 0 0 MLS# A4178487

N AADDY, DDY, PA PA IIAARN E A LT O R ®, M B A R E A LT O R ®, M B A

IanAddy@MichaelSaunders.com IanAddy@MichaelSaunders.com

$4.7MM

LA BELLASARA

2067 H A R BOUR LINKS DR 2067 DRIIV VE, E, #4 #4 on g b o aatt K e y | O f f ere d at LLon a t $$7779, 79,000000 MLS# A4178487

$3.4MM

VILLA DI LANCIA 2067 H HA AR R BOUR BOUR LINKS 2067 LINKS DR DRIIV VE, E, #4 #4 ongg bb oo aatt K K ee yy || O LLon O ff ff ere ere dd at a t $$7779, 79,000000 MLS# A4178487 MLS# A4178487

$1.16MM

LAKEWOOD RANCH 2067 H A R BOUR LINKS DR I V E, #4 2067 I V0 E, L onH g bAoR atBOUR K e y | OLINKS f f ere d at DR $ 7 79, 0 0 #4 L on g b o a t KMLS# e y | OA4178487 f f ere d a t $ 7 79, 0 0 0 MLS# A4178487

GA A II L L W W IT T IG G IT T IG BROK E R-A SSOCI ATE

BROK E R-A SSOCI ATE GailWittig@MichaelSaunders.com GailWittig@MichaelSaunders.com

941.387.0100 941.387.0100

W W W . AT H O M E S A R A S O T A . C O M

384071-1

$5MM

4

SPIRIT OF AMERICA

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YourObserver.com

JULY 2022

CONTENTS ALSO INSIDE

18

Calendar............................ 8

CARS From cruising down the local strip to zooming across country, we love our four-wheeled independence.

Fireworks shows............ 10

OTHER THINGS WE LOVE Wide open spaces........... 12 Our national anthem...... 14 Honoring veterans......... 16 Rocking out.................... 19

20

Beer................................ 22 BALD EAGLES As national mascots go, our is a fierce representation of our spirit.

Revolutionaries.............. 23 Jazz................................ 24 The American dream.... 26 Football........................... 28 Apple pie........................ 32 Our flag.......................... 34 Freedom......................... 34

30

HISTORY To know where you’re going, sometimes it’s important to know where you’ve been.

WALTER GROUP REAL ESTATE - Michael Saunders’ Top Team on Longboat Key 2020

For all your Sarasota Island’s Real Estate needs...

Janet and Steve Walter 941.232.2000/941.809.0907 www.waltergrouprealestate.com

382726-1

Land of the Free Because of the Brave - God Bless America!

SPIRIT OF AMERICA

YourObserver.com

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JULY 2022

5

BACHELOR’S DEGREES WHEN YOU CAN, THE WAY YOU WANT. Early Childhood Education Elementary Education Exceptional Student Education Health Services Administration Public Safety and Emergency Management Supervision and Management Nursing

Apply Today!

State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges to award associate and baccalaureate degrees. Contact the Commission on Colleges at 1866 Southern Lane, Decatur, GA 30033-4097 or call 404-679-4500 for questions about the accreditation of State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota. State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota does not discriminate on the basis of sex, pregnancy, race, religion, age, national origin/ethnicity, color, marital status, disability, genetic information or sexual orientation in any of its educational programs, services and activities, including admission and employment. Direct inquiries regarding nondiscrimination policies to: Equity Officer, 941-752-5323, 5840 26th St. W., Bradenton, FL 34207. The Bachelor of Science degrees in the fields of Elementary Education and Exceptional Student Education (ESE) will begin enrolling students this fall, pending approval by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges.

382439-1

SCF.edu/Admissions Text 941-304-5443

SPIRIT OF AMERICA

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YourObserver.com

JULY 2022

HAVE A

America: We have a lot in common

JULY 4

TH

” ! w o “W WEEKEND OF

Book Online!

Buy One Adult Ticket

Get One 1/2 OFF!

Don’t let the noise fool you. As Americans, we agree on more things than you might think.

My fellow Americans, I am writing here to tell you something that perhaps people don’t want to admit. Something so outlandish and contrary to the current narrative in our country that it might seem like it couldn’t be true. Something that the politicians and perhaps some media don’t really want us to realize.

That we, as Americans, have a lot more in common than we think.

Right before the 2020 election, at a time that we seemed witheringly polarized as a populace, a Harvard University study found that 71% of Americans “have more in common with each other than many people think.”

That’s a pretty large majority, but now consider this. One of the key questions of the study was asking Americans about what they deem are “essential rights important to being an American today.” More than 93% of respondents — across all political affiliations — agreed on the following as being essential rights: voting, equal protection, free speech, equal opportunity, privacy and racial equality.

Even on the touchy issues, things like the right to bear arms and LGBTQ rights, bipartisan

majorities agreed on those as being essential rights, to the tune of about 70%.

Let’s be honest: It benefits certain groups to divide us. That is, after all, how they win. They are asking us to choose one candidate over another, one channel over another, one ideology over another. But when it comes down to it, we might agree on way more than on which we disagree.

In psychology, one tool to help people experience gratitude is to ask them to focus on what’s going right rather than on what’s going wrong. Just this simple reframing can help us enjoy our lives more, feel more satisfied and give us a better outlook on the future.

As we planned this section, we wondered: If it works for individuals, why wouldn’t it work for us as a country?

In the spirit of finding common ground, we sought things we can celebrate about America. Things we all have in common. And guess what? We had way more than 15.

That, to me, was good news. It means that as a country, much like a family, we share a lot of DNA. So the next time people try to focus on how we’ve never been more divided, try to remember the things we have in common.

Turns out, there are a lot of them.

— KAT HUGHES, EXECUTIVE EDITOR

941-732-0043 RoofingbyCurry.com

JULY 3-4

ROOFS FOR TROOPS $250 Rebate on new GAF shingle roofs!

Come celebrate July 4th where the animals are the stars — and they come in all kinds of stripes!

Make some lasting memories today! *Restrictions apply. *Use promo code FWORKS22.

Sarasota's Favorite Family Attraction®

SarasotaJungleGardens.com • 941.355.5305

Financing Available! *wac

241 Interstate Court, Sarasota, FL 34240 Florida State License CCC1325654

383599-1

Repairs & Replacements Free Estimates!

Shingle, Tile, Metal & Flat Family operated since 1986

381555-1

6

SPIRIT OF AMERICA

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JULY 2022

7

HAPPY

4

TH

Celebrating the Red, White, Blue and Outstanding Service for You!

FRIENDLY Badger Bob is a funny name, but we’re serious about providing unFURgettably unparalleled service — with every call.

DEPENDABLE Bob is always ready to go beyond the call to ensure your home’s A/C, plumbing, appliances and electrical are running right — 24/7.

PROVEN

BADGER BOB LOVES THE STARS & STRIPES...

He also loves ensuring that you experience fireworks with every call for your A/C, Appliances, Plumbing and Electrical. That’s our promise.

Contact us today and see for yourself!

You can expect a job well done, every time, backed by our Badger Bob’s Done-Right the First Time Guarantee.

24/ 7

2022

Emergency Service

License #: CFC1427129, CAC1815977, EC13009294

370627-1

941.777.2004 | badgerbobs.com

SPIRIT OF AMERICA

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|

Come On In OurMORE ShowRooms are

OPEN

LIL-HELPER MORE MOMENTS ARE MORE Thank you forMADE your continued support for these 40+ LIL-HELPER ON MOHAWK

years thatLIL-HELPER we have been in business as a family owned PRODUCT FEATURED: PERFECT MANOR and operated company. We are so blessed and COLOR: BRIJNAL MOMENTS ARE thankful as we celebrate the Spirit of America.

MOMENTS ARE MADE ON MOHAWK MADE ON MOHAWK

PRODUCT FEATURED: PERFECT MANOR COLOR: BRIJNAL PRODUCT FEATURED: PERFECT MANOR COLOR: BRIJNAL

Retailer Name & Logo ASK US ABOUT SPECIAL FINANCING

1734 South Tamiami Trail Venice, FL 34293 941.493.7441

Retailer Name Name 2510 1st Street West Retailer Bradenton, FL 34208 Logo 941.748.4679 && Logo

4551 N. Washington Blvd.

Sarasota, FL 34234 941.355.8437

382287-1

ASK ASK US ABOUT SPECIAL FINANCING US ABOUT SPECIAL FINANCING

SHOP ON LINE www.manasotaonline.com

JULY 2022

9

10

SPIRIT OF AMERICA

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JULY 2022

FIREWORKS

File photo

The crowd watches fireworks explode along the Sarasota bayfront in 2021.

SUNDAY, JULY 3

MONDAY, JULY 4

traveling down Tamiami Trail to catch the impressive fireworks show launching from the south jetty at Venice Beach around 9 p.m. The free, 30-minute show can be checked out at several area beaches from Caspersen to Nokomis. The south jetty and Jetty Jack’s Refreshment Deck will be closed to the public. For more information, visit VeniceGov.com.

VENICE FIREWORKS There are few better ideas than

PALMETTO FOURTH OF JULY FESTIVAL The Palmetto Community Redevelopment Agency’s annual Fourth of July festival will again be a lively affair, with craft beer and food vendors at Sutton Park, 1036 Sixth St. W., Palmetto. Live music and kids activities start at 5 p.m., and fireworks will begin

FIREWORKS ON THE LAKE Take part in this fireworks show with festivities beginning at 4 p.m. at Nathan Benderson Park.

The fireworks will begin over the lake when the sun goes down, around 9 p.m. Details to come.

For more information, call 3587275.

BAYFRONT FIREWORKS SPECTACULAR The fireworks display will kick off around 9 p.m. with seating around Sarasota’s Island Park, the bayfront and downtown. Free.

For more information, visit SuncoastSummerfest.org.

at dusk. Event is free. For more information, call 723-4988.

SIESTA KEY COMMUNITY FIREWORKS The Siesta Key Community Fireworks show, now in its 31st year, has families and friends flocking to Siesta Key’s whitesand beaches for an evening of fun. The Siesta Key Chamber of Commerce hosts the community event on Siesta Key Beach. Fireworks are free, but the event has sponsorships available that provide free parking, free beverages and snacks, as well as preferred seating at the hospitality area for the best view. Viewing area opens at 6 p.m., and fireworks start at dusk. For more information, call 349-3800.

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Robinson Preserve features incredible vistas and wide open spaces to hike and kayak.

Photos by Spencer Fordin

Carlton Reserve is a seasonal mix of dense vegetation, wet prairies and pine flatwoods.

No. 1:

Wide Open Spaces

From deserts and mountains to forests and beaches, when it comes to a variety of landscapes, climates and breathtaking features, ‘America the Beautiful’ got it right: We’ve got just about everything you could want to see in our 50 states. Close to home, our wide open spaces usually revolve around water. Here are a few places nearby to enjoy.

The pine trees in the area were used for making turpentine starting in the late 1800s. The forest did not become a nature reserve until 1995, when it was purchased as part of the Myakka Estuary Conservation and Recreation Lands project.

Now it consists of 8,592 acres of protected spaces that provide hiking and recreational opportunities to area residents.

Here are just a few of the wide open spaces Sarasota residents can enjoy.

SPENCER FORDIN A+E EDITOR

I

t’s a city known for its beaches and posh resorts. But it’s nestled in a thicket of forests and wide open spaces.

Sarasota, bordered on the west by the Sarasota Bay, stands in the shadow of the Myakka State Forest, a natural habitat that provides a home for deer and countless species of birds.

The forest is made of mesic flatwoods, characterized by an open canopy of tall pines and a dense ground layer of shrubs and grasses. The Myakka River runs through the northeastern part of the forest, cleaving the forest into two distinct tracts.

Much of what we now know as state forest was historically used for cattle grazing and farming.

MYAKKA RIVER STATE PARK

The seeds for the Myakka River State Park were sown by a Chicago businesswoman named Bertha Palmer, who relocated to the Gulf Coast and bought thousands of acres of land. She used much of the territory for cattle and swine

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ranching, and when she died in 1918, the Civilian Conservation Fund purchased 17,000 acres of Palmer’s land.

That territory was turned into Myakka River State Park, which was developed between 1934 and 1941 and opened to the public in 1942. Many of the amenities still in use today — including the visitor center and two picnic pavilions — were originally developed by the Civilian Conservation Fund, and the park has grown up all around it.

There are two ways to enter the park, and if you enter off State Road 72, you’ll quickly be confronted with a large open space on both sides of the road. If the weather is right, you’ll see alligators lounging in open fields or submerged up to their eyes.

There’s also a spot named Deep

Hole Trail where you can see dozens of alligators sunning themselves.

What else can you see in the park? That depends on the season and the time of day.

You can routinely see deer and large wading birds such as great blue herons and sandhill cranes in the park, many of them congregating near the boat launch and in scattered water holes throughout the park.

There’s also an elevated canopy walk that will allow you to take a 100-foot jaunt through the skyline 25 feet above the ground. The walkway also has a tower that stands 74 feet high, giving you a chance for a bird’s-eye view of the forest.

The canopy walk was completed in 2000, and it’s billed as the first public treetop trail in North America.

Another cool feature of the park is the birdwalk, a walkway that extends over the river’s floodplain. From here you can look out over a wide expanse of land and see birds of prey hunting over

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CARLTON RESERVE

The Carlton Reserve is closer to Venice than Sarasota, and it’s connected to the Myakka River State Park Reserve via the 12-mile Myakka Island Wilderness Trail, but it serves its own distinct purpose.

The property was purchased in 1982 for the purposes of developing a wellfield to provide drinking water for Sarasota County, and today it consists of 24,565 acres set aside for conservation.

There are more than 100 miles of trails to walk, bicycle or ride horses on, providing endless opportunities for recreation.

Some treeless areas of the ground are known as wet prairies; this means they are low-lying treeless areas with soft-stemmed plants. The Carlton Reserve has more than 1,000 of these wet prairies over its territory.

During the rainy season, flood waters will cover much of the 38 square miles of the Carlton Reserve, and fish can navigate the whole expanse. But in April and May, when the waters recede, the fish are trapped in shallow pockets.

That gives wading birds plenty of opportunity to pick off a meal with minimal effort.

There are more than 80 miles of hiking trails within the Carlton Reserve, and they are delineated by color-coded markings.

The Carlton Reserve also has a kayak launch, and 6.5 miles of the Myakka River abuts the reserve.

ROBINSON PRESERVE

To the north, the Robinson Preserve is situated on a salt marsh in Bradenton and consists of a 600-

acre span of coastline.

Here, you’ll find waterways to canoe or kayak down and scenic bridges, mangrove forests and picnic spots to traverse on land.

The Valentine House, a 120year old home, was relocated to the Robinson Preserve and rests near the entrance.

Perhaps the most prominent feature of the reserve is a 53-foot tower that provides a commanding view of the Tampa Bay. You can see the Sunshine Skyway off in the distance, and in the foreground, canoes or kayaks lazily cutting through the water.

Interestingly, Robinson Preserve was formerly distressed farmland. Much like the other parks in the area, it has been restored to its natural state by a partnership of state and local agencies dedicated to conserving wild Florida. Here you can see a wide variety of birds all yearround, and there are miles of hiking trails to saunter down and enjoy the view.

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JULY 2022

Our National Anthem

Ever hear other nations’ anthems? Yep — booorrring.

Not only is our anthem spirited (sort of like us), but it has been performed in every style out there. Three singers explain what it takes to do it justice.

LIZ RAMOS

and hitting the right pitch is important so she can be confident, said the singer, who is 11.

“I get nervous every time I sing it, but I feel honored they picked me to sing it and not some other adult who could probably sing it better than I can,” she said.

The first two times Ochsendorf sang the national anthem at the Sarasota Polo Club, she sang accompanied by a piano recording. In her final performance, Ochsendorf decided to show the ultimate in national anthem courage — performing it acapella.

The “Star-Spangled Banner” is a song everyone in the U.S. has heard, but our national anthem is rarely performed the same way.

Whether it’s the key, tempo, style, or sometimes the notes themselves, singers’ interpretation can be as unique as we are.

Three local singers, who are students and a teacher at the Music Compound, share their own approaches to the national anthem.

“Many different artists are singing it in many different ways,” said Lakewood Ranch’s Sabine Kvenberg, a teacher at Music Compound. “You have to find the right way that works for you and your voice.”

Lakewood Ranch’s Jasleen

STAFF WRITER

S

arasota’s Jessie Ochsendorf likes to focus on an object when she’s standing in front of a large crowd preparing to sing the national anthem.

So what better object to focus on than the red and white stripes of an American flag?

Ochsendorf uses the flag as her mode of concentration. Beginning the national anthem strong

Courtesy photo

Sarasota’s Jessie Ochsendorf chooses to sing the national anthem acapella.

Liz Ramos

Lakewood Ranch’s Sabine Kvenberg, who also is a teacher at the Music Compound, takes Lakewood Ranch’s Jasleen Kaur have both sung the national anthem before polo matches at the Sarasota Polo Club.

Kaur, who is 17, said being able to put her own spin on a song that is so well known is scary.

“You don’t want people to be like, ‘Oh, she didn’t sing it the right way,’” Kaur said. “You just have to know that any song you sing you have to add your own little twist to it. Nobody wants to sing it exactly how it’s written.”

Kvenberg said the national anthem actually is quite challenging to sing because of its wide range.

“The modern pop songs have a small range, so a lot of people can sing them,” Kvenberg said. But the “Star-Spangled Banner” has notes that span an octave and a half, making it difficult for even

seasoned singers.

At times, singers like Kaur and Ochsendorf admit they have trouble reaching the high note that comes with the word “free” in the song.

The key to a great rendition, the singers said, it just that — finding the right key to start on to be able to achieve that high note, and then identifying the areas of the song where they can showcase their singing abilities.

Kvenberg, who is 62, looks for moments where she can show off the power of her voice. “The ramparts red glare, the bombs bursting in air,” is her sweet spot.

Ochsendorf agreed. That line in particular is her favorite because

it allows her to project as the melody builds.

“The music gives you guidance,” Kvenberg said. “The melody is so important. For me, words are important too, but the melody is something that touches you on a different level. With the national anthem and how it is written, it’s just so beautiful.”

In contrast, Kaur said she takes it slow and her voice is often softer. She emphasizes lyrics with a lot of emotion because of the deep meaning behind the song.

Kvenberg’s favorite lyric is the last line of the song “O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.”

“Living in a country like the United States, sometimes we take it for granted, the freedom we have,” she said. “And also the bravery from a lot of brave souls who fought for freedom. It reminds us how lucky we are, and we should be eternally grateful for that freedom.”

The same lyrics are Kaur’s favorite because they give her an opportunity to play with the melody and sing at different notes.

Each of the singers said she is honored to be able to sing the national anthem at an event.

“It feels special because it also represents our country,” Kvenberg said. “When I sing a song, I am 100% engaged in it. I put my whole self into a song. In that moment, when I perform, the song becomes part of me, and I become part of the song.”

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SPIRIT OF AMERICA

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JULY 2022

Honoring Veterans

It’s easy to take it for granted as Americans, but we celebrate several holidays to remind ourselves: Freedom isn’t free. From wreath laying to taps ceremonies, our traditions ensure we never forget to thank those who sacrificed for our country. One local in particular makes sure he does his part to keep these traditions alive.

HARRY SAYER STAFF WRITER

S

arasota pays respect to its veterans.

The city comes together for Memorial Day parades, soldier memorials, Fourth of July celebrations and more.

But these traditions don’t just happen. They are the work of many individuals, each contributing in their own ways. Danny Bilyeu has become a part of that support year in and year out, and maybe not in the way you’d expect.

Bilyeu has a long and involved history with the public service — you’ll likely remember him as a former city commissioner and later a field representative for U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan. If you have enjoyed Sarasota’s annual holiday parade recently, it’s Bilyeu that organizes that lively march down Main Street each year.

His day job is as construction field manager for Habitat for Humanity Sarasota. But another one of what he considers his duties — quietly but no less importantly — is act as the bugler who plays taps on his horn to close out military funerals and services. If you’ve attended one of Sarasota’s many tributes to those who have served our country, and stayed for

the ceremonies that follow, you’ll likely have seen Bilyeu standing proudly and blowing his horn in musical tribute.

The 24 notes that compose the melancholy music that typically ends military funerals and memorial services is an everpresent fixture at these events, and Bilyeu takes his role playing them seriously.

“It brings an end,” Bilyeu said.

“Especially on Memorial Day, where we’re remembering those who gave it all. It’s a remembrance of them.”

Bilyeu found his musical passion early, growing up in Illinois where he started playing music in middle school.

That developed into playing for the high school band and learning to play the trumpet. He studied music at Manatee Community College — now the State College of Florida — and played jazz music.

He had a respect for the military even earlier than that. Bilyeu’s father was a Navy veteran who saw his share of combat while serving on a Destroyer warship in World War 2.

Living and learning about his father’s time in the military — and seeing the toll that time had on him — fostered a respect and patriotism in Bilyeu that he carried with him as he grew.

“I respected his service to the country,” Bilyeu said. “After he died when I was 15, I didn’t (play taps) as much until I moved to Sarasota in ’79 and became involved with the (city) commission.”

Bilyeu started attending veterans events and services while serving as a city commissioner, and that carried on after he moved on to new positions. Bilyeu has played at veterans events, parades, memorial services and more.

When his dear friend Paul Thorpe, who started many downtown Sarasota parades and traditions, died in 2017, Bilyeu was there performing taps at his service at Sarasota National Cemetery.

He’s contributed to veteran groups in other ways as well.

Bilyeu routinely plays the Kiwanis Veterans Breakfast each year and plays service songs for the group.

“It’s a privilege and an honor to be able to play,” Bilyeu said. “These people gave their lives so we can do what we do.”

One of his most proud moments

through the years has been helping put together the Spirit of 45 observance program and threeday celebration in Sarasota in 2015, which had a dinner event that invited World War II veterans to attend and had big band music, swing dancers and more.

The weekend of events concluded with a large production with more than 40 trumpet players who played a moving rendition of taps at the Sarasota

National Cemetery. Bilyeu still thinks about performing with the group, and the veterans he recognized over the weekend, with pride.

“It had to be the highlight of my work supporting veterans,” Bilyeu said.

In spite of his many times performing and participating in events, Bilyeu makes it a priority to keep from becoming the center of attention during the ceremony.

When he’s playing taps out in the Sarasota National Cemetery, he keeps away from the stage and stands behind the crowd near the headstones.

“You just need to hear the music, you don’t need to see me playing because it’s not about me,” Bilyeu said. “It’s my contribution to what these people have done. There’s mixed emotions, but God gave me the talent so I’m going to use it.”

Danny Bilyeu plays taps at ceremonies locally.

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No. 4:

Cars I

ERIC GARWOOD MANAGING EDITOR

With nearly 47,000 miles of interstate highway in the U.S., it’s no wonder Americans dig cars. At a recent car show, we tune into what we love so much about our four-wheeled rides.

Photos by Eric Garwood

Chevrolet Corvette noses in a patriotic color scheme.

July Sale!

t’s a sunny Saturday morning in some agrarian, eastern European country that ends in -ia or -stan.

Villagers arise to a bucolic setting, grab a creamy mug of dhallë and head to the main square to chat with old friends or make some new ones.

It’s a few kilometers down the rutted dirt road, so maybe they walk, ride a bike, hitch an ox to a cart or fire up a decades-old, Soviet-era tractor that runs on anything from kerosene to cooking oil. Either way, the fellowship is obvious as the villagers chat about things they love: the harvest, livestock, who really owns the means of production or that wacky Borat fellow.

Just like-minded people enjoying each other’s company.

Here in the USA, on a sunny Saturday morning, the sentiment is much the same, replayed in gatherings over and over from Miami to Seattle with origins further back than the real-life people who inspired “American Graffiti.”

It’s a motor-crazy staple called a Cars and Coffee meet-up, where people chat about things they love: rumbling muscle cars, six-figure exotics, classic vintage sportsters, built-from-theground-up hot rods, hatchbacks seemingly propelled by their stereo systems alone and zoomy rebuilds of what once were sensible econoboxes.

We may say we hate bumperto-bumper traffic, $4.75 gas, spiraling insurance premiums, redlight cameras, slow-pokes in the passing lane, 55 mph speed limits, radar guns and parking meters — the trappings that accompany

25

Robert Alfarone and his 1955 Chevrolet pickup truck.

everyday commuting. But we love our cars and the freedom they deliver, to the point that all other headaches pale once we, quoting Steppenwolf here, “get your motor running.”

So unconditional is that love, mind you, that a drivers’ license is not required.

Meet Brian Sanchez, a soonto-be-fourth-grader from St. Petersburg whose Lakewood Ranch grandfather is as car crazy as he is. Standing next to a waisthigh-to-an-adult Ford GT that even Brian towered above, the youngster made clear that soccer is cool, video games are cooler, but internal combustion, man . . .

“Look at them all,” Brian said, shooting a smile at his grandfather not far away and plugging his ears when a monster-sized motor fired up 20 feet away, instantly turning a few bucks worth of refined former dinosaur into noise, heat, fumes and boyhood joy. “I’m not sure which one is my favorite ... this one maybe.”

CORVETTE LOVE

John and Nita Govoni, of Bradenton have owned their 1963 Chevrolet Corvette coupe since he bought it in 1969 at age 22. To look at it today, you’d think John F. Kennedy was still a newly minted president and a gallon of Sinclair was still 30 cents. They drove their blue, split-window fastback to hang out with other owners of America’s quintessential sports car, doing what most everyone at such an event does: chat with anyone who stops by.

“It’s gotta be in your blood, you’ve gotta be a gearhead, I’ve been messing around with cars since I was 15,” John said, adding he brought eight cars with him when he and Nita moved to Florida. “If we didn’t have these cars, we wouldn’t meet anybody.

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spent all our money on cars.”

He’s had the Corvette brought back to original condition.

Though it’s not a daily driver, Govoni said he regularly enjoys the memories it delivers.

“My daughter, she grew up in the car,” he said, adding the Corvette is probably worth about $150,000 (original list price in 1963: about $4,300), adding the “not-for-sale price is $250,000.”

“If someone wanted it bad enough and they wanted to spend $250 (thousand),” he said, pausing for a moment, “I gotta give it to my daughter.”

A TOY THAT REALLY WORKS

Robert Alfarone’s 1955 Chevrolet pick-up truck is more than a play thing. He uses it as part of his ice cream catering business and, a bit, as a connection to his wife, who died of cancer in 2015.

Together, they had worked on the truck since 2003.

“It’s an ongoing project,” he said, agreeing with a passer-by who added “they always are.”

“That’s it, it’s kinda a fun project. It kinda, sorta keeps me out of trouble — until you get in and start the motor.”

Oh, the motor.

It’s a rumbling 350 cubic inch (that’s 5.7 liters, kids) V-8 that’s been modified to displace 383 cubic inches — a far cry from its factory-original six cylinders.

He’s designed the truck’s look, the custom interior, the custom wood bed. “It’s a labor of love.

Every time I walk into the garage, I find something new to do on it.”

Alfarone said he’s at a car gathering most every weekend with his dog, but he likes the Cars and Coffee meet-up the best.

“I love the get-togethers,” he said. “And this is even nicer

because there’s no pressure, you don’t have to win a trophy, you just come and show up.”

The night before a car show, Alfarone said, he made $450 with his ice cream business, selling scoops out of the back. Ice cream, he’ll sell. The truck, well ...

“I could never sell it,” he said.

“And again, only because my wife and I had 19 years into it before she passed away,” he said. “So, no, it’s going to my daughter when I’m done.”

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Rocking Out

OBSERVER STAFF STAFF

On the opposite end of the gathering far from the bluster of American iron and muscle, Rich Barbieri’s car-show neighbors were, shall we say, a little more refined. He loves his new 1968 Jaguar E-type, considered one of the sexiest machines ever built.

Barbieri has owned the Jaguar a little more than a year, but other classics such as a BMW M3, Porsches, a Ferrari are in his garage as well. “I own seven cars, which is kid of silly.”

This one, though, is something special. It’s that sexiness, even without air conditioning.

“I’ve always liked the styling,” he said. “Enzo Ferrari said it was the nicest car he’d ever seen, which is saying a lot coming from Enzo.”

A recent gathering was the first time he had brought the butteryellow convertible out to a car show. He said he’s always had a soft spot for the Jaguar — he’s in cool company: Steve McQueen, Tony Curtis, Brigette Bardot also owned one.

So does the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

“There’s something nostalgic about older cars...” Barbieri said.

Celebrating AMERICA Starting at

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Classics like Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the U.S.A.” and Ray Charles’ rendition of “America the Beautiful” will always put you in the patriotic spirit, and you can never go wrong with Whitney Houston singing “The StarSpangled Banner.” But this year, try broadening your soundtrack for some extra flair.

Johnny Cash’s “Ragged Old Flag” is a spoken piece that tells the history of the proud country the flag has flown over. On her patriotic hit “American Heart,” Faith Hill said, “Times are hard and people are struggling, but our spirit as Americans always seems to prevail.”

Although the country genre might not be everyone’s favorite, it’s provided plenty of road trip-type hits that celebrate the U.S. Can you listen to “Dixieland Delight” without singing along?

And make sure to catch the Sarasota call-out in Johnny Cash’s “I’ve Been Everywhere.”

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“Sweet Caroline” is of course a must, but don’t miss another of Neil Diamond’s patriotic songs, “America,” which celebrates being the home for immigrants. “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” written in 1900 by James Weldon Johnson on the struggles Black Americans faced following the Reconstruction era, has been known as the Black national anthem since 1917. Sam Cooke’s “A Change is Gonna Come,” ranked No. 3 in Rolling Stone’s 2021 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list, became a civil rights anthem after its 1964 release.

Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the U.S.A.” is another Fourth of July classic, thanks to its catchy and upbeat chorus, but listen to the bluesy verses for the tale of veterans facing economic hardships after returning from Vietnam.

Turn up the volume with spirited pop too. Miley Cyrus’ “Party in the U.S.A” will fit in with every playlist, and Weezer’s “I Love the USA” is a fun close to the party.

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SPIRIT OF AMERICA

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YourObserver.com

JULY 2022

The Bald Eagle As anyone who has seen one of these beauties in person can attest, it’s hard to imagine a better symbol of strength and freedom. Luckily, we have an abundance of them, so we talked to a few aviary enthusiasts on what makes them so special.

Jay Heater

Bald eagles often frequent the area in Lakewood Ranch aptly named White Eagle Boulevard.

JAY HEATER MANAGING EDITOR

Photography Club and a Florida Audubon Eagle Watch volunteer.

“When I see a bald eagle flying, my eyes are drawn to its size, strength, agility, and how free it looks. Like the birds, Americans are strong, love where they live, and protect it. But mostly, we are free like the eagles.”

Sarasota’s Rick Waid said the fact the bald eagle has been America’s national bird since 1782 makes photographing it special.

“It’s a symbol of our country, and of bravery,” Waid said. “It’s a bird of prey, and intelligent. I’ve grown up with it. Eagles are dramatic, huge, acrobatic.”

He loves the bonds they form.

“You can see the attraction between them,” he said. “I was watching a mated pair the other day and it almost looked like they

BIG BIRD

National recognition: The bald eagle has been the national bird of the United States since 1782 when it was placed on the Great Seal of the country.

Partially protected: The bald eagle was removed from the federally endangered and threatened list in 2007 and was removed from the Florida Fish and Wildlife threatened species list in 2008. However several state and federal acts still project the majestic bird.

Right on the money: Do you know why the bald eagle is considered the most photographed bird? Look at your $1 bill.

Big crib: Bald eagles build the biggest nests of any bird, sometimes reaching 13 feet deep, 8 feet wide and weighing almost a ton.

Fast flyer: Bald eagles often fly at speeds from 35 to 40 miles per hour but can dive at speeds up to 100 miles per hour.

Not so bald: Bald eagles don’t develop their white head and tail feathers until they are 4 or older.

Get to know me: Eagles can live more than 30 years in the wild.

Somebody’s watching you: Bald eagles can see forward and to the side at the same time.

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n speaking with friends from outside Florida, University Park’s Susan Beausang often mentions she had just come back from photographing bald eagles.

“They are amazed to hear I can go out and photograph a bald eagle here in Florida,” Beausang said.

Indeed, Florida ranks third in the U.S. with its more than 1,500 nesting pairs (study by AZAnimals.com) of bald eagles, behind only Alaska, which boasts more than 30,000 bald eagles, and Wisconsin, which has an estimated 1,600 nesting pairs.

Beausang, a member of the Lakewood Ranch Digital Pho-

tography Club, takes advantage of the many bald eagle nests in Sarasota and Manatee counties to photograph the majestic bird.

She especially likes watching nests on White Eagle Boulevard in Lakewood Ranch, at the Manatee County landfill site in East County, and on Lido Key Beach in Sarasota.

“White Eagle really is the best because it is so open there,” Beausang said. “And it’s such a fun thing because you can watch the ongoing story.”

Although most bald eagles fly north in the summer, some remain year round.

“Watching the bald eagle, it’s no wonder it is our country’s symbol of freedom,” said Margaret Lanier, who is a member of the Lakewood Ranch Digital

were kissing.”

Waid likes the White Eagle Boulevard nest as a place to shoot, and he likes that the mating pair there seem to keep coming back to the same nest every year. He also shoots photos of bald eagles in Longboat Key just off Gulf of Mexico Drive at Triton Bend.

Getting dramatic shots of the bald eagles can be tough though.

“Believe me, they can sit on a perch for hours on end and do nothing,” Beausang said.

Sarasota’s Jane Lyons, who moved to the area five years ago from New York City, knows that patience is rewarded when it comes to photographing bald eagles, but that’s OK because she has made visiting a nest on Lido Key Beach in Sarasota part of her everyday walk down the beach.

She said the bald eagles seem like part of her family now.

“I know them and can identify them by their expressions,” she said. “I can tell them apart when they fly. Every day gives me more insight.”

She has gained respect for bald eagles after watching them be caring parents, and she has grieved with them the past two years when their chicks have died, possibly due to poisoning from the adults bringing home rodents that have eaten rat poison.

Jeanne Dubi, president of Sarasota Audubon chapter, said that is a problem in the region that area residents can solve by not using poisons that can kill bald eagles.

Those who photograph the majestic bird are just glad it is no longer rare to see one.

Lyons is just happy they chose the bald eagle as the national bird.

“They were going to choose a turkey,” she said.

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JULY 2022

No. 7:

Beer

Just because we didn’t come up with the idea doesn’t stop Americans from taking something and making it uniquely ours. Like beer. So crack open a cold one and dive into the debate : big brews vs. craft concoctions.

ANDREW WARFIELD STAFF WRITER

B

eer.

Americans didn’t invent it, but we’ve have spent the last few decades trying to perfect it.

From the time the federal government lifted the ban on home brewing in the late 1970s, craft beer has migrated from the kitchen sink to the brewpub as brewers have toiled to mix unique flavors and specialty grain blends into gourmet concoctions.

But did they really need to do that? And is there still a dominant taste for commercially produced, familiar brands from decades gone by?

Whether swilling by the waves or sipping at a table, both have their following, and they are by and large the same.

“Beer drinkers come back to the legacy brands when they are doing some hardcore, sitting-on-thebeach drinking, poolside drinking and golf drinking. They’re not drinking the heavier craft beers,” said John Saputo, who owns Gold Coast Eagle Distributing in Lakewood Ranch.

They are drinking the heavier craft beers, though, in growing numbers straight from the tap in brewpubs, tasting rooms of trendy micro breweries and from bottles and cans from grocery store shelves as distributors — like Gold Coast Eagle — cater to the demand craft brewers are creating.

Mike Bisaha, co-founder and CEO of the Sarasota-Bradenton area’s first craft brewery, Big Top Brewing Co., said his brewery produces roughly 10,000 barrels a year. Big Top and other breweries are taking a small but hoppy bite out of the market.

“We’re with 13 different dis-

Nearly as old as mankind itself, the history of beer production dates back some 6,000 years. In 1516, Germany enacted the Beer Law requiring beer to be brewed using only water, malt, hops and yeast, the same raw ingredients used today.

According to The Atlantic, here is a history of the craft beer movement in the U.S. 1965: Fritz Maytag, great-grandson of a home appliances tycoon who purchased a 51% stake in Anchor Steam, set out to improve the quality of his favorite beer and enhance its flavor, leading to new styles including Liberty Ale, the country’s first modern IPA.

tributors, primarily AnheuserBusch distributors, throughout Florida and we have thousands and thousands of accounts,” Bisaha said.

Piggy-backing on the distribution of the major domestic brands demonstrates that craft and legacy commercial beers can coexist in harmony.

“I honestly think that we’re complementary of each other,” Bisaha said. “The big brands are always going to have their place, and the craft market is just fighting for the scraps. But there’s no question that if one local craft gets someone to try a craft beer, as it allows that consumer to have a different perception, we’re more likely to get them to try our brand as well.

“In general, there’s a perception craft beer is hoppy and bitter.

That’s not what all craft beer is by any means. It’s just getting getting consumers to try something outside of their wheelhouse.”

TOP BREWS

According to research agent TOP Data, which surveyed the drinking habits in the U.S. during COVID-19, here are the top 5 popular brands, in order among Floridians.

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Commercially produced beers still control 80% of the market in the U.S., slightly higher locally, according to Saputo. Gold Coast Eagle distributes 285 different labels and has more than 1,100 varieties in its warehouse. Saputo said 70% of the American adult population drinks beer, account-

n Stella Artois n Bud Light n Budweiser n Miller Lite n Corona Extra

ing for 40% of all alcohol consumed in the U.S., with 20% of it liquor and the remainder wine.

Brand loyalty among the commercial beers is fierce.

Craft beers not so much.

“The craft beer drinker by design is always looking for something that’s new and creative,” Bisaha said. “It could be an IPA, but there are thousands of different IPAs, so there’s no loyalty, whereas if you look at the domestic side, there’s absolutely brand loyalty. It’s the same as Ford and Chevy. There’s no steering away from it, where in craft beer we see the exact opposite.”

Brand loyalty aside, the craft beer movement is driving change among the legacy commercial labels, with women leading the adaptation toward more fruitflavored beers, seltzers and readyto-drink pop-top cocktails.

“A lot of these these new products are driven by demands of women,” Saputo said. “They are consumers who have not been into beer, and they’re demanding different flavors, they’re demanding different products and we’re trying to stay ahead of the game by coming up with new stuff as fast as we can.”

Beer producers feel the need for speed as nimble craft brewers can create new concoctions daily to test the on palates of the ever-

“The craft beer drinker by design is always looking for something that’s new and creative.”

— Mike Bisaha

evolving new brew demographic.

That’s why hyperlocal craft breweries’ audiences are within a short trip of their brewpubs and tasting rooms, providing geographical loyalty in person, less so in bottles or cans on grocery shelves in farflung locales.

Big Top and other craft breweries in Sarasota-Bradenton that started a decade ago and survived are competing for that 20% of the market share on both fronts.

“When we started in 2013 we saw the the mad rush with a lot of breweries coming into the market,” Bisaha said. “There was a lot of emphasis on local breweries and everybody wanted to have local, and they only really wanted to focus on what’s in a 15-mile radius, which is really good to some extent, but when you’re a brewery that’s been built for distribution, which are a lot of what we call like our class of 2013 are, you can’t do it within just a 15-mile radius.”

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YEARS OF BEER

1979: Home brewing is legalized. Signed by President Jimmy Carter, HR 1337, made way for the home brewing movement. According to some sources, up to 90% of craft brewers began as home brewers.

1997: The home brewing legislation paved the way for microbreweries to start opening.

Between 1985 and 1997, new brewery growth was at least 20% per year; some years considerably more, most of them not surviving.

2000s: More than putting their own spin on old-world styles, breweries that survived the beer bust began reinventing beer, adding everything from apricots to algae, resulting in a cohort of “beer geeks” who not only loved beer, but also collected it.

2010-present: As more consumers began demanding more flavorful American beer, the largest beer companies in the U.S. began to adapt, most recently resulting in a variety of flavored seltzers and readyto-drink beer-based cocktails.

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SPIRIT OF AMERICA

YourObserver.com

No. 8:

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23

JULY 2022

Mavericks

They zig when others zag. They see not what is, but what could be. We’re talking about mavericks. No, not the ‘Top Gun’ kind (although we love them as well). The trailblazing kind. Here are a just a handful of the mavericks who helped make our area great.

Can you name them?

Happy

Being the first to do something is part of the very definition of a Maverick. In 1884, this individual was Sarasota’s first black settler, who also went on to help survey and plat the town of Sarasota. He and his wife, Irene, sold the land to build Bethlehem Baptist Church for $1 in 1897, and he served as its first minister.

4

TH

JULY

While some wealthy ladies were out socializing, this one was out buying up land and introducing new agriculture advances to the some 80,000 acres of Sarasota County she owned (OK, she did that socializing stuff, too.) She also helped extend the railroad from Manatee County to Venice and was responsible for recruiting other settlers to the area.

Sometimes, it takes an outsider’s perspective to find a new path. That’s exactly what this individual did when she came here from Chicago in 1984.

She was hired to make Lakewood Ranch a profitable agriculture operation; instead, she helped transform the land into what’s now one of the top master-planned communities in the country.

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That beautiful bridge that garners about a million tags on Instagram? Yep, it almost didn’t happen.

But this individual fought the naysayers in Sarasota to make a fixed-span Ringling Bridge a reality in 2003. While a city commissioner in the 1960s, he also helped build Bayfront Park and the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall.

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SPIRIT OF AMERICA

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No. 9:

YourObserver.com

JULY 2022

Jazz

Unlike many things in America, this one started here.

Sarasota is home to its own following of this original musical genre, which has proved a lasting homage to our country’s history of hardship and hope.

SPENCER FORDIN A+E EDITOR

I

f only Hal Davis could see the Jazz Club of Sarasota now.

Jazz, one of the original American art forms, was once an undernourished passion in Sarasota, but over time it has developed into one of the area’s most ubiquitous calling cards.

The club, birthed by Davis with listening parties in his home, has grown into a regional institution with hundreds of members. And it might be ready to grow more.

“There’s a need identified there to explore and to evolve the group into a more professionally managed organization,” said Ed Linehan, president of the Jazz Club of Sarasota, adding that without staff, the club might have to do less.

Nobody wants that. If there’s anything the decades have shown, it’s that there’s an appetite for more jazz.

When Davis, a former advertising executive and member of Benny Goodman’s management team, relocated to Sarasota, he quickly found a lot of like-minded people. His small group of music aficionados quickly outgrew his

living room, his condominium’s meeting room and even a third location at a bank community room.

Davis established a roster of performers, a series of concerts and also the Sarasota Jazz Festival, which held its latest incarnation at Nathan Benderson Park in March.

But Davis, who died in 1990, might not recognize the club he started.

“It was a social group and then became a membership group. It grew amazingly, but without a master plan,” said Linehan. “...

It was people who just enjoy the kind of music and recognize that there was a lot of local talent, some of which had retired here from a professional career.”

Now the group doesn’t just build the audience; it helps to develop the artists.

It raises more than $20,000 in scholarships to higher education for young artists every year, and it helps organize events multiple nights a week during its respective seasons. The Jazz Club has its Monday Night Jazz Cabaret series, hosted by Florida Studio Theatre, in addition to its Friday Jazz at Two performance series

Ian Swaby

The Sarasota Jazz Club held its annual Sarasota Jazz Festival in March at Nathan Benderson Park.

at Unitarian Universalist Church.

Between those two series, you’re talking about more than 40 performances per year. The club’s newest offering, Jazz Thursdays at the Sarasota Art Museum, have also brought in a dedicated following. Linehan said the jazz club now has more than 800 members.

Nancy Roucher, the club’s music committee chair, has been deeply involved in the club’s maturation for decades. She calls Davis, “a genius masquerading as an advertising man,” and she said she’s fortunate that she got to know him. Her husband, Jerry Roucher, took the mantle from Davis and ran the Jazz Club of Sarasota for a decade.

Over time, the club began to not just foster jazz appreciation but to enrich the community from within, and its expanded performance calendar has given regional art-

ists the chance to showcase their skills to a wider audience. Some of those artists are teachers, and some of them are local scholarship winners who have brought their career to a higher level.

Roucher singled out pianist Liston Gregory III. “He was at our first cabaret this year,” she said. “He grew up in the community and went to the University of North Florida, which is known for its jazz program. He’s now touring with a nationally known group, and he’s been to Singapore and all over the world.”

Adversity appeared on the horizon a couple years ago for the Jazz Club, much like every other industry in America.

Linehan said the club’s membership was at 960 people in March 2020, nearly doubling as the result of a 15-month campaign to bring in new faces. Then came

the COVID-related performance shutdown and slowdown, and the memberships dwindled. Recovery has come slowly; Linehan said that many people did come back once performances resumed, but he estimates that there’s at least a few hundred subscribers that never returned. But he remains optimistic for the club’s future.

If you look at the environment it was born into, you can begin to understand why there is still limitless potential to grow.

“They had the Asolo,” said Roucher. “The opera was still in its infancy. They had the orchestra. And they had the Ringling Museum. But they didn’t have any jazz, and that’s what he loved to listen to. So he and his wife started inviting people over to their house to listen to records in their living room. And that’s how the jazz club started.”

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No. 10:

The American Dream

We’re all familiar with the phrase ‘the American dream.’

But what that looks like depends on the person. For immigrants, it’s an especially poignant ideology. Two such individuals share their stories and what it means to them.

SANDDY MARCHENA LIZ RAMOS STAFF WRITER

W

h e n L a kewo o d Ranch’s Sanddy Marchena received documentation in 1994 stating he was a U.S. citizen, being a teenager, he didn’t really realize the significance of the papers.

But he remembers his mother, Isabel Marizan, was ecstatic.

Reflecting on his life now at the age of 42, Marchena said his mother’s decision to emigrate her family from the Dominican Republic to the U.S. and obtain their citizenship led to a world of opportunities.

“I tell my wife all the time, that’s one of our most important documents,” Marchena said.

“Now later in life, especially with what goes on in the world, I’m so thankful I’m a citizen of the United States. I’m thankful, but I’m also proud. I’m proud to call this country my country.”

In 1985, Marchena’s family moved to Manhattan, New York, after Marizan won a trip to New York as a reward for being the top salesperson for Mary Kay Cosmetics. She saw a world in which

her sons could thrive and build successful lives.

At 5 years old, Marchena moved with his mother and brother, Edwin, to New York.

“I was young, but for my mother, I’m sure it was scary being the main provider for two children and one on the way,” Marchena said. “That key decision by my mother probably changed the trajectory of my life and my family now.”

After his family’s arrival in New York, Marizan’s first priority was for her children to learn English, Marchena said. His mother hired a tutor, and he went through a 30-day crash course in learning how to speak English.

“I must have learned well because I did really well in elementary school, grammar school and high school,” Marchena said. “It was important for my mom that as soon as we arrived I immerse myself in learning the language, even though to this day, she struggles with it.”

As a child, Marchena said he was like a sponge, wanting to learn anything he could and try new things, so he didn’t have a hard time learning the language or adjusting to life in the U.S. But that doesn’t mean he didn’t notice the changes.

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“I was a skinny kid from the Dominican Republic, and within six months of being here, I was pudgy and fat,” Marchena said with a laugh. “I discovered places like McDonald’s. I think that was one of my favorite places to go when I was 9 or 10 years old.”

Education has always been important to Marizan, so Marchena and his brothers always made sure they went to class, did their homework and studied.

“She believed education was the way to take our family to the next level,” Marchena said.

Marchena remembered his mother looking over his homework, even though she didn’t understand what she was looking at. But she always made sure he finished it.

The family moved to Union City, New Jersey, where Marchena continued his education.

His high school history teacher, Nellie Chapman, was instrumental in helping Marchena get accepted into Brown University.

Chapman would take a group of students, including Marchena, on college tours.

“She believed before we even had an awareness that we could be successful and we could further ourselves,” Marchena said of Chapman.

Marchena recalled the day he received notice from Brown University regarding his application.

He remembers watching a TV show where people were receiving acceptance letters to college.

“If it’s a regular letter, it means you didn’t get in; if you got in, it’s a big envelope,” he said. “I remember coming to my mailbox and seeing a big envelope.

When I saw it was from Brown, I was excited. It’s the culmination of all my hard work. I’m not the smartest guy, but boy I will outwork you.”

When he graduated, Marchena gave his diploma to his mother as a symbol of gratitude for her influence in his achievement.

His mother, meanwhile, had been busy pursuing her own achievements, including owning multiple salons.

“If my mom had a 10th of the

opportunities I’ve had in this great country, she’d be a known name,” Marchena said.

Marchena’s career in banking with Capital One led to many good things in his life, including meeting his wife, Melodie Marchena, and learning about the Kiddie Academy franchise.

Marchena followed his mother’s entrepreneurial example by purchasing two Kiddie Academies with his wife. They own Kiddie Academy of Cedar Knolls in New Jersey and took ownership of the Kiddie Academy of Lakewood Ranch on May 20.

He can’t wait for his mother to be able to visit him and his family in Lakewood Ranch so she can see the new business and the life he and Melodie have built for themselves and their daughters, Sophia and Camila.

“I can’t wait to see her eyes the first time she looks at the building,” Marchena said. “I know that she’ll be proud. I just wish I could do more.”

Marchena said becoming a U.S. citizen feels like a gift, and his job is to pass it on, whether that’s helping his staff at Kiddie Academy pursue their dreams or guiding his daughters to become contributing members of society.

Marchena wants to pass down his culture and Dominican heritage to his daughters.

“I don’t think you can go forward without understanding where you’re coming from,” he said.

Marizan’s decision to leave her family and friends in the Dominican Republic to move somewhere she only had been once before always has inspired Marchena to dream big.

“I need to be at least as courageous as my mom or at least 50% as courageous as her,” Marchena said. “That’s the great thing about this country: if you believe in yourself, if you’re someone who is resourceful, there’s nothing you can’t do. My mom had a vision, so for me, that’s what I try to impart on myself, my family, my two young daughters. I want them to have vision. There’s nothing they can’t accomplish.”

Lakewood Ranch’s Sanddy Marchena and his wife, Melodie Marchena, love living in Florida with their daughters, Camila and Sophia Marchena. Sanddy Marchena says immigrating to the U.S. changed the trajectory of his life.

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DRAGOS ALEXANDRU

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JULY 2022

27

A SUNCOAST FAMILY TRADITION!

RYAN KOHN SPORTS EDITOR

A

t the age of 23, Dragos Alexandru thought he was headed to the United States within

Ryan Kohn

Dragos Alexandru immigrated to the U.S. from Romania in 1988. He lived in New York until moving to Sarasota in 2002, where he worked in IT and became a rowing coach.

kind. In Manhattan, staring at the bread aisle, Alexandru felt overwhelmed. He bought a soft white bread, not knowing that he had to toast it to unlock its full potential.

He ate his bread mushy for a while until he figured out the secret.

Other things that confused Alexandru at first: coin-operated laundromats and greeting people with handshakes as opposed to kisses on the cheek.

Despite these cultural differences, Alexandru thrived in America. He decided to take classes at Grumman Data Systems Institute and was able to find a job in his field of IT work.

He stayed in New York until 2002 when, in the wake of 9/11, he and his family moved to Sarasota.

Once here, Alexandru stayed in IT but also became a rowing coach with Sarasota Scullers. He stayed with the program until 2012. He is now the head coach of Sarasota County Rowing Club and assisted in the development of Nathan Benderson Park as a top rowing destination.

Alexandru experienced a personal tragedy in 2007 when his son, George Alexandru, died in a car accident at the age of 23.

Dragos Alexandru said his son’s death is the only thing he would change about his time in America.

In every other aspect, his experience has been more than he ever dreamed.

“You use your brain and you work hard and you can make it,” Alexandru said. “It’s not perfect, but no place is perfect. All the good here cannot be pushed out by the bad. Living here is an advantage. Take it.”

It is the extent of America’s freedom of choice, Alexandru said, that separates it from all other countries, even other welldeveloped nations. In Europe, he said, people can’t sit and talk after finishing their drinks at a cafe on a weekday morning. They will be questioned and told to leave by the staff. In America, you can relax. If you want to move to another state, you don’t have to get approval from the government first, you just do it. You can travel any time you want. You can swim in the bay or visit a gun range.

These are things many Americans take for granted. After growing up in Romania, Alexandru never will — not even mushy bread.

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months.

He was not — at least not yet.

Though he had talked to the U.S. Embassy about immigrating, it would be four years of waiting for him to leave his home country of Romania, for his government did not want him or anyone else to leave. The years in between were filled with harassment from the Romanian government and stress about when (or if) the country would let him leave. It got so bad that Alexandru attempted to defect via an oil ship headed for Houston; Alexandru was caught and arrested, but ultimately let go with a warning.

When he finally arrived in America at the age of 27, Alexandru said, he realized all the hassle had been worth it.

Alexandru, now 65, was not just anyone in his home country. He had represented Romania in the 1980 Moscow Summer Olympics as a rower. It was during his travels as a rower to places like Italy, he said, that he began to realize just how restrictive the communist Romanian government was. It controlled the news you consumed, the food you ate and the place you worked. One week, Alexandru remembers, in an attempt to save on gas, the Romanian government allowed only half of its drivers to use their cars, the ones with license plates starting with even numbers. The next week, only cars with odd license plates were allowed to be on the road.

“It’s all one way,” Alexandru said. “It’s ‘follow or else’ and the ‘else’ is putting you in jail.”

When many Eastern Bloc countries announced they would not partake in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics in support of Russia, Alexandru feared Romania would follow suit. He found himself with a choice to make: he could stay and make an attempt at qualifying for the 1988 games, or he could put his rowing career aside and leave, starting anew. He opted for the latter, and he wanted to go to the United States, even though he knew no one there. He had heard enough stories of achieving the “American dream” that he believed he could make a life here, and that was enough.

“I had no real expectations (for the U.S.),” Alexandru said. “What I did know, for sure, was that it could not be worse than where I was. That’s the bottom line. It could only go up.”

So he left, or at least prepared to leave. Four years later, he found himself on a train to Rome, where he spent two weeks with other Romanians immigrating to the U.S. in a type of adjustment period, learning about U.S. customs from an English-speaking teacher. He brought little with him other than clothes. After two weeks, Alexandru flew from Rome to Manhattan, New York, where the U.S. had an organization waiting for him, helping him transition.

He was given two weeks’ worth of money and a place to stay. He had that amount of time to find a job and a more permanent residence, which he did via a Romanian connection he made in the city.

When Alexandru arrived in Manhattan, he was shocked by many things, but none more so than the choices he found in the bread aisle of his local supermarket. In Romania, people simply buy bread, for there is but one

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SPIRIT OF AMERICA

No. 11:

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Football

RYAN KOHN SPORTS EDITOR

T

here may not be a more American image than the one of legendary football coach John Madden, hand in the air, being carried off the field by his Oakland Raiders team after winning Super Bowl XI in 1977.

If you know football, you know the image. The Raiders had defeated the Minnesota Vikings 32-14 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. Madden, who died in December at the age of 85, looks so happy in this photo.

Whether as a coach or a broadcaster or a video game cover star, no one loved the game of football more than Madden. He was representative of America: big, loud and never too serious, but sharper than a steel knife. When he won that Super Bowl, it was a result of not just his success, but the people around him, all working together to achieve a goal.

It’s appropriate that he came to represent our country’s favorite sport. Yes, baseball may be America’s pastime, but it is football that controls our fall weekends.

Like America itself, football grew out of something English and made better. In 1869, college students from Princeton and Rutgers played the first intercollegiate football game, something students in the Northeast created as a mix of rugby and soccer. In fact, the game was originally known as “gridiron football” to differentiate it from soccer — which is short

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for “association football,” if you didn’t know. The game was still fairly rugby-ish at the beginning; we have Yale student and eventual coach Walter Camp to thank for the implementation of most of football’s signature features, like the concept of downs, turnovers, the line of scrimmage and, crucially, the quarterback.

Would we love football as much if there was no quarterback position? When you watch Tampa Bay’s Tom Brady or Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes make a 40-yard throw to the corner of the end zone that falls gently into their receiver’s arms, as if handing them a newborn, it almost makes you want to cry — but this is football, so you hoot and holler instead.

Know what else is beautiful?

Kids playing football in the snow.

That’s how Braden River High Head Coach Curt Bradley came to love the game. Bradley, the son of former University of Missouri quarterback (and pro baseball player) Phil Bradley, was born in 1985 in Missouri and grew up watching not the Tigers, but the University of Colorado Buffaloes.

“They had a running back named Eric Bienemy, who is now the offensive coordinator of the Kansas City Chiefs,” Bradley said.

“He was a small running back and I was small. In those days running backs used to go over the top of their linemen at the goal line.

I would practice that, going over the top of my dad, who was on his hands and knees.”

Bradley said snow was not a

Yes, we are well aware that baseball is America’s pastime. But when it comes to sports, we are obsessed with the pigskin. Explore how this rough-and-tumble sport has grown to dominate our sports landscape — and all our fall weekends.

Photos by Ryan Kohn

Braden River offensive coordinator Eric Sanders and Head Coach Curt Bradley played football together at the University of Northern Iowa.

hinderance to him and his football-playing friends. In fact, it created one of his fondest memories, when the group snuck spray paint out of a friend’s garage and spray painted an entire football field, complete with end zones, in the neighborhood and played a full game.

See that? Football teaches innovation.

It teaches a lot more than that, too. Bradley said despite the rise of social media in today’s age — which has created a more individual sport with a “me first” attitude — football has a lot to teach our country’s youth.

“I tell my team all the time, if you work hard and do the right thing, the game will pay you back,” Bradley said. “For some, that means playing the game at the next level, but for others it

means learning how to persevere through difficult times. What it takes to be successful in football is still the same: commitment, toughness and being a good teammate.”

You don’t need to look further for proof of that than Bradley, who not only has been a successful football coach at Braden River, but has turned many of his players into stand-up members of the community. Bradley said he’s blessed for the opportunity to do so. Watching former Pirates turn into parents and successful businessmen is one of his favorite parts of the job, he said.

I played football for a few Pop Warner seasons. I stopped, ironically, to focus on baseball, which was more suited to my skills, but my experience playing football has stuck with me. It was where

The Braden River football program has been elite since Head Coach Curt Bradley was hired in 2012.

I learned how to get yelled at, which is a surprisingly important skill to learn. It was where I learned how to pick myself up, literally, after taking a beating. And it was where I learned how to do a touchdown dance, because this is America, damn it, and if there is one thing Americans know how to do, it’s celebrate.

Now go have a beer and throw the pigskin around your backyard. You deserve it.

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Vickie Oldham, president and CEO of the Sarasota African American Cultural Coalition, was taught by Leonard Reid’s daughters Ethel Reid Hayes and Viola Reid.

No. 12:

History

Admittedly, we’re just babies relative to the legacies of other countries. But history — even a short one — is crucial to understanding our community. The following landmarks help connect us to the past.

IAN SWABY STAFF WRITER

people,” he said.

He said that while little is known about the descendants of these early inhabitants, some members of the Seminole tribes of Florida trace their ancestry back to Florida’s ancient peoples.

The Historic Spanish Point campus, located in Osprey off North Tamiami Trail, is open daily from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. Visit Selby.org.

Sarah Bennett, archaeologist at the Spanish Point campus, said that the Window to the Past exhibit is the only one of its kind in Florida.

A WINDOW TO THE PAST AT SPANISH POINT (UP TO 2,500 YEARS AGO)

Around the same time that Stonehenge was created, at 1,000 to 2,500 years ago, the shell midden at Marie Selby Botanical Gardens’ Historic Spanish Point campus was gradually formed by the native people of the area.

Visitors to A Window to the Past at Historic Spanish Point can view a cross section of time as they walk inside the layers of shells, peering into them through a literal window.

According to John McCarthy, vice president for Regional History at Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, the materials, which were stacked over approximately 1,000 years, reveal the utilization of shellfish as dye, tools, and technology, as well as the evolution of pottery.

The site is far from simply a trash disposal site, said McCarthy; rather, it was designed as a foundation to maintain a coastal village during storms, as well as for the people to live where they could experience the breeze.

“The people who built these were very wise, strategic, resourceful, creative, successful

Jane Kirschner was president of the Historical Society of Sarasota County when the Bidwell-Wood House and Crocker Memorial Church (pictured) were moved to Pioneer Park in 2006.

PIONEER PARK (1901 / CIRCA 1884)

Pioneer Park offers a picture of where it all began.

The Bidwell-Wood House, a classical revival-style home, is among the earliest documented homes in the Sarasota area. It was originally located at the corner of U.S. 41 and Wood Street.

The home has notable ties to the area’s past. Alfred Bidwell, who had built the home by 1884, was implicated in the murder of postmaster Charles Abbe by the Sara Sota Vigilance Society. Abe had allegedly been aiding land-

grabbers, helping them to find land-boundary violations to acquire others’ property.

In 1896, Luke A. Wood from Rhode Island purchased the home for his wife, Annie Wood, as a winter residence, and in 1934, Wood donated 12 acres to the city, creating Luke Wood Park, which still exists today. The house remained in the family until 1966.

The Crocker Memorial Church began in 1901 at what is now the intersection of Bee Ridge Road and U.S. 41, on two acres of land that its founder Peter Crocker purchased for just $1. A Civil War veteran born in 1843, Crocker fought at the battles of Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, and Gettysburg.

The building now serves as a venue for weddings, funerals, plays, musical entertainment, art classes, and clubs.

Jane Kirschner, who helped coordinate the move of both buildings to Pioneer Park in 2006, when she was formerly president of the Sarasota Historical Society, said that preserving buildings like these is important for understanding Sarasota. “If you don’t know the history of a place, you don’t know the place as far as I’m concerned,” she said.

The park can be found at the intersection of North Tamiami Trail and 12th Street.

LEONARD REID HOUSE (1926)

Vickie Oldham, president and CEO of the Sarasota African American Cultural Coalition, said she recalls a bustling business district in Sarasota’s first African-American community, Overtown.

She said the Leonard Reid House, which was recently moved to Newtown — the community that evolved from Overtown and where where Oldham grew up — exemplifies the frame vernacular architecture typical of the homes Overtown residents built and inhabited.

Oldham said that during those times, which saw the oppression brought on by Jim Crow laws, the community was resilient because of its reliance upon itself.

“They tried their best to live their lives and endure the hardships of this life in Sarasota,” she said of its people. “And they were able to have a quality of life because they loved one another, and the community was tightknit, and they did the best that they could.”

The home, built in 1926, is known for its past ownership by a pioneering member of the community, Leonard Reid. Born in South Carolina in 1881, Reid became acquainted with and then employed by Sarasota’s first mayor, Col. Hamilton Gillespie, even helping to lay out the town’s first golf course.

Reid and his wife, Eddye Coleman, were influential in establishing Payne Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church.

Their daughters Ethel Reid Hayes and Viola Reid were prominent educators and taught Oldham herself when she was a young child.

“We will take very good care of this Leonard Reid family home, and we will love it,” she also said.

“Just like the family loved the Overtown community and the Newtown children.”

The house is now found at the corner of Orange Avenue and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Way.

Courtesy photo

Manatee County Commissioner Jonathan Bruce, Mary Fran Carroll, and SMR President and CEO Rex Jensen perform the ribbon cutting atop the Mary Fran Carroll Bridge in 2004.

the 60 years of its operation.

The forge was founded by German immigrant George Kreissle Sr., in 1947, and occupied by his son George Kreissle Jr. until 2007, when it was sold to another metalsmith, Martin Hoss, then changed hands to Kingston Realty in 2018.

Ralph Hoehne, the company’s owner, said that a search is ongoing for another generation of craftspeople to occupy the location, although it is a challenge.

The site still retains its equipment, including a fireplace and coal repository for heating metal, a hammer press for flattening metal, steel tables for working on projects, rollers for bending and twisting metal, and welders.

Just a few examples of items produced by the forge include the re-creation window grilles on the Ringling Mansion, the metal staircase at the St. Mary, Star of the Sea Catholic Church on Longboat Key, the light fixtures inside Columbia Restaurant on St. Armands Circle, and the gates in the courtyard of the Bishop Museum of Science and Nature.

However, so extensive was the collection of items the forge produced, that many of them have yet to find a place. Those interested in purchasing the metalwork can visit the location from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.

MARY FRAN CARROLL BRIDGE (2004)

The name of Mary Fran Carroll (1922-2014) will not be forgotten in Lakewood Ranch.

As the individual credited with envisioning the Lakewood Ranch community, she once said that the Mary Fran Carroll Bridge, which spans the Braden River along Lorraine Road just north of 70th Terrace East, was “validation” for her efforts when it was dedicated in 2004.

Carroll graduated in 1943 from business school at Northwestern University and entered public accounting at Northern Trust Co. in Chicago, where she was a native resident.

“It was a perfectly lovely time for a woman to be a business major, because men were going off to war,” said Carroll in 2013.

“They would never hire a woman before then.”

She traveled to Sarasota in 1980, exploring the area for a bank client, which led to a career with Schroeder-Manatee Ranch as chairman of the board and CEO from 1984 to 1997.

When rumors of an airport east of I-75 arose, Carroll told the board to reconsider the use of its 26,000 acres of land, which was then devoted to ranching and farming. She went on to lead the establishment of the Summerfield and Riverwalk communities and to help create the Sarasota Polo Club.

Carroll was noted for her toughness, intellect and strong desire to do what was right.

Having watched Lakewood Ranch develop into a full-fledged community, she said in 2008, “God, I have to be proud.”

KREISSLE FORGE (1947)

A familiar sight located on the eastern side of Tamiami Trail, just north of the airport, the Kreissle Forge supplied a wide array of items to the community during

Ralph Hoehne activates the hammer press, which flattens metal that is hot from the furnace.

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SPIRIT OF AMERICA

No. 13:

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JULY 2022

Apple Pie

‘As American as apple pie.’ Need we say more? Apple pie has been a symbol of American prosperity since the early 1900s. Local superstar pie makers share their secrets on making the perfect one.

HARRY SAYER

2. FIND THE RIGHT MIX

pple Pie. America is many things to many people, but there are touchstones in our cultural imagination. Baseball, Norman Rockwell paintings, etc.

And of course, apple pie.

It’s one thing to have it in your head, though, and another thing to make it real. Which begs the question — how does one make a great apple pie?

The baking experts at Der Dutchman restaurant and bakery certainly have their ideas. Managers Robin Wild and Devon Williamson share some of the tips on how to make your own perfect apple pie at home.

After peeling and slicing your apples, create that delicious sugary filling that will showcase them properly. The guys at Der Dutchman recommend sprinkling the prepared apples with an equal ratio of sugar to cinnamon.

Williamson also substituting corn starch for flour to make the pie thicker and more satisfying. He also recommends adding slices of butter on top of the filling before placing the top of the pie crust to make a hearty mix.

When the pie’s crust is placed on the pie tin, Williamson wets the edges of the crust with a water-soaked brush to prevent the crust from drying too fast and crumbling when the dough for the lid is placed.

1. PICK THE RIGHT APPLES

3. PRESENTATION MATTERS

STAFF WRITER

A

Most (if not all) restaurants used canned apples to keep up with demand, but you don’t have that excuse — you had better start with fresh apples.

“I grew up making apple pie with my grandma; we always used green Granny Smith apples,” Wild said. “It’s a tart apple that holds its integrity.”

Although tart apples are best, crisp apples like pink ladies and gala apples will work as well.

Before putting your pie in the oven, cut some vents in the crust, in any style you choose.

Another pro tip: Williamson recommends brushing an egg on top before sprinkling it with brown sugar — it helps brown the top of the pie. It’s best not to overdo it — he stresses to just beat one egg and spread a light layer over the crust — but the final product will look even more delicious because of it.

ALL-AMERICAN APPLE PIE INGREDIENTS

INSTRUCTIONS 1.) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Double crust n 2 cups flour n 1 teaspoon salt n 1/4 cup butter, chilled n 1/2 cup shortening n 6 tablespoons cold water

2.)Create filling by mixing sliced apples with sugar, 3 tablespoons flour, cinnamon and pinch of salt. Substitute 1/2 of flour for cornstarch depending on desired consistency.

Filling n 1 cup sugar n 3 tablespoons flour n 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon n Pinch of salt n 5 Granny smith apples, peeled and sliced

3.)Cut butter into cubes. Fold the flour, salt, butter and shortening together to form the dough for the crust. Sprinkle with cold water as needed to bring dough together without making it sticky.

4.)Once dough is formed, divide into two balls. Roll first out into a circle, then place on bottom of pie tin, leaving about an inch around the pan. Pour filling into bottom crust. Roll out second ball of dough to create pie top. Place on top of filling, cut any excess dough, then crimp the edges closed with a fork or your fingers. Cut vents in the top of the crust, then bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes or until top is golden brown. Enjoy!

Recipe courtesy of Christie Wingert

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The academy will prioritize individual accountability, integrity and respect for citizenship as key components of its Classical Education Model. Our scholars will be empowered to excel academically, communicate effectively, act virtuously, possess cultural literacy and grow into productive members of American society. This time-tested liberal arts pedagogy supports your child to master fundamentals in core academics, explore arts and sciences, and understand the foundational tenets of western heritage.

Bradenton Classical is applying for affiliation with Hillsdale College for its proven curriculum and support in Classical Education.

SPIRIT OF AMERICA

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VACATION 365 YOU’RE CLOSER TO HOME THAN YOU THINK. Check out Lakewood Ranch while you’re in town, and you’ll see why it’s the best-selling community in the country for all ages. You won’t want to leave!

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SPIRIT OF AMERICA

No. 14:

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Our Flag

No. 15:

Freedom

Old Glory is a distinctive and beautiful representation of our pride. So much so that we like to plaster it everywhere.

Below are a few examples of our patriotism.

Because without freedom, none of these other things matter.

Happy Independence Day. “Freedom, in any case, is only possible by constantly struggling for it.”

Albert Einstein

“The cost of freedom is always high, but Americans have always paid it.

And one path we shall never choose, and that is the path of surrender or submission.”

John F. Kennedy

“Liberty, when it begins to take root, is a plant of rapid growth.”

George Washington

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BUDWEISER PROUDLY SUPPORTS AMERICA’S MILITARY FAMILIES

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American Dealership An Elite

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