Sarasota/Siesta Key Observer 5.9.24

SARASOTA/SIESTA KEY

YOUR TOWN

Start the day at The Bay

Sarasota’s Oscar Rodriguez is a big fan of The Bay Park.

He’s one of the attendees who is always up just before sunrise to begin his day there with The Y: Primetime + class, held Tuesday and Thursday mornings.

Instructor Tom Cahalan of YMCA of Southwest Florida, who leads the sessions, said the aerobic workouts work every muscle group.

He said classes can bring participants as young as 20 but usually involve ages 50 to 80, while he provides instructions for those attendees not able to perform the full movements.

“It seems like everybody, really, goes away with a feeling of, I got up in the morning, maybe had my morning coffee, came down and got in a workout almost before the sun came up,” he said.

Rodriguez also likes to close out his days at The Bay, as people stroll the park to watch the sunsets, often enjoying some bites and beverages with others.

New addition

Jackie Williams, 18, recently became the youngest member of the Sarasota chapter of Femcity.

The group is a branch of a national organization that promotes networking among women business owners.

Williams met President Medge Jaspan at the “Launching Leaders in Performing Arts” luncheon for the National League of American Pen Women on April 10. Williams had won a merit award for her painting, “Show Business, Baby.”

After speaking with Williams, Jaspan saw a spark for entrepreneurship and creativity in her and encouraged her to join Femcity. Jaspan also bought Williams’ painting, making it the first sale of her artwork.

Williams will be graduating this year from Suncoast Polytechnic High School.

SWEET SOUNDS OF SOLIDARITY

Ian Swaby

Zeta the Babe performs at the Be Fabulous Music & Arts Pride Fest.

Ian Swaby

Oscar Rodriguez performs jumping jacks.

Petra Rivera

WEEK OF MAY 9, 2024

BY THE NUMBERS

$200,000

100,000

28,000

n

“I think we need to be a little more discerning about what we deem historic.”

Sarasota City Commissioner Erik Arroyo. Read more on Page 5A

Newtown listed in Register of Historic Places

The Newtown Historic District has been officially listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

The district is now the largest Black historic district in Florida, based on the number of contributing resources, the city of Sarasota said in a news release.

“This is exciting news for the Newtown community,” District 1 City Commissioner Kyle Battie, who grew up in Newtown, said in the release. “Being listed in the National Register of Historic Places means the important

history and special character of Newtown will be preserved for future generations.”

The building permit process for structural modifications in the historic district will not change. Demolition applications now must be reviewed and approved by the Historic Preservation Board.

The Newtown Historic District includes 731 contributing resources, meaning the integrity, location and design have been retained for at least 50 years, including Galilee Cemetery,

churches and other structures.

The district boundaries roughly are Myrtle Street to the north, 19th Street to the south, the Seminole Gulf Railway tracks to the west and U.S. 301 to the east.

A strategic, multipronged plan was set forth to document Newtown’s history to meet federal requirements to be placed in the National Register of Historic Places.

For more information, visit NewtownAlive.org or SarasotaFL. gov.

Powerboat Grand Prix moves to autumn

Although traditionally a staple of Fourth of July weekend, the Sarasota Powerboat Grand Prix has moved to mid-September for 2024.

The race, presented by Powerboat P1 and sponsored by Visit Sarasota County, is now celebrating its 40th year and draws sizable crowds, last year having generated an estimated $5 million in economic impact. According to a news release, reasons for the schedule change include the attempt to drive more business to local retailers, hotels and restaurants during the offseason; easing the pressure on limited city and county resources over the July 4 weekend; and holding the event outside of the peak bird and turtle nesting season.

The festivities are set to begin Friday, Sept. 13, with a pit party in the parking lot of the Van Wezel featuring live music, food and powerboats on display. The race will take place on Sept. 14-15 (Saturday and Sunday), off Lido Beach.

MPO seeks input

The Sarasota/Manatee Metropolitan Planning Organization has initiated a public process to receive input to shape the future of regional transportation with a Phase 1 visioning survey open through June 15. Invest Today, Transform Tomorrow — the MPO’s 2050 Long Range Transportation Plan — is a threephase project that serves as a blueprint for shaping the infrastructure of the region. The plan will outline the key projects and investments needed to improve mobility, safety and accessibility across various transport modes including roads, public transit, and paths for pedestrians and cyclists.

The plan is updated every five years to reflect changes in demographics, economics and community needs. It builds on the 2045 LRTP, which outlined nearly $2 billion worth of regional transportation projects. The Phase 1 visioning survey will be used to better assess community needs, values and aspirations for better transportation. To participate, visit SurveyMonkey. com/R/SMMPO.

Live, work, plays

The Florida Studio Theatre Arts Plaza will add new theaters, parking and residences for performers and arts workers.

ANDREW WARFIELD STAFF WRITER

What began in 2018 as a plan by Florida Studio Theatre to build a parking structure has morphed into an expansion to accommodate the recent growth of FST and secure its long-range future.

If all goes as scheduled, thanks in part to a new $4 million challenge grant from Ed and Susan Maier, work will begin by the end of the year on what is now a gravel parking lot on First Street next door to FST to build the Florida Studio Theatre Arts Plaza, a multiuse theater, parking and residential complex.

The Maiers seeded the campaign to name the Arts Plaza in honor of longtime patrons Dennis and Graci McGillicuddy. Dennis McGillicuddy is also president of the FST Board of Trustees.

The building was originally planned to be named for megapatrons Patrick and Mary Mulva, who are relocating to Texas but are leaving behind their $6 million gift for the plaza. They also donated the naming rights of the building back to FST.

In all, FST has received donations and pledges totaling $35 million toward its approximately $57 million project. A campaign has been mounted to raise the $4 million for the match.

“We’re in a pretty good shape,” said FST CEO Richard Hopkins. “The gift has given us a huge boost.” Planning to replace and expand the parking began pre-COVID, and the resulting delay prompted FST to look further into the future than its parking needs. First came the prospect of consolidating its visiting actor housing program into one building above a parking garage. Over the years, FST has acquired 18 houses scattered throughout downtown to house the performers while in town.

“They’re all paid for. They’re nice little houses,” Hopkins said. “They’re for visiting actors who are coming in for six weeks to six months. Ones with two bedrooms and two baths have two actors in it, three actors in a three-bedroom and so forth.

“It’s pretty expensive and very difficult to maintain, very difficult to operate. The good news is they have

Florida Studio Theatre’s Arts Plaza will include three new performance spaces, a threelevel parking deck and apartments for arts workers and guest performers.

“It’s already over 14,000 subscribers. Those are beautiful little cabaret theaters that seat only around 100 people, so those cabaret shows are running 20 weeks at nine shows a week. That’s all fantastic news for us, but we said ‘Well, let’s build another cabaret theater.’”

FST CEO Richard Hopkins

grown in value.”

That’s a boon for FST because the organization intends to sell those properties to help pay for the Arts Plaza. The building will offer 18 two-bedroom, two-bathroom units and 39 studio units. The studios will accommodate visiting actors for up to six months. The two-bedroom units are for arts workers.

“We’re building affordable housing for our staff as well as first staff members of other arts organizations downtown,” Hopkins said. “We can rent below market value to our fulltime, year-round employees and to other arts workers who are looking

for a place to live downtown that is affordable.”

With parking and residences included in the building plan, FST further examined its future performance space needs, noting that its cabaret theaters were selling out as popularity grew at an exponential rate.

“This year will be the last year we’re able to add any new subscribers to that program,” Hopkins said. “It’s already over 14,000 subscribers. Those are beautiful little cabaret theaters that seat only around 100 people, so those cabaret shows are running 20 weeks at nine shows a week. That’s all fantastic news for us, but we said ‘Well, let’s build another cabaret theater.’”

Make that two. And while they’re at it, how about a second mainstage theater?

HOTEL, APARTMENT AND THEATER OPERATOR

The combination of growing ambitions and post-COVID construction costs more than doubled the anticipated $28 million 2018 price to $57 million.

The Arts Plaza will be built in phases, addressing each of FST’s needs in order of priority. The first phase will include the entire structure, with only the parking and residences opening by mid-2026. The two new cabaret spaces will open one year later and, by mid-2028, the new mainstage theater.

“The primary reason we can’t open it all at once is because we

WANT TO CONTRIBUTE?

Giving levels to Florida Studio Theatre’s Arts Plaza are:

$500: Recognized with a paver outside the plaza.

$1,000: Recognized with a seat plaque in the new mainstage theater.

$5,000: Recognized on a permanent display in the plaza lobby.

Naming opportunities are also still available. For information or to make a contribution, contact Melody MoraShihadeh, director of individual giving, at 941-366-9017 or Melody@FloridaStudioTheatre. org.

can’t manage it all,” Hopkins said.

“We have to grow the organization and grow the staffing. It is going to be a big new management task for us to manage all of the housing. We’re accustomed to managing the housing, but the difference here is we’re literally going to be running an apartment complex and then we’re going to operate the studios as a hotel.”

The garage entrance will be accessed from an alley behind the current facility between First and Second streets, the garage ramping and the mainstage theater designed to work in harmony. The ramp up to the third level will form the ceiling shape of the theater.

“The mainstage is built on an arc, and the stadium-style seating can be lower on the north end but it has to be higher on the south end in order to get vehicles to the third floor,” Hopkins said.

When complete, FST will add a second mainstage theater and two new cabaret theaters occupying the first two floors below 150 new parking spaces with three floors of residences above that.

Courtesy images

Dennis McGillicuddy, Susan Maier, Ed Maier and Graci McGillicuddy.

Florida Studio Theatre is planning a $57 million expansion to its current facilities, with construction scheduled to begin in December 2024.

Florida Studio Theatre parking and future home of the arts plaza

Foundation to pay for design phase of new performing arts center

The Sarasota Performing Arts Foundation has announced it will pick up the roughly $8.8 million tab for the design concept phase of the new Sarasota Performing Arts Center. This private funding represents the foundation’s contribution to the 50/50 public-private partnership with the city of Sarasota, “ensuring a collaborative and successful development process,” the foundation said in a news release.

Under an agreement between the city and the foundation, all capital expenditures for a new arts center are to be divided equally among the public and private sectors.

Renowned architecture firm Renzo Piano Building Workshop, in collaboration with local architect of record, Sweet Sparkman Architects, is set to begin the design concept of the performing arts center following the city of Sarasota’s approval of the Piano contract, which is scheduled for consideration later this month.

“The foundation eagerly antici -

pates sharing preliminary designs from the acclaimed Renzo Piano team with the public in early fall of this year,” foundation CEO Tania Castroverde Moskalenko said in the news release. “We are thrilled to soon provide a tangible glimpse into the visionary design concepts that will shape the future of performing arts for everyone in Sarasota County and beyond.”

As the architects get ready to start work, some Sarasota County commissioners, who must also sign off on the plans for the center, have expressed concerns over details of the funding proposals. Meanwhile, the city welcomed the foundation’s announcement.

“This funding commitment underscores the foundation’s unwavering dedication to the project and charts a course that will provide the community and City Commission with much-needed information about Sarasota Performing Arts Center,” City Manager Marlon Brown said in the news release.

Courtesy image

A conceptual drawing of Sarasota’s bayfront with The Bay Master Plan and a new performing arts center in place.

Demolition dilemma

The city approves a demolition permit for the historic McAlpin House, but other options for its fate are still on the table.

The Sarasota City Commission has voted to allow a developer to make plans to potentially demolish the historic McAlpin House on Cross Street to make way for a mixed-use development on 3.1 acres of property in downtown Sarasota.

But options other than a bulldozer, including physically moving the house to Pioneer Park to preserve it, are still being discussed.

At the May 6 commission meeting, commissioners voted 3-2 to approve the demolition permit for the vacant 1,200-square-foot McAlpin House located near Burns Court. Commissioner Debbie Trice and Vice Mayor Jen Ahearn-Koch cast the dissenting votes.

With its $32 million acquisition by developer Orange Pineapple LLC, the property includes the small rusticated block house at 1530 Cross St., built in 1912 and occupied by George McAlpin, regarded as one of the city’s founding fathers.

In the 1980s, the house was designated as a historic structure. Earlier this year, the city’s Historic Preservation Board voted to deny Orange Pineapple’s request to demolish the house.

The May 6 commission vote allows Orange Pineapple to move forward.

The attorney for Orange Pineapple, Patrick Seidensticker, told com-

missioners developers had several ideas on how the new building could preserve or honor the historical significance of the McAlpin House.

■ One option would be to demolish the house and incorporate a replication of the original facade into the front of the new building with a historical marker noting its significance.

■ A second plan would move the house about 150 feet to the corner of the property. Even then, the new building would come “within inches” of the house, Seidensticker said, “which is not the best use of the property.”

■ A third option would move the house to nearby Pioneer Park. Orange Pineapple has offered to fund the relocation up to $200,000. City planners have determined the park could accommodate the house. Who would pay to maintain the house remains uncertain.

The road to better starts here.

Searching for a higher level of healthcare on the Gulf Coast? At ArchWell Health, you’ll enjoy a community of caring that’s totally focused on you and your needs as an older adult. Plus, we’re:

• Right in your neighborhood

• On a first-name basis with our members

• Tracking your progress with routine wellness visits

Seidensticker told commissioners the Sarasota Historical Society may be interested in maintaining the house after it was moved, but it would require money to do it.

“You have to have someone to receive it,” said the city’s senior planner, Clifford Smith. “They would need some sort of endowment.”

If the house cannot be relocated and is demolished, Orange Pineapple has offered to donate $200,000 to the city for historic preservation efforts elsewhere.

The entire development property is zoned Downtown Core, which permits construction of up to 10 stories high and a residential density of 50 units per acre. Orange Pineapple is planning a mixed-use redevelopment there in the triangular area bound by South Pineapple Avenue, South Orange Avenue and Ringling Boulevard. Cross Street bisects the site near the northern end.

Commissioner Erik Arroyo said the structure is not architecturally unique, has been vacant for some time and creates a void in an area ripe for redevelopment.

“I think we need to be a little more discerning about what we deem historic,” he said.

With the city’s approval, Orange Pineapple can now move forward with a site plan, which could take up to two years to complete, Seidensticker said. The demolition permit is also valid for two years.

Seidensticker said the developer pledges not to demolish the house before the site plan is approved by commissioners. In that period of time, Seidensticker said Orange Pineapple would continue to work with the city and the Historical Society to try to work out a deal to move the house to the park.

EQUALITY INDEX WORK AUTHORIZED

In other action, the city commission directed the city manager to assist a local nonprofit to compile data to be included in a Municipal Equality Index published by the Human Rights Campaign.

Ken Shelin, a former city commissioner and longtime resident, made the request on behalf of Project Pride SRQ, which has offered to do most of the research needed for Sarasota to be included in the Index.

The Human Rights Campaign is a national organization dedicated to ensuring LGBT individuals are treated as full and equal citizens around the world, according to its website.

The Municipal Equality Index examines how inclusive municipalities are of LGBT people who live and work there. Cities are rated on nondiscrimination laws, the municipality as an employer, municipal services, law enforcement and leadership on LGBT equality. The index includes data from more than 600 cities in the U.S., including Tampa and St. Petersburg.

The index contains strictly numerical data and offers no commentary, Shelin told commissioners.

Shelin said people thinking of moving to Sarasota ask basic questions.

“What kind of a city is it? Is it open; is it accepting; is it tolerant?” he said. “This document ... is a very quick and easy way to figure that out.”

Sarasota resident Jose Fernandez spoke against the city’s participation. He described the HRC as trying to pressure local governments into “implementing and expanding socially liberal policies,” and “withdrawing support from conservative and religious organizations through implicit threats of low scores.”

“Why would we intentionally expose ourselves to, and facilitate, their manipulation?” he asked commissioners. “We simply don’t need this.”

Shelin countered by telling commissioners, “You may be selling yourself short … In my experience, I think the city will end up with a pretty good score. It’s in the city charter that discrimination is prohibited. It’s consistent with the city charter and internal policies as well.”

Shelin emphasized cooperating with Project Pride SRQ will not cost the city anything. “We’re volunteering to do this for you.”

Once the report is compiled, the group will submit it to the commission for approval. It will be the city’s decision to amend any data if it wishes, and to submit the data to the Human Rights Campaign or not. “You may see some things you want to fix. It’s up to you,” Shelin said.

Andrew Warfield

Developer Orange Pineapple LLC received Sarasota City Commission approval for demolition of the historic McAlpin House.

Rough elements

South Lido residents express concern over noise, suspicious activity and personal watercraft at Ted Sperling Park.

CARTER

WEINHOFER STAFF WRITER

Some residents of South Lido Key are at their wits’ end about what they believe is an increase in criminal activity over the years in Ted Sperling Park.

David Rayner and Jim Musel, who both live about three building lots away from Ted Sperling Park, believe there needs to be more enforcement at the park, which has become a crowded party spot according to their accounts.

“If I had to suspect what’s going on, is that this is just the place to party, and it’s gotten out there,” Musel said. “It just has to stop. It can stop within a few weekends if they would start to enforce the rules.”

Noise disturbances, dogs on the beach and traffic have been going on for a while, he said.

Musel has lived on Lido Key for about 10 years, and he said the issues increased after the COVID-19 pandemic.

That’s when the spot became more popular, especially with personal watercraft users, said Rayner.

“There’s becoming a rough element that goes out there, maybe because they know they can get away with this stuff,” Musel said.

Groups of personal watercraft users frequent the park, often bringing professional DJs and loud music played from boomboxes out of car trunks, Rayner said.

He said the complaints from residents have grown over the years.

“They’re both of a nuisance nature, stemming from noise,” Rayner said about the complaints. “And they’re also of an environmental nature

JUGGLING JURISDICTION

Sarasota County owns and manages South Lido and Ted Sperling Park, according to Scott Moranda, Sarasota County division manager for beaches and water access. The rules at the park are administered by the county’s Parks, Recreation and Natural Resources team. Those rules include things like the park hours and prohibition of dogs on the beach. Lido Beach is owned by the city of Sarasota, but Sarasota County manages the sand portion of the beach, including the lifeguards and emergency management.

For violations on the water, the SPD would take charge.

because all this noise has an impact on animal life.”

According to Rayner — who acquired police records from the Sarasota Police Department — the nature of these calls included armed kidnapping, drowning, sexual crime, reckless boating, suspicious vehicles and noise complaints.

The Sarasota Police Department addressed the residents’ concerns by clarifying the nature of calls for service in South Lido and Ted Sperling Park.

There were 381 calls for service at South Lido Park in 2022 and 250 calls in 2023.

In 2022, there were 50 calls for service at Ted Sperling Park and 64 calls in 2023.

For the calls in 2023, 22 calls were when officers signed out as busy, and six were illegal parking complaints. An officer signing out as “busy” could mean things like going out on foot patrol, checking restrooms or going on a lunch break.

So far in 2024, there have been 64 calls for service in Ted Sperling Park and 63 calls at South Lido Park.

“As far as recent discussions, I can assure you that the Sarasota Police Department actively patrols both locations for criminal and illegal behavior as well as for the safety of beachgoers, residents and visitors as you can see by the number of times officers sign out, walk, bike or ride ATVs in the area,” said SPD Officer Jason Frank in an email.

Rayner and Musel said they’ve tried talking to the county Parks, Recreation and Natural Resources Department and commissioners at both the city and county levels to try to raise awareness of the resident’s concerns.

“I don’t think they feel our pain,” Rayner said. “I think that if that car with the speakers was parked outside their house, they’d figure out how to get rid of it. But that car is parked outside our house.”

WHAT CAN BE DONE?

Adding park rangers or a similar level of enforcement in Ted Sperling Park would be one ideal and effective solution, according to Rayner and Musel.

“We’re kind of at our wits’ end at trying to figure out how to communicate this and how to get a couple of park rangers in there to enforce the rules,” Rayner said. “If they enforce the rules, a lot of this goes away.”

Members of the Sarasota County Parks, Recreation and Natural Resources Department met with the Lido Key Residents Association on April 20 at the request of the residents.

“We are aware of the concerns presented by the neighbors,” said Scott Moranda, division manager for beaches and water access.

Moranda said the park, like most other Sarasota County beaches, is a tourist hotspot, which gets busier during weekends and holidays.

There is a staff of about six people dedicated to Lido Key with one supervisor on duty at least five days a week, according to Moranda. The shifts for staff runs from 5:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. or later, depending on the day.

“I think that if that car with the speakers was parked outside their house, they’d figure out how to get rid of it. But that car is parked outside our house.”

— David Rayner

“We as parks and rec don’t have the ability to write citations, but we do educate and escalate as needed,” Moranda said.

Moranda explained that when staff see violations in progress, they approach the violator and have a conversation. Then, depending on the conversation, staff may call the police department, which has the authority to enforce the regulations.  The department also contracts for evening security services seven days a week, which typically starts

right after the park closes at 10 p.m., according to Moranda. The security detail advises park staff if cars are parked there after hours, makes sure all doors are locked and that no one is sleeping around the facility.

During busy weekends and holidays, Moranda said that security services could be hired, and the department can request a special detail from the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office. The Sheriff’s Office would primarily help with managing traffic, Moranda said.

As for adding more enforcement, like a park ranger program, Moranda said it’s not entirely out of the question, but it’s something that would require approval of more staff members and resources.

“Parks and rec has done research on a park ranger program — that would be staff that has enforcement capabilities,” said Moranda. “But we have not moved forward with implementation,” he said.

Alvaro Cornejo brings to Intercoastal Medical Group Dr. at the Cattleridge Medical Building I office a wealth of

and experience in Internal Medicine.

Undergraduate:

Undergraduate:

Medical School:

Residency:

Certification:

Hospital Affiliations:

Gainesville State College, Athens, GA

Gainesville State College, Athens, GA

Universidad Internacional del Ecuador (UIDE), Quito, ECU

Universidad Internacional del Ecuador (UIDE), Quito, ECU

Saint Peter's University Hospital, New Brunswick, NJ

Saint Peter’s University Hospital, New Brunswick, NJ

Board Certified, American Board of Internal Medicine

Board Certified, American Board of Internal Medicine

Sarasota Memorial Hospital; Doctors Hospital

Hospital Affiliations: Sarasota Memorial Hospital; Doctors Hospital

Courtesy image

Trash left by crowds of beachgoers at South Lido and Ted Sperling Park are among concerns raised by residents.

April

on its

$40M private aviation facility breaks ground

Sarasota’s airport will soon be home to a new FBO.

Aprivate aviation development company broke ground recently on a new $40 million facility at the Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport.

Sheltair, based out of Fort Lauderdale, held a ceremony April 30 to mark the start of construction on its 10,705-square-foot terminal and two commercial storage hangars at SRQ. The company plans to add more hangars in the coming years as well as a maintenance facility, according to a statement.

Sheltair will be the third fixedbased operator — which is a company given permission to provide services for aircraft, passenger and crew — on the SRQ campus. It will join Dolphin Aviation and Atlantic Aviation at SRQ once it opens in the fourth quarter of 2025.

“Situated on 24 acres within the new north quad airport development, this addition will provide another choice for the general aviation community and bring numerous job opportunities to the SarasotaBradenton area,” SRQ President and

CEO Rick Piccolo said in the statement.

The decision to build the facility in Sarasota comes due to demand for aircraft storage and the airport’s rapid growth, which required an additional private aviation complex and service provider, SRQ officials said.

Here are what Sheltair’s plans for SRQ include, to be complete by the end of 2025:

■ Lobby for passengers and pilots

■ Lounge area for privacy

■ Waiting areas

■ Crew rest facilities

■ Conference rooms

■ Large office options for local aeronautical businesses

■ 29,655 square feet of hangar space and 5,940 square feet for offices

■ 16,876 square feet of hangar space and 3,465 square feet for offices

Future plans include the construction of a maintenance and repair facility totaling 60,000 square feet and up to four additional hangars that are each up to 20,000 square feet.

“I can’t begin to express how excited we are to be in the Sarasota market,” Lisa Holland, president and CEO of Sheltair, said in the statement. “We recognize the potential it holds for us, and we look forward to working with the community.”

Courtesy image

Sheltair broke ground

30

new $40 million facility at Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport. It will be complete by the end of 2025.

Destined for dissolution?

The Sarasota Performing Arts Foundation should pull out The Bay Park Conservancy playbook. The foundation, city and county are not in alignment.

MATT WALSH

The good news is the Sarasota Performing Arts Foundation, formerly the Van Wezel Foundation, Monday pulled itself and the Sarasota City Commission and administration out of a big, troublesome, nasty jam. The foundation announced it would cover the $8.8 million cost of the architectural design concept for a new performing arts center. Had it not done so, you pretty much could have concluded the reality of a new performing arts hall in The Bay Park was dead. It still could be. The foundation’s commitment is keeping the project alive — but only for a short time. Unless …

It’s not exaggerating to say there is a chasm as wide as Sarasota Bay separating two parties from the third — city officials and Sarasota Performing Arts Foundation on one side and the Sarasota County Commission far out to sea on the other.

The obvious observation from watching how this whole process is unfolding is this: The parties are not in alignment. At all. They’re not in alignment on the tax increment financing, to begin with; on the wording in the interlocal agreement between the city and county; on how the TIF money is to be spent; on the process underway; or, and this is the most crucial part, on the overall vision, objectives, ambition and the why of the project.

Unless the parties are brought into alignment, the results are predictable: intractable disagreement, dissension and distrust; lack of will; and, inevitably, dissolution. The bad feelings and scars last for years, often decades.

This pronounced disalignment was on full display April 24, when the five members of the Bay Park Improvement Board met to consider a request from the city administration for approval of $44 million to fund the architectural portion of the project.

That amount came from standard 24% architectural and engineering estimates of the total cost of a project, whose hard costs originally were estimated to be $185 million.

City Manager Marlon Brown told the improvement board members that, actually, only $8.8 million was needed for the first architectural phase — the design concept, which in turn would lead to a projection for the entire cost of the new hall.

What’s more, of that $8.8 million,

only $4.4 million would be needed from the TIF funds — $2.2 million of which would come each from the city and county, the other $4.4 million from the foundation.

Brown said he was asking for the full $44 million so the city would not have to seek approval from the improvement board and the city and county commissioners for each architectural step along the way. Moreover, he said the process could be terminated along the way, so the full $44 million was not at risk.

These assurances didn’t matter. County Commissioners Mark Smith and Ron Cutsinger were and are steadfastly opposed to spending any of the county’s money on the architectural design concept.

Smith wanted to wait for the final report from the Purple Ribbon Committee, which is tasked with determining whether the Van Wezel can be renovated and floodproofed. The city gave the committee two years (August 2025). Its chairman told us Monday it has no timeline or deadlines and may or may not need more time.

Cutsinger said he opposed any spending until he knew the total cost of the project.

Brown and board members, Sarasota Mayor Liz Alpert and city Commissioner Debbie Trice, pointed out the conundrum: You cannot find out the total estimated cost until the architect performs the architectural concept.

The logic didn’t matter. There was impasse. At which point Improvement Board member Jon Thaxton broke the tension and painted what could be a 3-footby-3-foot portrait of this situation — a painting on the verge of being slashed and shredded.

Thaxton:

“I am going to vote in favor of this … This motion will likely pass (the Improvement Board) with a vote of 3-2. But you still have to get a 3-2 vote at the County Commission.

“Let’s assume that you’re going to get a majority vote at the City Commission. And we know that we have a county commissioner who is not a part of this vote and who has voted pretty much in opposition to everything that has been brought forward with this project (County Commissioner Mike Moran).

“So that’s a 3-2 vote potentially to deny, if not 4-1 or 5-0.

“I was a part of the discussion when this TIF was first agreed upon … on Day One when this project started almost 12 years ago. It took a lot of work to build that faith and trust between the city and the county to get this TIF approved. … I’m just offering a word of caution that we should consider not interrupting that hard-fought level of trust.”

The vote was 3-2 — Thaxton and the two city commissioners, Alpert and Trice, in favor of funding the architect; Smith and Cutsinger opposed.

That vote — and the entire Bay Park Improvement Board meet-

Shocker: DeSantis puts politics above competence

Here’s a shocker (Not!): Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed inexperienced Manatee County Commissioner James Satcher over the most qualified candidate in Florida to be Manatee County’s supervisor of elections. In our Feb. 21 Opinion, we chronicled the upcoming March 1 retirement and departure of Manatee Supervisor Mike Bennett. The choice to replace Bennett was, as the saying goes, a “no-brainer,” which is vernacular for: You would have to be a village idiot not to see who the best candidate was and what constituted the right thing to do for Manatee citizens. It wasn’t even close. The choice:

ing — was a microcosm of what is ahead if the foundation and city and county commissioners do not align.

There is a way.

The winning playbook exists: It’s The Bay Park Conservancy.

Repeat it.

Start at the beginning.

The Bay Park started with one man’s vision in 2013. Restaurateur Michael Klauber saw unlimited potential to transform 53 bayfront acres into “an iconic destination.”

One man became three leaders and champions — Klauber; Virginia Haley, CEO of Visit Sarasota, and Drayton Saunders, Sarasota native and president of Michael Saunders & Co.

Their effort was initially dubbed Sarasota 20:20. They were small rocks thrown into a pond, but with ripples that spread far and wide throughout the city.

This is from a 2014 Bayfront 20:20 document summarizing its progress:

“Coalition of 20+ diverse organizations representing thousands of Sarasotans and supporting an articulated vision & long-term master plan for Sarasota’s Bayfront:

i. Neighborhood organizations

ii. Cultural organizations

iii. Civic organizations

c. Outreach progress to-date: i. Initial rounds of outreach to stakeholders

ii. October and November public meetings with 550 active participants

iii. 200 pages of written comments

iv. Social media outreach — 1,500 Facebook likes, etc.”

With the public embracing the vision, Bayfront 20:20 became the not-for-profit Bay Park Conservancy. And from there its leaders — Chair Cathy Layton and CEO AG Laffley — and influential board members committed hours upon hours upon hours crafting a to-thedollar master plan and making a convincing and persuasive case to city commissioners. Crucial to the effort: They did it with palpable, persistent passion and commitment.

It worked. And it’s working.

That is now the job of the Sarasota Performing Arts Foundation — but on a wider, geographic scale.

County commissioners bristle at using county dollars for a new performing arts center in the heart of the city of Sarasota — what good does that do Venice or North Port?

But there are times when leaders must rise above their parochialism and politics. Fact is, whether it’s a renovated Van Wezel (not likely) or a new performing arts center, it always will be a regional destination, attraction and landmark.

This is a 50-year commitment worth getting right. What’s more, this region has flourished culturally and economically from its rich and deep-rooted arts genealogy. We should want that to continue for the next generations. Everyone can align with that.

UF’S SASSE: AN ADULT WHO MEANS WHAT HE SAYS

Ben Sasse

Congratulations to University of Florida President Ben Sasse on his courage to tell the world “The adults are still in charge” at the university. When former U.S. Sen. Sasse, R-Nebraska, received his appointment to the presidency, detractors immediately thought the appointment was a case of taking a friend of the governor and a so-so politician unfamiliar with Florida out of the Washington swamp and rewarding him with a highpaying, figure-head job.

Sasse has proven otherwise, that he is a leader unafraid to stand up for what is right and not tolerate what is wrong. In a commentary in The Wall Street Journal on May 4 about the pro-Hamas protests on college campuses, Sasse told readers: “To cherish the First Amendment rights of speech and assembly, we draw a hard line at unlawful action. Speech isn’t violence. Silence isn’t violence. Violence is violence. Just as we have an obligation to protect speech, we have an obligation to keep our students safe. Throwing fists, storming buildings, vandalizing property, spitting on cops and hijacking a university aren’t speech …”

“Actions have consequences. At the University of Florida, we have repeatedly, patiently explained two things to protesters: We will always defend your rights to free speech and free assembly, but if you cross the line on clearly prohibited activities, you will be thrown off campus and suspended. In Gainesville, that means a three-year prohibition from campus. That’s serious. We said it. We meant it. We enforced it. We wish we didn’t have to, but the students weighed the costs, made their decisions and will own the consequences as adults. We’re a university, not a day care. We don’t coddle emotions; we wrestle with ideas.”

Sasse was similarly tough immediately after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israelis. He called the attacks evil and vowed to protect UF’s Jewish students. For those who cherish the Constitution and rule of law, Sasse has earned their respect and admiration. Keep going, President Sasse.

President and Publisher / Emily Walsh, EWalsh@YourObserver.com

Executive Editor and COO / Kat Wingert, KWingert@YourObserver.com

Managing Editor / James Peter, JPeter@YourObserver.com

Sports Editor / Ryan Kohn, RKohn@YourObserver.com

Staff Writers / Ian Swaby, ISwaby@ YourObserver.com; Andrew Warfield, AWarfield@YourObserver.com

Digital & Engagement Editor / Kaelyn Adix, KAdix@YourObserver.com

Digital Content Producer / Jim DeLa, JDeLa@YourObserver.com

Copy Editor / Gina Reynolds Haskins, GRHaskins@YourObserver.com

Senior Editorial Designer / Melissa Leduc, MLeduc@YourObserver.com

Editorial Designer / Luke Reasoner, LReasoner@YourObserver.com

A+E Editor / Monica Roman Gagnier, MGagnier@YourObserver.com

Director of Advertising / Jill Raleigh, JRaleigh@YourObserver.com

Regional Sales Director / Penny Nowicki, PNowicki@YourObserver.com

Regional Digital Director / Kathleen O’Hara, KOHara@YourObserver.com

Senior Advertising Executive / Laura Ritter, LRitter@YourObserver.com

Advertising Executives / Richeal McGuinness, RMcGuinness@ YourObserver.com; Lexi Huelsman, Lexi@ YourObserver.com; Jennifer Kane, JKane@ YourObserver.com; Honesty Mantkowski, HMantkowski@YourObserver.com; Toni Perren, TPerren@YourObserver.com; Brenda White, BWhite@YourObserver.com

Classified Advertising Sales Executive / Anna Reich, AReich@YourObserver.com

Sales Operations Manager / Susan Leedom, SLeedom@YourObserver.com

Sales Coordinator/Account Manager Lori Downey, LDowney@YourObserver.com

Advertising/Marketing Coordinator / Caitlin Ellis, CEllis@YourObserver.com

Digital Fulfillment Specialist / Emma B. Jolly, EJolly@YourObserver.com

Director of Marketing / Robin Lankton, RLankton@YourObserver.com

Marketing Specialist / Melanie Melone, MMelone@YourObserver.com

Director of Creative Services / Caleb Stanton, CStanton@YourObserver.com

Creative Services Administrator / Marjorie Holloway, MHolloway@ YourObserver.com

Advertising Graphic Designers / Luis Trujillo, Taylor Poe, Louise Martin, Shawna Polana

Digital Developer / Jason Camillo, JCamillo@YourObserver.com

Information Technology Manager / Homer Gallego, HGallego@YourObserver. com

Chief Financial Officer / Laura Strickland, LStrickland@YourObserver.com

Controller / Rafael Labrin, RLabrin@ YourObserver.com

Office and Accounting Coordinator / Donna Condon, DCondon @YourObserver.com

Satcher: Elected to the Manatee County Commission in 2020. Profession: Minister. Day job: CEO of Satcher Evangelistic Association, a not-for-profit that offers ministry outreach services. IRS records show Satcher’s association paid him $19,315 in 2018 and his last reported salary was $45,024. Prior to coming to Manatee, Satcher was a pastor at Dream Builders Church in Kennesaw, Georgia. The church address is a single-family home in Kennesaw. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Berry College near Rome, Georgia, and a diploma in pastoral studies from Rhema Bible College in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma.

Farrington: He holds a master’s degree in information systems management from the University of South Florida. He served 11 years as the number two executive (chief

operating officer) in the Manatee supervisor of elections office. Prior to that, he served 10 years as the number two executive in the Sarasota County supervisor of elections office. He is a certified election administrator and a master Florida certified election professional. At the time, we shared two endorsements about Farrington: ■ Bennett (obviously biased, but nonetheless): “Scott is very cool under pressure. And he is as cheap as I am about spending taxpayers’ money. He watches every nickel going in and out. The staff loves him and loves his leadership. I just can’t say enough about him.”

■ Manatee Commissioner George Kruse: “Scott Farrington, bar none, is the most qualified elections guy in the state of Florida.”

What’s more, we reminded readers that Gov. DeSantis has always been quick to brag about Florida “running the most secure elections in the country” and that Florida has “the best election integrity measures in America.”

This decision was so easy. So easy to do the right thing.

We have nothing against Satcher. Fact: He is not as qualified as Farrington.

And to top off the absurdity of it all, Commissioner Satcher will see his annual government compensation increase from $104,723 to $178,586. That’s an increase of $73,863, or 70%.

In the private sector, employers typically base salaries on experience and give raises based on merit. But in government and politics, little to nothing makes sense. Taxpayers are routinely shafted.

There may be hope: Voters can decide who is more suited for the office. Satcher and Farrington have filed to run for election.

Observer Media Group Inc. is locally owned. Publisher of the Longboat Observer, East County Observer, Sarasota/Siesta Key Observer, West Orange Times & Observer, Southwest Orange Observer, Business Observer, Jacksonville Daily Record, Key Life Magazine, LWR Life

DeSantis

Signature construction

Ringling College’s new building is designed to be an admissions hub and provide more learning space for students.

When Ringling College of Art and Design purchased a Shell gas station at the corner of U.S. 41 and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Way in 2006, it intended for the property to serve as the gateway to the school.

About two years ago, its administration decided the time had come to realize those plans.

On April 30, the college hosted a “Meet the Architect” event featuring Jonathan Moody of the architecture firm Moody Nolan, which has been tasked with designing the campus’s Signature Academic Building.

Thompson emphasized the building as an important, iconic signifier for those arriving in Sarasota and heading down U.S. 41, while Moody described the firm’s goal of serving an area’s people through its architectural designs.

“Although we’re talking about a building, we’re really not talking about a building, we’re talking about the people and the environments to do the amazing things — the building is just kind of there in the background,” Moody said.

The event included speeches by Ringling College President Larry Thompson and Moody, followed by a panel discussion that included Thompson; Moody; Willie Stanfield, chair of the facilities committee; Ali Bahaj, vice chair of the college’s board of trustees, who is chairing the college’s Catalyst for Creativity fundraising campaign and Tracy Wagner, executive vice president for Ringling College.

DESIGN IN MIND

The project is being funded through the Catalyst for Creativity comprehensive fundraising campaign.

The campaign is seeking a total of $175 million and has thus far raised $136 million in both its private and public aspects. Launched in 2018, it was revealed publicly in November of 2023.

Approximately $90 million will go toward capital investments (including the Signature Academic Building); $52 million will be devoted to support student scholarships and faculty programs; and $33 million will support community programs.

The building, which features about 100,000 square feet of space, is expected to break ground in 2025.

“Ideally, we would love to have our freshman class of 2027 be able to start their academic career in that building,” Stanfield said.

The space is planned to bring together virtual reality, entertainment design (which is the art of designing themed environments, such as theme parks) game art and computer animation. Its second floor will include an event space with a two-story volume seating about 520 people.

Panelists emphasized that the building will serve as an iconic signifier for those traveling from the Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport along U.S. 41.

“It’s going to be a crown jewel for the community, and I think it’s going to be a wow factor. That’s how I felt when I saw it first,” Bahaj said.

The building became necessary due to the increasing scope of the college’s offerings and a student population that has risen from about 800 students 25 years ago, to 1,722 today, according to Thompson.

Part of its purpose will be welcoming new students, with its ground floor serving as an introduction to the college and a central location for college admissions.

“I think the first floor of the building is really going to be the interface for our campus community and the

Sarasota community, so we really want that first floor to tell the story of Ringling College, so that our prospective students and their families really get to know the campus,” Wagner said.

The floor will have rooms in which prospective students can talk privately about their portfolios and students or parents can inquire about private matters, such as financial aid. That floor will also house the Richard + Barbara Basch Gallery, a glass sculpture exhibition that is currently located on the first floor of the Larry R. Thompson Academic Center.

MINDS BEHIND DESIGN

As the firm behind the effort, Moody Nolan has the reputation to match such a visible project.

As the country’s largest African American-owned design firm, Moody Nolan, during its 42 years in business, has designed buildings including Ohio State University’s basketball arena, which opened in 1997, buildings for Cleveland School of the Arts and an airplane hangar for NASA-certified private astronaut Larry Connor.

In 2021, the firm received the Architecture Firm Award from the

American Institute of Architects, the highest architecture firm honor offered by the organization.

Yet the whole project is a community effort, as the public is also receiving the opportunity to add input, said Wagner.

She added that campus faculty, students and staff are receiving updates through presentations, and a community workshop for neighbors of the college is being held.

“The input has just been really wonderful from the faculty, and from the other departments that are in the process,” she said, noting staff understand the technology used in architecture and have provided input that includes Photoshop drawings.

Moody said it all will help.

“What our team has talked a lot about is the Ringling effect, and what we mean by that is, as you’ve heard, the culture, the energy of this place, what these students do is amazing, and we wanted to have a building that … could symbolize or reflect that and a form that wasn’t something that you’d expect. It’s something that really kind of captures that energy of that effectively, really a place that pulls people in and brings them together.”

IAN SWABY STAFF WRITER

Courtesy image

A rendering of the Signature Academic Building, for which construction is targeted to begin in 2025.

Ian Swaby

Willie Stanfield, Ali Bahaj, Tracy Wagner, Jonathan Moody and Larry Thompson

Selby Gardens awards scholarship

A Sarasota student received the inaugural $15k leadership scholarship.

OBSERVER STAFF

uleima Martinez of Sarasota has won the inaugural Virginia B. Toulmin Leadership Scholarship, earning a $15,000 award to aid in her pursuit of a bachelor’s degree. Martinez graduated May 3 with an associate’s degree from the State College of Florida and a 3.72 GPA. She plans to pursue a bachelor’s degree in communications at the University of South Florida in Tampa this fall, according to a news release from Marie Selby Botanical Gardens.

“The Virginia B. Toulmin Leadership Scholarship, awarded in honor of and in partnership with Selby Gardens President and CEO Jennifer O. Rominiecki as the scholarship’s first mentor, is a merit-based scholarship aimed at recognizing and encouraging female students who demonstrate exceptional academic achievements and leadership qualities,” the release states.

The program was established to aid development of future leaders and professionals who can contribute in impactful ways to the Sarasota community and its nonprofits.

The scholarship aims to build pathways to female leadership in the business and nonprofit world in Sarasota by providing mentorship, shadowing opportunities and financial support to high-achieving collegiate juniors or seniors pursuing bachelor’s degrees and holding a GPA of 3.5 or higher.

The selection committee comprised Selby Gardens’ trustees and major supporters. Martinez was chosen from three finalists selected from a pool of 17 qualified applicants.

The criteria consisted of academic records, leadership and a demonstrated commitment to positive community impact. The 17 candidates represented New College of Florida, Ringling College of Art and Design, University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee and State College of Florida.

Since age 8, Martinez has been involved with Girls Inc., a nonprofit delivering high-impact services for girls and advocating on their behalf to offer life-changing programs and experiences. Martinez was a recipient of the organization’s services and now works at Girls Inc. as a program success coordinator.

Martinez first connected with the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation during high school when she was given the opportunity to create a video about her experience at Girls Inc., called “Dreams of my Daughter.”

“It was an amazing experience,” said Martinez in the release. “The girls I facilitate today now look up to me as a role model. I was and still am thankful for that opportunity that the Toulmin Foundation gave my mom and I to share our story.”

In addition to receiving mentoring sessions from Rominiecki, Martinez will be appointed to Selby Gardens’ Advisory Committee to observe Rominiecki in action. She’ll also receive a one-year membership to Selby Gardens.

Courtesy image

Zuleima Martinez received the first Virginia B. Toulmin Leadership Scholarship.

Every year, thousands of our neighbors look to Sarasota Memorial for care. And across a health care system that includes 2 hospital campuses, 7 urgent care centers, 6 health care centers, 3 emergency rooms, a state-of-the-art cancer institute and a new behavioral health pavilion, a highly trained team of 3,500 nurses stands ready to answer – 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Happy Nurses Week

School board votes to oppose Title IX guidelines

New resolution defines guidelines around transgender students while also pledging to oppose new Title IX rules.

IAN SWABY STAFF WRITER

The Sarasota County School Board

voted 4-1 in favor of a resolution by board member Bridget Ziegler to reject recently established changes to federal Title IX guidelines.

The resolution states that “sex: is defined as biological male or biological female (only two sexes); is an immutable characteristic that cannot be changed, fluid, or altered,” commits to “protecting female sports” and “acknowledges the importance of single-sex facilities,” and also “supports Governor DeSantis, on behalf of the State of Florida, legal challenge of the United States Secretary of Education and the United States Department of Education’s rule changes to Title IX.”

The resolution also cites instructions by Florida Commissioner of Education Manny Diaz that educational institutions in the state not implement any changes to the guidelines during ongoing litigation.

The guidelines, set to go into effect on Aug. 1, are currently being challenged by the state of Alabama.

The vote drew extensive attention from the public.

Ziegler and Rose stated the board had received more than 1,000 emails, with protests held prior to the meeting and over 70 members of the public signing up to speak.

Board member Tom Edwards cast the lone dissenting vote.

According to those opposing the regulations, noncompliance with federal rules could cost the district $107 million in federal funding, a figure Ziegler said was closer to $50 million.

The new Title IX rules created under the Biden administration

incorporate LGBTQ+ students into the classes protected from discrimination but do not address the topic of transgender athletes. They also instituted new safeguards for victims of sexual assault.

BOARD WEIGHS RESOLUTION

Ziegler said as the board had sworn to uphold both the laws of the United States and of Florida, it found itself in a unique situation, which she said was a contradiction between state and federal law.

“There was no congressional act taken that would have changed the law; there were regulations changed, and, as was mentioned, there’s been a multitude of different changes over the years of different administrations in play, and then rescinded, and then back again, and they’ve all been challenged,” Ziegler said.

She emphasized that safeguards against bullying were already in place in schools.

“I want to be very clear, no matter what anyone identifies as, or in what subcategory we put them under, we have protocols in place, that I stand behind, that shall ensure that no stu-

dent or staff member is bullied, or harassed or discriminated against. However, we also have a responsibility to take care and ensure the safety of our students, and the Title IX changes have a dramatic impact.”

Ziegler said despite a specific mention of girls’ sports, the Title IX rules would have a “devastating” impact in that area, which would just be “the tip of the iceberg.”

Her motion to approve the resolution was seconded by Chair Karen Rose.

Attorney Patrick Duggan called the motion a departure from the manner in which the board typically operates, noting it was placed in the “member comments” section of the meeting agenda, rather than as an agenda item.

“I think it minimally complies with the law, if you all wish to vote on it today. I just wanted to point out that this is not how we normally do it from a transparency standpoint,” he said.

Board member Tim Enos raised the idea of placing the item on the agenda of the next meeting, “only in reference to making sure the six

“I have that right to protect my children, I have that right to say who goes in that restroom with my grandchild or nieces, and who doesn’t.”

Linda Wilson

different points that are on there are within the law.”

“We want to make sure that procedurally, we are in the guidelines,” he said.

Rose said she did contact legal counsel regarding the resolution to ensure it aligned with the attorney general and other directives.

Board member Tom Edwards said there were many angles from which he would like to criticize the resolution and its approach to transgender students, but also said he found its description on the meeting agenda to be extremely vague.

“The way I view this resolution is no more than what Ms. Ziegler said: ‘Game on.’ And that’s politics 100% of the time. So pass it, if you will,” he

said.

He also said he was concerned about the financial well-being of the school district, stating the resolution had not been vetted properly and could make the district vulnerable to litigation.

“I’m hearing legal advice say, let it play out and then make your decision — I’m still going to lose that night, too — but it just doesn’t make sense why we have to put ourselves and the school district in that jeopardy.”

Board member Robyn Marinelli called the decision of the government to withhold funding based on noncompliance with the guidelines “extremist.”

“The most powerful office in the world would withhold money, for lunches and breakfasts for our most vulnerable kids. That is unacceptable, and it’s just unbelievable to me, that that would be used as a threat to our children,” she said.

Prior to the meeting, more than 70 speakers signed up to comment, with a majority speaking against the resolution but some also speaking in favor.

Richard Cannarelli said the rejection of the Title IX provisions constituted a failure of the board to follow its obligation to treat students equally.

Anya Dennison of SEE Alliance criticized the resolution as not being actionable.

“Even if our school board members dislike the federal government’s expansion of Title IX, the dispute between Florida and the U.S. has barely begun, and any actions that the board takes are at risk of being negated, overturned or contradicted in the coming days and weeks,” Dennison said. “There is no academic reason to pass this resolution, and there is no way to legally enact it.”

“I have that right to protect my children, I have that right to say who goes in that restroom with my grandchild or nieces, and who doesn’t,” said commenter Linda Wilson. “I want to protect the women’s sports. We fought long and hard to get to where we are today, to have ... us kicked out and replaced.”

Ian Swaby

Lisa Schurr, co-founder and director of Support Our Schools, addresses the board, including members Tim Enos and Chair Karen Rose (pictured).

IT’S BAAAACK!

LIKE A BAD PENNY

Soundly rejected by the Sarasota Planning Commission and residents alike, the “obscene” Obsidian is back. Don’t be fooled by its new name (“1260 North Palm Avenue Residences”). It’s still an absurd, towering skyscraper (by far the tallest in our city) suitable perhaps for Miami, but not Sarasota.

Not only would this massive 327-foot tower be wedged onto a postage-stamp sized, 0.28-acre lot and loom over charming Palm Avenue, it’s not in compliance with many of the City code requirements nor in compliance with the zoning code’s compatibility criteria.

A VERY POOR TRADE

This blight on our City will require the demolition of seven retail businesses (two minority-owned) and permanently degrade the Arts District — as well as set a dangerous precedent for the rest of Sarasota.

And for what? Well, believe it or not, this planned superstructure — the tallest in all of Sarasota — will house a mere 14 condominium units. Imagine destroying the heart of this beautiful area for only 14 units!

Could this really happen? Absolutely. With summer approaching and many residents out of town, City staff may approve the massive tower without further resident input.

WE SNOOZE, WE LOSE

Your support to stop this project is critical. Write our City officials and tell them this is the wrong building in the wrong place and they should once again deny the proposal:

City Commissioners

CityCommissioners@sarasotafl.gov

Development Services Director

Lucia.Panica@sarasotafl.gov

City Manager

Marlon.Brown@sarasotafl.gov

SAME MONSTROSITY. – Thomas Jefferson

SATURDAY, APRIL 27

DUMPSTER IRE

10:17 a.m., 2600 block of Hidden Lake Drive

Civil dispute: Having been evicted by an apartment complex management company, two former tenants left a large amount of personal property in and around a dumpster, preventing residents from using it and waste disposal from collecting it.

The complaint said the evicted tenants, a man and woman whose relationship was not specified, had cleaned out their unit and hired a moving company to move large items to the dumpster. They included sofas, a playpen, wicker furniture and Christmas decorations. The manager said she confronted the pair, telling them they would have to pay for a junk removal company to collect the items. Both, she said, ignored her and told her to “take it up with the sheriff’s department.” She did take it up with SPD and was advised the incident is civil in nature and that no crime, other than one against good taste, had been committed.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 24

CAMPING OUT

12:40 p.m., 400 block of North Lockwood Ridge Road

Disturbance: An encampment of two residents on the lawn of the home they were recently locked out of by the owner prompted a neighbor to call law enforcement. She advised that there appeared to be homeless persons residing outside on one side of the house.

Officers contacted the owner who lives in and owns the property who said he told the two individuals to leave the home, but he can’t afford the legal process of eviction, meaning they still have rights to be on the property. Whether that right extends to living al fresco remains to be seen.

As this has been an issue for several weeks, an officer contacted city code enforcement for assistance.

THURSDAY, APRIL 25

DELAYED REPORT

10:27 a.m., 700 block of South Gulfstream Avenue

Property damage: A nearly monthold instance of a vehicle backing into a pole and causing damage in the parking area of a business was investigated by an officer who was advised by the complainant that the damage occurred on April 1.

A ride-share driver backed into the pole after dropping off a passenger, according to the complainant. Video of the incident showed a male driver stepping out of the vehicle and moving the pole back upright. However, the incident did leave minor damage to the pole. The type of pole involved

in the hit/tilt/straighten and run incident was not described.

One of the passengers gave the name of the driver to the complainant, who was then contacted by the officer. The driver stated he would contact the business and resolve the issue.

FRIDAY, APRIL 26

MISPLACED BLAME

9:26 a.m., 1500 block of Boulevard of the Arts

Harassment: Having been terminated by his employer, a man has been harassing an employee of a company that placed him there. The complainant told an officer she assisted in placing the subject with a local medical employer approximately four months ago.

For unknown reasons, the man was terminated, and for even more unknown reasons, has since been taking out his frustrations on the placement agency in general and the complainant in particular. The harassment includes text messages to both her personal and work phones. An officer determined the texts are not threatening to the point of criminal acts, but they suggest a hostile, racist and possibly violent nature.

The staffing agency has reached out to the subject’s former employer to make it aware of the situation. The victim and the staffing agency requested the incidents be documented. The officer urged the victim to block the subject’s number, then left a voicemail on his phone to call back.

MUSIC IN THE COURT

MARTY FUGATE CONTRIBUTOR

Democracy depends on dialogue and debate. That’s not confined to political campaigns. It also applies to crime and punishment. Reginald Rose’s “Twelve Angry Men” (1954) explored the volatile jury process as an episode of “Studio One” on CBS. Rose then adapted his original teleplay as a stage play in 1955 and a movie in 1957.

But that’s not the final verdict. His jury will be in session from May 11 to June 9 on the Asolo Rep stage. But there’s a side note: Their deliberations haves been reimagined as “Twelve Angry Men: A New Musical,” a new adaptation by David Simpatico (playwright) and Michael Holland (composer and lyricist).

The Asolo Rep’s producing artistic director, Peter Rothstein, directed the 2022 premiere at Theatre Latté Da in Minneapolis. He was part of the development process for five years before that. He’s now directing the Asolo Rep’s performance. In the following conversation, Rothstein shares why the angry jury’s findings are still relevant and why this inventive new adaptation sings the song of democracy loud and clear.

Let’s start with your source material. What makes Reginald Rose’s “Twelve Angry Men” such a classic American drama? There are several reasons. Its dramatic structure is one. Rose originally wrote it for television —

‘Twelve Angry Men: A New Musical’ sings a song of freedom in Asolo Rep’s inventive production.

Image courtesy of Michael Devaney

Asolo Repertory Theatre Producing Artist Director Peter Rothstein

and the “action” takes place in one room.

It’s a “bottle story.” Yes, exactly. That’s a radical departure from the typical dramatic structure of live theater revolving around trials. There are scores of courtroom dramas, but “Twelve

IF YOU GO

When: May 11 through June 9

Where: FSU Center for the Performing Arts, 5555 N. Tamiami Trail

Tickets: $35-$95

Info: Visit AsoloRep.org.

Image courtesy of Sorcha Augustine

Asolo Repertory Theatre’s production of “Twelve Angry Men: A New Musical” runs through June 9 at FSU Center for the Performing Arts.

Angry Men” explores the claustrophobic jury process. That’s something you rarely see — and that’s what people want to see! It’s also a fascinating character study. The piece is incredibly hopeful and idealistic. The playwright wanted America to deliver on its promise. Rose used the judicial system as a microcosm for our democracy. His drama takes you to a place where people are judged by their peers and the citizens of the nation exercise justice. Those are big ideals. For these and many other reasons, it’s an American classic.

Why turn this classic into a musical? Why not?

It’s unlikely subject matter — and I’m drawn to that. Some of the greatest musicals of all time deal with unlikely subjects.

How’d you get involved with this unlikely project?

With one innocent question. I’d been collaborating with lyricist and composer Michael Holland on a couple of new musicals, and it just came up in conversation. I asked, “Is there anything else you’re working on?” Michael said that he’d done the first draft of a musical adaptation of “Twelve Angry Men” with a book by David Simpatico, but the original producer had lost interest in it. Once I read it, I thought the draft had terrific potential. So, we put it in our development pipeline at Theater Latté Da; after five years of work, it premiered there. The story is still incredibly relevant, even though it’s 70 years old.

What makes it so relevant?

The societal issues it confronts. “Twelve Angry Men” delves into racism, ageism, xenophobia, prejudice and toxic masculinity. America wrestled with those problems in 1954 — and they haven’t gone away. They’re still with us in 2024.

OK. So, the relevance is baked into Rose’s original teleplay. It’s not something you added. Yes and no. We did make a few changes to the original. Right at the beginning, I said this musical had to have a multiracial cast. And I had zero interest in directing yet

another drama where the hero is a white person. We all agreed on that. Our goal was to cast diversity — but how diverse? In the early stages, we left that casting choice up to each individual director. But I encouraged my collaborators to spell it out. So, the script became very specific about the characters’ ethnic and cultural identities. If we’re addressing racism, xenophobia and ageism in our society, our writer and lyricist needed to lean into that. And they did.

And the result was not a color-blind musical?

No. I’d say it’s very color conscious. One character is Korean-American; one is a Mexican immigrant; one is Jewish; one is biracial. And Juror No. 8 — the Henry Fonda role — is also an African-American.

How’d you find the right mix?

Our development process weirdly echoed the experience of the 12 jurors. During our workshops, we got constant input from our multiracial cast — and the back-andforth was quite similar to the jury deliberations. It was a rare experience. How often do you have people of different races in one room together, talking about racism and toxic masculinity? The cast’s contributions, especially from men of color, added nuanced perspectives on race and representation. So, after five years of hard work, we felt like the script was ready. We originally slated it for a full production to premiere in May of 2020. But it was the weekend that George Floyd was murdered in Minneapolis.

Wow. In a horrific way, the musical’s story became even more relevant.

Yes, it did. Simultaneously, George Floyd’s tragic story hit very close to home. Minneapolis became the epicenter of the protests following his murder — and Theatre Latté Da was swept up in that. In a very short time, the conversation around racism and toxic masculinity completed shifted in this country. We went back to the drawing board and addressed the core societal issues more directly. We finally premiered in June 8, 2022.

Let’s talk about the shape of this musical. Musical theater and un-musical theater are very different animals. How did the creators make the original story work as a musical adaptation? By serving the needs of the story — and reflecting the time it takes place. Michael wanted a sophisticated midcentury jazz sound. If you listen, the 1950s is definitely a big influence on his score. There are elements of Bebop and the music of Nina Simone. But, as I said, every song must serve the story. And what is the story? “Twelve Angry Men” is not a plot-driven narrative. It’s full of arguments, not action. Men change their minds — that’s the only action in the play. How do you translate that to musical form? In musical theater tradition, the characters sing when words alone fall short. So what justifies our songs? Ultimately, we decided each song leads to a character changing their mind. That was the driving force behind our musical moments — but we kept the character turns subtle. We didn’t want to telegraph where the story was going. A predictable structure is the last thing you want in a musical.

ON THE ROAD

Photographs of the Traveling Circus and Carnival by Jill

Freedman and Randal Levenson

You obviously directed the musical’s premiere. Are some of the original actors and creative talents returning for the Asolo Rep production?

Yes. Eight actors are returning, but not simply repeating what they’ve done. It’s a character study, and that is always informed by each actor’s personality. We have a new music director, but it’s mostly the same core creative team. I’m still refining the script. Just a few tweaks — not a radical reimagining.

Will this show inspire our readers not to avoid jury duty?  I would hope so. Juror No. 11 said it best. He’s the immigrant character, and he’s escaped from a dictatorship. He thinks jury duty is a great privilege. Twelve ordinary citizens deciding on another citizen’s guilt or innocence? “We have a responsibility,” he says. “This is a remarkable thing about democracy. We have nothing to gain or lose by our verdict. This is one of the reasons why we are strong.”

Image courtesy of Sorcha Augustine

“Twelve Angry Men: A New Musical” made its premiere in 2022 in Minneapolis.

THIS WEEK

THURSDAY

KYSHONA

7 p.m. at Fogartyville, 525 Kumquat Court

$12-$20 Visit WSLR.org.

Trained as a musical therapist, Kyshona gives voice to those who feel overlooked or abandoned.

JIM MCCUE

7 p.m. at McCurdy’s Comedy Theatre, 1923 Ringling Blvd. $26 Visit McCurdysComedy.com.

Jim McCue went viral with his DryBar special “Nothing Personal,” which racked up more than 4 million views. Runs through May 11.

‘MARVIN GAYE: PRINCE OF SOUL’

7:30 p.m. at Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe, 1012 N. Orange Ave.

$20-$50 Visit WestcoastBlackTheatre.org.

Sheldon Rhoden reprises the title role in “Marvin Gaye: Prince of Soul,” written, adapted and directed by

DON’T MISS

3: BECOMING TCHAIKOVSKY’

‘DISCOVERIES

Under the direction of guest Conductor David Alan Miller, the Sarasota Orchestra imagines Tchaikovsky’s playlist. The program includes pieces by the composer’s musical heroes, including Bizet, Grieg, Schumann and Mozart. The program concludes with virtuoso cellist Zlatomir Fung performing Tchaikovsky’s timeless “Rococo” Variations.

IF YOU GO

When: 7:30 p.m., Friday, May 10

Where: at Sarasota Opera House, 61 N. Pineapple Ave.

Tickets: $35 and up Info: Visit SarasotaOrchestra.org.

WBTT Founder and Artistic Director Nate Jacobs. Gaye was a trailblazer with musical partner Tammi Terrell at Motown before touching a nation with haunting solo ballads like “What’s Going On?” Runs through June 2.

‘BANK JOB’

7:30 p.m. at Venice Theatre’s Pinkerton Theatre, 140 Tampa Ave. W., Venice

$15-$32

Visit VeniceTheatre.org.

After two brothers execute a bank heist, their perfect crime gets thwarted in a comic romp with a dash of romance thrown in. Runs through May 19.

‘KISS ME KATE’

7:30 p.m. at Manatee Performing Arts Center, 502 Third Ave. W., Bradenton

$30-$42

Visit ManateePerformingArtsCenter. com.

Winner of the first Tony Award for Best Musical, “Kiss Me Kate” tells the story of an estranged showbiz couple playing Petruchio and Kate in Shakespeare’s “Taming of the Shrew.” Runs through May 11.

‘THE IMMIGRANT’

7:30 p.m. at The Players Centre, 3501 S. Tamiami Trail, Studio 1130 $28-$36

Visit SarasotaJewishTheatre.org.

Directed by Gus Kaikkonen, Mark Harelik’s “The Immigrant” tells the story of a Russian-Jewish newcomer who makes his way in a devout Christian community in Texas. Runs through May 12.

‘THE FLIP SIDE’

7:30 p.m. at FST’s Court Cabaret, 1265 First St. $37-$42 Visit FloridaStudioTheatre.org.

With songs like “The Ballad of Sigmund Freud” and “Killed by a Coconut,” the latest cabaret creation of Richard and Rebecca Hopkins tips its musical hat to comic songwriters. Runs through June 16.

‘TROUBADOUR’

8 p.m. at FST’s Gompertz Theatre, 1265 First St. $39-$56 Visit FloridaStudioTheatre.org.

Featuring music by Sugarland’s Kristian Bush, “Troubadour’ tells the story of a country music legend’s son in the 1950s who is trying to carry on his father’s legacy. When he joins forces with unlikely allies, the world of country music is changed forever. Runs through May 19.

FRIDAY

HERMAN’S HERMITS STARRING PETER NOONE

7:30 p.m. at Venice Performing Arts Center, 1 Indian Ave., Venice

$66 Visit VeniceTheatre.org.

The lead singer of Herman’s Hermits achieved worldwide fame in his teens with such hits as “Mrs. Brown You’ve Got a Lovely Daughter” and “I’m Telling You Now.”

SATURDAY

‘CELEBRATE BROADWAY!’ SPRING MUSICAL SHOW

2 p.m. at Manatee Performing Arts Center, 502 Third Ave. W., Bradenton

$20 Visit ManateePerformingArtsCenter. com.

Manatee Performing Arts Center celebrates Broadway and honors 75 years of the Manatee Players with a revue of student performances.

TWELFTH ANNUAL STUDENT

10-MINUTE PLAYWRITING FESTIVAL

FSU Center for the Performing Arts, 5555 N. Tamiami Trail

$15-$30 Visit TheatreOdyssey.org.

Theatre Odyssey presents the student rendition of its popular 10-Minute Playwriting Festival. The festival continues Sunday, May 12.

SUNDAY

THE BROTHERS DOOBIE

2 p.m. at Venice Performing Arts Center, 1 Indian Ave. Building 5, Venice

$50 Visit VeniceTheatre.org.

This Doobie Brothers tribute band performs hits of both the Johnston and McDonald eras, including “China Grove,” “What a Fool Believes,” “Long Train Runnin’” and others.

CURTIS ON TOUR 2023-24

STRING SEXTET

7:30 p.m. at SCF Neel Performing Arts Center, 5840 26th St. W., Bradenton

$40 Visit ArtistSeriesConcerts.org.

A sextet of faculty and alumni of the Curtis Institute of Music perform Richard Strauss’s sextet from his final opera “Capriccio,” Berg’s Piano

OUR PICK

‘PARISIAN REFRACTION’

This four-program micro festival marks ensembleNewSRQ’s first appearance in The Ringling’s Historic Asolo Theater. The salute to the City of Light begins with “Soloists and Sinfoniettas,” led by Maurice Cohn, assistant conductor of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. Program 2 consists of a solo recital by pianist Conor Hanick, who will perform Otte’s “Book of Sounds.” Program 3 showcases enSRQ co-founder Samantha Bennett on violin and soprano Lucy Fitz Gibbon, who perform Kurtag’s “Kafka Fragments.” The festival closes with “Plucked and Struck,” a program led by enSRQ co-founder George Nickson, a percussionist, featuring the works of Karlheinz Stockhausen and Pierre Boulez with three harps, three pianists and three percussionists. Runs through May 11.

IF YOU GO

When: Thursday, May 9

Where: Ringling’s Historic Asolo Theater, 5401 Bayshore Road Tickets: Info: org.

Sonata in B minor, Brahms’s String Sextet No. 2 in G major and a new work by Alyssa Weinberg.

MONDAY

‘LONG TIME GONE: THE MUSIC OF CROSBY, STILLS & NASH’

7:30 p.m. at Venice Performing Arts Center, 1 Indian Ave., Venice

$50 Visit VeniceTheatre.org.

This CSN tribute band is dedicated to re-creating the special tunings, keys and sounds of the group’s songs of peace and love.

TUESDAY

TRIO GAIA

7:30 p.m. at State College of Florida, 5840 26th St. W., Building 11, Bradenton $40 Visit ArtistSeriesConcerts.org.

Artists Series Concerts presents New England Conservatory’s graduate piano trio in residence performing music inspired by folk tunes as well as Dvorak’s “Dumky” Trio. The chamber group includes violinist Grant Houston, cellist YiMei Templeman and pianist Andrew Barnwell.

Image courtesy of Matthew Holler

Image courtesy of Gary Gold

En Plein Air Wine Dinner

April 26 at Sarasota Art Museum | Benefiting SAM

As if dining under the stars in the picturesque courtyard of the Sarasota Art Museum wasn’t enough for attendees of SAM’s En Plein Air Wine Dinner on April 26, they also left with a special gift — a plate handpainted by the guest of honor, artist Molly Hatch. About 75 people enjoyed the four-course meal, with each course paired with wines from Bordeaux, and celebrated Hatch’s new installation, “Amalgam.” The installation is a collection of uniquely designed plates. Proceeds from the evening benefit the museum, which is dedicated to showcasing and celebrating new works of art in Sarasota.

— OBSERVER STAFF

Prize, NY Times, and Obie Award-Winning Performers!

work in this special program alongside Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Raven Chacon and visual art curator Candice Hopkins. Join these three remarkable Hermitage Fellows as the sun sets on the Hermitage Beach.

Skip and Janis Swan

SAM Executive Director Virginia Shearer and Michael Klauber

Camila Hatch, artist Molly Hatch and Oliver Hatch

Photos by Lori Sax

Mary Ann and John Meyer with Teri Hansen and Roberto Cordaro

4929

YOUR NEIGHBORS

ALL ABOARD!

The Sarasota Toy Museum and Moosehead Toys and Comics could open in July.

JAY HEATER EAST COUNTY MANAGING EDITOR

ith respect to Johnny Cash, “I hear the train a-comin.’”

It’s going to be rolling around the bend on 17th Street in Sarasota as early as July.

That’s when Lakewood Ranch’s Richard Pierson expects to open his Sarasota Toy Museum.

A large space in the museum will be dedicated to a professionally built (by David Frary) HO scale layout modeled after the ski area in Killington, Vermont, that has been set up and maintained by the Sarasota Bay Model Railroad Society. The layout has sections that go from winter to spring to summer to fall.

The layout was featured in Model Railroader Scenery Magazine.

“This is a world-class layout,” said Lakewood Ranch’s George Borsari, founder of the Sarasota Bay Model Railroad Society. “Just look at it. It has 28,000 handmade trees, a staggering number.

“This was built to be a museum

layout. It was designed for people to watch the trains run.”

Pierson struck a deal with members of the Sarasota Bay Model Railroad Society because he wanted the train layout in his new museum to be something more.

“Our members like to run the trains, so we designed it so people can come here and run them, not just watch them,” Borsari said.

Pierson’s idea for starting the Sarasota Toy Museum came during an antiquing trip to Quechee, Vermont, the site of the Vermont Antique Mall.

It was there he met Gary Neil, who had been curating a toy exhibit for

more than 40 years and whose finds were on display at the antique mall.

Neil told Pierson that he wanted to retire and was looking for someone who would not only buy the toys but also keep them to be displayed in a museum. Pierson told him of his desire to start the Sarasota Toy Museum, and they struck a deal.

Pierson loaded two 53-foot tractor trailers with the toys and headed to a Sarasota storage facility. The trains and the associated landscape materials were loaded up last because Pierson had decided not to take them, simply because they had more bulk than he thought he could handle.

“This is a world-class layout. Just look at it. It has 28,000 handmade trees, a staggering number.

George Borsari, founder of the Sarasota Bay Model Railroad Society

His wife, Mary Pierson, objected. She said it didn’t make sense not to take the trains because they were amazing artwork and would be a hit in the museum.

Eventually, he loaded up the trains, too.

It also became an important part of the deal that Pierson has a 20-yearold son Jacob, who has autism.

“When I started talking to Gary, I told him I had an adult autistic son, and he said, ‘I do, too,’” Pierson said.

Pierson said the toy store and museum were projects that Jacob would enjoy. “He loves trains and he loves toys,” Pierson said.

When the Sarasota Toy Museum opens, it will be open to all special needs children and adults for free.

Pierson found a 6,000-squarefoot building for rent on 17th Street just off the corner of Beneva Road. He decided to dedicate 4,000 square feet to the museum while the front 2,000 feet would be another of his businesses, Moosehead Toys and Comics.

He put all the toys from Vermont in storage, and then spent time looking at the train layout, which was in more than 50 pieces, not including all the boxes that contained various landscape pieces and train accessories.

“I was just looking at the mass of what I had,” he said. “I had people I knew take it apart, but I didn’t have anyone to put it together. So me not knowing anything about trains, I went looking for train clubs.”

He found Ellenton’s Dave Fontaine, who is on the board of directors of the Sarasota Bay Model Railroad Society. Fontaine, who is 64, built his first model train layout when he was 15 years old and has pursued the hobby his entire life.

Pierson admitted looking upon the pile of model trains and parts in storage and thinking he never would see it all put together like it was when he bought it in Vermont.

“We were looking at it thinking, ‘This is going to be a challenge,’” Pierson said.

But then Fontaine and Pierson went to work.

While Pierson has workers ready to build all the display cabinets once he gets further along in the permitting process, the model railroad layout is mostly finished.

Besides piecing everything together, Fontaine has changed the display from one that was coin-operated —

Owner Richard Pierson hopes to open the Sarasota Toy Museum by July.

Photos by Jay Heater

Lakewood Ranch’s George Borsari, of the Sarasota Bay Model Railroad Society, said the model railroad exhibit that will be on display at the Sarasota Toy Museum is a “world-class layout.”

Dog in need finds the spotlight

A Sarasota Middle School teacher adopted Maloney after he was a special guest at a performance at the Van Wezel.

IAN SWABY STAFF WRITER

As Nicole Machenheimer and her seventh grade class headed back from the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall on the school bus in November 2023, Machenheimer’s thoughts weren’t just on the play they had seen, “The Call of the Wild,” which she called a “fabulous show.”

It was on a certain star who had taken the stage.

Machenheimer asked her class what they thought of Maloney, the rescue dog from Satchel’s Last Resort, who had been a special guest preceding the performance, held specifically for students.

The class agreed that Maloney was cute.

When Machenheimer said she was going to adopt him, the students didn’t believe her at first — so she repeated the statement to show she was serious.

“Why?” she recalls the students asking.

“I don’t know; I just feel like I really need to do that,” she said.

Taking the stage with Satchel’s volunteer, Angelina Troche, and Van Wezel’s director of education, Justin Gomlak, Maloney showed his gentle demeanor as he relaxed and even lay down before the crowd while his human companions discussed the mission of Satchel’s.

Maloney’s family had to retire him to the shelter some months before due to unfortunate circumstances.

At first, he had been sad and unwilling to engage with anyone, but as he became adjusted to what had happened, he grew more outgoing.

“This particular day, we were like, ‘You know what, he would probably be very chill being in front of a crowd,” said Jill Creevy, board president of Satchel’s Last Resort. “So it was just kind of meant to be.”

During and after the performance, Machenheimer couldn’t get Maloney out of her mind.

“I was just like, ‘Oh my God he’s so cute. And he’s so big. And he needs a home,’” Machenheimer recalls thinking from the seat she occupied near the front of the auditorium with the class.

Machenheimer went to meet Maloney that Saturday, and by Monday, had taken him home in time for Thanksgiving.

“How wonderful it is that our intention was just to create awareness around the mission of Satchel’s, and in fact that mission came to life thanks to the platform that the Van Wezel stage gave to Maloney,” Gomlak said.

Often, Creevy said, it can be difficult for the shelter’s larger dogs to find homes due to restrictions in condos and apartments on the size of pets.

“He came out of the shelter with lots of love, and now he’s even doing so much better,” Creevy said.  Maloney fits right in at home with her and her husband, Tom Machen-

IF YOU GO SATCHEL’S LAST RESORT 8101 Coash Road. Visit SatchelsLastResort.org.

heimer, Nicole Machenheimer said.

At first, their dog Faith was reluctant to lose her place as the only dog in the home, but after about a month, the two pets became friends, and now lick each other’s faces.

Maloney enjoys trips to locations like Celery Fields and Red Bug Slough Preserve, and will have the chance to take a trip to a cabin in North Carolina this summer.

Machenheimer said the adoption has been impactful for the students, who have been eager to hear about Maloney.

Although he may not be allowed on the school campus, he was integral to one school assignment.

Before the holiday break, the students, who have been learning life science and genetics, had to submit their top three guesses for Maloney’s breed.

Machenheimer had a DNA test conducted over the break.

Although a few students came close by guessing bullmastiff, no one guessed his precise genetic makeup, which was primarily pit bull and included German shepherd, beagle, Labrador retriever and bullmastiff — not Saint Bernard, as many had thought.

But it didn’t end there.

“The kids and I have connected on a totally different level,” Machenheimer said.

She said the story led to students engaging differently in class as well, sharing their own stories about their pets.

“They were really engaging, and owning that familial connection with their own pets, and sharing with each other, which I thought was neat.”

Ian Swaby

Nicole Machenheimer and Maloney, Jill Creevy, board president of Satchel’s Last Resort, and Muffy Lavens, public relations director at Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall

Situated in one of Sarasota’s most cherished historic locations, and framed by Sarasota Bay, the gated Owen Golden Gate Point’s luxurious resort lifestyle will allow residents to take full advantage of both the city ranked as the number one place to live in Florida and beaches that are acknowledged as being among the best in the world. A development of the award-winning Ronto Group in partnership with Wheelock Street Capital, The Owen offers just 29 condominium owners an opportunity to fully enjoy all the best of Southwest Florida. Named by U.S. News & World Report as the 2023-2024 #1 Place to Live in Florida and the #5 Place to Live in the United States, Sarasota is renowned for the caliber of its galleries, performing arts, boutiques, and dining. Just across the Sarasota Bay Bridge, St. Armand’s Circle, a Southwest Florida treasure, provides a gateway to a beach scene that includes Siesta Beach that is ranked the #2 Beach in the U.S. and the #9 Best Beach in the World in 2024 by TripAdvisor’s Traveler’s Choice Awards™.

The 22-acre Golden Gate Point peninsula’s smart, relaxed personality is distinctive and perfectly suited to a luxury lifestyle. With its tree-lined sidewalks, brick pavered streets, lighted entry, and bayfront backdrop, Golden Gate Point is insulated from the density and congestion found in other downtown areas. Urban dwellers appreciate Golden Gate Point’s easy access by foot, bike, car, or trolly to St. Armand’s Circle, the beaches, and downtown’s attractions. Protected sidewalks extend for miles in all directions, creating opportunities for an invigorating run, a peaceful walk, or a trip to the marina or yacht club for fishing, boating, or dining. Just across from the entry to Golden Gate Point are the Ritz Carlton & Westin Hotels, where one can indulge in a meal, a cocktail, a rooftop encounter, or a spa treatment.

Designed by MHK Architecture and Planning, The Owen’s exterior will be awash in the neutral tones of the shore with gentle curves suggestive of its setting on the Point. Created by Carrie L. Riley, ASID, IIDA, NCIDQ and president and licensed principal interior designer at riley interior design, The Owen’s amenities and common areas will present a soft, livable ambiance that encourages residents to become fully engaged with the new building’s resort lifestyle. That lifestyle will offer a full measure of privacy, exclusivity, and luxury.

Owners and their guests will be greeted in The Owen’s grand two-story lobby. The lobby’s architecture will be one of the interior’s most enduring memory points. The building’s amenity level will feature a social room with comfortable seating as well as a game room with an indoor/outdoor bar. Both spaces will open to a landscaped outdoor amenity deck with an infinity edge saltwater pool, billowing palm trees and tropical container gardens, lounge chairs, a separate spa that will be ideal for soothing aching muscles or enjoying a perfect moonlight plunge, a fire pit seating area, and a bar and grilling area with seating. Additional outdoor amenities will include a walking path along the property’s perimeter, a fenced dog walk/park area, guest parking, and bicycle storage.

The interior design throughout the communal spaces will present organic materials and finishes that create a softer, more livable ambiance that is neither sterile nor contemporary. On the amenity level, herringbone wood flooring and fluted or channeled wood wall details will be incorporated into the look. The attractive, comfortable, and highly functional social room will be a multipurpose space that caters to the residents while encouraging them to enjoy the opportunities to socialize afforded by the design. Whether it’s a private party, a bridal shower or baby shower, a game day viewing party, a club meeting or group get together, the social room will offer an engaging space that will be enjoyed by all.

Adjacent to the social room, the game room’s casual feeling will make it a fun, appealing space for entire families – whether it be children, grandchildren, young adults, or adults. The room will have warm finishes and wall coverings, hanging lighting fixtures, and ceiling details. Banquette seating will convey a coffee shop vibe. As planned, the room will feature a pool table, shuffleboard, and ping pong. An indoor/outdoor bar and an open-door style will open to the outdoor amenity deck.

A fitness center will also be featured on the The Owen’s amenity level. The space will provide a spa-like ambiance with marble, wood, and other soothing finishes. The selections will ensure the fitness areas avoid feeling like a space with just equipment and a rubber floor. Residents will have the freedom to bring in their own personal trainers and massage therapists to work within the fitness center. Additional spaces are being created for stretching, yoga, and Pilates.

Even given the comprehensive array of indoor and outdoor amenities that will combine to present a uniquely luxurious living experience, The Owen’s most valuable amenity is its location on a 1.18-acre site that encompasses the entire southern tip of the interior point of Golden Gate Point. Saltwater breezes wafting from the waters of Sarasota Bay, Southwest Florida’s renowned sunsets, views of the nearby marina, and Sarasota’s vibrant entertainment and cultural arts scene will all serve as joyful reminders of the allure of the Southwest Florida living experience.

Ronto is continuing to accept sales contracts for residences at The Owen Golden Gate Point. Contact the LRM Group at Douglas Elliman Real Estate located at 1350 Main Street, Suite 2, Sarasota, FL 34236. Call 941.210.0987.

Artist’s Rendering

Artist’s Rendering

The

Artist’s

Situated in one of downtown Sarasota’s most cherished historic locations, and framed by Sarasota Bay, the gated Owen Golden Gate Point is being developed by The Ronto Group in partnership with Wheelock Street Capital.

RIGHT ON TRACK

allowing patrons to put coins into a slot

or digital command

which allows the layout, sounds, trains and accessories to be controlled by a computer.

Pierson said eventually his patrons at the museum will be able to control the layout through their cell phones.

“It was a big step,” said Borsari, who said gone are the days when “blocks” of the layout were controlled by switches that were mounted on the board.

“It is not a matter of running a train around a Christmas tree anymore,” Borsari said.

The Sarasota Toy Museum and Moosehead Toys and Comics will be staffed by Pierson and his two sons, Jacob and Richard Jr., who is 34.

Pierson, who made a living in the fashion industry working for Tommy Hilfiger and Guess Jeans before retiring, said while the model railroad component is an entertaining feature of the museum, he has plenty of antique toys to round out his museum.

“I’ve got cap guns from back in the

1800s,” he said. “I’ve got hundreds of vintage lunch boxes, a large collection of tin toys from the turn of the century (and early 1900s), Barbies, Star Wars collections, red line Hot Wheels and early battery operated toys.” Pierson said he never had many toys himself growing up because he was a kid at a time when many children played outside and used whatever was available, such as sticks, as toys. He would like his patrons to experience “the wow factor” when they come into the museum, thinking about the toys they had in their childhood.

Jay Heater

Lakewood Ranch’s Richard Pierson is owner of the Sarasota Toy Museum, which is expected to open in July on 17th Street in Sarasota.

325

$3,985,000

Fabulous gathering

t a table in the Fogartyville Community Media and Arts Center, Bren Bacon found a perfect space to watch the lineup of musicians during the Be Fabulous Music & Arts Pride Fest on May 4.

“I’m enjoying it,” Bacon said. “Zeta the Babe is amazing. It’s my second time at this facility. I like it a lot. It’s very chill.”

Formerly known as the Harvey Milk Festival, the event highlights the local LGBTQ+ arts community and returns next year to its previous location of Five Points Park. The three-day festival began with the “Empowered” exhibition, a collaboration with SEE Space Alliance on May 2 and the art collective “Swamp Yell” at The Players Studio on May 3.

The lineup on May 4 brought together talent from the local area including Grace Cespedes, nowincolor, Brittany Zeff and MeteorEYES of Sarasota, as well as Zeta the Babe and Summer Hoop of Tampa.

“This was not only just a Pride event. It’s a great showcase of LGBTQ artistic talent, which we don’t get to see as often in this community at a normal Pride event or function,” said Jules Rayne, a local transgender activist and community organizer with Equality Florida who was the keynote speaker at the May 4 event.

IAN SWABY

Sloane Clyburn-Stone, 3

Artist Bianca Clyburn takes a look at the typewriter of poet Steve McAllister.

Photos by Ian Swaby

Lori England, Joshua Hardinger and Mica England. The owner of Blvd Cafe in Sarasota, Mica England is known for her lawsuit against the Dallas Police Department filed in 1990, which succeeded in changing the department’s hiring policy toward gays and lesbians as well as laws criminalizing homosexuality in North Texas.

Downtown fiestas

“It’s

She

de Mayo Block Party held by the restaurant on Saturday and Sunday.

Attendee Elena Herrera said the party, which brought together street food, bars and live music by Bri Rivera Band, drew a young crowd, which meant that there was a chance to witness lots of lively celebrations.

The event was one of two block parties held over the weekend in the downtown Sarasota area, with the other being the Circo de Mayo event at the restaurant Circo.

The Circo de Mayo event, now in its third year, focused on local vendors, bringing in booths from spots such as its neighbor 99 Bottles Taproom & Bottle Shop.

“We bring in local vendors and we partner with everybody and bring everybody together at the gathering place and have some fun with everybody,” said Joe Guli, owner of Circo.

DJ Daft Gomix (Abe Gomez) provides atmosphere at Circo.

Emmanuelle Nobert, a performer from Karen’s Hora Loca, dressed in a costume based on “The Mask,” and Deirdra Sampson.

Photos by Ian Swaby

Jeff Berman, Juliana de Brés-Taylor, Kevin Tucker and April Shereda at El Melvin

Point Crisp home sells for

ADAM HUGHES RESEARCH EDITOR

Ahome in Point Crisp tops all transactions in this week’s real estate. Michael Martin Kaiser and John Spencer Roberts, of Great Falls, Virginia, sold their home at 1321 Point Crisp Road to Elizabeth Gold, of Sarasota, for $8.1 million. Built in 2001, it has five bedrooms, six-and-a-half baths, a pool and 6,572 square feet of living area. It sold for $7.2 million in 2022.

SARASOTA

RIVO AT RINGLING

Curtiss and Martha Schantz, trustees, of Sarasota, sold the Unit PH304 condominium at 1771 Ringling Blvd. to Isaac and Vivien Kalvaria, of Sarasota, for $2,475,000. Built in 2006, it has three bedrooms, three-and-a-half baths and 3,365 square feet of living area. It sold for $1,053,000 in 2009.

Sean McLauglin and Ammar Muaket, of Alexandria, Virginia, and Michael Stevens, of Naples, sold their Unit 608 condominium at 1771 Ringling Blvd. to Mary Liebman, of Sarasota, for $775,000. Built in 2006, it has two bedrooms, two baths and 1,442 square feet of living area. It sold for $405,000 in 2007.

HOUSE OF INDIAN BEACH

Douglas and Gwendolyn MacKenzie, of Sarasota, sold their home at 567 Bellora Way to Daniela Niemetz and Markus Schyboll, of Sarasota, for $2.3 million. Built in 2020, it has two bedrooms, three baths, a pool and 2,933 square feet of living area.

THE LANDINGS

Manuel and Margot Gordillo, of Sarasota, sold their home at 4828 Peregrine Point Circle W. to Robert Ira Carey, of Sarasota, for $1.96 million. Built in 1996, it has four bedrooms, three baths, a pool and 3,950 square feet of living area.

Sandra Rollings, trustee, of Sarasota, sold the home at 4567 Camino Real to Alexander Horrell Hays and Samantha Peshkin Hays, of Sarasota, for $1,843,000. Built in 2000, it has two bedrooms, three baths, a pool and 3,333 square feet of living area.

SARASOTA BAY CLUB

Sarasota Bay Club LLC sold the Unit 1010 condominium at 1301 Tamiami Trail to Wiley and Margaret Osborn, of Sarasota, for $1.22 million. Built in 2000, it has two bedrooms, two baths and 1,546 square feet of living area. It sold for $560,000 in 2013.

Sarasota Bay Club LLC sold the Unit 305 condominium at 1301 Tamiami Trail to James McQuaid, of Sarasota, for $1,175,000. Built in 2000, it has two bedrooms, two baths and

This home at 1321 Point Crisp Road was built in 2001. It has five bedrooms, sixand-a-half baths, a pool and 6,572 square feet of living area.

1,546 square feet of living area. It sold for $820,000 in 2021.

ESPLANADE BY SIESTA KEY

William Wagner, trustee, of Sarasota, sold the home at 2409 Vaccaro Drive to Gayle Wright, trustee, of Dayton, Ohio, for $1.2 million. Built in 2013, it has three bedrooms, three baths, a pool and 2,262 square feet of living area. It sold for $1.2 million in 2023.

Bruce and Diane Alexander, of Sarasota, sold their home at 5866 Cavano Drive to Nicklas David Hanes and Sheri Lyn Hanes, of Sarasota, for $700,000. Built in 2013, it has two bedrooms, two baths and 1,639 square feet of living area. It sold for $331,200 in 2013.

ONE WATERGATE

Aziz Abdulkarim Tejpar and Nirza Tejpar, and Nabila Tejpar, of Lakewood Ranch, sold their Unit 14-F condominium at 1111 N. Gulfstream Ave. to Frank Emmerling, of Pittsburgh, for $1,125,000. Built in 1974, it has two bedrooms, two baths and 1,577 square feet of living area. It sold for $545,000 in 2015.

Robert and Camille Dulaney, of Flat Rock, North Carolina, sold their Unit 3-F condominium at 1111 N. Gulfstream Ave. to Jon-Paul Toppino and Stephanie Howe, trustees, of Sarasota, for $855,000. Built in 1974, it has two bedrooms, two baths and 1,577 square feet of living area. It sold for $515,000 in 2019.

PINE SHORES ESTATES

Lydia Heck, of Fayette, Ohio, sold two properties at 6139 Hollywood Blvd. to 6139 Hollywood LLC for $975,000. The first property was built in 1953 and has two bedrooms, two-and-two-half baths, a pool and 935 square feet of living area. The second property was built in 2013 and has one bath and 759 square feet of living area. They sold for $700,000 in 2021.

FOREST LAKES COUNTRY CLUB

ESTATES

Staff and Palm LLC sold the home at 3402 Brookline Drive to Brookline Retreat LLC for $760,000. Built in 1972, it has three bedrooms, two baths, a pool and 1,650 square feet of living area. It sold for $515,000 in 2023.

SOUTH GATE

Gregory Falcone and Wendi Chapman, of Sarasota, sold their home

at 2624 Hibiscus St. to Robert and Margaret McDonald, of Sarasota, for $720,000. Built in 1957, it has three bedrooms, two-and-a-half baths and 1,680 square feet of living area. It sold for $460,000 in 2023.

CITYSCAPE AT COURTHOUSE CENTRE

Carolyn Elizabeth Kamperman, trustee, of Richmond Hill, Georgia, sold the Unit 7 condominium at 1990 Main St. to Enrique Zalamea, of Sarasota, for $700,000. Built in 2005, it has two bedrooms, two-and-a-half baths and 1,269 square feet of living area. It sold for $570,000 in 2021.

ONLINE

See more transactions at YourObserver.com

Other top sales by area

SARASOTA: $2.9 MILLION

Bay View Heights

Merry Williams, of Sarasota, sold three properties at 1718 Bayview Drive to Nabil and Tara Elsheshai, of Sarasota, for $2.9 million. The first property was built in 1938 and has four bedrooms, three baths, a pool and 3,636 square feet of living area. The second property was built in 1938 and has one bedroom, one bath and 484 square feet of living area. The third property was built in 2014 and has one bedroom, one bath and 486 square feet of living area. They sold for $2.05 million in 2018.

PALMER RANCH: $875,000

Beneva Oaks

Kenneth and Darina Watkins, trustees, of Sarasota, sold the home at 3688 Beneva Oaks Blvd. to Christopher and Jennifer Evans, of Sarasota, for $875,000. Built in 1980, it has three bedrooms, two-and-a-half baths, a pool and 3,123 square feet of living area. It sold for $615,000 in 2017.

OSPREY: $5.8 MILLION

Casey Key James Lees Jr. and Tatyana Linger Lees, of Nokomis, sold their home at 476 N. Casey Key Road to Thomas Rauscher and Dawn Rauscher, trustees, of Osprey, for $5.8 million. Built in 2021, it has three bedrooms, threeand-a-half baths, a pool and 4,740 square feet of living area. The property sold for $1.2 million in 2018.

NOKOMIS: $587,000

Sorrento Woods

Ronald and Karen Dipillo, of Venice, sold their home at 1185 Sorrento Woods Blvd. to OP Gold LLC for $587,000. Built in 1986, it has three bedrooms, two baths, a pool and 2,296 square feet of living area. It sold for $299,000 in 2004.

Courtesy photo

SATURDAY, MAY 11

PASSPORT TO THE BAZAAR

10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at The Bazaar on Apricot & Lime, 821 Apricot Ave. Free. Collect stamps on your “passport” from 40 local artisans and vendors at The Bazaar on Apricot & Lime to earn the chance to win a $1,000 staycation in Sarasota. Live music will be provided by the Music Compound. Visit BazaarOnApricotandLime.com.

SIESTA CON 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Robarts Arena, 3000 Ringling Blvd. General admission, $10; VIP admission, $50; tournaments, $40. At this comic, anime, toy and game convention, find exhibitors including The Dark Side Comics and Games, Bat City Comic Professionals, cosplay artists and special guests. For info, visit SiestaCon.com.

COSPLAY CLUB

2-4 p.m. at Selby Library, 1331 First St. Free. Using thrifted and ordinary materials, create objects for cosplay or everyday wear, including hats, capes, swords, tunics, arm and leg guards in preparation for SRQCon on June 8. Visit SCGovLibrary. LibraryMarket.com.

CHERYL COLEMAN AUTHOR

TALK: ‘BEFORE THE LAND RUN’

6-7 p.m. at 1331 First St. Free. Join author Cheryl Coleman, who visited Oklahoma’s 13 surviving Black towns to speak with residents and leaders to write her book “Before the Land Run.” Visit SCGovLibrary. LibraryMarket.com.

MONDAY, MAY 13

MAKE AND TAKE CARNIVOROUS PLANT BOG

BEST BET

SATURDAY, MAY 11

SIGNATURE ARTISTS AT THE BAY:

URBAN BUSH WOMEN

1-2 p.m. at The Oval, 1055 Boulevard of the Arts. Free. Join Urban Bush Women (Jaimé Yawa Dzandu, Kentoria Earle, Love Muwwakkill, Mikaila Ware), the 2024 artists in residence of the Sarasota Performing Artist Foundation, as they perform an excerpt from “Haint Blu,” followed by a collaborative performance developed with community artists from Sarasota. The performance is followed by a special Dance for Every Body Workshop. Registration required. Visit TheBaySarasota.org.

10 a.m. to noon at 6700 Clark Road Twin Lakes Park. $44.52 per person. Learn about carnivorous plants and create a carnivorous garden in a pot. Guest speaker Kenny Coogan, author of “Florida’s Carnivorous Plants,” will share his knowledge. Visit EventBrite.com.

WEDNESDAY, MAY 15

PAINTING WITH THE POLICE

11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at Robert L. Taylor Community Complex, 1845 John Rivers St. $10 per person. Get to know officers from the Sarasota Police Department. Visit LetsPlaySarasota.com.

THURSDAY, MAY 16

CINEMA AT THE BAY: ‘BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY’

7-9:15 p.m. at The Bay Park, 655 N. Tamiami Trail. Free. “Bohemian Rhapsody” (PG-13), tells the story of the British rock band Queen leading up to its famous performance in 1985 at Live Aid. Visit TheBaySarasota.org.

Good vibes on Palm

The May 3 concert on Palm Avenue by The Alan Grant Band was the main event of Vibe on Palm, part of the Fresh Fridays series held the first Friday of each month and presented by the Downtown Improvement District. Joseph Grano, Jr., president and founder of Next-Mark, the company that organizes the event, said the events are increasingly well known in the local community as they continue to draw record crowds.

“The Downtown Improvement District continues to be enthusiastic, along with the city of Sarasota, in sponsoring the event and providing all the support that we need to make this happen, and we’re thrilled to be a part of it,” he said.

— IAN SWABY

Julia Griffin and Melissa Parker enjoy the vibes on Palm Avenue.

Photos by Ian Swaby

Debra Braunstein and Lukas Braunstein, 8, play a game of Jenga.

SPORTS

Fast Break

Former Cardinal Mooney

High boys lacrosse star MJ McMahon and the University of Utah (12-4) will play Duke University in the first round of the 2024 NCAA Division I Men’s Lacrosse Championships at 2:30 p.m. May 11. The game will air on ESPNU. The Utes earned a tournament berth by defeating Jacksonville University 16-13 in the Atlantic Sun Conference Championship on May 5. McMahon has 10 goals and 16 assists in 2024.

… The Cardinal Mooney High beach volleyball team defeated Calvary Christian 3-2 at home on May 2 to advance to the Florida High School Athletic Association state tournament, held May 10-11 in Tallahassee. The No. 2 seed Cougars (19-2) will play No. 15 seed Dwyer High (11-1) in the first round of the tournament at noon on May 10. Sarasota Sharks swimmer Colin Jacobs won the Men’s Junior 7.5K (1:28.23) at the 2024 Open Water National and Junior National Championships, held May 3-5 at Nathan Benderson Park. Sarasota Tsunami swimmer Jackson Irwin finished second (1:28.28). The Hershorin Schiff Community Day School cheer team finished second at the East Coast Grand National Championships, held April 2728 in Orlando. The program is in its first year of cheer competition, previously serving as a sideline cheer team for the school’s other athletic programs.

… Riverview High rising senior tight end/defensive end Jaden Key received an offer from North Carolina A&T University on May 3. It is Key’s third NCAA Division I offer after the University of Tennessee-Martin and Gardner Webb University.

“The 400 gives me time to pick up my speed, and I know how to hold my speed well.”

—

PACE TO WIN

RYAN KOHN SPORTS EDITOR

For a moment, Ellen Jaffe Jones stopped and stared.  She couldn’t stop for much longer than that.

She was in the middle of a race, after all — the SUP and Run 5K, held May 4 at Nathan Benderson Park.

But she felt compelled to stop.

Jones looked at the park’s lake, and at the clear sky. In that moment, Jones said, she thought about how lucky she was to be where she was, doing what she loves to do.

Then she continued the race and finished it.

Jones, 71, finished third in her age group (38:43.6) despite switching between running and walking to keep her heart rate below 180 beats per minute, a side effect of a recent thyroid problem she’s been managing.

The race was the 300th that Jones has placed in since 2006, when she started keeping track. Jones keeps the results in a spreadsheet and the medals in her home.

Jones has reached out to Guinness World Records to see if the number of races is a record for a person her age, she said, but she’s still waiting to hear back.

A record or not, the milestone is one Jones is proud to achieve — and she has no plans to stop now. She’s having as much fun as ever.

“Being happy with yourself is about feeling good,” Jones said. “Do what you can to wake up with a positive attitude in the morning. Stay alive.”

Jones began running as a method of staying healthy. Family members have dealt with things like breast cancer, Jones said, and she saw how they struggled. She wanted to live the healthiest lifestyle possible.

Jones is also a proud vegan and has written several books on the subject. She loves nothing more than proving her athletic ability to anyone who believes vegans cannot sustain the athleticism necessary to run like she

Ellen Jaffe Jones, 71, has placed in 300 races and has no plans to stop.

“Being happy with yourself is about feeling good. Do what you can to wake up with a positive attitude in the morning. Stay alive.”

— Ellen Jaffe Jones

does, she said.  Sometimes, Jones has a goal in mind when entering a race. Other times, like at the SUP and Run 5K, she just wants to place. That’s because Jones is nursing a broken rib — an injury suffered not at a running race, but at a swim meet, when she accidently walked into the path of a water hose and fell. She was forced to take “three to four” weeks away from running, she said, which was agonizing.

JONES’ RUNNING ADVICE & TIPS

1. Age is just a number Jones is firm on this. Though she had been running in some form since the 1980s, she only became competitive about it in her 50s. She has the medal from her first race, held at GT Bray Park, hanging on her rearview mirror as a reminder that it is never too late to try something new. Simply put: You won’t know if something is for you until you try it, so you might as well try. Age is just a number” goes both ways, too: The SUP and Run 5K had a 0-9 division for young runners.

2. Mix up your routine Cross-training can be a great way to keep things from getting stale. Riding a bike or going to the gym will get your juices flowing while giving your brain a different experience. And as runners, Jones said, it is important to keep your bones strong to prevent injury, particularly for women. Find activities that you enjoy and can do on a regular basis, and work them into your routine.

3. Don’t stop when things get challenging Everyone goes through something at some point, Jones said. With her current rib and thyroid issues, Jones is proof of that. But she is not taking those things as a sign to stop. On the contrary, Jones will see her doctors to determine the fastest way to be back doing what she loves. Figure out your weak points and work on them, Jones said, and be proactive about it.

4. The dreaded ‘R’ word: Rest Though Jones doesn’t enjoy taking time away from running or other exercise, sometimes it is necessary. After recovering from her broken rib, Jones said, she took weeks away from the gym, letting the muscles around the rib stretch back into place, before returning on May 7. To her surprise, the exercise felt great upon her return, she said. Time away from activities can reignite a passion for them when you return. That goes for races, too: If you’re feeling burnt out, take some time off, then return when you miss them.

Courtesy image

Former Cardinal Mooney High at-

tacker MJ McMahon is a star at the University of Utah.

MISHYAH RUMPH, junior, Cardinal Mooney High track & field. SEE PAGE 15B

Courtesy images

Ellen Jaffe Jones has competed in Senior Games events, but

Sarasota’s Ellen Jaffe Jones started running competitively in 2006 to live the healthiest life possible. Jones, 71, is also a vegan and works out regularly.

May sports bloomers

Their teams’ records didn’t match them, but these area prep athletes enjoyed breakout individual performances.

Now that May is here, the spring sports season — and the 2023-2024 high school season in general — is coming to a close. Our area schools have only track and field left to finish their seasons, the one exception being Cardinal Mooney High beach volleyball, which will wrap up its season at the Florida High School Athletic Association state tournament this weekend.

It was a relatively quiet spring for an area that usually thrives at this time of year; no Sarasota baseball or softball teams reached the regional tournament. But that doesn’t mean there were no performances worth celebrating.

Before everything ends, here’s a look at some area athletes who performed to high standards even if their teams didn’t have the seasons they wanted.

SUSAN LOWTHER, RIVERVIEW HIGH GIRLS LACROSSE

It may seem like old hat because Lowther, a senior, has been doing this for years now — by “this,” I mean racking up points at a prodigious rate — but we as a sports community should not take her accomplishments for granted. Somehow, Lowther managed to top her breakout performance from 2023. She finished her 2024 campaign with 107 goals and 55 assists, good for a 162-point total. That is the third-most points in the U.S., according to MaxPreps, as of May 7.

The Rams finished their season 11-7, ultimately falling 21-11 to Plant High in the regional semifinals on April 30. They will have a lot of talent coming back next season to make another run, but losing Lowther to Clemson University will be a big loss.

As for Lowther, I feel confident that she’ll continue her scoring barrage with the Tigers.

ALLISON COLE, RIVERVIEW HIGH SOFTBALL

Cole, a junior, did not participate in high school softball prior to this season but quickly made a name for herself on the mound and at the plate. Cole pitched to a 1.40 ERA over 124.2 innings. She struck out 232 batters in that time; her stuff was difficult to even touch. If there’s an area Cole can improve for next season, it is her control. Cole walked 77 batters in 2024. That’s only 0.62 batters per inning, and Cole also allowed just 60 hits all season. Cut down on the free passes, and her ERA could drop below 1.00 in 2025.

Of course, Cole is not just a pitcher. She led all Rams regulars with a .492 average and was second on the team with six doubles, one shy of junior Ella Trandem’s seven.

Cole’s play helped turn around Riverview’s record from 2023. The Rams finished 16-7 but lost 7-3 to Lakewood Ranch High in the district tournament semifinals.

COLE BY THE NUMBERS

1.40 ERA

124.2 Innings

232 Strikeouts

EVAN POZNANSKI, SARASOTA

CHRISTIAN SCHOOL

Though SCS finished just 11-12-1 in 2024, freshman baseball player Evan Poznanski set the Blazers offense alight. Poznanski hit .490 with seven doubles, a triple and 21 RBIs, all of which led the team or tied for the lead. His batting average and on-base percentage (.618) were both fifth best in the entire Sunshine State Athletic Association, according to MaxPreps.

Poznanski also took a page out of Cole’s book and tried his hand at pitching; he held a 2.13 ERA over 13.1 innings. A small sample size, but an encouraging one.

With three years left to play, there’s no limit on how good Poznanski can be.

MORGAN PEGGS, RIVERVIEW

HIGH

Rams baseball junior pitcher Morgan Peggs pitched to a 1.45 ERA over 43.1 innings. He struck out 44 hitters over that span and held an

on-base percentage of 0.270. It was a massive step-up from his 2023 season, when he held a 7.00 ERA over 17 innings. He didn’t have his best stuff in the team’s season-ending loss to Lakewood Ranch High in the district tournament, giving up three runs, but coming into that game, Peggs had allowed just two runs over his previous five appearances. Keep that production up in 2025 and he will be primed for a big season.

OLIVIA LOCKHART, CARDINAL MOONEY HIGH

Other than Lowther, perhaps no athlete in the area had as eye-popping a statline as Olivia Lockhart, the Cougars freshman softball star. Lockhart hit .721 with 10 home runs, seven triples, five doubles and 52 RBIs in 20 games. Lockhart’s average was fifth best in the Florida High School Athletic Association, all classes; her slugging percentage (1.525) is fourth best; and no one

had more RBIs. She accomplished that last feat despite having only 70 plate appearances, which is at least 16 less than everyone else in the top five.

Lockhart also held a .917 fielding percentage at shortstop and stole 21 bases. She didn’t pitch, but she did basically everything else one can do in softball, and she did it all at an incredibly high level.

Thanks in part to Lockhart’s play (and the people who got on base in front of her), the Cougars went 15-5 but lost 9-4 in the district semifinals to Clearwater Central Catholic on April 30.

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

Ryan Kohn

After not playing softball her first two years of high school, Riverview High junior Allison Cole was a force on the mound and at the plate for the Rams.

Mishyah Rumph

Mishyah Rumph is a junior girls track and field athlete at Cardinal Mooney High. Rumph holds the school record in the 200-meter dash (26.26 seconds) set at the Florida High School Athletic Association Class 2A District 11 championship meet April 30 at Booker High. Rumph and the Cougars won the meet as a team.

When did you start running?

I started when I was 7 or 8. I just started going to different running camps. I liked running, and I looked up to people running in the Olympics. I didn’t start taking it seriously until middle school, though, like eighth grade. That was my first time running organized track. And I’ve been doing it since then.

What is the appeal to you?

I like how competitive it is. You might start in the back, but by the end of the race the people in the front lose the speed they had in the beginning. So they are trying to hold on, and you’re trying to catch them and the crowd is going (wild). It’s awesome.

What is your favorite event?

I like the 400. I’m not a fast person out of the gate. The 400 gives me time to pick up my speed, and I know how to hold my speed well. That’s what gives me my advantage.

Are you happy with how you are performing right now?

I am. When I first came back out (this season), I didn’t perform as I would have liked. I was upset. And that caused me to become better and keep working. I’ve

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

been doing that and it is showing. I’m proud of myself.

What events would you like to try?

The 800. I’m strong in the 400, and I think if I can do that for two laps, I could be pretty good at it. My teammate Rosemary (Selke, junior), she runs the 800. I think that would be a pretty good competition. I think she would push me to become faster.

What is your favorite food?

My favorite meal is chicken tenders, fries and strawberries.

What are your hobbies?

I spend a lot of time with my family and my friends. We’ll try new restaurants or go to the mall.

What is the best advice you have received?

Just run your race. Don’t worry about what anyone else is doing.

Sometimes you’ll see someone pass you and try to go faster, but you can’t do that. Just run your race and focus on how you have trained and

ATHLETE OF THE WEEK

… Majestic. I don’t know why; I just always use that

NATURE’S BEAUTY WITH

RD NB GBI EOBR ODTD BG DMTIO PE IOD BGHZ IOPGW IOMI OXTIE XE PG IOD MVIDTHPVD.”

EIDJDG EYPDHSDTW

One Clue: Y equals P

“IH DTVOSIJYPZT LVX V NZLAXP NEDDCZT: XPZ EXZS YJ LJTTH VRJEY XAF YPAODX VY JOWZ.” TAWPVTS CZLAX

Two Clue: T equals R

“GWR DJML XJM GWR VEGJM YB VODVNB GWR BVPR. DR’MR OJJLYFC XJM V WTPVF SRYFC. DR’MR OJJLYFC XJM SROYRUVSOR WTPVF SRWVUYJM.” VFF IJDI © 2023 NEA, Inc.

Three Clue: U equals V

TRACE ELEMENTS by Dylan Schiff, edited by Jeff Chen

By Luis Campos

INFORMATION & RATES: 941-955-4888 redpages@yourobserver.com •yourobserver.com/redpages

DEADLINES: Classifieds - Tuesday at Noon Service Directory - Friday at 3PM • PAYMENT: Cash, Check or Credit Card

The Sarasota and Siesta Key Observer reserves the right to classify and edit copy, or to reject or cancel an advertisement at any time. Corrections after first insertion only.

*All ads are subject to the approval of the Publisher.

*It is the responsibility of the party placing any ad for publication in the Sarasota and Siesta Key Observer to meet all applicable legal requirements in connection with the ad such as compliance with towncodes in first obtaining an occupational license for business, permitted home occupation, or residential rental property.

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.

Help Wanted

bs

real esta te

Please email your resume and WPM typing speed for immediate consideration to kboothroyd@businessobserver . com. Please also specify your available date to start.

*This position must be performed in the of ce. No remote work is available.

Competitive pay, holiday pay, and health insurance available