Sarasota/Siesta Key Observer 5.30.24

SARASOTA/SIESTA KEY

YOUR TOWN

Tangible meaning

It began when students’ inspiration was sparked in 2011.

During a class on the Holocaust for seventh graders at Temple Sinai, teachers screened the film “Paper Clips,” a documentary about a middle school class in Whitwell, Tennessee, which collects 6 million paper clips to represent the 6 million Jewish victims of the Holocaust.

“The kids said that if a little town in Tennessee could do it, they could do something, too,” said Sue Huntting, coordinator of the Tabs for Souls project.

To make tangible the 6 million lives lost, children began collecting aluminum can tabs.

Today, the project has grown to involve a new generation of students, as well as their parents, older members of the congregation and nearly 150 donors outside of the synagogue, and has now passed the halfway mark with a count of 3.8 million as of May 13.

This spring, with guidance from Southside Elementary teachers Michelle Rivas and Stacey Holman, it also came to involve the students there.

“It really is a win-win all the way around,” said Huntting, stating that the event spreads awareness and thinking about the Holocaust to the whole community.

She hopes once all the tabs have been collected, they can become an art installation.

Hit the beach for fun run series

Looking for ways to burn off some of the kiddos’ excess energy this summer?

Sarasota County is bringing back its annual free Kids’ Summer Beach Run series to Siesta Beach starting June 4.

Each Tuesday through July 30 (with the exception of July 2), kids can participate in a 1-mile fun run that starts at Siesta Key Public Beach.

Participants receive a ribbon, and children who complete four runs receive a T-shirt and coupons for Gecko’s and New Balance. Visit SarasotaCountyParks.com for more info.

Ian Swaby

Liliana William and Miguel Gomez participate in the Memorial Day Parade on a motorcycle.

Courtesy image

Morgan

WEEK OF MAY 30, 2024

BY THE NUMBERS

$47M

Estimated cost to raise the roof of the Van Wezel and add 600 seats according to the 2021 Karins Engineering report.

PAGE 6

$12M

The amount of a federal grant requested by the city for 10th Street and Boulevard of the Arts complete street projects.

PAGE 4

40 Number of members of the Choral Artists of Sarasota who will be traveling to France to perform at a D-Day commemoration.

PAGE 17

CALENDAR

n Sarasota County School Board regular meeting

— 6 p.m., Tuesday, June 4, Board Chambers, Landings Administration Complex, 1980 Landings Blvd. (black awning entrance).

n Sarasota County Commission regular meeting — 9 a.m., Tuesday, June 4, Commission Chambers, 4000 S. Tamiami Trail, Venice.

n Sarasota County Commission regular meeting — 9 a.m., Wednesday, June 5, Commission Chambers, 1660 Ringling Blvd.

“What we need is a convention center. What we do not need in the post office area is another luxury condo tower.”

Sarasota developer Mark Kauffman. Read more on Page 3

Food pantry turns tables on hunger

IAN SWABY STAFF WRITER

The Salvation Army opened its new Food Pantry and Feeding Program the week of May 13 at its Sarasota Corps on Tuttle Avenue.

“There’s just so much going on right now,” said Michele Matthews, area commander for Sarasota County. “The cost of living, the cost of housing and the lack of affordable housing within the community is just stretching people more and more.”

The program is the first fully accessible food pantry within the immediate Sarasota area that

Matthews can recall the nonprofit offering.

A pantry on 10th Street has been reserved mainly for those involved in other Salvation Army programs, such as recovery and group home programs.

The organization had already been operating a food pantry in Venice, which last year provided 10,647 grocery orders to individuals struggling with food insecurity.

Staff decided to open a location in Sarasota when they saw a large increase in visits to the Venice location, as well as more requests for food items from those seeking help with utilities in Sarasota.

All Faiths Food Bank is working in partnership with the Salvation Army on the project, although it is also receiving donations from other parties including Publix and Costco.

Matthews said a reason for the need in Sarasota County, but particularly the northern part of the county, is the major employers are the tourism, trade, hospitality and restaurant industries.

“Those are some of our biggest employers, but those also hire the lowest wage earners, and then those are the folks that get really stretched with inflation and all of those other higher-cost items,” Matthews said.

Sarasota County fleet team honored

Rising from 43rd place last year to 13th in 2024 as ranked by the National Association of Fleet Administrators, the Sarasota County Fleet Services team has been honored as among the 100 Best Fleets in the Americas list for the second consecutive year.

Judges evaluate applicants based on operational efficiency, succession planning, sustainability, technology and asset life cycle management.

The county has three maintenance facilities across the county serving 1,305 on-highway and 418 off-highway vehicles. In 2023, Fleet Services received more than 4,500 scheduled and more than 1,700 unscheduled work orders.

The Fleet Services team deploys technology and data systems to improve operations such as an organization-wide telematics program and integration of county databases and applications. The technological advances allow fleet management to make data-driven decisions for better organizational improvements and customer service.

Barancik Foundation honors five teachers

Five Sarasota County Schools teachers have been recognized with the Charles & Margery Barancik Foundation Ripple Effect Teacher Award for their impact in the classroom and beyond.

Founded by Barancik Foundation to celebrate exceptional Sarasota County public school teachers, the award includes a $5,000 gift.

The honored educators are Stacy Bellanca, Garden Elementary; Carrie Koontz, Taylor Ranch Elementary; Jillian Nelson, Sarasota Middle; Brittany Smith, Venice High School; and Shannon Wynne, Pine View.

The foundation will present five more awards in September in memory of Margery Barancik, who was a teacher. Nominations are submitted annually by school principals at the invitation of school district leadership and the foundation. Since 2021, Barancik Foundation has recognized 35 educators with the awards.

Ian Swaby

Director of Development Kelley Granahan and Area Commander Michele Matthews

POSTAL PROJECT PITCH

Developers seek to garner support from the DID board for a public-private partnership to transform post office into hotel and event center.

ANDREW WARFIELD STAFF WRITER

Sarasota developers want to team up on a decadelong effort to bring a right-sized convention center and adjacent hotel to Sarasota, and they are asking the Downtown Improvement District Board of Directors for help. The idea is to redevelop the south side of the block of Ringling Boulevard between Orange Avenue and Pine Place, the site currently occupied by the city-owned Federal Building and the U.S. Postal Service office and its vehicle maintenance yard. The Federal Building would remain and the new construction would occur on the post office property.

Sarasota developers Mark Kauffman and Sadek Omar, managing partner of Jebcore Development, pitched the idea to the DID board on March 5. Two months later, the board heard from Wayne Appleby, the city’s economic development manager, who suggested the board consider backing the idea by lobbying the Sarasota City Commission.

Kauffman and Omar told board members much has to happen first, including the city gaining ownership of the post office property. They said the U.S. Postal Service is looking to relocate both the main office and the maintenance yard in separate locations, and that often, when the federal government vacates property, it is deeded to the host city.

The pitch is that the city would retain ownership of the property and lease it to the partnership, which would build and operate the facilities.

“The city would not be obligated to any fiscal loss,” Kauffman said, suggesting a possible revenue-sharing arrangement with the city. “We also envision acquisition of several properties on Main Street so that there could be a dramatic entry and exit to from this convention center to Main Street. What we need is a convention center. What we do not need in the post office area is another luxury condo tower.”

At the March DID meeting, Omar presented a similar project under construction in Stillwater, Oklahoma. Although the exact specs of a Sarasota convention center have not yet been developed, the model of the medium-sized meeting facility and an adjacent boutique hotel is the sweet spot lacking in Sarasota.

Speaking directly to the DID board’s mission, Kauffman and Omar, with the help of downtown advocate and Downtown Sarasota Condominium Association President David Lough, said such a facility would provide a steady flow of new visitors to downtown retailers and restaurants.

The window of opportunity is now, they said, because of the coming potential availability of the property, the planned Benderson Development repurposing of the county government administration building across Ringling Boulevard that may also include a hotel, the eventual loss of the event space at the Hyatt Regency when it is redeveloped as a condo tower, and possible integra-

THE VISION

■ State-of-the-art event center

■ Uniquely blended with historic, preserved Federal Building

■ Central city location

■ Right sized

■ Target higher-end events

■ Leverage Sarasota as an experiential location

tion within the city’s coming economic strategic plan rewrite.

That’s where Appleby enters the picture.

“What I really think your role is, is do you want to be an advocate for this project and to ask for the city to consider it and study it?” Appleby told the DID board. “If that’s the case, then you probably allow the chair or a representative to meet one-onone with each of the commissioners first and then do a board report on this project and determine whether or not the City Commission wants to entertain being a major player in this.”

The board was generally in support of the plan.

“It’s really a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to acquire that piece of land,” said board member Eileen Hampshire. “It just seems like there’s synergy there.”

Kauffman also addressed the board during the May 7 meeting, laying out the roadmap for success of the project, which includes a land swap.

The post office, he said, is about 70 years old, and the U.S. Postal Service wants a modern facility in downtown. Meanwhile, the city owns land on U.S. 301 next to the courthouse, which he said is an ideal location for that new post office.

“The concept is bigger than the DID and is bigger than the city, so it has to go to the national level and we have to incorporate maybe somebody like (Rep.) Vern Buchanan to help us get there,” Kauffman said.

“But you’ve got to get the ball started and the concept is for the city to make an offer to the United States of America that we will give you the land on 301 and you can build your modern post office right there.”

At the conclusion of the May discussion, DID Business Manager Julie Ryan, sensing a consensus of the board, made her recommendation.

“I would suggest that the chair (Chris Voelker) set up meetings with the individual city commissioners, and then perhaps at one of our next meetings, we officially put it up for a vote to present a board report,” she said. “I think once the chair has the opportunity to meet with the commissioners she would have a better idea of the receptiveness of it at this time.”

Ryan added the matter may also be brought forward at its next meeting, when an appearance by City Manager Marlon Brown is on the agenda.

Courtesy images

An overhead view of the proposed site of a convention center and hotel by developers Mark Kauffman and Sadek Omar of Jebcore Development. The plan is to preserve the federal courthouse building in the foreground.

A street level view of a preliminary conceptual rendering of a convention center and hotel on the site of the U.S. Post Office in downtown Sarasota. The rendering was designed by Hoyt Architects.

A street level view of a preliminary conceptual rendering of a convention center and hotel on the site of the U.S. Post Office in downtown Sarasota.

Sadek Omar, of Jebcore Development, and Sarasota developer Mark Kauffman are proposing for the U.S. Post Office site in downtown Sarasota a convention center and hotel similar to this one under construction in Stillwater, Oklahoma.

JEBCO Ventures is partnering with Virginia-based Omnium to develop this convention center and hotel in Stillwater, Oklahoma.

Specialized Dental Care

60% designed and 0% funded

City staff anticipates a decision on federal grant for Rosemary District complete street projects.

rawing such a crowd that the formal presentation on May 23 had to be repeated, the city of Sarasota’s transportation planning staff laid out concepts and plans now at the 60% design stage for complete street projects on 10th Street and Boulevard of the Arts.

As one standing-room-only group heard from Senior Transportation Planner Corinne Arriaga, waiting in the wings was a second equally sized crowd, shuffling between display boards and speaking with staff in the anteroom of the SRQ Media Studio at City Hall.

“The origins of this project came from Sarasota In Motion, the first ever citywide transportation master plan,” Arriaga said. “It prioritizes transportation decisions to provide safe and diverse choices, and it acts as a guideline for transportation investments. Tenth Street and Boulevard of the Arts were both in the top 10 priorities.”

CONSTRUCTION PHASES

■ 10th Street from U.S. 41 to Lemon Avenue

■ 10th Street from Lemon Avenue Orange Avenue

■ Boulevard of the Arts from the bayfront to Orange Avenue

■ Boulevard of the Arts intersection at U.S. 41

Ranked second was 10th Street and Boulevard of the Arts came in at No. 10, but because both projects are in the Rosemary District and in close proximity, both were advanced together as a single project that, in an effort to minimize construction fatigue, will be divided into four phases. Arriaga’s presentation highlighted contrasts between the 30% conceptual design and the more refined 60% stage, but she emphasized that certain elements such as landscaping and artistic shade structures where trees cannot be planted are for illustrative purposes only.

The dual-street project will cover 0.4 mile of 10th Street between U.S. 41 and Orange Avenue, Boulevard of the Arts 0.7 mile from the bayfront to Orange Avenue.  There is a roundabout planned at 10th Street and Orange Avenue.

ANDREW WARFIELD STAFF WRITER

Andrew Warfield

Sarasota Chief Transportation Planner Alvimarie Corales speaks with residents about complete street plans for 10th Street and Boulevard of the Arts.

Because of a lack of right of way at Boulevard of the Arts and U.S. 41, though, the staff-preferred option of a roundabout is not feasible. That will be built as a raised intersection to slow speeds and provide higher visibility of pedestrians.

None of it happens until funding is secured, Arriaga said. The city has applied for a $12 million federal RAISE (Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity) grant, which requires a $3 million local match. That decision should come this summer, and the city is seeking other funding sources as well.

Other available monies would address environmental and sustainability elements of the project. For 10th Street, staff is seeking funding for water and sewer treatment, rain gardens to purify stormwater runoff and the roundabout at Orange Avenue.

“We know roundabouts, especially in hurricanes, are really helpful for evacuation because if the signals go out, it becomes a mess,” Arriaga said. “With a roundabout you don’t have to worry about that. It functions, it’s efficient and it’s smooth in times of storms.”

For Boulevard of the Arts, alternate funding sources are sought for landscaping and the stormwater treatments, rain gardens, the raised intersection at U.S. 41, undergrounding of utilities and adding a reclaimed water line for landscaping irrigation.

Once funding is secured, the projects can advance to the design-build stage.

For 10th Street the project includes:

■ 11-foot travel lanes

■ 12-foot planted median from Central Avenue to Lemon Avenue, then varying between 9.75 feet and 14.75 feet to Orange Avenue based on width availability

■ 8-foot sidewalks

■ 7-foot planting strip areas that would act as bioswales for stormwater treatment or possible rain gardens

■ 5-foot bike lane

■ 3-foot bike lane buffer

Boulevard of the Arts will remain largely untouched between U.S. 41 and the bayfront, but plans are for 11-foot travel lanes with a 10-foot

WATCH THE WORKSHOP

The community meeting about the complete street projects for 10th Street and Boulevard of the Arts may be viewed on the meetings and videos page at SarasotaFL.gov.

median, 10-foot sidewalks and eight feet of landscaping

Between U.S. 41 and Orange Avenue plans include:

■ 12-foot travel lanes with “sharrows” to indicate both vehicle and bicycle use

■ No median

■ 11-foot sidewalks

■ 6-foot planting areas

■ Parallel parking where possible

The complete street plans are

based in part on community input, according to Arriaga.

“In 2022, we had a community survey where we had over 1,000 people respond and tell us what they wanted to see. Additionally, we had two open houses two years ago today and had over 85 people attend,” she said. “What we heard was people wanted to see more landscaping and green space. They wanted a balance to support local businesses as well as

economic development and traffic flow. They felt it was a formal gateway to The Bay Park and that they wanted protected bicycle lanes and pedestrian-focused lighting.”

There is still time for residents to have their say about the projects. Comments to be entered into the record will be accepted through June 3 by emailing Corinne.Arriaga@ SarasotaFL.gov.

Courtesy images

A conceptual drawing of shade structures along the complete street projects of 10th Street and Boulevard of the Arts. Actual design of elements such as landscaping and shade structures will occur in the design-build stage.

A proposed cross-section of 10th Street between Central Avenue and Lemon Avenue.

Purple Ribbon recess

Van Wezel repurposing study group will reconvene in August, at which point it will have one year to complete its work.

ANDREW WARFIELD STAFF WRITER

With just more than a year to deliver its recommendations to the Sarasota City Commission, the panel studying the potential repurposing of the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall is heading into a summer hiatus. When it convenes again on Aug. 20, the Purple Ribbon Committee will have 12 months to complete its work. Its city-appointed facilitator has urged the group to consider increasing its meeting frequency beginning this fall.

Following its once-monthly meetings in August and September, Jim Shirley told the committee at its May 21 meeting that it will be armed with more details and data from the city’s many performing arts groups about their potential needs, and from Visit Sarasota County regarding inquiries about convention space should the PRC’s suggestions include such adaptive re-use potential.

“By then, we will have gathered a lot of information that we don’t have right now,” Shirley said. “At one of those two meetings, we will begin determining do we need to go twice a month if we need to. Is that workable for you because we’re not limited, but we want to be prepared to get our work done.”

Shirley’s suggestion was met with a tepid response — many of the members’ professions require considerable travel and looping them in virtually isn’t an option. But it wasn’t dismissed outright as he tabled that matter for discussion at a later date.

Among the information that will become available later this year is a detailed engineering study of the Van Wezel, a critical element to determine the viability of retaining

it in another form should the city move forward with a new Sarasota Performing Arts Center.

The City Commission recently agreed to terms on a design agreement for the SPAC with Italy-based architecture firm Renzo Piano Building Workshop. A concept design and cost estimate for a new performing arts hall is due Nov. 30. Currently estimated at approximately $275 million, the refined cost projection could determine if the SPAC will be built.

Jennifer Jorgensen, the city’s director of governmental affairs, told the committee negotiations between the city’s procurement personnel are underway with an engineering firm with a familiar name to study the Van Wezel’s viability.

“They have ranked their first top three candidates,” Jorgensen said. “Karins Engineering is that firstranked vendor and they’re currently in negotiations. If they come to an agreement, then they will move forward.”

Karins Engineering of Sarasota was the firm commissioned by the city to produce a study in 2021, which is often cited by supporters of a movement to keep the Van Wezel as the city’s primary performance hall.

This next study will take a deeper look at the building under the lens of repurposing rather than renovating and expanding.

That report projected a price of nearly $47 million to raise the roof to accommodate a balcony and increase seating by more than 600 seats to 2,400 total, other miscellaneous renovations, and floodproofing.

About 70% of the building is below the 15-foot base flood elevation.

Flooding concerns will remain should the Van Wezel be repurposed, and the cost of renovation and reuse adaptation will be a determining factor.

CONSIDERATIONS

CONVENTION

The PRC has already heard from several organizations and individuals about possible new uses for the building, ranging from immersive art

space to an extreme sports venue to a more intimate performance space with a flippable floor to convert seating into a level event space floor.

“We mentioned at our last meeting that (convention space) was one of the things that we feel like we need to know more about as a committee, and you need to know more about is what’s out there now,” Shirley said of developing an inventory of regional convention/event space venues. “With the presentations that we’ve had and the discussions that we’ve had, things have popped up like a convention center. Things have popped up like a place to have galas and other types of community events that could really enhance the city as we move forward.”

Committee member David Rovine said it is important to not only know the number of convention centers that exist in the region, but the types and sizes of the facilities as well, plus data from Visit Sarasota County regarding the number of inquiries it receives for convention and event spaces.

That, Shirley said, will be included in a report from Visit Sarasota County in August or September.

“A convention center in 1989 is not really what a convention center may be today, and we need to get our mind wrapped around that, not to make a final conclusion, but to have information so that we can factor that into our thought process.” Shirley said.

Under the umbrella of future discussion are the needs of the county’s arts and cultural organizations and how a repurposed Van Wezel might serve them. Shirley said Arts and Cultural Alliance of Sarasota County CEO Brian Hersh is assembling details from all of the organizations under the ACASC advocacy umbrella. That will be presented to the committee in August or September as well.

“Brian and the organization have indicated that they want to work with us,” Shirley said. “They’re going to put together a questionnaire, a survey of the arts organizations about what their sizes are, what their needs are, etc. And then they’re going to be convening some meetings with various arts organizations to get a grip on what’s real and what’s not real and right now.”

Chief executive oyster

MARK GORDON BUSINESS OBSERVER

In March, John and Amanda Horne, owners of Oysters Rock Hospitality, accepted the Mary E. Parker Lifetime Spirit Award from Spirit of Manatee Awards hosted by the Manatee Community Foundation, and John made an unexpected announcement. While not retiring, he is beginning to transition out of the CEO role that oversees six Anna Maria Oyster Bar locations in the Manatee-Sarasota market — which in AMOB lingo is chief executive oyster.  The Bradenton-based company has some 400 employees, and in addition to the six AMOB locations, the company owns St. Armands Circle staple Cafe L’Europe.

Eleni Sokos, director of brand strategy at the company since October 2022 and executive vice president since March, is the CEOin-waiting.  Sokos grew up in the restaurant business: Her parents owned and operated Demetrio’s Pizza House on Cortez Road in Bradenton for some 45 years. And Sokos and her husband, Jason, own Kefi Streetside Cafe, a Mediterraneaninspired restaurant and coffee shop in downtown Bradenton. (Kefi means the joyful beauty of feeling alive in Greek.)

“One day, I think she’s going to take my job as chief executive oyster at Oysters Rock Hospitality,” Horne said from the dais at the award event while he choked up, surrounded by a dozen or so employees, and, of course, a stunned Sokos.

“I looked over at the Manatee

Anna

Maria Oyster Bar founder to slow down, names next CEO.

Chamber table, and their jaws were wide open,” Horne recalled in an interview a few weeks after the luncheon.

Sokos, meanwhile, said her “heart was pounding” when Horne made the announcement. They had talked about succession and had a general plan. So Sokos knew something was coming — eventually. But she didn’t know when. And the week leading up to the event had actually been a tough one for the company, in personnel and operations matters. Tough enough where Horne kidded with Sokos, quipping a few times: “Are you sure you want this?”

“It was a really difficult week for everybody,” said Sokos. “We say we do five-star fun here, but sometimes it’s not always easy” to have five-star fun while running the company.

Fun and jokes aside, there is a solid and simple business reason for the transition: time.

Horne, 63, has been hustling in the restaurant business for some 40 years. He founded the first Anna Maria Oyster Bar in 1995 on the City Pier on Anna Maria. Before that, he worked for Fast Eddie’s on Anna Maria, where he started bussing tables and later did pretty much everything from front to back of the house roles for a decade. Before that Horne bussed tables at a country club in Bartow.

“I’ve been doing (Anna Maria Oyster Bar) for 28 years. I don’t have enough gas in the tank to do it another 28 years,” Horne said. “This will allow us to continue the Anna Maria Oyster Bar for customers for a long time, and I will get to slow down. I will get to spend time with Amanda. I will get to spend

“This will allow us to continue the Anna Maria Oyster Bar for customers for a long time, and I will get to slow down. I will get to spend time with Amanda. I will get to spend time in the mountains.”

John Horne

time in the mountains.”

Sokos, 35, has been spending time working on her new role, leaning on her hospitality and other entrepreneurial ventures. That includes Sokos Solutions, a brand-focused marketing company she founded in 2017 that, for a time, counted Anna Maria Oyster Bar as a client.

“She has that entrepreneurial spirit. She’s never-say-die and she just makes it work, and that’s what you have to have in this industry,” Horne said. “She’s also excellent at not kicking the can down the road. She’s great at making decisions.”

Sokos said one aspect she’s most proud of about the promotion to be the firm’s next CEO is “John and Amanda trust me.”

Her biggest challenge, she said, is continuing to make sure the right people are in the right roles. “The

succession plan depends so much on the development of our team,” she said, “so developing our people is the No. 1 priority for me.”

Sokos, to that goal, has been rereading the 2022 book “Unreasonable Hospitality: The Remarkable Power of Giving People More Than They Expect,” by New York restaurateur Will Guidara. The book, she said, is a deep dive into the difference between a smart restaurant concept and a customercentric restaurant concept.

Sokos thinks often about where Oysters Rock Hospitality and the Anna Maria Oyster Bar brand fits into that, and where the brand will be in five or even 10 years.

“We want to become the restaurant of choice for the next generation,” she said. “We want to cultivate that raving fandom.”

Mark Wemple

Eleni Sokos, 35 is taking over the CEO role (chief executive oyster) from Anna Maria Oyster Bar founder and co-owner

John Horne, 63.

Title IX rules: tyrannical fiat

When Washington bureaucrats shove their views on us by imposing new rules and new laws, blame Congress for giving the unelected wonks so much power.

Article I, Section 1: All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives.

Article II, Section 1: The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America. Section 3: … he shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed … U.S. Constitution

By now, it goes without saying — but we’re going to say it anyway — anything Sarasota County School Board member Bridget Ziegler proposes is going to be vilified, tarred, spat upon. Just her name brings convulsions to her opposition.

But if you can be open-minded for several minutes, try to put aside the person who proposed what became a controversial resolution at the May 7 Sarasota County School Board meeting.

The resolution was titled: “A resolution … to commit that no policy or procedural changes shall take place or be considered in response to the April 19 Title IX rules changes.” The accompanying box spells out the specifics of that resolution.

This resolution came in response to the U.S. Department of Education issuing a 1,577-page amendment (essentially, new rules and regulations) to the Title IX law that Congress adopted and the president signed in 1972. That law, most of us know, says:

“No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance.”

That’s the law that essentially required all schools receiving federal funds to offer classes and sports in equal levels to boys and girls and men and women.

But as of April 19, the policy bureaucrats in Joe Biden’s Department of Education decided to change the law.

Did you get that? Bureaucrats decided they would make law. Congress did not.

Now, before we get into the farce behind this rule change, the fact unelected Department of Education bureaucrats decided to make new law should make your blood boil. That is one of the most annoying aspects of Washington politics — how the unelected political, bureaucrat class floods us every day with wealth-sapping, libertykilling rules and regulations.

Who do they think they are?

Take special note above, for instance, of the first sentence in Article I of the U.S. Constitution: “All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress … ” Nowhere in the Constitution is there one letter giving law-making authority to the hired help. But alas, Congress is the guilty one. It has been and is indeed stupid enough and lazy enough to abdicate the details of new legislation to the unelected political class. For more than 100 years, this is how it has worked. Our elected representatives have voted for thousands of supposedly magnanimous laws intended to improve our lives (Ha!) and then told their staffs to make the rules and enforce them. The devil indeed is in the details. There it is: “20 U.S. Code, 1682 — Federal administrative enforcement.” That federal code “empowers” and “authorizes” “each federal department and agency” “to effec-

‘GOD DID NOT MAKE A MISTAKE’

“… (T)he United States is especially in need of a moral renewal, and not only a power struggle for the power, for their own power, but also a moral renewal against drugs, against all this abuse of minors and all this wrong things of selfdestruction.

“The change of your sexes and genders is absolutely stupid, because God did not make an error when he created you or me or everybody as men or women in our personal individual body. That is

tuate” (enact) Title IX “by issuing, rules, regulations or orders of general applicability … ” And whatever rules the D.C. wonks want, all they need is presidential approval. Congress’ approval is not required. This is tyrannical fiat. This is letting 3-year-olds run loose in a candy store. Every day is a play day — another day to suck up millions of Americans’ tax dollars, spending hours and weeks writing 1,577 pages of new rules and law to alter the social construct of this nation to reflect their view of the world. In this case, it means declaring that the word “sex” in the 1972 Title IX law does not mean biological sex. For them, a person’s biological sex now encompasses sexual orientation and gender identity.

It means, frankly, Biden’s Department of Education wonks have declared it is legally acceptable for men who think they are women to participate in women’s sports and shower in women’s locker rooms. And it means so much more. The devil is indeed in the details.

A 15-YEAR CAMPAIGN

In a lawsuit attempting to stop implementation of the new rules, 15 attorneys general, including Florida’s Ashley Moody, have illuminated how the move to upend 40 years of accepted legal and social norms came about. It didn’t start with Biden. It started with Barack Obama’s promise to transform America.

This has been a relentless, 15-year campaign.

Starting in 2009, shortly after Obama’s inauguration, “Through guidance and aggressive investigations, that administration tried to expand Title IX to include gender identity, broaden the scope of actionable sexual harassment and relax procedural protections for the accused,” the AGs’ lawsuit states.

One of the administration’s legislative attempts occurred in 2013.

A bill to extend Title IX’s sex-based provisions to gender identity came before the House of Representatives. The attorneys general lawsuit

20 U.S. CODE § 1682

This is the federal code that gives federal bureaucrats the authority to make rules — er, to make law:

“Each Federal department and agency which is empowered to extend Federal financial assistance to any education program or activity, by way of grant, loan, or contract other than a contract of insurance or guaranty, is authorized and directed to effectuate the provisions of section 1681 of this title with respect to such program or activity by issuing rules, regulations, or orders of general applicability which shall be consistent with achievement of the objectives of the statute authorizing the financial assistance in connection with which the action is taken. No such rule, regulation, or order shall become effective unless and until approved by the President.”

a gift to be born as a man or as a woman, because all the possibilities for later, for the marriage, to become fathers and mothers, to live in the family.

“And therefore, it is very important to teach the young people of the importance of their existence. Everybody is loved by God, and everybody is loved in his situation, in his condition, as male or female condition, or in whatever condition he is born in Asia, Africa, America or Europe. Everybody has the same closeness and friendship to God …”

Muller

Cardinal Gerhard

March 3, 2024

reports: “According to the ‘findings’ section of that proposed law, congressional action was necessary because ‘federal statutory protections expressly address discrimination on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, disability and national origin’ but ‘do not expressly include sexual orientation or gender identity.’” The bill failed.

A year later, the Department of Education’s civil rights division attempted a work-around toward its goal, proclaiming in a “guidance” document that “Title IX’s sex discrimination prohibition extends to claims of discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation.”

The next year, in 2015, another bill came before Congress attempting to make official law what the civil rights division declared. “The bill was nearly identical to the one that failed in 2013,” the attorneys general lawsuit states. But “once again, Congress did not pass the legislation.”

Not once, but twice, Congress presumably expressed the will of the people: No.

Nevertheless, according to the AG lawsuit, “As the failed attempts to amend Title IX piled up, so did the pressure from outside groups demanding that the government change Title IX through unilateral executive action.”

In May 2016, nearing the end of the Obama administration, the Department of Education issued a “Dear Colleague” letter to schools taking federal funds. The letter said the department would “trea(t) a student’s gender identity as the student’s sex for purposes of Title IX and its implementing regulations.”

It told school administrators “because a student who asserts a female gender identity must be treated identically to a biologically female student under Title IX, any attempt to restrict shower, bathroom or locker-room use according to biological sex would be unlawful. It also warned schools that failing to ‘use pronouns and names consistent with a student’s gender identity’ constituted unlawful harassment under Title IX.”

Once again, new law by presidential and bureaucrat fiat.

Thirteen states sued, alleging that the 2016 letter was unlawful under the Administrative Procedure Act. A Texas court agreed and issued a temporary injunction.

In their current lawsuit, the attorneys general cite nine other lawsuits where the courts repeatedly have affirmed that the word “sex” in Title IX “was widely understood to refer to immutable, biological differences between males and females.”

As far back as 1982, an Arizona court warned, “(D)ue to average physiological differences, males (will) displace females to a substantial extent if they (are) allowed to compete” in women’s sports, and “athletic opportunities for women (will) be diminished.”

Three years after the adoption of Title IX, even the late liberal Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, then a college professor, wrote an op-ed in the Washington Post “advocating for constitutional guarantees of the privacy rights recognized by Title IX,” the AG

SCHOOL BOARD RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, the United States Department of Education released a final rule, making significant changes to the regulations implementing Title IX, that run afoul of Federal and State Laws; and WHEREAS, Title IX, enacted by Congress in 1972, provides that “no person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.” 20 U.S.C. §1681(a); and … WHEREAS, the United States Department of Education’s unlawful attempt to redefine “Sex” to include “Gender Identity” would have disastrous impacts to girls and women’s safety in restrooms, locker rooms, and sports; and …

WHEREAS, The Commissioner of Education of the State of Florida, at the direction of the Governor of the State of Florida, has instructed that “no education institution should begin implementing any changes while legal challenges ensue”; NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED the School Board of Sarasota County, Florida, in a public meeting duly called and assembled:

1. Affirms that “sex”: is defined as biological male or biological female (only two sexes); is an immutable characteristic that cannot be changed, fluid or altered;

2. Affirms that inherent biological differences and abilities exist between the two sexes and commits to protecting female sports;

3. Commits to ensuring the safety, privacy and protection of all students, and acknowledges the importance of single sex facilities;

4. Provides that no person shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity within Sarasota County Schools;

5. Supports Gov. DeSantis, on behalf of the State of Florida, legal challenge of the U.S. Secretary of Education and the U.S. Department of Education’s rule changes to Title IX;

6. Commits that no policy or procedural changes will be implemented or considered as legal challenges ensue, and hereby acknowledges the paramount duty of the District to make adequate provisions for the education of all children residing within its borders.

lawsuit says. Ginsburg: “Separate places to disrobe, sleep, perform personal bodily functions are permitted, in some situations required, by regard for individual privacy.”

Two years after that, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights concluded “the personal privacy principle permits maintenance of separate sleeping and bathroom facilities” for males and females under Title IX.

And in a 2023 lawsuit challenging the Biden administration’s interpretation of Title IX, the court ruled: “(T)he government has repeatedly issued guidance to the public at odds with the interpretation it now asks us to adopt. And surely that counts as one more reason yet to question whether its current position represents the best view of the law.”

The sum of all these rulings is the courts have sided with the original view of Title IX — that sex discrimination is about biological sexes, males and females, and not gender identity.

The Trump administration held to that view as well. In May 2020, it rejected a request “to treat gender identity the same as biological sex and to subject students to formal

“If we are to build a better world, we must remember that the guiding principle is this — a policy of freedom for the individual is the only truly progressive policy.” Friedrich Hayek “Road to Serfdom,” 1944

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MATT WALSH

discipline for failing to use a classmate’s preferred pronouns.”

CONGRESS

IGNORING

But after Biden started in 2021, the efforts that started with Obama revved up again — this time more aggressively and ignoring Congress.

In June 2021, the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division and the Department of Education issued a fact sheet that declared it discriminatory under Title IX for schools to exclude transgender students (particularly transgender girls) from participating in school sports or excluding them from school bathrooms in line with their gender identities; and also said failure to use transgender students’ names and pronouns is discriminatory.

The fact sheet went even further. It removed innocent-until-provenguilty protections for the accused in sexual harassment cases — the right to present witnesses; to inspect the evidence against them; and to a live hearing.

Once again, Republican state attorneys general sued, with the judge in the case eventually granting the AGs a temporary injunction against enforcement.

The Biden administration appealed; that suit is still ongoing.

But at the same time that “fact sheet” lawsuit was underway, the Department of Education was proceeding to write its new rules, including once again that sex discrimination encompasses gender identity and sexual orientation.

As per law, these new rules required a period for public comments. The public had a lot to say.

According to the AG lawsuit, the Department received more than 240,000 comments — “the vast majority of which were negative.”

“(S)ignificant opposition (came) from concerned observers spanning both sides of the aisle, numerous major faith groups and generations old and new,” the AG suit says.

Despite the preponderance of court cases rejecting the department’s views and despite public opposition, on April 29, the Department of Education issued its “final rule” and declared the new regulations will go into effect Aug. 1. Any school that violates the rules will be subject to losing its federal fund-

ing. Clearly, billions of dollars are at stake around the country.

Meanwhile, the attorneys general lawsuit to stop the new rules is awaiting a July 1 hearing in U.S. District Court in Northern Alabama.

SHAKEDOWN ORGANIZATION

Everyone would agree discrimination of any sort is wrong. What’s more, common sense would tell us it’s not right or wise as a society to make a law requiring men wanting to be women be granted legal right to use female bathrooms and locker room showers.

It’s worse, however, when unelected Washington bureaucrats make such a law — and equally bad that Congress is letting this unconstitutional activity occur.

All of which leads to what should be obvious: This Title IX dispute demonstrates the too-often overreach of the federal government.

Just what good does the Department of Education actually do?

If you think it through, the department is just an interventionist, wealth-transferring, shakedown organization that takes $80 billion a year from U.S. taxpayers; siphons about $2 billion a year in salaries for 4,400 employees (whose average salaries, by the way, are $112,725 a year); and then redistributes billions of dollars back to the states and congressional members’ and presidents’ specialinterest schools and groups.

But there is a catch: To get the money, you have to follow the Department of Education’s rules — rules that cause taxpayers to waste more millions in legal bills for our governments to fight each other.

None of this horrible waste — not to mention, local school board resolutions — would occur if our elected representatives had the courage to do what they did in 1868 — eliminate the Department of Education. Education should be the sole domain of the private sector. Government intervention at every level of education, demonstrably, has produced the rotten fruit that has splattered across our country today.

Go ahead, dismiss the Sarasota School Board’s Title IX resolution as political grandstanding. But more people need to speak out against tyrannical fiat.

Never forget

Paul Shepherd and his family don’t miss the Memorial Day Parade and ceremony each year.

With his grandfather, Peter Shepherd, having served as a tail gunner in World War II, he said the family recognizes the importance of honoring the sacrifices of service members.

“It means everything, really,” he said.

“This is how we got our freedom.”

Centered on the theme of “Some Gave All,” the parade featured local police and fire personnel and vehicles, local organizations, convoys of jeeps and motorcycles and more.

The event was followed by a ceremony at J.D. Hamel Park.

Hosted by Sonny Bywaters, the ceremony included an invocation by Jan Solomon, the reading of Memorial Day proclamations by city of Sarasota Mayor Liz Alpert and County Commissioner Mark Smith and a speech by Michael Tollerton, a Sarasota native and Army veteran who served for six years, earning the rank of captain in the field artillery.

— IAN SWABY

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Photos by Ian Swaby

A vehicle representing the Historic Aircraft Society arrives at the Main Street and Orange Avenue roundabout.

Raine Allen, 11, Lennox Allen, 7, and Mia and Britt Allen greet the oncoming vehicles.

Little Sal Logrande, 9, and Sal Logrande, make their way down Main Street.

Walk to honor

veteran of the 4th Infantry Division and the National Guard, the ninth annual Memorial Day Hike by SRQ Vets was an opportunity for veterans to join together — but it was a camaraderie with a noble purpose.

“Today is about remembering the fallen, obviously, but to be able to come together and do that means even more,” he said. “It almost feels like we need to get back together, because we’ve spread out, and now this is one of them times we get to concentrate, and heal, and remember the fallen.”

Beginning at J.D. Hamel Park, the 5K hike involved a trip across the John Ringling Causeway to Bird Key and back, with a stop at the Unconditional Surrender statue at Bayfront Park. It was followed by live music and food at J.D. Hamel Park.

The hike was preceded by a ceremony that included remarks by SRQ Vets cofounder Bill Sterbinsky.

“We do it to remember them and speak their names, tell their stories,” he said. “Don’t be shy, and love them. Love them just as much as you do today, as if they were there yesterday.”

— IAN SWABY

Gary Williams of VFW Post 3233 plays “Taps.”

Four-month-old Lucas Dorian, Chris Dorian and Savannah Dorian

Photos by Ian Swaby

Carly Weakland, of Veterans Affairs Law, walks with Anthony Kuhn and his longtime friend from the U.S. Army, Wayne Robinson.

Fire plays critical role in Myakka park

Some imperiled species, such as the gopher tortoise, crested caracara and pine lily, wouldn’t survive without occasional fires.

Fire, as a result of lightning, is one of the primary natural forces that shapes Florida’s ecosystems. Indeed, from an ecological perspective, fire is a normal and often beneficial process. It is critical for the health of 78% of the Myakka River State Park, where numerous natural communities depend on fire to maintain their plant composition and structure.

Importantly, these communities support flora and fauna that couldn’t survive without fire, including imperiled species such as the gopher tortoise, crested caracara and pine lily.

In Florida, natural wildfires historically burned seasonally, typically at a low intensity. They slowly meandered across large areas, where rivers and wetlands eventually stopped their spread.

Suppression of natural wildfires began in the 1930s to protect forests for lumber. As we observe National Wildfire Awareness Month, it is important to recognize the critical role that prescribed fires, which safely reintroduced fire into our ecosystems, play in protecting both our natural and human communities.

In contrast to wildfires, prescribed fires are set on purpose. This crucial natural resource management tool is used by trained professionals who safely mimic natural lightning-set fires. These burns benefit the large number of Florida’s imperiled plant and animal species which are dependent on periodic fire for their continued existence.

But prescribed fires also protect our human communities, as firedependent natural communities gradually accumulate flammable vegetation. Regular and smaller burns can lower the intensity or

Miri Hardy

A gopher tortoise, an imperiled species, makes its way through Myakka River State Park. It needs occasional fires to sustain its habitat.

even prevent wildfires by consuming “fuels” like pine needles, dead grass, fallen trees and thick brush that would otherwise build up and could produce intense, destructive wildfires.

Though prescribed fires do emit smoke, the net benefit is less smoke pollution overall.

Current climate trends of abovenormal temperatures, with varied precipitation forecasts, could exacerbate dry conditions in wildfireprone areas like Florida. Research underscores that these climate conditions are closely linked to increased wildfire risks.

With encroaching development progressively restricting the park’s ability to effectively use prescribed fire, the importance of supporting and maintaining undeveloped buffers around conserved lands is highlighted. Raising awareness about the importance of fire for ensuring the health of our natural areas, and our own, is paramount.

Friends of Myakka River exists to support Myakka River State Park and the Wild and Scenic Myakka River. Together, we’re protecting and sharing Myakka’s Magic, to the benefit of future generations, and our own. Follow us @FriendsOfMyakkaRiver

COPS CORNER

WEDNESDAY, MAY 15

NEGATIVE INFLUENCE?

9:33 a.m. 3700 block of South Osprey Avenue Family dispute: A woman who purchased a condo for her 40-year-old son, who has Asperger’s syndrome, wants his on-again, off-again — and now back on — girlfriend out of the residence. Having lived there together for two years before breaking up, the couple recently reunited and was again residing together.

The complainant said the girlfriend is a drug addict and coerced her son to use cocaine at some point. The subject said the complainant had arrived, let herself into the condo and started an argument, and the man left because he doesn’t want to deal with his mother, and he was not present while the officer was at the scene. There was no resolution specified in the incident report.

THEY’VE ‘SEEN A LOT’

9:56 p.m., 1300 block of First Street. Suspicious incident: A man called law enforcement to report a man was chasing him, threatening to shoot him and making statements about owing him money. He advised the incident began at the corner of Lemon Avenue and First Street. He said he does not know the man but was able to provide a description.

The alleged chase ended at the county transit station next to City Hall. The complainant said he was in fear for his life and wished to have the incident documented.

While canvassing the area, the officer saw a group of eight men sitting at a table near the intersection where the alleged chase began. They advised they had been there for a while and had “seen a lot” but did not see a man being chased through the nearby intersection.

Exactly what they had seen was not included in the incident report.

The officer also spoke with a security guard at the SCAT station, who advised he did not see either subject matching the descriptions and did not see or hear an altercation in the area. No further action was taken.

THURSDAY, MAY 16

PROBATION RELOCATION

3:06 p.m., 2200 block of North Lemon Avenue

FRIDAY, MAY 17

STOOL PIGEON

2:42 p.m., 1000 block of South Tamiami Trail Criminal mischief: Having already left the scene, a customer of a retail business called law enforcement on the store’s behalf to report a disturbance. Upon arrival, an officer was informed the caller was no longer at the location but did leave a business card. The officer called the man who advised three juveniles have been frequenting the location, throwing a metal stool down a hallway, screaming and generally making a nuisance of themselves. The store’s staff advised they did not file a report because the stool did not belong to them, although they were concerned about the recurring disturbances. The owner of the stool was not on scene and could not be contacted, nor was the officer able to observe the stool in question. The staff was informed to call the police the next time the juveniles cause a disturbance so that they can be issued a trespass warning.

Family disturbance: Officers met with a woman who stated her daughter had returned from her girlfriend’s house when a dispute occurred. Although the argument had ended, the daughter said she wanted to stay but the complainant said she didn’t want her there because of her decision making. The woman advised her daughter was on probation and had been staying in St. Petersburg with her girlfriend. The daughter said she wanted to be at home, but her mother keeps causing arguments with her, and that since she came out as gay has been treating her differently. She said she wants her mother to transfer probation rights to her girlfriend’s parents, but she refuses. It was agreed the daughter would return to her girlfriend’s house, at least for the night, in St. Petersburg.

Community Grand Opening

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SPORTS

Fast Break

Booker High football rising seniors Jordan Radkey a defensive lineman, and Abraham Brown III, a linebacker, received offers from Gardner-Webb University on May 13. Radkey had 100 total tackles and seven sacks in 2023, while Brown had 24 tackles, 12 passes defended, two interceptions and two fumble recoveries.

Sarasota Sharks swim team head coach Brent Arckey was named a coach for the Canadian National Team for the 2024 Paris Olympics on May 21. Arckey is American but will join the Canadian team to continue to work with women’s swimmer Summer McIntosh, who trains with the Sharks.

Sarasota Sharks swimmer Colin Jacobs will represent the United States at the 2024 Open Water World Junior Championships in Alghero, Italy, in September. The team announced its roster May 22. Jacobs won the junior boys division of the U.S. Open Water National Championships (1:28:23) on May 5 in Sarasota.

… The Sarasota Paradise pre-professional soccer team has gone 0-1-1 in its first two games of the 2024 season, a 2-1 loss to Miami AC and a 0-0 draw against Swan City SC. The team’s home opener is at 7:30 p.m. June 1 against Swan City SC. Tickets are $10 for the East stands and $25 for the West stands at Sarasota High and can be purchased at SarasotaParadise.us.

Former Parrish Community High football wide receiver Kymistrii Young announced his intent to transfer to Cardinal Mooney High on May 22. Young had 22 catches for 423 yards (19.7 yards per catch) and eight touchdowns in 2023.

“I’m trying to get my bench (press) up to 330 pounds and my squat to 530

STAGE SET FOR THE EXTRA-OAR-DINARY

Sarasota Crew eyes big showing for USRowing championship event at Nathan Benderson Park.

RYAN KOHN

SPORTS EDITOR

Sam Obine-Galvin was in for a shock.

Though Obine-Galvin was not new to rowing when he joined Sarasota Crew in August 2023, he had never experienced rowing like the Crew does rowing.

Obine-Galvin, a junior with the crew, joined the team after moving to the area from the Lower East Side of New York City. He rowed there, first becoming interested after trying an indoor rowing machine at a local gym, then transitioning to the water. He found success there, winning a state championship at the novice level.

Yet after moving, Obine-Galvin found Sarasota Crew to be on a different level.

“It was a whole new world,” Obine-Galvin said. “Training was harder and I had to get used to the heat. It’s an intense (training) plan made for pure speed, and it works.”

Obine-Galvin started in one of the organization’s bottom boats before proving himself, slowly working his way up the team’s depth chart. Now, Obine-Galvin has earned a spot in the Crew’s boys first varsity 8+ boat at the 2024 USRowing Youth National Championships, coming to Nathan Benderson Park June 6-9.

Obine-Galvin is just one of several Crew athletes competing at Youth Nationals. The Crew has entries in 13 races, including the boys and girls 8+ boats, the boys 4x boat and the

IF YOU GO 2024 USROWING YOUTH NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

What: The biggest youth rowing event on the calendar, with more than 3,500 rowers from 210 clubs expected to compete for medals.

When: June 6-9 starting at 7:30 a.m.

Where: Nathan Benderson

Park

Tickets: As of May 24, tickets for spectators are not on sale. They will be available at USRowing.org closer to the event. For more information, visit USRowing.org or NathanBendersonPark.org.

girls 2x boat.

For Obine-Galvin, Youth Nationals will be his first time competing in a national-level event. He’s excited, he said, because the team’s training has him feeling prepared. Sarasota Crew head coach Casey Galvanek is renowned and just finished helping the U.S. men’s rowing team in Lucerne, Switzerland, at the World Rowing Cup II.

Obine-Galvin said the Crew instructs its athletes like Galvanek instructs Olympians and with the same level of intensity. They are on the water at every opportunity, with days off being rare. With training taking a lot of Obine-Galvin’s time, he said, academics can sometimes get sidelined. He is thankful for his teachers who understand the work required and try to make his school-rowing balance as easy as possible.

Rowing can take a toll on the body, too, Obine-Galvin said.

Workouts are grueling, he said, and it is not uncommon to feel close to passing out. But it brings him closer to his teammates. When big races like Youth Nationals arrive, all the effort is worth it.

“At the end of a race, your legs are on fire and your lungs feel like they are about to collapse in on themselves,” Obine-Galvin said. “Your

arms are dead. Your back is dead. You’re getting tunnel vision. Your ears are ringing so you can barely hear the coxswain yelling at you. But in that last minute of a race, you feel the crowd. It’s like entering the Thunderdome, just pure noise. It’s such a rush. All you want to do is go as hard as you can.”

Obine-Galvin said his boys first varsity 8+ boat is confident that it will perform its best. For Jenna Khalil, a freshman rower who is in the club’s girls U16 8+ boat, the rush of Youth Nationals will not be quite as new. Khalil picked up valuable experience by participating at the 2023 Youth Nationals, finishing third in the C Final (8:31.25) in the women’s U16 4x+ boat. Though it was not the finish she and her teammates wanted, it helped shape her perspective on the event heading into 2024.

“It’s an honor (to row in it),” Khalil said. “You work so hard to get there and everyone else worked hard to get there. It’s mind-blowing to all be together competing.”

That attitude feeds into how she prepares. Khalil is a calm rower, she said. Before races, she does not say much to her teammates in the boat other than “good luck.” She’s too focused for more than that, she said; she knows she’ll have to be at her best, controlling her adrenaline, to do well.  In the U16 girls 8+ boat this year, Khalil believes she and her teammates can reach the event’s A Finals. Get there, and anything can happen next.

“If we work together and stay positive, we can do well,” Khalil said.

Ryan Kohn

Seth Mahlmeister (orange) scored the lone goal in the Sarasota Paradise’s first two games of 2024.

pounds.”

— Al Oliver, senior, Riverview High football. SEE PAGE 16

Sarasota Crew freshman Jenna Khalil said rowing at events like Youth Nationals is “an honor.” She will be in the Crew’s U16 girls 8+ boat at the 2024 event.

Courtesy images

Sarasota Crew junior Sam Obine-Galvin (middle) will row at his first USRowing Youth Nationals at Nathan Benderson Park June 6-9 in the Crew’s first varsity boys 8+ boat.

The WNBA in SRQ?

The WNBA is experiencing a boom in popularity thanks to young crossover stars and a style of play that appeals to old-school basketball fans, who prefer the women’s game to the NBA’s modern three-point-heavy, defense-light style.

Could that popularity boom extend to Sarasota?

One entrepreneur wants to see it happen — and believes it’s possible.

Steve Rosenfeld, originally from Bronxville, New York, is president and CEO at Columbia Skincare and the CEO of Columbia Microbiome Sciences, among other ventures. He’s also a fan of basketball, particularly women’s basketball.

He’s so much of a fan that he briefly coached at the State University of New York at New Paltz, he said. Rosenfeld said he prefers the women’s game to leagues like the NBA because of its “traditional” style of play, he said.

“It’s fundamental basketball,” Rosenfeld said. “I find that the NBA, over the years, has become more like an entertainment venue than a sports venue. As a passionate fan of the game of basketball, I found the WNBA to be a welcome change.”

The one problem Rosenfeld has with the WNBA is its ownership.

The NBA owns 50% of the WNBA, while its 12 team owners have the other 50%.

The thing is, five of those 12 teams are owned by the NBA team owners that share their city.

Entrepreneur Ted Leonsis, for example, owns both the NBA’s Washington Wizards and the WNBA’s Washington Mystics.

The ownership situation has led to the league being run by a “good old boy network,” Rosenfeld said, where things are less equitable for the league’s athletes than they could be. Eventually, Rosenfeld got the idea that he could help break up this network by becoming an owner himself and being a voice for

change.

Where to set up this potential expansion franchise? Well, Rosenfeld has been living in Sarasota part time since 2006, and he can think of no better place than here.

“I can see, between the colleges and the incredible, increasing number of young families moving in, that we have a perfect environment to support a WNBA team,” Rosenfeld said. “You have a large female athlete population. You have men — who until recently have been absent from WNBA events — with young daughters who are absolutely captivated by (Indiana Fever guard) Caitlin Clark and (Chicago Sky forward) Angel Reese. The window of opportunity is right now. I think we can have a strong impact on the growth (of the league) and the opportunities for better equity among female athletes.”

THE CHALLENGES

Rosenfeld is right about fans being captivated by the league’s newest wave of stars. There were 10 sellout games during the league’s opening week, and Clark’s debut for the Fever, after a history-making college career at the University of Iowa, drew an average of 2.1 million viewers, which was ESPN’s highest viewership for a WNBA game in its history.

But problems remain. The league only this season began chartering flights for its teams, with mixed results, and players are notoriously underpaid, with players often having to play overseas during the offseason for extra income. Rosenfeld’s desire to fix some of these things is noble.

There’s one problem with Rosenfeld’s plan, and it’s a large one: The WNBA does not see things the way he does.

Rosenfeld said he has had multiple meetings with the league, going back three years, about creating an expansion team.

Rosenfeld said the league is

looking for owners with previous team management experience, preferably someone who is already an owner and runs facilities. That way, the team automatically has a place to play, or at least practice. The league’s two latest expansion announcements, of the Golden State Valkyrie and an unnamed Toronto franchise, back up this assertion.

In April, before the 2024 WNBA Draft, WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert said she is “pretty confident” the league will have 16 teams by 2028. With Golden State and Toronto coming, that leaves two expansion spots left.

“It’s complex because you need the arena and practice facility and player housing and all the things you need, committed long-term ownership groups,” Engelbert said. “And so, the nice thing is we’re getting a lot of calls; we’re continuing to engage with cities.”

Engelbert gave a list of some of those cities: Philadelphia, Toronto, Portland, Denver and Nashville. But also South Florida. That phrasing usually means Miami, in practice. But what if it didn’t this time? What if Rosenfeld is able to per-

Minnesota’s Alanna Smith (8) drives for a layup against Seattle on May 17. The WNBA is having a surge in popularity in 2024 — and entrepreneur Steve Rosenfeld wants to bring a team to town.

suade Engelbert and the WNBA to look at the opposite coast?

There are issues to work out.

Rosenfeld does not have previous team ownership experience, he said, but he does know people who own teams and believes he can persuade someone to found a potential Sarasota team with him.

The biggest issue is where the team would play, and for that there is no answer, at least not yet. Rosenfeld said he’s had casual discussions with Erik Zimmer, director of investor relations with the Economic Development Corp. of Sarasota County, about the idea, but nothing concrete has formed yet. Zimmer confirmed that the pair have talked and will likely meet again in a few weeks to more fully understand Rosenfeld’s plans.  Rosenfeld is not worried; with a potential expansion team not officially joining the league until 2028 anyway, he said, there would be time to build a new facility. But if a facility is not ready, could IMG Academy serve as a temporary solution? The WNBA did hold its 2020 “bubble” season there during the COVID-19 pandemic, after all. Rosenfeld said he has not had any

discussions with IMG regarding that possibility, but from a distance, it makes some sense.

MAKE SOME NOISE

So what’s the next step in this process? Well, Rosenfeld said, it’s simple. The city of Sarasota, and the surrounding area, must show the WNBA that it will support a team. That means making some noise.

If you want a team to come here, use the #WNBASarasota hashtag on the social media platforms of your choice to let the league know it, and say why. If you have a whole lot to say, you can even send an email to RKohn@YourObserver.com and state your reasons for wanting a team — or, in journalistic fairness, not wanting a team. If we get enough, perhaps we will feature a roundup of them in the future.

Me personally? I’d love to see it. The city has shown that will support Baltimore Orioles spring training, putting up great attendance numbers despite the games not counting and most area fans having no attachment to the O’s for the rest of the season, either pivoting to Tampa Bay Rays fandom or staying loyal to the team from wherever they lived before Sarasota. With a professional sports team to call its own, I imagine the excitement would be even higher.  Rosenfeld said he’s confident that enthusiasm for this idea exists. Now, it’s about proving it.

“We just have to sell the idea to the general public,” Rosenfeld said. “We have to get people talking about the team. We need a vote of confidence that they will support it — or not. I need to send the message (to the WNBA) that, ‘Hey, Sarasota wants this and can be an asset to the league.’”

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

Photos courtesy John McClellan, CC BY-SA 2.0

and

and

are well suited for our demanding environment, and will create the first impression your front door deserves.

Al Oliver is a rising senior offensive lineman on the Riverview High football team. As of May 28, the 6-foot-5, 290-pound Oliver has collected five offers from NCAA Division I schools, including, most recently on May 27, Bryant University.

When did you start playing football?

I started when I was 6 years old. I played basketball when I was younger, but because I was so big, I had to play football. I could go out there and push people around. I started as a defensive linemen and switched to the offensive line when I was 8.

Al Oliver ATHLETE OF THE WEEK

What is your best skill?

Pulling when I’m run blocking. It’s just natural for me. It gives me a chance to drive somebody for 10-15 yards.

What is your focus for this summer?

I’m going to be in the weight room, just getting stronger. I’m trying to get my bench (press) up to 330 pounds and my squat to 530 pounds.

What is your favorite memory?

Last year when we played Sarasota High, I got to score on a two-point conversion. We called a play where our quarterback rolls out to the left and our offensive line blocks left, but the right tackle runs a route to the right. So I blocked for two seconds, then turned around and got behind the quarterback. He threw it to me, and I ran to the right and scored. I knew I would make the play.

What is the mood of the team heading into summer?

We’re feeling good right now. We’re just waiting for everybody to get healthy so we can continue to be great.

What is your favorite food? I have to go with steak, cooked medium well.

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.

What is your favorite TV show? I’ve been watching “BMF,” that’s my favorite at the moment.

What is your favorite school subject? I like art class. I have always liked to draw.

What are your hobbies? I like to play video games. I’m pretty good at “Madden” and “Call of Duty.”

Which superpower would you pick?

Invisibility. For some reason, I have always wanted to be able to turn invisible.

What is the best advice you have received?

As a sophomore, my coaches told me to be patient because my time would come. As a junior, that ended up being true. It happened.

Finish this sentence: “Al Oliver is … ” … Cool. I’m just vibe-y.

YOUR NEIGHBORS

International honor

Choral Artists of Sarasota will perform in the D-Day commemoration at the Normandy cemetery in France.

IAN SWABY STAFF

WRITER

When Joe Holt joined Choral Artists of Sarasota in 2009 as artistic director, the group had entered what he calls an artistic valley.

The chorus needed revitalization, and he was hired to build the ensemble. A member of the U.S. Army Band of 20 years, and a former associate music director for the Choral Arts Society of Washington, Holt had the credentials.

Years later, the work is paying off.

The chorus has been invited to be a part of the choral ensemble commemorating the 80th anniversary of D-Day in France on June 6. As many as 2 million people are expected to be at Normandy American Cemetery, with the chorus also performing at Brittany American Cemetery and elsewhere in France.

“We are thrilled we’re going to be there,” Holt said.

THE WEIGHT OF HISTORY

The largest amphibious invasion in military history and the foundation for the Allied victory, D-Day saw the loss of 4,414 Allied troops, including 2,501 Americans.

Ian Swaby

Bill Kimbell and Joe Holt

“I

don’t know how I’m going to sing in the midst of all this. It’s going to be very emotional.”

Bill Kimbell

“It’s sort of numbing ... when you think of all of the history that has been lost because they didn’t make it,” Holt said.

“I don’t know how I’m going to sing in the midst of all this,” said Bill Kimbell, president of the chorus’ board of directors. “It’s going to be very emotional.”

This trip is years in the making.

It started two years ago, when the group received an unexpected phone call from the American Battle Monuments Commission.

It was asked to sing at the 79th anniversary of D-Day, having been nominated by an anonymous retired military officer.

But the impacts of Hurricane Ian resulted in Holt asking whether he could postpone the trip to the 80th anniversary.

He recalled being told by the person on the other end of the line, “We already have about 1,000 people participating, but I think, considering what we’ve heard about you, we really want you to be a part of this.”

What led the commission to select the Sarasota chorus out of others across the country?

Holt thinks it was partly the success of the chorus’ July 4 performances in Sarasota, which had garnered a loyal following.

He said the chorus also strives to be its best.

“One is engaging the right singers to be a part of this group,” Holt said. “We also set the bar high with our expectation of how they perform.”

Choral Artists of Sarasota comprises 40 auditioned singers, which Holt said is probably the largest the group has been.

“It really offers us a nice, rich, vibrant sound,” he said.

Forty members will be in attendance for the performance, 15 of whom will be younger, nonprofessional singers filling in for senior members.

Some of the younger singers received scholarships from Choral Artists to make the trip. Holt and a pianist will also be in attendance.

At the Normandy and Brittany cemeteries, the group will serve as the featured singers after the laying of the wreaths, performing the song “Blades of Grass and Pure White Stones” by Orrin Hatch, Lowell Alexander and Phil Nash.

“For sure, you will have to have some nerves of steel, because the issue is that we will be facing those very same pure white stones and those blades of grass as we sing this,” Holt said.

The chorus will also perform “Hymn to the Fallen” by John Williams, from the film “Saving Private Ryan,” and “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

The chorus’ tour will also involve other locations in France, including Sainte-Mère-Eglise, one of the first towns liberated in the invasion.

Holt said the celebrations there will feature a more party-like atmosphere and will feature patriotic music and other works, with a tribute to 1940s music with a selection of Top 10 tunes.

“This was the music that these service people were listening to, and it gave them a lot of comfort and perhaps support, so the big band there was really an important part of the musical scene at that point,” he said.

Following that performance, they will walk in a parade of approximately a quarter mile, with all 1,000 event participants.

Finally, they will also offer a performance in Paris at the Church of Sainte-Marie-Madeleine, with the selection of music including religious works, with two African American spirituals.

“I felt like it was important for us to recognize the African American community, because there were African Americans fighting in World War II,” he said, noting that the forces were not integrated until an order by President Harry S. Truman. “I wanted to show that, as well as the unique contribution that African Americans have made to our home music.”

The chorus typically rehearses four to five times before a performance, during which time, Holt said, they have had the chance to share stories and shed some tears.

“With this particular concert, it’s a little bit of a challenge, because of the emotional content that’s inherent in it, and how it affects all of us, including me. There have been times when I have said things in front of this group, and the tears are starting to swell up because it’s so poignant; you’re so in awe of what these people did 80 years ago.”

Courtesy image

Members of Choral Artists of Sarasota perform.

Should Your Retirement Planning Include Medicare?

Art in all forms

Many people underestimate the impact their Medicare choices can have on their retirement.

– John B. Leeming, CFP® President at JL Bainbridge

and ongoing Medicare enrollment make it extremely complex, and every choice can have significant long-term implications, including financial ones.

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The financial costs point to the answer. Healthcare costs in retirement can be high, so only thinking about Medicare as health insurance can be a big mistake. Medicare helps cover hospital stays and medical services for those 65 and over. It also offers options like Medicare Advantage and prescription drug coverage. But the maze of options during initial since 1981 1582 Main Street Sarasota, FL 34236

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Disclosure: JL Bainbridge is a registered investment adviser. J.L. Bainbridge & Co., Inc., is not a broker dealer and does not offer tax or legal advice. Please consult your tax or legal advisor for assistance regarding your individual situation. Registration of an Investment Adviser does not imply any level of skill or training. It should neither be assumed that future results will be as profitable or that a loss could not be incurred. For more information on our firm and our investment advisor representatives, please review our Form ADV, Privacy Notice, and Form CRS at jlbainbridge.com and reference the SEC website for more information on the firm and its advisors: https://adviserinfo. sec.gov/firm/summary/108058. Identifying the SEC as our regulator does not imply any level of skill or training.

TVisitors and locals perused the array of artists on May 25-26 on St. Armands Circle.

Many of the artists started with a childhood passion and now use diverse media to make their art, including steel, marble and tagua nuts.

John Grammer moved to Sarasota in 2019 and has spent the past five years perfecting the technique of stainless steel art. He focuses on making art based on fish caught by local fishermen.

Lourdes Gloekler’s colorful jewelry is crafted from the South American nut “tagua,” which is collected by Ecuadorian families from Gloekler’s hometown.

“People will tell me every time they wear a piece they feel happy because they feel that positive energy. And I feel it too just touching them,” said Gloekler, who is now based in Ormond Beach. “The people who made it are so special and deserve opportunities for better education and this is just a small thing to help them get that.”

— PETRA RIVERA

Lourdes Gloekler uses tagua nuts to make jewelry.

Ruben Medina shows off one of his sculptures.

Photos by Petra Rivera

John Grammer creates his art out of stainless steel.

Sweet spot found

The Sarasota Honey Co. has found a new location at The Bazaar on Apricot & Lime.

IAN SWABY

ees have individual personalities, said Alma Johnson, owner of Sarasota Honey Co. That means that some bees aren’t thrilled at having their hives disassembled and transported, but for Johnson, a relocation was nonetheless necessary.

Earlier this month, the store departed its former University Parkway location, moving the 20 hives on the property to other sites in the community and set up shop at The Bazaar on Apricot & Lime.

So far, she said, she’s finding success with the new platform for her urban raw honey and other related products, alongside the Bazaar’s other local vendors offering unique products.

“We love the sense of community here. Everyone is so welcoming,” she said.

STORM OF COMPLICATIONS

Many people might have been curious about the small, yellow building alongside University Parkway, but not all of those people visited the site, Johnson said.

She said one of the many factors that went into the move was the relative inaccessibility of the store, for those who weren’t willing to specifically seek out honey.

“One of the things that we heard a lot with the University Parkway store, which also helped a lot with the decision, was that people just fly right past us,” she said. “Oh yeah, ‘You’re the one that owns that cute little building. I want to stop by,’ but yet they never have.”

The business also had yet to overcome the impacts of Hurricane Ian, which she said was not only devastating for the bees, but also financially. They had experienced huge losses

ABOUT SARASOTA HONEY COMPANY

The Sarasota Honey Co.’s offerings include honey, teas, candles, jams, soaps, bath products and more.

It also offers the “Host-aHive” program, for which members of the public can apply. Those with “Victory Gardens” and organic gardens can host a beehive, which the company will manage and maintain, while the host experiences the benefits of having their garden and area pollinated.

Sarasota Honey Co. is located at The Bazaar on Apricot & Lime, 821 Apricot Ave. For information, visit SarasotaHoney.com.

of bees, especially as they made the mistake of moving hives off the local islands to the Arcadia area, which ultimately received more serious storm impacts.

Although she is confident the bees did not drown, for they were able to escape from the tops of the hives during flooding, many of them were lost in the storm.

“We’re still trying to recoup from all that,” she said. “The bees were not able to build back to their full strength because we didn’t have enough rain. No rain, no nectar. No nectar, no honey, nothing to make the honeycomb grow. It’s been a tough year for us, and other beekeepers as well.”

After the storm, she began to see rising insurance costs, something that affected the University Parkway site disproportionately because of its location within three miles of the coast.

Others were experiencing similar

issues that resulted in the rising cost of rent.

“We do buy local, and their expenses have gone up, hence, the cost of the glass jar has gone up, their cost of the labels and everything has gone up,” she said.

Jars of honey sit on display at the company’s new location at The Bazaar on Apricot & Lime.

They are also continuing to work with other small businesses in the community.

“It allows us more time to be mad scientists,” she said.

The store currently offers a coffeeinfused honey made in partnership with O&A Coffee, and will be working with Siesta Key Rum to debut a rum-infused honey and a barrelaged honey. Meanwhile, Siesta Key Rum will be able to make use of the residual honey in the barrels, she said.

All of this is why Johnson chose to undertake the task of transporting the 20 beehives that were housed at the University Parkway property, a number which expanded to 40 when the hives were too heavy to transport, at 315 to 425 pounds, without being split.

Her hives are located at various spots in the local area, with some being hosted by neighborhood residents, while the bees are bred and rehabilitated at her farm in Palmetto.

The hives, which include woodworking and frames that house the bees, are built in such a way that they can be split.

Her bees are bred to meet certain behavioral standards before the hives are placed in the community. Nonetheless, even the nicest bees may not be nice at night, she said, and overnight is the only time when hives can be moved, for that is when bees are inside.

Although Johnson managed to avoid being stung, one newer worker did not fare as well, getting stung around her ankles.

not as efficient as that of some other businesses.

MOVING THE BEE COLONIES

All of those factors led up to the realization that it was time to move.

The business lost four workers because they could not afford to rent in Sarasota, and the public became more reserved in its spending, buying fewer and smaller jars of honey, although online sales did increase.

Johnson said because the business’ products are all handmade, while it performs work with special needs employees, its production model was

“We’re able to save a significant amount of overhead. And with those savings, we’re able to give our folks significant raises,” she said.

The savings mean new opportunities like a bee sponsorship program the company plans to establish. Customers would be able to sponsor hives by paying up front for a certain amount of honey that would come primarily from those hives.

Since blooms are currently occurring on the beaches, the hives were moved to Siesta Key Beach, Anna Maria Island, Lido Beach and New College of Florida. A variety of flavors can be created from the local area, Johnson said, like a “mystery bloom” found in Osprey.

She’s glad to have the new location for people to taste what the blooms of the local area offer.

“I think by being here, we’re going to be able to reach out to other people that maybe weren’t thinking about honey, they just wanted to visit a cool spot or they were coming in for some awesome buttons or some fun plants,” she said. “We’re sharing customers and market bases as well.”

Photos by Ian Swaby

Sarasota Honey Co. owner Alma Johnson and employee Michelle Edwards.

Two-property sale on Sanderling Road tops sales at $12 million

ADAM HUGHES RESEARCH EDITOR

Atwo-property sale in Siesta Properties tops all transactions in this week’s real estate. Sanderling Beach LLC sold two properties at 8218 Sanderling Road to Earl Weinman, trustee, of Aventura, for $12 million. The first property was built in 1986 and has five bedrooms, five baths, a pool and 8,638 square feet of living area. The second property was built in 2007 and has two bedrooms, two baths and 2,302 square feet of living area. They sold for $7.5 million in 2019.

SARASOTA

THE HOMES OF LAUREL PARK

Steven and Cheryl Henderson sold their home at 1662 Devonshire Lane to Linda Rosenthal, trustee, of Sarasota, for $2.5 million. Built in 2019, it has two bedrooms, twoand-a-half baths, a pool and 2,726 square feet of living area.

THE TOWER RESIDENCES

Michael Mikula, trustee, and Denise Mikula, of Sarasota, sold the Unit 604 condominium at 35 Watergate Drive to Shane Mikula and Betty Mikula, trustees, of Naperville, Illinois, for $2.5 million. Built in 2003, it has three bedrooms, three baths and 2,985 square feet of living area. It sold for $1.95 million in 2022.

SARASOTA BAY CLUB

Sarasota Bay Club LLC sold the Unit 114 condominium at 1301 Tamiami Trail to Carmen and Nancy Trotta, of Sarasota, for $1.9 million. Built in 2000, it has two bedrooms, two baths and 1,772 square feet of living area. It sold for $586,000 in 2000.

SOUTHPOINTE SHORES

Morad Awadallah and Melissa Jaber sold their home at 1761 Sandalwood Drive to Amanda Jane Crowe, of Sarasota, for $1.55 million. Built in 1969, it has three bedrooms, two baths, a pool and 1,863 square feet of living area. It sold for $895,000 in 2021.

OYSTER BAY ESTATES

Daniel and Mary Doyle sold their home at 1514 S. Lake Shore Drive to SYDCO LLC for $1.5 million. Built in 1953, it has three bedrooms, three baths, a pool and 2,430 square feet of living area. It sold for $1.9 million in 2022.

INDIAN BEACH

Daniel Patrick Johnson Jr. and Ekaterina Pavlovna Kroupnik sold two properties at 4522 Bay Shore Road to Banyan Retreat LLC for $1.35 million. The first property was built in 1939 and has two bedrooms, one

Other top sales by area

SARASOTA: $3,456,600

The Tower Residences

Steven and Cheryl Schwarzwaelder, of Sarasota, sold their Unit 702 condominium at 35 Watergate Drive to Michael Mikula, trustee, of Sarasota, for $3,456,600. Built in 2003, it has three bedrooms, three-and-a-half baths and 3,751 square feet of living area. It sold for $1.45 million in 2011.

PALMER RANCH: $1.25 MILLION

Enclave at Silver Oak

Richard Rieger, as Personal Representative, sold the home at 8809 Enclave Court to Kevin and Judy Deady, of Sarasota, for $1.25 million. Built in 2006, it has four bedrooms, four-and-a-half baths, a pool and 3,467 square feet of living area.

OSPREY: $2.1 MILLION

Oaks II

POINSETTIA PARK

bath and 810 square feet of living area. The second property was built in 1939 and has two bedrooms, two baths and 1,812 square feet of living area. They sold for $949,000 in 2021.

LAKE PARK Mark and Elizabeth Baldwin sold their home at 1666 Spring Creek Drive to William Miller IV, trustee, of Sarasota, for $1.23 million. Built in 1962, it has three bedrooms, three baths, a pool and 2,691 square feet of living area. It sold for $340,000 in 2010.

BAY VIEW ACRES

Michael Moss and Ellen Chapman sold their home at 6745 Avenue C to David Lannik and Susan Kimball, trustees, of Sarasota, for $1.2 million. Built in 1985, it has two bedrooms, two baths and 2,119 square feet of living area. It sold for $706,000 in 2020.

RIGBY’S

Barbara Gibbons, of Sarasota, sold two properties at 1022 Osprey Ave. to Darrell West and Anissa Weed, of Sarasota, for $1.2 million. The first property was built in 1922 and has two bedrooms, two baths and 1,712 square feet of living area. The second property was built in 1983 and has one bedroom, one bath and 572 square feet of living area. They sold for $705,000 in 2006.

THE STRAND OF SARASOTA

Martin and Jennifer Rake, of Palmetto, sold their Unit A201 condominium at 1709 N. Tamiami Trail to Beth Ann Dickinson-Ortiz, of Winter Springs, for $1,095,000. Built in 2022, it has two bedrooms, two baths and 1,212 square feet of living area. It sold for $574,200 in 2022.

Craig and Kathryn Henely, trustees, of Bradenton, sold the Unit A519 condominium at 1709 N. Tamiami Trail to William Joseph Ford, trustee, of Winter Springs, for $957,500. Built in 2022, it has one bedroom, two baths and 1,193 square feet of living area. It sold for $565,900 in 2022.

TOP BUILDING PERMITS

Ryan and Jennifer Vaughn sold their home at 1865 Orchid St. to Orchid Street Oasis LLC for $1,087,500. Built in 1953, it has four bedrooms, three baths, a pool and 2,252 square feet of living area. It sold for $1.45 million in March.

ONLINE

See more transactions at YourObserver.com

Robert and Sandra Wucki, trustees, of Nokomis, sold the home at 580 N. Mac Ewen Drive to Sunil Widge, trustee, of Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, for $2.1 million. Built in 2008, it has four bedrooms, four-and-a-half baths, a pool and 4,495 square feet of living area. It sold for $1.2 million in 2016.

NOKOMIS: $3.75 MILLION

Casey Key Dennis and Susan Doane, of Nokomis, sold their home at 3760 Casey Key Road to Erik and Laura Young, of Nokomis, for $3.75 million. Built in 1949, it has three bedrooms, two baths and 5,053 square feet of living area. It sold for $545,000 in 1998.

Source:

Courtesy of Brandy Loebker

A two-property sale at 8218 Sanderling Road tops all transactions in this week’s real estate at $12

YOUR CALENDAR

Courtesy image

BEST BET

SUNDAY, JUNE 2

SUNDAYS AT THE BAY: AMANDAH JANTZEN

6-7 p.m. at The Oval, 1055 Boulevard of the Arts. Free. Enjoy a free concert by Amandah Jantzen. Featured in Scott Yanow’s “The Jazz Singers: The Ultimate Guide,” which lists the world’s 521 best jazz singers, Jantzen, a native of San Francisco, has been singing jazz professionally since 1986. She has toured throughout Asia and has performed for Prince William in the Maldives and Billy Joel in the Florida Keys. Visit TheBaySarasota.org.

FRIDAY, MAY 31

FAMILY MOVIE NIGHT: ‘SUPER MARIO BROS.’

7-8:32 p.m. at The Oval, 1055 Boulevard of the Arts. Free. Enjoy a screening of “Super Mario Bros.” (PG) under the stars. Watch as Mario, his brother, Luigi, and their friends travel through the Mushroom Kingdom to save the world from the fire-breathing Bowser. Bring your own chairs and blankets. Visit TheBaySarasota.org.

TUESDAY, JUNE 4

DELICIOUS SCIENCE WITH SUB ZERO ICE CREAM — SUMMER READING KICKOFF

2-3 p.m. at Gulf Gate Library, 7112 Curtiss Ave. Free. Learn about chemical reactions featuring liquid nitrogen through a fun demonstration by Sub-Zero, and then sample the flash-frozen ice cream. Visit SCGovLibrary.LibraryMarket.com.

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 5 SUMMER KICKOFF PARTY

1-3 p.m. at Betty J. Johnson North Sarasota Library, 2801 Newtown Blvd. Free. All ages are invited to this summer kickoff party which will involve a “quest to unravel the mysteries of Bigfoot,” as well as a face painter, food, a 360-degree camera and more. SCGovLibrary.LibraryMarket.com.

THURSDAY, JUNE 6

THE MAGICAL MOOGICIAN

2:30-3:30 p.m. at Jack J. Geldbart Auditorium, Selby Library, 1331 First St. Free. Recommended for ages 5-12. While living on a dairy farm, Todd Charles was inspired to create this dairy-themed show featuring magic with milk, juggling cheese and more. Visit SCGovLibrary.LibraryMarket.org.

EVENING NAMASTE AT THE BAY WITH DAN BUE

6-7 p.m. at Sarasota Garden Club, 1130 Boulevard of the Arts. Free. Enjoy mindful yoga with Dan Bue. Bue was introduced to yoga while on active duty in the U.S. Navy, becoming an instructor in 2009. Since attending an OWR Veterans Healing Retreat, Bue has worked to share his teachings with fellow veterans and the local community. Visit TheBaySarasota.org.

CINEMA AT THE BAY: SHINE A LIGHT

7-9:02 p.m. at The Oval, 1055 Boulevard of the Arts. Free. Enjoy a screening of “Shine a Light” (PG-13) under the stars. This 2008 documentary by Martin Scorsese recognized the 60th Anniversary of the Rolling Stones’ debut on U.S. television. Come early to enjoy WSLR+Fogartyville in the park. Bring your own chairs and blankets. Visit TheBaySarasota.org.

The

your available date to start.

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