SARASOTA/SIESTA KEY
Observer YOU. YOUR NEIGHBORS. YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD.
Back to School 2024
INSIDE
SARASO TA
Obser ver
FREE • THURSDAY, JULY 18, 2024
VOLUME 20, NO. 23
YOUR TOWN
Community theater hits the road The Players’ new home won’t be Payne Park Auditorium, but it looks to be just down the street. SEE PAGE 5
Courtesy image
Jackson Hostetler
Fish on the line
Capt. R.C. Gilliland began fishing with his father, Gary Gilliland, when he was about 3 years old and never looked back. “I had my dad tell me how to run the coffee pot, so I could wake him up easier in the morning so we could go fish,” he said. For close to a decade, he has been owner of Sarasota Fishing Camp, and in the summer, he enjoys sharing knowledge and experience he gained from his father with other young people. He hopes kids will come away appreciating the details of fishing, like how factors such as the tides or the time of year can change the prime locations for catching fish. Registration is available for the July 29-Aug. 2 camp.
HIGH ACHIEVERS No need to run away — join a circus camp and learn self-confidence, physical feats and showmanship. SEE PAGE 19
Lesley Dwyer
Sarasota’s John Stengel and Drew Smith of Lakewood Ranch.
The right stuff
On July 11, residents of Sarasota and Lakewood Ranch teamed up to fill backpacks for Boys & Girls Clubs of Sarasota at Gold Coast Eagle Distributing. The backpacks will be given to children who are enrolled at Boys & Girls Clubs in Sarasota and Manatee counties. The Young Professionals Committee of Suncoast Builders Association has been stuffing backpacks for the clubs for 10 years. This year’s effort was the biggest yet. The committee raised more than $13,000 to stuff and donate 528 backpacks. “When we first started this event, we had about five backpacks,” organizer Jessica Seper said. “This year, our goal was 500, and we exceeded it.”
Turtle Tracks AS OF JULY 13 TOTAL NESTS: 2024 Siesta Key 460 Lido Beach 170 Casey Key 1,651
2023 357 174 1,823
TOTAL FALSE CRAWLS: 2024 2023 Siesta Key 779 623 Lido Beach 304 305 Casey Key 2,379 2,209 Source: Mote Marine Laboratory
Ian Swaby
Lola Bartolomeo, 10, learns aerial silks during camp.
A+E
Wish you were here, again Image courtesy of Visit Sarasota
Sarasota County’s beaches are a main attraction for seasonal tourists.
With tourism normalizing statewide after the pandemic, Sarasota targets repeat customers. SEE PAGE 3
Hair raiser PAGE 15