Community Spotlight

There’s so much more to Jann Webster than the extra ‘n’ in her first name

Known for Save Siesta Key, the making of key decisions, and fake mac n’ cheese, she’s an undisputed local dynamo

QJann, let’s address the two “n” letters at the end of your first name before I am accused of yet another typo. What gives?

AMy shortened name was caused by a typo. In high school, the art class students were painting names on megaphones for the cheerleaders. Apparently, my artist was overly artistic on the first three letters of Janice and did not have room to paint the final three letters. So, it was quickly decided to shorten my name to four letters -- JANN – and it’s become a nickname that has stuck to me ever since!

QCanyou please share your history with Siesta Key?

AMy parents retired to Cape Coral in the 1980s. We thought that area was delightful, so my husband and I purchased a retirement lot in Cape Coral. Everything was going along smoothly until we visited a friend who lived on Longboat Key. As we drove from Cape Coral to Longboat Key, we toured Siesta Key. We walked the beach and ate in the Village. We looked at each other over a glass of wine and said, “We didn’t know this place existed. We need to re-think retirement!”

A couple months later, we scheduled a real estate trip to Sarasota. We toured three different areas (Longboat Key, Sarasota, and Siesta Key) and decided that the laid-back family vibe of Siesta Key was the perfect location for us. We purchased our Siesta Key property in 2008, 10 years before we planned to rebuild our retirement home. We moved into our retirement home in February 2020, the month that the pandemic started. We have no regrets and are grateful every day that we landed in Siesta Key.

By the way, the name of our boat is “Key Decision,” representing our decision to retire here.

QWeunderstand you are the creator of one highly acclaimed mac n’ cheese recipe. Please dish-up that story for us. AMy extended Italian family gave me a passion for cooking. I have dabbled in cooking contests for quite some time and won several, but the macaroni-andcheese winner was a fluke.

I made-up a recipe for “Macaroni and Cheese -- International Style” without ever actually making it.

The Kraft rules stipulated adding three ingredients, so my international twist included

Canadian bacon, Swiss cheese and French-style green beans. So corny!

But apparently, it was catchy! My recipe won the local contest and 52 weeks’ worth of Kraft Macaroni and Cheese.

Fast-forward a couple more months and I received a second phone call, this time stating that I won the national first prize for the “1-2-3 Recipe” campaign. My prize was a spa vacation, which my husband and I enjoyed at the Marriott Hotel and Spa on Maui.

By the way, my kids wouldn’t even take a bite of “International Style” macaroni and cheese. They said it was horrid!

QYou are an ambassador with the Save Siesta Key group. Why did you get involved and what has been included in your volunteer duties?

AI’ve been involved with the Save Siesta Key group since the initial formation meetings in

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