SUMMER STAYCATION SPOTLIGHT

Search For Sharks’ Teeth at Caspersen Beach Park in Venice

Local Flautist Makes Music In Italy

The Plant City High graduate and Stetson University student toured the country with the Stetson Chamber Orchestra.

‘I’m bored’. These two words can elicit anxiety among parents and caregivers as the kids, now out of school for summer vacation. They don’t have to though, thanks to the plethora of indoor and outdoor adventures, at little to no cost, that families can take advantage of within a two hour drive of Plant City. The Plant City Observer will highlight one spot each week.

This week’s spotlight is Caspersen Beach Park, located at 4100 Harbor Drive S. in Venice.

A day at the beach seems like the perfect thing to do on a hot summer day and drive in almost any direction and you’ll find ourself on a sandy beach, the sound of the waves lapping at the shoreline. While all of Florida’s beaches have something to offer beachgoers, Caspersen Beach in the coastal town of Venice, located just an hour and a half away, has a claim to fame that is sure to be entertaining for the young and the young-at-heart.

The beach is known as one of the top spots in the state for finding pehistoric sharks’ teeth.

Thanks to the Peace River Formation that is fairly near the surface at Caspersen Beach Park, the currents erode away the deposits and the teeth get washed up on the beach (as well as in its offshore waters that attract divers and snorkelers). The best time of day to hunt for the fossils, which are typically darker in color than regular sharks’ teeth, is in the morning before other beachgoers begin their hunt. You don’t need any special equipment to find them but ome people bring a metal sifter with 1/4” holes to wash away the sand from the gravel and shell to better spot the teeth.

“Caspersen Beach is one of the best beaches in the area to find shells and pehistoric sharks’ teeth,” said Visit Sarasota County Vice President Erin Duggan.

Before you go, strip all preconceived notions about what a Florida beach should look like from your mind. At Caspersen Beach Park you won’t find white powdery sand and calm waters. Instead, the sand is darker and rockier. Strong waves, a small slope into the water and rocks that peek out of the water’s surface near the shoreline mean swimmers must be more cautious when taking a plunge. There are no lifeguards on duty.

The park, open daily from 6 a.m. - 10 p.m., also features a canoe launch, fishing pier, picnic facilities, a covered playground, restrooms, an outdoor shower and wildlife/birdwatching.

The best part? Entrance to the park is free and so is parking.

For more information about Caspersen Beach Park visit www.scgov.net.

Plant City High School Class of 2020 graduate and Steston University student Zach Frankowiak just returned from a trip to Italy, where he played the flue with the Stetson Chamber Orchestra at historic venues throughout the country.

During their eight-day trip, the orchestra performed Beethoven’s Triple Concerto at the Palladium Theatre in Rome, the Chiesa di Santa Maria Corteolandini in Lucca (outside of Florence) and the Teatro Toniolo in Venice. Along the way, Frankowiak and other orchestra members ate lots of Italian food and toured famous sites such as the Piazza Navona, the Vatican Museum, St. Peter’s Square, the Coliseum and more.

While the sightseeing was spectacular, for Frankowiak, it was all about the music. “Since I’m a performance major any chance I get to perform is the best thing for me because I want to be performing but being able to play music in another country was a big deal,” he said.

During the trip, he observed that Italians have a passion for music. “As we were walking around Venice, they had a lot of live music both indoors and on the street and the style of the music is similar to what you’d expect from Italian operas and the music has a lot of vibrato,” he said. “The culture is so different over there, people had a real respect for what we were doing, when our performance was over people clapped for a really, really long time.”

The acoustics, or the way the sounds carried, in the old stone structures was phenomenal, thanks to the resonance and reflection ceated by the hard surfaces and soaring ceilings. “I really enjoyed playing in those venues, the sound traveled so far,” he said.

Frankowiak began playing the flue 10 years ago while in middle school. “I went to an all-boys school and there was only one other flue player at the school, so it was a unique instrument in my eyes,” he said.

As he progressed as a musician, he realized that woodwind instruments, including flues, clarinets, oboes and bassoons, bring a cinematic texture to an orchestra, composed primarily of string instruments, like violins, violas, cellos and basses.

“Wind instruments are very soloistic, especially in an orchestra” he said. “All the wind instruments usually have pretty distinct parts.”

At Stetson University, its School of Music students must pass an audition to be admitted into its program. Only the best musicians earn a seat in the Chamber Orchestra, which only seats two flautits. Frankowiak sits in the coveted fist chair.

He’s thankful for many people in his life who’ve helped him pursue his passion for music, including his parents, grandparents, his former band directors Mr. Gonzalez, Mr. DeDon and Dr. Blair and his private music teachers Clay Ellobroek, Robert Neale, Taylor Irelan and Carole Leidi. “They’ve all supported me in my music journey,” he said.

Frankowiak will graduate from Stetson in 2025 with a degree in Performance and afterwards plans on attending grad school.