OpinionYour

Island, not only for its natural beauty but because of its quaintness and charm.

We are baffled. Why are state Rep. Will Robinson Jr. and other politicians planning to force even more people onto the most crowded beach on the island? A location can only support a finite number of people comfortably and Manatee Public Beach is certainly at capacity.

We stay in a rental near Manatee Public Beach and already have to keep moving further and further down the beach, away from our rental, to find some space on the beach. It is frustrating.

On our latest trip, we spent a day at Coquina Beach and were so surprised to see how much less crowded it was than Manatee Beach. There were quite a few spots in the parking lot. And this was on a Saturday!

The next day, we went north to Anna Maria and we were again surprised to see how much less crowded those beaches were compared with Manatee. Why isn’t there any discussion of better utilizing the lesser-used but just as beautiful beaches?

Encouraging more and more people onto the most saturated beach on Anna Maria Island is not going to make it better for anyone.

We travel a lot and are regularly asked about the places we visit. Anna Maria is the one place we do not recommend to people due to the crowding and traffic. A parking garage is only going to make it go from bad to worse.

Kristen and Jay Swaine, Fayetteville, New York

Kiwanis thanks

On behalf of the Kiwanis Club of Anna Maria Island, we would like to thank our churches who took part in our 58th Annual Easter Sunrise Service.

The attendance was fantastic and the weather didn’t disappoint.

State contacts

Florida Governor: Republican Ron DeSantis, 850-717-9337, flgov.com.

Florida Senate: Republican Jim Boyd, 941742-6445, boyd.jim.web@flsenate.gov, flsenate. gov.

Florida House: Republican Rep. William Cloud “Will” Robinson Jr., District 71, 941-708-4968, will.robinson@myfl oridahouse.gov, myfl oridahouse.gov.

Thank you to the AMI Beach Cafe for the location, Chuck Caudill for providing the sound system, Morgan Bryant for her lovely voice, the city of Holmes Beach and the Holmes Beach Police Department for helping with the parking and The Islander newspaper for their reporting.

Another “thank you” goes to Casey Hoffman of Real Island TV, who for the first time live-streamed our service, which you can watch on YouTube.

We had our membership and their families helping to make Easter special for everyone.

Lastly, a huge “thank you” to the Anna Maria Island Chamber of Commerce, which awarded our club a grant to help defray expenses.

With this and the generosity of those who attended, we will be able to share the net proceeds among the churches and our scholarship fund.

We look forward to seeing everyone next year for our 59th Easter Sunrise Service.

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