Ringling College of Art and Design student Mabdelis Rosado, who comes from Puerto Rico, saw the opportunity to offer others a guide.
The senior and illustration major created “What’s in My Community: Manasota County,” a children’s book about a grandmother sharing the local community’s landmarks and history with her grandchild, available in English, Spanish and Haitian Creole.
Part of Rosado’s role in the college’s Lazarus Engaged Learning Assistantship is the project involved Project Light of Manatee Inc., with students Margo Drew and Madison Gear contributing to the artwork.
Sculpting a route
It’s almost the time when some Sarasota residents head to the beach for the Siesta Key Crystal Classic, an event in which international artists work to create the best sand sculpture. Nonetheless, parking at the already popular location of Siesta Key Beach is limited, with event parking coming at a fee of $55. Fortunately, there are some ways around the issue, with the festival encouraging alternative transportation.
Ahead of the event, you may want to look into options like carpooling, the free 77 Siesta Islander Trolley, Sarasota County Bus Route 33, The Frog Hop, taking an Uber or walking.
To explore the city’s Breeze Transit program, visit Breezerider.TripSparkHost.com.
Illustration by Marty Fugate
Ian Swaby
Mabdelis Rosado and Elena Farkas
Courtesy Sarasota County
WEEK OF NOV. 14, 2024
BY THE NUMBERS
“We
made tough calls and hard
sacrifices to create a Sarasota that every person, whether born here or drawn here, can be proud of.”
Former City Commissioner Erik Arroyo. Read more on page 9A
Holistic health practice opens downtown
Anew holistic health practice has opened in downtown Sarasota. The practice, Reveal Vitality and Longevity Institute, began serving patients at 1990 Main St., Suite 220, on Nov. 12.
Sister publication Business Observer reported that retiree Bob Falahee, who owned Sun Protection of Florida and SunPro Motorized Awnings and Screens, joined forces with cardiologist Dr. Christopher Davis in the venture. Davis had diagnosed Falahee with a heart condition, and afterward, Falahee says he wanted to
help others.
Falahee is now the CEO of the Reveal Vitality and Longevity Institute, which Davis owns.
Davis trained in internal medicine at Johns Hopkins Medicine and Sinai Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, then continued his education with fellowships in cardiology and interventional cardiology at the University of Virginia. He has also received training in functional medicine, bioidentical hormone replacement and regenerative medicine. The practice is outfitted with
advanced diagnostic equipment and AI-driven fitness technology they say will help provide a holistic, concierge medical experience. It also includes a multi-seat hyperbaric chamber.
Among the services offered are nutritional counseling, longevity therapies, integrative cardiology, functional medicine, performance and fitness programs, diagnostic testing and others.
Reveal provides protocols for exercise, sleep, nutrition, detoxification and hormone and stress management.
Piece of Sarasota Square up for sale
A 9.06-acre piece of the former Sarasota Square Mall is on the market. The parcel at 8201 S. Tamiami Trail was listed by CBRE and is set aside for the multifamily portion of the redevelopment. There is no sale price available and a confidentiality agreement needs to be signed for further details, according to the listing flyer.
The property’s owner, developer Torburn Partners of Illinois and Fort Lauderdale, bought the mall structure in 2021 for $19 million and intends to demolish most of it to create a 94.3-acre mixed-use project.
A big part of the project, which will include 690,000 square feet of commercial space, is a residential component with plans to build up to 1,200 units.
While CBRE is not publicly sharing details, it is making a hard sale. It says in the marketing material that there is a “dearth of multifamily housing stock” in the area with the average age of properties being 33 years old and only 856 units added to the mix in the past 20 years.
Registration opens for Sandy Claws run
Registration is underway for the annual Sandy Claws Beach Run at Siesta Beach Saturday, Dec. 14. This event attracts hundreds of runners, walkers and joggers, many in holiday costumes.
The event includes a chip-timed 5K race and a one-mile fun run with awards for the top six finishers in each age group. All participants are encouraged to dress up and enjoy music, food and raffle prizes postrace.
The 5K is part of the Manasota Track Club fall racing series, and proceeds benefit the Summer in the Parks Adopt-A-Camper scholarship program.
The one-mile fun run begins at 8 a.m. followed by the 5K at 8:20. Costume contest winners and race awards will be announced at approximately 9:15 a.m. Registration is available at runsignup.com/48thann ualsandyclawsbeachrun.
Courtesy photo
The AllCore360 designed to strengthen core with minimal impact is offered at Reveal Vitality and Longevity.
Setting the stage
ANDREW WARFIELD STAFF WRITER
With the design of 38 performing arts venues listed on its website, the Boston architecture firm of William Rawn Associates is no stranger to the type of facility envisioned by the Sarasota Orchestra at its nearly 32acre Fruitville Road site.
Rawn is also quite familiar with the orchestra’s ambitious plan to build an 1,800-seat concert hall, a 700seat recital hall and multiple education spaces.
Last week, the orchestra announced that Rawn was named the design architect of the project located less than a mile west of I-75 on the site it acquired for $14 million. There, Rawn will team with executive architect HKS, a global firm with offices in Orlando, and acoustician and theater planner Stages Consultants of Highland Park, New Jersey to design the Sarasota Orchestra Music Center.
Rawn is well familiar with the goal to build the Music Center, having discussed plans with the organization for more than a decade as its possible locations meandered around the area, including Payne Park Auditorium and the Sarasota County Fairgrounds, among others.
The location was solidified with the orchestra’s acquisition of the property from Walmart Stores East LP in May 2023.
“This has been talked about and in the works for a very long time,” said Rawn Principal Doug Johnston. “Our knowledge of the project and our first chance to come down and start talking to people was well over a decade ago, and it’s been through several planning iterations since then. We’ve been following this for quite some time and started to really understand it as a project that
not going to be a site for a big country music festival that has eight stages.”
LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION
Moving the Music Center away from the gulf shoreline, McKenna said, “takes flooding from storm surge off the table,” citing the Hurricane Milton-induced flooding of the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall — one of the orchestra’s performance venues — as the prime example.
“You can have the effects of storm anywhere, but when you’re not sitting right on the coastline you remove that storm surge as at least one vulnerability,” McKenna said.
Resiliency, the Rawn representatives said, is top of mind in light of the three named storms that impacted Sarasota this hurricane season.
“We’re very mindful to be planning for (resilience) in the design of the building, both the materials of the building itself,” said Associate Principal Kevin Bergeron, Rawn’s project manager for the facility. “It’s good that we’re well away from the bay, but we do have inland flooding to consider.”
Rawn is responsible for the concept and vision of the project, at which time HKS, along with the acoustician, and an eventually named landscape architect to design the outdoor aesthetic in concert with stormwater management practices. That stage, though, won’t be a handoff. Rawn will stay with the project through completion.
“We work very hand-in-hand with our acoustician, Stages, and we’re going to be right there with every decision about how to shape the hall, but the place to start is that this is not a theater. This is a room for music, and we will design it from the stage going out,” Gayley said. “While we want it to be really a beautiful space for live, unamplified music, we recognize the power of a symphony orchestra, which can produce a lot of sound. And then there’s a range of other music types that that may well be performing in this space, so we have what we call variable acoustics.”
Those include elements deployed either along the wall or in the ceiling that reduce reverberation and accommodate a range of music performed sans amplification. The starting point though, is to create an optimum space for orchestral music.
Sarasota Orchestra Music Center’s architect takes a music-first approach to creating concert halls.
involves a lot of components that our firm is particularly interested In.”
The firm has hit the ground running on a concept design that Sarasota Orchestra President and CEO Joseph McKenna said he hopes to have available to present to the public, and in particular potential donors, in spring 2025. The concept is a critical step for a capital campaign as it provides a design to augment the vision. It’s also the foundation on which to build a budget for the project.
“The conceptual won’t be the final design, but it will give people a sense of what’s going to land on that site,” McKenna said. “Certainly a visual representation and an image of what the vision is really does help elevate people’s sense of the project. We already are in the leadership phase of talking with donors.”
AT THE CENTER OF THE REGION
Sarasota Orchestra’s goal is to create a destination to better serve the Sarasota-Manatee region. The location just off I-75 is geographically in the center of the target market, somewhat equidistant from downtown, Venice, Bradenton and the rapidly growing upscale neighborhoods east of I-75.
High-end restaurants just north of the site at University Town Center and in the growing Fruitville Commons area east of the interstate already provide pre-concert dining options with more to come.
The Rawn team thinks of the site as the opening of a gateway to downtown.
“We think the site being just west of I-75 allows us to create a gateway heading toward downtown Sarasota,” said Rawn Principal Cliff Gayley. “It feels like a real opportunity to create a center of gravity that connects from that site all the way to downtown, and encourages the rest of the community to fill in the space between the two.”
At nearly 32 acres, the site is large, but so are the opportunities it presents. The Rawn leadership collectively said while the building will be the centerpiece, the land provides options to create interactive out-
door spaces that will complement and enhance the patron experience.
“We’re going to need to have enough space for all the parking and to be able to manage the water flood mitigation,” said Gayley. “I think the real opportunity that we see is to create a sense of place in the placement of the building and how we choreograph the arrival onto the site with the views to the building as you come in, and the views from the building out to the landscape.”
Outdoor music spaces are an option to consider, but on an intimate scale.
“We’re absolutely thinking about activity happening outside, and I think we’d be hard pressed to say that we wouldn’t want to have places for music to spill out into the landscape,” Gayley said. “Exactly what kind of a format that would be and where it might take place, these will be things that are part of part of the design conversation.”
Music to the ears of residents who border the north side of the property, though, is that any outdoor music spaces would be intimate in nature.
“I don’t want to leave the wrong impression,” Johnston said. “This is
Among several others, Rawn’s performance hall projects include:
■ Sorenson Center for the Performing Arts at Babson College.
■ Boston Symphony Orchestra’s Seiji Ozawa Hall at Tanglewood and Linde Center for Music and Learning at Tanglewood.
■ Studzinski Recital Hall at Bowdoin College.
■ Rubenstein Arts Center at Duke University.
■ Plaza Theater at Lincoln Center of Performing Arts in New York City,
■ Joan & Stanford Weill Hall at Sonoma State University.
■ Music Center at Strathmore in Montgomery County, Maryland.
Rawn’s Seiji Ozawa Hall at Tanglewood, was named “Second Best American Concert Hall built in the last 50 Years” and “13th Best Concert Hall in the World” by Leo Beranek’s Concert Halls and Opera Houses.
McKenna said as the area continues to grow, the location of the project is at the geographic middle of population centers and is more convenient for the orchestra’s education program participants. It also provides more convenient access for other music organizations scattered throughout region.
“We are arriving with this project at the 75th anniversary of the orchestra,” Gayley said, “and we’d like to think that what we do here will affect the next 75 years.”
Photo courtesy Alan Karchmer
William Rawn Associates designed the Strathmore Music Center in Montgomery County, Maryland.
Courtesy image
The Sarasota Orchestra plans to build a new music center on the 32-acre parcel at 5701 Fruitville Road.
Don’t Worry,
we’ll clean up the mess
The trio of tropical systems left their mark, but there were many other stories here during the past off-season.
ANDREW WARFIELD STAFF WRITER
Alot has happened in your wintertime home while you were away for the summer, some of you perhaps returning to homes damaged by the back-to-back Hurricanes Helene and Milton.
Perhaps some of your favorite restaurants are still closed because of storm damage, for certain some merchants — particularly on Siesta, St. Armands and Longboat keys — as the sometimes slow road to recovery continues. But home, even part-time, is where the heart is, and those who love the Sarasota area will make the most of it.
In addition to tropical storms and hurricanes, plenty of news was made while you were away, and here are 10 top stories to bring you up to date.
It turns out Hurricanes Helene and Milton had a baby, blessing Little Sarasota Bay with a reopened Midnight Pass, which had been closed by human intervention for four decades.
As Helene passed 100 or so miles to the west, she carved a narrow channel from the Gulf of Mexico into the bay, slightly restoring the inlet between Siesta Key and Casey Key. And just as Midnight Pass enthusiasts were wondering how long the pass would remain open — some of them arriving with shovels in an attempt to help — Milton came along 13 days later and answered the question.
Shortly after Milton passed directly overhead,
TROPICAL TRIPLE TROUBLE
boaters, beach-goers and others began visited the restored inlet, reveling in fact that Mother Nature, with all her destructive power, will eventually take back what is hers, sometimes constructively.
The question remains how long Midnight Pass will remain open. Inlets naturally want to close, experts told Sarasota county commissioners this past summer. The push and pull of sand beneath the hydralic exchange of water tends to borrow sand from other areas of the beach and deposit them there.
Nature will decide if it closes again.
In addition to escaping the summer heat, one reason seasonal residents flee to the north once season ends is to avoid encountering the tropical weather systems, which this year came in triplicate while they were away.
Although likely anxious about the condition of their wintertime homes, our fair weather residents weren’t faced with the quandary posed by the 1970s and ’80s British band, The Clash, in their titled “Should I Stay or Should I Go.” Still, the back-to-back-to-back body blows delivered by Tropical Storm Debby and Hurricanes Helene and Milton left yearround locals weather-weary dealing with plenty of damage in their collective wake.
Many seasonal residents returned here earlier than usual to assess damage to their properties, finding something of a different Sarasota than when they left. Their dual-home lifestyle, though, means they didn’t face the hardships imposed on year-rounders over whether to evacuate and take their chances in traffic and dwindling fuel supplies versus taking their chances by hunkering down and riding out the storms.
As The Clash sang, “If I go, there will be trouble. If I stay, it will be double.”
Midnight Pass on Thursday Oct. 17 looking from Little Sarasota Bay to the Gulf of Mexico. Hurricanes Helene and Milton opened up the pass after it was closed in 1983.
NATURE RESTORES MIDNIGHT PASS
The wall and door at Café L’Europe shows the high water mark of the Hurricane Helene storm surge on St. Armands Circle.
For five years, the cylindrical sculptor known as Tube Dude brightened the east end of Main Street with his whimsical fabrications found along the streets, in back yards and at businesses throughout the Sarasota area.
With plans to redevelop the south side of the 1700 block of Main Street into an apartment building, Scott Berger has relocated his fabrication shop to a larger, 16,712-square-foot space at 2306 60th Drive E., near Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport.
The additional room facilitates Tube Dude’s new power coating capability, which Gerber brought in-house to apply the finishing touch to his whimsical functional art from the original mailbox to one of his latest creations, the mermaid
outdoor showers. Opening the giant 500-degree oven to retrieve the finished product, Gerber said, would overheat the small downtown shop.
Although Tube Dude’s work is no longer prominently displayed in downtown, examples of Gerber and company’s work are scattered throughout the city and are prominent along the streets of St. Armands and Longboat Key. Now a global company, Gerber estimates it has some 10,000 installations around the world.
More space and no outsourcing means even greater productivity, putting the signature Tube Dude smile on Gerber’s face.
Tube Dude owner Scott Gerber checks an alligator head before it is welded onto a sculpture.
When you left for your northern homes, the CO-suite (constitutional officers) at City Hall was stable. By the time you returned, Marlon Brown had retired as City Manager and the City Commission selected a new city attorney and associates to replace City Attorney Robert Fournier and Deputy City Attorney Michael Connolly, both retiring next spring.
Citing non-specific personal and professional reasons, Brown gave his required 60-day notice of his intention to retire on Oct. 15, his departure delayed by six days because of Hurricanes Helene and Milton. The commission has named Public Works Director Doug Jeffcoat as interim city manager while embarking on a nationwide search for Brown’s permanent replacement, and Joseph Polzak as the new city attorney and John Shamsey and Joseph Mladinich as co-deputies.
Why not elevate Deputy City Manager Patrick Robinson to the top job, one might ask? He didn’t want it. As for Polzak, Shamsey and Mladinich, they are the remaining partners of the firm led by Fournier and Connolly. With the future of the City Attorney’s Office set, the commission will consider whether to continue with the three as outside counsel or bring them in-house. For their part, the three attorneys have said they are amenable to either option.
Any seasonal residents holding tickets to fall performances at the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall will be getting checks in the mail for refunds. Although the bayfront theater survived Tropical Storm Debby and Hurricane Helene with minimal impacts, the storm surge brought by Hurricane Milton flooded the lower levels of the facility, forcing cancellation of the fall season.
This while the city’s Purple Ribbon Committee settles into its second year of receiving information to prepare a recommendation to repurpose the Van Wezel should the city go forward with building the proposed Sarasota Performing Arts Center. That facility is currently under design by the worldrenown architecture firm of Renzo Piano Building Workshop.
NO LAND SALE TO NEW COLLEGE
Rather than wait for what appeared to be an inevitable second rejection from the Federal Aviation Administration, Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport withdrew the appeal of its request to sell some 30 acres of land that it currently leases to New College of Florida.
In April, the FAA denied the proposed $11.5 million land deal, which the Sarasota Manatee Airport Authority promptly appealed. After months of waiting for a response, the airport learned of new guidance requiring airports to consider how to accommodate electric take-off and landing and drone aircraft as that technology further develops.
In short, don’t ask to dispose of property until the FAA can figure out the details of an emerging transportation
The preliminary concept released by the firm shows a series of four buildings along Tamiami Trail spanning the east end of the current parking lot across the 10th Street Canal and into Centennial Park. To deal with the type of storm surge that swamped the Van Wezel, the complex would be elevated with parking and public spaces located beneath. By the end of November, the city is due to enter into an implementation agreement with the Sarasota Performing Arts Foundation to construct the new facility, all while the community awaits the Purple Ribbon Committee’s reuse recommendation. Meanwhile, come early 2025, the shows must go on.
technology. Since 2016, the SMAA has attempted to convey the land to New College, whose lease with the airport will expire in 2056. The concern of both the airport management and the college is that, when the 100-year, undervalued lease does expire, FAA requirements to pay full market value on land it conveyed for civil aviation use will render it unaffordable. In withdrawing its appeal, SRQ President and CEO Rick Piccolo said it became evident that eVTOL and drone technology won’t require runway access and that the FAA would not be amenable to any land release at SRQ, or any other airport.
New College students live in the Dort Residence Hall just a few yards from Airport Road that loops around the parking lot at Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport.
File photos
Sarasota City Manager Marlon Brown has announced his retirement effective Oct. 15.
Long-serving as primarily a commercial airline center, SarasotaBradenton International Airport is emerging as an economic development driver with a growing aviation ecosystem.
In August, the airport announced the lease of 17 acres of airfield property to Swiss aircraft manufacturer Pilatus Business Aircraft Ltd., which will invest more than $40 million to build a manufacturing and sales facility projected to create more than 350 jobs averaging salaries of more than $80,000 each.
It’s only the latest piece of a growing manufacturing, educational and private aviation synergy that is bringing aircraft maintenance schools, fixed-base operators and aircraft manufacturing to the airfield.
Pilatus will join French small aircraft maker Elixer, which is currently under development, along with Manatee County’s Team Success grades 6-12 charter school and the Manatee Technical College airframe and power plant program to create a classroomto-employment symbiosis.
Also under construction on the northeast quadrant of the airfield next to the future Pilatus site is fixed-base operator Sheltair Aviation, which will join Dolphin Aviation and Atlantic Aviation.
Revenue generated by the land leases will help balance SRQ’s revenue sources, which was historically dependent on income from commercial passenger operations.
“When I first came to the airport in 1995 the airport was almost exclusively dependent on airlines,” said SRQ President and CEO Rick Piccolo. “Our industrial revenues were about $200,000 a year then. Today, they’re about $3.5 million.”
Emerson Lakes,℠ the distinctive new retirement community by Erickson Senior Living,® is now accepting reservations!
Our first phase of construction is now underway. It includes the beautiful Coral Ridge Clubhouse and three residence buildings: Sandhill Point, anticipated to open in the fall of 2026, followed by Laguna Springs and Mangrove Run, opening in the first half of 2027.
Here are just a few resort-style amenities you can expect when you live at Emerson Lakes:
• Multiple dining venues
• An outdoor pool with a walk-up bar
• A state-of-the-art fitness center
• Pickleball and bocce ball courts
• Outdoor fitness center with meditation garden
• Fire pits
A rendering of the first phase of Pilatus Business Aircraft’s planned facilities at Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport.
A red tsunami in Florida
‘The incentive that impels man to act is uneasiness.’ It was abundantly clear Floridians were uneasy about the past four years.
Last words on last Tuesday’s election results. Well, maybe not. But in any case, what happened in Florida certainly deserves to be noted more than it has been — because it’s rather stunning. Let’s start at the top: Trump versus Harris
Of course, if you talk to a Republican, she (or he) likely will say she has renewed faith in the American voters. But talk to a Democrat, and you’ll likely get what Republicans said in 2020: “I can’t believe the American voters are that stupid and elected that idiot.”
Fact is, that’s the way it is with every presidential election. When can anyone recall when there were two equally likable and qualified candidates running for president? Not in this lifetime.
So we go back and forth — a pendulum swinging from one side to the other, with the hopeless hope that one day we will achieve what Americans really want from their government in Washington, D.C.: Laissez-faire! … Leave us alone!
That, of course, will never happen. So voters vote the way they do because of one simple reason: They believe it will bring something better for their own lives than what currently exists. Take it from one of our favorite late Austrian economists, Ludwig von Mises and his seminal book, “Human Action”: “The incentive that impels a man to act is always some uneasiness.” Simple as that. But wait, there’s more, von Mises said: “To make a man act, uneasiness and the image of a more satisfactory state alone are not sufficient. A third condition is required: the expectation that purposeful behavior has the power to remove or at least to alleviate the felt uneasiness.”
Casting that vote is the purposeful behavior.
So, in short, way more people voted for Donald Trump over Kamala Harris because they thought the past three years were uneasy. No, make that horrible. And they wanted to end that. Or, to be even more precise, Bill Clinton covered it: It’s the economy, stupid. Always.
Bright red in Florida
After Jeb Bush broke the Democrat Party’s stranglehold on Florida’s
HOW FLORIDA VOTED 2024
Trump 6,102,930 56.11%
Harris 4,674,445 42.9%
Total votes cast 10,877,474
2020 BLUE COUNTIES THAT FLIPPED RED
n Duval (Jacksonville)
n Pinellas (St. Pete/Clearwater)
n Hillsborough (Tampa)
n Seminole (Orlando)
n Osceola (Disney, Puerto Rican)
n Miami-Dade
2020
Trump 5,668,731 51.2%
BLUE COUNTIES
n Duval (Jacksonville)
n Gadsden (Tallahassee)
n Leon (Tallahassee, FSU, FAMU)
n Alachua (Gainesville, UF)
n Seminole (Orlando)
n Orange (Orlando, UCF, Disney)
2024 VOTERS BY PARTY
BLUE COUNTIES: 5 of 67
n Gadsden (Tallahassee)
n Leon (Tallahassee, FSU, FAMU)
n Alachua (Gainesville, UF)
n Orange (UCF, Disney)
n Palm Beach
n Broward (Fort Lauderdale)
n Osceola (Disney, Puerto Rican)
n Pinellas (St. Pete/Clearwater)
n Hillsborough (Tampa)
n Palm Beach
n Broward (Fort Lauderdale)
n Miami-Dade
governorship in 1998, that marked the end of the Democrat Party’s 120-year control of Florida state politics.
From 1877 until Bush’s election, of the 29 governors, only two were Republicans — and even they were Democrats before flipping sides.
The makeup of the Legislatures in those 120 years was similar — blue and Blue Dog Democrats.
But with Bush’s election, Republicans flipped control of the Legislature as well. And ever since, for the past 36 years, Florida state politics has been solid red.
That is, until Barack Obama became president in 2008. For those eight years, Florida started drifting back to its blue roots. Even the Republican stronghold of Pinellas County turned blue, and Orange County (Orlando), once the reddest of reds with its roots in the citrus industry, turned blue.
In fact, from the Obama years (2009-2016) until now, Florida reflected much of the United States. Its population centers of MiamiDade, Broward, Palm Beach, Tampa Bay, Orlando (Orange, Osceola, parts of Seminole), Jacksonville and the university centers (Tallahassee and Gainesville) were solid blue Democrat.
Even in 2020 when Trump decisively defeated Biden in Florida, the accompanying map shows the 12 counties that voted Democratic.
But this year, in 2024, as the top map shows, the tide from blue to red resembled the force of Hurricane Helene. Six blue counties flipped to red.
The most stunning flip occurred in Miami-Dade. In 2016, Hillary Clinton massacred Trump with 63% of the vote to Trump’s 33%. But in 2024, the results flipped.
FLORIDA SHOWS IT HAS TOP TALENT
Florida came close.
As of Monday, it was looking as if Florida would have contributed four of the top leaders to the Trump administration and the U.S. Senate. Instead, we ended up with three. For now.
Wow. Florida hasn’t had this much influence in the nation’s capital since — actually, maybe never before.
Marco Rubio: Secretary of State. How things change. It was just eight years ago that Trump called him “Little Marco.” But apparently Trump sees Florida’s senior senator as someone who can be a disrupter in the Department of Swam … er, State.
Let’s hope. For Rubio, this is a gamble. He will be opting to try to work with Trump, knowing that any day Mr.
“You’re Fired” could walk into the office and deliver this famous punch line.
Susie Wiles: Trump’s chief of staff. We’ve heard the punditry class say no one was able to control Trump in a campaign as well as Wiles has — twice, in 2016 and 2024. Indeed, the Jacksonville resident has a remarkable career. She was also responsible for helping guide Rick Scott into the Senate in 2018. Obviously, we’ll see how well she can maneuver and manage once Trump steps into the Oval Office. Give her a lot of credit: First she took on the monumental — and we mean monumental — task of keeping Trump from defeating himself during the campaign. Now she is stepping into another Roman lion’s den. Clearly, she can handle pressure.
FLORIDA PRESIDENTIAL TURNOUT
MANATEE, SARASOTA TURNOUT
HOW MANATEE, SARASOTA VOTED
These are the results for selected races.
Trump won Miami-Dade with 55.2% of the vote and a vote margin of 125,343 — unheard of for a Republican presidential candidate.
The Trump tsunami carried over to Florida’s congressional delegation and Legislature as well. Sen. Rick Scott was re-elected with his largest victory margin in four statewide elections (55.6%), including a first-time victory in Miami-Dade.
Republicans also held 21 of the state’s congressional seats; 28 of the 40 state Senate seats; and gained two state House seats, increasing their margin in the House to 83 versus 35 Democrats. Those margins continue to give the Republicans a veto-proof supermajority in the House and Senate, along with the state’s Republican governor.
How did Florida shift so far red?
You can attribute that to many factors — one being conservative Northeast, Chicago and Califor-
Rep. Michael Walz, R-Palm Coast, Trump’s national security adviser. It would be a close contest between Walz and Secretary of Defense nominee Pete Hegseth to determine which of the two is the tougher warrior to take on the D.C. spy turncoats and go face to face with foreign thugs. Walz earned four bronze stars (two for valor) while serving as a Green Beret in Afghanistan, Africa and the Middle East. And if you have ever heard Walz speak on U.S. military readiness, you should
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nia residents fleeing their tax hells for Florida’s no income tax. But perhaps the following numbers tell the story:
From 2016 to 2024:
n Registered voters increased by 1,888,420.
n Of those, 1,223,613 were Republicans, 64.7% of the total.
n Meantime, registered Democrats declined by 147,998, 3.2%.
n Registered non-party and other parties voters increased by 812,805, 43% of the increase in registered voters.
Perhaps you can credit the Republican Party machine for recruiting. But we’ll credit Bill Clinton again. It’s the economy, stupid.
rest assured, he is all about peace through strength. No more weeny appeaseritis.
The one disappointment this week was the U.S. Senate rejecting our former governor and current junior senator Rick Scott as the Republican majority leader. Scott went into the week with a lot of suppport from Trump backers who were outside the Senate clubhouse. How dare they pressure the Old Mitch McConnell Guard.
But talk about weak, Establishment, status quo cowards. Obviously, the OWGs (Old White Guys) in the Senate don’t want an innovator, disrupter and hawkish fiscal conservative like Scott teaming up with Trump to turn their world upside down.
Scott’s rejection is a big loss the country. But don’t count him out. Meantime, we’ll cheer on our fellow Floridians, showing the nation we’re overflowing with top talent.
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Arroyo finds solace in leaving City Commission
The outgoing District 3 representative and former mayor pledges to remain involved as the next City Commission is sworn in without him.
ANDREW WARFIELD
STAFF WRITER
As Erik Arroyo surveyed the City Commission Meeting Chamber for one last time from his vantage point at the dais, he couldn’t have suppressed the smile on his face if he tried.
While successful commission incumbents Liz Alpert and Kyle Battie raised their right hand and took their oath of office for the next four years alongside Kathy Kelley Ohlrich, who ousted the one-term incumbent in District 3 in the Nov. 5 election, Arroyo looked on mere moments before exiting the chamber, but not necessarily abandoning civic involvement.
“I may be stepping down, but I’m not stepping away,” Arroyo said during the Nov. 8 statutory meeting to swear in the next City Commission. “I am still part of this community, still committed to this city, and still ready to serve in whatever way I can. My heart is here, and no title or position will ever change that.”
The meeting agenda included remarks from all the commissioners and a state of the city address delivered by Alpert, who was also re-elected to serve a second straight year as mayor — a largely ceremonial position — by her colleagues. Atlarge Commissioner Debbie Trice was named vice-mayor for the coming year.
About the past 12 months, Alpert spoke of how well the city government responded to this year’s string of tropical weather systems, progress made toward incentivizing and developing more affordable and attainable housing, holding the line on property tax millage rates, the completion and opening of the Bobby Jones Golf Club and Nature Park, reduction in crime, the impending retirement of City Attorney Robert Fournier and the October retirement of City Manager Marlon Brown, to name a few.
“I am relieved, honestly. Whatever the outcome was, I was going to be relieved because there were a lot of attacks coming my way.”
Erik Arroyo, Commissioner
2025 SARASOTA CITY COMMISSION
At-Large: Debbie Trice,
vice mayor
At-Large: Jen Ahearn-Koch
District 1: Kyle Battie
District 2: Liz Alpert, mayor
District 3: Kathy Kelley Ohlrich
Meanwhile, the largest civic project in the city’s history still looms before the commissioners, the proposed Sarasota Performing Arts Center.
“We’re exploring a new performing arts center, and of course we want to do this in a resilient, sustainable way,” Alpert said. “That’s why the concept shows that the buildings would be farther away from the water, elevated 20 feet and built from resilient materials that can withstand a hurricane,” she said.
She also shared her thoughts about Arroyo’s four years at the dais.
“I have really, really grown to love you and realize that you’ve gotten the vision and the understanding of what the city needed,” Alpert said. “I really, really appreciate all you did to help us move forward. A lot of these things wouldn’t have happened had you not been on the commission.”
‘TOUGH CALLS AND SACRIFICES’
Arroyo’s sense of respite is in part the weight of city leadership lifted from his shoulders and in also what he described during his election night address to supporters as “constant attacks” on him for his policy positions. Those included holding the line on city government growth, opposing the expansion of the vacation rental ordinance to the mainland, his support of the affordable housing program incentives, his unsuccessful bid to require paid lobbyists to register with the city and others.
“I am relieved, honestly,” he said on the night of Nov. 5. “Whatever the outcome was, I was going to be relieved because there were a lot of attacks coming my way. If I had won, there was already a chain of attacks that had already started.
“In the last four years I was investigated by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement,” he continued. “People tried to get me arrested twice, then they tried to get my bar license removed so I couldn’t be a lawyer because of some park vote. ... So regardless of the outcome, right now I feel relieved.”
The FDLE investigation was an offshoot of his support for the firstgeneration plan for One Park in The Quay, relative to the dispersement of funds raised by a charity he cofounded — Sarasota City Foundation — during a Mayor’s Ball hosted by Arroyo in the fall of 2022. Among the contributors was Kim Githler, a partner in the One Park project. That investigation was dropped by the Office of the State Attorney due to lack of sufficient evidence.
During his final address, Arroyo said he and his wife, Victoria, were under contract to purchase their dream home in 2020, outside of the city, which they gave up for his opportunity to run for the District 3 seat. That was only the first of many difficult decisions he and the rest of the commission faced over the past four years.
“We made tough calls and hard sacrifices to create a Sarasota that every person, whether born here or drawn here, can be proud of,” Arroyo concluded. “But here’s the truth about leadership. It’s not about holding on to a title. It’s about ensuring that the work outlives us, that the commitment to Sarasota endures, and as I step aside I’m confident that this city is in good hands.”
Photos by Andrew Warfield
Kyle Battie, Liz Alpert and Kathy Kelley Ohlrich take the oath of office as district city commissioners for the 2024-2028 term.
Erik Arroyo speaks to his fellow city commissioners, staff and residents during his final address as a Sarasota city commissioner.
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Van Wezel damage may reach $10 milllion
Executive Director Mary Bensel tells the Purple Ribbon Committee the race is on for a Jan. 1 reopening.
hen Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall Executive Director Mary Bensel began her damage assessment presentation to the city’s Purple Ribbon Committee, she began by saying “The day after the hurricane, I was home …”
“Which one?” interjected committee Chair Lee-En Chung. It was a poignant yet wholly appropriate question as the theater building precariously perched alongside Sarasota Bay weathered Hurricanes Helene and Milton over a span of 13
days. While the Van Wezel took minor damage from Tropical Storm Debby and Hurricane Helene, it was Milton, Bensel said, that took its toll. After missing its scheduled October meeting that was canceled in
File photo
The Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall was built over fill, which created land on what was formerly Sarasota Bay.
Courtesy image
The orchestra pit at the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall was flooded by Storm surge from Hurricane Milton.
the wake of Milton, the committee reconvened on Nov. 7, when Bensel reported that while the structure held up well against the passing of Milton’s eye, several feet of water and all that it carried in from Sarasota Bay was deposited in the lower levels of the building.
The water has been removed along with the muck and sand and repairs are well underway, Bensel said. The estimated cost, not including revenue lost to the cancellation of the fall season of performances, is $7 million to $10 million.
In the wake of Milton, Bensel was at home when officers of the Sarasota Police Department arrived to take her to the Van Wezel, she told the committee, because fire alarms were sounding, the result of salt water intruding electrical outlets and causing sparks. Although electricity was restored within a few days, it was lost again when the building’s transformer blew because of stormrelated wire corrosion. Ever since, it has relied on backup generators, awaiting the arrival of Florida Power & Light to provide access to the transformer for repairs.
“We can’t go off of generator power because we were down for three days with no electricity and air conditioning, and the walls started weeping downstairs and the floors were slick,” Bensel said.
The water intrusion was restricted to the lower levels of the building and did not impact the stage or seating areas. As many might expect, the breach did not occur through the multiple glass doors in the Grand Foyer, but rather through service doors at the bottom of the ramp on the south side of the building that leads to the kitchen.
From there, it worked its way up an interior ramp into the Grand Foyer, requiring all of the carpet to be removed. It will be replaced with polished concrete. Several pieces of kitchen equipment were left either floating or damaged by the salt water, much of it requiring repair or replacement.
In the basement level, dressing rooms and other staging areas took several inches of water. There, vinyl flooring and drywall were removed and must be replaced.
The lowest point of the building, which is below sea level — the orches-
tra pit — took on the most water. The water damaged the spiral lift equipment used to transport pieces of sets and the grand pianos to the stage. It also serves as the foundation for the first three rows of seating when not being used as an orchestra pit.
Parts are being shipped from Germany to replace the damaged components. That system itself costs about $250,000. On the plus side, the pit functioned as a drain of sorts, preventing water damage to other areas of the building to remain dry.
Some committee members began offering suggestions for employing resilient materials as repairs are made. Bensel said she appreciated the advice, but added that time is of the essence and resilience matters may be addressed next summer.
“We’re doing everything we can. We have a schedule. We’ve ordered furniture already. We’ve gotten things started. We’re about ready to put the drywall in and paint it. They’re going to start later this month with the polished concrete floors, and we’re really on our way,” Bensel said before, citing multiple shows scheduled to begin on Jan. 2.
“The reason I get so crazy about it is that we said we would reopen Jan. 1. I don’t want to lose the second half of the season.”
Committee member Charles Cosler asked Bensel if there is any consideration for installing a flood barrier system. Because the only point of entry into the building was that lone ramp into the lower level, Bensel said that would likely be the point of mitigation emphasis.
Meanwhile, the proposed Sarasota Performing Arts Center, she added, is being designed by Renzo Piano Building Workshop with resilience in mind.
Any such measures for the Van Wezel, she said, should be part of the Purple Ribbon Committee’s deliberations.
“We have always talked about the new hall building it up on 20-foot concrete pylons and the water goes underneath,” Bensel said. “When you consider what you’re going to do with the Van Wezel, if the new building gets approved, I think you will have to consider all these things.”
22nd Annual Fall Art Show and Sale
Presented By:
Lakewood Ranch Town Hall
Saturday, November 16, 2024 | 9am - 4pm
Sponsored By:
The two-year odyssey of One Park in The Quay has come to an end with the Planning Board approval of the second of two towers of similar nomenclature, and with that draws the curtain of the regulatory process for the high-end residential enclave known as The Quay.
Over the summer, construction began on both One Park and Ritz-Carlton Residences II, was completed on the lone rental property Cordelia by Lennar, and opening soon is upscale seafood restaurant Ocean Prime. With the approval of One Park West, the city’s work has culminated on the plan that began with a 2016 general development agreement
with Jacksonville-based GreenePointe. Now all that remains is the buildout of residential towers with condos that will range from the low $1 millions to more than $10 million, eventually to be joined by the redevelopment of the adjacent Hyatt Regency property. Those plans by developer Kolter Urban are currently being vetted by the city’s Development Review Committee and are currently proposed as a mix of boutique luxury hotel, condominium and retail space. Still, cranes will remain a prominent feature of The Quay skyline for years to come as construction of the remaining 18-story towers is completed.
Since last winter, the focus of The Sarasota Players, formerly The Players Centre for the Performing Arts, has shifted from an expansion of the Payne Park Auditorium to building anew on a parcel of land, also owned by the city, at the northeast corner of South Washington Boulevard and Laurel Street.
The Players had planned to quadruple the size of Payne Park Auditorium by attaching a new main theater to the current structure, much to the consternation of Alta Vista residents and park enthusiasts alike. During the July 15 meeting of the Sarasota City Commission, it became apparent the expansion was a hard sell and it was suggested the organi-
zation consider the possibility of building its new theater outside of the park along Washington Boulevard.
By the time a lease agreement came before the commission on Oct. 18, The Players’ proposal morphed into a lease of the auditorium excluding expansion of the current structure if and until a facility is built. At that point, the 30-year lease on the current auditorium may be terminated. The Players will pay $100 per year plus $1 for every ticket sold for events held there, with cost escalators every five years tied to the Consumer Price Index. The Players has not made public a development plan for the Washington Boulevard site.
find it more difficult to book one. That’s because the Sarasota County Commission voted to accept the report prepared by a task force it seated to recommend a solution to the unauthorized use of county park boat launches and piers by private charter operators.
It’s been a decades-long practice that only became a capacity problem during the pandemic, and lingering since, as more charter captains took to the water to accommodate the influx of COVID-weary tourists flocked to the area to escape protracted lockdowns up north.
The recommendation is to limit permits to a total of 124 once an ordinance is adopted, a
cap of two per operator in each of three zones — North, Mid-County and South.
The permits will be auctioned at a starting bid of $1,200 each.
At the time the ordinance is enacted, though, Nora Patterson Park may be unavailable for the program. As a county park in the Sarasota city limit, licensed commercial operations there will require a rezoning by the city.
The permit program applies to six-passenger non-inspected passenger vessels — or “six pack” — fishing charters and tour excursions operated out of the county parks system. It does not apply to the Centennial Park boat ramps nor Ken Thompson Park at City Island, both of which are owned by the city of Sarasota.
File photos
A rendering of One Park West (center) as viewed from Quay Commons looking north.
THE QUAY PLANNING IS COMPLETE
COUNTY TO ENACT A “SIX-PACK” LIMIT IN PARKS
The Indian Mound Park boat access in Englewood will have 11 commercial charter permits available under the current proposal that will be considered by the Sarasota County Commission.
DecEMBER 4th - 8th, 2024
Mira Mar preservation takes first step
To pay for the preservation of the property, Seaward Development is requesting a rezoning that will allow it to build two, 18-story towers with 70 units total.
Although it was merely a preapplication hearing, Seaward Development and its legal counsel, Brenda Patten, laid out detailed plans for the restoration and preservation of the historic Mira Mar building in downtown Sarasota and the residential development that will make it possible.
During the Nov. 6 meeting of the city’s Development Review Committee, Patten led the presentation of how Seaward will not just retain a narrow facade similar to the neighboring DeMarcay condo tower on the zero block of South Palm Avenue. Instead, Seaward plans to preserve the structure and return it to its 1926 appearance by removing features added in the 1980s.
The cost to Seward and principal Patrick DiPinto: $25 million.
“Patrick and his team are going to completely rehabilitate all of those shops, including the frontage, going back to the depth that they are today,” Patten said. “The non-historic parts are going to be removed, but the rest of it will be restored back to the original 1926 structure.”
That structure was built at “warp speed,” Patten said, over the course of a several months to be completed in time for the 1926-27 tourist season. With a foundation of wooden beams on sand and 100 years of termite damage, settling, water intrusion and more, Seaward first sought to demolish the building and redevelop the entire property. That met considerable opposition and a unanimous vote of the city’s Historic Preservation Board to deny that application.
“As a result of that effort, Patrick
Unwrap the Magic
and others got together and decided they could do a better job, and they have done a much better job,” Patten said.
Seaward spent a year crunching numbers, she said, while meeting with Rick Gonzalez, one of Florida’s leading historic preservation architects, a member of the Florida Historical Commission and the Florida National Register Review Board. They are also working with principal architect Igor Reyes of Nichols Architects, who has teamed up to rehabilitate and save some of the most iconic historic structures in Florida.
With Gonzalez leading the way on the historic rehabilitation, Reyes is drawing plans to monetize the effort.
Step one, Patten said, is the stabilization and restoration of the Mira Mar.
“The second step is the engine that’s going to make the rehabilitation financially feasible,” Patten said. “Where are you going to get $25 million to rehabilitate the Mira Mar? It’s going to come from building two condominium towers behind the historic structures with 70 units between the two.”
The reason for two towers is to reduce the footprint at the ground level rather than building lot to lot line.
“You wouldn’t have that feeling from the ’20s,” she said. “We want to preserve the air flow and the light between the buildings and the open feeling, the spirit of what was there in 1926, so this extra height is critical to this success.”
The latter of which is the purpose of coming before the DRC at this juncture. The property is zoned Downtown Core, which limits structures to 10 stories. Seaward wants to build two 18-story towers with space in between without adding density, the height requiring rezoning to Downtown Bayfront. Properties adjacent to the north and across South Palm Avenue carry the Downtown Bayfront zoning.
“The number of units will be the same whether this is built as one
block under the Downtown Core zoning, or whether we have the two towers under Downtown Bayfront, it’s still only 70 units,” Patten said.
The rezoning is not a simple process as it will first require a Comprehensive Plan amendment. Following DRC sign-off, a 4-1 supermajority of the City Commission is needed first to transmit the change to Tallahassee for comment and, if cleared, another supermajority for approval.
Seaward’s plan for the preservation of the Mira Mar met with the overall approval of attendees of a community meeting held in September. Patten told DRC members similar support was received in a meeting with key city staff, such as Director of Development Services Lucia Panica and Senior Planner of Historic
Preservation Clifford Smith.
“We presented pretty much what we just showed to you that we propose to do, and Dr. Smith is very excited about this,” Patten said. “He said this is a great example of adaptive reuse —those are his words — and that this is a great way to demonstrate to the community that you really can save historic structures.”
The Comprehensive Plan amendment approval is the first step in the preservation of the Mira Mar. Once secured, a site plan application will be submitted to the DRC. Because Mira Mar is in one of the downtown zone districts, the project needs only administrative approval.
E, Sarasota, FL 34243
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Andrew Warfield
Mira Mar has stood on South Palm Avenue since 1923.
Courtesy image A rendering of the residential towers behind a restored Mira Mar.
First Physicians Group Welcomes
Wesley McIlwain, MD,
FACS
We are pleased to welcome Wesley McIlwain, MD, as part of First Physicians Group’s team of dedicate head and neck cancer and microvascular surgeons. Dr. McIlwain is double-board certified in facial plastic and reconstructive surgery and head and neck surgery. He treats patients with benign and malignant tumors of the mouth, throat, skin, sinuses, thyroid, and skull base. He specializes in facial plastic reconstructive surgery, including microvascular free tissue transfer, of all defects of the head and neck, including acquired defects from Mohs micrographic surgery for skin cancer removal. He also specializes in maxillofacial trauma and rhinoplasty.
Specialties:
Head & Neck Surgical Oncology
Facial Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery
Maxillofacial Trauma
Board Certification:
American Board of Facial Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery
American Board of OtolaryngologyHead and Neck Surgery
Medical School:
Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC
Residency:
Madigan Army Medical Center, Tacoma, WA
Fellowship: Dr. Yadranko Ducic Medical Practice, Fort Worth, TX
Honoring service with smiles
In advance of Veterans Day, Smile Design Dentistry offered free dental implants, including full mouth reconstructions, to 15 veterans.
IAN SWABY STAFF WRITER
Dr. Mili Patel, CEO of Smile Design Dentistry, had wanted to offer something impactful to the community.
Through a partnership the office formed, she decided to do something that would put a smile on the faces of veterans, in a way that started with their teeth, but would also impact their lives more broadly.
On Nov. 8, Smile Design Dentistry on Bee Ridge Road offered free dental restorations, ranging from implants for missing teeth to full mouth reconstructions, to 15 veterans.
The service, now in its third year, was offered alongside the Floridabased global dental company ZimVie Dental, which provided the implants.
“This office is just so giving and always trying to help everyone as much as they can,” said Veronica Henry, the lead assistant to the clinic’s lead doctor, Phennatda Polpornvitoon. “And this is probably the best opportunity for our patients, because replacing teeth is very expensive, so this is the best way to give back.”
CREATING A NEW SMILE
Polpornvitoon, who is one of the top doctors in Smile Design, a familyowned company with 75 offices in the state of Florida, was instrumental in organizing the event.
She sent word into the community to draw candidates for screenings.
Polpornvitoon said many patients financially cannot afford the cost of dental implants.
According to Lynnae Cepielik, corporate sales manager at ZimVie, the average cost is between $4,000 and $8,000 for a single unit, and a full mouth restoration, several of which were provided that day, can be upwards of $30,000. Polpornvitoon said the implants help preserve patients’ jaws as they grow older.
However, they also help patients with functional needs so they can chew and eat foods they otherwise could not, and they also help with self-esteem.
“We did interview some of our patients who did come back and want to hear their sincere opinion, and they were very grateful, and it’s really changed their lives,” Polpornvitoon said.
Cepielik said some patients drove from further than Lakeland to receive the procedures.
“I think a lot of the time, the first thing that you notice about a person is their smile and their eyes, and so, a lot of people are self conscious about the way their teeth look, and this gives them that confidence back, and also makes them look a lot younger,” said Cepielik.
She said the event was part of the company’s outreach to help patients and provide doctors with more surgical experience, with some less experienced doctors working under the more experienced ones.
Cepielik said the company hopes to expand to VA and VFW branches.
“A lot of us have family members that have served or are serving currently, and it’s pretty near and dear to all of our hearts, and we think that the veterans are pretty underserved in the U.S., so it’s nice to be able to give back,” she said.
Since
Ian Swaby Waleed Ibrahim, of Smile Design Dentistry, and Lynnae Cepielik of ZimVie Dental
THURSDAY, OCT. 31
GAS WAR
11:16 a.m., 1100 block of North Tuttle
Avenue
Dispute: It may be a case of mistaken hand gestures that led to a dispute over who was next in line to use a gas pump. Although the complainant advised dispatch that he no longer wanted to meet with law enforcement while en route, he did describe the situation.
He advised he attempted to pump diesel at a different pump by using his company credit card, which did not function at that pump. He drove around to another pump where another truck appeared to be queued. As he approached the pump, he observed the queued driver point to the pump, and he must have misinterpreted the meaning.
The complainant advised he gave the other driver a thumbs-up signal to indicate that he was intending to use that pump, then maneuvered his vehicle to the location. This prompted the other driver to angrily approach him because he cut in line.
The other driver advised he pointed at the pump to indicate that he was next, and then, in no uncertain terms, made his displeasure of the situation known. A verbal argument ensued and the complainant said he called law enforcement only because of the other driver’s initial aggressiveness.
As the situation had calmed, the complainant said he no longer wished to make a
2:42 a.m., 1500 block of Main Street
Disturbance: A man called SPD to report he was beaten up at a latenight downtown watering hole and that his phone was stolen in the process. Video footage, though, showed the complainant in part inciting the fisticuffs.
The complainant said he was
not familiar with the other party involved in the scuffle.
An officer spoke with the owner of the establishment, who advised there was an argument between the other party and the complainant’s girlfriend, and that he was escorted off the premises by security. Although the complainant was urged to remain inside until the subject left the area, he began yelling at the man through the door and lunged toward him. The fight was broken up by the security personnel.
The complainant was advised that no crime had occurred because the incident was mutual combat. He also admitted that his phone was not stolen, but that it was lost in the brawl. After requesting the incident be documented, the complainant and his girlfriend departed in an Uber.
MONDAY, OCT. 28
DEADBOLT DISORIENTATION
1:37 p.m., 900 block of Benjamin
Franklin Drive
Suspicious incident: A woman said an unidentified man came to her door and advised her that he was there to change the locks on her condominium. She said he told her he was sent by his company to take photos of the door and change the locks at the request of a mortgage company.
That further confused the woman as she does not have a mortgage and owns the residence outright. The officer contacted the company that sent the locksmith and left a voice mail. No further action was taken.
WEDNESDAY, OCT. 30 FREE RIDE
7:44 p.m., Intersection of North East Avenue and Fruitville Road
Disturbance: A man flagged down an officer and advised he was involved in an verbal altercation with his wife and wanted her removed from his vehicle. Although still legally married, the couple had not lived together for 20 years.
The officer observed a woman in the back seat of the vehicle and, after contact was made, she said she simply wanted a ride downtown to the bus station, which is why she refused to exit the car. The officer advised that she needed to get out and offered to drive her to the bus station, which defused the situation.
SPORTS
Benderson Park rebounds from Milton
The park’s wave attenuator took the biggest hit this hurricane season, but all events are full-steam ahead.
LESLEY DWYER STAFF WRITER
Despite a brutal hurricane season, activities at Nathan Benderson Park are “fullsteam ahead.”
“Overall, we were able to recover pretty quickly as a facility,” said Marnie Buchsbaum, marketing director for the Nathan Benderson Park Conservancy. “We did close for a couple days out of an abundance of caution to make sure the facility was safe and that everything was out of the water and cleaned up.”
The biggest issue facing the park now is putting the wave attenuator back together.
The wave attenuator is a floating bridge that spans over a mile of the lake and reduces waves during competitions. It’s put together like a puzzle, and during Hurricane Milton, some of its pieces scattered.
“Some of our gangways and grates that connect different parts of the wave attenuator to the docks separated during the storm,” Buchsbaum said. “We were able to locate them, and we’re in the process of having them reinstalled.”
Visible gaps in the wave attenuator can be seen from shore, and several of the missing parts washed up along the southwestern portions of the lake. The pieces are so heavy, it will take a crane to move them.
This is the second hurricane to damage the wave attenuator. The first was Hurricane Ian in 2022, which caused about $1.5 million in damage.
“We are in the process of still evaluating and assessing,” Buchsbaum said. “But (the damage) is not to the level that we saw with Ian.”
Only one event had to be canceled the weekend following Hurricane Milton — The Benderson Chase, which is a partnership with the Sarasota Crew team. This year, an Octoberfest was added to the event, but both the Chase and Octoberfest will return next year.
The park was also able to step in and help a neighboring crew team.
The Plant City High Rowing Association moved its annual Halloween Regatta from Tampa to Benderson after reporting that “heavy, high and fast moving water” from Hurricanes Helene and Milton caused conditions to be unsafe.
LEARNING LESSONS
Buchsbaum said each hurricane is a learning lesson for staff members.
Some of the lessons have been to move the floating docks to the canal and better secure the anchor lines that keep the lanes in place.
Still, there’s only so much that can be done. The winds during Hurricane Milton were strong enough to toss the bleachers around. They haven’t been replaced yet.
“Some of our rowing shells that were secured properly, the racks were damaged or split in half,” Buchsbaum said. “We were obviously not here on property during the storm, but you don’t know if a tornado might have come through or just a huge gust of wind.”
The giant tent structure that covers those racks was still being repaired from Hurricane Helene tearing through the canvas, so the tent and poles were taken down ahead of Hurricane Milton.
Signs were blown down, too, but conditions are safe. The facility is carrying on with its packed schedule of events, which is typically booked a year in advance.
Pete Harvey, director of sports for Visit Sarasota County, said the park generated an estimated economic impact of $20,421,076 in 2023.
Buchsbaum said there’s no estimate as to how much the damage will cost because as soon as repairs from one hurricane would start, another storm would blow through, and the work started all over again. There’s also not a set time line as to when the repairs will be completed.
“Hurricane damage takes its toll in many different ways, so we’re getting the facility put back together and then working on the beautification, as well,” Buchsbaum said. “There are signage companies and vendors we have to work with. We’re getting in line with everyone else.”
One thing that isn’t waiting are designs for an indoor sports complex and boathouse next to the Finish Tower. The Sarasota County Commission earmarked $20 million for the project in January 2022. In July, plans were 30% complete.
“Everything remains on track,”
Nicole Rissler, director of Sarasota County Parks, Recreation and Natural Resources, wrote in an email. “Neither hurricane has impacted the plans or time line for the sports complex.”
The next project update, which will include construction costs, will be presented to Sarasota County commissioners in spring 2025.
“Everything remains on track. Neither hurricane has impacted the plans or time line for the sports complex.”
Photos by Lesley Dwyer
A crew works to repair the wave attenuator on Oct. 25.
Mark Gordon Bleachers at Nathan Benderson Park are damaged following Hurricane Milton.
Pieces of the wave attenuator litter the south side of the lake.
Nicole Rissler, director of Sarasota County Parks, Recreation and Natural Resources
New Observer sports writer eager to tell impactful stories
DYLAN CAMPBELL
SPORTS REPORTER
There’s a faded friendship bracelet that lives on my right wrist. It has two tiny, blue liberty bells on either side, connected in the middle by a set of blocks that read P-H-I-L-L-Y.
I got it last October at Game 2 of the National League Championship Series, where I stood in the nosebleeds of Citizens Bank Park with my father and brother and watched my hometown Philadelphia Phillies beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 10-0.
I still get chills thinking about that night.
The emotion I feel when thinking of that game is a large part of why I’m writing this column today, introducing myself as your new sports reporter. It’s hard to describe what that feeling is exactly, but I know it’s significant. I also know that all other sports fans have felt it, too.
It’s an example of the place that sports can hold in people’s hearts, and proof that, yes, sports are more than just a game. There is a real, emotional value for those who watch.
As a writer, those are the kind of stories I wish to tell — the stories that make people feel something bubble up from deep inside, like I do when I think about that Phillies game.
As a child growing up in innercity Philadelphia, you quickly learn just how much sports teams can mean to a community. In the City of Brotherly Love, sports is the universal language we all speak. The fanaticism we have for the Eagles, Phillies, Flyers and 76ers is what unites the city.
When shoulder to shoulder in the nosebleeds, we are all the same.
My hometown is also where I saw firsthand what a sports team can
do for a community. Never have I seen a city alight with passion in the way that I have during the Eagles’ 2017 Super Bowl run or the Phillies’ 2022 World Series appearance. It is from this fandom that I’ve been able to see how sports can be a great connector, a rallying cry for a community.
When I was young, I loved sports because I idolized the athletes. I grew up wanting to hit fastballs like Chase Utley and throw spirals like Donavan McNabb. I wanted to handle a basketball like Allen Iverson, have speed like Desean Jackson, and possess the heart of Rocky Balboa. I wanted to be everything that they were, these mythic figures
on my television screen and in the newspaper that sat on my dining room table every morning.
As I’ve gotten older, however, I’ve begun to love sports for different reasons. I love them because I have an appreciation for the mechanics of the game. I’m fascinated by the schematic warfare of football, how basketball coaches draw up open looks and how baseball coaches manage the game. I love them for the joy they bring me and the community I’ve found, watching them while surrounded by my friends and family.
As a writer, I’m drawn to sports for the types of stories I can tell. I didn’t enter this business just
because I like football and I like to write. I did it because I believe stories that arise out of sports are some of the most raw, powerful and emotionally captivating stories to tell.
Sports, much like life, can be hard. As a former athlete, I understand that first hand. I spent the majority of my life, from age 4 to 20, striving to be the best baseball player that I could be. For 10 months out of the year, my parents drove me up and down the East Coast to countless tournaments, clinics and showcases. Summers were spent crisscrossing the South and winters in AstroTurf-lined facilities, catching bullpens and taking
batting practice. Like the majority of athletes, my career never panned out the way I wanted it to, and I quit the sport after two seasons of a lackluster collegiate career. What those 16 years of playing baseball granted me, however, was the perspective needed to do this job. So no, I’ve never dunked a basketball or thrown a touchdown pass — but, I have sprinted from the bullpen to the infield after a walk-off win. I have sat alone on the bench after my final high school game, looking out onto the field I once called home. And I have waited, glassy-eyed, in the exam room of a hospital for a doctor to tell me that the MRI on my elbow revealed I needed season-ending surgery. So to the athletes and your families, I get it.
I get that sports are so much more than a stat sheet or a box score. That what we see on the field or the court or the track doesn’t necessarily reflect the hours upon hours of training and commitment it takes just to show up.
I get that sports can be deeply, innately human and that to cover them isn’t just to cover the schools or the teams of a community, but the people as well. That every win and loss is a milestone, a way in which we track our lives. I understand that for these athletes, their play on the field is an expression of who they are.
I hope to tell those stories, with truth and integrity, because I, too, understand just how important it can be.
Dylan Campbell is the sports reporter for the East County Observer. Contact him at DCampbell@
New Observer sports writer Dylan Campbell loves writing about the emotions generated by sports.
LUXURY REAL ESTATE DEFINED
WINNER OBSERVER ONLINE IN ITALY:
Dan Adragna, Cathy Adragna, Rick Wellinger and Jill Wellinger with their apps of the East County Observer in LaSpezia, Italy.
NOW THAT’S AMORE!
Four Lakewood Ranch residents win the It’s Read Everywhere prize by holding digital versions of the East County Observer on a hot Italian night.
JAY HEATER
EAST COUNTY MANAGING EDITOR
It was another trip, this time to Italy, along with a Croatian cruise, and Jill Wellinger was going to be ready.
Her bags weren’t going to be completely packed, though, until she picked up several East County Observers
“I always take my Observers with me,” she said. “It’s my entertainment on the airplane.”
She also had another reason to include the Observer among the items she packed in her luggage. For years, when Jill and her husband, Rick Wellinger, go on a trip, they take a photo at one of their favorite destinations, holding up a copy of the East County Observer, to enter in the It’s
Read Everywhere contest.
They also have included their good friends, Dan and Cathy Adragna, on their trips and in the photos. After two of their trips, one to Bora Bora and another while on an Alaskan cruise, their photo appeared in the East County Observer
Although Rick said he gets “some grief” from his golf buddies when his photo appears, it has become a fun moment for them during their trips. So now, Jill makes sure the issues are packed.
Only this trip was different.
Rick told Jill that he had never seen anyone holding up a digital copy of the East County Observer on the It’s Read Everywhere page. Why not be the first?
“Technically (the contest) just says to show the Observer,” Rick said.
END OF THE EARTH: Megan
Well, yeah.
The group hesitated a bit, but then decided to go for it.
They all had brought iPads, so Rick’s idea was to pick one East County Observer cover to display on all four iPads. But which one?
It didn’t take the Wellingers long to decide. They have been longtime friends with Lakewood Ranch’s JoAnn Moore, a cancer survivor who was featured in the July 4 issue for her work in bringing a premier dragon boat event to Nathan Benderson Park along with her passion for the sport.
So in Cinque Terre, a coastal area in northwest Italy, they decided it was the right time.
“We were kind of dressed up that night and we were going to the oldest restaurant in that area. Its name was All’Inferno (in LaSpezia), which seemed right because it was hot as heck,” Jill said.
So all dressed up, on a hot night in Italy, the Wellingers and the Adragnas carried along their iPads for a very special It’s Read Everywhere.
TO ENTER Snap a photo of you on vacation holding your Observer, then submit your photo online at YourObserver.com/ ItsReadEverywhere. Stay tuned for this year’s prize, and happy travels!
DUTCH TREAT: Wendy Peck and Karin Zoons with the Longboat Observer outside of Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam
At the restaurant, they all called up the issue with Moore’s photo on the cover from the YourObserver e-newspaper app — and click — history was made. It’s Read Everywhere now includes photos of the digital version. And not just any photo. It was the winner of the It’s Read Everywhere contest, voted on by the public, and therefore Rick Wellinger will receive a $500 credit to the airline of his choice, a prize he will split with the Adragnas.
On the next trip, Jill said she will again pack an Observer, or perhaps the iPad, to take an It’s Read Everywhere photo.
“I guess you could say it’s a thing for us,” she said. “We’re always very excited to do it.”
Will you be the next to win the It’s Read Everywhere contest? Whether it’s the Longboat Observer, the Sarasota Observer or the East County Observer, the paper (or a digital copy) has been to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro, to Antarctica, to the Great Wall of China, and all over America. Where will you take us next?
Collins took the Sarasota Observer on board the Seabourn Venture to Antarctica
Serving up hope
The 1818 Grill is in its first year of business, and its owner, Tommy Lovell, said he wanted to continue the legacy of charity of the restaurant that formerly occupied the space, Knick’s Tavern and Grill.
Among the many charity causes with which he decided to become involved was the annual Bowls of Hope fundraiser by All Faiths Food Bank.
“You couldn’t pick a better charity to support and foster their growth in the community,” he said. “They do great work, and we’re just very proud to be a part of it.”
The food bank’s most attended fundraiser of the year, the event was held Nov. 10 at Ed Smith Stadium and brought together a sale of bowls by local artisans, and samples of soups and other items from local restaurants.
All Faiths Food Bank CEO Nelle Miller said she was impressed with how the community came together in the aftermath of Hurricane Milton, with the stadium already available to host the event.
“The bowls are beautiful,” she said. “It’s incredible that all 40-plus vendors who brought soup showed up, because they donate all of their food and time, and they’ve all had their own issues as a result of the storm, so this is just an amazing, feel-good, generous, wonderful day.”
— IAN SWABY
Photos by Ian Swaby
Kristen Berry, of Sarasota Clay Company, makes a bowl.
The 1818 Grill owner Tommy Lovell and chef Fernando Jiminez offer soup to Lauren Koken.
International relationships bloom
The Sarasota Int’l Chalk Festival brought a global group of organizations together for its ‘Floralia Infiorata’ exhibit.
IAN
SWABY STAFF WRITER
While known for its titular drawings of chalk, the Sarasota Int’l Chalk Festival welcomed this year an additional art form new to the event — and to the United States as a whole.
With its “Floralia Infiorata” section, the festival, held Nov. 8-10 along Orange Avenue in Burns Court, hosted the country’s first delegation of international floral carpet artists.
In the tradition of the religious celebrations originating in Italy involving floral carpets, the festival concluded in a parade during which participants walked over the artwork and scattered the flowers.
However, the parade gave the tradition a Florida-themed twist, incorporating oversize puppets of everything from sandhill cranes, to spoonbills, to dung beetles.
The menagerie was the work of a team led by Canadian artist Danaé Brissonnet over a period of 24 days.
ing it was an activity the community could together.
The village of Għarb, Malta, took up the tradition from Gerano, Italy, in 2002, when it signed a twinning agreement with the commune.
During a visit to Gerano in 2002 led by Mayor David Apap Agius, Għarb residents created an infiorata to impress the townspeople.
Since then, they’ve visited Mexico and Japan.
“It was our wish to come over somewhere like this and like visit, outside of Europe, other groups that make something like us,” said Agius, who was a delegate at the festival. Sarasota residents were eagerly embracing the tradition.
Colby Heidke said ever since being introduced to the Chalk Festival workshop by artist Beck Lane, he had been returning to see what the organization needed help with.
A TRADITION GROWS GLOBAL
The tradition of floral carpet art has growing in prominence around the world, and Sarasota now joins the
“I’m super, super happy,” said Brissonnet. “Everybody worked so hard, maybe too hard. Next time, I make sure I have another design that allows people to take a vacation and breathe, but I’m happy. It feels good, and I saw people having transcending emotion and just that feels really good.”
form to his country in 2001
he
“It was such a magical experience, having people from however many different countries speaking a million different languages, all in the studio in preparation for this, working together, learning from each other, hearing from each other and experiencing the joy of being part of this big event,” he said.
“We’re sad we didn’t come sooner,” said attendee Aaron Smith, who visited with his family, including his two 1-year-old twins, for the parade. “It seems amazing. We hope it keeps coming every year.”
In Italy, chalk artists are known as “Madonnari,” and Agius hopes the international relationship can continue.
“Hopefully, we will get the chalk people to Malta and we’ll make a festival also in Malta, of chalk,” he said.
scene. Tokyo artist Yasuhiko Fujikawa, an artist at the festival leading the group Hanae Japan, brought
the art
after being impressed by what
saw in Genzano di Roma, Italy, see-
Photos by Ian Swaby
Chris Leverett walks the parade route.
Alexander and Valerie Smith, 1, check out an insect puppet walked by Lorinda Fore.
The parade, themed around Florida’s flora and fauna, makes its way down Orange Avenue.
THE 6TH ANNUAL
Light up Longboat
November 23, 2024
5:30 - 7:30 pm
Karon Family Pavilion
Town Center Green
600 Bay Isles Road
LIVE MUSIC BY BIG Z McCAIG & TIM MICHAEL
SPECIAL APPEARANCES BY SANTA, MINNIE & MICKEY
LOCAL EATS & TREATS
SHOP LOCAL: GIFT CARD SALES & MERCHANDISE
TREE LIGHTING CEREMONY
Free to the Public! Join us for a festive and fun evening to kick off the holiday season.
The Rotary Club of LBK is collecting unwrapped children’s gifts for Hope Family Services in Bradenton. Donate and receive a raffle ticket for a chance to win a $100 gift certificate to The Lazy Lobster.
Gathering at Gilligan’s
Gilligan’s Island Bar hosted the Marine Corps’ birthday after overcoming hurricane damage.
IAN SWABY STAFF WRITER
After the devastation of Hurricane Helene, there were some upcoming events planned for Gilligan’s Island Bar on the mind of general manager Mike Gatz.
One of them, he said, is “always” on his mind — the Gilligan’s Marine Corps Birthday Celebration on Nov. 10.
A veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps who served for four years during the 1990s, Gatz started the event 11 years ago.
Each year, it has sold out.
“It’s a great fundraiser for SRQ Vets, and as a founding member over there, I always try to make sure that we can pull this off,” he said.
The situation had not looked promising after Helene.
After visiting the island the morning after the storm and receiving a ride from the office manager, who lives on Siesta Key (vehicles were not yet allowed on the island), Gatz found coolers turned upside own, objects knocked over and bottles broken.
He said while the coffee shop only received about an inch of flooding, about two feet of water entered the restaurant. Outside, he found plants knocked over, and the dumpsters and a boat missing.
“As soon as staff could drive out here, our management and staff put together a real Herculean effort to get things going ... It was just an all-hands-on-deck effort to get it cleaned up and safe,” he said.
He said with four employees who have been at the restaurant more than 20 years, others who have been there for all 11 years of the celebration and some who are themselves veterans, all staff understand the event’s importance.
IF YOU GO
GILLIGAN’S ISLAND BAR 5253 Ocean Blvd. Visit GilligansIslandBar.com.
The only break staff received was during Hurricane Milton, which left debris to clean up, as well as damage to the Tiki hut.
“As we see a light at the end of the tunnel, here comes Milton, and so we put everything on pause to protect what we had done,” he said.
Since Helene, the restaurant replaced all coolers, freezer and fryers, as well as two air conditioning condensers and drywall.
Although they’re still waiting on a new Coca-Cola system, something widely in demand, the kitchen reopened on Oct. 23, with a full reopening on Oct. 25.
On Nov. 10, Marines gathered in the restaurant’s courtyard to celebrate the Corps’ 249th birthday.
As in past years, the event saw a donation from Stryker Electric, who provided pint glasses for a giveaway, as well as supplies from Gold Coast Eagle Distributing and Budweiser.
Attendee Michael Hamper, a board member of SRQ Vets, said he was glad to be inside the restaurant this year.
“It’s amazing, but when a Marine’s involved, there’s no trying,” he said. “They’re going to do it ... so he made it happen, just like all Marines do.”
Ian Swaby
Juan Leon and Tony Fudoli celebrate at Gilligan’s for the 249th birthday of the United States Marine Corps.
Marine vets gather to celebrate Corps’ birthday
For the 22nd year, Marina Jack hosted area veterans in commemorating the U.S. Marine Corps 249th anniversary.
U.S. Marine Corps veterans from Sarasota and Manatee counties gathered for the 22nd consecutive year Sunday for their annual luncheon at Marina Jack to celebrate the anniversary of the founding of the Marines. They celebrated the Marines’ 249th anniversary.
This was the first year there were no World War II-era Marines in attendance. There were only two Korean War-era attendees. About 110 Marine veterans attended the event.
One of the traditions at each Marine birthday celebration is the cutting of the cake. The oldest attendee cuts the cake and gives the first piece to the youngest attendee.
For the second consecutive year, David Beliles, the oldest attendee at age 94 and chairman-emeritus of the Observer, did the honors. He gave the first piece to Brian Loebker, 39, an infantry Marine veteran and lance corporal who served from 2002-2005
Picture this: a beautiful Florida sunlit room filled with friends sharing delicious food, trading great stories, and filling the air with genuine laughter. These precious everyday moments of connection deserve to be enjoyed in good health.
That’s why Senior Friendship Centers has partnered with the US Department of Health and Human Services to implement the RISK LESS. DO MORE. campaign. Our mission? Ensuring the vibrant senior community of southwest Florida stays healthy and engaged to embrace life’s daily celebrations. Why focus on protection now? Respiratory viruses-including flu, COVID-19, and RSV-can be particularly challenging for older adults. This is especially true for adults over 65, who may face higher risks of complications. For those living in assisted living communities or retirement homes, where closeknit social interactions are part of daily life, staying protected becomes even more crucial.
The science is clear: vaccines offer a powerful shield of protection. For adults 65 and up, staying current with flu and COVID-19 vaccines is essential. Those 75 and older, or seniors living in communal settings, should discuss RSV vaccination with their healthcare providers. These preventive steps can dramatically reduce the risk of serious illness, helping ensure you won’t miss a single moment of joy with friends and family.
Think of vaccination as your gift to yourself-and to those you love. It’s an investment in peace of mind that lets you focus on what matters: creating memories, sharing stories, and embracing every joyful moment of life.
Your next steps are simple. Connect with your healthcare provider to discuss which vaccines best suit your needs. They’ll consider your age, living situation, and overall health to create a personalized protection plan. Why wait? The sooner you act, the better prepared you’ll be for all of life’s wonderful moments ahead.
Ready to embrace each day with confidence? Visit vaccines.gov to locate convenient vaccination options near you. Remember, this isn’t just about prevention-it’s about preserving your independence and your ability to participate fully in life’s most precious moments. Give yourself the gift of protection. RISK LESS. DO MORE. Your next joyful memory is waiting to be made.
at Camp LeJeune in North Carolina. Beliles was a sergeant during the Korean War; he lives at Plymouth Harbor. Loebker resides in Sarasota.
Photos by Observer staff
The uniform of the day for the Marine veterans — red polo shirts with the Marine Corps emblem. From left, David Matthews, Doug Rigg, Art Dehardt, Bob Fields, Debbie Fields, Joe Felice and David Doak.
U.S. Marine Corps veterans David Beliles, 94, and Brian Loebker, 39.
HONORING SACRIFICE
Ben Knisely, who was honored as Veteran of the Year along with Master Sgt. Barbara
veterans.
“I would say to you, having grown up in the little town of Osprey — I know the area well — Sarasota is a very, very friendly place for veterans,” he told attendees at the ceremony that followed the annual Veterans Day Parade.
He said while he was honored to accept the award, he did it with one contingency — that he did so on behalf of all veterans in the community.
The whole veteran community was honored during the Veterans Day parade, held Nov. 11 along Main Street.
The keynote speaker was Erica Stone Gregory, a retired lieutenant colonel who served 20 years in the U.S. Air Force, whose husband is State Rep. Tommy Gregory.
She recounted how growing up with a father who was an Air Force veteran and a mother who was an immigrant from the Dominican Republic, she learned respect for America’s freedoms.
She said her own sacrifices could not compare with those many other veterans made.
“Let me tell you why I believe many of them did it,” she said. “It’s because we are proud of this country, and we all should be. This is the greatest country in the his-
tory of the world because of the rights and freedoms enshrined in our Constitution. We must defend our country and its ideals to ensure we remain a beacon of freedom, and I’m proof that the United States of America is a wonderful melting pot and remains the land of opportunity.”
— IAN SWABY
Col. Ben Knisely, who served 28 years in the United States Army and was honored as Veteran of the Year, interacts with the public from a parade vehicle.
Photos by Ian Swaby Danae and Krits Tran celebrate veterans.
A bus with members of the Vietnam Brotherhood wave to the crowd.
Beneath the cover of the community
IAN SWABY STAFF WRITER
Writing a book is never as simple a feat as it appears, said author Sandra Gurvis. That was what she found when writing “Three Ringling Circus: A History of Sarasota, Florida, and the Famous Ringling Brothers.”
She had the chance to showcase her book during the Local Author Book Fair hosted by Bookstore1Sarasota on Nov. 9.
“The key takeaway from all the research is the key takeaway from everything I’ve ever written,” she said. “It’s like an iceberg. The tip of it looks, ‘Oh yeah, I could do this.’ Underneath, it’s a lot of stuff, and there’s more stuff I haven’t explored.”
At the event, the community also had the chance to look more widely beneath the iceberg of Sarasota’s literary community and discover the talent within the local area.
Among the other authors present was David Gardner, a Ringling College instructor who worked on backgrounds for films including Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast” and “A Goofy Movie,” and commercials for brands including Lucky Charms.
He eventually lent his skills to illustrating children’s books.
At the book fair, he showcased “Junia: The Book Mule of Troublesome Creek” by Kim Richardson.
Published in 2024, the book tells the story of the Pack Horse Library initiative, which sent librarians on horses into the Appalachian Mountains during the Great Depression, from the perspective of a mule named Junia.
Having frequently visited many family members in East Tennessee and Kentucky as a child, Gardner was sought out for his familiarity
with the area.
Julie Fidalgo said her book “If You Want to Be Happy” offers a guide to being happy. She said it provides a contrast to self-help books that last for many pages but leave readers unsure of what to do.
“This is using very simple concepts that we are all very aware of, and you can start putting it into practice today,” she said of the book, which can be read in an hour.
Gurvis took two and a half years to write “Three Ringling Circus.”
She said after moving to Sarasota from Ohio in 2020, she found a place she was glad to call home, and also discovered the perfect topic: Sarasota’s circus and museum history.
Her resource extensively involved primary sources and included visiting the Ringling numerous times and forming relationships with its archivists, visiting locations related to the circus, sourcing out-of-print books and making library visits.
“The bookstore is a real asset to the city,” said Gurvis. “Bookstores like these are what make the cultural part of the city come alive. I was honored to be part of this.”
Grove Heights home tops sales at $1,915,000
ADAM HUGHES RESEARCH EDITOR
Ahome in Grove Heights tops all transactions in this week’s real estate. Raymond and Debbie Mays, of Sarasota, sold their home at 1827 Grove St. to Stephen Kaufmann, of Sarasota, for $1,915,000. Built in 2001, it has three bedrooms, two baths, a pool and 2,079 square feet of living area. It sold for $842,500 in 2020.
SARASOTA
Teresa Bibas, of Sarasota, sold the Unit D-507 condominium at 100 Central Ave. to Thomas Ghezzi and Susan Guarino-Ghezzi, of S. Burlington, Vermont, for $1,475,000. Built in 2005, it has three bedrooms, two-and-a-half baths and 2,273 square feet of living area. It sold for $600,000 in 2009.
TURNERS
Susan Elaine Woodward and Christopher Woodward, trustees, sold the home at 2585 Hyde Park St. to Charles Frank Todaro, of Sarasota, for $1,385,000. Built in 2020, it has three bedrooms, three baths, a pool and 2,252 square feet of living area. It sold for $859,500 in 2020.
George and Karina Feise, of Washington, D.C., sold their home at 2575 Hyde Park St. to Ronald Andari Sawaya and Emily Andari Sawaya, of Sarasota, for $775,000. Built in 1957, it has three bedrooms, three baths, a pool and 1,769 square feet of living area. It sold for $305,000 in 2017.
CORAL COVE
William Bailey, trustee, of Sarasota, sold the home at 1805 Upper Cove Terrace to Peter Genersich, of Sarasota, for $1,332,800. Built in 1957, it has three bedrooms, two baths, a pool and 2,728 square feet of living area. It sold for $175,100 in 1987.
MCKUNES
Richard and Rosalind Cobb and Martin and Dorothy Stephenson, trustees, sold the home at 1637 Hyde Park St. to RJJM LLC for $1.25 million. Built in 1953, it has two bedrooms, one bath and 1,284 square feet of living area.
THE LANDINGS
Michael Knupp sold his home at 1598 Landings Terrace to Marc Grinberg, trustee, of Sarasota, for $1.15 million. Built in 1989, it has three bedrooms, two baths and 2,967 square feet of living area. It sold for $340,000 in 1991.
MARQUEE EN VILLE
Rita Thibault, of Sarasota, sold her Unit 101-A condominium at 235 Cocoanut Ave. to Katherine Hermes, of Sarasota, for
$1,062,500. Built in 2006, it has two bedrooms, three-and-a-half baths and 2,116 square feet of living area. It sold for $700,000 in 2015.
SARASOTA BAY CLUB
Sarasota Bay Club LLC sold the Unit 211 condominium at 1301 Tamiami Trail to Sol Cohn, of Sarasota, for $885,000. Built in 2000, it has one bedroom, one-and-a-half baths and 1,170 square feet of living area. It sold for $400,000 in 2012.
SARASOTA-VENICE CO.
Igor Fedyak sold his home at 2905 Ashton Road to Michael and Denok Weiss, of Sarasota, for $838,000. Built in 1978, it has two bedrooms, two baths, a pool and 1,392 square feet of living area. It sold for $365,000 in 2023.
1350 MAIN RESIDENTIAL
Karen Ray, trustee, of Sarasota, sold the Unit 900 condominium at 1350 Main St. to Gary Scott and Pamela Haire Scott, trustees, of Sarasota, for $799,000. Built in 2007, it has two bedrooms, two baths and 1,268 square feet of living area. It sold for $510,000 in 2008.
VALENCIA TERRACE
James and Margaret Minor, trustees, of Sarasota, sold two properties at 1254 15th St. to Wendy Volkmar and Karl Volkmar, trustees, of Sarasota, for $775,000. The first property was built in 1925 and has four bedrooms, three baths and 2,128 square feet of living area. The second property was built in 1925 and has one bedroom, two baths and 1,153 square feet of living area. They sold for $60,000 in 1993.
DESOTA PARK
Donna Pickett-Shannon, of Sarasota, sold her home at 1966 Wisteria St. to Hundredfold Developments LLC for $712,000. Built in 1950, it has three bedrooms, two baths and 1,524 square feet of living area. It sold for $50,000 in 1984.
SOUTH GATE
Carol Wolf, trustee, sold the home at 2532 Sunnybrook Drive to Ryan Edwards, of Sarasota, for $690,000. Built in 1957, it has three bedrooms,
two-and-a-half baths, a pool and 1,980 square feet of living area. It sold for $245,000 in 2010.
GULF GATE EAST
Dina Laura De Martini, of Nokomis, sold her home at 4347 Kingston Loop to Reem Ali, of Sarasota, for $620,000. Built in 1985, it has three bedrooms, two baths, a pool and 1,985 square feet of living area. It sold for $265,000 in 2018.
SIESTA KEY: $1.55 MILLION
Siesta Cove
Joni Tipping, of Ontario, Canada, sold the home at 5357 Siesta Court to Anthony and Jeanine Consoli, of Sarasota, for $1.55 million. Built in 1979, it has three bedrooms, two-and-a-half baths, a pool and 2,563 square feet of living area. It sold for $1,629,000 in 2023.
PALMER RANCH: $900,000
Cobblestone on Palmer Ranch
Wayne and Janice Wisler, of Sarasota, sold their home at 4021 Cascina Way to William Edelman and Meredith Edelman, trustees, of Sarasota, for $900,000. Built in 2017, it has three bedrooms, three baths, a pool and 2,276 square feet of living area. It sold for $487,900 in 2017.
OSPREY: $875,000
Sarabay Acres
Deanna and William Tennison, of Osprey, sold two properties at 510 Old Venice Road to Jeffrey Warner Minnis and Mira Minnis, of Osprey, for $875,000. The first property was built in 1954 and has two bedrooms, two baths, a pool and 1,232 square feet of living area. The second property was built in 1993 and has three bedrooms, two-anda-half baths and 2,176 square feet of living area.
NOKOMIS: $775,000
Sorrento Woods
Shelley Santeufemia-Liller, trustee, and Cheryl Santeufemia, of Mount Laurel, New Jersey, sold the home at 1489 Vermeer Drive to Jill Meyer, of Sarasota, for $775,000. Built in 2004, it has three bedrooms, three baths, a pool and 3,079 square feet of living area. It sold for $441,000 in 2015.
Source: Sarasota County, city of Sarasota
Photo courtesy of realtor Mairead Smialek
The home at 1827 Grove St. was built in 2001 and has three bedrooms, two baths, a pool and 2,079 square
YOUR CALENDAR
THURSDAY, NOV. 14 TO SUNDAY, NOV. 17
MOD WEEKEND 2024
10 a.m. Thursday to 5 p.m. Friday at various locations. Architecture Sarasota hosts its annual MOD Weekend honoring the city’s architectural heritage through events that include tours, gatherings and lectures. This year’s event is devoted to the theme “Restoring a Sense of Place,” the organization’s disaster response program supporting recovery efforts, damage assessments, and guidance in rebuilding. Visit ArchitectureSarasota.org/mod-2024/.
FRIDAY, NOV. 15
FALL FESTIVAL AT MCINTOSH MIDDLE SCHOOL
5:30 to 8:30 p.m. (Turkey Trot at 5:15 p.m.) at McIntosh Middle School, 701 McIntosh Road. Free. The second annual fall festival at McIntosh Middle School includes a 1-mile Turkey Trot, music, food vendors, games and crafts. Students must be accompanied by a parent or guardian. Visit SarasotaCountySchools.net.
OFF THE PAGE: COPYRIGHT AND IP FOR LIBRARIANS AND WRITERS
12-1 p.m. at Selby Library, 1331 First St. Free. Writers and library workers are invited to learn about copyright laws and how they affect the works they create. The talk is led by Elena M. Paul, the general counsel of Ringling College of Art and Design. Registration closes Nov. 15. Visit SCGovLibrary.LibraryMarket.com.
SATURDAY, NOV. 16
SARASOTA ARCHITECTURE GUIDED BOAT TOUR
5:30 p.m. at Marina Jack, 2 Marina Plaza. Members $130; Non-members $160. Sip cocktails as you learn about the city’s history and architectural heritage aboard LeBarge Tropical Cruises. This event is part of the annual MOD Weekend by Architecture Sarasota, which runs through Nov. 17. Visit ArchitectureSarasota.org.
SATURDAY, NOV. 16 AND SUNDAY, NOV. 17
FALL CARNIVAL AT UTC 11 a.m. Nov. 16 to 6 p.m. Nov. 17. at
BEST BET
FRIDAY, NOV. 15 TO MONDAY, NOV. 18
SIESTA KEY CRYSTAL CLASSIC
10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, Sunday and Monday and 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday at Siesta Key Beach, 948 Beach Road. One-day parking pass $55; One-day adult ticket $12; One-day kids ticket $6. Watch a series of international artists compete to create the best sand sculpture over a period of three days, with eight solo sculptures and eight team sculptures. Other attractions include a speed sculpting contest, lessons and demonstrations, and an amateur sculpting contest. Visit SiestaKeyCrystalClassic.com.
The Mall at University Town Center, 140 University Town Center Drive. Free to attend. Enjoy live entertainment and community performances, food trucks, kids’ activities including face painting and pony rides, and amusement park attractions by Dreamland Amusements (available Friday to Sunday.) Visit EventBrite. com.
SUNDAY, NOV. 17
ANNUAL CRAFT BEER FESTIVAL
12-4 p.m. at 1837 Hillview St. Free. Beer enthusiasts and casual drinkers alike are invited to browse products from a variety of breweries, with food trucks on-site. Visit EventBrite. com.
File photo
Amanda Bolduc from Maine works on her sculpture.
NATURE’S BEAUTY WITH
THURSDAY, NOV. 14
High: 84
Low: 69
Chance of rain: 6%
FRIDAY, NOV. 15
High: 80 Low: 58
Chance of rain: 24%
SATURDAY, NOV. 16
High: 80 Low: 60
Chance of rain: 5%
SUNDAY, NOV. 17
High: 82 Low: 60
Chance of rain: 6%
CRAWLING BACK by Adam Simpson, edited by Jeff Chen
By Luis Campos
INFORMATION & RATES: 941-955-4888 redpages@yourobserver.com •yourobserver.com/redpages
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Items Under $200
ADVERTISE YOUR MERCHANDISE with the total value of all items $200 or
BUYING w/ CASH. RETIRED INVESTOR Diamonds, Coins, Jewelry, Watches & Pocket Watches. F Free H House C Calls. Discrete/ Con dential. Call David 813-439-2694
SENIOR LOOKING to purchase precious metals, diamonds, time pieces, coins, jewelry, antique and estate jewelry, and some collectors plates. Personal and confidential. Please call Marc: 941-321-0707 BUY STUFF HERE!
