E A ST COUNTY
SEASON WINTER 2020
Observer
Y R TS A N D S O C I E T G U I D E TO T H E A T H E O B S E R V E R ’S
Lakewood Ranch’s weekly newspaper since 1998
INSIDE MUSIC DANCE ART THEATER BLACK TIE
YOU. YOUR NEIGHBORS. YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD.
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FREE THURSDAY, JANUARY 2, 2020
VOLUME 22, NO. 7
YOUR TOWN
In the next 10 years… … East County is projected to add more than 30,000 residents. Will the area keep its charm?
Courtesy photo
New horse pulls SMART’s cart Sarasota Manatee Association for Riding Therapy has welcomed its newest “gentle giant.” Gallagher, a draft cross, arrived Dec. 9 to become SMART’s new carriage driving horse. He will be used for carriage-driving therapy for children and adults with disabilities. “He’s the friendliest,” said SMART’s interim executive director Melissa Spillenkothen, pictured above with Gallagher. “He’s a snuggler.” Gallagher, who is 8, came from Ocala. He trained to replace SMART’s draft horse Sterling, who soon will retire from carriage driving.
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hroughout 2019, Lakewood Ranch was first or second nation-
ally in housing starts for a master-planned community. Further growth would seem inevitable. So how will we adjust and compensate in education, public safety, roads and business? The East County Observer asked local officials, politicians, business leaders and educators to take a look ahead at those issues
School District of Manatee County will add programming, fight overcrowding in the new decade. PAGE 3
as we enter the 2020s. Liz Ramos
According to Braden River Elementary School second graders (from back) Mikenna Yermak, Phoebe Jessop and Ricardo Cruz, they will only be using laptops and tablets in class when they graduate in 2030.
Liz Ramos
Sweater weather at BD Gullett When Mia Sedjic, a third grader at B.D. Gullett Elementary School, was planning the design for a sweater to wear for an ugly sweater contest Dec. 18, she knew she wanted it to be “Christmasy and ugly.” Sedjic went shopping and found red, green and white pom-poms; a small stocking; and two elf photo frames. She glued 89 pieces to her red sweater. “The stocking is my favorite because it just looks cute,” Sedjic said.
A major county park will grace Lakewood Ranch, and pickleball will be a big part of it. PAGE 10
Developable land dwindles as people, businesses flock to Lakewood Ranch. PAGE 4 File photo
Kirk Boylston, president of Lakewood Ranch Commercial, and Rex Jensen, president and CEO of SMR, are running out of dirt to develop. Pam Eubanks