East County Observer 4.17.25

EAST COUNTY

Heartwarming proclamation

Manatee County Commission

Chair George Kruse called Lakewood Ranch’s Sue Ann Miller (above) a “jack of all trades” as she stepped to the podium April 1 to accept a proclamation that declared April as “Donate Life Month” in Manatee County.

Miller is well known as president of the Friends of the Lakewood Ranch Library, but she was in the commission chambers representing the LifeLink Foundation. The foundation’s mission is to save lives through organ and tissue donation.

“Back in 2002, I was very fortunate,” Miller said. “Because of the generosity of a donor, I received a heart transplant. It’s a very important message to get out to everyone:”

Party

Theo

on his

on

was

along with his name,

and other characters from Pokemon. He said he collects Pokemon cards and has “one hundred million thousand” in his collection.

More than 700 children satisfy their sweet tooth at EGGstravaganza. SEE PAGE 1B

Tasteful art, tasty food

The restaurant also features two bars, a wood burning grill, an indoor patio and original works of art.

LESLEY DWYER STAFF WRITER

When Joe Douglas opened his first 131 Main restaurant in Cornelius, North Carolina, just over 20 years ago, he forgot to buy art.

The budget was missing a line item for artwork, so the walls were completely bare and the budget was spent.  He sent an employee out to Home Goods to purchase whatever could be found, but not for more than $50 apiece.

The brand and Douglas have certainly evolved over the past two decades.  Douglas is now an art collector, and the newly opened Lakewood Ranch location in the Center Point Plaza is the fifth 131 Main.

The space offers an experience equal to visiting a small art gallery. Prints don’t get through Douglas’ doors now. Each piece is an original work of art, and they’re not all wall hangers. Upon entering the dining room, there’s a bright yellow metal sculpture to the left that immediately draws attention.

A table was in its place, but Douglas felt the table was too close to the entrance to be comfortable for guests, so he replaced it with “Yellow Clover” by Luis Kaiulani, a piece that has a list price of $17,620 on Saatchi Art.

“Our theory is our facility needs to look as nice or nicer than their homes,” Douglas said. “Otherwise, why go out?”

The art is not for sale, but upon request, there is a catalogue of the work for guests to peruse.

The steak and seafood dishes are of the same caliber as the art.

“When we say ‘We’re all fresh,’ we have no freezers,” Douglas said. “Everything comes in with a very short shelf life, and we only buy the highest-quality ingredients.”

For that reason, the restaurant doesn’t accept large parties. The tables are bolted to the floor, so the hostess can’t pull them together for a party of 20.

However, Douglas said the staff will refer that party of 20 to at least three other restaurants nearby that will gladly seat them because he only hires “people who care.”

He said if employees care about

customers, the rest can be taught.

The ingredients are too fresh and the standards are too high at 131 Main for large parties. Douglas said it throws the entire kitchen off, whereas parties of four or fewer keep everything running smoothly.

Douglas refused to choose a favorite dish because he equated it to choosing a favorite child. He said the entire menu was designed to be the best available in the marketplace, whether it’s a salad or a rack of ribs.

The wine list is no exception. Each wine is vetted, and the options are low-production vintages that won’t be found by the bottle at a grocery store.

Every detail, down to the lighting, has been honed precisely to provide an impeccable dining experience.

Theater lighting runs throughout the dining room, so each table receives its own spotlight. At night, it creates a more intimate atmosphere. Douglas said you can practically separate the tables with lighting alone.

The booths were crafted with real leather seats, and the table tops are natural walnut.

In place of an outside patio, there’s

NOW OPEN

131 MAIN Where: 6608 University Parkway (Center Point). Hours: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday; 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays More information: 131-Main. com Telephone: 394-0131

an air conditioned sunroom. If the weather’s not too warm or rainy, the windows open for an outdoor feel.

Lakewood Ranch will become the first 131 Main restaurant to offer an indoor patio. There are also two bars, so that bar guests don’t compete for service with dinner guests. The dining room has a separate service bar to itself.

The menus are nearly identical across the five locations, and 131 Main is known for upscale steak and seafood. However, the aesthetics of each restaurant vary.

The other four locations are in

North Carolina. The first location, built in

with a low

the

Douglas said the Lakewood Ranch location was built in the style of Alys Beach, a luxury community on Florida’s Gulf coast known for its Mediterranean architecture.

The homes and buildings are designed with a crisp white stucco, as is 131 Main.

The restaurant opened to friends and family April 3 and opened to the public April 9, but Douglas is insistent on a slow rollout. He expects to only seat about half the dining room to start.

“I want to be 100%,” he said. “This is not about how much money we can make. This is about getting the product perfect.”

In that same vein, Douglas has been training staff for the past year in preparation for 131 Main to open in Lakewood Ranch. He relocated six families from North Carolina to ensure his standards are met.

The restaurant brings with it about another 100 jobs to the area.

Proposed bills could cut county’s authority

While county commissioners work toward limiting development, their options to do so could be limited by the state.

LESLEY DWYER STAFF WRITER

Manatee County voters made it clear at the ballot box in 2024 that they want to curtail out-of-control development.

County commissioners in 2025 have made moves to bring back the previous wetland buffers and to pursue “extraordinary circumstances” that would allow them to increase impact fees. They currently are working to repeal Ordinance 2.1.2.8 to essentially stop major developments of higher density past the Future Development Area Boundary.

But commissioners could be facing legislative hurdles if proposed bills move forward in the Legislature.

As the last scheduled day of the legislative session approaches May 2, Manatee County residents will be keeping their eye on a handful of bills that could impact gains they have made through the local election process.

Manatee County Commission

Chair George Kruse called Senate Bill 1118 and House Bill 1209 “the worst bills of the 2025 session.”

If passed, the bills would negate Kruse’s efforts to repeal Ordinance 2.1.2.8.

Each bill is 38 to 40 pages of language that would essentially take away the Manatee County Commission’s role to decide if a large parcel of land can be developed east of the FDAB if 50% of the parcel is adjacent to developed land, which was the premise of Ordinance 2.1.2.8.

The county ordinance allows for development if the parcel borders a property with existing utilities, but a major difference between the ordinance and the proposed bill is that in the ordinance, commissioners are allowed to use their discretion.

Kruse called the ordinance subjective, not a guarantee of approval.

HB 1209 states that it would delete “a certain presumption of urban sprawl; requiring that an authorized development be treated as a conforming use; prohibiting a local government from enacting or enforcing certain regulations or laws.”

SB 1118 sets expedited timelines for approvals and allows land owners to seek administrative approval instead of requesting a comprehensive plan amendment from the commission, which is the current requirement to rezone a property that isn’t consid-

CONERLY’S CURRENT COMMITTEE ASSIGNMENTS

■ Joint Administrative Procedures Committee

■ Ways & Means Committee

■ Economic Infrastructure Subcommittee

■ Government Operations Subcommittee

■ Natural Resources & Disasters Subcommittee

■ Transportation & Economic Development Budget Subcommittee

ered consistent with the future land use map.

Commissioner Tal Siddique said the bill could be a reaction to the 2024 election cycle, which saw significant shifts on boards across the state in favor of either more controlled or sustainable development.

“I see this as the state Legislature recognizing that there is, at a macro economic level, a need for development and economic growth,” he said.

“In my opinion, the state is looking to ensure that there is some development and growth happening because home building is a big economic driver.”

He noted that the two bills address the issue more forcefully than many municipalities might like. He personally favors home rule, which gives local government more autonomy.

Another highly debated issue in Manatee County has been its collection of impact fees. Kruse and

some residents led a charge to claim extraordinary circumstances to collect additional fees from developers in August 2024.

In 2021, HB 337 set limits on how much a county can increase its impact fees on new developments. The maximum is 50% over four years unless extraordinary circumstances are claimed.

In 2024, Kruse argued it wasn’t a difficult process and cited examples of other counties that had successfully been granted their requests to increase impact fees.

Now, SB 482 and HB 665 aim to define what constitutes extraordinary circumstances.

Kruse said the first iteration of the bill set an impossible population increase standard to meet in order to claim extraordinary circumstances.

During the commissioners’ annual trip to Tallahassee to discuss their legislative priorities in March, Kruse asked for a list of Florida counties that have ever achieved such a required population spike that would have led to extraordinary circumstances for impact fees.

There were none.

Kruse said he could not have been the only person to question the metric because it has since been replaced with a “laundry list of different criteria.”

Kruse hasn’t had time to sit down with staff to discuss which criteria Manatee County will or will not qualify for in its request for extraordinary circumstances, and he said it’s too late to travel back up to Tallahassee.

“They’re going to do what they’re going to do,” he said, “And we just have to live with the consequences.”

POSSIBLE BILLS THAT WOULD IMPACT MANATEE COMMISSIONERS

Senate Joint Resolution 802 — seeks to limit county commissioners and school board members to two four-year terms.

District 72 Rep. Bill Conerly said term limits are a good idea in larger counties, such as Manatee County. He pointed to Sarasota County, which already has eight-year term limits in place.

His only concern with the resolution pertains to smaller counties. Term limits could be problematic because there aren’t enough people interested in serving on a board.

House Bill 1265 — Conerly doesn’t think this bill will pass. If it does, it will eliminate at-large commission seats, of which Manatee County currently has two filled by commissioners George Kruse and Jason Bearden.

The bill focuses on “single-member representation,” so residents would only vote for candidates in their own district.

While the language allows for exceptions, the bill also states that the number of commissioners would be based on the county’s population size.

Manatee County, which has seven commissioners, would fall in the category of under 749,000 residents, which allows for five commissioners.

OTHER LEGISLATIVE ACTION

Bill Conerly served on the Manatee County Planning Commission for 12 years before being elected to represent District 72 in the Florida House of Representatives in 2024 after Tommy Gregory took on the role of president at the State College of Florida.

He said it can be difficult to solve problems statewide when the needs of a dense population like Miami differ so greatly from the needs of rural communities.

Conerly is a civil engineer by trade and vice president of Kimley-Horne and Associates, an engineering and design firm.

As a representative, he sits on six committees and subcommittees and is sponsoring and co-sponsoring several bills.

“The fact that I’m an engineer, I’m starting to get a lot of these things that are more technical,” he said. “I think people are more comfortable with me being able to understand and explain it than the typical House member.”

One example of a technical bill introduced by Conerly is House Bill 691, Spring Restoration.

The bill addresses two issues — the high nutrient discharge of reclaimed water and the minimum flow and levels allowable in the Ichetucknee River and Santa Fe River.

Both rivers are fed by springs, which are fed by the aquifer.

It’s a complicated plan that involves creating a massive wetland that could be up to 1,800 acres, where wastewater could be treated biologically after it’s treated in a plant.

The water would then be pumped 40 miles to a rapid infiltration basin, where the water would flow through the ground into the aquifer.

The end result would be cleaner water and a constantly replenished aquifer.

Conerly said the project would be funded by the utility providers that are pulling from the aquifer, and the system would offset their groundwater withdrawals.

On the issue of stormwater, Conerly is working on how to navigate flood resiliency.

“I have a desire to figure out a way to compel modeling for flood resiliency across the entire state,” he said.

“Right now, we’re not taking advantage of the technology we have.”

He pointed to better data in defining a 100-year storm, which is a storm that has a 1% chance of occurring every year. He said the data is better now than when the rules were written, so they need to be reevaluated.

Conerly noted that looking at an individual county doesn’t work because watersheds cover multiple counties.

Using the Peace River Basin as an example, he said what happens in Winter Haven impacts Polk, Hardee and Charlotte counties.

“We need to look at trying to expand the knowledge base with regard to storm flooding,” Conerly said. “I’m trying to get a study in place to do that.”

EAST COUNTY

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Planning board suggests ending FDAB exceptions

Commissioners will have the final say in firming up the Future Development Area Boundary.

ERIC GARWOOD

DIGITAL NEWS EDITOR

AManatee County boundary line established in 1989 to keep development to the west and a rural lifestyle to the east could become a more formidable barrier if county commissioners follow the April 10 lead of their advisory Planning Commission.

The Planning Commission voted 5-1 to eliminate a 2021 provision that allowed certain conditions for development of suburban-style projects east of the Future Development Area

Boundary:

■ If the land under consideration east of the line actually touched the boundary;

■ And if the land under consideration touched land that actually touched the boundary;

■ In both cases, the projects had to be managed by a master developer who is responsible for all of the infrastructure.

With the change, those conditions would be swept away.

Planning Commission member Jeff Eslinger cast the no vote.

“Manatee County is a destination,” he said. “People are going to continue to come, so I think the conversation needs to be generated to plan for this growth, and the way I look at this is you are more or less shutting it down. I don’t think this is the right way to go.”

Eslinger added more conversations need to take place about growth and infrastructure, so “at this time, I’m just not agreeable to it.”

The change doesn’t cut off the possibility of any development east

of the line’s current location, but rather adds more thresholds to cross – such as changes to the county’s comprehensive planning documents that would ultimately alter the line as a whole, said board member Lorraine Prosser.

“Through the comprehensive planning process, the FDAB might move, it’s already moved in its history and that can happen again,” she said. “I think planning for that is fine, but I think at this time ... it is where it is and I don’t think it restricts it from changing down the road.”

Following a conversation in January about a building moratorium in Manatee County, commissioners asked county staffers to formulate a proposal to eliminate the conditions that allowed for development east of the line. Thursday’s item before the Planning Commission was the result of that request.

Two projects have successfully crossed the line into the region governed by more sparsely inhabited acreage. In 2023, Taylor Ranch and East River Ranch were both approved east of the line. At maximum build out, each would add 4,500 homes or more.

Senior Planner Elizabeth Shulman said the intention of the boundary is several-fold — it marks the edge of

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NEW MEMBER

Scott Ziegler was sworn in as the newest member of the Planning Commission on Thursday, occupying the role held by Monaca Onstad, who stepped aside because of a move from Lakewood Ranch in Manatee County to Waterside in Sarasota County. Ziegler is chief executive officer of CemAI, a company that consults with cement manufacturing companies.

county-provided utilities, acts as a brake on urban sprawl, and protects the watershed of Lake Manatee, which provides drinking water to Manatee County and parts of Sarasota County.

Lots east of the boundary are generally five acres or more.

“Urban sprawl is a development pattern characterized by low density residential housing, car-dependent transportation, single-use zoning — so not mixed use — increases in impervious surfaces, which lead to flooding and increases in infrastructure costs,” she said.

She said roads in the eastern areas of the county were not designed or built to accept the burdens of such development.

“Higher intensity development would deteriorate level of service, add congestion and delays and create a higher risk of crashes.”

Residents of eastern Manatee County have through the years been adamant about holding the position of the boundary between their way of life and the more urbanized areas to the west.

Miami-Dade County was the first region in Florida to employ a similar dividing line, and Lexington, Kentucky, was the first in the nation, largely to protect the area’s horse farms from encroaching sprawl.

In other action:

EXPANSION APPROVED

Planning Board members voted 6-0 to permit changes in rules governing University Park Country Club’s development, advancing a proposal to expand the club’s recreational and dining facilities.

Residents in early 2024 approved bond-borrowing of up to $21 million to finance the projects that would boost recreation and dining

space from 33,000 square feet to up to 65,000 square feet. Plans date back several years, and began to jell in 2023, said Mark Barneby, with the law firm of Blalock and Waters PA.

“We saw that we might need some additional square footage, we wanted to be careful, and so that’s why we’re here,” he told Planning Board members considering the changes to the so-called planned-development residential regulations. “Interestingly, some of the larger country club facilities in this area don’t have caps on their uses, but for some reason we do.”

The bond vote to finance the projects, which passed with a 62% to 38% margin in January, 2024, was challenged and now an appeal rests with the Florida Supreme Court. The legal proceedings were not part of last week’s discussion.

Among the projects envisioned as part of the expansion:

■ Kitchen renovation and modernization

■ Fitness center renovation and modernization

■ New activity space

■ Administrative workspace

REZONING APPROVAL

Planning Board members also voted 6-0 to initially approve a rezoning from agricultural uses to residential on a plot at the southeastern corner of Lorraine Road and 44th Street.

Envisioned to become the Chalets of Lakewood Ranch, developer plans propose 35 detached homes along a single street, which would run parallel to 44th Street, with cul-desacs on each end. The only entrance would be at 44th Street, where a cut in a 20-foot wide median already exists.

Linda Stewart of Morris Engineering said the property would include a stormwater retention pond and would be surrounded by a six-foot high fence.

Traffic estimates call for about 25 trips in and 14 trips out of the neighborhood. When asked why the proposal calls for access only via 44th Street, she told board members the threshold for an additional access point was 100 units, and the property abutted a turn lane on Lorraine Road that could make exiting and entering the neighborhood difficult.

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School district increases security measures

More Evolv security screening systems and an additional specialized staff member will be present in August.

MADISON BIERL STAFF WRITER

The board of the School District of Manatee County gave unanimous approval April 8 to establish a new job position to support the expansion of security measures on all middle and high school campuses in Manatee County.

Every high school student in the district began walking through a weapons detection system on Aug. 12. By the beginning of the next school year in August, the district intends for every high school and every middle school student in the district to walk through the Evolv weapons detection system.

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The new position will be titled, “Guardian Weapons Detection Systems Technician.”

Barber said the machines are used by students as they enter school but not when they leave. After all the students are in the school for the day, the machines are moved to the office.

“They also serve as monitoring devices for visitors to the school for the rest of the school day,” Barber said.

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Michael Barber, communications director of the School District of Manatee County, said the district has received positive feedback from parents and staff who feel Evolv brings an extra layer of security and comfort.

Random screenings have been taking place with the portable Evolv machines at the middle schools so students can get used to them.

The new technician will be a certified school guardian, but will also oversee the entire system throughout the district while also collecting data from the system.

Barber said Evolv is a sophisticated system that uses artificial intelligence technology.

He said the system is less invasive than a typical metal detector and more time efficient, especially at the beginning of a school day. He emphasized students can walk

Students who go through the system are counted, allowing the schools to track numbers districtwide.

The school district leases the machines directly from Evolv. The district spent approximately $400,000 for the machines in the high schools for this school year. When all the middle schools have been added to the system, the cost is estimated to be $600,000 per year.

Currently, the district doesn’t plan to implement the system into its elementary schools. However, depending on need, Barber said the system could be added to elementary schools in the future.

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Tara’s Ray of Sunshine

Raymond Turner, a volunteer tutor at Tara Elementary School, has been offering his math skills and advice since 2004.

MADISON BIERL | STAFF WRITER

Many students struggle with math, but not everyone has a Mr. Ray.

With a calm temperament and patience like none other, Rosedale’s Raymond Turner, a retired electrical engineer, has been making a difference in the lives of students and teachers at Tara Elementary School for more than 20 years as a volunteer.

“He will repeat (a question) for a year, a decade, a century,” said fifth grader Aiden Nguyen Tu. “He will repeat that question a million times just for you to understand.”

Turner has been assisting teachers at Tara since 2004, and is still going strong. He comes in every Tuesday and Thursday from 9 a.m. to 12:45 p.m.

“When he’s not here, it feels a bit empty,” said Nguyen Tu.  Lynn Wolfe, a fifth grade teacher at Tara Elementary since 2003, said every year she nominates Turner for the district’s volunteer of the year award, but he has never won. Turner has been working directly with Wolfe’s classes since 2008.

“They’re not worried that he’s going to get upset with them,” Wolfe said of the students who work with Turner. “If they don’t understand, they feel safe.”

Turner, 78, helps with two fifth grade classes that are “team-taught” by Wolfe and Deborah Hall. While both are fifth grade classes, one class is advanced math where the students are learning at the sixth grade level.  Wolfe said when she sees students struggling, she likes to bounce ideas off Turner. She asks if he has another strategy.

“This math for him is easy, so he can do this with his eyes closed,” Wolfe said.

Turner said sometimes the students understand his method better, and sometimes they understand Wolfe’s method better. While some teachers might insist that a volunteer use the same method as the teacher, Wolfe said she doesn’t mind if Turner goes a different direction to get the right end result.

Turner said one of the best things he can do to help the kids understand

difficult math programs and concepts is to draw diagrams. He wants them to see what is being presented.

“I always start each year with a thick pad of scratch paper,” he said with a smile.

Fifth grade student Ryan Agovino said he has learned to enjoy math because of Turner.

“Without Mr. Ray, it would be way worse,” Agovino said.

Even growing up, Turner said he gravitated toward math- or sciencerelated subjects. He remembered being in the Boy Scouts and doing projects that forced him to use his math skills.

At 10 years old, he was inspired by the launch of Sputnik 1, the world’s first artificial satellite that was sent into space by the Soviet Union in 1957. Although he never wanted to go into space, that launch did provide inspiration for his future career path.

“I had no clue what engineering was, but I knew the United States needed more engineers,” Turner said.

Turner’s father, Odbert Turner Jr., was an electrician who taught his son about electricity. That led him to become interested in a career electrical engineering.

He eventually had a career with Southern California Edison.

With his wife, Patricia, he moved to Bradenton in September 2003 to be near her family. He still worked another 10 years with Southern California Edison, mostly remote, with occasional trips to California.

In retirement, Turner found he is not a golfer, nor a tennis player. He said he wanted to be a more charitable person and that he had time to do it. He volunteers not only at Tara Elementary School, but also with the Stillpoint Mission of Bradenton and Sarasota’s St. Patrick Catholic Church, where he attends.

“One of the best things I can do is something that’s charitable,” he said.

He was looking for other ways to spend his free time, and he discovered the Lakewood Ranch Running Club.

There he met Joan Novak, who was a teacher at Tara Elemen tary from 1999 to when she retired in 2013. When she found out about his back ground as an engineer, Novak recommended that Turner look into helping the science department at the school.  He became involved, helping sec ond, third and even tually fifth graders. Over the years, his volun teer work shifted from science to mostly math.

FUN FACTS ON MR. RAY

■ Raymond Turner was born in Dayton, Ohio on March 9, 1947.

■ His father, Odbert Turner Jr., was an electrician, which sparked his interest in electrical engineering.

■ He has lived in Rosedale with his wife, Patricia Turner, since September 2003.

■ Both Raymond Turner and Patricia Turner volunteer at Stillpoint Mission on Fridays.

“Teachers come and go, they retire, and so I was needed in other areas,” Turner said.

Wolfe, along with her son, Tanner, ran a Halloween-themed 5K in October 2007. Turner already was a volunteer at Tara, but he hadn’t met Wolfe until that race. Turner already had helped her son, who was in second grade at that point, with math.

“I begged him to work with me,” Wolfe said.

“Now he’s got an exclusive deal with me,” she said with a laugh. “He’s not allowed to help anybody else. He’s got a lifelong contract.”

Wolfe also values Turner as a role model for the students because there are not a lot of male instructors in elementary education.

“It’s important (the students) see that his demeanor is so calm, and he’s just such a positive person for them to be around,” Wolfe said.

Turner said volunteering keeps him young and up to date, especially since his great niece, Samantha LoCastro, is a third grader at Tara.

“It’s a contrast to where I live with my neighbors (who are mostly seniors),” Turner said. “You know, we have our own different interests, different likes. We have our own different conversations.”

He still provides some students with an elementary introduction to electricity. He teaches them terms such as voltage, current, resistance and Ohms Law. He set up circuits and a water wheel for them to have a hands-on learning experience.

“He bought all of that stuff,” Wolfe said. “I mean, he was here for probably two hours setting it all up.”

Turner said if he has to slow down, and stop anything in his routine, volunteering with the kids would be the last to go.

The students are glad to hear that.

“Everyone in this world needs a Mr. Ray,” Nguyen Tu said.

Fifth grade student Aiden Nguyen Tu said that when Mr. Ray is not in the classroom it feels a bit empty.

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LWRCF comes up big, deals with little problem

La few years back when the fancy, four-sided Rotary International clock on Lakewood Main Street stopped working for months? Yup, it bugged me. It wasn’t like I didn’t have a watch. Or in today’s world, a phone. Lakewood Ranch is such a beautiful place to live, when something like the clock breaks, it is the proverbial missing tooth. It no longer was a clock for me. It was a magnet, and my forehead was an iron plate. Every time I walked past ... Bam! Fortunately, it was fixed, and life went on. As James Brown used to say, “I feel good.”

The world was back in order.

Then came COVID-19, and we suddenly had more important things on our minds.

It was OK for little things to take a back seat. At least for a while.

When the walls of my office on Lakewood Main Street begin to contract, I like to take a stroll through Main Street at Lakewood Ranch. I go out on the street and head toward Lake Uihlein, taking a path past the fountain to let in all that blue, blue, blue therapy. Then I pass the Lakewood Ranch Community Foundation’s plaque that honors its C. John A. Clarke humanitarians.

Having lived a little, I love the historical significance that such markers bring to a community. When we enjoy a certain quality of life, such markers remind us that there was a sacrifice to get there.

The late Don O’Leary’s name was the first slat added to the plaque in 2006, and every year since,

the LWRCF has selected another humanitarian of the year. It became a Who’s Who of our region’s most respected philanthropists.

Those slats kept being added ... until 2019 when Joe and Barbara Najmy shared the honor.

Then came COVID, and no award recipient was named in 2020.

In 2021, the Lakewood Ranch Medical Center earned the honor. The hospital has been the only organization to be so honored. The hospital workers’ sacrifices during COVID-19 certainly earned such a distinction. Even so, no slat was added to the plaque to commemorate that honor.

Then came humanitarians of the year Bob Smith (2022), Ted Lindenberg (2023) and Heather Hackett (2024). Their names weren’t added to the plaque, either.

Would they stop putting the champions’ names on the Stanley Cup? The Claret Jug? The Kentucky Derby Trophy?

And cleaning? It seemed the birds were using the LWRCF’s plaque as a rest stop, and no one was coming by with a Squeegee. It bugged me.

To me, the Lakewood Ranch Community Foundation is the premier nonprofit in the area, and the plaque represents the organization as a whole. If you strolled by the plaque in the past few years, and saw the names stop in 2019, you had to wonder if LWRCF still was in business.

Well, the LWRCF not only is alive and well, but it is headed toward higher goals than ever before.

LWRCF Board President Mark Clark, who is just finishing up his second consecutive one-year term, has guided the nonprofit through, perhaps, the most important two years of its existence. In 2023, the

LWRCF transitioned to a 501(c)(3) and broke its parental ties with the Manatee Community Foundation. In 2024, the name was changed from the Lakewood Ranch Community Fund to the Lakewood Ranch Community Foundation. Northern Trust agreed to handle the LWRCF’s finances.

A Builders Give Back program was formed to not only bring in extra funds, but to introduce the nonprofit to new members of the community. The major builders in the area have put their names behind the effort. The nonprofit’s first paid executive director was named.

The major factors were being crossed off one by one.

Oh, but that achy, little thing.

The plaque.

Kate Mulligan was hired as the LWRCF’s executive director in September. Fortunately, with a laundry list of major goals to accomplish, Mulligan obviously cares about the little things, too.

She had to follow the trail backward to discover why the names stopped going up on the plaque. Eventually, she found out the slats

had been ordered and has been sitting on the floor of a shop in Sarasota. She picked up the slats, ordered another for 2024 honoree Hackett and Clark attached them.

On April 14, Hackett, Smith and Philip Reber, representing Lakewood Ranch Medical Center’s selection in 2021, gathered at the plaque to see their names had been added and to take photos. Lindenberg was unable to attend.

Philip Reber, the COO and acting CEO of the Lakewood Ranch Medical Center, said he thought it was important to see the hospital’s name on the plaque.

“One of the things we are most proud of, is being a communitybased hospital,” Reber said.

Hackett, who founded the nonprofit Local Relief to keep the community informed during disasters, said she was deeply moved when she received the award in 2024, but she didn’t think it would be that important to have her name on the plaque. That changed on April 14.

“It means a lot — more than I thought it would,” Hackett said as she looked at her name on the

plaque. “This shows that someone is watching.” Smith enjoyed the moment, but said he never really thought about the plaque.

“I don’t care about any of it,” he said. “I was nominated by my own daughter (Amanda Tullidge), and I had that (nomination) framed and put in my office.”

No matter, Mulligan said it will be a high priority to keep the plaque up to date and in good shape.

“This is the last time we will not be on top of it,” she said. “We’re starting with a clear slate.

“We want people to know that we care about them, and this is a nice reminder.”

Jay Heater is the managing editor for the East County Observer. Contact him at JHeater@ YourObserver.com.

LETTERS

Reckless riding leaves pedestrians feeling unsafe

I am writing this letter regarding the recent article, “Electric bikes charge up aggravated residents (April 10).” As a resident in Lakewood Ranch, and a student attending Lakewood Ranch Preparatory Academy on White Eagle Boulevard, I have had numerous experiences with teen electric bike riders. These experiences have left me with a negative outlook on teen electric bike riders for several reasons.

All residents within a community share common needs, with a major one being to have a feeling of safety and security. However, when teen electric bike riders are recklessly driving, it creates a serious safety concern. This applies to both the bike rider and the resident. These teen bike riders rarely follow the rules of the road, and as a result, residents must be extremely cautious. Daily outdoor activities, such as taking pets out on a walk, have now become a task many avoid due to these safety concerns. Overall, it is imperative that actions are taken to further educate these teen electric bike riders about the rules of the road and appropriate, respectful behavior when it comes to taking a ride around the community. The consequences of their actions can be very severe and are not to be dismissed.

ELENA MARGIOUKLA

LAKEWOOD RANCH PREP STUDENT

E-bikes have positive impacts, too

After reading your April 8 article, “Electric bikes charge up aggravated residents (April 10),” I felt inspired to share a different viewpoint.

E-bikes have become a big part of teen life not as a problem, but as a sign of progress. They give teens a fun, independent and environmentally friendly way to get around. For many, it’s a step toward more freedom and responsibility. Riding an e-bike to school, to a friend’s house or around the neighborhood often reflects a teen’s effort to be active and engaged with the world around them.

Many communities are already working with teens to create helpful solutions. Some have introduced bike safety programs and clear rules that encourage safe riding. What’s amazing is that teens are often eager to be part of those efforts. When given the chance, they’re ready to help shape a safer, more respectful environment for everyone.

This isn’t about blame; it’s about collaboration. When teens feel heard and included, they’re more likely to rise to the occasion. By supporting education and open dialogue, we can build trust and encourage safe habits without losing sight of all the positive things young people bring to our neighborhoods.

CORBAN MARTIN

LAKEWOOD RANCH

Hunger remains a problem in Manatee

Imagine wondering how you are going to pay for your next meal. That’s the situation facing thousands of Manatee County residents every day.

We might think the face of hunger is limited to our unhoused population, but for every 10 homes in Manatee County, one of our neighbors is facing uncertainty about where their next meal is coming from.

By one estimate, as many as 12% of the county’s 440,000 residents regularly struggle with food insecu-

We have to do more to help.

That’s why more than 50 organizations that provide emergencyfree food and social services in the county have formed a group called the Manatee County Food Security Network. We are creating a platform for collaboration so we can get food to more of our residents in need.

The organizations in the Food Security Network, convened by the Bishop-Parker Foundation, range from large organizations like United Way Suncoast and One More Child to smaller organizations like Good Neighbors and Parrish United Methodist Church. Officials from government, schools, and law enforcement are also involved.

The Food Security Network launched two years ago. Since then, we have worked with the Creation in Common consulting firm to find that five of the county’s areas in particular are both vulnerable and underserved — Ellenton, South Bradenton, Oneco, Samoset and West Samoset.

After learning more about the issue, the Food Security Network created four overall strategic goals for this initiative:

■ Convening the Collective Voice

– Bringing voices together

■ Data Sharing and Coordination

■ Building Capacity for Seamless Systems

■ Resourcing System Innovation

EMILY GRANT

MANATEE COUNTY FOOD SECURITY NETWORK

Please support

Lakewood Ranch Community Activities

We moved to Lakewood Ranch over 20 years ago, drawn by its strong sense of community and the natural beauty that surrounded us. Over the

years, Lakewood Ranch Community Activities has played a vital role in fostering this spirit by organizing events and activities that bring together residents from both gated and nongated communities. However, recent discussions regarding the funding of Lakewood Ranch Community Activities have put this at risk.

For about 25 years, all Phase 1 residents have contributed a modest annual fee through their HOA assessments. These funds have helped cover the costs of community events held in our parks, ensuring that LWR remains a vibrant, united place to live. More than just financial support, this system has strengthened neighborhood bonds and encouraged a shared identity across different sections of our community.

Recently, scrutiny by an HOA over the governance and structure of Lakewood Ranch has led to questions about the legality of this fee.

With the creation of the Stewardship District, which extends beyond Phase 1, adjustments have been made to ensure alignment between the two entities. This has allowed all residents to participate in community events, regardless of their HOA structure. However, while most HOAs continue to meet their annual obligations, one has chosen not to contribute — despite benefiting from these activities.

This raises an important question: Is the $16 annual charge truly a financial burden, or is it a matter of principle? While legal discussions might be necessary, they should not overshadow the greater impact — our sense of community. Lakewood Ranch Community Activities’ role in unifying Lakewood Ranch is invaluable and undermining its funding risks creating division where unity once thrived.  Phase 1 is no longer the dominant force in LWR, and as our community evolves, we must recognize that maintaining these shared traditions is more important than ever. If we fail to support initiatives that bring us together, we risk losing the very essence of what made Lakewood Ranch such a special place.

ROBERT SWIATEK LAKEWOOD RANCH

Country Club mansion sells for $5.9 million

Lakewood Ranch’s highest-priced sale thus far in 2025 closed in midApril, a six-bedroom, eight-bathroom home built in 2022 in The Country Club enclave of Portmarnock. It sold for $5.9 million. Initially listed for $6.9 million in early 2024, the sale at 7045 Portmarnock Place stands just behind 2024’s highest prices in Lakewood Ranch – $6.3 million and $6.28 million sales in the Lake Club.

The Country Club home was built on .66-lakefront acres on the golf course. According to Michael Saunders and Co., which promoted the sale on social media, it’s the highest price for a property ever sold in The Country Club section of Lakewood Ranch.

Tina Ciaccio of Michael Saunders and Co. handled the sale. James Tassell of Jason Mitchell Real Estate represented the buyers. According to county property records, the home was built in 2002 and has 8,663 square feet of living area and was recently remodeled. Records were not updated as of April 14 to reflect the new owners.

In April, Michael Saunders & Co. also facilitated the sale of Sarasota County’s highest price home in 2025 – a $14.8 million transaction for a new-construction property in Harbor Acres.

Lakewood Ranch new home sales remain brisk

Through the first quarter of 2025, Lakewood Ranch continues to report brisk home sales.

Lakewood Ranch Communities reported 613 new home sales in Lakewood Ranch in the first quarter, a 2.5% increase over the 2024 first quarter. A Lakewood Ranch Communities release noted that Lakewood Ranch’s sales “outpaced broader market trends and underscored the community’s continued strength in a shifting housing landscape.”

The nation’s top-selling, multigenerational, master-planned community since 2018, Lakewood Ranch recently launched four new villages that Lakewood Ranch Communities Senior Vice President Laura Cole said “appeal to a wide range of market segments, with additional neighborhoods on the horizon for 2026.”

“We definitely saw shifts toward more attached homes in the new home market due to affordability, but volume and average price per square foot remained the same, in fact a slightly bit better on volume,” Cole said in a release. “I am cautious about the coming months as this is when our family buyer comes into the market and certainly they are the most impacted by macro economic issues.”

Homes in the $300,000 to $500,000 range made up the largest share of Lakewood Ranch sales, while luxury homes more than $1 million held steady. Active adult buyers (55-plus) increased 10% year-over-year, aligning with seasonal patterns and national trends, and tied to the launch of two new active adult communities in Lakewood Ranch in Del Webb Catalina (Pulte) and Calusa National (Lennar). Cole said new home sales were 66% of the total sales in Lakewood Ranch in the first quarter, well above the historical average.

“We’re encouraged by these results and remain focused on delivering lasting value,” Cole said in a release. “Lakewood Ranch has weathered changing markets before, and our track record of strategic growth and community-first planning puts us in a strong position.”

SPORTS

FAST BREAK

Former Braden River High baseball player Ryan Waldschmidt is off to a hot start with the Hilsboro Hops, the High-A affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks. The 2024 first-round pick has hit three home runs and is batting .429 with a .541 on-base percentage through eight games.

The Braden River baseball team (12-10) split a pair of close games against local foes this past week. The Pirates fell to The Out-of-Door Academy 4-3 in eight innings on April 7 before defeating Lakewood Ranch 4-3 on April 9. The Pirates broke a 3-all tie with the Mustangs in the top of the sixth inning on a sacrifice fly by senior Jacoby Cox. Braden River has climbed to the No. 2 seed in 5A-Region 3 thanks to a 9-4 stretch since March 10. ... The Lakewood Ranch boys track and field team won the Manatee County Championship April 10 at Manatee High School and the girls team finished in second place. The boys were led by first-place finishes from seniors Jonathan Leatt (800 meters in 2:20.28) and Derek Robinson (1,600 meters in 4:41.02 and 3,200 meters in 9:59.64), junior Joshua Yang (high jump of 1.72 meters) and sophomores Justin Flores (triple jump of 11.99 meters) and Liam St. John (48.52 meter javelin throw).

The Lakewood Ranch girls lacrosse team opened the District 2A-12 tournament with an 18-1 win over Palmetto Ridge on April 9 and an 18-5 win over Sarasota on April 10. The Mustangs played at Riverview for a district championship on April 15.

Lakewood Ranch boys lacrosse beat Bloomingdale, 14-3, to open the District 2A-12 tournament on April 9, but were eliminated in a 15-1 loss to Manatee on April 11. The Mustangs could still advance to the 2A-Region 3 tournament with an at-large bid.

“At regionals, I was in my own zone and I hit a personal record and had a bunch of fun.”

Runners’ rivalry fuels success

Rivals turned friends aim to make it to the state championships together.

VINNIE PORTELL STAFF WRITER

Derek Robinson and Jonathan Leatt are nearing the finish line of their track careers at Lakewood Ranch High, and it’s still too close to call which one will come out on top.

The top two distance runners on the Mustangs boys track and field team will begin a final push for high school glory beginning April 17 in the 4A-District 11 meet at Riverview Sumner.

Often, Robinson and Leatt are separated by mere fractions of a second on the track, but that’s largely where the similarities end.

FAST RIVALS

Leatt likes to pace himself behind the leaders when he runs.

The 6-foot-1, 175-pound senior saves his energy for one final burst toward the finish line.

Robinson, on the other hand, comes out hot.

The 6-foot, 167-pound senior enjoys leading races and doesn’t want to wait to take control of a race.

Both respect their teammate’s strategy.

“He’s a consistent runner, and he doesn’t get scared if the competition goes out too fast,” Robinson said of

Leatt. “That’s the main difference between me and Johnny’s running. I like to come out aggressive and lead the race.”

Their running styles couldn’t be more reflective of their personalities.

Leatt is someone who Lakewood Ranch boys track and field coach Bill Zarrella said “gets along with everyone, regardless of skill.”

That wasn’t something that came naturally to Robinson, who didn’t have much experience being on a team as a freshman at Sarasota Military Academy competing in cross country and JROTC raider events.

“He would always make fun of the lesser runners,” Zarrella said of Robinson. “They’d finish a workout and he’d say, ‘Oh, it took you long enough,’ and stuff like that. I had to pull him aside and tell him I don’t want to hear that.”

That aggressive mentality from Robinson led to what Zarrella called “a tense rivalry” early on with Leatt, who had been Lakewood Ranch’s top distance runner as a freshman until Robinson transferred in the following year.

“He was a new guy, but I was excited because it was good competition,” Leatt said. “We push each other. We’re rivals on the track, but we’re good friends on and off of it, too.”

BACK AND FORTH

It didn’t take long for Robinson to challenge Leatt’s claim as the top distance runner at Lakewood Ranch as sophomores in 2023.

The two would flip-flop top positioning on a weekly basis in the 1,600-meter run.

HOW THEY RANK

Where Jonathan Leatt and Derek Robinson stand in District 4A-11

LEATT

800 meters: No. 1 (1:58.89) 1,600 meters: No. 1 (4:31.63)

ROBINSON

800 meters: No. 2 (2:01.31) 1,600 meters: No. 2 (4:32.92) 3,200 meters: No. 1 (9:48.87)

By season’s end, Robinson took over as the team’s top runner in the 800 meters — besting Leatt by 1.63 seconds — and the top runner in the 3,200 meters — besting Leatt by 2.12 seconds.

Leatt retained his status as the top runner in the 1,600 meters — besting Robinson by one second.

That led to countless weeks of light-hearted trash talk and fierce competition.

The next year, however, Leatt made a peace offering in the form of an invitation to his church’s youth group.

Nowadays, Robinson and Leatt are nearly inseparable.

They said they enjoy training on their own together, fishing, having fun at local skate parks and they still attend church together.

Their times on the track remain as close as they’ve ever been.

Entering the postseason, Leatt holds the lead in the 800 meters (1:58.89) by 2.42 seconds and the 1,600 meters (4:31.63) by 1.29 seconds while Robinson has established himself as the top runner in the 3,200 meters (9:48.87), an event in which Leatt doesn’t compete.

Though Leatt holds a slim lead in the 1,600, Robinson gave him a subtle reminder that he’s on his heels at the Manatee County Championships April 10, beating him out in that race

However, whoever runs a race faster doesn’t mean as much as it once did. After three years of neckand-neck competitions, the two friends are simply hoping to make some memories in their last few weeks of high school

“I just want us to not have any injuries, make good times and make it to states,” Robinson said. “That would be great.”

The roads were barren, but Thunder AD found a way

The story of athletics at The Outof-Door Academy can’t be told without talking about Shelley Stone.

Stone was hired to teach physical education at Out-of-Door’s lower campus in 1989 and has had a hand in teaching and coaching countless students since.

The former golf professional was the school’s first athletic director and coached golf, tennis, volleyball, basketball, softball and crosscountry. She even helped pick the school’s colors and mascot.

It was fitting, then, that Stone was included as part of the school’s inaugural Athletics Hall of Fame class, honored in a ceremony April 10. Stone was honored alongside former baseball and football player AJ Strong, the 2018 state champion boys tennis team and behind-thescenes contributor Teena Humphrey.

STARTING FROM SCRATCH

Stone believed in ODA before its upper campus was even constructed.

Upon hearing rumors of the addition of the upper campus, which opened in 1997, Stone said she applied to be the athletic director of the upper campus and was hired on the spot.

Though Stone was equipped for the job thanks to a degree in physical education from Bowling Green State University, she had more responsibilities than most athletic directors.  Stone said Martha Duffy, former ODA head of school, tasked her with picking up four members of the school’s board of directors and driving them to the site where the school would be built.

“I had a Jeep Wrangler, and I drove them out here because there weren’t even roads,” Stone said. “It was dirt roads. When we got out this far, she was like, ‘Turn right,’ and I’m like, ‘Where? We’re on a

dirt road.’ There was nothing here.”

However, Stone said once she saw the plans for Lakewood Ranch, she was all in.

Stone said there were just 12 students during that first year who played volleyball, boys basketball and girls basketball at the freshman level.

With the gymnasium still unfinished, Stone had to find gyms to rent or parks with open courts for her athletes.

Those were just some of the challenges she faced in her first years at ODA’s upper campus.

ONE-WOMAN WONDER

Low enrollment was a challenge Stone had to face.

“When we first started, we were way out here,” Stone said. “Nobody wanted to come coach because there was nothing around.”

That meant Stone often had to step in when a coach was needed.

One year, she couldn’t find anyone to coach the junior varsity boys basketball team, so she took the job.

“The JV boys basketball team was a lot of fun,” she said. “I told them I wasn’t coming back the next year, and they were like, ‘No, you’re our mom.’ They were really upset that I wasn’t going to coach them the next year. I told them, ‘Don’t worry, I will find you a coach.’”

Another year, she set up a running program for the cross-country athletes and took them to meets on the weekends.

In total, Stone coached volleyball, basketball, softball, cross-country, golf and tennis, while also serving as athletic director.

Despite those obstacles, she didn’t have to wait long for her vision of athletics at The Out-ofDoor Academy to materialize.

Ashley Palmer was an early success story. She became the school’s first all-state athlete in 1998 in cross country.

Gretchen Haynor and Laura

ODA HALL OF FAME

The Out-of-Door Academy’s Athletics Hall of Fame 2025 Class:

Shelley Stone: ODA’s first athletic director and coach of several sports.

AJ Strong: A baseball and football star who graduated from ODA in 2010. He played football and now coaches running backs at Campbellsville University in Campbellsville, Kentucky.

2018 Boys Tennis Team: (Andrew Chiritescu, Quinn Isaac, Connor Krug, Jake Krug, Collin O’Callaghan, Josh Samuel and Jakub Svoboda. They won the 1A state title.

Teena Humphrey: A behindthe-scenes contributor who led the Thunder Athletic Club.

Ahmes teamed up to win ODA’s first state championship in doubles tennis in 1999.

The following year, Stone led the volleyball team to the regional semifinals in just its third year.

“It happened fast,” Stone said of ODA’s athletic success. “The kids kind of thought, ‘Oh, this is typical; this is what happens, kids qualify for states.’ And we’re like, ‘No, this is not typical.’”

STEPPING BACK Stone would go on to coach athletes who would have standout success at the high school level, and some who would also go on to star for collegiate teams.

However, she eventually had to allow herself to rest after seven years of going nonstop.

Stone was diagnosed with cancer in 1996, and endured chemotherapy treatments for the next eight years, eventually enduring through it

while continuing to teach, coach and work.

“I think it’s just part of who I am,” Stone said of her persistence.

That battle led to Stone stepping down as athletic director in 2003, but she still coached teams in the years following, and even went to Manatee Community College to learn how to become a math teacher — a position she holds to this day.

When I met with Stone on April 11, the morning after her Hall of Fame induction ceremony, she found time to speak with me in between leading games of handball during the school’s annual spirit day.

“Those of us who are athletes are in charge of the game; then we get a couple who aren’t too sure about it to help us,” Stone said of spirit day.

“Yeah, it’s quite the deal.”

For Stone, some things haven’t changed.

Anthony Dela Cruz

Braden River senior Anthony Dela Cruz was the only East County athlete to place at the Florida High School Athletic Association Boys Weightlifting State Championships

April 11-12 at RP Funding Center in Lakeland. Dela Cruz (119-pound weight class) won district and regional titles in the Olympic-style lift and nabbed runner-up finishes in those events in traditional-style. He placed sixth in the Olympic lift at the 2A state championships at 340 pounds and eighth in the traditional lift at 360-pounds.

When did you start weightlifting?

It was my sophomore year and I had biology with one of the former team captains, Donovan Agelvis. He told me I could enjoy weightlifting and I was like, ‘Why not? I have nothing better to do.’ and I already had a somewhat regular lifting routine.

What do you like about weightlifting?

I guess I kind of just do it. But there are definitely moments where I’m immersed in the sport and I do enjoy weightlifting in general. There will be moments where you find yourself on top of the world.

What was your most memorable moment this season?

At regionals, I was in my own zone and I hit a personal record and had a bunch of fun. At states, I also had fun, and I didn’t take it personally that there were people who were better than me because there’s always going to be bigger fish in the end.

What’s your favorite weightlifting memory?

Nationals 2024 during the summer. We went to Pennsylvania. We had a blast. We went with a bunch of my teammates on the club and the boys

If you would like to make a recommendation for the East County Observer’s Athlete of the Week feature, send it to VPortell@YourObserver.com.

weightlifting team and we experienced a bunch of new stuff. We went sightseeing, bonded and saw all of these amazing lifters at the national level.

What made this year’s Braden River boys weightlifting team special?

We didn’t have any expectations of destroying everyone like we did last year. We had lost a lot of good lifters because they transferred for football, and I can guarantee you, we would have won a state title this year if we had everyone. I was focusing more on myself and seeing what I could do, but then I realized, ‘Wow, these kids are something special.’

What went right for you personally this year?

I’d say the clean and jerk, probably the jerk part. The clean is supposed to be the harder part and the jerk is supposed to be easier, but for me, it was the other way around. My clean was like perfect, but the jerk wasn’t there. I could probably clean like 220 pounds but could I put it over my head? I didn’t know if I could do that.

Finish this sentence.

Anthony Dela Cruz

ATHLETE OF THE WEEK

YOUR NEIGHBORS

SHELL GAME

More than 10,000 multicolored plastic eggs covered the sand volleyball courts and the grass at Waterside Park the morning of April 12.

And then they were gone.

The annual EGGstravaganza event in Lakewood Ranch unleashed more than 700 children to vacuum the eggs in an instant. The children were directed to areas that were restricted to their age group — 1-3, 3-5 and 5 and older.

EGGstravaganza was hosted by Lakewood Ranch Community Activities, led by event planner Paige Venuto.

“It’s a signature spring tradition that brings together residents and community members,” said Danielle

Bugel, marketing manager of Lakewood Ranch Community Activities.

Along with the egg hunt, there was also an opportunity to meet and take photos with the Easter Bunny. Mia Angeles, a 7-year-old Lakewood Ranch resident, was excited to get her picture with the Easter Bunny.

“It’s big and fuzzy,” she said.

Children also were able to jump in a bounce house, get their faces painted by Akiko Graphics and explore the various food and business vendor booths.

The presenting sponsor for EGGstravaganza was Grace Community Church.

— MADISON BIERL

Cesar Levison and 3-yearold Roman Levison search for the perfect bubble.

Lisa Johnson, RN, SCRN Stroke Coordinator

here. The emphasis on patient-centered care, the training programs and continuous professional development opportunities help me to deliver the highest quality of patient care.”

Palm Aire Women’s Club awards

The $3,000 scholarships were presented at the club’s April 11 luncheon.

When Emily Goodie, a State College of Florida nursing student, applied for a scholarship from the Palm Aire Women’s Club, she made sure she explained her hopes, dreams and goals in the letter. What she discovered was that not only did she believe in her goals, but “other people believe in my goals and want to see me succeed.”

Indeed, the Palm Aire Women’s Club members aren’t just going through a process. They know their annual scholarship awards (that go to State College of Florida or Manatee Technical College students), can make an important difference in a

scholarships

student’s life.

“We have a mission that says we will support those in the community who need assistance who are less fortunate than others,” said Carol Darling, the co-president of the Palm Aire Women’s Club.

The club held its luncheon April 11 to honor its scholarship recipients — Goodie, Christianna Hershberger, Marina Perez and Ashley Lewis.

Darling said their scholarship program is administered through the State College of Florida Foundation, which receives the applications and forwards them to the club. There is a scholarship committee within the Palm Aire Women’s Club led by Peg Beck, who has been the chair for the scholarship committee for seven years.

“We rank them on a very intense evaluation form and from there we award four scholarships a year for $3,000 each,” Darling said. Here is a look at the recipients.

PALM AIRE WOMEN’S CLUB’S CHARITY PARTNERS

■ Baby Basics of Sarasota County Inc.

■ Foundation for Dreams & Dream Oaks Camp

■ Queens of Domestic Violence Awareness

■ Mothers Helping Mothers

■ Mark Wandall Foundation

■ Second Chance Last Opportunity

■ Hope Family Services Inc.

EMILY GOODIE

Goodie is pursuing a bachelor of science in nursing. She hopes to also obtain her masters degree in nursing education.

“I look forward to teaching other nursing students as well and motivating them to pursue their careers and grow,” Goodie said.

Goodie has pictured herself in scrubs since she was 13. She watched medical personnel work with her dad, Craig Goodie, who was diagnosed with stage three colon cancer in 2010. Craig Goodie went through chemotherapy and radiation treatments before going into remission.

“It was something that significantly impacted our family,” Goodie said. “It shifted his whole life and our whole family dynamic.”

While pursuing her associates degree in nursing at the State College of Florida, Goodie also works full time.

Goodie is a first generation high school and college graduate and pursuing further education is very important for her.

CHRISTIANNA HERSHBERGER

Christianna Hershberger graduated from the dental hygiene program at State College of Florida in 2020. She has been working clinically in the area for five years. She has worked at Kind Smiles Dental Health since 2023 and she decided to return to State College of Florida to obtain her bachelor’s degree in health administration. Her goal is to one day open

her own dental practice. Hershberger, who is a trained opera singer, didn’t originally want to pursue dentistry. She first graduated with a degree in vocal performance in 2014. However, she picked up a job at a dental office and ended up receiving on-the-job training from Sarasota’s Dr. Thomas Bowles.

She remembered the first time she assisted Bowles.

“I’ve never assisted before. I’ve never been in anybody’s mouth before,” Hershberger said.

Bowles told Hershberger she would be a talented assistant and encouraged her to go back to school. She followed his advice.

“I do feel like I’ve been in school for so long, but I have loved this career so much,” Hershberger said.  “It has felt like a natural step to continue on with my education.”

MARINA PEREZ

Marina Perez attends the State College of Florida working toward her bachelor of science in nursing. She has earned an associates degree in nursing and is a first generation college student.

“I’ve been that one who has the drive to keep going to get my education,” Perez said. “I feel like I need to do more, and I want to do more.”

Perez hopes to obtain her masters and doctorate in nursing to become an advanced practice registered nurse.

When Perez first discovered the scholarship opportunity and looked into what the Palm Aire Women’s Club was all about, she decided to apply.

She said the scholarship will be a big help.

“I’m thankful and grateful for their generosity,” Perez said.

ASHLEY LEWIS

Ashley Lewis was the fourth recipient of the scholarships from the Palm Aire Women’s Club. She was unable to attend the luncheon.

Lewis is a registered nurse in chemotherapy. Her goal is to obtain a masters degree in education to become a nursing professor at the State College of Florida in order to assist and inspire future generations of nurses.

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YOUR CALENDAR

COMMUNITY

THURSDAY, APRIL 17

THROUGH SUNDAY, APRIL 20

LIVE MUSIC AT JIGGS LANDING

Runs from 4-7 p.m. each day at Jiggs Landing, 6106 63rd St. E., Bradenton. The live music lineup at Jiggs Landing includes Steve Arvey (Thursday), the White Crowe Band (Friday), Coral Caribbean Cowboys (Saturday) and Santiago (Sunday). The Friday and Saturday concerts are $5; the others are free. For more information, go to JiggsLanding. com.

FRIDAY, APRIL 18

SIGHTS AND SOUNDS

Begins at 6 p.m. at Waterside Place, 1561 Lakefront Drive, Lakewood Ranch. The Sarasota Contemporary Dance Ensemble will be performing a range of choreography at the free Sights and Sounds event. For more information, go to WatersidePlace. com.

SATURDAY, APRIL 19

MUSIC AT THE PLAZA

Runs from 6-9 p.m. at Waterside Place, 1561 Lakefront Drive, Lakewood Ranch. Blues musician Zach Pomerleau performs for the Waterside Place crowd. For more information, go to WatersidePlace.com.

GARDEN FEST

Begins at 9 a.m. at the Lakewood Ranch Library, 16410 Rangeland Parkway, Lakewood Ranch. Garden Fest is being presented to educate the public about the importance of the monarch butterfly and about growing vegetation to support it; to provide hands-on activities for kids; and to raise awareness of the Lakewood Ranch Garden Club. Guest speakers include environmental artist and educator Pamela Callender; Sean Patton, owner of Stocking Savvy LLC; and butterfly enthusiasts Cathleen Strong and Gilbert Daigneau.

SATURDAY, APRIL 19 AND

SUNDAY, APRIL 20

MUSIC AT THE LODGE

Runs 6-9 p.m. on Saturday and noon to 3 p.m. on Sunday at Linger Lodge, 7205 85th St. Court E., Bradenton. Linger Lodge’s live music schedule

BEST BET

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 16

THROUGH SATURDAY, APRIL 20

LECOM SUNCOAST CLASSIC GOLF

Play begins approximately 7 a.m. each day and runs through dusk at Lakewood National Golf Club, 17605 Lakewood National Parkway, Lakewood Ranch. The Korn Ferry Tour returns to Lakewood National, featuring future PGA Tour stars. The four-day tournament runs on a Wednesday through Saturday schedule this year to avoid finishing on Easter Sunday. Single Day tickets are $20; active-duty military, veterans, first responders and teachers receive free admission as do all those 17 and younger. For more information, go to LECOMSuncoastClassic.com.

includes It’s Just Us duo on Saturday and Dave Burks on Sunday.

SUNDAY, APRIL 20

POLO

Gates open at 10 a.m. and the match begins at 1 p.m. at the Sarasota Polo Club, 8201 Polo Club Lane, Lakewood Ranch. General admission is $15; VIP tickets run $20 and up. Each week has a theme for those who want to participate. For more information, go to SarasotaPolo. com. The season runs every Sunday through April 27.

FARMERS MARKET

Runs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Lakefront Drive in Waterside Place, Lakewood Ranch. Vendors at the Farmers Market at Lakewood Ranch will be offering seafood, eggs, meats, dairy products, pastas, bakery goods, jams and pickles among other items. Other features are children’s activities and live music. For more information, visit MyLWR.com.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 23

RANCH NITE WEDNESDAY Runs from 6-9 p.m. at Waterside Place. Ranch Nite Wednesday features food trucks, dessert trucks, live music, weekly programing, outdoor bars and a recreational cornhole league. Go to Waterside. com for more information.

PET PICS

Have photos of your four-legged family members? We want to see them! Share them at YourObserver.com/Contests/Pet-Pics to be published online and for a chance to see them in print!

CAT AND MOUSE: Rosie, a ragdoll, with her friend Minnie Mouse lounging around in Lakewood Ranch.

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Hundreds flock to the block

Now in her 70s, Patti Bell is still young enough to be a poster child.

On April 11, Bell was a great example of what the Block Party and Club Day is all about.

Various area clubs lined Main Street at Lakewood Ranch, along with many businesses, to introduce themselves to the public with a backdrop of music, food and fun.

The event is sponsored on an annual basis by the Lakewood Ranch Business Alliance, Lakewood Ranch Community Activities, and Main Street at Lakewood Ranch.

Bell was representing Aloha Ukulele of Lakewood Ranch, which had a vendor’s booth with several members playing their ukuleles.

Bell, who has never been a musician, joined the club a year and a half ago. She since has learned to play the instrument and regularly performs with the group.

“It’s a fun group and we do a lot of things together,” Bell said. “I figured, ‘Why not try it?

What is her favorite song to play on the ukulele?

“Anything Beatles,” she said.

The Jesse Daniels Band provided the entertainment on one end of the street, and the Lakewood Ranch Wind Ensemble performed on the other.

— JAY HEATER

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Lakehouse Cove home tops sales at $5.18 million

ADAM HUGHES RESEARCH EDITOR

ALakehouse Cove at Waterside home on Seascape Place topped the week’s sales at $5,175,000. Marc Allan Socol and Margaret Socol, of College Grove, Tennessee, sold their home at 991 Seascape Place to James and Kassie Genovere, of Sarasota, for $5,175,000. Built in 2023, it has four bedrooms, fiveand-a-half baths, a pool and 5,196 square feet of living area.

AZARIO ESPLANADE

Julia Bertoline, of Greensburg, Pennsylvania, sold her home at 15008 Derna Terrace to Kevin Kometer, trustee, of Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, for $2 million. Built in 2023, it has four bedrooms, fourand-two-half baths, a pool and 4,453 square feet of living area. It sold for $1,435,400 in 2023.

Stephen John Bakonyi and Kelly Loraine Bakonyi, of Lakewood Ranch, sold their home at 4714 Zeno Court to Scott and Andrea Buttlock, of Bradenton, for $1,215,000. Built in 2021, it has three bedrooms, three baths, a pool and 2,440 square feet of living area. It sold for $756,600 in 2021.

Raymond Paul Gessner and Kellie

Jean Hetman-Gessner, of Sarasota, sold their home at 16111 Fortezza Drive to Keith Allen Tamminga and Jacquelynne Tamminga, of Bradenton, for $710,000. Built in 2024, it has three bedrooms, two baths and 1,920 square feet of living area. It sold for $635,700 in 2024.

ESPLANADE

Anthony Graffeo and Linda Christine Graffeo, of Plymouth, Massachusetts, sold their home at 4605 Benito Court to Mark Joseph Sullivan, of Suffield, Connecticut, for $1,575,000. Built in 2018, it has three bedrooms, three baths, a pool and 3,072 square feet of living area. It sold for $773,200 in 2018.

COUNTRY CLUB

Susan Ried, of Fort Myers, sold the home at 7123 Beechmont Terrace to Carl Selwyn Pugh, of Lakewood Ranch, for $1.3 million. Built in 2003, it has four bedrooms, three baths, a pool and 3,656 square feet of living area. It sold for $1.13 million in 2007.

Florizel and Wanda Mills, of Lakewood Ranch, sold their home at 13906 Siena Loop to Gregory Maier and James Snow, of Lakewood Ranch, for $789,000. Built in 2005, it has two bedrooms, two baths, a pool and 2,145 square feet of living area. It sold for $385,000 in 2018.

RICHMOND PARK

Douglas Horton and Olga Ada Munante Horton, of University Park, sold their home at 8129 Collingwood Court to Paul and Carolyn St. Hilaire, of University Park, for $1.3 million. Built in 1998, it has four bedrooms, three baths, a pool and 3,090 square feet of living area. It sold for $622,600 in 2015.

COUNTRY CLUB EAST

Michael and Susan Brown, trustees, of Crossville, Tennessee, sold the home at 15326 Castle Park Terrace to Robyn Ann Kreusel and Alden James Kreusel III, of Bradenton, for $1.25 million. Built in 2019, it has three bedrooms, three baths, a pool and 2,461 square feet of living area.

BRIDGEWATER

Amer and Yvette Soudani, trustees, of Lakewood Ranch, sold the home at 5613 Nectar Cove to Charles Theodore May IV and Jennifer May, of Bradenton, for $1,162,500. Built in 2017, it has four bedrooms, three-

and-a-half baths, a pool and 3,145 square feet of living area. It sold for $536,800 in 2017.

WATERLEFE

Charles and Hanne Sinclair, of Bradenton, sold their home at 951 Fish Hook Cove to Gordon Folkes III, of Bradenton, for $1.1 million. Built in 2004, it has three bedrooms, threeand-a-half baths, a pool and 3,078 square feet of living area. It sold for $755,000 in 2020.

Rex and Donna Corley, trustees, of Loudon, Tennessee, sold the home at 9818 Discovery Terrace to Eric Larson, of Marshfield, Massachusetts, for $655,000. Built in 2000, it has three bedrooms, two baths, a pool and 1,969 square feet of living area. It sold for $552,000 in 2021.

ISLES

Juan Agustin Garcia Argibay and Silvana Perego sold their home at 17705 Lucaya Drive to Florizel and Wanda Mills, of Bradenton, for $1.06 million. Built in 2023, it has four bedrooms, three-and-a-half baths and 3,373 square feet of living area. It sold for $1.4 million in 2023.

LAKEWOOD NATIONAL

Mary Hall-Tacon and Gregory Tacon, of Port Orchard, Washington, sold their home at 5920 Brandon Run to David and Tonya Schlabach, of Millsburg, Ohio, for $960,000. Built in 2021, it has three bedrooms, two baths, a pool and 2,006 square feet of living area. It sold for $736,000 in 2021.

LAKEHOUSE COVE AT WATERSIDE

Mark and Donna Fisk, of Bradenton, sold their home at 8018 Sandstar Way to Lisette Navas Grieco and Nicholas Grieco, of Sarasota, for $900,000. Built in 2018, it has three bedrooms, two baths, a pool and 1,978 square feet of living area. It sold for $497,600 in 2018.

POLO RUN

Daniel and Mary Quirk, trustees, sold the home at 17209 Polo Trail to Stephen Murphy and Patricia Murphy, trustees, of Fiskdale, Massachusetts, for $838,000. Built in 2020, it has three bedrooms, three-and-two-half baths, a pool and 2,789 square feet of living area. It sold for $534,000 in 2020.

HAMPTON GREEN

Elke Henneberg and Jean-Robert Marcotte, trustees, sold the home at 6416 Wentworth Crossing to Katharine Forte, trustee, of University Park, for $815,000. Built in 1993, it has three bedrooms, two baths, a pool and 2,066 square feet of living area. It sold for $305,000 in 2010.

GREYHAWK LANDING WEST

Barry and Betty Bridwell, of Bradenton, sold their home at 611 Dogwood Run to Patrick and Deborah Capp, of Beach Park, Illinois, for $782,500. Built in 2014, it has four bedrooms, three baths, a pool and 2,720 square feet of living area. It sold for $426,900 in 2014.

DEL WEBB

Douglas and Janice Kline, trustees, of Chalfont, Pennsylvania, sold the home at 16735 Blackwater Terrace to William Nopper and Diane Cahill, of New York City, for $765,000. Built in 2018, it has two bedrooms, two baths, a pool and 1,964 square feet of living area. It sold for $456,900 in 2018.

Steven Wayne Johnson and Janet Marie Johnson, of Bluffton, South Carolina, sold their home at 7004 Hanover Court to Richard and Mary Lou Rodman, trustees, of Bradenton, for $620,000. Built in 2020, it has two bedrooms, two baths, a pool and 1,640 square feet of living area. It sold for $355,000 in 2020.

KENWOOD PARK Bernard and Theresa Needell, Mark Needell and Thomas Needell, trustees, sold the home at 8407 Abingdon Court to Caroline Clausen, trustee, of Bradenton, for $750,000. Built in 2005, it has two bedrooms, two baths, a pool and 2,231 square feet of living area. It sold for $218,700 in 2005.

31-APRIL 4

TREYMORE AT THE VILLAGE OF PALM AIRE

Kurt and Judith Maurer, of Frederick, Maryland, sold their home at 7115 Treymore Court to Dana and Rabun Moss, of Sarasota, for $735,000. Built in 2003, it has three bedrooms, two baths, a pool and 2,338 square feet of living area. It sold for $450,000 in 2014.

MILL CREEK

Michael Lee Gibson and Michelle Leigh Gibson sold their home at 13610 Second Ave. N.E. to Landry and Madison Miller, of Bradenton, for $665,000. Built in 1995, it has three bedrooms, three baths, a pool and 2,288 square feet of living area. It sold for $340,000 in 2016.

Michael Dean Jordan and Alice Charlene Jordan, of Sarasota, sold their home at 907 136th St. E. to Robert and Betty Gmeinder, of Bradenton, for $570,000. Built in 1988, it has four bedrooms, two baths, a pool and 1,496 square feet of living area. It sold for $347,900 in 2018.

TIDEWATER PRESERVE

Dean and Shannon Deadmon, of Aiken, South Carolina, sold their home at 917 Riverscape St. to Mark and Debra Enge, of Bradenton, for $660,000. Built in 2015, it has three bedrooms, two baths and 2,420 square feet of living area. It sold for $424,000 in 2020.

COPPERLEFE

Paul and Michelle Jackson, of Parrish, sold their home at 520 Mimosa Court to Arash Rezaee and Maral Mirzazadehemami, of Bradenton, for $650,000. Built in 2019, it has five bedrooms, three baths, a pool and 3,257 square feet of living area. It sold for $381,100 in 2019.

OLD GROVE AT GREENFIELD PLANTATION

Jeffrey and Kristen Hessa, of Bradenton, sold their home at 10473 Old Grove Circle to Daniel and Luminita Jorja, of Bradenton, for $630,000. Built in 2001, it has four bedrooms, three baths, a pool and 2,355 square feet of living area. It sold for $628,500 in 2023.

STONEYBROOK AT HERITAGE HARBOUR

David and Angie Ayrton, of Sarasota, sold their home at 9013 Kingsbury Place to Thomas Younkman and Caroline Crouch, of Bradenton, for $600,000. Built in 2006, it has four bedrooms, three baths, a pool and 2,231 square feet of living area. It sold for $250,000 in 2016.

Richard Duane Thomas, of Bradenton, and Monica Patricia Ramirez, of Parrish, sold their home at 109 New Briton Court to Laura Daniela Rodriguez Camacho and Zuli Margarita Camacho Mateus, of Bradenton, for $510,000. Built in 2004, it has four bedrooms, two-and-a-half baths and 2,790 square feet of living area. It sold for $340,000 in 2018.

COUNTRY CREEK

Shannan Katherine Garman and Nathan Glenn Garman, of Portage, Michigan, sold their home at 14835 Seventh Ave. E. to Mario Yovanni Izaguirre and Evelyn Izaguirre and Pedro Francisco Mendoza Aguilar and Alba Laitano, of Bradenton, for $589,000. Built in 1997, it has four bedrooms, four baths, a pool and 2,257 square feet of living area. It

HERITAGE HARBOUR

Daniel Mosher and Martha Mosher, trustees, of Medina, Ohio, sold the home at 243 River Enclave Court to Joseph O’Keefe and Diane O’Keefe, trustees, of Salem, Massachusetts, for $550,000. Built in 2008, it has three bedrooms, two baths, a pool and 2,076 square feet of living area. It sold for $303,000 in 2018.

GREENBROOK

Sean Scanlon and Rebecca Ellen Scanlon, of Bradenton, sold their home at 6555 Blue Grosbeak Circle to Luiz and Pollyanna Mota, of Lakewood Ranch, for $545,000. Built in 2003, it has four bedrooms, two baths and 2,081 square feet of living area. It sold for $365,000 in 2021.

LONGPOND AT MOTE RANCH

Claudie Baird, of Bellevue, Washington, sold his home at 6978 Superior St. Circle to Gail Dielman, of Sarasota, for $545,000. Built in 1996, it has three bedrooms, two baths, a pool and 1,848 square feet of living area. It sold for $161,900 in 1996.

PALM WEST

Catherine Branchaud, as Personal Representative, Cynthia Prock and Patricia Magnavita, of Charlottesville, Virginia, sold the home at 8360 Palm Lakes Court to Anatoliy Mironyuks and Vasiliy Vironyuk, of Vancouver, Washington, for $545,000. Built in 1991, it has three bedrooms, two baths, a pool and 2,331 square feet of living area. It sold for $136,000 in 1992.

CARLYLE AT THE VILLAGES OF PALM AIRE

Monica Jane Geyer, of Sunriver, Oregon, sold her home at 4969 Creekside Trail to Paul and Lindsay Marie Maurer, of Sarasota, for $525,000. Built in 2001, it has four bedrooms, two baths, a pool and 1,658 square feet of living area. It sold for $511,000 in 2023.

IT’S READ EVERYWHERE

Headed

JOURNEY

Siesta Key Public Beach near historic pavilion ~ Bring a Beach Chair or Blanket ~ Palm Sunday April 13th at 9:45 a.m. in the Sanctuary Maundy Thursday Service April 17th at 6:00 p.m. in the Community Center Easter Worship Service (April 20th) 9:45 a.m. in the Sanctuary with Full Choir & Brass Nursery Provided • Hearing Loop System Available Easter Egg Hunt

Sunday, April 20th at 11:00 a.m. - Community Center Free and open to the public

St. Michael The Archangel Holy Week Schedule

PALM SUNDAY | April 13th, 2025

Saturday, April 12th Palm Sunday Vigil 4:00pm Sunday, April 13th 8:00am and 10:00am* (Church)

HOLY THURSDAY | April 17th 2025

No 9:00am Mass Mass of the Lord’s Supper 7:00pm Adoration following the Mass concluding with Night Prayer 9:45pm

GOOD FRIDAY | April 18th, 2025

No 9:00am Mass Passion of the Lord 3:00pm

HOLY SATURDAY | April 19th, 2025

Easter Egg Hunt 9:30am Blessing of the Easter Food/Baskets - 12 Noon Easter Vigil Mass 8:30pm

EASTER SUNDAY | April 20th, 2025

Sunrise Mass 6:00am (Outdoor under Portico) Masses (Church) 7:15am, 9:00am and 10:45am*

Through Holy Week With Us

NATURE’S BEAUTY WITH

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*It is the responsibility of the party placing any ad for publication in the East County Observer to meet all applicable legal requirements in connection with the ad such as compliance with towncodes in first obtaining an occupational license for business, permitted home occupation, or residential rental property

Notice: All real estate advertised herein is subject to the Federal Fair Housing Act, which makes it illegal to advertise any preference, limitation, or discrimination because of race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, or national origin, or intention to make any such preference, limitation or discrimination. All persons are hereby informed that all dwellings advertised are available on an equal opportunity basis..

Katina, Ken and Tyler Shanahan offer exceptional service. They are professional, approachable, and always available. From start to finish, they provided the network of services (staging, repair work, painting, etc.) which ultimately got my home sold quickly. As I was out of state throughout the process, I relied on them to resolve any and all issues involved in the sale. They were there for me every step of the way, with a calm and professional approach. Truly a dream team.

— Diane C., The Lake Club