E A ST COUNTY
Observer Lakewood Ranch’s weekly newspaper since 1998
YOU. YOUR NEIGHBORS. YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD.
VOLUME 20, NO. 25
Sky-high purchase
Theater in the park.
SEE PAGE 13
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FREE THURSDAY, MAY 10, 2018
New aerial truck arrives for East Manatee Fire Rescue. SEE PAGE 3
YOUR TOWN
Courtesy image
Sloppy, but fun Kentucky Derby University Park’s Pat and Jill Bruenning (above) spent a wet first Saturday in May at the Kentucky Derby. “It was obviously the wettest Derby in history, which I am sure everyone has read,” said Pat Bruenning, who is vice president of sales and marketing for Gold Coast Eagle Distributing in Lakewood Ranch. “But you have 157,000 people there, all energized.” Justify, ridden by jockey Mike Smith, won the race as the favorite. Bruenning bet on him. “I did well,” he said with a laugh.
PURE GOLD Three East County athletes earn state championships in track and field. SEE PAGE 16
Ryan Kohn
Karen Kay Lyvers dances off the mat after clinching the 4A girls pole vault title. Amelia Hanks
Just call him Dr. Spellgood
Just call me ‘Mom’
For the past year, Derek Breiner (above), a 10thgrader at Lakewood Ranch High School, has practiced spelling medical terms one to two hours every week. It all paid off when he won first place in the medical spelling division at the 2018 State Health Occupations Students of America competition April 5-8 at the Gaylord Palms Resort & Convention Center in Kissimmee. His final word he aced was “urography.”
First-time mothers describe their feelings about Mother’s Day. SEE PAGE 8 Courtesy photo
A+E
Timeless ‘Ragtime.’ INSIDE