EAST COUNTY
Observer
This show’s a classic. PAGE 4B
Lakewood Ranch’s weekly newspaper since 1998
YOU. YOUR NEIGHBORS. YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD.
FREE • THURSDAY, JANUARY 11, 2024
VOLUME 25, NO. 28
School tax referendum returns in ’24 Board members say referendum must continue to support teacher salaries in Manatee County. SEE PAGE 3A
YOUR TOWN
TOP DRAFT CHOICES Belgian draft horses Bud and Charlie make their debut pulling a wagon of fans on Sunday at the Sarasota Polo Club. SEE PAGE 1B
Courtesy image
First baby of the new year Lakewood Ranch Medical Center welcomed its first baby of the new year Jan. 2. Carley Shirley and Michael Cerchione became parents to Vivian Cerchione at 8:22 a.m. Jan. 2. Vivian Cerchione weighed 8 pounds and 12 ounces. The family celebrated the birth of their baby with Lakewood Ranch Medical Center nurses, who delivered a goodie basket to the new parents.
Jay Heater
Bud and Charlie made their debut Dec. 31 at the Sarasota Polo Club, with Alan Freitag holding the reins. Anyone who attends the matches can take a free ride at halftime.
Liz Ramos
Wrapped in love
When Paige Reeder, a resident at Cypress Springs Gracious Retirement Living, met with her friends for a gift exchange, a few of them received cozy blankets. Rather than keeping them, she and her friends decided to donate the blankets to the retirement facility’s blanket drive for Wrapped in Love. “For dogs, we’ll donate anything,” Reeder said. Wrapped in Love is a Bradenton nonprofit that donates blankets, towels and sheets to animal shelters. Cypress Springs is collecting 102 blankets for Wrapped in Love’s collection in honor of Betty White, an animal lover who would have turned 102 on Jan. 17. Blankets can be dropped off at Cypress Springs, 9085 Town Center Parkway, Bradenton. For more information about Wrapped in Love, call President Judson Newhall at 545-2262.
A+E
Tragedy captured in art. INSIDE
Finally open for business Lesley Dwyer
Tsunami co-owners Jason Klamson and Jeffrey Karasawa will open Tsunami on Jan. 20.
After years of delays, on Jan. 20, Tsunami will welcome diners in Lakewood Ranch. SEE PAGE 2A