Longboat Observer 9.21.23

YOUR TOWN

Shore crew

While walking along the beach for morning turtle patrol, Longboat Key Turtle Watch Vice President Cyndi Seamon had something else to look out for — a manatee mating herd close to shore.

From Sept. 12-17, Mote Marine Laboratory was tracking a herd of manatees that ranged from 12 to 26 individuals throughout the week. Of those, just one was a female.

Females usually move closer to shore to put themselves in shallower waters, making it more difficult for the males to mate with them, according to Jennifer Johnson with Mote’s Manatee Research Program. This could mean the female manatee needed rest or was not receptive to mating yet.

The female with this group was identified by scars, named TB123 “Lorax.” Johnson said this manatee has been seen since 1995 and has been observed with 11 calves during that time.

Mote is working to track the herd using photo identification, taking pictures and identifying them by their scars or other unique markings. Through tracking, the team can create life histories of each individual.

Johnson said it’s OK for people to observe the herd from a distance, but it’s important to give the manatees their space.

Key bar mitzvah

Temple Beth Israel celebrated its first bar mitzvah in years.

Ethan Zimmerman was the celebrant on Sept. 9. He was joined by family, friends and fellow congregants of the temple as he followed the ancient Jewish tradition marking passage into manhood at the age of 13.

Ethan Zimmerman is the son of David and Sarah Zimmerman. His family lives in Lakewood Ranch but chose the Temple as their spiritual home. This rite of passage has exemplified Ethan’s love for service. For his honor society and mitzvah project, he volunteered with Chabad, which delivers Shabbat supplies to people challenged due to age and mobility issues. He also has been volunteering at the All Faiths Food Bank for two years.

St. Regis plans strike balance

Bay Isles resident who admitted he was strongly opposed to the garage.

After Ray’s public comments at a previous meeting, he said Whittall reached out to him and wanted to give him a tour of the property, and to show him what the plans were after the garage was struck down.

Without a parking garage, the St. Regis Longboat Key may have struck the right balance between parking and public appeal.

The two-hour first public hearing for the new plans began with a detailed proposal of additional parking lot coverage to the St. Regis, with little opposition from the Longboat Key Town Commission.

Director of Planning, Zoning and Building Allen Parsons began the meeting on Sept. 18 with a full explanation of the changes to be reviewed by the town commission.

The largest change to the plans was the elimination of the previously proposed parking garage.

On June 5, the first public hearing was held to address the parking garage. The commission voted in favor of drafting a denial order for the next public hearing.

At the June 20 public hearing, Unicorp National Developments Inc. President Chuck Whittall asked for a continuance in order to work on new plans. The continuance was granted, and Whittall’s team then met the July 6 deadline to present new plans.

Now the plans include a larger surface parking lot instead of a garage. The previous 33-space lot was expanded to 93 spaces, and 12 spaces were added on the entrance driveway. The previous plan’s 62 mechanical lift spaces were removed.

Thirty-one of the spaces in the 93-space lot will be horizontally “stacked.” This means a car will be parked behind another, essentially blocking it in. Valet services would need to move the car behind to get to the one in front.

In all, it’s a net gain of one parking space from the original 2021 plans — which didn’t include the parking

garage.

Changes to surface lot coverage also brought changes to the materials. This led to a reduction of impervious surfaces by 3,203 square feet.

The new plans were recommended for approval by the Planning, Zoning and Building Department, according to Parsons.

It was then in the commission’s hands to discuss the changes.

The commission will vote on approving or denying the ordinance and resolution associated with the departures from town code, and revisions to the original 2021 plans.

Most of the departures deal with the changes in parking. That includes allowing for a 32.74- to 35.74-foot setback from Gulf of Mexico Drive when town code requires 50 feet. Another departure was allowing the parking spaces to be 8.5 by 18 feet, when the requirement is 10 by 20 feet.

Parsons said his staff saw no issues with these changes.

Despite the removal of the parking garage, the development team chose to keep the landscaping plan they had envisioned to screen the parking garage.

Commissioners asked Parsons a few clarifying questions before the public hearing moved to a presentation by Whittall and Unicorp’s attorney Brenda Patten.

Patten further explained the departures being requested. She also briefly ended the presentation by talking about how the St. Regis development is aligned with the town’s Comprehensive Plan, in terms of preserving the character and environment of the town.

Public comment followed the Unicorp team’s presentation. The first comment was from Jeff Ray, a

Ray was impressed, and attracted the full support of other homeowners in his Bay Isles neighborhood. Whittall told Ray he wanted to be a good neighbor, and Ray said he thinks the St. Regis has accomplished that.

“The definition of ‘good neighbors’ is not necessarily people who always get along,” Ray said. “It’s neighbors who contend with one another and embrace conflict, work out the conflict with a high level of mutual trust and respect for one another, and find the common ground.”

Another comment brought up concern over how large events would affect the flow of traffic on GMD. But

Commissioner-at-Large BJ Bishop offered some perspective, noting that the Colony Beach and Tennis Resort used to accommodate very large events, with no traffic disruption.

After Unicorp was given a chance for rebuttal, Mayor Ken Schneier noted that some commissioners, including himself, have been dealing with the St. Regis project for almost a decade.

He also realized that the town of Longboat Key has a lot in common with Whittall and Unicorp.

“We have much more in common than we have in difference about what’s going on here,” Schneier said, addressing Whittall. “You have a love for what you’re doing, we have a love of our island. I think all of that has come together to make something that’s going to be very special.”

The commission voted unanimously to pass the ordinance and resolution to the second public hearing. At the second hearing, the commission will vote to approve or deny the ordinance and resolution associated with the changes.

The next public hearing will be held on Oct. 2 at 1 p.m.

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New St. Regis parking lot plans move to a second hearing.

‘A role model for us all’

Lisa Walsh was a pillar in the Sarasota-Manatee community; a trusted and devoted wife, mother, grandmother, sister and daughter; and the backbone of one of the most successful media companies in Florida.

From the day she started editing the Longboat Observer to the day she handed over editing duties of the four newspapers she built with her husband, there was never a frantic rush, never a shout, never a tense flurry of activity to meet deadlines.

No matter how late the papers to the printers or how big the story, Lisa Walsh was never anything but poised.

It had nothing to do with how much she cared about the papers — and make no mistake, she cared down to the comma — running around barking orders or breathing down reporters’ necks to get copy just wasn’t her nature.

But that doesn’t mean she wasn’t effective. As she leaned over your desk and said, “We’re going to need that story now,” writers got the message. Despite her petite 5-foot4 frame, perfectly styled hair and manicured nails, she was tough. And everyone knew it.

Of course, everyone knew this by the way she faced challenges — head on. She sought solutions instead of indulging in problems. She let logic prevail over emotion. And in her understated way, whether it was navigating three deadlines a week, sorting out a crisis at a nonprofit or even battling a rare form of Parkinson’s disease for seven years, she led with patience, grace and dignity.

It was that way until the end. She died at 12:25 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 14, from complications from her Parkinson’s. She was 69.

Walsh died at Sarasota Memorial Hospital. When her health began deteriorating rapidly Tuesday, Sept. 12, doctors gave her four to six hours to live. She kept going for 27 more.

“My mother, tiny though she was, was incredibly strong and determined and never gave up,” said Emily Walsh, her eldest daughter.

Walsh was surrounded when she died by her husband, Matt, and three adult children, Emily, Kate and Brian. Emily is president of the Observer Media Group and lives in Sarasota with her husband, Pat Robinson, and son Rhys, 13, and stepson, Colin, 13; Kate lives in Colorado Springs and is a co-owner and artistic director of a 500-student ballet school; and Brian lives in Hampstead, North Carolina, where he is a major in the Marines and married to Maria Amodio Walsh; they have two children, Maeve, 6, and Jackson, 3.

Walsh is also survived by her father, David Beliles, who lives in Sarasota, and her brother, David Beliles Jr., who lives in Lincoln, Nebraska.

AND BEAUTIFUL’

‘BRILLIANT

On Longboat Key and in Sarasota and east Manatee County, the Walshes are most known publicly for the Observer Media Group, which publishes multiple weekly print publications, seasonal and quarterly magazines and daily news websites.

But Lisa Walsh, based on accounts from her family and friends in Sarasota and beyond, was much more than a newspaper editor.

She was a devoted wife, mother and grandmother, quick with advice and counsel and also quick to host and prepare a feast-worthy Christmas dinner. She was a behind-thescenes executive, idea-generating machine and tight-knit business partner with Matt — they were married 47 years — as they and the Observer Media Group navigated the rapidly changing media industry for nearly three decades.

Walsh was an intensely loyal philanthropist who gave time and treasure to a host of causes; and a go-to friend for many who loved to giggle with her partners-in-crime while also providing a trusted and empathic shoulder — in addition to recipes, suggestions for books and what TV shows to watch. On that last point, one of her more recent TV recommendations was “Bosch,” an Amazon Prime show based on the

IN MEMORY

A Celebration of Life reception for Lisa Walsh will start at 5 p.m. Friday, Nov. 10, at the Harbourside Ballroom of the Longboat Key Club and Resort, 3000 Harbourside Drive.

A memorial Mass will be said at 10 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 11, at All Angels Episcopal Church, 563 Bay Isles Road, Longboat Key. Contributions can be made in lieu of flowers to the Neuro Challenge Foundation for Parkinson’s, NeuroChallenge.org; or Safe Place and Rape Crisis Center, SPARRC.net.

Michael Connelly novels.

“She was brilliant and beautiful,” said Brian Lipton, director of the West Coast Florida chapter of the American Jewish Committee, one of the organizations Walsh supported.

“She was a kind lady and a class act.”

Three things about Walsh stand out to Lipton: One, she always, without fail, would ask how his husband, Joseph, was doing. Two, unlike some others in the Sarasota event scene, she was a low-maintenance patron, where the cause was more important than the seat she was given.

And three, she loved newspapers.

“When we were honoring her and Matt for an event I asked her what colors she wanted the theme to be,” Lipton recalls, of the AJC Civic Achievement Award Lisa and Matt received in 2010. “She said ‘I’m a newspaper girl: black and white and red all over.’ I was like, that’s fabulous.”

EARLY ADVENTURES

Walsh was also a woman who believed in taking the high road, in keeping standards high and always making sure your shoes work with your bag.

For those who worked with her, whether it was in the Observer newsroom or a nonprofit board room, she had a knack for steering conversations and decisions with a rational perspective that was focused on what was best for the organization. She was usually the last to speak, and her comments would ring with clarity and weight.

“Lisa was one of those ‘special people,’” said retired Observer Media Group advertising executive Bob Lewis. “She and I shared an office in the early days on Longboat. It didn’t take long to learn that she believed in what she and Matt were about to achieve. She will always hold a special place in my heart, and I will miss her dearly.”

Another longtime Observer Media Group contributor, Molly Schechter, met Lisa Walsh in 1998, when they

were neighbors on Longboat Key. They hit it off, and Schechter, a fitness guru with decades of experience in advertising and media, soon started writing a fitness column, Aerobic Grandma, for the Longboat Observer Schechter became a trusted Walsh family confidant, including attending Christmas dinners. “Nobody left without a full tummy,” she recalls.

Like many in Walsh’s orbit, Schechter marveled at how good her friend was at taking a story, from a brief to long-form journalism, and making it better. “She probably read and edited millions of words,” Schechter said. “Nothing went to the printer that she didn’t look at.”

FINDING FLORIDA

A third-generation newspaper woman, Walsh went to the University of Missouri School of Journalism with the intent of following her father and mother’s footsteps. He was an editor and publisher of newspapers in the Midwest, and her mother, Ruth, was the society editor at one time at the newspaper in Champaign, Illinois.

But when Walsh and her future husband wound up in the same newspaper classes in J-school, she switched to advertising.

That switch came in handy when the Walshes reached the Topeka Capital-Journal in Kansas and learned spouses couldn’t work in the same department.

Lisa sold advertising, while Matt started out as a reporter.

At the time, she was selling against a lot of radio as her competition, but she had a unique tactic. She would give her potential client a paper to

look through and then 30 seconds later, she would snatch it from their hands.

To their shocked faces, she would tell them: “That’s what you’re doing to your potential buyers with a radio ad.”

In her first year on the job, Walsh became one of the newspaper’s top salespeople.

As the young couple worked their way up in the company, the Walshes, at age 25, found themselves transferred to South Dakota, where Matt became managing editor of the Brookings Daily Register.

After one particularly grueling storm, the snow drifts were so high a colleague came to collect Matt from the second-story window of their house and whisked him away on a snowmobile to work.

That was the end of South Dakota.

In no uncertain terms, Lisa told Matt they were done with this stop in their journey. The next one would have to be somewhere with better weather.

They went to Lisa’s birthplace, Independence, Missouri. Matt was editor of the Independence Examiner, while Lisa continued selling advertising for a sister paper. That is also when their first child, Emily, was born.

The two wanted more — the taste and adventure of a big-city newspaper. Matt went to the Miami Herald, while Lisa stayed home with Emily, and soon after, their second child, Kate.

COPY THAT

After six years of Miami, at the height of South Florida’s cocainecowboy crime, in 1986 they moved to St. Petersburg, where Matt became an editor at Florida Trend and later the Southeast bureau manager for Forbes.

Writing about business triggered an entrepreneurial nerve, so in 1995 the Walshes, along with Lisa’s parents, David and Ruth Beliles, and a small group of investors purchased the Longboat Observer

When the Observer’s bookkeeper quit, Matt begged Lisa to take on that job — in addition to her duties raising three children.

As the Walshes grew the business, Lisa went from bookkeeper eventually to executive editor overseeing all content of four community weeklies — the Longboat Observer, East County Observer, Sarasota Observer  and  Siesta Key Observer  — and Season magazine.

Despite her title of vice president and executive editor, Lisa was happy to let others have the spotlight. In the business, she let Matt do most of the talking at companywide presentations, but the two shared all big decisions.

Every business expansion or sale, every hire or fire was discussed around the dinner table — with Lisa

providing the level-headed counter balance to Matt’s passion and eagerness to grow.

From the height of the toilets in the ladies room to the fonts of the redesigned print editions to the company’s taglines — many of which she dreamed up in her witty style — decisions were subject to the Lisa taste test.

Humor was a primary tool for persuasion for Lisa. In response to one angry reader who wrote a searing letter to the editor complaining about the conservative nature of the Longboat Observer’s editorial page and its incorrect bridge column, Lisa retorted: “We do apologize for the error in the bridge column, and in the future, we will keep it just like our opinion page: right.”

A large part of running an Observer newsroom is training young reporters. Throughout her tenure, she tirelessly groomed class after class of recent graduates, teaching them everything from what photos are best from events to what dress is appropriate for work.

She had a saying: “We hire you for your brains and ideas.” If a staff member had an idea, he or she had the freedom to make it a reality. The guardrails were on in the editing process, but reporters and designers were free to try new things, start new projects and, especially, have fun.

When it came to content, Lisa and Matt had a joke: She was fluff, and he was stuff. While he was busy hammering headlines and news coverage, she was dreaming up ideas to involve and represent the community. And on Longboat Key, that means approaching community coverage with humor and a folksiness that many dailies shunned. She believed people didn’t just read newspapers for information — they read them to fall in love with their community.

PAYING ATTENTION

Devotion to community and her friends and family were another hallmark of Walsh’s life. On the community side, she served as president of the boards of Safe Place and Rape Crisis Center and the Longboat Key Center for the Arts and on the boards of the Longboat Key Chamber of Commerce and Ringling College Library Association. As the chair of galas for the American Jewish Committee, Neuro Challenge Foundation for Parkinson’s and Sarasota Ballet, she raised thousands of dollars for those organizations.

Those community activities paid off for Walsh as well. She made close, lasting friendships. Derek Billib, another longtime SPARCC board member, said Walsh was the most sensitive person of their group. “She was so compassionate, sincere and genuine,” Billib said. “When she

was talking with you, she was always listening, always paying attention.”

Elaine Dabney, who met Walsh 30 years ago when their daughters attended school together, became Lisa’s closest friend during Walsh’s struggle with Parkinson’s. Dabney remembers Walsh pre-Parkinson’s:

“As an observer of people, I would take a step back at events and watch with wonder how this elegantly petite woman would be present in a room with hundreds of people, yet she could command the room with such gentleness. People would naturally be drawn to her, often surrounding her just to be in her presence, like moths to a flame. She was a true powerhouse.”

Walsh and Merry Gnaegy became Pi Beta Phi sorority sisters and roommates in the early 1970s at the University of Missouri. Gnaegy, in fact, introduced Walsh, then Lisa Beliles, to a Mizzou journalism major and baseball player named Matt Walsh, setting the pair up on a blind date.

Even back then, echoing a theme in her life, Gnaegy said Walsh “always seemed put together. She had that perfect complexion that didn’t

require makeup. She was smart, cute and perky, even in our standard attire of overalls, saddle oxfords and red bandanas.”

Walsh became president of the Pi Phi house in her junior year. In recent years, after Walsh became a primary financial contributor to rebuild the sorority house, the sorority named the president’s suite after her, with her name in a plaque on the wall next to the door.

Last fall, on a trip through Columbia, Missouri, Lisa and Matt stopped at the sorority house. She wanted to see the plaque for the first time in person. It was on the second floor of the house — a house with no elevator. Unable to walk because of her Parkinson’s, with Matt holding her up from behind and bystanders watching in amazement, Lisa held on to the stair railings and pulled herself up two flights of stairs and shimmied down two flights of stairs.

“I learned early on in our marriage,” Matt said, “despite her diminutive size and elegant demeanor, it was never a good idea to tell her she couldn’t do something. She had amazing inner strength and determination; always poised, never a raised voice, never complain; she would do what needed to be done, never giving up. It was that way to her last breath. A role model for us all.”

Aterm Lisa Walsh created at the Observer Media Group is “us-y.” It meant: When editors, ad executives and department heads were hiring someone, was he or she “one of us?” Did he or she fit with OMG’s core values? Doing the right things for the right reasons. Finding a way to yes. And more.  Walsh helped usher, work with and mentor a small army of “us-y” employees, some of whom remain with the company, others who have moved on to different jobs and industries. A sampling of their memories is below:

MIKE ENG

East County Observer managing editor, 2003 to 2012; currently editor and publisher, West Orange Times & Observer, Southwest Orange Observer

When I was a college student at the University of Missouri School of Journalism, there was one particular professor whose mere mention caused every aspiring reporter to quake. Even years before you’d ever have an encounter with her, you knew her name. Her presence loomed like the end boss of a video game.

And indeed, she was tough — her red-ink comments on your copy felt like daggers, and it seemed like students’ tails were perpetually between their legs.

But here’s the problem: There was no resolution, no full-circle, “Atta boy,” at the end. We all just received our degrees, turned our tassels and left.

I didn’t have the privilege of working directly with Lisa Walsh until about a decade into my career at Observer Media Group. But even so, her unique and distinct fingerprints were all over our startup East County Observer newspaper. Our version of hyperlocal news (no news is too small), our color palette; our design — it was all Lisa.

In about 2011, my cheese moved, and I was brought into the downtown Sarasota office to work more closely with the other OMG editors

and directly with Lisa. Naturally, I came in thinking I already knew everything.

Oops.

Forget daggers. There were some days I felt like samurai swords had pierced my very soul. I started questioning everything I thought I knew about news, newspapers, photography, editing, deadlines, headlines. At times, I even wondered if I really wasn’t cut out for journalism after all.

And then came the conversation that changed my and my family’s lives forever.

We want to open a new paper in Plant City. And we want you to go and do it.

It all clicked. I was being put through a gauntlet of sorts — not as some cruel joke but rather to prepare me for every possible challenge that could lie ahead. It wasn’t that Lisa didn’t believe in me. It was that she did.

Atta boy, indeed.

Since that year — now more than a decade ago — I’ve been able to take on every role and challenge

sent my way with the confidence and knowledge that Lisa thought I was good enough to handle it.

Even though Lisa was not directly involved with the Plant City newspaper or our newspapers in the Orlando area (where I now work), she has been and will continue to be on every page of every edition we publish.  Most important, she’s in our daily interactions with one another and with our readers — in how we treat other people. She defined our corporate culture — aka The Observer Way. It probably should just be called The Lisa Way.

I’m forever grateful that I landed at this company, with Lisa and Matt, when I came out of college. I doubt I’d still be in the news business if I had gone anywhere else. They always taught us to do things the right way and for the right reasons. And now, we have the obligation and privilege of teaching those same lessons to the generations of OMGers to come.

If you write for publication, your first reader is your editor. If you’re an editor, your first reader was your publisher. In my stint as the Observer’s A&E editor in the 2000s, Lisa Walsh had the final review. She was always very encouraging. She appreciated my obscure references and my brainy sense of humor. Lisa got my jokes and not everybody did. But she also gave me serious advice. At the time, I was known for abstract think pieces revolving around big ideas. That was my wheelhouse, and I was good at it — and still am. Lisa never squashed that side of my writing. But she encouraged me to stretch my creative muscles on human-interest stories. I wasn’t particularly good at that. It was sort of asking a runner to try weight lifting. Thanks to Lisa, I pushed myself outside my comfort zone. As a result, I expanded my abilities as a writer — and made

human-interest stories part of my wheelhouse, too. Lisa made me better at what I do — and she also made my job a lot of fun. I will miss her.

Managing editor Longboat and Sarasota Observer, 2006-2016; currently self-employed financial writer and editor

I got hired as a reporter for the Sarasota Observer while Lisa was out of town. It was my first job out of college. I got lucky that Lisa wasn’t in town because I’m pretty sure if she’d interviewed me, I wouldn’t have gotten the job.

The first time I met Lisa, she asked me the standard questions, like where I went to school and how the job was going. I said, “What do you do here?” not knowing I was talking to the owner of the paper.

Lisa should have fired me a thousand times over in my first year. She had really high standards as an editor.

Meanwhile, I constantly misspelled names, blew deadlines and used passive voice. I learned so much from Lisa because she was a super eagle-eyed editor. She would edit stories once they were laid out on the page and make her edits with a pen.

I was always proud when I would get my story back with no edits, because there were plenty of times I’d see the page covered in red ink from Lisa’s pen.

Because Lisa had such high standards, it was always the best feeling to get kudos from her. She truly made me a better writer and editor. To this day, I shudder and think: “What would Lisa Walsh say?” whenever I see a dangling modifier.

I thought Lisa was intimidating at first, kind of like Miranda Priestly from “The Devil Wears Prada.” She always wore a perfectly pressed A-line skirt and blazer. Her hair and makeup were always flawless.  It took awhile for me to see that Lisa was a super warm and funny

SEE MEMORIES, PAGE 6

Happy Fall, Ya’ll!

person. She had a big, booming laugh that would echo through the office. I would always laugh just hearing her laugh, even if I had no idea what she was laughing about.

A lot of reporters liked to gather after work to share a pitcher or two of cheap beer at the Anna Maria Island Moose Lodge. One time, we got Lisa to join us. I think it was the only time we ever saw anyone order white wine at the Moose.

She loved her Diet Coke and kept a Diet Coke pillow on her desk chair. You could always count on hearing the sound of Lisa cracking open her Diet Coke on deadline.

Maybe those Diet Cokes gave Lisa the energy for all the things she did. In addition to running multiple newspapers, she served on countless boards and committees and attended practically every event to show her support for community organizations.

Yet, even with all her business and community obligations, Lisa never missed anything that her three kids were involved with. Her family always came first no matter what.

JESSICA LUCK

Former deputy executive editor at Observer Media Group; Observer Media Group employee from 20062015; currently editor and director of media relations for Bridgewater College

Lisa Walsh and her family built more than just a media organization – they built a home.

Lisa was not only our editor and boss but the surrogate mother of the gaggle of young reporters who worked at Observer newspapers fresh out of college. She taught us not only how to be good reporters (and the importance of a wellplaced comma); she taught us how to be good citizens of the world by leading by example.

As with any family, Lisa gave us enough of a safety net that we could be bold and try new things without

worrying about the fear of failing. And some of those misses — which would make her howl with laughter as tears streamed down her face — have become the stories of legend.

Lisa was sharp, and you learned quickly that you couldn’t get away with anything. What she was looking for was not perfection, but a willingness to keep trying and to learn from our mistakes.

Whenever you read your story after Lisa’s edits, you always had the same thought: “Wow, she made that better.” She knew the subtle art of editing and how to find just the right word to express what you meant while allowing you to retain your voice as a writer.

She allowed us to be individuals as we found our footing in the newsroom and in the larger world around us. That gift was not lost on us, then or now.

Under her tutelage, she encouraged us to pursue our passions, whether it was writing about the vibrant arts scene in the Sarasota area, starting a new health publication or learning how to lead and manage our own staffs of young reporters.

Some of us have gone on to pursue our passions elsewhere, some in the media industry and some not. And others have stayed at The Observer Media Group for their entire careers — a testament to Lisa, Matt and Emily’s people-focused approach to their business.

But no matter where we’ve landed, Lisa undoubtedly has played a role in our getting there.

Some of the lessons I learned from Lisa: how to be kind but fair; how to push people to get the very best from them and help them realize potential they didn’t know they had; and how not only to build a community but be an integral part of one.

Lisa Walsh has been the North Star of so many people’s lives, and one comfort we all have is that her guidance and wisdom will continue to shine just as brilliantly as we continue to move through the world and leave our own marks — with a red pen, of course!

JILL RALEIGH Observer Media Group advertising director

When I joined the Observer in 2000, there were only about 15 employees. I remember being warmly welcomed by Matt and Lisa and immediately felt like I was part of a family. A first for me in business. They always told us they named their chickens (us). That’s easier to do when we were small and mighty, but as we grew, they continued to name their chickens. I don’t know anyone who worked with Lisa who didn’t feel her love for them.  Everyone became part of the family.

I was always struck by Lisa’s style and grace. She set the bar high with her sense of fashion, always dressed to the nines, often wearing pearls. She inspired me to step up my game.

Matt and Lisa were incredible partners in life and business. And inspiring. Their passion for producing local news, their commitment to excellence and their mantra of “do the right thing for the right reasons” was affirmed daily.

Lisa had an advertising degree and the advertising department leaned on her often — calling in help for creative headlines or copy

for an advertiser. We could always count on her to come through with something sharp and clever.

As serious as they were about business, no one could tear up a dance floor like Lisa and Matt. Every party found them boogying down to all the best tunes, livening up the dance floor.

Lisa’s biggest impact on me was witnessing her generous and giving heart. She encouraged us to get involved in the community and support nonprofits through volunteer work, donations or serving on committees or boards. I’m especially grateful to her for the connections with the Safe Place and Rape Crisis Center, an organization she knew was near to my heart.

Because of her, I was able to serve as a board member of SPARCC for nine years — five of those with Lisa.

The example she set in business and in life was life-changing. The example she set during her health challenges the past few years was incredible to see. Always smiling, always the best dressed in the room, always showing her love for everyone around her.

KURT SCHULTHEIS Observer Media Group, 2006 to 2016  I stepped into Lisa Walsh’s Long-

boat Observer office in 2006 as a young daily newspaper reporter who knew nothing about the deadlines and nuances of the weekly newspaper business.

I was nervous and apprehensive of this woman standing before me, dressed to the nines in her skirt, blazer and signature pearls. She put me at ease, though, with her warm smile and filled me in on the ins and outs of Longboat Key.

The best day to work at the Longboat Observer was deadline day for the April Fool’s edition. I would sit at my desk, watch Managing Editor Jessica Luck walk the April Fool’s edition pages back to Lisa’s secondfloor office and wait for the Diet Coke to crack open.

Then came the litmus test.

Silence was a sign that a rewrite was coming, but nine times out of 10, we knew we hit the mark when we could hear Lisa laughing down the hall at our made-up fun.

Whether it was in the office or at the Fish Fry with a glass of wine in her hand telling old Longboat Observer stories, Lisa’s laughter was the best.

One of my favorite out-ofthe-office memories is when my co-workers and I were headed to the Anna Maria Island Moose Lodge for a pitcher of beer to celebrate my upcoming destination wedding in Las Vegas. The highlight was discovering Lisa took time out of her busy schedule to come to the Moose Lodge with us.

As you can imagine, she was the best-dressed woman in the dark and dingy bar, smiling apprehensively as she glanced at an old paper menu and hesitantly asked the waitress, “Do you serve white wine?” They found her some wine. It meant the world that she would come to celebrate with us.

My last day at the Observer Media Group was a tough one.

I traveled to downtown Sarasota to say my farewells. Emily Walsh gave me a hug and told me that I had to stop at the Walshes’ house

SEE MEMORIES, PAGE 9

LONGBOAT

The case for hiring more

Longboat Town Manager Tipton wasn’t exactly convincing that the town needs to expand its employee count. Come next year, we’ll need to know.

for a year or two, after the effects of this year’s budget has cycled through.

government is that once a program is put in place, rarely does it disappear. Which is Whitman’s fear.

In the overall scheme of government jurisdictions, comparatively speaking, the town of Longboat Key has been a paragon of fiscal management.

There are cities, towns and counties in Florida — and certainly in the Northeast — where taxpayers might kill to have the governance that is enjoyed on Longboat Key. Of course, some people might say: How can you screw things up when you have paradise? It can happen and almost has a few times in the past 30 years. But overall, Longboat Key taxpayers benefit from having smart elected commissioners and competent town administrators.

That seems to be the case now, but taxpayers won’t know for sure

Longboat’s fiscal health has also benefited from the town always having a few highly engaged, resident taxpayer watchdogs, each of them helping to keep the town within the financial and operational guardrails. A few that come to mind: Rainer Josenhanss, Gene Jaleski, Lynn Larson, Tom Freiwald, Lenny Landau, the Longboat Key Revitalization Committee and the now disbanded Longboat Key Public Interest Committee.

Today, one of the current watchdogs is Dr. Jim Whitman.

As he noted to us recently, he is the only Longboat resident who attends every Longboat Key Town Commission meeting.

At the Town Commission meeting Sept. 11, Whitman expressed his concern about Town Manager Howard Tipton’s plans in the new fiscal year to hire more town employees and bring town staffing back to previous levels.

“I’m not talking about pay adjustments, benefit adjustments, increase based on inflation, any of that,” Whitman said. “I’m talking about the increase in the head count.”

A good point.

A common occurrence in

Throughout the town’s budget process, Tipton — like other government administrators — has pointed out the effects of inflation and the pressure that has created to raise pay rates. A legitimate argument. And during the meeting, Tipton responded to Whitman’s concerns, noting that a new analyst will be needed to shoulder the implementation of new planning and zoning software.

But as we have observed, Tipton has not presented to commissioners in detail what would logically be asked in a corporate conference room. As a business consultant told us once, “You can make a lot of good decisions with data.”

For instance, Commissioner Gary Coffin said, “he heard” of issues stemming from the fire department being understaffed. He also projected that with the future growth in business on the Key another inspector will be necessary.

But to paraphrase Jerry Maguire: Show us the data. Show us the options. Show us cause and effect. How much overtime is being worked and paid because of a manpower shortage? What jobs are not being done properly or going unfulfilled?

How capitalism is starting to fill an unmet need

When there is a need, and if the government restraints are not too onerous, eventually, capitalism will fill the need.

Human ingenuity, creativity and innovation clicks at once. And when it does, there is a trailblazer who is the first to take the risk, while others observe from near and far, waiting for evidence to jump in or stay out.

We are witnessing this magic of capitalism in one of the most important sectors to this region’s — and Florida’s — economy: housing for the middle class.

And how this entrepreneurial venture turns out over the next four to six to 12 months will be crucial to whether there will be dramatic progress toward solving this vexing problem of a lack of affordable housing for the working class — for teachers, nurses, public safety officers, clerical workers, retail associates and service workers.

One trailblazer is Manatee and Sarasota counties’ homegrown, locally owned, most successful homebuilder: Pat Neal, his Neal Communities corporation and a new offshoot SimplyDwell Homes. SimplyDwell is building starter homes in the price range of the lowto mid-$300,000s, low enough that a buyer could have payments at or slightly below $2,000 a month. “We’re hoping to get to lower than $2,000 a month, which means a household income of $72,000,” Neal told us.

As reported in our sister paper, the Business Observer, SimplyDwell is constructing its first planned community in Parrish, Broadleaf, slated to have 266 homes. The company expects sales to begin in

October and open in January.

That will be one of six communities for which Neal already has acquired the land, stretching from Manatee to Collier counties.

Heretofore, Neal Communities has been one of the West Coast of Florida’s most prolific homebuilders, catering to retirees who have sold their homes in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Ohio and Michigan and Illinois.

Drawn to Florida because of its lack of personal income taxes and far more efficient governments than their home states, these retirees have been purchasing Neal homes whose prices average $700,000.

Last year, Neal Communities grossed $612 million in revenues.

But in November 2022, at a quarterly strategic planning meeting, Ivory Matthews, Neal Communities’ vice president of community and governmental affairs, asked the question: “What are we doing about middle-class or working-class people?”

Pat Neal’s initial response: “It’s going to be very hard.”

But what happened next is a testament to the importance of

GOD REST HER ELEGANT SOUL

Seldom on this page do I write about personal matters. But this occasion compels me to break that rule.

I’m assuming most of you will have read online earlier this week, read in this edition or already have heard of the loss of my wife, Lisa Walsh, 69.

Lisa died last Thursday from complications related to her rare form of Parkinson’s — Multiple System Atrophy.

Our family, Lisa, friends and doctors knew her time would be short. And it was. Far too short.

So, we extend a reminder of Jesus’ often repeated

admonishment to his disciples:

“Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.”

Be prepared. Hug your loved ones — a lot. Make that hug meaningful. Tell them you love them — every day. Look them in the eye when you say it.

You never know.

With full hearts, my family and I thank all of you for the ovewhelming outpouring of love and condolences.

God rest Lisa’s precious, elegant soul.

— MW

Is there data showing negative consequences of not hiring? How would customer service and operations be negatively affected without hiring? Are there staffers who can take on more?

Conversely, show how a fulltime slot is justified. What will be accomplished that is not being accomplished? What’s more, why not start with a part-time contractor and then determine whether the work requires another full-time staffer?

These are not questions commissioners should be asking. Their job is to set policy. But they are questions the town administration should be answering and showing to commissioners so taxpayers can be assured additional hiring is necessary.

We understand that governments always want more resources and money. And when the funds become available, it makes sense to put them to use.

But knowing how much money is wasted in government, it’s difficult for the average taxpayer to feel good about seeing his property tax rate fall only 1.5%, while general fund spending will be rising 13%.

Here’s to hoping that Town Manager Tipton can go before the Town Commission a year from now with satisfaction that his expanded staff and compensation strategies have paid off for taxpayers in better, more efficient service.

“If we are to build a better world, we must remember that the guiding principle is this — a policy of freedom for the individual is the only truly progressive policy.”

Friedrich Hayek “Road to Serfdom,” 1944

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after World War II. “It won’t look like Levittown, but it’s the same production economics,” Neal said.

“The 2023 version but with the lovely designs of Charlene Neal (Neal’s wife and president of the company’s design unit).”

The homes will start at 1,300 square feet and can go from two-bedroom, two-bath and garage up to three and three in two stories. They will be built on 6,000-square-foot lots and 3.5 units to an acre. Typical Neal homes are on 8,5000-square-foot lots and 2.5 units to an acre.

For the prices to remain low, Neal says, the cost of land “needs to be moderately priced that has sewer and water available.”

having local business owners who are concerned about the plights of their communities and not just about churning out maximum profitability.

“As a matter of being a community builder,” Neal said, “I said we should try to see if we can do this.

“We definitely will not make the money on these homes that we do on our expensive homes,” he said. “But it’s an investment in trying to do the right thing.”

To make it work, Neal knew the company needed to innovate its building practices. To lead that, he hired a University of Florida graduate who had become a leading expert in this niche for other homebuilders, Jagdesh Rupnarian.

Rupnarian designed a production system that will have four to five designs and allow no changes. The process will require SimplyDwell’s construction teams to start eight houses a month and finish in 14 weeks. “We can’t stop anywhere along the way,” Neal said.

In effect, SimplyDwell can be likened to Levittown, the first mass-produced suburban homes

With those qualifiers, here is the unavoidable reality to solving the problem of affordable, workingclass homes: They will be built in the suburbs.

“Central Sarasota, Manatee and Lakewood Ranch will continue to be expensive,” Neal told us. “That’s not going to change.

“I’m paying $120,000 per net acre (for two units per acre), and that number has never gone down in my lifetime” — 54 years of home building.

As always, it’s a matter of supply and demand. Demand for living quarters near downtown Sarasota has far outstripped the supply of land. Thus the high prices for condos and apartments.

We said to Neal: You’re saying if there is to be affordable housing for the working class, the most likely solution is the same as it has been for the past 60 years: higherdensity suburban development.

“That’s definitely, absolutely a promise,” Neal said. “The closer the homesites are to the action, by far the more expensive they are.”

Nonetheless, Neal is optimistic about SimplyDwell filling a desperate need.

“I know we will sell a lot of homes,” he said. “Mostly I want to do something good. I’ll be able to tell you in January if it’s financially successful.”

Hope that he is.

While we can applaud all the good-intention lawmaking to provide incentives for affordable housing, Pat Neal is demonstrating what economist Thomas Sowell says: “Study after study, not only here but in other countries, shows that the most affordable housing is where there has been the least government interference.”

If there is an unmet need, eventually capitalism will fill it. Government isn’t needed. We are seeing that now.

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1970 Main St. Sarasota, FL 34236 941-366-3468

CONTINUED FROM PAGE

and say goodbye to Lisa.

I stopped at the house, and she gave me a big hug, thanked me for everything and told me she knew I was making a career move that was best for my family and that family always came first.

Lisa was always a mother first to both her family and her Observer family. I will never forget her laughter and kindness.

KAT WINGERT Observer Media Group executive editor and chief operating officer

I first met Lisa Walsh as a student three weeks before graduating from the University of Missouri’s School of Journalism. She and an Observer designer came to interview students on campus. I saw the signs that the Longboat Observer was interviewing; I needed a job, so I signed up.

Although petite in stature, Lisa had a presence. She was put together and polished, yet personable, warm and funny. I left the interview knowing I had the job. A day later, she called me and I accepted an offer to be a community reporter for the Longboat Observer I didn’t even know where Longboat Key was.

But I knew it sounded like a great place, with a great paper where I would actually get to write, not just fetch coffee.

After working my way up from reporter to community editor to managing editor, I left for another opportunity, as is typical for most young reporters. But four years later, I returned to the Observer, and the best newspaper family I’ve ever known.

About 10 years ago, I was chosen to be her successor. To me, I was being asked to fill the biggest size 6 shoes on Earth.

If you’ve ever had the luck of taking over for an icon, then you know that comparisons can be tricky things. They can be downright disastrous if the person who is retiring feeds them with any doubt.

More than 10 years later, I never heard a word of criticism or disappointment from Lisa. At first, I tried to involve her — I didn’t want her to feel like she was not welcome. She reassured me she was happy to have the next generation lead and make the decisions.

She had faith, and trust, and told me to go do it, and be great.

I’m sure I have and will do things she would disagree with. But I also know that I always had — and always will have — her blessing in doing so. Because Lisa always saw and enjoyed people for who they were.

Lisa knew that mistakes are part of learning. She knew that no one’s perfect and you need to embrace people for their gifts and work on smoothing their edges.

She found charm in the slightly obnoxious reporter who irritated everyone else. She liked the quirky designer who would sometimes fly into passionate diatribes on politics or any other thing that set her off in the middle of deadline. She looked for the things people could contribute, not their flaws.

Except when it came to the dress code. That was nonnegotiable. Even near the end, when she could hardly do anything without help, she always had to have her hair styled, her makeup done and her outfit coordinated in the latest fashion. Period.

She was a master delegator and had a knack for giving you a new project or assignment without your even realizing you had just said yes to doing more work.

She also had an indirect communication style that needed an occasional translator to understand the vision she had — and she always had a vision.

She and Matt always believed in doing things the right way, for the right reasons. For Lisa, that meant being an absolute stickler on grammar and punctuation, and her love of a hyphen for compound modifiers was legendary.

She was always there for me, not just as a boss, but as a person. When the first house I bought got bur-

glarized and tools stolen, she had a Home Depot gift card for me the next day to help replace them.

When I cried from heartbreak, she cried with me.

When I had success, it was her success.

When I needed a reference letter for admission to my MBA program, she wrote the most heartfelt letter I bet the University of Wyoming ever got. It concluded: “In short, you would be a fool not to admit her.”

That was Lisa. (And I’ve since stolen that line for recommendation letters I’ve written for the best and brightest.)

I came and worked for her out of college, but the thing I learned most from her wasn’t about journalism or editing or running a newsroom. She taught me how a community works. And what it means to be part of a community.

At first, sometimes I thought the stories she assigned me were “stu-

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pid.” Who cares about someone’s potted plants being stolen from their porch or photos from a kids summer camp at Bayfront Recreation Center?

But then I realized: The mystery of the potted plants was a sensation with readers, who were incensed at such a theft. And those kids who attended summer camp at the rec center? I recently ran into one of them who remembers her picture being on the front page of the Longboat Observer when she was a kid. How cool is that?

I realized this is the job: people. And our job is to care about whatever they care about. That’s who we work for: our readers.

Lisa knew people want to learn, they want to enjoy, they want to connect. That’s what we do here. And in doing so, you become part of this special community.

Whether it’s the flowers a source sends you as a thank you after writ-

File Photo

ing about his shell collection or the $50 check you can’t accept that a reader sent as a Christmas present, you’re not just covering a community: You’re part of the community.  No one got that more than Lisa. And after I experienced that, I really never wanted to work anywhere else.

In the last 10 years, I have used her as my guiding light for decisions on coverage a lot. If I’m ever in doubt if something is an Observer story, I think about whether it betters the community in some way. Whether it is going to be something that serves our readers. If I’m ever lost, I still to this day think about what Lisa would do, and what she would say:

Take the high road.

Be bold.

Be clever.

Aim high.

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Glitch in the drainage system

‘PERFECT STORM’

The conditions that resulted in flooding on St. Armands from Idalia, according to County Public Works Director Spencer Anderson:

Oblong and concave, St. Armands Key is like a giant bowl that can fill with water during heavy rains and storm surge events.

That’s why, buried beneath the stylish surface of the commercial district in the center of St. Armands and the tony residential neighborhood that encircles it, is a pump and drainage system designed to remove excess stormwater and send it into the Gulf of Mexico.

The drainage system, which was installed and is maintained by Sarasota County via interlocal agreement with the city, is designed for a 25-year event — nine inches of rain within 24 hours.

Although it passed Sarasota well offshore, Hurricane Idalia brought conditions that far surpassed the 25-year event standard. The storm dealt St. Armands Key battering westerly winds combined with not only a high tide, but a king tide — an infrequently occurring exceptionally high tide. That combination breached seawalls around the Key, overwhelming the system.

It was as Sarasota County Public Works Director Spencer Anderson said, “a perfect storm.”

In the aftermath, businesses on St. Armands Circle were left with more than a foot of water on the streets and some water breaching their buildings. There was more severe street flooding on the north end as police closed off access to the key until the bowl could be emptied. That left merchants and residents alike wondering why the pump system failed and how such a failure could be prevented in the future.

Installed in 2008, the active drainage system, Anderson said, has per-

formed as designed. Idalia, though, demonstrated weaknesses in the system, which are in the process of being addressed.

Chief among those weaknesses was the electrical system failing when the control panels became submerged in sea water.

“When the project was originally constructed, there was significant demand by the community to make the system as low profile as possible,” Anderson said. “We did that and mounted the electrical control panels fairly low to the ground, and we found out that’s not a good idea. We are looking to raise those electrical panels to a higher elevation to hopefully avoid a similar flooding of those electrical components in the future.”

The system rendered inoperable, the county dispatched crews and temporary equipment to pump the trapped water out. Those pumps will remain in place until the electrical panels are replaced and other repairs are made.

“The long lead-time item are the electrical panels that were submerged,” Anderson said. “They do take some time to manufacture, so we expect that within about 90 days we’ll have the system back up and running, as it was prior to the storm.”

‘SMELLY CORNER’

Soon after the storm ended, St. Armands Residents Association President Chris Goglia was in communication with city and county officials about the conditions there. Spending the summer at his second home in Rhode Island, he received emails from about 10 residents about conditions they found once they were allowed to return home.

One homeowner, he said, had to leave his vehicle and walk several blocks to his house, wading in thighdeep water, where he found six inch-

es of water throughout his home. After he opened his front door and garage to begin drying out the home, a pickup truck drove by, Goglia was told, sending a wake into the house.

“He had the foresight to put some of his furniture up on blocks, and he was able to save a lot of his furniture having done that,” Goglia said. “But he said all his appliances are gone. The drywall has got to be taken out two feet above the floor and replaced. He said he’s still waiting for the final number from his insurance adjuster, but he suspects it’s going to be north of six figures.”

The man’s home, Goglia said, is located on the northeast quadrant of the island, the low point that experienced the worst flooding.

That’s near the location of the first, and for a while only, pump station at the intersection of North Washington Drive and Madison Drive. That was the only pump in operation on St. Armands prior to the project to install the islandwide system 200809. “I don’t know when it was installed, but that is the lowest part of the island,” said Anderson. Coin-

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cidentally, that station also happened to be damaged by a vehicle crash the night before Idalia and was not operational.

“A temporary pumping system was installed early Wednesday morning, however, it was impacted by flood waters during the storm later that day,” Anderson said. “Once flood waters receded enough to allow personnel to access the station late Wednesday, the temporary pumping system was restored and flood waters were pumped down by Thursday morning.”

The area around that original pump station has been an ongoing source of issues, according to Goglia. While perhaps not related, that area was the site of a small sinkhole in the road in 2020. And, Goglia said, there is consistently a rancid odor around that intersection.

“Just walking around with my family over the years, there’s always an odd smell coming out of the ground where this pump is,” Goglia said. “We’ve always referred to it as ‘smelly corner.’”

Since Hurricane Idalia, Goglia has been in communication with

n Roughly 3 feet of storm surge in addition to the high tide with westerly winds from the hurricane.

n The stormwater pumping network’s electrical system was submerged by the flood waters, leaving the system inoperable.

n The stormwater system will drain with gravity flow as long as the tidal condition isn’t higher than the outfall. In this situation, the tidal surge was too high so the island could not drain by gravity.

n The pump system was designed for protection from rainfall events not expected to coincide with a tidal surge event that would result in overtopping the seawall system. Once the seawalls are overtopped pumping cannot overcome the volume of water coming over seawalls.

Anderson, seeking details of how the pump system failed, whether the system was even adequate to handle a seawall overflow and, if so, how to prevent it from happening again.

“Could it have been prevented? And even if the answer is no, that’s fine. The more important question is what can be done to keep it from happening again in the future or minimizing the impact in the future?” Goglia said.

THREE FEET ABOVE SEA LEVEL

Like any coastal community at sea level, St. Armands is perennially prone to high-water events, not only from storm surge but also heavy rains. The pump station system provides a measure of protection, Anderson said, but is not equipped for waters overtopping seawalls located behind

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Designed for a 25-year rain event, St. Armands’ pumping system was overwhelmed by a perfect storm of king tide and Idalia’s surge.

private residences.

Lido Key provides a measure of protection from a surge, but resulting rising water surrounding the island brings flooding.

“This was a unique event, a perfect storm as far as tidal conditions, wind direction and surge, and it resulted in a flooding condition that the system was not designed to provide protection against,” Anderson said. “This system actually does protect as it was designed to do fairly well. There are very few flooding events on the island compared to what it was prior to it.”

Although more recently built homes on residential streets are elevated above flood stage by code, as many as half of the approximately 200 residences on St. Armands are original, one-story, midcentury homes built on slabs at ground level. The highest elevation on St. Armands is three feet.

“Now you have to build up, and that’s good government at work, recognizing there’s a problem and making sure people build in such a way where they’re not affected by

this,” said Goglia. “Maybe 30 years from now they’ll all be built up, but they’re not right now and so a lot of people suffered from this event.

It’s one thing to say the storm surge coincided with a king tide and therefore the water came over seawalls and flooded the island. But no one has been able to tell me how they’re going to deal with it.”

Or, perhaps everything that can be done has been done.

“It’s got two design criteria,” Anderson said of the drainage system. “One is for no structure flooding during a 25-year event, which is nine inches of rain in 24 hours; and no street flooding for a three-year event, which is just over two inches of rain in a certain period of time. Those are the things that it could be reasonably designed for.

“Any storm event beyond that was expected to overtop the seawalls, because they’re so irregular around the island because they’re all individually owned by the property owners.”

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To Caulkins, the seemingly contradictory themes of sensuality and sacred mesh nicely in Martín Palmeri’s “Misatango,” a Latin Mass that marks the start of Key Chorale’s 2023-24 season.

“There’s been dancing in religions for centuries,” points out Caulkins, who has been artistic director of Key Chorale for 16 years.

On Sept. 23, Key Chorale joins bandoneonist Ben Bogart and pia nist Winnie Cheung (known in the tango world as Ben & Winnie) along with four tra ditional tango dancers in a performance at Church of the Palms. This isn’t the first time Key Chorale has taken a twirl with tango in Sarasota. Back in 2018, the symphonic cho rus of more than 100 singers collaborated with Sarasota Ballet’s Studio Company to present “Misatango” at the Sarasota Opera House.  The show was a great suc cess, Caulkins said. He expects the same enthusiastic response from the audience

Key Chorale’s 39th season kicks off with ‘Misatango.’

this time around, especially since Billboard 100 artists Ben & Winnie are in the show. (The last time, Ben performed but not Winnie.)

Based in Bloomington, Indiana, Ben & Winnie define their mission (“to change the world”) in the hashtag #onetangoatatime. Ben is a bandoneonist who holds a degree from Berklee College of Music and a certificate from the Orquesta Escuela de Tango Emilio Balcarce. Composer and pianist Winnie, a native of Hong Kong, holds degrees from the University of Chicago and Rochester’s Eastman School of Music.

For those who don’t follow tango, Ben is a master of the instrument neophytes might mistakenly call an accordion. A type of concertina popular in Argentina and Uruguay, the bandoneon was named after a 19th century German instrument dealer named Heinrich Band. It was originally used for religious music, unlike other types of concertinas found in folk music.

If you consider tango and religion to be an unlikely combo, just wait until you hear about Key Chorale’s upcoming event that brings together Bach and beer. Still, it must be noted that both are among Germany’s most enduring exports.

Like its hops-infused inspiration, Key Chorale’s first “Bachtoberfest” will take place in October, at the Church of the Redeemer. There will be four concerts from Oct. 13-15, including one featuring period instruments, topped off by a “biergarten” experience catered by Calusa Brewing and Sarasota Catering.

The wide-ranging Bachtoberfest program will showcase the Key Chorale Chamber Singers, soprano Mary Wilson, trumpeter Aaron Romm and the chamber orchestra. There will even be traditional German music from Bill Milner’s Oompah Band in the beer garden.

Tickets range in price from $15 to $200 for a three-day pass. This being fun-loving Sarasota, there are sure to be a few Bach-style wigs and frock coats in the crowd, maybe even on Caulkins himself, if a video on Key Chorale’s website is any indication.

“It’s a fun program,” Caulkins says. “It’s something we’ve never done before. It’s been a jigsaw puzzle to put it all together.”

No one can say Caulkins doesn’t like a challenge. When he’s not creating innovative programming and conducting, the maestro likes to climb mountains. Caulkins has conquered hundreds of peaks throughout the U.S., Canada, France, Switzerland and Italy including Mount Rainier, Grand Teton, Mont Blanc and the Matterhorn.

But what Caulkins likes to do most of all is collaborate with Sarasota’s many cultural organizations. It’s been his hallmark since arriving in Florida in August 2007 from Illinois, where he was artistic director and conductor of the Bach Chamber Choir in Rockford and directed the

St. Procopius Chamber Orchestra and Choirs at Benedictine University in Lisle.

The many co-stars that Caulkins personally and Key Chorale collectively have worked with include professional orchestras, singers, dancers, high school students, circus artists and people living with Parkinson’s.

Caulkins is particularly devoted to nurturing the talents of young artists. Toward that end, the Key Chorale Chamber Singers and Booker High VPA Choir will come together on Nov. 18 with Artist Series Concerts for a program featuring violin virtuoso Alexander Markov.

On Feb. 20, the Booker, Riverview and Sarasota high school choirs will perform separately and alongside Key Chorale in “Tomorrow’s Voices Today High School Choral Festival.”

Sarasota’s heritage as the winter outpost of the Ringling Bros. Barnum & Bailey Circus and the current home of the Circus Arts Conservatory has given Caulkins plenty of opportunities to team up with circus artists during his tenure at Key Chorale.

This season marks the 13th year that Key Chorale has worked with Circus Arts Conservatory on “Cirque des Voix,” or Circus of Voices. On March 22-23, a new show will once again meld circus and musical arts.

As a guest conductor, Key Chorale Maestro Caulkins has led The Venice Symphony, Space Coast Pops, The Sarasota Ballet and The Southwest Florida Symphony, where he was also associate conductor and director of choruses from 2001-2010.

Caulkins’ collaboration with The Venice Symphony continues in its 50th season, first when Key Chorale appears with the symphony on Feb. 23-24 with “Disney’s Maestro, A Tribute to Alan Menken” and again on April 23-24 with “The Crown Jewel Finale.”

In 2019, Caulkins was recognized for his tireless artistic efforts when he won the Arts Leadership Award for Artistic Achievement from the Arts and Cultural Alliance of Sarasota County.

One of Caulkins’s newest collaborators is Glenn Priestly, who joined Key Chorale as principal accompanist in May. Priestly took the position after retiring as worship director and chapel organist of Fairhaven, a megachurch in Dayton, Ohio, where he served for 20 years.

Priestly took over from Nancy Yost Olson, who retired after 14 years in the post.

Define Gallery gives Art Uptown artists a lifeline

For a small business, social media can be a blessing. But it can also be a curse. Just ask Casey and Deena King, the husband-and-wife proprietors of Define Art Gallery.

The Kings’ gallery is currently located at 2170 Main St., but they’re moving to 68 S. Palm Ave. and taking some of the artists displaced by the recent closing of Art Uptown Gallery with them.

An announcement listing 14 former Art Uptown exhibitors appeared on Facebook on Sept. 12. Since then, the Kings have had a deluge of phone calls, texts and emails from arts aficionados. They’ve also heard from Art Uptown veterans whose work will not be on display at Define, which opens Oct. 3, in time for First Friday Art Walk.

But there’s no such thing as bad publicity, right? Still, the Kings are worried the Facebook post gave the impression that all of Art Uptown’s former artists or even the gallery itself are moving to the new Define space.

For the record, the new Define space will include the works of 22 artists, including Deena King, who has exhibited at Creative Liberties in the Limelight District, as well as 14 artists formerly at Art Uptown.

Those artists are Ian Begg, Melanie Carlstein, Liz Cole, Gillian St. George, Donna Grossman, Joan Libby Hawk, Christine Hales, Esther Jensen, Deborah Kadagian, Evelyn McCorristan Peters, Janet Mishner, Cheryl Moody, Kathryn Adele Schumacher and Mariane Wurzbach.

The Kings don’t want to appear ungrateful for the publicity. “We don’t know who put up the post, but we’re grateful that they’re getting the word out,” says Casey King, a global

IT executive who works remotely.

According to Deena King, the matchmaker between the former Art Uptown artists and Define was Barbara Gerdeman, co-founder of Creative Liberties.

The Kings moved to Sarasota right before COVID swept the country. Deena King started working on her fine art during the pandemic in the couple’s garage before finding studio space with Zero Empty Spaces, which seeks to provide artists with affordable studio space nationwide, and then with Creative Liberties.

The Kings opened their first Define gallery 18 months ago. By moving, Define will more than double its space, from 486 square feet to 1,000 square feet.

Define is offering artists a number of options to exhibit their work, none of which requires an exclusive agreement. Artists can pay an annual membership fee or join the gallery on a month-to-month basis.

An entry-level option calls for artists to pay a $250 monthly membership fee and to work part-time in the gallery.

The Kings view their Oct. 3 debut as a “soft opening” before a Nov. 17 “re-grand opening.”

Even though rising rents contributed to the August closing of Art Uptown after 43 years in business and the June exit of Dabbert Gallery after 18 years, Casey King thinks there’s room for new players in the downtown arts scene.

“There is still a hunger for art,” he says.

Deena and Casey King’s new space is near the recently shuttered Art Uptown Gallery.

THIS WEEK

FRIDAY

STEVE BYRNE

7 p.m. at McCurdy’s Comedy Theatre, 1923 Ringling Blvd.

$28

Visit McCurdysComedy.com.

Pittsburgh native Steve Byrne is a favorite on the comedy festival circuit and has appeared at the Just for Laughs Festival in Montreal, Toronto and Chicago, and HBO’s Comedy Arts Festival in Las Vegas. Runs through Sept. 23.

2 PEACE

7 p.m. at Centennial Park, Venice Free Visit VisitVeniceFl.org.

Rock to the sounds of 2 Peace at this free Friday night concert hosted by Venice MainStreet and sponsored by Neal Communities. Bring your own chairs and blankets to Centennial Park, but leave the booze behind because no alcohol is allowed.

OUR PICK ‘UP ON THE ROOF’

In the 1950s and 1960s, Manhattan’s Brill Building was home to songwriting duos such as Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, Carole King and Gerry Goffin and Burt Bacharach and Hal David. Their iconic “Brill Sound” is showcased in this revue by Rebecca Hopkins and Richard Hopkins. Runs through Feb. 4.

IF YOU GO

When: 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday

Where: at FST’s Court Cabaret, 1265 First St.

Tickets: $18-$39

Info: Visit FloridaStudioTheatre.org.

DON’T MISS

FRIDAY FEST: JAH MOVEMENT

The Van Wezel’s Friday Fest free summer concert series comes to a close with a performance by reggae band Jah Movement, winner of the Manasota Honors 2021 Musical Artist of the Year award. Featuring vocalist Shantel Norman, Jah Movement sprinkles a little R&B, soul and funk into its potent mix of live reggae.

IF YOU GO

When: 5-9 p.m. Friday

Where: at Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, 777 N. Tamiami Trail Tickets: Free Info: Visit VanWezel.org.

SATURDAY

FAMILY ART DAY

9 a.m. to noon at Creative Liberties, 927 N. Lime Ave.

Free Visit CreativeLiberties.net.

Artist Sandy Koolkin will lead families in a creative project that is suitable for all ages and skill levels. No RSVP required.

SARASOTA OPERA ANNUAL FOOD & WINE FESTIVAL

1-4 p.m. at Sarasota Opera House, 61 Pineapple Ave. $75 Visit SarasotaOpera.org.

Restaurants will serve bites, wine and other nibbles while gift cards and Sarasota Opera tickets will be raffled off at this annual benefit for Sarasota Youth Opera. This year’s lineup features many festival veterans as well as newcomers such as Molly’s Pub and Shore.

Season 28

Stars Ascending 2023-24

Intimate musical experiences.

Artist Series Concerts of Sarasota offers a diverse range of 26 concerts featuring emerging and accomplished classical, chamber, jazz, and pop artists from around the globe. Full concert schedule/tickets: ArtistSeriesConcerts.org

Shannon Lee Apr. 28 & 29

Scott Keys’ second act

IF YOU GO ‘RUTHLESS!’

When: Sept. 27-Oct. 15

Where: The Players Centre, The Crossings at Siesta Key Tickets: $32 Info: ThePlayers.org

When a visitor urges actors rehearsing for an upcoming performance of the Sarasota Players’ “Ruthless!” to pretend “she’s a fly on the wall,” director Scott Keys laughs.

“That’s impossible,” he tells the cast. “It’s like when the principal comes to observe a class; everyone sits up a little straighter.”

Keys knows a little something about life in a classroom. In 2021, he retired as director of the theater program at Booker High School’s renowned Visual and Performing Arts Program, where he had been a teacher since 2000.

Retirement isn’t a word that’s in Booker’s vocabulary. Instead of high school musicals, some of which he wrote by himself and with partners, Keys is directing community theater, including “Ruthless!” The tale of a scheming child actress opens at The Players Centre on Sept. 27.

One of the oldest cultural institutions in town, The Sarasota Players was founded in 1929 and recently returned to its original name. Its offices are in the Rosemary District and its stage is in the Crossings at Siesta Key Mall, but the community theater is getting a new home in Payne Park.

During his teaching career and now after it, Keys is one of the exceptions to the longstanding putdown about academics, “Those who can’t, teach.” The first part of that sentence, lifted from George Bernard Shaw’s play, “Man and Superman,” is “Those who can, do.”

A graduate of Syracuse University’s musical theater program with a teaching degree from Eckerd College has over 150 productions to his credit, including Venice Theatre, FST, Manatee Players and Sarasota Players, as

well as the Weathervane Playhouse in Newark, Ohio, where he served as artistic director for seven years.

Watching Keys mark up his script during the “Ruthless!” rehearsal, “give notes” (theater-speak for critique) and use his index finger as a baton to direct his pianist and cast, Keys evokes archetypal characters.

Is he the Magician in the Tarot?

Maybe the Pied Piper of children’s fairy tales? Perhaps even Willy Wonka of the silver screen, if you give him a jaunty top hat.

In any event, one gets the feeling that Keys is up to something fun, maybe even subversive, and you immediately want to be part of it.

After an hour or so watching Keys rehearse, you come away quite sure that he’s the kind of high school theater teacher who has launched a thousand dreams.

Indeed that’s the story of how Keys ended up in the theater himself. A native of Dayton, Ohio, Keys says he attended a high school dominated by sports. Despite his lanky physique, Keys didn’t see himself as a basketball player. Instead, he found his calling after his high school drama teacher cast him as Jesus in the school production of the musical “Godspell.”

A former seminarian, Doug Benbow was the only Black teacher at Keys’ high school at the time, Keys says. “He was very creative. He changed my perspective. He gave a closeted gay boy a chance to shine,” he says.

At Booker, Keys gave aspiring artists the tools (keys?) to hone their talents, earning the award for Sarasota County Teacher of the Year in 2008-09. Among his former students who have gone on to show business careers are Charlie Barnett, Drew Foster and Syesha Mercado.

While at Booker, Keys directed more than 50 productions, including plays, musicals and original works. His last hurrah was “Kingdom of Solitaire,” which he created with Theater Music Director Johnnie Mnich. The two had previously collaborated on the original musical “Sleepy Hollow” in 2012, as well as songs and librettos for musical revues.

“Kingdom of Solitaire” was built on the foundation of a play that Keys wrote in high school called “The Fifth Suit,” about a kingdom of cards that’s on the brink of collapse. Keys went back to the idea and modified it in response to the political divisions whose tensions were fueled by quarantine, social distancing, masks and other measures to stop the spread of COVID.

Keys had planned to retire from Booker in 2020 but agreed to stay on for another year in the middle of the pandemic.

Remote learning and isolation from peers was particularly difficult for students in the performing arts, Keys says. “There was a genuine malaise, lack of engagement and in some cases almost hostility during the pandemic,” he recalls.

“We actually had a few students withdraw from the program,” he continues. “They just didn’t see the point to taking acting classes or voice when you had to stand six to 12 feet away.  Plus, there was a real fear that the performing arts would never come back, and therefore it was no longer a potential career choice.”

Like many members of Sarasota’s arts community, Keys earned his theater stripes in New York City, where he spent 10 years. In addition to earning an MFA from NYU, he worked at Playwrights Horizons.

Ultimately, he and his partner, David Covach, now head of the costume department at Asolo Repertory Theatre, came to Sarasota for its sunshine and vibrant performing arts scene.

Today, Keys is one of the pillars of that community. After “Ruthless!” at The Players, Keys will direct

the Tony Award-winning musical “Parade” at Bradenton’s Manatee Players in March. Earlier this year, he appeared in Sarasota’s first fringe festival, the Squeaky Wheel Fringe Festival, with a one-man play called “The Sequestered Jester.”

Despite all his theatrical credits, just a few of Keys’ productions are available to license and perform. When you Google him, among the musicals and revues that turn up are  “Look Out, Olympus!” and “Hula Hoops and Halos” (both with Jeffrey Smart), “Hollywood Hillbillies” (with Tim Kelly) and “First in Line” (with Robert Frankel).

Given the enduring appeal of the Headless Horseman and its spinoffs, Keys and Mnich’s “Sleepy Hollow” would seem to be an ideal candidate for license.

But Keys says submitting musicals to publishers requires lots of documentation and live footage, which he and his collaborators didn’t always create nor bother to preserve.  Evidently, those who do, don’t always document.  No matter. Keys’ legacy is the magic he creates in the lives of his students and audiences.

The retired arts educator is directing ‘Ruthless!’ in Sarasota and ‘Parade’ in Bradenton.

Girls Inc. kicks off with Totally Tailgate event

Saturday, Sept. 9, at Michael’s On East | Benefiting Girls’ Inc.

Whether they were football fans or just there to act like a fan with some tailgate food favorites, patrons of Girls Inc. gathered Sept. 9 for the nonprofit’s sixth annual Totally Tailgate event at Michael’s On East.

Attendees were able to watch their favorite college football teams on multiple screens or could engage in some in-person competition with the cornhole tournament.

Along with the games was a beer garden featuring local craft brews, all set to live music by MonkeyFinger.

Proceeds from the event will go to support Girls Inc. and its programming to inspire all girls to be strong, smart and bold.

YOUR NEIGHBORS

LIFE on the WATER

first boat when I was around 8 years old.”  Brown is a retired architect originally from Huntsville, Alabama. He and his ex-wife moved from Washington, D.C., to Longboat Key in 1999. He served four terms as mayor of Longboat Key.

LThe sun rises on the Longboat Key Club Moorings marina and dock after dock with every sized boat imaginable. There’s a sense of peace and quiet you can only feel around the water.

Taking advantage of the calmness are two Yorkies, Jack and Jesse. Their owner follows behind them and admires the colorful Florida sunrise. This is what most mornings look like for former Longboat Key Mayor Jim Brown and his two dogs: short morning walks along the docks around the Moorings marina.

As they finish their morning walk, Jack and Jesse lead the way back to their home: a 72-foot Hatteras yacht.

Brown has spent the previous six years living on his boat with his dogs. He said that nothing could ever beat life on the water.

“I just have always loved being surrounded by water,” said Brown. “I’ve always liked boating. I got my

In the early 2000s, Brown had a 53-foot Hatteras yacht. He would take a month each year to travel to different places on the boat with friends. He didn’t know then that he would be living full time on a boat.

Brown bought his current boat in 2018. When he and his wife split up, Brown decided to live out his dream of moving onto his boat.

Now, Brown couldn’t imagine living on land. He said that his day to day doesn’t look much different from living in a house. He has a full kitchen, living room, a master bedroom, guest rooms, multiple bathrooms, tons of storage and an office.

Brown said most of his neighbors have pets and they all know their way around the boats and the marina. Brown’s dogs can swim and are trained to be able to get off the boat themselves, but he said they will usually bark to let him know when they need to go out.

“I came back from breakfast one morning,” said Brown. “I’d been gone about an hour. And Jesse was here but Jack wasn’t. I started looking around to see if he’s swimming around down

here. Then I started looking around the docks and I became really concerned. I was three docks down when my phone rang. One of the gals from the office called me and said ‘Jim, I’ve got Jack. He was swimming down the seawall.’ And let me tell you what, I don’t think I could swim that far.”

The Moorings provides access to a pool, clubhouse, tennis courts, restaurants, and a full-service spa. The Moorings also provides a variety of yacht services to help with problems with residents’ boats.

“There are three categories of people out here on the marina,” said Brown. “There are people like myself who live here year-round. Then there are people who come and go seasonally. They take the boat with them. And then they bring it back. All of these ships are owned by someone. They don’t belong to the marina. It’s a condominium. They have a condominium association and they have a clubhouse. The third category is people who go back and forth, but they leave their boat here. They don’t take it back.”

The marina has 291 deep-water yacht slips. Brown said the cost is around $40 per foot plus electricity to lease a slip but renting from a slip owner can be less expensive.

“It depends on many factors

whether it is more economical to live on a boat,” said Brown. “My boat was more economical because it was older. New boats this size are much more expensive.”

During hurricane season, Brown goes to a hotel with his dogs and leaves his boat on the dock. He said that during Hurricane Idalia, the water was a foot above the dock but he had no damage to his personal belongings.

When the season starts, neighbors on the marina get together for drinks and dinner at the marina’s restaurants. Brown said he can always find someone around to spend time with.

While everyone is away, Brown keeps them updated on the active Moorings marina Facebook group. Most days, Brown will post pictures of the sunrise or sunset that he sees while taking his dogs for a walk. He said he likes to keep everyone in the loop. Snowbirds often comment on his posts and keep up with his updates.  Brown said he probably wouldn’t recommend a life on water to just anyone. But because of the community he has made and the benefits to living surrounded by water, he knows it’s the right lifestyle for him.

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Rotarians read aloud

The Rotary Club of Longboat Key donated 200 books to Tuttle Elementary students.

The Rotary Club of Longboat Key hosted its first presentation of the school year for its Books For Kids program on Sept. 15 at Tuttle Elementary School.

Books For Kids is a literacy program with the goal of providing a more accessible way for Tuttle students to get new books and grow in their literacy skills. This particular partnership between the Rotary Club and Tuttle Principal Patti Folino began in 2021.

Each month, the club donates books tailored to the skill level of Tuttle’s kindergarteners, first graders and second graders. To date, the program has resulted in the donation of more than 8,200 books to students at Tuttle.

The book donations are made possible by the Rotarians’ personal contributions to their Rotary Charitable Fund, along with a matching grant from their Rotary District.

This month the Rotary Club distributed 200 books to Tuttle students. By the end of the school year, the club plans to donate close to 1,000 books.

Each month, Rotarians lead an interactive read-aloud event at the school to present the book of the month followed by a discussion with the students to identify the themes and concepts of the story. Each student receives a personal copy of the book.

The Rotary Club picked “Hey Grandude” by Paul McCartney for the second graders’ September book. It’s about a grandfather using a magic compass to travel with his

grandchildren around the world. The Rotarians also gave each of the students a small compass and a postcard to follow the theme of the story. The book chosen for the first graders was “Paddington Sets Sail.”

“Basic education and literacy is one of the seven areas of focus for Rotary Clubs internationally,” said Nancy Rozance, club director and youth services chair of the Rotary Club.

“Whatever we can do to instill a love for reading in the Tuttle Elementary students will help their paths forward be successful. Our collaboration with Dr. Folino and the rest of the administration at Tuttle ensures that this is a top priority. And our goal is to make it fun.”

Since 2014 when the club was founded, the Rotarians have partnered with Tuttle Elementary on a number of projects. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, they partnered with the All Faiths Food Bank to host a food pantry at the school.

The Rotary Club also gave a $5,000 grant to Tuttle Elementary for a Digital Learning Lab with new computers in honor of the club’s founding president Sydelle Pittas, who died from pancreatic cancer in 2016.

The Rotary Club also recently donated an American flag to Tuttle Elementary to place in the school’s Media Center. The club held a presentation on Sept. 15 at the school between readings for the literacy program.

Tuttle Media Center Coordinator Vicki Richardson realized that they had only a tiny section hidden in the corner dedicated to important American artifacts but no flag. Since the close relationship the school has with the Rotary Club, Richardson knew that they would be happy to provide a flag.

“This partnership is essential,” said Principal Folino. “It’s great for students to see other communities and share their mission.”

WORSHIP directory

It’s a small world

Driftwood Beach Home and Garden features products from more than 35 local artists.

Intentional is the right word to describe local boutique Driftwood Beach Home and Garden.

The average customer might not notice the detail owner Heather Rippy has poured into her shop but every inch is representative of who she is.

During the season, Rippy sells flowers grown in the back of the shop in honor of her love for botany. Driftwood also offers cooking and art classes in honor of her love for education. She features different international products because of her love for travel.

But mostly, Rippy puts forth her passion for supporting small businesses by creating a hub for local artists to sell their work.

Driftwood Beach Home and Garden features art from over 35 local artists and a few international artists as well. Rippy said that her mission with the shop is to carefully curate each item and bring awareness to unique artists and small businesses locally and from around the world.

“I do like people to understand the message of small businesses that support other small businesses,” said Rippy. “It’s a harder business to run, but it’s so much more meaningful, and I think it’s better for so many people. You benefit so many people.”

Rippy said it was fairly easy to build a network of local artists using resources like social media and living in an artsy area.

Former dental hygienist Stephanie Troxler now sells her art, Little Blue Designs, full time at the shop. Driftwood’s top-selling artist, Bar-

bara Schwan, didn’t start painting until her 60s during her treatment for breast cancer. She now makes jewelry boxes and other goods along with her watercolor paintings.

Peg Stanton teaches Rippy’s daughter oil painting along with selling her work in the shop. Rippy said there are almost 40 local artists and she can’t wait to continue to grow that network.

“It’s just so fun to watch the artists grow since I met them,” said Rippy. “A lot of them are my neighbors or friends of friends. They started selling their art here as a hobby and they have creatively grown so much throughout that time.”

She tries her best to feature different types of art including paintings, pottery, fashion and artisan goods. Highlighting female artists and female-owned businesses is another mission Rippy holds dear to her heart when it comes to curating her shop.

“It’s challenging to be an artist and sell your work yourself,” said Rippy. “It can be really hard. Where do they sell it? Do they have to go to a gallery? Do they have to set up at a farmers market every Saturday? Most artists just want to make. So being able to provide a home for them and it’s just, to me, so much more meaningful. You’re not just supporting my family, but like loads of little businesses all over. And then local artists too.”

To learn more about our Temple and all our educational, cultural, and social programs, please call us. We’d be delighted to talk with you.

“Most artists just want to make. So being able to provide a home for them and it’s just, to me, so much more meaningful. “

Temple celebrates like family

Temple Beth Israel celebrated Rosh Hashanah with its congregants on Sept. 16. The annual lunch was hosted at Michael’s On East.

Rosalyn Fleisher organized the event. “I planned this with a lot of joy and happiness, being able to celebrate with your friends, wishing that the whole world would be like this.”

The Jewish New Year celebration started at the Temple with the Rosh Hashanah two-hour service. Then about 100 members carpooled to Michael’s On East.

The venue was packed with family, friends and loved ones from the Temple. Temple Beth Israel members shared community and met children and grandchildren of their friends. The place was filled with camaraderie and laughter.

The menu included matzo ball soup, salmon or brisket for the main course and a chocolate cake. Sylvia Pastor made 200 cookies for people to take home.

“This is just like celebrating with extended family,” said Pastor. “We’re very blessed that we all can share things with each other and get along with each other and drink together.”

All about the energy

IF YOU GO

HOLISTIC HEALING AND WELLNESS CENTER

Where: 595 Bay Isles Road, 120H, Longboat Key Visit: TeslaBioHealing.com

The energy was off the charts at the grand opening of the Holistic Healing and Wellness Center of Longboat Key.

On Sept. 12 at 5 p.m., Mediterranean Plaza, located at 595 Bay Isles Road, was packed with Longboat Key residents and Chamber of Commerce members.

Owner Medge Jaspan welcomed everyone with her calming and positive energy — an example of her “It’s all about the energy” slogan.

The Holistic Healing and Wellness Center is a Tesla BioHealing Medbed Center. According to the Tesla BioHealing website, this technology is a medical device based on discoveries by Nikola Tesla.

“Tesla really valued tone technology,” said Jaspan. “When you are in a place that has a lot of noise, you feel that energy in your body. But when you are in this frequency with a more relaxed setting, your nervous system begins to really let go and your circulation begins to slow down. The (Tesla) technology creates this frequency so that when you are sick or stressed, this state of pure balance will help you heal that stressful energy.”

Jaspan said that she has the Tesla technology in her house and never leaves home without it. Through this Tesla BioHealing method, she offers services including stress release, anger and anxiety management,

mindfulness classes and spiritual counseling.

Jaspan discovered this technology after she accidentally fell in a store and couldn’t move her arm for three months. She tried the Tesla BioHealing method and said that it started easing her pain in about four hours.

Jaspan was born and raised in France. She and her husband, Michael, moved to the area two years ago. She also paints abstract art and owns a vegan clothing line.

The positive healing energy was integrated in everything at the opening. Kimberly Knox of “In the Kitchen with KK” made an organic food spread to encourage the theme of holistic living. The healthy spread included a raw beet salad and vegan double chocolate cupcakes. There were a variety of different fruits, cheeses, nuts and vegetables.

“This is something new for the area and something totally different that I think we need,” said Andrew Vac, real estate consultant and broker.

To make the opening official, Mayor Ken Schneier led the ribbon cutting with help from the Chamber.

“The deep work that I do is about teaching people how to love themselves,” said Jaspan. “Because until you love yourself, nobody can love you. Until you have accepted every little thing of who you are, there is nothing happening.”

Reid MuRphy PResents

LONGBOAT KEY MAGNIFICENT GULF FRONT ESTATE

$22,000,000

Completion September 2023. New 5BD/8BA w/100ft frontage on pristine walking beach. Expansive views from interior living space plus pocket sliders open to lanai/pool and outdoor sitting area for indoor/outdoor living. Exquisite finishes include fireplace, chef’s kitchen, glass wine room and service bar. First level master w/private lanai plus junior suite and 2 guest suites also have private terraces. Covered outdoor space has fireplace, outdoor kitchen & dining area. Dramatic infinity pool/spa w/ sundeck overlooks beautiful Gulf waters. 3 car garage. Home elevator.

LONGBOAT KEY BAY ISLES HARBOR

$9,850,000

Spacious 5BD/7BA 6,556sf custom home stunningly remodeled in 2022. Move-in ready. Large corner lot on bayou with stunning views down waterway to Sarasota Bay.10,000 lb. boat lift, saltwater pool. Remodel included all new custom finishes including painting, hardwood floors, lighting, hardware, countertops and designer upgrades. First floor master retreat has a sitting room and elaborate master bath. Pool lanai with fireplace, tv, outdoor kitchen and grill. Air conditioned 4 car garage. Behind security gates manned 24/7.

for enjoyment of beach walking and swimming.

Amenities include lobby concierge, 24hr guarded gate, olympic sized pool, 2 hartru tennis courts, fitness center & more.

Sleepy Lagoon home tops sales at $6.45M

Ahome in Sleepy Lagoon tops all transactions in this week’s real estate. Benedict and Bette Maniscalco, of Tampa, sold their home at 6565 Gulfside Road to 6565 LBK LLC for $6.45 million. Built in 1960, it has five bedrooms, three baths and 5,572 square feet of living area. It sold for $3.1 million in 2005.

SANCTUARY AT LONGBOAT

KEY CLUB

Katherine Sykes Stroker, of Sarasota, sold her Unit A-403 condominium at 575 Sanctuary Drive to CDY Florida LLC for $1.9 million. Built in 1990, it has three bedrooms, two-and-a-half baths and 1,823 square feet of living area. It sold for $800,000 in 2014.

LONGBEACH

Mary Moore, trustee, of Longboat

Key, sold the home at 6833 Pine St. to 2538970 Ontario Inc. for $1.8 million. Built in 1968, it has three bedrooms, two-and-a-half baths and 2,629 square feet of living area. It sold for $100,000 in 1979.

ST. ARMANDS TOWERS NORTH

Kenneth and Christine Rathgeber, of Garden City, New York, sold their Unit 56 condominium at 1 Benjamin Franklin Drive to Arlon Ray Brown, of Sarasota, for $1.45 million. Built in 1968, it has two bedrooms, two baths and 1,389 square feet of living area. It sold for $950,000 in 2006.

CASTILLIAN

Ann Bilthouse Havel, trustee, of Fontana, Wisconsin, sold the Unit 406 condominium at 4525 Gulf of Mexico Drive to Stephen Janecko, Julia Bell, Peter Janecko, Megan Villasenor, trustees, of Delafield, Wisconsin, for $1.4 million. Built in 1979, it has three bedrooms, two baths and 1,738 square feet of living area. It sold for $248,000 in 1986.

SHOREVIEW AT LAKEWOOD

RANCH

Garrett Adam Ross and Allison

Rachel Ross, of Boca Raton, sold their home at 8036 Grande Shores Drive to Teresa Ruffolo and Joseph Anthony Ruffolo, of Lewiston, New York, for $1,229,00. Built in 2019, it has four bedrooms, two baths and 2,146 square feet of living area. It sold for $589,700 in 2019.

SEA PINES

Mark Carbone, trustee, of Longboat Key, sold the Unit 12 condominium at 6925 Gulf of Mexico Drive to Philip and Pamela Horlock, of Northville, Michigan, for $1.1 million. Built in 1973, it has two bedrooms, one bath and 1,170 square feet of living area. It sold for $511,000 in 2020.

VILLA DI LANCIA

Peter Stellas sold the Unit 143 condominium at 2165 Gulf of Mexico Drive to Matthew and Chrysanthe Phillips, of Northfield, Illinois, and Peter and Fontaine Stellas, of Glenview, Illinois, for $1,085,000. Built in 1996, it has three bedrooms, three baths and 2,445 square feet of living area. It sold for $2.17 million in 2022.

NAUTILUS LONGBEACH VILLAGE

Steve and Karen Devenney, of Fremont, Indiana, sold their Unit 22 condominium at 7065 Gulf of Mexico Drive to JDKRACL Properties LLC for $1 million. Built in 1974, it has two bedrooms, two baths and 1,170 square feet of living area. It sold for $870,000 in 2022.

TOP BUILDING PERMITS

LONGBOAT KEY

SANDS POINT

Bruce Klein, of Longboat Key, sold his Unit 303 condominium at 100 Sands Point Road to Blue Mountain House LLC for $925,000. Built in 1966, it has two bedrooms, two baths and 1,941 square feet of living area. It sold for $450,000 in 2004.

BAYPORT BEACH AND TENNIS CLUB

Chester Chmielewski and Barbara Rowe, trustees, of Sarasota, sold the Unit 520 condominium at 520 Bayport Way to George and Judit Mueller, of Longboat Key, for $825,000. Built in 1980, it has two bedrooms, two baths and 1,456 square feet of living area. It sold for $225,000 in 1998.

PORTOBELLO

Michael Balog and Charlotte Balog, trustees, of Bradenton, sold

the Unit B-102 condominium at 3240 Gulf of Mexico Drive to Lorri Jo Linthicum and Anthony Lee Linthicum, of Metamora, Illinois, for $630,000. Built in 1975, it has two bedrooms, two baths and 1,505 square feet of living area. It sold for $469,000 in 2021.

CONTINENTALS SEA CLUB

Carol Ackerly and Jon Thomas Ackerly, of Bowling Green, sold their Unit 3 condominium at 5591 Gulf of Mexico Drive to Mark and Rosemary Manuel, Kerry Dowd Manuel, Molly Dowd Manuel and Sheila Dowd, of Andover, Massachusetts, for $549,000. Built in 1979, it has one bedroom, one bath and 748 square feet of living area. It sold for $342,000 in 2015.

Your Dreams Turning into an ADDRESS

YOUR CALENDAR

SUNDAY, SEPT 24

MUSIC BY CHAD TALLMAN Noon to 3 p.m. at Whitney’s 6990 Gulf of Mexico Drive. Free. Enjoy the musical performance of New York native Chad Tallman over a delicious meal. The guitarist and singer plays all styles of rock, pop and some jazz. Tallman provides the atmosphere for a memorable time at Whitney’s with loved ones.

RECURRING EVENTS

MONDAYS STRETCH AND STRENGTHEN

From 10-11 a.m. at The Paradise Center, 546 Bay Isles Road. This class is mostly seated and great for all fitness levels Focus is on strength training and flexibility for balance. Suzy Brenner leads the class. Fee is $15. Walk-ins welcome. Call 3836493.

MONDAYS, WEDNESDAYS AND SATURDAYS

LORD’S WAREHOUSE THRIFT STORE

The thrift store will be closed for the month of September. Call 383-4738.

TUESDAYS AND FRIDAYS

LONGBOAT LIBRARY

From 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., Tuesdays and Fridays. 555 Bay Isles Road. Call 383-2011.

TUESDAYS

QI GONG

From 10-11 a.m. at The Paradise Center, 546 Bay Isles Road. Qi gong is a mind-body-spirit practice designed to improve mental and physical health. Class is outdoors, weather permitting. Cost is $15. Walk-ins welcome. Call 383-6493.

YOGA

From 11:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. at The Paradise Center, 546 Bay Isles Road. Debby Debile of Feel Good Yoga & Massage leads a gentle yoga class that can be done on a mat or in a chair. Cost is $15; free for members. Call 383-6493.

MAHJONG

From 1-3 p.m. at The Paradise Center, 546 Bay Isles Road. Fun time for experienced players. To check availability at the tables, email Amy@ TheParadiseCenter.org.

SATURDAY, SEPT. 23

SARASOTA BAY FEST

10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Sarasota Sailing Squadron, 1717 Ken Thompson Parkway. Free. Bay Fest will allow families to celebrate the wonders of underwater worlds. This family friendly event will offer exhibits showcasing local marine life. As part of the event there will be kayak tours, live music performances and food from food truck vendors. Experts will be on hand to teach about underwater habitats and the conservation efforts to help protect them. Register online at eventbrite.com.

ROTARY CLUB

Meets at 5 p.m. on first and third Tuesdays in All Angels Parish Hall, 563 Bay Isles Road. To learn more, call Nancy Rozance at 203-6054066 or email Info@LongboatKeyRotary.org.

WEDNESDAYS

BEGINNER TAI CHI

From 10-11 a.m. at The Paradise Center, 546 Bay Isles Road. Class is outdoors, weather permitting. Cost is $15. Walk-ins welcome. Call 3836493.

MARIACHI MUSIC

From 5:30-8:30 p.m. at La Villa Mexican Grill, 5610 Gulf of Mexico Drive. Enjoy dinner and a serenade by Mariachi Contemporaneo. Call 383-8033.

THURSDAYS

KIWANIS CLUB OF LONGBOAT

At 8:30 a.m. at Lazy Lobster, 5350 Gulf of Mexico Drive. This organization meets every first and third Thursday monthly for breakfast and a speaker. Breakfast is $15. Email Lynn Larson at LynnLarson@ comcast.net to register.

Become a puppy raiser with Southeastern Guide Dogs and open a world of magic to those with vision loss, veterans with disabilities, and children who need a best friend.

Your mission as a puppy raiser is simple. Take home a cuddly bundle of joy and bring back a happy, socialized, well-mannered dog. That’s the magic of making a difference.

✴ Choose your own adventure

The joys of puppy raising are endless, but the time commitment doesn’t have to be. Raise a puppy on your own or choose your dream team. You can share the journey with family, friends, colleagues, and more.

✴ Take a paws

Have a getaway planned? Take the vacation or well-deserved break. Our puppy sitters jump in and take the leash.

Just add love (+ food and water)

We’ll take care of the rest. Puppy raisers receive a kit stocked with all the necessities to raise a happy, healthy pup. Plus, we cover all veterinary care and medical expenses.

Unleash the fun!

We’ll support your puppy-raising adventure from start to finish—no matter where you live in the United States. Ask about puppy raiser clubs in your area for optional outings to connect, laugh, share tips, and swap stories with fellow raisers.

Be

Did you know? Every guide dog starts as a puppy, and every puppy needs someone like you. GuideDogs.org/pup

Take me home for 3, 6, or 12 months. Love me forever.

a part of the magic. Raise a puppy.

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ROGER SELLS LUXURY WATERFRONT PROPERTIES

#1 SARASOTA SINGLE AGENT 2008, 2010, 2012 - 2022

A newer gem completed in 2020, this luxurious 5BR home, offered turnkey furnished, is a rare find that invites you to immerse yourself in the lap of Gulf-front luxury. Enjoying the Gulf’s gentle waves is just the beginning of what this remarkable retreat has to offer. Crafted with precision and built by Eason Home Builders, this home seamlessly blends modern innovation with the allure of West Indiesinspired architecture. The result is a masterpiece that stands as a testament to lavish living directly on the Gulf of Mexico. www.BonaireLBK3.com

455 LONGBOAT CLUB ROAD #807 Gorgeous Gulf-to-bay and city views are the star of the show as soon as you enter this 8th-floor, residence at the soughtafter Pierre. Ideally placed behind the exclusive and secure gates of Longboat Key Club, this 3BR, 2,400+ SF

3040 GRAND BAY

1211 GULF OF MEXICO DRIVE #802

Embrace the captivating beach-to-bay views that stretch from the Gulf, the Bay, and downtown at this sunny, south-facing 8th-floor residence, offering an open and spacious interior plus two terraces.

www.Promenade802.com

$1,995,000

816 JUNGLE QUEEN WAY

Turnkey furnished! This lovely 3BR boater’s escape on Longboat Key offers 125’ of water frontage, easy boating access to Sarasota Bay, plus deeded Gulf beach access.

www.816JungleQueenWay.com

$1,599,000

1105 GULF OF MEXICO DRIVE #5-404

Beautiful, lush views of the Gulf are the perfect backdrop at this true 3BR, 4thfloor residence at Beachplace. Situated in a corner location, with beach and bay terraces. Covered parking included! www.Beachplace5404.com

$1,395,000

$949,000

201 NORTH WASHINGTON DRIVE

The walkable location of this St. Armands homesite will immediately draw you in, offering an oversized, 1/4-acre lot for you to design your dream home. The best of Sarasota is a sunny bike ride away. www.201NorthWashington.com

$2,195,000