LONGBOAT
Observer
Longboat Key’s weekly newspaper since 1978
YOU. YOUR NEIGHBORS. YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD.
Deli-ectable news. PAGE 15
FREE • THURSDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2023
VOLUME 46, NO. 20
YOUR TOWN
MAY
GIFT FROM ABOVE
Yoga instructor Angela Mali embraces the last of the sun’s rays at the end of a class on Longboat Key. Her sunset yoga class meets weekly at Bayfront Park and then heads to the beach where Mother Nature ensures a unique experience for each week’s class.
Courtesy image
Jack and Nancy Rozance ring bells for the Salvation Army.
Collections for a cause Longboat Key organizations continued the tradition of bell ringing outside Publix on Bay Isles Parkway. Members of the Rotary Club of Longboat Key, Kiwanis Club and some of the town’s government officials helped ring the bells from Thanksgiving to Christmas Eve. President of Longboat Key Kiwanis Club Chris Sachs has coordinated the bell-ringing program for several years. Money donated goes to the Salvation Army. According to the organization’s website, the money raised through the bell ringing goes toward serving more than 25 million people in need every year. All $20 bills in the Longboat pot were matched by an anonymous donor.
File photos
2023: The year in photos P
ause and reflect. Most of us don’t do enough of that in our daily lives. We can’t find the time. So for many of us, the holidays become simply one more race to run, something else to survive or get through — we’ve got to move onto the next thing. Because if we don’t, we fall behind. After all, there’s always another deadline just around the corner. … But before digital photos devoured terabytes of hard drive space, it used to be a ritual for many — curating the photos we’d taken over the previous months or year(s) and collecting the best of them in albums. That time-honored ritual was a chance to look back at where we’d been, to show gratitude for what we’d gained, to mourn those we may have lost and to remember how happy we were once or to think of how happy we might be once again. Sure, iPhones and digital cameras have improved the quality of photos most of us take, but there’s something special about being able to turn the pages, to hold tangible remind-
Courtesy image
Commodore Steve Horton cuts the ribbon on Bayside Terrace at Bird Key Yacht Club.
JUNE
HONOR THE FALLEN
The Bird Key Yacht Club commemorated Memorial Day with remarks from then Vice Commodore Steve Horton and the posting of the colors by Young Marines from the Imagine School.
ers of where we’ve been, rather than swiping away through hundreds or thousands of photos. So think of this as a photo album, a yearbook of sorts, for a year where it felt like life got back on track in many respects. Idalia brushed past Longboat, leaving only a few scratches behind. COVID is mostly in the rearview mirror, fading even further
away, one hopes. So we pored over thousands of photos to find our selections for 2023. The theme (if there is one) for our favorites should feel familiar: Just Longboaters doing Longboat things. Here’s to another year in paradise. — JAMES PETER
Name game
There were more than 75 submissions, but there could be just one winner in the Bird Key Yacht Club’s naming contest for its new outdoor patio area. Members of the club submitted suggestions for the name of the club’s newly installed 7,500-square-foot patio. A mystery judging panel pored over all the possible options before choosing Bayside Terrace. The selection was revealed to club members on Dec. 9 on the patio. The Bayside Terrace offers a breathtaking view of the Sarasota downtown skyline as members celebrated the eagerly anticipated naming. Members mingled on the newly named patio and enjoyed the evening under the stars with friends on the aptly named Bayside Terrace.
JULY
GIFT OF LIFE
Longboat Key Chief of Police George Turner tries to donate blood every time the town hosts a drive, he said. The SunCoast Blood Centers collected 13 units of blood in July. Donations are distributed throughout SunCoast’s network, which includes hospitals like Sarasota Memorial, Manatee Memorial, Lakewood Ranch Medical Center and Encompass Health.
FEBRUARY
CHALLENGE ACCEPTED
Observer Challenge Division 1 champions Caitlin McCormick and Angie Eason hoist their trophy after winning the tourney held at Longboat Key’s Public Tennis Center. Competition was fierce, with about 70 athletes taking part as the tournament continued its post-COVID resurgence.