LONGBOAT
Observer Longboat Key’s weekly newspaper since 1978
YOU. YOUR NEIGHBORS. YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD.
VOLUME 43, NO. 14
FREE
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Traveling and winning.
PAGE 1B
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2019
SUMMER JUST ZOOMED BY
YOUR TOWN
Welcome back, Longboaters! Here’s what you missed. PAGES 10A-17A
Nat Kaemmerer
Jamison Urch
Long hair because he cares Firefighter Jamison Urch is about halfway through growing out his hair. It’s been about a year since he decided to grow it long enough for Wigs for Kids, a service that provides kids in need with free wigs. Now that his hair is about 8 inches long, he figures he’s got another year to go. Urch said he wanted to do something for a cause greater than himself. For now, whenever his hair grows another inch, a few of his fellow firefighters donate $10. And no, the long locks don’t interfere with duty.
Marty Fugate
Cottage finds a new home Town OKs move from Longbeach Village to Town Center. PAGE 2A A+E Harp and dance SEE PAGE 20A
Swans settling nicely Transplants from Illinois named after beloved Key couple. SEE PAGE 19A
Nat Kaemmerer
Margie and Chuck were named in honor of the Baranciks and now live on the Harbourside golf course.
Courtesy photo
Historic marker is back The town of Longboat Key has replaced a World War II memorial missing from its signpost near the town’s mid-Key water station at 4250 Gulf of Mexico Drive. Mike and Nicki Bergin walk past the memorial on their daily walk along Gulf of Mexico Drive to Harry’s Continental Kitchens. The Longboat Key couple is thrilled the town replaced the sign after they noticed it missing before the COVID-19 pandemic took hold in March. The memorial is one of seven erected around the island in 1997. It documents Longboat Key’s role in training Army Air Corps pilots.