Longboat Observer 9.11.25

Support cancer research this month

Raise a glass in support of the National Pediatric Cancer Foundation this month.

Mar Vista Dockside Restaurant & Pub is among the Beachside Hospitality restaurants participating in a September fundraiser.

One dollar from every signature “Rum Bucket” drink sold will go toward supporting cancer research in recognition of Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. The group of a dozen local restaurants has hosted the annual fundraiser since 2014. In total, they have raised more than $75,000 for research and clinical trials.

Other participating restaurants in Manatee County include Sandbar Seafood + Spirits and Beach House Waterfront Restaurant. For the full list of Beachside restaurants, visit BSHGRP.com.

Get ready to bust out the fireworks and salute those who have served.

The town of Longboat Key has set a date of Nov. 8 to celebrate its 70th anniversary, just days before Veterans Day on Nov. 11.

Events are scheduled to cue up at 4 p.m. at the Town Center Green, 600 Bay Isles Road. More details are expected soon.

Those interested in sponsorship can email SCobb@ LongboatKey.org or call 941316-1999 ext. 1212.

Town works to keep permits free

WEEK OF SEPT. 11, 2025

BY THE NUMBERS

“It’s not cheap, but it’s probably the best for us to get it back to where we want it to be and have peace of mind that we’re not going to flood again.”

Resident Chris Udermann, on deciding to lift his home to protect it.

Longboat leaders say ‘no’ to joining SB 180 lawsuit

Ln

CPR classes scheduled

Town of Longboat Key Fire Rescue will hold five classes for the public to learn lifesaving CPR techniques. The “hands-only CPR & AED training” will be held at LBK Fire Rescue Station 91 at 5490 Gulf of Mexico Drive on the following days. The classes begin at 10 a.m.

Friday,

ongboat Key Town Commission met Monday for a meeting where the main discussion was whether to extend fee permit waivers for those doing repair work to their storm-damaged properties. Commissioners also discussed whether the town should consider joining a lawsuit against the state of Florida claiming that Senate Bill 180 unconstitutionally impacts home rule.

Town Attorney Maggie Mooney told commissioners the law firm that was considering bringing the suit had reached its goal of signing on 10 municipalities and that the firm

was moving forward with the legal challenge and looking for more participants. She gave her interpretation of the legislation and why local governments take issue to it.

“It’s legislation that says governments shall not pass any more burdensome or restrictive land development code or comprehensive land amendment if you were adversely impacted by certain hurricanes,” she said. “We are in a climate that is probably the least local government friendly politics that I’ve ever seen in my 20 years of practicing local government

law.”

Mooney recommended the town not participate in the litigation because the municipalities participating “already have a pretty big bulls-eye on them.” Town leaders agreed it would not be in the town’s best interests to join.

“I think if we didn’t have a minor possible issue that we could face involving the name of our main road that I would consider joining into this because it’s consistent with our views. But given the state of circumstances I’d probably decline,” said Mayor Ken Schneier.

RESIDENTS BUILD HIGHER, STRONGER

Stilts, raised lot elevations and unique construction techniques are all being utilized by Longboaters to stay safe in the next storm.

S.T. CARDINAL STAFF WRITER

The water in Michael and Kelly O’Brien’s Longboat Key home was 4 feet above the baseboards after Hurricane Helene barged in.

With extensive flood damage, the O’Briens began the process of rebuilding their home on North Shore Road.

While they’re at it, they’re lifting the house 12 feet off the ground. Michael O’Brien said he and his wife love the Longboat Key community and were willing to invest to save the house. They had workers tearing out drywall just days after the storm.

“The house itself is only 1,300 square feet, but the floor plan is what

we really like. We remodeled the whole place over the eight years (since we bought it) and of course everything happened in September,” O’Brien said. “We love the house, and we felt this was the logical thing to do.”

The logical thing to do is a lengthy process with a hefty price tag.

O’Brien said putting the house on stilts will cost $250,000, not including deck replacement, tearing up the driveway, and building a staircase up to the front door, but that it’s a worthy investment to protect their winter home from potential flooding. The idea came to them via newsprint.

“We were sitting here in Milwaukee in January, and I’m reading the New York Times and there’s a fullpage article on house lifting and I said to my wife ‘Gosh, we should look into this,’” O’Brien said. “They had interviewed a builder in St. Pete. We called them, got down there and met them and signed a contract.”

They expect to move into the raised house in January.

The O’Briens aren’t the only ones raising their houses on Longboat Key. According to town Planning and Zoning Board Director Allen Parsons, six permits have been applied for and issued by the town since August 2024 by residents wishing to raise their existing homes.

Chris and Sue Udermann had a difficult and emotional decision to make after heaping their belongings on the side of the road and ripping out the soggy drywall of their Helene-ravaged home in The Village.

“We decided to go this route,” Chris said about raising the house 12 feet.

They also considered selling the lot as is or repairing the house and selling.

“It’s not cheap, but it’s probably the best for us to get it back to where we want it to be and have peace of mind that we’re not going to flood again.”

It’s quite the operation (see box, right).

There’s more than one way to raise a house, and several local businesses offer the service with varying methods. Roger Lusins, owner of RA Sarasota LLC, started a consulting/ project management company with his wife, Angie, after their Longboat Key house flooded. They decided to build their house up during their rebuild, and the onerous nature of the process prompted Lusins to form a company to help his neighbors.

“We flooded, and we grappled with ‘Do we lift?’ As one of those people, I realized really quickly that there would be a need for someone who can just help people who don’t really know what to do,” Lusins said. “It’s an emotional decision, and we wanted to see how we can help and give good advice.”

Lusins said the price of raising a house varies based on the weight and size of the house, what piling method is used and what services are included by the house raising company (utility hookup, deck or stairway construction), but to expect a price tag starting at $175,000.

Right now, the Udermann house is 4 feet raised, and the two have been renting on the Key because the process has been delayed repeatedly. They use a 7-foot ladder to get into the house if they need something.

“This was our plan. We saved our whole lives and we always wanted to live on Longboat Key. This is the house we bought, and we thought this was going to be forever, and then we flooded four times in three years,” Chris said.

Not being able to move in has been frustrating for them because the timeline of being back in their house was an important factor in their decision. This wasn’t a winter home for the two.

RAISING THE LOT

For some residents, tearing down their house and rebuilding after storm damage makes more sense than repairing and raising.

When doing so, to meet FEMA’s flood elevation requirements, inhabited areas of the house need to be elevated to a certain height that varies — depending on the location of the

HOW DOES RAISING A HOUSE WORK?

STEP

STEP

STEP

lot — from about 8 to 20 feet above sea level.

Eddie Abrams tore down his more than 70-year-old house in The Village. He and his son, Grant, are building anew next door to each other on raised lots. They had 300 truckloads of dirt delivered, compacting the soil after each load to provide the houses with a solid footing 6.5 feet taller than before.

“We had to do something major,” Abrams said.

The first floors of the new houses will be a garage and storage space, meaning inhabited areas would be well above the FEMA-required elevation level. Parsons said the town does not issue permits for new construction that don’t meet those requirements to ensure the town can participate in the National Flood Insurance Program. That required elevation level can be found at LongboatKeyFL.WithForerunner.com.

Raising the lot isn’t cheap, either. Abrams, who is acting as a builderowner for the project, said he thinks raising the lot will cost him about $100,000.

Blythe Jeffers and John Hodgson are also building up as they replace their Sleepy Lagoon bungalow with a bigger, higher and newer home.

GROUND

Town of Longboat Key ATTENTION VOLUNTEERS

The Town of Longboat Key is accepting applications for appointment to the following board:

Consolidated Retirement System Board of Trustees

All applications must be submitted to the Office of the Town Clerk by 12:00 p.m. on September 24, 2025. All applicants must be registered voters of the Town of Longboat Key. Appointed individuals will be required to file a financial disclosure form annually.

Please call the Town Clerk’s office at 941-316-1999 for an application or if you have any questions. Applications are also available online at www.longboatkey.org. Completed applications may be submitted to:

Town of Longboat Key – Office of the Town Clerk 501 Bay Isles Road Longboat Key, FL 34228

Stephanie Garcia, Deputy Town Clerk II

Published: 09-03-2025, 09-17-2025

STUFFING STYROFOAM

When Hurricane Michael leveled Mexico Beach on the Florida panhandle in 2018, one home stood among the rubble, and Longboat Key residents noticed.

That house had several elaborate hurricane-prevention measures including the roof being strapped down and support piles submerged 28 feet into the ground to add stability. But what stood out to Jeffers, Hodgson and Eddie and Grant Abrams was the construction method: insulated concrete forms.

The process uses hollow foam blocks that fit together like Legos to form the exterior of the house. Rebar is placed and concrete is poured into the middle of the foam blocks, creating a stable structure that, according to a report by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, has “inherent strength” against strong wind gusts and greater wind-borne debris resistance in storms like hurricanes and tornados.

“It was really deciding that in order for us to bring our precious things here, we needed something that was more hurricane resistant than our cute bungalow built before the new hurricane codes,” Jeffers said.

The Jeffers and Hodgson house and both of the Abrams houses are using the ICF method. It’s more costly upfront — the Department of Housing and Urban Development estimates ICF costs $3 to $5 more per square foot to construct. But there are advantages including lower insurance premiums, better energy efficiency and sound control.

“It’s more expensive because of the concrete. There’s a higher upfront cost just on the walls, but it pays itself back later,” said John Liptak of Insulated Concrete Systems, who is contracting with Abrams to build the homes on Longboat Drive North.

After concrete is poured into the foam, drywall and siding is then drilled directly onto the foam, which acts as insulation. Abrams said the construction method will give him assurance that his house will still stand if another storm rolls through. And being built on the raised lot, water damage will likely be avoided.

“It’s much more flood resistant,” Abrams said. “It’s a solid concrete house.”

“It’s been our permanent residence for the past couple of years, but we want to make it last until well into the future,” Jeffers said. So Jeffers and Hodgson did a combined strategy of raising the lot and raising their house. The road to their house has a 2.8-foot elevation, and the elevation of their previous house was 3 feet. They had a foot of flooding during Helene. So when they were planning their rebuild, they decided to raise their lot so the bottom of their garage would sit at a 6-foot elevation.

“The water line (from Hurricane Helene) matches where we are now going to have our garage floor,” Jef-

fers said. “Even if people put their house on stilts we are encouraging them to raise their lots with fill dirt to protect their cars, as well.”

At the raised lot, five levels of cinder blocks additionally raise the elevation of the home more than 3 feet. Doing all this comes at a cost — for fill dirt, drainage systems and extra blocks — that Jeffers and Hodgson think is well worth it.

“In the scheme of things, it’s a minor cost when you look at the overall cost of the project,” Hodgson said. Jeffers said she hopes others on the north end raise their house elevations, which could allow the town to raise its streets eventually in a response to expected sea level rise.

Town likely to extend fee waivers

For those still in need of permits to repair storm damage, you may have until the end of the year to get them for free.

Going against a staff recommendation, Longboat Key’s Town Commission signaled it would pass an extension of the town’s waiver of permit fees for hurricane-related repairs.

At the Monday town commission meeting — the first meeting held since June 27 as the public body adjourned during the summer season — commissioners discussed a request from residents to extend the permit fee waiver. Town Manager Howard Tipton made what he called a “soft recommendation” to not extend the deadline, but many commission members argued that as residents continue to rebuild, the deadline should be extended one more time. “There are five homes on my

street that are going to be rebuilt by the owners. Because of FEMA, because of insurance companies and because of Florida Power and Light, it took us almost 10 months to tear the house down. We have two neighbors that are still waiting for demolition permits, and not because of the town,” Commissioner BJ Bishop said. “There have been numerous delays, and so those people who are going to do the right thing and go up 12 feet into the air, I’d hate to see them penalized.”

The permit fee waiver for work to repair storm damage was first approved by town commission on Oct. 7, 2024. It was extended to last through April and then again through September at subsequent meetings earlier this year.

Longboat North, a group of property owners on the north-end where storm damage from Hurricanes Helene and Milton was most severe, wrote in a letter to the town that several residents are still working through the permitting process due to issues with insurance, contractors and FEMA damage violations. Tipton said he was empathetic to the delays that some residents are facing, but said the fund balance that was making up for the lack of permit fee revenue was running low, and compared to other local munici-

palities, Longboat Key was the only public body to still have its permit fee waiver in place.

“We’re not through this hurricane season yet, but if there were another similar hurricane, I want to make sure we have the ability to potentially accommodate another fee waiver moving forward,” Tipton said.

Ryan Stockton, owner of general contractor Stockton and Sons, spoke in front of the commission explaining that tear-down and rebuilds can be delayed for months at no fault to the resident for things like power meter removal, difficulty finding a contractor and delays in insurance payments. Stockton said pulling permits with the town is a relatively easy process and that the town does an excellent job, but that many of his clients would greatly benefit from extending the permit fee waiver deadline.

“We are used to having on average 12 to 18 months for a new build,” Stockton said. “Normally, when we are going to build a new house here on Longboat, we are in a phase of 12 to 18 months of pre-plan, engineer-

ing, architectural, as well as design.

So we have been feeling the rush, even though it’s been a year of trying to tear down everything, to reapply, get inspections and get the new houses underway, the extra three months would personally benefit our current customers who are in that phase to get it just where Longboat requires it. It’s a lot of work to build a house here on Longboat the right way.”

The commission voted 5-0 to bring forth a resolution at a specially called meeting Sept. 22 to extend the waiver until the end of the year. Two members, Bishop and Steve Branham, sustained due to conflicts of interest as both have remaining work to do on their home. Don’t expect another extension, though.

“If you’re interested in extending it, we will allow them to have that fee waiver in place as is through the end of this year. But I will say, I think we need to reiterate that there is a time that we need to stop the fee waiver. If you’re going to extend it, we would have a strong recommendation — right now it’s a soft recommendation

Judy’s Recovery Story:

Finding strength after stroke through support and determination

It was a typical day for Judy Waldoff as she prepared math intervention lessons for her students. Suddenly, Judy started feeling unwell and decided to end her lesson planning early. As Judy stepped off the front steps of the school she realized: “I’m having a stroke!”

Judy couldn’t recall how she made it home — but she remembers seeing her husband Joe standing at the back

door of their home as she was trying to get out of the car. “It felt like my feet were all tangled together,” she recalled. She also couldn’t move the left side of her body, another telltale sign of a stroke.

The road to rehabilitation

After Judy was stabilized, she sought inpatient rehabilitation at Encompass Health. When she arrived, she

couldn’t walk, move or even sit up on her own. “I’m going from a person who goes from 200 miles per hour to doing absolutely nothing for myself,” Judy said. “They taught me how to brush my hair — how to put my clothes on.”

“ ... Our reserves for the building department are OK and can handle another quarter, but I do want to be able to offer this again if, God forbid, we go through this again.”

—

— but when we get to Dec. 31, it’s a strong recommendation of letting this expire,” Tipton said. “It really is about thinking about if we get hit again, what kind of offer can we make to the community? Our reserves for the building department are OK and can handle another quarter, but I do want to be able to offer this again if, God forbid, we go through this again.”

The resolution to continue the permit fee waiver through the end of 2025 will be voted on at a special called town commission meeting Monday, Sept. 22.

From sitting to standing and walking

In therapy, Judy’s conditions felt overwhelming but with the help of her physical therapist, she could see the start of a new journey. “Mrs. Judy’s progress was like nothing I’ve ever experienced in recovery,” said Gary, her physical therapist. “She was distraught and had to battle through those mental barriers before making any progress. One day you are standing in front of a mirror trying to get her to stand up straight. By the grace of God, Judy was able to start moving her hand, and she improved from there. Watching her progress and knowing that we had a small part in her recovery — it’s humbling.”

Judy’s road to recovery was no easy feat, but the support of the Encompass Health team gave her the willpower she needed and changed her life. “You can feel it in the way they treat you when you are here,” Judy said. “I was thinking, this is just going to be a hospital. I’ve never imagined going to a place like this.”

Future Broadway roundabout approved by commission

The FDOT-run project is moving forward, with design work slated for February completion and construction to start in late 2026.

he Longboat Key Town Commission passed resolutions on Sept. 8 that move the Broadway Street roundabout project forward. But don’t expect to travel around the traffic circle in the next year.

The roundabout would replace the intersection at Broadway Street and Gulf of Mexico Drive. The intersection at the north end of the Key does not stop traffic at Gulf of Mexico Drive and has stop signs on each side of Broadway Street. Town leaders say the roundabout will improve traffic flow and increase safety.

“The community up there has looked for safer access to the beach from the Village, and the roundabout will do a great deal to make that a safer intersection,” Commissioner BJ Bishop said. “I’m not a huge fan of roundabouts, but in that area, it works. It will work very well to mitigate the pedestrian and cycling safety issues.”

Studies on roundabouts back up that claim. According to the Florida Department of Transportation, there are fewer vehicle, pedestrian and cyclist crashes at roundabouts, 90% fewer fatalities and a 30% to 50% increase in traffic capacity. Other benefits include energy savings (no traffic signal, cars not sitting stationary at stoplights) and the ability for the circles to be landscaped.

The commission unanimously approved an agreement Monday that would allow the contractor who eventually constructs the circle to perform utility relocation work before paving the road. Commission also approved a separate agreement with FDOT that states the town will be responsible for landscaping

and brick paver maintenance at the roundabout.

Town Engineer Jennifer Fehrs said the town hopes to have design work completed by the end of February. The town has submitted plans before, which FDOT denied in 2023 due to the slope of the road in the submitted plans. That gave the town the opportunity to redesign the project as a “complete streets” project that includes bike lanes and follows the town’s comprehensive plan for a pedestrian friendly environment.

FDOT’s website for the project shows the advertisement for construction bids is scheduled for July 2026.

According to commission documents, the utility relocation is expected to cost $989,184. The total town cost for the project is expected to be $1.7 million. Construction costs are being funded primarily by FDOT. The most recent cost estimates for the project are $5.4 million to $6 million, which Fehrs said has not changed.

Ron DeSantis is dead wrong about AI

The Governor seems to convey his fears of negative results over the benefits of AI usage.

This summer, Gov. Ron DeSantis has spoken out several times about AI, emphasizing his fears about the negative consequences for society of the use of AI.

He has not, however, made any mention of the many beneficial uses of AI, such as in medical research and online search.

Crucially, he has clashed with the Trump administration and Congress over whether AI should be regulated by the federal government or by the states.

The White House AI Action Plan supports a federal moratorium on new state and local laws regulating artificial intelligence.

In this instance what the Trump Administration has is right — a federal moratorium on state and local laws and regulations governing the design and performance of AI models is justified to preserve innovation and interstate commerce, in keeping with the basic principles of federalism in the United States.

Many states have passed or are considering multiple AI bills that are technically complex and politically charged, singling out this technology for extra regulation on issues like discrimination, child safety and housing. This avalanche of legislation is especially troubling because existing laws in all these areas apply equally to AI, and the current need to single out the technology is highly dubious.

In making the case for a federal moratorium, many observers correctly point to the danger of a “regulatory patchwork” in which up to 50 states may make widely varying rules and stifle important and useful innovations. There is no natural reason for data to stop at state borders, meaning virtually all economic activity involving AI is interstate commerce.

The framers of the U.S. Constitution recognized interstate commerce as essential for both economic prosperity and political unity, placing its control in federal hands. In addition to reducing inefficiencies arising from inconsistent state laws, federal powers over interstate commerce using AI prevent large states such as California from gaining the de facto power to regulate the new technology across the entire country.

AI is a foundational technology with an impact many expect to be on par with the internet or personal computers.

Like those technologies, AI is already spawning an abundance of applications for a wide range of uses. This makes the development of AI extremely important, but also highly uncertain. There is no single finish line in the “AI race.”

While building the technology and its countless applications will require massive efforts, they cannot be coordinated toward a single goal.

This fundamental uncertainty is the source of AI’s great potential.

AI breakthroughs will be made not only in university laboratories, but by firms, workers and entrepreneurs in our market economy. This process of innovation will ultimately lead us toward finish lines we can’t yet even imagine.

Nothing about AI places the technology or its applications outside the reach of any existing laws or government agencies with respect to any policy. Just as we remain early in the process of finding out what AI can do, we have much to learn before concluding that AI

requires different laws or approaches to regulation. But proponents of restrictive AI legislation today are guilty of exactly this mistake.

State bills seeking to govern the design and performance of AI systems are not typically written with today’s chatbots in mind. They are concerned about what future AI technology might do, or what our future energy and data center needs might be.

Supporters of such efforts do not appreciate that transformative technologies and the societies they transform change together. Those who worry about AI replacing workers, for example, usually miss that such technological changes happen over time rather than all at once. Workers, therefore, can and do adjust to new technology.

As the path of AI’s development becomes clear over the coming years and decades, speculative and restrictive laws will do more harm than if they were simply outdated rules that missed the mark. Government regulation influences the course taken by technology. When that course is based on flawed assumptions, we fail to realize the benefits of technology fully and often don’t know what those benefits might have been.

Compounding these difficulties and potential for misunderstanding is the expansion in the list of technologies commonly called “AI.”

Once associated with science fiction and futurism, the term “AI” gained widespread use in the last few years, after generative AI chatbots powered by large language models were introduced.

However, people now frequently apply the term to many algorithmic tools widely used for years or even decades.

There is no current need to single out AI over and above other technologies or means of expression, for regulation or enforcement beyond existing laws.

Nonetheless, the political temptation of singling out real or imagined use of AI is too great for many to resist. Users of AI technology in housing and labor markets are singled out for more oversight and compliance under anti-discrimination law.

Large AI developers are singled out for more transparency rules, seemingly at the discretion of state officials. Images of political figures created using AI are singled out and banned in the lead-up to elections. AI-powered human resources software suites face extra scrutiny.

AI is a foundational technology with an impact many expect to be on par with the internet or personal computers.

The correct approach toward AI in Florida is to enforce existing laws and regulations.

Indeed, Congress’ AI moratorium proposal from earlier this year explicitly exempted from federal preemption “generally applicable” state and local laws and regulations. Comprehensive legislation targeting AI may prove desirable in the future, but that day has not arrived.

While some might consider such a level-headed approach from the federal government unlikely, expecting similar restraint in 50 statehouses at once, or even Tallahassee, is all but impossible.

Absent a moratorium, state legislators would nevertheless be well advised to exercise and advocate such restraint.

Florida lawmakers could pass legislation that affirms the applicability of current laws to AI and establishes basic individual freedoms with respect to computing.

Bills such as the Right to Compute bill passed in Montana and introduced in an increasing number of states provide an important blueprint for those who see the importance of restraint to make that case and partially mitigate the efforts of overactive colleagues.

A torrent of bills singling out AI in misguided attempts to solve what amount to guesses of future problems would threaten the open climate of innovation and entrepreneurship that has greatly benefited the United States in recent decades. But uncertainty, misunderstanding, political incentives, and media hype conspire in the current moment to produce this outcome in statehouses across the country. Florida should be the exception, focusing on enforcement against bad acting with or without AI, rather than legislators trying to outguess a technology they barely understand.

Max Gulker, Adrian Moore, and Marc Scribner are policy analysts at the Reason Foundation.

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Town advances first vote in favor of 2026 budget

Staff pay raises and unchanged property taxes highlight the next fiscal year finances.

S.T. CARDINAL STAFF WRITER

The town of Longboat Key’s 2026 budget is moving forward as the Town Commission took the first of two votes required to adopt the millage rate and budget for the 2026 fiscal year at its Monday meeting.

Property taxes will remain the same if the proposed budget is adopted, with a 2.5543 millage for gulfside and 2.1371 for bayside properties. Property tax revenue is expected to increase 5.8% due to increased valuation of properties and the opening of the St. Regis Longboat Key Resort, despite a decrease in property values from houses damaged from Hurricanes Helene and Milton.

“Even though we are levying the same amount of property taxes, we’re expected to bring in more revenue because the valuations have changed,” said budget manager Erica Waggoner.

The general fund, which includes day-to-day operations and payroll for the town, will have $23.9 million in expenditures. About 80% of

expenditures go toward wages and benefits, and pay raises are budgeted for employees of the town as cost-of-living adjustments as well as merit-based pay increases. Firefighters are getting a 9.3% raise and police are getting a 5.3% raise.

The town has $41.9 million in outstanding debt and will pay $6.9 million in loan repayments in 2026. As much as $1.5 million of that will go toward interest. The town has received $8.6 million in grants and has millions in more grants pending, including from FEMA.

Capital improvements budgeted in the 2026 fiscal year include $40.2 million for utilities, including the subaqueous wastewater line. Another $9.1 million separately goes toward utility undergrounding, and $9.2 million goes toward street improvements. Total expenditures with all funds, including capital projects and enterprise funds, is $122.9 million.

The town must hold one more public hearing and one more vote to adopt the 2026 fiscal year budget, which begins Oct. 1. The public hearing will be held 5:01 p.m. Monday, Sept. 22 at Town Hall.

FRIDAY,

TOWEL-SWIPING

SCHEME FOILED

1:36 p.m., 3453 Gulf of Mexico

Drive

Suspicious person: A man in a van had his master plan to swipe towels foiled when police were called on him by a guest of a hotel next door to a public beach access. A caller told dispatch there was a man who drove a white van parked in a public beach access parking lot who was also there yesterday. She said she had reason to believe he may have taken a hotel guest’s towel. Police arrived and spoke with the accused man who said he was just enjoying the beach and denied stealing any towel. There was nobody at the beach accusing him of stealing their towel, and a warrant search found no results. Police closed the case.

SATURDAY, AUG. 31

RISING SUN REVEALS GHOST

WHEELCHAIR

7:48 a.m., 1241 Gulf of Mexico Drive

Lost/found property: Police were called to a condo complex when a caller saw a beach wheelchair abandoned on the shore. An officer responded to the scene, determined that it was not reported missing or involved in a crime. The officer met with a maintenance worker and told him he could keep or dispose of the wheelchair. The case was closed.

WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 3

DRONE FISHING

6:29 p.m., 5285 Gulf of Mexico

Drive

Suspicious aircraft: Shark fishers had the police called on them for flying a drone to drop bait. The

SATURDAY, AUG. 31

GOLFING WITH DOGS

5:44 p.m., 2107 Gulf of Mexico Drive

Suspicious person: A man was seen golfing at the Longboat Key Club with two canine companions, prompting a call to police. When police arrived, they saw a truck parked under some trees on the course. An officer went to the clubhouse to speak with an employee who said that the vehicle belonged to the golf course superintendent. Case closed.

complainant told officers that she was concerned the fishers were violating FAA regulations and wanted their fishing license checked by FWC. The officer said no crime was being committed by the fishermen. She said she knew that but did not like the way the fishing appeared in her view and felt the fishers were inhumane. Police closed the case and the complainant called FWC.

DINGBAT DOES DIVERSITY

Luke Manual’s theater troupe welcomes performers of all ages, sizes, colors, physical abilities and sexual orientation.

MONICA ROMAN GAGNIER ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR

The term “diversity, equity and inclusion” is taking a beating these days. It’s being dropped from corporate and university recruitment policies and banished from government websites. But DEI is living large at Luke Manual’s Dingbat Theatre Project in Sarasota. Located in its new permanent home at 7288 S. Tamiami Trail, Dingbat is everything its name implies. It’s zany, it’s off the wall and it’s fun. Think party in a box — a black box theater with 70 seats. This is Luke’s party and everyone’s invited, and we mean everyone

IF YOU GO ‘I’M

When: Through Sept. 21

“We have a super-diverse cast of people,” Manual says. “We’re committed to nontraditional casting, oftentimes gender diverse. We’re creating opportunities for plus-size people, people of color and others who might not be included in traditional theater.”

There’s no danger of someone walking into Dingbat Theatre Project and seeing something they don’t want to see. Manual’s inclusive mission is clearly conveyed by incorporating the rainbow colors associated with LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans or questioning) into the theater’s logo.

Many Sarasota arts patrons know Manual from the socially distanced shows that Dingbat put on outdoors at The Bazaar at Apricot and Lime during COVID-19. Others know them (Yep, that’s their preferred pronoun!) from their days at the Venice Theatre or the Loveland Center Performing Arts Theatre in Venice.

Dictionary.com defines “dingbat” as an “eccentric, silly or emptyheaded person,” but the word also has alternate meaning, primarily in the printing world, where dingbats are ornamental type used to divide sections of text.

Manual’s not sure where they first learned about the word “dingbat,” but Manual had the name long before they had the wherewithal to create an inclusive, accessible theater company.

“I like funny names,” explains Manual. “I’ve had this name in my back pocket since high school. When I was an undergrad, we started a troupe called the Basket Cases, and Dingbat was an alternate option. Now that I’m a fully grown-up person, I decided to use it. Dingbat is the message.”

Manual may have been thinking about having their own theater one day, but they credit longtime Venice Theatre Artistic Director Murray Chase for encouraging them to “get creative” when the pandemic shut down arts venues in 2020.

A native of Mississippi, where Manual attended college, Chase gave Manual their first job as a digital development associate at Ven -

ice Theatre, after Manual moved to Florida in 2018.

Along with Brian Finnerty, now production manager for the Sarasota Players, Manual staged Dingbat’s first show in December 2020.

Nearly five years later, Manual can’t remember the full name of that Christmas show Dingbat staged outdoors at the Bazaar at Apricot and Lime, along with pianist and singer Michelle Kasanofsky. For the record, it was called “Brian and Luke’s Amazing Terrific Jaw-Dropping Fantastical Spectacular Tremendous Excessive Live Holiday Jamboree.”

The now-legendary Christmas extravaganza was the first in a string of shows that Dingbat produced at the Bazaar, Kim Livengood’s shopping and eating emporium at 821 Apricot Ave. Among those that followed were “Shrek,” “Hedwig and the Angry Inch” and “The SpongeBob Musical.”

Originally, the shows took place outside in The Bazaar’s courtyard with the audience masked and socially distanced, but as the pandemic threat receded, Dingbat was moved inside one of The Bazaar’s spaces, Manual says.

Whether the shows at The Bazaar were held inside or out, “I always got a great turnout,” says Livengood. “If

you go to one of the (Dingbat) shows, you’re guaranteed that the talent is going to be incredible.”

LEANING ON FRIENDS AND FOUND OBJECTS

The disruption of the 2020-21 season gave normally harried performers and marketing folks more freedom than they normally had. That helped get Dingbat’s productions off the ground, say Manual’s collaborators. “Everyone wasn’t so bogged down in season,” says Amanda Heisey, now marketing and PR director at the Sarasota Players. “People could be more collaborative.”

Nevertheless, resources and casts were scarce for Dingbat’s pop-ups, which relied heavily on “lots of found objects,” Heisey says, in addition to unconventional casting that saw actors playing several roles each in shows such as “Shrek.”

After Manual got a job at the Loveland Center, a facility for people with intellectual disabilities, Dingbat was able to produce cabarets and musicals in Loveland’s Performing Arts Theatre from July 2023 to April 2024. Among them were

“Chicago,” “The Wizard of Oz” and “It’s a Bird ... It’s a Plane ... It’s Superman.”

Landing the rights to perform “Chicago” was a coup of sorts, Manual says, because “every theater across the country applies to produce it. Venice Theatre had the rights but wasn’t able to do the show because of COVID.”

Jeffery Kin, longtime artistic director of The Players (now the Sarasota Players) and founder of the Sarasota Living Arts Festival, says Manual reminds him of his early days in Sarasota back in the 1990s.

“I was just an actor with Equity card that landed in Sarasota,” Kin recalls. “My day job was managing a paper store on Main Street. At night, I started doing one-off shows like ‘The Night Larry Kramer Kissed Me,’ which we did at Burns Court Cinema, and ‘The Kathy and Mo Show.’ That’s how I started, by doing one-off pieces and pop-ups in strange places.”

Working together on Dingbat productions brought Finnerty, a talented choreographer and actor, closer to fellow performer Heisey. After the opening night performance of “Hedwig and the Angry Inch,” Finnerty proposed to Heisey on stage. The two were married in January 2024.

In “Hedwig,” directed and choreographed by Finnerty, Heisey was transformed into Yitzhak, a Jewish drag queen who is the husband and backup singer to the titular aspiring East German rock singer, played by none other than Manual.

These days, Manual is collaborating with their own romantic partner, Gretchen Beaumier, on such Dingbat productions such as “I’m Going to Marry You, Tobey Maguire.”

Billed as a “Y2K farce,” it follows a starstruck teenager, played by Jamie Saunders, who kidnaps her heartthrob, the star of “Spider-Man,” played by Tom Horton. In the play, Mark-Alan does double duty as a poster of Tobey Maguire who comes to life and Brenda, a nosy real estate agent.

Manual directs “Tobey Maguire,” which runs through Sept. 21. They also handle scenic, sound and projections design, while fiancée

Beaumier is co-director and gets credit for scenic and lighting design.

If you’re starting your own theater, it helps to have connections, and Manual’s got lots of them. Beaumier’s father is involved in construction, and some of his friends pitched in to help Dingbat on the $100,000 buildout of its new space.

Among the firms that donated labor or materials are Hoyt Architects, Bright Electric, Service Contracting Solutions, AIS Framing and Drywall and Ackerman Plumbing.

Permitting and construction for Dingbat’s new space was completed just days before it was due to open its first show of the 2024-25 season, a reimagining of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.” “It was really down to the wire. We had a few days over the Thanksgiving holiday to get ready,” Manual says. In addition to serving as a home for

“We have a super-diverse cast of people ... We’re creating opportunities for plus-size people, people of color and others who might not be included in traditional theater.”

— Luke Manual

its interpretation of classic musicals and its off-the-wall cabarets, Dingbat’s lobby and backyard will be available to other groups to rent.

As with any startup nonprofit, donors are key to Dingbat’s survival. Among those making contributing $2,500 or more in the 2025-26 season are Dr. Jeffrey Hamblin and Mark-Alan, Osprey Consulting, Jeff Cima, Gulfcoast Community Foundation and Terry and Debbi Austin. Dingbat’s twisted take on classics runs the danger of turning off purists, but most patrons know what they’ve signed up for. Those ready to veer off the beaten path will welcome upcoming shows such as “Dingbat’s Winnie-the-Pooh” (Dec. 5-17), a PG-13 version of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s “Oklahoma” in March 2026 and “Dingbat’s Romeo & Juliet” in June 2026.

According to Manual, part of Dingbat’s mission of accessibility is affordability. Toward that end, Dingbat schedules a pay-what-you-wish night for each of its shows . Walking into the pay-what-youwish night for “Tobey Maguire” was a bit like attending a college alumni gathering where everyone’s either newly graduated or retired. The greyhairs are the bedrock of Sarasota’s arts scene, but those wondering where to find young patrons need look no further than Dingbat. Why are they there? For the fun and the forbidden, of course.

Contrasts, October 12, 4:00 pm

Grammy Lifetime Achievement winner Nicholas Eanet with Jungeun Kim, Natalie Helm, and Bharat Chandra performing works by Schubert, Dvorak, and Bela Bartok’s Contrasts, which was commissioned by Benny Goodman.

Legacy, October 19 & 20, 4:00 pm

Celebrate the dedication of Dr. Joseph Holt as a star of Sarasota’s music scene for the past 16 years. Holt, Daniel Jordan, and Christopher Schnell present an all-Russian program exploring composers’ responses to Soviet oppression.

The Queen’s Six, October 28, 7:30 pm

They performed at the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, and now return to Artist Series Concerts after a sold-out concert in 2023. Their vast repertoire promises a memorable evening of royal fun!

THIS WEEK

THURSDAY

JAZZ THURSDAY AT SAM

5:30 p.m. at Sarasota Art Museum Free for members; $30 Visit SarasotaArtMuseum.org.

Nebraska native Jeremy Carter has toured and performed with global icons including Los Pericos, Tony Monaco and Terrace Martin. With his Jeremy Carter Quartet, he brings his energy and artistry to jazz/fusion. The evening features extended hours in the galleries, Bistro and museum shop.

DON’T MISS

‘THE HIGH LIFE: CONTEMPORARY

PHOTOGRAPHY AND THE BIRDS’

It’s last call for “The High Life.” Organized by the Foundation for the Exhibition of Photography, the exhibition features 70 breathtaking works of birds in a variety of locales, including the wild, the studio and the museum. The photos are displayed in the Museum of Botany & the Arts and outside throughout the gardens, where

OUR PICK

‘TOO DARN HOT: SONGS FOR A SUMMER NIGHT’

Songstress Carole J. Bufford easily skips eras and genres in this showcase of stories and songs featuring the months June, July, August and September. Whether she’s singing songs made famous by Janis Joplin or Randy Newman, she leaves the audience with something they never knew before. What’s more, her cool costumes evoke everything from flappers of the 1920s to the neo-swing era of the 1990s. Runs through Sept. 14.

IF YOU GO

When: 7:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 12

Where: FST’s Court Cabaret, 1265 First St. Tickets: $39 and up Info: Visit FloridaStudioTheatre.org.

‘THE LAST PICTURE SHOW’

7 p.m. at Sarasota Opera House, 61 N. Pineapple Ave. $12 Visit SarasotaOpera.org.

FRIDAY

FOLK JAZZ: HUNGARIAN STYLE

3 p.m. at Gulf Gate Library, 7112 Curtiss Ave. Free Visit SCGovLiibrary.LibraryMarket. com.

Join Tamás Nagy on guitar and vocals, with Jack Berry on bass and Jared Johnson on drums as they explore the contribution of Eastern European influences to folk and acoustic jazz. Seating is first-come, first-serve. No registration required.

some appear right at home in Selby’s tropical paradise overlooking Sarasota Bay. Runs through Sept. 14.

IF YOU GO

When: 10 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 13

Where: Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, 1534 Mound St. Tickets: $28; $23 online Info: Visit Selby.org.

Set in Texas,“The Last Picture Show” is a coming-of-age tale that catapulted director Peter Bogdanovich and leading lady Cybill Shepherd to stardom. Based on Larry McMurtry’s novel, the film features an all-star cast, including Timothy Bottoms, Jeff Bridges, Ellen Burstyn and Cloris Leachman.

‘NUNSENSE’

7:30 p.m. at Venice Theatre’s Raymond Theatre, 140 Tampa Ave. W., Venice $40 Visit VeniceTheatre.org.

Join Mother Superior Sister Mary Regina and the rest of the nuns as they stage a madcap variety show to help defray the cost of funerals after a culinary disaster. “Nunsense” debuted Off-Broadway in 1985 and has since morphed into a global musical comedy phenomenon. Murray Chase directs Venice Theatre’s production.

‘A BAND CALLED HONALEE’

7:30 p.m. at FST’s Goldstein Cabaret, 1239 Palm Ave. $39 and up Visit FloridaStudioTheatre.org.

The subtitle to Florida Studio Theatre’s summer cabaret show is “A Tribute to Peter, Paul Mary … and Friends,” but any self-respecting folk rock fan can spot the play on words in the name “A Band Called Honalee.” ICYMI, it refers to the mythical land made famous by the children’s song “Puff the Magic Dragon.” The incarnation of the Band Called Honalee appearing in Sarasota includes Brian Ott, Michael Grieve, Geoffrey Neuman and Sigrid Wise. Runs through Oct. 26.

COLLEEN ORENDER

8 p.m. at Fogartyville, 525 Kumquat Court

$25-$30; $15 students Visit WSLR.org.

Tampa native Colleen Orender brings her “Swamp Stompin’ Tour” to Sarasota. Orender began her music career at the tender age of 5, when she started singing with her grandpa’s country band. Now based in Nashville, she has teamed up with Michael Davey to create a new sound that has been compared to the likes of Amy Winehouse and Julie London.

TUESDAY

‘ART DECO: THE GOLDEN AGE OF ILLUSTRATION’

10 a.m. at the Sarasota Art Museum campus of Ringling College, 1001 S. Tamiami Trail Free for museum members; $20 Visit SarasotaArtMuseum.org.

The Sarasota Art Museum celebrates the 100th anniversary of the exposition that kicked off the Art Deco movement. More than 100 eyecatching posters from the Crouse Collection as well as industrial furniture, home furnishings and other objects loaned by the Wilsonian-Florida International University are on display. Runs through March 29, 2026.

BLUE MAN GROUP–BLUEVOLUTION WORLD TOUR n .......... Tue-Wed | 1/13-14/26 | 7PM

REVISITING CREEDENCE n ... Thur | 1/15/26 | 7PM KANSAS n ........................................ Fri | 1/16/26 | 7PM

SOME LIKE IT HOT n ............ Wed-Sun | 1/21-25/26

RIVERDANCE 30–THE NEW GENERATION n .......... Tue-Thur | 1/27-29/26 | 7PM THE BEAT GOES ON n ................. Sun | 2/1/26 | 7PM

MJ: THE MUSICAL n ................. Tue-Sun | 2/3-8/26 THE CHOIR OF MAN n ............. Wed | 2/11/26 | 7PM CHRIS BOTTI n ............................. Tue | 2/17/26 | 7PM THE PRICE IS RIGHT LIVE n .. Wed | 2/18/26 | 7PM

Urbanite Theatre goes big for its 2025 Modern Works Festival

The female playwriting contest opens with Phoebe Potts’ ‘Too Fat for China.’

MONICA ROMAN GAGNIER ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR

Anyone who has ever met Summer Dawn Wallace knows she is a relentless optimist. But the artistic director of Urbanite Theatre is also a realist who knows how to live in the now.

Wallace’s not sure if Urbanite’s annual Modern Works Festival celebrating female playwrights will be back next year because of economic and political headwinds. But she’s determined to make this year’s festival the best in its six-year history.

Wallace has expanded Modern Works from one week to two this year and has added a full-blown production to kick off the festival, which runs from Sept. 10-21 at Urbanite’s black box theater in downtown Sarasota.

At the same time, she has cut the number of staged readings of the three plays in competition from three to two.

“This is a really challenging time in terms of grant funding. This festival wouldn’t be possible without the generosity of female donors,” Wallace says. “There’s like 33 people working on the festival. We believe in paying artists a living wage, even the people who screen the plays.”

What Urbanite has dubbed as the “headlining production” of Modern Works is Phoebe Potts’ “Too Fat for China,” an autobiographical tale that follows a comic storyteller and a selfdescribed “professional Jew” as she tries to adopt a baby both in the U.S. and overseas.

Back in 2010, Potts wrote a graphic novel called “Good Eggs,” which chronicles the author and her husband’s struggles to conceive in both a humorous and heartbreaking way.

A resident of Gloucester, Massachusetts, Potts’ “day jobs” have included union organizing, teaching after-school art programs and helping adults and children learn the Torah through visual methods.

Last year, the keynote speaker of the Modern Works Festival was playwright Lauren Gunderson, known for such plays as “I and You,” “Silent Sky” and “The Book of Will.” (Gunderson fans will be glad to hear that her sendup of the fantasy romance world, “Lady Disdain,” will be produced by Asolo Repertory Theatre in June 2026 in a rolling world premiere.)

Speaking of rolling premieres, this year’s keynote speaker at the Modern Works Festival will be Nan Barnett, executive director of the National New Play Network, an alliance of 100 professional theaters dedicated to developing, producing and sharing new work.

Through its Rolling World Premiere program, the organization funds the development and production of plays, which then debut at three or four theaters across the country.

Modern Works attracts bold-faced names as speakers, but its raison d’etre is its playwriting competition. A panel of paid female screeners selects three plays to be read live by real actors during the festival, where adjudicators, panelists and audience members decide who will take home a $3,200 prize.

This year’s three finalists are:

n “1999,” Stacey Isom Campbell’s play about three women whose lives intersect in the aftermath of #metoo trauma;

n “Ahoy-hoy,” Jenny Stafford’s tale about American innovation in the 1870s that gets its name from the greeting that Alexander Graham Bell proposed for answering the telephone; and

IF YOU GO

2025 MODERN WORKS FESTIVAL

When: Sept. 10-21

Where: Urbanite Theatre, 1487 Second

St. Tickets: Tickets for “Too Fat for China” are $44; $30 for under 40; $5 for students. Individual play readings are $32; $27 for under 40; $5 for students; $99 for a pass; a pass including all four shows is $125.

Info: Visit UrbaniteTheatre.com.

“This is a really challenging time in terms of grant funding. This festival wouldn’t be possible without generosity of female donors.”

Summer Dawn Wallace, artistic director of Urbanite Theatre

n “Screen Time,” Sarah Cho’s exploration of raising kids in an era where parents are inundated constantly by online advice and supposedly helpful apps.

Some of these festival plays may be produced by Urbanite in future seasons, the way that Brenda Withers’ “Westminster” and Rosa Fernandez’s “A Skeptic and a Bruja” were.

“The Apiary,” another Modern Works finalist, will make its regional premiere at Urbanite from March 20 through April 19, 2026.

While there are no guarantees that the plays in competition will be produced, in the theater world, receiving a staged reading for your play is a big deal, especially at a venue such as Urbanite, which has made a name for itself with its fearless exploration of new works.

To the casual theatergoer, it may not be immediately apparent that the Modern Works Festival is dedicated to showcasing the new work of female playwrights and to celebrating women in theater because the words “women” and “female” are not in the festival’s title. But if you know, you know.

Who comes to Urbanite for the Modern Works Festival and finds free parking in the Whole Foods garage across the street? According to Wallace, “Urbanite diehards who really love new works. It’s a different kind of experience. Audiences are really having the opportunity to see a play in development.”

It should be noted that Modern Works attracts male patrons and actors for its play readings, audience talkbacks and parties.

At Modern Works, playwrights are in the driver’s seat, Wallace says. They can tinker if they want to, but they don’t have to make script changes. But the pace can be frenetic for dramatists and actors. “It’s fast and furious,” she says. “There are 16 hours of rehearsal for the staged readings.”

One of the things Wallace enjoys most about Modern Works is watching the barriers between audience members break down during the course of the festival. “In the beginning, the audience is pretty quiet,” she says. But as they get to know each other, it takes more of an effort to get patrons to settle down so that a reading or discussion can start on time. “They just can’t stop talking because they are so excited. It’s a great thing to see,” Wallace says.

Over the past decade, Children First’s fall events have collectively provided nearly $1.3 million in support of children and families from low-income backgrounds.

Hosted annually on the last Wednesday of October and the first Saturday of November, the Flip Flops & Fashion Luncheon and Rockin’ Lobster Beach Party are more than just fundraisers—they showcase family empowerment. As the leading provider of comprehensive early childhood education and family strengthening services in our community, this critical funding provides children and families from income-eligible backgrounds with the resources they need to achieve self-sufficiency and long-term success.

Now in its 18th year, Flip Flops & Fashion offers guests a unique blend of philanthropy and fashion. Dining on delicious fare from Sharky’s on the Pier, attendees watch as volunteers showcase the latest styles against the stunning backdrop of the Gulf. Presented by Bealls Inc., this event is not just a fashion fête; it’s a celebration of community impact. Iris Johnson reflected on beginning at Children First as a parent, building a career spanning almost two decades with the agency, and watching her twins—both graduates of the program— grow into staff members carrying the mission forward.

Celebrating its 13th year, Rockin’ Lobster offers a relaxed, seaside experience with live music and mouthwatering dishes. Presented by JPMorgan Chase and set against the Venice Fishing Pier, this event is a testament to the power of community coming together for a cause. For Brittney Stackhouse, Children First not only supported her journey as a teen mother but also inspired her leadership as a Policy Council representative, underscoring the agency’s role in transforming lives.

While these events create memorable experiences, they are critical to the ongoing mission of Children First. With every dollar raised, more children and families gain access to the resources they need to break the cycle of poverty and achieve lasting success.

For more information, please call (941) 953-3877 ext. 1126 or visit childrenfirst.net

Hello Beautiful

A Century Old Story

A story that began over 100 years ago and is still being written today. Once a beloved landmark, now an enduring icon reborn. Mira Mar is the future of luxury living in Sarasota, grounded in the grandeur of its past, and offering an unparalleled residential experience in the heart of downtown.

One of Sarasota’s few remaining flagships of the great Florida Land Boom of the 1920’s, it is with great pride that we restore the Mira Mar to it’s rightful place as a gleaming icon of Sarasota.

Rising elegantly above South Palm Avenue, the revived and resplendent Mira Mar presents a limited collection of 70 estate-style residences across two 18-story towers. Each home is designed to the highest standards, with sweeping views, refined interiors, and private access to best-in-class amenities.

Mira Mar is more than a residence — it’s a return to grace.

YOUR NEIGHBORS

NEVER FORGET

Two town of Longboat employees recall being in New York the morning of the 9/11 attacks.

S.T. CARDINAL STAFF WRITER

David Kushnir was across the Hudson River from Manhattan when the first plane hit the north tower of the World Trade Center on 9/11. Serving as detective with New Jersey State Police, he stepped into emergency mode.

“Basically, your training kicks in and you disassociate because you know it’s bad, but you have to do your job,” Kushnir said. “It was horrific.”

Kushnir, now a project manager in Longboat Key’s Public Works department, recently moved to the Gulf Coast. He was with NJSP for 25 years. Kushnir and Barry Gaines, a longtime Longboat Key employee who recently shifted to a contractor role, spoke about their experiences of being in New Jersey and New York 24 years ago on the morning of the Sept. 11 attacks.

Gaines grew up in Queens, leaving

“Basically, your training kicks in and you disassociate because you know it’s bad, but you have to do your job. It was horrific.”

— David Kushnir

to take a job in Florida before moving to Virginia briefly. He returned to New York City in June 2001. On the morning of Sept. 11, he was leaving his East Harlem home to meet an old friend, when his aunt, sitting in the living room, mentioned something she saw on the TV as he passed by. Gaines thought, like most did, that it was just an accident. “How do you not see that building?” they wondered aloud.

Instead of heading out, he stayed

“Your life just totally changed that day.”

— Barry Gaines

in and watched the news.

“Your life just totally changed that day,” Gaines said. After the next plane hit at 9:03 a.m., moving about the five boroughs of New York City became an arduous task.

“I would say around 11:30 or 12, things started getting shut down. You couldn’t move,” he said. Bus routes were canceled or routed away from Manhattan. Trains ground to a halt underground. Cars and boats were the only ways to get around.

Kushnir was traveling by boat, dropping off a detective in lower Manhattan before heading to Liberty State Park in Jersey City, just across the Hudson from lower Manhattan. A makeshift triage unit was put in place in the park by Jersey City Medical Center.

Kushnir had a clear view of the towers as they billowed smoke.

“Cell phones weren’t functioning, radios weren’t functioning, because all of the signals in that area were from antennas on top of the Twin Towers,” Kushnir said. Then, he and other officers found a nearby building where a restaurant was about to open with a Merlin phone system and set up a command post there.

With the Lincoln Tunnel and George Washington Bridge closed, “the only way off of Manhattan was by boat,” Kushnir said.

“They started ferrying people across New York Harbor to Liberty State Park. Now people are there, and there were no supplies, no water,” he said. Officers connected with Red Cross to provide supplies and arranged for New Jersey Transit to reroute buses headed into New York.

Everyone was called to respond across the region, with first responders rushing into and up the burning towers to rescue trapped New Yorkers. As many as 343 firefighters and 23 police officers died in New York that day. It’s hard to talk about for Kushnir, but he said remembering is important.

“Thousands of people in law enforcement, fire departments and EMS workers did their jobs,” Kushnir said. “It is paramount that we remember for those who lost who only went to work to do their jobs and never got to go home, and for their families who never saw their loved ones again.”

The attack shocked, scared and angered Americans. But in New York, Gaines said what he noticed most in the aftermath of 9/11 was unity.

“It was a surreal day. But it was something that as a New Yorker, if something happens to your state or city, everything pushes aside, and everyone just becomes one. We all felt like we just wanted to be together and fight this,” Gaines said. “From the homeless to Wall Street. You just felt like one.”

Kushnir saw the same thing.

“All of the differences in people disappeared. Whether it be political, racial, ethnic, religion, it disappeared,” Kushnir said. “Everybody was just an American. They helped

each other. People didn’t argue. They just wanted to feel safe.”

Following the attacks, Kushnir, who was in the organized crime unit, and his team began investigating the possibility of future attacks. The community was on edge, and there were a lot of questions about whether a follow-up attack was possible.

“We were assigned to do follow-up work. We went from being put back into uniform helping people get out of Liberty State Park to now going into investigation mode to put ourselves in the best possible position to prevent anything further happening,” he said.

They interviewed hotel and motel employees, flight school instructors, car rental workers and pulled subpoenas for booking records at hotels and motels.

“It was just nonstop for the first month, and thankfully, there were no secondary attacks,” Kushnir said.

“All over America, law enforcement got together and followed up. Did we do a good job afterwards? I would say so. Were we lucky? I would say so. We were fortunate nothing else happened beyond that.”

Air traffic was halted for days after the attacks. Even after air traffic resumed, Americans were leery of taking to the air, and commercial flights didn’t reach pre-attack levels until 2004, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. Gaines said the lack of commercial planes approaching LaGuardia overhead in the days after 9/11 was eerie.

“It was creepy because it was silent,” Gaines said. “You don’t hear a honk or nothing and you look into the sky and you just see two lights in the sky, fighter jets.”

Gaines and Kushnir eventually visited Ground Zero. The pile of rubble smoldered for months.

The massive dust plume that blanketed much of lower Manhattan and the carcinogenic smoke that continued to spew from the rubble pile caused impacts to survivors years after. According to the World Trade Center Health Program, more than 6,300 survivors and first responders have died from cancers since the attacks.

“There’s guys who were working the rubble pile in lower manhattan during recovery efforts,” Kushnir said. “Over time, there were guys that responded that wound up acquiring cancer and tumors and dying ... You’re just thankful that it didn’t happen to you.”

America promised to never forget that day, and for those that were there, it’s impossible to forget even if they wanted to. A glance at a clock, the “dial 911” stickers on police cars, going through TSA at the airport. All reminders. And New York was missing the dominating twin centerpieces of its skyline. Another reminder.

“The twin towers were a symbol of strength around the world,” Gaines said.

“It was one of those kings. For it to be taken down, it was almost like a Titanic feeling. Like ‘we can’t sink,’ and it did.”

St. Armands rides high

St. Armands Circle has played host to a plethora of curiosity-inspiring vehicles over the years, from the 1966 maroon Roadster that appeared in the 2009 “Star Trek” film to a 1956 Jaguar formerly owned by Hollywood stars Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones, and all manner of stylish, rare contemporary cars.

The first car show of the season, Exotic Cars on the Circle, delighted onlookers with a variety of interesting wheels on Sept. 6.

Proceeds from registration fees, sales of Christmas ornaments and other donations went to the Flight to the North Pole charity.

Wife-and-husband duo Sylvia Gillotte and Sidney Ettedgui are the leaders of the nonprofit, which began in 1985.

Gillotte said she appreciates the car community’s ongoing support for their aim to bring as much holiday cheer as possible to families with terminally ill children.

“It started out with a group of Eastern Air Lines stewardesses, and when that shut down, my husband, who had been assisting with it, took it over and made it a 501(c)(3),” she explained.

She noted the Christmas celebration is the group’s main focus, but it also offers support to participating families throughout the year whenever possible. The organization recently donated an accessible van to one local family.

“We also offer some respite care by sending kids to camp so parents get that

respite, because a lot of this is so overwhelming,” she said.

Sage Auto Studios and Ferrari Drivers SRQ hosted the annual car show, which drew Porsches, Lamborghinis and, of course, Ferraris.

Along with plenty of new entries this year, the car show also welcomed some fan favorites, including the Batmobile owned by Eugene Nock.

The vehicle famously appeared in the 1960s “Batman” TV series and 1966’s “Batman: The Movie.”

Nock said nothing brings him pride like supporting organizations such as Flight to the North Pole over the years with the Gotham crimefighter’s famous ride.

“This car, no matter where you park it, always gets lots of attention and photos,” he said, adding that he’s always delighted to support organizations like Make-AWish, local schools and this foundation. He continued, “It makes me proud to give back to Sarasota and support worthy causes.”

This year’s Flight to the North Pole celebration is planned for Dec. 12 at Feld Entertainment.

Ettedgui said the organization has grown to support at least 400 children. For information on how to donate, visit FlightToTheNorthPole.org.

The next car show scheduled for St. Armands is Ferraris on the Circle, taking place on Nov. 1.

— DANA KAMPA

REAL ESTATE BY REAL EXPERTS

INN ON THE BEACH

MARINA BAY

SATURDAY,

MEET

11

Drive. Author Alan Cross recently put pen to paper while investigating the Aug. 1, 1980, unsolved mass murders on Anna Maria Island for his book, “Tales From the Island.” He will be signing copies at the gift shop. Visit ThreeIslandMonkeys. com for more information.

ST. ARMANDS ART FESTIVAL

10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, 1 St. Armands Circle. Free. Join the third annual St. Armands Circle Art Festival with Craft Marketplace. Explore creations from local and national artists and crafters, including festival favorites and emerging artists, while enjoying the shops and restaurants of St. Armands Circle. Visit ArtFestival. com.

TUESDAY, SEPT. 16

GATHER AND GIVE

5 p.m. at Longboat Island Chapel, 6200 Gulf of Mexico Drive. Join members for a potluck dinner and fundraiser for the Resurrection House in Sarasota. The drive is focusing on men’s clothing, particularly jeans, T-shirts, sneakers, blankets and toiletries. Call 941-383-6491 with questions.

THURSDAY, SEPT. 18

CIRCLE THE DATE

All day. St. Armands Circle, 300 Madison Drive. Join participating businesses on St. Armands Circle all day for special sales and giveaways for this monthly summer event.

BEST BET

THURSDAY, SEPT. 18

CHALLAH BAKE

9:30-11:30 a.m. at Temple Beth Israel of Longboat Key, 567 Bay Isles Road. Open to members and guests. Practice making challah for the holiday with Rabbi Jessica Mates and Sylvia Pastor at a free baking workshop. Special guest speaker Beth Ricanati will speak to the tradition of braiding challah. Space is limited. RSVP by Sept. 12. Call 941-383-3428 or email Info@ LongboatKeyTemple.org.

Moving day

The Paradise Center packed up for its big move to Longboat Island Chapel.

DANA KAMPA STAFF WRITER

Moving week at The Paradise Center brought forward some interesting surprises for staff. Among the items uncovered from the shelves was a photo album with memories dating back to the group’s inception.

RECURRING EVENTS

TUESDAYS POP-UP LIBRARY

10 a.m. at the Town Center Green, 600 Bay Isles Road. The Sarasota County Pop-Up Library hosts services on the first and third Tuesdays of each month, with storytime beginning at 10:30 a.m. and other services available from 10-11:30 a.m.

SATURDAYS RUN CLUB

7 a.m. at Sips coffee shop, 6830 Gulf of Mexico Drive. Join this newly formed community running club for a morning jog at your own pace. The group is free and open to the public, and registration is not required.

Amy Steinhauser, executive director of the center, said the move has been going smoothly, and her team looks forward to reopening at the new Longboat Island Chapel location at the end of September.

The community center maintained its regular programming until the last week of August, when team members turned all their energy toward final moving preparations.

“It feels like we’re going to have more space to spread out a little, and we wanted to expand our programs,” she said. “It looks like this move is going to give us an opportunity to even run some classes concurrently.”

She anticipates there will be some overlap between congregation members at the chapel and members at The Paradise Center, but she also believes they will see an uptick in membership as they

welcome new people.

Steinhauser said the center looks forward to expanding its programming after getting settled in the new space. That may include bingo, cooking classes and other, more in-depth educational programs.

She added the center is looking to expand its staff, as well.

In the weeks leading up to the Sept. 29 reopening, the center is seeking support for its fundraising. The center surpassed the 10% mark of its total fundraising goal. For details on how to contribute through the Louis and Gloria Flanzer Philanthropic Trust or GiveButter, visit TheParadiseCenter. org.

REOPENING

The

NATURE’S BEAUTY WITH

FORECAST

SEPT. 13 High: 86

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