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EAST COUNTY
You. Your neighbors. Your neighborhood.
NEWS
Willis principal overcomes sticky situation. PAGE 3.
OUR TOWN
Thursday, DECEMBER 22, 2011
Merry Christmas
Sports
Sarasota Polo Club launches youth program.
The Observer wishes you a happy holiday.
PAGE 23.
future plans By Pam Eubanks | News Editor beauty and the feet
Homebuilder buys site Upper Manatee 288 LLC, managed by Carlos Beruff, purchased the former Moore’s Dairy site out of foreclosure for $4.7 million.
+ Temple youth spread cheer East County residents were among the Temple Emanu-El Youth Group members who brought songs, crafts and holiday cheer to Anchin Pavilion Dec. 11. The teens gathered at Anchin’s Memory Care Center to share an early Hanukkah celebration with the assistedliving facility residents. The festivities began with a Hanukkah sing-along, led by Rabbi Brenner J. Glickman and East County teenager Sam Silverberg. Following the singing, Anchin Pavilion residents and youth group members socialized while decorating wooden dreidels with Anchin residents.
HERITAGE HARBOUR — A local homebuilder has purchased 289 acres by the Heritage Harbour community out of foreclosure. The purchased ends, at least tem-
porarily, uncertainty surrounding the site formerly home to Moore’s Dairy. Upper Manatee 288 LLC, a Bradenton company managed by
homebuilder and developer Carlos Beruff, of Medallion Home, has purchased the site at 112 Upper Manatee River Road for $4.7 million.
By Pam Eubanks | News Editor
Bayside spreads Christmas cheer
NIGHT LIGHTS By Pam Eubanks | News Editor
More than 40 Future Farmers of America students from Nolan Middle School earned community service hours Dec. 3 at the Myakka City Christmas Parade. Students also volunteered 11 hours to help with the real “snow” at the festival following the parade.
In celebration of the holiday season, many East County residents have brightened the night, stringing up lights and other displaying other decorations for neighbors and friends to enjoy. Here is just a sampling of Christmas cheer aglow in the East County this year. SEE LIGHTS / PAGE 10
This nativity scene adorns the front yard of a home on 18th Place East in Mill Creek.
+ Ranch students donate toys Students at Lakewood Ranch High School showed their spirit of giving, donating more than 500 gifts toward the Salvation Army’s Angel Tree project. The Salvation Army picked up the gifts on Dec. 5.
SEE PURCHASE / PAGE 8
HOLIDAY SPIRIT
This home lit up Pasadena Glen in the Palmer’s Creek section of the Country Club of Lakewood Ranch.
+ Nolan Middle FFA marches in Myakka
“We bought it with a long-term view,” Beruff said. “We’re not rushing to go out and do anything, other than (get) ideas of what we might do in the future with it. We’re slow and methodical — like a tortoise.
Some neighbors on Planters Manor Way in Greenfield Plantation have dubbed their street “Santa’s runway” because so many homeowners have lined their yards with white lights.
Bayside Community Church’s Family Christmas Spectacular will feature sledding, family pictures, pony rides and more. MANATEE COUNTY — It may not snow in Southwest Florida, but East County residents can bundle up on holiday fun and hit the slopes this week, as Bayside Community Church presents a Family Christmas Spectacular. The five-day event includes an opportunity to sled down a 10-foot-tall, 30-foot-long hill, drink hot cocoa and sing Christmas carols, among other festivities. “It’s the first time I’ve seen a (sledding) saucer since I was a kid up north,” Bayside Director of Events Gregg Ellery said, noting there will be two hills for sledding — one for adults and youth and one for younger children. “We also have a 50-foot miniature train (for children to ride). It looks like something out of Disney World.” Festivities start at 6 p.m. Dec. 21-23, and at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. Dec. 24, at Bayside,
SEE SPECTACULAR / PAGE 8
INDEX Briefs......................4 Classifieds ...........28
Cops Corner............7 Crossword.............27
Opinion...................6 Real Estate...........22
Sports...................23 Weather................27
Vol. 12, No. 51 | One section YourObserver.com