Sarasota/Siesta Key Observer 7.13.23

Observer

YOUR TOWN

The price tag to put officers on patrol

Day drinking

If any drink deserves its day, it has to be the daiquiri. That beloved beach drink, with its countless variations and occasional literary pretensions, will be celebrated in all its frozen glory on National Daiquiri Day — July 19.

But what’s the secret to the perfect rum-soaked concoction? When in doubt, turn to the experts.

“The secret to a great daiquiri is to mix the fruity and the creamy together, so you get the best of both worlds,” said Tyler Fite, a bartender at the Siesta Key Daiquiri Deck.

The Yukon, Oklahoma, native knows a thing or two about the drink. He’s been behind the bar at the Deck for five years while making art in a variety of media. He also makes a mean red, white and blue daiquiri. (That’s layers of strawberry, piña colada and electric blue lemonade, if you care to dabble.)

To ring in the holiday, all five Daiquiri Deck locations will be giving away one free 10-ounce daiquiri with any purchase on July 19. And one lucky winner at each location that day will win free daiquiris for an entire year, among other giveaways.

Pack it up

The Sarasota Police Department is already thinking about the school year.

SPD has asked community members to “Pack the Patrol Car” with school supplies to help the underserved.

From July 19 to Aug. 2, supplies may be dropped off at SPD headquarters at 2099 Adams Lane or at Core SRQ, 1075 S. Euclid Ave.

“We’re excited to bring back our annual Pack the Patrol Car school supply drive event again this year,” said Sarasota Police Chief Rex Troche. “This will be the sixth year our community has partnered with our agency to make sure every child goes back to class with the school supplies they need to succeed in the classroom.”

Drop-off times are 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. each day.

WEEK OF JULY 13, 2023

Sarasota County Sheriff Kurt Hoffman

Read more on Page 3

$3.2M

CALENDAR

n Sarasota City Commission regular meeting — 9 a.m., Monday, July 17, Commission Chambers, City Hall, 1565 First St.

n Sarasota County School Board special meeting — 8 a.m., Monday, July 17, Board Chambers, Landings Administration Complex, 1980 Landings Blvd. (black awning entrance).

n Sarasota County School Board regular meeting

— 6 p.m., Tuesday, July 18, Board Chambers, Landings Administration Complex, 1980 Landings Blvd.

Selby Gardens names leadership for 2024

Marie Selby Botanical Gardens’

Board of Trustees has elected new leadership and a new member for fiscal year 2024.

Joel Morganroth has been named chair, Teri Hansen vice chair and Bruce Sorensen a three-year term as a new trustee.

It also reelected seven members to new three-year terms.

Morganroth, who served as vice chair last year, is an academic cardiologist who specializes in cardiovascular drug development. He has served on the editorial boards of several journals.

Hansen is president and CEO

of Charles & Margery Barancik Foundation. She has more than 30 years of experience in philanthropic leadership, including previous roles as president and CEO of Gulf Coast Community Foundation and vice president at The Cleveland Foundation.

“Dr. Morganroth provided critical leadership as our vice chair and Finance Committee chair over the past year, and we are fortunate that he will lead our board as we open phase one of our transformative master plan this fall,” said Selby Gardens President and CEO Jennifer

Visit Sarasota names new president and CEO

Visit Sarasota County has promoted its next top officer from within. On Thursday, the VSC Board of Directors voted to appoint current Vice President Erin Duggan as the new president and CEO effective Sept. 30, when the current President Virginia Haley retires.

Duggan joined in 2005 as public relations manager and then served as brand director. She has held the office of vice president since 2016.

In her current and previous roles she helped create initiatives such as an airline marketing incentive program that attracted new air service at Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport. She developed Savor Sarasota Restaurant Week, which annually occurs the first two weeks of June. She is also credited with developing award-winning marketing and public relations campaigns.

Duggan has been a longtime community leader, serving as president of the Junior League of Sarasota and as past chair of the Greater Sarasota Chamber of Commerce Youth Leadership Program.

Engineering manual workshop held July 19

As city of Sarasota staff work through updating its Engineering Design Criteria Manual, an open house will be held 5-6:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 19 at the SRQ Media Studio in the City Hall Annex, 1565 First St.

Rominiecki. “Teri Hansen also has been a vital leader and champion for Selby Gardens, and as chair of our Advisory Committee, she has helped Selby Gardens engage a diverse and growing network of community leaders in advancing our mission.”

New trustee Sorensen is managing director of financial services firm Baird’s public finance group. His expertise includes local government, economic development, and charter school finance. He previously served on Selby Gardens’ Advisory Committee.

The EDCM is a guide that provides design standards for roads, trails, sidewalks and other infrastructure within the right of way. It is used by city staff as well as private sector engineers and developers.

During the meeting, transportation and engineering staff will provide a presentation on the final draft of the EDCM 2023 update, which includes revisions to chapters on streetscape, street design, stormwater and erosion, subdivision regulation and solid waste. Each topic will be discussed during breakout table sessions.

Additional information about the EDCM 2023 update is available at SarasotaFL.Gov/Government/ EDCM.

“Certainly we need more deputies and this is the first step in that. Whether that gets us to 100, 125 or beyond, we’ll evaluate that year by year.”

$4,500 Fuel/Lubricants for one year

TOTAL PRICE TO EQUIP PATROL CAR

$71,063

MAKING OF A DEPUTY

$105,213 Salary & benefits

$9,969 Uniform & Weapons

$16,563 Lightbar, Lettering & Equipment

As Sarasota County’s population rises, so does the need for the Sheriff’s Office to hire more sworn officers to maintain a similar operational ratio of deputies per capita.

During the County Commission’s June 20 budget workshop, Sheriff Kurt Hoffman told commissioners that to keep up with the state’s average of 1.66 deputies per 1,000 residents, he needs to hire 125 deputies. The agency’s current ratio is 1.21 per 1,000. Hoffman said he will submit budget requests to hire 20 new deputies each year over the next five years — in today’s dollars a cost of $20.5 million per year for vehicles, fuel, equipment, uniforms and all the tools required for law enforcement.

Responsible for protecting the population of unincorporated Sarasota County, the Sheriff’s Office currently employs 463 sworn deputies and has four vacancies. It also employs 210 sworn corrections officers.

“In this budget, we do have FTEs (full-time equivalents)

$50,000 Tahoe Police Package

related to growth, and for the new commissioners we’ve been talking about this for a number of years, being able to build out the FTEs that we need to be able to deal with the growth in Sarasota County,” Hoffman said. “So in this budget you have before you today, I have 20 law enforcement positions, and I have four civilian positions.”

That doesn’t include replacement of patrol SUVs. The Sheriff’s Office drives approximately 7 million miles per year, exclusive of helicopters, four-wheelers, boats, etc. The entire department budget request is $181.8 million.

During COVID, Hoffman said the department was unable to order all the vehicles it required to maintain fleet needs, so he’s looking to add 15 to 20 vehicles to catch up in terms of fleet replacement.

Hoffman said between a new patrol SUV outfitted with a police package, computers, radios, uniforms, weapons, salary and benefits, etc, it costs approximately $205,000 to put each additional deputy on the street. With population growth showing no signs of abating, growing the force beyond the current 463 sworn deputies to maintain the current ratio, much less reach the statewide average, is not an option.

“Certainly we need more deputies and this is the first step in that,” Hoffman said of his request for 20 more this year. “Whether that gets us to 100, 125 or beyond, we’ll evaluate that year by year, but certainly we’re not going back in terms of the population of this county and the number of visitors. It’s not going to go the other direction.”

TOTAL PRICE TO EQUIP A DEPUTY

$134,172

$18,990 Radios & Communications Equipment

Putting a Sheriff ’s Office deputy on the street comes with a $205,000 price tag.

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Sarasota restaurant owner admits to IRS scheme, faces prison time

LOUIS LLOVIO BUSINESS OBSERVER

July 406456-1

Karl Knocker, whose age was not disclosed, pleaded guilty to three counts of failing to provide information to the IRS. He faces three years in prison and a $100,000 fine. A sentencing date has not been set.

The restaurant’s other owner, Madeline Nikolson, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the United States in May, according to federal court records online. She is scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 1 and faces

five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. According to the plea agreements in both cases and a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida, starting as early as August 2013, the pair used their knowledge of the restaurant’s point of sale system to void and back out cash transactions, leaving only the records for payments made by credit cards. They also instructed at least one employee to back out the sales, according to the plea agreement. By doing this, they were able to hide — and avoid paying taxes on — cash transactions for several years. While the scheme began as early as August 2013, the plea covers the years 2016, 2017 and 2018. Over that three-year period, the pair failed to report $726,105 in income on the restaurant’s tax returns and on their personal returns.

Prosecutors in Knocker’s plea agreement say that over the threeyear period he underpaid about $101,000 in federal income tax. Nikolson’s plea agreement reflect those same figures in her case.

2023 SUMMER LUNCH & LEARN SERIES

Benjamin Rogers

AJC’s Director, Middle East and North Africa Initiatives WEDNESDAY, JULY 19, 2023

The United States, Israel, and the Arab World: Where do we go from here?

Belle Yoeli

AJC’s Chief Advocacy Officer

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 23, 2023

The State of Jewish Affairs: Around the World with AJC

There is never a dull moment for the Jewish people and the State of Israel. Join us for an in-depth conversation as we tackle some of the most challenging current events and how they are impacting our community.

Reservations

City explores expanding vacation rental regulations

VACATION RENTAL REQUIREMENTS

n Minimum stay of seven full days and nights.

F or now, the city of Sarasota’s vacation rental registration ordinance applies only to the Coastal Islands Overlay District, where 138 property owners currently rent homes on a minimum weekly basis.

With upwards of 700 more properties operating as vacation rentals scattered throughout the city, though, the City Commission may soon take up the matter of expanding the ordinance over the entire jurisdiction.

Commissioner Jen Ahearn-Koch collaborated with city staff to pitch the proposal at Monday’s commission workshop to expand the coverage of the ordinance because of the growing vacation rental industry. How many of the 700 or so homes are used as short-term rentals, though, remains unknown as some may be owner-occupied. A vacation rental must either be an entire home or an accessory building on the property. There are enough of them, according to Ahearn-Koch, to explore the possibilities.

“Other neighborhoods in our city are being impacted, and their quality of life is being impacted by hotel houses,” Ahearn-Koch said. “What does it look like if we were to make this citywide? We know that constituents’ property values are important. Their quality of life is important. But if this is something they’re asking for, I think we all need to go into this eyes wide open about what it will cost because it does take staff time. It does take technology. It does take enforcement.”

The vacation rental ordinance was adopted in May, applicable only to homes on Lido Key, St. Armands Key, Bird Key, Coon Key, Otter Key and the northern portion of Siesta Key. A vacation rental is defined by state statute as “any unit, group of units, dwelling, building or group of buildings within a single complex of buildings which is rented to guests more than three times in a calendar year for periods of less than 30 days or one calendar month, whichever is less, or which is advertised or held out to the public as a place regularly rented to guests.”

The current city ordinance further requires a minimum stay of seven full

days and seven full nights to qualify as a legal vacation rental.

Vacation rental owners must register the property with the city and comply with a host of safety and behavior standards to maintain their status. City compliance specialists inspect properties, but currently there aren’t enough specialists to support a citywide expansion.

Lucia Panica, the city’s director of development services, said without space for more personnel at City Hall, expanding the ordinance citywide would not be implemented until fiscal year 2025, when the city’s “one-stop shop” building currently under construction is completed.

The current fee structure for a vacation rental is $250 for initial registration, $150 for renewal, $100 for an amended registration, $50 for first re-inspection should a property fail to comply with all standards, and $100 for second and third re-inspections. The rentals would also be subject to business taxes, sales taxes and tourism taxes.

Whether those fees can be adjusted to help cover the cost of additional personnel required for enforcement is questionable, City Attorney Robert Fournier cautioned commissioners, citing possible state preemptions.

“Is there any method or way we

n All vacation rentals meeting the state’s definition are required to obtain a vacation rental dwelling license from the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation.

n Obtain a local business tax receipt certificate to operate as a vacation rental business.

n Obtain a certificate of registration with the city to advertise or operate as a vacation rental.

n Owners submit proof of active local and state licensure and tax requirements and inspection for minimum safety and informational standards. n Pass city inspection.

could build in our fee so that they can’t be preempted?” Ahearn-Koch asked.

“No,” was the brief response from Fournier.

The discussion over costs to implement citywide expansion will be on the agenda of upcoming budget sessions, City Manager Marlon Brown told commissioners.

The city used software that culls marketing of vacation rentals in the city to determine the number of such properties within city limit. Unknown is how many are owneroccupied, which are not included under the ordinance. Staff would have to contact those property owners individually to make that assessment.

An application form and more details about the current vacation rental ordinance are available on the city’s website at SarasotaFl.gov.

Personalized

Commissioners heard a pitch to apply rules to hundreds of city properties operating as short-term rentals.

In two years, an ad hoc Purple Ribbon Committee will be due to make its recommendations about the future use of the iconic Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall.

The Sarasota City Commission will select the seven-member panel from a field of 29 applicants during its next regular meeting, Monday, July 17.

The committee will be tasked with studying financially sustainable options, as well as the use, purpose and lease of the Van Wezel. The creation of the committee is a requirement of a partnership agreement between the city and the Sarasota Performing Arts Center Foundation

Van

Wezel’s

— formerly the Van Wezel Foundation — as they work toward the funding and design of a new facility also to be located in The Bay Park.

That agreement was reached in April 2022 to establish and define responsibilities for the planning, financing, design and construction of a new performing arts center, in addition to considering options for continued use of the Van Wezel.

During its May 1 meeting, the City Commission discussed and approved the composition of the Purple Ribbon Committee, which will include two at-large citizen members; one member with expertise in architecture in the design of performing arts centers and re-use of large public structures and buildings; one with expertise in historic preservation; one with expertise in civil structural engineering; one with financial expertise in the field of the performing arts; and one with expertise in climate adaptation with experience in FEMA floodplain.

Beyond the two at-large city residents, local citizenship is not required of the remainder of the committee, the commission plac

ing a higher priority on expertise. The committee will have two years to complete its work.

Meanwhile, the city has begun the negotiation process with Genoa, Italy-based Renzo Piano Building Workshop, the architecture firm selected by a task force appointed by the city and the SPAC Foundation to design the new performing arts center during a seven-month process. That is a critical step in the development of an implementation agreement between the city and the foundation, which is due to be completed by November 2024.

PURPLE RIBBON COMMITTEE APPLICANTS APPLICANTS AND AREAS OF EXPERTISE

SARASOTA RESIDENTS

n Sara Creech

n R. Scott Ashby, performing arts financials

n Charlie Nagelschmidt

n Sarah Baldwin

n Gregg Kaplan

n George Rasko

n Richard Rueger

n Aldan Hopson

n Michael Graham

n Georgia Court

n Howard Kilman

n Karen Whitaker

n Danielle Stewart

n David Rovine

n Debra Ahmari, performing arts financials

n Kenneth Shelin

n Arnold Gomez

n Tina Steele

n Melissa Gissinger, historic preservation

n Lorrie Muldowney, historic preservation

NONRESIDENTS

n Morris Hylton III, historic preservation, facility design and re-use, climate adaption

n Selma Goker Wilson, facility design and re-use

n Charles Cosler, facility design and re-use

n David Baber, historic preservation

n Tony Souza, historic preservation

n Lee-en Chung, civil structural engineering

n Rick Fourie, performing arts

n Ronald Kashden, performing arts

n Robert Bunting, climate adaption

The committee will be tasked with studying financially sustainable options, as well as the use, purpose and lease of the Van Wezel.

Pensions below standards

Florida lawmakers altered the Florida Retirement System in ways that improved the system, while also increasing the future burden on taxpayers. Florida’s system still falls below industry guidelines.

HOW STATE PENSION SYSTEMS COMPARE

This table shows the contribution rates for defined contribution-style plans. Data for the table is from the Pension Integrity Project’s plan reports and websites. The rates displayed for the Florida Retirement System are for the regular class, which includes most nonpublic safety members.

“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.”

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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis recently signed Senate Bill 7024, which makes several changes to the Florida Retirement System, the state’s retirement plan for government workers. And let’s say there is good news and bad news.

The good: A change to improve the long-term viability of the state’s defined contribution plan. The bad: More risks and costs to an already strained public pension system.

Most Sarasota city and county and school district employees are in the FRS. Indeed, only a minority of government workers getting their retirement benefit from FRS are state employees: about 48% are employed by school districts, 24% by counties, 14% by the state, 8% by universities and colleges and 6% by cities.

This year’s reforms roll back several cost-saving reforms that were implemented in 2011 for public safety workers, an unfortunate move considering the pension system is still on a long path to becoming consistently fully funded.

The plan has about $38 billion in unfunded liabilities and still relies too much on higher-than-realistic investment returns, even after taking a $14 billion loss in fiscal year 2022.

Instead of adding more benefits with unpredictable costs, lawmakers should direct their attention to eliminating the pension debt that has loomed over state budgets and taxpayers for decades. Alongside this potentially costly change comes a positive development for Florida employees and taxpayers. Florida government employers will increase their contributions to the state’s defined contribution plan — similar to a 401(k) — dubbed the Investment Plan.

While this contribution increase comes with a cost increase for those governments, it’s crucial for the benefit adequacy of the defined contribution plan, which is a key component in the state’s effort to reduce long-term pension risks and costs for taxpayers.

Florida’s Investment Plan has been a valuable retirement savings option for public workers since 2002. After years of wrestling with unpredictable runaway costs associated with FRS’ traditional

defined-benefit pension plan, state legislators voted to make the existing defined contribution plan the default option for new hires — excluding police and firefighters — beginning in 2018. Now, the majority of newly hired teachers and government workers participate in the Investment Plan, making it the state’s primary retirement plan and a keystone of the Florida Retirement System for the foreseeable future.

With its increasingly prominent role in providing retirement security for the state’s government workers, many began taking a closer look at the Investment Plan’s longterm viability.

Unfortunately, the state set up the Investment Plan with the lowest employer contribution rate among all states with similar retirement plans. This meant that even if state and local government workers put in the maximum amount allowed out of their own salaries, they would not have enough money in their retirement plan when they reached retirement age. This put the employee’s retirement security in extreme risk and taxpayers at risk to bail the system out years from now when it is much more expensive to do so.

The Reason Foundation warned the state in legislative testimony and reports in 2021 that this was a problem in urgent need of repair.

In 2022, the state took the first step with a 3% increase in employer contributions for all members participating in the Investment Plan.

This raised Florida up to at least compete with the lowest contributors among other states offering similar plans, but it still remained the lowest on this list. That brought total contributions per year per employee up to a max of 9.3%, which was still well below industry guidelines of 12% to 15% of

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PLANS

What is the difference between a defined-benefit pension plan and a defined-contribution plan?

A defined-benefit plan — also commonly known as a traditional pension plan — provides a specified payment amount in retirement.

A defined-contribution plan allows employees to contribute and invest in funds and other securities over time to save for retirement.

Defined-contribution plans have replaced defined-benefit plans as the most popular type of pension plan in corporations. This has shifted the burden of saving for retirement to the employee from that on the employer.

pay going toward retirement. This year’s reforms increased employer contributions by another 2%, bringing total employer contributions to 8.3%, with employees still contributing 3%, for total contributions of 11.3%. This is closer to the industry standard, and as the table shows, in the middle of the range offered by states with comparable retirement plans. However, Florida policymakers should not surmise that their work is done. The next round of reforms should look to increase employee contribution rates, which have remained at 3% for decades.

Florida policymakers should also be wary of more calls to undo previous cost-saving reforms. Despite a still-growing $38.3 billion shortfall in assets needed to cover pension promises already made to FRS members, some have taken the state’s recent budget surpluses and

renewed calls from public unions about recruitment and retention challenges to justify costly boosts to retirement benefits. Adding more pension liabilities while the state is having trouble paying for the ones already promised is bad practice and exacerbates a costly problem for Florida taxpayers.

At the same time, Sarasota area school districts, the city of Sarasota and Sarasota County will see some increased costs as they must make higher contributions to both the Investment Plan and the pension plan for their workers. But that is far better than allowing the retirement plan to continue on its previous unsustainable path with rapidly mounting costs for future taxpayers. It is far more efficient to pay the costs now and each year than to let these plans build into a kind of massive balloon payment.

Florida policymakers’ contribution improvements to the Investment Plan are prudent steps toward achieving the difficult task of providing adequate retirement benefits for public workers at a responsible level of risk and cost to the taxpayer. By improving the state’s defined contribution plan, they are bolstering its longterm plan of reducing runaway costs, which will be instrumental in reducing and preventing expensive pension debts for future generations.

Florida policymakers should continue to seek reforms that strengthen the Investment Plan and reduce the risks of public pension debt. It is important to vigilantly guide FRS all the way back to full funding without adding more risks of runaway costs.

Zachary Christensen is managing director of Reason Foundation’s Pension Integrity Project, and Adrian Moore is vice president at Reason and a resident of Sarasota.

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New downtown condo tower nears approval

The Edge would be built at the corner of Fruitville Road and Cocoanut Avenue if approved.

ANDREW WARFIELD STAFF WRITER

A new luxury condo tower on the edge of the downtown core has received partial sign-off from the Development Review Committee during its July 5 meeting. The Edge, a 10-story, 27-unit building is planned at the southeast corner of Cocoanut Avenue and Fruitville Road by developer Jim Bridges under the entity Jebco Edge LLC.

To be developed on just more than one-half acre, seven residential floors will be built atop a threelevel parking structure. Amenities will include a pool, fitness center, conference room and event space.

The site plan shows resident and guest parking will be accessible via a 20-foot-wide alley abutting the south side of the building and traffic will exit the condo via Cocoanut Avenue. Rounded corners will host 45-degree balconies. The height of the proposed building is 164 feet to the top of rooftop cabanas. Ceiling height on the first five residential floors is 12 feet, 14 feet on the top two floors.

A model drawing of the building shows an outdoor pool cabana and amenity space on the fourth floor.

With partial sign-off, The Edge needs only clear a few remaining comments, after which it will go to the Director of Development Services Amy Pintus for final administrative approval.

The DRC also received a new submittal for Premier on Main, a mixed-used development including 20 townhomes and 6,734 square feet of commercial space.

The 1.39-acre site is north of Fourth Street between North Orange Avenue to the west and

Keep the Van Wezel

Words make worlds — the shore-hugging, organically modern, Wright-rooted Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall has long been lauded as the “Crown Jewel of Sarasota Bay.”

Words proclaim — legendary architect Carl Abbott called the Van Wezel “Sarasota’s icon.”

Words shape sentiment — status markers, like “world class,” bestow esteem, or take it away.

Words build drama — descriptions like “in the flood plain” are true of the entire bayfront.

Words evoke emotion — “Sarasota has the Wright stuff,” envied St. Pete’s mayor at the debut.

Words compare — musician John Legend likened the audience intimacy to “performing in someone’s living room.”

popularity of the Broadway series led to competition for booking dates during season.

Words resonate — these were among the considerations that led to the Sarasota Orchestra’s decision to start planning its own dedicated concert hall over a decade ago.

Words preserve — when The Bay Park Master Plan was drafted, a placeholder was sketched reflecting the possible new symphony hall to complement the Van Wezel. The situation changed when the orchestra announced its new regional music center.

protect it, and keep it what it has been for 53 years a pearl of a performing arts presenting hall. Words communicate — while they study, the taxpaying residents of Sarasota, generous philanthropists at the Performing Arts Foundation, civic stewards in the city’s government, and visionaries at The Bay Park should have a community-wide conversation to collectively reimagine what indoor and outdoor arts and leisure spaces would bring the most enjoyment to the greatest number of people at Sarasota’s bayside culture park.

Adelia Avenue to the east.

The site combines nine parcels containing several residential structures. A proposed site plan shows two buildings of townhomes — one at Fourth Street and Adelia Avenue (seven units) and another interior to the site (three units) — and a mixed-use building with 10 residences above street-level commercial spaces along North Orange Avenue. A private street that runs internal to the site and provides access to parking areas is accessible from Adelia Avenue. With multiple comments remaining, a resubmittal of the project will be required.

Words drive action — “paint it the color of this scallop,” intoned Frank Lloyd Wright’s widow, setting off decades of word wars about the lilac shell with the rippled roof that glistens in the gloaming, performing Sarasota’s beachy Mod vibe, playful spirit, artsy nature and civic essence.

Words make-believe — thespian Helen Hayes described the lavender lady as “an actor’s ideal theater.”

Words award — since the expansion twenty years ago to make the stage house large enough for Broadway sets, the Van Wezel has won “best in class” touring theater seven times.

Words reverberate — theatrical flytowers aren’t ideal for orchestral performances, and the

Words wound — the capital of Florida’s cultural coast boasts a remarkably memorable performance hall whose reputation has been unfairly tarnished by expecting the Apollo Theater to be Carnegie Hall or Sarasota to be Sydney.

Words elucidate — with seats available for almost 90% of the shows, the Van Wezel is sized correctly. Given Sarasota’s proximity to Tampa’s Straz, there is no reason to add capacity.

Words admit — the middleaged building isn’t perfect –deferred maintenance is needed, storm surge protection measures should be evaluated, backstage areas need facelifts, and routine theatrical equipment upgrades should be ongoing.

Words repair — once the purple ribbon panel is seated, the city will have the right experts to analyze what it will cost and take to restore the theater’s luster,

Words co-create — we could convert Holley Hall to smaller performance spaces for local artists. Or ask Renzo Piano to design an iconic amphitheater like Clearwater’s new The Sound. Or build a parking structure so the asphalt expanse could be repurposed as free greenspace for families and festivals. There is no one right answer. But there is one wrong one – entertaining the idea of putting Sarasota’s purple heart and soul out to pasture.

KELLY FRANKLIN

SARASOTA

Kelly Franklin is a city of Sarasota resident. She studied the Van Wezel, the bayfront context and benchmark symphony halls as part of the 2016 University of Florida CityLab master’s in architecture program.

Part Nature. Part Playground. all home.

FRIDAY, JUNE 30 PERSISTENT PETITION PROBLEMS

6:16 p.m., 1400 block of First Street Dispute: A week after petition signature seekers were embroiled in a dispute over a booth on the sidewalk that is the property of a retailer, the same group called police about a male subject who had made a threat toward them involving a gun. Two males told an officer a subject had been yelling at them and people who signed their petitions for about an hour. While doing so, he sporadically made statements about coming back another day with a gun.

The subject did not display any weapons, motion toward a possible weapon, nor make any physical acts or motions toward them during the incident. While discussing the incident, one of the complainants brought up an ongoing dispute with the store and said, “We actually may have somebody go to jail on Wednesday.”

About the same time as this call, police responded to an additional call nearby, which happened to be from the subject, who was interviewed by a different officer. No probable cause was developed to show that a crime had been committed and the complainants declined to provide their information.

HICCUP HUBBUB

8:41 p.m., 1700 block of Benjamin Franklin Drive

Dispute: Police responded to an incident in which a man who was engaged in a verbal dispute with his fiancée locked himself and their daughter in his truck to avoid the dispute escalating further. He advised an officer that after doing so, the woman began pounding on the truck’s windows. The dispute began inside the fiancée’s home, the man said, over him having a case of hiccups. He advised he would be leaving for his residence in Bradenton for the night. There was no damage done to the truck and the man said he did not wish to provide a report.

MONDAY, JULY 3

DRINKING IN THE VIEW

900 block of John Ringling Causeway

Dispute: A group of men had been drinking and leaning on a man’s van and, when asked to stop by the van’s owner, one of them appeared to become agitated. That prompted the man to get into his van and call 911.

An officer spoke to one of the men, who said they had recently moved to Sarasota and were only hanging out in the park, enjoying the view and “having a few beers.”

The officer advised that drinking alcohol on city property was prohibited, and they promptly poured the beers on the ground, apologized and said they were unaware. The subject then asked responding officers to call a taxi for himself and his friends, after which he locked his car and returned home via taxi service.

SATURDAY, JULY 1 BEACH BLANKET BICKERING

4:41 p.m., 200 block of Benjamin Franklin Drive

Disturbance: A responding officer met with a woman at a Lido Beach hotel who was intoxicated and crying. She advised that she was on the beach with her husband, his brother and his brother’s wife. All had been drinking alcohol, and at some point an incident from 10 years prior was brought up, which led to a verbal altercation.

The parties had returned to the hotel lobby, where the argument continued. The woman went to her room and her husband, having been locked out of the room, went to the pool. The officer determined no crime had been committed.

Blessed by generosity

Temple Emanu-El receives a $3.2M donation from an anonymous donor.

It was a $3.2 million dinner. Temple Emanu-El Senior Rabbi Brenner Glickman just didn’t know it at the time.

In February, Glickman was sharing a meal with local and national Jewish community leaders, along with some Temple Emanu-El members. The topic of conversation? What can be done to grow Jewish congregations, keep young Jewish families in the synagogue and encourage them to enroll their children in formal Jewish education.

Big ideas were tossed about — the guests around the table suggested complex programs from San Francisco and New York as models.

But to Rabbi Glickman, the answer in Sarasota was simple — it’s the economy. The Temple Emanu-El congregation is mostly working and middle class, he said. Many of its families moved to Sarasota for a higher quality of life at a lower price point — the backyards and better school districts that were out of reach in New York and Chicago, Glickman told the dinner guests. But costs have soared since in Sarasota, due in part to COVID.

Lower the barrier to temple membership, Glickman said. Make it more

affordable for young families to be a part of the congregation and pursue formal religious school for their children.

Annual dues for a family at Temple Emanu-El are $2,550 and pay for the cost of temple staff, maintenance of the building and events. Add in the cost of religious school tuition, kindergarten through 10th grade, and the “typical family” will pay $4,500 a year, said Glickman. That’s lower than costs found in big cities, but still a considerable expense for many families, said Glickman.

And that was that for a few weeks.

Then Glickman got the call. A synagogue member. He was at that dinner in February. Let’s do it, he said. Let’s lower the barrier to entry — for every family with school-age children in the congregation and for the many more who might want to join.

Three weeks ago, Temple EmanuEl received a $3.2 million donation from an anonymous donor, dubbed “Papa Joe,” said Glickman. The money is earmarked specifically to lower the cost of dues for temple members who have school-aged children for the next roughly 20 years, said Glickman.

THE BIG ANNOUNCEMENT

On Monday evening at the Temple Emanu-El, more than 100 unsus

pecting synagogue members assembled for a “transformative announcement” and celebratory reception.

“I’m pleasantly surprised at how word hasn’t gotten out,” said congregation member Brittany Gates, before the announcement. She added that her job was to provide moral support to the night’s event planner and fellow member Shera Friedman.

The anticipation was palpable as Glickman explained the challenges that religious organizations of all faiths face — declining membership, participation and community. He described the financial challenges that Jewish families and interfaith Jewish families face in terms of tuition and dues.

While Temple Emanu-El offers a number of financial assistance programs and scholarships based on demonstrated need, “For a bunch of families that (financial) hurdle is too high ... it’s the great big bubble in the middle — we’re losing them,” said Glickman in his address.

Then Glickman announced the donation and told the congregation members that by vote of the temple board this donation would lower dues for young families from $2,550 to $350. Portions of the gift will also be used for “some kind of sweet

ness” for religious school students

and outreach to encourage donors in other Jewish communities to make similar donations, said Glickman.

Due to the newness of the gift, the temple’s board still needs to work out the logistics of the gift, but Glickman said it will provide for at least 20 years of dues assistance and programming.

It’s the single largest gift in the temple’s history, said Glickman. And it may be one of the largest donations of its kind in the country, said the temple’s immediate past President

The temple leadership hopes the donation will help the roughly 680-household congregation grow from 75 young families to 100 young families.

“This is Our Jewish Future,” Glickman told the congregation. “And it has just begun.”

A+E INSIDE:

<THINGS TO DO: The Circus Arts Conservatory’s Summer Circus Spectacular offers affordable family fun. 14

‘BLACK PEARL SINGS’ In FST’s latest production, two women engage in a tug of war to save slave-era songs. 15 >

ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT

COME TO THE (SUMMER) CABARET

Beat the heat with three fun-filled musical revues at Florida Studio Theatre.

Did you hear how a bachelor party stormed the stage July 4 at Florida Studio Theatre’s Goldstein Cabaret? They wanted to warm up for their party at the Art Ovation Hotel, so they stopped by the cabaret, sang some Beach Boys songs and knocked a few beach balls around.

Actually, the four guys dressed in tight white jeans and pastel polos were “The Surfer Boys,” one of three cabaret shows playing at FST this summer.

Their bachelor party routine was pretty convincing though, as was the woman in an American flag dress pulled from the audience to dance to “Come Go With Me.” She was a real trouper, especially since she was hindered by a broken leg.

When the temperature soars and the snowbirds fly home, it is traditional for Sarasota’s arts venues to close their doors and start planning for the next season. But as more people discover the charms of Sarasota — not just rock stars and retirees but remote workers — summer entertainment is heating up. FST’s cabaret scene is sizzling.

Some may recall how Megan Thee Stallion coined the tag “#hotgirlsummer” back in 2019.

Following her lead, The New York Times recently polled people on their proposed hashtag for summer 2023. In Sarasota, it’s shaping up to be an #FSTcabaretsummer.

“The Surfer Boys” brings back the good vibrations of the Beach Boys, but you won’t hear any references to the Wilson brothers (Brian, Dennis and Carl) or their cousin, Mike Love. These Surfer Boys are generic.

Broadway veterans perform Beach Boys hits like “I Get Around,” “Barbara Ann” and “Little Deuce Coupe” and pepper their show with local references in the spoken part of the show, what music types call the “libretto.”

It’s a winning formula that has worked twice before for “Surfer Boys” creator and Director Brian Noonan. He created and performed in “The Jersey Tenors” in 2017 at FST and returned in 2022 with “The Jersey Tenors — Part II.”

Some of the Jersey Tenors and Surfer Boys spent time in the trenches in touring productions of “Jersey Boys” and also appeared in the Broadway sensation “Les Miserables.”

The six-member cast of “The Surfer Boys” consists of J.D. Daw, Joseph DePietro, Kenneth Quinney Francoeur, Brandon Lambert, Bruno Vida and Michael Jayne Walker. (Only four of the six perform nightly in the show, which runs through Aug. 13.)

Sarasota audiences will remember Lambert as a Jersey Tenor from this

past summer, when he appeared along with Noonan, Vaden Thurgood and Michael Pilato.

Thurgood is coming back to FST with his own musical revue, “Creedence Clearwater Remixed!,” which runs Aug. 22 through Oct. 22. It follows CCR founder John Fogerty and his 50-year battle with Fantasy Records to obtain the rights to his songs (He finally won in January) as well as his struggle with alcoholism and depression.  Don’t worry, though. It’s not a dark tale, Thurgood says. It’s good vibes only on cabaret time.

In his autobiography, Fogerty credits his current wife, Julie, with stabilizing his life and helping him discover the joys of domesticity after so many years on the road. Indeed, “Creedence Clearwater Remixed” includes a female performer, even though the group was all male.

Thurgood has been shopping around his CCR show for a few years at conferences that specialize in such things. Some producers and venues didn’t think Fogerty’s repertoire, which includes the Tina Turner anthem “Proud Mary” and CCR hits like “Bad Moon Rising” and “Fortunate Son,” was recognizable enough to form the basis of a successful show.

Industry people had the same reaction to Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons before the runaway success of “Jersey Boys,” Thurgood notes. For Thurgood, CCR is personal. “In my household growing up, you were allowed to like the Beatles, but you had to like CCR,” he says. “There were no ifs, ands and buts about it.”

When he began working on “Creedence Clearwater Remixed!”

Thurgood said “Fortunate Son” was his favorite Fogerty song, but now “Born on a Bayou” tops his chart. Asked about hits from Fogerty’s solo career, Thurgood said he only could find room for “Center Field” in his show. He regrets that “Rock and Roll Girls” and “The Old Man Down the Road” didn’t make the cut.

The shows at FST’s summer cabaret are 70 minutes long, slightly shorter than the 90 minutes common on the cruise ship circuit.

Despite some industry skepticism about CCR’s modern-day appeal, Catherine Randazzo is a believer. Randazzo, whose official title at FST is literary manager/associate artist, is the dynamo behind the venue’s summer cabaret season. In a telephone interview, Noonan said

Randazzo practically finishes his sentences (in a good way). She also customizes FST shows so they’re filled with local landmarks and humorous references.

One reason why Randazzo has confidence in FST’s 2023 summer lineup is the track record of Noonan and Thurgood. Both delivered knockout performances night after night in “Jersey Tenors — Pt. II.”

Like every good marketer, Randazzo understands that audiences like the familiar but they also want something new.

“The ’60s and ’70s are the sweet spot for our audiences,” she says. Many cruise lines, which are a popular venue for musical revues, have moved onto the ’80s, but Randazzo and Noonan agreed that FST audiences might not be ready for that era.

Lest anyone think summer cabaret is a boys club, fear not. The third show in the FST summer lineup is “Divas Three,” featuring a trio of powerhouse pipes in sequins belting out the songs of Aretha Franklin, Celine Dion, Whitney Houston and other superstar songstresses.

Subscribers are responsible for filling nearly every seat at FST’s summer cabaret shows, but single tickets are available. The subscription for the three shows brings the ticket price down to less than $20 for each show before the cost of food and drink.

Regional theaters are hurting and closing down across the country, with attendance down 30% from pre-Covid levels. But at FST, cabarets

“The ’60s and ’70s are the sweet spot for our audiences.”

Catherine Randazzo

are booming, expanding from one summer show of four weeks to three shows of eight and even 10 weeks since the debut of FST summer cabaret in 2014. Their growth has coincided with Randazzo’s nineyear tenure.

The Randazzo-Noonan-Thurgood collaboration is certainly responsible for the success, but demographics have played a part. (The moving company PODS recently listed Sarasota as its No. 2 destination for final container dropoffs.)

What might be on FST’s stages in the future? Nothing has been signed yet, but Noonan says he is working on a show called “To Be Perfectly Frank,” featuring a young crooner and an older singer paying tribute to Old Blue Eyes. A pianist makes up the third member of the musical revue. For his part, Thurgood says

cabaret lovers should keep their eye on a group called MidAtlantic Men, which has been performing on cruise ships featuring a battle of U.S. and U.K. bands and could be heading to a cabaret near you.

Thurgood is working on a show featuring Emily Ann Yates, who has made musical waves on cruise ships with her revue, “The Show Must Go On.”

Yates “shows you what it is like to be a true diva,” he says.

We’ll see what the cast of “Divas

Three” has to say about that. The show opened July 11 and runs through Sept. 10 at FST’s Court Cabaret.

Created and conceived by Brian Noonan, “The Jersey Tenors” laid the foundation for The Beach Boys tribute, “The Surfer Boys,” which runs through Aug. 11 at FST’s Goldstein Cabaret.

THIS WEEK

THURSDAY

SUMMER CIRCUS SPECTACULAR

2 p.m. at Historic Asolo Theater, 5401 Bay Shore Road

$15-$20

Visit CircusArts.org.

Heidi Herriott, a third-generation American circus artist, presides over performances by hand balancers, clowns, jugglers and aerial rope artists, just to name a few. The affordable entertainment is a partnership between Circus Arts Conservatory and the Ringling. Runs through Aug. 12.

THURSDAY JAZZ AT THE SAM

5:30 p.m. at Sarasota Art Museum, 1001 S. Tamiami Trail

Free-$20

Visit SarasotaArtMuseum.org.

In partnership with the Jazz Club of Sarasota, the Sarasota Art Museum presents a performance by David Pruyn Quartet.

THE SURFER BOYS

7:30 p.m. at FST’s Goldstein Cabaret, 1265 First St.

$18

Visit FloridaStudioTheatre.org.

From the group that brought you

The Jersey Tenors comes a rousing tribute to the band that took America on a “Surfin’ Safari” in the early 1960s. Four Broadway veterans

bring The Beach Boys’ biggest hits to life with classics like “California Girls,” “Good Vibrations,” “Barbara Ann” and many more. Runs through Aug. 13.

DIVAS THREE

7:30 p.m. at FST’s Court Cabaret, 1265 First St. $18 and up

Visit FloridaStudioTheatre.org.

Three female vocalists present four decades of songs made famous by Aretha Franklin, Celine Dion, Whitney Houston and other women who have won the coveted title of “Diva.” It’s not just their voices that make them divas; it’s their costumes and their attitude. Runs through Sept. 3.

FRIDAY

FIVE FLORIDA ARTS TEACHERS IN CONVERSATION

1 p.m. at Hermitage Beach, 6660 Manasota Key Road, Englewood

Free with $5 registration fee

Visit HermitageArtistRetreat.org

After spending two weeks on the Hermitage campus, five arts educators from across the state will share their perspectives with the community. The five teachers are Jeffrey Brown (music, Orange County), James Finch (painting, Brevard County), Omar Otero (photography and painting, Seminole County), Rachael Pongetti (visual art, Escambia County) and Katherine Gebhart (writing and illustration, Palm Beach County).

SARA NELMS

7 p.m. at Centennial Park, Venice Free Visit VisitVeniceFl.org/Friday-NightConcert-Series.

A favorite on the Gulf Coast music circuit, Sara Nelms appears in the free summer concert series hosted by Venice MainStreet. Bring your own chairs or picnic blankets. No alcohol permitted.

OUR

PICK

‘LIVING IN PARADISE’ OPENING RECEPTION

The outpost of the arts collective Creative Liberties presents artwork by the residents of the ARCOS Apartments in the Rosemary District. Meet the artists and enjoy light bites and beverages.

IF YOU GO

When: 5-7 p.m. Thursday, July 13

Where: Creative Liberties at Gaze Gallery, 340 Central Ave. Tickets: Free Info: CreativeLiberties.net

WEDNESDAY BEHIND THE CURTAIN WITH ALYSON DOLAN

1:15 p.m. at Sarasota Contemporary Dance Company, 1400 Boulevard of the Arts, Suite 300 Free Visit SarasotaContemporaryDance. org.

Alyson Dolan was Sarasota Contemporary Dance’s inaugural Choreographer in Residence from 2012-14

An original member of the Austin Soundpainting Collective, Dolan returned to Sarasota this summer.

DON’T MISS

‘FAME! THE MUSICAL’

“Fame! The Musical” showcases students in Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe’s annual summer musical theater program. Based on the 1980 musical film of the same name, the program follows students at New York’s High School for the Performing Arts as they deal with classes, auditions and life.

IF YOU GO

When: 7:30 p.m., July 15-16 Where: Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe, 1012 N. Orange Ave. Tickets: $27 Info: WestcoastBlackTheatre.org.

Saving Songs from Silence

MARTY FUGATE CONTRIBUTOR

Time is cruel to art — music especially. The authentic folk songs of the past are often silenced. Why do a few still play? It’s often because someone fought against the silence. Frank Higgins’ “Black Pearl Sings!” brings a fictionalized version of this very real fight to Florida Studio Theatre.

Back in the 1930s, “songhunters” like Alan and John Lomax crisscrossed the country making recordings of genuine roots music. Susannah Mullally (Rachel Moulton) is the play’s fictional folklorist. She’s on a quest for Black folk songs — as close to the originals as she can get.

Susannah’s search takes her to a Texas prison, where she finds Alberta “Pearl” Johnson (Alice M. Gatling). This woman has a powerful voice — and powerful memories of slavery-era songs passed down by her Gullah ancestors. Most of those songs remain unrecorded.

If Susannah adds Pearl’s songs to the Library of Congress audio archive, she’ll achieve the lofty goal of preserving history. But Susannah is an underpaid musicologist. Those recordings will win her an academic position and a decent income.

But Pearl’s indifferent to Susannah’s mixed motives. This white lady wants recordings of the old songs? Fine. Pearl wants something in return. The archivist gets her out of prison, but that’s not enough. Pearl demands that Susannah help find her missing daughter. If she can’t help, Pearl will remain silent.

The tug of war continues throughout the play. Pearl releases one song for every clue Susannah finds. But she keeps the song her ancestors brought from Africa in her pocket.

Director Kate Alexander makes the most of Higgins’ strong characters and razor-sharp dialogue. It turns on a dime from heartbreaking to hilarious. The actors make the most of it, too.

Gatling’s portrayal of Pearl reprises her performance in FST’s 2009 production and the play’s 2007 premiere. Her Pearl has no illusions about the machinery of the white power structure (do-gooders and bleeding hearts included). She doesn’t spare Susannah’s feelings — and speaks her mind about her white savior’s hypocrisy. Gatling’s singing voice comes from the depths of her soul. With never a false note.

Moulton’s Susannah is no saint. But the playwright doesn’t set her

IF YOU GO

‘BLACK PEARL SINGS!’:

When: Through July 30

Where: Florida Studio Theatre’s Keating Theatre, 1241

N. Palm Ave.

Tickets: $25-$39 Info: FloridaStudioTheatre.org

up as a cardboard villain, either. Despite her character’s flaws, Moulton plays her as an idealist. Susannah doesn’t become bosom buddies with Pearl. But the two characters do form common cause before the final curtain. It just takes lot of bickering to get there.

This human chess game comes to life in Isabel & Moriah CurleyClay’s two sets — the warden’s spartan office in the first act, and a wealthy bohemian’s New York City walkup stuffed with books and art in the second act.

From prison stripes to evening gowns, Nia Safarr Banks’ costumes are visual shorthand for the era’s identity code. Ethan Vail’s lighting goes from realistic (in the present) to phantasmagoric (in moments of memory and imagination).

Louis Vetter Torres’ music design is vital in this play. “Black Pearl Sings!” isn’t a musical. But it’s packed with music — with songs like “Down on Me” and “This Little Light of Mine” punctuating the spoken world dialogue. Torres makes the music seem like the background score of the play’s world, not a stagey interruption.

But who wins the chess game? Does the constant verbal (and occasionally physical) sparring between Susannah and Pearl make any sense?

You’d better believe it.

After experiencing Higgins’ smart, heartfelt play, you won’t take the old songs for granted ever again. The playwright shows the cost of what it took to save them from silence.

From a dream, to a boutique for all

Founded to serve the local Latino community, the Sarasota boutique has expanded its clientele and recently opened an additional location.

IAN SWABY STAFF WRITER

At first, Erika Alarcon didn’t understand the question her daughter, Barbara Alarcon, then 3 years old, asked as the two played a game of dress-up dolls.

Barbara wanted to know when her mother was going to open a boutique, but Erika Alarcon was not familiar with the term.

At the time she came to the U.S. from Mexico 23 years ago, Alarcon didn’t speak any English and was working as a housecleaner.

Her situation began to change in 2014 when she drove past an empty storefront and her daughter’s question came to mind.

The site became the first location of Barbie’s Boutique, a store named for her daughter, which she calls a one-stop shop for different fashion needs.

Several years later, on June 30, Alarcon held the grand opening of a new store, an appointment-only location at Midtown Plaza, which also houses the fine dining restaurant Michael’s On East.

A LEAP OF FAITH

At the time Alarcon opened the original store, she was taking a gamble.

Not only did she have no experience running a business, she also didn’t have time to implement a proper business plan, choosing to rent the space because she was unsure she could find another that didn’t require a five-year lease.

What she did bring was a love of weddings and celebrations, having volunteered at the parties of many friends, and alongside that, a desire to make a difference.

Alarcon said while shopping for dresses in the U.S., she was often treated poorly due to salespeople believing she couldn’t afford the items since she was Latina.

Her store, she decided, would be specifically for the Latino community, and as a result, she adorned the storefront with dresses of the bright colors common in her culture. If people aren’t drawn in by the display on their first pass by, it’s only a matter of time before many eventually find themselves venturing inside.

Little by little, Alarcon’s clientele grew, evolving from primarily Latino to 80% non-Latino.

“I want to show them what I learned and what I can do,” she said.

IF YOU GO

A LONG ROAD

After she came to the U.S. with her husband, Israel Alarcon, whose family lives in the country, the adjustment to cleaning homes was “very hard,” she said. She’d had to leave behind her former job as an accountant for a kindergarten.

It was necessary to support her three boys and one girl, the oldest of whom, 27-year-old Carlos Alarcon and 25-year-old Ian Alarcon, attended at that time Pineview Elementary, a school for gifted children.

She has two other boys, 23-year-old Damian Alarcon and 9-year-old William Sanchez.

Then the family dealt with the 2007-08 financial crisis, which resulted in them moving to a new home for a time, while Erika Alarcon made and sold chocolate lollipops. At that time, she was pregnant with Barbara, who is now 13.

And even during the initial years of the boutique’s establishment, she still worked as a cleaner.

“Every day, I found it more difficult,” she said. “I just worked, worked and worked.”

And then there was the language barrier to overcome.

When starting the business, she didn’t take out any loans; she hadn’t understood she was eligible to do so. She soon realized there was more to running a business in Sarasota than in her former home of Mexico, with a greater need for marketing and advertising to stay competitive. All that material needed to be written in English.

The first call Alarcon received at the store was in English, and

Visit: Instagram.com/ BarbiesBoutiqueSarasota/ or Facebook.com/ BarbiesBoutiqueSarasota. or BarbiesBoutiqueSarasota.com.

To book an appointment, visit Linktr.ee/ BarbiesBoutique or call 941-702-5504.

came from a woman seeking olivecolored cummerbunds for a tuxedo.

Alarcon had to find out what the term meant, but after she did so, she began an extensive search, finding a company, Jim’s Formal Wear, that could make a band in that color. She realized she had the tools to meet the needs of customers.

“I learned I can resolve things, and little by little, I prepare more,” she said. She took the GED so she could learn how to communicate and help her children with their homework. She said her children helped her with the business as well, guiding her in many aspects.

When she founded the business, Alarcon began attending networking events, although she found it difficult to connect with others due to her limited English.

“When you don’t know it, it’s very difficult to integrate,” she said. Yet as she continued attending such events, she gained confidence and skill, gradually approaching others more frequently and becoming a

part of the community.

For a time, she also operated a group called Imaginaccion, which offered networking opportunities for others operating a business in the Latin American community.

A

STORE FOR MANY NEEDS

When Alarcon opened the store, she sold one version each of a wedding gown, formal gown and quinceañera dress.

Today, she calls Barbie’s Boutique a one-stop shop for many different needs including color, style and size. She is also keen on personalization, removing or adding parts to items for an additional fee.

There are even supplementing items, like shoes and jewelry, and by offering recommendations of decorators or caterers she’s met, or her decorating service Cheers for the Host, she brings together a vision of a wedding or gathering.

Alarcon sources her items from markets across the country, but individuals in Mexico help sew and cut the clothing, allowing her to support her home country and also set aside time to run the business.

Alarcon said the highlight of it all is being able to boost confidence.

“When I can see the smile on someone, when someone comes in and says look at me, I’m fat, or I’m this, or I’m that, and I can change that emotion, I feel very grateful about that,” she said.

She has even started a free program called Quinceañera Academy to help girls learn how to walk in heels, dance, apply their own makeup, exercise good manners and interact with other girls.

“They feel like it’s me and my party,” she said. “Basically, they learn how to love being them.”

Even as she moves forward, she’s still mastering English, something she said is important for doing her best work.

“I’m improving every day in English,” she said. “But my clients are so nice. They know I’m Latina, and they are patient with me when they don’t understand, and when they try to communicate with me, they make it easier.”

Despite all of her hard work, she said she doesn’t have time to wonder about how far she has come.

“I don’t have time to think,” she said. “I don’t notice where I am.”

The new location at Midtown Plaza feels like a brand-new store, she said, which was why it was important to host a grand opening for the site that boasts features including dressing rooms, meeting rooms for clients and a photography studio.

“Erika is one of the people you get so inspired by,” said grand opening attendee Gianna Kramer. “Because of what she offers to the community and what she gives in order to help others.”

The right to knowledge

Family of activist Edward James II recalls how he desegregated Sarasota’s library system.

As Renee James Gilmore looks down at the library card of her late father, Edward James II, she feels her attention drawn to the words printed on it: “Find yourself at the library.”

Those words represent the legacy her father left behind when he died in 2018 — as the first Black person in Sarasota County to receive a library card, she said.

James was always an avid reader, said Gilmore. In fact, she cannot remember a time when his morning routine did not involve saying his prayers before picking up the newspaper — not just one paper, but multiple papers.

Another activity he regularly embraced, and did not flinch from, was pushing for change, having come from a family that was active in the community. His mother, Annie Blue McElroy, was a teacher in Sarasota’s

THE LIFE & CAREER OF DR. EDWARD JAMES II

Dr. Edward James II was active in the media and several communities throughout his life.

segregated schools, while his grandparents, Jack and Mary Emma Jones, were activists.

That’s why one day in the late 1950s or early 1960s when he was temporarily home from Florida A&M University in Tallahassee, the Newtown resident decided it would be the day he would integrate the Sarasota County library system.

“Ed was always in the community doing something,” said James’ wife, Helen James. “He always had a love for everything that he did, because that’s what he was accustomed to, and that’s what he was raised to be a part of.”

Gilmore recalled that at the time James gained his library card, there was a bookmobile that offered books around town, as well as a minimal library in Newtown, but he headed to the library that was reserved for whites only, located in the area that

now holds the Hyatt Regency Sarasota.

James walked into the building and asked to check out a book. The librarian, a white woman, replied that he would need to visit the colored library in Newtown. He responded by saying, “That’s hardly a library.”

A discussion followed, with James stating that his family were taxpayers and had every right to access the same resources, and it led to the librarian eventually calling the city administrator, Ken Thompson, who requested to speak with James.

“We have a community library because somebody stepped up, and that was in a time when you could get killed, and people were being killed for doing far less than a young Black man speaking to a white woman about his position on how his family pays taxes,” Gilmore said. According to Gilmore, Thompson replied to the effect of, “I understand you’re having some issues down there.”

Her father gave the same response he’d given to the librarian, she said — that he needed to check out some books from the library.

She said Thompson asked him to come to the City Hall for a talk, which she called “just indescribable for the time,” noting that Thompson did not pass him off, first and foremost, because he was Black, but neither because he was a student.

“I think that was the kind of leadership that was good for Sarasota on both of their parts,” she said. “These are two people who were able to sit down and hash some things out. And so, that day, my father got a library card.”

The legacy he passed on is about more than the power of reading itself, she said — it is also about understanding.

often reading recreationally.

A library card held by Edward James II

He produced and hosted the ABC7 television show “Black Almanac,” for 43 years; he served as a writer and associate producer of “Positively Black,” a show on New York’s WNBC-TV, and worked as an editorial assistant for the New York Post. He wrote for the Sarasota Journal as a columnist and governmental reporter and served as the public information officer and deputy chief investigator for the State Attorney’s office of the 12th Judicial Circuit of Florida; public relations director of the New York Urban Coalition; and assistant director of the first Urban Job Corps. He has been recognized with numerous awards including a Freedom Award from the Sarasota County NAACP.

Even when they were children, he made sure that Gilmore and her brother, Mark James, knew about their history. He would teach them not only to read, but to think critically about what they read.

She and Mark James became and remained avid librarians, she said,

As children, they attended school in New York for a time while their father worked with civil rights leaders on different initiatives. The children established an ongoing habit as they spent days in New York Public Library, researching the contributions of individuals like Revolutionary War freedom fighter Crispus Attucks, playwright Lorraine Hansberry, and Arctic explorer Matthew Henson.

“To have a library card with his image means everything to me, because it’s a reflection of the life he spent making sure that his own chil-

dren and his own family members were able to read and access information, and then digest that information and make sense of it,” she said. “Not just read words on paper, but digest the world around them. Not just us, but the entire community.”

“I’m just overwhelmed to be a part of this legacy,” said Helen James. “Of course, I married into the James family. My husband, and Renee and I, are standing on the shoulders of people who have paved the way for us to come into a library, for us to check out books, for us to understand our history.”

SATURDAY, JULY 15

DIVERSE FEST

11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at The Harvest Sarasota, 3650 17th Street. Free. DiverseFest.com. The first annual Diverse Fest presented by Project Pride brings together vendors, food trucks, live entertainment and guest speakers to celebrate all people in the community. A special guest speaker who knew Rosa Parks personally will present during the celebration.

SATURDAY, JULY 15 —

SUNDAY, JULY 16

SARASOTA MYSTIC FAIRE

10 a.m. to 6 p.m. (Saturday); 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. (Sunday) at Sarasota Municipal Auditorium, 801 N. Tamiami Trail. $7 for one day; $10 for both days; 12 & under are free. “A metaphysical party!” The Sarasota Mystic Faire promotes education and awareness of the psychic world, holistic health, natural healing, conscious living, and spirituality. This gathering will bring together psychics, spiritual counselors and retailers.

SUNDAY, JULY 16

SUNDAYS AT THE BAY

FEATURING AUDIO ORCHID

6-7 p.m. at The Oval at The Bay, 1055 Boulevard of the Arts. Free. This free concert brings together John Silvestri and Ryan Thompson, whose unique chemistry and style of rock offers a blend of “rugged nostalgia and modern originality.” In the event of inclement weather, this event will move indoors to the Sarasota Garden Club (1131 Boulevard of the Arts).

IMPROV STORYTELLING

6-6:45 p.m. at Art Ovation Hotel, 1255 N. Palm Ave. Free. Art Ovation and Florida Studio Theatre are offering this free experience in the Gallery Lounge at Art Ovation. Enjoy a drink and hear short stories from talented improv performers. Grab a seat early for our 6 p.m.-6:45 p.m. event. RSVP for free admission here: EventBrite.com/e/657917016507

MONDAY, JULY 17

‘MY SEARCH FOR WARREN

HARDING’ 6:30 p.m. at Bookstore1Sarasota, 117 S. Pineapple Ave. $19. Sara-

BEST BET

THURSDAY, JULY 20

SUMMER YOGA IN THE GARDENS

9:30-10:30 a.m. at Marie Selby Botanical Gardens’ Downtown Sarasota Campus’ Payne Mansion. Members, $5; nonmembers, $10. This class is open to all skill levels and will focus on alignment, breathing techniques and relaxation. It’s recommended that participants bring water bottle, sunscreen, sunglasses, comfortable clothes, towel or yoga mat. Day-of drop-in payments should be made with cash or checks.

sotaBooks.com/Events. Former Sarasota gossip columnist Robert Plunket (aka Mr. Chatterbox) will be at BookStore1 to talk about the new edition of his 1983 comic novel, “My Search for Warren Harding.” Space is limited and registration ($19) is required via SarasotaBooks.com/ Events. Admission includes a copy of “My Search for Warren Harding.”

“My Search for Warren Harding” has appeared on The Guardian’s list of “1,000 Novels Everyone Must Read.” It was ranked by The Washington Post as one of the top works of “great American comic fiction.”

TUESDAY, JULY 18

KIDS SUMMER BEACH RUNS

5:30-7 p.m. at Siesta Beach, 948 Beach Road. Free. A one-mile fun run for kids is a summer event held each Tuesday at Siesta Beach, June 6-July 25. Registration starts at 5:30 p.m., with the run to follow at 6:30 p.m. Kids receive a participation ribbon for each run. Kids who earn four ribbons will earn a free T-shirt. For details, call 311.

Although the summer heat may be intense this year, during the Fun in the Sun Back to School Bash, it was exactly where attendees wanted to be.

Guests at the event, which was held at the CenterPlace Health — Women and Children’s Health Center, collected free items including school supplies like backpacks, medical and dental health vouchers, and food, but also enjoyed the upbeat spirit of the occasion, keeping energized with frozen treats from Kona Ice and bouts of dancing.

“It was awesome,” said 11-year-old Dan Zach.

Kari Ellingstad, CEO of CenterPlace Health, said the event, now in its second year, serves the nonprofit’s mission of providing health care regardless of anyone’s ability to pay. Its offerings include pediatric and behavioral health, pharmacy services and OBGYN services.

“We want to make sure that we’re defining health in a broad sense, so we want to meet the needs in terms of mental health, and helping people access the resources that they need to live a healthy life,” she said.

Ellingstad added that the clinic’s community partners, who organized the event, were crucial in achieving this goal.

Some of the vendors present included All Faiths Food Bank, Orangetheory Fit-

A healthy dose of fun in the sun

Epoch Sarasota condo tops sales at $11.15 million

Acondominium in Epoch tops all transactions in this week’s real estate.

Alan Town and Tatiana Vitalyevna Town, of Sarasota, sold their Unit PH condominium at 605 S. Gulfstream Ave. to Richard Henley and Susan Davis, trustees, of Sarasota, for $11.15 million. Built in 2021, it has four bedrooms, four-and-a-half baths and 5,238 square feet of living area. It sold for $9,747,300 in 2021.

SARASOTA

LEWIS COMBS

Edward Weiss and Caron Palder, trustees, of Weston, Connecticut, sold two properties at 1694 Hawthorne St. to Ingrid and William Curtis, of Sarasota, for $1.75 million. The first property was built in 1925 and has three bedrooms, two baths, a pool and 1,630 square feet of living area. The second property was built in 1925 and has one bedroom, one bath and 434 square feet of living area. They sold for $725,000 in 2014.

BURNS COURT

Georgia Eleana Kopelousos sold two properties at 422 Burns Court to SRQ BURNS LLC for $1.5 million. The first property was built in 1926 and has two bedrooms, one bath and 916 square feet of living area. The second property was built in 1926 and has one bedroom, one bath and 231 square feet of living area. They sold for $1,325,000 in 2021.

RENAISSANCE

Renate Thompson, trustee, of Franconia, Virginia, sold the Unit PH-11 condominium at 750 N. Tamiami Trail to Gary Doer and Virginia Devine, of Manitoba, Canada, for $1,311,000. Built in 2001, it has two bedrooms, two baths and 1,395 square feet of living area. It sold for $520,000 in 2010.

PHILLIPPI GARDENS

Warren McGregor, of Sarasota, and

Katherine McGregor, of Bradenton, sold their home at 5551 America Drive to Gregg Murphy and Gayle Kindig, of Sarasota, for $1,275,000. Built in 1971, it has four bedrooms, three-and-a-half baths, a pool and 2,002 square feet of living area. It sold for $514,100 in 2017.

Gregg Stanton Murphy and Gayle Clay Kindig, of Sarasota, sold their home at 5435 America Drive to Warren McGregor, of Sarasota, for $900,000. Built in 1979, it has four bedrooms, two baths, a pool and 1,874 square feet of living area. It sold for $575,000 in 2020.

MCCLELLAN PARK

Jay and Barbara Huffaker, of Naples, sold their home at 1620 Hyde Park St. to Brian Schaffer, trustee, of Sarasota, for $1,257,000. Built in 1925, it has four bedrooms, two baths and 2,359 square feet of living area. It sold for $325,000 in 2012.

GROSVENOR PARK

Clasico Holdings LLC sold the home at 1526 Oak St. to Stanley Eli Schulman and Helene Ann Panzer, of Sarasota, for $1,195,100. Built in 1926, it has two bedrooms, one bath and 808 square feet of living area. It sold for $579,000 in 2021.

BADGER HEIGHTS

Reba Sachs, of Sarasota, sold her home at 1854 Bahia Vista St. to Charles and Jennifer Adams, of Sarasota, for $1,075,000. Built in 1957, it has three bedrooms, two baths and 1,587 square feet of living area. It sold for $425,000 in 2014.

JAMES S. HALL’S VZS Design LLC sold two properties at 1660 Seventh St. to Georgia

TOP BUILDING PERMITS

These are the largest city of Sarasota and Sarasota County building permits issued for the week of June 26-30, in order of dollar amounts.

Eleana Kopelousos, of Sarasota, for $950,600. The first property was built in 1925 and has two bedrooms, two baths and 1,159 square feet of living area. The second property was built in 1925 and has one bedroom, one bath and 484 square feet of living area. They sold for $600,000 in 2021.

CORAL COVE

Next One Homes LLC sold the home at 7412 Starfish Drive to Jason and Kristen Schwieterman, of Powell, Ohio, for $849,000. Built in 1954, it has two bedrooms, two baths and 1,959 square feet of living area. It sold for $465,000 in 2022.

ONLINE

See

JUNE 26-30

Other top sales by area

SIESTA KEY: $2.7 MILLION

Harmony David and Linda Robertson, trustees, of Sarasota, sold the home at 4833 Featherbed Lane to Christopher Hall and Kimberly Hall, trustees, of Marietta, Ohio, for $2.7 million. Built in 1956, it has four bedrooms, three-and-a-half baths, a pool and 2,978 square feet of living area. It sold for $1,182,500 in 2014.

PALMER RANCH: $2.05 MILLION

Legacy Estates on Palmer Ranch

David John Cook and Suzanne Greer Cook, trustees, sold the home at 5316 Greenbrook Drive to Joshua Hartway and Denyse Turner-Hartway, of Sarasota, for $2.05 million. Built in 2019, it has four bedrooms, four-and-two-half baths, a pool and 4,493 square feet of living area. It sold for $1,068,800 in 2019.

OSPREY: $2.1 MILLION

Oaks II

William Shaia, of Sarasota, sold his home at 600 N. Mac Ewen Drive to James and Kathy Powers, of Osprey, for $2.1 million. Built in 2001, it has four bedrooms, four-and-a-half baths, a pool and 4,111 square feet of living area. It sold for $900,000 in 2002.

NOKOMIS: $870,000

Calusa Lakes Betsy Boyens, of Bradenton, sold her home at 2047 Timucua Trail to Nicholas Manusos and Lauren Manusos, trustees, of Nokomis, for $870,000. It sold for $661,000 in 2021.

Fast Break

Former Sarasota High

baseball catcher Ben McCabe was drafted by the Colorado Rockies in the ninth round of the 2023 MLB Draft, 262nd overall, on July 10. McCabe, a right-handed bat, played at the University of Central Florida and hit .371 with 19 home runs and 51 RBIs in 2023, earning Collegiate Baseball NCAA Division I AllAmerica Second Team honors. McCabe graduated from Sarasota in 2018.

Cardinal Mooney High announced July 11 it has hired Rafael Fernandez as its athletic director. Fernandez was previously the athletic director at Lake Howell High and the dean of students at South Seminole Academy among other positions. Former Cardinal Mooney athletic director Larry Antonucci stepped down in May after four years in the position.

Former Palmetto High football star Zy’marion Lang announced July 4 that he is transferring to Cardinal Mooney High for his senior season. Lang, a wide receiver, is a threestar prospect and the No. 77 wide receiver in the national Class of 2024, according to the 247Sports Composite ranking system. Lang has announced a college commitment date of July 30, selecting between a final four of the University of South Carolina, University of Pittsburgh, Kansas State University and the University of South Florida.

Former Cardinal Mooney High boys golfer Noah Kumar finished 20th at the 106th Florida State Amateur Championship (287), held June 8-11 at Turtle Creek Club in Tequesta. Kumar started his college career at Florida Southern College before transferring to Rutgers University this year. He will be a senior in the fall.

No trouble in Paradise

Owner Marcus Walfridson said the club has exceeded expectations off the pitch in year one.

Marcus Walfridson wasn’t feeling well on June 3.

It was the night of the Sarasota Paradise’s first home game, and Walfridson, the team’s owner, was stuck in the press box at Sarasota High’s Charlie Cleland Stadium.

Walfridson and the Paradise, a “pre-professional” soccer team competing in the United Soccer League’s League 2, came to Sarasota to build something special in the community, Walfridson said. He saw a city desperate for a soccer team to call its own, for athletes that kids can emulate when playing in their backyards. At the team’s initial announcement party in November at the Sarasota Art Museum, Walfridson said he wanted the team to unite the city in pride. On the team’s website, a banner reading “It’s time for Sarasota” ripples across the home screen.

Yet despite the emphasis on community, Walfridson was separated from the crowd on opening night. Toward the end of the game, with the Paradise up 2-1 over FC Miami City, he couldn’t take it anymore. Walfridson walked down to the front of the bleachers, and what he heard moved him to tears.

“The crowd was yelling at the refs for making a bad call and cheering on our guys,” Walfridson said. “The fans were engaged from the first moment. People were hungry to support a local team. For me, that was like, ‘Now we’re here. Now we’re up and running.’”

The Paradise would win the game, and the crowd would stay loud until the end. The team has continued its success since then, on and off the pitch. As of July 9, the Paradise are 5-0-5 with a +4 goal differential, good enough for third place in USL League 2’s Florida division. In the process, the team has begun to generate loyal fan support.

Walfridson said the team is averaging 426 fans per game, and with one home game remaining — a 7:30 p.m. July 15 contest against Altitude Rush (0-1-8) — Walfridson is aiming to get that average even higher. The game is being billed as Fan Appreciation Night, and thanks to the generosity of the team’s sponsors, all fans will be able to get in for free as long as they use the code FANS23 to secure their tickets at SarasotaParadise.us.

That’s not all: If the team gets 1,000 fans to attend, all fans in attendance will get another free ticket to next

season’s home opener.

Securing 1,000 fans at the game would also bring the team’s average attendance to 500 fans, a number Walfridson would like to see. His stretch goal for year one was 600 fans per game, which would be accomplished if the final game draws 1,600 fans. Even if the Paradise fall just short of that number, it’s a solid foundation on which the team can build in 2024. Walfridson said he expects those numbers to grow significantly in year two. After the club was announced in November, the Paradise had approximately six months to get everything in order. Now, the club will have an entire offseason to get in front of businesses and form corporate partnerships, as well as collaborate with youth soccer organizations in the area, which should increase the club’s revenue as well as its word-of-mouth relevance in the community.

“We want a bigger base, and we want to do more for them,” Walfridson said.

Walfridson is also thinking about how he’d like to change the fan experience in 2024, like finding a better price point for tickets — they ranged between $16 and $24 in 2023, with VIP tickets sitting at $124 — as well as adding more to the game day experience. But for all the talk of next season, it will not be 11 months before the community hears about the Paradise again: Walfridson said the club plans on holding multiple youth camps to “spread the love” and give

kids instruction from the Paradise’s professional coaching staff, as well as holding nonathletic community events and showing up to places like local farmers markets to stay in the community’s consciousness.

Walfridson knows that winning will also bring people out to the park. While the Paradise played well at times, Walfridson said there were also missed opportunities for more wins. Much of the team’s roster is collegiate players, and Walfridson said the combination of gaining USL experience plus another year of college training should lead to improvement in 2024. That also means Walfridson and the Paradise plan on bringing back much of its roster, which is a rarity at this level of soccer. But Walfridson said Paradise players have expressed a desire to return because of how much fun they’ve had and what they’ve learned. An example: The team took a trip to the Florida Studio Theatre to take a group improvisational comedy class, and Walfridson said the response was “phenomenal.”

Walfridson and the Paradise have put an emphasis on signing players with ties to the Sarasota area when possible. Not only is there a lot of natural talent in the area, Walfridson said, but having local players means local family and friends of those players can attend the games, and they are more likely to do so than anyone else.

But Walfridson also knows that there is a limit to how many fans will shell out to watch a “pre-professional” soccer team. That’s why the club is aiming to not be “preprofessional” for long. Walfridson said he would like the organization to make the jump to USL’s League 1 by 2025, or 2026 at the latest. The 12 teams currently playing in League 1 are fully professional, and two more expansion teams have already been announced. The biggest hurdle for the Paradise to reach League 1 is the stadium situation; the field at Cleland Stadium is currently too narrow for professional play, Walfridson said, so some sort of change would have to be made.

All of that is for the future. In the here and now, regardless of level, the Paradise have earned a spot in the hearts of Sarasota soccer fans, giving them a team to call their own. And on the evening of that first home game, the crowd’s response was enough to make Walfridson forget he wasn’t feeling well. It was a fork in the road moment, Walfridson said, and it told him he and the club were on the right path.

“The splash we have made in the community has been a real highlight,” Walfridson said. “They finally have someone to root for. We represent the city, and that’s the main thing.”

“Never give up, be a good teammate, have fun and do your best.”

No days off

Even without any official games over the summer, there’s still plenty of work for coaches to do.

vacations, go on college visits or test their skills at recruitment camps, but Smithers said the workouts have had a consistently strong turnout.

Smithers said the team also attended a Grind It Out padded camp at Webber International University in June to get in extra work and build camaraderie, an idea first floated by new offensive coordinator Brody Wiseman. The Rams had attended similar camps in the past but had taken a few years off. Bringing it back turned out to be a good idea. Not only did it build chemistry, Smithers said, but seven Rams picked up scholarship offers from the school.

“We’re going Monday through Thursday, 9 a.m. to noon,” Smithers said. “We took the week of July 4 off, but the rest of the summer, we’ve been working. It has been the toughest summer we have had since I’ve been here, so eight years. Our kids have bought into it. We told them it would be tough, and they went with it.”Getting their kids recruited is another thing coaches have to do over the summer, whether that means helping kids put together film, talking to college coaches or simply spreading highlights over social media. The recruiting process is complicated and changing every day as the NCAA’s Name, Image and Likeness rules get adjusted. Smithers said part of his job as a coach is pointing his players in the right direction when it comes to their time.

The workouts are voluntary, for players will occasionally take family

“You try to steer kids away from

Riverview head coach Josh Smithers pumps up his team.

those camps that are three or four days and cost $300 or $400,” Smithers said. “Go to a one-day camp that costs $30. The mega camp at USF, that’s an easy one for kids to get to, and they don’t have to miss any workouts to make it. And when visiting schools, only go to a school that is actually interested in you. If you have been talking with the coaches and you have a good relationship and you think you might get an offer if you go, then go. But don’t go take a tour of a bunch of schools just to go. It’s a waste of time and money.”

It is not just football coaches keeping their teams right. Basketball coaches have stuffed summer schedules, too. At Cardinal Mooney High, boys basketball head coach Vince Cherry ran his Cougars ragged while he had the chance.

“The whole month of June, I was here at 6 a.m. for practice,” Cherry said. “We went from 6-8 a.m. Monday through Thursday. On the weekends, we were playing tournaments or camps.”

Cherry and the Cougars played in events as far as Gainesville and Tallahassee to get right. They had

to work fast: July is a big month for travel team basketball, so June was the time for Mooney to gain chemistry before everybody headed their separate ways for a while. Cherry said he does not mind the July separation as getting to hear from different coaches is beneficial to players in the long run. And for a player like Mooney rising senior Connor Heald, Cherry said, getting to play in front of as many college programs as possible can only help him in his search for the right next-level fit.

Even though July will be a travelbasketball heavy month, Mooney’s gym remains open two days a week, Cherry said, for the players who just can’t get enough and want to maximize every opportunity they have.

“My biggest philosophy is that if you love basketball, I shouldn’t have to reach out to you to get you in the gym,” Cherry said. “You should be the one saying, ‘Coach, I want to get in the gym today. What do I need to work on?’”

But Cherry is also using this part of the summer to — get ready to gasp — take it relatively easy. He’s overseeing a few youth camps, but he’s also

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going to take family vacations while he can. Once late August hits, school has started and high school teams are focused on season prep. Cherry said members of the team will play in a Saturday league in Tampa to stay sharp until official practices begin in October. Time away from the game will help Cherry reenergize for that long season haul, he said.  It’s a relatable stance. We all need to get our minds right sometimes. And the start of the 2023-24 season creeps closer; fall sports can start holding preseason contests in approximately one month, and regular-season contests one week later. High school coaches and athletes put in more work than we usually get to see to find success, but it’s worth it, even if it goes unnoticed.

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ATHLETE OF THE WEEK

Shawny McGill

Shawny McGill is a member of the Sarasota American Little League 8-9-10 All-Star team. During the team’s run to the state tournament, McGill hit .517 with three doubles, one triple, one home run, three walks, nine RBIs and six steals. McGill also pitched nine innings with a 0.00 ERA.

When did you start playing baseball?

I first started when I was 1 or 2, I think. My dad (Shawn McGill) played in AA and AAA baseball when I was that age, so I traveled with him a lot and watched him play. I started for real with T-ball and then moved up to where I am now. I play football and basketball, too.

What is the appeal to you?

I like that you have to work as a team. It’s about the whole team doing well, not just you.

What is your best skill?

I’m good at not giving up and always trying my best. I’m a good hitter. If a ball is thrown outside, then I’ll hit it to opposite field. If it’s centered, I’ll hit back up the middle. If it’s thrown inside, then I’ll pull the ball.

What have you been working to improve?

My infield defense. I used to have trouble getting all the way down on ground balls, but I’m getting better at it.

What is your favorite position?

I like playing catcher a lot. It’s one of the most important positions and you get to throw guys out or pick them off. It’s fun.

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What is your favorite food?

I like steak a lot. My dad makes them for me. I’m not sure how he cooks them, but that’s how I like them.

If you would like to make a recommendation for the Sarasota Observer’s Athlete of the Week feature, send it to Ryan Kohn at RKohn@ YourObserver.com.

What is your favorite movie?

I like both of the “Space Jam” moves. I like the newer one a little bit more I think, but both are good.

What is your favorite school subject?

I like math because I’m good at it.

Reading is tiring; you don’t really do anything except listen to the teacher.

What are your hobbies?

I play in my neighborhood with my friends. We play games like capture the flag and sharks and minnows. We play basketball sometimes, too.

Which superpower would you pick?

I would pick flying so I could see everything that was going on. Maybe I’d get to see some fireworks or a plane or watch a baseball game.

What is the best advice you have received?

Never give up, be a good teammate, have fun and do your best.

Finish this sentence: “Shawny McGill is … “

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*It is the responsibility of the party placing any ad for publication in the Sarasota and Siesta Key Observer to meet all applicable legal requirements in connection with the ad such as compliance with towncodes in first obtaining an occupational license for business, permitted home occupation, or residential rental property.

Notice: All real estate advertised herein is subject to the Federal Fair Housing Act, which makes it illegal to advertise any preference, limitation, or discrimination because of race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, or national origin, or intention to make any such preference, limitation or discrimination. All persons are hereby informed that all dwellings advertised are available on an equal opportunity basis.

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ARELIS CLEANING Services Inc. Residential & Commercial cleaning, powerwashing and interior/exterior painting.

Licensed, bonded & insured. 941-822-4114

BRAZILIAN CLEANING Service by Maria. Residential. Meticulous Cleaning. Excellent References. Free Estimates. Reliable. Lic./Ins. 941-400-3342.

www.braziliancleaningbymk.com

EUROPEAN HOUSEKEEPING

•Reliable

•Top to bottom disinfecting

•High-quality nal touches •Linen service available F FREE ESTIMATE 941-928-5801

Health Services

CNA-- CAREGIVER Daily routines, meal preparation, doctor appointments, shopping and companion. Excellent local references. Call Lisa 845-544-3243

Landscaping/

Lawn Services

PROFESSIONAL GARDENER

Design, installation, maintenance, owers, herbs, vegetables, and exotic gardens. Regular weekly lawn maintenance and restoration 40+ years