The Lake Sarasota Community Blog

From Chairman Bill: Hello neighbors and Happy New Year one and all!   We will be planting plants and flowers at Hina Point Park (corner of Hina & Palau) Saturday morning, January 3rd at 8:30 AM .  We are in need of volunteers to help with the plantings.  If you can help us out, please be there at 8:30AM.  If you have gloves and small hand tools (spade, shovel, etc,) please bring them with you.   It is exciting that all of the work that went in to creating the park is coming to fruition.  We all should look forward this improvement in our community.   We hope that all of you can attend our next meeting.  It will be January 13th, 2009 at 7:00 PM at the Sarasota Baptist Church.  This will be an important meeting since we will be planning things for the new year.  Please try and make this meeting!   As previously announced, we are going to start putting together a directory of services provided by residents of our community.  If you are interested in being in the directory, you need ...

The picture below reflects the triangle at the intersection of Hina Dr. and Palau Dr. which is about to become a pocket park, thanks to the energies and efforts of several of our residents and to the folks at Neighborhood Services of Sarasota County. In fact, you can help make that transformation happen. Bushes and benches have been ordered (thanks to the grant from the county), and we'll be doing some plantings at the site this Saturday, Jan. 3, 2009, at 8:30 AM . Anyone who enjoys a bit of outdoor exercise and community participation is invited to join in . Things to bring: water big shovels post hole diggers some gardening gloves a tool or two  In a follow-up email, Faith explained the need for post hole diggers and more: . . . we need big shovels and if any post hole diggers laying in a garage. We have several holes to dig for the boundry fencing and do have 1 power auger but only for a few hours. The garden area is a 12 foot circle which we need to totally dig out and till t...

Thanks Tisha!

Thanks Santa! And thanks to Sarasota's Firefighters and Squad 8 for visiting Lake Sarasota!

Santa Claus will be making his Second Annual Firetruck Tour of Lake Sarasota on Sunday, Dec. 21, shortly after 2 p.m. We hope to have a map of his route before the event. Also, plans are underway to repeat last year's caroling -- a walk through the neighborhood with songs and perhaps some candy canes for the kids. Santa plans to take this route through Lake Sarasota: Santa will enter Lake Sarasota at Mauna Loa, go all the way down Mauna Loa and make a left on Berkshire. Then he'll wind around and make a left on Brentford, a left on Marlborough, a right on Friendship, a left on Mauna Loa, a right on Lanai and a left on Jarvis. Click here for a map of the route Santa will take. View Larger Map Here's a bit more from Bill: Hello everyone!  We are pleased to announce that Santa Claus has consented to make an appearance in Lake Sarasota on December 21st at approximately 2:00PM.  He has decided to ride on a fire truck so that his reindeer will be rested and strong for Christmas E...

About the recent Yard Sale and more: First I would like to say that I think Sandy did a fantastic job! There are a lot of good ideas here and we need to talk about them while it's still fresh in our minds and implement them. However, until we get participation from all the homeowners with a wish list, the few people that actually show up and do the work won't be able to fulfill those wishes. If homeowners of Lake Sarasota want a better community, then it's time to stand up and be counted. If we want a safer community, then we need to keep Ted Cover 's phone (379-0758) ringing [or keep his email pinging] so he can set up a Citizens Patrol schedule that will let vandals and thieves know we are serious about keeping them out of here! He is doing a superb job of forwarding information from the sheriff's office to our community and needs everyone's help. This program is way too massive for 5 or 6 people to accomplish. If you want outside people to want to buy some ...

For anyone interested in neighborhood preparedness, some of the key county people involved with emergency management and public safety will be on hand at a meeting scheduled for this Thursday, December 11 from 1:30pm-3:00pm.   The meeting  will be at the Sarasota County Government Administration Center,  Emergency Operations Center, located at 1660 Ringling Blvd in downtown Sarasota on the 6th floor of the Administration Building. Here's an agenda: * Welcome and Introductions   * Emergency Services Neighborhood Public Safety Program     --Firewise Program presented by Assistant Fire Chief Dillon     --AED Program presented by Assistant Fire Chief Dezzi     --Stormwise Program presented by Emergency Management Chief McCrane     --Water Safety Program presented by Lifeguard Operations Chief Ayers     --CERT Program presented by Recovery Chief Scott Montgomery    * Foreclosed homes project   * Review of 2008 Hurricane Season and what is forecasted for the 2009 ...

More from the Harwood Public Innovators home page: If you're interested in deeply exploring community rhythms consider attending the  Harwood Public Innovators Lab.  At the Lab you'll learn about Community Rhythms, the 3A's of Public Life and other key tools and frameworks to help accelerate change in your community.  Click here  for a set of questions to help you determine your community's stage click here  Click here  for a description of the five different stages of community  Click here  to learn what efforts fit with which stage. Thanks to April at SCOPE for the link.

We respectfully invite you to join us at the third annual Sustainable Communities workshop on Friday, Dec. 12 and Saturday, Dec. 13. We scheduled the two day workshop to include a Saturday this year to allow more attendance from homeowners and residents that often can't attend our weekday workshops. The agenda will be relevant for residents, neighborhood representatives, and members of the business community, providing updates on the latest policies and technology innovations and hands on strategies for saving energy and water in your homes and businesses.  Please share this notice with members of your neighborhood and other contacts.  Thank you! Dec. 12-13, 2008 The POWER to lea r n, the POWER to lead, the POWER to change. Searcy S. Koen Regional Campus for Girl Scouts of Gulfcoast Florida 4780 Cattlemen Road, Sarasota Dec. 12-13, 2008 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Information and Registration at: http://www.scgov.net/ sustainablecommunities/ or call 941-861-5000 This two-day interactive ...

Thanks to the efforts of several stalwart Lake Sarasotans, the mega yard sale of Thanksgiving 2008 was a stunning success. Some 97 homes participated (thanks all), and more than a thousand people came through our entrances. Every last map was taken, and many of the burgers and hot dogs were purchased. A big thank-you to Sandy Allen for doing virtually everything to make this happen. Vigorous thanks also to Bill Pitts, Ray and Connie, Tisha, Laura, Ellie, and Ted for their magnificent efforts. Special thanks to Richard A. for allowing us to wake him up so he do some heavy lifting and driving. Congratulations all!

At latest count, this Saturday's mega Lake Sarasota Yard Sale has 88 97 participating homes! And more volunteers are needed! Contact Sandy at sallen11@comcast.net . Click here to see the latest map .

Few Sarasotans today remember the rather fanciful way Lakeview Park began, as a developer's come-on for lot sales in " Sunshine Springs and Gardens ": Until a few years ago, the waterways of the park were relatively clear, thanks to a deep well and a pump that kept the water moving. When a storm knocked out the power and the pump failed, things changed. A small group is looking at ways of restoring the park - not, mind you, to the days of swan-adorned boats, but simply to healthier, cleaner water. Have a look at some of the approaches outlined here . If you have ideas, interest and time, do get in touch - we'd love to hear from you. We'd love to see clear waters moving again.

The N ov. 29th community Yard Sale is attracting a huge number of participants. Click on this link to see the latest map . Sandy says some streets have yet to be canvassed and she's expecting more homes to join, which means this is virtually certain to be the largest Yard Sale Lake Sarasota has done so far. It also means we are in desperate need of volunteers! As Sandy says: We desperately need volunteers for the garage sale.  We only have a few and we need many more.  Also, we will have Hamburgers, Cheeseburgers, Hot Dogs, Chips and Drinks at the corner of Maui and Bee Ridge.   If any of you know a landscape r, I need a little patch mowed there.  So we need people to work on handing out the maps, and to handle the food, and someone to mow a bit of the area at Maui and Bee Ridge. Contact Sandy directly at  sallen11@comcast.net  to get your house on the map, and to volunteer to help make this yard sale a huge success. Thank you...   View Larger Map

Some new information from Ted Cover, who still needs volunteers for the Citizens Patrol ( contact him here ): I've just received the October 2008 Crime Report for Lake Sarasota from the Sheriff's Dept.   There was an alarming increase in theft -- probably a symptom of economic hard times:  Twenty-two were reported -- most of them within the span of three days: Palau and Jarvis both had four incidents.  Java, Brentford, Lago , and Mauna Loa had two incidents each.  Paota , Lancaster, Hina, Rangi , and Honolulu each had one incident.  Most of the thefts occurred between Oct. 12 and 14.   I encourage everyone to keep garage doors closed as much as possible.  Keep car doors locked when parked in the front yard or street.  Don't make it easy for the thieves.  If we make it difficult for them, we discourage them.   Ted Cover Citizens Patrol 

Bill Pitts has been elected Chairman of the Lake Sarasota Community Group for 2009 - here's his update: Hello residents of Lake Sarasota:   We held our last meeting for this year on Tuesday, November 11,2008.  Many important topics were discussed.   Ellie Himes gave a treasury report and stated that we currently have $552 in our account.   There were three new winners chosen for Yard of the Month awards.   Ted Cover gave us a report on the citizen's patrol.  He asked that anyone who is signed up for the patrol and no longer wishes to be on it let him know so that he can remove your name from the list.  The lack of volunteers for patroling was addressed.  We took a vote and decided to assign patrol times to all volunteers still on the list.  Assignments will be made in alphabetical order starting with "A".  Ted will set up a schedule and let you know when you are assigned to patrol.  PLEASE REMEMBER THAT THIS WILL ONLY BE A COUPLE OF HOURS EVERY SIX TO EIGHT WEEKS AND ...

At our next meeting on January 13,2009 we are going to start putting together a directory of services provided by residents of our community.  We hope to help our residents get some business during these tough economic times.  If you are interested in being in the directory you will need to be at the meeting.  The cost for being in the directory is $20. and you should bring a business card that can be duplicated for the directory.  THE BOARD VOTED TO REQUIRE ATTENDANCE AT THE MEETING AS A PREREQUISITE FOR BEING IN THE DIRECTORY, SO NO ONE WILL BE LISTED THAT DOESN'T COME TO THE MEETING.  WE WANT TO HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO MEET EVERYONE THAT WE PUT IN THE DIRECTORY.

The Lake Sarasota Community Group held its final meeting of the year, at which it held elections among other business: Three new Yards of the Month were selected. Citizens Patrol needs you. Contact Ted , let him know when you can do a few laps around the neighborhood. The landscaping of the front entrances looks good, but needs watering. Volunteers are welcome. Contact Tisha if you can volunteer to help out. Habitat for Humanity is working on a ReHabitat mission in Lake Sarasota, on Samoa. Contact Laura if you'd like to be involved in this home makeover, which is improving our community and helping longtime neighbors in Lake Sarasota. During the meeting the idea for a Lake Sarasota Trades Referral Service was revived. If you have a business or know of one operated by Lake Sarasota residents that you can recommend, let Bill know, or drop a line to the blog . The best way to get your business represented is to bring your business cards to our general meetings, the second Tuesday ...

A number of Lake Sarasotans have already signed up to participate in the November 29th Yard Sale. Contact Sandy at sallen11@comcast.net if you wish to be listed on the map . You can move around the map with the mouse. View Larger Map

The last general meeting of the Lake Sarasota Community Group for 2008 will be on Tuesday, Nov. 11, Sarasota Baptist, 7 p.m. Come to learn more about  a Habitat for Humanity project in Lake Sarasota elections for LSCG officers for 2009 ideas for neighborhood parks plans for upcoming events Speaking of events, this year's Lake Sarasota Mega Yard Sale will be on Saturday, Nov. 29th - check back for more details.

This past rainy Saturday, a few stalwart volunteers were out sprucing up the front of the neighborhood. We didn't get a photo, alas, but did hear from one resident, Ruth, who happened to be passing by: I passed through Mauna Loa on Sat. morning and there they were planting those plants in the median with it pouring the rain. What a great job. I would like to write them a note. They are surely to be commended. Hopefully it's not too late to say "thank you" to Ray and Connie, Tisha, Laura, Judy and Diane. If anyone wishes to get more involved, just drop us a line and we'll put you in touch with the right person or persons. Also, if you received the latest newsletter (thanks Laura Mathis and Mickey Schweitzer) you may have read about the interest in CERT . When we get 10 Lake Sarasotans, we can have our own course here at a time that meets everyone's needs. So let us know if you're interested !

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Neighbors: We are having a problem with our flowers wilting due to a lack of rain. Tisha has spent a lot of time working on them but she can use some help! Our landscaper only comes to Lake Sarasota once a week. They water every time they are here, but due to the lack of rain, once a week is not enough. We need to come up with a rain barrel for both entrances. The landscaper will fill it up when he is here and Tisha has volunteered to try and water the plants during the week when there is no rain. The landscaper has one rain barrel and is dropping it off on Friday. WE DESPERATELY NEED ANOTHER ONE!! If anyone has one please let Tisha know ASAP. You can contact her at tishafarrington@gmail.com We are in the dry season now and we really need to take care of the plants to keep them looking good! If you can contribute a rain barrel it will be greatly appreciated and it will benefit the entire community. Thanks in advance Bill Pitts

The latest edition of Neighborhood News is available in our documents library . It's a pdf file -- if you have the software, you can read it by clicking here . Among other info, it has the days and locations for early voting, which begins Oct. 20th and continues through Nov. 2. The nearest location: Fruitville Library.

Hello Neighbors!   We are pleased to report an increase in attendance at last night's meeting.  That was great!  We believe the signs that were put up throughout Lake Sarasota helped to increase the attendance.  Thanks to all of those who put up the signs.  In order to avoid any confusion about the next meeting, please pick up the signs and put them back out a few days before the next meeting (November 11th).              TOPICS DISCUSSED LAST NIGHT   Yard of the Month - The latest winners of the Yard of the Month award were selected.  If you want to nominate a yard for the award, please let Renee Pitts know.  You can call her at 371-3988 or email her at  JPitts9710@aol.com     Citizen's Patrol - Ted Cover gave an excellent presentation on what type of crimes the neighborhood has experienced, the most common times the crimes have been reported and where the crimes took place. Ted is doing a great job with the citizen's patrol, but he needs our help!!  If you are able and wi...

A few highlights from tonight's general Lake Sarasota Community Group (LSCG) meeting: Community Yard Sale The major community-wide yard sale will be on Saturday, Nov. 29th. It will probably start early, around 7 a.m. Contact Sandy with your information to have your sale pinpointed on the map. LSCG Election We will be electing officers for the coming year at our next meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 11th, 2008. If you wish to nominate residents for the elective posts, send names and whatever contact info you have to LakeSarasota@gmail.com.* Citizens Patrol Volunteers are still needed for October - contact Ted .  Ted analyzed five months of crime data, and finds: Open garages invite theft - especially of tools - even during daytime. Close your garage. Also, cars in driveways are being looted - a very expensive GPS system was stolen last week. The peak area for crime is the 6500-6800 blocks of Mauna Loa. The peak day is Friday, followed by Saturday, Thursday, and Wednesday. Peak times are 3 ...

A reminder from Neighborhood Services : Sarasota County reminds all residents that October 15, 2008 is the last day an individual may file for an Economic Stimulus Payment. The Economic Stimulus Act of 2008 was enacted by Congress and the President and enables individuals to receive a one-time monetary payment. Even if you do not file taxes, you may still be eligible for a payment. Please forward this message to others who may not be aware of this. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the agency responsible for issuing payments, and lists Florida as the fourth highest state of citizens who have not filed for payment. Once again, even if you do not regularly file taxes, you should claim your payment. The IRS will be holding special events at retirement communities and assisted living facilities throughout Florida this week to allow citizens to file for payment. The agent assigned to our area is Ms. Andrea Tupper. Ms. Tupper is available to answer any questions regarding a...

The Lake Sarasota Community Group will hold its October General Meeting on tuesday Oct. 14, at 7 pm at Sarasota Baptist. Don't miss this Ted will have some interesting news about crime patterns - he's been crunching numbers and other data (locations, times of day, types of crime) from several months of Sheriff's reports. So far, we also expect updates on several other initiatives: Landscaping the Mauna Loa Entrance Developing a pocket park at Hina and Palau. Fall event planning. CERT training. Grant money allocation. Lakeview Park Canals, pump, water quality. Traffic Calming, Yard of the Month, Treasurer's Report.

This is just informal info - it seems that the peak times for criminal activity are 3 pm - 4 pm on Tuesdays and Saturdays. Again, this is just preliminary, but you might want to keep an eye out - especially if you're in the 6800 blocks of Mauna Loa. Ted is doing a more in-depth analysis of the past five months of Sheriff's reports of break-ins and other police calls in Lake Sarasota. We'll update as soon as he's ready. Also: Citizens Patrol reports still seeing many garage doors open well after dark last night - many without the lights on. This is an invitation to certain visitors, folks!

For anyone interested in community building: Democratic Governance at the Neighborhood Level:   What Have We Learned?   An event organized by Grassroots Grantmakers and the Deliberative Democracy Consortium , with assistance from the National League of Cities and NeighborWorks America November 11 th , 2008, 9am-5pm Orlando, FL Thirty years ago, a new democratic experiment began in a handful of American cities. In Portland, Oregon, and a number of other places, local governments created neighborhood council systems as a way of engaging citizens in public decision-making and problem-solving. What have we learned from these civic experiments? What are their strengths and weaknesses? What lessons do they offer about how to initiate, recruit for, staff, support, and fund neighborhood-level democracy? Please join us for a stimulating, interactive day-long session in Orlando! The meeting will feature representatives from Portland and other ‘first wave’ cities in the mornin...

Just wanted to let everyone know that our signs announcing our upcoming meetings are done and ready to display for our meeting in October. If you are interested in placing one in your yard let me know so I can either be here to give it to you or leave it on my front porch for you to pick up. I think we discussed at the last meeting displaying them the Sunday before the meeting so it would give everyone interested a couple of days notice. Just email me .   See Ya!!!   Your Neighbor, Jud y

We hope to have 10 or more residents who can commit to CERT training . If you are thinking of doing this, drop a line to this email, so we can get an accurate sense of who's aboard. Also, we'd like to have a short meeting of Lake Sarasotans who want to take the CERT course so we can coordinate schedules. Let us know.

Hello Neighbors:   Please try and make our next meeting on  Tuesday, October  14, 2008 .  It will be the next-to-last meeting of this year (Sarasota Baptist will be using all of their rooms during the month of December).  We need to have good attendance at this meeting so that we can discuss the new year and plans for Lake Sarasota. We promise that the meeting will start promptly at 7:00 PM and will be over at 8:30 PM.   We are still in desperate need of volunteers for the Citizens Patrol. Please contact Ted Cover at TCover6161@aol.com  or phone him at 379-0758.  If more people would just volunteer for a couple of hours a month, it would make the Citizens Patrol Program a big success.   YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD NEEDS YOU!   The next Sarasota County CERT class will be held in November.  The maximum class size is 40 students, with preference given to neighborhood "teams" who can commit 5 or more members to the class.  Seats for individuals (those not part of a 5 person team) will be r...

SCOPE stands for Sarasota County Openly Plans for Excellence Invest in your community.  Read more about the  Selby Challenge .    See Pictures  from SCOPE's Annual Celebration   Read about the latest from the  Summit for Environmental Action . Learn more about the  2009 Winter Forum on Aging .   Visit the  ROLE Summit website  to nominate someone to attend. September is  Sustainability Month  at Sarasota County Libraries and SCOPE is a part of it.   See all SCOPE Events ... check  the calendar.

Fall is here as of today, and October is just around the corner.  And, we need to staff the Citizens Patrol for next month.  Here are the days and dates.        Fri.   Oct. 3                Sat.   Oct. 4      Fri. Oct. 10                Sat.  Oct. 11      Fri. Oct. 17                Sat. Oct. 18      Fri. Oct. 24                Sat. Oct. 25      Fri. Oct. 31                Sat.   Nov. 1   Note that Halloween is a patrol night!   Please respond by return E-mail advising the night or nights that you can make the patrol.   We need more patrol volunteers.  In you know of anyone interested, please have them contact me so I can arrange training.   Here is the August crime report.                       Vandalism:   8/27   7150 Lago St.                                        8/30   4213 Middlesex Dr.                                        8/30   7061 Brentford Rd.                         Burglary      8/16    4051 Westminster Dr.                                       8/23    6566 Mauna Loa Bv...

A note about an upcoming training session from Ted: Sgt. Neal Scully of the Sarasota County Sheriff's Dept. will be at my house (4102 Parry Drive) at 7 p.m. on Wednesday,  Sept. 24  to provide the training required to participate in the Citizens Patrol. Anyone who would like to take the training, contact me by return email or call me at 379-0758. Ted Cover Citizens Patrol Lake Sarasota Community Group

We take our lakes for granted, but the more we understand about their ecologies, the better we'll be able to ensure that we don't cause irretrievable damage by over-fertilizing, over spraying, or other harmful practices. Here are a few culprits that arise when homeowners who live by the lakes ignore basic precautions: "Spatterdock": Grass sprayed: "Bag worm:" By the way, he county has two brochures of interest to anyone living near bodies of water: Living on the Water's Edge : A Homeowners Guide to Low Maintenance Landscaping Along Seawalls, Bayfronts and Canals Sarasota County Fertilizer and Landscape Management Code We are forming a Group that will address lake and waterway issues in Lake Sarasota. Please join us whether you live on a lake or just care about them. Start by dropping us a line - tell us about you and your concern. Both brochures and other info can be downloaded from the  county's website, here . We have also made them available on t...

A note from our new point person Bill Pitts: Hello!   This is my first attempt at this, so I hope it is informative!   Recap of Tuesday's meeting:   Ellie Hines reported that we have a balance of $672.68 in our account.   The citizens patrol is in urgent need of volunteers.  Please contact Ted Cover and volunteer your services for a couple of hours if you possibly can.  Ted will be scheduling a training class later in the month.  We will notify you of the date and time.   Our front entrance landscaping project will begin on September 29th.   I will be leading the monthly meetings if Dan Johnson is not available to do so. I will also be handling email communications.   We made a decision to buy signs to put up in the neighborhood to notify our neighbors about the upcoming meetings.  Please try and attend the meetings.  Everything works better with more participants.   We talked about the construction of the Pocket Park at Hina and Palau.  The decision was made to name it the "...

Laura has been LSCG's official president, unofficial leader and behind the scenes go-to person for a full two years. We are deeply grateful for all she's done, and are pleased that she'll stay on as a valued contributor even as some very talented new people are stepping up to help out. Here's Laura's note: Hello neighbors,   For those of you who couldn't make it, the meeting last night was really good ~ despite the rain!   We had 4 new people there and many great ideas & projects happening.  Recap is forthcoming.   Bill Pitts, who also led our meeting last night (Thanks Bill!) has stepped up to handle the email.   So, for at least the immediate future, if you have email inquiries; please send them to:   JPitts9710@aol.com  or   lakesarasota@gmail.com Also, be thinking about…. Who would be a good President to lead and motivate our group.   Maybe it's You!  We'll be doing elections for our group in November.  What timing! Thank You :)   Laura Mathis  

Click on the map for latest projections:

Dear Citizens Patrol Members, Could you help me update our address and phone lists by providing your current? Also, Please advise if you have moved from or are in the process of moving from Lake Sarasota. Email Ted at TCover6161@aol.com We still need volunteers to patrol the nights of Friday Sept. 5, Saturday Sept. 6, Saturday Sept. 13, Saturday Sept. 20, and Friday and Saturday Sept. 26 and 27. Any who can cover these dates please advise so I can provide you with the magnetic Citizens Patrol signs, logbook, etc. Ted Cover Citizens Patrol Lake Sarasota Community Group