The Lake Sarasota Community Blog

Care about parks? Want to get involved? Come out to Rothenbach Park on Jan. 16th. Registration starts at 8  a.m.: Find out more about volunteering here , and how you can register with the county as a regular volunteer. And check it out: The Friends of Sarasota County Parks have qualified for the ‘Give a day, Get a Disney day’ event. By volunteering for this event you can register and have the opportunity to receive a free one day ticket to Disney World . (Ticket quantities for this program are limited. Must be at least age 6 to participate. Other terms and conditions apply.) Volunteers need to register at disneyparks.com after January 1, 2010. If you have questions please call Connie at 371-1180 or email Rothenbachpark05@gmail.com

Ready for a great Christmas?

Santa is due in Lake Sarasota on the firetruck on Sunday, Dec. 20th, between 2 and 4 pm. (See the map here ). But our neighborhood has been treated to a Christmas gift already. Last week Ray and Connie Bresciani and some of their grown children and growing grandchildren spruced up the front entrances, laying down 40 bags of mulch, doing some weeding, and even thoughtfully added wreathes for a nice seasonal touch. Thanks Ray and Connie and all you Brescianis! Not just for this gesture, but for the time, thought, sweat and care you have put into many projects in Lake Sarasota. We're fortunate to have quite a few residents who pitched in to help build Hina Point Park, pick up trash on Mauna Loa and to do a really thorough clean-up of Lakeview Park, among other projects -- all that great help is gratefully acknowledged. Not all are aware that if it were not for Ray and Connie, some of these projects would not have gotten done -- some they initiated, others were shaped and enhanced by t...

From Ray comes this summons: Good morning fellow workers of Lake Sarasota! Our front entrances (Mauna Loa & Westminster) need some attention! Trimmed, weed whacked, & mulched. Would like to set up a short work detail for this Saturday morning at 9 A.M. We will probably need 30 to 40 bags of mulch. Interested in keeping Lake Sarasota beautiful? Saturday morning some members of the beautification team will be out at the front entrance (Mauna Loa and Bee Ridge) with brand-new mulch and fertilizer purchased with some of our county grant money. So come out at 9 a.m., meet some of the busiest people in Lake Sarasota, and help give your community a nice uplift.

Two updates: We will hold our first meeting of 2010 on Jan. 12, from 7-8:30 p.m. at Lakeview Elementary, in portable #33, which is amongst the newer portables near the south entrance, going towards Bent Tree on Hand Rd. Santa on a Firetruck has been a Lake Sarasota tradition for the past few years, and this year is no exception. Santa will arrive on Sunday, December 20, 2009 at 2:00 PM, and ride around the neighborhood, and end his visit around 3 PM. He'll begin at Station 8 and proceed through Lake Sarasota Neighborhood on a firetruck from the Station. Here's the route: View Santa Claus Comes to Lake Sarasota in a larger map

A new Friends of Rothenbach Park Chapter met Sunday to get some orientation on what the park is about, what can be done for it, and where to begin. Friends of Sarastota County Parks is the umbrella organization with many resources to help new chapters get going. ( Facebook / Twitter ). All kinds of events are possible, from races and yard sales to butterfly gardens, hiking, and landscaping. It's really up to the communities that wish to get involved. The first event will come on Jan. 16th - the Air Potato Pick-Up will begin at 9 a.m. and all are welcome. The idea is to rid the hammocks of as many of those bulbous air potato seeds as possible -- otherwise the invasive vine takes over and kills native species. If you want to get involved in shaping Sarasota's new park, come out on the 16th and pitch in. All ages can help - bring a hat, gloves, closed shoes (not sandals), garbage bags or buckets (some will be supplied). When done, enjoy some refreshments at noon, followed by a br...

H1N1 flu vaccinations now available for all Sarasota County residents The Sarasota County Health Department will offer free H1N1 flu vaccinations to the general public from 9 a.m. - 2 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 5 at the following locations: * Sarasota County Health Department, 2200 Ringling Blvd., Sarasota * Woodmere Community Park and Recreation Center, 3951 Woodmere Park Blvd., Venice "We have served the at-risk population, and now, we're prepared to provide the vaccine to the general population," reports Chuck Henry, incident commander for the Sarasota County H1N1 response. According to Henry, health officials will immunize as many people as possible during the two clinics Dec. 5. Both the H1N1 nasal mist, which is preservative-free, and an injectable vaccine of inactivated virus will be available. The H1N1 (Swine) flu vaccine is not intended to replace the seasonal flu vaccine. Each vaccine protects against a different virus. For adequate protection against all known circula...

Dear Residents of Lake Sarasota: We had our monthly meeting last night. It was interesting and informative. We had a citizens patrol report from Ted Cover. Ted reported that crimes in October were up from crimes in September (we don't have the November police report yet). The Citizens Patrol is in need of volunteers to patrol our neighborhood. WE NEED YOUR HELP! Please contact Ted at 379-0758 or TCover6161@aol.com If you can just patrol for a couple of hours a month it makes it much easier on everyone. Please make an effort to give the Citizen's Patrol a hand! Yard of the Month winners were selected and will receive the Yard of the Month signs shortly. It should be prominently displayed until the next winners are selected in January, 2010. Since we were required to change the date of this month's meeting (circumstances beyond our control) we have decided to have our $50. cash raffle at our next meeting. The next meeting is tentatively scheduled for January 12, 2...

For: Sarasota County Emergency Management -- Sarasota County, FL Condition Yellow Sustained Wind 25+ MPH Issued: 4:43 PM EST Wed, Dec 02, 2009. Valid: 04:43 PM EST Wed to 07:30 PM EST Wed Winds: 20 to 30 mph with gusts to 40 MPH Discussion: Strong southerly winds will continue through the rest of the afternoon which could reach up to 30 mph at times. Higher gusts are possible. Winds will gradually decrease this evening.

If you received a flyer announcing the December meeting on Dec. 8 or 9, ignore it -- for various reasons the meeting was held Tuesday night, Dec. 2. We tried to get the word out, however, due to very low turnout, the drawing for the $50 gift certificate has been rescheduled for the January 12th meeting (see below for more details). Crime update : There were eight incidents in Lake Sarasota in October, according to the Sheriff's report. That's down from 20 per month during the summer (but up from four in Sept.) Ted is looking for help with Citizens patro l - please call him (941 379-0758) or email him at TCover6161@aol.com. Training for the patrol is brief, easy and available - contact Ted and he'll set it up. Three more homes were awarded Yard of the Month and will be hearing from Renee. Sandy is working on lining up the annual Santa on a fire truck -- please check this space for an update, but tentatively it's Sunday, Dec. 20th. Confirmation and time TBA. Sandy colle...