The Lake Sarasota Community Blog

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Insurance experts coming to Sarasota Sarasota County residents who have questions about insurance will have an opportunity for experts in the field to answer their questions at seminar hosted by the office of Florida Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink. The Insurance Roundtable will be held 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Tuesday, Nov. 30 ,  at M&I Bank Training Center, 7020 Professional Parkway East, Sarasota. The Florida Department of Financial Services is offering the roundtable discussion for residents currently shopping for insurance or need assistance with a current insurance-related issue. Topics on the agenda include homeowners insurance, life insurance, reverse mortgage products, long-term care and more. For more information visit,  www.MyFloridaCFO.com  or call 877-693-5236.

Government offices close for Thanksgiving holiday All Sarasota County government offices, including libraries, the History Center and recreation centers will be closed Thursday, Nov. 25, and Friday, Nov. 26, for the Thanksgiving holiday. Libraries will be open Saturday, Nov. 27, and other county offices will reopen Monday, Nov. 29. Sarasota County Parks and Recreation's two pools will be open on Friday, Nov. 26, with Arlington Pool and Aquatic Center open noon-5 p.m. and Lido pool open 10 a.m.-4:45 p.m. Payne Park Tennis Center will be closed on Nov. 25 and open 7:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. on Nov. 26 Bus service will  not  be offered by Sarasota County Area Transit (SCAT) on Thursday, Nov. 25; however, full service will resume on Friday, Nov. 26. Residents who live in unincorporated areas of the county will  not  have yard waste, recyclables or garbage collection on Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, Nov. 25. For residents whose regular collection day is Thursday, yard waste, r...

Compassionate Care Clinic 12.11.10 On Saturday, Dec. 11, dogs and cats being cared for by owners in financial need can receive FREE vaccinations and routine healthcare from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Clark Road Animal Clinic . Note:  Owners must apply by filling out a form; referrals are mandatory. Information and app forms are available at petpages.com , or call 941 922-5007. All forms must be received by Dec. 1, 2010. Owners are encouraged to make a donation for services received.

UPDATE: Welcome news, Jack has been found and has been returned to his happy family. A male ferret, named Jack. Jack is dark brown in color with a distinct mask and black nose. He is very friendly and playful and loves people. He is gentle and can be handled safely. He managed to pull a corner of a screen away from the window and wiggled out on Saturday 11/20. Please help us find our beloved pet. If you see him, but can not catch him you can call us at home 941-377-1569 or the cell 941-373-5153. We love Jack very much and are distraught that he managed to escape. Reward $100. Jim and Michele Mackey

Here's the Community Yard Sale Map for the Lake Sarasota Yard Sale on Nov. 20th - this coming saturday. Deadline for inclusion on the printed maps that will be handed out at the Mauna Loa Entrance is this Wednesday. Sandy is looking for volunteers to hand out the maps Saturday morning. Also, there are still spots available on the back of the map for advertisers - get in touch with her, sallen11@comcast.net, or 321-5582. View LS Community Garage Sale - November 20, 2010 in a larger map

Check out the pictures from the birthday party for Urfer Family Park on the new Civics 101 blog . The event also marked the opening of the C.B. Wilson House, an historical landmark.

Refurbished Wilson House featured on Green Homes Tour  The historic C.B. Wilson House at Urfer Family Park, 4000 Honore Ave., Sarasota will be featured on the 2010 Green Homes Tour, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m., Nov. 13 and 14. The tour will feature homes in Sarasota and Manatee counties that are energy efficient. Relocated from its original site in downtown Sarasota, the house has undergone extensive  renovation over the last year. Newly installed features include low-energy consumption light fixtures and air conditioning systems, plumbing fixtures that minimize water use, and low VOC (volatile organic compounds) products used in the interior for better air quality. The landscape was designed to represent typical plants available in southwest Florida during the early 20th century. The C.B. Wilson House is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. To sign up for the tour visit  www.usgbc-fgc.org ,  or visit the Florida House, 4454 Beneva Road, Sarasota. Operation Me...

The Nov. 11 meeting of the Lake Sarasota Community Group took the following actions: 1. Heard an interesting talk by Sandee Rains of Credability.org on the various forms of Identity Theft, and ways to prevent it from happening. 2. Ray Bresciani reported that $1000 will be divided among five Lake Sarasota families with a total of 10 children this holiday season. Nearly all of that total was cleared from the Adopt-a-Family Festival held last weekend at Lakeview Park. Lakeview School will deliver the gifts (this year in the form of gift cards) to the families, which were selected by the school's staff. The board acknowledged Ray and Connie's extraordinary work in making the Festival a fantastic day for all. 3. The number of incidents reported to the Sheriff rose to 19 in October, according to Ted Cover. There were 6 burglaries, 10 thefts and 4 juvenile disturbances reported, the bulk of them in the middle of the month, tending to cluster around the noon to 2 p.m. and 4 p...

The Lake Sarasota Community Group has its regular monthly meeting this Thursday, Nov. 11, at 7 pm. In addition to the regular agenda items, the agenda includes these special items: A report on the results of the Adopt-A-Family Festival , and how to allocate the proceeds (i.e., should we "adopt" one family, or more than one, for the Holidays?) A proposal to do something for a family for Thanksgiving . Any other holiday event planning (e.g., Santa on Firetruck). Citizens Patrol: Sheriff Office reports uptick in incidents. Reminder: Community Garage Sale is Nov. 20th. A Workshop on the dangers of Identity Theft and how to protect yourself. Sandee Rains from Credability.org -- formerly the Consumer Credit Counseling Service -- will speak.  All are welcome. The meeting is at Sarasota Alliance Church, 7221 Bee Ridge Rd ., just opposite the intersection of Chaucer Lane and Bee Ridge Rd.

We want to acknowledge with our sincere thanks the many volunteers and Sarasota County businesses who came together to make our Adopt a Family Day a terrific success. Many are in the photos below, and we've tried to remember everyone below -- please let us know if we've overlooked anyone, and again, we're deeply grateful. Artfully Yours (Cindy Cook) Randy and Cheryl Burr BJ's Chili's Debbie Marks, Sarasota County Neighborhood Services Direct Buy Economy Tackle Extra Innings Gary Kennedy ( All Weekend Bounce ) Heavenly Cupcakes The Hobson Family House Cleaning by Alessandra (301-1643) Kaufman Family Chiropractic Center Kelly Dickerson Kevin McGuire Madfish Grill McDonald's NextAge Realty -- Chris Westphall Pressure Monkey Pressure Washing Publix Sam's Club Sandy Allen Saporito's Cleaning Service SarasotaGrapevine.com Sean McDonald Sears SweetBay Tangerine Salon The Lake Sarasota Community Group...

Today's Adopt-A-Fam Fest was everything we'd hoped -- beautiful day, lots of kids, fantastic food, prizes and people, and above all, a very classy group of volunteers who came early, stayed late, and did what they said they'd do. The result was a fantastic community event. A massive and heartfelt thank-you to all of you - we'll follow up with all the names we can gather very soon. Meanwhile, some glimpses of the event:

Change smoke alarm batteries when you turn back the clock on Nov. 7 With the daylight savings time change on Nov. 7, Sarasota County fire officials say this is a good opportunity to replace smoke alarm batteries. Approximately 70 percent of home fire deaths result from fires in the home with no smoke alarms, or no working smoke alarms. Smoke alarms can save lives - but only when they are working properly. A properly installed and maintained smoke alarm will provide an early warning signal to a household, providing the chance for occupants to escape. (MORE)   == Shop safely this holiday season   The Sheriff's Office works cooperatively with shopping center management and increases patrols in high traffic retail areas this time of year, but shoppers are encouraged to keep the following tips in mind when heading out to hit the stores: Park in a well-lighted area. Avoid shopping alone. Carry your purse close to your body, don't reveal large amounts of cash. Don't carry ...

The Adopt-a-Family Festival   is this Saturday -- two days away !  A Lake Sarasota Community Fundrais er, the festival will raise money to help a few families during the coming holidays. The staff at Lakeview Elementary will help identify neighborhood families that can use the help, and volunteers from the Lake Sarasota Community Group (a not-for-profit association) will buy and wrap presents. All are welcome to come for Food, Fun and Fundraising : Food:  We have contributions so far from BJ's, Sam's, SweetBay, Winn Dixie, Publix and McDonald's . Sarasota County is providing a popcorn popper (thanks Debbie!). Fun: Music and Games! Sarasota folk and Irish music singer and guitarist  Kevin McGuire will be on hand. There will be   Games for the kids and Contests with prizes. If you have a kids' game that you'd like to share with us for the event, please let us know. You can email lakesarasota@gmail.com , or call Ray and Connie at ...

Friends and residents of the Fruitville 210 Community Alliance,   You are cordially invited to the following neighborhood meeting: Who :  Betty Alpaugh, Education Specialist, University of Florida/IFAS Sarasota County Extension.   What :   Incentives for Home Energy Improvements   -   Federal, State, Local and Utility Rebates for Homeowners- "Green into Gold" Where : Sabal Palm Bank, 5101 Fruitville Road (next to Comcast). When : Tuesday evening, November 9th from 6:30-7:45 pm. Why :  It's no mystery that we live in a world of limited resources.   This is an  opportunity  to learn about incentives and tips that can  SAVE  you $$$$  by going  green !!! Thanks for your continued support.  Hope to see you there.... Sincerely, John Krotec Chairman, Fruitville 210 Community Alliance 5373 Fruitville Road  PMB 101 Sarasota, Florida 34232   Fruitville210.org

Thanks to Gary Kennedy of allweekendbounce.com (the site is not yet live, but should be in a few days), we'll have a 15' x 15' Bouncy House at the Adopt-A-Fam Festival! Thanks to Gary and to all who are helping make this a great day. (Note: above is just an illustration - not the actual house we'll have) Come out to the Pavilion at Lakeview with your kids on Saturday from 11 am - 2 pm - you'll be glad you did.