The Lake Sarasota Community Blog

The final regular meeting of the Lake Sarasota Community Group will feature a County grants coordinator as well as the election of officers for 2015. County Grants Coordinator Kathlyn Clayton will be on hand to help us focus on a do-able project that would benefit from County matching funds. Various project ideas have been floated, but if there is interest, one will be chosen for Spring grant funding. Other items on the agenda include: SCAT bus routing through Lake Sarasota Any news around Bee Ridge Road improvements Any updates regarding the Bee Ridge Park of Commerce Monthly Sheriff's report on crime in Lake Sarasota A report on the recent community garage sale Rothenbach Park Project Election of Boardmembers for 2015 It all happens Thursday Dec. 11, 7 p.m., at Sarasota Alliance Church, across from Chaucer on Bee Ridge. All are welcome, no dues. Also, join the online Lake Sarasota, on Next Door . Anyone living in Lake Sarasota is eligible to join - no fees. ...

Many of us have enjoyed the lovely oak hammocks of Rothenbach Park at the east end of Bee Ridge Road: Rothenbach has developed a reputation as one of the most beautiful shaded walks and bicycle paths in Sarasota County. Now there's an initiative to make it even more beautiful and user friendly. Here's the beginning of a letter that went out to Lake Sarasotans and to other East Bee Ridge neighborhoods recently: What makes every community special is not that it is “perfect” from the very start, but that there is a consistent effort on the part of its citizenry to identify areas that need attention and to bring them up to the standards of the rest of our fine community. We are fortunate to have a wonderful Sarasota County Parks Department that has re-developed a “less than attractive” portion of our neighborhood (the landfill) and created a park and wildlife sanctuary that offers walking and biking trails as well as playground and picnic facilities with clean rest...

Come out Monday, Aug. 20 for a morning with parks naturalist Jennifer Rogers to help keep Rothenbach looking great. Tasks will include removal of the invasive exotic Ceasar's weed, air potato plants, and guinea grasses. Bring a bicycle if you can for a ride on the paved trail through the hammock. Meet at the pavilion (restrooms) at 8:30 am. Meet at the pavilion (restrooms) at 8:30 a.m. Call (941-441-5214 ) if you’ll be joining later. Monday, August 20th:  Rothenbach Park , 8650 Bee Ridge Rd., 8:30-11:30 am. 

Happy Thanksgiving! With the great weather, there's so much going on in Parks.  Upcoming Nature Events in Sarasota County are here (Nov. ) and here (Dec. ) on the  Friends of Sarasota County Parks Site

This Saturday, April 3, bring the kids out to the Rothenbach Park Eco-Egg Hunt. Instead of eggs, we'll be picking up Air Potatoes from 9:15 to 10:30 a.m. - bring the family! wear socks and tennis shoes have some pink lemonade kids will win candy for their efforts. Air potatoes are an invasive plant that harms native vegetation and disrupts native habitat. This event is designed as a fun way for young and old to give back to your community. At Rothenbach Park, 8350 Bee Ridge Road Take Bee Ridge east past I-75, until it dead ends at Rothenbach Park. Continue into the park, past the gate, turn right and park in the playground/shelter area.

Fresh from a successful Air Potato Pick-Up last Saturday, Friends of Rothenbach Park will hold a meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 26th, at the Pavilion at Rothenbach Park, beginning at 3 p.m. The group will review the event and address upcoming events, including a possible first anniversary day at the park on April 25th. All those interested in this lovely park are welcome to join us on Tuesday.

The Lake Sarasota Community Group meeting was briefer than usual. We kept the same panel of officers as last year - Bill, Tisha, Judy, Ellie, Renee, Ted, et al, and raffled off a $50 gift certificate among the new visitors to our meeting. The treasury now has $676.15 after expenses, mostly charitable in nature, over the holiday season. Thanks to those who contributed last month. Yards of the Month were chosen on Lancaster, Allen, and Waikiki, and Renee will be delivering signs. LSCG officers will check on locations for future meetings - the VFW post and a couple of churches on Bee Ridge are possibilities. The Lakeview school portable is very nice, but will cost $30 each time we meet there. We don't yet have the Sheriff's report for December. October and November, as previously reported, together only had eight reported incidents. Ted is always welcoming new volunteers and can arrange brief training sessions:  941 379-0758 or tcover6161@aol.com. A couple of trees in th...

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

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...

After hearing a presentation from engineer Jeff Roberts, the Sarasota County Commission today approved, by a unanimous 5-0 vote, the Low Impact Design option for Bee Ridge Road east of I-75. That means Bee Ridge Rd. will be four lanes from Mauna Loa Blvd. to Bent Tree, then two lanes from there out to Iona. About 40 properties on the south side of Bee Ridge (many of them in Lake Sarasota) will be acquired - hopefully at reasonable and realistic market prices - in order to develop a broad corridor with community features such as meandering sidewalks, ponds, bio-swales, and a good deal of buffering between the road and communities that abut it. (click to enlarge) It's a wise and timely decision, given that new projects that will increase density, traffic, and noise along Bee Ridge are on the drawing boards. Besides protection from noise, dust, pollution and sirens, the buffering and attractive landscaping will give the area east of I-75 a "Gateway" quality. Eventually the...