The Lake Sarasota Community Blog

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...

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.

  Thanks to the help of an amazing group of community stalwarts, the first median has been relieved of its hawthornes and other plantings. The small shrub had been put in only a few months ago by the beautification committee and helpers, but the required reconfiguration of the entrance at Mauna Loa and Bee Ridge necessitated the move. Some of the plants have moved to the area of the entrance signs.  The flagpole will be removed to the second median by the developer of HealthSouth, whose expansion triggered the intersection changes. The first median will be replaced by a concrete separator, four feet wide by six inches high. 

Tonight's meeting generated a lot of news, including updates on the next Garage Sale, the next Park Clean-up, changes to our entrance, the business directory and more. The treasury now has $1201.92 in the bank all of the difference from the last report due to revenue from the Business Directory (see more on it below). The group approved paying to renew our incorporation with the State. A brief training session for Citizens Patrol will be held at Ted's house Wed. evening, March 11. Contact him for more information if interested at 941 379-0758. Three new homes were chosen for Yard of the Month - Renee will be delivering signs. ============ Work will soon begin on adding a lane to the front Mauna Loa entrance. Anyone who wishes to help save the plants and possibly the trees in the first median is invited to meet at the flagpole this Saturday, March 14, at noon . Hawthorne and other plants will be saved possibly to be replanted around either this entrance or the one at Westminste...

Sometimes for one or another reason, we feel it necessary to address an action or inaction that we feel blights our streets. Here's some useful advice on handling matters of code: Things we have found to be successful before calling the county: ~ Write a nice letter to the owner as a "concerned resident." Renee has some "form letters."  ~ Talk personally to the neighbor about the situation and how it affects home values (we did this with neighbors when their big coach camper was blocking our sidewalk ~ it offered an opportunity to get to know them and they happily moved the camper. They have turned out to be great neighbors). If you have to end up calling County Code Enforcement, it's 861-6403.

A small, friendly band of neighbors enjoyed Saturday's warm afternoon sun, games, and an amazing buffet full of excellent food, including North Carolina Pork, crab muffins, Mexican casserole and lots more, including some wonderful desserts, both home-made, and courtesy of Publix . A huge thank-you to Faith, Ray and Connie, and the very kind folks who shared their culinary skills, their tables, their games, toys and warmth, helping celebrate Hina Point Park as Lake Sarasota's newest amenity.

   DEDICATION  AND POT LUCK Something special happened in our neighborhood. A park was built and with it people became neighbors. On January 24 th at 2:00 pm a Dedication is planned……. Let’s make it a Celebration with an old fashioned Pot Luck! Bring the family…..Bring a friend……..Bring a blanket……..Oh yes, Bring a dish to share………. This will be a day to have fun and get to know the great people that live around you……So please mark your calendar…….. Would appreciate a call asap so we can figure some of our setup needs. Sincerely, Faith 371-2331   LET’S HAVE A GREAT DAY!   

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...

The Beautification Committee welcomes residents of Lake Sarasota to join in the annual Great American Cleanup, to fulfill our Adopt-A-Road obligation for Mauna Loa. This cleanup will be held Saturday, April 5 th at 9am. (Rain date is April 12 th .) We will meet at the Community Bulletin Board on Mauna Loa, and then dispatch small groups to designated areas. Trash bags will be provided, but please wear gloves and sunscreen! Twenty volunteers would make this take less than an hour for most participants. Each ounce of trash adds up; note below the impact this event has on a national level. J To volunteer, please email your contact info to kaysyrah@msn.com or call Kim Davis at 650-0301. We would also like to have a "refreshment stand" similar to what we did during the Community Yard Sale (which was very successful!) and sell the remaining sodas, hotdogs and chips. If you would like to volunteer for this, please email or call Sandy Allen: sallen11@comca...