The Lake Sarasota Community Blog

It was a surprise to learn that there are some folks who live in Lake Sarasota who are unaware of lovely Lakeview Park which sits right next to the neighborhood, running along Lago Road and Hand Road. The Sarasota Parks and Rec dept . has decided to make some improvements to Lakeview, and they'll be asking for suggestions, ideas, from the neighbors as well as from those who use the various facilities in the park, including the dog park. With its canals and old "stadium seating" on the lake, the park has traces of its early days as Sunshine Springs and Gardens , a resort that was in truth an extended marketing event to get people to come see property in Eastern Sarasota County. The park is also used regularly for two sports that folks of all ages enjoy, disc golf and petanque. The Sky Pilot s, a local disc golf club, regularly stages tournaments here. And the Sarasota Petanque Club  plays on Sundays and Thursdays, and has a qualifying world champio...

On Saturday folks from Lake Sarasota , as well as from Sarasota County Parks and Rec , and from the Sarasota Club de Petanque , Friends of Sarasota County Parks , and the Sarasota Sky Pilots came out with shovels, hoes, clippers and anything else at hand to remove, uproot, and basically annihilate the infestation of air potatoes in Lakeview Park. Here's how the fence line looked before the community took action: Before And after: After Thanks All! Photos courtesy of Lynda Eppinger, who also was the prime organizer of this event.

This is a reminder that we are having a park clean up day this Saturday, March 26th. The clean up is being sponsored by the Sky Pilots and they need our help. As mentioned before, when we had our Lake Sarasota Community Group clean up day at the park, the Sky Pilots came out in force and helped us. It is now our turn to repay the favor. The clean up will be from 9:00 AM till 12:00 Noon,so its just 3 hours (not a full day job). There will be some food served and water will be provided for the workers. PLEASE TRY AND MAKE IT TO THE CLEAN UP! THE MORE PEOPLE THAT SHOW UP, THE FASTER AND EASIER IT IS FOR EVERYONE AND THE BETTER OUR PARK WILL LOOK WHEN WE ARE DONE. Here's one reason the park needs periodic clean-ups: the picnic tables are regularly thrown in the water, or moved, or used for bridges, or broken up. The Petanque players had a large gathering last Sunday, and they found only three picnic tables where there used to be six. Today they found only two: Because the third ...

Lakeview Park is one of the great resources available to Lake Sarasota. It gets a lot of use, and occasionally, some abuse. Part of the challenge with a park like this is to strike the proper balance between human uses, like disc golf, Petanque, and the dog park, and nature's own needs -- natural habitat for birds, fish, and critters. On March 26th the Sky Pilots disc golf club, Lake Sarasota Community Group, and anyone else who wishes to join in will spend three hours clearing debris cleaning up the park. Food will be served for all who pitch in. Come out on Saturday March 26 from 9 a.m. to noon. Meet your neighbors, enjoy the great outdoors, and help your park.

This Sunday the Sky Pilots -- the Disc Golf club -- will be in Lakeview Park doing some trimming and tidying up of the park areas. Those who have been out there recently will have noticed that while the canals seem less clogged with duckweed, there are some "issues": trees have fallen, air potatoes are on the rebound, among other things. If you have a few hours, they'll be in the park from 9 a.m. to noon, Sunday, June 27. If you do come out, bring some clippers, gloves, a garbage bag, and if you let a club member know you're there and working, you'll probably get invited to a picnic lunch at the pavilion, and maybe to a game of disc golf afterwards.