28th Annual Downtown Venice Craft Festival

 https://www.visitvenicefl.org/craft-festival-is-back

West Venice Avenue in Venice, Florida  

Free Admission

The annual downtown craft festival, brought to you by Howard Alan Events & American Craft Endeavors and Venice MainStreet is back! 

Some of the nation’s best crafters will converge along West Venice Avenue, so peruse booths filled with stained glass, photography, personalized products for children and dogs alike, and much more. Stroll the Green Market for plants, handmade soaps, tangy BBQ sauces, and live orchids. 

Please be mindful and follow CDC guidelines.

Ali H. Johnston, MBA in Real Estate

REALTOR®, Lic. Broker #BK3284964

West Villages Realty LLC

19503 S West Villages Pkwy

Stes A2 (by Appt)

Venice, Florida 34293

Office: 941-460-3179

Golf cart rules in West Villages explained at Wednesday meeting

 By CRAIG GARRETT Staff Writer Jan 17, 2021

https://www.yoursun.com/northport/news/golf-cart-rules-in-west-villages-explained-at-wednesday-meeting/

NORTH PORT — Rules of the road get discussed Wednesday at the West Villages.

But not for motorists. Rather, this discussion focuses on golf cart operators, particularly kids and their parents. Neighbors had complained that children and teens on golf carts within the West Villages had been sometimes reckless, were often underage.

Others are confused about which type of golf cart is allowed where, including operators crisscrossing Tamiami Trail at the busy West Villages Parkway intersection.

North Port police, the town’s mayor and others will log into a Wednesday Zoom meeting to explain precise rules for operating a golf cart and how to modify one to make it street legal. Citywide laws get explained, as well, specifically in the West Villages, where buyers are sold the idea that golf carts are accepted transportation. But the rules were sometimes enforced, sometimes not.

Wednesday’s meeting will clear the air.

“We’re looking at this (meeting) as a safety issue. Get the information … and know,” said William Crosley, district manager for the West Villages Improvement District, the governing body within that sprawling series of neighborhoods and communities.

North Port in the last year had tweaked its golf cart rules. Some owners that included police and public officials, in fact, had plied local streets on the vehicles, some out of compliance with safety rules or with underage operators at the wheel.

North Port police interpreted the rules as not allowing basic golf carts on streets, the ones designed to haul a couple of guys and their clubs down 300-yard fairways.

Everything else was fair game, though. You could, for instance, operate modified golf carts with state-approved upgrades such as lighting, turn signals, licenses, seat belts and insurance.

And one odd rule was that a North Port golf cart dealer couldn’t rent his products. In the backdrop of all of this, some North Port retail centers had been built with designated golf cart parking spots, meaning the carts had to somehow get there.

Operating rules to reflect Florida laws were introduced. A final reading of new North Port standards is pending.

Wednesday’s virtual meeting is to explain the rules and to provide options for upgrading a golf cart. It is open to the public at westvillagesid.org.

Some in West Villages had reported kids on golf carts acting recklessly, some well under age 14, the legal limit for a regular golf cart. That and explaining the rules prompted Wednesday’s meeting, said Jill Luke, North Port’s mayor.

“Rules (for years) were not enforced,” she said. “Now there’s so much activity, this has come up.”

West Villager and golf cart owner John Meisel said kids sometimes scorn driving rules, pull one another on skateboards, race around and act … like children.

“Is it my place to police parents? No,” he said. “But most people are pretty good about it.”

Ali H. Johnston, MBA in Real Estate

REALTOR®, Lic. Broker #BK3284964

West Villages Realty LLC

19503 S West Villages Pkwy

Stes A2 (by Appt)

Venice, Florida 34293

Office: 941-460-3179

MainStreet gets OK for first concert since March

 https://www.yoursun.com/venice/mainstreet-gets-ok-for-first-concert-since-march/

The Cry’n Shames provide music for revelers at the Myakka River United Way event at Snook Haven in October 2018. They will perform back in Venice this month as MainStreet gets its first concert since March.

• SUN PHOTO BY AUDREY BLACKWELL

VENICE — The Venice MainStreet Friday Night Concert series resumes in Centennial Park on Nov. 13 after an eight-month hiatus due to the coronavirus pandemic.

If all goes well, Assistant City Manager Len Bramble said, the city could consider adding more, perhaps larger, special events and residents might get “a semblance of holiday seasons past.”

“We love our special events,” he said.

And if it doesn’t — worst-case scenario, someone gets sick from exposure at the concert — “it would have a disastrous effect on the continuation of special events right now,” he said.

“The success of future events is all in the hands of those who attend,” Bramble said.

Maybe not entirely. He acknowledged that the COVID-19 numbers “aren’t real favorable right now.”

Almost all of the special events in the city from March onward fell victim to a moratorium imposed by an executive order issued in March and renewed in July by City Manager Ed Lavallee.

But he announced at a recent City Council meeting that discussions with Venice MainStreet were underway to create a “re-entry program” for special events.

It’s taking the form of a three-concert series, said Nick Sperry, VMS Events and Partnership coordinator.

The concert next week features popular local band the Cry’n Shames.  Another concert is scheduled for Nov. 27, he said, and a special one on Dec. 11 for the holidays before a break until January.

Although that’s VMS’ usual schedule, much else is different, starting with the need for people to register to attend even though admission is free.

Sperry said that there’s a limited number of tickets but didn’t disclose how many. Bramble said the city’s cap is about 150 but it may be a little flexible depending on the response.

“I believe it’s going to fill up,” Sperry said.

There may be a pent-up demand for entertainment. He said he went from scheduling “54 events a year to nothing.”

The same thing happened with his own performance schedule as a musician,he said, with gigs just starting to come back.

Concert attendees will be required to wear a mask, he said, and stay in squares marked off about 10 feet apart for groups up to six people.

The concert space will have a “soft” perimeter, according to Bramble, who said VMS is also required to provide signs and sanitation stations as part of its COVID-19 plan.

VMS will be following these precautions until the city lifts them, Sperry said.

“We really hope that people are respectful,” Bramble said. “All it takes is one or two bad apples to spoil it for everybody....We don’t want that to happen.”

Ali H. Johnston, MBA in Real Estate

REALTOR®, Lic. Broker #BK3284964

West Villages Realty LLC

19503 S West Villages Pkwy

Stes A2 (by Appt)

Venice, Florida 34293

Office: 941-460-3179

Van Wezel seeks input on new performance center

https://www.yoursun.com/van-wezel-seeks-input-on-new-performance-center/article

By TRACEY BEEKER Guest Writer Oct 21, 2020

The Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin Group. Its color was selected from the lining of a sea shell found on a Sarasota Beach.

PHOTO PROVIDED BY VAN WEZEL PERFORMING ARTS HALL

SARASOTA — The Van Wezel Foundation is launching a regional, communitywide survey to obtain feedback for the planning of a new Sarasota Performing Arts Center at the center of The Bay Park near downtown Sarasota.

The Sarasota Performing Arts Center is at the heart of the city of Sarasota’s master plan to develop the Sarasota Bayfront into a cultural and economic legacy for the region.

The regional survey spans from Tampa to Port Charlotte and is being conducted by Alexander Babbage, a national scientific-based research firm specializing in cultural destination studies. All participant data will remain anonymous. Visit MySarasotaPerforming ArtsCenter.org to take the survey.

The Van Wezel Foundation is leading the vision for the new performing arts center in a public-private partnership with the city of Sarasota. The goal for the Center is to operate 12 months out of the year and present relevant, world-class programming for all audiences.

Preliminary planning calls for a state-of-the-art 230,000-square-foot multi-purpose facility that provides programming all year long, and includes various performance and civic spaces:

• 2,250-seat main stage with universal accessibility

• 400-seat flexible performance space

• 10,000-square-foot education and lifelong learning center

• multiple outdoor public performance spaces

• state-of-the-art technology and design advances

As one of the first performing arts centers to be built post-pandemic in the country, the Sarasota Performing Arts Center will be a national model for architecture, patron health and safety, and coastal resilience, playing a meaningful role to further promote the Gulf Coast region as a preeminent cultural destination.

Obtaining feedback from the community is an essential first step to advance the project forward.

“For more than 30 years, the Van Wezel Foundation has partnered with the city of Sarasota to enhance the quality of life for our community,” said Cheryl Mendelson, CEO of the Van Wezel Foundation. “With input from regional communities, we have a tremendous opportunity to make the Sarasota Performing Arts Center a place for ideas, a place for the arts, a place for you.

“The new performing arts center will serve as an iconic civic asset that meets the needs of everyone living in and visiting the entire Gulf Coast region.”

The 8-to-10-minute online survey will assist the foundation as it plans to develop the new mission-based performing arts center.

The SPAC community engagement initiative is being supported through a grant from the Community Foundation of Sarasota County and will be available to the public through Nov. 30.

Ali H. Johnston, MBA in Real Estate

REALTOR®, Lic. Broker #BK3284964

West Villages Realty LLC

19503 S West Villages Pkwy

Stes A2 (by Appt)

Venice, Florida 34293

Office: 941-460-3179

From Our Garden: Color Coded coneflowers dazzling performers with fun names

 https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/8566373499472481857/77885333259690440

By Norman Winter Tribune News Service Oct 18, 2020

The Price is White looks to be one of the hottest new coneflowers making its debut in the spring, and you need to line out your sources now, for not only it but the entire Color Coded series. 

The Price is White Coneflower is making its debut in 2021.Photo, Norman Winter/Tribune News Service

The size of coneflower blossoms is not something we tout as horticulturists but with The Price is White, I have to say they are the largest echinacea flowers I have ever grown. Pristine white blossoms that don’t mature to ugly makes The Price is White a real winner.

The Color Coded series is a group of four at this point with all sporting varietal names that cause you to take notice when you see them in the marketplace. Orange You Awesome, and Yellow My Darling made their debut in garden centers this year and have been nothing short of dazzling to this point. In addition to The Price is White there will be a new red next spring called Frankly Scarlet, which is slightly taller than the three others and is a pollinator champion.

The color coded Frankly Scarlet coneflower is making its debut in 2021 and is slightly taller reaching 28" in height.

Photo, Proven Winners Provided

At The Garden Guy's house 2020 was amazing with the Color Coded coneflowers. Blooms started in April on my two-year-old plants and were stunning with the quantity of blooms produced. Imagine however, enjoying coneflower blooms in April, May, June and July. I decided to experiment this year by leaving a lot of seed heads going into August. I was ecstatic to have American Goldfinches come in to eat the seeds on these as well as the other varieties I was trialing. But the story doesn't end as they are sending up new blooms in October.

If you are thinking the echinacea was purple to hot pink, well it is, but something awesome has happened in the world of purple coneflowers and that is science. It is a wonderful complicated science when it comes to breeding. There were crosses, back crosses, three-way crosses and more. The result is our native coneflower species have simply gotten better, we have more colors, flowers and habits — and you simply have to include some in your garden.

I have seen a lot of gardeners saying the new colors and hybrids just don't perform like the old-fashioned natives. The Garden Guy loves native flowers of just about everything, especially when it comes to pollinators. I am thrilled however with the performance and pollinator attraction in Proven Winners new Color Coded group of coneflowers.

Early spring is still my favorite time to plant purple coneflowers. Select healthy growing transplants not yet in flower. These are the ones that are still producing roots, have green leaves and will get happy in your garden. But to be honest the industry has changed, offering us healthy vibrant transplants in all stages and all seasons and I have had great success with these too.

Whenever you decide to plant, choose a site in full sun for best flower performance. The soil need not be luxuriantly fertile. Space your Color Coded echinacea plants 16 to 20-inches apart in an informal drift or sweep. Your partnership opportunities with these new coneflowers is unlimited. I'm growing them with Blue Boa agastache, Rockin Blue Suede Shoes salvia, Pugster Amethyst buddleia and even partnered Orange You Awesome with ColorBlaze Lime Time for a wild, in-your-dreams combo.

Purple coneflowers still come in purple and they will always be recommended. Keep your eyes open however next spring for Proven Winners new Color Coded series featuring Orange You Awesome, Yellow My Darling, The Price is White and Frankly Scarlet. They will all pack beauty, fun and pollinators into the garden.

Ali H. Johnston, MBA in Real Estate

REALTOR®, Lic. Broker #BK3284964

West Villages Realty LLC

19503 S West Villages Pkwy

Stes A2 (by Appt)

Venice, Florida 34293

Office: 941-460-3179

Atlanta Braves Have Nothing to be Ashamed of from 2020 Season

https://tomahawktake.com/2020/10/19/atlanta-braves-nothing-ashamed-2020-season/

by Jake Mastrioanni

Even though the season didn’t end the way we hoped, the Atlanta Braves have nothing to be ashamed of from their 2020 season.

You’ll be hard-pressed to find another team that suffered more significant injuries and setbacks as the Atlanta Braves did in 2020.

It’s been well documented how only one of the five starting pitchers they envisioned being in the starting rotation made it to the postseason.

Once Mike Soroka went down I felt like this team had no shot in the postseason.

And yet guys like Ian Anderson, Kyle Wright, and Bryse Wilson stepped up to give us huge starts in the postseason.

Not only that, but they gave us a glimpse of what this team could look like at full strength in the future.

If the Braves go into the postseason next year with a healthy rotation of Soroka, Fried, Anderson, and Wright I feel really confident about our chances of winning a World Series.

But it wasn’t just the pitching that the Braves had to battle through this season, they played the majority of the regular season with two of their best players battling wrist injuries in Ronald Acuna Jr. and Ozzie Albies.

As we know from Freddie Freeman in the past, the only way you fully recover from that injury is with a lot of rest. The season didn’t afford that for them, and I feel pretty confident in saying that Acuna’s wrist was hurting a lot more than he was letting on in the postseason.

And our offense is just not the same when Acuna isn’t getting on base, and he just wasn’t able to do that enough in the last three games of the NLCS.

Yes, these are excuses. And yes it hurts to blow a 3-1 lead.

But if we’re being honest, the Dodgers were just a better team and they proved that by beating us three games in a row.

The one thing that I hope the Braves take away from this series is the offensive approach of the Dodgers in the postseason.

It was pretty clear the Braves hitters were just trying to hit home runs every time they went up, and that type of offense just doesn’t work against good pitching in the postseason.

Yes, the Dodgers hit their fair share of home runs, but it’s how they did it that was so impressive. The deciding home runs from Kike Hernandez and Cody Bellinger both came at the end of long at-bats after they fouled off some tough pitches.

The Braves hitters just don’t battle like that. There were too many times in those last three games were they got out in the first three pitches of an at-bat.

Hopefully they learn from that and their philosophy changes a bit next season.

But overall, with everything this team went through in 2020, to push the best team in baseball to a game seven in the NLCS was really impressive.

I know Braves fans are tired of hearing the “next year” statement, and so am I. But the fact is, this team is still very young and will have plenty of more chances in the coming years.

But overall, with everything this team went through in 2020, to push the best team in baseball to a game seven in the NLCS was really impressive.

Ali H. Johnston, MBA in Real Estate

REALTOR®, Lic. Broker #BK3284964

West Villages Realty LLC

19503 S West Villages Pkwy

Stes A2 (by Appt)

Venice, Florida 34293

Office: 941-460-3179

Englewood Senior Softball back in play

https://www.yoursun.com/englewood/column-englewood-senior-softball-back-in-play

Dale Mason pitching open practice in the Englewood Softball League.

PHOTO PROVIDED

By RUDY DAVIS Englewood Senior Softball, October 16,2020

The leaves are turning and the snow is about to fly up north, but not here on the Suncoast.

Following a 2020 Winter season abruptly canceled in mid-March by COVID-19, the Englewood Men’s Senior Softball League is back at it, with a brand new Fall season. Games are in progress already.

With the re-opening of the fields and a player protection protocol in place, the second year of the spring league occurred in April.

“It was a short, but competitive and fun Spring season,” said Hans Picinich. “We had 40 or more guys showing up to practice all summer long — more than we’ve ever seen during the summer.”

The use of two fields for practice helped with social distancing.

The Englewood Senior Softball league has moved in to full swing with the Fall season underway, comprised of six teams, an increase of two teams from 2019. In addition, for those not on a team, open practice sessions are 8 a.m. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

“The success of the Fall season is impressive and gratifying,” said Mark Johnson, newly appointed commissioner of the league. “The six-team rosters filled quickly and there were nearly enough guys on the ‘sub’ list to form a seventh team. I can see the fall league expanding to eight teams next fall.”

Going in to its 29th year, the league continues to attract players from Englewood, North Port, Venice, Rotonda, Boca Grande and Port Charlotte. The mission is to create an opportunity for men over 60 to play recreational softball.

Despite the number of returning players, the past several years have seen the league focus on recruiting.

2019 was also the first year for the Bronze division, a new division for those over 80 or with otherwise diminishing skills. Johnson anticipates that the Bronze division will expand from two teams to three or four, and the Gold and Silver divisions may expand to nine teams from eight to accommodate more players.

The typical new player is one who hasn’t played in some time, and has moved to the area, though many new players have played in summer leagues “up north.” The practice sessions, which run through the end of December, gives players a chance to refresh their skills, and prepare for the draft.

“The skill level ranges from first timer’s to more advanced players, with one common goal … get some exercise and have some fun,” said Johnson.

The league has moved to a divisional alignment based purely on skill level. Following the draft, teams play a 21-game schedule, plus an end of season tournament.

This year’s draft is Jan. 4 for the Gold division, Jan. 5 for both Silver and Bronze, with registration required. Picinich notes that the Spring and Fall leagues, still in their infancy, do not yet have a formal draft, and teams are formed to create similar levels of talent so as to keep the games competitive.

The league is supported by local businesses that sponsor the teams, and the list is growing.

“We are very grateful, and loyal, to our sponsors. It helps to supply teams with jerseys, equipment and the cost of renting the fields from the county,” says Johnson. And, the nearly 300 players and their fans frequent those businesses all year long. “It’s a symbiotic relationship, for sure.”

The league plans to keep its player protection protocol in place for as long as necessary. “We’ve implemented elements that help to promote social distancing, and to help keep contact between players and fans alike to a minimum. We try to minimize the number of guys in the dugout when batting, will be reserving a portion of the stands for players only, eliminated the after game handshake between teams, and we’re adding time between when games end and start so that the field area can be cleared by the teams finishing before the teams about to play take the field,” Johnson reports.

“Camaraderie is a big part of the league, and we all will miss that aspect of it, but given the circumstances we find ourselves in, this is the right thing to do,” says Davis. “We all want to be able to play a full season, though I’ll admit, it, I’m gonna miss that post-game handshake.”

Until the draft, its practice, which is open to anyone who will turn 60 or older during 2021. Practice sessions are held on Adult Softball fields 1 & 2, and Soccer field four when the numbers require it.

The Englewood Sports Complex is at 1300 S. River Road. 

For more information about the league, visit www.englewoodseniorsoftball.weebly.com. Registration for the draft is required. Get a form at the Englewood Sports Complex, or download it from the league’s website.

Ali H. Johnston, MBA in Real Estate

REALTOR®, Lic. Broker #BK3284964

West Villages Realty LLC

19503 S West Villages Pkwy

Stes A2 (by Appt)

Venice, Florida 34293

Office: 941-460-3179

Country music event coming to Cool Today Park

 https://www.yoursun.com/country-music-event-coming-to-cool-today-park/

By LUCY MICANFRI Guest Writer

WELLEN PARK — With the High Tide Country Music Festival postponed until next year, a smaller concert fundraiser for Suncoast Charities for Children called “Denim By The Diamond” will now take place Nov. 21 at CoolToday Park.

Guests will enjoy live modern country music by Stone Buckle; a silent auction; country-themed food stations; and two complimentary drink tickets to a full bar.

Venice residents and Suncoast Charities board members Michelle Hazeltine and Christine Robinson will serve as co-chairs for this new event as well as next year’s High Tide Country Music Festival.

Suncoast Charities for Children provides support to Children First, The Florida Center for Early Childhood, Loveland Center, Sarasota County Special Olympics and Venice Challenger Baseball, all with locations in the South Sarasota County area.

“Since the coronavirus postponed the High Tide Country Music Festival until Nov. 20, 2021, we are extremely excited that we are still able to host a smaller event fundraiser here at CoolToday Park and partner with such a great charity that supports several nonprofits in South Sarasota County,” said Mike Dunn, vice president of Florida Operations for the Atlanta Braves. “The impact that these agency programs and services have on clients with special needs, and their families, is tremendous.

“We are extremely grateful to the Atlanta Braves organization for this opportunity because every dollar we can raise makes an impact,” said Lucy Nicandri, executive director of Suncoast Charities for Children.

Limited tickets are now on sale for $85 per person and must be purchased in advance online at SuncoastCharitiesForChildren.org.

Ali H. Johnston, MBA in Real Estate

REALTOR®, Lic. Broker #BK3284964

West Villages Realty LLC

19503 S West Villages Pkwy

Stes A2 (by Appt)

Venice, Florida 34293

Office: 941-460-3179

CoolToday, hot nights

 https://www.yoursun.com/westvillagessun/news/cooltoday-hot-nights/article_0e671e

WELLEN PARK — CoolToday Park recently hosted a COVID-protocol compliant concert featuring the Tampa and Orlando-based band #NoFilter.

Venice residents (from left) Amanda Salantino, Pamala Hilse, Elizabeth DeLuca and Danielle McGhee enjoy the “Party on the Plaza” concert series at the Atlanta Braves CoolToday Park in Wellen Park. Stadium officials hosted dance band #NoFilter on Sept. 26 and are bringing in the 1960s band The Tams on Oct. 17.

PHOTOS BY JERRY BEARD

It was a part of the facility’s Party at the Plaza concert series.

It’s next hosting the 1960s band The Tams, an Atlanta-based group that had several Top 40 hits in the 1960s — along with a British resurgence in the 1980s.

The Tams perform Oct. 17.

Ali H. Johnston, MBA in Real Estate

REALTOR®, Lic. Broker #BK3284964

West Villages Realty LLC

19503 S West Villages Pkwy

Stes A2 (by Appt)

Venice, Florida 34293

Office: 941-460-3179