Bowlers packed AMF Lanes in Bradenton last weekend for the annual O’Connor Bowling Challenge to raise $9,169 for the Anna Maria Island Community Center, but the big news came at the after party at the Anna Maria Oyster Bar when the O’Connor brothers – Billy and George – announced that after 20 years of bowling challenges, they would no longer be organizing the event.

After the party, Bill O'Connor talked with The Sun about their decision.

“Twenty years is a long time,” he said. “It will still be the O’Connor Challenge, only with Mike and Katie in charge.”

At the after party, the brothers introduced George’s son, Mike, and his wife, Katie, the namesake organizers for next year’s event. They also honored the sponsors who stuck with the challenge for the 20 years. Those people included Ed Chiles, Don Ide, John Horne, Sean Murphy, Stewart and Trudy Moon, Peggi Davenport and the late Pat Geyer. They also thanked their wives, Sharon and Sue, who helped them through it all. As for their decision, Bill said it doesn’t mean they won’t continue to bowl.

“”We’ll still be there,” he said. “It’s a lot of fun – a great night.”

What was Bill’s favorite memory over the past 20 years?

“It was the Bowling Police, when Pat and Doug (Copeland) dressed up like police,” he said. “It was hilarious, and it raised a lot of money.”

The Copelands made a list of offenses that they charged bowlers with, including bad hair and impersonating a bowler. The bowlers charged with those offenses had to pay a $1 fine.

This year’s challenge saw some great scores. Bryan Fritz took men’s high score with a 243 and the high series with a 650. Aris Thompson, the children’s program coordinator for the Community Center, took women’s high score with a 178, while Katherine Vander Grif took women’s high series with a 455. Kim Stadlin was the women’s low score honor with a 42, and Erik Pendleton had the low men’s game.

Jacob Spooner, owner and manager of the Bridge Street Bazaar and The Fish Hole mini golf course, won the big-screen television sponsored by The Anna Maria Island Sun.

Finally, Bill O’Connor had a tip for his nephew and wife for future challenges.

“Get as many prizes as possible,” he said. “The more people win, the more tickets they buy. This year, the big screen television brought in more than it ever has, and we appreciate The Sun for its donation of the TV.”

ANNA MARIA — The judge in the recall case against an Anna Maria city commissioner is being asked for a last minute stay of his order to go forward with the recall election.

But at least for now, voters will head to the polling place on Sept. 7 to decide if City Commissioner Harry Stoltzfus should be recalled.

If they do recall the commissioner, they’ll be choosing between Gene Aubry or Stoltzfus himself to fill the remainder of his term, which expires in November 2011.

In the latest development, Stoltzfus’ attorney Richard Harrison has appealed Friday’s ruling from Judge Edward Nicholas allowing the recall election to proceed.

“I’d say it’s a 50-50 coin toss as to whether this recall election goes forward,” Stoltzfus said over the weekend.

A hearing on whether or not the recall petition was precise enough to allow Stoltzfus to mount an effective defensive statement was held in Nicholas’ court on Aug. 12.

“Ultimately, then, the recall grounds here, as stated, are sufficiently definitive to enable the Plaintiff, (Stoltzfus) as the public official charged, to respond to and meet the allegations before the public, the judge wrote in the ruling he released on Aug. 24. “The allegations are concise, clear and contain valid grounds of either malfeasance, misfeasance or both to support the recall process.”

Harrison immediately filed a notice that he would appeal that ruling.

He fleshed out the grounds for that appeal in a brief filed on Aug. 30.

Harrison wrote that if the recall goes forward without allowing Stoltzfus’ appeal to be heard, his client will be deprived of any meaningful appellate review of this cou

rt’s final order and the issues concerning the recall petition. Such a result is untenable. “He ought to be entitled to the protection of an automatic stay, subject to any lawful conditions imposed by the trial court,” he said.

Barring the automatic stay, Harrison is requesting the courts to authorize a temporary stay of the recall election and seal the results of the election until his client has time to seek a permanent stay.

City Attorney Jim Dye and Recall Committee attorneys Fred Moore and Rebecca O’Dell will almost certainly be responding.

With the recall set for Sept. 7 and the Labor Day holiday in the midst, there is very little time for a ruling before the election itself.

But at least for now, voters can plan to head to Roser Memorial Community Church to cast their votes next Tuesday.

The poll will be open from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. if the election goes forward.

HOLMES BEACH – The Mainsail Lodge has opened its sales office on its marina property at 5325 Marina Drive, and it features a 3-D model of the main lodge and 37 condo/hotel units and town houses planned for the site.

“We recently cleaned up the site and added some picnic tables, so people can see life over there, and we’re steadily increasing the number of boats in the marina,” said Joe Collier, president of Mainsail Development of Tampa. “ We’re bringing activity to it.”

“We are ready for prime time,” sales executive Ryan Dougherty added.

However, Collier said the project wouldn’t break ground until there is sales activity.

“We have the site plan, but we don’t have our permits yet. It will take time to get those.

“Right now, we only have a range of prices for the units, but we won’t develop firm prices until we get the sub bids in. We’re looking at mid $300,000 to $800,000.”

As for a rumor that Mainsail is planning to sell the project, Collier said, “People approach us all the time, but that’s not our goal. The oil spill caused us a hiccup, but now it’s capped off so, hopefully, it will all be in the rear view mirror.”

The Lodge property

“The main lodge building will have a 100-seat restaurant with outdoor dining looking out on the marina,” Dougherty explained. “There will be a lobby and common area on the first floor and residences on the second floor, and every residence has at least one balcony."

Two buildings along Sunrise Lane will contain 14 three-story town homes with garages on the ground floor, living areas on the second floor and bedrooms on the third floor. Three buildings around the marina will have two- and three-bedroom condo/hotel units.

“Around the property there will be picnic areas with barbecue grills for residents and guests to entertain family and friends,” Dougherty continued. “Behind the main lodge will be a pool with a bar and cabana.

“There will be an outdoor fire pit and a boardwalk around the entire 60-slip marina. We have four charter captains in the marina that can take guests and residents out for fishing or a tour of the bay.”

Dougherty said a grand opening is planned, and Mainsail is currently working with the city to obtain permits for the signage.

“Joe (Collier) has been meeting with neighbors and gotten a very favorable response,” Dougherty said. “We’re excited about it. It’s worth the wait.”

The Beach Inn

Mainsail’s other Island project is the Beach Inn at 101 66th Street where 12 two- and three-bedroom units in two buildings are being sold as a condo/hotel and rented as hotel units when not in use by the owners.

“I’m enthused by the level of activity at the Beach Inn,” Collier said. “The rentals have been filled all summer. I spoke with a family from

Alabama that said they usually go to the Panhandle, but came here for the first time.” Four of the condo/hotel units have been sold with one pending sale. There also are two town homes in one of the buildings that remain available .

“A beach trolley will travel between the Lodge and the Beach Inn.” Dougherty explained. “Renters and guests from the Beach Inn can go the Lodge and eat in the restaurant or get a boat, and renters and guests from the Lodge can go to the beach at the Beach Inn.

“At the Beach Inn we are planning to build a clubhouse where renters and guests can come in and relax, get a drink, use the computers, play games and watch TV. There will be place for those coming from the Lodge to put their things while they go to the beach.”

Collier invited people to stop by and see the Lodge model. The sales office is open seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and noon to 5 p.m. on Sunday.

ANNA MARIA — The Pine Avenue parking plan that was designed to produce a pedestrian-friendly, walkable street through the city’s mixed-use corridor was quashed by City Commission Chair John Quam last week.

“I take full responsibility for this,” Quam said at the Aug. 26 commission meeting. “I’m totally responsible for initiating the public parking plan, and with special thanks to Gene Aubry, I’m sorry I cannot go that way but I think this is what’s best for the city.”

With that, Quam threw his support behind a parking code that requires all parking to be on-site for all new development in the city’s residential/office/retail district that runs along Pine Avenue and about three blocks of Gulf Drive just south of Pine.

City residents have been deeply divided over how to handle the parking in the ROR district since last November when Commissioner Harry Stoltzfus was elected to office and began challenging the interpretation of the city’s land development regulations and comprehensive plan by the city attorney, planner and building official that resulted in the way Pine Avenue looks today, with cars backing out over sidewalks.

That present configuration in front of new development actually grew out of protests by residents of Spring Avenue, one block south of Pine, who were vocally opposed to placing parking places for the Pine Avenue Restoration buildings in the rear with driveways leading in and out.

A compromise was worked out with the parking in front of the buildings. Cars cross the sidewalk entering and exiting those parking places — a practice that some deem to be very dangerous to pedestrians and bicyclists.

At Quam’s request, Gene Aubry, a nationally recognized architect who has dealt with parking configurations in countless situations, drew up a corridor plan for Pine Avenue so everyone could see how a public parking plan might look.

“I was happy to do it when John asked me,” Aubry said. “The mayor asked me to get with the city attorney, the planner and the building official to make sure what I drew would work out with the codes.”

Aubry presented the plan at a joint meeting of the commission and the planning and zoning board. After several meetings, the two boards reached consensus by a vote of 11-1 to move forward with the Pine Avenue Corridor Plan. Stoltzfus was among those absent from that meeting, and thus did not vote.

Commissioner Dale Woodland asked to have an expert come to the city and talk about the plan.

Aubry invited his friend, Dan Burden, who is widely considered to be the initiator of the walkable communities concept, to come and address the city.

Burden made a presentation to the commission and endorsed what was then known as the Quam/Aubry plan.

But the uproar over Pine Avenue Parking continued.

Quam asked Aubry to redraw the plan, which he did.

And then he created a third drawing at Quam’s request.

In the end, Quam withdrew his support of the Pine Avenue Corridor Plan and stated that he was responding to the wishes of the residents in going forward with a requirement that all parking be on-site for new development in the ROR district.

Quam said he was responding to a petition initiative that was signed by 250 of the city’s registered voters asking the commission to abandon the corridor plan.

When it came time for public comment in the meeting, people continued to be divided.

“You need to listen to the voice of the 250 people who signed the petition saying they are against using the public right of way for parking,” Terry Shaefer told commissioners.

“Don’t forget there were about a thousand residents who chose not to sign that parking petition,” Brian Seymour said.

The vote was 3-2 to bring an ordinance requiring on-site parking forward to a first reading at the commission’s Sept. 8 meeting.

Labor Day weekend begins on Saturday (or Friday, for those sneaking off from their labors early), and Anna Maria Island accommodations' owners are hoping for one last hurrah before the September lull.

September is historically the slowest month for tourism on the Island, with a hotel, motel and condominium occupancy rate of 39.4 percent in 2009 and 32.8 percent in 2008, both annual lows, according to the Bradenton Area Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB). In 2007, 35.1 percent occupancy was reported in September, the second slowest month of that year after an unusually sluggish January.

Local accommodations owners point to the economy, kids being back in school, and the lingering dog days of summer to explain the annual doldrums, when some local business owners close their doors and take a vacation.

They’re hoping that Labor Day weekend, which attracts Floridians within driving distance to the Island, will keep their workplaces humming a few days more.

“We’ve only got three rooms left for Labor Day weekend,” said Eric Carne, of Cedar Cove in Holmes Beach. About 70 percent of his holiday weekend guests are from Florida, with 30 percent from elsewhere; about two thirds of them have stayed there previously.

“The CVB is doing a bang-up job of getting the word out about the Island,” he said, adding, “This is the busiest year we’re going to have in 11 years.”

Island Real Estate reservations are nearly 20 percent better than this time last year, Larry Chatt said, also crediting the CVB with making a huge difference in business.

Holiday Cove RV Resort in Cortez is about 75 percent full for the holiday weekend, said Linda Parker, with about 60 percent driving their RVs from other Florida towns.

Frank Migliore is anticipating a good weekend at Duncan Real Estate, where rentals were brisk in June and July, but dropped off in August, he said, adding, “People are coming from all over,” including Germany.

Europeans travel in September, said Mike Carleton of Coastline Accommodations, which does not offer weekend rentals, but is booked over the holiday. After this weekend, “It will slow down for three or four weeks, then it will pick up again,” he said.

Floridians looking for a Friday-Monday weekend getaway are renting high-end properties from Pineapplefish Luxury Villas at Sato Real Estate in Anna Maria, where four properties have recently gone green with solar cells generating electricity and hot water. “They’re not looking for a little cottage. They want flat screens, pools and wireless,” Liza Morrow said.

Fewer visitors are coming this year, said June Walker, property manager at Wagner Realty in Bradenton Beach. “It’s a little quieter,” she said, adding that some within driving distance will visit for the day and not spend the night. Due to the economy, “People are trying to pull back.”

The Sun is seeking questions from readers for candidates in the four Island elections as well as the Manatee County Commission at large seat.

Candidates are:

• Sandy Mattick and Mike Selby for mayor of Anna Maria, a two-year term;

• Mike Harrington and Gay Breuler for one seat on the Bradenton Beach Commission, a two-year term;

• Incumbents Sandy Haas-Martens and John Monetti being challenged by Jean Peelan for two seats on the Holmes Beach Commission, two year terms;

• Incumbent Carol Whitmore being challenged by Sundae Knight for the Manatee County Commission at large seat, a four-year term.

• West Manatee Fire Commission: Incumbent Larry Tyler being challenged by Michael P. Carlton for Seat 3, incumbent Mike Mulyck being challenged by Scott Ricci for Seat 2 and incumbent John Rigney being challenged by Mondher Kobrosly for Seat 4, all four-year terms.

Questions should be short and to the point. No personal attack questions will be allowed. Indicate which candidate or candidates is being asked to respond. Questions must be received by Sept. 15.

Questions can be dropped by The Sun office at 9801 Gulf Drive, Anna Maria; mailed to The Sun at P.O. Box 1189, Anna Maria 34216 or e-mailed to news@amisun.com. If e-mailed, put “election question” in the subject box.

Registration and voting

Those who are not registered to vote have until 29 days before the election, or Oct. 4, to do so. Applications are available at many places including Island city halls and libraries or from the Supervisor of Elections at www.votemanatee.com or by phone at 941-741-3823.

Absentee ballots can be requested from the Supervisor of Elections office by mail or in person at 600 301 Blvd. W., Suite 108, Bradenton, Fl 34205, or phone at the number above. They must be requested by 5 p.m. on the sixth day before the election and received by the Supervisor of Elections by 7 p.m. on the day of the election.

Early voting will also be available. The dates, times and locations will be advertised prior to the election.

The general election will be held from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Nov. 2. Polling place are Roser Memorial Community Church, 512 Pine Ave., for Anna Maria voters; Tingley Memorial Library,111 Second St. N., for Bradenton Beach voters and Gloria Dei Lutheran Church, 6608 Marina Drive and St. Bernard Catholic Church, 248 S. Harbor Drive, for Holmes Beach voters.

ANNA MARIA – Voters will go to the polls on Tuesday, Sept. 7, to decide if City Commissioner Harry Stoltzfus should be recalled from office and if so, who should serve the remainder of his term in office, Stoltzfus or political newcomer Gene Aubry. The term expires in November 2011.

Harry Stoltzfus

Stoltzfus said he decided to run in this recall election, despite the problems surrounding his tenure as a city commissioner.

“I want to continue to serve the citizens of Anna Maria as a commissioner as I was elected to do last November,” Stoltzfus said. “I want to continue the work to make sure our land development codes are in compliance with our comp plan and to make sure that the correct interpretation of those codes and the comp plan are carried out.”

Stoltzfus said there has been no basis for his recall. He said he did not hold any electronic meetings or violate any laws.

Stoltzfus said he remains committed to requiring that all parking for new development in the residential/office/retail district be located on-site.

“This backing out over the sidewalk is just creating a tragedy waiting to happen,” he said.

Stoltzfus denied charges that he singled out Pine Avenue Restoration specifically, as he is accused of doing.

“That’s just ridiculous,” he said. “The first five site plans that came before me were PAR plans. How can anyone say I singled them out when they were the only game in town.”

Stoltzfus said he’s happy that the budget issues seem to be resolved and he wants to see the city’s character stay the way it was when he and his wife Cathy and daughter Molly arrived here in 1997.

Eugene E. Aubry

As Gene Aubry stepped forward to run for the remainder of Harry Stoltzfus' term he explained, “I’m not a political kind of guy. I wouldn’t run again, but I wanted the voters to have some options.”

Aubry, an architect with a national reputation, moved to the Island with his wife, Janet, in 1985.

He has a long record of community involvement. He was a classroom volunteer at Anna Maria Island Elementary School when his children were enrolled there and continued his involvement with

St. Stephen’s Episcopal School. He also served as a volunteer teacher of art and music. He’s been an active volunteer with both libraries on the Island, including designing and helping oversee the construction of the newest library. He’s donated books and funds to both libraries.

The long-time Anna Maria resident assisted in the creation of the 9/11 memorial at West Manatee Fire & Rescue Station 1 in Holmes Beach.

At the request of City Commission Chair John Quam, Aubry, worked to define and draw the Pine Avenue Walkable Community Initiative. He served on the safety committee and on the selection committee for a new building official.

Aubry has done some work for Pine Avenue Restoration and has pledged to recuse himself from any votes that have to do with that organization.

Manatee County tourism rose 1.7 percent from April to June, the first three months of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, according to a survey by the Bradenton Area Convention and Visitors Bureau’s consultant.

Bolstering a widespread theory that visitors bypassed the oil-stricken Panhandle for southwest Florida, 114,200 visitors traveled to Manatee County compared to 112,300 during the same three-month period last year, according to the survey by Tampa-based Research Data Services.

Slightly more than a third of the visitors were from Florida, up nearly 3 percent from the same period last year, followed by the Midwest (18.2 percent) and the Northeast (17 percent).

The most popular draw, by a 93.6 percent response, was the beach. The average stay was 6.7 days in both 2010 and 2009, split nearly equally between families and couples, with the average age of the head of the household hovering at 49.

More than 90 percent of visitors learned about the destination on the Internet, where messages that beaches are clean remain plentiful, partly due to the CVB’s efforts and to VISIT FLORIDA’s launch of Florida Live. The state tourism agency’s web-based service has expanded from live webcam images from around the state, Twitter feeds from local tourism organizations and date-stamped photos by visitors to include daily videos, blog posts, vacation deals, worry-free reservation information, travel updates and fishing reports.

Statewide statistics also showed an increase in visitors during the same time period. VISIT FLORIDA estimates that 20.8 million travelers visited the Sunshine State from April to June, an increase of 3.4 percent from the same period last year.

But VISIT FLORIDA Chief Marketing Officer Will Seccombe warned that the statistics mask lost business that was discovered in another VISIT FLORIDA study finding that travelers were 22 percent less likely to visit the Sarasota/Bradenton area in July and August because of the oil spill.

“Misperceptions of the actual effects of the spill on the Florida tourism product have had a negative influence on the Florida tourism brand, as well as the brands of Florida’s beach communities,” he said in a press statement on Friday.

A survey by VISIT FLORIDA of 400 Florida residents found that 12 percent changed their plans due to the oil spill. Nearly half (48 percent) of Floridians said they were going to take a vacation in Florida this year. Of those, 39 percent of adults and 57 percent of families said they were planning to travel before October.

In addition, a survey of Conde Nast Traveler subscribers showed that 15 percent of respondents said their travel plans were affected by the oil spill, according to VISIT FLORIDA.

About 17 percent erroneously thought there was oil on a number of Florida’s Gulf coast beaches that are not in northwest Florida, and another 5-8 percent mistakenly thought there was oil on east coast Florida beaches.

BRADENTON BEACH – They have some money and they have a plan, and they want residents to know what they’re doing.

Three engineers from Lynn Townsend and Associates fielded questions and talked about their plans to improve stormwater drainage in the worst areas of town at a public meeting on Monday, Aug. 23. The turnout, however, was confined to a couple of homeowners who serve or have served on city boards and a few other residents of those bad areas who were curious to see what was in store.

The money – $100,000 per year for three years – comes from a Southwest Florida Water Management District Surface Water Improvement Management grant.

The meeting came on a day when more than four inches of rain fell, straining all the stormwater management improvements that have been made on the Island in the past.

“We are aware of the problem we have in the northern portion of the city,” Bradenton Beach Public Works Director Tom Woodard told the audience. “Today is a good testament with water in some areas up to our knees.”

The trouble spots are in low-lying residential areas along Avenue B south of 22nd Street and Avenue A between 24th and 25th Streets, according to Woodard.

“We want to get the most for our money,” he added. “Hopefully, there will be additional grants in the future.”

Engineer Matt Morris explained the virtues of the project, which will begin in the next fiscal year that starts Oct. 1.

“We got the grant not only to reduce flooding in those areas,” he said. “This project will also improve the quality of stormwater that drains into Sarasota Bay.”

The plans call for directing stormwater into collection areas such as swales and cisterns so it can be filtered biologically before it drains into the bay.

Engineer and owner Lynn Townsend-Burnett said that one problem they have in that area is the fact that a lot of the city’s runoff from Gulf Drive drains into a retention pond built at Runaway Bay condominiums.

“In this first phase of work, we want to separate Runaway Bay’s retention system from the city’s so that the water can drain into Sarasota Bay,” she said. “In phase two, we want to make sure Gulf Drive’s drainage has no effect on Runaway Bay’s drainage system.”

Townsend-Burnett said that they would lay new pipes underground to handle the drainage along Avenue B, paying attention to where the drainage inlets are located. She said that some of the pipes currently in the system are silt-laden to the point that they can no longer drain water. They will replace them with larger pipes. She said the rainwater would be directed to bio-swales where plants living in the swales will clean the water before it drains to Sarasota Bay.

Morris said that this is just the beginning.

“These improvements won’t end the flooding right away,” he said. “It is all part of a long-range plan.”

LONGBOAT KEY – Two local ladies have proven that 70-something isn’t too late to break into the music business.

Sally Keyes and Marlene Campanaro are cantors together at St. Mary, Star of the Sea Catholic Church on Longboat Key. Keyes also is co-owner of Catcher’s Island Discount Tackle in Holmes Beach and a former member of the choir at St. Bernard’s Catholic Church.

But when the two combine to sing “Sisters,” a song from the 1954 film “White Christmas,” it’s not about nuns. The lyrics to the Rosemary Clooney hit ring true for the women, whose first CD, Diamonds in the Rough, is due out this week from API Records.

“Those who’ve seen us know that not a thing can come between us,” sing the pair, who also sew and socialize together, and got their start by singing to their children.

It was their dream to make a recording for their children and grandchildren, so that the kids could say, “That was my mom,” or “That was my grandmother,” Campanaro said. But the thought remained on the back burner until this year, when they both turned 70 and decided, “Let’s do it.”

Keyes’ son, Tim, offered his recording studio, and took the dream to the next level when he offered to put the recording on his label and release it to the public.

While both singers regularly perform sacred music, the music they chose to record is the music they grew up with – standards from the first half of the last century, which have enjoyed a resurgence thanks to Harry Connick Jr., Michael Buble and Rod Stewart.

“I grew up hearing music. The radio was always on at home,” Campanaro said. “You just absorb all those words.”

The CD features "Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend," "Sisters, Almost Like Being in Love," "I Can't Give You Anything But Love," "Nevertheless," "Always," "Gimme a Little Kiss," "Baby Face," "Smile," "Breezin' Along with the Breeze," "'S Wonderful" and "Dream."

The music “brings back memories of how people met” during the World War II era, Keyes said. “It was an emotional time.”

“I really don’t think music from that era will ever die,” said Campanaro, who sang with various nightclub acts throughout the Trenton, N.J. and Philadelphia areas, including the Chubby Chatten Band, before relocating to Longboat Key in 2002.

Keyes studied theatre, performance and the arts in Denver where she performed in non-musical plays and student films.

Next on their agenda? Maybe a Christmas album, they say.

Diamonds in the Rough is available at Amazon.com and the ITUNES store. For more information, visit www.apirecords.com.