BRADENTON – West Manatee Fire Rescue’s commissioners and staff had a lot to celebrate during the board’s Nov. 19 meeting with two new firefighters sworn in, three promotions and two Phoenix Awards handed out.
First on the agenda was the oath which was given to new hires firefighters Aaron Reese and David Stark. Reese is working to finish paramedic school in December while Stark comes to WMFR from Manatee County Emergency Management Services.
Firefighters Aaron Reese and David Stark take their oaths as West Manatee firefighters. – Kristin Swain | Sun
Firefighter Tyler MacDonald was promoted for the rank of lieutenant but was absent from the meeting. He will officially be promoted during the district’s January board meeting.
Also promoted was firefighter Clayton Lease who was promoted to the rank of firefighter third class.
More than a month after he started the job, firefighter Jay Johnson was officially promoted to the position of administrative battalion chief, serving as the right hand of new Chief Ben Rigney. Johnson’s family was on-hand to help celebrate the promotion and his father had the honor of pinning his son with his new badge.
Firefighter Clayton Lease is promoted to firefighter third class. – Kristin Swain | Sun
Two Phoenix Awards also were handed out to firefighter/paramedics Zachary Benshoff and Cameron Frazier.
WMFR gives Phoenix Awards to first responders who respond to a cardiac arrest call where the patient is brought back from the brink of death and is able to leave the hospital under their own power. Johnson and Rigney presented the awards.
Benshoff and Frazier earned this Phoenix Award after responding to a drowning call on Sept. 21 with two of their fellow firefighters, Corey Hill and Capt. Buddy Leigh.
Johnson said that when the WMFR team arrived, CPR was already being conducted by marine rescue personnel and a bystander. The WMFR paramedics took over patient care using their medic training and the district’s non-transport advanced lifesaving equipment and were able to keep the patient alive until an EMS transport unit arrive four minutes later. The patient was able to leave the hospital on Sept. 30.
Battalion Chief Jay Johnson addresses commissioners just moments after being officially promoted to administrative battalion chief. – Kristin Swain | Sun
For a patient who needs CPR, Johnson said their chances of survival drop 10% every minute without patient care. By WMFR’s paramedic trained firefighters arriving on-scene four minutes ahead of EMS, he said it increased the drowning victim’s survival rate by 40%.
“That’s huge,” Johnson said of the rescue efforts. “That’s why we’re here and we’re just so proud of you.”
HOLMES BEACH – Projects at the city field complex are underway and showing signs of significant progress, however, some residents are concerned about what the finished product will look like.
City Engineer Lynn Burnett presented plans for the expanded large dog park, multi-use field, walking track and skate park during the Nov. 19 city commission meeting.
Work is already underway in both the skate park and the dog park with drainage work completed in the dog park and elements already being installed at the site of the new skate park. The dog park is currently planned for a December or January grand opening while the skate park is planned to open to the public shortly after. Other openings, including for the multi-use field and tot lot playground are expected later in the new year. Rather than having a single grand opening for the park complex, each area is now expected to have its own public opening.
Workers break up the concrete pad that once housed the city’s tot lot playground equipment in preparation for the installation of the new skate park. – Kristin Swain | Sun
Though the construction is visibly moving forward now, there are some residents who are still concerned about what final product will be unveiled to the public, particularly in the dog park.
Though Burnett presented plans for the dog park, including the fencing, two double gates, a water fountain, seating area for patrons and a fire hydrant-style splash pad for dogs, several dog park users present at the meeting still had questions about what will be included in the park.
Resident Mary Miller said that she feels the overall message coming from city hall concerning the dog park is fear for users that decisions will be made without public knowledge. She said she doesn’t mind seating being moved from the old pavilion, which Development Services Director Eran Wasserman says is in no condition to be moved from the current dog park location, but that she wants to know about the alignment of the benches before they’re installed.
“We just want input,” she said.
Parks and beautification committee member Carol Hatz said she feels that using the old dugout area as seating is too far removed from the majority of the dog park and fears that people will not use it. Wasserman said that the intention is to put in U-shaped seating areas where park patrons can visit and can still have a good view of their pets.
Mayor Judy Titsworth said that her door is always open to residents concerned about the dog park or any other elements of city field. She invited the community to reach out and call either herself or Wasserman with any questions.
Drainage work is completed at the site of the new large Holmes Beach dog park. – Kristin Swain | Sun
For the majority of the elements of the dog park, including ground cover, Titsworth said that Burnett and her team are deferring to suggestions made previously by members of the city’s parks and beautification committee. The suggestions were formed over a period of a year with input from dog park users. She said that fencing in the dog park is expected to go up within the first 10 days of December with construction on the dugouts, turning them into welcoming pavilions for patrons, beginning soon as well.
Commissioner Carol Soustek said that while the plans for what will be taking place in the dog park are done for now, it doesn’t mean that they’re set in stone. She said she envisions the dog park as an evolving element of the city field complex and that changes and additional upgrades will be made as needed over time.
“I think the parks and beautification committee did a tremendous job,” she said.
Titsworth reemphasized how important she feels the dog park is to the city as a whole.
“It’s an important feature for our community and I want the dogs to love it,” she said.
HOLMES BEACH – At the urging of City Engineer Lynn Burnett, commissioners have opted to move forward with raising the city’s stormwater fee from $1.50 to $4.40 per 100 square feet of property owned for the 2020-21 tax year.
The increase comes on the heels of a previous increase for the current 2019-20 tax year that saw the stormwater fee amount double from $0.75 to $1.50.
The increase was the highest amount recommended by Burnett who said that the additional funds are needed for resiliency and stormwater retention projects to reduce flooding during king tide and storm events. She said that commissioners could gradually increase the stormwater fee amount over a five-year period to get it to the needed $4.40 and face a deficit over the next several years. However, she recommended jumping now to the $4.40 fee to “put the city in a position of strength” with regard to resiliency projects. Burnett said that even with an increase in stormwater fees she would still be working toward securing grant and appropriations funds to further the city’s stormwater and resiliency projects.
Commissioner Terry Schaefer asked his fellow commissioners to consider offering an exception to the higher rate for property owners who could prove they’ve engineered their property to absorb stormwater runoff, such as the Key Royale Golf Club which he said is working toward that goal. Burnett said that if any exceptions are offered, the fee would have to go up for the remaining property owners to make up the difference. Currently, an exemption is offered for government property, submerged property and Anna Maria Elementary School.
Commissioner Kim Rash said he feels that places of worship also should be exempt from paying stormwater fees and that he was not in favor of asking the city’s property owners to pay such a high increase in fees.
Commissioner Carol Soustek said that due to rising costs to prevent floodwaters from taking over the Island she felt that it’s better to raise the stormwater fee now and reduce it later, if possible.
The matter will go before commissioners for a vote during their Dec. 10 meeting. If it passes commission vote, property owners will see the increase in August 2020 on their trim notices. Burnett said there is an appeals process for property owners that can be used on an annual basis and requires a written request to appeal within 30 days after the ordinance is adopted.
From the three- to five-year-old soccer clinic to the 79-year-old Lyn Clarke, The Center has soccer for everyone. Using the little pop-up nets on the small field, the youngest players start loving the game, while the adults on the big field bring their international experiences to the league.
Youth soccer came to an end once again last week with the two championship games won by West Coast Surf Shop for the eight- to 10-year-old league and Lancaster Designs for the older kids in the 11- to 14-year-old league. Both victories came after regulation play in shootouts.
Accolades abounded for both leagues with Brylee Roberts and Luke Dellenger taking the Most Improved Player honors. The goalie of the year awards went to Alexander Teich and Travis Bates.
Protecting their ends of the pitch with impressive moves, earning them the Defensive MVP recognition were Mason Moss and Caden Quimby.
Understanding the importance of respecting the sport and the opponents winning the Sportsmanship award was Braelyn Curtis and Konnor Oelfke.
Female and Male MVP distinctions were given to Savanna Coba and Nixon Connor for the eight- to 10-year-old league, and Abbie Philpott and Thomas Philpott for the 11- to 15-year-old league.
In the adult co-ed soccer league, there is a 60-year age gap between the youngest and oldest players. Each player in the league brings their own talents and experiences to the game.
Brooke Capparelli, playing for the Blalock Walters team, helped her squad beat Ross Built Construction last Wednesday night with an assist. Capparelli, the youngest player in the league, grew up playing soccer at the Island’s community center as a youth.
On the other end of the age spectrum is Clarke, who started the season on the Vacasa team. Clarke, who will soon be 80, put his application into the Guinness World Record as the oldest active competitive soccer player.
In between, there are several players who are over the age of 50 and a growing number of players in their early- to mid-20s, including league top scorers Joey Hutchinson and Amy Ivin.
Top statistical players on the other end of the age spectrum, Damir Glavan and Greg Ross, prove why experience and smart play in the league is just as valuable as young, fast legs.
In Thursday night’s game, Glavan and Ross, playing for Ross Built Construction, had a total of five goals helping their team with the 7-1 win over Lancaster Designs.
As the play continues years down the road, it is very likely that the average age of the league will continue to get older just as new young players join the fun on the field.
“Big bonefish 12 o’clock, 60 feet mon,” our Bahamian guide Lox whispered to my partner Gerry Tipper.
Pointing his rod, Lox had him swing the tip until three big dark shapes morphed into view. When the fish were 50 feet away, Tipper placed the mantis shrimp fly in their path and waited for direction. “Strip now, strip,” Lox instructed as the fish were approaching the fly. All three bonefish rushed the fly, the smallest fish reaching and inhaling the fly first. Gerry set the hook with a quick strip strike and shifted his attention to the bow, watching as line flew from the deck while making sure there were no obstructions.
When the fish was on the reel, he set the hook again and held on as the bonefish made a blazing run for the nearby mangroves. I grabbed my camera and watched in awe as line melted from Tipper’s reel. As the bonefish closed in on the mangrove roots, Tipper palmed the reel trying to turn it. The big fish was unstoppable but as luck would have it, it only went under one mangrove before crossing a channel and going into another clump of trees. Lox pointed it out trashing on the surface 200 yards away. We managed to clear the line from the first mangrove root and poled across the channel to the other mangroves.
As we approached, I jumped from the boat and waded over to find the fish. When I spotted the big fish, it was completely wound around an arching root. I grabbed the exhausted fish and with Lox’s help managed to free it. Holding the fish, I was amazed at its weight and size. At 9 pounds, it was the biggest bonefish I had ever held. Even a small bonefish will amaze anglers with their power but a big bonefish drops jaws, including mine. After taking a few pictures we revived and prepared to release the big fish. As I was high-fiving Tipper I noticed Lox swishing the fish in the mud. When I asked what he was doing he related that covering the fish with mud before releasing it kept the scent down so the fish could recover its strength before a shark or barracuda could find it. I logged another lesson learned! The balance of that day we encountered and hooked three other fish in the 8- to 10-pound range, all of which broke us off in the mangroves. Fortunately, we managed to land several other smaller fish.
If had to pick my favorite fish to catch, it would probably be a bonefish. Tarpon are amazing targets as are redfish, little tunny and snook, but sight fishing for bonefish in the locations they inhabit and the crystal-clear waters in which they swim is incomparable. Not to mention that a well-placed fly is more often than not tracked and inhaled. On this trip, I was visiting a new (to me) lodge on South Andros with my friend Captain Rick Grassett and a group he had been bringing to the Mars Bay Bonefish Lodge for the past five years.
The lodge is situated near the southeast tip of what is the largest and least populated island in the Bahamas. I’ve been to the island several times but not in a long time. It was one of a few places I’ve been in a long while that had hardly changed. That went for the fishing as well. There are a few places I know where you can fish all day in solitude and never see another angler. South Andros was like that when I first visited in the late 90s and remains that way today.
The lodge was incredibly well-run by a Bahamian staff and guides, owned and managed by Bill Howard, an American expatriate from Nebraska. We stayed at the lodge for seven nights and fished six days. The day started out with a seven o’clock breakfast, although coffee was on for early risers by 5:30. We loaded up at 8 a.m. and made a five-minute ride to a nearby boat basin where boats, guides, drinks and lunches were waiting. We returned to the basin at 4 p.m. after eight hours of poling and wading the seemingly endless flats on the southern tip of the island.
At the lodge, staff had laid out libations and local hors d’oeuvres. The food at the lodge was consistently excellent and included fresh local delicacies including lobster, conch, fish and meats. Dinner was served at 7 p.m. and evenings were spent discussing the days fishing on the back veranda where cool Bahamian breezes were complemented by a sky ablaze with stars and the occasional satellite. On the rare nights when the wind abated, we watched football on a flat-screen TV from comfortable chairs and couches.
It had been a long time since I had visited the Bahamas but I’m already signed up for next year’s trip. If you’re interested in experiencing some of the world’s best fishing in a destination that’s literally in your backyard, contact Grassett at 941-350-9790 or check out his website. The lodge can be reached by emailing marsbaybonefishlodge@yahoo.com. Check out their excellent website.
HOLMES BEACH – A last-minute funding scare caused city leaders and staff to leap into action along with community members.
Holmes Beach Mayor Judy Titsworth said that though funds had been promised to help fund the bowl for the new city skate park, when it came time to tell the team from Pivot Custom, a division of American Ramp Company, whether or not the city would be commissioning the bowl, she discovered that only $28,000 of the $100,000 was available.
With only three days to raise the remaining $72,000, Titsworth, Police Chief Bill Tokajer, Code Compliance Officer James Thomas and resident David Zaccagnino took to the phones and social media to help raise the money for the bowl.
Local residents and contractors stepped up to donate funds, supplies and construction materials equaling enough funds to have Pivot build the bowl addition to the skate park, designed by Tito Porrata and his team. Construction to remove the bocce ball, shuffleboard and old tot lot and build the new promenade-style skate park with a Y-shaped, four-foot-deep bowl is already underway along Marina Drive at the city field.
“It was amazing to be a part of that team, to find that money and get it done,” Titsworth said of the fundraising effort during a Nov. 13 Coalition of Barrier Island Elected Officials meeting. “It was amazing the generosity of the citizens this time of year. I mean, it was beautiful.”
She added that additional funds of $30,000 also had been raised to purchase new playground equipment for the tot lot, planned to be relocated near the pavilion at city field. Landscaping also was donated for the city’s new dog park.
As a thank you to the residents and business owners who stepped up to donate to the bowl, Sean Murphy donated a $250 gift card to Beach Bistro and former commissioner Rick Hurst donated a $250 gift card to The Freckled Fin to be given to two of the donors in a drawing.
The dog park is planned to open in December with the skate park opening in January or February followed by the opening of the tot lot and multi-use field.
ANNA MARIA – Anna Maria, Bradenton Beach and Holmes Beach residents of all ages are invited to the Thanks-Living community gathering on Wednesday, Nov. 27.
The community gathering will take place from 5 to 7 p.m. under the shade sail at City Pier Park in Anna Maria, at the corner of Pine Avenue and North Bay Boulevard.
Attendees are encouraged to bring finger foods, appetizers, hors d’oeuvres and a bottle of wine, an adult beverage or soft drinks to share with others.
Attendees are encouraged to bring non-perishable food items and personal hygiene products for the Roser Food Pantry, and/or cash and checks for the All Island Denominations collective of churches that provides cash vouchers that assist needy Island residents and employees.
Thanks-Living will feature a blackboard upon which attendees can write what they love about the Island and Will Corr and his band will provide live entertainment.
Thanks-Living is supported by the city of Anna Maria and the Anna Maria Island Sun.
Speaker’s inspiration
Thanks-Living was inspired by “For the Love of Cities” author Peter Kageyama’s presentation at The Center this summer.
Kageyama’s presentation led to the creation of the For the Love of Anna Maria Island task force that currently consists of Anna Maria residents Carol Carter, Janet Kingan and Barbara Zdravecky and Holmes Beach resident Bruce Meyer.
“We got together and decided we needed to create some community events to bring the community together like Peter suggested. We came up with four or five ideas and Thanks-Living is the first,” Carter said.
“That was the second time I heard Peter’s lecture and I was very excited about the opportunity to bring some of his ideas to Anna Maria,” Zdravecky said.
“I think it’s important for folks who live here to have a sense of community. As the Island’s characteristics have changed from being mostly residential to now being mostly tourism we’ve lost some of the binds that hold us together. An event held the night before Thanksgiving when people’s families are here, is an opportunity for islanders to come together and break bread and have a drink and toast to the lovely island we live on,” Zdravecky said.
“I’m really grateful to my friend Will Corr, who’s playing the music that night. Will has a lot of heart in the Island. This is islanders celebrating islanders and also helping islanders who have needs,” Zdravecky said.
“We love Anna Maria, but our community is shrinking so we thought what can we do to build community?” Kingan said.
“Peter’s message was about why people love their community,” Meyer said.
Future events
The task force is contemplating future activities that include a long-table dining event on or near the new city pier when it reopens in early 2020.
The task force has discussed a “Bees and Trees” campaign that would promote the importance of bees and the flowering shrubs and bushes bees help pollinate.
“I have some friends who are beekeepers and it’s not a hard thing to put a little bee colony in your yard,” Zdravecky said.
“We also want to have a public art project and put that on or near the pier,” Meyer said.
“When Holmes Beach gets their dog park finished, we want to do some sort of dog and animal blessing there,” Carter said.
The task force doesn’t currently include a Bradenton Beach resident, but Carter said that would be a welcome addition.
“I think everybody in this country should be doing something to help someone in their community,” Zdravecky said. “That’s really what Peter’s book was about: creating opportunities for communities to come together so people get to know each other as human beings and not just as someone who lives down the street.”
Generally, credit scores are available through one of your credit card companies, financial institution or loan statement, and if you don’t know yours you should make a point of finding out even if you have to pay a fee. You are entitled to a free credit report from the three national credit bureaus annually, but they do not contain credit scores.
One of the most misunderstood aspects of mortgage financing is the mystical credit score. Many people applying for credit, whether it’s home financing, automobile financing or credit cards, are terrified of what their credit score is and how it will impact their ability to be granted a loan.
Credit score ranges start at 300 and go up to 850. 740 to 799 is very good and is where 25 percent of people are and 800 to 850 is exceptional and is where 20 percent of people are. Obviously, you want to acquire a credit score as high as possible as it will not only affect your ability to borrow money but also getting accepted for an apartment, deposit waivers on services as well as enticing potential employers.
There is, however, a lot of misinformation about credit scores. For instance, future homeowners worry that shopping around for a mortgage will hurt their credit score. Not true, the scoring models assume you’re going through a shopping process and will bundle these requests into a single inquiry.
Another one is understanding the difference between a hard inquiry and a soft inquiry. A hard inquiry is when you’re trying to refinance your mortgage or sign up for a store credit card, those inquiries could drop your score a few points whereas a soft inquiry could be a background check or a utility company setting up a new account.
Also, many people believe that carrying a balance on a credit card is good for the credit score, but here again it doesn’t help. Keep in mind that it is important to utilize your credit but not to max out your credit. A rule of thumb is to use less than 30 percent of your available credit each month and ideally less than 10 percent.
What is very important is to pay your bills on time and have mature credit accounts with a diverse range of loan products. This shows good handling of debt and experience with the use of credit. Also, asking for a credit limit increase can be one of the fastest and easiest no-cost ways that anyone can help their credit score.
What is at the bottom of the list of bad things to do to drop your credit score is a foreclosure and bankruptcy. Late mortgage payments, collections especially if a lender takes a loss, foreclosures and chapter 13 bankruptcies hurt your credit score for seven years. A chapter seven bankruptcy will hurt it for 10 years. If you mismanage your credit and get in one of these positions, you can pretty much kiss your new home goodbye.
Finally, take advantage of your free credit report annually. Credit card companies make mistakes and you might catch a fraudulent use of a credit card or new inquiry for credit. If you know you will be applying for a home loan, it might also be a good idea to purchase a credit monitoring service, so you know immediately if there is a mistake or some hanky-panky on your credit report.
Knowing ahead of time will save you a lot of grief down the road when your home loan or car loan or student loan is turned down for something you’re not responsible for.
Staying informed is the best defense against the mythical credit score monster.
ANNA MARIA – Veterans, an honor guard, marching bands, local businesses and organizations – including a group of youngsters from The Center of Anna Maria Island, a pirate ship, police boats, police vehicles, a fire truck, a dump truck, old trucks and cars, motorcycles, a mounted patrol and more made their way down Pine Avenue on Monday during the third annual Old Soldiers & Sailors Parade.
Hosted by the city of Anna Maria and celebrating Veterans Day, this year’s parade featured the Lakewood High School, Manatee High School and Southeast High School marching bands.
Anna Maria Mayor Dan Murphy and his wife Barbara led a group of Island veterans down the parade route Nov. 11. – Joe Hendricks | Sun
The musical duo Brigid’s Cross also performed as they traveled down the parade route on a trailer filled with folks from the Bridge Tender Inn.
The parade route began at the Gulf Drive intersection and ended at City Pier Park, where the annual post-parade Veterans Day ceremonies took place. During the ceremony, Anna Maria Mayor Dan Murphy welcomed the visiting elected officials who hold city, county and state offices. After the invocation, the honor guard presented the colors and stood at the base of the City Pier Park flagpole while the Lakewood Ranch High School Band played the national anthem, followed by a trumpeter from the Anna Maria Island Concert Chorus & Orchestra playing “Taps.”
Murphy asked the spouses and significant others of those who served to come forward and be recognized. He then asked the attending veterans to come forward according to the branch of the military branch they served in.
“This is their day, Veterans Day,” said Murphy, a veteran himself. The band then played a rousing rendition of John Phillip Sousa’s “King Cotton” and a song from the 60s called “The Horse” that featured the trombone section standing front and center.
AMI Historical Society board members and volunteers scooped out free ice cream at a Veterans Day ice cream social. – Joe Hendricks | Sun
After the ceremony, many folks headed over to the Anna Maria Island Historical Museum for a free ice cream social where AMI Historical Society board members scooped out bowls of chocolate and vanilla ice cream.
If you’re looking for a good laugh, the Island Players Theater is a great place to find one during the run of “Relatively Speaking.”
Like a PBS weekend evening comedy, “Relatively Speaking,” by Alan Ayckbourn, is a British comedy mixing dry humor with touches of the absurd. Things start off appearing relatively normal in the home of Greg, played expertly by Jeffrey Steiger, and Ginny, played wonderfully by Kristin Mazzitelli. A cohabitating couple, everything seems fine to Greg in his relationship with Ginny, despite finding gifts and even a pair of slippers that he knows shouldn’t be there. When Greg follows Ginny out to the country after he proposes marriage, hilarity ensues in a comedy of mix-ups, mistakes and instances of mistaken identity.
The cast gave a stellar opening night performance, thanks to director Heiko Knipfelberg’s efforts behind the scenes. Joining Steiger and Mazzitelli on stage are Mark Shoemaker as Phillip and Sylvia Marnie as Sheila, Phillip’s wife.
When Ginny goes out of town, she tells Greg that it’s to see her parents. Instead, she goes to the home of her married lover, Phillip, to break things off. Greg follows her but manages to arrive first. Thinking that Phillip and the unwitting Sheila are Ginny’s parents, the laughs begin to roll through the audience as Ginny arrives, further complicating an already complicated and hilarious situation.
With only four members, the cast was given an enormous task in carrying the play and it’s one that they met head-on and conquered. If you measure a comedy by its laughs, this one started slowly as the storyline was established and moved toward a fever pitch by the end of the first act. As the four characters begin to sort out the situation, the laughs and plentiful and the acting is stellar throughout the play.
The bulk of the play takes place in Phillip and Sheila’s garden at their country home. Kudos go to set designer Jan Van Wart and her crew for the creation of beautiful sets that only add to the wonderful performances on stage.
“Relatively Speaking” is not only an entertaining play, it’s also a great night out and chock full of laughs. Tickets are well worth the price of admission and are available at the box office at the Island Players Theater, 10009 Gulf Drive in Anna Maria or by calling 941-778-5755. The play is onstage nightly through Nov. 17 with a matinee performance on Sundays. The stage is dark on Mondays. The box office is open Monday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and one hour before showtimes. “Relatively Speaking” is co-produced by Bortell’s Lounge.
This season’s youth soccer clinic at The Center of Anna Maria Island ended in a fun game of parents versus players for the six-to seven-year-old group last Tuesday night. With Tim Holly, sports program coordinator for the community center, leading the adult team, the oldest of the clinic program players laughed and had fun against their parents in the game that transitions them to the big field.
Sponsored by Bridge Tender, Holly worked with the talented group of young players for six weeks on advanced skills that would prepare them for stronger competition in the next season in the 8- to 10-year-old recreational league.
For the younger Island area kids, The Center’s Associate Director Connor Haughey utilized the old baseball infield to introduce the youngest ballers to the game and basic skills of soccer. The three- to five-year-old clinic, sponsored by Diamond Turf, took to the small pitch during the last seven weeks to learn how to dribble, pass and shoot.
Each season, more children in the area fall in love with the sport of soccer and learn some of the basics on Anna Maria Island at The Center thanks to volunteer coaches, business sponsors and the staff at the community center.
Once upon a time if you were earning a six-figure salary you were sitting pretty. You could easily buy a home, make sure your kids went to the right schools and take that one family trip a year. Well, those days are over and have been for a while.
There has been a lot of talk about owning versus renting in the low inventory, high priced real estate market that has taken over most of the country. Some of the newly-minted renters are happy to be renters avoiding the responsibilities, cost and repairs of owning a home. But more and more high-earning Americans who would ordinarily own a home are renting.
In 2019 about 19% of U.S. households with six-figure incomes rented their homes. This is up from about 12% in 2006 according to the Census Bureau data. This increase is equal to about 3.4 million new renters who would have likely been homeowners a generation ago, and builders and investors of rental properties have taken notice.
Two of the largest single-family landlords in the country, Invitation Homes and America Homes 4 Rent, report that their average tenant earns $100,000 a year. These companies and others who are targeting this specific market say they like the high earners who aren’t interested in moving around and are willing to absorb regular rent increases and other financial blips in their lives. These are the people who previously would own a home.
Although a $100,000 income is still comfortably higher than the median household in the country at $63,179 in 2018, it’s still short to get into many homes. Americans today have more debt because of car payments, college loans, health care premiums and credit cards than their parents and grandparents who lived more prudently. Most middle-class Americans accumulated wealth by owning a home which was the great wealth leveler with half of the housing wealth owned by the middle class. This happened right after World War II when owning a home became the expected norm.
But norms change especially in real estate and young singles and families have no qualms about paying high rent for what their grandparents would have considered a waste of money. The danger here is that once you’re in an expensive rental it becomes harder and harder to save the 20% usually required to purchase a home creating a permanent renter class.
All of this said, there are indicators recently released by the Commerce Department that the number of Americans who own a home grew through the summer months. The homeownership rate modestly ticked up to 64.8% in the third quarter from 64.4% a year earlier. This number matches the highest levels in five years and is getting close to the long-run average of 65.2% of people in the country owning homes.
In addition, according to S & P Core-Logic Case-Schiller National Home Price Index, the average national home prices grew 3.2% in the year ending in August up slightly from 3.1% the prior month. And, of course, this is all on the background of still extraordinarily low mortgage rates staying below 4% in most regions on a 30-year, fixed-rate loan.
In the instant gratification world we live in, it’s not surprising that younger generations don’t care a fig about building wealth. That’s a concept so far down the road for many of them it might as well be in a different solar system. But I’m old fashioned, and it bothers me that homeownership may become a victim of the six-figure income. Say it isn’t so.
ANNA MARIA – The community task force called For the Love of Anna Maria Island will host its inaugural Thanks-Living community gathering on Wednesday, Nov. 27.
The community gathering will take place under the shade sail at City Pier Park in Anna Maria from 5 to 7 p.m. City Pier Park is located at the corner of Pine Avenue and North Bay Boulevard.
Everyone who lives on Anna Maria Island is encouraged to attend this free community event. Attendees are encouraged to bring finger foods, appetizers, hors d’oeuvres, a bottle of wine, an adult beverage or soft drinks to share with others.
“It could even be a bag of chips – anything you’d bring to a party,” said task force member and Anna Maria resident Janet Kingan.
Attendees are also welcome to make cash donations for All Island Denominations and/or bring non-perishable food items for the Roser Food Pantry.
Inspired by “For the Love of Cities” author Peter Kageyama’s presentation at The Center earlier this year, the community task force also includes Anna Maria residents Carol Carter and Barbara Zdravecky and Holmes Beach resident Bruce Meyer.
“Your neighbors are further and further apart even though we’re on a seven-mile island. This is a way to bring our neighbors together, for people in Anna Maria to get to know people in Bradenton Beach and Holmes Beach and vice versa,” Carter said.
“Peter’s message was about why people love their community. We feel that people love their community because of their relationships with other people and this is an opportunity for people to build new relationships,” Meyer said.
“We’re going to have live music. Will Corr and his band will be performing. We’re going to have all the Island mayors and people will talk about why we love living on Anna Maria. This is a little get together to thank each other for this wonderful Island,” Kingan said.
“We’ll have water, plates and napkins, so they don’t need to bring that. We’ll have tables, we’ll have it lighted, it’ll be festive and we’ll have decorations,” Carter said. “It’s being supported and promoted by the city of Anna Maria and the Anna Maria Island Sun. We have a banner up at City Pier Park and 15 or 20 signs out promoting the gathering,” Carter said.
“We’re hoping this becomes an annual event – the night before Thanksgiving, where people come out with whatever family members are visiting and have a gathering,” Kingan said.
Kingan said Thanks-Living might one day become a pot-luck dinner but for now, it’s simply a party and a chance for people to get to know one another.
Community chalkboard
The Thanks-Living gathering will feature a blackboard upon which people can share in chalk their thoughts about living on Anna Maria Island.
“A few years ago, there was a chalk festival on Pine Avenue and one of the most parts was a blackboard where people could draw and write their impressions about the chalk festival. So, I designed a free-standing, three-sided blackboard that says, ‘I love AMI because…’ at the top. We welcome anyone to write what they love about Anna Maria Island. Photographs will be taken and then it will be erased, put in storage and taken out for the next community event,” Kingan said. “I also have another prop – one of those things you put your head through and take a picture.”
BRADENTON – Bradenton resident Kelli Brown Whitehead was recently hospitalized and diagnosed with necrotizing fasciitis.
Whitehead’s family members suspect but have not confirmed that Whitehead’s illness is related to wading in the Gulf of Mexico.
On Monday, Nov. 4 Whitehead’s family gathered around her at Blake Medical Center for what they feared might be one of the final days of her life.
One week earlier, on Oct. 28, Whitehead’s mother, Joan Smart Brown from Memphis, Tenn., started a Kelli Brown Whitehead Facebook fundraising page for her adopted daughter.
“Kelli went wading in the Gulf of Mexico and got that flesh-eating bacteria. It spread fast and she lost all of her left leg and is on a ventilator and having kidney dialysis. She is in critical condition in a hospital in Florida. She and Robin (Kelli’s husband) are living off his disability check. Anything that you could contribute would help them out. It will be used to help him with his immediate living expenses and food,” Brown wrote at the fundraiser page.
As of Monday, 22 contributors donated $1,415 toward the initial $2,000 fundraising goal.
Family speaks
Brown spoke with The Sun on Saturday afternoon by text and telephone. She said she was told by another family member that her daughter was diagnosed with necrotizing fasciitis. Brown planned to travel to Bradenton on Tuesday, Nov. 5, but moved her travel plans up one day due to Whitehead’s rapidly worsening condition.
On Saturday, Brown said she was told Whitehead and her husband waded in the Gulf of Mexico north of Bridge Street in Bradenton Beach approximately two weeks ago.
“They were just wading around, they weren’t even swimming. And the next day or so, her foot began to hurt so bad,” Brown said, noting that Whitehead has had Type 1 diabetes all her life.
This photograph of Kelli Brown Whitehead and her daughter Brittany Burton was taken earlier this year. – Submitted | Brittany Burton
“When they got to the hospital it was eating her leg away. She lost her leg and the fear now is it might spread to the organs. It’s horrible,” Brown said.
On Sunday, The Sun spoke with Whitehead’s daughter, Brittany Burton, who lives in Bradenton.
“My mom is diabetic. She would only walk in the water a little bit. She must have had a cut. She thought she pulled a muscle and the pain started in her thigh,” Burton said.
Burton said her mom waited about a week before she was taken by ambulance to the emergency room at Manatee Memorial Hospital where, according to Burton, she was diagnosed with necrotizing fasciitis and transferred to Blake.
“She’s in very critical condition,” Burton said, noting that her mother’s organs were failing.
Burton said she asked the nurse if her mom was dying.
“He wanted to talk around it. I said, ‘Is my mom dying yes or no?’ He said yes,” Burton said.
“The Gulf that my mother loved so much is eating her alive. This has all taken place in eight or nine days at the most. It’s just unreal. It’s horrific,” Burton said.
Kelli Brown Whitehead, left, and her sister Amanda Fletcher. – Submitted | Amanda Fletcher
After recently visiting her sister and returning to Tennessee, Amanda Fletcher spoke to The Sun on Sunday. She and Whitehead are sisters by birth but were adopted and raised by different families and reconnected later in life.
Fletcher and Burton both questioned why the public isn’t made more aware of potentially harmful bacteria that exist in Florida’s waters. Fletcher said the fundraising efforts will help Robin Whitehead pay his rent and other living expenses and assist with the anticipated funeral expenses.
On Monday, Burton said her mother’s doctor told her that afternoon that the exact bacteria was staphylococcus, but the doctor could not confirm it was contracted while wading in the Gulf.
Reporting requirements
On Thursday, Oct. 31, a receptionist at Blake Medical Center in Bradenton confirmed Kelli Whitehead was currently a patient, but she could not comment on her condition or the cause of it.
The Sun then contacted Chris Tittel, communications director for the Florida Department of Health in Manatee County.
Kelli Brown Whitehead and her son Trey. – Submitted | Brittany Burton
Speaking by phone Thursday afternoon, Tittel said the health department had not received any notification from the Blake Medical Center regarding a case of Vibrio vulnificus, which he said is a specific bacteria medical providers are required to report.
Tittel sent a follow-up email to The Sun that included a response he received from a health department epidemiologist regarding The Sun’s inquiry.
“Necrotizing fasciitis would be the technical term for the symptom of decomposing flesh,” the epidemiologist wrote. “It depends on the bacteria that caused the necrotizing fasciitis. Vibrio is known to cause it and that is reportable, however, we had a lady in Ellenton a few months back pass away from necrotizing fasciitis. The bacteria she contracted was streptococcus, which is only reportable in children under the age of six.”
On Friday, Nov. 1, The Sun emailed Blake spokesperson Lisa Kirkland and asked if the hospital was treating anyone who came in contact with the Vibrio vulnificus bacteria or another type of bacteria, such as streptococcus, that could cause necrotizing fasciitis.
“I’m not at liberty to comment,” Kirkland responded.
Tittel said as of late Monday that the department had not received word from any health care provider confirming the cause of the illness is due to a condition reportable to the state, such as Vibriosis.
Tittel said the Florida Department of Health runs the “Swim It, Shore It, Dodge It” campaign, which discourages anyone with open cuts or wounds or weakened immune systems from entering open waters where infectious bacteria naturally occur.
A video associated with that campaign can be found online.
“The department sympathizes with family and friends over this tragedy,” Tittel said.
BRADENTON BEACH – The Drift In, its patrons, the local business community and some local musicians raised $4,665 for Wildlife Inc. during Saturday’s Drift In Rock & Blues Festival.
The money raised will assist the Bradenton Beach-based education and rehabilitation center in its ongoing animal rescue efforts.
Drift In Manager Doreen Flynn helped organize the Nov. 2 music festival and fundraiser that took place in the parking lot, at the tiki bar and inside the establishment on Bridge Street.
The fundraising efforts included raffles and a silent auction featuring items donated by local businesses, a lotto board, food sales, cash donations and more.
“This benefit was arranged to benefit Ed and Gail Straight and the work they do at Wildlife Inc. Ed and Gail do so much for the community,” Flynn said. “Right now, there’s an issue with the laughing gulls. The Rod & Reel Pier gave me a donation because they’ve had to call Ed about seagulls with fishing hooks in them.
“I’ve had many benefits over the years, and I cannot believe how many donations I’ve received for this one. They’ve come from all over the Island and Cortez, not just Bradenton Beach,” Flynn said.
Wildlife Inc. co-founder Ed Straight brought his owl friends to the music festival. – Joe Hendricks | Sun
Wildlife Inc. co-founder Ed Straight attended the festival and sat under the Wildlife Inc. tent with the four rescued owls he brought with him. While there, he and Wildlife Inc. volunteer Cindy Ellis chatted with a steady stream of supporters who approached the tent.
“This is fantastic. We’re happy to be here,” Straight said.
“We do most of the rehabbing for Manatee County. We take in all types of injured, orphaned or sick wildlife. Our objective is to rehabilitate them and put them back into the wild. Some of the birds here had injuries where they just couldn’t be released, so we use them for education,” he said.
“We do around 3,000 calls a year and each year is busier than the year before. Any help like this we get is really helpful to us. We’re going to do some improvements to our place. We’ve been doing this for 32 years and the fencing in the front is almost 30 years old. It’s time to start replacing some things and this money is going to help us do that,” Straight said.
Flynn credited “Horatio Bullwinkle” (real name not given) for assembling the musical lineup that performed for free and featured Tommy Balbo & The Collective, Dos Macs with special guest Steve Arvey and Concrete Edgar.
“He spent his time, money and efforts putting the bands together and he built the stage for us. He deserves a lot of credit,” Flynn said of the humble man who did not want his real name used.
Before taking to the stage, Arvey said, “I’m donating my time because wildlife is so important. Us humans are taking over everything with our development and nobody cares about the wildlife anymore. We’ve got to keep supporting what was here before us.”
On Sunday, Flynn said, “Ed was very happy and very grateful.”
