INFO WINTER/SPRING 2020

LbH Roars into the Roaring

20’s. Who is the lucky guy surrounded by

that bevy of beauties who look like they just

stepped out of the last century. It was 100

years later when Gail Gilvey, our Rec

Committee chair and her Gatsby helpers put

on a Roaring 20’s party that will be long

remembered as one of the best. The club

house was packed with gangsters and molls

dancing to the music of one of our favorite

bands “Fire & Ice”. A few party goers even remembered how to do the Charleston!

The food was Italian

and delicious. The

wine and beer

flowed, poured by a

variety of bar

tenders, led by head

men Brian Doherty

and Ken Comeforo

appropriately

dressed as hit men.

After

dinner,

it was

time for

the

judges

to

decide

who

were

the best

dressed

among

the many

imaginative and authentic costumes. Best male was our own

Joe Longtin as Charlie Chaplin’s spitting image. Joyce

Mazurek won best female and Jane Hunter and John

Wheeland won best couple.

As the evening wore on and the bartenders retired, Gwen

Wallin and Gretchen Burns did their last call walk around

with bottles of red and white wine as Gail continued to snap

pics of the late night crowd…late for LbH anyway. What a

great party! Thanks to all who helped make our first party of

2020 a memorable event.

Mary Bock

Love Is In The Air At

LbH

THE PROPOSAL: On the deck at Mar Vista during a LbHYC

rendezvous surrounded by friends and neighbors, John got down

on one knee and proposed to Maureen, his wife of 50 years.

THE RING: Many happy tears were

shed as John offered Maureen a ring in

memory of their special

day 50 years ago.

THE WEDDING: That

evening at our beach, Tom

Drugan, our resident

minister, assisted Maureen and John to renew their

wedding vows witnessed by MJ Drugan, Deborah

O’Connor and many friends and

neighbors of the couple.

Kim, John and Maureen’s daughter,

recited a poem at the wedding which

was written by Maureen some time

ago. What a wonderful way to

celebrate 50 years together! All of

Maureen and John’s friends and

neighbors wish them many more

happy healthy years ahead.

Mary Bock

Recycling Is in Decline

Costs to recycle continues to escalate because we are not diligent in sorting through correctly

what's recyclable and what's not. I must admit I am one of those but under my wife's watchful

eyes I am getting better at knowing what goes in the recyclable container and what goes in the

dumpster.

Axios reports that because of increasing costs

cities are killing recycling programs just as public

concerns about climate change ratchets up. We

used to export about 70% of our recycled

materials to China. They have stopped accepting

our recyclables. Many cities have stopped their

recycling program. Consumer behavior is major

problem. About 60 cities have canceled their

programs altogether and many cities stopped

recycling some materials such as glass

completely. To the best of my knowledge,

Longboat Key is not one of them.

So next time you take out the recyclable make

sure the items below are not in your recyclable

bin.

Plastic bags and bubble wrap (Publix

has a bin for plastic bags near the

door.)

Paper towels, plates, cups, napkins, gift wrap, tissues

Light bulbs, crystal, ceramics, dishes, mirrors

Dirty items, like pizza boxes, peanut butter jars, and dirty food containers

Composite items, for example containers made with metal and plastic or paper.

Foam rubber, Styrofoam, clothes hangers

More information about Longboat Harbour recycling can be found on our website here. Read

the full Axios article here Shahe Momjian

.

Racing downwind to Venice with Darryl at the helm and Ulf on sail trim. Not pictured, Shahe on foredeck.

At Venice Yacht Club after 1st day's race

Longboat Harbour Yacht Club Sailors Place First in

Windjammer Regatta Three sailors representing Longboat Harbour Yacht Club, this writer, Darryl Marshall, and

Shahe Momjian campaigned Elixir an S2 7.3 sailboat in the Windjammer Regatta to place 1st

overall in the Pocket Cruiser class. The race starts in Sarasota on Saturday to finish in Venice.

On Sunday, sailors race back from Venice to Sarasota. Because of the length of the race,

participation is not as large as other regattas in the area, but it does attract old-timers looking

for excitement. We motored Elixir 3 hours to reach the starting line in the Gulf near Big Pass

with only 10 minutes to spare before the starting signal. Each boat design is assigned a

handicap number. Finish time is adjusted based on

the handicap. The fast trimarans took an

immediate lead, followed by the bigger monohulls.

The smaller monohull like Elixir rounded out the

fleet in the back. The course was straight down

wind to the Venice inlet, followed by a triangle

course outside the inlet to make things more

interesting.

A steady breeze kept all boats moving toward

Venice. We were falling a few seconds behind each

mile, but we knew we would make it up on the

triangle course. Some boats are faster downwind, others faster upwind.

At the first turning mark, we noticed that some boats seemed to be sailing a different course

than the one prescribed, but, having no other information, we followed the original course

layout. Turns out some racers had been notified of a modified course. Elixir along with half of

Pocket Cruiser fleet were penalized for sailing the

original course, which generated considerable

discussions after the race as how to score the race

fairly. The race committee first dropped us to 3rd

place. We felt we had done better……if there were

only a way to prove that we really were faster…. we

felt we deserved better standing than 3rd place.

Fortunately, wiser heads prevailed, and the Race

Committee marked us as coming 1st for Saturday’s

southbound race. Some sailors in the Pocket Cruiser

class were unhappy.

Sunday’s Race back to Sarasota from Venice gave us

the chance to prove that we were the fastest. On

an upwind beat all the way to Sarasota on a bright

cool sunny day, we held off most of the fleet

(including larger and faster class boats) all the way

to the end, finishing first in its class by a big margin

of 12 minutes. Giving us 1st place overall standing.

We were vindicated!

Photo on the left shows some of the crew being

presented the award. A perpetual trophy at Venice

Sailing Squadron will also commemorate the event.

Ulf Langgard

WELCOME TO PARADISE F203 James & Holly Waite Rocky River OH

M305 Timothy & Jane Sheehy Southboro, MA

H305 Sandra Goedde Livonia, MI

F102 Janice Sheehy Union City NJ

D104 Donald & Stephanie Cone Bradenton FL

G206 Gregory Bodkin Islip NY

M205 James & Regina Bradin Palmetto FL

A105 Clark Parrish Garden City ID

F204 David & Barbara Rowell St. Petersburg FL

M104 Patrick & Brenda Yewell Bradenton FL

J302 Mike & Nancy McNeil Dallas GA

And The Ladies

Wore White There are Fashion Shows

and then

there are

FASHION

SHOWS!

On

February

26th, 110

women,

many of

them

wearing

white to

support

the

“White

Sand”

theme,

attended

the latter.

Thanks to Barbara

Bellamente and Susan

Claudio, Co-chairs, the event

was a great success, raising

almost $600 for St. Jude’s

and providing a fun

afternoon for our residents.

Almost $200 of that sum

was donated back by Sue

Lawson after she won the

50/50. Thank you Sue for

your generosity!

The day started with the arrival of Chico’s who provided clothing for the show and the models

who volunteered to wear the clothes: Shannon Brennan, Mary Bock, Mary Dice, Carol

Fischbein, Donna Greer, Connie

Haubert,

Brenda

Nelson and

Mary Ellen

Ward.

Next came

Bridget

Gaspar

who Irina

LaRose,

the owner

of Design 2000 Salon, generously offered to do the models hair

prior to the big day. Bridget came to “fluff” our hair. Our model coordinator, Gretchen Burns,

did a terrific job, pulling all this together so that everything went off like clockwork.

Much to the delight of arriving guests, they were greeted by beautifully decorated tables and

some really spiffy looking guys holding bottles

of wine ready to pour. To Bill Burger, Ken

Comeforo, Rich Romansky, Alan Shaffer, John

Shea and Tom Vitro: Thank you!

After the show which was moderated by Terri

Pine from Chico’s, a delicious lunch was

served by Zildjian’s Catering followed by cake

and coffee. Many thanks to all our volunteers

and door prize donors who helped make the

2020 Fashion Show such a success.

Mary Bock

2020 BOOK"n"BUDDIES SUMMER READING LIST Hi All,

I've received some positive feedback

from our 2019 summer reading list and

have been asked if we will have one for

2020. As long as the requests come in,

we will have a summer list. This is the

second year of our summer reading list.

We're delighted it has been requested

again. I've compiled the following list,

which you will find on the bulletin

boards at the end of season.

MIDNIGHT BAYOU by Nora Roberts -

young lawyer pursues his dreams of buying an old mansion in New Orleans. He is greeted with

ghosts of the past.

WISH YOU WELL by David Baldacci - family travelling to California crashes; mother in a coma;

two children hospitalized; no family listed. Heartwarming story.

THE SABATEUR by Andrew Gross - Norwegians train English soldiers to be expert skiers who

can sabotage the Nazi holdout.

ELEANOR OLEPHANT IS COMPLETELY FINE - by Gail Honeyman - Eleanor is a vodka lover who

struggles with inappropriate social skills. Raymond, a friend helps her to find a way to her

troublesome past.

LITTLE FIRES EVERYWHERE by Jane Shapiro - deep psychological mystery about the power of

motherhood, the intensity of teenage love, and the danger of perfection.

THE GRACE KELLY DRESS by Brenda Janowitz - three generations of women wear this gown on

their wedding day. An intergenerational modern day fairy tale.

ENJOY!! MARGE AND MARIE

MOTOWN COMES TO LbH On Saturday, February 22, our favorite one man band,

Daniel Fuggazzatto, entertained a sold out LbH crowd with

glorious dinner of pulled pork, corn bread, fried chicken,

baked beans and cole slaw all prepared by our in house sister

chefs, Heide Berry and Gretchen Burns. Yum! What a treat!

Gail Gilvey, our rec committee chair had help from a bevy of

volunteers who hung 45 rpm records and pictures of great

Motown artists around the club house to get us in the

“Motown “ mood. Thanks from all of us to Gail, the Shea’s,

the Brennans and Susan Claudio. As usual we had a great

crew at the

bar serving

drinks led

by our full

time bar

manager,

Brian

Doherty.

Jim

Gaffney,

Owen Jenkins, Ken Comeforo, the Tillman’s

and Mary Dice all took turns keeping our

glasses filled. A good time was had by all!

Mary Bock

IT’S CONCERT TIME The sixth

Ortmann/Geraci

musical cabaret was

presented on March 6,

2020 to a crowd of 100

guests who came to

have a good time

while supporting St.

Jude Children’s

Research Children. The

guests were welcomed

at the door by Ginger

Driscoll and Jo-Ann

Mancini after which

Tom Drugan introduced our musicians Jan Ortmann

at the piano and Bob Geraci on the clarinet. This

year’s event

featured

selections from

numerous

Broadway

shows

including,

“West Side

Story”, “Fiddler

on the Roof”, “Sound of Music”

and “Phantom of the Opera”

which many proclaimed as their

favorite. Added to the event this

year was a vocal coach for the

Women’s Chorus, Beverly Lorie,

and Larry Bateman and Liam

Ward, vocal coaches for the

Men’s Chorus. Their strong

voices kept the audience in tune and in tempo while Connie Haubert, a pianist herself, served

as page-turner to Jan. It was fun to hear that some of our friends had beautiful voices as they

belted out the various songs which often evoked memories of great musicals and fun time in

past years.

A very important part of the evening was

the audio-visuals and song lyrics posted on

the screen by our extremely talented Bob

Ortmann who spent countless hours

putting his part of the program together.

At intermission, guests were served

delicious desserts by the refreshment crew

of Shirley and Shahe Momjian, Joyce and

Jerry Roslund and JoAnne and Jim Vinci

while beverages were provided by Brian

Doherty. Everyone knows that LbH

residents love their sweets! A special treat

was a coffee cake baked by our friend and helper, Rosa Raina.

At the end of the program Jan and Bob expressed their appreciation to Board President

Bonnie Coughlin and to Recreation Committee Chair Gail Gilvey for all their help and to all of

our guests whose

attendance and

contributions

enabled the

amount of

$1,105.00 to be

sent to St. Jude’s

Hospital.

All agreed that it

was a fun time

with beautiful

music for a great

cause. Pat Geraci

We Have a Celebrity Living Amongst Us I had a chance encounter at the LBH gym with Stefano, a fit

gentleman, lifting weights and giving the other machines

their due treatment. Last night to my delight I found out

who Stefano is.

It turns out that he is non-other than Stefano de Peppo, the

Bass-Baritone from New York, performing one of the

leading roles, Dr. Dulcamara at Sarasota Opera’s production

of Elixir of Love. Stefano was born in Milan, Italy, youngest

of four. He attributes his love of vocal music to his three

older sisters who loved singing and his mother who was a

pianist.

He started singing at a very young age in the children’s

chorus at the famous opera house La Scala of Milan. He

was already buying LPs at age nine - music that he was singing. While boys his age were

listening to pop and rock, he was listening to what

he loved - vocal music.

After graduating from Civica Scuola di Musica in

Milan he moved to London thanks to a scholarship,

to study at Royal College of Music under the

tutelage of voice teachers. According to his

manager, his vocal and acting skills, plus his crisp

diction and musicality have made him a great and

acclaimed specialist in the comic Italian/French

repertory of the 18th and 19th century. He has

been in productions with major stars such as

Pavarotti and Domingo. If you are reading this on -

line click on the link for a 26 second rehearsal clip

demonstrating his vocal agility.

https://youtu.be/M1OUYzduwc0

After spending ten years in Mexico City, he moved

to New York City. He makes New York City home

and became a US citizen last year.

Stefano first came to Sarasota in 2004 performing in a touring company of Mozart’s Don

Giovanni at Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall. In 2008, Artistic Director Victor DeRenzi of

Sarasota Opera went to New York to audition

young artists for Sarasota Opera. As a result,

Stefano was engaged for the 2008 production

of Barber of Seville, and he has been coming

back since. He has been in five major

productions, mostly in comedic roles requiring

great acting and singing skills.

So how did he end up in Longboat Harbour?

Simple. There are four opera productions in February and March; as a result, Steinwachs

Artists Residences in Sarasota was full with casts and artists in residence. He was asked if he

would like to reside on Longboat Key. Being familiar with the area and having experience

riding his bike from downtown to the beaches, he decided to try Longboat Key for his nine-

week engagement. Other than the occasional traffic he says he likes it here. The one negative

aspect is that he just needs to start a little earlier to make it on-time for the make-up call.

Shahe Momjian

LONGBOAT HARBOUR YACHT

CLUB Social Events:

The final social events of the season, The Parade of Boats, the

Blessing of the Fleet and Rum Runners Rendezvous BBQ were

cancelled due to the Coronavirus pandemic. Special thanks to

the lone kayakers Dave & Ginger Driscoll and the boat

captains Susan Luke & Larry Miller, Ulf Langgard, Larry

Bateman, John Shea, Dale Mellor-Clark, Tom Vitro, David

Arenburg, Mike King, Chris Dinger, John Harkness, Bill Coughlin, Dale Mackovjak,

Andy Tanchel and John Troup who had agreed to participate in the Parade of Boats and

Kayaks. The Yacht Club will plan to host this event next

season.

Mar Vista Rendezvous

The Yacht Club held a Rendezvous Tuesday, February

18 at Mar Vista Restaurant. The event was attended by

85 Yacht Club members with 5 boats arriving via

Sarasota Bay. Once again, we were blessed with perfect

weather. This year we were excited to have longtime

owner Rt. Reverend Joe Ciccone attend and bless our

journey and meal. The 5 captains who navigated to the Mar Vista were presented LBHYC

Boating Angel pins... Ulf Langgard, Susan Luke & Larry Smith, Shahe Momjian, David

Arenburg and John Shea. This year all Captains & crew arrived safely!! Special thanks to

Barbara Janssen who passed out our raffle tickets. We had great door prizes including the $25

gift certificate donated by Mar Vista which was won by John & Maureen Shea's daughter

Kim who was helping to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary. Of course, I forgot to write

down the other winners but we were all winners with such a great day! We had 2 Lorenzo

Bartholomew Hornblower coffee mugs designed by Shahe Momjain that the YC purchased

last year as a fundraiser for Shahe & Shirley’s foundation, 2 navigation charts of Sarasota Bay

& Buttonwood Chanel, a few bottles of wine and other small tokens.

Change of Watch

The Change

of Watch

Ceremony

and

Celebration

was held on

January 14th

at 6 PM in

the LBH

Recreation

Hall. Once

again Dr. Bob Geraci, a former Navy

Officer and past Yacht Club Board Member conducted the swearing in ceremony.

Officers installed at the Ceremony were Bill Coughlin-Commodore, John Harkness-Vice

Commodore, John Shea and Larry Bateman-

Co-Dockmasters and Marge Clarke-Purser.

Scribe-Jeff Hecklau was unable to attend the

celebration.

The event was sold out and attendees were

treated to a special evening of entertainment by

our own Michelle Andrews and Bain Bleakley,

a friend of Michelle’s and a regular at Marina

Jacks.

Harbour Maintenance/Waterfront

Projects this season the Yacht Club purchased and had installed 6 mini reefs throughout our

harbor. We have been authorized to purchase 10 more and plan to have 2 installed under the

North fishing pier and the rest throughout the

canal. Owners Thomas & Karla Blomberg, M

106 have generously offered to donate the

purchase of a reef for installation on the dock

outside their unit. These reefs have been shown

effective in cleaning the water and attracting fish

and marine life. In addition, on the North fishing

pier we installed under water lights that are

designed to attract fish. The Yacht Club continues

to contract with Pier 88 diving John Philpot to

have the bottom of kayak dock cleaned every

month or more frequently if needed & all the

ladders every four months to keep the barnacles

under control. The Yacht Club purchased and had

installed illuminated flag poles on the South and

North Fishing piers. We are in the process of

upgrading dock ladders if needed.

Insurance / Registrations/ Dock/Rack User

Agreements

The Yacht Club is pleased to report that all 2020

fees are paid, Rack and Dock User Agreements

are current for 2020 and the form has been

digitized by Webmaster Bob Ortmann for easier

access in future years. All the boats on our docks

are properly registered and insured and all kayak

racks and paddleboard racks are accounted for. In addition, we continue to maintain our LBH

Yacht Club membership with Boat US Cooperating Group Program. Our discount code with

Boat US is GA85202Y. When you sign up or renew your Boat US membership you will pay

$15 instead of the $24 for the basic membership and you will get 10% discount when you sign

up for unlimited towing.

The Yacht Club Board, Vice Commodore John Harkness, Purser

Marge Clarke, Scribe Jeff Hecklau co-Dock Masters Larry Bateman

& John Shea have worked well together to bring waterfront safety and

maintenance, boating safety and a great deal of fun to our LBH

community. In addition, we thank Marie Guillet for volunteering to take

orders for shirts, hats and burgees and Phil and Linda DiOrio for their

generous donation of the Yacht Club bumper stickers. The bumper

stickers can be purchased for $5.00 from any YC officer. To all of you,

thank you for your service and volunteering your time. We are looking to

recruit new volunteers to serve as Yacht Club Officers.

Bill Coughlin, Commodore

MENS CLUB 2020 January Men’s Club meeting

At the beginning of every Men’s Club meeting we always ask

how can we help each other and how can we help the

Community? When Graham Sampson and I agreed to co-

chair the Men’s Club upon Ken Euerle’s retirement, we

developed that as our mission

statement. This season was

bittersweet because of Graham’s

death. Graham was a great friend

and member of this community. The

First Men’s club meeting of the

2020 season was Tuesday, January

21 and was started with a moment

of silence in remembrance of Graham. We welcomed Brian

Doherty as our new Men’s Club Vice President. We are excited to

report we had record breaking attendance for a January Men’s club

meeting and a packed house at 1:00 for the guest speaker, Sandy

Gilbert, President of START (Solutions to Avoid Red Tide). Sandy presented information on:

What really causes a red tide bloom? Why is it so bad here along the Suncoast? What’s being

done about it? What is START doing to address red tide? What can individual people do to help

fight red tide?

The Fitness Tip of the Day was a demonstration on how to use “rehab toys” to help elderly

people with all their aches and pains. The 50/50 raffle of $345 was won by John Siira. Other

prize winners were Rich Romansky, Slade Cargill, Tom Guido, & Chuck Sweet. A great

meal was prepared by Darroll Meyer and Barbara Stamp.

Super Bowl 2020

The Men’s club hosted the Super Bowl party on February 2, we were treated to great food and a

great game. Ulf Langgard and his wife Jan went home happy when their Kansas City Chiefs

won the game. In keeping with tradition the food theme was centered on the competing teams.

Darroll Meyer made homemade San Francisco style Clam Chowder, Kansas City Chiefs fan

Jan Langgard made a yummy hot cheese dip and BBQ pulled pork Kansas City style with

coleslaw, Liam Ward made his famous chili with all the fixings and cornbread and Karen

Pashkow catered to our gluten free folks and made her spaghetti pie. Bonnie Coughlin filled

in the with the usual “Super Bowl” fare. Thanks to Brain Doherty and Ken Comeforo for

managing the bar and Maureen Shea, Marge Clarke, Janice Doherty, Judy Meyer, Carol

Shaw & Ed Clarke all helped to set up or clean up. Thanks to Bob Ortmann, Sparky

Pashkow, Ken Stewart, Igor and Bonnie Coughlin for making sure our broadcast equipment

was in working

order. As at most

Super Bowl parties,

the game of chance

is as much fun as

the football game.

Special thanks to

Joe Longtin who

came out of

retirement and once

again ran the Super

Bowl

Squares. Thanks to

John Shea for

making our game

posters. We filled two boards of squares. Winners on board one were: Karen MacIntosh, Tom

Guido, & Jack Lentz. Winners on Board two were: Joann Vinci, David & Liz Arenberg and

Karen MacIntosh. Joe Callahan picked the winning ticket for our huge 50/50 raffle. The

winner of $380 was Deborah O’Connor. This was one fun party.

Ladies Appreciation Breakfast

The Men’s Club hosted 100 Longboat Harbour Ladies at their Annual Ladies Appreciation

Breakfast Sunday, Feb10. Guests were

treated to a relaxing Sunday morning

breakfast, complete with Mimosas or OJ,

Peach Melba fruit salad, quiche, sausage

and a sweet treat. Over 35 men

volunteered to set up and decorate on

Satur

day

and

serve

and

clean

up on

Sund

ay to

make

the

day special. The guests were greeted at the door by Joe

Longtin, looking dapper in his tuxedo,

and Hermann Waldman and Patrick

Nagle presented each guest with a

flower and bag of sweet treats. Food

was prepared by Darroll Meyer, Bob

Ortmann, Dan Miller and Ken

Comeforo. Music was provided by

Bob Geraci. Ed Clarke manned the

Mimosa mixing station. This event is

paid for the by the revenues raised by

the Men’s club 50/50 raffles.

The February Men’s club luncheon

was also well attended. Of special

importance at this meeting was the fact

that Vinny Falcone, Joe Callahan, Milton Harr, Chuck Sweet and Joe Longtin were all in

attendance. These men were all active in Men's Club when I started attending 16 years ago. We

missed longtime member Bill Stamp who experienced health issues this season and was not

able to attend the meeting. Bonnie Coughlin purchased all the food and Darroll Meyer came

to the kitchen in the early morning and started cooking a wonderful Italian meal for all of

us. Tom Vitro helped Darroll in the kitchen. Bob Tosby and John Shea ran the 50/50 and they

were a great team selling $550 worth of tickets. The guest speaker was Author and former deep

cover covert operator Leo Maloney. We had approximately 120 attendees for his presentation.

Leo was engaging and his presentation was interesting. Leo has written 11 books so far with

more on the way and has had several movie opportunities based on his books. Ed Clarke asked

Leo some prepared questions followed by questions from many of you. Leo brought several of

his books and hats for door prizes. Some of the winners were: Alan Horowitz, Jeff Leverenz,

Rich Romansky, Dan Miller, Owen Jenkins, Patrick Nagle, Jeffrey Rosenthal, Ken

Simpson and Chris Dinger. The 50/50 winner was Ian MacIntosh, Joe Callahan won the gift

certificate for the free Men’s Club Luncheon, Bob Hefner won the Lazy Lobster Gift Card and

John Shea won the Optimus car wash. We thanked Men’s club members who volunteered to

serve at the Harbourettes’ fashion show: Tom Vitro, John Shea, Rich Romansky, Ken

Comeforo, Bill Berger and Alan Shaffer.

Our season was cut short by the cancellation of the March 17 and April 7, 2020 meetings. We

thank Slade Cargill for securing our March speaker from Mote Marine and Town

commissioner Jack Daly who had agreed to be our April guest.

Wish you all a safe and healthy summer and look forward to an exciting 2021 Men’s Club

Season. Bill Coughlin

FROM THE GYM COMMITTEE Please do not leave personal items in the Gym

(mats, balls, weights, bands, jump ropes, etc.).

These items are attractive nuisances and can be

dangerous to the untrained.

Please do not “donate”

items to the Gym without

the permission of the

Gym Committee.

There are lockers

available in the locker

rooms to stow these

items. If you wish to have

a dedicated locker, please

contact Mary Bock at 941

383 4646 or mbock91237@aol.com

Personal items left in the gym will be removed

and stored for 30 days. They can be retrieved

during that time by contact as above.

Thank you, The Gym Committee

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC-

ND

FEDERATION MEETINGS The January Federation meeting was at the Islander Club.

Their meeting room and lobby were beautifully renovated

at a cost of $600,000. They have two groins, which protect

their beach and the largest pool on the island.

A couple of things were mentioned at the meeting: The

citizens survey that the Town wants everyone to answer

and that members of the Federation Board will be

attending a grassroots session regarding the Town Center

and what it should contain.

The major presentation was on THE REFERENDUM VOTE ON MARCH 17TH. Sand resources

come from Longboat Pass and New Pass. They can take 200,000 yards from both but it

doesn't cover a lot. Offshore sand is better without trucking because it is cheaper. In 2016,

60% was taken from the two passes and 40% was trucked in from upland.

THE BEACH REFERNDUM is for up to $34.5 million. The plan is for 5 years - from 2020 to 2024:

$10 million for 5 permeable groins at the north end in 2021

$25 million for sand fill in 2022

$1.5 million for Army Corps Shore Protection Program from 2021 to 2023

$1.4 million for New Pass groin tightening in 2024

$4.5 million for sand search, design, consulting and monitoring protected species

BOND AUTHORIZATION: The Town was asking for $24 million to $34.5 million on a six year

bond. They will only borrow what they need.

$34.5 million is with 100,000 cubic yards and no grants.

$24 million assumes that 26.7% comes from the State and Manatee County may give $2.8

million. Also, the Town has about $11.6 million in the bank for the beach which they have

already received from FEMA and the two counties.

Taxes over six years to pay for the bond would be about $108-$114 per year on bayside

properties and $431-$456 on beach side properties.

There was a public hearing on February 25th at the Town Hall.

The Referendum passed on March 17th.

The February Federation meeting was held on February 15th here at Longboat Harbour. The

speaker was Stephen Thompson, attorney and partner of Najmy Thompson, our own law firm.

Mr. Thompson was very informative and answered various legal questions from the attendees.

The Federation Board has cancelled all meetings until October. Bob Clarke

EDITOR’S NOTE This INFO edition is somewhat abbreviated due to the COVID 19 pandemic. We are saddened

to see our late winter and spring events canceled but to say early goodbyes to our Canadian

friends and others leaving to head back North for the summer is the most difficult part. We

wish them all safe travels and good health in the coming months. It is my hope that come

October this national nightmare will be over and all our friends and neighbors here at LbH will

return ready to resume our wonderful life in “Paradise! Mary Bock

Thanks to all who contributed to

this issue of the INFO

Bill Coughlin

Christina Filkins

Pat Geraci

Marge Geiger

Gail Gilvey

Ulf Langgard

Shahe Momjian

Mary Bock, Editor