Lucy Lapides doesn’t consider herself a “raging feminist,” but as she sat in the Democratic National Convention Hall Tuesday, serving as a Hillary Clinton delegate and preparing to cast her vote for the first woman to win the presidential nomination for a major political party, she could feel history being made. “Once in while, I feel the emotional component of it,” she says. Lapides, current president of the Lakewood Ranch Democratic Club, was among the Gulf Coast residents in Pennsylvania this week for the convention, and while the divide between Clinton and Bernie Sanders supporters has impacted the convention, it hasn’t reduced the thrill of being in the room. A news junkie, Lapides regales with stories of media personalities wandering the hall freely accessible.

Rita Ferrandino, Sarasota Democratic Party treasurer, says the historic moment of electing a female nominee impacted the mood of the arena. "Tears of joy filled the arena," she says.

Locals arrived from both sides of the intra-party divide. Former Sarasota Mayor Kelly Kirschner was appointed by Sanders to serve on the credentialing committee at the convention. While he notes the “disturbing revelations” that came this week after an email hack of the DNC exposing efforts within the party to boost Clinton over Sanders, the committee work was “heartening,” Kirschner says. “There is now space and light to work towards the reform and the transparency that Sanders has been demanding in the primary process,” he says. 

Sarasota Democratic Party Chair Christine Jennings, a Clinton delegate, remarked that Sanders supporters at times acted disruptive, such as when they booed ousted DNC chair and Florida Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Shultz at a Florida delegation breakfast Monday. But she says speakers like First Lady Michelle Obama were helping to heal divides. She noted Sanders himself has encouraged his own supporters to rally behind Clinton. “It will take a little longer to settle,” she says of the division, “but I definitely believe it will happen in time.” 

Photo courtesy Rita Ferrandino

In the thick heat of a late summer Florida day, diving head first into heaping bowl of Hades-hot spice might not be your first inclination—but give Isan Thai’s green papaya salad a chance. The all-raw dish begins with a mountain of unripened papaya shavings flooded with a combination of fish sauce, tangy lime juice, palm sugar, chili peppers and salt—a quintet that hits all the notes your tastebuds crave. Isan’s take on the Thai classic goes heavy on the spice, but balances out heat with cool bursts of ribboned cucumber, a smattering of ripe tomato chunks and crunchy carrot confetti. Come for the papaya salad and stay for the sumptuous décor: ask to be seated in the back room, where you’ll be greeted by gilded statues of mythical seawomen, wooden tables with intricate, hand-carved designs and a sprinkling of Christmas lights overhead. 

Pictured: Isan's green papaya salad. Photo by Heidi Stone.

Isan Thai, 5758 South Tamiami Trl., Sarasota, 941-923-1232.

Locally owned and operated private commercial construction company, Halfacre Construction Company, is building an expansion for Coach House, Inc.’s manufacturing facility. The over 11,000 square-foot new addition will house the fiberglass and painting production areas and an extension to the assembly line for the company’s motorhome manufacturing.  

Halfacre Construction

Georgia Hudson has been appointed as events manager of the Elling Eide Center. Hudson will be responsible for coordinating conferences, special lectures series and visits from Asian Studies researchers and scholars from all over the world. She has more than 18 years of experience in financial services, more specifically the credit card partnership marketing industry.  

Elling Eide Center

The Insitute for Luxury Home Marketing has given luxury real estate agent Bozena Suponcic, the Million Dollar Guild (GUILD) Recognition. The GUILD recognizes residential real estate professionals performing in the $1 million and above market. The institute only awards GUILD recognition to professionals who have provided verified and notarized documentation of sales performance in the top 10 percent of their markets and above the $1 million threshold.  

Institute For Luxury Home Marketing

TreeUmph! Adventure Course, Southwest Florida’s first treetop obstacle course, announced plans to expand into Pinellas County following a unanimous vote of approval by the Largo City Commission on July 19. The new aerial obstacle park will be located at the Highland Recreation Complex in Largo and is projected to serve more than 45,000 guests in its first year of operation and create up to 25 full- and part-time jobs for Pinellas County residents. The grand opening is expected in the Fall/Winter of 2016. Another TreeUmph! Adventure Course in Hernando County is currently under development. 

TreeUmph! Adventure Course

What do salsa dancing, yoga and a six-foot grandfather clock have in common? They’re some of the things Sandra Frank, CEO of All Faiths Food Bank holds dearest. This month, Frank—whose organization recently wrapped up a successful youth hunger campaign aimed at erasing summer food worries due to school closures—sat down with SRQ to share her off-duty passions. 

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