Mote Marine Laboratory and 1,000+ participants joined together for a day of fun, sun and a run, this past Saturday at the 33rd Annual Run for the Turtles at Siesta Key Beach Pavilion. Mote Marine scientists were not only runners themselves, but also got the runners stretched and warmed up beforehand, while simultaneously holding a trivia with sea turtle facts and prizes. Further excitement and motivation arrived when Mote’s mascots Shelley the Sea Turtle and Gilly the Shark came to pump everyone up and pose for pictures before runners jogged off.

First of the two different runs held was a 1-mile “fun run,” which brought a huge variety of participants, with ages ranging from one to 97 years old. Next was a 5K run sanctioned by the Manasota Track Club. Teams joined together and experienced the ultimate “runner’s high”—taking in the scenic beach route of Siesta Key while protecting and promoting the conservation efforts of local sea turtles nesting on beaches.

Mote even upped the ante this year with its first ever virtual run. Virtual runners spanned the globe, including a team of runners in Denmark, who follow Mote Marine research and contributions—and whom expressed their joy at still being able to partake and donate to the cause. Mote Marine will even been sending out participation ribbons. Both the virtual run and the local events on Siesta Key sold out prior to race day, and the 33rd Annual Run for the Turtles marked one of the most successful in its history. 

“The final amount is still being tallied,” says Stephannie Kettle of Mote Marine. “But we know at least $40,000 has been raised for our Sea Turtle Conservation & Research Program (STCRP)." This annual event provides major support for STCRP, so the scientists can continue to conduct daily surveys of the 35-mile stretch of beach that Mote monitors. “The scientists find and study these nests every single day during the nesting and hatching season,” Kettle says. “Turtle nesting season for southwest Florida runs from May 1 to October 31.” STCRP also assists with finding and tagging adult sea turtles to satellite-track their whereabouts and population for further research. These explorations not only help with local scope and analysis, but is also essential for national outreach for federal sea turtle conservation efforts. The general public can even follow along live for Mote’s tagged turtles here.

Last year, STCRP had their third best nesting year in the history of the program, with 3,151 nests hatching along the 35-mile coastline. And this year looks as though it will top it even further. 

Photo of the 5k sanctioned run by Manasota Track Club, courtesy of Conor Goulding / Mote Marine Laboratory

Learn more about the Sea Turtle Conservation & Research Program.

Shelve the Cuervo and Patron...time to go on ‘hiatus’ with the newest, truest, no-frills tequila on the market. The minimalist, yet satiable collection of natural tequila goes back to sacred Aztec roots. Reminding us the way tequila should taste—naturally clean yet complex—easily enjoy it sipped neat, savored on the rocks or craftly collaborated with in a cocktail. Launching with a Blanco, Reposado and Añejo, Hiatus is made from 100% Blue Weber roasted agave, allowing this sustainable and sumptuous spirit to fully mature for up to eight years and properly ripen, before being distilled and distributed to thirsty imbibers looking for a wedge of lime and a pinch of salt.

Produced just outside the town of Tequila, Jalisco in collaboration with a third-generation award-winning tequila family, La Cofradía’s plantation breaks a sweat on the edge of an extinct volcano whose porous foundation acts as a natural filter for the spring water used to distill Hiatus’ tequila. La Cofradía family’s traditional and sustainable practices of crushing roasted agave with custom-made press extractors (think giant corkscrew), squeezing all the sweet meat and nectarous fibers out of the plant, caught the eye of Hiatus Founder Kristopher DeSoto. Pressing rather than pulverizing the agave allows smoother, rounder flavors to come through in the end product we all know now as going on Hiatus.

“We’ve created a tequila with full transparency,” says DeSoto. “We ensure that the spirit in the bottle is a true expression of what tequila should be by using only fully mature agave, taking our time to cook them slowly in masonry ovens, and double distilling to maintain the earthy agave notes that make Tequila unique, before filtering out the unsavory finish that defines many tequilas. It may be a slower process, but we prefer quality over speed. The flavors and aromas are untampered with, unadulterated. Nothing added, nothing is taken away.”

Hiatus makes its debut across several leading local restaurants, bars and liquor stores. Interrupting us from the monotony of day-to-day, Hiatus is saturating the Sarasota scene to inspire us all to take a break, seek balance and pursue good times.

Find locally at Sarasota Yacht Club, Embassy Suites, Ruth’s Chris, Daiquiri Decks, Siesta Key Oyster Bar, Crescent Club, Sage Restaurant, Captain Curt’s Oyster Bar & Sniki Tiki, Evie’s Main and Bee Ridge, MADE Restaurant, White Buffalo Saloon, The Office Bar SRQ, Spanish Point Restaurant & Tiki Bar, Five O’Clock Club, Veronica Fish & Oyster, Pacific Rim, Plaza Mexico, Siesta Spirits and Sarasota Wine & Liquor. 

Currently only available in New York, Florida and online.

Photo courtesy of Hiatus Tequila

Manatee County is accepting applications for two vacancies on the Manatee County Health Care Advisory Board, a volunteer group that evaluates, monitors and discusses the healthcare system in Manatee County and makes recommendations to the County Commission regarding the funding of healthcare services in Manatee County. There are two vacancies: one representative of the business community and one representative of the substance abuse treatment field. The advisory board reviews evidence-based practices,  programs and related data to enhance the long-term stability and effectiveness of the programs available to citizens of Manatee County who have no other meaningful means of access to health care.

Applications are due April 12 at 5pm. The application may be found online at the website below. 

Manatee County Advisory Board Applications

Sarasota County Schools has announced the Middle School, High School and Overall CTE Students of the Year for the 2018-19 school year.

Career and Technical Education (CTE) Month is celebrated by industry associations and groups nationwide, as a recognition of the value of career and technical education and the achievements and accomplishments of CTE programs across the country. Sarasota County Schools’ CTE department supports this effort by selecting a winner from each traditional public middle and high school, as well as an overall winner representing all traditional public middle and high schools, respectively.

This year’s 16 CTE Students of the Year represent seven different CTE program areas including Health Science, Business, Culinary Arts, Computer Science, and Engineering; have collectively earned 24 CAPE industry certifications; have an average GPA of 3.5; and represent a multitude of schools, including Sarasota Middle, Woodland Middle, Booker Middle, Brookside Middle, Heron Creek Middle, Laurel Nokomis, McIntosh Middle, Venice Middle, Riverview High, Booker High, North Port High, Pine View, Sarasota High, Suncoast Technical College and Venice High.

The Overall Middle School CTE Student of the Year is Bradley Miller, a student of Business and Engineering CTE classes. He is an 8th grader at Heron Creek Middle School, looking forward to enrolling in Pre-AICE classes at North Port High School this fall. The Overall High School CTE Student of the Year has been named as Dante Garcia, a senior at Sarasota High and a Health Science CTE and AICE student with a 3.75 GPA. He serves his school community as the President of the National Honor Society and Vice President of the Student Government, and plans to attend the University of Florida to study Medicine or Medical Research. 

Sarasota County Schools

The law firm of Williams Parker recently hosted “Practical Planning for Your Legacy: Understanding Your IRA,” an educational seminar focused on providing Individual Retirement Account (IRA) owners with the necessary knowledge to enable them to make informed decisions about how to structure their estate plan and IRA beneficiary designations in a manner that best fits their tax planning and personal goals. The seminar took place March 27 at Art Ovation Hotel.

Williams Parker estate and trust attorneys Alyssa L. Acquaviva and Colton F. Castro led the presentation, discussing wealth management strategies for IRA owners; minimum required distribution requirements and timing; tax penalties and how to avoid them; tax laws regarding the inheritance of IRAs, including rollovers and beneficiary designations; charitable planning involving IRAs, and structuring one’s estate plan to maximize the benefits available to IRA account owners and beneficiaries.  

Williams Parker

Shake Shack has announced that it will open the doors to its newest Florida location in Sarasota on Tuesday, April 16 at 11am. The Shack will be located at The Mall at University Town Center.

A critically acclaimed, modern day “roadside” burger stand known for its burgers, chicken sandwiches and griddled flat-top dogs, frozen custard, crinkle cut fries and more. In addition to the classics, the UTC Sarasota Shack will be spinning up a unique selection of frozen custard concretes, including: Pie Oh My—vanilla custard with a slice of Four & Twenty seasonal pie. The menu will also include local brews from Crooked Can Brewing Company, Cigar City Brewing and Orange Blossom Brewing Co.

As part of Shake Shack’s mission to Stand For Something Good, the UTC Sarasota Shack will donate 5% of sales from its Pie Oh My concrete to Sunshine Community Compost, a nonprofit that creates accessible education and action programs to increase local composting, resource recovery and zero waste efforts. The first 100 people in line when doors open at 11am will receive a Shack Attack concrete on the house. 

Shake Shack