Save Siesta Key plans to ramp up its efforts to incorporate the community as a city. Ahead of the 2022 Legislative Session, the civic organization will hold a Dec. 29 rally at Marina Jack Park.

“Over 2,200 residents and tax payers on Siesta Key have signed a petition launched by SSK in a bid to get a referendum on the 2022 ballot for a vote for incorporation of Siesta Key,” reads a press release from the group. “This makes it abundantly clear that a majority of the community of Siesta Key are supporting SSK efforts.”

The demonstration will begin at 11 a.m. at the Unconditional Surrender statue in Sarasota.

This event follows a town hall held earlier this month by Sen. Joe Gruters, R-Sarasota, and Rep. Fiona McFarland, R-Sarasota. The two plan to sponsor legislation that would allow a vote by island residents.

Charles Byrne, a board member for Save Siesta Key, feels confident the group will win the support of a majority of local lawmakers. The organization has invested more than $100,000 on a feasibility study this year and would like to see the Florida Legislature take action this coming session.

“It’s important only because of the amount of effort,” he said. “It’s a laborious process. To have to start over with a new group is an onerous process.”

Gruters and McFarland, who represent Siesta Key, have supported the initiative. Other lawmakers like Rep. Tommy Gregory, R-Sarasota, have shown skepticism. Byrne, though, stressed that legislation will only put the question before voters next fall, and he hoped all lawmakers from the region would support leaving the decision to citizens, especially when local surveys by the group show 95% of the less than 7,000 impacted residents on the island support incorporation.

“Having served in military, it’s kind of ironic after defending the liberty to vote if we are denied it,” he said. 

Image courtesy Save Siesta Key

Keller Williams on the Water is proud to welcome Alan Thompson as our Executive Director of CRE and Business Brokerage and new partner. Alan is a seasoned Senior Level Executive with over 35 years in the Real Estate Industry. Previously, Alan was the SVP Southeast Regional Director for Bank of America. At Bank of America Alan was responsible for and supported 30 billion dollars’ worth of sales in his region. Alan is a former Army Veteran, attended the University of Hawaii, Hillsborough County Community College and the Columbia Scholl Broadcasting. Alan is a licensed Florida Real Estate Broker, Certified Investment and Commercial Specialist, national speaker/trainer, author, and Licensed Florida Real Estate Instructor. He has written and designed training for over 350 thousand Real Estate Professionals throughout the United States and Canada. Alan has participated in, or coached, trained or mentored Agents/Brokers and other Real Estate professionals through transactions with combined values in excess of 100 million dollars. Alan has successfully represented clients in office, industrial, raw land, multifamily, convenience stores and gas stations, special purpose properties, business brokerage and retail space procurement. He has earned many Top Producer awards and recognitions in his 35 years in the Real Estate Industry and has trained, mentored, or coached many of today’s Industry Leaders. He has been involved and maintains a database of many external stake holders from groups like the 100 Black Men, NAREB, NAHREP, AAREA, Nonprofits, Churches, Native American tribes, Builders and thousands of Real Estate professionals and organizations throughout the country, where he has functioned as a subject matter expert on many occasions. 

Vermont-based non-profit, the LoveYourBrain Foundation (LYB),  and local nonprofit, Dharma Footprint Project, have co-sponsored the its Yoga program in Sarasota in partnership with Pineapple Yoga + Cycling Studio. This studio joins a network of 22 partner studios and clinical affiliates across the US states and 3 Canadian provinces trained by LYB to offer this unprecedented program in an effort to make yoga accessible to the traumatic brain injury (TBI) community. TBIs are caused by an external blow to the head, resulting in disrupted brain function that can range from mild (concussion) to severe. Every year, more than 3 million occur in the US alone. LYB believes in the holistic and dynamic nature of yoga to meet the individual needs of each person with TBI, from wanting to rebuild strength and balance, to manage stress, and to find comfort in a community of people with shared experiences. Each class integrates breathing exercises, gentle yoga, guided meditation, and facilitated group discussion designed to foster resilience. The classes also adapt yoga poses to prevent dizziness and headaches, use soft lighting and soothing sound, incorporate strategies to focus attention, and uses empowering TBI-related themes to guide the group discussion. Pineapple Yoga + Cycling Studio, along with the Dharma Footprint Project will be hosting the LYB Yoga series for the first time since the pandemic, starting on Saturday January 8th, until February 12th.  This is a free program available to all who have been affected by TBI/concussion in the SWFL community. 

To learn more, visit

Arts Advocates is pleased to announce a new series of walking tours that will introduce participants to some of Sarasota’s public art. Sarasota is a 24/7 museum with more than 80 pieces of public art continuously on display for everyone to enjoy. These works are found everywhere – from parks to intersections, from the bayfront to downtown. Chances are these sculptures and murals are passed every day without thinking much about it. The Arts Advocates walking tours, organized and led by art lovers and docents Judy Levine, Stephenie Frasher and Nanette Crist, offer participants an opportunity to learn about Sarasota’s public art legacy, individual works, and the artists who created them. Each tour is different and highlights a variety of artwork and artists, from a sculpture inspired by a childhood experience with Hurricane Andrew, to a mural by a Brazilian street artist who has painted more than 3,000 murals across five continents, and works by a New College professor who made copper look like bronze. The three tours being offered are: Downtown Sarasota Five Points Park Area Walking Tour, Friday, January 14, 11 am-12:30 pm; Sarasota City Hall Area Walking Tour, Monday, February 14, 11 am-12:30 pm; Rosemary District Walking Tour, Friday, March 11, 11 am-12:30 pm. Maximum tour size is 20 people. Reservations are required: $28 per tour for Arts Advocates members, $30 per tour for non-members.  

To learn more, click here

 The world premiere show “Ruby” (which was originally scheduled for the 2019-2020 season but delayed due to COVID-19) is a musical retelling by WBTT founder/artistic director Nate Jacobs and his brother, Michael Jacobs, of the shocking killing of a White doctor in Live Oak, Florida, by a Black woman – Ruby McCollum – who was tried in the case and eventually committed to Florida State Hospital in Chattahoochee, Florida.  
In 1952, when the killing happened, Ruby and her husband, Sam, were quite prosperous for the time and place and well-respected in the community. It was one of their four children – the youngest, Loretta – Ruby McCollum later said was the product of a forced relationship with the shooting victim, Dr. C. Leroy Adams. McCollum claimed the reason for the killing was because Adams refused to leave her alone.

But there is more than true crime to this story, which became so notorious that famed writer Zora Neale Hurston was sent by the Pittsburgh Courier to cover the trial. In segregated Florida, where Black people were essentially disenfranchised, unable to serve on juries or hold political office, the history of  White men taking sexual advantage of Black women without repercussions was long. Ruby's testimony at trial was limited to exclude much of her defense, and the judge imposed a gag order on her as well, preventing any press interviews. Ruby's is a fascinating, powerful story, one that's been touched upon in books and documentary films. Now, it (finally) takes the stage live in what promises to be an emotional musical drama. This powerful and haunting musical explores the secrets just beneath the surface of the idyllic, genteel exterior of a quaint Florida town.  

Standing from left: Casey Murphy, Aleah Vassell, Brian L. Boyd. Seated: Eliza Engle, Ariel Blue Photos by Sorcha Augustine.

To purchase tickets click here