Although it feels like winter is still in full swing on the Gulf Coast, spring time–and Major League Baseball’s Spring Training–is fast approaching. Earlier this week, a fleet of trucks departed from Oriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore, marking the start of their 1,000 mile journey down to Ed Smith Stadium in Sarasota. The trucks, which are carrying 320 uniforms, 300 hats, 200 helmets and 10 pitching machines, are not alone in their pilgrimage south. All across the country, Major League teams are beginning their migration towards warmer weather, some to Arizona’s Cactus League and others to the Grapefruit League in southern Florida. The start of Spring Training is mere weeks away, with the area’s teams–the Baltimore Orioles, Pittsburgh Pirates and Atlanta Braves–all set to report to camp in just over two weeks. Here’s what you need to know about the Orioles, who call Sarasota home for six weeks every spring.

Buy stock in the Baltimore Orioles right now because chances are, they’re going to be really good, for a really long time. The Orioles absolutely exploded in 2023, finishing with the second best record in all of baseball at 101-61. One of the youngest teams in the sport, the Orioles fell short in the playoffs, losing to the eventual World Series champions, the Texas Rangers, in the American League Divisional Series.

But help–if they even need it–is assuredly on the way. Shortstop Jackson Holliday remains the top prospect in all of baseball and could crack the Opening Day roster with a strong Spring Training. Second baseman Connor Norby could also make his way onto the Opening Day roster–the 2021 second-rounder hit a blistering .290/.359/.483 with 21 home runs and 92 RBIs at AAA Norfolk last year. Corner infielder Coby Mayo is also a player to look out for. MLB Pipeline’s 30th ranked prospect, Mayo will likely start the year in AAA Norfolk, but has a chance to join the team later this summer if his ferocious approach at the plate continues to yield positive results. The Orioles only issue? Finding enough spots on the field for all of their promising young players.

Ed Smith Stadium, 2700 12th St, Sarasota, 941-893-6300. 

Pictured: Oriole Bird assists in loading up the gear for Spring Training. Photo courtesy of the Baltimore Orioles.

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Neuro Challenge Foundation’s 7th Annual Parkinson’s Expo is coming to the Bradenton Area Convention  Center on March 2, 2024. The Parkinson’s Expo will educate, engage and empower the Parkinson’s community and feature  presentations from Parkinson’s experts, interactive demonstrations of Parkinson’s exercises/devices, and the chance to meet  many community resource partners. More than 1,600 people participated in The Parkinson’s Expo in 2023, making it the largest  event of its kind in the country. In-person and virtual attendance is available. The Expo is FREE to attend but registration is  required at www.ParkinsonsExpo.org. 

For more information click here

Calling all dog lovers and their four-legged companions! The Bazaar on Apricot & Lime is thrilled to host the highly anticipated event of the season - My Furry Valentine! Saturday, Feb. 3 from 11-3pm, we will transform our venue into a canine haven for a day filled with tail-wagging fun, heartwarming rescues, and an epic dog costume contest. This pawsome event will feature four incredible dog rescues, Tenderheart Charities, Rescue Garage, Low Rider, and Satchel’s Last Resort. These organizations work tirelessly to provide abandoned and neglected dogs with a second chance at finding their forever homes. Attendees will have the opportunity to meet and interact with adorable, adoptable pups, and perhaps even find a new furry family member to take home! But wait, there's more! The highlight of the day will be the highly-anticipated Dog Costume Contest, which will kick off at 11:30 AM. Dog owners are invited to dress up their canine companions in the most creative, hilarious, or adorable costumes they can dream up. Whether it's a superhero, a princess, or a canine version of their favorite celebrity, the possibilities are endless! Prizes will be awarded to the top three winners, who will not only walk away with bragging rights but also some fantastic doggie goodies and human prizes. In addition to the rescues and the contest, local vendors will be on hand to showcase the latest pet products, pet grooming services, and much more. Attendees can also indulge in delicious food and refreshing beverages from Hamlet’s Eatery. Admission to this incredible event is free, but donations are strongly encouraged to support the participating dog rescues and their ongoing efforts to save and care for dogs in need. Don't miss out on the most exciting dog event of the year! Join us at the Bazaar on Saturday, Feb. 3 from 11-3. For more information, visit www.Bazaaronapricotandlime.com or call 941-445-1938. 

Every February for the past four decades, people have gathered in one of Florida’s last true fishing villages to celebrate the cultural history of the region and to honor the men and women who supply us with fresh local seafood. The village of Cortez and the Florida Institute for Saltwater Heritage (F.I.S.H.) are excited to welcome the public back to the shores of Sarasota Bay for the 42nd Annual Cortez Commercial Fishing Festival on February 17 & 18, 2024. Come on out to celebrate a real working waterfront community dedicated to preserving their fishing way of life. Soak in the sunshine along Sarasota Bay while you boogie to live local music, browse aisles of original local artwork and nautical crafts, sip cold beverages and sample some really tasty seafood. Get up close and personal with local marine life and feed your science side during “Dock Talks,” educational spiels put on by University of Florida & Florida Sea Grant. The touch tanks and the Dock Talks are located on the Fulford Docks, right across from the Kids area and next to Starfish Co. Check out the Florida Maritime Museum and the Cortez Cultural Center, which are steeped in history of the region. Buy a raffle ticket to be entered to win one of the beautiful, refurbished custom boats lovingly restored by the F.I.S.H Boatworks. Working waterfronts are critical to Florida’s seafood economy and convey a sense of tradition and purpose that is hard to compare. Development, population growth and shifting priorities have contributed to the decline and disappearance of many fishing villages, but Cortez has survived the changing tides and remains a true vestige of old Florida. The Cortez Commercial Fishing Festival is organized to share the importance of local seafood production with the public. The 2024 Commercial Fishing Festival theme is “It’s a Way of Life,” which is true nowhere else like Cortez. The uniqueness and grit of the community envelopes you as soon as you step foot into the village where commercial fishing has built the lives of many families and remains a way of life today. The persistence and determination of Cortezians is evident in this annual Festival, which has been going for 42 years strong. The event is organized entirely by a fleet of dedicated volunteers and led by the Florida Institute for Saltwater Heritage (F.I.S.H.), a non-profit organization whose mission is to preserve and promote Florida’s traditional maritime cultures and the environment upon which they depend. Every penny that the Festival earns is put right back into the community and supports the restoration and conservation of the FISH Preserve, 100 acres of coastal habitat that borders the east end of Cortez Village and is the last stretch of undeveloped waterfront property left on Sarasota Bay. It was purchased through grassroots, community efforts and now enjoys a conservation easement to protect it from development. Proceeds from the Festival help pay the mortgage on this land and contribute to restoration efforts.

February 17 & 18, 10am-6pm, In front of Starfish Co. and A.P. Bell (and between 123 and 124th St W), Cortez, $5.00, kids under 12 free.

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 Sarasota Institute of Lifetime Learning’s (SILL) hard-hitting “Global Issues” series runs through March 29 at locations in Sarasota, Venice and Lakewood Ranch and features 24 internationally renowned experts discussing a vast range of domestic and global issues. February’s lectures feature front-page issues examined by leading speakers, including renowned scientist, businessman and entrepreneur Bob Bunting, discussing global climate issues; historian, educator and author Jeremi Suri, who will explore American’s shifting attitudes about government; author and Georgetown University professor Bruce Hoffman, who speaks about terrorism and insurgency; and Carla Koppell, vice dean for the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service and managing director of the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security, who will discusses strategies to mitigate conflicts and promote peace and prosperity.  

The Pickleball Club, a firm founded in 2019 that develops and operates private, membership-based high-amenity indoor pickleball facilities throughout Florida, recently welcomed two new hires to its Lakewood Ranch team: Cari Gardner and Forest Dennis. Gardner joins The Pickleball Club at Lakewood Ranch as the club’s new membership director. With a record of success in sales management and marketing at local, regional and national levels, Gardner is an experienced problem solver with the ability to drive revenue growth, resolve conflict, improve morale and consistently exceed profit goals. Most recently, Gardner was the regional sales manager for Jekyll Island Club Resort in Jekyll Island, Georgia. In her new role as membership director for The Pickleball Club at Lakewood Ranch, she will be responsible for recruiting and retaining club members and promoting membership-related products and services, developing prospective members and engaging inactive members, providing exceptional service to members and guests, dealing with member records and keeping the management aware of members’ concerns, among other duties.Dennis joins The Pickleball Club at Lakewood Ranch as head pickleball pro. With a robust background of strength and conditioning practices and coach experience, Dennis will report to the program director and teach high-quality lessons and clinics, as well as create member engagement. Additional responsibilities include organizing, planning, promoting, scheduling and managing all programming activities to ensure each member feels motivated and engaged, among other tasks. Most recently, he served as head of strength and conditioning at Steele Performance Training. During his time there, he trained high-performance clients and worked with professionals and celebrities to determine optimal diet and activity composition in order to achieve results. Dennis has a bachelor’s degree in exercise science from Florida Gulf Coast University and is a certified strength and conditioning specialist by the National Strength and Conditioning Association. 

Spend your Valentine's Day in our loft and enjoy decadent desserts paired with beverages, the soft sounds of live music, and readings of Pablo Neruda's love poems in both English and Spanish as performed by professional actors. Pablo Neruda’s most critically acclaimed and original works is the cycle of love poems titled Veinte poemas de amor y una canción desesperada—published in English translation as Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair. This work quickly marked Neruda as an important Chilean poet. Veinte poemas also brought the author notoriety due to its explicit celebration of sexuality, and, as Robert Clemens remarked in the Saturday Review, “established him at the outset as a frank, sensuous spokesman for love.” While other Latin American poets of the time used sexually explicit imagery, Neruda was the first to win popular acceptance for his presentation. Mixing memories of his love affairs with memories of the wilderness of southern Chile, he creates a poetic sequence that not only describes a physical liaison, but also evokes the sense of displacement that Neruda felt in leaving the wilderness for the city. “Traditionally,” stated Rene de Costa in The Poetry of Pablo Neruda, “love poetry has equated woman with nature. Neruda took this established mode of comparison and raised it to a cosmic level, making woman into a veritable force of the universe.”  

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The local chapter of the American Advertising Federation, known as AAF Suncoast, is proud to host the 2024 Local American Advertising Awards presented by the Ringling College of Art + Design Sound Stages on Saturday, February 24. The American Advertising Awards, home of the ADDY® Award, is one of the industry's largest creative competitions, attracting nearly 35,000 professional and student entries each year through competitions offered through local AAF chapters. Conducted annually by the American Advertising Federation (AAF), the local chapter phase is the first of a three-tier, national competition. Concurrently, all across the country, local entrants vie to win ADDY Awards - recognition as the very best in their markets. At the second tier, local ADDY winners compete against winners from other local clubs in one of 15 district competitions. District ADDY winners are then forwarded to the third tier, the national stage of the American Advertising Awards. This year’s theme is A Masquerade Party, and guests are encouraged to dress in full glitz and glamor. The area’s premier marketing and advertising specialists will be celebrated in a special awards ceremony for creative projects produced by local professionals and students. A tour of the Ringling Sound Stages and a cocktail hour will begin at 6:00pm, with the main event curtain at 7:30pm. The After Party will follow the award presentation. Come celebrate the best in advertising and purchase your tickets today at https://www.aaf-suncoast.com/light-up-the-addys-masquerade. Members of AAF can purchase tickets for $77, non-member and guest tickets are priced at $120, and student pricing is $40.  Area businesses and agencies are invited to support the 2024 ADDY Awards through sponsorship packages ranging from $375-$3,000. These packages have various opportunities to be showcased not only at the awards ceremony, but at annual events and marketing materials. For more information on sponsorship opportunities, please go to https://www.aaf-suncoast.com/addy-gala-sponsorship or contact Selina Bostic at president@adfedsuncoast.com.  

Robotics teams of middle- and high-school students from across the region will compete in the Gulf Coast League Robotics Championship on Saturday, February 3, at Braden River Middle School in Manatee County.  The competition is part of the FIRST Tech Challenge 2023-24 season, with teams competing to advance to the Florida state championships in March. At the Gulf Coast League regional tournament, 26 teams of young innovators will compete head-to-head in different challenges with robots they designed, built, and programmed themselves.  Participating teams will come from as far north as Palm Harbor in Pinellas County and south as Fort Myers in Lee County.  Students in the competition range from 12 to 18 years old. The public is invited to attend the tournament and experience the excitement of competitive robotics.  FUNducation, a Manatee County-based nonprofit that engages and inspires youth through Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math (STEAM) education, is helping to coordinate the competition.  FUNducation’s executive director, Neirda Thompson-Pemberton, encourages interested members of the community to come out to watch the event and cheer on the students during this thrilling competition. “We would love to see potential future participants, local business leaders, and really anyone who wants to support STEAM education in our community,” said Thompson-Pemberton.  “FIRST Tech Challenge teaches kids to think like engineers and work as a team, and the competition is just a blast to watch!” While the teams will be on site from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. for the full day, Thompson-Pemberton says that spectators can plan on seeing some of the best live action from 1:30 until 5 p.m., when the competition concludes.  The event is open to the public, and no registration is required to watch.  Braden River Middle School is located at 6215 River Club Boulevard in Bradenton.  For more information, email funducation@outlook.com. 

Pictured: Students supported by FUNducation work on their robot during a FIRST Tech Challenge competition. Photo courtesy of Charles & Margery Barancik Foundation.

More than 4,000 people attended Embracing Our Differences’ 21st anniversary exhibition’s grand opening on Sunday, January 21, in Sarasota’s downtown Bayfront Park. The occasion showcased electrifying performances by Jah Movement, and local arts and education organizations enriched the atmosphere with interactive booths and family-friendly activities. EOD representatives took the opportunity to acknowledge the Best-in-Show art and quotation winners, and the event was graced by the presence of many of the featured artists and quoters, who were honored for their selected works on display. 

Pictured: Winning artists and quoters from around the region and country at Embracing Our Differences’ Grand Opening Celebration at Bayfront Park on January 21. Photo by Peter Acker.

Parents and guardians residing anywhere in the state of Florida will soon be able to apply for their children to attend a public school outside their regular attendance zone through the Controlled Open Enrollment (COE) process, more commonly known as School Choice. Sarasota County Schools invites parents and guardians from any school district in the state of Florida – whose child is not subject to a current expulsion or suspension – to apply for a 2024-2025 School Choice assignment to a public school identified as having available capacity. Online applications for School Choice will be accepted from 8:00 AM on Thursday, February 1, 2024, through 4:30 PM on Thursday, February 29, 2024. The district’s School Choice process requires that an online application be completed. Beginning Thursday, February 1, parents and guardians can complete and submit their online applications using a computer, tablet, or cell phone. If assistance is needed to access and submit an online application, parents and guardians may contact the Office of School Choice at 941-927-9000, ext. 32258. Parents and guardians will be notified via email of choice assignments in April. If awarded a choice seat, parents and guardians must formally accept the assignment by following the directions in the email, or their choice seat will be forfeited. Available seats at some of the schools that are open to School Choice may be limited to certain grade levels if those schools are at, or near, their enrollment capacity for those grades. The complete list of schools and grade levels open to School Choice is available on the School Choice/Controlled Open Enrollment (COE) Overview webpage under the “downloads” heading: www.sarasotacountyschools.net/Page/2502. School Choice/COE assignments will be determined by a random lottery process, rather than on a first-come, first-served basis. Students living in Sarasota County who are applying for an assignment through the School Choice/COE process will not be displaced by the applicants living outside the county. A School Choice/COE assignment does not guarantee acceptance into a magnet or special program at a school. Schools that are open to School Choice/COE for the 2024-2025 school year may host open houses or other family information events. Parents and guardians are encouraged to visit the websites of schools on the “open” School Choice/COE list, or contact those schools directly, for more information. All school websites are accessible via the “Schools” button located at the top of the school district’s website (www.sarasotacountyschools.net). Please note: This application is intended only for families wishing to have their child attend a school other than their assigned district school. Applications for new student registration and existing student re-registration for the 2024-2025 school year will open in April. If your child is already attending a school utilizing School Choice/COE and they wish to continue attending the same school, you will not need to fill out another School Choice/COE application. Educational choice options – such as charter schools, magnet schools, or magnet programs – also do not require the completion of a School Choice/COE application. Families interested in these district School Choice options should directly contact the school or program. Parents and guardians whose children receive their choice school through the School Choice/COE process will be responsible for providing transportation to and from school. Any additional questions may be directed to the Office of School Choice by visiting www.sarasotacountyschools.net/schoolchoice. 

Visitors to the popular Garden Shop at Marie Selby Botanical Gardens’ Downtown Sarasota campus will see a familiar and respected name emblazoned at the entry to the tropical plant-filled outdoor portion of the store located in Phase One of the Master Plan’s new Living Energy Access Facility, LEAF, which opened to the public on January 11, 2024.

Selby Gardens and longtime partner Better-Gro have reimagined the shop’s outdoor area as the “Better-Gro Boutique.” The concept, which features plants and accessories provided by Better-Gro, recognizes the third-generation local business’ significant and long-running contributions to the success of Selby Gardens’ horticultural shows and the organization as a whole. The shop is a key element in the first net-positive energy botanical garden complex in the world and will be powered by solar energy.

“Better-Gro products and the Hollingsworth family have been integral to the success of our major exhibitions, our popular retail operation, and Selby Gardens as a renowned institution,” said Jennifer Rominiecki, President and CEO of Selby Gardens. “We are so pleased to commemorate this vital partnership in our new Garden Shop, which we know will be a visitor favorite.”

As a key plant supplier for Selby Gardens’ annual Orchid Show and Jean and Alfred Goldstein Exhibition, Arcadia-based Better-Gro provides quality plants to enhance the Gardens’ living collections for its two largest annual exhibitions. The company is also a significant wholesale provider of orchids and other tropical plants sold in the new Better-Gro Boutique Garden Shop, along with growing supplies including potting media, plant foods, baskets, containers and accessories.

“Selby Gardens is known for having the largest epiphytic plant collection in the world. Their botanical collection, plant knowledge and historical preservation efforts are extraordinary. We are so fortunate to have these historic gardens right here in Sarasota, Florida,” said Rod Hollingsworth, President and CEO of Sun Bulb Company, the parent brand of Better-Gro. “My family has been involved with the Gardens over the past six decades through volunteerism, contributions, and leadership. It’s a very special place, and we’re excited to see the Gardens enter their next phase of transformation under the vision and guidance of Jennifer Rominiecki and team. We look forward to continuing to supply our tropical plants and gardening products to this great organization.”

While renaming the Garden Shop’s outdoor plant boutique speaks to the current partnership between Selby Gardens and Better-Gro, the close relationship between the two organizations goes back decades and three generations. The founder of Sun Bulb Company, A.P. Hollingsworth, and Selby Gardens co-founder Dr. Carlyle “Carl” Luer had a long-standing friendship and mutual love of botany and the Gardens as you see them today. The relationship with Selby Gardens continued to blossom when A.P.’s son, Tom, served on the board of directors in the early 2000’s. Today, grandson Rod Hollingsworth, continues that tradition of volunteerism and support by serving on the Selby Gardens advisory committee. 

Pictured: The Better Gro Boutique at the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens. Photo Courtesy of the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens.

Marie Selby Botanical Gardens