Observer Media Group

The team at Le Gardenia Bleu, a family-run Longboat Key flower and gift shop that opened shortly before hurricanes Helene and Milton, announced on July 6 they are closed. Co-owner Lita Brannan shared on Facebook multiple factors prompted the closure, including several personal issues the small staff needed to prioritize. Lita and John Brannan ran the shop with Jon Mongeau, a florist with nearly 40 years of experience.

When retrospectives for the Sarasota Art Colony were unveiled earlier this year at Ringling College of Art and Design and at Michael Saunders & Co.’s downtown offices, one prominent local artist wasn’t included. Actually, lots of artists were left out. In post-World War II Sarasota, there were 1,000 artists in a town of roughly 15,000 people, according to Ringling College Chief Curator Tim Jaeger. “With any historical exhibition, there are always difficult decisions to make,” Jaeger says.

Football was not Wyatt Wittman's sport of choice entering 2025. His experience was in soccer, but when he lost some of his love for the sport, his father suggested an alternate avenue — football. The rising junior kicker/punter for Braden River High was ranked in May as a four-star punter and 3 1/2-star kicker by Kohl's Professional Camps after attending its Southern Spring Showcase. Wittman, who is 6-foot-3 and 190 pounds, is the East County Athlete of the Week.

With two attorneys already seated on the Manatee County Commission — Amanda Ballard and Bob McCann — another attorney has entered the race for District 1: Leland Taylor. Taylor said lawyers can make good county commissioners because they’re open-minded, know how to apply the Constitution, and are adept at reading statutes and ordinances. “There are so many different areas to learn, you can’t know it all,” Taylor said.

The Siesta Key Fourth of July Fireworks have been held on Siesta Key Beach for 35 years. However, the event is sustained entirely through funding from the local community, including individuals and businesses. Craig Merrill, the event's pyrotechnician, says it's the sense of community in the local area that kept him coming back each year. "The community's so awesome," he said. "They kind of became family to me.

If there's one thing Lakewood Ranch's Chris Ruzicka learned July 4, it was that he should stick to the business world instead of joining the circus. Ruzicka was one of the members of the crowd to participate in the Circus Arts Conservatory performance at Waterside Place during the Star-Spangled Spectacular. Davis Vassallo, a CAC clown, used Ruzicka's body to hang musical instruments, bells and symbols.

Holly Rolls says Lights in Bloom at Selby Gardens, its annual holiday lights display, has always been an annual tradition for her family. As a result, they decided to try out the Fourth of July All-American Cookout on Saturday evening.

Summer means many of Longboat Key's avian residents will be raising and launching their babies. While the stumbling baby birds may sometimes be in need of a helping hand, other times they are simply following their instincts and learning how to navigate life on their own. To help Longboat Key residents tell the difference and learn interesting bird facts along the way, Save Our Seabirds held a volunteer training session on June 27 in its newly refurbished outdoor learning space.

A recent drought and burn ban in Sarasota County put personal fireworks off limits this year. Nonetheless, the Spirit of '76 block party, held Friday at Selby Five Points Park, offered a solution. Attendees could set off virtual fireworks projected onto the wall of the Selby Public Library with a digitally-inserted backdrop of Sarasota's skyline, including the John Ringling Causeway.

When asked what they thought of this year's special anniversary edition of Longboat Key's Freedom Fest, parade-goers landed on three main descriptors: Creative, cute and fun. The famous "World's Shortest Parade" exuded hometown patriotic pride the morning of the Fourth of July with a robust list of activities for residents, visiting family members and tourists seeking local entertainment over the holiday weekend.