Sarasota Livin'

ARTS DAY 2007
JANUARY 14th, 2007
10 a.m. - 5 p.m.

What is Arts Day?

Arts Day is a gift from our arts and cultural community to you. From the bayfront to Lemon Ave., and from First Street to Ringling Boulevard in downtown Sarasota, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., the entire town is alive with performances and exhibits. Some 1,100 artists, dancers, musicians, opera singers, comedians, actors, and poets perform simultaneously on 12 stages. Over 50 arts and cultural organizations are represented during this event. Voted "Best of the Best" by Sarasota magazine for several years, Arts Day attracts more than 25,000 arts lovers from all over the world.

[ free film ]

Free screenings and discussions of the informative film about global warming, An Inconvenient Truth, will be held at:
1:00 pm Monday, Jan 29, and at
12:30 pm Thursday, Feb 1,

Room 307 of the Library, at Manatee Community College (MCC) Venice,
8000 S. Tamiami Trail.

The screenings are scheduled as part of a five-day “Week of Action” that calls upon American and Canadian youth to draw attention to a “Rising to the Climate Challenge: Visions of Our Future” campaign. The screenings are open to the public and more info is available by email at fordd@mccfl.edu.

Bluegrass, Newgrass and the Grateful Dead
When: Feb 12th 2007 at 6-8 p.m.
Where: Selby Public Library, Geldbart Auditorium, 1331 First St., Sarasota

This 2002 film details the deeply rooted musical friendship between Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead and David Grisman, a noted bluegrass/newgrass mandolinist and composer of acoustic music.

Monday, 12 February at 7:30 PM at Waldemere Fire Station. (Waldemere St and East Ave)

Come hear what they have to say. They will be making important decisions for us and spending our money .... and there are several big ticket items coming up soon ... police station and baseball stadium to name two biggies..

Do you care about smart growth - (based on your definition or mine) I want downtown to continue to get better. I want more stuff going on to draw all segments of Sarasota downtown. I want it easy to get around Sarasota County (mass transit?) I want neighborhoods to thrive and (and lots more trees) have a good mix of housing options available.

Sarasota County: A State of Our Natural Environment Report

Jon Thaxton, Sarasota County Commissioner

A retrospect account and prospective view of Sarasota County's successes and failures in protecting or natural environment.

Date: February 15, 2007
Time: 8:00 pm
Location: Great Room by the Bay
Marie Selby Botanical Gardens
811 South Palm Avenue
Sarasota, FL 34236
941-366-5731

Contact: Donna Krabill
Phone: 941.366.5731, Extension 237
Email: dkrabill@selby.org

We expect over 3,000 runners and volunteers for the marathon and half marathon road races. The runners will start at 6 a.m. on Bay Shore Road in front of the Ringling Museum and return to the museum grounds to the finish line either 13.1 or 26.2 miles later. Runners will travel along Bay Shore Road and some adjoining streets and neighborhoods, onto US 41 to Ben Franklin Parkway to Ken Thompson Park, South Lido Beach Park, Bayfront Park, and Southside Village before returning to the Ringling Museum to cross the finish line. The course maps are posted on the website www.sarasotamarathon.com/course.cfm and will also be published in the Sarasota Herald Tribune prior to the race weekend. Although no roads will be closed, there will be some lane closures along the route. Traffic guidance will be provided by the Sarasota Police Department, traffic cones and signage, and volunteers. Expect some traffic congestion and possible delays from cross streets joining or crossing the routes during the mid to late morning on Sunday, March 4, 2007.

If you would like to find out more about the opportunities for volunteering, Sarasota Marathon will host an informational volunteer meeting on Wednesday, January 24th, 2007 at the YMCA, 1075 S Euclid Ave, Sarasota. Even if you don’t have the time volunteer, we encourage you to step out your door and cheer on the runners as they go by Sunday morning.We invite everyone to become ambassadors for the City of Sarasota and your neighborhoods to showcase the extraordinary beauty of the area and share the small town charm and hospitality.

Please contact Karen Hayes if you need more information:

Karen Haynes
Registration Coordinator
Sarasota Marathon
sarasotamarathon@hotmail.com
941.365.1978

'Dive into the Past' exhibit on Little Salt Spring to open at North Port Library

In celebration of Florida Archeology Month in March, “Dive into the Past: An Exhibit on the Little Salt Spring Archaeological Site,” will be on display March 1-30 at North Port Public Library. An opening reception will be held from 5:30 to 8 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 28, at the library, 13800 S. Tamiami Trail, North Port (corner of Biscayne Boulevard and US 41). A lecture by archaeologist Steve Koski is scheduled for 7 p.m.

The exhibit, developed by the Sarasota County History Center, offers a look at the region surrounding North Port’s Little Salt Spring dating back to when Paleo-Indians — the first Floridians — arrived more than 12,000 years ago.

"Dive into the Past" was on display in early 2006 at the History Center. Its month-long appearance at North Port Library is sponsored by the University of Miami, North Port Public Library, Friends of the North Port Area Public Library, the Sarasota County History Center and the Warm Mineral Springs/Little Salt Spring Archaeological Society.

Gifted to the University of Miami in 1982, the 110-acre preserve in North Port contains Little Salt Spring, a 240-foot deep, hourglass-shaped sinkhole with water conditions that allow for amazing preservation of bones and other artifacts buried within its sediments. For more than two decades, University of Miami scientists have been carefully exploring the site and are now bringing their results to the public. Evidence of early people and extinct creatures such as giant ground sloths and tortoises, bison, crocodiles and even saber-tooth cats, has been found.

Artifacts recovered from the spring indicate that the site was an important one, used for short-term hunting and habitation. Informational panels will help the visitor understand the exhibit by providing an introduction to the fields of archeology and underwater archeology, the Paleo and Archaic traditions in Florida, environmental conditions at Little Salt Spring and underwater archeology at the spring. On display will be artifacts recovered from the spring over the past decade, including projectile points and shell tools. Many of the artifacts have been loaned for the exhibit by the University of Miami. The exhibit will also include fossils and artifacts found at other sites throughout the U.S.

North Port Public Library, open Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Tuesday and Thursday 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., is one of eight libraries in the Sarasota County Library System. For more information contact the Sarasota County Call Center at 941-861-5000 and ask about "Dive into the Past" at North Port Library.