Republished in memory of Paul Roat (1957 – 2014) John Ringling’s bad luck with boats February was a cruel month for Sarasota entrepreneur, circus magnate, and yachtsman John Ringling. Ann Shank, former Sarasota County Historian, sums it up Read More
By Paul Roat January has historically been a month of grand openings for Sarasota. Two of the area’s premiere performing arts venues opened to the public just after the first of the year. On Jan. 5, 1970, the Van Wezel Read More
By Paul Roat Sarasotans have had a long-term love affair of damaging nature. We’ve scraped, scoured, cleared, filled, circumvented, and paved Mother Nature to the point that she can barely pick herself off the ground without help — and while Read More
By Paul Roat November appears to be an anniversary month for Siesta Key. From what passes for city government celebrates it's 65th anniversary this month. Two restaurants have their “birthdays” this month, and there is also a solemn anniversary of Read More
By Diana Colson In 2006, the judges of the 12th Circuit District Court voted unanimously to rename the Sarasota County Courthouse the “Lynn N. Silvertooth Justice Center.” It was a tribute to a remarkable elder statesman. Now in his Read More
By Paul Roat Col. John Hamilton Gillespie took office as Sarasota’s first mayor Oct. 14, 1902. By all accounts, he was one helluva man. Gillespie was born in Scotland and came to Sarasota in 1886 to salvage what was left Read More
By Paul Roat Bill Whitaker embarked on a great adventure throughout his life. Much of his Tom Sawyer-esque experiences took place in Sarasota as the eventual town’s first white settler. He first made ends meet through the bounty of the Read More
By Diana Colson A remarkable artist lives here in Sarasota: a creative historian, musician, and folklorist with a passion for America’s past. Bill Schustik is his name, and he has been on a lifetime adventure performing all over the world Read More
By Paul Roat An ambitious 50-year project to renourish sand to the beaches of Lido Key is on its way to have preliminary plans presented to the public, hopefully by October or November. The project is estimated at an Read More
By Paul Roat William H. Whitaker, the first white settler of Sarasota, was born Aug. 1, 1821. He brought the first cattle, oranges, guava, and a semblance of settlement to the frontier that later became the arts nexus of Florida. Read More
