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This month's WCW has an interview with Dr. Fiona Crawford at the Roskamp Institute. Other features: Embracing Our Differences, Chorals Artists, The Ringling's latest exhibit, quinoa recipes, Good News, an exhibit in Washington, DC on Dorothea Lange, You're News, a feature of safe swimming, news about the Set The Bar event and another feature on investing for women.

This month's WCW has an interview with Dr. Fiona Crawford at the Roskamp Institute. Other features: Embracing Our Differences, Chorals Artists, The Ringling's latest exhibit, quinoa recipes, Good News, an exhibit in Washington, DC on Dorothea Lange, You're News, a feature of safe swimming, news about the Set The Bar event and another feature on investing for women.

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MARCH 20<strong>24</strong><br />

Fiona<br />

CRAWFORD,<br />

Ph.D.<br />

President, CEO and Co-Founder,<br />

" ROSKAMP INSTITUTE #<br />

Also in this issue:<br />

■ Choral Artists<br />

Lincoln Tribute<br />

■ Shinique Smith<br />

at the Ringling<br />

■ Dining In:<br />

What’s your<br />

quinoa quotient<br />

■ Lots of Good News


Is independence in your own home your goal?<br />

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care path align with your wishes.<br />

Take Care provides all levels of care—from<br />

skilled nursing to helping with groceries<br />

and companionship—for clients in any<br />

home setting. We remain dedicated to<br />

helping you and your loved ones.<br />

Erika Wise Borland, MA, Vice President<br />

Celebrating<br />

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28<br />

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Years of Caring<br />

2022<br />

Community Voted Best Home Health since 2012<br />

2 WEST COAST WOMAN MARCH 20<strong>24</strong>


MARCH 20<strong>24</strong><br />

contents<br />

Editor and Publisher<br />

Louise M. Bruderle<br />

Email: westcoastwoman@comcast.net<br />

Contributing Writer<br />

Carol Darling<br />

Contributing Photographer<br />

Evelyn England<br />

Art Director/Graphic Designer<br />

Kimberly Carmell<br />

Assistant to the Publisher<br />

Mimi Gato<br />

West Coast Woman is published<br />

monthly (12 times annually) by<br />

LMB Media, Inc., Louise Bruderle,<br />

President. All contents of this<br />

publication are copyrighted and<br />

may not be reproduced. No part<br />

may be reproduced without the<br />

written permission of the publisher.<br />

Unsolicited manuscripts, photographs<br />

and artwork are welcome, but return<br />

cannot be guaranteed.<br />

HOW TO REACH US:<br />

Email: westcoastwoman@comcast.net<br />

Here are our columns:<br />

n Out & About: includes<br />

fundraisers, concerts, art exhibits,<br />

lectures, dance, poetry, shows<br />

& performances, theatre, film,<br />

seasonal events and more.<br />

n You’re News: job announcements,<br />

appointments and promotions,<br />

board news, business news and<br />

real estate news.<br />

FOLLOW US AT:<br />

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/<br />

WCWmedia<br />

focus on the arts -<br />

The Ringling<br />

Shinique Smith: Parade Features<br />

Contemporary Sculpture in<br />

Conversation with the<br />

European Art Collection is the<br />

first exhibition of Smith’s work at<br />

The Ringling. Read more on<br />

p18<br />

happening<br />

this month -<br />

Choral Artists<br />

They have the Florida premiere<br />

of “Abraham Lincoln Walks at<br />

Midnight” by Florence Price, a<br />

moving depiction of the man<br />

burdened by the tragedies of<br />

the modern world, based on the<br />

poem by Vachel Lindsay on March<br />

10. Get the full story on<br />

p14<br />

EARS<br />

WCW<br />

35<br />

YEARS<br />

WCW Mailing Address:<br />

P.O. Box 819<br />

Sarasota, FL 34230<br />

email:<br />

westcoastwoman@comcast.net<br />

website:<br />

www.westcoastwoman.com<br />

west coast<br />

WOMAN<br />

Sarasota-Manatee<br />

Originals “Set<br />

The Bar” Cocktail<br />

Competition<br />

The event returns April 14<br />

and tickets will sell out fast…<br />

here’s a preview<br />

p25<br />

departments<br />

4 editor’s letter<br />

7 Out & About: listings for things to do<br />

11 your money: Access Advisors<br />

12 happening this month:<br />

Embracing our Differences<br />

16 west coast woman:<br />

Dr. Fiona Crawford,<br />

The Roskamp Institute<br />

18 focus on the arts: The Ringling<br />

19 feature: Miracle Swimming<br />

20 healthier you: craniosacral therapy<br />

23 focus on the arts:<br />

Dorothea Lange exhibit<br />

22 dining out: Sarasota-Manatee<br />

Originals “Set The Bar”<br />

Cocktail Competition<br />

28 you’re news<br />

30 dining in:<br />

what’s your quinoa quotient?<br />

■ on the cover: Dr. Fiona Crawford, The Roskamp Institute.<br />

■ Image: Evelyn England<br />

MARCH 20<strong>24</strong> WEST COAST WOMAN 3


just some<br />

thoughts<br />

Louise Bruderle<br />

Editor and Publisher<br />

West Coast Woman<br />

Fiona Crawford, Ph.D.<br />

Seems like every day there’s news about an Alzheimer’s<br />

“breakthrough” or a promising new medicine<br />

or treatment and yet the progress to finding some<br />

treatment that halts or prevents or cures Alzheimer’s<br />

is not yet at hand. But that doesn’t mean there<br />

aren’t people working hard to find solutions.<br />

Someone who has been hard at work on research<br />

in this field for over 30 years is Fiona Crawford,<br />

Ph.D., President and CEO at The Roskamp Institute.<br />

Since opening in 2003, The Roskamp Institute, a<br />

Fiona Crawford 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, has been “a leader<br />

in the global effort to better understand and treat<br />

diseases of the mind. The foundation for the Institute’s work was set more than<br />

a decade ago by the Institute’s two lead researchers, Drs. Michael Mullan and<br />

Fiona Crawford,” according to their website.<br />

Dr. Crawford was part of the team of researchers that discovered mutations<br />

of the gene that leads to early onset Alzheimer’s disease more than 30 years ago.<br />

That crucial breakthrough identified the first genetic causes of Alzheimer’s—an<br />

important step in developing treatment and guiding further research.<br />

Dr. Crawford is a molecular geneticist and neuroscientist and also one<br />

who is skilled at explaining the complexities of her work in layman’s terms.<br />

Our far-reaching conversation covered the disease of Alzheimer’s, but other<br />

brain-related conditions from traumatic brain injury, Gulf War syndrome, and<br />

post-traumatic stress disorder with stops along the way looking at sports from<br />

obviously hazardous American football to most sports from soccer to rugby,<br />

equestrian and as she noted, even gymnastics. Unless your extracurricular activity<br />

is stamp-collecting, there’s risk in varying degrees to that fragile orb that<br />

sits above our shoulders.<br />

And it’s appropriate that Brain Awareness Week is March 11-15. Alzheimer’s<br />

disease is an irreversible, progressive brain disorder affecting more than 6.5<br />

million Americans. For those of you afflicted or else caring for a loved one with<br />

the disease, I hope you find some comfort in reading about Dr. Crawford and<br />

her team’s work.<br />

WCW’s 36th Anniversary<br />

Another year, another anniversary - WCW is now 36. We launched officially on<br />

March 17, aka St. Patrick’s Day, and I’ve always said that gave us luck to go with<br />

the hard work and endurance.<br />

March is also Women’s History Month. Step into the wayback machine to<br />

pre-1974 when a married woman could not get a credit card in her own name.<br />

If she did apply, she’d be asked about her intent to bear children or her birth<br />

control practices. Even the indomitable Billie Jean King, who supported her<br />

household from her tennis earnings (plus she put her husband through law<br />

school), could not get a credit card in her name.<br />

That brought back memories of a few women<br />

I profiled in the WCW early years. A few told me<br />

they had experienced just what BJK had. Though<br />

they were successful, they couldn’t get credit cards<br />

in their own name. Fast forward and you don’t<br />

hear stories like that anymore (thankfully) and<br />

as the decades have passed, the narrative of the<br />

WCW we have profiled has shifted to women who<br />

start a business in their own name, on their own<br />

terms and not as a partner or a result of marriage.<br />

Technology has also changed since the late<br />

‘80s. To this day I still hear, “I just like to feel a<br />

paper in my hands.” I was one of those people,<br />

too. Sunday morning meant a stack of papers and<br />

coffee (many people also shared that fond memory<br />

with me was well).<br />

But those days are long gone and well, not very<br />

practical or, for publishers, sustainable. Personally,<br />

I have switched to all digital subs and I admit the downside is that I don’t<br />

read as deeply. And I hate reading on my iPhone, that’s for sure. But I now read<br />

many more items from a variety of sources that if they were on the coffee table<br />

in paper form, they’d crush the table to the floor.<br />

A reader recently seemed annoyed that we don’t have more paper copies<br />

around where she works. Simple math: printing + labor + delivery is in the<br />

thousands. Our e-edition (identical to the print version) costs $30/month, but<br />

we continue to print a hard copy of WCW nonetheless.<br />

Kudos to a Past WCW -<br />

Meg Lowman<br />

Dr. Meg Lowman, Executive Director of the<br />

Sarasota-based TREE Foundation, has been<br />

awarded the 2023 Tällberg-SNF-Eliasson<br />

Global Leadership Prize by the Tällberg<br />

Foundation. Lowman was selected in recognition<br />

of her “scientific, educational and<br />

advocacy work globally to protect and restore<br />

forests.”<br />

Lowman pioneered the science and<br />

exploration of the eighth continent —<br />

forest canopies. Over 45 years, she has<br />

worked to protect mature trees and forests<br />

around the globe and support tree canopy<br />

research. Through the TREE Foundation, she<br />

spearheaded the design and building of many canopy walkways and research<br />

stations throughout the US and in countries around the world.<br />

Lowman is committed to educating children and adults across the globe<br />

about the need to protect the oxygen-creating and carbon-storing big trees<br />

that sustain life on Earth. She was an early designer and user of tools for<br />

“arbornauts” -- scientists, researchers and citizen scientists who climb trees,<br />

using everything from slingshots, ropes, and hot-air balloons, to canopy<br />

walkways and construction cranes to enable whole-tree exploration, not just<br />

the forest floor.<br />

An advocate for big trees and endangered forests, Lowman feels that, “We<br />

must save our eighth continent if we are to save ourselves.” Over the last<br />

decade, she has assisted in the creation of a UNESCO Man and Biosphere<br />

Reserve surrounding a Malaysian canopy walkway, established partnerships<br />

with Coptic priests in Ethiopia to save the country’s last remaining church<br />

forests, published a 2021 memoir, “The Arbornaut,” which chronicles her<br />

adventures as a female scientist and her dedication to mentoring girls in<br />

science, and launched her passion project “Mission Green,” an initiative of the<br />

nonprofit TREE Foundation which she co-founded in 1999.<br />

Learn more about the TREE Foundation at treefoundation.org, and about<br />

Dr. Lowman at canopymeg.com.<br />

Another Champion West Coast Woman<br />

- Donna Judge<br />

World Champion Donna Judge received a top<br />

honor last month as Grandmaster Robert Bowles,<br />

the style head of Shuri Ryu Karate, promoted the<br />

local karate instructor to the rank of 9th degree<br />

Black Belt. This is an achievement that very few<br />

make in the martial arts.<br />

Donna has been a resident of Sarasota for 63<br />

years. This year she celebrates her 50th year<br />

in the martial arts. She has owned and operated<br />

Suncoast Karate Dojo for 45 years, literally<br />

teaching hundreds of students. Donna has won<br />

20 world championships, and has represented<br />

the USA in six countries.<br />

She has received two mayor citations for being<br />

a goodwill ambassador for Sarasota. Donna<br />

(l-r) Ambassador Vassilis<br />

Kaskarelis and Dr. Margaret<br />

“Canopy Meg” Lowman, Executive<br />

Director of the TREE Foundation.<br />

Donna Judge<br />

worked security for Sarasota high School for 27 years. The year she retired she<br />

was inducted into the Sarasota High School Hall of Fame.<br />

I remember when I profiled Donna at her home. First of all, she is unbelievable<br />

humble. It took more than a few requests to see her trophy collection in<br />

another room. It was like seeing the terracotta warriors in China - wall to wall<br />

trophies all lined up, some 3-4 feet tall.<br />

Louise Bruderle | Editor and Publisher |<br />

westcoastwoman@comcast.net<br />

We welcome your thoughts and comments on this column and on other columns and features in this issue.<br />

You can reach us at westcoastwoman@comcast.net. We’re on the web at www.WestCoastWoman.com.<br />

4 WEST COAST WOMAN MARCH 20<strong>24</strong>


MEDICAL DERMATOLOGY<br />

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COSMETIC PROCEDURES<br />

15 years in Sarasota!<br />

THESE DOCTORS ARE AMONG<br />

THE BEST<br />

ONE OF THE BEST<br />

SPINAL DECOMPRESSION<br />

PHYSICIANS<br />

PHYSICIANS<br />

IN IN AMERICA<br />

2023<br />

Neck or<br />

low back pain?<br />

Avoid surgery and<br />

get your life back!<br />

Heidi K. Anderson<br />

MD<br />

Amy Fenenga<br />

PA-C, MPA<br />

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5310 Clark Rd. Suite 201 • Sarasota, FL 34233<br />

941-925-3627 • DocsofSarasota.com<br />

(Sarasota, Florida) Dr. David Cifra, DC who is<br />

board certified in the specialty of Non-Surgical<br />

Spinal Decompression has been peer-nominated<br />

and recognized again in 2023 by the International<br />

Medical Advisory Board on Spinal Decompression.<br />

This advanced certification is provided<br />

in conjunction with Disc Centers of<br />

America, which sets the gold standard<br />

in training and research, on the<br />

latest, most effective options for the<br />

alleviation & treatment of<br />

spinal disc disorders, which<br />

often cause low back<br />

pain, neck pain, sciatica,<br />

numbness, tingling, pins<br />

and needle sensations<br />

and more.<br />

Dr. Cifra is committed to helping<br />

his patients AVOID narcotics, epidural<br />

injections, and unnecessary surgeries.<br />

Non-Surgical Spinal Decompression<br />

provides safe, gentle, and effective<br />

relief for upwards of 90% of patients that<br />

qualify for care.<br />

DR. CIFRA IS LOCATED AT: MIDTOWN MEDICAL PARK<br />

1215 S. EAST AVE. SUITE 210, SARASOTA FL 34239<br />

SarasotaDiscCenter.com<br />

CALL (941) 358-22<strong>24</strong> OR (315) 345-7390 TODAY<br />

TO SCHEDULE A FREE CONSULTATION<br />

Caregivers Rescue II<br />

In support of caregivers, a hands-on workshop<br />

Saturday, March 23<br />

9 a.m. – 11 a.m.<br />

Doors open 8:30 a.m.<br />

$25 includes workshop, supplies, and refreshments. Seating is limited.<br />

Hosted by Senior Friendship Centers<br />

1888 Brother Geenen Way, Sarasota, 34236<br />

Miguel Rivera, MD<br />

Ticket purchase via Eventbrite<br />

on friendshipcenters.org on the Special Events tab<br />

The video of Dr. Miguel Rivera’s original presentation<br />

Caregivers Rescue can be viewed on our website,<br />

friendshipcenters.org<br />

Recommended Reading:<br />

Transforming Trauma by James Gordon, MD<br />

Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk, MD<br />

Trauma Stewardship by Laura van Dernoot Lipsky<br />

Please contact Georgann Nugent, gnugent@friendshipcenters.org with questions.<br />

MARCH 20<strong>24</strong> WEST COAST WOMAN 5


Announcing<br />

The 26 th Annual<br />

SARASOTA<br />

FILM FESTIVAL<br />

April 5 th –14<br />

th<br />

20<strong>24</strong><br />

sarasotafilmfestival.com<br />

6 WEST COAST WOMAN MARCH 20<strong>24</strong>


out &about<br />

Art Crawl<br />

Trolley Tour<br />

Discover Sarasota Tours has an<br />

Art Crawl Trolley Tour showcasing<br />

Sarasota’s galleries, studios, and public<br />

art. This city-wide tour explores six<br />

different downtown Sarasota neighborhoods<br />

on the 2nd Friday night<br />

from 5-9 p.m. through April. The tour<br />

is led by local guide and watercolor<br />

artist Jerome Chesley.<br />

Visitors start at the Trolley Cottage<br />

Gift Shop located in Gillespie Park.<br />

Guests can also visit the Artful Giraffe<br />

Gallery at this hub location. Then they<br />

will board the trolley or van to explore<br />

Historic Burns Court, Towles Court<br />

Art Center, Limelight District, Main<br />

Street, Palm Avenue and the Rosemary<br />

District.<br />

During the 30-minute rotating tour<br />

they will see Sarasota’s collection of<br />

public art. At each hub stop, guests can<br />

hop off to explore galleries and studios<br />

or hop back on to go to the next stop.<br />

Participating galleries include:<br />

Chasen Galleries at the Mark, 530<br />

Burns Court, Define Gallery, Palmer<br />

Gallery, Artful Giraffe, Creative Liberties,<br />

Bazaar on Apricot and Lime/<br />

Hamlet’s Eatery, Helmuth Stone, Towles<br />

Court Art Center, Mara Studio Gallery,<br />

Sarasota Trading Company, Alex<br />

Art International, Art Ovation Hotel,<br />

Sarasota Fine Art, Meg Krakowiak Studio<br />

and NorthStar Jewelry and Gallery.<br />

The Art Crawl will be offered on<br />

March 8, and April 12. The $10 ticket<br />

includes transport to each of the tour’s<br />

six gallery locations, free parking at<br />

The Trolley Cottage Gift Shop, and<br />

complimentary beer, wine, or water<br />

before boarding. For tickets and information,<br />

visit at DiscoverSarasota<br />

Tours.com or call 941-260-9818.<br />

▼<br />

Special Events<br />

Cat Depot’s 20th Anniversary<br />

Celebration takes place on March 7<br />

at the Hyatt Regency Sarasota. The<br />

evening will include entertainment,<br />

hand-crafted cocktails, dinner, dancing,<br />

and a silent auction.<br />

What began with 262 cats from<br />

an overcrowded shutdown shelter<br />

has become the Cat Depot you know<br />

today. They have touched the lives of<br />

nearly 20,000 cats through adoption<br />

and others through our public Cat<br />

Care Clinic, community programs and<br />

more. Tickets and info: catdepot.org<br />

▼<br />

The Ringling offers Bayfront<br />

Gardens Tour through April 29. This<br />

small group guided walking tour<br />

introduces you to interesting botanical<br />

specimens, while providing a<br />

historic overview of the development<br />

of the estate. The Ringling has over<br />

2,350 trees representing native, exotic,<br />

historical, and culturally significant<br />

trees.<br />

ThThe tour is 90 minutes long and<br />

takes place entirely outdoors. Participants<br />

are encouraged to bring<br />

bottled water, and wear appropriate<br />

footwear, and sun protection. The tour<br />

is subject to weather conditions and<br />

ticket includes access to the Bayfront<br />

Gardens for the rest of the day. www.<br />

ringling.org/visit/tours<br />

▼<br />

Architecture Sarasota’s speaker<br />

series has these events coming up:<br />

• March 20 Moderns That Matter:<br />

Sarasota 100 Announcement and<br />

Exhibition Opening 5:30pm, McCulloch<br />

Pavilion, 265 S. Orange Avenue<br />

▼<br />

• March 22 Lecture<br />

by 20<strong>24</strong><br />

Hiss Award<br />

Winner, Lord<br />

Norman Foster<br />

6 pm, Art<br />

Ovation Hotel,<br />

1255 North<br />

Palm Avenue<br />

• March 23<br />

Yoga at the<br />

Umbrella<br />

House 10am,<br />

1300 Westway<br />

Drive, Lido<br />

Shores, Lido<br />

Key<br />

• March 23<br />

Hiss Award<br />

Dinner 6pm,<br />

Revere Quality<br />

House, 100<br />

Ogden Street,<br />

Siesta Key<br />

• March 26 Modernism 102, Session<br />

6: New(er) Materials (2000s-Today)<br />

5:30-6:30pm, McCulloch Pavilion,<br />

265 S. Orange Avenue<br />

For information and to purchase<br />

tickets, visit www.architecture<br />

sarasota.org<br />

Perlman Music<br />

Program Suncoast<br />

Perlman Suncoast has violist<br />

Molly Carr and pianist Anna Petrova<br />

who will present “HERS” on March<br />

3. As the Carr-Petrova Duo, they will<br />

perform pieces from their new album,<br />

which celebrates female composers<br />

from the 1100’s to the present day.<br />

“HERS vibrantly celebrates the vision,<br />

strength, resilience, and incredible<br />

accomplishments of eight fearless<br />

women – from the 12th-century’s Hildegard<br />

Von Bingen to today’s Beyoncé,”<br />

says Berger.<br />

The Ariel Quartet returns to Sarasota<br />

on April 4 in partnership with The<br />

Jewish Federation of Sarasota-Manatee.<br />

This quartet has garnered critical<br />

praise worldwide for more than<br />

20 years—and is a favorite among<br />

regional audiences. The concert will<br />

be at the Ora on the Federation’s new<br />

campus.<br />

For more information about The<br />

Perlman Music Program Suncoast,<br />

visit www.PMPSuncoast.org.<br />

▼<br />

Key Chorale<br />

On March 22 and 23 they have<br />

Cirque des Voix with The Circus<br />

Arts Conservatory. This marks the<br />

13th year of “Cirque des Voix”. Experience<br />

a brand-new show combining<br />

dramatic, heart stopping circus acts<br />

with music by the 110+ voices of Key<br />

Chorale and the mastery of the Cirque<br />

Orchestra. It’s a fusion of the circus<br />

and musical arts in a performance<br />

unlike any other.<br />

“Light & Gold” is on April 7 and<br />

showcases Eric Whitacre and Morten<br />

Lauridsen who are two of the most<br />

popular and performed choral composers<br />

of our time. Join the Key Chorale<br />

Chamber Singers, Principal Keyboardist<br />

Glenn Priest, and the musicians of<br />

Modern Marimba as they present some<br />

of their most hauntingly beautiful<br />

works full of memorable, spine-tingling<br />

harmonies. Hear the Florida premiere<br />

of Whitacre’s All Seems Beautiful to Me<br />

and Lauridsen’s masterpiece inspired<br />

by light, Lux Aeterna.<br />

For more information, visit www.<br />

keychorale.org.<br />

▼<br />

Perlman Suncoast has The Ariel Quartet<br />

on April 4 in partnership with The Jewish<br />

Federation of Sarasota-Manatee.<br />

Information: visit www.PMPSuncoast.org.<br />

Town Hall<br />

Town Hall continues with<br />

best-selling author Nir Eyal will share<br />

insights from the field of behavioral<br />

design on March 11. Eyal writes,<br />

consults, and teaches about the intersection<br />

of psychology, technology,<br />

and business. He co-founded and<br />

sold two tech companies since 2003.<br />

He is the author of two bestselling<br />

books, Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming<br />

Products and Indistractable:<br />

How to Control Your Attention<br />

and Choose Your Life.<br />

Ballet legend Misty Copeland closes<br />

out Town Hall on April 15. Copeland<br />

joined American Ballet Theatre’s<br />

Studio Company in September 2000,<br />

joined ABT as a member of the corps<br />

de ballet in April 2001, and in August<br />

2007 became the company’s second<br />

African American female soloist<br />

and the first in two decades. In 2015,<br />

Misty was promoted to principal<br />

dancer, making her the first African<br />

American woman to ever be promoted<br />

to the position in the company’s<br />

75-year history.<br />

Visit www.rclassociation.org<br />

▼<br />

Sarasota Opera<br />

Sarasota Opera’s Winter Opera<br />

Festival runs from through March <strong>24</strong>.<br />

• Carmen by Georges Bizet runs<br />

through March 22. The seductive and<br />

enigmatic heroine of Bizet’s opera<br />

has enticed Corporal Don José who<br />

upends his life to be with her. When<br />

her interest turns to the charismatic<br />

bullfighter Escamillo, José’s enraged<br />

jealousy leads to catastrophe.<br />

• Lucia di Lammermoor by Gaetano<br />

Donizetti runs through March 23.<br />

Deceit leads to murder and madness,<br />

in Donizetti’s masterpiece, based on<br />

Sir Walter Scott’s The Bride of Lammermoor.<br />

To save his family’s fortunes,<br />

Enrico Ashton has promised his<br />

sister Lucia’s hand to a Scottish nobleman,<br />

instead of the man she loves,<br />

Edgardo, a member of a rival family.<br />

• Luisa Miller by Giuseppe Verdi runs<br />

March 9-<strong>24</strong>. One of Verdi’s lesser<br />

performed but passionately romantic<br />

dramas, Luisa Miller returns to Sarasota<br />

Opera after 25 years. Luisa, the<br />

daughter of an old soldier, is in love<br />

with Carlo, who is really, Rodolfo,<br />

the son of the ruthless Count Walter.<br />

The count’s opposition to the couple’s<br />

love leads to tragedy, in an opera<br />

filled with memorable arias and<br />

thrilling ensembles.<br />

• Deceit Outwitted (L’infedeltà delusa)<br />

▼<br />

by Joseph<br />

Haydn runs<br />

March 15-23.<br />

Haydn is<br />

one of classical<br />

music’s<br />

most famous<br />

composers,<br />

but his substantial<br />

body<br />

of opera is<br />

virtually<br />

unknown. In<br />

this comedy,<br />

the peasant<br />

Filippo hopes<br />

his daughter<br />

Sandrina will<br />

marry the<br />

rich farmer<br />

Nencio.<br />

She is in<br />

love, however,<br />

with<br />

a poor peasant, whose sister is in<br />

love with Nencio. Through a series<br />

of comic complications (including<br />

a parade of disguises), all is<br />

happily resolved, accompanied by<br />

Haydn’s inventive score and brilliant<br />

singing. This will be a Sarasota<br />

Opera premiere and the first fully-staged<br />

professional production in<br />

the U.S. in over 50 years.<br />

For tickets, visit SarasotaOpera.org<br />

or call the box office at (941) 328-1300.<br />

Selby Gardens<br />

Marie Selby Botanical Gardens<br />

will present Yayoi Kusama: A Letter<br />

to Georgia O’Keeffe which examines<br />

the work of major artists through the<br />

lens of their connection to nature.<br />

The exhibition runs through June<br />

30, 20<strong>24</strong>, at Selby Gardens’ Downtown<br />

Sarasota campus. It explores<br />

the impactful mentoring relationship<br />

that developed between artists Yayoi<br />

Kusama and Georgia O’Keeffe based<br />

on their personal correspondence at<br />

a critical point in Kusama’s artistic<br />

development. This show also explores<br />

the ways in which the work of both<br />

artists is rooted in nature, befitting an<br />

art and horticultural experience set in<br />

a botanical garden.”<br />

In the mid-1950s, Yayoi Kusama<br />

was a young artist living in Japan,<br />

where her future was very uncertain.<br />

Seeking advice from a more established<br />

female artist, Kusama wrote<br />

to Georgia O’Keeffe, whose work she<br />

greatly admired but whom she had<br />

never met. To Kusama’s surprise,<br />

O’Keeffe responded, thus establishing<br />

a correspondence that gave the<br />

young Japanese artist the courage<br />

to move to America and pursue her<br />

career in New York City, which was<br />

then the center of the art world. Kusama’s<br />

decision, with O’Keeffe’s encouragement,<br />

forever changed the course<br />

of modern art history. Tickets: https://<br />

selby.org/<br />

▼<br />

ensembleNEWSRQ<br />

Next up: You Are Free: March<br />

25, 7:30 p.m. Raven Chacon’s Pulitzer<br />

Prize-winning “Voiceless Mass”<br />

anchors this program of powerful<br />

works for mixed instrumentation.<br />

The concert also presents the world<br />

premiere and enSRQ commission<br />

of a work by Kyle Rivera, which was<br />

written for enSRQ artists. Rivera is<br />

an up-and-coming composer, who<br />

is currently a student at Yale School<br />

of Music. The program also incudes<br />

▼<br />

works by Ania Vu, Shawn Okpebholo<br />

and Sarah Kirkland Snider. First Congregational<br />

Church, 1031 S. Euclid<br />

Ave., Sarasota. https://ensrq.org/<br />

Venice Symphony<br />

Venice Symphony presents Arabian<br />

Nights. This program includes<br />

Maurice Jarre’s sweeping overture<br />

from Lawrence of Arabia, Ernest<br />

Gold’s majestic and moving theme<br />

from Exodus, Modest Mussorgsky’s<br />

Dance of the Persian Maidens and the<br />

orchestral showpiece, Rimsky-Korsakov’s<br />

dazzling Scheherazade.<br />

Dates: March 15 and 16.<br />

Tickets: www.thevenicesymphony.org<br />

▼<br />

The Circus Arts<br />

Conservatory<br />

Each year, Circus Sarasota features<br />

top global circus artists performing<br />

in a one-ring traditional<br />

circus setting. With chills, thrills, and<br />

laughs aplenty, this is a show that’s<br />

not to be missed and awe inspiring<br />

for every age.<br />

Runs through March 10 at Ulla<br />

Searing Big Top at Nathan Benderson<br />

Park, 5851 Nathan Benderson Circle,<br />

Sarasota. Visit circusarts.org or call<br />

the Box Office at 941-355-9805.<br />

▼<br />

Sarasota Orchestra<br />

The Masterworks Series performances<br />

take place at the Van Wezel l<br />

and Neel Performing Arts Center.<br />

• March 14-17: Rhapsody in Blue @ 100<br />

Peter Oundjian, conductor |<br />

Michelle Cann, piano<br />

Rossini – Overture to The Thieving<br />

Magpie<br />

Price – Piano Concerto in One<br />

Movement<br />

Gershwin – Rhapsody in Blue<br />

Tchaikovsky – Symphony No. 5<br />

The Chamber Soirées performances<br />

take place at Holley Hall.<br />

• March 21: Classics for Wind and Brass<br />

Nielsen – Wind Quartet<br />

Ewald – Brass Quintet No. 3<br />

Tickets: www.SarasotaOrchestra.org<br />

▼<br />

Artist Series<br />

Concerts<br />

Artist Series Concerts of<br />

Sarasota presents:<br />

Lunch and Listen with Duo Chinoiserie—Jing<br />

Xia, Chinese guzheng<br />

and Bin Hu, classical guitar on March<br />

7 with an 11 am performance followed<br />

by luncheon at the Sarasota<br />

Yacht Club, 1100 John Ringling Boulevard,<br />

Sarasota.<br />

Surround yourself with the sounds<br />

of this unique project initiated by Chinese<br />

guzheng performer Jing Xia and<br />

classical guitarist Bin Hu. Their blending<br />

of ancient Chinese zither and<br />

classical guitar has been described as<br />

“sonic alchemy.”<br />

Next Generation Curtis on Tour<br />

has String Sextet with Benjamin<br />

Beilman, violin; Milena Pajaro-van<br />

de Stadt, viola; Oliver Herbert, cello;<br />

Curtis Institute of Music students on<br />

March 12, 7:30 pm at SCF Neel Performing<br />

Arts Center, 5840 26th Street<br />

W., Bradenton.<br />

The Curtis Institute of Music has<br />

long been the most exclusive conservatory<br />

in the U.S. and the gold standard<br />

for classical music education.<br />

Curtis on Tour brings together three<br />

Curtis alumni with three current Curtis<br />

students in a powerful program of<br />

▼<br />

continued on page 8<br />

MARCH 20<strong>24</strong> WEST COAST WOMAN 7


out and about continued<br />

string sextets by Strauss, Berg, and<br />

Brahms. Hear the next generation of<br />

gifted musical artists performing side<br />

by side with their mentors.<br />

Soirée features Hina Khuong-Huu,<br />

violin with Rohan De Silva, piano on<br />

March 31, 4 pm and April 1, 4 pm at<br />

the Fischer/Weisenborne Residence,<br />

7459 Cabbage Palm Court, Sarasota.<br />

Violin Channel “Rising Star” and<br />

first prize winner of the 2023 Elmar<br />

Oliveira International Violin Competition,<br />

Hina Khuong-Huu performs<br />

around the globe as soloist and collaborator<br />

with many of today’s leading<br />

ensembles and musicians. Steinway<br />

Artist Rohan De Silva’s collaborations<br />

with Itzhak Perlman, Pinchas Zukerman,<br />

Midori, Joshua Bell and others<br />

have been acclaimed worldwide.<br />

Lunch and Listen has Boyd Meets<br />

Girl with Rupert Boyd, classical guitar<br />

and Laura Metcalf, cello on April 4,<br />

11 am performance followed by luncheon<br />

at the Sarasota Yacht Club.<br />

Australian classical guitarist Rupert<br />

Boyd and his wife, American cellist<br />

Laura Metcalf, have toured the<br />

world sharing their eclectic mix of<br />

music from Debussy and Bach to<br />

Radiohead and Beyoncé. Their studio<br />

albums have been streamed over<br />

three million times. The duo arranges<br />

much of their repertoire themselves,<br />

drawing inspiration from artists<br />

across all genres, and they speak from<br />

the stage to create a conversational<br />

concert experience.<br />

For tickets, visit ArtistSeriesConcerts.org<br />

or call (941) 306-1202.<br />

The Glenridge<br />

Performing Arts<br />

Center<br />

March 14, 7:30 p.m.: Strings Con<br />

Brio. They’re a community string<br />

orchestra that engages talented musicians<br />

of varying ages from students<br />

through professional level.<br />

• March 23, 7:30 p.m.: Robin Spielberg.<br />

He’s one of America’s most<br />

beloved pianist/composers. With<br />

an impressive tour schedule and<br />

hundreds of thousands of recordings<br />

sold, this Steinway Artist has<br />

been winning the hearts of listeners<br />

around the world with her compelling<br />

melodies and sensitive piano<br />

techniques since debuting her<br />

first recording of original solos for<br />

piano, “Heal of the Hand.”<br />

• April 3, 7:30 p.m.: Tony DeSare<br />

performs with infectious joy, wry<br />

playfulness and robust musicality.<br />

Named “Rising Star Male Vocalist”<br />

in Downbeat magazine, DeSare has<br />

brought his fresh take on the Great<br />

American Songbook and infused<br />

it with old school class around the<br />

globe.<br />

The Glenridge Performing Arts Center,<br />

7333 Scotland Way, Sarasota. For<br />

tickets, call (941) 552-5325 or visit<br />

GPACtix.com.<br />

▼<br />

Choral Artists<br />

Coming up, they have the Florida<br />

premiere of “Abraham Lincoln Walks<br />

at Midnight” by Florence Price, a<br />

moving depiction of the man burdened<br />

by the tragedies of the modern world,<br />

based on the poem by Vachel Lindsay.<br />

Price is an African-American composer<br />

whose works were lost during<br />

the middle of the 20th century and<br />

later discovered in an attic trunk in<br />

2009. Also performed will be Joseph<br />

▼<br />

Haydn’s “Lord Nelson Mass,” also<br />

known as “Mass in a Time of Anxiety,”<br />

recognized as one of his greatest<br />

compositions. Sunday, March<br />

10, 7 p.m., at Church of the Palms,<br />

32<strong>24</strong> Bee Ridge Road, Sarasota.<br />

Tickets: choralartistssarasota.org/<br />

Sarasota Concert<br />

Association<br />

The Sarasota Concert Association’s<br />

20<strong>24</strong> Music Matinees<br />

concert series showcase regional<br />

musicians performing a variety<br />

of musical styles from classical to<br />

marimba.<br />

Coming up March 6, at 2 p.m. is<br />

Modern Marimba, founded<br />

by Tihda Vongkoth and Steph Davis,<br />

who have celebrated three seasons<br />

of virtual and in-person concert<br />

programs that celebrate the diversity<br />

of music. They have intertwine<br />

the influences of cabaret, classical,<br />

jazz, and popular music.<br />

Next is Sarasota Piano Trio on<br />

April 17, at 2 p.m. The Sarasota Piano<br />

Trio features pianist Jesse Martins,<br />

violinist Milene Moreira and cellist<br />

Nadine Trudel. Praised for their interesting<br />

programming and expressive<br />

playing, they perform a mix of wellknown<br />

as well as rarely heard classical<br />

repertoire.<br />

The concerts are free but pre-registration<br />

is required at SCAsarasota.org,<br />

or through the box office at<br />

941-966-6161. Note their location:<br />

First Presbyterian Church, 2050 Oak<br />

Street, Sarasota.<br />

▼<br />

Sarasota Ballet<br />

Program Five:<br />

• March 8-11 at the FSU Center for the<br />

Performing Arts —Ballet Hispánico.<br />

Based in Manhattan, Ballet Hispánico<br />

explores the diversity of Latino<br />

culture through a fusion of Classical,<br />

Latin, and Contemporary dance<br />

Program Six:<br />

• April 5-6 at the Sarasota Opera<br />

House and accompanied by the Sarasota<br />

Orchestra<br />

❱ Emeralds - Choreography by George<br />

Balanchine; Music by Gabriel Fauré<br />

❱ Las Hermanas - Choreography by<br />

Sir Kenneth MacMillan; Music by<br />

Frank Martin<br />

❱ Who Cares? Choreography by<br />

George Balanchine; Music by George<br />

Gershwin; Music arrangement by<br />

Hershy Kay<br />

Opening with George Balanchine’s<br />

Emeralds, and a score set by Gabriel<br />

Fauré and designs by Barbara Karinska,<br />

Balanchine considered Emeralds “an<br />

evocation of France – the France of elegance,<br />

comfort, dress and perfume.”<br />

Sir Kenneth MacMillan’s tense psychological<br />

drama Las Hermanas takes<br />

a 180 degree turn from the splendor of<br />

the previous work. The ballet is based<br />

on Federico García Lorca’s, The House<br />

of Bernarda Alba. Las Hermanas is a<br />

dramatic ballet about sensuality under<br />

harsh repression as well as the emotional<br />

and violent consequences that follow.<br />

Closing Program 7, Who Cares? brings<br />

audiences through a wonderful series<br />

of solos, duets, quartets, and ensemble<br />

pieces all set to jazzy classics of Gershwin.<br />

Tickets: www.sarasotaballet.org<br />

▼<br />

At the Van Wezel<br />

Coming up (partial list):<br />

• Hamilton March 26-April 7<br />

• Rick Springfield March 13<br />

• Paul Taylor Dance Company<br />

▼<br />

A capsule collection of Florida Highwaymen paintings is on display in the<br />

Cultural Heritage Exhibit in the City Hall atrium, 1565 First Street.<br />

Free and open to the public during City Hall hours, Monday–Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.<br />

March 18<br />

• The Academy of St Martin in the<br />

Fields with Joshua Bell March 23<br />

• Neil Berg’s 114 Years of Broadway<br />

March 14<br />

Pre-show dining for both shows is<br />

available through Mattison’s at the<br />

Van Wezel which is located inside the<br />

theatre. Reservations can be made<br />

on VanWezel.org or through the box<br />

office. Tickets: www.VanWezel.org<br />

The Hermitage<br />

The Hermitage Artist Retreat has<br />

composer and pianist Conrad Tao on<br />

March 28 at Marie Selby Botanical<br />

Gardens.<br />

Tao has appeared worldwide as a<br />

pianist and composer – including<br />

acclaimed performances with the New<br />

York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic,<br />

Chicago Symphony, and<br />

more. He has been dubbed “the kind<br />

of musician who is shaping the future<br />

of classical music” by New York Magazine<br />

and an artist of “probing intellect<br />

and open-hearted vision” by The New<br />

York Times.<br />

This program is free and open to the<br />

public with a $5/person registration<br />

fee. Registration is required at HermitageArtistRetreat.org.<br />

▼<br />

Chamber Orchestra<br />

The Chamber Orchestra of Sarasota<br />

has this event.<br />

• On March 21, 7:30pm—Mozart<br />

+ Haydn with George Maxman,<br />

violin. The season concludes with<br />

the music of Mozart and Haydn.<br />

Internationally acclaimed violin<br />

virtuoso George Maxman performs<br />

Mozart’s Violin Concerto<br />

No. 5 in A Major (Turkish). The<br />

program opens with the overture<br />

from Haydn’s comic opera “Fidelta<br />

Premiata” and concludes with his<br />

Symphony No. 83 (The Hen).<br />

For information, visit www.chamberorchestrasarasota.org,<br />

or call<br />

219-928-8665.<br />

▼<br />

At The Ringling<br />

The John and Mable Ringling<br />

Museum of Art has Mountains of the<br />

Mind: Scholars’ Rocks from China<br />

and Beyond which runs through<br />

▼<br />

June 23, 20<strong>24</strong> in The Ringling’s Ting<br />

Tsung and Wei Fong Chao Center for<br />

Asian Art. The exhibit features a selection<br />

of scholars’ rocks and related<br />

paintings and prints.<br />

Scholars’ rocks are collected from<br />

remote geographic locations, where<br />

they have been formed by natural<br />

elements over millions of years. The<br />

stones may then be carved, polished<br />

and inscribed before being displayed<br />

in a custom-made stand to enhance<br />

their visual appeal. Scholars’ rocks are<br />

both natural objects and products of<br />

human creativity.<br />

Michele Oka Doner: The True Story<br />

Of Eve runs through June 2, 20<strong>24</strong>.<br />

Explore Miami, Florida-born, Michele<br />

Oka Doner’s first solo exhibition at<br />

The Ringling. This exhibition includes<br />

examples of works on paper, wood,<br />

ceramics, bronzes, and glass ranging<br />

from the 1960s to the present, paying<br />

homage to the local environment,<br />

while poignantly reminding us of our<br />

increasingly precarious ecosystem.<br />

The John and Mable Ringling<br />

Museum of Art, 5401 Bay Shore Rd.,<br />

Sarasota. Info: www.ringling.org.<br />

Theatre<br />

Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe<br />

presents Ruby. Book by Nate Jacobs<br />

and Michael Jacobs, lyrics by Michael<br />

Jacobs, music by Nate Jacobs, Nehemiah<br />

Luckett, Brennan Stylez and Antonio<br />

Wimberly.) On August 3, 1952, a<br />

Black woman murdered a white doctor<br />

in Live Oak, FL, guaranteeing a conviction<br />

for the woman bold enough to<br />

commit such a shocking crime and<br />

bringing celebrated writer Zora Neale<br />

Hurston to town to cover the story for a<br />

northern newspaper.<br />

This powerful and haunting musical<br />

explores the secrets just beneath the<br />

surface of the idyllic, genteel exterior<br />

of a quaint Florida town. Runs<br />

through April 7.<br />

Location: WBTT’s Donelly Theatre,<br />

1012 N. Orange Ave., Sarasota. Tickets:<br />

westcoastblacktheatre.org.<br />

▼<br />

The Players Sarasota has Misery<br />

running through March 3. Based on<br />

the novel by Stephen King, this thriller<br />

follows successful romance novelist<br />

Paul Sheldon, who is rescued from a<br />

car crash by his “number one fan,”<br />

▼<br />

Annie Wilkes, and wakes up captive<br />

in her secluded home.<br />

Running from March 13-21 is<br />

Better Late presented by Sarasota<br />

Jewish Theatre. Nora and Lee<br />

have been married for 20 years,<br />

when Billy, Nora’s son from her<br />

first marriage, comes to them with<br />

an outrageous request. He asks<br />

them to take in Nora’s ex-husband,<br />

Julian, for a few weeks while he is<br />

recovering from a recent stroke.<br />

How long will Julian stay and how<br />

long will it take until Lee cracks?<br />

This biting December-December-December<br />

romance is a complicated<br />

romantic comedy with an<br />

unexpected ending.<br />

Held at The Players Studio<br />

Black Box, 1400 Blvd. of the Arts,<br />

Suite 200, Sarasota. Tickets: theplayers.org<br />

Manatee Performing Arts<br />

Center has these events:<br />

• Parade: March 7-17. This musical<br />

drama takes places amid religious<br />

intolerance, political injustice and<br />

racial tension, the stirring Tony<br />

Award-winning Parade explores the<br />

endurance of love and hope against<br />

all the odds. Parade is filled with<br />

soaring music and a heart-wrenching<br />

story, offering a moral lesson about<br />

the dangers of prejudice and ignorance<br />

that should not be forgotten<br />

• March 12: Start Spreading the News<br />

with Liza and Frank. Join Tony Sands<br />

as Frank Sinatra and Whitney Grace<br />

as Liza Minnelli as they share some of<br />

the legendary singers’ greatest hits.<br />

• March 23: Atlantic City Boys have<br />

wowed audiences in Las Vegas, New<br />

York, cruise ships, and, of course,<br />

Atlantic City. They are four dynamic<br />

lead singers who lend their vocals to<br />

the harmonies of the ‘60s singing the<br />

hits of The Drifters, The Beach Boys,<br />

and Frank Valli and the Four Seasons.<br />

Inspired by the hit musical, Jersey<br />

Boys, the Atlantic City Boys combine<br />

dance moves, audience participation,<br />

and show-stopping numbers.<br />

Box Office: 941-748-5878. Manatee<br />

Performing Arts Center, 502 Third<br />

Avenue W., Bradenton.<br />

▼<br />

▼<br />

At Venice Theatre:<br />

• March 22 - April 21: The Spitfire<br />

Grill. Based on the film by Lee David<br />

Zlotoff. Heartwarming, homespun,<br />

and hopeful, The Spitfire Grill is<br />

a folk musical in the Rodgers and<br />

Hammerstein tradition about second<br />

chances, starting over, and<br />

mending what’s broken.<br />

Info: venicetheatre.org/<br />

Asolo Rep has Born with Teeth<br />

running through March 29. It<br />

will plunge audiences into palace<br />

intrigue, high stake spy craft and<br />

cutthroat betrayals. This play offers<br />

an inside, alternative look at the<br />

tumultuous relationship between<br />

William Shakespeare and Christopher<br />

Marlowe.<br />

The third play in the repertory season<br />

is from the Pulitzer Prize-winning<br />

playwright Lynn Nottage. Intimate<br />

Apparel runs throughApril 18<br />

and is the powerful story of a Black<br />

seamstress’ forbidden romance in<br />

1905 New York.<br />

Wrapping up the four-show repertory<br />

season is a classic by Frederick<br />

Knott that has been reimaged by one<br />

of today’s greatest playwrights, Jeffrey<br />

Hatcher. Dial ‘M’ For Murder<br />

runs March 20 – April 25 and will<br />

▼<br />

8 WEST COAST WOMAN MARCH 20<strong>24</strong><br />

continued on page 10


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MARCH 20<strong>24</strong> WEST COAST WOMAN 9


out and about continued<br />

take audiences to the edge of their<br />

seat as Asolo Rep Associate Artistic<br />

Director Céline Rosenthal directs.<br />

Visit asolorep.org to learn more info.<br />

Westminster is at Urbanite Theatre<br />

March 22 - April 28. After winning<br />

first place at the 2023 Modern<br />

Works Festival, Urbanite is proud to<br />

present the world premiere of WEST-<br />

MINSTER by Brenda Withers. Things<br />

get off on the wrong paw when Pia<br />

is gifted a dog by an old friend Krys.<br />

This screwball romp, part morality<br />

play digs into our “acceptable” social<br />

prejudices—and the consequences<br />

of leaving those biases unchecked.<br />

www.urbanitetheatre.com<br />

▼<br />

FSU/Asolo Conservatory for<br />

Actor Training’s has Miss Julie running<br />

through March 10. Witness<br />

a clandestine encounter of desire,<br />

lust and forbidden love. On a Midsummer<br />

Night, the count’s daughter,<br />

Julie, enters the kitchen, sparking<br />

a dangerous connection with the<br />

servant, Jean. As their illicit affair<br />

unfolds, Christine, another servant<br />

and Jean’s fiancé, quietly observes,<br />

leading to a shocking climax.<br />

Clyde’s runs through March 9.<br />

By Lynn Nottage, it’s a tumultuous<br />

tale unfolds in a dangerous kitchen.<br />

Meet Clyde, a seductive and resilient<br />

ex-convict who manages a trucker<br />

sandwich shop in a remote location.<br />

Her loyal staff, also ex-convicts, cling<br />

to their jobs while harboring ambitious<br />

dreams. United by Montrellous,<br />

a Zen-like coworker, they strive<br />

to craft “the perfect sandwich.” As<br />

Clyde’s relentless nature clashes with<br />

their aspirations, behold a transformative<br />

journey where dreams collide,<br />

and Clyde’s fate hangs in the balance.<br />

Continuing its Shakespeare in The<br />

Ringling Bayfront Gardens series,<br />

the FSU/Asolo Conservatory presents<br />

Romeo and Juliet (April 5 - 28) in<br />

the banyan grove of The Ringling with<br />

select performances indoors on the<br />

Cook Theatre stage. This production<br />

will allow the audience to experience<br />

the tragic tale indoors or outdoors,<br />

immersing them in the timeless story<br />

of love and hate.<br />

For information, visit asolorep.org/<br />

conservatory.<br />

▼<br />

Musica Sacra<br />

To be performed on March 8,<br />

Chant Re-Imagined spans many<br />

traditions, including Jewish, Hindu,<br />

Muslim, Christian, Native American,<br />

African, and Indonesian. According to<br />

Phillips, chant is an ancient art form<br />

that opens its performers and hearers<br />

to deep contemplative places within.<br />

Listeners will hear this ancient heart<br />

music in its original form, in addition<br />

to experiencing layers of sound that<br />

include percussion, strings, wind<br />

instruments, and pulsing rhythms.<br />

Modern Marimba, is featured in the<br />

event, with its mallet-wielding founders<br />

Tihda Vongkoth and Steph Davis.<br />

• May 17 at 7 pm – American Spirit.<br />

Celebrating American creativity,<br />

resilience, and vision with works by<br />

Howard Hanson, Aaron Copland,<br />

African American spirituals, and<br />

settings of poetry by Walt Whitman,<br />

Langston Hughes and others. Features<br />

pianist Glenn Priest and orchestra<br />

in Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue.<br />

Location: First Presbyterian Church,<br />

2050 Oak Street. Tickets: Musica<br />

SacraSarasota.org.<br />

▼<br />

Soundbox Ventures<br />

Their “Listen Hear” Salon Concerts<br />

are on March 8 and March<br />

20 at St. Boniface Episcopal Church.<br />

This interactive “exhibition for music”<br />

series examines a specific way we hear<br />

expression and meaning. Curated<br />

by Max Tan, each salon-style event<br />

includes a classical music program,<br />

insights from the artists, and conversations<br />

with the audience.<br />

Each program is free and registration<br />

is required. Register at www.<br />

soundboxventures.org/events. St.<br />

Boniface Episcopal Church is located<br />

at 5615 Midnight Pass Road on<br />

Siesta Key.<br />

▼<br />

At The Galleries<br />

“What’s Cookin’, Sarasota?” is<br />

the newest exhibit courtesy of the<br />

Sarasota County History Center<br />

and is on display at the Sarasota<br />

County Administration building. The<br />

exhibit explores how food and cooking<br />

shaped the community of Sarasota<br />

County and features cookbooks,<br />

recipe cards, and a variety of unique<br />

and historical kitchen equipment.<br />

“What’s Cookin’, Sarasota?” will be<br />

on display through March 20<strong>24</strong> on<br />

the first floor of the Administration<br />

building at 1660 Ringling Blvd. Hungry<br />

for more? Visit the online exhibit<br />

here: https://loom.ly/fRtcQLs<br />

▼<br />

Babs Reingold Solo Exhibition<br />

“Under My Skin” is at SPAACES Gallery,<br />

2087 Princeton St., Sarasota and<br />

runs through March 16. The exhibition<br />

includes a series of new stain<br />

paintings/assemblages, sculptures<br />

from the “Luna Window” series, and a<br />

group of small drawings.<br />

More info at www.spaaces.art or<br />

call 941-374-3492.<br />

▼<br />

Art CenterManatee has the<br />

American Watercolor Society<br />

156th International Traveling<br />

Exhibit running through March 8.<br />

The Florida Suncoast Watercolor<br />

Society Annual Aqueous Show also<br />

runs through March 8.<br />

AWS features master watercolor<br />

artists from around the world and the<br />

ArtCenter will be one of only three<br />

venues in the United States to host the<br />

traveling exhibit.<br />

They’re at 209 9th St W, Bradenton.<br />

Info: ArtCenterManatee.org<br />

▼<br />

Art Center Sarasota<br />

Cycle 4: March 14 - April 20. Opening<br />

Reception: March 14, 6-8 p.m.<br />

▼<br />

• Natasha Dikareva: Natasha<br />

Dikareva reflects on the current<br />

state of her homeland, Ukraine in<br />

her upcoming exhibition featuring<br />

a variety of narrative, figurative<br />

ceramic sculptures.<br />

• Angela Pilgrim: Drawing on a<br />

skillful fusion of printmaking,<br />

painting, and mixed media her<br />

work celebrates the complex inner<br />

worlds of Black women and invites<br />

viewers to contemplate the spiritual<br />

dimensions of our existence,<br />

exploring themes of identity, faith,<br />

and resilience.<br />

• Michael Kinsey: Michael Kinsey’s<br />

“Listening to Black Voices,” showcases<br />

black and white portraits,<br />

highlighting the richness and diversity<br />

of Sarasota’s Black community.<br />

• Juried Show: “Great Artists Steal”<br />

encourages artists to create works<br />

inspired by their favorite artists and<br />

artworks from contemporary art<br />

and art history. This inspiration may<br />

come from the technique, content,<br />

or style of the artist(s) or artwork(s)<br />

in reference, and uniquely recontextualizing<br />

these elements.<br />

Art Center Sarasota, 707 N. Tamiami<br />

Trail, Sarasota. Info: www.<br />

artsarasota.org<br />

Selby Gardens has Clyde Butcher:<br />

Nature Through the Lens at the<br />

Historic Spanish Point campus on<br />

view to August 31, 20<strong>24</strong>. Featuring<br />

extraordinary, large-format wildlife<br />

prints by this well-known landscape<br />

photographer and conservationist,<br />

Clyde Butcher: Nature Through<br />

the Lens gives viewers the chance to<br />

engage with Clyde Butcher’s artwork<br />

against the backdrop of our Historic<br />

Spanish Point campus. selby.org<br />

▼<br />

A capsule collection of Florida<br />

Highwaymen paintings is on display<br />

in the Cultural Heritage Exhibit in<br />

the City Hall atrium, 1565 First Street.<br />

Known as Florida’s legendary<br />

Black landscape artists, the Florida<br />

Highwaymen emerged in the 1950s<br />

in the agricultural communities of<br />

Fort Pierce and Gifford, Florida. The<br />

group of young painters, which grew<br />

to include 25 men and one woman,<br />

became known as The Highwaymen.<br />

They were prolific painters who sold<br />

their artwork from the trunks of their<br />

cars during the post-World War II<br />

boom because they were unable to<br />

exhibit through traditional means due<br />

to racial barriers. While making ends<br />

meet, they also made a significant<br />

contribution to the genre of Florida<br />

landscape painting.<br />

▼<br />

Architecture Sarasota’s speaker series has a talk on<br />

March 26: Modernism 102, Session 60:<br />

New(er) Materials (2000s-Today) 5:30-6:30pm,<br />

McCulloch Pavilion, 265 S. Orange Ave.<br />

Tickets: www.architecturesarasota.org<br />

Free and open to the public during<br />

City Hall hours, Monday–Friday 8<br />

a.m. to 5 p.m.<br />

Sarasota Orchestra’s Harmony<br />

Gallery features local artists showcasing<br />

their work in solo exhibitions<br />

throughout the Orchestra’s season.<br />

These juried exhibitions feature artists<br />

with mediums ranging from painting<br />

to pastels to mixed media. Twenty-five<br />

percent of all proceeds from the sale of<br />

the artwork benefit Sarasota Orchestra.<br />

The exhibits invite patrons to<br />

explore the collaboration between the<br />

visual and performing arts.<br />

• On display: Marco Bell and Monica<br />

Spain. Exhibition Titled: Pas<br />

de Deux. Bell was born and raised<br />

in Sarasota and received his BFA in<br />

1976 from Ringling College of Art<br />

and Design. Post-graduation Marco<br />

became an art director in product<br />

manufacturing until a freelance<br />

mural job made him realize how<br />

much he missed painting. Monica<br />

grew up in South Florida and<br />

received her BFA from Atlanta College<br />

of Art in 1978, after which she<br />

worked in advertising. Yearning<br />

to expand her painting skills, an<br />

opportunity to paint murals in Sarasota<br />

presented itself in 1997. Runs<br />

through March 14<br />

• Next: Emma Seaworthy. Exhibition<br />

Titled: Water. Seaworthy, creates<br />

artwork influenced by the Florida<br />

wilds. Her mixed media work features<br />

environmentalist themes and<br />

offers a deep appreciation for our<br />

local ecosystems. Her work has been<br />

featured at both environmental and<br />

art venues, enticing viewers to ask<br />

questions and think critically about<br />

our perceptions of nature.<br />

Exhibit runs March 19 – May 9. Public<br />

reception: March 20, 5-6:30 pm.<br />

▼<br />

Arts Advocates has these March<br />

programs and events:<br />

• Exhibition of 50 Florida Highwaymen<br />

paintings in the Arts Advocates<br />

Gallery on March 2, 3, 22, 23 and<br />

<strong>24</strong> from 2-6 p.m. each day.<br />

The Florida Highwaymen were<br />

prolific painters who, starting in the<br />

1950s, sold their landscape paintings<br />

on Florida highways from the trunks<br />

of their cars as galleries and museums<br />

refused to exhibit black artists<br />

at that time. Today, Highwaymen<br />

artworks are collected and exhibited<br />

globally. Five Highwaymen paintings<br />

are part of Arts Advocates’ permanent<br />

collection.<br />

This exhibition is being held in collaboration<br />

with Roger Lightle, noted<br />

▼<br />

Highwaymen art collector, along with<br />

Curtis Arnett, an original Florida<br />

Highwayman, and Roy McLendon,<br />

Jr., son of an original Highwayman.<br />

All pieces on display will be offered<br />

for sale.<br />

In addition, McLendon will demonstrate<br />

his painting techniques live in<br />

the gallery, and Lightle will be on hand<br />

to elaborate on his collection. The<br />

exhibition is free and open to the public.<br />

The Arts Advocates Gallery is located<br />

in The Crossings at Siesta Key mall,<br />

3501 South Tamiami Trail, Sarasota.<br />

The “Behind the Curtain: Exploring<br />

the Van Wezel from the Art to the<br />

Stage” tour on March 11 from 1:30 to 3<br />

p.m. is presented in partnership with<br />

the Van Wezel. The art in the Van Wezel<br />

was created by noted Florida artists<br />

and is on loan from Arts Advocates.<br />

A docent leads a tour of the paintings<br />

and sculptures including those<br />

by Robert Chase, William Hartman,<br />

Eugene White, Ben Stahl, Thornton<br />

Utz, Frank Colson, Dean Mitchell, and<br />

others. Participants then step onto the<br />

stage where a Van Wezel guide offers<br />

a peek behind the curtain and shares<br />

stories and anecdotes about the world<br />

of show business.<br />

Tickets are $15 per person and can<br />

be purchased at the Van Wezel box<br />

office or by calling (941) 263-6799.<br />

Artist and lifetime arts educator<br />

Judy Levine presents a beaded necklace<br />

workshop on March 30, noon-2<br />

p.m. in the Arts Advocates Gallery.<br />

Participants will design and create<br />

a unique necklace while learning<br />

about color, symmetry, balance, visual<br />

weight, and pattern. All skill levels<br />

welcome. $45 workshop fee includes<br />

all materials.<br />

To register for programs and events,<br />

visit ArtsAdvocates.org.<br />

Meetings<br />

The Palm-Aire Women’s Club<br />

(PAWC) Changes And Developments<br />

At The Marie Selby Botanical<br />

Gardens will be the topic of the<br />

March 22nd Palm-Aire Women’s Club<br />

Luncheon.<br />

President and CEO Jennifer<br />

Rominiecki will speak and explain<br />

her master plan for developing the<br />

gardens and the latest changes and<br />

developments made to this Sarasota<br />

landmark.<br />

The luncheon will be held at the<br />

Palm Aire Country Club and will<br />

start at 11:30 AM. Cost of the luncheon<br />

is $33 for members and $35 for<br />

non-members. Reservations must<br />

be received by March 15th. Reserve<br />

your seat now by mailing a check<br />

to March PAWC Lunch, PO Box<br />

21051, Bradenton Fl 34204 or drop it<br />

off at the PAWC mailbox by the PACC<br />

reception desk. For credit cards,<br />

contact SUSAN ROMINE at susanromine@gmail.com.<br />

For more information about<br />

becoming a member contact membership<br />

chair, Katherine Pike at katherinemaryt@yahoo.com.<br />

Be sure<br />

to check the PAWC website, www.<br />

palm-airewomensclub.org. or Facebook<br />

at the Palm Aire Women’s Club<br />

page for the latest news and updates.<br />

Contact Ann King at Pawc2023@<br />

gmail.com to be included on the<br />

PAWC email list.<br />

Mail check to: PAWC Lunch, P O<br />

Box 21051, Bradenton Fl 34204. For<br />

credit cards, contact Susan at susanromine@gmail.com.<br />

10 WEST COAST WOMAN MARCH 20<strong>24</strong>


your money<br />

What are the questions<br />

I should be asking my<br />

financial advisor?<br />

There are several<br />

things you<br />

should have<br />

a handle on.<br />

How much money have<br />

you (or you two) saved<br />

and whose name is it in?<br />

Am I the beneficiary on<br />

the IRA accounts? Another<br />

is: where should I<br />

be in retirement savings<br />

for my age? Will it last<br />

through my retirement?<br />

Make a simple list of<br />

accounts with their current<br />

balances listed and whether its is<br />

a TOD (Transfer on Death) to you, account<br />

or not. If the accounts are IRAs,<br />

are you the beneficiary if it’s your partner’s<br />

account.<br />

A Question for you to answer for your<br />

Financial Advisor is what income you<br />

will need in retirement; it can consist<br />

of social security and interest or dividend<br />

income from your investments.<br />

You can find out what you will get<br />

from Social Security on SSA.gov. Did<br />

you know that if you wait until you are<br />

70 years old to ‘Take” Social Security<br />

you get 30% more?<br />

Ask your “Advisor” to show you how<br />

much income you could reasonably<br />

get from your investments. A quick<br />

and dirty way to calculate it can be to<br />

take your principal amount let’s say<br />

$500,000.00 and multiply it by 0.04<br />

(4%). That will yield $20,000.00 per<br />

year or $1,667 per month<br />

Knowing these items should help you<br />

decide if you need more savings, or a<br />

plan to downsize in future.<br />

Many feel that investing in the stock<br />

market with an historic return of 10%<br />

puts them in a better income situation.<br />

Using our example above at 10% your<br />

return would be $50,000 per year or<br />

$4167 per month.<br />

Which brings us to our next set of<br />

questions, about RISK. To induce you to<br />

take a risk, you must demand a higher<br />

return. For example companies with low<br />

credit ratings have to offer a higher interest<br />

rate to get people to buy their bonds.<br />

The stock market (stock is an ownership<br />

share in the company) is a VERY<br />

Risky investment. You can lose 100%<br />

of your money. Bonds are less risky.<br />

A bond is a loan to the company, and<br />

they pay interest to you on that loan.<br />

Bonds are stable and in case of bankruptcy<br />

a bondholder may get some of<br />

their money back. Prices of bonds fluctuate<br />

with changes in interest rates.<br />

Very Very generally your portfolio<br />

balance between stocks and bonds will<br />

change over time as you age and your<br />

circumstances change. Young people<br />

generally invest the most in stocks and<br />

are looking for growth. They can take<br />

a loss as they have years ahead of them<br />

of earning power.<br />

Middle-agers start to invest a portion<br />

in bonds or higher quality stocks, and<br />

when you are at retirement, your portfolio<br />

will largely consist of bonds and<br />

high-quality dividend paying stocks.<br />

There has been an historic allocation of<br />

60% stock and 40% bonds over time.<br />

However, since the pandemic there has<br />

been much discussion if that holds true<br />

any longer.<br />

So, the first thing you must do is<br />

get an understanding of your risk tolerance.<br />

Your advisor has questions to<br />

help you understand where your comfort<br />

level is and how that will affect<br />

your portfolio. Where you are in your<br />

investment life stage will play a large<br />

role in helping you understand what<br />

risk you can tolerate.<br />

If your husband, wife or partner<br />

usually handles all of this, go with<br />

them to the next appointment and ask<br />

the questions. Advisors would MUCH<br />

rather answer questions than have an<br />

unhappy client.<br />

An advisor can help mediate between<br />

partners with different risk appetites.<br />

Investing is a process. Get started and<br />

ask questions!<br />

SOURCE: Securities<br />

are offered through<br />

Level Four Financial,<br />

LLC a registered broker<br />

dealer and member of<br />

FINRA/SIPC. Advisory<br />

Services are offered<br />

through Level Four<br />

Advisory Services,<br />

LLC, an SEC-registered<br />

investment advisor.<br />

Level Four Financial,<br />

LLC, Level Four<br />

Amanda E. Stiff MBA<br />

Advisory Services, LLC<br />

and Access Advisors, LLC are independent<br />

entities. Neither Level Four Financial, LLC,<br />

Level Four Advisory Services, LLC nor Access<br />

Advisors, LLC offer tax or legal advice.<br />

1800 Second St, Suite 895, Sarasota<br />

941-914-1560<br />

Visit us at AccessAdvisorsLLC.com<br />

Rodney D. Gerling, Esq.<br />

Dana Laganella Gerling, Esq.<br />

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and Elder Law<br />

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Offices: East Bradenton<br />

(941) 756-6600 www.gerlinglawgroup.com<br />

PAID ADVERTORIAL<br />

MARCH 20<strong>24</strong> WEST COAST WOMAN 11


happening this month<br />

Opens 21 st Anniversary Exhibit<br />

Winning artists and quoters from around the region and country at Embracing Our Differences’ Grand Opening Celebration at Bayfront Park<br />

Best-in-Show quotation winner, Jessie O.,<br />

and artist Michael White<br />

ore than 4,000 people<br />

attended Embracing<br />

Our Differences’ 21st<br />

anniversary exhibition’s<br />

grand opening on January<br />

21, in Sarasota’s downtown Bayfront<br />

Park. The occasion showcased performances<br />

by Jah Movement, and local<br />

arts and education organizations enriched<br />

the atmosphere with interactive<br />

booths and family-friendly activities.<br />

EOD representatives took the opportunity<br />

to acknowledge the Best-in-Show<br />

art and quotation winners, and the<br />

event had many of the featured artists<br />

and quoters, who were honored for<br />

their selected works on display.<br />

Deputy City Manager Pat Robinson and<br />

Judge Charles E. Williams, EOD’s board<br />

chair, welcomed the crowd and City<br />

Commissioner Debbie Trice further<br />

affirmed the City of Sarasota’s commitment<br />

to EOD’s core values of kindness,<br />

respect, and inclusion.<br />

EOD Executive Director Sarah Wertheimer<br />

highlighted the organization’s<br />

achievements over its 21-year history.<br />

She underscored the<br />

ever-expanding impact<br />

of EOD’s outdoor exhibition,<br />

which has grown<br />

significantly since its<br />

inception in 2004. With<br />

nearly 4.5 million visitors<br />

over the years, the<br />

exhibition has not only<br />

captivated local audiences<br />

but has also become<br />

an attraction for<br />

out-of-town visitors.<br />

Wertheimer also announced a new development<br />

for EOD—the exhibition’s<br />

expansion to St. Petersburg this March.<br />

“We’re proudly celebrating a significant<br />

milestone in 20<strong>24</strong>,” she said. “We’re unveiling<br />

our exhibit in St. Petersburg’s<br />

Poynter Park for the first time in 21<br />

years.” Sharing the historical context,<br />

Wertheimer explained that the exhibit<br />

first appeared in St. Petersburg in 2003<br />

as part of the “Coexistence” exhibit on<br />

loan from the Museum on the Seam in<br />

Jerusalem, Israel.<br />

Sheila D. McKoy, EOD’s exhibition director<br />

stated that this year’s response<br />

to the call for artwork and inspirational<br />

quotations was had 16,604 entries from<br />

125 countries and 44 states. Students<br />

from 584 schools around the world submitted<br />

artwork or quotations to the juried<br />

exhibit.<br />

EOD’s Sarasota exhibit runs through<br />

April 14 in Bayfront Park, Sarasota. The<br />

exhibit will also be on display, March<br />

2-31, in Poynter Park, St. Petersburg,<br />

with an opening event on March 2.<br />

Embracing Our Differences’ annual<br />

outdoor exhibits are<br />

the heart of a yearround<br />

program of activities<br />

designed to use art<br />

as a catalyst to create<br />

awareness and promote<br />

diversity.<br />

For more information<br />

about Embracing<br />

Our Differences, call<br />

941-404-5710 or visit<br />

www.embracingourdifferences.org.<br />

Eric Applequist traveled from Moline, Illinois,<br />

to see his work, “Colorful Conversation” at<br />

Embracing Our Differences<br />

ABOUT<br />

Judge Charles Williams (EOD’s board chair),<br />

Sheila McKoy (EOD’s exhibitions director); Jessie<br />

O. (Best-in-Show quotation winner and a 7th<br />

grader at Pine View School); Sarah Wertheimer<br />

(EOD’s executive director), and Suzy Grandusky<br />

(Jessie O.’s language arts teacher at Pine View<br />

School). Jessie won $,2000 for her quote; half<br />

of which she shares with the language arts<br />

department at Pine View<br />

Jah Movement performing at Embracing Our Differences’ Grand<br />

Opening Celebration<br />

Embracing Our Differences is a nonprofit organization that uses the transformational power of art and education to<br />

celebrate and promote the diversity of the human family. It accomplishes this through an annual, large-scale outdoor<br />

juried art exhibition and a comprehensive series of educational initiatives, programs and resources designed for teachers<br />

and students. Visit www.embracingourdifferences.org.<br />

Photos<br />

by<br />

Peter<br />

Acker<br />

12 WEST COAST WOMAN MARCH 20<strong>24</strong>


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MARCH 20<strong>24</strong> WEST COAST WOMAN 13


focus on the arts<br />

Choral Artists of Sarasota Presents<br />

“Abraham Lincoln Walks at Midnight”<br />

and Joseph Haydn’s “Lord Nelson Mass” on March 10<br />

Joseph Holt<br />

Choral Artists of Sarasota<br />

Florence Price<br />

Choral Artists of Sarasota’s<br />

45th season continues with<br />

“Abraham Lincoln Walks at<br />

Midnight,” based on a poem<br />

by Vachel Lindsay and composed<br />

by Florence Price, the first African<br />

American woman to have her music performed<br />

by a major symphony orchestra.<br />

The program also features Joseph Haydn’s<br />

“Lord Nelson Mass” (also known as “Mass<br />

in a Time of Anxiety”), which is recognized<br />

as one of his greatest compositions.<br />

Featured soloists for both works are singers<br />

in Choral Artists: Lily Wohl, soprano;<br />

Krista Laskowski, mezzo-soprano; Stephanie<br />

Jabre, alto; Zachery Stockman, tenor;<br />

and Jesse Martin, bass.<br />

“We paired these two works as a reflection<br />

of our own time,” says Joseph Holt, artistic<br />

director and conductor. “Both were composed<br />

during times of anxiety and unease.<br />

Haydn’s ‘Mass’ was composed towards the<br />

end of the 18th century when Napoleon<br />

was ransacking the continent. The work is<br />

composed in the turbulent key of d minor<br />

and it is arguably Haydn’s greatest composition.<br />

The Florence Price work is the<br />

musical setting of a poem written at the<br />

outset of World War I by Vachel Lindsay.<br />

Abraham Lincoln emerges from his grave<br />

and wanders the streets of Springfield, Illinois<br />

– very concerned about the state of<br />

affairs in the world of 1914.”<br />

Holt further explains that “both works offer<br />

dramatic passages of anxiety and upheaval<br />

yet contain moments of consolation<br />

and ultimate peace. We live in a time<br />

of anxiousness and concern about the<br />

future and yet yearn for a sense of peace<br />

and calm – very much the tenor of these<br />

compositions from a different era.”<br />

Composer Florence Price, the first African<br />

American female composer to gain national<br />

status in the 20th century, was also<br />

the first Black woman to have her work<br />

premiered by a U.S. orchestra—the Chicago<br />

Symphony Orchestra. When Price<br />

died in 1953, the bulk of her music was excluded<br />

from study and performance due<br />

to a lack of widespread publication, and a<br />

bias towards white, European traditionalism.<br />

In 2009, a substantial amount of her<br />

compositions was discovered in a trunk at<br />

Price’s abandoned composing retreat in<br />

St. Anne, Illinois, which has given rise to<br />

a renewed interest in and appreciation of<br />

her work. Her legacy continues to unfold.<br />

More Information:<br />

The concert is Sunday, March 10, at 7<br />

p.m., at Church of the Palms, 32<strong>24</strong> Bee<br />

Ridge Road, Sarasota. For more information<br />

and to purchase tickets, visit www.<br />

ChoralArtistsSarasota.org or call 941-<br />

387-4900.<br />

Coming up at<br />

Choral Artists of Sarasota:<br />

• Considering Matthew Shepard: Featuring<br />

Craig Hella Johnson’s “Considering<br />

Matthew Shepard,” a modern-day “Passion”<br />

(modeled after the great “Passions”<br />

of J.S. Bach) that tells the story of Matthew<br />

Shepard, a gay American student at<br />

the University of Wyoming who was beaten,<br />

tortured, and left to die near Laramie<br />

on the night of October 6, 1998. In partnership<br />

with Embracing Our Differences,<br />

Project Pride, ALSO Youth, and the First<br />

Congregational Church UCC, this beautiful<br />

musical story transcends tragedy.<br />

Sunday, April 14, 7 p.m., at Church of the<br />

Palms, 32<strong>24</strong> Bee Ridge Road, Sarasota.<br />

• Memorial Day Concert: United We<br />

Stand: The Choral Artists teams with<br />

the Lakewood Ranch Wind Ensemble to<br />

perform a moving tribute to those in the<br />

armed forces who have made the ultimate<br />

sacrifice. This concert is also the kick-off<br />

for the group’s tour to France to participate<br />

in the 80th anniversary of D-Day in<br />

Normandy. Sunday, May 26, 4 p.m., at<br />

Sarasota Opera House, 61 N. Pineapple<br />

Avenue, Sarasota.<br />

• D-Day Commemoration Journey:<br />

June 3-11. Choral Artists of Sarasota has<br />

been invited by Historic Programs, which<br />

partners with the Department of Defense,<br />

Office of Commemorations, to be the principal<br />

choral ensemble for the 80th D-Day<br />

anniversary commemorations in France in<br />

June. In addition to participating in commemoration<br />

ceremonies at the cemeteries<br />

in Normandy and Brittany, the group will<br />

perform a concert in the town square at<br />

Sainte-Mère-Église in Normandy and also<br />

at L’église de la Madeleine in Paris. Choral<br />

Artists is inviting the public to join them on<br />

this journey. For more information, contact<br />

info@ChoralArtististsSarasota.org.<br />

About the Choral Artists of Sarasota<br />

The Choral Artists of Sarasota, entering<br />

its 45th season, features 32 professional<br />

singers and eight apprentice singers.<br />

The group celebrates the rich, artistic expressiveness<br />

of choral music through innovative<br />

repertoire, inspired performances<br />

and stimulating educational outreach.<br />

Under the artistic direction of Dr. Joseph<br />

Holt, Choral Artists of Sarasota performs<br />

a repertoire spanning four centuries, and<br />

includes symphonic choral works, intimate<br />

madrigals, folk songs, close-harmony<br />

jazz, and Broadway show music.<br />

The ensemble also specializes in premiere<br />

performances of lesser-known choral<br />

works—particularly music by living American<br />

composers. Choral Artists of Sarasota<br />

has performed premieres by René Clausen,<br />

Dick Hyman, Robert Levin, Gwyneth<br />

Walker and James Grant. As part of the<br />

organization’s educational outreach, eight<br />

young singers from area schools, colleges<br />

and universities, ages 16 to 22, are invited<br />

to join the group each year.<br />

PAID ADVERTORIAL<br />

14 WEST COAST WOMAN MARCH 20<strong>24</strong>


Intimate musical experiences.<br />

Season 28 | Stars Ascending<br />

A diverse range of concerts featuring emerging and accomplished<br />

classical, chamber, jazz, and pop artists from around the globe.<br />

20<strong>24</strong> WINTER OPERA FESTIVAL<br />

VICTOR DeRENZI, Artistic Director | RICHARD RUSSELL, General Director<br />

CARMEN<br />

by Georges Bizet<br />

Feb. 17 - Mar. 22, 20<strong>24</strong><br />

Duo Chinoiserie<br />

March 7, 11:00 am performance followed by lunch<br />

Sarasota Yacht Club<br />

Surround yourself with the entrancing sounds of this unique project initiated<br />

by Chinese guzheng performer Jing Xia and classical guitarist Bin Hu.<br />

Their blending of ancient Chinese zither and classical guitar<br />

has been described as “sonic alchemy.”<br />

CARMEN<br />

LUCIA<br />

DI LAMMERMOOR<br />

by Gaetano Donizetti<br />

Feb. <strong>24</strong> - Mar. 23, 20<strong>24</strong><br />

LUISA MILLER<br />

by Giuseppe Verdi<br />

Mar. 9 - <strong>24</strong>, 20<strong>24</strong><br />

LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR<br />

Curtis on Tour 2023-<strong>24</strong> String Sextet<br />

March 12, 7:30 pm • SCF Neel Performing Arts Center<br />

Curtis on Tour brings together three Curtis Institute of Music alumni – Benjamin<br />

Beilman, violin; Milena Pajaro-van de Stadt, viola; Oliver Herbert, cello – and<br />

three current Curtis students in a powerful program of string sextets by Strauss,<br />

Berg, and Brahms. Hear the next generation of gifted musical artists performing<br />

side by side with their accomplished mentors.<br />

2023-<strong>24</strong> String Sextet appears by special arrangement with Curtis on Tour, the Nina von Maltzahn<br />

global touring initiative of the Curtis Institute of Music.<br />

ArtistSeriesConcerts.org | 941-306-1202<br />

LUISA MILLER<br />

DECEIT<br />

OUTWITTED<br />

(L’infedeltà delusa)<br />

by Joseph Haydn<br />

Mar. 15 - 23, 20<strong>24</strong><br />

All operas performed in the<br />

original language with translations<br />

above the stage.<br />

DECEIT OUTWITTED<br />

(L’infedeltà delusa)<br />

SUBSCRIPTIONS AND SINGLE TICKETS ON SALE NOW!<br />

(941) 328-1300 • SARASOTAOPERA.ORG<br />

This project is supported in part by the Community Foundation of Sarasota County; Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs, the Florida Council of Arts and Culture and the State of Florida (Section 286.25 Florida Statutes);<br />

The Exchange; Gulf Coast Community Foundation; National Endowment for the Arts; the Sarasota County Tourist Development Tax Revenues; and the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation.<br />

MARCH 20<strong>24</strong> WEST COAST WOMAN 15


Fiona<br />

CRAWFORD,<br />

Ph.D.<br />

"<br />

President and CEO,<br />

#<br />

THE<br />

ROSKAMP INSTITUTE<br />

Since 2003,<br />

The Institute<br />

has been “a<br />

leader in the<br />

global effort to better<br />

understand and<br />

treat diseases of the<br />

mind.” Dr. Crawford<br />

and Dr. Michael<br />

Mullan, its two<br />

lead researchers,<br />

are working<br />

tirelessly to<br />

fully understand<br />

diseases like<br />

Alzheimer’s<br />

that may lead<br />

to better<br />

treatments -<br />

maybe even<br />

a cure.<br />

16 WEST COAST WOMAN MARCH 20<strong>24</strong>


eems like every day there’s<br />

news about an Alzheimer’s<br />

“breakthrough” or a promising<br />

new medicine or<br />

treatment and yet the progress<br />

to finding a medicine or treatment that<br />

halts or prevents or cures it is not at hand.<br />

But that doesn’t mean there aren’t people<br />

who are working hard to find solutions.<br />

Someone who has been hard at work on<br />

research in this field for over 30 years is<br />

Fiona Crawford, Ph.D., President and CEO<br />

at The Roskamp Institute. Since opening<br />

in 2003, The Roskamp Institute, a 501(c)(3)<br />

nonprofit organization, has been “a leader<br />

in the global effort to better understand<br />

and treat diseases of the mind. The foundation<br />

for the Institute’s work was set more<br />

than a decade ago by its two lead researchers,<br />

Drs. Michael Mullan and Fiona Crawford,”<br />

according to their website.<br />

You may not have read about the breakthrough<br />

research that showed Alzheimers’s<br />

being caused by “mutations at codon<br />

717 of the β-amyloid precursor protein<br />

gene,” but if you did, this was an important<br />

discovery published in Nature magazine<br />

in 1991 and authored by 11 researchers<br />

including Dr. Crawford and Dr. Mullan.<br />

“A codon, in biology, is the basic genetic<br />

unit of life that acts as the template for<br />

the amino acid synthesis required for protein<br />

expression. Thus, the codon acts as<br />

an essential genetic unit of life,” and yes,<br />

I looked that up. More simply put, their<br />

research showed that certain genetic variations<br />

may cause or predispose humans<br />

to Alzheimer’s disease—a huge step in understanding<br />

the disease.<br />

It’s painstaking work that Dr. Crawford,<br />

a molecular geneticist and neuroscientist,<br />

has been deeply involved in for over<br />

three decades. Her work has appeared in<br />

200 publications, along with over 20,000<br />

citations in the field of research for Alzheimer’s<br />

disease, Traumatic Brain Injury, and<br />

related disorders.<br />

Dr. Crawford, who was born in Belfast,<br />

Northern Ireland, works with Dr. Mullan,<br />

who was born in England where he earned<br />

his medical degree. Their work took them<br />

from England to USF where Bob Roskamp,<br />

a well known philanthropist and developer<br />

of senior living facilities, provided funds<br />

to the University of South Florida to create<br />

the Roskamp Chair in Biological Psychiatry<br />

in March 1995.<br />

Drs. Mullan and Crawford then went on<br />

to co-found the Roskamp Institute with<br />

Bob and Diane Roskamp in Sarasota in<br />

2003 and thus began their research which<br />

has broadened to include Traumatic Brain<br />

Injury, Post-traumatic Stress Disorder,<br />

Gulf War Illness and the effects of Florida<br />

red tide and other eco-toxins. The doctors<br />

are joined by a staff of 50 in management<br />

and research.<br />

Fast forward to 2023 and you may have<br />

read about a new, FDA-approved treatment<br />

called Leqembi. The Roskamp Institute,<br />

Dr. Crawford explains, is in the process of<br />

getting approval to “host an infusion clinic”<br />

on their campus. Not so fast, if you’re<br />

reaching for the phone. Patients need to be<br />

carefully screened and treatment with Leqembi<br />

“should be initiated in patients with<br />

mild cognitive impairment or mild dementia<br />

stage of disease,” according to the FDA.<br />

“Screening is important,” Dr. Crawford<br />

notes and adds, “few will be eligible and<br />

you [the patient] have to be very early in<br />

the diagnosis.” The estimated start of<br />

their infusion clinic is April or May (www.<br />

roskampclinic.org). The drug, she adds,<br />

doesn’t cure or halt the advance of the<br />

disease, “but it does give you a few better<br />

months,” and that can mean a lot to families,<br />

caregivers and of course, patients.<br />

Alzheimer’s is not unique to any geographic<br />

area or group of people. “Alzheimer’s<br />

is everywhere,” she explains, and<br />

adds, “Age is the biggest risk factor.” That<br />

can be discouraging to read, but Dr. Crawford,<br />

who exudes calm as well as enthusiasm<br />

even after decades doing research,<br />

offers powerful advice. “The good news is<br />

what you can do” for your health such as<br />

carefully monitoring vascular diseases like<br />

high blood pressure and diabetes.<br />

To that she adds, manage your weight,<br />

stay mentally active, eat a healthy diet<br />

and make sure you have social interaction<br />

whether they be friends or family or both.<br />

Oh, and be sure to also get a good night’s<br />

sleep. Dr. Crawford is a certified yoga instructor<br />

and leads a group at the Institute.<br />

That no doubt helps to keep her centered,<br />

but when asked about stress on the job she<br />

says “Yah, stressful,” but adds with a smile<br />

“it’s exciting. It’s my life.” What would reduce<br />

her stress and make her work easier<br />

would be to have to write less grants (she<br />

is working on <strong>24</strong> applications at present).<br />

They’re also time-consuming and take<br />

time away from research—something she’s<br />

much rather be doing.<br />

The Institute is a nonprofit and thus<br />

depends on funding from the likes of<br />

the National Institute of Health, the U.S.<br />

Department of Defense and the Veterans<br />

Administration to name a few. They get no<br />

money from the state and grants only go so<br />

far. Just one confocal microscope for example,<br />

costs $250-$300,000 each, but would<br />

greatly help by producing high-contrast,<br />

high-resolution, and three-dimensional<br />

images of samples.<br />

“How do I move forward with what I find<br />

in the lab today?” she asks rhetorically and<br />

seems to answer her own question by stating<br />

that “Philanthropic support is critical.”<br />

We can talk about credentials - she has<br />

lots. We can talk about the extensive and<br />

dogged research going on at Roskamp Institute.<br />

We can also talk about the variety<br />

of disorders beyond Alzheimer’s that they<br />

are working on, but no doubt the burning<br />

question is inevitable: when will we have<br />

a cure or when will we be able to prevent<br />

Alzheimer’s?<br />

If you’re concerned about Alzheimer’s<br />

or any of the other disorders that The<br />

Roskamp Institute is researching, consider<br />

supporting their work.<br />

STORY:<br />

IMAGE:<br />

Louise Bruderle<br />

Evelyn England<br />

For more information or to make a<br />

donation call 941-256-8019.<br />

If you would like an assessment, their<br />

Roskamp Neurology Clinic can be<br />

reached at 941-256-8019 or visit<br />

www.roskampclinic.org/contact-us/<br />

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MARCH 20<strong>24</strong> WEST COAST WOMAN 17


focus on the arts<br />

Shinique Smith:<br />

Parade Exhibit at the Ringling<br />

Features Contemporary Sculpture in Conversation with the European Art Collection<br />

This is the first exhibition of<br />

Shinique Smith’s work at The<br />

Ringling Museum and the first time<br />

she has presented her work in direct<br />

dialogue with a museum collection<br />

of historic European art. The<br />

placement of the work reveals the<br />

universality of human experience<br />

explored by artists throughout time.<br />

On View through Jan. 5, 2025<br />

Visitors will find several examples of Smith’s<br />

large-scale fabric sculptures<br />

in conversation with European art<br />

Shinique Smith<br />

standing in front of her sculpture<br />

Mitumba Deity II (2018-2023)<br />

on display in the Astor Salon (Gallery 19)<br />

Visitors to The John and Mable Ringling Museum<br />

of Art have the opportunity to experience<br />

the work of contemporary artist Shinique<br />

Smith (b. 1971) in conversation with the<br />

museum’s collection of European art.<br />

Shinique Smith: Parade is on view in the Museum<br />

of Art through January 5, 2025. Unfolding across six galleries,<br />

the exhibition creates a series of unique stories<br />

that together form an abstract narrative of the “parade”<br />

as a metaphor for life.<br />

“We are so thrilled that Shinique Smith has chosen<br />

to present her work to Sarasota audiences within our<br />

European galleries, where it will provoke conversation<br />

and inspire new ways of seeing and understanding both<br />

historic and contemporary art,” says the exhibition’s curator,<br />

Sarah Cartwright, Chief Curator and Ulla R. Searing<br />

Curator of Collections at The Ringling.<br />

Another scene from the European galleries<br />

Cartwright, who also oversees<br />

the museum’s European collection,<br />

adds, “Shinique chose the<br />

works on view in response to<br />

The Ringling’s magnificent gallery<br />

spaces. The synergy between her<br />

work and our collections is palpable,<br />

and the museum is full of unexpected<br />

moments of beauty and<br />

emotion.”<br />

Well known for her monumental<br />

sculptures created from an<br />

array of materials, including luxurious<br />

textiles, personal clothing,<br />

dyed fabrics, ribbon, and wood,<br />

and for her abstract paintings of<br />

calligraphy and collage, Smith’s<br />

work in this exhibition speaks to<br />

various facets of the European<br />

artistic tradition, such as classical<br />

drapery and religious iconography,<br />

while foregrounding notions of<br />

Black femininity and the history of<br />

the circus.<br />

“My hope for this show is to<br />

create a bridge between differing<br />

depictions of people and the art<br />

histories that inform my hand while<br />

celebrating the beauty<br />

found in our belongings<br />

and honoring the<br />

resilience and magnanimity<br />

of Black women,”<br />

says Smith.<br />

Moving through the<br />

Museum of Art galleries,<br />

which display<br />

European art from<br />

the fifteenth century<br />

through the late nineteenth,<br />

visitors will<br />

find several examples<br />

of Smith’s large-scale<br />

fabric sculptures in<br />

A sculpture called “Stargazer”<br />

conversation with European art, for<br />

example with Italian Baroque paintings<br />

in Gallery 8 and with Gilded<br />

Age interiors from the Astor Mansion<br />

in New York City in Galleries 19<br />

and 20.<br />

Smith’s works in the exhibition<br />

emphasize femininity, as seen<br />

through the eyes of a woman artist.<br />

In works such as Inflamed by<br />

Golden Hues of Love and Mitumba<br />

Deity II, Smith explores her<br />

reverence for the curves and resilience<br />

of Black women, conveyed<br />

through shapely forms bejeweled<br />

and draped in gold. Notions of divinity,<br />

light, death, renewal, and<br />

rebirth pervade sculptural works<br />

like Grace Stands Beside and Stargazer,<br />

the latter inspired by the<br />

imagined path of an enslaved woman<br />

following the stars and counting<br />

the days to her freedom.<br />

The exhibition moves from the<br />

mythic and monumental to the<br />

personal and familial with ease.<br />

Inspired by her admiration for the<br />

beauty that her grandmother and<br />

mother created in times of “making<br />

do” and building magic from<br />

everything they had on hand, the<br />

installation in Gallery 6 will display<br />

a collection of photographs<br />

of the women in Smith’s family<br />

dressed to the nines, along with<br />

some of her own personal treasures,<br />

to form a venerated visual<br />

poem. On view through January 5,<br />

2025. More info at ringling.org<br />

About the Artist<br />

Born in Baltimore, MD, and currently<br />

residing in Los Angeles,<br />

Smith holds BFA and MFA degrees<br />

from the Maryland Institute College<br />

of Art and an MA in Education from<br />

Tufts University. She has received<br />

awards and prizes from Joan Mitchell,<br />

the Tiffany Foundation, Anonymous<br />

Was a Woman, and the American<br />

Academy of Arts and Letters<br />

among others.<br />

Her work has gained attention<br />

through her participation in biennials<br />

and group exhibitions and has<br />

been exhibited and collected by<br />

institutions such as the Baltimore<br />

Museum of Art, Brooklyn Museum<br />

of Art, California African American<br />

Museum, Denver Art Museum,<br />

Deutsche Guggenheim, Los Angeles<br />

County Museum of Art; Minneapolis<br />

Institute of Art, MOMA<br />

PS1, Museum of Fine Arts Boston,<br />

Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal,<br />

National Museum of Women<br />

in the Arts, and the Whitney Museum<br />

of American Art.<br />

18 WEST COAST WOMAN MARCH 20<strong>24</strong>


feature<br />

You Can Prevent<br />

a Double Drowning<br />

Parents should learn to swim before their children<br />

In a world where<br />

500,000 people<br />

lose their lives to<br />

drowning each year<br />

(World Health Organization<br />

2022), a local swim<br />

school, Miracle Swimming<br />

School for Adults, shares<br />

what everyone needs to<br />

know to prevent double<br />

drownings.<br />

With 47 years of experience<br />

as a professional<br />

instructor, author of “Conquer<br />

Your Fear of Water,<br />

A Revolutionary Way to<br />

Learn to Swim Without<br />

Ever Feeling Afraid,” and<br />

founder Melon Dash emphasizes<br />

that the key to<br />

preventing drowning is<br />

knowing how to rest in<br />

deep water peacefully.<br />

The key to preventing double drowning—<br />

in which a struggling swimmer is assisted<br />

by a rescuer and both lose their lives—<br />

is twofold: being comfortable in deep<br />

water yourself and giving a floating device<br />

to the distressed swimmer, as opposed to<br />

relying on strength or strokes.<br />

In the ‘90s, the definition of learning<br />

to swim changed from being safe in water<br />

over one’s head to being able to do<br />

freestyle or a formal stroke from here to<br />

there. It meant that many didn’t learn to<br />

float. Today, it is likely that fewer people<br />

are safe in deep water. Many stop taking<br />

lessons too soon. Half of adults are unsafe<br />

in deep water.<br />

It’s likely that a high percentage of<br />

drownings are caused not by a lack of<br />

stroke knowledge but by a lack of understanding<br />

the water: it holds us up. Attending<br />

swimming lessons does not equate<br />

to safety unless students learn to rest<br />

peacefully in water over their heads for<br />

extended periods.<br />

“The focus should be on demonstrating<br />

a deep knowing of how your body and<br />

the water work together: water pushes<br />

you up, water gets into your nose unless<br />

you know how to prevent it, you need<br />

to know how to hold your breath, where<br />

you are relative to the surface, how to<br />

keep your presence of mind, when you<br />

need more air and when you don’t, how to<br />

listen to your body and to do what it tells<br />

you,” Dash says. The definition of “I can<br />

swim” must include, “I am comfortable<br />

and safe in water over my head.”<br />

Without comfort in water over one’s<br />

head, the possibility of drowning is greater.<br />

Knowing when to assist someone who<br />

is in distress in water can be the difference<br />

between life and death. Most people<br />

naturally desire to help, even if they’re<br />

not prepared. This too often leads to double<br />

drownings. This instinct, especially<br />

among parents, is understandable. But<br />

they can be better prepared.<br />

To rescue a distressed swimmer, stay<br />

on land if possible and extend something<br />

to the person who’s struggling to pull<br />

them in. If you feel safe in deep water and<br />

decide to accept the risk of entering the<br />

water, give the person anything that floats.<br />

A life jacket, a pool noodle, a kickboard, a<br />

lifeguard’s buoy, or an empty 1-gallon water<br />

jug with a lid are useful. A struggling<br />

swimmer will submerge a rescuer quickly<br />

if they get too close, not out of malice, but<br />

out of the instinct to survive.<br />

A new conversation is necessary. Having<br />

this conversation with important and<br />

mature people in your life can reduce the<br />

likelihood of double drownings. It’s intimate.<br />

It starts like this: Do you hope that<br />

I will risk my life for yours? I want you/<br />

don’t want you to risk your life for mine.<br />

I am willing/not willing to risk my life for<br />

yours. Each person must speak their truth<br />

with permission and without guilt. The<br />

new understanding that emerges can prevent<br />

some of the reasons for sorrow and<br />

mourning. Giving up one’s life should be a<br />

choice, not an unforeseen consequence.<br />

Each person must also take responsibility<br />

for their own safety. Lifeguards,<br />

swim instructors, or first responders<br />

aren’t liable for someone’s safety. While<br />

they are meant to provide support, safety<br />

is a personal responsibility. For children,<br />

caregivers are tasked with keeping<br />

them safe. To ensure familial safety,<br />

parents should learn to swim before<br />

their children.<br />

For more information:<br />

Miracle Swimming School for Adults<br />

teaches adults to be comfortable in deep<br />

water. It’s the most important part of<br />

knowing how to swim. Learn by feeling<br />

safe. For a complete listing of courses,<br />

visit miracleswimming.com/essentials-1-course/<br />

or call 941-921-6420<br />

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MARCH 20<strong>24</strong> WEST COAST WOMAN 19


your healthier health you<br />

Craniosacral Therapy Can Be Life Changing<br />

CST treats the whole body physically, physiologically, mentally, emotionally and energetically<br />

Clients come to me because they are in physical<br />

pain such as neck, back, pain and TMJ as well as<br />

for chronic headaches and migraines.<br />

Pain and stress caused by<br />

shortened Fascia<br />

Fascia (strong connective tissue) encases all<br />

our muscles, organs, brain and spinal cord.<br />

Whenever fascia shortens any place in the<br />

body, the entire network of fascia creates an<br />

increased tension affecting the functioning<br />

of our physical body as well as our organs,<br />

our brain and spinal cord.<br />

Our body is the history of every major<br />

trauma we have experienced physically and<br />

emotionally beginning with birth issues, falls,<br />

head trauma, car accidents, childhood abuse<br />

issues, death, divorce and other emotional<br />

issues. Our body tries to minimize each trauma<br />

by shortening fascia to isolate the energy<br />

coming into the body from that trauma.<br />

Shortened fascia results in pain, loss of mobility<br />

and range of motion, organs becoming<br />

less efficient and with parts of the brain and<br />

spinal cord becoming stressed.<br />

To keep the brain functioning, the body<br />

transfers some of your functional work play<br />

energy (7:00 AM-10:00 PM) to the brain resulting<br />

in less energy to make it through each<br />

day. As we age, the accumulation of all the<br />

tightened fascia, from every major trauma<br />

in life, begins to restrict every aspect of our<br />

body’s functions resulting in pain, loss of mobility,<br />

mis-functioning organs, loss of energy,<br />

as well as our brain losing some its sharpness.<br />

How Craniosacral<br />

Therapy Works<br />

The Craniosacral Therapist creates a safe<br />

place, with gentle holding techniques, that<br />

engages your body’s ability to self correct,<br />

reorganize and heal itself with the release<br />

of some of that tightened fascia during<br />

each session. As the Craniosacral Therapist<br />

engages your body, you will feel fascia releasing.<br />

As the fascia releases, pain begins to<br />

decrease, range of motion and mobility improve,<br />

organs begin functioning better and<br />

with less stress on the brain feels, it returns<br />

the energy it borrowed at the time of each<br />

trauma resulting in an immediate increase in<br />

your energy levels. Rarely does anyone leave<br />

from my first session not feeling better.<br />

Short Leg Syndrome<br />

Eighty-five percent of my clients have one<br />

of their legs pulled up 1/2 to 1 by shortened<br />

fascia. The tension from short leg syndrome<br />

on the sacrum (5 fused vertebrae at bottom<br />

of the spine) is transferred up the dural tube<br />

that encases the spinal cord into the lower<br />

and upper back, the neck, the cranium and<br />

The physical stress in bodies caused by shortened<br />

fascia (connective tissue) shuts down<br />

energy flows to certain organs. Short leg syndrome<br />

by ½ to 1 in (where one leg is pulled up<br />

by shortened fascia) shuts down energy flow to<br />

the spleen (an important part of your immune<br />

system) and the small and large intestine. With<br />

the release of that shortened fascia, energy returns<br />

to these organs.<br />

the brain. Headaches, migraines, TMJ and<br />

neck problems can originate from the fascial<br />

stress in the sacrum.<br />

Releasing this sacral stress increases energy<br />

in the bladder, sex organs, kidneys and<br />

the chakras as well as releasing major stress<br />

in the upper part of the body.<br />

Cause of Shallow Breathing<br />

A great majority of the clients who come to<br />

me for various problems are also shallow<br />

breathers. Fascial stress in the diaphragm<br />

restricts the depth of breathing by restricting<br />

energy flow to the lungs, the pericardium<br />

and the heart. With the release of fascial diaphragm<br />

restriction, the client immediately<br />

starts breathing deeply and energy is restored<br />

to the pericardium and the heart.<br />

Shoulder blades that are cemented to the<br />

body also restricts how much the rib cage can<br />

open and thereby also restricting depth of<br />

breath. Without proper breathing, your cells<br />

do not get enough oxygen. Everyone, especially<br />

people suffering from bronchitis, asthma<br />

and COPD as well as shallow breathing can<br />

benefit when the fascial stress is released.<br />

Specialized Training<br />

to work with Brain<br />

Dysfunctions<br />

Just as the body physically gets stressed from<br />

physical and emotional trauma, the functioning<br />

of the brain is also affected by fascial stress. For<br />

our brains to remain healthy, we need dynamic<br />

production of craniosacral fluid which performs<br />

the important function of bringing nourishment<br />

to all the cells in the brain and spinal<br />

cord as well as cleansing all the metabolic<br />

wastes given off by those same cells.<br />

Once the craniosacral fluid cleanses these<br />

metabolic wastes, efficient drainage of these<br />

metabolic wastes into the lymph system is<br />

absolutely necessary. Research has shown,<br />

that at night, craniosacral fluid cleanses amyloid<br />

plaques from the brain. If the drainage<br />

is inefficient, then the brain is being bathed<br />

in a toxic slurry. How does 15 or 20 years of<br />

your brain being bathed in a toxic slurry<br />

affect you: senile dementia, Parkinson’s,<br />

Alzheimer’s and other brain dysfunctions?<br />

A Craniosacral Therapist, who has received<br />

training in working with the brain, can reverse<br />

that stress on the brain that eventually can<br />

result in those brain dysfunctions. As we all<br />

know, the proper functioning of the body is<br />

dependent on a healthy functioning brain.<br />

Babies and Children can benefit<br />

■ Our little boy Leo, four years of age, had a<br />

difficult birth and at 7 months was put on antibiotics<br />

for an ear infection and as a result developed<br />

c-diff. His development came to a stop.<br />

At 3 years, with the help of an OT, he started<br />

to walk and talk. In spite of the improvements,<br />

he was unable to answer questions and his<br />

communication skills were very poor. Leo<br />

had very poor muscle tone, a lot of stress in<br />

his body and physical activities such walking,<br />

jumping and climbing were difficult for him.<br />

Beginning with the first session with Terry,<br />

he began showing improvement and with each<br />

following session. Everyone from his teachers<br />

to his grandparents noticed an increase in his<br />

■ “I was in awful pain and the<br />

MRI showed 2 pinched nerves<br />

and stenosis. I scheduled surgery.<br />

My daughter suggested Craniosacral therapy.<br />

After only 2 visits the pain was reduced to<br />

advanced craniosacral about 80% and therapy I canceled the surgery. I went<br />

for a 3rd visit and I am about 90% better.”<br />

■ “Simply Amazing! One visit was all it took for<br />

Terry to relieve 85% of my year long, nagging<br />

(sometimes severe) neck/shoulder tightness/<br />

pain!! My breathing improved tremendously.”<br />

physical strength, as well as improvements in<br />

comprehension, speech and communication<br />

skills. For the first time, he started participating<br />

in class lessons and interacting with his<br />

classmates. Terry has made a huge impact on<br />

getting Leo to a place a little boy should be at<br />

age four. We cannot thank Terry enough.<br />

■ Terry’s treatment helped our 6 week old<br />

baby boy from recent hospitalization into<br />

the first series of healthy bowel movements<br />

when seemingly nothing could help. Our son<br />

was able to latch onto the breast and for the<br />

first time completed his feeding. He was much<br />

calmer after working with Terry.<br />

■ “He was able to relieve tension that I have<br />

been carrying around for 15 years or more.<br />

I left his office table with more energy than I<br />

have had in years.”<br />

■ “I began working with him because I was<br />

dealing with anxieties, depression and lots of<br />

emotional pain inside and out. You don’t realized<br />

how much stress can cause damage to<br />

your body, mind and soul. I can say Terry was<br />

a big help.”<br />

Terrence Grywinski<br />

of Advanced<br />

Craniosacral Therapy,<br />

B.A., B.ED., LMT #MA 6049<br />

Testimonials from Clients<br />

SOURCE:<br />

■ Terrence Grywinski of Advanced Craniosacral Therapy,<br />

B.A., B.ED., LMT #MA 6049. Terry has specialized in Craniosacral<br />

Therapy since 1994 when he began his training at the Upledger<br />

Institute. Described by his teachers, clients and colleagues<br />

as a “gifted healer”, Terry’s intuitive sense and healing energy<br />

provides immediate and lasting relief from injury, pain, mobility<br />

issues as well as dysfunctions of the body and the brain. Part<br />

of Terry’s ongoing education, he has completed 4 craniosacral<br />

brain and peripheral nervous system classes which enables him<br />

to work at a cellular<br />

level and with brain<br />

dysfunctions.<br />

Call 941-321-8757<br />

for more information,<br />

Google Advanced<br />

Craniosacral<br />

Therapy.<br />

■ “On a recent vacation to Siesta Key, I re-injured<br />

my back. I found Terry online. I can say<br />

with complete joy that was the best decision<br />

I made in the history of my back pain. I have<br />

sought many modalities and visit a CST regularly<br />

and never have I had such a healing in<br />

my entire body.<br />

After 3 sessions, I made a 16-hour drive<br />

home with no pain or discomfort in my entire<br />

body. Unbelievable. My body has a sense of<br />

moving freely and that is completely new. I’m<br />

advanced craniosacral therapy<br />

so grateful to Terry for his knowledge, for his<br />

sensitivity to my needs and his kind generosity<br />

in healing my body. I will see him when I return<br />

next year.”<br />

■ “I am a snowbird who spends 7 months<br />

in Sarasota. I have had back problems for 25<br />

years. Terry’s techniques have led to a great<br />

deal of release and relief in areas that have<br />

been problematic. I have been seeing him over<br />

the years when my body says ”it’s time”. Usually<br />

after a few sessions, I can tell a huge difference.”<br />

20 WEST COAST WOMAN MARCH 20<strong>24</strong><br />

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22 WEST COAST WOMAN MARCH 20<strong>24</strong>


focus on the arts<br />

Dorothea Lange’s<br />

Innovative Approach to Portraiture<br />

On Display at D.C.’s National Gallery of Art<br />

Divided into six thematic<br />

sections, the exhibition features<br />

portraits ranging from<br />

her early career as a San<br />

Francisco studio photographer—the<br />

earliest work is<br />

from 1919—and her powerful<br />

coverage of the Great Depression<br />

through expressive photographs<br />

of everyday people<br />

and communities during the<br />

1950s and early 1960s.<br />

Head to the National Gallery<br />

in Washington, D.C., before<br />

March 31 of this year. It<br />

will be worth it. It’s a wonderful<br />

museum with a great<br />

collection.<br />

White Angel Breadline, San<br />

Francisco, California, 1933 gelatin<br />

silver print<br />

Street Encounter, Richmond,<br />

California, c. 1943 gelatin silver print<br />

Human Erosion in California (Migrant Mother),<br />

March 1936 gelatin silver print<br />

You know her for that poetic,<br />

beautiful, but sad image of<br />

a migrant worker, hand on<br />

face with her two children at<br />

her side, but Dorothea Lange<br />

photographed so much more.<br />

hand on face with her two children at her<br />

side, but Dorothea Lange photographed so<br />

much more.<br />

Labor strikers, Japanese Americans,<br />

American Indians, Depression soup kitchens,<br />

pastoral Ireland and Indigenous people<br />

in Arizona and New Mexico, migrant farmers,<br />

rural African Americans during the Jim<br />

Crow era, and the people she met while traveling<br />

in Europe, Asia, Venezuela, and Egypt.<br />

There’s compassion, but also a poetic beauty<br />

to her images down to some of the captions<br />

that she wrote.<br />

This exhibit has 101 photographs and addresses<br />

her innovative approaches to picturing<br />

people, emphasizing her work on various<br />

social issues including economic disparity,<br />

migration, poverty, and racism.<br />

Dorothea Lange: Seeing People examines<br />

Lange’s decades-long investigation into how<br />

portrait photography could embody the humanity<br />

of the people she depicted. It demonstrates<br />

how her photographs helped shape<br />

contemporary documentary practice by connecting<br />

everyday people with moments of<br />

history—from the Great Depression through<br />

the mid-1960s—that still resonate with our<br />

lives in the 21st century.<br />

“Throughout the course of her 50-year career,<br />

Lange created an intensely humanistic<br />

body of work that sought to transform how<br />

we see and understand people,” said Kaywin<br />

Feldman, director of the National Gallery of<br />

Art. “Merging her skills as a portrait artist,<br />

a social documentary photographer, and a<br />

storyteller, she helped redefine photography<br />

through images that emphasize social issues.”<br />

Dorothea<br />

Lange<br />

About the Artist<br />

Lange began her career as a commercial<br />

studio photographer in San Francisco in<br />

1918. Her studio became a gathering spot for<br />

artists who had serious discussions about<br />

photography and art. In 1920 she married<br />

Maynard Dixon, a painter of western subjects,<br />

who encouraged Lange to take her<br />

photography outside. She accompanied him<br />

on trips through the American Southwest,<br />

photographing rural landscapes and Dixon<br />

at work, along with the Indigenous communities<br />

he was portraying.<br />

She started to work in the streets of San<br />

Francisco in 1933, making photographs such<br />

as White Angel Breadline, San Francisco,<br />

California (1933) that capture the effects of<br />

the Great Depression and the plight of the<br />

city’s dispossessed men and women.<br />

Lange also photographed labor organizers<br />

and protesters at May Day events around San<br />

Francisco’s Civic Center Plaza: she focused<br />

on the protesters speaking, listening, or holding<br />

signs, and vowed to produce prints within<br />

<strong>24</strong> hours, as in May Day, San Francisco,<br />

California (1934). She also documented ensuing<br />

strikes, creating portraits of speakers<br />

and demonstrators with placards as well as<br />

photographs of the police presence in works<br />

such as Street Demonstration, San Francisco<br />

(1934). When she met the labor economist<br />

Paul Schuster Taylor in 1934, Lange began to<br />

photograph the plight of migrant farmers<br />

who had moved to California from the South<br />

and Midwest seeking new livelihoods.<br />

From 1935 to 1943, while working for the<br />

for the US Resettlement Administration,<br />

Farm Security Administration, and War Re-<br />

Children of the Weill Public School<br />

Shown in a Flag Pledge Ceremony,<br />

San Francisco, California, April 1942,<br />

printed c. 1965 gelatin silver print<br />

location Authority, Lange focused on the<br />

resilience of Depression-era families, farmworkers,<br />

rural cooperative communities,<br />

migrant camps, and the forced incarceration<br />

of Japanese Americans in the early days of<br />

World War II. The resulting images illustrate<br />

the human and economic impact wrought<br />

across the United States by farm tenancy,<br />

racism, the legacy of slavery, climate change,<br />

and migrations. These portraits, sometimes<br />

combined with interviews, added a personal<br />

element to Lange’s stark pictures of makeshift<br />

housing and agricultural fields and cemented<br />

her documentary style.<br />

During World War II Lange produced one<br />

of her most powerful series for the War Relocation<br />

Authority, depicting the forced incarceration<br />

of California’s Japanese Americans<br />

at Manzanar, in works on view such<br />

as Grandfather and Grandson of Japanese<br />

Ancestry at a War Relocation Authority Center,<br />

Manzanar, California (July 1942). She<br />

also photographed the shifts in California’s<br />

Hopi Man, Arizona, 1923, printed 1926<br />

gelatin silver print<br />

social fabric as its rising economy—sparked<br />

by growing defense industries—drew African<br />

Americans from the South and women<br />

into previously male-dominated and segregated<br />

businesses such as shipbuilding. In<br />

the 1950s, Lange continued to pursue stories<br />

about people and their communities for personal<br />

projects, as well as for Life magazine,<br />

that include her first photographs from Europe.<br />

Asia, South America, and North Africa.<br />

Compassion guided Lange’s early portraits<br />

of Indigenous people in Arizona and New<br />

Mexico from the 1920s and 1930s, as well as<br />

her depictions of striking workers, migrant<br />

farmers, rural African Americans during<br />

the Jim Crow era, Japanese Americans in<br />

internment camps, and the people she met<br />

while traveling in Europe, Asia, Venezuela,<br />

and Egypt. Drawing on new research, Philip<br />

Brookman, Sarah Greenough, Andrea<br />

Nelson, and Laura Wexler, examine Lange’s<br />

roots in studio portraiture and demonstrate<br />

how her influential and widely seen photographs<br />

addressed issues of identity as well<br />

as social, economic, and racial inequalities—<br />

topics that remain as relevant for our times<br />

as they were for hers.<br />

National Gallery of Art, Washington,<br />

through March 31, 20<strong>24</strong><br />

East Building, 4th St<br />

and Constitution Ave., NW<br />

www.nga.gov/visit<br />

MARCH 20<strong>24</strong> WEST COAST WOMAN 23


good news department<br />

Need some Good News? There’s lots happening in our community<br />

Sunshine From Darkness raises funds<br />

for mental health<br />

Neal Communities Donates $ 25,000 to Healthy Teens<br />

to Create Scholarship Program<br />

(From l-r) Keynote speaker Tom Arnold, event co-chairs Taylor Karp Teymuri and Sarah Karp Renkliyuz,<br />

Sunshine From Darkness Executive Director Marlene Hauck, event co-chair Amie Austin, PhD, and<br />

Sunshine From Darkness President Jeffrey Peterson<br />

Photo by Harry Sayer<br />

In mid-January, Sunshine From Darkness<br />

– a nonprofit organization dedicated to<br />

the funding of local mental health services<br />

and programs and mental health<br />

research – held its 20<strong>24</strong> Inspiring Hope<br />

Dinner.<br />

The keynote speaker was comedian,<br />

actor, writer and producer Tom Arnold,<br />

who spoke about his journey with anxiety<br />

and longtime battles with addiction.<br />

Arnold has been sober for over<br />

five years, but he’s faced addiction, sobriety,<br />

and relapse at different points in<br />

his Hollywood career as well as significant<br />

health challenges. Arnold shared<br />

heartbreaking stories about childhood<br />

trauma and his decades-long battles<br />

with addiction and anxiety, noting that<br />

his most important job now is to be in<br />

a good mood for his young children, to<br />

whom he is a single father.<br />

The evening featured “Faces Behind<br />

the Stories,” shining a spotlight on the<br />

personal, sometimes difficult journeys<br />

of four members of our community:<br />

Roger Capote, a professional<br />

with many years of nonprofit<br />

leadership; Kelvin Foster, chaplain,<br />

North River Fire District and American<br />

Red Cross Disaster spiritual<br />

care regional advisor for Central<br />

and SW Florida; Sydney Koffman,<br />

chemical engineer; and Linda Larsen,<br />

motivational speaker.<br />

The event also featured the bestowing<br />

of the 20<strong>24</strong> Lee and Bob<br />

Peterson Legacy Award to Bunny<br />

Skirboll, founder of Compeer, Inc.<br />

Co-chairs were Amie Austin, Ph.D.,<br />

Sarah Karp Renkliyuz and Taylor<br />

Karp Teymuri. Exclusive Dinner<br />

Sponsor was Elisabeth Waters;<br />

Luminary Sponsors were David Peterson<br />

and Jeffrey Peterson; and<br />

Benefactor Sponsor was Arthur<br />

Karp Family Foundation.<br />

<strong>24</strong> WEST COAST WOMAN MARCH 20<strong>24</strong><br />

Proceeds are for Sunshine From Darkness’s<br />

“blue door services,” which focus<br />

on emotional literacy for youth, and<br />

youth mental health research.<br />

“We are committed to collaborating<br />

and providing valuable aid for the families<br />

of our community, to encourage continued<br />

positive change for the future,”<br />

added Sunshine From Darkness executive<br />

director Marlene Hauck. “Together,<br />

we can build the right supports to save,<br />

care for, and help our children.”<br />

Founded as a subsidiary of the Lee<br />

and Bob Peterson Foundation, Sunshine<br />

From Darkness hosts events throughout<br />

the year that bring mental health and<br />

addiction awareness and education to<br />

the forefront of the community, providing<br />

professionals and philanthropists<br />

with the opportunity to engage with the<br />

broader mental health community.<br />

For more about Sunshine From Darkness,<br />

visit sunshinefromdarkness.org.<br />

Neal Communities has donated $25,000<br />

to Healthy Teens, an organization dedicated<br />

to the success and wellbeing of<br />

Florida teens in Manatee and Sarasota<br />

Counties. Healthy Teens’ mission is to<br />

empower youth to make positive, healthy<br />

decisions for their success and wellbeing,<br />

providing peer-based health and life<br />

skills education and mentoring to hundreds<br />

of local youth between the ages of<br />

11 and 25 each year. The donation from<br />

Neal Communities will support this work<br />

by funding further education scholarships<br />

and local programming.<br />

“Since I joined Healthy Teens in 2021, Neal<br />

Communities has been a hugely generous<br />

partner in empowering the health and wellbeing<br />

of our youth,” said Jonathan Evans,<br />

executive director of Healthy Teens. “Helping<br />

them create positive, healthy and successful<br />

futures for themselves is a shared<br />

passion between our organizations.”<br />

The $25,000 sponsorship will partly be<br />

used to create a scholarship contest for<br />

high-school seniors currently volunteering<br />

with Healthy Teens as Teen Health Educators.<br />

Healthy Teens started the program<br />

in February. The applications will<br />

Seniors At Bay Village<br />

Raise $ 9,456 for<br />

Wilkinson Students<br />

Senior residents at Bay Village<br />

have just raised $9,456 to provide<br />

each Wilkinson Elementary<br />

student with a warm, longsleeved<br />

shirt for the winter. The<br />

Warm Clothing drive is just one<br />

of the many programs carried<br />

out as part of the Bay Village/<br />

Wilkinson Partnership established<br />

in 2019.<br />

Other ongoing projects include<br />

monthly Pen Pal letters and annual<br />

picnic, student chorus performances,<br />

collaborative science<br />

projects and a school supplies<br />

fund raiser.<br />

be judged by a panel comprised of representatives<br />

from the Healthy Teens Board<br />

of Directors, the Healthy Teens volunteer<br />

Advisory Council and Neal Communities.<br />

In addition to the scholarship program,<br />

Healthy Teens students will visit the Neal<br />

Communities headquarters in Lakewood<br />

Ranch to provide a “lunch and learn”<br />

educational program for Neal Communities<br />

employees, where the students will<br />

present on a topic that they also educate<br />

their peers on.<br />

Founded in 2010, Healthy Teens has<br />

helped more than 175 Teen Health Educators<br />

receive leadership and public-speaking<br />

experience, provided peer education<br />

sessions for more than 10,000 teens, and<br />

worked with more than 60 organizations<br />

and agencies to help teens learn about<br />

topics such as mental health and resilience,<br />

substance abuse, peer pressure,<br />

bullying and much more<br />

Neal Communities and Manasota BUDS<br />

(Bringing Up Down Syndrome), have formed<br />

a new partnership. Manasota BUDS received<br />

a $6,000 sponsorship from Neal<br />

Communities for the Manasota BUDS Young<br />

Adult Group in 20<strong>24</strong>, providing crucial support<br />

for social activities and awareness<br />

initiatives for this community of<br />

young adults with Down syndrome.<br />

The sponsorship will fuel a year<br />

of social events and awareness<br />

campaigns for the Manasota BUDS<br />

Young Adult Group, a dedicated time<br />

for individuals aged 18 and over to<br />

connect, socialize and thrive.<br />

March will see the group celebrate<br />

Down Syndrome Awareness<br />

Month with a special event recognizing<br />

the global significance of<br />

3.21 – Trisomy 21 or World Down<br />

Syndrome Awareness Day.<br />

Throughout the year, the sponsorship<br />

will enable the Young Adult<br />

Group to host additional social<br />

gatherings, educational workshops<br />

and community outreach<br />

initiatives, fostering inclusion and<br />

understanding for individuals with<br />

Down syndrome.<br />

continued on page 26 ▶


dining out<br />

Sarasota-Manatee Originals<br />

“Set The Bar”<br />

Cocktail Competition<br />

Returns April 14<br />

Tickets Now on Sale<br />

The highly<br />

anticipated<br />

Sarasota-<br />

Manatee<br />

Originals<br />

“Set the Bar”<br />

Cocktail Competition<br />

is back for a<br />

20<strong>24</strong> edition, scheduled<br />

for Sunday,<br />

April 14, from 4:00<br />

PM to 7:00 PM at<br />

Ed Smith Stadium in<br />

Sarasota, FL. This exciting<br />

event, designed<br />

to showcase the<br />

creativity and talent<br />

of the region’s finest<br />

mixologists, promises<br />

an evening of delectable<br />

cocktails, lively<br />

competition, and delicious food.<br />

25 accomplished mixologists, representing<br />

restaurants from across Sarasota<br />

and Manatee Counties, will present<br />

their innovative concoctions in five<br />

distinct spirit categories. In addition to<br />

a panel of industry experts, attendees<br />

will have the opportunity to sample<br />

these creations and vote for their<br />

favorites, with the judging criteria<br />

encompassing flavor, appearance, bartender<br />

presentation, and imagination.<br />

This year’s competition is partnered<br />

with Children First, a local non-profit<br />

organization dedicated to supporting<br />

the healthy development of children<br />

and families. All proceeds from a<br />

silent auction will benefit this important<br />

cause.<br />

Tickets are now on sale for $85 each,<br />

with a limited number available. Atthe-door<br />

tickets will be offered at $95<br />

per person, subject to availability.<br />

Event highlights include:<br />

• Exclusive access to 25 of the<br />

region’s top mixologists and<br />

their signature cocktails<br />

• Tasting and voting on a variety<br />

of innovative creations<br />

• Exciting auction benefiting<br />

Children First<br />

• Live music and entertainment<br />

• Delicious light bites presented<br />

by SMO member restaurants<br />

Liza Kubik, SMO Marketing & Communications,<br />

states: “Set the Bar was<br />

created to celebrate the immense talent<br />

of our local bar programs. Just like<br />

chefs in the kitchen, our bartenders<br />

play a crucial role in creating memorable<br />

dining experiences. We’re thrilled<br />

to shine a spotlight on their creativity<br />

and expertise.”<br />

For more information and to purchase<br />

tickets, visit: www.eatlikealocal.com/<br />

events/setthebar<br />

ABOUT<br />

Sarasota-Manatee Originals<br />

Sarasota-Manatee Originals is a<br />

not-for-profit organization dedicated<br />

to promoting and supporting independent,<br />

locally owned restaurants<br />

in Sarasota and Manatee Counties.<br />

Through advocacy, marketing, and<br />

educational initiatives, SMO helps<br />

these businesses thrive and contribute<br />

to the unique culinary identity of<br />

the region.<br />

Get West Coast Woman delivered FREE!<br />

Subscribe<br />

to our monthly<br />

e-magazine<br />

Read, click,<br />

turn pages<br />

— all at the<br />

convenience<br />

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phone or<br />

tablet.<br />

Send your email addy to: westcoastwoman@comcast.net<br />

MARCH 20<strong>24</strong> WEST COAST WOMAN 25


good news continued<br />

Funding from Bank of America to Assist Food Bank<br />

Manatee County to Receive 20<strong>24</strong> Audrey Nelson Award<br />

Through Partnership With Turning Points<br />

Manatee County will receive the 20<strong>24</strong><br />

Audrey Nelson Award from the National<br />

Community Development Association<br />

(NCDA) for its role in helping Turning<br />

Points provide free dental care to hundreds<br />

of citizens through Project Smile.<br />

The County was recognized at the NCDA’s<br />

winter conference this past February in<br />

Washington, DC.<br />

The award is a prestigious national<br />

community development award that is<br />

presented by the National Community<br />

Development Association (NCDA), recognizing<br />

exemplary uses of the Community<br />

Development Block Grant (CDBG) program<br />

and the partnerships between local<br />

government and nonprofits to assist lowand<br />

moderate-income households.<br />

Turning Points is the only dental clinic<br />

in Manatee County providing completely<br />

free dental assistance to people who have<br />

no or low income and no insurance and<br />

are between the ages of 18 and 64. The<br />

funding from Manatee County means uninsured<br />

low-income residents have access to<br />

high-quality free oral prosthetics which improve<br />

patients’ ability to eat and chew, reduce<br />

pain and improve overall appearance.<br />

“A regular dental office would have cost<br />

me thousands of dollars for this operation<br />

and dentures,” said Eugene after receiving<br />

his prosthetics. “That is money that we do<br />

not have. Now I have a bright smile, and I<br />

can greet people accordingly and sincerely.”<br />

Matthieu suffered for years with poor<br />

dental health and was missing several<br />

teeth. Plus, the remaining teeth that he<br />

had needed to be removed. Unable to afford<br />

the needed dental work, he came to<br />

Turning Points for help.<br />

Through several visits, he received upper<br />

and lower prosthetics and a new smile.<br />

Matthieu worked at a local grocery<br />

store and soon after receiving his prosthetics,<br />

he got that promotion to be out<br />

at the front counter facing the customers.<br />

He built up enough self-confidence to go<br />

after and land higher-paying employment<br />

with even better benefits..<br />

Project Smile funding through Manatee<br />

County’s Community & Veterans Services<br />

has averaged $40,000-$60,000 a year<br />

since 2010. All told, 2,900 patients have<br />

been helped with over a half million dollars<br />

in aid through the Community Development<br />

Block Grant.<br />

Safe Children Coalition receives grants<br />

for its Achievers Program<br />

LWRWC Philanthropy and Charity Fundraiser Leaders in 2023:Pictured L-R: Ann Sledz, LWRWC<br />

2023 President, Linda Stone, 20<strong>24</strong> President and LWRWC Holiday Market Co Chair, Eileen Buzzard,<br />

Philanthropy Co-Chair, Cherl Gross, Philanthropy Co-Chair, Monika Templeman, Fashion Show Charity<br />

Fundraiser Chair and Holiday Dinner Theatre Co-Chair, and Cyndy Scott, Holiday Dinner Theatre Charity<br />

Fundraiser Co-Chair.<br />

BaThis past January, Lakewood Ranch<br />

Women’s Club (LWRWC) presented a<br />

check representing their donation of<br />

$62,600 in cash to their four 501(c)(3)<br />

adopted charities at their annual Checks<br />

to Charities and Courageous Speakers”<br />

general meeting.<br />

All the LWRWC adopted charities each<br />

gave presentations highlighting the impact<br />

that the Women’s Club’s support had on the<br />

lives of the people they serve. In addition<br />

to the cash raised from three fundraisers<br />

in 2023, LWRWC also donated in-kind donations<br />

valued at over $20,000. The meeting<br />

featured presentations by the Executive Directors,<br />

or their designees from each charity<br />

and their “Courageous Speaker.”<br />

The first speakers were Kayla Terrel,<br />

HOPE family Services Director of Development<br />

and Jennifer, an inspiring and successful<br />

survivor of domestic abuse who<br />

credits HOPE with transforming her life.<br />

Svetlana Ivashchenko, CEO of Children’s<br />

Guardian Fund (CGF) was the next<br />

presenter. CGF is dedicated to providing<br />

funding for the immediate and ongoing<br />

needs of children removed from abusive<br />

or neglectful homes in Florida’s 12th Judicial<br />

Circuit.<br />

Svetlana showed a video featuring the<br />

story of a teenage boy with autism who<br />

was misdiagnosed with violent tendencies<br />

while in a group home. His Guardian<br />

Ad Litem eventually adopted the boy and<br />

with the aid of CGF, helped him to exceed<br />

all expectations.<br />

Next was Peggy Kerwin, CEO of Solve Maternity<br />

Homes and Courageous Speaker,<br />

Ray, accompanied by Hope, her one year<br />

old baby. Ray came to Solve as a homeless<br />

young pregnant woman who was subject<br />

to abuse. She credits Solve with changing<br />

her life, teaching her to be a good mother<br />

and saving her future. In 2023, Solve<br />

housed 44 new moms plus four moms in<br />

long term housing in the “Evolve Program.<br />

Mark Williams, Sarasota Manatee Association<br />

of Riding Therapy (SMART) Board<br />

President and Dan, SMART’s Courageous<br />

Speaker were the final presenters. Dan, a<br />

SMART client, is training in dressage despite<br />

being physically challenged from a<br />

stroke many years ago that cost him use<br />

of his left side. Dan’s goal is to compete<br />

in the next Paralympics. SMART’s goal is<br />

to enhance the physical, emotional, and<br />

cognitive growth of children and adults<br />

with special needs through riding therapy.<br />

To date, LWRWC has donated over<br />

$500,000 to their adopted charities and<br />

LWRWC Blankets 4 Babies Committee<br />

(B4B) donated over 600 handmade blankets<br />

and quilts to charity. To learn more,<br />

visit www.lwrwc.org<br />

Caldwell Trust Company Celebrates<br />

30th Anniversary with a $ 30,000 Contribution<br />

Students from Safe Children Coalition’s Achievers program are instrumental in planning and<br />

implementing SCC’s annual turkey distribution for families in need. Provided photo/Safe Children Coalition<br />

To assist at-risk middle and high school<br />

students in achieving their educational,<br />

career and life goals, three foundations<br />

have awarded grants to support Safe<br />

Children Coalition’s Achievers program.<br />

Those who contributed funds to support<br />

the Achievers program are: the Harold C.<br />

and Jacqueline F. Bladel Foundation, $5,000;<br />

Annette J. Hagens Memorial Foundation,<br />

$2,500; and Wawa Foundation, $1,500.<br />

The Achievers program empowers at-risk,<br />

minority students with disadvantageous<br />

conditions to set and achieve goals in both<br />

their educational and personal lives. It encourages<br />

continuous growth in the areas<br />

of personal development, college preparation,<br />

community service and leadership,<br />

cultural enrichment, and career options.<br />

The program, which has served thousands<br />

of students in the community for<br />

over 30 years, is open to all middle and<br />

high school students in Sarasota County.<br />

It has been proven to increase student<br />

participation in school programs, decrease<br />

school absenteeism and dropout<br />

rates, and prevent delinquent behavior.<br />

Nearly 150 students participate in<br />

the Achievers program annually. Career<br />

cluster programming features Achievers<br />

alumni as well as professionals from the<br />

community and surrounding areas currently<br />

serving in the finance, education,<br />

and health and medical industries.<br />

The program also provides scholarship<br />

opportunities to successful participants<br />

as they transition from high school to college<br />

as well as returning college students<br />

who were engaged with the program as<br />

teens to support them with obtaining an<br />

advanced education degree.<br />

“The Achievers program provides students<br />

– many of whom will be the first in<br />

their families to go to college – with the<br />

motivation and tools they need to succeed<br />

after high school,” said Brena Slater, president<br />

and CEO of Safe Children Coalition.<br />

“We are grateful to these foundations for<br />

supporting the program and helping our<br />

program participants to aspire to greater<br />

heights and better futures.”<br />

(L to R) Former Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Sun Coast Big, Sheryl Vieira; VP of Communications<br />

and Marketing Caldwell Trust Company; Board member Melissa Caldwell; R.G. “Kelly” Caldwell, Jr.,<br />

Chairman, President & CEO; Joy Mahler, President/CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Sun Coast; and<br />

Richard Burtt, Chairman, Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Sun Coast.<br />

Caldwell Trust Company, represented<br />

by R.G. “Kelly” Caldwell, Jr., and Melissa<br />

Caldwell, extended a tribute to the late<br />

Roland and Annette Caldwell with a contribution<br />

of $30,000 supporting the Empower<br />

Potential Campaign by Big Brothers<br />

Big Sisters of the Suncoast.<br />

R.G. “Kelly” Caldwell, Jr., President and<br />

CEO, supports the Empower Potential<br />

Campaign, emphasizing the lasting legacy<br />

of the late Annette Caldwell—a former<br />

Big Brothers Big Sisters board member<br />

and a 40-year supporter.<br />

Caldwell Trust Company also acknowledged<br />

its staff members involved with the<br />

organization, including Sheryl Vieira, Vice<br />

President of Communications and Marketing,<br />

a past Big volunteer, and Nolan Wiggs,<br />

MBA, Trust Associate, a current Big volunteer.<br />

The $30,000 donation, dedicated in<br />

memory of Roland and Annette Caldwell,<br />

will directly contribute to the Empower<br />

Potential Campaign being spearheaded by<br />

Richard Burtt, Chairman of Big Brothers<br />

Big Sisters of the Sun Coast. This contribution<br />

will focus on mentorship programs,<br />

educational support, and resources for<br />

children facing adversity.<br />

26 WEST COAST WOMAN MARCH 20<strong>24</strong>


Program 7 | Sarasota Opera House<br />

inspirations<br />

Accompanied by Live Music<br />

APR 27<br />

2:00 PM | 7:30 PM<br />

APR 26<br />

7:30 PM<br />

941.359.0099 | SarasotaBallet.org<br />

Ricardo Graziano and Sierra Abelardo in Christopher Wheeldons The American<br />

Photo by Frank Atura<br />

Program Media Sponsor<br />

MARCH 20<strong>24</strong> WEST COAST WOMAN 27


you’re news<br />

Accolades<br />

■ Manatee County Neighborhood<br />

Connections Division Manager<br />

Debbie DeLeon has been selected<br />

to receive this year’s President's<br />

Award from the Manasota Black<br />

Chamber of Commerce (MBCC) for<br />

her service and commitment to our<br />

community.<br />

The award highlights Debbie’s<br />

tireless efforts to help in the<br />

Rubonia Community following<br />

the flooding impacts of Hurricane<br />

Idalia—and more recently—a “noname”<br />

storm which threatened<br />

the low-lying neighborhood in<br />

December 2023. DeLeon, who has<br />

worked with Manatee County for<br />

more than three decades, was quick<br />

to point out that her work, which included<br />

going door-to-door to assess<br />

individual neighbor’s needs, is just<br />

a part of a group effort.<br />

A past Employee of the Month for<br />

August 2019 and ACE Award winner,<br />

Debbie has been recognized before<br />

for her commitment to the community.<br />

Last fall, Bay News Nine highlighted<br />

Debbie and her work during<br />

Hispanic Heritage Month.<br />

She is a member of the Community<br />

and Veterans Services team that<br />

has been instrumental in providing<br />

support that fills gaps in Manatee<br />

residents’ lives to help them remain<br />

employed or become reemployed,<br />

stay in school, rehabilitate, gain new<br />

skills or simply make ends meet.<br />

The MBCC Gala will be held<br />

at 6:30 p.m. on March 22, at the<br />

Lakewood Ranch Golf & Country<br />

Club, 7650 Legacy Blvd., Lakewood<br />

Ranch. For up-to-date information<br />

about Manatee County Government,<br />

visit mymanatee.org or call<br />

(941) 748-4501.<br />

Appointments<br />

■ Northern Trust Wealth<br />

Management has announced that<br />

Kirstin Fulkerson has joined the<br />

Sarasota<br />

team as<br />

a Wealth<br />

Strategist<br />

in the<br />

Sarasota-<br />

Charlotte<br />

market.<br />

Fulkerson<br />

is<br />

a wellknown<br />

through<br />

Kirstin Fulkerson<br />

her career at Gulf Coast Community<br />

Foundation for over 20 years. Most<br />

recently, she served as Senior Vice<br />

President for Philanthropy, working<br />

closely with donors to structure and<br />

execute complex financial plans<br />

that incorporate estate, tax, wealth<br />

and philanthropic goals.<br />

■ Child welfare organization Safe<br />

Children Coalition (SCC) has<br />

hired Sarah Hawk, Esq. as its new<br />

vice president of programs. In this<br />

role, Hawk will be responsible for<br />

providing leadership, supervision<br />

and management of the community-based<br />

care foster care programs<br />

in Florida’s Circuit 12 (Sarasota,<br />

Manatee and DeSoto counties) and<br />

oversight of all contracted entities.<br />

She will also<br />

be responsible<br />

for<br />

ensuring<br />

programs<br />

achieve<br />

established<br />

outcomes,<br />

comply<br />

with related<br />

federal,<br />

state and<br />

Sarah Hawk local laws<br />

and rules, and meet all contractual<br />

requirements.<br />

Hawk has spent her entire career<br />

as an attorney in the child welfare<br />

realm: she comes to Safe Children<br />

Coalition after a decade with Children’s<br />

Legal Services, Department<br />

of Children & Families, where the<br />

bulk of her work was within Circuit<br />

12 but her final role was serving as<br />

managing attorney for one of the<br />

largest Children’s Legal Services<br />

offices for the state: Florida’s Circuit<br />

13 (Hillsborough County).<br />

Prior to that, she was an attorney<br />

with the Guardian ad Litem<br />

Program for Circuit 12. For more<br />

information, visit sccfl.org.<br />

■ Halfacre Construction Company,<br />

a Lakewood Ranch-based<br />

commercial construction company,<br />

added four new hires to its team:<br />

Chris Moorefield, Rachel Preston,<br />

Tammy Fero and Joe Dutton.<br />

Moorefield joins the commercial<br />

construction company with over 25<br />

years of industry experience. In his<br />

new role as superintendent, Moorefield<br />

is tasked with scheduling,<br />

jobsite documentation, compliance<br />

and safety standards, and quality<br />

control and assurance, among other<br />

duties. Most recently, Moorefield<br />

served as a project superintendent<br />

for Marand Builders in Tampa.<br />

Fero and<br />

Preston join<br />

Halfacre<br />

Construction<br />

as<br />

project administrators<br />

tasked with<br />

providing<br />

administrative<br />

Rachel Preston<br />

Tammy Fero<br />

assistance to<br />

the superintendents,<br />

project<br />

managers<br />

and assistant<br />

project<br />

managers,<br />

scheduling<br />

conferences<br />

and meetings,<br />

utilizing<br />

Procore,<br />

and working<br />

with vendors<br />

and subcontractors, among<br />

other responsibilities.<br />

Fero has more than 25 years of<br />

construction industry experience.<br />

Most recently, she was the warranty<br />

coordinator for Neal Communities<br />

in Sarasota and prior to that,<br />

she was a project coordinator and<br />

expeditor for Westra Construction<br />

Corporation in Palmetto.<br />

Preston has a background as an<br />

executive assistant. Prior to Halfacre,<br />

she was a corporate administrator<br />

for Divergent Dental Group<br />

in Tampa.<br />

Dutton joins the commercial<br />

construction company at its Punta<br />

Gorda office. As project manager,<br />

his day-to-day responsibilities<br />

include scheduling, budgeting, cost<br />

estimating and value engineering<br />

services throughout the projects. He<br />

has over 25 years of experience<br />

within the civil construction and<br />

engineering industry.<br />

■ Camille Cline has been named<br />

the Director of Advancement for<br />

Venice Theatre. She previously led<br />

the theatre's<br />

capital campaign<br />

before<br />

Hurricane<br />

Ian severely<br />

damaged<br />

the Jervey<br />

Theatre.<br />

Cline<br />

will now<br />

concentrate<br />

on raising<br />

funds to<br />

Camille Cline<br />

renovate the three-building campus<br />

of Venice Theatre and raising<br />

awareness for the second-largest<br />

community theatre in the nation.<br />

Cline succeeds Eric Watters, who<br />

served as the Director of Development<br />

since 2015. Cline is eager<br />

to continue the work started by<br />

Watters and others who have raised<br />

funds for the theatre since its inception<br />

in 1950.<br />

Cline succeeds Eric Watters, who<br />

served as the Director of Development<br />

since 2015. Cline is eager<br />

to continue the work started by<br />

Watters and others who have raised<br />

funds for the theatre since its inception<br />

in 1950.<br />

Cline’s development and<br />

engagement experience includes<br />

leadership roles at the University<br />

of Virginia, Education Foundation<br />

of Sarasota County, the Friends of<br />

the Venice Public Library, and The<br />

Loveland Center. She served as<br />

President of the Pine View Association,<br />

chairs the Authors Committee<br />

for the Venice Book Fair and Writers<br />

Festival, and is a member of the<br />

Finance Committee of Grace United<br />

Methodist Church.<br />

Venice Theatre’s Executive<br />

Director, Kristofer Geddie, says the<br />

decision to recruit Cline was crucial<br />

to maintaining continuity with<br />

supporters. “Camille did tremendous<br />

work for us in the past, securing<br />

gifts from individuals, families,<br />

corporations, and foundations<br />

to purchase the Carole Freeland<br />

Raymond Center. She also raised<br />

funds to renovate the Technical Arts<br />

Center and rejuvenate the main<br />

lobby and its adjacent spaces. As<br />

we rebuild and enhance our 432-<br />

seat Jervey Theatre and begin to<br />

renovate the Raymond Center into<br />

a state-of-the art Theatre Education<br />

facility, Camille is without a doubt<br />

the person to lead the effort.”<br />

Community members interested<br />

in contributing to the theatre’s rebuilding<br />

campaign or learning more<br />

about supporting the theatre can<br />

visit venicetheatre.org or contact<br />

Camille Cline at camille@<br />

venice theatre.net.<br />

■ Sarasota County<br />

Utilities has appointed<br />

Brooke Bailey as Director<br />

of Public Utilities. Brooke<br />

has served as their<br />

interim director since<br />

November 2023 and was<br />

formerly Water Division<br />

Manager. Public Utilities<br />

provides drinking water<br />

to over 128,000 Sarasota<br />

County customers.<br />

Running<br />

for Office<br />

■ Alexandra Coe, who served two<br />

terms on the Sarasota County Charter<br />

Review<br />

Board, has<br />

announced<br />

her candidacy<br />

for Sarasota<br />

County<br />

Commission,<br />

District<br />

1. Coe<br />

has been<br />

a resident<br />

for three<br />

decades in<br />

Alexandra Coe<br />

Sarasota and over 40 years in Florida.<br />

Coe is an applied anthropology<br />

researcher with a focus on critical<br />

areas such as food systems, agriculture,<br />

liberty, and environmental<br />

stewardship. Her background includes<br />

managing a family coop farm<br />

and a rooster rescue operation.<br />

Coe’s campaign will center on the<br />

principle of “good common-sense<br />

governance,” with a focus on crafting<br />

growth plans that prioritize the<br />

needs of current residents, especially<br />

seniors. “Sarasota County is<br />

home to some of the nation’s oldest<br />

populations. Our current development<br />

trajectory does not serve our<br />

seniors well,” Coe stated, emphasizing<br />

the need for a shift away<br />

from developer-driven agendas<br />

towards a more community-centric<br />

approach. “We cannot afford more<br />

of the same. It’s time for governance<br />

that values people over tax base<br />

expansion.”<br />

Coe believes in the interdependence<br />

of Sarasota County’s ecology<br />

and economy. She argues for a balanced<br />

approach to growth that safeguards<br />

essential habitats, such as<br />

wetlands and uplands, to maintain<br />

the county’s ecological integrity.<br />

For more information on Alexandra<br />

Coe’s campaign for Sarasota County<br />

Commission, District 1, visit www.<br />

LetsgowithCoe.com.<br />

Chair Emeritus Brock Leach, Vice President of<br />

Programs Kathleen Sullivan, Board Chair Keith<br />

Johnson, and Vice President of Philanthropy<br />

Jessica Rogers<br />

Board News<br />

■ Children First, Inc., the exclusive<br />

provider of Head Start and Early<br />

Head Start services for Sarasota<br />

County, has announced its slate of<br />

board leadership for 20<strong>24</strong>, and the<br />

addition of two new directors.<br />

At the agency’s annual board<br />

reception, Keith G. Johnson, Managing<br />

Director & Senior Wealth<br />

Advisor with Truist, was formally<br />

welcomed as Board Chair. Michael<br />

K. Suarez, former Executive Director<br />

of Sarasota County Emergency Services,<br />

was welcomed as Vice Chair.<br />

Elizabeth Stamoulis, Esq., Partner<br />

at Williams Parker Attorneys at<br />

Law and Lisa Giglio, former Director<br />

of Education at Sylvan Learning<br />

Center, maintained their executive<br />

positions as Treasurer and Secretary<br />

respectively. Reverend Brock<br />

H. Leach, former executive for<br />

PepsiCo, was thanked for his service<br />

throughout 2023 as he steps into his<br />

role as Chair Emeritus.<br />

New directors joining the board<br />

for a three-year term are Thomas L.<br />

Cunningham, Director of Remarketing<br />

Strategies for Ford Motor<br />

Company, and Carol L. Kalikow,<br />

former Vice President of Oscar de la<br />

Renta Studio.<br />

The agency also welcomed Ella C.<br />

and Roland B. to the Board of Directors<br />

through the Boys & Girls Club’s<br />

STAR (Students Take Active Roles)<br />

Leadership Training program.<br />

Other directors on the board<br />

include Howard Berman, Kenneth<br />

Hughes, Rebecca M. Lieberher,<br />

Elenor Maxheim, Linda L.<br />

Monda, Robert L. Moulds, and<br />

Joe Stephan. The Children First<br />

Board of Directors is comprised of<br />

community members and leaders<br />

from the human services, corporate,<br />

investment, and philanthropic<br />

sectors of our region. To learn more,<br />

visit childrenfirst.net.<br />

For information on CPC, visit<br />

www.cpcsarasota.org.<br />

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28 WEST COAST WOMAN MARCH 20<strong>24</strong>


MARCH 20<strong>24</strong> WEST COAST WOMAN 29


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It is higher in nutrients than most grains and is often marketed as a “superfood.”Although<br />

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Epilepsy is a neurological disorder that can strike<br />

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THE PUNCHLINE<br />

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Monday, February 12, 20<strong>24</strong> | 7:00 PM<br />

Sarasota Art Museum, Sarasota<br />

Combining musical mastery with a<br />

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delivers engaging performances that<br />

crescendo to a captivating musical<br />

punchline. The Punchline Quartet understands the importance<br />

of making music an approachable realm, and an experience that<br />

is reflective of today’s world and audience. Kate Arndt, violin; Ria<br />

Honda, violin; Sarah Sung, viola; Elena Ariza, cello.<br />

“HERS”<br />

CARR-PETROVA DUO<br />

Sunday, March 3, 20<strong>24</strong> | 6:00 PM<br />

The Harvest, Sarasota<br />

Album release, artist talk, and concert<br />

“HERS” vibrantly celebrates the vision,<br />

strength, resilience, and incredible<br />

accomplishments of eight fearless women – from the 12th century’s<br />

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Visit our website for tickets and more<br />

information: PERLMANSUNCOAST.ORG<br />

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