From the archives: Kids got down and dirty at camp

The Longboat Observer captured the dirtiest day of the year July 21, 2000: Super Duper Dirty Day at Bayfront Park Recreation Center, when campers brought special ingredients from home, such as SpaghettiOs, ketchup, mustard and flour, for a gigantic, free-for-all food fight.

When the food fight was over, Longboat Key firefighter/paramedics hosed campers down, so they would be clean enough for the car ride home.

+ Meeting made for TV
This wasn’t your everyday Longboat Key Town Hall meeting.

At the beginning of a July 23, 1979, special meeting, commissioners’ discussion of Manatee County dual taxation was disrupted by cries of “help me.”

They found a naked woman lying on the floor near the counter while a man who said he was her husband tried to remove pills from her mouth.

Police and firefighters took the woman to a hospital.

“This is just like on TV,” said one police officer on the scene.

Here’s what also made the meeting unique: After five minutes of commotion, the commission decided it couldn’t get any work done and adjourned the meeting.

+ Where’s the beef?
The former manager of Longboat Key’s Publix warned residents the supermarket would begin prosecuting shoplifters and seeking financial damages, attorney fees and court costs.

The supermarket had previously been lenient with shoplifters, typically issuing a trespass violation to prevent the suspect from returning to the store.

But the policy changed after a 69-year-old man allegedly stole beef tenderloins and rib-eye stakes valued at $40. He struck a store detective four times when confronted before escaping in his BMW. He left the steaks behind.

Classic Cops Corner
07/24/96 — 1:12 p.m. Country Club Shores. Resident discontinued her lawn-care service. Owner of lawn-care service flipped her off every time she drove by. Advised to ignore it.