Island Beat: Tushes slowly make progress on service station plans

The Tush family, owners of CB’s Saltwater Outfitters on Stickney Point Road, slowly are making progress on their plans for the former BP station just to the west of their store.

Mason Tush last week kindly took a few minutes away from what appeared to be a major refurbishment of one of CB’s boats to tell me the family had decided to renovate the store instead of tearing it down and starting from scratch. Still, he said, it would be an extensive remodeling project.

The Tushes finalized their purchase of the property at the end of June, though the station had been closed since early spring. The site was too valuable, Tush told me in July, for the Tushes not to take advantage of the opportunity. One major attraction is that it is on higher ground than CB’s, so it could be used for the relocation of goods from the store in the event a hurricane was approaching the coast.

The Tushes have been working with an architect on their plans, Tush said, adding he’d have more details for me in about a month or so.

If they could get the service station/convenience store reopened by spring, he said, “That would be fantastic.”

Still going strong
“Illegal rentals are still going on,” John Lally, the Key’s code enforcement officer, reported during the Oct. 6 Siesta Key Association meeting.

The issue of people knowingly and unknowingly not abiding by county code in renting homes has been a major topic of SKA meetings over the past year.

Lally said he had been dealing with five more violations committed by five separate entities, with two of those cases scheduled soon for court action.

“We are addressing illegal rentals as much as I can have time to got to working on those,” Lally added.

Help wanted
With Safe Treats coming up on Halloween and Light Up the Village not quite four weeks later, the Siesta Key Village Association is stepping up its efforts to recruit new members, especially those who would like to lend their time to preparations for those big events.

Board member Cheryl Gaddie of CG Designs reminded everyone during the Oct. 4 SKVA meeting that the organization’s annual dues were lowered several months ago from $200 to $50, with the hope of encouraging more participation among Village merchants. However, board members say, businesses haven’t been quick to respond to that enticement.

For the record, the SKVA says on its website (www.siestakeyvillage.org) that it is a nonprofit organization “whose members strive to be a responsible voice of the Siesta Key Village neighborhood. The Siesta Key Village Association is dedicated to bringing local businesses and residents together to establish a sense of community by developing and defining Siesta Village. We support and encourage community cooperation in development and beautification of Siesta Key and are involved in many efforts to improve the Village. We also serve as a community liaison to the City of Sarasota.”

As with many organizations of this type, the same people end up handling volunteer duties year after year for the big events. During that Oct. 4 meeting, Gaddie told the approximately 20 people present, “Give me a piece of paper with your name and email” as a volunteer. She did say that with a big smile.

Wendell Jacobson of Beach Bazaar, who was standing in for President Russell Matthes, pointed out that about 200 children traditionally descend upon the Village for the holiday season kickoff the Saturday after Thanksgiving, and those youngsters usually have parents and/or grandparents in tow. This year, the event will feature not only Santa’s visit and a parade but also contests for the Best Decorated and Most Creative businesses. The winners will be named in an SKVA ad in the Pelican .

Jacobson added that tae kwan do and gymnastics demonstrations also will be on the program.

First though, comes Safe Treats. It will be held from 3 to 6 p.m. Monday, Oct. 31. Light Up the Village is scheduled for 6 to 9 p.m. Nov. 26.

Correction
We look at dates all the time in the newspaper business, but we don’t always keep them straight. When I reported a couple of weeks ago on Benny Kimsey’s upcoming Turtle Beach Bluegrass Picnic, a fundraiser for the American Red Cross, I wrote Nov. 12 is a Sunday. It is a Saturday. The event will be held from noon to 4:30 p.m.

EVENT NEWS WELCOME
With season shortly coming into full swing, the Pelican Press is asking the public, churches, condominium complexes, organizations and any other entity not included in those categories to send in information about upcoming events.

Thanks to The Observer Group’s purchase of the Pelican Press during the summer, the paper has a bigger full-time staff, enabling it to cover many more events than in the past.

Please feel free to send event details to [email protected] or call 366-3468, Ext. 314.