- December 23, 2025
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Families throughout the Longboat Key area find many ways to celebrate around the holidays every year. From family recipes passed down through the generations to laughter-earning practical jokes, here is a snapshot of the memories and traditions that hold a special place in residents’ hearts.
Longboat Key Fire Rescue is always ready to respond to emergencies, Christmas Day included.
Firefighter and paramedic Zach Schield arrives for his 24-hour shift at 7:30 a.m. He said on Christmas Day, his routine is mostly the same to begin the day. First, the arriving first responders debrief with the departing firefighters about what calls and emergencies happened the day before. Then, Schield would head out and test the fire rig or ambulance he’d be working on that day.
“We have more of a holiday schedule, so we might take it a little bit easier on chores and things like that, but as far as making sure your equipment and anything that is life safety or emergency related, you have to make sure it’s working to the same caliber as any other day,” Schield said.
Thankfully, it’s C-shift’s turn to work on Christmas this year.
Schield will get to be home with family. Good news, since his kids are getting a bit older, now 7 and 8.
“When they were younger, we would celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve or the 23rd sometimes, even the day after, and let them still have that magical day with dad and mom because they didn’t know any better,” Schield said.
Schield said it’s pretty common for shift swaps to happen on Christmas.
“A lot of times those guys that don’t have kids will step up and they’ll swap (shifts) with the guys that do have kids so they can enjoy the Christmas morning with younger kids and have a family day, but it doesn’t always work that way,” he said.
The eight firefighter paramedics and lieutenants that will be working Christmas Day will make the most of it, though. A joint dinner is held at one of the two fire stations “with hopes they don’t get a call as they take that first bite,” Fire Rescue spokesperson Tina Adams says.
Schield said calls still come in, but not as often.
“You never know what you’re going to get, but it does seem like it’s a bit slower on Christmas,” Schield said. “Not that you don’t get calls, but it almost seems like people are like, ‘Oh it’s Christmas, I don’t want to call them today.’ You’re not getting as many as the regulars as you normally get.”
Families and significant others are welcomed at the station to join in on the Christmas dinner. Family members also stop by earlier in the day, the firehouse living room often abuzz as gifts are exchanged.
“As close as we are as a crew, our families get close to each other as well,” said firefighter paramedic Trey Bowlin, who works the same shift as Schield. “My wife and kids are close with his wife and kids, so it’s also fun for them to come together.
“It’s like going to the two sides of the family. This is the third side of the family. My wife’s family, my family, and then the station family as well.”
— S.T. Cardinal
Marion Levine, co-president of Temple Beth Israel, looks forward to cooking her mother’s recipe for latkes every Hanukkah. The crispy potato pancakes are a staple holiday dish for many families this time of year, and Levine said cooking them the same way her mother, Adeline Salomon, did helps her feel connected to her.
“Even though it’s a mess and you could always skip it by buying the mix and frying them in your kitchen, I do still do it from scratch,” she said. “That’s a tradition, no matter what.”
Her mother was an incredibly special woman, Levine said. Her family moved to the United States in 1935. With her 4-foot, 10-inch stature and strawberry blonde hair, Levine’s mother always made an impression.
“She lived to almost 100, and I never saw a gray hair on her head,” she recalled.
Even right up until she moved to an assisted living home, she loved to cook, especially her latkes.
The family latke recipe has also continued to her own children.
“I have one daughter in Boston who is the family chef, and I’m sure she’s going to make them, even though her boys were just home for Thanksgiving,” Levine said.
— Dana Kampa
Susan Gilmore Clarke, recording secretary of the St. Mary, Star of the Sea, Catholic Church Women’s Guild, said her family partakes in many family traditions for Christmas. But one of the most memorable was when her children were young, and her father would run outside with a leather strap adorned with jingling bells.
“When the kids heard that, they knew it was time to run off to bed,” she said.
She would look at them and see the realization on their faces that the man in red was here, and they were still up. So, it would quickly turn into a sprint to see who could get under the covers quickest, at the risk of losing out on their Christmas presents.
“That’s one tradition not everyone has,” she chuckled.
— Dana Kampa
Vicki Workman has worked for Publix for more than 30 years, and each holiday season, she bakes cookies for the grocery store employees. In the break room this year, there were nine varieties.
But that’s not the extent of the holiday cheer Vicki and her husband, George, share with Longboat Key.
George Workman had a heart attack 25 years ago.
Each year since, the Workmans have made it an annual tradition to stop by the firehouses at Longboat Key during December to drop off snacks for the firefighter paramedics.
“What they have done for us can’t be replaced,” Vicki said.
The Workmans, who have lived on the island for almost four decades, say they have dropped off popcorn and a Publix gift card at both firehouses as a thank you to the first responders during the holidays. This year, the Workmans are adding another goodie for the firefighters — nuts.
How George was cared for during that emergency a quarter century ago has given them a deeper appreciation for the first responders on the Key.
“If it hadn’t been for that, I’d just know them as the Longboat Key Fire Department,” George said. “Until they help you personally, it’s easy to kind of just slosh them off.”
Firefighter paramedic Zach Schield said it’s not uncommon for residents to knock on the door with sweets, snacks and casseroles. The gesture is appreciated.
“People are pretty gracious of us, and they drop a lot of food off, which is always appreciated,” Schield said.
That appreciation is expressed in return to the Workmans, with Fire Chief Paul Dezzi writing his thanks for the donation.
And just like the Workmans, Dezzi hasn’t missed a year expressing gratitude.
— S.T. Cardinal
Janice Stone and son David Stone, chef at Longboat Island Chapel and former chef at the Longboat Key Club, said unexpected jokes and laughter have always been central to their holiday celebrations.
“My family always had a lot of fun at Christmas,” Janice said. “The grandchildren would always get a kick out of my husband because he always had a big present that said ‘To: Grandpa; From: Grandpa.’ It was always something that he picked out.”
Meanwhile, Janice said she would be hard at work cooking holiday meals and wrapping the other presents. When they could all sit down together after all the prep was done, it was always a special moment filled with joy.
She continued, “One Christmas, he really had them all laughing because he was sitting on the sofa, and when he got up, he split his pants. Most of my memories — I have four boys — involve him making them laugh. We had a lot of fun.”
— Dana Kampa
Ryan Gandy, executive director of Sarasota Bay Estuary Program, said his Christmas tradition is getting out into nature at some point during the break.
“We’re not that traditional, but the biggest thing we do is take our time to be outdoors," Gandy said. "When I take my Christmas vacation we always plan to be out on the water or go out to hike. There’s a lot of places in Myakka that, since it’s the dry season, you can go out and it’s not too squishy. So me, my wife and my son generally spend that time together outdoors whenever we can.”
— S.T. Cardinal
Artist Lynn Armstrong Coffin said she, her husband, Gary Coffin, and the rest of the family love to ring in the holidays with several quirky traditions. One of the most widely beloved is their annual taco bar setup.
Rather than roast turkey or ham, every year, the Coffin family looks forward to filling up bowls with all the taco fixings. It works especially well for when family members traveling from afar arrive throughout the day and can dish up a serving whenever they step through the door.
She said the menu may seem a bit strange to others, but Christmas dinner just wouldn’t have the same charm without their tradition.
In fact, even their more familiar traditions sometimes come with a twist.
Armstrong Coffin said she and her husband love picking out a Christmas tree for the holidays, usually a 12-footer. One year though, they were about to forego the tradition but changed their minds at the last minute.
However, there was only one, comically diminutive tree left on the lot by the time they arrived.
“It was missing most of its branches and had just a little bit of white flecking on it,” she said. “It really looked just like the Charlie Brown Christmas tree. We put it on the seat of the car, and I laughed the whole way home.”
The mishaps continued after they got it home.
“To make it look bigger, we put it on a 5-foot ladder and put a sheet over the ladder so we would have a tall Christmas tree,” she said.
Another year, she found herself short on ornaments, so only one half of the tree got decorated.
Armstrong Coffin said she has learned two lessons from those experiences. No. 1: “I’m not a big Christmas tree person.” No. 2: It’s important to embrace the mishaps that come with those holiday traditions, be ready to laugh them off, and focus on what traditions everyone truly enjoys, even if that doesn’t include a typical Christmas dinner.
— Dana Kampa
