Wednesday, December 12

THE SARASOTA SCENE

PEOPLE & BUSINESS

Wednesday Edition

To submit your news for consideration, send press info to scenemagazine@scenesarasota.com.

The Patterson Foundation Gives $100,000 to Season of Sharing                        The Patterson Foundation has contributed $100,000 to Season of Sharing in recognition of the first $500,000 raised by the community for the region’s annual campaign to help people on the verge of homelessness. Each time the community raises $500,000 between now and Jan. 31, 2019, The Patterson Foundation will make additional $100,000 contributions to catalyze further giving. There is no cap on the number of $100,000 contributions the community can activate during the campaign.

Manatee County Clerk of the Court Unveils Updated Website The updated ManateeClerk.com provides users with an easy-to-navigate online experience and access to its various departments, services, latest news, important information, forms, reports, fee listings and much more.
With continuity and consistency displayed throughout the website, it also features enhanced search performance and updated technology for users.

VIMVEST Growth Party 2018
Vimvest, a financial tech company based in Florida, was host to a special Growth Party event at the Ritz-Carlton in Downtown Sarasota on Saturday, December 8. This was in celebration of the successful launch of their mobile app this past year as well as their upcoming roadmap for 2019.
Joined by Kevin Harrington and headed up by Co-Founders Phillip Dickson, Stuart Dickson, Justin Bailey, and Margaret Hixon, the event facilitated
opportunities for socializing and networking throughout the course of the evening. A demo table was open all night for hands-on experience with the newest version of the app to be released this December. VIEW THE EVENT PHOTO GALLERY

Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Ringling College 
2018-2019 Winter Semester Registration Now Open Registration is now open for the winter semester at Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Ringling College (OLLI at Ringling College). There are more than 100 classes, workshops, lectures and other programs covering a rich diversity of subjects, including art appreciation, culture and travel, health and wellbeing, global issues, science, philosophy and religion, and more. Classes, lectures, Einstein’s Circle discussions, the Connections documentary film series, and other special events are held at OLLI at Ringling College’s interim headquarters at Temple Beth Sholom, 1050 S. Tuttle Ave., Building #1, Sarasota. Classes are also offered at State College of Florida in Lakewood Ranch, The Center on Anna Maria Island, and Westminster Point Pleasant in Bradenton. Weekly classes run two to eight weeks with half day and full day workshops also available. No refunds on lectures, workshops, or special events; registration is transferrable. 

Sarasota YMCA Receives Federal Grant for Street REACH Program              The Sarasota YMCA recently received a grant of $132,000 from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to support a new effort, the Street REACH program. A project of the YMCA’s Schoolhouse Link program, Street REACH (Reconnecting Employment, Academics, and Community Housing) funding will support staffing, including a REACH Case Manager and a part-time Licensed Mental Health Counselor, supplies such as basic needs packs and clothing vouchers, and bus passes for clients. The goals of Street REACH are to keep unaccompanied homeless youth safe, help them enter stable housing, gain education and employment, improve interpersonal relationships and both mental health and physical wellness, and learn the life skills necessary for them to become self-sufficient. Street REACH is projected to contact and serve 130 youth per year. 

Sarasota Film Festival Presents Classic Marilyn Monroe Movie                      The Sarasota Film Festival presents its latest Cinematheque film screenings with the December 15th showing of the Marilyn Monroe comedy
“Some Like it Hot,” while on December 22nd, the modern holiday classic “Love Actually” will be featured. The “ Some Like It Hot” showing will be on Saturday, December 15 at 6 p.m. at 500 Tallevast Rd, #105, Sarasota. Tickets are $10 for general admission and $5 for SFF members and students. Snacks and refreshments will be available. Guests are invited to stay after the movie to chat with other cinephiles. The screening will be introduced by Gus Mollasis of At the Movies with Gus Mollasis , with a Q&A to follow. “Love Actually” will show on December 22.

Hell’s Kitchen Finalist Takes Over Restaurant at The Sarasota Modern  Executive Chef Jennifer Salhoff brings twenty years of elite culinary experience to The Sarasota Modern, having most recently served as executive chef at Le Meridien Hotel in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Chef Salhoff was a powerhouse finalist on Hell’s Kitchen Season 13, hosted by Gordon Ramsey. 

CareerSource Suncoast to host Communications Strategies workshop CareerSource Suncoast, through its entrepreneurial initiative, THRIVE, is hosting an information-packed “Progressive Business Communications Strategies” workshop on Tuesday, December 18 from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. at its Sarasota career center, 3660 N. Washington Blvd. 
This interactive workshop is $79 and you may register at https://thriveinsrq.eventbrite.com. For questions, reach out to Michael Meerman at (941) 877-0288 or mmeerman@careersourcesc.com

PGT Innovations Makes $4 million Restricted Stock Grant to Employees
PGT Innovations announced a one-time grant of restricted stock to more than 3,000 employees, citing sustainability and company culture among the company’s reasons for the gifts.
All team members who have worked at PGT Innovations for one year or longer, and are not already participants in the company’s annual long-term incentive plan, will receive a grant of restricted stock in January 2019. 
In July 2018, the company announced a one-time stock grant that provided 10 shares of common stock to each employee. This marked the first time that every employee at PGT Innovations became a company shareholder.

Winter Reading Challenge Returns in January                                                Sarasota County Libraries and Historical Resources will accept the Winter Reading Challenge starting in January, a national reading competition sponsored by billionaire and “Shark Tank” investor Mark Cuban. Cuban, who also owns the Dallas Mavericks basketball team, is challenging over 100 public libraries across the country to read a total of 75,000 books, equaling five million minutes in one month. If the goal is met, Cuban will donate $35,000 to the top performing libraries. This is the second time Sarasota County libraries is participating in the program. In 2017, 30,000 readers from libraries across the country read over 84,000 books.  Registration for the challenge is open, and the program will officially begin Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2019. To register, click here. 

SCF History Professor Promoted to Associate Professor                            Historian Phillip Travis has been promoted to an associate professor of history at State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota after serving as an assistant professor for two years. Travis, who holds a doctorate of history degree from Washington State University specializing in US international relations and world history, has launched a public access television program “Lectures in History” since joining the faculty at SCF.

Willis Smith Construction Awarded The Master Site Plan for Marie Selby Botanical Gardens The infrastructure will span along the botanical gardens’ 15 acres of Bayfront property. The project will preserve and protect Selby Gardens’ world-class collections and create a future with 50 percent more green space for the Gardens. Once completed, Selby Gardens will possess the first Certified Net Positive Energy Complex at any botanical garden in the world. Furthermore, the onsite restaurant will be the first Certified Net Positive Energy Restaurant in the world.

SBPO Transitions into Plan Implementation Mode                                                The Sarasota Bayfront Planning Organization at its December 4, 2018, meeting formally began its transition to The Bay Conservancy, the entity the City of Sarasota will rely upon to implement the recently approved Master Plan of the City’s 53-acre bayfront site. 
Officers elected for the Conservancy are: Cathy Layton, Chairman; Jennifer Compton, Secretary; Rob Lane, Treasurer. 
The Conservancy’s first meeting will be held on January 15, 2019, at the Blue Pagoda. The Conservancy will be the successor 501c3 not-for-profit of the SBPO. The Conservancy is working with the city on a long-term partnership agreement that establishes the Conservancy as the development, operations, and private funding partner with the City in the build-out and management of the park at The Bay. 
Other board members transitioning into the Conservancy: Keith DuBose, Michael Klauber, and Cynthia McCague. The Conservancy will also likely add additional Board members and Ex Officio members after the first of the year.

Lamborghini Sarasota Presents the New Year’s Eve Party at the Historical Sarasota Municipal Auditorium
Hosted by Full Moon Promotions, the event will be held for the third year at the Historic Sarasota Municipal Auditorium. The theme to ring in 2019 will be ‘GLOW-rious’ with the atmosphere set with Chillounge Nights new experiential ‘Illumination’ furniture concept.
A portion of ticket sales will benefit the Arts & Cultural Alliance of Sarasota. 
December 31, 9:00 p.m. – 1:00 a.m., Sarasota Municipal Auditorium 
Tickets:  http://TheSRQNYE.com

All Star Children’s Foundation adds Danielle Mikesell to Board Roster
During her term, Mikesell and the other six board members will serve as advocates for the organization throughout the community, exercising fiduciary oversight and actively participating in the nonprofit’s long-range and strategic planning. The board members are also responsible for supporting the mission of All Star Children’s Foundation and its creation of the state-of-the-art Campus of Hope and Healing.

REALTOR® Association Installs 2019 Officers and Directors                          The REALTOR® Association of Sarasota and Manatee (RASM) installed the 2019 officers and directors and recognized six award winners at the Installation and Awards Banquet on December 6, 2018. Incoming President Amy Worth, Broker Associate with RE/MAX Platinum Realty, announced her goal to focus on the professionalism, productivity and profitability of RASM’s 6,500 REALTOR® members. 
The newly installed officers for 2019 are President Amy Worth, RE/MAX Platinum Realty, President-Elect David Clapp, RE/MAX Alliance Group, Treasurer Adam Chicoine, RE/MAX Alliance Group, Secretary Georgina Clamage, Michael Saunders & Company and Immediate Past President Greg Owens, Keller Williams on the Water. 
The board of directors serving in 2019 are Tony Barrett, Rico Boeras, Michael Bruno, Jody Carlson, Jaymie Carter, Michelle Crabtree, Lee Forbes, Bill Furst, Sharon Gould, Alex Krumm, Renee Marquiss, Maryellen Paterson, Roger Piro, Brian Tresidder, Tony Veldkamp, and Steve Zeris.

State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota’s Communications and Marketing (CAM) department Wins Seven Awards from the Association of Florida Colleges (AFC) Communications and Marketing Commission 
SCF brought home five first-place awards, a second-place award and a third-place award. First place awards were for SCF’s Annual Report; publication of an article about SCF alumnus and inventor Sean Chan; an admissions marketing brochure designed to look like a graduation cap; a marketing campaign for the college’s new Weekend College; and a poster advertising music and theatre scholarship auditions. SCF also took home a second-place award for a marketing campaign for the new “BSN in 4” nursing program and a third-place award for an admissions direct-mail piece.

USF Sarasota-Manatee Celebrates its 70th Commencement                        
180 graduates attended USFSM’s hour-long fall graduation exercise Monday night at the Bradenton Area Convention Center, 1 Haben Blvd., Palmetto. Altogether, the campus’ four colleges – Business, Hospitality & Tourism Leadership, Liberal Arts & Social Sciences, and Science & Mathematics – conferred 245 degrees, including 24 master’s degrees.
All of the School of Education’s graduates – except those who have deferred their job searches – are already working or have jobs waiting for them, said Dr. Marie Byrd, director of the School of Education.
“That shows you just how in-demand our graduates are,” she said.

Goodwill Manasota Launches Giving Mobile Dedicated vehicle to collect unwanted items from the community makes its debut on Siesta Key           With Goodwill Manasota’s brand new “Giving Mobile,” there is no corner of the community that can’t be reached in order for donations to be conveniently made to the local nonprofit. For its debut deployment the week of December 10, the Giving Mobile was brought to St. Boniface Church on Siesta Key, where there are no Goodwill stores or ADCs. On its final day on the site, Sunday, December 16, the SunCoast Blood Bank bloodmobile will join the Giving Mobile to help celebrate the “Season of Giving.”           The hours for the dedicated donations vehicle is 9 a.m.-5 p.m. There are totes in the vehicle to accept and sort all sorts of goods, including clothing, shoes, small household items, books and electronics – basically anything that might fit in someone’s trunk – but not large furniture.                            The organization is currently reaching out to other locations, such as shopping centers, country clubs, or any community that could use the mobile Goodwill presence for varying lengths of time.

Foundation Offering Nonprofit Workshops on Grant Writing, Human Resources Registration is now open for two upcoming workshops for nonprofit organizations presented through Gulf Coast Community Foundation’s Invest in Incredible initiative.

 A January 10 workshop will cover human resources compliance and best practices for small organizations, while a January 18 workshop focuses on grant-writing strategies. Each morning-long workshop costs $25, which includes breakfast, and will take place at Gulf Coast Community Foundation’s headquarters in Venice.Registration and more information is available online at GulfCoastCF.org/our-events.

Invest in Incredible is Gulf Coast Community Foundation’s nonprofit capacity-building initiative. Through free online resources, group training workshops, and customized consulting engagements, Invest in Incredible helps nonprofit organizations across the Gulf Coast region improve their board governance and operational effectiveness.

Human Resources: Compliance and Best Practices for Emerging Organizations
Presented by Laurie Huebner
Jan. 10, 2019, 8:30 a.m.–12 p.m. (includes breakfast)
Gulf Coast Community Foundation, 601 Tamiami Trail South, Venice
$25 – registration required by Jan. 8

Grant Writing: Winning Strategies
Presented by Denise Roberts
Jan. 18, 2019, 8:30 a.m.–12 p.m. (includes breakfast)
Gulf Coast Community Foundation, 601 Tamiami Trail South, Venice
$25 – registration required by Jan. 16

21st Century C.A.R.E. Foundation Seeks Donations for Needy Patients this Holiday Season21st Century C.A.R.E., 21st Century Oncology’s not-for-profit charitable foundation dedicated to helping cancer patients, is seeking donations for the 2018 holiday season. The foundation provides patients with financial assistance for incidental expenses related to cancer treatments, enabling them to put their focus where it belongs – on beating the disease.

C.A.R.E. stands for cancer assistance, research, and education and was established in 1996 by Dr. Charles Thomas. Headquartered in Fort Myers, Florida. Between 2007 and March 2018, 21st Century C.A.R.E. has successfully provided assistance to more than 5,000 patients in the amount of $651,952. Supported solely by donations and fundraising events, 21st Century C.A.R.E. assures that all funds remain local to the area in which they are raised.