April 2015

A special Tax Day GREETING from the Friends

That’s Russ Johnson, Secretary of The Friends and Carlton Reserve volunteer. Every Monday Russ heads to the shooting range at Knight Trail Park and gathers hundreds of spent bullet casings scattered on the ground. He rides the little yellow slider to make the job easier on his back.

He takes home what he’s gathered and cleans them. When he’s got around 35 buckets of brass casings, he drives them down to Naples, where a buyer gives him a good price – as much as $4,000 for the lot.

With occasional other helpers, Russ and Friends’ PresidentTerry Redman have been doing this for five years. In fact it’s been one of the main sources of funding for the umbrella organization of the Friends of Sarasota County Parks.

Terry & ammo

FOSCP is now 13 years young, and Terry and the Board are working on developing additional funding sources. Some new allies are joining in to make the works and goals of FOSCP better known to the larger Sarasota community.

Says Terry:

Mindi Rohan

Projects Consultant who will be writing grants for shade structures for the athletic bleaches. [Mindi’s salary comes from the money raised by the collected casings.] AND Carol Kranitz, our Coordinator for Fund Development who will be seeking donors, setting up a funding event and (with the help of Richard Kramer) getting us re-organized to compete in the non-profit world for funds! 🙂

Richard Kramer

The current goal is to raise $500,000. To bring the Chapters (there are new Chapters – more about that soon) up to speed, a special meeting is being planned. Again, Terry:

We are starting to plan for a “All Chapter Leader” meeting. We want to:

1-Introduce Richard Kramer, our consultant for fund-raising, Mindi Rohan, our Special Projects Consultant, Carol Kranitz, our Coordinator of Fund Development and welcome back our FOSCP Coordinator, Jodi Carroll.

2-Take a group picture of all the Chapter Leaders

3-Have a presentation from the County Parks staff on the Master Park plan and other projects of interest.

4-Discuss changes in the FOSCP web-site and social media.

5-Discuss the future of FOSCP and how can FOSCP be of help for the Chapters and vice-versa.

6-Recognize some of the dedicated volunteers and meet the Board of Directors.

Stay Tuned!

Between 50 and 60 supporters of extending the Legacy Trail came out to the County Administration on April 1, and they weren’t fooling.

They came away with solid County support for plans to bring the trail from its current head in Palmer Ranch into downtown. It’s an ambitious project, and funding remains to be secured.

Funds did get raised through the March 22 Tour de Parks — some $10,000 will go toward the planning of the Legacy extension, Bruce Dillon told the Board. The Tour by the way drew 427 riders from 16 states, 26 Florida cities, and several countries!

Below are but a few of those who came in support of the Trail. From l. to r.: Bruce Dillon, Pam Dillon, Darryl Lang, Chuck Butterfield, Debbie Rauch, Paul Rauch & Jerry Droll. More pics on FLT’s cool new site.

A note from Terry:

Hi All,

This Saturday (the 18th) is the Suncoast BBQ and Bluegrass event at the Venice Fairgrounds. We will have a booth passing out information on FOSCP/ Chapters and Parks. The time is from 10AM to 7PM. We expect 15,000 people at the event so leave time for traffic. Free admission, parking and entertainment. We could use some help at the booth. If you are available to greet people from 10 to noon, noon to 2, 2 to 4, 4 to 6 and/or 6 to closing up please let me know atPresident@FOSCP.org or call me at 275-9397.

Check out their web-site at Suncoast BBQ Bash for more information.

April happens to be Florida Volunteer Month, and several parks volunteers were recognized on April 1 for the unbelievable numbers of hours contributed by each and all.

Among the Friends of the Parks Chapter Members who were so honored:

• Chuck Butterfield – Legacy Trail
• Brent Becker – Nokomis Beach
• Mark Blumenthal – Legacy Trail
• Terry Redman – Friends’ President
• Donna Day – Carlton Reserve
• Sherm Stratton – Carlton Reserve
• Ernest Jones – Knight Trail Park
• Marcia Freeman – Culverhouse Community Garden

Congratulations to all!

That’s Sarasota Parks’ director Carolyn Brown and a consultant at the recent Parks Master Plan meeting at the new Gulf Gate Library. They spoke to a packed house and took feedback on future plans, preferences, and goals. The comments boards received a good deal of attention from devotees of hunting and of Pickleball. There were also moms asking about playground design, and women who want to see parks staffed for security. It’ll be interesting to see where things go from here. Anyone may still learn about the Master Plan and give input on the County’s Parks Master Plan site.

PickleBall

That’s it for now. The April Events in Parks are here.

Find updates, breaking news and cool links on Facebook, Twitter, tumblr and at FOSCP.org.

The Newsletter of the

Friends of

Sarasota County Parks