When the Manatee County Fair nears, historically it brings rainy weather, too.
Charles Panacek is well aware of the quirky phenomenon.
It happens here and at other fairs when his Belle City Amusements, Inc., rolls into another town, especially during those midwest summers.
“Farmers love to see us when they haven’t had rain for awhile,” he quipped
Big ups to Amy Whittington, Danielle Williams, Emily Egan,Christopher Lawless, Jason Besse and Stephen Desch, Ultra Mixed team winners in the 2012 Ragnar Relay Race from Miami to Key West.
Starting at 1 p.m. last Friday, they helped run 198.5 miles in 26:11.12 --- and then crashed.
“They were too pooped to party,” said Beth Egan, Emily’s mom.
Just as Juan Roldan, Iraq veteran and Wounded Warrior, was settling into his new Parrish home, he went into the Bay Pines VA hospital for aanother surgery on Jan. 3.
A double amputee, Roldan faces 12 weeks of recuperation and rehab.
Remember the 13th annual Manatee Hurricanes Baseball Steakout & Reunion, 5-9 p.m. Feb. 3 at McKechnie Field. Call head coach Dwayne Strong at 725-2293 or Bruce Braithwaite at 720-9224.
Read more Friday in Vin's People on Bradenton.com.
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
What was commissioner thinking?
I don't know about you, but if I cause a fender bender on a major roadway, I'm not leaving the scene.
Even if the damage is slight.
Especially for a haircut appointment.
Which is tantamount to the little mis-adventure Commissioner Donna Hayes got herself caught up in Wednesday.
The 69-year-old East Manatee resident and prominent Manatee County Republican rear-ended another driver on State Road 70, gave the other motorist her contact information and told her she had to leave because she was late for an appointment.
At the hairdresser.
Well, excuse us.
Evidently, the Florida Highway Patrol was neither impressed nor sympathetic, even after Hayes reportedly took ill at the hairdresser and an ambulance was summoned, taking her to Blake Medical Center.
She was charged with careless driving and failure to immediately report a vehicle crash.
Hayes deserves ridicule for that stunt.
Now, I understand it's common for drivers involved in a minor fender bender to exchange the pertinent information and take care of business without involving law enforcement.
It happened to me and a neighbor years ago, we settled up no problem and no police were necessary.
But that was our quiet neighborhood street, not S.R. 70.
If it had happened there, I'm staying until everything is squared away -- and that includes the FHP.
Bug out for a haircut appointment?
Yeah, right.
Even if the damage is slight.
Especially for a haircut appointment.
Which is tantamount to the little mis-adventure Commissioner Donna Hayes got herself caught up in Wednesday.
The 69-year-old East Manatee resident and prominent Manatee County Republican rear-ended another driver on State Road 70, gave the other motorist her contact information and told her she had to leave because she was late for an appointment.
At the hairdresser.
Well, excuse us.
Evidently, the Florida Highway Patrol was neither impressed nor sympathetic, even after Hayes reportedly took ill at the hairdresser and an ambulance was summoned, taking her to Blake Medical Center.
She was charged with careless driving and failure to immediately report a vehicle crash.
Hayes deserves ridicule for that stunt.
Now, I understand it's common for drivers involved in a minor fender bender to exchange the pertinent information and take care of business without involving law enforcement.
It happened to me and a neighbor years ago, we settled up no problem and no police were necessary.
But that was our quiet neighborhood street, not S.R. 70.
If it had happened there, I'm staying until everything is squared away -- and that includes the FHP.
Bug out for a haircut appointment?
Yeah, right.
Monday, January 9, 2012
Ten winners for my (wife's) recipe book
Two years ago, the Manatee County Fair culinary volunteer judges had 80 entries to taste and tally.
A year ago, they had 140.
Last Saturday, it was 220.
Think I tried every one of them.
Or close to it.
The competition gets better each year.
Tastier, too.
During Saturday's grueling 2.5 hours of tough duty, I jotted down my favorites. They're listed 1 to 10 because that's the order in which I tried them, not ranking.
In fact, my favorite was one of the last entries I munched on.
If you recognize yours, I hope you win an award at the Fair.
If you don't, I'd still love a recipe!
1.) Nagasaki syrup.
2.) Acorn squash pie.
3.) Pumpkin crunch.
4.) Christmas cranberry cookie.
5.) Banana nut muffin.
6.) Double chip rocky road brownie.
7.) Banana pudding pie.
8.) Chocolate chip cookie dough brownies.
9.) Apple sauce cake.
10.) Marvelous canoli cake.
A year ago, they had 140.
Last Saturday, it was 220.
Think I tried every one of them.
Or close to it.
The competition gets better each year.
Tastier, too.
During Saturday's grueling 2.5 hours of tough duty, I jotted down my favorites. They're listed 1 to 10 because that's the order in which I tried them, not ranking.
In fact, my favorite was one of the last entries I munched on.
If you recognize yours, I hope you win an award at the Fair.
If you don't, I'd still love a recipe!
1.) Nagasaki syrup.
2.) Acorn squash pie.
3.) Pumpkin crunch.
4.) Christmas cranberry cookie.
5.) Banana nut muffin.
6.) Double chip rocky road brownie.
7.) Banana pudding pie.
8.) Chocolate chip cookie dough brownies.
9.) Apple sauce cake.
10.) Marvelous canoli cake.
Saturday, January 7, 2012
Bus video glimpse at best, worst
Kids laughing.
A girl and boy flirting.
Indistinct music from the radio.
There wasn’t anything unusual happening aboard Manatee County School District bus No. 560 as it headed west on State Road 64 near Walmart with the surveillance video camera rolling Thursday afternoon.
How quickly calm became chaos for 26 Braden River Middle School students, most of whom would be hospitalized before the day was done.
A day they and their families won’t forget for a long, long time.
Read more Sunday in Mannix About Manatee on Bradenton.com.
A girl and boy flirting.
Indistinct music from the radio.
There wasn’t anything unusual happening aboard Manatee County School District bus No. 560 as it headed west on State Road 64 near Walmart with the surveillance video camera rolling Thursday afternoon.
How quickly calm became chaos for 26 Braden River Middle School students, most of whom would be hospitalized before the day was done.
A day they and their families won’t forget for a long, long time.
Read more Sunday in Mannix About Manatee on Bradenton.com.
Thursday, January 5, 2012
From DeSoto queen to Miss America?
When Ellie Ohlman’s reign as DeSoto queen ends in April, that will not be the end of the pageant trail for the University of South Florida freshman and future DeSoto queens.
For the first time in the pageant’s 70-plus years, the DeSoto queen is eligible to vie for Miss Florida.
And if they win that, it’s onto Miss America.
Vernon DeSear, a two-time national judge for the Miss America Pageant and former Miss Florida Pageant vice-president, said the Miss America Pageant has expanded its qualifying program to include fair and festival pageant winners, not just the traditional 50 state pageant winners.
That also means reigning Miss Manatee County Fair Queen Tiffany Elder and her successors could vie for Miss Florida if the Manatee River Fair Association chooses to sponsor its 16-21-year-old "Miss" division winner.
"They’re looking into it," said DeSear, a Manatee Memorial Hospital vice-president.
The Miss Florida pageant is July in St. Petersburg.
James Haddon a winter resident from Gaines, Mich., is 91.
He and Corinne have been married 47 years.
Lakewood Ranch High School’s Silver Stars dance team performed during the Discover Orange Bowl halftime show.
They are captain Melanie Hahn, co-captain Jessica Goodwin, Danielle Calabrese, Caitlin Currey, Keeley Daily, Isabella Giacalone, Rachel Gross, Casey Henshaw, Michelle Jackson, Brooke Kiser, Heather Krizov, Kylee McKinney, Kelsey McVaugh, Tyrese Taylor and Samantha Thomas. Hope Hahn is coach.
Read more Friday in Vin's People on Bradenton.com.
For the first time in the pageant’s 70-plus years, the DeSoto queen is eligible to vie for Miss Florida.
And if they win that, it’s onto Miss America.
Vernon DeSear, a two-time national judge for the Miss America Pageant and former Miss Florida Pageant vice-president, said the Miss America Pageant has expanded its qualifying program to include fair and festival pageant winners, not just the traditional 50 state pageant winners.
That also means reigning Miss Manatee County Fair Queen Tiffany Elder and her successors could vie for Miss Florida if the Manatee River Fair Association chooses to sponsor its 16-21-year-old "Miss" division winner.
"They’re looking into it," said DeSear, a Manatee Memorial Hospital vice-president.
The Miss Florida pageant is July in St. Petersburg.
James Haddon a winter resident from Gaines, Mich., is 91.
He and Corinne have been married 47 years.
Lakewood Ranch High School’s Silver Stars dance team performed during the Discover Orange Bowl halftime show.
They are captain Melanie Hahn, co-captain Jessica Goodwin, Danielle Calabrese, Caitlin Currey, Keeley Daily, Isabella Giacalone, Rachel Gross, Casey Henshaw, Michelle Jackson, Brooke Kiser, Heather Krizov, Kylee McKinney, Kelsey McVaugh, Tyrese Taylor and Samantha Thomas. Hope Hahn is coach.
Read more Friday in Vin's People on Bradenton.com.
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Ware's Creek is going to ... the hogs?
Just when we thought Ware's Creek was all set to be dredged out and straightened up minus any more fuss, the old channel is still being used as a dumping site.
For hog remains?
Egad!
I've seen all sorts of refuse in the muck of Ware's Creek at low tide.
Patio furniture.
Rubber boots.
Plenty of beer cans. That's no surprise.
But wild hog remains?
How gross.
Bradenton City Councilman Pat Roff, whose home is on Virginia Drive on the channel's west side, said six carcasses have been dumped in the vicinity of the basin, just south of the Manatee Avenue Bridge.
Turkey vultures have been having feast.
He called it “unsanitary, unsightly, and certainly not civilized."
Roff might've included it stinks to high heaven, too.
Since wild hogs aren't part of the animal population in that part of Bradenton, it's a good bet they were caught in the rural parts of Manatee County east of the city.
That's natural.
But bringing their butchered remains all the way to Ware's Creek?
It doesn't make any sense.
Said City Attorney Bill Lisch, “Do we need to start a pig patrol?”
Crazy.
For hog remains?
Egad!
I've seen all sorts of refuse in the muck of Ware's Creek at low tide.
Patio furniture.
Rubber boots.
Plenty of beer cans. That's no surprise.
But wild hog remains?
How gross.
Bradenton City Councilman Pat Roff, whose home is on Virginia Drive on the channel's west side, said six carcasses have been dumped in the vicinity of the basin, just south of the Manatee Avenue Bridge.
Turkey vultures have been having feast.
He called it “unsanitary, unsightly, and certainly not civilized."
Roff might've included it stinks to high heaven, too.
Since wild hogs aren't part of the animal population in that part of Bradenton, it's a good bet they were caught in the rural parts of Manatee County east of the city.
That's natural.
But bringing their butchered remains all the way to Ware's Creek?
It doesn't make any sense.
Said City Attorney Bill Lisch, “Do we need to start a pig patrol?”
Crazy.
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Death breaks up lifelong rock duo
Larry Reinhardt. Mack Doss.
I can't think of one without the other.
What brings them to mind now is Reinhardt's passing Monday at 63.
I can only imagine how Doss is coping with the death of his lifelong friend, fellow guitarist and kindred spirit.
I met them years ago not long after I came to Bradenton in 1998 and wrote about them.
"Rhino," as Reinhardt was known, played with Iron Butterfly, an iconic rock group from the 1970s. "In A Gadda Da Vida" was their monster hit and defined that era.
Doss, played with Classics IV, known for their "Soft Southern rock" sound, with hits like "Traces" and "Spooky."
Those songs were part of the sound track of my life in college and in the early years afterward.
So it was a gas to meet Reinhardt and Doss, all of us in our 50s by then.
It was even sweeter to know and appreciate both were sons of Bradenton, who attended Southeast High School, then formed a successful local band, the Thunderbeats, before moving onto the big time.
Yet they never forgot their roots, playing gigs around town as Rhino & Doss.
One October a few years ago, they returned to Southeast, spoke to a first-year guitar class and were besieged by autograph requests. Afterward they jammed for Southeast's Renaissance students in the school theater.
The response was overwhelming.
When the duo played, "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida," and then, "Spooky," the students sang along, waving their lighted cellphones.
"Man, I can't remember the last time I had this much fun," Reinhardt said.
So did Doss.
"These are kids are hip and they've all got 3.9 GPAs --- just like me and Rhino did," he joked.
I hope Doss is comforted by the memories of those good times.
I can't think of one without the other.
What brings them to mind now is Reinhardt's passing Monday at 63.
I can only imagine how Doss is coping with the death of his lifelong friend, fellow guitarist and kindred spirit.
I met them years ago not long after I came to Bradenton in 1998 and wrote about them.
"Rhino," as Reinhardt was known, played with Iron Butterfly, an iconic rock group from the 1970s. "In A Gadda Da Vida" was their monster hit and defined that era.
Doss, played with Classics IV, known for their "Soft Southern rock" sound, with hits like "Traces" and "Spooky."
Those songs were part of the sound track of my life in college and in the early years afterward.
So it was a gas to meet Reinhardt and Doss, all of us in our 50s by then.
It was even sweeter to know and appreciate both were sons of Bradenton, who attended Southeast High School, then formed a successful local band, the Thunderbeats, before moving onto the big time.
Yet they never forgot their roots, playing gigs around town as Rhino & Doss.
One October a few years ago, they returned to Southeast, spoke to a first-year guitar class and were besieged by autograph requests. Afterward they jammed for Southeast's Renaissance students in the school theater.
The response was overwhelming.
When the duo played, "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida," and then, "Spooky," the students sang along, waving their lighted cellphones.
"Man, I can't remember the last time I had this much fun," Reinhardt said.
So did Doss.
"These are kids are hip and they've all got 3.9 GPAs --- just like me and Rhino did," he joked.
I hope Doss is comforted by the memories of those good times.
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