Celebrity bartenders to raise money for Ranch commemoration of 911

Bob Delaney (Herald file photo)

LAKEWOOD RANCH — To raise money for the Lakewood Ranch Remembers 911 flag dedication and memorial, a celebrity bartending event is set for 6 -9 p.m. Thursday, July 17, at Polo Grill & Bar, 10670 Boardwalk Loop, Lakewood Ranch.

Celebrity bartenders will include National Basketball Association referee Bob Delaney, State Rep. Greg Steube, Sen. Mike Bennett, county commission candidate Vanessa Baugh, and Tim Mulqueen, director of sports at Lakewood Ranch.

A gift  basket donated by Dick Vitale, and the celebrity bartenders will be raffled.  The public is invited.

Music will be provided by Goodbye Eddie. Tips go to 911 event.

Lakewood Ranch Remembers is set for 5-8 p.m. Sept. 10 at the Premier Sports Campus.

Highlights will include 2,752 flags to represent those who lost their lives during the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the dedication of a flag and pole, the singing of patriotic songs, speeches, and a silent procession of emergency service vehicles led by bag pipes.

For more information call Lakewood Ranch Community Activities at 757-1530 or visit  www.lwrcac.com.

Manatee County represented at Florida Cattlemen's Convention

Manatee County Junior Cattlemen attended recent state convention. Shown above, from left, front, are Cully Rowell,  president; Jessica Bailey; Lacy Kersey; Courtney Wingate; Jessie Embach; Casey Wingate; and Kelly Davis, Florida Cattlemen's Association 2010-2011 Sweetheart, (and back, from left) Clint Thum; Zack Quattlebaum; and Chicolm Thum.

Forty Manatee Cattlemen, Cattlewomen and Junior members represented Manatee County recently at the 2011 Florida Cattlemen's Convention at the Marriott's Marco Island Resort.

Local members participated in several junior competitions at the convention.

The marketing team of Lacy Kersey, Courtney Wingate and Jesse Embach placed third in the state competition  and Casey Wingate won first place in the Landscape division.

The Florida Junior Cattlemen's Beef Show will be in Kissimmee August 4 - 6.

Selective lot prices going up at Lakewood Ranch

Roofers at work in Country Club East. (Herald file photo)

LAKEWOOD RANCH -- The developer of Lakewood Ranch is preparing to selectively raise lot prices for the first time since 2006.

Prices will be going up $8,000 to $18,000 for the larger or premium lots carrying a current price tag of $80,000 to $200,000 in Country Club East, said Milt Flinn, president of LWR Communities LLC.

No other neighborhoods at Lakewood Ranch will be affected by the price increases set for July 25.

Country Club East has been a hot spot for new-home construction, and the price increase is in response to market forces and an  effort to control the mix of property for sale, Flinn said.

There are currently 160 new homes under construction at Lakewood Ranch.

Alan Anderson, executive vice president of the Home Builders Association Manatee-Sarasota, said that the price increase is in line with what builders have been saying about the market at Lakewood Ranch.

"We have had pretty good success in the low end of the market and the good news is that the mid-range stuff is picking up," he said.

For more on the price increase, see Tuesday's Herald.

For more on the home-building boom at Lakewood Ranch, see:

http://www.bradenton.com/2011/06/26/3302404/a-home-run-new-home-sales-rebound.html

Jim

Local martial artists take first place at U.S. Open

First place winners,  left, Cassidy Lawless, Ale' Shepard, CameronTille, Paige Oswald and Tiffany Butz. (provided photo)

Five local martial artists from the Ming Wu Martial Arts academy took home top honors with five first place rankings at the Martial Arts U.S. Open competition recently. The U.S. Open is an annual world level tournament held at Disney’s Coronado Springs. This year the event had several thousand competitors.

Paige Oswald, a 17-year-old 3rd degree black belt and daughter of Ming Wu owner and founder Jessie Vi and Miranda Oswald, captured a first place in self defense and a fifth place in Traditional Forms.

Paige is no stranger to competition. Last November she won three gold medal world titles at the World Martial Arts Games.

Winning first place in Creative Forms were Cameron Tille, 20-year-old brown belt; Ale’ Shepard, 17-year-old purple belt; Tiffany Butz, 14-year-old brown belt; and the youngest Ming Wu competitor this year, 7-year-old blue belt Cassidy Lawless.

Cassidy, Cameron Tille and Ale’ Shepard also took fourth place honors in traditional forms. Ale’ also won a fifth place in Self Defense.

Other black belt competitors from Ming Wu:

Brandon Ramirez, 15, with fourth place in Traditional Weapons; Michael Santoni, 14, with two second place wins in Creative Weapons and Traditional Weapons, as well as two fifth place wins with Creative forms and Traditional Forms;

William Quevedo, 15, with fourth place in Traditional Forms; Roman Goldsby, 11, with fourth in Creative Weapons, fourth in Creative Forms and fifth in Traditional Forms;

Joey LaPerriere, 9, with a third in Traditional Weapons and third in Traditional Forms;

Samantha Chaulsett, 9, with a second in Creative Forms and a third in Traditional Forms;

Derrick Lezama, 8, with fourth in Creative Weapons, fourth in Traditional Weapons, fifth in Creative Forms and second in Traditional Forms.

Other under belt competitors bringing home trophies were Vincent Butz, Olivia Priovolos, Emily Wood and Victoria Butz.

These 17 competitors represent the largest showing that Ming Wu has ever had at the U.S. Open. The students all attend one of two Ming Wu academies located in Sarasota at Fruitville and Beneva or in Lakewood Ranch at Lorraine and S.R. 70.

Ming Wu will be opening a third academy next month in Lakewood Ranch at the Market Street shopping center off University.

The crew from Ming Wu. (provded photo)

Cassidy Lawless. (provided photo)

Former Lakewood Ranch student experiences weightlessness

Harrison Brit experiences weightlessness. (NASA photo)

MANATEE --  After testing their self-designed and constructed experiments on board a gravity-defying aircraft, State College of Florida Manatee-Sarasota  students are evaluating their data collected during a trip to NASA’s Johnson Space Center’s Ellington Field in Houston from June 16 – 25, according to an SCF press release.

Six SCF students -- James Mohan, Joe Comer, Alexa La Motte, Brenan Flint, Harrison Brit, and Mario Osborn -- participated in NASA’s Reduced Gravity Education Flight Program, which gives teams of undergraduate students nationwide the opportunity to propose, design, build, fly and evaluate a reduced gravity experiment.

Brit is a former Lakewood Ranch High School student and Palm-Aire resident.

The team was selected from more than 70 proposals based on scientific merit and education outreach potential.

The team tested their experiment, “Magnetic Forces between Dipoles in Microgravity,” which measured the force between two magnets with dipoles opposed during the reduced gravity flights aboard NASA’s “Weightless Wonder.”

The microgravity aircraft produces periods of weightlessness lasting 18 to 25 seconds by flying a series of about 30 parabolas – a steep climb followed by a free fall – over the Gulf of Mexico.

“This experience surpassed my highest expectations. I’m proud to be one of the first SCF team of students to participate in NASA’s Reduced Gravity Education Flight Program,” Mohan said.

The team will send a final report analyzing the experiment’s effectiveness, scientific findings, and conclusions to NASA within the next three months.

'We try to make people feel better'

Cris Valentine with Jelly Watches and costume jewelry at Lakewood Ranch Medical Center gift shop. (photo Jim Jones)

Just inside the front entrance of Lakewood Ranch Medical Center is the gift shop, operated by Crowder Brothers Ace Hardware Gifts and Gadgets.

It's not every hardware store that could pull off operating a hospital gift shop, but it's not every hardware store that carries fudge, designer handbags and more, either.

Cris Valentine was behind the counter this week, admid all the bling, glitter and fun stuff.

"We try to make people feel better," she said. "To make their minds off things."

Among their most popular sales items are Jelly Watches, selling for $14.99.

Marauders have a night for Lakewood Ranch residents

Marauders mascot at McKechnie Field. (Herald file photo)

It's Lakewood Ranch Residents Night at the Marauders baseball game Sunday, July 3. Gates open at McKechnie Field in downtown Bradenton at 5:30 p.m. and the game starts at 6:30.

There will be a  patriotic jersey auction. Winning bidders take the jersey right off the player's back.

After the game, there will be a fireworks show.

Stacy Morgan at Pirate City said she can take ticket orders until 3 p.m. Saturday.

Game tickets, prepaid, are $5. Group hat prices are $5, and food vouchers are $7.

For more information or tickets, call Stacy at (941) 747-3031, ext. 4365.