Community News - Manatee Movers and Shakers, 10/20/2011

Goodwill To Open New Donation Center In Lakewood Ranch

New Center Has Fresh New Look

Goodwill announced today the opening of its newly constructed donation center in Lakewood Ranch. The donation center is located at 9135 Town Center Parkway, adjacent to Primrose School at Lakewood Ranch.

The new 2,200 square foot facility will accept items such as gently used clothing, furniture, toys, books and small appliances with a convenient donor drive through for easy drop off.  The opening of the center will provide 2 new jobs for the Lakewood Ranch community and will eventually replace an existing donation center which has been difficult for donors to locate.

The new Goodwill donation center will open its doors to the Lakewood Ranch community and celebrate its Grand Opening with a ribbon cutting ceremony on Tuesday, November 1, 2011 from 4:00-6:00 pm. The community is invited to stop by to meet the Goodwill Team and tour the facility.

New Officers at Easter Seals Southwest Florida

Southwest Florida – Easter Seals Southwest Florida is pleased to announce its newly elected officers its Board of Directors.  Stephen Bolander is now Chairman of the Board with Rose-Anne Frano as Vice Chair, Paul Gesko as Treasurer, and Scott Rockwell as Secretary.  Mr. Gesko continues as Chairman of the Easter Seals Southwest Florida Foundation Board as well.

Stephen Bolander is a retired human resource executive. He held various manufacturing and human resource positions over a 35 year career, retiring in 1999 as Vice President of Employee Relations from Ball-Foster Glass Container Company, a major container manufacturing company with 21 manufacturing plants and sales of $1.5 billion. Mr. Bolander has also been actively involved in his community, serving on his hometown governing board, his church board, and his country club board, in each case serving as a board member and president of the board.

Rose-Anne Frano is an attorney who focuses her practice on estate, gift, and generation-skipping transfer tax planning for individuals and their families and the administration of estates and trusts. On the planning side, Rose-Anne is experienced in the creation of tax-efficient succession plans using a variety of both traditional estate planning vehicles and business entities. 

Rose-Anne also is experienced in drafting customized beneficiary designations for IRAs and other tax-deferred investment accounts.

Paul Gesko is President and Treasurer of Miller Gesko and Company, Inc.   He is the founder and principal of the firm, as well as a member of its Investment Advisory Committee. In addition to his responsibilities as financial planner and advisor, Gesko oversees all aspects of company operations, including the income and estate tax departments.   He also manages Miller Gesko’s Sarasota, Florida office. Before joining Miller Gesko in 1969, Paul specialized in trusts and estates for individuals in the Trust Administration Department of M & T Bank. 

Scott Rockwell is a partner and advisor in a financial services team with Morgan Stanley. He has 20 years of experience serving clients in the financial services industry holding positions in commercial banking, private banking, and investment management with Bank of America and Merrill Lynch. For the past 8 years, Scott has provided investment and wealth management services and advice to families and businesses.

Community Haven Announces Interim CEO

Marla Doss named Interim CEO during leadership transition

Community Haven for Adults and Children with Disabilities, Inc. announced it has named Marla Doss as Interim CEO.  Doss will serve in this position following the resignation of Jim Doherty.  Doss, who has been with Community Haven for 26 years, previously served as the organization’s development director.

In addition, Jerry Koontz, a 22 year nonprofit and business sector veteran will provide strategic consultation during the leadership transition.  Throughout his career, Koontz has helped facilitate assistance for the elderly and disabled.

“While leadership transitions are challenging, we remain enthusiastic about the opportunities,” said Christopher Whaley, Chairmen of the Community Haven Board of Directors.  “We are confident Marla and Jerry will help guide Community Haven toward new opportunities for growth and allow us to better serve those in need.”

Tide Watchers, Grab Your Cameras!

The Tampa Bay Estuary Program is asking residents to capture images of flooded roads, shores, backyards and boat ramps during October’s extreme “King Tides” as a way to call attention to the potential impacts of rising seas on our shoreline and communities. TBEP joins its sister Gulf Coast estuary programs in Sarasota Bay and Charlotte Harbor in sponsoring this photo-documentary project to raise awareness of the consequences of climate change.

From October 20-31,  Tampa Bay is anticipating high,  or “King,” tides of up to 3.5 feet – a full foot higher than our normal high tide.  King tides occur when the moon and sun align on one side of the Earth and their gravitational forces combine to create extraordinarily high tides.  While these tides are completely natural occurrences, they provide us with a sneak peak of what our landscape will have to contend with in the coming years as the sea level rises. 

Water levels in the bay have risen an average of one inch per decade since the 1950s, and scientists expect that rate to accelerate in the future.

Amateur and professional photographers are urged to help us illustrate a future with higher water levels by taking photos of our coastline, flooded roads, full pipes and ponds and anything else they can find that is affected by these extraordinary high tides. Although the highest tides occur during the nighttime hours from Oct. 26-31, high water levels may also be observed in the early morning hours for the remainder of this week. This morning, for example, the entire parking lot of the Courtney Campbell Boat Ramp was under water.

Photos may be emailed to fltidewatch@yahoo.com, posted on the Tampa Bay Estuary Program’s Facebook page, or uploaded directly to Florida Tide Watch photo gallery on Flickr.

Port Manatee’s Berth 12 Certified

Following years of planning and construction, Port Manatee’s nearly 1,600-foot-long Berth 12 received its first ship three days ahead of its scheduled dedication Oct. 20th. The 492- foot long M/V Sea Brave made the maiden call at the mammoth Berth 12 at 11 a.m. Oct. 17th, following certification by the Tampa Bay Pilots Association Oct. 5th, authorizing ship traffic at the 41 foot-deep berth by the association’s 23 harbor pilots.

“This is a big moment for Port Manatee, our tenants, customers and the port’s future,” said Port Manatee Executive Director David L. McDonald PPM®. “To attract Class A carriers, we have to offer a Class A facilities and we’ve achieved that goal with the opening of Berth 12.”

The Berth 12 dredging project – the largest new construction dredging project on Tampa Bay in years – designates the official opening of South Port, the focus of Port Manatee’s $200 million decade-long expansion.

The new berth can accommodate Panamax-sized vessels and sits adjacent to a planned 52-acre container terminal, aimed at attracting new cargoes expected in the Gulf of Mexico linked with the ongoing expansion of the Panama Canal.

Port Manatee is the closest U.S. deepwater seaport to the Panama Canal and shares a strategic alliance with the Panama Canal Authority. Berth 12 will provide the port new capacity driven by changing trade lanes in the Western Hemisphere.

Grant Applications Now Available

The Rotary Club of Lakewood Ranch is pleased to announce that grant applications for 501c3 organizations who meet eligibility guidelines are now available.

Annual grants are made possible by funds raised at the Annual Suncoast Food & Wine Fest, the largest fund raising activity held by the Rotary Club of Lakewood Ranch. This year’s Wine Fest will take place on Saturday, November 12, 2011 at the Sarasota Polo Grounds. For tickets please visit http://www.suncoastfoodandwinefest.com/.

Rotarians contribute thousands of hours to make this fund raising event a success as well as spend time in the community participating in projects funded. Each year numerous charities, selected through the grant application process open to all area 501 (c) (3) charities, are selected to be the grant recipients of the net proceeds.

The Rotary Club of Lakewood Ranch is proud to have funded almost $850,000 in requests to more than 40 organizations during the first nine years of the Suncoast Food & Wine Fest.

To download the grant application, please visit http://www.suncoastfoodandwinefest.com/ and click on the Charities tab.