Last person to post in this thread wins!

[bWY39]

1 9 8 9

[bWY39]

1 9 9 0

[bWY39]

1 9 9 1 and counting

[Micah my love]

1992...i win

[manolos mom]

I WINNNN!!! So you can stop the counting now...

[Micah my love]

1993...still winning

[sugarmamma]

Guidebook Sarasota


Location/Region: Southeast United States/ Florida - Florida's West Coast between Tampa and Ft. Myers

Geographical Description: 571.75 square miles of land area; 35 miles of beachfront

Climate: Sub-Tropical Average Annual Temperatures: Air Temp 72.6 F; Avg High Temp 82.8 F; Avg Low 61.9
Population: Entire Sarasota County: 325,957; City of Sarasota: 52,715; City of Venice: 17,764; City of North Port: 22,797; Town of Longboat Key 5,012; Rest of County: 227,669

[sugarmamma]

Area History: A Historical Perspective of the Sarasota Area

Sarasota, Fla. – Evidence remains today of the native Americans who lived along the waterfront of Sarasota and Southwest Florida. Middens and mounds are silent testaments to the people who made their home here more than 3,000 years ago, when Sarasota Bay was fertile with fish and thick palmetto brush and cedar forests covered most of the land.

The first European explorers came to “La Florida” in the 1500s – Ponce de Leon, Panfilo Narvaez and most notably Hernando De Soto landed on the Gulf Coast in search of gold and silver treasures. To the dismay of the natives, the Spanish conquistadors brought disease and demands of food and gold. The natives greeted the Spaniards with drawn bows and arrows of fishbone and stone, fighting to keep their land and for their lives – as slave hunters searched for strong natives to trade at the rapidly expanding trading posts.



In 1821 the United States acquired the territory of Florida and at the time a handful of citizens built “ranchos,” or fish camps, which they operated every fall to spring, supplying salted fish and live turtles for export to Cuba.

In 1824 the Armed Occupation Act allowed for private ownership of land along Sarasota Bay – but only for incoming settlers; the native Seminoles were precluded from citizenship and land ownership and were pushed even further south. In 1855 a backyard war between the settlers and the Seminoles served as the final victory for Florida’s newest residents.

[Micah my love]

I win

[sugarmamma]

It wasn’t until the 1880s that development really began. The “modern town” of Sarasota was promoted in Scotland by the Florida Mortgage and Investment Company in 1885. With the promises of fertile vegetable fields, town housing and profitable citrus groves, Scottish families boarded a steamer and set sail for Sarasota. Upon their December arrival the colonists were shocked by what they found – an empty, stump-filled Main Street reached only by wading ashore. Many colonists left, but some stayed on as the town’s plan took shape. John Hamilton Gillespie a Scottish aristocrat, lawyer and member of the Royal Company of Archers, Queen’s Bodyguard for Scotland, built what is believed to be America’s first golf course in Sarasota, a nine-hole course near today’s Links and Golf avenues. Gillespie also built the upscale DeSoto Hotel on Main Street for tourists and prospective investors. In 1902 he was elected as Sarasota’s first mayor. Scottish influence remains, through the many various golf courses and the Riverview High Kiltie band, which dons authentic kilts and features bagpipers and Highland dancers.

The Crowley Museum and Nature Center in Eastern Sarasota vividly demonstrates what life was like for Sarasota’s first settlers in the late 19th Century. Visitors to Crowley can follow a portion of the Pine Level Trail, a pioneer road that once lead from the County Seat to nearby Braidentown, see the recently renovated 1889 William H. Tatum home, or visit the Crowley family’s cabin, replete with period furniture and utensils. A blacksmith shop displays original tools used in shoeing horses, repairing wagon wheels and other difficult metal working tasks.

Sarasota began a trend of attracting wealthy Americans in the 1910s that continues today. Bertha Palmer, widow of Chicago developer Potter Palmer, came to Sarasota and built extensive gardens on her waterfront winter estate, Osprey Point, which is today’s Historic Spanish Point.

[Micah my love]

Still winning

[sugarmamma]

BUT..........



It wasn’t until the 1880s that development really began. The “modern town” of Sarasota was promoted in Scotland by the Florida Mortgage and Investment Company in 1885. With the promises of fertile vegetable fields, town housing and profitable citrus groves, Scottish families boarded a steamer and set sail for Sarasota. Upon their December arrival the colonists were shocked by what they found – an empty, stump-filled Main Street reached only by wading ashore. Many colonists left, but some stayed on as the town’s plan took shape. John Hamilton Gillespie a Scottish aristocrat, lawyer and member of the Royal Company of Archers, Queen’s Bodyguard for Scotland, built what is believed to be America’s first golf course in Sarasota, a nine-hole course near today’s Links and Golf avenues. Gillespie also built the upscale DeSoto Hotel on Main Street for tourists and prospective investors. In 1902 he was elected as Sarasota’s first mayor. Scottish influence remains, through the many various golf courses and the Riverview High Kiltie band, which dons authentic kilts and features bagpipers and Highland dancers.

The Crowley Museum and Nature Center in Eastern Sarasota vividly demonstrates what life was like for Sarasota’s first settlers in the late 19th Century. Visitors to Crowley can follow a portion of the Pine Level Trail, a pioneer road that once lead from the County Seat to nearby Braidentown, see the recently renovated 1889 William H. Tatum home, or visit the Crowley family’s cabin, replete with period furniture and utensils. A blacksmith shop displays original tools used in shoeing horses, repairing wagon wheels and other difficult metal working tasks.

Sarasota began a trend of attracting wealthy Americans in the 1910s that continues today. Bertha Palmer, widow of Chicago developer Potter Palmer, came to Sarasota and built extensive gardens on her waterfront winter estate, Osprey Point, which is today’s Historic Spanish Point.!!!

[sugarmamma]

Palmer also purchased a 30,000 acre ranch in eastern Sarasota, Meadowsweet Pastures, which is today’s Myakka River State Park. Palmer helped to define the county of Sarasota, but did so in a quiet way, much in contrast to John Ringling, whose name is tied closely with the legacy he left to Sarasota.

John Ringling, of Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus fame, made an indelible mark on the community of Sarasota in a variety of ways. In the 1920s he and his wife, Mable, built a magnificent Venetian-style estate on Sarasota Bay named Ca d’ Zan (House of John in Venetian dialect). They then built an art museum to house their ever growing collection of works by Peter Paul Reubens and other masters of 17th Century Italian and Flemish art. In addition, John was a developer. He used his circus elephants to help build the first bridge from the mainland to St. Armands Key, which he developed as a commercial and residential center. The circus’ winter quarters were moved to Sarasota in 1927 – thus creating a new worldwide identity for Sarasota as a “circus town.” Today’s visitors can enjoy the Museum of the Circus on the Ringling grounds.

In the late 1920s the Tamiami Trail (connecting Tampa to Miami) was completed in time for the collapse of the economy and Florida’s land boom. For more information the Department of Historical Resources publishes a list of National Historic Register buildings, a list of Historical markers which can be found in Sarasota County and a walking tour of bayfront and downtown buildings with historical significance. (Information compiled from: “Sarasota Over My Shoulder,” by Janet Snyder Matthews and the Sarasota County Department of Historical Resources)

Cultural info:

Sarasota is recognized as Florida's Cultural Coast and is home to two professional symphonies, a ballet, and an opera. In addition, more than 10 theaters and 30 art galleries are located in Sarasota. The John & Mable Ringling Museum of Art is Florida's State Museum and the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, known for its architecture and great acoustics, seats 1,700 people and features a dazzling season of music, shows, and programs for all ages.

[Micah my love]

We have a subdivision near (Osprey landing)

I win

[sugarmamma]

Longest English sentence
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
There have been several claims for the longest sentence in the English language. Claims revolve around the longest printed sentence, as there is no absolute limit on the length of a written English sentence; a sentence describing successive reading, for example, could be infinitely long, and one concatenating clauses with grammatical conjunctions such as and could go on as long as material may be supplied. Also, a way to extend sentences indefinitely is by the addition of modifiers and modifier clauses, such as
The rat that the cat that the dog chased ran.[1]
or of successive extensions of the form
Someone thinks/knows/believes that someone thinks/knows/believes that...,[2]
which highlights the difference between linguistic performance and linguistic competence, because the language can support more variation than can reasonably be created or recorded.[2] Therefore, at least one linguistics textbook concludes that "there is no longest English sentence"[3]