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Oil Spill Meeting at Anna Maria Island Community Center

The pristine beauty of Anna Maria Island’s beautiful clean white-sand beaches is something that thousands of local people and visitors care very much about. Although the oil spill occurred almost 400 miles from our beaches, and although there is no oil near our shores, it is worth being prepared to act in case the oil comes our way.

Anna Maria Beach

On Thursday evening, June 17, islanders concerned about the oil in the Gulf gathered in large numbers at the Anna Maria Island Community Center at 407 Magnolia Avenue in Anna Maria. The streets around the center were lined with parked cars, and the crowd of hundreds filled the gymnasium, including the bleachers.

A large panel of speakers and representatives of various public and private organizations sat at a long table. A big projector screen showed the face of the speaker as well as slide presentations throughout the evening.

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Tourism

Cruising Tropical Seas

Although not technically in the tropics, Anna Maria Island is close enough to have some tropical features. Many tropical plants grow here, and plenty of tropical storms come here. Many a tropical drink is enjoyed here! Sailing in warmer months certainly is a tropical experience. The friend who invites us to sail always offers the opportunity to cool off with the on-board spray, or with a swim in a pool back at the deck. It’s hot. It feels tropical.

The other day we were cruising Tampa Bay in a very stiff breeze. Gusts registered at 30 knots. We managed to eat our delicious Cuban sandwiches prepared by the ‘Havana Cabana’, despite the heeling of the boat and the tension on the reefed mainsail. We had left the jib down. Memorable as the sandwich and strong wind were, what struck me the most was the color of the water. It was such brilliant turquoise. I could not remember having seen it this color in recent sails. It made me feel as if we were in a tropical place. I wondered whether this is, indeed, the color of tropical seas. I wondered whether this always was the color of Tampa Bay, but I had just forgotten.

This led me to do a fair amount of reading on-line about the color of water. I confess that even after doing all this reading, I do not understand all the very complicated scientific explanations that were involved. These included discussions of the fact that the color of water is based on vibrations of molecules, and that some of the color is caused by reflection, refraction, and some of it is caused by absorption.

Cruising tropical Gulf of Mexico The simple fact that surprised me most, and which I was capable of understanding, was that water actually has an intrinsic blue color. I used to think the blue was entirely from reflection of the sky.

Proof that the color is intrinsic to the water can be seen by looking at water in an indoor pool with white sides and bottom. It looks blue. At least I think this is the case, based on what I read.

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Tourism

Income Tax Preparation Help

There is something cruel about the fact that the very nicest time of year on Anna Maria Island happens to coincide with IRS tax preparation time. Just when it’s beginning to be the perfect temperature to be outside on the island, it’s also time to think about looking for all those receipts, adding up all those deductions, contributing to an IRA. I really would rather be riding my bike or walking on the beach at this time of year. Or even just sitting on the deck looking at the egrets and herons that wander through our yard. Anything to avoid the federal tax return.

On the other hand, the island has become surprisingly busy, with traffic backed up for blocks at times. The other day it took me an hour and forty-five minutes to drive up Longboat Key from Sarasota to Holmes Beach. It would have been impossible to plan to be anywhere on time today, because traffic was gridlock at every intersection. This makes it a little less annoying to have to stay home and do those tax preparations.Great Egret

Online efile tax preparation is still a chore but even tax preparation assistance with an excellent CPA at Key Accounting right here on the island, we spend a lot of time assembling supporting information which organize the material to be entered into the tax preparation software. For the next few days, I’ll just have to sit at my desk and gather all my information, maybe with the windows open and certainly with my mind on other things. Then we’ll just know we can stay on the island to take our information to the accountant.

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Tourism

Celebrating Christmas Island Style

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Anna Maria Island is a wonderful place to be during the Christmas holidays. The weather can be wonderful, and festivities abound, but it’s not crowded. That’s partly because some people who love the island still feel obligated by, or attracted to, winter in the North. So, although many winter residents start returning to the island before Christmas, others don’t … and some go back north briefly during Christmas, leaving the island to the rest of us who stay.

In December the island may have some of those exquisite days that everyone longs for. I often think of them as what would be “perfect summer days” in other parts of the country. Finally, the mornings are cool and the middle of the day can be comfortable in short sleeves. Of course, we do get cold spells from time to time. We remember one year wearing our down ski parkas to watch a holiday boat parade. But this year, we wore T-shirts for that same event. We were on a boat, and in the dark, out in Tampa Bay. There was no need for a sweater.

Christmas boat Most islanders will say there was no Christmas boat parade on the island this year. But we had our own impromptu parade, when several friends decorated their boats with lights and invited us to take a slow cruise around Bimini Bay and out into the Gulf, to the Anna Maria Island City Pier. Along the way, we heard adults and children call out “Merry Christmas” to us. We even saw cameras flashing, which, of course, is not the best way to photograph tiny holiday lights in the distance.

The water was perfectly glassy and there was no breeze. Even with motors running, there was something peaceful and mesmerizing about the whole experience of gliding through water with tiny lights above, and their reflections shimmering all around us in the water.

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Sometimes the festivities people create spontaneously for themselves are much more enjoyable than more organized, institutional events. That was certainly the case with this private boat parade.

But the newspapers are full of additional holiday ideas for anyone who is not feeling very creative or spontaneous. Last weekend, Winterfest attracted many art lovers and holiday shoppers to an extremely well-organized arts and crafts fair, all for the benefit of the Anna Maria Island Art League. Next weekend, the Anna Maria Island Orchestra and Chorus will perform their holiday concert. There are many more special events listed for the holidays and into next year.

Wherever you spend your winter holiday season … whether you’ll be sweeping sand or shoveling snow … we at Anna Maria Island Post wish you the very best, and a happy 2010.

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Tourism

Bishop Planetarium Attracts Islanders and Visitors

Bishop Planetarium is an exciting and educational attraction for Anna Maria Islanders and visitors alike.

Anna Maria Island can be a good place from which to gaze at the heavens. We are fortunate to often have excellent views of space shuttle launches, to the east. Many people on the island have chosen to use minimal outdoor lighting, and to choose fixtures that direct the light down, rather than needlessly to the sky. It’s better for sea turtles during nesting season, and it’s better for star gazers, too. The meteor showers of summer can be seen here because there is relatively little light.

South Florida Museum De Soto

In addition to what can been seen directly from the island, there is a nearby resource that adds a great deal of opportunity and education related to astronomy. The Bishop Planetarium, in downtown Bradenton, is part of a complex that includes the South Florida Museum and the Parker Manatee Aquarium.

The planetarium’s theater is a 50-foot-high dome equipped with a $1-million digital projection system, which is one of only three systems of its kind in the world. Incorporating unidirectional stadium style seating, high definition DVD, TV, and PowerPoint projection, and a digital 25,000 watt Dolby 5.1 surround sound system, the Bishop Planetarium theater is capable of presenting a wide range of programs.

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