FROM THE ARCHIVES 1980: Jewfish got lone residence

The Longboat Observer’s June 26, 1980, issue reported that the first Jewfish Key lot had been cleared for a home that Cortez resident Raymond Guthrie was building.

“Town officials warned Mr. Guthrie that it would take firemen and policemen a little longer than usual to answer a call and that he might be a little lonely without town services, but he reportedly understands,” the article stated.

+ The luck ran out for Lynches’ leprechaun
The Lynches Landing leprechaun could have used a dose of Irish luck. He lost his ice cream cone after code-enforcement officials determined the cone constituted a sign.

Owners Chris and Ethna Lynch replaced the cone with a shovel. But the leprechaun lost the shovel to the only storm of June 1998.

The Longboat Observer asked for suggestions on what should replace the shovel and offered a few that related to another dispute between the Lynches and town officials: A bouquet of seagrapes? A weedwhacker? A bowl of sea turtle soup?

+ Longboat Key Club project is a go
The Longboat Key Town Commission voted 6-1 to approve the Longboat Key Club & Resort’s proposed $400 million Islandside expansion and renovation project June 30, 2010. All it took to get there were 23 public hearings, $5 million in Key Club planning expenses, $40,000 in town expenses and $1 million in expenses for the challenger, the Islandside Property Owners Coalition (IPOC).

The mood was jubilant among supporters that day. But in December 2011, Judge Charles E. Roberts issued a writ of certiorari, quashing the development order. The 2nd District Court of Appeals upheld the lower court’s ruling last August, effectively killing the application.

+ Classic Cops Corner
6/24/00 — 1:59 p.m. 5500 block GMD. Suspicious Circumstances. Subject received a letter saying the world’s rotation would reverse on July 4. Subject was advised in letter that “when air traffic ceases, it will be time to act.”

+ Marker created grave situation
Times looked grim in the Longboat Observer’s June 26, 1986, issue, which features the below photograph.

But no one died. The plaque was a town marker to honor the people who donated property to form a nature preserve in Emerald Harbor.

At least one resident complained to the Longboat Observer that the marker was “tombstone-like.”
And we have to admit: It is a dead-ringer for something you’d see in a cemetery.