Big Pass debate faces the music

Finding themselves in times of trouble, a group of Siesta Key residents concerned by a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers project to dredge Big Pass decided they needed to do more than whisper words of wisdom.

So, early Sunday morning they strapped a 140-pound Hammond organ (stuffed with foam so it would float) on top of two stand-up paddleboards and towed it out to the Big Pass shoal. The organ was then offloaded onto the sandbar, which, despite the extreme low tide due to the new moon, was still under several inches of water.

Manhattan-based professional singer and voice coach Maria Lane Sulimirski, whose multicolor formal dress trailed in the Gulf of Mexico water, performed the Beatles song, “Let It Be,” which is quickly becoming the rallying cry for those opposed to what would be the first dredge of Big Pass.

Rich Schineller, a Sarasota-based public relations specialist, directed and produced the effort, titled: “Big Pass Piano.” He organized the project to focus public attention on the proposed Big Pass dredge, which he opposes.

A handheld camera and a camera mounted on a miniature drone aircraft — both operated by Jimmy Scott Jr. — captured Sulimirski’s performance. Commercial aerial production specialist Ryan Perrone piloted the drone.

The footage begins with a close-up shot of the 22-year-old musician at the organ, and then slowly pans out to reveal that she is, in fact, sitting ankle-deep in seawater in the middle of Big Pass, Schineller said.

“It was a beautiful day, the water was crystal clear,” Schineller said. “The whole thing went perfectly.”

The film crew also included Mike Hagan and Greg McDermott, who captained the camera boats. Diane Sulimirski, Maria Lane’s mother, shot still photographs of the event. Off-duty firefighter John Lichtenstein was the set designer and safety officer for the project.

Schineller added that Sulimirski traveled to Sarasota from New York over the weekend specifically to take part in the shoot.

Sunday’s “Let it Be” performance was part of a growing campaign to oppose the U.S. Army Corps project. It is also reminiscent of the Save Our Sands movement in the 1990s, which featured attention-gathering protest events like human chains at Siesta Beach to successfully thwart a plan to dredge the Big Pass shoal to renourish Venice Beach.

Pushback to the Corps’ current Big Pass dredge plans gathered momentum after the Siesta Key Association fired the opening salvo in January, when it became the first group on the Key to officially state its opposition to the dredge.

SKA’s move inspired a domino effect of Siesta neighborhood and business organizations that have announced their opposition to the project, including the Siesta Key Village Association, the Siesta Key Chamber of Commerce, the Siesta Isles Association and the Siesta Key Condominium Council.
Schineller said the footage shot Sunday will be edited into a music video, which will be posted to YouTube.

The purpose of the video, according to Schineller, is to “bring awareness to the public about the U.S. Army Corps project.”

Outgoing Siesta Key Association board member Peter van Roekens, a leading opponent of the Army Corps project, opened SKA’s annual breakfast March 1, the day before the music video shoot, by addressing concerns about the potentially harmful environmental effects of the dredge.

“In the immortal word of the Beatles: ‘Let It Be,’” van Roekens said.

If you go
The Big Pass dredge debate will take place at Thursday’s Tiger Bay meeting.

Former County Environmental Services Director Rob Patten and environmental activist Jono Miller (both opponents of the dredge) were originally set to square off against representatives of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in a potentially highly charged debate — referred to as “Sand Wars” in the Tiger Bay program.

The Army Corps backed out of the meeting, however, leaving the defense of the proposed dredging project in the hands of city of Sarasota representatives.

The meeting is set for 11:30 a.m. March 6, at Michael’s On East, 1212 East Ave., Sarasota.

For more information, contact Kim Noyes at 925-2970.

Contact Nolan Peterson at [email protected]