Meet this year’s weather photo contest winner

With its perfect weather and stunning scenery, lucky is an understatement for those living in the Sarasota area, and 1,600 readers shared that beauty with us in this year’s Weather and Nature Photo Contest.

Although all 1,600 photographs were striking, Suzanne Tomlin’s picture on Longboat Key’s Beer Can Island is this year’s grand prize winner.

“I’ve always been quite taken by that location and these trees that have fallen over and are really beautiful,” Tomlin said.  “The sailboat happened to be going by, and the colors were beautiful. It was a perfect picture.”

As the winner, Tomlin will receive a $5,000 flooring makeover from Manasota Flooring Inc.

“I really only submitted it on a whim,” Tomlin said. “I look at the pictures regularly. I thought my picture was pretty, but every entry is beautiful. I thought I wouldn’t win.”

Manasota Flooring will sponsor the contest once again this year but with changes.

As in previous years, Manasota General Manager Chris Quattlebaum will pick three photo contest winners every month, one each from the Longboat Observer, East County Observer and Sarasota Observer. Those three winners will each receive a $25 gift card.

Next November, when the year’s contest is completed, the 36 monthly winners will be invited to Bradenton Yacht Club, which will be a new element to the contest. Quattlebaum will announce the grand prize winner at the gathering.

Unlike previous years, the winner won’t receive a $5,000 flooring makeover but rather a $2,500 one. The remaining $2,500 will go toward Project Traverse, a nonprofit group that helps veterans assimilate back into society. Quattlebaum will donate $1 for every contest submission up to $2,500.

“We try to give back to the community,” Quattlebaum said. “We want to thank the veterans for what they do for us and give back to them.”