Riding to remember in Lakewood Ranch

Roar of remembrance

Palm Aire resident Esther Halt refuses to let people forget the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 in New York City.

She and friend Rory MacConnell, of Mote Ranch, organized their 13th annual 9/11 Remembrance Ride Sept. 11. More than 600 motorcycles drove from Naughty Monk Brewery in Lakewood Ranch to Tarpon Bay Grill and Tiki Bar in Sarasota. They made sure to go slowly, displaying American flags, to force people to stop and remember.

"We all lost a lot of people," Halt said. "We don't want anyone to forget what happened."

Elks dig deep to donate

When Lakewood Ranch Elks Lodge member John Jernigan donated to the organization’s collection for hurricane relief in the Bahamas, he couldn’t believe he was the only person at that point to donate a shovel. 

So Lodge members Sarah and Brett Davis (above) decided to start a shovel challenge as part of the collection. 

In less than a week, the lodge collected 10 shovels along with hundreds of other items.

The lodge sent a truckload of supplies to a collection point in Venice and the donations were then flown to the Bahamas.