2021 through the lens in Sarasota

We knew going in that 2021 was shaping up to be something else entirely.

Not normal. Maybe OK. But, we hoped, not 2020. Anything but that. 

On the plus side, COVID-19 vaccines were on the verge of mainstream as the new year dawned.

But, as we soon learned, patience and a fair amount of technical expertise was required to get one. Uh, oh.

Spring and summer were pretty up and down, too. Our lives, our jobs, our indoor events started looking typical again. Yay.

Then along came Delta, which heretofore had really only been an airline and an Oldsmobile. But as a COVID-19 variant, not great. 

Through it all, though, we kept reporting and photographing. And wouldn't you know it, we DID have a lot to smile about even through some frustratingly similar days to the previous year.

Here then is what we saw through our Nikons and Canons in 2021. 

January

Fighting off the virus

Before retail outlets got into the COVID-19 vaccination business, the Health Department was the only game in town. And it wasn't a very consistent game. Computer-aided appointments were set based on the supply of state-supplied vaccines. And it didn't aways work well. “It is like trying to get a ticket for the hot concert,” said Chuck Henry, administrator of the Florida Department of Health in Sarasota County said.

On the shoulders of a giant

It was a smaller but no less spirited Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration at Martin Luther King Jr. Park in Newtown. Several Sarasota community and government leaders came together to speak to King’s legacy and the work still needing to be done in the fight for equality and equity.  The event — put on by the Sarasota MLK Community Celebration organization— traded its typical breakfast and community march for a presentation and food voucher distribution to people in need due to COVID-19. 

Embracing our differences

Emily Norris, an 13-year-old student at Sarasota Middle School, sometimes has trouble with words. But that doesn’t mean she doesn’t have things to say — the 7th-grade artist has expressed herself through digital art and painting for years. To her surprise and delight, not only was she accepted as a candidate for Embracing our Differences 2021 Outdoor Art Exhibit, but Norris won the competition’s Best-In-Show Student Award. 

February

A bigger campus

We visited the Hershorin Schiff Community Day School and toured the under-construction expanded facility as earthmovers rumbled around the property. The school, which enrolls 270 students from 12 months to eighth grade, moved to 1050 S. Tuttle Ave. to the intersection of Wilkinson and McIntosh roads, in August, giving it a capacity of 300 students and additional facilities.

Four-legged celebration 

The Humane Society of Sarasota's staff thought there was no better way to celebrate the organization's 69th birthday than to surprise its many pets up for adoption with tasty birthday treats. Dogs were given colorful "pupcake" snacks while cats were served elegant kitty hors d'oeuvres.

Thunder in February? It happens. 

The 23rd annual Thunder by the Bay three-day music and bike show featured visitors gathering for a weekend full of food, music, and plenty of cycles. Guests enjoyed a kick-off party the first night of the show, a motorcycle contest with cash prizes, plenty of live music, and more. 

March

You might learn something

The murals on the walls of the Greater Sarasota Chamber of Commerce are more than just art. The organization in early 2021 unveiled the 30-foot high works, which honor eight landmark figures in the city's history. The artwork, designed in collaboration with members of the Arts and Cultural Alliance of Sarasota County and the Ringling College of Art + Design, is meant to highlight those who helped push Sarasota to become a prominent economic and artistic space. 

Way up there

Nik Wallenda's Daredevil Rally returned to Sarasota County's Nathan Benderson Park, with a collection of circus-style acts, including a wire walk from the man himself. Wallenda launched the drive-in traveling show as a way to entertain spectators without gathering in an indoor area or circus tent. Wallenda did his thing 80 feet in the air, while answering spectators' questions. 

Fair game

One of the first events affected in Sarasota County by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2019 returned in 2021. Thousands of visitors came out for the games, rides, music and food. 

Circus time for the kids

Spring break for the kids of the Circus Arts Conservancy typically doesn't include daily viewing of The Price is Right. Nope, the students ages 6 to 15 learned a variety of ground and air acts, from working with hoops and lyra to various stretches and spin moves.

April

You've been had, dear reader

The Observer took a week to poke fun at news around the area in our annual April Fool's edition. One of our more complicated spoofs involved a (fake) story about the Sarasota Orchestra pretty much agreeing to perform pretty much anywhere as talks continued over the organization's new home. 

Spring break  is totally tubular again

County officials and business owners said tourism was getting back on track with some hotel and vacation rental operators reporting their most successful season in history. Spring break was a solid reminder of just how important tourism is around here, following a stunted season in 2020.

Eggsactly what we needed

Easter 2021 took several forms around Sarasota, but mostly it looked pretty familiar in the way children in their Sunday best scooped colorful eggs into their baskets. In one neighborhood, residents adorned their mailboxes with spring hats, for a distinctive look. 

A colorful nod to PRIDE

Michigan mural artist Joey Salamon was commissioned by Project PRIDE to paint a rainbow on Second Street. The mix of colors and grid shapes extends from one part of the road to the next, but the ground view doesn't show everything. The real shape is revealed from above — the mural connects the five-corner intersection of Cocoanut Avenue, North Pineapple Avenue and Second Street. 

May

No room for even one more

With his 137th Boy Scout merit badge, Eagle Scout Owen Eakle had them all. He's one of fewer than 500 to accomplish the feat. Along the way, the 16-year-old Out-of-Door Academy student cultivated a vegetable garden. He’s taken in the importance of fiscal responsibility by tracking his finances over a matter of weeks. He’s learned the various workings of the ocean at Mote Marine Laboratory, how to hammer and shape metals in Tennessee, and much more. 

Bee is for business

Bee colonies are complicated — humans raising them, even more so. Alma Johnson, the owner of the Sarasota Honey Company in northern Sarasota County, feels she’s figured out that process well. She’s devoted her time to managing the countless different castes, approaches, time tables and systems to continually raise bees in the most efficient way to produce honey. 

June

A Memorial Day hike

Hundreds of veterans and their family members joined well wishers of all ages in a Memorial Day ceremony and hike from Sarasota’s J.D. Hamel Park to Bird Key and back. Participants, led by Army veteran  U.S. Rep Greg Steube (R-Sarasota), stretched for hundreds of yards as the group made its way along the bayfront, under and over the John Ringling Bridge and back again on a warm but breezy morning.

High school graduations went off without a hitch

Graduation ceremonies took place outdoors for the Class of 2021. More than 1,300 seniors from three public schools and two private accepted diplomas and moved on to their next life chapters. 

July 

Colors across the bridge

Sarasota's LGBTQ+ community and supporters gathered at Hart's Landing and split into two lines to carry the massive flag up the bridge. When they reached the top, supporters flattened out the flag and displayed the colors to passing cars and pedestrians. 

Boom!

Sarasota went big for the Fourth of July with a downtown festival, parade and fireworks spectacular at Bayfront Park. More spectacular shows were at Nathan Benderson Park and Siesta Key. 

Red, white and blue

Thousands gathered at the Sarasota Fairgrounds for a "Save America'' rally, featuring former President Donald Trump. The Saturday event featured an array of speakers and concluded with fireworks. 

Lifeguards make a splash

Florida's best lifeguards showcased their lifesaving abilities during a two-day competition at Siesta Key. More than 160 lifeguards from a number of lifeguard agencies made their way to Siesta Key for the 2021 James P. "Mac" McCarthy Regional Surf Lifesaving Championships, an athletic gauntlet that had competitors sprinting, swimming, paddling and displaying other life-saving skills over the course of 16 challenges. 

August 

A nod to the world

Sarasota's BMX riders celebrated the 2021 Olympics with a celebratory competition, starting with an open house where riders of all skill levels raced around the track. Kids ages 2 to 5 went first and practiced with their parents before the night's official opening ceremony.

Back to school

The morning of Aug. 10 started with some familiar sounds — the excited bustling of parents taking their children to their first day of school. It was a return to some kind of normalcy all across Sarasota where, as opposed to last year, parents were able to follow their children into school to connect with their teachers and see the classrooms. Some children were nervous about their new classrooms while others were ready to get the ball rolling and start the day. Masks were optional, then mandatory, then optional again. 

September

A moving afternoon

At a ceremony to honor the city's Unconditional Surrender statue at its new location, a couple was moved to marry in its shadow. Taina Roman of Philadelphia said she has long adored the iconic photograph from which the statue was made. She and her boyfriend Reyes were visiting Sarasota to see Tito Reyes’ family. To her surprise, Reyes took her to the statue’s ceremony. She says she didn’t even know the statue existed in Sarasota. 

Somber milestone

First responders and civilians alike gathered at Sarasota National Cemetery to mark the 20th anniversary of the terror attacks of Sept. 11. Guests heard from dignitaries as well as Jony Schroeder, a retired New York firefighter who survived the attacks. 

Home to curate

Emory Conetta knows the language of museums well. The 25-year-old has been studying the intricacies of art and art placement since she was a young girl exploring museums here in Sarasota. That interest in art and museums has taken her far and wide, first in a personal capacity and then a professional one where she moved to London for her masters studies and to take a job with a renowned art house. Conetta has returned to her hometown for a new endeavor - working as an assistant curator at the Sarasota Art Museum. 

How am I funny? Funny like a clown?

As she walked to the set, Anya Studebaker might have looked something like a rodeo clown, but her work is no laughing matter for the Sarasota High School senior. She’s made her bones producing and hosting a comedy news show about Sarasota High School based on the premise that she fills in  with parodies, wise cracks and inside jokes when the school's real program doesn't deliver.

October

Driving for the win

A love of online videos and a T-shirt purchase led the Hedge family to a brand-new Tesla. Huh? Well, Alexander, 9, is a big fan of YouTube's Mr. Beast, something of a sensation online because of his wacky games and stunts and big prizes. Alexander likes watching the videos, so he bought a limited edition T-shirt. That purchase unwittingly got him entered in a drawing for the electric car. And he won. So now, his dad gets to drive the machine. 

Chili today, hot tomorrow

The annual Morton's Firehouse Chili Cook-Off is considered one of the highlights of the year for local firefighters, returning to its  Osprey Avenue home after a year off because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

All in for Halloween

Christina Fraser has made a career out of event planning and works at the New College of Florida.  very Halloween, she brings that creativity home and transforms her house and back yard into a spooktacular venue for Halloween parties and trick or treat nights. She feels it’s something of a creative release.

November

Forward, into the past 

Entertainment was set back centuries for a few weeks in Sarasota as Renaissance and medieval fairs returned to action with costumes, entertainment, music and period-correct food. 

Back to the sand

Visitors to Siesta Key were able to enjoy a sight they'd been missing for some time — massive and creative sculptures made entirely from sand resting on the beach. The returning Siesta Key Crystal Classic drew thousands of visitors to see the competition between 24.

November-December

Flying high 

The comings and goings of passenger jets, particularly those of Southwest Airlines and Allegiant Air, helped propel Sarasota Bradenton International Airport to record travel numbers in 2021. November, like so many others in 2021, set a monthly record  with more than 321,000 passengers traveling through. By the end of 2021, 3 million passengers are expected to have used SRQ, the most ever.

Parades are back again

Traditional holiday parades roared back this fall, starting with the downtown Veterans Day production, followed by the Siesta Key holiday parade, the downtown Sarasota holiday parade and the Sarasota holiday boat parade. Crowds, too, packed the sidewalks and bayfront as another measure of normalcy returned. 

(Photos and reporting by David Conway, Harry Sayer, Brynn Mechem and Eric Garwood).