Published by the VGRCCA as a service to our members and residents of the Venetian Golf and River Club.

Thank you for reading Parcels. If you have a story idea click on “reply” and let us know.

Parcels is a publication of the Venetian Golf and River Club Community Association (www.vgrcca.us) a voluntary, membership-based organization founded in 2008. Its mission, primarily focusing on issues “outside the gates” is separate and distinct from the Property Owners Association ( POA ) and the Venetian Community Development District ( VCDD)

SEPTEMBER 2019

RIGHT IN YOUR OWN BACKYARDACTIVITIES AND EVENTS AT THE VENETIAN

Candidate Forum, Tuesday, October 1st, 4:30 pmThree Venice Council seats are up for election in November with a total of seven candidates on the ballot. All seven will be attending the Candidate Forum on Tuesday, October 1st. Six of the seven are new to Council. Questions will be provided by a moderator as well taken from the audience. If you will be voting in this important election, get to the Candidate Forum to familiarize yourself with the candidates.

Charity Golf Event at the VenetianThe 5th Annual Veteran Charity Event benefitting the Fisher House in Tampa, will take place on November 7th at our own golf course. The event is open to all residents. it is recommended that if you are interested in participating, visit the pro shop at the golf club soon as this event has been a sellout in past years. It’s a wonderful event with a patriotic opening ceremony, a golf scramble, and a delicious buffet lunch upstairs at the golf club along with recognition of our veterans. This event is open to the entire community.

New Flood MapThe city has passed out a new flood map which may be helpful if you are thinking about the need for flood insurance. Be patient when trying to find the VGRC on this map. It appears in the green area. The link ishttps://covfl.maps.arcgis.com/apps/MapSeries/index.html?appid=7d983e25d4594263800895dd1de9399b

Upcoming Palm SeminarMonday, November 4th 4 pm is the date/time for Keeping Palms in Our Florida Landscapes. The speaker is Dr. Pat Williams who will discuss palm morphology, planting/transplanting, fertilizing, pruning, diseases and how to increase the odds of keeping palms in our Florida yard. Dr. Williams has been in horticulture for over 45 years. He holds a doctorate from Texas A&M in horticulture. He has held various positions in his career from teaching adults, designing, installing and maintaining landscapes, construction and serving as a horticultural therapist. He has been with the extension faculty since April 2017 as the Sarasota County Residential Horticulture Agent.

Parcels from Paradise - Keeping Venetian Residents Connected...

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SEPTEMBER 2019

Click on http://www.vgrcca.us/wall-of-something/

YOUR VGRC COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION IS KEEPING AN EYE ON

Box Tops for EducationSchool is back in session. Look for the pink “Box Top” tabs on your Cheerios or Ziploc boxes. Each of those tabs is worth a dime to our Laurel Nokomis school. Let’s make sure every child can go on field trips. A blue box in the tennis shop in the fitness center at the River Club is the collection point.

Venice Museum and Archives Spotlights SportsThe Venice Museum and Archives has an interesting new seasonal exhibit, Playing in Paradise, The History of Venice Sports. The VMA is located in the historic Triangle In building at 351 Nassau St. near the Venice Public Library. The exhibit features information and artifacts on various sporting activities in Venice starting with the 1927Tarpon Tournament.

Hurricane Readiness Team….Always PreparedJust as a reminder the hurricane season in Florida includes the upcoming month of October. However, based on past statistics, we have passed the peak of the season. The good news is that Dorian did not hit the west coast of Florida. The Hurricane Readiness Team appreciates all of the positive comments received from residents. The HRT was formed five years ago by the VGRC Community Association. Today, the Community Association leads this effort along with funding needed for supplies and equipment. A membership form for 2020 is attached. If you have not been a member in the past, hopefully the services of the HRT that is provided to this community will be the one thing to make you join now.

HURRICANEREADINESS TEAM

Serving the Venetian Golf and River ClubSponsored by the VGRC Community Association

Elections are Coming- Here’s What We Are DoingWe know the VGRC community is very civic minded and really comes out to vote. In fact, we’ve been told “the path to election runs through the Venetian.” One of the reasons for that is because we meet with candidates and make sure they understand the issues that are key to residents of the Venetian Golf & River Club. They need to know how strongly we feel about preserving our piece of paradise. So, your Venetian Community Association has been meeting with the candidates running for election in November. In addition, we are holding a candidate forum on October 1 so you can hear from all of them and make up your minds.

Watching the WaterCommunity Association Board Members toured and met with officials of both water treatment plants in Venice - the potable facility on East Venice Avenue, and the wastewater treatment facility, which is just down the street, on Laurel Road East. The good news is that Venice has AWT, advance treatment which helps reduce nitrogen and phosphorous levels, and which Sarasota County is trying to get to by 2025. While there are hi-tech elements to the process, interestingly we also saw part of the system where fish-Tilapia-are used in in the filtering process! This effort by the Community Association is geared to keeping red tide at bay—more on that to come.

Early Eye on DevelopmentYour Community Association went to a number of “Public Workshops,” which is a preliminary step in the building process in Venice. One dealt with a potential hotel right off of our I-75 exit, the other with building townhouses in the vicinity of Willow Chase. While early in the process, we want to make sure our interests are represented, and will continue to be involved if these proceed to the planning commission presentation stage.

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Parcels from Paradise - Keeping Venetian Residents Connected... SEPTEMBER 2019

OUTSIDE THE GATESNew Hotel, et.alAnother hotel operated by Marriott is scheduled for the area, situated next to the existing Fairfield Inn on Executive Drive off of Jacaranda. Next to the new hotel will be a retail plaza called TownPlace Plaza. This area appears to be growing more with a Car Wash on the books plus other food establishments. A new store, Tractor Supply Co is slated for the area behind WaWa and Culver.

Chinese Drywall…Bad Stuff, Bad ChapterAn ugly chapter of the VGRC affecting about 50 or so homes in our community took place in 2009 when Chinese Drywall (CDW) was discovered by homeowners. No matter whether you had a little or a lot of CDW, the remedy was the same...gut the entire home and tear out all the wiring. The rebuilding process lasted about 90 days at which time the owner had to find temporary housing. Adding to the CDW woes, WCI, the builder, declared bankruptcy. They came out of bankruptcy but had no obligation to repair those homes they had built. Two companies, a German based company, Knauf and a Chinese company, Taishan, were the key distributors of the drywall. Knauf settled quickly and the homeowners who had all Knauf drywall had their homes remediated. Those who had Taishan or a combination of both Knauf and Taishan, had to wait until something was resolved by the courts. Some homeowners could not wait and remediated at their own expense. Some homeowners walked away from their financial obligation. In May 2019, Tashian finally indicated, through the courts, of their willingness to resolve the issue but it is unclear as to their percentage of monetary resolution. Hopefully, the day for those Venetian who have waited for at least a decade to be made whole will come soon.

New Trip to Gopher LandSun Country Airlines recently announced nonstop seasonal service from Sarasota to Minneapolis-St. Paul with fares as low as $79 one-way. The new nonstop seasonal service will operate twice a week — on Fridays and Mondays — beginning Dec. 20, 2019. SRQ has done an outstanding job of increasing the number of airlines especially those with direct flights to more cities. For a list of SRQ”s nonstop destinations click on https://srq-airport.com/nonstop-destinations

New Apartments Down the RoadMore apartments are being built on the 26 acres of current vacant land between the Publix’s and Laurel Nokomis School. The Reserves at Venice, as it will be called, will include a dog park and a clubhouse. It appears that the building of these apartments will give more housing availability to those who will be employed at the nearby SMH.

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Parcels from Paradise - Keeping Venetian Residents Connected... SEPTEMBER 2019

Have You Been to our World Class Museum?You ever lived in a city for a number of years but never “ had the time” to visit that town’s favorite attraction? When it comes to Sarasota, visiting John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art is a must. Calling it simply fabulous really does not do it justice. The grounds open daily 9:30am - 5:30pm, however the hours may vary due to special events. The Ringling Museum, one of Sarasota's greatest attractions, offers free admission every Monday. Besides the wonderful collection, the Museum is on beautiful grounds that border the Bay. It’s a must to visit this world class museum.

A WONDERFUL STORY TO END THIS EDITION OF PARCELSOn December 2018, Venetian resident and 4 yr. old., Kinsley was diagnosed with retinoblastoma, a rare and extremely aggressive eye cancer. In a rapid succession of events, Kinsley underwent medical studies, chemotherapy, and surgery to remove her right eye. While receiving chemotherapy, Kinsley was quarantined at her home, and started baking and decorating cookies almost every day. She fell in love with baking.Seeing the joy her cookies sparked, Kinsley asked her father, Adam, to build a cookie cart for her to sell cookies and help other little cancer patients. Following Kinsley's precise specifications, he built the cutest cookie cart for delivering sweetness and compassion, as well as creating awareness of pediatric cancer. Of course, the cart was named "Kinsley's Cookie Cart".After six rounds of chemo, Kinsley was declared cancer free. Thankful, her parents decided to start a foundation. Thus, Kinsley's Cookie Cart non-profit was created to raise much needed awareness, funding and support for pediatric cancer patients and their families in the USA and around the world.With the generous support of donors and volunteers, Kinsley's Cookie Cart is providing early diagnosis education to save children's lives. It is also providing financial, emotional, and social support to help reduce the enormous toll a cancer diagnosis takes on families. Moreover, the foundation is funding groundbreaking pediatric cancer research that will lead to the discovery of new and better treatments that will improve survival rates.Kinsley’s 1st Annual Cookies and Cocktals event will be October 19th. For further details on this event, please visit www.kinsleyscookiecart.org As with other charitable events, we’re confident that residents of the Venetian will show their support.

2016 DUES & MEMBER INFORMATION FORM

Dues Per Household (Please check the appropriate box)

THERE ARE TWO WAYS TO JOIN:

Pay securely on-line with PayPal at www.vgrcca.us Click on “membership”

Or mail your check to: Treasurer

305 Martellago Drive

North Venice, FL 34275

Payable to: VGRC Community Association, Inc.

MEMBER INFORMATION:

Property Owner(s): ________________________________________________________Date:__________________

Venetian Golf & River Club Street Address: ___________________________________________________________

Other Mailing Address: ___________________________________________________________________________

Preferred Telephone #: ___________________________________________________________________________

E-mail address: _________________________________ Alternate E-mail: _________________________________

________________________________________ _________________________________________

Printed Name Owner Signature

Membership Term

Membership Cost

___ One year $35.00

___ Two years $55.00

___ Three years $75.00

2019 DUES & MEMBER INFORMATION FORM

THERE ARE TWO WAYS TO JOIN:

MEMBER(S) INFORMATION (Please Print)

Dues Per Household (Please check the appropriate box)

We consider our household (Please check the appropriate box)

� Full-Time at the Venetian � Part-Time at the Venetian � We do not live at the Venetian,

but own property at the VGRCCA

Note the discount for multi-year membership.

1. Online at http://www.vgrcca.us/membership/ We accept credit cards and use Pay Pal as our secure server.

The information below is on the website.

2. Write a check, payable to VGRC Community Association and mail to:

Treasurer

305 Martellago

North Venice, FL 34275

Name(s): Date:

Venetian Address:

Other Mailing Address:

Preferred Telephone #:

Email Address:

Additional Email Address:

Thanks again for joining, and through your email we send you our very informative newsletter, Parcels.

073117 - MeMbership inforMation forM

Joining The VGRC Community AssociationJoining The VGRC Community Association

Thank you for your VGRC Community Association membership. Your dues

keep both our organization and community strong!

Please complete the items below.

$30.00

$50.00

$70.00

___ One year

___ Two years

___ Three years (Best Offer!)

Membership Term Membership Cost

2020 DUES & MEMBER INFORMATION FORM