Sandbar honored by travel Web site

The Sandbar restaurant has been named one of the top five beach restaurants by the international travel Web site nowfly.co.uk.
(The London) Times Online rated Nowfly as one of the top 10 travel Web sites for 2009. It is mainly a resource for inexpensive flights, hotels and car rentals but recently joined forces with travel journalist Marcus Waring to launch Zip It, Nowfly’s travel column.
The listing describes the Sandbar, located in Anna Maria, as a historic restaurant dating back to 1913.
“Positioned on a beautiful white sandy beach overlooking the Gulf of Mexico, nowadays the simple restaurant has an indoor bar area serving up tropical cocktails and two pagodas preventing diners from melting in the midday sun,” it said.
“We are very pleased to be in the company of folks like Jamie Oliver, who is featured on the food network and who owns Fifteen in Cornwall, England,” said Ed Chiles, owner of the Sandbar, BeachHouse and Mar Vista restaurants “This recognition speaks not only to our world class location but also to the great staff we have the pleasure to work with, who enjoy the opportunity to create great memories for our guests on a daily basis.”
Pier inspection shows needed repairs

FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Bradenton Beach
will receive $830,169 in federal stimulus funds for the corridor
enhancements project along Gulf Drive and Cortez Road.-->
By Laurie Krosney sun correspondent
ANNA MARIA — The city pier needs some work. The final report from an inspection of the entire structure on Aug. 24 and 25 won’t be available for a couple of weeks, but at first glance, engineers said there’s some work that needs to be done.
“The pier isn’t going to collapse tomorrow,” said Lawrence Essman, an engineer from Miami hired to inspect the structure of the pier. “But the alignment of the pilings along the sides of the pier has been deflected.”
Essman’s firm, cankat-essman, inc. was hired by M.T. Causley to check the underpinnings of the pier.
“The pilings have shifted over time with high water and shifting sands. That’s why it isn’t in a straight line.”
High waves can buffet the pilings, making them shift slightly, according to Essman. Then when they settle back, they may be slightly off from where they were before.
The city hired M.T. Causley to inspect the pier.
Essman said the underpinnings of the pier are not very pretty, but he sees no structural issues.
“These maintenance issues don’t really have anything to do with the soundness of the pier, but they do affect the contours of the top of the pier,” Essman said. “What I’m seeing is pretty typical of this kind of pier. They all suffer over time from being exposed to the corrosive environment. They need regular maintenance.”
Rick Fraley, an engineer with M.T. Causley, was on hand to inspect all the utilities. “I looked at the mechanical elements of the pier – the roof, the air conditioning systems, the plumbing and electrical systems from the base of the pier all the way out,” Fraley said. “This pier is showing its age.”
Both Essman and Fraley declined to say more.
“We need to put all the pieces of the puzzle together in our report so we can get the whole picture,” Essman said.
A full report is expected in two-to-three weeks.
Wirries wins summer talent contest

Maria Wirries, 12, won the Island’s Got Talentcontest on Sunday at the Sandbar with her versatile singing style. SUN PHOTO/CINDY LANE
By Cindy Lane sun staff writer
ANNA MARIA – A sparkling performance by 12-year-old Maria Wirries clinched her first place win in the Island’s Got Talent contest on Sunday night at the Sandbar restaurant.
Judges Katy Demick, Jim Turner and Mark Ibasfalean were blown away when the versatile songstress hit the final high note on Linda Ronstadt’s dreamy “Blue Bayou,” a total departure from her Broadway-style performance of “New York, New York” in last week’s second round.
Seven finalists competed for three prizes in the talent competition, held on the beach at the Sandbar.
Wirries received $300, singer Hannah Roemer took second place, winning a $150 Sandbar gift card and singer/guitarist Taylor Zebracki won third place and a $75 Sandbar gift card.
All winners also received a Green Screen Audition from True Hollywood Screen Test Pro Audition and a stage performance at the Talent and Film Expo at the Manatee Convention Center on Sept. 19, where national talent and film scouts will meet to interview local area talent.
You can see the performances at www.truehollywoodscreentest.net.
Keep Labor Day safe for manatees
SUN FILE PHOTO
Privateer John Hallahan’s
bowling
shoes looked out of place
with
his pirate outfit.
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By Cindy Lane sun staff writer
Labor Day weekend is a fun time to enjoy boats and water scooters, but it’s a dangerous time for manatees.
Sixty manatees died from watercraft collisions this year through July 31, and the Save the Manatee Club reminds boaters and personal watercraft operators to be cautious and obey manatee zone speed limits this holiday weekend.
“These animals are often mutilated from propeller blades and blunt force trauma,” said Dr. Katie Tripp, director of science and conservation for the Save the Manatee Club. “Some manatees die almost instantly from their injuries, but others suffer for days or weeks. The saddest part of all is that their suffering is preventable. It is our hope that if people truly understand what it means to ‘hit a manatee’ and how manatees needlessly suffer, they will slow down on the waterways and always be on the lookout for them.”
To help safeguard manatees, boaters should follow all posted speed regulations, slow down if manatees are in the vicinity and stay in deep water channels when possible.
If you strike a manatee, or see one in distress, call the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission at 1-888-404-3922; it could save a manatee’s life.
Florida shoreline property owners can get a free aluminum dock sign which reads, “Please Watch for Manatees: Operate With Care” by contacting the Save the Manatee Club by e-mail at education@savethemanatee.org or by calling 1-800-432-JOIN (5646). For more information on manatees, visit www.savethemanatee.org.
More TV time for Mermaid

Ed Spring shows Roy DeJesus the fresh grouperhe is preparing as cameraman Roger Johnson watches. SUN PHOTO/TOM VAUGHT
By Tom Vaught sun staff writer
ANNA MARIA – When the area’s all-news television station goes looking for fine food, it often ends up on Anna Maria Island.
Last week, Bay News 9’s Roy DeJesus and cameraman Roger Johnson spent some quality time with Ed and Andrea Spring, owners of the Sign of the Mermaid.
The Springs are not strangers to the television camera. Ed has been interviewed for other TV cooking previews and Andrea was featured on a Food Network special on the Crisco Pie Championship, which won her national awards two years in a row.
They started in the kitchen with Ed who made up his pan-roasted grouper. He emphasized the freshness of his ingredients, plugging AP Bell in Cortez, which provides him with his fish.
It was interesting to note that the glare of the TV camera did not distract Ed. After they finished shooting the preparation, he cleaned the knife and countertops as he would for any dish. He also dipped his hands into bleach water several times during the process.
He had DeJesus add the spices during the grouper preparation and when the fish went into the skillet, Ed kept his body to the side as he worked the dish so that the camera could get the full scene.
Off camera, DeJesus and Johnson commented that this was not the smallest kitchen they had worked around, but it was close. Spring remarked that with the team of three he has working with him in the kitchen now, it all goes like clockwork with everybody working within his area.
When Ed finished the grouper, he plated it and set it at a table where DeJesus and Johnson shot an introduction for the program, known as "Chef’s Kitchen."
When the crew finished with Ed, they asked Andrea to take center stage in the kitchen preparing her award-winning key lime pie.
The episode will run on Bay News 9 on Wednesday, Sept. 9, at 6:52 a.m. and every hour until 4:52 p.m.
Bayfront Park remains under water quality advisory

SUN PHOTO/TOM VAUGHT County health officials say high bacterial counts mean swimmers should stay out of thewater at Bayfront Park in Anna Maria.
By Tom Vaught sun staff writer
For the second week in a row, swimmers are advised to stay out of the waters off Bayfront Park north in Anna Maria.
The Manatee County Health Department posted the water quality advisory due to high bacterial counts after the weekly testing.
An advisory indicates that water contact may pose an increased risk of infectious disease, particularly to susceptible individuals, according to the Health Department.
The water is tested in 10 locations on Anna Maria Island and Longboat Key each week as part of the Florida Healthy Beaches program. Samples are taken from Bayfront Park, north and south; Manatee Public Beach, north and south; Bradenton Beach near Bridge Street; Coquina Beach, north and south; and Whitney Beach.
Results from the next testing will be available on Sept. 2.
High bacterial counts are generally attributed to fecal contamination that comes from stormwater runoff.
Anna Maria City Commissioner Chuck Webb suggested that the city takes some samples from the drainage system near Bayfront Park to try to determine where the high bacterial counts are coming from.
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