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Funeral hom staf, seated from left: Jo-Ann Verna, funeral director and president; David D. Gallentine, funeral director. Standing, from left:Lee G. Watts, associate; Donald R. Campbell, intern funeral director; Kenneth Hinshaw, funeral director; Stephen W. Bates, associate. Not shown: Valerie A. Dragan, funeral director and Jack T. Voglti, assoicate.
Englewood Community Funeral Home has announced it is now offering Englewood’s only private, on-premise crematory.
Jo-Ann Verna, president and CEO of Englewood Community Funeral Home, at 3070 South McCall Road, made the announcement Thursday.
The installation of the state-of-the-art crematory meets or exceeds all requirements of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection Agency, she said.
The Englewood office of Commissioner Robert Skidmore, District 3, will be closed the month of February. The office will reopen on March 7.
The commissioner holds Englewood office hours at the West County Annex, 6868 San Casa Drive, Englewood, on Wednesdays from 9 a.m. to noon. Walk-ins are welcome. He also maintains office hours at the Murdock complex throughout the week. To make an appointment at either location, please call 941.743.1300.

L.A. Ainger seventh-grader Sarah Lown shows off her Inventors Fair awards.
L.A. Ainger student Sarah Lown won big recently in the Inventors Fair at the 55th Annual Thomas Alva Edison Regional Science Fair, with her big prize a $4,000 scholarship to a college of her choice.
Sarah, who took first place in the seventh-grade division and in the overall middle school division, also won $500 to continue working on her invention, a $250 gift card from FPL, a Sony Tablet and a Sony Stereo,

From left: Garden Club member Betty Parker and Sale Chairman Marcia Neubauer arrange jewelry for the Lemon Bay Garden Club annual Rummage Sale on Feb. 17 and 18.
Lemon Bay Garden Club will hold its’ annual Rummage Sale and Plant Sale from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 18, at the clubhouse at the corner of Yale and Cedar streets in Olde Englewood (480 Yale Street). Admission is free.
New this year will be a preview sale Friday, Feb. 17. The cost to attend the preview is $3 per person. The sale features collectibles, antiques, small furniture, lamps, jewelry, bric-a-brac and appliances.

Dane Hahn
By Dane Hahn
Real Estate
Fixed mortgage rates ticked up this week as the housing market ended 2011 on a high note. New construction of one-family homes rose 4.4 percent in December to an annualized rate of 470,000, the most since April 2010. Existing home sales increased 5 percent at the end of the year to 4.61 million houses, the largest amount since May 2010. Furthermore, pending home sales in November and December averaged the highest reading since the March and April 2010 period.

Kelly Cioffi’s award-winning photograph, “Tech War.”
Submitted by Arts Alliance of Lemon Bay
Englewood photographer Kelly Cioffi has won BW+ Color Magazine’s color single image contest 2012 Silver Award. Her image, along with the other winning entries, will be published in the March issue of BW+ Color magazine.
Stop by the AALB at 452 W. Dearborn St. to see her other images.

A crowd takes part in festival activities in 2010.
By Jean Airey
Lemon Bay Fest – Englewood History with Zest!, begins its 10th year Friday, Feb. 3.
Kicking things off and running through the week is the fourth of the original “Billery Dean” murder mystery plays. This one calls for the great detective (and Englewood fisherman) to solve “The Case of the Purple Porpoise.” Reservations can be made by calling 941−474−3764.

Troop 208: front row from left: Anne LeVasseur, Adriana Basile. Back row: Carrie Harvey, Courtney Botelho, Samantha Martel, Elizabeth D’Amico, Reagan Moody, and Emily Lang
Girl Scouts throughout Englewood and surrounding areas have begun taking orders for Girl Scout Cookies.
What makes this year different is that Girl Scouts is celebrating its 100th birthday. On March 12, 1912, Juliette “Daisy” Gordon Low assembled 18 girls from Savannah, Ga., for the first Girl Scout meeting. She believed that all girls should be given the opportunity to develop physically, mentally and spiritually. With the goal of bringing girls out of isolated home environments and into community service and the open air, Girl Scouts hiked, played basketball, went on camping trips, learned how to tell time by the stars, and studied first aid.