When your heart beats for hospitality, your table is never short on guests or gratitude. Our local restaurants understand this intimately, embodying how great service goes beyond business – it’s a calling that can transform dining into a community anchor.

John and Amanda Horne of Oysters Rock Hospitality have turned that calling into a way of life. All the more reason why Visit Sarasota County’s Board of Directors and staff were proud to name these longtime advocates the 2025 Voice of Sarasota – our tourism bureau’s top honor, recognizing those who have truly elevated Sarasota County as a tourism destination.

We present this award annually at our National Travel & Tourism Week Celebration, held earlier this week at the Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport. This year, that event took on special significance as we partnered with the Bradenton Area Convention & Visitors Bureau to make this a regional affair. How fitting it was to welcome the Hornes into the Voice of Sarasota alumni group – which has included Jennifer Rominiecki (2024), Michael Klauber (2023) and Fredrick J. Piccolo (2022) – at the intersection of our two counties!

If you’ve walked into any of their restaurants then you know the Hornes have created a legacy of local flavor while making plates into platforms for change here along Florida’s West Coast.

Not only did John and Amanda expand their flagship concept, Anna Maria Oyster Bar, to North Port, they also purchased Café L’Europe and sustained the 52-year-old St. Armands staple through several tumultuous storm seasons. After the one-two-three punch of Hurricanes Debby, Helene, and Milton, they then revived the 52-year-old staple as the Café on St. Armands – while doing so, they brought together business leaders, government officials, and residents to help facilitate immediate and long-term recovery needs for the Circle.

John and Amanda’s commitment to enriching the experiences of visitors and residents alike makes them a perfect fit for this year’s Voice of Sarasota award. And in the coming month, you’ll be able to celebrate everything the Hornes stand for – collaboration, culinary excellence, and the power of hospitality to invite people around the table – through our annual Savor Sarasota Restaurant Week.

Now in its 20th year, Savor Sarasota has become one of our most anticipated traditions that locals look forward to, and visitors plan trips around. What started as a marketing campaign to boost traffic to our local restaurants during the slower summer months has now expanded to a 20-day celebration showcasing more than 50 restaurants across Sarasota County – from downtown hotspots and neighborhood gems to coastal favorites in Venice, Nokomis, Osprey, and Englewood.

During what we call “the most delicious time of the year,” participating restaurants offer a two-course lunch and a three-course dinner, with many also providing upgrades like wine pairings and curated flights. Going beyond the menu, Savor Sarasota is a platform to tell the stories of our unique restaurants, chefs, and others who make up our culinary community. In that spirit, it’s about more than food (although that’s certainly the fun in it!) – it’s also very much about supporting local businesses and hospitality workers.

You can enjoy this year’s Savor Sarasota from June 1 to June 20. We’ve increased it this year to 20 days to celebrate 20 years! I encourage you to head over to SavorSarasota.com to whet your appetite and make your plan to visit some (or all) of our participating restaurants. There may even be prizes for those who savor the most.

As our Savor Sarasota participants realize with every bite and sip, and as John and Amanda Horne have embodied for decades, the heart of our community beats in the kitchens of our local restaurants. After all, in Sarasota County, we don’t just eat local – we live local, with the secret ingredient always being hospitality.

Erin Duggan, CDME, is President & CEO of Visit Sarasota County. 

Photo courtesy of the Bradenton Area Convention and Visitors Bureau.

If there is a school-aged child in your life, you’ve likely heard about the “summer slide” – when students lose ground academically while out of the classroom over summer break.

As a mom of an 8-year-old girl, I see it firsthand. All she wants to do over the summer is play, swim, and watch Looney Tunes (she loves a good classic). But as co-chair of the Manatee Childcare Alliance alongside my colleague Darrell King, CEO of the Early Learning Coalition, I can’t help but let statistics about the summer slide run through my mind.

According to the National Association of Counties, students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds lose two to three months of reading proficiency each summer.

And one survey showed that 66% of educators reported they spend the first month of the school year re-teaching material that was covered the previous year – that equates to over 11% of the school year, which, compounded over 12 academic years, amounts to over 75% of a school year.

In Manatee County, educators and nonprofit organizations are tackling this challenge head-on.

Our School District has been making significant strides to elevate outcomes and offers a wide range of academic camps in the summer. We are glad to see Dr. Jason Wysong and his team’s momentum in establishing better-performing schools in Mantee County. And as we celebrate the upcoming retirement of our friend and champion, Mary Glass, of the Manatee Education Foundation, we see the lasting impact of her dedication.

But knowing we can’t depend solely on the School District for help, many are filling in the gap. As part of the Manatee Community Foundation (MCF) family, we invest in a number of programs that support our youth, such as:

• The Soar in 4 and Soar Learning Lab programs which help educate parents on how to be their child’s first teacher, with a focus on teaching literacy skills.
• Working with the Manatee County Chamber of Commerce, Manatee Education Foundation, and Unidos Now, MCF invests in REACH Manatee, a college access network that drives a culture that supports post-secondary education.
• “Dive into Reading” started when Amanda and John Horne invited students from two Title I elementary schools to have breakfast and practice reading with a mentor at their Anna Maria Oyster Bar in Ellenton. Since then, mentors have included retired teachers, grandparents, high schoolers, and restaurant team members.
• In partnership with the Manatee County Early Learning Coalition, MCF co-leads the Manatee Childcare Alliance, which seeks to provide affordable, program-rich childcare for ALICE (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed) families, employers, and the community.
• The Manatee Arts Education Council, part of the Manatee Education Foundation, promotes the arts through Arts Alive, Arts Rise & Shine and art scholarships.
• RECESS, Boys & Girls Clubs of Manatee County, United Community Centers and other nonprofit partners offer summer programs designed to improve knowledge retention while developing reading and life skills.
• As part of what’s called the Big Plan, a Principals Fund was developed to address barriers related to learning or to train and recognize staff at Big Plan schools. MCF partners with the School District, the Patterson Foundation, Manatee County, and the Early Learning Coalition of Manatee County for this initiative.

Making investments like these will pay off. Dr. James Heckman at the University of Chicago found that investments in early learning show a 7 to 10% per year return on investment, tied to better school and career performance, along with reduced costs in health, criminal justice and remedial education.

How can you help? Give to the organizations that run the programs, or partner with MCF and our partner foundations, so we can amplify your impact and help students avoid the summer slide.

Veronica Thames is CEO of the Manatee Community Foundation, which has given over $67 million to our communities by working with donors and nonprofit partners to improve the quality of life for people and animals in Manatee County. 

Pictured: MCF Staff presenting a grant to Stacy Freeman in her third-grade classroom. Provided photo.