People often measure philanthropy in dollars, but I’d say it’s truly about character. You can tell a lot about a person by the way they treat others, the care they bring to their work, and their social responsibility toward their community. Manatee Community Foundation (MCF) was built on those values, and few people embodied them more fully than our co-founder Bob Christopher.

Sunday, March 1st, was a sad day for our community. We lost one of the “Three Bobs” who helped establish Manatee Community Foundation in 1998. When I ask myself, “How can someone remain so actively engaged with a cause for nearly 30 years?”, I see the answer: Bob Christopher’s personal values tightly aligned with MCF’s. Bob lived out those values—trust, integrity, transparency, loyalty, leadership, and diversity—in his professional life and in his service to the community. His expertise as a respected accountant helped guide MCF during its earliest years—but expertise is not worth much without character.

Bob understood that a community foundation’s currency is trust. Donors entrust their charitable funds with the expectation they will be stewarded wisely and leveraged to strengthen the community for generations. Bob helped build that trust. His reputation for transparency and integrity reassured donors that MCF would forever be a careful steward of their philanthropic intent and a thoughtful partner to nonprofits serving Manatee County.

Bob and his wife of 65 years, Margaret, also led by example, establishing a Founder’s Fund at MCF and encouraging others to become involved in improving the quality of life of this region. He truly believed in the mission of the foundation and spent years helping introduce clients, colleagues, and friends to the impact they could have of partnering with MCF.

As a relatively new leader in my role, I asked others how Bob changed our community for the better. Those who worked closely with him remember the same qualities I do. His steadiness grounded others. He walked in humility and held a deep sense of responsibility for the mission.

Susie Bowie, MCF’s former Executive Director, often noticed Bob’s careful leadership. She remembers how thoughtfully he protected the financial integrity of the young organization while never losing sight of the people it was meant to serve. As Susie described to me, “He was a calm, measured voice of reason and experience, a humble leader in every way.”

Lisa Johnson of Johnson Messal Bristow, a CPA who once worked under Bob’s mentorship and served as chair of the MCF board, remembers the same qualities. “Bob was intelligent, kind, and humble,” Lisa said. “He was always 100 percent invested in whatever he was involved with. He was an extraordinary mentor and will be missed deeply.”

Founding Executive Director, Marilyn Howard, saw that same spirit in the earliest days of the foundation. She remembers how Bob always seemed to have a twinkle in his eye, how he was gracious and wonderful to be around. That also speaks to his character.

Fellow founder, Bob Blalock, saw those qualities not only in meetings but in the everyday moments that build real friendships. He recalls fond memories of his close friend of over 50 years, especially days spent fishing together, and said the reputation Bob Christopher had in the community was well earned. “He was brilliant, a wonderful CPA, but he was so much more than that,” Blalock said.

So, what was Bob’s definition of philanthropy? I think he’d define it the way character is defined: by how we treat others or serve our neighbors; how we lead with integrity. Those principles guided all his days, and I’m so proud that they continue to guide the work of MCF today.

Even in recent months, Bob remained closely connected to the foundation he helped build. His encouragement reminded us how much he cared about the future of this organization and the community it serves.

Bob has left an immense void in our hearts, yet he has filled our community with love and care that will never dissipate. He understood the value of relationships and lived an exemplary life, showcasing each of our shared values. We hold on to our beautiful memories of Bob and celebrate his incredible legacy in our community.

Veronica Thames is the CEO of the Manatee Community Foundation.

Pictured: MCF Founder and past Chairman of the Board (1/3/1941 - 3/1/2026). Provided photo.

A documentary this week. Another headline next week. The opposition campaign against New College of Florida has a playbook and it is running it. But the facts on the ground tell a different story than the narrative being manufactured.

I run a business. I manage real estate decisions and healthcare operations every day. When I look at New College of Florida, I see something that has become obscured by the volume of the opposition: a school that is growing, healing, and building momentum while a coordinated campaign works overtime to convince the public otherwise.

The format changes. The goal does not. The goal is to keep the story frozen in the past, to replay grievances, to make enough noise that the actual trajectory of the institution gets drowned out. It will not work, because facts are too visible.

New College is expanding enrollment. The campus environment, which suffered from years of deterioration before the current administration, is being rebuilt. Academic rigor is being strengthened. Students are arriving and staying. The numbers are moving in the right direction because of unglamorous, day-to-day institutional work.

Prior to the current administration, New College faced serious structural challenges: declining enrollment, a deteriorating physical campus, and a culture of instability. Those are not talking points. They are documented facts.

The documentary wants to make this about ideology. The discussion that needs to take place is about infrastructure, workforce, and the long-term economic health of this region.

Here is the practical picture. We have permanent academic buildings sitting underutilized on Sarasota Bay. We have students being housed in hotels and temporary structures at significant cost to taxpayers. New College sits directly next door to the USF Sarasota-Manatee campus. If New College needs room to expand and there are buildings operating below capacity nearby, consolidating that footprint is not controversial. It is strategic alignment. Paying multiples for temporary housing while permanent facilities sit underused is not a principled stand. It is waste.

Density strengthens institutions. Fragmentation weakens them.

I also work in healthcare. Programs like nursing are not just academic offerings. They are economic engines. Blake Medical Center, Sarasota Memorial, and regional providers depend on locally trained professionals. That pipeline must be protected and strengthened. Shared-use buildings, joint academic programs, and long-term workforce agreements can guarantee that healthcare training remains rooted in this region while New College builds the density it needs to be sustainable. These are not competing objectives. They are complementary ones.

What concerns me most is the waste that results when institutional battles prevent cooperation. When we leave buildings partially empty, pay premium costs for temporary solutions, and allow manufactured conflict to prevent alignment, we weaken the economic foundation of the region. Higher education is infrastructure. It attracts talent. Talent builds companies. Companies create jobs. Jobs create a tax base.

The opposition can release another documentary. It can generate another week of headlines. What it cannot do is change the enrollment trajectory, undo the campus improvements, or stop the students who are choosing New College right now.

Sarasota and Manatee counties have built hospitals, expanded business districts, and aligned public and private efforts for decades. We understand long-term investment. What is in front of us is an institution on an upward arc, a region with genuine workforce needs, underutilized infrastructure that should be activated, and an opposition campaign that is running out of credible arguments.

The noise will continue. So will the work.

Lance Karp is an award-winning dentist and Sarasota-based business executive who has served on the Board of Trustees of New College of Florida since 2021. 

March is measured in sunshine by most, but for us in the tourism and hospitality industry, spending is what defines the strength of the season. If history holds true, this month will once again be the busiest of the year as our award-winning beaches compete with other Florida destinations for a stake in the lucrative Spring Break economy—and as a resident, I don’t have to tell you twice. You feel it daily on your commutes, in the decisions you make on where to eat out and how you spend your free time. You see the estimated drive time on Google Maps or the fully booked reservations page on OpenTable and decide with a sigh that the visitors have won out.

What if we thought of season not as something we have to endure but rather something we steward?

A tall ask, I admit, but the dollars spent here by tourists stay here — and in turn, keep our businesses open, our neighbors employed, and our residents finding joy in all the quality-of-life amenities kept world-class through tax dollars generated by tourism.

In our roles at Visit Sarasota County, we’re seeing just how this industry—our local hotels, restaurants, attractions, museums, gift shops, and more—is turning spring-break sunshine into this economic momentum. And it’s an effort our tourism team is matching wholeheartedly across our active marketing, PR, group sales, and sports campaigns.

If you turned your TV on up north this past week, you may have been greeted by a glimpse into Mote SEA. The coverage came from a Satellite Media Tour we hosted with our partners at Mote, Nathan Benderson Park and University Town Center. These three powerhouses of tourism—representing attractions, sports and recreation, and shopping—brought Sarasota County directly into living rooms across the country and, if we’ve done our jobs, into the plans of future travelers.

This marketing muscle extends to selling our destination to meeting planners, as well. At tradeshows from Philadelphia to Orlando, our team has unveiled a new “Business as Unusual” campaign—highlighting how uniquely we blend coastal charm with flexible venues with custom meeting incentives, so corporate groups can experience ease, elegance, and a little surprise during their stay. The new look adorning our booths and giveaways was created by Sarasota-based artist, Lipstick Lex, and it bears saying: leaning into local is always a winning strategy.

In the coming month, Sarasota and Manatee counties will be welcoming the Senior PGA—the longest-running Major Championship in professional senior golf, and we at Visit Sarasota County plan to make the most of the occasion. We're working with our hotels and their sales teams to entertain meeting planners and other VIP’s who may, in turn, bring their groups and business back to Sarasota County. This extends to site selectors looking to relocate their business, and we’re working closely with the Economic Development Corporation of Sarasota County to leverage the tournament to reach them.

To cap off high season, we’ll host our National Travel and Tourism Week Celebration at The Ringling on Thursday, May 7 from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. With 2027 marking a century since John Ringling moved the circus’s winter quarters to Sarasota, this year’s event will kick off a centennial celebration of our circus legacy while honoring other local businesses reaching 100 years in 2026. Expect an evening of history, hospitality, and a touch of spectacle as we also name our 2026 Voice of Sarasota. Sponsorships and tickets are available at www.visitsarasota.org/industry-events.

Tourism is easy to notice when the beaches are full and the traffic is slow. But the real story of this industry isn’t confined to a few busy weeks in March. It’s in the paychecks that support local families, the museums and parks we enjoy year-round, and the businesses that stay open because visitors keep coming back. Spring Break may be the most visible reminder but the truth is, tourism works for this community long after the crowds go home.

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

Photo courtesy of Visit Sarasota. County.