SOUTH COUNTY DIVISION
Park appreciation leads down rabbit hole
As we say goodbye to 2020
( don ’ t let the door hit you in the …), I attempted to reflect on health and wellness in a pandemic per our theme for this issue . While this year has been a difficult one , I fervently hope that 2021 brings wellness in the form of a vaccine and return to normalcy . It is with sadness that I report the South County Division has voted to suspend all in-person events until the 2021 – 22 bar year . No train station wine event and no shooting clays this year . We have attempted to maintain some normalcy by providing meals to the court staff for the holidays ( thank you , Erin
Itts ) and conducting a Zoom trivia event ( thank you , Mark Creech ). We will continue to monitor the situation and adjust and , with luck , reschedule some events . Perhaps , I will once again stake out Snake Island for a summer picnic .
When reflecting on wellness , however , I thought about how lucky we are here in Sarasota County to have a cornucopia of beautiful outdoor public spaces ( such as Snake Island ). I enjoy running , so having access to the Legacy Trail and the Venetian Waterfront Trail have kept me sane during this year . As I thought about what to write , I went down a bit of a Wikipedia-like rabbit hole , because I thought of one of the most beautiful public spaces in South County , Caspersen Beach , and remembered the weird and tragic tale of the Caspersen family . So this article will not be about wellness , per se , but about some
SOUTH COUNTY PRESIDENT ’ S COLUMN
Anthony G . Mowry , Esq . Mowry Law Office
SCD Board of Directors 2020 – 2021
President Anthony Mowry
President-Elect Patrick Reilly
Treasurer Erin Itts
Secretary AJ Stickley
Immediate Past President Bryan Kessler
THANK YOU to the following members and law firms who donated to the Courthouse Holiday Lunch and The Twig ( as of time of publication ):
of the characters from the history of Venice .
According to the Sarasota Herald-Tribune , Caspersen Beach was named after the Caspersen family , whose patriarch , Olaus Westby Caspersen , owned the beachfront land . His son , a Harvard Law School graduate , Finn M . W . Caspersen , transferred the property to Sarasota County in 1968 in one of his first projects upon graduation from law school . Interestingly , the Herald-Tribune reported in several articles that Finn M . W . Caspersen ’ s father ( who they said was also named Finn , not Olaus ) founded the Venice Taxpayers League , was known for “ dogged scrutiny of city
DIRECTORS Lance Ball Dawn Marie Bates-Buchanan Mark Creech Jacqulyn Mack-Majka Kayla Tipple
Ball Law Firm
Boone , Boone , Boone & Koda , P . A .
Ernest Gifford , Esq . Horlick & Corbridge , P . A . Itts Law , LLC
Kanetsky , Moore & DeBoer , P . A .
Lauren Kohl , Esq . Ledbetter Law Group
Mack Law Firm Chartered Mellor & Backo LLP Mowry Law Office
Muirhead , Gaylor , Steves & Waskom , LLP
Reegler & Tornese , P . A . Donna-Lee Roden , Esq . Snyder & Reilly Trial Lawyers
The Law Office of Joseph F . Summonte , Jr ., P . A .
spending , water rates and growth policies ” and was nicknamed “ the Curmudgeon of City Hall .”
As some of you may know , however , the Caspersen story does not have a happy ending . Olaus died in 1971 and his son , Finn M . W . Caspersen , committed suicide by firearm on September 7 , 2009 . He had been diagnosed with kidney cancer and , as a result , was in constant pain and began suffering from severe depression . The New York Times reported that he was facing numerous financial and legal difficulties including an IRS investigation , although an attorney for his Estate later said that the IRS had concluded its investigation and levied no fines or penalties . In 2016 , Finn H . W . Caspersen ’ s son , Andrew Caspersen , also a Harvard Law School graduate , pleaded guilty to security and wire fraud . He was sentenced to 4 years in prison for defrauding investors of $ 38 million .
As I said in the beginning , writing this article sent me down quite a rabbit hole . I said this article would not be about wellness per se . But , since we can ’ t travel , I have learned more about the places around us and the interesting , kooky , and occasionally tragic characters that have inhabited our community . Scratching the surface and learning more about some of the places and names around us has been a joy during this year .
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