Lakewood Ranch Main Street throwing block party to celebrate first 10 years
LAKEWOOD RANCH -- Fun, lively, pedestrian friendly.
That's how Lakewood Ranch Main Street was designed. And that's how it will be Friday evening during a block party to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the entertainment, dining and shopping destination.
The emphasis will be on fun, say Mike and Debbie Driscoll, owners of the Fishhole Mini Golf and Main Street Bazaar, a shop packed with unusual and quirky gifts across the street from Lakewood Ranch Cinemas.
Their slogan is "smile, laugh, repeat," and that goes double for Friday night, when the Driscolls plan to triple their staff to handle the crowd.
Mini golf and the bazaar have been staples at Lakewood Ranch Main Street for the past five years.
"We love the hometown feel of Main Street," Mike Driscoll said.
Doing business on Main Street even longer are Vanessa Fine Jewelry, which opened on Day One in December 2005, and Main Street Travel, which opened in January 2006.
Don Baugh and his dog, Barney the basset hound, have been in the jewelry store almost every work day since then.
"We had a store at South Gate in Sarasota County and we had customers who lived at Lakewood Ranch, and
they were always saying we needed to open a store at the Ranch," Baugh said of the decision to move to Main Street.
Kim Taylor, owner of Main Street Travel, is a fan of Music on Main at Lakewood Ranch, when pedestrians take over the street to shop, drink, eat and dance to live music.
Gary Fennessy, owner of an Italian restaurant on the street, MST -- short for Main Street Trattoria -- says one of the biggest attractions is the diversity of dining places.
From the beginning, that diversity has been a hallmark of Main Street, including everything from sushi to Mexican.
The free block party, set for 6-9 p.m. Friday, features the music of Shaman, a kids' zone, vendor booths and a beer tent.
For the first time, the Main Street Merchants are being joined by Lakewood Ranch Community Activities and the Lakewood Ranch Business Alliance.
"We are also celebrating our 10th anniversary," said Heather Kasten, executive director of the Lakewood Ranch Business Alliance, which now includes 500 companies and 2,000 individual members. "We are expecting beautiful weather and it should be a really fun night."
Kyanne Merrill, director of Lakewood Ranch Community Activities, said many of the 50 clubs and organizations will have a booth or table at the block party.
Instead of having an annual club day at Town Hall, organizers decided to bundle the event with the block party this year, Merrill said.
"It will be a great change of pace for the clubs," Merrill said. "Thirty of the 50 clubs will be represented. They will have demonstrations and displays of what they have to offer."
Developer Schroeder-Manatee Ranch announced plans for Lakewood Ranch Main Street in 2002, at a time when several other landmarks were still just concepts, including Lakewood Ranch Medical Center and Lakewood Ranch Town Hall.
John Clarke, then the chief executive officer of SMR, promised Main Street would provide the heartbeat of the new, emerging town of Lakewood Ranch.
Main Street opened in December 2005, decorated in holiday tinsel and lights, and manmade snow blowing from the rooftops.
The district was designed for 130,000 square feet under roof, not only for residents at Lakewood Ranch, but for neighbors from Bradenton to Sarasota as well.
In addition to the shopping, dining, and entertainment Lakewood Ranch Main Street provided in its first 10 years, it also regularly hosts holiday parades, Menorah lighting ceremonies and patriotic events, providing the community heartbeat Clarke envisioned in 2002.
James A. Jones Jr., East Manatee reporter, can be contacted at 941-745-7053 or on Twitter @jajones1.
This story was originally published October 15, 2015 at 12:01 AM with the headline "Lakewood Ranch Main Street throwing block party to celebrate first 10 years ."