Features

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Capt. Pete Hull, left, displays the long whip-like tail of a spotted eagle ray captured in Big Pass. (May 23, 2012; Herald-Tribune staff photo by Mike Lang)

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Nancy and Richard Underwood have played Mr. and Mrs. Claus for the last 17 years. They sit on their front lawn at Shade Ave. and Siesta Dr. on Friday and Sunday evenings, waving to passing cars and welcoming anyone who wants so say hello to Santa. This Friday evening, Richard wasn't available, so family friend, Dave Kanwischer filled in as Santa. (Dec. 13, 2013, 2013; Herald-Tribune staff photo by Mike Lang)

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Spectators watch as artists work on their creations Friday, Nov. 2, 2012 during the Sarasota Chalk Festival in downtown Sarasota. The ten-day street art festival concludes Sunday when all 2-D and 3-D artists finish their works. The theme this year is "Circus City USA". (Friday, Nov. 2, 2012; Herald-Tribune staff photo by Mike Lang)

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Members of the Lowry Park Zoo Manatee Hospital and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission hold down a manatee calf named Sarabella, while they wait for her mother to be unloaded at the Ken Thompson Park boat ramp. Tomobella and her calf were rescued in July after Tomobella exhibited unusual neruological behavior. Because Sarabella is still nursing, Lowry Park Zoo staff released mother and calf togethe. (Sept. 13, 2012; Herald-Tribune staff photo by Mike Lang)

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Caden Vickers, 6, left, and his twin brother Holden Vickers, 6, take turns catching a ball in their hat, as Molly Gillespie, 6, right, waits her turn. Nearly two hundred kids from the Manatee YMCA Lakewood Ranch Branch got to participate in a baseball clinic Tuesday with Baltimore Orioles players at Ed Smith Complex in Sarasota. The kids got free hats and t-shirts from the Orioles, then had a chance to hit, field, pitch, and run the bases before being treated to a lunch in the stands in the stadium. [Herald-Tribune staff photo / Mike Lang]

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Capt. Jeff Fobb with the Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Venom One response team, demonstrates snake handling techniques with a 13-foot, 85-pound Burmese python during the kickoff of the 2013 Python Challenge Saturday morning in Davie, FL. (Jan. 12, 2013; Herald-Tribune staff photo by Mike Lang)

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Circus Arts Conservatory clown Chuck Sidlow and his wife, Noriko (on piano) are a regular part of the intergenerational programming at The Pines, which brings together elderly residents of the assisted living facility and children from the organization's pre-school for sessions of music, art and horticulture. [Herald-Tribune staff photo / Mike Lang]

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Universal Flight Training assistant chief flight instructor Ben Sleight, right, talks with flight training student Malcolm Moniz, 16, as they do a walk-around of a twin engine Piper Seneca Thursday, July 6, 2017, during an aviation career day. Moniz, a junior at Pine View started his flight training in March and is preparing for his solo flight. Universal Flight Training partnered with seven major airline carriers to help increase opportunities for an aviation career to local pilots at their hangar in the Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport. [Herald-Tribune staff photo / Mike Lang]

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First and second grade students from Lamarque Elementary School, dressed as pilgrims and native Americans, take their places backstage as they get ready to perform "A Storybook Thanksgiving" for parents and students at the school on Thursday. Teachers Mary Pedro and Rachel Chagnon have been directing their students in a Thanksgiving play, based on a book the kids have read, for seven years and have developed an impressive collection of costumes for the play. Students in their classes are reading buddies and they began reading the books and rehearsing for the plays about three weeks ago. [Herald-Tribune staff photo / Mike Lang]

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Francisco Serrano rehearses for his last performance at his parents' Sarasota Cuban Ballet School before beginning his position as a dancer with the Royal Ballet in London. (July 20, 2016; STAFF PHOTO / MIKE LANG)