Every year, a select group of professionals and leaders in our community come together in the Venice Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s Leadership Venice program, where they meet top community members and learn all about the ins and outs of our wonderful city. Each Leadership Venice class takes on a major charitable project to complete before graduating from the program.
The 2023 Leadership Venice class was an exceptional example in many ways, but especially for its quick decision-making and focused attention to its chosen project: constructing a Tribute to First Responders: Past, Present & Future, in Heritage Park. The centerpiece of the project is a repurposed 30-foot tall flagpole originally used at the site of Fire Station 51 on the City Hall campus.
The pole was set to be discarded after the 46-year-old Fire Station was demolished in 2020. Still, the resourceful Tony Rosen, a maintenance electrician for the City of Venice Public Works, saved and stored it for three years.
“During the demolition of Firehouse 51 (in 2020), one of my co-workers called me and said, ‘Hey, Tony, they’re taking down the flagpole. We need to go get it,’” Rosen explained. “I’m a veteran, and one of our jobs at Public Works is to maintain the flagpoles and handle and retire them properly. I care about those things,” he added.
Fast forward to early last year. Rosen was talking with colleague Cordy Crane, who is the Executive Assistant to the Venice City Manager, about her participation in Leadership 2023. She told him about the need to initiate and complete a class project to benefit the Venice community. He told her about the flagpole.
“Tony told me he had always hoped (the flagpole) could be placed somewhere in the City. I thought it would be the perfect project for our class. Then we came up with the idea of making it a tribute to First Responders,” she said.
Crane swiftly created a PowerPoint presentation and distributed it to her classmates on the first day of Leadership 2023. The next week, “we all voted and agreed to move forward on the project. By default, I became the project coordinator,” she said.
Crane divided the class into teams based on their interests and the project’s needs, such as funding, marketing, construction, and design planning. She also built a timeline by working backward from the required completion date in October 2023 and set goals on the calendar to ensure that the project moved along in a timely manner.
“What really impressed me was how this class (Leadership 2023) came together so quickly,” said Barbara Hines, Leadership Director for the Venice Area Chamber of Commerce Foundation, which runs the program. “They decided on the project at their second meeting. That has never happened before, and it stood out!” The class also finished on time, which hadn’t occurred before in the five years that Hines has led the program in Venice.
Both Rosen and Crane agree that the project couldn’t have happened, especially so swiftly, without the (unofficial) help of Venice Public Works, and Crane’s position in City government. “I was grateful to my Director,” said Rosen. “He just turned me loose and said, ‘do what you need to do.’”
What’s more, Rosen refurbished the flagpole on his own time. “It was a lot of elbow grease and some mechanical buffing to get it polished up and ready,” he said. He also saved everything he could use from the prior setup, rebuilt the anchoring sleeve himself to save money, and purchased and donated an eagle finial for the top of the pole.
As for Crane’s participation: “I can’t emphasize enough how hard Cordy worked to get everything to happen. I couldn’t have jumped through all those hoops,” said Rosen.
Today, because of the forethought, planning, and hard work of the Venice Leadership Class of 2023, plus donations from many organizations and private citizens (see sidebar), the City of Venice boasts a new area treasure.
A Tribute to First Responders: Past, Present & Future is located in the greenspace that runs down the middle of West Venice Avenue from Avenue des Parques to The Esplanade. The area features benches, a paver walkway, a backdrop wall, several plantings, and plaques to honor local police and fire departments. This wonderful addition to the community is open to all.
A Heartfelt “Thank You” to All of These Amazing Contributors That Helped ‘A Tribute to First Responders: Past, Present & Future’ Come to Life!
Allegro Bistro
Anthony Companion
Anthony Rosen
Atticus & Rachel Frank
Barbara Woodrow
Berlin Patten
Big Bam eBikes
Brenda Holland
Britt Surveying
Bryant Stucco
Candace Kurtz
Charles Hines
Charlie Thorpe
Clint Branam
Consolodated Electrical Distributors, Inc.
Convivial Jacaranda Trace
Davis & Beyer Dental Health Professionals
Dawn Mills
Ed & Sharon Lavallee
EDC of Sarasota County
Fraternal Order of Police Lodge #45
Fraternal Order of Police Lodge #57
Geri Allard
Gulf Shores Realty
Hazeltine Nurseries, Inc.
James Foubister
James Lorenz
James Martin
John Holic
Joyce Puglio
Joyner Family Insurance
Kathleen K. Catlin Foundation
Kathleen Mazzarella
Kathy Lehner
Kay Chick
Kelly Fernandez
Kelly Oliver, British Open Pub
Lamont Andrews
Lois Schnitta
Lora Kosten
Lorraine Anderson
Mark Beebe
Marty Dover
Mike Miller, MPS
Nick & Katherine Pachota
Pam Prost
Public Works
Reflections in Gold
Rich Deto
Richard & Mary Longo
Rob Dinerman
Robinson, Gruters & Roberts PA
Roger Clark
Roger & Sally Effron
Sarasota County Sheriff's Office
Sertoma Club of Venice
Shark Tooth Sports Car Club
Stacey Licking, Payroll Vault
Stone Crafters
Suncoast Professional Firefighters
Sunshine Electric
Susan Macrae
Tom Knight
Tracy Jones
Valven Paint
Venice City Lifestyle Magazine
Venice Firefighters Benevolent Fund
Venice Gondolier
Venice Lowe's
Visit Sarasota County
Wayne Welsh
Weber Manufacturing
