In Brief - Sarasota/Bradenton, FL

TIME ZONE: Eastern
AREA CODE: 941
FOUNDED: 1842
POPULATION: 52,025
AIRPORT: Sarasota Bradenton International Airport (SRQ)
WEBSITE: www.sarasotafl.org

BY THE NUMBERS

63 age, in years, of Snooty, the world’s oldest manatee, who resides at the Parker Manatee Aquarium

5,094+ approximate number of miles the Asolo Theater traveled from its former home in Asolo, Italy

125 years ago Scottish colonist Sir John Hamilton Gillespie built the first American golf course in Sarasota

100+ number of performances each year by the Sarasota Orchestra

NEWS FLASH

No Clowning Around /// Master circus model builder Howard Tibbals funded the recently opened $7.5 million addition to The Ringling Circus Museum’s Tibbals Learning Center, which recreates the magic of a day under the big top. www.ringling.org

Row, Row, Row Your Boat /// The 400-acre lake at Nathan Benderson Park is being transformed into the largest competitive rowing facility in the nation at a price tag of $40 million dollars. Talk about being competitive. www.worldclassrowing.com

CULTURE CALENDAR

Dec. 6 to Jan. 13 BEST OF THE BEST INVITATIONAL EXHIBITION See Bradenton’s crème de la crème at this retrospective of ArtCenter Manatee’s art exhibition award winners. This nonprofit has exhibited local, regional and national art since 1937, but now you can see the highlights — photography, sculpture, watercolors and paintings — in one swoop. www.artcentermanatee.org

Dec. 15 HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LUDWIG On the eve of what would be the legendary piano man’s 241st birthday, the Sarasota Orchestra celebrates by performing two of Beethoven’s early works, the String Quartet and the often overlooked — but no less brilliant — Second Symphony. www.sarasotaorchestra.org