Day: February 28, 2017

Spirit of Manatee Awards honor ‘givers’ in Manatee BY RICHARD DYMOND | rdymond@bradenton.com MANATEE – The Manatee Community Foundation’s 12th Annual Spirit of Manatee Awards was kind of like Manatee County’s version of the Oscars, but without those risky envelopes to open. “Thankfully, our winners are previously announced,” Susie Bowie, executive director of the Manatee Community Foundation, told a crowd of 450 at noon Tuesday at the Bradenton Area Convention Center, casually referring to Sunday’s Oscars where a mistake was made in the announcement of Best Picture. Perhaps the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences should take a lesson from the