Bulletin: Living Out East Magazine has again been honored again as a finalist in the Manatee Chamber of Commerce Small Business of the Year Awards for 2007.

No “carpetbagger” operation, Living Out East Magazine (incorporating Living Healthy With Doctors Health Journal) is a proudly-independent magazine produced by a talented staff of people who live out east. We are not owned by any land developer, government entity, community or media conglomerate..

We are members of the Manatee Chamber of Commerce, Sarasota Chamber of Commerce, the Lakewood Ranch Business Leaders, The Lakewood Ranch Business Allliance, and the Lakewood Ranch Business Club. We also proudly support Meals on Wheels Plus, the Florida Winefest and ArtCenter Manatee.

Our co-publisher, Virginia Orenstein, along with her husband Jeff, also our executive editor, has lived in Lakewood Ranch since January, 1999. Virginia did a stint as editor of Around the Ranch, served as president of the Lakewood Ranch East Communities Charitable Fund (now called Lakewood Ranch Charitable Fund), was one of the founders of the Out East Gala, was a founder of the Lakewood Ranch Civic Action Forum, started the Lakewood Ranch Gourmet Club and has been involved in the out east community from the moment she moved in.

Dr. Jeff Orenstein, co-publisher and Executive Editor, is a retired college professor. He was executive editor of the Gulf Coast Business Review, executive editor of Around the Ranch and was the publisher of Doctors Health Journal. Along with Virginia, he started the Lakewood Ranch Civic Action Forum, the original (and still flourishing) out east networking group, the Lakewood Ranch Business Leaders, is on the board of the Manatee Community College Foundation, ArtsCenter manatee and has been active in many local organizations ranging from the Manatee Chamber of Commerce to the Manatee County Planning Commission.

Pat Driscoll is our Chief Marketing Officer and contributing health writer. She had a distinguished career in health care marketing and ran marketing for several hospitals before coming to Living Out East. She is active in organizations throughout the region and is a interested in alternative health issues. She and her husband Don live out east near the new Braden River High School..

Jane Jule, MBA is a Sales Executive for Manatee County. Very active in the Sarasota-Manatee business community, she is on the board of the Lakewood Ranch Business Alliance and active in women's organizations out east and elsewhere.

Fran Schipper, is our Creative Director. She has many years of experience in pre-press technology and advertising design with the St. Peterberg Times and Newspaper Publishing Corporation and lives in St. Petersburg with her daghter and husband Ed who is also a graphic artist.

Gail Cameron Somodi is our Research Editor. She hails from Delaware and was a contributing writer to Around the Ranch. She is also Senior Editor of Doctors Health Journal and is trained in botanical research. She lives in Lakewood Ranch with her husband Daniel and children Katherine and Daniel.

Garrick Newman is a Marketing Executive for Sarasota County. He has had a distinguished career in real estate in the region. He also has experience in restaurant management and television media sales. He lives with his wife and children out east..

Jane Jule, MBA is a Sales Executive for Manatee County. Very active in the Sarasota-Manatee business community, she is on the board of the Lakewood Ranch Business Alliance and active both in professional organizations for women and local business networking organizations. She enjoys international gourmet cooking, ballroom dancing and investing as hobbies. She lives east of I-75 in Manatee County.

Nancy Spooner is a LOE Marketing Executive for the growing areas north of the Manatee River. She is a talented graphic artist and active in the Sarasota-Manatee business community. She lives with her husband in out east in Manatee County.

Cathandra Matthews is our webmaster. She and her husband Jeff live in Lakewood Ranch with children Todd, Kevin, Reese, Sydney and Quinn.. She is ably assisted by David Grace, the President of Abacus Web Services who lives in Mill Creek with his wife Fern and daughter Mackenzie.

Our regular columnists all have significant connections out east as well. They, too, know what it means to live and/or work out east, along I-75, the main street of the community and the heart of the suncoast. They include Beatty Cohan, Jill Obrochta Dambro, Pat Driscoll, Steve Grossman, Linda Kammerer, Lucy Lapides, Mike Tullio, Dick Moran, Sean Murphy, Jake Kammerer, Tammy Kovar, Judy and Natalie, the Polite Police and Anne Weintraub, Esq.