Grand Haven Observer april 2016

GRAND HAVEN

Observer HOME SWEET HOME HE’S THEIR HERO

YOU. YOUR NEIGHBORS. YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD.

Do you know this dog? If you know the Beilmans you do ... PAGE 2A

VOLUME 1, NO. 1

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APRIL 2016

Why we are here

JACQUE ESTES STAFF WRITER

I

am pleased to present the premier issue of the Grand Haven Observer, a hyper-local publication for and about the residents of the Grand Haven community.

My name is Jacque Estes, and I will be your reporter and photographer. This paper is all about you and your neighbors and the wonderful things you have done and continue to do.

Our mission statement for the Grand Haven Observer is the same as it is for the Palm Coast Observer: To inspire our communities with extraordinary local content, and to help our partners prosper.

When we learn more about our neighbors, we become a stronger community. We become connected. The Grand Haven Observer will facilitate that, and we hope you will help.

During the coming months I look forward to meeting and interviewing as many of you as possible. I am looking for stories from all walks of life, from former Peace Corps volunteers to artists.

In this issue, I had the honor and pleasure to speak with residents about bowling, croquet and volunteer opportunities, while getting to know this lovely community you call home.

Please feel free to contact me with any comments or story ideas at my email address, jacque@ palmcoastobserver.com.

Jacque Estes

Bordered by the Intra Coastal Waterway, Grand Haven residents don’t have to leave home to enjoy a scenic walk

Welcome Home to your private resort: Nine-year CDD veteran strives to keep Grand Haven a place where everyone is proud to live.

THE NORTH ENTRANCE

JACQUE ESTES STAFF WRITER

The first thing you notice about Steve Davidson is the pride he has for his community. Davidson has been on the CDD Board for the past nine years and is once again running to continue as the chairman of the organization.

“I have tremendous pride of ownership,” Davidson said. “I am one of 2,000 owners.”

Recently, I had the opportunity to see the Grand Haven Community through Davidson’s eyes.

The North Entrance, originally intended to be the Main Gate (but that’s another story), includes the Community Development District offices in a building initially used as the real estate office for the community.

The building was redesigned to include a conference room (that anyone can use) and a large open space overlooking the pool — perfect for banquets, large classes, and meetings. There is also a gym and a room for the card-playing

groups in the community.

A pristine croquet course, often dotted with players dressed in white, is on one side of the complex. There is a “tot lot” playground, badminton net, a practice soccer field and basketball court — activities for every interest, and we haven’t even passed the guard shack.

On many days, the facility is filled — inside and out. That poses one issue: It was not designed with enough parking.

SEE TOUR PAGE 10

— JACQUE (pronounced “Jackie”)

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Bowling down memory lane Not one, not two, but three bowling leagues! Meet the LoMonacos. PAGE 8

Local Postal Customer

From the stacks ...

PAGE 6 Sandy Lee is one of many residents who volunteer time at the Flagler County Public Library.

Lady in white PAGE 4 For the past 20 years, Cassandra Gaisor has not only learned and mastered croquet, but she has been the president of the Hammock Dunes and Grand Haven croquet clubs.

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APRIL 2016

Living with cancer Lewis and Amy Beilman face down the ‘elephant in the room’: the fear of recurrence.

JACQUE ESTES STAFF WRITER

Dance exercise groups, animal welfare, and their dog Hero.

These are the things most people associate with Lewis and Amy Beilman.

In 2011 the couple shifted their focus to a relatively unknown cancer with no local support group — Oral, Head, and Neck Cancer.

This focus was in response to Lewis Beilman being diagnosed with tonsil cancer.

“It’s on the list of the most prevalent cancers on the rise,” Amy Beilman said.

Lewis began undergoing chemo and radiation treatment while Amy began researching the disease and searching for a support group. A friend found SPOHNC (Support for People with Oral, Head, and Neck Cancer). There were 125 support groups throughout the United States, but the closest group to Palm Coast was in Ocala and not convenient.

“Our first year, when he was in treatment and things were the roughest, they (SPOHNC) hooked me up with people all over the country,” Amy Beilman said.

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“These people had been through it and were guiding me: ‘This is normal. Try that.’”

The Beilmans then did what they do best — they got involved.

The two had both served on the Board of Directors of the Flagler Humane Society and started Move to Music, an aerobics class at Grand Haven, and had experience raising funds and awareness.

“Once we came through the hardest, darkest part and he was recovering we said, ‘We are going to give back,’” Amy Beilman said. “We started an oral, head, and neck support group in Palm Coast.”

Chartered by SPOHNC, the new group had their first meeting in Grand Haven. Amy Beilman was concerned no one would show up, but her concerns were unfounded. Six people came to the first meeting. The group quickly outgrew their meeting space and now meets monthly at Florida Hospital Flagler.

Amy Beilman can still name the six people who attended the first meeting.

“It was a wonderful experience because everyone had stories to share,” she said. “It wasn’t a pity

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“Once you have had cancer, it is part of your life. We met the elephant and kept marching through it.”

AMY BEILMAN, co-organizer of Palm Coast SPOHNC group

party. It was unbelievable from the very beginning.”

A sub group that Amy Beilman refers to as the “Nurse Ratcheds” also formed.

“The caregivers needed as much support as the patient,” she said.

Six months prior to Lewis Beilman’s five-year mark of being cancer free, a time when recurrence is considered a minimal chance, he found a sore on his tongue. A biopsy found it was cancerous, and, once again, he began treatment. Today, he is again cancer free.

“In group, we discuss the ‘elephant in the room’: the fear of recurrence,’” Amy Beilman said.

“Once you have had cancer, it is part of your life. We met the elephant and kept marching through it.”

The group now meets from 4 to 5:30 p.m. the first Thursday of the month in classroom D at Florida Hospital Flagler. No registration is required. Meetings include

Jacque Estes

Amy, Hero and Lewis Beilman are familiar faces in the Grand Haven community. Hero Beilman was adopted from the Flagler Humane Society six months before Lewis Beilman was diagnosed with tonsil cancer.

guest speakers who share information about the cancers and the treatments.

“Just show up,” Amy Beilman said. “Patients, caregivers and families are welcome. I send the minutes to those people who can’t get to the meetings.”

The Beilmans appreciated the support they received from the national SPOHNC organization, and three years ago decided it was

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At 9 a.m., Saturday, April 23, the third-annual “Move to Music” Exercise Fundraiser Class will be held in the Grand Haven Village Center.

“This has become a once a year fundraiser,” Amy Beilman said.

“April is oral cancer awareness month. There are lots of raffles and T-shirts and all of the donations go to SPOHNC.”

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APRIL 2016

JOIN THE CLUB There’s backyard croquet, golf croquet, and then there’s Grand Haven croquet.

JACQUE ESTES STAFF WRITER

C

assandra Gaisor fell and broke her arm when she was 6 years old. When her cast came off, her parents gave her a coming out party. Her gift was a backyard croquet set.

“All the neighborhoods came over and played,” she said. “Then the war started, and I don’t know what happened to that set.”

Decades passed before Gaisor would pick up a croquet mallet again.

“The reason I got into croquet

is because I met my husband at Hammock Dunes, and he was a croquet player,” she said. “I wasn’t too interested. I took the usual reaction: ‘What do you mean you have to wear white?’”

“I had two wonderful, long marriages,” she said. “Most people don’t get that lucky very often. My first marriage lasted 46 years, and the second lasted 18 years.”

Charlie Gaisor, a widower, took courting very seriously, according to Cassandra Gaisor.

“I’ve never been courted like I was with Charlie Gaisor,” she said. “He was a perfect gentleman

Photos by Jacque Estes

Cassandra Gaisor demonstrates technique at a Friday croquet clinic at Grand Haven.

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Before the two could tie the knot, Charlie had a stroke.

“By the time we were married six months later, and, after the therapy, we hardly knew he had a stroke,” she said. “The price I had to pay was to play croquet. I didn’t even have something white to wear.”

For the past 20 years, Cassandra Gaisor has not only learned and mastered the game, but she has been the president of the Hammock Dunes and Grand Haven croquet clubs. She will turn her Grand Haven presidential duties over to Rich Burn on April 15.

She learned a lot under the tutelage of Dorothy Fosse at Hammock Dunes. Each year, the Hammock Dunes club hosts the Dorothy Fosse Croquet Invitational. Fosse, now 95, lives in Chicago.

“Dorothy is a dear friend and an amazing person,” Gaisor said.

“She’s been a role model for me for a number of years on how to age well.”

Gaisor and Pat Williams introduced croquet to Grand Haven.

Initially, the group played on the smaller croquet course at the Village Center.

“Pat and I were probably pretty equal in our efforts. We organized the club in 2003,” Gaisor said.

Gaisor recalled one man at the first Grand Haven organization meeting of the croquet club.

“He said he was a good player, and no one could beat him. He thought it would be boring,” Gaisor said. “Pat Williams and I were both fairly low handicaps, and we asked him what he was doing the next day. That was good competition, but the poor guy never knew what hit him.”

Not mentioning names, Gaisor said the man is still an active member of the club and a very good friend.

Grand Haven hosted its First

tournament in 2006 on the new, big court by the north entrance.

There were 24 participants, 12 who lived outside the community and 12 from inside.

“The club had grown from 18 to 38 members,” Gaisor said. “Now we are at 85.”

New players are offered four two-hour lessons for free to see if they are interested in pursuing the game. After the four lessons, players who want to continue buy their own mallets and continue with more advanced classes.

“When you come into the club, you’re a handicap 20, and, over the years, you work your way down,” Gaisor said. “The lowest handicap in the club is a 4. I am a 4.5. There are five or six 4.5 to 5 handicaps. These are the ones really addicted to it.”

There is no age requirement, except that 13 and younger must be accompanied by an adult. Most are in their 70s and early 80s.

On Mondays, classes are conducted with four coaches. The players learn the rules as they come up in play. This class is held when there are enough players interested. On Wednesdays there is a shot clinic. Gaisor teaches a strategy clinic on Fridays.

Mallets are custom-made and the biggest investment for the player. Mallets are made of wood, carbon composite and aluminum carbon composite and can cost from $250 to $500.

The courses are open to any Grand Haven resident, as long as they are not being used by the club and course rules and regulations are followed. Residents are required to sign out equipment from the CDD office and must use their own mallets.

“It has evolved over the years to produce the best possible situation for the community,” Gaisor said.

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APRIL 2016

Volunteer has her head in the stacks Sandy Lee is one of many residents who volunteer time at the Flagler County Public Library.

JACQUE ESTES STAFF WRITER

When there are books that need to be returned to the shelves at the Flagler County Public Library on Tuesday afternoons, there’s a good chance Sandy Lee is the volunteer on the job.

“I have been volunteering at the library for about nine years,” she said. “I am a shelver. I put books back, and there has never been a time when I have gone to the library when it hasn’t been crowded with books that need to be put away.”

While they were house hunting, the Lees checked out libraries.

“I always check out libraries where ever I go, and this one had such a good reputation,” Lee said.

“I looked up Holly (Albanese, the director), and she went to the University of Rhode Island, and we got married in Rhode Island.

I felt like she was a home town girl who made good down here in Palm Coast.”

Lee said the couple’s introduction to Palm Coast was by accident.

“We would come down from New Hampshire in the winter to stay a week in Daytona or New

Sandra Lee reads a book club selection: “Dead Wake.”

Smyrna Beach,” she said. “One year, they didn’t have anything available in Daytona, and they put us here in Palm Coast, and that’s all we needed.”

Jerry Lee was also a familiar face at the library up until his death two years ago.

“He loved to go over to the library for the lectures, and he was a voracious reader,” she said.

Jerry Lee served in the U.S. Army Special Forces for 22 years.

While he was stationed in Vietnam, Sandy Lee, at home with their five children, decided to take on a part-time job at Sears selling appliances. Initially, it was a way

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for her to get out of the house for a few hours, but soon the part-time job developed into a full-time position that she retired from 20 years and one day later.

Lee had some experience in working at a library; she was the librarian at Franklin Middle School in Franklin, New Hampshire. But even with that experience, she had to pass examinations to get the volunteer job.

“In order to get that job (at the Flagler Library), I took three to four days of examinations, sitting at a computer. You have to know the Dewey decimal system,” she said. “For my final exam, I was given a cart full of books to put away all over the library.”

Lee enjoys seeing what authors other library patrons are enjoying.

Currently, she has been reshelving a lot of Patricia Cromwell’s and James Patterson’s books.

Lee is not new to volunteering.

In New Hampshire she volunteered in the school library, and was hired. Then she volunteered at the Shaker Village in Canterbury, where she also ended being hired.

In the earlier days of her Flagler County library volunteering days, it wasn’t unusual for Lee to have some special visitors stop by.

“My grandchildren lived in Palm Coast, and, knowing I was going to be in the library on Tuesdays, they would meet me there,” she said. “That’s how I became interested in what the children’s groups were doing. They have so many wonderful activities for the kids; that’s another thing that impressed me about the library.”

Lee doesn’t spend all of her time with her nose in a book. She has learned how to play mahjong and enjoys water aerobics at the clubhouse pool.

“Living here has been a wonderful experience,” she said. “You can be as busy as you want to be.”

“Living here has been a wonderful experience. You can be as busy as you want to be.”

SANDY LEE, Grand Haven resident

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Bowling is life — Al Lo Monaco bowled with the Sand Fleas long before he moved here full time.

JACQUE ESTES STAFF WRITER

Al and Vinnie Lo Monaco moved into Grand Haven in 1999, 29 years after they started visiting the area. While they were still snow birds, Al Lo Monaco started bowling on two bowling leagues — now he bowls on three.

“One was the Sand Fleas, and now I’m the president and have been since 1999,” he said. “The league meets on Friday mornings, and the majority of the members on that league live in Grand Haven.”

He is also the president of the Monday and the Tuesday leagues.

Each league is designed to meet the skill level and needs of the bowlers.

“What’s nice about the Friday league is everybody is in it no matter what their average is,” Vinnie said. “I’m not that great a bowler, but I enjoy bowling. It’s a fun league, a snow bird league from January to the end of March.”

Al has been a bowler most of his life. He started bowling when he got out of the military in 1955.

Photos by Jacque Estes

Al Lo Monaco’s office is filles with more than 60 years of bowling memories.

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Today his office is full of trophies, patches and memorabilia from tournaments he has won.

He wears a ring he earned after he bowled a 300 game.

In the past two years, he has had both knees and one hip replaced, and he is working on getting his average back. Currently he bowls about a 180.

Al and Vinnie Lo Monaco stand by one of Vinnie’s water colors. Vinnie learned by accident that she had artistic talent.

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The Monday and Tuesday leagues are two, 17-week sessions. The Sand Fleas only have a 13-week “snow bird” league, which has concluded for this year.

“I get a lot of people who have never bowled before, and I end up getting them into my Monday league,” Al said. “A lot don’t want

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almost to commit to 34 weeks, and, for others, 34 weeks is not enough.”

The Tuesday league started as a scratch league for those with averages of 165 and higher.

The leagues bowl at the Palm Coast Lanes during the day. Al made a promise to his wife that, when they retired, he wouldn’t join a league that bowled at night.

“I didn’t want to be a bowling widow in retirement,” she said. “Now was time to do things together.”

AFTER 45 MINUTES, A PAINTER

For Vinnie, moving to Grand Haven released her inner artist, skills she never knew existed.

“One day I went to a class that I thought was going to teach me how to make greeting cards,” Vinnie said. “I was expecting to be pasting and gluing things.”

Instead, the instructor put up a picture and told the students to copy it as best they could.

“I was embarrassed, but I tried to do it,” she said. “I told the teacher I didn’t have my paints with me and that I would bring them with me next week. Of course, I had no intention of coming back.”

Fortunately, the teacher didn’t let that excuse keep Vinnie from participating.

“She said, ‘Sit at my desk and use my paints,’” Vinnie said. “I

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BOWLING INFO n Must be a senior citizen to bowl in any of the three leagues. n Sign-up sheets are at the bowling alley. n Sign-ups for next year will begin in August. n Summer leagues will be signing up soon. n For more information, call Al Lo Monaco 447-5305.

BOWLING LEAGUES Mondays 2 p.m. — experienced bowlers Tuesdays 3 p.m. — bowlers with averages 165 and higher Fridays 10 a.m. — Sand Fleas (January through March)

Vinnie Lo Monaco at Palm Coast Bowling lanes on Friday, April 1.

had no idea what to do. Another student told me to dip the brush into the water and then into the paint.”

Vinnie began painting, and, to her surprise, what she created began to look like the teacher’s.

“She (the teacher) came by and said to me, ‘Oh that is lovely. How long have you been painting?’”

Vinne recalled. “I told her, ‘Fortyfive minutes.’”

LIFE IN GRAND HAVEN

Her teacher encouraged her to continuing to paint, and now the Lo Monaco home has some of Vinnie’s artwork adorning the walls. She also has sold some of her paintings.

The 13-week Sand flea league is popular with Grand Haven Residents.

“Moving into Grand Haven was the best things we did,” Vinnie said. “It has so many advantages and things to be involved with.”

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GRAND HAVEN OBSERVER

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PalmCoastObserver.com

APRIL 2016

Tour your neighborhood, with Steve Davidson FROM PAGE 1

MORE PARKING

“We are starting a project in April to expand the parking lot by 26 spaces,” Davidson said.

The expansion will stretch out behind the soccer field net. The field is not regulation size and is used primarily by grandparents, who, no doubt, will appreciate a closer parking spot.

ENHANCING THE INFRASTRUCTURE

The former sales office has been redesigned to include CDD offices, a gym, conference room and a large open area for parties and meetings that overlooks the pool.

As our “British Land Rover Tour” winds through the different villages of Grand Haven, Davidson points out places and projects of interest, which are at every turn.

“I want to show you what has been done in the past nine years to preserve, repair and enhance the community,” he said. “What I really enjoy is being able to enhance the infrastructure.”

Under the guidance of Louise Leister, district horticulturist, the landscape has been cleared of intrusive plants and vines that once blocked wonderful views of the community. A coherent land-

scape theme can be seen throughout the villages.

clearing of underbrush to eliminate potential danger to homes.”

FIREWISE

GRAND HAVEN VILLAGE CENTER REPAIRS

Davidson jokes that he is probably the only person who has been in everyone’s backyard — all part of setting up the Firewise program.

“One thing I initiated was Firewise,” Davidson said. “I spearheaded it twice: once 10 years ago and again two years ago.”

Firewise is a nationwide program that addresses wildfire risk management in communities.

Wildfire is a threat that those who lived here in 1985 or 1998 know all too well.

“Louise is now in charge of common areas that are not backing up to houses,” Davidson said.

“For anything near a house, we can use the Florida Forest Service or another organization to do the

Within the next few months, Davidson said, residents will be seeing some major work being done on the Grand Haven Village Center.

“We are now facing, hopefully, what will be the last of the major infrastructure problems,” he said as he points out cracks and peeling stucco. “The metal under the stucco is now rusting, and the stucco is peeling off. We are going to have to remove the stucco from all of the surfaces and then redo it with correct materials for our environment.”

The unanticipated project is expected to have a six-figure cost to put right, but Davidson said the

CDD has provisions in place.

“There is a line item in the budget, ‘infrastructure reinvestment,’ that is set aside with funds for just an occasion like this,” he said. “So we can do this rather large expenditure without creating any special kind of assessment for anyone who lives in here.”

Davidson said he expects the work to begin within the next few months.

“I am exceptionally proud of all of this and to be able to be a part of it,” Davidson said. “I am honored to have created what we have created. This looks like a resort to me.”

In the next edition, look for another installment in your tour around Grand Haven: “Behind the landscaping scene.”

Photos

by Jacque Estes

Grand Haven has a very active croquet community that enjoys a pristine course to play on.

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Neil and Donna Rice, of Delano, Minnesota, sold the home at 69 Southlake Drive to Gary Blemaster, of Dover, New Jersey, for $255,000. Built in 2005, it has three bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms and 2,214 square feet of living area. The home previously sold in 2006 for $360,000.

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Benjamin and Patricia Hackman sold the home at 52 N. Park Circle to John and Suzanne O’Meally, of Palm Coast, for $507,500. Built in 2006, it has four bedrooms, 4.5 bathrooms, a swimming pool, spa, fireplace and 3,581 square feet of living area. The home previously sold in 2006 for $639,900.

Gwendolyn Sigmund, of Fredericksburg, Virginia, sold the home at 61 Lagare St. to James and Loretta Dixon, of Palm Coast, for $385,000. Built in 2001, it has three bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms, a swimming pool, spa, fireplace and 2,529 square feet of living area. The home previously sold in 2010 for $385,000.

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PalmCoastObserver.com

APRIL 2016

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