DAYTONA WEST
Observer YOU. YOUR NEIGHBORS. YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD.
VOLUME 1, NO. 12
GUN SALES 2-3 FREE • SEPTEMBER 2020
Veterans’ safe places threatened Financial, emotional toll on service organizations. BRIAN MCMILLAN EXECUTIVE EDITOR
In normal times, about two dozen veterans get their only good meal of the day when they eat lunch together at American Legion Post 267, in Ormond Beach. During the pandemic, however, that meal was canceled for four of the past six months before the post was able to reopen again, on New Britain Avenue. It’s just one example of the pandemic’s financial and emotional toll on veterans and on the organizations that support them. “Being a single guy that lives alone, not having the meals affected me,” said Jerry Gomes, a Vietnam veteran who is also on the executive committee of Post 267. “This was my normal lunch, been that way for 10 years. When you live totally alone — I live in a 10-by-10 room — when I can get out and see people and just say hello, it’s a bonus.” Camaraderie, for many, is just as important as the food. Many veterans feel ostracized and can’t talk to nonveterans about their troubles, but the experience is much different at a gathering of veterans. “They’ll say, ‘I know what you’re talking about. The same thing happened to me,’” said Jim Bowers, Vietnam veteran who is now commander for American Legion District 17, which includes 14 posts in Volusia, Flagler and Putnam counties. “People are finally able to be accepted.” Many fundraisers were also canceled, including American Legion Post 267’s golf tournament that typically brings in about $12,000.
“A Perfect Day” by Barbara Perkins, of Ormond Beach.
Courtesy photo
THE HEALING POWER OF
JARLEENE ALMENAS ASSOCIATE EDITOR
ART
Local professional artists’ work on display at MOAS
OPERATION BACKPACK
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an art heal? A current exhibition of contemporary art by the seasoned artist group, Beaux Arts of Central Florida, at the Museum of Arts and Sciences in Daytona Beach explores that theme through works in a variety of mediums aiming to inspire thought and relief from daily stressors. A stroll through the gallery showcases artwork by Beaux Arts’ 50 professional artists, several of which are local to Volusia and Flagler County.
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SEE ART PAGE 4
Jewish Federation distributes 7,400 backpacks for students in Volusia and Flagler counties. JARLEENE ALMENAS
Mayor Bill Partington, Commissioner Rob Littleton, Federation President Marvin Miller, Executive Director Gloria Max and Security First Insurance President Melissa Burt DeVriese, and children during a 2018 donation.
According to a press release by the museum, the exhibition “might be a welcome antidote for these times of physical and mental stress.” For abstract artist Peter Cerreta, of Palm Coast, art gives him the means to illustrate the emotions he feels are existent today: love, fear, hate and anger. Though he was trained as a realist painter at the Pratt Institute in New York, he discovered that an abstract approach to art allows him the ability to capture feelings with greater latitude through the use of distortion. He
n 25 years, the Jewish Federation of Volusia and Flagler Counties has put 124,761 backpacks in the hands of children. Despite the difficulties of running a nonprofit during a pandemic, 2020 was no exception. Thanks to donors and volunteers, the Jewish Federation was able to distribute 7,400 backpacks full of school supplies to local schools. It was an endeavor that Executive Director Gloria Max said she was nervous about. A month ago, the Jewish Federation was $36,000 short of its fundraising goal needed for Operation Backpack. Instead of giving up, Max got to work. She
made phone calls and spoke on the radio, and the donations came in just in time. “To me it’s very important that kids have the tools to do well in school,” Max said. “It’s so important, because if you don’t have them, you can’t do it.” Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Max said the number of families in need of food has multiplied as people were furloughed or lost their jobs entirely. At the end of March and early April, the Jewish Federation’s Jerry Doliner Food Bank was one of the few that remained open in the community, Max said. To help, send a check to the Jewish Federation of Volusia and Flagler Counties, 470 Adalusia Ave., Ormond Beach, 32174.