RIGHT: A county employee uses a gas-powered blower to clear leaves and twigs from a path in Gulfstream Park.
BELOW: Jim Reynolds, with his wife, Susan Beil, says the noise is ‘like an explosion of sound.’
Is more silence blowin’ in the wind?
Noisy yet practical leaf movers lose favor in sea of complaints
By John Pacenti
Susan Beil says she feels she has a superpower. Every time she sits to relax on the front porch of her Delray Beach home, the roar of a gas leaf blower somewhere, somehow pierces her serenity — almost like magic.
“They’re a wonderful thing, but I think we should either have them all work on one day, or we should consider having noise-reduction leaf blowers,” said Beil, who lives in the Seagate neighborhood between the Intracoastal Waterway and the Atlantic Ocean.
“I understand that’s very expensive,
Highland Beach
and it’s a hardship for the people who are working in agriculture, but they are very noisy.”
Jim Reynolds — Beil’s husband — put it this way: “It’s like an explosion of sound the minute we sit on the porch.”
Municipalities throughout Florida and the nation are grappling with the roar of the gas-powered leaf blower. The number of communities banning them is growing, including Palm Beach, Miami Beach, Key Biscayne, Naples and South Miami.
In Winter Park, near Orlando, residents next year will vote on the topic in response to state lawmakers’ attempts this year to pass a law prohibiting cities, towns and villages from regulating the noisy beasts.
See LEAF BLOWERS on page 28
Boca
Proposed arts center
By Mary Hladky
The Center for Arts and Innovation has fallen far short of meeting its fundraising requirements, stunning Boca Raton officials and imperiling city support for the ambitious cultural arts center planned for Mizner Park.
As a result, the City Council, sitting as the Community Redevelopment Agency, will meet on Nov. 4 to consider terminating a 2022 project development agreement and the lease of city land to TCAI.
A fast-moving series of events that led to this point started on Oct. 21 when TCAI chief executive Andrea Virgin angered and frustrated council members and City Manager George Brown when she told them that she would not raise the required amount by the next day’s deadline.
The center needed to raise about $50.8 million but donations totaled only $32 million. Furthermore, the amount of cash on hand stood at about $8 million, below the $12.8 million the center had
Snowbird motorists may be in for an A1A construction surprise
By Rich Pollack
Major construction and long daytime delays on State Road A1A, already frustrating local motorists, are certain to shock returning seasonal residents unaware of the extensive resurfacing and widening project on the coastal highway.
A yearlong, $8.3 million Florida Department of Transportation road project that began in July is causing traffic delays, and leaders in Highland Beach — where the bulk of the work is ongoing — fear the backups will get worse with more
traffic on the road.
“We feel like it is going to be a busy season,” said Town Manager Marshall Labadie. “As much as we’ve been communicating, I’m afraid our seasonal residents aren’t aware of the disruptions the construction will cause to their daily travels.”
To try to make residents more aware, the town has stepped up its communication efforts.
“We’re sending emails every week telling residents to plan accordingly as their travel plans will be disrupted,” Labadie said.
The 3.35-mile-long project, from just south
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November 2024
Serving Highland Beach and Coastal Boca Raton
Road and drainage construction along A1A creates a traffic nightmare during work hours. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star
Photos by Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star
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Editor’s Note
16 and counting — with your help
Sweet 16! The Coastal Star is growing up. …
Sixteen years ago — November 2008 — our first edition was delivered to homes and condos in the South County coastal area stretching from Manalapan through Delray Beach. As other print publications stopped reporting on South Palm Beach, Highland Beach and Boca Raton, we added those municipalities to our coverage area.
That’s right. In the middle of what’s now known as the Great Recession, we started a print-first newspaper and expanded its geographic reach at the same time other publications were going out of business or scaling back. Call us crazy, but we’re still here 16 years later and looking toward the future.
We’ve been through hurricanes, the ups and downs of the real estate market and, most significant, a deadly global health pandemic with far-reaching impacts on the supply chain and the U.S. economy. And yet we persisted with the help of our advertising partners and with assistance of PPP loans and media grants during those dark times.
Today the economy is strong and we’re taking advantage by adding sales staff to help us find and support our business partners in the local market. We are also investing more in our editorial staff to improve quality and dependability.
All of us at this newspaper believe our coastal area is enhanced by having residents informed of local news and information. We are the only publication — digital or print — informing them in this way. It feels unthinkable to let our commitment to community news fade away
as we grow older. But our leadership team is growing gray, and at some point others will join me in deciding it’s the right time to shift into retirement.
We’re not all there yet, but are working to figure out our succession plans to help this sweet-16 teenager make it through the exciting promise of coming years.
One way we’re building this safety net is by partnering with the Florida Press Association to provide a tax-free way for readers to contribute to our present and future. Our hope is that as you are doing your year-end financial planning you will consider a donation. You can do this at https:// supportfloridajournalism.com/ newspaper/the-coastal-star.
If you don’t care about the tax deduction, you can simply send us a check at our office:
The Coastal Star 5114 N. Ocean Blvd. Ocean Ridge, FL 33435
As we enter November — the month of Thanksgiving — please say thank you to all of the nonprofits featured in this edition’s Philanthropy Season Preview section. Each of these groups provides essential services to individuals in our community who benefit from their efforts. Please consider making a donation or volunteering.
Since it’s too late to offer this sweet-16 newspaper Taylor Swift tickets for its birthday, please consider a financial contribution. We want to be here covering our communities for another 16 years.
Thank you.
— Mary Kate Leming, Executive Editor
Coastal Star
Veteran honors other military folks by telling their stories
By Rich Pollack
John Shoemaker knows that heroes living throughout Highland Beach are hidden in plain sight.
They are the retired brigadier general living a quiet life in the next condo over, the gastroenterologist who served during the Vietnam War, and the parish priest, an Air Force major who served as a chaplain in Iraq and Afghanistan.
They are police officers, firefighters, a homeowners association president, and present and former town commissioners like Shoemaker. He has made it his mission for the past several years to shine a light on veterans throughout the small town by telling their stories on a portion of the town’s website.
“I’m committed to helping to make people aware of the heroes in their midst,” says Shoemaker, himself a Vietnam War veteran. “We have a lot of veterans who live quietly in Highland Beach and it’s important to bring recognition to what they’ve done.”
Some profiled by Shoemaker in the “Veteran Heroes of Highland Beach” section of the website will bristle at being called heroes, since their service was far from front lines.
Still, Shoemaker bestows the title readily, recognizing the sacrifices that come with military service, including being away from family for months on end, living in a foreign country in sometimes harsh circumstances and living a regimented lifestyle.
“No one knows what it’s like until you’ve slept on the floor of
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the jungle in the pouring rain, or until you’ve been on a ship in such rough weather that you can’t see the bow because of crashing waves, or until you’ve been sitting in a bomber for hours on a mission,” Shoemaker said.
With Veterans Day being celebrated this month, Shoemaker knows that there will be valued recognition of those who served. But he believes that by telling the stories of his neighbors, he has gone beyond the surface and is giving readers deeper insight into who the veterans are and how they served their country.
“I’m bringing meaning and detail that helps readers understand the contributions of our military people,” he said. “These stories reveal who these neighbors are and the magnitude of their sacrifice.”
One of the stories on the website is Shoemaker’s own. In it he tells of his decision to go to college at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and get a degree so he could enlist, rather than be drafted, and attend officer candidate school.
“I wanted to enlist on my own terms, go to officer candidate school, be in the infantry and go to Vietnam,” he said. “I wanted to be close to the action.”
He got his wish and after two years of intense training was sent to Vietnam in 1970. He was
23, married and already a father.
A lieutenant, Shoemaker served as a platoon commander supervising a 23-person infantry squad. Five of the members of the team didn’t make it home, a half-dozen others were wounded.
Shoemaker spent seven months in the Vietnam jungle and rice paddies, coming close to injury or death on his first day in the field when a mine exploded just a few feet away. Two of his team were badly injured and it wasn’t until decades later that a routine MRI revealed shrapnel in his leg.
Shoemaker spent his last five months in Vietnam as a company commander, away from the combat, supervising support for a battalion.
Now 78, Shoemaker focuses on helping veterans through other portions of the town’s veterans website, which he helped create. It includes links to resources they can use.
“My hope is that in reading these stories people will be more respectful of veterans,” he said.
This Veterans Day, he hopes that people will continue to treat veterans they encounter with “polite awareness.”
He is encouraging residents to visit the South Florida National Cemetery, on U.S. 441 south of Lantana Road, with family, especially children. The cemetery is a burial site for those who served in the armed forces and their eligible family members.
“It’s important to maintain a continual awareness and recognition of the contributions of veterans,” Shoemaker said. “It’s necessary for our country to survive.”
Highland Beach resident John Shoemaker, a Vietnam War veteran, visits the South Florida National Cemetery. He encourages others to visit as Veterans Day approaches. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star
Letter to the Editor
99-year lease lets Crown Colony use beach access
The board of Crown Colony Club Inc., is compelled to respond to the October article your paper reported regarding the ongoing Ocean Ridge dispute involving “the walk.”
Unfortunately, your article was slanted, favoring the view of the Fayette Drive residents, and
dismissive of, if not completely excluding, Crown Colony’s legal position.
We will give you credit in reporting the most telling and accurate comment and affirmative statement made, i.e.,
“Steis and Rodriguez [Fayette Drive residents] didn’t have
a problem for decades with residents of Crown Colony using the walkway.” This admission by these residents confirms the decades-long usage of the walk.
However, to be clear, Crown Colony’s residents never needed the Fayette Drive residents’ permission. Absent from your article was any reference to that certain January 1972, 99year lease agreement between Michael and Ann Susik and Crown Colony Club Inc., which expressly provides Crown Colony’s members beach access by and through the following property:
“The northerly 25 feet lying and being parallel to the northerly lot line of Lot A, Tropical Park Addition No.
1, per plat thereof recorded in official record book 23, Page 228, of the public records of Palm Beach County, Florida.”
Hence, Crown Colony’s residents have always possessed the absolute legal right to use the walk and the permission or acquiescence of the Fayette Drive residents is not needed.
Thus, the Fayette Drive residents’ signage which suggests the walk is private and solely for the benefit of Fayette Drive is patently false.
This is what should have been reported: The improper, inaccurate signage placed in the walk simply foments further dissent and confuses Crown Colony residents as to their access rights.
What you alluded to in your article in passing, necessitating greater emphasis, is that the Fayette Drive residents are
more upset about a collateral dispute involving the Ocean Ridge Yacht Club. Yet they strangely seek to take out their frustrations on Crown Colony by placing signage on the walk that erroneously claims exclusive access for themselves.
Given the attention this issue has received in Ocean Ridge, Crown Colony requests a followup article be written reminding your readership of the 50-plusyears’ usage by Crown Colony of the walk and more importantly, that there exists a 99-year lease agreement with express language bestowing Crown Colony’s residents with usage of the walk for beach access purposes.
Thank you.
Local Voice Geology may insulate county’s coastline when hurricanes strike
By Thomas Ambrose
On the shore of Florida’s Gulf Coast, the islands of Captiva, Sanibel and Fort Myers Beach all have very low elevations, rich in sand and no rock outcrops. The area of Gulf Ridge on Sanibel is only 3 feet above sea level and they call it a “ridge.”
Typical of these islands is very shallow water offshore — a mile out from Fort Myers Beach is only some 10 feet deep. During storms, wind can quickly push water ashore as a “sea surge,” so this may be why Fort Myers Beach and other Gulf Coast islands got hit hard by recent hurricanes.
On Google Earth I recently checked ocean water depths off Ocean Ridge to Delray Beach, which range from 100 to 150 feet about a mile offshore. Island elevations from 2 feet along the Intracoastal Waterway to 23 feet on the coastal ridge in Ocean Ridge should give
added protection in a storm. Maybe more important is that islands along the Palm Beach County coast exhibit outcrops of hard, indurated and bedded sedimentary rocks which form a solid foundation for overlying buildings in rising waters.
Across the intracoastal in Boynton Beach, ancient sand dunes and rock ridges rise to some 34 feet in elevation between Seacrest Boulevard and Interstate 95 — something never to be found on the unstable sand island along the Florida Gulf Coast.
Aren’t we lucky!
Thomas Ambrose received a bachelor’s from the University of Oklahoma and a master’s from Rutgers in geology after serving in WWII. As a global oil exploration geologist, he has lived in eight countries (six of them island nations) and visited 128. He has lived in Ocean Ridge since 1991.
LETTERS: The Coastal Star welcomes letters to the editor about issues of interest in the community. These are subject to editing and must include your name, address and phone number. Preferred length is 200-500 words. Send email to editor@thecoastalstar.com.
Ronald E. Kirn, president, board of directors, Crown Colony Club Inc.
Martin Delray Beach
City didn’t vet complaints against new fire chief, commissioner finds; chief says his reputation is
By John Pacenti
After a year of drama and turmoil surrounding Delray Beach’s previous fire chief, City Manager Terrence Moore failed to discover the replacement he hired had three internal complaints filed against him that were pending when he resigned as chief of the Fort Myers Beach Fire Control District.
The complaints from the first week of March 2023 centered on a secret affair between Fire Chief Ronald Martin and the fire district’s human resources manager.
Among the allegations, staffers said the HR manager was promoted to leadership roles and that resources were expended so the couple could continue their romance on out-of-town business trips.
Moore was made aware of the complaints by Vice Mayor Juli Casale after Moore picked Martin in September.
“The gentleman’s personal relationship with the woman is not of concern, but in reading these complaints closely you see that there are accusations of abuse of authority and misuse of taxpayer funds,” Casale said in an Oct. 11 email to Moore.
The Fort Myers Beach Fire Control District did not take action to determine the merits of the complaints because Martin resigned on March 17, 2023, the same day that a district report says officials were to meet with him about the accusations.
“I categorically deny every single one of those allegations,” Martin told The Coastal Star on Oct. 21. The HR manager, Colleen Brooks, who is now Martin’s fiancée, was by his side during the interview but did not comment.
Casale told Moore in emails and at the City Commission’s Oct. 15 meeting that the “shocking” failure to properly vet Martin calls into question the city’s hiring practices.
Delray Beach News
“If you have somebody who’s been employed a long time in a city, they have a record, and we’re not even asking for that in the hiring process,” Casale said at the meeting without mentioning Martin by name.
“So, we hired an individual, and we’re very hopeful that it will turn out to be a great hire, but basically, it will be a matter of luck and not the competency of the process, because the process is flawed,” Casale said.
At the same meeting, Martin was introduced as the new chief.
During his interview with The Coastal Star, Martin said he was unaware of the complaints until the paper asked him about them. They were not brought up when he tendered his resignation or met with the fire district’s attorney and the chairman of its board of commissioners, he said.
Martin said he stepped down because of a cancer scare and that he felt the district could be dissolved in a changing political climate. Martin also spoke about the mental fatigue he experienced in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian, which made a catastrophic hit on Fort Myers Beach a half-year earlier on Sept. 28, 2022.
When asked if he thought the affair was inappropriate, Martin said, “Between two consenting adults? Absolutely not.” He said the romance was a blessing considering the issues he was dealing with at the time.
Martin said that the district was audited and the audit found no financial wrongdoing in his attending conferences during the period in question.
He also said that Brooks reported to the director of finance, not him. Brooks no longer works for the Fort Myers Beach district.
Fewer personnel on rescue trucks? — Delray Beach City Manager Terrence Moore warned the City Commission this summer that if a tax rate rollback was in the mix the current staffing on fire-rescue trucks might need to be reduced.
Moore told the commission he found other ways to make its “no new taxes” plan work. But in his Oct. 25 information letter to the commission, he cited a new operational analysis being done by Fire Chief Ronald Martin that may recommend that there should now be two — not three — people staffing rescue trucks.
He said in his memo that two-person trucks are now the national standard as the National Fire Protection Association has found that it would not negatively affect the community’s emergency response force.
Moore said he expects to bring a recommendation to commissioners during the next several months.
While the operational analysis initially was being driven by a new “24 hours on, 72 hours off” fire rescue schedule that starts Oct. 1, 2025, the city may not wait
Yet one of the complaints said that in the months before Ian struck, “Chief Martin had been elevating Mrs. Brooks’ status in the organization, changing her scope of duties, and moving her up to the Senior Leadership Team” — adding that “these changes meant she was now reporting directly to Chief Martin.”
Mayor Tom Carney, reached for comment on Oct. 21, said he had not researched the hiring process or Martin’s past. “It would be irresponsible for me to make a comment until I have all of the facts,” the mayor said.
Commissioner Rob Long said he spoke to Moore about the hiring and was told that the complaints were known and that since the relationship was consensual — as opposed to unwanted advances — it did not dissuade the city manager from hiring Martin. “Terrence said that he knew about it, and it wasn’t something that they ignored,” Long said.
The email traffic among Casale, Moore and Delray Beach Human Resources Manager Duane D’Andrea, however, tells a different story — that Delray Beach didn’t know about the complaints when it hired Martin.
Moore announced Martin’s hiring in one of his weekly information letters in September. Casale on Oct. 8 asked Moore in an email if personnel files and professional references were requested. She said a simple Google search would discover that Martin resigned abruptly.
“This seems like a clear red flag,” Casale wrote to Moore.
When she was told by D’Andrea that the city did not request Martin’s personnel file from the Fort Myers Beach fire district, the vice mayor responded, “Wow. That is Shocking.”
Moore was asked on Oct. 22 whether or not he knew of the complaints. He didn’t answer but provided a statement:
“During the interview process, I had the opportunity to meet
that long for any rescue truck staffing changes. Moore said “direction is also imminent to consider resulting adjustments during the current fiscal year.”
Long challenges $22,154 court-ordered payment — The attorney for Delray Beach Commissioner Rob Long is challenging a final order in the defamation case he filed against Chris Davey, a former member of the Downtown Development Authority governing board.
Palm Beach County Circuit Judge James Nutt on Oct. 8 ordered that Long pay Davey $22,154 in attorneys’ fees, cost and prejudgment interest.
Attorney David K. Markarian, representing Long, filed a motion for rehearing on Oct. 23, noting Nutt’s comment at the hearing “to the appropriateness and zealousness of the undersigned’s activity in the case.”
Markarian said in the motion that the comment — if determinative — was inaccurate regarding his work and that of his firm, Jeck, Harris, Raynor & Jones.
Long filed his suit against Davey in February 2023 as he ran for office against incumbent Commissioner Julie Casale.
clean
with Chief Martin to discuss his employment history and experience. There is no legitimate reason for an unsubstantiated claim or allegation to affect a prospective employee’s future. Martin has no disciplinary actions in his personnel records which might in any way negatively impact his ability to successfully serve in his new role.”
In coming to Delray Beach, Martin is inheriting a department still reeling from the drama surrounding its former chief, Keith Tomey.
Tomey was fired in May for allowing on-duty firefighters to participate in a charity softball game, taking an engine out of service for hours. A firefighter also got hurt during the game and sought worker’s compensation.
Tomey also accused Moore of sexually harassing him. An independent investigation found the allegation could not be substantiated. Tomey has filed suit against the city, saying he was retaliated against for making the complaint against Moore.
Martin worked for the Fort Myers Beach district, in various capacities, since 1992. After his resignation, he took a job with Lee County and then as the chief of fire safety for the Louisiana Office of the State Fire Marshal.
In the email exchanges with Moore and D’Andrea, Casale asked why they felt Martin’s file was “clean” and that the allegations were “unsubstantiated.”
D’Andrea explained under city policy there was a panel that interviewed Martin, who said he left his position at Fort Myers Beach for personal reasons. Background screening included a review of Martin’s driver’s license record, a physical, a drug test and two personal references, D’Andrea told Casale.
Casale, during the Oct. 15 meeting, said the city should consider hiring a headhunter to find candidates for open positions. P
Davey and Long served together on the DDA. Davey had used social media to say Long was corrupt and a criminal, according to the motion.
Long went on to defeat Casale — who herself was elected again earlier this year and is now vice mayor.
John Pacenti
Train depot now city’s wellness center — Renovations at the historic Delray Beach Train Depot, which was severely damaged in a 2020 fire, are complete, with a grand reopening and ribbon-cutting set for 10 a.m. Nov. 8 at the station, 80 Depot Ave.
The city-owned station is situated north of Atlantic Avenue on the west side of Interstate 95. It was built in 1927 and has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1986.
It will be home to the city’s Health and Wellness Center and Human Resources Department. Trains stopping in Delray Beach now use the Tri-Rail station off Congress Avenue south of Atlantic Avenue.
— Larry Barszewski
Reckless driver detained Beach Park, Lantana — Oct. 27
A man who the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office described as mentally ill was spotted driving recklessly at the Lake Worth Beach parking lot on State Road A1A. After seeing a deputy, the driver fled in his van south to Lantana, where he crashed through the gate at the beach at the end of Ocean Avenue. His vehicle fell over the wall and partly onto the sand. The sheriff’s office took the man into custody.
RIGHT: John Martinache with Zuccala Wrecker Service works to remove the van. Jerry
Lower/The Coastal Star
Manalapan Beaches ‘not in a good place’; town debates what to do
By John Pacenti
Manalpan’s first-ever Beach Committee meeting found members grappling with what — if anything — to do about the condition of arguably the town’s most vital resource.
The Oct. 22 meeting included Town Manager Eric Marmer and the three-member committee: Commissioners Cindy McMackin, Dwight Kulwin and Elliot Bonner. The Beach Committee will make recommendations to the Town Commission about Manalapan’s stretch of sand.
Its first meeting was lively with McMackin asking pertinent questions, Kulwin showing his knowledge of beach renourishment and Bonner looking to move — if even a little bit — toward a solution.
Marmer injected a dose of hard reality. When McMackin asked if anybody knew the exact condition of the beaches, the
town manager said, “They’re not in a good place.”
Manalapan is not alone. Coastal communities in Palm Beach County are grappling with beach renourishment and whether it’s worth the money. If Manalapan decided to spend $8 million over the next four years, Marmer warned, “A storm can come through and wash all of that away. ... It’s a complete gamble.”
Kulwin said there are measures the town could take in the short term that are not expensive and noted “beaches have big cycles” where sand comes and goes over decades.
“So, I think it’s important to get some perspective and be sure that this is not a cyclical problem, (but) a real problem,” Kulwin said.
Some communities allow for beach wrack to develop, forgoing raking and allowing the seaweed, grasses and invertebrates that wash ashore
to cover the sand. Kulwin said such beaches — the Florida Keys are good examples — are less expensive to maintain for municipalities.
Kulwin said beach wrack attracts all types of birds and other wildlife but it is not groomed sand seen in postcards. The community, he said, needs to weigh in on what type of beach it wants.
The committee did decide to recommend Dr. Peter Bonutti — husband of Vice Mayor Simone Bonutti — to serve as a liaison with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Palm Beach County. The recommendation was approved at the commission meeting later that morning.
Peter Bonutti proved full of knowledge and told the committee the real problem was the South Lake Worth Inlet, also known as the Boynton Beach Inlet. He pointed to a 2010 study by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that blamed the waterway for beach erosion to its north.
The county manages the inlet, every six years dredging sand that has accumulated and placing it along the beach in Ocean Ridge, south of the inlet. There is a curved barrier that keeps some sand from moving to the north of the inlet.
“According to the federal government, they are literally destroying our beaches here in Manalapan — specifically Manalapan — which is where the turtles nest, which is critical to our wildlife,” Bonutti said.
Marmer said he would also research how much it would cost to bring on a consultant to assess the beach. He said he would have the information at the next meeting. He welcomed Bonutti’s help.
“I just need to be clear that we have to not only hire a consultant, we would have to hire a coastal management person here,” Marmer said. “I don’t have the staff or the capacity to handle all these issues.” P
Ocean Ridge
Town to expand A1A water pipes project to Inlet Cay Drive
By John Pacenti
To steal a lyric, every plan is a prayer to Father Time. And that is no truer than when municipalities meticulously plan an infrastructure project only to discover what lies under the ground are surprises that derail, delay and defeat.
And thus is the case with Ocean Ridge’s replacement of its aging water pipes.
Town Manager Lynne Ladner told commissioners at their Oct. 7 meeting that issues were cropping up on Ocean Ridge’s southernmost island on Inlet Cay and River Drive as they connect to State Road A1A where work is already being done.
As the contractor installed the connection on the north side of River Drive at A1A, it was discovered that the steel piping that goes down River Drive is extremely corroded.
“We’ve had a couple of different emergency breaks in the last couple of months due to the condition of these pipes,” Ladner said.
Complicating matters is that the fire hydrants on River Drive are barely meeting the required standard of 1,425 gallons per minute.
“But if anybody wants to do remodeling or one vacant lot on River decides to build, then it will be substandard because their minimum now for any new construction is 1,500 gallons per minute,” Ladner said.
And then came the rub. The town could save between $50,000 and $75,000 if the River Drive and Inlet Cay pipes were replaced now because the contractor for the A1A work has the needed drill bit on site.
But the cost of doing that road would come in at $695,000 and for the commission to do a change order of that magnitude — under the law — it needs to put the work out for bid again.
Mayor Geoff Pugh got frustrated after Vice Mayor Steve Coz and Commissioner Ainar Aijala Jr. started playing engineer — and even a resident joined in — and terms like “drill shot,” “drill bit thrower” and “pulling pipe” started being bandied about.
“I want to see a town engineer in front of us. OK, I want to see the research,” Pugh said.
And so it came to be that Town Engineer Lisa Tropepe appeared before the commission at a special meeting on Oct. 21. And she spoke the gospel from the book of municipal infrastructure.
“We thought it was going to be an extremely difficult project because of all the underground infrastructure, the lack of plans to show all of that underground infrastructure, and we really didn’t know every single connection to the residential properties on either side of the road,” she said of A1A.
Despite it all, Ocean Ridge is
beating Murphy’s Law for the moment. The A1A project is ahead of schedule and under budget, she said. Ladner and Tropepe proposed that the A1A project take on additional work on Inlet Cay Drive from A1A to River Drive. The steel pipe on the stretch is the same as the steel pipe on A1A. The addition to the current project would cost no more than $300,000 and would not have to go out for bid.
The commission approved the strategy, authorizing the town to negotiate with the current contractor.
It also approved for staff to commence design of the next phase of the project to address replacing the most corroded pipes in the town — such as on River Drive — for $925,000.
Commissioner Carolyn Cassidy said she is working with the town’s new lobbyist to try to get the Florida Legislature to appropriate some money to fix the town’s water pipe woes. The Legislature has been open to helping coastal communities, many of which are replacing their pipes.
Tropepe told commissioners she had just returned from Italy and what she took away from an engineering standpoint was, “You better take care of your infrastructure, or else civilization is not going to survive.” P
Date: Saturday, November 16th
One phase of the work, along State Road A1A just south of the Boynton Inlet, is nearing completion. Jerry Lower/ The Coastal Star
Boca Raton
Double-murder suspect returned to county
A man arrested in Georgia for the Sept. 20 murder of two people in a Boca Raton hotel parking lot on State Road A1A was extradited and placed in the Palm Beach County Jail on Oct. 4.
Moss
De’Vante LaShawn Moss, 30, of Boynton Beach, is being held without bond on two counts of first-degree murder with a firearm and one count of
attempted first-degree murder with a firearm in connection with the shootings at 365 Ocean, an extended-stay hotel at 365 N. Ocean Blvd., a few blocks north of Palmetto Park Road.
Court records show Moss has also been charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm.
Moss is accused of killing Christopher Liszak, 49, and Chandler Dill, 32, both of Oakland Park, who had been staying at the hotel in separate rooms. He is also charged with the attempted murder of
Tuan Duy Hoang Ho, 41, who was taken to Delray Medical Center, where he was treated for multiple gunshot wounds, admitted to the trauma ICU and later released, police said. No place of residence was provided for Ho, whose name had been withheld by police because he was a witness, but which appeared in court records.
The next hearing date in the case has been scheduled for Dec. 5 in Palm Beach County Circuit Court.
— Larry Barszewski
Ocean Ridge Clerk’s office contacts police about resident who fought hedge restriction
By John Pacenti
The resident who declared war on Ocean Ridge’s height restriction on hedges said the Town Clerk’s Office put him and his family in danger by telling police that he made a threatening comment while dropping off a permit application.
The clerk’s office, however, insists that Jay Wallshein made a threatening remark.
Wallshein and his two children, ages 5 and 2, were in the backyard of a house he is renting on Island Drive South when police arrived at 11:30 a.m. on Oct. 11. His mother-inlaw, who is from Kazakhstan and doesn’t speak English, was too frightened to open the door, he said. One officer, Jimmy Pilon, left a business card.
Wallshein said the situation was akin to the clerk’s office swatting him — that is, calling the police under false pretenses to intimidate a person. “It’s bullying,” he said.
“They’re coming to the house. They have guns on them, they are armed, and they think that I made a threat, or they are suggesting or considering the possibility of it,” Wallshein said. “This is how people get hurt and die.”
In September, the town apologized to Wallshein for forcing him to cut his 16-foot clusia hedges at the home he is renovating on Marlin Drive.
After receiving a citation for his hedges, Wallshein went around town cataloging and filing complaints on every residence with a hedge over 6 feet. Town Attorney Christy Goddeau then discovered Ocean Ridge actually had no restriction on hedge heights.
Wallshein has asked for repayment for the mistake. He says a bulldozer had to be brought in to remove the cut-down vegetation, tearing up the lawn and his sprinkler system. He says his backyard now “looks like the face of the moon.”
Town Clerk Kelly Avery, responding to statements Wallshein made in a story published about the dispute in early October in The Coastal Star, said Wallshein was not truthful about their interactions, making her look bad.
“Like I’m just sitting here taking money and doing whatever, that I don’t care about this town,” Avery said. “I care about this town very much.”
Town Manager Lynne Ladner said no formal complaint was made from the clerk’s office to the police.
“The clerk did speak to others, including the police chief, about the concerns that the front office staff had in relation to the frequent and not always positive interactions that they were having with Mr. Wallshein,” she said.
Ladner added, “He does seem intent on utilizing a large amount of the town staff’s time for issues that he is bringing forward.”
Police Chief Scott McClure said clerk office employees Lindsay Winters and Danielle Buzzetta told police Wallshein made a comment about the bulletproof glass and how “somebody could shoot through it.”
“I had a sergeant and officer go there to make contact to say, ‘Hey, did you say this? And if you did, you know that’s not an appropriate thing to say in a public building,’” McClure said. He said Wallshein didn’t break the law since his alleged comment wasn’t implicitly about violence.
When Wallshein discovered Pilon’s business card at his door, he called the officer back and heard about the accusation. Wallshein told the officer he commented on the glass because he was installing glass at his Marlin Drive home and that he never said anything remotely threatening.
“It’s their word against his word at this point, but it’s a moot point for me,” McClure
said.
Maybe not.
Wallshein on Oct. 16 went back to Town Hall to discuss the matter with Avery, videoing the interaction. Avery had another clerk employee taking notes by pen and paper of the interaction.
In the video, Wallshein asks Avery about the complaint to the police.
“No complaints were made about you,” Avery says.
“Two cops don’t just show up at your house unless there is a complaint,” Wallshein responds. “It’s called swatting.”
Wallshein continues, “I make a comment saying, ‘Wow, that’s a beautiful piece of glass,’ and someone says I’m nervous, and two cops show up. That’s weird.”
Avery responds, “I don’t believe that was the comments that were made.”
Wallshein asks for a meeting with Avery and Ladner, at a later time, saying, “I don’t think you would like two police officers showing up at your house.”
“No I wouldn’t,” Avery says.
Wallshein then asks Avery “Did I ever use a threat here?”
She says, “Nope.”
Wallshein then asks, “Have I always been congenial?” Avery’s answer cannot be heard clearly in the video.
Avery on the video is trying to move Wallshein along, saying she has work to do. Her comments, thus, may have been designed to appease him so he left. She did not return an email seeking comment on the video.
Wallshein said the accusation remains absurd. The day of the alleged threat he was in casual attire and just asked a general question while dropping off a permit application.
“I have a family in Ocean Ridge, right? Two kids, one’s 5, the other is 2 years old — like the least conspicuous person you think of for, you know, being a threat.” P
one year ago when it issued its first fundraising report, which showed the center had met fundraising targets for that year.
Some council members accused Virgin of withholding information she must have had months earlier even as she led them to believe that all was well.
Their concerns were elevated when they learned Virgin had paused fundraising in September, an apparent sign that she knew she would not meet the targets.
“I was quite frankly shocked” by the shortfall, said Mayor Scott Singer.
“I am a little disappointed,” said Deputy Mayor Yvette Drucker. “To me the most important thing is, give me the facts, give me the truth. … When that fails, it becomes a real challenge to support a project.”
Council member Fran Nachlas faulted Virgin for not alerting the council much earlier and for meeting with her only two times in the last two years. “I feel I am being kept in the dark,” she said.
But the harshest critique came from Brown, who, while serving as deputy city manager, negotiated with center officials for two years to hammer out an agreement that allowed TCAI to be built on city-owned land at the north end of Mizner Park.
That deal gave the center three years to raise 75% of the project’s hard construction costs and required its officials to also
raise money for reserve and endowment funds and to meet other deadlines.
Brown said he met with center officials in early October and was not told of a likely funding shortfall.
“It was frankly very disturbing to me the way this has gone down, finding out really at the very last minute that the funding was not there,” Brown said. “It seems to me that the center must have known the funds would not be met many months before now.
“I am just disturbed by a lack of accountability, a lack of transparency, a lack of forthrightness and in this circumstance a lack of humility.”
Chief executive explains In an interview with The Coastal Star, Virgin denied
withholding information. “We gave the city information as soon as it was available to us,” she said.
She also denied making unequivocal promises that the fundraising target would be met, saying she told council members in September that she was “cautiously optimistic” about that.
In explaining to the council why fundraising has slowed, Virgin said she and other center officials have learned that donors “don’t appreciate being rushed into commitment,” and that pushing them reduces their trust and prompts them to lower their donation amounts.
“They want to give when they are ready,” she said, later adding, “We can’t control how donors make their decisions.”
Had she understood at the outset that donors can need
five to seven years to finalize donation commitments, Virgin said she would have tried to negotiate a deal with the city allowing for that.
“This is not a setback and this is not a result of anyone’s missteps,” she said. “It is merely a reflection on what we have learned from our donors.”
Since center officials have not met the donation requirements, the city could terminate its deal with TCAI. But council members stopped short of that, instead giving Virgin until Jan. 7 to raise the money.
Council members also conditionally approved project plans that have been revised since TCAI selected renowned architectural firm Renzo Piano Building Workshop to create a final design. Had they not done so by Oct. 22, both the city and TCAI had the right to terminate the project development agreement and the lease of Mizner Park land.
Some potential donors wanted the project plans approved before they made a commitment. The approval also would allow TCAI to move ahead with project planning.
Council members relented a bit on demanding that Virgin tell them immediately the actual cost of building TCAI and submitting a budget. The most recent budget estimate was $140 million, but that was made well before Renzo Piano started work on a new design. Virgin was told to do so by Dec. 31.
Since then, however, TCAI rejected the extension to Jan. 7 to raise the money, saying in an Oct. 25 letter that it will not sign an agreement “that it knows cannot be achieved.”
Instead, TCAI proposed renegotiating the development agreement to revise fundraising deadlines and said it would submit its detailed proposal by Nov. 25.
But in an Oct. 28 letter to council members, Brown said that they had rejected the renegotiation during their previous meeting.
He also said that TCAI now is not in compliance with the fundraising deadline and that the council’s approval of the design plans no longer is in effect.
A TCAI official has since said that the organization wants to discuss new revisions to the development agreement on Nov. 4.
While all these matters that could doom the deal are expected to be revisited at that meeting, one possible project roadblock raised in September has been put to rest for now.
The council at the time delayed its vote on the new
project design until a consultant was hired to evaluate the project’s feasibility.
The preliminary report by CBRE, a global real estate services and investment company, identified the same concerns raised by city staff about matters such as whether it was possible to build an underground parking garage at a reasonable cost in that location and the adequacy of a canopy over an outdoor piazza.
Yet the report concluded the project design “is an impactful and thoughtful concept package” and that the council can approve it, with any problems addressed before construction begins.
As now envisioned, the existing amphitheater would be demolished and its function incorporated into a main venue that would be fronted by the large piazza, an education and innovation building, a covered public hall, an elevated building with 360-degree views of the city, and a restaurant and lounge.
Supporters speak up
The missed fundraising deadline did not appear to dampen the enthusiasm of project supporters who urged the council on Oct. 21 to stay the course so that TCAI becomes reality.
Those asking for continued city support included state Rep. Mike Caruso, R-West Palm Beach; state Sen. Tina Polsky, D-Boca Raton; Irvin Lippman, executive director of the Boca Raton Museum of Art; Kelly Smallridge, president and CEO of the Business Development Board of Palm Beach County; and former Boca Raton Deputy Mayor Andrea O’Rourke.
“Today I ask you to be bold, to take the actions necessary to get this project done,” Caruso said.
“I want to make this happen,” Polsky said.
O’Rourke asked the council to “show the center some grace … please don’t let this golden opportunity slip away.”
Despite the criticisms and hurdles, Virgin has never wavered from voicing optimism that any problems can be resolved and TCAI will be built.
“Our commitment to finding a solution remains unwavering,” she told the council, adding, “I am confident as ever that all this can be accomplished.”
But she also has left open the door to moving ahead without city land or support.
“This project will happen,” she told The Coastal Star. “There is no doubt about that. It is not contingent on this agreement with the city of Boca Raton.” P
The proposed center would include open space that provides entertainment opportunities. Rendering provided
Public art program swings into action with exhibit near Intracoastal
By Mary Hladky
The city’s young public art program has taken a leap forward by showcasing its first major temporary art installation.
The Mi Casa, Your Casa 2.0 exhibit at Wildflower Park features threedimensional red frames that connote homes with swings inside for visitors who want to relax and socialize, or simply to swing.
The exhibit, by Esrawe + Cadena, has been on display in other U.S. cities and Canada. It opened on Oct. 25 and runs through Dec. 5 at the park, at 551 E. Palmetto Park Road, and can be visited from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m.
The city launched its public art program in 2023 at the urging of former Deputy Mayor Andrea O’Rourke. It is now taking shape under the direction of coordinator Veronica Hatch.
Mi Casa, Your Casa 2.0 is a foray into getting a better idea of what kind of art should be featured in the city.
“We are trying to identify if this is something the people who live in the city are interested in,” Hatch said.
If they are, it would give people a reason to visit Wildflower and the adjoining Silver Palm Park, which opened in 2022 but have not attracted as many users as the city would like to the Intracoastal Waterway area.
Earlier this year, the city surveyed residents about public art and found that 46% of respondents said it was very important to them, and 36% said it was somewhat important.
Seventy-six percent preferred to see
public art in the downtown, especially in parks and downtown gateways. The type of art the majority favored was landscape art such as fountains, planters and paths.
On Sept. 25, the city hosted a “community conversation” about public art that featured local art experts, including Boca Raton Museum of Art Executive Director Irvin Lippman. It also gave the public a chance to comment and contribute ideas.
Most encouraging to Hatch was that the meeting at the Downtown Library drew a “full house.”
“People were eager to know a public art program had been established,” she said. The city will soon post on its website the input from attendees.
The city is now working to establish guidelines for the public art program, which will be followed by drafting a public art ordinance and then a master plan.
That will allow the city to determine where art should go and to begin acquiring it. The city also is celebrating its 100th birthday in 2025 and public art will contribute to it.
Hatch plans to reimagine an old city entry sign dating to possibly the 1950s and giving it a lighted and contemporary look. It will be placed in downtown’s Sanborn Square early next year to help kick off the festivities. P
Community Appearance Board loses some luster
By Mary Hladky
Despite strong objections from Community Appearance Board members and former members, the Boca Raton City Council has approved an ordinance that limits the board’s responsibilities and gives city staff more authority to make decisions on the aesthetics of proposed projects.
The ordinance has stirred controversy since it was proposed, and prompted the February resignations of CAB Chair Tiery Boykin, an architect, and member John Kronawitter, a contractor and architect.
After his resignation, Boykin said in an interview that he thought the ordinance “is an effort to be too friendly to developers.”
Michael Goodwin, the owner of Crazy Uncle Mike’s restaurant and brewery, who replaced Boykin as chair, resigned on Oct. 2, but he said in an interview that the ordinance was not the reason.
The city’s plan to reduce the board’s size from eight members to seven prompted his decision to exit so that no other member would have to step aside, he said.
“This seemed the perfect time when the city wanted to have fewer people on the board,” said Goodwin, who had served for 51/2 years. “To me, it was about timing.”
Speaking at the Oct. 22 council meeting, architect Jessica Dornblaser, who has served on the CAB since 2016, urged council members to delay a vote to allow board members and city staff time to work out their differences.
“I speak for a majority of the members. We want to make the city more efficient. We understand the need to make it more efficient. This is not the way to do it,” she said of the changes.
“I am very upset,” she said later.
The Planning and Zoning Board, which considered the ordinance on Oct. 17, also wanted the CAB and city staff to come to an agreement on the CAB’s duties. As a result, the P&Z Board voted to table a vote for one month to allow time for that to happen.
Development Services Director Brandon Schaad told council members that his staff has met twice with the CAB and made modifications to the ordinance based on their concerns. The CAB is made up of unpaid volunteers who must be an architect, landscape architect, engineer, building contractor or real estate agent.
It was created to be the first city body that reviews the aesthetics of proposed projects other than single-family homes and duplexes. Members were tasked with examining architecture, landscaping, signs,
paint colors and proposed exterior changes.
Once a project passed muster with the CAB, it went to P&Z and then to the City Council for final approval.
Mayor Scott Singer first proposed changing the CAB’s duties and processes. He said businesses, community associations and property owners “complain about the process” and want fewer restrictions. Schaad said he also has heard such complaints.
The ordinance gives greater authority to city staff, while limiting CAB landscaping and architecture reviews and its role in approving paint colors.
But the CAB will become an appeals board for developers or architects who want to challenge
staff decisions.
One flashpoint in the disagreement is that staff would weigh architectural designs even though no architects work for the city. The CAB includes architects doing such reviews at no cost to the city. Schaad told the council that one option is to hire an outside consultant to conduct the reviews.
Dornblaser also spoke at the P&Z meeting.
The CAB over the years has streamlined its processes on its own to improve efficiency, she said, while many city-proposed changes will do the opposite and will result in less attractive structures being built.
Architect Juan Caycedo, a former 14-year CAB member, said process streamlining is
important. But he objected to some of the changes, and said that the CAB should continue to conduct architectural reviews.
P&Z Board Vice Chair Larry Cellon, also a former CAB member, noted that the city formed the CAB in 1966 at a time when major development was starting to take place. Within years, he said, most other Florida cities had followed Boca Raton to create their own CABs.
He credited it with making Boca Raton a beautiful city. Driving in from other cities is a “fabulous experience,” he said.
“It takes my breath away every time,” he said. “We didn’t get to look to what we look like today by following some formbased code.” P
Visitors take advantage of swings that are part of a temporary art installation at Wildflower Park in Boca Raton. Tim Stepien/ The Coastal Star
Police win state grant to make Gulf Stream School safer
Force also trained on handgun conversions
By Steve Plunkett
Gulf Stream’s police force is eagerly waiting for free software and hardware to arrive to check for security weaknesses at the Gulf Stream School.
Police Chief Richard Jones applied for the school safety grant from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and “it appears, based on the grant award, that we were the first agency in Florida to be awarded the grant.”
Officer Vincentina Nowicki was handed the new assignment and has already been trained to conduct security risk assessments and use the new computerized program.
The state money, Jones said, will also let his department build an operational plan “that is relevant to how the school would respond in a critical incident in conjunction with the Police Department.”
Mayor Scott Morgan was happy to hear of the grant, whose amount was not released. “Good job, Chief. I think the school and particularly the parents will be very pleased to hear that,” he said.
Jones had already advised Head of School Gray Smith that the security grant money was on the way.
“We are going to talk more about how we work together to continue making it a safer and better environment for our students as well as the
community,” Jones said.
FBI offers tips
The grant is another step in a growing partnership between the Gulf Stream School and the Police Department.
In mid-July the school gave Jones meeting space for an FBI specialist to give officers from the town, Ocean Ridge and five more agencies tips on how to recognize handguns that had been converted to much deadlier automatic weapons.
Jones had learned about the alterations weeks before as one of 70 law enforcement officers invited to an FBIhosted conference “to see things that we might not be aware of.” He was shocked to learn that bad guys can buy a 3D printer online, download plans from the internet and make a pistol that will last for a few shots.
What’s worse, they can use the same process to manufacture a small, snapin part that turns a revolver into an automatic weapon. Just possessing that part is a federal crime, Jones said. Hence the need for local officers to be able to recognize the part when they make a traffic stop.
This year has seen a number of gun seizures in Gulf Stream, with four unsecured weapons confiscated from vehicles on State Road A1A in the threemonth span from April 8 to July 3. The
Roadwork picks up Core area, Gulf Stream — Oct. 17
The road and drainage project in Gulf Stream is gathering steam after a slow start because of high water, permitting issues and a pause in October for Hurricane Milton. ABOVE: Workers prepare to install curbing at the intersection of Polo Drive and Old School Road. Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star
guns were observed “in plain view” on a center console and a passenger-side floorboard, as well as under the driver seat and in a satchel in the backseat.
Ocean Ridge Police Chief Scott McClure, who sent six officers to the ATF seminar, called the existence of 3D-converted automatic handguns “very scary.” His department seized three unconverted weapons in 2024, two last year and six in 2022.
Other attendees were from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Florida Atlantic University police, Atlantis, Palm Beach Gardens and Lake Clarke Shores.
Police captain promoted Gulf Stream Police Capt. John Haseley, who joined the department in 1992, was promoted to deputy chief as of Oct. 1, swapping the two gold bars on his shirt collar for two gold stars. His badge has been updated to show the new rank. His salary was not changed because of the promotion, but he received the same 4% cost-of-living-adjustment as other officers. Haseley now makes $150,780 a year, while Chief Jones receives $152,100. Rank-and-file officers were given a $4,000 salary bump in addition to the COLA. P
Highland Beach
Town’s annual holiday event will be twice
By Rich Pollack
It’s not often that Highland Beach residents get a chance to rub shoulders with the town’s movers and shakers all in one place, but that’s what will happen early next month at the annual Mingle & Jingle holiday gathering, which will also celebrate the town’s 75th anniversary.
The Mingle & Jingle, set for 5 to 8 p.m. Dec. 5, will be double the size of last year’s event, according to organizers. It will include several booths staffed by town and condo leaders, as well as those representing several industries involved in the condo recertification process.
Members of the Highland
Beach Town Commission are set to staff one of about 10 booths, and another booth will include presidents of several of the town’s condominiums.
The Police Department and representatives from the recently created Fire Rescue Department will also be on hand.
“Our residents have never before had this kind of access to the leadership of the community,” said Jason Chudnofsky, president of the Highland Beach Police and Fire Foundation, one of the leading organizers of the Mingle & Jingle.
Members of the police and fire foundation and the town library will also have booths at the event, which will be in the parking lot of St. Lucy Catholic Church.
“This is a one-stop-shop chance for residents to get valuable information about the town,” Chudnofsky said. “It’s also a chance to come together to meet neighbors and other members of the community.”
This year’s event, for the first time, will include a handful of businesses representing industries including insurance, roofing, construction, air conditioning and painting. The Coastal Star will also have a booth.
“Those who come will
as big this year
have a chance to leave as a better-educated consumer,” Chudnofsky said.
The Mingle & Jingle will once again feature food trucks. The plan calls for seven trucks representing a variety of cuisines. Town staff will also serve up hot dogs, hamburgers and soft drinks. All food is being provided at no cost.
“This is a way for the town to thank the residents for their support and to show appreciation for their helping us make Highland Beach 31/2 miles of paradise,” Chudnofsky said.
In addition, the event will have double the seating of last year as well as live music.
As part of a commitment to “giving back,” residents are
invited to participate in a toy drive, bringing new, unwrapped toys to the town’s fire station between now and Dec. 24.
To make getting to and from the event easier, four trolleys will run along State Road A1A throughout the night.
This year’s Mingle & Jingle will also be a celebration of the town’s founding 75 years earlier, in December 1949.
That celebration, which will extend into next year with several other community events, will focus on community and on bringing residents together in recognition of all that makes Highland Beach “a great place to live,” Chudnofsky said.
“Togetherness is one of our themes,” he said. P
TRAFFIC
Continued from page 1
of Linton Boulevard in Delray Beach to the Highland Beach border with Boca Raton, includes road resurfacing, the creation of 5-foot bike lanes on either side of A1A and drainage improvements on the swales.
The project is expected to be finished by summer. Contractors are permitted to operate from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily and as a result have been
working on some Saturdays. Crews using solar-powered “automated flagger assistance devices” — traffic lights on wheels — as well as traditional walkie-talkie flagmen and women, have been shepherding traffic into one lane while work continues on drainage improvements and widening.
Working generally from north to south — currently between Linton Boulevard and the 3300 block of South Ocean Boulevard — crews have begun
laying the groundwork for widening A1A to accommodate bike lanes.
At the same time, an infiltrated rock system is being placed under grassy areas to improve drainage and reduce flooding.
Drainage improvements are also being made through the central part of town and those are expected to be completed by the end of the year.
As the work has progressed, the impact on traffic has increased.
“It’s more of a problem now than it was during the beginning phases of the project because the heavy lifting is the more disruptive part of the project,” Labadie said.
Residents like Deborah Muller, who lives in the north end of Highland Beach, agree.
“It was manageable during the summer. Now it’s absolutely insane,” she said.
Town leaders and some local residents are looking forward to having construction completed just south of Linton Boulevard, where plans call for almost tripling the length of the leftturn lane for northbound cars heading west over the bridge, from 75 feet to about 200 feet.
FDOT expects initial milling and resurfacing work in that area to begin in December and continue through early 2025. The final pavement and striping will take place in the project’s last phase during the summer of 2025, weather permitting and subject to unforeseen circumstances.
The expansion of the northbound turn lane onto Linton Boulevard means fewer cars will block traffic heading north through the intersection, town representatives say.
“That area has historically been a huge bottleneck,” Labadie said. “As painful as it’s
going to be, we’re glad they’re working on it.”
Muller and other residents say they have complained regularly about northbound traffic backups of more than a half-mile from the light at Linton Boulevard and A1A.
“It’s hard to get in and out of your driveway,” she said, adding that often northbound motorists fail to stop when they see a car trying to pull out or turn in. “Now I have to be aggressive.”
Muller said that if people were more considerate, traffic would flow a little better.
She says she is sometimes frustrated by what she says is rudeness, and believes that fixing the intersection will improve traffic.
“It will definitely be better, especially if you’re making a left onto Linton Boulevard,” she said. P
Chudnofsky
Navigating State Road A1A is challenging for pedestrians and bicyclists — not to mention motorists — during construction in Highland Beach. On Oct. 25, this southbound backup stretched for blocks as drivers waited to traverse a section of A1A that had been reduced to a single lane. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star
The design style of Boca Raton and much of south Florida comes from the work of Addison Mizner. Photo provided by the Boca Raton Historical Society
Boca Raton
Centennial exhibit to highlight legacy of founding architect
As the city gears up to celebrate its centennial in 2025, the Boca Raton Historical Society is contributing to the roster of events by presenting an exhibition devoted to the architect who gave the city its signature appearance.
“Boca Raton 1925-2025: Addison Mizner’s Legacy” will be presented at the former Town Hall at 71 N. Federal Highway, now known as The Schmidt Boca Raton History Museum, beginning Nov. 13 and running through May 30, 2025.
The Boca Raton, the resort dating to 1926 when Mizner opened the Cloister Inn, is sponsoring the exhibit.
The exhibit will spotlight the Cloister Inn’s evolution into today’s resort with more than 1,000 guest rooms, a golf course, spa, swimming pools, tennis courts, marina and multiple restaurants and bars.
The exhibit will include photographs, drawings, maps and videos.
It also will feature materials produced or imported by Mizner Industries, once the largest employer in Palm Beach County, which Mizner founded when he was unable to find Spanish roof tiles, said Mary Csar, the historical society’s executive director.
The company expanded to provide cast stone, floor
tiles, wrought iron and other materials sold to developers, as well as pottery and furnishings.
“What we are showcasing is not only Mizner in Boca, but also Mizner Industries, which is part and parcel of the Mizner story,” she said.
Lenders to the exhibit include the Mizner Library Foundation, the Historical Society of Palm Beach County and the Bonnet House Museum and Gardens in Fort Lauderdale.
Augustus Mayhew, a cultural columnist, architectural historian and photographer, is guest curator for the exhibition.
In addition to The Boca Raton, exhibit sponsors include the Cultural Council of Palm Beach County, Discover the Palm Beaches and Palm Beach County.
The historical society also is creating a glossy coffee-table book, with photos that chart the city’s achievements and changes decade by decade, and will hold lectures throughout 2025.
—
Mary Hladky
The next edition of The Coastal Star will be delivered the weekend of Dec. 7
Along the Coast
Jay Kelley (left) and his wife, Jo Bennett, help Briny Breezes resident Holly McCarthy secure her home on Oct. 8 after Palm Beach County urged evacuation for people living in mobile or manufactured homes. Jerry Lower/
This half-sunken sailboat at Sportsman’s Park Marina in Lantana crashed into the sea wall because of the wind from Hurricane Milton. This photo was taken Oct. 10, when the storm’s approach spawned tornadoes to the north and west. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star
ABOVE & RIGHT: Law enforcement personnel were out in force when a boat carrying migrants beached in the 4000 block of North Ocean Boulevard in Gulf Stream on Oct. 9 ahead of Hurricane Milton’s landfall on Florida’s west coast later that day. Authorities said 11 migrants were taken into custody. The boat was removed the following day.
Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star
South County catches break during Hurricane Milton
By Rich Pollack
With Hurricane Milton still several hours away, the small group of Briny Breezes residents who stayed home despite being urged to evacuate weren’t about to let expected tropical force winds stand in the way of the regular afternoon social hour.
“A bunch of us went down and watched the ocean and talked a bit” on the porch of the oceanfront clubhouse, said Briny Breezes Mayor Ted Gross.
“Everyone was prepared.”
The town, like most of the other coastal communities in south Palm Beach County, saw little or no impact from Hurricane Milton, which made landfall later that day, Oct. 9 near Sarasota.
“We prepared for the worst and the best happened,” said Gross, who along with several other residents of the mostly mobile home community hunkered down despite a county evacuation order.
“We have a decent amount of communication with one another,” Gross said, adding
that he and other residents were ready to leave if it appeared a change in Milton’s path would have a greater chance of affecting the town.
Just to the south of Briny Breezes that same afternoon, Boynton Beach fire rescue personnel and other agencies responded to the arrival of a boat with refugees coming ashore.
Gulf Stream Police Chief Richard Jones said that 11 migrants were taken into custody at about 4 p.m. in the 4000 block of North Ocean Boulevard after the boat beached near the Ballantrae condominiums. Gulf Stream police assisted in the effort along with other first responder agencies including those in Delray Beach and Ocean Ridge.
Elsewhere along the coast, Highland Beach Fire Chief Glenn Joseph said his department responded to some downed and arcing power lines on State Road A1A due to Milton, while in Delray Beach
Continued on page 21
The Coastal Star
After Hurricane Milton exited Florida late Oct. 10, it left behind optimal surf conditions south of the Boca Raton Inlet. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star
and Gulf Stream officials said damage was limited to a tree branch or two in the streets.
Boca Raton also emerged from the storm in good shape.
“All generally OK and grateful for it,” Mayor Scott Singer said in a text message.
“No major impacts at all,” said city spokeswoman Ileana Olmsted in an email.
Officials in Manalapan,
Lantana and South Palm Beach reported little or no issues with beach erosion — with the storm coming from the west — or with street flooding as a result of minimal rainfall.
Much of the focus was on Milton itself, but a tornado spawned in one of the hurricane’s outer bands was blamed for multiple deaths in a Fort Pierce-area senior mobile home community that was similar in many ways to Briny
Breezes.
In Palm Beach County, other tornadoes caused destructive damage in parts of Wellington and Palm Beach Gardens.
That potential threat led some in Briny Breezes to heed the county’s evacuation notice announced Oct. 8 for people living in mobile and manufactured homes.
The order from county leaders was all that was needed to persuade Holly McCarthy to
fasten her shutters and flee to Lake Worth Beach and stay with a friend.
“She wasn’t going to leave until they told her it was mandatory,” said friend Jo Bennett. Bennett and her husband, Jay Kelley, helped McCarthy prepare to leave.
Briny Breezes sent information to residents encouraging evacuation, but added that police would not be forcing anyone to leave. The
town urged residents choosing to stay to shelter in one of a handful of bathhouses in the park because they are more secure than the community’s mobile homes. P
Mary Thurwachter, Jerry Lower, John Pacenti, Mary Hladky, Brian Biggane and Steve Plunkett contributed to this story.
Along the Coast Carlisle and Eau open doors to Tampa evacuees from storm
By Rich Pollack
With Hurricane Milton bearing down on them and a new evacuation order issued, the team at Tampa’s Estate at Hyde Park memory-care facility knew it needed to flee — and fast.
So, at 5 p.m. Oct. 8, the day before the storm was expected to batter Florida’s west coast, the staff packed up about 50 residents and their belongings — and about as many staff members — loaded up two large coaches and headed east.
Nine hours later — at 2 a.m. — the buses rolled into the parking lot of the Carlisle Palm Beach in Lantana, where they were greeted with open arms by several staff members who had been anticipating their arrival.
“It was all hands on deck,” said Carlisle General Manager Jim Alexander. “We all came in to get them settled.”
The Carlisle, a luxury senior living center tucked between the Intracoastal Waterway and the ocean, was able to house 35 of the Hyde Park residents as well as 11 staff members, while the remaining residents and staff from the Tampa center took refuge at the five-star Eau Palm Beach Resort & Spa, across State Road A1A in Manalapan.
‘It went off without a hitch’
“We were able to accommodate around 30 evacuees from Florida’s west coast, providing a comfortable place to stay,” an Eau spokesperson said.
While the people from Estate at Hyde Park were here — they returned to Tampa Oct. 11 — the Carlisle provided all the meals and laundry facilities, as well as just about anything else that was needed.
Senior facilities helping each other is not uncommon, with Alexander saying that most, including the Carlisle, have a reciprocal agreement with three or four other facilities they can turn to in a crisis.
This situation was a little different, he said.
“The Estate at Hyde Park wasn’t on our list but it didn’t matter,” he said, adding that he and his team learned of the Tampa facility’s need through their corporate office. “We had the capacity and it went off without a hitch.”
Alexander credited the staffs at both Hyde Park and the Carlisle for ensuring that
everything turned out well.
“They brought their staff members, who were well in tune with their residents,” Alexander said. “We had good systems in place and our whole staff did an incredible job.”
Christy Gray, executive director at the Estate at Hyde Park, said that thanks to the help her team received from both the Carlisle and its
corporate parent, Bridge Senior Living, the stay was seamless with no disruption to the seniors’ daily routines.
“It truly was a team effort, and this collaboration allowed us to keep our residents safe, comfortable and well cared for,” Gray said.
As for the Estate at Hyde Park, its facilities weathered the storm just fine.
Turtle refugees, too
Coastal South Palm Beach County served as a refuge for some from the west coast who fled the earlier Hurricane Helene — although not all were human.
Several sea turtles from the Clearwater Marine Aquarium arrived at the Gumbo Limbo Nature Center in Boca Raton in late September after the facility
that housed them suffered severe flood damage.
The turtles — six green sea turtles, a Kemp’s ridley and some hatchings — are being cared for by the nonprofit Coastal Stewards’ Sea Turtle Rehabilitation and Release Program until they can be returned to Clearwater. P
By Mary Hladky
Council promotes deputy to top city attorney job
The Boca Raton City Council has selected longtime Deputy City Attorney Joshua Koehler as city attorney, replacing Diana Grub Frieser, who was ousted by council members in August.
While Frieser’s last day on the job was Oct. 31, she has not attended council meetings since July 23 and Koehler has filled in.
“It is a great honor and I accept,” Koehler said. “I look forward to continue working with you.”
The city had hired executive recruiter James Dinneen to find qualified candidates. Twenty people applied for the position, and he winnowed the list to four. One withdrew from consideration.
After interviewing the three
remaining applicants on Oct. 22, council members quickly settled on Koehler, citing the continuity he brings, his desire to offer a fresh perspective on how the job is done, and his plans to streamline the office.
“Josh has been sitting in the
main chair for months and has done a remarkable job,” said Council member Andy Thomson.
The council voted unanimously to enter into negotiations to draft an employment agreement with Koehler. Mayor Scott Singer will negotiate the contract.
Koehler, who earned his law degree at the University of Florida, has been deputy city attorney since 2011. Before that, he was assistant city attorney in West Palm Beach.
He is the son of former Florida Supreme Court Justice Barbara Pariente, and his stepfather, Fred Hazouri, served on the 4th District Court of Appeal.
He is seeking an annual salary of $285,000. Frieser earned $327,591.
The unsuccessful applicants were Clayton Knowles, county attorney/chief legal officer for the Gadsden County Board of County Commissioners, and Ronald Tomasko, assistant county attorney in Collier County.
Frieser, who had served as city attorney since 1999, had planned to retire in 2025. Council members never stated why they wanted her to depart early. P
Boca Raton
Azure wins crucial variance to build a home on the beach
By Steve Plunkett
Almost six years after being denied permission to erect a duplex on the beach and 12 days after an advisory panel gave a thumbs-down to a scaled-back plan, the owners of an undeveloped parcel east of State Road A1A won their longsought OK.
The Boca Raton City Council voted 4-1 on Oct. 8 to grant property owner Azure Development LLC a variance to build a single-family home on the sand east of the city’s Coastal Construction Control Line at 2600 N. Ocean Blvd.
“I feel like we’re finally being given our constitutional rights,” Azure partner Brian Grossberg said after the decision.
The lone vote against the proposal came without elaboration from Council member Andy Thomson, who also said no in February 2019.
The city’s Environmental Advisory Board unanimously recommended against the project in late September.
Calling the council vote “an unpleasant moment for me,” Mayor Scott Singer, who also opposed the project the first time it came before the council, noted that Azure had reduced the building size, and
an updated staff report said the impacts on nesting sea turtles had been reduced. “I don’t think … going back a third time and a fourth time and getting them to negotiate down foot by foot, piece by piece is something reasonable,” he said.
More than a dozen neighbors urged the council to deny the variance, with many of them arguing that Azure bought the parcel knowing that it is east of the CCCL and that, as one said, “they could never build there.”
But Azure’s attorney, Robert Sweetapple, said the CCCL did not prohibit construction seaward of the line. “This property came with the right to seek a variance. That’s part of its bundle of rights,” he said.
The city’s Development Services Department had recommended that the variance be approved after attaching 17 conditions for Azure to meet, including that the building’s windows transmit no more than 31% of any interior lighting onto the beach, which is nesting habitat for protected sea turtles.
The home will still have four stories but will be approximately 38 feet tall and have 6,931 square feet of enclosed space, down from the originally proposed nearly 49-foot height and 14,270 square feet.
Azure must now get an OK from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection before obtaining an actual building permit from Boca Raton.
The property is one of two remaining undeveloped parcels on the beach. A federal judge in March ruled that the owner of 2500 N. Ocean Blvd., two lots south of 2600, had a “vested right” to build on its property.
In August, the city and Azure
agreed to pause two contentious lawsuits and to decide within 90 days whether to allow the home to go up on the beachfront.
The agreement also called for
561-308-5017
jeanmagrella@yahoo.com
601 N. Congress Ave., Building 1 Suite 107A, Delray Beach, FL 33445
the developer and Boca Raton to pay their own attorneys’ fees and costs. Sweetapple has said the legal tab on Azure’s side is more than $1 million. P
10 Questions
John Saraj has a background in hospitality while wife, Lindsay Hays Saraj, has spent her career in public relations and marketing. When the Highland Beach couple decided to open a cafe not long ago, they decided on a chain that had no previous presence in South Florida.
The result was Paris Baguette, a bright and airy bakery on Federal Highway just south of Linton Boulevard and Trader Joe’s plaza in Delray Beach. The chain has two other locations in the state, in Winter Park and Winter Garden.
“We looked in a variety of places and felt like this area didn’t have anything like this,” said Lindsay.
“We had a big patio here and the location is pretty accessible,” she said. “We get people who appreciate what we’re doing and the artisanal aspect of this. Once they come, they come back. They’ll say, ‘We wish we had this in Miami.’”
Lindsay grew up in the Midwest but had moved to New York when the couple was married. After having their first of two children, they decided seven years ago they would prefer to raise their family in South Florida and found their spot in Highland Beach.
The restaurant space was vacant when they found it in a small shopping plaza. The bakery opened in April and is gearing up for its first season.
Aside from the rows of brightly lit pastries and confections, Lindsay is proud of a mural that covers the entire south wall. It depicts several aspects of life in Delray Beach, from tennis to golf to the bridges spanning the Intracoastal Waterway to people strolling Atlantic Avenue.
Having the bakery minutes from the family home and easily accessible from the barrier island helped the decision to
MEET YOUR NEIGHBOR: Lindsay Hays Saraj
locate in Delray Beach.
“The access to other towns [was good] and it had plenty of parking,” Lindsay Saraj said. “We were very excited to bring the products here, because we think they’re incredible. We thought the community would love it and we hope they do. It’s near where we live, our kids loving coming here, we love doing sweets and hope the community enjoys it.”
— Brian Biggane
Q: Where did you grow up and go to school? How do you think that has influenced you?
A: Growing up in the Midwest, in Carmel, Indiana, a great town to grow up in, I was surrounded by a lot of familyoriented, down-to-earth people, with a “do what you say” kind of mentality. It has influenced me in my personal and professional life to be forthright and
hardworking. I majored in both communications and business at Miami University in Ohio. Writing came naturally to me and I loved people, so public relations was a better route. I love having clients, connecting with them, and finding their needs, and I learned a lot about business as well.
When later I studied abroad in Luxembourg, I not only furthered my love of literature, but my interest in freshly baked sweets.
Q: What professions have you worked in? What professional accomplishments are you most proud of?
A: I’ve had a lifelong career in public relations and marketing. After hooking up with a global firm, Weber Shandwick, right out of college, I started my own PR firm in Chicago, working
with a variety of restaurants, hotels and talented chefs. Chicago is an amazing town and there are a lot of marketing and communication opportunities. ... Eventually my repertoire expanded, but I’ve always had a soft spot for the hospitality industry.
One of the professional accomplishments I’m most proud of is opening Paris Baguette in Delray. It feels like a culmination of many things: serving our community, a business with my husband that brings joy to others and one that our children can enjoy as well.
Q: What advice do you have for a young person seeking a career today?
who is ranked No. 1 or 2 in the world, who is past her prime but then gets pushed to make a comeback.
Q: What music do you listen to when you want to relax? When you want to be inspired?
A: I love a wide range of music and listen to it throughout the day. Everything from rock, chill house music, to dancing to Rihanna with my daughter, to Billy Joel, Queen, and I can’t leave out ’80s hits.
Q: Have you had mentors in your life? Individuals who have inspired your life decisions?
A: Pursue your passions. If you do what you love or comes naturally, you won’t feel like you’re working. This coupled with hard work and determination is a recipe for success and fulfillment.
Q:: How did you choose to make your home in Highland Beach?
A: We explored up and down the east coast of Florida and we felt like this beach town was so special, a true gem.
Q: What is your favorite part about living in Highland Beach?
A: Through some of my inspirational work events such as TEDx Events and Women’s Entrepreneurship Day I’ve been inspired by female leaders determined to evolve and innovate. Clients that have put a lot of trust in me through the years certainly keep me activated, and my parents and family taught me about civility and grace.
A: The mix of beach and Intracoastal access on the barrier island is unique. The people are warm and friendly, and I can honestly say we feel lucky to call it home every day.
I’m very self-driven but also always wanted to have someone to look up to. If there’s one person I could name it would be Maye Musk. Her story is inspirational because she figured out different ways to be successful on her own and support her family. She’s raised interesting children, written a book, and signed with IMG Models after the age of 70.
Q: If your life story were to be made into a movie, who would play you?
Q: What book are you reading now?
A:: Carrie Soto is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid. I’m reading it for the book club I’m a part of, with other tennis players (and this book happens to be about tennis). It’s interesting because I picked it up before it was even assigned in our book club. It’s about a tennis player
A: I have no idea! The actress I can remember being told I resemble is a woman who was big in the ’70s; her name is spelled the same as mine, Lindsay Wagner.
Q: Who/what makes you laugh?
A: Watching our son make impressions and be silly.
Lindsay Saraj and her husband, John, have made Highland Beach their residential home and Delray Beach the home of their bakery cafe, Paris Baguette. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star
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Mayor pursues smart signals to reduce Atlantic Avenue congestion
By John Pacenti
The tourist season is almost upon us and Delray Beach’s Atlantic Avenue — like a bear coming out of hibernation — will soon roar to life.
Foot traffic will rival that at Disney World. Good luck with restaurant reservations. And local motorists will curse aloud, finding themselves on Atlantic, stuck in the traffic equivalent of lava, possibly wondering if they are destined to be discovered — still clutching the wheel — in the faraway future by archeologists.
Could new technology be the salvation?
Delray Beach Mayor Tom Carney said he is pursuing a pilot of smart traffic lights to relieve congestion on Atlantic Avenue, recently setting up a meeting with city staff and the Florida Department of Transportation.
Using old and new technology, smart signals employ sensors to collect data and modify the timing of signals according to traffic volume and
velocity. Smart signals also can be used by emergency vehicles and public transportation to get them through faster, and even provide data that newer cars can use to provide drivers with better route suggestions.
“When I was running for office, one of the things I heard the most was, you know, what are we going to do about the traffic? The traffic is terrible both from a vehicular and a pedestrian experience, right?”
Carney said.
At the same time, he heard about how Palm Beach County was planning test pilot programs of smart signals.
County Commissioner Gregg Weiss said there will be one pilot program in Palm Beach Gardens along Hood Road and State Road A1A. Another is planned for Okeechobee Boulevard east of Interstate 95 in West Palm Beach. The state is also planning to install smart signals on State Road 7, he said.
With more high-rise development nearer the coast, cities like Delray Beach, West Palm Beach and Boca
Raton are each looking at one main east-west artery into their downtowns — Atlantic Avenue, Okeechobee Boulevard and Palmetto Park Road, respectively.
Weiss said there is simply no way to build more lanes on those roads; the rights-of-way don’t exist.
“If we’re going to try to move people more efficiently and in a way that is better for the environment, then we are going to have to do some things differently,” Weiss said. “Technology is one of the ways to help us to do that in managing our traffic networks.”
Smart traffic lights use old technologies (cameras) with new (artificial intelligence) to determine the quantity and type of vehicles on the roadway.
Carney said he reached out to Palm Beach County shortly before his election in March.
“I think Atlantic Avenue is the best test area you can have because it has all the features that you’re worried about,” Carney said. “You’re worried about traffic, you’re worried
about cross-traffic, you’re worried about the safety of pedestrians.”
Weiss said there was no county money this year for another pilot. Yet, as luck would have it, Carney was at an event when he ran into County Commissioner Marci Woodward, who the mayor said is heavily involved in transportation issues.
Woodward arranged a meeting with Delray Beach staffers and FDOT at the mayor’s office in late September. FDOT officials explained to the city the criteria they needed and that Delray Beach would indeed be a great test area, Carney said.
“So it’s evolving,” Carney said. “We are waiting to hear back but there is dialogue going back and forth.”
Public Works Director Missie Barletto, in an Oct. 17 email to City Manager Terrence Moore, said FDOT’s liaisons to the city were assigned hurricane recovery duties. “Once they return to the regularly assigned duties, we will be working with them to coordinate these ideas
into the Swinton and Atlantic Intersection Improvement Project,” she wrote.
The discussion between FDOT and the city was to use smart signals on Atlantic from Congress Avenue east to A1A. Carney said he is excited to see how smart traffic lights can help the intersection at Swinton and Atlantic, the source of many backups.
The smart signals are pedestrian-friendly and will respond to foot traffic, decreasing jaywalking, “because the lights will be responsive as opposed to waiting to cross for two minutes when there is no traffic,” Carney said.
Weiss said public transportation would also be able to use smart signals to be more time-efficient.
The length of a bus trip would be shorter, giving people more incentive to use public transportation. That would decrease the number of cars on the road and reduce pollution, Weiss said. P
Smart traffic signals that coordinate flow may be able to help with the typical congestion on Atlantic Avenue in downtown Delray Beach.
Tim Stepien/ The Coastal Star
Just one 2-story home is coming to Bluewater Cove’s waterfront
By Steve Plunkett
The second of two Bluewater Cove houses on the Intracoastal Waterway has, as predicted, two stories fronting the water, and the empty parcel just to the north will be home to two mangrove nurseries.
The new residence will be a 6,967-square-foot single-family home in the Anglo-Caribbean style with a three-car garage and swimming pool.
Getting the OK to build a sea wall and 5-foot-wide docks for that home and the other Bluewater Cove waterfront property was arduous, developer Paul Courchene told the Gulf Stream Town Commission on Oct. 11.
“It took us over 3½ years to get the Army Corps of Engineers’ approval,” he said.
Neil Wood, an engineer
Briny Breezes
with Delray Beach-based Sea Diversified Inc., said part of their proposal included changes to the Florida Inland Navigation District acreage to the north of the 14-home development in Place Au Soleil.
“We needed to provide mitigation for the removal of some black and red mangroves, so on the FIND property we have these two mangrove planters which are, combined, about 1,400 square feet,” Wood said. “They’ll be planted with 1-foot or 1½-foot staggered red and black mangroves.”
These nurseries will be at the north and south ends of the FIND parcel, with rock revetment in between sloping down to the water.
After their brief presentation, Mayor Scott Morgan called for votes to permit the bulkhead, revetment and home
construction on a portion of the town on the west side of the Intracoastal.
“We don’t want to hold you up any more than the federal government has,” Morgan said.
Cary Glickstein, also on the development team, told commissioners last December that he expected both Bluewater Cove houses on the Intracoastal would be two stories, but the people who bought the first waterfront lot opted for a one-story, 6,343-square-foot Georgian-style home.
The land that is now Bluewater Cove was previously owned by FIND, which swapped its waterfront acreage with the Gulf Stream Golf Club, which then sold the property to the developer of the street. FIND commonly keeps its land undeveloped to use as storage sites for ICW dredging. P
Town’s newest alderman will not be on March ballot
By Steve Plunkett
After serving nine months on the Briny Breezes Town Council and with four months to go, Alderman Keith Black says that will be enough.
Black will not run for a full term, he announced at the council’s Oct. 24 meeting as Town Clerk Sandi DuBose listed the timetable for March’s municipal election.
Black tried to run for mayor in last March’s balloting but complained in December 2023 that the county supervisor of elections rejected five of the 23 signatures he had collected to support his candidacy. Mayoral candidates in Briny Breezes must submit 20 valid signatures from registered voters in town.
After council veteran Sue Thaler resigned in late December, Black was the only person to send in a letter of interest to fill the remaining year-plus of her position. He previously sat on the Planning and Zoning Board.
His Seat 1 will be on the March 11 ballot along with Council President Liz Loper’s Seat 3 and Alderman Bill Birch’s Seat 5. The qualifying period is noon Nov. 12 to noon Nov. 26.
Also at the Oct. 24 meeting, Town Manager Bill Thrasher said he will convene a
stakeholder meeting to provide information and answer questions on the town’s sea wall and drainage plans.
The meeting, which is tentatively set for 4 to 5:30 p.m. Dec. 4 in the Community Center, must be held for the town to actually receive $5,000 of its already awarded $330,000
planning grant from the state. Thrasher said he is also required to take attendance at the meeting.
The Town Council will skip its Nov. 28 and Dec. 26 meetings to avoid conflicts with the holidays and meet instead at 4 p.m. Dec. 12. P
As viewed from the Intracoastal Waterway, one of the homes in the Bluewater Cove portion of Place Au Soleil will be two stories. Rendering provided
Continued from page 1
Gov. Ron DeSantis vetoed $100,000 allocated to this year’s budget to study leaf blowers. That veto also nixed a provision meant to handcuff municipalities by keeping them from regulating the machines.
No imminent restrictions
The gas-powered leaf blower remains ubiquitous in neighborhoods that run along State Road A1A.
On a random Tuesday, Oct. 15 to be exact, a lot of leaf blowers were in action — dozens — as a Coastal Star reporter ducked in and out of neighborhoods. For more than 30 minutes, someone working at Gulfstream Park blew dirt on and off the paths.
There’s been a lot of hot air expelled on what to do by both residents and elected officials, but not so much action.
Delray Beach Mayor Tom Carney said when he was knocking on doors during his campaign that 50% of the time the complaint he heard was about leaf-blower noise — especially on the barrier island.
“We haven’t looked at the issue yet because we’ve been too busy doing other matters, but there certainly is a strong feeling out there,” said Carney, who took office in March.
He said going electric in such a large city could be financially burdensome for the landscape companies.
“Maybe they should only be allowed to use them on Tuesdays and Thursdays. You know, give people some relief,” he said. “I hear them on Saturdays at 8 o’clock in the morning. They are intrusive, yes. So, I think there’s a real sense that something needs to be done.”
Manalapan and Ocean Ridge will respond to individual noise complaints.
In Manalapan, Mayor John Deese says he hasn’t heard any complaints from residents on the topic.
In Ocean Ridge, Betty Bingham, 90, a former town
commissioner, asked the commission at its Oct. 7 meeting if there was a way to write citations that carried no monetary fines, to get leaf blower users to be “civil.”
“I thought the idea of these blowers was to blow weeds into a central place where people could pick them up and put them in a barrel to put out for pickup. Instead, they seem to be to blow, make a lot of noise, a lot of fumes, throw the leaves into the street or under the hedges [or] into the next-door neighbor’s yard,” she said.
In Gulf Stream, officials have batted around the issue for years but never enacted a restriction.
Joan Orthwein, a former Gulf Stream mayor and current town commissioner, said the town first discussed a ban on gaspowered leaf blowers about a decade ago.
“We reached out to the lawn services, and at the end of the day, they just said they’d have to eliminate Gulf Stream,” she said.
The issue came up again in 2021 when Town Manager Greg Dunham surveyed what neighboring communities do about the issue, but the commission decided not to enact restrictions.
In Highland Beach, resident Barbara Nestle has lobbied her town’s leaders to no avail to ban the gas-powered blowers — after all, the town has a Tranquility Drive.
“In Highland Beach, all you hear is leaf blowers. You don’t even hear the ocean anymore,”
she said. “And the noise is disgusting. It’s a disturbance, and it’s also unhealthy — especially for the mind.”
The impact on work crews
A Harvard study on shortand long-term exposure found noise pollution can lead to an increased risk of heart-related problems. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says loud noise can damage hearing over time.
This is all bad news for the actual users, many of them immigrants who work for landscaping companies.
Andres Pascual, though, looked perplexed when stopped from his leaf blowing at the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary in Boca Raton when asked if he ever thought about how the noise or gas fumes might be harmful to his health. He wore no mask or ear plugs.
For him it was a simple equation: “If the blower is like strong, like powerful, then it makes the job more easier,” said Pascual, who said he works for the city of Boca Raton.
Billy Blackman, owner of Able Tree Service in Boynton Beach, said he went electric for chain saws, trimmers and other equipment and it has saved his company money.
“It’s because we don’t buy gas,” Blackman said, before adding an important caveat.
“We just buy gas for our big big backpack blowers. Yeah, they’re aggravating, and I hate them, and I know that all the
neighbors hate them, but all our other stuff is battery-powered,” he said.
Blackman said there is no battery-powered leaf blower that equals the power of the backpack leaf blower. “They make the medium-sized, but they don’t make the giant one,” he said. “At the end of the job, when you’re tired, it takes 15 minutes. You blow everything off and you are going home.”
To blow or not to blow
The issue of banning leaf blowers is strangely polarizing and weirdly political. A post seeking comment on the Facebook group Delray Raw drew so many nasty replies that moderators had to take it down. Apparently, some have the attitude that meddlesome lawmakers will have to pry the gas leaf blowers from their cold dead hands.
A similar post on the website Nextdoor for Boca Raton got the same vitriol among the 96 comments. Some residents mocked those who said that the gas-powered leaf blowers were too loud and that maybe they could be banned on the weekends. They asked what’s next, banning crying babies. Another responded, “Be less sensitive.”
Beil in Delray Beach gets it. “It’s a first-world problem,” she said.
But it is a problem. Others in the Boca Raton Nextdoor thread who responded did have babies whom leaf blowers had awakened.
Advocates of restricting the gas-powered devices say the leaf blowers are like torture for the noise-adverse, such as those on the autism spectrum. And so many people work from home — go ahead, try your Zoom call with a gas-powered leaf blower at 75 decibels next door.
Besides health concerns, there is damage to the environment. Let’s just say the gas-powered leaf blower is the unfiltered Camel cigarette of its day when it comes to pollution.
A report by the Public Interest Network found in
2020 that in Florida alone, gas-powered lawn and garden equipment contributed 2.6 million tons of carbon dioxide, second only to California. Lawn equipment in Palm Beach County emitted nearly 310,000 tons that year, sixth most of any county in the nation and the most of any in Florida. That’s the equivalent of total annual emissions from 68,239 cars.
Florida ranked first among all states for fine particulate emissions — and in nitrogen oxide emissions — from lawn and garden equipment.
“There’s so many actions that are going to have to be taken to reach various stated climate goals of various municipalities, this one seems pretty easy to do,” said Aaron DeMayo, chair of the city of Miami’s Climate Resilience Committee and a proponent of his city banning gas-powered leaf blowers in favor of electric.
“We have the technology. It’s not expensive. It works,” he said.
Other stuff is loud, too Could gas-powered leaf blowers be a scapegoat, an easy target when it comes to noise pollution?
Besides leaf blowers, there is plenty of noise from crews working on homes under construction or undergoing renovations. Noise emanates from other lawn equipment used by landscaping companies and from loud municipal projects — a drilling company was observed boring into a Boca Raton street.
“What’s more annoying is the construction over there — that’s what’s annoying,” Arnie Schwartz said, pointing to a house while walking in his Boca Raton Spanish River Land neighborhood. Here is a fact, Jack: There is little consensus on what to do or whether to do anything.
Boca Raton Spanish River Land resident Nick Wagner was working in his front yard, which had been transformed into a butterfly garden. Gulf fritillaries danced above his cassia and milkweed. Wagner wants the gas-powered leaf blowers banned.
“I think it’s really invasive,” he said. “It’s too much to be honest. I don’t think it’s fair, and you don’t necessarily even have to use them. They just insist on doing it.”
Meanwhile on Tranquility Drive in Highland Beach, Alisa Musa was walking her dogs and taking a que será, será attitude. “I am not a complainer. They got to keep it clean,” she said. Schwartz said banning leaf blowers or forcing landscapers to go electric just isn’t realistic.
“Certain things sound good, but you can’t put them in action,” he said. “So what happens is that if you get rid of them, what are you going to do with all the leaves? Rake them?
I haven’t seen anybody with a rake out here in 20 years.”P
A gas-powered leaf blower clears a path at Gulfstream Park just north of Gulf Stream. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star
Schwartz
King tides affected coastal Palm Beach County in October and another round is expected Nov. 14 through 18.
ABOVE: Robert Stalzer, the tennis pro at Eau Palm Beach Resort & Spa, assists a hotel guest with crossing the flooded road in front of the resort.
RIGHT: Corey Roberts and Thor Arnold struggle against the strong winds to load a customer’s boat onto their trailer in the flooded parking lot of Sportsman’s Park in Lantana.
Delray Beach
City manager not sure if arrest is sign of wider Code Enforcement bribery
By John Pacenti
In a stunning revelation, Delray Beach City Manager Terrence Moore could not assure the public that an alleged bribery scheme within the city’s Code Enforcement Department is contained and that the department isn’t riddled with corruption.
Moore’s comment came at the Oct. 15 City Commission meeting when Vice Mayor Juli Casale asked him about the arrest of a code enforcement officer accused of shaking down two residents.
Khatoya Markia Wesley, 35, was arrested Oct. 3 on two counts of extortion threats and two counts of unlawful compensation, second-degree felonies punishable by up to 15 years in prison. She was fired Oct. 7 for accepting money, willful misconduct and conduct unbecoming a city employee, according to a memo written by Moore.
City Attorney Lynn Gelin has asked the Office of the Inspector General to conduct a review of the department, Casale said after the Oct. 15 commission meeting. She did not know if the OIG asked to conduct the investigation was with the state or with Palm Beach County. Gelin did not return an email seeking comment on Oct. 18.
Casale pressed Moore on the bribery arrest at the meeting, noting that the code compliance officer fired is accused in the police report of using surrogates and multiple Cash App accounts.
“Did we do a full investigation into this department to make sure that this is one individual and not a bunch of people working together?” Casale asked.
Moore said a “review process was imminent.”
“What do you mean a review process is imminent?” Casale shot back.
“We will be reviewing our processes to be on point in that regard because, of course, my concern is if there’s more than one individual other than who was apprehended in the most recent events,” Moore said.
Casale asked Moore why the city took so long to investigate Wesley and why commissioners were not informed.
“Our residents deserve better,” Casale said. “We are here to clean up, not cover up, and that’s what it feels like is going on when we don’t get information about one of our employees bribing people and extorting them.”
She told Moore she was frustrated that it took so much time to investigate Wesley, who was on paid administrative leave for four months before being arrested a year after the alleged bribery took place.
Moore, who has increasingly been on the defensive with Casale, said he was
“not happy with the application” but that probable cause had to be established along the lines of the city’s policies and procedures.
“In all fairness, as far as the time frames you outlined, it was not a function of irresponsibility on our part, (it’s) simply taken time to put the pieces together. That is policy, that is process. And ultimately, we got to a place in which the arrest had been made,” Moore said.
Wesley is accused of demanding payment from John “The Ribman” Jules, who sold barbecue ribs out of his home at 1048 Sunset Ave. Jules said he gave Wesley $1,500 in cash and $800 in food for her and her associates, according to an Oct. 3 arrest report.
Wesley is also accused of trying to shake down Yves Merzius, who police said owned UU Auto Sales at 210 SE Third Ave. “He stated Wesley came to the lot on several occasions and stated that she was going to report his business to code enforcement unless he paid her,” the report stated.
Both men had been subject to code enforcement complaints in the past. Jules faced complaints because of traffic jams in the neighborhood around his house as he sold rib plates for $20 apiece. Merzius told police that he had a shop but code enforcement shut it down and he was storing cars at the address in question.
Wesley was released from Palm
Beach County Jail on Oct. 4 after posting a $10,000 bond. The phone number listed on the police report for Wesley was disconnected. The public defender representing Wesley has not yet responded to an Oct. 19 email seeking comment.
An investigation into Wesley — who lives in Delray Beach — started in February when a fellow code enforcement officer reported her after he spoke to a family member of an alleged victim, police said. The alleged extortion and bribery took place in October 2023, according to the report.
In the police report, Wesley complains in a text message that Jules’ account was frozen and that he could pay only $560. A contact phone for Jules was not included in the police report and he could not be reached for comment.
Wesley was explicit in her threats, according to the police report.
“If nothing sent tonight it ain’t nothing ima be able to do to help bro ’cause I gotta pay somebody else,” she told Jules on one occasion. Police said she followed it up with a text message that said, “They sending fire department and everything tonight if the event paperwork not shown.”
Text messages between Wesley and Merzius were recovered but they did not have any payment information, according to the arrest report. P
Photos by Tim Stepien/ The Coastal Star
Wesley
BOCA RATON — Helen Marie Bates Babione, with her husband a pioneer of St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church, died Oct. 5. She was 95.
Helen Bates moved to Lake Worth from Ohio in 1948 and in 1950 married Robert Babione. They moved to Boca Raton in 1960, where they opened Babione Funeral Home and became active members in the community.
Helen and Robert joined St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church, where they were among the pioneer families that helped grow the church and school into the beautiful sanctuary and campus they are today. As a devoted parishioner for 50-plus years, she was surrounded by her many friends and family for her 90th birthday party in the church’s Mercy Center in March 2019.
Mrs. Babione was preceded in death
Ocean Ridge
Helen Marie Bates Babione
by her beloved husband in 2004, as well as by her daughter Mary Veccia, son Robert Babione Jr. and his wife, Sue Babione, son-in-law Mike Haggerty, and grandson Brian Veccia.
She was a compassionate, generous and kind woman who loved helping others and bringing people together. She was an advocate for women and children her whole life, encouraging everyone to stay happy and healthy.
She leaves her family with many fond memories. She is survived by daughters Kathryn (Mark) Rogers, Phyllis Haggerty, Ashley (Tim) Glick and Jean (Bill) Giffin; son Paul Babione; and son-in-law Joe (Damiana) Veccia. She was blessed with 11 grandchildren: Tiffany (Don), Kimberly (Nick), Jennifer, Pamela (Seth), Robert (Stefanie), Cindy (Daryl), Alyson (Fergus), Kaitlyn (Marcello), Jonathan (Rachel), Laura and Trevor. Along came 13 great-grandchildren: Kade and Quinn FitzHenry; Madelyn and Abigail Veccia,
and their mother, Jaime; Alexis and Savanna Babione; Kyle Smith; Bruno, Amelia and Clara Amsalem; Georgiana and Zinnia Keatinge; Liliana Barioli; also many nieces, nephews and cousins.
Mrs. Babione was very proud of her work on the “Honor Your Doctor” annual luncheon organized by the Downtown Rotary Club. The Soroptimist Club, which she started in Boca Raton, was also dear to her heart. And she was a donor to the growth of Boca Raton Regional Hospital (she co-chaired an annual Go Pink luncheon), as well as a life member of the Debbie-Rand Memorial Service League.
She was a founding member of the Society for the Disabled in 1960 and from that the Twin Palms Center for the Disabled and the Habilitation Center of Boca Raton were started. She supported the work of American Association of Caregiving Youth; she was also involved with the Downtown Kiwanis and Key
Political sign placement gets reprieve
The Ocean Ridge Commission on Oct. 21 agreed to have the Planning and Zoning Commission and the town lawyer reexamine an ordinance prohibiting political signs in swales during election season.
“I don’t think the town of Ocean Ridge should be driving around — the Police Department, especially — moving signs, touching signs. I don’t appreciate that,” Mayor Geoff Pugh said.
At the meeting, former Commissioner Terry Brown said a police officer came to his home on Oct. 17 after a neighbor complained that his sign supporting Vice President Kamala Harris was not 3 feet back from the street.
“Why would you dispatch a police officer to come and out and do that?” he told The Coastal Star. Brown moved the sign into his tree.
Boynton Beach
Town Manager Lynne Ladner said the town is not out looking for political signs that are in the rights-of-way, but said police or code enforcement officers are dispatched when there is a complaint from a resident.
Commissioner Ainar Aijala Jr. then suggested that there should be a policy that police and code enforcement ignore complaints about political signs during election season.
For the time being, Brown put his offending sign up in a tree but he told commissioners he has a Constitutional right to place political placards where he sees fit. “I will be using the road’s rightof-way for signs the week before the election,” he said.
— John Pacentii
City approves agreement with state over
spill of sewage into Intracoastal
Boynton Beach city commissioners approved an agreement Oct. 15 with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection related to a massive sewage spill into the Intracoastal Waterway in July 2023.
The city didn’t admit or deny any of the department’s findings in the so-called consent order, but agreed to a $182,008 civil penalty and to pay $1,000 to cover FDEP investigation costs and expenses, along with undertaking corrective actions. Boynton Beach has the opportunity to avoid paying the cash penalty if it instead implements an approved pollution prevention or in-kind project worth $273,012 (150% of the civil penalty).
The commission approved the consent order without comment.
“The [consent order] reflects the City and FDEP’s mutually agreed upon resolution of the matter and the City agrees to comply with the corrective actions within the time periods set out in the [consent
order],” the staff’s agenda report says. “The Utility sees this as an opportunity to continue its vision of improving infrastructure assessment, asset management, and repair and replacement projects to continue providing exceptional services to our customers.”
About 22 million gallons of sewage spilled into the Intracoastal over six days due to a broken sewer line at the eastern end of Boynton Beach Boulevard. The city spent $1.6 million to repair the line and clean up the spill.
Larry Barszewski
Club work.
The Babiones received many honors over the years for their community service, including the “Heartland Award” presented by then-Gov. Lawton Chiles and the “Family of the Year” award from the Florida Knights of Columbus.
Most recently, she received a beautiful figurine from St. Joan of Arc Church for her faithfulness and love of Jesus.
A Mass of Christian burial was celebrated on Oct. 14 at St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church followed by interment at Boca Raton Cemetery.
At Helen’s wish, in lieu of flowers, donations can be made at glickfamilyfuneralhome.com/obituary/ Helen-Babione#donations. The funds will then be distributed by the family to many of Helen’s most beloved charities.
— Obituary submitted by the family
Deborah ‘Debbie’ Ann Grove
DELRAY BEACH — It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Deborah “Debbie” Ann Grove. On Oct. 7, she succumbed to her long battle with cancer. She was 67. Born in Wilmington, Delaware, Ms. Grove attended Mount Pleasant High School and the School of Cosmetology, later becoming the owner of the popular Charles Davis Salon in Centerville.
After meeting the love of her life, John Belmonte, Ms. Grove moved to Delray Beach where the couple lived for 25 years. Together they enjoyed traveling overseas in exploration of the world.
Ms. Grove was a caring and fun-loving person with a wonderful sense of humor. She had a passion for animals, always having a dog by her side for her daily walks on the beach.
She was a beloved member of The Colony Beach Club for over a decade, where she cultivated many special friendships. She and John loved entertaining; she was the quintessential “hostess with mostest.”
She was preceded in death by both of her parents, Edward Sr. and Marjorie Grove. She is survived by her brother, Edward Grove Jr., and her sister-in-law, Rosemary, as well as John Belmonte and her many extended family members. She will be deeply missed. Services are private. — Obituary submitted by the family
Delray Beach
Bringing a dog to city’s beach? Prepare to pay
New citation plan will generate fines for multitude of offenses
By Hannah Spence
Starting this month, Delray Beach is giving out new citations — with fines attached — for many minor violations of city rules.
Potential offenders include litterers, places making too much noise and people bringing dogs to the city’s beach.
The new civil citations are more like parking tickets and less harsh than arresting someone, which was pretty much the only recourse previously available (and something officials refrained from doing). Some residents still are not happy — especially those whose pets love the beach.
“I think it would be a better idea to have a specific beach that is a dog beach, like they do in other cities,” said Marlene Goldstein, who regularly takes her chocolate lab, Tucker, to run on the edges of the water.
The new citations cover dozens of other infractions as well, such as skateboarding (stay off Atlantic Avenue sidewalks between State Road A1A and Interstate 95), roadside markers along residential rights-of-way (pyramid-shaped markers are bad, but dome-shaped ones are fine), and even more that are related to pets (dogs aren’t allowed in public buildings or places of business without owners’ permission).
There are rules for garbage and trash, abandoned property, fire safety, mobile food trucks, vehicle parking and storage, and so much more.
Goldstein said she allows Tucker to run on the beach unleashed because “he runs like a maniac and chases birds, and I can’t hold him when he does
that.”
She acknowledged that some dogs shouldn’t be on the beach, but she said that she is mindful, taking Tucker north or south of where people are swimming, so he doesn’t get near anybody.
“I’m only OK with Tucker because I know he’s not going to run into anybody,” said Goldstein.
But being mindful doesn’t cut it, as far as city rules are concerned. Under the new citation program, approved by city commissioners in March, bringing a dog on the beach carries a fine of $100 for an uncontested violation and $175 for a contested violation. The maximum fine in any category is $500. Contested violations will be heard in Palm Beach County Court.
The citations will be issued by code enforcement officers — police, code inspectors, fire inspectors and building inspectors.
It’s not about the money, City Commissioner Rob Long said.
“At the end of the day, we are not trying to use this to generate revenue on the backs of hardworking citizens. It’s just to change behavior,” Long said.
“It just gives us an efficient way to hold people accountable for these problems that are tricky to enforce but have an impact on the quality of life of our residents.”
Before the citation program, the potential enforcement mechanism was harsh, says former Delray Beach Mayor Shelly Petrolia, who was in office when the new program was approved.
“Even though we could have arrested somebody because they were breaking the law, nobody
really wants to do that,” Petrolia said. Absent making arrests, that left the city only with options like warning violators or putting up signs alerting people to prohibited activities, she said.
“Now it’s going to be something in line with what the penalty should be.”
Petrolia said the city adjusted the rules because of complaints to her office, commissioners and police, mostly about excessive noise. She said near-downtown residents were being disturbed in their sleep by commotion coming from eateries such as The O.G. and Tin Roof.
According to the city’s Code of Ordinances, there will be ramifications for any person who makes, continues or causes “unreasonably loud” noise, such as from dogs or birds, loading and unloading, construction and vibration. Citations may be issued to “continued or repeated violations,” the city’s website says.
“I don’t think that people are out there to break the rules. I think that it’s more of an issue that the rules were not in a way that they could follow,” Petrolia said. “Now we have the ability to
be able to show them when [the noise volume] is too high. And, if they continue to break [the rules], then they will get cited.”
While the rule against allowing dogs on the beach is a pet peeve of Goldstein, Petrolia said Goldstein’s desire to have a specific beach for dogs is not feasible in Delray Beach.
“We had that conversation with the commission years ago, determining whether or not we could section off a certain part of the beach and make it into a dog beach,” she said. “The problem with Delray Beach is we have one mile of beach that serves everybody, and it is a very popular beach. We determined that the beach is just not long enough to be everything to everyone.”
Petrolia encouraged people to be empathetic to others by remembering that not everyone is a dog lover. “People can be very wary of dogs. Also, the average beachgoer may have dogs as well, but chooses not to bring them down. They don’t want to have fecal matter or urine in the sand in which their kids are playing and digging.”
Although the offenses
included in the program were already illegal, the rules can now be more strictly enforced.
“We want to make sure that people are following the rules of our city and not taking advantage,” Petrolia said. “We don’t want to do things that are an overreach, but we want to make sure that there will be no dogs on the beach for people that are expecting that.”
Some residents agree with the new program, such as Heidi Rabinowitz who has lived in Delray Beach on and off for about nine years.
“I think it’s a good idea to do something that’s a little gentler than actually being in legal trouble,” Rabinowitz said. Rabinowitz said she is glad to have some control exerted over littering and that it will not only keep places looking better, but be better for wildlife.
“I’ve sometimes gone to the beach and picked up litter myself because it’s so much that I can’t relax,” she said. “It’s also unhealthy for animals who live there.” P
Larry Barszewski contributed to this story.
Delray Beach can start imposing fines for previously unenforced infractions like taking your dog to the beach, or setting your trash out at the curb on the wrong day. Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star
Pet Blessing
Unity of Delray Beach — Oct. 26
Unity of Delray Beach celebrated the blessing of pets in our lives at its 25th annual Blessing of the Animals.
ABOVE: Grace Mackler, 6, poses beside her dogs, Maya, 2, and Bella, 13, after her dogs were blessed.
RIGHT: For two hours, Charlene Wilkinson blessed dogs (including 13-year-old Matilda), cats and birds in the gazebo of the church.
Each pet left the event with a personalized certificate, a small medal and a goodie bag. Photos of pets who had passed away were submitted to be displayed at the Rainbow Bridge table.
Photos by Rachel O’Hara/The Coastal Star
Business Spotlight
Carlisle marking 25th year with Seaside Soiree
The Carlisle Palm Beach, a senior living facility in Lantana, is celebrating its 25th birthday with a Seaside Soiree from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Nov. 14 at the facility, 450 E. Ocean Ave.
The event will include live music, chef-prepared hors d’oeuvres and house-made cocktails.
Press materials for the Carlisle call it “a hidden gem set between the ocean, the Lantana Nature Preserve and the Intracoastal Waterway.”
Part of the Orlando-based Bridge Senior Living, the Carlisle offers 144 upscale independent-living apartments, with a variety of one- or two-bedroom floor-plan styles. It recently underwent a multimillion-dollar modernization that included the lobby, dining room and wellness center and state-of-the-art fitness facility.
For reservations to the soiree, call 561-295-1262 or visit CarlislePalmBeachEvents.com.
Grove Rosebud Two LLC, managed by Randal Perkins, deeded the 141-room hotel The Ray, 233 NE Second Ave., Delray Beach, to a joint venture between the New York-based Certares and the Delray Beachbased TMGOC Ventures after they assumed its mortgage.
Recorded in September, the deed’s doc stamps were based on a value of $57.7 million because that was the mortgage assumed by the buyer; however, the consideration for the property conveyance was $47.84 million, according to the deed.
Totaling 96,631 square feet, the hotel was built on the 1.09acre site in 2021. When Grove Rosebud Two was incorporated in 2021, Menin Development was the manager. Perkins was named manager in place of Menin in November 2023.
Certares is a global investment firm focused on the travel and hospitality industries, and TMGOC Ventures is a real estate investment firm.
A seven-bedroom, 12,408-square-foot ocean-tolake estate at 3090 S. Ocean Blvd., Manalapan, owned by oil heiress Jean Christine Thompson, sold to call-center entrepreneur Anthony Marlowe in October for $15.589 million. One Sotheby’s International
Realty agents Madison Collum and Sandra Tagliamonte handled both sides of the sale. Built in 2000, the estate sits on 1.75 acres. Thompson’s company paid $11.5 million for it in 2011. The estate had been on the market since April 2023, when it was listed at $28.5 million.
Piano Man Billy Joel did finally sell his mansion at 1110 S. Ocean Blvd. in Manalapan after it went pending in late August with a closing date scheduled for Oct. 2. The $42.6 million sale was recorded Oct. 23.
Joel listed the property for $54.9 million in January and reduced it to $49.9 million in March.
The new owner, Dr. Armin Oskouei, bought the estate through 1110 S Ocean Blvd LLC, a limited liability company. Christian Angle of Christian Angle Real Estate represented both sides of the deal.
Macy’s sold its 224,396square-foot department store at the Boynton Beach Mall to the mall’s owner, Boynton Beach Mall LLC, which is part of the Washington Prime Group, for $15 million.
The store is expected to stay open at least through 2025. What is happening with the mall in general? Known as Boynton Beach 91, the 91-acre site was recently marked for sale by JLL Capital as a mixed-use project. Boynton Beach city officials are keen for the mall’s owner to move forward with redevelopment.
The Gold Coast PR Council in October gave out its annual Bernays Awards to honor excellence in local public relations campaigns, marketing programs and media coverage.
The President’s Award went to Marie Speed. The PR Star Award was given to Don Silver of Boardroom PR. The Founders Award went to Sandy Collier Tania Rogers received the Tim Byrd Award. CRL Media LLC received the Judges Award. The Best Nonprofit Project or Campaign/Large award went to the Palm Beach County Library System for its 20242028 strategic plan and its 2024 action plan. The Best Nonprofit Project or Campaign/Small award went to Kravis Center for the Performing Arts for “Space
The Carlisle is on Ocean Avenue just west of State Road A1A in Lantana. Photo provided
Explorers: The Infinite.” The Best Marketing Material/ Print award went to Anne M. Gannon, Palm Beach County’s tax collector, for Welcome Home to Palm Beach County.”
The Best Marketing Material/ Digital or Video award went to the Palm Beach County Library System for “Embracing the New — The Complete Renovation of www.pbclibrary.org.”
The Best Special Event award went to Kaye Communications for “Concert 4 Kindness.” The Best Social Media Campaign/ For Profit award went to Boardroom PR for “Gloria Gates Care.”
The Cultural Council for Palm Beach County arts and culture ambassador Nick Mele received the Best Social Media Campaign/Nonprofit award. The Best Crisis Management award was given to Food for the Poor’s “Food For The Poor Responds to Crisis in Haiti.”
The Best PR Campaign by a Small Company or Firm award went to Ed Katz, Katnip PR, for Chris Sarandon’s “Cooking by Heart” podcast promotion. The Best PR Campaign by a Large Company or Firm award went to the Palm Tran “Let’s Get On The Bus! Challenge.”
Florida Atlantic University’s College of Education and College of Engineering and Computer Science received a $9.9 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education to provide technology job training to people with disabilities.
“By bridging the gap between disability and technology careers, we are not only opening doors to competitive integrated employment but also fostering a more inclusive and diverse workforce,” FAU principal investigator and associate professor Ayse Torres said.
The five-year project will offer counseling and training that can lead to certificates in cybersecurity, cloud computing solutions and computer-aided design and 3D printing. The college will focus on youth and adults who have high school diplomas and are current or former participants of state vocational rehab services.
Carbon Limit, a Boca Ratonbased company that makes a concrete additive that absorbs carbon dioxide, just debuted CoolCrete, a cooling technology that improves concrete’s ability to reflect sunlight to reduce overall heat absorption up to 6 degrees Celsius.
“We’ve created an enhanced sustainable solution to directly address the heat crisis we’re experiencing across the globe,” said CEO Tim Sperry
The company hopes its additive can be used to combat the urban heat island effect. CoolCrete can replace up to 40% of conventional cement and reduce the carbon footprint of concrete production by 40%, the company reports.
This summer, Florida Power & Light Co. debuted a tool giving customers tips to keep their bills low, with the
chance to win a $150 prize pack. Every two weeks, the top 10 eligible players have the option to receive their prize pack or donate the value toward FPL’s “Care To Share” program that helps Floridians in need. For information, visit FPL.com/ HouseofSavings. For more tips and resources, customers can go to FPL.com/WaystoSave.
Florida Atlantic University has gained ground in the new U.S. News & World Report national ranking of best universities, ranking No. 189, up from 209 last year.
The Boca Raton/ Boynton Beach Chamber of Commerce’s Boynton is Booming Business Expo will be from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Nov. 14 at the Marriott Courtyard, 1601 N. Congress Ave., Boynton Beach. People will have the opportunity to network, learn about brands and marketing, and generate leads and potential sales. The event is free for Chamber members, and $20 for nonmembers.
Verizon Communications and the Boca Raton-based telecommunications firm Vertical Bridge have entered into an agreement for Vertical Bridge to get the exclusive rights to manage and lease 6,339 wireless towers across the nation from Verizon for about $3.3 billion. This deal works like a prepaid lease, where Verizon gets $2.8 billion in cash up front. Verizon will also sign a 10-year agreement to rent space on the towers from Vertical Bridge, and it can extend the deal for up to 50 years.
Verizon will still be able to use some extra space on the towers in the future, but with some limits. This agreement helps Verizon lower its tower costs. The deal is expected to close by the end of 2024.
Send business news to Christine Davis at cdavis9797@ gmail.com.
Philanthropy Season Preview
211
By Ron Hayes
In December 1971, a hotline offering help to people struggling with drugs began answering calls in Palm Beach County.
Crisis Line had about 90 volunteers, mostly students from Palm Beach Junior College and Florida Atlantic University. They answered the phones 24/7, with a 42-page “Where To Turn” booklet prepared by the Community Services Council of Palm Beach County to help them through their four-hour shifts.
Crisis Line’s founder, a local psychologist named Robert K. Alsofrom, estimated those volunteers would receive perhaps 2,000 calls a month, or 24,000 a year.
Formerly known as Crisis Line, 211 is here to help with housing, health care, transportation — or just to be a willing listener
Some guidelines for taking calls are posted above a desk.
In 2023, that same agency answered about 48,000 calls for help from Palm Beach County — and served four other counties as well.
Dr. Alsofrom, who died in 1993, would no doubt be thrilled, and
Philanthropy coverage
An expanded look at this season's opportunities to give. Pages AT2-12
perhaps amazed, at how his fledgling hotline has grown in ways he might never have imagined.
In 2000, the Federal Communications Commission designated 211 as the national number for information and referral services, similar to 911 for emergencies. Crisis Line became 211 Palm Beach and Treasure Coast and expanded its service area to Martin, St. Lucie, Indian River and Okeechobee counties.
In 2023, the agency’s 22 “resource specialists” handled almost 125,000 See 211 on page AT6
Patrice Schroeder, 211’s community relations specialist, at the organization’s call center in Lantana. Photos by Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star
Golden Grants Evening Royal Palm Yacht & Country Club, Boca Raton
Coming Nov. 6: Men Giving Back will celebrate 25 semifinalist nonprofits based in South County that will receive, in total, $500,000 in funding. Time is 6 to 9 p.m. Cost is free to members. Call 561-706-0163 or visit mengivingback.org. ABOVE: (l-r) Alan Ferber, Robert Snyder, Jon Sahn, Evan Farrell, Billy Marino, Dr. Nathan Nachlas, Marc Malaga, Ed Ventrice, Derek Witte and Bill Donnell. Photo provided by Carla Azzata
Pay It Forward
Note: Events are current as of 10/27. Please check with organizers for any changes.
NOVEMBER
Saturday - 11/2 - The Crossroads Club’s Taste of Recovery 2024 at American German Club, 5111 Lantana Road, Lake Worth. Eat, drink and be merry at the culinary festival featuring mouthwatering samplings all night long to benefit the nonprofit that offers meeting space for 12-step recovery groups. 4-7 pm. $60. 561-278-8004 or thecrossroadsclub. com.
Saturday - 11/2 - Order of St. John of Jerusalem, Knights Hospitaller’s Florida Commandery’s Knights and Dames Gala at Royal Palm Yacht & Country Club, 2425 W. Maya Palm Drive, Boca Raton. Honor Lynn University during a benefit for local charities serving the sick and the poor. 6-10 pm. $450. 561-8668801 or osjflorida.org/events.
Saturday - 11/2 - Place of Hope’s Hope Bash Boca at Boca West Country Club, 20583 Boca West Drive, Boca Raton. Saddle up for the Trailblazer Ball and support The Leighan and David Rinker Campus in providing a safe space for local children, youths and families. 6 pm. $400. 561-483-0962, Ext. 61 or hopebashboca. givesmart.com.
Wednesday - 11/6 - Men Giving Back’s Golden Grants Evening at Royal Palm Yacht & Country Club, 2425 W. Maya Palm Drive, Boca Raton. Celebrate the 25 semifinalist nonprofits based in South County that will receive, in total, $500,000 in funding. 6-9 pm. Free to members. 561706-0163 or mengivingback.org.
Thursday - 11/7 - Her 2nd Chance’s Open House at 3100 N.W. Boca Raton Blvd., Suite 312. Applaud the milestones
and achievements of the nonprofit social enterprise dedicated to empowering women in recovery through paid employment in a safe and supportive environment. 5:30-7 pm. Free. 561-4056346 or her2ndchance.org.
Saturday - 11/9 - Delray Beach Historical Society and Heritage Gardens’ BBQ Birthday Bash at Three N.E. First Street. Get ready to fire up those taste buds and soak up the Fall weather during the 60 th birthday of the society and the 100 th anniversary of Cason Cottage. 4-8 pm. $45 for nonmembers, $35 for members and $15 for children 16 and younger. 561-274-9578 or delraybeachhistory.org.
Saturday - 11/9 - Wayside House’s “An Evening of Reflection” at Indian Spring Country Club, 11501 El Clair Ranch Road, Boynton Beach. Ring in the 50 th year since the opening of a small alcoholismtreatment program in Delray Beach for women with a celebration highlighted by Bravo television star Capt. Sandy Yawn. 6-10 pm. $225. 561-278-0055 or waysidehouse.net.
Thursday - 11/14 - Brain Bowl at Boca West Country Club, 20583 Boca West Drive, Boca Raton. Save the date for the South Florida event that will bring football star Tim Tebow to the podium to raise awareness about Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases and other types of dementia-related disorders. 11 am-2 pm. $250. 561-496-4222 or brainbowlevents. com.
Saturday - 11/16 - Rotary Club
Downtown Boca Raton’s Boca Raton Mayors Ball at Boca West Country Club, 20583 Boca West Drive, Boca Raton. Celebrate city visionaries past and present at the black-tie dinner dance
that raises funds to support health and wellness needs in the community. 6:30 pm. $495. 561-289-0436 or rotarydowntownbocaraton.org.
Wednesday - 11/20 - Boca Raton
Historical Society’s/The Schmidt Boca Raton History Museum’s Walk of Recognition at The Addison, Two E. Camino Real, Boca Raton. Celebrate 2024 inductees Leon and Toby Cooperman, Lora “Skeets” Friedkin (posthumously), Cynthia Krebsbach and Lisa Mulhall. 6 pm. $150. 561-395-6766, Ext. 100 or bocahistory.org.
DECEMBER
Wednesday - 12/4 - Lake Worth Beach Rotary Club’s Glitter & Glow Gala at Benvenuto, 1730 N. Federal Highway, Boynton Beach. Kick off the holiday season with an open bar (cash bar after the first hour) along with dinner and dancing as well as a silent auction to support the club’s charitable activities. 6:30-10:30 pm. $135. 561-316-3565 or lakeworthrotary. org.
Friday - 12/6 - Fuller Center’s Wee Dream Ball at Boca West Country Club, 20583 Boca West Drive, Boca Raton. Support at-risk children in the community by attending a disco-themed event with a modern twist featuring colorful, chic and bold attire and a night of fun and dancing. 6-11 pm. $350. 561-391-7274, Ext. 134 or fullercenterfl.org/wee-dream-ball.
Sunday - 12/15 - Hanley Foundation’s Brice Makris Brunch at The Boca Raton, 501 E. Camino Real. Have a day of fun featuring entertainment and live and silent auctions to raise funds that will help save lives from substance abuse. 11 am-2 pm. $200. 561-268-2346 or hanleyfoundation.org.
Pay It Forward
Wayside House to celebrate 50th anniversary with special guests
By Amy Woods
A reality TV star, recovering addict and author of a self-help book about overcoming alcohol and drug abuse will headline Wayside House’s “An Evening of Reflection” on Nov. 9.
Capt. Sandy Yawn, who takes the helm in Bravo’s Below Deck Mediterranean and who penned the 232-page book Be the Calm or Be the Storm: Leadership Lessons from a Woman at the Helm, was selected as keynote speaker for the annual fundraiser benefiting the nonprofit women’s treatment center in Delray Beach.
Yawn, an internationally known leadership figure, has been sober for 34 years.
“She will share her background in a family contending with generational abuse,” said Kathryn Leonard, Wayside House’s board president. “A lot of what we try to do here is stop the cycle. We work with children of recovering women and show them how to deal with it. We show them there is another way, that you do not have to go down that path.”
The fundraiser at Indian Spring Country Club in Boynton Beach rings in the 50th anniversary of the opening of the facility. Founded in 1974 by Susan B. Anthony, great-niece and namesake of the suffragette, Wayside House has a 28-bed residential program, a partial hospitalization program and an equine therapy program, among other services.
“What sets Wayside apart from other centers is that it’s women only,” Leonard said. “Women have different issues than men. It’s all the same disease, but I think for women, we feel more guilt and shame than men.”
A former client who has 32 years of sobriety, Leonard turned to Wayside House because she could not stop drinking.
“I didn’t know what to do,” Leonard said. “I checked in for four months, and I have not had a desire to drink since then.”
Aronberg to be honored
The event will also honor Palm Beach County State Attorney Dave Aronberg for working to stem the opioid crisis and for creating the Sober Homes Task Force. Additionally, a video will be shown spotlighting two incredible success stories. An alumna will be seated at every table
If You Go
What: Wayside House’s ’An Evening of Reflection’
When: 6 to 10 p.m. Nov. 9
Where: Indian Spring Country Club, 11501 El Clair Ranch Road, Boynton Beach
Cost: $225
Information: 561-2780055 or waysidehouse.net
to answer questions and offer information. More than 300 people are expected to attend.
“We would like to grow,” Leonard said. “There are very few nonprofits in Palm Beach County for women. Our goal is to help as many women who want help — and be there for them.” P
Capt. Sandy Yawn will be the keynote speaker on Nov. 9.
Photo provided
Aronberg
Philanthropy Notes
Countywide reading campaign underway
The 2024 Read Together Palm Beach County book has been revealed.
Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt was announced by the Literacy Coalition of Palm Beach County at the Mayor’s Literacy Initiative Luncheon.
The campaign aims to get adults to read the same book at the same time and discuss its themes at various gatherings. It will run through Nov. 18, when Van Pelt is scheduled to appear at the Read Together Finale, 6 p.m. at the Duncan Theatre in Lake Worth Beach.
The book is “about a widow’s unlikely friendship with a giant Pacific octopus reluctantly residing at an aquarium and the truth she uncovers about her son’s disappearance” according to a news release.
To register for the finale, call 561-279-9103 or visit www. literacypbc.org.
Pie It Forward in 10th year of aiding Meals on Wheels
The favorite feel-good piebuy experience is back.
The Meals on Wheels Thanksgiving pie fundraiser, Pie It Forward, returns for its 10th year, and debuts a special pie for the occasion: hazelnut
pumpkin praline with roasted marshmallow topping.
Here’s how it works: Chefs from restaurants, country clubs and hotels bake and donate 3,000 pies. Pie lovers choose a pie online, pay for it and pick it up the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. The money goes to feed homebound seniors hot meals five times a week. One pie
purchase will feed one senior for a week.
Flavors are pumpkin, apple, pecan and Key lime — and the anniversary pie, hazelnut pumpkin praline. There’s also a small window of opportunity to get a peanut butter pie baked by Okeechobee Steakhouse chefs halfway through the campaign. Back by demand is the
“virtual pie,” a donation that gets diners a thank-you, but only a photo of a pie. Gift pie certificates also are available. Pie costs range from $30 to $40.
Pies must be ordered by Nov. 18. Pickup is Nov. 26, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., at one of three locations:
Duffy’s Sports Grill in Delray Beach, the Palm Beach Convention Center in West Palm Beach, or Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium in Jupiter.
The website for ordering is mowpbpie.org.
Holiday ornament honors Boca Raton centennial
The newest keepsake from the Boca Raton Historical Society/The Schmidt Boca Raton History Museum commemorates the city’s
The Boca Raton Historical Society's annual holiday ornament celebrates the first century of the city's history, with a variety of elements associated with that past. Photo provided
centennial celebration.
Every element of the 2024 holiday ornament represents a significant chapter in the history of Boca Raton, from Addison Mizner’s signature to the IBM personal computer.
The ornament is available for $24.95 in the gift shop at 71 N. Federal Highway or online at bocahistory.org. Proceeds support ongoing projects. For more information, call 561-395-6766.
Food collection options at Feeding South Florida
The hunger-relief organization Feeding South Florida is calling for help for the holidays. Its “Share Food. Share Joy” initiative aims to
Continued on page 5
Stephanie Deltondo from sponsor Bank of America dressed the part while working at the Pie it Forward pickup table in the past. You can order this year’s pies by Nov. 18. Photo provided
Continued from page 4
provide 7,000 South Florida families with Thanksgiving dinners, and community members are invited to donate to that initiative by Nov. 15. For more details or to donate, go to https://feedingsouthflorida.org/ sharefood.
Community members can also host “Food + Fund” drives to collect food. To learn more, visit https://feedingsouthflorida. org/food-fund-drives.
Volunteers are also needed to sort and pack food, and to work in Feeding South Florida’s Community Kitchen. For information and to sign up for a volunteer shift, visit https://feedingsouthflorida.org/ volunteer/.
People can also donate through the organization’s “Feed it Forward” program at the same main website.
Jan Norris and Christine Davis contributed to this column.
Send news and notes to Amy Woods at flamywoods@ bellsouth.net.
Celebrations
100th anniversary kickoff
Spady Cultural Heritage Museum, Delray Beach — Oct. 5
Family members of the late Solomon Spady joined the audience at the kickoff of the beloved institution’s upcoming centennial. Built in 1926, the historical home of Spady, a local educator and an influential African American leader in Delray Beach, now houses the museum’s exhibits, archives and offices. To raise funds for another 100 years of programs, a campaign has begun to raise $100,000-plus next year. ‘The Spady Museum welcomes businesses and patrons who are interested in its mission to learn more about new sponsorship opportunities for the 100th anniversary,’ says Charlene Farrington, executive director.
ABOVE: Jessica Ross Cash; Brent Cash, Jr.; Patti Spady Ross; Serge Strosberg; Michelle Morgan Spady; Amanda MV Ross, Ed.D. INSET: Price and Carolyn Patton were in attendance. Photo provided by MasterWing Creative Agency
Boca Helping Hands received 548 boxes of cereal that were donated before the FAU game against Florida International. Donors to the Cereal4All campaign got to see the football action for free. ‘We were so pleased that so many people came out from the community to donate cereal — especially with some rain showers leading up to the game,’ said Greg Hazle, executive director of Boca Helping Hands. ABOVE: Twins Jett and Luke Justin, now 16, started Cereal4All in 2016. Photo provided
calls for help in its five-county service area, from people seeking help with housing or mental health issues, transportation, household needs, or just wanting an ear willing to listen.
In addition, 211’s Help Me Grow program offers free development screening for children up to the age of 5½.
A “special needs caregiver” works with about 350 families each year, offering support to clients up to age 22.
Sunshine Calls checks in with about 700 seniors daily, just to say hello and be sure all is well. It also checks in with family caregivers, because even caregivers sometimes need care.
The Florida Veterans Support Line connects veterans experiencing difficulty with the transition back to civilian life with veterans who understand. And the Heroes4Heroes service does the same for people in law enforcement, paramedics, firefighters and other first responders.
When you call the National Suicide Hotline (988), the phone rings at 211 Palm Beach and Treasure Coast.
Last year, the agency received 4,583 calls from people who wanted to kill themselves.
Answering a call for help
On a Saturday night in 1976, a volunteer working the midnight to 4 a.m. shift at
Along with phone numbers and other reminders, workers at the call center surround themselves with words of encouragement.
Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star
Crisis Line answered a call he has never forgotten.
John Deese was 18. The woman on the other end of the line was trying to kill herself, and nearly succeeding.
“Usually, we had two people on each shift, but this night the other person was sick and we had no replacement, so I was alone,” Deese remembers.
Prank calls were rare, but not unheard of on Saturdays after midnight.
“I could tell this was a real call,” Deese says.
The woman, who had taken pills, was still alert enough to want help, but couldn’t speak to tell Deese where she was.
“I had one of those crossreference books that lists towns and street names and numbers, so I’d name a town and told the
woman to tap on her phone if she lived there.”
Deese named towns. She tapped on Palm Springs.
Now he had to keep her alert while also calling police on a separate line.
He named streets. She tapped. Finally, he named house numbers. And she tapped.
“I heard the breaking glass over the phone when the police broke in to help,” he says.
The woman lived to thank him.
“I went home that night and we sat up for several hours talking about it,” Deese says. “It was stressful, but the whole experience gave me a perspective on the real world.”
It also gave him a devotion to 211 that has lasted a lifetime.
John Deese is 66 now, and in addition to serving as the mayor of Manalapan, he has been on 211’s board of directors for decades, and currently leads
Three little numbers serve big numbers
211 Palm Beach and Treasure Coast is a three-digit phone call away for people needing assistance. Here’s a look at the totals, types of calls and ages of the callers who reached out to 211, which serves a five-county area, in 2023.
Calls for help
• Five-county total: 124,561
• Palm Beach County total: about 48,000
Age of callers
• Under 18: 2.5%
• 18-59: 32.3%
• 60-plus: 18.6%
• No age reported: 46.7%
Top needs addressed for 211 callers (by number)
• Mental health/substance use disorder: 42,710
• Housing: 36,508
• Utility assistance: 11,249
• Information services: 8,530
• Legal, consumer and public safety services: 8,104
• Health care: 7,689
Suicide prevention calls
• Total calls: 4,583
Annual budget
• Total budget: $7,839,802
Source: 211 Palm Beach and Treasure Coast 2023 annual report
the agency’s $6 million capital campaign to replace its aging facilities.
Listening, not judging
When John Deese was being trained to answer calls all those years ago, Dr. Alsofrom called his method “nondirect counseling.” Today’s specialists call it “active listening,” but the approach is similar.
Each specialist receives about 100 hours of training, learning what to say, and not say, what to offer, and what never to promise.
“We’re not telling them we’re going to solve their problems,” says Patrice Schroeder, 211’s community relations specialist, who has been with the agency 18 years. “We can’t tell them their situation is going to get better.”
Resource specialists are not psychiatrists or psychologists.
“We don’t provide mental health counseling,” Schroeder emphasizes. “We’re trained to de-escalate and stabilize the caller, then connect them to mental health services.”
Mostly, they listen. Really listen.
“I see you lost your job and are having trouble paying bills,” the specialist might say. “We can connect you with an agency that does job searches.”
And they don’t judge.
“We’re not there to say, ‘It’s not that bad.’ We can’t judge what is a crisis for somebody else,” Schroeder notes. “If it’s a suicidal crisis, that’s bad; but a teenage breakup can be a crisis for that teenager.”
When a 211 phone line rings, the specialist never knows who will be on the other end of the call. It could be someone asking what hours Boynton Beach’s Oceanfront Park is open. It could be someone holding
the phone in one hand and a handgun in the other. Or it could be about a hurricane, or two.
A resource in stormy times
While Hurricanes Helene and Milton were making up their minds, Kelly was sitting at a desk in 211’s Lantana facility, answering calls.
“A lot of our callers have no access to computers or TV,” she explains. “They’ve only heard we’re getting a hurricane and want to know if they should put their shutters up. They didn’t realize it was on the west coast.”
Kelly — resource specialists use first names only — has been answering 211 calls eight hours a day, five days a week for nine years. Calming people down is big part of her job.
“Calming people down is all day,” she says.
Most of the calls are from women. “Especially single mothers caring for children on their own.”
When the caller says, “I’m ready to die, I haven’t told anybody I feel that way,” Kelly asks, “What’s got you so upset you would want to do that?”
Keep them talking. Let them share their feelings.
“Usually it’s a big event,” she says. “They’ve lost their job, or their home, or their marriage. Or utilities. They need $50 to keep the lights on.”
Kelly has almost countless resources at her fingertips, agencies that can help with temporary housing or food.
She has taken suicide calls from 10-year-olds. She has taken calls from gay and lesbian teens whose families have shunned them.
She takes a sadly large number of calls from people who just need someone to talk to.
“They have no one on the planet to talk to,” she says, “so we’re here.”
Schroeder recalls a woman whose husband was disabled, using a wheelchair, and whose child had autism. She was working full-time to support the family but was afraid of being laid off. She couldn’t tell her family. So, she told 211.
“We may not have all the answers,” Schroeder says, “but we’re the place to start.”
Answering the crisis calls was stressful when John Deese did it 48 years ago, and it’s stressful for Kelly today. But the resource specialists keep coming back.
“I’ve had people tell me, ‘You’re so terrible they should shut that whole place down,’” Kelly says. “But I’ve also had people say, ‘People are lucky you were born.’
“And I’ve had people tell me I saved their life.
“That’s a reason for me to come back tomorrow.”P
For extensive information about the services and policies of 211 Palm Beach and Treasure Coast, visit 211palmbeach.org. To donate, visit 211palmbeach.org/donate.
If your life is in crisis, please call 211.
Deese
Hanley Foundation
New programs to serve veterans, first responders, pregnant women
By Steven J. Smith
Dr. Rachel Docekal, CEO of the Hanley Foundation, said the community saw an important problem, spoke up about it and was heard.
“They asked us to expand our nationally renowned programming to include initiatives for pregnant women who are addicted to substances as well as mental health and substance use programming for veterans and first responders,” Docekal said. “Those are brand-new programs and we want the community to know we’ve responded to the call.”
The Hanley Foundation was formed in 1984 by Jack and Mary Jane Hanley, who realized at that time there was a lack of quality addiction treatment centers in the southeastern United States. The organization’s mission is to eliminate addiction through prevention, advocacy, treatment and recovery support. Its programs have improved the lives of hundreds of thousands of people who have
sought their services.
“Our new programs for pregnant women, veterans and first responders are now open and operating,” Docekal said. “And they’re doing amazing work on our campus.”
She added the foundation is best known for creating substance use treatment programs, focusing on older adults.
“We have also opened 10 mental health beds,” Docekal said. “These are probably the best and most beautiful residential mental health beds in the country. It is a very small, specialized program and we are getting amazing results from it.”
She added that the foundation invites the community to attend its signature fundraising events in support of its mission.
“Community support is integral to our cause,” Docekal said. “Together, we can make a significant impact and bring hope to those affected by substance use disorder and stop addiction before it starts.”
To learn more about the Hanley Foundation and its tremendous work in the behavioral health field, visit hanleyfoundation.org or call 844-452-9959.
Publisher’s Note
We’re ringing the bell again to promote charitable giving
Since 2008 we have been doing our best to promote philanthropic giving with the coverage we provide in The Coastal Star. We are happy to share our Philanthropy Season Preview again with our readers.
This once-a-year special section is intended to promote local charitable organizations and to serve as a reminder to all of us that the end-of-the-year giving season has arrived.
On this and the next few pages, you will see paid features and advertising packages funded by some of these organizations — and their donors — to amplify their stories and promote fundraising events.
In this month of Thanksgiving, we encourage you to give generously to help these and the other charitable organizations that make our community a better place to live.
— Jerry Lower, Publisher
Docekal
Boca Raton Regional Hospital
Boca Raton Regional Hospital makes progress on transformative expansion and renovation
By KiKi Bochi
The future of healthcare is unfolding at Boca Raton Regional Hospital, where more than $1 billion in capital investments promises to meet tomorrow’s needs with innovation and excellence.
Boca Regional’s historic expansion and renovation are being made possible in part through the remarkable generosity of donors, who have contributed more than $283 million toward the enhancements.
“As we transform Boca Regional’s campus, we are shaping this community’s very future,” says Boca Raton Regional Hospital Foundation President Mark Larkin. “Our plans pave the way for unprecedented, world-class medical sophistication.”
It has been a year of major milestones in the project, which is progressing at a steady pace. One key achievement was the recent opening of the Abessinio Energy Plant, which will improve efficiency and make the hospital more resilient during hurricane season and other emergencies. The plant has enough fuel to allow Boca Regional to operate independently for several weeks.
“Recent weather events outside of South Florida have reinforced the importance of resiliency,” says Lincoln Mendez, the hospital’s CEO and North Regional Executive for Baptist Health. “We hope to never face those kinds
of challenges, but we are confident in our improved capacity to respond if there’s an emergency.”
Another significant milestone was the opening of the new Toby and Leon Cooperman Medical Arts Pavilion. The facility vastly expands the hospital’s clinical capacity with an outpatient ambulatory surgery center as well as physician offices for orthopedics, urology and gastroenterology.
“This state-of-the-art facility provides room to grow as we expand our clinical specialties and attract new world-class medical providers to our already outstanding staff,” Mendez says. “It allows us to house new breakthrough technology and facilitate further investments in equipment that can improve
health outcomes.”
The building provides a centralized location for the growth of Baptist Health’s highly regarded orthopedic program in Palm Beach County. “It’s a one-stop shop for the highest-quality orthopedic care, with expert doctors in every specialty treating everyday patients as well as collegiate and professional athletes,” says Anthony Miniaci, M.D., Deputy Chief Medical Executive of Baptist Health Orthopedic Care.
In recent months, Boca Regional was proud to celebrate the “topping off” of two new structures. One will provide a home for a highly anticipated proton therapy treatment facility at Lynn Cancer Institute, expanding the available radiation therapy
options close to home.
The other was the “topping off” of the new Gloria Drummond Patient Tower, one of the centerpieces of the expansion. The latest construction is focused on the interior of the new nine-story building, which will feature all-private patient rooms that exceed safety standards and have space for the latest bedside technology. The building also will include 20 new operating rooms, two hybrid operating rooms with ceiling-mounted intraoperative MRI, a hybrid PET/MRI, a radiology suite, and more.
“Each day, we take another step into the future as we become an even bigger and better Boca Regional,” Larkin says. “We are deeply grateful for the unwavering support and generosity of our donors, whose
continued philanthropy makes transformative projects like these possible.”
The Foundation’s fundraising continues in order to meet the growing healthcare needs of the region. Gifts support new technology, research, programs to serve the community and much more, Larkin notes. Upcoming events include the 62nd annual Hospital Ball on Feb. 1 and the 26th annual Golf Tournament on April 7.
“Boca Regional relies on philanthropic support to provide world-class care,” Larkin said. “Together, we can continue to meet the challenges and opportunities of the 21st century.”
To learn more, visit Donate. BRRH.com.
The Toby and Leon Cooperman Medical Arts Pavilion includes an outpatient ambulatory surgery center as well as physician offices for orthopedics, urology, gastroenterology and more.
LEFT: At the centerpiece of the expansion plans, the new Gloria Drummond Patient Tower will feature all-private patient rooms, exceeding the latest safety standards for patient care. RIGHT: The hospital recently celebrated a “topping-off” ceremony for the new proton therapy treatment facility at the Eugene M. & Christine E. Lynn Cancer Institute.
Impact 100 PBC leaders’ goal: 1,000 members Impact 100
By Steven J. Smith
If you’re a local woman looking for a way to serve your community in a meaningful way, Jeannine Morris and Kimberly Boldt want to meet you.
Morris and Boldt are copresidents of Impact 100 Palm Beach County, now in its 14th giving year, devoted to improving the community by inspiring women to fund grants to nonprofits that implement high-impact initiatives in southern Palm Beach County. To date it’s given $6,876,000 in 112 grants, 65 of which were $100,000 each.
“We now have 820 members, each of whom donates $1,000 to fund the grants,” Boldt said. “That’s $820,000 so far. We want to get to 1,000 members so we’ll have $1,000,000 to fund our nonprofits. Our belief is that women are particularly suited to taking care of the needs of our community — especially in the way we fund nonprofits, in five different focus areas.”
“Those include Arts, Culture & Historic Preservation; Education; Environment & Animal Welfare; Family; and Health & Wellness,” Morris said. “Impact 100 PBC’s membership — much like those categories — encompasses a very diverse group of women.
“Their ages start at 18 and go up from there,” she said. “They come from all walks of life. We have young moms, working women, and retirees. It’s a distinctly divergent group. That gives us a lot of ways in which women can integrate with our organization and not only be a part of its mission, but they also can connect with other local women who are interested in what we do. They connect by participating in a number of annual events we sponsor, aimed at bringing women together.”
One event is Impact Walks, which takes place in one of several scenic locations around Palm Beach County. Another is called Two-Hour Tuesday. Both are monthly, informal get-togethers where women can learn more about the organization and how they can
fit into it.
“We’ve also implemented Impact Talks, a speaker series featuring prominent women,” Morris said, “as well as another event called On the Road with
Impact.” She added that Impact 100’s No. 1 priority is to plug women into a cause that is personally fulfilling through
“We can do that in a way that feels very engaging, where women meet new friends,” Morris said. “And they can even
women and more.”
Women who wish to join
Impact 100 PBC as members and volunteers can get
The highlight of the year for the women of Impact 100 Palm Beach County is the awarding of $100,000 grants to nonprofit leaders after they make presentations. ABOVE (l-r): Jeannine Morris, Co-President, Impact 100 PBC, Jim Baugh, PHIT America, Allyson Vaulx, Feeding South Florida/Feeding PBC, Melissa Wijngaarde, Families First of PBC, Michael Fraley, Youth Orchestra of PBC, Debra Tendrich, Eat Better Live Better, Owen Prager, Fuller Center, Ryan Onda, Semper Fi Service Dogs, Johnathan Kabot, Mandel JCC, Brianna Beaver, Family Promise of South Palm Beach County, and Kimberly Boldt, Co-President, Impact 100 PBC. Photo by Warner-Prokos Photography
To build better readers, money and volunteers are needed Literacy Coalition of Palm Beach County
Kristin Calder, CEO of the Literacy Coalition of Palm Beach County, happily confirmed that 55,716 adults, children, youths and families were served by the organization over the past school year.
“We distributed 117,903 books to children, families and organizations while our 1,375 volunteers helped us make a significant impact. Our Literacy AmeriCorps also completed a year of service by teaching, tutoring and mentoring adults, teens and children in our community,” Calder said. Calder heralded the coalition’s Building Better Readers program, in which more than 300 community members have been recruited and trained to tutor students one-on-one this school year. Last year
238 volunteers tutored 510 first- through fourth-grade students to improve their reading skills. The program is provided at 38 elementary schools this year in addition to the coalition’s Blume Literacy Center in Boynton Beach, the Lantana Public Library and the Palm Beach County Library System’s main library in West Palm Beach.
“We continue to recruit and train volunteers to allow us to help more students who are struggling,” she said. “The latest data shows 46 percent of third graders are not reading at grade level. As a result, the Literacy Coalition continues to increase our efforts and reach.”
To learn more about helping the Literacy Coalition of Palm Beach County, both through volunteering and by participating in fundraising events, visit www.literacypbc.org.
Delray Beach Public Library
‘Laugh With the Library’ to raise money for study areas
By Steven J. Smith
Once again, the Delray Beach Public Library invites you to its annual Laugh With the Library fundraiser, which will get underway at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 31, 2025, at the Opal Grand Resort and Spa at 10 N. Ocean Blvd., Delray Beach.
Paige Eber, library board member and co-chair of the event with Amanda Perna, said the 2024 event funded the purchase of 45 new public computers for the library with updated software.
“These computers are obviously used by the community on a daily basis for students and adults,” Eber said. “This year we want to raise a minimum of $250,000 to fund the creation of four to five additional private study areas in the library to support students and businesses.”
The festivities will begin with a cocktail hour featuring silent and live auctions, followed by an hour with comedy star and featured actor T.J. Miller.
“We’ll also have more food and cocktails this year,” Eber said. “Everybody loved the sushi and sake bar we
had before, so we’re doing that again. We’ll have a comedy club setting with a delicious array of desserts and sweet treats on the tables, sponsored by Moroco Orthodontics and Spodak Dental Group.”
She added that a big-ticket item, yet to be named, will be auctioned off at the event.
“We have not unveiled it
yet, but it’s coming,” Eber smiled. “We just need to settle a few details on it first.”
Sponsorships range from $1,500 to $20,000 and individual tickets go on sale after Jan. 1.
To learn more, visit www. delraylibrary.org, call Kae Jonsons at 561-266-0798 or email kae.jonsons@ delraylibrary.org.
Event chairs Paige Eber and Amanda Perna
Kristin Calder
www.palmbeachartspaper.com
Golden opportunity
Incoming leader hopes to burnish Boca Museum’s reputation even more
By Jan Engoren Contributing Writer
It’s the changing of the guard at the Boca Raton Museum of Art: Executive Director Irvin Lippman steps down in January after 11 years, turning the leadership over to Ena Heller, who comes to Boca Raton from Winter Park, where she was the Bruce A. Beal Director of the Rollins Museum of Art.
Under Lippman’s direction, the museum transformed itself with popular exhibitions such as the Art of the Hollywood Backdrop and Machu Picchu and the Golden Empires of Peru and with a $1.8 million renovation to open the museum’s exterior to the public.
“I am thrilled to welcome Ena Heller to work with us at the Boca Raton Museum of Art,” says board Chairman John DesPrez. “Ena brings a unique
Theater
combination of extensive experience managing art museums coupled with true academic credentials in the arts.”
Heller will begin her new position on Feb. 3.
“I’m very excited for this opportunity,” says Heller, who has master’s and doctoral degrees from the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, and worked at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.
“I look forward to coming down and getting started,” she adds.
Born in Bucharest, Romania, Heller came to this country as a political refugee with her family in 1988.
She and her husband, Robert Heller, a retired executive, have one daughter, Eliane, 24, who works for a public affairs and government relations firm in Washington, D.C.
Inheriting the home of Ena’s in-laws in Delray Beach, the Hellers are no strangers to the area. They have come to Delray over 25 years and enjoy the vibrant nature of the city and its beaches.
Heller has frequented the Boca Raton museum often for presentations of its partnership with the Friends of the Uffizi Gallery, and thus has known Lippman during his tenure.
At the Rollins Museum of Art, Heller oversaw the acquisition of more than 1,300 pieces to the permanent collection, exhibited the museum’s contemporary collection in The Alfond Inn, a local boutique hotel, quadrupled the number of visitors and spearheaded the design of the new Rollins Museum of Art.
See HELLER on AT15
New play imagines a future that’s not so unrealistic
By Hap Erstein ArtsPaper Theater Writer
At the center of Deborah Zoe Laufer’s latest play, The Last Yiddish Speaker, is a horrific “what if.” What, she asks us to consider, if the Jan. 6 insurrection attempt had been successful. Her answer plays out in a dystopic world of 2029, a time when Christian Nationalists have taken over the United States, when Jews, gays and non-whites are forced into hiding to save their lives.
“I feel like my job, as lofty as this sounds, is to write about what it means to be alive right now,” says Laufer, who is directing her script at Florida Atlantic University’s Theatre Lab, the
work’s second ever production as part of the National New Play Network’s rolling world premiere. “It’s a play that acknowledges what’s happening politically, so the darkness in the play was an inevitability. But within that, it is as hopeful as I could make it.”
She focuses on a father and daughter, Paul and Sarah, New York Jews who have taken refuge upstate in fictional Granville, where they assume Christian identities. Teenage Sarah has attracted a boyfriend, John, who is tasked with rooting out and arresting Jews for detention in camps or execution.
And there is a mystical fourth character, a Yiddish-spouting woman named Chava, the embodiment of Jewish culture, who happens to be
1,000 years old.
Like many of Laufer’s plays, The Last Yiddish Speaker began when she heard a podcast. Its subject was a nearextinct Hawaiian bird, whose mating call went unanswered.
“I was so moved by that, it was the end of a culture, the end of a language,” she says. “Within my sphere I thought of Judaism and Yiddish, which is not really dying out in this country, but is clearly being threatened.
“I wanted to write about it partly because whenever I want to learn something, I write about it. Then I had to build a world in which Yiddish might not exist, at least not in this
By Jan Engoren Contributing Writer
Coinciding with the city of Boca Raton’s centennial anniversary, the Festival of the Arts Boca will return to Mizner Park Amphitheater for its 19th season from Feb. 28 to March 9 with the theme “Back in Time.”
Events celebrating the theme include a special screening of Robert Zemeckis’ 1985 time-travel classic Back to the Future, accompanied by a live orchestra, on March 7.
The festival kicks off Feb. 28, with the Dallas Brass’s journey through America’s musical past. For the grand finale, the brass septet will be joined by 100 local high school students for a multi-generational collaboration.
Harkening back to the golden era of opera, on March 1 the Pavarotti Voices Opera Gala highlights rising stars from the Luciano Pavarotti Foundation Opera Naples International Voice Competition.
On March 2, jazz flutist Nestor Torres returns to the festival in a joint production with Alfred Friedman (aka Mr. Dance) with the world premiere of A NeoDance Story
The Authors & Ideas Series includes the return of historian Doris Kearns Goodwin on March 3, to discuss her book, An Unfinished Love Story: A Personal History of the 1960s “An Evening of Contemporary Ballet” on March 8 features principal dancers from the Martha Graham and Alvin Ailey companies showcasing how a classic art form can be reimagined for a new era.
The March 9 closing event will be a multimedia presentation celebrating the cultural history and heritage of the city for its 100th birthday year.
For information or tickets, visit festivalboca.org or call 561-571-5270.
Still Life with Melon and Fowl, by Miguel de Pret, will be part of the Splendor & Passion exhibit opening Nov. 7 at the Boca Raton Museum of Art — a show that was overseen by outgoing Executive Director Irvin Lippman. Photo provided
Patti Gardner (from left), Gemma Berg, Stephen Schnetzer and Gage Callenius star in FAU Theatre Lab’s production of The Last Yiddish Speaker Photo provided
The treasures on display in Machu Picchu and the Golden Empires of Peru were a huge hit when the exhibit came to the museum in October 2021. Photo provided
Art
Heller
Music Boca Blues fest attendees will be lucky to catch red-hot Samantha Fish
By Bill Meredith ArtsPaper Music Writer
It’s probably safe to say that the blues world never saw Samantha Fish coming.
The 35-year-old emerged from the Kansas City, Missouri, music scene 20 years ago with her ample vocal chops, heady songwriting and incendiary guitar playing, aided since by an attention-grabbing pinup gal sense of fashion. She’s appeared on a dozen albums, most on the Ruf or Rounder recording imprints, and earned a Grammy nomination while racking up dozens of independent blues awards since 2017.
Along with keyboardist Mickey Finn, bassist Ron Johnson and drummer Jamie Douglass, Fish closes the twoday Boca Blues Festival at Sunset Cove Amphitheater in Boca Raton on Nov. 17. The Nov. 16 headliner is Louisianaborn fellow singing guitar firebrand Tab Benoit, and the event also features guitarist/ vocalists in Tommy Castro & the Painkillers, Ray Fuller & the Bluesrockers, Ally Venable, John Primer, and Florida’s own Selwyn Birchwood; saxophonists Vanessa Collier and Jimmy Carpenter, and blues icon Muddy Waters’ son, singer Mud Morganfield.
Fish’s performance follows a lengthy European tour, plus a handful of preceding shows to celebrate a leg of Ruf Records’ 30th anniversary tour through Ohio, Illinois and Virginia.
“It’s going really great,” Fish said in mid-October as her European tour entered its final week. “The vibe is always different, but appreciative and enthusiastic. It varies country to country. America varies as well. East Coast, West Coast, the South, Midwest, the mountains;
big cities, small towns. This all factors into how an audience might engage.
“I feel like through whatever small or significant differences we might have, the audience wants to have an experience. They want to have fun. It’s my job to figure out what that means.”
It’s not just a job, it’s an adventure. Fish has been reading audiences, and blending blues, rock, and roots music influences, since her teenage
If You Go
Samantha Fish closes the two-day Boca Blues Festival at Sunset Cove Amphitheater, 20405 Amphitheater Circle, Boca Raton. When: 8 p.m. Nov. 17
years. A self-titled independent release at age 20 gained the attention of Thomas Ruf, who founded his German recording label 30 years ago with the motto of “where the blues crosses over.”
“Thomas gave me my start in the recording industry,” Fish says. “He gave me the freedom to find myself as an artist early on. I am just so happy to be able to honor the label and the artists that have flourished there.”
Those artists include Canned Heat, the venerable rootsrockers accompanying Fish on the label’s anniversary tour dates. She’s come a long way since her first Ruf release, a 2011 compilation album called Girls With Guitars that also featured Cassie Taylor and Dani Wilde.
Fish has recorded most recently for Rounder Records, and her three releases for the label are the bluesy Kill or Be
Kind (2019), rocking Faster (2021), and rootsy, Grammynominated Death Wish Blues (2023) with fellow singing guitarist Jesse Dayton.
“I see myself as an artist with a strong foundation in American roots, blues, and rock ’n’ roll,” says Fish, “but I am always evolving and changing. I’m looking for the next spark of inspiration. If I’m not challenging myself, then I’m not doing my job. I won’t ever stop trying to push the boundaries of who I am and what I expect from myself.”
Asked to name her prime songwriting influences, the rising star cites pop and folk wordsmiths Tom Waits, Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan and Townes Van Zandt. Guitarists? Blues men Freddie King, Junior Kimbrough and R.L. Burnside; rockers Keith Richards, Angus Young and Mike Campbell, unique instrumental voices all. Vocalists? Heartful soul icons Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding, and Orlando-born Betty Harris. So in Boca, will Fish play her bluesy originals; rockers from Faster, or perhaps her fiery recent cover of “I Put a Spell On You” by Screamin’ Jay Hawkins? “Anything’s possible,” she says. “I’ll have more of a plan the closer we get to the show.” No fish story there.
Samantha Fish will finish out the Boca Blues Festival on Nov. 17.
Photo by Curtis Knapp
HELLER
from page 13
She doubled the operating budget and created the first endowment for exhibitions.
She came to Rollins in 2012 from the Museum of Biblical Art in New York City, where she was founding executive director. She also taught at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass., and at Manhattanville College in Purchase, N.Y.
Heller says she is excited to come to Boca Raton — “a familiar place and a wonderful community” — and immerse herself in the environs, listen to constituents and form a joint vision with the Board of Directors.
Informed by Lippman that the Boca Raton Museum of Art has a definite personality and is a “museum with a soul,” Heller says while she’s not yet sure what that personality is, she looks forward to discovering it.
“Irvin is beloved by the community,” Heller says, “and has done a lot for the museum, the city and the community. I hope to be a worthy successor and elevate the platform he’s built even more.”
As much as the museum has grown and evolved over the past decade, Heller believes she has the skill set to identify and tap into the museum’s potential and bring it to the next level.
“We need to think about ways to collaborate and position the museum as an innovative partner and become a cultural hub that will create excitement, new synergies and new ideas,” she says.
Heller notes that the city of Boca Raton will celebrate its centennial anniversary in 2025, the museum will turn 75, and plans for the city’s culture hub in Mizner Park, the Center for Arts and Innovation, are underway.
“It’s an exciting time for the city,” she says. “This is an opportunity to partner with established institutions and think about things differently.”
Heller is impressed with Lippman’s final accomplishment — the exhibit opening Nov. 7, Splendor and Passion: Baroque Spain and its Empire, organized by The Hispanic Society of America with paintings by El Greco, Diego Valá zquez and Bartolomé Esteban Murillo.
“It’s not often you see Spanish Baroque paintings in Palm Beach County,” she says. “The exhibition enlarges the conversation in the South Florida region and allows the museum to cast a wider net for visitors.”
She believes the museum is at an inflection point, with the potential to become a greater resource for the city and the region and expand its educational and exhibition programming.
Another challenge is one all museum directors share.
“How do we make museums more open and inclusive?” she asks.
“Museums are no longer a passive experience where viewers look at the art on the wall,” Heller says. “This is no longer the only museum experience. Young people want to write their own script and engage on their own terms.”
Thus, engagement through participatory exhibits is high on her to-do list.
Because the museum has an art school, and education is a part of the museum’s mission, Heller also believes that these are areas that can be enlarged and developed.
What does Heller want South Floridians to learn about her?
“I hope they see me as someone who loves art and loves teaching with art,” she says. “My entire career is dedicated to making art accessible to a wider audience.
“Art is a point of entry,” she notes. “You don’t have to know much about art to benefit from engaging with it.
“If you leave learning one thing, I will have done my job.
“Art makes life better.”
YIDDISH
Continued from page 13
country. I did not set out to build a world that was about the insurrection being successful; that was what I sort of backed into.”
Popular area actress Patti Gardner found the role of Chava challenging, since she knew only a few words of Yiddish and is many years short of a thousand.
“The first thing I said was, ‘I’m pretty sure I’m going to need a dialect coach. And I’ll stop using moisturizer. I’m in.’ I’ve been a fan of Deb’s plays for a long time. I love that there’s this magical, mystical quality to my character.
“I have some experience with Yiddish-speaking grandparents. Not a lot, but I know some expressions. There’s a maternal quality to her that I can relate to, as a mother and as a daughter and a grandchild,” notes Gardner, adding that the play has “a lot about family and relations, and (Chava is) on a mission, passing on the culture” and traditions of Judaism before they are lost forever.
“She’s passing information on to the daughter, that’s the hook for me because she wants to know, she wants to know the language, she wants to know the history. She’s missing a lot from her own personal life and she’s grabbing onto this being who is giving her something that she doesn’t have.”
Playing Paul is Stephen Schnetzer, who appeared in
If You Go
The Last Yiddish Speaker plays through Nov. 10 at FAU Theatre Lab, 777 Glades Road, Boca Raton.
Tickets: $35 to $45
Info: 561-297-6124
a few productions at Florida Stage two decades ago, then left the area and has only recently returned.
“Paul is a great challenge for me. I usually play more forceful characters,” Schnetzer notes. “It’s really wonderful to explore someone who’s a little bit lost. And living in terror. It’s such a high-stakes existence. You’re always fearing for your life and, more importantly, for the life of your child. This is as intense as any play I’ve done.”
Laufer was unfamiliar with Schnetzer, but she sensed he was what she was looking for soon after he arrived to audition.
“He’s a mensch,” she says, using the Yiddish term for a man of integrity and morality. “His character goes from someone who is really not willing to fight for anything. Y’know, you can fight or you can run. And he was a runner and an assimilator. And through the course of the play, he has to really change and learn and grow. It’s sort of his play, although I say that about each of the characters.”
Although set a few years into the future, The Last Yiddish
Speaker seems timely as it arrives here in the final days of the presidential campaign.
But Theatre Lab’s artistic director Matt Stabile feels that the play has more to say than its politics. “I don’t think this play’s shelf life is dependent on the election, because I think there are a lot of things that the play discusses that will not go away with the election.
“If our job at the theater is to raise conversation, that’s what we always want to do,” he adds. “We never want to be preaching with a play. But saying that the play is political tends to turn people off and not want to come watch it. I think people who come here will want to grapple with these questions, no matter what side they are on.”
Says Gardner: “With the backdrop of what’s going on currently and all the tension, the stakes in this play are high.
“And yet there is humor and humanity that comes through that makes it very palatable as an audience member, to sit and watch. Deborah makes it so relatable. And there’s always a surprise, something unexpected.”
Instead of a call to action, Laufer thinks of her play as “a call to conversation. I would like people to go home arguing about it. I think it’s not easily digestible; it takes a long time to really think it through, what you’ve seen. And I hope it stays with people a long time.”
Editor’s note: Events listed through Nov. 30, 2024, were current as of Oct. 25. Ticket prices are single sales unless otherwise specified.
ART
Ann Norton Sculpture Gardens: Opens Nov.
15: Slim Aarons: Gold Coast. Through Jan. 26. $15; $10 seniors. 253 Barcelona Road, West Palm Beach. 10 am-4 pm W-Sun. 561-8325328. Info@ansg.org.
Armory Art Center: Opens Nov. 4:
Introspection, by West Palm Beach-based Colombian artist Milena Arango, and Day in the Life of Palm Beach, through Dec. 28.Free. 811 Park Place, West Palm Beach. 9 am-5 pm M-F, 9 am-noon Sat. 561-832-1776 or armoryart.org
Boca Raton Museum of Art: Opens Nov. 7: Splendor and Passion: Baroque Spain and its Empire, through March 30; Legacy: Gifts from the Mayers and Friedman Collections; Félix de la Concha, through March 30. $16; $12 seniors 501 Plaza Real (Mizner Park), Boca Raton. 11 am-6 pm W, F, Sat, Sun. 11 am-8 pm Th. 561392-2500, bocamuseum.org
Cornell Art Museum: Through January: Nature’s Palette: Art Inspired by the Earth; through February: Hot Glass Free. Noon-5 pm W, Sun, noon-7 pm Th, F; 10 am-5 pm Sat. 561243-7922 or oldschoolsquare.org
Cultural Council for Palm Beach County: Opens Nov. 22: Quintessentially We; through Jan. 18. Free. 601 Lake Ave., Lake Worth Beach. Noon-5 pm T-F. 561-471-2901, palmbeachculture.com/exhibitions.
Flagler Museum: Through Dec. 29: In the Golden Dreamland of Winter: Henry Flagler’s FEC Hotel Company $28; $14 ages 6-12. 1 Whitehall Way, Palm Beach. 10 am-5 pm M-Sat, noon-5
Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens: Through Feb. 16: Time Flows Like Water: Works by Masumi Sakagami $15; $13 seniors; $9 children; free for members, ages 5 and under. 4000 Morikami Park Road, Delray Beach. 10 am-5 pm T-Sun. 561-495-0233, morikami.org
Norton Museum of Art: Through March 9: Strike Fast, Dance Lightly: Artists on Boxing. Through Nov. 17: Cut Up/Cut Out: Photomontage and Collage. Through Jan. 19: Dragons: Commanders of Rain. Through Jan. 26: Surroundings: Video Encounters of Nature, films by Donna Conlon (through Sept. 22), Carolina Caycedo (Sept. 28-Nov. 24), and Nadia Huggins (Nov. 30-Jan. 26). $18 adults; $15 seniors; $5 students; free for ages 12 and under, 1450 S. Dixie Highway, West Palm Beach. 10 am-5 pm, M, T, Th, Sat; 10 am-10 pm F; 11 am-5 pm Sun. 561-832-5196, www.norton.org
Society of the Four Arts: Opens Nov. 23: Past Forward: Native American Art from the Gilcrease Museum; through Jan. 19. 100 Four Arts Plaza, Palm Beach. 10 am-3 pm M-F. 561-655-7226, fourarts.org
CLASSICAL
Saturday, Nov. 9-Sunday, Nov. 10
Lynn Philharmonia: The Lynn Conservatory of Music presents the four winners of its concerto competition in two weekend concerts. They include flutist Youbeen Cho playing the Poem for Flute and Orchestra by Charles Griffes; pianist Ana-Maria Uzunova in the Bartok Piano Concerto No. 3; violinist Yillian Concepcion and
cellist Jon Cruz in Brahms’ Double Concerto; and pianist Caroline Dratnal in Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue. Wold Performing Arts Center, Lynn University, Boca Raton. 7:30 pm Saturday, 3 pm Sunday. 561-237-9000 or lynn.edu Sunday, Nov. 10
Palm Beach Symphony: The orchestra starts its season with soloist Julian Schwarz, a fine cellist and son of conductor Gerard Schwarz, in the Cello Concerto of Antonin Dvořák. The program opens with South Florida native Ellen Taaffe Zwilich’s Celebration and closes with Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition in the famous Ravel orchestration. 3 pm, Kravis Center, West Palm Beach. $25 & up. 561-8327469 or kravis.org
Saturday, Nov. 16-Sunday, Nov. 17
Master Chorale of South Florida: The big community chorus led by Brett Karlin opens its 22nd season with two performances of Mendelssohn’s oratorio Elijah, accompanied by the Lynn Philharmonia. 8 pm Saturday and 4 pm Sunday, Wold Performing Arts Center, Lynn University, Boca Raton. $40. masterchoraleofsouthflorida.org
Sunday, Nov. 17
The Symphonia: The Boca Raton-based chamber orchestra opens its season with violinist Andrés Cárdenes performing the Concerto No. 5 of Vieuxtemps. The concert, led by principal conductor Alastair Willis, opens with the Celebration overture of American composer James Stephenson and finishes with the Pulcinella Suite of Stravinsky. 3 pm, St. Andrew’s School, 3900 Jog Road, Boca Raton. $55 & up. thesymphonia.org
Thursday, Nov. 21
Chamber Music Society of Palm Beach: The society launches its 12th season with a sextet of fine string players and pianist Michael Stephen Brown in music of Ernest Chausson (Poème, and the Concert for Piano, Violin and String Quartet) and Eugène Ysaÿe (Rêve d’enfant). 7 p.m., Episcopal Church of Bethesda-by-the-Sea, 141 S. County Road, Palm Beach. $75. cmspb.org
Sunday, Nov. 24
Delray String Quartet: The foursome returns to St. Paul’s Episcopal Church for the first concert of its new season, with two new interim players: Violist Chauncey Patterson and cellist German Marcano. On the program are Samuel Barber’s lone String Quartet (with its world-famous Adagio) and the String Quartet in F of Maurice Ravel. The concert opens with the Overture in C of Franz Schubert. 3 pm, St. Paul’s, 188 S. Swinton Ave., Delray Beach. $35. delraystringquartet.com
DANCE
Friday, Nov. 29-Sunday, Dec. 1
Boca Ballet Theatre: Dan Guin and Jane Tyree’s company mounts its annual presentation of The Nutcracker, easily the best-known of all ballets, with its indelible Tchaikovsky score. Special guests join the troupe for this holiday favorite. 7:30 pm Friday, 2 pm and 7:30 pm Saturday, and 2 pm Sunday at Olympic Heights High School, 20101 Lyons Road, Boca Raton. $25-$55. bocaballet.org
JAZZ
Wednesday, Nov. 13
Tuba Skinny: The New Orleans trad-jazz nonet and fan favorite opens the venerable Gold Coast Jazz Society series with a concert billed as “an evening of jazz and blues.” 7:45 pm, Amaturo Theatre, Broward Center for the Performing Arts, 201 SW Fifth Ave., Fort Lauderdale. $65 & up. browardcenter.org or goldcoastjazz.org Friday, Nov. 22
Michael Wolff: The veteran pianist plays selections from his new recording, Memoir, with bassist Ben Allison and drummer Allan Mednard. 8 pm, Arts Garage, 94 NE 2nd Ave., Delray Beach. $45-$50. 561-450-6357 or artsgarage.org
OPERA
Saturday, Nov. 16-Sunday, Nov. 17; Tuesday, Nov. 19; Thursday, Dec. 5; Sunday, Dec. 7 Florida Grand Opera: The company opens its season with a new production of Mozart’s 1791 singspiel The Magic Flute. Director Jeffrey Marc Buchman has reimagined the admittedly loose libretto as a take on fantasy gaming. Ricardo Garcia is Tamino, Alex DeSocio is Papageno and Sydney Dardis is Papagena, Sara Kennedy sings Pamina, Laura León is the Queen of the Night, and Andrew Potter sings Sarastro. Christine Brandes conducts. 7 pm Nov. 16, 2 pm Nov. 17, 8 pm Nov. 19, at the Ziff Ballet Opera House in Miami; 7:30 pm Dec. 5 and 7 at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts. Visit arshcenter. org, browardcenter.org, or fgo.org for tickets.
POPULAR MUSIC
Friday, Nov. 8
Cyndi Lauper: The singer, songwriter and Broadway composer (Kinky Boots) stops in South Florida on her Girls Just Wanna Have Fun Farewell Tour. She’ll be joined by special guest Emily Estefan, daughter of Gloria and Emilio. 8 pm, Hard Rock Live, 1 Seminole Way, Hollywood. $85-$165. ticketmaster.com
Saturday, Nov. 9
Dayl Hall and Howard Jones: The blueeyed soul master now feuding with erstwhile musical partner John Oates welcomes the British popster Jones (“No One is to Blame,” “Everlasting Love”) for a dual concert. 7:30 pm, Hard Rock Live. $60-$100. ticketmaster.com
Sunday, Nov. 17
The Avett Brothers: The Americana-pop quartet from North Carolina, led by brothers Seth and Scott Avett are on tour to support their 12th album, simply titled The Avett Brothers. 7 pm, Hard Rock Live. $50-$110. ticketmaster.com
Saturday, Nov. 23
Billy Joel: The piano-playing pop icon is 75 and has semi-retired several times, but fans in South Florida keep bringing him back for one more show (and there will be another one at the Hard Rock in January). 8 pm, Hard Rock Live,. $105-$605. ticketmaster.com
THEATER
Opens Friday, Nov. 15
Brighton Beach Memoirs: Neil Simon’s 1982 comedy about a young boy growing up in a struggling Jewish household in 1937 Brooklyn. Through Dec. 1 at Lake Worth Playhouse, 713 Lake Ave., Lake Worth Beach. 561-586-6410 or lakeworthplayhouse.org
Opens Thursday, Nov. 21
Joseph and The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat: Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s 1972 musical based on the story of Joseph in the Book of Genesis settles in for a month at the Wick Theatre, closing Dec. 22. $119. 7901 N. Federal Highway, Boca Raton. thewick.org Opens Friday, Nov. 22
The Producers: Comedian Mel Brooks repurposed his 1967 film for this Tony-winning 2001 musical that tells the story of a conniving producer whose scheme to mount the worst musical ever written, a paean to Adolf Hitler, and close it after one day, is foiled when the show becomes a hit. Through Dec. 15 at the Delray Beach Playhouse, 950 NW 9 th St. $45 & up. 561-272-1281 or delraybeachplayhouse.com
Through Sunday, Nov. 24
Lost in Yonkers: Neil Simon’s 1991 Pulitzer Prize-winning play about two teen brothers who are forced to move in with their eccentric aunt when their traveling salesman father must hit the road to pay the medical bills incurred in the death of his wife. At Palm Beach Dramaworks, 201 Clematis St., West Palm Beach. $92. 561-514-4042 or palmbeachdramaworks.org
Some big-name chefs are choosing South Florida — and specifically Palm Beach County — to open outposts.
Last month, the news was all about Nobu coming to Eau Palm Beach Resort & Spa.
Food lovers recognize Nobu Matsuhisa as among the top chefs internationally, with reservations coveted at his restaurants. His signature is combining his native Japanese cuisine, mostly seafood, with Peruvian ingredients.
It was announced this summer that he’d open his 23rd U.S. restaurant at the Manalapan resort. While Nobu Manalapan debuted in mid-October, the public wasn’t invited. It opened only for those staying at Eau Palm Beach.
Halle Wooten, spokeswoman for the resort, said then, “We are thrilled with the public interest. To provide the best guest experience, we are not taking reservations at this time from outside the resort.”
She indicated it would be “soon” that the restaurant would open to all as the hotel phased in the restaurant. “We encourage everyone to continue checking the website,” she said.
The restaurant takes over the spaces at the resort formerly occupied by Boken, a 12-seat sushi bar, and Stir, the lobby bar.
Eau Palm Beach is revamping some parts of the resort since changing hands this summer.
Larry Ellison, the billionaire founder of Oracle software, bought it for $277.4 million in August. The property operated as the Ritz Carlton from the late 1970s, when it was built, then rebranded as Eau Palm Beach in 2013.
Ellison’s affinity for Nobu’s restaurants brought the Japanese master to Manalapan. He has placed Nobu outposts in his other resort properties around the world.
Diners can expect favorite dishes from the Michelinstarred chef’s menus, with an emphasis on seafood. Those include the signature black cod cured in miso, and yellowtail with a chile bite.
Eau Palm Beach’s executive chef Matt Raso will oversee the operations at Nobu.
Another celeb chef made his debut in Lake Worth Beach last month.
Todd English, a Boston-based chef known to Palm Beach County diners for the former Emko in West Palm Beach, opened Lula’s by Todd English, an Italian steakhouse.
The restaurant, in the former Callero’s on Lake Avenue, delayed opening for a week because of Hurricane Helene.
Nobu opens at Eau Palm Beach
“We wanted to blow away the diners,” English joked.
He chose Lake Worth Beach for his newest restaurant because “I feel like it’s making a big turnaround. You’re going to see a lot of changes. That whole area is growing so fast.”
The name Lula is derived from the arts district downtown, between Lucerne and Lake avenues. English is well versed in the county: His mother is a 30-year resident of Jupiter and he previously opened at the Gardens Mall with Figs, a small plates bistro.
The steakhouse is going to be a good fit, he said. “It’s an Italian steakhouse, traditional but with my twist on it. Not your average twists.”
English dubs it “usual foods in unusual ways.”
He said he likes to begin with foods that diners are familiar with, then add untraditional ingredients.
“I love rabbit meatballs in a white sauce. Everybody loves meatballs. It’s that surprise element.”
A surprise element can be a hard sell, however, among certain diners, making this “one of my biggest challenges,” he said.
But after getting to know
diners in Palm Beach County, he is confident about their adventurous palates. “It’s a mix of younger and older, welltraveled crowd who are willing to try things. You’re able to cater to that crowd.”
English will adhere to the movement “of organic, fresh and simple,” but add his stamp to the menu along with some forever favorites.
“We’re going to mix it up: My signature, the tortellini with butternut squash that’s been on my menu since day one,” he said. “Carpaccio, of course.”
He said he’s comfortable in Palm Beach County, and loved his West Palm Beach restaurant at Emko, in particular.
“It closed when Jeff Greene bought the building for a school. But I got to see all my old clientele from the Northeast. It was great. Everybody’s just like me, 20 years older, but still young. Young at heart at least.”
English is also known for his cocktail program and desserts.
“We’re working on limoncello tiramisu. Yeah, Key lime, too — the graham crackers and all that,” he said.
He’ll soon bring in a jazz brunch and supper club as well.
“It’s going to be really cool.”
Don’t expect to see English
overall.
The menu of favorites remains — hot and cold mezze, grilled meats, kebabs, fresh fish and desserts made in-house.
To that, owner Nicolas Kurban will add dishes from his native Lebanese cuisine.
In a statement, he said, “We have loved our first home here on the Avenue, but we’ve outgrown the space for Amar.”
He said he’d always planned for a bar, for happy hours, and the new space will allow for it.
A new cocktail program is set, with notable consultant Eric Hemer designing the bar menus. Signature drinks will highlight Mediterranean flavors. Lebanese wines will also be a part of the beverage program.
all the time in the restaurant, though it’s still his comfort place, he said.
“I’m not a happy person if I’m not cooking. You’ll see me cooking like crazy. I love to cook. In my house, in my restaurants.”
Lula’s by Todd English, 717 Lake Ave., Lake Worth Beach. Phone 561-660-8796. Dinner only at this time.
NY bagel phenomenon
The opening of H&H Bagels in October caused traffic jams and lines around the block in Boca Raton. Fans of the 52-year-old Manhattan bagel shop started a line at 5 a.m. on opening day.
The popular bagels are made from dough that is kettle-boiled in New York (all about New York water), then shipped to Florida to bake off as fresh.
The store is the first H&H to open outside its flagship city, and Boca Raton was chosen because the CEO, Jay Rushin, has a home there.
The bagels’ fame was helped by mentions in shows set in the city, including Seinfeld and Sex and the City. Fans had bagels shipped in.
Favorites are the NY bacon, egg and cheese; and Nova lox. Standard flavors include sesame seed, jalapeño cheddar, blueberry and “everything.”
Several other H&Hs are planned for Florida, including West Palm Beach, by next year.
Amar Bistro has morphed into Amar Kitchen and Bar and moved off Atlantic Avenue in Delray Beach to 25 SE Sixth Ave. The larger space, 4,500 square feet, will accommodate bigger parties, and a full bar and outdoor covered seating area boost the number of seats
Kurban will add a Sunday brunch, scheduled to begin before the holidays. Lunch and special events also are planned.
The former bistro space will change as well, and is scheduled to open in 2025 as Gesto, an artisan pizza shop featuring the wood-burning oven used to make Amar’s pita.
Amar Kitchen and Bar, 25 SE Sixth Ave., Delray Beach. amardelray.com
Old Dixie Seafood closed
A longtime favorite market, Old Dixie Seafood in Boca Raton, has closed.
“We’re retiring — because we’re done,” said Jill Schaedtler, a co-owner with Larry Siemsen. “We’re retirement age.”
They were nudged by the city’s move to place their building under eminent domain, as Old Dixie Highway is being widened.
“It’s coming into the property 30 feet, so they own the parking lot and part of the building,” Schaedtler said.
The whole building will be torn down.
“We probably could have stayed open till they tear it down, but we’re ready to retire,” she said.
Loyal customers, some who have been shopping with them for decades, have “called, emailed and left messages when they heard,” she said.
The seafood market opened Sept. 25, 1996 — Siemsen remembered the date. It’s had the same owners all along, with Schaedtler coming aboard in 2000. Kerry Siemsen, another co-owner, retired in 2022.
“We like to travel,” Schaedtler said, and now have the time off for it.
Jan Norris is a food writer who can be reached at nativefla@ gmail.com.
Nobu’s signature dishes: black cod and miso soup (above), salmon sashimi (below). Photos provided
Kurban
Finding Faith
Ministries working hard to share the feast on Thanksgiving
Pastor David Schmidt is happy to report that Cason United Methodist Church in Delray Beach is holding its Thanksgiving turkey dinner giveaway for the first time since before the pandemic.
The dinners, 22 in all, will go to the forgotten members of the community: the shut-ins and the elderly and families who can’t afford the expense of a turkey plus accoutrements.
Each meal kit contains a fully cooked smoked turkey and side dishes including stuffing, mashed potatoes and green beans prepared by the congregation and community volunteers. They also throw in a few canned goods for after Thanksgiving. Meals can be picked up or delivered in time for the Nov. 28 holiday.
Pastor David says he and his congregation — the church is also home to the Caring Kitchen — believe the church has a dual purpose: “Feed the soul and the stomach.”
Pastor David stands behind the belief that feeding the hungry is the most fundamental of all God’s mandates. But his actions speak even louder: He smokes the turkeys himself. “It will take me three days to smoke 22 turkeys. My wife gave me a smoker as a gift and I’m putting it to good use.”
(You can even request that your turkey come pre-sliced.)
Everything is donated, he says. The only cost to the church is the packing containers.
The church also hosts a communal dinner that is open to the community. “For people who have no family here, but who like to be with people, it helps take care of the loneliness factor,” Pastor David said.
“Everybody loves Thanksgiving. It’s a reflection of love and civility.”
Shona Castillo, director of the Caring Kitchen, agrees. She says some programs that stalled during the pandemic never came back online, so it’s harder for homeless and food insecure
the Seekers ministry to enjoy donated turkeys and food prepared by the Caring Kitchen. Photo provided
people to find food.
The Caring Kitchen, which is part of CROS Ministries, is housed at Cason and is back to serving meals five days a week, “indoors in air-conditioning,” Castillo said.
For three years, most meals were “take-away” or bag lunches that people ate while sitting on the ground, “but I put my foot down,” Castillo said, so now the Caring Kitchen is probably the only place in Delray serving free congregant meals on a regular basis.
“Working together is our secret sauce,” Castillo said. “Anyone can serve food. We serve love.”
Boca Helping Hands
Thanksgiving Box Brigade
Some of our neighbors are struggling to put food on the table. Splurging on a turkey — even though turkey is a great value — isn’t affordable.
If you’re feeling especially thankful this year, consider filling a box for a family that isn’t doing as well.
The Boca Helping Hands
Thanksgiving Box Brigade program provides its clients with a turkey and a box filled with the ingredients needed to prepare a holiday meal. BHH, a nonprofit that provides food,
job training, access to health care and financial assistance to individuals and families to improve their quality of life and build financial stability, hopes to give away 3,800 boxes.
Here’s what you could do — and this is a fun project to teach kids about the cost of food:
Fill a box using the shopping list provided at www. bocahelpinghands.org/box and drop it off at the organization's main facility at 1500 NW First Court, Boca Raton, on or before Nov. 18.
Take photos of your shopping trip and packing your box and tag @ BocaHelpingHands on social media to share your Thanksgiving Box Brigade photos with the community.
If you don’t have time to shop, you can donate $29.72 to cover the cost of a box.
Contact Suzan@ BocaHelpingHands.org with questions or call 561-417-0913.
Janis Fontaine writes about people of faith, their congregations, causes and community events. Contact her at fontaine423@ outlook.com.
Holiday Happenings
Saturday - 11/2 - Holly House Holiday Gift Shop at First Presbyterian Church of Delray Beach, 33 Gleason St. Every T/Th 10am-noon and Sat after 11/28 10-1pm through 12/19. 10 am-1 pm. Free. 561-2766338; firstdelray.com
Thursday - 11/21 - 9th
Annual Tree Lighting at Boca Raton Innovation Campus, 5000 T-Rex Ave, Boca Raton. Benefits Spirit of Giving’s Annual Holiday Gift Drive, CPG Cares & Junior League of Boca Raton. Tree lighting & official Santa visit. 5:30-7:30 pm. Rain date 11/22. Free w/unwrapped new toy; VIP $60/adult, $16/child age 16 & under. CPGrouptreelighting2024.eventbrite.com
myboca.us/specialevents
Friday - 12/6 - Light the Lights at Ocean Ridge Town Hall, 6450 N Ocean Blvd. Annual celebration incudes a visit from Santa. Family fare. 5-7 pm. Free. 561-7322635; oceanridgeflorida.com
Saturday - 11/23 - Holiday Tree Lighting at Mizner Park Amphitheater, 590 Plaza Real. Hosted by City of Boca Raton Recreation Services. Tree lighting ceremony, stage show, food vendors, more. 6-10 pm. Free admission. myboca.us
Saturday - 11/30 - Holiday Tree
Lighting at Cultural Plaza, 414 Lake Ave. 6-8 pm. Free. 561-586-1600; lakeworthbeachfl.gov
Sunday - 12/1 - FAU Tuba Christmas Concert at Mizner Park Amphitheater, 590 Plaza Real, Boca Raton. Bring chairs/ blankets. 5-6 pm. Free. 561-393-7890; myboca.us
Tuesday - 12/3 - 100 Ft. Christmas Tree Lighting Celebration at Old School Square, 51 N Swinton Ave, Delray Beach. Holiday Village 6-9 pm. Free. 561-2437250; 100footchristmastree.com
Wednesday - 12/4 - 52nd Annual Holiday Street Parade: Winter Wonderland begins at Federal Highway & Southeast 5th Street, north to Mizner Park Amphitheater. 7:30-9 pm. 561-367-7073;
12/6 - Holiday Tree Lighting at Centennial Park & Amphitheater, 120 E Ocean Ave, Boynton Beach. Music, food trucks, holiday markets, more. 5-9 pm. Free admission. 561-742-6024; boynton-beach.org
12/6 - Gumbo Limbo Aglow! at Gumbo Limbo Nature Center, 1801 N Ocean Blvd, Boca Raton. Holiday refreshments, yard games, photo op w/mascot Luna. Ages 7+; child under 18 must attend w/an adult. Held again 12/13, 20 & 27. 6-7:30 pm. $15/member; $19/ non-member. Reservations: 561-544-8605; myboca.us/calendar.aspx?CID=47
12/6 - Handel’s Messiah at St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church, 370 SW 3rd St, Boca Raton. Presented by Schola Cantorum of Florida & FAU’s Chamber Singers. 7 pm. Check website for tickets: scholarcantorumfl.org/ buytickets
12/6 - David Nail Christmas at The Studio at Mizner Park, 201 Plaza Real, Boca Raton. 7:30 pm. Tickets start at $45. 561203-3742; thestudioatmiznerpark.com
12/7 - Annual Boynton Beach Holiday Parade in Downtown Boynton, Federal Hwy & Ocean Ave. 4-6 pm. Free. 561-7426010; boynton-beach.org
12/7 - Symphonia Holiday Pops
Concert at Mizner Park Amphitheater, 590 Plaza Real, Boca Raton. 7 pm. $10-$40. 561-376-3858; thesymphonia.org
Religion Calendar
Note: Events are current as of 10/23. Please check with organizers for any changes.
NOVEMBER 3-9
Sunday - 11/3 - All Souls’ Requiem: For Us The Living at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 188 S Swinton Ave, Delray Beach. 3 pm. Free admission; collection will be taken. 561-276-4541; stpaulsdelray.org 11/3 - Zoom Bible Study at Ascension Catholic Church, 7250 N Federal Hwy, Boca Raton. Every Sun 7 pm. Free. Zoom link: communications#accboca.net; 561-9975486; ascensionboca.org
Monday - 11/4 - Women’s Bible Study via Zoom at First Presbyterian Church of Delray Beach, 33 Gleason St. Every M 10 am. Free. 561-276-6338; firstdelray.com 11/4- Rosary for Peace at St. Vincent Ferrer Family Life Center, 840 George Bush Blvd, Delray Beach. Every M 5:45-6:15 pm. Free. 561-276-6892; stvincentferrer.com
Tuesday - 11/5 - Tuesday Morning Prayer Service at Unity of Delray Beach Church, 101 NW 22nd St. 10 am. Free. 561276-5796; unityofdelraybeach.org
Wednesday - 11/6 - Men’s Spirituality Hour via Zoom at St. Gregory’s Episcopal Church, 100 NE Mizner Blvd, Boca Raton. Every W 8 am. Free. For link: 561-395-8285; stgregorysepiscopal.org
11/6 - Wednesday Evening Meditation Service at Unity of Delray Beach Church, 101 NW 22nd St. 6:30 pm. Free; love offering. 561-276-5796; unityofdelraybeach.org
Thursday - 11/7 - Thursday Morning Telephone Prosperity Coffee presented by Unity of Delray Beach Church, 101 NW 22nd St. Phone meeting (605-475-6006, passcode 3031030). Free; love offering. 561276-5796; unityofdelraybeach.org 11/7 - Men’s Fellowship at First Presbyterian Church of Delray Beach Courtyard, 33 Gleason St. Every Th 8:30 am. Free. 561-276-6338; firstdelray.com 11/7 - Women’s Bible Study at St. Gregory’s Episcopal Church Youth Room, 100 NE Mizner Blvd, Boca Raton. Every Th 1 pm. Free. 561-395-8285; stgregorysepiscopal.org
Friday - 11/8 - Legion of Mary at St. Vincent Ferrer Family Life Center, 840 George Bush Blvd, Delray Beach. Every F 9:30-11 am. Free. 561-276-6892; stvincentferrer.com 11/8 - Bible Study w/Dave Kirk at Advent Boca Raton Fellowship Hall, 300 E Yamato Rd. Every F 10-11:30 am. 561-3953632; adventboca.org
NOVEMBER 10-16
Sunday - 11/10 - Inspirational Gospel Choir Concert at First United Methodist Church Boca Raton, 625 NE Mizner Blvd. Featuring the Bethune-Cookman University gospel choir. 1 pm. Free. 561-395-1244; fumcbocaraton.org/concert 11/10 - Concert: This Land Is Your Land at First Presbyterian Church of Delray Beach Courtyard, 33 Gleason St. 4 pm. $20. 561276-6338; firstdelray.com
Tuesday - 11/12 - Nurturing Relationships at Boca Beach Chabad, 120 NE 1st Ave. Rohr Jewish Learning Institute. Every T through 12/17 7-8:30 pm. $99/ includes textbook. RSVP: 561-394-9770; bocabeachchabad.com/JLI
NOVEMBER 17-23
Sunday - 11/17 - St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church 65th Anniversary Celebration at 370 SW 3rd St, Boca Raton. Mass 12:15 pm. 561-392-0007; stjoan.org
Tuesday - 11/19 - Interfaith Community Thanksgiving Service: “Caring for Our Neighbor is Our Common Ground” at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 188 S Swinton Ave, Delray Beach. Guest speaker Ezra Krieg. Featuring St. Paul’s Chancel Choir and the Temple Sinai Choir. A special collection will be offered to benefit the Interfaith Committee for Social Services. A reception will follow. 7-8:30 pm. Free. 561-276-4541; stpaulsdelray.org
DECEMBER 1-7
Friday - 12/6 - Virtual Shabbat Service at Temple Sinai of Palm Beach County, 2475 W Atlantic Ave, Delray Beach. Every F 7:30 pm. Free. 561-276-6161; templesinaipbc. org
In 2023, Cason United Methodist Church hosted its inaugural Thanksgiving dinner. It brought together more than 100 congregants, the underserved in the community and
Unique items adding flair to Holly House’s gift-a-palooza this season
One of Delray Beach’s most anticipated openings each year is the Holly House Holiday Gift Shoppe at First Presbyterian Church of Delray Beach, 33 Gleason St.
Holly House hosts its grand opening from 10 a.m. to noon Nov. 1-2. After that, Holly House will be open from 10 to noon every Tuesday and Thursday until Dec. 19.
This year, in addition to the handcrafted items that bring so many to the shop, Holly House has two interesting donations for sale. The first is three dolls from Macy’s Christmas window displays from around the 1950s. The private donation will be sold for $50 per doll. Another significant donation came from Marsha Bird’s sister, Marie Bassett in western Kentucky, who donated her bear collection. Dozens of bears are on display, each cuter than the next.
This year’s most adorable pieces may be Savina Pagel’s handmade Raggedy Ann dolls. The gifted seamstress also made a cornflower blue cat and kitten piece. The attention to detail and fine handiwork are extraordinary and so nostalgic.
Some of the ladies who come to the weekly craftmaking sessions aren’t members of the church. They come just to craft and enjoy the fellowship of the other women. Angie Jackson of Boynton Beach, who specializes in wreaths and trees, found out about Holly House when it had a mink stole at the annual rummage sale this year. She started coming to learn new craft skills in April and now it’s part of her routine. Some of her pieces have already sold and she says, “It’s a thrill when somebody loves your work.”
Phyllis Addison has always been a crafter but she comes “because I can always learn new things.” Asuncion Sanfuentes, originally from Chile, says it’s the fellowship that brings her back each week. And Bonnie Snyder of Delray Beach doesn’t craft at all but she has written more than 500 Christmas cards to deployed service members. She says, “I sometimes struggle but then you have to put yourself in their shoes and it makes it worth the time.”
Gail Benson is “a thirdgeneration snowbird” from Poultney, Vermont, who has lived in Delray Beach permanently for 18 years. The former catering business owner has been making Christmas trees out of mussel and oyster shells that are just as pretty close up as they are from a distance.
She gets the larger mussel shells from local restaurants but she picked up the smaller ones on New York’s Rockaway Beach. Her source for oyster shells is City Oyster. She makes five sizes and says the most time-consuming (and tedious) part is cleaning the shells.
The pieces are reasonably priced but Holly House earns a good chunk of change. Including the annual rummage sale money, Holly House gave the church about $35,000 last year, and the church used the money to improve the sound system.
This year, Holly House expects to donate a similar amount. Crafters wanted to see the money go to fix the organ, but they were told the organ can’t be fixed until the air conditioning is repaired — something about our humidity? But this well-run endeavor shows no sign of slowing down, so it’s likely repairs to the organ won’t have to wait long.
“We have such a good team now,” Linda Prior said. “I’m grateful.”
Find more info at www. facebook.com/CleverCrafter
St. Paul’s choir to perform All Souls’ Day Requiem
St. Paul’s Episcopal Church’s chancel choir performs the AllSouls’ Day Requiem, under the direction of David Macfarlane, at 3 p.m. Nov. 3 at the church, 188 S. Swinton Ave., Delray Beach.
A Solemn Requiem Mass honors recently departed members with selections from musical requiem settings by Mozart, Duruflé, Rutter, Fauré, Fedak and Lloyd Webber. Free, but a collection is taken.
University gospel choir coming to Boca church
First United Methodist Church hosts a performance by the Bethune-Cookman University Inspirational Gospel Choir at 1 p.m. Nov. 10 at the church at 425 NE Mizner Blvd., Boca Raton. The free concert takes place in the sanctuary. Arrive early to attend the 10 a.m. service and a potluck in the Gathering Place, or just attend the concert. Sign up for the potluck at www.signupgenius.com/ go/10C0A4EA5AD22A6FBC3452069299-bethune#
Kristallnacht Commemorative Program
The Jewish Federation of South Palm Beach County presents a Kristallnacht Commemorative Program that features music composed by people lost during the Holocaust. The program takes place at 1 p.m. Nov. 10 in Zinman Hall, 9901 Donna Klein Blvd., Boca Raton. A Q&A follows the program. The cost to attend is $25 for adults and $18 for students, which benefits Holocaust Education Studies and March of the Living.
Kristallnacht is also known as the Night of Broken Glass — a name that comes from the shards of broken windows of Jewish-owned stores, buildings and synagogues that littered the street after SS paramilitary forces and civilians in Germany destroyed nearly 267 synagogues and damaged more than 7,000 Jewish-owned businesses on Nov. 9-10, 1938. Nearly 100 people died.
KCP donors of $180 or more will receive two tickets and are invited to a reception honoring local Holocaust survivors prior to the program at 11:30 a.m. To register for the annual Kristallnacht Commemorative Program, visit jewishboca.org/ events/march-of-the-livingkristallnacht-program or call 561-852-6041 or email mol@ bocafed.org.
The Book & Author Luncheon returns
The Adolph & Rose Levis Jewish Community Center kicks off its arts and culture season with the 33rd annual Book & Author Luncheon at 9 a.m. Nov. 12 at Boca West Country Club, 20583 Boca West Drive.
Scheduled to speak are authors Lauren Aliza Green, Adelle Waldman, Samantha Greene Woodruff and Elizabeth Silver. Green is the author of The World After Alice, Waldman of Help Wanted, Woodruff of The Trade Off, and Silver wrote The Majority
Guests will enjoy coffee, pastries, lunch and valet
The Holly House shop at First Presbyterian Church has its grand opening from 10 a.m. to noon Nov. 1-2. These 3-foot-tall animatronic dolls were donated to the sale.
Photo provided
parking. Tickets are $140 at levisjcc.org/culture or at 561558-2520.
Comedy trio’s show set for B’nai Torah
Funny Old Broads, a threesome with plenty of stories to tell about the absurdities of “middle age,” stops in Boca Raton at 7 p.m. Nov. 17 at B’nai Torah Congregation, 6261 SW 18th St. This all-female musical troupe was created by and features Caryn Bark, a writer, comedienne, humorist, essayist, novelist and playwright. Tickets are $40, which includes dessert. The evening is hosted by the Women’s League of B’nai Torah Congregation. Register at www. wlbtc.org/comedyshow.
Turkey giveaway part of family fun in Delray SMG and the city of Delray Beach present the third annual ThanksFeeding Family and Fun Day from 1 to 5 p.m. Nov. 23 at Pompey Park, 1101 NW Second St. Each low-income family (children must be present) gets one “Thanksgiving Dinner kit” including a frozen turkey, starch, vegetable, and cornbread or rolls. The event will also feature a bounce house, snow cones, balloon art, games, a DJ and facepainting for the kids. Free but reserve your space at www.eventbrite.com.
Thanksgiving services, etc.
St. Paul’s Episcopal Church:
An interfaith Thanksgiving service takes place at 7 p.m. Nov. 19 at the church, 188 S. Swinton Ave., Delray Beach. The theme is “Caring for
our neighbor is our common ground” and the service is for everyone. Speaker is Ezra Krieg, chairman of the Delray Beach Initiative to End Homelessness. A special collection for the Interfaith Committee is planned. A reception follows. 561-276-4541 or stpaulsdelray. org.
Ascension Catholic Church: A Thanksgiving Mass at 9 a.m. Nov. 28 is planned at the church, 7250 N. Federal Highway, Boca Raton. 561-997-5486.
St. Joseph’s Episcopal Church: A 10 a.m. eucharist is planned on Thanksgiving Day at St. Joseph’s, 3300 S. Seacrest Blvd., Boynton Beach. 561-7323060.
Advent Church Boca: Advent hosts a Thanksgiving potluck feast from 11:45 a.m. to 2:15 p.m. Nov. 17 in the school gym, 300 E. Yamato Road, Boca Raton. Call the church to register at 561-395-3632.
B’nai Torah teens give cookies to caregivers
What do you think of when you think of a caregiver? Not someone 8 years old. But there are young people ages 8 to 19 who provide care for a family member near or in the individual’s home.
To recognize them during National Family Caregiver Awareness Month, a group of teens from Boca Raton’s B’nai Torah Congregation baked and distributed cookies to youth caregivers to show their appreciation.
Summer Faerman, director of the TLC Program at B’nai Torah, launched Cookies for Caregivers as a way for community volunteers to give back in a simple way.
To get involved in this or one of the other opportunities in the Tzedakah, Learning and Chesed program, contact Faerman at 561-392-8566 or visit www. btcboca.org/community/tlcprogram.
Clothing needed for homeless people
The Delray Beach Initiative to End Homelessness needs new or gently used clothing items for people who are homeless in our community, especially men’s jeans sizes 30-36. Drop them off at St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church parking lot, 404 SW Third St., Delray Beach, from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. Tuesdays or Fridays. www.db0h.org
Janis Fontaine
Health & Harmony
Speech pathologist makes life easier to swallow, grateful client says
It’s one of those things you take for granted, until you lose it.
Eating and swallowing are second nature for most people, but if you’ve had a stroke or suffer from Parkinson’s disease or some other medical conditions, swallowing may have to be relearned.
Swallowing disorders, known as dysphagia, are not uncommon and can happen when the swallow reflex is absent, delayed or weakened.
This can result in excess saliva, drooling, coughing or choking during eating, or more serious conditions such as pneumonia. Some people will have difficulty speaking or will speak hoarsely.
“Take swallowing difficulties seriously,” says Shari Napier, a speech pathologist at Baptist Health City in Boynton Beach. “If food or liquid get into your lungs, infection or pneumonia can follow.”
She says that the same muscles used for talking are used for swallowing. “If you’re having problems with either, see a doctor and ask to see a speech pathologist. This is what we do.”
Swallowing occurs in three stages, starting in the mouth.
After it’s chewed (oral phase), food moves into the throat
Health Calendar
Note: Events are current as of 10/23. Please check with organizers for any changes.
NOVEMBER
2
Saturday - 11/2 - Morning Beach Yoga at The Seagate Beach Club, 401 S Ocean Blvd, Delray Beach. Every Sat 8-9 am. $20/person. Tickets: 561-330-3775; eventbrite.com/e/sunrise-beach-yogatickets-336433921917
(pharyngeal phase), where the airway gets closed off to keep food and liquid out. When this doesn’t occur, one may cough or choke.
The third stage is the esophageal phase, where the esophagus opens and closes, sending food to the stomach. Many people suffer acid reflux, or indigestion, when stomach acid backs up into the esophagus.
While exact numbers are unknown, the National Foundation of Swallowing Disorders estimates that 22% of the population over 50 years of age may suffer from a swallowing disorder.
Victor Connor, 70, of Wellington, a financial adviser at Connor Wealth Management in Boynton Beach, is one of them, and he sought treatment from Napier.
He lost the ability to swallow and speak after he was diagnosed with Stage 4 throat cancer in 2015. He also had a spot of cancer removed from his lung.
A lifelong equestrian and an announcer at polo matches, Connor underwent 10 weeks of radiation and 10 weeks of chemotherapy and took another year to regain his strength.
On a feeding tube, Connor
11/2 - Saturdays @ Sanborn: Yoga Class at Sanborn Square, 72 N Federal Hwy, Boca Raton. 8:45 am registration; 9 am class. Free. 561-393-7703; downtownboca.org
11/2 - Zumba Class at South Beach Park Pavilion, 400 N State Rd A1A, Boca Raton. Every Sat 10 am. Free. 561-393-7703; downtownboca.org
11/2 - Yoga Class at South Palm Beach Town Hall, 3577 S Ocean Blvd. Every Sat 9 am. $5/class. 561-588-8889; southpalmbeach.com
knew he had to regain his swallowing abilities to regain his quality of life. Although he says he no longer rides horses, he earned a pilot’s license and bought an RV to tour Florida with his wife.
Connor says he felt lucky to find Napier.
“Shari is a miracle worker,” Connor says. “She helped me regain my life.
“It doesn’t help to stick your head in the sand,” he says. “Find someone who knows what they’re doing and can help you.”
After administering a swallow test on Connor, Napier was able to diagnose his issues (one vocal cord was paralyzed) and created a treatment plan for him.
Among other techniques, Napier taught Connor to eat and swallow more mindfully, to blow into a straw to strengthen his vocal cords, to use a nebulizer to add moisture to his throat and to take smaller bites of food, swallow hard and swallow again.
He spends a few minutes each day on a balance board to strengthen his core muscles.
Connor had scar tissue in his throat from the radiation treatments and found help from Anita Parrondo, a physical therapist with Baptist Health South Florida. She loosened up the scar tissue with therapeutic massage.
Back at work, with two new grandchildren, a good prognosis
11/2 - Yoga at the Beach at Red Reef Park West, 1221 S Ocean Blvd, Boca Raton. Held on grass overlooking the Intracoastal. No cash accepted on-site. Every W 6:30 and 1st & 3rd Sat 10-11 am. $10-$12.50/class; 60-day membership $65/resident, $81.25/ non-resident. 561-393-7807; myboca.us
11/2 - Judo Class at Boca Raton Community Center, 150 Crawford Blvd. Warm-up exercises, instruction, practice, tournament training. W 6:30-8:30 pm mixed ages/ranks; Sat 10 am-noon all groups. Per month $21.50/resident; $27/ non-resident. 561-393-7807; myboca.us 11/2 - AA Meeting at Unity of Delray Beach Fellowship Hall, 101 NW 22nd St. Every Sat 5:30 pm. Free. 561-276-5796; unityofdelraybeach.org
NOVEMBER
3-9
Sunday - 11/3 - Coco Market at Old School Square Amphitheater, 51 N Swinton Ave, Delray Beach. Monthly wellness market: 30 local vendors, health/wellness professionals w/various healing modalities; live music; 2 free yoga, meditation or fitness classes per event. Held again 11/17 & 12/1. 9 am-3 pm. Free. 561-870-4090; thecocoyogi.com/market 11/3 - Yoga at the Beach at Red Reef Park East, 1400 N Ocean Blvd, Boca Raton. Held on grass overlooking the Intracoastal. No cash accepted on-site. Every Sun 4:30 pm. $10-$12.50/class; 60-day membership
and hope for the future, Connor says having a positive outlook helped him through his ordeal.
“Attitude is everything,” he says.
Pathologist at work
In the field for 32 years and a voice specialist, Napier has conducted more than 16,000 video swallow tests, where X-rays are used to pinpoint which area is affected and what can be done to ameliorate the condition through diet, exercise or behavior modification.
“We need eyes on the anatomy,” says Napier, who sang with Women of Note, a Sweet Adeline a cappella group, for 15 years. “We need to know what’s working and what’s not working before we can recommend a treatment plan.”
In addition to X-rays, she uses a fiberoptic endoscopic evaluation of swallowing, in which a diagnostic instrument goes into the nose to assess the swallow function.
Napier says once the problems are diagnosed, she helps clients strengthen the muscles and nerves involved in swallowing. She offers tips on how to help yourself. Those include keeping a food diary to see what triggers the condition.
For reflux, she recommends not eating two to three hours before bedtime and raising the head of the bed 4 to 6 inches.
“Have your ice cream after lunch, not after dinner,” she says.
Monday - 11/4 - Zumba Cardio at Boynton Beach Arts & Cultural Center, 125 E Ocean Ave. Basic modern western square dancing. Adults. Every M/W 5:30-6:30 pm. $10. 561-742-6221; boynton-beach.org
11/4 - LGBTQ ACOA Meeting at Unity of Delray Beach Prayer Room, 101 NW 22nd St. Every M 6:30 pm. Free. 561-276-5796; unityofdelraybeach.org
11/14 - Back to Basics Vol. 7: Healing through Vibrations! at FAU Theatre, 777 Glades Rd, Boca Raton. 7 pm. $10. 561-2976124; fauevents.com
Tuesday - 11/5 - Al-Anon Meeting at Unity of Delray Beach Fellowship Hall, 101 NW 22nd St. Every T 7 pm. Free. 561-2765796; unityofdelraybeach.org
Wednesday - 11/6 - Tai Chi Class at South Palm Beach Town Hall, 3577 S Ocean Blvd. Every W 9 am. $5/class. 561-5888889; southpalmbeach.com
11/6 - Stretch & Strengthening Mindfulness Class at South Palm Beach Town Hall, 3577 S Ocean Blvd. Every W/F 10:30 am. $5/class. 561-588-8889; southpalmbeach.com
11/6 - Chair Yoga w/ Mike Mitchell at Delray Beach Public Library, 100 W Atlantic Ave. Adults. Held again 11/20 & 12/4. 10:30 am. Free. Registration: 561-266-0194; delraylibrary.org
11/6 - Wellness Wednesday: Yoga at Cornell Art Museum at Old School Square, 51 N Swinton Ave, Delray Beach. Every W 11 am-noon. $5/class. Registration: 561-6542220; delrayoldschoolsquare.com/events
11/6 - LGBTQ+ AA Meeting at Unity of Delray Beach Prayer Room, 101 NW 22nd St. Every W 7 pm. Free. 561-276-5796;
Swallow twice with solid food and use a little liquid to help wash it down.
If you cough while eating, she recommends avoiding small crumbs and eating solids and liquids separately. For example, for chicken noodle soup, eat the chicken separately from the broth and remember to chew your food well.
Napier says therapies can be extremely successful but depend on the extent of the damage, such as from a stroke, or, if you have Parkinson’s disease, what stage you are in.
Most everyone, she says, can benefit from even one treatment. Exceptions may include patients with multiple sclerosis or ALS.
Napier has worked with singers from American Idol, America’s Got Talent and The Voice on their singing voices. “A lot can be done to help people with dysphagia. Don’t sit with difficulties swallowing or losing your voice,” she says.
“The more people know what speech language pathologists do and what we can do to help, the more we can assist them in leading a better quality of life.”
Jan Engoren writes about health and healthy living. Send column ideas to jengoren@ hotmail.com.
unityofdelraybeach.org
11/6 - Scripps Research Front-Row Lecture Series: Peering Into the Mitochondria to Reveal Cellular Stress and Disease w/ Danielle Grotjahn, Ph.D. 1-hour virtual lecture. 7 pm. Free. Register for link: frontrow.scripps.edu Thursday - 11/7 - Alateen Meeting at St. Mark’s Catholic Church, 643 NE 4th Ave, Boynton Beach. Every Th 7:30 pm. Free. 561-278-3481; southpalmbeachafg.org
NOVEMBER 10-16
Sunday - 11/10 - Yoga at the Museum at Boca Raton Museum of Art, 501 Plaza Real. Held again 12/1. 9:30-11 am. $15/ member; $30/non-member. 561-392-2500; bocamuseum.org
Thursday - 11/14 - Mental Wellness: A Key to Wellbeing with Medicines Explained at Delray Beach Public Library, 100 W Atlantic Ave. Second of two part Healthy Habits w/ Humana - Let’s Talk Health lecture & craft series. Adults. 2 pm. Free. Registration: 561-266-0194; delraylibrary.org
NOVEMBER 17-23
Tuesday - 11/19 - Yoga with Sophia at Delray Beach Public Library, 100 W Atlantic Ave. Adults. Held again 11/26 & 12/3. 6:30 pm. Free. Registration: 561-266-0194; delraylibrary.org
Thursday - 12/5 - Eating Healthy on a Budget: Holiday Edition at Delray Beach Public Library, 100 W Atlantic Ave. Part of Healthy Habits w/ Humana series. Adults. 2 pm. Free. Registration: 561-266-0194; delraylibrary.org
Connor
Napier
Health Notes
Center raising awareness about suicide prevention
Mental health experts with Delray Medical Center and Fair Oaks Pavilion, a 66-bed adult psychiatric unit on the medical center’s campus, are working to improve awareness about suicide prevention.
“Understanding the issues regarding suicide and mental health is an important step in helping ourselves, helping others, and positively reframing the conversation around mental health,” said Jeffrey Lefton, administrative director of Fair Oaks.
Suicide was the 11th-leading cause of death in the United States in 2022: More than 49,000 Americans died by suicide, with 1.6 million suicide attempts that same year.
While there is no one set of signs that people might be considering hurting themselves, Lefton said that at-risk individuals often display certain characteristics.
Risk factors can include a current or past mental health diagnosis, alcohol and/ or substance use disorders, feelings of hopelessness, history of trauma or abuse, and life stress such as divorce, bullying or financial crisis. Additionally, exposure to another person’s suicide, access to lethal means and lack of social support can be factors, he explained.
“It is important to pay attention to what people say, how they act, and how they feel. A person considering suicide might talk about killing themselves, being a burden to others, or feeling hopeless,” Lefton said.
“Their behaviors might also signal a risk, especially if it is related to a painful event or loss. Warning signs can include isolation from family and friends, giving away prized possessions, new or increased aggression, and fatigue.”
Those who are considering suicide should not be ashamed to seek help. “Whether you, or someone you know, might have mental health concerns or suicidal ideations, be open and don’t be afraid to speak to someone,” Lefton said. “We all have mental health just as we have physical health, and help is available.”
Phone numbers to get help include 211 in Palm Beach County and 988 for the national Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.
Marcus Neuroscience Institute, part of Baptist Health South Florida at Boca Raton Regional Hospital, participates in the “Guiding an Improved Dementia Experience Model,” an initiative designed to assist in the management of dementia care. The program aims to significantly improve the quality of life for individuals living with dementia and easing the burden on their caregivers. The GUIDE Model focuses on care coordination, support for
caregivers, and community integration to help individuals with the disease to remain in their homes for as long as possible.
For more information, call 561-955-4600 or visit https://
Dr. Dennys Reyes, interventional neurologist, and Paola Ramirez, clinical research coordinator, are taking part in the Picasso Trial for stroke victims at Delray Medical Center. Photo provided
Drs. Nils Mueller-Kronast and Dennys Reyes, Delray Medical Center has enrolled a patient in the Picasso Trial, which is in its third phase.
The trial’s goal is to improve management for patients with tandem occlusions, which can occur when a stroke in the brain is accompanied by a narrowing or blockage in the neck artery, limiting blood flow to critical areas.
The findings from the
Picasso Trial may affect how stroke patients with tandem occlusions are treated, providing clearer guidance for physicians and better outcomes for patients.
The Picasso Trial compares two distinct treatment approaches: stenting the artery to keep it open or performing angioplasty.
Send health news to Christine Davis at cdavis9797@gmail.com.
Thymes Vitabath Seiko Roger & Gallet Crabtree & Evelyn Eye • bobs Maui Jim Lampe Berger Elizabeth Arden Douglas Paquette
Fanny May Claus Porto Spartina Kent combs Mason Pearson Rowallen Alo Aftertan Caswell Massey Eliza B
Note: Events are current as of 10/23. Please check with organizers for any changes.
NOVEMBER 2
Saturday - 11/2 - Drop-In Family
Storytime at Boca Raton Library, 400 NW 2nd Ave. Up to age 5. Every Sat 10-10:30 am. Free. Registration: 561-393-7968; bocalibrary.org
11/2 - Saturday Morning ART (smART) at Boca Raton Museum of Art, 501 Plaza Real. Based on artwork at the Museum, links art making w/learning about art. Ages 5+. 10-11 am. $15/member; $25/ non-member. Registration: 561-392-2500; bocamuseum.org
Class at Boynton Beach Arts & Cultural Center, 125 E Ocean Ave. Every Sat through 1/25. Ages 4-6: 10-10:45 am; Ages 6-11: 10:55-11:40 am. $144/resident; $180/nonresident. 561-742-6221; boynton-beach.org
11/2 - Storytime with Mandy at Delray Beach Library, 100 W Atlantic Ave. Ages 0-5. 11-11:30 am. Free. Registration: 561266-0194; delraylibrary.org
11/2 - Tail Waggin Tutors at Boca Raton Library, 400 NW 2nd Ave. Elementary school children read to certified therapy dog. Ages 6-8. Held again 11/16 & 12/7. Noon-1:30 pm. Free. Registration: 561-3937968; bocalibrary.org
Monday - 11/4 - Fun w/Fernanda: Bilingual Spanish-English Story Time at Delray Beach Library, 100 W Atlantic Ave. Ages 0-5. Held again 12/2. 3:30-4 pm. Free. Registration: 561-266-0194; delraylibrary. org
11/4 - K-Pop Club at Delray Beach Library, 100 W Atlantic Ave. Ages 13-17. 5-6 pm. Free. Registration: 561-266-0197; delraylibrary.org
11/4 - Cell Dreamer at Boynton Beach Library, 100 E Ocean Ave. Ages 13-17. Held again 11/12, 11/18 & 11/25. 5-7 pm. Free. 561-742-6393; boyntonlibrary.org
11/4-6 - Homework Help at Delray Beach Library, 100 W Atlantic Ave. Grades K-5. Not available 11/11, 11/25-29. M-W 3:30-4:15
Tuesday - 11/5 - Out of School Days at Sims Center, 225 NW 12th Ave, Boynton Beach. Ages 5-12. 7:30 am-5:30 pm. $28/ resident; $34/non-resident. Registration: 561-742-6640; boynton-beach.org
11/5 - Toddler Tales at Boca Raton Library, 400 NW 2nd Ave. Stories, music, movement. Ages walking to 23 mos. Every T through 11/19 10-10:30 am. Free. Registration: 561-393-7968; bocalibrary.org
11/5 - Reading Buddies at Boca Raton Library, 400 NW 2nd Ave. Reading enrichment program for Ages 6-8. Held again 11/12 & 19. 4:30-5:30 pm. Free.
Registration: 561-393-7968; bocalibrary.org
11/5 - Teen Book Club: Carve the Mark at Delray Beach Library, 100 W Atlantic Ave. Ages 13-17. Held again 11/19 5-6 pm. Free. Registration: 561-266-0194; delraylibrary. org
11/5 - Teen Tuesday at Boynton Beach Library, 100 E Ocean Ave. Ages 13-17. Every T 5-7 pm. Free. 561-742-6393; boyntonlibrary.org
11/5-6 - Sensational Story ‘n More at Schoolhouse Children’s Museum & Learning Center, 129 E Ocean Ave, Boynton Beach. Children’s books come to life. Ages 2-5. Every T 10-10:45 am & W 3-3:45 pm. Free w/paid admission. 561-742-6780; schoolhousemuseum.org
Wednesday - 11/6 - Reading & Rhythm for 2-3s at Boca Raton Library, 400 NW 2nd Ave. Literacy enrichment class. Child must be accompanied by an adult. Held again 11/13 & 20. 10-10:30 am. Free. Registration: 561-393-7968; bocalibrary.org
11/6 - Bouncing Babies Story Time at Delray Beach Library, 100 W Atlantic Ave. Ages 3 mo.-2.5 yrs. Held again 11/20 & 12/4. 10-10:30 am. Free. Registration: 561266-0194; delraylibrary.org
11/6 - Outdoor Storytime at Boynton Beach Library under the banyan tree, 100 E Ocean Ave. Stories, rhymes, more. Held again 12/4 10-10:30 am. Free. 561-7426390; boyntonlibrary.org
11/6 -Young @ Art: Square Off the Square at Delray Beach Library, 100 W Atlantic Ave. Create fun arts/crafts, learn principles of art. Ages 6-8. Held again 11/20 & 12/4 3:30-4:30 pm. Free. Registration: 561-266-0194; delraylibrary.org
11/6 - Wild Animal Exceptional Explorers at Boca Raton Library, 400 NW 2nd Ave. Held on the front outdoor patio. Ages 7-8. Held again 11/13 & 20. 4-4:30 pm. Free. Registration: 561-393-7968; bocalibrary.org
11/6 - Explore The Art of Painting at Boca Raton Library, 400 NW 2nd Ave. Ages 9-12. Held again 11/13 & 20. 5:30-6:30 pm. Free. Registration: 561-393-7968; bocalibrary.org
Thursday - 11/7 - Special Guest Storytime w/Fire Rescue at Boca Raton Library, 400 NW 2nd Ave. Up to age 5. 10-10:30 am. Free. Registration: 561-3937968; bocalibrary.org
11/7 - My First Book Club at Boca Raton Library, 400 NW 2nd Ave. Ages 4-6. Child attends independently. Held again 11/14 & 21. 4-4:30 pm. Free. Registration: 561-3937968; bocalibrary.org
11/7 - Gymnastics Class at Boynton Beach Arts & Cultural Center, 125 E Ocean Ave. Ages 4-11. Every Th through 1/16. Basics ages 4-6: 5:30-6:15 pm; Basics ages 6-11: 6:20-7:05 pm; Level 1 ages 6-11: 7:10-7:55 pm. $144/resident; $180/nonresident. 561-742-6221; boynton-beach.org
11/7 - Karate Class at Boynton Beach Arts & Cultural Center, 125 E Ocean Ave. Ages 6-17. Every T/Th through 12/17. Beginner: 5:30-6:25 pm; Intermediate/Advanced: 6:30-7:25 pm. $90/resident; $113/nonresident. 561-742-6221; boynton-beach.org Friday- 11/8 - Baby Bookworm at Boca Raton Library, 400 NW 2nd Ave. Storytime
for infants accompanied by an adult. Ages 0 to non-walking. Held again 11/15 & 22. 11-11:30 am. Free. Registration: 561-3937852; bocalibrary.org
Saturday - 11/9 - Little Wonders at Gumbo Limbo Nature Center, 1801 N Ocean Blvd, Boca Raton. Hike, crafts, stories. Ages 3-4 w/an adult. 10-10:45 am. $8/resident & member; $10/non-member. Reservations: 561-544-8605; myboca.us/calendar. aspx?CID=47
11/9 - Bones to Books at Delray Beach Library, 100 W Atlantic Ave. Ages 5-8. Held again 12/7. 11 am-noon. Free. 561-2660194; delraylibrary.org
11/9 - ColorSpace: Teen Art Studio at Delray Beach Library, 100 W Atlantic Ave. Ages 13-17. 11 am-noon. Free. Registration: 561-266-0194; delraylibrary.org
11/9 - STREAM Genius Hour at Delray Beach Library, 100 W Atlantic Ave. Ages 5-12. Held again 12/7. 11 am-1 pm. Free. 561-266-0194; delraylibrary.org
11/9 - Nature Detectives at Gumbo Limbo Nature Center, 1801 N Ocean Blvd, Boca Raton. New mystery each month. Ages 5-6 w/an adult. 11:30 am-12:15 pm. $8/resident & member; $10/non-member. Reservations: 561-544-8605; myboca.us/ calendar.aspx?CID=47
11/9 - Bones to Books at Boynton Beach Library, 100 E Ocean Ave. Children read to friends from Bonafide Therapy Dogs. All ages. Held again 12/7. 1-2 pm. Free. Registration: 561-742-6390; boyntonlibrary.org
11/9 - Chess Mates at Boca Raton Library, 400 NW 2nd Ave. Ages 13-17. Held again 11/23. Introduction to Chess: 1-2 pm; Open Play Chess: 2-3 pm. Free. Registration: 561393-7968; bocalibrary.org
NOVEMBER 10-16
Tuesday - 11/12 - Teen Tech Sandbox at Delray Beach Library, 100 W Atlantic Ave. Ages 13-17. 3:30-4:30 pm. Free. Registration: 561-266-0194; delraylibrary. org
Wednesday - 11/13 - Bilingual Outdoor Storytime at Boynton Beach Library under the Banyan tree, 100 E Ocean Ave. Stories, rhymes, more. 10-10:30 am. Free. 561-7426390; boyntonlibrary.org
11/13 - Inventors Academy: STEMBased Book Club at Delray Beach Library, 100 W Atlantic Ave. Ages 9-12. 4-5 pm. Free. Registration: 561-266-0194; delraylibrary.org
Thursday - 11/14 - Make & Take at Boynton Beach Library, 100 E Ocean Ave. Ages 5-12. 4:30-5:30 pm. Free. Registration: 561-742-6390; boyntonlibrary.org
11/14 - Create-a-Comic! at Boca Raton Library, 400 NW 2nd Ave. Ages 13-17. Held again 12/5. 6-7 pm. Free. Registration: 561-393-7968; bocalibrary.org
Saturday - 11/16 - Dino Dig Show by Mad Science at Delray Beach Library, 100 W Atlantic Ave. Ages 3-12. 1-2 pm. Free. Registration: 561-266-0194; delraylibrary. org 11/16-17 - Creation Station at Boca Raton Museum of Art, 501 Plaza Real. Limited seating. Noon-4 pm. Free w/ admission. 561-392-2500; bocamuseum. org
NOVEMBER 17-23
Sunday - 11/17 - The Rock & Roll Playhouse: Music of Ed Sheeran for Kids! at The Studio at Mizner Park, 201 Plaza Real, Boca Raton. Noon. $17. 561-2033742; thestudioatmiznerpark.com
Monday - 11/18 - Epic Crafters Book Club at Delray Beach Library, 100 W Atlantic Ave. Ages 6-8. 3:30-4:30 pm. Free. Registration: 561-266-0194; delraylibrary.
org 11/18 - TAB (Teen Advisory Board) Meeting at Delray Beach Library, 100 W Atlantic Ave. 5-6 pm. Free. Registration:
561-266-0194; delraylibrary.org
Tuesday - 11/19 - Chapter Masters Book Club at Delray Beach Library, 100 W Atlantic Ave. Ages 9-12. 4-5 pm. Free. Registration: 561-266-0194; delraylibrary.
org
Thursday - 11/21 - Pop-Up
Thanksgiving Special Family Storytime at Boca Raton Library, 400 NW 2nd Ave. Up to Ages 5. 10-10:30 am. Free. Registration: 561-393-7968; bocalibrary.org
11/21 - Picture Book Club Special Edition at Boynton Beach Library, 100 E Ocean Ave. Ages 5-12. 4:30-5:30 pm. Free. Registration: 561-742-6393; boyntonlibrary. org
Saturday - 11/23 - ART Tales Story Time at Boca Raton Museum of Art Wolgin Education Center, 501 Plaza Real. Literacy/ visual arts program; Boca Raton Library joins w/book readings. Special art project follows. Ages 4-8 w/guardian. 10:30-11:30 am. Free. Registration: 561-392-2500; bocamuseum.org 11/23 - Chess Mates at Boca Raton Library, 400 NW 2nd Ave. Ages 13-17. Intermediate Chess: 1-2 pm; Open Play Chess: 2-3 pm. Free. Registration: 561-3937968; bocalibrary.org
NOVEMBER 24-30
Sunday - 11/24 - Rookie Rooks: Introduction to Chess for Youth at Boca Raton Library, 400 NW 2nd Ave. Ages 8-12. 10:30-11:30 am. Free. Registration: 561393-7968; bocalibrary.org
Monday – 11/25-27 - Fall Break Camp at Gumbo Limbo Nature Center, 1801 N Ocean Blvd, Boca Raton. Games, crafts, educational activities. Learn about importance of protecting sea turtles, other marine life. Ages 6-8. 8:30 am-noon. Per day $30/member; $37.50/non-member. Reservations: 561-544-8605; myboca.us/ calendar.aspx?CID=47 11/25-27 - Thanks for Hoops Basketball Camp at Hester Center, 1901 N Seacrest Blvd, Boynton Beach. Ages 6-15. M/T/W 9 am-4 pm. $75/resident; $94/nonresident. Extended hours: 7:30-9 am & 4-5 pm: $25. 561-742-6550; boynton-beach.org
Wednesday - 11/27 - Special Guest Storytime: Corny Sue at Boynton Beach Library under the banyan tree, 100 E Ocean Ave. Stories, rhymes, more. 10-10:30 am. Free. 561-742-6390; boyntonlibrary.org
DECEMBER 1-7
Monday - 12/2-4 - Youth Basketball League at Hester Center, 1901 N Seacrest Blvd, Boynton Beach. Ages 5-7: M through 3/3; Ages 8-10: T through 3/4; Ages 11-15: W through 3/5. 6-8 pm. $60/resident; $75/ non-resident. 561-742-6552; boyntonbeach.org
Tuesday - 12/3 - Teen Book Club: The Summer of Broken Rules at Delray Beach Library, 100 W Atlantic Ave. Ages 13-17. Held again 12/17 5-6pm. Free. Registration: 561-266-0194; delraylibrary.org
Wednesday - 12/4 - Pop-Up Pages at Boca Raton Library, 400 NW 2nd Ave. Literacy enrichment: stories, music, movement. Children must be accompanied by an adult. Ages 0-5. 10-10:30 am. Free. Registration: 561-393-7968; bocalibrary.org 12/4 - Atlantic Coast Theatre for Youth presents The Gingerbread Man at Lake Worth Playhouse, 713 Lake Ave. For grades K-5. 11 am. $8. 561-586-6410; lakeworthplayhouse.org
Friday - 12/6 - Winter Make & Take at Boca Raton Library, 400 NW 2nd Ave. Children must be accompanied by an adult. Ages 3-8. 3-4 pm. Free. Registration: 561393-7968; bocalibrary.org
Saturday - 12/7 - Audition Prep Workshop at Lake Worth Playhouse, 713 Lake Ave. Grades 4-5: 11 am-2 pm; grades 7-8: 3-6 pm. $125. 561-586-6410; lakeworthplayhouse.org
& Teens
New Delray campus has Gulf Stream School ringing with pride
By Faran Fagen
One by one, 3-year-olds grasped the rope, tugged, and smiled at the resounding ding of the bell to commemorate progress at the new Gulf Stream School campus in Delray Beach.
On Oct. 7, the bell — small like the pre-K students the campus serves — echoed throughout the Gulf Stream community during a ribboncutting ceremony to formally celebrate the opening of the new campus.
“Celebrating that tradition on both campuses is a wonderful and memorable way to connect them,” said Head of School Gray Smith, who delivered the keynote speech at the commemoration.
More than 100 parents, faculty, trustees and members of the parents auxiliary attended the event.
One of Smith’s favorite memories and traditions at the original Gulf Stream campus is when the school’s eighth-graders, or “seniors,” ring the “old railroad bell” at the beginning and the end of the school year. Since the new campus came with a similar bell, the 3-year-olds — the new campus’s “seniors” — rang their bell at the ribboncutting.
One of the teachers at the event was Christina Wheat, pre-primary division coordinator, Gulf Stream Class of 1990.
“Gulf Stream School has always been part of my life,” said Wheat, who has taught pre-K, kindergarten, Grade 1 and Grade 3 in more than 20 years on staff. “As a student, teacher and parent, this is a special place. The people. The students, parents and faculty are truly amazing. “
Due to the increase in school enrollment, the need for the second campus, at 2515 N. Swinton Ave. in Delray Beach, was great.
As far as school traditions carrying over to the new campus, one of Wheat’s favorite weeks at Gulf Stream School is Spirit Week, which ends with a family picnic. Spirit Week starts with students dressing down in their blue and white, followed by a Western day, neon day and pajama day.
For Smith, in his sixth year at Gulf Stream, his favorite memories include field trips to the Everglades and the Grand Canyon, the annual family picnic, and eighth-grade speeches.
From the head of school’s perspective, he’s grateful to lead a school whose board’s vision is advancing its programs.
“Over 87 years, our board has stewarded GSS to a position of great strength,
one capable of acquiring a new campus as part of a longterm strategy to make the GSS experience available to a wider number of children and families,” Smith said.
One of the Delray Beach campus’s chief goals is to create significant improvements to the overall educational program and even to daily operations on the main campus. For example, where the school used to mix 3-year-olds and 4-year-olds, now there’s programs tailored to the developmental needs of children at each age level.
“Having only 4-year-olds in our arrival and dismissal lines on the main campus helps the process move quickly, as they are capable of getting out of and into vehicles much more efficiently than 3-year-olds,” Smith said. “Plus, we run a school bus to and from the DBC that transports close to 30 students from the Lake Ida area; this reduces the number of vehicles on town of Gulf Stream roads and on and off
our campus.”
The new campus boasts a remodeled classroom building and upgraded grounds, all reflective of the high standards on the main campus.
In keeping with the Gulf Stream School 2024 theme, “More We, Less Me,” which focuses on camaraderie and teamwork, the middle school children will shuttle to the Delray Beach campus each month to create a memorable keepsake item with the younger students.
“As a parent/teacher I have been able to share and witness this,” Wheat said. “Some of my children’s fondest memories in pre-K were of the 21 big kids coming to read to them or play with them on the playground. This small outreach is one of the aspects that instills in our older and younger students how we work at Gulf Stream to be a family school.” P
ABOVE: At the end of the ribbon-cutting event, a group of pre-K students, including Aiden Reinhardt, got to ring a kid-height bell in the parking lot of the Gulf Stream School’s new Delray Beach campus. The K-8 campus in Gulf Stream has a similar bell.
LEFT: Gulf Stream Head of School Gray Smith addresses the crowd at the dedication of the Delray Beach campus. Also in the photo are (front row, l-r) Robert Meyer, Jacob Fields, London Wizard and longtime teacher Christina Wheat. Behind them are admissions associate Mary Aperavich and managing director Jessica DeHaven. Photos by Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star
Paws Up for Pets
Thanks to foster parents who give homes, love to abandoned animals
Throughout Palm Beach County, countless people share a common mission: to care for cats and dogs in their personal homes until they can be adopted. They call themselves foster pet parents.
They certainly don’t do it for the money. They receive no pay. They volunteer their time and their homes. They do it because, well, they care. They care about homeless animals who need and deserve to land in permanent homes and become viable members of a family unit.
November is the month focused on giving thanks. That’s why I decided to devote this pet column to three people from three nonprofit foster groups. Let’s start by shining a light of gratitude on Vickie Virzi. She is the founder of Blessed Paws Animal Rescue in Lake Worth Beach.
Step into her 3,000-squarefoot house and you will be surprised to discover that the living room has no sofas or recliners. You won’t find a dining room table and chairs, either. Instead, floor space is filled with kennels of all sizes to accommodate the dozen-plus dogs she is fostering.
“I am here for these dogs,” says Vickie. “I will foster dogs in need until my legs give out. Our goal is to take sick, neglected, abused and abandoned dogs and get them healthy, socialized and happy.”
Vickie defines a foster parent’s fate as “we don’t get the one dog we want. We get the one dog no one wants, and we call them our heart dogs. For me that was a black pit bull named Chomper who I had for 14 years.”
Deborah Hazard-Charnin runs the Green Dog Rescue based in Boynton Beach. She and her all-volunteer team have continually honed their foster skills and outreach. Recently, her group responded to a dog hoarding case in Oconee County, South Carolina,
involving nearly 100 small dogs.
“We were able to arrange for transport for about nine of these dogs,” says Deborah.
“We also took in 17 dogs from a hoarding situation in Parkland, recently. These dogs had never been outside. We shaved them, arranged for medical care and I am happy to report that all are doing great in foster homes.”
Deborah wants to make sure adoptions work for the person and the dog, so her group requires potential adopters to complete a three-page application, be willing to have
Looking to volunteer?
If you wish to volunteer your time to be a foster pet parent, provide needed pet supplies or make a monetary donation, here are details about the three nonprofits highlighted in this column:
• Blessed Paws Animal Rescue: Founded in 2017 by Vickie Virzi, this nonprofit is based in Lake Worth Beach. Learn more at www.blessedpawsanimalrescue.com or email blessedpawsanimalrescue@gmail.com.
• Green Dog Rescue: This foster home-based nonprofit was founded 17 years ago and is based in Boynton Beach. Serving as president is Deborah Hazard-Charnin. Learn more at www.greendogrescuefl.org or email adopt@ greendogrescuefl.org.
• RU4Me Pet Rescue: This all-volunteer nonprofit pet rescue/foster group is based in Boynton Beach. Heading this group is Linda Wassner of Boynton Beach. Learn more at www.ru4mepetrescue.org or email ru4mepetrescue@ yahoo.com.
her group contact the person’s veterinarian and landlord, plus provide three references of people who are not relatives.
“During meet-and-greets, I stay usually for an hour or so and am looking for that connection between the dog and the family members,” she says.
Linda Wassner is a lifelong animal advocate and now heads the RU4Me Pet Rescue group based in Boynton Beach. Her nonprofit helps cats and dogs, but Linda fosters kittens and cats. Some fosters are available every weekend at the PetSmart store located at 335 N. Congress Ave.
“We appreciate this PetSmart partnership as we do not have a physical building — all our available animals are in foster homes,” says Linda.
In her home, Linda has four personal cats and is currently fostering 12 felines, including three litters of kittens under 4 months old.
“I am fortunate to have space in my home to isolate the fosters,” she says. “We must wait to vaccinate the kittens until they are at least 6 weeks old. So, as you can guess, my home
is never boring. I love to watch these foster kittens grow and then go into good homes. I am happy to say goodbye because I know that means I can then rescue more.”
All three women point out that there are many ways you can support foster groups beyond having cats or dogs in your home. You can help organizations with their social media promotions, agree to take these animals on walks or to veterinary appointments, and help with accepting donations of money and pet products.
“I am thankful for all the people who care,” says Linda. “We have kids in school getting community service hours for fostering as well as seniors in their 70s and 80s who foster. For me, fostering gives me a purpose.”
Arden Moore is an author, speaker and master certified pet first aid instructor. Learn more by visiting www. ardenmoore. com.
Deborah Hazard-Charnin runs Green Dog Rescue, which finds foster homes for rescue animals. Photo provided
The right bait,
After a cold front sweeps across South Florida in November, savvy anglers know that it’s time to fish for mutton snapper.
That’s when the tasty snappers gather on reefs in shallow water to take advantage of the reduced water clarity caused by the front’s blustery winds. The limited visibility allows the sharp-eyed muttons to aggressively feed on ballyhoo, a baitfish that is plentiful this time of year.
The northwest winds that accompany a cold front create waves that stir up sediment from the bottom, which turns the water milky. That makes the ballyhoo much easier for the muttons to catch.
The first step in catching mutton snapper is to catch ballyhoo to use as bait. The easiest way to locate the baitfish is to drive your boat along the beaches from Boca Inlet to Boynton Inlet and look for ballyhoo jumping out of the water.
When you see “showering” ballyhoo, anchor the boat near a patch reef in 20 feet of water or tie up to a mooring ball on a reef and put a block of frozen menhaden chum in a fine-mesh chum bag.
The chum attracts ballyhoo to the back of your boat. You can catch the baitfish with a spinning rod spooled with 8-pound monofilament line. Tie
and
patience, essential for catching mutton snapper
on a tiny No. 20 gold hook and bait it with an even tinier piece of frozen shrimp, then float it back to the ballyhoo, which pick the offering off the surface. Use a de-hooker to drop the ballyhoo into a livewell so you don’t have to touch them. With a few dozen baits, you can then look for coral reefs in 10 to 30 feet of water anywhere
Outdoors Calendar
Note: Events are current as of 10/23. Please check with organizers for any changes.
NOVEMBER 2
Saturday - 11/2 - Outdoor Marine Aquarium Feedings at Gumbo Limbo Nature Center, 1801 N Ocean Blvd, Boca Raton. All ages; child must be accompanied by an adult. Daily 12:30 pm. Free. 561-5448605; myboca.us/calendar.aspx?CID=47
NOVEMBER 3-9
Friday - 11/8 - Golden Hour Guided Tours at Gumbo Limbo Nature Center, 1801 N Ocean Blvd, Boca Raton. Guided tour ends w/sunset views of the Intracoastal Waterway from the beach by the Seminole chickee. Ages 7-adult; child under 18 must be accompanied by an adult. 5-6:30 pm. $10/resident & member; $13/non-resident. Registration: 561-544-8605; myboca.us/ calendar.aspx?CID=47
NOVEMBER 10-16
Sunday - 11/10 - Intracoastal Adventures: Intro to Kayaking at Gumbo Limbo Nature Center, 1801 N Ocean Blvd, Boca Raton. Includes short talk about South Florida’s unique animals/ecosystems. Ages 7-adult; each child under 13 must be accompanied by one adult. 9-10:30 am. $20/resident & member; $25/non-member. Registration: 561-544-8605; myboca.us/ calendar.aspx?CID=47
Tuesday - 11/12 - Island Treks at Gumbo Limbo Nature Center, 1801 N Ocean Blvd, Boca Raton. Visitors will be guided through the tropical hardwood hammock forest, pausing for intracoastal views through the mangroves. All ages; child must be accompanied by an adult. Held again 11/26. 10-10:30 am. Free. 561-544-8605; myboca.us/calendar.aspx?CID=47
11/12 - Beach Treasures at Gumbo Limbo Nature Center, 1801 N Ocean Blvd, Boca Raton. Learn about seashells, the
animals that make them. Caravan to Red Reef Park, 1400 N State Rd A1A, to search for ocean treasures. All ages; child must be accompanied by an adult. Held again 11/26 2-3:30 pm. Free. Reservations: 561-5448605; myboca.us/calendar.aspx?CID=47
Friday - 11/15 - Beach Cleanup & E-Waste Collection at The Coastal Stewards HQ, 5112 N Ocean Blvd, Ocean Ridge. 1-5 pm. Open to the public. Cleanup supplies will be provided. RSVP: https:// www.eventbrite.com
off Palm Beach County and anchor nearby. Put the same ground menhaden chum that you used for the ballyhoo in a chum bag with larger mesh, and cast out two ballyhoo, one on each side of the boat.
The baits can be hooked on half- or three-quarter-ounce jigs. Chartreuse and pink-andwhite are effective colors. Break
NOVEMBER 17-23
Thursday - 11/21 - Early Birding w/Al at Gumbo Limbo Nature Center, 1801 N Ocean Blvd, Boca Raton. Learn about native & migratory birds from an experienced birder; walk the Ashley Trail/boardwalk in search of warblers, gnatcatchers, woodpeckers, other avian species. Binoculars recommended. Ages 10+; child must be accompanied by an adult. 8:3010 am. Free. 561-544-8605; myboca.us/ calendar.aspx?CID=47
Saturday - 11/23 - Intracoastal Adventures: Advanced Kayaking at Gumbo Limbo Nature Center, 1801 N Ocean
ABOVE: Mutton snapper love to congregate in murky waters roiled up by windy conditions.
LEFT: A ballyhoo on a jig is a great rig for catching mutton snapper around a shallow reef after a November cold front.
Photos by Steve Waters
off the ballyhoo’s bill with an upward snap and run the jig hook through both of the bait’s lips and through the front of its skull to keep the hook in place.
Fish the ballyhoo on 7-foot, 20-pound spinning rods spooled with 20-pound monofilament line and four feet of 30-pound fluorocarbon leader. (The dirty water and light mono allow the
Blvd, Boca Raton. Includes short talk about South Florida’s unique animals/ecosystems. Ages 7-adult; each child under 13 must be accompanied by one adult. 9-10:30 am. $20/resident & member; $25/non-member. Registration: 561-544-8605; myboca.us/ calendar.aspx?CID=47
NOVEMBER 24-30
use of shorter leaders compared with anglers who use 30-foot leaders for wary muttons.)
Unless you are patient, it’s best to leave the outfits in the rod-holders. Anglers who constantly reel in line, whether a little or a lot at a time, rarely get mutton bites.
Patience also is essential for letting the chum attract the snapper, as long as there is some current. The longer you can sit on a patch reef and wait to get a quality fish or two, the better.
If you can stay about two hours at one patch reef and let the chum get established and have the muttons settle in and come running from all the other nearby patch reefs, you’ll usually catch more fish. If you don’t have current, stick around for 30-40 minutes and if you’re not getting bites, move on to the next patch reef.
While you wait for the muttons to show up, you can fish with some lighter spinning rods baited with strips of ballyhoo and drift back the strips in the chum slick for yellowtail snapper. You can also drop fresh dead shrimp on the bottom to catch porgies, hogfish, grouper and yellowtails.
Outdoors writer
Steve Waters can be reached at
steve33324@aol. com.
DECEMBER
1-7
Saturday - 12/7 - Coast Guard Auxiliary
Boat America: A Boating Safety Course at Spanish River Park HQ Building, USCG Auxiliary Classroom, 3939 N Ocean Blvd, Boca Raton. Boating terminology, boat handling, navigation rules, regulations, more. Course provides knowledge needed to obtain a boating certificate; possible insurance discount. 9 am-5 pm. $35/adult; $5/teen. 561-391-3600; peauxboca@gmail. com
Sunday - 11/24 - Intracoastal Adventures: Intro to Canoeing at Gumbo Limbo Nature Center, 1801 N Ocean Blvd, Boca Raton. Ages 12-adult; child under 18 must be accompanied by an adult. 9-10:30 am. $20/member; $25/ non-member. Reservations: 561-544-8605; myboca.us/calendar.aspx?CID=47
Community Calendar
Events are current as of 10/23. Please check with organizers for any changes.
NOTE: For Holiday Happenings, see page AT20
NOVEMBER 2
Saturday - 11/2 - Battle of the Blue Softball Challenge at Miller Field Park, Field #3, 1905 SW 4th Ave, Delray Beach. Fun & competitive softball challenge between Delray Beach & Boynton Beach Police departments. 10 am. 561-243-1077; downtowndelraybeach.com/events
11/2 - Calling All Serious Writers! Saturday Zoom Writers Studio presented by Delray Beach Library, 100 W Atlantic Ave. Every Sat 10 am. Free. 561266-0194; delraylibrary.org
11/2 - Freestyle Saturdays Art Class at Boynton Beach Arts & Cultural Center, 125 E Ocean Ave. Ages 18+. Every Sat through 12/28 10 am-12:30 pm. Per class $29/ resident; $35/non-resident. Registration: 561-742-6221; boynton-beach.org
11/2 - Free Fun Saturday at The Schmidt Boca Raton History Museum, 71 N Federal Hwy. Free family craft activities 2-3:30 pm. 10 am-4 pm. Free. 561-395-6766; bocahistory.org
11/2 - Intro to Creativity Workshop
Hilma af Klint at Arts Warehouse, 313 NE 3rd St, Delray Beach. Ages 16+. 10:30 am-12:30 pm. $55. 561-330-9614; artswarehouse.org
11/2 - Open Studio: Meet the Artists at Boynton Beach Arts & Cultural Center, 125 E Ocean Ave. 10:30 am-1 pm. 561-573-0123; talinstropicalstudio.com
11/2 - 100th Birthday History Talk at Lake Worth Playhouse, 713 Lake Ave. Learn about the 100-year history of the Oakley Theatre and celebrate the building’s 100th birthday. 11 am. Free. 561-586-6410; lakeworthplayhouse.org
11/2 - Workshop: Color & Mood
Unlocked: Paint Your Emotions! at Arts Warehouse, 313 NE 3rd St, Delray Beach. 1-3:30 pm. $60. 561-330-9614; artswarehouse.org
11/2 - Latin Dance Class at Boynton Beach Arts & Cultural Center, 125 E Ocean Ave. Ages 18+. Every Sat through 12/21. Salsa: 1-2 pm; Salsa & Cha Cha: 2-3 pm. Per class $15/resident; $19/non-resident. Registration: 561-742-6221; boyntonbeach.org
11/2 - 9th Annual Dia De Los Muertos Lake Worth Beach at Hatch 1121, 1121 Lucerne Ave. Family event presented by
Lake Worth Beach CRA & LULA Lake Worth Arts. 3-9 pm. Free. lakewortharts.com
11/2 - Sunset Tequila Fest at Mizner Park Amphitheater, 590 Plaza Real, Boca Raton. Art, music, food & tech. Ages 21+. 4-10 pm. $65-$175. sunsettequilafest.com
11/2 - Darkness to Light at Florida
Atlantic University Theater, 777 Glades Rd, Boca Raton. Presented by Schola Cantorum of Florida & FAU’s Chamber Singers. 7 pm. $25/general admission; $5/student w/ID. scholacantorumfl.org
11/2 - Fairly Amazing - “The Encore” at Lake Worth Playhouse, 713 Lake Ave. 7 pm. $30-$35. 561-586-6410; lakeworthplayhouse.org
11/2 - Sick Puppies Improv Comedy Extravaganza Show at Doghouse Theater, 105 NW 5th Ave, Delray Beach. Every Sat 7:30 pm. $20-$30. 954-667-7735; sickpuppiescomedy.com
11/2-3 - Planta-a-Palooza fall plant sale at Mounts Botanical Garden, 531 N. Military Trail, West Palm Beach. 9 am-4 pm Sat; 9 am-3 pm Sun. More than 70 vendors, special presentations, food trucks, more. $20 adults; $18 seniors, $13 ages 6-17. Tickets: mounts.org
11/2-3 - Boca Raton Fine Art Show at Sanborn Square Park, 72 N Federal Hwy, Boca Raton. 10 am-5 pm. Free. 941-7553088; hotworks.org
11/2-3 - 2024 Holiday House at Boca Raton Garden Club, 4281 NW 3rd Ave. Crafts, plants, jewelry, ornaments, bake sale, holiday raffles. 9 am-2 pm. Free. 561395-9376; bocaratongardenclub.org
11/2-3 - 5 Lesbians Eating A Quiche by Evan Linder & Andrew Hobgood at Lake Worth Playhouse, 713 Lake Ave. Runs through 11/10. Th-Sat: 8 pm; Sun: 2 pm. $28. 561-586-6410; lakeworthplayhouse. org
NOVEMBER 3-9
Sunday - 11/3 - Daylight Saving Time Ends
11/3 - Sugar Plum Fairy Tea at Royal Palm Polo Clubhouse, 7101 NW 26th Way, Boca Raton. Features cast of characters from The Nutcracker, specialty teas, mimosas, lemonade and small bites. All proceeds benefit Boca Ballet Theatre. 3-5 pm. $100/adults; $60/children. Reservations: 561-995-0709; bocaballet. org/sugar-plum-tea
Monday - 11/4 - Pickleball at Hester Center, 1901 N Seacrest Blvd, Boynton Beach. Combines badminton & tennis.
Municipal Meetings
11/4 – Ocean Ridge Town Hall, 6450 N Ocean Blvd. 6 pm. oceanridgeflorida.com
11/19 – Highland Beach Town Hall, 3614 S Ocean Blvd. 1:30 pm. highlandbeach.us 11/22 – Manalapan Town Hall, 600 S Ocean Blvd. 10 am. manalapan.org
Green Markets
11/2 - Lake Worth Beach Waterside Farmers Market every Saturday, under the overpass at A1A and Lake Ave, Lake Worth Beach. 9 am-1 pm. Free. 561-5473100; lakeworthfarmersmarket.com
11/2 - Delray Beach GreenMarket every Saturday through 5/17, at Old School Square, 51 N Swinton Ave. Fresh local produce, baked goods, gourmet food items, plants, live music, children’s activities. 9am-2pm. 561-276-7511; delraycra.org/green-market
11/7 - Night Market at Sanborn Square Park, 72 N Federal Hwy, Boca Raton. Food options, beer & wine, local artisans and live music. 6-9 pm. Free. myboca. us/2324/Night-Market
11/4 - Seminar: Wait! Don’t Click on That Phishing Email MessAges! Simple Tips To Protect Yourself Online w/ Michael Levin at Florida Atlantic University Friedberg Auditorium, Room 102, 777 Glades Rd, Boca Raton. 10-11:30 am. $60/annual membership; $40/ member; $50/non-member & guest pass. 561-297-3185; olliboca.fau.edu
11/4 - Artificial Intelligence and Human Flourishing w/ Michael Ryall at FAU Friedberg Auditorium, 777 Glades Rd, Boca Raton. 12:30-2 pm. $60/ annual membership; $30/member; $35/ non-member & guest pass. 561-297-3185; olliboca.fau.edu
11/4 - Crafting for Fun & Small Business: Latch Hook Basics at Boca Raton Library, 400 NW 2nd Ave. Adults. 1-3 pm. Free. Registration: 561-393-7906; bocalibrary.org
11/4 - Appy Hour: Photos at Delray Beach Library, 100 W Atlantic Ave. Adults. 2 pm. Free. Registration: 561-266-0194;
delraylibrary.org
11/4 - Advanced Squares at Boynton Beach Arts & Cultural Center, 125 E Ocean Ave. Adults. Every M 2-4 pm. $6. 561-7426221; boynton-beach.org
11/4 - Seminar: Dramawise: Lost in Yonkers by Neil Simon w/ Gary Cadwallader at FAU Friedberg Auditorium, Room 102, 777 Glades Rd, Boca Raton. 3-4:30 pm. $60/annual membership; $40/ member; $50/non-member & guest pass. 561-297-3185; olliboca.fau.edu
11/4 - The Sexual Revolution of the 1960s and its Continuing Impact w/ Jane Caputi at FAU Friedberg Auditorium, 777 Glades Rd, Boca Raton. 3-4:30 pm. $60/ annual membership; $30/member; $35/ non-member & guest pass. 561-297-3185; olliboca.fau.edu
11/4 - The Power of Pivot Tables at Boynton Beach Library, 100 E Ocean Ave. Must have knowledge of Microsoft Excel and how to use a laptop and mouse. Adults. 5-7 pm. Free. Registration: 561-742-6390; boyntonlibrary.org
11/4 - Make a Mix Mondays!: Thankful Treats at Boca Raton Library, 400 NW 2nd Ave. Adults. 6-7:30 pm. Registration: 561393-7906; bocalibrary.org
Tuesday - 11/5 - 2024 General Election, Polls open 7 am-7 pm. 561-656-6200; votepalmbeach.gov
11/5 - Career & Employment Help w/ CareerSource PBC at Boynton Beach Library, 100 E Ocean Ave. Representative fluent in English, Creole, French. Adults. Every T 9 am-4 pm. Free. 561-742-6390; boyntonlibrary.org
11/5 - ESOL Conversation Corner at Boca Raton Library, 400 NW 2nd Ave. Adults. Every T through 11/19. 11:30 am-1 pm. Registration: 561-393-7906; bocalibrary.org
11/5 - Guided Discussion: How to Write a Quality Short Story w/ Kettly Mars at FAU Friedberg Auditorium, Room 102, 777 Glades Rd, Boca Raton. Every T through 11/26 12:30-2 pm. $60/annual
11/5 - General Meeting: Fun with Flowers by Emilie Palmieri at Boca Raton Garden Club, 4281 NW 3rd Ave, Boca Raton. 1 pm. Free. 561-395-9376; bocaratongardenclub.org
11/5 - Computer Basics Class at Delray Beach Library, 100 W Atlantic Ave. Adults. 2-4 pm. Free. Registration: 561-266-0194; delraylibrary.org
11/5 - Book Talks - Modern Literature: The Pull of the Stars by Emma Donoghue at Boca Raton Library, 400 NW 2nd Ave. Adults. 2-3 pm. Registration: 561393-7906; bocalibrary.org
11/5 - Mastering Google Apps at Boynton Beach Library, 100 E Ocean Ave. Adults. 5-6:30 pm. Free. Registration: 561742-6390; boyntonlibrary.org
11/5 - Beginning Tap for Adults at Lake Worth Playhouse, 713 Lake Ave. Ages 18+. Every T through 11/26 5:30-7 pm. $60/4 weeks; $20/drop-in. 561-586-6410; lakeworthplayhouse.org
11/5 - Comedy Open Mic at Arts Garage , 94 NE 2nd Ave, Delray Beach. 8-10 pm. $10$15. 561-450-6357; artsgarage.org Wednesday - 11/6 - Exhibition Opening: Felix de la Concha at Boca Raton Museum of Art, 501 Plaza Real. Runs through 3/30/2025. Free/member; $16/ adults; $12/seniors 65+. Reservations: 561392-2500; bocamuseum.org
11/6 - Exhibition Opening - Splendor & Passion: Baroque Spain and its Empire at Boca Raton Museum of Art, 501 Plaza Real. Runs through 3/30/2025. Free/ member; $16/adults; $12/seniors 65+. Reservations: 561-392-2500; bocamuseum. org
11/6 - 3-Day Workshop: Brushes & Dreams: Unlock Your Inner Impressionist at Arts Warehouse, 313 NE 3rd St, Delray Beach. Held again 11/13 & 11/20. 10 am-12:30 pm. $165/3-days. 561330-9614; artswarehouse.org
11/6 - Lunchbox Matinee: Artists & Masterpieces at The Delray Beach Playhouse, 950 NW 9th St. Noon. $49. 561272-1281; delraybeachplayhouse.com
11/6 - How to Use a Sewing Machine: Sewing Basics at Boca Raton Library, 400 NW 2nd Ave. Adults. Held again 11/13. Noon-2 pm. Free. Registration: 561-3937906; bocalibrary.org
11/6 - Pastels Made Easy Class at Boynton Beach Arts & Cultural Center, 125 E Ocean Ave. Ages 18+. Every W through 12/18 1-4 pm. Per class $35/resident; $44/ non-resident. Registration: 561-742-6221;
boynton-beach.org
11/6 - 3-Day Workshop: Place & Play:
Uncover the Stories Behind Your World! at Arts Warehouse, 313 NE 3rd St, Delray Beach. Held again 11/13 & 11/20. 1:30-4 pm. $165/3-days. 561-330-9614; artswarehouse.org
11/6 - Microsoft Excel Basics Class at Delray Beach Library, 100 W Atlantic Ave. Adults. 2-4 pm. Free. Registration: 561266-0194; delraylibrary.org
11/6 - Hand Crafted Greeting Cards
- Evening Edition at Boynton Beach Library, 100 E Ocean Ave. Create custom greeting cards. Adults. Held again 12/4. 5-7 pm. Free. Registration: 561-742-6390; boyntonlibrary.org
11/6 - Workshop: Fluid Florals in Watercolor at Arts Warehouse, 313 NE 3rd St, Delray Beach. 6-8 pm. $40. 561-3309614; artswarehouse.org
Thursday - 11/7 - Quilters meet at Boynton Beach Library, 100 E Ocean Ave. Share quilting information, perpetuate quilting as a cultural & artistic form. Limit 10 quilters at a time. Every Th 9 am-noon. $1/lifetime membership. 561-742-6886; boyntonlibrary.org
11/7 - Tech Talk Thursdays at Boynton Beach Library, 100 E Ocean Ave. Adults. Every Th 10:30-11:30 am. Free. Registration: 561-742-6390; boyntonlibrary.org
11/7 - 3-Day Workshop: Delight in Dynamic Drawing with Charcoal at Arts Warehouse, 313 NE 3rd St, Delray Beach. Held again 11/14 & 11/21. 10 am12:30 pm. $165/3-days. 561-330-9614; artswarehouse.org
11/7 - Crafting for Fun & Small Business: Macrame Coaster at Boca Raton Library, 400 NW 2nd Ave. Adults. 10:30 am-12:30 pm. Free. Registration: 561-393-7906; bocalibrary.org
11/7 - Line Dancing at Boynton Beach Arts & Cultural Center, 125 E Ocean Ave. Basic modern western square dancing. Adults. Every Th 10:30-11:30 am. $6. 561742-6221; boynton-beach.org
11/7 - From Despair to Hope: The Music of Schindler’s List w/ Thomas Cimarusti at FAU Friedberg Auditorium, 777 Glades Rd, Boca Raton. 12:30-2 pm. $60/annual membership; $30/member; $35/non-member & guest pass. 561-2973185; olliboca.fau.edu
11/7 - Seminar: The Jazz Soul of George Gershwin w/ Mark Gridley at FAU Friedberg Auditorium, Room 102, 777 Glades Rd, Boca Raton. Every Th through 12/5 3-4:30 pm. $60/annual membership; $70/member; $90/non-member; $30/guest pass. 561-297-3185; olliboca.fau.edu
11/7 - Intermediate Tap for Adults at Lake Worth Playhouse, 713 Lake Ave. Ages 18+. Every Th through 11/21 5:30-7 pm. $60/3 weeks; $20/drop-in. 561-586-6410; lakeworthplayhouse.org
11/7 - Live Music Series: Thursday Evenings at The Shops of Boca Center, 5150 Town Center Circle. Enjoy the talents of local musicians in the courtyard. Held again 11/14 & 21. 5:30-7:30 pm. Free. bocacenter.com
11/7 - Concert: Tony Abbott & Terry Cooper - Neil Diamond & Friends Tribute at Highland Beach Library, 3618 Ocean Blvd. 5:30 pm. Free. 561-278-5455; highlandbeach.us
11/7 - The Power Trio: Boost Your YouTube with Titles, Descriptions, and Thumbnails at Boynton Beach Library, 100 E Ocean Ave. Adults. 6-7 pm. Free. Registration: 561-742-6390; boyntonlibrary. org
11/7 - Of Dance, Passion, and Fairytales: Dances with the FAUSO at FAU Theatre, 777 Glades Rd, Boca Raton. 7 pm. $10. 561-297-6124; fauevents.com
11/7-8 - 2-Day Workshop: Color Theory Basics at Arts Warehouse, 313 NE 3rd St, Delray Beach. Held again 11/21-22. 10:30 am-1:30 pm. $90/2-days. 561-330-9614; artswarehouse.org
Friday - 11/8 - Workshop: Printing & CollAges Creations at Arts Warehouse, 313 NE 3rd St, Delray Beach. 10:30 am-3:30 pm. $95. 561-330-9614; artswarehouse.org
11/8 - iPad/iPhone Basics Class at Delray Beach Library, 100 W Atlantic Ave. Adults. 1 pm. Free. Registration: 561-266-0194; delraylibrary.org
11/8 - Read Together Palm Beach
Veterans Day
Saturday - 11/9 - Lake Worth
Annual Veterans Day Ceremony of Honor at Cultural Plaza, 414 Lake Ave. 11 am-1 pm. Free. 561-586-1600; lakeworthbeachfl.gov
Monday - 11/11 - Delray Beach Veterans Day Ceremony at Old School Square Fieldhouse, 51 N Swinton Ave. Featuring special speakers, musical performances and the presentation of honors. 9-11 am. Free. 561-243-7250 x3; delraybeachfl.
gov
11/11 - Lantana Veterans Day Celebration at Bicentennial Park, 321 E Ocean Ave. 10-11 am. Free admission; free event parking at Sportsman’s Park. 561-540-5754; lantana.org
11/11 - Red, White & Boca: A Veterans Day Celebration at Mizner Park Amphitheater, 590 Plaza Real, Boca Raton. Veterans presenting a miltary ID or comparable Veteran ID may receive a free food ticket by stopping by the City of Boca Raton booth. Ceremony, concert, veterans resource fair, classic car show, more. Seating/ chairs available; food/beverage available for purchase. 4-8 pm. Free. 561-393-7810; myboca.us/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=1397
County - Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt at Delray Beach Library, 100 W Atlantic Ave. Reading event and discussion moderated by Vice Mayor Juli Casale. 3 pm. Free. Registration: 561266-0194; delraylibrary.org
11/8 - Sip & Shop w/ Shari Sadek at Boca Raton Museum of Art Store, 501 Plaza Real. 3-5 pm. 561-392-2500; bocamuseum.org
11/8 - Latin Dance Class at Boynton Beach Arts & Cultural Center, 125 E Ocean Ave. Ages 18+. Every F through 12/20. Salsa: 6-7 pm; Slow Waltz & Tango: 7-8 pm. Per class $15/resident; $19/non-resident. Registration: 561-742-6221; boyntonbeach.org
11/8 - Beginner Squares at Boynton Beach Arts & Cultural Center, 125 E Ocean Ave. Adults. Every F 7:15-9 pm. $6. 561-7426221; boynton-beach.org
11/8 - Castoffs Square Dance at Boynton Beach Arts & Cultural Center, 125 E Ocean Ave. Basic modern western square dancing. Adults. Every F 7:15-9 pm. $6. 561-7426221; boynton-beach.org
11/8 - Sick Puppies Stand-Up Comedy Show at Doghouse Theater, 105 NW 5th Ave, Delray Beach. Every F 8 pm. $30. 954667-7735; sickpuppiescomedy.com
11/8-9 - Joe Devito at The Delray Beach Playhouse, 950 NW 9th St. 8 pm. $45. 561272-1281; delraybeachplayhouse.com
Saturday - 11/9 - Shred Day 2024 at Delray Beach City Hall North Parking lot, 100 NW 1st Ave. 9 am-1 pm. Free. 561-2437266; delraybeachfl.gov
11/9 - Annual Mayors’ Chess Challenge at Delray Beach Community Center, 50 NW 1st Ave. For players of all ages/experience. 10 am-noon. Free. 561-243-7250 x 6042; delraybeachfl.gov
11/9 - Open Figure Studio w/Model at Arts Warehouse, 313 NE 3rd St, Delray Beach. Ages 18+. Held again 6-8 pm 11/21. 10:30 am-12:30 pm. $15. 561-330-9614; artswarehouse.org
11/9 - Workshop: Jungle Chic: Painting Tropical Plants in Watercolor at Arts Warehouse, 313 NE 3rd St, Delray Beach. 10:30 am-12:30 pm. $40. 561-330-9614; artswarehouse.org
11/9 - BBQ Birthday Bash at Delray Beach Historical Society, 3 NE 1st St. Celebrate the Society’s 60th and Cason Cottages ’s 100th. BBQ, beverages, live music/dancing, vintage yard games, exhibits, raffles and more. 4-8 pm. $45/person; $35/members; $15/ages 16 & under. Reservations: 561274-9578; delraybeachhistory.org 11/9 - FAU 12th Annual Honors High School Orchestra “Side-by-Side” Festival at FAU Theatre, 777 Glades Rd, Boca Raton. 7 pm. Free. 561-297-6124; fauevents.com
NOVEMBER 10-16
Sunday - 11/10 - Lunchbox Matinee: The Victory Dolls at The Delray Beach Playhouse, 950 NW 9th St. Noon. $49. 561272-1281; delraybeachplayhouse.com 11/9 - Workshop: Abstract Portrait Monoprints with Gelli Plates at Arts Warehouse, 313 NE 3rd St, Delray Beach. 2-4 pm. $50. 561-330-9614; artswarehouse. org 11/10 - An Afternoon of Percussion at
Beach Library, 100 W Atlantic Ave. Bring your own refreshments/coffee. 10 am. Free. delraywomansclub.com
11/13 - Exhibition: Boca Raton 19252025: Addison Mizner’s Legacy at The Schmidt Boca Raton History Museum, 71 N. Federal Hwy, Boca Raton. Runs through 5/30 W-Sat 10 am-4 pm. $12/adults; $8/ seniors (65+) & youth. 561-395-6766; bocahistory.org
11/13 - Lecture: A Motion Picture Paradise - Florida’s Film & TV History presented by Delray Beach Historical Society at St. Paul’s Historic Parish Hall, 188 S Swinton Ave, Delray Beach. Q&A & book signing. 6 pm. $15/person. Registration: 561-274-9578; delraybeachhistory.org
fauevents.com
11/15-17 - Radium Girls at Florida Atlantic University Studio One Theatre, 777 Glades Rd, Boca Raton. Runs through 11/24. Sat 7 pm; Sat/Sun 2 pm. $25/general public; $18/faculty/staff/alumni. 561-297-6124; fauevents.com
Saturday - 11/16 - Oceanfront Bark at Oceanfront Park, 6415 N Ocean Blvd, Boynton Beach. Well-behaved dogs welcome to “paw-ty” on the beach. Dogs allowed off leash on the beach & in the water. Dogs must be appropriately licensed and well-behaved. 9 am-noon. Free. 561742-6221; boynton-beach.org
11/10 - Sunday Matinee Music Series: 33 Years at Boca Raton Library, 400 NW 2nd Ave. Adults. 3-4 pm. 561-393-7906; bocalibrary.org
11/10 - Concert Series: This Land Is Your Land at First Presbyterian Church of Delray Beach Courtyard, 33 Gleason St. 4 pm. $20; free/children under 12. 561-2766338; firstdelray.com
Monday - 11/11 - Veterans Day
11/11-14 - The Edwards Twins at The Delray Beach Playhouse, 950 NW 9th St. 3 pm. $75. 561-272-1281; delraybeachplayhouse.com
Tuesday - 11/12 - Workshop: Experimental Printmaking with Gelli Plates at Arts Warehouse, 313 NE 3rd St, Delray Beach. 10:30 am-2:30 pm. $90. 561330-9614; artswarehouse.org
11/12 - Does the Fountain of Youth Exist? w/ Michael DeDonno, presented by FAU Lifelong Learning Institute at The Field House at Old School Square, 51 N Swinton Ave, Delray Beach. 10:30 am-noon.
11/12 - Where is the U.S. Economy Headed? The Manufacturing PMI Index: Guide to the Decision Makers w/ Tim Fiore at FAU Friedberg Auditorium, 777 Glades Rd, Boca Raton. 12:30-2 pm. $60/annual membership; $30/member; $35/non-member & guest pass. 561-2973185; olliboca.fau.edu
11/12 – Socrates Café at Boca Raton Library, 400 NW 2nd Ave. Philosophical discussions. Every T 1:30-3 pm. Free. 561393-7852; bocalibrary.org
11/12 - Internet Basics Class at Delray Beach Library, 100 W Atlantic Ave. Adults. 2 pm. Free. Registration: 561-266-0194; delraylibrary.org
11/12 - Versed in Verse: Poetry Reading w/Poets on the Fringe and Community Open Mic at Boca Raton Library, 400 NW 2nd Ave. Adults. 5-6:30 pm. Free. 561-393-7906; bocalibrary.org
11/12 - Movie Night at the Library at Highland Beach Library, 3618 Ocean Blvd. Held again 11/19 & 12/3. 5:30 pm. Free. 561-278-5455; highlandbeach.us
11/12 - Bitter Orange Tree by Jokha Alharthi part of Tuesday Book Group at Delray Beach Library, 100 W Atlantic Ave. 6 pm. Free. Registration: 561-266-0194; delraylibrary.org
11/12 - Meet the Author - Housemates by Emma Copley Eisenberg at Delray Beach Library, 100 W Atlantic Ave. 6 pm. Free. Registration: 561-266-0194; delraylibrary.org
11/12 - All Arts Open Mic Night at Arts Garage, 94 NE 2nd Ave, Delray Beach. 2nd T 8-10 pm. $10-$15. 561-450-6357; artsgarage.org
11/12-13 - Microsoft Word - 2 Day Class at Boynton Beach Library, 100 E Ocean Ave. T: Introduction to MS Word; W: Intermediate MS Word. Must have some computer knowledge. Adults. 3-4:30 pm. Free. Registration: 561-742-6390; boyntonlibrary.org
Wednesday - 11/13 - GFWC Woman’s Club of Delray Beach Meeting at Delray
11/13 - Bringing the Magic of Opera to Life at Delray Beach Library, 100 W Atlantic Ave. Be the first to hear the original opera scenes created by Palm Beach Opera’s partnership w/ the Boys & Girls Club of Palm Beach County. Students grades 3-5 are working with PBO staff and special guest faculty members to create their own productions that they will present in a full performance at the Kravis center in May 2025. 6 pm. Free. Registration: 561-2660194; delraylibrary.org
11/13 - Delray Beach Orchid Society Meeting at Veterans Park, 802 NE 1st St, Delray Beach. 2nd W 7 pm. Free. 561-5732422; delraybeachorchidsociety.org
11/13 - Traditional Concepts with Modern Flare at FAU Theatre, 777 Glades Rd, Boca Raton. 7 pm. $10. 561-297-6124; fauevents.com
Thursday - 11/14 - Racial Ideology and Pseudoscience in the Third Reich w/ Irving Berkowitz, Ph.D. at FAU Friedberg Auditorium, 777 Glades Rd, Boca Raton. 12:30-2 pm. $60/annual membership; $30/ member; $35/non-member & guest pass. 561-297-3185; olliboca.fau.edu
11/14 - Exhibition Opening Reception: Fall Bachelor of Fine Arts Exhibition at FAU Ritter Art Gallery, 777 Glades Rd, Boca Raton. Runs through 11/27 4-8:30 pm. Free. 561-297-2661; fau.edu/artsandletters/ galleries
11/14 - Seaside Soiree - Celebrating 25 Years at The Carlisle Palm Beach, 450 E Ocean Ave, Lantana. 4:30-6:30 pm. RSVP: 561-395-1262; carlisleresidences.com/ mlBua
11/14 - 3rd Annual We Are Delray - The Greatest Chamber on Earth 2024 at Throw Social, 29 SE 2nd St, Delray Beach. 5:30-8:30 pm. $100. 561-278-0424; delraybeach.com
11/14 - Concert: Paul Anthony Entertainment - Reggae & More at Highland Beach Library, 3618 Ocean Blvd. 5:30 pm. Free. 561-278-5455; highlandbeach.us
11/14 - Workshop: Intro to Creativity with Georgia O’Keeffe at Arts Warehouse, 313 NE 3rd St, Delray Beach. Ages 16+. 6-8 pm. $55. 561-330-9614; artswarehouse.org
Friday - 11/15 - Sustainability: History & Science of Needle Felting at Boca Raton Library, 400 NW 2nd Ave. Adults. 10 am-noon. Free. Registration: 561-393-7906; bocalibrary.org
11/15 - Workshop: Edge of Line - Contour Line Drawing at Arts Warehouse, 313 NE 3rd St, Delray Beach. 1-4 pm. $45. 561-330-9614; artswarehouse. org
11/15 - Excursion: Masterpieces of Splendor & Passion: Baroque - Boca Raton Museum of Art’s Newest Exhibit Spain & Its Empire presented by FAU Lifelong Learning Institute at Boca Raton Museum of Art, 501 Plaza Real. 1-2 pm. $60/annual membership; $30/member; $35/non-member & guest pass. RSVP by 11/8. 561-297-3185; olliboca.fau.edu
11/15 - Lunchbox Matinee: Spaghetti & Matzo Ball Show at The Delray Beach Playhouse, 950 NW 9th St. 7 pm. $49. 561272-1281; delraybeachplayhouse.com 11/15 - 17th Annual Georgina Dieter Dennis Honors Choral Festival at Florida Atlantic University Theatre, 777 Glades Rd, Boca Raton. 7 pm. Free. 561-297-6124;
11/16 - Warehouse Market 2024 at Arts Warehouse, 313 NE 3rd St, Delray Beach. Pop-up indoor market featuring makers and creatives. Life music, gallery exhibitions, free art activities. 10 am-3 pm. Free. 561-330-9614; artswarehouse.org
11/16 - Workshop: Paint Your Pet Portrait at Arts Warehouse, 313 NE 3rd St, Delray Beach. 1-5 pm. $110. 561-330-9614; artswarehouse.org 11/16 - Culture Talks: Alastair Willis in Conversation with Greg Stepanich at Cultural Council of Palm Beach County, 601 Lake Ave, Lake Worth Beach. Hosted by The ArtsPaper & The Coastal Star. 2-3 pm. Free. Registration: 561-471-2901; palmbeachculture.com
11/16 - Hand Crafted Greeting Cards at Boynton Beach Library, 100 E Ocean Ave. Create custom greeting cards. Adults. Held again 12/7. 2-4 pm. Free. Registration: 561742-6390; boyntonlibrary.org
11/16 - Imagine: A Celebration of Dance & Music at The Studio at Mizner Park, 201 Plaza Real, Boca Raton. Proceeds benefit Imagina Children’s Foundation’s programs. Cocktail attire. 5-8:30 pm. $100/ adults; $50/students & children. 561-2990727; imaginachildrenfoundation.org 11/16 - 3rd Annual Grand Tasting at Gourmetphile, 323 E Palmetto Park Rd, Boca Raton. 6-9 pm. $100/person. 561-7576208; gourmetphile.com 11/16 - O.A.R. in Concert at Mizner Park Amphitheater, 590 Plaza Real, Boca Raton. 6:30 pm doors open; 7:30 pm show. $55.50. 561-393-7890; mizneramp.com 11/16 - Commercial Music Ensembles at FAU Theatre, 777 Glades Rd, Boca Raton. 7 pm. $10. 561-297-6124; fauevents.com 11/16 - Ranky Tanky at Arts Garage, 94 NE 2nd Ave, Delray Beach. 8 pm. $75. 561450-6357; artsgarage.org
NOVEMBER 17-23
Sunday - 11/17 - Florida Native Plant Society Garden Tour at six gardens in Lake Worth Beach, Palm Beach and Wellington. Annual tour visits gardens landscaped with Florida native plants. 9 am-3 pm. $10/non-member; free/member & child under 13. Pay at any garden on tour (cash or check). List of gardens: 561-3857213; palmbeach.fnpschapters.org 11/17 - Sounds of Silver: The Silver Sound Flute Ensemble at Delray Beach Library, 100 W Atlantic Ave. 2 pm. Free. Registration: 561-266-0194; delraylibrary. org
11/17 - Music in the Museum - Palm Beach Opera Apprentice Artists at Boca Raton Museum of Art, 501 Plaza Real. 3-4 pm. $8/member; $18/non-member. 561392-2500; bocamuseum.org
11/17 - 2nd Annual BRAC Casino For A Cause at The Loft at Congress, 530 NW 77th St, Boca Raton. 6 pm. $200/VIP; $125/general admission. 561-559-9768; bocaratonachievement.com
11/17 - Delray Stories: All The Colors In The Rainbow, Celebrating Our LGBTQIA+ Community at Arts Garage , 94 NE 2nd Ave, Delray Beach. 7-8:30 pm. $35. 561-450-6357; artsgarage.org
11/18 - The Supreme Court: The Cases, Controversies, and Personalities that Shaped American History w/ Eric Williams at FAU Friedberg Auditorium, 777 Glades Rd, Boca Raton. Every M through 12/9 12:30-2 pm. $60/annual membership;
11/18 - Memory in the Ages of Holocaust Denial w/ Kate Polak at FAU Friedberg Auditorium, 777 Glades Rd, Boca Raton. 3-4:30 pm. $60/annual membership; $30/member; $35/non-member & guest pass. 561-297-3185; olliboca.fau.edu
11/18 - What is Canva? at Boynton Beach Library, 100 E Ocean Ave. Adults. 5-6:30 pm. Free. Registration: 561-742-6390; boyntonlibrary.org
Tuesday - 11/19 - Puccini and the Girl: The Life of Puccini Through Silent Cinema and Opera w/ Barbara Salani at FAU Friedberg Auditorium, 777 Glades Rd, Boca Raton. 12:30-2 pm. $60/ annual membership; $30/member; $35/ non-member & guest pass. 561-297-3185; olliboca.fau.edu
11/19 - Book Talks - Non-Fiction/ Biographies: The Sisterhood: How a Network of Black Women Writers Changed American Culture by Courtney Thorsson at Boca Raton Library, 400 NW 2nd Ave. Adults. 2-3 pm. Registration: 561393-7906; bocalibrary.org
11/19 - Using AI for Research at Boynton Beach Library, 100 E Ocean Ave. Adults. 5-6:30 pm. Free. Registration: 561-7426390; boyntonlibrary.org
11/19 - WLRN’s Bright Lit Place Live at FAU Theatre, 777 Glades Rd, Boca Raton. In this podcast by WLRN, we take a look at the science, politics and planning that have gone into Everglades restoration efforts over the last 30 years. Environment reporter Jenny Staletovich leads a discussion about how things are going, and what’s left to be done. A light bite reception with the panelists will follow. 6-8 pm. Free. Reservations: eventbrite.com
11/19 - FAU Astronomical Observatory public viewing at Florida Atlantic University Science & Engineering Building 4th floor, 777 Glades Rd, Boca Raton. 1st F & 3rd T 7:30 pm. Free. Schedule subject to change; check website: 561-297-7827; cescos.fau. edu/observatory
11/19 - Spoken Word Open Mic: Poetry, Storytelling & Lyrics at Arts Garage, 94 NE 2nd Ave, Delray Beach. Every 3rd T 8-10:30 pm. $10-$15. 561-450-6357; artsgarage.org
Wednesday - 11/20 - Book Buzz Adult Book Club at Boynton Beach Library, 100 E Ocean Ave. Adults. 10:30 am-noon. Free. Registration: 561-742-6390; boyntonlibrary. org
11/20 - A History of Palm Beach Architecture: A Case for Preservation w/ Richard Rene Silvin at FAU Friedberg Auditorium, 777 Glades Rd, Boca Raton. 12:30-2 pm. $60/annual membership; $30/ member; $35/non-member & guest pass. 561-297-3185; olliboca.fau.edu
11/20 - Curator Lecture - Guillaume Kientz at Boca Raton Museum of Art, 501 Plaza Real. 3-4 pm. $8/member; $18/nonmember. 561-392-2500; bocamuseum.org
11/20 - Crafting in the Library: Rolled Beeswax Candles at Boynton Beach Library, 100 E Ocean Ave. Adults. 5-7 pm. Free. Registration: 561-742-6390; boyntonlibrary.org
11/20 - Boca Chamber’s 44th Annual Holiday Auction at Boca Raton Marriott at Boca Center, 5150 Town Center Circle, Boca Raton. 5:30-9 pm. $50. 561-395-4433; bocaratonchamber.com
11/20 - Boca Raton Historical Society’s 28th Annual Walk of Recognition Ceremony & Reception at The Addison, 2 E Camino Real, Boca Raton. 6 pm. $125/ person. 561-395-6766 x100; bocahistory. org
11/20 - Workshop: Landscape Prints with Gelli Plates at Arts Warehouse, 313 NE 3rd St, Delray Beach. 6-8 pm. $40. 561330-9614; artswarehouse.org
11/20 - Drag Queen Bingo: A Comedy Show at Lake Worth Playhouse, 713 Lake Ave. Ages 21+. 7 pm. $25. 561-586-6410; lakeworthplayhouse.org
Thursday - 11/21 - Seminar: Banana is Art? Why Art Challenges, Provokes and Pushes Boundaries w/ Karen Roberts at FAU Friedberg Auditorium, Room 102, 777 Glades Rd, Boca Raton. 12:30-2 pm. $60/annual membership; $40/member; $50/non-member & guest pass. 561-2973185; olliboca.fau.edu 11/21 - Presidential Libraries: From
John F. Kennedy through George W. Bush w/ Robert P. Fine at FAU Friedberg Auditorium, 777 Glades Rd, Boca Raton. 12:30-2 pm. $60/annual membership; $30/ member; $35/non-member & guest pass. 561-297-3185; olliboca.fau.edu
11/21 - Learn to Use a Heat Press: Create Journal Cover w/ Sublimation at Boca Raton Library, 400 NW 2nd Ave. Adults. 1-3 pm. Free. Registration: 561-3937906; bocalibrary.org
11/21 - Beginner Sewing Program at Boynton Beach Library, 100 E Ocean Ave. Learn basics of hand sewing & machine sewing. Adults. 5-7 pm. Free. Registration: 561-742-6390; boyntonlibrary.org
11/21 - Twilight Tribute Concert Series: Coldplay: “Life in Technicolor” at Old School Square Amphitheater, 51 N Swinton Ave, Delray Beach. 5-9 pm. $50/VIP; $10/ General admission; free/kids 12 & under. 561-243-1077; delrayoldschoolsquare.com/ events
11/21 - Spotlight Tour at Boca Raton Museum of Art, 501 Plaza Real. 5:30-7 pm. $20/member; $35/non-member. Registration: 561-392-2500; bocamuseum. org
11/21 - Aspects of Seminole Culture w/ Vandal Samuels Boca Raton Library, 400 NW 2nd Ave. Part of the Thursday Night Speaker Series. Adults. 6-7:30 pm. Free. Registration: 561-393-7906; bocalibrary.org
11/21 - Wine Dark Sea: An Evening with Composer John Mackey at Florida Atlantic University Theatre, 777 Glades Rd, Boca Raton. 7 pm. $10. 561-297-6124; fauevents.com
11/21-23 - 31st Annual Southern Handcraft Society Art & Craft Show: An Olde Fashioned Holiday at The Fieldhouse at Old School Square, 51 N Swinton Ave. Th 10 am-7 pm; F 9 am-7 pm; Sat 9 am-2 pm. Free admission. delrayoldschoolsquare.com
Friday - 11/22 - Seminar: The Works and Women of Charles Dickens w/ Matthew Kiauza at FAU Friedberg Auditorium, Room 102, 777 Glades Rd, Boca Raton. 12:30-2 pm. $60/annual membership; $40/member; $50/nonmember & guest pass. 561-297-3185; olliboca.fau.edu
11/22 - Open Studio Night w/ Resident Artists at Arts Warehouse, 313 NE 3rd St, Delray Beach. 6-8 pm. Free. Reservations: 561-330-9614; artswarehouse.org
11/22 - A Rich Tradition: FAU Opera Theatre at FAU Theatre, 777 Glades Rd, Boca Raton. 7 pm. $10. 561-297-6124; fauevents.com
11/22 - The Wildflowers - A Tribute to Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers at The Studio at Mizner Park, 201 Plaza Real, Boca Raton. 7:30 pm. Tickets start at $35. 561203-3742; thestudioatmiznerpark.com Saturday - 11/23 - 38th Annual Delray Beach Turkey Trot 5K Run/Walk at Anchor Park, 340 S Ocean Blvd, Delray Beach. 6:30 am registration; 8:45 am award ceremony. Run $35/adult, $20/under Ages 15; Walk $30/adult, $15/under Ages 15. 561-243-1077; downtowndelraybeach.com/ events
11/23 - Workshop: Lines That Speak: Mastering Expressive Drawing! at Arts Warehouse, 313 NE 3rd St, Delray Beach. 10:30 am-12:30 pm. $60. 561-330-9614; artswarehouse.org
11/23 - Workshop: Indigo Ferns in Watercolor at Arts Warehouse, 313 NE 3rd St, Delray Beach. 10:30 am-12:30 pm. $40. 561-330-9614; artswarehouse.org
11/23 - Workshop: The Fun of Painting Without a Brush at Arts Warehouse, 313 NE 3rd St, Delray Beach. 1-4 pm. $65. 561330-9614; artswarehouse.org
11/23 - Craft Crop at Boynton Beach Library, 100 E Ocean Ave. Bring your own projects, tools & supplies. No instruction provided. An opportunity for social interaction, artistic inspiration, and friendly collaboration. Adults. 2-5 pm. Free. 561742-6390; boyntonlibrary.org
11/23 - Candela: The FAU Salsa Orchestra at FAU Theatre, 777 Glades Rd, Boca Raton. 7 pm. $10. 561-297-6124; fauevents.com
11/23 - Cold Case Live at The Studio at Mizner Park, 201 Plaza Real, Boca Raton. 7:30 pm. Tickets start at $49.50. 561-2033742; thestudioatmiznerpark.com 11/23 - Comedy Night with Monique
Marvez at Sol Theatre, 3333 N Federal Hwy, Boca Raton. 6 & 8:30 pm. $30-$35. comiccure.com/boca-raton
11/23 - Greggie & The Jets - A Tribute to Elton John at Arts Garage, 94 NE 2nd Ave, Delray Beach. 8 pm. $45-$50. 561-4506357; artsgarage.org
NOVEMBER 24-30
Sunday - 11/24 - Concert: Delray String Quartet - Masterworks 1 at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 188 S Swinton Ave, Delray Beach. 3 pm. $35. 561-808-5084; delraystringquartet.com
11/24 - FAU Band-O-Rama at Mizner Park Amphitheater, 590 Plaza Real. City of Boca Raton hosts FAU band’s FAU Wind Ensemble, Marching Owls, Jazz Orchestra, Chamber Winds. Bring chairs/blankets. Chairs available for rent $5.00/ea. 6 pm doors open; 7 pm concert. Free. myboca.us
Monday - 11/25 - Seminar: The Amazing Placebo Effect: Belief is a Powerful Drug w/ Myles Cooley at FAU Friedberg Auditorium, Room 102, 777 Glades Rd, Boca Raton. 10-11:30 am. $60/ annual membership; $40/member; $50/ non-member & guest pass. 561-297-3185; olliboca.fau.edu
11/25 - If I Survive You by Jonathan Escoffery part of Afternoon Book Group at Delray Beach Library, 100 W Atlantic Ave. 1 pm. Free. 561-266-0196; delraylibrary.org 11/25 - Middle East Wars and New U.S. Policy? Part I: War or Peace? w/ Walid Phares at FAU Friedberg Auditorium, 777 Glades Rd, Boca Raton. 3-4:30 pm. $60/ annual membership; $35/member; $40/ non-member & guest pass. 561-297-3185; olliboca.fau.edu
11/25 - Protect Yourself Against Scammers, Spammers & Hackers at Boynton Beach Library, 100 E Ocean Ave. Adults. 5-6:30 pm. Free. Registration: 5561742-6390; boyntonlibrary.org
11/25 - Monday Movies - Feature Film: Mon Crime (The Crime is Mine) directed by Francois Ozon at Boca Raton Library, 400 NW 2nd Ave. Adults. 5:30-8 pm. Registration: 561-393-7906; bocalibrary.org
Tuesday - 11/26 - Christian Nationalism’s Impact on Politics Worldwide w/ Samuel M. Edelman at FAU Friedberg Auditorium, 777 Glades Rd, Boca Raton. 12:30-2 pm. $60/annual membership; $30/member; $35/nonmember & guest pass. 561-297-3185; olliboca.fau.edu
11/26 - Barbra Streisand, Part I: From a Funny Girl A Star is Born w/ Robert Versteeg at FAU Friedberg Auditorium, 777 Glades Rd, Boca Raton. 3-4:30 pm. $60/ annual membership; $30/member; $35/ non-member & guest pass. 561-297-3185; olliboca.fau.edu
11/26 - Sewing: Intermediate Project at Boynton Beach Library, 100 E Ocean Ave. Adults. 5-7 pm. Free. Registration: 561-7426390; boyntonlibrary.org
11/26 - Friends Virtual Book Club: Sold on a Monday by Kristina McMorris presented by Boca Raton Library, 400 NW 2nd Ave. Adults. 6:30-7:30 pm. Free. 561393-7968; bocalibrary.org
Wednesday - 11/27 - Excel Formulas Everyone Should Know at Boynton Beach Library, 100 E Ocean Ave. Adults. 2-3:30 pm. Free. Registration: 561-7426390; boyntonlibrary.org
Thursday - 11/28 - Thanksgiving Day
Friday - 11/29-30 - Comedy Night with Justin Silver at Sol Theatre, 3333 N Federal Hwy, Boca Raton. F: 7:30 pm; Sat: 6 & 8:30 pm. $30-$35. comiccure.com/ boca-raton
11/30-12/1 - Ornaments Naturally at Gumbo Limbo Nature Center, 1801 N Ocean Blvd, Boca Raton. Create nature ornaments/ decorations w/holiday themes using shells, sea beans, pine cones, other materials (provided). Ages 7 & up, child under 18 must participate w/an adult. 10-11:30 am. $12/resident & member; $15/non-member. Reservation required: 561-544-8605; myboca.us/calendar.aspx?CID=47
11/30-12/1 - Boca Ballet Theatre: The Gingerbread Ball at Olympic Heights Performing Arts Theater, 20101 Lyons Rd, Boca Raton. Held after the matinee performances of The Nutcracker. 4 pm. $12. 561-995-0709; bocaballet.org
11/30-12/1 - Latin American Expo Exhibition & Sale at Boca Raton Museum
of Art, 501 Plaza Real. Features six local artists. 5:30-7 pm. Free w/ pd admission. Registration: 561-392-2500; bocamuseum. org
DECEMBER 1-7
Sunday - 12/1 - Exhibition Opening: The NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt at FAU's Schmidt Center Gallery, 777 Glades Rd, Boca Raton. Runs through 12/13. T-F 1-4 pm, Sat. 1-5 pm. Free. 297-2661; fau.edu/artsandletters/galleries
12/1 - Exhibit Opening Reception at Artist’s Eye Gallery Boutique, 604 Lucerne Ave, Lake Worth. Runs through 12/29. 2-4 pm. Free. 561-586-8666; lwartleague.org 12/1 - Sunday Matinee Music Series: It Takes Two at Boca Raton Library, 400 NW 2nd Ave. Adults. 3-4 pm. 561-393-7906; bocalibrary.org
Monday - 12/2 - Lilly Pulitzer Shop & Share with Spirit of Giving at Lilly Pulitzer in Boca Raton Town Center Mall (6000 Glades Rd) and Lilly Pulitzer Delray Beach (601 E Atlantic Ave, Ste 103). 10% of sales will be donated to Spirit of Giving’s Annual Holiday Gift Drive. Noon-4 pm. 561385-0144; spiritofgivingnetwork.com
12/2 - Make a Mix Mondays!: Cocoa & Cookies at Boca Raton Library, 400 NW 2nd Ave. Adults. 6-7:30 pm. Registration: 561-393-7906; bocalibrary.org
12/3 - 1944: The Turning of the Tide w/ Stephen Berk at FAU Friedberg Auditorium, 777 Glades Rd, Boca Raton. 12:30-2 pm. $60/annual membership; $35/ member; $40/non-member & guest pass. 561-297-3185; olliboca.fau.edu
12/3 - Book Talks - Modern Literature: Your Driver is Waiting: A Novel by Priya Guns at Boca Raton Library, 400 NW 2nd Ave. Adults. 2-3 pm. Registration: 561-3937906; bocalibrary.org
12/3 - The Musical Theater Golden Ages : How the British Stole the American Musical w/ Steven Friedman at FAU Friedberg Auditorium, 777 Glades Rd, Boca Raton. 3-4:30 pm. $60/annual membership; $30/member; $35/nonmember & guest pass. 561-297-3185; olliboca.fau.edu
12/3 - Beginning Tap for Adults at Lake Worth Playhouse, 713 Lake Ave. Ages 18+. Every T through 12/17 5:30-7 pm.
12/4 - 3rd Annual Glitter & Glow Gala at Benvenuto Restaurant, 1730 N Fed Hwy. Cocktail reception, silent auction, dinner, dancing. Evening cocktail attire. Benefits Lake Worth Beach Rotary charity
activities for children. 6:30-10:30 pm. $135/person. Reservations: 561-316-3565; lakeworthrotary.org/holidays
12/4 - A Celebration of JewishAmerican Songwriters w/ Rod MacDonald & The Humdingers at FAU Friedberg Auditorium, 777 Glades Rd, Boca Raton. 7-9 pm. $60/annual membership; $35/member; $40/non-member & guest pass. 561-297-3185; olliboca.fau.edu
12/4 - Boca Raton Holiday Mile Run at 777 S Federal Hwy (near Dunkin Donuts) and finish at the north end of Mizner Park. Proceeds benefit Boca Raton Police Athletic League. 7:15-8 pm. $20/one mile run/walk; $18/ages 15 & under. runsignup.com/Race/ FL/BocaRaton/BocaPALHolidayMile
Thursday - 12/5 - Oscar Wilde: A Life of Wit and Wisdom w/ Lauren Radick at FAU Friedberg Auditorium, 777 Glades Rd, Boca Raton. 10-11:30 am. $60/ annual membership; $30/member; $35/ non-member & guest pass. 561-297-3185; olliboca.fau.edu
12/5 - How to Use a Mug Press: Design a Mug at Boca Raton Library, 400 NW 2nd Ave. Adults. 1-3 pm. Free. Registration: 561-393-7906; bocalibrary.org
12/5 - The Story and Songs of Pete Seeger and the Weavers w/ Joan Friedenberg at FAU Friedberg Auditorium, 777 Glades Rd, Boca Raton. 4-5:30 pm. $60/ annual membership; $35/member; $40/ non-member & guest pass. 561-297-3185; olliboca.fau.edu
12/5 - Intermediate Tap for Adults at Lake Worth Playhouse, 713 Lake Ave. Ages 18+. Held again 12/12 & 26. 5:30-7 pm. $60/3 weeks; $20/drop-in. 561-586-6410; lakeworthplayhouse.org
12/5 - Town Hall Talk: Artificial Intelligence: Amazing, Scary, and Our Future w/Pete Martinez at The Schmidt Boca Raton History Museum, 71 N Federal Hwy, Boca Raton. 6 pm check-in/ refreshments; 6:30 pm lecture. Free/BRHS member; $10/guest. RSVP: 561-395-6766 x100; bocahistory.org
12/5 - Lecture: Weeki Wachee: City of Mermaids! presented by Delray Beach Historical Society at St. Paul’s Historic Parish Hall, 188 S Swinton Ave, Delray Beach. Q&A follows. 6 pm. $15/person. Registration: 561-274-9578; delraybeachhistory.org 12/5-7 - Macbeth at Sol Theatre, 3333 N Federal Hwy, Boca Raton. 7:30 pm. $40. 754-228-7228; shakestroupe.org/ eventlistings
Friday - 12/6 - The Iranian Threat to Israel and the West w/ Mitchell Bard at FAU Friedberg Auditorium, 777 Glades Rd, Boca Raton. 12:30-2 pm. $60/ annual membership; $30/member; $35/ non-member & guest pass. 561-297-3185; olliboca.fau.edu
12/6 - Art & Ancestry: In Conversation w/ Sana Doumet at Boca Raton Museum of Art Store, 501 Plaza Real. Conversation: 3-4 pm; Sip & Shop: 4-6 pm. Free w/ pd admission. 561-392-2500; bocamuseum.org 12/6 - Excursion: Come Dance! w/ Dance with Me at Dance With Me Dance Studio, 5850 W Atlantic Ave, #130, Delray Beach. 4:30-5:15 pm. $60/annual membership; $35/member; $40/nonmember & guest pass. RSVP by 12/2. 561297-3185; olliboca.fau.edu
12/6 - First Friday Art Walk at Arts Warehouse, 313 NE 3rd St, Delray Beach. 6-9 pm. Free. 561-330-9614; artswarehouse.org
12/6 – The Art of Laughter with Headliner Mike E. Winfield at Arts Garage, 94 NE 2nd Ave, Delray Beach. 8 pm. $45. 561-450-6357; artsgarage.org
12/6-7 - Repertory Dance Theatre Ensemble at FAU Theatre, 777 Glades Rd, Boca Raton. F/Sat 7 pm; Sat 2 pm. $25/ general public; $18/faculty, staff, alumni. 561-297-6124; fauevents.com
Saturday - 12/7 - Meet & Greet w/ Jewelry Designer Sana Doumet at Boca Raton Museum of Art Store, 501 Plaza Real. 11 am-2 pm. Free w/ pd admission. 561392-2500; bocamuseum.org
12/7 - Divas Holiday Party at Lake Worth Playhouse, 713 Lake Ave. Ages 18+. 8 pm. $25. 561-586-6410; lakeworthplayhouse. org
12/7-8 - 24th Annual Downtown Delray Beach Art Festival, 401 E Atlantic. 10 am-5 pm. Free. 561-746-6615; artfestival. com
Beachfront townhome at Dunes of Ocean Ridge
With coastal elegance and contemporary finishes, this 3,012-square-foot townhome offers an open floor plan ideal for casual entertaining inside and out, with a screened patio overlooking the courtyard. The gated community’s amenities are abundant: an oceanfront pool, a fully equipped gym with water views, an expansive clubhouse, and a boat dockage is available across street.
The primary suite features a walk-in closet along with the bath ’s dual sinks, a separate shower and a separate soaking tub.
There are two more guest suites and a bath upstairs in the residence, as well as a half bath downstairs.
The home has impact resistant/hurricane windows and doors. Features inside include an entry foyer, a ground floor living area, volume ceilings, varied flooring treatments including carpet, tile and wood, and an inside laundry room. The kitchen’s state-of-the-art appliances are organized in an easy galley design.
The kitchen is comfortably situated next to the great room living area, whose walls present a chic shiplap wall designed for TV and storage.
The home has a one-car garage and one designated parking space. All furnishings are negotiable.
Offered at $2,400,000. Contact Valerie Coz, 561-3868011, Douglas Elliman, 900 E. Atlantic Ave., #1, Delray Beach, FL 33483. val.coz@elliman.com
Each month, The Coastal Star features a home for sale in our area.
The House of the Month is presented as a service to our advertisers and provides readers with a peek inside one of our homes.
The crisp white kitchen with state-of-the-art wood-look porcelain tiles features a large island and dining area, flows into the great room.
LEFT: Modern oceanfront living is fundamental in this updated townhome located in the Dunes of Ocean Ridge.
RIGHT: Upstairs, the primary suite creates the perfect seaside escape with ocean views, a serene sitting area and a spa-like master bath.
An oceanfront pool overlooks the white sand beach.
