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VOL. 2/ISSUE 50
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2014 Veterans along with state and local dignitaries came together to celebrate efforts made in bringing a veterans nursing home to the town of Tradition. The facility is expected to be completed in 2018 in the town of Tradition.
Mitch Kloorfain chief photographer
Thanks given to all for veterans nursing home Brandon Zeris STAFF WRITER
bzerisr@YourVoiceWeekly.com
TRADITION — To mark the end of an extensive, community-driven effort to secure the state’s seventh veterans nursing home, local representatives thanked those who played important roles Monday morning at Tradition Town Hall. St. Lucie County Commissioner Frannie Hutchinson, Port St. Lucie Mayor JoAnn Faiella, Florida Rep. Larry Lee, U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy and Senators Joe Negron and Gayle Harrell took turns thanking those who helped. “Congratulations to St. Lucie County,” Murphy said. “We won this because we deserve this.” Many thanked their elected peers, but some of the behind-the-scenes people got some well-deserved recognition, too. Hutchinson, who many credited with being the
most dedicated to the cause, said she had three people with her each step of the way. County attorney Dan McIntyre and County Resource developer Glenn Henderson wrote the extensive 611-page proposal to secure the nursing home. Henderson said it’s a relief to see so much time and effort culminate into the state awarding the site to St. Lucie County. It was one of the most in-depth proposals he’s
written, Henderson said. “I’ve done larger ones, but this one required so much in the way of technical documentation from the city and county, which resulted in us getting lots of data. “It was quite the effort to put this together,” he said. Henderson said the state required 11 cop-
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Mitch Kloorfain/chief photographer Dan Depagnier, chairman of the United Veterans of St. Lucie County, shakes hands with county commissioners Frannie Hutchinson, Kim Johnson, Chris Dzadovsky, Tod Mowery and Paula Lewis (not shown) following the recognition ceremony thanking all those involved in bringing the veterans nursing home to St. Lucie County.