Vet ties knot at 89
Proof it’s never to late to find love
8
McCarty Ranch Preserve
Ranch turns recreational sanctuary
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Children’s tale with twist Missoula returns to Sunrise
29
ST. LUCIE WEST • TRADITION
YourVoiceWeekly.com VOL. 3/ISSUE 35
YOUR INDEPENDENT LOCAL COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER
Aaron Beauchamp – #2 on the field, #1 in our hearts Elizabeth Petrell
FOR YOUR VOICE NEWS & VIEWS
ST. LUCIE WEST — “Everyone leaves footprints in your memory, but the ones that leave footprints in your heart are the ones you will truly remember.” (Nicholas Sperling). In the case of Aaron Beauchamp, we might say cleat prints… Aaron Klein Stanford Beauchamp was a 9-year-old boy who tragically lost his life in a terrible bus accident in St. Lucie County on March 26, 2012. It was one of the worst school bus accidents in U. S. history and a shock and horror to the community. In trying to bring something positive out of a tragedy of this proportion and meanwhile honoring Aaron’s memory; The Aaron Project was born. The Aaron Project is a fundraising program designed to provide scholarships to St. Lucie County students to promote growth in areas in which Aaron excelled; arts, athletics and academics. After Aaron’s death, those who knew him and loved him wanted to establish a foun-
dation in his name to honor his memory. Originally when the idea first came about, Aaron’s parents Simon and Lilly Beauchamp met with Scott Van Duzer, founder of the Van Duzer Foundation, who runs a nonprofit organization that helps provide assistance to St. Lucie County residents in need due to unforeseen crises or tragedy. Van Duzer gave them advice on how to create and achieve a goal in what would be the best way to honor Aaron by establishing a foundation of their own. Although Aaron had many interests, a decision was made to focus a scholarship program based on arts, academics and athletics. In addition to the academic scholarships, the Golden Cleat Award is awarded to high school soccer students who are nominated by their coaches. The foundation gave out eight pairs of cleats worth approximately $1,000. The foundation is currently working on awarding arts grants for teachers, in which an undetermined amount will be awarded to a teacher, or group of teachers,
FRIDAY, JULY 3, 2015
Swinging success
Brianna Castaldi of Port St. Lucie received the highest score in the chip part of the Putt, Chip and Drive competition and earned a first place score Sun, Jun 14 at the PGA Center for Golf Learning and Performance in St. Lucie West. Mitch Kloorfain/chief photographer
See BEAUCHAMP page 6
Despite slight seasonal slump, unemployment gains remain steady STAFF WRITER
pmccallister@YourVoiceWeekly.com
ST. LUCIE COUNTY — By most measurements St. Lucie PRSRT STD US POSTAGE PAID FORT PIERCE, FL PERMIT NO. 248 ECRWSS
Local Postal Customer
job seekers are seeing plenty of help-wanted signs. The county’s jobless numbers edged up slightly from April to May, but the employment rebound remains strong.
The state saw unemployment edge up a bit from April to May, 5.6 percent seasonally adjusted to 5.7. The Treasure Coast, too, saw a slight bump in unemployment.
However, the Treasure Coast typically sees an employment slump slightly from about May to October, due to its tourist season
See JOBS page 10 19825
Patrick McCallister