By Dan Moffett

    Immigrants have landed on Manalapan’s shores several times during the last year, and perhaps it isn’t by chance.

    Authorities are beginning to believe that the town has something the migrants are looking for: taxis for hire.

    It turns out that, even in the wee hours before daybreak, Manalapan can be a great place to get a cab.

    “The immigrants have cellphones and they are arranging to be picked up on A1A,” says Chief Carmen Mattox. “That’s one of the reasons they choose our location — because we’re so close to A1A. They come right off the beach, they have a cab waiting for them and they’re gone out of the area.”

    Mattox says immigrants who landed in the town on Jan. 16 came armed with cellphones, knew who to call and quickly summoned a taxi for a ride.

    “Basically, we located three of them in the back of a cab and turned them immediately over to Border Patrol,” Mattox told commissioners during their Jan. 28 meeting.

    When it comes to human smuggling and immigration law, the federal government has priority, so U.S. Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement takes the lead when migrants come ashore. Federal agents arrested 17 people after the predawn landing in Manalapan. They were believed to have been smuggled in a vessel from the Bahamas and included 16 Haitians and a Jamaican.

    Mattox says his officers have to work well with other agencies when landings occur. Besides federal authorities, the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office and county Fire Department play important roles.

    He said it’s up to the federal agencies to look into the ties between taxi drivers and this type of cab call. “We turn that over to Border Patrol and they investigate it.” 

    “What we try to do is make sure there is no immigrant on private property in our community,” Mattox said. “We make sure that our residents are secure.”

    Town Manager Linda Stumpf said it might be possible to alert oceanfront residents by group email when police learn of beach landings by migrants: “We’ll see if there’s something we can do.”

    Mattox said he knows of no case where a migrant tried to break in to a Manalapan residence. Generally, they’re trying to get out of the town as fast as they can.

    “We’ve had them outside the beach homes,” he said, “but never had one enter a home.”

After 13 years afloat, this Boston Whaler dinghy made its way

from the Turks and Caicos to the beach in Gulf Stream.

Photo provided by the Gulf Stream Police Department

INSET BELOW:  Larry Conway

By Cheryl Blackerby

    The little dinghy was lost during a storm in the Turks and Caicos in 2001 and, miraculously, ended up pretty near its home port in Palm Beach County 13 years later. 

    Where the 9-foot, 9-inch Boston Whaler has been in the last decade is a mystery. The only thing that’s absolutely certain is that the boat proves the Boston Whaler company’s claim of  “unsinkable.”

    The dinghy turned up on the beach in the 1500 block of North Ocean Boulevard in Gulf Stream on Jan. 14. Gulf Stream Police Investigator John Passeggiata got a call, and he went to check it out. 

    The boat was pretty beat up, and part of the Florida registration number was missing on one side. On the other side of the boat, registration numbers also were missing and faded, but he was able to put them together and track down the owner.

    “He was really glad to hear we found the boat,” said Passeggiata. 

    The boat’s owner, Larry Conway, who lives in North Palm Beach, was thrilled to get Passeggiata’s phone call. “I just loved that boat.”

    He remembers vividly how he lost it. On the night of July 31, 2001, he and his wife, Kiki, sailed their 37-foot sailboat, the Raptor, into a storm in the Turks and Caicos. 

    “It was really bad, with 10-foot seas. We towed the dinghy. It was probably about 75 feet behind. I had it shackled on pretty good. We were in the Caicos Passage when I saw we had lost it. It was about  2 o’clock in the morning. I brought it down to idle and I looked for it with a light. But I knew I would never find it.” 

    Conway, who designed jet engines for Pratt & Whitney’s Raptor fighter jet program, named the little dinghy Conwave.  

    “It was more than a dinghy,” he said about the boat he had for 15 years. “We would go out snorkeling, spearfishing. I actually took it out on the ocean to fish on the reefs.”

    When Conway finally saw it, the boat was resting on the grass next to the Gulf Stream police station. “I stayed awake all night thinking about it, how I was going to fix it up. I had all kinds of plans for it. When I saw it, I was devastated,” he said.

    He left the boat, which is beyond repair, at the police station.

    “The police said they would take care of it,” he said. “I felt like I signed a death warrant. It was pretty sad.”

By Tim Pallesen

    Two state lawmakers have proposed legislation to require the licensing of sober houses. 

    Rep. Bill Hager, R-Boca Raton, and Sen. Jeff Clemens, D-Lake Worth, also want criminal background checks on the owners and operators of sober houses.

    “We have way too many problems reported by local officials about some of the sober houses to permit them to continue to operate without regulation,” Hager said.

    Delray Beach, known as the major recovery center for drug addicts and alcoholics from the Northeast, has an estimated 550 sober houses, according city rental housing inspector Marc Woods.

    But federal privacy laws under the Americans with Disabilities Act prevent cities from knowing exactly how many sober houses they have and the impact they create on city services.

    Delray has a city law that requires the owners of rental homes to make a Reasonable Accommodation Request to allow more unrelated tenants than normally allowed in a house.

    But only about half of the estimated 550 sober houses have complied. Those not in city records are the ones creating calls for drug overdoses and suicide attempts that require a response by police and fire-rescue paramedics, Woods said.

    The most significant impact for the community occurs when drug addicts relapse while at sober houses and are evicted onto the streets. “Relapses and desperate people are problems for the community,” Woods said.

    Delray police estimate that 56 percent of all property crimes in the city are committed by people coming to the city for recovery.

    The proposed state legislation would require sober house operators to provide 48 hours notice before evictions to prevent homelessness and crime.

    The state law would allow inspections by the Department of Children and Families, but it doesn’t provide funding for enforcement.

Delray Beach resident Georganne Goldblum is a coach

who helps executives grow their businesses.

Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

    Georganne Goldblum of coastal Delray Beach has always been driven to accomplish things.

    She’s a go-getter, a dynamo, a regular Energizer Bunny.

    “I don’t know where that drive comes from,” she says. “My older son Ben is that way, too. We did the Metropolitan Museum in an hour and a half — and he says I slowed him down!” she laughs.

    These days, not even a fractured tibia suffered during a skiing accident over the holidays can slow Goldblum down. She’s still holding daily meetings with clients and making plans for business travel, crutches or no crutches.

    For the past 11 years, Goldblum has been an executive coach for Vistage, an international business networking organization. Her clients are C-level executives (CEOs, CFOs and the like) whose companies generate annual revenues of between $5 million and $200 million. She draws on her marketing management background to help clients build skills, recognize opportunities and grow businesses faster. Coaching is done in groups and individually.

    “As your business grows, the skill set you need for a $50 million business is different than for a $5 million business,” Goldbum says. “In addition, we provide a peer group to bounce your ideas and decisions off of. They’re in the trenches with you.”

    Last year, the South Florida Business Journal named her one of the Top 25 Most Influential Businesswomen in South Florida.

    Earlier in her career, she had a goal to become CEO of her own company. But when her son Matt was diagnosed with a learning disability called sensory processing disorder, she re-focused her energies. 

    “Mainstreaming him was more important than anything I was going to do,” she says.

    She enrolled her son in an array of therapies — psychological, vision, occupational, social — and found a school in Vermont that accommodated his needs. The special attention paid off: Matt is now an honors student at FAU preparing to graduate with a dual major in information technology and finance.

    “What I learned through that whole experience has helped me become a better person, and a better coach,” Goldblum says. “I gained patience and humility and understanding of people that I did not have in my early years in business.”

    She also became determined to start a local school for learning disabled children. She is a founding board member of the Florida LD School, a planned nonprofit K-12 school now raising funds to hire a top-rated headmaster and establish a site in Boca Raton.

    Goldblum, now 60, clearly has a talent for developing people. And businesses. Her dream for later in life is to return to the African safari camps she has visited and coach the local proprietors.

    “You know … don’t pay me, just let me stay at the safari camp and I’ll go through what they’re doing to help them improve their marketing,” she says. “They could be doing a lot more to market themselves.”

    — Paula Detwiller

Q. Where did you grow up and go to school? How do you think that has influenced you? 

A. I grew up in the town of Broomall, a Philadelphia suburb. I finished high school at age 16 and attended Simmons College in Boston as an undergrad, then got an MBA at NYU’s Stern School of Business.  I got a great business education from the schools I attended and the companies I have worked for: Gillette, Bristol Myers, General Foods, and Unilever.

I’ve lived in Boston, New York, Los Angeles and Philadelphia, large metropolitan areas that are stimulating and diverse. Having lived on both coasts, I prefer East. I love the depth of the people and the energy here, and I feel it’s a better fit for me. 

Q. What professions have you worked in? What life accomplishments are you most proud of?

A. I’ve worked in consumer package-goods marketing for five Fortune 500 companies. In addition, my husband and I bought an office furniture company in Philly and grew it five times over the next four years before selling it. I’ve been a marketing consultant, and transitioned into CEO coaching after we moved to Florida. 

I’m proud of being promoted to senior product manager with General Foods, the premier marketing company at the time. I’ve held increasingly responsible management positions with Unilever and the Mars Corp., and managed a $150 million business and reached a six-figure income before age 30.

I would have to say that I am most proud of my family — my husband, Rick Edick, and our two sons, Ben, 28, and Matt, 22 — and how they have changed my life. They have made me a better person, and without their love and support I could not have achieved my level of success in life.

I’m particularly proud of being the No. 1 Vistage Florida chair for the last five years. The reason this is important is that I have been able to help a large number of CEOs and “C” level executives accomplish their goals. I’m also proud of the important coaching role I’ve played in the sale of several of my CEO members’ companies; two of those companies sold for over $70 million each in the past year. Another CEO member whom I have coached for 10 years has grown his company from under $3 million to $30 million in sales. 

Q. What inspired you to start an executive coaching and training business?

A. We moved here in 2000. There were few large companies here, and for the small- to medium-sized businesses here, there were no marketing analytics available to help me understand where/how I could make a difference. So I decided not to pursue marketing. I was introduced to Vistage. I saw an opportunity to help CEOs develop personally and professionally. I find it very rewarding to help motivated people reach/exceed their goals and have an impact on the many they influence. 

Q. What role has gender played in your professional career?

A. I’ve always challenged ideas in the workplace. However, it was not always appreciated at the Fortune 500 companies in which I worked. So I moved into a role that allows me to challenge ideas and use my strengths to influence others and make a difference, which is always what I wanted to do. And gender is not a factor in my current line of work.

Q. What advice do you have for a young person selecting a career today?  

A. Identify your strengths and your passion, what energizes you. Find a company where you fit the culture and can utilize your skills and can grow and feel appreciated.

Q. How did you choose to make your home in Delray Beach?

A. We were looking to live on the ocean and had looked at a lot of options. I met Mary Thompson, who’s now a good friend, and she said, “If you haven’t looked at Delray, you haven’t looked at Florida.”

When we visited to see if the Evert Tennis Academy in Boca Raton was right for our son Ben, who was in eighth grade at the time, I met Mary Thompson and another friend, Barbara Murphy, for lunch on Atlantic Avenue. I knew immediately that I could live here. It’s one of the few places in Florida with a downtown. It has the ideal combination of services and charm. And, we were fortunate to find a home on the beach. Every day, I know how lucky I am to live here.

Q. Have you had mentors in your life? Individuals who have inspired your life decisions? 

A. I’ve always had mentors in my life and been open to personal growth and being a better person. I found a coach several years ago in California, Beth Adkinson, and rely on her to help articulate my goals, keep me focused, and hold me accountable. 

Q. Do you have a favorite quote that inspires your decisions?

A. I have several. These are from Beth, my coach in California: Look for gifts; each person is valid and valuable. Help others bring out their own magnificence. Give people a possibility to live into, not an expectation to live up to. 

I’ve also developed some of my own words to live by: Don’t be afraid to take risks. And don’t be afraid to challenge the status quo. Be tenacious; always be learning to take care of yourself physically and emotionally, so there is more to give. 

Q. If your life story were made into a movie, who would you want to play you?

A. Meryl Streep. She’s an amazing actor, adaptable and flexible. I think she could capture the depth of my personality, and my humor.

Q. Who/what makes you laugh?

A. My family — especially my husband, who has such a great sense of humor, and makes me laugh. I’ve learned to laugh at myself and at life.

    Seven candidates have filed to run for two commission seats on the March 11 city election ballot in Delray Beach.

    Incumbent Al Jacquet faces challenges from Rick Burgess and Chris Davey for Seat 2 on the commission.

    Incumbent Angeleta Gray has opposition for Seat 4 from Pamela Brinson, Jordana Jarjura and Victor Kirson.

    Candidates must each collect 250 signatures and pay fees by noon on Feb. 11 to officially qualify for the election.

    A candidates forum will be hosted by the Greater Delray Beach Chamber of Commerce at 7 p.m. Feb. 26 at the Crest Theatre, 51 N. Swinton Ave.

    Voters on March 11 also will be asked to decide on a charter revision proposal to clarify the voting procedure by city commissioners at meetings.

— Tim Pallesen

By Tim Pallesen

    Delray Beach city commissioners and downtown merchants both appear to be split over whether the city should charge for downtown parking at night.

    The city’s Parking Management Advisory Board wants parking meters that charge $2 an hour starting at 5 p.m. on the streets closest to the city’s Atlantic Avenue shopping and entertainment district.

    The same parking fee would be charged at city parking garages. Rates would be $1.50 an hour on streets and garages farther away from the main avenue. A daily maximum rate of $5 would be charged in parking garages.

    City Manager Louie Chapman Jr. and Mayor Cary Glickstein both told city commissioners at a Jan. 14 workshop that parking fees are necessary because the city needs the revenue to help pay its operating costs.

    “We have few sources beyond property taxes for revenue,” Glickstein said. “We need to move forward with this and the time is now.”

    But commissioners Adam Frankel and Al Jacquet strongly opposed the fees.

    “We need to show that Delray is open for business,” Frankel said. “There’s no bigger disincentive for people coming downtown than parking meters.”

    Three downtown merchants shared that fear at the workshop. “We want to keep people happy and not chase business away,” said Rick Robinson, owner of the Ginger boutique. 

    Other merchants on the Parking Advisory Board said the parking fees are only a part of their plan to manage downtown parking. The board also wants to move employee parking away from Atlantic Avenue and manage taxi cabs. 

    “My fear is that you might not do anything,” said Bruce Gimmy, owner of the Trouser Shop. 

    Commissioner Angeleta Gray sided with Glickstein to support the parking fees, leaving Commissioner Shelly Petrolia as the apparent swing vote when the issue comes before commissioners for a final decision.

Meghan the olive ridley turtle has shown continued improvement at Loggerhead Marinelife Center.

Photo provided

By Cheryl Blackerby 

    The olive ridley sea turtle that washed up Christmas Day on Lantana Beach in critical condition is steadily improving.

    She had drifted in the Gulf Stream, all four flippers tangled in fishing net, before being spotted thrashing in the surf. She was rescued by diners at the Dune Deck and lifeguards at Lantana Public Beach, and transported to Loggerhead Marinelife Center’s turtle hospital in Juno Beach.

    Dehydrated and emaciated, she weighed only 64.85 pounds; adult olive ridleys generally weigh about 100 pounds. The turtle has made steady progress and is now eating on her own, according to Loggerhead’s progress report. By Jan. 20, she weighed 69.25 pounds. 

    There have been only three documented strandings of the endangered olive ridleys in Florida: one in Marathon in 1999, one in Key Largo in 2000, and one in Sunny Isles near Miami in 2001. All three died. 

    Under the care of Loggerhead veterinarian Dr. Charles Manire, she was treated for external wounds — her front left flipper had extensive tissue damage — and given a glucose IV, antibiotics to prevent infection, and iron to treat anemia. She was tube-fed gruel (a slurry of fish and vitamins) one to two times daily. Five liters of air were extracted from the intestines, which was making her list to one side in the water.

    Most likely from South America, the turtle, named Meghan by Loggerhead staff, is residing in a pool heated to temperatures of the water close to the equator. 

    You can visit Meghan in her outdoor pool. And you can see a live webcam of her at www.marinelife.org/page.aspx?pid=357.

Freshly pumped sand appears dark when first spread on the original beach,

but is expected to lighten over time.

Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

By Cheryl Blackerby

    Florida Department of Environmental Protection scientists took water samples at the Ocean Ridge dredging site Jan. 28 to monitor levels of turbidity, the cloudiness of water caused by suspended solids such as silt.

    The testing was in response to Reef Rescue’s recent samples that showed high turbidity levels.

    “We’ve been monitoring the project, and we found turbidity levels in excess of the permit standard of 29 NTU (nephelometric turbidity units),” said Ed Tichenor, director of Palm Beach County Reef Rescue. “We’ve gotten levels as high as 248 NTUs. When we get these high readings and the dredge company is getting readings in compliance, then DEP tries to determine the reason for the discrepancy.”

    DEP reports were not finalized Jan. 28, but a scientist with the Palm Beach County Environmental Resources Management, who went along on the boat with DEP, found the samples were in compliance, said Tracy Logue, coastal geologist for the county’s environmental department.

    “The monitoring methods and the test results were in accordance with permits and the results were acceptable,” said Logue.

    The DEP testing may indicate the water is clear, but Tichenor said those tests may be the result of the dredge not working for several days. Reef Rescue is monitoring the silt plume caused by the dredge with aerial photography. So far, he said, silt has not settled on the coral. 

    Silt can be a problem both for the beach and the coral reef, he said.  “If the project generates too much silt it smothers the coral. Silt washes off the beach and ends up on the coral. It has very light traction, and the more silt there is on the beach, the more unstable the beach is.”

    County inspections have shown the beach sand to be satisfactory, said Logue.

    “I’ve been looking at the sand every day and it looks acceptable to me,” she said. 

    Dredging for the Ocean Ridge beach renourishment project started Jan. 12 after several weather delays and holidays.

    Work was forced to stop yet again Jan. 21 because of high winds and rough seas. The dredge moved back to Ocean Ridge Jan. 25, but spent several days moving submerged pipe to a new borrow area. Work resumed after DEP testing Jan. 25, said Logue. 

    The Ocean Ridge project should be completed by Feb. 10 barring bad weather, she said.  Sand is being pumped onto the beach starting at the Ocean Club and ending at Edith Street. 

    The beach will be about 300 feet wider than it was pre-dredging, she said. The new sand is darker in color than the original sand, but has already lightened on the 1.1-mile beach project. The sand is being dredged from borrow areas about 1,800 feet offshore.

    After the Ocean Ridge project is finished, the dredge immediately will move to Delray Beach, she said. The dredge then will go to the north Boca Raton beach. There are no completion dates set for the Delray Beach and north Boca Raton beach renourishment projects.  

    The dredge originally started work in Ocean Ridge Dec. 19 after completing a beach project in south Boca Raton.

    The renourishment projects in Ocean Ridge, Delray Beach and north Boca Raton are U.S. Army Corps of Engineers beach projects. The Army Corps deadline for those projects is April 30 and the work is expected to be finished well before the deadline if seas remain calm.  

    The south Boca Raton beach renourishment is not an Army Corps project, but the city used the same contractor to save money.

    After delays from bad weather including high winds during most of November, the beach project in south Boca Raton finally started the day before Thanksgiving and finished pumping sand on .9 miles of beach Dec. 9.

    “The dry beach was widened 60 feet on average the entire length,” said Jennifer Bistyga, engineer with the city of Boca Raton.

    Meanwhile, excavation of the Boynton Beach Inlet sand trap is expected to continue until June, said Logue. 

    The non-beach-compatible sand is being transported to the Grassy Flats Lake Worth Lagoon Restoration Project, which includes the building of two mangrove islands 4 miles north of the inlet on the east side of the lagoon near the Palm Beach Par 3 Golf Course. 

    The project, which will create 10.5 acres of seagrass habitat and 1.1 acres of salt marsh, will increase the food and nursery habitat for fish, manatees and wading birds while improving water quality.

By Dan Moffett

    The close relationship between South Palm Beach and Lantana has gotten a little closer with the approval of a new working relationship between the two towns’ police departments.

    South Palm Beach Town Council members unanimously approved an interlocal agreement on Jan. 28 that allows the town to hire Lantana police officers to step in and provide support during manpower shortages.

    With only eight uniformed officers, South Palm Beach could find itself in a bind because of illness, injury or other emergencies. 

    Under the agreement, Lantana would provide an officer or officers to fill in and perform “occasional, routine police service” and then charge the town an hourly rate.

    “I was concerned that the agreement not be open-ended, and it isn’t,” said Vice Mayor Joseph Flagello. “We pay their cost and what they’re billing us is fair and equitable.”

    A similar arrangement South Palm Beach had with the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office expired last year. Town Manager Rex Taylor said the agreement is peace of mind for the town.

    “We may not have to use it,” Taylor said, “but we have it in case we need it.”

    The working relationship between the two towns has been mutually beneficial, according to Mayor Donald Clayman. 

    When the Lantana Bridge construction kept Lantana police patrols from coming across the Intracoastal Waterway, South Palm Beach picked up the slack.

    “We covered for them and never charged them for it,” said Clayman. “It’s what friends do for friends.”

    In December, the Town Council approved a $1,000 payment to Lantana as partial compensation and a thank-you for the fireworks celebration that marked the bridge’s grand opening. 

    The town sends Lantana a $1,500 contribution each year to help with expenses for its July Fourth fireworks shows.

    “They have a wonderful mayor in Dave Stewart,” Clayman said, “and a great new town manager (Deborah Manzo) who’s very capable. We have a very good relationship and get along very well.”

In other business:

    • Council members unanimously approved a 1.5 percent salary increase for town police, accepting the recommendation of Special Magistrate James Brady that was ratified by the police union as part of the collective bargaining agreement.

    • Incumbent Town Council members Stella Gaddy Jordan and Robert Gottlieb have received campaign packets from the town clerk, and both said they are committed to running for re-election. They have until noon Feb. 11 to file their completed forms to enter the race for the two-year positions.

By Mary Thurwachter

    While support to bring a natural gas line to Hypoluxo Island has gained momentum, the men spearheading the effort are concerned that getting the required 60 percent of the voters to agree may fall short by a few votes.

    Rod Tennyson and Robert Barfknecht said they have taken the campaign door-to-door to educate voters and have turned “no” votes into “yes” votes.

    The deadline to collect votes was the end of January, but the Lantana Town Council, at its Jan. 13 meeting, voted to extend that deadline until Feb. 15, at the request of Tennyson and Barfknecht.

    “Right now we’re going after people that are hard to get a hold of,” Tennyson said.  “We could be 15 votes short and it would be a shame to see it die at 15 votes. “We need 186 yes votes (from 300 property owners),” Tennyson said, “so we need 59 more. We’re real close. The extra 15 days will help.”

    The town sent letters to Hypoluxo Island residents asking for their vote on the gas line. The town will create a special assessment to provide financing.

    A preliminary survey in June 2012 showed that 71 percent of 84 respondents were in favor of converting to natural gas and were willing to pay for it. 

    “I think this will be a great enhancement to our island,” Tennyson said. “There would be both energy and cost savings. Natural gas costs about half the price of LP gas.” 

    Property owners would pay about $260 a year for 10 years to pay for the line.

    A new natural gas line could connect to the one  that already extends to the Carlisle, a senior living facilty at Ocean Avenue and A1A.

    Florida Public Utility will assume ownership, operation and maintenance.

    Mayor Dave Stewart, who lives on Hypoluxo Island, recognized that there are opponents to the line and didn’t want to push either way. But he said if it wasn’t approved this year, the matter wouldn’t likely return for a long time.

    “I don’t want to ruin the process,” he said.

    In other Lantana news, the qualifying period for the March 11 election ends Feb. 11. Council members Phil Aridas (Group 4) and Tom Deringer (Group 3) are both seeking re-election. So far, no opponents have surfaced.

By Mary Thurwachter

    Another traffic study is due for South Lake Drive, south of Ocean Avenue and around the corner from the Old Key Lime House.

    The Lantana Town Council authorized the count at its Jan. 27 meeting in response to complaints from nearby residents about high traffic and sometime excessive speeds.

    The town previously authorized traffic counts from March 27 to April 3 last year, but residents said that wasn’t the best gauge of the problem since the bridge was closed at the time. 

    Now that the Ocean Avenue Bridge has re-opened and the shopping and restaurant area is more vibrant, a new count should be done, residents said.

    “We said we would do this before and we should do what we said we would do,” council member Phil Aridas said.

    Results from the March 27-April 3 counts showed the volume of average daily trips recorded as 290 cars southbound and 178 cars northbound for a total average daily volume of 468.

    “These are minimal volumes,” Mayor Dave Stewart said.

    Last year’s study also reflected that 95 percent of the cars did not exceed 20 miles per hour.

By Dan Moffett

    In 1996, Mike Hill lost a hotly contested election for the Highland Beach vice-mayor seat by a mere 12 votes out of nearly 1,200 cast.

    On Jan. 23, becoming the new mayor of Briny Breezes was a lot easier.

    Hill was the only qualified candidate to seek the office, and the Town Council approved his appointment unanimously and enthusiastically.

    “He’s got it all,” said Councilwoman Nancy Boczon, who nominated the retired 66-year-old lawyer and banker to fill the position that was abruptly vacated in December by Gerard Devine.

    Hill recovered from his Highland Beach loss to win the next race for vice mayor and then win re-election. He also served as a town commissioner and before that a member of the planning and zoning board.

    “Everybody in Briny, or at least most everybody in Briny, volunteers for certain things,” Hill said. “This is something I could do and have more experience at probably than most people do. So that’s why I volunteered.”

    A graduate of Kent State University and the Akron School of Law in Ohio, Hill worked as a legal counsel for banks in Illinois and Ohio before coming to Florida about 30 years ago. He served as president of First Security Trust Company in the 1990s, and then went into private practice out of an office in Boca Raton.

    Hill and his wife, Shirley, moved to Briny Breezes about a year ago.

    “It’s an interesting place,” he said. “It’s one of the least expensive places you can buy houses and live near the water. We’ve had big houses before and we’ve had little houses before. We’re happy with little houses.”

    This isn’t the first time Michael W. Hill stepped up when he believed it was important to serve the community. He ignored the advice of some friends and associates in Highland Beach who had urged him not to challenge incumbents on the commission. But Hill said he thought it was important that voters have choices and elections, not uncontested races, and the town could use some “fresh ideas.”

    He became known for campaigning on a bicycle, riding door-to-door between the condos searching for votes.

    The remainder of Devine’s term expires in March, but Hill says he will seek another term. 

    He says he has no specific agenda yet for Briny Breezes, other than perhaps some cosmetic touches. “I think we could spend a little bit of time on landscaping,” he said. “We could make the place look a little bit more tropical.”

    In other business, Boczon stepped down from the council and as town clerk pro tem after eight years of service. The council unanimously approved Alderman Barbara Molina as her replacement for the clerk position. No candidate for the vacant council seat has come forward yet.

    “It’s been a fun eight years,” said a smiling Boczon. “I must say, a nervous eight years, too. My father always told me, when you walk into a room, just say quietly to yourself, ‘Here I am, you lucky people.’ I thought today I’d stand up and say, ‘Well, I’m going, you lucky people!’ ”

SOURCE: Town of Boynton Beach & Morgan Boynton Beach LLC

Map by Bonnie Lallky Seibert/The Coastal Star

By Steve Plunkett

    Less than a month after one downtown Boynton Beach development project fizzled, another arose to keep the promise of long-awaited construction activity alive.

    Morgan Boynton Beach LLC filed a site plan with the city Jan. 8 for a 370-unit, seven-story residential tower at the southwest corner of Ocean Avenue and Federal Highway. The project as planned includes about 14,000 square feet of retail space, a six-story parking garage and a public plaza on the corner.

    “It’s all pretty doable, all easily adjustable,” city Planning and Zoning Director Michael Rumpf said.

    Unlike many proposals that seek maximum floor space or more, the plan for 500 Ocean calls for less than Boynton Beach’s minimum floor space requirement. But the city is tweaking its rules, which were “a little bit higher” than model regulations, to accommodate the project, Rumpf said.

    “We want people down there, we want buildings, massing. We want development, a train station down there,” Rumpf said.

    The limited liability corporation that submitted the plans has the same mailing address as LeCesse Development Corp. of Altamonte Springs and most of the same executives. Rumpf said the site plan labels the project “residential,” but does not say whether that means condominiums or rental apartments.

    LeCesse specializes in multifamily residential development, its website says.

    The project will go to the city’s Planning and Development Board on Feb. 25 and then to the City Commission in March.

    The 4.7-acre site is also bounded by Southeast Second Avenue and Southeast Fourth Street. Entrances are proposed on Federal and Fourth.

    The site plan was welcome news to the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency, which in December withdrew a request for proposals for its half-acre at 222 N. Federal Highway after a year of negotiations with a Delray Beach law firm, Kanner and Pintaluga PA, and with One Boynton LLC, which owns most of the land fronting Federal Highway between Ocean Avenue and Boynton Beach Boulevard.

    The lawyers wanted a spot for a 50,000-square-foot headquarters and said they would bring 200 jobs downtown by 2015. One Boynton, owned by Davis Camalier, proposed two residential towers and a flagship hotel. But negotiations disintegrated in the fall.

    The 500 Ocean project is on the same location as The Arches, a previous $105 million proposal for 378 condominiums and more than 40,000 square feet of retail. But the property wound up in foreclosure in 2011.

    Ocean Ridge public safety officers assisted the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office and other agencies in a search last month for a 15-year-old boy who was later found to have drowned north of the Boynton Inlet.

    The body of Sebastian Francois was found on Jan. 14, in the pilings and rocks at the inlet, two days after he disappeared while swimming about 15 yards north of the inlet’s sand transfer station.

    According to reports, Francois was wading in chest-high water shortly before 7:30 p.m. on Jan. 12, when he suddenly became submerged. He resurfaced and struggled to stay afloat before disappearing again. Relatives who were with him called 911 while they continued to search. 

    The sheriff’s office marine unit, along with the U.S. Coast Guard and divers from Palm Beach County Fire Rescue’s Special Response team, conducted a search but were unable to find the swimmer until he was discovered two days later. 

    Ocean Ridge Police Chief Chris Yannuzzi said his officers were minimally involved in the search, patrolling the beach south of the inlet on ATVs. “We were told to be on the lookout for anything out of the ordinary,” Yannuzzi said.

 — Rich Pollack

By Rich Pollack

    The landmark Holiday Inn Highland Beach is getting a facelift and a new name that will link the hotel to neighboring Delray Beach. 

    Town officials said they have been told the hotel, the only commercial property in the coastal town, will be renamed the Delray Sands Resort on Highland Beach as early as this month.

    The change comes amid a multimillion-dollar renovation of the facility, built in 1971 and purchased in 1980 by its current owners, Delray Beach-based Ocean Properties Ltd., — one of the largest independent hotel companies in North America, with holdings throughout the U.S. and Canada.

    The new name is reportedly the result of a compromise reached after an earlier proposal rankled town officials. 

    “Initially, they weren’t going to include Highland Beach in the name,” says Commissioner Dennis Sheridan. “We were concerned because we didn’t want to lose the recognition for the town.” 

    In meetings with Sheridan and other town officials, Ocean Properties agreed to include Highland Beach in the name, Sheridan said.

    “It’s a very good compromise, in which they get the marketing advantage they’re looking for while the town is still included in the name,” says Highland Beach Town Manager Kathleen Weiser.

    Representatives of Ocean Properties, which is expected to retain ownership and management of the hotel, declined late last month to comment about the renovations and name change until its franchise agreement with Holiday Inn expires this month.

    A link on the Ocean Properties website, however, already lists the hotel as the Delray Sands Resort and links the property not only to Delray Beach but also to Boca Raton.  

    “After a day of meetings or sightseeing at nearby Boca Raton, guests can return to the Delray Sands Resort on Highland Beach and relax in our spacious accommodations,” the site says.

    In Highland Beach, local elected representatives are welcoming the renovations to the hotel, which was expanded in 1974 from its original 81 rooms to 115 rooms. 

    Officials who have met with hotel representatives say rooms facing the ocean have already been renovated, while work on the remainder of the building is ongoing. In addition to upgrades to all of the guest rooms, the renovations are also expected to include improvements to the common areas, such as the popular restaurant and lounge areas, town officials said.

    “This is a good thing for Highland Beach,” said Commissioner Carl Feldman. “It will bring up the whole area and make Highland Beach more of a destination for people on vacation.” 

    Ocean Properties’ decision to switch from a franchised chain brand to an independent resort is part of a growing trend, according to one local marketing professor, who also believes the hotel company was wise to link the property to the widely recognized Delray Beach brand. 

    “They’re capitalizing on the exposure Delray Beach has worked so hard to gain,” said Jennifer McFarland, an associate professor at Northwood University in West Palm Beach and chair of the university’s marketing and advertising departments.

    McFarland said recent studies show that during times of economic expansion, independent hotels tend to do well, a factor that may be leading more hotels to jettison the franchise name and become independent. 

    “The independent hotels are especially popular among leisure travelers who like having exclusivity and are willing to pay for it,” she said.

    Sheridan, the town commissioner who worked to ensure Highland Beach still had a presence in the hotel’s name, agrees that including Delray in the new name will increase recognition of the hotel for those unfamiliar with the area. 

    “People in different areas of the country have heard of Boca Raton and Delray Beach, but not Highland Beach,” he said.

Mayor Susan Whelchel 

Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Steve Plunkett

    If you want to schedule time with Mayor Susan Whelchel, call quick. 

    This month she will be at the Allianz Championship Golf Tournament, which she wooed to the city to become one of Boca Raton’s signature events. In March comes the Festival of the Arts Boca. In between are the usual City Council meetings and workshops, meetings with neighborhood groups, brown-bag lunches with small businesses.

    And on March 31 comes the real calendar-crunching event, the council’s yearly organizational meeting in which she will pass the mayor’s gavel to her successor. Term limits are bringing Whelchel’s six years as mayor to an end.

    “I’ll probably take a few months off and maybe go on a vacation,” she said. “I have no immediate plans other than to catch up with my nine grandchildren.”

    The jewels in her crown include the Allianz Golf Championship, which she connected with the Broken Sound Club in 2007, the Don Estridge High Tech Middle School on the old IBM campus and the successful luring of Office Depot, ADT, Lord & Taylor and other businesses, which added more than 5,000 jobs to the city.

    “That was definitely one of her achievements as mayor, attracting businesses to Boca,” County Commissioner Steven Abrams, her predecessor, said. “She really led the city out of the recession.”

    Whelchel was born in Waycross, Ga., but moved at barely a month old to northeast Florida. She got a bachelor’s degree at Jacksonville University and started out teaching social studies in high school. She married John Whelchel and lived in Lake Mary before coming to Boca Raton in 1977. The Whelchels’ business, Florida Aquastore, needed access to Miami’s airport, which at the time was the only one in South Florida providing international flights.

    She busied herself working at the business, which builds water tanks and wastewater treatment plants, raising their four children and volunteering at their schools and the Boca Raton Junior League.

    “I lived here 20 years uninvolved in city politics,” she said.

    But in 1994 her youngest was starting college and the Junior League wanted one of their own on the City Council. League leaders went around the room asking who could serve.

    “I had the time — I think that’s important,” Whelchel said. “You just can’t do this half-heartedly.”

    Also factoring into her decision to enter politics was the fact that her two oldest children, who had finished college, did not return to Boca Raton. Their friends didn’t either.

    “That really got me thinking. Why? The answer was always the same. Always. It’s that there was nothing for them to come back to except for their own family,” Whelchel said.

    No culture, no top-notch recreation programs. The educational system needed improvements.

    “But most importantly, there was not a lot of jobs,” Whelchel said.

    She was elected to the council in 1995 and re-elected in 1997 and 1999. She was term-limited in 2000 and appointed by Gov. Jeb Bush to the Palm Beach County School Board for a two-year term. She again won elections to the council in 2003 and 2005.

    From the start, her goal was to create a business environment with corporations that would bring young people with college degrees back to the community.

    “I think we have accomplished that, with the ability to retain a small-town feel,” Whelchel said. “The community is so giving to others that I believe it provides a sense of place for anyone that is interested in being engaged and involved.”

    She ran unopposed for mayor in 2008. Almost simultaneously the city faced the nationwide recession. 

    “So I have spent my six years in office in a difficult economic environment,” Whelchel said.

    Boca Raton survived by making layoffs and cutbacks, closing parks and postponing projects. But the city also kept its taxes “reliable and reasonable,” she said. “We created a sustainable city and a triple-A bond rating,” the mayor said. “That is a huge statement.”

    Whelchel notes she is only the third female mayor in the city’s 89-year history, following Dorothy Wilken in 1976 and Carol Hanson in 1995, compared with 29 men. Mayoral portraits adorn a wall in council chambers.

    “There’s a bunch of gentlemen up there but only three sweet faces,” she said.

    Whelchel takes pride in having created the city’s Green Living Task Force, its business development program and its education liaison. She was instrumental in bringing Urban Design Associates, which developed the downtown design guidelines, to the community.

    She’s also pleased with the city’s new Planned Mobility zoning areas, which were developed under her watch to encourage less driving to work and stores. One of the PM areas is the Arvida Park of Commerce, which before was zoned “light industrial” even though the city has no desire to court manufacturers.

    “Unless you make changes that are necessary then you are not doing the best that you can,” Whelchel said.

    Unfinished is resolution of the Wildflower property, which the city bought in 2009 for $7.5 million. In January the council decided to negotiate with Hillstone Restaurant Group to bring a waterfront eatery open to the public.

    “I’m not the least bit sorry that we bought that property as long as we use it properly,” said Whelchel, who was the driving force behind the purchase.

    Other highlights of her mayoral tenure include the 2012 presidential debates at Lynn University and trimming the sea grapes along State Road A1A to provide “view windows” of the ocean.

    “I had a good time being on Morning Joe the day after the debates,” she said of her appearance on Joe Scarborough’s MSNBC show.

    One of her prized mementos is a golden box containing eight wooden disks, a recent gift from the Beach Condo Association of Boca Raton and Highland Beach. “Coasters made from Overgrown Sea Grape Tree Trunks on Boca Raton Beach,” the engraving inside reads.

    “Most people will remember me as the mayor — promises made, promises kept. I’ve never deviated,” she said. “I’ll probably be remembered as being forthright and telling it like it is.”

     Scott Singer, who will take a council seat in March after drawing no opposition, said he received valuable advice from Whelchel before deciding to run.

    “Mayor Whelchel, through her years of service to the city, has provided a perfect example of commitment,” Singer said.

Whelchel counts Abrams as a close friend and mentor, calling him a “consummate politician” and herself  a “server of the community.”

    Abrams said the relationship is one of mutual mentoring: “I probably learned just as much from her as she did from me.” 

    Abrams appointed Whelchel as his representative on the county’s Business Development Board and said Boca Raton residents will continue to see her on the scene. 

    Three of Whelchel’s children and their families now live — and work —in Boca Raton. Whelchel says the city is “immeasurably” better off than it was when she took office.

    “We have a world-class community and our hard work bringing new businesses has set the tone for the next generation,” the mayor said.  

    “I think we have a real livable city and a great place to raise your children.”

Spodak Dental Group celebrated the grand opening of new facility.

From left: Sage Spodak, Arlene Spodak, Dr. Craig Spodak, Gavin Spodak,

Dr. Myles Spodak, Zaicha Martell-Spodak and Chamber President Karen Granger.

Photo provided

By Christine Davis

    For a stinkin’ good time, mark your calendars for Feb. 7-9 and attend the award-winning 15th annual Delray Beach Garlic Fest. Features will include Cloves & Vines Wine Garden and the House of Appliances Garlic Chef Stadium, as well as entertainment, full liquor bars, garlic-inspired gourmet food, more than 180 vendors, children’s activities and rides, professional-level cooking competitions and the Home Depot Garlic University.

    This year, the presenting sponsor will be Heineken; Italian Rose will be back by popular demand; and the festival will welcome Jimmy P’s Butcher Shop.

    The Main Stage will showcase nonstop entertainment, including Collective Soul on Friday, Feb. 7, and Dispatch on Saturday, Feb. 8. Recording artist Andy Childs will emcee again this year as well as perform with his band.

    On Feb. 8 and 9, wander over to the Garlic Chef Stadium for the Garlic Chef Competition, where reigning local chef Bruce Feingold of Dada will have his knives and kitchen skills sharpened, preparing to duel it out with chefs from other restaurants in the tri-county area. Also at the stadium this year, a food-waste and hunger-awareness program, “Waste to Taste” will be introduced.

    The festival is held at the Delray Beach Center for the Arts, Old School Square, downtown Delray Beach. Festival hours are 5 to 11 p.m. Friday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday. Price is $10 for early bird admission on Friday and Saturday until 6 p.m. and $20 after 6 p.m. On Sunday, the price is $10. Children 10 and younger are admitted free. Visit www.dbgarlicfest.com for more information. 

    A fundraiser for local nonprofits dedicated to children’s arts and activities, Garlic Fest will surpass $500,000 in charitable contributions to the 16 organizations and the 500 community volunteers they represent. 

                                    ***

Notes from recent events:

    At Lang Realty’s annual holiday party, associates were recognized for donating a half-ton of food to the not-for-profit, “Move for Hunger.”

    “Through the generous efforts of our associates, we collected enough food to feed more than 840 people in need,” said Scott Agran, president of Lang Realty.  

    Other 2013 accomplishments noted at the party: Lang agent Tripta Chawla was given the Diamond Star Award for reaching earnings of more than $1 million, and the realty, which closed more than $1 billion in sales, opened new offices in Jupiter, Manalapan and Hunters Run of Boynton Beach.  

    Last month, Drs. Craig Spodak and Myles Spodak, with Spodak Dental Group’s team of 44 doctors and team members, hosted the grand opening of their new, state-of-the-art facility at 3911 W. Atlantic Ave., Delray Beach. The 13,000-square-foot, Gold-LEED-Certified building comprises 18 dental operatories, laboratory space, offices, gathering spaces, a learning center, a waiting area and support spaces.  

    Spodak Dental Group’s full-service practice includes cleaning, whitening, simple fillings and extractions, implants, Invisalign, and cosmetic and reconstructive smile enhancements. 

                                    ***

Coming up:

    From 5 to 6:30 p.m. Feb. 3, the Greater Delray Beach Chamber of Commerce will host an open house and invites members of the community to visit its new offices at 140 NE First St., Delray Beach.

    While the Greater Boca Raton Chamber of Commerce always strives to enhance good business, its members also keep in mind that old saying about all work and no play. So the Boca chamber will host a community cookout from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. March 2, There will be lots of food choices (hot dogs, hamburgers, chicken, fruit, veggies and much more), fun games for family members of all ages, bounce houses, slides, DJ and musical performances. Entry fee is $5 and includes one food ticket. Children under 10 enter for free and will receive one food ticket. The cookout will be held at Peter Blum Family YMCA, 6631 Palmetto Circle South, Boca Raton.

    Who doesn’t love dining on the waterfront? Boca Raton’s newly transformed Waterstone Resort & Marina will debut two waterfront-dining options: Boca Landing and Waterstone Bar & Grill.

    As a modern, upscale restaurant featuring locally sourced seafood and ingredients, Boca Landing will present a fresh-food style that conveys “just off the boat” elements, focusing on its raw bar and creative small plates. The poolside Waterstone Bar & Grill will offer an all-day menu of comfort foods with a Latin tropical touch.

    Chef Steven Zobel and director of food and beverage Dustin Lapekas will bring their culinary and beverage talents to Waterstone. Lapekas formerly worked for the Boca Raton Resort & Club and Waldorf Astoria. Award-winning Zobel previously worked for dba/café, The Atlantic Resort & Spa and Triomphe Restaurant.

    The resort, at the former Bridge Hotel, is scheduled to open this winter, and will begin to take hotel reservations mid-March. Visit waterstoneboca.com for more information.

                                    ***

Delray Beach rock ’n’ rolls: 

    Jim Knight, managing member of the Knight Group, LLC and member of Delray Beach’s Site Plan and Review Appearance Board, listed developments on Linton Boulevard at an Alliance of Delray meeting late last year. “Everyone knows what’s going on downtown, but I want people to understand that other parts of the city are important and thriving, too,” he says.

    • Linton Square Pharmacy is under construction and set to open on the southeast corner of Linton Boulevard and Congress Avenue. “It’s a mom and pop,  and you don’t see new out-of-the-ground pharmacies like that. Most everywhere, it’s CVS and Walgreens. And Aldridge Connors law firm, through a $200,000 incentive grant from the city, moved into offices into The Arbors from Boca Raton.”

    • On Linton and Federal on the southwest corner, the SunTrust Bank is being torn down, and a new SunTrust will be rebuilt along with a Chick-Fil-A.

    • On the southeast corner of Linton Boulevard and Federal Highway, the Delray Place shopping center will open next year with long-awaited Trader Joe’s and Stein Mart.

    • The northeast corner of Linton Boulevard and Federal Highway are a Chase Bank and Fresh Market.

    • On the northwest corner, the Regal movie theater is being torn down, and LA Fitness is under construction.

    • Neighborhood Grocer will open on the northeast corner of Lindell Boulevard and Federal Highway.

    • The northwest corner of Linton Boulevard and Southwest Fourth Avenue will have Starbucks and Tijuana Flats, Aspen Dental, Buffalo Wild Wings and Five Guys.

    • A residential complex, The Franklin, at 320 Franklin Club Drive, is open, and most of the apartments are leased already, he says. “Most recent rental complexes are not what people think them to be. They offer a whole new lifestyle with amenities over the top, beyond St. Andrews Country Club. The Broadstone North Boca Village, for example, has 380 units, and there are about 30 left for rent.

    “Development like this is happening all over South Florida. If you go to a corner of Palmetto in Boca Raton, you see four power cranes; in Fort Lauderdale, you’ll see 10 of them; and in Miami, 20.”

                                    ***

Some closings of note: 

    After 38 years in Delray Beach on the Avenue, the Nutrition Cottage has closed up shop and moved to its Boynton Beach location at 1815 S. Federal Highway. “We were not able to renegotiate our lease for an affordable price for a small business,” said Mark Stowe, who owns the store with his wife, Karen. “We were one of the oldest downtown businesses and we are the oldest still-remaining family-owned natural-food store in South Florida.” 

    Mark, a licensed nutritionist, plans to offer even more nutritional counseling, and Karen, a nutritional specialist, will ensure that their customers have a positive experience, he said.

    The supplement manager of the Delray store, Michael McNally, will join Boynton Beach manager Theresa Dyer  and sales associate Eileen Freidenreich.  

    The Stowes plan to expand the Boynton location’s inventory, add more refrigeration, expand and remodel the supplement area, add a specialized-bulk-herb section, and carry more groceries, raw foods and gluten-free foods. They also plan to host lectures and talks in the store. Parking is free.

    “We have been in Boynton Beach since 1978,” Mark said. “And even though rent was part of the problem in Delray Beach, it was time to focus our energies here in Boynton.”

    After almost 93 years, Loehmann’s, the upscale off-price retailer that originated the concept, has gone out of business because of declining economic conditions in its key markets, and intense competition from other off-price and outlet retailers and the e-commerce channel.

    Offering bargains at all locations, including its Boca Raton store at 8903-N Glades Road, Loehmann’s began liquidating stock in January.

Christine Davis is a freelance writer. Send business news to her at cdavis9797@comcast.net.

Some want to save The Luff House, one of Boca Raton’s earlier bungalow-style homes.

File photo  

By Jane Smith

    Talk about the Luff House and the battle to save the old bungalow resurfaced recently.

    Boca Raton pioneers Theodore and Harriet Luff had the house — with a coral rock chimney and front porch — built in the 1920s at 390 E. Palmetto Park Road. As the street became more commercial, the bungalow housed several businesses. 

    For sveral years, the 2,492-square-foot, two-story structure languished vacant while the real estate market was in a recession. A small tree now is sprouting from its chimney.

    But now that the market is back, the area is abuzz about a mega-development across the road and its effect on the neighborhood. The Archstone Palmetto Park Place and its 378 apartments are planned for 5.8 acres on East Palmetto Park Road’s north side. 

    Part of that limelight reflects on the Luff House, which sits on the south side. The structure, though old, was never designated historic. 

    Even so, some would like to save it because the house represents the city’s earlier bungalow-style residences and it is the only one left in Boca Raton. The city’s Historic Preservation Board and the Boca Raton Historical Society & Museum would like to save it. 

    The problem is money.

    “People are interested in seeing it moved, but nothing has been done,” said Mary Csar, executive director of the Historical Society. 

    Its previous owner, developer Greg Talbott, had offered the home to the Historical Society if it would pay to move it, Csar said. Her organization received a bid in November 2006, showing the moving costs to Silver Palm Park, just three blocks to the east, and foundation work to be $136,850, plus thousands more for the utility connections. 

    But neither the city nor the Historical Society has that money, Csar said.

    The current owner is a limited partnership set up by credit-card processor Applied Card Systems, when it gained title to the property in January 2010. The Glen Mills, Pa.-based company has offices in Boca Raton. The local representative, John MacConnell, declined to discuss his company’s plans for the Luff House.

    Boca Raton native Arlene Owens, secretary of the Boca Raton Pioneers group and a member of the Historic Preservation Board, has fond memories of the Luff House. 

    “I used to visit it as a child,” said Owens, whose parents were friends of the Luffs. “Mr. Luff was eccentric; he was always giving my dad stock tips but we didn’t have any money to invest. They had nude magazines in the bathroom, so all of the kids asked to use their bathroom.”

    As a history-keeper, she prefers the bungalow to remain at its current location. The owner was approached by companies wanting to rent it, but each time the owner turned down the would-be tenant, she said.

    Meanwhile, the Archstone project hasn’t completed its construction drawings while it presumably waits for a court ruling on how it can proceed. Archstone representatives could not be reached for comment.

    In October 2012, a Palm Beach County Circuit judge ruled that voters could have a referendum on the Archstone approval. The city appealed that decision, and all are now waiting for the 4th District Court of Appeal to issue its opinion.

    Archstone came back in spring 2013 with a modified plan that won City Council approval. Three residents sued on that decision, too, but dropped the lawsuit after the city pointed out they would be liable for Boca Raton’s attorney fees if they lost the case. 

    Archstone is part of Equity Residential, a public company based in Chicago. The parent company is focused on acquiring, developing and maintaining upscale apartments in growth areas, such as South Florida, Seattle, New York and Boston, according to its website.

    To contact the Boca Raton Historical Society regarding the Luff House, call 395-6766, Ext. 106.

Roz and Bob Papell share a moment during the Delray Beach Public Library ‘Ukulele Get-Together.’

Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star  

By Paula Detwiller

    “Don’t do anything the hard way,” instructs Tavit Smith, demonstrating the easy, two-fingered way to play a D7 chord. 

    “The ukulele is all about having fun. Nobody’s going to end up in Carnegie Hall here.”

    Chuckles resonate throughout the room, blending with the plink, plinka-plink of 30 ukuleles. 

    Players have gathered at the Delray Beach Public Library for the first “Ukulele Get-Together” of 2014. The youngest are 6, 15 and 21. The rest are, shall we say, seasoned adults, including snowbirds from Ohio, Maine, Rhode Island, Kentucky and Pennsylvania.

    At the moment, all are focused on their strings. Smith leads the jam session as they break into song.

    “Yes sir, that’s my baby … No sir, I don’t mean maybe …”

    Plink, plinka-plink, plinka-plink …

    Smith, of Delray Beach, is a self-described old hippie of 63 who’s played guitar since childhood but only recently “fell in love” with the ukulele. Wanting to share that love with like-minded others, Smith asked the Delray Beach Public Library to host a free public ukulele play-fest.

    “I told Tavit, well, we can try it,” says library community relations director Bonnie Stelzer. “I thought we’d have maybe six or eight people. We never expected such a big response.”

    As a result, the library has extended the workshop’s planned run. Sessions are now scheduled for 6–7:30 p.m. on Feb. 11 and 25; March 11 and 25; and April 8 and 22. 

    Local ukulele players are riding a wave of renewed interest in the Hawaiian-born instrument that began five or six years ago when the economy took a dive, says Steve Bolanda, sales manager at George’s Music in West Palm Beach. 

    “The ukulele is inexpensive, portable, easy to learn — and it’s a happy instrument,” he says. “It’s hard to play a sad song on a uke.”

    Another reason for the ukulele’s resurgence, says Jim Marino at Chafin Music in Lake Worth — where sales of the instrument have doubled over the past couple of years —  is that popular musicians like Michael McDonald, Bruno Mars and even Eddie Vedder (formerly of the alternative rock band Pearl Jam) have taken the uke for a spin. 

    “YouTube has created a lot of buzz about it,” Marino says.

    As the library strummers finish a rousing Hank Williams Sr. classic —“Heeeey, good lookin’ … Whaaatcha got cookin’?” — Smith compliments his enthusiastic followers.

    “Everybody bring a suitcase next week. We’ll take this thing international.” 

    Or maybe, he cracks later, “we’ll have ukulele flash mobs on Atlantic Avenue.”

For more information, contact Bonnie Stelzer at the Delray Beach Public Library, 266-9490, or visit Tavit Smith’s ukulele website at www.inbedbyten.weebly.com.

    In Highland Beach, three residents have expressed interest in running for two open seats. 

    Incumbent Mayor Bernard Featherman has taken out papers necessary to qualify for re-election as has incumbent Town Commissioner Dennis Sheridan. 

    Also taking out papers needed to get on the ballot is Rhoda Zelniker, who serves on the board of directors for the Regency Highland Condo Association and also is a member of the town’s Beaches & Shores Advisory Board. 

    Filing in Highland Beach officially opened on Jan. 28 and continues through Feb. 11.

— Rich Pollack