By Emily J. Minor 

    OCEAN RIDGE — Elizabeth L. Pettinicchi, a stay-home mom and grandmother with a propensity for kindness, acceptance and spending time with her kids and grandkids, died Oct. 21 at her home in Ocean Ridge. She was 87.

    “The main thing is, she was a very thoughtful, generous, positive person,” said her son, Robert Pettinicchi. “She was devoted to her family and friends.” 

    Born in 1926 in Waterbury, Conn., Mrs. Pettinicchi married her husband, Michael, just a month before her 22nd birthday. The couple moved 10 miles from her hometown to Cheshire, Conn., where Mrs. Pettinicchi worked as a stay-home mother until all three children were out of the house. “Her main focus was us and getting us on the right track,” her son said. 

    Robert Pettinicchi and his wife, Anna, have raised their three daughters in Cheshire and continue to live there. “She would do anything for those girls,” he said, of his three daughters, Jenna, Bianca and Elizabeth. 

    Robert Pettinicchi said his mother wasn’t fancy or showy. In 1980, as Michael Pettinicchi was wrapping up his career, Mrs. Pettinicchi found their home on Harbour Drive South in Ocean Ridge. They bought the home and had lived full-time in Florida ever since. 

    Michael Pettinicchi, who retired as a supermarket investor, became vocal in a few Ocean Ridge development issues and also dabbled in real estate, his son said. Mr. Pettinicchi died in 2011 at the age of 90. 

    But while her husband could be a bit outspoken, Mrs. Pettinicchi was the opposite. She loved staying home, talking to her granddaughters on the phone, and making food for special occasions. 

    “We would call her and tell her we’d booked a flight to come to Florida and she’d say, ‘OK. I’ll put the water on,’ ” her son said. 

    His parents’ retirement to Florida those 33 years ago gave the Pettinicchi children ample time to create family memories at their parents’ home near the ocean. The swimming pool was always alive with family activity during holidays and spring vacations. 

    When everyone came south for Thanksgiving, his mother would have the table set a week in advance, her son said. 

    Robert Pettinicchi said his mother, after surviving breast cancer many years ago, had a recurrence of cancer, which progressed quickly in the last three months. She died peacefully at home on a Monday morning, with her son, Michael, at her side. 

    Besides her three granddaughters and her sons Robert and Michael, her daughter, Diana Pettinicchi, also survives her. Services were held Oct. 26. The family asks that any memorial contributions be made to Hospice of Palm Beach, American Cancer Society or another charity of choice.

Cherokee purple tomatoes from Farmhouse Tomatoes, available at the West Palm Beach GreenMarket.

Photos by Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

Customers check out spices for sale at the Delray Beach GreenMarket.

Christy’s Bakery offers an array of pastries at the Lake Worth Farmers Market.

Farmhouse Tomatoes sells Cherokee purple, Gold Medal and Red Brandywine

heirloom tomatoes at the West Palm Beach GreenMarket.

INSET BELOW: Cherry gooey bar from Sherrie’s Breads from the Heart, Lake Worth Oceanside Market. 

By Jan Norris

    Area green markets kick off their season just in time for shoppers to check off their Thanksgiving Day lists. Everything from olives and pickles to pies and pastries, from farm-fresh turkey to the Tupperware to pack up the remains, can be found at the markets, where the majority of booths are locally owned.

    We went shopping at four markets to find more than enough to produce beautiful, bountiful tables, but those we list are just a few of hundreds of products available. Several vendors have booths at more than one market; their products are usually duplicated.

    Products vary from week to week as farmers bring in the most recent harvests and crops change, and other vendors change out their foods and goods to suit the markets.

    Many of the booths are small and have limited quantities. 

    Moral of the story: Hit the markets early or you may come up empty, especially the weekend before Thanksgiving.

    All the markets offer free admission and free parking. Vendors have bags, but we advise taking your own. Since all are outdoors, pack an umbrella, just in case.

Delray Beach GreenMarket

    Hit Farriss Farms, where fresh organic chickens are provided. This local farm is taking orders for fresh turkeys early in November, but for those who want a fat roast chicken or fryer instead, they’ll have them each week. 

    Shop JC’s Daily Bread — a Jensen Beach baker — for pull-apart baguettes, a bargain at $3 a loaf with  several varieties available. Their “Ode to Hippies” loaf, chock full of seven nuts, with cranberries, raisins and hemp, is toast-worthy for those guests who stay for breakfast.

    Both breads deserve fresh butter — get it from Heritage Hen Farms, where fresh eggs also are available to make the requisite deviled eggs. Owner Svetlana Simon encourages you to bring your own egg cartons to reuse.

    The pink grapefruit and orange marmalade at the Delray Beach Jam Co. booth has just enough pucker power to be a perfect foil to use as a turkey glaze (just wait to glaze the bird during the last 15 minutes of cooking). For a tasty dip, mix their orange-ginger Irish Whisky marmalade with soft farmer’s cheese or spoon it over baked brie.

    Get the pita chips for the dip from Inika Foods. Two sisters are putting themselves through college at this booth, and they pull an all-nighter to make their hummus and other foods to sell. They also offer a variety of gluten-free products.

    Alderman Farms is one of the oldest farming families in the area. Get your bitter greens, sweet potatoes, corn and carrots at this booth and talk to the vendor about their farming practices that were recognized in a Slow Foods seminar last year.

    Football games after turkey require some fresh dips and chip. Shop at Anita’s Guacamole for this crowd-pleaser. (Tip: Make guacamole-stuffed eggs for a twist on the usual.)

    At Cottage Garden Teas, pick up some unusual teas and package them with a teapot as a gift for your holiday host. 

    Think beyond the cup: Use tea to add to the liquids to cook grains like rice and quinoa for extra flavor; put a spoon of ginger tea in with the rice water, then serve it with fresh fish, for instance.

Lake Worth
Farmers Market

    At Sherrie’s Breads from the Heart, check out the fresh gingerbread loaves, or her pear-almond streusel. Both make nice host gifts or breakfast treats for visitors.

    Order holiday pies from Christy’s Bakery: Pumpkin and apple are standards available, but other flavors are possible as custom-made orders.

    The Gourmet Galaxy gang will offer pumpkin mousse and a pumpkin “dome” dessert — an upscale presentation for a dessert table that feeds a crowd. Squash and crab soups are available here, as well.

    Dress your table with the fun linens at FreshWare. Greenmarket manager Peter Robinson has created his own line of cotton linens made from vegetable and fruit prints. Table runners made of fabrics featuring peas, grapes, tomatoes and more or a bundle of cocktail napkins make a nice cook’s gift tied to a bottle of olive oil.

    Stumped on what to cook? Check out the used cookbooks at the Yart Sale booth; original artwork here also is tropical fun.

Boca Raton Green Market

    Shop for breads: We were taken by the chocolate Viennese loaf from LV Bakery of Oakland Park. A number of gluten-free cookies and other baked goods are available here.

    At Better Choice Products, you can choose artisan soaps and soy candles to take to your host, or have handy for guests.

    We like beeswax candles because they don’t drip or smoke. Get them, along with fresh honey, from the Bee Sweet booth here. Lotions for cook-weary hands also are a good choice.

    Need a centerpiece or last minute arrangement? See Dave Mayo at The Rock Garden, where a variety of exotic orchids and plants are sold. He will custom design on order.

    You’ll need to pack up the remains of the day’s feast. The Tupperware Booth women can advise. (Remember: Cooked foods need to be refrigerated after two hours max off the stove.)

West Palm Beach
GreenMarket

     The turkey cookies we found on a stick at Palm Beach Pastry are cute and make fun placeholders at the kiddie table. Gianna Miles takes custom orders — you can get “adult” cookie place cards from her, too, or a box of holiday cookies as a host gift.

    Everybody makes squash soup. Be different. For a tropical Thanksgiving table, consider conch salad as a first course. The cheery gals at Sisters in the Pot make an award-winning version. Bonus: You can order sweet potato pies at the booth, too — they’re famous in certain circles, especially made for the holidays.

    Freshly picked greens, often harvested the day before market, are available from Jodi Swank at Swank Farms. Fresh kale, cress, beets, carrots and turnips all come from the Loxahatchee farm, where they also invite chefs to cook on the farm. Ask about those dinners, open to the public.

    Fresh mushrooms for your soup or gravy can be bought in mixed groups at Oyster Island Mushrooms. The grower can explain the different types and flavors they sell. It’s a small booth, and quantities are limited, so this is a booth to hit early.

    Don’t forget your four-legged friends. Doggie snaps and treats made from all natural ingredients are sold at Dog Pack Snacks, and money raised here helps rescue dogs, as well.

    Farmhouse Tomatoes is one of the oldest green market vendors in the area. Heirloom tomatoes like Purple Cherokee and Gold Medal are grown hydroponically. Their taste is vastly superior to supermarket tomatoes; sample them at their booth. They hand out recipe cards, too: Check out the tomato soup one we picked up that would be a delicious starter course.

    If you have resolve and can avoid eating them before you get home, the Herbs d’ Provence olives from Pickled Pink will serve you several ways: 

    Put out the olives as a snack on your crudite tray. Use the oil as a bread dipping sauce, or in a pan to make croutons. It’s also fine as a drizzle over the tomato soup we list. Other olive flavors are available, as well as tapenade, another great pre-meal treat.

Deluxe cream of tomato soup

Use heirloom tomatoes, if possible.

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 small onion, finely chopped

2 celery ribs, finely chopped

4 large Florida tomatoes, peeled, cored, seeded and chopped

1 teaspoon sugar or to taste

2 cups vegetable or chicken broth

½ cup heavy cream

2 teaspoons chopped fresh dill weed

salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

Melt butter in a medium-size non-aluminum pan. Add the onion and celery and sauté gently over medium-low heat for 5 minutes, stirring often. Do not brown. Stir in the tomatoes and sugar. Simmer, covered, for 6 to 8 minutes, until tomatoes are soft.

Transfer the vegetables to a food processor and process to a smooth puree. Pour the puree back into the saucepan and stir in remaining ingredients. Heat the soup through, adjusting seasoning to taste. Serve hot.

Makes 4 to 6 servings.

(Recipe provided by Farmhouse Tomatoes.)

Get your green on!

• Boca Raton Green Market, Saturdays at Royal Palm Place southwest parking lot. 8 a.m.-1 p.m.; 368-6875 or www.ci.boca-raton.fl.us. 

• Delray Beach GreenMarket, Saturdays at Old School Square Park, Northeast Second Avenue, one block north of Atlantic Avenue. 9 a.m.-2 p.m.; 276-7511 or www.delraycra.org. 

• Pompano Beach Green Market, Saturdays at Flagler Avenue and Northeast First Street, Pompano Beach. 8 a.m.-1 p.m.; (954) 782-3015 or www.pompanohistory.com/phc/market. 

• Green Market @ FAU, Thursdays at the FAU Stadium Plaza, 777 Glades Road, Boca Raton. 10 a.m.-2 p.m.; free parking; 297-0197 or www.fau.edu/missiongreen.

• Lake Worth Farmers Market, Saturdays at Old Bridge Park, northeast corner of A1A and Lake Avenue, in Lake Worth. 8 a.m.-1 p.m.; 547-3100 or www.lakeworthfarmersmarket.com. 

• West Palm Beach GreenMarket, Saturdays at 101 S. Flagler Drive, West Palm Beach. 9 a.m.-1 p.m.; 822-1520 or www.wpb.org.

Tips for green market shopping

• Get there early for the best and freshest foods. Most booths are small and can run out of products. At closing times, many slash prices on leftover prepared foods.

• Bring cash. Some vendors take cards, others don’t.

• Bring your own shopping bag or a folding cart to make browsing easier. 

• Get business cards from the vendors you like and ask to make sure they’ll be returning. 

• Many vendors take requests or custom orders — even for produce or baked goods. Some will even deliver.

• Some will sample their products if you ask.

• By law, food products must have labels with ingredients. Some small vendors bake from their homes — also legal. Ask the vendor about their foods if you’re wary or have serious food allergies; many produce foods in kitchens where products not listed on a label, such as nuts, will be handled.

• Before taking a dog or other animal to a market, find out if they’re allowed, then act responsibly as the handler. Don’t allow them in the booths with foods, and clean up after your pet.

Scott Dingle (back row, from left), Pastor Andy Hagen, Susan Hagen and Debbie Dingle were among

the Advent Lutheran Church team who visited Good Shepherd Church and School in a Mumbai slum.

It was part of a mission against sexual slavery.

Photo provided

Rabbi Ruvi New of Chabad of East Boca pedals a tricycle with a portable sukkah attached to the rear.

Photo provided

Members of First Presbyterian Church of Delray Beach participated in the Oct. 13 End Hunger Walk,

CROS Ministries’ 19th-annual 5K fundraiser along Flagler Drive in West Palm Beach,

which attracted more than 330 participants who raised almost $24,000 for such programs as

The Caring Kitchen and the Delray Beach Food Pantry.

Photo provided

At St. Vincent Ferrer Catholic Church’s Oct. 3 Blessing of the Pets,

Charlotte Donelan has her toy pet blessed during the afternoon service

after having both of her living pets blessed in a morning service.

Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

By Tim Pallesen 

    After climbing the highest mountains to draw attention to the travesty of sexual slavery, Debbie Dingle and her pastor met with the young girls who need to be rescued.

    “We felt it was time to come down from the mountain to the valley where the darkness is,” said the Rev. Andrew Hagen of Advent Lutheran Church in Boca Raton.

    Dingle and her husband, Scott, are back from India, where they traveled with Hagen and his wife, Susan, to reach out to the “untouchables” whose daughters are victims.

    Advent’s mission against sexual slavery began last year when Dingle climbed Mount Kilimanjaro to raise money for Operation Mobilization, a worldwide Christian ministry with 6,100 workers who rescue women from prostitution and exploitation. She climbed Mount Everest in April.

    The India trip was a fact-finding mission to witness the need among the “untouchables” and report back to Boca Raton how Christians can help.

    “It was the experience of joining with our Lord who reached out and touched the lepers whom society had turned their backs on,” Susan Hagen said. “Nobody is outside the fold and unworthy of being brought back in.”

    Watch for more fundraisers to support the India rescue effort. “Our goal is to get another shelter,” Dingle said. “We really want to take this message further into the Boca Raton community.”

                                              ***

    The first Feed My Community event was a weighty success.

    Billed as the “largest food collection drive ever in South Palm Beach County,” the event brought in 43,000 pounds of food to feed the poor.

    Feed My Community began as a good cause by volunteers at First United Methodist Church, but soon grew to include many others who collected food in Boca Raton and Delray Beach.

    “We formed really good partnerships with other churches, schools and civic organizations and we’re hoping they will grow,” the Rev. Tom Tift said.

    More than 350 volunteers sorted food donations for distribution to the Caring Kitchen operated by CROS Ministries, Boca Helping Hands, the Jacobson Family Food Pantry and the Palm Beach County Food Bank.

    “Whether this was the largest is questionable,” Tift said, noting the annual food drive by mail carriers. “It’s hard to compete with the Post Office.”

    Feed My Community organizers hope to collect 75,000 pounds of food next year.

                                               ***

    The Caring Kitchen also got a boost Oct. 13 when 380 volunteers raised $24,000 in the 19th annual End Hunger Walk for CROS Ministries. 

    Each walker raised a minimum of $100 and brought donations of peanut butter and canned tuna. 

    Christians Reaching Out to Society operates six community food pantries plus the Caring Kitchen, which serves hot meals for the poor and homeless in Delray Beach.

                                               ***

    The newest cause for a walkathon is the Celebrating Marriage and Family Prayer Walk set for Nov. 9 in Boca Raton.

    Walkers from a dozen churches have signed up after their pastors became concerned about the county’s high divorce rate. Organizers are foster care workers who witness the effects of family distress.

    The walk begins at Boca Raton Christian School at 10 a.m. Saturday and goes to Sanborn Square to hear music and speakers. Freewill donations go to the foster care agency 4Kids of South Florida.

    Contact Kelly McVey at 391-2727, Ext. 350, or  mcveyk@bocachristian.org for more information.

                                               ***

    Ruvi New, the rabbi of Chabad of East Boca, shared a universal message as he peddled a tricycle with his portable sukkah around town.

    Jews around the world live in a temporary hut with an open roof after Yom Kippur each year. The open roof to heaven reminds believers that they are always under the watchful eye of God and in need of his protection.

    Mobile sukkahs were built on trailers and pickup trucks before huts on tricycles became a hit in New York City four years ago. “East Boca has kind of an urban vibe to it,” New said. “This is the perfect blend of tradition and innovation.”

    The rabbi invited local Jews on the street to shake a palm branch, myrtle twigs, willow branches and the etrog fruit to symbolize the coming together of different people. 

    After the holiday, he reported that peddling a portable sukkah was great exercise: “It’s the ultimate body and soul workout.”

                                               ***

    Faith Farm is teaming with Waste Management to manufacture organic compost and potting mixes.

    Faith Farm Ministries was the county’s first major nonprofit to rehabilitate recovering alcoholics with work assignments when it opened west of Boynton Beach in 1951. 

    The ministry now has 445 beds at three locations. Initiatives to raise money for Faith Farm’s recovery program include thrift stores, citrus, cattle, dairy calves, recycling and farming. 

    The newest initiative makes organic compost using food scraps and yard trimmings to manufacture soil mixes for the landscape and garden markets under the brand name Organic Valley.

    Recovering alcoholics and drug addicts package the soil mixes, while their Christian counselors help them overcome their addictions. They are trained for occupations to get jobs when they complete their counseling.

                                             ***

    Thanksgiving Day this year also is the first day of Chanukah.

    That concurrence is not likely to be repeated in our lifetimes.

    To go along with that, Chabad of South Palm Beach is trying for a Guinness World Record for the World’s Most Valuable Dreidel.

    The dreidel is a four-sided spinning top that is central to the history and observance of Chanukah. Pedro Moldanado, a jeweler, sculptor and owner of Jewelry Artisans in Manalapan, will be creating the dreidel with precious metal and gemstone jewelry donated by community members. Donations of jewelry should be made before Nov. 15. All donations are tax deductible.

    A holiday party to that will include latkes, jelly doughnuts, festive music, a grand menorah lighting and the record-breaking dreidel attempt is set for 5 p.m. Dec. 1 at Plaza Del Mar in Manalapan. Participants can have their photo taken with the dreidel. 

    There is no charge to participate and all are welcome.

    Call 351-1633 for information or to schedule a jewelry pickup.

Tim Pallesen writes about people of faith, their congregations, causes and community events. Email him at tcpallesen@aol.com.

A  statue of Pan  playing his flute greets visitors

at the main entrance to the gardens.

Swamp lillies in bloom in the county’s only cypress stand east of the Intracoastal Waterway.

The leaves of a saw palmetto generate from the bud of the plant.

BELOW, INSET LEFT: The caterpillar of a monarch butterfly dines on the leaf of a milkweed plant.

BELOW, INSET RIGHT: When the seedpod of the milkweed matures, it releases seeds that drift away on silky filaments.

Photos by Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

By Deborah Hartz-Seeley

   Step through the metal gates on which bronze ivy entwines steel bars. Just inside, you can’t miss the bronze statue of the mythical god Pan, who protects shepherds and flocks.

    Playing a reed flute, he stands against a hedge of Florida privet with his feet atop miniature dolphins. They spout water into a half-moon shaped pool dotted with native lily pads. 

    Welcome to Pan’s Garden.  It was established in 1994 by the Preservation Foundation of Palm Beach on a half-acre that once held a derelict house and parking lot.

    “Today the garden provides a green open space between the upscale shopping on Worth Avenue and the more residential areas nearby,” explains Daniele Garson, who has been garden director since 1998. 

    It also provides visitors the opportunity to see how native Florida plants can be used in the landscape. It features more than 300 native species.

    The garden is divided into a wetlands area complete with a manmade aerated pond; an uplands area, created with the dirt removed to make the pond and Florida capstone; and an open-air pavilion surrounded by educational plant beds.

    Garson uses these to demonstrate how native plants can be used to add a little color to your garden. Of course, they are never as showy as exotics, but currently these beds are planted with Indian blanket. Their orange and yellow flowers attract butterflies and bees.

    The garden is hidden from the street behind a hedge of nicely trimmed simpson stoppers. They replace waxy myrtles that used to hem the garden, but many were blown down in 2004 when Hurricane Frances swept across the island.

    Today, plenty of red salvia, fire bush, torch wood, tropical milkweed, corky stem passion vine and native porter weed attract butterflies. And Garson has also seen a fox, raccoons and birds including water fowl and a red-shouldered hawk attracted by the native plants.

    Even in the heat of the day, this garden is graced with a gentle sea breeze. And there’s plenty of shade under the live oaks. One of them was brought to the park on a flatbed from Central Florida. Today it towers 50 feet above you. Below it the Elliot’s love grass seems to sparkle when hit by a ray of sun.

    Stroll the cypress-mulch and faux coquina paths and you’ll spot plenty of other natives including salt-tolerant dahoon holly with its bright red berries and the lignum vitae with its sunny yellow pods open to expose bright red seeds inside.

    Stop a minute to enjoy the Casa Apava wall, a historic fountain that forms the western side of the garden. Rescued from a 1920s estate on South Ocean Boulevard, it is made from coquina and features steps covered in royal blue, mustard and sea foam green tiles over which water flows.

    In the wetland area, swamp roses and swamp hibiscus with five-petal pink, white or red flowers grow near the pond. There also are two satin leafs that are volunteers grown from seed. Their leaves are green on top and iron-red below so they seem to change color in the breeze.

    Both the pickerelweed and bent alligator flag, which is related to banana, take a dip in the water before sending out their purple flowers. Nearby a bald cypress tree gets its feet wet as it extends its knees. 

    Ask Garson about her favorite spot in Pan’s Garden and she’ll tell you it’s sitting on one of the wooden benches near this pond. “You can see the reflection of the water bouncing off the leaves, and I find it to be very tranquil,” she says. 

Deborah S. Hartz-Seeley is a certified master gardener who can be reached at debhartz@att.net when she’s not in her garden. 

Dr. Andrew Turkell works with Midnight at the hyperbaric oxygen chamber at Calusa Veterinary.

Libby Volgyes/The Coastal Star

    Although Roco, a 3-pound Yorkie-poodle mix, and Midnight, a 40-pound Labrador retriever mix, have never met, they share one commonality: Both owe their lives to Dr. Andrew Turkell, veterinarian and owner of the Calusa Veterinary Center in Boca Raton.

    While playing with Max, a Sheltie mix, inside his Vero Beach home in late August, Roco spilled down the stairs, slammed his head against the wooden molding and became unconscious. 

    “He was lifeless,” recalls owner Kelli George of her 3-year-old Roco. “His eyes were bulging out of his skull. He wasn’t moving and he was barely breathing.”

    Kelli and her husband, Scott, rushed Roco to their veterinarian who quickly determined Roco was in critical condition and required advanced care at an emergency veterinary clinic in Fort Pierce. There, he was placed in an oxygen tank to assist his breathing.

    But after two days and a bill totaling $1,300, the couple ran out of money. They were desperate to find a veterinarian willing to help save Roco’s life.

    In her research, Kelli George discovered Turkell, a veteran in veterinary medicine and a pioneer in using hyperbaric oxygen therapy.  When the Georges brought Roco into the clinic, the dog was barely breathing.

    Turkell quickly assessed him and placed him in the hyperbaric chamber. Roco stayed under his care for five weeks (with a couple weekend trips home). Today, Roco is blind in his left eye, but regained his hearing and is back to his playful self.

    “I promise you that Roco would not have lived if he hadn’t received the hyperbaric oxygen therapy from Dr. Turkell,” says Kelli George. “If Dr. Turkell had not taken in Roco that day he wouldn’t have survived because we had no other treatment options. Roco became the poster pup for hyperbaric chamber therapy and Dr. Turkell performed all the treatments for free. He saved Roco’s life.”

    Midnight is the current miracle dog who received daily hyperbaric oxygen treatments at the Calusa Veterinary Center for about two months. 

    “Midnight is about 2 years old and a Labrador cross who was found in Miami. This stray had been maliciously burned and left to die,” recalls Turkell. “The local humane society (Justin Bartlett Rescue) brought her to me. Midnight’s body was about 40 percent burned, but after 35 treatments over the past six weeks inside the hyperbaric chamber, Midnight is 99 percent healed.”

    During this recovery time, Midnight’s sweet temperament and trusting nature emerged. Turkell’s goal is to completely heal Midnight and assist in finding him a loving, permanent home. And he succeeded.

    “Midnight came to us on death’s door — someone had poured acid on him and set him afire,” says Dr. Turkell. “I knew that hyperbaric oxygen therapy would make a difference because burns really respond to this treatment.”

    On Oct. 23, this recovered dog was adopted by Nancy O’N eil of Wellington, who quickly renamed her Hope. O’Neil was caring for her mom diagnosed with terminal lung cancer when she saw the report about this dog on the rescue site and felt an immediate connection.

    “I felt a connection to this dog I couldn’t explain,” says O’Neil. “She was suffering so much and my family was suffering so much due to my mom’s cancer. While my mom was in hospice care, I would ive updates on this dog’s recovery to her and would tell her that I hoped to get her. I had high hopes. The word, hope kept coming up in my conservations, so it seemed fitting to name her Hope.”

    Dr. Turkell hosted an adoption party for Hope and O’Neil in his clinic on Oct. 23.

    “She was a sick, dying, skittish animal when she arrived and she left us a well-adjusted, people-oriented, beautiful pet,” notes Dr. Turkell. “For Nancy, who recently lost her mom, one angel left and another angel came into her life.”     Welcome to the high-tech age of veterinary medicine. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy has been employed on people for more than 20 years, but is now just being introduced in veterinary medicine. 

    Here’s how it works: An injured or sick animal is placed inside the hyperbaric chamber to receive 100 percent oxygen flow to tissues. Inside, a dog or cat is safely and painlessly able to absorb up to four times the normal amount of oxygen, benefiting organs, tissues and body fluids.

    Treatments, on average, take about an hour. Inside this ‘den-like’ chamber, many pets relax and often fall asleep, so sedation is rarely necessary.

    HBOT is effective in reducing inflammation to hasten post-surgical recovery and to ease arthritic pain or address difficult-to-heal wounds. It is used on pets with hypoxia (too little oxygen) who swallowed water in near drowning or inhaled smoke in house fires. It is being used to enhance tissue oxygenation for pets with pancreatitis, spinal cord lesions, cardiac conditions and certain types of cancer, including leukemia and lymphoma. And, it is used on pets undergoing rehabilitation to regain mobility after surgery to repair torn ligaments as well as recover from snake or spider bites.

    Turkell, who has been practicing veterinary medicine for more than three decades, has always been interested in alternative therapies that could complement traditional veterinary medicine. Already credentialed in stem cell therapy, Turkell is among the first veterinarians to use HBOT in his practice. 

    He credits a client named Edgar Otto who brought in his yellow Labrador named Lancelot Encore for introducing him to HBOT. Together, they have formed a company called Hyperbaric Veterinary Medicine that places these chambers in veterinary hospitals all around the country. In lieu of paying upfront for these chambers, veterinary clinics provide HVM a portion of the revenues generated by using these chambers.

    The treatments, on average, cost about $165 with discounts available for purchasing multisession packages. HBOT is now covered by some pet insurance companies.

    To date, Turkell has performed more than 1,200 treatments at the Calusa Veterinary Center.

    He marvels at the miracles he is able to perform on dogs like Roco and Midnight who might not have been saved a few years ago.  “HBOT has really revolutionized veterinary medicine,” he says. 

Arden Moore, founder of FourLeggedLife.com, is an animal behavior consultant, editor, author, professional speaker and master certified pet first aid instructor. Each week, she hosts the popular Oh Behave! show on PetLifeRadio.com. Learn more by visiting www.fourleggedlife.com.

In the studio (l-r): Parkinson’s Foundation volunteer Heidi Rosenberg tells radio listeners

about her fundraising venture Pretzels for Parkinson’s while Stuart Perlin,

Dr. Cenk Sengun and Jeff Dowd look on.

Paula Detwiller/The Coastal Star

By Paula Detwiller

    Parkinson’s disease has made its way into the national conversation thanks to the openness and advocacy of public figures diagnosed with the disease: Muhammad Ali, Michael J. Fox, Billy Graham, Janet Reno and, most recently, Linda Ronstadt.

    Now the disease has made its way onto local talk radio. Volunteers Jeff Dowd and Stuart Perlin host the Parkinson’s Radio Hour at 8 a.m. every Saturday on WBZT-AM 1230 in West Palm Beach.

    “We thought it would be a great way to focus attention on the Parkinson’s community and help them improve their quality of life,” says Dowd, a financial adviser from Boca Raton and board member of the South Palm Beach County chapter of the National Parkinson Foundation. Perlin, his co-host, is a retired Boca Raton insurance executive who serves as executive director of the chapter.

    A main message of the talk show is that while there’s no cure for Parkinson’s, its progression can be slowed — and there is hope on the horizon. The program debuted Oct. 5 with in-studio guests Dr. Cenk Sengun, a neurologist with offices in Boca Raton and Miami who discussed the latest Parkinson’s medications and their potential side effects, and foundation board member Heidi Rosenberg, who raises money for Parkinson’s research through her nonprofit corporation, Pretzels for Parkinson’s. 

    Perlin weighed in with information about exercise, speech therapy, yoga and tai chi classes offered by the foundation, along with a plug for the chapter’s annual “Moving Day” fundraiser scheduled for Nov. 10 in Boca Raton.

    “We raised $77,000 last year, and our goal is to double that amount this year,” Perlin told listeners.

    For Dowd, 60, and Perlin, 53, Parkinson’s is personal. Both watched it slowly erode the quality of life of one of their parents. “When I was 10, I was playing baseball with my dad and he tripped over the bag,” says Perlin. “I asked him what happened and he said, ‘My legs didn’t listen to me.’ That was 1970. He wasn’t diagnosed until 1983. He lived 35 years with Parkinson’s.”

    Dowd’s mother had been an active schoolteacher and guidance counselor, only to be diagnosed with Parkinson’s the year she retired.

    “My stepfather ended up taking care of her for 16 years. After he passed, she began to get dementia and we put her in a nursing home. She had pneumonia 15 times. She died last year, at 78,” Dowd says.

    Perlin says the talk show represents the right communications forum at the right time in the right place. First of all, most Parkinson’s patients are in the demographic that still listens to AM radio. Secondly, a full 10 percent of the U.S. population with Parkinson’s disease lives in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties.

    “That’s scary,” he says, but quickly points out that this region also holds great promise for finding a cure.

    “Between Scripps, Max Planck, Sanford-Burnham and all the biotech researchers, South Florida is one of the leading medical research corridors in the world — and it is our intention to explore any and all areas of Parkinson’s education and research on our show.”

To listen, tune your radio to AM 1230, or (for the best reception in the South County area) listen online at www.wbzt.com. Find the local chapter of the National Parkinson Foundation at www.npfsouth palmbeach.org.

IF YOU GO

What: Moving Day Boca Raton: An annual fundraising walk to benefit the National Parkinson Foundation and its South Palm Beach County Chapter.

When: 8 a.m. Nov. 10.

Where: FAU Stadium. Teams of walkers will do laps around the perimeter while volunteers inside the stadium host exercise activities, entertainment, and information-sharing at the “Moving Pavilion.” 

Cost: Free and open to the public. Breakfast and lunch items available.

For more information: www.movingdaybocaraton.org.

Paula Detwiller is a freelance writer and lifelong fitness junkie. Visit her at www.pdwrites.com.

Karen Rembert’s teaching style has made her one of the region’s top coaches and instructors. She is tennis director at Eau Palm Beach Resort and Spa.

Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Steve Pike

    Karen Rembert isn’t your ordinary tennis instructor. Yes, she’s got the tan, the lithe body and the bright smile, but she also has a devotion to teaching and a unique teaching style that’s helped make her one of the more respected tennis coaches and instructors in the Southeast.

    Here's why: “I teach more of a ‘games’ approach,” said Rembert, who this past August became tennis director at the Eau Palm Beach Resort and Spa (formerly The Ritz-Carlton, Palm Beach) in Manalapan. 

    “I hate watching students standing in a line, hitting two balls and going to end of line. That absolutely drives me crazy. If I see another pro doing it, I just cringe. I know the kids — or adults — aren’t having fun. So as soon as possible we get into a ‘live ball’ approach. Very rarely will you see a clinic or lesson of mine just feeding balls to students.”

    A certified USPTA professional, Rembert came to Eau Palm Beach Resort & Spa from Amelia Island, where she taught part-time and coached the high school tennis team. Previous to Amelia Island, Rembert spent eight years at the Club at Coco Bay in Costa Rica. She and her husband, Julian, along with other partners, own the Coco Bay resort community in Guanacaste.

    “I made him build me a tennis club,” Rembert said with a smile. 

    That’s not surprising given her lifelong attachment to tennis, which she began playing at the age of 7 under the tutelage of her father, Keith Rothschild. He was a well-known tennis professional in North Carolina, and now lives in Naples with her mother, Brenda.

    “He still plays three or four times a week,” Rembert said.

    Rothschild allowed his daughter to keep her two-fisted approach from each side of her body and she became one of the top female players in the South. Rembert was the North Carolina State independent high school singles and doubles champion in 1985 and a two-time N.C. State 25 doubles champion.

    Rembert graduated from Presbyterian College in 1990 with a degree in business administration. She holds a master’s degree in sports administration from East Carolina University.

    From 1991 to ’93, Rembert was head professional at Raleigh Racquet Club, and from 1993-2005 tennis director and teaching professional at North Hills Club in Raleigh.

    Rembert’s goal at Eau Palm Beach Resort & Spa is basically the same as at her previous facilities. That is, build strong programs for juniors and adults regardless of their skill levels.

    “My favorite thing to do is take the beginner — whatever age — and make them into a tennis player,” Rembert said. “That’s why I’m so fortunate that I don’t get burned out.  I just love being out there teaching.

    “My vision is to have junior academies and camps and have a men’s weekend and maybe combine it with a golf outing. 

    A lot of the tennis teams I taught in North Carolina and Amelia Island want to come down here, so I want to do a spa weekend and incorporate tennis into that.

    “We’ll be hitting the Northeast market (with marketing) and with the professional tournaments coming down here in February, we want to get them involved, too.”

Dec. 2: Twenty celebrity bakers will compete for the grand prize trophy during a night

filled with unlimited desserts and pastries — all to benefit Dezzy’s Second Chance Animal Rescue Inc.

Time is 6-9 pm. Tickets are $30/advance and $35/door.

Call 954-588-7045 or www.dezzyssecondchance.com.

Photo provided

By Rich Pollack

    It has been on Highland Beach’s wish list since 2005,  and now it seems like the ball is finally rolling on plans to renovate a disjointed Town Hall and Police Department, with the goal of improving efficiency and making it easier to get from one end of the building to the other.

    Last month, Highland Beach town commissioners gave the green light to move toward hiring a construction manager for the estimated $825,000 renovations to the Police Department and outdated commission chambers. 

    The town is putting together a request for qualifications that it hopes to issue before the end of the month. Once a project manager is selected and a contract agreement is reached, renovations to Town Hall can begin. 

    Construction is expected to begin in the spring of next year and should take about six months, according to architect Mark Marsh of Bridges Marsh & Associates. 

    Town Hall now consists of two buildings, separated by a breezeway. While administrative offices and some Police Department spaces are in the north building, commission chambers and other police offices are in the south building,

    Marsh says the new plans unite the two buildings while upgrading the commission chambers and putting all Police Department functions under one roof.

    “The goal is to work within the existing building envelope to rearrange the available space to be more efficient,” Marsh said. Plans also call for an upgrade to restrooms to make them more accessible to the disabled.

    The idea of renovating buildings and making more room for the Police Department first surfaced in the 2005-2006 budget, according to town officials, but it was later withdrawn. The project continued to be discussed and was placed in the budget in 2010, but again funding never was made available.

    New life was breathed into the project in 2012 when the town hired Marsh to draw up plans. Town commissioners, however, delayed the project again last year during the budgeting process. 

    The current commission, in passing the 2013-2014 budget, agreed to take the estimated $825,000 for the project from reserve funds, leaving the town with $2.8 million in reserves.  

    Town officials hope to replenish those reserves with $3.5 million expected from a pending sale of town-owned land in Boca Raton — once used for water treatment facility — to a private developer. 

    The sale hit a snag earlier this month, however, when town officials and lawyers for the developer discovered an amendment to Boca Raton’s comprehensive land use plan would be needed to switch the use of the property from government utility to residential. 

    The process, according to Town Attorney Glen Torcivia, could take several additional months.

    “We have every reason to believe the sale will close but it may not happen until early spring,” Torcivia said.

    Town officials say delay of the land sale should not have an impact on the Town Hall renovation project.

By Rich Pollack

    Flo Furino and her husband, Frank, needed to get away from the noise coming from their balcony, as workers chipped away at the concrete.

    Their aging building at the Coronado Ocean Club in Highland Beach — like many other buildings in town — was suffering from the wear and tear of time, and repair efforts were under way.

    “The noise was terrible,” Flo Furino said. “We couldn’t stand it.”

    It turned out the noise was the least of their worries. Shortly after the Furinos left home, a high-pressure cable on the balcony snapped, sending concrete flying through the sliding glass door and throughout the entire home. 

    Fearing for their safety, the Furinos and other residents of the Coronado packed Highland Beach Town Commission chambers last month, hoping for some help in making sure no more accidents occur.

    “Someone could have been killed,” Furino says.

    What the residents discovered, however, is that town officials’ hands are tied when it comes to complaints between homeowners and contractors.

    After listening for more than an hour, Town Attorney Glen Torcivia told commissioners the issue needs to be resolved by the condo association’s board of directors, the contractor it hired and the engineer responsible for oversight.

    While the town couldn’t directly help residents, Commissioner Carl Feldman believes there is a benefit to having the issue brought before the commission.

    “We brought it out in the open and facilitated getting the engineer, the manager and the contractor talking to residents,” he said. “Hopefully this situation will help other condominiums that are having the same work done be better prepared.” 

    During the meeting, a representative of the Coronado’s board of directors told commissioners the association is aware of residents’ concerns and is working with all involved to keep residents’ safety the priority while work is being done. 

    Residents and representatives from the association also told commissioners that inspectors from the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration also had been to the construction site, but a report has not yet been filed.

    In a letter to commissioners and Mayor Bernard Featherman, Flo Furino said she was concerned that the town’s building official, Mike Desorcy, wasn’t more responsive to residents once he was contacted.

    But while residents would like to see the town oversee the job, Desorcy said oversight of such projects falls on the shoulders of the contractor and engineer hired by the condominium association.   

    “We are a review agency,” Desorcy said. “The role of the building inspector is to go out and make sure that work complies with the building codes. At the end of the day, the engineer sends me a certificate of compliance certifying that the work has been done per code and per specifications.”

By Rich Pollack

    Highland Beach town officials have pushed the hold button on plans to change the way 911 calls are handled — at least until Delray Beach decides whether or not to have Palm Beach County take over that city’s fire and rescue services.

    This summer, Highland Beach officials approved a plan to switch dispatch services from the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office to Delray Beach, in an effort to eliminate redundancies and streamline the process.

    Currently, all 911 calls from Highland Beach are handled by the Sheriff’s Office. Because fire and rescue service in Highland Beach is provided by Delray Beach Fire-Rescue, however, calls must be transferred by the county operators to Delray Beach fire-rescue dispatchers.

    Under the proposed plan, Delray Beach dispatchers would receive all 911 calls from Highland Beach, eliminating the need for transfers. 

    Highland Beach Police Chief Craig Hartmann said contract negotiations for dispatch service with Delray Beach had been under way but now are being postponed until Delray Beach decides if it will transfer fire rescue services to the county. Police calls are dispatched directly by the Sheriff’s Office.

    “Our goal is to have one dispatch center for all our public safety calls so we can better serve our residents,” Hartmann said. 

    Hartmann said that Delray’s study could take several months until a decision is made, so the town will continue to have dispatch services provided by the county. 

    “We don’t want to be in a position where we make changes to better serve our residents and then have to make changes again a short time later,” he said. 

    While dispatch negotiations are on hold, Highland Beach is currently renegotiating its existing contract with Delray Beach for fire and rescue services.

    Highland Beach Town Attorney Glen Torcivia said the town is proposing language in the new agreement that would enable it to back out of the contract should Delray Beach decide to have Palm Beach County take over its fire and rescue services.

By Steve Plunkett

    A months-long campaign of phone calls, emails and other gentle arm-twisting yielded a last-minute budget success for the Downtown Library: $60,000 for a new program services position.

    Deputy Mayor Susan Haynie proposed adding the full-time library employee at the Sept. 24 final budget hearing after she and city council member Constance Scott found themselves amid a standing-room-only crowd at a recent Clyde Butcher photo exhibit.

    “The current staff was really scrambling around to do it,” Haynie said. “There’s a huge public desire to attend such programming.”

    Betty Grinnan, chair of the Library Advisory Board, was pleased to win the extra position. She, the board and the volunteer Friends of the Library started campaigning last spring to get $380,000 in past library budget cuts restored.

    "All that effort produced something,” Grinnan said. “It’s a small bit of what we asked for, but it’s a beginning.”

    Haynie also wanted to cut a $23,400 contribution to the Children’s Museum, which received a $125,000 bailout from the council in July, and give $10,000 each to the Faulk Center for Counseling and to Ruth Rales Jewish Family Service.

    “All one has to do is look at all the tragedies that have occurred recently due to lack of mental health care in our society, so I think those are very worthwhile costs,” Haynie said.

    Council members Anthony Majhess and Michael Mullaugh argued it would be unfair to cut the museum’s money because no one warned the nonprofit that the bailout would endanger its annual grant. Council members decided to give the museum $20,000 and take the Faulk and Ruth Rales contributions from reserves.

    Thirty-one other nonprofits received the same grant awards as this year.

    The budget tweaks did not change what is now the city’s final property tax rate, $3.72 per $1,000 of taxable value, the same rate as this year. 

    Because property values rose, property owners will pay 2.7 percent more on average.

    City Manager Leif Ahnell, for example, will pay 1.9 percent more in city taxes, or $28, for a total $1,522. Last year he paid $1,494. His property’s taxable value rose under Save Our Homes even though its assessed value dropped 2.4 percent, to $541,730.

    Boca Raton takes about 19 percent of a property owner’s overall tax bill. Palm Beach County, in comparison, collects roughly 24 percent and the school district almost 41 percent.

By Steve Plunkett

    Work on a fifth “view window” along State Road A1A will soon give landlubbers — especially those in the Yacht & Racquet Club of Boca Raton — a better look at the Atlantic.

    The Yacht & Racquet condo association will trim sea grapes bordering A1A between the complex and the ocean and replace exotic vegetation with native plants. The Boca Raton City Council approved the project Sept. 10; work cannot begin until sea turtle nesting season ends Oct. 31.

    Under permits issued by the state’s departments of Transportation and Environmental Protection, the Yacht & Racquet Club will have native sea grapes trimmed to make a 430-foot-wide corridor across from its complex at 2711 N. Ocean Blvd.

    Sea grape and exotic vegetation will be removed entirely in a 30-foot-wide strip bordering the highway. In an adjacent, 15-foot-wide strip the sea grape will be trimmed from an average 22 feet in height down to 4 feet above the roadway. The condo’s contractor will plant sea grape, saw palmetto, nicker bean, sea oat, panic grass and beach sunflower in the next strips extending to 100 feet from A1A.

    Exotic invasive plants including Brazilian pepper, Australian pine, sanseveria, wedelia and beach naupaka will be eradicated from the dune system within the corridor and also on 0.49 acres next to it, the permit says.

    The Yacht & Racquet Club will have to work with the San Remo Club condominium, which lies between it and Spanish River Park, to make sure lights from the neighboring complex do not adversely affect sea turtles, the Department of Environmental Protection said.

    Boca Raton, which last year opened three view corridors across from Spanish River Park and one farther north, has so far seen no change in turtle hatchling disorientation and only a slight increase in false crawls, Jennifer Bistyga, the city’s coastal program manager, said.

    “Sky glow is just the biggest concern, both within and without the view corridors,” she said.

    The Yacht & Racquet Club applied for state permits in September 2012 and received the DEP and FDOT approvals in June. Boca Raton, in contrast, spent 18 months getting the OK to trim its corridors, partly because the regulatory agencies knew private-sector requests would follow, Bistyga said.

    “Ours was kind of the guinea pig,” she said. “We went back and forth a lot with the department. Everybody wanted to make sure we did it right.”

    Boca Raton spent $400,000 for its corridors.

By Steve Plunkett

    The city’s workers are now protected against discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity or expression, just like their counterparts in Palm Beach County government, the town of Palm Beach and Wal-Mart stores nationwide.

    Only one resident spoke at the Sept. 10 public hearing. Bill Whiting said someone egged his house for the first time in his 32 years here after he emailed Boca Raton City Council members not to listen to the Palm Beach County Human Rights Council, to him “an elitist, out-of-town political lobby,” which sought the changes.

    “This isn’t an issue about fairness or human rights. It is an attempt to pervert an age-old reverence for families that’s universally recognized as a cornerstone of society,” Whiting said.

    Council members thought otherwise.

    “With pride and respect for the city of Boca Raton employees and someone who was not unduly influenced or pressured but proud to bring forward these ordinances, I’m going to make a motion to adopt Ordinance 5250,” council member Constance Scott said.

    “Basically these ordinances and this resolution provide equal treatment and benefits for our city employees, and I think it’s the right thing to do,” Deputy Mayor Susan Haynie said.

    Council member Anthony Majhess, who joined the unanimous vote on the anti-discrimination measure, opposed giving insurance and other benefits to domestic partners of municipal workers because of the money involved.

    “Eighty-three percent of Palm Beach County’s domestic partnerships or participants that receive benefits are heterosexual. And I don’t believe that was [Human Rights Council President] Rand Hoch’s or Constance’s intent,” Majhess said.

    Mark Buckingham, the city’s human resources director, told council members earlier this year that extending benefits to domestic partners could cost $155,000 to $180,000 each year if 2 percent of the employees sign up.

    The nonprofit, nongovernmental Human Rights Council started lobbying Boca Raton last fall after City Council members refused to sign a $1.2 million hazardous waste cleanup agreement because it included an LGBT-inclusive nondiscrimination clause.

    In August, the Palm Beach Town Council voted to offer health and dental insurance and other benefits to domestic partners starting Jan. 1. Town staff had recommended against extending benefits because of its extra $72,510-a-year cost.

    Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the largest U.S. employer outside of the federal government, also announced in August it will offer health insurance and vision care to domestic partners of U.S. employees starting next year.

By Ron Hayes

    Sept. 10 was a very good day for Rand Hoch.

    That morning, the Palm Beach County Commission voted unanimously to reimburse county employees for the federal tax they pay when adding an unmarried partner to the county health plan. The vote was unanimous.
    That evening, the Palm Beach Gardens City Council agreed to offer health insurance benefits to its employees’ domestic partners and dependent children. That vote, too, was unanimous.
    And that same evening, the Boca Raton City Council voted 4-1 to extend domestic partner benefits to municipal employees, and the council also prohibited hiring discrimination based on sexual orientation.
    That vote was 5-0, and the end of a seven-year fight for Rand Hoch.
    Hoch, an attorney and workplace mediator, is the founder and president of the Palm Beach County Human Rights Council, which celebrates its 25th anniversary this year.
    The council grew out of the earlier, gay-oriented Atlantic Coast Democratic Club, Hoch recalled recently. In 1988, the County Commission had three Republicans and two Democrats.
    “We wanted a nonpartisan organization so both parties would feel comfortable dealing with openly gay and lesbian people,” Hoch said.
    To that end, the name, “Human Rights Council,” was deliberately vague.
    “We needed people to put our name on their endorsement list, along with the Sierra Club,” Hoch said. “But we’ve never hidden our agenda. We aren’t advocating for immigration reform.”
    The council’s first success came in 1991, when West Palm Beach prohibited discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in public employment, the first gay-rights law enacted in Florida since the 1970s. 
    Three years later, that city banned discrimination based on sexual orientation in both private and public employment, as well as in housing and public accommodation.
    Now, a quarter-century after its founding, virtually every municipality in the county protects gays and lesbians, encouraged by HRC lobbying.
    “It’s persistence,” Hoch says. Not money or manpower.
    The group has no membership, and an email list of fewer than 1,000. It’s run by a 10-member board of directors and perhaps 15-20 volunteers.
    “I’m the loudest voice on the council,” Hoch says, “but I’m not the lone voice.”

    For more information, visit www.pbchrc.org.

    Attention, developers: If you can build a “signature restaurant” with “significant public space” at the former Wildflower site, the city wants your plans.

    City officials issued a “request for lease proposals” Sept. 13 for the 2.3 acres that once was the site of a noisy after-hours restaurant at the northwest base of the Palmetto Park Bridge.

    The new restaurant will have to provide “an exceptional and attractive waterfront experience complementary to the city’s adjacent downtown and in keeping with its overall vision,” according to the RFLP.

    Responses must be filed by 3 p.m. Nov. 8. 

    Officials will vet the proposals and plan to present them to the City Council in early December.

    Council members decided this spring that doing something with the land was their highest priority of the year. The city bought the parcel in 2009 for $7.5 million. 

— Steve Plunkett

The piano key butterfly was developed by Ronald Boender, the owner/founder of Butterfly World.

ABOVE: A pair of colorful macaws are just a few of the birds at Butterfly World. 

BELOW: Detail of a butterfly head and antennae.

Photography by Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

INSET BELOW: Ronald Boender

By Deborah S. Hartz-Seeley

    If you live in South Florida and plant a few red salvias, some milkweed and perhaps a fire bush or two, you might attract butterflies to your backyard. Now, imagine a 10-acre garden with about 3,000 butterflies on display representing more than 150 different species. 

    Like your butterfly garden on steroids, Butterfly World in Coconut Creek is the world’s largest butterfly park.

    Besides offering the public a chance to learn more about butterflies and enjoy their beauty, Butterfly World is a living butterfly farm and research facility. Here butterflies are raised from egg to winged beauty and you can follow the whole process.

    It’s all thanks to Ronald Boender (pronounced BOON-der), who grew up on a farm in Illinois where the cabbage white and black swallowtail butterflies as well as silk moths drew his attention. 

    After years working as an electrical engineer, he retired,  and that’s when his childhood fascination was reignited. Moving to Florida in 1968, he began raising and studying butterflies in his backyard. In 1988, he opened Butterfly World. 

    At the park, screened enclosures showcase birds, butterflies and butterfly-attracting plants.

    Entering the double doors, you’ll feel a whoosh of air on your face. That’s to prevent the butterflies from escaping.

    Now look around. You’ll have a sense of movement and color. But look more closely and you’ll discover butterflies floating in the air, lighting on a flower or just generally stirring things up.

    If you focus on one butterfly at a time, you might see a tiger showing off its yellow-and-black-striped wings. The piano key butterfly, developed by Boender, has what look like white and black piano keys along the lower portion of its wings. 

    The blue morpho at first glance appears brown and rather boring as it sits on a leaf. But when it takes flight, it exposes an iridescent jewel-blue wing span. 

    And don’t miss the white morpho. It’s a large fluffy flutter of a butterfly that seems to float through the air.  

    To keep these butterflies well fed, there are, of course, plenty of showy plants. Think the geiger tree with bursting orange blossoms, a lucky nut with yellow flowers, the red poofs of the powder puff plant and plenty of pentas in pink, purple and red.  

    Leaving the butterflies behind, you can visit Grace Gardens, named for the founder’s wife. Set around a manmade lake, it features the handkerchief tree, with flowers formed from petals that look like pink folds. And there’s the dancing lady orchid, named for the shape of its yellow flowers.

    The Vine Maze passes through trellises covered with more than 30 varieties of passifloras, or passion vines, with names such as volcano, star bristol and inspiration. But there’s more to Butterfly World than just Lepidoptera and their foodstuffs.

    In a screened aviary, a pair of tiny shaft-tail finches rub their orange beaks together in greeting. The yellow-legged honey creeper is a 2-inch ball of bright blue feathers with contrasting touches of black. 

    And there’s the Lorikeet Encounter Aviary, where you can get up close and personal with one of more than 40 orange, green, blue and yellow plumed parrots. 

    They will climb on your head, walk on your arm and just generally clown around. In this aviary, children as well as adults are encouraged to play with their new feathered friends. 

Deborah S. Hartz-Seeley is a certified master gardener who can be reached at debhartz@att.net when she’s not in her garden. 

BELOW: Ted Moskalenko (left) and his dad, Edward, take pictures

as sister Michelle reacts to a  butterfly that landed on her finger.

BELOW: A swallowtail butterfly.

Bishop Gerald Barbarito sprinkles holy water on one of the four new classrooms

at St. Vincent Ferrer School in Delray Beach. Father Tom Skindeleski (left) accompanies him on the tour.

Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

BELOW: Volunteers pack rice and beans to send to Haiti at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Delray Beach.

Photo provided

    Catholic school enrollment is up this year with a 23 percent increase at St. Vincent Ferrer School leading the way.

    The Delray Beach school has 325 students this year, compared to 265 students last year. 

    The five-county Diocese of Palm Beach reports that Catholic enrollment increased from 6,061 to 6,194 students at its schools in Palm Beach County and the Treasure Coast.

    All three diocese high schools have more students. The increase at Pope John Paul II High School in Boca Raton is from 481 to 529 students.

    Bishop Gerald Barbarito in a Sept. 5 ceremony blessed the four new modular classrooms that were necessary at St. Vincent Ferrer School in Delray Beach because of the 60 new students.

    “May this be the center in your search for the wisdom that guides you in your Christian life,” Barbarito told the students.

    The influx of young people keeps the St. Vincent congregation thriving, too, according to Father Tom Skindeleski. “This is the future for our parish,” he said.

    St. Vincent welcomed 43 transfer students from St. Mark Catholic School in Boynton Beach, which closed last year. Pope John Paul also counted 17 sixth-graders from St. Mark who were given a classroom.

    But diocese officials say the improving economy is making it possible for more families to consider Catholic education again. 

    The annual End Hunger Walk for to raise money for Christians Reaching Out to Society (CROS) Ministries is set for Sunday, Oct. 13, on Flagler Drive in West Palm Beach.

    Walkers raise money for the Caring Kitchen in Delray Beach and other feeding programs for the poor.

    A second CROS fundraiser is the eighth annual dinner at DIG restaurant at 777 Atlantic Ave. in Delray Beach on Nov. 5.

    Contact Gibbie Nauman at (561) 233-9009, Ext. 106,  gnauman@crosministries.org for more information about either event.

INSET PHOTO: Rabbi Joan Cubell

    A conservative Jewish congregation in West Boca Raton has hired the first female member of the American Council of Rabbis to be its new spiritual leader.

    Temple Beth Shira chose Rabbi Joan Cubell, a chaplain at Boca Raton Regional Medical Center. 

    "She brings a wealth of experience and a formidable academic and religious background,” congregation past President Marc Shapiro said. “This energetic, wise and warm woman has become everyone’s rabbi.”

    B’Nai Israel, a reform congregation in Boca Raton, also has a female rabbi, Marci Bloch.

    Cubell, 53, has 15 years of experience in synagogues, Hebrew day schools and nonprofit organizations. 

    Her background as a financial planner is valuable for Temple Beth Shira, a 10-year-old congregation that has struggled during the recession and now worships at Century Village.

    The mission of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Delray Beach isn’t only to the Haitian immigrant neighborhood that surrounds the church — the congregation also helps in big ways in Haiti.

    More than 300 volunteers packed 50,000 vitamin-fortified meals of rice and beans for the impoverished nation on Sept. 21.

    Students in St. Paul’s after-school program were among the volunteers. “Many of our students are from Haitian backgrounds and it means so much to them to be able to feed needy children in Haiti,” said Kathy Fazio, director of Paul’s Place.

    Among schools in Haiti to receive the meals is one in Bondeau that was built by the South Florida Haiti Project led by St. Paul’s in Delray Beach and St. Gregory’s Episcopal Church in Boca Raton. 

    Alzheimer’s Care for Boca Raton now has its own home at Advent Lutheran Church.

    A new adult day care facility was dedicated Aug. 30 for 30 clients on church property next to Advent’s assisted living facility. 

    Advent has hosted the nonprofit Alzheimer’s Care for more than 25 years in the church fellowship hall, which got crowded during the week.

    So Advent bought a single-family home adjacent to their property, retrofitting it as the ideal environment for Alzheimer’s clients. Advent’s assisted living facility has Alzheimer’s and dementia care programs.

    The congregation has a $400,000 Space for Grace fundraising campaign to renovate the fellowship hall and create a daytime church ministry. About $250,000 has been raised thus far.

    The centerpiece of the renovation will be Grace’s Place, a Starbucks-like café open Monday through Friday. Seniors can study the Bible, learn computers and quilt while they socialize.

    St. Gregory’s Episcopal Church is growing young violinists.

    Church children ages 5 to 13 are offered violin lessons taught by a high school student. 

    Classical music has always found a home at the Boca Raton church. “Music is one of the ways that people connect with God,” the Rev. Andrew Sherman explains.

    Aislinn Brophy, a ninth-grader, started the violin classes five years ago. When she graduated and went to Harvard, she passed her St. Gregory’s violin students to Pine Crest High School junior Ismail Ercan, who now is the teacher.

    The violinists rehearse every Sunday afternoon and perform through the year at church events.

Tim Pallesen writes about people of faith, their congregations, causes and community events. Email him at tcpallesen@aol.com.

St. Paul’s Day School in Delray Beach marks its 50th anniversary on Oct. 27.

During that half-century, it has had only two directors.

Photo contributed

Staff Report

    Today, they are engineers, lawyers and professionals.

    Back in their youth, depending on the season, they were Indians, pilgrims and shepherds.

    St. Paul’s Day School in Delray Beach has been nurturing little bodies, minds and spirits for 50 years and celebrates the anniversary of its founding on Oct. 27.

    The school, nestled in the Children’s Village at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, is one of the oldest in the area and serves about 30 prekindergarten children a year.

    The day school was established in 1963 as a ministry of the church and is now a VPK (voluntary pre-K) provider.  

    Over the past 50 years the school has been able to offer financial assistance to children who would otherwise be unable to afford preschool.

    The school has had but two directors. 

    It was founded by Rolene Gent, who made it her life’s mission to serve children. “Miss Gent” served as director for 33 years. She died in 1996.

    That year, the Rolene Gent memorial fund was established to honor her years of service to the school.

    “The teachers and I strive to continue in the caring, kind ways that were part of Rolene’s legacy,” said Patti Daniell, the current school director. “To nurture the love of learning inherent in young children so that they will continue to grow in knowledge all through their lives.”

    Day School Sunday will be celebrated during a child-friendly service at 10 a.m.  Oct. 27 at the church, 188 S. Swinton Ave.

    Offertory music will be sung by the preschool students of the day school. 

    There will be a reception in the Children’s Village following the service.

Museum educator Cheryl Lane  interacts with Giovanna Fusca, 5,

Claudia Chow and Isabella Fusca, 4 as they create cards

during the Schoolhouse Children’s Museum & Learning Center centennial celebration.

Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

When Sandy McGregor saw this 1920s photo, she spotted her uncle, Jack Lacey (second row,

third from the left), but didn’t immediately recognize the tall girl next to him —

her mother, Ruth Lacey, probably 14 at the time. Ruth Lacey became a teacher

in Boca Raton. Her sister, Hazel, taught math at the Boynton School during the years McGregor attended.

INSET LEFT BELOW: Sandy McGregor now

INSET RIGHT BELOW: McGregor in third grade

By Mary Thurwachter

    If walls could talk, certainly the Boynton School, which celebrated its 100 birthday in September, would have a thing or two to say about the Lacey and McGregor families. Sandy McGregor’s mother, Ruth Lacey, and her six uncles and aunts were among the school’s earliest students. Later, Sandy McGregor and her sister, Marjorie Anne, and 12 cousins attended the school, as well.

    “There was no air conditioning and the heat could be pretty brutal in there,” recalled McGregor, who still lives in Boynton Beach. “If you were on the west side of the building, the heat could make it miserable.”

    The school closed in 1990 and became The Schoolhouse Children’s Museum & Learning Center in 2001.

    Heat aside, most of McGregor’s elementary school remembrances are pleasant ones.

    She met her first boyfriend, Mike Lang, there in third grade.

    “He was drop-dead gorgeous,” she said. “My best friend Celia Scott (daughter of Lucille and Otley Scott of local restaurant fame) and I fought over him.”

    The blue bicycle McGregor often rode to school had a basket big enough to hold the trumpet she played in band. But other students, including many from Briny Breezes and Ocean Ridge, arrived by bus.

    Classrooms in the masonry vernacular school had large old-fashioned blackboards, and those who misbehaved were kept after school to clap erasers together to clear the chalk, she said. 

    McGregor, now 69, never had to do that.

    “I never got into trouble and I never had to go to the principal’s office,” she said.

    Her uncles, on the other hand, were known to be mischievous at times — like the Halloween night they climbed into the rooftop tower to ring the bell. She’s not sure what kind of punishment her grandmother doled out to the rascals.

    The school, at 129 E. Ocean Ave., served kindergarten through 12th grade until a high school was built next door in 1927.  For the next 30 years, the school was a traditional first- through eighth-grade elementary school, until Boynton Junior High School opened in 1958.

    Janet DeVries, president of the Boynton Beach Historical Society, and Ginger Pedersen, first vice president, have done extensive research on the old school. They said that between 1900 and 1910, Boynton grew from fewer than 100 to 700 in population.

    DeVries said that a two-room schoolhouse was built in 1904 near the now 100-year-old school.

    “A make-shift school for African-Americans, known at that time as ‘The Colored School,’ opened in 1896 in the area of today’s Poinciana School,” DeVries said.

    The larger Boynton School was designed by Baltimore architect William W. Maughlin, who also designed Palm Beach High School. The two-story, six-classroom building, one of the first in Boynton to have indoor plumbing, had a signature portico, large sash windows and transoms to promote the flow of fresh air and sunlight. 

    Eighty-one students attended the school when it opened in 1913. There were three teachers and a principal named Howard Frederick Pfahl, who came to school on an Indian motorcycle, DeVries said.

    By 1990, the school district no longer needed the school and ownership went to the city.

    That’s when several local people, including members of the Boynton Beach Historical Society, worked to turn the old school into its current incarnation as the Schoolhouse Children’s Museum &  Learning Center. Among the museum’s earliest  supporters were Marie Shepard, Harvey Oyer, Alice, Curtis and C. Stanley Weaver, Barbara Traylor, Ken Kaleel, Carrie Parker Hill, Arleen Dennison, Voncile Smith and Virginia Farace.

    The Schoolhouse Children’s Museum currently has 400 members, mostly families and a lot of grandparents.

    “Now we have this interactive museum where kids can turn knobs, press buttons and ring bells,” said Judith Klinek, the museum’s executive director. “We always keep history in mind,” Klinek said. “We’re not just pretty and playful.

    “In 1913, Boynton was a farming community, and the railroad played an important part in the community,” she said. So the museum has interactive exhibits that feature a dairy farm and an orange-packing company, as well as a railroad ticket station.

    In honor of the school’s centennial, the museum had two celebrations — a by-invitation-only reception for alumni and special supporters and friends of the school on Sept. 20, and a birthday party for kids at the museum complete with cards and cake on Sept. 28.

    McGregor visited the museum recently with several of her cousins, all alumni of the Boynton School. While there, a museum staff member showed them several posters of old school photos.

    “I noticed Uncle Jack in the middle of one of them,” McGregor said. 

    Her cousin pointed out a face next to her uncle that McGregor somehow overlooked. 

    “There was my mother right next to Uncle Jack,” McGregor said. “I’d never seen a picture of my mother at 14 before!”

    The Schoolhouse Children’s Museum & Learning Center at 129 E. Ocean Ave. in downtown Boynton Beach is open from from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. Admission is $4 for children ages 1-17, $4.50 for seniors, and $5 for adults. Members and children under 1 are free. For more information, call 742-6780 or see www.schoolhousemuseum.org

An early picture of the Boynton School. It was designed by Baltimore architect William W. Maughlin.

The two-story, six-classroom building, one of the first in Boynton to have indoor plumbing, had

a signature portico, large sash windows and transoms to promote the flow of fresh air and sunlight.

BELOW: Boynton School’s first principal, Howard Frederick Pfahl, came to school on a motorcyle.

Photos courtesy of the Boynton Beach Historical Society