By Paula Detwiller

Variety is the spice of life, so how about spicing up your fitness routine this summer? 

Experts say that when you do the same old workout week after week, your body adapts and hits a fitness plateau. You also run the risk of overusing the same set of muscles, which can lead to repetitive stress injuries.

Cross training, or mixing other forms of exercise into your workout regimen, can fire up new muscle groups, challenge the cardiovascular system and rejuvenate the mind — especially if you do it outside. Here are three outdoor coastal-area fitness classes that will break the boredom, but not the budget.

Steve’s Boot Camp

on the beach

When: 8 a.m. Sundays

Where: Delray public beach, across from the Marriott Hotel

Cost: $10

Don’t let the name “boot camp” intimidate you. Personal trainer Steve Mattingley may look like an Army drill instructor, but if you have an old injury or other physical limitation, he’ll show you how to modify an exercise to do it safely and effectively. And you don’t have to call him “sir.”

The hour-long class is a mix of stretching, strengthening and cardio drills, both on the sand and in the water (provided the ocean isn’t too rough). 

 “The sand gives a little bit, so there’s lower impact on the knees and the joints compared to running on concrete. And when we go into the water — again, there’s little impact on the joints, so you can really work the muscles.”

Regular participant Juani McCormick, 52, says Steve’s boot camp has helped her develop healthier habits, such as not staying out too late, or drinking too much on Saturday nights.

 “It’s very much worth it. I like being outdoors, and it gets my Sunday started on the right foot,” McCormick says. 

For information, contact Mattingley at (954) 593-3861 or see www.A1EliteFitness.com.

Yoga under the sky

When: 9 a.m. Saturdays. Registration at 8:45 a.m.

Where: Sanborn Square, 72 N. Federal Highway, Boca Raton (between Mizner Park and Royal Palm Place)

Cost: Free

About 50 people, from teenagers to senior citizens, routinely unroll their mats on the tile-and-stone floor of the Sanborn Square pavilion and let instructor Leslie Glickman guide them through a free Saturday morning yoga class.

 “They love being in the open air, they love no mirrors, they love seeing the trees blooming and the clouds going by,” Glickman says. “There’s nothing like it.”

When the last “namaste” is uttered and the hour-long class ends, many participants carry their bliss with them into nearby shops and restaurants.

“That was my intention,” Glickman says. Last year she submitted a proposal to the city of Boca Raton, suggesting that a free community yoga class could help increase weekend foot traffic downtown. In response, the city launched Saturdays @ Sanborn Fit & Fun Fitness Program, which includes yoga and other classes (see next item).

Questions? Contact Glickman at 306-3626 or leslie@yogajourney.com.

Zumba for the health of it

When: 10:30 a.m. Saturdays 

Where: South Beach Park Pavilion, corner of A1A and East Palmetto Park Road 

Cost: Free

If you like moving to high-energy Latin-inspired music, Zumba (pronounced “zoomba”) is a great way to burn calories and tone muscles. Since January, Boca Raton city employee and part-time Zumba instructor Nicole Gasparri has been leading this lively aerobics class at the Sanborn Square pavilion as part of Saturdays @ Sanborn. 

Beginning July 7, the class moves to the beach pavilion to take advantage of cooling summer breezes.

Don’t worry if you’ve never tried Zumba before. 

“You’ll notice that here, it’s not about getting it right, it’s about fun and having a good time,” Gasparri says. “Everybody’s dripping sweat at the end. We get a good workout!”

To learn more, contact Gasparri at 393-7703 or see www.downtownboca.org/?p=4493

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

Norman Gardner with a sampling of his sculptures that
depict women with babies in the womb.  Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Mary Jane Fine

The theme here is not a subtle one. Room after room is pregnant with meaning. Nearly every sculpture, every figure, carries a baby within. 

Sculptor Norman Gardner offers a tour of his handsome Townsend Place apartment, a few blocks south of Mizner Park. It is, of course, also a tour of his art and, in the process, a tour of his life and philosophy, honed over 80-plus years of life. 

“We’ll start here,” he says, rising from a comfortable armchair to pause in front of the solid bronze Cat weighing nearly 100 pounds and carrying, in the open oval of its tummy, a polished bronze kitten. Nearby is Mermaid Maternity, inspired by a remembered story of the romance between a mortal man and a sea nymph, done in aluminum-filled epoxy and painted white, its edges trimmed in black. Then there is Sitting Pretty, a small bronze Cubist-style figure, a babe beneath its breasts. And Madonna and Child. And Labor of Love. And . . .

And his 92-page, self-published book, The Undiscovered Art of Pregnancy, subtitled “A Glowing Tribute to Pregnant Women.”

His youngest daughter, Miriam, provided the impetus for this body of work when, five months pregnant, she showed him a sonogram of his soon-to-be next grandchild. 

“One look at that tiny creature, fully formed and wriggling inside my daughter’s belly, melted my heart, liquefied my brain,” Gardner writes in his book, “and launched me on a collision course with destiny that was to transform the remaining years of my art career.”

Destiny has not been kind — he has sold very little in the 13 years since he fixated on what he terms Pre-Natal Art — but he has persisted, refusing to return to his more salable work, work like the small, bronze bullfighter that was snapped up by a New York gallery, some years back, and sold the very next day. No, he remains true to his vision.

“I’m just too obstinate, and I believe in it,” he says. “I’m kind of obsessed with the idea, and having four daughters and nine grandchildren, I have to do it this way because I can’t give birth myself.”

His stainless-steel sculpture, The Births of Venus (yes, plural), does so in his stead. His original piece, an homage to the Botticelli painting of Venus standing on a scallop shell, featured an open space in the goddess’s abdomen — perfect, he decided, for the insertion of a baby. 

“This to me was the Golden Fleece, the Holy Grail, and Life’s Beautiful Beginnings,” he writes in his book, “all wrapped up in one.”

He came to believe, the book notes, that “selective censorship” has discouraged museums and galleries from exhibiting “artworks that reveal unborn babies floating inside their mother’s wombs,” and that “this attitude is a hold-over from the Dark Ages when such explicit depictions of the pregnant condition were considered ‘a source of idolatry and paganistic excess.’ ” 

The book, though, also charts his research into such art, with illustrations ranging from Leonardo da Vinci’s drawing of a fetus in the womb to the 35-foot-high Virgin Mother with its cutaway pregnant belly by contemporary British artist Damien Hirst.

Gardner’s sculptures make no attempt at anatomical correctness. They are abstract and graceful with a nod to the Cubists (enough so that one museum curator, he says, in declining to display his work, dubbed it “derivative”).

His fascination with art, with sculpture, dates back to childhood, when he carved toys from wooden crates and won, in first grade, a bronze medal for his drawing of a Model T. He earned his degree in mechanical engineering from New York’s City College in 1949 and, later, after a stint in the Army, earned his master’s degree in fine arts at the Pratt Institute, where he then taught for a dozen years. 

Along the way, Gardner worked at designing everything from guided missiles to toys to product packaging for Avon and Estée Lauder. 

But, always, there was sculpture. He often began with a cardboard model, subsequently realized in stainless steel or bronze. At one point, he says, “I had a very successful career selling art. I sold dozens and dozens of sculptures. I had six galleries in Florida handling my work.”

The work he calls “my masterpiece” is here, a tabletop piece in the dining area. “Everybody and his brother have made ‘The Fall — Adam and Eve and the Apple,’ ” he says. “But not one has bothered to show the baby.” Now, there they all are: the snake entwined around a tree; the apple, balanced on Adam’s hand; the baby, curled into a space in Eve’s Belly. Its title: The Original Son. 

Gardner’s obsession with the pre-natal is rivaled only by his obsession with puns. So a painting in the bedroom he shares with his wife, Katy,  is titled All the Nudes That Fit We Paint, taking off on The New York Times motto “All the News That’s Fit to Print;” two others, Girl Before a Miró and Nudes Defending a Law Case riff on Picasso’s Girl Before a Mirror and Nude Descending a Staircase, by Marcel Duchamp.

The fun is tempered a bit, these days, by the scarcity of sales. He picks up a tiny model, fashioned from cardboard and Elmer’s glue and turns it around in his hand. 

“Now that I’m retired and penniless,” he says, and smiles, “I’m back to cardboard.”  

Arden Moore gives Cleo a hug after her terrier mix helped set
three world surf records in competitions on the west coast.
Photo courtesy of Casey Dean

By Arden Moore

I grew up near a small lake in northwest Indiana where the only wave action came when my older siblings hurled themselves off the anchored raft to perform cannonballs into the water. During my decade living in Lantana, I loved swimming the warm waters of the Atlantic Ocean year-round.

Today, I live within a mile of the Pacific Ocean and share my home with a 12-pound terrier-mix named Cleo who would rather “hang 20” on a surfboard than fetch a tennis ball in the backyard. 

Cleo is a proud member of the So Cal Surf Dogs, a group of canines ranging from a Bernese mountain dog named Nani to a bulldog named Dozer to plenty of dogs matching Cleo’s size. They range in age from 1 to 11 and include a bunch of water-loving dogs whose heritage will forever remain a mystery.

Many dogs enjoy water — whether it involves racing along the shore, splashing into the water to fetch a tossed ball or sunning on the deck of a boat. But the new water-loving breed these days is the surf dog, the canine who lives to balance on a foam surfboard (better gripping surface for their paws) and catch waves that glide him to shore. What started out as a fluke, a curiosity about seven or eight years ago has now evolved into a canine sport attracting thousands of awed spectators. 

And on June 16, surf dog history was made at the Loews’ Coronado Bay Resort Surf Event held in Imperial Beach in San Diego County.

Closer to home Adam Steinberg and his surfing dog,
Booker D. Surfdog are hoping to stage an event by the
end of the year. Photo provided

Members of the So Cal Surf Dogs, including Cleo, packed onboard a specially designed, 15-foot surfboard and rode into the Guinness Book of World Records three times. Their first record: most dogs to ride a single surfboard (17 dogs). Their second record: joining legendary surfer Scott Chandler in setting a world record for most dogs (eight) with a surfer. Their third record: most dogs (eight) with a surf tandem (Chandler and his daughter, Tyler). The performance not only raised applause and worldwide media coverage, but generated donations for the ASPCA. 

On the East Coast, the surf dog garnering the most headlines is a black-and-white pit bull mix with the cool name, Booker D. Surfdog. He and his owner, Adam Steinberg, ventured across the country to surf at the dog beach in Coronado a few years back, but now prefer staging surf dog demonstrations up and down the East Coast. They hope to stage an event in Boynton Beach before the end of this year and are working on plans with Nomad Surf Shop owners.

What is scheduled is the Booker D. Surfdog Space Coast Invitational set for Oct. 6-7 in Melbourne. The event will benefit the Central Brevard County Humane Society. 

“We’re looking forward to surfing off Melbourne because the waves roll in on a long push off the coast and Booker can ride a very long wave in — much longer than the waves in the Pacific,” says Steinberg, who readily admits that his dog is a far better surfer than he is. No matter if your dog likes to make a splash in the ocean, a lake or a pool, here are some tips to keep your dog safe:

n Fit your dog with a proper-fitting life jacket. Select one that sports a handle on top to make it easier for you to grab your dog.

n Scope out the water before allowing your dog to enter. Do not let your dog swim in small ponds constructed to drain water from housing developments because they contain a lot of harsh and harmful chemicals. Skip ponds at golf courses because of the parasites that harbor in those murky waters.

n Teach your dog how to enter and exit a pool. Start with water play in the shallow end and teach him that this is a “safety spot” to allow him to get out of the pool. Better yet, invest in floatable doggy ramps or stairs.

n Keep them healthy. No matter where your dogs make a splash, make sure they are up to date on all their vaccines to protect against parasites and giardia. Always fit them with life vests and thoroughly rinse them with clean water afterward.

n Know when enough is enough. End the workout before your dog becomes overtired and prone to injury. 

Even though Cleo may have the drive to surf for two hours, I limit her time in the water and reward her with healthy treats, a warm bath and a therapeutic massage. This post-surf routine keeps her motivated to enjoy the next surf outing.

To learn more about surf dogs, I invite you to visit the So Cal Surf Dog website: www.socalsurfdogs.com. 

Arden Moore, founder of FourLeggedLife.com, is an animal behavior consultant, editor, author, professional speaker and certified pet first aid instructor. She happily shares her home with two dogs, two cats and one overworked vacuum cleaner. Tune in to her Oh Behave! show on Pet Life Radio.com and learn more by visiting www.fourleggedlife.com.

By Steve Plunkett

City leaders approved 208 more rental apartments for downtown Boca Raton but also questioned how many residential units the area needs.

The 12-story building will have 22 studio apartments, 70 one-bedroom apartments, 16 one-bedroom units with den, 74 two-bedroom apartments, 17 three-bedroom units and nine two-story lofts. Rents will range from $1,300 a month to $3,400 with an average of $2,000, said attorney Charles Siemon, representing developer Palmetto Park at Federal LLC.

“I do want to emphasize that these residential units are being built to condo-quality, to preserve the opportunity that they might be sold as future condominiums,” Siemon said.

The building, facing Plaza Real just south of the Merrill Lynch building on Palmetto Park Road, will have an interior eight-level parking garage, a 7,000-square-foot restaurant and 23,299 square feet of retail. The ninth floor will feature a spa, pool and clubhouse.

All four sides of the building are different and provide a varied skyline, city senior planner Susan Lesser said.

Consultant Urban Design Associates, which devised the design guidelines that govern downtown development, “believes that the project is a beautifully designed project and a most positive addition to the downtown,” Lesser said.

Siemon said downtown apartments command rents almost 30 percent higher than suburban units and boast a 97.4 percent occupancy rate. “That’s about as tight as it can be,” he said.

Siemon said there are 79,000 primary jobs in Boca Raton but only 12 percent are held by city residents, leaving more than 69,000 to commuters. He said 27,000 of the out-of-towners earn enough to afford a quality rental unit but the housing does not exist.

“We’re talking about real incomes. We’re not talking about affordable housing,” Siemon said.

CRA Chairman Constance Scott said the under-39 Gen-Y generation is much more driven by careers and by living around people in an urban environment.

“They’re not interested in big-box space to live in, and they’re not interested in shopping in big-box space,” Scott said.

Siemon said the overall site previously was approved for an office tower at Palmetto Park and Federal Highway, a hotel and a smaller number of apartments. The changing economy forced the developer, an offshoot of Ram Realty, to proceed only on the residential part, saving the corner property for a future project.

CRA Vice Chairman Anthony Majhess called for a market study to determine the final number of rentals in downtown, but Deputy Mayor Susan Haynie said there was no need to spend additional money.

“Every major project that’s come forward, they have studies,” she said. “Calling all market studies for the downtown. Anyone that has one in their possession, if they would like to share with us I think we should just take a look and evaluate the data that’s already out there.”

Earlier in the month Ann Witte, a professor emeritus of economics at Wellesley College who now lives in Townsend Place, projected only 400 new renters coming to Boca Raton based on the city’s growth rate.

“As an economist, I am very concerned about the rapid approval of multiple and similar projects involving small rental apartments with emphasis on one-bedroom units,” she told the Federation of Boca Raton Homeowner Associations.

Boca Raton already had approved 1,641 residences downtown that are not yet built, including Archstone apartments on Palmetto Park Road. The City Council ordered a public education campaign about Archstone in May after opponents submitted a petition with more than 1,000 signatures seeking to overturn their approval of the project.

The city attorney is asking the courts to rule that she was right in saying development orders cannot be overturned by a citizen petition.

The city anticipates $175,000 in additional property taxes once the Ram development is finished.      Ú

The historic Boca Club Bridge on Camino Real should reopen June 20 after temporary steel pilings are installed.

“We’re trying to safe it up,” said Charlie Rich of county engineering services. “We have to put four holes in the middle of the bridge to drive the pilings in.”

The county closed the bridge connecting the barrier island to the mainland on March 26 for the 26-day repair. Motorists are being detoured to the Palmetto Park Bridge and the Hillsboro Boulevard Bridge.

The piling work is not connected to a planned rehabilitation of the 73-year-old bridge, county special projects manager Dave Young said. The restoration, which may include widening the traffic lanes and designing a new control house, is still under study, Young said.

— Steve Plunkett

Golden Harbor resident John Van Blois (left) shows members of the
Beach & Parks board, Robert Lanford, Earl Starkoff and Dr. Dennis
Frish, a drawing that shows where silting is making boat access into
their neighborhood more difficult. Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

By Steve Plunkett

In the end, city leaders couldn’t pass up getting a $3 million makeover of Lake Wyman and Rutherford parks for an initial outlay of only $225,000.

But the Greater Boca Raton Beach and Park District said not so fast and asked its staff to report on the proposed project at its June 18 meeting.

The City Council voted unanimously May 8 to partner with the Florida Inland Navigation District, the county and the Beach and Park District. The county first presented the plan last July.

Mayor Susan Whelchel emphasized that the outside money pushed Lake Wyman ahead of other unfunded projects.

“If somebody else has another $3 million, we’ll be happy to listen to you as well,” Whelchel said.

But she also said city approval hinged on the Beach and Park District matching its contributions.

“I think we’re saying the same thing they’re saying, you know: ‘You’re in, we’re in. You’re not in, we’re not in,’ “ Whelchel said. “We both have to be in or we both are out.”

The main thrust of the project is to scoop out a spoil island FIND owns just east of Lake Wyman Park and north of the Golden Harbour neighborhood and create a 3.3-acre basin for seagrass to offset possible seagrass damage during routine dredging of the Intracoastal.

A dock for day boaters would be built at the mouth of the basin, and about 1 mile of canoe trails in Rutherford Park would be restored to increase mangrove flushing and make the trails passable at low tide. Eleven acres of Australian pines and Brazilian pepper would be removed from the island and two smaller spoil islands FIND owns. The boardwalk would be lengthened and picnic and beach areas added along with an observation platform.

City Manager Leif Ahnell estimated the Beach and Park District and Boca Raton would split paying $450,000 for the startup, which includes $40,000 to resod ball fields at Lake Wyman Park after they are elevated with fill from the seagrass basin. FIND would also pay half of an estimated $25,000 to dredge two areas on the 14th Street canal, he said.

The city will budget $50,000 a year to cover regular maintenance plus build a reserve for dredging the canoe trail and replacing the boardwalk in 20 years.

Before the vote, Golden Harbour resident Steve Reiss made a final appeal that the council promise to set aside money to maintain the canoe trail.

 “There’s fear that the studies needed to be independent to make sure that the water flow will be good because in nearby Lake Wyman there are some yucky areas,” Reiss said. “Hopefully those won’t spread to this submerging of an additional 4 acres of land.” 

Deputy Mayor Susan Haynie tried to calm his concerns.

 “I think it’s important we protect the adjacent neighborhood, but I’m confident that this project will improve the existing conditions that you’re experiencing,” Haynie said.

The navigation district has similar seagrass beds at Ocean Ridge, Lake Worth and Juno Beach.

Beach and Park District Chairman Earl Starkoff said he was sure the Lake Wyman schedule could absorb another four weeks. After the district’s May 21 meeting, Julie Mitchell, project manager for the county’s Department of Environmental Resources Management, said she was finishing up getting the permitting from the Army Corps of Engineers.

“We’ve got a little bit of wiggle room still, but we don’t have a lot of room,” Mitchell said.

Even with Beach and Park District approval, the county, city, beach district and FIND must work out interlocal agreements and the county needs to request and then review bids before work can begin.

The project must be finished by Sept. 30, 2013, to qualify for FIND’s $2.1 million grant. Rob Robbins, director of Environmental Resources Management, said the completion date might have to be written into the bids. 

“Time is tight,” he said.

The plan was changed several times to accommodate residents. The boat slips at first were planned for the south end of the spoil island, closest to Golden Harbour, then moved to the east side. Later the seagrass lagoon and picnic areas were reconfigured to move an access road farther from the neighbors.

Reiss returned to the City Council on May 22 with other Golden Harbour residents to say he had seen a county document showing part of the access road with a buffer only 35 feet wide instead of 50 feet.

“That’s a nuisance issue, that’s a privacy issue and one that’s of utmost concern to the neighborhood,” he said.

The continued opposition perplexed Mitchell.

“It’s an environmental restoration project. It should be a no-brainer,” she said.   

Boca Raton Community High School cleaned up at the Critics’ Awards Program (Cappies for short) at 10th Annual Cappies Awards Gala held May 15 in the Au-Rene Theater at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts.

The school won nine awards (more than any other of the 13 schools competing), including Best Musical for its production of  Crazy for You, which won more awards than any other musical.

Award winners were determined by votes from the students themselves through a weighted peer review voting process.  

The awards ceremony was presented with support from the Broward Center for the Performing Arts, which has hosted the awards since the South Florida chapter was founded in 2002 as a part of the national non-profit organization honoring high school theater programs. 

Winners from the various schools included:

American Heritage Center for the Arts, 4; Boca Raton Community High School, 9; West Boca High School, 3; Pope John Paul II High School, 1; Archbishop McCarthy High School, 4; Cardinal Gibbons High School, 2; Deerfield Beach High School, 1; JP Taravella High School, 6; Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, 3; North Broward Preparatory,  2; Sagemont School, 1; South Plantation High School, 5; and St. Thomas Aquinas, 1.

Palm Beach County winners include: 

Boca Raton Community High School

(Crazy for You)

Best Musical

Featured Actress in a Musical: Christine Homrich

Male Dancer: Kyle Laing

Ensemble in a Musical: Follies Girls

Lighting: Phineas Agar, Kelsey Powers and Loren Stoller

Stage Crew: Catt Mucklow and Crew

Props: Kathleen Sharp, Cayla Rosenthal, Harry Senior, Meghana Goola 

Special FX and Technology: Kelley Cunningham, Kristie Liebel and Rusty Whitehead

Sophomore Critic: Eliana Meyerowitz

Pope John Paul II High School

(Tom Jones)

Comic Actress in a Play: Stephanie Suau

West Boca High School 

(Curtains)

Lead Actress in a Musical: Sam Behrman

Lead Actor in a Musical: Joe Anarumo

Freshman Critic: Eddie Datz

Royal Palm Yacht & Country Club resident Edythe Harrison
has had a full life in both the cultural and political realms. She
remains active in retirement, on the local and the national levels. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

Edythe Harrison has been organizing people around issues and initiatives most of her life, beginning at age 21. That was the year she moved from her hometown of Detroit, Mich., to her new husband’s native Virginia, and was denied a voter registration card by the City Treasurer’s office in Norfolk.

“They didn’t want a Yankee, and a woman, to vote,” Harrison says. “It was during Virginia’s resistance to desegregation and they used voter suppression as a way to perpetuate their power. So they didn’t want a liberal woman voting! That’s what propelled me to get involved in politics to open up the voting process for all people.”

In the late 1950s, she ran for a seat on Norfolk’s Democratic Party Committee. 

“This was revolutionary,” Harrison says. “Nobody had ever run for a committee seat before. It was all ward politics.” She put her children in a wagon and pulled them through her precinct, campaigning at every house. She put up campaign posters. The sheriff, who claimed they were illegal, removed them. So she put up 500 more.

On Election Day, Harrison says, the conservative political machine stuffed the ballot box against her. She lost by 33 votes, but was not deterred.
“I was a Detroiter! Detroit is a can-do town. Unlike in the old South, nobody in Detroit cared about your lineage. They just wanted to know ‘what can you do?’ I had ideas, and I wasn’t afraid to propose new ideas.”

Harrison fought such things as the poll tax and unfair legislative districting practices. Later on, she spearheaded a drive to form a world-class opera company in Norfolk — a place not particularly known for its cultural arts. Once the Virginia Opera was established and began drawing widespread critical praise, Harrison became a folk hero in the community, garnering support from people who had previously disagreed with her political positions.

“My husband said, ‘why don’t you run for the state Legislature on the Opera Ticket?’ He was making a joke. But I said, I think that’s a good idea.”

Harrison was elected in 1979 and later ran for the U.S. Senate. Her can-do attitude and dedication to social, economic and political equality for all have prompted her to continue serving and organizing, even to this day. 

At age 77, she serves on the Advisory Board of Florida Atlantic University’s Women’s Studies program and on the Leadership Council of the Cleveland Clinic in Weston. And lately she’s become very involved in the re-election campaign of a fellow community organizer: President Barack Obama.

— Paula Detwiller

10 Questions

Q. Where did you grow up and go to school?

A. I grew up in Detroit, Mich. I attended Stephens College in Columbia, Mo.; Finch College in New York City; and Wayne State University in Detroit.

Q. What are some highlights of your life?

A. After studying theater and TV production in college, I moved with my husband to Norfolk, Va., and got a job as “Miss Edie” representing Streitman Crackers on WTAR-TV’s Hometown Hoedown show. I would get in my booth and say things like “Sheriff Bill, do you know that Townhouse Crackers are the only crackers that really split when you split them?” And of course they never did — I’d end up with a handful of crumbs. The show was so bad I can’t even tell you! But everyone watched it.

From there I became very involved in desegregation. This was 1954, and Virginia had adopted a policy of “massive resistance” to the Supreme Court decision Brown vs. Board of Education. They were closing schools rather than complying. I got involved in local politics and eventually served in the Virginia state Legislature, from 1979 to 1982. I ran for the U.S. Senate on the Democratic ticket in 1984, becoming the only woman from Virginia to win a party nomination for federal office. My opponent was Republican John Warner, who won re-election in the Reagan landslide of that year.

In my life, I’ve had the opportunity to make important changes and contributions through the political process, and have founded many organizations for the betterment of society. I was a founder of Planned Parenthood in Virginia, became a trustee of the Jones Institute for Reproductive Medicine (the first in-vitro fertilization center in the U.S.), and helped to create the Women’s Studies Department at Old Dominion University in Norfolk.

In 1974, I founded the Virginia Opera, headed by artistic director Peter Mark, which attracted media coverage from around the world. The Edythe and Stanley L. Harrison Opera House in Norfolk is a beautiful and marvelous structure named for my late husband and me. A couple of years ago I helped found the Lyric Opera in Virginia.

I am a former delegate to the United Nations and served on the first advisory board to the newly built John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.  And I was very honored in 2010 to be chosen by the State Library of Virginia to receive the Outstanding Women in History Award. 

Q. How did you choose to make your home in Boca Raton?

A. I have family here and wanted to settle here for the next “passage” in my life. 

Q. What is your favorite part about living in Royal Palm Yacht & Country Club?

A. It’s a beautiful community, and accessible to everything that I need to make life easy.

Q. What do you consider your greatest accomplishment in life?

A. My three children and seven grandchildren.

Q. Tell us about your support of the Woman’s Studies program at FAU. 

A. I am on the advisory board, whose mission is to raise funds for graduate student scholarships.

Q. If someone made a movie of your life, who would you like to play you and why?

A. Ingrid Bergman. She was my favorite actress. She possessed charm, character, and passion — all the things I believe are worthy attributes.

Q. What music do you listen to when you need inspiration? When you want to relax? 

A. For inspiration, opera music, and for relaxation, Chopin.

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

A. Be careful what you are like, because the older you get the more like yourself you become. (I am paraphrasing. I think that was Oscar Wilde, but I could be wrong.)

Q. Who or what makes you laugh?

A. Everything makes me laugh. That’s the best way to get through life. What else can we do when we are put on hold several times a day, only to finally talk to a rep from the phone company or some other instrument of driving people crazy, who then switches you to another department, and the phone is then disconnected and on and on? Laughter eases the knot in our stomachs and the throbbing in our brains. 

Boca Raton Fire Department’s Captain Ray Lintner describes a few of the firefighting tools found on a firetruck at Fire Station 3 at 100 S. Ocean Blvd. His tour was part of the department’s  city-wide open house May 12. The department has  207 certified professionals and 90 percent of them are certified paramedics. Last year, the department responded to 4,221 fire and other related emergencies. Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

Publisher Jerry Lower

By Jerry Lower, Publisher

Our coastal community is constantly influenced by the changing seasons.  

In autumn we can count on hurricane season giving us a few scares and autumnal tides to swell the Intracoastal Waterway, with standing water reaching into some of our low-lying neighborhoods.  

Winter often brings strong winds and turbulent seas that make the ocean surf behave like a giant washing machine. Winter also brings an influx of seasonal residents and short-term vacationers to enjoy our picture-perfect weather. These “snow birds” crowd the beaches, restaurants and roadways, pushing our economy into overdrive.

Spring felt like it lasted longer than ever this year — ah, paradise!

Afternoon showers are already here as summer settles in. We can expect the wind to calm and the surface of ocean to look like a sheet of glass. Air-conditioners will be running full-blast and businesses will operate under-capacity as year-round residents head out on vacation like “reverse snow birds.” It’s all part of our South Florida seasons. 

Like other businesses in the area, The Coastal Star swells during season and returns to normal in the summer.

Many of our readers know we print two very different editions during season; one for Boca Raton and Highland Beach, and one for Delray Beach, Gulf Stream, The Pocket, Briny Breezes, Ocean Ridge, Manalapan, Hypoluxo Island and South Palm Beach.  

Sometimes in the peak of season there is so much news in our coastal communities, we don’t have space for all the interesting stories from elsewhere around the region. 

So as the heat of summer slows the pace of news, we plan to merge much of our two editions to keep the most interesting stories (and advertising) in the paper while allowing our hard-working staff to take well-deserved vacations. We know, of course, that news doesn’t stop this summer — what with two coastal towns considering moving their police protection to the county Sheriff’s Office, the continuing conflict between residential neighborhoods and nonprofit sober houses and the annual budget cycle that inevitably brings considerations of new taxes and cuts in services. We’ll still be here editing the best newspaper we can for you. 

We hope you enjoy our combined edition over the summer. Just as we all share the seasons, let’s take this opportunity to learn about our neighbors.

The $2 million enclosed tanks at Gumbo Limbo Nature Center
have opened to the public. Visitors can look down into the tanks,
one of which is planted with mangroves. Below the deck are windows
for peering into the tank. Photos by Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

Schools of look-down fish swarm the tank.

An 8-pound spiny lobster named Butter is among the inhabitants. 

Scott McOwen, the veterinarian at the Sandoway House, talks
to children about Sir Speedy the gopher tortoise, who is a permanent
resident of Sandoway House. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Paula Detwiller

Imagine drawing a blood sample from a macaw’s neck, checking a snake’s heart rate, or de-worming a turtle. 

For 73-year-old retired veterinarian Dr. Scott McOwen, it’s all part of his twice-weekly rounds at Sandoway House Nature Center in coastal Delray Beach. The man they call “Dr. Scott” has been watching over the center’s sharks, snakes, lizards, tarantulas, turtles, and birds on a voluntary basis for more than a dozen years. 

One of his charges is Crystal, the 18-year-old, very loud, blue and gold macaw.

“Crystal the pistol, we call him,” says McOwen. “I trim his talons, file his beak, check the hemoglobin levels in his blood, do a stool analysis and weigh him on a special scale to make sure his weight is within range. We monitor his health closely because there’s always a possibility he can pick up a cold if someone comes in here with one.”

McOwen’s surgical skills saved a nurse shark after it fought with another shark in the nature center’s outdoor tank. His internal medicine expertise cured Sir Speedy, the resident gopher tortoise, of repeated leg infections and hookworms. And his tender loving care has kept a corn snake named Maizey in fine reptilian health after being handled by many a fascinated boy and girl.

“Dr. Scott” also serves on the Sandoway House board of directors and leads educational programs when young students visit the nature center as part of a school field trip or science camp. 

“I enjoy watching the children light up when they see something. The neat thing is to let them observe and discover things on their own.”

He gives an example. Someone had dropped off an injured screech owl at the nature center. Rather than explain to the visiting group of junior high school students how he planned to take care of the bird, he had the kids research it for themselves.

“They ended up finding out what owls eat, what their migratory patterns are. … They brought all the facts together to create a care plan for the animal to live and propagate,” he says. The owl was later released back into the wild.

McOwen became interested in animals and scientific discovery at the feet of his veterinarian father, Dr. James A. McOwen, who moved the family from Ohio to South Florida in 1954. The elder McOwen purchased an existing veterinary practice in Boynton Beach and also became the chief veterinarian for Africa USA, the sprawling African wildlife tourist attraction that operated in Boca Raton from 1953 to 1961.

“When the famous chimp at Africa USA, Princess Margaret, broke her front tooth, my dad assisted in doing a root canal on her,” McOwen says. “That’s when I got interested in veterinary dentistry.” He was 14 at the time. 

McOwen attended veterinary school at Ohio State University during the Vietnam War era and was drafted into the Air Force just before graduation. 

He was stationed in Great Britain with the 48^th Tactical Fighter Wing. One of his duties was to care for the military sentry dogs — including performing root canals when necessary.

“The oral surgeons in the Air Force would work on the troops. I would work on the dogs, with their support. We would make or modify tools to do the work. These dogs were very important to the command. They guarded the nuclear warheads that were put on planes,” he says.

After completing his military service, McOwen joined his father’s practice at Seacrest Veterinary Center in Boynton Beach. He had a successful career, retiring in 1996.

A couple of years later, he showed up at Sandoway House one day without fanfare. Carolyn Patton, one of the nature center’s founders who knew McOwen from growing up in Delray, remembers it well.

“We were renovating the building, painting this huge wall in the back, and this guy shows up in surgical scrubs with a safari hat and sunglasses on, and starts pitching in. I didn’t recognize him at first. He said, ‘Just call me Scott.’ And he has been there ever since, taking care of all our animals so lovingly,” says Patton.

This is McOwen’s 14th year as the nature center’s unpaid animal doctor, wildlife educator and board member. How long will he continue volunteering?

“As long as my health is good, and as long as they want me.”                               

By Steve Plunkett

An archaeologist will have to survey Ocean Strand before the ocean-to-Intracoastal parcel can ever be turned into a park.

There are no known archaeological resources on the nearly 15-acre site, “nor was this property ever subjected to a cultural resource assessment survey to locate and evaluate such resources,” the state’s Bureau of Historic Preservation wrote the city.

But the bureau attached another letter it had sent Boca Raton in 1993 saying Jerry Kennedy, an anthropology professor at Florida Atlantic University, had identified an “intact aboriginal shell midden” or mound on the property.

“Unfortunately, we have no data showing that Dr. Kennedy ever submitted a Florida Master Site File for this site, or a report regarding the site investigation,” wrote Laura Kammerer, a historic preservationist supervisor for the state.

The state’s comments came in a review of Boca Raton’s proposed changes to its land use plan for Ocean Strand. The City Council unanimously changed the land use May 8 from Residential Medium to Recreation and Open Space and rezoned the acreage from Multi-Family Residential categories to Public Land.

“For council, City Council, it’s been about a one-year process for you guys,” said Joe Pedalino, chairman of KeepYourBocaBeachesPublic.org. “For our group it’s been about a 2½-year quest, and for Ocean Strand it’s been a 17-year waiting period, waiting to be classified as a public park and beach.”

His group quickly formed after Florida-Penn Cos. in late 2009 proposed putting a cabana club at Ocean Strand to augment a luxury hotel planned for downtown. Neighbors were shocked to learn the city’s comprehensive plan labeled the parcel Residential Medium, which would have permitted 141 units to be built there.

The new designations limit development to 51,749 square feet of park-related uses such as restrooms and picnic pavilions, said Jim Bell, the city’s acting manager of planning, zoning and development.

The Greater Boca Raton Beach and Park District, which owns the land about a mile south of Spanish River Boulevard, ordered a halt to Ocean Strand park planning in February. Curtis+Rogers Design Studio Inc., the consultant hired to plan a park, recommended the work being stopped.

The beach and park district bought the property in 1994 for $11.9 million but never developed it.

KeepYourBoca BeachesPublic.org filed a lawsuit seeking a special election to bar private clubs on public land on the barrier island. The Fourth District Court of Appeal has not scheduled a hearing yet.         Ú

More than 170 people packed the Ocean Ridge Town Hall during a four-hour
public hearing where Palm Beach County Sheriff’s officials and Ocean Ridge
Police Chief Chris Yannuzzi outlined their staffing plans for police coverage.
Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

By Steve Plunkett

A sheriff’s presentation on the benefits of going green quickly turned into a love fest for keeping the town’s police department.

“I would rather pay a little bit more and have the kind of service we have today,” resident Dave Gury said at the standing-room-only workshop May 8 at Town Hall.

“It’s just not financial. It’s quality-of-life for people like me … who can call the office and speak to a dispatcher immediately,” added resident Stella Kolb.

“If the money is an issue, it’s not an issue with me,” resident Justus Brown said.

The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office says it would provide full police services to Ocean Ridge for $1.15 million the first year, which Town Manager Ken Schenck said would be a $544,000 savings.

“It’s almost buy two years, get one free,” sheriff’s Lt. Steve Thibodeau said.

Under the sheriff’s proposal, two deputies would patrol the town around the clock. A third deputy would join them from 3 to 11 p.m. every day. 

The town’s police department would change from eight officers on the road, four sergeants, a lieutenant and a police chief to 10 officers with the chief becoming the lieutenant in charge. Dispatchers would have to apply for vacant spots in the sheriff’s communications center.

Thibodeau said current officers would fill the deputy positions in a seamless transition. “What has changed? They’re in a green uniform; they have a patrol car that’s just like the sheriff’s in green and white with the ‘Town of Ocean Ridge” on the side,” Thibodeau said.

But Police Chief Chris Yannuzzi said sheriff’s deputies could not do everything his department does.

“I do not believe that going with this contract will maintain the same level of service,” Yannuzzi said, citing the loss of 24-hour-a-day code enforcement. But he said he respected the Sheriff’s Office. “If the vote is to go green, I’m with you because I’m a good soldier,” he said.

The outpouring of support for the local force — evidenced by a crowd of more than 170 people — convinced Sheriff Ric Bradshaw he should pull the proposal, according to a television report. 

But, Schenck said after the report, “It’s not off the table.” 

The town manager said sheriff’s officials told him they would no longer actively pursue the contract. Ocean Ridge commissioners will decide whether to continue negotiations at their June 4 meeting.

Mayor Roger Bennett of Briny Breezes, which pays Ocean Ridge $185,000 a year for police services, asked commissioners at the workshop to keep the status quo.

“It would be a hardship for us to find a replacement for the good service we have now,” Bennett said.

The $544,000 first-year savings equals about $820 in town taxes for the owner of a home valued at $1 million, Schenck said.

Roger Rose, president of the Pelican Cove Homeowners Association, was not impressed.

“Will you promise not to spend those savings on some other silly expenditure?” he asked. 

Along with higher salaries, the Sheriff’s Office would give officers that make the switch better training, cheaper medical insurance and a take-home car, Thibodeau said. “No local control is lost,” he said.

Sgt. Steve Wohlfiel, who is also the police union’s representative, said based on past sheriff’s mergers he did not think any officer or dispatcher would lose a job.

“From an officer’s perspective they would be in far better shape by going to the sheriff’s department than by staying the same,” he said after the meeting.                                   

By Tim O’Meilia

A year ago, Manalapan Mayor Basil Diamond claimed South Palm Beach could save a half million dollars a year — give or take $100,000 — by letting Manalapan provide police and dispatch service. 

South Palm Beach Mayor Donald Clayman disputed the numbers and quickly shot down the idea. “This is not a good time to look at a reduced police presence in town. Our people like to see the police cars around,” Clayman said then. 

Now South Palm Beach Councilwoman Stella Jordan wants to resurrect the offer from its neighbor. “Even if it’s half of $700,000, we need to discuss it. We owe to our taxpayers,” she said at the town’s May 22 meeting. 

Town Attorney Brad Biggs advised the council to check to see if the June 2011 offer from Diamond was still valid or endorsed by the entire Manalapan commission. 

Complicating matters is an offer from the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office to take over police services in Manalapan that would save the town $230,000 annually. After a four-hour session May 22, Manalapan commissioners decided to hold a workshop in June to further discuss options. 

“We still have an open mind on trying to work with other communities on cost-saving measures, in addition to other options,” Diamond said. “I did mention at the meeting that we are still open to other options.”

South Palm Beach has budgeted $951,000 for police this year. Diamond’s offer said the town could save $730,000 by letting Manalapan extend its ocean patrol zone to include South Palm Beach. All policing, dispatching and investigating would be done by Manalapan.

Another option would save South Palm Beach more than $400,000 by creating a new South Palm Beach patrol zone and devoting an officer to patrol the town 24/7. 

South Palm Beach typically has two officers on duty 18 hours a day, usually not including an administrator. Clayman said last year that Manalapan’s offer would reduce the level of police service.

“It’s a conceptual idea. I was giving two examples,” Diamond said. “Anything we do would have to be negotiated and it could be totally different than what I suggested.”

Diamond said savings would come largely through the reduction of administrative costs. “I don’t think it costs you anything to look at options,” he said. 

During the meeting, Clayman asked that the issue be discussed at a workshop but Jordan insisted on placing it on the June council agenda.

In other business, the council voted unanimously to spend $23,600 for a new police car, a Dodge Charger to replace a 2005 Ford Crown Victoria, including trade-in. The council postponed the purchase in October and last month Jordan said the car, with 46,471 miles, was still useful.

Vice Mayor Joseph Flagello, appointed to investigate, said the engine miles on the car, including idle time, exceeded 254,000, the car was out of warranty and had maintenance problems. 

The council also approved a town finance policy, urged by Jordan, which includes guidelines for capital expenses, recurring expenses and investments.                              Ú

By Steve Plunkett

Manalapan police are confident patrolling the Point but feel unequipped to fight crime on the ocean.

The “threat profile” in the ocean zone has changed over the years, Town Manager Linda Stumpf and Police Chief Carmen Mattox told town commissioners May 22, citing the increased popularity of Bird Island and the public beaches bordering Manalapan and seven boat burglaries since 2009.

“It is beyond our ability to control/monitor these issues with the current staffing and resources. We are not able to provide the presence that is needed,” they reported.

But town police can meet “all of the security needs and concerns of the residents” on the Point, Stumpf and Maddox said.

Commissioners scheduled a workshop June 25 to go over the report, which Stumpf said she would mail to residents ahead of time.

The town is evaluating a proposal from the Sheriff’s Office to provide police services for $1.17 million. Manalapan currently budgets $1.4 million for the Police Department but officers and dispatchers have been working without a contract for two years.

Mayor Basil Diamond urged commissioners and residents to review the facts before reaching a conclusion.

“What bothered me, before we had this meeting and before we had this report, communications by some commissioners to residents and making public announcements about their preferences and positions before we had a final report — I think we all need to keep an open mind,” Diamond said. Vice Mayor Donald Brennan passed back unopened a letter he had received from Commissioner Howard Roder. “Scratch me from your distribution list,” he said.

Roder added the letter to the public record of the meeting. “If we believe we need better policing, let’s focus on reforming our department,” it said. “But solely for the sake of amorphous savings, let’s not embark on a course that in the end will be detrimental and irreversible to Manalapan.”

Stumpf and Mattox’s report lists six options:

• Contract with the Sheriff’s Office.
• Enhance the current department with a marine unit (estimated at $175,000 the first year) and a beach patrol (from $83,000 for a 10-hour shift five days a week to $302,000 for round-the-clock coverage).
• Use a private security agency for a fully staffed marine unit ($236,000), beach patrol ($182,000) and gatehouse security on the Point ($70,000 for 12 hours a day, $149,000 for 24/7).
• Contract with the Sheriff’s Office for a beach unit and marine patrol. A quote has been requested.
• Contract with the sheriff for police and dispatch services and with a private agency for gatehouse security for a total of $1.3 million.
• Install security cameras along the coastline. The report calls them “cost prohibitive.”

The report includes police logs for the past three years. Criminal events on the ocean increased from 2,190 in 2009 to 2,366 last year, it says, and decreased on the Point from 310 three years ago to 130 last year.

It also notes that 2,174 vehicles travel State Road A1A on an average day and 688 go on Lands End Road. “The increased traffic on A1A exposes its residents to additional concerns for security and safety,” the report says.

The workshop on the police proposals begins at 10 a.m. June 25 at Town Hall.   

In other business, commissioners awarded a $65,000 contract to repair or replace sidewalks on the Point and asked the town attorney to draw up ordinances prohibiting yard sales and the parking of vehicles on front lawns, requiring dog owners to pick up after their pets and putting time limits on when to put out and take in trash receptacles.                             Ú

By Mary Thurwachter

It’s been a year since Highland Beach Commissioners voted to hire Kathleen Weiser as town manager, which means it’s time for a performance evaluation and discussion of a merit increase. Those topics were on the agenda for the town’s May 29 workshop meeting, but didn’t go very far.

Before the discussion could take place, each commissioner was to meet with Weiser separately and do individual assessments of her work. Four commissioners had done just that, but Mayor Bernard Featherman had yet to complete his assessment of Weiser.

Commissioners tabled the pay raise talk until the June 5 meeting. In the meantime, Weiser will send copies of each commissioner’s evaluation of her to fellow commissioners. She will do this, she said, as soon as she receives an evaluation from Featherman.

Featherman said the commission would vote by resolution on a pay increase and the percentage of increase has yet to be decided.

For all of the commissioners except Doris Trinley, this was their first go round at evaluating a town clerk. Former Town Manager Dale Sugerman, who was suspended in January 2011 after commissioners disagreed with his handling of an email flap involving Town Clerk Beverly Brown, didn’t fare well in his final evaluation. Commissioners voted not to give him a raise after his suspension. His contract was not renewed. Wieser came aboard last year, first as interim town manager.

In other action, commissioners discussed repairing or replacing the walking path, one of the town’s top goals for the next three years.

Weiser said solutions ranged from patching and repairing, which would cost an estimated $65,000, to constructing a new path, which would cost from $370,000 to $700,000.

“Where will the money come from?” Trinley asked. “Even over a three-year period, that’s a lot of money in these economic times.”

Vice Mayor Ron Brown said the walking paths are one of the town’s most well-used and most popular commodities but are in bad shape. “Times are getting better,” he said. “We need to decide how much we want to spend and go to the financial advisory board.”

Brown said the town could spend $350,000 on the project without holding a referendum.

In another matter, commissioners congratulated Cale Curtis for his promotion to town finance director on May 24. Curtis, who has worked for the town for five years, was acting finance director for the past year and deputy finance director before that. He received a 5 per cent  raise.                                  Ú

By Tim O’Meilia

Six months after a win-win truce was declared in the struggle over the future of a six-acre Gulf Stream estate and the demolition of its 75-year-old mansion, a “hole in the sky” has re-opened the battle.

Neighbors of the soon-to-be built Harbour View Estates begged Gulf Stream town commissioners at their May 11 meeting to intervene to force developer Tom Laudani to replace a towering banyan tree bulldozed in late March to make way for the six-home subdivision.

In an agreement to gain the support of nearby Hidden Harbour Drive residents, Laudani and Seaside Builders promised in late 2011 to maintain a 15-foot landscape buffer around the new subdivision instead of the required 3-foot zone and retain the estate’s luxurious canopy. The town signed a separate subdivision agreement with Seaside that did not include the buffer or canopy.

“I can tell the difference between a canopy and the sky and right now I see a hole in the sky,” Hidden Harbour resident Martin O’Boyle told commissioners. “All I want to do is get the canopy back. Can the town step in?”

The banyan’s 30- or 40-foot span of branches shaded part of the buffer but is not part of it. O’Boyle said Laudani told him the developer did nothing wrong. 

“We need to resolve it and we don’t want to sue,” he added.

Resident and lawyer Tom Murphy said the agreement requires that the developer “will maintain the canopy as it is today. Well, that is not as it is today. The banyan was taken down, an historic, huge 40-foot tree,” he said.

Commissioners were sympathetic but did not commit to getting involved in the dispute. Commissioner Muriel Anderson called it “heartbreaking.” Commissioner Garrett Dering wondered what the town could do.

“We feel their concerns and everybody else does, I’m sure,” said Mayor William Koch Jr. 

“We are not the Viet Cong here, coming out at night trying to disrupt the developer,” Murphy said. “We want a banyan of equal size and scope to be put back where it was.”

Town Attorney John Randolph said he didn’t think the town could take legal action against Seaside since it wasn’t a party to the contract. He called Seaside later in May to encourage the developer to cooperate with the neighbors but said Laudani believes the banyan was not part of the canopy.

The removal of the banyan reversed the good vibes generated by the developer/neighbor agreement of late last year. Then O’Boyle praised Laudani for preserving “the values of my property, my neighbors’ and my friends.”

Other than the banyan, Town Manager William Thrasher said inspections by him and the town police show that the site has been kept clean of debris and construction noise has been minimal. 

He said one tree in the buffer was mistakenly removed and another fell in a storm because of termite damage and resulting trunk decay. The developer will replace them. 

The property, locally known as the Spence estate, was designed in the British colonial style by noted Palm Beach architect John Volk and built about 1937 by Seward Webb Jr., a grandson of William Vanderbilt. Webb’s widow sold the estate to typewriter heiress Gladys Underwood James. Eventually it was sold to Edwin and Regina Spence. Mrs. Spence died in December 2010.

At a May 22 special meeting, the commission agreed to change its zoning code to better address subdivisions. If approved by ordinance at later meetings, homes in new subdivisons will be required to be similar in size, shape and character to nearby residences and must submit a landscaping plan to preserve existing vegetation.

No dead-ends or Y- or T-shaped turnaraounds will be allowed. Spence said estate neighbors agreed to a T-shaped turnaround to avoid a street connecting to their neighborhood.

In other business, town consulting engineer Danny Brannon said that FPL had finally assigned an engineer to handle the town’s $5 million utility undergrounding project. 

The revised schedule anticipates construction on phase 1 south of Golfview Drive will begin in October and be completed by mid-October 2013. Phase 2, north of Golfview, will begin in March 2013 and finish in mid-March 2014.                           Ú

By Tim Pallesen

Gulf Stream’s bill for fire protection from Delray Beach will jump 35 percent to $428,198 this year.
    “It’s a result of annexation. Delray Beach is providing additional service because our land mass has increased,” Gulf Stream town manager William Thrasher said.
    Delray Beach charged $315,580 annually before Gulf Stream annexed 16.6 acres of condo buildings on its northern border last year.
    The annexation added about 150 residents to the oceanfront town that recorded a population of 786 in the 2010 census.
    The $112,618 increase includes $72,877 owed by Gulf Stream to Delray Beach for the time period immediately after the March 2011 annexation vote until the current budget year began on Oct. 1.
    Gulf Stream tried unsuccessfully to recoup that money from Palm Beach County after the county stopped providing fire-rescue services last year.
    A separate Delray Beach contract for fire-rescue services to Highland Beach will increase only slightly, from $2,951,890 to $3,085,100, in the next fiscal year.
    Delray employs 22 firefighter/paramedics at the fire station owned by Highland Beach.
    Delray Beach fire chief Danielle Conner has requested an overall budget of $23.5 million next year for a 3.23 percent increase over this year’s $22.8 million budget.
    The request includes two new hires, a support services manager and technical support specialist, who were denied last year. The fire department now has 147 employees.
    Conner said more than $500,000 will be saved in next year’s budget because of a new contract with firefighter/paramedics that freezes salaries through 2014, increases employee pension contributions by 50 percent and eliminates two holiday   days.                                         Ú

Golfers practice outside the Hamlet Country Club. Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

By Tim Pallesen

Residents at the Hamlet Country Club have voted overwhelmingly to sell their golf course and clubhouse to the owner of the Seagate Hotel and Spa.
    The $7 million purchase will provide resort amenities to guests at the downtown Delray Beach hotel while freeing Hamlet property owners from the mandatory golf memberships that have crippled home sales.
    “Now we will have all the ingredients — golf, tennis and dining — to make us a full destination resort,” said E. Anthony Wilson, chairman of the Seagate Hospitality Group. “It fulfills all the destination choices that our customers are looking for.”
    A vote on May 14 showed 98 percent of Hamlet Country Club members in favor of the sale, according to club president Bill Redman.
    “Country club members had the confidence that we operate a very high-end facility and that we will do the same for them,” Wilson said after the vote. “It’s a deal that’s good for everybody.”
    Redman said club members found Seagate’s offer attractive because of the financial certainty it brings.
    “It’s a struggle for a small club these days when you’re down to around 200 members,” Redman said. “The concept of mandatory membership served its purpose 10 years ago. But that was a different time economically.”
    The Hamlet was one of South Florida’s first private country clubs when it opened in 1973. Well-known architect Joe Lee designed the 18-hole golf course.
    “It was very exciting when it opened,” one of the first golfers, Al Rodstein, recalled. “We were the first club in Delray Beach. After that others sprung up in Boca Raton and all around us. We had members coming from all over the country.”
    Jack Nicklaus was a charter member. Retired pro ballplayers Mickey Mantle and Whitey Ford were frequently seen on the fairways.
    Four Hall of Fame golfers from the Ladies Professional Golfers Association — Beth Daniel, Sandy Little, Jane Blaylock and Hollis Stacey — called the Hamlet Country Club their home.
    During the club’s glory years, a black-tie event was held every Thursday night in the 38,000-square-foot clubhouse.
    Club members spent $10 million in 2007 to renovate the clubhouse with the finest woods, bamboo and silk to create an elegant Balinese interior. The golf course fairways were recontoured and the eight tennis courts were resurfaced.
    “But people who got here when they were in their 50s are now in their 90s,” Redman said. “A lot can’t play golf or tennis anymore.”
    A country club lifestyle isn’t as attractive for new retirees, he said.
    “People now are less interested in making a country club the focal point of their social life. They have diverse interests,” Redman said.
    The mandatory $30,000 country club membership with $15,300 in annual dues made it difficult for Hamlet homeowners to find buyers for their homes.
    “The Hamlet is in a great location that’s central to downtown Delray Beach. But often when potential homebuyers find out that membership is attached, they move on,” said Jo Ann Grayson, a real estate agent who lives in the Hamlet

Seagate won’t require new homebuyers to join the country club.
    “That will enhance the values of the properties there,” Grayson said.
    Existing club members will each contribute $20,000 to pay off the $10 million debt for the 2007 renovations.
    Several details still must be worked out before the sale closes sometime this summer. Country club members will get dining privileges at the private Seagate Beach Club and discounted rates at the Seagate Hotel as part of the sale agreement. 

But Rodstein, who still golfs at age 94, says the best aspect of Seagate’s takeover is the assurance of stability in the Hamlet.
    “They will be introducing the Hamlet to their hotel guests, attracting new club members,” Rodstein said. “Seagate will be a great      asset to stabilize our situation and allow us to keep up our high standards for years to   come.”                                  Ú