Greater Federated Women’s Club installation of officers

The Bridge Hotel, Boca Raton

Guests from Ocean Ridge at the event included
Joanne Gimmy, Donna Hutchins and Betsy Polhamus.Photos by Barbara McCormick

Members of the Greater Federated Women’s Club, Boca Raton Chapter, recently celebrated the installation of officers, a unique designer fashion show and the observance of Mother’s Day.  

Co-Presidents Marilyn Fleischer and Charlotte Robinson enjoy the festivities.

Walk of Recognition

Royal Palm Place, Boca Raton

The annual Walk of Recognition, presented by the Boca Raton Historical Society, added four new ‘stars’ at a ceremony May 3 at the walkway under the Mizner statue at Royal Palm Place. The new stars are (from left) Anne L. Vegso, of Delray Beach, and Boca Raton residents Sandra Greenblatt and Holli Rockwell. The late Howard McCall was honored posthumously. All have demonstrated a long-term commitment to serving the interest of Boca Raton and have enriched the lives of its citizens, the Historical Society said. 

Boynton Woman’s Club incoming officers

Woman’s Club, Boynton Beach

The Boynton Woman’s Club installed its new executive board at the historic Woman’s Club building in Boynton Beach on May 10. From left: Evelyn Weicker, parliamentarian; Patti Owens, past president; Barbara Erlichman, co-recording secretary; Joann Haros, president of Delray Woman’s Club; Kay Baker, president of Boynton Woman’s Club; Jody Spinelli, co-vice president/membership; Barbara Wineberg, treasurer. Photo provided

Boynton Beach to hear PBSO proposal at 6:30 p.m. on June 5.

By Angie Francalancia

In the roughly 18 months since the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office pulled its parks deputies and moved its marine patrol headquarters from the Boynton Inlet, police from nearby coastal towns have seen a significant spike in calls they’re handling in the county parks.

The increase in calls may be playing a role in Manalapan and Ocean Ridge’s discussion over contracting with the Sheriff’s Office for service. Manalapan Police Chief Carmen Maddox says he now needs his own beach patrol and marine unit.

“The town’s southern boundary has seen an increase in activity on the beach and Intracoastal Waterway area,” said Maddox and Town Manager Linda Stumpf in a report on the status of the department.

“To me its cause and effect,” Manalapan Commissioner Louis DeStefano said. “The officers would be coming and going. There was always a presence. When there’s a presence, then people are more on a little bit better behavior.”

In October 2010, Sheriff Ric Bradshaw pulled the 52 deputies in his parks enforcement staff, a move that was expected to save the Sheriff’s Office about $7 million. At the time, Bradshaw asked several cities where county parks were located to sign agreements to take over patrolling the parks. Three of the four county parks in the area sit between Manalapan and Gulf Stream – Ocean Inlet, Ocean Hammock, and Gulfstream.

Ocean Ridge Police Chief Chris Yannuzzi refused the sheriff’s request, saying he didn’t have the staff and didn’t want the higher number of serious crimes to be factored into Ocean Ridge’s annual crime reports.

Manalapan Police agreed, signing a memorandum of understanding that put the police department in charge of patrolling the north side of Ocean Inlet Park where a parking lot sits immediately adjacent to a resident’s home.

Both cities reported a significant increase in the calls they handled at the county park. Manalapan Police handled 47 calls for service on the north side of Ocean Inlet Park in 2011. In the previous three years, the department had handled only 8 calls there.

“We’re trying to assist with anything that could have repercussions,” Maddox said.  Those numbers don’t include the daily trips to the parking lot frequented by fishing enthusiasts and beachgoers to unlock and lock the gate each day.

On the south side of Ocean Inlet Park, both Ocean Ridge and Manalapan have responded to calls, despite neither having an agreement with the Sheriff’s Office to take over responsibilities for it.

Ocean Ridge Mayor Geoff Pugh said he’s concerned about the sheriff’s deputies getting pulled out of town to cover the adjacent parks if Ocean Ridge contracts with the sheriff for services.

“It just makes sense. They’re not going to send a deputy all the way from Military Trail if they have one covering Ocean Ridge. And what about the county pocket,” he added. “Our contracted deputy would be answering calls for service in the pocket.”

In the middle of the South Ocean Inlet Park, the former headquarters for the Sheriff’s Marine Patrol sits. Behind it on the Intracoastal, a Sheriff’s Office boat sits moored in a slip. But local officers said no deputies are around.

Together, the two local police departments answered 54 calls for service the year after the parks deputies were pulled and the marine patrol moved to Phil Foster Park in Riviera Beach. In the two years prior to the Sheriff’s Office departure, the two towns responded a total of nine times.

“If they want us to go because their deputies are out west, because it’s some sort of fight or other dangerous incident, we’ll go as an assist to another department,” Yannuzzi said. That means Ocean Ridge Police would secure the scene and wait for a sheriff’s deputy to arrive, he said. “That way, we’re not going to have that crime statistic on us.”

While the number of calls would add little volume to the department’s logs, Yannuzzi said it’s the type of crimes occurring in the parks that’s a concern.

“Lately, we know of two robberies, an attempted rape, and we know that auto burglaries have increased dramatically” in the parks, he said. 

As an example, he said, just adding Ocean Hammock Park’s crimes to Ocean Ridge’s statistics would have increased auto burglaries from 11 to 37 last year. Instead of zero robberies in the past three years, the statistics would have reflected the two in Ocean Inlet Park, he said.

Both towns realize that any crime in the parks, especially Ocean Inlet Park that abuts several homes, still affects their residents. But each is responding differently. Manalapan has attempted to handle the additional calls to the park and to adjoining Bird Island, a mini but quieter version of Peanut Island. Conversely, Ocean Ridge is calling the Sheriff’s Office.

“The park is an attractive nuisance,” Yannuzzi said. “Just because the sheriff cut his parks patrol should not make it an unfunded mandate on the municipalities.”                                      Ú

By Antigone Barton

The people who raise and lower the bridges that link the mainland to the island have little in common but the water that flows between them.

Some are retired: Accountants, iron workers, Realtors, fire fighters, truck drivers and a professional golfer have made up their ranks. Some are parents looking to make ends meet. 

All work part-time without benefits, with rotating schedules, the solitary nature of the job giving them little contact with each other.

In the last year, however, they came together, first voting to join Local 487 of the Union of Operating Engineers last August and then forging their first contract as union members this spring.

 It was a remarkable achievement for workers in a state where the impetus to seek collective representation is weakened by a law that allows employees to enjoy the benefits of a union contract in their workplace without becoming members of the union themselves, James Albritton, now retired president of the Local 487, said.

“I am so proud of them,” Albritton said. 

The union negotiated with ISS, a San Antonio, Texas-based company that has a contract to operate South Florida’s bridges.

Most bridges have scheduled openings on the hour and half-hour. While the mechanics of opening and closing bridges are easy — flip a few switches, push a couple of buttons, the work requires care and precision, one worker said requesting anonymity because ISS does not allow employees to speak with the media. The hard part, he said, is clearing the bridge of crossing cars and pedestrians who try to beat it under the barrier, before the bridge rises, and making sure boat traffic is out of the way before lowering it.

Bridge tenders’ duties also include reciting a verbatim script to captains who request boat openings outside of scheduled times, or when emergency vehicles are enroute between island and mainland, Albritton said. 

About 175 bridge tenders, down the east coast of Florida from Fort Pierce to Hollywood, are affected by the contract which raised wages from $9.25 an hour to $10.25 after the first three months of employment.   

It is a “starter contract,” said Scott Singer, now president of Local 487, “The first contract is always the most difficult.”

An increase in wages was important to the workers, Albritton said, because, while their jobs are part time, the rotating schedule they worked — 24 hours one week and 32 the next — put opportunities to make money through additional jobs out of reach.

The drive to unionize was sparked, though, by what workers considered disrespectful treatment, including being reprimanded for taking days off, Albritton said.  A representative of ISS did not respond to a request for comments.

Six bridge tenders took the lead in the effort, including one who drove from bridge to bridge, to talk to workers. About 145 of 175 workers voted, more than 51 percent of them in favor of joining the union, Albritton said.             Ú

Sally Painter currently has works hanging in Delray Beach at Posh Realty
and in the lobby of the 110 Atlantic office building. She also will
be featured in an exhibit at the Agora Gallery in New York City. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

Stopping to smell the roses is just part of what artist Sally Painter does. As an owner of nurseries, she grows and nurtures plants, and then, when she paints, aiming to catch and share their essence, she invites viewers to really look inside them.

For Painter, 56, becoming a painter was a natural progression. Having worked all her life in the nursery business (she still returns to California each month to run her family’s nurseries), she moved to Delray Beach in 2004 and, semi-retired, she had time to explore other activities. 

“I happened to take a painting class at the Boca Museum’s art school, and I was hooked,” she said. “Having worked so closely with plant materials, trees and shrubs, I am able to see flowers a little differently than most people,” she said. “A flower is so beautiful and complex when you look inside. It’s not just petals. There’s much more to it.”

Often, when looking at flowers and painting them, she’s filled with emotion. 

“There’s the excitement of looking inside the flower and interpreting how it was created and came about its unique features. My painting is my interpretation as to how God created those incredible plants. I want to capture and translate that.”

When a subject “speaks” to her, it stays in her head until she puts it down with oil on canvas, she explained.  She’s got plenty of favorites, including roses, peonies and hibiscus, and they almost paint themselves. The more difficult flowers to paint are the ones she has not selected.

“When I try to force-paint something, I struggle with it,” she said.

But music helps. “I usually start out with Josh Groban — that puts me in a meditative mood — and I work my way to faster tempos.” Favorites include Carrie Underwood, Motown, Sting and Nickelback.

“When I paint, it often feels like a dance,” she adds. “My brushstrokes reflect the rhythm.”

Some plants are mellow, while others are bold. For example, there’s the Matilija poppy — that’s pure rock and roll, while the Douglas fir cones she’s painted are placid, soft and subtle, more like The Prayer by Groban, she said.

Painter does paint other subjects. Some have underlying messages and bring out her sense of humor.

“I have a painting, The Showoff. It’s of a rooster going across some water on a log. He’s halfway across, and all these hens are watching him. And there seems to be a conversation in their eyes — like, ‘What’s he doing? He’s showing off, going across the river before everybody else.’ ”

But people seem to like her flowers best, she said. 

“I do Western themes and beach scenes, but people relate to my florals.”

And that comes as no surprise. 

“I’ve been told that gardening is the No. 1 hobby in the United States. People keep buying plants. They make you feel closer to nature and give you a sense of calm,” she said. “I don’t know if it’s the fragrance, but when people are out in the open and in nature, maybe it’s all that color against the green — the contrast that draws the eye.”

When Painter is not painting or working, you may find her in Jackson Hole, Wyo., (she loves to hike), or painting here at the beach, or enjoying her friends, many of whom volunteer with her at the American Red Cross, where she is on the advisory board for the South Palm Beach County branch and assists with fundraising.

“I am blessed with having great friends in Delray Beach. I’ve never experienced that before. I have a great core of girlfriends and we make time for each other with lunch, a walk, a drink.”

— Christine Davis

Tropicana Rose is one of Painter's floral works. Photo provided

10 Questions

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

A. I grew up on a nursery farm in Woodland Hills in Southern California. From a very young age, I was propagating and growing plants. My love for trees and shrubs became my career. I now own two nurseries of my own: Western Star Nurseries, in Sacramento and Pleasanton, Calif. Plants, especially flowers, have been an inspiration for my art.  I graduated from Pepperdine University with a degree in business management. 

Q. How/when did you become an artist? 

A. I became an artist when I moved to Delray Beach seven years ago. My work schedule was modified and I had the time to take art classes.  I was soon consumed with painting
— it became my passion. 

Q. What advice do you have for a young person pursuing a career in the arts today?  

A. I would advise a young person in the arts to take advantage of any and all classes and inspiration available to them. Be free. Be imaginative. Believe in yourself.

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

A. I moved to Delray Beach in 2004. My husband, Robert, who was in the golf course industry, had worked at Gulf Stream Golf Club several years ago. We vacationed in Delray in 2003 and fell in love with the area. We moved our family there a year later. I have a son, Tyler, 20, who is now attending Abilene Christian University and works as a wrangler during the summer at a ranch in Colorado. I love it today more than ever. Delray Beach is truly paradise. 

Q. What is your favorite part about living in Delray Beach?  

A. Delray Beach has so much to offer, from the beach to Atlantic Avenue. My favorite part about living here is the friends I have made. Through art and my volunteer work with the American Red Cross, I have made more close friends than ever before. They are quality, authentic people who don’t take themselves too seriously. For example, we have a Kentucky Derby party every year and my friends dress to the nines, unafraid to wear wild outfits and hats. It is a blast, reflective of our humor and love of life.  

Q. What book are you reading now? 

A. Sarah’s Key, by Tatiana De Rosnay. It is a powerful, heart-wrenching story. Very well written.

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

A. My mentors include my father, John Boething, who was a gifted cartoonist and very successful businessman. My mother, Susan, who kept the wheels turning, overseeing the household full of girls (I have three younger sisters: Haydi, Cathy and Marji), as well as being my father’s business partner. She was my hero. I am currently studying in the masters art class at the Boca Museum of Art School. My instructor and inspiration is Miles Laventhall. I have learned so much from him. 

Q. Who or what makes you laugh? 

A. I laugh often and easily. Life is too short not to.  

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

A. If my life were a movie, I would want a young Candice Bergen to play me. I loved her confidence and humor in the Murphy Brown television series. 

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

A. My favorite quote is, “She believed she could so she did.”

By Steve Plunkett

A landlord’s request to let businesses stay an additional three years at the south end of town has some commissioners asking whether Ocean Ridge still needs its ban on commercial properties.

“Different commissions, different times — is everybody still in agreement that we don’t want commercial property there?” Commissioner Ed Brookes said.

 “Do we need more townhouses?” asked Vice Mayor Lynn Allison.

Orlando and Liliane Sivitilli own 5011 N. Ocean Blvd., which houses The Coastal Star, Commissioner Gail Adams Aaskov’s real estate office, three other business spaces and four apartments. 

In 2000 they sued to block the town from enforcing its ban, Town Attorney Ken Spillias said. Three years later Ocean Ridge and the Sivitillis settled the suit by agreeing that the couple would convert their building to townhomes by June 2013, he said.

But, the Sivitillis said in a letter asking the town for additional time, “now is no time to be planning such a residential real estate redevelopment.” 

Resident Mark Hanna, who sits on the town’s Board of Adjustment, urged commissioners to grant an extension, noting the fluctuating property values of the past decade.

“They were kind of caught in the middle between Briny Breezes [failed buyout] and the real estate collapse,” Hanna said.

A longtime tenant of 5011, Aaskov recused herself from the discussion. Brookes and Allison voted to give the Sivitillis until 2016 to phase out the businesses, but Commissioner Zoanne Hennigan and Mayor Geoff Pugh wanted more information. 

Following the tie vote, commissioners agreed to defer the request to the June 4 meeting.

Other businesses at 5011 N. Ocean Blvd. are Colby’s Barbershop and Transition-Area Triathlon shop.

“Our property, because it’s a mixed-use, has always been local business — like, at the moment, the newspaper and the barbershop. It really is for the local residents. It doesn’t bring people from far away,” said Lisa Sivitilli, the property owners’ daughter.

A 1969 ordinance established the ban on commercial properties but granted businesses a 40-year amortization period, Spillias said. A number of motels converted to multi-family residences, he said.

Busch’s Seafood Restaurant, which attracted diners from as far as Miami, challenged the ordinance in court but ultimately left town.

The Sun Dek Resort also went to court and continues to operate, Spillias said.

A bank, real estate office and gas station operate in unincorporated county enclaves across Ocean Boulevard from the 5011 property.                    Ú

Sporting toy hard-hats to celebrate the project, Tonja Olive,
president of the McCormick Mile Beach Club, signs the agreement
with contractor Mark Becker and board member Jerry Goray (left).
Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

By Ron Hayes

Raise the roof.

And while you’re at it, refurbish the bathroom, build a new deck, add air conditioning and bring the whole place up to hurricane code.
    Residents of the McCormick Mile developments on Harbour and Sabal islands are doing all that and more to turn a former sales office teetering on the brink of eyesore into a 21st-century beach club the whole community can admire.
“It’s the soul of the neighborhood,” says Tonja Olive, president of McCormick Mile Beach Club Inc. “But it was falling apart, and we were going to lose it if we didn’t repair it.”
Resting on dunes just south of the Boynton Inlet, the simple, one-story concrete-block building is east of the coastal construction line. Legally, it can be repaired, but not replaced. Now donations from residents will see the rebirth begin, probably this month.

McCormick Beach Club is white rectangle on beach above building with pool.

In 1955, developers promised “unique Florida living right in the Heart of the Gold Coast” when the Harbour Island homesites, on property once owned by Col. Robert R. McCormick, owner of The Chicago Tribune, went on sale.
Two years later, a second phase opened on Sabal Island and the club was built as a temporary sales office, with a promise that it would be deeded to the residents for use as a private beach club. In 1965, it was.
“We were the sixth house built,” remembers Millie Stormont, who moved to Harbour Island in September 1961. “My children could literally play in the road. The clubhouse was just a simple little place where we all went and had meals, and then you just closed the door and left. You didn’t need a parking sticker on your car, didn’t have to remember a code on the lock.”
When Stormont arrived, the club’s annual dues were $30. Today, the dues are $300, but the 55-year-old beach club hasn’t kept pace. The walls are cracked, the deck splintered. An oceanfront window is patched with a black garbage bag and duct tape.
“A surfboard went through the window,” says Kristine de Haseth, the club’s secretary, with a grim smile. “Everybody takes turns mopping the floor.”
Two years ago, a newly elected board formed a building committee. Plans were sketched, pleas made. So far, about 63 of the development’s 98 homes have donated $1,000 each toward the repairs, and an anonymous donor has offered to help make up the difference, according to de Haseth.
The entire project is expected to cost about $185,000, said building committee member Mark Becker, including about $25,000 for vegetation, expanded parking and a new roadside wall and gate.

An original sales poster for McCormick Mile Beach Club. 

“The challenge has been raising the funds,” said Becker, who expects work to begin soon, with Jeff Barker Workbench Construction realizing architect James Gilgenbach’s plans.
First, they’ll replace and raise the roof two feet.
“It should be under a 90-day job. We’re all working toward a grand opening on Labor Day, and I haven’t seen anything in the plans that says we couldn’t get there,” Becker said.
De Haseth can’t wait.
“I’m looking forward to seeing it being actively used by young and old alike,” she said. “It’s a happy place. People come to celebrate, whether it’s a birthday, an anniversary, or just the end of the week.
“It’s the gateway to Ocean Ridge.”                                   

By Mary Thurwachter

Work on the long-awaited drainage project on Hypoluxo Island began on May 28.

The area has been plagued with flooding for several decades. During budget talks in 2011, the Lantana Town Council decided to dip into its reserves to do something about it. 

Last year, the council awarded a $711,765 contract to Intercounty Engineering Inc. of Pompano Beach to do the work on North Atlantic Drive, Southeast Atlantic Drive and Beach Curve Road.

Then, at the May 14 town meeting, a $137,665  contract for a 6-inch water main extension from East Ocean Boulevard south along North Atlantic Drive  was awarded to AKA Services Inc. That was significantly less than the $171,000 budgeted for that portion of the drainage project.

“This will increase the water pressure for fire hydrants and in general,” Mayor Dave Stewart said.

Town Manager Deborah Manzo said work on the water main extension should be completed within 90 days after construction begins. The entire area will be paved after drainage work is complete.

In another matter of concern to island residents, Erica Wald, who lives on South Atlantic Drive, addressed the council about notice given for the May 10 boil water notice issued to residents on the island.

“I got home from work, gave the dog some water and put some soup on the stove,” she said. “Then I checked phone messages and got the reverse 911 call about the boil water notice. I threw the soup out and worried about my dog.”

She asked if the town could put up signs in the neighborhood to alert residents of boil water orders.

Stewart said town staff put door hangers about the water on each home in the area.

Jerry Darr, the town’s utilities director, said that besides the door hangers and reverse 911, TV stations were notified to help get the word out.

“Everything that could be done was done,” he said. About 350 homes were affected in addition to The Carlisle and the beach.

Water in the area was turned off for about an hour due to bridge construction.

“The construction company hit an unmarked 2-inch water line and it snapped,” Darr said. It happened on the east side of the bridge on the north side of Ocean Avenue where the sidewalk had been pulled up. “We had to shut off the water to get to it,” he said. “As required by the Health Department, the boil water notice was given for 72 hours. It was a precautionary measure.

“Bacteriological surveys were done before the notice was rescinded on (the following) Monday.”                                   Ú

Katherine Vellis and Michelle Remus enjoy a glass of wine
at Josephine’s Italian Cuisine in Boca Raton.  Josephine’s
restaurant  was one of the stops on the Check Please! South
Florida Tasting Tour. Photos by Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Deborah S. Hartz-Seeley

More than 100 foodies are gathered at Teeca Plaza to participate in the sold-out Boca Raton Check Please! Tasting Tour. Most of these people are fans of the popular WPBT-Channel 2 television series Check Please! South Florida hosted by über-chef Michelle Bernstein. 

“This tour sounded like a different and fun thing to do,” says Marian Link, who with her husband, Ronald, drove 1½ hours from Kendall through torrential rain to be here. “We also get to discover new restaurants.” And at $125 per ticket, they are supporting the public television station.

Now in its eighth season, every episode of the show gives three amateur foodies a chance to review and discuss their favorite eateries. Bernstein enjoys publicizing small, out-of-the-way spots.

This bus tour promises to take participants to five Boca Raton restaurants already featured on the show. Hosts for the evening include Bernstein and radio personality Paul Castronovo of the Paul & Young Ron Show. 

The only hitch: Bernstein is seriously ill with bronchitis and doesn’t attend the event.

Instead, she sends her husband and co-restaurateur David Martinez to offer her apologies. He tells the crowd she is sorry to miss this opportunity to introduce restaurants and support the television station. Then he offers his own apology: “I’m not as cute as she is.”

Of course some people are disappointed. 

“Sure we wanted Michelle to be here,” says Maria Fregosi of coastal Boca Raton. “But we enjoy food and wine, and this is a good chance to support the television station. We’ll eat and enjoy,” 

Although Bernstein isn’t here in person, tasting a dish from Michy’s restaurant (michysmiami.com) in Miami is still on the itinerary. Her assistant Amanda Ghetia prepares Watermelon Greek Salad under a blue tent off the parking lot. It’s served with Sparkling Strawberry Basil “Mojitos” in plastic flutes.

Then it is time to visit the first stop on the tour, Sushi Rock (sushirockboca.com) in the same plaza. Here we sample spicy tuna as well as garlic mussels. A few sips of Santa Cristina wines from a sponsor, Thai coffee or tea, and it’s time to board the bus.

A plate of food from Josephine’s. 

We head to Josephine’s (josephinesofboca.com) for a bit more elegant eating. Waiters serve wine and green apple martinis to guests as they wait to sample a generous Italian buffet. Then we take seats at linen-covered tables where we enjoy candlelight and the singing of Debi Lewin.

The next stop is Bogart’s Bar & Grille (bogartsofboca.com). The televisions station staff had asked this eatery to serve its mahi fish tacos because they had been reviewed on the show. Guests also sip Tito’s Texastinis made from a sponsor’s vodka.

At the next restaurant, Casa D’Angelo Ristorante (casa-d-angelo.com), chef Rickie Piper serves the most popular dish of the evening — braised beef short ribs with a sweet Amarone fig sauce and pear raviolini.

Castronovo, who is a fan of this restaurant, provides a case of Montepulciano d’Abruzzo from a vineyard where he is part owner. Interesting facts that we discover over wine: Paul grew up in Lake Worth and his wife, Gina, in Boca Raton. “That’s when Military Trail was the end of the earth,” she tells us.

The final stop is the Tin Muffin Café (on Facebook: The-Tin-Muffin-Café). Tour participant Jerry Friedman of Parkland reviewed it on the show last season. “I’d gone by this place 1,000 times on my way to the beach before I tried it. Since then I’ve been back often,” he says.

He — and everyone else — will return for thick slices of coconut cream pie and slabs of moist carrot cake, all garnished with whipped cream and fresh strawberries.                            

Become a reviewer

Check Please! South Florida producer Joyce Belloise offers some tips for being chosen as a guest reviewer. To apply, visit checkpleasefl.com

• Have an interesting occupation.
• Select a hidden gem of a restaurant in a small neighborhood.
• When interviewed on the phone, convey your enthusiasm about the restaurant, food and the show.
• Don’t get discouraged. They have 1,500 applications and can use only about 15 each season. However. they do keep applications on file so it could be two to three years before you are contacted.

Workers from Kast Construction enjoyed a BBQ lunch
and gift prizes during the “topping off” party for the 4001
Condo being built by Kolter Homes on A1A in Gulf Stream. 

Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

By Thom Smith

While most in the crowd at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner were breaking up over Jimmy Kimmel’s barbs, Sofia Vergara and Nick Loeb apparently were just breaking up. Despite no confirmation from either the actress or the Delray Beach businessman/political aspirant, the national tabloid media (uh-oh, The Coastal Star is tabloid-sized, too!) is frothing with reports that the wunder-couple’s two-year romance has run its course. For Vergara, it’s certainly not the first time. 

Sofia Vergara

Nick Loeb

In what must have been a tumultuous period, the Modern Family television series star married her childhood sweetheart at age 18, gave birth a year later and barely a year after that broke off the marriage and began dental school in her native Colombia. (Say aaahhh!)

So sad. Delray sources say the breakup is a bummer for Vergara’s 19-year-old son Manolo, who saw Loeb as a father figure. Some reports claim Manolo’s acceptance to Boston University’s film school was helped along by Loeb.

        Kevin James                                     

Some reports have Loeb continuing to pursue the relationship, but should he return to Delray, he might have occasion to meet the star of another sitcom. Fairly reliable word in the local real estate community indicates that Delray Beach will soon be a safer place to live with the arrival of Paul Blart, Mall Cop. Actor and comedian Kevin James has bought a modest bungalow — eight bedrooms, nine baths, 25,000 square feet total — on two acres at the north end of the beach. According to Zillow.com, the owner was asking $19.9 million, but $16.9 million is more realistic. No word from the James camp, but the actor did spend time in South Florida in mid-April.  

      Miera Melba                                       

Should James need any interior touch-ups, he might want to summon Delray interior designer Miera Melba. But he may have to wait a while, as she’s a contestant in HGTV’s latest Design Star series that premiered May 29. 

“The experience was absolutely delightful,” Melba said. “I’m their first grandmother. I’m at least 20 years older than the next one. They even called me Mamma Mia a couple of times.”     Melba, 64, can remember when the town was known as Dull-ray, and despite stints at Robb & Stucky and in Palm Beach Gardens, it always has been her home base. However, she’s willing to move since the winner is given a show on HGTV. In fact, the Design Star host, David Bromstad, had studied at Ringling College of Art and Design in Sarasota and was working as a designer in Miami when he won during the series’ inaugural season. 

“It’s like American Idol; it’s hard to get into,” Melba said. She first answered a casting call in Miami, then went through a screening process that whittled hundreds of applicants down to a not-so-dirty dozen. The series was recorded in Los Angeles in January and February. Melba knows the outcome, but she’s sworn to secrecy: “I’m on hold,” she said. But she did reveal her strategy. “My game plan: I wanted to be the Baby Boomer of the show. I design for my age group. It’s our turn now.”

Actually, Melba isn’t the only Palm Beach County resident in the competition. Rachel Kate Hunt is back in South Florida for the second time and now lives in Boynton Beach, only a few miles from Melba. However, the preponderance of her work is back in her native Minnesota, which is her base as far as HGTV is concerned. Her work includes wedding gowns, handbags and interior design. Take a look at rachelkate.com.

      Susan Boyd                                       

Suzanne Boyd, another Delray Beach resident, has put in more than a decade as a news anchor at WPEC-Channel 12. She also is a farmer’s daughter, mother of two and a former Watermelon Queen.    

And when the South Palm Beach County Chapter of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society asked her to enter its inaugural Woman of the Year fundraising drive, she called upon several other skills. Arranging a special night at Boston’s on the Beach, Boyd called upon skills perfected while a University of Florida student: she tended bar. Then she jumped on stage and sang along with the Amber Leigh Band. 

When the counting was done, Boyd raised $24,500, second to Boca lymphoma survivor Nicole Lord’s $38,000. Boca attorney Ben Werber was the top male with $14,000, helping the drive bring in a total of $131,000. Boyd made one other contribution: her weekly newscast segments featuring leukemia and lymphoma survivors brought priceless attention to the cause.

                                              ***

Speaking of Boston’s on the Beach, its new upscale, upstairs dining spot 50 Ocean will host “Dine Out for a Cause: Centennial Style” on July 21, the first in a series of fundraisers by the Delray Beach Public Library to celebrate its centennial. Ocean Properties public and community relations director Kerry Morrissey will serve as host and celebrity chef, and a portion of the night’s proceeds will go to the library. The next “Dine Out” is set for July 26 at The Sundy House.

On Aug. 18, with co-sponsorship by Shore Thing, the Library will present Beach, Books & Barbeque at The Delray Beach Club. Top beach volleyball pros, including Olympian Steve Grotowski, Shore Thing’s top-ranked pro, will conduct clinics and play exhibition matches.  Call 278-3364 or www.delraylibrary.org.

                                              ***

Boston’s Third Annual Red, White & Blues Festival — six days of bar-band madness — kicks off with a free party June 29. Some 40 acts are expected to take the stage over six days, including Bobby Rush, Tommy Castro and the Painkillers with special guest “Magic Dick,” John Mooney, Beverly McClellan, Sugar Ray & the Bluetones, The New Orleans Suspects, Southern Hospitality, Yo Mama’s Big Fat Booty Band and Albert Castiglia. Daily prices vary; the ultimate VIP Package includes an event pass, festival T-shirt, event poster, VIP-only raffle, four drink tickets, and a $10 food voucher. (www.bostonsbluefest.com or 278-3364.)

                                              ***

Up in Lantana, the bar scene looks to jump a notch or two with the arrival of Lantana Jack’s on Federal, just north of Ocean Avenue. But don’t expect a reincarnation of the former Lantana Ale House.

“This is not going to be your typical neighborhood sports bar,” said Kevin Walters, one of three principals, none of whom is named Jack. “We like to call it an island-inspired bar and grill, a place to escape the day.”

Walters knows upscale. He spent nearly two decades as vice president of food and beverage at The Breakers. He oversaw the resort’s culinary expansion that included Echo, the offsite Asian fusion restaurant, which was run by David Thall and Charles Skidmore, now his partners in Lantana. 

“We’ll have TVs,” Walters said, “but we want to focus on the menu and the bar. We’ll have a creative drink menu and we’ll have a chef in the kitchen, not just a line cook.” 

The chef, Chris Palmer, most recently at Tap 42 in Fort Lauderdale, was mentored by South Florida legend Allen Susser. “We always dreamt of doing something like this,” Walters said. “Now the stars 

have aligned.”

                                              ***

Perhaps some day, Lantana Jack’s will be a stop on the ever-growing Bus Loop program. The newest route, Boca, was launched June 1 with stops at Mizner Park, Royal Palm Place and FAU/Glades Road. Boca participants — The Dubliner, FAU Living Room Theatre, Mario’s Osteria, Wishing Well, The Spaniard, Rebel House, Funky Biscuit, Tucci’s Pizza, Black Rose Irish Pub and Platforms — offered free drinks and snacks at each stop with a post-party at The Dubliner.  

Next up is Delray, July 20, with the loop running from Boston’s to Sundy House and lots of stops in between. Proceeds will benefit the library, Spirit of Giving and The Milagro Center. 

Guests can linger at any stop as long as they’re back to their terminus by midnight. Advance tickets are $20 and proceeds go to participating charities. And one more thing: Designated drivers receive free passage. For details, www.busloop.org. 

                                              ***

Speaking of food, more than 55 restaurants are participating in Palm Beaches Restaurant Week. From June 3-9, they will offer prix-fixe meals, only $20.12 for lunch, $30.12 for dinner.  It’s a great way for restaurants to boost business in the off-season and a great way for diners to try new places.

How difficult is  it? Just go to www.palmbeachesrestaurant
week.com for a list of participating restaurants and special menus and make your reservation. That’s all there is to it. 

South county choices include: Bizaare Ave Café in Lake Worth; Tapas 210 Fusion in Lantana; Temple Orange at The Ritz-Carlton, Manalapan; Da Vinci’s Italian Restaurant and The Living Room in Boynton; Buddha Sky Bar, City Oyster, Dada, Deck 84, Henry’s and SoLita Italian in Delray; Kapow!, Philippe Chow, Seasons 52 and The Dubliner in Boca. 

Choices in Palm Beach include: Café Boulud, Malcolm’s at The Omphoy, Palm Beach Grill, PB Catch, Renato’s, Ta-boó, Testa’s, The Four Seasons, Trevini and 264 The Grill. 

Allen Susser                                       

And on June 20, Share Our Strength’s Taste of the Nation — Palm Beach returns. Chefs Zach Bell of Addison Reserve Country Club, Clay Conley of Buccan and Allen Susser of Burger Bar are chairing the event at the Kravis Center’s Cohen Pavilion. There’ll be food stations by more than 20 restaurants, from Café Chardonnay in the Gardens to Casa D’Angelo in Boca, and lots of beverages to wash it down. 

Two tiers of tickets: $90 general admission from 7-9:30 p.m. or $150 VIP with early entry at 6:30 p.m., plus silent auction preview, lounge area, cooking competitions, gift bags and special wine and spirits. (strengthflorida.org)

                                              ***

The fate of the Caldwell Theatre Company remains in legal limbo, but theater is not totally dark in Boca. With A.R. Gurney’s Sylvia opening Sept. 28 for a two-week run and Kander and Ebb’s Chicago following in March, the Boca Raton Theatre Guild is serving notice that it intends to be more than a community ensemble. Performances are set for the Willow Theatre in Sugar Sand Park off Military Trail.

The Willow also will be the new home for The Women’s Theatre Project, which is moving from Fort Lauderdale.  The decade-old professional company presents readings, one-act plays, and full-length plays by local, national, and international female playwrights that explore the female voice. Scheduled for this season are Delval Divas, a comedy by Barbara Pease Weber (Nov. 2-18) and The Interview by Faye Sholiton (Jan. 4-20).  For info: Carol Kassie at ckassie@gmail.com or 445-9244.

                                              ***

Fans and boosters were surprised when FAU’s “big owl,” Athletic Director Craig Angelos, was unceremoniously dumped from the nest in March. Angelos had been at FAU for nine years and had overseen construction of impressive new facilities, including the stadium. While FAU’s athletic program has enjoyed some bright spots, other factors came into play: lack of support by coaches and of coaches, inadequate recruiting budgets, failing to cut a deal for stadium naming rights. Some also questioned the hiring in December of new football coach Carl Pelini, a Nebraska assistant. He was already a subject of gossip in Lincoln, and a month after his hiring, he filed for divorce. 

Yet some FAU observers suggest that loyalty, or lack thereof, may have been the key to Angelos’ demise. 

The dish was that every time a school advertised for a new athletic director, Angelos applied for the job. That might be good for Angelos, who’s considered an up-and-comer in collegiate sports management, but not if you’re an up-and-coming collegiate sports program that’s looking for someone who’ll be around for the long run. 

Now it’s up to FAU President Mary Jane Saunders. Stay tuned. 

                                              ***

Club news: There’s a new face at the Delray Beach Club  — Frank Forlini, clubhouse manager.

If Forlini, who will assist general manager Shane Peachey, looks familiar, it’s because he spent 18 years working at the Seagate Club and five years working at the Boca Raton Resort and Club. 

Besides the local jobs, Forlini also spent five years at New York’s Waldorf Astoria.

Thom Smith is a freelance writer. Find him at thomsmith@ymail.com

St Joseph’s Episcopal School fifth-grader Veronica McCord helps Jewish War vets Irving Schildkraut and Tony Deutsch as they decorate grave sites at the Boynton Beach Memorial Park in honor of Memorial Day. About 30 children and veterans teamed up to honor the dead. Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

JoAnn T. Urban

By Liz Best

HIGHLAND BEACH—  Devoted wife, mother, grandmother, avid reader and beach lover, JoAnn T. Urban, of Highland Beach, died May 4 at Hospice by the Sea.  She was 73 years old.

Mrs. Urban was born on Dec. 28, 1938, in New York City, the daughter of Constance and John Barbarite.  New York City also is where she met and married Joseph Urban. The couple were married for 54 years and moved to Highland Beach about 10 years ago. 

Mrs. Urban is survived by her husband Joseph; son Kevin and his wife Julie, of New York City; son Mark and his wife Chrissy, of New York City; daughter Karen and her husband Frank, of Sarasota; and three grandchildren.

Funeral services were held May 7 at St. Lucy Catholic Church in Highland Beach, followed by interment at the Boca Raton Mausoleum.

Betty Lou Shaw

By Ron Hayes 

DELRAY BEACH — Betty Lou Shaw, a professional fashion model, devoted wife, loving mother and longtime area resident, died May 23 at her home in the Delray Beach Club apartments.

    She was 88 and remained active until shortly before her death.        
    “Growing up, all my friends said, ‘I wish we had a mother like you have,’” recalled her son, Chris Shaw, of suburban Boca Raton. “She made them feel welcome in our home. I know everyone says that, but she truly was extraordinary. There aren’t too many in the world like her.”
    Mrs. Shaw was born July 22, 1923, in Detroit, Mich. She pursued a successful modeling career in the 1940s and ‘50s in New York City, but returned to Michigan to raise three children with her husband, William R. Shaw II, a certified public accountant.
    The couple came to Palm Beach County in 1976, residing first at the 3000 S. Ocean condominium in Boca Raton. In 1977, they built a home in the Royal Palm Yacht & Country Club, where they lived until Mr. Shaw’s death in 1993, after which Mrs. Shaw moved to the Delray Beach Club.
    Mrs. Shaw was a volunteer at Boca Raton Community Hospital, active with the Red Cross and did some occasional modeling during her retirement.
    “She played tennis for many years and exercised her whole life,” her son said. “She had a personal trainer until about three years ago. That’s why she was so healthy all her life.”
    In April, she and her children enjoyed a Caribbean cruise to Haiti, Jamaica and Cozumel.
    “She almost had an aura about her,” said her son. “She really cared about everyone, and everything.”
    In addition to Christopher Shaw, she is survived by a second son, Tom, of California, a daughter, Julie, of Kentucky, as well as her longtime companion, David Kinkaid, of Delray Beach.
    A celebration of Mrs. Shaw’s life was held May 26 at First Presbyterian Church of Pompano Beach.
    The family requests that donations in her memory be made to Hospice by The Sea of Boca Raton, 1531 W. Palmetto Park Road, Boca Raton, 33486.

A woman from Fort Mose near St. Augustine.

By Greg Stepanich

An exhibit returning to Delray Beach’s Spady Cultural Heritage Museum after a three-year absence will help visitors understand that slavery in North America was more complex than popular memory might have it.   

The exhibit, which opened in May and remains there through July 29, is focused on Fort Mose (pronounced Mo-SAY), a redoubt north of St. Augustine that in the mid-18^th century was home to the first community of free black men in what was to become the United States.

Interim museum director Charlene Jones says Fort Mose’s legacy is with us today.

“It ties directly to South Florida because many of the people from the Georgia, Carolina, Panhandle of Florida area migrated down to what we now call South Florida, particularly Delray Beach, during this time by way of Fort Mose,” Jones said.

Not that there were any major settlements in this part of Florida back then. But it served as a hiding place until the abolishment of slavery with the 13^th Amendment in 1865.

Florida was a Spanish colony from Ponce de Leon’s arrival in 1513, and in the 1680s, Spanish King Charles II offered asylum to slaves who would agree to serve the Spanish against the English, and convert to Catholicism. Fort Mose was built in 1738 as a defense outpost to protect St. Augustine. It was attacked not long afterward, and rebuilt. Spain ceded it to Britain in 1763, and the colony departed for Cuba. 

The 500-square-foot exhibit features informational panels and cutout representations of some of the people important to the story, and a case containing replicas of some of the items found at the site when it was excavated in 1986, such as musket balls and belt buckles.

“These things helped the historians piece together all kinds of information about the fort, including the types of uniforms that they wore to the types of food that they ate,” Jones said. 

Most importantly, the Fort Mose story helps show visitors that the face of slavery was not the same in every part of the country, Jones said. 

“The biggest thing it does is it highlights the different perspectives of the different nations who were enslaving people,” she said, adding that the Spanish approach allowed them to consider the slaves they protected as servants and freemen at the same time. 

“They viewed people who were enslaved as people, whereas many others viewed people who were enslaved as property,” Jones said.

The Fort Mose exhibit comes from the Florida Museum of Natural History and is sponsored by the Delray Beach Community Redevelopment Agency. 

The museum is at 170 NW Fifth St., and is open 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, and on Saturday by appointment. Admission is $5. Call 279-8883 or visit www.spadymuseum.org.              Ú

Alderman Sue Thaler

By Tim O’Meilia

She had yet to be appointed to the Briny Breezes Town Council, but already a card with the name “Alderman Sue Thaler” rested in front of the empty chair at the council table.

“She’s the only one who sent in a letter or expressed any interest,” shrugged Deputy Town Clerk Cindy Corum.

Minutes later Thaler was appointed unanimously to complete the second year of Kathleen Bray’s three-year term. 

“The town had a need and nobody else stepped forward,” Thaler, 57, said of her appointment to the unpaid position. 

“I think it’s important for everyone to do their civic duty,” she said. “Maybe it sounds corny but I do believe in doing my fair share.”

Thaler and her husband moved to Briny Breezes from the Washington, D.C. area in 2007.  She recently completed a three-year term on the board of the corporation that owns the town. 

“As a retired auditor, I think I can help the town continue on the good fiscal path they’ve been on,” she said. 

Bray resigned in April. The final year of the seat’s three-year term will be on next March’s ballot.                    Ú

Larry M.Donovan

By Ron Hayes

    OCEAN RIDGE — When she only four or five, Teri Donovan’s father would take her to the Drake Hotel in Oak Brook, Ill.
    “They always had a big band,” she remembers, “and we would get them to play ‘Moon River,’ my favorite song, and I’d stand on his feet and we’d dance... Now the biggest and best part of my childhood is gone.”
    Larry M. Donovan, a farm boy from western Michigan who fell in love with ballrooms, died May 25 at his home in The Tamarind, where he had served on the board of directors. He was 83 and battled Parkinson’s disease, but kept on dancing almost to the end.
    “On St. Patrick’s Day we went to The Little Club,” recalled his widow, Janet. “He was using a wheelchair then, but he was up on the floor, up on his feet, dancing.”
    On the Saturday night before his death, Mr. Donovan attended “The Songs of Barry Manilow,” a revue at The Plaza Theatre in Manalapan.
    “We had to tell him to be quiet because he was singing along with the cast,” his wife said.
    He spent all day Sunday at St. Mark Catholic Church in Boynton Beach, helping Father Richard Florek celebrate 40 years as a priest.
    Monday night he was at Taboo, having dinner with friends.
    “He was a very happy, loving man who really and truly enjoyed meeting people,” his wife said. “He’d have been out every night of the week if he could.”
    Mr. Donovan was born in Kalamazoo, Mich., on July 5, 1928, and grew up on the family farm in Lawrence. In high school, he earned varsity letters in football, baseball, basketball and track, and went on to graduate from the University of Notre Dame in 1950 with a degree in finance.
    In 1959, he opened Gala Lanes, a bowling alley in Kankakee, Ill., and later two more in Naperville and Carol Stream, as well as Pappy’s Pizza Parlors in Kalamazoo, East Lansing and Flint.
     Mr. Donovan moved to Ocean Ridge permanently in 1999 after wintering in the area, and joined both the Ocean Club and Little Club. He loved golf, the Chicago Bears, a Crown Royal with a splash of water and lots of ice and, of course, ballroom dancing.
    In addition to his widow, Janet O’Neill Donovan and daughter, Teri Donovan Springer of Richland, Mich., Mr. Donovan is survived by his stepdaughter, Kathryn Shaw of Chester, Nova Scotia; a bother, Richard Donovan of St. Claire Shores, Mich.; three grandsons and two granddaughters. He was predeceased by his first wife, Patricia Brand Donovan.

A Funeral Mass was celebrated May 29 at St. Mark Catholic Church in Boynton Beach.
    Donations may be made to Notre Dame University, The Parkinson’s Association or the Cheff Therapeutic Riding Center in Augusta, Mich.     

Kate Maloney and Zoe Romano, both students at Unity School in Delray Beach, use contrasting forms of communication while at the Historical Society of Palm Beach County, Barefoot by the Sea celebration in Delray Beach. One of the girls followed traditional methods, handwriting three letters for her friends to be delivered as a letter in a bottle.  The other made a more contemporary choice, with a text message on her phone.

With vintage hat and shoes Diane Lewis helps with a demonstration about the Historic Barefoot Mailman.  Photos by Jerry Lower/Coastal Star

Workers from GLF Construction Corp. cut steel during
the replacement of the Ocean Avenue Bridge in Lantana.
Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Tim O’Meilia

The final resting place for the soon-to-be-demolished East Ocean Avenue Bridge in Lantana will be, well, here and there — beneath the Lake Worth Lagoon, near the new fishing pier under the new Lantana bridge and somewhere around the town hall.

Work on replacing the 62-year-old drawbridge with a taller, wider $32 million replacement has begun by Palm Beach County. 

Manalapan, South Palm Beach and Hypoluxo Island residents have begun making their 12- or 16-mile detours to buy groceries. Business owners on the east side of the old bridge are already counting their losses. 

Instead of being hauled out to sea and dropped to the ocean’s floor to form an offshore reef, the 5,000 tons of the span’s concrete will be used as part of the underwater base for the Snook Island restoration project just north of the Lake Worth bridge. 

The county and contractor GLF of Miami will save $300,000 by not moving the concrete by barge up the Intracoastal and out the Palm Beach Inlet to sea. 

It’s even cheaper than breaking the concrete span into smaller pieces and hauling them by truck to a clean landfill. 

“They’ll be used as the subbase for some of the estuarial islands off the Lake Worth golf course,” said biologist Carmen Vare, of the Palm Beach County environmental resource management department. 

Other debris — some of the pilings — will be used as a reef to attract fish to a $560,000 fishing pier that will run beneath the eastern end of the new bridge. That won’t happen until late 2013 just before the bridge is scheduled to open.

Bits of the bridge that have some historic value — a plaque from the 1950 dedication, the roof of the bridge tender’s house, the gear box the raises the spans and several street lights from the span — will find their way to displays around town. 

Demolition work is on schedule, said Kristine Frazell-Smith, who is overseeing the work for the county’s engineering department. 

When it opens, the new bridge will be 11 feet higher and reduce drawbridge openings by 40 percent.                                

A waterspout heads for shore north of the Boynton Inlet on the morning of May 22. This photo was taken from the beach boardwalk at Portofino Condominiums in Ocean Ridge. There were no reports of damage. Photo by Scott Harmon

May provided the the biggest full moon of the year. This photo of the “Super Moon” was taken from the beach in Ocean Ridge on May 5. Jerry Lower/Coastal Star

Actress Megan Blake, her dog, Super Smiley
(that’s his REAL name), and Arden Moore at the
San Diego Party in 2011. Blake travels all over the country
doing the Super Smiley Flash Mob to raise money and
awareness for adopting mutts. Photo provided

By Arden Moore

In the pet world, I happily wear many collars — author, animal behavior consultant, radio show host and my personal favorite: dog party expert. I travel all over North America to unleash the true party animal inside people — and their canine chums.

I’ve staged parties for 500 in Kauai at the annual Love a Dog Day and for 800-plus mutt-loving members of the military at a Navy base in San Diego. 

I’ve even demonstrated a dog party with my Husky-golden retriever mix Chipper before cameras in a CNN-Headline News studio in New York City.

No matter if the party is big or small, I focus on three goals: to sneak in good doggy manners in a fun setting, to benefit a worthy pet charity and to give party-goers the rare chance to revel in the moment without the disruptions or demands of phone calls, emails or business appointments.

I’m no psychologist, but I believe in — and have witnessed — the power of purposeful play for both dogs and people. That’s why I boldly created a canine holiday last year called National Dog Party Day.™

We staged simultaneous parties in San Diego and New York City. And, this year — June 22 to be exact — I invite all you South Florida pet lovers to participate in our newest party site: Miami Beach.

The party takes place at The Chalk Lounge in Miami Beach from 7 to 10 p.m. with proceeds to benefit Paws 4 You Rescue. Tickets are $25 apiece and you can register now by visiting www.dogpartyday.com/miami for details and party rules. 

I promise you three hours of jam-packed fun activities, plenty of great eats, surprise celebrity appearances and the opportunity to win mega prizes generously donated by many sponsors. Here is a sneak peek at a few games that will be unleashed at the three party sites on June 22:

K9 Karaoke: Move over, American Idol. Take a seat, The Voice. The hottest musical competition these days calls for competitors to serenade their canine pals.

 Like many of you, I confess that I create jingles or sing lyrics from my favorite songs to my dogs, Chipper and Cleo. At the National Dog Party Day, we invite you to grab the mike and belt out a favorite song that captures your connection with your dog in hopes of being crowned top K9 crooner. Start rehearsing now, because a major prize will be awarded.

Snoopy Says: This is a variation of the popular child’s game called Simon Says. 

At our  National Dog Party Day venues, we instruct guests to line up with their leashed dogs. The rules are simple: the people-dog teams must comply with our commands whenever we say, “Snoopy says.” For example, “Snoopy says sit your dog.” People must get their dogs to sit within 5 seconds. But if we simply say, “Sit your dog,” people who do so are eliminated from the competition. The winning team is the one that heeds all “Snoopy says” commands.

Canine Musical Chairs: For this first-rate party favorite, we arrange hula hoops in a circle on the ground, spaced three feet apart. We start with one fewer hula hoop than the number of participants. We instruct the participants to walk single-file counterclockwise around the hula hoops, as dog-themed music plays. When the music abruptly stops, each guest must get their dog to sit inside a hula hoop and each person must have at least one foot inside the hula hoop. Too slow — or too stubborn — dogs are eliminated. We continue until we have one dog and owner left standing (er, sitting).

Bottom line: Dogs are born party animals and they learn best in a fun setting. And, we two-leggers rarely get the chance to truly live in the moment. 

National Dog Party Day celebrates that connection we have with our dogs — and raises money for great causes. Each year, I expand with more venues. Who knows? Maybe in 2013, we can stage a party in Palm Beach County. 

I hope you will join us on June 22. 

After all, when it comes to party trends, dog parties win paws down! For more information, please visit www.dogpartyday.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 PetLifeRadio.com and learn more by visiting www.fourleggedlife.com.

David Renna, director of the club division at The Breakers,
illustrates the versatility and tradition of the blue blazer. 

Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Emily J. Minor

It’s the quintessential piece in a man’s wardrobe, or at least it should be. The blue blazer. Perhaps double breasted with a single vent in the back. Maybe a six-inch drop. Or perhaps single-breasted with classic brass buttons and a double vent.

Cashmere? Hopsack? Linen?

Just put it on, and go.

“We’re such a visual society, and we size people up instantly,” says Susan Bigsby, a veteran image consultant based in South Florida. “The blue blazer takes it up a notch.”

John Zoller, vice president of retail operations at The Breakers Palm Beach — who knows a thing, or two, or three, about island life and the style it demands — is very often seen in public wearing a blue blazer.

“It never dies,” says Zoller, simply. “It’s good for someone who’s 15 years old or 80 years old.”

But why?

What’s so special about the blue blazer, even after all these years? What makes it look good on everybody from a Romney to a Rockefeller to a Jones?

What makes it a blazer and not a sports coat?

And why in the world is it even called a blazer?

Lucky for you, we happen to know these things. And then some.

The first blazers were worn by the lady rowers of the 1825 Lady Margaret Boating Club at St. John’s College in Cambridge, England. The team was named after Lady Margaret Beaufort, the mother of King Henry VII, who founded the college in 1511.

At the start, the team jackets were red — and therefore the word “blazer” since they were so bright they seemed to light up. But fashion, of course, changes — even back then.

By 1889, the original red flannel jackets had evolved into designs of stripes (red and white), and soft tans and blues also became more popular. This evolution, noticeable in all the high-end British social circles, made the pages of the London Daily News. 

“It seems that a blazer now means a coloured flannel jacket, whether for cricket, tennis, boating or seaside wear,” wrote one Daily News reader.

Four different styles from the Ralph Lauren boutique at
The Breakers illustrate the versatility and tradition
of the blue blazer. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

And so it was. The blazer had taken off — considered a staple for everywhere from a stuffy men’s club to a noisy boarding school refectory.

Resembling a suit coat, the blazer is cut more casually. Sometimes the pockets are made without flaps; the buttons are often brass. There is no nap to the fabric. No tweed. No subtle checked pattern. Today, double-breasted blazers are less popular than the single, mainly because double breasted must be worn closed, a look that doesn’t work well on everyone.

“I went to an event the other day and my friend wore a blue blazer with Bermuda shorts,” says Bigsby. “I can’t tell you how many blue blazers I’ve bought for my clients over the years.”

And so it was one quiet Monday afternoon that we got our Blue Blazer Lesson, taught with great flourish and inside knowledge by Zoller. 

We met at Polo Ralph Lauren at The Breakers, where Zoller and buyer Kristeen Pastore had put together some very impressive looks, each built around a blue blazer.

Cashmere ($2,395) and virgin wool ($1,095).

A blue blazer with jeans. A blue blazer with white trousers. A cashmere blue blazer over a cashmere sweater.  A blue blazer over Bermuda shorts. A blue blazer with a shirt and a tie.

“And we haven’t even shown the most classic look, which is with khakis,” Zoller says, proudly.

Used to be, when Zoller first started at The Breakers nearly 20 years ago, jackets were a dinner requirement, right along with the reservations. If a man showed up clueless, they’d help him out. “We wouldn’t turn anybody away, we’d turn them around,” Zoller says. “We would be able to throw a jacket over their shoulders.”

But in the last 10 years or so, the rules have changed.

After all, should you really have to wear a jacket in paradise? (The Little Club and the Delray Beach Club still think so.)

At The Breakers, there’s not a single restaurant with a “Jackets Only” sign, although if the ladies are getting dressed up “it might be fun to wear one,” Zoller says, smiling. 

Mark Wenzel, who manages the men’s department at Mercer Wenzel, the clothing shop that has been on Atlantic Avenue in Delray Beach since the late 1950s, considers knowing the rules on island dining just part of his job.

When an out-of-towner comes in, curious about what he should wear that night for dinner with the in-laws at the club, Wenzel can steer him to the blue blazer rack. Or not.

“Actually, somebody not too long ago was giving a lecture on computers and didn’t have a jacket that he could wear to the lecture, so he got a navy blue blazer,” Wenzel says.

Wenzel’s dad, store founder Bruce Wenzel, says he’s been filling up the blue blazer stock for 54 years. “Believe it or not,” he says, speaking about the blazer’s perpetuity, not his.

Indeed, so important is the blue blazer that, given our opportunity, Mark Wenzel took it upon himself to practically wax poetic about the coat and all its virtues:

“If you want to own just one jacket, it’s the navy blue blazer — and the reason is this: It goes with whatever you want to wear. The darker the color, the more conservative. The blue blazer is a statement that you are dressing to the fullest. People wear it because it goes with anything and it says that someone is interested in dressing conservatively and looking good.”

All that from one little jacket.

We mean blazer, of course.