All four public meetings in March to discuss a new comprehensive plan for Briny Breezes will be held in the town’s community center at 5000 N. Ocean Blvd. at 4 p.m. 

The town’s planning and zoning board will hold a public hearing March 7 and a regular meeting March 14. The Town Council will hold a public hearing March 21 and a regular meeting March 28.

The new plan could lead to the construction of traditional single-family homes, two- or three-story condos and additional commercial buildings along State Road A1A.                    — Tim O’Meilia

An attorney for the Manalapan resident who claims the town’s police engage in racial profiling has demanded that the police chief and one of his officers be fired as corrective action. 

In a Feb. 21 letter to the mayor, West Palm Beach attorney Jack Scarola recounted charges made by Kersen De Jong that De Jong’s friend, Daniel Billings, was followed several times to De Jong’s home without reason.

De Jong also has charged that Mattox and Police Officer Wayne Shepherd told him that police policy was to keep visitors out of town. Both Mattox and Shepherd have denied that.

De Jong also claimed that several town officials, including Shepherd, lied about his previous employment, that town crime statistics were inflated and that commissioners should have corrected the incorrect numbers.

Besides the dismissals, Scarola also demanded that the police write an anti-profiling policy and file it with state officials.

Town Manager Linda Stumpf, Mayor Basil Diamond and Mattox all declined to comment on the demands, saying the town attorney would respond to the letter soon.

In December, De Jong filed a profiling complaint with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, which said it had no jurisdiction and referred the charge to the U.S. Attorney in Tallahassee. De Jong said that office has not interviewed him.

— Tim O’Meilia

A waterspout came ashore over Briny Breezes on Feb. 9, tearing awnings off of three mobile homes. There were no reports of injuries. 

LEFT: Residents gather on RuthMary Drive to share stories.  One told of how she hid under the bleachers at the shuffleboard court while watching the metal fly through the air.  

ABOVE: Bill Gearon retrieves the clam-shell awning of the trailer he rents. Winds carried it more than 200 feet west across A1A before depositing it, undamaged, in a bank parking lot.  

Photos by Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

By Tim O’Meilia

Google “Town of Gulf Stream” and there it is, down at the bottom of the first page of search results: www.gulf-stream.org.

The town with the “shh, don’t tell anyone we’re here” attitude has joined the 20th century, if not the 21st. 

Now only two of Palm Beach County’s 38 municipalities lack a website — Glen Ridge and Cloud Lake, tiny hamlets near Palm Beach International Airport with a combined population of barely 350. 

Now you can see the Gulf Stream Town Council agenda for the next meeting and read the minutes from the last, learn a little history about the town (it was almost named Phipps Beach), see what homes are up for renovation approvals, even pay your water bill (with a surcharge).

“We needed to be modern, up-to-date, current,” said Mayor Joan Orthwein, who pushed for the town presence in cyberspace. “I’ve been thinking about it for years.”

You can see a snippet about Gulf Stream School, discover that anyone who works in town has to be registered and be informed of the latest news (longtime Mayor William F. Koch Jr. died last July after 46 years in office). OK, maybe not the latest news. 

To be honest, Koch was never eager to advertise the out-of-the-headlines lifestyle of the seaside community known for its canopy of Australian pines. 

That’s the way the town approached this idea of a website. “We wanted understated elegance,” said Town Commissioner Robert Ganger. “Old-fashioned charm in a new world.”

Orthwein gave town planner Marty Minor the task of working with the Green Group to develop the site. “They wanted something elegant but community-minded,” Minor said. “They wanted to tell the story of the town for visitors and let residents get information about what’s going on.”

Orthwein said she’s gotten positive feedback from other commissioners and the town’s planning advisory board.

The site’s been up about a month but she hasn’t heard much from residents. “In Gulf Stream, we don’t get a raft of phone calls,” she said.

“Great photos, good information,” said Commissioner Tom Stanley, who has already signed up to pay his water bill online.

The effort cost about $5,000 and town employees will keep the site updated. 

Gulf Stream is like a number of small towns with wealthy residents. “People like to fly under the radar,” said Richard Radcliffe, executive director of the Palm Beach County League of Cities. “There are a lot of towns that want to be low key.”                               Ú

Black borders and signposts would unify the look of town signs.

By Tim O’Meilia

Add street signs to the list of items Gulf Stream town officials are planning to spruce up the appearance of in their seaside community. 

The town already has a $5.4 million project scheduled, but not yet under way, to put power, telephone and television cable lines underground and has been discussing a $255,000 long-range idea — give or take a few ten thousands — to fancify 85 street lights around town. 

Now the Gulf Stream Civic Association is urging town commissioners to replace a hodgepodge design of street, stop, crosswalk, school and other signs with a single, consistent architectural theme. 

After examining signs on Jupiter Island, the village of Golf and Ocean Ridge, a civic association committee decided to ask the town to upgrade. 

“We weren’t happy with the way we looked,” civic association board member Bill Boardman told commissioners at their Feb. 8 meeting. “In comparison with others,  ours was somewhat of an embarrassment.”

Commissioners examined a preliminary proposal from Baron Signs of Riviera Beach that calls for black, cast-aluminum fluted posts with decorative bases and a ball-shaped ornament at the top. The sign posts would be black with white lettering. Stop signs and others would have a black border and backing. 

Such a project would cost as much as $81,000. This sum is not included in this year’s budget, but the civic association believes taxpayers would be willing to increase their property taxes to pay for the new signs.

“There is strong sentiment to even increase the millage rate to fund these type of projects,” said Town Manager William Thrasher. 

An immediate project might require dipping into the town reserves, an idea several commissioners wanted to avoid. Both Commissioners Garrett Dering and Robert Ganger want to investigate a short-term loan.

“Let’s make the town look the way we want it to look without depleting our reserves,” Dering said. 

The commission agreed unanimously to seek proposals from other firms and examine methods to pay for the signs. 

Meanwhile, with the cost estimate from Florida Power & Light finally in hand, the town will seek bids on the first phase of putting overhead power, telephone and cable lines underground.

The town has been awaiting the cost estimate from FPL since February 2012 and last month filed a complaint with the state Public Service Commission, urging more attention to the project. FPL has not yet responded to the complaint, although the tardy cost estimate arrived two days before the Feb. 8 meeting. 

As a result, the town-wide project is a year behind schedule and would not be completed until late 2014 if work began in May. The town likely will hire its own contractors rather than have FPL do the work. The difference in price is about $800,000 for the first phase, town consulting engineer Danny Brannon estimated. Overall the project will cost $5.4 million.

The town was scheduled to seek proposals from contractors by the end of February. Excavation and landscaping proposals already are being sought.

Commissioners also directed Thrasher to seek a variety of designs and their cost for replacing 85 street lights. Brannon estimated the changeover would cost about $255,000, depending on the type of fixture. FPL will install new posts and lighting for no cost, but the lights would be FPL’s standard post and lamp.

In discussions over the past several meetings, commissioner indicated they wanted a more artistic design. 

“Let’s decide what we want to do aesthetically,” Dering said. “Pick a light, then decide how to pay for it.”

In other business, commissioners learned that state highway officials turned down the town’s initial effort to continue a historic 10-foot “clear zone” along State Road A1A so more Australian pines can be planted, notably along the new Harbor View Estates development. State officials have insisted on an 18-foot zone, which would prevent the installation of the pines. 

Town officials will submit more documentation to back their request, Thrasher said. 

By Rich Pollack

Highland Beach is a neighborly town — so neighborly in fact, that sometimes the welcome is even extended to people being chased by police. 

When two of 11 suspected illegal immigrants tried to escape after bailing out of a van on A1A in Highland Beach on Feb. 21, they received a warm welcome from an unsuspecting resident of the Trafalgar Condominium. The resident invited them in for a glass of water and a few minutes of friendly conversation. 

The brief impromptu visit ended when a police officer knocked on the door of the upstairs apartment — during a floor-by-floor search — and took the elusive couple into custody. 

The resident, whom police aren’t identifying, was unharmed. In fact, his interaction with the man and woman who apparently arrived by boat through the Boca Raton Inlet was anything but hostile.

“The resident complimented them on how nice they were,” said Highland Beach Police Detective Dwayne Fernandes. 

Fernandes said the couple, after jumping into a waiting van near the inlet, ran a few buildings south of the Trafalgar while police were in pursuit. A half a dozen or so others in the van were apprehended quickly, but the couple managed to get away and break into an unoccupied apartment at the Trafalgar.

From there, they made it to the lobby of the building and to an elevator where they found their eventual host, who invited the parched pair into his home for a cool drink. 

“He’s a very nice man,” Fernandes said of the resident.

The man and woman were turned over to immigration authorities. The man is also facing burglary charges related to the break-in at the Trafalgar.                              

While vacationing from Syracuse, N.Y., on Feb. 21, Cole VanSlyke found this expired cushion sea star on the beach in Briny Breezes. These spectacular sea stars are often found on the sandy bottom of turtle grass beds. Photo by Joanne Friedman

A jogger passes a pile of steel that has been removed to make
way for new seawalls in Manalapan.  Fifteen seawalls
are currently being replaced in the wake
of Hurricane Sandy. Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

By Tim O’Meilia

Manalapan town commissioners rejected a $150,000 proposal to develop seawall standards from scratch and decided to write their own regulations.

Commissioners unanimously decided to borrow from the town of Palm Beach’s laws on seawall construction and adapt them to the town’s own circumstances, including separate rules for oceanfront and Intracoastal bulkheads. 

Whatever new regulations are eventually approved will not apply to the 15 seawalls that have been rebuilt since Hurricane Sandy blustered off shore in October, damaging numerous seaside properties when storm surge topped seawalls for several days. 

“The $150,000 seems to me to be excessive,” said Mayor Basil Diamond at the Feb. 26 Town Council meeting. “Let’s adopt standards then require periodic certification by the owners.”

In January, the commission asked longtime consultant Taylor Engineering to come up with a proposal to set standards, including an inventory of all seawalls in town, surge modeling to develop a choice of seawall strength and the standards themselves. Merely writing two sets of standards for ocean and Intracoastal would cost $70,000.

The town also sought proposals from other firms but no others submitted any.

“Since the town is not going to undertake to build seawalls, why are we going through all this?” Diamond said. 

Until 10 years ago, the town oversaw repair and upkeep of the oceanfront seawalls, assessing individual homeowners for the cost in 1965 and 1985. But landowners balked at proposed repairs in 2001 and a town charter change in 2003 made homeowners responsible for maintaining their own walls. 

Although the state Department of Environmental Protection regulates seawalls, no hard and fast standards are in place, including no requirements for periodic certification by an engineer. The town’s primary requirement was that no sand leak through the wall from behind. 

During Sandy, the storm surge lapped the seawalls, saturating the land behind the walls and causing them to collapse seaward. Other seawalls that were in disrepair and failed also contributed to the collapse of neighboring seawalls.

Now, using Palm Beach’s standards as a template, town officials will propose regulations, including height, material and separate standards for oceanfront and Intracoastal seawalls.

The proposed standards will include seven suggestions by town building official Bob Donovan, including thickness, return-wall length and ability to withstand a similar storm.

The new rules likely will require current seawalls to have certification within five years and new seawalls perhaps 10 or 15 years.

The town also will seek the cost of having an engineer review the proposal. 

“We can come up with something to look at, rather than spending $34,000,” said Town Manager Linda Stumpf. 

The town will have a few months to write the new standards since turtle nesting season began March 1 and construction on the beach is prohibited until the end of October.                                  Ú

By Tim O’Meilia

South Palm Beach, Manalapan, Lantana and three other towns will cash tidy checks in the next few months for overpaying for sewage treatment provided by the city of Lake Worth for 16 years.

It’s a stunning reversal for Lake Worth, which sued its seven partners in the regional sewage system in August 2010, claiming it was owed $7 million in operation and maintenance costs built up over years.

Instead, under an agreement reached by the eight participants Feb. 21, $4.5 million will be repaid to seven towns from a significant fund that has built up over the past few years.

It’s like doing your federal income taxes and learning you’re due a refund instead of having to write a check to Uncle Sam.

South Palm Beach will receive $34,000, Manalapan $8,000 and Lantana $222,000. In addition, Palm Beach will get $262,000, Atlantis $58,000 and Palm Beach State College $58,000. Palm Springs will pay $54,000 because it withheld partial payments during the dispute.

Lake Worth overcharged itself $3.8 million, which will pay off the cost of a master lift station the city borrowed money to pay for.

“Instead of paying $8,000, we’re getting money back,” said Manalapan Town Manager Linda Stumpf, who anticipated the town would have to pay a sum when the suit was first filed. “But we disputed their calculations and the way they came up with their numbers.”

An Orlando consulting firm hired by the seven defendants examined regional sewage system records dating to 1997 and discovered faulty record-keeping by Lake Worth. The firm was forced to sue Lake Worth to obtain some of the records.

As a result of its findings, the state auditor general’s office began its own audit of the regional system’s books and issued a critical report in August. The audit cited poor bill practices, faulty record-keeping, inconsistent cost calculations and vague contract terms.

“All along, we have said we want to pay what’s appropriate, our fair share,” said South Palm Beach Town Manager Rex Taylor. “It’s in no one’s interest not to pay their share. But we didn’t want to waste our money for things inappropriate or excessive.”

Since the finding, the eight parties have been negotiating the repayments and new terms to the operating agreement.

“We want an agreement that looks forward X years and gives everyone appropriate methods of handling the contract if anyone wants to leave,” Taylor.

The agreement will be submitted to each town’s governing board for approval in the next month. The lawsuit will be withdrawn once the new agreement is signed.

South Palm Beach socked away $157,000 over the last two years and Manalapan also set aside money in case it had to pay a judgment. Stumpf said Manalapan’s reserves would be used toward an emergency interconnect system with the town of Palm Beach, which is being designed now.                Ú

  Pam O’Brien with some of her miniature creations. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Jane Smith

Most women would toss out the top of an empty lipstick tube.

Not Pam O’Brien. She can imagine it as an umbrella stand or other item for her dollhouse miniatures.

As president of Les Petits Collecteurs of South Florida, she talks passionately about building miniature scenes, even electrifying and landscaping them. Her work and that of other members will be on display March 9, at the Boca Raton Community Center. Admission is $5 for adults, $2 for children 12 and younger. 

The show will include a dealer room where miniature scenes, dollhouse kits and anything miniature will be sold. In addition, there will be make-and-take-it tables where show-goers will be able to learn a miniature technique for free and be able to take that item home with them. 

Raffle tickets will be sold for a Petit Bistro or a Baby Girl’s Nursery scenes, with all proceeds going to Kids in Distress or The Haven charities.

The Friday before the show opens will have two- and four-hour workshops, including how to make a cold cut platter, for $35, or build a wrought iron planter with geraniums, for $15.

“Foods are very popular right now,” O’Brien says. She thinks the deli sandwich one will be well-attended. For cakes, she explains, “You can make them out of clay. But a new technique uses a (small) sponge that has the texture of cake.”

Les Petits belongs to the National Association of Miniature Enthusiasts, which has a weeklong convention. This year’s location is Tucson, Ariz.

Miniature enthusiasts use regular-size tools, including X-ACTO knives, tweezers and Q-tips. Magnifying glasses in various sizes can be helpful, O’Brien says.

She always wanted a dollhouse as young girl, but the family budget didn’t have room for such purchases because she wasn’t the only daughter.

Her mom fulfilled that desire on O’Brien’s 32nd birthday with a trip to the now-closed Dollhouse Corner in Delray Beach. She picked out a kit for a Queen Anne farmhouse, a nine-room, two-story farmhouse with a wraparound porch.

That was 16 years ago, and she now has website (www.MyMiniatureCreations.com) that features her miniature collection. The Italian piazza scene, featuring running water made out of resin, is her favorite. 

She uses the popular 1-inch scale, which means 1 inch in the miniature world equals 1 foot in reality.

But fellow member Anne Strank, who lives in a mobile home in Briny Breezes, uses a smaller scale: the quarter-inch. Plus, she says, she doesn’t use magnifying glasses because she found them too cumbersome.

“It’s a hobby that turned into a disease,” Strank says. She got hooked at age 6 when she received dollhouse furniture as a gift. She used an egg crate as her display case. Now 75, still a crafter at heart, she loves the miniature world.                     

If You Go

What: Dollhouse Miniature Show and Sale

When: 9 a.m.-3:30 p.m., March 9. 

Workshops scheduled on March 8.

Where: Boca Raton Community Center, 150 NW Crawford Blvd., Boca Raton

Cost: $5 for adults, $2 for children under 12

Info: Les Petits club website, sites.google.com/site/lespetitsclub/home/show-and-sale. Or email Mfreed@aol.com.

Benefit:ss Kids in Distress in Delray Beach or The Haven in Boca Raton  

By Cheryl Blackerby

Have you ever driven by a sports complex at night and noticed the lights burning bright, though no one was playing or working on the fields?  

Or seen empty downtown buildings lit up after working hours, or streetlights and outdoor globe lights that blast more light into the sky than on the ground?

That’s the kind of wasteful lighting the nonprofit International Dark-Sky Association wants to pull the plug on.

In Florida, excessive lighting is a particular problem on the coasts and in the Everglades, where it disrupts the biological cycles of wildlife. 

“Light pollution” can chase fish away from the shoreline, and studies have shown that the glow from sports stadiums can interfere with the mating habits of frogs. 

It can be devastating for sea turtles nesting on Palm Beach County’s coast. 100 years ago, turtle hatchlings relied on the brightest horizon at night to find the water. That was easy, since the moon and stars lit the sky and reflected off the ocean. 

“We’re now lighting up beaches, hotels and homes, and it’s creating disorientation for hatchlings. They come out of sandy nests and go to the brightest horizon, which means they can walk across A1A toward artificial lights. I’ve seen that and it’s not pleasant. During turtle nesting season you see them crushed in the road,” said Bryan Bodie, president of the Palm Beach County Chapter of IDA. 

In Palm Beach County, there is another phenomenon with harmful light — the light glow from cities on the west side of the Intracoastal Waterway. It is causing problems for turtles on the beach even when beach condos are turning off lights.

“Cities on the other side of the Intracoastal are sending so much light up into the sky, the beachfront condos are creating shadow boxes on the beach with light coming through between the condo buildings,” said Bodie. “The mother turtles go to the darker sections of beach to lay their eggs, and we are finding unnatural concentrations of nests in these shadows. They are not dispersed along the beach like they should be.”

The Council of Science and Public Health reports studies that show nighttime artificial lighting adversely affects humans, too. It disrupts circadian biological rhythms that can increase cancer risks and some chronic diseases, and even contribute to obesity. 

“The rhythms of day and night are embedded in all life,” said Bodie. 

The Palm Beach Chapter of the International Dark-Sky Association was founded in July 2012 to educate South Florida about the benefits of dark skies for people and the natural world, to offer guidance for responsible outdoor lighting practices, and to restore access to the starry nights.

The chapter was founded by Bodie and chapter vice president Eric Vandernoot, astronomer and instructor at Florida Atlantic University.

The chapter recently gave the Yacht and Racquet Club of Boca Raton, 2711 North Ocean Blvd., the 2012 IDA Lighting Design Award for quality of lighting.  Lawrence Demme, general manager, accepted the award given Feb. 19 at the Beach Condominium Association meeting.  Kirt Rusenko, marine conservationist at Gumbo Limbo Nature Center, also got an award for his work improving the lighting at the Yacht and Racquet Club of Boca Raton. 

The Yacht and Racquet Club is in the process of changing all of their  “lollipop lights,” globes on a pole that blast 60 percent of their light into the sky, to top- and side-shielded fixtures that illuminate the ground. They also changed bulbs in ceiling-mounted canisters on balconies to LED amber light, which has much less glare and is much easier on the eyes.

Boca Mar Condominiums, 310 South Ocean Blvd., also will be given a 2012 IDA Lighting Design Award on March 2 at the Sea Turtle Day Festival at Gumbo Limbo Nature Center. Boca Mar also changed the light bulbs on their balconies to an LED amber light, and used top- and side-shielded amber light around the pool and deck. 

The International Dark-Sky Association was founded by two astronomers — a professional, David Crawford, and an amateur, physician Dr. Tim Hunter — in Tucson, Ariz., in frustration during 1988 after having nights of star-gazing ruined by light pollution.

Crawford and Hunter wanted to get people to think about the negative effects of manmade lighting on the environment and also the economy. If people cut down on the amount of light used at night, more stars would be visible for astronomers, less money would be wasted by governments, businesses and homeowners, and more nocturnal animals would be able to live their lives as nature intended. The group estimates that Americans waste $2.2 billion a year on unnecessary lighting.

IDA’s enemy has always been sky glow, the light that looks like an orange smog polluting the heavens. The comparison to a smog is more appropriate than many realize. Consider that the Griffith Observatory in Los Angles is frequently useless to astronomers because of fossil fuels’ smog during the day and sky glow smog during the night.

The growth of IDA has itself been meteoric. The movement has spread across the United States and around the world. The organization now has offices in Australia and Belgium, more than 5,000 members in 70 countries, and a long list of corporate partners and supporters at all levels of government, including the National Park Service.  Ú

The IDA’s general meetings are the first Friday of every month at 5:30 p.m. at the FAU Observatory. The group will be represented at the Sea Turtle Day Festival at Gumbo Limbo tarting at 10 a.m. March 2. For more information, visit www.idapalmbeach.org.

Casto Benson

DELRAY BEACH — Nancy Casto Benson, 88, a native of Columbus and resident of Delray Beach, died at home Feb. 12, with her loving family and kitties at her side. 

Mrs. Benson was born Jan. 21, 1925, in Columbus, Ohio, to Don Monroe Sr. and Ruth Strait Casto. She was a 1944 graduate of The Columbus School for Girls, from which she had many lifelong friends, and Ohio State University, where she was a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma.  

Her personal generosity is her greatest legacy.  She was a charter member of the Ohio Arts Council, appointed by Gov. James Rhodes; a charter member of Mt. Carmel Hospital, where she helped form the first volunteer auxiliary for all hospitals in Columbus; a charter member of the Little Garden Club; and board member of Buckeye Boys Ranch, Ohio History of Flight, Players’ Theater and the Franklin Park Conservatory. 

She was positively graceful and prided herself on being the true definition of a lady, yet always game for a risqué joke. She had a special affection for her grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and her animals. 

Her family will miss her dearly, but are blessed by the motivating way she led her life.  

She was preceded in death by the love of her life since childhood, her beloved husband, Frank S. Benson Jr. She is survived by her daughter Nancy and son-in-law, Robert Wibbelsman of Gulf Stream; son, Frank and daughter-in-law, Jewel Benson of New Albany; daughter Elizabeth “Libby” Benson of Columbus; grandchildren Paige and Patrick Nesbitt of Los Angeles; Sarah, Frankie and Elizabeth Benson of Columbus; Lisa and husband Peter Meuse of Columbus; great-grandchildren Madelyn, Emmy and Charlotte Meuse of Columbus; longtime friend, caregiver and extended family member, William Sharp of Columbus; many beloved nieces and nephews and their families, and many dear friends. 

Memorial service was held Feb. 16 at Broad Street Presbyterian Church, 760 E. Broad St., Columbus. The Rev. Ann Palmerton officiated. 

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Cat Welfare Association, 741 Wetmore Road, Columbus, OH 43214; Nationwide Children’s Hospital Foundation, P.O.  Box 16810, Columbus, OH 43216-6810; or Pilot Dogs, 625 W. Town St., Columbus, OH 43215, in her memory.

Arrangements by the Schoedinger Midtown Chapel. Visit www.schoedinger.com to offer condolences or a memory of Mrs. Benson.

— Submitted by the family

Roup

Briny Breezes — Joan A. Ruopp of Briny Breezes and Bricktown, N.J., died Feb. 2. She was 80.

Born on Jan. 3, 1933, to Fred and Hazel Anderson in Elizabeth, N.J., she was a great source of comfort to many through her crisp sense of humor and loving advice. Her summers were spent in her beloved Ocean Grove, N.J., and she cherished her winters in Briny Breezes. 

She so enjoyed the variety of birds that visited her feeders. She loved her books, magazines and her favorite TV show, Downton Abbey.

Her life was filled with joy whenever she heard from her children and grandchildren. 

Mrs. Ruopp graduated from Battin High School in Elizabeth, and the University of Pennsylvania with a degree in dental hygiene. Before starting a family, she worked as a hygienist at the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, New York City, in its dental clinic. Up until a few years ago, she was an avid bridge player; in their early years in Briny Breezes, she and her husband enjoyed many beautiful evenings square dancing with friends and neighbors here and in New Jersey. 

Mrs. Ruopp was a member of St. Paul’s Methodist Church in Ocean Grove, Briny Breezes Community Church, the Ladies Auxiliary of the Ocean Grove Auditorium Ushers Association and the Crane’s Ford Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. 

She is survived by her beloved husband, Paul, of 54 years; daughter Paula J. De Jesus of Briny Breezes; sons Joshua D. Ruopp and wife Chris of Harrisburg, Penn., Andrew J. Ruopp and wife Susanne of Union, N.J.; adoring grandchildren, Angie, Joey, Madison, Ryanne, Camryn, Katie, Danny, Danielle and Jacob; her brother, the Rev. Dr. James F. Anderson, and his wife, Bette; niece Becky Williams and husband, Pat, nephews Jay and Mark and his wife, Jayvie, cousins Susan of Briny Breezes and Dolly of Lehighton, Penn., and many other family members and friends. 

A celebration of her life was held Feb. 10 at the Briny Breezes Ocean Club House. 

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made for restoration of their beach front to the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association, Now and Forever Fund, P.O. Box 248, Ocean Grove, NJ 07756, www.oceangrove.org or the Briny Breezes Memorial Fund, 5000 N. Ocean Blvd. Briny Breezes, FL 33435.  Lorne & Sons Funeral Home, Delray Beach, was in charge of arrangements.

— Submitted by the family

Susan Swiatosz is the new keeper of the Boynton Beach City Library’s archives. Rich Pollack/The Coastal Star

By Rich Pollack

For most people, the box sitting on the table upstairs in the Boynton Beach City Library could easily be nothing more than a collection of old papers tucked inside file folders. 

But to Susan Swiatosz, that carton could very well be a treasure chest packed with jewels of local history. Then again, it could be as much a historical void as Al Capone’s vault. 

“You never know what you’re going to find when you open a box,” says Swiatosz, who took over last month as keeper of the Boynton Beach City Library’s historical archives. “It could be a bunch of dead bugs or it could be the most important piece of paper ever.” 

A modern-day history detective of sorts who spent the last 5½ years as the archivist at the Henry Morrison Flagler Museum in Palm Beach, Swiatosz is now focusing her efforts on continuing to build the collection of papers, photographs and files that fill the shelves of the Boynton Beach City Library archives. 

“I like puzzles,” she says. “In an archive you’re dealing with unique papers and materials and there’s the puzzle of figuring out how to organize what you have and how you’re going to make it accessible.”

Another of her challenges is making sure the community knows about the nuggets of historical gold that can be mined.

One way Swiatosz hopes to get the word out is by continuing the tradition of hosting exhibits like those started by her predecessor, Janet DeVries, who left in November to become an archivist at Palm Beach State College’s Harold C. Manor library.

A possible exhibit, she says, could be based on the 17 boxes of files and folders donated to the archives by the Boynton Beach Woman’s Club, which includes everything from financial records to names of those who won the club’s fashion shows over the decades. 

Open to the public by appointment, the archives are often thought of as the domain of writers and researchers working on scholarly tomes. But these collections are also available to students in need of historical facts as well as residents trying to learn more about a long-lost relative. 

Helping every visitor find the information they’re looking for is what’s Swiatosz’s job is all about and the first order of business is making sure she knows where everything is on those rows of shelves. It’s a task that meshes perfectly with her organizational skills.  

“I love organizing things,” she said. “It’s just my thing.”

Armed with a passion for preservation, and a master’s degree in it from Colombia University, Swiatosz spent two decades helping restore old buildings in New York City before deciding to shift gears and start a second career as a librarian. 

The turning point, she says, was Sept. 11. 

“It made me think about how short life can be,” she said. “I put my apartment up for sale and said, ‘if it sells, I’m going to library science school.’ ” And she did. Graduating from the School of Information and Library Science at the Pratt Institute in New York before taking the position at the Flagler Museum.

For Swiatosz, her training in libraries and preservation blends perfectly with her new job. 

“If I could have hand-picked someone to succeed me as Boynton Beach City Library archivist, it would have been Susan Swiatosz,” DeVries said. “Like me, Susan has a love of history and a tenacity for finding the answers to obscure questions.”                                

By Betty Wells 

Proposals to allow local governments to ban smoking on beaches — one from a Boca Raton state representative — are making their way through the Florida Legislature.

State Rep. Bill Hager introduced a bill in the Florida House on Jan. 22. A committee on Feb. 21 unanimously passed a Senate version of the measure, 10-0.

Hager was encouraged by the vote of the Regulated Industries committee on SB 258, by state Sen. Rob Bradley of Orange Park.

“I was very pleased … and I thank my colleagues in the Senate for their support of this good legislation,” Hager said, hours after the vote. “The support for the bill was overwhelming and I look forward to working with my fellow House members to pass this good bill.”

Hager’s HB 439 would give cities the authority to regulate smoking in parks, playgrounds, beaches and other outdoor spaces. For the past decade the state has had control of smoking, barring people from lighting up in restaurants and public buildings.

The proposal to turn authority over to cities has, as expected, gained support from anti-smoking groups and environmentalists who clean up beaches, and criticism from the tobacco industry and restaurant associations.

Kelly Wiseman lives in Delray Beach and several times a week jogs on the beach, taking in the beauty of the natural outdoors — the sound of the surf, smells and special sand surface. “When smokers throw down their cigarette butts, that destroys nature,” Wiseman said. “And they pollute the air so they’re denaturalizing the beach all together.”

General manager and a trainer at Get In Shape for Women in Palm Beach Gardens, Wiseman has been teaching fitness for nearly 30 years so admits no tolerance toward smokers. “I support any legislation that would keep smokers from polluting more public space.”

Jim Bennington, owner of Bennington Tobacconist of Boca Raton, a store that sells specialty cigars and pipes, said his concern is how far cities will go toward controlling smoking, should the power be handed to them.

“What’s next after outdoor spaces?” Bennington asked.  “Space outside an individual’s retail store? Inside an individual’s space?” The legislation, Bennington said, could ultimately diminish the rights of the individual. 

Hager, though, has faith that city and municipalities won’t overstep.

“I trust and embrace our local government to make decisions that impact their own communities at a local level,” Hagar said. “It’s important to understand that this bill does not mandate a smoke-free outdoor Florida. It allows local government, should they choose to do so, to create a nonsmoking playground, park or beach. While doing so, a designated smoking area will have to be created. This bill creates a healthier Florida for all of us.”

He noted the bill is supported by the American Cancer Society, the American Lung Association, the Florida League of Cities and the Florida League of Counties, as well as environmental groups and other community organizations.

“The big opponent is Big Tobacco,” Hager said. “I have heard the opposition say there is no verifiable proof that secondhand smoke is dangerous. That is undeniably false. The verdict is in on secondhand smoke and the verdict is that it kills.”

Sarasota County, home to Siesta Key, named the No. 1 beach in the U.S. in 2011, passed the regulation for its parks and beaches. A Sarasota County judge threw it out in December, saying it was unenforceable, ruling that regulating smoking was a task left to the Legislature.

Two Delray Beach city commissioners said during a Feb. 12 workshop they support the legislation. There was concern, though, about enforcement of designated smoking areas. If enforcement were to fall on Ocean Rescue staff, that could pose a problem, commissioners said.

Commissioner Adam Frankel said, “It seems to me it’s another example of Tallahassee
 telling us what’s right for our beach. I also recognize the city needs to go about things legally in that regard. I would like us to support Rep. Hager and get some help in the Senate.”

Commissioner Angeleta Gray said that during a recent weekend she was on the beach as part of a cleanup that collected 67 bags of trash. “The young people picked up so many butts.” Gray said she agreed with designating a smoking area, but was a concerned that enforcement by Ocean Rescue would distract lifeguards.

Commissioner Al Jacquet said he was not that confident that the bill will pass, and that he would oppose any local measure that would take the lifeguards away from their primary duty.

Mayor Tom Carney said he concurred with Frankel and others that Delray Beach needs to work with legislators to get the bill passed.  “We should go on the record to say we want smoke-free beaches,” Carney said, adding that it’s not the job of lifeguards to “chase down smokers.”

Pushing through this kind of legislation isn’t new to Hager. In 2011 he won passage of a bill that gives school boards the authority to ban smoking anywhere on school district property. The American Cancer Society later named him freshman legislator of the year.

Hager’s current bill has been assigned to three House committees for consideration; the first hearing, not scheduled as of Feb. 22, will be in the House health quality subcommittee.

Hager and Bradley are both Republicans, giving the chances of the bills getting to a vote a boost in the Republican-controlled House.                   

Clearing the air

Regulating smoking in outdoor public places is gaining momentum in communities across the country. Some that are working on state or local legislation are:

* Fort Collins, Colo.

*Montgomery County, Md.

* The District of Columbia

* Marshall County, W.Va.

* Austin, Texas

* The state of Oklahoma

Margie Plunkett contributed to this story.

Swinging their partners in the Briny Breezes Auditorium are (from left)
Bev Robey, Eric Wolffbrandt, Gene Robey and Joyce Viola. Photos by
Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

By Ron Hayes

One day in 1948, way back when Briny Breezes was still just a campground for travel trailers, a fellow by the name of Don Trim started giving dancing lessons on the trailers’ concrete patios.
Trim taught round dancing at first, choreographed ballroom dancing in which couples circle in unison to a caller’s cues. Later, he added square dancing.
And Brinyites have been swinging their partners and promenading ever since.
On Wednesday evening, Feb. 20, about 100 residents and friends gathered in the town auditorium to mark the Briny Breezes Square & Round Dance Club’s 65th anniversary.
Some watched. Some clapped. Some of the women wore shocking pink petticoat skirts. Some of the men sported embroidered Western shirts. Most danced.

And danced. And —

“Bow to your partners!” the caller called, and seven squares of four couples each bowed as the loudspeakers onstage blasted —
Moves Like Jagger, by Maroon 5?
Electro-pop? In Briny Breezes?
What happened to the fiddle music?

“That’s the biggest misconception about square dancing,” says Jack Lewis, a lawyer from Boynton Beach who’s been calling square dances throughout South Florida since 1969. “Fiddle music is old-fashioned. I call to Michael Jackson songs, Broadway show tunes. Anything, really.”
Clearly, this is not what you saw in those old Gene Autry movies.
“Square dancing is really hand dancing,” Lewis explained. “It doesn’t matter what you do with your feet.”
But that doesn’t mean it’s easy.
Everyone knows “do-si-do” and “allemande left,” but even the basic technique requires dancers to recognize and respond at once to 51 different calls.
There’s the “Flipping The Diamond” and “Slipping The Clutch,” “Boxing The Gnat” and “Loading The Boat.”
But once you’ve learned, you can dance anywhere. The calls are so universally formalized that when a German square dancing club visited Briny Breezes some time ago, they knew exactly what to do.

“I’ve called in Tokyo,” Lewis said. “They didn’t speak a word of English, but they were all able to follow me.”
Eric and Cathy Wolffbrandt, full-time Briny residents for three years, took lessons at the Boynton Beach Civic Center for a year and a half before they felt proficient enough to “Box The Gnat” or “Alamo Style” back home in Briny.
“It’s like a fraternity,” said Eric, sporting a white Western shirt with black music notes embroidered here and there. “Eight people in a square and you’re interacting, shaking hands at the end. We’ve met so many nice people.”
And yet despite the dancers’ enthusiasm, square dancing suffers from the perception that it’s square.
When Lewis first started calling, there were about 50 clubs in Dade County alone. Today, an Internet search finds about the same number in all of Florida.
That’s why Ennio and Sharon Ruggi had to drive up from Coconut Creek to dance. 

Back home in Albany, they travel to Lake George to find a club. And yet, Ennio says, it’s worth it.

“If you’re square dancing, you can’t think about anything else. If I’m talking to you, I’m going to miss a call, so it’s a good diversion.”
A good diversion, and good exercise. 

Look around the dance floor when Lewis cranks up Boogies Shoes, and you’ll spot a white-haired, 80-year-old woman named Sally Galik spicing up her sashays with the occasional high kick.
“I’ve been dancing for 44 years,” she says when the music stops. “Monday nights I’m at the United Methodist Church, Wednesdays I come here, Thursdays I drive down to Hollywood, Fridays is Boynton Beach Civic Center and Saturday I’m in Hollywood again. Most of these people I’ve known 35 years.”
Galik moved to Briny in April after driving up from Davie for years. But in this club, she’s a youngster.
Les Jones of Delray Beach is 89. His dance partner, Vivian Ciccardi, is 96. When both lost their spouses, they started dancing together.

Vivian Ciccardi, 96, receives a round of applause from
Marcia Kozol, Harold Kelley and Les Jones.

“We’ve known each other 20 years,” said Les, taking a break after “If I Were A Rich Man” from Fiddler On The Roof (without fiddles). “It’s good exercise, and we need that at our age. We’re not as spry as we used to be, but we still hang in there.”
Imagine that. An 89-year-old man and a 96-year-old woman Flipping The Diamond, Slipping The Clutch, Boxing The Gnat and Loading The Boat.
Jack Lewis was not impressed.
“I have a lady in my Hollywood club,” he said, “we just celebrated her 102nd birthday.”
Then he cranked up Michael Jackson’s Beat It, and everyone bowed.

Dancers first gathered in Briny Breezes to round dance
outdoors, followed later by indoor square dancing. Photo provided

The Briny Breezes Square Dance Club meets from 7 to 10 p.m. every Wednesday (January through April) in the town auditorium. The evenings begin with an hour of round dancing, followed by square dancing. 

There is a charge of $10 per couple to cover the cost of hiring a caller and providing refreshments. 

For more information, call John LeGrow, club president, at 279-0602.                                  Ú

Anita Finley, who publishes Boomer Times & Senior Life magazine,
is leading a series of C.U.R.E. (Cutting-edge Understanding of Research
&  Education) symposiums. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

Anita Finley remembers how very kind and interested in her the elderly in Miami Beach were when she grew up there. Later, she observed how many people weren’t so nice to the senior population she had come to love and admire.

Finley drew on those feelings to become a gerontologist. She writes books and stories, publishes magazines, hosts radio shows, and has become a sought-after speaker on issues concerning an aging population.

She and her husband, Bill, 89, wrote a book called Live to be 100 Plus. 

“I care very much about the older adults and want to help them live a long, healthy and satisfying life,” Finley, 74, said.

“My mother lived to 94 and my grandmother to 95,” she said. “We’re Hungarian. Good genes run in the family. They didn’t even exercise. They just lived their lives.”

That doesn’t mean Finley takes her health for granted. There is always a bowl of fruit on her counter and when she wants a snack, she reaches for an apple or a banana. 

She cooks healthy dishes and she and her husband walk the beach most days. Some days, they swim in their lap pool, too. They live in a two-story house on the beach in Ocean Ridge, so they’re up and down the stairs many times a day.

As publisher of Boomer Times & Senior Life magazine, a publication the Finleys founded 22 years ago, Finley interviews many people, including local doctors. 

The more she learned about them and cutting-edge medical procedures, the more she wanted to share the information beyond her magazine and weekly radio broadcasts on WWNN 1470 AM and WSBR.

So she started what have become very popular Boomer Expos at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood.

Her current project is C.U.R.E. (Cutting-edge Understanding of Research & Education) Symposiums at the Boca Raton Marriott. The next one is set for April 6.

“I keep hearing about people who think they have to fly north to find a good doctor, but I know we have great doctors doing great work right here,” Finley said. The symposiums give people a chance to meet some of them.

— Mary Thurwachter

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

A. I was born in New York, but grew up Miami Beach. I did two years of undergraduate study in literature at the University of Miami, have a bachelor’s of fine arts in radio and film from Sam Houston State University, and a master’s  of professional services from Lynn University Institute of Gerontology.

Q. What are some highlights of your life?

A. I have three children and nine grandchildren, including two sets of triplets.

Q. What is your favorite childhood memory?

A. My mom cooking me all good things and my grandmother’s loving ways.

Q. How did you choose to make your home in Ocean Ridge?

A. Bill, my husband, was looking for a special community between Miami and West Palm Beach and found Ocean Ridge. We built our home here 22 years ago.

Q. What is your favorite part about living in Ocean Ridge?

A. The environment, the mixed housing and the proximity to the beach and I-95, and the small-town features.

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

A. Meryl Streep, because she seems to have very strong values and is so talented at her craft.

Q. What music do you like to listen to?

A. I like Carole King, Cher, Barbra Streisand, Frank Sinatra and Helen Reddy.

Q. Who/what makes you laugh?

A. Puppies and kittens, Lucille Ball, Robin Williams.

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

A. “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.’’ And, ‘If you can’t put it on the front page of the newspaper, don’t do it.’’

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

A. My mom; John Barette, the director of the Miami art museum (and a former boss); and my beloved husband, Bill.

By Jane Smith

In the last 18 months, more than 100 condo projects were announced and approved in South Florida, but few have found construction financing, Jack McCabe, a real estate consultant, said recently.

Lenders now want potential condo buyers to put between 40 and 80 percent down, McCabe of Deerfield Beach explained. During the real estate boom between 2003 and 2006, those condo buyers needed to put only 10 percent down at signing and another 10 percent before construction started. 

“Developers now need an equity stake, skin in the game, of about 30 percent,” he said.

That’s because lenders — regional and national banks and institutional investors — got burned when the commercial real estate market crashed in late 2000s, said Ken Thomas, an independent bank consultant and economist, based in Miami. They were left holding the bag when developers defaulted on construction loans and didn’t have any personal equity in the projects.

“Banks are flush with cash right now from low-cost deposits, but they are more cautious about lending,” Thomas said. Tougher regulations and regulators and the changing sentiment in Washington, D.C., combined to make lenders leery of extending loans to most commercial real estate projects.

“Appraisals are meaningless right now,” he added. “Lenders want to see cash-flow in the form of rent rolls.”

McCabe agreed that cash is king right now. “Investors, hedge funds and foreigners bought the new condo units, then turned and rented them out,” he said. That is not the same, he said, as an owner who actually lives in the unit.

Mortgage rates are at their lowest in 50 years, but banks tightened their lending criteria for those home loans, he said. “Most (buyers) can’t qualify for the strict criteria.”

A healthy real estate market has a home-buyer to renter ratio of 66-35, McCabe said. ”Our ratio in South Florida was 71-29 in 2007,” he added, “dropped to 63-37 in 2012.”

He thinks the real estate market will stabilize this year, but won’t be on the upswing until another two to three years.

Large banks and institutional investors want to finance apartment projects right now, but still using the stricter lending criteria, McCabe and Thomas said.

Even so, South Florida remains a desirable location to people in other parts of the country, McCabe said. “We will have Baby Boomers retiring for the next 20 years.”                   Ú

Kate Fogarty has FlyDry Blowout Bar locations,
one in Delray Beach (above) and another in Palm
Beach. Libby Volgyes/The Coastal Star

By Jane Smith

When Kate Fogarty moved here from Manhattan, she missed the easiness of finding a blow-dry salon nearby.

“I believe women should be able to get a blow-dry for a reasonable price,” she said. She spent months researching the area and salons and then opened her FlyDry Blowout Bar last year in the Pineapple Grove neighborhood of Delray Beach.

Her 800-square-foot salon recently celebrated its first anniversary. Wary of the competition from six full-service salons on her block, Fogarty doesn’t reveal her salon’s financials or even the amount of rent she pays. She’ll say only they have 3,000 clients and about 700 Facebook friends.

Most of the clients choose the $35 signature service, which includes a shampoo, scalp massage and blow-dry. That takes about 40 minutes, she said.

The first-class service features a blow-dry with makeup for $65, Fogarty said. That’s popular for bachelorette parties where the women come into FlyDry, have their hair and makeup done, and then go out on the town.  

To find new clients, she partners with local retailers such as Periwinkle on Atlantic Avenue and mall stores such as Bloomingdale’s. Plus, she drives around town in her FlyDry Fiat to advertise her salon.

Women used to have weekly appointments with a salon to have their hair done — washed, set and dried. FlyDry presents a convenient, modern take on that old-fashioned service. Clients still need their hair stylists for cut and color services, she emphasized.

Her “hair idol” is movie and TV star Jennifer Aniston. When Aniston played Rachel on the popular Friends TV sitcom, her hair caused a stir in the inaugural season of 1994. Many girls and young women asked for “the Rachel” haircut, which featured a bouncy, square layered look.

FlyDry has a clean, modern style with an airline theme. Its services have aeronautical names. Stylists wear only red, white or blue. Silver wall clocks show the time in London, Paris and Delray, and a large wire replica of the Eiffel Tower sits on one table in Delray Beach.

The blow-dry bar expanded into Palm Beach in January, said Fogarty, who lives in Gulf Stream. That shop is about half the size of the Delray location because it is inside the Deborah Koepper Beauty salon.

FlyDry cares about its customers, Fogarty said, allowing clients whose events are later that day to leave in pin curls or others to receive shower caps when it is raining.                                   Ú

FlyDry Blowout Bar, 183 NE Second Ave., Delray Beach; 561-800-2379; or 215 Sunset Ave., Palm Beach; 561-800-3984; www.flydry.net.

Designer Virginia Courtenay’s Scottish terrier, MacDuff,
rests on a chaise in front of a group of paintings at her
home on Seabreeze Avenue.

Photos by Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

The bar in Chrissy and Don Hubiak's home came from E.R. Bradley's original casino in Palm Beach.

 By Jane Smith

Delray Beach has such a homey feel that even newcomers are eager to help share that traditional sense of community.

That’s how it is with Kathryn and Robert Stewart, who bought their Basin Drive home in October 2010. The Stewarts are eager to show off their renovations on the Delray Beach Home Tour, set for March 14. 

Each year the home tour, benefiting the Achievement Centers for Children & Families in Delray Beach, picks a different area of the city, says Emma-Jane Ramsey, event and marketing manager for the nonprofit. Last year’s focused on the Lake Ida neighborhood.

The group’s selection committee picks homes that are new or recently renovated, have interesting architecture or have some historical value. All of the homes on the 2013 tour have waterfront views, Ramsey says, either of the Intracoastal or the ocean.

She wouldn’t reveal the addresses of the seven or eight on the home tour, but said homes on the following streets would be featured: Basin Drive, Beach Drive, Ocean Boulevard, Seabreeze Drive and Southways Street.

Time stands still on a large clock face in the pool area of this home on Basin Drive.

The Stewarts’ home is perfectly situated on the Intracoastal with a boat dock, pool and screened wrap-around porch. The Stewarts added a wall of French doors, giving the feeling of having “the outdoors inside the house,” says Tula Kithas, Kathryn Stewart’s mom. 

The pale pink Bermuda-style home has two stories with five bedrooms and bathrooms in its 6,000 square feet. Most of the living area has oak floors, while the kitchen has green-and-white marble tile in a checkerboard pattern. The master bedroom features a balcony with a pergola over it.

The TV room on the first floor has original cedar paneling; next to it is a family room with a coffered ceiling and beadboard in between the coffers. Deep moldings are another interesting architectural detail throughout the house.

Iron rails and coral stone steps trim out Georganne Goldblum
and Rick Edick’s oceanfront home in Delray Beach. 

Sandra Hoesley’s new home sports bright blue shutters against white clapboard walls.

Sam Ogren Sr., known as the father of Delray Beach architecture, designed it, says Tricia Irish, who will be in charge of volunteers for the Stewart house on home tour day.

In addition to numerous homes of that era, Ogren also designed what is now known as Old School Square, formerly Delray Beach High School, Irish says.  

Large images of carp adorn the bathroom walls at the home
of Robert Hush and Lauren Alberti on Southways Street.

“Many significant Delray families have resided in this home (on Basin Drive) over the years,” Irish says. “From 1971-1995, Frances and Robert Bourque lived in the lovely home and renovated it significantly. Frances Bourque was instrumental in the creation of Old School Square Cultural Arts Center.” 

Another eager homeowner on the tour is Sandra Hoesley of Beach Drive. “A neighbor knocked on my door and asked me to open up my home for the tour,” Hoesley says. “I love Delray and wanted to give back to the community.”

Her new 6,000-square-foot, two-story home was designed by architect Roger Cope of Delray Beach in the Key West style. It has a metal roof with the exterior painted in jute with ballet white accents and shutters in whipple blue — all Benjamin Moore colors.

The bar sink at the home of  Kathryn and Robert Stewart.

The home, built by Gary Miller of GLM Builders in Delray Beach, replaced a 1955 ranch house that Hoesley lived in for 12 years. “It was a hard decision, I loved that house,” she says. But it needed new electric and plumbing.

Her just-finished home has four bedrooms, 5.5 baths with hardwood and limestone floors. It also has a lap pool and a boat dock.

Just 100 years ago, that coastal section of Delray Beach wasn’t popular, says Robert Ganger, chairman of the Florida Coalition for Preservation. “It was not a desirable area for farming or living,” says Ganger, former president of the Delray Beach Historical Society. 

At that time, there was no easy way to cross the Intracoastal Waterway. People and animals crossed on separate lighters (unpowered barges), he explains. The first oceanfront house, really a fish shack, on one acre of land was offered for $45, but it didn’t sell. 

That oceanfront area also had a cemetery. “No one knows its location, but bodies are still there,” Ganger says.

It took a long time for that area to be developed. Once it had the infrastructure in the form of bridges across the Intracoastal and electricity, added in the 1920s, the area began to blossom.    

If You Go

12th annual Delray Beach Home Tour

What: Enjoy a day of touring beach area homes, with trolley services, lunch and an extensive raffle that includes travel packages, fine jewelry, spa services and more.

When: 10 a.m.-4 p.m. 

March 14

Cost: $100. Benefits Achievement Centers for Children & Families in Delray Beach 

Info: 266-0003, ext. 13; delrayhometour.com.