Andy Bregman (l) with his mentee, Logan. Logan’s grades have improved to the point that next year he’ll be a freshman at Florida Atlantic University.  Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Rich Pollack

A lot has changed in the seven years since Highland Beach resident Andy Bregman first met Logan, then a budding flute player in middle school struggling to keep his grades up and his mischief down.    
“His music was great, but he had no academic focus whatsoever,” Bregman says. “He was getting into trouble here and there, but nothing ever bad.”
Bregman, who was assigned as Logan’s mentor by the Judith and Jack Rosenberg Mentoring 4 Kids Program, run by the Alpert Jewish Family and Children’s Service in West Palm Beach, saw something in Logan that others might have overlooked.
Despite the fact that the young man found himself in the principal’s office almost ever other day, Bregman saw potential in Logan and also saw a young man with moral roots passed on to him by his mother.
Since they met seven years ago, Logan’s grades have improved to the point that next year he’ll be a freshman at Florida Atlantic University, an achievement that didn’t seem likely just a few years ago.
And something else happened along the way. Logan and his mother, Nancy Shiroma, have developed a bond with Bregman that in many ways fills a void that was there since before Logan was born.
“In a way, we’ve become a family now,” Bregman says.
So much so that when one of Bregman’s daughters gets married in Indiana in a few months, Logan will be there to join in the celebration.
At family gatherings at the Bregman apartment, you’ll find both Logan and Nancy. The mentor and his young protégé are so close that hardly a day goes by when they don’t speak to one another by phone, even if it’s just a few words.
“I’m tremendously proud of Logan because he’s done this on his own,” Bregman said. “I just gave him guidance.”
Bregman, 62, and the father of two adult daughters, says he first mentored an 8-year-old boy while he lived in New Jersey and decided to become a mentor again when he moved to South Florida.
An announcement in the newspaper caught his eye and Bregman made a call to Karen Cohen, who runs the mentoring program at the Alpert Jewish Family and Children’s Service.
Established in 1998, the program serves children ages 6 to 14 who have lost a caregiver through death or divorce. Free and open to children of all faiths and ethnicities, the program is focused on providing mentors who offer friendship and support.
Bregman, who works for a nonprofit credit-counseling agency, said he was matched with Logan soon after he contacted the organization.
“Right from the beginning, I knew it was a good match,” Bregman said.
Over the years, Bregman says, his role as mentor has involved helping Logan’s mom cope with some of the challenges that come with raising a teenager on one’s own and at the same time helping Logan see things from her perspective.
Bregman will tell you that he’s more comfortable hanging out with the children at family gathering than the adults.
“I’ve always been kind of a Pied Piper,” he said. “When all the adults were inside, I was outside with the kids.”
Though Logan will officially age out of the mentoring program before he turns 19, Bregman says their friendship will continue for many more years.
Being Logan’s mentor, he says, has been an experience that has impacted his life as much as it has impacted Logan’s.
“It’s just a great rewarding experience to be part of a kid’s life,” he says.
Even with the changes of the last seven years, some things have remained the same.  
“In many ways, I still see the same kid, because his strong moral foundation has always been there,” Bregman said.

To learn more about the Mentoring 4 Kids program at the Alpert Jewish Family Service visit JFCSonline.com.

By Jane Smith

The Boynton Beach Community Redevelopment Agency did not skip a beat when Ken Spillias stepped aside as its attorney.
At its February meeting, Spillias sat in the audience and another law firm colleague, Tara Duhy, took his place on the dais next to the agency’s executive director.
“We knew that he (Spillias) was going to retire, it just came more quickly than we thought,” said Duhy, a partner with the Lewis, Longman & Walker law firm in West Palm Beach.
A University of Colorado law school graduate, she has been with the firm since 2005. She has worked with developers, most recently the Minto Communities’ project planned for western Palm Beach County.
“But I wouldn’t work on any development in Boynton Beach,” she said.
The switch was needed after Spillias was appointed as the Ocean Ridge town attorney, a staff position where his annual salary will be $90,000 and another $16,000 in benefits. He will start the full-time job March 1. He told the town he will retire in 2016.
Spillias had served as the Ocean Ridge town attorney for 15 years on a contract basis. Another plus from working for the town is his enrollment in the Florida retirement system. He served as a Palm Beach County commissioner in the 1980s and needs to work only six more months under the state pension plan to be fully vested in it with six years’ employment.
With the Boynton Beach agency, the law firm is an at-will employee, working without a contract, Spillias said at the end of the February meeting.
“I always felt that is the best way to do it,” he said. “If you are not happy with our legal counsel, you always have the right to change.”
The agency pays the firm a $4,000 monthly retainer to attend the meetings and review the agenda items. Anything above that, the agency will pay $230 per hour for a partner’s work.

Meet Jacqie, whose karaoke night brings crowds to Manalapan

John Justice Parker, 28, of Royal Palm Beach sings with Jackson.

 By Ron Hayes

    One evening last December, an older gentleman appeared at Manalapan Pizza & Italian Cuisine in the Plaza del Mar to ask for a job.
    He was wearing high heels, a shiny turquoise bustier, a woman’s wig, makeup and earrings. He was sporting large floral tattoos on both shoulder blades.
    The restaurant’s owner, Earl Bass, was not immediately sure he should hire him.
    “I don’t know how this will go over with a pizza crowd,” he thought. “In Manalapan.”
    On the other hand, Tuesday nights were slow.
    “Let me think about it a couple days,” Bass said.
    The next night, the man who dressed as a woman was back.
    “How many customers can you bring in?” Bass asked.
    “I can fill the courtyard,” the man said.
    Now here we are on this Tuesday night in February, and the courtyard is full. Seating for 80 — all filled, some standing. A hundred customers at least. Waiters and waitresses rushing around. Pizza, pasta, beer, wine and “Do you have a reservation?”
    And right there in front of the fountain, regal beneath her party tent, behind the karaoke keyboards and speakers, “Jacqieoke” reigns.
    She teases, she coaxes, she dares. If a karaoke customer’s heartfelt warbling wobbles, Jacqie may grab her microphone and sing along to ease the pain. If the singer’s a pro, she shuts up.
    Sometimes she marches out amid the dancers, spreads those long legs beneath the short, pink-and-blue leopard-skin skirt and shimmies like your sister Kate. Sometimes she slithers among the diners, growling out a gritty rendition of James Taylor’s Steamroller.
    “I’m a steamroller, baby,
    Bound to roll all over you.”
    From 6 p.m., when she opens most shows with Jacqie’s Back In Town, until 10:30’s Got My Mojo Workin’, Jacqie Jackson is the second most astonishing sight at Manalapan Pizza.
    The first is the audience.
    On this night, Jacqie has brought in whole families, grandparents and grandkids, dating couples, a Delray Beach firefighter, a former minor league ballplayer who’s pushing 90, a devoted fan celebrating her 100th birthday.
    Clearly, this is not your gay uncle’s drag show.
    Jacqie Jackson doesn’t lip-sync to Barbra Streisand records. She doesn’t tell raunchy jokes. She doesn’t insult the audience for a cheap laugh. And nobody anywhere would ever  — ever — mistake her for a woman.

Jackson sings with Julia Farese, 15, Alexandra Codella, 16, and Gabriella Bastianelli, 15, of New Jersey, who were visiting Alexandra’s grandmother in South Palm Beach. Photos by Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

•

    “Basically, I’m Ward Cleaver in a dress,” he will tell you. “I’m a heterosexual male cross-dresser.”
    On the driver’s license, he is still William Jackson, born in Missouri 67 years ago.
    “I knew from the age of 8, 10, 12 years old I wanted to wear women’s clothes,” he says. “But why, I don’t know.”
    Bill graduated from Cape Girardeau Central High School, Class of 1966, earned a master’s degree from Southeast Missouri State and taught science classes for 25 years, including six in Juneau, Alaska.
    He married. He fathered three children. He drank. And he drank.
    Finally, he saw a psychiatrist.
    “I hate my job,” he confessed. “I’m good at it, but it doesn’t really fulfill me anymore. I need to quit drinking, and I need to find out how much Jacqie there is in me.”
    The psychiatrist said, “Do you have the balls to be a woman?”
    He did. She did.
    In 2007, Bill separated from his wife. A year later, he retired from teaching and Jacqie started doing karaoke in St. Louis waterfront bars. Everyone mistakenly assumed he was gay. Everyone still does.
    “I knew I liked women’s clothes all my life,” he says, “but I also knew I liked women. And I don’t want the surgery.
    “Now I have three adult children, and they’re all fine with the cross-dressing because they know I’m not drinking anymore.”
    In 2012, after visiting high school friends in West Palm Beach, Bill moved here permanently and Jacqie started hosting karaoke nights at The Tides Bar & Grille in South Palm Beach, the South Shores Tavern in Lake Worth and Benny’s On The Beach at the Lake Worth Pier.
    When The Tides closed last year, she took her act across A1A to Manalapan Pizza and brought enough fans along to fill the courtyard.

Jacqie Jackson sings Happy Birthday to Myrna Billian, celebrating her 100th birthday at Manalapan Pizza & Italian Cuisine.

•

    “And more … much more than this, I did it …”
    Michael Colombo was born in the Bronx 90 years ago next October.
    As a young man, he played minor league ball with the N.Y. Giants and Cleveland Indians.
    As an old man, he retired to South Palm Beach and played Jacqieoke.
    “Myyyyyy … wayyyyyyy …!”
    “I used to see him at The Tides and the South Shore Tavern all the time,” Colombo says, taking a breather between tunes. “Listen, I ain’t no … what do they call ’em? Potato couch? Couch potato? He’s just a great entertainer. He gets everybody going.”
    But he’s also a man dressed as a woman.
    “Yeah, well, I feel to each his own,” Colombo says. “I don’t expect anybody to be any different than what they want to be.”
    Two tables away, Myrna Billian has come down from Stuart to celebrate her 100th birthday with family and friends. She has bright red nails and a youthful twinkle in her eye that isn’t all from the candles on the cake.
    “I dance with my hands,” she explains, dancing her palms back and forth. “It’s the only way I can dance because I have to use a cane.”
    Billian has been coming to hear Jacqie ever since a daughter’s friend brought her by in December.
    “I think he’s a very nice gentleman, and I give him a lot of credit for wearing those costumes.”
    But he’s a man dressing —
    “You have to be open-minded,” Billian says. “He has a wonderful personality. To each his own.”
    As the evening winds on, Jacqie leads the crowd in singing Happy Birthday to Billian, and then again to another woman named Joanne.
    Midway through, a friend named Ed Willey shows up to add his electric guitar to the sound. A black man toasts the crowd with his beer and tackles Bob Marley’s One Love. A white woman offers Liza Minnelli’s Cabaret. Monica the waitress interrupts waitressing to do her standard, Pat Benatar’s Hit Me With Your Best Shot.
    No, they are not all great singers. This is not America’s Got Talent. It’s Manalapan Has Fun.
    John Justice Parker, 28, who drives in from Royal Palm Beach, is a great singer.
    Tonight, Parker does Billy Joel’s New York State of Mind and nails it. Later, he does Dion’s Runaround Sue and nails it. And when you ask about Jacqie’s appeal, Parker nails that, too.
    “Oh,” he says, as if it were totally obvious, “the appeal is his fearlessness.”
    And fearlessness can be contagious. After all, if a man in a pink-and-blue leopard-skin skirt is telling you to have a good time, how foolish could you look? The next thing you know, you’ve come out of the karaoke closet and started belting your country-and-western heart out in front of strangers. At 9:30, Mike Colombo is back up front, standing between his grandchildren, Nick Hammel, 11, and Viktoria Hammel, 12.
    The music starts and the family trio breaks into that most irresistible of singalong songs, Neil Diamond’s Sweet Caroline.
    “Hands, touchin’ hands …”
    The audience joins in on the chorus.
    “Sweet Caroline,
    “Good times never seemed so good.”  
    Some shriek. Some croak. Some couldn’t carry a tune in a sack. But they all make a joyful noise.
    “So good! So good! So good!”
    Under her party tent, behind her keyboards, the heterosexual, male, cross-dressing karaoke host at a pizza parlor looks pleased.
    “I’m a 67-year-old man in a dress who’s making more money than I ever made in my life,” he will tell you. “And I’m at peace for the first time in my life.”

The crowd dances to Jacqie Jackson’s karaoke at Manalapan Pizza & Italian Cuisine.  Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

Jacqie Jackson appears at Manalapan Pizza & Italian Cuisine 6-10:30 p.m. Tuesdays and 5:30-10 p.m. Thursdays. Reservations are suggested.

March 14:  Six women from Palm Beach County who exemplify the national initiatives of the female scouting program and serve as role models for today’s girls will be honored at the evening affair. Time is 6 to 10 pm. Cost is $225. Call 427-0190 or visit gssef.org. Photo: (in front) Melissa Patrick, troop leader; Heidi Ledbetter, 9; Tami Donnally, event chairwoman; Molly Patrick, 9;  Mandy Allen, of the Girl Scouts of Southeast Florida; (in back) Claudia Kirk Barto, honoree; Meg O’Grady, sponsor; Rebekah Corlew, honoree; Franny LaRue, Sandra Saladrigas and Mary Ann Stetson, committee members; Rebecca Doane, honoree; Jennifer Chiarenza and Mimi Vail, committee members; and PJ Layng, of the Girl Scouts of Southeast Florida. Photo provided

 Bachannal backers: (in front)John Frezza, Joanne Mancari, Lisa Vander Ploeg, Mike and Amy Kazma, Al and Joni Goldberg, Robin and Charles Deyo, Joyce and Thom DeVita, Susan Whelchel, Mary Csar (in back), Mark Nichols, Kelly Loudermilk, Cynthia McDonough, Timothy Loudermilk, Ed McDonough, Guy LaFerrera, Suzanne Spinner and Mindy Nichols. Photo provided

By Amy Woods

    How does a night of wine from around the world, Ferrari and Maserati presentations, a Saks Fifth Avenue fashion display and food stations offering some of South Florida’s finest fare — all within a decked-out aviation hangar — sound?
Organizers of this year’s Bacchanalia, the first of two events kicking off the Boca Raton Historical Society & Museum’s Boca Bacchanal, promise an evening of elegance and excitement, along with an element of surprise.
    “We’re working in different types of interactive entertainment,” said Joyce DeVita, the society’s board president. “It’s going to have a whole different feel about it.”
    For the past 12 years, Boca Bacchanal has been a three-day event comprising Friday-night vintner dinners in private homes, a Saturday-night auction at the Boca Raton Resort & Club and a Sunday “Grand Tasting” in Mizner Park. The board decided to streamline the activities into two nights — March 27 and 28 — with the goal of boosting attendance.
    “Friday [March 27] is combination of Saturday and Sunday in the hangar, in the evening,” DeVita said. “We’re going to be able to accommodate a lot more people.”
    Six vintner dinners were planned originally; a seventh has been scheduled. Each will seat between 35 and 50 guests and feature a vintner and chef with national and international pedigrees.
    “There’s been a lot of buzz about the Boca Bacchanal because of the changes,” DeVita said. “People are inquiring, so we’re very happy. This is our biggest fundraiser. We really depend on it.”
    Adding to the buzz is an appearance by Kathy Lee Gifford, co-host of NBC’s Today. Gifford, under the GIFFT label, has produced two new California wines — a 2012 chardonnay and 2011 red blend.
    “We’re really excited to have her as a celebrity,” DeVita said.
    As many as 2,000 guests are expected participate in Boca Bacchanal to help generate funds for the society’s programs. Last year, a total of 1,600 guests raised $327,000.
    “The programs are expensive,” Boca Raton Historical Society & Museum Executive Director Mary Csar said. “They take a lot of staff time and research.”
    Programs include ongoing lectures and tours, two permanent exhibits and two rotating exhibits.
    “It’s just very important that we keep these things going,” Csar said. “We’re raising money in the community so we can give back to the community. W e’re all about history, but we’re really about the future of Boca Raton.”

If You Go
What: Boca Bacchanal to benefit the Boca Raton Historical Society & Museum
When:  7 p.m., March 27 and 28
Where: Boca Raton Airport, 3700 Airport Road (Bacchanalia) and private homes throughout the city (vintner dinners)
Cost: $125 for Bacchanalia and $325 for vintner dinners
Information: 395-6766 or bocabacchanal.com

Love of Literacy Luncheon committee members (in front) Penny Kosinski, Bettina Young, Chiara Clark, (in back) Gina Brody, Cristy Fimiani, Sylvie Bergeron, Kristin Calder and Megan Mulry. Photo provided

By Amy Woods

The chairwoman of this year’s Love of Literacy Luncheon can’t wait to meet guest speaker Kate DiCamillo, the 2014-15 National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, chosen by the Librarian of Congress.
Not only is the mother of five currently reading the author’s acclaimed fable The Magician’s Elephant, she and her family also read Because of Winn Dixie and The Tale of Despereaux together.
“When I found out it was her, I was super-excited,” Bettina Young said. “Her books raised my children.”
DiCamillo will take the stage March 12 at the Literacy Coalition of Palm Beach County’s 24th annual fundraiser. The New York Times best-selling author and Newbery Medal winner follows an impressive list of past speakers, including Brad Meltzer, Ann Patchett and Pat Conroy.
“I’ll probably just stand there and hug her like an idiot,” Young said. “Which is a good thing, because there’s a lot of authors I don’t want to hug.”
The 54-year-old Gulf Stream resident, whose children are ages 14, 16, 18, 25 and 27, said her goal in chairing the nonprofit’s biggest benefit is to emphasize the sense of community that reading fosters.
“We still, even as adults, read books together,” Young said. “It just makes for a huge amount of communication between the family.”
March marks “Read Aloud Month,” and the coalition is participating in the national campaign that aims to build awareness of the impact reading aloud to youths of all ages — 15 minutes each day — has on intellectual development, increased testing capacity and a deeper understanding of the world.
“I read Flora & Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures aloud to my children,” said Kristin Calder, the coalition’s CEO.
Calder said DiCamillo’s presence at the podium during the event will shine a spotlight on the significance of children’s literature and how it improves lives.
“Here’s two relevant Kate DiCamillo quotes,” Calder said. “ ‘Reading should not be presented to children as a chore, a duty; it should be offered as a gift,’ and ‘The best way for children to treasure reading is to see the adults in their lives reading for their own pleasure.’ ”

The Coastal Star: Why do books — especially children’s books — matter?
Bettina Young: Books are the door to education. Read to a child, and they will always want more. Children’s books encourage them to use their imagination, to create instead of having everything created for them.
CS: Can you explain how your children’s lives changed through reading?
BY: Reading has bonded our family. They are a part of something exciting. It leads to conversation and growth. We have many family favorites that will always be a part of their lives.
CS: How avid of a reader are you?
BY: I love books, all books. I will read anything that is suggested to me. I just need more time.
CS: What do you think about a recent report that found children in families who read aloud more likely will become frequent readers?
BY: Sometimes, as an adult, it’s hard to “get into” a book. For children, it can be even more difficult to get started. By reading aloud, the child becomes curious about the outcome and wants more. The passion is ignited. They find that they can’t get enough.
CS: How does the Literacy Coalition of Palm Beach County connect the community?
BY: By collaborating with schools, libraries and other community organizations to share resources, coordinate efforts and provide programs for adults, children and families. When people find independence from reading, they are able to grow and pass it to those around them, friends and family. This connects all of us. 

If You Go
What: Love of Literacy Luncheon to benefit the Literacy Coalition of Palm Beach County
When: 11:30 a.m. March 12
Where: Kravis Center, 701 Okeechobee Blvd., West Palm Beach
Cost: $125
Information: Call 279-9103 or visit literacypbc.org

More than 200 guests attended the season’s third conversation, featuring Jonathan Adler and Simon Doonan. Adler is an author, designer and potter, and Doonan has worked in fashion for three decades. Both are part-time Palm Beach residents. ABOVE: Penny and Alan Murphy, with Elaine Meier. Photo provided by Corby Kaye’s Studio Palm Beach

The American Humane Association honored philanthropist Lois Pope at a special event with the theme ‘Lois Pope: Our Light of Compassion.’ Pope was recognized for her generosity and leadership in building a more humane world. ‘We can think of no humanitarian making a greater difference for children, animals and veterans than Lois Pope,’ said Robin Ganzert, the association’s president and CEO. ABOVE: Valerie Christopher, with Sunny Sessa. Photo provided by Capehart Photography

Honoree Mary Wong and Grammy Award-winning reggae star Shaggy shined a light on Haiti’s housing needs during the 20th-annual fundraiser, where guests pledged enough money to build homes for 40 destitute families in the area surrounding Pon Batay. ‘Everyone in this room is a voice for the voiceless,’  Food for the Poor President and CEO Robin Mahfood told the crowd of more than 450. ABOVE: Noelle and Jason Kahan, Chairwoman Rene Turner-Mahfood and Francis Mahfood and Cathy and Abdol Moabery.
Photo provided

The annual matchup ended in victory for the faculty team, with a final score of 5–3. Competitive spirit aside, this year’s game brought the community together to share in the school’s ‘Live Green, Live Healthy’ initiative. ‘We really appreciate opportunities where our faculty and students can enjoy a chance to spend time outside the classroom,’ Head of School Tami Pleasanton said. ABOVE: Katie Trainor, 14, Naya Nelson, 13, and Lucy Ream, 13. Photo provided

The South County treatment center had a benefit for The Body Positive, a movement aimed at helping clients of all ages overcome challenges and respect their bodies. The HEArt (Healing Through Expressive Arts) Show gave attendees the opportunity to purchase donated artwork, taste culinary creations and listen to live music. More than $7,000 was raised. ABOVE: Christie Caggiani, Patricia Shutt, Elaine Wold and Connie Sobczak, executive director of The Body Positive. Photo provided

An enthusiastic crowd of more than 1,000 supporters sang along at the 53rd-annual event as The Shirelles performed classic tunes. The evening raised more than $1 million to benefit the soon-to-be-opened Christine E. Lynn Women’s Health & Wellness Institute and paid tribute to the honorary chairwoman and namesake. ABOVE: Jo Ann and Philip Procacci. Photo provided by Downtown Photo

The George Snow Scholarship Fund’s 22nd-annual event attracted more than 450 ‘cowpokes’ for a foot-stompin’ good time. Honorees were Jason and Jackie Reeves, who received the fund’s Community Service Award. The money raised — $85,000-plus — will be applied toward higher-education scholarships and programs for worthy students in the community. ABOVE: Tim Snow (center), president of the George Snow Scholarship Fund, with honorees Jason and Jackie Reeves. Photo provided

A beautiful moon set the mood for the sixth-annual Sea Coast Toast, a fundraiser for Gumbo Limbo Nature Center sponsored by Friends of Gumbo Limbo. Nearly 200 guests – a record – enjoyed an evening of hot and cold foods, beer and wine and special desserts, all in celebration of the center’s achievements in environmental education. ABOVE: Joseph  and Carol Borrow, a Friends of Gumbo Limbo board trustee. Photo provided

More than 100 boys and girls received free services at the annual Give Kids a Smile event in conjunction with Lifestyle Dental Group. ABOVE: Drs. Mark Kubilium, Tatiana Santiago and Jonathan Chouraqui (center) are surrounded by a group youths showing off their pearly whites. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star 

The Delray Beach Public Library once again had its casual, comical event co-chaired by Heidi Sargeant and Becky Walsh. This year’s headliner was Paul Mecurio, who had guests rolling in their seats. ABOVE: Harvey and Virginia Kimmel pledged $100,000 in the form of a matching grant to help with the library’s Foothold on the Future Campaign to expand the Children’s Department. Photo provided

What better way to celebrate Valentine’s Day than with a neighborhood get-together at the oceanfront condominum complex? LEFT: Gail Bartelli and Peter McMullin

ABOVE: Gillian McMullin poses, while Josef Kochling and Maureen D’arcy enjoy the buffet. Photos provided by
Paul Zaza

Luxe Collection opening celebration
Mizner Park, Boca Raton –Feb. 12

Bobby Yampolsky stands in the showroom of his East Coast Jewelry Luxe Collection, an ultra-luxury superstore concept that features rare timepieces, fine diamonds, private aviation, and exotic automobiles.  The store is at 322 Plaza Real, at Mizner Park in Boca Raton. Jerry Lower/ The Coastal Star

By Thom Smith

There’s a war brewing and Boynton Beach could be smack dab in the middle of it. No guns, no bombs. The only tanks involved are stainless steel and filled mostly with water … and a few select ingredients.  
We’re talking ’bout beer. Goliath, the “Big Money” Florida Beer Wholesalers Association, versus dozens of Davids, neighborhood craft brewers such as Due South, which arrived in Boynton Beach in 2012 and is doing quite well.
Apparently too well. FBWA has gone to court because the craft brewers run “tasting rooms” at their breweries. The tasting rooms enable customers to taste a brewer’s new offerings and its old standards and if the taste suits them, they can buy some to take home.
That’s not legal, claims FBWA. With support from the Florida Retail Federation and the Florida Independent Spirits Association, it sued Florida’s Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco for incorrectly applying the “tourist exception,” a standard on the books for half a century, to microbrewery tasting rooms.
For millennia, beer and similar malts were the preferred beverages. After all, most water was contaminated. Nearly every European village, hamlet and abbey claimed its own brewery. That tradition carried over to the colonies, but as the United States grew, production evolved into regional and national operations.
Prohibition nearly wiped out local brewers. The few Florida breweries (Does anyone remember Regal Beer in Miami?) were not allowed to sell or serve beer on-site. Bars, restaurants and grocers received all their beer through wholesale distributors. That all changed in 1959 when Anheuser Busch opened Busch Gardens in Tampa. In the interest of promoting tourism, the Florida Legislature changed the law to allow Busch to serve free beer during its brewery tours.
It worked! From an initial staff of four employees and four very chatty parrots, Busch Gardens exploded into the Serengeti Plain, “where people are caged and animals run free.” By 1968, Florida’s No. 1 tourist attraction was serving 3 million visitors a year.  
Fast forward to 2012. Mike Halker opens Due South Brewery in the industrial park off High Ridge Road in Boynton Beach between Boynton Granite and Marble and Sherwin-Williams paint. He also offers a tour … much shorter and no wild animals. But the nonbrewing side of the warehouse includes a bar and banquet-style folding tables where guests can sample the beers and wolf down burgers, dogs or tacos from one of the ever-present food trucks.
Due South now has company. Down in Delray Beach, Saltwater Brewery features a similar but slightly more upscale experience. Devour Brewing is setting up at the south end of Boynton Beach just east of Congress on 30th Avenue; Barrel of Monks on Rogers Circle in Boca Raton is aiming for an April opening; Corey Harris of Lake Worth is looking for a permanent spot to anchor Three Horns Brewing, his prizewinning homebrew operation. A group of former Carolina brewers is looking for a Boynton site to open Wild Oak Artisan Ales.
Two blocks north of Due South, the brew is mixing in the gleaming tanks at Copperpoint Brewing, which just won a $100,000 startup grant from the city of Boynton Beach. His tasting room features a polished concrete floor, weathered wood and sheet metal on the walls and a 28-foot copper-topped bar. Partner Matt Cox expects to open to the public mid-month.
Not all issues, however, are being raised by Big Beer. Boca Raton resident Cox, a 10-year veteran brewer at Big Bear Brewing in Coral Springs wanted to name his new brewery Coppertop. But that didn’t sit well with the folks at Coppertail Brewing in Tampa, which sued.
“We’re getting it worked out,” Cox said. “I really liked Coppertop because my wife came up with it, but we’ll be OK with Copperpoint.”
The craft brewers are a close-knit group — all for one and one for all. Some may see huge growth, but most will be content to produce a few barrels. Fighting the big guys will take time and money, but they’re committed. Leading the charge will be Halker, who also serves as president of the Florida Brewers Guild.
But the big guys may be trying another tack. Reports on the craft beer grain-line (that’s the brewers’ version of a grapevine) have the big guys making an end run by trying to buy some of the microbreweries, as it has done in Oregon, Chicago and Long Island. Among the rumored Florida targets — Cigar City in Tampa, and Due South. Halker said he has been approached, but he declined to identify the suitors and told The Palm Beach Post, “I’d much rather make beer than have a big check right now.”
Cheers!
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With the second annual lineup recently announced, Artists for Others will not be a one-trick pony on the local charity circuit. Set for March 26 at Eau Palm Beach & Spa, the benefit for Children’s Home Society of Florida, Habitat for Humanity of South Palm Beach County and Holy Ground Shelter for Homeless will offer a lineup that brings back country collaborators Kelly Lang and T.G. Sheppard, guitarist Kip Winger and performance painter David Garibaldi, plus Guitar Town, a new group out of Nashville and contemporary Christian performers Lincoln Brewster and Kerrie Roberts.  Tickets — $295 per person, $500 per couple — include the show, cocktails, silent and live auction, hors d’oeuvres and dessert buffet. (540-4931)   
Much has happened at Eau Palm Beach in the past year as its owners decided to dump its Ritz-Carlton handle and create their own image of a luxury resort. Gone are the classical decorating touches by Bren Simon, wife of original owner and shopping mall developer Mel Simon (Boca’s Town Center). The paintings that decorated guest rooms found their way to the Habitat for Humanity thrift store in Delray Beach and no doubt now decorate hundreds of residences in the area.
In their place, splashes of color, stripes, checks — a more Palm Beachy look — from international designer Jonathan Adler. Photos by Slim Aarons, cast metal balcony chairs that proclaim “Peace” and “Love”: Adler didn’t want the décor to appear “phoned in.” It hasn’t hurt. Eau has retained its diamonds and stars and last year Town & Country listed its spa among the 15 best in the world.  
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Ultimately, great hotels succeed because they know how to treat guests. Throughout its history, Eau Palm Beach has mastered the art. Entertainers love it because their privacy is steadfastly protected.
That doesn’t, however, preclude confirmation from outsiders. Back in 1994, Mick Jagger cuddled his daughter during lunch on the terrace, while Keith Richards took long walks on the beach with wife Patti Hansen and their two kids. On one concert day, when a child asked where daddy was, Hansen answered matter-of-factly, “He’s at work, he’ll be home later.’’
Fast forward to 2015 and despite confirmed sightings elsewhere in the area, reports that Ringo Starr and Billy Joel were on-site, Eau Palm Beach staff maintain the cone of silence. Starr, who performed in Fort Pierce on Feb. 18, shopped at the new Greenlands in Delray Beach. He bought some protein bars and cereal, one staffer reported, but when another asked him to sign a pay stub, he politely declined: “Sorry, love. I quit doing that when I turned 70.”
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Big shows coming to Jazziz in Boca’s Mizner Park in March. Starting with Spyrogyra on the 5th and 6th, and continuing with Rick Braun (10 and 11), Rick Springfield (13), ABBA (17-19) and Al Stewart (24 and 25).
At the other end of Mizner, Festival of the Arts Boca kicks off its 10-day run March 6 with a screening of West Side Story, with the score provided live by the Festival Orchestra under the baton of Jayce Ogren.
And here’s a bit of local trivia: Director Robert Wise originally wanted Warren Beatty to play Tony, but producers said no. They also considered Elvis Presley (Col. Tom Parker didn’t want his star associated with gang warfare), Bobby Darin (too busy), Russ Tamblyn (cast instead as Riff), Keir Dullea and Gary Lockwood (later paired in 2001: A Space Odyssey), Dennis Hopper, Troy Donohue, Tony Perkins (from Norman Bates to Tony?). Among those considered but rejected as too old to be believed as teenagers were Marlon Brando, Tab Hunter, Richard Chamberlain and hometown boy Burt Reynolds, who was 26.  
For a complete schedule and tickets, go to festivaloftheartsboca.org.
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If you believe in a little Friday the 13th magic, head to the Crest Theatre in Delray for a special concert from pop-rock music legend John Sebastian. He helped give birth to folk-rock in the mid-’60s with the Lovin’ Spoonful, he played at Woodstock, he wrote the music for Jimmy Shine on Broadway, his theme song prepared audiences each week for Welcome Back, Kotter. In 2000, the Spoonful was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and in 2008 Sebastian was recognized by the songwriters’ hall. Tickets are $49 at DelrayArts.org or 243-7922 ($75 for a post-show meet-and-greet).
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BOLO! Runaway Segway at mall. Operator resembles Paul Blart, mall cop.
Fantasy became reality at Boca’s Town Center on Feb. 19, as shoppers did a double take. Delray Beach resident Kevin James took to one of the two-wheeled CUVs (compact utility vehicle) to film promos for his new movie, Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2.
No sign of a kiddie seat either, for James, 49, who seems to be taking everything in stride, as he and his family adjust to their new digs just off A1A in Delray Beach. James has been seen chatting with locals along Atlantic Avenue and regularly attending a local church with his family.
Now he has a new child to keep an eye on. While Kevin was shooting the promo, wife Steffiana de la Cruz, 40, was believed to be home with their fourth child. No confirmation from James or officials at Bethesda Memorial Hospital, but reports have the baby born the last weekend in January. Last fall, James told Us Weekly he soon would be a father again. The infant, sex unknown, joins two sisters, ages 9 and 7 and a brother, 4.
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Big-time surfers are always on the move. When a big weather front comes through, such as the mid-February frosting, they show up in Palm Beach County, primarily to catch the big lefts at “Pumphouse,” the legendary Palm Beach break just south of the inlet. The world’s greatest surfer, Kelly Slater, is a frequent visitor, but reports that he had bought a condo in Palm Beach raised a few eyebrows, even if it had a very Palm Beachy price tag of more than $2 million.
Slater did indeed pay $2.15 million for a luxury pad on so-called “Millionaires Row”… in Palm Beach … Australia. So much for sleeping in the back of a station wagon.
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Where are they now? We hadn’t really heard much from Nick Loeb since TV bombshell Sofia Vergara called off their engagement last year. Loeb, a trust fund baby who ran unsuccessfully for Delray City Commission and then headed to Hollywood, has returned to politics. Last year at the White House Correspondents Dinner, where Vergara connected with actor Joe Manganiello, who’s her new beau, Loeb met New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, “a normal guy who you can have a beer with.”
After a few beers, they connected: Loeb is now honorary chairman of Leadership Matters for America, Christie’s political action committee. “This has nothing to do with a presidential run,” Loeb told The New York Post. “This is just a PAC to support him.”  
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More celebs: Jay Leno headlines the Boca West Foundation’s Concert for the Children, March 31 at Boca West’s Akoya Amphitheatre. All proceeds go to 15 local children’s charities. Opening act: Atlantic City Boys. Tickets: $150. (488-6980).

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                                          More coming attractions
March 5-April 4 — Red Cross Designer Show House moves south to La Florentia, in Lake Worth. Known as the Birthday Cake Castle, it was built in 1925. More than 20 designers have lent their talents to refresh it.  
    March 6 — 30th anniversary luncheon for FoundCare Comprehensive AIDS Program at Embassy Suites, West Palm Beach. It’s a homecoming, of sorts, for keynote speaker, four-time Olympic gold medal diver Greg Louganis, who has lived with HIV for two decades. While the disease is in check, the magnificent Mission Bay aquatic complex in Boca Raton where Louganis trained for his 1988 triumphs is gone. Only the stadium superstructure remains, now housing classrooms for Boca Prep. The pools were filled in, replaced by a soccer field.  ($50 and up, foundcare.org)  
March 14 — Delray Beach St. Patrick’s Day Parade. Grand marshals: Classic Rock 105.9 jocks Paul Castronovo and Young Ron Brewer.
March 26 — Several hundred diners will pull up to the nation’s longest dining table (five blocks) for four-course offerings and wine pairings from 18 Delray Beach restaurants at Savor the Avenue. For restaurants, menus and pricing, visit downtown
delraybeach.com or call 243-1077.

Email Thom Smith at thomsmith@ymail.com.

The Plate: Charcoaled Ribs
The Place: Rack’s Downtown Eatery and Tavern, Mizner Park, 402 Plaza Real, Boca Raton; 395-1662
The Price: $8 (at happy hour)
The Skinny: We could have embarrassed ourselves mightily gorging on all the goodness from the happy hour menu at Rack’s.
The restaurant offers a special menu at the bars and high-top tables 4-7 p.m. seven days a week. We could call it one of Boca Raton’s best-kept secrets, except the place was packed.
We started with a plate of deviled eggs ($4 for four), which were packed with shallots and chives and seasoned with Dijon mustard and topped with paprika.
And we finished with a rack of some of the most tender ribs you’ll find anywhere, covered in a sweet, tangy apple barbecue sauce and finished on the grill.
Also quite appetizing: the Cajun fish tacos ($8) and the shrimp cocktail ($10).
It was perfection, and we’re ready for more.
— Scott Simmons

By Thom Smith

During the next 10 months, Billy Joel will play nine dates at Madison Square Garden. In between, he’ll barnstorm the nation, 10 shows mostly in stadiums — Virginia Beach, Baltimore and Philly in the east; Boston and Syracuse up north; Atlanta and Charlotte down south; Chicago, Minneapolis and Houston in the heartland and San Francisco out west.
    But will Joel remain in a New York state of mind? Among a rash of real estate transactions in the last two years, the most recent is a reputed $20 million beachfront deal in Manalapan.
    However, it is not the property recently circulating in the gossip media.
    Two years ago, Joel dumped his beachfront home in the Hamptons for $19.95 million and a Manhattan penthouse for $11.4 million. Last fall, his last New York property, the one-bedroom co-op below the penthouse, brought a puny $775,000. That all came after he sold his 8,000-square-foot-plus Mediterranean Revival estate on Miami’s LaGorce Island for $13.75 million in the summer of 2013.
    With all that moolah, what’s a guy to do: Live on the tour bus? Crash with friends? Invest?
    Reportedly at the urging of his friend, Howard Stern, who has a $60 million estate on Palm Beach’s “Millionaire’s Row” just south of the Beach Club, Joel began looking nearby. As word oozed into the local real estate community, some compared the frenzy to the early scenes in Jaws. But Joel wasn’t in a hurry, and he soon discovered that lots of beachfront property can still be had … down south … in Manalapan.
    Last March, under the awning of South Florida Living LLC, he paid $11.8 million for a 13,200-square-foot house on just under two acres of ocean-to-lake property. The seller was Dennis Hammond, a St. Louis investment consultant. Two months later, Joel bought the vacant lot next door — cleared land, ready to build, west of A1A, nothing but privacy-protecting scrub to the beach — for $6.5 million.
    Immediately south of the vacant lot is a one-of-a-kind majestic estate that has been on the market for some time. But contrary to one erroneous report that was cut-and-pasted into the media nationwide, Billy Joel didn’t buy it.
    Instead he purchased another grand house … in Manalapan … on the ocean … but farther up the beach. For approximately $20 million, he should have plenty of room — 20,000 square feet — for a piano, and an orchestra and a few (hundred) guests.

Bill Joel paid about $20 million for this home built by Robert Fessler in Manalapan. Photo provided

Barely 5 years old, the house was built as a “spec home” by Robert Fessler on a 150-foot-wide lot carved from the old “Vanderbilt Estate.” Fessler sold it to Donald Adam, a banker from College Station, Texas, in September 2011 for $15 million.      
In the Mediterranean style, it features nine bedrooms, 16 baths, gatehouse with guest suite, media room, billiard room and bar, library, multibay garage, elevators and wine cellar, plus ocean views for all major rooms.
    The grand estate home next to the two lakefront properties Joel bought is magnificent. Megayacht-sized dock out back, 30-car underground garage, tunnel under A1A — but then it isn’t directly on the ocean and the asking price is near $30 million.
    “It’s quite unusual to have a property of this nature in our marketplace,” listing agent John Poletto of Nestler Poletto Sotheby’s International Realty said.
    The ocean-to-Intracoastal house was completed in 1983 for Roger King, who revolutionized television in the 1970s, but is perhaps best known for launching Oprah Winfrey, as well as Dr. Phil and Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune.
    It was ideal for Tom Gerrard, who bought the property in 2001. As a youngster in Indiana and then Fort Lauderdale, Gerrard worked in gas stations and dreamed of someday owning one of the fancy cars he serviced.
    After graduating from Florida Atlantic University, he made waves in construction and telecommunications and eventually the dream became reality. The underground parking was perfect, as the collection — stocked with American classics from the ’50s and ’60s — grew.
    Gerrard served as mayor of Manalapan from 2008 to 2010. He now splits time between the old haunts in Broward County and a residence in Big Sky, Mont. When the offer is right, he’ll sell his luxury “garage.”