The eighth annual arts, culture and music event assembled the biggest parade of stars in its history and featured the return of violin virtuoso Itzhak Perlman. ‘This year’s Festival of the Arts Boca was one of our best and most successful ever,’ said Charles Siemon, chairman and co-executive producer. In addition to Perlman, performances included the Bill T. Jones / Arnie Zane Dance Company, Arturo Sandoval, Cirque de la Symphonie and Forte. ABOVE: Sponsors John Whelchel, Jim Rosemurgy and Bob Long. Photo provided

Supporters of the Owls made waves at the school’s annual black-tie-optional event that raised more than $500,000 for scholarships and support for veterans and first-generation students. ‘The Making Waves Gala was a tremendous success,’  FAU President John Kelly said.  ‘I would like to thank our gala host committee and more than 60 sponsors for their support, as well as our volunteers and more than 700 guests.’ ABOVE: Jerry and Terry Fedele, Dick and Barbara Schmidt, and host committee members Howard and Beverlee Schnellenberger. Photo provided

The Caridad Center healthcare and dental clinic honored the 400 volunteers whose medical, dental, vision and social-services expertise enables the nonprofit clinic to provide 26,000 patient visits each year. The dinner celebrated the center’s quarter of a century of providing free medical services to the working poor and uninsured in Palm Beach County. ABOVE: Dr. Douglas Kohl and Matthew Weiss. RIGHT: Dr. Leo and Maureen Quinn. Photos provided

More than 100 girls modeled historical and modern fashions at the Literacy Coalition of Palm Beach County’s event. The two-hour show was attended by 900-plus guests who helped raise funds for youth-education programs. LEFT: Maya DiMisa, Caroline Calder, Sophia Dickenson, Harper Williams and Olivia Muir, with sponsor Dr. Saadia Mohammed.
Photo provided

Sons and moms compete with a fire hose during last year’s
Moms and Sons Challenge. Photo provided

By Shelley Gilken

    On Mother’s Day, breakfast in bed would be a nice treat for Mom. Perhaps a bouquet of flowers, a beautiful card or, hey, why not throw cheese curls at her head?
    That’s right. Cheese curls. The city of Delray Beach Parks and Recreation Department is hosting its fourth annual Moms and Sons Challenge on May 10, featuring about a dozen tasks for moms and sons.
    Participants work together doing stunts in a race against other teams in downtown Delray Beach. While the obstacles planned for this event are top secret, last year’s event included flying a kite for a minute, knocking down cones with a fire hose — and a cheese curl task.
    “That one was the most popular,” said Danielle Beardsley, marketing/special events coordinator for Delray Beach Parks and Recreation. Here’s how it worked: Each mom donned a shower cap and goggles. The son then covered the shower cap in shaving cream. He tossed cheese curls at his mom’s head until 10 stuck, thus completing the challenge.
    An official at the station confirmed they completed the task and they moved on to the next location in hopes of being the first to finish.
    “Teams of moms and sons travel around downtown on foot. We give them a list of locations they go to,” Beardsley said.
Each obstacle is determined by a parks department committee, and they are different every year.
    “I want to say it’s silly stuff. It’s not what you’d think of with mud-run obstacles,” Beardsley said. “They’re not climbing rock walls or running through mud. But they’re physical. … No eating challenge. We won’t do that to them.”
Beardsley said the reaction to the event the past three years has been overwhelmingly positive.
    “It gives a chance for moms and sons to work as a team and grow closer,” Beardsley said. “We even have adult sons doing (the challenge) with their moms, and they have a blast.”
    The event is capped at 60 teams with up to three sons per mom. The teams are sorted by the son’s age and there is a staggered start, with the first wave going at 9:15 a.m. The average time to finish all the tasks is about two hours. All participants get a T-shirt and medal, while winners in each age group get a trophy.
    The idea for the special Mother’s Day event came out of the desire to do something that mirrors Daddy-Daughter date night, which is a popular event to be held next month closer to Father’s Day.
    Mother-Son date night didn’t catch on, and Beardsley decided to put feelers out on Facebook, seeing if anyone had an idea for moms and sons. Someone suggested a scaled-down event based on the TV show Amazing Race.
    “It took off from there,” Beardsley said. 

If You Go
What: Fourth annual Amazing Mom and Son Challenge
When:  May 10
8:30 am:  Check-in begins
9:15 am:  5-6-years old
9:30 am:  7-9 and 10-13 years
9:45 am:  14-17 and 18+ years
Lunch and prizes following completion of the race.
Cost: $12 per adult (18 and up); $7 per child (17 and younger)
info: Registration form iavailable online at http://mydelraybeach.com/parks-and-recreation. Organizers are seeking volunteers, and will award community service hours.
Contact: Danielle Beardsley, (561) 243-7277 or beardsleyd@mydelraybeach.com.

Former Miami Dolphins wide receiver Nat Moore cheers on fourth-grader John Mahady during an after-school football clinic for about 30 boys and girls. The J.D. Davis family arranged for the special event where the students took part in passing and running drills. Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

Rescuers perform first aid on victims of the Two Georges that sank outside the Boynton Inlet.

Firefighters administer oxygen to one of the survivors of the Two Georges capsizing. Photos by Stan Sheets/Boynton Beach Star, Courtesy of the Boynton Beach City Library

Pumps drain the hull of the Two Georges as it sits at its home dock in Boynton Beach, just north of Ocean Avenue in this photograph from the Boynton Beach Star.

Rescuers pull ashore Capt. Jimmy Stevens from the wreckage of the Two Georges.

Photo by Stan Sheets/Boynton Beach Star, Courtesy of the Boynton Beach City Library

More photos

By Willie Howard

Ship’s mate Don Lash knew it would be unwise to panic.
The 60-foot drift fishing boat Two Georges had just capsized outside the rough waters of the Boynton Inlet and Lash was trapped under water, his legs ensnared in rope.
“I reached for my fishing pliers,” Lash, then 19, recalled, “but they were gone. I realized that if I was unable to free my feet from this tangle I would die. A calm came over me. I took my pocket knife out and bent over and cut myself free.”
It was 50 years ago this March when the Two Georges went over, killing five passengers in one of the worst pleasure-boating disasters in South Florida.  
On March 25, 1964, the Two Georges was headed into Boynton Inlet after a morning trip with 17 passengers and three crewmen aboard when the boat suddenly was  lifted from the stern by a cresting wave and capsized.
Several captains from the Boynton Inlet fishing fleet rushed to their boats and headed out into rough water outside the inlet to rescue many of the Two Georges passengers and crew.
Some passengers swam to the beach. Bodies were recovered by rescuers near the inlet. Others washed up on the shore. A fifth passenger was never found and was presumed to be lost.

Don Lash was ship’s mate on the Two Georges when it sank in 1964. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

Lash, now 69, was working as a mate on the boat that day and was standing behind Two Georges Capt. Jimmy Stevens when the wooden boat capsized.
 During a recent interview at his home in Boynton Beach, Lash said the fishing boat was surfing down a wave when it veered, began taking on water on its port side and then rolled over.
“I remember Capt. Jim crying out, ‘Oh my God. She’s gone,’” Lash wrote in a summary of the accident, written for his family.
“I was thrown against the back windows of the wheelhouse as she rolled over,” Lash wrote. “Total confusion ensued. I was under water with my feet tangled in some unknown line, preventing me from coming to the surface.”
He reached for his fishing pliers, but they were gone. That’s when he calmly reached for his pocketknife and cut his way to freedom.
Lash said he remembered taking the time to fold his pocketknife and slip it back into his pocket before he shot to the surface to for air.
Lash swam over to help a man who was trying to cling to a cooler. Then Capt. Angelo Phillips and the crew of the Pepper pulled them both out of the water. The man who had been clinging to the cooler died of heart failure, Lash said.
Stevens told the Palm Beach Daily News after the accident that he waited for three swells to pass over the sand bar before heading into the inlet. Everything seemed fine, he said, until a 20-foot wave lifted the stern of the Two Georges.
One of the crewmen told the newspaper that one wave broached the fishing boat, and another wave capsized it.
A 1965 Coast Guard report about the accident said the wave raised the stern of the Two Georges until the propellers and rudder were out of the water. Loss of control caused the boat to veer and roll over.
Dr. Charles Moore, also known as Capt. Buddy Moore, was standing on the State Road A1A bridge, watching the boats come in Boynton Inlet that day because he was trying to decide whether the inlet was too rough to head out for an afternoon of fishing.

From witness to rescuer
After the Two Georges rolled over, Moore, today an 89-year-old retired surgeon, jumped on a boat with Capt. Homer Adams and Red Waggner and headed out to the stricken vessel. That was lucky for Two Georges passenger James Renc, who had been slashed by one of the overturned boat’s propellers.
Moore recalled taking off his shirt and stuffing it into the open wound in Renc’s chest, then riding with him in an ambulance to Bethesda Hospital and performing surgery.
“If you’re going to be in a boat that’s flipped over and get popped and have a sucking chest wound, how lucky can you be to have a surgeon right there?” asked Moore, who lives in Lake Worth.
Renc later thanked Moore for saving his life. Renc’s two sons, one of whom had polio, also survived the Two Georges accident.
Members of the Gold Coast Aquanauts scuba diving club volunteered to attach a tow cable to the sunken fishing boat, said Tom Warnke, whose father served as president of the dive club at the time.
The Two Georges, owned by George Culver, was towed north to Lake Worth Inlet and repaired near the Port of Palm Beach, Warnke said.
“The next day (the divers) went to see Culver, and he gave them each a free pass to go drift fishing. It should have been a lifetime pass,” Warnke said.

The 60-foot Two Georges, seen in a postcard image from happier times. Courtesy of Janet DeVries

Culver had the Two Georges back on the water taking passengers fishing later that summer.
Veteran Boynton Beach fishing captains said the wooden fishing boat continued to take passengers fishing off Boynton Inlet for another 30 years or so.
The Two Georges, named for Culver and his father, was taken out of service in the early 1990s after it failed a Coast Guard inspection.
Culver died in 1996. The restaurant bearing the Two Georges name was sold following his death.

Difficult conditions
After investigating the Two Georges accident, the Coast Guard charged Capt. Stevens with “inattention to duty.”
Lash blamed the fatal accident on rough sea conditions outside a difficult inlet that acted on an outdated boat.
“There wasn’t a fault other than the design of the inlet and the boat,” said Lash, who went on to captain the Sea Mist III for a few years and own a fleet of fishing boats in South Carolina.
“It was very upsetting to our family and a sad time in the fishing community,” said Cindy Jamison, daughter of renowned Boynton Beach captain Kenny Lyman, who moored his boat next to the Two Georges.
The capsizing of the Two Georges underscored the hazards of the narrow ocean passage at Boynton Inlet, which was more susceptible to dangerous sea conditions then because the north jetty was not extended and curved until 1967.
“It’s still a dangerous inlet, but it was more dangerous at that time,” said Bill Beck, owner of the former Boynton Beach Star newspaper, which published an extra edition showing photos of the rescue after the Two Georges tragedy.
The relatively narrow inlet, 130 feet wide, was opened in 1927 to improve water quality in the Lake Worth Lagoon. It was not designed for navigation.
The inlet’s strong tidal flow can clash with ocean waves to produce rough conditions for boaters. Winter swells stand up on a sand bar that forms from time to time outside the mouth of the inlet.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association, the agency that produces nautical charts, notes that the Boynton Inlet is “dangerous and particularly hazardous to small boats not designed for open seas.” NOAA’s chart notes say boaters using the Boynton Inlet “should be experienced and have local knowledge.”
Larry Madden, who was a 10-year-old paper delivery boy for the Boynton Beach Star on the day of the 1964 accident, remembers selling the extra edition on the streets of Boynton Beach on the afternoon of the accident.
“It’s still fresh in my mind because it was such a traumatic experience,” said Madden, who now lives in Arkansas. “People were standing two to three deep waiting for the paper.”
 The Boynton Beach Star printed an extra edition the afternoon of the sinking. Images courtesy of the Boynton Beach City Library

Jack and Bea Fearon, left, Steve and Mary Lou Cousley, David and Marie Vladyka and Jeri and Bob Bové renew vows. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Ron Hayes
 
Fifty years ago, the Beatles invaded America, the first ZIP code appeared, the first lung was transplanted and Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton were married, for the first time.
Also married in 1964 were many less-celebrated but far more stable couples.
Bob and Jeri Bové, 72 and 70, were married in the Bronx, N.Y., that year.
Jack and Bea Fearon, 83 and 73, were married in Ozone Park, N.Y.
David and Marie Vladyka, both 71, were married in Passaic, N.J.
Steve and Mary Lou Cousley, both 73, were married in East St. Louis, Ill.
Alas, the Burton-Taylor marriage did not fare well. The movie stars were divorced in 1974, remarried in 1975 and re-divorced in 1976.
But a half-century later, the Bovés, Fearons, Vladykas and Cousleys are still happily wed, and on March 9, a perfectly sunny Sunday afternoon, about 100 friends and neighbors in the Colonial Ridge Club gathered by the condo’s gazebo atop the dunes to celebrate “200 Years Of Love.”
To be honest, the Cousleys were married on June 8, 1963, but let’s not be picky. It’s still their 50th  year.
“201 Years Of Love!”
The renewal of their vows was more celebration than sacrament.
As Chapel of Love (The Dixie Cups, 1964) played on a laptop computer, the four couples ascended the dunes to cheers and applause while smartphones, iPads and even an old-fashioned camera or two recorded the event.
Jack Fearon wore a Hawaiian shirt and shorts.
Mary Lou Cousley wore her original wedding dress. (“It has a little expansion panel in the back now,” she confessed.) Her husband, Steve, sported a big, black, bogus mustache to add a touch of silliness to the occasion.
Marie Vladyka was accompanied by Denise Palino and Kathy Shinn, the same bridesmaids who saw her down the aisle all those years ago.
Atop the dunes, they were greeted by their chosen clergyman, Norman Provost, who added to the dignity of the occasion by dressing all in white, including the ball cap.
“Many years ago, I sent off $3 to the Universal Church of Life in Modesto, Calif., and received a certificate making me a minister in the church,” Provost began. “So what we have here today is a $3 wedding.”
Pastor Provost was a master at mixing satire and sentiment.
“You’re all still together, and all above ground,” he pointed out. “You’ve gone from being young and restless to old and cranky.”
And then he got down to business.
“Fifty percent of all marriages end within the first 10 years, but you’re people who made a commitment and kept that commitment for 50 years.”
“Amen,” someone in the crowd murmured.
“Amen,” several others agreed.
“Now take each other’s hand for a moment and think back to when you first took that hand and knew ‘This is the person.’ ”
The couples clasped hands.
“You’ve kept your vows for 50 years,” Provost said. “Do they really need to be renewed?”
They exchanged some souvenir rings, and then they exchanged kisses. The service ended with laughter as the laptop sang Who’s Sorry Now? followed by a champagne toast. The whole affair was coordinated by the pastor’s wife, Laura Provost.
Then the crowd ambled back to the condo clubhouse, where a roast pig with an apple in its mouth awaited.
This was not a 1964 reception.
“Back then we had cake and punch and homemade mints in the Methodist church basement,” Mary Louis Cousley remembered.
“We had roast beef and a bottle of Scotch and it cost us $5.95 per person,” Bob Bové recalled.
“Prime rib,” Jack Fearon said. “Her father paid.”
And then, over chicken and pig, beer and soft drinks, they revealed the secret of a 50-year marriage.
Patience was an essential ingredient, they agreed, and laughter; but Jack Fearon offered the most candid formula.“We have a system,” he explained. “She assigns the blame, and I accept the responsibility. But I’m negotiating a change.”

Marie and David
Vladyka

Bea and Jack Fearon

Jeri and Bob Bové

Mary Lou and Steve Cousley

By Jan Norris

    Delray residents must be suffering from a serious sweet tooth — the number of shops that slake a sugar craving are mushrooming in downtown.
    From sexy, fashion-themed cupcakes to delicate French macarons, towering Tiffany box cakes, giant gummy worms, and big, fat cookies, it’s all here.

Berry Wang, Jean Paul Peanutier and Red Valentino cupcakes from Cupcake Couture.

Cupcake Couture
    Those fashion cupcakes make a statement at Cupcake Couture, where Pam Joyner and her team turn out decadent cupcakes with punny names tied to the fashion industry. Bestseller? Red Valentino — a variation on the traditional red velvet with cream cheese-buttercream icing. Dolce & Banana, Cocoa Chanel, Donatella Vanilla and Caramel Lagerfeld are on the racks; Limey Pulitzer pays tribute to the tropical fruit and Palm Beach’s own fashion maven.
    They are presented in two sizes — Petite and Vogue, with a box of four petites of mixed flavors the crowd pleaser, according to Michelle Howell, a manager and Joyner’s daughter. Whoopie pie lovers will find those hand-sized cakes here, and gluten-free, sugar-free and vegan versions of the cupcakes are available.
    
Couture Cakes
Couture Cakes takes fashion to the bakery where Esmerelda Pinilla whips out stunners for special occasions. The Colombian baker has been in Delray Beach for nearly a decade, baking from her home, but for the last three years, she’s baked from her shop on Southeast Sixth Avenue.
    “My signature cake is a cream cheese cake — not a cheesecake,” she said. Her cakes are custom designed and for whatever occasion — birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, showers and favorite team parties.
    The trend in cakes today? Big ruffles around the cake, or huge fondant bows atop them — she calls it the “wow” bow.

Rose Crème & Basil and White Chocolate macarons from Le Macaron.

Le Macaron
    It’s all pastels at Le Macaron. Hervé Rouge, owner of Le Macaron, isn’t shy about eating his shop’s specialty. “I like the basil and white chocolate,” he says.
    The macarons, wafer-sized delicate meringue cookies that sandwich a rich filling, are France’s hottest sweet bite. The rainbow colors of macarons arrayed on trays in the shop may cause the most devout dieter to break down.
    The cookies, all gluten-free, are delivered fresh every week from the store’s partner shop in Sarasota.        

Flavors like Crème de Rose, and lavender from Provence, and salted caramel are popular, especially with brides and at baby showers, Rouge said. He is partial to the herb flavors, he said, though chocolate with ganache still wins over Americans.
    Along with the macarons, gelato imported from France also is sold here.

It’Sugar offers candies and novelties ranging from old-fashioned wax bottles to gummy bears and Candy Crush confections.  Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

It’Sugar
    At It’Sugar, a chain candy and novelty store spreading throughout South Florida, it’s a saccharine wonderland for kids of all ages.
    Store manager Mike McNary says, “There’s something for everyone, from 2-year-olds to 70-year-olds. We have old-fashioned candy they remember, like wax bottles, and we have gummy bears and Candy Crush candy for the kids.”
    Along with nostalgic candies like Fruit-Striped gum, oversize candy is a trademark of the chain, and McNary’s store carries a 3-foot-long gummy worm as well as a 5-pound gummy bear. The scarier 27-pound, 8-foot gummy python can be ordered online.
    Giant Hershey bars, and Shrek-sized boxes of Jolly Ranchers and Good & Plenty also have their fans.
    But another audience has found the R- and X-rated candies stocked in an area higher than toddlers’ views. Phallic-shaped lollipops and things like the gummy bra have drawn an adult crowd.
    “We sell a lot of those,” McNary said. They’re popular for party favors at bridal showers or as a gag gift.”

Shea’s Bakery
    Pop culture figures in to the cakes at Shea’s Bakery as well, said manager Kate Townsend. She’s managing the bakery started by high school whiz kid Shea Gouldd, who is away at college in Missouri. Gouldd made news by winning business entrepreneurship awards while still studying for her SAT’s.
    Townsend carries on for Gouldd while she’s away, baking cakes to order. “Because we’re so close to Orlando, we get a lot of Disney theme cakes,” she said. “We’ve done a lot of Frozen cakes from the movie in the last month.”
    Fancy wedding cakes with themes and other special occasion cakes are made to order from customer designs, or their own.
    Bestseller is the replica of a Tiffany box, completely edible. “It’s the blue box with a big white bow.”

Two Fat Cookies
    New in town is Two Fat Cookies in Pineapple Grove. Debbie Wexler moved her commercial bakery from Boca Raton in February, and offers a wide variety of cookies and bars, cake pops, cupcakes, specialty cakes and pies in a storefront.
    “Originally I was only going to do cookies, but the product line keeps expanding,” she said.     “People just kept asking for all different things. We do whatever our customers request.”
    This is her first retail shop with displays, a nod to customers who wanted to shop for ready-made treats and see the staff at work. It proves vexing for some, she said. “They get to the counter and there are so many choices, they can’t decide.”
    But, she said, the local shoppers come in for the signature item. “The Delray people really go for the jumbo cookies — all flavors.”

Sweet spots
Where to find sweet treats mentioned, as well as others in downtown Delray Beach:

Candy:
It’Sugar, 250 E. Atlantic Ave.; 278-6772; www.Itsugar.com

Baked goods:
Cupcake Couture, 328 E. Atlantic Ave.; 276-2334; www.cupcakecoutureusa.com
Couture Cakes, 142 SE Sixth Ave.; 279-1828; www.couturecakeshop.com
Le Macaron, 520 E. Atlantic Ave.; 266-3860; www.facebook.com/LeMacaron.DelrayBeach
Shea’s Bakery, 255 NE Sixth Ave.; 275-9591; www.sheasbakery.com
Two Fat Cookies, 245 NE Second Ave.; 265-5350; www.twofatcookies.com

Frozen treats:
Orange Leaf Frozen Yogurt, 418 E. Atlantic Ave.; www.894-8230
Sloan’s Ice Cream, 111 E. Atlantic Ave.; 303 3912; www.sloansicecream.com
Mootz Homemade Italian Ice, 504 E. Atlantic Ave.; 330-8280; www.mootzitalianice.com
Nonna’s Café-Gelato, 1136 E. Atlantic Ave.; 279-9328
My Yogurt Café, 524 E. Atlantic Ave.; 278-1810; www.myyogurtcafe.com
Ben & Jerry’s Scoop Shop, 1155 E. Atlantic Ave.; 272-3112; www.facebook.com/BenJerrysDelrayBeach
FY&I Frozen Yogurt, Nine NE Second Ave.; 450-4702; www.fyidelray.com
Kilwins, 402 E. Atlantic Ave.; 278-0808; www.kilwins.com/delraybeach
Doc’s All American, 10 N. Swinton Ave.; 278-3627

The Plate: Chicken Breast Wrap
The Place: Chris’ Taverna, 4774 N. Congress Ave., Boynton Beach; 223-2868 or christaverna.com
The Price: $9.75
The Skinny: Our culinary advice this month to folks on the barrier island: go west.
Chris’ Taverna’s original location on Lantana Road has been a favorite for several years, but the restaurant has added an outpost to the lineup at Hypoluxo Road and Congress Avenue.
The food is amazingly fresh and flavorful. The chicken wrap we ordered was filled with tender marinated chicken and accompanied by lettuce, tomato and onion. The restaurant offered a nice side of mellow tzatziki sauce.
We very nearly could have made meals of the Greek salads selected as sides, which were classic takes on the dish of fresh greens, tomatoes, onion and feta cheese served with a Greek dressing and refreshing pepperoncini.
The pork souvlaki also was a winner, tender and cooked through, but not overdone.
— Scott Simmons

By Thom Smith

     Drool over this list: Venus and Serena Williams, Jennifer Capriati, Andy Roddick, Maria Sharapova. All No. 1 players. All guided in their formative years by Rick Macci.
    Capriati’s ascent was meteoric, her fall possibly even more dramatic. The Williams sisters continue to win, as does Sharapova.
    Roddick now 31, retired from big-time tennis 18 months ago, after barely a decade as a pro, but it seems like only yesterday the gangly kid from Nebraska was a student at Boca Prep, winning the U.S. Open and dating a budding Hollywood star, Mandy Moore.
    At 21, he was ranked No. 1 in world, but when he had to wear a necktie during a promotional stop at Saks at Town Center, he didn’t know a Windsor from a four-in-hand. But Macci, who now runs his academy at Boca Lago, still remembers the kid.
    In Macci Magic: Extracting Greatness From Yourself and Others, written with former Miami Herald tennis writer Jim Martz, Macci devotes one chapter to Roddick, whose competitive nature was evident at an early age. On Sunday afternoons academy residents — some of whom were already on the tour and newbies like 10-year-old Roddick — played touch football. That is, most of them played “touch,” as Macci explained:
    “The ball was kicked off and we ran down there to get the guy and here’s Andy and guys who are seeded players … some of best tennis players in the country … And he goes down there and tackles the guy. He doesn’t pull the flag, he tackles the guy. Gets him on the ground and then pulls his flag and he’s got a pretty good bloody nose from doing this. And he looked up at me and he goes, ‘I got the flag!’
    “I said, ‘Listen, we’re not playing tackle. You’ve got to pull the flag out.’ I knew then and there …  he was just a fiery competitor that had a lot of potential.”

                             ***        
    The new bridge is open and the mood on Ocean Avenue on both sides of the Intracoastal is upbeat. For most Lantana and Manalapan merchants who held on for 18 months while the bridge was replaced, the struggle was worthwhile.  
    Of course, some things remain mysterious. Tapas 210 has never reopened, though the tables are set as if dinner is about to be served. Nor has anything happened across the street at the site formerly occupied by Suite 225.
    But at Pizzeria Oceano, a block east of Federal, Dak Kerprich, who never stopped rolling out his gourmet pies, pastas and salads, “couldn’t be busier,” until he runs out of fresh ingredients.
    The constantly changing menu might offer kielbasa pizza with smoked cheddar, mozzarella, mustard greens and onion or a spicy shrimp salad with green papaya, basil, pole beans, shallots, peanuts and garum. When they’re gone, he closes for the evening.
    “I wish I had more space, but for now this is fine. My customers stayed loyal and we made it through.”
    Closer to the bridge, the Old Key Lime House is having an impact as traffic regularly backs up and valet parkers struggle to keep pace. Apparently pushing the right buttons, owner Ryan Cordero reported his best January ever. Best way to get in without a wait: Go by boat.

***
    That big hotel on the ocean with the new name now has a new sign: the old Ritz-Carlton is now visibly Eau Palm Beach. The new name may lack international caché, but Ritz or Eau, AAA says it’s still worthy of five diamonds. (So are The Breakers and The Four Seasons. Boca Resort and Club gets four — and don’t be surprised if Blackstone Group puts it on the market next year.)
Across the street at John G’s, good food at a fair price still draws crowds.
    “It was a risk for us. We move over here and five months later the bridge closes. There were some tough times, but we made it,” confesses Wendy Yarbrough, a co-owner with brothers Jay and Keith.
    Customers loyal to John G’s, which was a staple on Lake Worth Beach for decades, continued to take the long away around. “The night they had the big parade, I was heading home and I could see the crowd waiting to cross,” she said. “That night I slept very well. Next morning at 7, we had a line waiting to get in, just like the old days.”
    For snowbirds and locals who can’t get enough of the flavors scooped out at the Ice Cream Club around the corner, take heart: The Ice Cream Club will now come to you!
    For $79, the club will pack six 14-percent butterfat pints, any flavors, in dry ice and ship them direct to your door. Baja Chocolate to Purple Daze, and some that co-founders Rich Draper and Tom Jackson owners have yet to dream up. Reduced fat, yogurts, sugar-free and sorbets are also available.
                                      ***
    The first kettle fired up in Boynton two years ago at Due South. Then around New Year’s in Delray, Salt Water Brewery kicked in with its amazing bar on Atlantic Avenue just west of the tracks along I-95. Not to be left out, Boca is getting a microbrewery. The Boca City Council said yes to a Barrel of Monks, a 9,100-square-foot space in the South Congress Industrial Park on Rodgers Circle. It’ll include an 867-square-foot tasting room and a 15-foot bar. Tours will be offered.
    Head “monk” Bill McFee is a veteran homebrewer who maintains a double life as a radiologist.  Loads of work remains before the first pint is poured.  
    Due South, incidentally, was named Best Large Brewery in the state at the Florida Brewers Guild Festival’s Beer Brewer’s Ball in Tampa March 2. That’s a mouthful, but so is the beer.
    Brewmaster Mike Halker claimed gold medals for his Mariana Trench Imperial Stout, Asylum Harbor Red Ale and Category 5 Double IPA, silver for the Cafe Ole Espresso Porter, and bronze for the Apple Brandy Aged Pico Duarte Imperial Stout.
                                      ***
    Irvin Lippman, who ran the Fort Lauderdale Museum of Art from 2003 until his retirement in 2012, has been named interim director at the Boca Raton Museum of Art. Lippman will run the museum and the search committee that will find a replacement for Steven Maklansky, who left Jan. 31 after only 2½ years on the job.
    Before Lauderdale, Lippman ran the Columbus (Ohio) Museum of Art and was assistant director at the Amon Carter Museum in Fort Worth, Texas from 1983 to 1994. His first museum job: staff lecturer at the National Gallery of Art in Washington.

                                      ***
    Jewelry makes any woman a princess, but as a mentor once told Donna Schneier, special pieces make you a contessa. For nearly half a century, Schneier, a Manalapan resident, has been assembling a royal collection. And slowly but surely, she’s been giving it away … to museums. Her goal is to encourage the scholarship that will give art jewelry the legitimacy it deserves.
    However, Schneier, who chairs the Bijoux! Art Jewelry sale, a yearly fundraiser at the Norton Museum of Art, doesn’t give it to just anyone. In 2008, she donated 200 pieces from her personal collection to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The exhibit is finally ready and will open May 12.
                                      ***
    Lights, camera … and lots of action, as the 19th Palm Beach International Film Festival kicked off April 3 at Cinemark Palace 20 in Boca with a screening of Belle. It’s about the daughter of a Royal Navy admiral who isn’t allowed to fully participate in society because she’s of mixed race but ultimately helps bring an end to slavery in England.
    The opening night party followed the screening at Bogart’s Bar & Grille in Cinemark.
    Robert Morse, who has succeeded in show business by really trying, will be honored with the festival’s Lifetime Achievement Award at the April 7 screening of Broadway: Beyond the Golden Age. Director Rick McKay will receive the Visionary Award for his work documenting the Broadway stage. Another party will follow in Bogart’s.
    The festival will present 14 world, eight North American and eight U.S. premieres, a spotlight on Canadian films in conjunction with the Toronto festival and a salute to Hollywood classics at Eau Palm Beach (April 5). “The Jewish Experience,” a series at several venues includes four world premieres and three best picture nominees for Israel’s equivalent to the Academy Awards.
    Screenings, music and parties are also set at South Shores Tavern in Lake Worth (April 6) and The Dubliner in Boca’s Mizner Park (April 9).
    The festival closes April 10 at Cinemark Palace with a screening of Cas & Dylan and wrap party at Bogart’s with a special appearance by the director, Jason Priestley. A long way from 90210, Priestley claims 21 directing credits, although Cas & Dylan, which stars Richard Dreyfuss, is his first theatrical film. For information, go to www.pbifilmfest.org.
                                      ***
    Speaking of awards, Lake Worth and Delray Beach claimed two Muse Awards from the Cultural Council of Palm Beach County March 13 at the Kravis Center. Lake Worth’s artistic attempt at road improvement, the annual Street Painting Festival, won the Council’s Choice Award, while the Chairs’ Choice Award went to the Spady Cultural Heritage Museum in Delray.
    Other winners included:
    Bill Hayes, producing artistic director at Palm Beach Dramaworks received the Clyde Fyfe Award for Performing Artists.
Two new awards were presented to Sharon Koskoff and Roe Green. The Ellen Liman Excellence in Arts Education Award went to Koskoff, who creates murals, conceptual installations, giant puppets and environmental designs. She also produces children’s programs and teaches at Delray Beach Center for the Arts at Old School Square. For her support of the arts community in time and money, Green, of Jupiter, was presented The Thalia Award.
    Also recognized: The Flagler Museum, Historical and Cultural Heritage; SunFest, Outstanding Festival; Norton Museum, Outstanding Collaboration; Ann Norton Sculpture Gardens, Excellence in Arts and Cultural Outreach; and Kravis Center, Excellence in Arts Integrated Education.
                                      ***
    FAU’s new president, John Kelly, is a man of the soil. His degrees are in agriculture and horticulture. He spent most of his academic career at Clemson University, which initially was South Carolina’s ag school before he helped it blossom into one of the nation’s top public universities. He likes to make things grow … and with FAU, he’ll have quite a row to hoe.
    Kelly clocked in March 1, and even before he arrived in Boca he showed just how grounded he is. Since his wife and children will remain in Carolina until school lets out, he rented a truck, loaded it with essentials and his favorite plants and drove to Boca.
    As soon as he arrived, he jumped on a plane for Tallahassee: time to meet state education officials and legislators, who are threatening to cut millions from FAU’s budget, in part because too few students graduate on time. He’s already had a small meet-and-greet with about 600 students, and the Making Waves Gala at the stadium March 29 provided the first opportunity to meet with deep-pocket supporters.
    Coming from Clemson, Kelly is by choice and education a sports fan. He’s already made it clear that he wants competitive teams. That’s good news to new football coach Charlie Partridge, who took time out from spring practice to join 200 guests at an 80th birthday celebration for former FAU head coach Howard Schnellenberger at the Point Manalapan home of his old Louisville buddy, J.D. Nichols.
    Kelly didn’t make it. FAU’s former acting President Dennis Crudele did, as well as athletic director Pat Chun and retired Miami Dolphins safety Dick Anderson and receiver Nat Moore, former University of Miami team chaplain Father Leo Armbrust, Sports Illustrated writer John Underwood and retired Miami sportscaster Tony Segreto.
    Also in the throng, an old quarterback Howard recruited when he was an assistant to Bear Bryant at Alabama. But Joe Namath was so busy autographing footballs, he never even made it to Nichols’ pool deck.       
    “I’m breathless,” Howard said. “What a beautiful evening for the Schnellenberger family, and the family is all of you here tonight.”
When a woman in sequined gown serenaded him, a la Marilyn and JFK with “Happy Birthday, Mr. Schnellenberger,” the coach took it all in stride — but wife Beverlee required a little sweet talk. … No one comes between her and her man!

Thom Smith is a freelance writer. Contact him at ThomSmith@ymail.com.

Coach Howard Schnellenberger was honored on his 80th birthday by hundreds of supporters, including football legend Joe Namath.

Schnellenberger and his wife, Beverlee, share a kiss to celebrate the end of the entertainment. Tim Stepien and Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

YMCA Inspiration Breakfast committee members: Jennifer Siesel, Alberto Echevarria, Chris Echevarria, Mary Workman, Megan Keenan, Gloria Hosh, Kery Knutson, Carl Foster, Alex Farnsworth, Teresa Harrington, Jon Kaye, Trina Chin Cheong, Pam Roulan and Linda Spielmann. Photo provided

By Amy Woods
    
The man who put the first shovel in the ground at 6631 Palmetto Circle South in Boca Raton will receive special honors during this month’s YMCA Inspiration Breakfast.
   Peter Blum, whose name is both eponymous and synonymous with the nonprofit, family-oriented fitness facility, said the 42-year-old YMCA has more than surpassed its goals.
    “It’s mind-boggling how beautiful and great it is,” Blum said. “It has a tremendous membership.”
    The former Manalapan mayor, now Delray Beach resident whose name also graces the DeVos-Blum Family YMCA of Boynton Beach said he is humbled by the recognition.
    “I feel that you get these honors if you live long enough and work hard,” Blum said. “I still love the YMCA and all the people at the Y — and the leaders.”
    The breakfast will take place April 8 with a new name — it used to be called the YMCA Prayer Breakfast — and a new theme, “A Celebration of the Spirit and Mission of the Y.”
    “Twelve years ago … it was basically a gathering to shine a light on the YMCA’s mission as a Christian organization,” said YMCA of South Palm Beach County President and CEO Richard Pollock. “As it’s evolved, it has become more inspirational each time. It’s not necessarily about prayer. It’s about mission and motivation.”
    The YMCA of South Palm Beach County serves 20,000 members and 40,000 residents annually with a focus on personal wellness and youth development. It is open even to those who can’t afford to pay for programs.
    Funds raised at the breakfast, the organization’s largest event, will support the YMCA’s financial-assistance efforts.
    “When there are children in need and families in need, then we’re able to help,” event co-chairwoman Gloria Hosh said. “Palm Beach County does have poverty.”
    The keynote speaker this year: former Miami Dolphins player and current Offerdahl’s Café Grill owner John Offerdahl.
Past speakers have included Robert and Pamela Tebow, Tim Tebow’s parents; Wally Amos, of the Famous Amos brand; and former Florida State University football coach Bobby Bowden.
    “His vision is where the YMCA is today,” Hosh said of Offerdahl. “He’s got all the right attributes to be our speaker. What a great, down-to-earth, humble man.” 

IF YOU GO

What: YMCA Inspiration Breakfast
When: 8 to 10 a.m. April 8
Where: Boca Raton Resort & Club
Cost: $80
Information: Call 237-0944 or visit www.ymcaspbc.org

Members of the crowd enjoying the show include (l-r) Samathana Kent, Mary Raggazino, Marta Motz, Dan Funch, Sheree La Dove Funch, Denise Zimmerman, Rosa Feeney, Stacey Packer and Peggy Henry.

Designer Zac Posen is honored by the models at the end of the fashion show.  The event, which took place in a hanger at Signature Aviation, raised $175,000 to provide shoes for poor children around the world. Photos by Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater swept guests off their feet at the annual affair, which started with a performance in Dreyfoos Hall and ended with dinner in the Cohen Pavilion — all to raise money for the center’s education and outreach programs. The show marked the troupe’s first appearance in the area in more than 15 years. PHOTO: Aggie and Jeffrey Stoops, of Boca Raton. Photo provided by Corby Kaye’s Studio Palm Beach

Senior cast member Andy Yao (left) shares a heartfelt story about how Theater Director Teresa Vignau (center) impacted his life in a positive way as senior castmates Alyssa Moeller and Caitrin Assaf and junior castmate Caroline Manera try to hold back tears during a tribute to Vignau after her final production, Once on This Island, in the Roberts Theatre at St. Andrew’s School. Vignau is retiring after more than 20 years of directing. Kurtis Boggs/The Coastal Star

The George Snow Scholarship Fund’s 21st-annual auction fundraiser attracted more than 450 ‘cowpokes’ for a foot-stompin’ good time. The event, which honored Robert Rollins with the Community Service Award and Lynn University with the Corporate Community Service Award, raised in excess of $100,000. Photo: Danielle Williams (left), with ball Chairwoman Jo Anne Williams. Photo provided by Alex Wells, of Unveiled Events

Before a crowd of more than 550 board members, donors, employees and volunteers — all sporting their finest Western wear at the 12th-annual fundraiser for the Tri County Humane Society — leaders of the Boca Raton nonprofit announced a new name and logo, plus plans for campus expansion. The new name, Tri County Animal Rescue, reflects the important mission and wide reach of the shelter. ‘Our new name now accurately defines our organization’s brand promise of rescuing animals and preserving lives,’ Doggie Ball Co-Chairwoman Harriet Lewis-Mooney said. PHOTO: Dr. Anthony and Jennifer Dardano, with Terry and Jerry Fedele. Photo provided