Kirk Coakley of Boca Raton with his Sumi-e ink paintings of bamboo and bonsai. Coakley’s work will be part of the Very Special Arts  Fair in Boynton Beach this month. Mary Thurwachter/The Coastal Star

Related story: Very Special art show commemorates World Down Syndrome Day

By Mary Thurwachter
    
Twenty years ago, Kirk Coakley and his friend were riding bikes in eastern Boca Raton when a van came crashing into him as he waited to cross the highway.
Doctors told his parents he wouldn’t make it through the night.
    “I looked right into the doctors eyes and pointed my finger at him,” Kirk’s mother, Ruth Coakley, a devout Catholic, remembered. “I told him ‘you don’t know the power of prayer and you don’t know my son.’ ”
    Kirk was 13 at the time and had already shown a strong interest in art and music, his mother said. The crash left him with a traumatic brain injury that required extensive rehabilitation.
He can’t walk or talk and uses a wheelchair to get around.
    But Kirk, 33, still enjoys painting and will exhibit some of his artwork during the Very Special Arts Fair at the Gold Coast Down Syndrome organization’s resource center this month. He isn’t able to use his right hand and has limited use of his left hand, which he uses to paint.
    Very Special Arts of Florida-Palm Beach County helped him find a way to communicate again through art, his mother said.
    “After his accident, the slightest form of communication spoke volumes,” she said. “A squeeze of the hand, a blink of his eyes, or a wiggle of a toe. Kirk had lost his voice, but not his will to communicate.”
    He went through years of speech therapy. “We worked out our own creative ways of understanding each other,” Ruth Coakley said. “We use hand signals when we ask questions and he speaks volumes with a laugh or a look.”
    But when Kirk attended one of the VSA programs at the Morikami Museum, a new avenue of communication became clear.
    “Kirk and I watched the instructor work in Sumi-e ink as she painted bamboo,” Coakley said. “As Kirk watched her, his eyes widened and a smile grew on his face. I don’t think I realized it at the time, but I really think it was then he believed that expression through artwork could be part of his life again.
    “Kirk’s voice grew with his desire to continue creating artwork, and the VSA played a crucial role in allowing us to reach this once improbable goal,” she said.
    Today, examples of Kirk’s sumi-e drawings, as well as colorful florals and abstract paintings fill his home.
Others will be on display at the VSA art show and sure to inspire others.

Works of art by clients of the VSA, such as the one above, will be on display at the Gold Coast Down Syndrome Organization offices in Boynton Beach. Photo provided

Related story: Painting enables Boca man to reclaim his voice

By Mary Thurwachter

    This time of year, art shows seem to pop up everywhere; but this month there’s a very special one. The exhibit, a Very Special Arts Fair, begins March 3 at the Gold Coast Down Syndrome’s resource center at 915 S. Federal Highway in Boynton Beach.
    Running through March 28, the show will include representation from the digital art/photography, pottery, sculpture, jewelry, fused glass, mixed media, abstract painting, classical painting, watercolor, and drawing and cartooning programs offered through the VSA organization. Artwork is available for purchase.
    “We are so excited to commemorate World Down Syndrome Day  (March 21) with an exhibit of artwork from participants in the Very Special Arts program,” said Terri Harmon, executive director of Gold Coast Down Syndrome Organization (www.goldcoastdownsyndrome.org), a nonprofit educational support and advocacy group that empowers people with Down syndrome and their families.
    “It’s a wonderful way to remind our community that people with disabilities have many capabilities which often can be expressed in amazing art.”
    “We have lots of wall space at our resource center and thought a show would be a very nice way to celebrate World Down Syndrome Day,” said Anne Dichele, director of public relations for the organization.
    VSA Florida-Palm Beach County (www.vsapbc.com) serves 1,800 children and adults with disabilities in classroom performance, performance halls and art studios throughout the county. Holly Bennett is the visual arts program coordinator.
    Down syndrome, a genetic condition, occurs in one out of every 691 births and affects people of all races and economic levels. Typically, babies receive 23 chromosomes from their mother and 23 from their father. A baby with Down syndrome, for unknown reasons, will have three copies of the 21st chromosome instead of two.
    Other events this month:
    • Members of the Florida Self-Advocates for Independent Living are holding their second annual World Down Syndrome Day food drive. The group, made up of adults with disabilities, is collecting canned goods through March 21. The goal is to deliver 321 items of food to the Palm Beach County Food Bank. To make a donation of nonperishable food, stop by the Gold Coast Down Syndrome Organization, 915 S. Federal Highway in Boynton Beach, or contact Anne at (561) 752-3383 or ad.gcdso@bellsouth.net.
    • Local businesses and schools will be holding Dress Down Days to build awareness about Down syndrome and raise money for Gold Coast Down Syndrome Organization throughout March. Participants include Searcy Denney Scarola Barnhart & Shipley, American Heritage School and Everglades Elementary School. For more information, email ad.gcdso@bellsouth.net. 

    Very Special Arts Fair will be from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. March 3-28 at the Gold Coast Down Syndrome Organization’s resource center, 915 S. Federal Highway, Boynton Beach. Free. Call (561) 752-3383 or visit www.goldcoastdownsyndrome.org.

One more upcoming "Rosie" event... this one at 5:30 pm, Monday Feb. 10:

Florida Wildlife Encounter
Ocean Ridge Town Hall, 6450 N. Ocean Blvd.
5:30 pm, Monday, Feb. 10

Cheryl Wise Busch from Busch Wildlife Sanctuary presents "Florida Wildlife Encounter"

Children and adults are invited to see real Florida wildlife and learn about wildlife management in our community.

Following the wildlife encounter, Mary Kate Leming and Deborah LaFogg Docherty will read from their ocean reef-inspired book "Rosie's Song." Books will be for sale following the reading.

Presented by Ocean Ridge Garden Club.
Children invited, open to the public. 5:30 pm. Free. 732-2635.
(rumor has it there will be cookies)

Admission is free, but please donate (if you can) these items. They are used for wildlife rehabilitation:
rolls of paper towels
Dawn dishwashing liquid
kitchen garbage bags.
cookies or snacks for children and guests

Rich Schofield, Kristen Murtaugh and Beth Ensor take part in the Audubon Christmas Bird Count on the beach in Ocean Ridge. Their tools include binoculars, a spotting scope on a tripod, bird guides and digital camera. Photos by Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

See more photos from the annual Christmas Bird Count

By Cheryl Blackerby

    “Sanderlings, the first birds today,” noted Rick Schofield. The little wading birds — white with tan wings and black beaks and legs — flew low over the waves lapping at the sand of Delray Municipal Beach.
    A willet soared high over the ocean, with a backdrop of pink and gold clouds as the sun peeked over the horizon. Another bird dive-bombed into the water for a fish. “A royal tern,” announced Schofield, looking through his binoculars. “See the orange beak and the Friar Tuck black cap?”
    Three bird watchers — Kristen Murtaugh of Delray Beach, Beth Ensor of Ocean Ridge and Pat Canning of Delray Beach — raised binoculars to look at the bird and concurred that it was indeed a royal tern. They immediately spotted ring-billed gulls.

A ring-bill gull carries the remains of a man-o-war on the beach in Delray Beach.

    The group’s bird watching Jan. 4 was part of the Audubon Society’s 114th Christmas Bird Count. Armed with binoculars, bird guides and checklists, tens of thousands of volunteers across the country also counted birds. Each group chose a day from Dec. 14 through Jan. 5 and braved snow and cold in the North and wind and rain in Florida to count birds.
    The Christmas event is much more than taking a day to admire birds. For more than 100 years, the bird counts have provided important data to scientists and conservationists.
    “The Christmas Bird Count is the longest-running citizens’ science program in the country,” said Jacqui Sulek, Audubon’s Florida chapter conservation manager. “It’s in conjunction with Cornell University. They use a lot of that information to track the population of birds. We’ve discovered, for example, that many of the birds are moving north because of climate change.”
    There are 44 Audubon chapters around the state that sponsor many more groups for the annual bird count. Every year, each group counts birds in its own circle, which is 15 miles in diameter, and doesn’t overlap with other circles.
    “That same area is done every year so we have a good snapshot of that place,” she said.
    The volunteers are skilled bird counters who can quickly distinguish a laughing gull from a herring gull.
    “You get sensitive to the shape of a bird and the way it moves. They become sort of your friends,” said Sulek, who lives near Gainesville. Her bird count this year turned up some of her favorites. “I always love seeing our winter warblers, black-and-white warblers, yellow-throated warblers. And we saw a male vermilion flycatcher, one of the beautiful birds.”
    Some volunteers have conducted bird counts on bike, and she said she once did a Christmas Bird Count in a kayak on the Santa Fe River in North Florida.
    Schofield’s group started its bird count at the Delray Municipal Beach then moved along the coast north to the Boynton Inlet.
    At the Gulf Stream Golf Club, they saw three ring-billed gulls, an osprey and a turkey vulture circling high above the course.
    “There’s a red-breasted merganser!” exclaimed Murtaugh, a former Florida Atlantic University vice president who leads bird-watching trips.

Pat Canning at the Little Club in Gulf Stream carries binoculars and a laminated bird ID chart.

    Canning, whose husband, Vince, started the Vince Canning Shoes store in Delray Beach, spotted a kestrel perched in a tree on the golf course. “It looks like a peregrine falcon but smaller,” she said, admiring the bird through binoculars.
    “Kestrels are on a severe decline across the country, and they know that because of these counts,” said Schofield.
    Audubon’s analysis of bird population data from the Christmas Bird Counts plus the Breeding Bird Survey has revealed alarming declines of bird populations, even ordinary birds most people take for granted.
    Common birds in decline, according to Audubon statistics, are the northern bobwhite (31 million that have declined to 5.5 million), the eastern meadowlark (24 million to 7 million), the common tern (100,000 to 30,000) and field sparrow (18 million to 5 million).
    The findings point to a growing impact from habitat loss from development, deforestation, conversion of land to agriculture and climate change, according to Audubon research.
    At the Little Club Golf Course in Gulf Stream, Murtaugh heard the strident call of a nanday parakeet, and found the birds in a small tree near the clubhouse. Its flamboyant green color, red thigh feathers and black mask make this bird, often kept as pets and taught to talk, easy to spot.
    Schofield walked over to one of the course’s ponds and spotted the bird that was the highlight of the day — a Canada goose, which is quite rare this far south.

This Canada goose traveled far south from its normal range to the Little Club in Gulf Stream.

    “It’s not a decoy, right? Is he moving?” Ensor joked.
    Next, the group spotted three starlings, a boat-tailed grackle and a pileated woodpecker.
“That’s Woody Woodpecker,” said Schofield, chuckling.
    At the Ocean Ridge Natural Area at Corrine Street, a little blue heron posed for photos on rocks by the Intracoastal Waterway, and three wood storks flew overhead, their 6-foot wingspans a sight to behold.  

A little blue heron looks for a meal in the mangroves at the Ocean Ridge Natural Area.

    At Gulfstream Park, lesser black-backed gulls and herring gulls wheeled in the air currents near the lifeguard station. A majestic great egret took a few running hops in the grass north of Ocean Ridge Town Hall, then spread its wings in magnificent slow-motion flaps into the air.

A great egret takes flight in an undeveloped lot north of Ocean Ridge Town Hall.

    Schofield made another great sighting: the elusive common eider at the Boynton Inlet.
    Ensor kept an official tally of the sightings, furiously cataloging birds as they were called out.

Volunteers constantly updated notepads through the morning before a final tally was registered.

    At the end of the day, the group’s bird count had tallied 45 species and 875 birds. The numbers were slightly down from last year. “Too cool and too windy,” said Schofield.
But there’s always next year. 

Heart of a Woman luncheon sponsor Jeannette DeOrchis, with Pam O’Brien, president and CEO of Aid to Victims of Domestic Abuse, and luncheon Chairwoman Ann Bennett of Gulf Stream. Photo provided

By Amy Woods
    
Olympia Dukakis’ signature silver locks have graced the movie screen, the television screen and the cover of a memoir, and they soon will pop up behind the lectern at the Heart of a Woman Luncheon to benefit Aid to Victims of Domestic Abuse.
The 82-year-old Academy Award winner known for unforgettable roles in Moonstruck, Steel Magnolias and Mr. Holland’s Opus, has been a longtime advocate of women’s rights, speaking openly about domestic abuse to raise funds for its victims.
    “This is probably the biggest speaker we’ve had,” said Monique Force, AVDA’s development director. “We’re pretty excited.”
    Force conducted a little research following last year’s successful luncheon featuring kidnap victim Elizabeth Smart and came across Dukakis. Force tapped the A-lister’s agents about addressing the 500-plus attendees who will gather at the Boca Raton Resort & Club on Feb. 24 for the annual benefit, and a contract was drawn up.
    “She uses her fame as a platform to get the information out about domestic violence,” Force said. “What we’re hoping for her to accomplish is to spread the word that there’s help available.”
    AVDA, a 30-year-old nonprofit organization based in Delray Beach, operates a 41-bed emergency shelter, a 31-bed transitional housing facility and a 24-hour crisis hotline and also provides prevention, outreach and advocacy programs on a $2 million-per-year budget.
    “Last year, we served more women and children than ever before,” Force said. “Domestic violence just continues to grow, and it’s a major problem. We want to be able to provide the programs and services. A lot of times, there are victims out there, and they don’t know these programs and services exist.”
    Gulf Stream resident Ann Bennett is serving as luncheon chairwoman.
    “We’re at a point that we’re hoping that this year will be a greater audience,” Bennett said. “We’ve been really blessed with some nationally recognized names, but Olympia is an Academy Award winner and also an advocate for women’s issues. She brings a new perspective.”
    Sponsors include Jeannette DeOrchis of Morgan Stanley, the Bennett family, NCCI Holdings and Omega at Town Center at Boca Raton.

If You Go
What: Heart of a Woman Luncheon to benefit Aid to Victims of Domestic Abuse
When: 10:30 a.m. silent auction; noon luncheon Feb. 24
Where: Boca Raton Resort & Club
Cost: $125; $1,200 for a table of 10
Info: Call 265-3797 or visit www.avdaonline.org/heart-of-a-woman

Delray’s Fabulous Fashion Show: Atlantic Avenue, Delray Beach – Jan. 17

Gordana ‘Gordi’ Adzic models beachwear from Kokonuts of Delray Beach on Jan. 17 during “Delray’s Fabulous Fashion Show” in front of the Colony Hotel on Atlantic Avenue. The fashion show was presented as part of Fashion Week by the Downtown Development Authority. Kurtis Boggs/The Coastal Star

By Thom Smith  

   Want some good news about FAU? You got it. Finally. For a change.
    So many problems in the past year: the brouhaha over the botched attempt to name the stadium after GEO, a for-profit prison company; President Mary Jane Saunders’ failure to deal with the GEO uproar that cost her the job; an instructor’s misinterpreted “Stomp Jesus” classroom exercise; the firing of Head Football Coach Carl Pelini for failing to report improper behavior (illegal drug use) by subordinates.
    Now, however, the road ahead seems brightly lit.
    GEO is history.
    New football coach Charlie Partridge, in from Arkansas, quickly filled his staff and on the first permissible day was off bright and early in search of new prospects.
    Academic freedom has been reinforced.
    Interim President Dennis Crudele performed admirably. Had he wanted the full-time job, the university’s board probably would have given it to him. As it is, Crudele will stick around for a few months to help the new boss, John Kelly.
    Kelly’s bona fides look good: In his 28-year tenure at Clemson University in South Carolina, he was Mr. Everything — vice president for economic development, head of Clemson’s public service mission and its cooperative extension service, and a major player in fundraising as the school rose in rankings among public universities from 78 to 21.
    Furthermore, he has been in the vanguard as Clemson hooked up with major international corporations to expand research and improve South Carolina’s economy. In the past seven years, as executive director of the Clemson University Restoration Institute, he was responsible for Clemson’s public service mission and built a highly collaborative team to educate students and direct research in energy systems.
    As for the man, here’s a taste.
    John Kelly was born in Greenville, not far from Clemson, and raised in nearby Easley. His undergraduate degree at Clemson was in horticulture as were his master’s and doctorate at Ohio State (which coincidentally is the alma mater of FAU Athletic Director Pat Chun). His first academic position was at Texas A&M.
    He has two grown children from a first marriage, and two youngsters, one born last fall, with wife, Carolyn.
    “First thing you need to know is that John Kelly is incredible,” a staff member at the Restoration Institute in North Charleston said. “He will do a fantastic job at FAU.”
    He is a voracious reader and is said to have a photographic memory. When he has time off, he prefers to spend it with his family.
    Kelly is also enthused about FAU’s relationship with Scripps and Max Planck institutes in Jupiter and the importance of developing research with private industry in a wide range of endeavors.
    So buckle up, folks. It looks like FAU is in for a wild ride.
                                        ***
    “Fun Facts: Loves going to the beach … Played college basketball at FAU and was thinking of turning professional and playing overseas … Favorite food is Japanese hibachi …”
    Beach? Basketball? FAU? Olympics? That little blurb on Team USA’s Winter Olympics website about Brittany Bowe seems a bit wacky. But Bowe is not your typical winter Olympian. Back in 2010 as she was winding down her career as a three-year starter at point guard, Bowe watched on TV as speed skaters circled the track in Vancouver. “I can do that!” she said.
    Blades or wheels, it was still skating, and the Ocala native, who turns 26 on Feb. 24, had won 12 world titles as an inline skater.
    Though she had never skated on ice, Bowe was confident she could make the transition.
    Graduating in 2010 with a degree in sociology and social science, she left balmy Boca to train in the snowy mountains near Salt Lake City. Last November, just 3½ years later, she covered 1,000 meters in 1:12.58, a new women’s world record by a tenth of a second.     
    “I’ve dreamed in my sleep about it,” Bowe said at the time. “When it becomes a reality and finally hits you, it’s a dream come true.”
    With her 2013 season success and world record, Bowe becomes a favorite in the 1,000, but medals won’t be easy. The Dutch, Japanese, South Koreans and host Russians are expected to be strong. The world will have a better idea on the morning of Feb. 13 when she skates in the 1,000.   
                                        ***
    Ah, yes, the times they are a-changing. Each year, Clay Glass Metal Stone Gallery in Lake Worth hosts a concert by local musicians to pay tribute to major figures in folk music. This year to salute his 95th birthday, the Feb. 8 show at Lake Worth Playhouse will salute Pete Seeger.  Words to Seeger’s music will be projected on the walls so the audience can sing along.
The same day, the United States Women’s National Soccer Team plays the Russian National Team at FAU’s beautiful stadium at 3:30 p.m. It’s a “friendly.” Tickets at ussoccer.com.
                                        ***
    Good start for South Florida’s newest playhouse. The Wick, which opened in late September in the old Caldwell Theatre, received three nominations for the Carbonell Awards, which recognize the region’s best theater.
    Its inaugural production, The Sound of Music, was tapped for best musical and two South Florida veterans — Lourelene Snedeker in The Sound of Music and Missy McArdle in White Christmas — received supporting actress nominations.
    Audience response for The Wick’s third production, 42nd Street, has been so strong that the run has been extended another week to Feb. 15.  
    Absent from the generally positive reviews, however, was any mention of Loretta Swit. At The Wick’s gala opening last fall, she was introduced as a featured performer in 42nd Street but did not appear. According to the critics, she wasn’t needed. With the likes of Julie Kleiner and Petty Sawyer among the four Equity cast members and a talented ensemble of local talent exceeding all expectations for the difficult production, director Norb Joerder and choreographer Ron Hutchins, ably filled a tough order.
    Theater founder Marilynn Wick hopes to land Swit for Steel Magnolias, which opens April 3. Next up:  The Full Monty, with previews Feb. 20 and gala opening Feb.  21. (995-2333)
                                        ***
    Up in Manalapan at The Plaza Theatre, saucy Renee Taylor wraps up My Life on a Diet Feb. 9. One of the grand couples of show biz, Taylor wrote the show with longtime hubby, Joe Bologna, who directs. Patrons who want more “gossip and laughs” than Renee delivers in the show can ante up an extra 25 bucks to attend meet-and-greets after Friday and Saturday shows. (588-1820).
    The Plaza’s production of I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change claimed a Carbonell nod for best ensemble production/play or musical, as did Delray’s Arts Garage for The Longing and the Short of It.
    Theater definitely is alive and well in Palm Beach County, which claimed 62 of the 98 Carbonell nominations. The usual suspects — Maltz Jupiter Theatre (19), Palm Beach Dramaworks (13) and Delray’s Arts Garage (9) — led the way, but several other companies are making their presence known.
    Despite holding forth in the auditorium at West Boca Raton High School, Slow Burn Theatre Company’s production of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Next to Normal claimed 10 nominations, the most of any show in South Florida. Boca Raton Theatre Guild, which operates at the Mizner Park Cultural Center and the Willow Theatre at Sugar Sand Park and at two Broward County sites, collected five nominations, and Outre Threatre Company, which also uses Mizner, claimed one. Bravo!
    Manalapan could become livelier, now that the Plaza Theatre has leased an additional 8,500 square feet in Plaza Del Mar across the patio from its main auditorium. The space, formerly a fitness club, will provide for rehearsal, storage, a conservatory and cabaret and includes a second-story patio and bar that overlooks the Intracoastal. Other possibilities being considered by Producing Director Alan Jacobson include a piano bar, comedy and jazz shows.  
                                        ***
    Speaking of jazz, Jazziz heads into its second year with a hot spring lineup. Freddie Cole hits the stage Feb. 4-6 with the final show a benefit for Nat King Cole Generation Hope, which provides musical instruments to public schools (213-8209). Grammy-winning All-4-One follows Feb. 13 and 14, guitarist Al DiMeola Feb. 25 and 26 and Spyro Gyra in mid-April.
                                        ***
    Who knows, Tony Orlando may even drop in. From Feb. 7 to March 1, he’s performing private shows from Pembroke Pines to Port St. Lucie but mostly in the Boca-Delray area. He’s at Kings Point in Delray on Feb. 28.
    Face it, money is good on the condo circuit. Kings Pointers will twist away with Joey Dee and the Starlighters, Feb. 7, Jay Siegel and the Tokens, Feb. 26, Lucie Arnaz, March 7, Mary Wilson of the Supremes, March 9 and David Brenner, March 1.
                                        ***
For your Valentine’s pleasure:
    At the Delray Beach Tennis Center, enjoy a Valentine’s Dinner with the stars of the Delray Beach Open at 6 p.m., open bar, a box seat for the matches and preferred parking for $99 (330-6000).
    A few blocks east, Grammy nominee Roseanna Vitro performs a special Valentine’s performance at Arts Garage (Also Saturday at 2 p.m. 450-6357).
    The 2014 season of “Pop, Rock & Doo Wopp Live!” kicks off with a “A Valentine’s Evening of Love Songs” at FAU in Boca Raton, featuring The Duprees, The Dixie Cups, Lenny Welch, Emil Stucchio & The Classics and The Knockouts. Single show and series tickets available starting at $39 (693-3532).
                                        ***
    Not so many years ago, South Florida was regarded as a vast wasteland when it came to fine art. Granted, new residents from the Northeast, accustomed to world-class museums such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Guggenheim in New York, the Museum of Fine Art in Boston and the National Gallery in Washington, had a case.
    Over time, however, the voltage of culture shock has been reduced, thanks to relative old-timers such as the Norton in West Palm Beach and the Society of the Four Arts in Palm Beach, which have built national reputations, and some relative newcomers.
    Almost four years into her tenure as director at the Norton, Hope Alswang is making her mark. The museum still brings in major touring shows but it also produces its own, and they demand more than glances and oooh-aaahs. Visitors who see Phyllida Barlow’s Hoard, for example had best look twice, lest they miss the structure and form in what might initially seem to be junk and trash.
    To Jane Love Andy: Warhol’s First Superstar, (Feb. 2-May 25) capitalizes on the relationship of Palm Beacher Jane Holzer to pop artist Andy Warhol. It incorporates Warhol’s art, fashions from Holzer’s modeling career, photos from the likes of David Bailey and Irving Penn and even clips from films featuring “Baby Jane” to create a broader context.
    Over at the Four Arts, President and CEO Ervin Duggan remains full of surprises, not the least of which is his pending retirement in June after 14 years at the helm. Duggan, former president at PBS, transformed the Four Arts from essentially a members-only club into a cultural organization with broad community impact, through art exhibits, music, lectures and symposia. Recent speakers have included Garrison Keillor of A Prairie Home Companion and Olympia Snowe, recently retired U.S. senator from Maine. The gallery is hosting The Coast and the Sea: Marine and Maritime Art from the New York Historical Society through March 9.
    More recently, the move of the county Cultural Council’s headquarters and gallery to Lake Worth, and the emergence of the Boca Museum of Art, FAU’s Schmidt Center and Ritter Galleries and Delray’s Cornell Museum of Art have significantly raised in the AQ (art quotient) in South County.   
    It may seem a bit camp, but through March 29 the Cultural Council is featuring eight interior designers and their interpretations of that regional curiosity — the Florida room.
    The building turned 100 in 2013, but the Cornell Museum in the old schoolhouse at Delray Square is a bouncing adolescent. Its National Juried Exhibition of 100 works — acrylics, glass, jewelry, oils, photography, sculpture and watercolors — opens a three-month run Feb. 14. Juror Michael Monroe from Bellevue Arts Museum in Washington state will reveal his choices for $2,000, $1,500 and $1,000 cash awards at a reception Feb. 20.
    At FAU, the Schmidt Center, wraps Deadly Medicine: Creating the Master Race on Feb. 15 and a week later expands the Ritter Gallery’s southXeast: Contemporary Southeastern Art. Down the road the galleries will exhibit theses works by masters of fine arts candidates, an exhibit by young photographers in conjunction with the Boys and Girls Clubs of Palm Beach County and the annual juried student art exhibition.
    Steven Maklansky had democracy in mind when he signed on as director at the Boca Museum of Art in the summer of 2011, intent on generating more community involvement in the museum and in art. Touché!
    Visitors can check out exhibitions such as the current Pop Culture: Selections from the Frederick R. Weisman Art Foundation (through April 23) and Futurism: Concepts and Imaginings (through March 30), enjoy arty wine tastings — Italian futurists and wines (Feb. 19) or catch an arty movie, such as a portrait of Roy Lichtenstein, included with admission.

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

The 2014 OPAL (Outstanding People and Leaders) Awards Gala was awarded by the Rotary Club of Boca Raton. Winners were Karen and Howard Weiss (for community service); Anthony Comparato (Vanguard Award for Business and Community Service); Irving Gutin (for medicine and healthcare); Gary Peters (for philanthropic leadership); and Cecil Roseke (Lifetime Achievement Award). Photo provided

The Palm Beach Symphony kicked off its 40th season during a festive event with more than 100 returning members and guests. The symphony will present five spirited performances at five well-known establishments this year. “We are looking forward to a spectacular season with Maestro Ramón Tebar,” said Dale McNulty, president of the symphony’s board of directors. ABOVE: Diana Paxton and Mary Lou Wagner. BELOW: Renate Mierins, Francine Pilgrim and Gisele Jacquot. Photos by Alissa Dragun/South Moon Photography

A business meeting started off the proceedings with library board President Nancy Dockerty discussing the ‘State of the Library.’ The re-election of board members and the nomination of new ones followed. After the vote, library director Alan Kornblau gave the Librarian’s Report and vision for the future. An award was given to outgoing President John Burke. Photo: Jan Kucera, Sandy Simon, Heidi Sargeant and Dan Murtaugh. Photo provided

The Greater Boca Raton Chamber of Commerce had its monthly Membership Breakfast with guest speaker Anika Khan, a senior economist at Wells Fargo Securities. More than 250 chamber members enjoyed the program, which featured an economic outlook for 2014. Photo: Bill Hager, Dani Caine and Frank Feiler. Photo by
Janis Bucher

The Jewish Federation of South Palm Beach County drew 320 guests to its fundraising event. David Gergen, a senior political analyst for CNN, delivered the keynote address. Harvey and Phyllis Sandler presented awards to Honorary Chairs William Newman and Beverly Saltz (left). Photo by Jeff Tholl Photography

In a benefit for the Christine E. Lynn Women’s Health and Wellness Institute at Boca Raton Regional Hospital, the museum had a grand-opening event in conjunction with the Debbie Rand Memorial Service League’s gala that raised $41,000. The gala included a tour of the Broadway collection, dinner, a performance of Irving Berlin’s ‘White Chrismas’ and an after-party with the cast. ABOVE: (in front) Louise Cammarata, Nicole Sans, Patty Sans, Arlette Baker, (in back) Marylou Schillinger, Joseph Griffin, Ashley Leising and Mike Baker.

RIGHT: Patricia Ciasulli, with a pair of little performers. Photos provided

Barbara and Stan Cook opened their home and garden for an event for The American Association of University Women to raise funds and promote STEM programs for middle-school girls. TOP: Chris Wurster and Abby Smith pose for a photo in the ‘Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil’ area of the Cooks’ garden. MIDDLE: Barbara Cook, (right) gives a tour of the garden to Pamela Crawford, vice president of landscape architecture at Botanical Visions in West Palm Beach. BOTTOM: Renny Reynolds laughs with Ocean Ridge Town Commissioner Ed Brookes in the Cooks’ garden. Photos by Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

Brandon Mazzeo, a graduate of Gulf Stream School, has received a $5,000 Il Circolo Scholarship. Mazzeo attends Columbia University and is majoring in biomedical engineering. Il Circolo Scholarship winners are selected based on academic merit and are academically outstanding, with grade-point averages of 3.95. Photo provided

Dr. Story Musgrave, a NASA astronaut, spoke to students at St. Joseph’s Episcopal School’s Live Green Campaign to encourage real-world learning and problem solving. Musgrave shared his life’s journey and scientific achievements as an astronaut, medical doctor, pilot and professor. Photo: Musgrave, an astronaut for more than 30 years, poses with students during his presentation. Photo provided

Sacred Heart School in Lake Worth benefited from an event attended by more than 50 golfers and croquet players who gathered to raise money for scholarship and student programs. Photo: Croquet winners Daniel Herrick and Nancy Borger with golf pro David Bent. Photo provided

The Delray Beach Historical Society had its first Winter Harvest, a food- and wine-pairing event to boost awareness about area farms. Photo: Sommelier Stephanie Miskew serves wines.

Photos by Tim Stepien/
The Coastal Star

ABOVE: Rain fell several times during the event but did not deter the guests from finishing their meals.

LEFT: Chef Jimmy Mills, of Jimmy’s Bistro, serves the first-course ‘Catch of the Day,’ ceviche.

ABOVE: Robin Newbeck, of Bedner’s Farm Fresh Market, offers peppers to guests.

LEFT: Roland Yee, of The Farm Bureau, talks to Kate Fogarty.

The Plate: Black & Bleu
The Place: Granger’s Grille, 215 NE Sixth Ave., Delray Beach; 276-7881 or grangersgrille.com
The Price: $9
The Skinny: What’s Black and Bleu and tasty all over?
The correct answer is the Black & Bleu chicken sandwich at Granger’s.
It’s a tender chicken breast half that has been lightly dusted with seasonings, then blackened on the grill.
The chef tops it with a couple of thick-cut slices of applewood-smoked bacon, some of the restaurant’s slightly sweet blue cheese dressing, and serves it atop a lightly toasted roll.
As if that’s not decadent enough, it’s served with a side of crispy crinkle-cut fries.
Now, that’s a feast.
— Scott Simmons