By Tim Pallesen
    
Residents have filed a second lawsuit to overturn city approval of the controversial Archstone project on East Palmetto Park Road.
    The lawsuit halts construction of the 378-unit project that was set for this fall after the City Council gave approval on March 11.
The council scheduled executive sessions after its regular meeting to discuss the litigation.
    Three neighbors named as plaintiffs — George O’Rourke, James Wood and Al Zucaro — say Archstone violates the intent of the city’s comprehensive plan.
    “We don’t want high-rise rental all over the downtown with minimal retail,” O’Rourke said.
    The developer’s attorney, Charlie Siemon, said the city will be able to defend its Archstone approval in court. “All of the charges in their lawsuit are based on opinions and have no basis in fact,” Siemon said.
    But the delay caused by the litigation could make Archstone and downtown redevelopment an issue in Boca Raton ’s municipal election next March.
    “This lawsuit is about politics — the price for it is the success of our downtown,” said councilwoman Constance Scott, who chairs the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency. “Archstone is a great project that will revitalize the downtown.”
    Scott speculated that O’Rourke and Zucaro will become candidates to oppose council members who voted for the Archstone project.
    “A small group of vocal residents want to keep Boca as it is,” she said. “If we don’t keep our momentum so that we’re growing and moving forward, the result will be increased taxes.”
    Both O’Rourke and Zucaro denied that they will run for the City Council.
    “There is absolutely zero possibility that I will run for political office,” O’Rourke said. “But my greatest hope is that residents will come forward to run who are fair-minded and not bidding agents for the development community.”
    “I am not a candidate for any political office,” said Zucaro, a former West Palm Beach city commissioner. “I am simply a concerned citizen speaking out.”
    O’Rourke, Wood and Zucaro own single-family homes near the Archstone project.
    O’Rourke’s wife, Andrea, is president of the Golden Triangle Neighborhood Association, which collected more than 1,100 signatures last year to force a citywide referendum to overturn a previous city approval for Archstone.
    The city is fighting that referendum in another lawsuit filed last year that is awaiting an appellate court ruling.
    But Archstone developer Mark Guzzetta said the most recent lawsuit filed last month will delay construction. 

By Steve Plunkett

    An entrenched politician and a newcomer have declared their candidacies for elections more than 10 months away.
    Deputy Mayor Susan Haynie filed her intent to run for mayor. Mayor Susan Whelchel will be term-limited out.
    “We are going to be running a strong grass-roots campaign, and I look forward to sharing my message of fiscal responsibility, public safety, lower taxes and ethical representation with the residents of Boca Raton,” Haynie said in a statement.
    Running to fill Haynie’s seat  on the City Council is Craig Ehrnst, chairperson of the city’s Financial Advisory Board and treasurer of NCCI Holdings Inc., a national workers compensation insurance data services firm located in Boca.
    “The quality of our business environment, the confidence of our residents and the well-being of those we serve are key to our community’s success,” Ehrnst said in a statement.
    The nonpartisan elections will be on March 11.
    Council members are elected at large to designated seats for three-year terms. Members who serve two consecutive terms are not eligible to run for that office for the succeeding term.
    Haynie, for example, served on the council from 2000 to 2006, sat out two years then won elections in 2008 and 2012.
    City voters changed term length and limits in 2006.
    Whelchel called Haynie a “hardworking leader” who is “extremely dedicated” to Boca Raton.  “With her ideas and depth of experience, I know she would make an outstanding mayor,” Whelchel said.
    Haynie, a Florida native, is a 40-year resident of Boca Raton. Her public service record includes involvement with the Coastal Ocean Task Force, the Boca Raton Planning and Zoning Board and the Federation of Boca Raton Homeowners Associations.
    She has also chaired the Palm Beach Metropolitan Planning Organization and was president of the Palm Beach County League of Cities.
Ehrnst, who worked previously at ExxonMobil and Ryder Systems, has also been a member of the Boca Raton Chamber of Commerce government affairs committee and the city’s Northwest Sub District Land Use and Urban Form Plan Transportation Committee

Varvara Levchenko (left) and Venus Williams share a laugh during a pre-tournament news conference at the Federation Cup tennis matches in Delray Beach. With them are Sloane Stephens, Serena Williams, Mary Jo Fernandez. The Williams sisters led the U.S. to a 3-2 win over Sweden. Thom Smith/The Coastal Star

By Thom Smith   

     Jeff Bolton was one of the good guys. Great accountant. Tremendous sports fan. Loving husband. Unwavering father. When he learned six years ago that his son Jason had acute myeloid leukemia, a nasty bone marrow disease that attacks maybe five kids in the U.S. each year, he declared war, physical and psychological.
He found the best doctors at Dana-Farber Children’s Cancer Center in Boston. He virtually quit work for eight months to keep Jason company during his treatment. He rounded up all kinds of sports memorabilia and autographs, some for Jason, lots for other young patients. As painful as the treatment was for Jason, Jeff did his best to make the boy’s life a party.
    It obviously worked. Today Jason’s in remission and back in school in Palm Beach Gardens. Jeff returned to work, steadily building Daszkal Bolton, the Boca-based accounting firm he co-founded.
    But he wasn’t finished. He wasn’t about to forget about all the other kids. He joined the board of the Bone Marrow Foundation and chaired its annual “Sports Legends” event.
    The next one is May 5 and 6 at Addison Reserve in Delray Beach — dinner and auction Sunday and golf the next day. The usual good feeling, however, will be tempered — Bolton won’t be there.
    On Friday, April 19, while swimming in the Bahamas during the firm’s annual end of tax season holiday, Bolton, 47, was caught by a tricky rip current. In a flash, he drowned.
    “I don’t know too many people as generous, kind and down-to-earth as Jeff Bolton,” close friend Harvey Oyer said.
    After briefly considering a postponement, foundation executives decided to proceed with the Sports Legends event. Former Pittsburgh Steelers Coach Bill Cowher is the designated “legend,” but the real honoree will be Bolton.
                                        ***
    Faced with protests from students, faculty and community leaders, prisons-for-profit company GEO Group withdrew its offer to pay FAU $6 million for stadium naming rights. FAU President Mary Jane Saunders seems to have adopted a modified Teddy Roosevelt response —“Speak softly but say nothing,” except to brag about school successes.
    For example, students from the school’s Diplomacy Program in the Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts & Letters received a seventh consecutive Distinguished Delegation Award for participating in the 2013 National Model United Nations competition in New York City.
    More than 6,000 university students from around the world participated in the annual six-day U.N. simulation. Perhaps Saunders should sit in on some of the Diplomacy Program’s sessions. Established in 1996, it provides training “in the art of negotiation, conflict resolution and global problem solving.”
    As GEO Group withdrew from the 12-year stadium deal, it simultaneously announced a gift of $500,000 to the school’s scholarship fund. Hmmm — $6 million divided by 12 is, right, $500,000. Yet hardly a peep from protesters. If the $6 million pledge was dirty money, why is GEO’s half million OK?
    To pour more spicy wing sauce on the owl, in mid-April former athletic director Craig Angelos claimed to have lined up a six-year, $1 million annual deal with a large, unnamed South Florida automobile dealership chain.  His superiors, he said, told him to hold off in hopes of a better deal with … Chick-fil-A.
    Oops. Chick-fil-A has never sponsored a stadium. Great waffle fries, but much to the dismay of Sunday shoppers at Boca’s Town Center mall, they’re closed on Sunday. Company policy is rooted in founder Truett Cathy’s vow to “not deal with money on the ‘Lord’s Day’.” Then last summer Truett’s son and company COO Dan Cathy spoke out against gay marriage, and word got out that the company’s charity wing had given millions to oppose gay rights.
    Furthermore, when the stadium opened in 2011, Chick-fil-A was there … until it was bounced by Chartwells, the stadium concessionaire, because of its “late arriving and understaffed” crew, according to Owl Access, a sports website that covers FAU athletics. Chick-fil-A was replaced by Mississippi Sweets, a local barbecue restaurant.
    Tired of waiting, the car dealer drove off, and the search for a stadium sponsor has resumed. It won’t be GEO Group Stadium. Or Owlcatraz. But don’t expect the hoot and holler to subside just yet.
    Some alums are sticking by their alma mater. The Gotta Luv Them Fishing Tournament will benefit the FAU National Alumni Association.  Kickoff party and auction are set for May 31 at Deck 84 in Delray Beach, with lines in next morning at 8. Top prize for the biggest kingfish, dolphin, tuna or wahoo is $2,500. Entry fee is $400 per boat.
    The tournament is sponsored by the Gotta Luv Them Foundation, which was just established by three FAU alums, Chris Trentine, José Herrera and Tyrone Bradley, to promote fundraising that benefits education, especially at FAU.  Contact: (954) 900-6080 or gottaluvthem.org.   
                                        ***
    Finally, an off-campus hangout with an FAU ring. In January, the old T.J. Murphy’s on 20th Street at Fifth Avenue became the Night Owl, a bar offering “pub grub with a modern twist”  — bleu cheese that’s really blue — and unique specials to satisfy even the most curious pallet (sic).”
    It’s the first South Florida venture by Mike Minot and Brian Hubschman, two University of Central Florida grads who established a rep with Knight Library near the UCF campus in Orlando.
                                        ***
    The knot may be closer for former Delray resident and still occasional visitor Nick Loeb and his Modern Family squeeze, Sofia Vergara. The Colombian actress, who survived a bout with thyroid cancer, conceded on Entertainment Tonight, “At 40, nature doesn’t cooperate as much.”
    Loeb, a businessman who also developed Onion Crunch, isn’t hurting for cash, but Vergara may have the bigger bank account. Forbes magazine declared her the highest paid actress in television, based on her series pay plus returns from her production company, a Kmart clothing line, and multilingual endorsements for Pepsi and Burger King, among others.   
                                        ***
    Caldwell Theatre Company may be gone, but it hasn’t been forgotten. Though it shuttered last year, its production of The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity earned three nominations for Carbonells, South Florida’s version of the Tony Awards. In addition to a best play nod, Brandon Morris was nominated for best actor, Tim Bennett for scenic design and Tom Shorrock for sound design.
    Now we’ll see what Marilynn Wick can do with the building. Wick, CEO and president of Pompano Beach-based Costume World, the nation’s largest costume company, has announced that she’s buying the playhouse on North Federal. She’ll rename it the Wick Theatre and plans an October opening with six shows, a mix of classic plays and Broadway musicals.  She’ll also bring along the Broadway Collection Museum.
    Because her business is costumes, she’ll leave the production to Douglas Evans, a veteran of more than 100 productions. Evans also serves as president of the Society for the Preservation of the Great American Songbook and spent five years as general manager and founding president of Classical South Florida, which took over WXEL radio. He also served as CEO of Nederlander Worldwide Entertainment and president of its Broadway China Ventures.
    Now if he can just put people in the seats.   
                                        ***
    Now we know what Hollywood filmmakers mean when they talk about “a little movie.”
    Maybe Bruce Mason’s little movie, Chez Upshaw, was chosen to be the closing film at the Palm Beach International Film Festival, to serve as a cinematic equivalent to The Little Engine That Could. Tiny budget, talented cast and crew who worked despite the prospect of no pay, for the distinction of having its U.S. premiere as the festival’s closing film.
    The plot: To prevent foreclosure on their bed and breakfast, Illeana Douglas and Kevin Pollak convert it into a resort where guests check in and then “check out” by way of assisted suicides.
    One problem — the film was terrible. It needed the assist. It was made in a few days and it showed. Mason’s script gave Pollak and Douglas little to work with. Mason admitted he ran out of money on a Friday and told the crew and cast he might not have anymore. Still they all showed up on Monday.  That’s the old Hollywood spirt.
    At least attendees got a glimpse of the new Frank Theaters Cinebowl & Grill in Delray Beach — an indoor amusement park with movies, bowling, billiards, an arcade and restaurant. Seats are reserved.
                                        ***
At the opposite end of the Delray Marketplace is an amphitheater, and on May 11, the cover band to end all cover bands will play.
    It’s not like the Surf City Allstars are unfamiliar with the California surf sound. Not only are they led by original Beach Boy David Marks, who rejoined the “Boys” for their most recent tour, but all of the Allstars played with either the Beach Boys or Jan & Dean.
    The show benefits the Achievement Center for Children and Families in Delray Beach and Boca’s Golden Bell Education Foundation. Tickets start at $30 and include tastings from (Burt) Rapoport’s Restaurant Group and two drinks. Details at rapoportsrg.com/surf.
                                    ***
Tony “The Coach” Robbins has bought the spec-built oceanfront home at 750 S. Ocean Blvd. in Manalapan for $24.75 million.
The specs: 12,124 square feet, six bedrooms, seven full baths, four half baths, two two-car garages, pool, media room, wine cellar, club room, 175 feet of oceanfront and Intracoastal waterfront, two-acre lot.  
                                        ***
    Allman band in Boca. In this case it’s Michael, Gregg’s oldest son, who’ll be at The Funky Biscuit May 18. He started the Michael Allman Band in the early ’90s, settled down with a family, overcame a bout with testicular cancer and then began performing again about five years ago.
A week later it’s former boy wonder guitarist Josh Smith.
While still in middle school, the Pembroke Pines-raised prodigy was wowing fans in Broward County and after high school even toured with B.B. King, played lead guitar for Taylor Hicks and backed Mick Jagger at the Kennedy Center. Well, he’s still around and still has the licks.
    The Biscuit closes out May with Jimmy Thackery and special guest Hadden Sayers, who is touring in support of his new album Rolling Soul. (395-2929)
                                        ***
    For her work in the public sector, Palm Beach County Tax Collector Anne Gannon, a Delray Beach resident, will receive the Executive Women of the Palm Beaches’ Women In Leadership Award May 2 at the Kravis Center.
 Michele Poole was cited for her work as a volunteer with the Community Foundation for Drug Free Adolescents in Lake Worth and attorney Jane Kreusler-Walsh of North Palm Beach for work in the private sector.
                                        ***
    A reader spotted a plane flying along the beach in Delray recently, towing a banner with the message: TAKE UR THINGS FROM UR CAR. Signed: The Boca Raton Police Dept.
                                        

On the horizon:
    * May 9, 6-10 p.m.  — On the Avenue in Delray Beach. Artists from Artists Alley in the Pineapple Grove Arts District will show their work along Atlantic Avenue. Chefs from Papa’s Tapas will cook up giant paella to sell. Music by Across the Universe, Beatles tribute band.
    * May 18, 6-10 p.m. — Old School Square Beer Fest at the Delray Center for the Arts. More than 50 craft brews and wine, live music, food trucks. Advance tickets, $30, $60 for VIP, $10 more at gate. (delraycenterforthearts.org)
    * May 31, 5:30 p.m. — John Scully, the man behind the Pepsi Generation, the man who made Apple more than a fruit, Palm Beach resident and as of March 8, newlywed, will speak about local entrepreneurship May 31 at Palm Beach State College’s Duncan Theatre.
 For tickets, $50, 868-3450 or www.palmbeachstate.edu/foundation/Steam.
 * June 1, 1 p.m. — The Great Summer Quest at the Ritz-Carlton, Manalapan. Corporate teams and individuals participate in limousine-assisted scavenger hunt for big prizes, followed by cocktail party. Benefits Boys & Girls Clubs of Palm Beach County. Entry: $450 individual; $2,500 for team of six. (683-3287).
Thom Smith is a freelance writer. Contact him at thomsmith@ymail.com.

By Rich Pollack

Although Congress restored funding to the Federal Aviation Administration late last month to pay for air traffic controllers at major airports and avoid furloughs there, the fate of the tower at Boca Raton Airport — and 148 towers at small airports across the country — remains up in the air.
While the FAA now has enough money to cover the costs of tower operations at the small airports, it has not made it clear how those funds will be applied.  As a result, Boca Raton airport officials are still operating under the assumption that funding could be discontinued as of June 15.
“At this point, we and all other 148 towers have begun a new campaign to lobby the FAA to fund the towers,” said Janet Sherr, director of landside operations for the Boca Raton Airport Authority.
At a meeting before Congress releasing funds to the FAA, the authority began the lengthy process of preparing to self-fund air traffic control tower operations, should a lawsuit and the latest round of lobbying efforts fail to restore funding.
While a decision on whether or not to seek alternative ways to pay for the tower operations will not come until after other avenues are exhausted, the authority, at its April meeting, authorized staff to begin seeking out qualified firms interested in taking over tower operation should federal funding evaporate due to government sequester cutbacks.
On the advice of legal counsel, however, the board stopped short of making a firm commitment to self fund tower operations, despite the efforts of one member, who said he was concerned about mixed messages being sent to the public.
During the recent meeting, authority member David Freudenberg ha asked that the authority provide the community with a clear statement of what it plans to do if the lawsuit and all lobbying efforts by local, state and federal officials are unsuccessful.
“There is a very clear message to the community that we are aware of the desire to keep the tower open but we’re still saying that the Boca Raton tower is on death row,” Freudenberg said.
“We owe it to the community to make it very, very clear –  we must keep this tower open. It’s time for this board to direct staff to make it clear in their statements that this tower will not close and we should give staff the directive to do what is necessary to keep it open,” he said.
Before other authority members could respond to Freudenberg’s comments, however, authority attorney Dawn Meyers intervened suggesting that further discussions could be detrimental to the still pending lawsuit.
Meyers said that the board’s decision to take legal action and to proceed with the process of finding a private tower operator should other efforts fail, indicated the direction the panel was headed in.  
“You have taken two assertive steps showing the community exactly what your intention and commitment is,” she said.
Board Chair Frank Feiler echoed the attorney’s comments.
“We couldn’t be any more decisive in the direction we’re moving forward in and in the steps we’re taking,” he said.
Authority member Cheryl Budd followed up on Feiler’s comments with a question to Meyers.
“In a hypothetical situation, if the authority had no legal recourse and no potential of funding from state and federal governments and we still wanted to go forward and keep the tower open, is there anything we would be doing that we’re not already doing?” she asked.
“Nothing,” Meyers said.
Earlier in the meeting, Meyers said that the decision to proceed with a two-step procurement process – which includes a request for qualifications from firms interested in operating the tower, followed by a request for proposals in the event that other efforts failed – did not commit the board to hiring any of the firms that applied.
“We must anticipate that potentially you may be in a position where you’ll have to choose whether or not to keep the tower open,” she said. 

By Cheryl Blackerby

    Delray Beach and Boca Raton are likely to receive long-awaited money for damage to beaches by Hurricane Sandy, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
    The two cities’ beach projects were among 16 projects around the state that the Corps considered for emergency assistance in response to Hurricane Sandy and Tropical Storm Debby.
After the Corps’ damage reports were completed, 12 projects were approved to receive the emergency funds.
    “North Boca has received $222,000 out of their proposed $2,340,000. We expect (Boca Raton) to receive the remainder of the funds in the third quarter,” said Amanda Ellison, public affairs specialist, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
    Delray Beach, she said, “has received $4,460,250 and should be fully funded.”
    In all, about $147 million in emergency funds has been approved for the 12 projects as part of the Corps’ Flood Control and Coastal Emergency program.
    “Each community applied for the program, and we conducted a study to determine who qualified for the program,” said Ellison. “We had 12 positive outcomes across the state, so this is great news.”
    Delray Beach and Boca Raton were told they would receive letters from the Corps advising them if they would get the emergency funds and, if so, how much.
The waiting had been tense for both cities. As of press time, neither city had received official confirmation letters, but officials are hopeful they’re in the mail.
    “We’ve been working with them (the Corps) for a while, and we always maintained hope to get funding to assist us,” said Rich Reade, Delray Beach public information officer.
    “Is it a surprise? Yes, but a pleasant surprise,” said Arthur Koski, acting director and legal counsel for the Greater Boca Raton Beach and Park District, which recently had been asked by the city of Boca Raton for $200,000 to pay for dune restoration after Hurricane Sandy.
    Luckily, the district hadn’t sent the check yet, said Koski.
    The following beach projects damaged by Hurricane Sandy are expected to receive emergency funds, says Ellison: Brevard County — North Reach and South Reach; Martin County; Fort Pierce Beach; Palm Beach County — North Boca Raton, Jupiter/Carlin and Delray Beach; and Broward County, Segment 2.
    The beach projects affected by Tropical Storm Debby that are getting emergency funds are Treasure Island in Pinellas County; Anna Maria Island in Manatee County; and Gasparilla and Captiva in Lee County.
    In addition, the Corps approved emergency supplemental funds for navigation projects impacted by Hurricane Sandy: Port Canaveral, Palm Beach Harbor, Fort Pierce Inlet, St. Lucie Inlet, Port Everglades, St. Augustine Inlet, Ponce Inlet and the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway from Jacksonville to Miami.                                   

Residents of the Sabal Point Condominium on State Road A1A in Boca Raton gathered April 16 at a ‘Meet the Artist’ reception for the 10 fellow condo owners who submitted works for the Ninth Annual Art Show held at the seaside venue. Holding samples of their work are, from left, Tony Baratta, Isabel Kalfaian, Ellie Landesman, Marilyn Koeppel, Diana Gironta and Ann Figlia. Not present were Marie Dupont, Tom Vinci and Carl and Edie Markel, who also submitted art works. Courtesy photo by Dale King  

Sponsors, board members and trustees of the YMCA of South Palm Beach County were welcomed to the penthouse for a reception that preceded the organization’s March 8 prayer breakfast. The event featured entertainment, refreshments and networking for the cause. Photo: Gary Joyal with Renee Raymond. Photo provided

Highland Beach residents gathered to clean up the beach on April 8. Ben and Mayra Stern (above) were among the volunteers who spent several hours hours combing the beach, finding many plastic bottles and caps, broken flip-flops, plastic bags, balloons, plastic forks and knives, empty sunscreen bottles, brushes, and even a pillow. Photo provided

More than 350 guests attended the inaugural fundraising event in an effort to raise money for The Breast Cancer Research Foundation. Well-known sports figures who attended included Bucky Dent, Jim Palmer and Bill Parcells. Donald Trump also participated and Melania Trump served as honorary chairwoman. In excess of $300,000 was raised by the volunteer organization that coordinates grassroots events to help find a cure for the disease. Photo: Committee members Terri Schottenstein, Helen Bossman, Jane Zises and Robin Berman. Photo provided

The Greater Boca Raton Chamber of Commerce celebrated a day outdoors with community leaders, business professionals and local families – more than 600 in all – as part of its ‘Enhance the Community’ initiative. Florida Atlantic University mascot Owlsley made an appearance. Photo: (from left) Randy Nobles, Troy McLellan, Kari Oeltjen, Anthony Majhess and Mike Mullaugh. Photo provided

LEFT: Marilyn Nelson, standing with violinist Kristen Seto and pianist Stephen Seto, helped the National Society of Arts and Letters’ Florida East Coast Chapter hold a successful High Tea that brought together old and new members, and welcomed patrons of the arts.

ABOVE:  Vern Cameron, Judi Asselta, Roswitha Guzinski and Shaun Schofield. Courtesy photos by Barbara McCormick

The Boca Raton Woman’s Club and the Rotary Club Downtown Boca Raton joined forces to honor doctors in the South Florida community and named Dr. Marc Taub (holding clock) the 2013 Doctor of Distinction at a special luncheon. More than 70 physicians were nominated for the award. ‘This was the most successful Honor Your Doctor luncheon in its 15 years,’ Chairwoman Janice Williams said. Photo: Mary Veccia, Dr. Taub, Jon Kaye, Helen Babione and Kimberly Amsalem.  Courtesy photo by Barbara McCormick

The Plate: Mediterranean Hummus Plate
The Place: Jellies Bar at The Atlantic Grille at The Seagate Hotel and Spa, 1000 E. Atlantic Ave., Delray Beach; 665-4900 or theatlanticgrille.com
The Price: $9
The Skinny: Sometimes you want something light, and nothing suits a breezy April evening quite like a plate of hummus.
It’s both good and good for you.
The hummus at The Atlantic Grille was smooth and had a nice tang. It was served with wonderfully roasted red peppers that were cooked to intensify the flavor but retained an almost al dente texture — they were not falling apart. Add to that a minor mountain of Kalamata olives and creamy cubes of feta, and you have the perfect meal.
But The Atlantic Grille takes it a step further and offers a salad composed of crispy array of mixed greens all topped with fresh balsamic vinaigrette that was redolent with fruit undertones.
It’s the perfect dish for watching the world go by.
We sat out on the patio outside the bar, chatted with the neighbors and smiled as folks of a certain age boogied to a cover band playing the sounds of Barry Manilow.
They clearly were having a blast, and so were we.
— Scott Simmons

By Thom Smith

Jeff Bolton was one of the good guys. Great accountant. Tremendous sports fan. Loving husband. Unwavering father. When he learned six years ago that his son Jason had acute myeloid leukemia, a nasty bone marrow disease that attacks maybe five kids in the U.S. each year, he declared war, physical and psychological.
He found the best doctors at Dana-Farber Children’s Cancer Center in Boston. He virtually quit work for eight months to keep Jason company during his treatment. He rounded up all kinds of sports memorabilia and autographs, some for Jason, lots for other young patients. As painful as the treatment was for Jason, Jeff did his best to make the boy’s life a party.
    It obviously worked. Today Jason’s in remission and back in school in Palm Beach Gardens. Jeff returned to work, steadily building Daszkal Bolton, the Boca-based accounting firm he co-founded.
    But he wasn’t finished. He wasn’t about to forget about all the other kids. He joined the board of the Bone Marrow Foundation and chaired its annual “Sports Legends” event.
    The next one is May 5 and 6 at Addison Reserve in Delray Beach — dinner and auction Sunday and golf the next day. The usual good feeling, however, will be tempered — Bolton won’t be there.
    On Friday, April 19, while swimming in the Bahamas during the firm’s annual end of tax season holiday, Bolton, 47, was caught by a tricky rip current. In a flash, he drowned.
    “I don’t know too many people as generous, kind and down-to-earth as Jeff Bolton,” close friend Harvey Oyer III said.
    After briefly considering a postponement, foundation executives decided to proceed with the Sports Legends event. Former Pittsburgh Steelers Coach Bill Cowher is the designated “legend,” but the real honoree will be Bolton.

Varvara Levchenko (left) and Venus Williams laugh at mention of Cupcake Couture during a pre-tournament news conference at the Federation Cup tennis matches in Delray Beach. With them are Sloane Stephens, Serena Williams and Mary Jo Fernandez. The Williams sisters led the U.S. to a 3-2 win over Sweden. Thom Smith/The Coastal Star

                              
    The crowds may not have been SRO, but Delray built considerable capital from the Federation Cup tennis matches on April 20 and 21. Of course, it doesn’t hurt to have the Williams sisters on — and in — your court. Home, after all, is in Palm Beach Gardens, so Atlantic Avenue isn’t unfamiliar.
    During the draw ceremony and press conference, Venus, Serena and their teammates couldn’t hold back knowledgeable giggles at the mention of “the cupcake shop,” an obvious reference to Cupcake Couture. A little farther south, Venus had made a post-tennis investment in her interior design career by decorating one of the 52 luxury condos at One Thousand Ocean on Boca Raton Resort & Club property on the north side of the Boca Inlet.
    The weather may have played a role in the United States’ favor. To locals, the low 80s were downright pleasant, but with Stockholm in the low 50s, Delray may as well have been Dubai to the Swedes.
                                        ***
    Faced with protests from students, faculty and community leaders, prisons-for-profit company GEO Group withdrew its offer to pay Florida Atlantic University $6 million for stadium naming rights. FAU President Mary Jane Saunders seems to have adopted a modified Teddy Roosevelt response —“Speak softly but say nothing,” except to brag about school successes.
    For example, students from the school’s Diplomacy Program in the Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts & Letters received a seventh consecutive Distinguished Delegation Award for participating in the 2013 National Model United Nations competition in New York City.
    More than 6,000 university students from around the world participated in the annual six-day U.N. simulation. Perhaps Saunders should sit in on some of the Diplomacy Program’s sessions. Established in 1996, it provides training “in the art of negotiation, conflict resolution and global problem solving.”
    As GEO Group withdrew from the 12-year stadium deal, it simultaneously announced a gift of $500,000 to the school’s scholarship fund. Hmmm — $6 million divided by 12 is, right, $500,000. Yet hardly a peep from protesters. If the $6 million pledge was dirty money, why is GEO’s half-million OK?
    To pour more spicy wing sauce on the owl, in mid-April former athletic director Craig Angelos claimed to have lined up a six-year, $1 million annual deal with a large, unnamed South Florida automobile dealership chain.  His superiors, he said, told him to hold off in hopes of a better deal with … Chick-fil-A.
    Oops. Chick-fil-A has never sponsored a stadium. Great waffle fries, but much to the dismay of Sunday shoppers at Boca’s Town Center mall, they’re closed on Sunday. Company policy is rooted in founder Truett Cathy’s vow to “not deal with money on the ‘Lord’s Day’.” Then last summer Truett’s son and company COO Dan Cathy spoke out against gay marriage, and word got out that the company’s charity wing had given millions to oppose gay rights.
    Furthermore, when the stadium opened in 2011, Chick-fil-A was there … until it was bounced by Chartwells, the stadium concessionaire, because of its “late arriving and understaffed” crew, according to Owl Access, a sports website that covers FAU athletics. Chick-fil-A was replaced by Mississippi Sweets, a local barbecue restaurant.
    Tired of waiting, the car dealer drove off, and the search for a stadium sponsor has resumed. It won’t be GEO Group Stadium. Or Owlcatraz. But don’t expect the hoot and holler to subside just yet.
    Some alums are sticking by their alma mater. The Gotta Luv Them Fishing Tournament will benefit the FAU National Alumni Association.  Kickoff party and auction are set for May 31 at Deck 84 in Delray Beach, with lines-in next morning at 8. Top prize for the biggest kingfish, dolphin, tuna or wahoo is $2,500. Entry fee is $400 per boat.
    The tournament is sponsored by the Gotta Luv Them Foundation, which was just established by three FAU alums, Chris Trentine, José Herrera and Tyrone Bradley, to promote fundraising that benefits education, especially at FAU.  Contact: (954) 900-6080 or gottaluvthem.org.   
                                        ***
    After a week’s delay, Stage Left Theatre’s production of Last of the Red Hot Lovers enjoyed sold-out performances at Boynton Beach’s Madsen Center. Next up, July 8-11, is The Cat Princess, the first summer children’s show. Auditions are set for May 6 at 7 p.m. at Madsen Center, 145 SE Second Ave. (Call 301-5404 or email peterpag@comcast.net or stagelefttheatre.net for details).   
    “We got in half a season and will do the kids shows in the summer and see how it goes,” Artistic Director Peter Pagliaro said.
    With two plays and two musicals planned for the fall, Pagliaro is optimistic for a change. For 18 years he ran the Royal Playhouse, first in Royal Palm Beach, then in suburban West Palm Beach for 10 years, then one more year in Lake Park before moving to Boynton.  
    “We’ve been bouncing around,” Pagliaro said. “We had great facility at Syms Plaza in West Palm Beach (Forest Hill and Military Trail) until Syms went under and the bank foreclosed on the center. Now Boynton has offered us the chance. We’re still working on it. Some things have to be fixed, such as noise, but we hope we have a home.”
                                        ***
    Stage Left didn’t win any Carbonells, South Florida’s version of the Tony Awards, but Palm Beach County theaters dominated the nominations and the winners at the ceremonies. Even the Caldwell Theatre Company, which shuttered last year, copped nominations for The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity: best play; best actor — Brandon Morris; scenic design — Tim Bennett; and sound design — Tom Shorrock.
    Scoring the most awards — nine — was the Maltz Jupiter Theatre. Palm Beach Dramaworks took home one. Fledgling Plaza Theatre in Manalapan managed to draw two nominations for Driving Miss Daisy, John Archie for best actor and Harriet Oser for best actress.
Now it’s forging full speed ahead with Waist Watchers, which has been extended to May 12, and then will break for six weeks before resuming from July 24-Sept. 1.
    On May 13 and 20, Wayne LeGette and Mia Matthews will perform Being Alive, The Music of Stephen Sondheim. They’ll be followed by 8-Track, The Sounds of the ’70s (complete with bellbottoms) from June 13 to July 7.
    Before moving to Palm Beach and joining the social whirl, Matthews spent many years as a theater, television and film actress in New York. (588-1820).
                                        ***
    The Caldwell, incidentally, may not be dead. Marilynn Wick, CEO and president of Pompano Beach-based Costume World, the nation’s largest costume company, has announced that she’s buying the shuttered theater on North Federal in Boca. In the renamed Wick Theatre, she plans to stage six shows, a mix of classic plays and Broadway musicals.
    Wick will move her Broadway Collection Museum to the site and plans an October opening. Because her business is costumes, she’ll leave the production to Douglas Evans, a veteran of more than 100 productions. Evans also serves as president of the Society for the Preservation of the Great American Songbook and spent five years as general manager and founding president of Classical South Florida which took over WXEL radio. He also served as CEO of Nederlander Worldwide Entertainment and president of its Broadway China Ventures.
    Now if he can just put people in the seats.   
                                        ***
    Now we know what Hollywood filmmakers mean when they talk about “a little movie.”
    Maybe Bruce Mason’s little movie, Chez Upshaw, was chosen to be the closing film at the Palm Beach International Film Festival, to serve as a cinematic equivalent to The Little Engine That Could. Tiny budget, talented cast and crew who worked, despite the prospect of no pay, for the distinction of having its U.S. premiere as the festival’s closing film.
    The plot: To prevent foreclosure on their bed and breakfast, Illeana Douglas and Kevin Pollak convert it into a resort where guests check in and then “check out” by way of assisted suicides.
    One problem — the film was terrible. It needed the assist. It was made in a few days and it showed. Mason’s script gave Pollak and Douglas little to work with. Mason admitted he ran out of money on a Friday and told the crew and cast he might not have anymore. Still they all showed up on Monday.  That’s the old Hollywood spirt.
    At least attendees got a glimpse of the new Frank Theaters Cinebowl & Grill in Delray Beach — an indoor amusement park with movies, bowling, billiards, an arcade and restaurant.  Seats are reserved.
                                        ***
At the opposite end of the Delray Marketplace is an amphitheater, and on May 11, the cover band to end all cover bands will play.
    It’s not like the Surf City Allstars are unfamiliar with the California surf sound. Not only are they led by original Beach Boy David Marks, who rejoined the “Boys” for their most recent tour, but all of the Allstars played with either the Beach Boys or Jan & Dean.
    The show benefits the Achievement Centers for Children and Families in Delray Beach and Boca’s Golden Bell Education Foundation. Tickets start at $30 and include tastings from (Burt) Rapoport’s Restaurant Group and two drinks. Details at rapoportsrg.com/surf.
                                        ***
    If you want the best, go for the wurst  … at Bad Ragaz Hall & Biergarten, which has finally opened at Las Ventanas at the corner of Federal and Woolbright in Boynton. For $58, chef and owner Alessandro Silvestri serves up one of each of the nine wursts in the kitchen — including brat, knack, rinds and Weiss — which guests can wash down with a VIB (Very Important Beer) from one of three taps at the table or from more than 75 others from the bar.  
                                        
    On the horizon:
    May 9, 6-10 p.m.  — On the Avenue in Delray Beach. Artists from Artists Alley in the Pineapple Grove Arts District will show their work along Atlantic Avenue. Chefs from Papa’s Tapas will cook up giant paella to sell. Music by Across the Universe, Beatles tribute band.
    May 18, 6-10 p.m. — Old School Square Beer Fest at the Delray Center for the Arts. More than 50 craft brews and wine, live music, food trucks. Advance tickets, $30, $60 for VIP, $10 more at gate. (delraycenterforthearts.org)
    May 31, 5:30 p.m. — John Scully, the man behind the Pepsi Generation, the man who made Apple more than a fruit, Palm Beach resident and as of March 8, newlywed, will speak about local entrepreneurship at Palm Beach State College’s Duncan Theatre.  For tickets, $50, (561) 868-3450 or www.palmbeachstate.edu/foundation/Steam.
    June 1, 1 p.m. — The Great Summer Quest at the Ritz-Carlton, Manalapan. Corporate teams and individuals participate in limousine-assisted scavenger hunt for big prizes, followed by cocktail party. Benefits Boys & Girls Clubs of Palm Beach County. Entry: $450 individual; $2,500 for team of six. (683-3287).
                                        
    Here and there:
    The knot may be closer for former Delray resident and still occasional visitor Nick Loeb and his Modern Family squeeze, Sofia Vergara. The Colombian actress, who survived a bout with thyroid cancer, conceded on Entertainment Tonight, “At 40, nature doesn’t cooperate as much.”
    Loeb, a businessman who also developed Onion Crunch, isn’t hurting for cash, but Vergara may have the bigger bank account. Forbes magazine declared her the highest paid actress in television, based on her series pay plus returns from her production company, a Kmart clothing line, and multilingual endorsements for Pepsi and Burger King, among others.   
                                        
    Tony “The Coach” Robbins has bought the spec-built oceanfront home at 750 S. Ocean Blvd. in Manalapan for $24.75 million.
The specs: 12,124 square feet, six bedrooms, seven full baths, four half baths, two two-car garages, pool, media room, wine cellar, club room, 175 feet of oceanfront and Intracoastal waterfront, two-acre lot.  
                                        
    A reader spotted a plane flying along the beach in Delray recently, towing a banner with the message: TAKE UR THINGS FROM UR CAR. Signed: The Boca Raton Police Dept.

Delray Beach yoga instructor Jessica Om poses on the PranaSleep bed to demonstrate the upscale finishes in the new townhomes that were debuted at the Marriott in Delray Beach. Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

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

Impact 100 members, including Laura Stoltz (raised fist), react as the winners of the $100,000 grants are announced at the Delray Beach Marriott. Photos by Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

By Christine Davis

    Impact 100 members neither waste time nor money, but with their signature flair and a fair share of fanfare, they awarded $200,000 on April 18 to area nonprofits Women of Tomorrow and Equine-Assisted Therapies of South Florida.
    Through Women of Tomorrow’s mentor and scholarship program, professional women are paired with small groups of at-risk public high-school girls to teach them personal and professional skills necessary for life success, reaching goals and increasing self-esteem.

Jennifer Valoppi  from Women of Tomorrow promised to expand her group’s mentoring programs reach to 10 high schools in southern Palm Beach County with the grant.

    Founded in Miami by Jennifer Valoppi in 1997, Women of Tomorrow now operates in 43 Florida and 13 metro Detroit cities, serving more than 2,500 at-risk young women annually in 130 public high schools with its network of more than 350 professionals. Valoppi said the Impact 100 funding will allow her organization to have a south Palm Beach County office, hire an area person, double its mentors here and increase its services to an additional 75 young women in south Palm Beach County.

Molly Murphy spoke about her first-hand knowledge of the healing effects of equine therapy

    Equine-Assisted Therapies of South Florida, founded 30 years ago and based in Coconut Creek, offers people with special needs recreational therapy with horses. It serves 130 children and adults annually.
    Molly Murphy, the organization’s outreach manager and presenter on April 18, used herself as an example. Diagnosed with cerebral palsy, she became a student in the program when she was 9 years old.
Thanks to the therapeutic exercise afforded through horseback riding that stretched out her muscles, she avoided a series of surgeries.
    The Impact 100 funding will allow Equine-Assisted Therapies to take on 75 new south Palm Beach County riders in need and increase the programs’ presence in the area.
    Impact 100 is a donor-advised fund of the Community Foundation of Palm Beach and Martin Counties, which acts as the organization’s back office. Each of Impact 100’s 220 members wrote a check for $1,050.
    “We call what we do efficient philanthropy. ‘One woman. One vote. One meeting,’ ” said co-founder Tandy Robinson of Delray Beach.

Impact 100 program coordinators Cindy Krebsbach (left), Lisa Mulhall and Tandy Robinson were honored for doubling the number of participants and their work on this year’s program. Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

    In its second year, membership has doubled under the leadership of founders Robinson, Cindy Krebsbach and Lisa Mulhall.
    Anyone can be in the organization, said board member Karen Sweetapple of Boca Raton. “You don’t have to put in a lot of time, and people are interested in our organization for that reason.
    “We put the word out as much as we could, so that we could take letters of inquiry from nonprofits who proposed to make an impact in south Palm Beach County,” she said. 
    This year, 85 nonprofits applied in one of five categories: arts and culture, education, environment, family and health and wellness.
    “Behind the scenes, members who choose to be reviewers, read, rate and discuss the nonprofits, and decide which ones will be asked for a full grant application,” Robinson said.
    At that point, the field was narrowed down to 29. “Those organizations received a 90-minute site visit, and from there, the members decided who would be the finalist in each category,” she said.
    On April 18, those five made a presentation to the Impact 100 members at the Marriott hotel in Delray Beach, outlining how they planned to spend the money if they won the funding, how they would impact south Palm Beach County and how they planned to make their proposed program sustainable.
    After the presentations, the members voted.
    While the top two nonprofits received the bulk of the money, the three other nonprofits received the remaining funds.
They were: Delray Beach Center for the Arts at Old School Square’s program, Delray Reads — Summer Glide; Coastal Conservation Association of Florida’s south Palm Beach County artificial reef habitat project; and Children’s Home Society — Family 4 Kids.                       

Jazz fusion band Oriente will perform at the Arts Garage on May 11. Photo provided

By Greg Stepanich

    Although the arts center she has run for two years was in danger last month of going the way of the Florida Philharmonic or Ballet Florida, Alyona Ushe says she didn’t allow herself to think of that possibility.
“I didn’t have the luxury,” said Ushe, executive director of the Arts Garage in Delray Beach. “If you’re going to fight for something you believe in, you have to believe you’re going to be successful.”
    And the fight to keep the Arts Garage in place at 180 NE First St. ended April 16 with a decision by the Delray Beach City Commission to leave the nonprofit where it is for now, rather than make it surrender its city-owned space to a law firm that wanted to use it for a call center. The commission gave the Garage 2½ years to raise enough money to buy the space, and Ushe is aiming to bring in about $3.5 million.
    “We’re convinced that we can do it,” said Ushe, whose office now has six full-time employees.
She may expand that to $5 million if the Arts Warehouse on Northeast Third Street is added in. The city bought that building for around $1.1 million in 2010.
    “In our ideal world, in a perfect world, we would have an arts district in Pineapple Grove that would have two cornerstones, two anchors. One would be the Warehouse and the other would be us,” she said. “With the Artists Alley exploding as well, it begins to feel like a true arts district.
    “And hopefully, we can stop having this knee-jerk reaction to everything that happens here, and look at a strategic plan, look at what’s best for the city, look at what’s best for the arts district, for the artists. ”
    As it happens, it will be a busy May for the Garage.
    In theater, the Garage’s Performing Arts School will present the dance musical Footloose (May 16-19), while in music, jazz pianist Dolph Castellano (May 10) and Miami timba band Tiempo Libre (May 25) are scheduled, along with jazz fusion band Oriente (May 11), funk-Latin band Aaron Lebos Reality (May 24), and blues guitarist Doug Deming with harmonica player Dennis Gruenling (May 18). The month opens May 3 and May 4 with Voices of Pride, the gay men’s chorus, in two concerts to mark the ensemble’s 10th anniversary.
    Programs through the summer are booked, and the group is working now on the upcoming season, Ushe said. Lou Tyrrell’s Theater at Arts Garage, which wrapped its season last month with the world premiere of Duncan Macmillan’s Lungs, will mount four productions next season, one more than it did in 2012-13.  
    Ushe said she was “humbled” by the support Arts Garage has received.
    “It’s a new lease on life,” she said. “We have time to make a significant difference and solidify permanently our future here in this county.”
    To donate to Arts Garage, call 450-6357 or visit www.artsgarage.org.

    It’s your choice: The Grammy-nominated concert choir Seraphic Fire, which added Boca Raton’s St. Gregory’s Episcopal Church to its regular roster of venues two seasons ago, closes its current season at the church May 9 with a program called Cathedral Classics.
    This will be a concert of requested pieces drawn from ideas submitted from 323 people on the choir’s email list. As of late April, the program hadn’t been finalized, but some of the most popular choices were Gregorio Allegri’s Miserere, Mozart’s Ave verum corpus, the Alleluia of Randall Thompson and Thomas Tallis’ If Ye Love Me.
    The Boca concert comes two days after the release of the group’s newest disc, titled Seraphic Fire. It’s a collection primarily of contemporary sacred music. The choir, founded by Patrick Dupré Quigley, also learned last month that it is the recipient of a $12,500 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to support its next recording, which will be called American Voices and should be released in September 2014.
    Seraphic Fire will return to St. Gregory’s for the 2013-’14 season, which will include a newly commissioned completion by American composer Gregory Spears of the Mozart Requiem, J.S. Bach’s Magnificat, and Haydn’s Seven Last Words. The choir’s two Christmas-themed concerts — a selection of carols by candlelight and Handel’s Messiah — have been sellouts at St. Gregory’s, and the other concerts have had attendance in the 70-to-80 percent range.  
“We surpassed our expectations in attendance there, and that goes in hand in hand with the level of support we get through donations,” communications manager Michael Burgess said. “This is a community that has embraced Seraphic Fire.”
    The concert begins at 7:30 p.m. at the church just outside Mizner Park. Tickets are $38. Call (305) 285-9060 or visit www.seraphicfire.org to buy them in advance.

This image by George Banet of Highland Beach is in the All-Florida Juried Competition at the Boca Raton Museum of Art.

    State of talent: For more than six decades, the Boca Museum of Art has hosted a juried competition devoted solely to artists from Florida. The 62nd version of the All-Florida Juried Competition and Exhibition opens at the museum May 8 and runs through July 14.
    About 550 artists from across the state submitted pieces. This year’s juror, Mark Scala, chief curator at the Frist Center for the Visual Arts in Nashville, chose 149 pieces by 122 artists for the exhibit, including paintings, drawings, sculptures, photographs, videos and installations.
Kelli Bodle, an assistant curator at the museum and the curator of the exhibition, said photography is a major part of this exhibition, along with large abstract paintings.
    “In society, more people are picking up cameras. They’re more convenient now, and people are using them for fine arts careers,” Bodle said. “That is definitely the most predominant form for this show.”
 Bodle said the exhibit demonstrates that Florida has substantial arts activity.
    “From my personal perspective as someone who has lived in the Midwest and the Northeast, we have just as vibrant an arts scene here,” she said. “Miami is burgeoning, Palm Beach is doing well … We’re hitting almost every county or tri-county region (in the show), and every part of the state seems to have their own little artist enclaves.”
    The museum at Mizner Park is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday, noon to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Adult admission is $8; seniors 65 and older get in for $6. Call 392-2500 or visit www.bocamuseum.org.

    Notes: This is the last month to see the Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens’ farewell exhibit by its retiring curator, Tom Gregersen. He shares “cool stuff” from the Delray museum’s vaults as a meditation on the art and culture of Japan. The exhibit closes May 19 … Michael Fagien began his Jazziz magazine 30 years ago while a medical student at the University of Florida, and operated a Jazziz Bistro for some years at the Seminole Casino in Hollywood. His club at Mizner Park, Jazziz Nightlife, opened May 1 with actress-singer Molly Ringwald. Other acts this month include Nicole Henry (May 9), Larry Carlton (May 15-16), the Yellowjackets (May 22-23), and Nestor Torres (May 29-30).

Nicholas Michael Kaleel of Ocean Ridge is preparing to graduate from Saint Andrew’s School in Boca Raton.  Commencement exercises will take place at the Chapel of Saint Andrew the Apostle on the school’s campus. Prior to Saint Andrew’s, Kaleel attended Gulf Stream School.
Graduating with honors, he is a member of Junior Achievement and attended two Harvard Model Congress meetings in Boston, the largest congressional simulation conferences in the world.
An avid runner, Kaleel was co-captain of Saint Andrew’s boy’s varsity cross-country team.  The team attended state championships for two consecutive years. He was also a member of the boy’s varsity track and field team.
Kaleel was a Bethesda Hospital teen and Food for Families volunteer.  He is a lifeguard at the De-Vos Blum Family YMCA in Boynton Beach.  His hobbies include cycling and surfing.  Kaleel will attend the University of Miami this August.
Photo provided

Neil Austrian, chairman and CEO of Office Depot, gave a glimpse into the future at the monthly gathering of the Greater Boca Raton Chamber of Commerce. Austrian explained how the failed merger between Office Depot and Staples helped the company strategize with Office Max more efficiently and said the deal is expected to be completed by the end of the year. ABOVE: Mary Wong, president of Office Depot Foundation, and Neil Austrian of Gulf Stream. Photo provided

Third-graders Isabela Chido, Boynton Beach, and Casandra Jones, Delray Beach, give each other high-fives after taking first place in a quiz about trash and recycling.  All grade levels at St. Joseph’s Episcopal School in Boynton Beach took part in the Earth Day celebration.  The school has been awarded a 2013 Green School of Excellence for Palm Beach County for the second year by the Palm Beach County Solid Waste Authority.  Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

Robert Souaid of Gulf Stream, new to the board of the Caridad Center, and his wife, Jane, hosted a cocktail party at their home to introduce the Gulf Stream community to the work being done at Caridad Center. Located in western Boynton Beach, it is the largest free medical, dental and vision clinic in Florida.

LEFT: Jane and Bob Souaid.

RIGHT: Scott and Hilary Wilson, Delray Beach.

RIGHT: Marilyn Mayer, Rob Mayer, Gulf Stream.

RIGHT: Herve and Vanessa Puyplat,
Ocean Ridge.

Photos provided