Plaza del Mar showcased the fashions of its retailers during its Feb. 22 fashion show. The show featured looks from retailers Angela Moore, Posh, Jeannie’s Ocean Boutique, Sea Stallion Traders, Evelyn & Arthur, Stepping Out Shoes, The Cashmere Shop, Via Condotti and Jewelry Artisans.  Photo by Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

Election Results: Malcolm Balfour - 284 | Joe Ferrell - 174 | Rosemary Mouring - 80

One council member will be selected for a three-year term to the Group 2 seat previously held by Councilwoman Cindy Austino. Councilman Lynn Moorhouse was re-elected to a fourth term in Group 1 without opposition. If no candidate receives more than 50 percent of the vote, March 12, a runoff between the top two vote getters will be held March 26.

Malcolm Balfour
Personal: 75, married, two grown daughters, English and sociology degrees.

Professional: Retired celebrity television and newspaper journalist and editor, including 27 years at the New York Post, seven years at the National Enquirer and stints with Inside Edition and Hard Copy.

Political experience:  Former chairman of the Lantana Nature Preserve Commission.

Position on issues: Wants to help guide the redevelopment of the A.G. Holley Hospital property for suitable business use to rebuild the town tax base. Thinks the town should guard against a proliferation of drug rehabilitation houses. Believes a balanced Town Council is important.
 
Quote: “We’re fighting to keep Lantana the quaint, small town that it is.”

Joe Farrell
Personal:  50, married, no children, degree in business administration.

Professional: Architectural design consultant for flooring companies. Formerly a flooring contractor.

Political experience: Town Planning Commissionmember. Lost council election in 2011.

Position on issues: Wants a Max Planck or Scripps-type development on the A.G. Holley Hospital property or, at worst, light industrial or mixed use. The resulting larger tax base would allow the redevelopment of downtown. Supports public parking from the beach to the library and traffic calming measures along U.S. 1.

Quote: “Lantana needs to shed the ‘50s mentality.”

Rosemary Mouring
Personal: 66, married, two grown sons, attended Palm Beach Junior College.

Professional: Retired retail manager and banking employee. President of the Lantana Historical Society and officer in several other community organizations.

Political experience: Lantana Planning Commission member, Library board member. Unsuccessful mayoral candidate in 2004 and 2006.

Position on issues: Wants to lead an amicable resolution with the state of the sale of the A.G. Holley Hospital. Wants to see business move in on the property but not big box stores. Would push to make sure the Ocean Avenue bridge opens on schedule to revitalize the businesses along the street.

Quote: “We call Lantana a small town fishing village for a good reason.”

By Thom Smith

A year ago this month, Florida Atlantic University President Mary Jane Saunders decided the school’s athletics department needed a kick in the pants. She started at the top, firing Athletic Director Craig Angelos. Granted, the new stadium had been built on his watch, but fund-raising and marketing weren’t where she thought they should be. The athletics budget of nearly $16 million realized only $1.35 million from donations.
    When Howard Schnellenberger coached his last game, on Dec. 3, 2011, a crowd of 15,000 was announced. In reality, fewer than 5,000 turned out. No way to treat a legend.  
    Say hello to Patrick Chun, 38, from Ohio State, where he was responsible for development, building the endowment, strategic planning and management of a program with a $126 million budget.
    Saunders and Chun are wasting no time.
    Last fall Chun negotiated FAU’s move from the Sun Belt Conference to Conference USA. It’s not the Southeastern Conference, but it’s a big step forward. About the same time, the school negotiated a new agreement with the city of Boca Raton that allows a maximum of 26 events at the stadium, up from 15. In addition to football, that means special events such as the Dec. 16 soccer exhibition between the U.S. Women’s National Team and China.
                                       ***
    Schnellenberger’s replacement, Carl Pelini, had a rough go in his first year —  winning three and losing nine — but he’s optimistic about his first recruiting class of 25 prospects. Men’s basketball is just on the short side, but Coach Mike Jarvis has a new three-year contract. Baseball, perennially the school’s strongest sport, has a Sun Belt title to defend, but other sports are under review.
    Chun’s first hire will be to replace 14-year women’s soccer coach Brian Dooley, who left to become associate head coach at Missouri. Despite an over-all record of 139-113 at FAU and Atlantic Sun Conference titles in 2002, 2003 and 2005 and a national tournament appearance in 2005, the program never reached the contender level. The men’s soccer team has fared far worse, winning only two games last fall under Coach Kos Donev, who has been at FAU longer than any coach — 25 years.
    On March 4, the only thing on the line at the FAU Arena will be fun: The Harlem Globetrotters will be in the house.
                                       ***
    Owlcatraz?  On Feb. 19, FAU announced that the GEO Group, through its charitable foundation, will donate $6 million over the next 12 years for naming rights to the stadium. GEO runs 101 prisons, jails and treatment centers in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia and South Africa. The tie to FAU is genuine: GEO is based in Boca. Chairman George Zoley is an FAU alumnus and chaired the school’s board of trustees.
But not so fast. After 40 unhappy students staged a sit-in outside Saunders’ office, she agreed to a public meeting to discuss the matter. The students demanded  the agreement be rescinded after accusing the GEO Group of human rights violations at its facilities. This could take some time.
                                        ***
    Finally, something both Republicans and Democrats affected positively. According to a study by Lynn University, the immediate economic impact on Palm Beach County from the Oct. 22 presidential debate was $13.1 million. Bed tax revenue for October was up 22 percent over the previous year, to $1.79 million. Hotel occupancy in Boca on the night of Oct. 22 was a whopping 89 percent.
    But was it worth it? Lynn spent slightly more than $4.5 million in preparation, $3 million from its funds and $1.5 million from donations. Of that, $2.2 million was used to develop the technology needed to host the debate, much of which will be used in university programs. Next fall, all incoming freshmen will receive iPads containing the core curriculum.
    The study revealed that media mentions of Lynn and Boca Raton reached more than 500 million individuals worldwide. With an estimated 59.2 million viewers, the debate ranked only behind the Super Bowl and the Olympics. A nationwide telephone survey revealed that after watching the debate and associated telecasts, 4.7 million adults want to visit the area. Down the road, the debate’s publicity value could total $63 million for Lynn University and the city.  
                                        ***
    Boca also enjoyed publicity and financial boosts from the Allianz Championship. A worldwide TV audience of 150 million in at least 174 countries certainly helps. So does $1,000 from Allianz for each for the 17 birdies by its touring pro Tom Lehman — $8,500 each to Junior Achievement and the Alzheimer’s Association. Thanks to Corey Paven, another $17,000 went to Boca Raton Regional Hospital’s Toppel Family Place Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, courtesy of the Moabery Family Foundation. Its new “Champion’s Challenge” pledges $1,000 for birdies and $5,000 for eagles scored by the defending champion.
    Not much waste, either. Putting on a “green” event, tournament organizers strive to leave the area cleaner than they found it and to reduce waste. To that end, two and a half pallets of unused food were donated to Boca Helping Hands to feed local individuals and families.
                                       Chefs from the Boca Raton Resort & Club accept top honors in several categories Feb. 7 at The Junior League of Boca Raton’s Flavors of Boca event.  Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

Boca’s Junior League has no regrets about replacing Chocolate Decadence with its new, more broad-based Flavors of Boca. Participating vendors still offered up sweets in the courtyard at Boca Center, but they also showed off other dishes, highlighted by the Boca Raton Resort & Club’s zippy paella, which won the judge’s nod for best “flavor of Boca.” The resort also won for best beverage and savory dish. Cupcake Couture offered the best presentation,  and the tiramisu from Nick’s  New Haven Style Pizzeria & Bar took dessert honors.
    “We were very pleased,” Junior League President Jackie Reeves said. “Our attendance was similar to prior years and the new format for the center allowed for a much improved traffic flow.”
                                       ***
    The disappointment of Parker, the locally filmed thriller starring Jason Statham and Jennifer Lopez and directed by Taylor Hackford proves that talent doesn’t guarantee success, especially in the Palm Beaches.
    Jim Belushi would agree. The star of According to Jim who headlined the University of Miami’s Department of Neurology gala at The Breakers on Feb. 2 has been here before.
    In 1991, Belushi starred in a sexy crime thriller, originally titled Beyond Suspicion, with Lorraine Bracco and Tony Goldwyn. (Goldwyn now stars as philandering President Fitzgerald Grant on Scandal).  To learn how cops operated, Belushi joined sheriff’s deputies on patrol. When one suspect tried to break free, Belushi tried to give chase until a deputy reminded him of the studio’s investment. Later, when cops noticed a foul smell, he did help move a stove, behind which they found a rat, a dirty rat.
    Universally trashed by critics, it claims a lowly 4.8 rating (scale of 10) on the Internet Movie Database. The producing Samuel Goldwyn Co. (Tony’s family) canceled premieres in New York and L.A., opting for a low-key event at the Royal Poinciana Playhouse in Palm Beach to benefit American Red Cross Hurricane Andrew relief.
    In January 1993, Belushi returned for a benefit at the Kravis Center for Good Samaritan Hospital’s Comprehensive Cancer Center, but some folks obviously hadn’t seen Traces of Red. While taking photos, society photographer Mort Kaye pulled out his notebook and obliviously asked Belushi: “How do you spell the last name?”  
                                       ***
    Movies are still around, thank heaven, but theater owners are trying all sorts of new ideas. Witness iPic’s luxurious multiplex in Boca’s Mizner Park, highlighted by Tanzy restaurant. On Atlantic Avenue at Lyons Road out west, what once was farmland is now Delray Marketplace with Frank Theatres CineBowl and Grille.  It features 12 screens, one showing Imax films … and a restaurant  … and two bars … and a video arcade … and, yes, a 16-lane bowling alley.
    Siblings Bruce and Debbie Frank are serious movie lovers. Their grandfather opened his first movie house in 1906 in Philadelphia. But they’re open to anything that pulls people away from their iPads and big-screen TVs.
                                       ***
A big high five to restaurateur Burt Rapoport (Rapoport’s Restaurant Group which runs Henry’s, Bogart’s, Deck 84, E & J’s Sandwich Shop and Burt & Max’s), one of seven regional finalists from 100 entries nationwide for the 2013 U.S. Chamber of Commerce Small Business of the Year Award.  Winners will be announced April 30.
                                       ***
    Ryan Artim, who built quite a reputation as executive sous chef at The Ritz-Carlton in Manalapan, has left the kitchen … and the resort business. But he hasn’t strayed far. Artim has signed on as assistant general manager at The Polo Club of Boca Raton.

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

‘All those times we looked up at the sky,  
Looking out so far  
we felt like we could fly.’
— Grace Potter
& The Nocturnals

By Steve Pike

The winter season in Palm Beach County is prime time for stargazing. And not the kind that involves Rod Stewart and Donald Trump. The heavens come alive in South Florida’s cool winter nights, and from Palm Beach to Boca Raton there are plenty of venues and programs to attract adults and children.
    Over the past couple of months, planets Mars and Jupiter were clearly visible without telescopes; but with a telescope, the heavens truly open up.
For example, the planet Uranus will cross a corner of Cetus the whale on March 3; on March 12, the PanSTARRS comet will appear 28 degrees away from Uranus.
    Mars will be in the western twilight sky until March, and Jupiter, although not as bright as it was in December, will be visible through June.
Here is a rundown of various places in Palm Beach County that offer night-sky viewing.

Science Museum
    A good place to start for families is the South Florida Science Museum’s observatory, which provides views of the night skies over the Palm Beaches through its 14-inch, F-11 Schmidt-Cassegrain Celestron Telescope.
    Damaged in the wake of Hurricane Wilma, the observatory reopened last year and offers public viewing from 6 to 10 p.m. the last Friday of each month through its “Nights at the Museum” program.     The South Florida Science Museum is the only public planetarium in Palm Beach County. The planetarium presents daily shows utilizing a traditional star projector, as well as full-dome digital video presentations on a variety of scientific topics.

Address: 4801 Dreher Trail N., West Palm Beach
Dates: Last Friday of each month
Admission: $11 for non-members; $7 for children non-members; $5 for members;  free for children 3 and under; free for members 12 and under
Phone: 832-1988
Website: www.sfsm.org

Astronomical Society
The Astronomical Society of the Palm Beaches conducts monthly observing sessions in dark-sky and urban locations. There is no age restriction for membership.
Meetings are held at 7:30 p.m. the first Wednesday of each month at the Motorola Science Theatre at the South Florida Science Museum just north of the Palm Beach Zoo in West Palm Beach. They include  presentations on a variety of topics related to astronomy.
Address: 4801 Dreher Trail N., West Palm Beach
Dates: Meeting is first Wednesday of the month; viewings scheduled throughout month
Membership: $30 (single or family)
Website: www.palmbeach astro.org

Ritz-Carlton
The Ritz-Carlton Palm Beach has a pair of Meade Instruments telescopes on its oceanfront property in Manalapan. Members of the Astronomical Society work with spectators (hotel guests and the public) to see the stars and planets.
    The Ritz-Carlton Palm Beach doesn’t charge for the telescope viewings, but there is a charge for the food and beverage services. (Don’t miss the caviar tacos at Angle Restaurant.)
Address: 100 S. Ocean Blvd., Manalapan
Dates: Select
Admission: No charge
Phone: 933-6000
Website: www.ritzcarlton.com

Schoolhouse Museum
The Schoolhouse Children’s Museum & Learning Center in Boynton Beach offers stargazing as part of its “From the Oceans to the Stars” program. The stargazing, open to all ages, will be from 8 to 9 p.m. on select Fridays, on the lawn to the east of the museum building.
    “We have a very high-powered telescope that was donated to us a few years ago by the Hunter’s Run community in Boynton Beach. It’s really a lot of fun for families to come out and see things in the sky they can’t see with their ordinary vision,” said Lindsey Nuzzo, marketing and development manager for the museum and learning center.
    Address: 129 E. Ocean Ave., Boynton Beach
Dates: Select Fridays
Admission: $6.50 per class for members ($32 for all eight sessions);  $7.50 per class for non-members ($40 for all eight sessions)
Phone: 742-6786
Website: www.schoolhousemuseum.org

FAU
In Boca Raton, the Astronomical Observatory at Florida Atlantic University is housed under a 4-meter dome. FAU students, faculty, staff and members of the general public can attend the observatory’s public viewing events. The telescope is mounted on a small platform, at the top of stairs, looking out of the roof of the building.
    Public viewing sessions are scheduled for 7 p.m. on the first and third Tuesday of each month. There is no charge.
Address: 777 Glades Road, Boca Raton (Science Building, fourth floor)
Dates: First and third Tuesdays
Admission: No charge
Phone: 297-3000
Website: www.physics.fau.edu/observatory

Science Explorium
    Also in Boca Raton, the Children’s Science Explorium has its “Eyes to the Skies” program ongoing through May 17. The program, free to the public, features a 16-inch Meade LX Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope.
Address: 300 S. Military Trail, Boca Raton
Dates: Through May 17, weather permitting
Admission: No charge
Phone: 347-3913
Website: www.scienceexplorium.org     

        COMET-WATCHING  OPPORTUNITIES

March 5: Comet PanSTARRS passes closest to Earth at 1.10 astronomical units (AU). One AU equals one Earth-sun distance, about 93 million miles. In other words, this comet will pass slightly farther from us than our distance from the sun. No worries about it hitting us.
March 10: The comet passes closest to the sun — as close as our sun’s innermost planet, Mercury — at 0.30 AU, or about 28 million miles. Comets are typically brightest and most active around the time they are closest to the sun, when solar heating vaporizes ice and dust from the comet’s outer crust. Not only will the comet quickly brighten, but it also should develop the long classic comet dust tail.
Throughout March: The comet could be visible in the northern hemisphere evening sky, low in the west, after sunset. It will move northward each evening during March as it moves from in front of the constellation Pisces to in front of the constellations Pegasus and Andromeda. At this time, the comet might have a bright dust tail, and perhaps be visible to the unaided eye or binoculars.

Source: South Florida Science Museum

The Plate: Classic Eggs Benedict
The Place: 50 Ocean, 50 S. Ocean Blvd., Delray Beach; 278-3364 or 50ocean.com
The Price: $12
The Skinny: There’s no plate like Eggs Benedict for the Hollandaise.
And no matter how far away you roam, the view from 50 Ocean will keep you coming back — not just for brunch, but for lunch and dinner.
We were there recently for brunch, and the menu is nice, though not extensive, with lots of egg dishes and vegetarian options.
The Classic Eggs Benedict had generous slices of Canadian bacon, and was served with a light Hollandaise sauce that kept it all grounded.
You could wash it down with a Bloody Mary. That seems like the perfect way to start a Sunday, if you ask us.
                                               — Scott Simmons

Mary-Kate Eriksen of Hypoluxo Island is one of five seniors from The Alexander W. Dreyfoos School of the Arts to have been nominated for the prestigious Presidential Scholars Award. Inclusion in the U.S. Presidential Scholars Program, now in its 49th year, is one of the highest honors bestowed upon graduating high school seniors. Scholars are selected on the basis of superior academic achievements, leadership qualities, strong character and involvement in community and school activities. 101 students will make the final academic cut nationally and 20 will be named Presidential Scholars in the Arts.  The final Presidential Scholars will be announced in May. Photo provided

Burt Reynolds gives advice to Marlin Wagner, a student who performed solo moments before.
Photo provided

By Thom Smith

    The flu put him in the hospital for several days, but nothing was going to keep Burt Reynolds from going “home” — theatrically. On the occasion of its 60th anniversary, the Lake Worth Playhouse honored Burt on Feb. 9 with its first Lifetime Achievement Award during  a $150-a-plate dinner. Burt returned the salute by regaling the gathering with recollections of days long past, many of them spent on the playhouse stage.
    Burt expected to be a performer … on the football field. But injuries at Florida State forced a detour. Returning home in 1957, he enrolled at Palm Beach Junior College, where he happened to take a class from raconteur, professor and playhouse supporter Watson B. Duncan. Duncan persuaded Reynolds to hit the boards, casting him as the lead in a school production of Outward Bound.  Off to summer stock, he met a young actress: Joanne Woodward, who declined his date offer because she was engaged (to Paul Newman), but she did refer him to her agent.
The rest, as they say, is history; but even after he began working regularly in such shows as River Boat, Playhouse 90, Alfred Hitchcock Presents and M-Squad, Burt still found time to come home.
    In the summer of ’61, he directed and starred in the wartime drama A Sound of Hunting. Tickets were $1.50.
    “Tom Wolfe wasn’t from South Florida: You can go home again,” Burt said after dinner. “I am so touched to be honored by the Lake Worth Playhouse. It truly is a special place.”
                                       ***
    The disappointment of Parker, the locally filmed thriller starring Jason Statham and Jennifer Lopez and directed by Taylor Hackford (whose credits include Ray and An Officer and a Gentleman), proves that talent doesn’t guarantee success, especially in the Palm Beaches.
    Jim Belushi would agree. The star of According to Jim who headlined the University of Miami’s Department of Neurology gala at The Breakers on Feb. 2 has been here before.
    In 1991, Belushi starred in a sexy crime thriller, originally titled Beyond Suspicion, with Lorraine Bracco and Tony Goldwyn. (Goldwyn now stars as philandering President Fitzgerald Grant on Scandal).  To learn how cops operated, Belushi joined sheriff’s deputies on a couple of patrols. When one suspect tried to break free, Belushi tried to give chase until a deputy reminded him of the studio’s investment. Later, when cops noticed a foul smell, he did help move a stove, behind which they found a rat, a dirty rat.
    The title was changed twice, first to Trace of Red and finally pluralized to Traces of Red, but it didn’t help. Universally trashed by critics, it claims a lowly 4.8 rating (scale of 10) on the Internet Movie Database. The producing Samuel Goldwyn Co. (Tony’s family) canceled premieres in New York and L.A., opting for a low-key event at the Royal Poinciana Playhouse in Palm Beach to benefit American Red Cross Hurricane Andrew relief.
    In January 1993, Belushi returned for a benefit at the Kravis Center for Good Samaritan Hospital’s Comprehensive Cancer Center, but some folks obviously hadn’t seen Traces of Red. While taking photos of everyone in sight, society photographer Mort Kaye pulled out his notebook and obliviously asked Belushi: “How do you spell the last name?”  
                                       ***
    Movies are still around, thank heaven, but theater owners are trying all sorts of new ideas. Witness iPic’s luxurious multiplex in Boca’s Mizner Park, highlighted by Tanzy restaurant. On Atlantic Avenue at Lyons Road out west, what once was farmland is now Delray Marketplace with Frank Theatres CineBowl and Grille.  It features 12 screens, one showing Imax films … and a restaurant  … and two bars … and a video arcade … and, yes, a 16-lane bowling alley.
    Siblings Bruce and Debbie Frank are serious movie lovers. Their grandfather opened his first movie house in 1906 in Philadelphia. But they’re open to anything that pulls people away from their iPads and big-screen TVs.
                                       ***
    Try to remember … Half a century ago, a fresh-faced kid in his early 20s from White Plains by way of Denison College in Ohio, came to Broadway in search of fame and fortune. Less than a year later, in 1964, John Davidson debuted in Foxy starring Burt Lahr. A few months later, TV’s Hallmark Hall of Fame mounted a production of The Fantasticks with Lahr, Sterling Holloway, Ricardo Montalban and Davidson as The Boy (Matt).
    Last summer, Davidson returned to The Fantasticks, this time Off-Broadway, this time as The Old Actor (Henry), then showed up again in December as The Girl’s Father (Bellamy). At 72, he has no plans to slow down, but during a break from his golden anniversary tour, he’ll do six nights at home — Atlantis Country Club. Dinner shows — $65 — are set for March 8, 9, 10, 15, 16, 17. Call 965-5788.
    Don’t tarry; in April the Golden Tour moves to the Midwest, and, buoyed by a previous portrayal of Theodore Roosevelt in Bully!, he has another Broadway show in mind. “I can play Edward Kennedy,” he said recently. “There’s a wonderful, tragic hero.”

Members of the Greater Boynton Beach Chamber of Commerce help with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at TD Bank at Sunshine Square. The bank recently moved from A1A, south of Woolbright Road. Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

                                       ***
Names in the news:
    Five months. That’s how long Lake Worth architect Juan Contin has to find $4.5 million. He needs the money to finance the renovation and conversion of the old Boynton Beach High School building into an event, retail, restaurant and activity center. The City Commission agreed to cover permitting fees, but Contin must come up with a site plan by March 4. Think of Delray’s Old School Square with restaurants.  
                                       ***
    A big high five to restaurateur Burt Rapoport (Rapoport’s Restaurant Group which runs Henry’s, Bogart’s, Deck 84, E & J’s Sandwich Shop and Burt & Max’s), one of seven regional finalists from 100 entries nationwide for the 2013 U.S. Chamber of Commerce Small Business of the Year Award.  Winners will be announced April 30.
    Ryan Artim, who built quite a reputation as executive sous chef at The Ritz-Carlton in Manalapan, has left the kitchen … and the resort business. But he hasn’t strayed far. Artim has signed on as assistant general manager at The Polo Club of Boca Raton.
    Next!  
    The Omphoy in Palm Beach shows so much promise, but in baseball terms it appears to be assuming the role of a farm team. First, owner Jeff Greene signed on Miami celeb chef Michelle Bernstein. She left, citing the commute, and Greene elevated Bernstein protégée and Top Chef Texas competitor Lindsay Autry, who split after a few months and eventually became executive chef at Sundy House in Delray. Now Autry has been joined by Sarah Sipe, her pastry chef at The Omphoy.
                                       ***
    Speaking of restaurants, Jason and Bettina Seifts are on the move again. They still have their little red Crepes by the Sea cart that launched the business six years ago in Delray, but the creperie of the same name, which technically was never on the beach, has moved farther inland, like a block. First on Federal just north of Atlantic, they’re now in trendy Pineapple Grove. Much better location at 145 NE Fourth Ave., expanded hours, twice the space plus a covered patio for outside dining — and the choices! The expanded menu includes such choices as chicken and raspberry vinaigrette with cheeses, tomato and walnuts. How’s that sound? Or Cocoloco — coconut, banana, maple syrup and brown sugar? Plus an enlarged wine cellar and extensive collection of imported and craft beers and great coffees. Très bien.
                                       ***
    A block away, J.P. Kline is daring to go where many have trodden before without much longterm success.  He believes 3rd & 3rd (for Third Street and Third Avenue) will be a winner — unlike Las Hadas, Monterey Grille and, most recently, the second incarnation of Elwood’s.
    As chef/owner, Kline brings to retail his catering experience at John Paul Custom Cuisine, which included rave reviews for his food- and wine-tasting series at the Fort Lauderdale Museum of Art.
    Kline, who really developed his passion while living in Portugal, wants his food as fresh as possible, but says it also should be comfortable, creative, historic and genuinely enjoyable.
                                       ***
    Che sorpresa! Back in Pineapple Grove, the folks at SoLita want to do everything possible to keep you in the dark … and that’s a good thing. Customers who choose to “dine in the dark” on any Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday (reservations required) at the Italian eatery on Second Avenue just north of Atlantic are greeted with a blindfold. It doesn’t come off until the last morsel of finger food — that’s right, diners are urged to fully utilize their sense of touch on all three surprise courses.
    Servers wear night-vision goggles and cheerfully assist diners who can’t quite get a grip on a slippery shrimp or viscous vermicelli. Cost is $59. A wine flight, mated to each course is $15.
                                       ***
    That construction just south of Oceanfront Park in Ocean Ridge is not an extension to the parking lot, although the individual responsible for it might need a lot to handle just a few of his cars. According to Palm Beach County Property Appraiser records, the oceanfront property, diagonally across A1A from Town Hall, belongs to the 6393 Ocean Boulevard Trust and Bruce C. Etheridge is the trustee.     When finished, the house, reported to cover about 10,000 square feet, will belong to Ed Napleton, currently a resident of South Palm Beach and car dealer extraordinaire.
    Based in Chicago, the Napleton family owns 69 dealerships in four states. If you want a car, you can find just about any make on one of Ed’s 36 lots, including Acura and Hyundai in West Palm Beach; Hyundai, Chrysler and Dodge in Lake Park; Nissan and Kia in Riviera Beach and Jeep in Lake Park.
    He also runs a top-rate racing operation: In January, Napleton’s Porsche Cayman blew away the field in the new GX class at the 24 Hours of Daytona. One of Napleton’s drivers is Jupiter resident Shane Lewis.

There goes the neighborhood.
In the next few months WalMart will open a grocery story on South Federal in Delray, just north of the C-15 Canal. Consequently, something has to go, that being the Jacob Hybrid Fitness Center, formerly Level 5. It will move a few blocks south to the Hidden Valley shopping center, probably a wise choice, since competition is setting up shop at the corner of Federal and Linton.
No confirmation yet, but lawyers for LA Fitness recently requested to appear before the city board that regulates signs. They need city approval to change the big signs at Plaza at Delray.
Here’s the big surprise: LA Fitness is in; Regal 18 Cinema is out.
Even though the movie business just enjoyed its best year ever, and Regal just bought Hollywood Theaters, a chain the runs 513 screens in 43 multiplexes. Go figure.
The closest movie house for those along the coast in the Delray and Boynton area, will now be at the Boynton Beach Mall on Congress Avenue or at Delray Square, just east of Military Trail.

Chefs from the Boca Raton Resort & Club accept top honors in several categories Feb. 7 at The Junior League of Boca Raton’s Flavors of Boca event.  Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

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

Adolphus ‘Dolph’ Orthwein and Leverett Miller play polo at the old Gulfstream Polo.

Photos courtesy of the Orthwein family

By Tim Pallesen

Polo put the luster in Gulf Stream in the town’s early days.
Socialites, movie stars and even royalty flocked to the town that the Phipps family chose to be the Winter Polo Capital of the World.
“People would come in yachts to watch polo,” recalled Steve Orthwein, who grew up in Gulf Stream, lived next to the stables and played polo as a boy.
Gulfstream Polo still exists today — 90 years after it opened in 1923. The club moved to western Lake Worth in 1965.
But the 1920s and 1950s were the glory years. The original vision for Gulf Stream to be an exclusive resort for the Sport of Kings helped to define the town’s character today.
The sons of industrialist Henry S. Phipps began by buying 25 miles of oceanfront when a road was built between Palm Beach and Boca Raton in 1913.
The Phipps family wintered in Palm Beach, but the polo-playing sons wanted a more reserved setting where America’s richest families could play their favorite sport.

An aerial view shows the Gulfstream Polo grounds.

Gulf Stream became that enclave. Addison Mizner designed the elegant Gulf Stream Club, and three polo fields opened with stables for 150 horses and a complex of frame cottages for players and their families.
The Phipps brothers built oceanfront mansions across from the polo fields and sold land to wealthy friends who wanted nearby mansions, too.
Sunday polo matches in Gulf Stream drew spectators from Palm Beach to Miami.
In the early days, ladies wore long dresses and hats. Spectators who arrived by yacht from Palm Beach were a spectacle themselves.
“The story was they always had their lunch at the Bath & Tennis Club before they took their boats to watch polo,” said William Corey, a Delray Beach polo player whose father competed in Gulf Stream.

Handlers tend to horses at the old Gulfstream Polo stables in the town of Gulf Stream.

Wartime closure
The club was temporarily shut down during World War II when the U.S. Coast Guard used the stables for horses that military officers rode to patrol the beaches looking for enemy submarines.
Two of the best polo players, Michael Phipps and Gulf Stream resident Stewart Iglehart, resurrected the polo games in 1946.
Polo players came from clubs in New York, Chicago, Milwaukee and Detroit each winter. Phipps arrived from Palm Beach by seaplane.
Movie stars Cary Grant and Ava Gardner mingled in the crowd with the Duke and Duchess of Windsor.
“It was a major social event back in the 1950s and we got very good crowds,” Orthwein said.
The biggest turnout of 4,000 spectators came to watch international playboy Porfirio Rubirosa and the Trujilo Polo Club of Santo Domingo play a Gulf Stream team in 1953.

Porfirio Rubirosa, the ex-husband of Barbara Hutton, was a popular player at Gulfstream.

The ladies always attended when Rubirosa, the former husband of Barbara Hutton, performed on a polo pony. “He was always an attraction,” Orthwein recalled.

Less glitzy today
The Gulfstream Polo Club of today is a much different place as it quietly celebrates its 90th anniversary.
The club moved to western Lake Worth when oceanfront land prices skyrocketed in the 1960s. A dozen polo players, led by Philip Iglehart, bought 100 acres for polo fields surrounded by 450 acres for their private stables.
The professional polo players now compete at the International Polo Club in nearby Wellington. Northern businessmen fly in on weekends to compete at Gulfstream.
“This is a club for members to join for fun,” Gulfstream president Randy Aversano said. “We encourage games without professionals where a bunch of friends can just get together and play.
“The International Polo Club is a wonderful place,” Aversano added, but those guys play hired guns against hired guns. Our games aren’t so intense.”
The Gulfstream Polo story nearly ended in 2006 when a housing developer offered $66.5 million to buy 221 acres.
“When the boom was alive, developers were offering fortunes for land,” Orthwein said. “The history of polo is that the land becomes too valuable for polo.”
That developer pulled out when the housing market collapsed.
But the Gulfstream properties are the largest undeveloped parcel remaining in the urban corridor between Boca Raton and Jupiter.
“The only thing that would keep us from our 100th anniversary would be if the price of real estate went way up again,” Orthwein said.
Until then, Gulfstream survives as the only polo club where anyone can stable a polo pony and receive lessons on fields where they play in a match.
“We’re the last remaining club of its kind in the country,” Aversano said. “We want to do this as long as we can.”          
Polo players Joe Casey (left), Len Bernard, K. Colee and Porfirio Rubirosa take a closer look at a trophy after a match.

Comedian Tom Cotter (right), the first comedian to be a finalist in America’s Got Talent, was the featured entertainer at the seventh annual Laugh With The Library. Five hundred people attended the sold-out event,  which raised more than $72,000 to help fund children and teen programs at the Delray Beach Public Library.  

ABOVE: Emcee Suzanne Boyd — news anchor at WPEC-TV, Ch. 12 — presents a raffle prize to Mary Boutin of Bank Atlantic.
Photos by Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

The fourth annual Boca Raton Fine Art Show presented $1,500 in awards to seven professional artists based on criteria including technique, execution, originality and booth appearance. Delray Beach resident Andrew Swan (above) won a $100 Award of Excellence for drawing and was among 125 juried artists from around the world.

At right is one of the pieces that earned Swan his purple ribbon. Photos provided

Love was in the air at a black-tie affair honoring Frances Bourque, founder of the center at Old School Square, and raising $57,000 for events, exhibits and educational opportunities. Broadway star Christine Andreas performed.
ABOVE: Event co-chairs Sean and Michelle Donahue, with Patty and Rod Jones.

LEFT: Frances Bourque, with husband Bob. Photos by Thomas Carter

The Boynton Beach/Lantana Rotary Club has awarded the first scholarship for a student of the United States to attend the May 28-29 Molecular Frontiers Annual Symposium in Stockholm, Sweden at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. Destiny Andrews, a certified student pilot and a junior at Boynton Beach High School’s BASA Aviation Academy will be accompanied by her physics teacher, Nicole Neuhengen and Rotary Club past-president Deborah Donnelly-McLay, who is a member of the Strategic Board of Molecular Frontiers. By partnering with Molecular Frontiers, Rotary gives students the opportunity to learn and expand in the areas of science, while forming an international fellowship bond. Photo (from left): Boynton Beach High School physics teacher Nicole Neuhengen, Boynton Beach/Lantana Rotary Club President Dr. Gay Voss, Boynton Beach/Lantana Rotary Club Past President Deborah Donnelly-McLay, scholarship recipient Destiny Andrews, and Destiny’s mother, Heather Andrews. Photo provided

When members of the library’s Quilting Bee heard the facility’s 100th birthday was coming up in April, they decided to create a beautiful textile to commemorate the milestone. The quilt is finished and on display, featuring old photos of the women who founded the library, as well as other memorabilia. Photo (from left): Sharon Horn, Linda Thompson, Karen Pugh, Melinda Schwartz, Nancy Dockerty, Joann Haros, Sarah Creles, Penny Stone, Dodie Watson, Linda Bouvier, Orla Englander and Hope Burtman. Photo provided

Members of the Delray Beach Art Club exhibited their works during the third annual Delray Beach Art Show on Feb. 8.
Photo: Painter Barbara Montgomery O’Connell and guest Kate McCarthy.
Mary Thurwachter/
The Coastal Star

ABOVE: Shari Dunham (center) and Laura Murray of Delray Beach (right) sample Lantana resident Joe Farrell’s ‘Flying Pig’s Revenge’ chili during the 16th Annual Chili Cook-off on Feb. 16 at Old School Square Park in Delray Beach.

RIGHT: Delray resident Jean Lebrevelec (right) high-fives competitor Farrell after Lebrevelec won ‘chef’s choice’ in the traditional chili category. Lebrevelec also won ‘people’s choice.’ Photos by Kurtis Boggs/The Coastal Star

This couple counts 69 years — so far — of married life. They were friends for a decade before he popped the question, and they remain best of friends today.
They got hitched in 1943, just four days after Mike graduated officers school, and only a couple days after they first discussed the idea of marriage. But once the bit was between his teeth, Mike seized the first excuse for a wedding.
On the spur of the moment — when the couple discovered all planes were grounded for a planned trip from Chicago to New York — Mike suggested they get married instead.
“I didn’t do it; it was all him,” insists Lillian. So instead of driving home to wait for the weather to clear, the couple stored their bags, caught a cab and got a blood test on their way to City Hall.
“We stopped at Marshall Field’s, too, because I’d lost my gloves,” Lillian chimes in.
The newlyweds then made a switch from planes to trains, and ended up honeymooning in a private room on the 20th Century Limited from Chicago to New York City.
“Everyone said it wouldn’t last,” says Lillian. “I don’t exactly know why I said ‘yes’, but I’m awfully glad I did. He’s a keeper.”
The couple — she was an interior designer, he won sales awards at automotive dealerships — moved to Abbey Delray South in 2005. An Oriental flair is evident in much of the artwork and décor in the apartment, which features bright rugs and white sofas.
When Lillian turned 100 last March, no fewer than four parties commemorated the occasion, while Mike looked proudly on, telling any and everyone that he was five years, seven months and 10 days younger than his wife.
“I studied the actuarial tables,” he says wryly. “I knew women lived longer than men.”
So what’s kept them together through the decades?
“Glue!” quips Mike, as Lillian tackles the question head on.
“Well, he’s one of the brightest men I know,” she answers. “Plus, he is such a good husband. He does things for me that are absolutely fantastic. He makes the bed every morning, he does the dishes, he helps me whenever he can.”
Her praise spurs Mike to compliment Lillian as a great housekeeper, an imaginative cook and a great hostess.
“Plus, she’s a good listener and I talk a lot,” he continues. “And she’s good company! What more could you ask
for?”           

Living proof that opposites attract — Lia and Tyrone found one another in 2004.
“I like a beer on the beach and she likes classical piano,” Tyrone explains. She’s the introvert; he most definitely is not.
When they met, Lia was an Iowa farm girl with just a few years of Florida living.
While walking her dog back from the beach, she spotted Tyrone there on Briny Breezes Boulevard, cutting some rope to use as a belt for that night’s toga party.
“I thought she was attractive,” recalls Tyrone, 41, who moved to Florida 18 years ago. “I talked to her and she blew me off. But I tried again. The third time I said something, she flinched, and I was like, ‘Yeah, got her.’ ”
Lia says she agreed to don a toga that night “because my field is higher education and I thought it was a professional requirement to go to at least one toga party.”
The party’s setting was lush, she recalls, and she decided Tyrone was the “best guy there.”
He asked her to come back to the beach the next day to learn about kite surfing, which she did.
From there, it was a short road to moonlit sails on Tyrone’s catamaran and romantic bonfires on the beach.
“He’s the only person who never holds me back,” says Lia, 37. “I know I can grow and learn and reach my potential with him as my partner.”
There was no formal proposal; but Tyrone and Lia wanted to focus on a family and together they just agreed that 11/11/11 was the perfect wedding day. The plan was to get hitched in Hawaii, but son Tytan made an early arrival, so the couple got married close to the spot where they met.
These days, they confess to being enraptured with their son, and say parenting him connects them deeply.
Though they sleep at their home in Boynton Beach, each day after work finds them in Briny Breezes, at the trailer where Tyrone’s mom lives, spending quality time with their 1-year-old.
Right from the start, the couple wanted things to be special for Tytan.
“We had a home birth,” Lia says. “Tyrone was so tuned in and supportive through the whole process. It was really a bonding experience for us — in a big way.”
“She didn’t even take an aspirin,” Tyrone adds with pride.
When asked if there’s a secret to their success, Lia says it pays to keep a desire list and help one another achieve it.
“Focus on daily pleasures instead of conflict.”     

The Sutton’s first met in 1960, at a family wedding. Roz’s sister was married to Lenny’s brother, and the clan was always getting together.
“I loved her husband and she loved my wife,” explains Lenny, a retired cardiologist with perfect diction and a twinkle in his eye. “I was Uncle Lenny to her sons!”
Roz was widowed after 38 years of marriage to her cherished Bernie; Lenny enjoyed 52 years with his spouse, Harriet.
Neither ever expected to love again.
But Roz was family, so of course Lenny looked her up whenever he visited his sister in Florida.
And when Roz rented an apartment in Providence R.I. (her sister lived there), Lenny offered to show her around, since he was a local.
Before long, waiters in town were asking the couple how long they’d been married.
“People said we were a cute couple, and I always told them it’s because we’re not married,” says Roz, laughing.
Lenny fell in love first.
“She was so warm; every statement she made was just filled with warmth. It wasn’t a put on. I just loved her honesty.”
For him, “The bells rang and the lights went on.”
It was Sept. 3, 2000. The couple had decided to eat in to celebrate Lenny’s birthday; Roz had bought a fruit tart and decorated it with a single candle.
“I was leaning against the kitchen door jamb and I had the tart in my hand and I suddenly said ‘Marry me!’” Lenny relates gleefully.
“That was the first big kiss I got from him,” Roz chimes in. “A kiss on the forehead was all he’d done till then.”
Though Roz was drawn to Lenny’s kindness and thoughtfulness, she wasn’t sure.
“I was afraid; I thought it can’t happen to someone twice,” she says. “How could love be so wonderful the second time?”
Of course Lenny won out; the lovebirds have now been married 11 years. They are constantly talking, they kiss openly (even in public, admits Roz), and hold hands on their morning walk.
“We just keep finding and discovering things about each other,” says Roz, who at 80, is 10 years younger than Lenny.
The couple speaks openly of their first spouses, which brings them both joy.
“It was a different phase of life,” Roz explains. “We were raising families and building businesses. It would be sad to have to cut that out of your life suddenly, like you didn’t exist before the other person came into your life.”
“We recall wonderful moments with each other’s mates,” agrees Lenny. “Unfortunately, some people don’t want to speak of their previous marriage because someone might get jealous or something silly like that.
“We love each other with the same intensity as our first,” he shares. “It’s just a different chapter of your life.”                Ú

More than 40 pets, mostly dogs, had their photographs and their owners’ contact information entered into a database during a Highland Beach Police Department pet registration event held earlier this month. The information and photographs will be kept on file and used by the police department to help get pets back to their owners should they get loose. Those pet owners who were unable to attend the event can still register their pets by contacting the police department at 266-5800. Libby Volgyes/The Coastal Star

The recently completed remodeling of the clubhouse for the McCormick Mile neighborhood was celebrated with a party.  In addition to new windows and floors and a higher roof, the Ocean Ridge beachfront facility features architectural enhancements and new landscaping. Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star