A group of flamingos takes over a lawn on Island Drive in Delray Beach. The Youth Group at St. Joseph’s Episcopal Church in Boynton Beach is in charge of ‘Flamingo Flocking,’ a fundraising effort for a planned 18-day trip to Scotland this summer. They are ‘flocking’ lawns through March 17. The cost to ‘flock’ a friend is $30 for 30 flamingos and $60 for 60 flamingos. The church can be reached at 732-3060. Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

By Tim O’Meilia
    
As the presidential election season rumbles on elsewhere, in south Palm Beach County coastal towns, there’s no place more comforting for an incumbent than a high-backed chair behind the council dais.
    Of the 19 seats up for election this spring in nine coastal towns, 11 sitting elected officials will remain seated for another term without so much as a write-in challenge. In Manalapan, newcomer John J. Murphy — not even an incumbent — won a commission seat just by filing papers.
    Voters in Ocean Ridge and Delray Beach will be able to pick and choose among 9 candidates to seat four representatives March 13. Profiles of the candidates in those contested races can be found elsewhere in this edition of The Coastal Star.
    Voters in five other towns will stay home.
A quick look at who got a free pass:

Lantana
    Mayor David Stewart, one of the longest-serving mayors in Palm Beach County, was unopposed for a fifth three-year term.

South Palm Beach
    Stella Jordan returns for a second two-year term and former Councilman Robert Gottlieb, who was recently appointed to fill  the vacancy of Susan Lillybeck, gets a full term.

Manalapan
    Murphy wasn’t the only candidate without an opponent. Louis DeStefano got another two years in a seat representing oceanfront residents. Howard Roder is back as a Point Manalapan commissioner. Both earned their way by defeating former commissioners in 2010.
Murphy, an elected county committeeman in New Jersey for 20 years, succeeds Robert Evans in the at-large Seat 2 post.  Evans did not seek re-election after serving four years.

Briny Breezes
    As is pro forma in this town that rarely stages an election, Council President Sharon Kendrigan (five years) and Aldermen Nancy Buczon (four years) return with relative newcomer Pete Fingerhut for two more years. Roger Bennett remains the non-voting mayor for his sixth year.  

Gulf Stream
    Garrett Dering was appointed several months ago to the seat held by Chris Wheeler, who resigned. Dering now will serve the remaining two years of Wheeler’s term because no one filed against him.          

By Rich Pollack

    Six months ago, if you called the city of Delray Beach to ask if your wedding could be held on the public beach, the answer would have been a simple no.
    Call today and the answer will be yes, weddings are allowed — sort of.
    Responding to questions from city commissioners, the recreation department has changed its unwritten policy of forbidding weddings on the beach to an unwritten policy of allowing weddings on the beach — but just small ceremonies that don’t include canopies or chairs or anything else that might interfere with other beach goers.
    Parks and Recreation Director Linda Karch said no one is quite sure when the long-standing, no-weddings-on-the-beach policy started or how, but said the change makes it possible for callers — including out-of-towners — to consider Delray Beach for their wedding site.
    “Now, we tell people they can come to the beach and have their wedding there,” she said.
    Of course, if you’ve been to the beach very often you know that not much has really changed, even if the rules have.
    “Lots of people had weddings on the beach all the time,” Karch said.
    Even before the shift, the city did allow weddings about as close to the beach as you could get without getting sand between your toes.
    For years, brides and grooms had been welcome to rent the pavilion at Atlantic Dunes Park for $116.60 for two hours and hold their wedding there. Even though the pavilion is just a few feet from a set of stairs leading down to the beach, only four or five couples a year hold their weddings there, according to Karch.
    In the future, the city’s new policy could ease up a little more to take advantage of the boom in destination weddings — which could benefit the local tourist industry and help the city come up with a few extra budget dollars.
    “A lot of people now are planning destination weddings and we want them to consider Delray Beach,” says Sarah Martin, executive director of the Delray Beach Marketing Cooperative, which promotes economic development and tourism.
    “We have a lot to offer as a destination, not only for a wedding couple, but also for their guests. The new policy of allowing weddings on the beach is opening the door for more opportunities down the road,” she said. 

By Angie Francalancia
    
With continuing uncertainty over emergency services for the coastal towns, Ocean Ridge City Manager Ken Schenck reached out to private ambulance company American Medical Response to investigate options.
    It could cost as much as $650,000, would require changes to several existing agreements, and could happen no sooner than about 18 months from now. But Schenck said it was necessary for the town to know its options, given the potential for changes to its existing fire rescue contract with the city of Boynton Beach.
    Ocean Ridge has offered to house one of Boynton Beach’s rescue vehicles at its municipal building and has sent building plans to Boynton Beach Fire Chief Ray Carter to examine its feasibility. But the city had received no response by late last month.
    “AMR would charge $650,000 a year for one ambulance 24/7. It doesn’t matter if it’s three communities or one. That’s the price,” Schenck told the Ocean Ridge Commission last month.
    Leaders from Ocean Ridge, Briny Breezes and Manalapan talked to AMR following conversations in which they talked of sharing rescue service that would be stationed on the barrier islands. Ocean Ridge and Briny Breezes now get fire rescue service from Boynton Beach, and Manalapan is under a contract with Palm Beach County Fire-Rescue. One of the first hurdles would be deciding where home base would be, Schenck said.
    “We don’t know what Manalapan wants to do,” Schenck said. “If Manalapan wants to have it located up there, it wouldn’t work for Briny.”
     Manalapan Town Manager Linda Stumpf said that with nearly two years left on the town’s contract with Palm Beach County Fire-Rescue, it’s too early to know. AMR did provide emergency rescue service for the town before it contracted with the county, though, she said.
    The distance from Manalapan’s northernmost boundary to Briny Breezes, which is south of Ocean Ridge, is about 7 miles. That’s a longer distance at the extremes than having an ambulance cross a bridge to reach residents.
    Still, Schenck said, the towns needed to explore all options.
    “We don’t even know whether Boynton would want to provide just fire. At $650,000 for an ambulance, I’m not sure we could afford it. But we had to know what was out there.” 

Ocean Ridge police voted last month to approved a long-awaited contract that will give them an additional $800 toward their medical deductible and a $1,000 salary adjustment.
    Ocean Ridge town commissioners are set to vote March 5 on the pact, the first negotiated with the Police Benevolent Association since police voted to unionize a year ago.
    Town Manager Ken Schenck anticipated that the commission would approve the 37-page agreement, because the commission had reviewed most of the issues already. The deductible and the one-time salary bump were the two final issues, he said.
    Both will be covered in the city’s existing budget, Schenck said. The one-time $1,000 salary adjustment won’t be included in the officers’ base salaries.  
— Angie Francalancia

By Angie Francalancia

    Ninety days after the Ocean Ridge Town Commission warned its manager he’d have to improve his job performance, most of the commissioners said they were satisfied with Schenck’s improvement.
    But Commissioner Zoanne Hennigan said she thought it was time for a change.
    “Since the performance review I still see grave issues and a lack of leadership,” she said. “It took 90 days just to complete this action plan, and most of these items haven’t been done in the 90 days.” Hennigan cited the street repair evaluation, job descriptions for police, and Schenk’s inability to effectively represent the commission’s position during the recent collective bargaining with the police.
    The commission in October gave Schenck 90 days to improve his job performance, charging him to become more proactive, communicate better with the commissioners and stay ahead of issues affecting both Ocean Ridge and the surrounding coastal communities.
    They told Schenck he should have been more proactive in learning about Boynton Beach’s plans to close its fire station No. 1. Boynton provides fire and emergency service to Ocean Ridge, and the downtown Boynton Beach station is the closest to Ocean Ridge.
    “I appreciate all you do, but I think this town needs a lot stronger leadership,” Hennigan told Schenck at the Feb. 6 Town Commission meeting.  
    The rest of the commission didn’t share Hennigan’s position, saying they had seen improvement from Schenck, who has held the position for nearly six years.
    But Mayor Ken Kaleel told Schenck that evaluations would be annual going forward, and “come budget time … it’s an issue that needs to be reviewed.
    “Keep on improving and keep on helping us improve,” he said.
    Commissioners said Schenck has become better at communicating with them and staying on top of coastal issues.
    “You’ve become quite the caller,” Commissioner Geoffrey Pugh said.

Delray Beach voters can vote for a Seat 2 and a Seat 4 city commission candidate and on a charter amendment when they go to the polls March 13. The charter amendment asks voters whether they want to change commissioners’ and mayor’s length of office from the current two-year terms to three-year terms. The current provision that no one could serve more than three consecutive terms remains unchanged. If approved, it would apply to candidates elected in March 2013 and afterward.

Result: Yes=1,200, No=2,042*

* designates winner.

City Commission Seat 2

Unofficial election results: Archer - 1,136 votes

Pat Archer 
Personal: 68, married, three children, high school degree and one year college.
Professional: Retired real estate broker and mortgage broker.

Political background: City commissioner from 1999 to 2006, Planning and Zoning Board for three years.
Position on issues: Says transient housing is not a normal living arrangement and has no place in single-family neighborhoods because neighbors expect stable living arrangements. Says budget shortfalls cannot be made up by continuing to expect Delray residents to pay additional taxes. Says city has to live within its means by making appropriate operating budget cuts without eliminating city jobs and by postponing capital expenditures. Wants a new approach to economic development that will attract small businesses and high-tech developments with tax incentives.
Quote: “We need to make Delray the most small-business-friendly city in America.”

Unofficial election results: Armstrong  - 134 votes

David Armstrong
Personal: 47, single, no children, high school degree.

Professional: Chef.

Political background: No prior experience.

Position on issues: Opposes any housing for transients, saying tenants become a burden for the city when they are kicked out and become homeless. Wants the city to build a homeless shelter. Opposes the Community Redevelopment Agency building more new homes because the city has many vacant houses. Says the downtown needs more shops and fewer restaurants. Wants debris to be cleaned up on vacant lots on the city’s west side.

Quote: “I’m the town crier who lets the public know what’s going on.”

Unofficial election results: Jacquet - 1,850 votes*

Al Jacquet
Personal: 32, single, no children. Bachelor’s degree from DePauw University, law degree from St. Thomas University School
of Law.

Professional: Legislative aide for state Rep. Mack Bernard (D-West Palm Beach)

Political background: No prior elective experience. Planning and Zoning Board member for two years.

Position on issues: Promises to work hard to lower property taxes and cut city budget and fees. Wants to protect families and neighborhoods from the proliferation of transient housing facilities. Wants to better manage growth and to attract new businesses and good-paying jobs. Wants to continue the city’s redevelopment efforts and to maintain essential city services. Proposes to cut the salaries of top city employees by 10 percent. Opposes installing downtown parking meters and increasing term limits for elected officials. He also opposed the proposed fire fee.
Quote: “Stop putting Band-Aids on head wounds. The future starts now.”

Unofficial election results: Morrison - 719 votes

Christina Morrison
Personal: 60, single, two children, Penn State University graduate.
Professional: Realtor and property consultant.
Political background: No prior elective experience. Financial Review Board chairwoman.

Position on issues: Says the city should keep taxes as low as possible without jeopardizing public safety and essential services. Says transient housing should not be permitted in single-family residential neighborhoods. Sees parking as an important issue for the city to resolve. Urges city approval to build a proposed Atlantic Avenue hotel between Ninth and 10th avenues. Opposes tax incentives to bring new businesses to the city, but wants to work with the Community Redevelopment Agency to find other ways to attract business. Seeks to change a perception that West Atlantic Avenue is dangerous.

Quote: “Women are like fine teas — you never know how strong they really are until they are put in hot water.”

City Commission Seat 4

Unofficial election results: Gray - 2,214 votes*

Angeleta Gray (i)
Personal: 46, married, three children, attended Grambling State University.

Professional: Hair designer, owner of Top Notch Beauty Spa & Suites

Political background: Vice mayor, appointed to City Commission in 2009.

Position on issues: Defends City Commission, saying it has held the line on taxes while cutting millions of dollars of spending from city budget. “In this economy, we don’t have a choice.” For economic development, wants new policies and incentives to attract new businesses with higher-paying jobs and also help existing businesses. Wants more redevelopment of West Atlantic Avenue and the Congress Avenue corridor. Wants to help all Delray Beach public schools to be A-rated.

Quote: “I voted against the proposed fire tax, and I’m committed to balancing our budget without raising taxes.”

Unofficial election results: Kirson - 1,350 votes

Victor Kirson
Personal: 72, divorced, two children, bachelor’s and dental degrees from Temple University.

Professional: Dentist for 34 years in Pennsylvania.

Political background: No prior experience. Vice chairman of Police Advisory Board.

Position on issues: Wants to cut back on city spending, citing unnecessary projects such as $465,000 to build a Pompey Park concession stand that he says could have been built for less than $100,000. Says city should tap reserve funds and delay capital improvement projects until economy improves. Opposes proposed fire fee. Says current city commissioners can’t make decisions, citing a $96,000 parking meter study that hasn’t been acted upon. Opposes cuts that would reduce police and fire benefits.

Quote: “The main issue is to stop the waste of tax dollars.”

Members of the congregation gather on a chilly Sunday for service at Old School Square.

By Tim Pallesen
    
Delray Beach’s fastest-growing new church began with a chance meeting in a downtown coffee shop.
    The Avenue Church wasn’t intended. It wasn’t planned.
    Casey Cleveland, a pastor at Spanish River Presbyterian in Boca Raton, was working on his laptop when he overheard Saul Kane, a man with a shaved head and tattoos, talking at another table.
    “He looked nothing like me,” Cleveland said of the man who opened the door to what originally began as a Christian mission to drug and alcohol addicts in recovery.
    The Avenue Church has grown into much more since it opened in September 2010.
    More than 350 attend Sunday worship, usually at the Delray Beach Community Center and sometimes at Old School Square.
    The congregation now has families and young professionals in the 20-to-40 age group you see strolling Atlantic Avenue on a Friday or Saturday night. Many new members are single parents with children.
    The new mission for the rapidly evolving congregation is to provide homes for children in crisis. Cleveland hopes to convert a downtown building into a temporary home for children waiting for foster care.

Casey Cleveland is not your typical pastor. Photos by Kurtis Boggs/The Coastal Star

    “We’re bringing the church to the city,” said Cleveland, who sees no need for the Avenue Church to have a permanent church building. “We’d rather take care of others than ourselves.”
    Cleveland’s boss at Spanish River Presbyterian, executive pastor Ron Tobias, first thought Cleveland’s chance meeting with Kane three years ago would only lead to a coffee-house ministry for the recovery community.
    “There was no spiritual community in Delray Beach focused on that need,” Tobias said. “We sensed a huge void there.”
    Spanish River has spent $10 million to start 27 new congregations around the world. “But Delray was different,” Tobias said. “Instead of sending money, we sent people.”
    Kane introduced Cleveland and two other Spanish River staffers, Allison Good and John O’Brien, to Delray’s recovery community.
    “Casey and the others were seen as people who genuinely wanted to help,” said Kane, a recovering alcoholic who is now a leader in the community.
    “The recovery industry is very profit-driven industry,” he explained. “This was the first organization to come along that didn’t want to make a million dollars.
    “They made a promise and they stuck to it,” Kane said. “It’s been the most positive impact on our community since Delray became a recovery hub.”
    Cleveland, Good and O’Brien were flooded with questions about relationships with other people and God when they began.
    “The people were refreshed that I care more about their future than their past,” he said. “A lot were surprised [by] what real grace looked like. Before I knew it, this kind of exploded.”
    Cleveland kept praying for guidance. “It was to become a church that ministered to all the demographics of Delray,” he decided after a year of ministering in coffee houses.
    His original approach to recovering alcoholics and drug addicts would carry to a larger population.
    “To build a redemptive relationship means to walk along someone’s side while sharing the hope that Jesus can transform them,” Cleveland said. “The challenge is to slow down and do life with them.”
    The Avenue Church grew quickly to where now it is financially independent from the Boca Raton church and searching for other Delray Beach needs to respond to with compassion.
    “God has called you to use you in incredible ways,” Cleveland implored his congregation in a recent sermon. “You’re no good to people around you if you are only concerned with yourself.”
    The congregation now sees a need to help children in crisis. Church members are training to become adoptive or foster parents.
    “Scripture talks about caring for the orphans,” Cleveland said. “It’s a tangible expression of the gospel message when we adopt or foster a child.”
    Several church members, including Cleveland and his wife, Kathryn, are taking children into their homes as they await foster care.
    Rather than spending money for a church building, Cleveland sees the need to acquire and convert an old warehouse on Southeast First Avenue for such children.
    “God is a really great God, so I do expect great things from him,” Good said in reflecting on the Avenue Church’s short history. “But I have to stand back in awe over what’s happened here.”                    

By Margie Plunkett
    
A beach pavilion in disrepair that’s the target of a resident fundraising campaign was rescued from becoming a budget casualty in February, the sole survivor of midyear budget cuts necessitated by a $3.2 million shortfall from the defeated fire tax.
    Commissioners approved a package of budget cuts and the use of $1 million from reserve funds to make up for the shortfall at its Feb. 21 meeting, which had been recommended by City Manager David Harden. They decided not to take another run at instituting a fire tax, also among Harden’s recommendations.
    “The job staff has done is phenomenal” in plugging the budget gap, said Commissioner Jay Alperin.
    The beach pavilion project was one of many on the chopping block, although it was not scheduled to be cut altogether, just delayed. Postponing the pavilion would have meant a savings of $210,450, which commissioners ultimately directed be taken from reserves.
    Resident fundraising kept the pavilion in the budget. “It’s the only item that the community has raised money for, its repair,” said Commissioner Tom Carney. “Commission said to them if they raised some money, we could probably meet you.”
    Carney also noted that the pavilion’s continuing state of disrepair could lead to its closure.
    The community fundraisers have gotten agreement from developers to construct the pavilion for cost, Carney said, and commissioners said architect Bob Currie had contributed the design. Another fundraiser is scheduled by the end of February, Carney said.
    The pavilion project was unveiled as the Beach Property Owners Association pitched the concept of a Beach Master plan.
    The City Manager’s office took the opportunity to hold its midyear budget review while it searched for possible reductions to offset the fire-tax shortfall. Commissioners also noted their support for several efforts covered by increases in some budget areas, including unfreezing a staff attorney position and adding code enforcement, critical with an increasingly intense focus on transient housing concerns and landlord scrutiny.
    The pavilion was one of several planned reductions totaling $645,910 taken from the general construction fund. A total $50,000 cuts were taken in building maintenance; $50,000 from the City Hall chiller upgrade, $67,710 for computer replacement, $106,750 for street resurfacing and $4,000 for public arts.
    Other areas that will see decreases are parks and recreation, with about a $65,230 drop for vacant positions. While fire and safety overall increased about $176,575, the Police Department had $476,330 reductions for vacant positions.
    The Fire Department’s budget increased overall by about $563,325, which included $185,310 of reductions due to vacant positions. The increase was primarily due to $288,140 costs of four new paramedics hired in November to fully staff Station No. 2.The staffing was partially offset by a grant.
    The Community Improvement budget was up as well, rising $64,980 for code enforcement.
    The city first proposed the fire assessment fee, or fire tax as many called it, as a revenue generator when commissioners were designing this year’s budget. Commissioners recently noted their error in building a budget based in part on a tax revenue that had not been approved.
    The fire tax fell apart when the community turned out to protest the fee, arguing that it hurt residential and business communities at a time when the economy remains fragile. The proposed tiered system, which was based on the square footage of improved property, drew protest from businesses that believed it unfair to assess on building size rather than a business’s value.
    Commissioners voted down the fire tax after the resident outcry.           

By Margie Plunkett

    Delray Beach is stocking up on garbage carts, getting ready for barrier island residents to have regular curbside trash pickup rather than rear-door service.
    The island neighborhood is going to curbside pickup on April 1, when residents’ monthly bills will decrease from $24.01 to $13.61. Residents are already required to bring recycling waste to the curbside.
    City commissioners in February authorized the purchase of $58,150 worth of garbage containers in varying sizes from Otto Waste Systems, which has been approved as a sole-source supplier. The containers range in size from 35 to 95 gallons, and in price to the city from $36 to $53. They are “hot stamped” with the city’s logo and serial numbers, have rubber tires and black lids.
    A medium-sized, 68-gallon container will be provided by the city and delivered to each single-family residence in March. Residents who want smaller or larger garbage containers are urged to contact the code enforcement division. The division will also pick up old containers at the request of residents.
    Rear-door pickup was dropped for the barrier island after a survey in December 2010 that showed 62 percent of respondents preferred curbside pickup.
    Rear-yard pickup was among the complaints that kicked off a city inquiry into its garbage collection billings and processes. Waste Management is the current provider of the twice-a-week pickups.     

Host Beverly Mosher  (left) listens as Lunch Bunch members Paula Robinson, Nancy Aceto and Nancy Greenblatt discuss local restauraunts.  

By Ron Hayes

The show starts promptly at 8 a.m. as a cameraman holds up four fingers … three… two … one …
    “Good morning, Briny Breezes!”      
    And so begins another broadcasting day, live from BBC-8 world headquarters.
    As media empires go, Briny Breezes Cable is something less than imperial. The station airs only January through March. The morning show lasts only a half-hour, with repeats at 12:30 and 6 p.m., and only the 600 or so residents of this quaint mobile home community can find it on their cable channel 8.
    But what BBC-8 lacks in fancy graphics, reach and audience demographics, it’s made up for with endurance. Next year, the channel will mark 25 years on the air.
    Jack Taylor was there at the birth in 1988.
    “We’d just gotten a cable system, and Chuck Stimets, who was an engineer, asked if I had a camcorder to see if we could hook into the system,” he recalls. “We had no idea what would happen.”
    Taylor fetched his Panasonic VHS Recorder and shot some footage of a neighbor lady hanging out clothes. Stimets wired the camera to the cable and, lo and behold, a neighbor lady hanging out clothes appeared on the screen.
    The residents of Briny Breezes have been hanging out on BBC-8 ever since.
    The old Panasonic camcorder has been retired to a top shelf in the studio, but Taylor is still active, leading a crew of about 25 volunteers.

Camera operator Jene Marman (far left) takes direction from floor manager John LeGrow during filming.

    They work with three cameras now, and the daily programming is preserved for posterity on DVDs instead of videotapes, all neatly catalogued by date.
    “The corporation pays nothing,” says control room technician Chuck Foland. “But we’ve raised about $4,000 from residents’ donations to buy new cameras.”
    Of the 25 volunteers, about six are on-air anchors, rotating each morning to host a variety of guests. In February alone, BBC-8 said good morning to Chief Ray Carter of Boynton Beach Fire Rescue; Reid Scott of the state Attorney General’s Office, speaking on child abuse; and representative of FAU’s Geriatric Center on “Becoming an Informed and Effective Patient.”
    On Feb. 10, the host was Beverly Mosher, a 60-year resident, who welcomed the Lunch Bunch, a quartet of residents armed with local restaurant reviews. But first, a few words from General Manager Steven Best.
    “Even though the pool’s open, the heater’s down since yesterday morning,” Best told no-doubt disappointed viewers. “I’m hoping to get the part today.”
    The big news, however, was the post-Super Bowl theft of a TV from the community clubhouse. “I’m having all the doors and locks checked,” Best reassured residents.
    This is the sort of news that wouldn’t make news outside Briny Breezes; but inside, it’s the secret of the channel’s success. Local news, by locals, for locals.
    And now, the locals who lunch.
    Paula Robinson, Nancy Aceto, Charlene Murray and Nancy Greenblatt are “The Lunch Bunch,” four friends who paid their own tabs at three area restaurants and returned to tell about it.
    50 Ocean, the new second-floor eatery at Boston’s-on-the-Beach, was “really, really good, excellent.” Especially the warm gorgonzola steak salad and harvest salad with white vinaigrette.
    Lemongrass, a restaurant serving Asian cuisine on Atlantic Avenue in Delray Beach was “good.”
    “It wasn’t the best tuna roll I’ve ever had,” one diner opined. “The tuna was a little bit tough. And the servers could have filled my water glass a little more often.”
    The big hit was Patio Delray on George Bush Boulevard. The parking was excellent, the chicken lentil soup delicious, and the owner couldn’t have been nicer, even swapping the half-sandwich/half-soup for a half-salad.
    “Absolutely wonderful,” they all agreed.
    Good Morning, Briny Breezes is supposed to sign off promptly at 8:30 a.m., but now it’s 8:35, and no one seems especially upset as Mosher squeezes in a final thought for the day.
    “Doing little things well is a step toward doing big things better,” she says.
    “I got that from a Chinese restaurant,” she confesses once they’re off the air. But it’s also a good description of BBC-8.
    Highland Beach provides live broadcasts of its commission and advisory board meetings on the county’s Channel 95, and occasionally runs public information videos.
    South Palm Beach offers its residents a scroll of local meetings and cultural events, also on Channel 95 and available throughout town, except in the Barclay condominium, which doesn’t carry Comcast cable.
    But only little Briny Breezes produces a daily show in season, while also broadcasting a nightly movie, corporate board meetings, regular Sunday church services from the auditorium, and the occasional special, such as a candidates forum before the Feb. 29 board of directors elections.
    Can the time be far off when BBC-8 starts covering a live New Year’s Eve ball drop? From the clubhouse roof, perhaps?
    “Nah,” laughs chief engineer Lee Godby. “Midnight comes at 10 o’clock here.”         

By Jan Norris

    Two years is a long time to go without Pamela’s grapefruit pie, or a plate of Peruvian fish and pepper cream sauce or George’s famous chicken salad.
    Once the Ocean Avenue bridge closes, shutting off Lantana from the coastal residents, it will mean a longer drive to get to the businesses lon the other side of the bridge.
    But the business owners say it’s worth it — especially for things you just can’t get elsewhere.
    That includes the grapefruit pie at Pamela’s Pies and the creative birthday cakes at Cakes by Lara next door.
    Owner Lara Fisher, who has had Cakes by Lara for two years in the Lantana location, said she had been too busy with Valentine’s Day and the holidays to worry about the bridge closing.
    It won’t affect her as much as others, she said. “We’re really not a retail shop, but we do have things in the case. Most of my orders are for special occasions.” Her wedding, birthday and anniversary cakes are made to order, and people go online to set things up, then make an appointment, if needed.
    Brenda Wells at George’s Meat Market is more worried — a good deal of the market’s business is from the coastal residents. “We’re all a little nervous over here,” she said. As managing partner of the meat market for the last two years, she’s worked to improve the products they sell and has built a loyal following, increasing sales each year.
    “The majority of our clients say we’re worth the drive, and they have to come to the (Lantana) post office anyway. We have George’s famous chicken salad; it’s like no other. We make our own Italian sausages and bratwurst. For St. Paddy’s Day coming up, I’m going to brine corned beef just like George did.”
    They’re still mulling over ideas and working with other merchants in the area to come up with solutions, she said. A brief discussion about a water taxi, leaving from the Plaza del Mar and landing at the Key Lime House, seemed practical as well as fun, she said.
    “I was hoping they’d go for that idea. I think it’s kind of quaint. It would lend a tropical feel, give people something different.”
    It hasn’t gelled yet, but she said she may bring it up again to the city planners.
    “We’ve been talked about doing delivery, but we’d have to deal with the big issue of gas prices going up,” she said. It’s still a possibility, but prices they’d need to charge may be prohibitive.
    Ultimately, she said, “We’ll just dig in our heels and do the best we can.”
    Johnny Flewelling, the owner of the new Tapas restaurant in the former Bar Italia/Apicius space, said she’s really not concerned. “The response has been so great — our customers say it’s only a few more miles. They’re just glad they got to come and eat with us before the bridge closed.”
    At least 50 percent of the diners are from the east side of the bridge — and 90 percent of those have told her the bridge closure won’t keep them from returning, she said.
    They’ll launch a huge marketing campaign soon to put the word out on the Web and social media that they are open, have new owners and feature a new tapas-plate format. Wine classes in Spanish wines and some other special events at the restaurant are planned in the coming months. They’ve only been open since late December and are still working out wait staff and business issues.
    “We’re just going to keep doing what we do best — be a welcoming community restaurant with good food and hospitality in this beautiful building,” she said. “Already we’re seeing people three, four and five times a week — and we’re only open six nights. We’re pretty sure they’ll drive — it’s not that far to the Lake Worth bridge.”
    Here are other restaurants and businesses west of the bridge that will remain open:

Restaurants
El Bohio (120 S. Third St.) — Cuban cuisine with takeout.
Caribbean Top Taste (316 W. Mango St.) — Jamaican restaurant; lunch and dinners for take-out to order.
Friendly Greek restaurant (610 S. Dixie Highway) — Greek and Middle Eastern specialties.
Grumpy Grouper (224 N. Third St.) — Seafood, bar and grill
Kona Bay Café (310 E. Ocean Ave.) — Breakfast and lunch (chocolate chip pancakes are notable.)
NYPD Pizza (121 S. Third St.) — New York style pizza; delivery.
Old Key Lime House (300 Ocean Ave.) — Classic on the avenue, with seafood, tiki bar, live music and more.
Pizzeria Oceano (201 E. Ocean Ave.) — Organic, farm-to-table pizzas.
Station House (233 Lantana Road) — Lobster, seafoods, steak.
Station Grille (200 Lantana Road) — Sister restaurant to the Station House.
Sushi Bon Express (304 E. Ocean Ave.) — Fresh sushi and sashimi.
Tapas (210 E. Ocean Ave.) — Newly opened Latin and Spanish tapas restaurant in former Bar Italia space.
Victoria’s Peruvian (111 S. Third St.) — Peruvian cuisine.

Retail shops, markets
Cabana J’s (308 E. Ocean Ave.) — Resort and beach wear.
Cakes by Lara/Pamela’s Pies (640 S. Dixie Highway) — Special occasion cakes, cookies; traditional and custom pies.
Consignments by Sally (306 W. Mango) — New and vintage furniture and accessories.
Gemstone Gallery (216 E. Ocean Ave.) — Jewelry, accessories, novelties.
George’s Meat Market (125 S. Third St.) — Full butcher shop — fresh meats, prepared foods.
Jamie’s Classics (103 S. Third St.) — Consignment, specializing in furniture and decorator items.
Kim and AJ’s Oriental Market (316 W. Mango) — Oriental foodstuffs.
Kwik Stop (109 S. Third St.) — Convenience store.
Lantana Liquors (300 S. Third St.) — Full liquor store.
Le Petit Pan (123 S. Third St.) — French bakery.
Palm Beach Bakery and Café (206 E. Ocean Ave.) — Finnish bakery; lattes, cappuccinos.
Produce (117 S. Third St.) — Produce market.
Shades of Time (214 E. Ocean Ave.) — Sunglasses.

Services, recreation
Bar Jack Fishing and the Lady K (formerly B Love; 314 E. Ocean Ave.) — Drift fishing boats with private charters available.
Bliss Photography (219 E. Ocean Ave.) — Portrait Photography.
Del Mar Cleaners (304 W. Mango) — Cleaners, custom alterations.
Dixieway Auto Care (602 N. Dixie Highway) — Full service auto repairs.
Dream Machines (570 S. Dixie Highway) — Luxury cars, motorcyles, boat sales.
Hoochi, Koochi Wax Studio (202 E. Ocean Ave.) — Women’s hair and body salon.
Kevin’s Barber and Styling (218 E. Ocean Ave.) — Barbershop and women’s salon.
Mail N More (302 W. Mango) — Packaging, mail services.
Nails by Cindy (107 S. Third St.) — Nail salon.
Sun Trust Bank (280 E. Ocean Ave.) — Banking, with ATM.
U.S. Post Office (201 E. Ocean Ave.) — Full-service post office.
Walgreen’s (105 E. Ocean Ave.) — Drug store.
Wet Pleasures Dive Outfitters (312 Lantana Road) — Diving equipment, instruction and dive trip planning.                       

Three candidates are seeking the two seats on the March 13 ballot in Ocean Ridge. Longtime mayor and commissioner Kenneth Kaleel is not seeking re-election after 17 years in office. The top two vote-getters win the open seats. 

* designates winner.

Unofficial election results: Aaskov - 240 votes*

Gail Adams Aaskov   
Personal: 75, married, two grown daughters; degrees in psychology and criminal justice from Aurora  (Ill.)College; town resident for 19 years.

Professional: Owner of real estate and condominium management companies; former publisher of defunct Ocean Ridge Reporter.

Political background: Town commissioner, 1995-2003 (three terms), mayor three of those years; member of town Board of Adjustment, 2003-present.

Position on issues: Believes the town is facing no major issues. Thinks her strength is in helping oversee the town’s annual budgeting process, although she believes town staff has done a good job. Said she didn’t intend to seek office again but was persuaded to run. Wants to keep the town on the right track after the retirement of longtime Mayor Kenneth Kaleel.

Quote: “Everything is pretty quiet right now, but you can never foresee the future.”

                                                                                            Unofficial election results: Kahlert - 192 votes

Hans-Christian Kahlert   
Personal: 30, married, two children; bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of South Florida; Boynton Beach native; town resident since 2004.

Professional: Commercial property management executive.

Political background: Ran unsuccessfully for the Town Commission in 2007.

Position on issues: Wants to try to help fill the leadership void left by Mayor Kenneth Kaleel, who “left the town in great shape.”  Wants to monitor the Boynton Beach fire station situation with an eye to moving a station next to town hall, if necessary. Believes the town should keep a close eye on transient housing, especially for-profit addiction treatment centers that are beginning to operate in Delray Beach. Seeks a balance between property rights and community rights. Promotes developing a 20- or 30-year plan to convert the town from septic tanks to a sanitary sewer system, although the financial climate is not ripe now.

Quote: “The town is getting younger. It would be good for the town to have a younger face and a younger mindset.

Unofficial election results: Pugh - 287*

Geoff Pugh  (i)
Personal: 49, married, two children; graduate of Atlantic High School in Delray Beach; attended Palm Beach Junior College; 16-year town resident.

Professional: Pool and spa contractor.

Political background: Town commissioner, 2003-present (three terms); former member of town Board of Adjustment, 2001-03.

Position on issues: Wants to keep the town attractive to draw new purchasers and keep property values up since the town depends largely on property taxes for operations. Prefers to keep the tax rate level, including no increases in user fees. Would like to offer voters a chance to approve installation of a $1.3 million natural gas line, not including the cost of individual hookups, which could reduce homeowners’ energy costs. Believes installation of a sanitary sewer system is not in the town’s immediate future, because of the cost.

Quote:  “I want to keep taxes steady. Increasing fees is still taxes in my mind. Anything that comes out of my pocket is a tax, however you want to say it.”

 By Emily J. Minor
    
DELRAY BEACH — Marion Cousins, who ran a meticulous dress shop on Atlantic Avenue back in the day when proper ladies never wore slacks to lunch, died Feb. 13 after a brief hospital stay. She was 100.
    Ms. Cousins was born July 5, 1911, in Detroit, Mich. She spent her early childhood in the small Michigan town of Northville, just outside Detroit, but moved to the larger college town of Ann Arbor when she was a teenager.
    As a young adult, she helped her parents run J.H. Cousins, a ladies apparel shop, and apparently had quite a knack for the business. Later, she moved to Delray Beach, where in 1971 she opened a second J.H. Cousins dress store.
    Although she would shutter the Florida store for most long, hot summers, Cousins loved her Florida lifestyle and lived atop the store for many years, remember several longtime Atlantic Avenue merchants.
    Ms. Cousins, who never married but considered her nieces and nephews her own children, closed the store for good in 1996, living there until the end with her beloved cat, Trouble.
    Connie Wichman, the buyer at the department store Mercer Wenzel, who joined that family business about the same time Ms. Cousins opened her Florida dress shop, said Cousins’ store was known for its beautiful apparel and simple, elegant design.
    “Dresses were sort of a way of life back then,” Wichman said. “When ladies would go to lunch or go to church, they would always wear dresses. And Cousins had a beautiful dress department.”
    Wichman said she loved going by the store with its large front windows and admiring the racks “where everything was displayed so beautifully.”
    But after 25 years in business — Ms. Cousins was over the bridge on Atlantic and on the east end of the street, near the ocean — Ms. Cousins left at the time several other major retailers also said goodbye to the avenue, opening up the retail landscape for preppier, more modern stores.
    Always somewhat of a firecracker, if you will, Ms. Cousins was an avid reader who loved reading The Wall Street Journal.
    She is survived by one sister, and several nieces and nephews, all of whom live out of state.
    Family and friends honored her life at a service Feb. 25 in her girlhood town of Northville and at a memorial service March 1 in Delray Beach.

Briny Breezes Bazaar volunteer Eric Wolffbrandt (right) tries out one of the phones for sale with fellow volunteers Sue Thaler (center) and Beth Farr (left) at the Briny Breezes Auditorium on Feb. 18. Kurtis Boggs/The Coastal Star

By Angie Francalancia
    
Boynton Beach’s Community Redevelopment Agency is no closer than it was two months ago to razing the old building at Boynton Marina after county commissioners insisted on a 30-day delay to try to accommodate the building’s former tenant, Splashdown Divers.
    Boynton’s leaders believe their plans to convert the existing building location to green space and construct a new, smaller building to house only a dock master, public restrooms and a changing area are solid. And they’ll show the county their proof when they get the issue back on a county agenda perhaps in late March.
    “We answered all of their questions, but that didn’t seem to matter,” CRA Executive Director Vivian Brooks told the CRA.
    The CRA directed its attorney to work with the county attorney to explain the legal constraints already in place — an agreement with adjacent Marina Village that prevents them from constructing retail, and a settlement agreement with the owner of Splashdown, who city officials say orchestrated the delay.
    Splashdown Divers owner Lynn Simmons and several of her customers told county commissioners they should stop Boynton from tearing down the old building and “kicking her out.” Boynton Beach needs permission from the county because the city bought the marina with money from a 2004 countywide bond referendum that prevents material changes to the marina without county approval.
    The CRA had determined that the 1940s-era building doesn’t meet setback requirements, isn’t historic and would cost more than $350,000 to meet today’s building codes. Boynton got the building — along with Splashdown Divers — when it purchased the marina.
    Simmons, who had sued Boynton Beach, insisting on a long-term lease, had signed a settlement late last year that gave her $39,000, including money to finish out a new retail space. She has vacated the building and moved into retail space across East Ocean Avenue in Ocean Plaza.
    Boynton commissioners suggested at their Feb. 14 CRA meeting that they should hold back paying her the money until the issue is settled, but ultimately agreed to honor the city’s commitment.            

By Antigone Barton
    
The predicament that Singer Islanders described to county commissioners in early February was one familiar to South Palm Beachers: “When I look down from my balcony,” as one resident put it, “all I can see is water.”
    The plan under discussion — to build perpendicular rock jetties, or groins, as barriers to hold sand in place along the Singer Island shoreline — was an approach that could also provide help for South Palm Beach and Lantana’s rapidly eroding beachfronts.
    In the end, however, the objections of more than a dozen members of the Surfrider Foundation environmental advocacy group, who voiced concerns about the impact of the plan on sea turtle nesting, as well as western residents’ concerns about hidden costs of the plan, over-rode the pleas of beachfront property owners.
    Commissioners voted 4-3 against the plan, deciding the matter not only for Singer Island, but also giving an answer to Lantana and South Palm Beach residents worried about their own rapidly eroding beachfronts: It will not come in any form of structure built by the county.
    Commissioners Karen Marcus, Steven Abrams and Priscilla Taylor voted to continue to consider structures that would hold sand in place, and  Marcus suggested pursuing a different model of barrier that Surfrider spokesman Greg Lyon would be less objectionable to his group.  Commissioners Shelley Vana, Burt Aaronson, Jess Santamaria and Paulette Burdick voted to drop further exploration of county-funded construction.
    The beachfront towns had put earlier hopes that Singer Island plans to build breakwater structures parallel to its shoreline would establish a viable precedent for local beach protection. That plan, however, fell through when county commissioners found they couldn’t get permitting for an above-water model of the structures considered more effective.
    While commissioners then suggested county staff explore the perpendicular jetties along the Singer Island beach, their decision at their Feb. 7 meeting to drop that plan leaves continued sand replenishment as the only answer to erosion for the foreseeable future, according to Dan Bates of the county’s department of environmental resource management.
    “They were very clear they are not interested in structures,” he said.
    The effects of structures on sea turtle nesting remains unclear, Bates said.
    “As long as there’s a beach, they’re happy,” Bates said. But, he added, “Turtles don’t like structures.”
    The real impact remains unknown, he said, because areas that have added structures to their beaches had lower nesting rates to begin with.
    At the same time, the alternative of dune restoration to fortify the Singer Island shoreline, urged by Surfrider members, is not applicable to South Palm Beach and Lantana beachfronts, which no longer are wide enough to sustain dunes.
    The towns’ hopes for wider beaches may rest now on northern neighbor Palm Beach’s shoreline protection efforts. The town’s beach renourishment efforts could augment beaches south of the town. That town also is looking into building parallel breakwater structures that, because the beaches lack public access, would not be funded by county taxpayers. That could provide some protection for its southern neighbors.
    In the meantime, the county will continue to add sand to Lantana’s and South Palm’s beaches. It is better than nothing, but far from a long-term solution, managers of both towns agree.
    “If that’s what they’re saying, that’s what they’re saying,” South Palm Beach Town Manager Rex Taylor said. “Of course, that’s only true until the next commission gets in.”
    “It’s just very frustrating,” Lantana Town Manager Michael Bornstein said. The town built a seawall in 2009 that was intended to be covered by sand sloping   down to the beach. Instead the wall is now completely exposed. “I’m very glad we have a sea wall. I’d rather have sand dunes.”                         

Clarification: In a March story, “Sides agree to plan for crowded property line landscaping,” it may not have been clear that although Manalapan resident E. Peter McLean was asked to serve as an alternate on both the architectural and zoning commissions, he was not able to and was never sworn in as a member of either board.

By Steve Plunkett
    
Good fences may make good neighbors, but traveler palms and black olive trees competing with a 12-foot ficus hedge do not, at least along one part of Curlew Road.
    A nasty dispute between Manalapan neighbors E. Peter McLean and Nives Montero — a member of the town’s Architectural Commission — splashed into public view Feb. 8 when Montero belatedly asked ARCOM to approve a new landscaping plan for her house at 60 Curlew.
    Commissioners were torn over the merits of the plan.
    “It is a grotesque mess,’’ Commissioner Joan Bernstein said, counting 17 traveler palms and six pitch-apples on the 160-foot border between the houses. “They’re already touching each other. There’s no room for growth.”
    “I don’t mind Ms. Montero’s jungle theme. I think it’s great — wild and wooly,” countered alternate Commissioner Peter Isaac, filling in for absent Commissioners Montero, Daryl Cheifetz and Renny Reynolds.
    McLean, who lives at 70 Curlew, passed out two binders detailing the feud, a 41-page “Presentation” with key dates of calls to police and correspondence with town officials along with Google Earth photos of the landscape changing over time. His 35-page “Attachments” binder held copies of the letters as well as the police reports.
    Montero’s lawyer, Tara Duhy, said her client admitted making a mistake.
    “She does make all apologies. She is willing to work with you and the town in any way possible,” Duhy said.
    McLean objected, saying Montero’s plan labeled “Existing” landscape should be relabeled “Register of Observed Plantings” to acknowledge plantings never officially authorized.
    Montero and McLean even dispute where their lot line is, each one claiming to have a survey showing it’s 4 inches east or west of the other’s survey.
    ARCOM Chairman Keith Waters steered the discussion back to resolving the issue. “We want to approve what’s in the best interests of the town,” he said.
    After a more than 3½-hour meeting, both sides agreed that:
    • Montero will move new and existing plants 5 feet from the disputed property line.
    • She will maintain and manage the plantings.
    • She will replace areca palms on her plan with small leaf clusia.
    • Plants will be maintained according to Florida Power & Light Co. and Manalapan guidelines.
    • The clusia hedge will be positioned next to a proposed privacy wall between the neighbors.
    Bernstein complained that Montero, being an ARCOM commissioner, should have known to get permission before planting the new palms.
    “She needs to be held to a standard,” Bernstein said.
    McLean was nominated an alternate ARCOM member over Montero on April 6, 2010, by Bernstein’s husband, then-Town Commissioner Bill Bernstein. McLean missed the panel’s April 14 and May 12 meetings, resigned May 18 and was replaced by Montero.
    Montero became a full ARCOM member March 22, 2011, the same day McLean was named an alternate on the Zoning Board.
    The ARCOM meeting was not McLean’s first appearance before the board. He was there Dec. 8, 2010, for approval to revise a previously approved landscape plan. Joan Bernstein made a motion to approve the plan. Montero seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.      

Batter up!

It’s spring training time. All around Florida’s Grapefruit League, fans are gathering to cheer on their favorite ballplayers, watch the up-and-comers, and drink in the excitement about another baseball season in America.
    Pam Carey of Gulf Stream looks back with fondness at all the spring trainings she and her husband, Charley, attended in the 1990s.
Their two sons were minor leaguers with the Boston Red Sox organization, which meant trips to Fort Myers each spring to watch them train.
    “I think of the immense green of the ballpark, and the bonding we did with the other families,” Carey says. “I just loved the whole atmosphere. It was a great time in our lives. And we rode the wave, up and down, for seven years.”
    Carey wrote a book about riding that wave. Minor League Mom:  A Mother’s Journey through the Red Sox Farm Teams recounts how her sons, Tim and Todd, became part of the minors and how their experiences affected the family. Hint: it wasn’t all hot dogs, apple pie and sunshine.
    “It was a situation where the younger one was drafted and got big bonus money, and 10 days later, the older one was drafted and got practically nothing,” Carey says.
    At first, the older son was just happy to get a contract. But as both boys sought to move up through the pressure-cooker of the minor leagues, sibling competitiveness took its toll.
    “One son would be up and playing every day and they saw a future for him, and the other one was sitting on the bench and totally discouraged — and yet he’d been placed at a higher level in the system. So it was always an emotional balancing act,” she says.
    Retired from her own interior design practice, Carey, now in her late 60s, spends her time writing, reading and playing tennis. She is working on a second book, a humorous how-to guide about caring for aging parents.
    Does this minor league mom regret that neither of her sons made it to the major leagues? No. Both launched successful careers and made Carey a happy grandmother, five times over.
    “The way Charley and I look at it is, our sons followed a dream,” she says. “And they followed it to the very end, till it ran out. How many people can say they followed a dream to the very end?”
— Paula Detwiller

    Q. Where did you grow up and go to school? How do you think that has influenced you?
    A. I grew up in Greenwich, Conn., where I attended public schools. My courses challenged me and lots of extracurricular activities were available in those days — sports, public speaking, and drama, to name a few. My parents were both involved in, and committed to, public education. After graduate school, I taught English in public junior high and high schools. When we had children, I was convinced that our sons should attend public schools. My husband was also a graduate of public education and agreed.

    Q. How did you become a writer?
    A. I’m still becoming a writer! It’s a process of development that never ends. I started writing poems in elementary school, sitting on a bridge over a brook. The poems were trite, mushy things. As an adult, I’ve kept journals. I try to write every day, but it doesn’t always happen, which is OK — I set my own goals at this age. I attend writers’ critique groups and conferences, and I write a weekly blog (www.minorleaguemom.net).

    Q. What did you discover about baseball’s minor leagues that most people wouldn’t realize?
    A. A minor league ball player must rise through six levels before reaching the majors. Only one minor leaguer in eight ever made it to the top in the 1990s. It is probably pretty close to the same percentage today. Neither of our sons made the major leagues, although one played in AAA (the highest minor league level) for two years.
    A minor leaguer’s life is pressured and often degrading. There is no union to represent him, and agents only have leverage with management at the AAA level. The player must be ready to move several states away at a moment’s notice, often with his family. If he’s single, he may end up sharing an apartment with a married couple to split the rent. It’s a life that is far from glamorous, with long bus rides on broken-down, un-air-conditioned vehicles at the lowest levels.
 
    Q. What other work experiences have you had, and what were the highlights?
    A. After graduate school, I taught English in Connecticut, Georgia and Maine. The year I taught in Warner Robins, Ga., was the first year the schools had been integrated there. For English class, there was just one anthology per student, so we raised money to purchase paperbacks as supplements. The assistant principal still used a wooden paddle to discipline (none of my students!).
    After I had our sons, I stayed home for 10 years. When I tried to re-enter the work force in the ’70s, there was a glut of teachers. Since we were living in Rhode Island, I enrolled in a master’s degree program in interior design at Rhode Island School of Design.
My husband, Charley, has always been totally supportive of my goals, and got the boys to practices, games, and checked homework, while I was doing assignments till the sun came up.
    After I apprenticed for a local designer, I started my own company, which I had for 14 years. Since I was the owner, I could work out of my home and organize my schedule around carpools. I vividly remember having knots in my stomach, stuck in traffic around the Boston Design Center on my way to pick up the kids at school in Rhode Island.

      Q. What advice do you have for a young person pursuing a career today?

      A. Immerse yourself in your craft — take courses, read everything you can get your hands on, get practical experience, seek out mentors, and practice, practice, practice!
    Don’t be afraid to ask questions. There will be people to help you all along the way. Most importantly, don’t give up. I had 70 rejection letters from agents and major publishing houses before I found a small, independent publisher excited about my manuscript.
 
    Q. How did you choose to make your home in Gulf Stream?
    A. My husband and I came to Florida every year with the board of directors of his company. The meetings rotated between this coast and Florida’s west coast. We bought a condo in Highland Beach as a “getaway,” then moved to Gulf Stream permanently when Charley retired.

    Q. What is your favorite part about living in Gulf Stream?
    A. I couldn’t pick one thing, so here’s a list of my favorite things about living here. First, the weather. We summer in Massachusetts, and cannot imagine shoveling snow or falling on ice in winter anymore. Second, the ever-changing ocean, in its power and its calm. Third, the Technicolor world that greets my eyeballs first thing in the morning and lifts my spirits. Last, the excitement of living among people from all over the world, with cultural events at my doorstep.

    Q. What book are you reading now?
    A. I’m reading The Piano Tuner, by Daniel Mason. It’s set in 1886 Burma, where the British War Office sends a middle-aged piano tuner to repair a rare piano for an eccentric army surgeon. The book reminds me of Joseph Conrad’s Lord Jim, without the bite.

    Q. What music do you listen to when you need inspiration? When you want to relax?
    A. I can rewrite to music, usually soft background music like Chris Botti, Michael Buble, Sade, Astrud Gilberto, and Roberta Flack. For the first draft, I need total quiet. Inspiration comes from anywhere and everywhere, especially notes I take in journals or scribbles in the middle of the night, when I can’t sleep. When I get up the next morning, I only hope I can read them.

    Q. Have you had mentors in your life? Individuals who have inspired your life decisions?
    A. My parents were my mentors growing up. They motivated and supported my sister and me. That’s why I’m working on a manuscript about them. The manuscript focuses on their last years, when they did eccentric things that we laughed at … things I’m doing already! The working title is, A Handbook for Grown Children with Elderly Parents. It contains humorous “rules”; also, not-so-humorous “rules,” dealing with hospitals, home health care, and skilled nursing facilities.
    I have had the privilege of being married to another mentor for 47 years. Whenever I need advice or support, it’s automatic from Charley!       

By Steve Plunkett

Homeowners find alternatives as fungus wipes out impatiens
   

Homeowners who don’t have professionals tending their ficus hedges are the targets of a renewed war on whiteflies.
    The pests cause ficus to wilt, turn yellow, drop leaves and, if left uncontrolled, to die. A warm winter has given whiteflies more time to devastate.
 Gulf Stream Commissioner Muriel Anderson said her hedges usually are treated twice a year. “But this year we’re going to have to do it three times because they counted on having some cool weather, like 40 degrees, that will kill whiteflies,” she said at the commission’s Feb. 10 meeting. “We didn’t get the cool shot.”
    The town of Palm Beach fired the first salvo against the tiny winged predators, passing an ordinance in January making it a nuisance for anyone to have “any dead, dying or defoliated hedges or trees, or hedges, trees or other plants infested with exotic pests such as whitefly.”
    Gulf Stream Town Attorney John “Skip” Randolph, who also is Palm Beach’s town attorney, drafted the ordinance, which sends Palm Beachers who don’t replace dead hedges to code enforcement.
    “It’s kind of an onerous enforcement mechanism,” Randolph said, urging Gulf Stream commissioners to educate residents before trying a similar ordinance.
    “The first step is clearly let’s see if we can’t get some information out to people,” said Commissioner Garrett Dering, who the following week won the remaining two years of former Commissioner Chris Wheeler’s term when no one filed to oppose him in the March 13 election. Dering was appointed to the seat in October.
    Bob Ganger, president of the Gulf Stream Civic Association, raised the subject to gauge what leaders wanted his group to do.
    “We assume most people have landscapers, exterminators and all the rest, and they’re probably doing what conventional wisdom says you can do to kill whiteflies,” Ganger said. “But there are some people here in town who are doing nothing.”
    Ganger said the Civic Association will email members about whiteflies, then add an informational sheet to mailed notices of its annual meeting.
    Ganger also said the association’s treasurer, Bob Burns, had driven “to the nether part of the county” searching for a local source of chemicals to fight the insects.
    “I drive around this town all the time,” Ganger said. “I don’t think our whitefly situation is nearly as bad as Palm Beach, and I think that’s simply because we probably have less ficus.”
    His sentiments echoed remarks by Manalapan Mayor Basil Diamond, who discussed whiteflies at his town’s Jan. 24 meeting.
    “We’re doing relatively well compared to some other communities,” Diamond said.
    The mayor and Manalapan commissioners decided to remind residents via the town  newsletter about steps they can take to control infestations.
    “If it’s not taken care of, we’re going to see a lot of these hedges actually die,” Diamond said.
    Palm Beach is educating residents on the town’s website, palmbeach.govoffice.com, under “Whitefly Information.”