Mary Kate Leming's Posts

COMMUNITY CARING CENTER OF BOYNTON BEACH

Posted by Mary Kate Leming on November 2, 2011 at 18:00

By Mary Jane Fine

Fourteen years ago, when Sherry Johnson joined the CCC of Boynton Beach, part-time, she began questioning the way tummies were being filled. “When you’re serving a community where people have a lot of high blood pressure, and you’re handing out cans [of food] filled with nothing but sodium,” thought Johnson, now the center’s executive director, “what are you doing but perpetuating the situation?”
Out of that reasoning, in time, the food pantry became the Green Market and twice-weekly deliveries to 130 frail and elderly shut-ins became healthier. Now, every Friday, the center’s Veggie Mobile takes locally grown fruit and vegetables and homemade soup to homebound residents of what the center calls “the Heart of Boynton.”
An interfaith organization, the center marked its 27th year in October, Johnson says. It does all that it does thanks to seven paid staffers, four non-paid staffers and 65 volunteers. The Veggie Mobile is handled by one staffer, a board vice-president and volunteers, all of whom visit with homebound recipients, check for malnutrition and dehydration and offer healthy meal suggestions.
But deliveries are only a part of the center’s work: It also produces much of what it provides. In 2009, in partnership with the University of Florida, through the Palm Beach County Extension Office, it initiated an urban farm that grows much of the produce for the Veggie Mobile, the food pantry and a nutrition-education program.
“We use food to teach pre-schoolers and give cooking classes to adults,” Johnson says. “Most of the children [from Girtmans Treasure Chest Early Learning Centre] have no sense of fruits and vegetables, except for corn and grapes and potatoes — finger foods.”
The Green Market farm’s nutrition lessons are colorful ones: Yellow is for grapefruit and squash; green is for broccoli and lettuce; orange is for, well, oranges.
“The children are making healthy snacks, tasting different things, learning colors and learning about calcium and iron, and we introduced the word ‘antioxidants,’” Johnson says. “By the time we got to yellow and spaghetti squash, they just love it, and they’re coming back for seconds.”
The children’s parents learn how to prepare meals using fruits and vegetables, and they get portions of all the produce their children learn about. The Green Market’s new program this year will offer the entire community an affordable package of good-quality produce, meats and fish: 7½ pounds of meat; a 2-pound pork loin; two 6-ounce portions of mahi-mahi; two 6-ounce portions of salmon; 6 ounces of bacon; and a 3½-pound chicken, all for $28. An additional $6, buys a package of salad ingredients and seasonal vegetables.
Without help, Johnson says, “This community can’t afford fruit and vegetables because it’s cheaper to go to McDonald’s and get a $1 sandwich.”

Community Caring Center of Boynton Beach
145 N.E. 4th Ave.,
Boynton Beach
364-9501

Or through Coastal Star/microgiving.com fundraising effort: www.microgiving.com/profile/sherryccc

Needs: Monetary donations

Editorial: Coastal Star begins fourth year … already?

Posted by Mary Kate Leming on November 2, 2011 at 17:30

I usually approach birthdays with mixed emotions. On one hand, I’m grateful I’ve lived as long and as well as I have. On the other hand, I can’t help shaking my head in disbelief over how old I’ve become.
The same holds true for the third birthday of The Coastal Star. Our heads are spinning a bit that we’ve survived this long — and yet we’re excited to pop a cork to celebrate our success.
We know we’d done our research and had a solid business plan going into the first edition. But we embarked on our mission in the darkest economy in decades. It was an extraordinary challenge.
Today we are an award-winning paper, growing larger and better each month. Advertisers turn to us in ever increasing numbers. In fact, advertising revenue has increased 30 percent every year.
If the story were to be told about the past three years, the narrative would go something like this: middle-aged married couple take modest buyouts from major media companies, take a home equity line on their 1956 Ocean Ridge home and contact journalism friends about starting an old fashioned community newspaper. Most think we are crazy, but agree to give it a shot.
We then go looking for an advertising sales person — and the stars align again. We contact long-time friend and co-worker Chris Bellard and discover she is available and interested in working with us. Those who have worked with Chris know her personality and expertise are a perfect match for our publication. She continues to build and manage a rockin’ sales team that works to find creative solutions for our local advertisers.
About that same time we contact friends and former co-workers Carolyn and Price Patton about lending a hand. From championing The Coastal Star in the community to editing and delivering papers, they too become an element of our success.
Then, after a year of producing the paper from our kitchen and a warehouse, office space becomes available in an old dry cleaning shop and we move into a space on A1A.
We begin hearing from the folks in South Palm Beach and from residents of Highland Beach and Boca Raton. So, we spread our wings and expand our reporting and distribution into those areas — creating a separate edition for our southern neighbors.
During this same time period, we launch a second section — Coastal Life. This allows us to maximize our press capacity during season and focus some features on “all the comforts of home,” — an area embraced by many of our advertisers.
We aren’t planning any further expansion this year. Thank goodness! But we are happy to announce a revamped look for the Palm Beach ArtsPaper, and in December look for an expanded, stand-alone Holiday Shopping Guide.
And new this month is our Health & Harmony column exploring local trends and businesses that focus on bettering our mental and physical health.
And we all need a little of that as we grow older, right?

Happy Birthday, Coastal Star.

Mary Kate Leming — Editor

C.R.O.S. MINISTRIES

Posted by Mary Kate Leming on November 2, 2011 at 17:30

By Mary Jane Fine

Doris Mingione is in departure mode. She’s a widow, moving to Colorado to be near her son, so today is her all-but-final day to deliver hot meals to some of West Delray’s homebound elderly and disabled. The typed route — names, addresses, number of portions for each of 17 homes — is taped to the dashboard of her tan Toyota Avalon. The list includes notes about each recipient (“Caution! Dog! Ring Bell!”; “Elderly — very frail. Slow to answer door”); as an 11-year volunteer for C.R.O.S. Ministries’ Caring Kitchen, Mingione knows these details, and more. The notes are really for her soon-to-be replacements: St. Vincent de Paul seminarians Martin Nguyen, 22, and Jonathan Richardson, 23.
On a recent October morning, she eases away from the building on N.W. 8th Avenue, having packed 27 takeout boxes — baked fish, lentils and rice, beets, applesauce, plus packaged rolls, peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwiches, several pies and cookie-filled containers — in the backseat and trunk of her car.
First stop: an elderly blind man. “He lives alone with the help of his neighbors,” Mingione says, pulling into the driveway of his modest home. Sitting on a lawn chair, just outside his door, the man shakes hands with the two young seminarians as Mingione explains, “We’re just gonna put the food in the refrigerator.” The man smiles and thanks her. “OK,” he says, a Caribbean lilt to his voice. “You got one more week, huh? I’m gonna miss you.”
When The Caring Kitchen began, in 1993, serving hot meals to the homeless, low-income and seniors, its homebound clients numbered five. That figure fluctuates now, between 50 and 60. Volunteers deliver meals on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. The Kitchen serves sit-down breakfast and lunch five days a week, dinner four days — a total of 7,200 meals a month, says program director April Hazamy.
The economy is a challenge. “People are still donating food, but the amount is definitely less,” she says. “Especially fresh produce and protein: meat and fish.” The food pantry, a part of C.R.O.S. Ministries but separate from The Caring Kitchen, has an even harder time. “We’re struggling but not like they are; they can only give (in bags of groceries) what they have in stock,” Hazamy says, and, with canned-goods donations down by about 25 percent, that stock is severely diminished. The demand keeps growing.
Doris Mingione’s second stop of the morning is for a single mother of three, a cancer patient undergoing chemo. Mingione plops a bag of ice into a cooler by the front door, then adds four meal boxes. She jots a note on a slip of paper and tapes it to the door, for the woman’s teenagers: “Don’t Forget to Bring Food In.”
It’s not yet noon, with 15 deliveries ahead. Her rounds can take an hour, or three hours, depending on who’s at home and who wants to chat. She will, she says, miss these people: the woman with severe arthritis whose husband has Alzheimer’s, the man who gets kidney dialysis three times a week, the 99-year-old legally blind woman who still beats her friends at poker. Mingione will miss them all, but Martin and Jonathan will take on the route. She, and they, will hope that food donations continue, to make their work possible.C.R.O.S. Ministries
141 S.W. 12th Ave.,
Delray Beach
271-1566
www.crosministries.org or through Coastal Star/Microgiving.com fundraising effort: www.microgiving.com/profile/caringkitchen1
Needs: Check their Web site for specific needs. Tax-deductible donations (cash, check or credit card) may be given one time, periodically or annually

Coastal Stars: Caring — and busy — Women of Grace to be honored

Posted by Mary Kate Leming on November 2, 2011 at 17:26

2011 Women of Grace honorees are Peggy Martin (left), Pamela Avalos, Linda Gunn, Connie Siskowski and Nilsa McKinney. Photo provided

By Linda Haase

    They’ve raised money for playgrounds and gardens. They‘ve fed the hungry, offered solace to the poor and provided help for earthquake victims. They’re the Women of Grace — and they’ll be honored for their volunteerism by the Bethesda Hospital Foundation on Nov. 9.
    The event honors volunteers nominated by nonprofit organizations — and raises money for the Bethesda Hospital Foundation, which benefits Bethesda’s Center for Women and Children, including its maternity centers and a level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.
    “The foundation is honored to recognize these outstanding women volunteers who share the same philosophy and mission as our foundation, caring for our community. Their dedication and efforts have benefited so many people in need in our area,” said Kay Harvey, Bethesda Hospital Foundation’s executive director.
    The 12th annual event will honor these women:

    Pamela Avalos of Lake Worth, nominated by Alzheimer’s Community Care and March of Dimes, has volunteered with the March of Dimes and its March for Babies for the past five years. She also chairs the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce’s Health Care Committee and assists the Susan G. Komen organization. And, despite a deteriorating economy, she has been able to raise money and exceed her goals for these organizations.

    Linda Gunn of Delray Beach, nominated by the Milagro Center, believes one person can make a difference. In the past 17 years, she has helped many grateful organizations, including the Milagro Center, where she and a committee of Junior League of Boca Raton volunteers installed a new playground and garden for the children at the center. She is also the board president of the Spirit of Giving Network and a past president of the Junior League of Boca Raton.

Peggy Martin of Boynton Beach, nominated by Bethesda Hospital Foundation and Women’s Circle Inc., is a retired Gulf Stream School teacher. Her volunteer work includes supporting the Women of Grace Luncheon, which she twice chaired, and the Magnolia Society, a major sponsor of the luncheon. She also serves on the board of directors and is chairing this year’s annual fundraiser for the Women’s Circle, which helps empower underserved and unemployed women. Her efforts helped the Women’s Circle buy a larger facility.

Nilsa McKinney of Delray Beach, nominated by Caring House Project Foundation and St. Vincent Ferrer Catholic Church and School, has dedicated 15 years to feeding the hungry and helping the poor and homeless. She’s a passionate volunteer for the Caring House Project Foundation and helped coordinate the building of 17 self-sufficient villages in Haiti and also helped provide relief after the 20210 earthquake. She also volunteers with St. Vincent Ferrer School and Church, helping raise funds for state-of-the-art improvements.

Connie Siskowski of Boca Raton, nominated by American Association of Caregiving Youth, is a registered nurse and the President of the American Association of Caregiving Youth, which supports children caring for ill, injured, elderly or disabled family members. She has served as a Florida representative for the National Family Caregivers Association for 13 years and also volunteers with First United Methodist Church and Soroptimist International.

    The luncheon is at the Ritz-Carlton, Palm Beach. Registration begins at 10:30 a.m. Nov. 9, and the luncheon begins at 11:30 a.m. Tickets are $85 per person. For more information, call 737-7733, Ext. 85600.

Delray Beach: Boston's re-opens

Posted by Mary Kate Leming on November 2, 2011 at 17:14

Bartender Philip Worth Gaines Jr. (right) got the chance to meet his childhood idol when the 1980 Olympic Team hockey star Mike Eruzione was the motivational speaker for the staff of Boston’s. The popular Delray Beach club re-opened for business on Oct. 21 after significant renovations. Photo by Jerry Lower

Along the Avenues: Bridge closings span short, long times for travelers in Delray, Lantana

Posted by Mary Kate Leming on November 2, 2011 at 17:01

By Thom Smith

Call it the tale of two bridges. But the climax, thrilling or depressing, won’t be written for months … or even years.
    Delray’s Atlantic Avenue Bridge will be closed until Nov. 23 for a face lift. Crews will work from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m., so only late-night revelers will be inconvenienced, if anyone. Those who want to leave Blue Anchor or Deck 84 and breathe in that salt air at the newly renovated Boston’s need only drive north to George Bush Boulevard.
    The new bridge over the Intracoastal in Lantana won’t open until late 2013, at the soonest. That’s the word, as of Oct. 17, from the town of Lantana and from Palm Beach County. Construction is slated to begin March 18.
    Meanwhile businesses twist in the wind, as lots of moms and pops — you won’t find many big boxes and chains on Ocean Avenue — wait and wonder: How many more delays lie ahead? How many customers will make the drive north to the Lake Worth Bridge or south to Boynton to hit their favorite eatery? Will Ocean Avenue become a haven for the homeless? (Or has it already: Sources on the avenue report that they find nightly shelter in one vacant restaurant.)
    At the east end, John G’s, recently moved to Plaza del Mar, reports good crowds, aided by a much larger dining room than the old home on Lake Worth Beach and by free parking. And the Ritz-Carlton finally has reopened its signature restaurant, Angle, with a popular new angle: local and fresh. Most fixin’s come from local farms and local waters.
    At the west end, a block from Federal, Tuscan-flavored Bar Italia claims “easy access via the Ocean Avenue Bridge” in its advertising. It also boasts a cigar lounge and a fire pit, which some locals joke is where management tosses disgruntled customers.
    Until late spring, it was Apicius, but owner Leo Balestrieri abandoned that high-end concept, because, as he told New Times, “I’m not in this for the money — it’s the passion, and that wasn’t appreciated.” Balestrieri sold to a New York group, agreed to stay on as a consultant while he looked for a new restaurant site in Palm Beach that never materialized and brought in “Mango Gang” original Mark Militello as a partner to create “the ambiance of Piazza Michelangelo” with “the finest authentic Tuscan cuisine this side of Florence.”
    Picture Vesuvius and Etna merging to form one volcano. Spectacular or disaster? We’ll never know.
    “I left after four hours,” said the peripatetic Militello, who’s exploring other possibilities and will reveal when the time and the mango are ripe.
                                   ***
    Latest arrival: Another Tuscan offering, D’Angelo Trattoria, with a gelateria and pastry shop on one side and a trattoria on the other, welcomed its first diners on Oct. 26. The latest project from Angelo Elia, who has restaurants in Boca, Lauderdale and Nassau, is nestled in the old house a block east of Federal in Delray Beach that previously housed Carolina’s Coal Fired Pizza.
                                   ***
    Farewell: To Margy’s Restaurant, which tried to make a go of it on the ground floor of Boynton’s new Promenade condo. The popular American-Greek café had been a lunch and breakfast favorite on Federal Highway for years before it gave way to the Promenade. The Community Redevelopment Agency offered low rent in the new building, but parking was a problem and it wasn’t easily seen from the street.
                                   ***
    Looking good: Five years ago, Chrissy Benoit turned Lake Worth’s aptly named Lizard Den into Havana Hideout, a fresh take on Caribbean street food. It was so rad, it even caught the eye of Food Channel’s punk chef Guy Fieri. She also opened a couple of production kitchens where aspiring chefs, bakers and artisans can hone their skills and produce their goods without having to spend a fortune. That kind of chutzpah is just what Boynton’s CRA believes is perfect for the Ruth Jones Cottage, and she plans to create a rustic café offering locally farmed foods and craft-brews at 480 E. Ocean. The cottage, built in 1940, is one of the few remaining structures built with now extinct Dade County pine and Benoit wants to keep as much of the original atmosphere as possible.
    “We want to keep the big stone fireplace and preserve the Dade County pine,” Benoit said. “I really want to preserve that look and feel. The financing is in place, we’re working on the lease and we could be ready by March. I’m so excited.”
                                   ***
    More maybe: Construction continues on the new casino at Lake Worth Beach with an opening target of next fall. But the new anchor tenant has dropped a wrench into the concrete. Johnny Longboats, which will occupy two-thirds of the rental area (the former John G’s space), wants five months free rent to help offset its estimated $1 million build-out costs, and it wants to stay open until 2 a.m. Since Longboats plans to serve breakfast, lunch and dinner, why not just stay open 24 hours!
                                  ***
    Back in Boynton, Boat Club Park, on Oct. 11, was officially renamed Harvey Oyer Jr. Park in honor of one of the town’s pioneers and its unofficial historian. Oyer died last December at age 84. Speaking at the dedication was Harvey III, who vigorously assumed his father’s mantel, serving as chairman of the Historical Society of Palm Beach County, leading the fight to preserve the county courthouse and writing children’s Florida history books. His efforts were recognized nationally last spring with the Ellis Island Medal of Honor.
                                    ***
    Speaking of awards, send a shout-out to Jim Ponce, who knows more about this county than any living being. Known as the walking landmark, Ponce, 94, is the 2011 winner of the Providencia Award, presented annually by the Palm Beach County Convention and Visitors Bureau to the person or organization that helps make Palm Beach County desirable to tourists.
                                   ***
    The pop music scene in Palm Beach County isn’t what it used to be, not that it’s that great anywhere in South Florida these days. Simply put, most acts and promoters follow the money, and unless they’re strong enough to draw big crowds in Jacksonville, Tampa or Orlando, they don’t want to spend the money to come this far south.
    That said, let’s not forget that good things often happen in small places, such as the Bamboo Room. John Oates, without Hall, played Oct. 26. Guitarist Les Dudek drops in Nov. 5, Steve Forbert Dec. 1, The Lee Boys Dec. 2 and Devon Allman and Honeytribe Dec. 8.
                                   ***
    And who would have thought a year ago that the new parking garage next to Old School Square in Delray would be a hot musical showcase, but when the Creative City Collaborative is involved, anything is possible. Executive Director Alyona Ushe and Programming Director Matthew Farmer have devised a multidisciplinary program that embraces music, visual arts, film, photography, even puppetry.
    Yes, Puppet Rampage, a not-for-kiddies “blitzkrieg of hell bent bunnies and cuddly chainsaws,” will create mayhem Nov. 4, but the remainder of the weekend will be dedicated to music — Ian Maksin’s 21st Century Cello on Saturday and hip — and pop— hoppers Eric Biddines and Chloe Dolandis opening the Garage’s Urban Underground series Sunday.
    Prefer classic jazz? Jeffrey Chappell will perform Rhapsody in Blue Nov. 11, and, among others, four-time Grammy-winning jazz violinist Federico Britos visits Nov. 26.
                                   ***
    Chris Evert always tries to have a rocking good time at her annual Evert/Raymond James Pro-Celebrity Tennis Classic, both on the court and at her Gala Dinner Dance and Auction the weekend of Nov. 11. This year is no exception. On the court, look for Oscar-winner Elisabeth Shue, Today show host Hoda Kotb, comedian Jon Lovitz, newsman Stone Phillips, Breaking In’s Christian Slater, Burn Notice’s Jeffrey Donovan, Grey’s Anatomy’s Scott Foley, actress and former pro tennis player Maeve Quinlan, “Real Housewife” Jill Zarin, Alan Thicke and a few tennis players including Monica Seles, Murphy Jensen and Vince Spadea. At the Saturday night gala, The Spinners will perform.
    “Chrissy always likes for the crowd to dance,” an associate said. “She wants people to have a good time.” (www.chrisevert.org)
                                   ***
    On the fund-raising calendar: After the anticipated madness at Sundy House Nov. 7, Delray Beachers may do anything for a Twinkie. “Real Men Bake for the Rescues” will feature 30 upstanding citizens competing for the title of “best celebrity baker” (definitely a loose term). It’s a benefit for Dezzy’s Second Chance Animal Rescue. Unlimited desserts and pastries, live performance by “Elvis,” silent auctions, raffles, giveaways and cocktails. Admission is $15 in advance, $20 at the door. (www.dezzyssecondchance.com)
                                   ***
    For those who’ve been striking out lately and for those who just want to have a good time, head to the Back Room at 6 p.m. on Nov. 10 on West Atlantic in Delray, for the second annual Sexy Sensational Singles charity bachelor and bachelorette auction. It’s a benefit for Prep and Sports, which provides academic guidance and performance training to at-risk youth. A $20 ticket ($15 in advance) includes food and one drink. At least one celebrity will go on the block and the rumor mill keeps spitting out “Miami Heat, Miami Heat.” (www.prepandsports.org)

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

Station No.1 at center of fire-rescue discussions

Posted by Mary Kate Leming on November 2, 2011 at 17:00

By Angie Francalancia

Mayors find consolidation consultants price steep

Less than a month after Boynton Beach city commissioners had put to rest the idea of closing Fire Station No. 1, which serves island residents, the topic popped up again — this time to accommodate the growing space needs of its Police Department.
    City leaders from Ocean Ridge and Briny Breezes, who contract with Boynton Beach for fire and emergency services, began meeting with Boynton Beach officials last month to discuss the long-term contract — including the possibility that rescue personnel could be housed in Ocean Ridge.
    “We’re talking about different options for the fire department, and one of them is bringing the fire trucks back over here,” Ocean Ridge Town Manager Ken Schenck said.
    The contract between Ocean Ridge and Boynton Beach contemplated the possibility of Boynton Beach Fire Rescue using the station at 6450 N. Ocean Blvd., but requires an architectural- and engineering-needs assessment of the station.
    “It’s very preliminary, and a policy decision that our boards would have to make,” Boynton Beach interim City Manager Lori LaVerriere said. “I know Ocean Ridge is interested in discussing that, and that’s why we’ve encouraged our mayors to get together and discuss it.”
    Schenck and Ocean Ridge Police Chief Chris Yannuzzi, who also serves as Briny Breezes’ town marshal, met with LaVerriere and interim Fire Chief Ray Carter late last month for the first of what’s expected to be several discussions.
None of the four was involved when the 12-year contract for fire-rescue services was negotiated and signed in May 2004, and the first step, they said, was to exchange documents to understand the history of those negotiations, Schenck said.
    “Evidently, they were supposed to get rid of Station No. 1. They always had planned to have only four stations. But when we signed the contract with them, they kept it open,” he said.
    Ocean Ridge will pay Boynton Beach $875,000 for fire-rescue service this budget year, one of four cities and the largest of the contracts with Boynton Beach for the service. Briny Breezes pays $293,200. Boynton Beach also has contracts to provide service to Hypoluxo and the village of Golf.

Response time questioned
Yannuzzi also has continued to push Carter for better information about what Yannuzzi perceives as rising response times.
“I’m letting them know that according to their own statistics their response is high,” Yannuzzi said. “I explained my position, and Ray said he’s going to talk to their person who does statistics.”
Yannuzzi has said he has seen an escalation in the number of calls where the response time is higher than the average eight minutes he believes was the expectation under the contract. He’s also concerned that Boynton Beach is tracking only the time between dispatch and arrival, not between when the call is placed and arrival.
A review of calls since Jan. 1 shows that in at least four months, more than half of the calls tracked more than six minutes from dispatch to arrival. Island officials believe that response times would rise to unacceptable levels if Station No. 1, the closest via bridge to the coastal towns, were closed.

Workshops discuss space
In an Oct. 4 workshop, Boynton Beach Police Chief Matt Immler suggested he could take over Station No. 1, which is adjacent to the police headquarters in the municipal complex at Boynton Beach and Seacrest boulevards.
    Boynton Beach has tentatively set a workshop from 9 a.m. to noon on Nov. 19 at the city library, 208 S. Seacrest Blvd., to talk about the municipal complex, as well as other properties it owns that it has decided to sell. It’s part of a larger ongoing discussion about the vision for Boynton’s downtown and the municipal complex’s place in it, LaVerriere said.
“It is broad, and our commission still is vetting through all those options,” she said.
“We will be there,” Schenck said. “A couple of their commissioners just wanted to close Station No. 1. I don’t think they were really thinking that much about us. The staff was very understanding of our concerns, and they want to make it work for everybody. Obviously, we’re a big contract to them, and they don’t want to lose that.”

Along the Coast: Staging a simple beach wedding can get complicated

Posted by Mary Kate Leming on November 2, 2011 at 16:45

By Margie Plunkett

    Beach weddings are such popular commodities that Boynton Beach is giving one away as a contest prize. And seaside ceremonies come highly touted by the Palm Beach County Convention and Visitor’s Bureau — which counts Delray Beach among the cities it serves.
    But smitten couples who call the Delray Beach parks and recreation office to inquire about nuptials are told beach weddings are not allowed.
    That news came as a surprise to some city lawmakers at a recent workshop meeting.
    “It’s not permitted in the city of Delray Beach to get married on the beach,” said City Commissioner Tom Carney, who brought the topic up after he was called by a couple who wanted their union witnessed by the surf, sand and sun. “They had to go to Boca or Boynton to get married on the beach.”
    Carney’s revelation seemed to baffle commissioners and staff, who acknowledged a rule on the books prohibiting nuptials — but didn’t know why. Parks and Recreation Director Linda Karch speculated that the rule may be a way to deal with celebrations crowded with chairs and people that block use of public beach space.
    “If you call my office, (you will be told) you can’t get married on the beach,” Karch said.
    Mayor Woodie McDuffie, a notary public, recalled performing a wedding ceremony on the beach, but quickly realized that was on private property.
    Many couples probably are wed on the beach without the city even being aware, Carney said later.
    “I don’t think we’ll stop you,” Town Manager David Harden had said at the meeting.
    “The city needs to address that thing,” Carney said. “I think it’s ridiculous you can’t get married on the beach.”
    “We will check it,” Harden said as the discussion came to a close.
    While the Palm Beach County Convention and Visitors Bureau promotes beach weddings in its latest wedding brochure, its official rules put restrictions on just how ceremonies can be held: The ceremony can have a bridal party, official and guests, but no equipment or chairs. Hand-held canopies are OK.
    The rules also say beach weddings are only allowed before 8:30 a.m. and after 5 p.m. — and may last no longer than 20 minutes.
There’s no charge, nor is a permit required, according to the CVB.
    Receptions and weddings with chairs, other equipment and alcoholic beverages are allowed at designated rental pavilions and require a permit.
    In addition to the seaside service, the CVB lists as possible wedding venues the myriad hotels that offer ocean views and facilities.
Couples can also use facilities or grounds for a fee at unique waterfront facilities such as Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse.
    In Boynton Beach, the lucky couple who will win a beach wedding and light reception will be notified Nov. 15.
The Wedding on the Waterway contest will give away a ceremony for up to 50 guests to be held Feb. 4 or 5 at Oceanfront Park in Ocean Ridge.
    “In these tough financial times, the city is looking to assist a special couple by helping to offset costs for a beachside wedding ceremony for friends and family,” Boynton Beach said in the contest literature.

Ocean Ridge: Not as bad as it looks

Posted by Mary Kate Leming on November 2, 2011 at 16:23

Palm Beach County hazmat team members prepare to enter the Ocean Ridge home of Frank Biden on Oct. 1 after a suspicious substance was delivered to his home on Ridge Boulevard. The hazmat team was carrying isolation buckets and a dog-collaring device after members of the bomb squad determined there were no explosives involved.
In late October, the FBI said the substance was harmless, but was releasing no additional information on the incident. Biden is the brother of Vice President Joseph Biden.
Photo by Jerry Lower

Gulf Stream: Spence property first subject for new commissioner

Posted by Mary Kate Leming on November 2, 2011 at 16:21

By Steve Plunkett

Gulf Stream’s next and perhaps final subdivision was sidetracked another month in October and Gulf Stream’s recently annexed residents got their first commission seat.

   Ballantrae resident W. Garrett Dering was appointed Oct. 24 to take Commissioner Chris Wheeler’s seat after Wheeler sold his house in Hidden Harbor Estates and resigned from office.
Dering’s first assignment: Learn enough about the Spence estate to vote Nov. 10 on subdividing it.
    Seaside Builders LLC wants to buy the 6-acre-plus estate between State Road A1A and Hidden Harbor Estates, raze the 1937 British Colonial home and make six home sites in its place.
    The proposal was on the Town Commission’s Oct. 14 agenda, but Wheeler, who lived just west of the Spence property, resigned the day before.
    Mayor William Koch Jr. recused himself from the issue because his real estate firm listed the sale with a $6 million asking price.
    And Vice Mayor Joan Orthwein said she has a potential conflict of interest: an active real estate license with Koch’s company.
    “As a result, we will only have two people to vote on this, and that is not a quorum,’’ Town Attorney John “Skip’’ Randolph said.
    Commissioners settled on Dering 10 days later.
    Bob Ganger, chairman of the town’s Architectural Review and Planning Board and president of both the Gulf Stream Civic Association and the Florida Coalition for Preservation, also asked to be considered.
    “We try to pick people from different areas like Place au Soleil,’’ Orthwein said, seizing on the opportunity to select someone from the 16.6-acre pocket Gulf Stream annexed in March.
    “I do like the idea of having somebody from the new area as a representative, and a condominium person,’’ Commissioner Fred Devitt III said. Commissioner Muriel Anderson echoed his comment.
    Dering, 65, did not attend the meeting. A certified public accountant and retired partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, he belongs to the Gulf Stream Bath and Tennis Club, the Country Club of Florida, and in Kentucky the Louisville Country Club and Louisville Boat Club. He and his wife have two sons; he bought his Ballantrae condo in 1999.
    Dering will be a commissioner at least until March, when an election for the two remaining years of Wheeler’s term will take place.
    Meanwhile, two more owners emerged in the lineage of the Spence estate.
    John Caddell II, a third-generation shipyard operator in Staten Island, N.Y., said he and his mother bought the property in 1972 from typewriter heiress Gladys Underwood James. Caddell toyed with the idea of subdividing the western part of the property, what is now Hidden Harbor Estates, but sold it 18 months later to Edmond and Regina Spence.
    The home on the estate was designed by noted Palm Beach architect John Volk. Caddell bought another Volk-designed home at 1600 S. Ocean Blvd. in Manalapan and in 1998 sold it to Donald Brennan, now a Manalapan town commissioner.
A yachtsman, Caddell has since assembled a winter compound in Ocean Ridge. He was disappointed to hear the plans for the Spence estate.
“It’s terrible they’re dividing it this way,’’ he said, adding he could abide making it two or three lots. “Six is an absolute crime.’’
Records at the county Property Appraiser’s Office show James bought the estate in 1957 from Gertrude Webb, widow of original owner Seward Webb Jr. Webb bought the land from financier E.F. Hutton in 1937. Hutton originally bought the acreage from the Gulf Stream Realty Co. in 1926.
    Webb was a grandson of William H. Vanderbilt, in his time the richest man in the world; Webb’s wife was the daughter of a New York City mayor.
    James also bought properties in Brooklyn Heights to block high-rise apartments from taking over the neighborhood in the late 1940s before New York City had a landmark preservation law.
    Caddell said Spence, who died last December, traveled the world to find art to decorate her aging home.
“She enjoyed taking old things and making them beautiful again,” he said.
    Gulf Stream’s architectural board deferred its review of Seaside’s proposal in July to give the developer and Hidden Harbor residents time to resolve their differences over drainage and access. The two sides signed an agreement shortly before the board reconvened in September.
    Seaside said it was given permission to enter the home before the sale is completed and has begun compiling an architectural record of Volk’s creation.

Delray Beach: Back-door trash pickup being phased out

Posted by Mary Kate Leming on November 2, 2011 at 16:17

By Margie Plunkett

    Come January, Sherwood Park residents will no longer have the choice of rear/side yard garbage pickup. While they’re losing a service option, they’re gaining an advantage.
    “They’ll have their rates lowered,” said City Manager David Harden.
    Delray Beach, served by Waste Management, recommended the conversion after taking a survey of the Sherwood Park and barrier island neighborhoods to determine if they still wanted to receive rear/side yard pickup, which costs more than curbside.
    The Sherwood Park neighborhood, between Interstate 95 and off Linton Boulevard, will put its garbage out at the curb starting about Jan. 2. The city plans to drop rear/side yard pickup for barrier island residents in the spring, according to City Manager David Harden.
    Lula Butler, director of Community Improvement, said in September that the plan will be coordinated with Waste Management and there will be further discussions with barrier island residents and the Beach Property Owners Association.
The BPOA “tended to prefer what we had before. It’s a cleaner look” because it keeps garbage containers off the curb, said Mary Renaud, president of the group, adding though that the majority rules.
The price difference between rear/side yard and curbside service is nominal, Renaud said.
    The total charge to residents who receive rear/side yard pickup is $24.01 a month. The charge for residents with curbside garbage pickup is $13.61 for those with roll-out carts and $10.47 for those with disposable bags.
    Rear/side yard pickup was among the complaints that kicked off a city examination of billings and processes associated with garbage collection in 2009.
    Robert McNamee, a resident who was investigating the city’s waste and recycling administration and practices, realized residents were charged the higher rear/side yard collection fee even if they took their refuse to the curb.
    One of the 2010 recommendations from the city examination was that residents in the rear/side yard service areas should be given the chance to choose whether they wanted to keep the service at a higher cost. Regardless of what kind of garbage service residents have, they are all required to bring recycling containers to the curb, according to a memo to commissioners from Butler.
    In a November 2010 survey of residents, about 61 percent of Sherwood Park respondents favored changing the rear/side yard service, while nearly 40 percent wanted to keep it. Of 170 surveys sent, 73 percent responded.
    On the barrier island, nearly 65 percent of survey respondents wanted to change the services, while 35 percent wanted to keep it. Of 870 surveys sent, 62 percent responded.
    In addition, staff followed a garbage truck in July 2009 and determined many residents were already putting their waste out at the curbside, according to Butler.
    While the poll showed residents favoring the change, Butler said staff also thought cutting out one of Delray’s four residential trash collection options would bring it more in line to the two services other cities typically offer. The four remaining pickups would be curbside pickup with rolling carts; curbside pickup with disposable bags and multifamily unit service.
    In September, Butler recommended the changes for Sherwood Park as soon as it could be coordinated with Waste Management. It also recommended further discussion with the Beach Property Owners Association and barrier island residents on service changes that would be effective in March 2012.         Ú

Delray Beach: Time to get public involved in city parking discussion

Posted by Mary Kate Leming on November 2, 2011 at 16:16

By Margie Plunkett

    With its year-old parking study in hand, Delray Beach is reaching out for public discussion on how to operate and pay for parking in the city.
    The commission agreed public input was in order after parking management specialist Scott Aaronson asked for guidance on what organization will operate the city’s parking and how revenues will be raised.
    “The merchants know so much more about this plan than we do. Let them educate us,” said Mayor Woodie McDuffie. “In this city that’s what we’ve done. Any time we do something that could have an impact of this magnitude, it’s only fair to include all stakeholders.”
    The biggest stakeholders are the merchants, Commissioner Tom Carney said. “I encourage merchants to have serious discussion so we come up with something that will benefit us all.”
    The preferred organization for parking would be a Consolidated City Department Model, which would pull parking functions from various parts of Public Works and combine them into one, Aronson said in a memo to commissioners. The Parking Division would oversee an Enterprise Fund, collecting all parking revenue.
    Among recommendations by the Parking Management Study done by national consultant Kimley-Horn is a fee-based parking system in the downtown core that would use multi-space meters to collect revenues estimated at $1.2 million, according to the memo.
    Merchants, however, fear that paid parking will drive away patrons and have recommended a parking district that would impose a district tax rather than the fee-based system, according to Aronson.
    “It’s an emotional issue. It’s a change,” said merchant Bruce Gimmy of The Trouser Shop, who is pro metered parking.
In other cities, he said, “this has been done very successfully.” Paid parking can offer incentives to shoppers — such as the first hour of parking free, or merchants can give them free parking tokens when they come into their stores.
    At the same time, the fees can help move employee parking from Atlantic Avenue opening spaces for spenders. “You have to have parking turnover,” said Gimmy, who is a member of the parking Management Advisory Board.
    Under the fee system, the most convenient parking spaces would have the highest rates and the shortest parking times, Aronson’s memo says. That system also helps in moving employees to the less convenient spots during prime time and leaving valued spaces available for customers.
    “While free parking is an admirable goal, convenience is an important factor that must not be overlooked,” the memo said.
    During the commissioners’ October workshop meeting, Aaronson gave a progress report on the parking study, noting projects completed included improving shuttle route maps, route identification and marketing; modifying routes to improve connectivity with Palm Tran and Tri-Rail; and reviewing rates for beach parking permits.
    “A lot of money was spent producing this parking study,” Carney added. “We’re picking at it in bits and pieces. We really need to address this. ”
    City Manager David Harden noted that public discussion could be as fruitful on parking as it was on the beach master plan. “There’s a lot of little subprograms that come out of those things. ”
    Harden suggested inviting the public to gather on a Saturday to “see what kind of feedback we get. We all know the problem, but there’s no easy, push-button solution.”
    The city manager later estimated that two sessions will probably be held within about a month to accommodate the scedules of merchants and restaurateurs.                             Ú

Boynton Beach: Proposals sought for old high school

Posted by Mary Kate Leming on November 2, 2011 at 16:15

The city of Boynton Beach is seeking qualifications and proposals for the rehabilitation of the 1927 high school building located on Ocean Avenue. Firms, organizations — including not-for-profits — may submit proposals for adaptive reuse/renovation, occupancy and operations/maintenance.
A pre-proposal conference was held Oct. 26 with a site visit immediately following.
Consultants have said renovation would cost $4.6 million to $5.4 million.
The city’s Community Redevelopment Agency board has recently offered $150,000 as an inducement to a potential developer.
The deadline for submitting a proposal is Nov. 17.
— Staff Report

Manalapan: Gatehouse beautification plan hits a weedy patch

Posted by Mary Kate Leming on November 2, 2011 at 16:12

By Steve Plunkett

A plan to refurbish Point Manalapan’s gatehouse has stalled, frustrating landscape committee members and the man who volunteered to pay for at least part of the project.
    Committee chairwoman Daryl Cheifetz told town commissioners at their Oct. 25 meeting her panel met three times with landscape architect John Lang “and kept following and following up.”
But they’ve never seen a rendering of their ideas.
    “The bottom line to this is Mr. Lang has never generated anything for it,” Cheifetz said, asking commissioners to at least put in new pavers in a mud puddle trucks have created.
    The issue came up in May when the town had a low bid of $3,124 for the paver work. Cheifetz complained that Manalapan kept making patchwork repairs to the entrance way, and resident and developer Stewart Satter offered the use of his landscape architect for free.
    “Perhaps, depending on the expense … I may even fund the ultimate project,” he said at the time.
    Lawyer Ken Kaleel, representing Satter, said there are plans that can be submitted and that Satter has paid Lang more than $5,000, which “for a landscape plan for that little gatehouse is a lot.”
    “I think there was a lot more back and forth that went on than meets the eye,” said Kaleel, who also is mayor of Ocean Ridge.
    “If there is a plan I don’t know why I don’t have it,” Cheifetz said. “And there was not a lot of back and forth. There was a lot of forth and pursuing of Mr. Lang by emails, phone calls.’’
    Commissioner Louis DeStefano, who is friends with Satter, said Satter thought the whole project would be no more than $15,000 but the ensuing discussions were for something grander.
    “The architect has told him that what the committee is coming back and told the architect to do [is] in the range of six figures,” Kaleel said.
    Kaleel promised to have a plan for commissioners at their November meeting. In the meantime the town will do interim repairs, perhaps filling the puddle with gravel.
    “Residents are complaining, and we keep putting it off and putting it off,” said Town Manager Linda Stumpf. “This needs to get something in there.”
    Cheifetz said the committee never expected Satter to pay for anything but the plans.
    “He’s not too pleased with the result, what’s happened right now,” Kaleel said, “because he feels like he’s tried and attempted to do something good, and now it’s looking a little bit differently.”       Ú

Manalapan: $25.5 million estate sale shows luxury homes still selling well

Posted by Mary Kate Leming on November 2, 2011 at 16:11

By Christine Davis

    The real estate market for private homes might be in trouble elsewhere, but not in Manalapan. In September, an ocean-to-Intracoastal Waterway Mediterranean-style home and guesthouse at 820 S. Ocean Blvd. sold for a record-breaking $25.5 million.
    That sale marked the highest recorded price paid for a home in Manalapan in as many as 10 years, according to Multiple Listing Services property records and sources knowledgeable with the area’s housing market.
    For some perspective, the late Generoso Pope’s home at 1370 S. Ocean Blvd. sold last year for $12 million, but its earlier recorded sale prices were $22,458,406 in 2009; $22.4 million in 2004; and, in 2000, it sold for $27.5 million. This year the home is back on the market for $16.595 million.
And in February 2008, the former Vanderbuilt estate at 1100 S. Ocean was bought at auction for $22 million by its creditor, and then resold for $23.5 million. It had been purchased in mid-2000 for $29.87 million by Randolph Hearst, who died six months later. The home ended up at auction when Hearst’s wife, Veronica, could not maintain it.
    Not to be outshone, 820 S. Ocean was also purchased in 2008 for a not-too-shabby $21.225 million, recalled Pascal Liguori of Premiere Estate Properties, who was involved in both of this home’s recent and previous sales.
    “Manalapan’s value is undeniable,” he said. “Recent activity indicates that the high-end buyers are perceiving real estate as a good value and are making the decision to purchase.”
    Manalapan sales for more than $15 million in the past year include Don King’s former two homes at 900 and 920 S. Ocean Blvd., which were sold as one piece for $15.9 million and an estate home at 1110 S. Ocean for $15 million.
    Corcoran Realtor Nicholas Malinoksy agreed that it’s all about buyers recognizing value. He, with partner Randy Ely, has sold four ocean-to-Intracoastal properties and listed three in the past year.
“Large properties with 150 feet on the ocean and the Intracoastal are hard to come by and the size of those lots provide a lot of privacy, which many high-end luxury buyers desire,” Malinosky said.
    The custom home at 820 S. Ocean built by the Tri Gran Group was completed in 2007. The new owners at that time added the guesthouse, also built by the Tri Gran Group, Liguori said. The property has 29,152 total square feet, eight bedrooms, 10 bathrooms and three half-baths with amenities including two wine rooms, two pools with spas, a sauna, exercise room, lounge, bar, a 30-by-40-foot loggia, cabana kitchen and a tennis court.
    “It is rare to have the combination of magnificent ocean-to-Intracoastal land, classic architecture, quality construction and resort-like amenities,” Liguori said.
    “It’s an unbelievable 2.4-acre lot with 225 feet of ocean frontage, which means the house is stretched horizontally along the ocean, so that numerous rooms have spectacular ocean-to-Intracoastal views.
    “On the back of the lot, it has 225 feet on the Intracoastal, too, with a lot of boat dockage right there. It’s unusual to have that topography,” Liguori said.
    For the discriminating buyer, here are more Manalapan listings: a $35.9 million estate at 1960 S. Ocean, a $19.95 million estate at 860 S. Ocean, an $18.95 million home at 1560 S. Ocean and, for a prospective owner who wants to build, the lot at 1020 S. Ocean is on the market for $16.295 million.

Ocean Ridge: New hires fill vacancies in Police Department

Posted by Mary Kate Leming on November 2, 2011 at 16:07

By Margie Plunkett

A new slate of police officers and a dispatcher are moving into position at the Ocean Ridge Police Department, following the latest retirement of department mainstay Officer Doc Darville.

New names on the roster are Officer Larry Payne, Officer Gary Roy and Dispatcher Michele Alfonso.

    “I hope everyone works at keeping it a small town,” Darville told commissioners early in October, as well as, “It’s nice to know that when you’re working with other officers, they’ll be there to back you up. Thank you to everyone for being who you are.”
    The new personnel fill vacancies left by retirements of Darville on Oct. 25, Sgt. Dan Tinfina on Aug. 31 and Dispatcher Jeanne Zuidema in May.
    Sgt. Bob McAllister was promoted into Tinfina’s spot.
    Payne, who started work effective Oct. 4, started his career at the Emerald Isle (N.C.) Police Department in 1986 and subsequently served several other departments. He joined the Riviera Beach Police Department in 1996, rising to the rank of lieutenant before his retirement in September 2011.
    Roy has been in law enforcement since February 1990. He has worked with the Parkland Police Department, the Seminole Tribe Department of Police and the city of Greenacres, where he became a captain in Uniform Services. Roy will begin working in the Ocean Ridge Police Department Nov. 7.
    Darville figuratively passed to Roy the cache of dog biscuits the former kept for the pooches he encountered throughout his work travels. Roy said of his hiring on with the ORPD: “I’m ecstatic.”
    Alfonso began her dispatch career in Harvard, Ill., in 2006 and also has worked for the Denison, Texas, Police Department.
    The starting salary for the officers is $47,953 and the dispatcher, $34,777.

Ocean Ridge: Town manager given three months to improve job performance

Posted by Mary Kate Leming on November 2, 2011 at 16:03

By Mary Kate Leming
and Margie Plunkett

    Ocean Ridge commissioners gave their town manager a harsh evaluation in October, but Ken Schenck said he was confident he could correct the review categories in question.    The annual evaluation, in which Schenck’s performance received a majority of conditional marks and several unsatisfactories, was presented at a special meeting in October. Commissioners agreed that there were serious issues with leadership and lack of authority.
    “If the commission starts to micromanage [the town manager] it means we’re not getting the information we need,” Mayor Ken Kaleel said.
    None of the criticisms should come as a surprise, according to Kaleel and Commissioner Geoff Pugh, since they are issues that have been discussed with Schenck in the past.
    Schenck, who has been in the position 5½ years, thanked commissioners for their honesty and said he’d obviously missed some things he shouldn’t have and didn’t have an excuse. He said he wanted an opportunity to correct his mistakes and is taking them to heart. The town manager also said he was grateful for the commission’s support over the years.
    Commissioners cited dissatisfaction with this year’s budget process; Schenck’s behind-the-curve-review of the insurance plan options; the impression that he puts the interests of employees before those of the town; his reactive, rather than proactive communication skills and the way he communicated to commissioners the change in police hours.
    Major sore spots among commissioners were the Fire Station No. 1 contract with Boynton Beach and that Schenck never drives around town to see what’s going on — even after he’s been asked to several times over the past years.
    “You should wrap this town around you like a blanket,” Pugh said. “It’s your town and your employees. You are CEO of your town company.”
    The issue of Fire Station No. 1 “sent me to the roof,” Kaleel said, later explaining he expected a proactive response — such as talking with city management in Boynton Beach.
    Despite the evaluation’s low marks, the commissioners all said they liked working with Schenck and they’ve heard his interaction with residents has been respectful and fair.
    As requested, the town manager submitted his draft action plan to correct the performance in three months.
    “It’s all up to you. It’s your job,” Pugh said of the action plan.
Schenck’s draft plan, which can still change, said he would drive around the community daily to keep abreast of residents and the town.
It also said he’d keep Commissioners informed on relevant events in surrounding towns, present issues concisely at meetings to enable informed decisions and work toward becoming more proactive and better at communications with commissioners.
    Each commissioner can review the plan and meet with Schenck to offer feedback before the next meeting. The action plan will be taken up at the November commission meeting, where it will be rejected or accepted.
“Hopefully, everything will work out and we’ll move on,” Kaleel said later.

Along the Coast: New speed zones are for protection of manatees

Posted by Mary Kate Leming on November 2, 2011 at 15:59

By Tim O’Meilia

Manatees — those lovable, lumbering, cow-faced, half-ton marine mammals that putter along in Palm Beach County’s Intracoastal Waterway — will get extra protection from boaters this winter from six new boating speed zones.        The south county zones, aimed at protecting both boaters and manatees, went into effect in March when the last of the speed limit signs were erected. But the warm-water-seeking sea cows will benefit this winter as they migrate south.
    Official manatee season, from Nov. 15 until March 31, urges boaters to watch out for the cow-like snouts of outsized gray mammals or their tell-tale half-moon swirls of water.

“Manatees are basically migratory. They’re trying to escape the cold water and head south this time of year,” said biologist Scott Calleson of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
    The zones are in effect 300 feet north and south of the ICW bridges at Southern Boulevard, Lake Worth Road, Woolbright Road, George Bush Boulevard, Spanish River Boulevard and Palmetto Park Road.
    The signs require either no speed, minimum wake or idle speed, no wake. The rules are in effect year round.
    “Palm Beach County has tried to do a good bit of public outreach to make sure people know about the new zones,” Calleson said.
    So far this year, three manatees have been killed by watercraft in county waters, compared with two for all of 2010. In contrast, five have died from the effects of cold weather in 2011, compared with six in 2010.
    The winter months are the most dangerous for the sea cows so the current year totals will likely increase. All told, 18 manatees died in Palm Beach County last year, 11 so far in 2011.
    The county’s Manatee Protection Plan pays for more than 2,300 hours of extra patrolling along the coast during manatee season, but that doesn’t include the Intracoastal Waterway, which is the jurisdiction of the FWC.
    During the 2010-11 manatee season, marine officers logged 2,193 hours on the water, issuing 292 citations, including 188 for manatee speed zone violations. They also handed out 1,273 manatee zone
warnings.

Meet Your Neighbor: Caron Dockerty — Gulf Stream

Posted by Mary Kate Leming on November 2, 2011 at 15:42

Caron Dockerty of Gulf Stream leads a multifaceted life. She’s a wife, mother of two teenagers, real estate agent and active community volunteer. She’s also, at age 51, a recent graduate of the Gemological Institute of America, which is why she would appreciate the label “multifaceted.”
    “All my life I’ve been interested in jewels and gemstones and gold and silver,” says Dockerty. “My uncle says when I was 6 or 7, I came up to him and said right out of the blue, ‘You know what, Uncle Dan? I just love jewelry.’” She laughs, not remembering the episode.
    In college at the University of Florida, Dockerty became so fixated with a $400 emerald and diamond ring at a local jewelry shop that she walked in one day and offered the owner her moped for it.
    “He looked at me like I was crazy, and that’s when I realized that yes, I must be,” Dockerty says. “I was able to persuade myself I could not actually sell my college transportation for a ring.”
    To a number of charitable organizations in South Florida, Dockerty herself is a gem. She is a co-founder of Treasures4Charity, a Delray Beach shop in which donated goods are sold to the public, with the proceeds going to one of 25 different charities. She is also an active volunteer fundraiser for the Bethesda Hospital Foundation and a member of the Junior League of Boca Raton. In recognition of her service, she was one of 22 women from throughout Palm Beach County to be nominated for the Junior League of Boca Raton’s 2011 Woman Volunteer of the Year award.
    Having aced the Gemological Institute’s graduate exam in March, Dockerty is now combining her love for jewelry with professional-grade knowledge, offering her services as a personal jewelry consultant.
    “Friends come to me and say, ‘I have all of this stuff I don’t wear any more.’ So I will come up with ideas for redesigning the pieces, and have it made for them by jewelry artists I’ve connected with in New York,” Dockerty says.
    Will she leave real estate to pursue her passion full-time? “Oh no. Real estate is the reason I can actually purchase jewelry!” she declares with a laugh, saying she can easily picture herself with a sign saying I Work For Jewelry.
    All joking aside, Dockerty says the most precious jewels in her life are husband, Bob, a mortgage banker with Dockerty Romer & Company in Delray Beach, and her two children, 17-year-old Bobby and 15-year-old Margaux.
— Paula Detwiller

10 Questions

    Q. Where did you grow up and go to school? How do you think that has influenced you?
    A. I grew up in Miami and went to Our Lady of Lourdes Academy. My best friend, Suzy, and I have known each other since we were 5 years old and attended all the same schools. We married brothers and had our baby boys one week apart. The rest of my family also lives in Miami so we visit quite a bit! The city of Miami has a huge international population, so my love of travel was inspired by living there along with my dad who was a Captain for Delta Airlines and owned a travel agency.

    Q. What professions have you worked in? What life accomplishments are you most proud of?
    A. I graduated in Business/Fashion Merchandising and worked several years in retail before working in the travel industry — first running my dad’s agency in Miami and then the Wackenhut Corporation’s travel department. I had met my husband, Bob, who was living in Boca then, so I was lucky to be able to follow Wackenhut on their move to Palm Beach Gardens. After my babies were born I got my real estate license and that is what I am doing currently. I love helping friends find and sell their homes. My greatest accomplishment other than raising my kids is receiving my Graduate Gemology degree from the GIA. I have been studying off and on for 10 years and I finally graduated this past March!

    Q. Tell us a little about your volunteer work. Why is it important to you?
    A. I started Treasures4Charity three years ago with my friend Brooke Qualk. It began as a monthlong garage sale in an empty store space in Delray Beach’s Pineapple Grove to raise money for Gulf Stream School and the Junior League of Boca Raton. It was just Brooke and I working three days a week from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. We are now a nonprofit, open five days a week, have more than 85 volunteers and raise money for 25 local charities. The unique thing about our store is the donor gets to pick the charity they want to help. People love that!

    Q. What advice do you have for a young person selecting a career today?
    A. If you study hard, do your best in school, and be generous with your time and talents, God will guide you. Be open-minded to all opportunities.

    Q. How did you choose to make your home in Gulf Stream?
    A. The Gulf Stream School. Bob and I had just married and didn’t even have kids. We had heard how great the school was and took a drive one afternoon. We saw the school and neighborhood and knew this would be our home. The first house we saw we bought and 18 years later we are we still here!

    Q. What is your favorite part about living in Gulf Stream?
    A. When the kids were little, for sure, my favorite part was the proximity to the school and being able to walk or drive a golf cart. Now it’s just enjoying the lovely and quiet elegance of the neighborhood and being really close to Atlantic Avenue. We are very grateful to live in such a beautiful place.

    Q. What book are you reading now?
    A. The Gems & Gemology Magazine or anything related to jewelry designing or collecting. The Inky Mirror in Nantucket, Mass., and The Coastal Star are my two favorite newspapers.

    Q. What music do you listen to when you need inspiration? When you want to relax?
    A. I like almost all music. I love to sing, especially in the car and at piano bars. The Club Car in Nantucket and the Atlantic Grille in Delray are two of my favorites.

    Q. Do you have a favorite quote that inspires your decisions?
    A. My kids would say, “Lots of hands make little work” or “It takes a village,” but recently I heard this one and loved it: “Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve,” by Napoleon Hill.

    Q. If your life story were made into a movie, who would you want to play you?
    A. I guess Ellen DeGeneres. We have nothing in common, but she just cracks me up and I love her zest for life!

Caron’s jewel box
of upcoming projects

The first is ‘Savor the Grove’ on Nov. 10 to celebrate the Junior League of Boca Raton’s 40th anniversary and our James Beard award-winning cookbook, Savor the Moment.
There will be a dining table that seats about 100 in the parking lot of Treasures4Charity, which is in the Esplanade Shopping Center in Pineapple Grove.
“I have an incredible jewelry designer from New York providing fabulous things to look at and try on during our cocktail hour.”

The second event is the Bethesda Hospital Foundation’s Bethesda Ball & Golf weekend at The Breakers. I’m helping plan the golf tournament, which will be held at Breakers West on March 2 with cocktails to follow.
Deborah and Harry Sargeant are chairing the ball on March 3 with Broadway superstar Davis Gaines performing songs from The Phantom of the Opera.
“I think all the ladies will look lovely in black and white gowns and I’m working to secure a donation of a very special black-and-white diamond of some sort to be sold in our silent auction.”

South Palm Beach: Gottlieb replaces Lillybeck after sudden departure

Posted by Mary Kate Leming on November 2, 2011 at 15:35

By Tim O’Meilia

South Palm Beach Council-woman Susan Lillybeck, who swept into office on anti-high-rise hotel sentiment in 2010, resigned suddenly Oct. 11 to tend to her Illinois doughnut shop.
    The Town Council moved swiftly Oct. 25 to appoint former Councilman Robert Gottlieb to serve the remaining five months of Lillybeck’s term.
    “I had to resign out of economic necessity,” said Lillybeck, 60. “My business needed me to step up. It made no sense to shuttle back and forth.”
Lillybeck’s family has operated Donut Delite in Moline, Ill., since 1979 and owner Lillybeck has been part of the management team since 1982.
    “I love South Palm Beach. I’m going to miss it. I made a lot of friends there,” Lillybeck said from her chilly Illinois home.
    Her husband, Steve, has launched an Internet-based construction equipment business that can operate anywhere.
    “Do you think I want to spend the winter in Illinois?” she said in her signature raspy voice.
    Lillybeck lived in South Palm Beach for six years. “I always had the good of the town at heart. I’m sure they will find a good person to step in,” she said. She said she did not offer any advice on who her successor should be.
    “We will really miss Susan with her drive and determination,” said Councilman Joseph Flagello. “She was really starting to come into her own. We will miss her dry sense of humor.”
    “Sue had excellent principles and we held her in high esteem,” said Councilwoman Stella Jordan. “Now we need to move on.”
    The council moved on to Gottlieb, who served 3½ years on the council beginning in 2005. The town charter requires the council to appoint a new member if less than six months remain in the term for the vacated seat, rather than hold a special election.
    “We have a pro-active, composed, fair, impartial and logical individual with all these traits evident during his prior service on the council,” Jordan said.

No other nominations were made and Gottlieb was appointed unanimously.
    “I will represent every person and business in this town to the best of my ability,” Gottlieb said after he was sworn in.
    A retired yarns and crafts manufacturer, Gottlieb, 71, was first elected in 2005 by a four-vote margin and re-elected two years later. He resigned in October 2008 for health reasons. He said his prostate cancer is currently under control.
    In other business, the Town Council voted unanimously to relinquish fire safety inspections to Palm Beach County Fire-Rescue, which handles fire-rescue for the town.
    As a result, the town’s 28 condominiums will pay an estimated $100 to $150 annually for the inspections. Town police did not charge for the inspections.
    Police Chief Roger Crane and Town Manager Rex Taylor said the drop in police personnel from nine to eight officers, resulting shift changes and the elimination of most overtime for training made the change necessary.
    Under the 2004 agreement with Palm Beach County Fire-Rescue, the town had the right to transfer fire inspections to the county’s fire department with 90 days notice. But, for the past seven years, town police performed the annual fire safety inspections.
    “They want their inspectors to do the inspections. It’s their people who will go into the buildings (in case of fire),” Crane said of the county’s fire-rescue department.
    Jordan questioned the transfer, but Crane said the lieutenant who usually performs the inspections is hamstrung because he must also oversee officer training, which was previously done off-hours with overtime pay.
    Jordan asked that condominium managers be notified of the change “so there isn’t fallout.”